From this Parabolical Description of the different Condition of the Souls of Men after Death I would observe First That the state of Mankind after Death is a Condition of Real Positive Happiness or Misery of Comfort or Torment Secondly That both these States are fixed and unchangeable The Blessed shall never be Miserable and the Miserable shall never cease to be so First When the Union between the Soul and Body is dissolved by Death the Soul of every Man passeth into a state of Happiness or Misery This we may plainly learn from this Parable Ver. 22 23. When the Beggar died he was carry'd into Abraham's Bosom And the Rich Man also died and was buried it may be he had a pompous Funeral the only Advantage if it be one of the Rich above the Poor after they are dead and in Hell he lift up his Eyes being in torment The one had his good things here the other his evil things But now the one is comforted the other tormented Ver. 25. This is an account of departed Souls before the Resurrection for the Rich Man is said to be in Torment while his five Brethren were alive and he desired that One should be sent to admonish and warn them that they might not come to this place of Torment We read but of two sorts at the Day of Judgment The Sheep and the Goats the one pronounced Blessed the other Accursed The one to go away into everlasting Life and the other into everlasting Punishment God hath told us that he will render to every Man according to his Works And as Man is capable by his Reasonable Nature of giving an Account of his Actions and of being rewarded or punish'd in another World those very Faculties which give him this Capacity and distinguish him from the inferiour Creatures do suggest this and fill him with Hopes and Fears accordingly So that comparing the Righteousness and Justice and the other Infinite Perfections of God with the present Dispensations of Providence some such different state by the very Light of Nature as well as Scripture may be expected hereafter The assurance therefore of God's being infinitely Wise and Just gives us to expect that a Difference will be made between these in another World which we see is not done now And the rather because Civil Society can never be supported if there be no Restraint upon the Lusts and Passions of Men and these can never be sufficiently restrain'd without the Hopes and Fears of another World and as these therefore are natural we may conclude 'em true and that there is another World and a Future State of Happiness or Misery We read in this Parable of the different Character and Condition of the Rich Man and Lazarus in this World But we read also of the Happiness of the one and the Misery of the other as soon as they died The Comforts of the one and the Torments of the other were doubtless unexpressibly great tho we may allow an Addition to both upon the Re-union of Body and Soul at the Resurrection of the Dead But more particularly First The Souls of good Men at Death enter into a state of Rest Happiness and Bliss That of Lazarus being carried into Abraham's Bosom Mat. xviii 11. The meaning of that Expression our Saviour seems to interpret in another place when he says Many shall come from the East and from the West and sit down with Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven Alluding to a Feast where the Guests sat so as to be half kneeling and the most honourable place was to be next to that of the Master to lie as it were in his Bosom As is said of the Beloved Disciple concerning Christ If it denote an eminent degree of Blessedness in Heaven it infers a positive state of Happiness after Death called the Bosom of Abraham rather than of Adam Enoch or Noah because the Promises were especially made to him and to his Seed belong'd the Covenant and the Adoption And he is propounded as a Pattern of Faith and Obedience and called the Friend of God and the Father of the Faithful And they who imitate him shall be gathered into his Bosom and be made partakers of Blessedness and Glory with him This is called Paradise by our Saviour Luk. xxiii 43. And we learn from St. Paul where this Paradise is even in the third Heavens The Ancients call the Place and State before the Resurrection The Porch of the Sanctuary the Courts of the Lord the hidden Seats or Tabernacles of the Godly the Place of Refreshment the Rest of Security an Habitation with God c. From what our Saviour said to the Penitent Thief on the Cross and from what we may gather from this Parable concerning Lazarus the Immediate Happiness of the Souls of Good Men in another state is affirmed That they are not to tarry for their Felicity till the Resurrection Acts vii 59. So when the Body of Stephen falls asleep the Lord Jesus received his Spirit And the Apostle desires to be uncloath'd of this Earthly Tabernacle 2 Cor. v 8. 