Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness 0f the Loss Thereof; What Shall A Man Give In Exchange For His Soul.77

 

DOCTRINE SECOND, USE, AND APPLICATION.

I come now to make some use and application of the whole. And,

USE FIRST—If the soul is so excellent a thing as we have made it appear to be, and if the loss thereof is so great a loss, then here you may see who they are that are those extravagant ones; I mean, those that are such in the highest degree. Solomon tells us of a great waster,' and saith also, He that is slothful in his business is brother to such a one (Prov 18:9). Who Solomon had his eye upon, or who it was that he counted so great a waster, I cannot tell; but I will challenge all the world to show me one, that for wasting and destroying, may be compared to him that for the lusts and pleasures of this life will hazard the loss of his soul. Many men will be so profuse and will spend at that prodigal rate, that they will bring a thousand pounds a year to five hundred, and five hundred to fifty, and some also will bring that fifty to less than ninepence; but what is this to him that he shall never leave losing until he has lost his soul? I have heard of some who would throw away a farm, a good estate, upon the trundling of one single bowl. But what is this about the casting away of the soul? Nothing can be compared to sin; it is the vile thing, it cannot have a worse name than its own; it is worse than the vilest men than the vilest of beasts; yea, sin is worse than the devil himself, for it is sin, and sin only, that hath made the devils; and yet for this, for this vile, this abominable thing, some men, yea, most men, will venture the loss of their soul; yea, they will mortgage, pawn, and set their souls to the sale for it (Jer 44:4). Is not a great waste? Does not this man deserve to be ranked among the extravagant ones?

What think you of him who, when he tempted the wench to uncleanness, said to her, If thou wilt venture thy body, I'll venture my soul? Was not here like a fine bargain, think you? Or did this man not like to be a gainer by so doing? This is he who prizes sin at a higher rate than he does his immortal soul; yea, this is he who esteems a quarter of an hour's pleasure more than he fears everlasting damnation. What shall I say? This man is minded to give more to be damned, than God requires he give to be saved; is this not an extravagant one? 'Be astonished, O ye heavens! at this, and be horribly afraid!' (Jer 2:9-12). Yea, let all the angels stand amazed at the unaccountable prodigality of such a one.

Objection 1. But some may say, I cannot believe that God will be so severe as to cast away into hell fire an immortal soul for a little sin.

Answer. I know thou canst not believe it, for if thou couldst, thou wouldst sooner eat fire than run this hazard; and hence all they that go down to the lake of fire are called the unbelievers; and the Lord shall cut thee, that makes this objection, asunder, and shall appoint thee thy portion with such, except thou believe the gospel, and repent (Luke 12:46).

Objection 2. But surely, though God should be so angry at the beginning, it cannot in time but grieve Him to see and hear souls roaring in hell, and that for a little sin.

Answer. Whatever God doeth, it abideth forever (Eccl 3:14). He doth nothing in a passion, or in an angry fit; He proceedeth with sinners by the most perfect rules of justice; wherefore it would be injustice, to deliver them whom the law condemneth, yea, He would falsify His word, if after a time He should deliver them from hell, concerning whom He hath solemnly testified, that they shall be there forever.

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness 0f the Loss Thereof; What Shall A Man Give In Exchange For His Soul.76

 

