A Key Opening Mysterious Texts of Scripture, Collection of sermons 5 · Sermon 45
THE GALL OF ASPES: OR THE PANGS OF THE SECOND DEATH. THE XLV. SERMON.
ROM. 6.21.
For the end of thoſe things it death.
Right Honourable, &c.
I Hope time hath not razed thoſe characters out of your memory, which I borrowed from time it ſelfe, to imprint my obſervations upon this Text in your mind. Sinne (as yee have heard) may be conſidered in a reference to a three-fold time:
1. Paſt,
2. Preſent,
3. Future.
In relation to the firſt, it is unfruitfull: to the ſecond, ſhamefull: to the third, pernicious and deadly.
The unfruitfulneſſe of ſinne cannot but worke upon all that have regard to their eſtate in this world; the ſhamefulneſſe of ſinne cannot but touch neere, and affect deeply all that ſtand upon their reputation and good name; but the deadlineſſe or pernicious nature thereof cannot but prevaile with all, to beware of it, that tender their life here, or immortality hereafter. If ſinne be unfruitfull, have no fellowſhip with the workes of darkneſſe, but reprove them rather. If ſinne be ſhamefull, hate even the garments ſpotted by the fleſh; let not ſuch things be named among you, much leſſe practiſed, which caſt a blurre upon your good name and fame among the Saints of God. If ſinne be pernicious and deadly, flye from it as from a Serpent: taſte not the wine of Sodome, nor preſſe the grapes of Gomorrah; for their wine is the bloud of the Dragon, aJob 20.14.and the gall of Aſpes, which we know is preſent death.
The end of thoſe things. That is, all the pompe and vanity of this world, the luſts of the fleſh, the luſts of the eye, the pride of life: all ſinfull pleaſures, wherewith yee ſurfeit your ſenſes, ſhall have an end, and this end is death, and this death ſhall have no end. This is the laſt and moſt forcible argument of the three, wherewith the Apoſtle laboureth with might and maine to beat downe ſinne, and put to flight even whole armies of temptations. Yee may obſerve a perfect gradation in the arguments: the firſt, though ſtrong and forcible, drawne from the unfruitfulneſſe of ſinne, is not ſo neceſſary and conſtraining as the ſecond, drawne from the ſhame and infamy thereof: nor that as the third, drawn from the wages thereof, which is everlaſting death. As honour and glory is to be more ſet by than gaine and commodity, life than honour, immortality than life; ſo ſhame and infamy is worſe than loſſe and diſadvantage, death than ſhame, hell than death. The holy Apoſtle hath now made three offers unto us, and put us to a three-fold choice.
Firſt, he laid before us the faire fruits of Paradiſe, to bee gathered from the tree of life; and corrupt & rotten fruit from the forbidden tree: that is, invaluable treaſures to be got, and ineſtimable profit to be made by godlineſſe; and irrecoverable loſſes to be ſuſtained by ungodly and ſinfull courſes of thriving.
Secondly, he tendered unto you glory and honour, to be purchaſed by the ſervice of God; as on the contrary ſhame and infamy by retaining upon Sathan, and purſuing ſinfull pleaſures.
Now in the third place hee ſetteth before you life and death; life by the gift of God, and death for the hire of ſinne. Shall I need to exhort you in the words ofbDeut. 30.19. Moſes, Chuſe life? how can ye doe otherwiſe? Is the fleſh appalled at the death of the body, though the paine thereof endure but for a moment? and ſhall not the ſpirit be much more affrighted at the death of the ſoule, the pangs and paines whereof never have an end? If there be any ſo retchleſſe and careleſſe of his eſtate, that hee paſſeth not for great and irrecoverable dammages and loſſes: ſo fooliſh that hee eſteemes not of ineſtimable treaſures: if any be ſo infamous, that he hath no credit to loſe, or ſo armed with proofe of impudency, that hee can receive no wound from ſhame: yet I am ſure there is none that liveth, who is not in ſome feare of death, eſpecially a tormenting death, and that of the ſoule, and that which ſtriketh all dead, everlaſting. Therefore it is (as I conceive) that the Apoſtle, according to the precept of Rhetoricians,cCic. de orat. l. 2. Puncta caeterorum argumentorum occulit, coucheth as it were, and hideth the points of other arguments, but thruſteth out this, putting upon it the ſigne and marke of a reaſon (For.) For the end of thoſe things is death. And this hee doth for good reaſon, becauſe this laſt argument is worth all the former, and enforceth them all: it not only ſharpneth the point of them, but draweth them up to the head at the ſinner. For therefore are lewd and wicked courſes unprofitable; therefore we may be aſhamed of them, becauſe their end is ſo bad.