1 John iv 17. that his Soul might enter into the House not made with Hands That he might be present with the Lord. He desir'd to be dissolved that he might be with Christ as what was far better much more better And the same Phrase being with Christ or being present with him is us'd for the Happiness of the Saints after the Resurrection 1 Thess iv 14 17. intimating that it is the same sort of Happiness and is so much preferrable to any present Enjoyment of God in this World that this is call'd an Absence from him We likewise read of the Souls of the Martyrs who came out of great Tribulation and had washed their Robes and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb Rev. vii 14. That they are before the Throne of God serving him in his Temple And that is interpreted of his Immediate Presence in Another Place for the Lord God Almighty Chap. xxi 22. and the Lamb are said to be the Temple How excellent a Change will Death make upon the Soul 's leaving the Body If it pass into a Glorious Paradise and hear a Voice from him that sits upon the Throne Enter into thy Master's Joy Poor Lazarus was lately very miserable at the Rich Man's Door now very happy in Abraham's Bosom Lately cover'd with Sores and Ulcers now cloathed with Glory Lately pining with Hunger now all his Wants are supplied His extream Poverty made him the other day despised by the Rich Man he could find no Entrance at his Gates no Admission no Relief but now he is envy'd for his Happiness The difference which departed Souls will feel of their Happy State from what they lately were and the Sense they have of the Evils they are Deliver'd from will give an Accent to their Happiness The fresh Remembrance of what they were in this World will help
Heaven and Hell OR The Unchangeable State OF Happiness or Misery For all MANKIND In Another WORLD Occasion'd by the Repentance and Death of Mr. Shetterden Thomas who departed this Life April 7 1700. Aetat 26. Preach'd and Publish'd at the Desire and Direction of the Deceased With some Particulars he order'd should be mentioned in hope of doing Good to Others By John Shower With a further Account of some Passages of his last Sickness by a Pious Lady who often visited him LONDON Printed by J. Heptinstall for John Sprint at the Bell in Little-Britain 1700. THE Epistle Dedicatory TO Mr. DANIEL THOMAS OF HIGHGATE SIR I Should look on my self as justly expos'd to the Censure of the World if before a Treatise of so serious a Nature and such Important Consequence I should prefix any thing that looks like Flattery either of You or of the Honoured Lady the Relation of whose Discourse with Your Deceased Brother in his last Sickness is here annex'd How much You reckon'd Your self indebted to Her for that Instance of her Friendship I have heard You acknowledge with great Thankfulness You have reason to own the singular Goodness of God who gave him so Merciful a Season of Repentance and his Grace as we charitably hope to make use of it to better purpose than most late Penitents do I endeavour'd to be Faithful to him while he liv'd and to fulfil his Desire after his Decease in what was Preach'd and is now more largely Publish'd May neither You nor I lose the Impressions of this Instructive Providence or of that Awful Subject it led me to treat of If no Others should profit by either I wish with all my Heart and most earnestly beg it of God that You and Yours may Sir I shall only put You in mind with what Kindness and Affection he sent for Your Children a little before his Death and recommended to You and my Sister a particular Care of their Education in the Knowledge and Fear of God and mention'd it with Pleasure that they were like to have that Advantage May both of them live to have it and improve it to Honour God in the World and partake of the Blessings of the Everlasting Covenant And may All mine do so likewise Which is the Earnest Prayer of him who is with unfeigned Respect SIR Your Affectionate Brother and Faithful Servant J. Shower London May ult 1700. The CONTENTS INtroduction The Scope of the Parable The Different Conditions of Mankind after Death p. 4. The Souls of Good Men are in a State of Rest and Happiness before the Resurrection Why called Abraham's Bosom p. 7. A positive State of Misery and Torment for the Wicked in another World p. 13-28 Both States after Death Vnchangeable p. 29. The Blessedness of the Saints Everlasting p. 31. The Gulf fix'd as to the Misery of the Wicked without Release or End p. 36. The Socinian Doctrine concerning the Annihilation of the Wicked after the Day of Judgment disprov'd from Scripture The Objections against the Endless Misery of the Wicked answer'd p. 47. Application Inference 1. Now or Never is the Season to prepare for Eternity p. 55. 