THE Worm that Dyeth not OR HELL TORMENTS In The CERTAINTY AND ETERNITY of Them Plainly Discovered in several Sermons Preached on Mark Chap. the 9th and the 48. v. By that Painful and Laborious Minister of the Gospel William Strong And now published by his own Notes as a means to deter from Sin and to stir up to Mortification LONDON Printed by T. R. and M. D. and are to be sold by Fra. Titon at the three Daggers in Fleet-street 1672. GOOD READER A Discourse of Hell cannot be unprofitable and unseasonable in an age wherein many deny the eternal recompenses others live as if they did not believe them yea among those that take on a stricter form of living many carry it on with such coldness and deadness that their conversations no way look like a flight from wrath to come or a pursuit after eternal life and therefore they need to be awakened Sermons of Hell may keep many out of Hell yea it concerneth the best and most serious to know what wrath they have escaped to quicken their thankfulness for that they are as brands plucked out of the burning As it heightned the sence of their deliverance to the Israelites when they looked back and saw the Egyptians tumbling in the waters of the Red-Sea which they passed through without harm surely they that cannot endure to hear of Hell or read of Hell discover too much of the guilt and security of their own hearts presumption is a coward and a run-away but Faith supposeth the worst Psal 23.4 and so encountreth its enemy in the open fields if the torments prepared for the disobedient and impenitent be so â—orrible and grievous we all need to be more srious in settling our eâ—erâ—â—â— interests upon a sure bottom and fâ—undation and to learn that holy mixture of serving God with fear and rejoycing with trembling and so to take sanctuary at the Lords Grace and enter our selves heirs to the priviledges of the Gospel that our claim may never be disproved nor our hope leave us ashamed This is the design of these Sermons of the reverend Author which were transcribed from his own Notes not indeed prepared for the Press but the Pulpit and if they want any thing of that accuracy which might be expected from one so able in the work of the Ministry The Candid Reader will distinguish between what is intended to be spoken to one Auditory and written to the World and how much is reserved to be uttered on the suddain in the heat and vigour of speaking for enlivening and polishment on such occasions What is left was conceived useful and therefore put into thy hands The Blessing of God Almighty go along with it and sanctifie it to thy Soul which is the hearty Prayer of thy Servants in the Lords Work Tho. Manton J. Rowe MARK 9.48 Where their Worm dyeth not and the Fire is not quenched MY purpose is to break up those Treasures of wrath which God hath reserved for his enemies Psal 90.11 Ephes 3.19 which not only passeth knowledge but also fear his love to his People passeth knowledge his wrath to his enemies passeth fear a full discovery by me you cannot expect seeing it passeth knowledge and answerable affections in you I cannot expect to the utmost seeing that it passeth fear but if it may be a means to deter you from sin and a motive unto mortification I shall have my end in the discourse as Christ his end in the exhortation The words are to be considered either respective in reference unto what goes before and so we see them several times repeated to press the duty of mortification of a mans dearest darling Lust his most pleasant and most profitable sin that sin is resembled unto a body in Scripture is clear Rom. 7 4. the body of sin and the body of death and that some sins are in this body â—s the right hand and the right eye is as clear also called a mans sweet morsel his own iniquity the peccatum in deliciis the right eye is in the body the dearest and the right hand is most usefull serviceable 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 profitable and advantageous to the body but if it be a stumbling block to thee and cause thee to offend God and forsake the way of his obedience then cut it off pluck it out it is a hyperbolical expression Sic animo tuo comparatus esto though thou do not actually yet intentionally and in thy purpose and resolution of heart part with what is dearest to thee then that it should be a means or an occasion of sin unto thee and the reason it given better enter into life maimed that is though thou think'st if thou part with such a lust thou shouldest live uncomfortably and be as a maimed and but half a man all thy days yet in common reason the whole is better than any part therefore better suffer the excision of a member than the dissolution of the body in your own judgement and the judgement of the World be counted imperfect men all your days rather than suffer the destruction of the body and soul in Hell Hence we are to learn First that whatever is near and dear unto a man if it be an occasion of his sin either to hinder from duty in omission or to provoke unto any lust by way of commission a man is to reject it with ind gnation pluck it out â—ut it off cast it from him The dearest thing must be parted with either as a snare or as a sacrifice Secondly Even Gods own people may have some dear pleasant and profitable lusts right hands to be cut off and right eyes to be plucked out Thridly If they should part with them they may look upon themselves and the World may count them as maimed men but Fourthly though they may seem so to themselves and the World to judge of them yet it is their best course that they could take Fifthly The good and evill of all things is to be judged by the end and issue of it i'ts better because thou enterest into life and it 's worse because keeping them thou wilt indanger body and soul in hell Sixthly Legal motives are of use even to the regenerated and therefore Christians may use them and not be legal Christians indeed the more ingenious services are the better and the more freely and readily the heart comes off from sin upon the principles of the Gospel and performes duty from a spirit of love fearing the Lord and his goodness obeying from a cord of love and thankfulness the love of Christ constraining But yet this will work no longer than grace hath the upper hand and if corruption prevail to call in these helps is not only lawfull but necessary But to come to the words of my Text They are a description of that destruction that keeping a right hand or a right eye that offends a man will bring upon him It is destruction in hell even of
