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<DATE>2014-06-27</DATE>
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<NAME>Alexis Jakobson</NAME>
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<TEXT LANG="eng">
<FRONT>
<DIV1 TYPE="frontispiece">
<PB REF="1">
<PB REF="2">
<P><FIGURE>
<P>EZEKIEL HOPKINS EPISCOPUS DERENSIS.</P>
<BYLINE><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter">. Sturt Sculp</BYLINE>
<P>Printed for Nathanael Ranew</P>
<FIGDESC>portrait of Ezekiel Hopkins</FIGDESC>
</FIGURE></P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="title page">
<PB REF="2">
<P>THE Fir&s;t Volume OF DISCOURSES OR SERMONS ON SEVERAL SCRIPTURES.</P>
<P>By <HI>EZEKIEL HOPKINS,</HI> late L. Bi&s;hop of <HI>London-Derry.</HI></P>
<P><HI>The Second Edition Corrected.</HI></P>
<P><TEXT LANG="eng">
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="imprimatur">
<P>Imprimatur.</P>
<CLOSER><DATELINE><DATE><HI>Nov.</HI> 29. 1690.</DATE></DATELINE>
<SIGNED><HI>Z. I&s;ham,</HI> R. R. D. <HI>Henrico,</HI> Epi&s;c. <HI>Lond.</HI> a. Sacris.</SIGNED></CLOSER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
</TEXT></P>
<P><HI>LONDON,</HI> Printed by <HI>J. Wilde,</HI> for <HI>Nathanael Ranew,</HI> at the <HI>King's Arms,</HI> in St. <HI>Paul</HI>'s Church-Yard, 1694.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="to the reader">
<PB REF="3">
<PB REF="3">
<HEAD>THE PREFACE TO THE READER.</HEAD>
<OPENER><SALUTE>Chri&s;tian Reader,</SALUTE></OPENER>
<P>ALthough the follow|ing <HI>Sermons</HI> need no <HI>Epi&s;tle</HI> to commend them to any intelligent <HI>Reader;</HI> yet Cu&s;tom having made it nece&s;&s;ary to &s;ay &s;omething, for the Satisfa|ction of the World, concer|ning the <HI>Po&s;thumous Works</HI> of decea&s;ed Per&s;ons, I &s;hall therefore &s;peak a few Words briefly.</P>
<PB REF="4">
<P>The Reverend <HI>Prelate,</HI> the Author of them, was a Per&s;on of great natural Parts, and Excellent Learning, as well as of great Piety and Charity: One that ador|ned the <HI>Church of England,</HI> whereof he was an Emi|nent <HI>Pillar,</HI> ruling well in the Church of God, &amp; there|fore de&s;erved <HI>double Honour,</HI> as the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> &s;peaks: And doubtle&s;s, his Reward is now great in Heaven, with his Lord and Ma&s;ter, who&s;e Ser|vice here on Earth was ac|counted by him as his high|e&s;t Honour, and that which he profe&s;&s;ed him&s;elf mo&s;t ambitious of.</P>
<PB REF="4">
<P>He was a Per&s;on of great Mode&s;ty and Humility; having very mean and low Thoughts of him&s;elf, and his own Abilities; which was the Rea&s;on why the World had &s;o little Know|ledge of him from the <HI>Pre&s;s,</HI> having publi&s;hed nothing<NOTE N="*" PLACE="marg">See his <HI>Vanity of the World,</HI> and <HI>A Funeral Sermon,</HI> &amp;c. <HI>Octavo.</HI></NOTE> but what he was con&s;trai|ned to, either by the re&s;t|le&s;s Importunity of <HI>Friends,</HI> or the Commands of tho&s;e that &s;ome Time were his <HI>Superiors.</HI></P>
<P>But the Intendment of this <HI>Epi&s;tle</HI> being not to give the World an Account of the Life of this Excel|lent
<PB REF="5">Per&s;on, who&s;e Prai&s;e is de&s;ervedly in the <HI>Church of God;</HI> I forbear to add any thing farther concer|ning him, hoping it will &s;hortly be done by a more worthy Pen.</P>
<P>And as for the follow|ing <HI>Sermons,</HI> the excellent Style in which they are written, and the exact Accuracy with which they are penn'd, may give abundant Satisfaction unto All, in the Reading of them, that they are His <HI>Lord&s;hip</HI>'s own, and were fairly written with his own Hand, and copied out
<PB REF="5">from thence, &s;ince his <HI>Death,</HI> by one of his <HI>nea|re&s;t Relations,</HI> and &s;o tran&s;|mitted unto the Pre&s;s.</P>
<P>The Subject Matter of them being agreeable to the Divine In&s;pirations of the <HI>Holy Scriptures,</HI> will &s;peak better for them&s;elves, than the Words of any other can. And that they may be very u&s;eful and pro|fitable unto tho&s;e that heard them, and unto all that &s;hall read them, is the hearty and &s;incere Prayer of the <HI>Publi&s;her. Farewell.</HI></P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="publisher's advertisement">
<PB REF="6">
<HEAD>BOOKS <HI>Printed for</HI> Nath. Ranew, <HI>at the</HI> King's Arms, <HI>in St.</HI> Paul's <HI>Church-Yard.</HI></HEAD>
<P><HI>THE Vanity of the World:</HI> With other Sermons, in <HI>Octavo.</HI></P>
<P><HI>An Expo&s;ition on the Ten Commandments:</HI> With other Sermons, in <HI>Quarto.</HI></P>
<P><HI>An Expo&s;ition on the Lord's Prayer;</HI> with a catechi&s;tical Explication thereof, for the in&s;tructing of Youth: With Two Di&s;cour|&s;es; the one concerning, <HI>The My&s;tery of Divine Providence;</HI> the other concerning, <HI>The Excellent Advantages of Reading and Studying the Holy Scriptures,</HI> in <HI>Quarto.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Di&s;cour&s;es, or Sermons, on &s;everal Scrip|tures.</HI> Volume the Fir&s;t, in <HI>Octavo.</HI></P>
<P>A Second Volume of <HI>Di&s;cour&s;es, or Ser|mons, on &s;everal Scriptures,</HI> in <HI>Octavo.</HI></P>
<P>A Third Volume of <HI>Di&s;cour&s;es, or Ser|mons, on &s;everal Scriptures,</HI> now in the Pre&s;s, and will be fini&s;hed in a Month, in <HI>Octavo.</HI></P>
<P><HI>All Six written by</HI> Ezekiel Hop|kins, <HI>late Lord Bi&s;hop of</HI> Lon|don-Derry; <HI>and &s;old by</HI> Nath. Ranew, <HI>at the</HI> King's Arms, <HI>in St.</HI> Paul<HI>'s Church-Yard.</HI></P>
</DIV1>
</FRONT>
<BODY>
<DIV1 TYPE="sermon">
<PB REF="6">
<PB REF="7">
<PB N="1" REF="7">
<HEAD>THE FOLLY OF <HI>Sinners, &amp;c.</HI></HEAD>
<EPIGRAPH>
<BIBL><HI>PROV. xiv. 9.</HI></BIBL>
<Q>Fools make a Mock at Sin.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>WE are not generally to expect any connexion, either of Sen&s;e or Sentences in this Book of the <HI>Proverbs.</HI> O|ther parts of Scripture are like a rich <HI>Mine,</HI> where the precious <HI>Ore</HI> runs along in one continued <HI>Vein:</HI> But this is like a Heap of
<PB N="2" REF="8"><HI>Pearls;</HI> which, though they are loo&s;e and un&s;trung, are not therefore the le&s;s excellent or va|luable.</P>
<P>The <HI>Text</HI> I have now read, is one of them, an entire Pro|po&s;ition in it &s;elf, without rela|tion to, or dependance upon a|ny Context.</P>
<P>In it,<NOTE PLACE="marg">The Divi&s;ion of the Words.</NOTE> we have the&s;e things con&s;iderable.</P>
<P><HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> <MILESTONE N="I"> The <HI>Character</HI> or <HI>Peri|phra&s;is</HI> of wicked and ungodly Men; and they are &s;aid to be &s;uch as <HI>make a Mock at Sin.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Secondly,</HI> <MILESTONE N="II"> Here is the Cen&s;ure pa&s;t upon them by the All-wi&s;e God, and the wi&s;e&s;t of Men; they are <HI>Fools</HI> for &s;o doing; <HI>Fools make a Mock at Sin.</HI></P>
<P>The Words are plain and ob|vious; only the Phra&s;e of ma|king a <HI>Mock,</HI> may &s;eem &s;ubject to &s;ome ambiguity, and various
<PB N="3" REF="8">acceptations; and indeed the <HI>Scripture</HI> u&s;eth it in divers Sen&s;es. Sometimes it &s;ignifies an abu&s;ing of others, by violent and lewd Actions: So we read that <HI>the Hebrew Servant,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 39.17.</NOTE> &s;ays <HI>Potiphar</HI>'s Wife, <HI>came in unto me to mock me.</HI> Sometimes it &s;ignifies an expo|&s;ing of Men to Shame and Di|&s;honour: So the wi&s;e Man tells us, <HI>Wine is a mocker.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 20.<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">.</NOTE> Sometimes it &s;ignifies an impo&s;ing upon the Credulity of others, things that &s;eem incredible and impo&s;&s;ible: So we read in <HI>Gene&s;is,</HI> when <HI>Lot</HI> had declared to his Sons-in-Law the De&s;truction of <HI>Sodom,</HI> it is &s;aid,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 19 14.</NOTE> <HI>He &s;eemed unto them as one that mocked.</HI> Sometimes it is ta|ken for a failing in our Promi&s;es, and thereby defeating, and fru|&s;trating the Expectations of o|thers: And thus <HI>Herod</HI> is &s;aid to be <HI>mocked by the wi&s;e Men,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Matth. 2.16,</NOTE> <HI>in
<PB N="4" REF="9">Matth.</HI> 2.16. But none of the&s;e are at all congruous to our pre|&s;ent purpo&s;e, nor applicable to the Words of the <HI>Text.</HI></P>
<P>There are therefore Two o|ther acceptations of this Expre&s;|&s;ion,<NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 word"> meant by M<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">cking.</NOTE> frequently occurring in the <HI>Holy Scriptures.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> <MILESTONE N="I"> This Word <HI>Mock</HI> is com|monly taken for &s;coffing, or bit|ter taunting at others. Thus our Lord and Saviour Je&s;us Chri&s;t &s;uffered the Flouts and Deri&s;ions of an in&s;olent Rabble, who <HI>&s;et him at nought, and mocked him,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Luk <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter">3 <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="2 letters"></NOTE> as St. <HI>Luke</HI> &s;peaks: Thus tho&s;e ble&s;&s;ed <HI>Martyrs</HI> and <HI>Confe&s;|&s;ors,</HI> that followed his &s;teps, are &s;aid to have endured <HI>the trial of cruel Mockings,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 word"> 11.36.</NOTE> as the Apo&s;tle tells us. And indeed this is the dif|ference between a wi&s;e Repro|ver, and a bitter Mocker; that the Words of the one are like
<PB N="5" REF="9"><HI>Balm,</HI> both &s;oft and &s;anative; but the Words of the other are like <HI>&s;harp Swords,</HI> which cut deep into the Minds of Men, and com|monly make them rankle into Hatred and Malice. And doubt|le&s;s there are very many Spirits can &s;ooner put up an Injury done them, than a cutting bitter &s;coff; becau&s;e nothing expre&s;&s;eth &s;o much Contempt, nor &s;hews how de&s;picable we account them, as a fleering Gibe.</P>
<P><HI>Secondly,</HI> <MILESTONE N="II"> Mocking may be taken for &s;lighting, and making no account of, looking upon things or Per&s;ons, as trivial and incon&s;iderable. And thus it is u&s;ed in <HI>Job,</HI> where the <HI>Hor&s;e</HI> is &s;aid to <HI>mock at fear,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Job 39.2.</NOTE> when he ru|&s;heth into the Battel, and is not terrified; but rather enraged by all the Horrors of War, <HI>When the Quiver ratleth again&s;t him, the
<PB N="6" REF="10">glittering Spear and the Shield.</HI> And &s;o it is &s;aid of the <HI>Leviathan, He laugheth at the &s;haking of the Spear,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Job 41.29.</NOTE> <HI>for he e&s;teemeth Iron as Straw, and Bra&s;s as rotten Wood.</HI></P>
<P>Now in either of the&s;e Two Sen&s;es may the Words of the <HI>Text</HI> be taken; when they tell us, they are <HI>Fools that make a Mock at Sin.</HI></P>
<P>For Sin may be con&s;idered,<NOTE PLACE="marg">A Twofold Con&s;ideration of Sin.</NOTE> either as committed by others, or as committed by our &s;elves; and it is egregious <HI>Folly</HI> to make a <HI>Mock</HI> of either, &s;o as to &s;port at the one, or to &s;light the other.</P>
<P><HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> <MILESTONE N="I"> They are <HI>Fools</HI> that make a <HI>Mock</HI> at other Men's Sins, &s;o as to turn them into a Mat|ter of Je&s;t and Raillery.</P>
<P><HI>Secondly,</HI> <MILESTONE N="II"> They are <HI>Fools</HI> that make a <HI>Mock</HI> at their own Sins, &s;o as to think the Commi&s;&s;ion of them a &s;light and incon&s;idera|ble thing.</P>
<PB N="7" REF="10">
<P>I &s;hall very briefly &s;peak of the <HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> and &s;o pa&s;s on unto the <HI>Second</HI> Particular.</P>
<P><HI>Fir&s;t</HI> therefore, <MILESTONE N="I"><NOTE PLACE="marg">They are Fools that make a Mock at other Men's Sins.</NOTE> They are <HI>Fools</HI> that make a <HI>Mock</HI> at other Men's Sins, &s;o as to make them a matter of Mirth and Pa&s;time. This indeed is Sport for <HI>Devils,</HI> all who&s;e Recreation, and Hel|li&s;h Solace, is the Sin and Wick|edne&s;s of Men. The Damna|tion of Souls is the Sport of Hell: And Thou who can&s;t re|joyce in their Joy, de&s;erve&s;t like|wi&s;e to howl under their Woes and Torments. We ju&s;tly con|demn it, as a mo&s;t barbarous and inhumane Cu&s;tom among&s;t the ancient <HI>Romans,</HI> who brought many &s;elected Pairs of mi&s;erable Men into their publick <HI>Theatres,</HI> only to delight the Spectators with their Blood and Death. But this was an innocent Recrea|tion
<PB N="8" REF="11">in compari&s;on of thine, who take&s;t plea&s;ure to &s;ee thy poor Brother wounding and &s;tabbing, yea damning his precious Soul. Go laugh at a wretched Man up|on the <HI>Rack,</HI> of upon the <HI>Wheel;</HI> Laugh at the odd di&s;torted Po|&s;tures of <HI>Epilepticks,</HI> or the Con|vul&s;e Motions of <HI>Dying</HI> and <HI>Ex|piring Men;</HI> Sport thy &s;elf with their writh'd Looks, and antick Shapes of Mi&s;ery: This is far more civil, more humane, more pious, than to make tho&s;e Sins thy Mirth, which will be thy Brother's Eternal Woe and An|gui&s;h. What thinke&s;t thou? Could'&s;t thou look into Hell, that place of Torment? Could'&s;t thou &s;ee there all the Engines of God's Ju&s;tice, and the Devil's Cruelty, &s;et on work in the eter|nal Torture of tho&s;e, who per|haps once made as light of their
<PB N="9" REF="11">own Sins, as thou do&s;t of other Men's; would&s;t thou think this a plea&s;ant Spectacle? Would&s;t thou &s;port and divert thy &s;elf to &s;ee how they wallow in Fire and Brim&s;tone, or how they circle and twi&s;t them&s;elves in un|quenchable Flames? Certainly &s;uch a Sight as this would af|fect thee with a cold Horrour, and a &s;hivering Dread: And how then can&s;t thou &s;port thy &s;elf to &s;ee thy Brother damning him&s;elf, &s;ince it would fright thee to &s;ee him damned? Be|lieve it, Sirs; The Sins that now abound in the World challenge our Tears and Pity: We ought to mourn and repent for tho&s;e who do not, who will not re|pent for them&s;elves. It is a &s;ad, and a doleful Sight to &s;ee &s;o many every where di&s;honour God, di&s;grace their Natures, and
<PB N="10" REF="12">de&s;troy their Souls; to &s;ee &s;ome come reeling home, di&s;guis'd in all the bruti&s;h Shapes that Drun|kenne&s;s can put upon them, rea|dy to di&s;charge their Vomit in the Face of every one they meet: Others frantick with Wrath and Rage, and, like a Company of Mad Men, flinging about <HI>Fire|brands,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Prov.</HI> 26.18.</NOTE> <HI>Arrows,</HI> and <HI>Death:</HI> To &s;ee &s;uch woeful Transformati|ons, and the dire Effects that Sin and Wickedne&s;s have cau|&s;ed in the World; certainly he that can entertain him&s;elf with Mirth at the&s;e things, hath not only for&s;worn his <HI>Religion,</HI> but his <HI>Humanity;</HI> and may, with much more Rea&s;on, make the Mi&s;eries of poor di&s;tracted Peo|ple, chain'd up in <HI>Bedlam,</HI> to become his Sport and Pa&s;time.</P>
<P>I know it will be here pre|tended, that &s;urely it can be no
<PB N="11" REF="12">&s;uch great Crime to explode and hi&s;s Sin off the <HI>Stage;</HI> nay, it were a proper Means to keep Men from being generally &s;o wicked, could we but make Wickedne&s;s more ridiculous in them.</P>
<P>But, alas! <HI>Vice</HI> is now-a-days grown too impudent to be laughed out of Countenance; and tho&s;e Methods of a &s;curri|lous Mockery, which &s;ome plead for, as rendring Vice ridiculous, have, I doubt, only made it the more taking and &s;preading, and encouraged others to be the more openly &s;infull, by teaching them to be the more wittily vile and wicked. Few will be deterred from &s;inning, when they think they &s;hall but gratifie others, by making Sport for them; and &s;tir up, not their Indignation and Abhorrence, but their Mirth and
<PB N="12" REF="13">Laughter. 'Tis true, we read that <HI>Elijah</HI> mock'd the Idolatrous Wor&s;hippers of <HI>Baal,</HI> and his Scoffs and Taunts at them were very biting and <HI>&s;arca&s;tical,</HI> and cut them much deeper than they are &s;aid to cut them&s;elves: But this he did in a &s;erious and zea|lous reproving of their Sins, not in a jocular and &s;portive Merri|ment. There are two things in Sin, Impiety and Folly; we may lawfully enough &s;corn the one, while we are &s;ure to hate and de|te&s;t the other: And a due Mixture of both the&s;e together, Scorn and Dete&s;tation, are very fit to enkindle our Zeal for God, and may oftentimes be a requi&s;ite Temper for him who is to re|prove confident and audacious Sinners. But to laugh and &s;port at others Wickedne&s;s, and to make the Guilt and Shame of o|thers
<PB N="13" REF="13">our Mirth and Recreation, is both unchri&s;tian, and inhu|mane; and we may as well laugh at their Damnation, as at that which will lead them to it. Thus to make a Mock at Sin, is to make our very Mocks to be our Sins; and argues us, not only profane, but fooli&s;h; for this is to laugh and rejoyce at our own Stain and Di&s;honour, and to abu&s;e our own Nature, that Nature which is common to us, as well as o|thers; that Nature which, were it not deba&s;ed with Sin, renders us but a little lower than the <HI>Angels.</HI></P>
<P>What a fair and glorious Crea|ture was Man, before Sin deba|&s;ed and &s;ullied him! A Friend to his God, Lord of the Crea|tion, made a little lower than the <HI>Angels,</HI> being a-kin to them, though of a younger Hou&s;e, and
<PB N="14" REF="14">meaner Extract, adorn'd with all both natural and divine Per|fections, till Sin de&s;poil'd him of his Excellency, and made him who was almo&s;t <HI>equal to the An|gels,</HI> wor&s;e than the very <HI>Brutes</HI> that peri&s;h, &s;otti&s;h and mi&s;era|ble. And can&s;t thou laugh and &s;port thy &s;elf at that which hath ruin'd and undone thee, as well as others? Thy Nature is ble|mi&s;h'd and corrupted as much as theirs. When we look abroad in the World, and ob&s;erve the abominable Wickedne&s;&s;es that are every where committed, the Murthers, Uncleanne&s;&s;es, Bla&s;|phemies, Drunkenne&s;s, and all tho&s;e Prodigies of Impiety that every where &s;warm among&s;t Men; how <HI>by Lying, Stealing, Swearing, and Committing Adultery, they break out,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ho&s;. 4.2.</NOTE> <HI>until Blood toucheth Blood.</HI> What el&s;e &s;ee we now
<PB N="15" REF="14">in all this, but the woful Effects of our own corrupt Nature: Here we &s;ee our &s;elves unbowel|led, and di&s;cover what we our &s;elves are, at the price of other Men's Sins; <HI>For as in Water,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 27.19</NOTE> <HI>Face an&s;wereth unto Face, &s;o doth the Heart of Man to Man.</HI> We have therefore more rea&s;on to lament the Sins and Mi&s;carriages of o|thers, than to make a Sport and Mock at their Wickedne&s;s, &s;ince we our &s;elves are the very &s;ame, and prone enough, without the Re&s;training Grace of God, either to imitate, or exceed them.</P>
<P>Hence then, <HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> <MILESTONE N="i." UNIT="U&s;e."> Con&s;ider what an accur&s;ed,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Shews the Evil of tempting o|thers to &s;in.</NOTE> horrid thing it is to tempt others to &s;in, only that thou maye&s;t afterwards make Sport with them, and rai&s;e a <HI>Scene</HI> of Mirth out of the Ruins of their Souls. I wi&s;h this were not as common a Practice, as it
<PB N="16" REF="15">is damnable. See what dread|ful Woes God denounceth again&s;t &s;uch,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Habak. 2.15, 16.</NOTE> by the Prophet: <HI>Woe unto him that giveth his Neighbour Drink; that putte&s;t thy Bottle to him, and make&s;t him drunken al&s;o, that thou maye&s;t look upon his Nakedne&s;s;</HI> his Shame and Di&s;honour. <HI>Thou art filled with Shame, for Glory: Drink thou al&s;o, and let thy Fore|skin be uncovered; the Cup of the Lord's Right Hand &s;hall be turned unto thee, and &s;hamefull Spew|ing &s;hall be on thy Glory.</HI> Hence have the&s;e <HI>Devils</HI> (for that Name belongs to them who do his VVork) invented all tho&s;e Artifi|ces of Exce&s;s and Drunkenne&s;s, to draw on others to debauch them&s;elves, and their Rea&s;on, that they may have Matter to laugh at their fotti&s;h Actions, and to boa&s;t how many they have made to fall under the Pui&s;|&s;ance
<PB REF="15">
<PB REF="16">
<PB N="17" REF="16">of their Riots. But cer|tainly, if there be an <HI>Hell,</HI> as it is certain there is; or if that <HI>Hell</HI> were not made in vain, as it was not; the&s;e wretched Sinners can expect nothing el&s;e, but to have their Portion therein with tho&s;e <HI>Devils,</HI> who&s;e indu&s;trious Fa|ctors they have been: And there the Cup of God's Right Hand, a Cup of pure VVrath, and unmix'd Fury, &s;hall be given them, and they be forced to drink it off, to the very Dregs and Bottom of it, &s;pewing out Fire and Brim&s;tone eternally.</P>
<P><HI>Secondly,</HI> <MILESTONE N="ii." UNIT="U&s;e."><NOTE PLACE="marg">Shews the Wick|edne&s;s of tho&s;e that &s;in, only to tempt others to &s;in.</NOTE> Hence think how de&s;perately impious, wicked VVretches they are, who &s;in on|ly to make others Sport; that buffoon them&s;elves into <HI>Hell,</HI> and purcha&s;e the Plea&s;ing others with the dreadful Damnation of their own Souls: And yet, How
<PB N="18" REF="17">frequent is this in the World? How many are there, that will neither &s;pare <HI>God,</HI> nor <HI>Heaven,</HI> nor <HI>Scripture,</HI> nor <HI>Religion,</HI> nor common Mode&s;ty, if they come but in the way of a Je&s;t? No|thing, how &s;acred, how vene|rable &s;oever it be, can e&s;cape them, if they can but turn it into Drollery.</P>
<P>I need not mention what <HI>Tropes</HI> and <HI>Metaphors</HI> Men have found out to talk la&s;civiou&s;ly by; almo&s;t every one is perfect in that piece of Rhetorick: Nor what &s;trange, mon&s;trous Lies &s;ome will aver openly, to rai&s;e either Mirth or Wonder in Com|pany. And that which is wor&s;t of all is, that now the <HI>Holy Bi|ble</HI> is become a mere Je&s;t-Book with them, a Common-Place <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 word">, and many Di&s;cour&s;e; <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span"> &s;peaks <HI>Scri|pture</HI>
<PB N="19" REF="17">out of the&s;e Men's Mouths; they know no more of it, than what they abu&s;e; and all their Meditations and Comments up|on it, are only how &s;uch and &s;uch Pa&s;&s;ages may be ingeniou&s;ly per|verted, and turned into Bur|le&s;que, to heighten the Mirth of the next profane Company they meet. Impious Wretches, that dare to violate the mo&s;t tremendous My&s;teries of Reli|gion, and expo&s;e their God to Scorn, his Oracles to Contempt, and their own Souls to Eternal Perdition; only for a little Grin|ning and Sneering of a Compa|ny of vain, yea, mad <HI>Fools,</HI> who think they commence Wits by applauding Bla&s;phemy! But the&s;e VVits, as they are profane and impious, &s;o they prove them&s;elves very Fools, thus to &s;port them&s;elves to death: Their
<PB N="20" REF="18">Laughter is rather &s;pa&s;mical and convul&s;ive, than joyous; a <HI>Ri|&s;us Sardonicus,</HI> cau&s;ed by Venom and Poy&s;on: They go down merrily to Hell, and frolick them&s;elves into Perdition.</P>
<P>And thus I have done with the <HI>fir&s;t</HI> &s;ort of <HI>Fools,</HI> namely, tho&s;e that make a Sport and <HI>Mock</HI> at other Men's Sins.</P>
<P>The <HI>Second</HI> Particular is to &s;hew, <MILESTONE N="II"><NOTE PLACE="marg">They are Fools that make at Mock at their own Sins.</NOTE> that they are <HI>Fools</HI> who make a <HI>Mock</HI> at their own Sins, &s;o as to think the Commi&s;&s;ion of them but a &s;light, incon&s;idera|ble Matter. And here I &s;hall &s;hew you,</P>
<P><HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> <MILESTONE N="I"> That wicked Men do generally account Sin a &s;mall, &s;light Matter.</P>
<P><HI>Secondly,</HI> <MILESTONE N="II"> What it is that in|duceth and per&s;uades them to account &s;o &s;light of it.</P>
<PB N="21" REF="18">
<P><HI>Thirdly,</HI> <MILESTONE N="III"> Their gro&s;s and in|excu&s;able <HI>Folly</HI> for &s;o account|ting of it.</P>
<P><HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> <MILESTONE N="I"> That wicked Men do generally account Sin a &s;mall, incon&s;iderable Matter, may ap|pear from the&s;e three Things.</P>
<P N="1">I. <MILESTONE N="1"><NOTE PLACE="marg">Slight Tempta|tions make &s;ome Men &s;in.</NOTE> Slight Provocations and ea&s;ie Temptations are &s;ufficient to make them ru&s;h boldly into the Commi&s;&s;ion of Sin: Any &s;light incon&s;iderable Gain, and tran&s;itory, fading, wa&s;hy Plea|&s;ure; yea oftentimes, a meer Gallantry and Humour of Sin|ning, is enough to make them venture upon any Crime, that the Devil, or their own wicked Hearts &s;hall &s;ugge&s;t to them: Yea tho&s;e very Things, for which they would &s;carce &s;uffer a Hair of their Heads to be twitch'd off, are yet forcible enough, to per&s;uade them to lie or &s;wear,
<PB N="22" REF="19">Sins that murder and de&s;troy their precious Souls for ever! VVhat is this but a plain De|mon&s;tration, that they account Sin a mere Trifle, and look upon it as a &s;mall and &s;light thing to offend the mo&s;t high God.</P>
<P N="2">II. <MILESTONE N="2"><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hard to work Sinners to a True Sorrow for Sin.</NOTE> It is very hard and diffi|cult to work the&s;e Men to any true Sorrow and Compunction for their Sins: Turn the Mouth of all the terrible Threatnings that God bath denounced in his Holy VVord again&s;t them, and let them thunder out all the VVoes and Cur&s;es that are in the Magazine of God's Ju&s;tice a|gain&s;t them, yet the&s;e wicked VVretches are not &s;tartled at it; but &s;till hold fa&s;t their Confi|dence and Boldne&s;s, when they have lo&s;t their Innocency and In|tegrity, and cannot, nor will not be per&s;uaded that God
<PB N="23" REF="19">&s;hould be &s;o angry and incen&s;ed for &s;uch &s;mall matters.</P>
<P N="3">III. <MILESTONE N="3"> If they are at all moved with the&s;e things, yet they think that a &s;light and formal <HI>Repen|tance</HI> will &s;uffice to make amends for all: They pacifie their Con|&s;ciences, and think they appea&s;e God al&s;o, by crying him Mercy; and find it as ea&s;ie a matter to re|pent of their Sins, as it is to com|mit them. And therefore cer|tainly the&s;e Men mu&s;t needs have very &s;light Thoughts of Sin, who can be &s;o ea&s;ily temp|ted to commit it, and are &s;o hard to be brought to repent of it; or if they do, yet is it &s;o &s;light|ly and &s;uperficially, as if they feared the Amends would be greater than the Injury.</P>
<P>I come now to the <HI>Second</HI> Thing, and that is, <MILESTONE N="II"><NOTE PLACE="marg">Cau&s;es of Sin|ners making light of Sin.</NOTE> to &s;hew what it is that induceth and per|&s;uadeth
<PB N="24" REF="20">wicked Men to make &s;o light of their Sins.</P>
<P>Now there are the&s;e Two things that make Sinners to ac|count their Sins &s;light and trivi|al Matters.</P>
<P N="1">I. <MILESTONE N="1"><NOTE PLACE="marg">Sinners not being exempla|rily puni&s;hed, cau&s;es them to make light of Sin.</NOTE> Becau&s;e they &s;ee &s;o few In|&s;tances of God's dread Wrath and Vengeance executed on Sinners in this Life; and tho&s;e rare Ones that are extant and vi&s;ible, they impute rather to Chance, than to the Retribution of Divine Ju|&s;tice: And therefore, upon their own Impunity, and the Impu|nity of others, they conclude, That certainly Sin is no &s;uch hei|nous thing as &s;ome &s;owre, tetri|cal People would fain per&s;uade the World to believe: And &s;o they cry <HI>Peace, Peace, to them|&s;elves,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Deut. 29.19.</NOTE> <HI>though they go on in the Fro|wardne&s;s of their Hearts, adding Ini|quity to Sin.</HI> Becau&s;e God &s;o long
<PB N="25" REF="20">winks at them, they conclude him blind, or at lea&s;t, that he doth not much di&s;allow tho&s;e Sins which he doth not pre&s;ently puni&s;h. Indeed, it would be &s;omewhat difficult to <HI>an&s;wer</HI> this <HI>Argument,</HI> were this pre&s;ent Life the appointed Time of Recom|pence. No, but God re&s;erveth his Wrath and Vengeance to a more publick, and more dread|ful Execution of it, than any can be in this Life. Though now thou feele&s;t no Effects of God's Wrath, yet, believe it, the Storm is but all this while gathering: But when thou launche&s;t forth into the boundle&s;s Ocean of Eterni|ty, then, and perhaps never be|fore then, will it break upon thee in a Tempe&s;t of Fury, and drown thy Soul in Perdition and De&s;truction.</P>
<P N="2"><PB N="26" REF="21">II. <MILESTONE N="2"><NOTE PLACE="marg">Sinners make light of Sin, becau&s;e it is no real Injury to God.</NOTE> Another thing that makes wicked Men think &s;o &s;light of Sin, is that it cannot affect God with any real Injury; for as he is not benefited by our Services, &s;o he is not wronged by our Ini|quities. 'Tis true, could our Sins reach God, could they de|throne him, or rend off any of his glorious Attributes from his immutable E&s;&s;ence, there might then be great Rea&s;on why God &s;hould &s;o &s;everely revenge them, and we for ever dete&s;t and ab|hor them: But &s;ince his Glory is free from any Stain, and his Being from any Wrong and Pre|judice, our Sins are nothing to him, nor is there any Rea&s;on we &s;hould judge them heinous and provoking.</P>
<P>'Tis true, <HI>O Sinner,</HI> thy Sins can never invade God's E&s;&s;ence; that is infinitely above the At|tempts
<PB N="27" REF="21">of Men or Devils, but yet every wicked Wretch would, if he could, dethrone God: Sin|ners would not have him be &s;o holy, nor &s;o ju&s;t as he is; not &s;o holy in hating of their Sins, nor &s;o ju&s;t in puni&s;hing of them; that is, they would not have him to be God; for it is nece&s;|&s;ary that God &s;hould be as he is. Sinners do really contradict God's Purity, rebel again&s;t his Sovereignty, violate his Com|mands, defie his Ju&s;tice, pro|voke his Mercy, de&s;pi&s;e his Threatnings, and hinder the Manife&s;tations of his Glory to the World: And is all this no|thing? Every Sinner hath &s;o much Poy&s;on and Venom in him, that he would even &s;pit it in the Face of God him&s;elf, if he could reach him: But be|cau&s;e God is in him&s;elf &s;ecure
<PB N="28" REF="22">from their impotent A&s;&s;aults, Sin &s;hews its Spight again&s;t him in what it can; defaceth his Image where-ever it comes, aboli&s;heth all Structures and Lineaments of God in the Soul, and would ba|ni&s;h his Name, his Fear, his Wor&s;hip from off the Face of the whole Earth: And therefore thou who art guilty of this Re|bellion again&s;t the great Maje&s;ty of Heaven, can&s;t thou yet think thy Sins to be &s;light and incon&s;i|derable, and not worth either the Cognizance, or the Ven|geance of the Almighty? Be|lieve it, the <HI>Day</HI> is coming, and will not tarry, when that Guilt which thou now carrie&s;t &s;o peaceably in thy Bo&s;om, and which, like a frozen and be|numb'd <HI>Serpent,</HI> &s;tirrs not, nor &s;tings not, &s;hall, when heated with the Flames of Hell, fly in
<PB N="29" REF="22">thy Face, and appear in all its native and genuine Deformities and Horrour, and overwhelm thy Soul with Everla&s;ting An|gui&s;h and Torment; and then, but too late, then wilt thou ex|claim again&s;t thy &s;elf, as being wor&s;e than a <HI>Fool,</HI> or Mad-man, for thinking &s;o &s;lightly of, and making a <HI>Mock</HI> at that which hath eternally ruin'd and de|&s;troyed thee.</P>
<P>And having thus &s;hew'd you briefly, that wicked Men do make light of Sin, and the In|ducements that tempt them to it. I &s;hall now, in the</P>
<P><HI>Third</HI> place, <MILESTONE N="III"> &s;hew you their great and inexcu&s;able <HI>Folly</HI> in &s;o doing.<NOTE PLACE="marg">The Folly of Sinners in ma|king light of Sin, appears in that they</NOTE> And certainly never was any in&s;en&s;ate Man, never any that was wholly abandon'd by his Rea&s;on and Under&s;tanding, guilty of a greater <HI>Folly</HI> than this is: For,</P>
<P N="1"><PB N="30" REF="23">I. <MILESTONE N="1"><NOTE PLACE="marg">Hope to repent of it.</NOTE> Is it not mo&s;t egregious <HI>Fol|ly</HI> and Madne&s;s for any to do that, which yet they hope they &s;hall live to repent that ever they did it? This is &s;uch a <HI>Folly,</HI> as all the Extravagances of <HI>Fools</HI> could never match; and yet this mo&s;t wicked Men are guilty of: They boldly ru&s;h into Sin, only upon this pre&s;umptuous Confi|dence, that they may hereafter be &s;orry that now they did it. In which their Folly is doubly notorious, in that</P>
<P N="1">1. <MILESTONE N="1"> They venture upon a cer|tain Guilt, in hope of an uncer|tain Repentance. And,</P>
<P N="2">2. <MILESTONE N="2"> In that they take up their unprofitable Sins upon &s;o great and burthen&s;ome an Intere&s;t.</P>
<P N="1">1. <MILESTONE N="1"><NOTE PLACE="marg">Sinners Folly great, in ven|turing upon a certain Guilt, in hopes of an uncertain Re|pentance.</NOTE> In that they venture upon a certain Guilt, in hopes of an uncertain Repentance. For ei|ther God may cut thee off, O
<PB N="31" REF="23">Sinner, in the very Act of that Sin which thou intende&s;t to <HI>re|pent</HI> of hereafter: Or, if he af|ford thee Time for <HI>Repentance,</HI> he may withold his Grace, and in his ju&s;t and righteous, but yet fearful Judgment, &s;eal thee up under Hardne&s;s and Impeniten|cy, that thou &s;halt <HI>go on,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 2.5.</NOTE> <HI>trea&s;u|ring up to thy &s;elf Wrath again&s;t the Day of Wrath.</HI> And if either of the&s;e, through the righteous Judgment of God, &s;hould hap|pen unto thee, what a deplora|ble <HI>Fool</HI> wilt thou prove thy &s;elf to be, that &s;inne&s;t out of Hopes of Repentance, and of a Re|pentance which perhaps will ne|ver be granted? Alas? How many hath God, in his &s;ignal Vengeance, cut off, by &s;ome re|markable &s;troke, with an <HI>Oath,</HI> or <HI>Cur&s;e,</HI> or <HI>Bla&s;phemy</HI> in their Mouths, &s;carce fully pronoun|ced?
