Chapter IX
The inferences and uses of the doctrine. If God punisheth sins, he is not (he
author of it.- Let us be firmly persuaded of the reality of iliis wrath to
come. Let us adore and fear the greatness of God, and le moved to turn
to him. Let us consider what it is to die, and what the state of the other world is. Let believers learn highly to value that salvation which Christ
obtains for them.
If God in his wrath be the immediate inflicter of that punishment for sin, then certainly he is not the author of sin. Fulgentius, among other highly evincing demonstrations of it, casts in this : iniqnitatis cujiis est ultor, non
est autor ; God is not the author of sin, whereof he is the avenger; which maxim is founded upon an high principle of reason and equity. God puts the whole of this matter so far off from himself, tjiat he lays all, both sin and punishment, wholly upon man ; so as although the punishment .itself be from his own just wrath, that is provoked to inflict it, yet even thereof he thus speaks,
* Do they provoke me to anger ? (it is true they do) but do they not provoke themselves, to the confusion of their own faces ? So as he ascribes his own wrath, that inflicts that punishment, wholly to themselves, returns even that upon themselves. As if he had said, I am angry indeed,
&c., it is true, yet they are more the provoking causes of that anger than
myself. They spite but themselves, when they sin against me. Like unto which is that speech also, Romans ii. 4, 5, Thou treasures! up wrath unto
thyself. Thou to thyself ; although it be God s wrath in his breast that is treasured up, yet the treasuring of it up is ascribed unto themselves.
God will send his Son Jesus Christ on purpose to clear all such imagin able suspicions and suppositions that men or devils can cast upon him, for
condemning of men, or executing this punishment himself. Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, Behold the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds, which they have
ungodlily committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. His work at that day is to convince, yea, and to convince is named first, as well as to execute judgment. And it is certain
that in order thereto he will speak all fairness, equity, justice, and reason,
it were not conviction else ; and he will have all his saints and angels about
him, as judges and witnesses. He will have all the world to hear it, and how equal it is for him to execute so sore a vengeance. And as he will con
vince them of their deeds to be ungodly and deserving it, so of their hard
speeches ; and that, whatever his decrees were, they themselves were un-
550 AN UNREGENERATE MAN*S GUILTINESS BEFORE GOD, [BOOK XIII.
godly, and their deeds ungodly, and ungodlily committed. Mark but how he doth ungodly them. And he will convince them, and stop their mouths for
ever. Christ sent him in the parable speechless to hell, Mat. xxii. 12. And
this is one great service the man Christ Jesus is to do for God at the latter
day : and if he should not do this satisfyingly, and clear all these things, he must shut up his books, and come off the bench, and proceed no further, either to sentence or execution.
Let our meditation upon what hath been delivered be what Moses hath
prompted to us ; and let us make the same use thereof which he also did. The 90th Psalm was penned by Moses (as the title shews, A prayer of Moses
the man of God), and it was composed by him in his latter days, after he had
seen his forty }-ears, a whole generation in a nation of men removed out of
this world, and their carcases fallen in the wilderness, a spectacle so sad, as perhaps not any one man in the world hath seen, or age afforded, but at
the flood, before or since, in so short a compass of time. His song is a
funeral elegy, or meditation of death, made upon that whole generation, ver. 3, Thou turnest man to destruction ; and sayest, Keturn, ye children of men. And vers. 5, 6, Thou earnest them away, as with a flood. In
the morning, they are like grass which groweth up ; in the morning, it flour-
isheth and groweth up ; in the evening, it is cut down, and withereth. And God from that time began also to stint and limit man s years to that measure which it hath held to unto this day
: ver. 10, The days of our years are
threescore years and ten ; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore
years ; yet is their strength but labour and sorrow : for it is soon cut off, and we fly away. Our souls fly away like birds when the shell is broke ; and then hell follows (as the Revelation speaks, chap. vi. 8), as in reality, so
in Moses s discourse. And that was it which was the matter of deepest and
saddest thoughts in this meditation unto him of any other. Ver. 11, it fol
* Who knoweth the power of thine anger ? Even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath. Which he utters, 1. By way of lamentation. He sighing forth a most doleful complaint
lows,
against the security and stupor he observed in that generation of men in his
time, both in those that had already died in their sins, as well as of that new
generation that had come up in their room, who still lived in their sins, Oh,
* Who of them knoweth the power of thine anger ? namely, of that wrath which followeth after death, and seized upon men s souls for ever ; that is, who considers it, or regards it, till it take hold upon them ? He
says he,
utters it,
2. In a way of astonishment, out of the apprehension he had of the great ness of that wrath : Who hath known the power of thine anger
! that is, who hath or can take it in according to the greatness of it ? which he en deavours to set forth, as applying himself to our own apprehension, in this
* Even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath. Where those words
wise,
thy fear are taken objective, and so is all one, and the/ear of thee ; and so
the meaning is, that according to whatever proportion our souls can take in, in fears of thee and of thine anger, so great is thy wrath itself. You have
souls that are able to comprehend vast fears and terrors ; they are as exten
sive in their fears as in their desires, which are stretched beyond what
this world or the creatures can afford them, to an infinity. The soul of man is a dark cell, which when it begets fears once, strange and fearful ap
paritions rise up in it, which far exceed the ordinary proportion of worldly
evils (which yet also our fears usually make greater than they prove to be) ; but here, as to that punishment, which is the effect of God s own immediate
wrath, let the soul enlarge itself, says he, and widen its apprehension to the
CHAP. IX.] IN RESPECT OF SIN AND PUNISHMENT. 551
utmost; fear what you can imagine, yet still God s wrath, and the punish ment it inflicts, are not only proportionable, but infinitely exceeding all you can fear or imagine. Who kuoweth the power of thine anger ? It passeth knowledge.
Now the use Moses makes of all Ibis doctrine of death and wrath, in the
next following ver. 12, is this : So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts to wisdom. This he spake to God in behalf of that
present generation that then survived ; and by spreading before them all
these considerations, thereby also exhorteth them to that which is the only true wisdom, even to turn unto the Lord, so to escape that wrath that is to come. And he, as an holy man, that knew the terror of the Lord, doth thus
persuade men ; and oh let our souls be persuaded by it. And to this end, Use 1. I would first persuade you to believe, that there is this wrath to come. We knowing the terror of the Lord ; that is, ourselves being as
sured by believing that such a wrath is in the heart and breast of God against
impenitent sinners, as also understanding what and how dreadful that wrath
is; we do persuade men, 2 Cor. v. 11. And for men to apprehend and
believe it, is the first most effectual engine to persuade them by. God did
not, ere he placed these souls of ours in our bodies, first carry them down
to hell, and then up to heaven, that so we having a fore-knowledge of either
by sight and sense, might then be left to act in this world accordingly ; but God hath left only the revelation of both these unto faith, in this world, by the word. Heb. xi. 7, it is said,
* Noah being warned of God of things not
seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house ; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.
