done as much for heaven as I did for hell, I had surelyhad it. I cried out of the tedious way of godliness; and yet I could be at more pains for Satan, and for death. If I had loved Christ as strongly as I did my pleasures, and profits, and honours, and thought on him as often, and sought him as painfully, O how happy had I now been! But justly do I suffer the flames of hell, who would rather buy them so dear, than have heaven when it was purchased to my hands. Thus I have showed you some of those thoughts which will aggravate the misery of these wretches for ever. O that God would persuade thee, who readest these words, to take up these thoughts now, for the preventing that inconceivable calamity, so that thou mayest not take them up in hell as thy own tormentor. CHAPTER III. THEY SHALL LOSE ALL THINGS THAT ARE COMFORTABLE, AS WELL AS HEAVEN. HAVING showed you those considerations which will then aggravate their misery, I am next to show you their additional losses, which will aggravate it. For as "godliness hath the promise both of this life, and that which is to come;" and as God hath said, "That if we first seek his kingdom and righteousness, all things else shall be added to us;" so also are the ungodly threatened with the loss both of spiritual and of corporal blessings; and because they sought not first Christ's kingdom and righteousness, therefore shall they lose both it, and that which they did seek, and there shall be taken from them even that little which they have. If they could but have kept their present enjoyments, they would not have much cared for the loss of heaven: but catching at the shadow for the substance, they now find they have lost both; and that when they rejected Christ, they rejected all things. If they had lost and forsaken all for Christ, they would have found all again in him; for he would have been all in all to them: but now they have for saken Christ for other things, they shall lose Christ, and that also for which they did forsake him. But I will particularly open to you some of their other losses. 1. They shall lose their present conceit of their interest in God, and of his favour toward them, and of their part in the merits and sufferings of Christ. This false belief doth now support their spirits, and defend them from the terrors that would else seize upon them: but what will ease their trouble when this is gone? When they can believe no longer, they will be quiet no longer. If a man conceit that he is in safety, his conceit may make him cheerful till his misery comes, and then both his conceit and comforts vanish. There is none of this believing in hell; nor any persuasion of pardon or happiness, nor any boasting of their honesty, nor justifying themselves. This was but Satan's stratagem, that, being blindfold, they might follow him the more boldly; but then he will uncover their eyes, and they shall see where they are. : 2. Another addition to the misery of the damned will be this that with the loss of heaven, they shall lose all their hopes. In this life, though they were threatened with the wrath of God, yet their hope of escaping it did bear up their hearts. We can now scarce speak with the vilest drunkard, or swearer, or scorner, but he hopes to be saved for all this. O happy world! if salvation were as common as this hope; even those whose hellish nature is written in the face of their conversation, whose tongues plead the cause of the devil, and speak the language of hell, yet strongly hope for heaven; though the God of heaven hath told them no such shall ever come there. Nay, so strong are men's hopes, that they will dispute the cause with Christ himself at judgment, and plead "their eating and drinking in his presence, their preaching in his name, and casting out devils ;" (and these are more probable arguments than our baptism, and common profession and name of Christians ;) they will stiffly deny that ever they "neglected Christ in hunger, nakedness, or prison,' ," till Christ confute them with the sentence of their condemnation. Though the heart of their hopes will be broken at their death; yet, it seems, they would fain plead for such hope at the general judgment. But, O the sad state of these men, when they must bid farewell to all their hopes! when their hopes shall all perish with them! "The eyes of the wicked shall fail, and their hope shall be as the giving up of the ghost.' The giving up of the ghost is a fit, but terrible, resemblance of a wicked man's giving up his hopes. For, first, As the soul departeth not from the body. without the greatest pain, so doth the hope of the wicked depart. O the pangs that seize upon the soul of the sinner at death and judgment, when he is parting with all his hopes! Secondly, The soul departeth from the body suddenly, in a moment, which hath there delightfully continued so many years; just so doth the hope of the wicked depart. Thirdly, The soul which then departed will never return to live with the body in this world any more; and the hope of the wicked, when it departeth, taketh an everlasting farewell of his soul. A miracle of resurrection shall again conjoin the soul and body, but there shall be no such miraculous resurrection of the damned's hope. Methinks it is the most doleful spectacle that this world affords, to