Certainly, hell-fire is neither tolerable nor terminable.
The extremity and eternity of hellish torments is set forth
by the worm which never dies. Christ makes a threefold
repetition of this worm in Mark 9:44, 46, and 48—
"Their worm does not die—and the fire is not quenched!"
"Their worm does not die—and the fire is not quenched!"
"Their worm does not die—and the fire is not quenched!"
Certainly those punishments are beyond all conception and
expression—which our Lord Jesus does so often inculcate
within so small a space!
If after so many millions of years as there are drops in
the ocean, there might be a deliverance out of hell, this
would yield a little ease, a little comfort to the damned.
Oh but this word, "Eternity! Eternity! Eternity!" This word,
"Everlasting! Everlasting! Everlasting!" will break the
hearts of the damned in ten thousand pieces!
There is scarcely any pain or torment here on earth—but
there is ever some hope of ease, mitigation, or intermission,
there is some hope of relief or delivery. But in hell, the
torments there are all easeless, remediless, and endless!
Here on earth, if one falls into the fire, he may like a brand
be pulled out of it and be saved; but out of that fiery lake
of hell-fire, there is no redemption. That majesty of God,
which the sinner has offended and provoked—is an infinite
majesty. Now, there must be some proportion between the
sinner's sin—and his punishment and torment. Now the
sinner being a finite creature, he is not capable of bearing
the weight of that punishment or torment which is intensively
infinite, because it would be his abolishing or annihilating;
and therefore he must bear the weight of that punishment
or torment, which is extensively infinite—that is, infinite in
the continuance and endurance. What is lacking in torment,
must be made up in time.
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Thomas Brooks (1608 - 1680)
Much of what is known about Thomas Brooks has been ascertained from his writings. Born, likely to well-to-do parents, in 1608, Brooks entered Emmanuel College, Cambridge in 1625, where he was preceded by such men as Thomas Hooker, John Cotton, and Thomas Shepard. He was licensed as a preacher of the Gospel by 1640. Before that date, he appears to have spent a number of years at sea, probably as a chaplain with the fleet.After the conclusion of the First English Civil War, Thomas Brooks became minister at Thomas Apostle's, London, and was sufficiently renowned to be chosen as preacher before the House of Commons on December 26, 1648. His sermon was afterwards published under the title, 'God's Delight in the Progress of the Upright', the text being Psalm 44:18: 'Our heart is not turned back, neither have our steps declined from Thy way'. Three or four years afterwards, he transferred to St. Margaret's, Fish-street Hill, London. In 1662, he fell victim to the notorious Act of Uniformity, but he appears to have remained in his parish and to have preached as opportunity arose. Treatises continued to flow from his pen.[3]
Thomas Brooks was a nonconformist preacher. Born into a Puritan family, he was sent to Emmanuel College, Cambridge. He soon became an advocate of the Congregational way and served as a chaplain in the Civil War. In 1648 he accepted the rectory of St. Margaret's, New Fish Street, London, but only after making his Congregational principles clear to the vestry.
On several occasions he preached before Parliament. He was ejected in 1660 and remained in London as a Nonconformist preacher. Government spies reported that he preached at Tower Wharf and in Moorfields. During the Great Plague and Great Fire he worked in London, and in 1672 was granted a license to preach in Lime Street. He wrote over a dozen books, most of which are devotional in character. He was buried in Bunhill Fields.