that sin deserves not only some punishment, but endless punishment. And those, who have been redeemed from the earth, know that they have felt and acknowledged that they have deserved and still deserve eternal death. But if all these holy creatures know that sinners deserve eternal punishment, they must see that they have a good reason to praise God for inflicting upon them the punishment they deserve. They do not praise God without a motive, nor from a malevolent motive, but from supreme love to God and the general good of the universe, which is the highest and best motive they can act from. Vindictive justice flows from the pure, disinterested and universal benevolence of the Deity; and every expression of it in punishing the guilty, gives unequivocal evidence, that he has a supreme regard to the highest good of all holy beings and is willing to sacrifice the good of individual transgressors for the blessedness of his holy kingdom; which reflects the highest glory upon him. It must be the desire of all holy creatures, who see and condemn the ill desert of sinners, to desire that the punishment they deserve may be inflicted upon them. David prayed to God, that he would treat sinners according to their ill desert. "Give them according to their deeds, and according to the wickedness of their endeavours: give them after the work of their hands, render to them their desert." There is such an apparent congruity or fitness between the ill desert of sinners and the punishment, which God inflicts upon them, that the heavenly hosts, feel that they have reason to praise God for adapting and inflicting a punishment upon them perfectly correspondent to their desert. One reason is plain and obvious, why the heavenly hosts say Amen, alleluia, in the view of the punishment God inflicts upon those, who deserve it.

2. Not only the ill desert of sinners, but the moral beauty and excellency of vindictive justice, is another reason why the heavenly world praise God for the exercise of it. If vindictive justice were a blemish in the divine character, as many maintain, then there could

be no reason why any of God's creatures should love or praise him for it. Many suppose, that the pure and perfect benevolence of the Deity excludes vindictive. justice from his moral character. They endeavor to make themselves and others believe, that God is all mercy and has not the least trait of vindictive justice. in his nature. But this supposition is contrary to the nature of true benevolence, to the plainest declarations of scripture and to the general course of divine providence, from the beginning of the world to the present day. How many persons and how many nations has God judicially destroyed? and how expressly has he declared, that vindictive justice belongs to his essential character? The apostle says, "We know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me; I will recompense, saith the Lord." We know, as well as the apostle, where God hath said this. It is in the 32d of Deuteronomy, where we read, "See now that I, even I, am he and there is no god with me: I kill and I make alive I wound and I heal: neither is there any that can deliver out of my hand. For I lift up my hand to heaven and say, I live forever. If I whet my glittering sword and mine hand take hold on judgment, I will render vengeance to mine enemies and will re. ward them that hate me." God has here drawn his true character, in which his vindictive justice is the most prominent trait. If there be any beauty in his moral character, their is a beauty in his vindictive justice, or holy and benevolent disposition to punish sin. And if this disposition be amiable, then the actual display of it must be equally amiable and glorious, in the view of all holy beings. The heavenly hosts, therefore, see a good reason, why they should admire and praise God, for giving a just recompence to those, who have known and hated him, without a cause.

3. The heavenly host have reason to praise God for his goodness, as well as justice, in maintaining his moral government over his moral subjects, by confining and punishing the irreconcilable enemies of it. It belongs to God to exercise not only a natural govern

ment over the natural world, but to exercise a moral government over the moral world. The proper mode of governing moral subjects, is by laws, rewards and punishments. It is in this way, that mankind govern one another. They find it necessary to make laws and see that they are executed, in order to preserve peace and harmony and to restrain the lawless and disobedient. And wise and just rulers have always been admired and applauded for supporting the government, which they are appointed to administer. So God, the supreme ruler of the universe, is worthy of the admiration and praise of all his moral subjects, for supporting his wise and holy government over them, by the laws he gives, the rewards he promises and the punishments he inflicts upon the lawless and disobedient. He has promoted the security, the order, and the happiness, which have been enjoyed in heaven and earth, by his holy laws, his great rewards and his awful judgments. We know, that when his judgments have been abroad in the earth, the inhabitants of the world have often learned righteousness and enjoyed peace and security in consequence of them. What a favor it is to heaven, that God has banished the apostate angels from it and confined them in chains of darkness? What a favor it is, that God has banished Pharaoh and the long succession of tyrants from the earth and by his almighty and invisible hand has re strained them from ever returning to spread misery and destruction on earth and from ever entering and disturbing the peace and harmony of heaven? what a great favor it is, that he restrains the malignant spirits of the regions of darkness from appearing and wreaking their vengeance upon any of the living inhabitants of the world? We as well as all heaven, have reason to praise God, that he displays his amiable goodness and justice, in supporting his wise and holy and benevolent government over the whole universe, by separating, restraining and punishing his and our enemies. The heavenly hosts mention this reason for their singing the song of Moses and the Lamb.

And

When they sing that song, they say, "Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made m. nifest." The heavenly inhabitants praise God for de displays of his goodness and justice in governing this world, as well as the world above. I may add,

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4. The spirits of just men made perfect have a peculiar reason for their praising God, for punishing the finally impenitent, because it eminently displays his sovereign grace towards them. They realize, that they had deserved to be finally cast off and consigned to endless wo, as well as those, whom they see doomed to everlasting darkness and despair; and that it is of the Lord's mercies, that they are not consumed, but admitted to see, admire and praise their divine Redeemer. The miseries of the damned will forever be a mirror, in which the redeemed from the earth will see and feel and gratefully acknowledge the astonishing grace of God, in renewing, sanctifying and conducting them to heaven. How must Moses feel in seeing Pharaoh ? How must Paul feel in seeing Pilate? How must parents feel in seeing children and children in seeing parents and friends in seeing friends, separated from them and doomed to unutterable and unending misery. What gratitude must the happy ones feel and how sincerely will they praise God for his sovereign and distinguishing mercy? John will tell us ; "And I looked and lo, a Lamb stood on mount Sion, and with him an hundred and forty four thousand having their Father's name written in their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps and they sung as it were a new song before the throne and before the four beasts and the elders; and no man could learn that song, but the hundred and forty four thousand, who were redeemed from the earth."

IMPROVEMENT.

1. Will the heavenly hosts praise God for all the displays of his vindictive justice in the punishment of the damned; then we may learn that there is an essential difference between saints and sinners. Sinners often disbelieve and deny this distinction; and it is very difficult to make them see and believe it. Theyare extremely loth to be convinced and argue, in their own apprehension, very plausibly against it. They are ready to allow, that some men are worse than others and some are better than others; and this they think they can easily account for, without supposing that any are totally destitute of goodness & need to have an entirely new heart, in order to become the friends of God. But the Bible represents sinners as totally des titute of the love of God and spirit of Christ and essentially different from those, in whose hearts the love of God has been shed abroad. And this sinners very often undesignedly acknowledge. They sometimes freely say, that they do not think, that heaven is such a place as has been described, or that the inhabitants of it say Amen, Alleluia, while they see the smoke of the torments of the damned ascend up forever and ever. They desire and hope to go to heaven, without ever being willing to speak such a language, or to express such feelings in the view of the damned. And is not this saying, that their hearts are essentially different from those, who feel such a spirit and are willing to adopt the language of heaven? Good men do adopt the language of heaven before they arrive there. And all, who are conscious that they cannot say Amen, Alleluia, may know that they are yet sinners and essentially different from saints and altogether unprepared to go with them to heaven and join with them, in praising God for the displays of his vindictive justice in dooming all unholy creatures to a never ending punishment. They must put away their carnal mind, renounce their selfish feelings and exercise pure, disinterested, holy love, before they can become real saints and heirs of heaven.