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A61853 The worm that dyeth not, or Hell torments in the certainty and eternity of them plainly discovered in several sermons preached on Mark, chap. the 9th and the 48. v. / by that painful and laborious minister of the gospel, William Strong ; and now published by his own notes, as a means to deter from sin and to stir up to mortification. Strong, William, d. 1654. 1672 (1672) Wing S6014; ESTC R32735 120,570 318

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offering for sin there is a sacrifice and there is a fire that must consume it Christ was the sacrifice and the wrath of God was the fire to consume him and these are the extremities of the sufferings of Christ now in all this Christ dyed as our surety and paid our debt L●k 23.3 and if this fire did burn so fiercely in him that was the Green Tree that was not so fit Fuel to burn because there was no sin in him what will it do in us that are dry Trees now if the main of Christs sufferings were from the wrath of God immediately we may safely conclude that the sufferings due to us and which the wicked shall undergo in Hell for the substance of them shall be the same from the wrath of God immediately upon the Soul though there be no Creature in Heaven or Earth to set it on this wrath that did seize so siercely upon the green Tree will surely consume the dry And it must needs be so Reasons that the wrath of God upon wicked men in Hell shall be their great and immediate torment for none can do it but God alone and that if we consider the offence to be punished or else the subject of this punishment First if we consider the offence that deserves it it is sin which is committed chiefly against God and the punishment of it must be a recompence The Wages of sin is death 2 Thes 1. 't is a righteous thing with God to recompence tribulation to every sinner c. Now who is able to take an estimate of the evil that is in sin and the wrong that it has done unto God there are two things in sin damnum injuria a wrong in point of goods and in point of honour sin has destroyed all the Creatures who is able to value the loss of a whole world but only he that made it and the loss of a Soul but he that purchased it and who is able to judge of the glory of God and the infinite wrong that is done him by sin no Creature in Heaven or in Earth can and therefore if all the powers of the Creatures were put into one to torment a man but for one sin they were never able to give unto him the wages and the recompence of one sin proportionable unto the wrong that God has susteined thereby either in point of goods or honour for there is more evil in one sin then there is or can be good in any of the Creatures therefore God must put his own Power the power of his wrath unto the work if he will have the wages of any one sin payd Judges here do condemn men themselves and pass the sentence upon them but they leave it unto others to execute them because they can do it as effectually as themselves but it is not so here if God will have a sinner pay the utmost farthing he must exact it of him himself for sin is out of measure sinful it passeth the thoughts of Men and Angels to conceive and therefore the punishment is greater then they can inflict it is God alone can do it Secondly If we respect the subject upon which this punishment is to light That is chiefly to be punished that has the chief hand in the sin Now Sin is mainly the sin of the Soul Mic 6.7 Rom 6.16 Though the creature might punish the body yet the m●●● torment is to be laid on the Soul but the Soul is capable of more to recent then all the creatures in Heaven and Earth can inflict God only is the Father of Spirits and the correction and discipline of Spirits do belong to him alone we commonly say that the Devils in Hell shall be the tormenters of souls there as if there work there were only to torment men for ever whereas they shall be chiefly tormented themselves for there is a Lake of fire and brimstone prepared for the Devil and his Angels and yet you say he can torment the soul being a spirit but alass the torment must be destruction 1 Thes 1.9 from the presence of the Lord c. Now all the devils in Hell could never inflict any thing that should distroy the soul or take away all good from the soul and fill it full of misery they can never satisfy the capacity of the Soul in good nor in evil the Soul is a vessel of wrath and will hold more then all the creatures can put into it and will live it 't is only under the wrath of God that the Soul dyes and therefore they that can kill the Body they are not able to kill the Soul God only can create Mat. 10.28 therefore God only can annihilate therefore God only can inflict a punishment worse then annihilation Mat. 26.24 It had been good for that man he had not been born that thus comes under the punishment of God this is a dreadful confideration Secondly It is an act fit for none but God for it is First An act of justice 2 Thes 1.5 In the day of Revelation of the righteous judgement of God when God will manifest his justice to the utmost Now Who is able to shew forth the justice of God in the extent and glory of it but himself When God will manifest an attribute to the World he doth it by himself immediately if he would shew his Power he will make a World if he would shew his Holyness he gives his Son and if his Glory he makes Heaven and if his Justice he makes Hell Now As nothing can do the former but Gods immediate hand so nothing can do the latter also for to manifest an attribute is an act and glory of God for as none can shew forth his mercy so none can shew forth and declare his Justice but himself Secondly It is an act of wrath Rom. 3.5 Rom. 2.5 But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up wrath against the day of wrath Now no creature is able to shew forth the wrath of the great God here there is a little wrath manifested in them his wrath is kindled but a little Psal 2. last c. And he corrects in measure but when the Lord shall cause his whole wrath to arise and punish man out of measure that no creature is capable of doing no creature can pour out all the grace of God neither and therefore God made choice of Christ who was God and man to lay up all his treasures of grace and mercy in answerable to those infinite thoughts of mercy and grace that were in himself 1 John 5.11 And this life is in his Son and so no creature can shew forth all Gods wrath he must do it by himself Thirdly It must be an act of vengeance which is the royalty of God that he claims to himself and he will not give unto any other Heb. 10.30 For we know him that has said vengeance belongs unto me I will recompence saith the Lord and
9.1 The Well or the deep or the bottomless pit because a mans estate there is eternal there is no changing a man sinks into a bottomless pit where there is no hope that ever a man shall rise again a great gulf there is and there is no changing of a mans state so ever Thus doth the spirit of God in Scripture by Metaphors of all sorts of things that are dreadfull unto sence set forth the condition of the damned and the torments that he has reserved for them in the life to come Thus we see that God has done al● in a Metaphorical way and by borrowed expressions and so I conceive it is in this place and therefore it will be necessary that we do inquire what the Lord doth usually expres● by fire in Scripture and thereby w● shall find out the meaning of th●● fire in the text that never shall b● quenched I find in Scripture many things expressed by fire but to ou● present purpose especially these two first the wrath and displeasure of the great God which does break forth upon men as fire upon stubble and and so it 's expressed in Deut. 4.24 Heb. 12. last The Lord thy God is a consuming fire and it is said that the light of Israel shall be for a fire c. The same God that is a fire for light unto his people comforting them and shinein upon them the same ignis vorans to his enemies as briars and thorns in one day so Deut. 32.22 