Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - "The Doings Of Raffles Haw"

Constant - "Private Life of Napoleon Bonaparte, V1"

W. D. Howells - "The Albany Depot"

George Washington Plunkitt - "Plunkitt of Tammany Hall "

New Philadelphia Book Publisher Highlights Local Talent
Book and Publishing News from Publishers Newswire(tm)

Looking for Child to be on Cover of a New Book, 'The Model Child'
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. -- The Philadelphia literary world will celebrate the launch of two new players today, April 10th: Kay Square Press, a new publishing company focused on Philadelphia-area artists, their stories, and their art; and Kay Square's first release, 'With the Rich and Mighty: Emlen Etting of Philadelphia' (ISBN: 978-0-9815129-0-7), a critical biography by Kenneth C. Kaleta.

FlatSigned Press Alleges Don Imus Remarks Damage Legacy of President Gerald R. Ford
NEW YORK, N.Y. -- Nathan Yungerberg, an accomplished model scout and professional child photographer is launching a nation-wide casting call to find the cover model for his highly anticipated book release, 'The Model Child: A Parents Guide to the Child Modeling Industry' (ISBN: 978-0-9817018-0-6).

Books: The Works of John Bunyan Volume 1

J >> John Bunyan >> The Works of John Bunyan Volume 1




SECOND, The second inference that I draw from my second doctrine
is this: 'That it is, and will be the lot of some to bow and break
before God, too late, or when it is too late.' God is resolved, as
I said. to have the mastery, and that not only in a way of dominion
and lordship in general, for that He has now, but He is resolved
to master, that is, to break the spirit of the world, to make all
men cringe and crouch unto Him, even those that now say, 'There is
no God,' (Psa 14:1); or if there be, yet, 'What is the Almighty,
that we should serve Him?' (Job 21:15; Mal 3:14).

This is little thought of by those that now harden their hearts
in wickedness, and that turn their spirit against God; but this
they shall think of, this they must think of, this God will make
them think of in that day, at which day they also now do mock and
deride, that the Scripture might be fulfilled upon them (2 Peter
3:3,4). And, I say, they shall think then of those things, and break
at heart, and melt under the hand, and power, and majesty of the
Almighty; for, 'As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to
Me; and every tongue shall confess to God' (Isa 45:23; Rom 14:11).
And again, 'The nations shall see, and be confounded at all their
might; they shall lay their hand upon their mouth, their ears shall
be deaf. They shall lick the dust like a serpent, they shall move
out of their holes like worms,' or creeping things, 'of the earth;
they shall be afraid of the Lord our God, and shall fear because
of Thee' (Micah 7:16,17).

For then they, will they nill they, shall have to do with God,
though not with Him as merciful, or as one that may be intreated;
yet with Him all just, and as devouring fire (Heb 7:29). Yea, they
shall see that face, and hear that voice, from whom and from which
the heavens and the earth will fly away, and find no place of stay.
And by this appearance, and by such words of His mouth as He then
will speak to them, they shall begin to tremble, and call for the
rocks to fall upon them and cover them; for if these things will
happen at the execution of inferior judgments, what will be done,
what effects will the last, most dreadful, and eternal judgment,
have upon men's souls?

Hence you find, that at the very first appearance of Jesus Christ,
the whole world begins to mourn and lament--'Every eye shall see
Him, and they also which pierced Him: and all kindreds of the earth
shall wail because of Him' (Rev 1:7). And, therefore, you also
find them to stand at the door and knock, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open
unto us' (Luke 14:25; Matt 25:11). Moreover, you find them also
desiring, yea, also so humble in their desires as to be content
with the least degree of mercy--one drop, one drop upon the tip of
one's finger. What stooping, what condescension, what humility is
here! All, and every one of those passages declare, that the hand
of God is upon them, and that the Almighty has got the mastery of
them, has conquered them, broke the pride of their power, and laid
them low, and made them cringe and crouch unto him, bending the
knee, and craving of kindness. Thus, then, will God bow, and bend,
and break them; yea, make them bow, and bend, and break before Him.
And hence also it is they will weep, and mourn, and gnash their
teeth, and cry, and repent that ever they have been so foolish,
so wicked, so traitorous to their souls, such enemies of their own
eternal happiness, as to stand out in the day of their visitation
in a way of rebellion against the Lord.

