Justice requires that they should always have it for it is the part of Justice to render what is deserved But the wicked supposing them to have a Being always after the Day of Judgment as was proved just before must needs be always worthy of Punishment Rom. 6. ult The wages of sin being Death even Eternal Death or Damnation as appears by the Antithesis and other places Let any sober man judge whether the punishing of sin always upon them that always deserve punishment Gen. 18.25 Psal 9.7 8. 2 Tim 4.8 c. be not more agreeable to the nature of that God who is a holy God and abhorring iniquity who is the supreme Law-giver and Soveraign Lord and in a word the Judge of the world and the Righteous Judge than the letting of it go unpunished If a Judge on earth is not counted so just as he should be when he appoints no punishment or but a small punishment for a Fact that deserves a great punishment How shall God's justice be cleared as he is the Governour of the World if he should punish them but for a time who are worthy to be punished for ever That Vindictive justice is Essential to God is the great Foundation-Doctrine upon which the Champions of the common Faith have proceeded Alting in Cat. Palat q. 40. Arnoldus in Relig. Socin cap. 1. de essentia Dei Sect. 38 39 40. c. in opposing the Socinians who I think are the most formidable party of all Satans Host of Hereticks see those in the Margin and others mentioned by Dr. Owen in his Preface to his Defence of the Trinity and especially that Learned Doctor himself in his Diatrib de Justitiâ vindic cap. 15. where he well defends the Arguments of the famous Lubbertus against the Acute oppositions of Dr. Twisse about this particular point Object 1 2. Defended But this I foresee will not pass with some Readers unless it be defended against the objections that may most naturally be brought to the contrary 1. Say some At this rate of Arguing it seems to follow that the Saints themselves should be punished everlastingly for their sins for they also deserve such punishment and they can do nothing to abate the evil of sin or remove the evil desert of them Answer But for answer to such men let it be considered that the case is far different between the Saints and the wicked in this respect God will deal with them in a way of wrath they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath and they are reserved to the Day of Judgment to be punished 2 Pet. 2.9 for so the Apostle tells us of the unjust and our Saviour hath told us that they shall be accountable for idle words in Matth. 12. But he will deal with his Saints in a way of Mercy and spare them according to the greatness of his Mercy Mal. 3.17 yea he will spare them as a man spareth his Son that serveth him And no wonder since he spared not his own Son for their sakes in Rom. 8.32 And though his justice be most strict and infinite as being His justice who is God the Judge of all and glorious in Holiness yet it requires not a double satisfaction but is if I may so speak fully contented with Christs satisfaction and sufferings in their behalf who bore their sins and had the Chastisement of their peace upon himself 1 Pet. 2.2 Esay 53. But as for the ungodly that live and dye such it is not so with them they shall never be able to plead the satisfaction of Christ in their behalf for he will disown them before the Holy Angels and say unto them Depart from me Matth. 7.23 So that there is a valuable consideration upon the account of which Divine Justice may dispense with the punishment of the Saints even Christs sufferings for them but it is not so with the wicked and impenitent Object 2 But say others God is as just c. now and his justice as strict now as ever it will be and since it doth not move him to punish the Wicked according to their deserts now why may we not hope the same for hereafter Answer 1 Because he hath told us he will condemn them hereafter however he spare them for the present 2 Pet. 2.9 He knoweth how to reserve the unjust to the Day of Judgment to be punished What if he let them alone in the day of his Patience wherein he is minded to make known his long-suffering yet he will not always be mocked as St. Paul intimates in the Epistle to the Galat. What if his Justice doth not move him to punish them now how will it follow that it will not hereafter when the Day of Wrath is come and when the Righteous Judge shall come from Heaven on purpose to render unto them according to their works and to take vengeance on them that obey not his Gospel in 2 Thess 1.8 9. And here a question is very needful to be resolved viz. How it can be just with God to punish the sins of a short life-time with Everlasting punishment Possibly sinful men being blinded with sin and self-love may not discern the Equity of that severe Dispensation How it can be just to punish Temporal offences eternally but that will not prove it to be unequal If God might do nothing but what they approve of he should not be known to be a God indeed And while he is such he may do whatsoever he pleaseth most justly to any of his Creatures His very Will is the Rule of Righteousness And therefore to question whether it can be just with God to punish the Impenitent Enemies of his Laws everlastingly when we have seen so plainly that it is his Will so to do is the very first-born of folly Answer 2 2. There is something that looketh like an everlasting punishment which yet is not thought to be any injustice amongst men in this World Princes do not count it unjust to put those men to death that transgress the fundamental Laws of their Land as Murderers and common Robbers c. And yet that is after a sort an Everlasting punishment as taking them away for ever from all the priviledges honours and comforts of the Common-wealth that they were capable of if they had lived longer And for many offences they are commonly adjudged to perpetual Banishment or Imprisonment And what is an offence against a King and Country in comparison of an offence against the God of Heaven surely nothing unto it nor would it be any offence indeed or deserve any punishment if it were not an offence against God Answer 3 3. The desert of sin is not to be measured by the shortness of the time wherein it was committed It is not counted so here on earth A reproachful word to a Prince though it be spoken in less than a minutes time yet deserves perpetual Imprisonment as being spoken against that person
