CONSIDERATION XXVII
The Eternity of Hell
"And these shall go away into everlasting punishment." S. Matt xxv. 46.
First Point.
IF hell were not eternal it would not be hell; for that pain which does not last long, is not very great. One sick person has an abscess lanced, and another has a gangrene cauterised; the pain is great, but in a little while after the operation is completed, the pain is not very great. But what would the pain be if that cutting and that cauterising lasted for a week, or for an entire month? When a pain lasts for a long time, even should it be a very light one, such as the eye-ache or a swelling, it becomes unbearable. But why do I speak of pain? For a comedy or a concert that lasted over long, even for a day, would not be borne for weariness; how would it be if it lasted for a month or for a year? What then will hell be? in which it is not the hearing of the same comedy or music, or the suffering the eye-ache, or the swelling; nor is it suffering the torture of the lancing alone, or of the red-hot iron, but there will be all torments, all pains and for how long? Through all eternity, " Shall be tormented day and night, for ever and ever." (Rev. xx. 10.) The belief in this eternity, is an article of faith; it is not only a certain opinion, but is a truth witnessed to us by God in many places of Holy Scripture: " Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire." (S. Matt. xxv. 41.) "And these shall go away into everlasting punishment." (S. Matt. xxv. 45.) "Who
