SER M. St Paul; God, faith he, (that is, God the XIV. Father,) commendeth his Love towards us,

in that while we were yet Sinners, Chrift died for us, Rom. v. 8. And St John, in his first epistle, ch. iv. 8. 9. God, faith he, is Love; and In This was manifefted the Love of God towards us, because that God fent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.

THESE declarations of Scripture are fo exprefs, that they feem intended on purpose to prevent all poffibility of Miftake in this Matter. And those men (of whatsoever Sect they be) who speak otherwise, speak not honourably enough of the divine Goodness, while they represent the Supreme Majefty of Heaven as an Object of Fear and Dread only, and not of Love; Investing him, in the conceptions they frame of him, with Dominion, and Power, and the Terrors of unrelenting Justice, but not fufficiently attending to his ef fential Goodness; which is the Attribute wherein he chiefly delights; and which he always exercifes, fo far as is confiftent with Juftice and Wisdom and good Government ; and of which, the fending a Perfon of fuch Dignity as his only-begotten

3

gotten Son, to reconcile Sinners to Him- SER M. XIV. self, confiftently with Justice, by his exemplary Humiliation, by his Life and Doctrine, by his Sufferings and Death, by : his Exaltation and Interceffion for us ; of the Goodness, I fay, of God the Supreme Father and Lord of all, This is an unpa1 rallelled and everlasting Instance.

But 4thly, AGAINST this whole Notion of the divine Goodness, there are two very great Objections, which deferve diftinctly to be confidered; Namely, the Evils which God permits to happen in the prefent Life, and the Punishments which he inflicts in that which is

to come.

As to the Evils which happen in the
prefent Life; the antient Perfian Philofo-
phers (and after Them the Manichees in
later Ages) fancied, that there was an in-
finite Evil Principle, independent upon,
and oppofite to, the infinite Good one.
Against Thefe, Efaias declares, in his
prophecy to Cyrus King of Perfia, If. xlv.
7,
I form the Light, and create Darkness,
I make Peace, and create Evil; I the
Lord do all these things. The meaning
is: There is no Evil happens in the

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world,

SERM. world, but what for wife ends is permitXIV. ted by the Providence, of the One infi nitely Good God.

To inftance in particulars.

All that

we call Evil in the prefent Life, is either
merely an Evil of Imperfection, fuch as
the Want of certain Faculties and Excel-
lencies which other Creatures enjoy; Or
Natural Evil, fuch as Pain, Death, and
the like; Or Moral Evil, fuch as are all
kinds of Debauchery, Sin, and Vice. The
First of Thefe, viz. mere Imperfection, is
not properly an Evil.
Faculty, or Perfection,

For every Power, which Any Creature enjoys, being the Free Gift of God, which he was no more obliged to bestow, than he was to confer Being or Existence itself; 'tis plain, the mere Want of any certain Faculty or Perfection in Any kind of Creatures, which Never belonged to their Nature, is no more an Evil to Them, than their never having been created, or brought into Being at all, could properly have been called an Evil. The Second kind of Evil, which we commonly call Natural Evil, is either a neceffary Confequence of the Former; as Death, to a Creature on whofe Nature Immor

f

tality was never conferred; And then 'tis S ER M. no more properly an Evil, than the For- XIV. mer: Or elfe 'tis balanced in the whole, with as great or greater Good; as the Afflictions and Sufferings of good men ; 1 And Then alfo 'tis not properly an Evil: Or elfe, laftly, 'tis a Punishment; and 1 then 'tis a neceffary confequent of the Third and laft fort of Evil, viz. Moral Evil, which is Debauchery, Sin and Vice. And This arifes wholly from the Abuse of that Liberty, which God gave to his Creatures for the most excellent Purposes, and which 'twas reasonable and fit and necessary to give them for the Perfection and Order of the whole Creation: But they Themselves, contrary to God's intention and command, have abused what was necessary for the Perfection of the whole, to the corruption and depravation of Themselves; And thus all forts of Evils have entered into the world, without any diminution to the infinite Goodnefs of the Creator and Governour thereof.

As to the Punishments which God will inflict in the Life to come: Since all men acknowledge proportionable Punishments

SERM.to be necessary in all Governments whatXIV. foever; and fince the Kingdom and Government of God over the whole Universe, continues in the future ftate as well as in the prefent; 'tis plain we can have no just reafon to prefume, that the Punishments of incorrigible Sinners will be less useful to the Ends and Reasons of God's infinite Government There, than they are neceffary in the Wisdom of his Providence bere. Nor can the Goodness of God be more obliged to preferve wilful men from perdition hereafter, than he is bound to preferve the carelefs from a Precipice at prefent. The exact Nature and Manner indeed of the future Punishment of the Wicked, any further than is in general neceffary to deter us from Sin, is not distinctly revealed to us. But concerning it there are two things moft clearly declared in Scripture, abundantly fufficient to vindicate the Divine Goodness. First, that the Degrees of Punishments in that final and eternal state, shall be exactly proportionate to the Degree of mens Demerits; and even Damnation itself shall by the righteous Judge be inflicted in weight and measure. And Secondly, that the Punish

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