WEBVTT Kind: captions Language: en 1 00:00:03.770 --> 00:00:10.770 Visions of Heaven and Hell by John Bunyan 2 00:00:20.080 --> 00:00:20.830 PREFACE 3 00:00:20.830 --> 00:00:26.289 John Bunyan was a 17th century English preacher who spent twelve years in prison for his Christian 4 00:00:26.289 --> 00:00:32.410 faith and wrote over 40 books. His best known writing is Pilgrim's Progress, one of the 5 00:00:32.410 --> 00:00:35.469 most famous and popular books in all of world history. 6 00:00:35.469 --> 00:00:40.300 John Bunyan wrote the following account when he was a young man, of how an angel was sent 7 00:00:40.300 --> 00:00:45.550 by the Lord to take him to see heaven and hell. It is a true story, not an allegory 8 00:00:45.550 --> 00:00:51.510 or fictional book. While all visions must be judged by the Bible, these seem very scriptural 9 00:00:51.510 --> 00:00:58.510 and were used by the Lord to help transform young John into a mighty man of God. 10 00:00:58.630 --> 00:01:02.290 Chapter 1: Planning Suicide 11 00:01:02.290 --> 00:01:06.649 When evil persons have gone in a life of sin, and find that they have reason to fear the 12 00:01:06.649 --> 00:01:12.130 just judgment of God, they begin at first to wish there were no God to punish them. 13 00:01:12.130 --> 00:01:17.130 Then little by little they persuade themselves that there is no God, and look for arguments 14 00:01:17.130 --> 00:01:22.659 to back their opinion. I had the unhappiness to know someone like this, who would always 15 00:01:22.659 --> 00:01:27.719 be telling me there was neither God nor devil, and no heaven or hell. 16 00:01:27.719 --> 00:01:32.509 It was with fear and trembling that I first heard him speak about these topics, but he 17 00:01:32.509 --> 00:01:38.020 spoke of them so often that I felt I must consider what he said. From this time I found 18 00:01:38.020 --> 00:01:43.219 my mind so confused that I could not remember the truths about God which had appeared so 19 00:01:43.219 --> 00:01:49.380 clear to me before. I could not think there was no God but with the greatest horror, yet 20 00:01:49.380 --> 00:01:54.349 I questioned the truth of His being. I would not have parted with my hope of heaven for 21 00:01:54.349 --> 00:02:00.579 all the riches of the world, yet now I was not sure whether there was any such place. 22 00:02:00.579 --> 00:02:06.259 In my confusion I went to my false friend to see what comfort he could give me. He only 23 00:02:06.259 --> 00:02:12.580 laughed at my fears and pretended to pity my weakness. His talks only made me more confused, 24 00:02:12.580 --> 00:02:18.700 until life became a burden to me. It is impossible to tell you the agonies I felt, until I was 25 00:02:18.700 --> 00:02:24.390 pushed to the edge of desperation. I thought, "Why should I linger between despair and hope? 26 00:02:24.390 --> 00:02:29.970 Would it not be better to end my life and find out what is the truth?" So I decided 27 00:02:29.970 --> 00:02:31.620 to kill myself. 28 00:02:31.620 --> 00:02:37.560 One morning I went out into a nearby woods, where I had planned to kill myself. But before 29 00:02:37.560 --> 00:02:41.160 I tried to use the knife I heard a secret whisper say, 30 00:02:41.160 --> 00:02:46.280 "Do not fall into everlasting misery to gratify the enemy of your soul. 31 00:02:46.280 --> 00:02:51.670 The fatal stroke you are about to give yourself will seal your own damnation. For if there 32 00:02:51.670 --> 00:02:57.330 is a God, as surely as there is, how can you hope for mercy from Him if you willfully destroy 33 00:02:57.330 --> 00:03:00.140 yourself who were made in His image?" 34 00:03:00.140 --> 00:03:05.730 Where this secret whisper came from, I do not know, but I believe it came from God; 35 00:03:05.730 --> 00:03:10.540 for it came with so much power it made me throw away my knife, and it showed me the 36 00:03:10.540 --> 00:03:16.350 great evil of suicide. The horror of what I had almost done made me shake so much that 37 00:03:16.350 --> 00:03:20.680 I could hardly stand. I recognized my deliverance to have come from 38 00:03:20.680 --> 00:03:23.620 the Lord, and in gratitude I returned thanks. 39 00:03:23.620 --> 00:03:28.960 I knelt down on the ground and worshipped Him, asking that He would take away the blackness 40 00:03:28.960 --> 00:03:34.319 in my soul so that I would never again question His being or great power which I had just 41 00:03:34.319 --> 00:03:35.990 experienced. 42 00:03:35.990 --> 00:03:40.700 Suddenly I was surrounded with a glorious light, brighter than anything I had ever seen 43 00:03:40.700 --> 00:03:46.510 before. I saw coming toward me a glorious person like a man, but circled with beams 44 00:03:46.510 --> 00:03:52.590 of light and glory which shined from him as he came nearer. I tried to stand up, but had 45 00:03:52.590 --> 00:03:58.260 no strength left in me, so I fell flat on my face. As he lifted me up and I was given 46 00:03:58.260 --> 00:04:04.010 new strength, I said to him, "O my shining deliverer, how shall I acknowledge my thankfulness, 47 00:04:04.010 --> 00:04:07.420 and in what manner should I adore you?" 48 00:04:07.420 --> 00:04:13.030 With majesty and mildness he replied, "Pay your adorations to God, and not to me who 49 00:04:13.030 --> 00:04:18.739 am your fellow-creature. I am sent from Him Whose being you have so lately denied, to 50 00:04:18.739 --> 00:04:23.889 stop you from falling into eternal ruin." This touched my heart with such a sense of 51 00:04:23.889 --> 00:04:30.270 my own unworthiness that I could only cry out, "Oh, how utterly unworthy I am of all 52 00:04:30.270 --> 00:04:35.560 this grace and mercy!" To this the heavenly messenger replied, "When God decided to show 53 00:04:35.560 --> 00:04:41.400 mercy He did not consult your unworthiness, but His own unbounded goodness and vast love. 54 00:04:41.400 --> 00:04:46.860 He saw how the grand enemy of souls desired your ruin, but He upheld you by His secret 55 00:04:46.860 --> 00:04:52.439 power. Through this, when Satan thought that you were destroyed, the snare was broken and 56 00:04:52.439 --> 00:04:58.520 you have escaped." These words made me break forth into song, and I praised my Savior and 57 00:04:58.520 --> 00:05:02.800 declared that He is God alone. 58 00:05:02.800 --> 00:05:06.189 Chapter 2: Beyond the Sun and Stars 59 00:05:06.189 --> 00:05:10.849 The heavenly messenger then said, "That you may never doubt the reality of eternal things, 60 00:05:10.849 --> 00:05:16.550 I have come to show you the truth of them: not by faith only but also by sight. I will 61 00:05:16.550 --> 00:05:22.330 show you things never yet seen by mortal eye, and to that end your eyes shall be strengthened 62 00:05:22.330 --> 00:05:24.610 and made able to behold heavenly things." 63 00:05:24.610 --> 00:05:30.569 At these words of the angel I was very surprised, and doubted I would be able to bear it. I 64 00:05:30.569 --> 00:05:36.599 said to him, "Who is able to bear such a sight?" To this he replied, "The joy of the Lord shall 65 00:05:36.599 --> 00:05:42.050 be your strength." When he had said this, he took hold of me and said, "Fear not, for 66 00:05:42.050 --> 00:05:47.949 I am sent to show the things you have not seen." Then before I was aware I found myself 67 00:05:47.949 --> 00:05:51.680 far above the earth, which seemed now to be very small. 68 00:05:51.680 --> 00:05:56.889 Then I said to my bright conductor, "Please let it not offend you if I ask a question 69 00:05:56.889 --> 00:06:02.999 or two." To this he replied, "Speak on. It is my work to inform you of what you ask. 70 00:06:02.999 --> 00:06:08.360 For I am a ministering spirit, sent forth to minister to you and to those that will 71 00:06:08.360 --> 00:06:09.490 inherit salvation." 72 00:06:09.490 --> 00:06:14.490 Then I said, "Please inform me about that dark spot below, which has grown smaller and 73 00:06:14.490 --> 00:06:18.979 smaller as we have mounted higher, and which appears much darker since I have come into 74 00:06:18.979 --> 00:06:23.419 this region of light." My conductor replied, "That little spot that 75 00:06:23.419 --> 00:06:28.699 now looks so dark and despised is the world which you have lived on. To obtain one small 76 00:06:28.699 --> 00:06:33.680 part of that spot of earth so many men have risked and lost their immortal souls; which 77 00:06:33.680 --> 00:06:38.159 are so precious that the Prince of Peace has told us that though a man could gain the whole 78 00:06:38.159 --> 00:06:44.229 world, it would not equal so great a loss. As you have ascended higher towards heaven, 79 00:06:44.229 --> 00:06:49.029 the world has appeared still smaller and more insignificant; and it will appear the same 80 00:06:49.029 --> 00:06:54.830 to all who can by faith get their hearts above it. If the sons of men below could but see 81 00:06:54.830 --> 00:06:59.960 the world as it is, they would not covet it as they do now, but alas, they are in a state 82 00:06:59.960 --> 00:07:02.249 of darkness. And what is worse, they love to walk in this darkness. For although the 83 00:07:02.249 --> 00:07:07.159 prince of Light came down among them and showed them the true light of life, yet they go on 84 00:07:07.159 --> 00:07:12.069 in darkness and will not bring themselves to the light, because their deeds are evil." 85 00:07:12.069 --> 00:07:16.650 Then I asked him, "What are those multitudes of black and horrible forms that hover in 86 00:07:16.650 --> 00:07:21.219 the air above the world? I would have been much afraid of them, but I saw that as you 87 00:07:21.219 --> 00:07:26.099 passed by, they fled; perhaps not being able to abide your brightness." 88 00:07:26.099 --> 00:07:31.259 To this he answered me, "They are the fallen angels which for their pride and rebellion 89 00:07:31.259 --> 00:07:37.089 were cast down from heaven. They wander in the air by decree of the Almighty, being bound 90 00:07:37.089 --> 00:07:42.129 in chains of darkness and kept unto the judgment of the great day. They are permitted to descend 91 00:07:42.129 --> 00:07:48.039 into the world, both for the trial of the elect, and for the condemnation of the wicked. 92 00:07:48.039 --> 00:07:52.089 And although you see that they now have black and horrible forms, yet they were once the 93 00:07:52.089 --> 00:07:57.059 sons of Light. They once were clothed in robes of glorious brightness, like what you see 94 00:07:57.059 --> 00:08:02.759 me wear. But the loss of this, although it was the result of their own willful sin, fills 95 00:08:02.759 --> 00:08:08.069 them with anger and hatred against the ever blessed God Whose power and majesty they fear 96 00:08:08.069 --> 00:08:08.819 and hate. 97 00:08:08.819 --> 00:08:14.689 "Tell me," I said, "O blessed conductor, have they no hopes of being reconciled to God again, 98 00:08:14.689 --> 00:08:18.759 after some term of time, or at least some of them?" 99 00:08:18.759 --> 00:08:24.330 "No, not at all. They are lost forever. They were the first that sinned, and had no tempter; 100 00:08:24.330 --> 00:08:29.909 and they were all at once cast down from heaven. Besides, the Son of God, the blessed Messiah 101 00:08:29.909 --> 00:08:35.000 by Whom alone salvation can be gained, did not take upon Himself the angelic nature. 102 00:08:35.000 --> 00:08:42.000 He left the apostate angels all to perish, and took upon Himself only the seed of Abraham. 103 00:08:42.080 --> 00:08:47.430 For this reason they have so much hatred against the sons of men, because it is a torment for 104 00:08:47.430 --> 00:08:52.260 them to see men made the heirs of heaven while they are doomed to hell." 105 00:08:52.260 --> 00:08:57.710 By this time we were above the sun. My conductor told me this mighty globe of fire was one 106 00:08:57.710 --> 00:09:03.350 of the great works of God. Yet all the stars were not less wonderful; whose great distance 107 00:09:03.350 --> 00:09:08.640 away makes them appear like candles in our sight. They hang in their appointed places 108 00:09:08.640 --> 00:09:13.520 without any support. Nothing but His word that first created them could keep them in 109 00:09:13.520 --> 00:09:14.510 their station. 