THE FUTURE PUNISHMENT OF THE WICKED
UNAVOIDABLE AND INTOLERABLE
EZEKIEL
22:14
Ezekiel
xxii. 14. Can thine heart endure, or can thine hands be strong in the days that
I shall deal with thee? I the Lord save spoken it, and will do it.
IN the former part of this chapter, we have a dreadful catalogue of the
sins of Jerusalem; as you may see from the first to the thirteenth verse. In
the thirteenth, which is the verse preceeding the text, God manifests his great
displeasure and fearful wrath against them for those their iniquities.
"Behold, I have smitten mine hand at thy dishonest gain which thou hast
made, and at thy blood which hath been in the midst of thee." The expression
of God's smiting his hand, signifies the greatness of his anger, and his
preparing himself, as it were to execute wrath answerable to their heinous
crimes. It is an allusion to what we sometimes see in men when they are
surprised, by seeing or hearing of some horrid offence, or most intolerable
injury, which very much stirs their spirits, and animates them with high
resentment; on such an occasion they will rise up in wrath and smite their
hands together, as an expression of the heat of their indignation, and full
resolution to be avenged on those who have committed the injury; as in chap.
xxi. 7. " I will also smite mine hands together, and I will cause my fury
to rest: I the Lord have said it,"
Then, in the text, the punishment of that
people is represented.
1. The nature of their punishment is more
generally represented in that therein God will undertake to deal with them: God
here threatens to deal with the sinners in Jerusalem. The prophets could do
nothing with them. God had sent them one after another; but those sinners were
too strong for them, and beat one, and killed another. Therefore now God
himself undertakes to deal with them.
2. Their punishment is more particularly
represented in three things, viz. The intolerableness, the remedilessness, and
the unavoidableness of it.
(1.) The intolerableness of it: Can thine
heart endure?
(2.) The remedilessness, or the impossibility of their doing any thing for
their own relief: Can thine hands be strong?
(3.) The unavoidableness of it: I the Lord have spoken it, and will do it.
DOCTRINE
Since God hath undertaken to deal with
impenitent sinners, they shall neither shun the threatened misery, nor deliver
themselves out of it, nor can they bear it.
In handling this doctrine, I shall,
1. Show what is implied in God's undertaking
to deal with inpenitent sinners.
2. That therefore they cannot avoid punishment.
3. That they cannot in any measure deliver themselves from it, or do any thing
for their own relief under it.
4. That they cannot bear it.
5. I shall answer an inquiry; and then proceed to the use.
I. I shall show what is implied in God's
undertaking to deal with impenitent sinners...Others are not able to deal with
them. They baffle all the means used with them by those that are appointed to
teach and to rule over them. They will not yield to parents, or to the
counsels, warning, or reproofs of ministers. They prove obstinate and
stiff-hearted. Therefore God undertakes to deal with them This implies the
following things:
1. That God will reckon with them, and take
of them satisfaction to his justice. In this world God puts forth his authority
to command them; and to require subjection to him. In his commands he is very
positive, strictly requiring of them the performance of such and such duties,
and as positively forbidding such and such things which were contrary to their
duty. But they have no regard to these commands. God continues commanding, and
they continue rebelling. They make nothing of God's authority. God threatens,
but they despise his threatening They make nothing of dishonoring God; they
care not how much their behavior is to the dishonor of God. He offers them
mercy, if they will repent and return; but they despise his mercy as well as
his wrath. God calleth, but they refuse. Thus they are continually plunging
themselves deeper and deeper in debt, and at the same time imagine they shall
escape the payment of the debt, and design entirely to rob God of his due.
But God hath undertaken to right himself. He
will reckon with them; he hath undertaken to see that the debts due to him are
paid. All their sins are written in his book; not one of them is forgotten, and
every one must be paid. If God be wise enough, and strong enough, he will have
full satisfaction: he will exact the very uttermost farthing. He undertakes it
as his part, as what belongs to him, to see himself righted, wherein he hath
been wronged Deut. xxii. 35. "To me belongeth vengeance." Ibid. vii.
10. "He will not be slack to him that hateth him; he will repay him to his
face."
2. He hath undertaken to vindicate the honor
of his Majesty. His Majesty they despise. They hear that he is a great God; but
they despise his greatness; they look upon him worthy of contempt, and treat
him accordingly. They hear of him by the name of a great King; but his
authority they regard not, and sometimes trample upon it for years together.
