13. The blackness of darkness for ever 2. It is a fast Prison such as they that are once in shall never be able to get out of The Doors of it are shut upon them by the Justice Truth and Power of the Almighty 3. It is a tormenting Prison Other Prisons are places where the Malefactors are reserved for Punishment but may have some ease and comforts during their aboad therein But Hell-Prison is the place of Punishment where the wrath of God is executed continually upon his Enemies I say continually for they shall be punished with an everlasting and therefore an ever-continuing destruction 2 Thess 1.8 9. The Doctrines of the Holy God were grievous to them though they heard of them but now and then What intolerable grief may the displeasure of God cause in them when they lye under it continually And the more dreadful will this Prison be to the Slaves of Satan because it will be if I may so call it a convincing Prison unto them Therein they shall be made to see their deserts as well as to feel their Punishment Though they shall have no light of comfort there yet they shall have a light of conviction The Lord Jesus at the Day of Judgment shall come from Heaven to convince all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds And doubtless Jude 14.15 that conviction will remain upon them when they are in Hell They will then be able to know what it was that they are sent thither for and that they are so miserable not meerly for God's good pleasure but for their own evil doings for obeying the Devil more than God for chusing the ways of wickedness before his holy pleasant Paths for rejecting the counsels of his Word and refusing to return that they might live They will then be able enough to understand that it was their loving of Darkness or Ignorance better than Light that made Christ say unto them I know you not and to cast them into that blackness of Darkness eternally Their mischievous designs and spightful dealings that hath laid them under the Vengeance of God and the malice of the Devil their mocking at Religion and laughing at Reproofs that hath moved God to laugh at their Calamity and mock at all their Woes and Cries Their Heathenish liberty on God's Holy-day that hath made them to be bound in those Chains of Damnation The Pride and Profaneness and Unconscionableness of their Hearts the cruelty and injustice of their hands the Deceit Hypocrisie and Baseness of their Tongues with all their witty fine-mouth'd Railings that brought them to that place of Torment and made their Bloud and Bones so Hot in that everlasting fiery Prison I might add more of their Bodies misery but I shall pass to that which is greater the miseries of their Souls for as they were most in sin so they will be also most in Punishment If a Man were never so full of pain in his Body The misery of their Souls yet if his Soul have some rest and comfort he is very far from perfect misery But alas it will not be so with the damned in Hell their Souls will be as far from ease as their Bodies for they will be afflicted perpetually with all sorts of tormenting passions and that 1. By sorrow in the saddest sense our Blessed Lord 1. By sorrow when he stood in the place of sinners had great experience of sorrow he was a Man of sorrows Esay 53. and acquainted with griefs and said that his Soul was exceeding sorrowful Matth. 26.28 O what sorrows then may we think will fall upon the Souls of the wicked in Hell If the Soul of that Holy One were so afflicted when he stood in the room of others what will be the case of them that must bear their own sins and answer the demands of Justice themselves Psal 32.10 The Psalmist tells us that many sorrows shall be to the wicked and as it is sometimes verified here in this World so certainly it will be most eminently fulfilled in the World to come How merry soever they may be on Earth our Lord assures us that they will be weeping and wailing Matth. 8.12 when they come to Hell And how happy would they think themselves to be if they might come out of Punishment when they have wept as many Tears as there be Drops in the Ocean 2. By shame Secondly By shame The boldest sinner of them all will then be ashamed when his eyes are open to see his sins and God's Majesty against whom they were committed with all the shameful aggravating circumstances of them How will they be confounded to see the Judge of the World set them on his left hand in the sight of Men and Angels and assign them their Portion amongst unclean Spirits And surely their confusion in Hell will not be less than that confusion that they suffered before they were there That punishment to which they are judged cannot be less than that which they suffered while they were brought forth to be judged They that gloried in their shame and made their Boast of their sins in the Day of God's patience will not do so in the Day of his Wrath. 3. By rage Thirdly They will be afflicted in their Souls by fury and rage these passions they were often tormented with on Earth upon small occasions yea many times upon no just occasion at all If a Man did but speak against the sins that they love yea if he did but admonish them soberly in private and entreat them for the love of Jesus to forsake those ways which his Soul hateth presently what a rage are they in and how mightily do storms of wrath arise in their Breasts and if they could kill them with a wish or burn them in their Beds with a fierce and fiery word they were likely to live but a few Hours longer If they have lost but a little of their estates or but so much as missed of a good Bargain they are ready to fret beyond measure at it But what will it be to lose their Souls and Heaven and endure the pains of Hell for the love of their foolish Lusts on Earth what unspeakable vexation will this be unto them when they have nothing at all to make up the loss to asswage their pain or abate their misery in any respect And thus our Saviour assures us the wicked will have as weeping so gnashing of teeth too when they shall see Abraham Isaac Matth. 8.11 12. and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven and they themselves shut out Fourthly In Hell they will be tormented by Desperation 4. Despair This is a fearful thing indeed and almost the only thing that wicked Men are much afraid of When we labour to beat down their false hopes of salvation and tell them they cannot be saved without that holiness that they yet hate they have no more compendious way to make our Sermons odious than to report that
