Chapter V.
The Condemned.

Many are found who scoff at the declarations of Scripture in regard to the punishment of the condemned, and jest at its most solemn warnings; and there are others who seem to think that the subject should seldom, if ever, be discussed, and that God should only be viewed as the God of love. But in the word of Inspiration, we find the terrors of the Lord and the wonders of his grace exhibited together, and both of them portrayed in the clearest colours. The most awful threatenings are conjoined with the most affectionate entreaties; and it is after the thunders of Divine judgment have uttered their voices, and the dark cloud of vengeance has been made to pass before the eye, that the brilliant hues of the rainbow of promise shine forth from the gloom. We must also observe, that, without a description of the condition of the impenitent hereafter, the nature of Jehovah's dealings towards man would be very imperfectly made known, and the wisdom and beneficence of his counsel, in regard to his people, would be concealed. To this subject, therefore, however solemn and awful it may be, we shall now direct our attention, considering, in succession, the varied sources of that misery to which the wicked are doomed.

The condemned suffer in body.—That there shall be a resurrection, both of the just and of the unjust, we find repeatedly declared. Almost all the passages that speak of the judgment-day, tell us of the raising of the wicked, and of their standing before the throne. The appearance and properties of the bodies with which they arise are not described, but it is abundantly evident that they are destined to suffer. In most of the places in which reference is made to the future condition of the unbelievers, it is corporeal suffering that seems more immediately to be in view. "Everlasting fire," "fire that cannot be quenched," "a lake burning with brimstone and fire," are the terms employed. That these denote intense bodily sufferings is sufficiently clear; though they may have also a metaphorical meaning, and refer to anguish of mind. The expression "utter (or outer) darkness," is also used to describe the condition of the impenitent hereafter, and seems to imply that their habitation is in a place of gloom, where the eye seeks in vain for any object on which to rest, and where the apprehension of lurking danger is added to the pain of actual endurance.

The misery which these expressions denote must be extreme. There is no pain more severe than that which is caused by burning. If a drop of melted lead, or a spoonful of boiling water, fall on the skin, the suffering is very acute. What, then, must be the extent of agony endured by those who are represented as floating in a lake of burning brimstone, with fire above them, around them, and beneath them, while the eye is enveloped in darkness, and the discordant din of cursing, and weeping, and wailing, grates on their ear!

This is the bodily suffering of hell, if the words of Scripture be literally understood. It must be a scene of wo that is utterly appalling. We find many horrifying pictures of the regions below in the writings both of poets and theologians; but when they are calmly compared with the brief and simple descriptions given in the Bible, we find them utterly inadequate to convey any right idea of the extreme intensity of the anguish endured by the condemned.

If the statement in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus may be assumed as a proof that the condemned are acquainted with the scenes that are passing in heaven, we have in that a circumstance indicated which must prove an aggravation of their grief. If the eye beholds, beyond the gulf impassable, that heaven which was formerly offered, that glory which they once so madly despised, their soul must be filled with the bitterest feelings of remorse, envy, and despair. While their other senses convey to them intelligence of misery immediately surrounding them, their sight brings information of glory for ever lost, and the view of bliss departed, doubles, by the contrast which it presents, the sufferings they endure. Hell fills their soul with agony, and the view of heaven aggravates their doom.

They suffer in soul.—The punishment of a future state does not consist of bodily pains alone, the soul is punished too, and the torment which it endures may, with all probability, be regarded as far exceeding that which is borne by the corporeal frame. The soul, we believe, shall hereafter be possessed of all the powers and feelings with which it is now endowed; and if this be the case, it needs no depth of reasoning to show, that all will combine to work the sinner's wo. Memory, roused to activity by suffering, will call to mind the short-lived pleasures of earth, and contrasting them with the bitter consequences they produced, will tell of salvation scorned, and mercy despised, and of delusive hopes exchanged for despair. It will picture former scenes of sinful mirth, it will recall the laugh of the drunkard, the song of the thoughtless, and the giddy joy of the worldling, now turned to "weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth." Reason will measure, in equal scale, the pleasures of time and the sorrows of eternity, and will, at last, solve the problem so long neglected,— "What shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?" Conscience will set in array the multitude of sins that cry for condemnation, and unceasingly remind the offender that his doom is deserved, that God is just, and that the sufferer himself is alone to blame. And hope, that never left the miserable while on earth, that ever caught at some twig on which to hang, will stretch out its arms in expiring struggles, and cry in vain for aid, like the exhausted swimmer in his agony, as it sinks in the depths of despair.