Adam or his posterity but from their sinfulness and that they should not have dyed but upon the supposal of sin And I think he hath done no good office to suggest such a thing as this concerning Mr. Bolton to make the world believe that such an able and faithful Teacher of Divine Truth would play any the least part of the Socinians damned Game In the two following pages he is very vain p. 132. and p. 133. and deserves not my Ink to he spent upon him and if I should lay open all his weaknesses 't is possible I might be thought to deal over hardly by him those therefore that little concern the point in hand or are answered already I need not concern my self with I pass therefore to the next p. 134. where the substance of his many words is thus in brief That if death be the punishment of sin then Christ by freeing his people from the punishment of their sins must free them from dying which he doth not I answer Christ by freeing them from the punishment of sin hath also freed them from death so far forth as 't is a punishment viz. from an accursed death The Faithful therefore though they suffer death yet they suffer it not as a punishment properly so called nor in a way of vengeance but in a way of mercy and therefore blessed are they that dye in the Lord. That pale horse though it sometimes affrights them Philip. 1.23 yet it is sent on a good errand viz. to bring their Souls into the blessed presence of their Lord and Saviour which the Apostle assures us in the same Text is far better than to live with their friends in this sinful world p. 135 136. In the 135 and 136. pages there is nothing that I think it worth while to trouble my self with some things being beside his purpose and others in a great measure against it And that which is for it how do the wicked perish for ever if they must live for ever is no new dish but only the old coleworts new sodden and how much it is worth is discoverable from that which was said but a little before to what he had offered about eternal life in pag. 130. p. 137. R. Men build much in this point upon the second death but what that death is they cannot agree B. I think he is much mistaken in this and do not doubt but Orthodox Divines are very well agreed in their Judgments about it and describe it with little variation one from another But the main mischief is that their Judgment of it agrees not to his and if his be infallible theirs must needs be erroneous R. Mr. Perkins saith the Second death is a total separation from God and if so it is not a punishment without end and seeing God is every where if they be any where how can they be absent from God B. But as Mr. Perkins was as wise a man as himself so his speech herein is not so absurd as he imagines it to be yea I doubt not but it is sound and good and now I shall consider briefly what he saith unto it 1. if so then it is not a punishment without end what warrant he hath to make such an Inference from it I for my part cannot understand for what if that Separation be everlasting as we believe it to be then it will be vanity to say so yea a contradiction too So that this Collection of his is utterly groundless unless he understand this Separation to be by Annihilation and if he do so I have shewed the absurdity of it sufficiently already in disproving the Doctrine of the Annihilation of the wicked 2. R. If they be any where how can they be absent from God seeing God is every where But certainly he must be a very silly man that can think Mr. Perkins was such a fool as to suppose that they could be absent from the Lord in a proper sense or out of his presence I dare say that was very far from his mind and he needed no more to be taught the doctrine of God's Omnipresence than wicked men need to be comforted by his Book against the fears of Damnation yet because he hath mentioned the word Absent from God I may lawfully put him in mind of that Text of the Apostle 2 Cor. 5.6 in 2 Cor. while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord he did not think he and the rest of the Faithful were where God is not while they lived in this world and yet he expresses it after that manner because here they were as it were absent from the comfortable presence of God in comparison of that comfort which their Souls should have in his Glorious Presence after they had left their bodies So in this case we mean by the Second Death the total and perpetual Separation of the wicked and impenitent from the comfortable Presence and the glorious Presence of God Luke 13.28 as when they shall be shut out of his glorious Kingdom and depart from Christ to dwell with the Devil and his Angels And though this be not a death properly so called yet it may fitly be called by that name because of the terror of it Death being naturally the most terrible