The Mental Agonies of Hell (Reading) — Robert Murray M'Cheyne

The Mental Agonies of Hell: Paul’s Fear of Becoming a Castaway

A Sermon by Robert Murray M 'Chayne. The Mental Agonies of Hell. But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection, lest, by any means, when I approach to others, I myself shall be a castaway. 1 Corinthians 9, 27.

Paul’s Perseverance Despite Assurance

First, observe the manner in which Paul sought the kingdom of heaven. I therefore so run not as uncertainly, so fight I not as one that beats the air. Although Paul wrote these words, he had a full assurance of heavenly love.

It was many years after his conversion on his way to Damascus. And I am sure if anyone had assurance of his conversion, it was the Apostle Paul. I am in a straight betwixt the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better.

Philippians 1, 23. We are confident, I say, in willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. 2 Corinthians 5, 28. And you remember that sweet saying, There is laid up for me a crown of righteousness.

2 Timothy 4, 8. Yet for all that, Paul sought the kingdom of heaven as if he had been running a race. He was as anxious seeking it after his conversion as he had been before it. There are many people who, after conversion, sit down, as it were, all over.

They think they need do no more. But it was not so with Paul. The second thing I desire you to notice from these words is one important effort Paul made. It was this, I keep under my body and bring it into subjection.

Paul had noticed that in the Grecian games, the men who ran and wrestled were temperate in all things. Now Paul said, This is what I will do in running my race. There are some Christians, I fear, who will not do so much for an incorruptible crown as a Grecian racer did for a corruptible one.

The children of the world are wiser in their generation than the children of light. There is too much pampering the body, and then Satan gets the advantage. I wish you to notice, it is, the reason of Paul's anxiety and care.

Lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. I have told you, brethren, already, that Paul had a very clear sight of his conversion. He knew that he was in Christ, and that none could pluck him out of his hand.

Yet for all that, Paul was afraid lest he should be a castaway. Paul knew that, though he was a minister, yet if he gave way to the flesh, if he lived after the flesh, he would be a castaway. That is expressed to you.

If he lived after the flesh, he would die. Paul knew quite well that there is an indissoluble connection between a wicked life and hell. And, oh, it was this that made him temperate in all things. At present, I mean to speak to you principally on the meaning of the word castaway.

The Meaning of “Castaway”

At some previous times, I have spoken to you on the subject of an eternal hell, on the worms that never dies and the fire that is never quenched. But there is one part of the subject I have passed over, namely, the mental agonies of hell, and that is a castaway.

The word castaway is supposed to be taken from workers of metals. You know, there is part of the metal which comes out of the furnace, which is called dross, which is of no manner of use and is cast away.

The same word is sometimes translated reprobate. Those of you in this congregation who will be cast away will be found to be but dross, reprobate silver, shall men call them Jeremiah 6, verse 30. I will show you first that wicked men will be cast away from Christ.

It is written, Punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power. 2 Thessalonians 1, verse 9. I say that those in this congregation who shall be found on that day to be impenitent shall be cast away.

They shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord. Unconverted men in this world are often very near Christ. Christ often comes to the door of unconverted men. Behold, I stand at the door and knock.

Revelation 3, verse 20. Yea, he sometimes comes so near that he stretches out his hands. All day long have I stretched out my hands to a disobedient and gainsaying people. Romans 10, verse 21. Yea, I believe that sometimes you feel Christ is near.

I believe that sometimes you feel that Christ is knocking on your door. But, oh, it will be a change in that day. Christ will say, Depart from me. Christ will no more seek your soul. Christ will no more knock at your door.

Christ will no more stretch out his hands all day long to you. You will never hear his voice more calling on you to turn. You will never get one offer more of Christ. You will be cast away. Christ is a way to the Father, but the door will then be shut against you forever and ever.

And the shutting of the door will echo through all the caverns of hell. The wicked and impenitent in this congregation will be cast away from God. In one sense, the wicked will never be away from God because God feels heaven and earth have no covering.

And it is said in Proverbs 15, verse 1. Hell and destruction are before the Lord. In one sense, then, the wicked will never be away from God. It was he that kindled hell. The breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it.