2. How valuable a Talent is the Time of our present Life p. 58. The Evil of Idleness 3. How Awful and of how great Consequence for any one to die and pass into the other World p. 63. What a Change will Death make to a Wicked Man 4. We may take our Measures of Men's Wisdom or Folly according to their Care or Negligence in preparing for the Eternal World p. 77. How Inconsiderable is the longest Life on Earth compar'd with an Endless Duration A thousand Years in God's Sight but as one Day p. 86. Lastly What a hazard to delay Repentance to the last Hour or to a Sick-Bed p. 86. The Example of the Thief on the Cross considered as Extraordinary and prov'd to give no Encouragement to such a Delay p. 88. The Excellency of his short Prayer Lord Remember me when thou comest into thy Kingdom p. 95. Death-Bed Repentance deceitfull and uncomfortable p. 103. Exhortation 1. To be Establisht in the Belief of the Scripture Doctrine concerning the two Eternal States and labour to be suitably affected with the Consideration of Heaven and Hell p. 106. 2. Let us hearken to Moses and the Prophets to Christ and his Apostles if we would ever have a Place in Abraham's Bosom and escape the Torments of Hell p. 121. They who will not believe Scripture Revelation 't is probable would not be perswaded though one came from the Dead p. 123. An Account of the last Sickness and Repentance of Mr. Sh. T. p. 132. Some Particulars warn'd against by his Desire A further Account of some Passages of his last Sickness by a Pious Lady who often visited him p. 156. HEAVEN and HELL OR The Unchangeable State of Happiness or Misery after Death S. LUKE XVI 26. And besides all this between us and you there is a great Gulf fixed WE are told by the Wise Man what becomes of the Body and the Soul when they part at Death how the Body that was fram'd out of the Dust of the Ground returns thither and the Soul which is of Divine Original returns to GOD the Father of Spirits to Elohim which signifies a Judge as well as a Creator to be dispos'd of by him in another World Eccl. xii 3 Then shall the Dust return to its Earth and the Spirit to God that gave it It is not to be annihilated extinguished or destroy'd but returns to GOD as the final Arbiter of its Eternal State That there is such a State of Happiness or Misery of Rest or Torment for departed Souls and that both states are unchangable is what this Parable may instruct us in There is a Gulf fix'd between the Blessed and Miserable after Death either sort unalterably Happy or unchangeably Miserable There is an irreversible Decree of Heaven to determine the Felicity of the Saints to be everlasting and to conclude the Wicked in a state of Misery without Relief or End As there is no fear of Change for the Happy Souls in Abraham's Bosom so is there no hope of Alleviation or Period of the wretched condition of Sinners in Hell This is the Important Subject I would now Explain Evidence and Apply And can there be any that more deserves and calls for your most serious Attention It is one part of the Design and Scope of this Parable of our Saviour concerning the Rich-man and Lazarus to affirm this A Parable it must be granted tho' mixt with somewhat Historical as the mention of a Poor-man by name who may be suppos'd to have been notorious and known among the Jews for his extream Poverty and Distress The different State and Condition of Men departed this Life is express'd by our Saviour in a Parabolical way the more effectually to insinuate the Truths he would teach us with the greater Advantage to move the Affections of his Hearers
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
Soul that there shall be nothing to incline nor cause a change It is a little thing to say the Blessedness and Joy of the Saints shall last as many Years as there has been drops of Rain faln from Heaven since the beginning of the World for it shall endure as long as there is a God in Heaven and He is the same who was and is and is to come from Everlasting to Everlasting Our God shall live for ever Our Saviour will never die and we shall live for ever in his light and love and likeness Blessedness and Eternity shall be united How great a thing is this to say my God and Saviour and for ever mine Eternal Life is all the World in one word and more than ten thousand Worlds To be ever with the Lord to have an immovable Happiness in the presence of the ever-living God To say my Portion is sure and can never be lost It is mine for ever what a glory is this Now I may lose my Health or Credit or Friends or Life but the Gift of God by Jesus Christ is Eternal Life Nothing shall ever separate us from the Love of God in Christ This is the very Spirit of Heaven the Crown of the Blessedness of the Saints To be for ever the objects of his Infinite Love to enjoy a Felicity that shall never decay or be diminished never be forfeited or lost It will rather always encrease for we cannot possibly know God all at once New Beauties will still discover themselves in an Infinite Object and therefore we shall love him more and more by knowing him more and so our Joy will continue and encrease without fear or danger of a period But we shall know and love