thing as Heaven is fitly called Paradise for the pleasure and purity of it Luke 23 4â—2 though it be not that place which was mentioned in the 2. of Genesis And if a state of worldly troubles may be called a Death in 2. Cor. 1.10 compared with the 8. verse how much more may a state of endless punishment be called by that name See Rev. 21.8 And thus having vindicated Mr. Perkins from Mr. R's cavils I shall pass over the idle discourses of the 139 and 140 pages and speak a few words of that which seems more worthy of my censure in 141 page thus p. 141. R. We read in Rom. 2.31 of very great sinners proud spightful Inventors of evil things and such like yet the word saith not Ro. 6.21 that they are worthy of more than death and if death be the end of these things then there is not any thing to come after death B. This is a rare piece of Learning indeed and such as the common sort of Preachers never had the confidence to teach their hearers either from the Pulpit or the Press But that it may not be thought better of than it deserves let us examine it briefly the main strength of his Speech lies in this That God hath not said that those wicked ones mentioned in that place were worthy of any more than death true indeed they were worthy of no more punishment than death for that death there spoken of is nothing less than eternal Damnation And thus the unpardonable sin 1 Joh. 5.16 called by St. John a sin unto death that is such a sin as necessarily and infallibly brings eternal damnation upon the sinner
And that so great sinners are worthy of more punishment than corporal death I believe was scarce ever doubted of by any but Mr. R. that ever were acquainted with Scripture and the sound writings that explain it yea I doubt not but the proudest Jesuit in the world would easily grant it and if it be needful to be proved these considerations may be sufficient for it Sin deserves worse punishment than corporal Death 1. That this is no more than the Beasts and Birds endure who never sinned they dye and dye totally whereas men though never so wicked dye only in their bodies as all but Atheists will acknowledge And can we think an obstinate rebellious sinner deserves no worse than that which the most harmless useful creatures do suffer 2. That the best of the Saints suffer death as well as the worst yea some of them have suffered much worse viz. by conflicting many years with horrid Temptations to despair and the like as Mr. Glover a most excellent Christian in the Book of Martyrs is said to have been in despair five years together And shall we think the wicked are worthy of no worse evil than the best of God's children have undergone God forbid p. 102. In the former part of his Book He tells us of some Books that were burnt in London by the Hangman and saith thereupon the same Spirit is alive to burn this which he hath written And I think it doth as well deserve that honour as ever any book in the world did as may appear not only by what hath been seen of it hitherto but also and especially by that which follows to the end of it and particularly by this act of his in this Page I am upon viz. by urging Rom. 6.21 to prove that there is not any thing to come after Death to speak in his own plain words p. 141. lin 16. Surely it is more than bad enough to doubt whether there be any thing to come after Death or not much worse to hold absolutely that there is not for that contradicts the Scriptures which tell us that after Death there is a Judgment and a Vengeance to be inflicted on them that obey not the Gospel of Christ 2 Thess 1.9 Hebrews 9.27 Heb. 9.27 and in a word everlasting shame and contempt to the wicked he means Dan. 12.2 c. But for a Man to act Mr. R.'s part and to urge Holy Scripture in defence of such a Heathenish Opinion who can imagine how horrible a thing it is in the eyes of God I doubt not but he would suffer worse than corporal Death for it if God should deal with him after his deserts what ever slight thoughts he hath of it And how far these words The end of these things is Death I say how far these words are from proving that there is no Punishment for any after Death is so plain that there 's little need of any thing to be said about it for Death here signifies as before Eternal damnation As when it is said if ye live after the flesh ye shall dye that is be Damned Rom. 8.13 for however they live they are as much subject to temporal Death as 't is clear Proof 3d. R. Their Opinion of a Punishment never to end makes not sin p. 146. but Christ to be the cause of their so suffering for if Christ had not come there had been no Resurrection and if no Resurrection there could be no Punishment after Death But Christ may not be supposed to be the cause of their Punishment c. B. If this be a Proof it is a very ugly one certainly and will not be much valued by them that know what Christ or Sin or Punishment is However I shall not think much to say something to it I confess Christ is said to be the cause of the Resurrection of the Dead He is the efficient cause of the Resurrection of the wicked as he is God of the same substance with his Father and he is the Meritorious cause of the Resurrection of the Saints as their Head and Mediator I mean as their Resurrection is a glorious Resurrection in Philip. 