Eighteen Sermons, Sermon 8
REV. 21.8.
Bu… …he fearful, and unbel…ng, and the abominable, and murtherers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and Idolaters, and all lyars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.
THe last day I entred, you know, upon the miserable estate of an unreconciled sin…er, at the time of his dissolution, when his soule shall be taken from him, and be presented naked before Christs Tribunal, there to receive according to the works which he hath done in the flesh: And I shew'd that the wofulnesse of that estate consisted in two acts done upon him: The one before he comes to his place, before he is thrust away from Gods presence into hell fire; which I shew'd you the last day, and did then promise to shew you the other, to wit, the wofulnesse of his estate, being once come into his place. The act done to the sinners soul before he is sent to hell, is the deprivation of his light, the taking away of his talent. For whilst a man is in this world, he hath many good things in him, too good to accompany him to hell. Now all these excellent gifts and natural endowments which did adorn a wicked mans soul, before the soul is hurled into hell, must be taken away from him. There is a kind of degradation of the soul, it is depriested … were, and becomes lik… a degraded Knight that hath his honour taken from him. All the rich talents, and all the rich prizes that were put into the fools hand, shall be taken from him. Is there any moral vertue? Are there any common graces and natural endowments in the miserable soul? it shal be stript of all, and packt to hell. You that have abused your learning and gifts that God hath given you, do you think that they shall go with you to hell? No such matter, you shall be very sots and dunces there. All your learning shall be taken from you, and you shall goe to hell arrant blockheads. He that had fortitude in this world, shall not carry one drachm of it to hell: all his courage shall then be abased, and his cowardly heart shall faint for fear. Fortitude is a great advantage to a man in distresse, but let not the damned soul expe…t the least advantage: his fortitude which he had whilst he was in the way, shall be taken from him. It may be he had patience in this world: Now patience is … vertue unfit for hell, therefore shall that be taken from him. A man if he were in most exquisite torments, yet if he had patience, it would bear it up with head and shoulders (as we say) but this shall adde to his torments, that he shall not have any patience left him to allay it. A man hath perhaps hope in this world, and, as the Proverb is, were it not for hope the heart would burst; yet even this too shall be taken away from him, he shall have no hope left him of ever seeing Gods face again, or of ever having any more tasts of his favour: And so what hath been said of some, may be said of all his graces and endowments: he shall clean be stript of all ere he be sent to hell.
I come now to speak of the place of torment it self, wherein the sinner is to be cast eternally, which is the second act. But think not that I am able to discover the thousandth part of it, no nor any man else: God grant that no soul here present ever come to find by experience what it is. What a woful thing is it, that many men should take more paines to come to this place of torment, then would cost them to goe to heaven, that men should wilfully run themselves upon the pikes, not considering how painful it is, nor how sharp those pikes are: And this I shall endeavour to my power to set forth unto you. This Text declares unto us two things.
1. Who they are for whom this place is provided.
2. The place it self, and the nature of it.
1. For whom the place is provided. The Text containes a Catalogue of that black Roll (though there are many more then are here expressed) but here are the grand crimes, the ring-leaders to destruction, the mo…er sins. And here we have in the first place the Fearful: whereby is not meant those that are of a timorous nature (for fear simply is not a sin) those that are simply fearful; but such as place their fear on a wrong object, not where it should be: that fear not God, but other things more then God. Such as if affliction and iniquity were put to their choise, will rather choose iniquity then affliction: Rather then they will have any cross betide them, rather then they will incur the indignation of a man, rather then they will part with their life and goods for Gods cause, will adventure on any thing, choosing iniquity rather then affliction; being afraid of what they should not fear, never fearing the great and mighty God: This is the fearful here meant. See how Job expresses it, Job 36.31. This hast thou chosen. This (that is) iniquity rather then affliction: to sin rather then to suffer. Christ biddeth us not to fear poor vain man, but the omnipotent God, that is able both to kill and to cast into hell. The man that feareth his Landlord, who is able to turn him out of his house, and doth not fear God, who is able to turn him