<PB N="32" REF="24">How many, with their drunken Vomits gogling in their very Throats: How many, while their Souls have been bur|ning with their lu&s;tful Embraces, have even then been ca&s;t into Hell, and burnt up with Ever|la&s;ting Fire? Or, if Vengeance &s;hould &s;pare thee for a while, O Sinner, yet thou knowe&s;t not how &s;oon it will &s;trike thee: It is great Folly to expect the War|ning of a &s;ick Bed; <HI>Death</HI> often &s;urprizes by &s;udden Ca&s;ualties, or by &s;ome Di&s;ea&s;es as &s;udden as Ca&s;ualties; and there are many Ways of <HI>Dying,</HI> be&s;ides <HI>Con&s;um|ptions, Agues,</HI> and <HI>Drop&s;ies,</HI> the lingring Fore-runners of an ap|proaching Di&s;&s;olution. But if God &s;hould ca&s;t thee down upon a &s;ick Bed, he may ju&s;tly vi&s;it thee, who ha&s;t neglected thy Soul in thy Health, with &s;uch
<PB REF="24">
<PB REF="25">
<PB N="33" REF="25">Di&s;tempers as may make thee not only unfit, but &s;uch as may render thee uncapable of doing thy la&s;t kind Office for it. It is Folly to expect the Admonition of Old Age: Alas!<NOTE PLACE="marg">Eccle&s;. 12.5.</NOTE> the <HI>Almond-Tree</HI> doth not every where <HI>flou|ri&s;h;</HI> and it is not one, to many Thou&s;ands, that lay down an <HI>Hoary Head</HI> in the Bed of the Grave.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 16.31.</NOTE> But grant thou could&s;t be a&s;&s;ured of the Continuance of thy Life, yet is it not egregious <HI>Folly</HI> to &s;in in hope of repenting, when every Act of Sin will make thy <HI>Repentance</HI> the more difficult, if not impo&s;&s;ible? The older thou growe&s;t, &s;till the more de|&s;perate is thy Ca&s;e; for thy Sins will be the more rooted and ha|bituated in thee, and thy Heart the more hardned to re&s;i&s;t the Grace of God: So that, upon all Accounts, thy Repentance is
<PB N="34" REF="26">mo&s;t uncertain; and the longer thou continue&s;t in Sin, &s;till the more unlikely and improbable. And then judge, thou thy &s;elf, whether it be not extream Mad|ne&s;s and Folly, to make &s;o light, or no Account of Sinning, be|cau&s;e thou make&s;t account of Repenting. But</P>
<P N="2">2. <MILESTONE N="2"> Suppo&s;e it were mo&s;t in|fallibly certain that thou &s;halt <HI>repent,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Sinners great Folly to pur|cha&s;e the Plea|&s;ures of Sin with a bitter Repentance.</NOTE> yet none but <HI>Fools</HI> will take up the Plea&s;ures of Sin upon the Sorrow, Angui&s;h, and Bit|terne&s;s of a true and hearty <HI>Re|pentance.</HI> Do&s;t thou &s;eriou&s;ly con&s;ider what <HI>Repentance</HI> is? It is not a tran&s;itory Wi&s;h, a warm Sigh, or a langui&s;hing <HI>Lord have Mercy,</HI> in a Di&s;tre&s;s, or on a &s;ick Bed; (and yet even the&s;e can|not be without judging and con|demning them&s;elves for <HI>Fools,</HI> when they &s;inned:) No, but
<PB N="35" REF="26"><HI>Repentance</HI> is the breaking of the Heart, a rending of the very Soul in pieces: The u&s;ual Pre|paratives to it are gha&s;tly Fears and Terrours, &s;harp and dread|ful Convictions, that will even &s;earch thy very Bowels, break thy Bones, and burn up thy very Marrow within thee. More e&s;pecially doth God deal thus terribly with veterane, old, con|firmed Sinners, making <HI>Repen|tance</HI> more bitter to them, than to others, that they may &s;ee and confe&s;s them&s;elves <HI>Fools,</HI> in in|dulging them&s;elves in their Sins, in hopes of repenting for them. Say then, when the <HI>Devil</HI> and thine own Lu&s;ts tempt thee to any Sin; &s;ay, If I commit this Sin, either I &s;hall repent of it, or I &s;hall not; if I never re|pent of it, as it is a hazard whe|ther I &s;hall or no, what is there
<PB N="36" REF="27">in Sin, that can recompence the everla&s;ting Pain of Damnation? If I &s;hall repent, what is there in the Sin, that can recompence the Angui&s;h and Bitterne&s;s of <HI>Repentance?</HI> This is &s;uch an un|an&s;werable <HI>Dilemma,</HI> that all the Craft and Subtilty of Hell can never &s;olve. And if we would but always keep this fixed in our Minds, it were impo&s;&s;ible that ever we &s;hould make &s;light of Sin. While thou thus argue&s;t, thou argue&s;t &s;olidly and wi&s;ely; but to &s;ay I will &s;in, becau&s;e per|haps I may repent, is quite be|low the meane&s;t Capacity that ever own'd the lea&s;t Glimp&s;e of Sen&s;e and Rea&s;on.</P>
<P N="2">II. <MILESTONE N="2"> Is it not <HI>Folly</HI> to make a <HI>Mock</HI> at that which will be &s;ure to pay thee home,<NOTE PLACE="marg">S<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters"> will make Sinners a pub|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="4 letters"> Scorn to <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 word"> whole <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 word"></NOTE> and to make a publick <HI>Mock</HI> and Scorn of thee to the whole World? How
<PB N="37" REF="27">many have their Sins and Vices made infamous among Men? They are a Shame, and a Re|proach to all that are but of a civil and &s;ober Conver&s;e; and as much lo&s;t to Reputation, as they are to Vertue? But how|ever, certainly all wicked and ungodly Men shall be made a publick Scorn and Deri&s;ion to all the World, both God, An|gels, and Men: God will <HI>mock</HI> at them, he tells them &s;o ex|pre&s;ly, for &s;o the Wi&s;e Man &s;peaks;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 1.25, 26.</NOTE> <HI>Becau&s;e you have &s;et at nought all my Coun&s;el, and would none of my Reproof; I al&s;o will laugh at your Calamity, and mock when your Fear cometh; when your Fear cometh as a De&s;olation, and your De&s;truction cometh like a Whirl|wind.</HI> All their Sins and Deeds of Wickedne&s;s &s;hall then be ex|po&s;ed to the open View and
<PB N="38" REF="28">Contempt of <HI>Saints</HI> and <HI>Angels,</HI> who &s;hall &s;ub&s;cribe to the righ|teous Doom of their Condem|nation. <HI>Devils</HI> will then up|braid their <HI>Folly,</HI> and triumph that they have outwitted them into the &s;ame mo&s;t mi&s;erable and deplorable State with them|&s;elves. Think now, <HI>O Sinner!</HI> How wilt thou be able to hold up thy guilty Head, and thy amazed and confounded Face? Whither, Oh whither can&s;t thou cau&s;e thy Shame to go, when Men and Angels &s;hall point and hi&s;s at thee, and thy <HI>Folly</HI> &s;hall be proclaimed as loud as the la&s;t Trumpet, which Heaven and Farth, and all the World &s;hall hear?</P>
<P N="3">III. <MILESTONE N="3"> Is it not the Foolishne&s;s of <HI>Folly</HI> it &s;elf,<NOTE PLACE="marg">The Folly of Sinners to damn their Souls for Sin.</NOTE> to make light of that which will for ever damn thee? Art thou &s;uch an <HI>Idiot,</HI> as
<PB N="39" REF="28">to account <HI>Hell</HI> a Trifle, and <HI>Damnation</HI> it &s;elf a &s;light Matter? What is it then that makes thee think Sin &s;o &s;inall and trifling a thing? For <HI>Hell,</HI> and <HI>Death,</HI> and Eternal Wrath are certainly en|tail'd upon it. Con&s;ider what a mo&s;t cutting Reflexion it will be to thee in <HI>Hell,</HI> when thou &s;halt for ever cry out upon, and cur&s;e thy &s;elf for a wretched <HI>Fool,</HI> that ever thou &s;hould&s;t make &s;light of tho&s;e Sins which would damn thee. What was there in them, for which thou ha&s;t forfei|ted Heaven, and Everla&s;ting Hap|pine&s;s, but only a little impure bruti&s;h Plea&s;ure? And now that it is pa&s;t and gone, what remains of them, but only the bitter Re|membrances? Certainly thou wilt ten thou&s;and times, and for ever call thy &s;elf an accur&s;ed <HI>Fool</HI> for &s;o doing, when it is too
<PB N="40" REF="29" MS="y">late to help it. Be per&s;uaded therefore now to be wi&s;e betimes for your Souls; el&s;e you al&s;o will, when there is no Redre&s;s, cur&s;e your own <HI>Folly,</HI> that hath brought upon you all tho&s;e Ex|tremities of Woe and Angui&s;h.</P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="sermon">
<PB N="41" REF="29">
<HEAD>True Happine&s;s, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></HEAD>
<EPIGRAPH>
<BIBL><HI>REV. xxii. 14.</HI></BIBL>
<Q>Ble&s;&s;ed are they that do his Commandments, that they may have Right to the Tree of Life, and may enter through the Gates into the City.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>THe&s;e Words which I have now read, con&s;i&s;t of the&s;e Two Parts:</P>
<P><HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> A Propo&s;ition. And,</P>
<P><HI>Secondly,</HI> A Proof of this Propo&s;ition.</P>
<P><HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> A Propo&s;ition,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Divi&s;ion of the Words.</NOTE> in the&s;e Words, that <HI>They that do God's Commandments, are ble&s;&s;ed.</HI></P>
<PB N="42" REF="30">
<P><HI>Secondly,</HI> Here is the Proof of this Propo&s;ition, in the&s;e Words, that <HI>They have a Right to the Tree of Life, and &s;hall enter through the Gates into the City.</HI></P>
<P>It is the Connection of both the&s;e together, that I intend chiefly to &s;peak unto. Only give me leave, as a Preliminary to the en&s;uing Di&s;cour&s;e, to &s;hew you what is contained in the fir&s;t and great Word in my <HI>Text;</HI> and that is, the Word <HI>Ble&s;&s;ed.</HI></P>
<P>There is therefore, a Twofold <HI>Beatitude,</HI> or <HI>Ble&s;&s;edne&s;s:</HI> The One is <HI>perfect</HI> and <HI>con&s;ummate;</HI> the Other <HI>initial</HI> and <HI>incompleat.</HI> The former is the Complection of all Good perfective of our Natures, and our entire and &s;atisfying En|joyment of it. This Ble&s;&s;edne&s;s now is only attainable in Hea|ven; for God alone is the Cen|tre of all Good, and all the Good
<PB N="43" REF="30">that is de&s;irable in this World, are but &s;o many Lines drawn from the Centre, to the utmo&s;t Circumference of the Creation. There is nothing that can &s;upply the Wants, perform the Hopes, fulfil the De&s;ires, without Con|finement circum&s;cribe, without cloying &s;atisfie the mo&s;t enlar|ged Capacities of a Rational Soul, but only that God who is infi|nitely, univer&s;ally, and indefe|ctively good; and therefore he alone is our objective Happine&s;s: and our formal Happine&s;s is our Relation to, and Union with this All-comprehen&s;ive and In|comprehen&s;ible Good. Our A&s;|&s;imilation to him, and Partici|pation from him, of all tho&s;e Perfections which our Natures are capable of enjoying, but our Under&s;tandings not now capable of knowing. But this <HI>con&s;ummate
<PB N="44" REF="31">Ble&s;&s;edne&s;s,</HI> is re&s;erved for our unknown Reward hereafter, and is not that which my <HI>Text</HI> here &s;peaks of.</P>
<P>There is therefore an <HI>imperfect</HI> and <HI>initial Ble&s;&s;edne&s;s,</HI> which con|&s;i&s;ts in a Preparation for, and a Tendency unto the other: As tho&s;e are <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span"> be accur&s;ed, who&s;e Sins <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span"> prepare them for Eterna <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span"> &s;o tho&s;e likewi&s;e are <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span"> ble&s;|&s;ed, who&s;e Grace and Holine&s;s prepare them for Eternal Bli&s;s and Happine&s;s.</P>
<P>Now &s;uch as the&s;e are ble&s;&s;ed in a Fourfold Re&s;pect.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Such a<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> do God's Com|mandments, are ble&s;&s;ed in Four Re&s;pects.</NOTE></P>
<P><HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> They are ble&s;&s;ed, <HI>in Se|mine,</HI> <MILESTONE N="I"> in the Seed: <HI>They go forth bearing precious Seed,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">In the Seed.</NOTE> and &s;hall doubtle&s;s rejoyce in a plentifull Harve&s;t: So the <HI>P&s;almi&s;t</HI> tells us, <HI>P&s;al.</HI> 97.11.<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 97.11.</NOTE> <HI>Light is &s;own for the Righteous, and Gladne&s;s for the Up|right
<PB N="45" REF="31">in Heart.</HI> And though they often appear Clods of Earth ploughed up, harrowed, and bro|ken with Affliction; yet is there that ble&s;&s;ed Seed ca&s;t into them, that will certainly &s;prout up to Immortality, and Eternal Life, as all the Beauties of a Flower lie couched in a &s;mall un&s;ightly Seed: And &s;o truly Grace is Glory in the Seed; and Glory is but Grace full blown.</P>
<P><HI>Secondly,</HI> <MILESTONE N="II"> They are ble&s;&s;ed <HI>in primitiis,</HI> in the Fir&s;t-Fruits.<NOTE PLACE="marg">In the Fir&s;t-Fruits.</NOTE> They have already received &s;ome part of their Eternal Felicity, in the Graces and Con&s;olations of the <HI>Holy Gho&s;t;</HI> which are therefore called <HI>the Fir&s;t-Fruits of the Spirit,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 8.23.</NOTE> by the Apo&s;tle, <HI>Rom.</HI> 8.23. and <HI>the Earne&s;t of the Spirit,</HI> 2 Cor. 1.22.<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Cor. 1.22.</NOTE> and <HI>the Earne&s;t of our Inheritance,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ephe&s; 1.14.</NOTE> <HI>Ephe&s;.</HI> 1.14. Now, as the Ear|ne&s;t is always part of the Bar|gain,
<PB N="46" REF="32">and the Fir&s;t-Fruits are al|ways of the &s;ame kind with the whole Harve&s;t, &s;o is it here; the Graces and Comforts of the <HI>Holy Gho&s;t,</HI> are the very &s;ame now, that they &s;hall be in Hea|ven it &s;elf: And therefore the <HI>Apo&s;tle ble&s;&s;eth God,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ephe&s;. 1.3.</NOTE> <HI>who hath ble&s;&s;ed us with &s;piritual Ble&s;&s;ings in heaven|ly Things in Chri&s;t.</HI> Better indeed they shall be in Heaven, but not other. Here our Graces often lan|gui&s;h under the Load and Pre&s;|&s;ure of Corruption, but in Hea|ven they &s;hall be for ever vigo|rous and triumphant: Here our Waters of Comfort often fail us, our Ci&s;tern is often dried up, and our Bottle &s;pent; but in Heaven we &s;hall for ever lie at the Foun|tain of Living Waters, and take in Divine Communications, as they immediately flow from the Divine E&s;&s;ence, without having
<PB N="47" REF="32">them deadned or flatted in the Conveyance. But yet, both by the&s;e imperfect Graces and Com|forts, we do truly and properlyen|joy God; the Enjoyment of whom in any mea&s;ure is Happine&s;s, but in the highe&s;t mea&s;ure is Heaven it &s;elf. If therefore the Ma&s;s and Lump be Ble&s;&s;edne&s;s, the Fir&s;t-Fruits mu&s;t be ble&s;&s;ed al&s;o.</P>
<P><HI>Thirdly,</HI> <MILESTONE N="III"><NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Ble&s;&s;ed in Hope.</HI> Titus 2.13.</NOTE> They are ble&s;&s;ed <HI>in Spe,</HI> in Hope; whence it is cal|led by the Apo&s;tle, <HI>That ble&s;&s;ed Hope.</HI> A ble&s;&s;ed Hope it is, be|cau&s;e that which we hope for is <HI>Eternal Ble&s;&s;edne&s;s.</HI> The Hope of worldly Things is commonly more tormenting, than the En|joyment of them can be &s;atisfy|ing. It is an Hope that vitiates and deflowers its Object, and &s;o mightily Over-rates them in the Fancy, that when they come to pa&s;s, our Hope is rather fru&s;tra|ted
<PB N="48" REF="33">than accompli&s;hed: And were it not for that Impatience, which is the con&s;tant Attendant of this Hope, it would be a Pro|blem hard to be re&s;olved, whe|ther Expectation or Fruition were the more eligible E&s;tate. Vain therefore and wretched mu&s;t needs be the Hopes of tho&s;e things, which cannot an&s;wer what is expected from them; like a Golden Dream to a Beg|gar, or the Dream of a furni&s;h'd Table to one that is hunger|&s;tarv'd. But now the Hopes of Heaven can never impoveri&s;h the Glories of it, for they are in|finite and inexhau&s;tible; and God hath laid up for his, that which the Heart of Man cannot conceive.</P>
<P>A Chri&s;tian's Hope hath Two Prerogatives above any worldly Hope.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Two Properties of a Chri&s;tian's Hope</NOTE></P>
<PB N="49" REF="33">
<P>One is, That it may attain to a full and final A&s;&s;urance, as the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> &s;peaks to the <HI>Hebrews;</HI> where he calls it,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Heb. 6.11.</NOTE> <HI>The full A&s;&s;u|rance of Hope unto the End.</HI> An Hope it is, becau&s;e the Object of it is a future Good de&s;ired and expected. But yet it is an Hope that is joined with a full A&s;&s;u|rance of the Event; an Hope that may flower up into &s;uch a Certainty, as to have no Mix|ture of Fear or Doubting in its Compo&s;ition; but may be as &s;ure of the Heavenly Inheritance, as if our Rever&s;ion were already in actual Po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion: Whereas Worldly Hope can never be &s;e|cure, but &s;ome Providence or other may interpo&s;e, to di&s;ap|point it.</P>
<P>The other <HI>Prerogative</HI> of a Chri&s;tian's Hope, is, that though it be thus fully a&s;&s;ured, yet the
<PB N="50" REF="34">Accompli&s;hment of it &s;hall al|ways have the &s;weet Reli&s;h of Surprize and Wonder; for the Happine&s;s will be far greater than the Hope, and the Inheri|tance larger than the Expecta|tion; whereas Earthly Hopes, if they grow to any degree of Confidence of Succe&s;s, upon Fru|&s;tration they turn into Impa|tience and Rage: Or if perhaps they do &s;ucceed, the Sweetne&s;s of the Accompli&s;hment was long before &s;uck'd out and devoured by our greedy Expectation; the <HI>Game</HI> is torn and eaten, before the <HI>Hunt&s;-man</HI> can come in. And upon both the&s;e Accounts, the pious and obedient Chri&s;tian is ble&s;&s;ed in Hope: It is a ble&s;&s;ed Hope that &s;hall certainly be ac|compli&s;hed; and a ble&s;&s;ed Hope, the accompli&s;hing of which &s;hall infinitely exceed our Expecta|tions,
<PB N="51" REF="34">and fill us, not with Shame, but Eternal Admiration and Wonder.</P>
<P><HI>Fourthly,</HI> <MILESTONE N="IV"> They are ble&s;&s;ed in <HI>Right</HI> and <HI>Title:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ble&s;&s;ed in Right.</NOTE> And upon this very Account e&s;pecially my <HI>Text</HI> pronounceth tho&s;e ble&s;&s;ed <HI>that do God's Commandments,</HI> becau&s;e <HI>they have a Right to the Tree of Life, and to enter in through the Gates in|to the City.</HI></P>
<P>Now the&s;e Expre&s;&s;ions, ac|cording to the Genius and Style of this whole Book, are my&s;ti|cal and allu&s;ive; and for the ex|plaining of them I mu&s;t &s;hew,</P>
<P><HI>Fir&s;t, What the Tree of Life is.</HI> <MILESTONE N="I"></P>
<P><HI>Secondly, What is this City,</HI> <MILESTONE N="II"> <HI>in|to which they have a Right to enter.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Thirdly,</HI> <MILESTONE N="III"> What it is <HI>to enter through the Gates into the City.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Fourthly,</HI> <MILESTONE N="IV"> What <HI>Right</HI> it is which <HI>Obedience to God's Com|mandments
<PB N="52" REF="35" MS="y">gives us to the Tree of Life, and to enter into the City.</HI></P>
<P>For the <HI>Fir&s;t</HI> of the&s;e, <MILESTONE N="I"> <HI>What this Tree of Life is?</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">What the Tree of Life is.</NOTE></P>
<P><HI>I an&s;wer,</HI> We find Mention made of this <HI>Tree of Life</HI> in Two other places of this dark <HI>Prophe|cy;</HI> the one is in <HI>Ver.</HI> 2. of this <HI>Chapter:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Rev. 22.2.</NOTE> <HI>On either Side of the Ri|ver was there the Tree of Life, which bare twelve manner of Fruits, and yielded her Fruit every Month; and the Leaves of the Tree were for the healing of the Nations.</HI> But this, very probably, may be only an Enigmatical Repre&s;entation of the Doctrine of the Go&s;pel; let us then con&s;ult the other place, where Mention is made of this <HI>Tree of Life,</HI> and that is in <HI>Rev.</HI> 2.7. <HI>To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the Tree of Life, that is in the mid&s;t of the Paradi&s;e of God.</HI> Now this carries a plain Allu&s;ion to that
<PB N="53" REF="35">De&s;cription of the Earthly Para|di&s;e of which we read, <HI>Gen.</HI> 2.9. where it is &s;aid,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 2.9.</NOTE> <HI>God planted the Tree of Life in the mid&s;t of the Gar|den.</HI> Now this <HI>Tree of Life</HI> was &s;o called, not that it had any natural Vertue to perpetuate Man's Life to Immortality, but only from its <HI>typical</HI> and <HI>&s;acra|mental</HI> U&s;e; God having appoin|ted the Eating thereof as a Sign and Pledge of our Immortality, had we continued in our Inno|cency and Obedience. And therefore we find, that upon the Fall, God &s;et a Guard upon this Tree, and as it were excommu|nicates &s;inful <HI>Adam</HI> from parta|king of this <HI>Sacrament</HI> of the <HI>Co|venant of Works,</HI> which was both a Sign and Seal of Immortality; &s;ignifying thereby, that Sinners have no Right to Eternal Life, according to the Terms of the
<PB N="54" REF="36">fir&s;t Covenant: But this Right being again re&s;tored to us by Je|&s;us Chri&s;t, therefore they are pronounced ble&s;&s;ed <HI>that do God's Commandments,</HI> becau&s;e <HI>they have a Right to the Tree of Life;</HI> that is, to that Eternal Life and Immor|tality which is brought to light by the Go&s;pel, and to which the <HI>Tree of Life</HI> in Paradi&s;e was a Sacrament and Emblem.</P>
<P><HI>Secondly,</HI> <MILESTONE N="II"> Let us enquire what is <HI>this City,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">What is meant by City.</NOTE> into which tho&s;e that <HI>do God's Commandments &s;hall enter?</HI> and we have a mo&s;t large and glorious De&s;cription made of it in <HI>Chap.</HI> 21. of this Book, from <HI>Ver.</HI> 10. to the end of the <HI>Chapter.</HI> and, in brief, it is nothing el&s;e but <HI>Heaven;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span"></NOTE> <HI>the New</HI> Jeru&s;alem, <HI>that holy City, the City of the Living God, into which no unclean thing &s;hall enter.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span"></NOTE> <HI>For without are Dogs, and Sorcerers, and Whore-mongers,
<PB N="55" REF="36">and Idolaters, and who&s;oever loveth and maketh a Lye.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Thirdly,</HI> <MILESTONE N="III"> <HI>What is it to enter through the Gates into this City?</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">What it is to enter through the Gates into the City.</NOTE></P>
<P><HI>I an&s;wer,</HI> Though in the fore|going <HI>Chapter</HI> this <HI>City</HI> is de&s;cri|bed to have <HI>twelve Gates, and in them the Names of the Twelve Tribes of</HI> I&s;rael, to &s;ignifie to us, that through the Grace of the Go&s;pel, there is a Pa&s;&s;age and an Inlet into Heaven for all tho&s;e that are true <HI>I&s;raelites;</HI> yet, in true propriety of Speech, there is but one Way, and but one Gate to Heaven: Yea, and our Saviour tells us, that Way is narrow, and that Gate is &s;trait; for &s;o we find his Words;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Matth. 7.14.</NOTE> <HI>Strait is the Gate, and narrow is the Way, that leadeth unto Life, and few there be that find it.</HI> The Command|ments of God are this Gate to the Heavenly City, and the two
<PB N="56" REF="37" MS="y">Tables of the Law are the two Leaves of this Gate, through which every one mu&s;t pa&s;s, that hopes to be admitted into the <HI>New Jeru&s;alem.</HI> And although <HI>David</HI> &s;eems to make this Gate very large, when he tells us, <HI>Thy Commandments are exceeding broad;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 119.96.</NOTE> yet that is only to be un|der&s;tood concerning the Autho|rity of its Injunctions, not of the Liberty of its Indulgence. It is exceeding broad in the Extent of its preceptive Power, for it pre&s;cribes Rules to all our Thoughts, Words, and Actions, and to every Circum&s;tance of each; but it is exceeding narrow and &s;trait in the Scope and Al|lowance that it gives us; that as &s;oon may <HI>a Camel go through the Eye of a Needle,</HI> as we pa&s;s through this Gate with the Bur|then of one unmortified Lu&s;t, or one unrepented Sin.</P>
<PB N="57" REF="37">
<P>But why is it &s;aid <HI>That tho&s;e that do God's Commandments may enter through the Gates into the City?</HI> <MILESTONE UNIT="Que&s;t."> Can any enter in as a Thief, or a Robber, over the Wall? Or can any, as an Enemy, &s;cale tho&s;e Eternal Ramparts, and take it by Inva&s;ion?</P>
<P><HI>I an&s;wer:</HI> This is &s;o expre&s;&s;ed, <MILESTONE UNIT="An&s;w."> to denote the free Acce&s;s and Admi&s;&s;ion of tho&s;e into Heaven, who are careful to obey the Commandments of God upon Earth: Such as the&s;e are free|born Citizens of Heaven; their whole E&s;tate, their whole Traf|fick, all their Trea&s;ure and Live|lihood is laid up there; they are free <HI>Denizens</HI> by the Charter of the New Covenant, they may challenge Ingre&s;s as their Right and Due; and he who hath the <HI>Keys of</HI> David,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rev. 3.7.</NOTE> <HI>who openeth and no Man &s;hutteth, and &s;hutteth and no
<PB N="58" REF="38">Man openeth,</HI> opens the Door to the&s;e, and lets them into tho&s;e Eternal Man&s;ions, which he hath purcha&s;ed and prepared for them.</P>
<P>The <HI>Fourth</HI> and la&s;t Query to be enquired into, <MILESTONE N="IV"><NOTE PLACE="marg">What Right Obedience giveth to the Tree of Life, and to the Heavenly City.</NOTE> is concerning that Right which Obedience to God's Commands gives us unto this <HI>Tree of Life,</HI> and to this <HI>Heaven|ly City;</HI> that is, to Eternal Life and Glory. Now here I &s;hall branch out this Query into Two; and &s;o I &s;hall &s;hew you,</P>
<P N="1">I. <MILESTONE N="1"> What that <HI>Obedience</HI> is, which gives us a <HI>Right</HI> to Heaven.</P>
<P N="2">II. <MILESTONE N="2"> What that <HI>Right</HI> is,<NOTE PLACE="marg">What that O|bedience is that is menti|oned in the Text.</NOTE> that this <HI>Obedience</HI> doth confirm.</P>
<P N="1">I. What that <HI>Obedience</HI> is, which gives us a <HI>Right</HI> to Heaven.</P>
<P><HI>I an&s;wer:</HI> <MILESTONE N="1"> It is not a Legal <HI>Obedience,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Not Legal Obe|dience.</NOTE> or a perfect per&s;onal Righteou&s;ne&s;s, that now gives us this <HI>Right</HI> to Heaven; this is
<PB N="59" REF="38">very plain, becau&s;e to con&s;titute this, it is nece&s;&s;ary that there be both Original Purity in our Na|tures, which &s;ince the Fall is mi&s;erably vitiated and corrupted; and al&s;o a Sinle&s;s Perfection in our Lives, in the con&s;tant Ob|&s;ervation of every <HI>Iota</HI> of the Law, both as to its Extention, and Intention; that we obey it in every part and tittle of it, and that our Obedience unto every part be rai&s;ed to the highe&s;t de|gree of Love, Zeal, and Cha|rity. This <HI>Title</HI> was once good, but it is now lo&s;t, by the Fall, in the common Ruine and Rub|bi&s;h of Mankind; and he who hath not another <HI>Title,</HI> upon bet|ter and ea&s;ier Terms, will find <HI>Cherubims,</HI> and the Flaming Sword of Divine Ju&s;tice, &s;et to guard the <HI>Tree of Life</HI> from his Approaches; as once they did from guilty <HI>Adam.</HI></P>
<P N="2"><PB N="60" REF="39">II. <MILESTONE N="2"> There is therefore another <HI>Obedience</HI> which gives a <HI>Right</HI> un|to the <HI>Tree of Life;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">It is Evange|lical Obedi|ence.</NOTE> and that is an Evangelical Obedience; which, according to the Grace, Conde&s;cen&s;ion, and Equity of the Go&s;pel, &s;hall be accepted unto, and rewarded with Ever|la&s;ting Happine&s;s. Now this Evangelical Obedience con&s;i&s;ts not indeed in Innocency and Perfection, but in &s;incere De&s;ires, and proportionable Endeavours after it; when we &s;trive to the utmo&s;t to live holily, and to walk more &s;trictly with God, accor|ding to the Rules that he hath pre&s;cribed us in his holy Word: And it con&s;i&s;ts of Two Parts; <HI>Mortification</HI> of our corrupt and &s;inful Affections, whereby we die daily unto Sin: And the <HI>Spi|ritual Penovation,</HI> and Quickning of our Graces, whereby we in|crea&s;e
<PB N="61" REF="39">daily in &s;piritual Strength, and make farther Progre&s;&s;es in Holine&s;s and true Piety. And as it con&s;i&s;ts of the&s;e Two Parts, &s;o hath it al&s;o the&s;e two Adjuncts.</P>
<P N="1">1. The one is, <MILESTONE N="1"> True Repen|tance for our pa&s;t Sins, reflecting upon them with Shame and Ha|tred, confe&s;&s;ing and bewailing them with Sorrow and Contri|tion, and endeavouring, with all Earne&s;tne&s;s and Sincerity, to ab|&s;tain from the Commi&s;&s;ion of the like for the future.</P>
<P N="2">2. The other is, <MILESTONE N="2"> A True and Lively Faith, whereby we rely on the Blood and Satisfaction of Je&s;us Chri&s;t, for the Remi&s;&s;ion of our Sins; and upon his per|fect Righteou&s;ne&s;s, and preva|lent Interce&s;&s;ion for the Accep|tation and Reward of our im|perfect Obedience.</P>
<PB N="62" REF="40">
<P>Who&s;oever doth thus &s;incerely do the Commandments of God, univer&s;ally and con&s;tantly, with his whole Strength and Mind, as though he expected to be &s;aved by the Merits of his own Works; and yet, after all, doth &s;o entirely rely on the Merits of Je&s;us Chri&s;t for Salvation, as though he had never done any thing: He it is, and he alone, who hath this <HI>Right unto the Tree of Eife, and &s;hall enter through the Gates into the Heavenly City.</HI> For he doth his Commandments out of a &s;incere Love; and God, who is Love, will own his Sincerity.</P>
<P><HI>Secondly,</HI> <MILESTONE N="II"> I come now to con|&s;ider what that <HI>Right</HI> is,<NOTE PLACE="marg">What Right Obedience gives to Eter|nal Life.</NOTE> which this Evangelical Obedience, or doing the Commands of the I aw, according to the Favour and Mercy of the Go&s;pel, doth confer upon us, by virtue of
<PB N="63" REF="40">which we may a&s;&s;uredly expect Eternal Life. And here,</P>
<P N="1">I. <MILESTONE N="I"> It cannot be a <HI>Right of Pur|chace, or Merit.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Not a Right of Purchace.</NOTE> It is a fooli&s;h Pre|&s;umption, and intollerable Arro|gance, to think we can de&s;erve any thing at the hands of God, unle&s;s it be his Wrath by our Sins. For,</P>
<P N="1">1. <MILESTONE N="1"> In all proper Merit there mu&s;t be an Equivalence,<NOTE PLACE="marg">In Merit there mu&s;t be an E|quivalence.</NOTE> or at lea&s;t a proportion of Worth be|tween the Work, and the Re|ward: Which to imagine be|tween our Obedience, and the Heavenly Glory, is to exalt the one infinitely too high, and to aba&s;e the other infinitely too low. What proportion is there be|tween <HI>a Cup of cold Water given to a Di&s;ciple of Chri&s;t,</HI> and that <HI>O|cean</HI> of Everla&s;ting Joy and Plea|&s;ure, which &s;hall be the Reward of it? A Man might more rea|&s;onably
