UMC. X13. THE NATURE OF THE PUNISHMENTS IN HELL. 577 which come from without, -and that chiefly from the hand of God, the righteous avenger. of sin, and. from his indig- nation, which is, compared to fire. SEC TIO,N I. "The worm thatdieth not." Let us begin with the first of these, viz.. the " torments which are derived from the gnawing worm, those agonies and uneasy passions which will arise and work in the souls of these_wretched crea- tures," so far as we can collect them from the word of God, from the reason of things, and theworking powers of human nature. When an impenitent sinner is cast into hell, we have abundant reason to; suppose, that the evil temper of his soul, and the vicious principles within him, are not abated; but his natural powers, and the vices which have tainted them and .mingle with them, are awakened and enraged into intense activity and exercise, under the first sensations of his dreadful punishment. Let us endeavour to conceive then what would be the ferments, the raging passions, and the vexing inward torments of a wicked roan, seized by the officers ofan almighty Judge, borne away by the executioners of vengeance, and plunged into a pit of torture and smarting misery, ,while at the same time he had a most fresh and -piercing: conviction ever present, that he had brought all this mischief.upon himself by his own guilt and folly. 1. The first particular pieceof wretchedness therefore, contained in this metaphor, is the " remorse and terrible anguish of conscience which shall never be relieved.' How terrible are the racks of a guilty conscience here on earth, which arise from a sense of past sins ? How does David cry out and roar under the disquietude of his spi- rit ? Ps. xxxii. 3. " While I kept silence andconfessed not my iniquity,. my bones -waxed old through rn, roaring all the day long; day and night thy hand was heavy upon me, and my moisture is turned into the drought of sum- mer:" And again ? Ps. xxxviii. 4. " My iniquities are gone over ,my head, as a heavy burden, they are to heavy for me." God has wisely so framed the nature and spirit of man, that a reflexion on his past behaviour should raise such keen anguish at his heart; and thou- sands have felt it in a dreadful degree, even while they have continued in this world, in the land of life andhope. VOL. II.? P
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