For the end. Why doth the Apoſtle skip over the middle, and come preſently to the end? why layeth hee the whole force of his argument upon the end?
1. Becauſe there is nothing in ſinne upon which wee may build, or have any aſſurance thereof but the end, as there is nothing certaine of this our preſent life, but the incertainty thereof. Sin ſomtimes hath no middle, as wee ſee in thoſe fearfull examples of Corah, Dathan, and Abiram, who had no ſooner opened their mouths againſt Moſes, but the earth opened her mouth to ſwallow them up quicke: of Achan, who had no ſooner devoured the accurſed thing, but it was drawne out of his belly with bowels, heart and all: of Herod, who had no ſooner heard the people cry, The voice of God and not of man, but hee felt himſelfe a worme and no man: of Zimri and Cozbi, who had no ſooner received the dart of luſt in their heart, than they felt a javelin in their bodies: of Ananias and Sapphira, who no ſooner kept backe part of the price for which they ſold their poſſeſſions, but death ſeized upon them, and they gave up the ghoſt; and of many others whoſe deaths wounds yet bleed afreſh in ſacred and profane ſtories.
2 Becauſe there is nothing permanent of ſinne but the end: the duration, if it have any, is very ſhort, like to that of Jonahs gourd,dJonah 3.7. which roſe up in a night, and was eaten up with a worme in the morning.
3 Becauſe nothing is ſo much to bee regarded in any thing as the end; for fines principia actionum, the end ſetteth the efficient on worke; and all is well that endeth well, as wee ſay in the Proverbe.eDeut. 32.29. O that they were wiſe, ſaith God by Moſes, then they would conſider their latter end. If wee invert the ſpeech, it will bee as true, O that men would conſider their latter end, and then they would be wiſe. For aſſuredly he that in his ſerious contemplation beginneth at the end of ſinne, in his practiſe will end at the beginning. To conſider the end of ſinne, is to take a ſurvey of all the miſeries and calamities incident to intelligent natures; of all the plagues that light upon the bodies, and ſoules, and eſtates of impenitent ſinners in this life, with a fearfull expectation of helliſh torments; then a violent ſeparation of the ſoule from the body, which is no ſooner made, but the ſoule is preſented before the dreadfull Judge of quicke and dead, arraigned, condemned, and immediately upon ſentence haled and dragged by ugly fiends to the darke and lothſome dungeon of hell, there in all extremity of paines and tortures, without any eaſe or mitigation, to continue till the generall day of the worlds doom; when meeting again with the body, her companion in all filthineſſe, iniquity, and ungodlineſſe, they are both ſummoned to the laſt judgement, where all their open and ſecret ſinnes are laid open to the view of men and Angels, to their inexpreſſible and aſtoniſhable confuſion: after conviction the ſentence, at which not the eares onelyonly ſhall tingle, the teeth chatter, the knees ſmite one the other, but the heart alſo melt; the ſentence, I ſay, of eternall damnation ſhall bee pronounced in their hearing,fMat. 25.41. Goe ye curſed into everlaſting fire, prepared for the Divell and his Angels. A moſt heavie ſentence, never to bee recalled, and preſently to bee put in execution, the Devill with reviling and inſultation carrying them, with all their wicked friends and aſſociates, to the place of endleſſe torments, to endure the full wrath of God, and the paines of everlaſting fire. O what will it bee to feele the ſecond death, which it is death to thinke or ſpeake of! who can read the deſcription thereof in SaintgDe vit. contemp. l. 3. c. 12. Fieri patriae coeleſtis extorrem, mori vitae beatae, morti vivere ſempiternae, in aeternum cum diabolo expelli, ubi ſit mors ſecunda damnatis exilium, vita ſupplicium: non ſentire in illo igne quod illuminat, ſentire quod cruciat; inefficacis poenitentiae igne exuri, & conſumentis conſcientiae verme immortaliter rodi, inundantis incendii terribiles crepitus pati, barathri fumantis amarâ caligine oculos obſcurari, profundo gehennae fluctuantis mergi. Proſper with dry eyes? To bee baniſhed for ever from our celestiall countrey, to bee dead to all joy and happineſſe, and to live to eternall death; for ever to bee caſt out with the Divell thither where the ſecond death ſerveth for a baniſhment to the damned, and life for a torment, there to feele in that unquenchable fire the torment of heat, and not receive any comfort of light; to bee cruciated with heart burning ſorrow, and uneffectuall repentance, to bee gnawne with the immortall worme of conſcience, to frye perpetually in crackling flames, to have their eyes put out with the ſmoake of the river of brimſtone, to be drowned floating in the bottome of hell.