You know how the day of this great wrath to come, the day of judgment,
is assimilated by Christ to the days of Noah, Mat. xxiv. 37-89, and that, among other, in respect of the security and unbelief that is and will be, afore
it comes, in the hearts of men about it (which is Christ s special scope there). And the place in the Hebrews cited answerably, reckoneth that faith of Noah
(who being forewarned of the flood, was moved with fear, and prepared an
ark to save himself and his family) amongst those other instances of saving faith which that chapter doth enumerate, as that which had this wrath to come signified thereby in his eye, shewing withal the foundation of the con demnation of that world to lie in this, that though Noah declared this wrath
to come unto them by his preaching and example (for as he was a preacher of righteousness, so of this wrath, as Enoch also had been), yet they believed
it not, because it was unseen, as the words of that seventh verse are. For
these things then happened in types of what was to fall out concerning this
great wrath to come, that destruction of the old world being but the shadow
* The spirits in
of this, as expressly it is interpreted to be : 1 Peter iii. 20,
prison, which sometimes were disobedient, when once the longsuftering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was preparing. The like
figure whereunto is baptism, which now also saves us. If the ark was of
salvation, then the flood of damnation ; and that, then, as the word also now evidently shews. This wrath, it is a thing to come, as that of the flood
then was to them, styled therefore the wrath to come ; and so it is a thing not seen, and so is reckoned amongst the objects of faith. Men, indeed, have some lesser stitches in conscience aforehand, both from
it and about it, but little do they imagine that these will or should ever be come the matter of such torturing aches as they rise up to in the end. Men do as little imagine this of these fore-running warnings, or secret grip-
ings and twitches, as the old world did then that the usual clouds of heaven
552 AN UNEEGENEBATE MAN S GUILTINESS BEFORE GOD, [BOOK XIII.
that cause storms would ever have swelled to the drowning of the world. Nor indeed doth this fall out to men s souls until the curse or wrath of God enters,
* like oil into their bones, as the psalmist speaks of Judas, Ps. cix. 18. For this wrath is in the mean time a thing hidden in the breast and bosom
of the Almighty, and is therefore termed a treasure of wrath ; a treasure, because hid, so treasures use to be (they are termed hidden treasures, Prov.
ii. 4, and elsewhere). And for the same reason, the coming of it upon men
is called tho revelation of the righteous judgment of God, Lnke xix. 42. As the things belonging to men s peace, so their destruction are
* hidden from their eyes. Though damnation slumbers not, 2 Peter ii. 3, but is on its march, and proceedeth in its approaches towards them, every hour
nearer and nearer, yet men slumber in respect of the belief thereof, and not
so much as dream of it in their slumber, 1 Thes. v. 3, 6, 9. The apostle s
complaint there is the same in effect with that of Moses : Who knows the
* apply his heart to wisdom ? The Baptist, who began the publishing of the gospel, he began it with
power of thine anger, so as to
* the wrath to come. And
fore-warning men of his wrath, and styled it
Christ, whose office was to preach that gospel, seconds him therein, and terms it hell fire, &c. Now observe how he speaks to the pharisees about
it : ye generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath
to come ? Mat. iii. 7. It is vox admirantis ; as if he had said, It is strange that the preaching of wrath to come should any way startle your so hardened
hearts as to see you here attending at my sermons ; and that the] considera
tion thereof should any way arrest or make any dint upon your souls. The
reason of his wonder was, because indeed men believe it not, or very slightly.
Who hath demonstrated it unto you ? as his word is. And Christ useth
the very same word about this matter, Luke xii. 5, I will forewarn you (or demonstrate to you) whom you shall fear, even him that can destroy in hell.
All this still tends to shew how hidden it is from the most of men. The very same unbelief is more darkly, and in other terms expressed in the Old Testa ment : Deut. xxxii. 29, Oh that they would consider their latter end ! \ and
* Remember the days of darkness, for they are many ; but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee to judgment.
Eccles. xi. 8, 9,
Now to help you a little in the belief of this: Besides what the Scriptures speak hereof,
1. Consult thine own heart. Thou hast a busy principle within thee.
Conscience, that like a spy sent in from an adverse party into another s
quarters, observes and takes notice of all that passeth ; not thy actions or
speeches only, but what is done in thy privy chamber, or closet of thy soul; and not only so, but thou mayest hear the noise of his pen still a-running, and punctually writing that which it observeth ; and there is not a motion, a lust, a desire, a purpose, an end, a flying thought, but it diligently doth
set down, and can give thee the sense thereof, and thou canst not stop the course hereof. And what is the meaning of all this, but that thy judgment
is continually a-preparing, thine examination a-taking all thy life long? For where there is a register, a clerk of the assize thus busy at work, there is a
judge, whose officer he is. Be wary, therefore, what thou dost. Thou art
surprised and undone if thou heedest not, for all this is in order unto judg ment. And as letters written with onion or lemon juice appear not at the
present, so may not the impresses of these sad lines against thee; yet bring but thy soul to this fire we have been speaking of, and every character,
tittle, yea, accent or aggravation of sin, will be made visible and legible. And hence it is the books are said to be opened, Rev. xx.
2. Again, do you not hear daily the noise of cannon shot from heaven let
CHAP. IX.] IN RESPECT OF SIN AND PUNISHMENT. 553
off, and the bullets fly about your ears, and see them strike this mnn and
that man in your view ? It is the apostle s conviction to the Gentiles, Bom.
i. 18, that therefore there is a treasury of wrath to come, which he speaks
of, chap. ii. 4, because at present even in this world, the wrath of God is
revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, that withhold the truth in unrighteousness. The meaning whereof is, there
is no sort or kind of unrighteousness or ungodliness, but in the instance or
example of some man or other, God hath by some manifest judgment shewn
his wrath against it, in the view and observation of the very heathens them
selves, of and whom it is he speaks this. There was never a nntion of the
heathens, but the stories of it would have afforded a theatre of God s judg ments against all sorts of evils in one person or other, singled out by decimation (as it were) in this world, to shew thereby that there was an hidden wrath to come in the other world, which would fall upon all the rest, who
yet escaped at present. Those few and scattered instances manifested a
treasury, a magazine of wrath in heaven ; his phrase is from heaven, that is,
in and from God, which the heathens also were sensible of; witness their
sacrifices of atonement directed unto heaven. And this to be the apostle s
scope is clearly seen, in that he prosecutes this in the following chap, ii., vers. 1-5, Therefore thou art inexcusable, man, whosoever thou art that
judgest : for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself ; for thou that judgest doest the same things. But we are sure that the judg ment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things. And thinkest thou this, man, that judgest them which do such things, and
doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God ? Or despisesi thou the riches of his goodness, and forbearance, and long-suffering ; not
knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance ? But, after
thy hardness and impenitent heart, treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God. And unto this account you may put the enumeration of those instances of judgment made by the other apostles, as those upon the angels that fell, and on the
7orld, on Sodom and Gomorrah, Korah, &c., whereof though some were outward and temporal punishments, yet because they were evidences of
old W
that wrath to come upon like impenitent sinners, both these apostles do to
that purpose allege them, and make use thereof to beget this belief in us. For so expressly the one begins his discourse thereof: 2 Peter ii. 3-5, Whose
judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth
not. For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to
hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judg ment ; and spared not the old world, but saved Noah, the eighth person, a
preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the un
godly; and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly. Then the other apostle adds, Jude, ver. 7,
* They
suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished. Consider also what his wrath hath been to whole nations ; and how he says he will one day turn all the nations into hell that forget God, as the psalmist tells us, Ps. ix. 17. He hath prisons large enough, and chains strong enough to hold them all. When the Jews saw one hundred and eighty thousand of the Assyrian s host killed in a night before the very walls of Jerusalem,
* fearfulness surprised the hypocrites ; their hearts melted with terror to think what the wrath of God must be for
ever, Isa. xxxiii. 14, &c.
554 AN UNREGENERATE MAN*S GUILTINESS BEFORE GOD, [BOOK XIII.
Use 2. Then learn to adore and fear the greatness of our God, to the end to turn to him.
