84 SEKMONS UPON MATTHEW XXV. [SeR. XXV.
let this startle wielded men : before night the}^ may be in hell, before the body be committed to the grave : the soul flitteth hence as soon as it departeth out of the body, to God that gave it, to receive woe or weal. The hour of death is sudden ; many are surprised, and taken unawares. Your carnal companions (if God would use that dispensa- tion), that sometimes bowsed and caroused with you, and wallowed in filthy excess, by this time know what it is to be in torments ; they would fain come and tell you that you are as rotten fruit, ready to tumble into the pit of darkness. Every wicked man groweth upon the banks of eternity, and hangeth but by a slender string and root ; one touch of God's providence, and they drop into hell.
Secondly, There is something expressed, to wit, that these torments shall receive their full and final accomplishment at the last day.
That their torments shall be increased appeareth — (1.) By com- parison ; (2.) By scripture ; and (3.) By reason.
1. By comparing them —
[1.] With the devils : Jude 6, ' And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains, under darkness, unto the judgment of the great day.' As good men are laayyekoc, so wicked men are Saifiov€<;. The devils for the present are under the powerful wrath of God and horrible despair. Though they have a ministry and service in the world, yet they carry their own hell about with them ; full of fears and tremblings under the wrath of God, but not in that extremity, discontented with their present condition. Such a fall is much to a proud creature, and there is a despair of a better : Mat. viii. 29, ' What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come to torment us before the time ? ' There is a bitter expectation of judgment to come. Now they have some delight in mischief, but at the last day their power shall be restrained, which is another infelicity of their nature. Their ignominy shall be manifested before all the world ; they shall be dragged before Christ's tribunal, and judged by the saints, whom they hate, 1 Cor. vi. 3. The good angels shall come as Christ's com- panions, the evil as his prisoners. These are sights that will work on their envy and thwart their pride, to see the glory of the saints and angels. Dolet diabolus, quod ipsum et angelos ejus Christi servus, ille peccator judicaturus est, saith Tertullian. Then they are confined to hell, there to keep their residence, where they shall have a more active sense of their own condition, and of the wrath of God that is upon them. So it is with wicked men ; they have their hell now, but at the last day they shall be brought forth as trembling malefactors before the bar of Christ ; all their privy wickedness shall be manifested before all the world, 2 Cor. iv. 1, 2. However they may be honoured and esteemed now, either for their power or holiness, they shall then be put to public shame, driven out of his presence with ignominy and contempt, cast into hell to keep company with the devils, where their torments shall be most exquisite and painful.
[2.] Compare them with the saints. Heaven's joys shall then bo full, so hell's torments. The full recompense of the righteous, and the full vengeance of the wicked keep time and pace. Christ cometh to fetch the saints to heaven in state, rjfiepa ^avepcoo-eo)^ : Eom. viii.
VeR. 41.] SERMONS UPON MATTHEW XXV. 85
19, ' The earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifes- tation of the sons of God.' Then it shall be seen what God will do for his children. They are clad in their best robes to set off Christ's triumph. So suitably the wicked's judgment is not yet full; upon the last day it shall be increased. Christ sets himself a-work to show the power of his wrath, to clothe them with shame and contempt.
2. Scripture : 2 Thess, i. 7-9, ' When the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ : who shall be punished with everlasting de- struction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power ;' Heb. x. 27, ' There remaineth nothing but a certain fearful looking for of judgment, and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversary ; ' and in many other places.
3. Eeason. The body, which hath so long respite, then hath its share of misery ; upon the reunion of the body and soul, they shall drink the dregs of God's wrath : The soul worketh on the body, and the body on the soul. As a heavy sad spirit weakens the body, and drieth up the marrow of the bones, and a sickly body maketh the soul sad and mopish, so when the soul is filled with anguish, and the body with pains, their torment must needs be greater, because they have had a great sense of the joys of the glorified saints ; as that nobleman, ' Thine eyes shall see it, but thou shalt not taste of it.' It worketh upon their envy to see them glorified whom they have maligned and used despitefully ; and it worketh u])on their conscience ; this they have lost by their own folly. As a prodigal that cometh by the houses and fields which he hath sold, and thinks, This was mine ; it is a grating thought to think. This might have been mine. Partly because of judgment and sentence. Then the books are opened, and all their ways are discussed ; they are ashamed, but God is cleared and vindi- cated. There is a worm as well as a tire. The fire signifieth God's wrath, the worm the gnawing of their own conscience. It is hard to say which tormenteth them most, the terribleness or the righteousness. To consider that God is righteous in all that we feel, and we ourselves have been the causes of our own ruin, this is a cutting thought to the damned ; it maketh them gnash their teeth, and though they hate God, they can discharge the anger upon none but themselves. Besides, their companions are gathered together, those that sinned by their enticement or example, which are as fuel to kindle the flames, bind them in bundles, and set fire on one another. Objects reviving guilt are very displeasing here when conscience flieth in the face, as when Amnon hated Tamar. They cannot look upon the devils, but they think of temptations ; upon the damned, but either they read their own guilt by reflection (they are the same), or else it bringeth to mind their former example ; they brought them to this place. Again, Christ's final sentence is past ; and therefore wrath, et? to reXo'i, such wrath as they cannot have more, for he will no more deal with them.