The end, &c. Underſtanding by end the finall effect, not the finall cauſe of ſinne: by thoſe things, all thoſe things hee ſpake of before: and by death, that death which is oppoſed to eternall life; each of theſe words, Finis Horum Mors, yeeldeth a moſt wholeſome and fruitfull obſervation:
1 That all ſinfull courſes and wayes have an end: Finis.
2 That all ſins are mortall (of which before): Horum.
3 That eternall death of body and ſoule in hell, is the wages which the impenitent and obſtinate ſinner ſhall receive to the uttermoſt farthing: Mors.
That all ſinfull pleaſures and delights have an end no man can doubt; for they cannot ſurvive our life here, our life often ſurviveth them: and what is our life, buthPind. foreign. fumi umbra, the ſhadow of ſmoake, or dreame of a ſhadow? that is, leſſe than nothing. Seneca out of his owne experience found honour to bee of the nature of glaſſe, quae cum ſplendet frangitur, which when it moſt glowes and gliſteneth in the furnace, ſuddenly cracketh; and pleaſure to bee like a ſparke, quae cum accenditur extinguitur, which is quenched in the kindling. And ſurely all comforts and contentments of worldly men are like bubbles of ſoap blowne by children out of a wallnut-ſhell into the ayre, which flye a little while, and by the reflection of the ſun beams make a glorious ſhew, but with a ſmall puffe of winde are broken and diſſolved to nothing. But alas it is not ſo with the paine of ſin as it is with the pleaſure, that is as laſting as the other is dureleſſe: Leve & momentaneum est quod delectat, aeternum eſt quod cruciat; The delight of ſinne is for a moment, but the torment remaineth for ever. Who will be content to faſt all the weeke for one good meales meat? to lye in priſon all the dayes of his life for one houres liberty and jollity? Theſe ſimilitudes fall ſhort, and reach not home to the repreſenting of the ſinners folly, who for ſwimming an houre in the bath of pleaſure, incurreth the danger of boyling for ever in a river of brimſtone, and torrent of fire: Momentaneum eſt quod delectat, aeternum eſt quod cruciat. Thoſe things whereof yee are aſhamed have an end, and how ſoone yee know not; but the death which is the end of them hath no end, and this wee know. That wee may more fully underſtand what is meant by this end, wee are to take notice of a double death:
The firſt commonly called death temporall,
The ſecond which is death eternall.
hAug. de Civ. Dei. l. 21. Prima mors animam nolentem pellit de corpore, ſecunda mors animam nolentem tenet in corpore. Idem de Civ. Dei, l. 13. Prima mors bonis bona eſt, malis mala; ſecunda ut nullorum bonorum eſt, ita nulli bona.The firſt death driveth the ſoule out of the body, being unwilling to part with it; the ſecond death keepeth the ſoule againſt her will in the body: the firſt death is the ſeparation of the ſoule from the body, the ſecond death is the ſeparation of body and ſoule from God; and by how much God is more excellent than the ſoule, by ſo much the ſecond death is worſe than the firſt. The first death is good to good men, becauſe it endeth their ſorrowes, and beginneth their joyes; but evill to evill men, becauſe it ends their joyes, and beginneth their everlaſting weeping and gnaſhing of teeth: the ſecond at it belongeth to none that are good, ſo it is good to none. Both of theſe doubtleſſe are due to ſinne, and ſhall bee paid at their day: the ſentence pronounced againſt Adam, morte morieris, by the reduplication of the word ſeemeth to imply as much as thou ſhalt dye againe and againe, the first and ſecond death; the firſt death is as the earneſt-penny, the ſecond as the whole hire, both make up the wages of ſinne: the firſt is like the ſplitting of the ſhip, and caſting away all the goods and wares; the latter as the burning both, with unquenchable fire. In this death which is the deſtruction of nature, that Maxime of Philoſophy holdeth not, Omnis corruptio est in instanti: for here is corruption in time, nay, which is more ſtrange, and to the reaſon of the naturall man involveth contradiction, Corruptio aeterna, & mors immortalis, an eternall corruption, and an immortall death.iAug. loc ſup. Nemo hic propriè moriens, ſeu in morte dicitur, ſed ante morté aut poſt mortem, id eſt, viventes aut mortui: ibi è contrariò, non erunt homines ante