Where he shews favour, his favour is life, Ps. xxx. 5 ; yea, his lovingkindness is better than life : Ps. Ixiii. 3,
* Whom have I in heaven but thee ? There needs no other there. On the contrary, if he be provoked, there needs no other judge or avenger but himself. I may say, the weapons of his warfare within himself are mighty to revenge all disobedience. This great general needs not borrow, nor call in the aid of his creatures (though in respect of their being his
* the Lord of hosts ), to make war and destroy. That
militia, he is styled
very face of his gives life, and strikes dead and kills. In thy presence is fulness of joy, Ps. xvi. 11. And
* from his presence is destruction, 2 Thes.
* from the face of him that sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. They point to the fountain of their anguish, and speak what above all was it they dreaded. It is greatly observable what and how God talks to Job to this very purpose. Says God to Job, chap, xl., Wilt thou contend with me ? So, ver. 2, he begins to dare him : Come, says he, let this be among other one trial of thy power (who had been a prince, &c.) in comparison of mine ; take upon thee (as I mean to do), and be judge of all the world ; put on thy judge s robes, and
i. 9. Oh hide us, say they, Rev. vi. 16,
* Deck thyself with majesty and excel
thy biggest looks. Thus ver. 10,
lency, and array thyself with glory and beauty. And particularly try, try what thou canst do or effect, when thou art most angry, by thy mere looks.
Cast abroad the rage of thy wrath, ver. 11. Throw sparkles of thy most
fiery indignation from thine eyes. Canst thou look a man dead, and cover a man s face for ever with confusion ? Look on every one that is proud, and bring him low. So ver. 12, Hide them in the dust together, be they never so many, and bind their faces in secret ; that is, cover them with con fusion of face, with a look or rebuke of thy face ; make them run into holes or seek mountains to cover them, to avoid the terror of thy looks. Now all
this I can do, says God, with a mere look, whenever I please. And I can as easily save also, as I can thus destroy (which thou canst not do thine own
* Then will I confess thine own hand can save thee. You see he resolves saving and destroying into the same power of his, and maketh the same estimate of either, which the apostle also doth :
soul), as the next verse insinuates,
* There is one lawgiver who is able to save and to destroy. My exhortation therefore in fine is, let us not fear creatures, but fear him, and make him your dread ; and learn to know what a God ye walk before every day, and have for ever to do withal. Christ, that came out of
chap. iv. 12,
his bosom, knowing him, doth (Luke xii. 4 and 5, compared with Mat.
x. 26 and 28), upon knowledge of this God, make this same exhortation :
* I will forewarn you (he says it twice, and it
I say to you, says he, and
is as if he had said, Take it from me that know him), fear him that is able
l We know him that hath said, Vengeance is mine, so here, Heb. x. And again, we know
to destroy body and soul. The apostle succenturiates,
ing the terror of the Lord, 2 Cor. v. 11, which they know, by an estimate taken from his goodness, that his wrath must be answerable. And Moses
* Who knows
also, that had seen his back-parts and his glory, he cries out,
the power of thine anger ? Hypocrites and carnal professors (as those were whom God professedly takes to task, Ps. 1.) think to play with the great God, and deal with him anyhow (as we say), as with a man that is their
fellow. They know him not : Ps. 1. 21, These things hast thou clone, and
I kept silence; and thou thoughtest I was altogether such an one as thyself. And what things they had done and were guilty of (see if thou hast not been
CHAP. IX.] IN RESPECT OF SIN AND PUNISHMENT. 555
guilty of the same or like) the 18th, 19th, and 20th verses shew: When thou sawest a thief, then thou consentedst with him, and hast been partaker with adulterers. Thou givest thy mouth to evil, and thy tongue frameth
deceit. Thou sittest and speakest against thy brother ; thou slanderest thine own mother s son. And God was silent or long-suffering. The like you have, Isa. Ivii. 11, 12, Of whom hast thou been afraid, that thou hast
lied, and hast not remembered me, nor laid it to thy heart ? have not I held my peace even of old, and thou fearest me not ? &c. But mark what is the issue of all this ; in Ps. 1. 21 it follows,
* But I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thee. They had never felt the smart of his anger in
all their lives, and little thought that the lion was in him ; but it follows,
* Consider this, ye that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none
to deliver. Oh tnke heed and turn to him, or on the sudden he will start up like a mighty lion and tear your souls in pieces, as a giant might do cob
webs, and prey upon the blood of your very souls, and break the bones thereof as a lion could of the most silly creature. Add to this, Use 3. Consider what it is to die, and what the state and condition of the other world is. It is to have to do with God immediately, either in wrath or love, and from his own hands, as well as from the immediate sentence of his mouth, to receive thy weal or woe. That we come naked into this
world, and go as naked out of it, was Job s meditation first ; after that David s : Ps. xlix. 15, We shall carry nothing away, that is, of what be
longs to this world ; then after him Solomon the son : Eccles. v. 15, As he came forth of his mother s womb (speaking of man), naked shall he re turn to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry away in his hand. The effect of which divine meditation comes to
this, to put secure and careless man upon the consideration of his immortal
soul s condition, which first cometh into this world naked, as well as his
! the meaning of its first cry (if the soul itself could then speak out its mind) is, I am an empty thing, and have brought nothing with me ; who will shew me any good ? But after its being grown up, it
body. And, poor thing
begins to find the world richly furnished with all things to enjoy, as the
apostle s phrase is, 1 Tim. vi. 17. But yet again, when he goes out of this
world, he is then turned out of house and home as perfectly naked as he came into it ; and, as Itev. xviii. 14,
* The fruits that thy soul lusted after, and all things which are dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all. Death is therefore compared unto the
: Luke
breaking or failing of a merchant or tradesman proving bankrupt
xvi. 9, Then when ye fail, &c., says Christ; of which I have elsewhere
spoken.
Now, if this be thy case as to this and that other world, think with thy self what thine eternal soul must then betake itself unto, and also unto whom in that other world. My doctrinal part hath informed you that it is God himself, God immediately: Eccles. xii. 7, The spirit returns unto him that gave it. To explain which, there was that evident difference put in the making man s soul at first from that of his body, that God made the
body out of the earth, but the soul was breathed in by God ; and therefore not out of any pre-existent matter, as the souls and forms of all other living things are. And upon this dissolution or separation of each from other, it
is that Solomon says, Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was, and the soul to God that gave it ; that is to say, the same common law
befalls either in their kind, that to other things in their kind, they are re duced unto their first principles. And so look as the body is materially resolved into the earth, which was the first matter of it, so, according to
556 AN UNREGENERATE MAN S GUILTINESS BEFORE GOD, [BOOK XIII.
some kind of analogy thereunto (and so far as the soul is capable of a like return unto God), the soul returns to God that gave it, as having been the immediate original of it, not materially, as a spark is out of the fire, but as the immediate efficient. It came from God by way of gift, God gave it ; that is, freely and voluntarily produced it by a sole single free act of his will and power, whereby he created it out of nothing ; and so in the whole of it,
it was an entire and mere gift of his. And, therefore, in the beginning of
his exhortation, verse 1 of this chapter, he had aforehand laid this as a foundation for it, Remember thy Creator, or Creators ; and is so styled, because he is in a more special manner thy Creator, than of our bodies, or of other creatures ; and that because himself immediately gave thy soul in such a manner as he produced not our bodies, nor material substances. And hence it is it returns to him, as the immediate judge or arbiter of its
eternal condition. It returns to Elohim, which, as a Lapide and Ferdinandus have observed in their comments, signifies also a judge as well as a
creator, and so was chosen out here, as a word more fitly serving that, his
scope, than any other name of God s. Now then, think what it is to die ;
it is to to return to God, so as eternally and immediately to have to do with him.
