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DISC.
XIII.]
THE PUNISHMENTS
IN
HELL.
643
tained
to some
clear
evidence
of
it,
anda-
well
-
grounded
hope.
Have
we
not
sometimes felt the worm
of
conscience
begin
to gnaw within
us,
and to
prey upon our
spirits
after
the
commission
of
some
sin
?
And shall
we
-not
apply
ourselves with
all holy
speed to the
divine physi;
cian, who can
kill
this gnawing worm within
us,
and,
can
heal those sinful maladies
that
are breeding
it
?
Have
we
not
sometimes felt the
threatenings
of
the
wrath of
God
in
his
law,
like a fire in
our
boues
?
With
what
infinite desire,
then, and
what restless vehemence
should
we
fly
to the
blood
of
Jesus
our
great
sacrifice,
which
alone
can quench the
fiery
indignation
of God,
'and
prevent
it
from growing
up to
an
everlasting
flame.
Had
we
upon our
spirits
such a
sense
of the
terrors
of
the Lord in
hell, as
his
threatenings represent,
we
should
never
be satisfied with such
cold
doubtful hopes
of our
deliverance
from them,
as thousands
of
nominal
Christ-
ians are contented
with
;
but
we
should
make every
needful and critical enquiry, whether our
repentance
were
sincere,'
whether
our
faith
in
Christ
were
un-
feigned,
whether our hopes had a
solid
foundation in
the
divine
promise
:
We
should search every power
of
our
souls,
and examine our hearts through every
corner, whether
sin
be
mortified
there whether the
Christian
virtues
are formed
within us, and the divine
image
is
begun to
be
stamped
upon
our minds:
We
should
be
restless and
impatient
in
our
inward searches,
whether
we
a_
re
made
new
creatures,
whether
we
'are
born
of God
and become
his
children, and are
secured
by his
gospel from this
everlasting
vengeance.
The de-
gree and the infinite
duration of
this
misery
should
appoint the
.proportion of
our
zeal
and solicitude
to
es-
cape
it.
A
man
who
sees
or
feels his own
house
on fire
under
him, does
not
continue upon
his
bed
of
sloth,
or
sit
amusing himself among the ornaments of
his
chamber,
till the flames have broke
through and
seized him
:
But
with huge outcries
he seeks
for
help,
and
flies
in,
haste
for
his life
wheresoever
he finds
a
way.
Such
should be
the language and
such the activity
of
sinful
creatures, to
escape
the wrath
to come
;
and such
will be
the
outcries
of
sinners
when,
they are thoroughly awakened
:
This