mortem, aut poſt mortem, ſed ſine fine morientes; & nunquam pejus erit homini in morte, quam ubi erit mors ipſa ſine morte. In this life men cannot properly bee ſaid to bee dying, or in death, but alive or dead: for whileſt the ſoule remaineth in the body wee are living, and after the ſeparation thereof wee are dead: whereas they that are in hell cannot bee ſaid properly to bee dead, becauſe they are moſt ſenſible of pain; nor to be alive, becauſe they ſuffer the puniſhment of the ſecond death; but continually dying, and never ſhall it be worſe with man in death, than where death it ſelfe is without death, where life perpetually dyeth, and death perpetually liveth. SaintkGreg. l. 9. moral. c. 45. Gregory ſweetly quavereth upon this ſad note; Mors ſine morte, finis ſine fine, defectus fine defectu, quia & mors vivit, & finis incipit, & deficere neſcit defectus: The death of the damned is a deathleſſe death, an endleſſe end, and undefcizible defect; for their death alwayes liveth, and their end beginneth, and their conſumption laſteth. And that this death is meant in my text either only or eſpecially, the correſpondencie of this member to that which followeth, but the gift of God is eternall life, maketh it manifeſt. Yet for further confirmation hereof, that the wages of ſinne is eternall death, I will produce manifold teſtimonies of Scripture beyond all exception, not ſo much to convincelAug. l. 22 de Civ Dei. Origines eò erravit deformiùs quò ſenſit clementiùs. the errour of Origen, who was of opinion that all the damned, yea the Devils themſelves, ſhould in the end bee releaſed of their torments; as to ſettle a doubt which troubleth the mindes of the godly, how it ſhould bee juſt with God to inflict eternall puniſhments upon men for temporall tranſgreſſions.
For your better ſatisfaction herein, may it pleaſe you to take notice of two opinions concerning the rule of juſtice and goodneſſe: the firſt maketh the will of God the rule of good, the latter goodneſſe the rule of Gods will. If yee embrace the former opinion, to prove that it is juſt to repay eternall puniſhments to temporary and finite offences, it will bee ſufficient to ſhew that it is Gods will and good pleaſure ſo to doe: if yee encline to the latter opinion, it will bee farther requiſite to ſhew the congruity of ſuch proceedings with the principles of reaſon, and rules of juſtice among men. It is very reaſonable to thinke that God hath alwayes a reaſon for his will, yet it is ſafeſt for us to take his will for a reaſon. For God cannot will any thing, but as hee willeth it, it is juſt and good: and that it is Gods will and decree to torment them eternally who dye impenitently, appeareth by the words of our Saviour;mMat. 25.46. Theſe ſhall go into everlaſting pain: and of Saintn2 Theſ. 1.9. Paul, Theſe ſhall bee puniſhed with everlaſting perdition, from the preſence of the Lord, and glory of his power: and of SaintoApoc 20.10 John, And the Devill that deceived them was caſt into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beaſt and the falſe Prophet ſhall bee tormented day and night for evermore. Thus much of the torments in generall; in ſpeciall, that the fire is unquenchable wee reade in SaintpMat. 3.11. Matthew, The chaffe hee will burne with unquenchable fire: and in SaintqJude 7. Jude, Which ſuffer the vengeance of eternall fire. How ſhould the fire ever goe out, ſith as the Prophet Eſay informeth us,rIſa. 30.33. The breath of the Lord, like a river of brimstone, continually kindleth it? And that the worm likewiſe is immortall Chriſt teacheth,ſMar. 9.44, 46, 48. Where the worm, ſaith he, never dyeth, and the fire is not quenched: and that the darkneſſe likewiſe is perpetuall wee heare out of Saint Peter, t2 Pet. 2.17.They are Wells without water, clouds carryed about with a tempest, to whom blacke darkneſſe is reſerved for ever: yea the chaines of this priſon wherewith the damned are manacled and fettered, are everlaſting: for the Angels that kept not their firſt eſtate, ſaith Saint Jude, uJude 6.God hath reſerved in everlaſting chaines under darkneſſe, unto the judgement of the great day: and laſtly, The*Apoc. 14.11. fume and the ſtench of the brimſtone lake riſeth up perpetually, and the ſmoake of their torment ſhall aſcend for evermore. Neither can it bee anſwered in behalfe or comfort of the damned, that indeed hell torments ſhall ſtill endure, but that they ſhall not be alwayes in durance; that the racke ſhall remaine, but they ſhall not bee everlaſtingly tortured on it; that the Jaile ſhall ſtand, but that the priſoners ſhall not alwayes be kept in it: for the Scipture is as expreſſe for the reprobates enduring, as for the during of thoſe paines: They ſhall goe, ſaith Chriſt,xMat. 25.46. into everlaſting fire: y2 Theſ. 1.9.They ſhall ſuffer, ſaith Saint Paul, the paines of everlaſting perdition: zApoc. 