3.11 If by any means I may attain to the Resurrection of the Dead * Intelligit non simplicem sed gloriosam Zanch. in loc Now observe his Argument Without the Resurrection the wicked could not be punished after Death Christ is the cause of their Resurrection if they be raised therefore if they suffer for ever Christ is the cause of it which is absurd This is manifestly his Proof in this matter and how absurd it is may be shewed in a Parallel case as thus Without life and strength Men could not rob on the High-way but it is God that gives them life and strength and without him they could not have them therefore God is the cause of their Robbing Would not a Christian abhor such a Reasoning as this yea would not the Devil himself be almost ashamed of it and yet if I am not most exceedingly mistaken it is as good a Reasoning as that of his yea the very same in kind If he had not forgotten all his Logick he might have remembred that Causa sine quâ non is not a cause strictly and properly so called but only a pre-requisite condition c. Sine ullo causali Influxu as the Learned Scheibler expresseth it * Topic. de causis cap. 2. Artic. 4. If my Author had not had Ink and Paper or something that might serve in stead of them he could not have written these his many Infallible Proofs yet if we speak properly it was not his Ink or his Paper or any such thing that was the cause of his writing them but his Error and his desire of defending it c. And seeing his great weakness in this particular it will not be much amiss to bring in to his Assistance the Learning of his Learned Brother Mr. Tho. Hobbs of Malmesbury who though in some things he speaks more honestly than my Author hath done yet is no approver of the Doctrine I contend for For in his Leviathan Chapter 44. p. 346. as the Reverend Dr. Tully citeth him in his Exposit Symboli he supposeth the Everlasting Punishment spoken of in the Gospel A Digression to Mr. Hobbs to be meant not of every Damned Man in particular but only to be specifical and to respect divers of them successively so as that one should be punished a time and then be turned into nothing then another to come in his place and so soon as he is annihilated another after him and another again after him and so on Which doubtless was the fruit of his own Invention for I verily believe it never came into the Head of any Man before him But I answer Answ 1 1. By his leave there can be no Everlasting Punishment upon them at this rate unless they who are first annihilated are made alive again after their annihilation for if they
publick Duty and to hear that word often that is able to save their Souls Shew your Zeal for the Solemn Service of your God and let them know how greatly you love the Habitation of his House and the place where his Honour dwelleth This would be a means to bring them often thither if not for love yet for shame and fear and if they come within the sound of God's Word whatsoever it be that moves them so to do there is hopes they may be the better for it or at least not so bad so blind and bold and hardened in sin as if they had been drinking or prating with their ungodly Companions when they should be hearing the Word of their Lord. 2. To shew your Zeal against Drunkenness common Swearing and all other gross sin by punishing it according to the Laws of the Land and to shew most of your favour and kindness to those Persons or Families that seem to have the greatest kindness for Religion 3. To discourse with your Neighbours in an edifying way Let your speech savour of Grace and discover your seriousness for your God and Souls Let them know by your words the holy temper of your hearts Tell them how glad you would be to be more holy than you are to be perfectly conformed to the will of Christ and how little you value all this World 's good in comparison of his love and the enjoyment of it in Heavenly glory Tell them what thoughts you have of the state of an ungodly Professor and that you would not be in such a case for all the Wealth in the Earth Tell them of the preciousness of Time and the greatness of that work which they must do for their Souls therein and if they seem careless of it ask them seriously some awakening Questions As 1. Do you not know that you are Men and that your reason was given you to make you capable of serving your God with a reasonable service that is a ready willing and conscionable service And do you not know that he is always present with you and pondereth all your goings 2. Do you not know you must shortly dye and your Souls enter immediately into an endless state of joy or sorrow according as you dye godly or ungodly Christians 3. Doth not God deserve infinitely more than your highest love your best obedience The Heavens declare his glory and may it become you to forget him and live to his dishonour Do you not admire the beauty and brightness of the starry Heaven and will you venture to lose all the glory and joy which dwells in the Heaven of Heavens for the transitory pleasures or profits of sin O how much good might a few of such questions or speeches do from a Gentleman's mouth upon his Tenents or Neighbours Souls 4ly Engage them in the reading of Scripture and such Books as open and apply the great truths and duties in it as Bishop Taylor 's Rules of Holy Living the Whole Duty of Man Mr. Baxter's Books of Death and Judgment or any other that your Prudence and Piety shall think fit for them Such private innocent companions I doubt not have been a means of saving many a Soul Engage them also to a constant course of Prayer by themselves and with their Families for the often approaching to God in so holy a work whether with a Book or without will shame them from gross sins and make them more serious in their provisions for Eternity 5. Do all you advise them to your selves and be ready to do good to their Bodies and Names in any reasonable way as well as to their Souls and then there