A Sermon of Judgment, Sermon · Part 12
XII. THE twelfth and laſt thing which I promiſed to unfold, is, The Execution of this Judgement. Here I ſhould ſhew you both the Certainty of the Execution, and by whom it will be, and how; but having done all this already in the third Part of the foreſaid Book of reſt, I ſhall now only give this brief touch of it.
No ſooner is the dreadful Sentence paſt, Go ye curſed into Everlaſting fire, but away they muſt be gone: There is no delay; much leſs any Reprive to be expected: and yet much leſs is there any hope of an Eſcape. If the Judge once ſay, Take him Jaylor; and if Chriſt ſay, Take him Devils, you that Ruled and Deceived him, now Torment him; all the world cannot reſcue one ſuch ſoul. It will be in vain to look about for help! Alas, there is none but Chriſt can help you, and he will not, becauſe you refuſed his help: Nay we may ſay, He cannot: not for want of Power: but becauſe he is True and Just; and therefore will make good that word which you believed not. It is in vain then to cry to hills to fall on you and the mountains to cover you from the preſence of him that ſitteth on the Throne. It will be in vain now to Repent, and wiſh you had not ſleighted your ſalvation, nor ſold it for a little pleaſure to your fleſh. It will be then in vain to cry Lord, Lord, open to us; O ſpare us; O pitty us; O do not caſt us into theſe hideous flames! Do not turn us among Devils! do not Torment thy Redeemed ones in this fire! All this will be then too late.
Poor ſinner, whoever thou art that readeſt or heareſt theſe lines, I beſeech thee in Compaſſion to thy ſoul, Conſider, How fearful the caſe of that man will be, that is newly doomed to the Everlaſting fire; and is haled to the Execution without Remedy! and what mad men are thoſe that now do no more to prevent ſuch a miſery, when they might do it on ſuch eaſie terms, and now have ſo fair an Opportunity in their hands?
The time was when Repentance might have done thee good: but Then all thy Repentings will be in vain. Now while the day of thy Viſitation laſteth, hadſt thou but a heart to pray and cry for mercy, in faith and fervency, through Chriſt thou mighteſt be heard. But then Praying, and Crying will do no good! ſhouldſt thou roar out in the extremity of thy horror and amazement, and beſeech the Lord Jeſus but to forgive thee one ſin, or to ſend thee on earth once more, and to try thee once again in the fleſh, whether thou wouldſt not love him and lead a holy life, it would be all in vain. Shouldſt thou beſeech him by all the mercifulneſs of his nature by all his ſufferings and bloody death, by all the merciful promiſes of his Goſpel; it would be all in vain▪ Nay, ſhouldſt thou beg but one dayes reprival, or to ſtay one hour before thou were caſt into thoſe flames, it would not be heard; it would do thee no good. How earneſtly did a deceaſed Gentleman, Luk. 16.24. beg of Abraham for one drop of water from the tip of Lazarus's finger, to cool his tongue, becauſe he was tormented in the flame! And what the better was he? He was ſent to Remember that he had his Good things in this life; and that Remembrance would torment him more. And do not wonder or think much at this, that Chriſt will not then be intreated by the ungodly. You ſhall then have a Remember too, from Chriſt or Conſcience. He may ſoon ſtop thy mouth, and leave thee ſpeechleſs, and ſay, Remember, man, that I did one day ſend thee a Meſſage of peace, and thou wouldſt not hear it. I once did ſtoop to Beſeech thee to return, and thou wouldſt not hear. I beſought thee by the tender mercies of God; I beſought thee by all the Love that I had ſhewed thee; by my holy Life; by my curſed Death; by the Riches of my Grace; by the offers of my Glory; and I could not get thee to forſake the world, to deny thy fleſh to leave one beloved ſin, for all this! I beſought thee over and over again! I ſent many a Miniſter to thee in my name: I waited on thee many a day, and year; and all would not do; thou wouldſt not Conſider, Return and Live: And now it is too late: my ſentence is paſt, and cannot be recalled: Away from me, thou worker of Iniquity, Matth. 7.22, 23.
Ah Sirs, what a caſe then is the poor deſperate ſinner left in! How can I write this, or how can you that read or hear it without trembling once think of the Condition that ſuch forlorn wretches will be in! When they look above them, and ſee the God that hath forſaken them, becauſe they forſook him firſt; when they look about them, and ſee the Saints on one hand whom they deſpiſed, now ſentenced unto Glory; and the wicked on the other hand, whom they accompanied and imitated, now Judged with them to everlaſting miſery; when they look below them, and ſee the flames that they muſt abide in, even for evermore; and when the Devils begin to hale them to the Execution; Oh poor ſouls! Now what would they give for a Chriſt, for a promiſe, for a time of Repentance, for a Sermon of mercy, which once they ſlept under, or made no account of! How is the caſe altered now with them! who would think that theſe are the ſame men, that made light of all this on earth, that ſo ſtoutly ſcorned the reproofs of the word, that would be worldly, and fleſhly, and drunk, and proud, let Preachers ſay what they would; and perhaps hated thoſe that did give them warning. Now they are of another mind; but all too late. Oh were there any place for Reſiſtance, how would they draw back, and lay hold of any thing, before they would be dragged away into thoſe flames! But there is no reſiſting; Satans Temptations might have been Reſiſted, but his Executions cannot Gods Judgements might have been Prevented by Faith and Prayer, Repentance and a holy life; but they cannot be reſiſted when they are not prevented. Glad would the miſerable ſinner be, if he might but turn to nothing, and ceaſe to be; or that he might be any thing rather than a reaſonable creature: but theſe wiſhes are all in vain. There is one Time, and one Way of a ſinners Deliverance; If he fail in that one, he periſheth for ever: all the world cannot help him after that, 2 Cor. 6 2. I have heard thee in a time accepted; and in the day of ſalvation have I ſuccoured thee: Behold now is the Accepted time: behold now is the day of ſalvation. Now he ſaith, Rev. 3.20. Behold, I ſtand at the door and knock; If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and will ſup with him, and he with me. But for the time to come hereafter, hear what he ſaith, Prov. 1.24, 25, 26. Becauſe I have called, and ye Refuſed, I have ſtretched out my hand, and no man regarded; but ye have ſet at nought all my counſel, and would none of my Reproof; I alſo will laugh at your Calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh: when your fear cometh as Deſolation, and your deſtruction cometh as a whirlwind; when diſtreſs and anguiſh cometh upon you; then ſhall they call upon me, but I will not Anſwer; they ſhall ſeek me early, but they ſhall not find me; for that they hated knowledge, and did not chooſe the fear of the Lord; They would none of my counſels; they deſpiſed all my Reproof▪ therefore ſhall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices; for the Turning away of the ſimple ſhall ſlay them, and the Proſperity of fools ſhall deſtroy them; But who ſo hearkneth to me, ſhall dwel ſafely, and ſhall be quiet from fear of evil. I have recited all theſe words, that you may ſee and conſider, whether I have ſpoke any other thing than God himſelf hath plainly told you of.
Having ſaid this much of the Certainty of the Execution, I ſhould next have ſpoke ſomewhat of the manner and the Inſtruments, and have ſhewed how God will be for ever the Principal Cauſe, and Satan and their own Conſciences the Inſtruments, in part; and in what manner Conſcience will do its part, and how impoſſible it will be to quiet or reſiſt it. But having ſpoke ſo much of all this already elſewhere, as is ſaid before, I will forbear here to repeat it, leaving the Reader that deſireth it, there to peruſe it.