The misery of those, who, besides losing the Saint's Rest, lose the
enjoyments of time, and suffer the torments of hell.
§ 1. The connexion of this with the preceding chapter. § 2. (I.) The
enjoyments of time which the damned lose: § 3. (1.) Their presumptuous
belief of their interest in God and Christ: § 4. (2.) All their hopes:
§ 5. (3.) All their peace of conscience: § 6. (4.) All their carnal
mirth: § 7. (5.) All their sensual delights: § 8. (II.) The torments of
the damned are exceeding great: § 9. (1.) The principal author of them
is God himself: § 10. (2.) The place or state of torment: § 11. (3.)
These torments are the effects of Divine vengeance: § 12. (4.) God will
take pleasure in executing them: § 13. (5.) Satan and sinners
themselves will be God's executioners: § 14. (6.) These torments will
be universal: § 15. (7.) without any mitigation: § 16. (8.) and
eternal: § 17. The obstinate sinner convinced of his folly in venturing
on these torments: § 18. and entreated to fly for safety to Christ.
§ 1. As _godliness hath a promise of the life that now is, and of that
which is to come_; and if we _seek first the kingdom of God and his
righteousness_, then _all_ meaner _things shall be added unto us_: So
also are the ungodly threatened with the loss both of spiritual and
temporal blessings, and because they sought not first God's kingdom and
righteousness, therefore shall they lose both it and that which they did
seek, and there _shall be taken from them that_ little _which they
have_. If they could but have kept their present enjoyments, they would
not have much cared for the loss of heaven. If they had _lost and
forsaken all for Christ_, they would have found all again in him; for he
would have been _all in all_ to them. But now they have forsook Christ
for other things, they shall lose Christ, and that also for which they
forsook him; even—the enjoyments of time—besides suffering the torments
of hell.
§ 2. (I.) Among the enjoyments of time, they shall particularly
lose—their presumptuous belief of their interest in the favor of God,
and the merits of Christ;—all their hopes;—all their false peace of
conscience;—all their carnal mirth;—and all their sensual delights.
§ 3. (1.) They shall lose their presumptuous belief of their interest in
the favor of God and the merits of Christ. This false belief now
supports their spirits, and defends them from the terrors that would
otherwise seize upon them. But what will ease their trouble, when they
can believe no longer, nor rejoice any longer? If a man be near to the
greatest mischief, and yet strongly conceit that he is in safety, he may
be as cheerful as if all were well. If there were no more to make a man
happy, but to believe that he is so, or shall be so, happiness would be
far more common than it is like to be. As true faith is the leading
grace in the regenerate, so is false faith the leading vice in the
unregenerate. Why do such multitudes sit still, when they might have
pardon; but that they verily think they are pardoned already? If you
could ask thousands in hell, what madness brought them thither? they
would most of them answer, "We made sure of being saved, till we found
ourselves damned. We would have been more earnest seekers of
regeneration, and the power of godliness, but we verily thought we were
Christians before. We have flattered ourselves into these torments, and
now there is no remedy." Reader, I must in faithfulness tell thee, that
the confident belief of their good state, which the careless, unholy,
unhumbled multitude so commonly boast of, will prove in the end but a
soul-damning delusion. There is none of this believing in hell. It was
Satan's stratagem, that being blindfold they might follow him the more
boldly; but then he will uncover their eyes, and they shall see where
they are.
§ 4. (2.) They shall lose also all their hopes. In this life, though
they were threatened with the wrath of God, yet their hope of escaping
it bore up their hearts. We can now scarce speak with the vilest
drunkard, or swearer, or scoffer, but he hopes to be saved for all this.