is no doubt but your good Examples and good Counsels may do them good And your labour in all will not be too much in so great a work as the saving of Souls from the second Death My next work is to Exhort All in general high and low rich and poor one with another Surely my Brethren you had need be heedful to your selves since Hell is real O consider your ways and use all possible means to escape the Damnation of Hell I hope I shall not need to add any Motives to it if you believe its dreadfulness and your own deservings And as for Directions for it the following Section will supply you with them CHAP. IV. SECT IV. Containing some Directions to escape Hell Torments Presupposition THis part of my Discourse is designed for such especially as are yet in the ready way to Hell as common Swearers Lyars Drunkards Sabbath-breakers and such like to which I may add our factious spightful Professors that mix very wisely as they think their Malice and their Religion together whose wicked spight against their Parish-Ministers is most blessedly turned into a pure zeal for private Meetings abhorring Churches as profane places and crying out when the time and company is fittest Down with them down with them even to the ground And in a word Hypocrites Worldlings careless and ungodly Persons To such I now speak and to them I would give these following Advices in order to the escaping of Hell-torments Dir. 1 After you have remembred how well you deserve them and how worthy the least sin makes you of them Rom. 6. last vers The wages of sin is Death viz. Eternal Death or Damnation for to Eternal Life it is opposed in the verse much more all your sins together with your obstinacy and impenitency in and under them c. I say having considered your deservings consider carefully the danger of your present state of sin O think a little yea think much how uncertain your life is and how impossible it will be to scape Hell if you dye in an unconverted unsanctified state see Matth. 18.3 Hebr. 12.14 and other places And withall how intolerable its miseries will be to you if for the love of sin you be sent thither The light afflictions of this World are greatly dreaded by many and carefully provided against by sober and prudent Men How much more should the extremity of endless Torments O consider what it is to be for ever I say for ever under the insupportable wrath of the great God and whether the utmost that sin can do for you may rationally encourage you to run the hazard of so great a misery This is the first thing that I would advise you to in this case and if the escaping of everlasting misery be not a thing worthy of our most serious thoughts that may tend that way nothing in the World is nor will Men be apt to provide against a danger till they see and consider the reality and certainty of it and the like Except But say some this is harsh counsel and we cannot take it To consider of such sad matters alas we cannot do it we dare not do it if we should think much of such things we are afraid it might make us mad Answer But Sinner take heed in time and do not deceive thy self thou knowest thou hast
it is the saddest destruction to be in a perpetual state of misery This I say is a more dreadful destruction than to be annihilated and therefore fittest to be called a destruction And if he think the word destruction must signifie of necessity annihilation and cannot signifie a state of misery and punishment he had best remove those difficulties that lye in his way in my first Chapter where the sense of the word hath been cleared against the Socinians And what doth he think to mention but one Text for many of the words of our God in Hosea O Israel thou hast destroyed thy self but in me is thy help Hosea 13.9 Surely he doth not think it is meant that they had turned themselves into nothing but that by their sins they had brought themselves into a miserable condition and made themselves liable to greater miseries In the following Page he runs very swiftly and disputes us into absurdities after this manner The Word saith p. 129. Their end is destruction R. Philip. 3. Their Opinion saith They shall never be destroyed nor ever end The Word saith The last Enemy is Death 1 Cor. 15. Their Opinion saith There is a worse thing after Death to be endured without end B. There are a sort of Men in the World that have wit and subtilty and some kind of Learning too that yet are little better than fools for want of grace and holy wisdom to make a good use of their wits and therefore we use to say of them that they are simple and cunning And whether my Author be not somewhat of Kin to these kind of Men let my Reader judge For in these last passages there is something of subtilty yea enough to deceive the ignorant and unstable and the Men that are inclining to his Opinion but if we view them narrowly they will not appear more subtile than silly For the former runs upon a false supposition that the destruction threatned to the wicked is a Natural destruction whereas it means only a Moral destruction viz. Condemnation and Punishment as was seen before But he saith their end is said to be destruction which he thinks is contrary to us who teach that there shall never be an end of them but that they shall always remain under Punishment But it doth not mean as he would have it that the destruction there spoken of doth make an end of them or imply the dissolution of their natures for we have seen the contrary before and if he entertain such a perswasion he may easily be brought to believe upon the same ground that Everlasting life or happiness will make an end of the