And then withal consider the different dispensations of this great God towards you in this world, and that next. In this world men s souls having creature-comforts, God communicates himself unto them thereby, and by reason of his patience and longsuffering to them added hereto, they hear not of, nor from him immediately ; the most of men do not otherwise than
* I was altogether silent, says God, Ps. 1. He answers them neither good nor bad. And thus, though he is not far off from
in these mediate ways.
any of us, but men live and move in him, in respect of his power to uphold them, as Acts xvii. 28, or, as ver. 25,
* He giveth life and breath unto all
things (which clause doth interpret that other, ver. 28), yet as to con
verse with, or intimate knowledge of him, he is the unknown God, ver. 23, and men live without God, in that respect, in this world, as Eph. ii. 12. But although men thus live \vithout God here, they shall not live (I might say not die rather, for it is a death) without God in the world to come. I beseech you, think with yourselves, how your converse with this great God
in this world is (I express it by that of men with a lion comparatively), but
as through a grate (as that of the spouse s with him is said to be but
through a lattice, Cant. ii. 9). And he keeps to the laws of his ordinary
providence ; he breaks not forth immediately, but lies still and quiet, and
through his patience suffereth and permitteth men to walk by him, and do
all their heart s desire, and lets them alone. But, brethren, when you come
to die, it is as if one were turned in unto that lion with the grate open ; and
those repagula of his patience removed, your poor souls, your naked souls, are upon him immediately, and must (in a clean contrary way to what the
saints do) dwell with him for ever. The consideration of this struck dread
arid horror into the hearts of the sinners of Zion, as it may well. do in any soul that hath not communion with God. Isa. xxxiii. 14,
* The sinners in Zion are afraid ; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites
: who among us
shall dwell with the devouring fire ? who amongst us shall dwell with ever
lasting burnings ? (I opensd that place before, and shewed that this de
vouring fire was God himself.) These speak one to another as men affrighted use to do, and as struck on the sudden with apprehensions of the greatness
of that God, whom their consciences (now awakened) told them they had to do withal for ever. And they look trembling one upon the other, and the common cry and voice among them thereupon is, Whose portion will this
CHAP. IX.] IN RESPECT OF SIN AND PUNISHMENT. 557
prove to be ? For it will be the portion of some ; or, who of us, or all crea
tures, is able to bear it, or endure it ? And upon this conference (as I may term it), and inquisition among themselves, God by the prophet steps out and answers them, but in a clean contrary way, and to their further con
fusion, and tells them, there are those that shall dwell with me thus imme
diately, unto whom I will be glory and happiness, who shall walk in the
comfort of this tire which you thus dread ; and who (like the three children
* He that
in that fiery furnace) shall be refreshed therein. So it follows,
walks righteously, and speaks uprightly, he shall dwell on high. And there
fore it further follows, 1, as a promise to the upright and pure in heart, ver.
* Thine eyes shall see the King in his glory. And, 2, with a further
17,
* shall
threatening to the hypocrites, Thine heart, who art an hypocrite,
meditate terror, ver. 18. Now then again, seeing you have thus to do with the great God alone for
ever, let every one of us prepare to meet our God, Amos iv. This neces
sarily puts you upon seeking of him here in this world, and to seek that face and favour of his, in which alone is life. You must therefore also give up your souls unto him here, to live in him, as in your chiefest good, and not
in your lusts ; and to live to him as your highest end and constant interest, and as whose glory should act and steer you in all your ways, and not unto
yourselves. And therefore you, that have neglected this great God, or served him but in formality and hypocrisy (which in Scripture hath the denomina
tion of those that forget God), who never knew what it is to have intimate communion and fellowship with him through faith, in prayer and other con
verses, joined with hearty love unto him, and to the interest of his glory,
think, oh think with yourselves, when you come to die, that you must go to
him, and be with him for ever, in that sense I have given. Think with thy
self thus : My soul will be turned naked out of this world, and there is
nothing, no, not a rag of any of the comforts I pursue after here, which shall be carried with it from henca ; but it is the great God I must be turned naked unto, and appear before ; and if my soul be found naked of his image too (which to have renewed in me was the only errand he sent my soul for
into this world), and if I bring not that along with me, as my current token,
ticket, and pass into the other world, there will not be a dwelling place of
bliss for me, to receive me into ; not such an one as the apostle speaks of
for the comfort of the saints : 2 Cor. v. 1, 3, We know that if our earthly tabernacle be dissolved, we have a building of God ; if so be we shall not
be found naked, ver. 3, that is, devoid of his image, as also of Christ s
righteousness. But instead thereof, this great God will be unto me as a
furnace, and I must dwell with those everlasting burnings spoken of, even
for ever.
And then think with thyself again, What communion or correspondency hath my soul kept and held with God ? What acquaintance hath it had with him ? For otherwise it will be strange you should commend your souls into
his hands (as Christ did, and the saints use to do when they die), and that
with a desire and intention to live that eternity with him which is to come, and yet not to have lived at all with him, or to him here. How dost thou
think thou canst look him in the face at thy first appearance before him ?
If they should take thy soul away from thee this night, as Christ s speech
is, Luke xii. 20, how canst thou think God should then at first look on
thee, much less take thee into eternal, immediate bosom-communion with
himself for ever ? I pray, upon what acquaintance ? And so may God
also say unto thee. Oh, therefore, remember thy Creator in the days of
thy youth ; learn to know and fear him ; acquaint thyself with him, and
558 AN UNREGENERATE MAN S GUILTINESS BEFORE GOD, [BOOK XIII.
be at peace. Receive the law, I pray thee, from his mouth, &c., Job xxii.
21, 22.
Again, think with thyself, What do I pursuing after the things of this life with my dearest affections, and utmost intentions ? Alas, I am to live for
ever with God, and not with these. The apostle sets forth a manifesto upon
* We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain (or manifest, says he, TO tyXov) we carry nothing out ; and thereby provokes them to pursue with might and main after godliness, which alone is great
it, 1 Tim. vi. 7,
gain, and only current money in the other world. And this is the manifest coherence of those two sayings, following immediately one the other in those two verses, vers. 6, 7, But godliness with contentment is great gain. For
(says he) we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out ; the latter being a motive to the former. And therefore also
upon the same ground it follows, Trust in the living God, and not in riches
(so neither in learning, wisdom, credit, &c.), ver. 17. For why? It is the
living God whom you are to have to do withal for ever. Although he hath
for the present given you, and provided all things in this world richly to en
joy (as it follows there), yet he hath reserved himself for you to enjoy in the
other world. And it is the living God in my text likewise, into whose hands
you fall, as of a judge and avenger, if you fall short of godliness, Heb. x. And it is this living God you must be made happy in and by for ever.