and rejoyce more and more without end Oh! how imperfectly do our weak and shallow Thoughts conceive of this Blessed Eternity To be Blessed with the Lord in Glory and never dye To rejoyce with Joy unspeakable and ever to rejoyce To live for ever belov'd of God and to be joyfull and happy in his Love for ever Oh! what Hearts have we that can admit the hopes of this without a Transsport without despising all those things that people call Great upon Earth but are ended with us in a dying hour * See more on this Head Reflections on Time and Eternity Sect. xx Secondly The Gulf is fixt as to the Misery and Torment of the Wicked They have no Expectation of Release Eternal and Everlasting are joyn'd with the Torments of Hell as well as with the Blessedness of Heaven These shall go away into Everlasting Punishment Though their Bodies be held Prisoners in the Grave till the Resurrection their Souls are in misery waiting for their final doom And at the last day of the World they shall be found in the same state as at the day of Death and then be punish'd with Everlasting Destruction The terrible Sentence is Depart ye cursed into everlasting Fire This is the acknowledged Doctrin of the Christian Church in all Ages and most expressly asserted in the Holy Scriptures We read of a Worm that never dies of a Fire that shall never be quenched Everlasting Punishment Eternal Damnation Everlasting Destruction the Blackness of Darkness for ever a Lake that burns with Fire and Brimstone where they shall be tormented Day and Night for ever and ever and where the smoke of their Torment ascendeth up for ever and ever This Doctrin is very cunningly undermin'd by some upon the account of their corrupt Principles and boldly deny'd by others for the sake of their ill Practices The Adversaries of the Divinity and Satisfaction of Christ would have the Punishment of the Wicked at the Day of Judgment to consist in * Ignis Eternus in Sacris Literis vocatur non is in quo res ei injecta aeternum uritur nec unquam consumitur sed qui ita rem exurit ac consumit ut illa in Aeternum non restituatur in integram vel qui tam diu ardet donee res illa planè in totum comburatur ut ex eâ nihil prorsus remaneas Ita Esai 66. ultimo Dicitur de occisis quod vermis eorum non morietur nimirum sicut vermis qui in cadavere alique nascitur tamdiâ— vivit nec moritur donec cadaver fuerit prorsus absumptum Vide Marc. 9.44 Videtur haec locutio sumpta ex Esai 34.9 10. ubi Propheta divina judicia Idumaeis interminatur Mutabuntur torrentes ejus in picem terra ejus in Sulphur eritque Terra ejus pro Pice ardente noctu interdiu non extinguetur in seculum ascendet Fumus ejus Crellii Comment in Mat. 18. v. 8. Comment in 1 Cor. 15. Ut vero Deus in omnibus justitiae tenax est ita hic quoque super neminem extendet panam meritis â—jus majorem Nullà autem possunt esse peccata â—am gravia quae sâ—mpiternis cruciatibus possent aequart Wolzogenius in Matth. 25. v. â—6 See more Passiges of this kind in Bishop Pearson on the Creed Art XII and Dr. Edwardâ— of the Socinian Creed 8vo Chap V. Annihilation a total and eternal Dissolution of their Persons that they shall be eternally destroyed and consumed so as to exist no more Whereas the Scriptures sets forth the Misery of Sinners in the next World under such Expressions as plainly denote the Existence of the Sufferers Would any one describe Annihilation by being plung'd into a Lake of Fire and Brimstone where they shall have no Rest Day nor Night for ever The word Perdition Destruction Death us'd for the Sufferings of the Wicked in another World do manifestly import extreme Misery and not Annihilation God is said to destroy Nations when he brings great Calamities upon them An Oppressour may destroy many Persons and Families and yet is not supposed to Annihilate them The Prodigal is said to perish for Hunger tho' he were yet alive So for the Expression of losing the Soul for a Man to lose his Soul is to perish eternally in the other World in our Saviour's sense of that Expression Matt. XVI 26. What shall it profit a Man to gain the World and lose his Soul The word we render lose signifies to have a Mulct inflicted on him to lose it in a way of Punishment to be punish'd in his Soul And 't is brought in as an Argument why a Man should not fear Temporal Death but lay down his Life when our Saviour calls him to it Because if he should save his Life and yet lose his Soul as to the other World though he gain'd as much as can be suppos'd of this World He would be a miserable Creature and make a foolish Bargain To understand the losing of the Soul only of a Temporal Death would be to destroy the Argument which our Lord brings it for yea it would be a Reason against their doing that which in the foregoing Verse he tells them they ought to do even lay down their
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
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
