his troubles, softens his pains, and charms him under his afflictions, till he becomes easy and happy in them. But, good · God! what society is that in hell! Imagine yourselves condemned to pass all your days with those odious men, who seem formed only to trouble the world. Imagine yourselves shut up in a close prison with a band of reprobates. Imagine yourselves lying on a death-bed, and having no other comforters than traitors and assassins. This is an image of hell! Good God! what a society! tyrants, assassins, blasphemers, Satan with his angels, the prince of the air with all his infamous legions!

From all these ideas results a fifth, an increase of sin. Self-love is the governing passion of mankind. It is that, which puts all the rest in motion, and all the rest either spring from it, or are supported by it. It is not in the power of man to love a being, who hath no relation to his happiness; and it is not possible for him to avoid hating one, who employs his power to make him miserable. As God will aggravate the sufferings of the damned by displaying his attributes, their hatred of him will be unbounded, their torment will excite their hatred, their hatred will aggravate their torment. Is not this the height of misery? To hate by necessity of nature the Perfect Being, the Supreme Being, the Sovereign Beauty, in a word, to hate God; doth not this idea present to your minds a state the most melancholy, the most miserable? One chief excellence of the glory of happy spirits is a consummate love to their Creator. One of the most horrible punishments of hell is the exclusion of divine love. O miserable state of the damned! In it they utter as many blasphemies against God as the happy souls in heaven shout hallelujahs to his praise.

These are the punishments of condemned souls. It remains only that we consider the length and duration of them. But by what means, my brethren, shall we describe these profound articles of contemplation? Can we number the innumerable, and measure that, which is beyond all mensuration? Can we make you comprehend the incomprehensible? And shall we amuse you with our imaginations?

For my part, when I endeavour to represent eternity to myself, I avail myself of whatever I can conceive most long and durable. I heap imagination on imagination, conjecture on conjecture. First, I consider those long lives, which all men wish, and some attain; I observe those old men, who live four or five generations, and who alone make the hisVOL. III.

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tory of an age. I do more, I turn to ancient chronicles. I go back to the patriarchal age, and consider a life extending through a thousand years; and I say to myself, All this is not eternity; all this is only a point in comparison of eternity.

Having represented to myself real objects, I form ideas of imaginary ones. I go from our age to the time of publishing the gospel, from thence to the publication of the law, from the law to the flood, from the flood to the creation. I join this epoch to the present time, and I imagine Adam yet living. Had Adam lived till now, and had he lived in misery, had he passed all his time in a fire, or on a rack, what idea must we form of his condition? At what price would we agree to expose ourselves to misery so great? What imperial glory would appear glorious, were it followed by so much woe? Yet this is not eternity; all this is nothing in comparison of eternity.

I go further still. I proceed from imagination to imagination, from one supposition to another. I take the greatest number of years, that can be imagined. I add ages to ages, millions of ages to millions of ages. I form of all these one fixed number, and I stay my imagination. After this, I suppose God to create a world like this, which we inhabit. I suppose him creating it by forming one atom after another, and employing in the production of each atom the time fixed in my calculation just now mentioned. What numberless ages would the creation of such a world in such a manner require! Then I suppose the Creator to arrange these atoms, and to pursue the same plan of arranging them as of creating them. What numberless ages would such an arrangement require! Finally, I suppose him to dissolve. and annihilate the whole, and observing the same method in this dissolution as he observed in the creation and disposition of the whole. What an immense duration would be consumed! Yet this is not eternity; all this is only a point in comparison of eternity.

Associate now all these suppositions, my brethren, and of all these periods make one fixed period; multiply it again, and suppose yourselves to pass in multiplying it a time equal to that, which the period contains; it is literally and strictly true, all this is not eternity; all this is only a point in comparison of eternity.

My God! one night passed in a burning fever, or in struggling in the waves of the sea between life and death,

appears

appears of an immense length! It seems to the sufferer as if the sun had forgot its course, and as if all the laws of nature itself were subverted. What then will be the state of those miserable victims to divine displeasure, who, after they shall have passed through the ages, which we have been describing, will be obliged to make this overwhelming reflec tion; All this is only an atom of our misery! What will their despair be, when they shall be forced to say to themselves; Again we must revolve through these enormous periods; again we must suffer a privation of celestial happiness; devouring flames again; cruel remorse again; crimes and blasphemies over and over again! For ever! For ever! Ah my brethren! my brethren! how severe is this word even in this life! How great is a misfortune, when it is incapable of relief! How insupportable, when we are obliged to add for ever to it! These irons for ever! these chains for ever! this prison for ever! this universal contempt for ever! this domestic trouble for ever! Poor mortals! how short-sighted are you to call sorrows eternal, which end with your lives! What! this life! this life, that passeth with the rapidity of a weaver's shuttle, Job vii. 6. this life, which vanisheth like a sleep! Psal. xc. 5. is this what you call for ever! Ah! absorbing periods of eternity, accumulated myriads of ages; these, if I may be allowed to speak so, these will be the FOR EVER of the damned!