For a fire is kindled in my anger and shall burn to the lowest Hell 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there is a grave where the bodies of men are buried but there is also a lower grave and a deeper destruction for their souls therefore is the wrath of God in Scripture commonly expressed by fire Secondly By the fruits and effects of wrath all miseries and calamities that come upon men whatsoever Psal 66.12 Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads we went thorow fire and water all manner of miseries thou broughtest us forth into a wealthy place c. Through the wrath of the Lord is the Land darkened c. Isa 2.19 And the people shall be as fewel for the fire and so Glausius does expound that place Isa 24.15 Wherefore glorifie the Lord in the fire 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he had spoken of great afflictions that God would bring upon the people even desolation and destruction but yet the Lord will not make a full end some shall be left as the shaking of an Olive-tree and as the Grape gleanings after the Vintage and they shall sing for the Majesty of the Lord and shall glorify the Lord in the fires in all those sad things and tokens of his wrath that have come upon other men in their sight and yet they have been preserved even in the fires By fire Here I conceive to be meant all the positive part of the torments of Hell and because they are not onely upon the soul but also upon the body as in Heaven there shall be all bodyly perfections so there shall be also in Hell all bodily miseries whatsoever may make a man perfectly miserable Therefore the wrath of God and all the positive effects of this wrath is here meant by fire First To begin with the wrath of God and that is the fire that is here meant and hence the Doctrine is this That it is the wrath of God in Hell Doct. that shall be the great Tormentor the immediate Executioner Here God doth punish men by the creatures but hereafter they shall fall immediately into the hands of the living God This we shall prove by these arguments and demonstrations First After this life God shall be be all in all as it is said 1 Cor. 15.28 In this life all Gods dispensations are by the creatures he governs by them by Magistrates and Ministers and Angels and also he doth permit the Devils to have power and dominion but he will then put down all rule and authority and power not onely Magistrates and Ministers but even Angels and Devils when the dispensatory kingdome of Christ in this World shall have an end then all these creature-administrations shall cease no more comforts by ordinances and Relations no more miseries by enimies but God shall be all in all either in mercy or in wrath and all the misery of the creatures shall be from hence Rom. 9.22 It is to shew his wrath and to make his power known 2 Thes 1.9 punished with eternal destruction from the presence of God and the glory of his power therefore as in Heaven the comforts of souls shall come in mainly from God imediately so in Hell shall their terrour also for all the comfort of the creatures shall cease and it is the wrath of God immediately that shall be the great torment Secondly After this Life God doth intend to dispence all his wrath and to show it forth as the wrath of a God Psal 78.38 And if he will do so he must do it immediately as it Heaven if he will shew forth the love of a God he must do it immediately and therefore though God could comfort a man exceedingly by the creatures yet they are to mean to testifie Gods Love Eccles 9 1. There is no creature that is a vessel that car receiven all the Love of God and empty it into the man so he cannot know hacred for there is no creature can be 〈◊〉 able to receive all the 〈…〉 and therefore as in Heaven there shall be something beyond all creature comforts so in Hell shall be something beyond all created miseries Therefore Rom. 9.22 They be called vessels of wrath that God made to receive it Thirdly The wrath of God after this Life shall he such as passeth knowledge and passeth fear Who knows the power of thy wrath Psal 90.11 Now there is no creature can fill the Soul all the goodness that is in the creature cannot satisfie the hope of man and all the evil in the creature cannot satisfie the fears of man there will still be something that will go beyond a mans knowledg and that a mans fears will go beyond and therefore we commonly say men are more feard then hurt But in Heaven as the soul will be satisfied beyond all the good of the creatures and that beyond a mans hopes for the Lord will come to be admired in his Saints Now 2 Thes 1. Admiration is the overplus of Expectation so in Hell the Soul will be filled with torment beyond what was or can be apprehended in the creatures and as the good will pass a mans hopes so will the evil in Hell pass a mans fears but this cannot be in the creature for the good of it cannot pass the one and all the evil of it cannot go beyond the other and therefore if a mans comforts were only created all the comforts in the World would not make up Heaven or happiness for they are but
therefore he will suffer his whole displeasure to arise Now if it be so fearful a thing when the Lord lets out but a little of his wrath if his wrath be kindled but a little How much more when he doth stir up all his wrath and deals with men by fury poured out Fourthly The subject upon which this wrath shall light shall be the Souls of men but especially a mans Conscience which is the tenderest part even the eye of the Soul and the Soul of man is capable of wrath beyond what all the Creatures in Heaven and Earth can inflict there is not enough in this world to fill the sences of man Eccle. 1.8 the eye is not satisfied with seeing nor the ear with hearing for there is nothing beneath God will satisfie it Ps 17. last but as in Heaven the Soul shall be satisfied and fill'd with his love so in Hell it shall be satisfied and fill'd with his wrath and it 's this filling the Soul with misery that is properly the death of the Soul and therefore Christ saith that the Creatures can but kill the body and there is no more that they can do they cannot kill the Soul because they cannot fill it neither with good things nor with evil as there is nothing but the glory of God can make a man perfectly and fully happy so there is nothing but the wrath of God that can make a man fully and perfectly miserable Fifthly Rom. 2.5 It is wrath by long patience treasured up the patience and goodness of God should lead to repentance which a man despising treasures up wrath against the day of wrath c. The Lord doth bear long and because sentence against evil workers is not executed speedily therefore the hearts of men are fully set in them to do evil and therefore they mock at the coming of the Lord to take vengeance 2 Pet. 3 3. where is the promise of his coming he is pressed under their abominations as a Cartfull of sheaves and yet he bears still and lets men despise his goodness fill up their measure and out-stand the day of his patience which has its Period and then caesa patientia fit furor if once he doth whet his glittering Sword and his hand take hold of judgement a fire is kindled in his anger that will burn for ever and the more his patience and goodness has been despised the greater treasure of wrath is laid up and the more will be brought forth at the day of payment for it must be a just recompence of reward Sixthly This wrath doth come upon men very suddenly and unavoidably 't is sudden destruction swift damnation 2 Pet. 2.1 though a man may have gone on and prospered in a way of sinning long but yet a hand of vengeance will overtake them as the swelling in a great wall that comes suddenly down wrath has hung over a man a long time the decree has travelled with judgement long but it comes suddenly as the travel of a woman God feeds them as sheep in a large Pasture and then brings them forth to the slaughter Rev. 14.18 19. there is a fatting time and there is a killing time there is a ripening time and a reaptime gather the Grapes