20.10.They ſhall bee tormented, ſaith Saint John, with fire and brimſtone for evermore: and therefore the fire is called*Mar. 9.44. their fire, ignis eorum, becauſe it burneth them; and the worme their worme, becauſe it feedeth upon them; and the torments their torments, becauſe they paine and torture them. Theſe texts are ſo plaine, that Cardinal Bellarmine himſelfe profeſſedly refuteth thoſe of his owne ſide, who give credit to the legend, which relateth that by the prayers of Saint Gregory the ſoule of Trajan was delivered out of hell. The good will and pleaſure of God concerning the condition of the damned being thus made knowne unto us, wee are to tremble at his judgements, and quell and keepe under every thought that mutines againſt them. To call Gods juſtice in queſtion concerning the everlaſting torments of the damned, is to bring our ſelves in danger of them. Are not Gods actions juſt becauſe wee ſee not the ſquire by which they are regulated?*Aug. l. 2. de Civ. Dei. Cujus plenè judicia nemo comprehendit, nemo juſtè reprehendit. though wee cannot comprehend all Gods judgements, yet wee may not reprehend any: Multa Dei judicia occulta ſunt, nulla injuſta, many judgements of God are ſecret, none unjuſt. In particular, concerning this point much hath and may bee ſaid in juſtification of Gods proceeding with the damned, even by humane reaſon.
1. Saint Auſtine rightly obſerveth, that in puniſhing offences we are not ſo much to regard the time, as the quality; the duration, as the enormity. A man juſtly lyeth by it the whole yeere for a raſh word ſpoken in a moment: another is condemned to the Gallies all his life for a murder or a rape committed on the ſudden in hot bloud; therefore howſoever the ſins of the reprobate are but temporall, yet the circumſtances of them may be ſo odious, and the number of them ſo great, and the nature ſo hainous, that they may deſerve eternall puniſhments.
2. Where the guilt ſtill remaineth, it is not againſt juſtice that the party ſtill ſuffer: but in the ſoules of all infidels and impenitent ſinners, whoſe conſciences were never waſhed, neither in the ſalt water of their owne teares, nor in the ſweet laver of regeneration, the guilt of all their ſinnes ſtill remaineth; and therefore juſtly they may be eternally puniſhed for them.
3. An impenitent ſinner, if he ſhould alwayes live upon the earth, would alwayes hold on his ſinfull courſe; and that he breaketh it off at his death it is no thanke to him: had he ſtill the uſe of his tongue, he would ſtill blaſpheme and curſe: had he ſtill the uſe of his eyes, hee would ſtill looke after vanity: had hee ſtill the uſe of his feet, hee would ſtill walke in crooked wayes: had he ſtill the uſe of his hands, he would ſtill worke all manner of wickedneſſe: had hee ſtill the free uſe of all the faculties of his ſoule, and members of his body, he would ſtill make them weapons of unrighteouſnes. Inchinus theaInchin. lib. de 4 Noviſ. Romiſh Poſtillar giveth ſome light to this truth by an inch of candle, whereby two play at tables in the night, and are very earneſt at their game; but in the midſt of it the candle goeth out, & they perforce give over, who (no doubt) if the light had laſted, would have played all night. This inch of candle is the time of life allotted to a wicked man, who is reſolved to ſpend it all in ſinfull pleaſures and paſtimes: and if it would laſt perpetually, he would never leave his play: and therefore ſith he would ſin eternally, though by reaſon that the light of his life goeth out hee cannot, he deſerveth eternall puniſhment.
4. Though the ſins of the reprobate are finite in reſpect of the time and the agents, yet (as they are committed againſt an infinite Majeſty) the guilt of them is infinite.