Isaiah 10, verse 33. But still it is true, you will be cast away from God. You will be cast away from the relative enjoyments of God. To glorify God and to enjoy him forever. God says to believers, I will be their God and they shall be my people.

2 Corinthians 6, verse 16. He said to Abraham, I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward. Genesis 15, verse 1. Asaph sings, God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Psalm 73, verse 26.

Ah, this is a portion of believers. We can look up to heaven and say, God forever and ever. Psalm 48, verse 14. And God said to the Levites, thou shall have no inheritance among them. I am thy inheritance.

Numbers 18, verse 20. But that will not be the case with those in this congregation who will be cast away. You will be cast away from the fruition of God. The attributes of God will minister no joy to you.

It is true you cannot get far enough away from God now. You cannot bear to be left alone with God for five minutes. But, oh, it will be hell for all that to be separated from him. It will be the hell of hells to be separated from God.

You will not only be cast away from God, but from the favor of God. It is said, in thy favor is life. Ah, child of God, say, what would you sell this favor of God for? Ah, the favor of God can lighten up the pale cheek of the dying saint with serific brightness and can make him rejoice even on the scaffold and the stake.

But, sinner, you will be cast away from the favor of God. God will send you nothing but the black cloud of his frown forever and ever. And you will be cast away from the blessing of God. God makes everything blessed to us.

Our friends are blessed to us. Our food and our raiment are blessed by him. But he can make these things minister no blessedness even though we be in possession of them. And this will be the case with those of you who will be cast away.

God will take away all blessedness from you. I come to show you, brethren, that the wicked will be cast away by the Spirit. It is the Spirit that is the author of joy in the unconverted. It is he that keeps them from sin.

The Spirit’s Restraining Grace

There are three ways by which God the Spirit keeps wicked men from sin. He does so by ordinances. He makes them a band on their wickedness. Family worship is a great band on the wicked. The ordinance of the preached word is a great means of keeping men from open acts of wickedness.

You have the terror of the law and the sweet winning invitations of the gospel to keep you from sin, though they may not save you. And again, brethren, the Spirit works very much through providence. You may notice that a wicked man would go further into sin were he not restrained by providence.

God brings poverty so that he is not able to go into those expensive vices that he would otherwise do. And God lays sickness on him or on his child which keeps him from sin. Now these things are all owing to the restrained grace of God.

There is a third way, that is, by convictions. I believe there are none here who have not had some convictions of sin. Now God makes use of these convictions in order to restrain you. He keeps you back from going into those fearful debaucheries into which you would otherwise fall.

But, O brethren, do you remember the Scripture, My Spirit shall not always strive with man, Genesis 6, verse 3. He is striving with you now, but there is a time coming when he will no more strive with you.

It may not be during your life, yet it will be immediately at death. All my friends, you will have no ordinances in hell. There will be no family worship in hell. There will be no singing praises in hell.

There will be no preaching in hell. Some of you will wear your servants now, but you will have none in hell. And there will be no more providences in hell. There will be no sickness in hell. And there will be no more convictions in hell.

The Spirit will not strive with you in hell. O then, brethren, what an awful state you will be in when the Spirit casts you away. Read the first chapter of Romans and see what a man becomes when God the Spirit gives him over.

Think what your families would become if the Spirit were to give them over. What a town this would be if the Spirit were to give it over. What murders, wickedness, and so on would you hear of before tomorrow.

I know of a godly man in London who, every morning, thanks God for restraining the wicked. And often at the breakfast table I have heard him say, Where would we have been this morning if God had not restrained the wicked?

But, O, when you will go away from this world, the Spirit will give you over to your own heart's lusts. Then you will blaspheme God. Then you will have no more any fear of losing your character. And, O, that will be misery.

It is an evil thing and a bitter to sin against God. Jeremiah 2 .19. It is not only evil, but bitter. The way of transgressors is hard. Proverbs 13 .15. You say stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.

Proverbs 9 .17. But you will find out that sin is the hardest master. It is an evil thing and a bitter. And you will find that the very sin you roll beneath your tongue now is a sweet morsel will yet be your curse.

