Luke 16. Chap. 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24 Verses.

There was a certain Rich man, which was cloathed in Purples and fine Linen, and fared sumptuously every day.

And there was a certain Begger named La­zarus; which was laid at his Gate, full of sores.

And desired to be fed with the Crumbs which fell from the Rich mans Table: moreover the Dogs came and licked his Sores.

And it came to Pass that the Begger dyed, and was carried by Angells into Abrahams bosome: the Rich man also died and was buried:

And in Hell he lift up his eyes being in tor­ments, and seeth Abraham a far off, and Lazarus in his bosome.

And he cryed, and said; Father Abraham have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.

I Shall at this time speak only to the 23, and 24 Verses of this Chapter, viz.

And in Hell he lift up his eyes, being in tor­ments, and seeth Abraham a far off, and Lazarus in his bosome.

And he cryed, and said, Father Abraham have mercy upon me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water to cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.

The former Verse speaks of the Depar­ture of the ungodly out of this life, toge­ther with the glorious conduct that the godly have into the Kingdom of Heaven; in this verse, our blessed Lord doth shew what shall befall the Reprobate after this life is ended, and in Hell he lift up his eyes, from which words may be observed these things.

First, That there is an Hell for Souls to be tormented in when this life is ended; [Page 3]for after this Rich-man was dead and buried, In Hell he lift up his eyes.

Secondly, That all that are ungodly and live and die in their sins, so soon as ther they die, they go into Hell: He died, and was bu­ried, and in Hell he lift up his eyes.

Thirdly, That there be some that are so fast asleep and secure in their sins, that they know not where they are, till they come into Hell: which may be gathered from these words, In Hell he lift up his eyes, before he was fast asleep.

Secondly, That all the ungodly that live and die in their sins, so soon as ever they depart this life, do descend into hell. This appeared plainly in the words of this Parable: where Christ saith, the Rich man died and was buried: and in Hell he lift up his eyes. As the Tree falls so it lies, whether it be to Heaven or Hell, Eccles. 11.3. And as Christ said to the Thief on the Cross; This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise, even so the Divel in like manner may say unto the Souls of wicked Men and Women: To morrow shalt thou be with me in Hell.

O behold and see all you impenitent Sin­ners, what a miserable condition you will be in, if you dye in your sins.

Oh Friends, if you were but your selves, you would have a care of your souls. O what will it profit thy soul to have pleasure in this life, and torments in Hell, Mark 8.36, O then do not neglect our Lord Iesus Christ, lest thou drop down into Hell, Heb. 2.3. Consider, would it not wound thee to thine heart, to come upon thy death-bed, and instead of having the comfort of a well spent life, and the mercyes of the Lord Iesus Christ; to have nothing but the sight of an ill-spent life, and thy sins staring thee in the face: thy Conscience like Thunder chafes against thee: the thoughts of God terrify­ing of thee: Death with his merciless paw seizing upon thee: the Devil standing ready to carry away thy soul: and Hell enlarging her self, and ready to swallow thee up: and Eternity of Misery and Torments attend­ing upon thee, from which there is no re­lease, Rev. 6.8, And I looked and behold a Pale Horse, and his name that sat thereon was Death, and Hell followed him, O miserable Comforters, Oh Dreadful Socie­ty, here comes Death and Hell unto thee; it is near thee, so it will come.

Blessed are those that through Faith in [...]esus Christ do escape the Soul-Murthering Companions.

Thirdly, That some are so fast asleep in their sins, that they scarce know where they [...]re until they come to Hell.

And this is too much known, to woeful and daily experience: sometimes when we go to visit them that are sick in Towns and Pla­ces where we live; Oh how senseless are they; how seared is their Conscience, they are not sensible of Heaven or Hell, of Sin or a Saviour; speak to them of their Souls, and you shall find them as ignorant as if they had no souls to regard.

But sirs, you may observe, that the time of the ungodly mens smarting for their sins, will be in the torments of Hell: and now I am put to a stand, when I con­sider the torments of Hell, into which the Damned do fall: O unspeakable and end­less torments; and that thy soul might be made to flee from these intollerable Torments, I shall shew you briefly what these torments of Hell are, by the names of it.

Secondly, by the sad estate thou wilt be in it thou comest there.

First, 'Tis called a never dying worm, Mark 9.

It is called an Oven, fire hot, Mal. 4.11. It is called a Furnace, a fiery Furnace▪ Mat. 18.

It is called the bottomless Pit, the un­quenchable fire, fire and Brimstone, Hell-fire, the Lake of fire, everlasting fire, a stream of fire, Rev. 21.