<PB N="64" REF="41">expect to buy <HI>Stars</HI> with <HI>Counters,</HI> or to purcha&s;eaKingdom with Two Mites, than think to purcha&s;e the Heavenly Kingdom by paying down his Duties, and good Works, which are no way profitable unto God,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Job 22.3.</NOTE> <HI>(For is it a|ny Plea&s;ure to the Almighty that thou art righteous; or is it any Gain unto him, that thou make&s;t thy Way perfect?)</HI> and bear no more pro|portion to the infinite Glory of Heaven, than a &s;ingle <HI>Cypher</HI> doth to the numberle&s;s <HI>Sands</HI> of the <HI>Sea.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. <MILESTONE N="2"> The very Grace that ena|bles us to do the Command|ments of God,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Grace to obey is given freely.</NOTE> is freely be&s;tow|ed upon us by him&s;elf; and therefore the Obedience we per|form unto him, merely by his own A&s;&s;i&s;tance, cannot be &s;aid (with|out a grand Impropriety) to me|rit any Reward from him. Such
<PB REF="41">
<PB REF="42">
<PB N="65" REF="42">kind of Merit is but an idle and frivolous pretence: For certainly, he who gives me Money to buy an E&s;tate of him, doth as freely give me that E&s;tate, as if I had never bought it of him, but he had immediately be&s;towed the Land upon me, and not the Summ of Moncy.</P>
<P N="3">3. All our <HI>Obedience</HI> is imperfect, <MILESTONE N="3"> and therefore,<NOTE PLACE="marg">All our O|bedience is imper|fect.</NOTE> if it de&s;erve any thing, it is only Puni&s;hment for the Defects and Failures of it. This Coin is not currant, this Metal is ba&s;e and adulterated, the King's Stamp defaced and obliterated, the Edges clip'd, and the Super&s;cription, which &s;hould be on both &s;ides <HI>Ho|line&s;s to the Lord,</HI> is on the Rever&s;e at lea&s;t, <HI>A Sacrifice to Hypocri&s;ie, Formality, and Vain-Glory;</HI> and therefore this counterfeit and ba&s;e Alloy will not pa&s;s for Purcha&s;e-Money; and had it what it de|&s;erves,
<PB N="66" REF="43">it would be melted down in the Furnace of Hell.</P>
<P N="4">4. <MILESTONE N="4"> Suppo&s;e it were perfect, which it is not,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Obedience is due from us.</NOTE> yet is it no more than our bounden Duty; and Duty can ne|ver be meritorious. We are bound by the Law of Nature, and, as we are Creatures who have received our Beings, and the Continuance and Pre&s;ervation of them from God, to employ our &s;elves faithfully and a&s;&s;iduou&s;ly in his Service; and if, for our greater Encouragement therein, he hath promi&s;ed, and will be&s;tow upon us a va&s;t and uncon|ceivable Reward, we mu&s;t attri|bute it wholly to the Supereroga|tion of his free Bounty; for with|out this, all our Services were due to him before.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Luk. 17.9, 10.</NOTE> Thus our <HI>Saviour</HI> tells us, <HI>Doth the Ma&s;ter thank the Ser|vant becau&s;e he did the things that were commanded him? I trow not. So likewi&s;e ye; when you &s;hall have done
<PB N="67" REF="43">all tho&s;e things that are commanded you, &s;ay,</HI> (not in a complemental way, but with Truth and Sincerity) <HI>we are unprofitable Servants, we have but done that which was our Duty to do.</HI> And therefore certainly, if we cannot de&s;erve Thanks, much le&s;s can we de&s;erve &s;o ample a Reward as <HI>Eternal Life:</HI> And therefore tho&s;e that think to purcha&s;e <HI>Heaven</HI> and <HI>Eternal Life</HI> by doing that which is not commanded, nor their Duty, will find a fearful Di&s;appointment of their pre&s;umptuous Hopes, when they &s;hall hear that &s;ad Gree|ting, <HI>Who hath required the&s;e things at your hands?</HI></P>
<P>This <HI>Right</HI> then of Merit and Purcha&s;e is excluded, and no Man can have a <HI>Right</HI> to Heaven upon the Account of the Worth and Va|lue of his Works.</P>
<PB N="68" REF="44" MS="y">
<P>There is therefore a <HI>Threefold Right</HI> which they <HI>that do the Com|mandments of God,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Athreefold Right to Heaven.</NOTE> have to Heaven, and Eternal Happine&s;s.</P>
<P N="1">1. <MILESTONE N="1"> <HI>They have a Right of Evidence.</HI></P>
<P N="2">2. <MILESTONE N="2"> <HI>They have a Right of Inheritance.</HI></P>
<P N="3">3. <MILESTONE N="3"> <HI>They have a Right of Promi&s;e.</HI></P>
<P N="1">1. <MILESTONE N="1"> Obedience to God's Com|mandments gives us a <HI>Right of Evi|dence</HI> to Eternal Life.<NOTE PLACE="marg">A Right of Evidence.</NOTE> He is judged to have the be&s;t Right to an E&s;tate, who can produce the be&s;t Evidence for it. Now the be&s;t <HI>Evidence</HI> that can be &s;hewn for Heaven, is our unfeigned <HI>Obedience:</HI> All other things that Men may rely upon to ju&s;tifie their Title, will prove but forged Deeds, to which only the Spirit of Pre&s;umption or Enthu&s;ia&s;m hath &s;et his Seal, and not the Spirit of God; and therefore we find how mi&s;erably the Confidence of tho&s;e Wretches were di&s;mounted, and their Hopes fru&s;trated, who came
<PB N="69" REF="44">with <HI>Lord, Lord,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Matth. 7.22.</NOTE> <HI>Have we not pro|phe&s;ied in thy Name, and in thy Name ca&s;t out Devils, and in thy Name have done many wonderful Works?</HI> All this may be, and yet be no good Title, no good Evidence for Heaven; for if tho&s;e who ca&s;t out <HI>Devils,</HI> have not ca&s;t out their Lu&s;ts; if tho&s;e who <HI>prophe&s;ie</HI> in his Name, by their Sins di&s;honour and bla&s;pheme that Name; if tho&s;e who are Workers of <HI>Miracles,</HI> are yet Workers of I|niquity, he profe&s;&s;eth again&s;t them, that <HI>he knows them not;</HI> and com|mands them <HI>to depart from him for ever, as Workers of Iniquity;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Matth. 7, 22, 23.</NOTE> whereas on the contrary, we find a joyful and ble&s;&s;ed Sentence pronounced upon others, according to the Evi|dence brought in for them by their good Works; &s;o our Lord him&s;elf tells us, <HI>Come ye Ble&s;&s;ed of my Father,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Matth. 25.30.</NOTE> <HI>inherit the Kingdom prepared for you: for I was hungry, and ye gave me Meat;
<PB N="70" REF="45">for I was thir&s;ty, and yet gave me Drink; a Stranger, and ye took me in; naked, and ye cloathed me; &s;ick and in Pri&s;on, and ye vi&s;ited me.</HI> This Particle <HI>[For]</HI> is not a Note of <HI>Cau&s;ality</HI> or <HI>Merit,</HI> but only of <HI>Evidence;</HI> for as <HI>Evi|dences</HI> prove our <HI>Right</HI> to our Po&s;|&s;e&s;&s;ions, &s;o likewi&s;e our <HI>Obedience</HI> and good Works do effectually prove the <HI>Right</HI> which we have to Eternal Life, through Chri&s;t's Pur|cha&s;e, and God's free Donation; and therefore the Evidence being clear, the <HI>Sentence</HI> mu&s;t in Equity proceed accordingly. God, as a ju&s;t and righteous Judge, in&s;tates them in the Po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of the Kingdom of Heaven, becau&s;e they <HI>vi&s;ited,</HI> and <HI>relieved,</HI> and <HI>cheri&s;hed</HI> his Son in his Members: Not that their Love to him, or their Charity to them pur|cha&s;ed any &s;uch <HI>Right;</HI> but only proves and evinceth it: It is not the Cau&s;e of their Ju&s;tification, but
<PB N="71" REF="45">a Rea&s;on why God declares them ju&s;tified; as the Deeds which I pro|duce are the Rea&s;on why an E&s;tate is adjudged mine, though the Cau&s;e of my <HI>Title</HI> to it be either my own Purcha&s;e, or another's Gift. As therefore tho&s;e are &s;aid to have no <HI>Right</HI> nor <HI>Title</HI> to what they pre|tend, who can &s;hew no Evidence for it; &s;o tho&s;e who <HI>obey</HI> not the holy Will and Commands of God, have no <HI>Right</HI> to the <HI>Tree of Life,</HI> becau&s;e they have no Evidence to &s;hew, nor no Plea to urge for it, but will certainly be ca&s;t in their Suit.</P>
<P N="2">2. <MILESTONE N="2"> Tho&s;e that do God's Com|mandments have a <HI>Right</HI> of <HI>Heir|&s;hip,</HI> and <HI>Inheritance</HI> unto <HI>Eternal Life;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">A Right of Helr&s;hip.</NOTE> for they are born of God, and there|fore Heaven is their Patrimony, their Paternal E&s;tate; for &s;o are the Words of the Apo&s;tle,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Joh 2.29.</NOTE> <HI>Every one that doth Righteou&s;ne&s;s, is born of</HI>
<PB N="72" REF="46"><HI>God:</HI> And if they are born of God, then, according to the Apo&s;tle's Argumentation,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 8.17.</NOTE> <HI>If Children, then Heirs, Heirs of God, and Joint Heirs with Chri&s;t, who is the Heirof all things.</HI> The Trial of thy Legitimation, whether thou art a true and ge|nuine Son of God, will lie upon thy <HI>Obedience</HI> to his Commands; <HI>For in this,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Joh. 3.9.10.</NOTE> &s;ays the <HI>Apo&s;tle, the Chil|dren of God are manife&s;t, and the Chil|dren of the Devil: Who&s;oever is born of God, doth not commit Sin; and who&s;o|ever doth not Righteou&s;ne&s;s, is not of God.</HI> Now if by our Obedience and Dutifulne&s;s it appears that we are indeed the Children of God, our <HI>Father</HI> will certainly give us a Child's Portion, and that is no le&s;s than a <HI>Kingdom.</HI> So &s;aith our Sa|viour,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Luk. 12.32.</NOTE> <HI>Fear not, little Flock; it is your Father's good plea&s;ure to give you the Kingdom.</HI></P>
<P N="3"><PB N="73" REF="46">3. <MILESTONE N="3"><NOTE PLACE="marg">A Right of Promi&s;e.</NOTE> Tho&s;e that do God's Com|mandments have a <HI>Right</HI> to Eternal Life, by <HI>Promi&s;e</HI> and <HI>Stipulation;</HI> and therefore it is called <HI>Eternal Life,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Tit. 1.2.</NOTE> <HI>which God that cannot lie hath promi&s;ed.</HI> Indeed, the whole Tenour of the Go&s;pel is nothing el&s;e but the Ex|hibition of this Promi&s;e, and a Comment upon it. This is the Summ of the Go&s;pel, the Terms of the Covenant, the Indenture made be|tween God and Man;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Matth. 19.17.</NOTE> <HI>If thou wilt enter into Life,</HI> &s;ays our Saviour, <HI>keep the Commandments.</HI> And in another place our Lord tells us,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Matth. 7.21.</NOTE> <HI>Not eve|ry one that &s;aith unto me Lord, Lord, &s;hall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; but he that doth the Will of my Father which is in Heaven.</HI></P>
<P>And thus you &s;ee what <HI>Right</HI> it is, that Obedience to the Com|mands of God gives us to Eternal Life: <HI>A Right of Evidence, a Right of Heir&s;hip, and a Right of Promi&s;e.</HI></P>
<PB N="74" REF="47">
<P><HI>But,</HI> <MILESTONE UNIT="Object."> <HI>may &s;ome &s;ay, Is not this again to e&s;tabli&s;h the antiquated Covenant of Works;</HI> Do this, and live? <HI>And doth not this aboli&s;h the Law of Faith,</HI> He that believeth &s;hall be &s;aved? <HI>Is it not the Office of Faith alone to convey unto us a Right and Title unto Eternal Life?</HI></P>
<P><HI>I an&s;wer,</HI> <MILESTONE UNIT="An&s;wer."> No, it doth no preju|dice unto Faith; for we &s;till affirm, that our original and fundamental Right to Heaven is grounded, not upon our Obedience, but Chri&s;t's; not upon our Works, but upon his; his Merits and Purcha&s;e, which, through Faith, are imparted and imputed to us. Yet give me leave to &s;ay, that I think the Notion of Ju&s;tifying and Saving Faith is very much, if not generally mi&s;taken by us: And as the Soul is the mo&s;t noble, and mo&s;t vital Principle of Man, and yet is mo&s;t unknown to him what it is, and how it ope|rates;
<PB N="75" REF="47">&s;o Faith, which is the vi|tal Principle of Chri&s;tians, and by which the Ju&s;t are &s;aid to live, is yet mo&s;t unknown, both as to its Nature and Operations, unto the Generality of them: Some place it in A&s;&s;urance, &s;ome in Affiance and Recumbence; &s;ome in one Act of Faith, and &s;ome in another; which are either the Effects of Faith as true, or the Degrees of it as &s;trong, ra|ther than the proper and adequate Nature and E&s;&s;ence of it; and then they mightily puzzle them&s;elves how to accord and reconcile Faith and Obedience in carrying on the great Work of our Salvation, which yet were never at a variance about it, but only in their mi&s;taken <HI>Hypo|the&s;is:</HI> For what is Faith, but an A&s;|&s;ent to a Te&s;timony? The very force and import of the Word can carry no other Sen&s;e: And he that &s;aith he believes, mu&s;t needs mean he believes &s;ome Record or Te|&s;timony;
<PB N="76" REF="48">or el&s;e he &s;peaks that which neither him&s;elf, nor any other can under&s;tand. Con&s;equently there|fore a Divine Faith mu&s;t be an A&s;|&s;ent to a Divine Te&s;timony; that is, to the Word of God contained in the Holy Scriptures. But now if this Faith re&s;t only in a bare and naked A&s;&s;ent to the Truth of Di|vine Revelation, it is but Hi&s;torical and Dogmatical; which, though it be a Divine Faith in re&s;pect of the Objects believed, yet is it but Humane and Natural in re&s;pect of its Principle and Motives. But when this A&s;&s;ent to the Truths of the Scripture is joined with propor|tionable Affections to tho&s;e Truths, and doth excite us to Actions con|formable to the Di&s;coveries of the Divine Will, there this Faith is Ju|&s;tifying and Saving. And certain|ly this is not &s;o very di&s;tant from Obedience, as to be thought hardly
<PB N="77" REF="48">reconcileable with it. As for In|&s;tance, A Man may give a bare A&s;|&s;ent to this great Go&s;pel-Truth, that <HI>Je&s;us Chri&s;t came into the World to &s;ave Sinners,</HI> and yet this Faith may not &s;ave him, becau&s;e it may be unope|rative, and pa&s;s no farther than the Act of the Under&s;tanding: This is a dead Faith, which can never bring any Man to Heaven; yea, &s;uch a Faith as the very <HI>Devils,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Jam. 2.19.</NOTE> and <HI>Damned Spirits</HI> in Hell have, <HI>who believe and tremble.</HI> Another Man believes the &s;ame Truth, and a&s;&s;ents to the &s;ame Propo&s;ition; but this his A&s;&s;ent in|fluenceth his Affections, and go|verns his Actions, in Conformity to the Nature and Con&s;equences of &s;uch a Belief: And becau&s;e he is a&s;&s;ured that Je&s;us Chri&s;t came into the World to be the Saviour of it, therefore he loves him, tru&s;ts in him, relies upon him, hopes in his Promi&s;es, and obeys his Com|mands.
<PB N="78" REF="49">And this,<NOTE PLACE="marg">What Sa|ving Faith is.</NOTE> indeed, is a true Saving, Ju&s;tifying Faith; for Sa|ving Faith is a firm A&s;&s;ent unto the Truths of God revealed in the holy Scriptures, working in us propor|tionable Affections and Actions. He who &s;o believes <HI>the Glory of Hea|ven,</HI> as to have his Endeavours thereby quickned to u&s;e his utmo&s;t Diligence for the obtaining of it: He who &s;o believes <HI>the Torments of Hell,</HI> as thereby to be terrified from doing any thing that might expo&s;e him to &s;o great and fearful a Con|demnation: He who &s;o believes <HI>the Attributes of God,</HI> as thereby to be excited to fear him for his Great|ne&s;s, to love him for his Goodne&s;s, to imitate him in his Bounty, Pu|rity, and Holine&s;s: He who &s;o be|lieves <HI>the All-&s;ufficiency, Merits, and Mediatory Office of Je&s;us Chri&s;t,</HI> as thereby to be engaged with all his Soul to love him, to tru&s;t in him,
<PB N="79" REF="49">to rely upon him alone for Salva|tion, and to yield to him all &s;incere Obedience, as the Law requires; &s;uch an one's Faith is Saving and Ju&s;tifying. So that you &s;ee there is no &s;uch Di&s;cord between Faith and Works, as &s;ome would imagine; for that Faith that &s;aves us, <HI>mu&s;t work by Love;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Gal. 5.6.</NOTE> and tho&s;e Works which capacitate us for Salvation, mu&s;t be <HI>the Obedience of Faith,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 16.26.</NOTE> as it is called, <HI>Rom.</HI> 16.26.</P>
<P>Now, <MILESTONE UNIT="U&s;e."> What is the End of all this, but to pre&s;s you to true practi|cal Holine&s;s, and a &s;trict Obedience to the Commandments of God? If I &s;hould go from one Per&s;on to another, and ask you one by one, Do you hope to be &s;aved? Where is the Man that would not te&s;tifie the Confidence of his Hopes, by his Di&s;dain at the <HI>Que&s;tion?</HI> Yea, but remember that Salvation is a litigious Claim, and you have a
<PB N="80" REF="50">powerful Adver&s;ary that puts in a &s;trong Plea again&s;t you, even the Ju|&s;tice of God, and his Eternal Wrath and Vengeance; who&s;e Title to us, were it but better weighed and con|&s;idered, would wofully &s;tagger the Hopes of mo&s;t Men, and make their Faces gather Blackne&s;s, and &s;mite their Hearts with Amazement, and their Knees with Trembling. In a Matter of &s;uch infinite Impor|tance, it highly concerns us to ex|amine our <HI>Right</HI> and <HI>Title,</HI> and to peru&s;e and try our <HI>Evidences,</HI> le&s;t at the Day of Trial we be ca&s;t in our Suit, and pay dreadful Dama|ges unto the Ju&s;tice of God.</P>
<P>Only tho&s;e who <HI>do God's Command|ments</HI> have this <HI>Right to the Tree of Life.</HI> Chri&s;t hath indeed purcha|&s;ed Salvation for all,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Heb 5.19.</NOTE> but <HI>he is the Author of Salvation only to tho&s;e who obey him,</HI> as the Author to the <HI>Hebrews</HI> &s;peaks:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Heb 2.14.</NOTE> And, <HI>Without Holine&s;s no Man
<PB REF="50">
<PB REF="51">
<PB N="81" REF="51">&s;hall ever &s;ee the Lord.</HI> The Inheri|tance is indeed purcha&s;ed, but where are your Evidences of your <HI>Heir&s;hip?</HI> Sirs, flatter not your &s;elves with any vain Conceits of the Mercy of the Go&s;pel, in prejudice to the Autho|rity of the Law: The Command|ments are the Statute-Law of God's Kingdom, the Go&s;pel is his Court of Chancery; but neither Ju&s;tice nor Equity will relieve tho&s;e who have not done their utmo&s;t to ob|&s;erve his Statute-Law; and there|fore tho&s;e who indulge them&s;elves in their Sloth, and wilful Neglect, both of what they ought, and might have done, do but deceive their Souls with vain Hopes; they have no <HI>Right</HI> to the <HI>Eternal Inheri|tance,</HI> but their Portion mu&s;t for ever be with <HI>Dogs and Swine,</HI> with|out the <HI>holy City</HI> into which no un|clean thing &s;hall ever enter. And if any think this Legal Preaching, let mine ever be &s;o.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="sermon">
<PB N="82" REF="52">
<HEAD>THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST, &amp;c.</HEAD>
<EPIGRAPH>
<BIBL><HI>ACT. II. xxiv.</HI></BIBL>
<Q>Whom God hath rai&s;ed up, ha|ving loo&s;ed the Pains of Death, becau&s;e it was not po&s;&s;ible that he &s;hould be holden of it.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>CHri&s;tian Religion is founded upon &s;uch my&s;terious and &s;upernatural Truths,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Introdu|ction.</NOTE> and the Prin|ciples of it are &s;o paradoxal to the received Opinions of Mankind, that the greate&s;t Per&s;ecution it ever found in the World, was not &s;o much from Fire and Sword, Racks
<PB N="83" REF="52">and Tortures, the evident Cruelties of the fir&s;t Oppo&s;ers of it, as from the Magi&s;terial Dictates of partial and corrupt Rea&s;on.</P>
<P>The <HI>Philo&s;ophers,</HI> whom <HI>Tertullian</HI> calls the <HI>Patrons of Hereticks,</HI> have e&s;tabli&s;hed Two peremptory <HI>Max|ims,</HI> utterly repugnant unto what the <HI>Scripture</HI> reveals to us, both con|cerning our Happine&s;s and Com|fort: The one is, <HI>Ex nihilo, nihil ha|betur: Out of nothing, nothing can be made;</HI> directly levell'd again&s;t the Creation of the World. And the other is, <HI>A privatione ad habitum non datur Regre&s;&s;us: There is no Re&s;tora|tion of the &s;ame Being, after a total Corruption and Di&s;&s;olution of it;</HI> which &s;till continues a great Prejudice a|gain&s;t the Re&s;urrection of our Bo|dies; which the <HI>Oracles</HI> of <HI>Rea&s;on</HI> have &s;o much troubled the World with, that what&s;oever &s;eem'd in the lea&s;t contradictory to it, they
<PB N="84" REF="53">judged contradictory to common Sen&s;e, and exploded it as ridiculous and impo&s;&s;ible. Under the&s;e great Di&s;advantages the <HI>Chri&s;tian Religion</HI> labour'd, whil&s;t it not only own'd the Creation of the World out of nothing, formerly de&s;cribed by <HI>Mo|&s;es;</HI> but more clearly and openly atte&s;ted the Re&s;urrection of the Dead, which before was not either &s;o clearly known, or &s;o clearly pro|ved; for the&s;e Doctrines were held &s;o ab&s;urd by the great <HI>Sophi&s;ters</HI> of the World, who&s;e Minds were too deeply tinctur'd with contrary No|tions, that they look'd upon the <HI>Chri&s;tian Religion</HI> as a De&s;ign rather to de&s;troy <HI>Rea&s;on,</HI> than to &s;ave the Soul; accounting it a very ab&s;urd thing to believe in a crucified Sa|viour, as being a Per&s;on weak and impotent; or the future Re&s;urre|ction, as being a thing utterly im|po&s;&s;ible.</P>
<PB N="85" REF="53">
<P>We find the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> to the <HI>Corin|thians</HI> complaining, that the <HI>Greeks,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor 1.24.</NOTE> who were then the great Ma&s;ters of Wi&s;dom and Learning, e&s;teemed a crucified Chri&s;t Fooli&s;hne&s;s, and thought tho&s;e Men little befriend|ed by <HI>Rea&s;on,</HI> that would depend for Life upon one that lo&s;t his own; and venture to take off the Shame|fulne&s;s of the <HI>Cro&s;s,</HI> or to &s;ilence tho&s;e Scoffs that were ca&s;t upon them for their Credulity, who af|firm the wonderful <HI>Re&s;urrection</HI> of a dead Saviour, and his glorious Triumph over <HI>Death</HI> and the <HI>Grave.</HI> For this &s;eemed to them no other than to &s;olve an Ab&s;urdity by an Impo&s;&s;ibility, and make Rea&s;on more &s;u&s;picious, in that they judg|ed the Fundamentals of <HI>Rea&s;on</HI> mu&s;t be overthrown, to make the Fundamentals of <HI>Chri&s;tianity</HI> any way tolerable or po&s;&s;ible. Wherefore we find that even at <HI>Athens,</HI> that great
<PB N="86" REF="54">Concour&s;e of Wits, where all the <HI>Sect</HI> of <HI>Philo&s;ophers</HI> made their common Retreat; yet when Saint <HI>Paul</HI> preached to them <HI>Je&s;us,</HI> and the <HI>Re&s;urrection,</HI> this Doctrine &s;eem'd &s;o ab&s;urd and fooli&s;h to them, and &s;o contrary to all Prin|ciples of right <HI>Rea&s;on,</HI> that they forgot that Civility that u&s;ually is found in Men of inqui&s;itive Spi|rits, and brake out into open Re|proaches and Revilings;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Acts 17.18</NOTE> <HI>What will this Babler &s;ay? becau&s;e he preached to them Je&s;us, and the Re&s;urrection.</HI> No doubt they wanted not very &s;pecious Arguments to urge again&s;t the <HI>Re&s;urrection</HI> of the Body: As fir&s;t, The Impo&s;&s;ibility of a Re|collection of the di&s;per&s;ed Parti|cles of Men, re&s;olved into their Elements, and &s;catter'd by the Four Winds of Heaven; though it might be very well retorted on the <HI>Epi|cureans,</HI> who di&s;puted with Saint
<PB N="87" REF="54"><HI>Paul,</HI> again&s;t the <HI>Re&s;urrection,</HI> that it was not &s;o unlikely a thing, that there might be a Re-union of the &s;catter'd Parts of the &s;ame Man, as the fortuitous Concour&s;e of <HI>Atoms</HI> at the fir&s;t Making of the World; yet this <HI>Objection</HI> overbore and prevail'd with <HI>Heathens,</HI> that when they burnt the Bodies of <HI>Chri&s;tians,</HI> they ca&s;t their A&s;hes into the Rivers, to confute their Hopes of ever being rai&s;ed again; from whence they &s;hould be car|ried away into an unknown <HI>Ocean,</HI> and there be made the Sport of Winds and Waves. But what our <HI>Saviour</HI> &s;ays upon the &s;ame Oc|ca&s;ion to the <HI>Sadduces,</HI> may be &s;aid unto the&s;e Men; <HI>You err,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Matth. 22.29.</NOTE> <HI>not know|ing the Scriptures, nor the Power of God:</HI> For unle&s;s their Parts could be &s;catter'd beyond the reach of <HI>Omnipotency,</HI> unle&s;s they could be ground &s;o &s;mall, as to &s;cape the
<PB N="88" REF="55"><HI>Knowledge</HI> and <HI>Care</HI> of God, who ordereth and rangeth every Mote that plays up and down in the <HI>Sun|beams,</HI> this Di&s;per&s;ion of the Body proves not the Impo&s;&s;ibility of their Union, becau&s;e the <HI>Power</HI> and <HI>Pro|vidence</HI> of God will gather up e|very Du&s;t, and rally them together again, into the &s;ame Place and Order as now they are.</P>
<P>Another Argument again&s;t the <HI>Re&s;urrection of the Body,</HI> <MILESTONE UNIT="Objection."> may be the various Changes dead Bodies under|go; being fir&s;t turn'd into Earth, that again turn'd into Gra&s;s and Herbs, that becoming Nouri&s;hment for other Men or Bea&s;ts, that Nou|ri&s;hment again pa&s;&s;ing into their Sub&s;tance, making a kind of <HI>Tran&s;|migration</HI> of <HI>Bodies,</HI> as <HI>Pythagoras</HI> would have there was of Souls: which is very evident in the Ca&s;e of <HI>Anthropomorphites,</HI> and <HI>Men-Eat|ers,</HI> who have, of &s;everal parts of
<PB N="89" REF="55">other Men's Bodies, compounded their own. And &s;o the &s;ame <HI>Que|stion</HI> may be demanded, which the <HI>Sadduces</HI> asked our <HI>Saviour,</HI> concern|ing the &s;even Brethren that married the &s;ame Woman, <HI>who&s;e Wife of the &s;even &s;he &s;hould be at the Re&s;ur|rection?</HI> So here, tho&s;e Parts that belonged to &s;o many Men, to which of them belong they in the <HI>Re&s;ur|rection,</HI> without detriment to the re&s;t? Here the &s;ame An&s;wer oc|currs, that Chri&s;t gave them;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Matth. 22.29.</NOTE> <HI>You err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the Power of God;</HI> who is the be&s;t Judge of Property, and can re&s;olve all tho&s;e Parts, by which any Nou|ri&s;hment hath been received by any other Creatures, unto their own proper <HI>Bodies</HI> again.</P>
<P>And thus it appears, the&s;e <HI>Argu|ments</HI> again&s;t the <HI>Re&s;urrection</HI> of the Body, amount not to prove the Im|po&s;&s;ibility of the Effect; but only
<PB N="90" REF="56">the Supernatural Almighty Power of the Efficient. Wherefore, gran|ting the <HI>Re&s;urrection</HI> impo&s;&s;ible, ac|cording to the Original Cour&s;e of Natural Things, yet when an Om|nipotent Arm doth interpo&s;e, which gives Laws unto it, who dares to &s;ay, the Creature may be brought to &s;uch a State of Di&s;&s;olution, as may out-reach the Dominion of the Almighty Creator.</P>
<P>Upon the&s;e Grounds it is, that the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> urgeth,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Act. 26.8.</NOTE> <HI>why it &s;hould be thought a strange and incredible thing, that God &s;hould rai&s;e the Dead;</HI> and in the <HI>Text,</HI> that he a&s;&s;erts the <HI>Re|&s;urrection</HI> of <HI>Chri&s;t.</HI> And to pre|vent any fallacious Cavils again&s;t it, he &s;hews,</P>
<P><HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> <MILESTONE N="I"> That <HI>God rai&s;ed him from the Dead;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Divi&s;ion of the Words.</NOTE> and therefore it was not to be accounted a thing impo&s;&s;ible, &s;ince to God nothing could imply a Contradiction.</P>
<PB N="91" REF="56">
<P><HI>Secondly,</HI> <MILESTONE N="II"> He doth not only a&s;&s;ert the Po&s;&s;ibility, but the Impo&s;&s;ibili|ty of his final Continuance under the Power of Death. The Grave that gra&s;ps and retains all other Mortals, was not able to detain him who hath Immortality and Life dwelling in him&s;elf: <HI>It was not po&s;&s;ible he &s;hould be holden of it,</HI> there|fore God hath rai&s;ed him up, <HI>loo&s;ing the Pains of Death. Whom God rai&s;ed up:</HI> Here is the Efficient Cau&s;e of <HI>Chri&s;t's Re&s;urrection,</HI> in the concur|rent Action of the whole <HI>Trinity;</HI> for all that God doth out of him|&s;elf, is a&s;cribed to all the Three Per|&s;ons. Sometimes it is a&s;cribed to the <HI>Father,</HI> as the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> &s;peaks,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Acts 3.13.15.</NOTE> <HI>The God of</HI> Abraham, <HI>and of</HI> I&s;aac, <HI>and of</HI> Jacob, <HI>the God of our Fathers, hath glorified his Son</HI> Je&s;us, <HI>whom ye delive|red up, and denied the Holy One, and the Ju&s;t, de&s;iring a Murtherer; and kil|led the Prince of Life, whom God hath
<PB N="92" REF="57">rai&s;ed from the Dead.</HI> Sometimes it is a&s;cribed to the <HI>Son,</HI> who by the in|finite Power of his Divinity, rai&s;ed up his Humane Nature from the Grave: So our Saviour him&s;elf tells us,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. 3.18.</NOTE> <HI>I lay down my Life of my &s;elf: I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again.</HI> The &s;ame may be collected of the <HI>Holy Gho&s;t,</HI> from the Words of the Apo&s;tle;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 8.11.</NOTE> <HI>If the Spi|rit of him that rai&s;ed up Je&s;us from the Dead dwell in you, he that rai&s;ed up Chri&s;t from the Dead, &s;hall al&s;o quicken your mortal Bodies by his Spirit.</HI> Now if the Spirit of God can quicken our Bodies, the &s;ame Spirit al&s;o can quick|en the Body of Chri&s;t, &s;ince it is the &s;ame Spirit that quickens both the Head, and the Members.</P>
<P><HI>Having loo&s;ed the Pains of Death:</HI> In &s;ome Copies it is, <HI>Having loo&s;ed the Pains of Hell;</HI> which po&s;&s;ibly gave Occa&s;ion to that fond Opinion of &s;ome, that Chri&s;t de&s;cended in|to
<PB N="93" REF="57">Hell, and there underwent the Pains and Penalties of that infernal Place, as full Satisfaction to the Ju|&s;tice of God; and that the&s;e were the Pains God rai&s;ed or loo&s;ed him from in his <HI>Re&s;urrection.</HI> But this Conceit is erroneous and extrava|gant, and de&s;erves no &s;erious Con|futation, e&s;pecially becau&s;e it plain|ly contradicts Chri&s;t's <HI>Con&s;ummatum e&s;t</HI> upon the Cro&s;s; for when Chri&s;t had undergone his Sufferings on the Cro&s;s, he &s;aid, <HI>It is fini&s;hed,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh 18.13.</NOTE> <HI>and &s;o gave up the Gho&s;t.</HI> If Chri&s;t there|fore did undergo any farther Suffe|rings and Pains than tho&s;e Suffe|rings he underwent on the Cro&s;s, tho&s;e Suff<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">ings would have been &s;o far from being compleated and fini&s;hed that they would have been but th<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter"> <HI>Praeludium,</HI> and Beginning of his <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">orrows, <HI>Having loo&s;ed the <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span"> Death,</HI> it implies no more <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span"> God rai&s;ed Je&s;us Chri&s;t
<PB N="94" REF="58">from Death, which, after many dolorous Pains, he &s;uffered. It fol|lows, <HI>It was not po&s;&s;ible he &s;hould be holden of it.</HI> This is that I intend principally to in&s;i&s;t upon; and here I &s;hall &s;hew upon what Accounts it was altogether impo&s;&s;ible for Chri&s;t to be detained under the Power of <HI>Death;</HI> and my <HI>Arguments</HI> for the Proof hereof are the&s;e that follow.</P>
