A few sighs from hell are the groans
of the damned soul.
An exposition of those words in the sixteenth
of Luke, concerning the rich man and the
beggar.
By John Bunyan.
The wicked shall be turned into hell, and
all the nations that forget God.
Psalm 9, 17.
And whosoever was not found written in the
book of life, was cast into the lake
of fire.
Revelations 20, verse 15.
Luke 16, verse 23.
And in hell he lifted up his eyes,
being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off,
and Lazarus in his bosom.
The former verse speaks only of the departure
of the ungodly out of this life, together
with the glorious conduct that the godly have
into the kingdom of their father.
Now our Lord does show in this verse
partly what doth and shall befall to the
reprobate, after this life is ended where he
seeth.
And in hell he lifted up his eyes.
That is, the ungodly, after they depart this
life, do lift up their eyes in hell.
For these words may be observed, these things.
First, that there is a hell for souls
to be tormented in, when this life is
ended.
Mark, it was after he was dead and
buried.
In hell he lifted up his eyes.
Second, that all that are ungodly and do
live and die in their sins, so soon
as ever they die, they go into hell.
He died and was buried, and in hell
he lifted up his eyes.
Third, that some are so fast asleep and
secure in their sins, that they scarce know
well where they are till they come into
hell.
And that I gather from these words, in
hell he lifted up his eyes.
He was asleep before, but hell makes them
lift up his eyes.
First, as I said before, it is evident
that there is a hell for souls, yea,
and bodies too, to be tormented in after
they depart this life, is as clear first.
Because the Lord Jesus Christ, it cannot lie
to say, that after the sinner was dead
and buried in hell, he lifted up his
eyes.
Now if it be objected that by hell
is here meant the grave, that I plainly
deny, number one, because there the body is
not sensible of torment or ease, but in
that hell into which the spirits of the
damned depart they are sensible of torment, and
would very willingly be freed from it to
enjoy ease, which they are sensible of the
want of.
As is clearly discovered in this parable, sin
Lazarus is that he may dip the tip
of his finger in water and cool my
tongue.
Number two, it is not meant the grave,
but some other place, because the bodies, so
long as they lie there, are not capable
of lifting up their eyes, to see the
glorious condition of the children of God as
the souls of the damned do.
In hell he lifted up his eyes.
Number three, it cannot be the grave, for
then it must follow that the soul was
buried there with the body, which cannot stand
with such a dead state as is here
mentioned.
For, he saith, the rich man died, that
is, his soul was separated from his body,
and in hell he lifted up his eyes.
If it be again objected that there is
no hell but in this life, that I
also do deny, as I said before, after
he was dead and buried in hell he
lifted up his eyes.
And let me tell thee, O soul, whoever
thou art, that if thou close not unsavingly
with the Lord Jesus Christ, and lay hold
on what he hath done and is doing
in his own person for sinners, thou wilt
find such in hell, after this life is
ended, that thou wilt not get out of
it again for ever and ever.
And thou that art wanton unto us, but
make a mock of the servants of the
Lord when they tell thee of the torments
of hell, thou wilt find that when thou
departest out of this life, that hell, even
the hell which is after this life, will
meet thee in thy journey thither, and will,
with his hellish crew, give thee such a
sad salutation, that thou wilt not forget it
to all eternity, when that scripture comes to
be fulfilled on thy soul in Isaiah 14,
9 and 10.
Hell from beneath is moved for thee, to
meet thee in thy coming.
It stirreth up the dead for thee, even
all the chief ones of the earth.
It hath raised from their thrones all the
kings of the nations.
All they, that is, that are in hell
shall say, Art thou also become as weak
as we?
Art thou become like unto us?
O sometimes when I have had but thoughts
of going to hell, and considered the everlastingness
of the ruin that falleth thither, it has
stirred me up rather to seek to the
Lord Jesus Christ, to deliver me from this,
than aslide it, and make a mock at
it.
And in hell he lifted up his eyes.
2 The second thing I told you was
this, That all the ungodly that live and
die in their sins, so soon as ever
they depart this life, do descend into hell.
