Death to be seiz'd by the Devil and carry'd into the place of Torment Oh dismal Thought to have the Confidence of a whole Life broken in pieces in one Moment How terrible to be found at Death under the Wrath of God when they would never believe it nor consider it till too late You can now Read or Hear a Sermon of an * See more of this Serious Reflections on Time and Eternity Sect. xix Everlasting Hell and of the Misery of a Lost Soul as one can bear a terrible Description of a Shipwrack who never was at Sea but it will be quite another thing if when you expect to be sav'd you drop into Hell O look into the other World make the Supposition of your own Death and what is like to follow Admit the serious Thoughts of it for a few Moments Retire sometimes on purpose for this But with how few can we prevail for so much as this You will not be perswaded to it lest it spoil your Mirth damp your Pleasure make you Melancholly and Sorrowful but if you die in Sin there will be nothing but Sorrow after Death And in your present Case I may say As the Lord lives and as thy Soul lives there 's but a Step between thee and Death between thee and Intollerable Endless Wrath. Now if you are a little awaken'd by a serious Sermon Book or Providence and Conscience begins to trouble you and make you uneasie you have many things to divert and quiet it but hereafter there will be nothing of all this How little is this believed by such as talk with a seeming Bravery of laying violent Hands upon Themselves And in case of extream Pain or any great Disappointment to put an end to their own Lives to dispatch themselves and die by their own Hands Is not this to proceed without the Leave of the great Governour of the World whose Propriety they destroy and against whose Providence they Rebel by such an Act * That it is unlawful according to Natural Principles See Mr. Adams's Essay concerning Self Murther 8vo newly printed But if there be a Heaven or Hell to follow Death which the greatest part of Mankind in all Ages at least of all Christians ten thousand to one have believed how hazardous and destructive is their Folly Fourthly We may hence take our Measures of Wisdom and Folly according to Mens Conduct and Care with reference to the other World and the two Eternal States of Mankind One would wonder how things of so great Moment should be forgotten and not alwaies in our Minds Would it not be strange * Dr. Spurstow Medit. xliii Upon Time and Eternity 8vo if a Man who was to be judg'd to morrow and receive the Sentence either of a Cruel Death or of a Rich and Honourable Estate should not keep in mind the Business of the next approaching Day without tying a scarlet thread on his Finger to mind him Is it not strange that the Infinitely greater things of Eternal Life or Death should not be remembred and thought of when we know not what a Day may bring forth Will not the Folly be Inexcusable as well as the Punishment of Sinners Dreadfull who shall feel Everlastingly what they would not be perswaded to fear Suppose a Man much desirous of Sleep and in his perfect Mind should have an Offer made of one Nights sweet Rest on condition to be punisht an hundred years for it would he accept of Sleep on such terms And do not they far worse and make a more foolish Choice who for the short Pleasures of Sin will lose Eternal Life and hazard the enduring of Endless Misery What is it that makes our Cares and Fears so Preposterous That we are afraid of a little Suffering here and not of Hell That we are Anxious about to morrow and Thoughtless of Eternity That we dread the Lightning and slight the Thunderbolt What Name can be given to that Folly for a Man to own his Soul may be lost for ever and yet take no Care to save it To believe an Everlasting Heaven and yet be at no Pains to obtain it To own the Horror of God's Eternal Wrath for Impenitent Sinners and yet Live and Die without Repentance These are Extravagancies beyond common Madness and of more Dangerous Consequence What will become of that Man's Wisdom who is not Wise enough to prevent Eternal Misery Who liv'd with some tolerable Reputation as a Wise Man in this World and yet so Dies as to call himself Fool for ever and suffer to all Eternity the Effects of his Folly Can the World and all that I shall gain of it save me from Wrath to come Bring me off when I appear before the Barr of Christ Prevent the Sentence of Condemnation or Release me from the Pit of Hell if I am once sent there Or will it be any Refreshment in the place of Torment to think what a brave Figure I made on Earth How many Hundreds a Year I had How Large and Beautifull Pleasant and Convenient a Dwelling How much I was Honour'd How many Servants to Attend me How many Thousand Pounds I got spent or laid up or had the Disposal of Will the Thoughts and Remembrance of these things