A Few Sighs from Hell, Exposition · Verse 26
Ver. 26. And be…es all this, between us and you, there is a great gulf fixed, ſo that they which would go from hence to you cannot, neither can they come to us that would come from thence.
THeſe words are ſtill part of that anſwer that the ſouls in hell ſhall have for all their ſobbings, ſighings, grievous cries tears and deſires that they have be releaſed out of thoſe intollerable pains they fell, and are perplexed with, And O, methinks the words at the firſt view, if rightly conſidered, are enough to make any heard-hearted ſinner in the world to fall down dead. The verſe I laſt ſpake to was, and is a very terrible one, and aggravates the torments of poor ſinners wonderfully. Where he ſaith, Remember that thou in thy ife time hadſt thy good things, and Lazarus his evil things, but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented, I ſay theſe words are very terrible to thoſe poor ſouls that die out of Chriſt. But theſe latter words do much more hold out their ſorrow. They were ſpoken as to the preſent condition then upon the ſinner, theſe do not onelyonly back the former but do yet further aggravate their miſery, holding forth that which will be more intollerable; the former verſe is enough to ſmite any ſinner into a ſwound, but this to make him fall down dead. Where he ſaith, And beſides all this, there is ſtill ſomething to aggravate thy miſery yet far more abundantly, I ſhall briefly ſpeak to the words, as they have relation to the terrour ſpoken of in the verſes before. As if he had ſaid, Thou thinkeſt thy preſent ſtate unſupportable, it makes thee ſob and ſigh, it makes thee to rue the time that ever thou wert borne: Now thou findeſt the want of mercy; now thou wouldſt leap at the leaſt dram of it; now thou feeleſt what it is to ſlight the tenders of the grace of God; now it makes the to ſobbe, ſigh, and roar exceedingly for the anguiſh that thou art in. But beſides all this, I have other things to tell thee of that will break thine heart indeed. As if he ſhould ſay, O tis true, thou art now deprived of a being in the world, thou art deprived of hearing the Goſpel, the devil hath been too hard for thee, and hath made thee miſs of heaven: thou art now in hell among an innumerable company of devils, and all thy ſins beſet thee round, thou art all over wrapped in flames, and canſt not have one drop of water to give the… any eaſe; thou cryeſt in vain, for nothing will be granted; thou ſeeſt the Saints in heaven which is no ſmall trouble to thy damned ſoul; thou ſeeſt that neither God nor Chriſt takes any care to eaſe thee, or to ſpeak any comfort unto thee. But beſides all this, there thou art, and there thou art like to lie, never think of any eaſe, never look for any comfort; repentance now will do thee no good, the time is paſt, and can never be called again; look what thou haſt now thou muſt have for ever. 'Tis true I ſpeak enough before to break thine heart aſu der, But beſides all this, there lie and ſwim in flame for ever: theſe words, Beſides all this, are terrible words indeed. I will give you the ſcope of them in a ſimilitude. Set caſe you ſhould take a man, and tie him to a ſtake, and with red hot Pincers, pinch off his fleſh by little pieces for two or three years together, and at laſt, when the poor man cryes out for eaſe and help, the tormentors anſwer, Nay, but beſides all this, you muſt be handled worſe. We will ſerve you thus theſe 20. years together, and after that we will fill your mangled body full of ſcalding lead, and run you through with a red hot ſpit, would not this be lamentable? yet this is but a flea-biting to the ſorrows of theſe that go to hell; for if a man were ſerved ſo, there would ere it were long be an end of him. But he that goes to hell ſhall ſuffer ten thouſand times worſe torments then theſe, and yet ſhall never be quite dead under them. There they ſhall be ever whining, pining, weeping, mourning, ever tormented without eaſe, and yet never diſſolved into nothing; if the biggeſt devil in hell might pull thee all to pieces, and rend thee ſmall as duſt, and diſſolve thee into nothing, thou wouldſt count this a mercy. But here thou mayeſt lie and fry, ſcorch and broil, and burn for ever. For ever, that is, a long while, & yet it muſt be ſo long. Depart from me, ſaith Chriſt, into everlaſting fire, or into the fire that burns for ever, prepared for the devil and his Angels, Mat. 25.41. Oh, thou that wert loath to foul thy foot if it were but durty, or did but rain; thou that wert loath to come out of the chimney corner if the winde did but blow a little cold; and wert loath to go half a mile, yea half a furlong to hear the word of God, if it were but a little dark; thou that wert loath to leave a few vain companions to edifie thy ſoul: thou ſhalt have fire enough, thou ſhalt have night enough, and evil company enough, thy belly full if thou miſs of Jeſus Chriſt; and beſides all this, thou ſhalt have them for ever and for ever.