<P><HI>Fir&s;t,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Rea&s;ons why Chri&s;t could not be held un|der the Power of Death.</NOTE> It was impo&s;&s;ible Chri&s;t &s;hould be held under the Power of Death, becau&s;e of that great and ineffable My&s;tery of the Hypo&s;ta|tical Union of the Divine and Hu|mane Nature in the Per&s;on of Chri&s;t. <MILESTONE N="I"><NOTE PLACE="marg">Becau&s;e of the Hypo|&s;tatical Union.</NOTE> There are three <HI>Unions,</HI> the Belief of which are the Foundation of the greate&s;t part of the <HI>Chri&s;tian Religion,</HI> which are wholly beyond the reach of Rea&s;on: The <HI>My&s;tical Union</HI> of a Believer unto Chri&s;t: The <HI>Union,</HI> or rather <HI>Unity</HI> of the three Glorious Per&s;ons, <HI>the Father, the Son,</HI> and <HI>the
<PB N="95" REF="58">Holy Gho&s;t,</HI> in one Nature; and this <HI>Hypo&s;tatical Union</HI> of two Na|tures in one Per&s;on, in the Medi|ator. It is a My&s;tery <HI>Angels</HI> pry into, and adore, with Wonder and A&s;to|ni&s;hment, how the Eternal, only begotten Son of God &s;hould a&s;&s;ume Fle&s;h to him&s;elf, in &s;o clo&s;e and in|timate a Conjunction, that though he be Eternal, yet he &s;hould be born; though he be Immortal, yet he &s;hould truly die; and though he were truly dead, yet he &s;hould rai&s;e him&s;elf to Life again. The&s;e are things that &s;eem very incon&s;i&s;tent one with another, yet they truly come to pa&s;s through this miracu|lous Union, which tran&s;cends the Reach of <HI>Rea&s;on,</HI> as far as the&s;e things do that of Nature. That the &s;ame Per&s;on that is Eternal, &s;hould be young; yea, be born in the Fulne&s;s of Time. That the &s;ame Per&s;on that hath Immortality
<PB N="96" REF="59">and Life dwelling in him&s;elf, &s;hould al&s;o die a &s;hameful and accur&s;ed Death. That the &s;ame Per&s;on that was truly and really dead, yet had a power to quicken and recover him&s;elf, <HI>Joh.</HI> 10.18. And this was it which <HI>declared him to be the Son of God with Power,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 1.4.</NOTE> as the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> &s;peaks, <HI>even by his Re&s;urrection from the Dead.</HI> And indeed, if he had not ri&s;en from the Dead; the Deity would have &s;uffered in the Opinion of the World; nor would they have be|lieved him to be the Son of God, who would &s;uffer him&s;elf to lie un|der the Dominion of <HI>Death,</HI> longer than the End of his <HI>Death</HI> required it: And this I &s;hall demon&s;trate to you by two Arguments; only pre|mi&s;ing this, which is a common and true Maxim among Divines; <HI>That when the Natural Union between Chri&s;t's Body and Soul was di&s;&s;olved, yet both Soul and Body did retain the
<PB N="97" REF="59">Hypo&s;tatical Union to the Divine Na|ture. The Divine Nature was united to the Body of Chri&s;t, when the Soul was &s;eparated from it.</HI></P>
<P N="1">I. <MILESTONE N="1"> If Chri&s;t could not have rai|&s;ed him&s;elf, it mu&s;t have been ei|ther from a Want of Power, or from a Want of Will to do it. He could not want Power to rai&s;e him&s;elf, becau&s;e he was God, equal in Power, and in all other Divine At|tributes, with the Father. As the <HI>Re&s;urrection of the Dead</HI> is not impo&s;|&s;ible to the infinite Power of God, &s;o neither can it be that that God who had a Will to a&s;&s;ume our Fle&s;h, &s;hould want a Will to rai&s;e it up: That that God who &s;o lov'd the Humane Nature, as to a&s;&s;ociate it into Onene&s;s of Per&s;on with him|&s;elf, &s;hould yet &s;uffer it to continue under the power of <HI>Death,</HI> which is, of all things, mo&s;t contrary to his natural Inclinations. We &s;ee
<PB N="98" REF="60">Chri&s;t, in his Agony, prayed mo&s;t fervently that the bitter Cup might pa&s;s from him, in&s;omuch that he &s;trained clotted Blood through him; and certainly, one Ingredi|ent into that Cup was the Separa|tion of Soul and Body by <HI>Death;</HI> which is that which even innocent Nature it &s;elf abhorred, as de&s;tru|ctive to him; yet having taken our Nature upon him for this very End, that <HI>by Death he might de&s;troy him that had the power of Death,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Heb. 2.14.</NOTE> <HI>that is, the De|vil,</HI> he voluntarily &s;ubmitted him|&s;elf to undergo it; and this End be|ing fully accompli&s;h'd by his <HI>Death,</HI> and the Truth of his <HI>Death</HI> likewi&s;e atte&s;ted by his lying three Days in the Earth, it was altogether impo&s;|&s;ible that that Per&s;on who had an Abhorrence of Death, and a Power to rai&s;e him&s;elf, &s;hould continue longer under the Arre&s;t and Domi|nion of it. And this is the <HI>fir&s;t</HI> De|mon&s;tration
<PB N="99" REF="60">of the Nece&s;&s;ity of the Re&s;urrection of Chri&s;t, upon the Account of both Natures in one Per&s;on: As Man, &s;o he abhorred the Separation of Soul and Body; as God, &s;o he was able to re-unite them: So that having, as Man, a De&s;ire to live, and as God, a Power to live, it was impo&s;&s;ible for him to be holden of <HI>Death.</HI></P>
<P N="2">II. <MILESTONE N="2"> Becau&s;e of the Union of the Divine and Humane Nature in the Per&s;on of Chri&s;t, it was impo&s;&s;ible that his Fle&s;h &s;hould &s;ee Corrup|tion; which yet it mu&s;t certainly have done, had he not been rai&s;ed in a &s;hort &s;pace after his Death. for &s;ince Chri&s;t's Body was not a phanta&s;tical Body, as &s;ome of old held, but made of true Fle&s;h, and of the &s;ame Temper and Con&s;titu|tion with ours, it mu&s;t, without a <HI>Miracle,</HI> have undergone &s;uch Chan|ges after <HI>Death</HI> as ours &s;hall do;
<PB N="100" REF="61">and to imagine the contrary, is but to feign one <HI>Miracle,</HI> to avoid the nece&s;&s;ity of another, even of the <HI>Re&s;urrection.</HI> But now, it was ut|terly impo&s;&s;ible that that Body that was united to both Natures, by &s;o clo&s;e and unconceivable a Bond, &s;hould ever &s;ee Corruption; that is, a Putrefaction in the Grave: This the <HI>Scripture</HI> clearly a&s;&s;erts to us;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Act. 2.28.</NOTE> <HI>Thou wilt not leave my Soul in Hell, neither wilt thou &s;uffer thine Ho|ly One to &s;ee Corruption.</HI> And al&s;o, becau&s;e all Bodies that are corrup|ted turn into &s;ome other Thing, and &s;ome other Nature, according to that undoubted Maxim of the <HI>Philo&s;ophers, Corruptio unius e&s;t Gene|ratio alterius:</HI> And &s;o this horrid and bla&s;phemous Con&s;equence would follow, that the Divine Nature of the Son of God might have been joyned to &s;ome other. So that it was nece&s;&s;ary that Chri&s;t &s;hould be
<PB N="101" REF="61">rai&s;ed again, before any Corruption or Putrefaction, by ordinary Cour&s;e of Nature, &s;eized upon him.</P>
<P>Thus I have proved by the&s;e <HI>two Arguments,</HI> that becau&s;e of the <HI>Hy|po&s;tatical Union</HI> of the Divine and Humane Nature of Chri&s;t in one Per&s;on, it was altogether impo&s;&s;i|ble he could be holden of <HI>Death.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Secondly,</HI> Another <HI>Argument</HI> is this, <MILESTONE N="II"> It was impo&s;&s;ible Chri&s;t &s;hould be holden of <HI>Death,</HI> becau&s;e of God's Veracity, and the Truth of tho&s;e Predictions which were before made concerning Chri&s;t, in tho&s;e many <HI>Types</HI> and <HI>Prophecies</HI> of the <HI>Old Te&s;tament;</HI> all which God's Faith|fulne&s;s &s;tood engaged to fulfil. I &s;hall only mention that famous <HI>Prediction</HI> which St. <HI>Peter</HI> here &s;ub|joins, as a Proof of the Subject I am now treating upon: <HI>It was not po&s;&s;ible,</HI> &s;ays he,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Act. 2.2<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">.27.</NOTE> <HI>that Chri&s;t &s;hould be holden of Death;</HI> for God, faith the
<PB N="102" REF="62"><HI>Apo&s;tle,</HI> as <HI>David</HI> &s;aith concerning him; <HI>Thou wilt not leave my Soul in Hell, nor &s;uffer thine Holy One to &s;ee Corruption.</HI> And this <HI>Prophecy</HI> the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> quotes out of the <HI>P&s;almi&s;t;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 16 10</NOTE> which, that it did not belong to <HI>David,</HI> nor did he &s;peak it concer|ning him&s;elf, when he indicted that <HI>P&s;alm,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Act. 2.<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter">9, <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="2 letters">.</NOTE> the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> proves, <HI>Ver.</HI> 29, 30. of this <HI>Chapter;</HI> where he proves that <HI>David</HI> was dead and bu|ried, and underwent the common Lot that all other dead Bodies did, putrefying and mouldering away in the Earth; and therefore he was not that <HI>Holy One</HI> that &s;hould never &s;ee Corruption, becau&s;e that <HI>Prophecy</HI> mu&s;t belong to &s;uch an one who mu&s;t &s;o ta&s;te of <HI>Death;</HI> and this is clearly implied in the former Expre&s;&s;ion, <HI>Thou wilt not leave my Soul in Hell,</HI> that is, in the State o<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 letter"> the Dead, for &s;o is Hell to be un|der&s;tood there, as I &s;hall &s;hew
<PB N="103" REF="62">more at large: Neither could it belong to any of tho&s;e who, before Chri&s;t, were rai&s;ed miraculou&s;ly from the Dead, and brought back out of the State of <HI>Death;</HI> yet was it not in &s;uch a manner, that they were not to return again to it: So that if they did not in the fir&s;t, yet in their &s;econd Dying they &s;aw Corruption. This then could be|long to none of them, and there|fore mu&s;t of nece&s;&s;ity belong to Chri&s;t. And &s;ince the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> lays &s;o much &s;tre&s;s on this Argument, give me leave a little to con&s;ider the meaning of it, and how it is applicable to him. And here I &s;hall not trouble you with the va|rious <HI>Opinions</HI> of tho&s;e that have at|tempted to interpret the&s;e Words, <HI>Thou wilt not leave my Soul in Hell;</HI> that by this <HI>Hell,</HI> into which Chri&s;t de&s;cended, is meant the place of the Damned, where he preached the
<PB N="104" REF="63"><HI>Go&s;pel</HI> to them, freeing tho&s;e that would believe from their Pains. Others think that this Hell, into which Chri&s;t de&s;cended, was one great Partition of it, called <HI>Limbus Patrum,</HI> the Repo&s;itory of the Souls of tho&s;e <HI>Fathers</HI> who died in Obe|dience to God, and in Faith to the <HI>Me&s;&s;ias,</HI> before Chri&s;t came in the Fle&s;h: And the Rea&s;on of his De&s;cent thither was, that he might relea&s;e tho&s;e Souls from Chains, and carry them with him to Hea|ven; &s;o that ever &s;ince, that <HI>Man|&s;ion</HI> in <HI>Hell</HI> hath been left void, without any Inhabitants. But this <HI>Opinion</HI> is not capable of any &s;uffi|cient Proof; I &s;hall therefore give you that Interpretation and Judg|ment which carries with it the &s;tronge&s;t Current, both of <HI>Scripture</HI> and <HI>Rea&s;on.</HI> The Word <HI>Hades,</HI> that we <HI>tran&s;late Hell,</HI> is very of|ten, by the <HI>Septuagint,</HI> in the <HI>Old
<PB N="105" REF="63">Te&s;tament,</HI> u&s;ed to &s;ignifie the <HI>Grave,</HI> or the State of the Dead. So in <HI>Gen.</HI> 44. <HI>I&s;hades,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Gen. 44.31.</NOTE> we <HI>tran&s;late</HI> it the <HI>Grave,</HI> but it is the &s;ame Word that is u&s;ed for <HI>Hell</HI> in the <HI>Text.</HI> And thus the Word is u&s;ed in other places of <HI>Scripture,</HI> as al&s;o in other <HI>Authors,</HI> to &s;ignifie the Place and State of the <HI>Dead,</HI> and of &s;e|parate Souls. And for the lea|ving the Soul of Chri&s;t in <HI>Hades,</HI> or in <HI>Hell,</HI> we mu&s;t know, that it is a thing that is not unu&s;ual in <HI>Scripture,</HI> to call a Man that is <HI>dead</HI> by the Name of <HI>Soul:</HI> So the <HI>Sep|tuagint</HI> tran&s;late that place in <HI>Levi|ticus,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Levit. 21.11.</NOTE> <HI>They &s;hall not be defiled with dead Souls,</HI> meaning dead Carca|&s;es, <HI>neither &s;hall they go into any dead Souls,</HI> the Word is dead Bodies. But not to detain you any longer on this Speculation, though of great u&s;e for the right under&s;tan|ding of this excellent place of <HI>Scrip|ture:</HI>
<PB N="106" REF="64">If we take <HI>Hell</HI> for the <HI>Grave,</HI> we mu&s;t take the <HI>Soul</HI> for the <HI>Body, Thou wilt not leave my Body in the Grave:</HI> But if by <HI>Hell</HI> be here under&s;tood the State of <HI>Death,</HI> that is, the State of Separation of <HI>Soul</HI> and <HI>Body,</HI> the Interpretation will be more ea&s;ie and natural, <HI>Thou wilt not leave my Soul</HI> in a State of Separation from the <HI>Body,</HI> but wilt certainly unite them together a|gain, and rai&s;e me up before I &s;hall feel Corruption. Thus I have given you the Interpretation of the <HI>Prophecy</HI> of <HI>David,</HI> which, upon the Account of God's Truth and Veracity, was to take effect in the <HI>Re&s;urrection</HI> of our Saviour; and therefore being foretold <HI>he &s;hould not &s;ee Corruption,</HI> the Faith|fulne&s;s of God was obliged within that time inviolably to rai&s;e him up. And that is the &s;econd <HI>Rea|&s;on</HI> why it was impo&s;&s;ible Chri&s;t
<PB N="107" REF="64">&s;hould be holden of <HI>Death,</HI> be|cau&s;e it was foretold of him, <HI>that his Soul &s;hould not re&s;t in Hell;</HI> that is, either his Body in the Grave, or his Soul in a State of Separation from his Body.</P>
<P><HI>Thirdly,</HI> Another <HI>Argument</HI> is this: <MILESTONE N="III"><NOTE PLACE="marg">God's Ju|&s;tice would not &s;uffer Chri&s;t to lie in the Grave.</NOTE> <HI>It was impo&s;&s;ible Chri&s;t could be holden by Death, upon the Account of God's Ju&s;tice.</HI> For Ju&s;tice, as it doth ob|lige to inflict Puni&s;hment upon the Guilty, &s;o al&s;o to ab&s;olve and ac|quit the Innocent. Now, though Chri&s;t <HI>knew no Sin,</HI> yet was he <HI>made Sin for us;</HI> that is, our Sins were imputed to, and charged upon him, and &s;o, through a vo|luntary Su&s;ception and Underta|king of them, he became guilty of them: Hereupon Divine Ju&s;tice &s;eized upon him, as being our Surety, and demanded Satisfaction from him for our Offences: Now no other Satisfaction would be ac|ceptable
<PB N="108" REF="65">unto God, nor commen|&s;urate to our Sins, but the bearing of an infinite Load of Wrath and Vengeance; which if it had been laid upon us, mu&s;t have been pro|longed to an Eternity of Suffe|rings; for becau&s;e we are finite Creatures, we cannot bear infinite Degrees of Wrath at once, and therefore we mu&s;t have lain under tho&s;e infinite Degrees of Wrath to an infinite Duration: But now Chri&s;t being God, he could bear the Load of infinite Degrees of Wrath at once upon him. In that one bitter Draught, the whole Cup of that Fury and Wrath of God, that we &s;hould have been everla|&s;tingly a drinking off, by little Drops, Chri&s;t drank off at once. Now it is the <HI>Nature</HI> and <HI>Con&s;titu|tion</HI> of all <HI>Laws,</HI> that when a Per|&s;on by undergoing the Penalty that tho&s;e Laws require, hath made
<PB N="109" REF="65">&s;atisfaction for the Offence com|mitted, the Per&s;on &s;atisfying ought to be protected as innocent. It could not therefore con&s;i&s;t with the <HI>Ju&s;tice of God,</HI> that when Chri&s;t had &s;atisfied his utmo&s;t Demands, that any of the puni&s;hment due to our Sins, for which he &s;atisfied, &s;hould have lain upon him lon|ger; for that would have been no other than puni&s;hing without an Offence. Now nothing is clea|rer in <HI>Scripture,</HI> than that <HI>Death</HI> is a puni&s;hment inflicted upon us for Sin: So &s;ays the Apo&s;tle;<NOTE PLACE="marg"><HI>Rom.</HI> 6.23.</NOTE> <HI>The Wages of Sin is Death.</HI> And in ano|ther place,<NOTE PLACE="marg">and 5.12.</NOTE> <HI>By Sin Death enter'd into the World, and Death pa&s;&s;ed upon all, becau&s;e all have &s;inned.</HI> From all which it follows, that as Chri&s;t ta|king upon him our Sins, became thereby liable to <HI>Death;</HI> &s;o having &s;atisfied for our Sins, and thereby freed him&s;elf from the Guilt that
<PB N="110" REF="66">he lay under by Imputation, he was no longer liable unto <HI>Death,</HI> which is one part of the puni&s;h|ment he underwent; &s;o that it could not have been agreeable to infinite Ju&s;tice, that Chri&s;t &s;hould have been holden of <HI>Death,</HI> who by his undergoing of <HI>Death,</HI> hath &s;u&s;tai|ned the whole Load of God's in|finite Wrath and Di&s;plea&s;ure, and fully &s;atisfied for all tho&s;e Sins that were imputed to him, and there|fore ought in ju&s;tice to be acquit|ted from all Penalties, and con&s;e|quentially from Death.</P>
<P><HI>Fourthly,</HI> <MILESTONE N="IV"> <HI>It was impo&s;&s;ible Chri&s;t &s;hould be holden of Death,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Chri&s;t could not be holden of Death, becau&s;e of his Media|tor&s;hip.</NOTE> in re&s;pect of his <HI>O&s;&s;ice</HI> of <HI>Mediator&s;hip:</HI> For having as our Mediator underta|ken the de&s;perate Service of bring|ing &s;infull and fallen Man to Life and Happine&s;s, he mu&s;t of nece&s;&s;ity not only <HI>dye</HI> but <HI>ri&s;e again</HI> from the <HI>dead,</HI> without which his Death
<PB N="111" REF="66">and whatever el&s;e he did or &s;uffe|red for us, would have been of no avail. There are two Things re|qui&s;ite, before any real or eternal Benefit can become ours.</P>
<P><HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> A meritorious purcha&s;e, procuring the Thing it &s;elf for us.</P>
<P><HI>Secondly,</HI> An effectual Applica|tion of that Benefit to us. The Purcha&s;e of Mercy was made by the <HI>Death of Chri&s;t,</HI> by which a full Price was paid down to the Ju&s;tice of God. But the effectual Appli|cation of Mercy is by the <HI>Life</HI> and <HI>Re&s;urrection</HI> of <HI>Chri&s;t.</HI> Wherefore if Chri&s;t had only dyed, and not ri&s;en again; if he had not over|come <HI>Death</HI> within its own <HI>Empire,</HI> and triumph'd over the <HI>Grave</HI> in its own <HI>Territories,</HI> it would have been to his Di&s;appointment, and not at all to our Salvation. The Lo&s;s of Chri&s;t's Life would not have
<PB N="112" REF="67">procured Life for us, unle&s;s as he laid it down with Freedom; &s;o he had again re&s;tored it with Power. Our hope of Salvation otherwi&s;e would have been buried in the &s;ame Grave with him&s;elf; but what he died to procure, he lives to confer. It was Ignorance of <HI>Chri&s;t's Re&s;urrection from the Dead,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Luk. 24.16, 19, 20, 21.</NOTE> that &s;o &s;tagger'd the two <HI>Di&s;ciples</HI> going to <HI>Emaus:</HI> They tell Chri&s;t him&s;elf a &s;ad Story of one <HI>Je&s;us of Nazareth,</HI> that was condemned and crucified, who, while he lived a|mong us, by his Word and Works te&s;tified him&s;elf to be the true <HI>Me&s;|&s;iah,</HI> we little thought of his Dy|ing; and when he told us of his <HI>Death,</HI> he likewi&s;e foretold us of his <HI>Re&s;urrection the third Day;</HI> and behold, the <HI>third Day</HI> is already come, and yet is there no Appea|rance of this Je&s;us: <HI>Verily, we tru&s;ted that it had been he which &s;hould have re|deemed</HI>
<PB REF="67">
<PB REF="68">
<PB N="113" REF="68">I&s;rael; but now our Hopes grow faint, and langui&s;h in us; for certainly, there can be no <HI>Redemp|tion</HI> for <HI>I&s;rael</HI> by him who cannot redeem him&s;elf from Death. There was nothing in the World did &s;o much prejudice the <HI>Go&s;pel,</HI> and hin|der its taking place in the Hearts of <HI>Heathens</HI> in the <HI>Primitive Times,</HI> as this of the Cro&s;s and Death of Chri&s;t; for believing that he was lifted up upon the <HI>Cro&s;s,</HI> but not believing that he was rai&s;ed up from the <HI>Dead,</HI> they a&s;&s;ented to their <HI>Na|tural Rea&s;on,</HI> which herein taught them, That it was Folly to ex|pect Life from him who could not either pre&s;erve or re&s;tore his own.</P>
<P>It is true, it was Folly thus to hope, but that his Life applies what his Death de&s;erv'd; and our Salvation begun on the Cro&s;s, is perfected on the Throne. And
<PB N="114" REF="69">therefore the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> tells us,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Cor. 15.17.</NOTE> our Faith in a crucified Saviour, and our Obedience to him is all vain, if he had not ri&s;en again from the Dead: For unle&s;s he had ri&s;en from the Dead, he could not have acquitted us from the Guilt of Sin, becau&s;e he could not have been ju|&s;tified him&s;elf. We are ju&s;tified by the Righteou&s;ne&s;s of Chri&s;t, as the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> &s;peaks,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 4.25</NOTE> in his Epi&s;tle to the <HI>Romans;</HI> which Righteou&s;ne&s;s he wrought out for us, both by his perfect Obedience to the Law, and by his Submi&s;&s;ion to the Puni&s;h|ment of the Law: But yet this Righteou&s;ne&s;s could not have avai|led to our Ju&s;tification, had he not, after the Fulfilling of it, ri&s;en again from the Dead; becau&s;e he him&s;elf had not been ju&s;tified, much le&s;s could we have been ju|&s;tified by one who could not have ju&s;tified him&s;elf. And therefore
<PB N="115" REF="69">we read,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Tim. 3.16.</NOTE> <HI>Great is the Mystery of Godline&s;s,</HI> &s;ays the <HI>Apo&s;tle; God ma|nife&s;ted in the Fle&s;h,</HI> in his Incarna|tion; <HI>ju&s;tified in the Spirit,</HI> by his Re&s;urrection; <HI>&s;een of Angels,</HI> in his A&s;cen&s;ion. Had he not been rai|&s;ed and quickned by the Spirit, that is, by the glorious Power of his Divine Nature, he had not been declared ju&s;t, nor could he have ju&s;tified us: For this Decla|ration, that Chri&s;t was ju&s;t, was made upon the Re&s;urrection of his Body from the Dead, by which he was &s;et free from all tho&s;e Penal|ties due to our Sins that were im|puted to him. If therefore the Ju|&s;tification and Salvation of Sinners was a De&s;ign laid by the infinite Wi&s;dom of God, it mu&s;t needs fol|low, that it was impo&s;&s;ible for Chri&s;t to be kept under Death, becau&s;e that would have ob&s;tructed their Ju&s;tification and Salvation,
<PB N="116" REF="70">and &s;o would have brought a Di&s;|appointment upon the infinite Wi&s;|dom of God, which was impo&s;&s;ible to be done; and therefore con&s;e|quentially Chri&s;t could not be hol|den of Death.</P>
<P>The Application of this great Truth &s;hall be briefly in the&s;e fol|lowing Inferences.</P>
<P><HI>Fir&s;t</HI> then, <MILESTONE N="I" UNIT="U&s;e"> If it was impo&s;&s;ible for Chri&s;t not to have ri&s;en from the Dead, it is evident then that Chri&s;t is the true <HI>Me&s;&s;iah:</HI> For had he been an Impo&s;tor, or <HI>Fal&s;e Pro|phet,</HI> it would have been &s;o far from an Impo&s;&s;ibility that he &s;hould not have been rai&s;ed, that it would have been a very Impo&s;&s;ibility for him to have ri&s;en again; for nei|ther could he have rai&s;ed him&s;elf, being a mere Man; neither would God have rai&s;ed him, being a mere <HI>Impo&s;tor</HI> and <HI>Cheat.</HI> When there|fore the <HI>Jews</HI> call'd for a <HI>Sign</HI> from
<PB N="117" REF="70">Chri&s;t, to prove him to be the true <HI>Me&s;&s;iah,</HI> he gives them the Sign of his Re&s;urrection, in <HI>Matth.</HI> 12.38, 39. <HI>Ma&s;ter,</HI> &s;ay they,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Matth. 12.38, 39.</NOTE> <HI>we would &s;ee a Sign from thee. He an&s;wered and &s;aid unto them, An evil and adulterous Ge|neration &s;eeketh after a Sign, and there &s;hall be no Sign given to it, but the Sign of the Prophet</HI> Jonas: <HI>For as</HI> Jonas <HI>was three Days and three Nights in the Whale's Belly, &s;o &s;hall the Son of Man be three Days and three Nights in the Heart of the Earth.</HI> So again, when they tempted him at another time, for a <HI>Sign</HI> of his being the <HI>Me&s;&s;iah,</HI> he &s;till in&s;tances in his powerful Re&s;urrection from the Dead, in <HI>Joh.</HI> 2.18, 19.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Joh. 2.18, 19.</NOTE> <HI>The Jews an&s;wered and &s;aid unto him, What Sign &s;hewe&s;t thou unto us, &s;eeing thou doe&s;t the&s;e things? Je&s;us an&s;wered and &s;aid unto them, De&s;troy this Temple, and in three Days I will rai&s;e it up.</HI> So that &s;till he made his <HI>Death</HI> and <HI>Re|&s;urrection</HI>
<PB N="118" REF="71">to be the infallible Proof of his being the true <HI>Me&s;&s;iah.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Secondly,</HI> <MILESTONE N="ii." UNIT="U&s;e"> If it were nece&s;&s;ary that Chri&s;t &s;hould ri&s;e from the Dead, and that he did do &s;o, then cer|tainly Sin is conquered; for the Sting of Death, and that enve|nom'd Weapon Death hath, where|by it wounds, yea kills the Sinner, is Sin; and as long as Death hath this Sting in it, it could not have been conquer'd by any Sinner. It is Sin that gives Death its Power to hold fa&s;t all tho&s;e that come within its reach; which &s;ince it could not do with Chri&s;t, it is evident Sin is &s;ubdued by Chri&s;t, who was in its Arms and Gra&s;p, but yet came &s;afe out from it, ta|king away the Sting and Weapon of Death with him.</P>
<P><HI>Thirdly,</HI> <MILESTONE N="iii." UNIT="U&s;e"> If the <HI>Re&s;urrection</HI> of <HI>Chri&s;t</HI> be thus nece&s;&s;ary, and hath been thus effectually accompli&s;hed,
<PB N="119" REF="71">we may comfortably from thence conclude the Nece&s;&s;ity of our own <HI>Re&s;urrection;</HI> for the Head being rai&s;ed, the Members &s;hall not al|ways &s;leep in the Du&s;t. Chri&s;t's <HI>My&s;tical</HI> Body &s;hall certainly be rai&s;ed, as well as his <HI>Natural</HI> Bo|dy; and every Member of it &s;hall be made for ever glorious, with a glorious and triumphant Head.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="sermon">
<PB N="120" REF="72">
<HEAD>Brotherly Admonition, <HI>&amp;c.</HI></HEAD>
<EPIGRAPH>
<BIBL><HI>LEV. xix. 17.</HI></BIBL>
<Q>Thou &s;halt not hate thy Bro|ther in thy Heart: thou &s;halt in any wi&s;e rebuke thy Neighbour, and not &s;uffer Sin upon him.</Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>WAving all <HI>Prefaces</HI> and <HI>Introductions,</HI> we may ob&s;erve in the&s;e Words Three Parts.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Divi&s;ion of the Words.</NOTE></P>
<P><HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> <MILESTONE N="1"> A Negative Command, <HI>Thou &s;halt not hate thy Brother in thy Heart:</HI> which implies in it the contrary po&s;itive Precept, Thou &s;halt love thy Brother.</P>
<PB N="121" REF="72">
<P><HI>Secondly,</HI> <MILESTONE N="2"> A Direction how we &s;hould pre&s;erve our &s;elves from this rancoured Vice of Hatred, and expre&s;s our more cordial Love, in the be&s;t Service we can do for him; <HI>Thou &s;halt in any wi&s;e rebuke thy Neighbour.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Thirdly,</HI> <MILESTONE N="3"> A forcible Motive to excite us unto the performance of this Duty, drawn from the Con&s;ideration of the great Bene|fit which will in likelyhood re|dound to him by the con&s;cien|tious di&s;charge of it. By this means thou wilt not <HI>&s;uffer Sin to lie upon him:</HI> implying, That if this charitable Duty of <HI>Fraternal Reproof</HI> be neglected, he will &s;till continue in his Sins, his Guilt will remain upon him, and thou wilt be acce&s;&s;ory to it.</P>
<P>I &s;hall not con&s;ider any of the&s;e Particulars by them&s;elves, but treat only of what is here
<PB N="122" REF="73">chiefly intended, namely, the nece&s;&s;ity of that much neglect|ed Duty of <HI>Brotherly Reproof and Admonition.</HI></P>
<P>And here I &s;hall pro&s;ecute this Method with all po&s;&s;ible Brevity and Per&s;picuity.</P>
<P><HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> <MILESTONE N="1"> Shew you what <HI>Brother|ly Correption</HI> is.</P>
<P><HI>Secondly,</HI> <MILESTONE N="2"> The Difficulty of it.</P>
<P><HI>Thirdly,</HI> <MILESTONE N="3"> The Nece&s;&s;ity of it.</P>
<P><HI>Fourthly,</HI> <MILESTONE N="4"> Lay down &s;ome Rules and Directions how it ought to be performed.</P>
<P><HI>Fifthly,</HI> <MILESTONE N="5"> Lay before you &s;ome Con&s;iderations that may be pow|erful Motives and Engagements to it.</P>
<P><HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> <MILESTONE N="1"> What <HI>Brotherly Reproof or Correption is.</HI></P>
<P>To this I an&s;wer in brief,<NOTE PLACE="marg">What Brotherly Reproof is.</NOTE> It is an Act of Love and Charity, whereby we endeavour to reduce
<PB N="123" REF="73">our offending Brother to Repen|tance and Reformation: And there are two ways of doing it, either by <HI>Words</HI> or <HI>Actions.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> by <HI>Words;</HI> <MILESTONE N="1"> remon&s;trating to them the greatne&s;s of their Sin,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Reproof is by Words.</NOTE> the Scandal they give to others, either by encouraging, or &s;adning them; the Reproach they bring upon Religion, and the Danger they bring upon their own Souls. But if they be deaf to all the&s;e <HI>Admonitions,</HI> and con|tinue ob&s;tinate and re&s;olv'd in their evil Cour&s;es, we are then to reprove them.</P>
<P><HI>Secondly,</HI> By <HI>Actions;</HI> <MILESTONE N="2"> That where Words have proved in|effectual,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Reproof may be by Actions.</NOTE> we may try how Deeds can prevail. Prevail, I &s;ay, ei|ther to deliver them, or at lea&s;t, to deliver thine own Soul from Death. And this al&s;o mu&s;t be done the&s;e two ways.</P>
<PB N="124" REF="74">
<P><HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> <MILESTONE N="1"> If they be our Inferi|ours over whom we have Au|thority,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Reproof of In|feriours, is to it by Authority.</NOTE> either as <HI>Magi&s;trates,</HI> or <HI>Parents,</HI> or the like; we ought, when <HI>Admonition</HI> and <HI>Correption</HI> is fruitle&s;s, to reprove them by <HI>Correction</HI> and <HI>Puni&s;hment:</HI> If they will not hear, they mu&s;t feel Rebuke. This <HI>Di&s;cipline</HI> if it be &s;ea&s;onably and prudently u&s;ed, is &s;o far from being any Act of Cruelty, that it is an Act of the greate&s;t Kindne&s;s and Charity that can be both to them and to others.</P>
<P>To them:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Reproof tends to re&s;train from Sin.</NOTE> As it may re&s;train them from the commi&s;&s;ion of tho&s;e future Crimes, to which their Impunity would el&s;e em|bolden them. And thus to fall into the Hands of Men, may be a means to keep them from fal|ling into the Hands of God.</P>
<PB N="125" REF="74">