into hell, this dastardly spirit is one of the Captains of those that goe to hell, those timerous and cowardly persons, that tremble at the wrath or frowns of men, more then of God. But what's the reason men should thus stand more in fear of men then of God? Why it is because they are sensible of what men can doe unto their bodies, but they cannot with Moses by faith see what that is that is invisible. They are full of unbelief; for had they …, they would banish all false fears. See what the Lord saith, Esa. 41 14. Fear not thou worm Jacob, I will help thee, saith the Lord. He saith not, Fear not ye men, or thou man, for then perhaps thou mightst be thought to have some power to resist, but fear not thou worm. A worm (you know) is a poor weak thing, apt to be crushed by every foot; yet be this thy case, be thou a worm, unable to resist the least opposition, yet fear not thou worm. Fear not, why? for I will help thee, saith the Lord. Couldst thou but believe in God, this would make thee bold; and hadst thou faith, thou wouldst not fear. When word was brought to the house of Jacob, that two Kings were come up into the Land to invade it, Esay 7.2. it is said his heart was moved, as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind. But what is the remedy of this fear? See Esay 8.12. Fear not their fear, nor be afraid (that was a false and a base fear) sanctifie the Lord in your hearts, and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. Esay 51.12. there is an object of our faith and comfort, and a remedy against fear proposed: I, even I, am he that comforteth thee: who art thou that shouldst be afraid of a man that shall die, and the son of man that is as grass? What, art thou one that hast God on thy side? how unworthy art thou of that high favour, if thou fear man? The greatest man that lives cannot shield himself from death, and from a covering of worms, and wilt thou be afraid of a man, and forget the Lord thy Maker? The more thou art taken up with the fear of man, the lesse thou fearest God; and the more thou remembrest man, the more thou forgettest thy Maker.
You have seen the main, the ring …aders, which are these fearful, faithlesse, dastardly, unbelieving men.
Now see what the filthy rabble is that followeth after, and they are Abominable, Murtherers, &c. Abominable, that is, unnatural, such as pollute themselves with things not fit to be named, but to be abhorred, whether it be by themselves, or with others. They are the abominable here meant, such as Sodome and Gomorrah, who were set forth to such as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire, Jude v. 7. foreign, such are abominable, being given up to unnatural lust. Let them carry it never so secretly, yet are they her… ranked amongst the rest, and shall have their portion in the burning lake.
After these come Sorcerers, Idolaters, Lyars: Though these may be spoken fairly of by men, yet cannot that shelter them from the wrath of God, they shall likewise have their part in this lake when they come to a reckoning. If there be, I say, a generation of people that worship these, say what you will of them, when they come to receive their wages, they shall receive their portion in that burning lake with hypocrites: Those that make so fair a shew before men, and yet nourish hypocrisie in their hearts, these men, though in regard of the outward man they so behave themselves that none can say to them, black is their eye, though they cannot be charged with those notorious things before mentioned; yet if there be nothing but hypocrisie in their hearts, let it be spun with never so fair a web, never so fine a thred, yet they shall have their portion in the lake, they shall have their part, their portion, &c. Then it seems these of this black guard have a peculiar interest unto this place. And as it is said of Judas Acts 1.25. that he was gone foreign, to his proper place. So long as a man that is an enemy to Christ, and yeilds him not obedience, is out of hell, so long is he out of his place. Hell is the place assigned to him, and prepared for him; he hath a share there, and his part and portion he must have: till he come thither he is but a wanderer. The Evangelist tells us that the Scribes and Pharisees went about to gain Profelytes, and when they had all done, they made them seven times more the children of hell then themselves, filios Gehennae: So that a Father hath not more right in his son, then Hell hath in them: He is a vessel of wrath fill'd top full of iniquity, and a child of the Devils: So that as we say, the gallows will claim its right, so hell will claim its due. But mistake me not, all this that I speak concerning Hell, is not to terrifie and affright men, but by forewarning them to keep them thence. For after I have shewn you the danger, I shall shew you a way to escape it, and how the Lord Jesus was given to us to deliver us from this danger: But if you will not hear, but will try conclusions with God, then you must to your proper place, to the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone.