Here it will be objected, That if ſinnes be infinite in any reſpect, they muſt needs be all equall, becauſe infinity admitteth no degrees: nothing can be more or leſſe infinite. I anſwer, that althoughbCamp rat 8. Paradox. Campian and other Papiſts charge the reformed Churches with that abſurd Paradoxe of the Stoickes, That all ſinnes are equall: and conſequently, that it is as great a wickedneſſe to kill a Capon to furniſh a luxurious feaſt, as to kill a man: yet their heart cannot but ſmite them for ſo notorious a calumny: for they themſelves teach, That mortall ſinnes, as they are committed againſt God, are of infinite guilt, and deſerve infinite and eternall puniſhments; and yet they hold not, that all mortall ſinnes are equall, their Caſuiſts teaching, that parricide is a greater ſinne than murder, inceſt than adultery, blaſphemy than perjury: all of them being mortall. As for the knot of the former objection, it is thus eaſily untyed, That ſinnes may be conſidered either in a genericall notion, as they are breaches of the eternall Law, & offend an infinite Majeſty; in which reſpect as they are infinite, ſo they are equall: or in a ſpecificall reaſon, as they are of this or that kind clothed with ſuch & ſuch circumſtances, as they are breaches of the firſt or ſecond Table, as they are committed immediately againſt God, or mediately, once or often, on the ſudden or unadviſedly, ignorantly or wilfully, out of infirmity or preſumptuouſly, tending much or little to the hurt or prejudice of our neighbour: In all which and divers like reſpects, the guilt of ſinne is improved or diminiſhed, and one ſinne is more hainous and leſſe pardonable than another.
We have ſaid enough to theſe words for their coherence, ſenſe, and conſtruction: let us now ſee what they ſay to us for our further uſe and inſtruction. There is no phyſicke, but if it worke maketh the patient ſicker for the preſent; and for the moſt part the ſmarting plaiſter moſt ſpeedily cureth the wound. Theſe obſervations are true in corporall phyſicke, and much more in ſpirituall, becauſe the ſmart of ſinne, and trouble of conſcience for it, are not ſo much ſignes and ſymptomes of maladies, as the beginning of cures. Some ſay, the feare of the plague bringeth it; but if we ſpeake of this plague, and other judgements of God for ſinne, it is certaine, that the feare of them is the beſt preſervative againſt them: he onelyonly may be ſecure of the avoiding Hell torments, and eſcaping the pangs of eternall death, who feareth them as he ought; and he that feareth them not, is in a moſt fearfull caſe. O cEcclus. 41.1.death, how bitter is the remembrance of thee! It was ſpoken of the firſt death, but may with greater reaſon of the ſecond: ſome taſtes whereof I wil give you at this preſent, as well to make you loath the morſels of Sathan, as the better to relliſh the fruits of the tree of life. The firſt ſhall be out of Saint Matthew, dMat. 25.10.Clauſae ſunt fores, the doores were ſhut: Conceive ye that to be now, which, if ye prevent it not, certainly ſhall be, that after ye have heard the Archangel ſound the laſt Trump, and with him a Quire of heavenly ſpirits ſinging an Epithalamium or marriage ſong, ye ſhould ſee the gates of Heaven opened, and the Sonne of man marching out of them with an innumerable company of Angels, preſently ſent abroad to gather the Elect from the foure windes, and ſoone after infinite troupes of them aſſembled from all parts in goodly order and glorious armour, accompanying our Saviour in his triumphant returne into heaven, to receive each of them a crowne of glory, and you caught up into the clouds, preſſing hard after them to enter with them into heaven, ſhould be preſently ſtayed, and the gates ſhut againſt you and faſtened with everlaſting barres: O! what a corraſive would this be? what a diſgrace? what an unſpeakable griefe, to have a glimpſe of the celeſtiall Jeruſalem, and to be excluded for ever out of it? to ſee thoſe whom ye ſometimes ſcorned, reviled, and trod under foot, admitted into Chriſts Kingdome before your face, and you repelled with a non novivos, Away from mee, I know you not?
Have ye enough of this taſte? or doe ye yet deſire a ſecond? ye have it in Saint Matthew, eMat. 25.30.Projicite in tenebras exteriores, Cast the unprofitable ſervant into utter darkneſſe, there ſhall be weeping and gnaſhing of teeth. Suppoſe ye were ſtripped ſtark naked, and then bound hand and foot with iron chaines, and throwne into a deep, darke, loathſome, and hideous dungeon, full of Adders, Vipers, Baſiliskes, and Scorpions, hiſſing, croaking, biting, ſtinging you in all parts of your body, you being not able to ſtirre a joynt, or make any reſiſtance at all. Are yee affrighted at this? The torment of the damned is farre worſe: for the ſtinging of Serpents is nothing to the tormenting with Divels; nor the darkneſſe of a dungeon to the horrour of Hell. For though there be fire there, yet it yeeldeth no comfortable light: but as the flame in the buſh had thefExod. 3.2. light of fire, yet not the conſuming heat; ſo on the contrary, the flames of Hell have the ſcorching heat, but not the comfortable light of fire.