God and the greatest can do no more then kill the body as the life of the Soul comes from God only so does the death of the Soul also for he only is the father of spirits and the Lord loves variety in his dominion over us he will for a time govern by the Creatures and comfort by the Creatures and afflict by them but hereafter he will then govern by himself immediately and comfort and afflict by himself immediately the one in this life and the other in the life to come First Vse This informes us that there are certain men that are children of wrath knowing the terror of the Lord we would perswade you to fly from the wrath to come for it is a fearfull thing to fall into the hands of the living God Here first I will shew you who the persons are that be the children of wrath Secondly what we would perswade them to if the Spirit of God joyn with us therein First Who they are and unto whom this use is directed that there are some children of wrath is plain Isa 10.6 The people of my wrath that is appointed to wrath and Isa 34.5 a sword is bathed in Heaven which doth express the decree and purpose of wrath it is upon the people of his curse now if this be true of temporal wrath how much more of eternal wrath which the Apostle saith is the condition of all men by nature even of the elect of God as well as of others before they are converted Ephes 2.3 We by nature were dead in trespasses and sins as well as others and children of wrath now they are said to be the children of it because they were born to it and it is their inheritance all that ever they must look for men appointed to it as a child of death is a man deserving death and appointed thereunto and as the Saints are called the children of light so are these also children of wrath so if you would ask for whom is this wrath and who according to the rules of the word are under it it is every man that is in a state of nature and a state of unregenerasy But how should a man know who it is that is in a state of nature surely a man may know if he will but behold his face in the Glass of the Word and discerne what manner of person he is James 1.24 There is a judgment that passeth upon the eternal states of men in the Word of God 1 Cor. 14.25 Ezek. 20 The man is judged of all and the secrets of his heart are made manifest and he saith that God is in you of a truth a man looking into the Word may discerne what his estate is Now first they are children of wrath that are children of disobedience Col. 3.6 for these things the wrath of God comes upon the children of disobedience John He that is born of God sinneth not non operatur peccatum he that committeth sin is the servant of sin and he that commits sin is of the Devil that is that lives and lyes in any known way of sinning that he doth reserve unto himself a sweet Morsell that he cannot cast out that the comfort of his life comes in by he eats the bread of wickedness and drinks the Wine of violence he feeds upon huskes and upon ashes Isa 44.20 over whom sin has dominion and it reigns in their mortal body and they obey it in the lust thereof and take care to make provision for 't thou art yet in my sins and not only sins of commission but sins of omission for such also this fire is prepared Depart from me you cursed into everlasting fire Mat. 25 prepared for the Devil an his Angels for I was hungry and ye gave me no meat it is not you took away my meat and naked and ye robbed me of my cloathing I was amongst you and ye put me into prison but ye did not visit me and Minister unto me c. So that even sins of omission also prove an unregenerate state and will make a man lyable unto this wrath at the coming of the Lord. Secondly The wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men Rom. 1. who withhold the truthin unrighteousness When men are convinced that such things are duties and will acknowledge them and that such things are sins and yet for some worldly ends and base respects will not forbear to practise them as many of the Pharisees were convinced that Christ was the Messiah and yet for fear of the Jews durst not confess him Joh. 12.42 that go on in sin against their own light and convictions from day to day and against many warnings and admonissions and his own remembrances of the dealings of God both with himself and others that have been engaged in sinfull courses and truly this fire will not burn hotter upon any sort of sinners in the world then they that sin against light and in this manner do withhold the truth in unrighteousness Thirdly They are asted by no other spirit but the spirit of this world for there is a double spirit that men are acted by in all their actions the Spirit of God acts some men and the spirit of the world acts others they that are regenerate have received the Spirit of Christ and where the spirit of Christ is there are all the fruits of the Spirit and the inward man is in some measure conformed unto Christ whereas other men are acted by no other rules but the custom