give me any Comfort in Everlasting Burnings What 's all this to me if once my Soul be Lost Let us then judge Righteous Judgment and we cannot but conclude that is Wisest and Best which will prove so at Last Not to Believe the Eternal Torments of Hell after such Clear Evidence and Repeated Declaration of the Word of God is egregious Folly But not to Disbelieve them and yet do nothing to escape is more Astonishing Who would drink a Draught of cooling Liquor if told there is Poison in the Glass And yet Men go on in Sin and Drink in Iniquity like Water though they are told the Wages of Sin is Eternal Death All the Pleasures of many Years in a course of Sin cannot compensate for a Man's Burning in a Furnace at the End of that time though but for four and twenty hours How is it then that the repeated Threatnings of Everlasting Destruction should not weigh more to keep us from Sin than the Gain of a little Money or the pleasing a Friend or gratifying an Appetite in the short Enjoyment of a forbidden Pleasure Who would chuse to to be treated like a Prince or a King for one Day or Week or Month if he knew he must at the end of that time be rackt and tortur'd to Death and finish his Days in Exquisite Torments And what is this in Comparison of Dying the Second Death Suppose that Origen's Opinion should be true * Bishop Jer. Taylor The Foolish Exchangs Serm. XIX That Cursed Souls should have a Period to their Tortures after a Thousand Years would it not be madness to chuse the Pleasure or Wealth of a few Years now with Danger Trouble and Uncertainty and for this to endure
able to stifle the Convictions or cure the Fears or silence the Reflections of an accusing Conscience Which can make a Man so very miserable as to wish he had never been or that he might cease to be or that he might be any other Creature Nay some have wish'd that they were rather in Hell than in their present Horror And if it may be thus for * Mr. Bolton one Sin Oh! what restless Anguish what intolerable Wrath what gnashing of Teeth what gnawing of Conscience what despairing Roarings what horrible Torments may every Impenitent Sinner expect when the whole black and bloody Catalogue of all his Sins shall be marshal'd together at once against him and every one keen'd with as much torturing Fury as the infinite Anger of Almighty God can put into it after that he hath with incorrigible Stubbornness outstood the Day of his gracious Visitation If a little Sense of God's Wrath hath such direful Effects in this World what will it be when all his Waves shall go over them Now they may sip a little drop of the bitter Cup they may taste a little of the uppermost part of it and they can't live under this what will it be in Hell to drink the Dregs of that Cup of Trembling You may guess somewhat by what Francis Spira said in his despairing Anguish under the Guilt of his Apostasie Oh! that I were gone from hence Oh! that some body would let out this weary Soul Never was Man alive a Spectacle of such Misery I feel God's heavy Anger it burns like the Torments of Hell within me and afflicts my Soul with Pains unutterable Verily Desperation is Hell it self The Damned in Hell I think endure not the like Misery He being sound in his Mind and Memory he yet wished to be in the case of Cain or Judas Oh saith he if I could but conceive the least spark of Hope in my Breast of a better state hereafter I would not refuse to bear the most heavy wrath of the great God for two thousand Years so that at length I might get out of misery Oh! that God would let loose his hand upon me I would scorn the threats of the most cruel Tyrant and bear Torments with the most invincible Resolution and glory in the outward Profession of Christ till I were choakt with the Flame and my Body burnt to ashes You may have now a wounded Spirit and an uneasie Conscience but a plentifull Estate and company of Friends and many other things to lessen your burden The Arrows of the Almighty strike now but one part and not all But when all thy Sins shall be set in order before thee and God shall stir up all his wrath thy Terrour Distress and Anguish without any thing to alleviate or abate it will be unexpressible and unsupportable Secondly Let us now consider that both these States of Happiness and Misery are Vnchangeable and Everlasting The state of Lazarus in Blessedness and of the Rich Man in Torment were neither of them to be alter'd There is an unpassable Gulf fixt by the Eternal Counsel and irrevocable Decree of God That the Damned shall never ascend to Heaven nor the Blessed ever sink into Hell The Calamities of the one and the Felicity of the other shall never cease 'T is Everlasting Life 't is Everlasting Destruction The whole Frame of the Christian Religion is built upon this Truth That Life and Immortality are brought to light by the Gospel