doomed to these flames are represented by our Lord unto those Tares that are bound in bundles to be burnt Matth. 13.30 denoting all kind of sinners to be punished with them that are of their own rank and quality e.g. The proud with the proud The drunkard with his good fellow The adulterer with the unclean and so in all others according to the enormities of their lives shall be their susterings after death And although in this life 't is some mitigation of sorrow to have companions therein of the same quality yet in Hell 't is far otherwise for there the more sinners with their sins the more fuel is added to that dismal fire So that when I consider all the sins that have been committed against the Majesty of Heaven since the beginning of the world to the end thereof are as so many faggots to feed the fire of Hell I cannot but tremble at the greatness of its force and fury and carefully avoid the society of sinners in this life that I suffer not with them to the encrease of our mutual torments in the other world 3. Our fire may be quenched Mat. 3.12 Isa 66. ult Isa 30. ult nay 't will quench it self when its fuel is wasted but the fire of Hell is unquenchable because First The breath of the everlasting God like a stream of Brimstone doth enkindle it Secondly The fuel that feeds this fire shall never be consumed viz. Immaterial Immortal Beings of whom being tormented in these flames 't is affirmed Rev. 9.6 that they shall seek death and shall not find it they shall desire to die but death shall fly from them Miserable wretches whilst they had time and leisure to seek life they neglected it nay it is too common Ut cujus vita mortua fuit in culpa illic mors vivat in poena Greg. that when life in Christ is offered unto many in the blessed food of their Souls they slight and contemn it and therefore 't is most just as the Father observes that they whose life in this world was no other than a death in sin their death hereafter should be a life in punishment for sin everlastingly But as to the unquenchable fire of Hell Remember O my Soul that there is now a fire within thee the which if it be not quencht in this life will bring thee to fire unquenchable in the other world and this is the rank and fulsom fire of Concupiscence Thy carnal lusts and thy worldly lusts being now followed and fulfilled are the fuel that feeds that dismal fire of the Infernal Lake and the worm also that never dieth is bred of the same corruption even in the dunghil lusts of the heart actuated by the hot suggestions of Satan And as the fire of Concupiscence doth now more or less rage in thy heart so as to follow the sway thereof so shall the fire of Hell be more or less raging hereafter if these lusts do not die within thee before the death of nature seize thee Take then the advice of the Wise Syracides Eccl. 7.17 Humble thy self greatly for the vengeance of the wicked is fire and worms And of S. Col. 3.5 Paul Mortifie therefore your members that are upon earth fornication uncleanness inordinate affection evil concupiscence and covetousness which is Idolatry For which things sake the wrath of God cometh upon the children of disobedience Blessed Jesus by the merits and mysteries of thy Circumcision I humbly beg the true Circumcision of the Spirit and by the virtue of thy Crucifixion strengthen me to crucifie the flesh with the affections and lusts lest any of those exorbitant fires being not opportunely quenched involve me in those flames of Hell which are unquenchable MEDITAT IV. Of the extent of Hell-Pains Greg. mor. WHen I consider righteous Job on the Dunghil the holy Baptist hungring in the Wilderness S. James beheaded S. Peter crucified the Torments and Deaths of innumerable Martyrs the manifold Afflictions of the holy and elect people of God I cannot but consider and know assuredly that very great and many shall be the Torments of the wicked in the world to come since God suffereth those whom he dearly loves to be so much afflicted in this life The Pains of Hell in the extent of them do herein differ from all present bodily pains that these are partial only in some particular parts joynts and members of the body whilst other parts are free from pain But in Hell the whole man in all the Senses internal and external in all the parts of his body and powers of his soul yea the most spiritual faculties shall be tormented with fire and brimstone rage and despite grief and anguish misery and malediction For the pains of Hell are a concourse of all kinds of pain of all at the same time and of all of them for ever The Taste shall be punished with bitterness the Appetite with hunger and the Tongue with thirst the Sight with horror the Hearing with astonishment the Smell with stench the Heart with anguish the Imagination with fear the Reason with madness the Judgment with confusion and in the very Bowels fire unquenchable And this is most just that as the