and trample the Wine-press for her Grapes are fully ripe thrust in the Sicle c. and the Angel thrust in his Sicle and cast it into the great Wine-press of the wrath of God and that comes upon men suddenly when they expect it not and they are ensnared and taken and it will come unavoidably there is no way to escape it when the day of vengeance is come though men have scaped it before but now all the power of the Creaturts cannot relieve a man Neh. 1.10 But though they be solded as thorns yet they shall be devoured as stubble that cannot resist the fire as the dust to the Beesom Isa 14.24 so will the Lord sweep them to destruction in his wrath Psal 80.10 They perish at the rebuke of thy Countenance look when God will cast a man into destruction that man will become a humble petitioner to the Mountains to fall upon him and hide him from the wrath of him that is upon the Throne and from the Lamb. Lastly It shall be pure wrath judgment without mercy Joh. 2.13 Rev. 14.10 They shall drink of the Wine of the wrath of God without mixture for there shall be utter darkness that is purae tenehrae and it shall be inflicted upon them with delight the Lord saith I will ease me of my adversaries and he will laugh at your calamity smiling wrath is dreadfull and his spirit shall be quieted thereby Zach. 6.8 a judge here though he condemn the malefactour yet he pities the man but the Lord will laugh at him they that are children of wrath are a sacrifice of a sweet savour to God But you will say What should we do to escape it 1 Thes 1.10 There is no way but Christ to diliver us from the wrath to come and there is no way but by being one with him and that is First By being cut off from the old root Rom 11.24 Rom. 7.4 divorced from the old Husband by a work of conviction showing a man that he is under the curse and Hell is his proper place and by a work of humiliation for all the pleasures of sin which are now damp'd and a man is now under the apprehension of the displeasure of God and of self-loathing for it Rom. 7.9 Sin revived and I dyed sath the Apostle Secondly Upon this there is a discovery made of Christ unto the soul that there is redemption in him to be had that we perish not and that he is able to save to the uttermost those that come unto him And all this is but the fruits of the ancient agreement between Christ and the Father God was in Christ reconciling the World God did love to have is so and this is seeing the Son Joh. 6.36 Joh. 12 4● The drawing of the Father John 1.44 No man can come to me except the Father draw him c. Thirdly The soul has an instinct after union has received a touch of the spirit of God Elijahs mantle has fallen upon him so that nothing will satisfie him but union with Christ Phil. 3. he looks at that in all ordinances in which he is conversant to win Christ is his only aim and he will not be bribed with any other thing as a false spirit will be if he have gifts and some raisedness in parts and qualifications and a name to live among men he is satisfied and Conscience is very quiet but a soul that has received this magnetick touch from the spirit is put off with nothing besides Christ it moves to him as naturally as the stone unto its center Fourthly He accepts of Christ upon his own terms gives up it self to him Receives Christ with all his promises and all
heart can wish waters of a full cup are wrung out unto them Now they count this their happiness and the other the misery of the saints of God whereas 1 Cor. 11.31 When we are judged we are chastened of the Lord that me might not be condemned with the World God doth it to deliver their souls from going down into the pit Now That 's a happy man whom the Lord will not suffer to perish And they know that there is a fatting time and a killing time and that the Lord will bring other men forth as sheep to the slaughter And that they are men not appointed unto wrath and in that they rejoyce whereas there is wrath reserved for them to eternity who are the men who have had their good things in this Life and have fared deliciously every day Thirdly Men fear it not and it doth not in the consideration of it imbitter either the pleasures or the proffits of sin or the comforts of the creatures unto them which as soon as ever these serious thoughts do feise upon other men that have another spirit it will quickly do and therefore men do put far from them the evil day and when the greatest judgments of God are threatned they say he prophesieth of things long to come it is of dooms-day that the Prophet speaks the wrath of a King Solomon says is as a messenger of death but so is not the wrath of the great God who is a consuming fire There is a story of a certain Christian King of Hungary Who was exceeding sad and pensive and had a Brother a wild-Courtier who comes in merrily and asked him why he was so melancholly he answered him that he had been a great sinner before the Lord and he knew not how to appear before him when he should come to judgment but the young Gallant made light of it and that night his Brother the King sent an executioner to sound a Trumpet at his door which was the the manner in those Countries to do to men that were to be led forth to execution at this the young man that was so resolute and regardless of the wrath of God yet he hastned into his brothers presence with a great deal of fear and amazement of spirit to know wherein he had offended that he was summoned by the executioner to whom his Brother answered if to me that am your Brother and one whom your Conscience tells you you have not wronged How much should I be afflicted that am to come before a God And one who am in my own soul so many ways accused and condemned But as in all temporal judgments that are threatned Gen. 19. ●4 men seem to the wicked as they that mock so it is in eternal also Now If the Lord will please to come in and perswade your hearts to believe it take these arguments and consider them seriously First From the preparations of God which he makes for all sinners Isa 30. last Tophet is prepared of old that is from the foundation of the World as Heb. 13.8 Jesus Christ yesterday that is backward unto the beginning of the World so it is here and it is for the King the greatest person though never so much exempted from the common lot in the World yet they shall not escape this judgment and so Deut. 32.24 Is not this laid up by me and sealed among my treasures truely the Lord doth not lay up treasures in this manner but their will come a time of expence c. Secondly The Lord has told us in his Word that there are some that are vessels of wrath Jud● 4. and persons fore-ordained by God thereunto and the Potter has power over his Clay to the glory of his grace and satisfaction of his justice and men cannot find fault and he has said vengeance is mine and I will repay and to his word he has added his oath as well as his promises that in the one we might have strong consolation and in the other strong conviction Deut. 32.40.41 For I lift up my hand to Heaven and say I live for ever I will render vengeance to my enemies and will reward them that hate me Amos. 8. ● c. I have sworn by the excellency of Jacob surely I will never forget any of their works c. O miseros nos qui nec juranti Deo credimus Tert. That neither believe the word of God nor tremble at the oath of God Thirdly Consider the capacity and the immortality o● the soul of man for its capacity it is capable of more happiness or misery then all the creatures in Heaven and Earth can aford they are not able to satisfie the sences much less the soul Now Why has God made so great a vessel Not in vain surely it shall be filled and nothing but God can fill it God in glory can fill it with joy and God in wrath can fill it with sorrow for animam capacem quicquid est minu● Deo non implebit It is true of good things it is true of evil also And for the immortality of the soul of man Why hath God made it of such a duration shall this be but time to sleep it out and has the Lord made the soul to live so long in vain the time of this