as to the Blessedness or Misery after Death We must renounce our Christianity and throw up our Bibles condemn the Son of God for an Impostor and the Holy Scriptures for a Fable and all the wisest men that have ever been in the World as Fools for believing the Gospel of Christ if there be not two Eternal States of Blessedness or Misery after Death Our Lord's account of the proceedings of the Last Day Matt. xxv and the Issue of the Final Judgment is express in this matter And it is called Eternal Judgment Heb. vi 2. Not for the continuance of its Administration but in regard of the Effects and Consequences of it For tho' we know not how long the Day of Judgment will last yet the Execution is to follow of Eternal Rewards and Punishments First As to the Blessedness of the Saints They that would pass from us to you cannot saith Abraham Not that any would chuse for one hour to be absent from God in Heaven if they might but upon supposition they would they cannot If Abraham had desired Lazarus and Lazarus had been willing yet the Gulf was fixt Accordingly we read of Everlasting Life Joh. vi 27.40.47 51 54 58. Ch. viii 51 Ch. xi 26. Heb. xiii 14. 2 Cor v. 1. Heb ix 5. 1 Pet. i. 4. 2 Pet i 11. Rev xxi 4. 1 Cor. xv 57. Eternal Glory Eternal Salvation an Eternal Inheritance that fadeth not away the Everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ Everlasting Habitations a Continuing City a House Eternal in the Heavens Pleasures at God's Right Hand for ever And that they that believe on Christ shall never taste Death That they cannot dye for they are equal to the Angels who always behold the Face of their Heavenly Father and abide in the Light of his Countenance That they shall bear the Image of the Heavenly Adam who should never dye and by whom at last Death shall be swallowed up in victory After millions of Years and Ages the Felicity of the Saints shall be as far from ending as when their Souls were first received into Paradise The Infinite Love of God the Everlasting Merit of Christ and the Unchangeableness of the Covenant of Grace assures us they shall be Happy for ever They shall eat of the Tree of Life in the midst of the Paradise of God Ro iii. 12. and be Pillars in the Divine Temple and go out no more To live for ever in the Light and Love and Joy of Heaven Oh! what a Thought is that How may it swallow up all our other Thoughts If one day's Communion with God on Earth be better than a thousand elsewhere what shall we think of immediate Everlasting Communion with God in Heaven When we shall see him as he is and love him more than we can now think and that not for a Day or a Week but for thousands and millions of Years yea for a long and blessed Eternity that will never be over For it is an Immortal Inheritance 't is an Everlasting Kingdom We shall reign with God and with the Lamb for ever We shall see him love him praise him and enjoy him for evermore What we shall see and know will never lessen in our Eye and Esteem What we shall love will never cease to be lovely What we shall praise will always deserve our praise And what we shall enjoy we shall never be weary of enjoying God shall be All in All to fill every power and capacity of the
miserable Man who when he dies shall be miserable to all Eternity And can you think him Wise who will carelesly put it to the venture and will not bestirr himself to prevent it Now you have besides the Call of God's Word and Providence many Helps by Friends and Ministers ready to assist you and the Spirit of God has not yet forsaken you but if ye will shut your Eyes and stop your Ears and harden your Hearts and are resolv'd to go on Remember you are faithfully and plainly warned Secondly How valuable a Talent then is our Time How great a Sin is Idleness and the mispense of Precious Irrecoverable Time on which depends our Eternal Happiness or Misery What have we our Time given us for but to provide for our Eternal State If HEAVEN and HELL be great Realities and no such Insignificant Words as Infidels would make them If Endless Joy or Misery be the Consequent of Improving or Mispending our Time how ought we to value it Within the compass of this little uncertain Time must the great Question be decided where we shall have our Portion for ever Doubtless God hath given every Man sufficient Work in this World for all his Time And he that is unfit to die or uncertain of Salvation hath Work enough to do and should be ashamed to live as if he knew not what to do with his Time Very few consider that of all their Prodigalities this of their Time is the most impossible to be Redeem'd And what they would give when they come to die for a little of that Time that they Now are at a loss how to throw away If any of those who have left this World might have a Time of Tryal again what different Apprehensions would they have of