<P>To others: As it may terri|fie them from following the <HI>Ex|amples</HI> of &s;uch an ones Vices, by &s;eeing the <HI>Examples</HI> of his &s;uffe|ring. Thus the Puni&s;hment of &s;ome is made to become the In|nocence of others.</P>
<P><HI>Secondly,</HI> <MILESTONE N="2"><NOTE PLACE="marg">If Equals con|tinue ob&s;tinate under Reproof, we mu&s;t with|draw Society from them.</NOTE> If they be our E|quals, over whom we have no Juri&s;diction, nor coercive Power, we are then to rebuke them, if they continue ob&s;tinate after <HI>Chri&s;tian Admonition,</HI> by with|drawing our &s;elves from all ne|ce&s;&s;ary Conver&s;e with them; not &s;o as to deny them the Offi|ces of Civility, Courte&s;ie, and our charitable A&s;&s;i&s;tance to pro|mote their temporal Good; but to break off all Familiarity and Intimacy with them: not to make &s;uch lewd and di&s;&s;olute Per&s;ons our Friends and cho&s;en Companions. Thus the <HI>Apostle</HI>
<PB N="126" REF="75">charges us,<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 The&s;&s;. 3.6.</NOTE> <HI>We command you, Bre|thren, in the Name of our Lord Je|&s;us Christ, that you withdraw your &s;elves from every Brother that walk|eth di&s;orderly, and not after the Tradition which he received of us.</HI> And this way of reproving them ought to be &s;o managed by us, that it may appear it doth not proceed from any &s;owre, moro&s;e, &s;urly Humour, di&s;daining or ha|ting of their Per&s;ons, but merely from Con&s;cience of our Duty towards the Glory of God, and to do an Act of Love and Cha|rity, as indeed it is, both to|wards them, and towards our &s;elves.</P>
<P><HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> <MILESTONE N="1"> Towards them: When you thus endeavour to &s;hame them out of their Wickedne&s;s, by di&s;countenancing them in it. So &s;ays the <HI>Apo&s;tle,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">2 The&s;&s;. 3.14.</NOTE> <HI>If any Man obey not our Word, note that Man,
<PB N="127" REF="75">and have no Company with him, that he may be a&s;hamed.</HI> And indeed, if a Man be not altogether pro|fligate, if he be not utterly lo&s;t to Mode&s;ty, it mu&s;t needs make him reflect upon him&s;elf with Shame and Blu&s;hing, that cer|tainly he is grown a &s;trange vile Wretch, a loath&s;ome and odious Mon&s;ter, when all good and &s;o|ber Men do thus carefully &s;hun and avoid him. Now Shame is a good &s;tep to Amendment: And a Blu&s;h the fir&s;t colour that Virtue takes.</P>
<P><HI>Secondly,</HI> Towards your &s;elves: <MILESTONE N="2"> You are obliged to abandon them, as to reclaim them, &s;o to &s;ecure your &s;elves: For <HI>Vice</HI> is very contagious, and it is un&s;afe to conver&s;e with tho&s;e, who have &s;uch Plague-Sores running upon them, le&s;t you be al&s;o in|fected.</P>
<PB N="128" REF="76">
<P>Thus you &s;ee what this Duty of <HI>Brotherly Reproof</HI> is, and how in the general it is to be per|formed, either in Words or Acti|ons. And to the&s;e, Two Things are nece&s;&s;arily previous and an|tecedent,</P>
<P><HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> <MILESTONE N="1"> In&s;truction and Con|viction.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Conviction of the Fault.</NOTE> We ought to bring them to &s;ee their Fault before we rebuke them for it; other|wi&s;e while we chide and do not inform them, it will rather &s;eem a proud de&s;ign of quarrelling with them, than a con&s;cientious De&s;ign of bettering them. And therefore we find how artificial|ly <HI>Nathan</HI> in&s;inuates into <HI>David</HI> the hainou&s;ne&s;s and inhumani|ty of his Sin, and works in him a Hatred and Dete&s;tation of that Per&s;on who was &s;o cruel and devoid of Compa&s;&s;ion, be|fore he comes to deal downright
<PB REF="76">
<PB REF="77">
<PB N="129" REF="77">with him, <HI>Thou art the Man.</HI> And could we but skilfully con|vince our Brother, by thus re|pre&s;enting the odiou&s;ne&s;s of &s;uch and &s;uch Sins, to which we know he is addicted, po&s;&s;ibly we might &s;pare our &s;elves in that which is the mo&s;t ungrate|ful and di&s;plea&s;ing part of this Work, I mean per&s;onal Re|flection, and leave it to his own Con&s;cience to reprove him&s;elf, and to apply it home, with, <HI>Thou art the Man.</HI> And,</P>
<P><HI>Secondly,</HI> <MILESTONE N="2"><NOTE PLACE="marg">We ought to watch over our Brother.</NOTE> It is nece&s;&s;ary that we watch over our Brother, not &s;o as to be in&s;idious Spies upon him, officiou&s;ly to pry into his Actions, and bu&s;ily concern our &s;elves in all he doth. This prag|matical Temper is ju&s;tly hate|ful. And tho&s;e who thus arro|gate to them&s;elves to be publick Cen&s;ors, and to in&s;pect the
<PB N="130" REF="78">Lives and Manners of others, making it their whole Imploy|ment to ob&s;erve what others &s;ay or do, that they may have Mat|ter either to reprove or reproach them, are a Company of into|lerable bu&s;y Bodies. But yet,</P>
<P><HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> <MILESTONE N="1"><NOTE PLACE="marg">By Caution.</NOTE> We ought &s;o to watch over our Brother as to give him timely Caution if we &s;ee him in any danger through Temptati|on or Pa&s;&s;ion, and to admoni&s;h him to &s;tand upon his guard, to recollect him&s;elf and beware he be not &s;urprized or injured by &s;uch an approaching Sin.</P>
<P>And <HI>Secondly,</HI> <MILESTONE N="2"> If we have ob|&s;erved any Mi&s;carriages in him,<NOTE PLACE="marg">The be&s;t &s;ea&s;on.</NOTE> we are to watch the be&s;t Sea|&s;ons, and all the fitte&s;t Circum|&s;tances in which to remind him of it, that &s;o our Reproof may be well accepted, and become effectual. For he that will ven|ture
<PB N="131" REF="78">ra&s;hly to reprove without this Circum&s;pection, may do more mi&s;chief to his Brother by rebuking him, than he had done to him&s;elf by offending: Exa|&s;perating and imbittering his Heart again&s;t Piety, for the Im|pertinencies, at lea&s;t the In|di&s;cretions of tho&s;e who profe&s;s it, and provoking him to &s;in the more out of mere Oppo&s;ition and Contradiction. And I am verily per&s;waded, and have in &s;ome Ca&s;es ob&s;erved it, that ve|ry many Sins owe them&s;elves to the imprudence of tho&s;e who have taken upon them&s;elves to be Reprovers, and would never have been committed, if they had not indi&s;creetly gain&s;ay'd it. Thus we &s;ee what this Duty of reproving is, and what is nece&s;|&s;arily required thereunto.</P>
<PB N="132" REF="79">
<P>But indeed, <MILESTONE N="2"> which is the Se|cond Thing,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Of the difficul|ty of Reproof.</NOTE> It is not &s;o hard a Matter to know what it is, as it is difficult con&s;cientiou&s;ly and faithfully to practi&s;e it. How few are there in the World, I will not &s;ay skillful enough to do it well, but zealous and con|&s;cientious enough to do it at all? Do we not every day &s;ee God fearfully di&s;honoured, ob|&s;erve his Name bla&s;phemed, his Laws violated, his Wor&s;hip de|nied? Do you not daily &s;ee mul|titudes of wretched Creatures, who&s;e Crimes not only defie and outrage God, but &s;tab and mur|ther their own Souls; and yet who is there that hath that Zeal for God, or that Charity for his Brother, as to interpo&s;e, and by a &s;erious and fitting Reproof, vindicate the one from Di&s;ho|nour, or re&s;cue the other from
<PB N="133" REF="79">Perdition? There are enow that will make up a &s;ad Mouth, and whi&s;per tho&s;e things abroad, it may be out of very ill Ends and De&s;igns: but where almo&s;t is the Per&s;on that will dare to maintain the Honour of God to the Face of tho&s;e who bold|ly affront him; that will dare to open their Mouths before tho&s;e that will dare to open them a|gain&s;t Heaven? Certainly we can ea&s;ily produce much more Rea&s;on for our Reproofs, than they can for their Wickedne&s;s, and it were very &s;trange, if we &s;hould not be able to beat them off from their Con&s;idence, when we have God and our own Con|&s;ciences, nay and theirs al&s;o, to &s;ide with us. Yet &s;o it is that we are generally apt to &s;neak and &s;link away from &s;o trouble&s;ome a Task, and to let
<PB N="134" REF="80">Iniquity pa&s;s uncontroul'd, yea triumphant. We are well con|tent to let others &s;in quietly, &s;o that we may live quietly without troubling our &s;elves with &s;o hard and difficult a Service. And that which makes it &s;eem &s;o dif|ficult, is,</P>
<P><HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> <MILESTONE N="1"> A &s;inful Fear; and,</P>
<P><HI>Secondly,</HI> <MILESTONE N="2"> A &s;inful Shame, that &s;eizeth on the Spirits of Men, and takes off the edge of holy Courage and Confidence, that are &s;o ab&s;olutely nece&s;&s;ary to the performing of this Duty.</P>
<P><HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> <MILESTONE N="1"> Many are afraid to re|prove Sin,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Fear of di&s;plea|&s;ing &s;hould not hinder repro|ving for Sin.</NOTE> le&s;t they &s;hould in|cur Di&s;plea&s;ure, weaken their &s;ecular Intere&s;t, ruine their De|pendencies, and bring &s;ome Mi&s;chief upon them&s;elves, by exa&s;perating the Offenders a|gain&s;t them. But the&s;e are poor, low, carnal Con&s;idera|tions.
<PB N="135" REF="80">Where Matter of Duty is in que&s;tion, it is very nece&s;|&s;ary for every Chri&s;tian to be of an undaunted Courage and Re|&s;olution, not to fear the Faces of Men, nor to be frighted with a grim Look, or a proud Huff. If he will &s;eriou&s;ly perform this Duty, he mu&s;t remember, that he is pleading for God, that he is &s;aving a Soul from Hell, and therefore ought not to value their Anger, nor his own Da|mage; but to &s;teel him&s;elf a|gain&s;t all &s;uch mean and &s;ordid Con&s;iderations. Indeed it &s;hews a mo&s;t pitiful Spirit in us, that we &s;hould be more afraid of of|fending them, than they are of offending God. Shall they be bold to &s;in, and we not bold e|nough to tell them of it? And yet &s;uch is the Cowardize of the Generality of Chri&s;tians, that
<PB N="136" REF="81">they dare not appear for God, or for Piety and Holine&s;s, when they &s;ee them wronged by the Impudence of boi&s;terous Sin|ners; but tho&s;e pitiful, little ba&s;e carnal Re&s;pects of what they may lo&s;e, or what they may &s;uffer by it, intervene, and make them &s;it mopi&s;h, and over-aw'd, <HI>like Men in who&s;e Mouths are no Re|proofs;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 38.14.</NOTE> whil&s;t the&s;e wicked Wretches, who have all the Rea|&s;on in the World to be timorous and fearful, glory in thus out|braving and baffling them.</P>
<P><HI>Secondly,</HI> <MILESTONE N="2"> Others again are a|&s;hamed to reprove Sin.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Shame &s;hould not hinder Re|proving for Sin.</NOTE> And whereas many vile and profli|gate Wretches glory in their Shame, the&s;e on the contrary are a&s;hamed of that which would be their Glory. Either they doubt they &s;hall be thought but trouble&s;ome and hypocritical
<PB N="137" REF="81">Intermedlers; or el&s;e po&s;&s;ibly being con&s;cious to them&s;elves of many Mi&s;carriages, they &s;u&s;pect their <HI>Reproofs</HI> will be upbraidingly retorted upon them|&s;elves, and &s;o by reproving the Faults of others, they &s;hall but give an occa&s;ion to have their own ript up and expo&s;ed: And &s;o they think it the &s;afer way to &s;ay nothing, le&s;t by raking into other Mens Dunghills, they &s;hould but furni&s;h them with Dirt enough to fling back in their own Faces. And thus between the&s;e Two carnal Principles of <HI>&s;inful Fear,</HI> and <HI>&s;inful Shame,</HI> which are &s;o deeply rooted in our corrupt Natures, <HI>Reproof</HI> is commonly neglected, and it is one of the harde&s;t things in the World, to per&s;wade Men to be true to God, to their own Souls, and to the Souls of their Bre|thren,
<PB N="138" REF="82">in a faithful di&s;charge of that Duty which is u&s;ually at|tended with &s;uch Di&s;advantages and Difficulties.</P>
<P>But though it be thus diffi|cult; yet,</P>
<P><HI>Thirdly,</HI> <MILESTONE N="3"> It is a mo&s;t nece&s;&s;ary Duty.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Reproof a very nece&s;&s;ary Duty.</NOTE> The greate&s;t good you can do in the World is to pluck up the&s;e Bryars and Thorns with which it is over-grown. Con|&s;ider but how in&s;olent Vice and Wickedne&s;s is apt to be where none do appear to check and controul it. If it can but once &s;ilence Vertue, it will quickly bani&s;h it. If it can but put it to the Blu&s;h, it will quickly put it to flight. And when it hath once made us either afraid or a|&s;hamed to lay a Rebuke in its way, what el&s;e can we expect but that it &s;hould over&s;pread the Face of the whole Earth, and
<PB N="139" REF="82">like a general Deluge drown all Mankind, fir&s;t in Sin, and then in Perdition. There is no other way to prevent this great and &s;ad Ruine, but for every Chri&s;ti|an vigorou&s;ly to oppo&s;e him&s;elf to the growing Sins of the Times and Places in which he lives, and with Courage and Re&s;olution to decry that common Profane|ne&s;s, that gains Credit only by our Silence. We know that Sin is a &s;hameful opprobrious Thing in it &s;elf, a Thing that di&s;hear|tens and di&s;pirits the Guilty: They wear a <HI>Con&s;cience</HI> about them that is &s;till checking and upbraiding them; and if we could but look into their Souls, we &s;hould &s;ee them covered all over with Fear, Horrour, and Confu&s;ion. They are general|ly &s;elf-condemned Per&s;ons, and carry tho&s;e Monitors within
<PB N="140" REF="83">their own Brea&s;ts that are con|tinually reproving and tormen|ting them: And therefore that they may not hear the Voice of their own Con&s;ciences, they live abroad, and rather conver&s;e with any one without doors, than with them&s;elves and their own trouble&s;ome and clamo|rous Hearts. Now let it be our Care to &s;top up all Pa&s;&s;a|ges, by which they think to make their e&s;cape. Let them find, that in what&s;oever Com|pany they go, they &s;hall meet with tho&s;e that will no more &s;pare them, than their own <HI>Con|&s;ciences;</HI> that Company is no Sanctuary for Sins and Guilt, and that they &s;hall be as &s;ure to be <HI>Reproved,</HI> as they dare to <HI>Offend.</HI> And when they are thus every-where be&s;et, their <HI>Con&s;ci|ences</HI> exclaiming again&s;t them
<PB N="141" REF="83">within, and all that they con|ver&s;e with without, they will &s;ee a Nece&s;&s;ity for it, either to for&s;ake their <HI>Vices,</HI> or the <HI>World,</HI> and be forced to be vertuous for their own ea&s;e and quiet. And certainly till Chri&s;tians do con&s;pire together in this De&s;ign, we may long enough complain of the abounding of Iniquity without any &s;ucce&s;sful Reforma|tion. Abound it will, and grow impudent and imperious, unle&s;s we join together to beat down its Credit, expo&s;e it to Scorn and Contempt, and make that which is &s;o really &s;hameful in it &s;elf, to be the greate&s;t Mark of Infamy, Shame, and Reproach to any that &s;hall dare to commit it.</P>
<P>But now this Duty of <HI>Repro|ving,</HI> requires not only a great deal of Chri&s;tian <HI>Fortitude</HI> and <HI>Courage,</HI> but al&s;o a great mea|&s;ure
<PB N="142" REF="84">of Chri&s;tian <HI>Prudence</HI> and <HI>Di&s;cretion.</HI> We mu&s;t not only be re&s;olute and confident in do|ing it, but we mu&s;t do it like|wi&s;e in &s;uch a fitting way as may be mo&s;t likely to work a good effect upon tho&s;e whom we are to <HI>reprove.</HI> And therefore,</P>
<P>In the Fourth Place, <MILESTONE N="4"> I &s;hall give you &s;ome brief Rules and Directions,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rules for Re|proof.</NOTE> when you ought to <HI>reprove,</HI> and how you ought to manage your <HI>Reproofs,</HI> &s;o as they may be mo&s;t beneficial to your Brother. And &s;ome of them &s;hall be <HI>Negatives,</HI> and others &s;hall be <HI>Po&s;itives.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> <MILESTONE N="I"> For the <HI>Negative</HI> Rules, take the&s;e that follow.</P>
<P><HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> <MILESTONE N="1"> I ought not to reprove my Brother,<NOTE PLACE="marg">We mu&s;t not reprove without knowledge of the Offence.</NOTE> if I have no certain knowledge of his Offence. And therefore tho&s;e who upon a blind Rumour, or groundle&s;s Su&s;pici|on,
<PB N="143" REF="84">ha&s;tily conclude him guilty, and &s;o fill their Mouths with Reproofs, &s;hew them&s;elves to be very much in love with this Of|fice, and are a company of im|pertinent Bu&s;ie-bodies, who &s;tart their Arrow before ever they &s;ee the Mark. We mu&s;t fir&s;t be cer|tainly informed, either upon our Per&s;onal Knowledge, or upon the undoubted Te&s;timonies of credi|ble Witne&s;&s;es, that he is Guilty; otherwi&s;e in going about to &s;hew him his <HI>Fault,</HI> we &s;hall but &s;hew our own <HI>Folly,</HI> and Credulity, our <HI>Reproofs</HI> will be but <HI>Slanders,</HI> and our Charity in offering the Cure, will not be half &s;o great, as our uncharitablene&s;s in belie|ving the Di&s;ea&s;e.</P>
<P><HI>Secondly,</HI> <MILESTONE N="2"> It is not nece&s;&s;ary for me to reprove, where I have rea|&s;on to conclude that others of more Prudence and Intere&s;t in
<PB N="144" REF="85">the Party, either have already, or el&s;e will more effectually per|form it: For otherwi&s;e it will appear that we do not &s;o much &s;eek his <HI>Emendation,</HI> as to be <HI>O&s;tentatious</HI> of our own Zeal and Forwardne&s;s. And be&s;ides, too many Reprovers may, in&s;tead of reforming, rather irritate and provoke: Only here, beware thou do&s;t not retract this in|grateful Office, upon &s;light Pre|tences, nor think thy &s;elf excu|&s;ed, becau&s;e others are bound to do it. But con&s;ider &s;eriou&s;ly in thine own Con&s;cience, whether thou thinke&s;t they will be faith|ful enough in performing it, or more dextrous than thou art in managing it; or that their <HI>Re|proof</HI> will be more acceptable and more prevalent with thy Brother than thine. If not, thou art &s;till obliged to it: And if thou
<PB REF="85">
<PB REF="86">
<PB N="145" REF="86">refu&s;e&s;t, know, that though he may die in his Sins, yet his Blood God will require at thy Hands. <MILESTONE N="3"></P>
<P><HI>Thirdly,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Sharp Re|proof mu&s;t not be for &s;mall Offen|ces.</NOTE> We ought not to give &s;harp <HI>Reproofs</HI> for &s;mall <HI>Offences.</HI> We mu&s;t not particularly, and with Accent and Empha&s;is re|prove our Brother for every in|voluntary &s;lip, every Infirmity and Weakne&s;s, that bewrayeth it &s;elf through &s;ome &s;uddain Pa&s;|&s;ion or Temptation, unle&s;s it be a Sin of Cu&s;tom, or that which carries with it &s;ome &s;ignal Ag|gravation, that renders it con|&s;iderable, as well in the <HI>Scandal</HI> as in the <HI>Guilt.</HI> It will be &s;uffici|ent to pa&s;s by the re&s;t, only with a brief Animadver&s;ion upon them, enough to put him in mind that he forgot him&s;elf in &s;uch and &s;uch Pa&s;&s;ages: And &s;o leave the farther <HI>Reproof</HI> to his own Con&s;cience, which will better
<PB N="146" REF="87">do it for le&s;&s;er Sins, than po&s;&s;ibly we can. To reprove &s;mall Faults with great vehemence, is always as ridiculous, and may &s;ometimes prove as de&s;tructive a piece of Officiou&s;ne&s;s, as his who took up a huge Beetle, and &s;truck with all his Might, only to kill a Fly he &s;aw &s;ticking upon his Friends Forehead. We mu&s;t not thru&s;t the <HI>Probe</HI> deep where the Wound is but &s;hallow: Nor be pa&s;&s;ionately concern'd at our Brother's lighter Failings; but &s;o govern our &s;elves, as &s;till to re|&s;erve the more &s;harp and &s;evere <HI>Reproofs</HI> for the more foul and &s;candalous Offences. For they that will pre&s;ently upon every &s;lender occa&s;ion fly out into Ex|clamations, Dete&s;tations; and all pa&s;&s;ionate Exaggerations of Rhetorick, will but lavi&s;hly &s;pend the vigour of their Zeal,
<PB N="147" REF="87">and leave them&s;elves no Art, no Methods to expre&s;s their greater abhorrence for blacker Crimes.</P>
<P><HI>Fourthly,</HI> <MILESTONE N="4"><NOTE PLACE="marg">Reproof not to be given where it will exa&s;perate.</NOTE> We are not to <HI>Re|prove</HI> tho&s;e whom we have rea&s;on to believe are &s;uch de|&s;perate Wretches, that our <HI>Re|proofs</HI> would but exa&s;perate them to &s;in the more for a <HI>Re|proof.</HI> To the&s;e, &s;uch would be no Acts of Love and Charity, but rather a De&s;ign to de&s;troy their Souls, and to heap more and heavy loads of Wrath and Vengeance upon their Heads. Certainly if we have any &s;en&s;e of God's Glory, any Tender|ne&s;s and Compa&s;&s;ion for our Brother's Soul, we ought to be|ware that we do not inrage him the more, to di&s;honour the one, or to wound the other, by the mi&s;taken Charity of our <HI>Reproofs.</HI> And therefore, St.
<PB N="148" REF="88"><HI>Au&s;tine</HI> &s;peaks well (<HI>De Civitate Dei,</HI> lib. 1. cap. 9.) <HI>Si propterea corripiendis male agentibus parcit, quia opportunum tempus requirit, vel ii&s;dem ip&s;is metuit ne deteriores ex hoc efficiantur, videtur e&s;&s;e con|cilium Charitatis.</HI> It is <HI>Charity</HI> not to reprove tho&s;e, who we be|lieve will be the wor&s;e for our <HI>Reproofs.</HI> Alas how many are there in the World, who when they are reproved (and that very ju&s;tly) for their Sins, pre&s;ently fall a bla&s;pheming and cur&s;ing, railing at Piety, and all that profe&s;s it, violate the good Name of their <HI>Reprovers,</HI> and can hardly ab&s;tain from offering violence to their Per&s;ons. Now &s;uch as the&s;e are pa&s;t <HI>Reproof,</HI> when once they turn <HI>Reproof</HI> it &s;elf into an Occa&s;ion of further &s;inning. The greate&s;t exerci&s;e of <HI>Charity</HI> to the&s;e, is to let them
<PB N="149" REF="88">alone, and not to increa&s;e their Damnation, by &s;tirring up the virulency and rancor of their Spirits.</P>
<P><HI>Reproof</HI> is &s;piritual <HI>Phy&s;ick</HI> for the Soul. Now as it is an im|prudent Cour&s;e to admini&s;ter &s;uch <HI>Phy&s;ick</HI> to the Body, as will irritate, and not expel the pec|cant Humours: So likewi&s;e it is very imprudent and un&s;afe, to admini&s;ter &s;uch <HI>Reproofs</HI> as we know cannot cure the Offender, but will only irritate his Cor|ruption, and render it the more turbulent, and him much wor&s;e than he was before. And there|fore &s;ome are them&s;elves to be reproved, who with an impru|dent Zeal reprove others, with|out ever con&s;idering what Ef|fects their <HI>Reproofs</HI> are likely to produce, who, as &s;oon as a Sin is committed, think them&s;elves
<PB N="150" REF="89">obliged in Con&s;cience, in&s;tant|ly to rebuke them for it, although not only they them&s;elves may be reviled, but the Name of God mo&s;t horribly bla&s;phemed upon this very Occa&s;ion, It is in|deed <HI>good to be zealou&s;ly affected always in a good Matter.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Gal. 4.18.</NOTE> But yet withal know, that as Zeal and Charity ought to be the Motive, &s;o Chri&s;tian Prudence ought to be the Mea&s;ure of all our <HI>Re|proofs.</HI> And if you take not the Advice of Di&s;cretion, your Zeal for God's Glory may but occa|&s;ion his Di&s;honour; and your Charity to the Souls of others, occa&s;ion their &s;orer Ruine and Damnation, Certainly we are not obliged to reprove where we have rea&s;on to &s;u&s;pect we &s;hall rather do hurt than good. It would be but a cruel Charity, to poi&s;on our Brother in his
<PB N="151" REF="89"><HI>Phy&s;ick,</HI> and to kill him in his Cure. And therefore both <HI>So|lomon,</HI> and a greater than <HI>Solo|mon,</HI> our <HI>Saviour Chri&s;t</HI> him&s;elf, have forbidden us to mi&s;place <HI>Reproofs</HI> upon tho&s;e who are de&s;perate. <HI>Solomon</HI> tells us,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 9.7.</NOTE> <HI>He that reproveth a Scorner, getteth to him&s;elf Shame; and he that rebuketh a wicked Man, getteth unto him&s;elf a Blot.</HI> And again, <HI>Reprove not a Scorner, le&s;t he hate thee.</HI> And &s;ays our Saviour,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Matth. 7.6.</NOTE> <HI>Give not that which is Holy unto Dogs, neither ca&s;t ye your Pearls before Swine, le&s;t they trample them under their Feet, and turn again and rent you.</HI> Where it is very plain from the precedent Ver&s;es, that he dehorts us from lavi&s;hing out our <HI>Reproofs</HI> impru|dently upon <HI>Dogs</HI> and <HI>Swine.</HI> Wicked and impure Per&s;ons, on whom we have rea&s;on to think they will have no effect, but on|ly
<PB N="152" REF="90">to inrage them, and make them fly out both again&s;t God and us, with the more Violence and Madne&s;s. To <HI>reprove</HI> &s;uch, <HI>is</HI> but to ca&s;t up Water again&s;t an high Wind, that will be &s;ure to beat it back again into our own Faces.</P>
<P>And thus I have given you the <HI>Negative Rules</HI> in the&s;e four Par|ticulars. Reprove not without a certain knowledge of the Of|fence. Nor where others who are likely to be more effectual, have done it already. Nor for every involuntary &s;lip. Nor tho&s;e who are like to be the wor&s;e for it.</P>
<P>Let us now proceed to lay down &s;ome <HI>Po&s;itive Rules</HI> and <HI>Directions</HI> for the right managing of our <HI>Reproofs.</HI> And here,</P>
<P><HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> <MILESTONE N="1"><NOTE PLACE="marg">Time and Place mu&s;t be ob&s;erved in giving Re|proof.</NOTE> If thou would&s;t re|prove with &s;ucce&s;s, ob&s;erve right Circum&s;tances of Time and
<PB N="153" REF="90">Place: And let the one be as opportune, and the other as private as thou can&s;t. We ought to ob&s;erve the <HI>mollia tempora fan|di,</HI> the &s;oft and ea&s;y Hours of &s;peaking. And therefore the wi&s;e Man tells us,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 15.23.</NOTE> <HI>A Word &s;po|ken in &s;ea&s;on, how good is it? It is like Apples of Gold in Pictures of Silver,</HI> that is, very beautiful and plea&s;ing. There are &s;ome hap|py Sea&s;ons wherein the mo&s;t rugged Natures are acce&s;&s;ible; and it is a great part of Pru|dence in all our Concerns, if we would have them pro&s;perous, to watch &s;uch Opportunities, and to improve them.</P>
<P>Now u&s;ually it is no fit &s;ea|&s;on for Reproof,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Reproof not &s;ea&s;onable,</NOTE></P>
<P><HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> <MILESTONE N="1"> Pre&s;ently as &s;oon as the Sin is committed;<NOTE PLACE="marg">As &s;oon as the Sin is committed.</NOTE> for then the heat is not over, nor the uproar of the Pa&s;&s;ions and Af|fections
<PB N="154" REF="91">appea&s;ed. In all like|lihood a <HI>Reproof</HI> as yet would but irritate. As Water falling upon a red hot Iron, doth but cau&s;e a great deal of Noi&s;e and Di&s;turbance: So a <HI>Reproof</HI> ju&s;t upon the very Act of a Sin, doth but make the Sinner fume, e&s;tu|ate and tumultuate the more. Nor yet,</P>
<P><HI>Secondly,</HI> <MILESTONE N="2"> Is a Time of Mirth and Joy fit for <HI>Reproof;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Reproof un|&s;ea&s;onable in a time of Mirth.</NOTE> for that will look like a piece of Envy, as if we were malicious at their Pro&s;perity, and therefore &s;tudied to ca&s;t in &s;omewhat that might di&s;turb them; and &s;o they will be apt to interpret it. Nor,</P>
<P><HI>Thirdly,</HI> <MILESTONE N="3"><NOTE PLACE="marg">Reproof un|&s;ea&s;onable in a time of Sorrow.</NOTE> Is a Time of exceed|ing great Sadne&s;s and Sorrow, a proper Sea&s;on for <HI>Reproof;</HI> for this will look like Ho&s;tility and Hatred, as if we de&s;igned utter|ly to overwhelm and di&s;patch them.</P>
<PB N="155" REF="91">
<P>But the fitte&s;t opportunity for this Duty,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Reproof mo&s;t &s;ea&s;onable when Per&s;ons are mo&s;t calm and &s;edate.</NOTE> is when they are mo&s;t calm and &s;edate, their Pa&s;&s;ions hu&s;ht, and their Rea|&s;on (with which you are to deal) again re&s;eated upon its Throne. When they are free from all inward Perturbations of Mind, and from all con&s;iderable Alte|rations in their outward E&s;tate and Condition. Then, if ever, they will li&s;ten to <HI>Reproof,</HI> and take right Mea&s;ures of the Sin for which you <HI>reprove</HI> them. But if we <HI>reprove</HI> them when their Pa&s;&s;ions are in a Tumult, and all within in an Uproar and Combu&s;tion, it is no wonder at all if either they reject or revile our <HI>Reproofs;</HI> for we then ac|cu&s;e them before very corrupt Judges, <HI>viz.</HI> their own Pa&s;&s;i|ons and corrupt Affections. And you may with as much
<PB N="156" REF="92">Rea&s;on, and as good Succe&s;s, chide the Sea for being Tem|pe&s;tuous, when the Winds rage and are let loo&s;e upon it. Chide a Man for being angry when he is angry, and what will you get by it, but only &s;ome of his foam ca&s;t upon you? Let God him&s;elf expo&s;tulate with an im|patient <HI>Jonah,</HI> whil&s;t he is in his fit of Impatience:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Jonah 4.9.</NOTE> <HI>Doe&s;t thou well to be angry?</HI> and he will tell him &s;nappi&s;hly to his Face, <HI>That he doth well to be angry, even to the very Death.</HI> There is no dealing with Men while their Pa&s;&s;ions blind their Rea&s;on; This makes them as utterly incapable of taking good Coun&s;el, as if they were brute Bea&s;ts. Thou wert as good thru&s;t thy Hand into a <HI>Wa&s;ps Ne&s;t,</HI> as come with <HI>Re|proofs</HI> and <HI>Rebukes</HI> when the Swarm is up, to be &s;ure thou
<PB N="157" REF="92">&s;halt only go away with many a Sting and Wound, and thou maye&s;t thank thy &s;elf for no bet|ter timing thy <HI>Reproofs.</HI></P>
<P>Indeed in Ca&s;es of great Im|portance and ab&s;olute Nece&s;&s;ity, we may run this Venture, and po&s;&s;ibly &s;ucceed well in it. Thus <HI>Joab</HI> very &s;harply reproved <HI>Da|vid,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Sam. 19.5, 6, 7.</NOTE> when he &s;o immoderately mourned for <HI>Ab&s;alom.</HI> And I think it is one of the rounde&s;t Checks that ever a dutiful <HI>Sub|ject</HI> gave to his <HI>Prince;</HI> but if he had not taken that very time, the Ca&s;e had been de&s;perate, and his People had all for&s;aken him, and therefore the nece&s;&s;ity of Affairs would not permit him to expect a more &s;ea&s;on|able Addre&s;s. Otherwi&s;e gene|rally, it is more advi&s;eable to wait a fitting and cool time. As God is &s;aid to come down <HI>in the
<PB N="158" REF="93">cool of the Day</HI> to reprove <HI>Adam.</HI> So likewi&s;e &s;hould we come in the cool &s;ea&s;on of a Man's Pa&s;&s;i|ons, when all is quiet and tem|perate within, for then is there the greate&s;t probability of Suc|ce&s;s.</P>
<P><HI>Secondly,</HI> <MILESTONE N="2"> If thou would&s;t have thy Reproofs &s;ucce&s;sful,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Reproof mu&s;t be with Gentlene&s;s and Meekne&s;s.</NOTE> reprove with all Gentlene&s;s and Meek|ne&s;s, without giving any railing or reviling Terms. He that mingles Reproach with <HI>Reproof,</HI> engages a Man's Reputation to &s;ide with his Vices: For whil&s;t we &s;hew any Bitterne&s;s in our <HI>Reproofs,</HI> and give them in vili|fying and ignominious Lan|guage, the Vehicle will hinder the Operation of the Phy&s;ick. For they will look like the up|braidings of an Enemy; and it is a thing mo&s;t abhorrent unto Nature, to follow the Coun&s;els