I sink under the weight of this subject; and I declare, when I see my friends, my relations, the people of my charge, this whole congregation; when I think, that I, that you, that we are all threatened with these torments; when I see in the lukewarmness of iny devotions, in the langour of my love, in the levity of my resolutions and designs, the least evidence, though it be only probable, or presumptive, of my future misery, yet I find in the thought a mortal poison, which diffuseth itself into every period of my life, rendering society tiresome, nourishment insipid, pleasure disgustful, and life itself a cruel bitter. I cease to wonder, that a fear of hell hath made some melancholy, and others mad; that it hath inclined some to expose themselves to a living martyrdom by fleeing from all commerce with the rest of mankind, and others to suffer the most violent and terrible torments. But the more terror this idea inspires, the more inexcusable we are, if it produce no good fruits in us. The idea of eternity ought to subvert all our sinful projects. In order to avoid eternal misery, all should be suffered, all surmounted,

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mounted, all undertaken, sinful self should be crucified, and the whole man devoted in holy sacrifice to God. Let each particle of our bodies become a victim to penitence, let each moment of life expose us to a new martyrdom; still we should be happy, could we avoid the flaming sword, that hangs over our heads, and escape the gulfs of misery, which yawn beneath our feet.

My brethren, have you heard what I have been speaking? have you well reflected on what I said? Perhaps I may have weakened these great truths. Perhaps I may have left many proper things unsaid. Yet, methinks, if you have thoroughly comprehended what little I have said, you will be

come new men.

Remember we have not exceeded the truth; all we have said is taken from scripture, from those scriptures; which you profess to believe, so, that if you deny these truths, you must deny your own faith, christianity, religion..

Remember, we have taken our evidences from that part of scripture, which you consider as the most kind and comfortable, I mean the gospel. Renounce, I beseech, you, at once this miserable prejudice, that under the gospel we ought not to speak of hell. On the contrary, it is the gospel, that reveals it in its clearest light; it is the gospel, which proves it; it is the gospel, that describes it; the gospel says, Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, Matt. xxv. 41. is the gospel, that says, The servant, which knew his Lord's will, and did it not, shall be beaten with many stripes, Luke xii. 47. It is the gospel that says, If we sin wilfully, after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins: but a certain fearful looking-for of judgment, and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries, Heb. x, 26, 27.

Remember, the doctrine of degrees of punishment, which seems to diminish the horrors of hell in regard to Pagans, and Christians educated in superstition and ignorance, has every thing in it to augment the horror of future pain in regard to such Christians as most of us as are.

Recollect what sort of persons God reserves for this state. Not only assassins, murderers, highway-robbers: but, also apostates, who know the truth, but who sacrifice through worldly interests the profession of truth to idolatry; misers, usurers, unjust persons, gluttons; unclean, implacable, life

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less, lukewarm, professors of christianity; all these are included in the guilt and punishment of sin.

Remember, we must be wilfully blind, if we deny, that in this town, in this church, in this flock, in this assembly, among you my hearers, who listen to me, and look at me, there are such persons as I just now mentioned, each of whom must come to this reflection; I myself, I perhaps, am in a state of damnation, perhaps my name is one in the fatal list of those, at whom these threatenings point.

Go further yet. Remember, this life is the only time given you to prevent these terrible punishments. After this life, no more exhortations, no more sermons, no more admission of sighs and tears, no more place for repentance.

After this, think on the brevity of life. Think, there may be perhaps only one year granted, perhaps only one month, perhaps only one day, perhaps only one hour, perhaps only one moment to avoid this misery; so that perhaps (O Lord avert the dreadful supposition!) perhaps some one of us may this very day experience all these torments and pains.

Finally, consider the spirit, that this moment animates us, the drift of this discourse, and, to say more, consider what God is now doing in your favour. In a plenitude of compassion, and with bowels of the tenderest love, he intreats and exhorts you to escape these terrible miseries; he conjures you not to destroy yourselves; he saith to you, O that my people would hearken unto me! Be instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul depart from thee! Why, why will ye die? O house of Israel! Psal. lxxxi. 8. Jer. vi. 8. O! were we wise, these expostulations would reign over our hearts! O! if there remained the least spark of reason in us, the frightful image of hell would henceforth make the deepest impressions on our souls!

Frightful ideas of judgment and bell! may you be always in my mind, when the world would decoy me to stain my ministry by its vain and glaring snares! Frightful ideas of judgment and hell! may you strike all these hearers so as to give success to this sermon, and weight to our ministry! Frightful ideas of judgment and hell! may you ever follow us, so that by knowing the terror of avenging justice, and the unspeakable value of grace set before us, we may be rendered capable of participating eternal glory; which I wish you, my brethren, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

SERMON