the value of it But whether we Believe it or no Redeem it or Mispend it it is not long e're we shall know and find how much our present Time is worth How many young Gentlemen and Others live an Idle Sensual Life and so in a Continual Course of Sin against the Universal Law of God with the forfeiture of his Protection and their Daily Bread As if they had no Business in this World to mind but Recreation and Pleasure No God to serve no Soul to save or Eternity to provide for They consider not that it is not only Whoremongers and Idolaters and Drunkards and Notorious Criminals Matt. xxv 13. Chap. xii 22. but the Slothful and Vnprofitable Servant that shall be bound Hand and Foot and cast into outer Darkness where shall be weeping and wailing and gnashing of Teeth A Life of Idleness is contrary to the great Ends of God both in Creation and Redemption for every Man is to honour God in the World and do all the Good he can to others To provide for his own Salvation and promote the Welfare of Humane Society which can never be done by an Idle Life And Christians are under special Obligation to be a peculiar People zealous of good Works Let any Man be as frugal of his Time as he can and he will find himself advanc'd in Years before he hath got a Competent Fitness for the Place and Station the Providence of God has put him in and it may be will arrive to Old Age if he do not die sooner before he hath liv'd to any such valuable Purpose as by that time he will wish he had done I speak not against all Diversions and Recreations which within the Bounds of Moderation are needful to keep the Body and the Mind in a due Temper for Service But too many make that a Business which should be only a Diversion and turn Recreation into a Calling by employing their whole Time in it which is neither becoming them as Men or as Christians And as to Sports and Pastimes in general the best of them come so near to Idleness and the worst of them to Vice that as the Latter should have no part the Other should have but a small Proportion of our Time only as our Health and fitness for Business does require For when we come to leave the World we shall think otherwise of the value of our Hasty Time than now we do Then you will bitterly lament the many precious Hours you spent in Vanity saying Oh that they might be recall'd Oh that the Opportunities of Mercy and the Invitations of Grace that once I had might be made me again Oh that God would try me a little longer How strictly and seriously would I employ my Time in Preparation for Eternity even that Time that I was wont to spend in Idleness and Folly in Vain Company and Sensual Mirth in Chaffering for the World or making Provision for the Flesh to fulfill the Lusts thereof But it may be then too Late Thirdly How Awful a thing is it and of how great Consequence must it be for any Man to die and leave this World Especially with what Dread should we admit the Consideration of the Change by Death of one that dies in his Sins The Apprehension and Thought of Death with one of these two Consequences must make this Change more Affecting Solemn and Serious to every Considering Person than commonly it is We hear of the Death of many we follow several of our Friends and Acquaintance to the Grave One after Another we talk of it in common Conversation Such a Man is Dead such a Woman is Dead such a Relation such a Friend is Dead but we do it oftentimes so slightly and carelesly as if there were no more in it than that Such and Such were gone a few Days Journey into a Neighbouring County or at most gone beyond Sea for a few Months But 't is a great thing to Die 't is an awful thing to be Dead Because the Soul must be saved or lost for ever Such a one is Dead O Sirs what is that to say What do ye mean by such words Why the Soul of such a Friend or Acquaintance of mine is gone to Heaven or Hell He or She whom we lately convers'd with is now unspeakably Blessed or intolerably Miserable and shall be so to all Eternity according to what their State and Condition was when they left this World If we miscarry in this great Affair and don't Die well do not die the Death of the Righteous we are lost for ever Death will determine our Everlasting State It is the way of all Living the way of all the Earth But it hath two Turnings the one on the Right-hand to Everlasting Joy and Blessedness the other on the Left to Everlasting Sorrow and Destruction How Serious and Important a thing then is it for any of us for every of us to die if we believe the Everlasting World and the Consequence of Dying When a Man comes to die and is apprehensive of his Eternal State then he cries out Oh Fool and Wretch that I have been to trifle away my precious Time to forfeit all my Hopes of Heaven