A Lake 'tis, a River, a flaming River, as Tophet is described to be a lake burning with fire and brimstone, a Metaphor taken from the judgment of God on Sodome and Gomorrah, as in that place of St. Jude before mentioned, as also in 2 Pet. 2.6. where 'tis said God turned the Cities of Sodom into ashes, making them an example to all them that should after live ungodly. Mark the judgment of God upon these abominable men, the place where they dwelt is destroyed with fire, and the situation is turn'd into a lake full of filthy bituminous stuff called L…cus Asphaltites, which was made by their burnings. And this is made an instance of the vengeance of God, and an Embleme of eternal fire; therefore said he, you shall have your portion with Sodome. Nay, shall I speak a greater word (with Christ) and tell you, that though they were so abominable, that the Lake was denominated from them, yet it shall be easier for Sodome and Gomorrah then for you, if you repent not while you may, but goe on to despise Gods grace. But can there be a greater sin then the sin of Sodome? I answer, yes. For make the worst of the sin of Sodome, it is but a sin against nature: But thy impenitency is a sin against grace, and against the Gospel, and therefore deserves a hotter hell, and an higher measure of judgment in this burning pit.
But what is this second death?
2. Sure it hath reference to some first death or other going before. A man would (as it is commonly thought) think that this second death, is opposed to that first death, which is the harbinger to the second, and separates the soul from the body; but it's far otherwise. That, alas, is but a petty thing, and deserves not to be put in the number of deaths. The second death in the Text hath relation to the first Resurrection, Rev. 20:6. Blessed and holy is he that hath his portion in the first resurrection, on such the second death shall have no power. The first death is that from whence we are acquitted by the first resurrection, and that is the death; for that is a kind of death (as S. Paul speaking of a wicked and voluptuous widow, saith, she is dead while she liveth) and the time shall come and now is, when they that are dead shall hear the voice of the Son of man, and they that hear shall live. And again, Let the dead bury their dead. So that the first resurrection is, when a man hearing the voice of the Minister, is rouzed up from the sleep of sin and carnal security, and the first death is the opposite thereunto. So that the death of the body is no death at all; for if it were, then this were the third death. For there would be a death of sin, a death of the body, and a death of body and soul: This death of the body is but a flea-biting in comparison of the other two. This second death is the separation of the body and soul from God, and this death is the wages of sin, and God must not, will not lie in arrear to sin, but will pay its wages to the full. All the afflictions a wicked man meeteth withal here, are but as Gods press money, and part of payment of that greater summe: But when he dies, the whole summe comes then to be paid: Before he did but sip of the cup of Gods wrath, but he must then drink up the dregs of it down to the bottome, and this is the second death: It's called death. Now death is a destruction of the parts compounded: a man being compounded of body and soul, both are by this death eternally destroyed. That death (like Sampson pulling down the pillars whereby it was sustained, pulled down the house) draws down the tabernacles of our bodies, pulls body and soul in sunder. A thing which hath little hurt in it self, were it not for the sting of it, which makes it fearful: To die, is esteemed far worse then to be dead, in regard of the pangs that are in dying, to which death puts an end. This temporal death is in an instant, but this other eternal, whereby we are ever dying, and never dead, for by it we are punished with an everlasting foreign, 2 Thess. 1.9. and that from the presence of the Lord by the glory of his power. Then which place I have no need to adde more; for, as much as can be s…id of men and Angels is fully comprehended in it. The Apostle terms this a fearful thing indeed, Heb. 2.15. whereon if a man but think (if he hath his wits about him) he would for fear of it be all his life long subject to bondage. He would scarce draw any free breath, but would still be studying how to avoid it, and would still be in bondage and drudgery till he were delivered. Thus I have declared the nature of the place, and of this second death.