do than for such a one as I yet it is better it should be done by me than by none Mistake me not Reader I speak not this A Digression of Mr. Chewney his Book in any measure to undervalue that piece which Mr. N. Chewney hath opposed unto it But let these particulars be considered in the case 1. That it is very small and 2. so general that there is need enough of another Book to that purpose for it is not a fourth part of his subtilties which he hath engaged with therein and I think I may say it is scarce a tenth part And the Reason why He did not Confute his false Glosses and fair pretences more particularly is as he tells us in his Epistle to the Reader because he thought them to be very Obvious to every Judicious eye to use his own words in that place But with due respect to his Name and Works he might easily have considered that a Pamphlet of this nature was not designed to deceive the Judicious but rather the ignorant and unstable And if it do but so and so harden such persons in their sinful courses Satan will not think that he hath sowed his Tares in vain Secondly What if others can do it better than I yet it will be nevertheless lawful for me to do it as I can Must I resolve to lay down my Ministry and to Preach no more because I cannot Preach so well as they that can Preach better No sure no reason for it Doubtless I may and must do my Lord and Master what Service I can though I cannot do what others can Thirdly Others can do it better thou saist and I do not gainsay it But I rather look what men will do than what they can do If they can save us from Drowning when we are fallen into the River yet if they will not do it we are never the more beholding to them And if they can 't is their own fault that they did not or at least it was not mine for I did not hinder them from so doing Fourthly If thou thinkest I have done amiss in it do but shew me my Error in a Sober and Christian way and I shall I hope be thankful for it and shall be ready to retract any thing therein which thou canst prove to be unsound or unseasonable Fifthly If yet thou will not be in Charity with my poor Scribble but art resolved to be offended at it Then Reader thou mayst be offended still Behold it lies at thy mercy and if thou canst not otherwise content thy self Thou maist take thy Pen and write against it If thou let it alone I am sure it will do thee no hurt if thou Readest it though only to cavil at it It is possible it may do thee some good And if it doth give God the Praise and the Author thy Prayers who is Thy Servant for the Sake of Jesus J. B. Wargrave Berks July 20. 1676. The PRINTER thought fit to insert Dr. Gregory's Approbation of the Work in his Letter to the Author as followeth Worthy Sir I Have though too hastily read over Your Book for which You deserve many Thanks from him who is your Adversary and do hereby receive them from me who am a friend to you and every man else who is of your Complexion I mean a Lover of Virtue and a defender of Truth It is my Opinion that you have much obliged both Your Antagonist and Your Reader Your Antagonist by convincing him of his Error Your Reader if already Orthodox by confirming him in a great Article of his Faith Methinks the Cavils of that Pamphlet wherewith you deal are so weak and fond so clearly Confuted by those strong Arguments which you have produced from Scriptures and Reason that if the Author of that worthless Scroll shall not upon his serious perusal of Your Book subscribe to that Truth which therein you have asserted 't is much to be feared that his obstinate perseverance in so foul an Error against such clear Convictions will ere long bring him to that place which he now denieth and make him sensible by sad experience that there is indeed an Hell Who this Person is I cannot tell perhaps a Sceptick perhaps a downright Atheist and probably a man of a lewd and vicious Conversation for the Truth is such persons are most concerned to believe and were it possible to prove that there is no Hell who have no ground to expect any share in Heaven But whosoever your Opponent may be I have so much Charity for his Immortal Soul as to wish that he may reap that Advantage from your Book which therein you design him that he may timely see his gross mistake and renounce his Heresie lest hereafter he be forced to confess an Eternity of Torments when it will be too late to escape them So Prayeth Your Neighbor Friend and Brother 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 F. Gregory Hambleton Mar. 28. 1677. To the Doubting READER REader dost Doubt whether an Hell there be Doubt on till Dooms-day come then shalt thou see What now thou'lt not believe Then shall quick sense Soon give the Lye to Doubting-Diffidence A Fancy now Hell-fire thou dost account Whose sharpest pains in thine esteem amount Unto no more than if with Launce thou cut Some callous senseless piece of Flesh I but When the great God that made thee shall thee call To stand before his dreadful Tribunal And Curse thee straightway to a real Hell What wilt thou think 't is then if thou can'st tell I 'l tell thee what in short if so I may Fore-speak the thoughtful Language of that Day 'T is Hell indeed 't is Hell Hell now I see Yea feel the pains of Hell which could I flee How happy I But now Woe woe's me woe Fancy 't is not but Sense that makes it so A Fancy this This scorching Fire A Fancy this This wrathful Ire A Fancy this This fearful Pain Fancy all this Which shall remain From Age to Age still to endure Oh! Hell A Fancy 't is not sure Could I but live on Earth as heretofore I 'de never dare to call it Fancy more But live like one forc'd to believe 'T is Hell from whence there 's no reprieve Thus when hell Flames have wrought in thee a Faith Forcing assent to what this Author saith Then wilt thou say oh that I had been wise To credit this and not Fool-like despise What now I find and feel For now I see 'T was ill to Doubt whether an Hell there be S. N. To the READER without Doubt DOubt Thou dost not Reader go to 't is well To doubt and doubting drop down into Hell How dreadful is' t Far better 't is to fear An evil look'd for and in Time prepare Against the worst may come worse 't will not be Because Thou dost believe Eternitie Of Torment after Death Nay rather This Will prove a Mean leading to future Bliss This will Thee move all Times to mind
