The loss of the soul
most fearful.
Thirdly, As the loss
of the soul is a loss peculiar to itself, and a loss double, so, in the third
place, it is a loss most fearful, because it is a loss attended with the heaviest
curse of God. This is manifest both in the giving of the rule of life, and also
in, and at the time of execution for, the breach of that rule. It is manifest
at the giving of the rule—'Cursed be he that confirmed not all the words of
this law to do them. And all the people shall say, Amen' (Deu 27:26; Gal 3:10).
It is also manifest that it shall be so at the time of execution—'Depart from
Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels'
(Matt 25:41). What this curse is, none do know so well as God that giveth it,
and as the fallen angels, and the spirits of damned men that are now shut up in
the prison of hell and bear it. But certainly, it is the chief and highest of
all kinds of curses. To be cursed in the basket and in the store, in the womb
and in the barn, in my cattle and in my body, are but flea-biting to this,
though they are also insupportable in themselves; only in general it may be
described thus.
But to touch upon
this curse, it lieth in deprivation of all good, and in a being swallowed up of
all the most fearful miseries that a holy, and just, and eternal God can
righteously inflict, or lay upon the soul of a sinful man. Now let Reason here
come in and exercise itself in the most exquisite manner; yea, let him now
count up all, and all manner of curses and torments that a reasonable and an
immortal soul is, or can be made capable of, and able to suffer under, and when
he has done, he shall come infinitely short of this great anathema, this master
curse which God has reserved amongst His treasuries, and intends to bring out
in that day of battle and war, which He purposed to make upon damned souls in
that day. And this God will do, partly as a retaliation, as the former, and
partly by way of revenge.
1. By way of retaliation: 'As he loved
cursing, so let it come unto him: as he delighted not in blessing, so let it be
far from him.' Again, 'As he clothed himself with cursing like as with his
garment, so let it come into his bowels like water, and like oil into his
bones; let it be unto him as a garment which covered him, and for a girdle
wherewith he is girded continually' (Psa 109:17-19). 'Let this,' saith Christ,
‘be the reward of mine adversaries from the Lord' (vs. 20 etc). 2. As this
curse comes by way of retaliation, so it cometh by way of revenge. God will
right the wrongs that sinners have done Him, will repay vengeance for the
despite and reproach wherewith they have affronted Him, and will revenge the
quarrel of His covenant. And the beginning of revenges are terrible, (Deu
31:41,42); what, then, will the whole execution be, when He shall come in
flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the
gospel of Jesus Christ? And, therefore, this curse is executed in wrath, in
jealousy, in anger, in fury; yea, the heavens and the earth shall be burned up
with the fire of that jealousy in which the great God will come, when He cometh
to curse the souls of sinners, and when He cometh to defy the ungodly, (2 Thess
1: 7-9).
It is little thought
of, but the manner of the coming of God to judge the world declares what the
souls of impenitent sinners must look for then. It is common among men, when we
see the form of a man's countenance changed, when we see fire sparkle out of
his eyes, when we read rage and fury in every cast of his face, even before he
says aught, or doth aught either, to conclude that some fearful thing is now to
be done (Dan 3:19,23). Why, it is said of Christ when He cometh to judgment,
that the heavens and the earth fly away, as not being able to endure His looks,
(Rev 20:11,12); that His angels are clad in flaming fire, and that the elements
melt with fervent heat; and all this is, that the perdition of ungodly men
might be completed, 'from the presence of the Lord, in the heat of His anger,
from the glory of His power' (2 Pet 3:7; 2 Thess 1:8,9). Therefore, God will
now be revenged, and so ease Himself of His enemies, when He shall cause curses
like millstones to fall as thick as hail on 'the hairy scalp of such a one as
goeth on still in his trespasses' (Psa 68:2l). But,