DOCTRINE SECOND,

Third, As the damned would change their own vices for virtues, and the place where they are for that into which they shall not come, so what would they give for a change of condition? Yea, if an absolute change may not be obtained, yet what would they give for the least degree of mitigation of that torment, which now they know will without any intermission be, and that forever and ever. 'Tribulation and anguish, indignation and wrath' (Rom 2:8,9), the gnawing worm, and everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power, cannot be borne but with great horror and grief (2 Thess 1:7-10). No marvel, then, if these poor creatures would, for ease for their souls, be glad to change their conditions. Change!—with whom? with an angel, with a saint; ay, with a dog or a toad; for they mourn not, they weep not, nor do they bear the indignation of wrath; they are as if they had not been; only the sinful soul abides in its sins, in the place designed for lost souls, and in the condition that wrath and indignation for sin and transgression hath decreed them to abide forever. And this brings me to the conclusion, which is, 'that seeing the ungodly do seek good things too late,' therefore, notwithstanding their seeking, they must still abide in their place, their sins, and their torment—' For what can a man give in exchange for his soul?' Therefore, God saith, that they there must still abide and dwell, no exchange can be made. 'This shall ye have of Mine hand, ye shall lie down in sorrow;' they shall lie down in it, they shall make their bed there, there they shall lie (Isa 50:11; Eze 32:25-27). And this is the bitter pill that they must swallow down at the last; for, after all their tears, their sorrows, their mourning, their repenting, their washings and woundings, and all their inventions, and desires to change their state for a better, they must 'lie down in sorrow.' The poor condemned man that is upon the ladder or scaffold has, if one knew them, many a long wish and long desire that he might come down again alive, or that his condition was as one of the spectators that are not condemned and brought thither to be executed as he. How carefully also doth he look with his failing eyes, to see if some comes not from the king with a pardon for him, all the while endeavoring to fumble away as well as he can, and to prolong the minute of his execution! But at last, when he has looked, when he has wished, when he has desired, and done whatever he can, the blow with the axe, or turn with the ladder, is his lot, so he goes off the scaffold, so he goes from among men, and thus it will be with those that we have under consideration; when all comes to all, and they have said and wished, and done what they can, the judgment must not be reversed—they must 'lie down in sorrow.'

They must, or shall lie down! Of old, when a man was to be chastised for his fault, he was to lie down to receive his stripes; so here, saith the Lord, they shall lie down—' And it shall be if the wicked man be worthy to be beaten, that the judge shall cause him to lie down, and to be beaten before his face' (Deu 25:2). And this lying down was to be his lot after he had pleaded for himself what be could—and the judge shall cause him to be beaten before his face, while he is present to behold the execution of judgment; and thus it shall be at the end of the world; the wicked shall lie down, and shall be beaten with many stripes in the presence of Christ, 'and in the presence of the holy angels' (2 Thess 1; Rev 14:10). For there will be His presence, not only at the trial as Judge but to see execution done, nay, to do it Himself by the pouring out, like a river, His wrath as burning brimstone upon the soul of the lost and cast away sinner.

He shall lie down! These words imply that, at last, the damned soul shall submit; for to lie down is an act that signifies submission, especially to lie down to be beaten. 'The wicked shall be silent in darkness' (1 Sam 2:9). When the malefactor has said and wished all that we can, yet at last, he submits, is silent, and, as it were, helps to put his head into the halter, or doth lay down his neck upon the block; so here it is said of the damned—They shall lie down in sorrow. There is also a place that saith, 'These shall go away into everlasting punishment' (Matt 25:46). To go, to go to punishment, is also an act of submission. Now, submission to punishment doth, or should, flow from full conviction of the merit of punishment; and I think it is so to be understood here—For 'every mouth shall be stopped, and all the world (of soul losers) become guilty before God' (Rom 3:4,19; Luke 13:25-28; Matt 25:46). Every mouth shall be stopped, not at the beginning of the judgment, for then they plead, and pray, and also object against the Judge; but at the end, after that by a judicial proceeding He shall have justified against them His sayings, and have overcome these His judges, then they shall submit, and also lie down in sorrow; yea, they shall go away to their punishment as those who know they deserve it; yea, they shall go away with silence. How they shall behave themselves in hell, I will not here dispute; whether in a way of rage and blasphemy, and in rending and tearing of the name and just actions of God towards them, or whether by way of submission there; I say, though this is none of this task, yet a word or two, if you, please.

Doubtless, they will not be mute there; they will cry and wail, and gnash their teeth, and, perhaps, too, sometimes at God; but I do not think but that the justice that they have deserved, and the equal administration of it upon them, will, for the most part, prevail with them to rend and tear themselves, to acquit and justify God, and to add fuel to their fire, by concluding themselves in all the fault, and that they have sufficiently merited this just damnation; for it would seem strange to me that just judgment among men shall terminate in this issue if God should not justify himself in the conscience of all the damned. But as here on earth, so He will let them know that go to hell that He hath not done without a cause, a sufficient cause, all that He hath done in damning of them (Eze 14:23).

