John Flavel · 12 of 34

Sermon 2. Rev. 6:9,10,11 · Part 4

(2.) A marvellous change will also be then made upon the souls of the ungodly, who shall then part from (1.) All their comforts and pleasant enjoyments in the world; for here they had their consolation; Luke 16:25. here was all their portion, Psal. 17:14. and, in a moment, find themselves arrested and seized by Satan, as God’s gaoler, hurrying them away to the prison of hell, 1 Pet. 3:19. "there to be reserved to the judgement of the great day," Jude 6. (2.) From under the means of grace, life, and salvation, to a state perfectly void of all means, instruments, and opportunities of salvation, John 9:4. Eccl. 9:10. never to hear the joyful sound of preaching or praying any more; never to hear the wooing voice of the blessed bridegroom, saying, Come unto me, come unto me, any more. (3.) From all their vain, ungrounded, presumptuous hopes of heaven, into absolute and final desperation of mercy. The very sinews and nerves of hope are cut by death, Prov. 14:152. "The wicked is driven away in his wickedness, but the righteous has hope in his death." These are the great and astonishing alterations that will be made upon our souls, after they part with the bodies which they now inhabit. Oh that we, who cannot but be conscious to ourselves that we must over-live our bodies, were more thoughtful of the condition they must enter into, after that separation which is at hand.

Inf. 10. If our souls be immortal, then death is neither to he scared by them in heaven, nor hoped for them in hell. The being of souls never fails, whether they be in a state of blessedness or of misery. "In glory they are ever with the Lord," 1 Thes. 4:17. There shall be no death there, Rev. 21:4. And in hell, though they shall wish for death, yet death shall flee from them. Though there be no fears of annihilation in heaven, yet there be many wishes for it in hell, but to no purpose; there never will be an end put, either to their being, or to their torments. In this respect no other creatures are capable of the emery that wicked men are capable of: When they die, there is the end of all their misery; but it is not so with men. Better therefore had it been for them, if God had created them in the basest and lowest order and rank of creatures; a dog, a toad, a worm, is better than a man in endless misery, ever dying, and never dead. And so much of the soul’s immortality.