This is also verified by the words in
this parable, where Christ said, He died, and
was buried, and in hell he lifted up
his eyes.
As a tree falls, so it shall lie,
whether it be to heaven or hell.
Ecclesiastes 11.3 And as Christ said to
the thief on the cross, Today shalt thou
be with me in paradise.
Even so the devil in the like manner
may say unto thy soul, Tomorrow shalt thou
be with me in hell.
See then what a miserable case he that
dies in an unregenerate state is in.
He departs from a long sickness to a
longer hell, From the gripings of death to
the everlasting torments of hell.
And in hell he lifted up his eyes.
Ah, friends, if you were but yourselves, you
would have a care of your souls.
If you did but regard, you would see
how mad they are, that slight desalvation of
their souls.
What will it profit thy soul to have
pleasure in this life, and torments in hell?
Mark 8.36 Thou hadst better part with
all thy sins, and pleasures, and companions, or
whatsoever thou delightest in, Than to have soul
and body to be cast into hell.
O then, do not now neglect our Lord
Jesus Christ, lest thou drop down to hell.
Hebrews 2.3 Consider, would it not wound
thee to thy heart to come upon thy
deathbed, And instead of having the comfort of
a well-spent life, To have first the
sight of an ill-spent life?
Thy sins flying in thy face, thy conscience
uttering of itself with thunderclaps against thee, The
thoughts of God terrifying of thee, death with
its merciless paws seizing upon thee, The devil
standing ready to scramble forth thy soul, and
hell enlarging herself, And ready to swallow thee
up, and an eternity of misery and torment
attending upon thee, From which there will be
no release?
For Mark, death does not come alone to
an unconverted soul, But with such company as
was thou but sensible of, it would make
thee tremble.
I pray, consider that scripture in Revelation 6
verse 8.
And I looked, and behold, a pale horse,
and his name that sat on him was
Death, and hell followed with him.
Mark, death does not come alone to the
ungodly, no, but hell goeth with him.
O miserable comforters!
O miserable society!
Here comes death and hell unto thee.
Death goeth into thy body, and separates body
and soul asunder.
Hell stands without, as I may say, to
embrace, or rather to crush thy soul between
its everlasting grinders.
Then thy mirth, thy joy, thy sinful delights
will be ended when this comes to pass.
Lo, it will come.
Blessed are all those that through Jesus Christ,
merits by faith, do escape these soul-murdering
companions.
And in hell he lifted up his eyes.
Third.
The third thing, you know, that we did
observe from these words was this.
That some are so fast asleep and secure
in their sins that they scarce know where
they are until they come into hell.
And that, I told you, I gather by
these words, in hell he lifted up his
eyes.
Mark, it was in hell that he lifted
up his eyes.
Now some do understand by these words that
he came to himself, or began to consider
with himself, or to think with himself in
what an estate he was, and what he
was deprived of.
Which is still a confirmation of the thing
laid down by me.
There it is that they come to themselves.
That is, there they are sensible where they
are indeed.
Thus it fares with some men that they
scarce know where they are till they lift
up their eyes in hell.
It is with those people as with those
that fall down in a swoon.
You know, if a man do fall down
in a swoon in one room, though you
take him up and carry him into another,
yet he is not sensible where he is
till he cometh unto himself and lifteth up
his eyes.
Truly thus it is to be feared.
It is with many poor souls.
They are so senseless, so hard, so seared
in their conscience, 1 Timothy 4.2, that
they are very ignorant of their state.
And when death comes, it strikes them, as
it were, into a swoon, especially if they
die suddenly.
And so they are hurried away and scarce
know where they are till in hell they
lift up their eyes.
This is he who dieth in his full
strength, being holy at ease and quiet.
Job 21.23. Of this order they spoken
of in Psalm 73, where he saith, There
are no bands in their death, but their
strength is firm.
They are not in trouble as other men,
neither are they plagued like other men.
And again they spend their days in wealth,
and in a moment, Mark, in a moment,
before they are aware, they go down to
the grave.
Job 21.13. Indeed, this is too much
known by woeful and daily experience.
