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Preparation.
- Place yourself in the Presence of God.
- Humble yourself, and ask His Aid.
- Picture to yourself a dark city, reeking with the flames of
sulphur and brimstone, inhabited by citizens who cannot get
forth.
Considerations.
- 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.
- 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, (1) how much sorer
will it be to be deprived for ever of the blessed vision of God?
- 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.
- Read the Prophet's descriptions of the terrors of the
Lord, (2) and ask your soul whether it can face them--whether
you can bear to lose your God for ever?
- 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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