Wesley Corpus

9. Suppose this to be the case with any of you that are now present before God. It may be so to-morrow; perhaps to-night; perhaps this night your "soul may be required of you;" the dream of life may end, and you may wake into broad eternity! See, there lies the poor inanimate carcase, shortly to be sown in corruption and dishonour. But where is the immortal, incorruptible spirit There it stands, naked before the eyes of God! Meantime, what is become of all the affairs which you have been eagerly engaged in under the sun What profit have you reaped of all your labour and care Does your money follow you No; you have left it behind you; -- the same thing to you as if it had vanished into air! Does your gay or rich apparel follow you Your body is clothed with dust and rottenness. Your soul, indeed is clothed with immortality. But, O! what immortality Is it an immortality of happiness and glory; or of shame and everlasting contempt Where is the honour, the pomp, of the rich and great; the applause that surrounded you All gone; all are vanished away, "like as a shadow that departeth." "The play is over," said Monsieur Moultray, when he saw the ball pierce the temples of his dying master. [Charles XII, King of Sweden, at the siege of Frederickshall.] And what cared the courtier for this No more than if it had been the conclusion of a farce or dance. But while the buffoon slept on and took his rest, it was not so with the monarch. Though he was not terrified with anything on earth, he would be at the very gates of hell. Vain valour! In the very article of death, he grasped the hilt of his sword! But where was he the next moment, when the sword dropped out of his hand, and the soul out of his body Then ended the splendid dream of royalty, -- of glory, of destroying cities, and of conquering kingdoms!