First, one part of thy torments will be this, thou shalt have a full sight of thy ill-spent life, from first to last; thou here forget'st thy fins, but there thou shalt be made to re­member how thou didst sin against God; in such a place, and at such a time, and with such a one: and this will be a Hell unto thee, Psal. 50.21. God will set them in order be­fore thine eyes.

Secondly, Thou shalt have the guilt of them all lye heavy on thy soul; here men can sometimes think of their sins with delight, but there the thinking of them will be un­speakable torments.

Thirdly, thou shalt have brought into thy remembrance the slighting of the Gospel of Christ, here thou shalt consider how willing Christ was to come into the World to save sinners, and for how small a trifle thou didst reject him, Isa. 28.16. This will be a tor­ment to thee, when thou considerest what gracious proffers and sweet invitations thou hast had, and that thou rejected them, and preferred thy sins before thy Saviour. Oh the consideration of this, I say, will be a tor­ment unto thee.

Fourthly, Another part of thy Torment will be this; thou shalt see thy Friends, thy acquaintance, thy Neighbours; nay, it may be thy Father and Mother; thy Wife, thy Husband, thy Children, thy Brother, thy Sister, with others in the Kingdom of Hea­ven, and thy self thr [...]st out, Luke 13.18. There shall be weeping and wailing, &c. When you shall see Abraham (thy Father) and Isaac and Jacob, (together with your Brothers) the Prophets, in the Kingdom of Heaven, and your selves thrust out. O wor­derful Torment.

Fifthly, Thou shalt have none but a compa­ny [Page 8]of damned Souls, with an innumerable company of Devils, to keep Company with thee; whilst thou art in this World the very thoughts of the Devil appearing to thee makes thy flesh to tremble, and thy hair rea­dy to stand upright on thy head; but what wilt thou do when thou shalt have the real society of all the Devils in Hell howling & roaring and screetching in such a hidious manner that thou wilt be at thy wits ends and be ready to rum stark mad again for anguish & torments to torment thee to purpose, the mighty God of Heaven will lay as great wrath and ven­geance upon thee as ever be can by the might of his glorious power; thou shalt have his wrath not by drops, but by whole showers shall it come thundering upon thy body & soul so fast that thou shalt be tormented out of measure, 2 Thes. 1.9 speaking of the Wick­ed; Who shall be punished With Everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his Power.

Again, This thou shalt have without any intermission; thou shalt not have any ease, for their worm never dies but always gnaws, and their Fire is never quenched; and in this condition you must be for ever, and that is as sad as all the rest, for if a Man were to have his sine laid to his charge, and [Page 9] [...]s much wrath as the great God of Heaven [...] inflict upon him, I say, if it were but [...]or a time, even but for ten thousand years and [...] end, there would be ground of comfort, and [...]ope of deliverance; but here is the Misery, this is thy place for ever: when thou hast been there as many thousand years as there are Stars in the Firmament, or drops in the Sea, or Sand on the Sea shore; yet thou art never the nearer at an end: Oh this Word ever, how will it Torment thy cursed Soul.

Friends, I have given you a very touch of the torments of Hell, I am not able to utter what my mind conceives of the Tor­ment of Hell, yet this let mee say to thee Accept of Gods mercy through our Lord Ie­sus Christ, lest thou feel that with thy Con­science, which I cannot express with my tongue, and say, I am tormented in this flame.

And see Abraham a farr off and Lazarus in his bosome.

When the damned are in this pittiful state, surrounded with fears, with terrors, with torments, and vengeance, one thing they shall have, which is this, they shall see the happy and blessed face of Gods Children, this shall most wonderfully aggravate their torments.

2. Observation, that those that dye [...] their sins are far from going to Heav [...] He seeth Abraham a far off, and Lazarus▪ [...]word his bosome, verse 24. and he cryed, and sa [...] Father Abraham have mercy upon me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water to cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame; from these words, And he cryed, We may observe first, what a change the ungodly will have when they come into Hell, he cryed; it is like he was laughing, jesting, jearing, drinking, mocking, swearing, cursing, persecuting of the godly in his posterity, among his filthy Companions, but now the case is al­tered, now he is in another frame, he cry­ed, The Laughter of the Wicked will not last always, but will be sure to end in a cry, the Triumphing of the ungodly is short Job 20.5.