O happy world, if salvation were as common as this hope! Nay, so strong
are men's hopes, that they will dispute the cause with Christ himself at
judgment, and plead their _having eat and drank in his presence, and
prophesied in his name, and in his name cast out devils_; they will
stiffly deny that ever they neglected Christ in _hunger_, _nakedness_,
or _prison_, till he confutes them with the sentence of their
condemnation. O the sad state of these men, when they must bid farewell
to all their hopes! _When a wicked man dieth, his expectations shall
perish: and the hope of unjust men perisheth._[250] _The eyes of the
wicked shall fail, and they shall not escape, and their hope shall be as
the giving up of the ghost._[251] The giving up the ghost, is a fit, but
terrible resemblance of a wicked man's giving up his hopes. As the soul
departeth not from the body without the greatest pain; so doth the hope
of the wicked depart. The soul departs from the body suddenly, in a
moment, which hath there delightfully continued so many years; just so
doth the hope of the wicked depart. The soul will never more return to
live with the body in this world; and the hope of the wicked takes an
everlasting farewell of the soul. A miracle of resurrection shall again
unite soul and body, but there shall be no such miraculous resurrection
of the damned's hope. Methinks, it is the most pitiable sight this world
affords, to see such an ungodly person dying, and to think of his soul
and his hopes departing together. With what a sad change he appears in
another world! Then if a man could but ask that hopeless soul, "Are you
as confident of salvation as you were wont to be?" What a sad answer
would be returned! O that careless sinners would be awakened to think of
this in time! Reader, rest not till thou canst give a reason of all thy
hopes, grounded upon Scripture promises; that they purify thy heart;
that they quicken thy endeavors in godliness; that the more thou hopest
the less thou sinnest, and the more exact is thy obedience. If thy hopes
be such as these, go on in the strength of the Lord, hold fast thy hope,
and _never shall it make thee ashamed_. But if thou hast not one sound
evidence of a work of grace on thy soul, cast away thy hopes. Despair of
ever being saved, _except thou be born again_; or of _seeing God,
without holiness_; or of having part in Christ, except thou _love him
above father, mother, or thy own life_. This kind of despair is one of
the first steps to heaven. If a man be quite out of his way, what must
be the first means to bring him in again? He must despair of ever coming
to his journey's end in the way that he is in: if his home be eastward,
and he is going westward, as long as he hopes he is right, he will go
on; and as long as he goes on hoping, he goes farther amiss: When he
despairs of coming home, except he turn back, then he will return, and
then he may hope. Just so it is, sinner, with thy soul: Thou art born
out of the way to heaven, and hast proceeded many a year; thou goest on,
and hopest to be saved, because thou art not so bad as many others.
Except thou throwest away those hopes, and see that thou hast all this
while been quite out of the way to heaven, thou wilt never return and be
saved. There is nothing in the world more likely to keep thy soul out of
heaven, than thy false hopes of being saved, while thou art out of the
way to salvation. See then how it will aggravate the misery of the
damned, that with the loss of heaven, they shall lose all that hope of
it, which now supports them.
[Footnote 250] Proverbs xi, 7.
[Footnote 251] Job xi, 20.
§ 5. (3.) They will lose all that false peace of conscience which makes
their present life so easy. Who would think, that sees how quietly the
multitude of the ungodly live, that they must very shortly lie down in
everlasting flames? They are as free from the fears of hell as an
obedient believer; and for the most part have less disquiet of mind than
those who shall be saved. Happy men, if this peace would prove lasting!
_When they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh
upon them, as travail upon a woman with child, and they shall not
escape._[252] O cruel peace, which ends in such a war! The soul of every
man by nature is Satan's garrison; all is at peace in such a man till
Christ comes, and gives it terrible alarms of judgment and hell, batters
it with the ordnance of his threats and terrors, forces it to yield to
his mere mercy, and take him for the Governor; then doth he cast out
Satan, _overcome him, take from him all his armor wherein he trusted,
and divideth his spoil_,[253] and then doth he establish a firm and
lasting peace. If therefore thou art yet in that first peace, never
think it will endure. Can thy soul have lasting peace, in enmity with
Christ? Can he have peace against whom God proclaims war? I wish thee no
greater good, than that God break in upon thy careless heart, and shake
thee out of thy false peace, and make thee lie down at the feet of
Christ, and say, _Lord what wouldst thou have me to do?_ and so receive
from him a better and surer peace, which will never be quite broken, but
be the beginning of thy everlasting peace, and not perish in thy
perishing, as the groundless peace of the world will do.
[Footnote 252] 1 Thessalonians v, 3.
[Footnote 253] Luke xi, 22.
§ 6. (4.) They shall lose all their carnal mirth. They will themselves
say of their _laughter, it is mad, and of their mirth, what doth
it?_[254] It was but _as the crackling of thorns under a pot_.[255] It
made a blaze for a while, but it was presently gone, and returned no
more. The talk of death and judgment was irksome to them, because it
damped their mirth. They could not endure to think of their sin and
danger, because these thoughts sunk their spirits. They knew not what it
was to weep for sin, or to humble themselves under the mighty hand of
God. They could laugh away sorrow, and sing away cares, and drive away
those melancholy thoughts. To meditate, and pray, they fancied would be
enough to make them miserable or run mad. Poor souls! what a misery will
that life be, where you shall have nothing but sorrow; intense,
heart-piercing, multiplied sorrow; when you shall neither have the joys
of saints, nor your own former joys? Do you think there is one merry
heart in hell; or one joyful countenance, or jesting tongue? You now
cry, _a little mirth is worth a great deal of sorrow_. But, surely, a
little godly sorrow, which would have ended in eternal joy had been
worth much more than all your foolish mirth; for the end of such mirth
is sorrow.