<PB N="159" REF="93">and Advice of an Enemy. And therefore the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> chargeth us, <HI>Brethren,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Gal. 6.1.</NOTE> <HI>if a Man be overtaken in a fault, you that are &s;piritual, re&s;tore &s;uch an one in the &s;pirit of Meekne&s;s, con&s;idering thy &s;elf, le&s;t thou be al&s;o tempted.</HI> Which la&s;t Clau&s;e inti|mates to us, that we ought to deal as tenderly with a fallen Brother, as we would de&s;ire to be dealt with our &s;elves, were we in the &s;ame condition. For having the &s;ame corrupt Nature, and being &s;ubject to the like Temptations, we may likewi&s;e, through God's dereliction of us, fall into the &s;ame Mi&s;carriages. Now would&s;t thou take it well, if any &s;hould revile and reprove thee, condemn thee for a rotten Hypocrite, as <HI>Job</HI>'s Friends did him; or draw hideous black Con&s;equences from every failing and weakne&s;s of thine? Certain|ly
<PB N="160" REF="94">thou would&s;t not interpret this to be friendly and candid deal|ing: No more do thou with others. It is a true Saying, That he who would know his own Faults, had need have either a faithful Friend, or a bitter Ene|my; they will both be &s;ure to do it to the full. But then the difference is, that an Enemy's <HI>Reproofs</HI> are u&s;ually joined with <HI>Reproaches,</HI> and when we are fal|len, he will &s;tand and in&s;ult over us. But a true Chri&s;tian Friend will faithfully repre&s;ent our condition to us, pitty us in it, and endeavour to help and rai&s;e us out of it. And &s;uch &s;hould we be to all, not railing on them for Hypocrites, or lo&s;t and de&s;perate Apo&s;tates; for this certainly is not the way to reduce them, but rather to confirm and harden them in their Sins. We
<PB N="161" REF="94">&s;hould not gripe nor pre&s;s their Wounds, but rather gently anoint and chafe them. Our <HI>Reproofs</HI> &s;hould be as Oyl, &s;mooth and lenitive, to &s;oak into and &s;upple the Part affected. And therefore the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> again exhorts us, <HI>in meekne&s;s to in&s;truct tho&s;e that oppo&s;e them&s;elves.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Tim. 2.25.</NOTE> But whil&s;t we ex|claim again&s;t them with bitter Invectives, and dip all our <HI>Re|proofs</HI> in Gall and <HI>Satyr,</HI> we may quickly make them loath the Medicine rather than the Di&s;ea&s;e, and &s;ooner break their Heads with &s;uch Rebukes, than their Hearts for their Offences.</P>
<P><HI>Thirdly,</HI> <MILESTONE N="3"> Though our <HI>Re|proofs</HI> mu&s;t be meek and gentle,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Reproof mu&s;t be quick and vivacious.</NOTE> yet mu&s;t they be quick and vi|vacious al&s;o. For as Charity requires the one, &s;o doth Zeal the other: And the be&s;t and mo&s;t equal Temper, is rightly
<PB N="162" REF="95">to mix the&s;e two, that at once we may &s;hew Meekne&s;s to his Per&s;on,<NOTE PLACE="marg">James 1.20.</NOTE> <HI>(for the Wrath of Man worketh not the Righte|ou&s;ne&s;s of God)</HI> and Sharpne&s;s again&s;t his Sin, (for a remi&s;s Re|prover will but make a &s;low Pe|nitent.) We ought &s;o to reprove, that he may not think we only je&s;t and dally with him, and for this it is nece&s;&s;ary that we do it with all Seriou&s;ne&s;s, Gravity and Authority, not playing a|bout the Wound, but &s;earching into the very depth and bottom of it. And therefore we mu&s;t u&s;e &s;uch words as are mo&s;t &s;ig|nificant of our meaning, mo&s;t expre&s;&s;ive of our Grief and Sor|row for him, and which we think mo&s;t apt to expo&s;e the <HI>Vice</HI> that we <HI>reprove,</HI> and make it mo&s;t odious and hateful, keeping &s;till within the bounds
<PB N="163" REF="95">of a &s;ober and friendly Redar|gution. Hence the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> gives <HI>Titus</HI> this Advice,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Tit. 1.13.</NOTE> <HI>Rebuke them &s;harply, that they may be &s;ound in the Faith.</HI> If they want Salt and Vinegar, &s;pare them not. This po&s;&s;ibly may clean&s;e tho&s;e Wounds that el&s;e would fe&s;ter and putrify. But here is required much &s;piritual Prudence to know how to &s;uit <HI>Reproof,</HI> according to the different Conditions and Tempers of the Per&s;ons you deal with. Some mu&s;t be launcht and &s;earcht to the very Quick before they can be healed. O|thers require a gentle Hand. If they be proud and &s;tubborn, they need Corro&s;ives. But for tho&s;e who are naturally meek and mild, a meek and mild Cour&s;e will be ea&s;ie&s;t and mo&s;t effectual. The Tempers and Ca&s;es of particular Chri&s;tians
<PB N="164" REF="96">are &s;o various, that there can be no Rules given that may be applicable to every Condition. This mu&s;t of nece&s;&s;ity be left to your Prudence and Di&s;cre|tion. Only this Rule is infalli|ble, Be &s;ure you flatter none in their Vices, extenuate not their Sins; when thou com'&s;t to <HI>reprove</HI> them, do it not in &s;port: Let them &s;ee thou art in very good earne&s;t, and tell them their Sin, as it is in it &s;elf, without min|cing the matter, or the circum|&s;tances of it. For Men are al|ways apt to impute &s;omewhat of the <HI>Reproof</HI> to the &s;everity of him that gives it, rather than to the demerits of their own Offen|ces. And therefore, if thou thy &s;elf &s;halt &s;peak but &s;lightly of their Sins, they will be ready to conclude that they were none, or at lea&s;t &s;o &s;mall, that it was
<PB N="165" REF="96">nothing but Officiou&s;ne&s;s, and the love of Cen&s;uring made thee take notice of them.</P>
<P><HI>Fourthly,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Reproof ought to be given pri|vately.</NOTE> Let all thy <HI>Reproofs</HI> be given as &s;ecretly and privately as po&s;&s;ibly thou can&s;t; otherwi&s;e thou wilt &s;eem not &s;o much to aim at thy Brother's Reformati|on, as at his Shame and Confu|&s;ion. For if (as the Wi&s;eman tells us) a loud and clamorous Benediction given too officiou&s;|ly,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 27.14.</NOTE> is &s;o far from being a Ble&s;|&s;ing, that it is but a Cur&s;e and a Shame to a Man's Friend. Cer|tainly then a publick clamorous <HI>Reproof</HI> mu&s;t only tend to the Shame and Reproach of them that receive it. Indeed there are &s;ome who offend openly before many: The&s;e, (if there be no fear of irritating them to do wor&s;e) we ought openly to re|buke, and to give them their
<PB N="166" REF="97"><HI>Reproof</HI> in the Company where they have given the <HI>Offence,</HI> &s;o &s;aith the Apo&s;tle,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Tim. 5.20.</NOTE> <HI>Tho&s;e that Sin rebuke before all;</HI> that is, &s;uppo|&s;ing that their Sins be open and publick. But for others who&s;e Sins and Mi&s;carriages have been private, and only known to our &s;elves and a few others, we ought to reprove them in &s;ecret, and to be tender not only of their Souls, but of their Reputation al&s;o. So is the Coun&s;el of our Saviour,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Matth. 18.15.</NOTE> <HI>If thy Brother &s;hall tre&s;|pa&s;s again&s;t thee, go and tell him his Fault between thee and him alone.</HI> And indeed this is a nece&s;&s;ary piece of Prudence, not only to pre&s;erve his Reputation and good Name as much as may be, but al&s;o,</P>
<P><HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> <MILESTONE N="1"><NOTE PLACE="marg"><GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">o pre&s;erve the Reputation of Religion.</NOTE> To pre&s;erve the Repu|tation of Religion it &s;elf, which a more publick divulging of his Offences might much impair and di&s;credit. And</P>
<PB N="167" REF="97">
<P><HI>Secondly,</HI> <MILESTONE N="2"> To hinder the &s;prea|ding of an evil Example,<NOTE PLACE="marg">To hinder the &s;preading of an evil Example.</NOTE> which al&s;o perhaps &s;ome or other would make u&s;e of, to encourage them in the like Tran&s;gre&s;&s;ions. And,</P>
<P><HI>Thirdly,</HI> <MILESTONE N="3"> To pre&s;erve him &s;er|viceable for the future;<NOTE PLACE="marg">That they may be &s;erviceable</NOTE> for by reporting his Mi&s;carriages, thou le&s;&s;ene&s;t his Credit, and thereby rendre&s;t him le&s;s capable of do|ing good than he was before. For though he may recover him|&s;elf out of the Snare of the <HI>De|vil,</HI> and his Wound be healed, yet if his Faults have been made publick, the Scar will &s;till re|main: And this will be &s;uch a blemi&s;h to him, that having lo&s;t much of his repute among Men, he will likewi&s;e lo&s;e much of tho&s;e Advantages he formerly had of doing good in the World; and thou by thy <HI>imprudent Reproofs</HI> be the cau&s;e of it. Upon all
<PB N="168" REF="98">the&s;e Accounts it is nece&s;&s;ary that thy <HI>Reproofs</HI> be managed with the greate&s;t Secrecy and Priva|cy that may be: For as St. <HI>Au&s;tin</HI> &s;peaks well, <Q>If whil&s;t thou alone knowe&s;t thy Brother to have offended, and yet wilt rebuke him before all, <HI>Non es corrector, &s;ed proditor:</HI> Thou art not a Reprover, but a Betrayer.</Q></P>
<P><HI>Fifthly,</HI> <MILESTONE N="5"> Reprove not one who is greatly thy Superiour,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Superiours mu&s;t be reproved re|&s;pectfully.</NOTE> unle&s;s it be at a re&s;pectful di&s;tance. Towards &s;uch, we mu&s;t not u&s;e down-right and blunt <HI>Rebukes;</HI> but rather in&s;inuate things into them with Addre&s;s and Artifice. What &s;ays <HI>Elihu,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Job 34.<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">8.</NOTE> <HI>Is it fit to &s;ay to a King, Thou art wicked, and to Princes, Ye are ungodly?</HI> And in|deed in this Ca&s;e u&s;ually, it is mo&s;t fit and decent that thy <HI>Re|pr<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="3 letters">s</HI> &s;hould not carry their own
<PB N="169" REF="98">Shape and Form, but di&s;gui&s;e them rather into Parables or In|treaties, or into any &s;uch hum|ble and becoming Method: Yet withal, let &s;o much appear, as that they may well enough know thy drift and intent. For it becomes the Wi&s;dom and Sta|tion of Inferiours, &s;o to order their Speech, that if it can but be interpreted as a <HI>Reproof,</HI> their Superiours may and will certain|ly know they meant it for &s;uch. Thus the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> bids us,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Tim. 5.1.</NOTE> <HI>Rebuke not an Elder, but rather intreat him as a Father.</HI> For becau&s;e their Place and Calling required Re|&s;pect and Reverence, therefore the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> would not have them bluntly Rebuked, but that the <HI>Reproof</HI> &s;hould be clad in ano|ther dre&s;s, that they might ap|pear to be rather Intreaties than Rebukes.</P>
<PB N="170" REF="99">
<P>We may ob&s;erve likewi&s;e, that when <HI>Nathan</HI> was &s;ent im|mediately by God to reprove King <HI>David,</HI> he doth not attack him directly, and fall rudely up|on him for his Adultery and Murder, but cloaths his Speech in a Parable, and when he had &s;o repre&s;ented the heinou&s;ne&s;s of his Sin, &s;o as by that means to make him fir&s;t reprove and condemn him&s;elf, then he tells him, <HI>Thou art the Man.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Sixthly,</HI> <MILESTONE N="6"> If thou would&s;t have thy <HI>Reproofs</HI> effectual,<NOTE PLACE="marg">We mu&s;t not be guilty of the Sins we reprove others for.</NOTE> e&s;pecial|ly beware that thou thy &s;elf art not guilty of tho&s;e Sins which thou reprove&s;t in another. It were indeed a Temper to be wi&s;h'd and pray'd for, that we could only re&s;pect how righte|ous the <HI>Reproof</HI> were, and not how righteous the Per&s;on is who gives it. For there is no
<PB N="171" REF="99">more rea&s;on to reject &s;ound Admonition, becau&s;e it comes from an unfound Heart, than there is to &s;top our Ears again&s;t good Coun&s;el becau&s;e it is de|livered perhaps by an un&s;avou|ry Breath. Yet &s;o it is, that when Men of defiled Con&s;cien|ces and Conver&s;ations reprove others, they are apt to ju&s;tifie them&s;elves by recriminating, or el&s;e to think they do but &s;port and je&s;t with them: Or thirdly to hate them for gro&s;s Hypo|crites and Di&s;&s;emblers; or la&s;t|ly, to think they do but envy them their Sins, and that they would ingro&s;s all to them&s;elves. It was a true Ob&s;ervation of <HI>Pliny</HI> in his <HI>Epi&s;tles,</HI> Lib. 8. Epi&s;t. 22. That there are &s;ome, <HI>Qui &s;ic aliorum vi&s;itis ira&s;cuntur, qua&s;i in|videant:</HI> Who are &s;o angry at o|ther Mens Vices, as if they
<PB N="172" REF="100">envied them. It cannot be ho|ped that the <HI>Reproof</HI> of &s;uch &s;hould ever take place. But when a Man of a clear and un|&s;potted Name &s;hall <HI>reprove</HI> the Sins and Vices of others, his <HI>Rebukes</HI> carry Authority with them, and if they cannot re|form; yet at lea&s;t mu&s;t they needs daunt and &s;ilence the Offen|ders, that they &s;hall have nothing to reply, no Subterfuges nor E|va&s;ions, but they mu&s;t needs be convinced that their Sins are as evil, as he repre&s;ents them by his own Care and Caution to be avoided.</P>
<P><HI>Fifthly,</HI> <MILESTONE N="5"> The only Thing that remains is to propound to you &s;ome <HI>Motives</HI> that may quicken you to the con&s;cientious di&s;|charge of this much neglected Duty.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Motives for re|proving our Brother.</NOTE> And I &s;hall but name &s;ome few, and leave them to
<PB N="173" REF="100">your con&s;ideration to be farther pre&s;t upon you. And here next to the expre&s;s Command of Al|mighty God, who&s;e Authority a|lone ought to prevail again&s;t all the Difficulties that we either find or fancy in the way of Obe|dience thereunto:</P>
<P>Con&s;ider, <HI>Fir&s;t,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Benefit of re|proving others.</NOTE> the great be|nefit that may redound both to the <HI>Reprover,</HI> and <HI>Reproved.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> Thou &s;halt hereby pro|vide thy &s;elf a Friend that may take the &s;ame liberty to <HI>reprove</HI> thee, when it &s;hall be needful, and for thy great good. And it may very well be thought that the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> upon this Account requires us to <HI>Re&s;tore our fallen Brother, with meek Reproofs,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Gal. 6.1.</NOTE> <HI>con&s;i|dering our &s;elves, le&s;t we al&s;o be tempted:</HI> That is, that hereby we may purcha&s;e a true Friend, who will be as faithful to us, as
<PB N="174" REF="101">we have been to him. How|ever, certainly it is the be&s;t and mo&s;t generous way of procuring to our &s;elves true Love and Re|&s;pect from tho&s;e whom we have thus reformed.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 9.8.</NOTE> So &s;ays <HI>Solo|mon, Rebuke a wi&s;e Man, and he will love thee.</HI> And in another place,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 28.23.</NOTE> &s;ays he, <HI>He that rebuketh a Man, afterwards &s;hall find more favour than he that flattereth with his Tongue.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Secondly,</HI> Thou wilt hereby intitle thy &s;elf to that great and precious Promi&s;e,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Dan. 12.3.</NOTE> <HI>That they that be wi&s;e, &s;hall &s;hine as the Brightne&s;s of the Firmament; and they that turn many to Righteou&s;ne&s;s, as the Stars for ever and ever.</HI> And to that other of the wi&s;e Man, <HI>To them that rebuke the Wicked,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 24.25.</NOTE> <HI>&s;hall be Delight, and a good Ble&s;&s;ing &s;hall come upon them.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Thirdly,</HI> Thou &s;halt increa&s;e thy own Graces and Comforts
<PB N="175" REF="101">more than po&s;&s;ibly thou could&s;t do by &s;eparating thy &s;elf from them. Thy Graces will be more confirmed, becau&s;e <HI>re|proving</HI> of others will engage thee to a greater Watchfulne&s;s over thy &s;elf. Thy Comforts al&s;o will be encrea&s;ed, becau&s;e a con&s;cientious di&s;charge of this Duty, will be to thee a great E|vidence of the Integrity and &s;in|cerity of thy Heart.</P>
<P><HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> <MILESTONE N="2"> The practice of this Duty will be greatly profitable unto him that is reproved. How knowe&s;t thou but it may be a me<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters"> to turn him from his Ini|quity, and &s;o thou <HI>&s;halt prevent a Multitude of Sins,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Jam. 5.20.</NOTE> <HI>and &s;ave a <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 word"> from Death.</HI> And hereby <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 word"> we &s;hall fru&s;trate one <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 span"> great De&s;igns and Artifi|<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="3 letters"> <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="MURP" EXTENT="1 span"> the Devil, which is, to <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 span"> to Sin by the Exam|ples
<PB N="176" REF="102">of tho&s;e Wickedne&s;&s;es that pa&s;s uncheck'd and uncontroul'd in the World.</P>
<P><HI>Secondly,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Tit. 3.3.</NOTE> Con&s;ider that we our &s;elves al&s;o were di&s;obedi|ent and fooli&s;h, &s;erving divers Lu&s;ts and Plea&s;ures; but were wrought upon either by pub|lick or private Reproof. And why then &s;hould not we u&s;e the &s;ame Charity towards others, which God hath been plea&s;ed to make effectual towards us.</P>
<P><HI>Thirdly,</HI> Con&s;ider that the <HI>Text</HI> makes it an apparent &s;ign of hating our Brother, if we forbear ju&s;tly to reprove him. <HI>Thou &s;halt not hate thy Brother in thy Heart:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Joh. 3.15.</NOTE> <HI>thou &s;halt in any wi&s;e reprove him.</HI> So that he who re|proves not his Brother, hates him. Now <HI>he that hates his Bro|ther is a Murderer,</HI> &s;ays St. <HI>John. And no Murderer hath Eternal Life.</HI>
<PB REF="102">
<PB REF="103">
<PB N="177" REF="103">Yea, we are guilty of <HI>Soul-Mur|der,</HI> which is &s;o much the more heinous, by how much the Soul is more precious than the Body.</P>
<P><HI>Fourthly,</HI> Con&s;ider that the performance of this Duty, were it more univer&s;al, would be the apte&s;t and readie&s;t means to pre|vent <HI>Schi&s;m</HI> and <HI>Divi&s;ion.</HI> The grand pretence for Separation, is the wickedne&s;s of many who are <HI>Church-Members.</HI> Now our <HI>Saviour</HI>'s Method is, That &s;uch &s;hould be fir&s;t reproved and ad|moni&s;h'd, before they be ca&s;t out; but it is a mo&s;t prepo&s;te|rous and headlong Cour&s;e that thou&s;ands in our Days take, who ca&s;t them&s;elves out of the Com|munion of the <HI>Church,</HI> for the Sins of tho&s;e who de&s;erve to be ca&s;t out; and rather than they will perform this ingrateful Work of <HI>Reproof,</HI> choo&s;e to &s;e|parate;
<PB N="178" REF="104">whereas if they would make u&s;e of our <HI>Saviour Chri&s;t</HI>'s Advice,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 18.15, 16.</NOTE> to reprove privately, and in ca&s;e of Ob&s;tinacy, to convict publickly, there would be, as no need, &s;o no Pretence left for Separation; but either their private Reproofs would prevail to reform, or their pub|lick Complaints and Accu&s;ations to remove Offenders.</P>
<P><HI>Fifthly,</HI> Con&s;ider, that the neglect of this Duty, brings the Sin and Guilt of others up|on your own Souls. See for this that Scripture,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Eph. 5.11.</NOTE> <HI>Ephe&s;ians</HI> 5.11. <HI>Have no Fellow&s;hip with the unfruit|ful Works of Darkne&s;s, but rather reprove them.</HI> If we reprove them not, we are Partakers of their evil Deeds, and de&s;erve to be Partakers of their Torments.</P>
</DIV1>
<DIV1 TYPE="sermon">
<PB N="179" REF="104">
<HEAD>THE DREADFULNESS OF God's Wrath, Explain'd.</HEAD>
<EPIGRAPH>
<BIBL><HI>HEB. X. 30, 31.</HI></BIBL>
<Q><P>For we know him that hath &s;aid, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recom|pence, &s;aith the Lord; and again, The Lord &s;hall judge his People.</P>
<P>It is a fearful thing to fall into the Hands of the Living God.</P></Q>
</EPIGRAPH>
<P>THere are two principal <HI>At|tributes</HI> of God,<NOTE PLACE="marg">An Intro|duction.</NOTE> which the <HI>Scripture</HI> propounds to us as the mo&s;t powerful and effica|cious Motives to re&s;train us from
<PB N="180" REF="105">Sin: And they are his <HI>Mercy,</HI> and his <HI>Ju&s;tice; Mercy</HI> tho' it be a &s;oft, yet is it a &s;trong Argument to encourage us to Purity and Ho|line&s;s. And therefore &s;ays the Apo&s;tle,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 2.4.</NOTE> <HI>The Goodne&s;s of God leadeth us to Repentance.</HI> And certainly that <HI>Mercy</HI> that expre&s;|&s;eth it &s;elf &s;o ready to pardon Sin, cannot but lay a mighty Ob|ligation upon the Ingenuity of a Chri&s;tian Spirit to ab&s;tain from the commi&s;&s;ion of it. He that can encourage him&s;elf in Wic|kedne&s;s, upon the con&s;ideration of the infinite Free-Grace of God, doth but &s;purn tho&s;e very Bowels that yern towards him, and &s;trike at God with his own Golden Scepter, yea he tears abroad tho&s;e Wounds which were at fir&s;t o|pened for him, and ca&s;ts the Blood of his Saviour back again in his Face. But becau&s;e Inge|nuity
<PB N="181" REF="105">is peri&s;ht from off the Earth, and Men are generally more apt to be wrought upon by Arguments drawn from Fear than Love, therefore the <HI>Scripture</HI> propounds to us the con&s;ideration of the dreadful Ju&s;tice of God arrayed in all the terrible Circum|&s;tances of it, that if Mercy cannot allure us, Ju&s;tice at lea&s;t might affright us from our Sins. And as tho&s;e who are to travel thorow <HI>Wilderne&s;&s;es</HI> and <HI>De&s;erts,</HI> carry Fire with them to terrifie wild and ravenous Bea&s;ts, and to &s;ecure them&s;elves from their A&s;&s;aults: So doth the great God, who hath to deal with bruti&s;h Men, Men more &s;avage than wild Bea&s;ts, he kindles a Fire about him, and appears to them all in Flames and Fury; that &s;o he might fright them from their bold Attempts, who other|wi&s;e
<PB N="182" REF="106">would be ready,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Job 15.26.</NOTE> <HI>to run upon his Neck and the thick Bo&s;&s;es of his Buckler.</HI></P>
<P>And therefore in the Four pre|cedent <HI>Ver&s;es,</HI> we find the <HI>Apo|&s;tle</HI> threatning mo&s;t tremendous Judgments again&s;t all that &s;hould wilfully tran&s;gre&s;s, after they had received the knowledge of the Truth. He tells us, <HI>there re|mains no more &s;acrifice for their Sins:</HI> Nothing to expiate their Guilt, but that they them&s;elves mu&s;t fall a Burnt-Sacrifice to the of|fended Ju&s;tice of God, con&s;u|med with that fiery Indignation that &s;hall certainly &s;eize and prey upon them for ever.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Heb. 10.28, 29.</NOTE> And in <HI>v.</HI> 28, 29. he &s;ets forth the ex|ceeding Dreadfulne&s;s of their Judgment, by a compari&s;on be|tween tho&s;e that violated the <HI>Law of Mo&s;es,</HI> and tho&s;e that <HI>renounce and annul the Law of Chri&s;t. He
<PB N="183" REF="106">that de&s;pi&s;ed</HI> Mo&s;es<HI>'s Law,</HI> who him&s;elf was but a Servant, and his Laws con&s;i&s;ted of inferiour and le&s;s &s;piritual Ordinances, yet a De&s;pi&s;er and Tran&s;gre&s;|&s;or of the&s;e was <HI>to die without Mercy;</HI> certainly much &s;orer Judgments await tho&s;e, who reject the <HI>Laws of Chri&s;t,</HI> and trample him who is the <HI>Son</HI> and <HI>Lord</HI> of the Hou&s;e, under foot; accounting his Blood unholy and prophane, renouncing his Merits, and bla&s;pheming the Holy Spirit by which our <HI>Sa|viour</HI> acted: Such as the&s;e, &s;hall eternally peri&s;h with le&s;s Mercy, than tho&s;e that <HI>died without Mercy.</HI> Where ob&s;erve the &s;trange <HI>Em|pha&s;is</HI> that the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> lays upon this dreadful Commination; he tells us they &s;hall be &s;orer puni&s;h'd, than tho&s;e that are puni&s;hed with|out Mercy; to let us know, that
<PB N="184" REF="107">as there are tran&s;cendent Glories, &s;uch as <HI>Eye hath not &s;een, nor Ear heard, nor can it enter into the Heart of Man to</HI> conceive, re&s;erved in the Heavens for tho&s;e that love God; &s;o are there Woes and Torments, &s;uch as <HI>Eye hath not &s;een, Ear heard, nor can it enter into the Heart of Man to</HI> conceive, how great and in&s;upportable they are, prepared in <HI>Hell</HI> for tho&s;e that hate him. They &s;hall die with le&s;s Mercy, than tho&s;e that die without Mercy.</P>
<P>Now that we might not wonder at &s;uch a <HI>Paradox</HI> as this, the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> gives the Rea&s;on of it in my Text, <HI>For we know him that hath &s;aid, Vengeance belongeth unto me,</HI> it is the Vengeance of God, <HI>and a falling into the Hands of God,</HI> and therefore it is no wonder if their Puni&s;hments be beyond all extremity. They fall
<PB N="185" REF="107">under the Power and Wrath of an infinite God, which when we have heaped Superlatives upon Superlatives, yet &s;till we mu&s;t expre&s;s defectively, and all that we can conceive of it falls va&s;tly &s;hort of reaching but a faint and langui&s;hing re&s;emblance thereof. It is a State &s;o full of perfect Mi&s;ery, that Mi&s;ery it &s;elf is too ea&s;y a Name to give it; yea, what&s;oever we can &s;peak mo&s;t appo&s;itely of it, is but dimini&s;h|ing it; for becau&s;e it is the <HI>Wrath</HI> and <HI>Vengeance</HI> of an infinite God, it can no more be known by us, than God him&s;elf. Plunge your Thoughts as deep into it as you can, yet &s;till there remains an infinite <HI>Aby&s;&s;e</HI> which you can never fathom. And O that the con&s;ideration of this <HI>Wrath</HI> might cau&s;e us to tremble before this great and terrible God, that
<PB N="186" REF="108">we Might &s;o fear it, as never to feel it; and be per&s;waded to fall down at his Feet, that we may never fall into his Hands. And that we may be thus affected, I have cho&s;en this <HI>Text</HI> to &s;et forth the Greatne&s;s and Dreadful|ne&s;s of that Wrath and Venge|ance which the righteous God will execute upon all &s;tubborn and di&s;obedient Wretches.</P>
<P>A <HI>Text</HI> that &s;peaks to us, as God did to the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> from <HI>Mount Sinai,</HI> out of the mid&s;t of the Fire and Blackne&s;s, Dark|ne&s;s and Tempe&s;t, in the Voice of a Trumpet. And truly we have all need to have &s;uch rou|&s;ing Truths frequently inculca|ted upon us, for the be&s;t of us are <HI>Lethargical,</HI> and though &s;ome|time when our Con&s;ciences are pincht hard by a &s;evere and &s;earch|ing Truth, we &s;tart and look a|broad, yet as &s;oon as the pre&s;ent
<PB N="187" REF="108">Impre&s;&s;ion is over, we clo&s;e our Eyes, and fall a&s;leep again in Sin and Security. There is a &s;trange Dullne&s;s and Stupor hath &s;eiz'd us, that we can no longer keep waking than we are &s;hook.</P>
<P>And therefore as we u&s;e to apply Fire and burning Coals to <HI>Lethargick</HI> Per&s;ons to awaken them; &s;o we have need to heap <HI>Coals of Fire</HI> upon Mens Heads, to &s;peak with <HI>fiery Tongues,</HI> and thunder Woe and Wrath and Judgments again&s;t them, that we may rouze the &s;ecure &s;tupid World, and &s;corch them into Life and Sen&s;e.</P>
<P>In the Words we have the&s;e two Parts ob&s;ervable.</P>
<P><HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> An Appropriation of Vengeance unto God, <HI>Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompence, &s;aith the Lord.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Secondly,</HI> The Dreadfulne&s;s
<PB N="188" REF="109">of that Vengeance inferred, from the con&s;ideration of the Author and Inflicter of it, <HI>It is a fearful thing to fall into the Hands of the living God.</HI></P>
<P>I begin with the <HI>fir&s;t</HI> of the&s;e, God's appropriating and chal|lenging Vengeance unto him|&s;elf. <HI>Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompence, &s;aith the Lord.</HI> Which Pa&s;&s;age the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> cites out of <HI>Deuteronomy,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Deut. 32.35.</NOTE> <HI>To me belong|eth Vengeance and Recompence, and the Lord &s;hall judge his People.</HI> It is his great and royal Prerogative that he doth &s;ometimes make u&s;e of in inflicting Judgments upon the Wicked in this World, but mo&s;t e&s;pecially in the World to come. And to this future Venge|ance, the Words ought particu|larly to be applyed. Now from this con&s;ideration, That Venge|ance in a peculiar Manner be|longs
<PB N="189" REF="109">unto the great God, we may ob&s;erve,</P>
<P><HI>That God him&s;elf will be the im|mediate Inflicter of the Puni&s;hments of the Damned.</HI></P>
<P>It is therefore here called a <HI>falling into the Hands of the living God,</HI> which denotes his immedi|ate Efficiency in their Tor|ments.</P>
<P>It is true, God doth u&s;e &s;e|veral In&s;truments of Torture in Hell. There is the <HI>Worm that never dies,</HI> and <HI>the Fire that never goes out,</HI> which I &s;uppo&s;e to be not only a <HI>Metaphorical,</HI> but po&s;|&s;ibly a <HI>Material Fire,</HI> elevated to &s;uch a degree of Subtilty, as that it &s;hall at once torture the Soul, and not con&s;ume the Body. And this Fire the <HI>Devils,</HI> who are their Executioners, will be officiou&s;ly raking about them, u&s;ing all their malicious Art to
<PB N="190" REF="110">increa&s;e their eternal Mi&s;ery. But the&s;e things are but &s;mall Appendages, and the &s;lighter Circum&s;tances of their Tor|ments; the mo&s;t exact and in|tolerable part of their Torture &s;hall be inflicted on them from another <HI>Fire,</HI> an intelligent E|verla&s;ting, and therefore an un|quenchable Fire, even God him|&s;elf, for &s;o he is &s;aid to be, <HI>Our God is a con&s;uming Fire.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Heb. 12.19.</NOTE></P>
<P>And though we ordinarily &s;peak only of <HI>Hell Fire,</HI> yet not only <HI>Hell,</HI> but <HI>Heaven</HI> is full of this <HI>Fire,</HI> con&s;ult that place, <HI>Who among us &s;hall dwell with the de|vouring Fire?</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 33.14.</NOTE> <HI>who among us &s;hall dwell with everla&s;ting Burnings?</HI> Would not one think at the fir&s;t &s;ound of the Words, that the <HI>Prophet</HI> &s;peaks only of &s;uch as &s;hould be damned in Hell, re|maining there in everla&s;ting Bur|nings?
