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comę: but then they fhall be driven away from him, when they would gladly abide with him. Although the queftion, "What is "thy beloved more than another beloved?" is frequent now amongst the defpifers of the gofpel, there will be no fuch question among all the damned crew; for then they will fee that man's happiness is only to be found in the enjoyment of God, and that the lofs of him is a loss that can never be balanced. (2) It will also be a total and utter feparation. Albeit the wicked are in this life feparated from God, yet there is a kind of intercourfe betwixt them: he gives them many good gifts, and they give him, at least, fome good words: fo that the peace is not altogether hopeless. But then there fhall be a total feparation, the damned being caft into utter darkness, where there will not be the leaft gleam of light or favour from the Lord: the which will put an end unto all their fair words to him. Lastly, It fhall be a final feparation: they will part with him, never more to meet, being thut up under everlasting horror and defpair. The match betwixt Jefus Chrift and unbelievers, which has fo often been carried forward, and put back again, fhall then be broken ap for ever: and never fhall one meffage of favour or good-will go betwixt the parties any more.

This punishment of lofs, in a total and final separation from God, is a mifery beyond what mortals can conceive, and which the dreadful experience of the damned can only fufficiently unfold. But that we may have fome conception of the horror of it, let the following things be confidered.

ift, God is the chief good, and therefore to be feparated from him must be the chief evil. Our native country, our relations, and our life, are good: and therefore, to be deprived of them, we reckon a great evil: and the better any thing is, fo much the greater evil is the lofs of it: wherefore God being the chief good, and no good comparable to him, there can be no lofs fo great as the lofs of God. The full enjoyment of him is the highest pinacle of happiness the creature is capable of arriving at: to be fully and finally feparated from him mult then be the lowest step of mifery which the rational creature must be reduced to. To be caft off by men. by good men, by the beft of men, is heavy: what muft it then be, to be rejected of God, of goodness itself!

2dly, God is the fountain of all goodness, from which all goodness flows unto the creatures, and by which it is continued in them, and to them.. Whatever goodness or perfection, natural as well as moral, is in any creature, it is from God, and depends upon him, as the light is from, and depends on the fun: for every created being, as fuch, is a dependent one Wherefore a total feparation from God, wherein all comfortable communication betwixt God and a rational creature is abfolutely blocked up, muft of neceffity bring along with it a total eclipfe of all light of comfort and ease whatfoever. If there is but one window, or open place, in a house, and that be quite shut up; it is evident

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there can be nothing but darkness in that houfe. Our Lord tells us, (Matth. xix. 17.) There is none good but one, that is God. Nothing good or comfortable is originally from the creature: whatever good or comfortable thing one finds in one's felf, as health of body, peace of mind; whatever fweetnefs, reft, pleasure, or delight, one finds in other creatures, as in meat, drink, arts and fciences: all thefe are but fome faint rays of the divine perfections, communicate from God unto the creature, and depending on a conftant influence from him, for their converfation, which failing they would immediately be gone; for it is 'impoffible that any created thing can be to us more or better than what God makes it to be. All the rivulets of comfort we drink of, within or without our felves. come from God as their spring head: the courfe of which toward us being ftopt, of neceffity they must all dry up. So that when God goes, all that is good and comfortable goes with him all eafe and quiet of body or mind, Hof. ix. 12. Wo alfo to them, when I depart from them. When the wicked are totally and finally feparated from him, all that is comfortable in them, or about them, returns to its fountain, as the light goes away with the fun, and darkness fucceeds in the room thereof. Thus, in their Seperation from God, all peace is removed far away from them, and pain in body and anguish of foul fucceed to it: all joy goes, and unmixed forrow fettles in them all quiet and reft feparate from them, and they are filled with horror and rage: hope flées away, and defpair seizeth them, common operations of the Spirit, which now reftrain them, are withdrawn for ever, and fin comes to its utmoft heighth. And thus we have a difinal view of the horrible fpectacle of fin and mifery, which a creature proves, when totally feparated from God, and left to itself; and one may fee this feparation to be the very hell of hell.