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness 0f the Loss Thereof; What Shall A Man Give In Exchange For His Soul.75

 

DOCTRINE SECOND,

Two or three things there may yet be gathered from these words; I mean, as to the desires of them that have lost their souls, to make for them an exchange; 'What shall a man give in exchange?"—what shall, what would, yea, what would not a man, if he had it, give in exchange for his soul?

First, What would not a man—I mean, a man that is in the condition that is by the text supposed some men are and will be in—give in exchange to have another man's virtue instead of their own vices? 'Let me die the death of the righteous;' let my soul be in the state of the soul of the righteous—that is, about his virtues, when I die, 'and let my last end be like his' (Num 23:10). It is a sport now to some to taunt, and squib, and deride at other men's virtues; but the day is coming when their minds will be changed, and when they shall be made to count those that have done those righteous actions and duties which they have scoffed at, the only blessed men; yea, they shall wish their soul in the blessed possession of those graces and virtues, that those whom they hated were accompanied with, and would if they had it, give a whole world for this change; but it will not now; it is now too late. What then shall a man give in exchange for his soul? And this is more than intimated in that 25th of Matthew, named before for you find by that text how loath they were, or will be, to be counted for unrighteous people—'Lord,' say they, 'when did we see thee an hungered, or athirst, naked, or sick, and did not minister unto thee?' Now they are not willing to be of the number of the wicked, though heretofore the ways of the righteous were an abomination to them. 

But, alas! they are before a just God, a just Judge, a Judge that will give every one according to their ways; therefore, 'Woe unto (the soul of) the wicked now, it shall be ill with him, for the reward of his hands shall be given him' (Isa 3:11). Thus, therefore, he is locked up as to this; he cannot now change his vice for virtue, nor put himself nor his soul in the stead of the soul of the saved; so that it still, and will, forever a question unresolved,' Or, what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?' I do not doubt but that a man's state may be such in this world, that if he had it he would give thousands of gold to be as innocent and guiltless in the judgment of the law of the land as is the state of such or such, heartily wishing that himself was not that he is; how much more then will men wish thus when they stand ready to receive the last, their eternal judgment. 'But what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?'

Second, As they would, for the salvation of their souls, be glad to change away their vices for the virtues, their sins for the good deeds of others; so what would they not give to change places now, or to remove from where now they are, into paradise, into Abraham's bosom! But neither shall this be admitted; the righteous must have their inheritance to themselves—Neither,' said Abraham, 'can they pass to us, that would come from thence,' (Luke 16:26); neither can they dwell in heaven, that would come from hell.

They then that have lost, or shall lose their souls are bound to their place, as well as to their sins. When Judas went to hell, he went to his home, 'to his own place' (Acts 1:25). And when the righteous go hence, they also go home to their house, to their own place; for the kingdom of heaven is prepared for them (Matt 25:34). Between heaven and hell, 'there is a great gulf fixed' (Luke 26:26). That is a strange passage: 'There is a great gulf fixed.' What this gulf is, and how impassable it is, they that shall lose their souls will know to their woe; because it is fixed there where it is, on purpose to keep them in their tormenting place, so that they that would pass from hell to heaven cannot. But, I say, 'Would they not change places? would they not have a more comfortable house and home for their souls?' Yes, verily, the text supposes it, and the 16th of Luke affirms it; yea, and could they purchase for their souls a habitation among the righteous, would they not? Yes, they would give all the world to such a change. What shall a man, if he had it, if it would answer his design, give in exchange for his soul?

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness 0f the Loss Thereof; What Shall A Man Give In Exchange For His Soul. 74

 

DOCTRINE SECOND,

SECOND, The second inference that I draw from my second doctrine is this: 'That it is, and will be the lot of some to bow and break before God, too late, or when it is too late.' God is resolved, as I said. to have the mastery, and that not only in a way of dominion and lordship in general, for that He has now, but He is resolved to master, that is, to break the spirit of the world, to make all men cringe and crouch unto Him, even those that now say, 'There is no God,' (Psa 14:1); or if there be, yet, 'What is the Almighty, that we should serve Him?' (Job 21:15; Mal 3:14).

