horror, will be unceasingly perpetrated all around you, and there will be no escape. It is "fire," to imitate the burning severity of that anguish which will there rend the spirit, and distress the body; ever consuming, but never consumed; a "fire that is not quenched." "A furnace of fire," Matt. xiii. 42. The image is perhaps borrowed from “the burning fiery furnace" of the book of Daniel; and teaches us that even this was but an emblem of the "strange punishment" of the ungodly. "A lake of fire," "the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone," Rev. xxi. 8. A burning volcano, where fiery billows roll, and deep convulsions roar, and shake and agitate the sea of fire. "The smoke of their torment goeth up for ever and ever," who are cast into the lake of fire. They "suffer the vengeance of eternal fire," Jude 7; the punishment inflicted by an angry God. This is the most terrific idea of all. "God is love." There is no undue heat

about his anger. It is holy and righteous indignation. But what must the suffering be, when all his vast resources are brought to bear upon the punishment of sin ? "Who shall dwell with the devouring fire?" Who shall abide the everlasting burnings?"--Besides these and similar figurative descriptions, calculated to impress the heart of the most hardened, the Scriptures, with equal mercy, suggest various sources of future misery. The sin which they indulge will render men their own tormentors there. They shall utterly perish in their own corruption," 2 Peter ii. 12. Their own moral character will, in itself and its effects, constitute much of their misery. Sinful desires entail misery even here, and when

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their gratification has yielded its utmost delight; how much more in that world where, with augmented strength, there are no opportunities of gratification! The more "the passions burn and rage" there, the more bitter the misery, as they recoil, in painful disappointment, upon the man who is the subject of them, and make him their victim.-Remorse is bitter there. O, with how " many stripes" will you be smitten, if unhappily it should once be said to you in the world to come, 66 Son, remember," Luke xvi. 25. Remember thy father's instructions, and thy mother's tears; the kind expostulations of thy friend, and the fervent pleadings of thy minister; the reproofs of thy conscience, and the strivings of God's Holy Spirit. Remember thy Bible, thy sabbaths, thy privileges, thy opportunities, thy convictions, thy resolutions. Remember thy carelessness, thy pride, thy trifling, thy fatal procrastination, and impenitent unbelief.-Another source of misery is suggested, when you are told that you will be sent to the place "prepared for the devil and his angels," Matt. xxv. 41. What stores of "fiery darts" "the wicked one" has yet in reserve for the unbelievers, no heart can conceive. In what new lights can he set forth the guilt of rejecting offered mercy? What bitter reproaches can he heap upon those who, against all the remonstrances of heavenly truth, suffered themselves to be "led captive by him at his will!" How will he exult over them, and taunt them with vile invectives, as he binds them yet the faster in his slavish chains !—The society of wicked and wretched men, will yet further aggravate the

woe.

There is a total absence of every thing

like confidence in that world. No love, no sincerity, no faith is there. Selfishness, entire and absolute, reigns in every breast. No sufferer has a friend there, into whose ear he can pour the tale of his misery. All are enemies and deceivers, employing themselves in mutual recriminations, especially towards those whose opportunities of escape from eternal misery were most abundant. "Art thou also become like unto us?" Isa. xiv. 10, is the salutation which will

mock your misery, if you allow your unbelief to become your ruin.—But above all, there is the wrath of God, and the bitterness of eternal despair. The peculiar nature of those inflictions which proceed immediately from the righteous hand of God, as distinguished from those which may be traced to secondary sources, it is impossible fully to understand. To see sin as it is, and yet find no escape from it; to feel the equity of your doom, and yet perpetually rebel against it; to perceive the excellence of God, and yet to hate him, are ideas sufficiently intelligible to suggest, in some degree, what must be the anguish of a heart made to feel all that is terrible in the displeasure of the Lord. And to hear, without ceasing, the knell of lost souls proclaiming,-"for ever,' -"for ever,"

"for ever," may well shut up the door of hope, and seal the wretchedness of despair.

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Not in anger, but in mercy, are these disclosures made to you concerning the future punishment of the ungodly. You are thus forewarned, that you may escape the damnation of hell." Do not think it strange that "the unbelieving" are classed with "the fearful and the abominable, with murderers and idolaters," Rev. xxi. 8, in

exposure to everlasting misery. Unbelief is all sins in one; and the higher your elevation in point of privileges, the deeper must be your fall, if you persevere in the misimprovement of them. Many other sins might have been charged upon the Jews who came short of Canaan, but unbelief is the one referred to as the procuring cause of their exclusion; and so it is with reference to the Canaan above. Then be intreated to "believe with the heart unto righteousness." The throne

of grace is now open to you. God is still "waiting to be gracious." Jesus is still there to intercede on your behalf. All the promises yet suggest to you their fulness of encouragement. It is not yet too late. Hear the voice of mercy, and submit yourself. "Turn ye, turn ye, why will ye die?" "Flee from the wrath to come." "Give glory unto the LORD your God, before he cause darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, and while ye look for light, he turn it into the shadow of death, and make it gross darkness." "O taste and see that the Lord is good." "Blessed are all they that put their trust in him."

VIII.

THE DUTY OF THE NOMINAL CHRISTIAN.

Is this my danger? Am I thus spising the word of the Lord ?" LORD my God require of me ?" been frequently set before you.

guilty in "de"What doth the Your duty has It has been im

plied, and even enforced in this little volume. But I will endeavour to set it forth in order to you. Give me your attention; and be filled with a sincere desire to do the will of God, and by his blessing you shall understand it. The apostle James exactly meets your case, and sums up your duty in one verse of his epistle, "Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves," Jas. i. 22. Obedience to this general direction implies, however, obedience to several more particular ones; which I will now bring under your notice in the order in which they naturally address themselves to your present state of mind. May the Holy Spirit attend the truth with saving power!

I. "Consider your ways." The capacity to consider is the highest distinction of your nature. You are not impelled to action by mere instinct, nor driven by stern and irresistible necessity. Allied to the noblest creatures which God has made, you are governed by motives, and you exercise a free and unbiassed choice. You can reflect on the past, and derive from it important lessons of wisdom and holiness. You can anticipate the future, as its high probabilities are suggested by the character of the past, and its solemn realities are set forth in the word of God. With equal facility and effect, you can realize your present position. The means of information are in your hands; and the fact of your accountability to God is pressed upon your attention by all that is within, and all that is around you. Give yourself to reflection. You consider the contingencies of your worldly business. You inquire for the best plans of action. You reflect on what is