But God hath not left the honor of his Majesty wholly to their care. Though
they now trample it in the dust, yet that is no sign that it will finally be
lost. If God had left it wholly in their hands, it would indeed be lost. But
God doth not leave his honor and his glory with his enemies; it is too precious
in his eyes to be so neglected. He hath reserved the care of it to himself: He
will see to it that his own injured Majesty is vindicated. If the honor of God,
upon which sinners trample, finally lie in the dust, then it will be because he
is not strong enough to vindicate himself. He hath sworn that great oath in
Numbers xiv. 2 1. "As truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with
the glory of the Lord."
Sinners despise his Son, and trample him
under their feet. But he will see, if he cannot make the glory of his Son
appear, with respect to them; that all the earth may know how evil a thing it
is to despise the Son of God. God intends that all men and angels, all heaven
and all earth, shall see whether he be sufficient to magnify himself upon
sinners who now despise him. He intends that the issue of things with respect
to them shall be open, that all men may see it.
3. He hath undertaken to subdue impenitent
sinners. Their hearts while in this world are very unsubdued. They lift up
their heads and conduct themselves very proudly and contemptuously, and often
sin with an high hand. They set their mouths against the heavens, and their
tongues walk through the earth. They practically say as Pharaoh did, "Who
is the Lord? I know not the Lord, neither will I obey his voice." Job xxi.
4 1. "They say to God, Depart from us, for we desire not the knowledge of
thy ways."
Some, who cover their sin with specious
show, who put on a face of religion, and a demure countenance and behavior, yet
have this spirit secretly reigning in their breasts. Notwithstanding all their
fair show, and good external carriage, they despise God in their hearts, and
have the weapons of war about them, though they are secret enemies, and carry
their swords under their skirts. They have most proud, stubborn, and rebellious
hearts, which are ready to rise in opposition, to contend with him, and to find
fault with his dispensations. Their hearts are full of pride, enmity,
stubbornness, and blasphemy, which work in them many ways, while they sit under
the preaching of the word, and while the spirit of God is striving with them;
and they always continue to oppose and resist God as long as they live in the
world; they never lay down the weapons of their rebellion."
But God hath undertaken to deal with them
and to subdue them; and those proud and stubborn hearts, which will not yield
to the power of God's word, shall be broken by the power of his hand. If they
will not be willing subjects to the golden sceptre, and will not yield to the
attractives of his love, they shall be subject to the force of the iron rod,
whether they will or no.
Them that proudly set up their own righteousness,
and their own wills against God, God hath undertaken to bring down; and without
doubt, it will be done. He hath undertaken to make those who are now regardless
of God, regard him. They shall know that he is Jehovah. Now they will not own that
he is the Lord; but they shall know it, Isa. xxvi. 11. "Lord, when thine
hand is lifted up, they will not see: But they shall see."
Now wicked men not only hate God, but they
slight him; they are not afraid of him. But, he will subdue their contempt.
When he shall come to take them in hand, they will hate him still; but they
will not slight him; they will not make light of his power as they now do; they
will see and feel too much of the infinity of his power to slight it They are
now wont to slight his wrath; but then they will slight it no more, they will
be infinitely far from it, they will find by sufficient experience that his
wrath is not to be slighted: They will learn this to their cost, and they never
will forget it.
4. God hath undertaken to rectify their
judgments. Now they will not be convinced of those things which God tells them
in his word. Ministers take much pains to convince them, but all is in vain.
Therefore God will undertake to convince them, and he will do it effectually.
Now they will not be convinced of the truth of divine things. They have indeed
convincing arguments set before them; they hear and see enough to convince
them; yet so prone are they to unbelief and Atheism, that divine things never
seem to them to be real. But God will hereafter make them seem real.
Now they are always doubting of the truth of
the Scriptures, questioning whether they be the word of God, and whether the
threatenings of Scripture be true. but God hath undertaken to convince them
that those threatenings are true, and he will make them to know that they are
true, so that they will never doubt any more for ever. They will be convinced
by dear experience....Now they are always questioning whether there be any such
place as hell. They hear much about it, but it always seems to them like a
dream. But God will make it seem otherwise than a dream....Now they are often
told of the vanity of the world; but we may as well preach to the beasts, to
persuade them of the vanity of earthly things. But God will undertake to
convince them of this; he will hereafter give them a thorough conviction of it,
so that they shall have a strong sense of the vanity of all these things.