life is but a span to eternity in which either men are made vessels of mercy prepared for glory or vessels of wrath fitted to distruction and the foundation of a mans eternal happiness or misery is laid in this Life Fourthly Consider whether or no thou hast never had any of the first fruits of it God letting in a glimpse of his wrath upon thy Conscience some grudgings of that burning-feaver that thou shalt lye under for ever there are unregenerate men that have a taste of the powers of the world to come Heb. 6. by powers are meant powerful and mighty workings upon the spirits of men by the spirit of God and how mightily these apprehensions do work upon men either of the joys of Heaven or of the torments of Hell men receiving a pledg and an earnest in themselves before hand Heb. 10.27 Receiving a sentence of condemnation in their own souls the wrath of God has a venome in it and it drinks up their spirits and the Lord comes upon them as a Lyon and breaks all their bones that though they Love sin never so dearly yet they can take no delight in it Fifthly It will appear in the Lord Christ Why did he come from Heaven and take the nature of man upon him The great end was not legem docere Luth. miracula facere for this others did as well as he though from him and by his spirit but it was legem vincere abolere Gal. 4.4 He was made under a Covenant of works and that for two things First That he might pay the debt that was due by us to God Secondly That he might cancel the bond Now he was made
no more about these streightned objects but about the vast things of Eternity for ever The things of Eternity pass knowledg and pass fear 1 Cor. 13.12 This life in grace is but childhood to Heaven the faculties and abilities of our souls are streightned so this life in sin and misery is but childhood unto Hell for there shall the soul be inlarged for God has made the soul capable of greater joyes and greater sorrows greater blessings and greater sufferings then there are in this Life and he would never have prepared such vessels either for wrath or glory but that he means to fill them and this inlargement shall be by degrees as he will fill them by degrees and as grace inlarges and prepares the heart for glory Col. 1.12 so does sin inlarge and prepare the heart for wrath and therefore they are said Rom. 9.23 To be vessels fited for distruction as well as prepared for glory c. Fourthly After this Life all comfortable affections and actings of the soul shall have an end There be some acts of soul that are comforting and cheering and there are some acts that are afflicting and tormenting the comforting acts are in refference to good things either present or to come if present the soul loves them and rejoyceth in them and if absent the soul loves them desires them and hopes for them and all these do cheer the soul and in the exercise of these the life of the soul comes in but after this Life all good things of this Life in present fruition or future reversion shall have an end From the creatures all good things at Death shall take their leave they are but this worlds goods and for all good things from God there shall be none for they shall have Judgment without mercy pure and utter darkness there shall not be a beam of light or the hope of any good thing for the soul to live upon unto Eternity for if a man were to lye in Hell a million of years and were to expect then a release his soul would live but being swallowed up in eternity of misery without hope the soul dyes These affections shall still remain in the soul but because they have no object therefore shall never be exercised as fear and sorrow are in the Saints in Heaven but never are exercised because there is no object upon which it should be exercised Therefore in Hell there never shall be an act of love or joy or hope more to eternity the hope of the wicked is as the giving up of the Ghost he breaths it out with his last breath and he shall never hope more for ever and there are in the soul some tormenting and afflicting acts in reference unto evil things present or to come if it be present there is sorrow and if to come fear and if it be looked upon as an insuportable and inseparable no way to escape it there is dispair for ever Now seeing there shall be the absence of all good at present and in hope and the presence of all evil and a mans condition under it helpless and hopeless therefore after this life to ungodly men all comforting acts of soul shall cease and all the tormenting acts shall take place and act in their full power and vigour for ever Now let us come to the particulars wherein Conscience doth apear to be a worm after this life manely There is a four fold act of Conscience and in every one of them it does hereafter become a worm First There is an act of Accusation Secondly of Conviction Thirdly of Condemnation Fourthly of Execution The torments that follow the soul after all these and in these does this furious reflection of the soul upon it self consist First An act of accusation Rom. 2.15 Conscience accusing and excusing and this consists in two things First A reviewing and reflecting upon the rule that a man did and should have walked in Secondly Upon the unanswerableness of a mans wayes unto this rule and so Conscience shall charge upon a man all the errours of his way for an accusation does suppose and lay down a Law and then charges a man with the breach thereof there is a double book of Conscience the first is a book of precepts and rules secondly a book of practises First For the book of rules and precepts there shall be manifested three things after this life First There are many rules of duty that we are ignorant of and so there are many sins of ignorance committed that men know not to be a sin because they are unacquainted with the rule of duty for we know in part and prophecy in part 1 Cor. 13. There is a vail upon the hearts of men in many things that they know not what they do Now to this end the book of Law and Gospel shall be opened and thereby a mans Duty discovered and Conscience inlightned in those things which here it never knew Rom. 2.16 for he will judge the secrets of all men according unto my Gospel c. Secondly There are several sins commited out of errour and mistake and upon false rules The Lord will bring forth and discover unto a man all these false and erroneous principles by which he has been led in his whole course John 16.2 1 Cor. 2.8 had they known it they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory Rom. 10.2 they have a zeal but not according to knowledg many things they did from an erroneous Conscience now all these false principles that mislead a man in his wayes shall be brought forth also and the falshood of them discovered Thirdly There are many true principles which Conscience does receive here from the word and the ministery thereof which are called truth Rom. 1.18 Who withhold the truth in unrighteousness All these rules in their authority holiness and equity shall be set before a man and how all of them were required of man for his good Thus the book of precepts being opened and the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of Conscience inlarged now follow the opening of the second book and that is that of practises First Conscience does charge upon a man sins of ignorance this thou hast done through ignorance of such a rule as Paul knew not Lust to be a sin before that the Commandment said thou shalt not Lust and then thy ignorance shall be discovered unto thee before men and angels and that with all thy means and opertunities of knowledg you to whom the Lord wrote the great things of his Law that had the Scriptures in your own Language and freedom and liberty to use them you that had all manner of helps publickly and privately preaching and writing wherein men do transcribere aias you that dwelt in the valley of Vision and yet of these things you are wilfully ignorant and in the things you know not in them you have corrupted your selves now they that counted it matter of shame to be instructed by a