Sometimes, when we go to visit them that
are sick, in the towns and places where
we live, O how senseless, how seared in
their consciences are they!
They are neither sensible of heaven nor of
hell, of sin nor of a Saviour.
Speak to them of their condition and the
state of their souls, and ye shall find
them as ignorant as if they had no
souls to regard.
Others, O they lie ready to die, yet
they are busy in themselves about their outward
affairs, as though they should certainly live here,
even to live and enjoy the same forever.
Again, come to others, speak to them about
the state of their souls, though they have
no more experience of the new birth than
a beast, yet they will speak as confidently
of their eternal state and the welfare of
their souls as if they had the most
excellent experience of any man or woman in
the world, saying, I shall have peace.
Deuteronomy 29.19. When, as I said, even
now the Lord knows they are as ignorant
of the new birth, of the nature and
operation of faith, of the witness of the
Spirit, as if there were no new birth,
no faith, no witness of the Spirit of
Christ in any of the saints in the
world, nay, thus many of them are even
an hour or less before their departure.
O poor souls, O they may go away
here like a lamb, as the world says,
yet if you could but follow them a
little to stand and listen soon after their
departure, it is to be feared you should
hear them roar like a lion at their
first entrance into hell.
Far worse than even did Korah and company
when they went down quick into the ground.
Numbers 16.31-35.
Now by this one thing does the devil
take great advantage on the hearts of the
ignorant, suggesting unto them that because a party
deceased departed so quietly, without all doubt they
are gone to rest in joy.
When, alas, it is to be feared the
reason why they went away so quietly was
rather because they were so senseless and hardened
in their consciences, yea, dead before in sins
and trespasses.
For had they but had some awakenings on
their deathbeds, as some have had, they would
have made all the town to ring of
their doleful condition.
But because they are seared and ignorant and
so depart quietly, therefore the world takes heart
at grace, as we used to say, and
makes no great manner of living and dying,
they cannot tell how.
Therefore pride compasseth them as a chain.
Psalm 75.6. But let them look to
themselves, for if they have not an interest
in the Lord Jesus now, while they live
in the world they will, whether they die
raging or still, go unto the same place
and lift up their eyes in hell.
O my friends, did you but know what
a miserable condition they are in that go
out of this world without an interest in
the Son of God.
It would make you smite upon your thigh,
and in the bitterness of your souls cry
out, Men and brethren, what shall we do
to be saved?
Acts 16.29-31 And not only so,
but thou wouldst not be comforted until thou
didst find the rest for thy soul in
the Lord Jesus Christ.
Verse 23 And in hell he lifted up
his eyes, being in torment, and so seeth
Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
Something in brief I have observed from the
first part of this verse, namely, from these
words, And in hell he lifted up his
eyes.
And indeed I have observed but some things,
for they are very full of manner, and
many things might be taken notice of in
them.
There is one thing more that I might
touch upon as touched in this saying, and
that is this, Methinks the Lord Jesus Christ
doth hereby signify that men are naturally unwilling
to see or take notice of their sad
state.
I say by nature, But though now they
are willingly ignorant, yet in hell they shall
lift up their eyes.
That is, in hell they shall see and
understand their miserable condition.
And therefore, to these words, In hell he
lifted up his eyes, he adds, being in
torment.
As if he had said, Though once they
shut their eyes, though once they were willingly
ignorant, 2 Peter 3.5 Yet when they
depart into hell, they shall be so miserably
handled and tormented that they shall be forced
to lift up their eyes.
When men live in this world and are
in a natural state, they will have a
good conceit of themselves and of their condition.
They will conclude that they are Christians, that
Abraham is their father, and that their state
to be as good as the best, Matthew
3.7-9.
They will conclude they have faith, the spirit,
a good hope, and an interest in the
Lord Jesus Christ.
But then, when they drop into hell and
lift up their eyes there, and behold first,
their soul to be in extreme torment, their
dwelling to be the bottomless pit, their company
thousands of damned souls, also the innumerable company
of devils, and the hot scalding vengeance of
God, not only to drop, but to fall
very violently upon them, then they will begin
to be awakened who all their lifetime were
in a dead sleep.