Now ministers often tell sinners of the
great importance of an interest in Christ, and that that is the one thing
needful. They are also told the folly of delaying the care of their souls, and
how much it concerns them to improve their opportunity. But the instructions of
ministers do not convince them, therefore God will undertake to convince them.
Impenitent sinners, while in this world, hear how dreadful hell is. But they
will not believe that it is so dreadful as ministers represent. They cannot
think that they shall to all eternity suffer such exquisite and horrible
torments. But they shall be taught and convinced to purpose, that the
representations ministers give of those torments, agreeable to the word of God,
are no bugbears; and that the wrath of God is indeed as dreadful as they
declare. Since God hath undertaken to deal with sinners, and to rectify their
judgments in these matters, and he will do it thoroughly; for his work is
perfect; when he undertakes to do things, he doth not do them by halves;
therefore before he shall have done with sinners, be will convince them
effectually, so that they shall never be in danger of relapsing into their
former errors any more. He will convince them of their folly and stupidity in
entertaining such notions as they now entertain.
Thus God hath undertaken to deal with
obstinate unbelievers. They carry things on in great confusion; but we need not
be dismayed at it: Let us wait, and we shall see that God will rectify things.
Sinners will not always continue to rebel and despise with impunity. The honor
of God will in due time be vindicated; and they shall be subdued and convicted,
and shall give an account. There is no sin, not so much as an idle word that
they shall speak, but they must give an account of it; Matth. xii 36. And their
sins must be fully balanced, and recompensed, and satisfaction obtained.
Because judgment against their evil works is not speedily executed, their
hearts are fully set in them to do evil. Yet God is a righteous judge; he will
see that judgment is executed in due time.
I come now,
II. To show, that therefore impenitent
sinners shall not avoid their due punishment....God hath undertaken to inflict
it; he hath engaged to do it; he takes it as his work, as what properly belongs
to him, and we may expect it of him. If he hath sworn by his life, that he will
do it; and if he hath power sufficient; if he is the living God, doubtless we
shall see it done. And that God hath declared that he will punish impenitent
sinners, is manifest from, many scriptures; as Deut. xxxii.41. "I will
render vengeance to mine enemies, and will reward them that hate me."
Deut. vii. 10. "He will not be slack to him that hateth him: He will repay
him to his face." Exod. xxxiv. 7. "That will by no means clear the
guilty." Nahum i. 3. "The Lord is slow to anger, and great in power,
and will not at all acquit the wicked."
God saith in the text, "I the Lord hath spoken it, and will do it;"
which leaves no room to doubt of the actual fulfilment of the threatening in
its utmost extent....Some wicked men have flattered themselves, that although
God hath threatened very dreadful things to wicked men for their sins, yet in
his heart he never intends to fulfil his threatenings, but only to terrify
them, and make them afraid, while they live. But would the infinitely holy God,
who is not a man that he should lie, and who speaketh no vain words, utter
himself in this manner: I the Lord have spoken it, and will do it; I have not
only threatened, but I will also fufill my threatenings; when at the same time
these words did not agree with his heart, but he secretly knew that though he
had spoken, yet he intended not to do it? Who is he that dares to entertain
such horrid blasphemy in his heart?
No; let no impenitent sinner flatter himself
so vainly and foolishly. If it were indeed only a man, a being of like
impotency and mutability with themselves, who had undertaken to deal with them;
they might perhaps with some reason flatter themselves; that they should find
some means to avoid the threatened punishment. But since an omniscient,
omnipotent, immutable God hath undertaken, vain are all such hopes.
There is no hope that possibly they may
steal away to heaven, though they die unconverted. There is no hope that they
can deceive God by any false show of repentance and faith, and so be taken to
heaven through mistake; for the eyes of God are as a flame of fire; they
perfectly see through every man; the inmost closet of the heart is all open to
him
There is no hope of escaping the threatened
punishment by sinking into nothing at death, like brute creatures Indeed, many
wicked men upon their deathbeds wish for this. If it were so, death would be
nothing to them in comparison with what it now is. But all such wishes are
vain.