me ye cursed and the Lord does it to manifest an attribute to shew the power of his wrath Psal 90.11 Rom 9 22 Now if God manifests his displeasure here by the creature how miserable can he make a man But much more when he does it immediately for that is the fire that is here spoken of the immediate wrath of God upon the soul and if but a few drops of it let in upon the hearts of some of his own people make their strength to consume away and turn their moisture into the drought in Summer If when it seased upon Christ the Green-tree it did come so fiercely because the Father was pleased to bruise him how much more will the Lord delight to bruise thee If Christ did sweat drops of blood and was in an agony under the sence of this wrath Oh! where must thy poor soul be whom the Lord will hate and deal with as an enemy for ever a vessel of wrath Thirdly When a man shall in judgment be given over to sin perfectly and all the restraints of the spirit of God upon a man shall be taken away there is a twofold restraining grace upon mens acts and upon their lusts and men are in many things under both here for their acts Gen. 20.6 I withheld thee that thou shouldest not touch her and their lusts when thou goest up to worship no man shall desire thy Land but now God will let out mens lusts to their full length and a mans thoughts shall be taken up with them for ever a man shall feed upon his darling eat the fruit of his own wayes and be filled with his own devices Now to be given over to be proud for ever drunk for ever from the cup of Gods right hand unclean for ever scoffers for ever and that which was before a mans pleasure shall now be his torment It is but for God to change a mans apprehensions and it will be so here Amnon desired Tamar but after his Lust was satisfied it vanished and the hatred wherewith he hated her was more then the love with which he loved her before 1 John 2.17 The world passeth away and the Lust thereof as we see in Judas while the Lust of covetuousness was up there was nothing so desirable as money though it was but Thirty pieces of silver but the Lust passeth away and now there is nothing in the world that troubles Judas like to this so that he hangs himself to be rid of it and so it will be hereafter the Lust shall be gone and then for a soul to be given over unto it in judgment shall be a mans continual torment for as the Saints in Heaven shall be confirmati in bono so the damned in Hell shall be obfirmati in malo and that in judgment therefore Aquinas has well observed as in Heaven the Saints shall be doing good for ever but all their good actions pertinent ad beatitudinis praemium so in Hell the wicked shall be doing evil for ever and they can do no otherwise but these mala pertinent ad damnationis poenam c. Fourthly The society that a man shall be judged unto for ever for it is part of the happiness of the saints in Heaven that they shall be gathered to their fathers to Abraham and Isaac to have their souls bound up in the bundle of the living 1 Sam. 25. gathered to the souls of just men made perfect so for a man to be gathered to the devils have their portion with the devil and his angels a creature that we have looked upon with the greatest hatred here yet then must be thy companions to run out an eternity with this is the god of this world to him thou hast lived here and with him thou shalt live for ever Psal 125.5 Lead them forth with the workers of iniquity for here men are mixed but then he will rank them with those of their own kind and they shall remain in Tophet which was a place in the valley of Ainon a place famous for three things there were memorable acts of mourning there the children of Israel did cause their children to pass through the fire to Molech that is sacrifice their children to the Devil there Eighteen hundred thousand of the Assyrian camp were destroyed by an Angel in one night Isa 30.31 Isa 31.33 Through the voice of the Lord shall the Assyrian be beaten down for Tophet is prepared of old c. And there did the Babilonians murther the people of Jerusale●n at the taking of the City Jer. 7 31. Because they had burnt their sons in Tophet to the Devil therefore they should fall and be destroyed themselves in Tophet and they should bury there till there was no place this place is put for the place of the damned and Hell is called Tophet the valley of slaughter or the invisible valey of Hinnon Prov. 21.16 It is called Coetus Gigantum those in Gen. 6. that did provoke God to bring the floud upon the world of the ungodly they being the first noted inhabitants of Hell therefore from them the place has its name and all that go down since are said to go down into the Congregation of the Giants whom in their disobedience and rebellion they have followed Fifthly The very consideration of the happiness of the saints Luk. 13.28 To see Abraham and Isaac in the kingdom of God and themselves thrust out Time was that I had as fair offers as precious oppertunities as they had and it may be means and outward mercies far beyond them but I have despised knowledg and I would none of the fear of the Lord I had my portion in this Life and therefore now they are comforted but I am tormented I was so foolish as to account their life madness and their end to be without honour but now they are numbred amongst the Saints of the most high and I am shut out Oh that you could call time again This is the language of souls in Hell Sixthly Here there is something that may mitigate sorrow but all such things shall be taken away after this life First It 's an ease to a mans heart here to speak of his misery and to vent it that he may have some to pity him and condole him but there shall be none to pity a man then for the law of nature shall cease after this Life and the devils shall not pity men nor men pity one another but rather inbitter their condition unto a man for ever Secondly Here a man in sorrow can turn himself unto some creatures and comfort himself with them as Cain fell to building of Cities c. But all the creatures are but for the time of this Life and in this Life they are thy good things but after this Life there is no sweetness or use of any creature to eternity for God shall be all in all Thirdly But it may be said surely God is a God of mercy he will
prize of the high calling and it is some ground that I have got already something that I have attain'd but yet it is but a little but upon a hope that I shall have him that indeed is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in my eye therefore I strive with all my might and press hard to the mark c. And thus the blood of Christ gives an efficacy unto all the precepts and the promises of the Gospel and they are all of them by this means of a cleansing nature they do purge the Conscience they have all a cleansing property Fifthly The blood of Christ doth purge the Conscience by sprinkling all means that it shall tend unto a mans purification that as by sin all things do become means to defile the Conscience so by the blood of Christ all things shall become means to purge the Conscience Tit. 1.15 Unto the pure all things are pure but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure but even their mind and Conscience is defiled For under the law the sprinkling of the blood was not onely upon the person but upon the book and the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministery Heb. 9.19 Implying that none of these would have been instruments of purging of the Conscience if they had not themselves been first purged by the blood of Christ But what are the means that thus purge the Conscience First The word of God Ephes 5.26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of Water by the word and John 15.3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you c. Mens Consciences are purged by it but yet in it self it will increase the defilement as unto all unregenerate men it does Heb. 6.7 The ground that drinks in the rain that comes oft upon it and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed receiveth