I say, when this comes to pass, lo
it will, then in hell they shall lift
up their eyes, in the midst of torments
they shall lift up their eyes.
Again, you may observe in these words, and
in hell he lifted up his eyes being
in torment, that the time of the ungodly
men smarting for their sins will be in
the torments of hell.
Now here I am put to stand, when
I consider the torments of hell into which
the damned do fall.
O unspeakable torments!
O endless torments!
Now that thy soul might be made to
flee from those intolerable torments into which the
damned do go, I shall show you briefly
what are the torments of hell.
First, by the names of it.
Second, by the sad state thou wilt be
in if thou comest there.
First, the names.
It is called a never-dying worm, Mark
9.
It is called an oven fire-hot, Malachi
4.1. It is called a furnace, a
fiery furnace, Matthew 13.
It is called the bottomless pit, the unquenchable
fire, fire in brimstone, hell fire, the lake
of fire, devouring fire, everlasting fire, eternal fire,
a stream of fire, Revelation 21.
Second, by the sad state thou wilt be
in if thou comest there.
Number one.
When part of thy torments will be this,
thou shalt have a full sight of all
thy ill-spent life from first to last.
Though here thou can sin today and forget
it by tomorrow, yet there thou shalt be
made to remember how thou didst sin against
God at such a time and such a
place, for such a thing and with such
an one, which will be a hell unto
thee.
God will set them in order before thine
eyes.
Psalm 51.21. Number two.
Thou shalt have the guilt of them all
lie heavy on thy soul, not only the
guilt of one or two, but the guilt
of them all together, and there they shall
lie in thy soul, as if thy belly
were full of pitch and set on a
light fire.
Here men can sometimes think on their sins
with delight, but there with unspeakable torment.
For that I understand to be the fire
that Christ speaketh of, which shall never be
quenched.
Mark 9.43-49.
While men live here, O how doth the
guilt of one's sins sometimes crush the soul!
It makes a man in such a plight
that he is weary of his life, so
that he can neither rest at home nor
abroad, neither up nor in bed.
Nay, I do know that they have been
so tormented with the guilt of one's sinful
thoughts that they have been even at their
wit's end.
And hang themselves.
But now when thou comest into hell, and
hast not only one or two or a
hundred sins, with the guilt of them all
on thy soul and body, but all the
sins that ever thou didst commit, since thou
camest into the world, altogether clapped on thy
conscience at one time, as one should clap
a red hot iron to thy breasts, and
there to continue to all eternity, this is
miserable.
Mark 9.43-49.
Again, then, thou shalt have brought into thy
remembrance the sliding of the gospel of Christ.
Here thou shalt consider how willing Christ was
to come into the world to save sinners,
and for what a trifle thou didst reject
Him.
This is plainly held forth in Isaiah 28,
where, speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ, the
foundation of salvation, verse 16, he saith of
them that reject the gospel, that when the
overflowing scourge doth pass through the earth, which
I understand to be at the end of
the world, then, saith he, it shall take
you morning by morning, by day and by
night shall it pass over you, that is,
continually, without any intermission.
And it shall be a vexation only to
understand the report, a vexation, that is, a
torment, or a great part of hell, only
to understand the report, to understand the good
tidings that came into the world by Christ's
death for poor sinners.
And you will find this verily to be
the mind of the Spirit, if you compare
it with Isaiah 53, 1, where he speaks
of men's turning their backs upon the tenders
of God's grace in the gospel.
He saith, Who hath believed our report, or
the gospel declared by us?
No, this will be a mighty torment to
the ungodly, when they shall understand the goodness
of God, that it was so great that
He even sent His Son out of His
bosom to die for sinners, and yet that
they should be so foolish as to put
Him off from one time to another, that
they should be so foolish as to lose
Heaven and Christ and eternal life and glory
for the society of a company of drunkards,
that they should lose their souls for a
little sport, for this world, for a strumpet,
for that which is lighter than vanity and
nothing.
I say, this will be a very great
torment unto thee.
4.