The lust of drink and passion will rage within you, and that forever. All your lusts that are now pent up in your little bosom will burst out like a volcano, and there will be nothing to subdue them. Were there no lake of fire, that would be hell enough.

Cast Away from Holy Creatures

To be a castaway is to be cast away from all God's holy creatures. Now the state of wicked men is awful, but there are some pleasant ingredients in the cup. All God's holy creatures are anxious about you.

The angels are anxious about you. If they are present here, it is to watch if a tear fall from your eye or a prayer falter on your lips. And all redeemed men take an interest in you. We know that we were once as you are.

David says, Rivers of water run down my eyes because they keep not thy law. Psalm 119 .136. And it is the same with God's children now. I believe there is not a child of God in this place that does not weep for you.

And my brethren, Christ has pity for men and women. And then ministers pity you and seek your conversion. But oh, how different it will be when the day of grace is over. You will be cast away by the angels.

They will pity you no more. They will know that the number of the elect is sealed. The redeemed will no more pity you. They will see you enter into the eternal fire. And they will not put up one prayer for you.

And ministers will give up pleading for you when Christ casts you away. We cannot hold you. When he casts you away, you will not have our invitation any more. Alas, brethren, I believe that even the devil will cast you away.

Oh, it is true. He gives you now many a sweet word. He says, Stolen waters are sweet and bread eaten in secret is pleasant. But oh, then the devil himself will not bear your company. You will be cast away even by your friends.

If you are beside them in hell, they will cast you from them. Oh, none in heaven or hell will pity you. This is to be lost. This is to be a cast away. Just one word more. It is the complete misery of the unconverted.

The Misery of Being Cast Away from Oneself

You will be cast away by yourself. I believe this is what suicide tries to do in this world. They try to cast themselves away from themselves and therefore to set of the damned. They will seek death, but it will flee from them.

You know, dear friends, that unconverted men are often very complacent in this world. Your money gives you a great deal of pleasure and your friends and acquaintances gives you pleasure. But oh, that will not always be the case.

There is a day coming when every unconverted man in this congregation would rid himself of himself if he could. You will then understand that the law of God is unalterable. You will then understand that God and you are enemies.

Your understanding will be a torment to you. You will eternally hate what God loves and eternally love what God hates. And then your conscience will be like a hungry lioness in that day. God's wise regent in the soul will cry out and will not be quiet.

And oh, my brethren, your affections that are now so pleasant to you, they will be your torment. I believe that even hell will not take affections out of your heart. But oh, that will be your torment.

Often you hear a wicked man say, I am a good father. I love my children. But oh, if they are in hell, it will be your torment that you brought them there. Or if they are in heaven, it will be your torment that they will have no pity for you.

And brethren, your memory that is now so sweet to you will be the worst of all. You will remember your sins of sin. You will remember your misspent Sabbath. You will remember your lying lips. You will remember your minister's voice warning and intruding you to be saved.

Memory will sting like an adder. Oh, brethren, I believe you will loathe yourselves. You will try to tear that memory out of your bosom if it were possible. Oh, you will exclaim, would that the whole soul would go out of being.

This is to be lost. You will be cast away by God. You will be cast away by Christ. You will be cast away by the Spirit. You will be cast away by all God's holy creatures. You will be cast away by devils.

You will be cast away by yourself. And now, my brethren, I would apply this to yourselves. Those of you who are godly, learn to be as earnest as Paul was, to keep under the body and bring it into subjection.

And those of you who are ungodly, those of you who are ungodly men under my ministry, oh, if I had a voice that could reach your inmost soul, I would use it. You think I am exaggerating this, but, ah, you little know.

Who can endure the power of thy wrath? I have not mentioned the furnace of fire. I have not spoken of God's raining snares, fire, and brimstone on the wicked. But, ah, if there were no bodily agonies, what will the mental agonies of hell be?

But, oh, whence these two meet, what will it be? Oh, what will it be to have all the wrath of God poured out on your soul and body, and yet never to annihilate you? Ah, then you will know what it is to be a castaway.

And if you would not be a castaway, cleave close to God. Finally, dear brothers and sisters, learn from this the love of Christ to you and me. He bore all that is contained in being a castaway in order that we might be saved.

