OF THE FINAL STATE OF THE WICKED.

WHEN the judgment is finished, and the sentence pronounced, the wicked will go into everlasting punishment, Mait. xxv. 46. What that punishment will be, and the du ration of it, are the things to be considered.

I. Prove that there will be a state of punishment of wicked men in the future world. There is a punishment of the wicke d in their souls, which takes place at death; as appears from the parable of the rich man, Luke xvi. 23. this will apar-1. From the light of nature among the heathens; being owned and spoken of, not only by their poets, but by their philosophers, and those the more wise, grave, and serious among them. Tertulian, charges the heathens with borrowing these things from the sacred writings. "When we speak of God as a Judge, and threaten men with hell-fire, we are laughed at: but, says he, the poets and the philosophers erect a tribunal in hell, and speak of a river of fire there: from whence says he, I beseech you, have they such like things, but from our mysteries?" 2. A state of punish. ment hereafter, appears from the impressions of guilt and wrath on the conscience of men now. Cicero says, “Every man's sins distress him; their evil thoughts and consciences terrify them; these, to the ungodly, are their daily and do mestic furies, which haunt them day and night." Such may be observed in Cain, Pharaoh, Judas, and other wicked per sons. 3. This may be argued from the justice of God. Jus tices does not take place in this world; it seems, therefore, but just and reasonable, that there should be a change of things. 4. This is abundantly evident from divine revelation, Psal. ix. 17. Matt, v. 2230. 5. This may be farther confirmed, from the examples of persons that already endure the punishment, as the fallen angels, Rev. xx. 10. The men of the old world, 1 Pet. iii. 19, 20. And the men of Sodom, Jude

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II. The names, words, and phrases, by which the place and state of future punishment are expressed; will still give a

further proof of it. 1. The names of the place; the scrip tures make mention of it as a place of torment, Luke xvi. 28. and Judas is said to go to his own place. 1. It is called de struction, Rev. ix. 11. 2. Another name or word by which it is expressed, is Sheol, which is often rendered the grave; as in Gen. xlii. 38. yet in some places it seems as if it could not be understood of that, but of the state or place of punishment of the wicked; as in Psal. ix. 17 .The wicked shall be turned into hell: the phrase being turned into it, denotes indigna tion, contempt, and shame. 3. Another name for hell is, Tophet; which was a place in the valley of the son of Hinnom, where the Israelites burnt their sons and their daughters in the fire, sacrificing them to Molech; and that the cries of the infants might not be heard to affect their parents, drums, or tabrets, were beat upon during the time: and from hence the place the name of Tophet, Toph signifying a drum, or tabret, Jer. vii. 31, 32. Tophet is ordained of old, &c. Isai. xxx. 33. 4. From Gehinnom, the valley of Hinnom, where Tophet was, is the word used in the New Testament, geenna, Matt. v. 22-30. where, as Diodorus Siculus relates, the inhabitants had a statue of Saturn, whose hands were put in such a posi tion, that when children were put into them, they rolled down, and fell into a chasm, full of fire, a fit emblem of the fire of hell. 5. Sometimes this place is called the deep abyss, or bottomless pit, Rev. ix. 1, 11. 6. Another name is Hades, which signifies an invisible state, a state of darkness. The gates of hell, in Matt. xvi. 18 must mean something else, and not s of the grave. 7. Another word by which it is expressed, is Tartarus; and this also but in one place, and comprehended in a verb there used, 2 Pet. ii 4. God spared not the angels that sinned; but tartarosis, cast them down to tartarus, or hell. 11. There are words and phrases by which the future punishment of the wicked is expressed; and which may serve to give a further account of the nature of it.-1. It is repre sented as a prison; the spirits that were disobedient in the days of Noah, are expressly said to be in prison, 2 Pet. i. 4. 2. It is spoken of as a state of darkness, outer darkness, Matt.

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viii. 12. 3. It is set forth by fire, Matt, v. 21. a furnace of fire, Matt. xiii. 42, 50. 4. It is expressed by a worm that never dies, Mark ix. 44—48. 5. This is what is called the second death, Rev. xxi. 8. 6. A variety of phrases is used, to signify the terribleness of the future punishment of the wicked; as by tearing them in pieces, as a lion tears his prey; by cutting them asunder, in allusion to punishments of this kind, as Agag was hewed to pieces by Sammuel; or to sacrifices, cut up when offered as victims; and by drowning men in perdition, which denotes the utter destruction of them; and by weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth, through grief, malice, and envy. 7. By the wrath of God, which comes upon the children of disobedience.