Another part of thy torment will be this,
Thou shalt see thy friends, thy acquaintance, thy
neighbors, nay, it may be, thy father, thy
mother, thy wife, thy husband, thy children, thy
brother, thy sister, with others in the kingdom
of heaven, and thyself thrust out.
Luke 13.28 There shall be weeping and
gnashing of teeth, when they shall see Abraham,
your father, and Isaac and Jacob, together with
your brethren, and all the prophets in the
kingdom of heaven, and you yourself thrust out.
5.
Nay, saith he, they shall come from the
east and from the west, that is, those
thou didst never see in all thy life
before.
6.
And they shall sit down with thy friends
and thy neighbors, thy wife and thy children,
in the kingdom of heaven, and thou, for
thy sins and disobedience, shalt be shut, nay,
thrust out.
Oh, terrible torment!
Again thou shalt have none but a company
of damned souls, with an innumerable company of
devils, to keep company with thee.
7.
While thou art in this world, the very
thoughts of the devils appearing to thee makes
thy flesh to tremble, and thine hair ready
to stand upright on thy head.
8.
But, oh, what wilt thou do when not
only the supposition of the devils appearing, but
the real society of all the devils in
hell, will be with thee, howling and roaring,
screeching and roaring in such a hideous manner,
that thou wilt be, even if thy wits
end, and be ready to run stark mad
again, for anguish and torment?
6.
Again, since thou mightest be tormented, the purpose
of mighty God of heaven will lay his
great wrath and vengeance upon thee as ever
he can, by the might of his glorious
power.
As I said before, thou shalt have his
wrath, not by dross, but by whole a
shower shall it come, thunder upon thy body
and soul, so fast and so thick, that
thou shalt be tormented out of measure.
7.
And so saith the Scripture, 2 Thessalonians 1
.9, speaking of the wicked, 8.
Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from
the presence of the Lord and from the
glory of his power, when the saints shall
be admiring his goodness and glory.
9.
Again, thou shalt have, as I said before,
without any intermission, thou shalt not have any
ease, so long as well a man may
turn himself round.
Thou shalt have it every hour, day and
night, for their worm never dies, but always
gnaws, and their fire is never quenched, as
it is written in Mark 9.
7.
Again, in this condition, thou must be forever,
and that is as sad as all the
rest.
For if a man were to have all
the sins laid to his charge in communion
with the devils, and as much wrath as
the great God of heaven can inflict upon
him, I say, if it were but for
a time, even ten thousand years, and so
end, there would be ground of comfort and
hope of deliverance.
But here is thy misery, this is thy
state forever.
Here thou must be forever.
8.
When thou lookest about thee, and seest what
an innumerable company of howling devils thou art
amongst, thou shalt think this again, This is
my portion forever.
9.
When thou hast been in hell so many
thousand years, as there are stars in the
firmament, or drops in the sea, or sands
on the seashore, yet thou hast to lie
there forever.
O this one word ever, how will it
torment thy soul!
Friends, I have only given a very short
touch of the torments of hell.
O I am set, I am set, and
am not able to utter what my mind
conceives of the torments of hell.
Yet this let me say to thee, Accept
of God's mercy through our Lord Jesus Christ,
lest thou feel that with thy conscience which
I cannot express with my tongue, and say,
I am sorely tormented in this flame.
And seest Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in
his bosom.
When the damned are in this pitiful state,
surrounded with fears, with terrors, with torment and
vengeance, one thing they shall have, which is
this, they shall see the happy and blessed
state of God's children.
He seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in
his bosom, which, as I said before, is
the happy state of the saints when this
life is ended.
This now shall be so far from being
an ease unto them, that it shall most
wonderfully aggravate or heighten their torment, as I
said before.
There shall be weeping, or cause of lamentation,
when they shall see Abraham and Isaac and
Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, and themselves
thrust out.
1.
Observe.
Those that die in their sins are far
from going to heaven.
He seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in
his bosom.
And, indeed, it is just with God to
deal with them that die in their sins
according to what they have done, and to
make them who are far from righteousness now
to stand far from heaven to all eternity.
Hearken to this, ye stout-hearted, that are
far from righteousness, that are resolved to go
on in your sins.
