(Jude i. 6); or "Which of you can dwell with devouring fire"; or "Which of you shall dwell with everlasting burnings" (Is. xxxiii. 14); 01 "The unprofitable servant cast ye out into the exterior darkness : there shall be weeping and. gnashing of teeth " (Matt. xxv. 30).
4. But the greatest torments of hell affect not so much the bodies as the soul of the damned. Think for a moment what pain home-sickness inflicts upon the soul of him who endures it, and then consider the lot of him who is condemned to hell. The reprobate will know and feel what he has lost by his sins. The pain of loss is immeasurably great. Never shall he enjoy the beatific vision of God; never shall he enter heaven, the home of the saints, the place of everlasting happiness and joy. What horror, what torment, what despair, will seize upon the souls of the damned!
5. But what more especially makes hell to be hell is its everlasting duration, the utter despair of the damned, since they know that their torments can have no end. That the punishment of hell does indeed last forever, is clearly and irrefragably proved by the words of Holy Writ, particularly by the plain and definite pronouncement of the Saviour Himself : " The wicked shall go into everlasting punishment."
Do Thou, O God, grant us living faith, heartfelt love, courage, and strength, a true penitential spirit, and grace of perseverance, that so the horrors which dwell "behind the veil," may not be our portion!
As thou livest, thou must die;
As thou fallest, thou must lie;
As thou liest, so thou must remain,
For everlasting loss or everlasting gain.