of the world for worldly ends that look no higher then the things of this life and the things that are seen whereas a man that is regenerate has received another spirit that acts him by another rule for he is led by the Spirit and unto a higher end he looks upon the things that are not seen Fourthly 2 Cor. 4. In this are the children of God manifest and the children of the Devil he that doth not righteousness is not of God and he that loves not his brother verse the 14. We know that we are translated from death to life because we love the brethren now when a mans heart is imbittered against the Saints of the most high he doth wish evil to them and if any evil doth befall them he rejoyceth and at least if he can do no more he will inwardly please himself that they are brought low it 's an argument that thou art one of the Serpents seed and thy envy is both thy sin and thy Plague as it is the Devils I will put enmity sayes God between the seed of the Serpent and the seed of the Woman the enmity is put into the Devils Curse and if thou didst love him that did beget thou wouldst love them that are begotten of him and thou that dost hate the Image of God wheresoever it is and the more thou dost see of the Image of God in the man the more thou
pity us how ever No thou shalt have judgment without mercy in vengeance and recompence for ever he will laugh at your destruction and mock when your fear comes c. And therefore consider it Wo to you that laugh now for you shall weep the time of your sorrow hastens and when God shall wipe away all tears from the eyes of his people then shall your sorrow and tears begin and indure for ever Secondly In Hell there shall be perfect shame Dan. 12. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt I conceive it is spoaken of the calling of the Jews but in allusion to the day of judgment some shall arise to shame and everlasting contempt 1 Joh. 2.28 That we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him at his comeing the shame of men in that day shall be great For First All a mans foolishness shall be laid open to himself and to the view of all the world for Cor. 2.5.11 We shall all be made manifest before the judgment seat of Christ for it will be a day of revelation before men and angels friends and enemies here men are not ashamed because their wayes are hid Jer. 2.26 The thief is not ashamed till he is found but then all those 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 shall be all brought to light in that day now if men did but commonly know all that you know one by another or much more all that a man knows by himself then a man looking upon himself what an ugly creature he is and how the image of God is defaced and the image of the Devil is upon him how he has been taught as a beast and whipt as a slave when God does at first discover a man to himself in a mercy by a work of conviction Tanquam monstrum inter filios Dei slo calente me salem insipiisdum How does he loath himself in his own sight saying that he is hell it self a beast and no man And yet this is but a glimpse of himself he can see here how much self abhorrancy will it be hereafter upon a perfect discovery of a mans self Secondly For a man to be separated from God with detestation what a shame must this needs be Here every man bears up himself out of his self-love and the self flaterie of his spirit that he is as high in Gods esteem as other men and as much in Gods favour but if God should say to any man in this Congregation before you all this man I never knew I have separated him to destruction as a vessel of wrath whither could such a man cause his shame to go how hateful is Cain and Judas that are gone down to their own place and how hath the Lord made their very name a reproach so it will be with all ungodly men after this life at the last and great day 1 Coâ— 16.22 the utmost curse is Anathama Maran Atha cursed at the coming of the Lord and when the Lord shall say to a man at that day depart from me you cursed who are Tares and no Wheat Goats and no Sheep foâ—lish and not wise Virgins those that I will never shew mercy to how must such men need lye down in their own shame and confusion for ever Thirdly A man shall be ashamed because he shall be derided and there is nothing in the world that goes against the nature of men more then shame First by God Pro. 1.26 I will mock when your fear cometh Secondly the Saints Thirdly The Devils Isa 14.9.12 Luk. 16.25 Son remember that in thy life time râ—câ—ivedst thy good things Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming c. Fourthly above all from a mans spirit Job 27.6 his heart will reproach him for his days there is neither men nor Devils can lay such bad reproaches on a man as his own heart and men have in some measure experience of it from day to day And hence shall follow an indignation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and a revenge upon a mans self for ever because a man shall be covered with his own confusions as with a Mantle Thirdly There shall be perfect despair Job 11. last the hope of the wicked is breathed out his last hope is gone with his last breath and it must needs be perfect both in respect of good to be obtained and evil to be avoided First there is no hope of good to be obtained or to have any part in the happiness of the Saints for ever 1. The book of Gods decrees shall be opened and those deeps broken up and then a man shall see himself fore-ordained unto this condemnation Jude 4. Mat. 7.23 and God is not as man that he should repent it 's easier to weigh the fire or measure the wind and to call back yesterday then to call back the decree for with God is no variableness nor shadow of change Jans 117. Secondly after this life a mans eternal