There is no hope of their escaping without
notice, when they leave the body. There is no hope that God, by reason of the
multiplicity of affairs which ho hath to mind, will happen to overlook them,
and not take notice of them, when they come to die; and so that their souls
will slip away privately, and hide themselves in some secret corner, and so
escape divine vengeance.
There is no hope that they shall be missed
in a crowd at the day of judgment, and that they can have opportunity to hide
themselves in some cave or den of the mountains, or in any secret hole of the
earth; and that while so doing, they will not be minded, by reason of the many
things which will be the objects of attention on that day....Neither is there
any hope that they will be able to crowd themselves in among the multitude of
the saints at the right hand of the Judge, and so go to heaven
undiscovered....Nor is there any hope that God will alter his mind, or that he
will repent of what he hath said; for he is not the son of man that lie should
repent. Hath he said, and shall he not do it? Hath he spoken, and shall he not
make it good? When did God ever undertake to do any thing and fail?
I come now,
III. To show, that as impenitent sinners
cannot shun the threatened punishment; so neither can they do any thing to
deliver themselves from it, or to relieve themselves under it. This is implied
in those words of the text, Can thine hand. be strong? It is with our hands
that we make and accomplish things for ourselves. But the wicked in hell will
have no strength of hand to accomplish any thing at all for themselves, or to
bring to pass any deliverance, or any degree of relief.
1. They will not he able in that conflict to
overcome their enemy, and so to deliver themselves. God, who will then
undertake to deal with them, and will gird himself with might to execute wrath,
will be their enemy, and will act the part of an enemy with a witness; and they
will have no strength to oppose him. Those who live negligent of their souls
under the light of the gospel, act as if they supposed, that they should be
able here after to make their part good with God. 1 Cor. x. 22. "Do we
provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he ?"...But they will
have no power, no might to resist that omnipotence, which will be engaged
against them.
2. They will have no strength in their hands
to do any thing to appease God, or in the least to abate the fierceness of his
wrath. They will not be able to offer any satisfaction: they will not be able
to procure God's pity. Though they cry, God will not hear them. They will find
no price to offer to God, in order to purchase any favor, or to pay any part of
their debt.
3. They will not be able to find any to
befriend them, and intercede with God for them. They had the offer of a
mediator often made them in this world; but they will have no offers of such a
nature in hell. None will befriend them. They will have no friend in HELL; all
there will be their enemies. They will have no friend in heaven: 'None of the
saints or angels will befriend them; or if they should, it would be to no
purpose. There will be no creature that will have any power to dellver them,
nor will any ever pity them.
4. Nor will they ever be able to make their
escape. They will find no means to break prison and flee. In hell, they will be
reserved in chains of darkness for ever and ever. Malefactors have often found
means to break prison, and escape the hand of, civil justice. But none ever
escaped out of the prison of hell, which is God's prison. It is a strong
prison: it is beyond any finite power, or the united strength of all wicked men
and devils, to unlock, or break open the door of that prison. Christ hath the
key of hell; "he shuts and no man opens."
5. Nor will they ever be able to find any
thing to relieve them in hell. They will never find any resting place there;
any place of respite; any secret corner, which will be cooler than the rest,
where they may have a little respite, a small abatement of the extremity of
their torment. They never will be able to find any cooling stream or fountain,
in any part of that world of torment; no, nor so much as a drop of water to
cool their tongues. They will find no company to give them any comfort, or to
do them the least good. They will find no place, where they can remain, and
rest, and take breath for one minute: For they will be tormented with fire and
brimstone; and will have no rest day nor night for ever and ever.
Thus impenitent sinners will be able neither
to shun the punishment threatened, nor to deliver themselves from it, nor to
find any relief under it.
I come now,
IV. To show, that neither will they be able
to bear it. Neither will their bands be strong to deliver t}themselves from it,
nor will their hearts be able to endure it. It is common with men, when they
meet with calamities in this world, in the first place to endeavor to shun
them. But if they find, that they cannot shun them, then after they are come,
they endeavor to deliver themselves from them as soon as they can; or at least,
to order things so, as to deliver themselves in some degree. But if they find
that they can by no means deliver themselves, and see that the case is so that
they must bear them; then they set themselves to bear them: they fortify their
spirits, and take up a resolution, that they will support themselves under them
as well as they can.
But it will be utterly in vain for
impenitent sinners to think to do thus with respect to the torments of hell.
