2. And are _you_ to be judged? How is this to be? Why, the Son of God shall come in his glory, and all his holy angels with him; and then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory. And before him shall be gathered all nations, and he shall separate them from one another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats. Behold he cometh with clouds! And every eye shall see him, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty! And I saw (wilt thou also say) a great white throne, and him that sat thereon, from whose face the earth and the heavens fled away, and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and they were judged, every man according to his works. And shalt _thou_ also be judged according to _thy_ works? _All_ thy works, whether they be good or evil? Yea, and for every _idle word_ which thou shalt speak, thou shalt give an account in the day of judgment. But _this is_ not all: the Lord, the judge searcheth _the heart_, and trieth the reins. He understands _all thy thoughts_; and for _all these_ likewise he shall bring thee into judgment. Supposest thou it is enough to be _outwardly_ good? What! though thy _inward_ parts are very wickedness? And are they not? Is not thy soul fallen short of the glory (the glorious image) of God? Look into thy breast. Art thou not a fallen spirit? Dost thou not know and feel, how very far thou art gone from original righteousness? Desperately full thou art of all evil, and naked of all good? Is there not in thee, an earthly, sensual, devilish mind? A mind that is enmity against God? ’Tis plain there is. For thou dost not love God. Thou dost not delight in him. He is not the desire of thy eyes, or the joy of thy heart. Thou lovest the creature more than the Creator. Thou art a lover of pleasure more than a lover of God. O how wilt thou stand in the judgment!
3. Are _you_ then to go to heaven or hell? It must be either to one or the other. I pray God you may not go to hell! for who can dwell with everlasting burnings? Who can bear the fierceness of that flame, without even a drop of water to cool his tongue? Yea, and that without end; for as the worm dieth not so the fire is not quenched. No, whoever is once cast into that lake of fire, shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. O eternity! eternity! Who can tell the length of eternity? I warn _thee_ now, before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, that _thou_ come not into that place of torment!
4. But alas! Is not hell now begun in thy soul? Does thy _conscience_ never awake? Hast thou no _remorse_ at any time? No _sense_ of guilt? No _dread_ of the wrath of God? Why these (if thou art not saved from them in this life) are the worm that never dieth. And what else is thy carnal mind? Thy enmity against God? Thy foolish and hurtful lusts, thy inordinate affections? What are pride, envy, malice, revenge? Are they not vipers gnawing thy heart? May they not well be called, the dogs of hell? Canst thou be out of hell, while these are in thy soul? While they are tearing it in pieces, and there is none to help thee? Indeed they are not fully let loose upon thee. And while thou seest the light of the sun, the things of the world that surround thee, or the pleasures of sense divert thy thoughts from them. But when thou canst eat and drink no more, when the earth, with the works thereof is burnt up, when the sun is fallen from heaven, and thou art shut up in utter darkness, what a state wilt thou be in then? Mayst thou never try! Seek thou a better habitation, a house of God eternal in the heavens.
5. There the wicked cease from troubling, there the weary are at rest. For God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying; neither shall there be any more pain, but everlasting joy upon their heads. But this joy our ears have not yet heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man to conceive. Yet a little of it the children of God can conceive, from what they already enjoy. For the kingdom of heaven is within them. God has given them eternal life; the life which is hid with Christ in God. They have heaven upon earth; righteousness and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. Their souls are renewed in the image of God. They love God. They are happy in him; and they love their neighbour (that is every man) as themselves, as their own souls. Being justified by faith, they have peace with God, yea, a peace which passeth all understanding. And they rejoice in him, knowing their sins are blotted out; that they are accepted in the beloved, and that they are going to an inheritance incorruptible undefiled, and that fadeth not away.