blessing from God But that which bears thorns and briers is rejected and is nigh to cursing And yet if Christ sprinkle it with his blood it will surely purge the Conscience and all the purging vertue that the word has is because his blood was sprinkled with the blood of the sacrifice Secondly All other ordinances also 2 Cor. 3 3. First that of the ministery ye are our epistle and though ye have Ten thousand instructers yet not many Fathers but I have begotten you through the Gospel Now even this ordinance that was appointed for their cleansing will but increase their pollution of themselves if their uncircumcised heart should rise against the message they bring them to believe in the blood of Christ and then God in judgment says to his ministers go make the heart of this people fat let their hearts be hardened and their spirits rise against it that hearing they may hear and not understand least they be converted and I should heal them the Lusts of men are thereby the more exasperated and drawn forth as it did in the Pharisees under Christs ministery their enmity did rise to the sin against the Holy Ghost besides Blasphemy against the son of man but that the ministery is effectual to any souls it is onely the sprinkling of the blood of Christ upon all the ordinances thereof and it will purge if Christ in it sit as a refiner of silver in his shop and do concurr in the ordinances to their refinement Thirdly The example of the Saints are a means of purging the Conscience Phil. 3.17 Be followers together of me and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample c. When a man doth observe unto what a pitch of holiness and purification the Saints of God have attained as the example of Christ so of the saints also such pressing forward to more spirituality such growth in grace and in knowledg such love to all Saints this is a great means to raise the hearts of them that fear God to give all diligence to be as they were holy in all manner of conversation But yet they will be a means of pollution of themselves even these glorious examples of Christ and his followers if not sprinkled with the blood of Christ and as the Pharisees looking upon the holyness of the Saints they were the more inraged so the more lively men do see holyness in the practise of it they hate it so much the more Fourthly Hos 2.6 Jer. 31.18 Isa 18. Afflictions When the Lord sends it upon any of his children this is all their fruit to take away their sin but yet afflictions will of themselves purge no mans Conscience but rather defile it as we see how the rage of mens spirits are drawn out by it as King Ahaz sin'd yet more the more he was afflicted and Revel 16.9.10 They did gnaw their tongues with pain and did blaspheme the God of Heaven but repented not of their evil deeds bray a Fool in a Morter and yet his folly will not depart from him but yet if Christs blood do sprinkle our crosses they shall be as corasives to eat out the proud flesh and they shall tend to heal him whom they had wounded Fifthly Sometimes the Lord will do it by sins in giving him up to some publick open and scandulous fall as he did with David lets him fall into that great evil of murder and adultery and that made him to wash himself throughout and it was a means to keep him low and to preserve him from sin all his life time after and we have the like instance in Peter in denying the Lord and cursing and swearing that he never knew him when thou art converted says Christ to him strengthen thy bretheren for he would be the stronger afterwards as a bone broke c. and the less apt to fall into sin Surely sins of themselves being filthiness it self cannot purge but will defile but yet sprinkled with the blood of Christ they shall be an occasion of purging Sixthly Sometimes the Lord will do it by leaving a man to the winnowings of Satan in some furious and violent temptation Satans aim is thereby to sift out all grace and to leave nothing but chaff in the soul for we fight not against flesh and blood 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 things that concerne Heaven and Eternity and commonly men are foiled by them and are the more filthy by a touch of the wicked one 1 John 5.19 But when the Lord doth sprinkle a temptation with the blood of Christ it shall be a means to purge the soul and the poyson of it shall be tempered into a wholesome medicine as it was unto Paul * A Messenger of Satan c. 2 Cor. 12.7.8 It is sometime purging and sometimes preventing Physick to keep the soul from being lifted up c. The same may be said of mercies and of all the dispensations of providence for all shall work together for good that is for a mans spiritual and eternal good because they are all yours Creatures and providences
seat and will exalt the humble and lowly Sixthly Keep a good Conscience towards enemies Job 3.129 30. it was a brave temper in Job If I rejoyced at the destruction of him that hated me or lift up my self when evil found him c. and our Saviour bids us Mat. 5.44 pray for them that despightfully use you and persecute you c. forgive them and be willing to do them good if thine enemy hunger feed him for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head be not overcome of evil but overcome evil with good if they be thy enemies without a cause or for telling them the truth they are more their own enemies then thine therefore pity them The accidental part or less principal part of the torments of Hell we have hear under the Metaphor of the never dying Worm And now I come unto the principal part and that which is essential to it and that is the fire that never can be quenched and here I must mind you of what Christ sayes Joh. 3.12 I have spoken to you Earthly things and you believe not Spiritual things under Earthly resemblances for our weak eyes need to have the species condensed by such spectacles as these are spiritualia capere non possumus nisi adumbrata c. How shall you believe if I tell you of Heavenly especially when the joys of Heaven and the pains of Hell are laid down in any measure before you this latter I am now to speak to the fire which cannot be quenched it 's a thing disputed amongst Divines and the fathers of old have differ'd in it and the Schoolmen after them whether the fire by which the damned in Hell shall be tormented be not Material and Corporeal fire but Metaphorical only some of them say that it is Corporeal and of the same nature with that fire we have here because it must torment the bodies of men and others say that it cannot be Corporeal for then it cannot work upon Spirits as the Devils and the Souls of men are and hence Durandus and others have found out a way that by the power of God he can elevate Corporeal agents in their operations so that they shall work upon Spiritual sub●●ances and as the Soul is affected here by its union with the body so it shall be hereafter c. But these things seem not at all to agree with the word of God nor the manner of the speaking of the Spirit of God therein who hath wholly expressed Heaven and Hell to us by Metaphors because in its proper Speech and if the Lord should speak of things as they are we could not understand them it 's questioned by some Divines by what names the estate and condition of the damned was expressed in the Old Testament and it is wholly resolved into certain Metaphors taken from some exemplary acts of vengeance upon sinners the first remarkable judgment that came upon the world was the Deluge now we read in Gen. 6. Of Giants that were in the Earth men of renown whose wickedness was so great upon the Earth that the Lord repented that he had made man and takes up a resolution in judgment to destroy them that he had created from the Earth and these being the first that did eminently and remarkably perish therefore Pro. 21.16 't is said The man that wanders out of the way of understarding shall remain in the Congregation of the dead the Hebrew word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the place receives its name from those wicked men who were in the eyes of all men