110 00:09:14.510 --> 00:09:19.440 "These words are enough," I said to my conductor, "To convince anyone of the great power of 111 00:09:19.440 --> 00:09:25.190 their Creator, and to show the evil of that unbelief which questions the being of the 112 00:09:25.190 --> 00:09:30.620 God who has given so many evidences of His power and glory. If men were not like beasts 113 00:09:30.620 --> 00:09:35.900 still looking downwards, they could not help but acknowledge His great power and wisdom." 114 00:09:35.900 --> 00:09:41.580 "You speak what is true," he replied. "But you will see far greater things than these. 115 00:09:41.580 --> 00:09:46.630 These are but the scaffolds and outworks to that glorious place that the blessed above 116 00:09:46.630 --> 00:09:51.590 inhabit. A view of it shall now be given to you, as far as you are able to comprehend 117 00:09:51.590 --> 00:09:52.460 it." 118 00:09:52.460 --> 00:09:57.750 In a few moments I found what my conductor had told me was true. For I found myself transferred 119 00:09:57.750 --> 00:10:03.170 into heaven, where I saw things that are impossible to describe, and heard beautiful songs that 120 00:10:03.170 --> 00:10:08.630 I could never sing. Whoever has not seen that glory can speak but very imperfectly of it, 121 00:10:08.630 --> 00:10:14.080 and they that have seen it cannot tell the thousandth part of what it is. Therefore the 122 00:10:14.080 --> 00:10:19.690 great apostle of the Gentiles, who tells us that he had been caught up into paradise where 123 00:10:19.690 --> 00:10:25.150 he had heard unspeakable words which are not possible for a man to utter, wrote that "Eye 124 00:10:25.150 --> 00:10:30.650 has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man to conceive the things 125 00:10:30.650 --> 00:10:35.330 that God has prepared for those that love him." I will give you the best account I can 126 00:10:35.330 --> 00:10:40.910 of what I saw and heard, as near as I can remember. 127 00:10:40.910 --> 00:10:44.080 Chapter 3: Elijah Explains 128 00:10:44.080 --> 00:10:49.880 When I was first brought near this glorious place I saw innumerable hosts of bright attendants, 129 00:10:49.880 --> 00:10:54.810 who welcomed me into this blessed place of happiness. And there I saw that perfect and 130 00:10:54.810 --> 00:10:59.990 unapproachable light, that changes all things into its own nature, for even the souls of 131 00:10:59.990 --> 00:11:06.500 the glorified saints are transparent. They are not illumined by the sun; but all that 132 00:11:06.500 --> 00:11:11.080 light, that flows with such transparent brightness throughout these heavenly mansions, is nothing 133 00:11:11.080 --> 00:11:14.690 else but the shining forth of the Divine glory. 134 00:11:14.690 --> 00:11:19.040 Compared to this glory, the light of the sun is but darkness, and the fire of the most 135 00:11:19.040 --> 00:11:25.130 sparkling jewels are but dead coals. Therefore it is called The Throne of the Glory of God, 136 00:11:25.130 --> 00:11:30.930 where the radiance of the divine Majesty is revealed in the most illustrious manner. God 137 00:11:30.930 --> 00:11:36.160 was too bright for me to look upon as He was exalted on the high throne of His glory, while 138 00:11:36.160 --> 00:11:41.990 multitudes of angels and saints sang forth eternal hallelujahs and praises to Him. Well 139 00:11:41.990 --> 00:11:48.100 may He be called the God of Glory, for by His presence He makes heaven what it is. Rivers 140 00:11:48.100 --> 00:11:53.710 of pleasure continually spring forth from the divine Presence, and radiate cheerfulness, 141 00:11:53.710 --> 00:11:59.840 joy, and splendor to all the blessed inhabitants of heaven, the seat of His eternal empire. 142 00:11:59.840 --> 00:12:04.680 For my own part, I was too weak to bear the least ray of glory that shot from that everlasting 143 00:12:04.680 --> 00:12:10.630 Spring of Light which sat upon the throne. I was forced to cry out to my conductor, "The 144 00:12:10.630 --> 00:12:16.140 sight of so much glory is too great for me to bear, yet it is so refreshing and delightful 145 00:12:16.140 --> 00:12:18.940 that I would desire to look, though I die." 146 00:12:18.940 --> 00:12:24.360 "No, no," said my conductor, "death cannot enter this blessed place, nor sin nor sorrow 147 00:12:24.360 --> 00:12:30.220 can abide. It is the glory of this happy place to be forever freed from all that is evil; 148 00:12:30.220 --> 00:12:35.120 and without that freedom, our blessedness even here would be imperfect. Come along with 149 00:12:35.120 --> 00:12:40.000 me and I will bring you to one who is in the body, as you are. Talk with him for a while 150 00:12:40.000 --> 00:12:41.360 before I take you back again." 151 00:12:41.360 --> 00:12:46.980 "O rather," I eagerly said, "let me stay here. There is no need of building tabernacles, 152 00:12:46.980 --> 00:12:53.510 for the heavenly mansions are already prepared." My shining messenger replied to this, "Here 153 00:12:53.510 --> 00:12:59.110 in a while you shall forever be, but the divine will must first be obeyed." 154 00:12:59.110 --> 00:13:04.010 Swift as thought he conveyed me past thousands of angels, and presented me to that great 155 00:13:04.010 --> 00:13:09.200 saint, the prophet Elijah. Though he had lived in the world many hundreds of years ago, I 156 00:13:09.200 --> 00:13:13.620 knew him at first sight. "Here is one," said my conductor to Elijah, 157 00:13:13.620 --> 00:13:18.760 "who by the commission of the Imperial Throne has been permitted to visit these realms of 158 00:13:18.760 --> 00:13:22.010 light, and I have brought him to you, to learn from you." 159 00:13:22.010 --> 00:13:27.210 "That," said the prophet, "I shall gladly do. For it is our meat and drink in these 160 00:13:27.210 --> 00:13:31.810 blessed regions to do the will of God and the Lamb, to sing His praises, and serve Him 161 00:13:31.810 --> 00:13:37.730 with the humblest adoration, saying, 'Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto Him 162 00:13:37.730 --> 00:13:42.450 that sits upon the throne; and to the Lamb for ever and ever: for He has redeemed us 163 00:13:42.450 --> 00:13:48.130 to God by His blood out of every kindred and tongue, and people and nation, and has made 164 00:13:48.130 --> 00:13:55.130 us unto our God kings and priests: even so, Amen.'" And I likewise added my "Amen" to 165 00:13:55.180 --> 00:13:56.510 that of the holy prophet. 166 00:13:56.510 --> 00:14:01.050 The prophet then asked me why this great permission and privilege was given to me. (By which I 167 00:14:01.050 --> 00:14:06.690 understand the saints in heaven are ignorant of what is done on earth; so how can prayers 168 00:14:06.690 --> 00:14:12.010 be directed to them?) I then told him the events I have already written here, at which 169 00:14:12.010 --> 00:14:17.300 the holy prophet broke forth in praise, "Glory for ever be given to Him that sits on the 170 00:14:17.300 --> 00:14:22.820 throne, and to the Lamb, for His unbounded goodness and great condescension to the weakness 171 00:14:22.820 --> 00:14:28.300 of a poor and doubting sinner." After this he said, "Now give attention to what I shall 172 00:14:28.300 --> 00:14:34.430 speak. What you have already seen and heard I am sure you cannot make fully understood 173 00:14:34.430 --> 00:14:39.050 to those not yet translated to this glorious place, who have not yet been freed from their 174 00:14:39.050 --> 00:14:44.600 earthly bodies. Nor is my being here in the body any objection to what I say; for although 175 00:14:44.600 --> 00:14:50.620 it has not been subject to death, yet it has been equally changed. It has been made spiritual, 176 00:14:50.620 --> 00:14:55.970 and is no longer able to suffer. Yet in this full state of happiness I cannot utter all 177 00:14:55.970 --> 00:15:01.390 that I enjoy, nor do I know what shall yet be enjoyed, for here our happiness is always 178 00:15:01.390 --> 00:15:01.920 new." 179 00:15:01.920 --> 00:15:07.240 I then asked the blessed prophet to explain himself. I did not understand how happiness 180 00:15:07.240 --> 00:15:12.240 could be complete, and yet still be added to. The following was his reply: 181 00:15:12.240 --> 00:15:17.360 "When the soul and body are both happy, as mine now are, I count it a complete state 182 00:15:17.360 --> 00:15:22.800 of happiness. For throughout all the coming ages of eternity, it is the soul and body 183 00:15:22.800 --> 00:15:28.370 joined together in the blessed resurrection state that shall receive this happiness. But 184 00:15:28.370 --> 00:15:33.620 concerning the object of our happiness, which is the ever- adorable and blessed God, our 185 00:15:33.620 --> 00:15:39.029 vision of Him is forever new. For as the divine perfections are infinite, nothing less than 186 00:15:39.029 --> 00:15:44.260 eternity can be sufficient to display their glory. This makes our happiness eternally 187 00:15:44.260 --> 00:15:49.680 added to, as well as our knowledge of Him to be eternally progressive also. 188 00:15:49.680 --> 00:15:55.730 "Therefore the apostle Paul said, 'Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor can it enter 189 00:15:55.730 --> 00:16:00.510 into the heart of man to conceive what God has prepared for those who love him.' Yet 190 00:16:00.510 --> 00:16:06.370 the human eye has seen many admirable things in nature. It has seen mountains of crystal, 191 00:16:06.370 --> 00:16:11.640 and rocks of diamonds, it has seen mines of gold, and coasts of pearls. Nevertheless, 192 00:16:11.640 --> 00:16:16.550 the eye that has seen so many wonders in the world below could never pry into the glories 193 00:16:16.550 --> 00:16:21.660 of this triumphant place. And though the ear of man has heard many delightful and harmonious 194 00:16:21.660 --> 00:16:26.850 sounds, even all that man and nature could supply him with, yet he has never heard the 195 00:16:26.850 --> 00:16:31.680 heavenly melody which both saints and angels make before the throne. The heart of man is 196 00:16:31.680 --> 00:16:37.740 so fine and imaginative that it can conceive almost anything that is, or was, or ever shall 197 00:16:37.740 --> 00:16:43.120 be in the world below, and even what shall never be. Man can conceive that every stone 198 00:16:43.120 --> 00:16:47.779 on earth shall be turned into pearls, and every blade of grass into the brightest of 199 00:16:47.779 --> 00:16:53.110 shining jewels. He can conceive that the whole earth be turned into a mass of pure gold, 200 00:16:53.110 --> 00:16:59.570 and the air turned into crystal. He can conceive every star to become as bright as the sun, 201 00:16:59.570 --> 00:17:03.760 and the sun to be a thousand times larger and brighter. But all this is infinitely short 202 00:17:03.760 --> 00:17:10.650 of what the eternal Majesty has prepared for all His faithful followers." 203 00:17:10.650 --> 00:17:13.439 Chapter 4: The Happiness of Heaven 204 00:17:13.439 --> 00:17:18.910 The prophet continued, "I will briefly tell you about our happiness here, for ages spent 205 00:17:18.910 --> 00:17:23.880 on this delightful theme would only begin to explain it. That you may have the best 206 00:17:23.880 --> 00:17:27.370 understanding, I will first explain about what the redeemed souls have been delivered 207 00:17:27.370 --> 00:17:31.620 from, and secondly about the happiness that they enjoy here. 208 00:17:31.620 --> 00:17:36.740 "Firstly, the souls of all the blessed are forever freed from everything that can make 209 00:17:36.740 --> 00:17:41.240 them miserable, which above all is sin. It was sin that brought misery into creation. 