is so much the kinder is GOD to give such repeated warning of it and so much the more Inexcusable are Sinners that will not consider it and lay it to Heart 'T is from Ignorance of GOD and how much he is above us that they dare talk so boldly of Divine Justice and Goodness And declare that the Everlasting Punishment of the Wicked is inconsistent with either or both GOD knows better than we what it is to be Just and what is Consistent with his Goodness and Mercy His Word is express and plain concerning the State of Sinners when the Day of Mercy is ended The measure of Punishment with respect to Crimes is not to be taken alway from the Quality and Degree of the Offence much less from the Time and Duration of it but from the Ends and Reasons of Government to deter men from the Breach of the Law The greatest Sins may often be committed in a short space of Time as Murder So that to argue from the Disproportion between Temporary Sins and Eternal Punishment will not conclude against the Justice of GOD. Can we think that God would threaten Sinners with a Punishment he could not inflict without Injustice Cannot GOD be Just and Good and Merciful except he save the Wilful and Disobedient who continue to despise the Offers of his Grace and persist in their Contempt and Rebellion to the very last Hath he not told us how far his Mercy shall reach Thousands of Holy Souls shall know to their Eternal Comfort that GOD is infinitely Good tho' he render Vengeance on them that slighted his Mercy and died without Repentance They had a time of tryal Mercy was offered them They were entreated to accept it GOD waited with much Long-suffering and Patience and often renewed his Calls and Warnings and Invitations to perswade them to flee from Wrath to come But they would not accept his Mercy in time If they plead that the endless Punishment of Sinners doth not answer the proper Ends and Design of Punishment viz. to reform the Sinner or to admonish and warn others against the like Offence It must be considered That this is not all the End and Design of Punishment But that when God hath declared his Will to punish one great End of that Punishment is to vindicate his Honour as Governour of the World that is injured and affronted by the Sins of Men And there 's a great deal of difference between the Ends of Punishment in this Life which very much respect the Community and those in another World And yet even here God as the Governour of the World may vindicate the Rites of his Honour and Soveraignty by inflicting Punishment But in the next Life they who are punished are Obstinate Offenders that would not take warning or be reclaim'd by all the Mercies and Judgments of God either as to others or themselves Moreover supposing the Immortality of the Soul and the remaining Wickedness and Impenitence of Sinners and Death will not change the ill Temper and Disposition of Men's Minds but they that were filthy and unholy will be still so as well as they that were Unrighteous and Unjustify'd A sinful Soul if it be Immortal must needs be unchangeably miserable He will never Repent there is no promise of Mercy to encourage it And therefore if he shall never die he must be miserable for ever And what reason is there to expect that God should Annihilate those that are incurably Wicked especially when he has so expressly declared the contrary Matt. xxv ult and in the same Terms express'd the Duration of the Punishment of the Wicked as the Everlasting Life and Happiness of the Righteous Of the many that sleep in the Dust some shall awake and arise to Everlasting Life and others to Shame and Everlasting Contempt Dan. xii 2. There cannot be Perpetual Shame and Everlasting Contempt without the Everlasting Existence of the Persons How can they continue for ever under Shame and Contempt unless they continue in their Being Let us therefore urge this upon our Minds and Hearts as what we ought to believe and seriously consider and therefore instead of replying against God whose Terrors should make us afraid and whose Truth endures for ever let us think of it in time and put the Questions to our selves we often meet with in the Scripture which can never be answered Who can stand before him when he is angry Can thy Hands be strong or thy Heart endure when he shall execute Vengeance Who can dwell with a Devouring Fire Who can dwell with Everlasting Burnings Can You or You You who have lived in Ease and Pleasure all your Days and by a sharp fit of Pain but for one half Hour would groan as if your Hearts would break could you abide Everlasting Fire An Everlasting Toothach Stone or Cholick or a much less Pain but suppos'd Endless is insupportable what then is Hell However you may ask another Question which blessed be God may be Resolv'd and that is What shall we do to be saved How shall we escape this Intolerable and Everlasting Wrath And this brings me to the Application by Inferences of Truth and Duty