remarkably the first inhabitants and this is conceived to be the first title that in Scripture is any where given to the place of the damned the next judgment was the destruction of Sodom God condemning them with an overthrow and turning it into a dead Sea a fiery and Sulphurious Lake where every thing dyes nor can any thing live in it and a smoak that continually ascends up and by that also in Scripture Hell is expressed the Lake that burns with fire and Brimstone for ever and it is Jude 7. suffering the vengeance of Eternal fire There is another expression of it that is very famous there was near Jerusalem a place that was called Tophet as Schal conceives from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tympano because of the several Musical Instruments that were used there when the Jews did sacrifice their children unto Molech and burnt them caused them to pass through the fire unto the Devil and to testifie that they did it from the heart though they were never so dear yet they must rejoyce in it and dance at the sacrifice it was the Valley of the sons of Himon this place was thus polluted by sin and with the blood of men poor inocent ones And this place of Idolatry Josiah did pollute and commanded all the dead bodies and all the unclean things of the City to be cast therein and for the consuming of those a continual fire was kept there and God did execute special vengeance in this place because in it the Lord destroyed 185000. of the Assyrian Camp and there the Jews were slain themselves when the Babylonish Army took the City and hence Isa 30. and last verse For Tophet is ordained of old yea for the King it is prepared he has made it deep and large the pile thereof is fire and much wood the breath of the Lord like a stream of Brimstone doth kindle it this place that was so famous for judgment and vengeance is used to express the torments of Hell the place of the damned it is called Tophet and hence also I conceive the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hath its name from Himon for the greatness of the misery it is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the grave and destruction Pro. 15.11 There is nothing done in Hell and in the bottomless pit but it is open to the Lord he knows and orders all in it and therefore is the Devil called Abadon the destroyer for the terror and unquietness thereof it is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2 Pet. 2.4 from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies to trouble vex and disquiet a man and it s called for the uncomfortableness and continual fear of it darkness by which all misery is expressed in the Scripture and to set forth the perfection of it it is called utter darkness Mat. 8.12 but the children of the Kingdom shall be cast out into utter darkness c. That is extra Ecclesiam regnum Christi for the Kingdom of God is an inheritance in light Col. 1.12 so all the miseries of men without Christ are called darkness and a darkness that is without even there where all the wicked of the world shall be so Cartwright and some think that it is Comparativum Superlativi loco and it signifies maximas profundismas and so Pareus c. And for the eternity of it its called the deep Luke 8.31 and Rev.
created so if a mans miseries after this Life were only in the creatures all created miseries would never make Hell but still the Soul would live under them all But it is only under the wrath of the great God that the soul dies Fourthly Consider the torments of the Devils whence is all their Torments now For Jude tells us they are reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day c. And they are not wholy freed Now Doth God apply any creature to this work Mar. 8.29 Doest thou come to torment us before the time There was nothing tormented them but his presence and power c. And this wrung from them this great complaint Now they do not torment themselves though they have a Conscience yet this is not the great tormenter and we do not read that they are executioners one of another or that God doth use the ministry of the good Angels in the punishment of the evil though the good Angels strive with them for the preservation of the Saints now what Creature has power enough to torment the Devils such great and mighty Creatures as they are surely it is nothing else but the wrath and indignation of the great God which is the fire that is reserved for the Devil and his Angels to be made objects of and lye under for ever this the Lord doth suspend here in this life by the Kingdom of Christ because now there is a time of patience and the Lord has service to imploy them in as vessels of dishonour which if they should lye under the wrath of God perfectly poured out they would not be able to perform and therefore the Lord doth forbear them that at last wrath may come upon them to the uttermost Fifthly Consider the first fruits and inchoations of Hell in this life and that either in wicked men or in the Saints in wicked men Heb. 10.27 there is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 some sparkles of Hell a certain fearfull looking for of Judgment and fiery indignation c. As the people of God have here some sparks of Heaven by the Spirit of adoption some earnest and glimpses of Heaven see it in Cain Gen. 4.13 and Judas his Soul is filled with horror and amazement that they would rather chuse all the miseries of the Creatures and to lye under the whole Creation call to Mountains to cover them to be freed of it and therefore they cry out it is too late for me to repent is' t possible for me to be pardoned I know God will never have mercy upon me and therefore their soul chooseth strangling any thing to put them out of this torment what did Judas aise who did hurt him he had money in his purse there was no evil of the Creature upon him he gratified the high Priests and many of that crew only there was a secret touch of Gods own finger upon him an immediate drop of wrath let in upon his Conscience c. And not only in wicked but in godly men as Job and Heman Job 6.4 The arrows of the Almighty stick in me and the terrors of God do set themselves in array against me and surely inward terrors are the most terrible and there are no medicines in the whole creation that can heal a wounded spirit all friends estates honours relations will be to a man as the white of an Egge in the day when the terrors of Gods wrath do compass a man about as if God speak peace to the Soul none can speak terror no not all the Creatures and the most exquisite miseries that can be inflicted by them ●s appears by Martyrs so if God speak terrors there is none can speak comfort nothing in the Creature can help or ease as appears by men that have had all things the world can afford and yet their spirits were 〈◊〉 wounded in them they had ●or he least relief thereby so 〈…〉 Heman Psal 88.5 We know of no pressure that was upon him by the Creatures and yet he complains he was free among the dead as a man in Hell already while I suffer thy terrors I am distracted there was something beyond what all the Creatures could inflict Now there is joyes that the Saints receive here from God under Heaven joy unspeakable and glorious and of the same kind though they differ in degree with those in glory so the terrors here are of the same kind only they differ in degree from the torments of Hell they have a taste of the Cup which in Hell they shall drink of it a full drought and therefore as the one is joy unspeakable and full of glory so is the other torments unspeakable and full of sorrow and in this God uses the ministerie of no Creature neither doth the hearts of men discerne any thing but the wrath and terrors of the Almighty Sixthly It doth more fully appear in the suffering of Christ if we look upon him as in the Garden he was in an agony Mat. ●6 38 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his soul was invironed and compassed about with sorrow now all the misery that can come from the Creature can never compass the Soul about there will be some door open but