[257] Isaiah xxvii, 4, 11.
[258] Deuteronomy xxviii, 63.
[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!
[260] Hebrews x, 29.