<PB N="191" REF="110">And demands of them, who among them could endure this? No, but it appears plain|ly, that this <HI>Fire</HI> and <HI>Burning</HI> is in Heaven it &s;elf, and the <HI>Pro|phet</HI> by putting this Que&s;tion, <HI>Who &s;hall dwell with the devou|ring Fire and everla&s;ting Burnings?</HI> asks who &s;hall be &s;aved, and not who &s;hall be de&s;troyed? And therefore in the 15th. <HI>Ver&s;e,</HI> he tells us, that he &s;hall do it, <HI>who walketh uprightly, and &s;peak|eth uprightly, that de&s;pi&s;eth the gain of Oppre&s;&s;ion, that &s;haketh his Hands from holding of Bribes, that &s;top|peth his Ears from hearing of Blood, and &s;hutteth his Eyes from &s;eeing of Evil.</HI> Such a one &s;hall dwell with the devouring Fire; that is, he &s;hall for ever dwell with God in Heaven. So that we &s;ee God is a <HI>Fire</HI> both to the Wicked, and to the Godly; to the Wic|ked
<PB N="192" REF="111">he is a <HI>penetrating torturing Fire,</HI> and they are combu&s;tible Matter for his Wrath and Vengeance to prey upon; but to the Godly he is a <HI>purifying and cheri&s;hing Fire</HI> only. And as <HI>Lightning</HI> doth not only clean&s;e and refine the <HI>Air,</HI> but <HI>rends Trees</HI> and <HI>Rocks</HI> in pieces; di&s;&s;olves <HI>Metals,</HI> and breaks thorow what&s;oever oppo|&s;eth it: So this great and <HI>Al|mighty Fire</HI> only refre&s;heth and comforteth the Godly, whereas it breaks and tears the Wicked in pieces, and melts them like Wax before the &s;corching Heat of it. And though I deny not but there may be &s;omewhat like that which we commonly apprehend when we &s;peak of <HI>Hell,</HI> &s;ome unquenchable Flames pre|pared by the Wi&s;dom and Power of God for the eternal Torment of tho&s;e that &s;hall be ca&s;t there|into;
<PB REF="111">
<PB REF="112">
<PB N="193" REF="112">yet withal I think that their mo&s;t exqui&s;ite Torments &s;hall be from that <HI>Fire</HI> that is God him&s;elf.</P>
<P>For if we ob&s;erve, it is &s;aid to be <HI>everla&s;ting Fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Matth. 25.41.</NOTE> Now the <HI>Devils</HI> are &s;piritual Sub&s;tan|ces, and flames of <HI>Fire</HI> them&s;elves. <HI>He maketh his Angels Spirits,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;alm 104.4.</NOTE> <HI>and his Mini&s;ters,</HI> that is his Mini&s;tring Spirits, whether good or evil, whether Mini&s;ters of his Wrath, or Mini&s;ters of his Mercy, <HI>He makes them Flames of Fire.</HI> They are &s;uch piercing and &s;ubtile Flames, that <HI>Lightning</HI> it &s;elf is but gro&s;s and dull, compared to them: Yet here is a <HI>Fire</HI> that &s;hall even torture <HI>Fire</HI> it &s;elf, a <HI>Fire</HI> that &s;hall burn tho&s;e Flames of <HI>Fire;</HI> and that is God, who being a Spirit, and the God of Spirits, can ea&s;ily pierce into the
<PB N="194" REF="113">very Centre of their Being. So that the Damned in <HI>Hell</HI> &s;hall for ever find them&s;elves burnt with a <HI>double Fire,</HI> a <HI>Material Fire,</HI> &s;uted and adapted to im|pre&s;s Pain and Torment upon the Body, yet without wa&s;ting and con&s;uming it; And an <HI>in|vi&s;ible intellectual Fire,</HI> that &s;hall prey upon the Soul, and fill it with un&s;peakable Angui&s;h and Horror, and this is no other than God him&s;elf.</P>
<P>And in this there is a true Pa|rallel between <HI>Heaven</HI> and <HI>Hell;</HI> for as in <HI>Heaven,</HI> though there are many created Excellencies and Glories, which contribute to the <HI>Beatitude</HI> of the Saints; yet their mo&s;t &s;ub&s;tantial Hap|pine&s;s is from their immediate fruition of God: So likewi&s;e in <HI>Hell,</HI> though there be many created and invented <HI>Tortures,</HI>
<PB N="195" REF="113">yet the mo&s;t intolerable Mi&s;ery of the Damned, is from the immedi|ate infliction and infu&s;ion of the Divine Wrath into them, which no Creature can convey to them in &s;uch a Manner and Mea&s;ure as they there feel it; but God him&s;elf pours the full Vials of it into their Souls. And there|fore as the Saints are called <HI>Ve&s;|&s;els of Mercy,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 9.22.</NOTE> &s;o the Wicked are called <HI>Ve&s;&s;els of Wrath, fitted for De&s;truction.</HI> Such Ve&s;&s;els into which God will pour in of his Vengeance, and fill brimm full with his wrath and fury for ever.</P>
<P>The Apo&s;tle &s;peaking of wicked Men, tells us,<NOTE PLACE="marg">1 The&s;. 1.9.</NOTE> <HI>They &s;hall be puni&s;hed with everla&s;ting De|&s;truction from the Pre&s;ence of the Lord, and from the Glory of his Power.</HI> Where we mu&s;t not think that this Phra&s;e <HI>[From the Pre&s;ence of the Lord]</HI> denotes only
<PB N="196" REF="114">that part of their Puni&s;hment which we call <HI>poena Damni,</HI> or the Puni&s;hment of Lo&s;s; but rather that it denotes the effici|ent Cau&s;e of their <HI>poena Sen&s;us,</HI> or the puni&s;hment of Sen&s;e; not that their puni&s;hment &s;hall only be, to be for ever bani&s;hed from his Pre&s;ence, but that this Pre&s;ence &s;hall be active in inflicting Pu|ni&s;hments upon them, and we may read it thus, <HI>They &s;hall be puni&s;hed with everla&s;ting De&s;tru|ction, by the Pre&s;ence of the Lord, and by the Glory of his Power:</HI> For as God's glorious Power is effective of their De&s;truction, &s;o al&s;o is his dread Pre&s;ence of that con|&s;uming and tormenting Fire.</P>
<P>And thus much briefly for the <HI>fir&s;t</HI> Thing ob&s;ervable in the <HI>Text,</HI> namely God's appropria|ting Vengeance unto him&s;elf, <HI>Vengeance belongeth unto me,</HI> and
<PB N="197" REF="114">it is a <HI>falling into the Hands of the Living God.</HI></P>
<P>I come now to the <HI>&s;econd</HI> Thing ob&s;ervable in the Words, <MILESTONE N="2"> the dreadfulne&s;s of this Venge|ance inferred, from the con&s;ide|ration of the Author and Infli|cter of it; for becau&s;e it is Di|vine Vengeance, and a falling into the Hands of the Living God, therefore it mu&s;t needs be verry terrible. And here I &s;hall <HI>fir&s;t</HI> take notice of tho&s;e Expre&s;|&s;ions that my <HI>Text</HI> affords, to &s;et forth the Terrour of this Wrath. And then con&s;ider o|ther Demon&s;trations of it. And here,</P>
<P><HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> <MILESTONE N="1"> Con&s;ider that all other Vengeance is as nothing in com|pari&s;on of that which God takes on a damned Soul. You may po&s;&s;ibly have heard of &s;trange and horrid Revenges that &s;ome
<PB N="198" REF="115">cruel Men have carved out unto them&s;elves, putting tho&s;e that have offended them to &s;uch Tor|tures as were unfit for Men ei|ther to inflict or &s;uffer. <HI>Hi&s;to|ries</HI> abound with &s;uch <HI>Barbari|ties,</HI> I am loth to offend your Ears &s;o much as to recount them, let us only take an e&s;timate by the dreadful Revenge that <HI>David</HI> took on the <HI>Ammonites:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Sam. 12. la&s;t.</NOTE> <HI>He put them under Saws, and Harrows of Iron, and made them pa&s;s through the Brick-Kilns.</HI> And all this Severity, (if not to &s;ay Cruelty) was to revenge the in&s;olent Af|front done to his <HI>Emba&s;&s;adours.</HI> It is doubtle&s;s no &s;mall Torture to be burnt alive, for Fire is a &s;earch|ing Thing, and eats deep into the Sen&s;es; but yet this kind of Death was a merciful di&s;patch in compari&s;on of the others: Think what it is to be &s;tretcht along,
<PB N="199" REF="115">to have the &s;harp &s;pikes of an Harrow tear up your Fle&s;h, and draw out your Bowels and Bones after them: Or what it is to be &s;awn a&s;under, and to have tho&s;e &s;mall Teeth eat their way &s;lowly thorow you, while they jarr again&s;t your Bones, and pull out your Nerves and Sinews thread by thread. How many <HI>Deaths,</HI> think you, were the&s;e mi|&s;erable Creatures compelled to &s;uffer before they were permitted to die. Yet the&s;e, and all the witty Tortures that ever were invented by the greate&s;t Ma&s;ters of Cruelty, are nothing in Com|pari&s;on of the Vengeance that God will take upon Sinners in <HI>Hell:</HI> And therefore he &s;ays, <HI>Vengeance is mine, I will recompence.</HI> As if he &s;hould &s;ay, Alas, all that you can do one to another &s;ignifies nothing, it is not to be
<PB N="200" REF="116">accounted <HI>Vengeance,</HI> that is too great a Name for &s;uch poor Ef|fects. It is a Prerogative that God challengeth to him&s;elf to be the <HI>Avenger:</HI> And whatever Creatures meddle with, if they have not a Commi&s;&s;ion from him, it is their Sin; and therefore pri|vate Per&s;ons, whom he hath not inve&s;ted with &s;uch Authority, ought not to take upon them to avenge their own Cau&s;e. Or if they have a Commi&s;&s;ion, yet all their execution of <HI>Vengeance</HI> is but feeble and weak. We find in <HI>Eccle&s;ia&s;tical Hi&s;tory</HI> that the <HI>Holy Martyrs</HI> have often mock'd at all the <HI>cruel Tortures</HI> of their enraged <HI>Per&s;ecutors,</HI> and God hath either taken from them all &s;en&s;e of Pain, or el&s;e given them in &s;uch &s;trong Con&s;olations, that they have triumph'd in all the Extremity of them; O how
<PB N="201" REF="116">have they hugg'd the <HI>Stake</HI> at which they were to be burnt, courted the <HI>Bea&s;ts</HI> that were to devour them, and been &s;tretched upon the <HI>Rack</HI> with as much con|tent, as they have &s;tretch'd them|&s;elves upon their Beds; and not &s;o much &s;uffered, as enjoyed their Deaths! God hath &s;o mer|cifully taken off the Edge and Keenne&s;s of their <HI>Torments,</HI> to &s;hew that <HI>Vengeance</HI> is his Right, and that they are but contempti|ble things that one Man can in|flict upon another, &s;carce worthy to be called <HI>Vengeance.</HI> And be|&s;ides, let it be never &s;o &s;harp and cutting, yet it cannot be long durable; the more intolerable any <HI>Torments</HI> are, the &s;ooner they work our e&s;cape from them. And though Malice may wi&s;h the Perpetuity of our Pain, yet it is not po&s;&s;ible for mortal Men
<PB N="202" REF="117">to pro&s;ecute an immortal Re|venge, the Death, either of them, or our &s;elves, will put a period to our Sufferings. And what a &s;mall matter is it to undergo pain for a few days only, this is not worthy to be called <HI>Vengeance,</HI> nor is it like that which the great God will inflict, which is both in&s;upportable and eternal. And therefore,</P>
<P><HI>Secondly,</HI> The Apo&s;tle calls it <HI>a falling into the hands of the Living God.</HI> And this denotes to us the Perpetuity and Eternity of this <HI>Vengeance.</HI> God ever lives to in|flict it, and Sinners &s;hall ever live to &s;uffer it; for they fall into his Hands. God hath lea|&s;ed out a Life to every wicked Man, he hath his Term of Years &s;et him, wherein he lives to him|&s;elf, enjoying his Lu&s;ts, and the Plea&s;ures and Profits of this
<PB N="203" REF="117">pre&s;ent World; and all this while <HI>Vengeance</HI> intermedles little with him: but when his Life is expir'd, and his Years run out, he then falls into the Hands of the great Lord of all, and be|comes the Po&s;&s;e&s;&s;ion of his <HI>Venge|ance</HI> and <HI>Ju&s;tice</HI> for ever. And then, <HI>he is the Living God,</HI> and &s;uch wicked Wretches mu&s;t for ever live to endure the mo&s;t dreadful execution of his Power and Wrath. Were there any Term or Period &s;et to their <HI>Tor|ments,</HI> &s;hould they when they have endured them thou&s;ands of thou&s;ands of Years, afterwards be annihilated, the expectation of this Relea&s;e would give them &s;ome &s;upport; yea, it would be &s;ome &s;olace to them in their Suf|ferings to think that at la&s;t they &s;hould be freed from them: But this is the <HI>Accent</HI> of their Mi&s;ery,
<PB N="204" REF="118">and that which makes them al|together de&s;perate, that it is for ever; for ever they mu&s;t lie and wallow in tho&s;e Flames that &s;hall never be quenched, and &s;hall always be bit and &s;tung with that <HI>Worm that &s;hall never die,</HI> they are fallen into the <HI>Hands of the living God,</HI> who will never let them go as long as he lives, that is, never to all Eternity. He is a con&s;uming <HI>Fire,</HI> but yet &s;pends not any part of his Few|el, he con&s;umes without di|mini&s;hing them, and de&s;troys, but &s;till perpetuates their being. A wi&s;e and intelligent Fire, (as <HI>Minutius</HI> calls him) that devours the Damned, but &s;till repairs them, and by tormenting &s;till nouri&s;hes them for future Tor|ments. <HI>Sapiens ille ignis, urit &amp; reficit, carpit &amp; nutrit.</HI> And when they have lain burning in this
<PB N="205" REF="118"><HI>Fire</HI> all Ages that <HI>Arithmetick</HI> can &s;umm up, Millions of Thou&s;ands, and Thou&s;ands of Millions, yet &s;till it is but the beginning of their Sorrows. O think with your &s;elves how long and tedious a little time &s;eems, when you are in pain, you complain then that Time hath leaden Feet, and wi&s;h the Days and Hours would roll away fa&s;ter, and you never find them &s;o &s;low-paced, as when they pa&s;s over a <HI>&s;ick Bed.</HI> Oh then what will it be when you &s;hall lie &s;weltring under the <HI>Wrath and Vengeance of the living God,</HI> the intolerablene&s;s of your Pain and Torment will make e|very Day &s;eem an Age; and eve|ry Year as long as Eternity, and yet you mu&s;t lie there an Eternity of tho&s;e long Years. Methinks this con&s;ideration of <HI>Eternal Tor|ments</HI> &s;hould a&s;toni&s;h the Heart,
<PB N="206" REF="119">and &s;ink the Spirits of wicked Wretches; for though they were not to be &s;o exce&s;&s;ively &s;harp as they are, yet the <HI>Eternity</HI> of them &s;hould make them altogether in|tolerable. There is no pain &s;o &s;mall but it would make us de&s;|perate, were we a&s;&s;ured it would never wear off, that we &s;hould never obtain any ea&s;e or freedom from it. Whatever Pain we &s;uf|fer, our encouragement unto Pa|tience is, that &s;hortly it will be over: But now in <HI>Hell</HI> there is no period &s;ixt to their <HI>Torments,</HI> they are all eternal, and there|fore what&s;oever they are for the Mea&s;ure of them, yet are they utterly intolerable for their Du|ration and Continuance. Could&s;t thou &s;hove away Millions of Years with a Wi&s;h, yet all this would avail nothing; for there are as many Years in Eternity as
<PB N="207" REF="119">there are Moments, and as many Millions of Years as there are Years; that is, it is an infinite boundle&s;s Duration, and when thou ha&s;t &s;truck thy Thoughts as deep into it as thou can&s;t, yet thou art but at the top of the Heap, and it is &s;till a whole Eternity to the bottom.</P>
<P><HI>Thirdly,</HI> Con&s;ider al&s;o that the <HI>Wrath</HI> and <HI>Vengeance</HI> of God is mo&s;t dreadful, not only from the Eternal Duration thereof; but al&s;o from the exce&s;&s;ive An|gui&s;h and Smart of tho&s;e <HI>Tor|ments</HI> that he inflicts; nothing that we have felt, or can feel in this pre&s;ent Life, can come into any compari&s;on with them; and therefore the <HI>Text</HI> calls it, <HI>A fal|ling into the Hands of God.</HI> Here on Earth God's Hand doth &s;ome|times fall upon us, and it falls very heavy too; and lays upon
<PB N="208" REF="120">us &s;ore and weighty Burthens; but the&s;e are nothing to our fal|ling into the Hands of God. There is as much difference be|tween his Wrath and Di&s;plea|&s;ure falling upon us, and our falling upon it, as there is be|tween our having a few drops of a Showre falling upon us, and our falling into a River, or into the Sea, and being overwhelmed with the great Waters thereof; and yet how dreadful is it when God's Hand only falls upon us! It was a &s;ad Complaint of the <HI>P&s;almi&s;t,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 32.4.</NOTE> <HI>That God's Hand lay heavy upon him.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 38.2.</NOTE> And <HI>That God's Hand pre&s;t him &s;ore.</HI> Grievous Burthens and &s;ore Pre&s;&s;ures may be laid upon us by this Hand of God, and that both as to out|ward Afflictions, and inward Troubles.</P>
<PB N="209" REF="120">
<P><HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> As to outward Afflicti|ons. How dreadfully doth God &s;tretch out his Hand again&s;t &s;ome, making wide and terrible Breaches upon them; Some in their E&s;tates, &s;ome in their Re|lations, and &s;ome in their bodi|ly Health and Strength. Have you never been about the &s;ick Beds of tho&s;e that have roared through extremity of Pain, eve|ry Limb being upon the Rack, and God filling them with a Complication of loath&s;om, tor|menting and incurable Di&s;ea&s;es? and yet all this is but only a fal|ling of God's Hand upon them.</P>
<P><HI>Secondly,</HI> <MILESTONE N="2"> As to inward Trou|bles: We &s;ee how God cramps &s;ome Mens Con&s;ciences, breathes Fire and Flames into their very Souls, and makes deep Wounds in their Spirits, forcing them tho|row the extremity of Angui&s;h
<PB N="210" REF="121">to cry out, <HI>they are damn'd, they are damn'd;</HI> yea &s;ome have even wi&s;ht that they were in Hell, &s;uppo&s;ing tho&s;e everla&s;ting Tor|ments would not be more un&s;uf|ferable than what they here felt. And indeed the&s;e inward Trou|bles are far more grievous than any outward can be. We hear <HI>Heman</HI> crying out, that <HI>becau&s;e of the&s;e Terrours of the Lord, he was ready to die from his Youth up. And whil&s;t <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 word"> &s;uffered this Wrath of God, he was <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">en di&s;tracted with it.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 88.15.</NOTE> And <HI>Job,</HI> wh<GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 letter">&s;e Patience is celebra|ted for bearing all his outward A&s;&s;lictions, lo&s;s of E&s;tate, of Children, of Health, with an heroick Con&s;tancy, (<HI>You have heard,</HI> &s;ays St. <HI>James of the Pa|tience of</HI> Job) yet when God comes to touch his Spirit with his Wrath, then we hear of his Impatience, he <HI>cur&s;eth the Day of
<PB N="211" REF="121">his Birth, and wi&s;hes that God would de&s;troy him, that he would let loo&s;e his Hand and cut him off.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Job 6.9.</NOTE> And wherefore are the&s;e pa&s;&s;io|nate Reque&s;ts? why, he tells us, <HI>The Arrows of the Almighty are within me, the Poi&s;on whereof drink|eth up my Spirit: The Terrors of God do &s;et them&s;elves in array again&s;t me.</HI> And therefore though he could patiently bear all that the rage of the Devil could do a|gain&s;t him, when he toucht his Wealth, his Children; yea, when he toucht his Body: yet his Pa|tience could no longer hold out, when God came to touch his Soul and Con&s;cience.</P>
<P>And yet the greate&s;t Terrors of Con&s;cience, whether in the Children of God to their Refor|mation, or in the Wicked to their De&s;peration, are but light and &s;mall touches of his Hand
<PB N="212" REF="122">in compari&s;on with what &s;hall be expre&s;t hereafter on the Dam|ned in <HI>Hell.</HI> For,</P>
<P><HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> <MILESTONE N="1"> To the Godly the&s;e Afflictions are mixed with Love and Mercy. They come not as <HI>Plagues,</HI> but as <HI>Medicaments</HI> to do them good. But in <HI>Hell</HI> all is Wrath, pure Wrath and Judg|ment without Mercy. And cer|tainly if tho&s;e Sufferings which are inflicted in Love, and allay'd with Mercy, are yet &s;o very dread|ful to the People of God; how dreadfull will the Wrath of God be in <HI>Hell,</HI> where it &s;hall be pure and unmixed, and nothing put into that Cup which the Dam|ned are there to drink of, but the ranke&s;t Venome that can be &s;queezed out of all the <HI>Cur&s;es</HI> that eyer God hath denounced? And then,</P>
<PB N="213" REF="122">
<P><HI>Secondly,</HI> <MILESTONE N="2"> To the Wicked all the Sufferings they here endure are nothing in compari&s;on with what they mu&s;t eternally &s;uffer in <HI>Hell.</HI> They are now only &s;prinkled with a few drops of God's Wrath, but in <HI>Hell</HI> all his Waves &s;hall go over them for ever. Here they do but &s;ip a lit|tle of that Cup, and ta&s;te a little of the Froth of it, and &s;hould they drink deeper, Earth could not hold them, but they would grow drunk, and reel and &s;tag|ger into <HI>Hell;</HI> but there they mu&s;t for ever drink the very Dregs of that Cup of Trembling and A&s;toni&s;hment. And thou who now roare&s;t like a wild Bull in a Net, when God's Hand is only upon thee, what wilt thou do when thou &s;halt eternally fall under his Mighty Hands? Thou now crye&s;t out of the Intolerable|ne&s;s
<PB N="214" REF="123">of thy pre&s;ent Pain: but, alas, had&s;t thou but felt one gripe of the Torments of the Damned in <HI>Hell;</HI> had God and the Devil had but one blow a|piece at thee, thou would&s;t choo&s;e to live for ever here on Earth in the mo&s;t exqui&s;ite Tor|ture that could be devi&s;ed, the &s;harpe&s;t <HI>Paroxy&s;ms</HI> of the <HI>Stone</HI> or <HI>Gout,</HI> to be &s;tretcht upon the Rack, to lye broke upon the Wheel, to have thy Fle&s;h pluckt by fiery Pincers; thou would&s;t choo&s;e to &s;uffer all the&s;e to Eter|nity; yea and cho&s;e them as Re|creations and Diverti&s;ements, ra|ther than return to that place of Torment; where not only the Eternity, but the Angui&s;h of them, is infinite and unconceiv|able. And as one Day in the <HI>Joys of Heaven</HI> is better than a thou&s;and Years in all the impure
<PB N="215" REF="123">and low Delights of Earth: So one Day in the <HI>Torments of Hell,</HI> is far wor&s;e than a thou&s;and in the &s;harpe&s;t Mi&s;eries we can in|dure in this Life.</P>
<P>Here our Pains u&s;ually are but partial, God aimes and &s;hoots with his Arrow but at &s;ome one part of us: If he wounds our Spirits, yet this in|vi&s;ible Shaft (like <HI>Lightning</HI>) pa&s;&s;eth thorow without making a Breach in our Bodies, or E|&s;tates; we have &s;till our Health and Plenty left us. Or if he &s;trike the Body, u&s;ually it is but in one, or at mo&s;t but in &s;ome few Places, and we enjoy ea&s;e in the re&s;t: But in <HI>Hell,</HI> God doth as it were wrap the whole Man up in Searcloth, and &s;et it on fire round about them, &s;o that they are tormented in every part, neither <HI>Soul</HI> nor <HI>Body</HI> e&s;|caping,
<PB N="216" REF="124">nor any Power or Faculty of the one, nor any Part or Mem|ber of the other.</P>
<P>When we fall into the Hands of God, we are plunged into an Ocean of Wrath, and are covered all over with his Indignation; the Under&s;tanding, Will, Con|&s;cience, Affections, are all as full of Torments as they can hold: For what can be greater Angui&s;h to the Mind than to know our Mi&s;ery, and to know it to be remedile&s;s? And what can be greater Angui&s;h to the Will and Affections, than mo&s;t ardently and vehemently to de&s;ire freedom from tho&s;e <HI>Torments,</HI> but yet to de&s;pair of ever obtaining it? And what can fill the Con&s;cience with greater Angui&s;h, than to reflect with infinite Horrour and Regret, that it was the Sinners own Folly and Madne&s;s that brought
<PB N="217" REF="124">them to this mi&s;erable Conditi|on? How will they be ready to rend and tear them&s;elves in pie|ces, their Con&s;ciences cur&s;e their Wills, and their Wills cur&s;e their Affections, and their Affections the Objects that enticed them to the commi&s;&s;ion of tho&s;e Sins, the Revenges of which they mu&s;t now eternally &s;uffer? And as for the <HI>Bodies</HI> of the&s;e Damned Souls, they &s;hall after the <HI>Re&s;urrection</HI> and dreadful <HI>Day of Judgment,</HI> be|come all Fire, like a live Coal, Fire &s;hall be imbibed into the very Sub&s;tance of them, and they not have &s;o much <HI>as a drop of Water afforded them to cool the tip of their Tongues.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Luke 16.</NOTE> Every Limb &s;hall drop whole flakes of <HI>Fire and Brim&s;tone,</HI> and they &s;hall be &s;o &s;courged with knotted and twi&s;ted Serpenrs, as to be made all over one great fiery Wound
<PB N="218" REF="125">and Ulcer. And this is a third Con&s;ideration of the dreadfulne&s;s of everla&s;ting Vengeance; <HI>It is a falling into God's Hands.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Fourthly,</HI> <MILESTONE N="4"> Con&s;ider, it is <HI>a falling into the Hands of the Living God him&s;elf,</HI> and not of any Crea|ture.<NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Sam. 24.14.</NOTE> Indeed we read, <HI>David</HI> cho&s;e rather <HI>to fall into the Hands of the Lord, than into the Hands of Men.</HI> It is true, when there is Re|pentance, and hopes of obtain|ing Mercy, this is far more eli|gible: for the Cha&s;ti&s;ements of the Lord are full of Mercy; but the tender Mercies of the wicked are cruel. But where all hopes of Mercy are excluded, as they are in Hell, certainly there it is infinitely more dreadful to fall into the Hands of a Sin-reven|ging-God, than into the Hands of all the Creatures in Heaven, Earth, or Hell it &s;elf. One
<PB N="219" REF="125">would have thought it had been terrible enough, if the Apo&s;tle had &s;aid, It is a fearful thing to fall into the Hands of <HI>Devils;</HI> and &s;o indeed it were, if we con|&s;ider either their Power, or their Malice: they can ea&s;ily find out &s;uch tormenting Ingredients, and apply them to &s;uch tender Parts, that it would tran&s;cend the Pati|ence of any Man, quietly to bear but what one <HI>Devil</HI> can inflict. Do we not often &s;ee in the Illu|&s;ions of black and &s;ooty <HI>Melan|choly,</HI> what &s;trange Fears and Terrors they can imprint upon the Fancy, what Horror and De|&s;pair they can work in the Con|&s;cience, &s;o as to make Men wea|ry of their Lives, and many times per&s;wade them to de&s;troy them|&s;elves, only to know the wor&s;t of what they mu&s;t &s;uffer? And all this he can do out of his own
<PB N="220" REF="126">Kingdom; what then can he do when he hath got Sinners into his own Dominions? What ex|act Tortures can he inflict up|on them there? &s;uch indeed as we cannot tell what they are, and may it plea&s;e God we never may.</P>
<P>And yet the <HI>Devil</HI> is but a fel|low-Creature; but wicked Men are to fall into the Hands, not of a Creature, but of the great Creatour, into the Hands of God him&s;elf, who&s;e Power is infinitely beyond the Devil's, &s;o that he is the Tormentor even of them.</P>
<P>Think then with thy &s;elf, <HI>O Sinner,</HI> that if God &s;courges, and torments the very Devils, who yet do &s;o in&s;ufferably tor|ment the Damned; how infi|nitely intolerable then is that Wrath which God him&s;elf &s;hall inflict upon them? Con&s;ider
<PB N="221" REF="126">with thy &s;elf, if thou can&s;t not bear tho&s;e Pains and Torments which the <HI>Devils</HI> inflict, and if the <HI>Devils</HI> cannot bear tho&s;e Pains and Torments which God in|flicts upon them; how wilt thou then, O Sinner, be able to bear the immediate Wrath and Vengeance of the great God him|&s;elf?</P>
<P>Nay, let me go yet much lower; and &s;uppo&s;e that God &s;hould make u&s;e of common and ordinary Creatures for the puni&s;hment of wicked Men, who is there that could bear this? If God &s;hould only keep a Man living for ever in the mid&s;t of a Furnace of gro&s;s and earthly Fire, how dreadful would this be! If but a Spark of Fire fall upon any part of the Body, what an acute <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="2 letters">in will it cau&s;e? much more <GAP DESC="illegible" RESP="KEYERS" EXTENT="1 word"> thy whole Man &s;hould
<PB N="222" REF="127">be all over on a light Flame, and thou for ever kept alive to feel the piercing Torment of it. And yet what is our dull unactive Fire in compari&s;on of that pure in|telligent Fire, which &s;hall melt down the Damned like Wax, and lick up the very Spirits of their Souls? Or &s;uppo&s;e God who knows the &s;everal Stings that are in all his Creatures, &s;hould take out of them the mo&s;t &s;harp Ingredients, and from them all make up a tormen|ting Compo&s;ition; if he &s;hould take Poi&s;on and Venome out of one, and Fire and Scorching out of another, and Smart and Sting|ing out of a third, and the Quinte&s;&s;ence of Bitterne&s;s out of a fourth; and by his infinite Skill, heighten all the&s;e to a pre|ternatural Acrimony; and &s;hould apply this Compo&s;ition thus fa|tally
<PB N="223" REF="127">mixed and blended toge|ther, unto any of us, what an intolerable Angui&s;h would it cau&s;e? And if Creatures can cau&s;e &s;uch Tortures, what a dreadfull thing then is it to fall into the Hands of God him&s;elf? For when God conveys his Wrath to us by Creatures, it mu&s;t needs lo&s;e infinitely in the Conveyance. When God takes up one Crea|ture to &s;trike another, it is as if a <HI>Gyant</HI> &s;hould take up a <HI>Straw</HI> to &s;trike a Man; for though he be never &s;o &s;trong, yet the Blow can be but weak, becau&s;e of the weakne&s;s of the In&s;trument; and yet alas how terrible are &s;uch weak Blows to us? What will it then be when God &s;hall im|mediately cru&s;h us by the unre|bated &s;trokes of his own Almigh|ty Arm, and expre&s;s the Power of his Wrath, and the Glory of
<PB N="224" REF="128">his Ju&s;tice and Severity in our e|ternal De&s;truction? And this is the <HI>fourth Demon&s;tration</HI> of the dreadfulne&s;s of Divine Venge|ance.</P>
<P><HI>Fifthly,</HI> <MILESTONE N="5"> Con&s;ider that the A|po&s;tle calls this Wrath, which the living God will inflict upon Sinners, by the Name of <HI>Ven|geance. Vengeance is mine, I will recompence it.</HI> Now <HI>Vengeance</HI> when it is what and &s;harpned by Wrath, will enter deep, and cut the Soul to the Quick. God acts a Two-fold part in the puni&s;h|ment of Sinners.</P>
<P><HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> <MILESTONE N="1"> of a <HI>Judge.</HI> In relation to which their Eternal Torments are &s;ometimes called Condemna|tion; &s;o we read of <HI>the Condem|nation of the Devil;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Tim. 3.6.</NOTE> That is, that &s;tate of Woe and Wrath, to which the <HI>Devil</HI> is for ever &s;en|tenced. And Damnation, <HI>How
<PB REF="128">
<PB REF="129">
<PB N="225" REF="129">can you e&s;cape the Damnation of Hell?</HI> And &s;ometimes it is termed Judgment,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Heb. 10.27.</NOTE> <HI>A certain fearfull look|ing for of Judgment and Fiery In|dignation.</HI> And in <HI>Jude</HI> 15.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Jude 15.</NOTE> <HI>to ex|ecute Judgment upon all the Ungodly.</HI> Which denotes that their Puni&s;h|ment &s;hall be inflicted upon them from God, as he is a Ju&s;t and Righteous Judge.</P>
<P>And <HI>Secondly,</HI> <MILESTONE N="2"> God is an <HI>Aven|ger</HI> as well as a <HI>Judge.</HI> He is a Party concerned, as having been wronged, and injured by their Sins. And in relation to this, the Puni&s;hments that God will inflict upon them, are called Wrath and Fury, &s;moaking An|ger and Jealou&s;ie:<NOTE PLACE="marg">Deut. 29.20.</NOTE> <HI>The Anger of the Lord and his Jealou&s;ie &s;hall &s;moak again&s;t that Man.</HI> Al&s;o, Fiery Indignation,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Heb. 10.27.</NOTE> all which we find ama&s;s'd and heaped together,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Zeph. 3.8.</NOTE> <HI>My Determination</HI> (&s;aith God) <HI>is
<PB N="226" REF="130">to gather the Nations, to pour upon them mine Indignation, even all my fierce Anger; for all the Earth &s;hall be devoured with the Fire of my Jealou&s;ie.</HI> Now, all the&s;e Ex|pre&s;&s;ions &s;ignifie the terriblene&s;s of that <HI>Vengeance</HI> which God will take. For when the Wrath of Man only &s;tirs him up to revenge an Injury, he will be &s;ure to do it to the utmo&s;t extremity of all his Power. And if the <HI>Revenge</HI> of a poor weak Man be &s;o dread|ful a thing; how in&s;upportable will be the <HI>Vengeance</HI> of the great God, who a&s;&s;umes it to him|&s;elf as part of his Royalty? <HI>Ven|geance is mine.</HI> See that terrible place,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Nah. 1.2.</NOTE> <HI>God is jealous, and the Lord revengeth: the Lord revengeth, and is furious, the Lord will take Ven|geance on his Adver&s;aries, and he re&s;erveth Wrath for his Enemies.</HI> God re&s;erveth Wrath for Sinners,
<PB N="227" REF="130">and keeps it in &s;tore, even that Wrath which them&s;elves have trea&s;ured up again&s;t the Day of Wrath.</P>
<P>Now this <HI>Revenging-Wrath</HI> of God hath Two things in it that ju&s;tly make it dreadful.</P>
<P><HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> In that, <MILESTONE N="1"> <HI>Revenge</HI> always aims at Satisfaction, and &s;eeks to repair Injuries received, by inflicting Puni&s;hment on the Of|fender. This gives ea&s;e to the Party grieved; and if this <HI>Re|venge</HI> be commen&s;urate to the greatne&s;s of the Offence, he re&s;ts &s;atisfied in it. And therefore, God &s;peaking of him&s;elf accor|ding to the Pa&s;&s;ions and Affecti|ons of Men, &s;olaces him&s;elf in the thoughts of that <HI>Vengeance</HI> he would take upon Sinners,<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 1.24.</NOTE> <HI>Ah I will ea&s;e me of mine Adver&s;aries, I will avenge me of mine Enemies.</HI> And, O how dreadful that <HI>Re|venge</HI>
<PB N="228" REF="131">mu&s;t be, that &s;hall ea&s;e the Heart of God, and give him &s;atisfaction, for the heinous Pro|vocations that Sinners have com|mitted again&s;t him. For con&s;ider,</P>
<P><HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> <MILESTONE N="1"> How great and manifold our Offences have been, and eve|ry act of Sin, yea the lea&s;t that ever we committed, is an infinite Debt, and carries in it an infinite Guilt, becau&s;e committed again&s;t an infinite Maje&s;ty. For all Of|fences take their Mea&s;ures, not only from the Matter of the Act, but from the Per&s;on again&s;t whom they are committed: As a reviling injurious Word again&s;t our <HI>Equals,</HI> will but bear an Acti|on at Law; but again&s;t the <HI>Prince,</HI> it is High-Trea&s;on, and puni&s;h|able with Death. So here, the lea&s;t Offence again&s;t the infinite Maje&s;ty of God, becomes it &s;elf infinite: The Guilt of it is far
<PB N="229" REF="131">beyond what&s;oever we can po&s;|&s;ibly conceive: and yet what in|finite Numbers of the&s;e infinite Sins have we committed? The <HI>P&s;almi&s;t</HI> tells us,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 40.12.</NOTE> <HI>They are more than the Hairs of our Head.</HI> Yea, we may well take in all the Sands of the Sea-&s;hore to ca&s;t them up by. Our Thoughts are ince&s;&s;antly in Motion; they keep pace with the Moments, and are continually twinkling, and yet, <HI>Every Imagination of the Thoughts of our Hearts is evil.</HI> What Mul|titudes of them have been gro&s;ly wicked and impious; Athei&s;ti|cal, Bla&s;phemous, Unclean, Worldly, and Malicious! and the be&s;t of them have been very defective, and far &s;hort of that Spirituality and Heavenline&s;s that ought to give a Tincture unto them. And be&s;ides the Sins of our Thoughts, how deep
<PB N="230" REF="132">have our <HI>Tongues</HI> &s;et us on the &s;core? We have talk'd our &s;elves in debt to the Ju&s;tice of God, and with our own Breath have been blowing up everla&s;ting and unquenchable Fire. And add to the&s;e the numberle&s;s crowd and &s;um of our &s;inful Actions, where|in we have bu&s;ily imployed our &s;elves to provoke the Holy and Jealous God to Wrath, and we &s;hall find our Sins to be doubly infinite in their own particular Guilt and Demerit. And now, <HI>O Sinner,</HI> when an angry and fu|rious God &s;hall come to exact from thee a full &s;atisfaction for all the&s;e Injuries, a Satisfaction in which he may eternally re&s;t and acquie&s;ce, &s;uch as may re|pair and recompence his wrong|ed Honour, think &s;adly with thy &s;elf, how infinitely dreadful this mu&s;t needs be. A&s;&s;ure thy &s;elf God
<PB N="231" REF="132">will not lo&s;e by thee, but will fetch his Glory out of thee, and take &s;uch a <HI>Revenge</HI> upon thee as &s;hall as much plea&s;e and content him, as his infinite Mercy doth in tho&s;e whom he &s;aves. And how great then mu&s;t this <HI>Venge|ance</HI> be?</P>
<P><HI>Secondly,</HI> <MILESTONE N="2"> Con&s;ider how dread|ful a Revenge God took on his own dear Son, our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t, when he came to &s;atis|fie his Ju&s;tice upon him for our Sins. His Wrath fell infinitely heavy upon him, and the pre&s;|&s;ure of it was &s;o intollerable, that it &s;queezed out drops of clotted Blood from him in the <HI>Garden,</HI> and that &s;ad Cry on the Cro&s;s, <HI>My God, my God, why ha&s;t thou for&s;aken me?</HI> And yet,</P>
<P><HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> <MILESTONE N="1"> Our Lord Chri&s;t was &s;upported under all his Sufferings by the ineffable Union of the
<PB N="232" REF="133"><HI>Deity.</HI> He had infinite Power for him, as well as again&s;t him; infinite Power to bear him up, as well as to cru&s;h him. In Chri&s;t's Sufferings, the Power of God &s;eem'd as it were to en|counter with, and run contrary to it &s;elf in the &s;ame Channel. And as he had the &s;upport of in|finite Power in his Sufferings, &s;o likewi&s;e had he in the greate&s;t of his Agonies the Mini&s;try of <HI>An|gels</HI> to comfort him, and to re|fre&s;h the Droopings and Fain|tings of his Humane Nature. And,</P>
<P><HI>Secondly,</HI> <MILESTONE N="2"> The infinite Digni|ty of Chri&s;t's Per&s;on, being God as well as Man, might well compound for the Rigour of his Puni&s;hments, and &s;tamp &s;uch a Value upon his Humiliation, that le&s;s degrees of Suffering from him, might be fully &s;atisfactory.