see an ungodly person dying; his soul and hopes departing together! With what a sad change he appears in another world! Then if a man could but speak with that hopeless soul, and ask it, Are you now as confident of salvation as you were wont to be? Do you now hope to be saved as soon as the most godly? O what a sad answer would he return! O that careless sinners would be awakened to think of this in time! If thou be one of them, who art reading these lines, I do here, as a friend, advise thee, that as thou wouldst not have all thy hopes deceive thee, when thou hast most need, thou presently try them, whether they will prove current at the touchstone of the Scripture; and if thou find them unsound, let them go, whatsoever sorrow they cost thee. Rest not till thou canst give a reason of all thy hopes; till thou canst prove that they are the hopes which grace, and not nature, hath wrought; that they are grounded upon Scripture promises; that they purify thy heart; that they quicken, and not cool, thy endeavours in godliness; that the more thou hopest, the less thou sinnest, and the more painful thou art in following on the work, and not grown more loose and careless by the increasing of thy hopes; that thou art willing to have them tried, and fearful of being deceived; that they stir up thy desires of enjoying what thou hopest for, and the deferring thereof is the trouble of thy heart. There is a hope which is a singular grace and duty; and there is a hope which is a notorious, dangerous sin: so, consequently, there is a despair which is a grievous sin; and there is a despair which is absolutely necessary to thy salvation. I would not have thee despair of the sufficiency of the blood of Christ to save thee, if thou believe and heartily obey him; nor of the willingness of God to pardon and save thee, if thou be such a one; nor yet absolutely of thy own salvation, because while there is life and time there is hope of thy conversion, and so of thy salvation; nor would I draw thee to despair of finding Christ, if thou do but heartily seek him: but this is the despair that I would persuade thee to, as thou lovest thy soul;— that thou despair of ever being saved, except thou be born again; or of seeing God, without holiness; or escaping perishing, except thou suddenly repent; or of ever having part in Christ, except thou love him above father, mother, or thy own life; or of ever truly loving God, or being his servant, while thou lovest the world, and servest it. These things I would have thee despair of, and whatever else God hath told thee shall never come to pass. And when thou hast sadly searched into thy own heart, and findest thyself in any of these cases, I would have thee despair of ever being saved in that state thou art in. This kind of despair is one of the first steps to heaven. Consider, if a man be quite out of his way, what must be the first means to bring him in again? Why, a despair of ever coming to his journey's end in the way that he is in. If his home be eastward, and he be going westward, as long as he hopes he is in the right, he will go on; and as long as he goes on hoping, he goes farther amiss. Therefore, when he meets with somebody that assures him that he is clean out of his way, and brings him to despair of coming home except he turn back again, then he will return, and then he may hope. Why, sinner, just so it is with thy soul; thou art out of the way to heaven, and in that way thou hast proceeded many a year; yet thou goest on quietly, and hopest to be saved, because thou art not so bad as many others. Why, I tell thee, except thou throw away these hopes, and see that thou hast all this while been quite out of the way to heaven: I say, till thou be brought to this, thou wilt never return and be saved. Who will turn out of his way while he hopes he is right? Remember what I say ;-till thou feel God convincing thee, that the way thou hast lived in will not serve thy turn, and so break down thy former hopes, there is yet no saving work wrought upon thee, how well soever thou mayest hope of thyself. Yea, thus much more, if any thing keep thy soul out of heaven, there is nothing in the world likelier to do it than thy false hopes of being saved, while thou art out of the way to salvation. 3. Another additional loss, aggravating their loss of heaven, is this, they shall lose all their carnal mirth; they will say to themselves, (as Solomon doth,) "of their laughter, thou art mad; and of their mirth, what didst thou?" Eccles. ii, 2. Their pleasant conceits are then ended, and their merry tales are all told; "their mirth was but as the crackling of thorns under a pot," Eccles. vii, 6. It made a blaze for a while, but it was presently gone, and will return no more. They scorned to entertain any saddening thoughts: the talk of death and judgment was irksome to them, because it damped their mirth: they could not endure to think of their sin or danger, because these thoughts did sad their spirits: they knew not what it was to weep for sin, or to humble themselves under the mighty hand of God: they could laugh away sorrow, and sing away cares, and drive away these melancholy thoughts: they thought if they should meditate, and pray, and mourn, as the godly do, their lives would be a continual misery. |