These poems are upon subjects the most solemn and affecting to all mankind, and, like all Bunyan's other works, were evidently written, not for display, but to impress upon the heart those searching realities upon which depend our everlasting destiny. Die we must; yes, reader, you and I must follow our fathers to the unseen world. Heaven forbid that we should be such mad fools, as to make no provision for the journey; no inquiries about our prospects in that eternity into which we must so soon enter. True it is, that unless Heaven stops us in our mad career, we shall plunge into irretrievable ruin.
In the first of these poems, many of the minute circumstances attendant on death are pressed upon the memory. Very soon, as Bunyan awfully expresses the though, we must look death in the face, and 'drink with him.' Soon some kind friend or relative will close our eyelids, and shut up our glassy eyes for ever; tie up the fallen jaw, and prepare the corrupting body for its long, but not final resting-place. Our hour-glass is fast ebbing out; time stands ready with his scythe to cut us down; the grave yawns to receive us. 'Man dieth and wasteth away; yea, man giveth up the ghost, and where is he' (Job 14:10). The answer is ready, sure, certain—he goes to the judgment of the great day. There every thought that has passed over his mind, while on earth, will be manifested and scrutinized; every action, every sin, and every supposed good work, however private, will then be published. It is an awful thought. Thousands of works which are thought good will be weighed in the unerring balances of truth, will be found wanting, and proved to be bad, not arising from evangelical motives; while all our thoughts, words, and actions will appear in their real colours tainted by sin. Those only who are clothed in the Redeemer's righteousness, and cleansed by his purifying, sanctifying sufferings, can stand accepted, and will receive the invitation, Come, ye blessed, inherit the kingdom of your father, and your God, by adoption into his family; while an innumerable multitude will be hurried away by the voice of the judge, Go, ye cursed, into everlasting torment. Solemn consideration. Reader, have you fled for refuge to the hope set before you in the gospel? Have you felt the alarm in your soul under a sense of sin and judgment? Were you dead, and are you made alive? O, then, while you bless the Saviour for such unspeakable mercies, seek with all diligence, as life is prolonged, to extend the blessing to others. There is no work nor device in the grave, whither we are all hastening, that can benefit mortals. The great gulf will be fixed, and our state be finally decided for eternity. O, then, if you have not yet attained that good hope of heavenly felicity, sure and stedfast—hasten—yes,
'Hasten, O sinner, to be blest
And stay not for the morrow's sun;
For fear the curse should thee arrest
Before the morrow be begun.'
GEO. OFFOR.
ONE THING IS NEEDFUL,
OR
SERIOUS MEDITATIONS UPON THE FOUR LAST THINGS—DEATH, JUDGMENT, HEAVEN, AND HELL
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE ENSUING DISCOURSE.
1. These lines I at this time present
To all that will them heed,
Wherein I show to what intent
God saith, Convert[2] with speed.
2. For these four things come on apace,
Which we should know full well,
Both death and judgment, and, in place
Next to them, heaven and hell.
3. For doubtless man was never born
For this life and no more:
No, in the resurrection morn
They must have weal or woe.
4. Can any think that God should take
That pains, to form a man
So like himself, only to make
Him here a moment stand?
5. Or that he should make such ado,
By justice, and by grace;
By prophets and apostles too,
That men might see his face?
6. Or that the promise he hath made,
Also the threatenings great,
Should in a moment end and fade?
O! no, this is a cheat.
7. Besides, who is so mad, or worse,
To think that Christ should come
From glory, to be made a curse,
And that in sinners' room,
8. If nothing should by us be had
When we are gone from hence,
But vanities, while here? O mad
And foolish confidence.
9. Again, shall God, who is the truth,
Say there is heaven and hell
And shall men play that trick of youth
To say, But who can tell?
10. Shall he that keeps his promise sure
In things both low and small,
Yet break it like a man impure,
In matters great'st of all?
11. O, let all tremble at that thought,
That puts on God the lie,
That saith men shall turn unto nought
When they be sick and die.
12. Alas, death is but as the door
Through which all men do pass,
To that which they for evermore
Shall have by wrath or grace.
13. Let all therefore that read my lines,
Apply them to the heart:
Yea, let them read, and turn betimes,
And get the better part.
14. Mind therefore what I treat on here,
Yea, mind and weigh it well;
'Tis death and judgment, and a clear
Discourse of heaven and hell.