The feelings which are excited by intercourse with others will, in like manner, be sources of wo.—The Scriptures do not inform us whether the natural affections will continue to operate in the finally condemned, but we have no reason for supposing, as some have done, that they will cease to exist. The love of society, conjugal affection, tenderness for children, and similar emotions, are as much parts of the human constitution as the faculties of the soul, or the limbs of the body; and we have no reason for supposing that so important a portion of our nature will be wanting in a future state. If the body is to be raised again, and reunited to the spirit, that the same person who sinned in soul and in body may in like manner suffer, we naturally conclude that those affections which have been so much perverted, and which have so often led away the heart from God, will be made, as justice requires, a means of punishment. These feelings, we may also observe, continue in the breast of the most profligate upon earth; they are not at all incompatible with sin and selfishness here, and there is no reason for supposing that they will be so hereafter.

If these feelings remain in the condemned, they will prove a very terrible source of righteous retribution. It is the contention of opposing feelings that produces the most bitter pain. The contest between good and evil within him, is, for example, the chief source of the believer's grief: "I find," says St. Paul, "a law in my members warring against the law of my mind;" and it is in reference to this inward contention that he says, "O wretched man that I am!" We may also allude to jealousy, the most painful of all emotions. It is neither hatred nor love, but arises from the union and contention of these two opposite feelings. The jealous husband loves his wife, and loves her with a strong affection, while he hates her as false and unkind. Had he no love to her, her infidelity might hurt his pride, but his jealousy would not be aroused. It is ardent affection, combining with a deep sense of injury and a desire of revenge, that awakens the flame, of which Solomon says so truly, "Jealousy is cruel as the grave; the coals thereof are coals of fire, which have a most vehement flame."

How terrible, then, must the contest be in the breast of hell's miserable inmate, where love and hate, selfishness and affection, contend together! He meets, we shall suppose, his former associates; he remembers the pleasure he once had in their company, and all the tenderness of former friendship revives; but when he looks on them as his companions in vice, as the agents in his temptation, the expressions of regard give place to cursing and reproach. He sees that his neighbour's torment is great, his affection is stirred, and he wishes that he could relieve him; but when he finds, or fancies, that it is less than his own, envy is roused to seek its increase. His sympathy would lead him to stretch out his hand to give the cordial embrace; but hatred and suspicion induce him to give in its stead the relentless blow.

Even though no other suffering were awarded to the sinner, yet, if left to himself, in the midst of others similar in nature, his sin would prove its own reward. Let any one who knows the desperate depravity of his own heart, or who is acquainted with the workings of human nature, give his mind to conceive the condition of a congregation of evil men, when all moral restraint is removed; when there is no fear of God or man to impress them with salutary dread, no hope of future good to induce obedience, and no virtuous beings intermingled among them to hold the balance against the evil; and it will then be evident that their state must be most miserable. Let the wicked arise, every man in his own likeness, in that nature with which he did not choose to part; let beauty, wit, and knowledge, and all that the world esteems, be there; let them dwell in a habitation blooming as paradise; let them be free from bodily suffering, and from the fear of death; even then there would be a hell within them that would fill their souls with anguish. There would be lust ever burning and never satisfied, and pride ever climbing and always on the ground, rage thirsting for blood and never appeased, and misery crying for death which never comes; there would be war, and havoc, rebellion, tyranny, imposture, and fraud, and all that proved the curse of man on earth in tenfold force. The cruelty of the savage, the lust of Sodom, the tyranny of the oppressor, would all revive. A hurricane of evil desires, a fierce torrent of hateful lusts, would sweep away all rest, remove every hope of peace, and make even paradise the dwelling of wo.

We may, therefore, easily conceive what will be the effect of evil passions, when they are not only set free from restraint, but excited by bodily suffering, and the direct infliction of pain, When sickness lays hold, even of the kind and considerate, how often do we see them become fretful and impatient, ready to find fault with the least neglect, and even to murmur against the friends that are doing all that they can to relieve them. Much more is this the case when all are suffering. When we read the history of those who have endured great privations, we find many instances in which misfortune and misery have not only irritated the temper, but, if we may so express ourselves, have deadened the affections of the man, and excited the passions of the fiend. If, then, the sufferings of earth produce effects such as these, who can calculate the evil influences that must arise from the woes of hell, and the misery of eternity?

We must also keep in mind the character of the companions with whom the sinner is doomed to abide. He departs "into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." He dwells with those evil spirits who allured him to sin, and whose counsel he followed rather than the commandment of God. And they continue hateful and hated as ever; they delight in the misery of their victims, and glory in their shame.

Sin has, moreover, a natural tendency to increase. All must have noticed the difference between the young offender and the hardened sinner. If, therefore, the love of evil increases even while men remain on earth, where there is so much to restrain it, where the hope of future enjoyment, the desire of man's esteem, and the fear of the Divine displeasure, all tend to check it; and, above all, where the Spirit exerts his restraining grace, it is evident that the most fearful progress in evil must be made, when every check is withdrawn, and the Holy One strives no more.