who is of so great dignity and to whom he owes the Honour of a true Subject And if the Prince and he should live for ever it were just that he should keep him in Prison for ever till he acknowledge his fault and humble himself unfeignedly for it as the Wicked in Hell will not to any purpose They will not humble themselves for their sins in any Religious way no not then when they are tormented for them as may be discovered ere long And if an offence against a man may deserve perpetual Imprisonment how much more may an offence against God deserve perpetual Damnation What are all the men in the world to him Behold saith the Prophet All Nations before him are as nothing Esay 40.17 and vanity Answer 4 4. It is not contrary to justice but an executing of just vengeance for God to condemn the sinful Angels to everlasting Punishment 2 Pet. 2.4 2 Pet. 2.4 He spared not the Angels that sinned but cast them down to Hell when once they had sinned God spared them not his Justice took hold on them immediately and condemned them to Everlasting punishment for their state is expressed by St. Jude v. 6. by Everlasting chains under darkness and our Saviour tells us that Everlasting fire is prepared for them Matth. 25. v. 41. And certainly no man will question whether they shall be punished Everlastingly by that Everlasting fire or not unless he be bewitched by Mr. R's evil Spirit And though it were severity and strict Justice so to deal with them yet we know it was no injustice at all for He is a Righteous God and without Iniquity And though His ways are sometimes past finding out Deutr 32.4 Psal 9.7 Rom. 11. yet still we must say as those in the Revelation Just and True are thy ways O King of Saints Assuredly he will not punish the Devils themselves one whit longer than their sins deserve And if the sins of Angels are justly punishable with Everlasting punishments must we not acknowledge the same concerning sinful men and their sins Is sin any better thing in Men than in Angels or is God any fitter to be despised and dishonoured by them than by the other Doubtless if it make the noblest Beings worthy of Everlasting shame it must needs make their Inferiors so too To which let me add thus much that he hath laid more engagements upon Men to obey him than he hath done upon the fallen Angels He hath given Time and Means and Motives to Repent and promiseth Mercy and Salvation in and through Christ Esay 55.7 in case they forsake their evil ways and turn unto him which he hath not done for the fallen Angels And as for the Inferiority of Mans Nature to the Nature of Angels That I say is so far from excusing or extenuating their fault in sinning against him as that it seems very plainly to aggravate the offence If it be so horrible for Angels and Powerful Spirits to cross his Will and oppose his Laws and Government it seems to be much worse for Dust and ashes so to do As 't is a greater piece of Impudence for a mean person to contradict his Prince than for Lords and Nobles so to do Answer 5 5. 'T is not unknown what Miseries sin brought upon the Lord Jesus when he stood in the place of sinners It made him sweat as it were drops of Bloud it made his Body subject to Buffettings Scourgings Wounds and Death yea a shameful and accursed Death Matth. 27. Luke 23. c. it made his name subject to reproaches and Accusations and bitterest Scoffs and Taunts from the basest and wickedest men It made his Soul to be full of Sorrow though it were free from all spot of sin It made him a man of Sorrows on Earth who is the Matter of Heavens Joy It made him to be despised and rejected of men and live a life of continual Persecutions who is the object of the Angels Worship and at whose Birth they sang A Hymn of Praise Thus we see what Miseries he bore when he undertook for sinners and bare their sins 1 Pet. 2.24 And yet the sins that Christ became answerable for were not any sins of the Impenitent that live and dye such for if he had made satisfaction for them they should not be condemned for them as we know they shall Now if Christ suffered so much when he undertook for them that in time should repent if they came to years how great must that punishment be which the Impenitent must bear when they must answer for themselves That which in the Penitent man made Christ to suffer so great things for a time being imputed to him as the surety for the sinner must needs in the impenitent deserve Everlasting Punishment It is more for Christ to suffer for a time than for sinful men to suffer for ever He being * Rom. 9.5 God as well as man that which by Imputation to Christ made him liable to temporal vengeance and the curse of the Law must needs make the sinner worthy of Eternal vengeance being inherent in him and acted by him and attended with final impenitence as it is in them that perish Answer 6 Sixthly Sin being committed against a God of Infinite Majesty and Excellency as a dishonour to his Name and a violation of his Law must needs deserve a kind of Infinite Punishment for Justice requires a kind of proportion between the fault and the punishment Now because the wicked cannot bear a punishment that is infinite in weight and degree to compensate the wrong done to an Infinite Majesty therefore they must bear a punishment that is Infinite in duration and continuance Answer 7 Seventhly An Everlasting Punishment is suitable if not to the Act of sin so properly yet to the principle of sinning There is such a corrupt disposition in wicked Men that they would sin perpetually if they could There is no ungodly course they have delighted themselves in but they would do so still if they might have their own choice If a Lyar a malicious Miser a Contemner of God's Ordinances should live ten thousand years he would be as very a Lyar as covetous and malicious c. as ever he was And the like may be said in other cases The hearts of the children of men are fully set to do evil Eccles 8.11 They would have sinned for ever and why should not they suffer for ever what more just than that those should never want for sorrow that would never consent to forsake their sin If a man were to live on Earth never so many thousands of years and his Prince should know he would always be of a Rebellious disposition he would think he had reason enough to keep him in prison all that time And yet as was said before there is no comparison between the Princes of this world and the God that made it The Wicked cease not offending when they are in
