[651.
[Of this however we can form but little conception. The terms which are used to depict the misery of the fallen angels, and of those who from amongst the human race have died in their sins, though exceeding terrible to the imagination, fall infinitely short of the reality. But the very circumstance of millions of once happy angels, as happy as any that are now before the throne of God, being cast out of heaven for their pride ; and hell itself being prepared by Almighty God for their reception, that they may there endure his wrath and indignation to the uttermost — this very circumstance, I say, may serve to shew, how deeply God abhors iniquity, and how fearfully he will punish it. Of the place where they are confined " in chains of darkness to the judgment of the great day," Tophet, as described by the Prophet Isaiah, may be considered as a type or emblem : " It is a place both deep and large : the pile thereof is fire and much wood : and the breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it g." And the state of the unhappy sufferers there is thus described in the Revelation of St. John: " They drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation : and they are tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of. the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever : and they have no rest day nor night V Yet, terrible as this description is, it conveys no adequate idea either of the torment itself, or even of those foretastes of it, which are sometimes given to those for whom it is prepared. Well therefore may it be asked, " Who knoweth the power of thine anger?" and well is it added, " According to thy fear," that is, according to the terror which the very apprehension of it excites, " so is thy wrath:" for, in truth, it not only equals, but infinitely exceeds, all the conceptions that can be formed of it.]
The whole scope both of the preceding and fol- lowing context leads us to consider,
II. The wisdom of seeking reconciliation with him without delay — Notwithstanding his anger against sin, God is willing to be reconciled to his offending people —
[" He will not always chide; neither will he keep his anger for ever." " Many times did he turn away his wrath from his people in the wilderness ; and did not suffer his whole dis- pleasure to arise." He has even sent his own Son into the world to effect reconciliation by the blood of his cross. He could not consistently with his own honour pardon sin without an atonement made for it : and, that a sufficient atonement
s Isai. xxx. 33.
" Rev. xiv. 10, 11.
651.1 god's anger a reason for seeking him. 119
might be made, he gave his Son to " bear our iniquities in his own body on the tree," and to " be made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." For the fallen angels he made no such provision : but for us he did : and he sends forth his servants into all the world, to proclaim his offers of mercy, and to " beseech sinners in his name to be reconciled to him " ]
To seek reconciliation with him then is our true wisdom —
[The world may account it folly, and may stigmatize all serious piety as needless preciseness : but we hesitate not to declare with David, that " the fear of the Lord is the very beginning of wisdom ' ;" and that the prodigal's return to his father's house was an evidence, not, as his ungodly companions would say, of weakness and folly, but of his having attained a soundness of mind and judgment : for it was " when he came to himself he said, I will return, and go to my father." Who that reflects upon the inconceivable weight of God's anger, and on the misery of those who are exposed to it, would continue one moment obnoxious to it, when God is offering him pardon, and beseeching him to accept of all spiritual and eternal bless- ings ?