state is cast and his condition unchangeable for ever death is but eternitatis prodromus Luke 16. it is a gulf Mat. 25.9 the time of buying is past therefore the Saints send them to beg for they have no oyl to spare and of working there is no work in the grave c. Thirdly They shall try all means and avail nothing as they Mat. 7.22 plead with the judge Lord we have Prophesied in thy name and in thy name cast out Devils therefore open to us c. Secondly they shall mince and extenuate their sins and plead for themselves Mat. 25.44 Lord when saw we thee an hungred or a thirst c. Thirdly They shall fall to their prayers Mat. 25.11 Lord Lord open unto us but the Lord shall say depart you workers of iniquity Fourthly They shall turn to the Saints Luk. 16.24 father Abraham send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue and give us of your oyl for our Lamps are out but there is neither oyl from the one nor water from the other and having tryed all means and nothing prevails the soul sinks into perfect despair for ever Secondly There is no hope of avoyding the miserie they lye under First There shall be no hope of pardon for their sin shall be seen in its greatness and thou wilt say with Cain my iniquity is greater then I can bear then can be forgiven thou hast fin'd all thy life time and to eternity thou hast the same dispositions for the fire of Hell can never purge sin and thy obligation to the Law is eternal and therefore the Angels that fell are reserved in everlasting chains Jude 6. and no mercy but judgment without mercy Jam. 2.13 fury without compassion for the time of mercy is past and the day of vengeance is begun and as here mercy hath rejoyced over judgment so
three things first it hath no beginning of its being or working Secondly it has no end Thirdly it has no succession his name is I am Exod. 3 14 that I am for in aeternitate non est erit fuit we must indeed destinguish between the act as it is in God and the product thereof as it is in the Creature all actions from God are from Eternity and without succession he understands all at once but he doth will that the things shall in their being have a succession and exist one after another in their several seasons and Generations as Creation in God is but one simple act of his will and tota simul it being nothing else but ipsa essentia dei cum relatione ad Creaturas Aquin. p. 1.9.43 But he doth will that the Creatures in the space of Six days shoul take their beginning and that after the creation the floud should come upon the world and he did will from eternity that all the creatures should subsist and stand up out of nothing in their several seasons and order which though it take place in the creature in several ages yet it is all one eternal consent and continued will of God some actions of God are ex necessitate naturae natae and they take place from eternity and have no beginning as the Generation of the Son and the procession of the Holy-Ghost but some are voluntary and they have there beginning in time as the will of God doth appoint them for to have Now Of two of those branches of eternity the creature is not capable it cannot competere to a created nature First All creatures must have a beginning and cannot be eternal because they have their being from another and are not the fountain of their own being Secondly All creatures have a succession either in their being or their actions they do one thing after another and they may be said to be what they were not before and to do what they did not before but it cannot be so of God and therefore he is only said to inhabit eternity Isa 57.15 It is his dwelling place alone He that is every where present and fils all places without motion he doth inhabit and fill all time without succession The Angels themselves though I do not say that their actions are measured by time as ours are yet there is a succession in them and they do one thing after another and as they do remove from one place to another so they are measured in their actions there is a succession and they may be said to have something past and something to come so there shall be in the thoughts of men in Heaven and in Hell also for they cannot take in eternity at once they must act in a successive way sutable to the nature of a creature But in the eternity of the creature there is only the last it shall be without end and without intermission so that there are two things implyed in these last words the Worm dies not it shall be continual and it shall be eternal there shall be no intermission no conclusion Here in this Life either a mans choicest pleasures have an end or are interrupted Son remember that in thy Life time thou receivedst thy good things and the consideration thereof doth fill a mans Soul with Gall and Wormwood in the sweetest injoyments and they all deceive a man as a brook that passeth by and are as grass upon the House-top that withers before it come to ripeness either in the bud or in the blade it is blasted as all earthly comforts are so for all flesh is grass and the glory of it is as the flower of the field or if they have not an end they have interruptions and intermissions a soul that injoys the light of Gods countenance and has his heart filled with joy more then can be had in corn and wine and oil yet by and by God hides his face and the man walks in darkness and hath no lights again and therefore he crie out with Bern. it is dulce commercium but breve momentum O si duraret c. But after this Life in Heaven as we shall be ever with the Lord so we shall always behold his face and be satisfied with his likeness and drink for ever out of the Rivers of his pleasures and this shall be without intermission or interruption for ever And in this Life a mans greatest