First 'T is then obvious that Now or Never is the season to prepare for Eternity seeing both States are unchangeable after Death The Gulf will then be fix'd there is no Possibility for Repentance or hope of Pardon beyond the Grave 't will be in vain to cry with the Foolish Virgins Lord open to us when the Door is shut Now you are encouraged to pray for Mercy earnestly invited and entreated to work out your own Salvation and warn'd of your Danger Now is your time to hearken to good Counsel Many of you have mispent a great part of your Life past you shall not live it over again You are not certain of the Future You may be in an Unchangeable State e're you are aware so that to defer it one Week or Day longer may be your undoing You have now a Promise of Forgiveness if you Repent and the Hopes of God's Grace if you seek it You have yet an Opportunity to make Peace with God This is your accepted time and Day of Salvation The Door of Mercy and of Hope is yet open but e're long it will be shut and your State Immutable Whatever is to be done in Preparation for Eternity must be Now or Never Now quickly or it will be too late now presently and without Delay or it may be too late Is he not a bold Man that will venture to deferr if he believes both States after Death to be Endless and Unchangeable How can he be satisfy'd to live in such a state wherein he is as near to Hell as he is to Death You have reason to be Thankful that when others have been snatch'd away in their Impenitence Others it may be of your Companions and possibly lesser Sinners than you that you are yet spar'd You must think him to be a
by forgetting or contradicting the End of Life How madly have I spent my Days without looking to the Endless World where is now the Gain and Pleasure of all my past Folly What fruit have I of those things which I am now asham'd to review and am going to answer for O that I I had liv'd in a Wilderness or in Rags and Beggery and never seen the Face of those Companions by whom I have been ensnar'd seduc'd and ruin'd Oh that God would spare me a little longer How differently do the same Truths relish What other Apprehensions doth the view of Death give us You may not be able upon a Bed of Sickness to stifle or lay aside those Reflections on Religion and another World which now we would urge you to admit Your Thoughts are now diverted by fond Imaginations and Conceits by false Principles and foolish Hopes by sensual Delights and Recreations by Carnal Mirth and ill-grounded Peace and ensnaring Company But all these will then have left you to dwell alone with your Pain and your Conscience But how much worse will HELL be than a Sick-bed You may have many things to alleviate relieve or assist you in this World but Oh the Change that Death will make The Careless and Secure who now fear not the Wrath of God dread not his Displeasure value not his Favour matter not whether he be their Friend or Enemy who are Stout-hearted and far from Righteousness and under the Power of horrible Presumption without thoughts of an After-Reckoning and an Eternal State who never say Where is God my Maker but live in a Contemptuous Forgetfulness of him yet when they die their Souls return to him they fall into his Hands They must awake and know God and Themselves They shall presently have their Eyes open and not be kept in Quiet by Ignorance and Forgetfulness as now but recollect all their past Sins with their Aggravations Remember their past Mercies with their Mis-improvement their past Seasons and Opportunities of Grace which they have lost They shall bitterly accuse charge shame and condemn themselves under the actual Wrath of God for the present with fearful Expectations of compleat and endless Misery after the final Sentence of the last great Assize How much better had it been for such they had never been born than thus to die and fall into the Hands of Divine Justice Better they had never liv'd in this World They shall then think so and wish so wish they had never been born to see the Light or that they had expir'd as soon as they began to breath and had their Names enter'd into the Bills of Mortality as soon as they came into the World Such Thoughts as these would rectify our Judgments cure our Vanity and help us to overcome the World and mortify the Flesh and fortify us with Strength to resist Temptation and excite us in earnest to provide for Eternity But how few will be perswaded to admit such Thoughts Men like not to be jogg'd to be awak'd they are ready to quarrel with us for disturbing them they are angry we will not let them alone to sleep the sleep of Death till they awake in the Flames of Hell And then with what an Accent of Sorrow will it be said Lo Psal lii 7. this is the Man who made not God his Strength Lo this is the Man This is the miserable deceiv'd Man that was so wise in his own Eyes so obstinate in his own Way who would not be advis'd and he hath