Ah, poor sinner, Jesus is willing to rescue you. Many of you are old. Many of you will die before the year is done. Come then to Christ, for, oh, soon it will be too late. Soon the door will be shut forever.

May God bless his own word. Amen. Robert Murray McChain, preached on the Sabbath forenoon, the 15th of January, 1842. Narrated by Tom Sullivan. The soul winner. What is it to win a soul? I propose, dear brethren, if God shall enable me to give you a short course of lectures under the general head of the soul winner.

Soul Winning Beyond Church Growth

Soul winning is the chief business of the Christian minister. Indeed, it should be the main pursuit of every true believer. We should each say with Simon Peter, I go a fishing, and with Paul our aim should be that I might by all means save some.

We shall commence our discourses upon this subject by considering the question, what is it to win a soul? This may be instructively answered by describing what it is not. We do not regard it to be soul winning to steal members out of churches already established and train them to utter our particular shibboleth.

We aim rather at bringing souls to Christ than at making conference to our synagogue. There are chief stealers abroad concerning whom I will say nothing except that they are not brethren, or at least they do not act in a brotherly fashion.

To their own master they must stand or fall. We count it utter meanness to build up our own houses with the ruins of our neighbors' mansions. We infinitely prefer to quarry for ourselves. I hope we all sympathize in the large hearted spirit of Dr. Chalmers, who when it was said that such and such an effort would not be beneficial to the special interests of the free church of Scotland, although it might promote the general religion of the land, said, what is a free church compared with the Christian good of the people of Scotland?

What indeed is any church, or what are all the churches put together as mere organizations as they stand in conflict with the moral and spiritual advantage of the nation, if they impede the kingdom of Christ?

It is because God blesses men through the churches that we desire to see them prosper, and not merely for the sake of the churches themselves. There is such a thing as selfishness in our eagerness for the aggrandizement of our own party, and from this evil spirit may grace deliver us.

The increase of the kingdom is more to be desired than the growth of a clan. We would do a great deal to make a paedo-baptist brother into a baptist, for we value our Lord's ordinance. We would labor earnestly to raise a believer in salvation by free will into a believer in salvation by grace, for we long to see all religious teaching built upon the solid rock of truth, and not upon the sand of imagination.

But at the same time, our grand object is not the revision of opinions, but the regeneration of natures. We would bring men to Christ, and not to our peculiar views of Christianity. Our first care must be that the sheep should be gathered to the great shepherd.

There will be time enough afterwards to secure them for our various folds, to make proselytes as a suitable labor for Pharisees, to beget men unto God as the honorable aim of ministers of Christ. We do not consider soul winning to be accomplished by hurriedly inscribing more names upon our church roll in order to show a good increase at the end of the year.

This is easily done, and there are brethren who use great pains, not to say arts, to effect it. But if it be regarded as the alpha and omega of a minister's efforts, the result will be deplorable. By all means, let us bring true converts into the church, for it is a part of our work to teach them to observe all things whatsoever Christ has commanded them.

But still this is to be done to disciples, and not to mere professors. And if care be not used, we may do more harm than good at this point. To introduce unconverted persons to the church is to weaken and degrade it, and therefore an apparent gain may be a real loss.

Honest Statistics and Genuine Conversion

I am not among those who decry statistics, nor do I consider that they are productive of all manner of evil, for they do much good if they are accurate, and if men use them lawfully. It is a good thing for people to see the nakedness of the land through statistics of decrees, that they may be driven on their knees before the Lord to seek.

On the other hand, it is by no means an evil thing for workers to be encouraged by having some account of results set before them. I should be very sorry if the practice of adding up and deducting and giving in the net result were to be abandoned, for it must be right to know our numerical condition.

It has been noticed that those who object to the process are often brethren whose unsatisfactory reports should somewhat humiliate them. This is not always so, but it is suspiciously frequent. I heard of a report of a church the other day in which the minister, who was well known to have reduced his congregation to nothing, somewhat cleverly wrote, Our church is looking up.

