the horrors of that horrible place?
(James Smith, "The Way of Salvation Set Forth")
"JESUS who delivers us
from the wrath to come!"
1 Thessalonians 1:10
Salvation includes deliverance
from Hell. Of all dreadful places--
Hell is the most dreadful. No one
figure can give us an adequate
idea of it. It is the prison, where
GOD'S enemies are confined.
It is a lake of fire and brimstone,
where the traitors against the
SAVIOR'S throne and government
are punished. There, all is dark,
dreary, agonizing, and horrible!
Despair reigns, desperation works,
and horror preys upon its victims.
The worm of a guilty conscience
never dies. The fire of of GOD'S
just wrath is never quenched.
Prepared for the devil and his angels--
Hell is now destined to be the eternal
habitation of every impenitent sinner.
In Hell, the sufferer is forever
shut out from the glorious
presence of GOD--
and is shut in with
devils and damned souls.
Hell is a prison where there is . . .
no order--but horror,
no voice--but of blasphemers
cursing GOD, themselves,
and all around them,
no sounds--but the howling
of the tortured and the torturers,
no society--but devils and
the damned--who being
tormented themselves,
forever torment others!
There sinners experience . . .
punishment--without pity;
misery--without mercy;
sorrow--without support;
crying--without comfort;
mischief--without measure;
torment--without ease;
and despair--without hope!
The wrath of GOD will seize
upon body and soul like fire!
In that flame, the sufferer is . . .
forever burning--
but is never consumed;
forever dying--
but never dead;
forever writhing in
the pangs of the second death--
and never freed from those
pangs; nor does he ever
know an end of his pains.
Who can fairly represent the horrors
of that horrible place, where Divine
wrath which has been accumulating for ages--
bursts forth without control or cessation!
Such is the desert of sin, and such
the doom of every unconverted sinner.
But salvation is a deliverance from Hell--
complete and eternal deliverance!
Oh what a mercy is this!
One would think that everyone
who heard of it would rejoice,
embrace the glad tidings, and
escape from the wrath to come!
But this is not the case!
There is a DELIVERER--
but HE is despised.
There is free deliverance--
but it is slighted. Men choose
eternal death, rather than eternal life!
What a mercy to be delivered from Hell!
"JESUS who delivers us
from the wrath to come!"
1 Thessalonians 1:10
Salvation includes deliverance
from Hell. Of all dreadful places--
Hell is the most dreadful. No one
figure can give us an adequate
idea of it. It is the prison, where
GOD'S enemies are confined.
It is a lake of fire and brimstone,
where the traitors against the
SAVIOR'S throne and government
are punished. There, all is dark,
dreary, agonizing, and horrible!
Despair reigns, desperation works,
and horror preys upon its victims.
The worm of a guilty conscience
never dies. The fire of of GOD'S
just wrath is never quenched.
Prepared for the devil and his angels--
Hell is now destined to be the eternal
habitation of every impenitent sinner.
In Hell, the sufferer is forever
shut out from the glorious
presence of GOD--
and is shut in with
devils and damned souls.
Hell is a prison where there is . . .
no order--but horror,
no voice--but of blasphemers
cursing GOD, themselves,
and all around them,
no sounds--but the howling
of the tortured and the torturers,
no society--but devils and
the damned--who being
tormented themselves,
forever torment others!
There sinners experience . . .
punishment--without pity;
misery--without mercy;
sorrow--without support;
crying--without comfort;
mischief--without measure;
torment--without ease;
and despair--without hope!
The wrath of GOD will seize
upon body and soul like fire!
In that flame, the sufferer is . . .
forever burning--
but is never consumed;
forever dying--
but never dead;
forever writhing in
the pangs of the second death--
and never freed from those
pangs; nor does he ever
know an end of his pains.
Who can fairly represent the horrors
of that horrible place, where Divine
wrath which has been accumulating for ages--
bursts forth without control or cessation!
Such is the desert of sin, and such
the doom of every unconverted sinner.
But salvation is a deliverance from Hell--
complete and eternal deliverance!
Oh what a mercy is this!
One would think that everyone
who heard of it would rejoice,
embrace the glad tidings, and
escape from the wrath to come!
But this is not the case!
There is a DELIVERER--
but HE is despised.
There is free deliverance--
but it is slighted. Men choose
eternal death, rather than eternal life!
What a mercy to be delivered from Hell!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
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