But here is their hard hap, their dismal lot and portion, that all
these things must be when it is too late. It is, and will be, the
lot and hap of these to bow, bend, and break too late (Matt 25).
You read they come weeping and mourning, and with tears; they knock
and they cry for mercy; but what did tears avail? Why, nothing;
for the door was shut. He answered and said, 'I know not whence you
are.' But they repeat and renew their suit, saying, 'We have eaten
and drunk in Thy presence, and Thou hast taught in our streets.'
What now? Why, He returns upon them His first answer the second
time, saying, 'I know not whence ye are; depart from Me, all ye
workers of iniquity;' then He concludes, 'There shall be weeping and
gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob,
and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves
thrust out' (Luke 13:26,28). They come weeping, and go weeping
away. They come to Him weeping, for they saw that He had conquered
them; but they departed weeping, for they saw that He would damn
them; yet, as we read in another place, they were very loath to
go from Him, by their reasoning and expostulating with Him--'Lord,
when saw we Thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked,
or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto Thee?' But all
would not do; here is no place for change of mind--'These shall
go away into everlasting punishment; but the righteous into life
eternal' (Matt 25:44-46). And now what would a man give in exchange
for his soul? So that, as I said before, all is too late; they
mourn too late, they repent too late, they pray too late, and seek
to make an exchange for their soul too late. 'Or what shall a man
give in exchange for his soul?'

Two or three things there may yet be gathered from these words; I
mean, as to the desires of them that have lost their souls, to make
for them an exchange; 'What shall a man give in exchange?'--what
shall, what would, yea, what would not a man, if he had it, give
in exchange for his soul?

First, What would not a man--I mean, a man that is in the condition
that is by the text supposed some men are and will be in--give in
exchange to have another man's virtue instead of their own vices?
'Let me die the death of the righteous;' let my soul be in the
state of the soul of the righteous--that is, in reference to his
virtues, when I die, 'and let my last end be like his' (Num 23:10).
It is a sport now to some to taunt, and squib, and deride at other
men's virtues; but the day is coming when their minds will be
changed, and when they shall be made to count those that have done
those righteous actions and duties which they have scoffed at, the
only blessed men; yea, they shall wish their soul in the blessed
possession of those graces and virtues, that those whom they hated
were accompanied with, and would, if they had it, give a whole world
for this change; but it will not now do, it is now too late. What
then shall a man give in exchange for his soul? And this is more
than intimated in that 25th of Matthew, named before: for you
find by that text how loath they were, or will be, to be counted
for unrighteous people--'Lord,' say they, 'when did we see thee
an hungred, or athirst, naked, or sick, and did not minister unto
thee?' Now they are not willing to be of the number of the wicked,
though hereto-fore the ways of the righteous were an abomination
to them. But, alas! they are before a just God, a just Judge, a
Judge that will give every one according to their ways; therefore,
'Woe unto (the soul of) the wicked now, it shall be ill with him,
for the reward of his hands shall be given him' (Isa 3:11). Thus,
therefore, he is locked up as to this; he cannot now change his vice
for virtues, nor put himself nor his soul in the stead of the soul
of the saved; so that it still, and will, for ever abide a question
unresolved,' Or, what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?'
I do not doubt but that a man's state may be such in this world,
that if he had it he would give thousands of gold to be as innocent
and guiltless in the judgment of the law of the land as is the
state of such or such, heartily wishing that himself was not that
he, that he is; how much more then will men wish thus when they
stand ready to receive the last, their eternal judgment. 'But what
shall a man give in exchange for his soul?'

Second, As they would, for the salvation of their souls, be glad
to change away their vices for the virtues, their sins for the good
deeds of others; so what would they not give to change places now,
or to remove from where now they are, into paradise, into Abraham's
bosom! But neither shall this be admitted; the righteous must have
their inheritance to themselves--' Neither,' said Abraham, 'can
they pass to us, that would come from thence,' (Luke 16:26); neither
can they dwell in heaven that would come from hell.

They then that have lost, or shall lose their souls are bound to
their place, as well as to their sins. When Judas went to hell,
he went to his home, 'to his own place' (Acts 1:25). And when the
righteous go hence, they also go home to their house, to their own
place; for the kingdom of heaven is prepared for them (Matt 25:34).
Between heaven and hell 'there is a great gulf fixed' (Luke 26:26).
That is a strange passage: 'There is a great gulf fixed.' What
this gulf is, and how impassable, they that shall lose their souls
will know to their woe; because it is fixed there where it is, on
purpose to keep them in their tormenting place, so that they that
would pass from hell to heaven cannot. But, I say, 'Would they not
change places? would they not have a more comfortable house and
home for their souls?' Yes, verily, the text supposes it, and the
16th of Luke affirms it; yea, and could they purchase for their
souls a habitation among the righteous, would they not? Yes, they
would give all the world to such a change. What shall, what shall
not, a man, if he had it, if it would answer his design, give in
exchange for his soul?