O thou that doſt ſpend whole nights in carding and dicing, in rioting and wantonneſs, thou that counteſt it a brave thing to ſwear as faſt as the braveſt, to ſpend with the greateſt ſpend-thrift (as we call them) in the countrey: O thou that loveſt to ſin in a corner when no body ſees thee! O thou that for by-ends doſt carry on an hypocrites profeſſion, becauſe thou wouldeſt be counted ſome body among the children of God, but art an enemy to the things of Chriſt in thine heart: thou that doſt ſatisfie thy ſelf, either with ſins, or a bare profeſſion of godlineſs; thy ſoul will fall into extreme torment, and anguiſh ſo ſoon as ever thou doſt depart this world, and there thou ſhalt be weeping and gnaſhing thy teeth. And beſides all this, thou art like never to have any eaſe or remedy, never look for any deliverance, if thou die out of Chriſt; thou ſhalt die in thy ſins; and be tormented as many years as there are ſtars in the firmament, or ſands on the ſea-ſhore; and beſides all this, thou muſt abide it for ever.
And beſides al this between us & you there is a great gulf fixed, ſo that they which would paſs from hence to you cannot, neither can they come to us that would come from thence. There is a great gulf fixed.] You will ſay what is that? Anſw. It is a nice queſtion, therefore, firſt ſeek thou, rather to enter in at the ſtraight, gate than curiouſly to enquire what this gulf is. But 2. if thou wouldeſt needs know, it is like that if thou do fall ſhort of heaven thou wilt find it this; namely, the everlaſting decree of God, that is, that there is a decree gone forth from God, that thoſe who fall ſhort of heaven in this world, God is reſolved they ſhall never enjoy it in the world to come. And thou wilt find this gulf ſo deep, that thou ſhalt never be able to wade through it as long as eternity laſts. As Chriſt ſaith, Agree with thine adverſary quickly, while thou art in the way with him, leſt he hale thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be caſt into priſon; I tell thee, thou ſhalt in no wiſe come out thence (there is the gulf) the decree; thou ſhalt not depart thence, till thou haſt paid the uttermoſt farthing, or very last mite, Luk. 12.58, 59. Theſe words therefore, there is a great gulf fixed, I do underſtand to be the everlaſting decree of God; that is, God hath decreed, that thoſe who go to heaven ſhall never go from thence again into a worſe place; and alſo thoſe that go to hell, and would come out, they ſhall not come out thence again. And friend this is ſuch a gulf, ſo fixed by him that cannot lie, that thou wilt find it ſo which way ſoever thou goeſt, whether it be to heaven or hell. Here therefore thou ſeeſt how ſecure God will make thoſe who dye in the faith; God will keep them in heaven, but thoſe that die in their ſins, God will throw them to hell and keep them there; ſo that they that would go from heaven to hell cannot, neither can they come from hell that would go to heaven. Mark, he doth not ſay, they would not; for oh how fain would theſe who have loſt their ſouls for a luſt, for two pence, for a jug of Ale for a ſtrumpet, for this world; come out of that hot ſcalding fiery furnace of Gods eternal vengeance, if they might; but here is their miſery, they that would come from you to us, that is, from hell to heaven, cannot. They muſt not, they ſhall not, they cannot, God hath decreed it, and is reſolved the contrary, here therefore lies the miſery, not ſo much that they are in hell, if they might come out again; but there they muſt lie for ever and ever. O therefore if thy heart would at any time tempt thee to ſin againſt God, cry out, O no, for then I muſt go to hell and lie there for ever. O if the drunkards, ſwearers, lyars, and hypocrites did but take this doctrine ſoundly down, it would make them tremble when they think of ſinning. But poor ſouls, now they will make a mock at ſinne, and play with it as a child doth play with a rattle; but the time is coming that theſe rattles that now they play with, will make ſuch a noiſe in their ears and conſciences one day, that they ſhall find, that if all the devils in hell were yelling at their heels, the noiſe would not be comparable to it. Numb. 32.23. O friend, thy ſins, as ſo many blood-hounds will firſt hunt thee out, and then take thee, and bind thee, and hold thee down for ever, Prov. 5.22. They will gripe thee and gnaw thee as if thou hadſt a neſt of poiſonous Serpents in thy bowels, and this will not be for a time, but as I have ſaid, for ever, for ever, for ever.