their Joyfull Sense of the Happy Change And to compare their own Condition with that of Lost Miserable Souls To think of the Hell they deserv'd and others suffer and they themselves did sometime fear and compare it with the Rest and Peace and Joy and Glory that they now partake of will add to their Felicity And who can tell how great that is even before the Resurrection For eye hath not seen 1 Cor. ii 9. nor ear heard nor hath it entred into the heart of man to conceive what God hath prepared for them that love him It is represented in Scripture by and above all such Pleasures as do most sensibly Delight us to set forth the Joys of Heaven to be unspeakable and full of Glory When the Divine Image shall be perfected the Body of Sin and Death removed all our Darkness Impurity and Corruption healed And if there were nothing else but a perfect and eternal Freedom and Deliverance from Sin with all the Causes Concomitants and Effects of it they to whom it is now the greatest Burden Trouble and Sorrow must account it an Unspeakable Felicity But the Soul shall then awake as out of Sleep to see and know things as really they are and be in a state of more vigorous Activity than while it animated the Body But what the Blessedness will be of Faith turned into Vision when all the Powers of the Soul are enlarged raised and suited to the views of God's Glory by Christ and made more receptive of Divine Communications is what we want Words to describe and can think and speak of but very imperfectly For now we see thro' a Glass darkly but hereafter Face to Face without interruption or obscurity This we know that they shall not only escape the Damnation of Hell but enter into a state of Happiness the Joy of their Lord. We read of Glory to be revealed in them and Glory conferred on them In general as to real and positive Blessedness for the Souls of Good Men after Death even before the Day of Judgement we have not only the Testimony of Scripture but somewhat from the Light of Nature * Mr. How 's Blessedness of the Righteous Chap. 10. All the Philosophers who believ'd the Immortality of the Soul and how few but did allow it they profess to believe the Happiness of the Souls of Good Men in separation from the Body for knowing nothing of the Resurrection of the Body they could not dream of a sleeping Interval till the Day of Judgment The like we may say of a state of postitive Misery for wicked Souls after Death Here in this parable is a Lost Soul condemn'd to Torment assoon as departed this Life before the Resurrection And Torments so extream as that the most inconsiderable Refreshment would be reckon'd a great Relief The Discourse is fram'd according to the Nature of a Parable between the Rich Man in Hell and Abraham in Heaven and Lazarus with him How fain would he now change Conditions with the Beggar whom he neglected and despised at his Door What would he give to be comforted as he is But he lift up his Eyes in Torment unexpressible Torment and so the Scriptures every where represent it Rom. ii 8. 'T is call'd Indignation and Anguish Tribulation and Wrath. 'T is a fearfull thing to fall into the hands of the living God Psal xi 6. He will wound the Head of his Enemies Psal lxviii 21. We read of a Lake of Fire a Lake of Brimstone a Furnace of Fire of tearing in pieces cutting in pieces dividing in the midst drowning in Perdition of being bound hand and foot and cast into Fire to be burnt of outer darkness chains of darkness the great Winepress of the wrath of God c. Be sure the Sufferings of the wicked in the other World are greater than we can endure for obeying God in this otherwise the threatning of such a Punishment would not be an effectual restraint from Sin But how extream must be that Punishment set forth by the violence of Fire enraged with Brimstone and prepared by the wrath of God for the Devil and his Angels And the Sting of a guilty enraged Conscience as the biting and gnawing of a Worm on the most tender part 'T is represented in such a manner as is most proper to impress the quickest sense of terrour on our minds to strike our Imagination with the Extremity as well as the Reality of those Sufferings And if the Expressions be but Metaphorical they make the Torments the greater as intimating rather that they are but faintly shadow'd by what is most grievous in this World We read of being tormented in Flames and yet of Darkness Everlasting Fire and * See Dr. Lightfoot 's Genuine Remains 8o. 1700. Explanation of difficult Texts Decad 11 § 6. Outer Darkness The fearfull state of Sinners under the Wrath of God describ'd by both We read that the Aegyptians under the plague of Darkness saw not one another neither arose any from his place Ex. x. 23. This the Psalmist gives an account of in these terms Psal 88.49 He cast upon them the fierceness of his Anger Wrath and Indignation by sending evil Angels among them The Indignation of God without any