affliction has an end also Lazarus is comforted when Dives is tormented in the grave the wicked cease from troubling him and the weary are at rest the prisoners rest together they hear not the voice of the oppressont or at least there is some intermission and there are lucid intervals though heaviness may indure for a night yet joy will come in the morning but after this life there will be no more changes and therefore death is called by way of eminence a mans change Job 14.14 All the days of my appointed time will I wait till my change come c. Because it is a mans last and great change though his life be full of changes yet his death is the great and the last change and there will be no more changes a mans misery will then be eternal without conclusion and continual without intermission There will be pure darkness utter and everlasting darkness there will be no end no mittigation the Worm never dies and never sleeps and the fire is never extinguished never abated or mittigated to eternity Of these two I would speak â—istinctly First Of the torments of Hell that they are eternal and without conclusion Secondly that they are continual and without intermission First The torments of ungodly men after this life shall be eternal and shall never end We have heard that there are two parts of this torment the one principal the fire and the other accidental the Worm and now we come to prove the eternity of both these First The fire in Hell that is the wrath of God poured out upon the Soul shall be for ever and shall never end and is therefore called everlasting fire Mat. 18.8 and 25.41 And everlasting punishment 25.46 And everlasting destruction 2 Thes 1.9 And the Chains by which men are bound in the world to come are everlasting Chains under darkness Luke 16.9 Jude 7. Heaven is an everlasting habitation and so is Hell also it is for Eternity There are several expressions in Scripture that do argue as much first the Scripture doth tell us that there is a day of Grace and a time of patience when the Lord will offer himself unto men and wait upon them or their acceptance of his Grace but this day will have an end and the time of buying will be past and therefore it was not admonitio sed exprobratio non consilium sed opprobrium c. It 's not counsell but a scoffe to go buy when the time of buying was past there is now a time of
mercy but there is a time when the door will be past opening Mat. 25.10 Eccl. 9.20 and all mercy will be shut out for ever there is no work nor device nor knowledge nor wisdom in the Grave whither thou goest The day of Grace has an end but the day of wrath will never end the days of Grace may be numbred but the days of wrath shall be numberless for the Scripture doth say that if the day of Grace be once overpast it will never return again Secondly An ungodly mans hope is said in Scripture to dye with him Job 11.20 his hope is as the giving up of the Ghost He breaths out his last hope and his last breath together for when a wicked man dyes his hope perishes Pro. 11.7 but the Righteous has hope in his death his hope is a living hope and therefore it dyes not with his body Now how comes it to pass a mans hope perishes this is grounded upon the eternity that is to come for were there not an eternity a mans hope would live but at a mans death a wicked mans eternal state being cast his hope dyes because there can be no expectation of a change in all afflictions here there is hope of an end or some mitigation Zac. 9 1◠they are all prisoners of hope c. And the Lord shall say to them in that day Turn you to the strong hold c. but in Hell there is no hope of any other state no not for one moment but the torment continues to eternity Rev. 20. Thirdly Hell is called a bottomless pit Luke 8.31 And this must needs express the eternity of it out of a pit in which there is no bottom there can be no redemption but a man must sink and sinks for ever it is eternity to the bottom there are pits here in which men may be cast not only into the prison but into the Sea or into the Dungeon in the prison and yet out of all these they may be delivered by the blood of the Covenant and brought out but this bottomless pit there is no blood of the Covenant to redeem from There is a great Gulfe set that is by a divine decree stablished and fixed a mans state is set for eternity and there is no hope of a change a passage here there is from death to life but there is none hereafter for there is a great Gulse that God has set between that there can be no passage no change of a mans condition there can be no translation for judgment pronounced against a man at the last day is eternal judgment Fifthly If a man that is under this torment would come forth there be Chains cast upon him to keep him under that darkness Jude 6. so that he cannot escape as Jude sayes the Angels that kept not their first estate but left their own habitation are kept in Chains under darkness 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they are kept in Chains that is the Judgment of God and the power of God significat potentiam Dei quâ tanqnam vinculis aeternis nunquam solvendis Estius and it is under darkness either in Hell the darkness there or under the darkness and the guilty thoughts of their own spirits now under both these the Devils are already and this is the wrath and these are the Chains that are prepared for all the seed of the Serpent which shall torment them Sixthly This fire can never goe out because there will be for ever a supply of the fuel now if there be always combustble matter added to fire here the fire will never go out but in this there will be always a supply the fire will still have an addition of fuel and of blowing the pile thereof is fire and much wood sa 30.33 the breath