This is little thought of by those that now harden their hearts in wickedness, and that turn their spirit against God; but this they shall think of, this they must think of, and this God will make them think of in that day, at which day they also now mock and deride, that the Scripture might be fulfilled upon them (2 Peter 3:3, 4). And, I say, they shall think then of those things, and break at heart, and melt under the hand, power, and majesty of the Almighty; for, 'As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me; and every tongue shall confess to God (Isa 45:23; Rom 14:11). And again, 'The nations shall see, and be confounded at all their might; they shall lay their hand upon their mouth, and their ears shall be deaf. They shall lick the dust like a serpent, they shall move out of their holes like worms,' or creeping things, 'of the earth; they shall be afraid of the Lord our God and shall fear because of Thee' (Micah 7:16, 17).

For then they, will they nill they, shall have to do with God, though not with Him as merciful, or as one that may be intreated; but with Him all just, and as devouring fire (Heb 7:29). Yea, they shall see that face, and hear that voice, from whom and from which the heavens and the earth will fly away, and find no place to stay. And by this appearance, and by such words of His mouth as He then will speak to them, they shall begin to tremble, and call for the rocks to fall upon them and cover them; for if these things will happen at the execution of inferior judgments, what will be done, and what effects will the last, most dreadful, and eternal judgment, have upon men's souls?

Hence you find, that at the very first appearance of Jesus Christ, the whole world begins to mourn and lament—Every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him' (Rev 1:7). And, therefore, you also find them to stand at the door and knock, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open unto us' (Luke 14:25; Matt 25:11). Moreover, you find them also desiring, yea, also so humble in their desires as to be content with the least degree of mercy—one drop upon the tip of one's finger. What stooping, what condescension, and what humility are here! All and every one of those passages declare, that the hand of God is upon them and that the Almighty has got the mastery of them, has conquered them, broken the pride of their power, and laid them low, and made them cringe and crouch unto him, bending the knee, and craving of kindness. Thus, then, will God bow, and bend, and break them; yea, make them bow, and bend, and break before Him. And hence also it is they will weep, and mourn, and gnash their teeth, and cry, and repent that ever they have been so foolish, so wicked, so traitorous to their souls, such enemies of their own eternal happiness, as to stand out in the day of their visitation in a way of rebellion against the Lord.

But here is their hard hap, their dismal lot and portion, that all these things must be when it is too late. It is and will be, the lot and hap of these to bow, bend, and break too late (Matt 25). You read they come weeping and mourning and with tears; they knock and they cry for mercy; but what did tears avail? Why, nothing; for the door was shut. He answered and said, 'I know not whence you are.' But they repeat and renew their suit, saying, 'We have eaten and drunk in Thy presence, and Thou hast taught in our streets.' What now? Why, He returns upon them His first answer the second time, saying, 'I know not whence ye are; depart from Me, all ye workers of iniquity;' then He concludes, 'There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out' (Luke 13:26,28). They come weeping and go weeping away. They come to Him weeping, for they saw that He had conquered them; but they departed weeping, for they saw that He would damn them; yet, as we read in another place, they were very loath to go from Him, by their reasoning and expostulating with Him—'Lord, when saw we Thee an hungered, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto Thee?' But all would not do; there is no place for a change of mind—' These shall go away into everlasting punishment; but the righteous into life eternal (Matt 25:44-46). And now what would a man give in exchange for his soul? So that, as I said before, all is too late; they mourn too late, they repent too late, they pray too late, and seek to make an exchange for their soul too late. 'Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?'

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness 0f the Loss Thereof; What Shall A Man Give In Exchange For His Soul.73

 

DOCTRINE SECOND,

First, That God has undertaken, and will accomplish, the breaking of the spirits of all the world, either by His grace and mercy to salvation or by His justice and severity to damnation. The damned soul under consideration is certainly supposed, as by the doctrine, so by the text, to be utterly careless, and without regard of salvation, so long as the acceptable time did last, and as the white flag, that signifies terms of peace, did hang out; and, therefore, it is said to be lost; but, behold, now it is careful, but now it is solicitous, but now, 'what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?' He of whom you read in the gospel, who could tend to do nothing in the days of the gospel but to find out how to be clothed in purple and fine linen and to fare sumptuously every day, was by God brought so down and laid so low at last that he could crouch, cringe, and beg for one small drop of water to cool his tongue—a thing, that but a little before he would have thought scorn to have done when he also thought scorn to stoop to the grace and mercy of the gospel (Luke 16:19,24). But God was resolved to break his spirit, and the pride of his heart, and to humble his lofty looks, if not by His mercy, yet by His justice; if not by His grace, yet by hellfire.

