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no enhancement. How dreadful must be the situation of those, who are destined to dwell in a furnace for ever! How terrible must be the fire, prepared to punish the devil and his angels: the worst of all beings, the peculiar enemies of God, and the Intelligent Universe! You will remember that I have mentioned all these as figurative representations. Remember also, that on this account they are not the less awful: and particularly remember, that in a more awful language still, God himself is declared to be a consuming fire to impenitent sinners.

The sufferings of the impenitent, as they will spring from themselves, are, I apprehend, declared with sufficient certainty in the phraseology of the text. They shall utterly perish in their own corruption. This word, and its immediate connections, are used in the English Bible eighty-three times, and, in forty-eight of these, denotes moral corruption. In all the remaining instances they denote, obviously, the corruptible nature of the human body, and of those earthly objects by which we are surrounded. These two seem to be the only senses, in which the words of this description are used at all. That the term, in the text, is not employed in this sense, is too evident to require any illustration. The passage, therefore, may be fairly considered as declaring, that the moral character of sinners will in itself, and in its effects, constitute much of their misery in the future world. It ought to be observed, that the text, literally rendered, is, They shall be utterly corrupted in their own corruption.

The only objection against this doctrine, with which I am acquainted, is, that sin, being the delight of sinners, cannot with propriety be said to be their punishment. This objection, I acknowledge, is plausible; and, when it was first proposed to me, appeared to have much weight. A little reflection, however, convinced me, that its weight lay only in the words, in which it is expressed. It is no uncommon thing in the present world to see persons delight in that, which in itself, and its immediate effects, is seen by themselves to be continually injurious, and even fatal, to their well-being. The Gambler sees, that his favourite employment produces, every day, gloom, discontent, moroseness, poverty, and the contempt of those around him. Far from being insensible to these evils, he feels them deeply; and is

daily rendered by them more and more unhappy. The same things are substantially true of the drunkard, and of the thief. The envious man, also, is daily corroded by his envy in such a manner, as to make him eminently wretched. Yet he still continues to exercise envy. A rebellious child, wounded almost unceasingly by a sense of his filial impiety, as well as made miserable by the general reprobation, still continues in his rebellion. Christ says, Prov. viii. 36, Alt they, that hate me, love death. This passage directly teaches us, that that, which in itself, and in its consequences, produces misery, may still be loved by mankind. The complete proof, however, of the soundness of the doctrine, and by consequence, of the unsoundness of the objection, will be found in the consideration of the subject itself. To this, therefore, I shall immediately proceed; and observe, 1. That Sinful Desires will, in the future world, be exceedingly powerful, and wholly unrestrained.

That such desires will be exceedingly powerful in the future world, is rationally argued from many considerations. It is plainly a part of the very nature of sin to increase its dominion over the mind, wherever it is the predominant character. Sinners, who do not reform, always grow worse, and worse, in the present world. Every indulgence of every sinful passion increases its strength. After a little time, the indulgence becomes a habit; and every sinful habit increases its vigour in him, who is not renewed, to the end of life.

There is not a reason to believe, that these desires are at all diminished in the world to come. When Satan was cast out of Heaven, he manifested his intense hatred to God, and his vehement malice toward mankind, by seducing our first-parents, and destroying a world. St. Peter informs us, that since that time, as a roaring lion, he goeth about, seeking whom he may devour. St. John also declares, that the same malignant being deceiveth the whole world. What a dreadful image of furious and insatiable malice, is presented to us, when this evil being is exhibited as a lion roaring with rage and hunger, and going about to devour, not the carcases of beasts, but minds rational and immortal! How restlessly must that fraud and malice labour, to which the deception of a whole world is attributed!

From these considerations it is plain, that the evil desires of this fallen spirit, are not diminished by his sufferings. It is reasonably believed, that other evil beings will, in this respect, sustain the same character; and that their desires also, instead of undergoing any diminution, will only increase in strength.

When I say, that sinful desires are unrestrained in the future world, I mean not to be understood in the absolute sense. God will undoubtedly restrain evil beings within such bounds, as He thinks proper. They themselves, also, will undoubtedly become restraints to each other in the exercise of their opposing powers and passions. But I mean, that a great part of those restraints, which exist in the present world, will be taken away. The impenitent inhabitants of the future world will be under no restraint from hope: for in that world hope will never exist. They will be under no restraint from the desire of esteem: for they will have no companions, whose esteem they can desire. They will be under no restraint from the Spirit of God. This divinely glorious Person, beneath whose influence, moral life, beauty, and loveliness, spontaneously spring up throughout the universe, will shed no influence on the world of perdition.