Hell They will be Blasphemers Revel 16.9 11. when they cannot be Atheists Drunkards and Cheaters c. and will hate God's people when they cannot hurt them They will always be destitute of true Holiness and be enemies to it when they are in Hell though they will be hindred from following the sins they like of Hell will be as full of sin as of Torment yea and a great part of its Torment will be by sin as well as for sin Will it not fill the Hypocrites hollow heart with vexation to think with himself what a silly Dissembler he hath been to remember what care he took to deceive others and what pains he used to deceive himself and how careless he was of that time which was given him to prepare for Eternity Will it not torment the Drunkard to think how he served the Devil till he could not stand on his Legs how he valued a Barrel above Heaven and the company of Sots before communion with Christ in his ways and so of the rest In a word when a reasonable creature comes to see that he hath been his own Ruine by following the ways of his own heart and hath lost at once the world and Heaven by his wilful wickedness when he was also warned of the danger time after time and beseeched to turn that he might be saved who knows whether this very Remembrance of his former follies as the Means and Causes of his uncurable Miseries will not be as great a Torment to him as hell-fire it self Doubtless we cannot here comprehend what a Hell sin it self will prove to the sinner that lives and dies under the guilt thereof To conclude this Section 't is observable that the Jesuits themselves who of all the Men in the World are least apt to think the worst of sin since they have found out ways to make satisfaction for it themselves yet I say these very Men do constantly own the Doctrine of the Everlasting Punishment of the wicked hereafter as Bellarmin Valentia Vid. Baronii Disp. de peccato Mortali part 2. sect 3. and the like Sophisters And therefore Reader if thou can'st see no Reason for it but judgest it unjust that they should be so punished thou wilt shew thy self more Blind than these Sons of Darkness And so much for the Proof of the Doctrine asserted CHAP. II. SECT I. A Tast of Mr. Richardson's Grapes in the beginning of his Garden or the Sophistry and Impertinencies of the former Pages of his Pamphlet discovered HAving laid down some Proofs of the Doctrine asserted and vindicated those Proofs from Mr. R. and his Fellow's Evasions and Exceptions I shall now proceed with God's permission and assistance to examine his Book and encounter the Enemies of this Truth whether great or small that are to be found therein And though we may call them Legion for that they are many yet I trust thou wilt find Reader in due season that their united strength is far enough from being insuperable My Author was wise enough to foresee that all good Christians would not have a good Opinion of Him or his Work and therefore supposeth in his Epistle to the Reader that in this unthankful Age those that are in the Dark themselves might reject and undervalue the new Light he hath afforded them and say of Him as some did of Christ He hath a Devil and is mad why hear ye him And truly if they shall say so of him I shall not much reprove them for it For in the entrance of his Book he writes as though madness were in his heart as 't is expressed in Ecclesiastes As though a Spirit of vanity and impertinency had guided his valiant Pen For he begins with a discourse of Christ's Descent into Hell and seems to please himself abundantly in setting his Betters at variance with each other I mean by reckoning up the different Expositions of that Article amongst Protestant Divines And what I pray you is that to the purpose he aims at For what if Vrsinus and Mr. Perkins were not altogether of the same Opinion with Bucer and others as to the sense of that Article yet 't is sufficiently known that they were far from thinking with Mr. R. that there is no Hell nor no Everlasting Punishment for the Wicked hereafter Or what if Hell in that Article do not signifie the place of Torment for the Enemies of God yet how will it follow that it doth not signifie such a thing in those places where mention is made of Hell-fire and of destroying Body and Soul in Hell and the like To his Impertinency may be added his Impiety for I find not any thing of that sentence in the place cited out of Dr. Fulk his Defence of the English Translation which he alledgeth for His in the 5. Page of his Book Afterwards he brings in the Opinions of some learned Men about the word Sheol which is as much to the purpose as the other He tells us that it sometimes signifies the Grave and what thanks shall we give him for such a discovery but yet alas he had not shewed more of his Learning in the two former Pages than he hath shewed of his folly in two Lines following in p. 11. where he tells us that Sheol cannot signifie Hell in their speech that believe there is no Hell As much as if he had said The Devil is not conceived to be an Enemy to Mankind by those that believe there is no Devil which hath been the Ale-house Doctrine of some Damners and Sinkers in our days And then he adds The Greeks say plainly that Mens Souls shall vanish like smoke If they do the more ignorant are they and if English Men think so too they would be so much the fitter to hear and believe the Doctrine of his Book which is no better than the other His Head hath as much of Atheism in it which can by the force of imagination turn Hell into a Dream and Everlasting Punishment into a Bug-bear and Scare-crow as he that fancies the Soul to be turned into smoke But enough of this Let us see a little of his Sophistry in his Cavil at Dr. Ames his speech if it be his indeed His Sophistry Dr. Ames saith Mr. R. tells us in his Marrow of Divinity p. 4. that the Scripture speaks nothing distinctly of the place of Hell or the manner of Torture there Whereupon he thus replies upon the Doctor If so then it speaks nothing of these things for what the Scripture speaks it speaks distinctly But while he thus makes game at Doctor Ames he doth another mischief viz. make himself ridiculous for none but a Caviller would gather Mr. R.'s conclusion from it His meaning I dare say was only this that it speaks nothing distinctly concerning its scituation In what part of the World it is placed how far distant from the Sun or Stars or what compass it is of or the like But doth not mean that it speaks