That I may now goe farther, know that this Lake and this place is the place that the Lord hath provided for his enemies: It is the Lords slaughter-house; its called a place of torments, Luke 16. a place wherein God will shew the accomplishment of his wrath, and revenge upon his enemies, Those mine enemies that would not have me to reign over them, bring them forth, and slay them before my face. Those vessels of wrath, those rebels; the King is in raged, and his wrath is as the roaring of a Lyon, which makes all the beasts of the forrest to tremble, Prov. 19.12. And where there is the wrath of such a King, the issue thereof must needs be death, Prov. 16.14. The wrath of a King is as a messenger of death. How much more fearful is the wrath of the King of Kings. God hath sharp arrows, and he sets a wicked man as his Butt to shoot at, to shew his strength, and the fierceness of his wrath. See the expression of Job in this case, The arrows of the Almighty stick fast in me, and the venome thereof hath drunk up my spirits: In so few words there could not be an higher expression of the wrath of God. First, that God should make thee a Butt, and then that thou shouldst be shot at, and that by Gods arrows: And then they are not shot by a child, but (as the man is, so is his strength) by the Almighty, by his bow, wherein he draws the arrow to the head. And then again these arrows are poyson'd arrows, and such poyson as shall drink up all thy soul and spirit: Oh, what a fearful thing is it to fall into the hands of such a God! It's a saying of Moses, Psal. 90.11. (for 'tis Moses Psal.) Who knoweth the power of thine anger? the power of Gods anger is unknown. And so in his Song, Deut. 32.22. he sets it out in some measure. A fire is kindled in mine anger, which shall burn unto the lowest hell, &c. So that the King being thus provoked, is provoked to curse thee, Mat. 25. It's put into the form of thy sentence: this cursing shall be thy lot in hell, it shall be thy very sentence, Goe ye cursed into everlasting fire. There is nothing but cursing: As Job cursed himself and the day of his birth, so then shall cursing be all thy song: thou wilt curse thy self that thou didst not hearken to the Preacher, that thou wouldst not accept of Christ, and the meanes of mercy and grace when it was offered thee: and thou wilt curse the time thou wert acquainted with this man, and that man, and others will curse thee for drawing them to sin: God curses thee, and man curses thee; and God curses not in vain when he curses: others will curse thee, and thou thy self and others; and think then how cursed will be thy condition? All the curses that can be thought on, and all the curses that cannot be thought on, shall rest on the head of an impenitent sinner, to shew Gods terrible and just indignation against him. Oh beloved, to deliver us from this curse, Christ the Son of God was made a curse for us: the curse is so great, nought else can free us from it. But now that I may rank these punishments of the damned, and bring them for memories sake into some order (although there be no order there, for it's a place of confusion) you may consider that the penalties of Gods enemies are penalties partly of losse, and partly of sense.
1. Of loss. And that consists in the deprivation of every thing that might administer the least comfort to him; and for this cause hell is termed utter darknesse. Now darknesse is a privation of all light, so is Hell of all comfort, to shew that there is not the least thing that may give thee content, nor is the poorest thing thou canst desire to be had there. Darknesse was one of the plagues of Egypt, though there were no kind of sense in it, yet we may think what a plague and vexation it was to them to sit so long in darkness. The darknesse of Hell is darker then darknesse it self. They shall not see light, saith the Scripture, they shall not have so much as a glimpse of it: To be cast into this utter darkness, where shall be nothing to administer the least comfort, what an infinite misery will that be? Were it only the losse of the things we now possesse and enjoy, of all which death robs us, as pomp, honour, riches, and preferment, this were grievous to a wicked man: These are things death dispossesses a man of, these cannot follow him, nought but thy works accompany thee: thy friends may follow thee to the grave, but there they shall leave thee. To have been happy, and to be miserable, is the greatest woe: to have lived in good fashion, and to be wretched, is the greatest grief. How will this adde to the sinners misery, when he shall say to himself, I had once all good things about me, but have now for my portion nothing but woe: I had a bed of down, but it is now exchanged for a bed of fire: I was once honourable, but now I am full of shame and contempt; this will greatly adde to his misery. But all this is nothing, these are but the beginnings of his sorrow in regard of losse: for a man to be rich and wealthy to day, and to morrow to be stript of all, and left not worth a groat, to have all swept away, this is a woful case.