<PB N="233" REF="133">For indeed it cannot be but an infinite Puni&s;hment, for an in|finite Per&s;on to be puni&s;hed. But thou that art but a vile contempti|ble Creature, made up of Mud and Slime, ha&s;t nothing in thy Nature wherewith to &s;atisfie the Ju&s;tice of God, but only the e|ternal De&s;truction and Perdition of it. Thou ha&s;t no Worth nor Dignity, the con&s;ideration where|of might per&s;wade the Almighty to mitigate the lea&s;t of his Wrath towards thee: And when it falls in all its weight and force upon thee, thou ha&s;t nothing to &s;up|port thee. It is true, the Al|mighty Power of God &s;hall con|tinue thee in thy Being, but thou wilt for ever cur&s;e and bla&s;pheme that Support, that &s;hall be given thee only to perpetuate thy Tor|ments, and ten thou&s;and times wi&s;h that God would de&s;troy
<PB N="234" REF="134">thee once for all, and that thou mighte&s;t for ever &s;hrink away in|to nothing: but that will not be granted thee; no, thou &s;halt not have &s;o much as the comfort of dying, nor e&s;cape the Venge|ance of God by Annihilation: but his Power will for ever &s;o &s;upport thee, as for ever to tor|ment thee, which is only &s;uch a Support as a Man on the <HI>Rack</HI> or on the <HI>Wheel,</HI> &s;upported &s;o as they cannot come off, the Engine of their Torture upholds them. And as for any help or relief the Mini|&s;try of Angels will afford thee, think what &s;olace it will bring thee, when God &s;hall &s;et on whole Legions of <HI>infernal Gho&s;ts,</HI> black and hideous Spirits, as the Exe|cutioners of his Wrath, who &s;hall for ever triumph in thy Woes and add to them, hurl Fire-brands at thee, heap Fewel
<PB N="235" REF="134">about thee, and fully &s;atiate their Malice upon thee, as God &s;atis|fies his Ju&s;tice. And this is one <HI>Con&s;ideration</HI> of the dreadfulne&s;s of this Vengeance, in that it aims at and exacts &s;atisfaction for Sin, which will be infinitely in|tolerable, becau&s;e our Sins are infinite both in Number and Heinou&s;ne&s;s. And becau&s;e Je|&s;us Chri&s;t, who was to &s;atisfie not for his own, but for the Sins of others, though he were up|held by the <HI>Divine Nature,</HI> and po&s;&s;ibly underwent not &s;uch A|crimony of Wrath as the Dam|ned do; yet his Sufferings were un&s;peakable and unknown Sor|rows: And how much &s;orer then &s;hall wicked Men bear for their own Sins, when Ju&s;tice &s;hall come to reckon with them, and to exact from them to the very utmo&s;t Farthing, of all that they owe?</P>
<PB N="236" REF="135">
<P><HI>Secondly,</HI> <MILESTONE N="2"> Con&s;ider that <HI>Reven|ging Wrath</HI> &s;tirs up all that is in God again&s;t a Sinner. <HI>Wrath</HI> when it is whet and &s;et on by <HI>Revenge,</HI> redoubles a Man's Force, and makes him perform Things that he could not do in his cold Blood, it fires all a Man's Spirits, and calls them forth to expre&s;s their utmo&s;t Efforts. So this <HI>Revenging Wrath</HI> of God draws forth all the Force and Activity of his Attributes, and &s;ets them again&s;t a Sinner, and how dread|ful then mu&s;t that Execution needs be? We &s;ee what great Works God can perform when he is not &s;tirred up thereunto by his Wrath and Indignation. He &s;peaks a whole World into Being, and &s;peaks it with a cold and calm Breath. Certainly it was no &s;mall piece of work, to &s;pread out the Heavens, and lay the
<PB N="237" REF="135">Foundations of the Earth, and to work all tho&s;e Wonders of <HI>Creation</HI> and <HI>Providence</HI> which we daily behold; but yet all the&s;e Things God did, (if I may &s;o &s;peak) without any Emotion. But when he comes to take <HI>Venge|ance</HI> upon Sinners, he is then in|flamed, all that is in God, is as it were on fire. <HI>Jealou&s;ie,</HI> &s;ays <HI>Solomon, is the Rage of a Man.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Prov. 6.34.</NOTE> Now when God's Jealou&s;ie &s;hall be &s;tirred in him, think how im|petuou&s;ly it will break forth in the fearful effects of it. <HI>The Lord &s;hall &s;tir up Jealou&s;ie like a Man of War; he &s;hall cry, yea, roar,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 42.13.</NOTE> <HI>he &s;hall prevail again&s;t his Enemies.</HI> If the calm and &s;edate Works of God are &s;o great and wonderful, how great then will his <HI>Vengeance</HI> be, when Anger, Fury, and In|dignation &s;hall excite and whet his Power to &s;hew the very ut|mo&s;t
<PB N="238" REF="136">mo&s;t of what it can do? And therefore we find that though God had inflicted dreadful Plagues upon the <HI>I&s;raelites</HI> in the Wilderne&s;s, and had &s;hewn mighty effects of his Power and Vengeance, yet we find the <HI>Church</HI> ble&s;&s;eth him,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 78.38.</NOTE> <HI>That he turned away his Anger, and did not &s;tir up all his Wrath.</HI> But in <HI>Hell</HI> God &s;tirs up all his Wrath, every thing is &s;et and bent again&s;t the Damned: And as to the <HI>Saints</HI> in Heaven, every Attribute of God concurs to make him merciful and graci|ous to them. So to the Wicked in <HI>Hell,</HI> all the Perfections of God con&s;pire either to &s;tir up and kin|dle his Wrath, or el&s;e to a&s;&s;i&s;t him in the execution of it upon them. The infinite <HI>Wi&s;dom</HI> of God contrives their Puni&s;hments, and which way to lay them on, of that they &s;hall be mo&s;t &s;harp
<PB N="239" REF="136">and poinant. The <HI>Power</HI> of God that rou&s;es it &s;elf again&s;t them, and proffers all its Succours and A&s;&s;i&s;tance unto <HI>Vengeance.</HI> The <HI>Eternity</HI> and <HI>Unchangeablene&s;s</HI> of God come in as a dreadful Addi|tion, and makes that Wrath which of it &s;elf is in&s;upportable, to be al&s;o everla&s;ting? Yea that &s;weet and mild Attribute of God, his <HI>Mercy,</HI> the only Refuge and the only comfort of mi&s;erable Man|kind, yet even this turns again&s;t them too, and becau&s;e they de|&s;pi&s;ed it when it &s;hone forth in Patience and Forbearance, will not now regard them when they &s;tand in need of its Re&s;cue and Deliverance: So that all that is in God, arms it &s;elf to take <HI>Ven|geance</HI> on Sinners: And O think how &s;ore and fearful that Venge|ance will be, when God &s;hall put forth all that is in him&s;elf for
<PB N="240" REF="137">the executing of his Wrath up|on impenitent Sinners! And thus I have done with the <HI>Demon&s;trati|ons</HI> of the Dreadfulne&s;s of God's Wrath taken from the Words in the Text, <HI>Vengeance is mine, I will recompence it. 'Tis a fearful thing to fall into the Hands of the Living God.</HI></P>
<P>Let us now con&s;ider &s;ome o|ther <HI>Demon&s;trations</HI> of the Great|ne&s;s of this Wrath. And,</P>
<P><HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> <MILESTONE N="1"> It appears to be excee|ding dreadful in that it is &s;et forth to us in <HI>Scripture</HI> by all tho&s;e things which are mo&s;t terrible to Humane Nature. God ma|keth u&s;e of many <HI>Metaphorical</HI> Expre&s;&s;ions of things mo&s;t grie|vous to our Sen&s;es, that from them we may take an hint to conceive how intolerable his Wrath is in it &s;elf. It is called a Pri&s;on, the <HI>Spirits in Pri&s;on,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Pet. 3.19.</NOTE> that is, the Souls
<PB REF="137">
<PB REF="138">
<PB N="241" REF="138">of tho&s;e Men to whom the Spi|rit of Chri&s;t in <HI>Noah</HI> went, and preached in the Days of their Mortal Life, but for their Di&s;o|bedience are &s;hut up under the Wrath of God in Hell. And certainly <HI>Hell</HI> is a Pri&s;on large e|nough to hold all the World. <HI>The Wicked &s;hall be turned into Hell,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 9.17.</NOTE> <HI>and all the Nations that forget God.</HI> A Pri&s;on it is where the <HI>Devil</HI> and wicked Spirits are &s;hackled with Chains of ma&s;&s;y and &s;ub&s;tantial Darkne&s;s. <HI>They are,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">2 Pet. 2.4.</NOTE> &s;ays the A|po&s;tle, <HI>re&s;erved in Chains of Dark|ne&s;s unto the Judgment of the great Day.</HI> And they are there kept in everla&s;ting Chains under Dark|ne&s;s, not one Cranny in this great Pri&s;on to let in the lea&s;t ray or glimp&s;e of Light. It is called a <HI>Place of Torment.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Luke 16.28.</NOTE> It is a Region of Woe and Mi&s;ery, wherein Horrour, De&s;pair, and
<PB N="242" REF="139">Torture for ever dwell, and are in their mo&s;t proper Seat and Habitation. It is called, a <HI>drow|ning of Men in De&s;truction and Per|dition.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">1 Tim. 6.9.</NOTE> One would think that to be drowned, might &s;ignifie Death enough of it &s;elf; but to be drowned in Perdition and De&s;truction, &s;ignifies moreover the fatalne&s;s and the depth of that Death into which they are plun|ged. It is called, <HI>a being ca&s;t bound Hand and Foot into utter Darkne&s;s;</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 22.13.</NOTE> <HI>A being thrown into a Furnace of Fire,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 13.42, 50</NOTE> to be burnt alive. It is called,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Revel. 20.15.</NOTE> <HI>a Lake of Fire,</HI> into which wicked Men &s;hall be plunged all over, where they &s;hall lye wal|lowing and rowling among Mil|lions of damned Spirits, in tho&s;e infernal Flames. And this Lake is continually fed with a &s;ulphu|rous &s;tream of <HI>Brim&s;tone:</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Revel. 19 20.</NOTE> And this Fire and Brim&s;tone is that
<PB N="243" REF="139">which never &s;hall be quen|ched.<NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 3.12.</NOTE> <HI>He will burn up the Chaff with unquenchable Fire.</HI> And <HI>la&s;t|ly,</HI> to name no more, it is called everla&s;ting <HI>Fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 25.41.</NOTE> And now we are arrived at the highe&s;t pitch of what Sence can feel, or Ima|gination conceive. Or if it be po&s;&s;ible that in your deepe&s;t Thoughts you can conceive any thing more dreadful than this, you may call it a <HI>Sea of molten Brim&s;tone,</HI> &s;et all on fire, and con|tinually &s;pewing out &s;ooty dark Flames, wherein endle&s;s Multi|tudes of &s;inful Wretches mu&s;t lye tumbling to all Eternity, burnt up with the fiercene&s;s of a tor|menting and devouring Fire, &s;courged with Scorpions, &s;tung with fiery Serpents, howling and roaring ince&s;&s;antly, and none to pity, much le&s;s to relieve and help
<PB N="244" REF="140">them, grinding and gna&s;hing their Teeth through the extremity of their Angui&s;h and Torture. If now you can fancy any thingmore terrible and dreadful than this, <HI>Hell</HI> is that, yea and much more: For the&s;e things are <HI>Metaphorical;</HI> and though I cannot deny but &s;ome of the&s;e may be properly and li|terally true, yet the literal Sen&s;e of the&s;e <HI>Metaphors</HI> do but faintly and weakly &s;hew us what the lea&s;t part of tho&s;e everla&s;ting Torments are.</P>
<P><HI>Secondly,</HI> <MILESTONE N="2"> Another <HI>Demon&s;trati|on</HI> of the dreadfulne&s;s of this Vengeance is this, That it is a Wrath that &s;hall come up unto, and equal all our Fears. You know what an inventive and inge|nious thing Fear is, what horrid Shapes it can fancy to it &s;elf out of every thing: Put but an active Fancy into an Affright, and pre|&s;ently
<PB N="245" REF="140">the whole World will be filled with &s;trange Mon&s;ters and hideous Apparitions. The very &s;haking of a Leaf will &s;ometimes rout all the Forces and Re&s;oluti|ons of Men: And u&s;ually it is this wild Pa&s;&s;ion that doth en|hance all other Dangers, and make them &s;eem greater and more dreadful than indeed they are. But now here it is impo&s;&s;ible for a wicked Man to fear more than he &s;hall certainly &s;uffer. Let his Imaginations be hung round with all the di&s;mal Shapes that ever frighted Men out of their Wits: let his Fancy dip its Pencil in the deepe&s;t Melancholy that ever a|ny Soul was be&s;meered with, and then &s;trive to pourtray and ex|pre&s;s the mo&s;t terrible things that it can judge to be the <HI>Objects</HI> of Fear, or the In&s;truments of <HI>Tor|ment;</HI> yet the Wrath of the great
<PB N="246" REF="141">God va&s;tly exceeds all that Fear it &s;elf can po&s;&s;ibly repre&s;ent. See that &s;trange Expre&s;&s;ion,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 90.11.</NOTE> <HI>Who knows the Power of thine Anger? according to thy Fear, &s;o is thy Wrath.</HI> That is, according to the fear Men have of thee, as dreadful and as terrible as they can po&s;&s;ibly ap|prehend thy <HI>Wrath</HI> to be, &s;o it is, and much more. Let the Heart of Man &s;tretch it &s;elf to the ut|mo&s;t Bounds of Imagination, and call in to its Aid all the things that ever it hath heard or &s;een to be dreadful; let it (as that Pain|ter, who to make a beautiful Piece, borrowed &s;everal of the be&s;t Features from &s;everal beau|tiful Per&s;ons) borrow all the dread|ful, all the direful Repre&s;entati|ons that ever it met with, to make up one mo&s;t terrible <HI>Idea;</HI> yet the Wrath of God &s;hall &s;till exceed it: He can execute more
<PB N="247" REF="141">Wrath upon us than we can fear. Some wicked Men in this Life have had a Spark of this Wrath of God fall upon their Con&s;cien|ces, when they lye roaring out under De&s;pair and fearful Expe|ctations of the fiery Indignation of God to con&s;ume and devour them. But alas this is nothing to what they &s;hall hereafter feel. God now doth but open to them a &s;mall chink and crevice into <HI>Hell,</HI> he now doth but &s;uffer a few &s;mall drops of his Wrath to fall upon them. And if this be &s;o &s;ore and &s;mart that their Fears could never think of any thing more dreadful than what they now &s;uffer: O what will it be then when he &s;hall overwhelm them with a whole Deluge of his Wrath, and cau&s;e all his Waves to go over them? <HI>Fear him,</HI> &s;ays our Saviour, <HI>who is able to de&s;troy
<PB N="248" REF="142">both Soul and Body in Hell; yea, I &s;ay unto you,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Mat. 10.28.</NOTE> <HI>fear him.</HI> And yet when we have feared according to the utmo&s;t extent of our nar|row Hearts, yet &s;till his infinite Power and Wrath is infinitely more fearful than we can fear it.</P>
<P><HI>Thirdly,</HI> <MILESTONE N="3"> Con&s;ider the princi|pal and immediate Subject of this Wrath of God, and that is the <HI>Soul,</HI> and this adds much to the dreadfulne&s;s of it. The acute&s;t Torments that the <HI>Body</HI> is capable of, are but dull and flat things in compari&s;on of what the <HI>Soul</HI> can feel. Now when God &s;hall immediately with his own Hand la&s;h the Soul, that refined and &s;piritual Part of Man, the Principle of all Life and Sen&s;ati|on, and &s;hall draw Blood from it every Stripe, how intolerable may we conceive tho&s;e Pains and Tortures to be? To &s;hoot poi|&s;on'd
<PB N="249" REF="142">Darts into a Man's Marrow, to rip up his Bowels with a Sword red hot; all this is as no|thing to it. Think what it is to have a drop of &s;calding Oyl, or melted Lead, fall upon the Apple of your Eyes, that &s;hould make them boyl and burn till they fall out of your Heads; &s;uch Tor|ment, nay infinitely more than &s;uch, is it to have the burning Wrath of God to fall upon the Soul. We find that Spirits which are infinitely inferiour unto God, can make &s;trange Impre&s;&s;ions up|on the Souls of Men: and &s;hall not the great God much more, who is the Father of Spirits? Yes, he can torture them by his e&s;&s;ential Wrath. And that God, who, as the Prophet <HI>Nahum</HI> &s;peaks,<NOTE PLACE="marg">Nahum 1.6.</NOTE> <HI>can melt Mountains, and make Hills and Rocks flow down at his Pre&s;ence,</HI> can melt the Souls of the Dam|ned,
<PB N="250" REF="143">like lumps of Wax; for in his Di&s;plea&s;ure he doth &s;ome|times do it to the be&s;t of Men even in this Life,<NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 22.14.</NOTE> <HI>My Heart is melted like Wax in the mid&s;t of my Bowels:</HI> &s;ays <HI>David.</HI></P>
<P><HI>Fourthly,</HI> The Dreadfulne&s;s of this Wrath of God may be de|mon&s;trated by this, That the Pu|ni&s;hment of the Damned is re|&s;erved by God as his la&s;t Work. It is a Work which he will &s;et him&s;elf about when all the re&s;t of his Works are done, when he hath folded up the World, and laid it a&s;ide as a Thing of no further u&s;e, then will God &s;et him&s;elf to this great Work, and pour out all the Trea&s;ures of his Wrath upon damned Wretches, as if God would &s;o wholly mind this Bu&s;ine&s;s that he would lay all other Affairs a&s;ide, that he might be intent only upon this,
<PB N="251" REF="143">having no other thing to interrupt him. Think then how full of Dread and Terror this mu&s;t needs be, when God will as it were em|ploy all his <HI>Eternity</HI> about this, and have no other thing to take him off from doing it with all his Might. God hath re&s;erved two Works, and but two for the o|ther World; One is the <HI>Salva|tion of the Elect,</HI> and the other is the <HI>Damnation of Reprobates.</HI></P>
<P>Now it is remarkable that God's la&s;t Works do always ex|ceed his former: And therefore we find in the <HI>Creation</HI> of the World, God &s;till proceeded on from more imperfect kind of Creatures to tho&s;e that were more perfect, until he had fully built and fini&s;hed, yea carved, and as it were painted this great Hou&s;e of the Univer&s;e; and then he brings Man into it as his la&s;t
<PB N="252" REF="144">Work, as the Crown and Perfe|ction of the re&s;t: So God likewi&s;e acted in the manner of <HI>revealing his Will</HI> unto Mankind, fir&s;t he &s;pake to them by <HI>Dreams</HI> and <HI>Vi&s;ions,</HI> but in the la&s;t Days (as the <HI>Apo&s;tle</HI> expre&s;&s;eth it) <HI>he hath &s;poken unto us by his Son.</HI> So al&s;o in the Di&s;pen&s;ation of the Covenant of Grace, and Exhibi|tion of the <HI>Me&s;&s;iah,</HI> fir&s;t he was made known only by <HI>Promi&s;e</HI> to the Fathers, then in <HI>Types</HI> and ob&s;cure Re&s;emblances to the <HI>Jews,</HI> but in the latter Days, him&s;elf came and took upon him the form of a Servant, and wrought out a compleat <HI>Redemption</HI> for us. So u&s;ually the la&s;t Works of God are more compleat, perfect and excellent than the former. Now God's Puni&s;hing-Work is his la&s;t Work, and therefore it &s;hall ex|ceed in Greatne&s;s all that ever
<PB N="253" REF="144">went before it. In his fir&s;t Work, the Creation of the World, he demon&s;trated his infinite Power, Wi&s;dom, and Godhead; but in the De&s;truction of Sinners, which is his la&s;t Work, he will mani|fe&s;t more of Power and Wi&s;|dom, than he did in his creating them; and how fearful a De&s;tru|ction then mu&s;t this needs be? God hath variety of Works that he is carrying on in this World, and if his Glory doth not perfe|ctly appear in one, he may ma|nife&s;t it in another. But when he &s;hall confine him&s;elf only to two, as he will in the World to come, the &s;aving of the Godly, and the damning of the Wicked, and this without any variety or change, certainly then the&s;e &s;hall be performed to the very utmo&s;t of what God can do: for as he will &s;ave the Saints to the very
<PB N="254" REF="145">utmo&s;t; &s;o likewi&s;e will he damn and de&s;troy Sinners to the very utmo&s;t.</P>
<P><HI>Fifthly,</HI> <MILESTONE N="5"> Another Demon&s;tra|tion of the dreadfulne&s;s of this Wrath &s;hall be drawn from this Con&s;ideration, That God will for ever inflict it for the glorify|ing of his Power on the Damned. <HI>What if God willing to &s;hew his Wrath,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 9.22.</NOTE> <HI>and make his Power known:</HI> And <HI>they &s;hall be puni&s;h'd with e|verla&s;ting De&s;truction from the Pre|&s;ence of the Lord,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">2 The&s;. 1.9.</NOTE> <HI>and from the Glo|ry of his Power.</HI> Now certain|ly, if God will inflict eternal Puni&s;hments upon them to &s;hew forth his Power, their Puni&s;h|ments mu&s;t needs be infinitely great. For,</P>
<P><HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> <MILESTONE N="1"> All tho&s;e Works where|in God &s;hews forth his Power, are great and &s;tupendous. Con|&s;ider what Power it was for God
<PB N="255" REF="145">to lay the Beams of the World, and to erect &s;o &s;tately a Fabrick as Heaven and Earth. The A|po&s;tle therefore tells us, That <HI>by the Creation of the World, is un|der&s;tood the eternal Power of God.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Rom. 1.20.</NOTE> When God &s;hewed his Power in creating, O what a great and &s;tupendous Work did he pro|duce! And therefore certainly when God &s;hall likewi&s;e &s;hew his Power in de&s;troying, the Puni&s;hments he will inflict will be wonderful and &s;tupendous.</P>
<P><HI>Secondly,</HI> <MILESTONE N="2"> Con&s;ider God can ea&s;ily de&s;troy a Creature without &s;hewing any great Power, or putting forth his Almighty Arm and Strength to do it. If he only withdraw his Power by which he upholds all things in their Beings, we &s;hould quickly fall all abroad into nothing: So ea&s;ie is it for God to de&s;troy the
<PB N="256" REF="146">well-being of all his Creatures. But now if God will expre&s;s the greatne&s;s and infinitene&s;s of his Power in de&s;troying Sinners, whom yet he can de&s;troy without putting forth his Power, yea on|ly by withdrawing and withhol|ding it; O how fearful mu&s;t this De&s;truction needs be! A|las we are cru&s;ht before the Moth, and mu&s;t needs peri&s;h, if God doth but &s;u&s;pend the Influence of his Power from us. How dreadfully then will he de&s;troy, when he &s;hall lay forth his infi|nite Power to do it, who can ea|&s;ily do it without Power?</P>
<P>And thus I have laid down &s;ome <HI>Demon&s;trations</HI> of the dread|fulne&s;s of the Wrath and Ven|geance of God, five of them drawn from the Words of the <HI>Text,</HI> and five drawn from other Con&s;iderations. I &s;hall now &s;hut
<PB N="257" REF="146">up with two or three Words of Application.</P>
<P><HI>Fir&s;t,</HI> <MILESTONE N="1" UNIT="U&s;e."> Then be per&s;waded to believe that there is &s;uch a dread|ful Wrath to come. I know well, you all profe&s;s that you do be|lieve, that as there are uncon|ceivable Rewards of Glory re|&s;erved in <HI>Heaven</HI> for the Saints; &s;o, that there are inexhau&s;tible Trea&s;ures of Wrath re&s;erved and laid up in <HI>Hell</HI> for all ungodly and impenitent Sinners. But &Sun; how few are there that do re|ally and cordially believe the&s;e things: Mens own Lives may be evident Convictions to them|&s;elves of their Athei&s;m and Infi|delity: For the true rea&s;on of all that di&s;&s;olutene&s;s which we &s;ee abroad in the World proceeds much from hence, becau&s;e Men are not per&s;waded that the&s;e dreadful Terrors of the Lord
<PB N="258" REF="147">which have now been &s;et before us, are any thing but an hone&s;t Artifice. They look upon them as things only invented to &s;care the World into good order, and to awe Men into &s;ome compa&s;s of Civility and Hone&s;ty: They think all tho&s;e tremendous Threat|nings that God hath denounced in his Law to be things intended rather to fright Men, than to do execution upon them. And whereas one of the mo&s;t effectu|al Motives to Piety and an holy Life, is to be per&s;waded of the Terrors of the Lord, the&s;e are not yet per&s;waded that there are any &s;uch Terrors: But a&s;&s;ure your &s;elves the&s;e are not the ex|travagant Dreams of <HI>Melancholy Fancies,</HI> nor the Politick Impo|&s;tures of Men that de&s;ign to a|mu&s;e the World with frightful Stories; but they are &s;ad and &s;e|rious
<PB N="259" REF="147">Truths, &s;uch as however you may now &s;light and contemn, yet &s;hall you be wofully convin|ced of by your own experience, when after a few years, or po&s;&s;i|bly a few days, you &s;hall be &s;unk down into that Place of Torment, that Gulph and Aby&s;s of Mi&s;ery, where the great God &s;hall for e|ver expre&s;s the Art, and the Power of his Vengeance in your everla&s;ting De&s;truction.</P>
<P><HI>Secondly,</HI> <MILESTONE N="2" UNIT="U&s;e."> This &s;peaks abun|dance of comfort to all tho&s;e who&s;e Sins are pardon'd, and they delivered from the Wrath to come. Look what Spring|tydes of Joy would ri&s;e in the Heart of a poor condemned <HI>Ma|lefactor,</HI> who every moment ex|pects the &s;troke of Ju&s;tice to cut him off, to have a Pardon inter|po&s;e and re&s;cue him from Death. Such, yea far greater &s;hould be
<PB N="260" REF="148">thy Joy who art freed meerly by a gracious Pardon, from a Con|demnation infinitely greater and wor&s;e than Death it &s;elf. When we look into <HI>Hell,</HI> and con&s;ider the Wrath that the Damned there lye under, O to behold them there re&s;tle&s;ly rolling to and fro in Chains and Flames, to hear them exclaim again&s;t their own Folly and Madne&s;s, and to cur&s;e Them&s;elves and their A&s;&s;ociates as the Cau&s;es of their heavy and doleful Torments; how &s;hould we rejoice that though we have been guilty of many great and heinous Sins, and have Ten thou|&s;and times de&s;erved <HI>Hell</HI> and e|verla&s;ting Burnings, yet our good and gracious God hath freely par|don'd us our Debts, and freed us from the &s;ame merited Puni&s;h|ments.</P>
<PB N="261" REF="148">
<P><HI>Thirdly,</HI> <MILESTONE N="3" UNIT="U&s;e."> This al&s;o &s;hould ex|cite us to magnifie the Love of our Lord Je&s;us Chri&s;t towards us, who though he knew what the dreadful Wrath of God was, how &s;ore and heavy it would lye upon his Soul, yet &s;uch was his infinite Compa&s;&s;ion towards us, that he willingly &s;ubmitted him|&s;elf to be in our &s;tead, took upon him our Nature, that he might take upon him our Guilt; and fir&s;t made him&s;elf wretched, that he might be made accur&s;ed. He drank off the whole bitter Cup of his Father's Wrath at one bit|ter Draught, received the whole &s;ting of Death into his Body at once; falls and dies under the Revenges of Divine Ju&s;tice, only that we might be delivered from the Wrath that we had de&s;erved, but could not bear. O Chri|&s;tian, let thy Heart be enlarged
<PB N="262" REF="149">with great Love and Thankful|ne&s;s to thy ble&s;&s;ed Redeemer; and as he thought nothing too much to &s;uffer for thee, return him this Expre&s;&s;ion of thy Thank|fulne&s;s, to think nothing too much, nor too hard to do, or to &s;uffer for him.</P>
<P><HI>Fourthly,</HI> <MILESTONE N="4" UNIT="U&s;e."> You that go on in Sin, con&s;ider what a God you have to deal withal; You have not to do with Creatures, but with God him&s;elf. And do you not fear that increated Fire that will wrap you up in Flames of his e&s;&s;ential Wrath, and burn you for ever? Con&s;ider that dreadful Expo&s;tulation that God makes. <HI>Can thy Heart indure,</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">Ezek. 22.14.</NOTE> <HI>or can thy Hands be &s;trong in the Day that I &s;hall deal with thee, &s;aith the Lord?</HI> The very weakne&s;s of God is &s;tronger than Man: God can breath, he can look a Man to
<PB N="263" REF="149">Death;<NOTE PLACE="marg">Job 4.9.</NOTE> <HI>By the Bla&s;t of God they peri&s;h, and by the Breath of his No|&s;trils are they con&s;umed: They peri&s;h at the Rebuke of thy Countenance.</HI><NOTE PLACE="marg">P&s;al. 80.16.</NOTE> O then tremble to think what a load of Wrath his heavy Hand can lay upon thee,<NOTE PLACE="marg">I&s;a. 10.12.</NOTE> <HI>That Hand which &s;pans the Heavens, and in the Hol|low of which he holds the Sea.</HI> What Puni&s;hment will this great Hand of God in which his great Strength lies, inflict when it &s;hall fall upon thee in the full Power of its Might? And tell me now, <HI>O Sinner,</HI> would&s;t thou willingly fall into the Hands of this God, who is thus able to cru&s;h thee to pieces, yea to no|thing? O how &s;hall any of us then dare, who are but poor weak Pot&s;herds of the Earth, da&s;h our &s;elves again&s;t this Rock of Ages? Indeed we can neither re&s;i&s;t his Power, nor e&s;cape his
<PB N="264" REF="150">Hand: and therefore &s;ince we mu&s;t nece&s;&s;arily &s;ooner or later fall into the Hands of God, let us by true Repentance and an humble Acknowledgment of our Sins and Vilene&s;s, throw our &s;elves into his merciful Hands; and then to our un&s;peakable Com|fort we &s;hall find that he will extend his Arm of Mercy to &s;up|port us, and not his Hand of Ju|&s;tice to cru&s;h and break us.</P>
<TRAILER>FINIS.</TRAILER>
</DIV1>
</BODY>
<BACK>
<DIV1 TYPE="by the same author">
<HEAD>ADVERTISEMENT.</HEAD>
<P><HI>PRactical Preparation for Death,</HI> the Intere&s;t and Wi&s;dom of Chri&s;tians, the Folly and Mi&s;ery of tho&s;e that are negligent therein. The great Benefits of a Life &s;pent in daily preparation for our Latter End: With Motives and Directions for the Performance thereof. Recommended as proper to be given at Funerals.</P>
<P><HI>The Glory and Happine&s;s of the Saints in Heaven;</HI> or, A Di&s;cour&s;e, concerning the ble&s;&s;ed State of the Righteous after Death. By the &s;ame Author.</P>
<PB REF="150">
</DIV1>
</BACK>
</TEXT>
</EEBO>
</ETS>