have spoken of a punishment never to end and have wept for them that should suffer that if there were any such to be endured by any B. It is not unfit to be noted how blind those Men are that have not a mind to see the Truth He would have spoken of such a Punishment if there had been such c. As some Men will face us down and vow most stoutly that they did not those things which we saw them do So Mr. R. by that speech of his would make Christians believe that our Lord never spake any thing to that purpose when they have often read his plain words concerning it Matth. 25. last Verse These shall go away into everlasting punishment But saith he He would have wept for them that should have suffered such a Punishment And so he might for ought he knows to the contrary for many things that Jesus did are not written Joh. 21. But it is not written so of him True but what of that for in the Gospel we read of some that should dye in their sins and be shut out of Heaven Matth 7.14 c. and yet we read not that he wept for them which notwithstandiâ—g was a misery in the saddest sense His 6. Consideration is an Assertion p. 120. That Scripture maketh no mention of any Punishments but those in this life which certainly argues more strength of his Brow than of his Brain 31. to the end and will not be believed by them that believe the 25. of Matth. to mention no more at this time for therein we find a Day wherein all Nations shall be gathered before Christ and have their sentence according to their works to everlasting life or punishment which will be after most of them have been dead a long time as I need not prove to them that believe that Article of our Creed that He shall come to judge the quick and the dead There is nothing more that needs to be considered by me but only his heaping up Texts of Scripture one upon another for upon this occasion in this 120. page he hath as many Texts as Lines which yet prove no more that there shall be no punishment after this life than Mr. Hobbs his Latine Epistle to Mr. Wood will prove Dr. Fell to be no Scholar And this Reader may be a caution to thee that thou dost not always conclude the Excellency of a Book or a Sermon from the multitude of Texts of Scripture that are alledged therein for a Man may name many when most of them are little to the purpose they are brought for and then they will profit thee no more than the Meat that goes beside thy Mouth will nourish thee 'T is not how many Texts but how pertinent to the point in hand that is to be most regarded p. 121. R. God's punishment of sin is not of so large an extent as his mercy Psal 108. Thy mercy is great above the Heavens And more of the same excellency which they that want may read in the same page I shall not trouble my self to transcribe it B. We would know what he means when he saith God's punishment of sin is not of such a large extent as his mercy If he mean that the principle of it and whence it flows viz. God's Justice is not so extensive as his mercy I may safely deny it His Justice being Infinite as it is the Justice of an Infinite Being If he means it of the exercising mercy and his inflicting punishment Then I say in like manner that the objects of punishment are as many yea more than the objects of his special and saving mercy All that live and dye ungodly shall feel his vengeance and they are without controversie the greatest Number Wide is the Gate that leads to destruction Matth. 7.14 15 and many there be that go in thereat and on the contrary Narrow is the way that leadeth to life and few there be that find it That of the Psalmist That his mercy is great above the Heavens signifies no more than the Infiniteness of his mercy in that it knows no bounds but was from everlasting predestination and shall be to everlasting glorification upon the objects of mercy even them that fear him but doth not intimate that he will actually pardon more sinners than he will punish p. 122. R. Death in Job is called the King of Terrors therefore Death is the greatest punishment and the most terrible But if there were an everlasting punishment after Death Job 18.14 that would be the King of Terrors for Death is not terrible in comparison of that B. This reasoning is not so strong as at first view it may seem to be and is very far from proving that Death is the worst punishment that ungodly sinners are subject to For first What necessity is there of expounding Job 18.14 of death The Text doth not mention Death and I know nothing in the Context that will force us to interpret it thereof The Learned * Interpretum pene dixerim Coryphaeus Vti Doctiss Polus in praef ad vol. 2. Synops Mercerus a Man well skilled in the Hebrew renders it by gravissimos terrores which may be in this life as well as in another The King of Terrors by a common Hebraisme signifies powerful commanding conquering Terrors which may be fitly understood of the Soul in its separated state when the Terror of the Lord and the immediate impressions of his wrath have taken hold upon the impenitent Soul Well but my Author will not so easily yield to have it understood of any thing but Death because that is most for his design wherefore let us see if taken in that sense it will be any help to his cause and I shall not fear to undertake the Negative I will prove I say that it will not For the King of Terrors is but most terrible if we make the most of it that we can Now Death may be said to be most terrible though there be a greater terror after Death For most terrible is not necessarily the very uttermost terror that can be but in general very terrible As when the Thunder shook down the Houses in Amsterdam upon the Heads of them that dwelt therein it may lawfully be said that it was a most terrible Day to them yet the Day of Judgment will be more terrible than that 2 Pet. 3.10 wherein the Heavens being on fire shall be dissolved and the Earth with the works therein shall be burnt up So when Men are said to be most excellent Scholars or Souldiers we mean only that they have very good skill in Armes and Arts but not that they do exceed all others therein And in a word the Scripture-phrase is Consonant to this for in Ezekiel 33. Ezek. 33.28 the Lord threatned to lay the Land most desolate yea he assured them of it I will lay it most desolate and yet it suffered not a greater desolation than other