Third, As the damned would change their own vices for virtues, and
the place where they are for that into which they shall not come,
so what would they give for a change of condition? Yea, if an
absolute change may not be obtained, yet what would they give for
the least degree of mitigation of that torment, which now they
know will without any intermission be, and that for ever and ever.
'Tribulation and anguish, indignation and wrath' (Rom 2:8,9), the
gnawing worm, and everlasting destruction from the presence of the
Lord, and from the glory of His power, cannot be borne but with
great horror and grief (2 Thess 1:7-10). No marvel, then, if these
poor creatures would, for ease for their souls, be glad to change
their conditions. Change!--with whom? with an angel, with a saint;
ay, with a dog or a toad; 29 for they mourn not, they weep not,
nor do they bear indignation of wrath; they are as if they had not
been; only the sinful soul abides in its sins, in the place designed
for lost souls, and in the condition that wrath and indignation for
sin and transgression hath decreed them to abide for ever. And this
brings me to the conclusion, which is, 'that seeing the ungodly
do seek good things too late,' therefore, notwithstanding their
seeking, they must still abide in their place, their sins, and
their torment--'For what can a man give in exchange for his soul?'
Therefore, God saith, that they there must still abide and dwell,
no exchange can be made. 'This shall ye have of Mine hand, ye
shall lie down in sorrow;' they shall lie down in it, they shall
make their bed there, there they shall lie (Isa 50:11; Eze 32:25-27).
And this is the bitter pill that they must swallow down at the
last; for, after all their tears, their sorrows, their mournings,
their repentings, their wishings and woundings, and all their
inventings, and desires to change their state for a better, they
must 'lie down in sorrow.' The poor condemned man that is upon the
ladder or scaffold has, if one knew them, many a long wish and long
desire that he might come down again alive, or that his condition
was as one of the spectators that are not condemned and brought
thither to be executed as he. How carefully also doth he look with
his failing eyes, to see if some comes not from the king with a
pardon for him, all the while endeavouring to fumble away as well
as he can, and to prolong the minute of his execution! But at last,
when he has looked, when he has wished, when he has desired, and
done whatever he can, the blow with the axe, or turn with the ladder,
is his lot, so he goes off the scaffold, so he goes from among men;
and thus it will be with those that we have under consideration;
when all comes to all, and they have said, and wished, and done
what they can, the judgment must not be reversed--they must 'lie
down in sorrow.'

They must, or shall lie down! Of old, when a man was to be chastised
for his fault, he was to lie down to receive his stripes; so here,
saith the Lord, they shall lie down--'And it shall be, if the wicked
man be worthy to be beaten, that the judge shall cause him to lie
down, and to be beaten before his face' (Deu 25:2). And this lying
down was to be his lot after he had pleaded for himself what be
could--and the judge shall cause him to be beaten before his face,
while he is present to behold the execution of judgment; and thus
it shall be at the end of the world; the wicked shall lie down, and
shall be beaten with many stripes in the presence of Christ, 'and
in the presence of the holy angels' (2 Thess 1; Rev 14:10). For
there will be His presence, not only at the trial as Judge, but to
see execution done, nay, to do it Himself by the pouring out, like
a river, His wrath as burning brimstone upon the soul of the lost
and cast away sinner.

He shall lie down! These words imply that, at last, the damned soul
shall submit; for to lie down is an act that signifies submission,
especially to lie down to be beaten. 'The wicked shall be silent
in darkness' (1 Sam 2:9). When the malefactor has said and wished
all that be can, yet at last he submits, is silent, and, as it
were, helps to put his head into the halter, or doth lay down his
neck upon the block; so here it is said of the damned--They shall
lie down in sorrow. There is also a place that saith, 'These shall
go away into everlasting punishment' (Matt 25:46). To go, to go
to punishment, is also an act of submission. Now, submission to
punishment doth, or should, flow from full conviction of the merit
of punishment; and I think it is so to be understood here--For
'every mouth shall be stopped, and all the world (of soul losers)
become guilty before God' (Rom 3:4,19; Luke 13:25-28; Matt 25:46).
Every mouth shall be stopped, not at the beginning of the judgment,
for then they plead, and pray, and also object against the Judge;
but at the end, after that by a judicial proceeding He shall
have justified against them His sayings, and have overcome these
His judges, then they shall submit, and also lie down in s orrow;
yea, they shall go away to their punishment as those who know they
deserve it; yea, they shall go away with silence.