As ye like this, take another taſte: gMar. 9.44.Vermis eorum non interit. Imagine that whileſt ye lye in the darke dungeon bit & ſtung in your outward parts, there ſhould be a venemous worme within your bowels, gnawing at your very heart; and upon remembrance of every hainous ſinne, giving you a deadly bite: what paine and torment might this be? yet it is nothing to that which Chriſt there addeth, Ignis eorum non extinguitur, Their fire is not quenched. There is none ſuch a blocke, but apprehendeth what unſufferable paine it is to lye ſoultering in the fire, or boyling in a river of brimſtone, or frying in the flames of a furnace, and crying but for one drop of water to coole the tip of the tongue, and not obtaining it.
If theſe taſtes affect you not, take you yet a fourth, made of the very gall of Aſpes, hApoc. 20.10. They ſhall be caſt into the lake of fire and brimſtone, and ſhall be tormented for ever and ever.Non habebunt requiem die vel nocte, ſed cruciabuntur inaeternùm. Each of the former torments is of it ſelfe intolerable, and all of them moſt inſufferable; yet all muſt bee endured without all meanes of eaſe, or hope of releaſe: the baniſhment is perpetuall, the chaines everlaſting, the worme immortall, the fire unquenchable. No loſſe ſo great as of the Kingdome of Heaven, no priſon ſo loathſome as the dungeon of Hell, no ſight ſo gaſtly as of the ougly fiends, no ſhreeking ſo lamentable as of damned ghoſts, no ſtench ſo loathſome as of the lake of brimſtone, no worme ſo biting as the remorſe of conſcience, no fire ſo hot as the wrath of God; but ſuch loſſes never to be recovered, ſuch chaines never to bee looſed, ſuch darkneſſe never to be enlightened, ſuch ſights never to be removed, ſuch noyſe never to be ſtilled, ſuch fumes never to be diſpelled, ſuch a worme never to be pluckt off, ſuch fire never to be quenched, ſuch torments never to be releaſed, ſuch miſery never to be ended, maketh up ſuch a puniſhment, as exceedeth all humane eloquence to expreſſe, & patience to endure. What ſhall I ſay more? Who of us is able to hold out long with a vehement fit of a burning feaver, or colicke, or ſtone, though lying in a ſweet roome upon a ſoft bed, having the beſt meanes of phyſicke to mitigate the paine, and comfort of friends to ſtrengthen our patience? If the Phyſician ſhould tell us, that after a monethmonth or a yeere we ſhould be out of our extreme fits, he would be ſo farre from chearing us up, that hee would neere drive us to deſpaire: how then ſhall wee bee able to endure the ſcorching flames of the brimſtone lake in the darke dungeon of Hell, where we have no other comforters about us than inſulting Divels, or perhaps ſome of our deareſt friends and kinred tormented with us? Yet if theſe paines laſted but for a yeere, or an age, or a thouſand yeeres, or the duration of the world; though ſo great miſery could admit of no poſſible comfort, yet there might bee ſome hope: but now after many ages and millions of yeeres ſpent in this inſufferable torment, to endure as many more, and againe as many more, and after all this to be nothing neerer to the end, than at the firſt day of their entrance into that place of durance: O this is able to breake an heart even as hard as Adamant. Happy are we, that we have time to think on, and means to prevent theſe endleſſe paines, for which the damned ſoules would give a thouſand lives if they had them; & for their neglect thereof while the time ſerved them, they now pierce their hearts, and rend their ſoules with theſe and the like lamentations: Woe worth our brutiſh ſottiſhneſſe, and beaſtly folly, whereby for painted ſhewes and vaniſhing ſhadowes of ſinfull pleaſures, we have forgone everlaſting joyes, and the glory of a celeſtiall Kingdome: O that we ſhould be ſo retchleſſe, as never to fore-thinke of the wretchedneſſe we are now come to: O that wee ſhould refuſe the meanes freely offered unto us to eſcape theſe torments, for which wee would now give the price of our deareſt hearts bloud: O that we might be releaſed but for a while out of theſe torments. If we might returne to life againe, what would we not doe, what would we not ſuffer, that we might not come to this diſmall place? But alas, all is too late, the irrevocable ſentence is pronounced, the time of repentance is paſt; but the time of our ſorrow