When ye die, ye will be far from
heaven.
Ye will see Lazarus, but it will be
afar off.
Again, he seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus
in his bosom.
These are some of the things that damn
do behold, so soon as they come into
torment.
Mark, and he seeth Lazarus in Abraham's bosom.
Lazarus, who is he?
Why, even he that was so slight, is
so disregarded, is so undervalued by this ungodly
one, while he was in the world.
He seeth Lazarus in Abraham's bosom.
From whence observed those who live and die,
the enemies of the saints of God?
Let them be never so great or stout.
Let them bear never so much sway while
they are in the world.
Let them brag and boast never so much
while they are here.
They shall, in spite of their teeth, see
the saints, yea, the poor saints, even that
Lazarus is, are the ragged ones that belong
to Jesus, to be in a better condition
than themselves.
Oh, who do you think was in the
best condition?
Who do you think saw themselves in the
best condition?
He that was in hell, or he that
was in heaven?
He that was in darkness, or he that
was in light?
He that was in everlasting joy, or he
that was in everlasting torments?
The one with God, Christ, saints, angels, the
other in tormenting flames under the curse of
God's eternal hatred, with the devils and their
angels, together with an innumerable company of howling,
roaring, cursing, ever-burning reprobates.
Certainly this observation will be easily proved to
be true here in this world by him
that looks upon it with an understanding heart,
and will clear itself to be true in
the world to come, by such as shall
go either to heaven or to hell.
Number 2 The second observation from these words,
And seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in
his bosom is this, They that are the
persecutors of the saints of the Lord now
in this world shall see the Lord's persecuted
ones to be they that are so highly
esteemed by the Lord as to sit or
to be in Abraham's bosom in everlasting glory,
though they the enemies to the children of
God did so lightly esteem them that they
scorned to let them gather up the dog's
meat that falls under their table.
This is also verified and held forth plainly
by this parable.
And therefore be not grieved, O you that
are tempted, persecuted, afflicted, sighing, praying saints of
the Lord.
Though your adversaries look upon you now with
a disdainful, surly, rugged, proud, and haughty countenance,
yet the time shall come when they shall
spy you in Abraham's bosom.
I might enlarge upon thee things, but shall
leave them to the Spirit of the Lord,
which can better by ten thousand degrees enlarge
them on thy heart and conscience than I
can upon a piece of paper.
Therefore leave them these to the blessings of
the Lord.
I shall come to the next verse, and
shall be brief in speaking to that also,
and so pass to the rest.
Verse 24 And he cried and said, Father
Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus
that he may dip the tip of his
finger in water and cool my tongue, for
I am tormented in this flame.
You know, I told you the verse 22
is the discovery of the departure of the
godly and the ungodly out of this life,
where he saith the beggar died, and the
rich man also died.
The 23rd verse is the discovery of the
proper places both of the godly and the
ungodly after death, one being in Abraham's bosom,
or in glory, the other in hell.
Now this 24th verse is the discovery of
part of the too late repentance of the
ungodly when they are dropped down into hell.
And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have
mercy on me.
From these words, and he cried, we may
observe first what a change the ungodly will
have when they come into hell.
He cried.
It is like he was laughing, jesting, cheering,
drinking, mocking, swearing, cursing, praying, persecuting of the
godly, and his prosperity among his filthy companions.
But now the case is otherwise.
Now he is in another frame.
Now his proud, stout courage carriages come down.
And he cried.
The laughter of the ungodly will not last
always, but will be sure to end in
a cry.
The triumphing of the wicked is short.
Job 21st 5 Considerer, you must have a
change either here or in hell.
If you be not new creatures, regenerate persons,
newborn babes in this world, before you go
hence, your note will be changed, your conditions
will be changed.
For if you come into hell, you must
cry.
Oh, did but the singing drunkards, when they
were making merry on the alehouse binge, think
on this.
It would make them change their note and
cry.
What shall I do?
Whither shall I go when I die?
But as I said before, the devil, as
he labors to get poor souls to follow
their sins, so he labors also to keep
the thoughts of eternal damnation out of their
minds.
