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
Lives for him As to the Expressions The Wrath of God abideth on him Joh. iii. 36. and he shall not see Life which are likewise objected I would ask How can the Wrath of God be executed so as to abide on One who hath no Existence but is Annihilated Their abiding under Wrath doth not deny but suppose their Existence and Continuance in Being So of that Expression Matth. iii. 12. the Chaff shall be burnt up with unquenchable Fire for if the burning this Chaff be to consume and annihilate it why is it by a Fire that cannot be quenched when it has done its work it should be put out Besides To suppose the Wicked shall be Annihilated at the Day of Judgment is to equal all Sinners as to any Punishment after the Day of Judgment for one Man cannot be more Annihilated than another Whereas the Scripture is express That it shall be more tolerable in the Day of Judgment for some than for others Yea this would infer a very unjust Inequality of Punishment for then the case of those who died in their Sins at the beginning of the World would be very hard in comparison of such as died towards the end of it Suppose one died the last year or month before Christ's Coming and another that died in his Sins before the Flood the former I suppose the greater Criminal would come to an end of his Sufferings in a very short time whereas the other and suppose a less Offender who died in the beginning of the World has been suffering the Wrath of God for some thousands of Years If the Damnation of the Wicked at the Day of Judgment be Annihilation what account can be given of this Inequality of Punishment But the Endless Misery of the Wicked in another World is positively affirmed by our Saviour no less than five times in six Verses of one Chapter Mark IX 43-48 and in many other places Not only is the Fire said to be Everlasting where they shall be tormented and so Absolutely Everlasting as never to be quenched But so certain that it shall never be quenched that the Smoke thereof shall ascend for ever and ever The Sentence of their Condemnation will never be reverst Their Condition is never to be alter'd but their Torments will be endless and their Misery eternal If you believe the Holy Scriptures and the Gospel-Revelation concerning the Design of Christ's Coming into the World to save Sinners from future Wrath you will less wonder that they who deny the Divinity of Christ should endeavour to put out the Fire of Hell and make the Eternal Damnation of Sinners a meer Fiction For what need of the Son of God to come from Heaven and take our Nature and dye for our Sins to deliver us from Wrath to come if there be no such Wrath to come after the Day of Judgment There is reason to fear that many who hearken to the Socinian Principles as to Christ's Deity and Satisfaction little know the tendency of their Doctrine For what can the scoffing Atheist desire more than to lose his Being for ever since an happy one in another World he does not expect If the professed Belief of what the Scriptures so plainly speak concerning the Torments of Hell hath no more Influence to restrain men from Sin but the World be still so bad how much worse would it be if there were nothing at all of this to be fear'd 'T is manifest that the Providence of God in all Ages has made use of this Doctrine to preserve Humane Society from ruine by outragious Wickedness And therefore they that would take away this Fence and deliver Mankind from these Fears as groundless and unreasonable do most effectually serve the Design of the Devil to promote Sensuality and Licentiousness and turn serious Religion out of the World For 't is found by Experience that the Promise of the Heavenly Felicity does not so much affect us as threatned Damnation 'T is to escape the Latter men are brought to consider the Certainty and Greatness of the Former And it is one of the great Motives made use of in the Gospel to restrain Men from Wickedness and awaken them to give all Diligence to work out their own Salvation but if they were once set free from the Fear and Belief of Eternal Punishments one of the most powerfull Restraints from Sin and Motives to Religion is Remov'd But there are Others who oppose this Doctrine because a Vicious Life hath made it their Interest to do so They desire to follow their Pleasures without being disturbed by any such Fear and so would fain perswade themselves that there will be no such Everlasting Hell hereafter Nay there be many who have made bold with Conscience and contracted such Guilt that if the Holy Scripture be true they must be undone in another World And are forc'd to flee to Infidelity or Socinianism as a Refuge after Shipwrack to make themselves easie or at least to lessen their Fears when they think of dying And who doth not know what a Byass upon Men's Understandings Interest and Inclination will cast How easily do we believe what we desire should be true and how hardly are we perswaded of the Truth of that which in its Consequences speaks Terror to our own Case But whatever shifts any such may make for a little while to keep Conscience quiet they will find e're long to their Eternal Sorrow all their little Cavils and Objections answered if they will not now consider things in order to their Conviction Did they better know the Evil of Sin and the Infinite Majesty and Glory Purity and Justice Authority and Soveraignty of GOD who is Despised Affronted and Disobeyed by Sinners they would sooner understand the weakness of their Pleas against the Christian Faith They would not lay so much stress on what they pretend That they would not serve any of their Enemies in such a manner if it were in their Power They say they would not punish any Injuries and Affronts against them at that Rate as we suppose God threatens to do No surely they ought not For what is an Offence Affront and Injury against a Weak Perishing Sinful Worm compar'd with Obstinate and continued Contempt of GOD The Glorious and Eternal Majesty of Heaven and Earth Have you any such Dominion and Soveraignty over your Enemies Any such Propriety in them and Right to their Obedience Can you Challenge that from them which God may Demand of us Have you ever obliged them with any such Benefits as he hath loaded us withall It is from slight Thoughts of the Evil of Sin against the Holy Ever-Blessed GOD that makes us think it hard for GOD to punish finally Obstinate Rebels with Everlasting Wrath. We should rather be Thankfull that he hath so faithfully warn'd us of it and bid us to fear him who is able to cast Body and Soul into Hell And by how much the more terrible and severe such threatned Punishment
