FUTURE MISERY OF THE WICKED. 



107 



to their view. For the words of the song plainly 

 imply, that they have acquired such an expansive 

 view of the works of God as constrains them to 

 declare, that they are &quot; great and marvellous ;&quot; 

 and that they have attained such an intimate 

 knowledge of the divine dispensations towards 

 the intelligent universe, a senables them to per 

 ceive that all the ways of the King of heaven 

 are &quot; righteous and true.&quot; 



From the preecding details we may also learn, 

 what will form one constituent part of the misery 

 of the wicked in the future world. As one part 

 of the happiness of the righteous will consist in 

 u seeing God as he is,&quot; that is, in beholding the 

 divine glory as displayed in the physical and 

 moral economy of the universe, so, it will, in 

 all probability, form one bitter ingredient in the 

 future lot of the unrighteous, that they shall be 

 deprived of the transporting view of the Cre 

 ator s glory, as displayed in the magnificent ar 

 rangements he has made in the system of nature. 

 Confined to one dreary corner of the universe, 

 surrounded by a dense atmosphere, or a congeries 

 of sable clouds, they will be cut off from all in 

 tercourse with the regions of moral perfection, 

 and prevented from contemplating the sub 

 lime scenery of the Creator s empire. This 

 idea is corroborated by the declarations of Scrip 

 ture, where they are represented &quot; as banished 

 from the new Jerusalem,&quot; &quot; thrust out into outer 

 darkness,&quot; and reserved for &quot; the blackness ot 

 darkness for ages of ages.&quot; And, nothing can 

 be more tormenting to minds endowed with ca 

 pacious powers, than the thought of being for ever 

 deprived of the opportunity of exercising them 

 on the glorious objects which they know to exist, 

 but which they can never contemplate, and about 

 which they never expect to hear any transporting 

 information. 



If it be one end of future punishment to make 

 wicked men sensible of their folly and ingratitude, 

 and of the mercy and favours they have abused, 

 it is probable, that, in that future world or region 

 to which they shall be confined, every thing 

 will be so arranged, as to bring to their recollec 

 tion, the comforts they had abused, and the divine 

 goodness they had despised, and to make them 

 feel sensations opposite to those which were pro 

 duced by the benevolent arrangements which ex 

 ist in the present state. For example, in the 

 present economy of nature, every one of our 

 senses, every part of our bodily structure, every 

 movement of which our animal frame is suscep 

 tible, and the influence which the sun, the at 

 mosphere, and other parts of nature, produce on 

 our structure and feelings, have a direct tendency 

 to communicate pleasing sensations. But, in 

 that world, every agency of this kind may be re 

 versed, as to the effect it may produce upon per 

 cipient beings. Our sense of touch is at present 

 accompanied with a thousand modification? of 



feelings which are accompanied with pleasure ; 

 but there, every thing that comes in contract with 

 the organs of feeling may produce the most pain 

 ful sensations. Here, the variety of colours which 

 adorn the face of nature, delights the eye and 

 the imagination, there, the most gloomv and 

 haggard objects may at all times produce a dismal 

 and alarming aspect over every part of the sur 

 rounding scene. Here, the most enchanting music 

 frequently cheers, and enraptures the human 

 heart, there, nothing is heard but the dismal 

 sounds &quot; weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of 

 teeth.&quot; Ungrateful for the manifold blessings 

 they received in this world from the bountiful 

 Giver of all good, the inhabitants of that dreary 

 region will behold their sin in their punishment, 

 in being deprived of every thing which can ad 

 minister to their sensitive enjoyment. 



With regard to their moral state, similar effects 

 will be produced. Here, they hated the society 

 of the righteous, and loved to mingle with evil 

 doers in their follies and their crimes ; there they 

 will be for ever banished from the company of the 

 wise and the benevolent., and will feel the bitter 

 effects of being perpetually chained to the so 

 ciety of those malignant associates who will be 

 their everlasting tormentors. Here they delighted 

 to give full scope to their depraved appetites and 

 passions, there, they will feel the bitter and hor 

 rible effects of the full operation of such lusts and 

 passions, when unrestrained by the dictates of 

 reason, and the authority of the divine law. If, 

 to these sources of sorrow and bitter deprivations, 

 be added the consideration, that, in such minds, 

 the principles of malice, envy, hatred, revenge, and 

 every other element of evil, which pervaded their 

 souls while in this life, will rage without control, 

 we may form such a conception of future misery 

 as will warrant all the metaphorical descrip 

 tions of it which are given in Divine Revela* 

 tion, without supposing any farther interposi 

 tion of the Deity, in the direct infliction of 

 punishment. While he leaves them simply to 

 &quot; eat of the fruit of their own ways, and to be 

 Jilled with their own devices, 1 their punishment 

 must be dreadful, and far surpassing every spe 

 cies of misery connected with the present state 

 of the moral world. 



On the other hand, a consideration of the infi 

 nitely diversified sources of bliss to which our at 

 tention has been directed, has a powerful ten 

 dency to impress the minds of the saints with 

 a lively perception of the unbounded nature ol 

 divine benignity, and of &quot; the love of God 

 which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.&quot; It is chiefly 

 in connection with such expansive views of the 

 attributes and the government of the Daily, that 

 the love of God towards the redeemed appears 

 &quot;boundless,&quot; and &quot;passing comprehension;&quot; 

 for it introduces them into a scene which is not 

 only commensurate with infinite duration, but is 

 boundless in its prospects of knowledge, of fali- 