The great theme and subject of Ecclesiastes, you know, is, that
* all is
vanity and vexation of spirit. Now you may observe, how Solomon, upon this very ground and account I have now been pressing, doth set a fresh
stamp upon, and his last seal unto that truth, that all is vain, Eccles. xii. 8, even from this ground, that a man s spirit returns unto God that gave it,
ver. 7. Read and observe the coherence of those two verses, ver 7, 8,
* Then shall the dust return unto the earth as it was, and the spirit shall
return to God who gave it. Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, all is
vanity. He had in the beginning of this book pronounced them vanities :
chap, i., Vanity of vanities, &e. And he had all along proved them vain at
best, as they are enjoyed in this world, unto those who enjoy them most
abundantly, most freely. But now when in the conclusion he had brought man himself, that is, the enjoyer of them, and discoursed him into his grave, laid him in the dust, and said thereupon that his soul must immediately go to God, then he cries out anew, having reserved it for the conclusion of all, and that also upon an account greater than all the former :
* Vanity of vani
ties, saith the Preacher, all is vanity ; and thereupon infers as the close, Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter : Fear God and keep his commandments : for God shall bring every work unto judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil. You may observe how the apostle in a parallel manner also speaks, It is appointed for all men to die, and after this the judgment, Heb. ix. 27, just as Solomon here. Let me next deal strictim, or at downright blows with you. I first serve
every soul here with an arrest, that he was once a child of wrath: Eph. ii. 3, Children of wrath by nature as well as others. Let every man clear him
self of it unto God as he can ; all were born such, and continue such until
now, 1 John ii. 9, if they have not become otherwise, by an escape made, from the sense of this danger, which is termed by the Baptist, a flying from
the wrath to come, Mat. iii. 7 ; an escaping the damnation of hell, by
Christ, Mat. xxiii. 33, as the murderer did when he ran to the city of
refuge from the attack of the avenger of blood (as in Heb. vi. 18 the allu
sion is), a flying for refuge unto Christ. Which escape is made by a solid, and serious, and overpowering apprehension of that estate to be such, as
CHAP. IX.] IN RESPECT OF SIN AND PUNISHMENT. 559
that a man continuing therein, he apprehends he is every moment obnoxious
to this wrath, which drives him unto Christ as a deliverer from that wrath,
joined with a giving a man s self up to him. Both which, through the power of the Holy Ghost accompanying them, do work a change of heart and life
in him, an actual turning of the soul unto God, from all sin to godliness. And until a man be thus ingrafted into Christ, and thereby made a new
creature in him, all this wrath, as Christ says, John iii. 36, remains or
abides upon him. Which word remains imports, as was said, his condition
to have been originally, and in itself, and from the beginning, uninterruptedly under wrath ; until saving faith, which is accompanied with regeneration and
true repentance, puts the difference. So as there needs no more to be in
quired of such a man, but what have you to say for the alteration of your estate ? without which it is one and the same that it was at the first ; he continues under condemnation until now, wrath remains. As we use to say, an outlawry, a sentence of death remains upon a man till pardoned. He
says not only that the wrath of God is coming upon such a man, as the
apostle s phrase is, but it abides, &c. ; the apostle indeed says, it comes, as in
respect to the execution of it, but Christ says, it abides on a man, in respect of a man s being bound over unto it, until the Son doth make him free. Then again, think with yourselves, how that this wrath of God is declared
to be against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of any kind, continued
in a way of disobedience. And be thy sins small or great, yet whilst thou
art in that estate, this wrath is in their proportion due unto all that un
godliness and unrighteousness in thee, and remains upon thee for them.
First, against all ungodliness, though it be but in deadness, averseness unto, and running aside from God unto the creature ; whereupon follow neglects, con
tempts of him, enmities to him, and thence omission of duties towards him, and not glorifying him as God, as there ver. 21. And, secondly, all un
righteousness unrepented of and continued in ; the enumeration of the
particulars of which you may have in the same chapter: vers. 29, 30, Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, mali
ciousness, full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, back
biters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, &c. And to strike thy heart yet more, think what
sins the apostle more especially singleth out, as those for which he specially
indigitates that the wrath of God cometh upon the children of disobedience.
Col. iii. 5, 6, Even fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil
concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry. For which things sake the wrath of God cometh upon the children of disobedience ; that is, that
live in them in a way of rebellion and disobedience unto God.
And consider, they are not heathens only, whom the wrath of God is
poured forth upon ; though so, Ps. Ixxix. 6, Pour out thy wrath upon the heathen that have not known thee ; and Ps. ix. 17, All the nations that forget God shall be turned into hell ; but it is also those that live under and
* obey not the gospel, and those especially. In 2 Thes. i. 7-9, the
subjects of this wrath are reduced to these two : those that know not God, they were these heathens ; and those that obey not the gospel, that is, who professing it, and living under the means of it, even the children of the kingdom (as they are called, Mat. viii. 12, and Mat. xiii. 41), there shall be gathered out of the kingdom (that is, the visible professors of religion, in the strictness of it), all things (that is, persons) that do offend, and do
iniquity, or are workers of it. Those first, and especially, that have given scandal by doing iniquity openly, and repented not, and then those that
secretly do iniquity, that are found workers of it in any kind, they shall be
560 AN UNKEGENEEATE MAN*S GUILTINESS BEFORE GOD, [BOOK XIII.
* and cast into a furnace of fire ; and hypocrites espe
gathered, says Christ,
cially, they are made the measure and standard of all other that are cast into it, both by Christ and the prophet Isaiah. But not only these, but in Mat. xii. 22, He that but wanteth the wed
ding-garment ; not the positive doers of iniquity only, but that want true
grace, sincerity of faith, and love unto Jesus Christ ; the wanting all those
graces, Col. iii. 12, Gal. vi. 15, which as a garment he should have put on, as in those places, that esme to such a wedding, the wedding of so great a
* Friend (it is an up braiding speech, such an one as Christ used to Judas, Mat. xxv. 40, because he had professed himself to be a friend, but is discovered to be a false and
person. And when there, he says to such a one,
feigned one), how comest thou hither ? here is no room for thee. And
though Christ is said to spy out but one such among that company, yet it
is the case of many : for, that the conclusion of that parable, ver. 14, im-
* many are called, few are chosen ; and so that one person is pro fessedly made but the instance or example of what Christ will do with all others that are such, who will prove many. And it is said that he was
porteth,
speechless, or strangled as with an halter (as the original word signifies), through obstupefaction of spirit. Now of this man, arid all other such, Christ the King saith, ver. 13,
* Bind him hand and foot (that he may not be able to help himself, or deliver himself), and cast him into outer dark ness : there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And the true rea son is, because if men s estates be found unrenewed or unregenerate (as this man s was through want of true grace), then the sins of their whole lives do abide upon their score, and are charged upon them. And every such an
one, even the finest-spun hypocrite, hath sins enough (if he had no other) in those very deficiencies and fallings short of true and spiritual grace, which he wholly wants. And the highest and most sublimated work of the Spirit, which a man remaining unregenerate is any way capable of, through heavenly
enlightenings, and tastings of the powers of the world to come, stirring up but self only, and the affections thereof towards spiritual things, is capable of
being discovered, not only that it is a deficient work, and short of true holi ness at that day ; but also when all the inward obliquities, motives, ends,
purposes, affections, that are in such men s hearts, that were the influencers
and guides of their ways and actions, are discovered, it will be found that
they all are matter of wrath, as truly as their other sins ; and their persons will be proved to have continued under the wrath of God abiding on them, as well as grosser sinners. And that there will be the discovery of these
things in such men, is the genuine scope of that passage, Heb. iv. 13, 14, The word of God (understand it whether of Christ, or the word of Christ)
is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even
to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and
is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart : neither is there any creature (that is, of the heart of man) that is not manifest in his sight, with whom we have to do. For unto such professors among the Jews, as had been enlightened, &c., as chap, vi., of whom, you also read up and down
in that epistle, and yet still remained in real and spiritual unbelief, as
ver. 11 of this very chapter compared with Jude ver. 5, is this passage par
ticularly directed, and of them intended.