2. Sinful desires will in the future world be ungratified. Particularly they will be ungratified, as they respect God. All the wishes of the impenitent, which respect God, are aimed against his glory, the accomplishment of his pleasure, and the prosperity of his Kingdom. But they will be wholly ineffectual. His character will be seen, and known, and felt, even by themselves, to be free from all imputations; and they will discern with irresistible evidence, that his pleasure will be certainly, and universally, accomplished.

The wishes of the impenitent, which respect virtuous beings, will be equally ungratified. Against them, also, their hatred will be directed with intense vehemence: against them their envy will rankle without cessation, or limits. Still the objects of their hatred will be seen fixed in the possession of virtue, glory, and happiness, which will know neither interruption nor end. That such will be the feelings of the sinner beyond the grave, we are assured, because such is the very nature of sin; because men in this world, who give themselves up to sin, ex

hibit just such feelings; and because the inhabitants of that world are entirely given up to sin. How dreadful must be the ranklings of eternal malice! What a mass of woe must exist in the pinings of immortal envy!

Nor will the desires of the impenitent be any more gratified, as they respect each other. They may indeed, they undoubtedly will, produce much misery for each other. Their success in this malignant employment will not, however, terminate in their relief, or their comfort; but merely in disappointment, bitterness, and woe. Malice and revenge, in the present world, are often efficacious in producing suffering in the objects of them; but, instead of yielding enjoyment to those, by whom they are exercised, they frequently effectuate nothing, but the deepest mortification. It will not be doubted, that, in the future world, the same things will be more universally, as well as more dreadfully, realized.

As little gratification will attend those desires which immediately respect themselves. Sinners, in this world, ardently wish to be respected and loved. Pride, the predominating passion of a wicked heart, prompts that heart to covet distinction and applause, with an intenseness of desire, which the proud man cannot justify even to himself. The Scriptures teach us, that this passion was originally, and is still, the controling, miserable character of fallen angels. Suffering, therefore, does not extinguish it in the world of perdition. On the contrary, we have every reason to believe, that it is unceasing, ardent, and eternal. How dreadfully must a proud mind be stung with anguish, when it sees itself, and knows that others see it, to be base, despicable, and loathsome, beyond expression; and when it discerns with absolute certainty, that this will be its eternal character!

What deplorable sufferings spring from vehement desires, ungratified, our experience in the present world amply discovers. 3. Sin, in the world of misery, will be viewed as it is.

We are taught in the Scriptures, that at the general Judgment, the End of which is to show, that God is just when he judges, and clear when he condemns, every mouth will be stopped. Accordingly, the excellence of his character, the equity of his law.

the wisdom of his government, and the goodness exercised in the work of Redemption, will all be manifested in such a manner, as to compel every Conscience to say Amen. Every Conscience will, therefore, be forced to confess the odiousness of that sin, which is a violation of them all, and of the sinner, by whom they have been violated.

It may perhaps be asked, why, if such will be the views of the sinner concerning himself, he does not renounce his sins. This question may be fairly answered by another; Why do not sinners forsake their sins in the present world; particularly when under the influence of strong convictions? Conscience often pronounces to the sinner, that he is a guilty, odious being, deserving the anger of God, and justly condemned by the sentence of his law. Yet multitudes, who are the subjects of this conviction, still continue impenitent; and become worse, and worse, more hardened in sin, and more alienated from their Maker. It will not be questioned, that the drunkard, the thief, and the adulterer, believe at times, that they are subjects of gross criminality; and that in spite of this belief, they still continue to be drunkards, adulterers, and thieves. As little can it be questioned, that there is, in the moral nature of a sinful mind, no tendency toward repentance or reformation. These good gifts, like every other, are from above; and come down from the Father of lights.

4. The impenitent in the future world, will be the subjects of extreme Remorse of Conscience.

The character of every such man, being seen by himself as it is, will of course be loathed, abhorred, and despised. His folly, and his guilt, in violating the Divine law, and rejecting the Divine mercy, in dishonouring God, disbelieving the Redeemer, and resisting the Holy Ghost, in contemning the means of grace, and disregarding the warnings of Providence, will, in a particular manner, prey upon his heart; and exhibit him to himself as weak, and wicked, beyond expression. All his sinful conduct he will loathe, as base and abominable. But his abuses of the Divine character, his ungrateful, and injurious treatment of the Saviour, and of the mercy of God, manifested in the work of VOL. V.

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