aforesaid in his Comment on the Epistle to the Colossians Now when he saith If all Men are in God all Men are in Christ I grant it in the sense aforesaid All men are by Christ for he upholdeth all things by the Word of his Power And to the last passage Heb. 1.3 'T is commonly confessed that All who are in Christ shall be saved To this I say my Return is thus That if he mean All who are Members of Christ's Mystical Body or that have an Interest in Christ's Merits and Righteousness as it is meant in Rom. 8. v. 1. Then I grant that All who are in Christ shall be saved which that very Text demonstrateth But I utterly deny that All men are in Christ in this sense of the word But if he mean All that are by Christ made and maintained in the World by him then I deny that All such shall be saved for in this sense the Devils may be said to be in Christ Colos 1.16 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And thus Mr. R.'s rich Invention is proved to be worth nothing but scorn and contempt R. In Rom. 5. The second Adam in saving p. 178. is put in opposition to the first Adam in sinning And if All Nations shall be blessed as was foretold in Gen. 22. Every particular must also for the general word All includes every particular And it is a great lessening of the riches and fulness of God's grace and goodness to say that God hath made this World for All and the best World but for a few B. That which he would have us gather from Rom. 5. is manifestly thus That as all Mankind are liable to destruction by means of the first Adam so all shall be freed from it by the merit of the second Adam Jesus Christ But I cannot think how he will find any Text in it Rom. 5.18 cleared that may be made very serviceable for such a design unless it be the 18. Verse of that Chapter As by the offence of one judgment came upon all Men to condemnation so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all Men to justification of life But this will easily be answered For the comparison there made between Adam and Christ is not in respect of the Number of Persons that are saved or destroyed but in respect of the causes of Salvation and Damnation That as the cause of Damnation even sin is originally only from Adam so the cause of Salvation even Righteousness and Justification is wholly from Christ As all sinners became sinners through the first Adam and so are liable to damnation through him so all justified Persons are justified through Christ the second Adam and have a right to Heaven only through his Righteousness imputed to them So that when Paul saith by the Righteousness of one the free gift came upon all Men to justification of life it is not so to be taken as if Justification were common to All men but that it is through the Righteousness of Christ that All who are justified are justified viz. that none are justified otherwise As the Psalmist saith the Lord upholdeth all that fall Psal 145.14 not that he upholdeth every one that falls for some fall irrecoverably as Judas Pharaoh the Sinners against the Holy Ghost c. but that All who being fallen are upheld and preserved from falling away utterly are so upheld only by him Hanc Deo tribuit gloriam quod sine ejus ope nemo sustentetur Musculus in Psal 145. as a worthy Expositor on the place This glory saith he the Psalmist ascribes to God viz. That without his help none are upheld Rom. 8.30 Whom he justified them he also glorified but God doth not glorifie them that live and dye unconverted for Except ye be converted Matth. 18.3 ye shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven Matth. 18.3 Therefore neither doth he justifie any such Persons Nor is he more fortunate in alledging Gen. 22.18 for though All in it self be inclusive of every particular Genes 22.18 opened yet in that place all Nations cannot signifie all particular Persons of every Nation for if all Nations should be blessed in this largest sense none should be cursed as our Lord will say unto many at the last Day Matth. 25.41 Depart from me ye cursed Wherefore by all Nations understand some of all Nations or if you will many of all Nations even all true believers in every Nation And that the word all Nations doth not always mean all men in general Esay 2.2 is plain by Esay 2.2 where it is said that All Nations should flow to the Mountain of the Lord's house which cannot be said of all in general and is expressed by many in the 4. of Micah 1. Vers And as for the fulness and riches of God's goodness it is not to be judged of by the number of them that are saved by it The goodness of God how to be judged of but rather by the way and manner wherein and whereby they are saved and by that great Salvation which his People shall partake of Briefly thus The riches of God's grace and goodness is seen in the excellency of its effect For Life is a more excellent thing than Death and Righteousness than Sin and secondly in the powerfulness of the work for it argueth a greater power to save than to destroy to justifie than to condemn as 't is a greater matter to reform a few than to corrupt and harden a great many against the holy Ordinances and ways of God An Idle Hypocrite is too well able to do the one but a painful Minister is scarce able to do the other And by the way we do not say as Mr. R. that God hath made the best World or Heaven but for a very few For many shall come from the East and the West and sit down with Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven yet they are few in comparison of them that miss of Heaven Matth. 7.14 as was seen before from the words of him whom he dares not I hope contradict or cavil at And if a Man can think it is an obscuring of God's goodness to say that he hath not made Heaven for so many as he hath made the Earth for he may think it much more a denying of his goodness to say that he hath made comfortable provisions for the Birds and Beasts and at the same time reserved many thousands of mighty Angels for extream and everlasting punishment Yet so it is whether my Author allow of it or not he that spares the one did not spare the other He that prepares Food for these in this world hath prepared everlasting fire for those in another world Yet if a man do hence object and cavil against God's goodness 't is a sign he hath little goodness himself See 2 Pet. 2. Judes Epist Matth. 25.41 and as little wit but he goes on R. Shall we