Consider, moreover, that the longer thou goest on in this estate, or in thy
sin, the more of wrath thou treasurest up unto thyself, as Kom. ii. Every moment sins do add unto that heap ; and all thy sins are barrelled up in thy conscience, as gunpowder fully dry, and an answerable proportion and mea
sure of wrath is laid up in God s heart ; and when these meet, and that it
CHAP. IX.] IN RESPECT OF SIN AND PUNISHMENT. 561
comes to pass that the fire of God s wrath breaks forth out of his heart into
thine, then thy soul is blown up in an instant, and a fire kindled that burns
for ever in hell.
And meditate also how frail thy life is, how thin and slight a screen of
flesh there is betwixt all this wrath and thy bare soul ; which, if worn, or
any way sliced through, the soul runs out. Nay, that venomous spider, thy
soul, dwells but in a cobweb, which, if broken, or any violence be done it,
it instantly flies away into the other world. Job, in several places, delights to compare our lives and condition in this world unto a candle or lamp. Now let the candle be let alone to burn itself out fairly to its full length, yet some last but a very little while, and those of the greatest size cannot long. Oh, but how many intervening casualties are there, that afore do put it out ? The candle of the wicked shall be put out, and destruction cometh upon them, Job xxi. 17, that is, ab extritiseco, from without. How many thieves
in the candle, or fatal accidents, do men meet with, that unawares consume
it ! Immoderate sorrows and cares swale it ; intemperance, like too much
oil poured thereon to feed it, choketh and extinguished it ; too much inten
tion of mind turns the flame downwards upon itself, and so it evaporates. Often another man s breath, in seasons of malignity (which fall out more or
less every year), blows and puffs it out. A friend s breath comes in with an infectious vapour, and throws his soul out who visits him ; yea, an un
skilful or else a mistaking hand of a physician, who undertakes to snuff and
brighten it, unwarily clean snuffs the candle out. Yea, men strong and
vigorous go to the grave in a moment, as in the same 21st chapter of Job, ver. 13. Yea, as Ps. Iv. 15, they go quick to hell : it is an allusion to
Korah, Dathan, &c., Num. xvi. 30, 33, of whom it is said twice, They went
alive to hell. Many die so suddenly, that they are in hell in a trice, and as it were ere quite dead. And truly the most of men live in this world like
* They are
silly sheep in a pasture, as David s similitude is : Ps. xlix. 14,
put into hell like sheep ; (so some*). It notes out their security in respect of that slaughter which comes upon them. This man dies, then that, then
another, and they regard it not ; even as the sheep do not, when the butcher
(as his pleasure is) takes out first one, then another, and carries them to the shambles, whilst the rest feed on, and know not that they themselves are
a-fatting to the day of slaughter also.
Let us consider also what millions of transgressions are we guilty of in one day
! Oh, then, what in thy whole life ! And what a reckoning will the sins of thy whole life come to, when every commandment shall bring in their bills ! And that thou hast to deal with a God who, 1. Hath all thy sins before him : Isa. Ixv. 6, Behold, it is written before me, but I will recompense, &c.
* The Lord hath sworn, Surely I will never forget any of their works.
2. That will never forget any one of them : Amos viii. 7,
3. With a God who will bate thee nothing
: Every transgression shall receive a just recompence of reward. He spared not his own Son, Bom.
viii. ; and will not thee, unless by regeneration thou hast a portion in his Son. Think with thyself what a case thou art in, if thou must answer jus tice for all and every one of these.
The most of these things hitherto by way of use spoken by me, are no other than what David himself spends one whole psalm together upon; it is Ps. xlix., and styles it the meditation of his heart, ver. 3, which caused me to entitle that former about what it is to die, a meditation rather * See Ainsworth. VOL. x. N n
562 AN UNEEGENERATE MAN S GUILTINESS BEFORE GOD, [BOOK XIII.
than an use, as I had done that of Moses also, Ps. xc. This of David s I shall here add, to set the deeper seal and weight upon all that hath been treated.
He begins the psalm, and shews the moment of these matters, though in view but ordinary, with as solemn a preface and proclamation, calling upon
attention and heed hereto, as anywhere we find in Scriptures.
1. In the first verse he summons all the world into a ring about him : Hear
ye this, all the people ; give ear, all the inhabitants of the world. And, 2, particulariseth forth his auditors into all sorts of conditions : ver. 2,
* Both low and high, rich and poor together. For why ? What he was to utter to them did as much concern the one as it did the other, and behoved them all alike to look to, as being that which especially concerned them in
respect unto their being in the other world, how different soever their con dition was in this.
And, 3, he cries up the matter itself as the greatest wisdom, ver. 3, and a deep mysterious parable and dark saying
: ver. 4, My mouth shall speak of wisdom ; and the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding. I
will incline mine ear unto a parable ; I will open my dark saying upon the
harp. Now, what should this matter be ? It was to declare two things, which take up that whole psalm.
The first, how in the style of a be it known to all m,en (for we have seen he publisheth it to all), he aloud declares, I for my part am not afraid to
die, and go into that other world. Which confidence of his he greatens by this supposition superadded, that if, when he should come to die, all the
sins of his whole life were presented before his view, yet notwithstanding he should not be afraid. Thus, ver. 5, Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, when the iniquities of my heels shall compass me about ? A strange confidence, which yet he found reason for from God ; for he challengeth all
or anything to bring in reason to the contrary. Let them all say, Where
fore should I fear ? And yet his other psalms as well as his story tells us what an infinite number of sins were upon his score, and how sensible he was thereof. And that this bold speech of his relates specially to the day of death, or days wherein he might have cause to fear it (though I will ex
clude no other times of trouble that were yet to come before in this life to be intended by him, which interpreters wholly carry it unto). That this is
his scope, I shall make appeal to the whole drift of what follows throughout the psalm, which concerns the state of wicked men in their death, which I
shall by and by shew. But specially I argue it from the reference and cor
* God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave, for he shall receive me. Selah. There
respondency this speech hath with and to verse 15,
you have the reason or ground of this his confidence, which he had at first
uttered in verse 5, perfectly expressed, as that which he opposed unto all
there/ores or wherefores to the contrary ; yea, though they should be fetched from his very sins, that might (if anything) make him afraid. But there in
that resolve of his, ver. 15, he centres and landeth this which he had so
confidently uttered in verse 5. And all the rest of his discourse that comes
between, is apparently about the opposite condition of wicked men ; as that
they must die, and what their estate is in and after death. All which was but to illustrate this confidence of his.
He plainly in this verse 5 puts himself into the supposition, as if he were then to die, and as if death ( the king of terrors, Job xviii. 19) were setting down his siege about him, and that all the iniquities of his heels, or ways
(which are death s strongest forces : The sting of death is sin, and the
strength of sin is the law, 1 Cor. xv. 56), were as an army formed up,
CHAP. IX.J IN RESPECT OF SIN AND PUNISHMENT. 563
encompassing him round (which out of Psalm xl. 12 I have shewed to
have been his case, and the very metaphor he there also useth). But now David was so steeled, as though he placed himself thus aforehand in the full
view and face of all these, single and alone in the midst of them. He yet outdares them all, as the apostle did, Rom. viii. 33, strengthened with this,
for the Lord will receive my soul ; which phrase of speech to be the same
that a dying saint useth, you all know. And this part of his speech, ver. 5,
might have come in as comfortable an use as any other of that former doc
trine, the innumerable number of sins ; but that this other part that now
follows doth properly belong unto what hath been now last insisted on, and
so I rather placed both here.
