Ohs. 6. Again, from the other sin, and going after strange flesh, observe, sin is never at a stay ; first, imcleanness, and then given over to uncleanness, and then strange flesh. When a stone runneth down hill it stayeth not till it cometh to the bottom ; a filthy sinner is grow- ing more filthy still, until he hath outgrown the heart of a man, as the Sodomites did, ' men with men working that which is unseemly,' a sin which none but a devil in the likeness of a man would commit, a sin that hath filthiness enough in it to defile the tongue that speaketh of
^ Qu. ' unclean ' ?— Ed.
VeR. 7.] UPON THE EPISTLE OF JUDE. 225
it. Well, then, here is a glass wherein to see the wickedness of our na- tures. Who would think reason should invent so horrid an act ? Rom. i. 27. They had no more original corruption than thou and I have. If God remove the bridle, whither shall we run? Let wicked men con- sider hence how foolishly they promise themselves immunity from drunkenness, adultery, or any gross wickedness. Caution any of them against those things. No, I warrant you, say they ; do you think I am such a wretch ? ' Is thy servant a dog ? ' 2 Kings viii. 13.
Ohs. 7. From that, the vengeance of eternal fire. The wicked Sodomites were not only burnt up by that temporal judgment, but cast into hell, which is here called ' eternal fire.' Hell is set forth by two notions : * A worm that never dieth, and a fire that never goeth out,' Mark ix. 44. In both which expressions there is an allusion to the worms that breed in dead bodies, and the fire wherewith they were wont to burn their dead in former times ; and the one implieth the worm of conscience, the other the fire of God's wrath.
1. The worm is bred in the body itself, and therefore fitly repre- senteth the gnawings of conscience. The worm of conscience con- sisteth in three things, There is memoria 'prceteritorum, sensus prce- sentium., et metus futurorum. First, Conscience worketh on what is past, the remembrance of their former enjoyments and past pleasures : Luke xvi. 25, ' Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime,' &c. So of time wasted, opportunities of grace slighted, the folly of their own choice, &c., all which are sad reflections to them. Secondly, There is a sense of tlie present pain. Here when they were corrected they were senseless, like stocks and stones ; but then, there being nothing to mitigate their grief or beguile the sense of it, no carnal pleasures wherein to steep conscience, there must needs be sense and feeling, joined with a bitter discontent at their condition. Thirdly, For the future their condition is hopeless ; despair is one ingredient into their torment : Heb. x, 27, ' There remaineth nothing but a fearful looking for the fier}^ indignation of the Lord.' Thus for the worm.
2. The next notion is that of the text, fire, or the wrath of God transacted upon them. In the sufferings of the damned God hath an immediate hand, Heb. x. 31 ; no creature is strong enough to convey all his wrath. In bearing this wrath, the capacity of the creature is enlarged to the uttermost ; and in their punishment God sets himself a- work to ' show the glory of his strength,'' Rom. ix. 22. He upholdetli the creature with one hand, and punisheth it with the other ; if his anger be but ' kindled a little,' and a spark of it fly into the con- science, the poor creature is at his wits' end : but how dreadful will their portion be against whom he ' stirreth up all his wrath?' Ps. Ixxviii. 38. The human nature of the Lord Christ in a just abhor- rency recoiled when he was to taste of this cup. We, that cannot endure the gripes of the cholic, the torment of the stone, the pain of the rack, * how shall we dwell with devouring burnings ?' and all this is for ever. As our obligations to God are infinite, and as we turn hack upon eternal happiness offered in the gospel, and as the majesty offended by sin is infinite, so that we cannot restore the honour to God which we have taken away, therefore by just reason is our punishment eternal. In the other world men are in their final estate ;
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226 AN EXPOSITION, WITH NOTES, [VeR. 7.
the fuel continuetli for ever, the creature is not aboUshed, and the fire continueth for ever, tlie breatli of the living Lord still keepeth the flame burning. We think a prayer long, a sermon long ; what will hell be ? In the night, if we cannot sleep, we count the hours, and every minute seems tedious. Oh ! what will they do that are ' tor- mented night and day for ever and ever' ? Kev. xx. 10. Now this is the portion of all that forget God. Oh ! who would run this hazard for a little temporal satisfaction ? The scourges of conscience that we meet with here are too great price for the short pleasures of a brutish lust, much more ' the worm that never dieth, the fire that shall never be quenched.'