Now, before th.at general judgment, every soul comes to its particular judgment, and that immediately after death: of this I apprehend the apostle to speak in Heb. ix. 27. " It is appointed for " all men once to die, but after that the judgment." The soul is presently stated by this judgment in its everlasting and fixed condition. The soul of a wicked man appearing before God, in all its sin and guilt, and by him sentenced, immediately gives up all its iiope, Prov. xi. 7. " When a wicked man dieth, his " expectation shall perish ; and the hope of the unjust man
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*' pcrishctli." His strong hope * perishetli, as some read it, i. e. his strong delusion : for, alas, he took his own shadow for a bridge over the great waters, and is unexpectedly plunged into the gulph of eternal misery, as Mat. vii. 22.
This perishing, or cutting off of hope, is that which is called in scripture the death of the soul, for so long the soul will live, as it hath any hope. The deferring of hope makes it sick, but the final cutting off of hope strikes it quite dead, i. e. dead as to all joy, comfort, or expectation of any for ever, which is that death which an immortal soul is capable to suffer : The righteous hath hope in his death; but every unregenerate man in the world breathes out his last hope in a few moments after his last breath, which strikes terror into the very centre of the soul, and is a death-wound to it.
Prop. 3. The souls of the damned are exceedingly large aiid ca- jmcious subjects of' wrath and torment ; and in their separate state their capacity is greatly enlarged, both by laying asleep all those affections whose exercise is relieving, and thoroughly awakening all those passions xdiich are tormenting.
The soul of man being by nature a spirit, an intelligent spirit, and, in its substantial faculties, assimilated to God, whose image it bears ; it must, for that reason, be exquisitely sensible of all the impressions and touches of the wrath of God upon it. The spirit of man is a most tender, sensible, and apprehensive creature : the eye of the body is not so sensible of a touch, a nerve of the body is not so sensible when pricked, as the spirit of man is of the least touch of God's indignation upon it. " A wounded spirit who can " bear .^" Pi'ov. xviii. J 4. Other external wounds upon the body inflicted either by man or God, are tolerable ; but that which im- mediately touches the spirit of man, is insufferable : who can bear or endure it ?
And as the spirit of man hath the most delicate and exquisite sense of misery ; so it hath a vast capacity to receive, and let in the fulness of anguish and misery into it: it is a large vessel, called, Rom. ix. 22. "A vessel of wrath fitted to destruction," The large capacity of the soul is seen in this, that it is not in the power of all the creatures in the world to satisfy and fill it : it can drink up, as one speaks, all the rivers of created good, and its thirst not quenched by such a draught ; but after all, it cries. Give, give. Nothing but an infinite God can quiet and satisfy its appetite and raging thirst.
And as it is capable and receptive of more good than is found in all the creatures, so it is capable of more misery and anguish than
* Etiam spes valcrUissima, i. e. Even the strongest hope.
136 A TREATISE OF THE SOUL OF MAN.
all the creatures can inflict upon it. Let all the elements, ail men on earth, yea, all the devils and damned in hell, conspire and unite in a design to torment man ; yet when they have done all, his spirit is capable of a farther degree of torment ; a torment as much beyond it, as a rack is beyond a hard bed, or the sword in his bowels is beyond the scratch of a pin. The devils indeed are the executioners and tormentors of the damned ; but if that were all they were capable to suffer, the torment of the damned would be, comparatively, mild and gentle to what they are. Oh, the largeness of the understanding of man, what will it not take into its vast capacity !
But add to this, that the damned souls have all those affections laid in a deep and everlasting sleep, the exercises whereof would be relieving, by emptying their souls of any part of their misery ; and all those passions thoroughly and everlastingly awakened, which in- crease their torments.
The affections of joy, delight, and hope, are benumbed in them, and laid fast asleep, never to be awakened into act any more. Their hope, in scripture, is said to perish^ i. e. it so perisheth, that, after death, it shall never exert another act to all eternity. The activity of any of those aifections would be like a cooling gale, or refreshing spring, amidst their torments ; but as Adrian lamented himself, Numquam jocos dabis^ Thou shalt never be merry more.
And as these affections are laid asleep, so their passions are rouz- ed, and thoroughly awakened to torment them ; so awakened, as never to sleep any more. The souls of men are sometimes jogged and startled in this world, by the works or rods of God, but pre- sently they sleep again, and forget all : but hereafter the eyes of their souls will be continually held waking to behold and consider their misery ; their understandings will be clear and most appre- hensive ; their thoughts fixed and determined ; their consciences active and efficacious ; and, by all this, their capacity to take in the fullest of their misery, enlarged to the uttermost.
Prop. 4. The wrath^ indignation^ and revenge of God poured out as the just rcivai^d of sin ^ upon the so capacious souls of the damned, are the principal part of their misery in hell.
In the third proposition I shewed you, that the souls of the damned can hold more misery than all the creatures can inflict upon them. When the soul suffers from the hand of man, its suffer- ings are but either by way of sympathy with the body ; or if im- mediately, yet it is but a light stroke the hand of a creature can give : But when it hath to do with a sin-revenging God, and that immediately, this stroke cuts off the spirit of man, as it is expres- sed, Psal. Ixxxviii. 16. The body is the clothing of the soul. Most of the arrows shot at the soul in this world, do but stick iu
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