This he also threatens to bring upon the fool in the Proverbs: They shall call, they shall seek, they shall cry' (Prov 1:22-32). Who shall do so? The answer is, They that sometimes scorned either to seek, or call, or cry; they that stopped their ears, that pulled away their shoulders, and that refused to seek, or call, or cry to God for mercy (Zech 7:11-13).

Sinner, careless sinner, didst thou take notice of this first inference that I have drawn from my second doctrine? If thou didst read it again: it is this, 'God has undertaken, and will accomplish, the breaking of the spirits of all the world, either by His grace and mercy unto salvation or by His justice and severity unto damnation.' The reason for this is this: God is resolved to have the mastery, He is resolved to have the victory. 'Who would set the briers and thorns against Me in battle? I would go through them, I would burn them together (Isa 27:4). I will march against them. God is merciful, and is come forth into the world by His Son, tendering of grace unto sinners by the gospel, and would willingly make a conquest over them for their good by His mercy. Now He being come out, sinners like briars and thorns do set themselves against Him and will have none of His mercy. Well, but what says God? Saith He, Then I will march on, I will go through them, and burn them together. I am resolved to have the mastery one way or another; if they will not bend to Me, and accept My mercy in the gospel, I will bend them and break them by My justice in hell fire. 

They say they will not bend; I say they shall; now they 'shall know whose words shall stand, Mine or theirs.' (Jer 44:25-28). Wherefore the apostle, when he saw that some of the Corinthians began to be unruly and to do those things that did begin to hazard them, saith, 'Do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? are we stronger than He?' (1 Cor 5:22). As who should say, My brethren, are you aware what you do? do you not understand that God is resolved to have the mastery one way or another? and are you stronger than He? if not, tremble before Him, or He will certainly have you under His feet—' I will tread them in my anger, and trample them in My fury' (Isa 63:3). Thus He speaks of them that set themselves against Him; therefore beware. Now the reason for this resolution of God flows from a determination in Him to make all His sayings good and to verify them on the consciences of sinners. And since the incredulous world will not believe now, and fly from wrath, they shall shortly believe and cry under it; since they will not now credit the Word, before they see, unto salvation, they shall be made to credit it by sense and feeling unto damnation.

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness 0f the Loss Thereof; What Shall A Man Give In Exchange For His Soul.72

 

DOCTRINE SECOND,

I now come to the second doctrine that I gathered from the words—namely, that how unconcerned and careless soever some now be about the loss or salvation of their souls, the day is coming, but it will then be too late when men will be willing, had they never so much, to give it all in exchange for their souls. There are four things in the words that prove this doctrine.

1. There is an intimation of life and sense in the man that has lost, and that after he has lost, his soul is in hell—" Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?' These words are by no means applicable to the man that has no life or sense; for he that is dead according to our common acceptance of death, that is, deprived of life and sense, would not give two pennies to change his state; therefore, the words do intimate that the man is yet alive and sensible. If a man were alive and sensible, though he were in none other place than the grave, there to be confined, while others are at liberty, what would he give in exchange for his place, and to be rid of that for a better! but how much more to be delivered from hell, the present place, and the state of his soul!

2. There is in the text an intimation of a sense of torment 'Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?' I am tormented by this flame. Torment, then, is something the soul is sensible of, and there is a place of ease and peace. And from the sense and feeling of torment, he would give, yea, what would he not give, in exchange for his soul?

3. There is in the text an intimation of the intolerableness of the torment because it supposeth that the man whose soul is swallowed up therewith would give all, were his all never so great, in exchange for his soul.

4. There is yet in the text an intimation that the soul is sensible of the lastingness of the punishment, or else the question rather argues a man unwary than considerate in his offering, as is supposed by Christ, so largely, his all in exchange for his soul. But we will, in this manner, proceed no further, but take it for granted that the doctrine is good; wherefore I shall next inquire after what is contained in this truth. And,

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness 0f the Loss Thereof; What Shall A Man Give In Exchange For His Soul.71

 

[Through sin the soul sets itself against God.]