They will not be able to endure them, or at all to support themselves under
them: the torment will be immensely beyond their strength. What will it signify
for a worm, which is about to be pressed under the weight of some great rock,
to be let fall with its whole weight upon it, to collect its strength, to set
itself to bear up the weight of the rock, and to preserve itself from being
crushed by it? Much more in vain will it be for a poor damned soul, to endeavor
to support itself under the weight of the wrath of Almighty God. What is the
strength of man, who is but a worm, to support himself against the power of
Jehovah, and against the fierceness of his wrath? What is man's strength, when
set to bear up against the exertions of infinite power? Matt. xxi. 44,
"Whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken; but on whomsoever it
shall fall, it will grind him to powder."
When sinners hear of hell torments, they
sometimes think with themselves: Well, if it shall come to that, that I must go
to hell, I will bear it as well as I can: as if by clothing themselves with
resolution and firmness of mind, they would be able to support themselves in
some measure; when, alas! they will have no resolution, no courage at all.
However they shall have prepared themselves, and collected their strength; yet
as soon as they shall begin to feel that wrath, their hearts will melt and be
as water. However before they may seem to harden their hearts, in order to
prepare themselves to bear, yet the first moment they feel it, their hearts
will become like wax before the furnace. Their courage and resolution will be
all gone in an instant; it will vanish away like a shadow in the twinkling of
an eye. The stoutest and most sturdy will have no more courage than the
feeblest infant: let a man be an infant, or a giant, it will be all one. They
will not be able to keep alive any courage, any strength, any comfort, any hope
at all.
I come now as was proposed,
V. To answer an inquiry which may naturally
be raised concerning these things.
Inquiry. Some may be ready to say, If this
be the case, if impenitent sinners can neither shun future punishment, nor
deliver themselves from it, nor bear it; then what will become of them?
Answer. They will wholly sink down into
eternal death. There will be that sinking of heart, of which we now cannot
conceive. We see how it is with the body when in extreme pain. The nature of
the body will support itself for a considerable time under very great pain, so
as to keep from wholly sinking. There will be great struggles, lamentable
groans and panting, and it may be convulsions. These are the strugglings of
nature to support itself under the extremity of the pain. There is, as it were,
a great lothness in nature to yield to it; it cannot bear wholly to sink.
But yet sometimes pain of body is so very
extreme and exquisite, that the nature of the body cannot support itself under
it; however loth it may be to sink, yet it cannot bear the pain; there are a
few struggles, and throes, and pantings, and it may be a shriek or two, and
then nature yields to the violence of the torments, sinks down, and the body
dies. This is the death of the body. So it will be with the soul in hell; it
will have no strength or power to deliver itself and its torment and horror
will be so great, so mighty, so vastly disproportioned to its strength, that
having no strength in the least to support itself, although it be infinitely
contrary to the nature and inclination of the soul utterly to sink; yet it will
sink, it will utterly and totally sink, without the least degree of remaining
comfort, or strength, or courage, or hope. And though it will never be
annihilated, its being and perception will never be abolished, yet such will be
the infinite depth of gloominess that it will sink into, that it will be in a
state of death, eternal death.
The nature of man desires happiness; it is
the nature of the soul to crave and thirst after well-being; and if it be under
misery, it eagerly pants after relief; and the greater the misery is, the more
eagerly doth it struggle for help. But if all relief be withholden, all
strength overborne, all support utterly gone; then it sinks into the darkness
of death.
We can conceive but little of the matter; we cannot conceive what that sinking
of the soul in such a case is. But to help your conception, imagine yourself to
be cast into a fiery oven, or of a great furnace, where your pain would be as
much greater than that occasioned by accidentally touching a coal of fire, as
the heat is greater. Imagine also that your body were to lie there for a
quarter of an hour, all the while full of quick sense; what horror would you
feel at the entrance of such a furnace! And how long would that quarter of an
hour seem to you! And after you had endured it for one minute, how overbearing
would it be to you to think that you had it to endure the other fourteen!
But what would be the effect on your soul,
if you knew you must lie there enduring that torment to the full for
twenty-four hours! And how much greater would be the effect, if you knew you
must endure it for a whole year; and how vastly greater still, if you knew you
must endure it for a thousand years! O then, how would your heart sink, if you
thought, if you knew, that you must bear it forever and ever! That there would
be no end! That after millions of millions of ages, your torment would be no
nearer to an end, than ever it was; and that you never, never should be
delivered!