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
is so much the kinder is GOD to give such repeated warning of it and so much the more Inexcusable are Sinners that will not consider it and lay it to Heart 'T is from Ignorance of GOD and how much he is above us that they dare talk so boldly of Divine Justice and Goodness And declare that the Everlasting Punishment of the Wicked is inconsistent with either or both GOD knows better than we what it is to be Just and what is Consistent with his Goodness and Mercy His Word is express and plain concerning the State of Sinners when the Day of Mercy is ended The measure of Punishment with respect to Crimes is not to be taken alway from the Quality and Degree of the Offence much less from the Time and Duration of it but from the Ends and Reasons of Government to deter men from the Breach of the Law The greatest Sins may often be committed in a short space of Time as Murder So that to argue from the Disproportion between Temporary Sins and Eternal Punishment will not conclude against the Justice of GOD. Can we think that God would threaten Sinners with a Punishment he could not inflict without Injustice Cannot GOD be Just and Good and Merciful except he save the Wilful and Disobedient who continue to despise the Offers of his Grace and persist in their Contempt and Rebellion to the very last Hath he not told us how far his Mercy shall reach Thousands of Holy Souls shall know to their Eternal Comfort that GOD is infinitely Good tho' he render Vengeance on them that slighted his Mercy and died without Repentance They had a time of tryal Mercy was offered them They were entreated to accept it GOD waited with much Long-suffering and Patience and often renewed his Calls and Warnings and Invitations to perswade them to flee from Wrath to come But they would not accept his Mercy in time If they plead that the endless Punishment of Sinners doth not answer the proper Ends and Design of Punishment viz. to reform the Sinner or to admonish and warn others against the like Offence It must be considered That this is not all the End and Design of Punishment But that when God hath declared his Will to punish one great End of that Punishment is to vindicate his Honour as Governour of the World that is injured and affronted by the Sins of Men And there 's a great deal of difference between the Ends of Punishment in this Life which very much respect the Community and those in another World And yet even here God as the Governour of the World may vindicate the Rites of his Honour and Soveraignty by inflicting Punishment But in the next Life they who are punished are Obstinate Offenders that would not take warning or be reclaim'd by all the Mercies and Judgments of God either as to others or themselves Moreover supposing the Immortality of the Soul and the remaining Wickedness and Impenitence of Sinners and Death will not change the ill Temper and Disposition of Men's Minds but they that were filthy and unholy will be still so as well as they that were Unrighteous and Unjustify'd A sinful Soul if it be Immortal must needs be unchangeably miserable He will never Repent there is no promise of Mercy to encourage it And therefore if he shall never die he must be miserable for ever And what reason is there to expect that God should Annihilate those that are incurably Wicked especially when he has so expressly declared the contrary Matt. xxv ult and in the same Terms express'd the Duration of the Punishment of the Wicked as the Everlasting Life and Happiness of the Righteous Of the many that sleep in the Dust some shall awake and arise to Everlasting Life and others to Shame and Everlasting Contempt Dan. xii 2. There cannot be Perpetual Shame and Everlasting Contempt without the Everlasting Existence of the Persons How can they continue for ever under Shame and Contempt unless they continue in their Being Let us therefore urge this upon our Minds and Hearts as what we ought to believe and seriously consider and therefore instead of replying against God whose Terrors should make us afraid and whose Truth endures for ever let us think of it in time and put the Questions to our selves we often meet with in the Scripture which can never be answered Who can stand before him when he is angry Can thy Hands be strong or thy Heart endure when he shall execute Vengeance Who can dwell with a Devouring Fire Who can dwell with Everlasting Burnings Can You or You You who have lived in Ease and Pleasure all your Days and by a sharp fit of Pain but for one half Hour would groan as if your Hearts would break could you abide Everlasting Fire An Everlasting Toothach Stone or Cholick or a much less Pain but suppos'd Endless is insupportable what then is Hell However you may ask another Question which blessed be God may be Resolv'd and that is What shall we do to be saved How shall we escape this Intolerable and Everlasting Wrath And this brings me to the Application by Inferences of Truth and Duty First 'T is then obvious that Now or Never is the season to prepare for Eternity seeing both States are unchangeable after Death The Gulf will then be fix'd there is no Possibility for Repentance or hope of Pardon beyond the Grave 't will be in vain to cry with the Foolish Virgins Lord open to us when the Door is shut Now you are encouraged to pray for Mercy earnestly invited and entreated to work out your own Salvation and warn'd of your Danger Now is your time to hearken to good Counsel Many of you have mispent a great part of your Life past you shall not live it over again You are not certain of the Future You may be in an Unchangeable State e're you are aware so that to defer it one Week or Day longer may be your undoing You have now a Promise of Forgiveness if you Repent and the Hopes of God's Grace if you seek it You have yet an Opportunity to make Peace with God This is your accepted time and Day of Salvation The Door of Mercy and of Hope is yet open but e're long it will be shut and your State Immutable Whatever is to be done in Preparation for Eternity must be Now or Never Now quickly or it will be too late now presently and without Delay or it may be too late Is he not a bold Man that will venture to deferr if he believes both States after Death to be Endless and Unchangeable How can he be satisfy'd to live in such a state wherein he is as near to Hell as he is to Death You have reason to be Thankful that when others have been snatch'd away in their Impenitence Others it may be of your Companions and possibly lesser Sinners than you that you are yet spar'd You must think him to be a