beam or spark of his Favour is Darkness indeed And the Devils may rage and roar and terrify and yet Sinners be held in Chains of Darkness that they cannot stir God is represented as a Consuming Fire Heb. xii ult a Devouring Fire and Sinners fall into his hands as an Avenging Judge Isa xxxiii 14 We read of his Fiery Indignation to devour his Adversaries of his Wrath and Power to be made known Rom. ix 22. and glorified in their Destruction And who knows the Power of his Anger said Moses the Man of God who saw his Glory The Wrath of God is the Hell of Devils and of all the Damned If he be angry but a little we can't stand at the rebuke of his Countenance we perish what then if he stir up all his Wrath in the day of his fierce Anger when he comes to execute Judgment and to render Vengeance from the Glory of his Power upon the Wicked fitted for and reserved to Destruction You may fancy the most terrible things can be dreaded of Fire and Brimstone Wracks and Tempests boiling Pitch scalding Lead or a burning Furnace and being kept alive for a long time to suffer such exquisite pains But all we can hereby reach to conceive of the Pains of Hell falls as much short of the Torments of the Damned as one little spark of Fire on the hand compared with the furious rage of Nebuchadnezzar's Furnace heated seven times hotter than ordinary 'T is impossible for the most awakened Conscience to conceive the Horrour of it Who can tell how God can punish or what the guilty Soul can be made to suffer under the Wrath of a provoked God! when he comes to be revenged for all
we are For if Hell were open to our view we might see such there as once thought themselves in as fair a way for Heaven as we And when they left the World it was as little thought by their surviving Acquaintance that they were Damned as it would be supposed of us if we should now die Let us not delude our selves by a Foolish Thought as if the Judgment-Day was a great way off and the Sufferings of the Wicked are not to be compleat till after that For when the Wicked die they are deprived of all they lov'd for ever separated from the Objects of their Affections and awaken'd to review their Sins and understand their Folly They Remember the Grace and Glory they have despised the Happiness they wilfully rejected and all the Means and Helps they once had to escape Damnation And so their own Conscience must needs accuse condemn and reproach for their Wilfulness and Obstinacy That they were warned to flee from the Wrath to come and they were offered Heaven and Eternal Life That they were urg'd again and again not to lose their Season of Mercy and Day of Grace That they were entreated in time to consider the things that belong to their Eternal Peace c. And must they not then suffer terrible things in the State of Separation under the Lash of a Condemning Immortal Mind without any Hope of escaping the Tribunal of their Judge or of avoiding or deferring the Execution of his terrible Sentence How dreadful must it be to lose the Favour of God for ever and lie in Torment under his Wrath with the weight of this killing Thought That this is the Effect of my own Madness the Fruit of my own Choice 't is a Rod of my own making 't is Misery of my own procuring I have undone and destroy'd my self And some will be able to say further I was convinc'd of Sin and resolv'd to turn from it I had many Struglings of Conscience and many Breathings of the Divine Spirit I did begin to seek after God I was almost perswaded there was a time when I was not far from the Kingdom of God But I return'd again to Folly and harden'd my Heart I had Knowledge I had Time I might have had Assistance and Helps of many sorts I had repeated Warnings I was faithfully admonished and for some time I profess'd Repentance I confess'd Sin I wept for Sin I pray'd against it I went so far as to own my Baptism and enter into Solemn Covenant with God and renew it at his Table But I lov'd my Sins and Lusts and quickly broke all these Bonds and harken'd to my old Companions and Acquaintance and was worse afterward than before Let us think often with our selves How certain is the Blessedness of the Saints How inevitable and intolerable the Misery of Sinners on whom the Wrath of God shall abide Be not deceiv'd with the foolish talk of Infidels who are undone for ever if the Holy Scriptures be the Word of God I say for ever as hath been prov'd from the Old and New Testament without Release or Period Abraham did not go about to comfort the Rich Man in Hell with any such false Stories That after he had suffer'd a while he should be Releas'd But tells him the Gulf was fix'd This will be the killing Accent of their Sufferings to have no Hope of End but after having suffer'd as many Millions of Ages as there are Sands on the Sea-shore ten thousand times told yet an Eternity of Sufferings is still to come After having endured Torment for as many Millions of Years and Ages as there be drops of Water in the Ocean yet not one Moment nearer the End of their Torments The Continuance of their Misery shall not be measur'd by Time but by the Immutability of Divine Justice and the boundless Abyss of Eternity Rev. ii 11. Rev. xxi 8. 