A Six-fold Voice of Warning.
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Methinks I hear six voices crying aloud, to the sons of men:
The first voice is of dying men;
The second is the voice of the damned;
The third is the voice of my precious soul;
The fourth is the voice of Jesus Christ;
The fifth is the voice of evil times;
The sixth is the voice of the day of judgment.
First, methinks, I hear a dying man breathing out these groans: "O lose not a moment of time; for your time is only a moment! O now make sure of heaven; for you know not how soon you must leave the earth!"
Secondly, methinks, I hear the damned man uttering these lamentations: "O come, and see the end of sin—in those who know no end of sorrow! O come, and learn the price of time—from those who must forever suffer for the loss of time!"
And thirdly, methinks, I hear my precious soul using these expostulations: "O my body! you are but for a moment of time—but I must endure forever; when you are mouldering in the dust—where shall I spend my eternity?
I might now obtain heaven as my mansion, angels for my companions, God for my possession; and do you think that I will lose my eternal felicity—to satisfy your fleeting vanity? Is it not better that I should carry you to heaven—than that you should carry me with you to hell?"
And fourthly, methinks I hear Jesus Christ giving these invitations: "Behold, I stand at the door and knock, until my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night.
Here I stand weeping, knocking, begging, and waiting; O open to me! My tears beg—my groans knock—my blood knocks—my death knocks! O open to me! my patience knocks, and waits! O open to me! Let not sin lodge in your heart—and Myself wait at the door; let not damnation rule within—and salvation wait without."
Fifthly, Evil Times use their invitations: "O now be living Christians—for these are dying days! Now be groaning Christians—for these are backsliding times! Now make Jesus Christ your own—for here you know not what is your own."
And sixthly, methinks, I hear the voice of the archangel summoning the dead to come to judgment. "Arise, you holy and blessed saints, take your places with God and his holy angels, to judge the world!
But arise, you cursed naked souls, and stand in the presence of God, and of his blessed saints, to be judged as you lived in the world!" O Lord, let me hear with fear the first voices—that I may not fear to hear the last voice.
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