wicked have employed all the powers and parts both of Soul and Body as weapons of unrighteousness unto sin so should their punishment be in all their Senses Members Faculties that as each hath transgrest by sinful Pleasure and inordinate Delight so each should have its peculiar afflicting Torment There is no sin unrepented in this life but shall have its proper peculiar torment in Hell There the proud shall be filled with confusion The slothful shall be pricked forward with burning goads The covetous shall be pinched with penury The glutton and the drunkard shall be pined with a perpetual hunger and thirst The envious shall howl like mad dogs for rage and grief The luxurious and lovers of Pleasures more than lovers of God shall wallow in burning pitch and stinking brimstone And in a word in whatsoever thing a man hath in this life offended in the same shall he be tormented if not by a true and timely Repentance prevented And this the miserable Dives felt when he wanted a drop of cold water to cool his Tongue in Hell who whilst upon earth had fared sumptuously every day 'T is undoubtedly true that all persons condemned to the flames of the nether Hell are not equally tormented therein for though the fire of Hell be one and the same yet it torments not all after the same manner nor in the same degree of torture but every man shall therein more or less feel the smart of its fury as by the nature quality and frequency of his sin he hath less or more deserved the same Gen. 18.25 for shall not the Judge of all the world do right The more high peremptory and presumptuous as also the less obstinate and impenient sinner shall both suffer under the torment of
his Eyes quite sunk into his head and in the two holes thereof two loathsome Toads were feeding Then turning towards his Mother he said What now dear Mother is become of the great Caesar whose pomp and power and policy whose riches honour and dignity whose many victories conquests and triumphs rendred him the most admired Heroe the world afforded Where now is all his glory Where the Conquering Armies he commanded The Cities Nations Countries he subdued The numerous train of Nobility Gentry Souldiery that attended him The vast riches and boundless authority he acquired Whereunto the pious Matron answered O my Son no sooner did his Spirit fail and his breath expire but all his splendid enjoyments all his flattering worldly felicities forsook him His riches his friends his attendants all his conquests and triumphs all the honour which he got through manifold travels pains and perils have all now left him alone in this gastly silent Sepulchre accompanied only with Worms Stench and Corruption Such is the end of all flesh All flesh is grass Isa 40.6 and all the goodliness thereof as a flower of the field The flower is more gay and gawdy than the grass for a little space but when the verdure of both decays they have the same withered complexion they rot and corrupt both alike and commonly the more gawdy flower is more ugly and stinking than the grass 'T is even so with the rich and the poor the honourable and the base in this world they differ only in their outward fashion and appearance but when death doth seize them they are equally obnoxious to the same solitude poverty and nakedness to the same stench corruption and rottenness 'T is as true of the greatest Prince as of the meanest Peasant When a man is dead Eccl. 10.11 he shall inherit creeping things Beasts and Worms All the difference in the Grave betwixt the rich and the poor is this That the dust of the rich through the luxury lasciviousness and intemperance of their life is more corrupt and loathsome after their death than is the dust of the poor whose food and nourishment was more course and sparing Why then my Immortal Soul art thou so fond of thy corruptible companion the Body Remember its beginning is uncleanness and its end rottenness 'T is thy servant for the present but if thou too much cocker and pamper it 't will rebel subdue and lead thee captive to a worse death than that whereunto it self is liable even the death of the nether Hell Mar. 9.44 Where the Worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched 2. Death is the wages of sin And I have sinned vile wretch that I am I have sinned and what shall I do or what shall I say unto thee O thou preserver of man All that I can say is the same still Psal 38.18 I have sinned and as long as I have a day to live I will say it I will confess my wickedness and be sorry for my sins Mercy good Lord mercy I humbly beg Job 7.20 21. O why dost thou not pardon my Transgression and take away mine iniquity Are not my days few cease then and let me alone that I may bewail my sins and take comfort a little in the hopes of the pardon of them through faith in the blood of my dear Redeemer Job 10.20 21. before I go to the place from whence I shall not return to the land