2. But if this be so grievous, what is it to lose Heaven? Certainly, to lose the highest and greatest good, is the greatest evil and punishment that can be inflicted upon a creature. Which makes many Divines think, that the penalties of losse are far greater then those of sense, though they seem not to make that impression. It's another thing to judge of things by sense then by losse: As for example, a man is greatly troubled with the tooth-ach, and he thinks his case more miserable then any, and thinks no man ever endur'd so much misery as himself, he judges of his misery by sense: Another man is in the consumption, and he hath little or no pain at all; yet if a man come with a right judgment, he will judge his condition far worse then the others. So take all the pains in Hell, though sense may say they are the greatest that can be, yet discreet judgment can say, that the losse of God the greatest good, is the worst of evils. Now (if thou be a firebrand of Hell) thou must be for ever banish't from Gods presence. Thou base wretch, dost thou thin… Heaven a place for thee? not so. 'Tis without are dogs and sorcerers, &c. Thou art a damned dog, therefore thou must out from God, and from the company of the blessed Saints and Angels. When Peter saw Moses and Elias with Christ in his Transfiguration, though he had but a glimpse of glory, yet he saith, It is good for us to be here: But oh how infinite good will it be to be in Heaven? how shall we be then wrapt up with glory when we shall be for ever with the Lord, in whose presence is fulness of joy, and at whose right hand there are pleasures for evermore. On the contrary, how exceeding terrible will it be to be shut out from the presence of God? when God shall say, avaunt hence, whip out this dog, what doth he here? let him not defile this room, this is no place for such a filthy dog. Oh the unspeakable horrour and dread! oh the infinite shame of that man who is in such a case! But this is not all.
There is yet one thing more, the wicked shall not only be banished from Gods gracious presence, and cast into Hell, but this shall be done in the sight of Heaven. The glorious Saints of God have continually a sight of Gods justice upon sinners, that they may glorifie his mercy the more. The Scripture runs much to this purpose, Rev. 14.10. If any man worship the beast and his image, the same shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of God and of his holy Angels. This in the 9th verse is the portion of them that worship the beast, that is the Pope, and receive the mark of his name. That is, if any will be an expresse publick or private Papist, if any one will be a slave to the Pope, see his portion, he shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, and be banished from the society of holy Angels, and be tormented with hell-fire in their presence. Oh what a vexation will this be to the damned when they shall see others in heaven, and themselves shut out of door? This will cause weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. It will go to their very heart, when they shall see Moses and Aaron and the Prophets and holy Saints in joy and glory, and shall consider and remember, that if they had made use of these means and opportunities of grace, they might have lived in Heaven too, whereas now they must be everlastingly tormented in that lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, and that without any hope of recovery. 2 Thess. 1.9. Punished with everlasting destruction, from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power. You know that by the Law of Moses, whensoever an offender was to receive his stroaks, Deut. 25 2, 3. The Judge was to cause him to lie down, and to be beaten before his face, and he himself was to see it done. So when God comes to give the damned their stroaks in hell (for hell is the place of execution, wherein he that knows his masters will and doth it not, shall be beaten with many stripes,) he himself will see them beaten in the presence of all his holy Angels; and if so, how shameful will their punishment be? when there shall be so many thousand witnesses of it, when they shall be made (as we say) the worlds wonder. These are they that shall rise to everlasting contempt, Dan. 12. So in Esay, ult. Cap. v. ult. it's said of the damned, their worm shall not die, nor their fire be quenched, but they shall be an abhorring to all flesh, and the holy Angels and Saints shall go forth and look upon them: those proud ones that scorned Gods people here, shall then be abhorred and scorned of them.
4. Adde to all this, that he's not only banish't from the presence of God for a while, but from all hope of ever seeing God again with comfort. Thy estate is endless and remediless. Whilst thou art here in this life, of a Saul thou mayst become a Paul; and though thou art not yet a beloved son, yet thou mayst come in favour: Whilst thou livest under the means of grace, there is yet hope of recovery left thee, it may be this Sermon may be the meanes of thy conversion: But then amongst all thy punishments, this will be one of the greatest, that thou shalt be deprived of all means of recovery, and this shall be another hell to thee in the middest of hell, to think with thy self, I have heard so many Sermons, and yet have neglected them: I had so many opportunities of grace, and yet have slighted them, this will make the sinner rage, and bite his tongue, and tear himself, to think how that now all meanes are past. And this is the first penalty, the penalty of loss.
That of the sense succeeds. By the former we are deprived of all the joyes and comforts of heaven & earth, of Mount Sion, shut out of the City of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, depriv'd of an innumerable company of Saints, of the general assembly and Church of the first-born, of God himself the Judge of all, and the souls of the Saints made perfect. This shall make a sinner curse himself.