But your torment in hell will be immensely
greater than this illustration represents. How then will the heart of a poor
creature sink under it! How utterly inexpressible and inconceivable must the
sinking of the soul be in such a case!
This is the death threatened in the law. This is dying in the highest sense of
the word. This is to die sensibly; to die and know it; to be sensible of the
gloom of death. This is to be undone; this is worthy of the name of
destruction. This sinking of the soul under an infinite weight, which it cannot
bear, is the gloom of hell. We read in Scripture of the blackness of darkness;
this is it, this is the very thing. We read in Scripture of sinners being lost,
and of their losing their souls: this is the thing intended; this is to lose
the soul: they that are the subjects of this are utterly lost.
APPLICATION
This subject may be applied in a use of
awakening to impenitent sinners. What hath been said under this doctrine is for
thee, O impenitent sinner, O poor wretch, who art in the same miserable state
in which thou camest into the world, excepting that thou art loaded with vastly
greater guilt by thine actual sins. These dreadful things which thou hast heard
are for thee, who art yet unconverted, and still remainest an alien and
stranger, without Christ and without God in the world. They are for thee, who
to this day remainest an enemy to God, and a child of the devil, even in this
remarkable season, when others both here and elsewhere, far and near, are
flocking to Christ; for thee who hearest the noise, the fame of these things,
but knowest nothing of the power of godliness in thine own heart.
Whoever thou art, whether young or old,
little or great, if thou art in a Christless, unconverted state, this is the
wrath, this is the death to which thou art condemned. This is the wrath that
abideth on thee; this is the hell over which thou hangest, and into which thou
art ready to drop every day and every night.
If thou shalt remain blind, and hard, and dead
in sin a little longer, this destruction will come upon thee: God hath spoken
and he will do it. It is vain for thee to flatter thyself with hopes that thou
shalt avoid it, or to say in thine heart, perhaps it will not be; perhaps it
will not be just so; perhaps things have been represented worse than they are.
If thou wilt not be convinced by the word preached to thee by men in the name
of God, God himself will undertake to convince thee, Ezekiel xiv. 4, 7, 8.
Doth it seem to thee not real that thou shalt
suffer such a dreadful destruction, because it seems to thee that thou dust not
deserve it? And because thou dust not see any thing so horrid in thyself, as to
answer such a dreadful punishment? Why is it that thy wickedness doth not seem
bad enough to deserve this punishment? The reason is, that thou lovest thy
wickedness; thy wickedness seems good to thee; it appears lovely to thee; thou
dust not see any hatefulness in it, or to be sure, any such hatefulness as to
answer such misery.
But know, thou stupid, blind, hardened
wretch, that God doth not see, as thou seest with thy polluted eyes: thy sins
in his sight are infinitely abominable.-Thou knowest that thou hast a thousand
and a thousand times made light of the Majesty of God. And why should not that
Majesty, which thou hast thus despised, be manifested in the greatness of thy
punishment? Thou hast often heard what a great and dreadful God Jehovah is; but
thou hast made so light of it, that thou hast not been afraid of him, thou hast
not been afraid to sin against him, nor to go on day after day, by thy sins, to
provoke him to wrath, nor to cast his commands under foot, and trample on them.
Now why may not God, in the greatness of thy destruction, justly vindicate and
manifest the greatness of that Majesty, which thou hast despised?
Thou hast despised the mighty power of God;
thou hast not been afraid of it. Now why is it not fit that God should show the
greatness of his power in thy ruin? What king is there who will not show his
authority in the punishment of those subjects that despise it! And who will not
vindicate his royal majesty in executing vengeance on those that rise in
rebellion? And art thou such a fool as to think that the great King of heaven
and earth, before whom all other kings are so many grasshoppers, will not
vindicate his kingly Majesty on such contemptuous rebels as thou art?-Thou art
very much mistaken if thou thinkest so. If thou be regardless of God's Majesty,
be it known to thee, God is not regardless of his own Majesty; he taketh care
of the honor of it, and he will vindicate it.
