they were always bound over, by virtue of the curse. And it is twofold, the punishment of Loss, in separation from God and Christ, Depart from me; and the punishment of Sense, in most exquisite and extreme torment, Depart from me into fire. Thirdly, The aggravation of their torments. (1.) They are ready for them, they are not to expect a moment's respite. The fire is prepared and ready to catch hold of those who are thrown into it. (2.) They will have the society of devils in their torments, being shut up with them in hell. They must depart into the same fire prepared for Beelzebub, the prince of devils, and his angels; namely, other reprobate angels who fell with him, and became devils. It is said to be prepared for them, because they sinned, and were condemned to hell, before man sinned. This speaks further terror to the damned, that they must go into the same torments and place of torment, with the devil and his angels. They hearkened to his temptations, and they must partake in his torments; his works they would do, and they must receive the wages, which is death. In this life they joined with devils, in enmity against God and Christ, and the way of holiness; and in the other they must lodge with them. the goats shall be shut up together; for that name is common to devils and wicked men in scripture, Lev. xvii. 7. Where the word rendered devils, properly signifies hairy ones or goats, in the shape of which creatures, devils delighted much to appear to their worshippers. (3.) The last aggravation of their torment, is the eternal duration thereof; they must depart into everlasting fire. This is it that puts the cape-stone upon their misery, namely, that it shall never have an end.

DOCTRINE.

Thus all

The wicked shall be shut up under the curse of God, in everlasting Misery, with the Devils in Hell.

After having evinced that there shall be a resurrection of the body, and a general judgment, I think it not needful to insist to prove the truth of future punishments. The same conscience there is in men of a future judgment, bears witness also of the truth of future punishments. (And that the punishment of the damned shall not be an

nihilation, or a reducing them to nothing, will be clear in the progress of our discourse.) In treating of this awful subject, I shall enquire into these four things: (1.) The curse under which the damned shall be shut up. (2.) Their misery under that curse. (3.) Their society with devils in this miserable state. (4.) The eternity of

the whole.

I. As to the curse under which the damned shall be shut up in hell, it is the terrible sentence of the law, by which they are bound over to the wrath of God, as transgressors. This curse does not first seize them, when, standing before the tribunal, they receive their sentence; but they were born under it, they led their life under it in this world; they died under it; rose with it out of their graves; and the Judge finding it upon them, sends them away with it into the pit; where it shall lie on them through the ages of eternity. By nature all men are under the curse; but it is removed from the elect, by virtue of their union with Christ. It abides on the rest of sinful mankind; and by it they are devoted to destruction, separated to evil, as one may describe the curse, from Deut. xxix. 21. "And the Lord shall separate him unto evil." Thus shall the damned, for ever, be persons devoted to destruction; separate and set apart, from among the rest of mankind, unto evil, as vessels of wrath, set up for marks to the arrows of divine wrath; and made the common receptacle and sewer of vengeance.

This curse hath its first fruits on earth, which are a pledge of the whole lump that is to follow. And hence it is, that as temporal and eternal benefits are bound up together, under the same expressions in the promise to the Lord's people, as Isa. xxxv. 10. "And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion," &c. relating both to the return from Babylon, and to the saints going to their eternal rest in heaven: Even so temporal and eternal miseries, on the enemies of God, are sometimes wrapt up under one and the same expression in the threatening, as Isa. xxx. 33. "For Tophet is ordained of old; yea for the king it is prepared: He hath made it deep and large; the pile thereof is fire and much wood: The breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it." Which relates both to the temporal and eternal destruction of the

Assyrians, who fell by the hand of the angel before Jerusalem. See also, Isa. lxvi 24. What is that judicial blindness, to which many are given up ("In whom the God of this world hath blinded their eyes," 2 Cor. iv. 4.) But the first fruits of hell, and of the curse? Their sun is going down at noon-day; their darkness increasing, as if it would not stop, till it issue in utter darkness. Many a lash in the dark, would conscience give the wicked, which the world doth not hear of: And what is that, but that the never dying worm is already begun to gnaw them? And there is not one of these, but they may call it Joseph, for the Lord shall add another: Or rather, Gad, for a troop cometh. These drops of wrath, are terrible forebodings of the full shower which is to follow. Sometimes they are given up to their vile affections, that they have no more command over them, Rom. i. 26. So their lusts grow up more and more towards perfection, if I may so speak. As in heaven grace comes to its perfection, so in hell sin arrives at its highest pitch; and as sin is thus advancing upon the man, he is the nearer and the liker to hell. There are three things that have a fearful aspect here. First, When every thing that might do good to men's souls is blasted to them; so that their blessings are cursed, Mal. ii. 2. sermons, prayers, admonitions, and reproofs, which are powerful towards others, are quite inefficacious to them. 2dly, When men go on sinning still in the face of plain rebukes from the Lord, in ordinances and providences: God meets them with rods, in the way of their sin, as it were striking them back; yet they rush forward. What can be more like hell, where the Lord is always smiting, and the damned always sinning against him? Lastly, When every thing in one's lot is turned into fuel to one's lusts. Thus adversity and prosperity, poverty and wealth, the want of ordinances and the enjoy ment of them, do all but nourish the corruptions of many, Their vicious stomachs corrupt whatsoever they receive, and all does but increase noxious humours.