And indeed, these two things are so nearly
linked together, that the devil cannot well get
the soul to go on in sin with
delight, unless he can keep the thoughts of
that terrible after-clap out of their minds,
to let them know that it shall not
always be thoughts with them.
For if, whence they depart, they drop down
into eternal destruction, they shall have such a
sense of their sins, and a punishment due
to the same, that it shall make them
to cry.
And he cried, O what an alteration will
there be among the ungodly when they go
out of this world!
It may be a fortnight or a month
before their departure they were light, stout, surly,
drinking themselves drunk, sliding God's people, mocking at
goodness and delighting in sin, following the world,
seeking after riches, faring deliciously, keeping company with
the bravest.
But now they are dropped down into hell.
They cry.
A little while ago they were painting their
faces, feeding their lusts, following their whores, robbing
their neighbors, telling of lies, following of plays
and sports, to pass away the time.
But now they are in hell.
They do cry.
It may be last year they heard some
good sermons, were invited to receive heaven, were
told their sins should be pardoned if they
closed in with Jesus.
But refusing his prophets and slighting the grace
that was tendered, they are now in hell
and do cry.
Before they had so much time they thought
they could not tell how to spend it
unless it were in hunting and whoring and
dancing and playing, and spending whole hours, yea
days, nay weeks, in the lusts of the
flesh.
But when they depart into another place and
begin to lift up their eyes in hell,
and consider their miserable and irrecoverable conditions, they
will cry.
Oh, what a condition wilt thou fall into
when thou dost depart this world, if thou
depart unconverted and not born again.
Thou hast better have been smothered the first
hour thou wast born.
Thou hast better have been plucked one limb
from another.
Thou hast better have been made a dog,
a toad, a serpent, nay any other creature
in the visible world, than to die unconverted.
And this thou wilt find to be true
when in hell thou dost lift up thine
eyes and dost cry.
Hear then, before we go any further, ye
may see that it is not without good
ground that these words are here spoken by
our Lord, that when any of the ungodly
do depart into hell, they will cry.
Cry?
Why so?
Number one, they will cry to think that
they should be cut off from the land
of the living, never more to have any
footing therein.
Number two, they will cry to think that
the gospel of Christ should be so often
proffered them, and yet they are not profited
by it.
Number three, they will cry to think that
now, though they would never so willingly repent
and be saved, yet they are past all
recovery.
Number four, they will cry to think that
they should be so foolish as to follow
their pleasures, when others were following of Christ.
Luke 13, 28.
Number five, they will cry to think that
they must be separated from God, Christ, and
the kingdom of heaven, and that forever.
Number six, they will cry to think that
their crying will now do them no good.
Number seven, to think that at the day
of judgment they must stand at the left
hand of Christ among an innumerable company of
the damned ones.
Number eight, they will cry to think that
Lazarus, whom once they slighted, must be of
them that must sit down with Christ to
judge, or together with Christ to pass the
sentence of condemnation on their souls forever and
ever.
1 Corinthians 6, 2 and 3.
Number nine, cry to think that when the
judgment is over and others are taken into
the everlasting kingdom of glory, then they must
depart back into that dungeon of darkness from
whence they came out to appear before the
terrible tribunal, there they shall be tormented so
long as eternity lasts, without the least intermission
or ease.
How sayest thou, O thou wanton, proud, swearing,
lying, ungodly wretch, whether this be to be
slighted and made a mock at?
And again tell me now if it be
not better to leave sin and to close
in with Jesus Christ, notwithstanding that reproach thou
shall meet with for so doing, than to
live a little while in this world in
pleasures and feeding thy lusts, and neglecting the
welfare of thy soul, and refusing to be
justified by Jesus, and in a moment to
drop down to hell and to cry, O
consider, I say, consider be times, and put
not off the tenders of the grace of
our Lord Jesus Christ, lest you lift up
your eyes in hell and cry for anguish
of spirit.
That was a reading from the book A
Few Sighs From Hell by John Bunyan.
If you want more of the book that
is narrated, contact Chapel Library.
Information is at www.mountzion.org.
I narrated about four 90-minute cassettes of
the book for them.