SERM. 19. If, when a man heareth the words of XV. this Curfe, be bless himself in his heart, faying, I fhall have peace, though I walk in the imagination of my heart; The Lord will not spare him, but the anger of the Lord fhall fmoke against that man, and all the Curfes that are written in this book fhall lie upon him. Jerufalem, and the

1 Pet. iv. 17.

Nation of the Jews, are at this day a standing Inftance of this great Truth: Whom, after long forbearance and repeated Admonitions, God at laft overthrew with fuch a total Deftruction, as never befel any other Nation under Heaven. Befides: From the Sufferings even of good men, the profane and impenitent may well collect, that the divine Patience will not permit them to go for ever unpunished. Judgment, fays the Apostle, must begin at the boufe of God; and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God. And if the righteous fcarcely be faved, where fhall the Ungodly and the Sinner appear? The Judgments of God in this prefent Life, which fall upon mixt multitudes of good and bad, are frequently very terrible: Who then fhall bear the vengeance of his

final Wrath, when he fhall have fepara- SER M. ted entirely the Goats from the Sheep, XV. into the proper place of Torment? Tho' even There alfo, exact Justice fhall reign; and Damnation itself fhall be inflicted, with perfect accuracy of Weight and MeaSure.

5thly and lastly; As the Punishment of Sin, neither is the lefs certain, nor will be the less fevere, for being ufually delayed; fo neither can a Sinner from thence at any time depend, that it shall not overtake him the very next moment. For whenever it comes upon an impenitent Debauchee, it furprizes him as a Thief in the Night; and the Execution of Sentence against an evil work, how long foever delayed, yet when it comes, feems as fpeedy as if no Space had intervened. As the Fifkes that are taken in an evil Net, and as the birds that are caught in the fnare; fo are the fons of men fnared in an evil time, when it falleth fuddenly on them. Vain therefore and foolish, beyond all other Inftances of Folly, is the behaviour of thofe impenitent Sinners, whofe heart is therefore fet in them to do evil, because their Lord delayeth his coming. Of which

SER M. Divine Forbearance, if they make not XV. That Ufe for which it was defigned, fo as

to be led thereby to Repentance; their Lord will come in a day when they think not of it, and at an hour which they are not aware of, and will cut them in funder, and appoint them their portion with Unbelievers; there shall be weeping and gnasking of Teeth. Thus the Justice and Mercy, the Severity and the Patience of God, are perfectly confiftent with each other; and together with all the other Attributes of the Divine Nature, unite uniformly in one and the fame point; which is, the promoting everlasting Righteoufnefs and true Virtue through the whole Creation. Which matter, whofoever ferioufly and wifely confiders; will neither fuperftitiously dread the Power, nor defpair because of the Juftice, nor prefume upon the Patience and Mercy of God; but will ferve him with Fear, and adore him with Love, and be led to Repentance by Hope, and improve daily more and more in the Practice of all Christian Virtues and Graces, till the time comes that he shall be made perfectly like unto God, because he fhall fee him as he is.

.

SERMON

SERMON XVI.

Of the JUSTICE of GOD.

JOB XXXIV. 10, 11, 12.

Therefore hearken unto Me, ye men of Underftanding: Far be it from God, that He should do wickedness; and from the Almighty, that he should commit iniquity: For the work of a Man fhall be render unto him, and caufe every man to find according to his Ways: Yea, furely God will not do wickedly, neither will the Almighty pervert Judgment.

T

HESE words are a very SER M. lively and emphatical De- XVI. fcription of the Justice and Righteoufnefs of the Supreme Governour of all things; in

troduced with an affectionate Appeal to

VOL. I.

SERM. the common Reafon of Mankind, for the XVI. Truth of the Affertion; and closed, with an eloquent repetition, of the Affurance of its Certainty. The Aertion of the Juftice of God, is in thefe words: Far be it from God, that He should do wickedness; and from the Almighty, that He should commit iniquity. The Defcription, wherein this Juftice confifts, is in the words which follow: The Work of a Man fhall be render unto him, and caufe every man to find according to his Ways. The Whole is introduced, with an Appeal to the common Senfe and Reafon of Mankind, for the Truth of what is here affirmed: Hearken unto Me, ye men of understanding; Far be it from God, that He Should do wickedness. And the Propofition is clofed, with an elegant repetition of the fame Affurance: Yea, furely God will not do wickedly, neither will the Almighty pervert judgment. There are and will be difficulties in the adminiftration of Providence; But thefe difficulties affect only fuch as are careless in matters of Religion; and they can never make reafonable and confiderate perfons, men of attention and understanding, to doubt concerning the Righteoufness of

the