But the full harvest follows, in that misery which they shall for ever lie under in hell; that wrath, which by virtue of the curse, shall come upon them to the uttermost: the which, is the curse fully executed. This black cloud opens upon them, and the terrible thunder-bolt strikes

"

them by that dreadful voice from the throne, ❝ Depart from me, ye cursed," &c. Which will give the whole wicked world a dismal view of what is in the bosom of the curse. (1.) It is a voice of extreme indignation and wrath, a furious rebuke from the Lion of the tribe of Judah. His looks will be most terrible to them: His eyes will cast flames of fire on them; and his words will pierce their hearts like envenomed arrows. When he will thus speak them out of his presence for ever, and by his word, chase them away from before the throne; they will see how keenly wrath burns in his heart against them for their sins. (2.) It is a voice of extreme disdain and contempt from the Lord. Time was, when they were pitied, besought to pity themselves, and to be the Lord's; but they despised him, they would none of him: but now shall they be buried out of his sight, under everlasting contempt. (3.) It is a voice of extreme hatred. Hereby the Lord shuts them out of his bowels of love and mercy: Depart from me, ye cursed, q. d. I cannot endure to look at you; there is not one purpose of good to you in mine heart; nor shall ye ever hear one word more of hope from me. Lastly, It is a voice of eternal rejection from the Lord. He commands them to be gone, and so casts them off for ever, Thus the doors of heaven are shut against them; the gulf is fixed between them and it, and they are driven to the pit. Now should they cry with all possible earnestness, Lord, Lord, open to us; they will hear nothing but, Depart, depart, ye cursed. Thus shall the damned be shut up under the curse.

USE First, Let all these who, being yet in their natural state, and under the curse, consider this, and flee to Jesus Christ betimes, that they may be delivered from it. How can ye sleep in that state, being wrapt up in the curse! Jesus Christ is now saying unto you, Come, ye cursed; I will take the curse from off you, and give you the blessing, The waters of the sanctuary are now running, to heal the cursed ground; take heed to improve them for that end to your own souls, and fear it as hell, to get no spiritual advantage thereby. Remember that the miry places (which are neither sea, nor dry land, a fit emblem of hypocrites) and the marshies (that neither breed fishes, nor bear trees: but the waters of the sanctuary leave them as they find

them, in their barrenness) shall not be healed; (seeing they spurn the only remedy) they shall be given to salt, (left under eternal barrenness, set up for the monuments of the wrath of God, and concluded for ever under the curse,) Ezek. xlvii. 11. 2dly, Let all cursers consider this whose mouths are filled with cursing themselves and others. He that clothes himself with cursing, shall find the curse come into his bowels like water, and like oil into his bones, Psal. cix. 18. if repentance prevent it not. He shall get all his imprecations against him fully answered, in that day wherein he stands before the tribunal of God; and shall find the killing weight of the curse of God, which he makes light of now.

II. I proceed to speak of the misery of the damned under that curse: a misery which the tongues of men and angels cannot sufficiently express. God always acts like himself; no favours can be equal to his, and his wrath and terror are without a parrellel. As the saints in heaven are advanced to the highest pitch of happiness, so the damned in hell arrive at the height of misery. Two things here, I shall soberly enquire into; the punishment of loss, and the punishment of Sense, in hell. But since these also are such things as eye has not seen, nor ear heard, we must (as Geographers do) leave a large void for the unknown land, which the day will discover.

First, The punishment of Loss, which the damned shall undergo, is separation from the Lord; as we learn from the text: Depart from me ye cursed. This will be a stone upon their grave's mouth, as the talent of lead, Zech. v. 7, 8. that will hold them down for ever. They shall be eternally separated from God and Christ. Christ is the way to the Father: But the way, as to them, shall be everlastingly blocked up; the bridge shall be drawn, and the great gulf fixed; so shall they be shut up in a state of eter nal separation from God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. They will be locally separated from the man Christ, and shall never come into the seat of the blessed, where he appears in his glory, but be cast out into utter darkness, Matth. xxii. 13. They cannot indeed be locally separated from God; they cannot be in a place where he is not, since he is, and will be present every where: "If I make my bed in hell, says the Psalmist, behold thou art there," Psal.