Saints for 't is said Their end is everlasting life Rom. 6.22 Wherefore by end we are to understand their final and unchangeable state and portion in another World which is everlasting destruction or misery to the wicked as it is everlasting life or glory to the Righteous But of this I have said something before The other labours under as much weakness as the former for observe it is not said in 1 Cor. 15. that the last enemy is Death absolutely as if there were no worse thing to come after but thus only The last enemy that shall be destroyed 1 Cor. 15.26 is Death where he leaves out that main passage which carries the whole sense of the Text. Just as the Devil alledged the Psalmist he shall give his Angels charge over thee to keep thee and left out the following words in all thy ways or the ways God hath appointed thee to walk in See Matth. 4.6 compared with Psal 91.11 Vid. Muscul in Loc. Now we grant that Death is the last Enemy that shall be destroyed though it shall not be the last evil that by the wicked shall be endured p. 130. In the next Page he heaps up many places to prove that Eternal life belongs not to the wicked To which I answer by distinguishing of the word if he take it as the Scripture doth for Eternal glory and happiness I grant it but if he mean it only of an Eternal continuance in life as life is opposed only to Corporal Death or Annihilation then I say it will agree to the wicked also after the General Resurrection as in its due place hath been manifested The Devils shall not have Eternal life in the sense aforesaid as it is promised to the People of God but yet they shall be eternally alive and live the life of spiritual substances else they could not suffer eternally in the Everlasting fire as we have proved they shall R. If Adam had never sinned he should have dyed nevertheless p. 131. This is proved first because he had a Natural body and was of the Earth earthly and therefore mortal and corruptible B. Whatsoever strength and goodness may be in this kind of Reasoning it is no more than the World hath been acquainted with before ever it was blessed with the sight of his Book the Learned Reader may find it amongst the most Reasonable Doctrines of those Masters of Reason as they would be counted I mean the Socinian Hereticks See Ostorod Instit cap. 33. And it is easily answered by distinguishing of the word Mortal It may be taken two ways as to this present case either first to signifie a person that may die and is capable of dying and so I grant Adam was always mortal which his Reasons sufficiently prove but if we mean it of one that must dye I deny that Adam was mortal in state of Innocency for whatsoever may be said of a possibility of dying he should never have been actually under the power of death if he had not sinned By one man sin entred into the world and death by sin c. Rom 5.12 A porta in Def. fidei cap 27. Aslingii l. c. p. 2. l. 5. q. 2. They that would see a larger discourse on this subject may consult these in the Margin where they may see the Author of this opinion R. Mr. Bolton saith If Adam had stood he could not have conveyed to us a Body Immortal or not dying in his Treat of Heaven p. 131. B. This Gentleman's word is not overmuch to be valued as to the Authors he citeth so he citeth Mr. Bolton here non bona fide as they say in plain English very corruptly For in that place the words run thus our condition speaking of the Saints in Heaven is a thousand times more happy and glorious than if we had stood still with Adam in his Innocency and Felicity for if so he could but have conveyed to us bodies Immortal potentiâ non moriendi ex Hypothesi as they say but in Heaven they shall be Immortal impotentiâ moriendi if he knew not what that means for a few good words I shall be content to tell him if he doth know he cannot but know that he granteth no subjection to the power of death to proceed from the nature of
that they are but Fools that do so Pro. 14.9 Yet alas how many such Fools are to be found and that too amongst those that are counted good honest understanding Men What if they never so grosly neglect and forget the God that made them what if they slight his holy Commandments and turn away their Ears never so frequently from hearing his Law Pro. 28.9 and so run the hazard of having their Prayers rejected What if they are so proud that they care not for God nor value a sound Sermon half so much for the bettering of their Souls as they do the smallest piece of a rotten Dunghill for the bettering of their Lands In a word what if they rail at us for desiring to make them better Christians than they care to be spight at their Neighbours and defraud and oppress their poor Brethren and do the Devil any service in the World that may but please or profit themselves make their Purses heavier and their Hearts lighter c. Yet I say they can make a small matter of it and can see no great harm in it or at least no such great harm in any of these things but that they can easily dispense with it for the attaining of those great ends which they propose unto themselves therein But Reader if these Men could but look beyond the Grave and see what is doing in the other World among the Souls of such ungodly ones as themselves If they could but see in a lively and sensible way how many are now Damned for those sins which they are so much in love with and be able to apprehend what sad thoughts those miserable Souls now have of their delightfullest gainfullest wickednesses which have laid them under Eternal vengeance Then believe me they would judge otherwise of these things than now they do