'T is the second Death not the turning our Souls and Bodies into nothing but such a Death by which they may be hurt They that die that Death shall be hurt by it which could not be if they were to be Annihilated A Lake burning with Fire and Brimstone is the second Death A Death without the Power of Dying and yet with the perpetual Desire of it whose Sting can never be taken out whose Terror is as Everlasting as the Joys of Heaven There 's nothing of Life remaining in this Death but the Sense of Misery and the Knowledge of that to be Endless And that this Dark Night shall never be succeeded by the Light of any Morning They shall ever live to be ever miserable to feel Torments unto Infinite Ages to a boundless and never-ending Eternity They shall wish and endeavour not to be and yet subsist and not die Always suffer without ever ceasing to live and suffer Rev. ix 6. They shall seek Death but not find it Death shall flee from them They shall never be able to say the Bitterness of Death is past It will be Wrath to come after numberless Ages These are terrible things to hear of but how much more to experience What Heart can endure these Thoughts without Fear and Trembling Who for the Pleasures of Sin for a season would hazard the enduring this endless Wrath Better to suffer all the Pains and Miseries we are capable of in this World for a thousand Years than the Pains of Hell for one Hour But to endure them for ever without Hope of End this sinks the Soul under Anguish and Despair that none of our Words or Thoughts can reach Oh Eternity Eternity Is it true or can it possibly be false after so many express Scriptures to assert it that there will be no Period to the Misery of Sinners That the Fire shall burn to all Eternity That the Worm of Conscience shall gnaw for ever The Truth of this would suppose it an unspeakable Favour to be releas'd after a Hundred or a Thousand Years after a Million or ten thousand Millions of Years and Ages To have any Hope of an End 't would be some support But this word Never Never End will make the Damned Rage and Roar with Anguish There is not so much as a Possibility of Deliverance to fasten their Hope upon 'T is Everlasting Destruction The Gulf will be fix'd the Bridge will be drawn the Door will be shut every Anchor of Hope broken 'T is for ever it is to all Eternity Oh think of it as not more Terrible than Certain Oh that I could perswade you to Believe and Apply these things to your selves That under the Profession of Religion with so much Light and Knowledge you may not be undone by Inconsideration For if we would but think a little what Eternity is and consider the Difference between Heaven and Hell it must needs have some Effect If there were only a Possibility of the Truth of things so vastly Great and Important tho' we had no certain Revelation it should be enough to
we disbeliev'd it But we are here told that the Testimony of God in the Holy Scriptures is à more certain Evidence than that can be If such a One should come from the Dead what could he tell us of Heaven and Hell more than has been told us already by Moses and the Prophets by Christ and his Apostles Can there be greater Arguments made use of to bring Men to Repentance than are in the Holy Scriptures Can we hear of a better Heaven or a hotter Hell than is described in the Word of God Or may we hope for the Concurrence of God's Grace with that rather than with his Word Such an Apparition may affect our Senses and strike our Minds a little for the present but would not turn the Will nor change the Heart nor reform the Life We see that by the Case of Pharaoh who had several Miraculous Plagues one would think enough to convince him but he harden'd his Heart still We see it in the History of the Jews who notwithstanding the sight of continu'd Miracles for forty Years they are complain'd of as a Stiffneck'd Ps lxxviii 22 23 24. Rebellious People Yea our Lord himself rose from the Dead and his Resurrection was confirm'd by Five Hundred Witnesses and yet how few Believ'd it We cannot have such Certainty of a particular Apparition as of the Resurrection of Christ And you 'd find it hard to distinguish a true Miracle in that case from a Counterfeit How many in the Church of Rome are deceived by Stories from the Dead If you had your Desire granted in this would you not be tempted to take it for a Spectre a Phantom a waking Dream a melancholy Mormo But if you should believe it and it should affright you for a