of the Lord like a stream of Brimstone doth kindle it c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies not barely a stream but a torrent a flood a violent and swift-running stream from much waters and Brimstone is the most fierce burning for fire to work upon and it is most hardly quenched and a River a Torrent of Brimstone the wrath of the Lord 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 burning in it the fuel is the wrath of God as a River of Brimstone burning in it as in this life the spirit of God in a work of grace is not only fire but oil it is maintained and supplied by the same grace and the same spirit and is maintained by it so after this life the spirit of God will not only be fire but a River of brimstone and their will be a dayly maintanance a continual supply of the same wrath for ever therefore that fire can never be quenched Let us now look in the grounds of this eternity and that the rather because there is a principal in the minds of men ready to tax the Lord of cruelty and injustice that he should for the sins of a few years lay upon men punishment and torment to eternity the acts transient and but for a moment that the wrath of God should be permanent and never end and therefore say they these things cannot fland with the justice of God or with his mercy therefore they conceive that men shall be but punished for a time and a time for their deliverance will come when this worm shall dye and this fire shall be quenched and some say the persons shall be destroyed and others that they be annihelated as the Socinians and divers desperate Libertines at this day that will never be perswaded that it can agree with the merciful nature of God to make creatures eternally to destroy them for a few acts of sin committed a few years here in this life and Origen was so merciful in this kind that he would have the Devil saved after some years and Hell fire to be wholly put out and Austin in his time had to do cum misericordibus quibusdam qui nolunt credere poenam sempiternam futuram c. But that men after some certain time should be delivered de civet L. 21. c. 17. Now The grounds of this eternity of wrath are these First Gods intention from eternity was to shew his wrath and to make his power known unto the vessels of wrath Rom. 9.21.22 All men are in his hand as clay in the hand of the potter and it is in his power to make them vessels of honour or dishonour Now if the Lord will shew the riches of his glory and of his mercy unto the vessels of mercy it must be to eternity and to everlasting life so if the Lord will shew forth the power of his wrath it must be to eternity for the one must answer the other and if there be eternal mercy to manifest the one there will require eternal wrath to shew forth the other for there are but two things in which the love of God is seen and in which his wrath is seen and they are things
spiritual unto the souls of men No man can do good to the soul but God and no man can inflict punishment upon the soul but God men may hurt the body and they have no more that they can do and in eternal good things or evil things those that concerne the life to come for truely a man cannot know love or hatred by all that is before him here the soul must have an eternity to be punished in all evils in this life which have an end are too low and too short to punish the soul with as all good things in this life are too narrow to cover the soul with c. Secondly The Covenant by which they are bound over unto this wrath is an eternal Covenant an everlasting Covenant there are two heads or two publick persons a first and a second Adam under whom as by the sons of Noah the whole Earth is over spread and with these two Covenants made as with two heads and there are two sorts of men the elect and the unregenerate children of the bond-woman and of the free and there are two destinct places Heaven and Hell answerable unto these and one Covenant is everlasting as well as the other not only the covenant of Grace but the covenant of Works also and therefore the curse of the Covenant remains upon men unto eternity and they are bound over unto eternal wrath Gal. 10. Deut. 29.21 as the Lord Christ has put an end unto this Covenant and abolished it unto all that are in him being himself made under it and satisfying the precept and the curse of it and so he did cancel it as a hand-writing against us nailing it unto his Cross Col. 2.14 And so they that are in Christ are freed from the Law as a Covenant but unto all other men it remains a Covenant still and they remain under the curse of it for ever and the wrath of God abides upon them Joh. 3.36 for the Gospel doth not properly bring them under wrath but leaves them under it for ever Thirdly The guilt and stain of sin upon the soul is eternal also the act of sin is transient momentum quod delectat c. But the guilt of sin is permanent the relation between God and the creature is eternal and 〈◊〉 is an eternal obligation upon the creature because he is bound unto God by an eternal Law and the transgression of that Law carries with it an eternal guilt there is not a sin that a man commits but it is laid up amongst the Lords Treasures Deut. Jer. 17.1 and it is also laid up in their own Consciences sin is a debt Mat. 6.12 Which will as all other debts are be ever due till it be paid if it be a thousand years since it was committed yet it due still and the continuance of the time will never wear it out amongst men much less will it being before the Lord and God keeps his debt-books Isa 65.6 Behold it is written before me I will recompence it even recompence it into their bosome c. And there is an utter inability in us to pay the debt we owe to God or to make him any satisfaction we have nothing