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Being feparated from God, they are deprived of all good. The good things, which they fet their heart upon in this world, are beyond their reach there. The covetous man cannot enjoy his wealth there, nor the ambitious man his honours, nor the fenfual man his pleasures, no not a drop of water, to cool his tongue, Luke xyi. 34, 35. No meat nor drink there to ftrengthen the faint; no fleep to refresh the weary; and no mufick, nor pleafant company to comfort and chear up the forrowful. And as for thefe good things they defpifed in the world, they fhall never more hear of them, nor fee them. No offers of Chrift there, no pardons, no peace; no wells of falvation in the pit of deftruction. In one word, they fhall be deprived of whatsoever might comfort them, being totally and finally feparated from God, the fountain of all goodnefs.

3dly, Man naturally defires to be happy, being withal confcious to himfelf that he is not felf-fufficient; and therefore has ever a defire of fomething, without himfelf, to make him happy: and the foul being, by its natural make and conflitution, capable of enjoying God, and nothing elfe being commenfiurable to its defires; it can never have true and folid reft, till it reft in the enjoyment of God. This defire of happi

nefs the rational creature can never lay afide, no rot in hell. Now while the wicked are on earth, they feek, their fatisfaction in the creature; and when one fails, they go to another: thus they put off their time in the world, deceiving their own fouls, and luring them on with vain hopes. But, in the other world, all comfort in the creatures having failed together at once; and the fhadows they are now purfuing, having all of them evanished in a moment; they fhall be totally and finally feparated from God, and fee they have thus loft him. A So the doors of earth and heaven both are fhut against them at once. This will create them unfpeakable anguifh, while they fhall live under an eternal gnawing hunger after happiness, which they certainly know fhall never be in the leaft measure satisfied, all doors being clofed on them. Who then can imagine how this feparation from God fhall cut the damned to the heart! How will they rore and rage under it, and how it will fting them and gnaw them through the ages of eternity! 4thly, The damned fhall know that fome are perfectly happy in the enjoyment of that God, from whom they themselves are feparate: And this will aggravate the fenfe of their lofs, that they can never have any fhare with the fe happy ones. Being feparated from God, they are separated from the fociety of the glorified faints and angels. They may fee Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bofom, (Luke xvi. 23.) but can never come into their company: being, as unclean lepers, thruft out without the camp and excommunicated from the prefence of the Lord, and of all his holy ones. It is the opinion of fome, that every person in heaven or hell, fhall hear and fee all that paffeth in either ftate. Whatever is to be faid of this, we have ground from the word to conclude, that the damned fhall have a very exquifite knowledge of the happiness of the faints in heaven; for what elfe can be meant by the rich man in hell his fecing Lazarus in Abraham's bofom? One thing is plain in this cafe, that their own torments will give them fuch notions of the happiness of the faints, as a fick man has of health, or a prifoner has of liberty. And as they cannot fail of reflecting on the happiness of those in heaven more than they can attain to contentment with their own lot: fo every thought of that happiness will aggravate their lofs. It would be a mighty torment to a hungry man, to fee others liberally feafting, while he is fo chained up, as he cannot have one crumb to stay his gnawing appetite. To bring mufic and dancing before a man labouring under extreme pains, would but increase his anguith; how then will the fongs of the bleffed, in their enjoyment of God, make the damned rore under their feparation from him!

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5thly, They will remember that time was, when they might have been made partakers of the bleffed fate of the faints, in their enjoyment of God: and this will aggravate their fenfe of the lofs. All may remember, there was once a poffib lity of it; that fometime they were in the world, in fome corners of which the way of falvation was laid open to mens view; and may wish they had gone round the world,

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till they had found it out. Defpifers of the gofpel will remember with bitterness, that Jefus Chrift with all his benefits was offered to them; that they were exhorted, intreated, and preffed to accept, but would not; and that they were warned of the mifery they feel, and obtefted to flee from the wrath to come, but they would not hearken. The gofpel-offer flighted, will make a hot hell; and the lofs of an offered heaven will be a finking weight on the fpirits of unbelievers in the pit. Some will remember that there was a probability of their being eternally happy; that fometime they feemed to ftand fair for it, and were not far from the kingdom of God; that they had once almoft confented to the bleffed bargain, the pen was in their hand (as it were) to fign the marriage-contract betwixt Chrift and their fouls; but unhappily they dropped it, and turned back from the Lord to their lufts again. And others will remember that they thought themfelves fure of heaven, but, being blinded with pride and felf-conceit, they were ahove ordinances, and beyond inftruction, and would not exantine their state, which was their ruin: but then they thall in vain with, they had reputed themselves the worst of the congregation in which they lived and curfe the fond conceit they had of themselves, and that others had of them too. Thus it will fting the damned, that they might have escaped this lofs.