210 00:17:41.240 --> 00:17:46.900 The blessed God at first made all things happy, like Himself. Had not sin defaced the beauty 211 00:17:46.900 --> 00:17:51.710 of His workmanship, angels and men would have never known what is meant by misery. It was 212 00:17:51.710 --> 00:17:57.000 sin that threw the apostate angels down into hell, and spoiled the beauty of the lower 213 00:17:57.000 --> 00:18:01.960 world. It was sin that defaced God's image in man's soul, and made the ones who were 214 00:18:01.960 --> 00:18:07.250 to be the lords of creation into slaves of their own lust. It is sin which can also plunge 215 00:18:07.250 --> 00:18:12.710 them into an ocean of eternal misery from which is no redemption. It is an invaluable 216 00:18:12.710 --> 00:18:18.640 mercy that in this happy place all the saints are forever freed from sin through the blood 217 00:18:18.640 --> 00:18:23.540 of our Redeemer. In the earth below, the best and holiest of souls groan under the burden 218 00:18:23.540 --> 00:18:29.650 of corruption. Sin tries to cling to all that they do, and often leads them captive against 219 00:18:29.650 --> 00:18:34.960 their will. "Who shall deliver me?" has been the cry of many of God's faithful servants, 220 00:18:34.960 --> 00:18:40.390 who at the same time have been dear to Jesus. Sin is the heavy weight upon the saints while 221 00:18:40.390 --> 00:18:45.650 they live in their corrupted flesh. Therefore when they lay their bodies down, their souls 222 00:18:45.650 --> 00:18:50.520 are like a bird loosed from its cage, and with a heavenly joy they rise up to heaven. 223 00:18:50.520 --> 00:18:55.280 But here their warfare is at an end, and 'death is swallowed up in victory.' Below their souls 224 00:18:55.280 --> 00:19:00.809 were deformed and stained by sin, but here their bright souls by the ever-blessed Jesus 225 00:19:00.809 --> 00:19:03.700 are presented to the Father 'without spot or wrinkle.' 226 00:19:03.700 --> 00:19:09.430 "Not only are the saints here free from sin, but also from any temptation to sin. When 227 00:19:09.430 --> 00:19:13.760 Adam was in paradise, though he was innocent and free from sin, yet he was not free from 228 00:19:13.760 --> 00:19:20.760 temptation. Satan got into paradise and Adam fatally yielded to his temptations. Like a 229 00:19:20.820 --> 00:19:25.710 disease, sin has eaten into the human nature and corrupted all mankind. 230 00:19:25.710 --> 00:19:31.220 "Here each soul is freed from this. Nothing but what is pure and holy can find admission 231 00:19:31.220 --> 00:19:36.340 here. That roaring lion who roams back and forth throughout the earth seeking whom he 232 00:19:36.340 --> 00:19:42.710 may devour, in respect to the saints in heaven, is bound fast in everlasting chains. The temptations 233 00:19:42.710 --> 00:19:47.120 of the world shall never again allure those who through faith and patience have overcome 234 00:19:47.120 --> 00:19:53.490 it and safely arrived here. In heaven we look with contempt on all earthly enjoyments. There 235 00:19:53.490 --> 00:19:58.920 is nothing here that can disturb our peace, but an eternal calm crowns all our happiness. 236 00:19:58.920 --> 00:20:05.170 "Since we are freed from all sin and its effects, we are also rescued from punishment. After 237 00:20:05.170 --> 00:20:09.660 death, hell confines the sinner to eternal misery. Yet the blessed are delivered from 238 00:20:09.660 --> 00:20:10.880 all these things. 239 00:20:10.880 --> 00:20:16.570 "However, these things are but the least part of the happiness of heaven. Our joys are positive, 240 00:20:16.570 --> 00:20:21.660 more than just the negative that we have been redeemed from. What these are I shall try 241 00:20:21.660 --> 00:20:22.900 to show you. 242 00:20:22.900 --> 00:20:28.660 "Here we enjoy the sight of God, the blessed spring and eternal source of all our happiness. 243 00:20:28.660 --> 00:20:33.770 But what this is, I can no more fully explain than can finite creatures comprehend infinity. 244 00:20:33.770 --> 00:20:34.900 Yet the sight of God continually fills our souls with joy unspeakable and full of glory, 245 00:20:34.900 --> 00:20:35.590 and with a love so flaming that nothing but the blessed author of it can satisfy, nor 246 00:20:35.590 --> 00:20:35.840 eternity itself can end. It is that which makes us live, love, sing, and praise forever 247 00:20:35.590 --> 00:20:35.840 while it also transforms us into His blessed likeness. Beholding God's face, we enjoy His 248 00:20:35.590 --> 00:20:35.840 love. His blessed smiles make glad our souls, and in His favor we rejoice continually, 'for 249 00:20:35.590 --> 00:20:35.840 in His favor is life.' And by this blessed vision of God, we come to know Him far above 250 00:20:35.590 --> 00:20:35.840 how any had known Him in the world below. For the sight of Him opens our understandings, 251 00:20:35.590 --> 00:20:35.840 and 'gives us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.' 252 00:20:35.590 --> 00:20:35.840 Here we all enjoy Him face to face. Below the saints enjoy God in a measure, but here 253 00:20:35.710 --> 00:20:35.960 we enjoy Him without measure. There they have some sips of His goodness, but here we drink 254 00:20:35.710 --> 00:20:35.960 largely and swim in the boundless ocean of happiness. Below the saints have their communion 255 00:20:35.710 --> 00:20:36.550 with God broken off many times, but here it is uninterrupted. Below love is mixed with 256 00:20:36.550 --> 00:20:39.650 fear, and fear has torment; but here love is perfect, and perfect love casts out fear. 257 00:20:39.650 --> 00:20:45.080 In heaven we love God more than ourselves, and one another like ourselves. Here we enjoy 258 00:20:45.080 --> 00:20:46.980 the perfection of all grace. 259 00:20:46.980 --> 00:20:51.940 "In heaven our understanding and knowledge is enlarged according to the greatness of 260 00:20:51.940 --> 00:20:57.500 what we can observe and think. In the world below light could only shine into our minds 261 00:20:57.500 --> 00:21:02.890 through the windows of our senses, so God had to condescend to our limited capacities 262 00:21:02.890 --> 00:21:09.240 when revealing His Majesty. Our purest ideas of God were very imperfect, but here the gold 263 00:21:09.240 --> 00:21:15.500 is separated from the dross and we can conceive the simplicity and purity of God. We understand 264 00:21:15.500 --> 00:21:21.740 about His decrees and counsels, His providence and dispensations. We clearly see here that 265 00:21:21.740 --> 00:21:27.740 from eternity God was sole existing, but not solitary, that the Godhead is neither confused 266 00:21:27.740 --> 00:21:33.910 in unity, nor divided in number. We see that there is a priority of order but no superiority 267 00:21:33.910 --> 00:21:38.960 among the persons of the Trinity, but that they equally have the same excellency and 268 00:21:38.960 --> 00:21:44.650 power, and equally are adored. Those ways of God that in the world below seemed unsearchable 269 00:21:44.650 --> 00:21:49.410 and beyond our comprehension, we understand so clearly here by His divine wisdom that 270 00:21:49.410 --> 00:21:52.170 the truth could not be made more simple. 271 00:21:52.170 --> 00:21:57.350 "These are some of the things that make our souls happy. However, the happiness of the 272 00:21:57.350 --> 00:22:01.800 saints in heaven will not be complete until their bodies are resurrected and united with 273 00:22:01.800 --> 00:22:06.940 their souls. I will therefore show you what the resurrection body shall be like: 274 00:22:06.940 --> 00:22:12.820 "First, the resurrection bodies of the blessed will be spiritual bodies, like mine. You may 275 00:22:12.820 --> 00:22:19.010 better understand this not only by seeing but by touch. (After saying this, the holy 276 00:22:19.010 --> 00:22:24.140 prophet was pleased to give me his hand.) They will be bodies that are purified from 277 00:22:24.140 --> 00:22:30.380 all corruption, yet will have substance. They will not be like wind or air, as people on 278 00:22:30.380 --> 00:22:32.910 earth sometimes foolishly imagine." 279 00:22:32.910 --> 00:22:38.500 Then I said to him that I always understood spiritual as the opposite of material, so 280 00:22:38.500 --> 00:22:44.440 I thought that a spiritual body must be immaterial, and not capable of being touched or felt as 281 00:22:44.440 --> 00:22:46.590 I found his hand was. 282 00:22:46.590 --> 00:22:51.410 To this the prophet replied that their bodies were spiritual, not only because they were 283 00:22:51.410 --> 00:22:57.179 purified from all corruption, but as they were sustained by the enjoyment of God without 284 00:22:57.179 --> 00:23:02.140 needing food, drink, or sleep. Beholding the Lord is what supports both their souls and 285 00:23:02.140 --> 00:23:07.860 their bodies, and is what they live upon forever. "Have you not read," said the prophet, "that 286 00:23:07.860 --> 00:23:13.429 the blessed Jesus, after His resurrection, appeared in His body to His disciples when 287 00:23:13.429 --> 00:23:18.190 they were met together in a chamber and the doors shut about them? And yet He called to 288 00:23:18.190 --> 00:23:24.179 Thomas to come and reach forth his hand and thrust it into His side, which shows it had 289 00:23:24.179 --> 00:23:27.440 substance. "Our bodies in the resurrection shall be immortal, 290 00:23:27.440 --> 00:23:32.850 and incapable of dying. Below their bodies are all mortal, perishing, and subject to 291 00:23:32.850 --> 00:23:37.850 crumbling into dust at any time. But here our bodies will be incorruptible and freed 292 00:23:37.850 --> 00:23:42.820 from death forever, for our corruption here shall put on incorruption, and our mortality 293 00:23:42.820 --> 00:23:47.860 will be swallowed up of life." 294 00:23:47.860 --> 00:23:50.600 Here I desired the prophet to bear with me a little, while I gave him an account of my 295 00:23:50.600 --> 00:23:52.940 own ideas about these matter. 296 00:23:52.940 --> 00:23:56.520 "Speak, for I am ready to remove your doubt," he said. 297 00:23:56.520 --> 00:24:01.809 "I have learned," I said, "in the holy Scriptures that immortality belongs to God only, and 298 00:24:01.809 --> 00:24:08.140 not to men. Daily experience tells us that bodies of men are mortal, and die. Therefore 299 00:24:08.140 --> 00:24:11.450 Paul told Timothy that God only has immortality." 300 00:24:11.450 --> 00:24:16.929 "When I say that the bodies of the blessed here are immortal, I am speaking about the 301 00:24:16.929 --> 00:24:22.040 bodies in their resurrected state, that then they are subject to death no more. Man in 302 00:24:22.040 --> 00:24:27.830 his corruptible state is mortal and subject to death. And there is nothing more evident 303 00:24:27.830 --> 00:24:32.360 to all that dwell in the world below. Even the bodies of all those glorified souls that 304 00:24:32.360 --> 00:24:38.059 are here in heaven are at this time still kept under the power of death. At the resurrection 305 00:24:38.059 --> 00:24:43.390 day, when they shall be raised up again, they shall then be immortal. And as to what you 306 00:24:43.390 --> 00:24:49.580 say from the Scripture, that the blessed God has only immortality, it is very true. He 307 00:24:49.580 --> 00:24:54.510 is most essentially so in His own being and nature; there is no angel or man that can, 308 00:24:54.510 --> 00:24:59.540 in that strict sense, be said to be so. We are immortal through His grace and favor; 309 00:24:59.540 --> 00:25:05.670 but God is immortal in His essence and has been so from all eternity. In that sense He 310 00:25:05.670 --> 00:25:11.280 may well be said only to have immortality. Whatever the blessed God is, He is essentially 311 00:25:11.280 --> 00:25:17.440 so in His own being. It can likewise be said that He only is holy, and there is none good 312 00:25:17.440 --> 00:25:23.950 but God, none righteous, nor none merciful but He." 313 00:25:23.950 --> 00:25:26.960 Chapter 5: We Shall Know Each Other 314 00:25:26.960 --> 00:25:31.920 I remarked, "As I was brought here, I saw among the saints some that appeared to shine 315 00:25:31.920 --> 00:25:36.160 with greater brightness than the others. Are there among the blessed different degrees 316 00:25:36.160 --> 00:25:37.000 of glory?" 