[Footnote 254] Ecclesiastes ii, 2.
[Footnote 255] Ecclesiastes vii, 6.
§ 7. (5.) They shall also lose all their sensual delights. That which
they esteemed their chief good, their heaven, their God, must they lose,
as well as God himself. What a fall will the proud ambitious man have
from the top of his honors? As his dust and bones will not be known from
the dust and bones of the poorest beggar; so neither will his soul be
honored or favored more than theirs. What a number of the great, noble,
and learned, will be shut out of the presence of Christ? They shall not
find their magnificent buildings, soft beds, and easy couches. They
shall not view their curious gardens, their pleasant meadows, and
plenteous harvests. Their tables will not be so furnished, nor attended.
The _rich man_ is there no more _clothed in purple and fine linen_, nor
_fareth sumptuously every day_. _There_ is no expecting the admiration
of beholders. They shall spend their time in sadness, and not in sports
and pastimes. What an alteration will they _then_ find? The heat of
their lust will be then abated. How will it even cut them to the heart
to look each other in the face! What an interview will there then be,
cursing the day that ever they saw one another? O that sinners would now
remember and say! "Will these delights accompany us into the other
world? Will not the remembrance of them be then our torment? shall we
then take this partnership in vice for true friendship? Why should we
sell such lasting, incomprehensible joys for a taste of seeming
pleasure? Come, as we have sinned together, let us pray together, that
God would pardon us; and let us help one another toward heaven, instead
of helping to deceive and destroy each other." O that men knew but what
they desire, when they would so fain have all things suited to the
desires of the flesh! It is but to desire their temptations to be
increased, and their snares strengthened.
§ 8. (II.) As the loss of the Saint's Rest will be aggravated by losing
the enjoyments of time, it will be much more so by suffering the
torments of hell. The exceeding greatness of such torments may appear by
considering,—the principal author of them, which is God himself;—the
place or state of torment;—that these torments are the fruit of Divine
vengeance;—that the Almighty takes pleasure in them;—that Satan and
sinners themselves shall be God's executioners;—that these torments
shall be universal,—without mitigation,—and without end.
§ 9. (1.) The principal Author of hell-torments is God himself. As it was
no less than God whom the sinner had offended, so it is no less than God
who will punish them for their offences. He hath prepared those torments
for his enemies. His continued anger will still be devouring them. His
breath of indignation will kindle the flames. His wrath will be an
intolerable burden to their souls. If it were but a creature they had to
do with, they might better bear it. Woe to him that falls under the
strokes of the Almighty! _it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands
of the living God_.[256] It were nothing, in comparison to this, if all
the world were against them, or if the strength of all creatures were
united in one to inflict their penalty. They had now rather venture to
displease God than displease a landlord, a customer, a master, a friend,
a neighbor, or their own flesh; but then they will wish a thousand times
in vain, that they had been hated of all the world, rather than have
lost the favor of God. What a consuming fire is his _wrath_? If it _be
kindled_ here _but a little_, how do we _wither like the grass_? How
soon doth our strength decay, and turn to weakness, and our beauty to
deformity? The flames do not so easily run through the dry stubble, as
the wrath of God will consume these wretches. They that could not bear a
prison, or a gibbet, or fire, for Christ, nor scarce a few scoffs, how
will they now bear the devouring flames of Divine wrath?
[Footnote 256] Hebrews x, 31.
§ 10. (2.) The place or state of torment is purposely ordained to
glorify the justice of God. When God would glorify his power, he made
the worlds. The comely order of all his creatures, declareth his wisdom.
His providence is shewn, in sustaining all things. When a spark of his
wrath kindles upon the earth, the whole world, except only eight
persons, are drowned; Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, are burnt with
fire from heaven; the sea shuts her mouth upon some, the earth opens and
swallows up others; the pestilence destroys by thousands. What a
standing witness of the wrath of God, is the present deplorable state of
the Jews? Yet the glorifying the mercy and justice of God is intended
most eminently for the life to come. As God will then glorify his mercy
in a way that is now beyond the comprehension of the saints that must
enjoy it; so also will he manifest his justice to be indeed the justice
of God. The everlasting flames of hell will not be thought too hot for
the rebellious; and when they have there burned through millions of
ages, he will not repent him of the evil which is befallen them. Woe to
the soul that is thus set up as a butt, for the wrath of the Almighty to
shoot at! and as a bush that must burn in the flames of his jealousy,
and never be consumed!