of darkness and of the shadow of death 3. I know that to flesh and blood death is of all terribles the most terrible Job 18.14 but my blessed Redeemer hath pulled out the sting and quelled the terrors of death 1 Cor. 15.55 Heb. 2.14 56 57. He hath also destroyed him that had the power of death that is the Devil So that now when death approacheth through Faith and a good Conscience I shall have hope with all patience and contentment to drink off that Cup how bitter and painful soever saying with my blessed Lord and Master upon his approaching death Mat. 26.42 Father not my will but thine be done The Prayer ASsist me mercifully O Lord to subject my rebellious flesh to the guidance of the Spirit and my spirit to the Laws of my Redeemer that when my body shall be the inheritance of Worms and creeping things my Soul may possess an inheritance uncorruptible and undefiled that fadeth not away reserved in the Heavens through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen MEDITAT V. Of Preparation unto Death I. AS there is nothing more certain than death Psal 89.47 For what man is there that liveth and shall not see death So there is nothing more uncertain than the time of death Mat. 24.36 for of that day and hour knoweth noman 'T is therefore unknown Luk. 12.40 that it might be alway suspected and awaited The Son of man cometh in an hour when you think not That his coming may be hourly thought upon Latet dies ultimus Aug. ut observentur omnes dies The day of our death is hidden from us that all our days should be no other but a preparation thereunto the certainty of the one engaging us unto sincerity in the other * Veri hominis Christiani vita nihil aliud quam continua ad mortem praeparatio esse debet Every danger foreseen is best prevented And thus death the greatest of dangers may be rendred the least dangerous by a prudent fear and careful provision for the same Qui pavet cavet qui negligit incidit Bern. Prov. 14.16 which may best be englished in the language of the Holy Ghost The wise man feareth and departeth from evil but the fool rageth and is confident †Timeat semper in vita mortem qui mortis metum evadere velit II. The great end of this mortal life is to prepare for death or rather for a safe passage through death to life Immortal For upon the well or ill spending of the few minutes of this present life depends either a blessed or a miserable Eternity It was the advice of a wise man to his friend to have engraven in capital Letters in some such place of his house as might be most frequent in his view to be often considered Momentum unde pendet Eternitas III. There is no consideration our blessed Lord hath so frequently inculcated by commands counsels exhortations admonitions parables similitudes arguments and reasons as this of the Christian watch i. e. to prepare to provide to be ready to wait for the coming of the Lord or for the approach of Death Luke 12.38 whether he shall come in the first or in the second or in the third watch whether in the time of youth or manhood or old age Mark 13.34 35 36 37. at all times and in all ages he commands all men to be upon their watch This watch implies many particulars which are so many preparatives unto death 1. To watch is to
the same fire but not in the same degree of pain and suslering As under the same heat of the Sun upon Earth all creatures are not alike scorched but some are more some less sensible of its darting beams according to their several constitutions So in the fire of Hell the degree of its burning shall not be alike in all because what here the diversity of bodies there the diversity of sins shall effect So that though all be tormented with the like flames yet not every one in the like manner and degree of torment Gregor But alas the lowest degree of suffering in that place of horror is punishment enough if seriously considered to afright the sinner from all the errors of his ways There be many who now think this or that to be severe commands Love your Enemies Deny thy Self Fast and Watch and Pray Take up thy Cross but surely 't will be much more hard and bitter to hear Tho à Kemp. Depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire There was an Hermite call'd Olympius who had a Cell near the River Jordan where he was constantly plagued both with excessive heat and the bitings of innumerable Flies who being demanded why he would continue there to endure such perpetual vexations Answered I suffer patiently the bitings of these Flies that I may escape the dismal bitings of that Worm that dieth not And this great heat I endure that I may escape the flames of Hell which are intolerable and everlasting and these Heats but for a moment Prat. Spir. c. 141. O let not then the severest commands of the Gospel nor the difficulties and labours of Repentance startle and afright thee let not the breach or neglect thereof seem a light and a small thing unto