Oh what an alteration will there be a­mong the ungodly when they go out of this world; it may be a week or two before their departure, they were stou [...] and surly, drinking themselves drunk, slighting Gods People, mocking at godliness, delighting in sin, following the world, f [...]ring deliciously, keeping company with the bravest, but now they are dropt into Hell, and they cry: A lit­tle [Page 11]while ago they were a painting their fa­ [...] feeding their lusts, following Whores, [...]bing their Neighbours, telling of Lyes, [...]llowing of Plays and sports, to pass away [...]eir time, now they know not how to spend [...]ir time, but when they depart into another [...]ace and begin to lift up their eyes in Hell, [...]d begin to consider their miserable and ir­ [...]overable condition, they will cry. O what condition wilt thou fall into, Oh Sinner! when thou dost depart this world, if thou [...]epart unconverted, and not born again, thou [...]adst been better have been smothered [...]e first hour thou wast born, thou hadst been [...]etter thou hadst been plucked one Limb from another: thou hadst been better have been made a Dog, a Toad, a Serpent; nay any other thing in the visible world then to dye unconverted, and this thou wilt find to be true, when in Hell thou dost lift up thine e [...]es, and dost cry. I will give the reason why the wicked persons will cry when they come to Hell.

First, They will cry to think that they should be cut off from the Land of the Li­ving, never more to have any footing there­in.

Secondly, They will cry to think that [...] Gospel of Christ should be so often offe [...] them, and yet they not profited any thi [...] by it.

Thirdly, They will cry to think that the [...] are past all recovery.

Fourthly, They will cry to think that they should be so foolish as to follow their own pleasures, when others were following of Christ, Luke 13.28.

Fifthly, They will cry when they consi­der that they must be seperated from God Christ and the Kingdom of Heaven, and that for ever.

Sixthly, They will cry to think that La­zarus whom once they flighted, must be of them that must sit down with Christ when he shall come to pass a Sentence of condem­nation on their Souls for ever and ever, 1 Cor. 6.23.

Seventhly, They will cry to think that when judgement is over, and others are taken Into the everlasting Kingdom of glory; then they must depart back again into that Dun­geon [Page 13]of darkness, where they shall be tormen­ted so long as Eternity lasts, without the least intermission or ease.

Consider this, O thou Wanton, Proud, Swearing, Lying, ungodly wretch, whether this be to be slighted and made a mock at; and again tell mee now if it be not better to leave sin and to close with Iesus Christ; not with­standing all the reproach thou shalt meet with for so doing, then to live a little while in this world in pleasures, and feeding thy Lusts, in neglecting the welfare of thy Soul, and re­fusing to be justified by Iesus, and in a mo­ment drop down to Hell. O consider I say betimes, and do not put off the tenders of the grace of our Lord Iesus Christ, lest you lift up your eyes in Hell, and cry for anguish of Spirit.

And he cryed, and said, Father Abraham have mercy upon me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in wa­ter to cool my tongue. This shews that mercy would be very welcome to souls that are in torments: now Dives is in Hell, now his soul is frying in flames, now he is under the wrath of God: Oh now he crys, have mercy on me, oh send Lazarus with one drop of Water to cool my tongue: He that before would not accept of mercy: now [Page 14]is willing to accept of the least mercy; now says the tormented Soul, I would be glad of the least comfort, though it be but one drop of cold water: O that these things did take place in your hearts, how would it make you to seek after Rest for your Souls, before it be too late, before the Sun of the Gospel be set upon you. But further.

For I am tormented in this flame.

The reason why the poor world do not so earnestly desire mercy, is because they do not seriously consider the Torments that they must certainly fall into, if they dye out of Christ; for did but poor souls consider what wrath shall fall upon them for their sins committed against God, how willing would they be to close with Christ?

But why is it said, let him dip the tip of his finger, and cool my Tongue; because that as the several members have their shares in sin, and the pleasures thereof; so the seve­ral members of the body shall at that time be punished for the same, therefore our Saviour saies, Fear him that is able to destroy body and soul in Hell, Luke 12.4. Mark, here is not only one member, but all the body, the hands, feet, eyes, ears, and tongue, all must take part in this torment. O then the curser, [Page 15]S [...]eare [...], the Lyer, will cry, Oh one drop of water [...] cool my tongue, with which I have [...] dishonoured my Creator; verse 25. but Abraham said, Son remember thou in thy life [...] [...]me hadst, thy good things, and likewise La­ [...]us evil things; now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.