317 00:25:37.000 --> 00:25:42.230 "The happiness and glory which all the blessed here enjoy is the result of their communion 318 00:25:42.230 --> 00:25:47.870 with and love to the ever blessed God. The more we see Him, the more we love Him; and 319 00:25:47.870 --> 00:25:53.950 love changes our souls into His nature, and from this results our glory. This makes a 320 00:25:53.950 --> 00:25:58.570 difference in the degrees of glory. Nor is there any murmuring in one to see another's 321 00:25:58.570 --> 00:26:03.110 glory much greater than his own. The ever blessed God is an unbounded ocean of light 322 00:26:03.110 --> 00:26:09.160 and life, and joy and happiness, still filling every vessel that is put therein, till it 323 00:26:09.160 --> 00:26:14.240 can hold no more. And though the vessels are of several sizes, while each is filled there 324 00:26:14.240 --> 00:26:20.200 is none that can complain. My answer therefore to your question is that those who have the 325 00:26:20.200 --> 00:26:25.910 most enlarged capacity do love God most, and are thereby changed most into His likeness. 326 00:26:25.910 --> 00:26:31.230 This is the highest glory heaven can give. Nor let this seem strange to you, for even 327 00:26:31.230 --> 00:26:35.790 among God's flaming angels there are diversities of order and different degrees of glory. 328 00:26:35.790 --> 00:26:42.100 While I was talking with the prophet a shining form drew near. It was one of the redeemed. 329 00:26:42.100 --> 00:26:47.309 He told me he had left his body below resting in hope until the resurrection; and that though 330 00:26:47.309 --> 00:26:52.210 he was still a substance yet it was an immaterial one, not to be touched by mortal. 331 00:26:52.210 --> 00:26:58.940 He said, "We here behold a sight worth dying for- the blessed Lamb of God, the glorious 332 00:26:58.940 --> 00:27:04.090 Savior. Here we see Him in His kingly office, on account of which He is called King of kings 333 00:27:04.090 --> 00:27:09.710 and Lord of lords. But all the glorious greatness of our blessed Redeemer does not make His 334 00:27:09.710 --> 00:27:16.110 kindness seem distant, but only more precious. It makes heaven more than heaven to me to 335 00:27:16.110 --> 00:27:20.809 find Him reigning here, Who suffered so much for me in the world below. And our Redeemer's 336 00:27:20.809 --> 00:27:26.590 great happiness increases our own, as He invites each faithful servant to enter into his Master's 337 00:27:26.590 --> 00:27:27.140 joy. 338 00:27:27.140 --> 00:27:33.000 "Here we see not only our elder Brother, Christ, but also our friends and relatives. Although 339 00:27:33.000 --> 00:27:38.440 Elijah lived in the world below long before your time, you no sooner saw him than you 340 00:27:38.440 --> 00:27:44.320 knew him. And so you will also know Adam when you see him. Here we communicate the purest 341 00:27:44.320 --> 00:27:50.179 pleasure to each other, a sincere ardent love uniting our society. And oh, how happy is 342 00:27:50.179 --> 00:27:55.870 that state of love! Where there is love like this, all are filled with delight. How can 343 00:27:55.870 --> 00:28:00.890 it be otherwise, since in this blessed society there is a continual receiving and returning 344 00:28:00.890 --> 00:28:02.210 of love and joy. 345 00:28:02.210 --> 00:28:07.030 "But besides all the happiness that comes to us by our communion with God and with each 346 00:28:07.030 --> 00:28:12.910 other, it is to me a mighty happiness to understand all the deep mysteries of religion which the 347 00:28:12.910 --> 00:28:18.220 wisest in the world below could not fully understand. Here we discern a perfect harmony 348 00:28:18.220 --> 00:28:23.340 between those scripture texts that in the world below seemed to oppose each other. And 349 00:28:23.340 --> 00:28:27.980 here we are especially filled with wonder and gratitude at discovering the divine goodness 350 00:28:27.980 --> 00:28:34.299 towards each one of us in particular. In respect to my former life on earth, I have seen the 351 00:28:34.299 --> 00:28:40.460 mercifulness of those very afflictions that I once (when upon earth) thought to show His 352 00:28:40.460 --> 00:28:45.640 anger. I am now fully convinced that no affliction that I met with in the world below (and I 353 00:28:45.640 --> 00:28:52.370 met with many) either came sooner or fell heavier or continued longer than was needful. 354 00:28:52.370 --> 00:28:57.470 My hopes were not disappointed, but God used all things to prepare me for a better eternal 355 00:28:57.470 --> 00:28:59.970 reward than what I had hoped for. 356 00:28:59.970 --> 00:29:04.630 "But I remember that you are still in the body, and may be tired with hearing what I 357 00:29:04.630 --> 00:29:10.260 could forever tell, so great is the happiness that I possess. I shall only add one other 358 00:29:10.260 --> 00:29:15.299 thing about our happiness: though a vast multitude of blessed souls partakes of this joy and 359 00:29:15.299 --> 00:29:21.669 glory, this does not make less of what each receives. For this ocean of happiness is so 360 00:29:21.669 --> 00:29:27.590 bottomless that the innumerable company of all the saints and angels never can exhaust 361 00:29:27.590 --> 00:29:33.250 it. Nor is this strange, for in the world below everyone equally enjoys the benefit 362 00:29:33.250 --> 00:29:38.559 of light. There is no one that can complain that they enjoy it less, because another enjoys 363 00:29:38.559 --> 00:29:44.890 it also. All enjoy the benefit of light as fully as if no one else enjoyed it but themselves. 364 00:29:44.890 --> 00:29:50.600 If a multitude of persons drink of the same river none of them is able to exhaust it, 365 00:29:50.600 --> 00:29:55.870 even though each of them has the liberty of drinking as much as he can. So whoever enjoys 366 00:29:55.870 --> 00:30:00.370 God enjoys Him as much as he can contain, according to his capacity. 367 00:30:00.370 --> 00:30:05.419 "Thus I have given you a brief account of our heavenly Canaan. It is not the thousandth 368 00:30:05.419 --> 00:30:10.660 part of that which might be said, yet it is enough to let you see it is a land flowing 369 00:30:10.660 --> 00:30:16.590 with milk and honey." In this happy place worldly relations cease. Nor is there male 370 00:30:16.590 --> 00:30:22.809 and female here, but all are like the angels. For souls cannot be distinguished into sexes, 371 00:30:22.809 --> 00:30:26.570 and therefore all relations are here swallowed up in God." 372 00:30:26.570 --> 00:30:31.840 He had no sooner spoken than he took me by the hand. Then, far swifter than an arrow 373 00:30:31.840 --> 00:30:37.540 from a bow, we passed by several shining forms clothed in robes of immortality, who looked 374 00:30:37.540 --> 00:30:43.090 at me as I passed them. He said, to me, "Farewell, my friend, your guardian angel will shortly 375 00:30:43.090 --> 00:30:45.770 come and bring you back to the world below." 376 00:30:45.770 --> 00:30:51.600 I drew near the shining form of a redeemed one that stood before me, who appeared extremely 377 00:30:51.600 --> 00:30:57.340 glorious, encircled with rays of dazzling luster. I hardly could behold her for the 378 00:30:57.340 --> 00:31:02.830 exceeding brightness of her face. She said to me, "For what I am, to Him that 379 00:31:02.830 --> 00:31:08.200 is on the throne be all the praise and glory. The robe of glory which you see me wear is 380 00:31:08.200 --> 00:31:10.660 only the reflection of His own bright beams!" 381 00:31:10.660 --> 00:31:14.600 "You appear to be one who feels the mighty joys that you speak of." 382 00:31:14.600 --> 00:31:20.559 She replied, "You should not think this strange. The mighty wonders of divine love and grace 383 00:31:20.559 --> 00:31:26.179 will be the subject of our song forever. Here all human relations cease and are swallowed 384 00:31:26.179 --> 00:31:31.539 up in God Who is alone the great Father of all this heavenly family. As for the members 385 00:31:31.539 --> 00:31:36.720 of the family that I left behind in the world below, I have committed them to God. I shall 386 00:31:36.720 --> 00:31:41.590 be glad to see them all heirs of this blessed inheritance. But if they should join with 387 00:31:41.590 --> 00:31:46.549 the grand enemy of souls and refuse the grace offered them, and thereby perish in their 388 00:31:46.549 --> 00:31:52.970 unbelief, God will be glorified in His justice, and in His glory I shall still rejoice." 389 00:31:52.970 --> 00:31:57.330 Then I desired to know whether the saints in heaven understood and were concerned for 390 00:31:57.330 --> 00:32:02.039 what was happening in the world below. To this she replied, "As to the affairs of 391 00:32:02.039 --> 00:32:07.169 particular persons, we are not concerned with them and are ignorant of them. Only God is 392 00:32:07.169 --> 00:32:11.750 present in all places and sees all things. But the struggles and the victories of the 393 00:32:11.750 --> 00:32:17.110 church below is told to us by the angels, who are ministering spirits sent forth to 394 00:32:17.110 --> 00:32:23.190 minister to those that shall be heirs of salvation. From what they report we are excited to renew 395 00:32:23.190 --> 00:32:27.960 our praises to Him that sits upon the throne." 396 00:32:27.960 --> 00:32:30.160 Chapter 6: Conducted to Hell 397 00:32:30.160 --> 00:32:36.700 Then the bright messenger who had brought me to heaven returned. "I have," said the 398 00:32:36.700 --> 00:32:41.140 angel, "a commission to return you to the earth from where I took you, after first visiting 399 00:32:41.140 --> 00:32:46.590 the regions of the prince of darkness. There you will see the reward of sin, and what Justice 400 00:32:46.590 --> 00:32:51.030 has prepared as the judgment of those who would exalt themselves above the throne of 401 00:32:51.030 --> 00:32:52.340 the Most High. " 402 00:32:52.340 --> 00:32:57.620 To leave heaven for earth was extremely disappointing. But to leave heaven for hell turned my very 403 00:32:57.620 --> 00:33:02.910 heart within me! However, when I knew that it was God's good pleasure, I was a little 404 00:33:02.910 --> 00:33:08.710 comforted. So I said to my bright conductor, "That which God has ordered I shall always 405 00:33:08.710 --> 00:33:14.140 be willing to obey. Even in hell I will not be afraid if I may have His presence with 406 00:33:14.140 --> 00:33:18.049 me there." To this my shining guardian replied, "Wherever 407 00:33:18.049 --> 00:33:23.370 the blessed God grants His presence, there is heaven, and while we are in hell He will 408 00:33:23.370 --> 00:33:24.580 be with us." 409 00:33:24.580 --> 00:33:30.179 Then bowing low before the Almighty's throne, swifter than thought my guardian angel carried 410 00:33:30.179 --> 00:33:36.150 me on a speedy journey down through the heavens. When I saw the stars I told my conductor that 411 00:33:36.150 --> 00:33:41.100 I had heard on earth that each one of these stars had their own worlds. "But I would ask 412 00:33:41.100 --> 00:33:43.360 you to tell me the truth of this matter." 413 00:33:43.360 --> 00:33:49.250 To this my shining guardian answered, "To Him Who is Almighty there is nothing impossible. 