I grant indeed there are other means whereby to see the evil of sin as namely the clear Glass of God's Sacred Laws and the Red Glass of Christ's Bloud and Sufferings c. These doubtless may be sufficient to shew sin in its proper Colours to a spiritual eye and will be confessed to be so by all sorts but blockish Papists and blasphemous Socinians But this Point that I am now upon might convince the blindest Worldling of it in case he would truly believe and consider it For he must needs grant there is much evil in that which the Righteous God will punish with Everlasting Torment How vile and hateful how hainous and horrible must that be which the God of all Goodness and Mercy will shew his Eternal Displeasure against How sad a work must that be which hath such a Death for its wages as sin hath yea all sin Rom. 6. ult For the Apostle speaks of sin in general as sin and not of such or such a sin in particular in Vers 23. As hath been excellently cleared by our Protestant Worthies against the Romanists * Ames Anti. Bel. Cham. T. 3. lib. 6. cap. 12. though the Mercy of God delivers them that turn unto him And so it may discover the madness of ungodly sinners that walk in the way to everlasting misery but this will afford matter enough for another Section CHAP. IV. SECT II. Discovering the horrible madness of wicked men in adventuring upon this dreadfullest Misery Inform. 3d. of the madness of the wicked c. FRom hence also we may fitly inform our selves of the monstrous madness of wilful and resolute sinners that will run the hazard of so great misery for the fulfilling of their sinful lusts and humors in this present world Solomon often calls such men Fools and St. Paul stiles them unreasonable men * 2 Thess 3.2 And certainly their folly and unreasonableness appear in nothing more than in their venturing of their Immortal Souls in the ways of Destruction they are apt enough to fear Plagues and Famines Bonds and Imprisonments or any ordinary Calamities yea they are afraid to obey the Commands of their God and their Consciences lest they should run into some inconveniences by so doing and scarce dare to come to the place of Gods publick worship and service in a constant and diligent manner lest some Factious Atheists should call them fools for their pains Psal 9.17 Psal 145.20 But as for the everlasting punishment that is threatned against them and which they cannot possibly escape while they are followers of wickedness these they have little fear of they dread not the dreadfullest dangers and if in love to their Souls we warn them of it and desire them to take heed in time and turn from their evil ways before it be too late they will thank us for nothing as 't is commonly said and advise us to take care of our selves and not to trouble our selves with them But if they did but know aright the greatness of that misery that the damned shall endure they would shun the ways that lead to it and not walk in any way of wickedness for the gaining of all the wealth on earth yea they would be as loth to continue in a state of sin as to stay in a house that is on fire over their heads That therefore I shall endeavour in the next place to discover And here I must needs say with the Apostle who is sufficient for these things who can fathom the depth of the Damneds sorrows what heart can conceive them or what words can express them for who knoweth the power of God's wrath or how miserable it can make the enemies of his holiness But though we cannot fully set forth the Terror of the Lord upon them yet we may soon see so much of it as may make it appear to be most exceedingly terrible as he that cannot sound the depth of the Sea yet he may quickly find that 't is very deep I shall now endeavour to demonstrate with all convenient brevity the dreadfulness of the Damnation and punishment that the wicked that live and dye such shall surely undergo The extreme misery of the wicked in Hell discovered I shall not now speak of the perpetuity of it having spoken much of it before and almost as much as need to be spoken on that subject and much more I am sure than Mr. Richardson or any of his Abetters will ever be able to answer in this world or the world to come but rather of the extremity of it and that in Two generals which will admit of a large consideration 1. The Happiness and comfort that they shall miss of or lose 2. The miseries pains and positive sorrows that they shall sustain and lye under 1. 1. In their Banishment from Christ They shall be banished from the Blessed Presence of the Lord Jesus Christ In their day they would not be commanded by him but in His day they shall be commmanded from him He himself will say unto them depart from me ye workers of iniquity Matth 7.21 and oh what a misery will
that be unto them It was grievous to them to be banished from their friends in the world to be shut up close in a Prison or Pest-house from the comfort and Society of their old acquaintance c. But how grievous will it be to be banished from Christ and be separated everlastingly from all the comforts of his Presence and Favour This this will be a bitter thing indeed and more dreadful than a Thousand Deaths for Consider O Christian Rev. 25.23 't is He that is the Glory of Heaven the Eternal Light of that City of God 't is He that is the Angels Joy and at whose Birth they sang an Hymn of Praise a little of His Divine Consolations have revived the drooping Spirits of his Servants have Crowned their Souls with blessed Peace and turned the Shadow of Death into the Morning as the Prophet elegantly expresseth himself How bravely did the Holy