In the verse before, he have the desire o [...] [...]nest of the damned for one drop of [...] would think it were a very [...] 'tis not allowed them; for ob [...] o [...] [...]; Son remember, &c. By which [...]ears, that the damned shall not have any [...] ease, but are the more formenred and that is [...] calling to mind their former ill-spent life; when they remember what good things they had, and how many mercies they [...]yed and that they did make no better use of them. This, I [...]ay, will be a torment to [...]em: then thou shall remember how thou neglected [...]i Christ and thy Soul, and preferred [...]t thy base Lust and sinful Pleasures before e­ternal happiness; the remembrance of this will make th [...] cry for anguish of Spirit, but thy crying will [...]ail thee nothing, [...] 6.2. This is not the acceptable time, this [...] a time to answer the desires of the damned Reprobates. If thou hadst cryed ou [...] in good earnest while grace was offered, [Page 16]much might have been, but then thou wert careless and didst turn the forbearance and goodness of God into Wantonness; th [...] wert told; That those that would not he [...] the Lord when he did call, should not be heard (if they turned away from him) when they did call, Prov. 1.24, to 28. [...]ow therefore instead of expecting the least drop of mercy and favour, call into mind how th [...] didst spend those days which God did permit thee to live; I say, Remember that in thy life time thou didst behave thy self rebelliously against the Lord, the thoughts of which will be to thy everlasting astonishment and confu­sion.

From these words, which say, Remember thou in thy life-time had thy good things; there are these things that are to be taken notice of.

First, That they which put off Repen­tance, and living in their sins, lose their im­mortal souls, shall instead of having the least measure of comfort; when they come to Hell have always their ill-spent life fresh in their remembrance: think upon this, O thou impenitent sinner; while you are here you can sin and forget it, but when you come to [Page 17]Hell thou shalt remember them all, all the [...]icked practices that you wrought in the World will then appear, Son Remember [...]aith he.

First, how you were born in sin, and brought up in the same.

Secondly, Remember, that thou hadst ma­ny a time the Gospel preached to thee for take­ing away of the same.

Thirdly, Remember that out of love to thy Sins thou didst turn thy back on the renders of the same Gospel, of good Lidings and Peace.

Fourthly, Remember how near thou wast to turning to God at such a time, and at such a time; onely thou wast willing to give way to thy lusts, when they wrought to drunken­ness.

Fifthly, Thou shalt remember how thou didst dissemble at such a time, lye at such a time, mock and scoff, and persecute the blessed People of God at such a time; thou shalt be made to remember this to thy eternal torment.

Sixthly, and Lastly, Thou shall reme [...] that whi [...] others were met together [...] fear of the Lord to seek him, thou wast [...] with a company of vain Companions to Sin against him; while the Saints were Pray­ing, thou wert a Cursing. O the Remem­brance of this will be terrible to thee; then thou will find that Scripture to be a truth▪ Deut. [...]8.65, 66, 67. The Lord shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind, and thy life shall, hang in doubt before thee, and thou shalt fear day and night, &c.

[...]ay, thou, wilt find worse things to thy woe then this Scripture doth manifest, for indeed [...] no tongue able to express the Hor [...] [...], Terror, and Eternal misery [...] poor s [...]ls shall undergo without the [...] mitigation of ease; and the [...] part of this misery comes from the remembring what good things they had in their [...] the great God instead of giving the [...] ease, will even aggra­vate their torments: First, by slighting the [...] miseries and by telling them what they m [...] think [...] Remember, saith he, O ye lost [...]ouls that you had your Joy in your life­time, [Page 19]your peace, your comfort, your de­ [...] Ease, Wealth, Health, your Heaven, [...] [...]ppiness, your portion was in this life­ [...]me.

O miserable state thou wilt then be in, a [...]ad condition indeed, when thou shalt fee that [...]ll thy comforts are past, and that for ever, [...]alm 17.14. The wickeds good things will [...]tly have an end: and therefore it may well [...] [...]ompa [...]ed to the crackling of Thorns un­ [...] a pot, which makes a biaze for a sudden, [...] little hear for a while, but instead of a com­ [...]table hear, you will find nothing but a [...]w dead a shes: 'tis true, while the ungodly [...]e here on this side Hell, they think nothing [...]he compared to Riches, Honour, and Plea­ [...]re, which makes them cry out, Who will [...]hew us any good? Psal 4.6.

Friends, Consider how it will grieve you [...]nd torment you, when you shall see that you [...]st Heaven for your short Pleasure here in [...] life time.

These words do not onely hold forth the mi­ [...] of the wicked in this life, but also great [...]solation to the Saints, where he saith, [...]d Lazarus evil things, the Saints of God [Page 20] [...]ve their evil, things in this If [...] [...], obsering [...] be life of the [...] are in th [...] worl [...] [...] with many [...] or afflictions [...] Many are the afflictions [...] the [...]hteous, but God will deliver them o [...] of them all.

should enlarge upon this part of [...]e [...] viz [...] shew you [...]ow many [...] company the Saints of God in [...] the blessed and [...] to [...]me; [...] [...]nity: the [...]ord [...] you to [...] one [...] hath [...] delive [...] to his glo [...] and then you shall [...]er come to partake of these [...] of which you have heard.