III. The species and sorts of that punishment; or the parts of which it consists, and wherein it lies: it is usually distinguished into pana damne, punishment of loss; and pana sensus, punishment of sense. 1. There is the punishment of loss, which will consist of a privation of all good things. 1. Of God the chiefest good. 2. Of Christ, the light and life of men, the light of grace, and the light of glory. 3. Of the grace, peace, and joy of the Holy Ghost, of which they are destitute now, and will for ever be deprived of it. 4. Of the company of angels and saints: they will be tormented in the presence of the angels, without receiving any benefit by them, or relief from them, they will not have the least pity shewn them by God, angles or men; God will mock at their destruction; angels will applaud his righteous judgment, and the holy apostles and prophets, and all the saints, will rejoice over them, because of the justice of God being glorified by it. 5. Of the kingdom of heaven, from whence they will be excluded, and of the glories and joys of it, of which they will be for ever deprived. 11. There is the punishment of sense, 1. The body: hence which will lie both in body and soul. we often read of the whole body, and of the several members of it with it, being cast into hell, Mark ix. 43-47. 2. The soul will be filled with a sense of wrath, which will be poured forth on the wicked, and burn like fire, Psal. lxxix. 5.

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IV. The degrees of this punishment; for it seems such there will be, since wicked men will be judged, and so punish. ed, according to their evil works, whether more or fewer, greater or lesser. It will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon, for Sodom and Gomorrah, than for many, Matt. xi. 20, 21.

What remains to be considered is, the duration of the punishment of the wicked in hell. It will always continue and never have an end, and is therefore called everlasting punishment, and everlasting destruction, Matt. xxv. 46. 2 Thess. i. 9. and this will admit of proof both from reason and revela. tion, from the light of nature, and from the sure word of prophecy. Lucretius says, that the fears of eternal punishment after death, were the cause of all the troubles and miseries of human life, until Epicurus, a man of Greece rose up, and delivered men from those fears and fancies, so that, according to him, till the times of Epicurus, this sentiment had always obtained among the heathens. From the sacred scriptures the eternity of future punishment is abundantly evident: as, 1. From the punishment of the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah. Those cities are now suffering the vengeance of eternal fire, Jude 7. 2. From the sense and fears of sinners in Zion, expressed in Isai. xxxiii. 14. The sinners in Zion are afraid; who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings? 3. From the resurrection of the dead, and the issue of it, as described in Dan. xii. 2. Some of whom awake to everlasting life, and some to everlasting contempt. 4. From the sentence pronounced on the wicked, Matt. xxv. 41. to depart into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil, and his angels. 5. From the execution of the sentence, Matt. xxv. 46. These shall go away into everlasting punishment; as the happiness of the saints in heaven is everlasting, and there is no reason to believe it ever will have an end; so the punishment of the wicked in hell will be everlasting. The opposition of the two states of the respective persons requires, that it should be understood in the same sense, and as of equal extent. 6.

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From the immortality of the soul. The soul of man is immortal, as has been abundantly proved; if therefore it is immortal, and lives for ever, it must be for ever either happy or miserable. 7. From the parts of future punishment; the punishment of loss, and the punishment of sense. The loss of all good sustained will be irretrievable; and the sense of pain and torment without intermission. 8. From an incapacity of ever being relieved, the door of the gospel will be shut. 9. From the impossibility of an escape, or a remove out of it. The place of torment is bounded by a great gulf. The hea thens themselves represent Hades and Tartarus so closely locked and shut up, that there is no return from thence*. 10. From the perfections of God: The veracity and the justice of God require it. It is pretended by some, as if it was contrary to the justice of God, that a transient, temporary action, as sin is, should be everlastingly punished. To which it may be replied, that though sin, as an action, is a transient one, yet the evil, the guilt, the demerit of sin continue, unless purged by the blood of Christ, and atoned for by his sacrifice. Besides, sin is continued to be committed in a future state, as blasphemy, malice, envy, and the like; and therefore as they continue to be committed, it is but just that the wrath of God should remain upon them: moreover, though sin is a finite action, yet it is, objectively, infinite, as committed against an infinite Being; and therefore justly is punished with the loss of an infinite good.

OF THE FINAL STATE OF THE SAINTS.

In treating on this state, I shall take much the same meth. od as in the preceding chapter. I shall,

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I. Prove that there will be a state of happiness of good men in the world to come. And this may be made to appear in some respect, 1. From the light of nature and reason. general notion of happiness after death has obtained among the wiser sort of heathens. They speak of the Elysian fields, and islands of the blessed, grassy plains, and flowery meads,

Homer, Iliad 8. y. 15.