414 00:33:49.250 --> 00:33:54.380 But from knowing that it is in His power to do this, to argue that it is His will, is 415 00:33:54.380 --> 00:33:59.370 no good logic in the school of heaven. We know what He pleases to reveal to us, and 416 00:33:59.370 --> 00:34:04.030 what He has not revealed are secrets locked up in His own eternal counsel. For anyone 417 00:34:04.030 --> 00:34:10.059 to inquire into these secrets would be but bold and presumptuous curiosity. There is 418 00:34:10.059 --> 00:34:14.830 no doubt that He can make as many worlds as He wants, but He has not yet revealed it to 419 00:34:14.830 --> 00:34:18.149 us, and it is not our duty to inquire." 420 00:34:18.149 --> 00:34:23.369 By this time we had come down to the lowest regions of the air. There I saw multitudes 421 00:34:23.369 --> 00:34:28.679 of horrible forms and dismal dark appearances which fled from the shining presence of my 422 00:34:28.679 --> 00:34:30.129 bright conductor. 423 00:34:30.129 --> 00:34:35.330 I said, "These surely are some of the vanguard of hell, so black and so frightening are their 424 00:34:35.330 --> 00:34:36.419 forms." 425 00:34:36.419 --> 00:34:41.570 My conductor replied, "Now we are upon the borders of hell, and these are some of the 426 00:34:41.570 --> 00:34:45.010 apostate spirits that wander around like roaring lions." 427 00:34:45.010 --> 00:34:50.190 Soon we were surrounded with a darkness much more black than night, and with a stink far 428 00:34:50.190 --> 00:34:55.540 more suffocating than that of burning sulfur. My ears were likewise filled with the horrible 429 00:34:55.540 --> 00:35:00.660 yelling of the damned spirits, which in comparison with, would make the most discordant notes 430 00:35:00.660 --> 00:35:03.099 on earth sound like beautiful music. 431 00:35:03.099 --> 00:35:08.250 "Now," said my guardian angel, "you are on the edge of hell, but do not fear the power 432 00:35:08.250 --> 00:35:14.280 of the destroyer. My commission from the Imperial Throne secures you from all danger. Here you 433 00:35:14.280 --> 00:35:19.310 may hear from devils and damned souls the cursed causes of their endless ruin. What 434 00:35:19.310 --> 00:35:24.220 you ask them about, they will answer. The devils cannot hurt you, though they would 435 00:35:24.220 --> 00:35:28.340 want to, for they are bound by Him that has commissioned me." 436 00:35:28.340 --> 00:35:33.400 We then came within hell's territories, placed in the caverns of the infernal deep in the 437 00:35:33.400 --> 00:35:39.690 center of the earth. There, in a sulfurous lake of liquid fire, sat Lucifer upon a burning 438 00:35:39.690 --> 00:35:45.080 throne. His horrid eyes sparkled with hellish fury, as full of rage as his strong anger 439 00:35:45.080 --> 00:35:50.570 could make him. I saw that the demons that had fled from us as we approached from heaven 440 00:35:50.570 --> 00:35:56.849 had given notice of our coming. This had put all hell in an uproar, and made Lucifer release 441 00:35:56.849 --> 00:36:01.940 horrid blasphemies against the blessed God with an air of arrogance and pride. 442 00:36:01.940 --> 00:36:06.740 "What would the Thunderer have?" said he. "He has my heaven already, whose radiant scepter 443 00:36:06.740 --> 00:36:12.119 this bold hand should bear. Instead of those never fading fields of light, He confines 444 00:36:12.119 --> 00:36:17.349 me here in this dark house of death, sorrow, and woe! What, would He take hell away from 445 00:36:17.349 --> 00:36:23.000 me too, that He insults me here? Ah! Could I but obtain another day to try it, I would 446 00:36:23.000 --> 00:36:27.420 make heaven shake and His bright throne to totter. Nor would I fear the utmost of His 447 00:36:27.420 --> 00:36:31.280 power, though He had fiercer flames than these to throw me in. 448 00:36:31.280 --> 00:36:36.400 Although I lost the battle that day, the fault was not mine! No winged spirit in heaven strove 449 00:36:36.400 --> 00:36:41.470 better for the victory than I did. But, ah!" he continued with a changed voice, "that day 450 00:36:41.470 --> 00:36:46.430 is lost, and I am forever doomed to these dark territories! But it is still at least 451 00:36:46.430 --> 00:36:51.910 some comfort to me that mankind's sorrow waits upon me. And since I cannot fight against 452 00:36:51.910 --> 00:36:56.020 the Thunderer, I will make the utmost of my anger to fall on them." 453 00:36:56.020 --> 00:37:01.490 I was amazed to hear his ungodly speech, and felt compelled to say to my conductor, "How 454 00:37:01.490 --> 00:37:06.230 justly are his blasphemies rewarded!" "What you have heard from this apostate spirit 455 00:37:06.230 --> 00:37:11.320 is both his sin and punishment; for every blasphemy he belches against heaven, makes 456 00:37:11.320 --> 00:37:12.710 hell the hotter to him." 457 00:37:12.710 --> 00:37:18.470 We then passed on to see more sorrowful scenes. I saw two wretched souls being tormented by 458 00:37:18.470 --> 00:37:23.520 a demon. He was continually plunging them in liquid fire and burning brimstone, while 459 00:37:23.520 --> 00:37:29.240 at the same time they accused and cursed each other. One of them said to his tormented fellow 460 00:37:29.240 --> 00:37:35.640 sufferer, "O cursed be your face, that ever I set eyes upon you! My misery is due to you; 461 00:37:35.640 --> 00:37:41.130 I may thank you for this, for it was your persuasions that brought me here. You enticed 462 00:37:41.130 --> 00:37:46.630 me, it was you who ensnared me into this. It was your covetousness, cheating, and oppression 463 00:37:46.630 --> 00:37:51.700 of the poor that brought me here. If you had been as good an example as you had been a 464 00:37:51.700 --> 00:37:58.240 bad one, I might now be in heaven. O what a fool I was! When I followed your steps you 465 00:37:58.240 --> 00:38:03.650 ruined me forever. O that I never had seen your face, or that you had never been born!" 466 00:38:03.650 --> 00:38:09.770 The other wretch replied, "And may I not as well blame you? Don't you remember how at 467 00:38:09.770 --> 00:38:14.619 such a time and place you enticed me to go along with you? I was minding my own business 468 00:38:14.619 --> 00:38:20.050 when you called me away, so you are as guilty as I. Though I was covetous, you were proud. 469 00:38:20.050 --> 00:38:26.140 Though you learned how to cheat from me, yet you taught me to lust, to lie, to get drunk 470 00:38:26.140 --> 00:38:32.430 and to scoff at goodness. So although I stumbled you in some things, you stumbled me as much 471 00:38:32.430 --> 00:38:37.840 in others. Therefore if you blame me, I can blame you as much. I wish you never had come 472 00:38:37.840 --> 00:38:44.050 here, the very sight of you wounds my soul, by bringing sin afresh into my mind. It was 473 00:38:44.050 --> 00:38:49.849 with you, with you that I sinned. O grief to my soul! Since I could not avoid your companionship 474 00:38:49.849 --> 00:38:53.000 on earth, O that I could be without it here!" 475 00:38:53.000 --> 00:38:58.140 From this sad conversation I learned that those who are companions in sin upon earth 476 00:38:58.140 --> 00:39:03.200 shall also be punished together in hell. I believe that this was the true reason why 477 00:39:03.200 --> 00:39:10.200 the rich man seemed so charitable to his brethren (Luke16:27-28). The reason he did not want 478 00:39:11.020 --> 00:39:18.020 them to join him in hell was because they would have increased his torments. 479 00:39:18.130 --> 00:39:20.260 Chapter 7: The Tortures of Hell 480 00:39:20.260 --> 00:39:26.480 There were yet more tragic scenes of sorrow that we saw as we left these two cursed wretches 481 00:39:26.480 --> 00:39:32.000 accusing each other. One woman had flaming sulfur continually forced down her throat 482 00:39:32.000 --> 00:39:37.520 by a tormenting spirit. He did this with such horrible cruelty and insolence that I said 483 00:39:37.520 --> 00:39:43.310 to him, "Why should you so delight in tormenting that cursed wretch, and be pouring that flaming, 484 00:39:43.310 --> 00:39:45.090 infernal liquid down her throat?" 485 00:39:45.090 --> 00:39:50.430 "This is a more than just reward," replied the demon. "This woman in her life time was 486 00:39:50.430 --> 00:39:56.359 such a greedy wretch that though she had plenty of gold, she could never be satisfied. Therefore 487 00:39:56.359 --> 00:40:01.840 I now pour it down her throat. She cared not who she ruined as long as she could get their 488 00:40:01.840 --> 00:40:06.640 gold. And when she had gathered together a greater treasure than she could ever spend, 489 00:40:06.640 --> 00:40:11.050 her love of money would not let her spend enough of it to supply herself with her basic 490 00:40:11.050 --> 00:40:16.200 living needs. She often went with an empty stomach, though her money bags were full. 491 00:40:16.200 --> 00:40:21.010 She kept no house because she would not be taxed, and would not keep her treasure in 492 00:40:21.010 --> 00:40:26.550 her hands for fear she should be robbed. She would not put her money in bonds and mortgages 493 00:40:26.550 --> 00:40:31.570 for fear of being cheated; although she always cheated everyone that she could. She was so 494 00:40:31.570 --> 00:40:37.270 great a cheat that she cheated her own body of its food, and her own soul of mercy. Since 495 00:40:37.270 --> 00:40:42.040 gold was her god on earth, is it not a just reward that she should have her belly full 496 00:40:42.040 --> 00:40:43.500 of it in hell?" 497 00:40:43.500 --> 00:40:48.920 When her tormentor had done speaking, I asked her whether this was all true. To this she 498 00:40:48.920 --> 00:40:52.089 answered me, "No; to my grief it is not." 499 00:40:52.089 --> 00:40:56.810 "Why is this not true," I said, "and why are you grieved that it is not true?" 500 00:40:56.810 --> 00:41:02.320 "Because if what my tormentor told you is true," she said, "I would be satisfied. He 501 00:41:02.320 --> 00:41:07.599 tells you that he pours gold down my throat; but he is a lying devil and speaks falsely. 502 00:41:07.599 --> 00:41:13.010 If it was gold I would never complain. But he mocks me, and instead of gold he only gives 503 00:41:13.010 --> 00:41:19.000 me this horrid, stinking sulfur. If I had my gold I would be happy still, for I value 504 00:41:19.000 --> 00:41:24.030 it so much that if I had it, I would not part with it even if an entrance to heaven could 505 00:41:24.030 --> 00:41:24.369 be bought." 506 00:41:24.369 --> 00:41:30.800 I told my angelic conductor that I was amazed to hear a wretch in hell itself so greedy 507 00:41:30.800 --> 00:41:36.480 for riches while forever being tormented. "This," he said, "may convince you that it 508 00:41:36.480 --> 00:41:41.599 is sin which is the greatest of all evils. Whenever the love of sin controls a soul, 509 00:41:41.599 --> 00:41:46.430 it is the greatest of all punishments for them to be abandoned to that evil love. The 510 00:41:46.430 --> 00:41:52.599 love of gold which this cursed soul is consumed by, is a more fatal punishment than what the 511 00:41:52.599 --> 00:41:54.530 demons can inflict upon her here." 512 00:41:54.530 --> 00:42:00.780 "O!" said I, "if only wicked men on earth could for one moment hear the horrid shrieks 513 00:42:00.780 --> 00:42:04.140 of those damned souls, they could not be in love with sin again." 