Think it not strange that God should deal so
severely with thee, or that the wrath which thou shalt suffer should be so
great. For as great as it is, it is no greater than that love of God which thou
hast despised. The love of God, and his grace, condescension, and pity to
sinners in sending his Son into the world to die for them, is every whit as
great and wonderful as this inexpressible wrath. This mercy hath been held
forth to thee, and described in its wonderful greatness hundreds of times, and
as often hath it been offered to thee; but thou wouldst not accept Christ; thou
wouldst not have this great love of God; thou despisedst God's dying love; thou
trampledst the benefits of it under foot. Now why shouldst thou not have wrath
as great as that love and mercy which thou despisest and rejectest? Doth it
seem incredible to thee, that God should so harden his heart against a poor
sinner, as so to destroy him, and to bear him down with infinite power and
merciless wrath? And is this a greater thing than it is for thee to harden thy
heart, as thou hast done, against infinite mercy, and against the dying love of
God?
Doth it seem to thee incredible, that God
should be so utterly regardless of the sinner's welfare, as so to sink him into
an infinite abyss of misery? Is this shocking to thee? And is it not at all
shocking to thee, that thou shouldst be so utterly regardless as thou hast been
of the honor and glory of the infinite God?
It arises from thy foolish stupidity and senselessness, and is because thou
hast a heart of stone, that thou art so senseless of thine own wickedness as to
think thou hast not deserved such a punishment, and that it is to thee
incredible that it will be inflicted upon thee.-But if, when all is said and
done, thou be not convinced, wait but a little while, and thou wilt be
convinced: God will undertake to do the work which ministers cannot do. -Though
judgment against thine evil works be not yet executed, and God now let thee
alone, yet he will soon come upon thee with his great power, and then thou
shalt know what God is, and what thou art.
Flatter not thyself, that if these things
shall prove true, and the worst shall come, thou wilt set thyself to bear it as
well as thou canst. What will it signify to set thyself to bear, and to collect
thy strength to support thyself, when thou shalt fall into the hands of that
omnipotent King, Jehovah? He that made thee, can make his sword approach unto
thee. His sword is not the sword of man, nor is his wrath the wrath of man. If
it were, possibly stoutness might be maintained under it. But it is the
fierceness of the wrath of the great God, who is able to baffle and dissipate
all thy strength in a moment. He can fill thy poor soul with an ocean of wrath,
a deluge of fire and brimstone; or he can make it ten thousand times fuller of
torment than ever an oven was full of fire; and at the same time, can fill it
with despair of ever seeing an end to its torment, or any rest from its misery:
and then where will be thy strength? What will become of thy courage then? What
will signify thine attempts to bear?
What art thou in the hands of the great God,
who made heaven and earth by speaking a word? What art thou, when dealt with by
that strength, which manages all this vast universe, holds the globe of the
earth, directs all the motions of the heavenly bodies from age to age, and,
when the fixed time shall come, will shake all to pieces? There are other
wicked beings a thousand times stronger than thou: there are the great
leviathans, strong and proud spirits, of a gigantic stoutness and hardiness.
But how little are they in the hands of the great God! They are less than weak
infants; they are nothing, and less than nothing in the hands of an angry God,
as will appear at the day of judgment. Their hearts will be broken; they will
sink; they will have no strength nor courage left; they will be as weak as
water; their souls will sink down into an infinite gloom, an abyss of death and
despair. Then what will become of thee, a poor worm, when thou shalt fall into
the hands of that God, when he shall come to show his wrath, and make his power
known on thee?
If the strength of all the wicked men on
earth, and of all the devils in hell, were united in one, and thou wert
possessed of it all; and if the courage, greatness, and stoutness of all their
hearts were united in thy single heart, thou wouldst be nothing in the hands of
Jehovah. If it were all collected, and thou shouldst set thyself to bear as
well as thou couldst, all would sink under his great wrath in an instant, and
would be utterly abolished: thine hands would drop down at once and thine heart
would melt as wax.-The great mountains, the firm rocks, cannot stand before the
power of God; as fast as they stand, they are tossed hither and thither, and
skip like lambs, when God appears in his anger. He can tear the earth in pieces
iii a moment; yea, lie can shatter the whole universe, and dash it to pieces at
one blow. How then will thine hands be strong, or thine heart endure?
Thou canst not stand before a lion of the
forest; an angry wild beast, if stirred up, will easily tear such a one as thou
art in pieces. Yea, not only so, but thou art crushed before the moth. A very
little thing, a little worm or spider, or some such insect, is able to kill
thee. What then canst thou do in the hands of God? It is vain to set the briers
and thorns in battle array against glowing flames; the points of thorns, though
sharp, do nothing to withstand the fire.