not now a Word to excuse himself nor a Friend to speak for him nor a drop of Water to quench his Thirst or cool his Tongue I know very well some Subjects may be helpt by chosen Words by Figures of Rhetorick and Affecting Eloquence But there are Others too great for Words And this is one Of the Vnchangeable State of Mankind in another World The Thing it self the Change that Death will make exceeds all our weak Idea's No Human Language can express the thousandth part of the Reality of the Matter As when we speak of the Blessed GOD and his Perfections his Love or his Wrath so of the Blessedness of the Saints and the Intolerable Agonies of the Devils and Damned Spirits the Subject is too big for our Scanty Words We can find out none that will fully express the thing * Mr. Blackall of the Sufficiency of Scripture Motives 2d Sermon of Mr. Boyle's Lecture for the Year 1700. For what Tongue can utter or Heart conceive the horrible State of such a forlorn Creature depriv'd at Death of all Earthly Comforts and separated for ever from the Joy and Glory the Light and Comfort of God's Blessed Presence and the Felicity of the Saints depriv'd of all Good that others enjoy and he was once capable of and never to see the Face of God but fall under his Vengeance without any Alloy of Comfort or Hope to mitigate his Sufferings Not only banished from Heaven but sent accursed into Everlasting Fire with the Devils No wonder if there be horrible Lamentations doleful Cries and Screetches despairing Rage and Fury when such are made sensible of their Folly and of their Misery sensible of what they have lost and of what they begin to suffer and must for ever suffer without Intermission or End All the Pains and Miseries and Torments that any of Mankind or all of them put together in all Ages and Generations of the World did ever endure here upon Earth if all were join'd and united for one Man to suffer will be infinitely less than the Punishment of every Impenitent Sinner after Death Let us say all we can and heap up Superlative upon Superlative we must speak Defectively of the Misery of lost Souls Let us enlarge our present Thoughts never so much about it there 's still a great deal more and worse than we can imagine or fear The best Orator upon Earth yea the higest Angel in Heaven cannot describe it What a dismal Spectacle then is it to see an Impenitent Wicked Creature upon a Bed of Sickness without any Concern about his Everlasting State gasping for Breath unable to live ready to pass into another World under the Guilt of all his Sins and so under the Condemnation and Curse of God The Devils then wait for their Prey what a Miserable Portion must such a Man have before his Body be Buried or put in a Coffin He passes into another World where is neither Wine nor Women nor Sports nor Pleasures nor Friend nor Comforter but falls under the Wrath of God Remediless Insupportable Wrath when but a little before it may be he had Hopes of Heaven And certainly of all the lamentable Surprizes that Humane Nature is capable of there is none so terrible as that of the Death of a Presuming Deceiv'd Sinner who is confident of the Favour of God that he is in the way to Salvation and shall go to Heaven For such a One one Moment after
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
if you believe another an Everlasting World and that this is all the Time you have to prepare for it and that you have lost a great deal and that One Day in Seven is but a small Proportion of Time Employ that Day as taking more Pleasure in the Service of God than in Earthly Business accounting it the most honourable and delightful Work to be so employ'd and that accordingly you may expect the Divine Blessing all the Week after and you will surely find it And here I cannot but take Occasion to justify and praise the Attempts of the Worthy Societies for Reformation of Manners in and about this City one part of whose Business is to suppress and punish such a Liberty in Publick Houses upon the Lord's Day as is contrary to the Commandment of God and the Law of the Land and tends to ruin the Souls of Men. I can easily believe what I am told That they find more Difficulty and Opposition in this part of their Work than in any other especially in the Out-parts of the City But the Word of God and the Testimony of Men's Consciences when awaken'd to a Sence of Sin is on their side and should encourage them to proceed I am far from reflecting upon All his Acquaintance as if none of those who were frequently in his Company but were notorious Drunkards and Prophaners of the Sabbath I know divers of them of a very different Character None but the Guilty can apprehend themselves concern'd in any thing he said or I say of him I shall be heartily glad if there be very Few who have reason to accuse Themselves and that they may All profit by his Example and Counsel It would not be difficult to enlarge on the many