to pay and not one drop of the blood of Christ shall go to pay any part of thy debt â—â—ing once cast into prison and thou shalt not come out thence being once cast into Prison till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing and satisfaction thou canst never make for the offence is against an infinite God and thou art but a finite creature and here is thy misery that because thou canst never satisfie fully therefore thou must be for ever satisfying all that thou canst do will not blot out one sin there is nothing but the blood of Christ can do it when all the world was drowned by a floud it could not wash away the guilt of sin and when it shall be on fire it shall not be able to purge one sin and when a man shall lye in Hell for ever even the fire of Hell cannot purge the soul of one sin Ignis infernalis non est purgatorius sed punitorius c. Fourthly God after this Life shall not only reward men according to their actions but their intentions and the desires of their hearts Now mens desires unto sin are infinite and eternal if they could live for ever they would sin for ever and they are never satisfied with sinning and therefore it is compared unto drunkenness Deut. 29. a man adds drunkenness unto thirst and none do call in for Wine so fast as they that have had too much already and it is as Hell that cannot be satisfied 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lust is infinite and the more a man is glutted with it the less he is satisfied and could he live for ever he would sin for ever and if he could do more wickedly against God he would as the Lord says thou hast spoken and done evil things against me as thou couldest doing evil with both hands earnestly Mich. 7.3 in every sin they have infinite and eternal desires after sinning even in that short time that they have to live in it voluissent sine fine peccare Greg. Breve fuit opere sed longum esse constat pertinaci voluntate Bern. Fifthly Because they never repent but are hardned in the same way of sinning they remain the same men still and have the same will unto evil unto eternity in Hell that they had when they were here upon earth so that if God should take a man out of Hell and set him upon the earth again with a possibility of mercy he would go on in the same way of sinning with as much greediness and more then ever he did in the time of his Life for this is a rule amongst many of the School-men voluntas morientis confirmatur in eo statu in quo moritur And therefore as the Saints in Heaven dying in a state of grace are in bono confirmati so the wicked dying in a state of sin are in malo obfirmati that whereas in this life in wicked men there is an inability to repent yet there is a possibility of repenting and of returning from sin and there is a restraint upon their Lust and there be here many common graces and common workings of the spirit of grace but then all restraint upon mens Lusts shall be taken away all the Law of nature shall cease and God shall let out mens Lusts unto the utmost in judgment and whereas in Heaven all acts of grace habent rationem praemii so in Hell all acts of sin shall have rationem poenae and God will say he that is filthy let him be filthy still c. And therefore Divines do say that in this Life men are servants unto sin but it is but servitus inchoata but in Hell there shall be servitus consummata for here there is some restraint unto sin but there shall be none hereafter but a man shall be given over to it and the more a man is given over to sin in this Life the neerer to Hell he comes Lastly Men shall be companions after this Life with the Devil and his Angels for that is the sentence Matt. 25.41 Depart into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels they that have been servi in culpa must be socii in poena c. They that have all their days fulfilled the Devils Lusts they must expect to have his reward they that have followed the Lamb and have suffered with him and been persecuted for him shall reign with him and they that have followed Satan and have sinned with him they shall suffer with him Now the Devil has had a long time of sinning from the beginning of the World to the end of it he is the last enemy that shall be destroyed when death and Hell shall be cast into the Lake and therefore surely as he hath had a long time of sinning so he must have a long time yea even an eternity in suffering and therefore let no wicked man deâ—eive himself for the same torâ—ent the same fire for the naâ—â—re of it though not for the â—egree of it is reserved for thee â—nd thou shalt be tormented with â—he Devil and his Angels to all eâ—ernity FINIS ERRATA PAge 25. line 8. a fullpoint after cause p. 37. l. 18. after child a fulpoint p. 61. l. 7. for Ainon read Hinnoâ—â— p. 80. l. 1. hostile congressu p. 100. l. 17. for wayges read wages p. 107. l. 22. for act read out p. 133. for ire read irae p. 138. for nulle read nullae and for panitentia read paenitentiâ— p. 151. for book read book p. 238. l. 12. for my sins read thy p. 249. for caesa read laesa p. 260. l. 4. for access read excess