514 00:42:04.140 --> 00:42:10.680 "Eternal Truth has told us otherwise, for those who will not fear His ministers, nor 515 00:42:10.680 --> 00:42:16.150 have regard to what His Word contains, will not be warned though one should come from 516 00:42:16.150 --> 00:42:17.040 hell." 517 00:42:17.040 --> 00:42:22.060 We had not gone much farther before we saw a wretched soul lying on a bed of burning 518 00:42:22.060 --> 00:42:28.820 steel, almost choked with brimstone. He cried out with such dreadful anguish and desperation, 519 00:42:28.820 --> 00:42:33.200 that I asked my conductor to wait. I heard him speak as follows: 520 00:42:33.200 --> 00:42:40.200 "Ah, miserable wretch! Undone forever, forever! Oh, this killing word, 'forever!' Will not 521 00:42:40.530 --> 00:42:46.160 a million years be long enough to bear that pain, which if I could avoid it, I would not 522 00:42:46.160 --> 00:42:52.240 endure for even one moment for the sake of being offered one million worlds? No, no my 523 00:42:52.240 --> 00:42:58.230 misery never will have an end; after millions of years it will still be for ever. Oh, what 524 00:42:58.230 --> 00:43:03.990 a helpless and hopeless condition I am in! It is this 'forever' that is the hell of hell! 525 00:43:03.990 --> 00:43:10.990 O cursed wretch! Cursed to all eternity! How willfully have I undone myself! Oh, what stupendous 526 00:43:11.050 --> 00:43:16.900 folly am I guilty of, to choose sin's short and momentary pleasure at the dear price of 527 00:43:16.900 --> 00:43:22.910 everlasting pain! How often I was told it would be so! How often I was encouraged to 528 00:43:22.910 --> 00:43:28.369 leave those paths of sin that brought me to the chambers of eternal death! But I, like 529 00:43:28.369 --> 00:43:34.750 a dumb animal, would not listen to those pleadings. Now it is too late to change it, for my eternal 530 00:43:34.750 --> 00:43:40.530 state is fixed for ever. Why was I made a person, that I would choose this fate? Why 531 00:43:40.530 --> 00:43:45.800 was I made with an immortal soul, and yet should take so little care of it? Oh how my 532 00:43:45.800 --> 00:43:52.300 own neglect stings me to death, and yet I know I cannot die! I live a dying life, worse 533 00:43:52.300 --> 00:43:58.470 than ten thousand deaths; and yet I once could have changed all this, but did not! Oh, that 534 00:43:58.470 --> 00:44:04.130 is the gnawing worm that never dies! I might once have been happy, salvation was offered 535 00:44:04.130 --> 00:44:09.550 to me and I refused it. Had salvation been offered to me only once, it would have been 536 00:44:09.550 --> 00:44:15.710 an unforgivable folly to refuse it. But salvation was offered me a thousand times, and yet (wretch 537 00:44:15.710 --> 00:44:22.230 that I was) I still as often refused it. O cursed sin, that with deluding pleasures leads 538 00:44:22.230 --> 00:44:29.230 mankind to eternal ruin! God often called, but I as often refused; He stretched His hand 539 00:44:29.890 --> 00:44:36.450 out, but I would not mind it. How often have I ignored His counsel! How often have I refused 540 00:44:36.450 --> 00:44:43.220 His reproof! But now the scene is changed, the case is altered. Now He laughs at my calamity, 541 00:44:43.220 --> 00:44:48.099 and mocks at the destruction which is come upon me. He would have helped me once, but 542 00:44:48.099 --> 00:44:53.859 I would not accept His help. Therefore those eternal miseries I am condemned to undergo 543 00:44:53.859 --> 00:44:56.910 are but the just reward of my own doing." 544 00:44:56.910 --> 00:45:01.530 I could not hear this sorrowful lamentation without thinking about the wonderful grace 545 00:45:01.530 --> 00:45:07.460 that God had shown to me, eternal praises to His holy name! For my heart told me that 546 00:45:07.460 --> 00:45:13.080 I had deserved eternal judgment as much as that sad wretch, but that God's grace alone 547 00:45:13.080 --> 00:45:18.830 had made us different. O how unsearchable are His counsels! Who can fathom His divine 548 00:45:18.830 --> 00:45:19.920 decree? 549 00:45:19.920 --> 00:45:25.150 After these thoughts I spoke to the sorrowful complainer, and told him I had heard his woeful 550 00:45:25.150 --> 00:45:31.030 complaints. I saw that his misery was great, and his loss irreparable, and told him I would 551 00:45:31.030 --> 00:45:35.830 willingly hear more about it if this might possibly help lessen his sufferings." 552 00:45:35.830 --> 00:45:42.580 "No, not at all; my pains cannot be relieved even for one small moment. But by your question 553 00:45:42.580 --> 00:45:48.540 I understand that you are a stranger here; and may you ever be a stranger! Ah, had I 554 00:45:48.540 --> 00:45:54.109 but the least hope still remaining, how I would kneel and cry and pray for ever to be 555 00:45:54.109 --> 00:46:00.520 redeemed from this hell! But it is all in vain, I am lost forever. But so that you will 556 00:46:00.520 --> 00:46:07.180 be warned about ending up here, I will tell you what the damned suffer." 557 00:46:07.180 --> 00:46:09.060 Chapter 8: A Lost Soul Speaks 558 00:46:09.060 --> 00:46:15.619 "Our miseries in this infernal dungeon are of two kinds: what we have lost, and what 559 00:46:15.619 --> 00:46:19.130 we suffer. I will first speak about what we have lost. 560 00:46:19.130 --> 00:46:24.820 1. In this sad dark place of misery and sorrow, we have lost the presence of the ever blessed 561 00:46:24.820 --> 00:46:30.619 God. This is what makes this dungeon hell. Though we had lost a thousand worlds, it would 562 00:46:30.619 --> 00:46:36.180 not be as important as this one greatest loss. Could we but see the least glimpse of His 563 00:46:36.180 --> 00:46:40.869 favor here, we might be happy; but have lost it to our everlasting woe. 564 00:46:40.869 --> 00:46:46.599 2. Here we have also lost the company of saints and angels, and instead have nothing but tormenting 565 00:46:46.599 --> 00:46:46.990 devils. 566 00:46:46.990 --> 00:46:52.910 3. Here we have lost heaven, too, the center of blessedness. There is a deep gulf between 567 00:46:52.910 --> 00:46:58.140 us and heaven, so that we are shut out from it forever. Those everlasting gates that let 568 00:46:58.140 --> 00:47:01.910 the redeemed into heaven are now for ever shut against us. 569 00:47:01.910 --> 00:47:07.570 4. To make our wretchedness far worse, we have lost the hope of ever obtaining a better 570 00:47:07.570 --> 00:47:13.859 condition. This makes us truly hopeless. Well may our hearts now break, since we are both 571 00:47:13.859 --> 00:47:19.480 without hope and help. This is what we have lost; and if we think of these things, it 572 00:47:19.480 --> 00:47:25.160 is enough to tear and gnaw upon our miserable souls forever. Yet, oh, that this were all 573 00:47:25.160 --> 00:47:26.740 that our torments were! 574 00:47:26.740 --> 00:47:32.160 But we are also tormented by suffering and pain, as I will try to explain to you now. 575 00:47:32.160 --> 00:47:37.970 1. First, we undergo a variety of torments. We are tormented here a thousand, no, ten 576 00:47:37.970 --> 00:47:43.339 thousand different ways. Those that suffer upon the earth seldom have more than one affliction 577 00:47:43.339 --> 00:47:49.599 at a time. But if they had ulcers, gallstones, headaches, and fever all at the same time, 578 00:47:49.599 --> 00:47:55.359 would they not think they were very miserable? Yet all those together are but like the biting 579 00:47:55.359 --> 00:48:01.589 of a flea compared to those intolerable, sharp pains that we endure. Here we have all the 580 00:48:01.589 --> 00:48:07.609 sufferings of hell. Here is an unquenchable fire which burns us; a lake of burning brimstone 581 00:48:07.609 --> 00:48:13.450 that ever chokes us; and eternal chains that bind us. Here there is utter darkness to frighten 582 00:48:13.450 --> 00:48:20.000 us, and a worm of conscience that gnaws upon us everlastingly. Any one of these is worse 583 00:48:20.000 --> 00:48:23.990 to bear than all the torments that mankind ever felt on earth! 584 00:48:23.990 --> 00:48:29.560 2. But our torments here are not only various, but are also complete. They afflict every 585 00:48:29.560 --> 00:48:34.740 part of the body, and torment all the powers of the soul. This makes what we suffer the 586 00:48:34.740 --> 00:48:40.210 worst of tortures. In those sicknesses which men have on earth, though some members of 587 00:48:40.210 --> 00:48:45.670 their bodies will suffer, yet other parts will have no pain. Here it is different; every 588 00:48:45.670 --> 00:48:48.680 member of the soul and body suffers at the same time. 589 00:48:48.680 --> 00:48:55.079 "Our eyes are tormented here with the sight of devils who appear in all the horrible shapes 590 00:48:55.079 --> 00:49:00.470 and black appearances that sin can give them. Our ears are continually tormented with the 591 00:49:00.470 --> 00:49:06.300 loud continual yelling of the damned. Our nostrils are smothered with sulfurous flames; 592 00:49:06.300 --> 00:49:12.230 our tongues with burning blisters; and the whole body is rolled in flames of liquid fire. 593 00:49:12.230 --> 00:49:18.950 All the powers and faculties of our souls are also tormented here. The imagination suffers 594 00:49:18.950 --> 00:49:24.000 with the thoughts of our present pain and the memory of the heaven we have lost. Our 595 00:49:24.000 --> 00:49:30.869 minds are tormented as we remember how foolishly we spent our precious time on earth. Our understanding 596 00:49:30.869 --> 00:49:36.900 is tormented with the thoughts of our past pleasures, present pains, and future sorrows, 597 00:49:36.900 --> 00:49:42.770 which are to last forever. And our consciences are tormented with a continual gnawing worm. 598 00:49:42.770 --> 00:49:48.680 3. Another thing that makes our misery so awful is the sharpness of our torments. The 599 00:49:48.680 --> 00:49:54.430 fire that burns us is so violent that all the water in the sea can never quench it. 600 00:49:54.430 --> 00:49:59.710 The pains we suffer here are so extreme that it is impossible for anyone to know them except 601 00:49:59.710 --> 00:50:00.570 the damned. 602 00:50:00.570 --> 00:50:07.260 4. Another part of our misery is the ceaselessness of our torments. As various, as complete, 603 00:50:07.260 --> 00:50:13.260 and as extremely violent as they are, they are also continual. We have no rest from them. 604 00:50:13.260 --> 00:50:18.530 If there were any relaxation, it might be some relief. But there is no easing of our 605 00:50:18.530 --> 00:50:21.810 torments, and what we suffer now we must suffer forever. 606 00:50:21.810 --> 00:50:27.320 5. The society or company we have here is another part of our misery. Tormenting devils 607 00:50:27.320 --> 00:50:33.940 and tormented souls are all our company. Dreadful shrieks, howlings, and fearful cursing are 608 00:50:33.940 --> 00:50:37.960 our continual conversation because of the fierceness of our pain. 609 00:50:37.960 --> 00:50:43.280 6. The place we are in also increases our sufferings. It is the completion of all misery, 610 00:50:43.280 --> 00:50:49.859 a prison, a dungeon, a bottomless pit, a lake of brimstone, a furnace of fire that burns 611 00:50:49.859 --> 00:50:56.230 to eternity, the blackness of darkness for ever; and lastly, hell itself. Such a wretched 612 00:50:56.230 --> 00:50:59.140 place as this can only increase our wretchedness. 613 00:50:59.140 --> 00:51:05.180 7. The cruelty of our tormentors is another thing that adds to our sufferings. Our tormentors 614 00:51:05.180 --> 00:51:09.980 are devils in whom there is no pity. While they are tormented themselves, they still 615 00:51:09.980 --> 00:51:11.960 take pleasure in tormenting us. 616 00:51:11.960 --> 00:51:16.849 8. All those sufferings that I have recounted are very grievous. But that which makes them 617 00:51:16.849 --> 00:51:22.880 the most grievous is that they shall always be forever. All of our intolerable sufferings 618 00:51:22.880 --> 00:51:28.780 shall last to all eternity! 'Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire,' is what 619 00:51:28.780 --> 00:51:34.170 continually sounds in my ears. Oh, that I could reverse that fatal sentence! Oh, if 620 00:51:34.170 --> 00:51:40.030 there was but a bare possibility of salvation! This is the miserable situation we are in, 621 00:51:40.030 --> 00:51:42.910 and shall be in forever." 