here he sees no way our and therefore Mark 14.33 he was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sore amazed under the apprehension of wrath and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 his Spirit failed within him Psal 40.13 His heart in the middle of his body was melted as wax and this anguish of spirit so wrought upon his body that it made him to sweat drops of blood whence is all this affliction that was upon Christ we read of no Devils that were let loose upon him to torment him his very presence was their tormenter here and his wrath shall be their tormenter hereafter we read of no Angels that had commission to afflict him nay we read of an Angel that appeared from heaven to comfort him Luke 22.43 which would have been enough to have raised up a mans Spirit under the greatest afflictions of the Creatures nor was it from any inward unquietness in his own Spirit for there was no seeds of such fearfull distempers in him for he knew no sin there was no guile in his mouth it could not be from any bodily pain for in the Garden the Jews had not laid hold upon him there was no evil upon him and it could not be fear of a bodily death for it was for this cause that he came into the world and it was that which he did desire and long for with desire have I desired to eat the Passeover with you I have a baptism to be baptized with and how am I straightned till it be accomplished but the cause was the sence of the wrath of God lying upon his spirit Isa 53.10 it pleased the Lord to bruise him he hath put him to grief to beat him to pieces and to grind him to powder as his Soul was made an
again the Lord shall judge his people It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God He forbids private revenges and saith to his disciples if he smite thee on the one cheek turne the other c. As there are none avenge here below but Magistrates his Vicegerents to shew that it is the priviledg of none but himself hereafter Now if he has reserved it unto himself here surely he will take it to himself hereafter in the disposing of the eternal estates of the greater part of the World Angels and Men to give this honour unto the creature that they should take vengeance the Lord will never do it but it is and shall be an act of his own immediate wrath and here the three persons hath in Scripture their opera appropriata if the Father be provoked the Son is an advocate with the Father and the Holy Ghost strives with him but when all the persons shall joyn together the Son will plead no more and the spirit strive no more but all joyn in this great work of vengeance and the spirit of God as in Heaven he shall be a spirit of Adoption and Glory so in Hell a spirit of bondage and torment for ever Isa 30. last There are two things in it to be observed First Here is fire and brimstone that is unquenchable fire for brimstone is pertinasissimum ignis fomentum and there is not a little but a River of brimstone and what is this fire and brimstone It is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the spirit of the Lord burning in it his wrath is the fire and the brimstone also and his spirit for as the spirit is not onely fire but oil because his grace is upheld by the daily supplies of its own grace notwithstanding all mens unthankfulness so his wrath is not only fire but brimstone there is a continual supply of wrath to eternity that makes this fire of Tophet to be eternal and unquenchable fire Object But Satan is said to have the power of Death and is called Abaddon the destroyer and therefore it seems Satan is the instrument that God will use in tormenting them that as here they were commanded by him and subjected unto his temptations so they should be under him for ever tormenting them Answ First Satan is said to be the destroyer in respect unto sin which is the destruction of the creature and lays the foundation of a mans eternal destruction as he is called a murderer John 8. so he is called a destroyer because by him man was deceived and seduced and this is not spoken in refference to his inflicting of Death but in respect of drawing a man unto sin and so he is said to be the destroyer and in respect of many temporal punishments that the Lord by him doth bring in the destruction of persons and kingdomes and he is therefore called the destroyer because it his whole work to destroy and he intends nothing else in all that he doth but destruction and Satan is said to have the power of death it is not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which notes authority as well as power but 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 it is strength and power only to do it so he doth inflict death upon men when God imploys him for Satan is used in such dishonourable services as to have the power of death as the executioner hath that puts men to death and torments them that the Judge doth give into his hand Secondly When a wicked man is put to death the devils attend and they take his soul and hurry it to the place of torment as the Angels do the souls of the Saints Luke 16. and therefore it is said thou Fool this night shall they require thy soul Luk. 12.20 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Devil is present and demands the soul and takes it and caries it into the place of torment that it is adjudged too even to its own place where Judas went so that the Devil inflicts upon men and carries them to Hell Thirdly At the last and general judgment Satan shall accuse them being condemned together with him he shall take them to Hell with him for this wrath is prepared for the Devil and his Angels But this kingdome of ●atan shall last no longer then the kingdome of the Angels and all rule and all authority shall be put down when Christ shall have given up the kingdome unto the Father and the Angels shall rule over the elect no more so the Devil shall rule over the reprobate no more but now God shall be all in all In Heaven he shall be all in all in mercy and in Hell he shall be all in all in wrath and there shall be no more any dominion of one Creature over another God will no more use one Creature to reward another or to punish another but himself shall be all in all Object But in Heaven there be many created comforts therefore in Hell there are many created miseries and therefore the wrath of God is not the only Executioner there as you affirm Answ It 's true there are many miseries there from the Creatures the place is a Dungeon of darkness it is the bottomless pit abissus the deep as there is a great deal of sweetness in the place in Heaven and Glory so there is much misery here from the place for there are Chambers of death Secondly From the Company the friends of a Soul and the enemies and all restraining grace and the Law of nature shall cease and sin shall be acted to the life as part of a mans punishment and they shall be set one against another for ever Dives had torment by the coming of his brethren the man shall be tormented by the coming of his wife and his children and his Companions here on earth c. Thirdly From the upbraidings of Satan for his malice shall never cease and therefore he will in this respect be shewing a man his folly and endeavour to torment him more and more Isa 21.14 and will deride him and there is nothing more bitter to a man then to be scorned in misery and derided and this men may look for in Hell at the hand of Satan he will mock at them for ever and never shew thee the least pity for thou art bound up amongst the Tares in the same bundle with the Devil and all his crew thus indeed there are some created miseries in Hell but yet it is the wrath of God that is the great torment that as in all created blessings here it is his love that is the root and the Fountain of them and they are all nothing unless that go before they all stand but for a Cypher so unless his wrath go before all these torments would be but Cyphers and the Soul would live there is no Creature that can kill the Soul they may indeed kill the body and a small Creature can do so if it be armed by