that be unto them It was grievous to them to be banished from their friends in the world to be shut up close in a Prison or Pest-house from the comfort and Society of their old acquaintance c. But how grievous will it be to be banished from Christ and be separated everlastingly from all the comforts of his Presence and Favour This this will be a bitter thing indeed and more dreadful than a Thousand Deaths for Consider O Christian Rev. 25.23 't is He that is the Glory of Heaven the Eternal Light of that City of God 't is He that is the Angels Joy and at whose Birth they sang an Hymn of Praise a little of His Divine Consolations have revived the drooping Spirits of his Servants have Crowned their Souls with blessed Peace and turned the Shadow of Death into the Morning as the Prophet elegantly expresseth himself How bravely did the Holy Martyrs Triumph over the saddest and sharpest of humane miseries filling their mouths with Glorious Praises when they were ready to be filled with Smoke and Flames and all through the sense of their interest in Christ and the lively hopes of happiness with him after this life ended And in many others of later times The joy of their Lord hath made them more than Conquerers over all the fears and sorrows of Death Millions of Praises to the Lord our God let Heaven and Earth praise Him for he hath remembred us in our low estate and hath redeemed us to himself said that worthy man * Mr. Janway a little before he gave up the Ghost But now those Consolations of Christ which his Saints partake of in Heaven are doubtless far beyond all that they were sensible of here on Earth Phil. 1.21 for to be with him there is far better as St Paul assures us and yet these Consolations shall be no comfort to them that dye in their sins for they shall have nothing to do with them he will say unto them Matth. 25.4 Depart from me ye cursed And O how cursed will their case then be and how miserable will they then account themselves for they will then lose all other comforts with him which is the next thing to be spoken to 2 In their loss of all other comforts Secondly the wicked in the world to come shall lose all other comforts too whatsoever here they took comfort in shall then be taken from them Now they make a good shift without spiritual Consolations and though they seldom think of Christ and his Kingdom with any seriousness yet the thoughts of present enjoyments delight their Souls and Sensual Contentments do supply the want of Spiritual ones unto them But if they come to Hell as they needs must if they go on still in their sins they will miss of all their Sensual enjoyments But to come to some particulars 1. Wealth and Honour 1. They will lose their worldly wealth and honour they that minded their mony more than Heaven shall lose both Heaven and money too Their Riches will not profit saith the Scripture in the day of wrath the heat of that day will melt their best coin for all things of this inferior world shall be dissolved and burnt up 2 Pet. 3.10 They shall see all their pleasant things in flames before themselves are cast into the fiery-lake How speedily will their stately Buildings curious Gardens costly Clothes and richest Jewels then be spoiled and destroyed for ever Their meat and drink will also be denyed unto them because they despised the Bread of Life and wilfully starved their precious Souls and desired not in truth of heart the sincere milk of the Word that they might grow thereby 1 Pet. 2. Their Minds and Memories and Consciences will have many foul sins to feed on but their mouths will have no fine bits to feed on for whatsoever Sensual good may be expected in the Turks Airy Paradise 't is sure there is no such thing to be hoped for in the Devils fiery prison Their honours also will be then at an end since they must arise to shame and everlasting contempt Dan 12.2 2. Loss of rest and ease 2. The Damned will lose all bodily rest and ease and sleep The place of Torment they must be cast into will admit of no refreshment at all They that wearied others with their wickedness before will then be wearied with it themselves and though they could sleep very soundly in God's house of Prayer yet they shall not sleep so much as one wink in his house of punishment That saddest word Go ye cursed will keep them awake for evermore They shall lose also all their carnal Mirth and Worldly Joy 3. Mirth Here they had it many of them in abundance their hearts were light when their Consciences were loaded with guilt And though they said unto God Depart from us we desire not the knowledge of thy ways yet the Pipers and Singers were more welcome to them Job 21. they take pleasure in the Timbrel and Harp and rejoyce at the sound thereof yea rather than want Mirth they will laugh at Religion and make Doctrine and Use the matter of their Sport But then these things will be at an end the Candle of the wicked will be put out They that would not take up Religion nor chuse God's Fear lest it should make them dull and melancholy shall then be merry no more for the Matter of their Mirth we have seen will then be taken from them and God will distribute Sorrows in his Anger yea their own eyes shall see their destruction Job 21.17.20 and they shall drink of the Wrath of the Almighty as it is set forth in that Chapter Quest But how shall they live may some say in such a condition For will not so much misery break their hearts and will not life fail when it hath no means to support it no food nor sleep c. Answer I Answer No that may not be imagined They must needs live still because God will not suffer them to dye they that lived on earth as though they had thought their Souls were mortal shall in Hell find their bodies to be immortal they shall be raised incorruptible 1 Cor. 15. and what if they want the natural means of Life as food and sleep yet the principal cause of Life will still remain even the will and pleasure of the Almighty But I shall not say any thing more of this point here having spoke unto it already and maintained it against the wisest of Mr. R's oppositions Object But say some the Saints themselves must part with their worldly comforts at last as well as the ungodly the universal flames will burn up their dwellings c. as surely as the dwellings of the wicked Sol. True indeed But though they must part with these things yet they shall be no losers thereby because they shall have better instead of them Instead of Natural delights they