622 00:51:42.910 --> 00:51:46.040 Chapter 9: Further Conversations 623 00:51:46.040 --> 00:51:50.480 This wretched soul had scarcely finished what he was saying when he was tormented again 624 00:51:50.480 --> 00:51:56.680 by a hellish demon, who told him to stop complaining. The demon said, "don't you know you have deserved 625 00:51:56.680 --> 00:52:02.119 it all? How often were you told of this before, but would not believe it? You laughed at those 626 00:52:02.119 --> 00:52:06.900 who warned you about hell. You were even so presumptuous as to dare Almighty justice to 627 00:52:06.900 --> 00:52:12.339 destroy you! How often you called on God to damn you. Do you complain that you are answered 628 00:52:12.339 --> 00:52:18.240 according to your wishes? What an unreasonable thing! You know that you had salvation offered 629 00:52:18.240 --> 00:52:23.750 you, and you refused it. How can you now complain of being damned? I have more reason to complain, 630 00:52:23.750 --> 00:52:28.630 for you had a long time in which repentance was offered you; but I was cast into hell 631 00:52:28.630 --> 00:52:33.740 as soon as I had sinned. If I had been offered salvation, I would never have rejected it 632 00:52:33.740 --> 00:52:39.490 as you did. Who do you think should pity you now, with all that heaven had offered to you?" 633 00:52:39.490 --> 00:52:44.770 This made the wretch cry out, "Oh, do not continue to torment me; I know that I chose 634 00:52:44.770 --> 00:52:49.880 destruction. Oh, that I could forget it! These thoughts are my greatest torture. I chose 635 00:52:49.880 --> 00:52:55.040 to be damned, and therefore justly am so." Then turning to the demon that tortured him 636 00:52:55.040 --> 00:53:00.320 he said, "But I also came here through your temptations, you cursed devil. You were the 637 00:53:00.320 --> 00:53:05.500 one that had tempted me to do all of my sins; and now you would reproach me? You say you 638 00:53:05.500 --> 00:53:09.750 never had a Savior offered to you; but you should also remember that you never had a 639 00:53:09.750 --> 00:53:12.849 tempter such as you have always been to me." 640 00:53:12.849 --> 00:53:17.960 To this the devil scornfully replied, "It was my business to lead you here! You had 641 00:53:17.960 --> 00:53:22.810 often been warned of this by your preacher. You were plainly told that we sought your 642 00:53:22.810 --> 00:53:28.540 ruin, and go about continually like roaring lions, seeking whom we could devour. I was 643 00:53:28.540 --> 00:53:33.490 often afraid you that would believe them, as several other souls did, to our great disappointment. 644 00:53:33.490 --> 00:53:38.540 But you were willing to do what we wanted; and since you have done our work it is but 645 00:53:38.540 --> 00:53:43.670 reasonable that we should pay you wages." Then the fiend tormented him again and caused 646 00:53:43.670 --> 00:53:49.300 him to roar out so horribly that I could no longer stay to hear him, so I passed on. 647 00:53:49.300 --> 00:53:55.230 "How dismal," I then said to my conductor, "is the condition of these damned souls! They 648 00:53:55.230 --> 00:54:00.010 are the devils slaves while upon earth, and he reproaches and then torments them for it 649 00:54:00.010 --> 00:54:03.890 when they come to hell." "The devils hate all the race of Adam," said 650 00:54:03.890 --> 00:54:09.230 my conductor. "And because many souls are ignorant of their devices, they easily succeed 651 00:54:09.230 --> 00:54:15.050 to bring them to eternal ruin. You will see more how the demons treat the damned here." 652 00:54:15.050 --> 00:54:19.670 Passing a little further we saw a multitude of damned souls together, gnashing their teeth 653 00:54:19.670 --> 00:54:25.540 with extreme rage and pain, while the tormenting fiends with hellish fury poured liquid fire 654 00:54:25.540 --> 00:54:30.210 and brimstone continually upon them. In the meantime, they were cursing God and those 655 00:54:30.210 --> 00:54:36.320 about them, and were blaspheming in a tremendous manner. I could not help but ask of one demon 656 00:54:36.320 --> 00:54:40.520 that so tormented them, who were these souls that he tormented so cruelly? 657 00:54:40.520 --> 00:54:45.869 Said he, "These wretches well deserve their punishment. They tried to teach others the 658 00:54:45.869 --> 00:54:50.369 right road to heaven, while they were so in love with hell that they came here. These 659 00:54:50.369 --> 00:54:55.020 are those souls that have been our great helpers upon the earth, and therefore they deserve 660 00:54:55.020 --> 00:55:00.069 our special attention in hell. We use our full diligence to give every one their utmost 661 00:55:00.069 --> 00:55:05.170 share of torments, for they not only have their own sins to answer for, but also all 662 00:55:05.170 --> 00:55:09.020 the sins of those whom they led astray both by their doctrine and example." 663 00:55:09.020 --> 00:55:14.069 "Since they have been such great helpers for you, I would think that in gratitude you would 664 00:55:14.069 --> 00:55:16.230 treat them a little more kindly." 665 00:55:16.230 --> 00:55:21.130 To this the impudent friend answered me in a scoffing manner, "They that expect gratitude 666 00:55:21.130 --> 00:55:27.480 among devils will find themselves mistaken. Gratitude is a virtue, but we hate all virtue. 667 00:55:27.480 --> 00:55:33.280 Besides, we hate all mankind, and were it in our power not one of them should be happy. 668 00:55:33.280 --> 00:55:38.339 It is true we do not tell them so upon earth, because there it is our business to flatter 669 00:55:38.339 --> 00:55:43.700 and deceive them. But when we have them here where they cannot escape, we soon convince 670 00:55:43.700 --> 00:55:46.170 them of their foolishness in serving us." 671 00:55:46.170 --> 00:55:52.050 From this I could only think about what infinite grace it is that any poor sinners are brought 672 00:55:52.050 --> 00:55:57.550 to heaven, considering how many traps are laid by the enemy to ensnare them by the way. 673 00:55:57.550 --> 00:56:01.369 Therefore it is a ministry well worthy of the blessed Son of God to save His people 674 00:56:01.369 --> 00:56:06.530 from their sins, and to deliver them from the wrath to come. But it is also folly and 675 00:56:06.530 --> 00:56:12.970 madness in men to refuse the offers of His grace, and to choose to side with the destroyer. 676 00:56:12.970 --> 00:56:17.680 Going farther on, I heard a wretch complaining in a heartbreaking strain against those men 677 00:56:17.680 --> 00:56:22.880 that had betrayed him and brought him here. "I was told," said he, 'by those that I depended 678 00:56:22.880 --> 00:56:28.579 on, and that I thought could inform me correctly, that if I said 'Lord, have mercy on me,' when 679 00:56:28.579 --> 00:56:34.250 I came to die, it would be enough to save me. But oh, now I find myself mistaken, to 680 00:56:34.250 --> 00:56:40.730 my eternal sorrow! Alas, I called for mercy on my deathbed, but found it was too late. 681 00:56:40.730 --> 00:56:45.670 Before that time, this cursed devil here told me that I was safe. Then on my deathbed, he 682 00:56:45.670 --> 00:56:49.130 told me it was too late. Hell must forever be my portion." 683 00:56:49.130 --> 00:56:54.540 "You see, I did tell you the truth at last," said the devil, "and then you would not believe 684 00:56:54.540 --> 00:57:00.349 me. A very fitting end, don't you think? You spend your days enjoying sin, and wallow in 685 00:57:00.349 --> 00:57:06.170 your filthiness, and you want to go to heaven when you die! Would anyone but a madman think 686 00:57:06.170 --> 00:57:11.420 that would be just? No; he that sincerely wants to go to heaven when he dies, must walk 687 00:57:11.420 --> 00:57:16.710 in the ways of holiness and virtue while he is alive. You say some of your lewd companions 688 00:57:16.710 --> 00:57:21.460 told you that saying, 'Lord, have mercy on me' when you came to die would be enough. 689 00:57:21.460 --> 00:57:26.290 A very fine excuse! If you had read the Bible you would have known that 'Without holiness, 690 00:57:26.290 --> 00:57:31.349 no one shall see the Lord." Therefore, if you were willing to live in your sins as long 691 00:57:31.349 --> 00:57:36.560 as you could, you did not finally leave them because you did not like them, but because 692 00:57:36.560 --> 00:57:41.810 you could follow them no longer. And this you know to be true. How could you be so stupid 693 00:57:41.810 --> 00:57:47.160 to think you could go to heaven with the love of sin in your heart? No, no, no. You were 694 00:57:47.160 --> 00:57:52.349 warned often enough that you should take heed of being deceived, for God is not mocked, 695 00:57:52.349 --> 00:57:57.880 but what you sow you reap. You have no reason to complain of anything but your own folly, 696 00:57:57.880 --> 00:58:00.140 which you now see too late." 697 00:58:00.140 --> 00:58:05.069 "This lecture of the devil was a very cutting one to the poor tormented wretch," I said 698 00:58:05.069 --> 00:58:11.470 to my conductor, "and shows the true situation of many now on earth as well as those in hell. 699 00:58:11.470 --> 00:58:16.300 But oh, what a far different judgment do they make in this sad place from what they did 700 00:58:16.300 --> 00:58:19.410 on earth." "The reason for this," replied my guardian 701 00:58:19.410 --> 00:58:24.089 angel, "is that they will not allow themselves to think what the effect of sin will be while 702 00:58:24.089 --> 00:58:29.560 on earth. Carelessness ruins many souls who do not think about what they are doing, nor 703 00:58:29.560 --> 00:58:34.359 where they are going, until it is too late to help it." 704 00:58:34.359 --> 00:58:37.770 Chapter 10: An Atheist in Hell 705 00:58:37.770 --> 00:58:43.099 We had not gone much farther before I saw a vast number of tormenting demons. They were 706 00:58:43.099 --> 00:58:49.410 continually lashing a large company of wretched souls with knotted whips of ever burning steel. 707 00:58:49.410 --> 00:58:54.290 The tormented were roaring out with such loud cries that I thought it might have melted 708 00:58:54.290 --> 00:59:00.569 even cruelty itself into some pity. This made me say to one of the tormentors, "Oh, stop 709 00:59:00.569 --> 00:59:05.630 your whipping, and do not use such cruelty on those who are your fellow creatures, and 710 00:59:05.630 --> 00:59:07.730 whom you probably helped lead to all this misery." 711 00:59:07.730 --> 00:59:13.440 "No," answered the tormentor very smoothly. "Though we are bad enough, no devil was as 712 00:59:13.440 --> 00:59:19.460 bad as them, nor were we guilty of such crimes as they were. We all know there is a God, 713 00:59:19.460 --> 00:59:24.000 although we hate Him; but these souls would never admit (until they came here) that there 714 00:59:24.000 --> 00:59:24.720 was such a Being." 715 00:59:24.720 --> 00:59:30.430 "Then these," I said, "were atheists. They are wretched men, and tried to ruin me had 716 00:59:30.430 --> 00:59:32.910 not eternal grace prevented it." 717 00:59:32.910 --> 00:59:37.750 I had no sooner spoken, but one of the tormented wretches cried out mournfully , "Surely I 718 00:59:37.750 --> 00:59:42.849 know that voice. It must be John." I was amazed to hear my name mentioned; and 719 00:59:42.849 --> 00:59:46.030 therefore I answered, "Yes, I am John; but who are you?" 720 00:59:46.030 --> 00:59:51.050 To this he replied, "I once knew you well upon the earth, and had almost persuaded you 721 00:59:51.050 --> 00:59:56.000 to be of my opinion. I am the author of that celebrated book entitled 'Leviathan.'" 722 00:59:56.000 --> 01:00:00.829 "What! The great Hobbs?" said I. "Are you come here?" 723 01:00:00.829 --> 01:00:07.270 "Alas," replied he, "I am that unhappy man indeed. But I am so far from being great that 724 01:00:07.270 --> 01:00:12.210 I am one of the most wretched persons in all these dirty territories. For now I know there 725 01:00:12.210 --> 01:00:18.599 is a God. But oh! I wish there were not, for I am sure He will have no mercy on me. Nor 726 01:00:18.599 --> 01:00:24.040 is there any reason that He should. I do confess I was His foe on earth, and now He is mine 727 01:00:24.040 --> 01:00:30.180 in hell. It was that proud confidence I had in my own wisdom that has so betrayed me." 728 01:00:30.180 --> 01:00:36.150 "Your case is miserable, and yet you admit that you suffer justly. For how industrious 729 01:00:36.150 --> 01:00:41.450 were you to persuade others and try to bring them to the same damnation. No one can know 730 01:00:41.450 --> 01:00:45.970 this better than I, as I was almost taken in your snare to perish forever." 