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The state of the lost...
by Thomas Boston
The damned shall have the society of devils in their
miserable state in hell-- for they must depart into the
'fire prepared for the devil and his angels'.
O horrible company!
O frightful association!
Who would choose to dwell in
a palace haunted by devils?
To be confined to the most pleasant spot of earth,
with the devil and his infernal furies,
would be a most terrible confinement.
How would men's hearts fail them, and their hair stand up,
finding themselves environed with the hellish crew!
But, ah! how much more terrible must it be,
to be cast with the devils into one fire,
locked up with them in one dungeon,
shut up with them in one pit!
To be closed up in a den of roaring lions,
girded about with serpents,
surrounded with venomous asps,
and to have the heart eaten out by vipers,
altogether and at once, is a comparison too
low to show the misery of the damned, shut
up in hell with the devil and his angels.
They go about now as roaring lions, seeking whom they
may devour; but then they shall be confined in their den
with their prey.
They shall be filled with the wrath of God, and receive
the full torment, which they tremble in expectation of
(James 2:19), being cast into the fire prepared for them.
How will these lions roar and tear!
How will these serpents hiss!
How will these dragons cast out fire!
What horrible anguish will seize the damned,
finding themselves in the lake of fire with the devil who
deceived them; drawn there with the silken cords of
temptation by these wicked spirits; and bound with them
in everlasting chairs under darkness!
'And the devil who deceived them was cast into the lake
of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false
prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever
and ever.' -Rev.21:10
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