Some of you have seen buildings on fire;
imagine therefore with yourselves, what a poor hand you would make at fighting
with the flames, if you were in the midst of so great and fierce a fire. You
have often seen a spider, or some other noisome insect, when thrown into the midst
of a fierce fire, and have observed how immediately it yields to the force of
the flames. There is no long struggle, no fighting against the fire, no
strength exerted to oppose the heat, or to fly from it; but it immediately
stretches forth itself and yields; and the fire takes possession of it, and at
once it becomes full of fire. Here is a little image of what you will be the
subjects of in hell, except you repent and fly to Christ. However you may think
that you will fortify yourselves, and bear as well as you can; the first moment
you shall be cast into hell, all your strength will sink and be utterly
abolished. To encourage yourselves, that you will set yourselves to bear hell
torments as well as you can, is just as if a worm, that is about to be thrown
into a glowing furnace, should swell and fortify itself and prepare itself to
fight the flames.
What can you do with lightnings? What doth
it signify to fight with them? What an absurd figure would a poor weak man
make, who, in a thunder-storm, should expect a flash of lightning on his head
or his breast, and should go forth sword in hand to oppose it; when a stream of
brimstone would, in an instant, drink up all his spirits and his life, and melt
his sword!
Consider these things, all you enemies of God, and rejecters of Christ, whether
you be old men or women, Christless heads of families, or young people and
wicked children. Be assured, that if you do not hearken and repent, God intends
to show his wrath, and make his power known upon you. He intends to magnify
himself exceedingly in sinking you down in hell. He intends to show his great
majesty at the day of judgment, before a vast assembly, in your misery; before
a greater assembly many thousand fold than ever yet appeared on earth; before a
vast assembly of saints, and a vast assembly of wicked men, a vast assembly of
holy angels, and before all the crew of devils. God will before all these get
himself honor in your destruction; you shall be tormented in the presence of
them all. Then all will see that God is a great God indeed; then all will see
how dreadful a thing it is to sin against such a God, and to reject such a
Saviour, such love and grace, as you have rejected and despised. All will be
filled with awe at the great sight, and all the saints and angels will look
upon you, and adore that majesty, and that mighty power, and that holiness and
justice of God, which shall appear in your ineffable destruction and misery.
It is probable that here are some, who hear
me this day, who at this very moment are unawakened, and are in a great degree
careless about their souls. I fear there are some among us who are most
fearfully hardened: their hearts are harder than the very rocks. It is easier
to make impressions upon an adamant than upon their hearts. I suppose some of
you have heard all that I have said with ease and quietness: it appears to you
as great big sounding words, but doth not reach your hearts. You have heard
such things many times: you are old soldiers, and have been too much used to
the roaring of heaven's cannon, to be frighted at it. It will therefore
probably be in vain for me to say any thing further to you; I will only put you
in mind that ere long God will deal with you. I cannot deal with you, you
despise what I say; I have no power to make you sensible of your danger and
misery, and of the dreadfulness of the wrath of God. The attempts of men in
this way have often proved vain.
However, God hath undertaken to deal with
such men as you are. It is his manner commonly first to let men try their
utmost strength: particularly to let ministers try, that thus he may show
ministers their own weakness and impotency; and when they have done what they
can, and all fails, then God takes the matter into his own hands. So it seems
by your obstinacy, as if God intended to undertake to deal with you. He will
undertake to subdue you; he will see if he cannot cure you of your
senselessness and regardlessness of his threatenings. And you will be
convinced; you will be subdued effectually: your hearts will be broken with a
witness; your strength will be utterly broken, your courage and hope will sink.
God will surely break those who will not bow. God, having girded himself with
his power and wrath, hath heretofore undertaken to deal with many hard stubborn,
senseless, obstinate hearts; and he never failed, he always did his work
thoroughly.
It will not be long before you will be wonderfully changed. You who now hear of
hell and the wrath of the great God, and sit here in these seats so easy and
quiet, and go away so careless; by and by will shake, and tremble, and cry out,
and shriek, and gnash your teeth, and will be thoroughly convinced of the vast
weight and importance of these great things, which you now despise.