(3.) Add to these, the durable condition that the body in this state is now in with the soul. Time was when the soul died, and the body lived, and the soul was tormented while the body slept and rested in the dust, but now these things are past; for at the day of judgment, as I said, these two shall be re-united, and that which once did separate them, be destroyed; then of necessity they must abide together, and, as together, abide the punishment prepared for them; and this will greaten the torment of the body.

Death was once the wages of sin, and a grievous curse; but might the damned meet with it in hell, they would count it mercy, because it would separate soul and body, and not only so, but take away all sense from the body, and make it incapable of suffering torment; yea, I will add, and by that means give the soul some ease; for without doubt, as the torments of the soul extend themselves to the body, so the torments of the body extend themselves to the soul; nor can it be otherwise, because of union and sympathy. But death, natural death, shall be destroyed, and there shall be no more natural death, not in hell (1 Cor 15:26). And now it shall happen to men, as it has done in lesser and inferior judgments. They shall seek death and desire to die, and death shall not be found by them (Job 3:21; Rev 9:6). Thus, therefore, they must abide together; a death that used to separate them asunder is now slain—1. Because it was an enemy in keeping Christ's body in the grave; and, 2. because it was a friend to carnal men in that, though it was a punishment in itself, while it lasted and had dominion over the body of the wicked, it hindered them of that great and just judgment which for sin was due unto them; and this is the third discovery of the manner and way of punishing the body. But,

(4.) There will then be such things to be seen and heard, which the eye and the ear—to say no more than has been said of the sense of feeling—will see and hear, that will greatly aggravate the punishment of the body in hell; for though the eye is the window, and the ear a door for the soul to look out at, and also to receive in by, yet whatever goeth in at the ear or the eye leaves influence upon the body, whether it be that which the soul delighteth in, or that which the soul abhorreth; for as the eye affecteth the heart, or soul (Lam 3:51), so the eye and ear, by hearing and beholding, doth ofttimes afflict the body. 'When I heard, my belly trembled—rottenness entered into my bones.' (Hab 3:16).

Now, I say, as the body after its resurrection, to damnation, to everlasting shame and contempt (Dan 12:2; John 5:29) will receive all its senses again, so it will have a matter to exercise them upon, not only to the letting into the soul those aggravations which they by hearing, feeling, and seeing are capable of letting in thither but, I say, they will have matter and things to exercise themselves upon for the helping forward of the torment of the body. Under temporal judgments of old, the body as well as the soul had no ease, day or night, and that not only by reason of what was felt but by reason of what was heard and seen. 'In the morning, thou shalt say, Would God it were even! And at even thou shalt say, Would God it were morning!' (Deu 28:67). 1. 'For the fear of thine heart, wherewith thou shalt fear;' 2. 'And for the sight of thine eyes, which thou shalt see.' Nay, He tells them a little before, that they should be mad for the sight of their eyes, which they should see (verse 34).

See! Why, what shall they see? They will find themselves in hell, with others like them; and this will be a torment to their bodies. There is bodily torment, as I said, ministered to the body by the senses. What do you think? If a man saw himself in prison, in irons, upon the ladder, with the rope around his neck, would not this be distressing to the body, as well as to the mind? To the body, doubtless. Witness the heavy looks, the shaking legs, trembling knees, pale face, and beating and aching heart; how much more, then, when men shall see themselves in the most dreadful place; it is a fearful place, doubtless, to all to behold themselves in that shall come thither (Luke 16:28).

Again; they shall see others there, and by them, they shall see themselves. There is an art by which a man may make his neighbor look so ghastly, that he shall frighten himself by looking on him, especially when he thinks of himself, that he is of the same show also. It is said concerning men at the downfall of Babylon, that they shall be amazed one at another, for 'their faces shall be as flames' (Isa 13:8). And what if one should say, that even as it is with a house set on fire within, where the flame ascends out at the chimneys, out at the windows, and out at every chink and crevice that it can find, so it will be with the damned in hell? That soul will breathe hellfire and smoke, and coals will seem to hang upon its burning lips; yea, the face, eyes, and ears will seem all to be chimneys and vents for the flame and smoke of the burning which God by His breath has kindled therein, and upon them, which will be beheld one in another, to the great torment and distress of each other.