by the pestilent Tongues of these Hyperdiabolical Gentlemen these Damnable Damning Sinking Gallants O Sirs if you are guilty of this sin consider of it for the Lord's sake and do no more so wickedly O that I might disswade you from it by any means to that end I will propose unto you these Two questions The Damners questioned 1. What if you should be pleased to lay aside your Atheism and adventure to believe that there is a God to whom vengeance belongeth would you not then account it reasonable to honour him by a better Prayer than God damn us c. and think it more needful to beg his mercy than to imprecate his Vengeance And if you think that there is no God and that Religion is only a silly thing that came into the World by chance through the force of foolish causeless fears as some of your companions are willing to perswade themselves It may be worth your while to Read and Consider what that excellent Gentleman * Sir Charles Woolsley p. 77. hath replied unto it in his most Rational discourse of the unreasonableness of Atheism and to answer it if you can 2. What if you did but see that wicked Spirit that tempts you thus fearfully to challenge your Maker and dare him to destroy you would you not then take heed how you yield to his temptations and follow his counsel And is it not much worse to feel damnation than to see the Devil Why then should you rashly imprecate so great a mischief upon your selves and run the hazard of bearing that wrath we are assured he doth tremble at * James 2.19 3. What if you had been among those Swaggerers in Bohemia mentioned by Dr. B. in his Theatre of God's Judgments * p. 552. out of an approved Author * Jo. Fincelius who having delighted themselves in the night with profane Speeches and wicked wishes much like that aforesaid though not quite so bad were found dead in the morning with their necks broken and crushed as if a Cart-wheel had gone over them with bloud also flowing out of their mouths and nostrils to the astonishment of all that saw them Surely had you seen this sad Spectacle you would hardly make so bold with the God of Judgment as to dare him to destroy you Well if you will not be warned by such examples your selves he can make you examples to others and if such a death be dreadful Damnation is worse incomparably worse how light soever you may make of it as you must needs grant if you believe there is any such thing if you do not let it please you to vindicate your good friend Mr. R. and make good his Arguments against my Answers 4. What makes you to be so fearful when any extraordinary signs of God's power appear Psal 77.17 18. If his Thunder do but shake the Earth under you if his Lightnings singe your well-set Hair if a terrible Tempest overtake you in the field and tear the Oaks in pieces under which you stand for shelter your courage will fail and your stoutest hearts tremble as a Leaf how then can you bear up under his fiercest wrath and endure that damnation which you so commonly and fearlesly imprecate on your selves 5. If Damnation be so slight a matter as by your speeches you seem to make of it why are you commonly so much afraid of dying They who walked in your ways and talked in your Language most stoutly and presumptuously yet spake very faintly when a deadly disease took hold of them some of your Quality when their Physician told them they were not like to recover fell into a horrrid rage and could scarce forbear cursing him to his face And yet Damnation is ten thousand times dreadfuller than death if all our Religion hath not deceived us To lye in the place of darkness is as nothing to the living in the place of Torment Read but the foregoing Chapter and you may see so much Terror in it as might hinder you from wishing it upon your selves though it were never so much in fashion amongst the Hectors of our Times They would not delight themselves in Damn my Bloud if they knew the fierceness of Hell-fire And if they can see themselves so far in danger of it as to desire heartily to escape it they may fitly read some directions for that purpose in the latter pages of this Discourse If any expect an Apologie for what I have said to these men he is likely to be disappointed of his expectation and if they themselves shall call me Stoick or Clown or Puritan for my pains I shall be content to take it at their hands and will as I verily hope say no worse to them than I would to those that are infected with the Plague viz. The Lord be merciful unto you And now I leave them being willing to speak a few words to their Betters namely The Serious and Religious Gentry CHAP. IV. SECT III. A Continuation or a word of Exhortation to the Religious Gentry ANd now good Reader since I am to treat of so Noble a Subject I do really wish for thy sake that I could speak what is sutable to it and that which might be as worthy of thy Reading as the Persons to whom I speak are of thy Love and Respect but alas my manifold imperfections will be a more than sufficient hindrance so that I cannot promise thee any thing extraordinary herein yet if plain Truth may be pleasing thou mayst fitly read what follows They are as Gold not only choice but rare And though some of them as I have heard are lately gone to their beloved Lord Sir T. R. c. yet blessed be God there be some of them still remaining in our sinful Land long may they live and let those hearts be faint that wish them evil Their Character I shall first tell you who I mean by Religious Gentry and then speak a word of Exhortation with all humility unto them For the former The Religious Gentleman is one that minds his God above his Money and placeth his Happiness in a higher world than this he lives in one that scorns nothing so much as sin and desires nothing so much as a Conformity to Jesus Christ and an absolute fruition of his Love and Glory 'T is his highest Ambition to be a Favourite in the Court of Heaven and the best of his Buildings are disesteemed by him in comparison of the many Mansions that are there his Tongue keeps time and tune with his Mind and Conscience he doth not make or love a Lye he looks upon such Drolling as a piece of damnable fooling he counts it no pride to make his boast of God nor no shame to speak often of his Attributes and Excellencies He will glorifie his God in his body also and therefore will not adventure to dishonour him with the Apparel he puts upon it God having given him his right shape he sees