731 01:00:45.970 --> 01:00:51.170 "It is that," said he, "that stings me to the heart, to think how many will perish by 732 01:00:51.170 --> 01:00:56.140 my influence. I was afraid when I first heard your voice that you had also been cast into 733 01:00:56.140 --> 01:01:02.170 hell. Not that I wish any person happy, for it is my torment to think that anyone is happy 734 01:01:02.170 --> 01:01:07.730 while I am so miserable. But I did not want you to be cast into hell, because every soul 735 01:01:07.730 --> 01:01:12.280 that is brought here through my deceptions, increases my pains in hell." 736 01:01:12.280 --> 01:01:17.050 "But tell me," I said, "for I want to know the truth. Did you indeed believe there was 737 01:01:17.050 --> 01:01:19.170 no God when you lived upon earth? 738 01:01:19.170 --> 01:01:24.310 "At first I believed there was a God," he answered, "but as I turned to sins which would 739 01:01:24.310 --> 01:01:29.690 lead me to His judgment, I hoped there was no God. For it is impossible to think there 740 01:01:29.690 --> 01:01:34.869 is a just God, and not also remember that He will punish those who disobey Him. But 741 01:01:34.869 --> 01:01:40.200 as I continued in my sins, and found that justice did not swiftly come, I then began 742 01:01:40.200 --> 01:01:46.000 to hope there was no God. From those hopes I began to frame ideas in my own mind that 743 01:01:46.000 --> 01:01:51.420 could justify what I hoped. My ideas framed a new system of the world's origin which excluded 744 01:01:51.420 --> 01:01:57.329 from it the existence of God. At last I found myself so fond of these new theories that 745 01:01:57.329 --> 01:02:02.540 I decided to believe them and convince others that they were true. But before this, I did 746 01:02:02.540 --> 01:02:08.030 find several checks in my own conscience. I felt that I could be wrong, but I ignored 747 01:02:08.030 --> 01:02:13.160 these warnings. Now I find that those checking thoughts that might have helped me then, are 748 01:02:13.160 --> 01:02:18.040 here the things that most of all torment me. I must confess that the love of sin hardened 749 01:02:18.040 --> 01:02:24.109 my heart against my Maker, and made me hate Him first, and then deny His being. Sin, that 750 01:02:24.109 --> 01:02:29.609 I so proudly embraced, has been the cursed cause of all this woe; it is the serpent that 751 01:02:29.609 --> 01:02:34.859 has stung my soul to death. For now I find, in spite of my vain philosophy, there is a 752 01:02:34.859 --> 01:02:40.309 God. I have also found that God will not be mocked, although it was my daily practice 753 01:02:40.309 --> 01:02:45.300 in the world to mock at heaven and all that is sacred, for this was the means that I found 754 01:02:45.300 --> 01:02:50.839 very successful to spread abroad my cursed ideas. For anyone that I could get to ridicule 755 01:02:50.839 --> 01:02:55.859 the truths of God, I looked upon as becoming one of my disciples. But now these thoughts 756 01:02:55.859 --> 01:03:00.109 are more tormenting to me than the sufferings I endure from these whips of burning steel." 757 01:03:00.109 --> 01:03:06.450 "Sad indeed," I said. "See what Almighty Power can inflict on those that violate His righteous 758 01:03:06.450 --> 01:03:12.000 law." I was making some further comments when the relentless fiend who had been tormenting 759 01:03:12.000 --> 01:03:15.839 them then interrupted me. "Now you see what sort of men they were in 760 01:03:15.839 --> 01:03:19.760 the world. Do you not think they deserve their punishment now?" 761 01:03:19.760 --> 01:03:25.119 To which I answered, "Doubtless it is the just reward of sin which they suffer, and 762 01:03:25.119 --> 01:03:29.780 which you will suffer also. For you, as well as they, have sinned against the ever blessed 763 01:03:29.780 --> 01:03:35.460 God, and for your sin you shall suffer the just vengeance of eternal fire. Nor is it 764 01:03:35.460 --> 01:03:40.880 any excuse to say you never doubted the being of a God; for though you knew there was God, 765 01:03:40.880 --> 01:03:44.950 yet you rebelled against Him. Therefore you shall be justly punished with everlasting 766 01:03:44.950 --> 01:03:48.140 destruction from the presence of the Lord." 767 01:03:48.140 --> 01:03:53.380 To this the fiend replied, "It is true we know we shall be punished, as you say. But 768 01:03:53.380 --> 01:03:57.880 if you say that mankind should have pity showed them, because they fell through the temptations 769 01:03:57.880 --> 01:04:02.819 of the devil, it is the same case with me and all the rest of the inferior spirits. 770 01:04:02.819 --> 01:04:08.010 For we were tempted by the Bright Sun of the Morning to rebel with him. And therefore, 771 01:04:08.010 --> 01:04:13.790 though this multiplies the crime of Lucifer, it should lessen that of the inferior spirits." 772 01:04:13.790 --> 01:04:18.859 To this my bright conductor replied with an angry countenance. "O you apostate, wicked, 773 01:04:18.859 --> 01:04:24.569 lying spirit! Can you say those things and see me here? You know it was your proud heart 774 01:04:24.569 --> 01:04:29.440 that made you rebel with Lucifer against the blessed God who had created you with glory! 775 01:04:29.440 --> 01:04:34.730 But since you proudly exalted yourself above your blessed Creator, and joined with Lucifer, 776 01:04:34.730 --> 01:04:39.339 you are justly cast down to hell. Your former beauty has changed to your present horrible 777 01:04:39.339 --> 01:04:43.609 form as the just punishment of your rebellious pride." 778 01:04:43.609 --> 01:04:48.670 To this the apostate spirit replied, "Why do you invade our territories, and come here 779 01:04:48.670 --> 01:04:53.970 to torment us before our time?" And when he had said this, he slipped away as if he did 780 01:04:53.970 --> 01:04:59.720 not want to have an answer. After he was gone I said to my guardian angel that I had already 781 01:04:59.720 --> 01:05:04.970 heard about the fall of the apostate angels, but wanted to know more about what happened. 782 01:05:04.970 --> 01:05:09.790 To this my guide answered me, "When you have finished your earthly life and return to heaven, 783 01:05:09.790 --> 01:05:15.230 you shall learn many things that you are not yet ready to understand. In your present state 784 01:05:15.230 --> 01:05:19.960 do not desire to learn more than what is written in the Scriptures. It is enough to know the 785 01:05:19.960 --> 01:05:25.109 angels sinned, and for their sin were cast down to hell. But how pure spirits could have 786 01:05:25.109 --> 01:05:30.130 a thought arise in their hearts against the eternal Purity that first created them is 787 01:05:30.130 --> 01:05:32.240 what you are not yet capable of understanding." 788 01:05:32.240 --> 01:05:37.480 "I have observed," said I, "that those in hell complain most about the torment from 789 01:05:37.480 --> 01:05:42.920 their own sense of guilt, which confirms the justice of their punishment. This gloomy prison 790 01:05:42.920 --> 01:05:48.630 is the best place to rightly understand sin; for were it not so evil, it would not be rewarded 791 01:05:48.630 --> 01:05:49.980 with such extreme punishment." 792 01:05:49.980 --> 01:05:55.829 "What you say is very natural; but there is yet a better place to see the just reward 793 01:05:55.829 --> 01:06:01.030 due to sin. That place can be seen when you behold the blessed Son of God upon the cross. 794 01:06:01.030 --> 01:06:06.930 There we may see the terrible effects of sin. There we may see all of its true evil. For 795 01:06:06.930 --> 01:06:11.329 all the sufferings of the damned here are but the sufferings of created beings; but 796 01:06:11.329 --> 01:06:13.839 on the cross you see a suffering God." 797 01:06:13.839 --> 01:06:20.839 "Surely," said I, "did justice and mercy triumph and kiss each other in that fatal hour. For 798 01:06:21.579 --> 01:06:26.390 justice was fully satisfied at the cross in the just punishment of sin; and mercy triumphed 799 01:06:26.390 --> 01:06:32.319 and was pleased there because salvation for poor sinners was completed. Oh, eternal praises 800 01:06:32.319 --> 01:06:36.940 to His holy name for ever, that His grace has made me willing to accept this salvation, 801 01:06:36.940 --> 01:06:42.690 and become an heir of glory! For I remember that some of those lost wretches here have 802 01:06:42.690 --> 01:06:47.470 lamented that when salvation had been offered to them, they had refused it. It was therefore 803 01:06:47.470 --> 01:06:50.210 grace alone that helped me to accept it." 804 01:06:50.210 --> 01:06:54.740 At this point my shining guardian told me that he must bring me back to the earth again, 805 01:06:54.740 --> 01:07:00.040 and leave me there until it was time for me to enter my heavenly reward. "Come," he said, 806 01:07:00.040 --> 01:07:05.800 "let us leave this place of sorrow and horror to the possession of their black inhabitants." 807 01:07:05.800 --> 01:07:10.859 In a very little space of time I found myself on earth again. I was left at the very place 808 01:07:10.859 --> 01:07:14.900 where the angel had met me, when I had been thinking about committing suicide through 809 01:07:14.900 --> 01:07:19.730 the temptations of the devil who had tried to persuade me that there was no God. How 810 01:07:19.730 --> 01:07:25.109 I returned there, I do not know. But as soon as I was back there, the bright angel who 811 01:07:25.109 --> 01:07:30.780 had been my conductor said, "John, I must go now. I have another ministry to complete. 812 01:07:30.780 --> 01:07:36.400 Praise Him that sits upon the throne for ever, who has all power in heaven, earth, and hell. 813 01:07:36.400 --> 01:07:40.710 Praise Him for all the wonders of His love and grace that He has shown you in so short 814 01:07:40.710 --> 01:07:41.960 a time." 815 01:07:41.960 --> 01:07:47.160 As I was going to reply, the shining angel disappeared and I was left alone. I spent 816 01:07:47.160 --> 01:07:51.940 some time considering the amazing things I had seen and heard, and then knelt down and 817 01:07:51.940 --> 01:07:56.260 prayed. When I rose up I began blessing and praising God for all His goodness. 818 01:07:56.260 --> 01:08:01.410 When I returned back to my house, my family was very surprised to see how my countenance 819 01:08:01.410 --> 01:08:06.240 had so greatly changed. They looked at me as if they scarcely knew me. I asked them 820 01:08:06.240 --> 01:08:11.099 what they were staring at. They answered that it was the change in my face that caused it. 821 01:08:11.099 --> 01:08:13.720 I said, "How am I so greatly changed?" 822 01:08:13.720 --> 01:08:18.699 They told me, "Yesterday you looked so depressed that you seemed the very image of despair. 823 01:08:18.699 --> 01:08:25.170 But now, your face appears radiantly beautiful, and seems full of perfect joy and satisfaction." 824 01:08:25.170 --> 01:08:30.640 "If you had seen," I said, "what I have seen today, you would not be surprised at the change 825 01:08:30.640 --> 01:08:35.620 in me." Then I went into my room, took my pen and ink, and wrote down everything that 826 01:08:35.620 --> 01:08:40.210 I had heard and seen. And I hope that those who read this will be moved in their hearts 827 01:08:40.210 --> 01:08:42.350 just as I have been as I wrote everything down. 828 01:08:42.350 --> 01:08:42.859 The End.