CHAPTER XV. SEVENTH MEDITATION.

Of Hell.

Preparation.

1. PLACE yourself in God’s Presence.2. Humble yourself, and ask His
Aid.3. Picture to yourself a dark city, reeking with the flames of
sulphur and brimstone, inhabited by citizens who cannot get forth.

Considerations.

1. Even so the lost are plunged in their infernal abyss;–suffering
indescribable torture in every sense and every member; and that because
having used their members and senses for sin, it is just that through
them they should suffer now. Those eyes which delighted in impure
vicious sights, now behold devils; the ears which took pleasure in
unholy words, now are deafened with yells of despair;–and so on with
the other senses. 2. Beyond all these sufferings, there is one greater
still, the privation and pain of loss of God’s Glory, which is for ever
denied to their vision. If Absalom cared not to be released from exile,
if he might not see his father’s face, [19] how much sorer will it be
to be deprived for ever of the blessed vision of God?

3. Consider how insupportable the pains of Hell will be by reason of
their eternal duration. If the irritating bite of an insect, or the
restlessness of fever, makes an ordinary night seem so long and
tedious, how terrible will the endless night of eternity be, where
nought will be found save despair, blasphemy and fury!

Affections and Resolutions.

1. Read the Prophet’s descriptions of the terrors of the Lord, [20] and
ask your soul whether it can face them–whether you can bear to lose
your God for ever?

2. Confess that you have repeatedly deserved to do so. Resolve
henceforth to act differently, and to rescue yourself from this abyss.
Resolve on distinct definite acts by which you may avoid sin, and
thereby eternal death.

Give thanks, offer yourself, pray.
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[19] 2 Sam. xiv. 32.

[20] Isa. xxxiii. 14. “Who among us shall dwell with the devouring
fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?”
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