§ 11. (3.) The torments of the damned must be extreme, because they are
the effect of Divine vengeance. Wrath is terrible, but revenge is
implacable. When the great God shall say, "My rebellious creatures shall
now pay for all the abuse of my patience. Remember how I waited your
leisure in vain, how I stooped to persuade and entreat you. Did you
think I would always be so slighted?" Then will he be revenged for every
abused mercy, and for all their neglects of Christ and grace. O that men
would foresee this, and please God better in preventing their woe!
§ 12. (4.) Consider also, that though God had rather men would accept of
Christ and mercy, yet when they persist in rebellion, he will take
pleasure in their execution. He tells us, _fury is not in me_; yet he
adds, _who would set the briars and thorns against me in battle: I would
go through them, I would burn them together_. Wretched creatures! when
_he that made them will not have mercy on them, and he that formed them
will shew them no favor_.[257] _As the Lord rejoiced over them to do
them good; so the Lord will rejoice over them to destroy them, and to
bring them to nought._[258] Woe to the soul whom God rejoiceth to
punish! _He will laugh at their calamity, he will mock when their fear
cometh; when their fear cometh as desolation, and their destruction
cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon them._[259]
Terrible thing, when none in heaven or earth can help them but God, and
he shall rejoice in their calamity! Though Scripture speaks of _God's
laughing and mocking_, not literally, but after the manner of men; yet
it is such an act of God in tormenting the sinner, which cannot
otherwise be more fitly expressed.
[Footnote 257] Isaiah xxvii, 4, 11.
[Footnote 258] Deuteronomy xxviii, 63.
[Footnote 259] Proverbs i, 26, 27.
§ 13. (5.) Consider that Satan and themselves shall be God's
executioners. He that was here so successful in drawing them from
Christ, will then be the instrument of their punishment, for yielding to
his temptations. That is the reward he will give them for all their
services; for their rejecting the commands of God, and forsaking Christ,
and neglecting their souls at his persuasion. If they had served Christ
as faithfully as they did Satan, he would have given them a better
reward. It is also most just, that they should be their own tormentors,
that they may see their whole destruction is of themselves; and then who
can they complain of but themselves?
§ 14. (6.) Consider also that their torment will be universal. As all
parts have joined in sin, so must they all partake in the torment. The
soul, as it was the chief in sinning, shall be the chief in suffering,
and as it is of a more excellent nature than the body, so will its
torments far exceed bodily torments; and as its joys far surpass all
sensual pleasures, so the pains of the soul exceed corporal pains. It is
not only a soul, but a sinful soul, that must suffer. Fire will not
burn, except the fuel be combustible; but if the wood be dry, how
fiercely will it burn! The guilt of their sins will be to damned souls
like tinder to gun-powder, to make the flames of hell take hold upon
them with fury. The body must also bear its part. That body which was so
carefully looked to, so tenderly cherished, so curiously dressed; what
must it now endure! How are its haughty looks now taken down? How little
will those flames regard its comeliness and beauty? Those eyes which
were wont to be delighted with curious sights, must then see nothing but
what shall terrify them; an angry God above them, with those saints whom
they scorned, enjoying the glory which they have lost; and about them
will be only devils and damned souls. How will they look back, and say,
"Are all our feasts, and games, and revels, come to this?" Those ears
which were accustomed to music and songs, shall hear the shrieks and
cries of their damned companions; children crying out against their
parents, that gave them encouragement and example in evil; husbands and
wives, masters and servants, ministers and people, magistrates and
subjects, charging their misery upon one another, for discouraging in
duty, conniving at sin, and being silent, when they should have plainly
foretold the danger. Thus will soul and body be companions in woe.
§ 15. (7.) Far greater will these torments be, because without
mitigation. In this life, when told of hell, or conscience troubled
their peace, they had comforters at hand; their carnal friends, their
business, their company, their mirth. They could drink, play, or sleep
away their sorrows. But now all these remedies are vanished. Their hard,
presumptuous, unbelieving heart was a wall to defend them against
trouble of mind. Satan was himself their comforter, as he was to our
first mother; "_Hath God said, ye shall not eat? ye shall not surely
die._ Doth God tell you that you shall lie in hell? It is no such
matter. God is more merciful. Or if there be a hell, what need you fear
it? Are not you Christians? Was not the blood of Christ shed for you?"