The second thing is the opposite state of wicked men in their lives, and in
relation to their dying, and also at and after death, by which he both illus
trates and expounds his meaning in ver. 5 to be to utter his own blessed
condition at his death, verse 15; and to that purpose it is he further dilates
upon the death of wicked men in the rest of the psalm, and which is indeed
a kind of summary of what in the former meditation I have pressed.
During their lives, they trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the
multitude of their riches, verse 6, and yet they see (as the word is, verse 10), that they cannot redeem their own or others precious souls from bodily death, or obtain of God by a ransom, that they should live for ever, for he sees
the wise man die like as the fool, and so leave their wealth to others ; thus
in verses 7-10. That which therefore (miserable wretches) they relieve themselves with against this is, their inward thought is that their houses
shall continue for ever, and their dwelling-places to all generations ; they
call their lands after their own names, and their posterity approve their
sayings, though, when he dies, he shall carry nothing away, his glory shall not descend after him, &c. And whither goes he when he dies ? His
soul (so it is in the original, and varied in the margin) shall go to the
generation of his fathers (to the company of those giants of the old world, from whom hell hath its name so oft in the Proverbs). And where are
they all ? The spirits in prison. So the apostle resolves us, speaking of the men of the old world, 1 Peter iii. 19. And they shall never see
light or comfort more, says the psalmist ; but as for me (says David, verse 15), God shall receive me into the bosom of his love and bliss. And then, again, upon their dying, they are laid as sheep in the grave ; death shall feed on them, and prey upon them ; the first death upon their
* And their beauty shall consume in the grave, so as at the morning (as there) of the resur
bodies in the grave, the second death upon their souls.
rection, the greatest personages that have had such a gleam of glory to attend them whilst they lived, accompanied perhaps also with dominion over others, shall then rise such ugly shabby death-eaten and hell-eaten
creatures (as we use to say moth-eaten), all their beauty being preyed upon (that is his word) and consumed. And such shall appear in judgment, where the upright whom they despised shall have dominion over them, ver. 14. But, says David, God shall redeem my soul from the power of
the grave ; for he shall receive me. Selah. And, for the further illustration of all this, and how it relates unto death, I shall only cast in a manifest parallel between what David here had meditated about the condition of wicked men at death, with what our Lord himself hath seconded it withal, in expressions fully herewith agreeing, treating of wicked men s dying also, Luke xii. 16-21. It is the parable of that rich mwi whose
soul was taken away that night. 1. Says David, Their inward thought is,
&c., ver. 11 ; and says Christ, He thought within himself, so ver. 17.
564 AN UNREGENEKATE MAN*S GUILTINESS BEFOEE GOD, [BOOK XIII.
2. Whilst he lived he blessed himself, so David, ver. 18, namely, in those his inward thoughts about his goods and posterity. And the like speaks Christ, to be the inward speech and applauding himself, of his rich man : He says to his soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years ; take thine ease and be merry. Again, 3, of this man Christ says,
* Thou
fool, this night, &c. ver. 20 ; and David of his, This their way is their
folly, ver. 10. 4. And finally, the reason of that their folly, which both Christ and David give, do centre in one and the same : This night thy soul shall be required of thee, then whose shall these things thou hast provided be? thus Christ, ver. 20 ; and David, correspondently, His soul shall go, &c. They shall never see light, ver. 19, and he shall carry nothing away, but leave his wealth to others, vers. 10, 17. But still withal let us remember what David s conclusion is concerning himself at his death, and which he placeth in the midst as the centre of his
discourse, which hath all this other about wicked men round about it, and
to the end to magnify the mercy thereof to himself. But God shall redeem my soul, and shall receive me. Selah. The mercy of both which the last use of all that next follows doth concern, and so shuts up this dis course.
Use 4. Let all believers from hence learn how to set a due and full value upon that salvation which they profess to expect, and which God hath
designed to give them.
Our great and gracious God, the more to bind and oblige the redeemed of the sons of men unto himself, hath twisted their salvation of a double cord
of love. 1. A privative one, seen in what they are snatched out of, which is termed a being saved from wrath, Rom. v. ; a
* delivering from wrath, 1 Thes. i. 10 ; an escaping the damnation of hell, Mat. xxiii. 33 ; a not so much as entering into condemnation, John v. 24. 2. The other a positive
part, the glory to be revealed, the greatness of which no tongue can utter
or heart conceive. That blessedness or glory conferred on the elect angels, and that favour shewn them, hath not this privative part of salvation to
greaten it, further than as by way of prevention, in that God upheld them from falling into the merit or desert of it, whereas we men are all become
guilty before God, were actually under wrath, children of wrath even as
others, one as well as another, Eph. ii. And the weight of this, he in that
scripture would have them put into the scale whenever they thought of sal
* By grace ye are saved, so as with a note of remark it follows,
vation,
ver. 8. God hath thus doubled the mercy of salvation to us, on purpose to make it salvation indeed ; so great salvation ! as the apostle speaks, Heb. ii., which duplication is seen in all parts of our salvation as well as
this, as might be largely shewn.
There are many gracious saints that have had no impressions of wrath, no
fears and terrors of hell, set upon their souls in their first humiliation ; nay, the consideration thereof hath had but small influence into their hearts by way of motive in turning them unto God, but it hath been pure free love hath taken their hearts and swallowed up their thoughts. Yet mark what I
shall say unto thee in this case, although, indeed, the less thou hast been moved in thy turning to God with such fears or impressions of hell, it be in some respect the better, for the more kindly hath God s work been in that
respect upon thee ; and it also argues a special tenderness in God s heart
towards thy soul to have restrained the roughness of the east wind from
blowing on thee, as the prophet speaks. Yet let me withal say, that the more any one hath after conversion taken into consideration this wrath, I
do not mean by terrors, but by a practical meditation of it, and his own
CHAP. IX. j IN RESPKCT OF SIN AND PUNISHMENT. 5G5
desert thereof, the more, when joined together with the former, of God s
pure love, it will move his heart to thankfulness to God for saving him. And
the more thine heart hath this way been enlarged, the more God s love, which thou art either assured of or reliest on, must needs be greatened to
thee, yea, and prove the higher incentive of love unto God again from thee.
Whereas, on the contrary, that I may give a caution, because there seemeth
to be such an ingenuity in grace, its working in that first respect mentioned,
that wrath hath had no influence at all, hence such persons are apt too much to neglect, or not to mind the consideration of God s wrath at all, no, not so much as in this latter way mentioned ; but thinking to keep up an
ingenuity of love, they entertain not this at all in their meditations. But
sure this is far more blameworthy than that other is commendable, and that
by how much there comes thereby to be a loss, of so much and of so great a part of God s love purposely thereby designed to be shewn ; I term it a
loss, for what is not seen, and the heart considers not, nor is sensible of, is
as if it had not been. And further, I add, that this valuing of God s love
herein shewed, at its own full rate in both respects, is a matter of greater moment than the working of thy love to him in so ingenious and kindly a
way, as thou supposest, without all or any consideration of hell or wrath, can arise unto ; aud this, by how much God s love to us, in the full latitude
of it, is a thing more precious than our love to him. Of the two, God had
rather have us apprehend his love towards us in the utmost extent thereof, than have our love, or love from us to him, to work but in that one way ot
ingenuousness ; yea, and in the issue you will all find, that if you join the
considerations of both together, they will concur to work an higher ingenuity of love, than that other way alone can do.