Evils that attend Drunkenness and the many Sins it leads to as disposing to the violation of almost all the Commandments of God I beg you would consider the sad Effects of that Vice even in this World How it makes Men despis'd by their Inferiours How it impoverisheth Families How it occasions Quarrels How it weakens and destroys the best Constitution of Health and is often followed with manifold Diseases How it debases the Humane Nature overturns our Reason and so far destroys the Natural Image of God upon the Soul which is a greater Affront to the Majesty of Heaven as one well says than if a Subject should deface the King's Arms or Image and set up the Image of a Swine or Dog in its room How it runs Men into Extravagancies for which they beg Pardon the next Day and are forgiven with the like Shame and Contempt as we pardon Fools and Madmen How it betrays the Secrets of our Heart which Duty and Interest obliges to conceal and those of our dearest Friends which it may be we have vow'd never to discover I beg you to consider how it unfits for all holy Thoughts Words and Actions and is directly contrary to the being filled with the Holy Spirit How it besots the Mind and hardens the Heart so as to render a Man weak and unable to make good his Resolutions for though after a Debauch he resolves the next Morning never more to commit the like Folly 't is ten to one but he yields at the Summons of the next Temptation And further let it be considered that by a Man's opposing his Light and breaking his Vows and Resolutions by repeated Instances of Guilt in this sort his Conscience must needs be uneasie and clamorous And hereupon he is easily perswaded to stupify himself with Wine that he may be armed against the Apprehensions of his own Mind and returns to hard Drinking as needful for his Cure and Relief to defend himself against his own Accusing Thoughts and try to forget his ill Condition 'Till at last an Habitual Sottishness saves him the Labour of a daily Conflict and Skirmish with his Conscience Which is the deplorable Case of many who have harden'd themselves by Custom and Continuance in Sin so as to be past Feeling and unlikely ever to be brought to Repentance And yet the Scripture is most express as to the other World that Men of this Character without Repentance shall never inherit the Kingdom of God 1 Cor. vi 9 10. Gal. v. 21. Matt. xxiv 49 51. I am charg'd by the Deceased to speak at this Rate in hope of calling Some to Repentance for their past Sins and of warning Others against Temptation I hope it will be consider'd as the Faithfull Admonition of a Dying Penitent But I have promis'd you a further Account of his Last Sickness from Another Hand which is as follows An Account of some Passages of the last Sickness of Mr. S. T. by another Hand WHEN I told him his Doctors despaired of his Recovery and press'd him to consider how awfull a thing it was to appear before the Bar of a Holy God He said he was sensible it was so and that it was not his leaving this World that was his Concern or that he fear'd the pain of Death But what would become of his poor Soul He that had been such a vile Wretch and despis'd all the Methods that a Gracious God had us'd to make him Happy He had broke through all the Restraints of Grace the Advantages of a good Education the Calls Offers and Warnings of God by which he had quench'd and griev'd the Holy Spirit These things lay as a heavy Load upon his Soul and broke his Rest and wasted his Spirits for some time before He wept very much I asked whether Sin did not now appear an Abominable thing And Holiness in the most Difficult parts of it appear very Amiable And They the only wise Persons that shun and mortify Sin and endeavour to attain and promote Holiness He answer'd with great Seriousness and Earnestness that his Apprehensions and Opinion of those different courses of Life was so alterd that he now saw Sin to be the only Evil worse than any Affliction and that if he knew his own Heart which he found Deceitful he would chuse rather to dye although his Case was so hazardous than to live such an odious Life and dishonour so Good a God as he had done And he further said that he was now convinc'd that a Holy Temper of Soul in Conformity to God could only make him Happy Oh saith he my Sentiments and Notions of God and Jesus Christ of Sin and Holiness are quite otherwise than when in Health What the Word of God reveals of these things I feel to be Real and Momentous indeed Here he proceeded to charge himself with Excess in Drinking with Disregard to the Sabbath Day and a constant allowed Neglect of almost all the Positive Duties of Religion especially Closet-Retirements And then added Do you think there is Hope for such a vile Wretch I told him Yes doubtless there was Forgiveness with God for the Chiefest of Sinners which I endeavour'd to demonstrate from the Infiniteness of God's Mercies the Valuableness of the