Thus as the Spirit of Christ is the comforter of the saints, so Satan is
the comforter of the wicked. Never was a thief more careful lest he
should awake the people, when he is robbing the house, than Satan is not
to awaken a sinner. But when the sinner is dead, then Satan hath done
flattering and comforting. Which way then will the forlorn sinner look
for comfort? They that drew him into the snare, and promised him safety,
now forsake him, and are forsaken themselves. His comforts are gone, and
the righteous God, whose forewarnings he made light of, will now make
good his word against him to the least tittle.
§ 16. (8.) But the greatest aggravation of these torments will be their
eternity. When a thousand millions of ages are past, they are as fresh
to begin as the first day. If there were any hope of an end, it would
ease the damned to foresee it; but _for ever_, is an intolerable
thought. They were never weary of sinning, nor will God be weary of
plaguing. They never heartily repented of sin, nor will God repent of
their suffering. They broke the laws of the eternal God, and therefore
shall suffer eternal punishment. They knew it was an everlasting kingdom
which they refused, and what wonder if they are everlastingly shut out
of it? Their immortal souls were guilty of the trespass, and therefore
must immortally suffer the pains. What happy men would they think
themselves, if they might have lain still in their graves, or might but
there lie down again! How will they call and cry? "O death! whither art
thou now gone? Now come, and cut off this doleful life. O that these
pains would break my heart, and end my being! O that I might once at
last die! O that I had never had a being!" These groans will the
thoughts of eternity wring from their hearts. They were wont to think
sermons and prayers long! How long then will they think these endless
torments? What difference is there betwixt the length of their pleasures
and their pains! The one continued but a moment, the other endureth
through all eternity. Sinner, remember how time is almost gone. Thou art
standing at the door of eternity; and death is waiting to open the door,
and put thee in. Go sleep out a few more nights, and stir about a few
more days on earth, and then thy nights and days shall end: thy
thoughts, and cares, and pleasures, shall all be devoured by eternity;
thou must enter upon the state which shall never be changed. As the joys
of heaven are beyond our conception, so are the pains of hell.
Everlasting torment is inconceivable torment.
§ 17. But methinks I see the obstinate sinner desperately resolving, "If
I must be damned, there is no remedy; rather than I will live as the
Scripture requires, I will put it to the venture; I shall escape as well
as the rest of my neighbors, and we will even bear it as well as we
can." Alas! poor creature, let me beg this of thee, before thou dost so
flatly resolve, that thou wouldst lend me thy attention to a few
questions, and weigh them with the reason of a man. Who art thou, that
thou shouldst bear the wrath of God? Art thou a god, or a man? What is
thy strength? Is it not as the strength of wax or stubble to resist the
fire; or as chaff to the wind; or as dust before the fierce whirlwind?
If thy strength were as iron, and thy bones as brass; if thy foundation
were as the earth, and thy power as the heaven; yet shouldst thou perish
at the breath of his indignation: How much more when thou art but a
piece of breathing clay, kept a few days from being eaten with worms, by
the mere support and favor of Him whom thou art thus resisting?—Why dost
thou tremble at the signs of almighty power and wrath? At claps of
thunder, or flashes of lightning; or that unseen power which rends in
pieces the mighty oaks, and tears down the strongest buildings; or at
the plague, when it rageth around thee? If thou hadst seen the plagues
of Egypt, or the earth swallow up Dathan and Abiram; or Elijah bring
fire from heaven to destroy the captains and their companies, would not
any of these sights have daunted thy spirits? How then canst thou bear
the plagues of hell?—Why art thou dismayed with such small sufferings as
befal thee here? A toothach; a fit of the gout, or stone, the loss of a
limb, or falling into beggary and disgrace? And yet all these laid
together, will be one day accounted a happy state, in comparison of that
which is suffered in hell. Why does the approach of death so much
affright thee? O how cold it strikes to thy heart! And would not the
grave be accounted a paradise, compared with that place of torment which
thou slightest?—Is it an intolerable thing to burn part of thy body, by
holding it in the fire? What then will it be to suffer ten thousand
times more for ever in hell?—Why does the thought or mention of hell
occasion any disquiet in thy spirit?—And canst thou endure the torments
themselves?—Why doth the rich man complain to Abraham _of his torment in
hell_? Or thy dying companions lose their courage, and change their
haughty language? Why cannot these make as light of hell as
thyself?—Didst thou never see or speak with a man under despair? How
uncomfortable was his talk? How burdensome his life? Nothing he
possessed did him good: he had no sweetness in meat or drink; the sight
of friends troubled him: he was weary of life, and fearful of death. If
the misery of the damned can be endured, why cannot a man more easily
endure these foretastes of hell?—What if thou shouldst see the Devil
appear to thee in some terrible shape? Would not thy heart fail thee,
and thy hair stand on end? And how wilt thou endure to live for ever,
where thou shalt have no other company but Devils, and the damned, and
shalt not only see them, but be tormented with them and by them?—Let me
once more ask, if the wrath of God be so light, why did the Son of God
himself make so great a matter of it? It made him _sweat as it were
great drops of blood falling down to the ground_. The Lord of life
cried, _My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death_. And on the
cross, _My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?_ Surely if any one
could have born these sufferings easily, it would have been Jesus
Christ. He had another measure of strength to bear it than thou hast.
