upon them, Go, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels; which though it be of a horrible import, will appear so just, considering the horrible things which have been charged and proved against them, that it will be immediately seconded with the unanimous suffrage of all that bright corona of glorified saints that sit as assessors round the throne, who with one consent will all cry out together, Just and righteous art thou, O Judge of the world, in all thy ways. But O the fearful shrieks and lamentations that will then be heard from those poor condemned creatures! For if a Lord have mercy upon thee, a Take him, jailor, from an earthly judge, be able to extort so many sighs and tears from a hardened malefactor, what will a Go ye cursed do from the mouth of the righteous Judge of the world, and when so many millions of men and women shall be all involved together in the same doom, and all at once lamenting their dismal fate? Lord, what a horrible outcry will they make! Now in the bitter agonies of their souls they will cry to heaven for mercy, mercy: but alas! poor souls, they cry too late; their Judge was once as importunate with them to have mercy upon themselves: but because when he called, they refused; when he stretched forth his hands, they regarded not; now when they call, he will not answer; when they cry, he will not hear, but will laugh at their calamity, as they did at his counsel, and mock when their fear and destruction is come upon them.

5. And lastly, Another particular implied in this judgment of the wicked is the execution of their For immediately after their sentence is passed, by which they stand doomed to everlasting

sentence.

fire, an everlasting fire shall be kindled round about them, a fire which within a few moments shall spread itself over all this lower world, and convert the whole atmosphere about us into a furnace of inquenchable flames. For then all those fiery particles which are everywhere intermingled with these terrestrial bodies, and have hitherto been kept within their proper limits, shall be disentangled and set free from those more gross and sluggish ones that now bind and fix them, and swarm together like so many sparks into one huge globe of fire, which from the lowermost centre of the earth shall spire up and kindle upon all that airy heaven above, and with one continued flame fill all the vast expansum; all that fiery matter which is now dispersed up and down within the entrails of the earth shall by degrees gather together into rivers of fire, which, rolling to and fro within, to force their way into the open air, will perhaps produce those prodigious earthquakes of which our Saviour speaks, by which at length the earth being cleft and torn, it shall everywhere vomit out torrents of fire from its flaming bowels ; and at the same time the sea shall boil and swell, and roar like water in a seething pot, till it is all evaporated by the struggling flames from below, which, having rarefied its waters into vapours, shall kindle those vapours into flames; and at the same time also the heavens above shall groan and crack with incessant thunder, accompanied with thick and fearful flashes of lightning, which, joining with those vast streams of fire that will be continually issuing out of the earth and sea, will make such a prodigious deluge of flames, as will quickly overflow the whole world. For thus we are assured from scrip

ture, that the elements shall melt with fervent heat, and the earth, and the works that are therein, shall be burnt up, 2 Pet. iii. 10. So also St. John, in his vision of the day of judgment, Rev. xx. 11. I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found no place for them. Not that the matter of them shall be annihilated, but the form of them shall be destroyed by their being converted into an everlasting fire; and in this fire shall those condemned wretches live and suffer to eternal

ages. Hence it is called the vengeance of eternal fire; and we are told, that it will be in flaming fire that the Lord Jesus will render vengeance to all that know not God, and obey not his gospel, 2 Thess. i. 8. And that this flaming fire shall be the conflagration of the world, that of St. Peter seems plainly to imply, 2 Pet. iii. 7. But the heavens and the earth, which are now,-are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men; and being reserved unto fire against the day of perdition of ungodly men, we may justly conclude that the fire it is reserved to will be the perdition of ungodly men. Thus, upon our Saviour's pronouncing those dreadful words, Go, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, the persons concerned will immediately perceive the dire effects; for all on a sudden they will see the clouds from above, and the earth from beneath, casting forth torrents of fire upon them, which in an instant will set all the world in a blaze about their ears: at the sight of which all this wretched world will be turned into a mournful stage of horrors, in which the miserable actors, being seized with inexpressible

amazement to see themselves all on a sudden encompassed on every side with flames, will raise a hideous roar and outcry; millions of burning men and women shrieking together; and their noise shall mingle with the archangel's trumpet, with the thunders of the dying and groaning heaven, and the crack of the dissolving world, that is sinking into eternal ruins. In which miserable state of things, whither can the poor creatures fly, or where can they hope to find a sanctuary? If they go up to the tops of the mountains, there they are but more openly exposed to the dreadful lightnings of heaven; if they go down into the holes and caverns of the rocks, there they will be swallowed up in the burning furnaces of the earth; if they descend into the deep, there they will be soon overtaken with a storm of fire and brimstone; and wherever they go, the vengeance of God will still pursue them with its everlasting burnings. And thus having no retreat left them, no avenue to escape out of this burning world, here they must remain for ever surrounded with smoke, and fire, and darkness, and wrapped in fierce and merciless flames, which, like a shirt of burning pitch, will stick close to, and pierce through and through their passive bodies, and for ever prey upon, but never consume them.

And now the almighty Judge having seen his dread sentence executed, will arise from his throne, and from thence return to the seat of the blessed, in a solemn and glorious triumph, with all his holy myriads of angels and saints, who, as they follow him through the air and ether, will, with loud hosannahs and triumphant acclamations, celebrate the praises of their Redeemer. Thus shall the ransomed

of the Lord return with him with songs to the heavenly Zion, and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads, and everlasting praises in their mouths. For being arrived into those blissful regions, there, in those glorified bodies which they put on at their resurrection, they shall live for ever in unspeakable pleasures and delights, and be entertained, not only with all that happiness which they enjoyed in the state of their separation, when they were only blessed spirits, but also with all the satisfaction and delights that their glorified bodies can require and enjoy. So that now their blessedness shall be consummate, and all the capacities of their human nature, compounded of body and soul, shall be fulfilled with bliss, till they overflow, and can contain no more. But .wherein the happiness of their glorified bodies shall consist, I shall not presume to inquire, the scripture being silent concerning it. And what the happiness of their souls shall be hath been shewn at large before, vol. i. part 1. chap. 3, 4. So that as to that state of eternal life, in which our Saviour shall place his faithful servants in the conclusion of this great judgment, I need say no more of it in this place.

SECT. XII.

Concerning the conclusion and surrender of the kingdom of Christ.

WHEN our Saviour hath finished that last and most glorious act of royalty, viz. judging the world, and hath finally condemned to everlasting fire the irreclaimable enemies of God, and crowned all his faithful subjects with eternal glory and beatitude, the apostle tells us, he shall deliver up the king