Your case is sad — very sad!
(James Smith, "The Way to Be Saved!" 1856)
"Then the King will turn to those on the left and say: Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons!"
"And they will go away into eternal punishment!" Matthew 25:41, 46Lost sinner, your case is sad — very sad! You are an enemy to God, in open and avowed rebellion against Him! You are forcing your passage to blackness, darkness, and eternal woe, through a thousand obstacles which are thrown in your way! And, O how fearful will your end be! What, O what a dreadful end, must yours be!
In Hell, you will be forever deprived of the glorious presence of God!
You will never see light — but be in perpetual darkness!
Your abode will be a prison, where there is . . .
no comfort — but horror;
no voice — but of blasphemers cursing God;
no sounds — but the howling of the tortured;
no society — but devils and damned people. And these being tormented themselves, will eternally torment you!You must experience . . .
punishment, without pity;
misery, without mercy;
sorrow, without support;
crying, without comfort;
mischief, without measure;
torment, without ease;
where the worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched!The wrath of God will seize upon your soul and body, like fire! And in the flame, you will be . . .
forever burning — but never consumed;
ever dying — but never dead;
ever roaring with pain — but know no end of these pains.Your torments will be always, beginning.
Your reflections will be, "All this, I procured by my sin! This I chose — in preference to Heaven! I myself am to blame for my destruction — and God is just!"
Great God, awaken, awaken the sinner! Open, O open his eyes! Snatch, O snatch him as a brand from the burning — and save him through Jesus' blood!! If this is not the case, lost sinner, you may look forward, and exclaim:
Infinite years in torments shall I spend,
And never, never, never end!
Ah! I must live in torturing despair,
As many years — as atoms in the air!When all these doleful years are spent in pain,
And multiplied by myriads again,
Til numbers drown thought; could I suppose
That then my wretched years were at a close.This would afford some ease; but, ah, I shiver —
To think upon the dreadful word, FOREVER!
The burning gulf, where I blaspheming lie,
Is time no more — but vast eternity!