Now follows the penalty of torments and sense. When Adam was banished out of Paradise, he had the wide world to walk in still; but it is not so here: Thou art not only cast out of heaven, but cast into hell, and art deprived of thy liberty for ever, 1 Pet. 3.19. It's said Christ preached to the spirits in prison, them that in the dayes of Noah were disobedient, and for this cause are now in prison. Hell is compar'd to a prison, and a prison indeed it is, and that an odious one. For,
1. Look on thy companions. If a man were to be kept close prisoner, it were a great punishment, but goe ye cursed, saith God, into everlasting fire, prepared for the Devil and his Angels. To be among such companions is most infinitely miserable, there is nothing but Devils and damned howling ghosts, woful companions! If there be an house possessed with an evil spirit, a man will scarce be hired to live in it; but here the damned spirits, the filthy and cursed host must be thy yoke-fellows: Suppose there were no torment to suffer, yet to be banished from heaven, and to be tied and yoked to wicked spirits, were a torment sufficient to make the stoutest that ever was tremble, and quake, and be soon weary of it.
2. But it's a place of torment too, a prison where there is a rack, to which thou must be put, and on which thou must be tormented: I am tormented in this flame, saith Dives. To speak of the torments there, will be matter enough for another hour, but I delight not to dwell on so sad a subject: only this is that which prepares the way to the glad tidings of salvation, therefore I shall a little longer insist upon it. The body and soul, the whole man, shall be there tormented; not the soul only, but even the body too after judgment. Do you think the members of the body, which have been the instruments, shall escape? be rais'd, and cast into hell to no purpose? Why should God quicken it at the last day, but to break it on the anvil of his wrath, and to make it accompany the soul, as well in torments as in sinning. 'Tis true, the soul is the fountain of all sense, and the body without it hath no sense at all: take away the soul, and you may burn the body, and it will not feel it. Now the soul being the fountain of sense, and the body being united to it, when God shall lay his axe at this root, at this fountain, how dreadful shall it be? how shall the body choose but suffer too? Should any of us be cast into a fire, what a terrible torment would we account it? Fire and water, we say, have no mercy; but alas, this fire is nothing to the fire of hell, 'tis but as painted fire to that which burns for ever and ever. The furnace wherein Nebuchadnezzar commanded those to be thrown that fell not down to the graven Image which he had set up, was doubtless at every time a terrible place. Hell is compared to such a furnace; but what shall we think of it, when the King in his wrath shall command the furnace to be heated seven times hotter then usual? Nay, what shall we think of hell, when the King of Heaven shall command it to be heated seventy times seven times hotter then before? when there shall be a fire, and a fire prepar'd: for so is this fire of Tophet, it's a pile of much wood. When the King of Heaven shall as it were set to work his wisedome, to fit it in the sharpest manner, in procuring such ingredients as may make it rage most, and be most violent: It is a fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels, the strongest of creatures, for the punishment of principalities and powers: and if it can master Angels, think not but that God hath a fire to rost thy soul. It is the soul that is in hell onelyonly till the day of judgment, though the body be not there. A man would think that the soul did not suffer, but Philosophy tels us that the soul suffers mediante corpore, in and by the body: Therefore 'tis a rule in Divinitie, that whatsoever God doth by means, he can do without means. Though the body be not there, but the soul only, yet God is able, nay doth make the soul as well feel grief without the body, as he doth by means of the body.
3. But now besides thy fellow-prisoners in that cursed Gaol, consider who are thy tormentors, thou that dost continue in impenitency. Now thy tormentors are these three.
1. The Devil.
2. Thy self.
3. God Almighty.
1. The Devil, who is thy deadly enemy, a bloody-minded adversary, a murthering and merciless-minded Spirit, a murtherer from the beginning a merciless tormentor, who being in plagues and torments, and thereby even at his wits end, would fain ease himself in tormenting thee. When the Devil, as we read, was dispossessed of a child wherein he was, he rends and tears, leaves him foaming, that there was little hope of life in him: But now when a man shall be delivered into the hands of this merciless spirit, when God shall say to the Devil, take him, do what thou wilt with him, do thy worst to him: when thou shalt be thus put into the hands of one that hates thee, and delights in thy ruine, how will he tear thee into pieces? how will he torment thee? in how desperate and wretched a case will thy soul and body be?