If we will come to comprehend with all saints the height, and depth, &c., of the love of God and Christ, in all the dimensions of it, we must take that
course and way in our meditations about it, which God himself hath laid
out and designed on purpose to set it forth and greaten it unto us by ; which he hath done as well by so great a deliverance from so great a wrath due to
us, as by conferring so rich an inheritance of glory upon us. And look as God hath two such vast contrivances of infinite weight each of them, the one in his right hand, the other in his left, for the manifestation of his love, so we should have two scales in the hand of our faith to weigh each by ; and of the two, it may perhaps, be hard to say which is the more massy, that is, in the apprehensions of some of those who have been deeply humbled for sin, and under sense of wrath, though I think glory carries it
by far.
I observe, that our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ himself, though but made a surety for sin, and though it was impossible he should be holden of wrath or anything he was to suffer, Acts ii. 24, yet he doth consider, as well
for his blessing God, as also to his own comfort, in Ps. xvi. 7 and 10, a
psalm made wholly of him, and magnify the delivering part of salvation : Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, nor suffer thine holy One to see cor
ruption ; I say, he considers this as well as the joy which followed thereon, which yet also follows there, ver. 11,
* Thou wilt shew me the path of life. In thy presence is fulness of joy ; at thy right hand are pleasures for ever more. He reckons up both, as two distinct parts of favour shewn in that
salvation of his, which is both the cause and pattern of ours. And that it was to bless God for both these, which he thus distinctly and apart mentions, his preface to both, ver. 7,
* I will bless the Lord, &c., shews. Thus as man. And there is this further evidence of it, that look as what any one
exerciseth faith for, and prays for much before it is obtained, that propor-
566 AN UNREGENERATE MAN S GUILTINESS BEFORE GOD, [BOOK XIII.
tionably he is thankful for after. And the same is seen in Christ in this
very particular; for as we read in that psalm, that he exercised faith for this
deliverance as well as for that glory ; so, in like manner, Heb. v. 7, that he offered up prayers and supplications, with strong crying and tears, unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in what he feared. And hence it came to pass, that we find him after his deliverance so greatly
blessing God for it. So you read of his praising God for the same in Ps.
xxii. from ver. 2 to the end, and in express words, ver. 25, even as well as
you may read his prayer for this deliverance in the former part of that psalm.
If he who, but for us and our sakes, needed no deliverance, then how much more lies this upon us, the persons saved, and unable to save ourselves, dis
tinctly to remember both these parts of our salvation with infinite praise and
* Bless the Lord, my soul ; and all that
blessing of God s great name !
is within me, bless his holy name, and forget not all (that is, not any of) his benefits, says the psalmist in his own person, Ps. ciii. 1, 2. And what
sort of benefits were they ? It follows, ver. 3, 4, Who forgiveth all thine
iniquities ; who redeemeth thy life from destruction : there is salvation from sin and hell, the privative part; Who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies (over and above deliverance),
* and satisfieth
: there you see also is the positive part. You
thy mouth with good things
might observe the very same in this 40th Psalm, Thou shalt redeem me,
* Thou shalt receive me. By all that hath been spoken, although you are saved from it, yet, look down into hell a little, as it hath been set out to you ; and think with
&c., and,
yourselves, Hath God delivered me from so great a death, and given me such a deliverance as this, from a death so dreadful and eternal also ! How would the devils and spirits in prison prize an escape and deliverance from wrath present and to come, if they could be supposed capable thereof, yea,
if they had no more ! A nobleman or favourite that hath run into great and high treasons, to have but mere life given him, how would he value it,
though he never saw the court more, nor were never restored unto his estate and dignities, had he but wherewithal to live ! If a man were in danger to
be drowned, and a rope were thrown him and a crown, and bidden take his
choice, with promise, Thou shalt be king of all the world, if thou come to
shore safe with the crown on thy head ; of the two he would in this case take
hold of the rope, and refuse the crown. And why ? Because it is salva
tion and his life. But for a man to be both wafted safe to the shore, and then
arriving there, to have this crown besides, how great salvation would this be
valued ! stupendous grace and love ! These things the saints should consider chiefly unto two ends and pur
poses
1. To be thankful to God and Christ.
2. To comfort their own souls.
1. To be thankful both to God and Christ.
(1.) To God the Father. It was his part to contrive the whole design of
our salvation, to the end to set forth his love to us. And the Scripture
spreads before us the love of the Father herein upon this double considera
tion : 1, that he appointed us not to wrath, which otherwise we should have
in the issue and execution, by reason of sin fallen under; 2, that he ordained
us to salvation. You have an express scripture for both these, setting forth the love of God the Father hereby
: 1 Thes. v. 9, God hath
not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation. Here are first, two
parts of the mercy vouchsafed: 1, deliverance from wrath; 2, salvation. Then the love of the Father in his not appointing us to wrath (and so not
CHAP. IX.] IN RESPECT OF SIN AND PUNISHMENT. 567
to leave us under it), as well as appointing us to salvation, and both as
appointments of God, the one as well as the other.
And then in the second epistle, chap. ii. 13, he provokes them unto thankfulness for this, But we are bound to give thanks unto God for you, who hath from the beginning chosen you unto salvation, through sanctifica-
tion of the Spirit and belief of the truth ; which he speaks with reference
to what was done to others (ver. 12 compared). Let me speak to you then
: Oh what thanks are yourselves then bound (if the
in the apostle s language
apostle gave them for others) to give unto God for yourselves, to whom God hath given faith and holiness, upon both these respects
(2.) To Jesus Christ for that hand which he had in this our deliverance from wrath, thus expressly, 1 Thess. i. 10, Ye wait for his Son from heaven, even Jesus, who delivered us from the wrath to come. Here again you have these two parts of salvation set together. 1. His coming from heaven, which they waited for with hopes of his carrying them thither, as he tells them, chap. iv. 17, We shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air ; and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Then, 2 (which the apostle adds with an emphasis), Even Jesus, who delivered us from the wrath to come. Take in that, too, says he, and forget it not, to endear your Jesus to you ; and for ever know him by this character, it is that Jesus who delivered you from the wrath to come. It was the Father s work, indeed, to appoint and ordain this deliverance, and us unto the benefit of it through faith ; but it was our Jesus, his Son s work, to effect and accomplish it ; it was his soul that paid for all.
And the manner or way how he delivered us from this wrath, heightens this his love yet more ; for he delivered us from it by being
< made himself a curse for us, Gal. iii. 23.
2. The second thing I propounded was, to comfort your souls in the consideration of this salvation and deliverance. Thus Christ, Ps. xvi. 9, 10 for his deliverance, Therefore my heart is glad, my flesh also shall rest in hope ; for thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, thou wilt shew me the path of life, &c. And David in the 49th Psalm, which led on to this, doth com fort himself also, ver. 15, when of wicked men he had said, Like sheep they are put into hell (as some read it), Death shall feed on them ; he then for his own particular comforts himself with this, But God shall re deem my soul from the power of hell, for he shall receive me. And the apostle to the Thessalonians, 1st epistle, chap, v., having, ver. 9, set before them (as was before opened) that God had not appointed them to wrath, but to obtain salvation, he subjoins, ver. 11, WHEREFORE COMFORT YOURSELVES TOGETHER.
END OF VOL. X.