What shall I say? Here will be seen devils, and there will be heard howlings and mournings; here will the soul see itself at an infinite distance from God; yea, the body will see it too. In a word, who knows the power of God's wrath, the weight of sin, the torments of hell, and the length of eternity? If none, then none can tell, when they have said what they can, the intolerableness of the torments that will swallow up the soul, the lost soul, when it is cast away by God, and from Him, into outer darkness for sin. But this much is for the cause of the loss of the soul.

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness 0f the Loss Thereof; What Shall A Man Give In Exchange For His Soul.70

 

[Through sin the soul sets itself against God.]

Objection. But you say, Does not this give encouragement to sinners to give way to the body to be in all its members lost, vain, and wicked, as instruments of sin?

Answer: No; forasmuch as the body shall also have its share in punishment. For though I have said the soul shall have more punishment than the body, I have not said, that the body shall at all be eased by that; no, the body will have its due. For a better understanding of my answer, consider the following particulars:

(1.) The body will be the vessel to hold the tormented soul in; this will be something; therefore, man, damned man, is called a vessel of wrath, a vessel, and that in both body and soul (Rom 9:22). The soul receiveth wrath unto itself, and the body holds that soul that has thus received, and is tormented by the wrath of God. Now the body, being a vessel to hold this soul that is thus possessed with the wrath of God, must itself be afflicted and tormented with that torment, because of its union with the body; therefore the Holy Ghost saith, 'His flesh upon him shall have pain, and his soul within him shall mourn' (Job 14:22). Both shall have their torment and misery, for that both joined hand in hand in sin, the soul to bring it to birth, and the body to midwife it into the world; therefore it saith again, with reference to the body, 'Let the curse come into his bowels like water, and like oil into his bones.' Let it be unto him as the garment which covereth him, and for a girdle, etc. (Psa 109:17-19). The body, then, will be tormented as well as the soul, by being a vessel to hold that soul that is now possessed and distressed with the unspeakable wrath and indignation of the Almighty God, and this will be a great deal if you consider,

(2.) That the body, as a body, will, by reason of its union with the soul, be as sensible, and so as capable in its kind, to receive correction and torment as ever, nay, I think more; for if the quickness of the soul giveth quickness of sense to the body, as in some case, at least, I am apt to think it doth, then forasmuch as the soul will now be most quick, most sharp in apprehension, so the body, by reason of union and sympathy with the soul, will be most quick and most sharp as to sense. Indeed, if the body should not receive and retain sense, yea, all its senses, by reason of its being a vessel to hold the soul, the torment of the soul could not as torment, be ministered to the body, no more than the fire tormented the king of Babylon's furnace (Dan 3). Or that the king of Moab's lime kiln was afflicted because the king of Edom's bones were burnt therein. But now the body has received again its senses, now, therefore, it must, yea, it cannot choose but must feel that wrath of God that is let out, yea, poured out like floods of water into the soul.  Remember also, that besides what the body receiveth from the soul by reason of its union and sympathy therewith, there is a punishment, and instruments of punishment, though I will not pretend to tell you exactly what it is, prepared for the body for its joining with the soul in sin, therewith to be punished; a punishment, I say, that shall fall immediately upon the body, and that such a one as will most fitly suit with the nature of the body, as wrath and guilt do most fitly suit the nature of the soul.

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness 0f the Loss Thereof; What Shall A Man Give In Exchange For His Soul.69

 

[Through sin the soul sets itself against God.]

Answer 4. With the soul by itself are the most quick and suitable apprehensions of God and His wrath; wherefore, that must needs be made partaker of the sorest punishment in hell; it is the soul that now is the most subtle at discerning, and it is the soul that will be so; then a conscience, memory, and understanding, and mind; these will be the seat of torment, since the understanding will let wrath immediately upon these, from what it apprehends of that wrath; conscience will let the wrath of God immediately upon these, from what it fearfully feels of that wrath; the memory will then, as a vessel, receive and retain up to the brim of this wrath, even as it receiveth by the understanding and conscience, the cause of this wrath, and considers the durableness of it; so, then, the soul is the seat and the receiver of wrath, even as it was the receiver and seat of sin; here, then, is sin and wrath upon the soul, the soul in the body, and so soul and body tormented in hell fire.

