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