596 / 674
576
THE
NATURE
DP
THE rUN.ISHMENTS
IN
HELL. [DISC.
XII.
ther
they
are buried or not
buried, worms devour
those
who
by
the
custom
of
their country are not burned
with
fire
:
And
perhaps
,
he
might refer the
words.
of
Isaiah
lxvi.
f24,
where the
prophet
seems to
foretel the punish-
ment of
those who
will
not
receive the
gospel, when
it
shall
be
preached
to
all
nations
:
They,
says he,
that
is,
the true
Israel,
the
saints
of
God,
or
Christians,
they shall
go
forth and
look
upon
the carcases
of
the men who have
transgressed against
me,
for their
worm
'shall not
die,
neither
shall
their
fire be
quenched,
and they
shall be
an
abhorrence
to all
flesh.
It
is
highly
probable
that
this
is
only a
metaphor referring
to the
punishment
of
the
souls
of
obstinate unbelievers
in hell, for
it
would
be.
but
a
very
small
punishment indeed,
if
only
their
dead
bodies
-were
devoured
by
worms
or
fire,
or
rather
no
punishment
at
all besides
a memorial
of
their
sin.
2.
Consider, the gnawing
of
worms
and the burning
of
fire are
some
of
the
most smart and
severe
torments
that
a
living man can feel
in
the flesh; .therefore the vengeance
of
God, upon the
souls
of
obstinate
sinners,
is
set
forth
by
it
in
our
Saviour's
discourse; and
it
was
probably
well
-known amongst
the
Jews,
as
appears
by some
of the
apocryphal
writings';
Judith
xvi.
17.
"
Woe
to
the na-
tion
that
rises
up against
my
kindred
;
the Lord
Almigh-
ty
will
take 'vengeance
of
them in the day
of judgment,
putting
fire
and
worms
in
their
flesh,
and they
shall
feel
them and
weep
for ever." And
.Eccles. vii.
16,
17.
"
Number not
thyself among
the
multitude of
sinners,
but
remember the wrath
will
not tarry
long.
Humble
thy,
soul greatly; for the vengeance
of
the ungodly
is
fire
and
worms."
3.
Consider, whether
worms feed
upon a
living man or
devour
his
dead
body, still
they are such
as
are bred
in
his
own
flesh
:
but
fire
is
brought
by
other
hands
and appli-
ed
to
the flesh: Even
so
this
metaphor of
a worm
hap-
pily
represents
the
inward' torments,
and the
,teazing
and
vexing passions
which shall arise
in the souls
of
those
unhappy creatures,
who
are the
just
objects
of
this
pu-
nishment
;
and
it
is
called
their
worm,
that
worm
that
be-
longs to them,
and
is
bred
within them
by
the
foul vices
and
diseases
of
their
souls
:
"
But
the
fire which
shall
never
Le
quenchecr
refers
rather
to
the
pains
and anguish