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XVI.

REVELATION XX. 12.

And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God.

This awful scene,

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READER, you will be there! which the apostle John saw in prophetic vision, will be realized; and not the most obscure individual that exists shall be then forgotten: for "it is appointed unto all men once to die, and after death the judgment.' Is it not a strange thing that they who have once heard this, should ever be indifferent to it?-that days and weeks should pass without a thought being given to that day!—that many who hear and read of the judgment to come, have never, perhaps in their lives, allowed themselves seriously to reflect upon it, and to recollect how deeply and intimately it concerns themselves! If some important event relating to the present life, could be foretold, such as our entering into the possession of a great estate, our going to reside in a foreign country, or that some great misfortune would befall us; if we could know beyond a doubt that some such thing would happen, would it not become the subject of our continual thought-the first idea that occurred when we awoke in the morning, the last before we fell asleep at night? And although we might frequently be diverted from it by the necessary engagements of life, still, there would remain a consciousness of it upon our minds, and at every leisure moment it would be the constantly returning recollection.

But it is not necessary to suppose an impossible case. Are we not conscious that affairs of far inferior importance to any that have been mentioned, some expected pleasure that perhaps is to last but a day, has engrossed, for the time, all our thoughts and attention? and this,

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although every thing connected with our worldly affairs is attended with so much uncertainty, that we cannot be sure that the pleasure we plan for to-morrow will ever be realized; or, that to-morrow may not deprive us of the enjoyment we possess to-day. Now the great event to which we have alluded, has none of these uncertainties to lessen its importance :-"it will surely come :" and every one of us must be awakened by that tremendous blast, when "the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised :" the reader and the writer will hear it.

There is no possible way in which this subject can be regarded but shows it to be one of the deepest interest. Should we think it a matter of delightful anticipation if we were expecting to visit some of the natural curiosities of our globe, such as the falls of Niagara, or the great volcanos of Etna and Vesuvius? Then there is a greater sight than these that we shall certainly behold; "for the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat; the earth also, and the works that are therein, shall be burned up.' Why do not our thoughts more frequently dwell upon such an expectation as this?

We should perhaps consider it a remarkable occurrence in our lives if we were to be introduced to some of the princes of this world, especially if it were in order to transact some important concern with them ourselves this will probably never happen to any of us : but a time approaches when we must stand before " a greater than Solomon," "and every eye shall behold him."

It would be dreadful to witness one of those awful convulsions of nature by which whole cities have been overthrown and plunged in sudden destruction. But that will surely be a more terrible sight, to escape which many will wish even for such a calamity: "calling to the rocks and to the mountains to fall on them and hide

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them from the wrath of the Lamb." "great day of the Lord" were only to be considered as an object of curiosity, of philosophic interest, it might reasonably engross every leisure moment of reflection; for not all the pageants that ever glittered on this earth, not all the most ingenious contrivances of art, nor even the grand phenomena of nature, could pretend to the slightest comparison with the splendours and terrors of that spectacle. But so great is our individual interest in its transactions, that these considerations sink in comparison to insignificance. Yes, for our state for eternitythat word of unfathomable meaning, will then be decided. O, for language to express! O, for hearts enlarged to comprehend its import!

Are these things wonderful? Yet there is a thing still more astonishing; even-that many who know of this great transaction, and are assured of their own personal concern in it, should be indifferent about it; should be able to hear and to read of it without emotion, without recollection, without examination, without fear? -and this, although they are conscious of being at present quite unprepared for the trial! There is many`a timid creature who fears where no fear is-trembling at the slightest accident, and shrinking from the most distant apprehension of danger, who can yet brave the thought of the judgment day :-can read those passages of Scripture where it is described, with carelessness; can feel at ease, and enter with avidity into the affairs of the world, without sparing a thought-one serious thought upon the subject! This is misplaced courage indeed!-this is hardihood that surpasses all expression! To such conduct the Bible gives the proper name: there it is called folly: and most appropriately. They are fools who neglect their own interest; and a wise man is he, who pays the greatest attention to the greatest things. In worldly affairs this is readily admitted.

Yet the man who should neglect his business to play with the toys of his infancy, would act rationally compared with him "who lays up treasure for himself in this world, but is not rich toward God." If the heart of man were not hard, blind, and deceitful above all things, such folly could not be. Perhaps one of the chief delusions whereby persons suffer themselves to put away the serious consideration of a judgment to come is, that it is so distant an event. Ages upon ages must roll away, perhaps, before we shall be roused from our long slumber. But it is only the narrow and limited extent of our present views that can give such a consideration any weight. He who "sees the end from the beginning, and to whom a thousand years are as one day," knows that the importance of that event is not at all lessened by its imagined distance :-awful descriptions of it are accordingly given, in order to arouse us to prepare for it. Abel, for whom the first grave was opened, has had indeed, in our view of things, a long, long repose there : but is it therefore of less consequence to him that he was "righteous," and that God had respect to his offering? Will he have less occasion to rejoice, when he stands on the right hand of the Judge, than the saint who has lived in these last times?

It might also be suggested to those who would cry peace to themselves on account of the supposed distance of judgment, that they who are best skilled in interpreting the prophecies of Scripture, are generally of opinion that "the coming of the Lord draweth nigh;" and that we of this generation will have but a short rest in the grave. Perhaps before the stone that guards our dust shall have mouldered,-before the letters that record our names are quite effaced, it shall be torn up "by the voice of the archangel and the trump of God." But how near or how distant the time tle consequence, seeing it is certain.

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gives it its importance. How slight an alleviation is it to the agonies of a condemned criminal to obtain a reprieve, if he knows that it is only a reprieve! and in this view we may justly regard the interval, whether long or short, between death and judgment. "The vision is for an appointed time;" and although "of that day and hour knoweth no man, not even the angels of God," yet it is unchangeably fixed: though it seem to tarry, yet we may wait for it with certain expectation, for at that appointed time it will surely come: it will tarry no longer! Nor let any one imagine that amid such an innumerable assembly, he may possibly be overlooked. It is said that" every one of us must give an account of himself to God, and that the dead, small as well as great, stood before Him." There is, therefore, no person, so young, so obscure, so humble in station or in intellect, but shall stand alone at the bar of that tribunal. So that if you, reader, were to be the only individual singled out for judgment before an assembled universe, your case would not be at all more important or tremendous than it is. But there is another obvious consideration which silences every excuse for indifference, namely, that if judgment be far off, death is near: there may be but a step between us and it; and death will decide our state as certainly as judgment. "There is no repentance in the grave; he that is then unholy must be unholy still."

The unconcern that so many exhibit on this vast subject, can only be accounted for by attributing it to want of thought. It is impossible really to reflect, and remain indifferent. The remedy, therefore, for such strange and fatal apathy obviously is, to acquire such habits of reflection as to familiarize the mind with the concerns of another life. We should then be able to see, by the strong light of Eternity, that things of the greatest importance which only concern this life, its most interesting and endearing engagements, are less than nothing

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