When he was questioned with regard to this statement, he replied, Everybody knows that the church is on its back, and it cannot do anything else but look up. When churches are looking up in that way, their pastors generally say that statistics are very delusive things, and that you cannot tabulate the work of the Spirit and calculate the prosperity of a church by figures.

The fact is, you can reckon very correctly if the figures are honest, and if all circumstances are taken into consideration, if there is no increase. You may calculate with considerable accuracy that there is not much being done, and if there is clear decrease among a growing population, you may reckon that the prayers of the people and the preaching of the minister are not of the most powerful kind.

But still, all hurry to get members into the church is most mischievous, both to the church and to the supposed converts. I remember very well several young men who were of a good moral character and religiously hopeful, but instead of searching their hearts and aiming at their real conversion, the pastor never gave them any rest till he had persuaded them to make a profession.

He thought that they would be under more bonds to holy things if they professed religion, and he felt quite safe in pressing them, for they were so hopeful. He imagined that to discourage them by vigilant examination might drive them away, and so to secure them he made them hypocrites.

These young men are at the present time much further off from the church of God than they would have been if they had been affronted by being kept in their proper places and warned that they were not converted to God.

It is a serious injury to a person to receive him into the number of the faithful, unless there is good reason to believe that he is really regenerate. I am sure it is so, for I speak after careful observation.

Some of the most glaring sinners known to me were once members of a church, and were, as I believe, led to make a profession by undue pressure, well meant, but ill judged. Do not, therefore, consider that soul winning is or can be secured by the multiplication of baptisms and the swelling of the size of your church.

What mean these dispatches from the battlefield? Last night, fourteen souls were under conviction, fifteen were justified, and eight received full sanctification. I am worried of this public bragging, this counting of unhatched chickens, this exhibition of doubtful spoils.

Lay aside such numberings of the people, such idle pretense of certifying in half a minute that which will need the testing of a lifetime. Hope for the best, but in your highest excitements be reasonable.

Inquiry rooms are all very well, but if they lead to idle boastings, it will grieve the Holy Spirit and work abounding evil. Nor is it soul winning, dear friends, merely to create excitement. Excitement will accompany every great movement.

Excitement Must Not Replace the Gospel

We might justly question whether the movement is earnest and powerful if it was quiet and serene as a drawing room Bible reading. You cannot very well blast great rocks without the sound of explosions, nor fight a battle and keep everybody as quiet as a mouse.

On a dry day, a carriage is not moving much along the road unless there is some noise and dust. Friction and stir are the natural result of force and motion. So when the Spirit of God is abroad and men's minds are stirred, there must and will be certain visible signs of the movement, although these must never be confounded with the movement itself.

If people imagine that to make a dust is the object aimed at by the rolling of a carriage, they can take a broom and very soon raise as much dust as fifty coaches, but they will be committing a nuisance rather than conferring a benefit.

Excitement is as incidental as the dust, but it is not for one moment to be aimed at. When the woman swept her house, she did it to find her money and not for the sake of raising a cloud. Do not aim at sensation and effect.

Flowing tears and streaming eyes, sobs and outcries, and all kinds of confusions may occur and may be borne with as concomitments of genuine feeling, but pray do not plan their production. It very often happens that the converts that are born in excitement die when the excitement is over.

They are like certain insects which are the product of an exceedingly warm day and die when the sun goes down. Certain converts live like salamanders in the fire, but they expire at a reasonable temperature.

I delight not in a religion which needs or creates a hothead. Give me the godliness which flourishes upon Calvary rather than upon Vesuvius. The utmost zeal for Christ is consistent with common sense and reason.

Raving, ranting, and fanaticism are products of another zeal which is not according to knowledge. We would prepare men for the chamber of communion and not for the padded room at Bedlam. No one is more sorry than I that such a caution as this should be needful, but remembering the vagaries of certain wild revivalists, I cannot say less, and I might say a great deal more.

Instructing Souls in the Truth of God

What is the real winning of a soul for God? So far as this is done by instrumentality, what are the processes by which a soul is led to God and to salvation? I take it that one of its main operations consists in instructing a man that he may know the truth of God.

Instruction by the gospel is the commencement of a real work upon men's minds. Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.

And lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Teaching begins the work and crowns it too. The gospel, according to Isaiah, is, Incline your ear and come unto me, here in your soul shall live.

It is ours, then, to give men something worth their hearing, in fact to instruct them. We were sent to evangelize, or to preach the gospel to every creature, and that is not done unless we teach them the great truths of revelation.

The gospel is good news. To listen to some preachers, you would imagine that the gospel was a pinch of sacred snuff. To make them wake up, or a bottle of ardent spirits to excite their brains. It is nothing of the kind.

It is news. There is information in it. There is instruction in it concerning matters which men need to know, and statements in it calculated to bless those who hear it. It is not a magical incantation or a charm, whose force consists in a collection of sounds.

It is a revelation of facts and truths which require knowledge and belief. The gospel is a reasonable system, and it appeals to men's understanding. It is a matter of thought and consideration, and it appeals to the conscience and the reflecting powers.

Hence, if we do not teach men something, we may shout, Believe! Believe! This incantation requires a corresponding instruction, or it will mean nothing. Escape! From what? This requires, for its answer, the doctrine of the punishment of sin.

Fly! But wither! Then you must preach Christ and his wounds, yea, and the clear doctrine of atonement by sacrifice. Repent! Of what? Here you must answer such questions as, What is sin? What is the evil of sin?

What are the consequences of sin? Be converted! But what is it to be converted? By what power can we be converted? What from? What to? The field of instruction is wide if men are to be made to know the truth which saves.

Did the soul be without knowledge, it is not good, and it is ours as the Lord's instruments to make men so to know the truth that they may believe it and feel its power. We are not to try and save men in the dark, but in the power of the Holy Ghost we are to seek to turn them from darkness to light.

Do not believe, dear friends, that when you go into revival meetings or special evangelistic services, you are to leave out the doctrines of the gospel, for you are then to proclaim the doctrines of grace rather more than less.

Teach gospel doctrines clearly, affectionately, simply, and plainly, and especially those truths which have a present and practical bearing upon man's condition and God's grace. Some enthusiasts would seem to have imbibed the notion that as soon as a minister addresses the unconverted, he should deliberately contradict his usual doctrinal discourses, because it is supposed that there will be no conversions if he preaches the whole counsel of God.

It just comes to this, brethren, it is supposed that we are to conceal truth and utter a half-falsehood in order to save souls. We are to speak the truth in God's people because they will not hear anything else, but we are to wheedle sinners into faith by exaggerating one part of the truth and hiding the rest until a more convenient season.

This is a strange theory, and yet many endorse it. According to them, we may preach the redemption of a chosen number to God's people, but universal redemption must be our doctrine when we speak with the outside world.

We are to tell believers that salvation is all of grace, but sinners are to be spoken with as if they were to save themselves. We are to inform Christians that God the Holy Spirit alone can convert, but when we talk with the unsaved, the Holy Ghost is scarcely to be named.

We have not so learned Christ. Thus others have done. Let them be our beacons and not our examples. He who sent us to win souls neither permits us to invent falsehoods or to suppress truth. His work can be done without such suspicious methods.

Perhaps some of you will reply, but still God is blessed to have statements and wild assertions. Be not quite so sure. I venture to assert that God does not bless falsehood. He may bless a truth which is mixed up with error, but much more a blessing would have come if the preaching had been more in accordance with His own word.

I cannot admit that the Lord blesses evangelistic Jesuitism, and the suppression of truth is not too harshly named when I so describe it. The withholding of the doctrine of the total depravity of man has wrought serious mischief to many who have listened to a certain kind of preaching.

These people do not get a true healing because they do not know the disease under which they are suffering. They are never truly clothed because nothing is done toward stripping them. In many ministries there is not enough of probing the heart and arousing the conscience by the revelation of man's alienation from God and by the declaration of the selfishness and the wickedness of such a state.

Men need to be told that except divine grace shall bring them out of their enmity to God, they must eternally perish, and they must be reminded of the sovereignty of God that He is not obliged to bring them out of this state, that He would be right and just if He left them in such a condition, that they have no merit to plead before Him and no claims upon Him, but that if they are to be saved it must be by grace and by grace alone.