little while yet 't is very probable that the Impression would by degrees wear off As we find by the Recovery of Persons from the Brink of the Grave who apprehended themselves in the very terrour of Death and the Pains of Hell did almost compass them about they were then full of Sorrow for Sin made many Resolutions against it but we find upon restored Health it quickly comes to nothing they relapse into their old Sins and are not perswaded even by their own Convictions If Lazarus had been sent to the Rich Man's Brethren was it likely they would have Believed him Might they not have plausibly rejected the Message and suppos'd it to be a Cheat How could they imagin that Abraham would take such a one into his Bosom as poor Lazarus or employ him on such an Errand 'T would have been a Disgrace to their Family to Believe such a Report of their Brother's Damnation especially when brought by such a Messenger It may be they would no more have hearken'd to Lazarus now testifying from the other World than heretofore when begging at their Brother's Door The Lusts and Vices of Men would very likely hinder the Success of such a Miracle as this and find ways and shifts to evade the Force of it as well as resist the Evidence and Force of what is laid down in the Scriptures What is said here in the Parable to be denied to One Lazarus was granted as to Another that is our Lord did raise one of that Name from the Dead after he had been Dead four Days and yet some of them who knew him before and when he was Dead and Risen again and convers'd with him afterwards yet were not convinced by that Miracle of Christ to Believe on him for we read Joh. xi 53. That from that very Day of raising Lazarus The High Priests and Rulers took Counsel together how they might put him to Death And we read of One blind and dumb and possessed of a Devil who was healed by Christ Matth. XII 22. where were three Miracles in one and yet it did not convince for we read ver 38. Certain of the Scribes and Pharisees say unto him Master we would see a Sign And after our Lord had miraculously fed Five Thousand Persons with Five Loaves and Two Fishes Joh. VI. some of those very Men who had seen the Miracle and eaten of it and were so far convinced for the present as to say to one another This is of a Truth the Prophet that should come into the World Yet the next Day or within a Day or two when he told them they followed him for the Loaves They say unto him What Sign shewest thou that we may See and Believe as if he had never wrought a Miracle before Yea the Disciples of Christ himself who were Witnesses of so many Miracles were not so far perswaded by them as not to forsake him nay not to deny him To Conclude We are not to expect any such Extraordinary Method for our Conviction while the standing Revelation of the Will of God in the Scriptures is sufficient and the Doctrin there taught hath been abundantly confirm'd by Miracles And if one should rise from the Dead and appear to us 't is probable enough it would not perswade us to Repent if the Word of God will not perswade us But no other Sign our Lord says shall be given but that of Jonas the Prophet That is what 's signified by it the Resurrection of Christ And that hath been Confirm'd by numerous and undeniable Miracles by all manner of Evidence and Proof that such a matter of Fact is capable of Which will leave us without Excuse if we Believe not his Doctrine the Truth of which is sealed by his Rising from the Dead We should therefore study the Holy Scriptures and the Rational Grounds of our Believing Christ to be the Son of God and consequently that All that he hath told us of the Other World will most infallibly come to pass His Resurrection confirms the Truth of all And we are not to expect Any more to Rise from the Dead till We our Selves do unto our Last Judgement The Book is seal'd as the Gulf too is fixt And they that hear not Moses and the Prophets Christ and the Apostles are not like to be perswaded at all But if the Gospel continues to be hid 2 Cor. iv 3. it is hid to them who are Lost AS to our Deceas'd Friend Mr. Shatterden Thomas whose Repentance and Death occasion'd this Discourse and at whose Desire I preach'd and publish it what I shall say concerning him from my Self shall be more in the General because several Particulars I apprehend will be mention'd with more Advantage from the Account given of him by a very Worthy and fit Person who frequently visited him in his last Sickness whose Acquaintance with him Love to the Memory of his good Mother Respect for his Family and Relations and tender Compassion to his Case made her willing to discourse him and give that serious Counsel and Advice which oftentimes is better and more effectually receiv'd from such a Friend than from a Minister And his just Regard for her Quality and Character