Martyrs Triumph over the saddest and sharpest of humane miseries filling their mouths with Glorious Praises when they were ready to be filled with Smoke and Flames and all through the sense of their interest in Christ and the lively hopes of happiness with him after this life ended And in many others of later times The joy of their Lord hath made them more than Conquerers over all the fears and sorrows of Death Millions of Praises to the Lord our God let Heaven and Earth praise Him for he hath remembred us in our low estate and hath redeemed us to himself said that worthy man * Mr. Janway a little before he gave up the Ghost But now those Consolations of Christ which his Saints partake of in Heaven are doubtless far beyond all that they were sensible of here on Earth Phil. 1.21 for to be with him there is far better as St Paul assures us and yet these Consolations shall be no comfort to them that dye in their sins for they shall have nothing to do with them he will say unto them Matth. 25.4 Depart from me ye cursed And O how cursed will their case then be and how miserable will they then account themselves for they will then lose all other comforts with him which is the next thing to be spoken to 2 In their loss of all other comforts Secondly the wicked in the world to come shall lose all other comforts too whatsoever here they took comfort in shall then be taken from them Now they make a good shift without spiritual Consolations and though they seldom think of Christ and his Kingdom with any seriousness yet the thoughts of present enjoyments delight their Souls and Sensual Contentments do supply the want of Spiritual ones unto them But if they come to Hell as they needs must if they go on still in their sins they will miss of all their Sensual enjoyments But to come to some particulars 1. Wealth and Honour 1. They will lose their worldly wealth and honour they that minded their mony more than Heaven shall lose both Heaven and money too Their Riches will not profit saith the Scripture in the day of wrath the heat of that day will melt their best coin for all things of this inferior world shall be dissolved and burnt up 2 Pet. 3.10 They shall see all their pleasant things in flames before themselves are cast into the fiery-lake How speedily will their stately Buildings curious Gardens costly Clothes and richest Jewels then be spoiled and destroyed for ever Their meat and drink will also be denyed unto them because they despised the Bread of Life and wilfully starved their precious Souls and desired not in truth of heart the sincere milk of the Word that they might grow thereby 1 Pet. 2. Their Minds and Memories and Consciences will have many foul sins to feed on but their mouths will have no fine bits to feed on for whatsoever Sensual good may be expected in the Turks Airy Paradise 't is sure there is no such thing to be hoped for in the Devils fiery prison Their honours also will be then at an end since they must arise to shame and everlasting contempt Dan 12.2 2. Loss of rest and ease 2. The Damned will lose all bodily rest and ease and sleep The place of Torment they must be cast into will admit of no refreshment at all They that wearied others with their wickedness before will then be wearied with it themselves and though they could sleep very soundly in God's house of Prayer yet they shall not sleep so much as one wink in his house of punishment That saddest word Go ye cursed will keep them awake for evermore They shall lose also all their carnal Mirth and Worldly Joy 3. Mirth Here they had it many of them in abundance their hearts were light when their Consciences were loaded with guilt And though they said unto God Depart from us we desire not the knowledge of thy ways yet the Pipers and Singers were more welcome to them Job 21. they take pleasure in the Timbrel and Harp and rejoyce at the sound thereof yea rather than want Mirth they will laugh at Religion and make Doctrine and Use the matter of their Sport But then these things will be at an end the Candle of the wicked will be put out They that would not take up Religion nor chuse God's Fear lest it should make them dull and melancholy shall then be merry no more for the Matter of their Mirth we have seen will then be taken from them and God will distribute Sorrows in his Anger yea their own eyes shall see their destruction Job 21.17.20 and they shall drink of the Wrath of the Almighty as it is set forth in that Chapter Quest But how shall they live may some say in such a condition For will not so much misery break their hearts and will not life fail when it hath no means to support it no food nor sleep c. Answer I Answer No that may not be imagined They must needs live still because God will not suffer them to dye they that lived on earth as though they had thought their Souls were mortal shall in Hell find their bodies to be immortal they shall be raised incorruptible 1 Cor. 15. and what if they want the natural means of Life as food and sleep yet the principal cause of Life will still remain even the will and pleasure of the Almighty But I shall not say any thing more of this point here having spoke unto it already and maintained it against the wisest of Mr. R's oppositions Object But say some the Saints themselves must part with their worldly comforts at last as well as the ungodly the universal flames will burn up their dwellings c. as surely as the dwellings of the wicked Sol. True indeed But though they must part with these things yet they shall be no losers thereby because they shall have better instead of them Instead of Natural delights they