2. But the tormentor within thee is far more heavy, painful, and grievous, that never dying worm within, the sting of a guilty and wounded conscience, this, like a sharp dagger, is still stabbing thee at the very heart. This by a reflecting act upon it self, will cause thee to revenge Gods quarrel on thy self; and as a musket over-charged beats back on the shooter, so will it most furiously return upon thee. This is that that smote David, when 'tis said Davids heart smote him. A man needs no other fire, nor other worm to torment him, then that within him: which as the worms on the carkass, gnaws on a wretched soul. But there is a greater tormentor then both these behind, and that is
3ly. God himself, he is highly offended and inraged at thee, and therefore comes and takes the matter into his own hand, and will himself be executioner of his fury. There i… a passage in the Thess. to this purpose, which me thinks is more then can be spoken by men or Angels, Epist. 2. cap. 1. v. 9. Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power. Mark that, God whom thou hast so highly provoked to wrath, hath a strong hand and glorious power. He shew'd the glory of his power in the making the world, and all things in it, and all that infinite power which he hath manifested in the creation of heaven and earth, shall be engaged in the tormenting of a sinner. Were there a man that should lay a target of brasse, or a target of steel on a block, and should then cleve all in sunder at a blow, this would sufficiently manifest his strength: So doth God make manifest his power in crushing thee to pieces. There are still new charges and discharges against sinners, to make his power therein manifest. What if God, willing to make his power known (saith the Apostle Rom. 9.) suffered a while the vessels prepared to destruction? God will manifest his power by the strength of his stroke on those that rebel against him. Hence proceedeth weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth, which is a Metaphor taken from one either that hath a great coldness on him, or from the symptomes of a Feaver.
Add to all that hath been said these two things.
1. The torment shall be everlasting, you shall desire to die, that your torments may have end: And here you may expect that I should say something of the eternity of the torments of the damned; but I am not able, nor any one else sufficiently to express it: It shall continue ten thousand thousand yeares, and after that an hundred thousand times ten thousand, and yet be no nearer end then at the first beginning. Thou must think of it seriously thy self, and pray to God to reveal it to thy soul, for none else sufficiently can.
2. But besides, as it is everlasting, so is it unabateable. If a man were cast into a fire, the fire coming about him, would in short time blunt his senses, and take away his feeling, and besides, the materials of the fire would soon spend and waste: But it is not so here, here is not the least abatement of the horror, nor the least inch of torment taken away throughout all eternity. It was a poor request of Dives (one would think) that Lazarus would dip the tip of his finger in water and cool his tongue: A cold comfort, but one drop of water for the present, which would soon be dried, and yet that is denied him, he must have no abatement of his torment. Nor is there any abatement of thy feeling, but thou art kept in full strength, and as long as God is God shall Tophet burn, and thou feel it.
Obj. But (may some say) this is preaching indeed, this would affright a man, and make him out of his wits: this is the way to make him goe hang him self, sooner then be converted.
Sol. True, should God let loose the cord of our conscience, it were the way (such would be the terrours of it) to make a man find another cord, did not God restrain him. I desire not by this to hurt you, but to save you. I am a messenger not sent from Abraham (as Dives entreated) but from the God of Abraham, to forewarn you that you come not to that place of torment.
But now (Beloved) there is a way to escape this misery, and that is by Jesus Christ, Mat. 1.21. He was for this end called Jesus, because he saves his people from their sins, and consequently from wrath: which how it is done I shall shew in a word, and that is
1. By Christ Jesus offered for us. And
2. By Christ Jesus offered to us.
By Christ offered for us, he must die for us, and if there be any death more cursed then other, that death must he die; if any more painful, that must he suffer. Thus he undertakes thy cause, and suffers what for sin was due to thee.
And then being offered for us, he is offered to us, as we may see in the Sacrament, where there are two acts of the Minister, the one the breaking the bread, the other, the offering it to the people. Thou hast as good warrant to take Christ offer'd, as thou hast to take the bread and wine, which thou art commanded to receive. Thus I thought good to adde something to sweeten the rest, that I might shew that there is a way to be freed from the bitter pains of eternal death.