ſhall never paſſe. All our prayers are now fruitleſſe, our complaints bootleſſe, our mourning regardleſſe, our griefe remedileſſe, our woe comfortleſſe, our torments endleſſe. If the conſideration of theſe things move us not, beloved brethren, we beleeve them not; if we beleeve them not, we are not what we profeſſe to be, that is, Chriſtians. If there be no ſuch torments in Hell as I have in part deſcribed, then (which to thinke, and much more to utter, deſerveth a thouſand Hells) there is no truth in the Goſpel, upon the expreſſe Text whereof I have all this while enlarged my ſelfe. Nay, yet further, I ſhall be able to demonſtrate unto you, that if ye beleeve there is no Hell, that ye are no men, becauſe ye have no conſcience. There is no conſcience, if no religion; no religion, if no God; no God, if no providence; no providence, if no juſtice; no juſtice, if no torments to be endured after this life by them who have violated all humane and divine lawes, and received no condigne puniſhment in this world. Nature hath given us an image of Hell in Aetna, and other hills that continually burne; and of the damned, in the Salamander and Pyrauſts that live in the fire. The ancient Grecians and Romans, yea, the Barbarous Indians, that have no learning among them, yet acknowledge a kind of Hell; ſo witneſſeth the Relator of the*Hiſt. Virgin. Animae immortalitatem agnoſcunt, eamque putant poſt mortem pro meritis transferri, aut ad deorum ſedes, aut ad ingentem ſero. bem igne ardentem Popoguſſo dictam, quam in extremis mundi partibus ſitam ex itimant. Virginia voyage: The Virginians (ſaith he) acknowledge the immortality of ſoules, and they beleeve that after death, according to their deſert, they are either tranſlated from hence into the ſeats of the gods, or are carried to a huge ditch, burning with fire, called Popoguſſo. An evident argument, that God hath engraven the image of Hell ſo deep in mens conſciences, to deterre them from ungodlineſſe, that the Divell cannot raze it cleane out, though he deſireth nothing more.
But I ſpeake to Chriſtians, with whom this reaſon alone is ſufficient to enforce their aſſent. If there be no Hell, Chriſt deſcended not into it, nor triumphed over it. If no ſecond death, Chriſt hath not redeemed us from it: But hee hath certainlyiApoc. 20.6. redeemed all that beleeve, and have part in the firſt reſurrection. Other things we beleeve, becauſe they are ſo: this is undoubtedly ſo, if we beleeve it. O what an eaſie condition is this, to have our debts paid for us, if by faith we take the ſumme laid downe for our diſcharge, and tender it unto God, and be carefull to run into no more arrerages? He is moſt worthy to lye in the priſon of Hell till he pay the uttermost farthing of his debts, who can have them paid for him upon ſo eaſie termes, and will not.
Wee have looked long enough downe upon Hell and Death: let us now looke up to our Saviour, who triumphed over both. Let the ſight of the one as much raiſe us up in hope, as of the other dejecteth us in feare: let the ſerious meditation upon the everlaſting flames of Hell kindle in us an everlaſting hate of ſinne, and love of our Saviour, who by his faſting hath famiſhed the worme of conſcience, that now it ſhall bite no more; and by his bloud hath quenched the unquenchable fire in ſuch ſort, that it hath no power upon any of the members of his myſticall body: and by his temporall death hath delivered all that are his from eternall. Shall wee not then eternally ſing his praiſes, who hath ſaved us from everlaſting weeping and mourning in the valley of Hinnom? Shall any waters of affliction quench in us the love of him, who for us quenched unquenchable fire? Shall not the benefit of our delivery from everlaſting death ever live in our memory? Shall any thing ſever us from him, who for our ſakes after a ſort was ſevered from his Father, when he cryed,kMat. 27.46. My God, my God, why haſt thou forſaken mee? Shall tribulation, or anguiſh, or perſecution, or famine, or the ſword? No, I am perſwaded I may goe on with the Apoſtle, and ſay,lRom. 8 38, 39. Neither life, nor death, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things preſent, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature ſhall be able to ſeparate us from the love of God which is in Chriſt Jeſus our Lord. To whom, &c.