The hatred borne to God by the condemned will be the bitterest portion of their cup.—God is the great original source of life, and comfort, and joy. We must therefore conclude, that when he says, "Depart," there will be an end to all peace and plea­sure, to all that makes existence desirable. But besides this punishment of loss, as it has been termed, their enmity to God will produce fruits of a directly painful kind. They look on him as their implacable foe, they feel his frown withering their soul, they know that he hath said, "There is no peace to the wicked;" they remember how he warned them, that he was "angry with the wicked every day," how he told them that he was "a consuming fire," and that it was "a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." They now experience the truth of these warnings, and the sentence, "Depart, ye cursed," thrills for ever through their ears. On earth they could forget Jehovah's presence; but in hell they are compelled to keep it in perpetual remembrance. They see multiplied evidences of his wisdom and power, they know that both are arrayed against them. They know that it is in vain to contend with an almighty arm, or to hide from an all-seeing eye. They feel assured that his holiness and truth, yea, even his mercy and love, are all combined against them; their heart therefore melts within them, and the gnashing of their teeth marks the intensity of their despair.

Nor is this all; as the sum of the commandments is to love the Lord, so the essence of sin is hatred of God. Even on earth "the carnal mind is enmity against God," though the unconverted man is under the restraining influences of the Holy Spirit. In hell that enmity must reign supreme, for all control will be taken away. If, therefore, the Redeemer has been crucified, his gospel hated, and his people persecuted, even in the world's day of grace; if Jehovah has been hated even when the bounties of his providence were universally diffused, and the riches of his redeeming love were freely offered, how great must be the fury wherewith the wicked rage against him, when his grace has turned to fiery indignation, and the frown of vengeance has chased away the tear of mercy and the look of love! Their hatred to God will be deep as the hell they inhabit, and intense as its brimstone flame.

The majesty of Jehovah scorches their souls, and his love, shewn forth in Christ, kindles the furnace into seven-fold fierceness. Were it possible for any one to visit the dreary regions of endless night, and pass through the suffering ranks of the damned, the bitter imprecations which they utter against the Lord would give him ample evidence of the anguish that is caused by their hate. Were any one there to whisper the name of God, the blasphemies of utter enmity would arise amid the moans of agony and the wailings of despair, harsh and loud above them all, like the crash of the thunder's peal in the midst of the storm. Were any one to speak of the great Jehovah, the discord of ten thousand tongues would tell how they abhor him; were the name of the Redeemer to be mentioned, all hell would unite in fearful chorus,—blaspheming his goodness, and his redeeming grace.

All this, let us remember, is the natural fruit of transgression. This is merely the consequence of giving the sinner his will. He says to God, "Depart from me, I desire not the knowledge of thy ways," and the Lord, in righteous judgment, grants him his request, and leaves him alone. He withdraws the influences of his Spirit, and lets him drink his fill of the cup of iniquity. And it is the sin that he loved and desired that "biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder." To hate the God of love with the whole heart and soul, is at once the essence of sin, and the perfection of wo.

The sufferings of the impenitent are eternal.—We shall not stop to notice the cavils of those who object to the statements of Scripture, in regard to the everlasting sufferings of the condemned. That solemn doctrine may not be agreeable to the ideas which some men form of God; but it is plainly revealed in the sacred record, and our object is not to paint such a picture of the Creator as may please the corrupt taste of the fallen man, but to delineate his likeness, as that is portrayed in the record of truth.

We there are told that the condemned " shall go away into everlasting punishment," that "their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." They "shall not see life," and into the holy city they "shall in no wise enter."

When we reflect on the wo which is the portion of the sinner hereafter, when we attempt to realize its nature and its intensity, we are led to exclaim, "Oh, who could endure it for a life­time, short as that now given to man on earth! Who could bear it for a year, or even a day!" Were earth, with all its pleasures and its glories, held forth as the reward to be earned by a single day's endurance of such inconceivable pain, who would consent to undergo it? Were the prison-door to be opened, were a way of escape for the sinner provided, could all that earth can promise, or all that time can bestow, induce him to remain for another hour? Ah, no! an hour of hell would be a price far too great for all that the world contains.

But there is no escape: the door is never opened. The punishment denounced against them endureth for ever.

The condemned are cast into the abyss, the pit that has no bottom. There they sink deeper, deeper, and deeper, yet never reach the uttermost depth. They go on increasing in wo, for ever and ever!

Their bodies, like the bush which Moses saw, are ever burn­ing and never consumed; they suffer unceasingly the agonies of "the second death," and never die!

Scripture leads us also to expect, that there shall be different degrees of punishment hereafter, according to the extent of guilt that has been incurred. "That servant which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall much be required." The sin of neglected privileges is more especially referred to as an aggravation of guilt, that calls for a corresponding increase of punishment. "And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell; for if the mighty works which have been done in thee had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say unto unto you, it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for thee."

Without entering farther into the subject of the future punishment of the condemned, the remarks already made are sufficient to shew us how terribly true the statements of the Apostle are, when he says, "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." We find in them also, a more than sufficient argument for considering, with earnest solemnity, the inquiry of the Prophet, "Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?"