again the Lord shall judge his people It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God He forbids private revenges and saith to his disciples if he smite thee on the one cheek turne the other c. As there are none avenge here below but Magistrates his Vicegerents to shew that it is the priviledg of none but himself hereafter Now if he has reserved it unto himself here surely he will take it to himself hereafter in the disposing of the eternal estates of the greater part of the World Angels and Men to give this honour unto the creature that they should take vengeance the Lord will never do it but it is and shall be an act of his own immediate wrath and here the three persons hath in Scripture their opera appropriata if the Father be provoked the Son is an advocate with the Father and the Holy Ghost strives with him but when all the persons shall joyn together the Son will plead no more and the spirit strive no more but all joyn in this great work of vengeance and the spirit of God as in Heaven he shall be a spirit of Adoption and Glory so in Hell a spirit of bondage and torment for ever Isa 30. last There are two things in it to be observed First Here is fire and brimstone that is unquenchable fire for brimstone is pertinasissimum ignis fomentum and there is not a little but a River of brimstone and what is this fire and brimstone It is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the spirit of the Lord burning in it his wrath is the fire and the brimstone also and his spirit for as the spirit is not onely fire but oil because his grace is upheld by the daily supplies of its own grace notwithstanding all mens unthankfulness so his wrath is not only fire but brimstone there is a continual supply of wrath to eternity that makes this fire of Tophet to be eternal and unquenchable fire Object But Satan is said to have the power of Death and is called Abaddon the destroyer and therefore it seems Satan is the instrument that God will use in tormenting them that as here they were commanded by him and subjected unto his temptations so they should be under him for ever tormenting them Answ First Satan is said to be the destroyer in respect unto sin which is the destruction of the creature and lays the foundation of a mans eternal destruction as he is called a murderer John 8. so he is called a destroyer because by him man was deceived and seduced and this is not spoken in refference to his inflicting of Death but in respect of drawing a man unto sin and so he is said to be the destroyer and in respect of many temporal punishments that the Lord by him doth bring in the destruction of persons and kingdomes and he is therefore called the destroyer because it his whole work to destroy and he intends nothing else in all that he doth but destruction and Satan is said to have the power of death it is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which notes authority as well as power but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is strength and power only to do it so he doth inflict death upon men when God imploys him for Satan is used in such dishonourable services as to have the power of death as the executioner hath that puts men to death and torments them that the Judge doth give into his hand Secondly When a wicked man is put to death the devils attend and they take his soul and hurry it to the place of torment as the Angels do the souls of the Saints Luke 16. and therefore it is said thou Fool this night shall they require thy soul Luk. 12.20 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Devil is present and demands the soul and takes it and caries it into the place of torment that it is adjudged too even to its own place where Judas went so that the Devil inflicts upon men and carries them to Hell Thirdly At the last and general judgment Satan shall accuse them being condemned together with him he shall take them to Hell with him for this wrath is prepared for the Devil and his Angels But this kingdome of â—atan shall last no longer then the kingdome of the Angels and all rule and all authority shall be put down when Christ shall have given up the kingdome unto the Father and the Angels shall rule over the elect no more so the Devil shall rule over the reprobate no more but now God shall be all in all In Heaven he shall be all in all in mercy and in Hell he shall be all in all in wrath and there shall be no more any dominion of one Creature over another God will no more use one Creature to reward another or to punish another but himself shall be all in all Object But in Heaven there be many created comforts therefore in Hell there are many created miseries and therefore the wrath of God is not the only Executioner there as you affirm Answ It 's true there are many miseries there from the Creatures the place is a Dungeon of darkness it is the bottomless pit abissus the deep as there is a great deal of sweetness in the place in Heaven and Glory so there is much misery here from the place for there are Chambers of death Secondly From the Company the friends of a Soul and the enemies and all restraining grace and the Law of nature shall cease and sin shall be acted to the life as part of a mans punishment and they shall be set one against another for ever Dives had torment by the coming of his brethren the man shall be tormented by the coming of his wife and his children and his Companions here on earth c. Thirdly From the upbraidings of Satan for his malice shall never cease and therefore he will in this respect be shewing a man his folly and endeavour to torment him more and more Isa 21.14 and will deride him and there is nothing more bitter to a man then to be scorned in misery and derided and this men may look for in Hell at the hand of Satan he will mock at them for ever and never shew thee the least pity for thou art bound up amongst the Tares in the same bundle with the Devil and all his crew thus indeed there are some created miseries in Hell but yet it is the wrath of God that is the great torment that as in all created blessings here it is his love that is the root and the Fountain of them and they are all nothing unless that go before they all stand but for a Cypher so unless his wrath go before all these torments would be but Cyphers and the Soul would live there is no Creature that can kill the Soul they may indeed kill the body and a small Creature can do so if it be armed by