Answer 5. The soul will be most tormented, because strongest; the biggest burden must lie upon the strongest part, especially since it is made capable of it by its sin. The soul must bear its own punishment, and a great part of the body's too, forasmuch as, so far as apprehension goes, the soul will be quicker at the work than the body. It is true that the body, with the help of the soul, will see too, but the soul will see even more abundantly. And there is good reason that the soul should bear part of the punishment of the body because it was through its allurements that the body yielded to help the soul sin. The devil presented sin, the soul took it by the body, and now the devil, the soul, and body and all must be lost, cast away; that is, damned in hell for sin; but the soul must be the burden bearer.

Works of John Bunyan – The Greatness of The Soul, And Unspeakableness 0f the Loss Thereof; What Shall A Man Give In Exchange For His Soul.68

 

[Through sin the soul sets itself against God.]

Answer 2. Therefore, the soul must be the part most sorely punished, because justice must be distributed with equity. God is a God of knowledge and judgment; by Him, actions are weighed; actions to judgment (1 Sam 2). Now, by weighing of actions, since He finds the soul to have the deepest hand in sin; and He says that He hath so, of equity the soul is to bear the burden of punishment. 'Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right' in His famous distributing of judgment? (Gen 18:25). 'He will not lay upon man more than right, that he should enter into judgment with God' (Job 34:23). The soul, since deepest in sin, shall also be deepest in punishment. 'Shall one man sin,' said Moses, 'and wilt Thou be wroth with all the congregation?' (Num 1:22). He pleads here for equity in God's distributing of judgment; yea, and so exact is God in the distribution thereof, that He will not punish heathens so as He will punish Jews; wherefore He saith, 'Of the Jew first,' or chiefly, 'and also of the Gentile' (Rom 2:9). Yea, in hell He has prepared several degrees of punishment for the several sorts or degrees of offenders; And some 'shall receive greater damnation' (Luke 22:47). And will it not be unmeet for us to think, since God is so elect in all His doings, that He will, without His weights and measures, give to soul and body, as I may say, carelessly, not severally, their punishments, according to the desert and merit of each?

Answer 3. The punishment of the soul in hell must need, to be sure, to a degree, differ from the punishment of the body there. When I say, differ, I mean, must needs to be greater, whether the body is punished with the same fire with the soul or fire of another nature. If it be punished with the same fire, yet not in the same way; for the fire of guilt, with the apprehensions of indignation and wrath, are most properly felt and apprehended by the soul, and by the body by its union with the soul; and so felt by the body, if not only, yet, I think, mostly, by way of sympathy with the soul; and the cause, we say, is worse than the disease; and if the wrath of God, and the apprehensions of it, as discharging itself for sin, and the breach of the law, be that with which the soul is punished, as sure it is: then the body is punished by the effects, or by those influences that the soul, in its torments, has upon the body, by that great oneness and union that is between them.

But if there be a punishment prepared for the body distinct in kind from that which is prepared for the soul, yet it must be a punishment inferior to that which is prepared for the soul; not that the soul and body shall be severed, but being made of things distinct, their punishments will be by that which is most suitable to each. I say, it must be inferior, because nothing can be so hot, so tormenting, so intolerably insupportable, as the quickest apprehensions of, and the immediate sinking under, that guilt and indignation that is proportional to the offense. Should all the wood, brimstone, and combustible matter on earth be gathered together for the tormenting of one body, yet that cannot yield that torment to that which the sense of guilt and burning-hot application of the indignation of God will do to the soul; yea, suppose the fire wherewith the body is tormented in hell should be seven times hotter than any of our fire; yea, suppose it, again, to be seven times hotter than that which is seven times hotter than ours, yet it must suppose it to be but created fire, be infinitely short, as to tormenting operations, of the unspeakable wrath of God, when in the heat thereof He applieth it to and doth punish the soul for sin in hell therewith. So, then, whether the body be tormented with the same fire wherewith the soul is tormented, or whether the fire is of another kind, yet it is not possible that it should bear the same punishment as to degree, because, or for the causes I have showed. Nor, indeed, is it meet it should, because the body has not sinned so, so grievously as the soul has done; and God proportioneth the punishment suitable to the offence.