thee but Remember that to endure the pains of Hell but one hour is more exceeding painful and asslicting than a thousand years of the most strict and severe austerities in Fasting and Sackcloth and Ashes Remember the Worm that dieth not The Fire that is not quenched The inseparable society of tormenting Devils The horrid howlings of damned Souls The everlasting banishment from the presence of God and from the Regions of light The insufferable stench horror and stifling fumes The Eternal hunger and thirst lamentation and woe and surely if these remembrances will not move thee to imbrace the strictest commands of thy blessed Redeemer thy heart is hard indeed and harder than the nether Milstone 'T was otherwise with the Psalmist Psal 119.120 my flesh trembleth for fear of thee and I am afraid of thy judgments But I humbly beg I may be here even here in this life punish'd for my sins but spare O spare me in the life to come and from those intolerable pains of the nether Hell good Lord deliver me through Jesus Christ MEDITAT V. Of the Bonds and Chains of Hell RIghteous art thou O Lord Psal 119.137 and upright are thy Judgments 'T is a justice becoming the just judge of the World that the Licentious and Profane who in this life would not be bound up nor restrained from following and fulfilling their exorbitant lusts but have walked in the counsel of the ungodly and stood in the way of sinners that they who bound up their hands from doing the works of God's Commandments and bound up their feet from walking in the paths of his most holy Laws that they whose sins are bound upon theirs Souls and not loosed by true Repentance through Faith in the Bloud of Christ 't is just I say that such should incurr this sad and dismal Sentence Mat. 22.1 Bind him hand and foot By the feet in holy Writ is frequently meant our affections whereby our Souls do move as our bodies do by our feet And by our hands our actions are meant so that by the binding of both in Hell is intimated that it shall not there be possible either to act or so much as affect what is good and conducible to our redemption thence To be bound to one place though in Silken Cords or Chains of Gold though 't were on a Bed of Roses or the sweetest Perfumes to be so tied as not to be able to stir hand or foot is a very great punishment to the free active and stirring soul of Man How much more then a sorer punishment is it to be bound in fiery Chains eating through the flesh into the very Bowels nay through all the most hidden and deepest recesses of the Soul and be forced to lie down in a Bed of Flames and therein not to be able to stir either hand or foot not to move or change from side to side for the least ease or mitigation of Torment For the binding of the feet implies there 's no escaping no flying from the place of Torment and the binding of the hands that there 's no fence against the tormenting Fiends that there 's no way to be gone no work to be done to mitigate in the least their insupportable sufferings 'T is therefore one great reason of God's forbearance with finners in this life to bring them to Repentance because there 's no possibility by Repentance to abate the sorrows of impenitent sinners in the life to come He must have a heart of Stone or rather of Flint the hardest of Stones who in remembrance of his sins is not greatly terrified and humbled in the very thought and apprehension of these fiery tormenting Chains of Hell And such a hardness of heart is contracted by a long continued custom in any sinful course And every sin unrepented is justly punished 1. By being insensible of sin and 2. without the fear or remembrance of future Judgments which makes that vast difference betwixt the wise man and the fool The wise man feareth and departeth from evil but the fool rageth and is confident Prov. 14.16 Blessed Jesus whose innocent tender hands were rudely seized and bound with Cords of injustice and violence vouchsafe to loose all the Bonds and Chains of my Sins wherewith both my hands and feet affections and actions are infettered and infested and grant that the wounds they have made in my Soul being washed with my Tears may be healed by the Soveraign Balsam which from thy Wounds and Stripes and Bonds does flow Ps 25.14 Pluck my feet out of the Net of every temptation to sinfulness and error Ps 119.48 and let my hands be continually lift up unto thy Commandments to do them that I be not liable to be bound by any of the Spirits of vengeance in the fiery Chains of the nether Hell where is weeping and wailing MEDITAT VI. Of the Laments of Hell THere shall be weeping Mat. 25.30 and wailing and gnashing of teeth They shall deservedly weep in Hell whose eyes upon earth have been full of Adultery 2 Pet. 2.14 Lasciviousness and greediness of the Creature whose eyes have been set upon their covetousness Prov. 13.30 and their eye-lids lifted up with scorn and contempt