Suppose, say others, that the torments of hell were to end, after a little bird should have emptied the sea, and only carry out her bill- full once in a thousand years. Suppose, say others, that the whole world, from the lowest earth to the. highest heavens, were filled with grains of sand, and once in a thousand years an angel should fetch away one grain, and so continue till the whole heap were spent. Suppose, say others, if one of the damned in hell, should weep after this manner, viz., that he should only let fall one tear in a thousand years, and these should be kept together, tiU such time as they should equal the drops of water in the sea ; how many millions of ages would pass, before they could make up one river, much more a whole ; and when that were done, should he weep again after the same manner, tUl he had filled a second, a third, and a fourth sea. If then there should be an end of their miseries, there would be some hope, some comfort, that they would end at last ; but that they shall never, never, never end, this is that which sinks them under the most tormenting terrors and horrors.
You know that the extremity and eternity of hellish torments is set forth by the worm that never dies ; and it is observable that Christ, at the close of his sermon, makes a threefold repetition of this worm :
^ An often recorring illustration with the Medieeval preachers ; as are also those that follow.— G. ^ Bellar. de arte moriendi, lib. ii. c. 3.
132 THAT THE TOBMENTS OF HELL ARE
Mark ix. 44, * where their worm dieth not ;' and again, ver. 46, ' where their worm dieth not ;' and again, ver, 48, ' where their worm dieth not, and their fire goeth not out.' Certainly, those punishments are beyond all conception and expression, which our Lord Jesus doth so often in- culcate within so small a space.
Now if there be such a diversity, extremity, and eternity of hellish pains and torments, which the great God will certainly inflict upon the bodies and souls of all impenitent persons, after the day of judgment ; then there must certainly be some hell, some place of torment, wherein the wrath of God shall be executed upon wicked and ungodly men. But,
[6] Sixthly, The greatest part of wicked and ungodly men escape unpunished in this world. The greatest number of men do spend their days in pride, ease, pleasures, and delights, in lust and luxury, in voluptuousness and wantonness : ' They take the timbrel and harp, and rejoice to the sound of the organ ;' ' They chant to the sound of the viol, and invent to themselves instruments of music;' ' They di-ink wine in bowls ; ' ' They lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall ;' and therefore there will be a time when these shall be punished in another world, Ps. Ixxiii. 3-13 ; Job xxi. 12 ; Amos V. C.
God doth not punish all here, that he may make way for the dis- playing of his mercy and goodness, his patience and forbearance. Nor doth he forbear all here, that he may manifest his justice and right- eousness, lest the world should turn atheist, and deny his providence, Eom. ii. 4, 5 ; 2 Pet. iii. 9-15. He spares that he may punish, and he punisheth that he may spare. God smites some sinners in the very acting of their sins, as he did Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, and others, Num. xvi. ; not till they have filled up the measure of their sins, as you see in the men of the old world. Gen. vi. 5-7. But the greatest number of sinners God reserves for the great day of his wrath. Mat. vii. 13. There is a sure punishment, though not always a present punishment, for every sinner, Eccles. viii. 12, 13. Those wicked persons which God suflFers to go uncorrected here, he reserves to be punished for ever hereafter, 2 Thes. i. 7-10. Sinners, know your doom, — you must either smart for your sins in this world, or in the world to come. That ancient hit the mark that said, ' Many sins are punished in this world, that the providence of God might be more apparent ; and many, yea, most, reserved to be punished in the world to come, that we might know that there is yet judgment behind.' 1
Sir James Hamilton, having been murdered by the Scottish king's means, he appeared to the king in a vision, with a naked sword drawn, and strikes off both his arms, with these words, ' Take this, before thou receivest a final payment for all thy impieties ;' and within twenty- four hours two of the king's sons died. 2 If the glutton in that historical parable being in hell, Luke xvi. 22-24, only in part, to wit, in soul, yet cried out that he ' was horribly tormented in that flame,' what think ye shall that torment be when body and sonl come to.be united
^ AugtBtine, Epist. 54.
' Mr tnox in his History of Scotland. [See Laing'a ' Works ' of Knox, i. n.— Q.]
MATCHLESS, BASELESS, AND ENDLESS. 133
for torture! It being just with God, that as they have been, like Simeon and Levi, brethren in iniquity, and have sinned together des- perately and impenitently, so they should suffer together jointly, eternally, Gen. xlix. 5. The Hebrew doctors have a pretty parable to this purpose : A man planted an orchard, and going from home, was careful to leave such watchmen as both might keep it from strangers and not deceive him themselves; therefore he appointed one blind, but strong of his limbs, and the other seeing, but a cripple. These two, in their master's absence, conspired together ; and the blind took the lame on his shoulders, and so gathered the fruit. Their master returning, and finding out this subtlety, punished them both together. So shall it be with those two sinful yoke-fellows, the soul and the body, in the great day ; they have sinned together, and they shall suffer at last together, 2 Cor. v. 10, 11. But now in this world the greatest number of transgressors do commonly escape all sorts of punishments ; and therefore we may safely conclude that there is another world, wherein the righteous God will revenge upon the bodies and souls of sinners the high dishonours that have been done to his name by them. But,