Woe to thee, sinner, for thy mad security! Dost thou think to find it
tolerable to thee, which was so heavy to Christ? Nay, the Son of God is
cast into a bitter agony, and bloody sweat, only under the _curse of the
law_; and yet thou, feeble, foolish creature, makest nothing to bear
also the curse of the gospel, which requires a _much sorer
punishment_.[260] The good Lord bring thee to thy right mind by
repentance, lest thou buy thy wit at too dear a rate!
[Footnote 260] Hebrews x, 29.
§ 18. And now, reader, I demand thy resolution, what use wilt thou make
of all this? Shall it all be lost to thee? or wilt thou consider it in
good earnest: Thou hast cast away many a warning of God; wilt thou do so
by this also? Take heed, God will not always stand warning and
threatening. The hand of revenge is lifted up, the blow is coming, and
woe to him on whom it lighteth! Dost thou throw away the book, and say,
it speaks of nothing but hell and damnation? Thus thou usest also to
complain of the preacher. But wouldst thou not have us tell thee of
these things? Should we be guilty of the blood of thy soul, by keeping
silent that which God hath charged us to make known? Wouldst thou perish
in ease and silence, and have us to perish with thee, rather than
displease thee, by speaking the truth? If thou wilt be guilty of such
inhuman cruelty, God forbid we should be guilty of such sottish folly.
This kind of preaching or writing is the ready way to be hated; and the
desire of applause is so natural, that few delight in such a displeasing
way. But consider, are these things true, or are they not? If they were
not true, I would heartily join with thee against any that fright people
without a cause. But if these threatenings be the word of God, what a
wretch art thou, that wilt not hear it, and consider it? If thou art one
of the people of God, this doctrine will be a comfort to thee, and not a
terror. If thou art yet unregenerate, methinks thou shouldst be as
fearful to hear of heaven, as of hell, except the bare name of heaven or
salvation be sufficient. Preaching heaven and mercy to thee, is
entreating thee to seek them and not reject them; and preaching hell, is
but to persuade thee to avoid it. If thou wert quite past hope of
escaping it, then it were in vain to tell thee of hell; but as long as
thou art alive, there is hope of thy recovery, and therefore all means
must be used to awake thee from thy lethargy. Alas! what heart can now
possibly conceive, or what tongue express, the pains of those souls,
that are under the wrath of God? Then, sinners, you will be crying to
Jesus Christ, "O mercy! O pity, pity on a poor soul!" Why, I do now, in
the name of the Lord Jesus, cry to thee, "O have mercy, have pity, man,
upon thy own soul!" Shall God pity thee, who wilt not be entreated to
pity thyself? If thy horse see but a pit before him, thou canst scarcely
force him in; and wilt thou so obstinately cast thyself into hell, when
the danger is foretold thee? _Who can stand before the indignation of
the Lord? and who can abide in the fierceness of his anger?_[261]
Methinks thou shouldst need no more words, but presently cast away thy
soul-damning sins, and wholly deliver up thyself to Christ. Resolve on
it immediately, and let it be done, that I may see thy face in rest
among the saints. May the Lord persuade thy heart to strike this
covenant without any longer delay! But if thou be hardened unto death,
and there be no remedy, yet say not another day but that thou wast
faithfully warned, and hadst a friend, that would fain have prevented
thy damnation.
[Footnote 261] Nahum i, 6.