How they shall behave themselves in hell, I will not here dispute;
whether in a way of rage and blasphemy, and in rending and tearing
of the name and just actions of God towards them, or whether by
way of submission there; I say, though this is none of this task,
yet a word or two, if you please.

Doubtless they will not be mute there; they will cry and wail, and
gnash their teeth, and, perhaps, too, sometimes at God; but I do not
think but that the justice that they have deserved, and the equal
administration of it upon them, will, for the most part, prevail
with them to rend and tear themselves, to acquit and justify God,
and to add fuel to their fire, by concluding themselves in all the
fault, and that they have sufficiently merited this just damnation;
for it would seem strange to me that just judgment among men shall
terminate in this issue, if God should not justify himself in the
conscience of all the damned. But as here on earth, so He will let
them know that go to hell that He hath not done without a cause,
a sufficient cause, all that He hath done in damning of them (Eze
14:23).

[USE AND APPLICATION.]

I come now to make some use and application of the whole. And,

USE FIRST--If the soul be so excellent a thing as we have made it
appear to be, and if the loss thereof be so great a loss, then here
you may see who they are that are those extravagant ones; I mean,
those that are such in the highest degree. Solomon tells us of
'a great waster,' and saith also, that he that is slothful in his
business is brother to such an one (Prov 18:9). Who Solomon had his
eye upon, or who it was that he counted so great a waster, I cannot
tell; but I will challenge all the world to show me one, that for
wasting and destroying, may be compared to him that for the lusts
and pleasures of this life will hazard the loss of his soul. Many
men will be so profuse, and will spend at that prodigal rate, that
they will bring a thousand pound a year to five hundred, and five
hundred to fifty, and some also will bring that fifty to less than
ninepence; 30 but what is this to him that shall never leave losing
until he has lost his soul? I have heard of some who would throw
away a farm, a good estate, upon the trundling of one single bowl;31
but what is this to the casting away of the soul? Nothing can for
badness be compared to sin; it is the vile thing, it cannot have
a worse name than its own; it is worse than the vilest men, than
the vilest of beasts; yea, sin is worse than the devil himself, for
it is sin, and sin only, that hath made the devils devils; and yet
for this, for this vile, this abominable thing, some men, yea, most
men, will venture the loss of their soul; yea, they will mortgage,
pawn, and set their souls to sale for it (Jer 44:4). Is not this
a great waster? doth not this man deserve to be ranked among the
extravagant ones? What think you of him who, when he tempted the
wench to uncleanness, said to her, If thou wilt venture thy body,
I'll venture my soul? Was not here like to be a fine bargain, think
you? or was not this man like to be a gainer by so doing? This is
he that prizes sin at a higher rate than he doth his immortal soul;
yea, this is he that esteems a quarter of an hour's pleasure more
than he fears everlasting d amnation. What shall I say? This man
is minded to give more to be damned, than God requires he should
give to be saved; is not this an extravagant one? 'Be astonished,
O ye heavens! at this, and be horribly afraid!' (Jer 2:9-12). Yea,
let all the angels stand amazed at the unaccountable prodigality
of such an one.

Objection 1. But some may say, I cannot believe that God will be
so severe as to cast away into hell fire an immortal soul for a
little sin.

Answer. I know thou canst not believe it, for if thou couldst, thou
wouldst sooner eat fire than run this hazard; and hence all they
that go down to the lake of fire are called the unbelievers; and
the Lord shall cut thee, that makest this objection, asunder, and
shall appoint thee thy portion with such, except thou believe the
gospel, and repent (Luke 12:46).

Objection 2. But surely, though God should be so angry at the
beginning, it cannot in time but grieve Him to see and hear souls
roaring in hell, and that for a little sin.

Answer. Whatsoever God doeth, it abideth for ever (Eccl 3:14). He
doth nothing in a passion, or in an angry fit; He proceedeth with
sinners by the most perfect rules of justice; wherefore it would be
injustice, to deliver them whom the law condemneth, yea, He would
falsify His word, if after a time He should deliver them from
hell, concerning whom He hath solemnly testified, that they shall
be there for ever.

Objection 3. O but, as He is just, so He is merciful; and mercy is
pitiful, and very compassionate to the afflicted.

Answer. O, but mercy abused becomes most fearful in tormenting.
Did you never read that the Lamb turned lion, and that the world
will tremble at the wrath of the Lamb, and be afflicted more at
the thoughts of that, than at the thoughts of anything that shall
happen to them in the day when God shall call them to an account
for their sins? (Rev 6:16,17). The time of mercy will be then
past, for now is that acceptable time, behold now is the day of
salvation; the gate of mercy will then be shut, and must not be
opened again; for now is that gate open, now it is open for a door
of hope (2 Cor 6:2; Matt 25:10; Luke 13:25).