Liftly, They will fee the lofs to be irrecoverable; that they must eternally ly under it, never, never to be repaired. Might the damned, after millions of ages in hell regain what they have loft, it would be fome ground of hope: but the prize is gone, and can never be recovered. And there are two things here, which will pierce them to the heart. (1.) That they never knew the worth of it, till it was irrecoverably loft. Should a man give away an earthen pot full of gold for a trifle, never knowing what was in it till it were quite gone from him, and paft recovery: how would this foolish action gall him, upon the difcovery of the riches in it! fuch a one's cafe may be a faint refemblance of the cafe of defpifers of the gofpel, when in hell they lift up their eyes, and behold that, to their torment, which they will not fee now, to their falvation. (2.) That they have loft it for lofs and dung: fold their part of heaven, and not inriched themselves with the prize. They loft heaven for earthly profits and pleafures, and now both are gone together from them. The drunkard's cups are gone, the covet.. ous man's gain, the voluptuous man's carnal delights, and the fluggard's eafe: nothing is left them to comfort them now. The happi. nefs they loft remains indeed, but they can have no part in it for ever. USE. Sinners, be perfuaded to come to God through Jesus Christ, uniting with him through a Mediator: that ye may be preferved from this fearful feparation from him. O be afraid to live in a ftate of fepa ration from God, left that which ye now make your choice, become your eternal punishment hereafter! Do not reject communion with God, caft not off the communion of faints; for it will be the mifery of the damned to be driven out from that communion. Ceafe to build

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up the wall of feparation betwixt God and you, by continuing in your finful-courfes: repent rather in time, and fo pull it down; left the cape-ftone be laid upon it, and it stand for ever between you and happinefs. Tremble at the thoughts of rejection and feparation from Gd. By whomfoever men are rejected on the earth, they ordinarily find fome pity to them; but if ye be thus feparated from God, ye will find all doors fhut against you. Ye will find no pity from any in heaven: neither faints nor angels will pity them whom God has utterly caft off: none will pity you in hell, where there is no love but lothing; all being lothed of God, lothing him, and lothing one another. This is a day of loffes and fears. I fhew you a lofs, ye would do well to fear in time; be afraid left you lofe God: if ye do, a long eternity will be fpent in roring out lamentations for this lofs. O horrid stupidity! men are in a mighty care and concern to prevent worldly loffes: but they are in hazard of lofing the enjoyment of God for ever and ever, in hazard of lofing heaven, the communion of the bleffed, and all good things for foul and body in another world: yet as careless in that matter, as if they were uncapable of thought. O! compare this day with the day our text aims at. This day is heaven opened to them, who hitherto have rejected Chrift, and yet there is room, if they will come: but that day the doors fhall be fhut. Now Chrift is faying unto you, Come: then he will fay, Depart: feeing ye would not come, when ye were bidden. Now pity is fhown: the Lord pitiès you, his fervants pity you, and tell you, that the pit is before you, and cry to you, that ye do yourselves no harm: but then ye fhall have no pity from God

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Secondly, The damned fhall be punished in hell (with the punishment of fenfe) they must depart from God into everlasting fire. I am not in a mind to difpute, what kind of fire it is which they fhall depart into, and be tormented by for ever, whither a material fire, or not? Experience will more than fatisfy the curiofity of those who are difpofed rather to dispute about it, than to feek how to escape it Neither will I meddle with that question. Where it is? It is enough, that the worm which never dieth, and the fire that is never quenched, will be found fomewhere by impenitent finners. But (1.) I shall evince that, whatever kind of fire it is; it is more vehement and terrible than any fire, we, on earth, are acquainted with. (2.) I fhall condefcend on fome properties of these fiery torments.

As to theft, of thefe; burning is the most terrible punishment, and brings the most exquifite pain and torment with it. By what reward could a man be induced to hold but his hand in the flane of a candle for an hour? All imaginary pleasures on earth would never prevail with the most voluptuous man, to venture to lodge but one half hour in a burning fiery furnace; nor would all the wealth in the world prevail with the mofl covetous to do it.. Yer, on much lower terms, do molt men, in eff ct, expofe themselves to everlafling fire in hell, which is more vehement and terrible

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