The time of showing pity and compassion will then be at an end; for
that as to acting towards sinners will last but till the glass of
the world is run, and when that day is past, mark what God saith
shall follow, 'I will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when
your fear cometh; when your fear cometh as desolation, and your
destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh
upon you' (Prov 1:26,27). Mark you how many pinching expressions
the Lord Jesus Christ doth threaten the refusing sinner with; the
sinner with, that refuseth Him now--I will laugh at him, I will
mock at him. But when, Lord, wilt thou laugh at, and mock at, the
impenitent? The answer is, 'I will laugh at their calamities, and
mock when their fear cometh; when their fear cometh as desolation,
and their destruction like a whirlwind; when distress and anguish
cometh upon them.'

Objection 4. But if God Almighty be at this point, and there be
no moving of Him to mercy at that day, yet we can but lie in hell
till we are burnt out, as the log doth at the back of the fire.

Answer. Poor besotted sinner, is this thy last shift? wilt thou
comfort thyself with this? Are thy sins so dear, so sweet, so
desireable, so profitable to thee, that thou wilt venture a burning
in hell fire for them till thou art burnt out? Is there nothing
else to be done but to make a covenant with death, and to maintain
thy agreement with hell? (Isa 28:15). Is it not better to say now
unto God, Do not condemn me? and to say now, Lord, be merciful
to me, a sinner? Would not tears, and prayers, and cries, in this
acceptable time, to God for mercy, yield thee more benefit in the
next world than to lie and burn out in hell will do?

But to come more close to thee. Have not I told thee already that
there is no such thing as a ceasing to be? that the damned shall
never be burned out in hell? there shall be no more such death,
or cause of dissolution for ever. This one thing, well considered,
breaks not only the neck of that wild conceit on which thy foolish
objection is built, but will break thy stubborn heart in pieces.
For then it follows, that unless thou canst conquer God, or with
ease endure to conflict with His sin-revenging wrath, thou wilt be
made to mourn while under His everlasting wrath and indignation;
and to know that there is not such a thing as a burning out in hell
fire.

Objection 5. But, if this must be my case, I shall have more fellows;
I shall not go to hell, nor yet burn there, alone.

Answer. What, again; is there no breaking of the league that is
betwixt sin and thy soul? What, resolved to be a self-murderer,
a soul murderer? what, resolved to murder thine own soul? But is
there any comfort in being hanged with company? in sinking into the
bottom of the sea with company? or in going to hell, in burning in
hell, and in enduring the everlasting pains of hell, with company?
O besotted wretch! But I tell thee, the more company, the more
sorrow; the more fuel, the more fire. Hence the damned man that
we read of in Luke desired that his brethren might be so warned
and prevailed with as to be kept out of that place of torment (Luke
16:27,28). But to hasten; I come now to the second use.

USE SECOND.--Is it so? Is the soul such an excellent thing, and
the loss thereof so unspeakably great? Then here you may see who
are the greatest fools in the world--to wit, those who, to get the
world and its preferments, will neglect God till they lose their
souls. The rich man in the gospel was one of these great fools, for
that he was more concerned about what he should do with his goods,
than how his soul should be saved (Luke 7:16-21). Some are for
venturing their souls for pleasures, and some are for venturing
their souls for profits; they that venture their souls for pleasures
have but little excuse for their doings; but they that venture
their soul for profit seem to have much. 'And they all with one
consent began to make excuse;'--excuse for what? why, for the
neglect of the salvation of their souls. But what was the cause
of their making this excuse? Why, their profits came tumbling in.
'I have bought a piece of ground;' 'I have bought five yoke of
oxen;' and 'I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come'
(Luke 14:15-20).

Thus also it was with the fool first mentioned; his ground did
bring forth plentifully, wherefore he must of necessity forget his
soul, and, as he thought, all the reason of the world he should.
Wherefore, he falls to crying out, What shall I do? Now, had one
said, Mind the good of thy soul, man; the answer would have been
ready, But where shall I bestow my goods. If it had been replied,
Stay till harvest; he returns again, But I have no room where
to bestow my goods. Now, tell him of praying, and he answers, he
must go to building. Tell him, he should frequent sermons, and he
replies, he must mind his workmen. 'He cannot deliver his soul,
nor say, Is there not a lie in my right hand?' (Isa 44:20).