Ser. 35. men after this life. And this our Saviour represents to us in a most lively manner, in that profpect which, in the latter part of this chapter, he gives us of the judgment of the great day; namely, that at the end of the world, the Son of man fball come in his glory, with his boly angels, and fball fit upon the throne of his glory; and all nations fhall be gathered before him, and fhall be feparated into two great companies, the righteous and the wicked; who fhall ftand, the one on the right hand, and the other on the left of this great judge; who fhall pronounce sentence feverally upon them, according to the actions which they have done in this life. The righteous fhall be rewarded with eternal happiness, and the wicked shall be sentenced to everlasting punishment. And thefe, that is, the wicked, shall go away into everlafting punishment; but the righteous into life eternal.

The words are plain, and need no explication. For I take it for granted, that every one, at first hearing of them, does clearly apprehend the difference between the righteous and the wicked, and between endless happiness and misery. But although these words be fo very eafy to be understood, they can never be too much confidered by us. The scope and defign of them is, to reprefent to us the different fates of good and bad men in another world, and that their ends there will be as different as their ways and doings have been here in this world. The serious confideration whereof, is the greatest difcouragement to fin, and the moft powerful argument in the world to a holy and virtuous life: because it is an argument taken from our greatest and most lasting interest, our happiness, or our misery to all eternity: a concernment of that vaft confequence, that it must be the greatest ftupidity and folly in the world for any man to neglect it.

This eternal state of rewards and punishments in another world, our bleffed Saviour hath clearly revealed to us. And as to one part of it, viz. that good men fhall be eternally happy in another world, every one gladly admits it but many are loth that the other part fhould be true, concerning the eternal punishment of wicked men.. And therefore they pretend, that it is contrary to the juftice of God, to punish temporary crimes with cternal

eternal torments; becaufe juftice always obferves a proportion between offences and punishments; but between temporary fins and eternal punishments, there is no proportion. And, as this seems hard to be reconciled with juftice, fo much more with that excefs of goodness which we fuppofe to be in God.

And therefore they say, that though God feem to have declared, that impenitent finners fhall be everlastingly punished; yet thefe declarations of fcripture are fo to be mollified and understood, as that we may be able to reconcile them with the effential perfections of the divine nature.

This is the full force and strength of the objection. And my work at this time fhall be to clear, if I can, this difficult point: and that for these two reasons. 1. For the vindication of the divine juftice and goodnefs: That God may be juftified in his fayings, and appear righteous when he judgeth. And, 2. Becaufe the belief of the threatenings of God, in their utmost extent, is of fo great moment to a good life, and fo great a difcouragement to fin: for the fting of fin is the terror of eternal punishment; and if men were once fet free from the fear and belief of this, the most powerful restraint from fin would be taken away.

So that, in answer to this objection, I fhall endeavour to prove these two things.

1. That the eternal punishment of wicked men in another world is plainly threatened in scripture.

2. That this is not inconsistent either with the justice or the goodness of God.*

First, That the eternal punishment of wicked men in another world is plainly threatened in fcripture, namely, in these following texts: Matth. xviii. 8. It is better for thee to enter into life halt and maimed, than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into everlasting fire; and, Matth. xxv. 41. Depart, ye curfed, into everlafting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels. And here, in the text, Thefe, that is, the wicked, fhall go away into everlasting punishment. And, Mark ix. it is there three feveral times with great vehemency repeated by our Saviour, Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched; and, 2 Theff. i. 9. speaking of them that

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know not God, and obey not the gospel of his Son, it is faid of them, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction.

I know very well, that great endeavour hath been used to avoid the force of thefe texts, by fhewing, that the words for ever and everlasting are frequently ufed in fcripture in a more limited fenfe, only for a long duration and continuance. Thus for ever doth very often in the Old Teftament only fignify for a long time, and till the end of the Jewish difpenfation. And, in the epiftle of St. Jude, y 7. the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha are faid to be fet forth for an example, fuffering the vengeance of eternal fire; that is, of a fire that was not extinguifhed till thofe cities were utterly confumed.

And therefore, to clear the meaning of the forementioned texts, I. I fhall readily grant, that the words for ever and everlasting do not always in fcripture fignify an endless duration; and that this is fufficiently proved by the inftances alledged to this purpofe. But then, 2. It cannot be denied, on the other hand, that these words are often in fcripture used in a larger fenfe, and fo as neceffarily to fignify an interminable and endless duration : as, where eternity is attributed to God, and he is faid to live for ever and ever; and where eternal happiness in another world is promised to good men, and that they fhall be for ever with the Lord. Now, the very fame words and expreffions are used concerning the punishment of wicked men in another life. And there is great reafon why we should understand them in the fame extent: both because, if God had intended to have told us, that the punishment of wicked men fhall have no end, the languages wherein the fcriptures are written, do hardly afford fuller and more certain words, than those that are used in this cafe, whereby to exprefs to us a duration without end; and likewife, which is almoft a peremptory decifion of the thing, because the duration of the punishment of wicked men, is in the very fame fentence expreffed by the very fame word which is used for the duration of the happiness of the righteous; as is evident from the text: Thefe, fpeaking of the wicked, Ihall go away, eis noλaow diavior, into eternal punishment;

but

but the righteous, els (why dewvior, into life eternal. I proceed to the

Second thing I propofed, namely, to fhew, that this is not inconfiftent either with the juftice or the goodness of God: for in this the force of the objection lies. And it hath been attempted to be answered feveral ways; none of which feems to ine to give clear and full fatisfaction to it.

I. It is faid by fome, That because fin is infinite, in refpect of the object against whom it is committed, which is God, therefore it deferves an infinite punishment.

But this I doubt will, upon examination, be found to have more of fubtilty than of folidity in it. It is true indeed, that the dignity of the person against whom any offence is committed, is a great aggravation of the fault for which reafon all offences againft God are certainly the greatest of all other: But that crimes fhould hereby be heightened to an infinite degree, can by no means be admitted; and that for this plain reafon, Because then the evil and demerit of all fins must neceffarily be equal; for the demerit of no fin can be more than infinite: and if the demerit of all fins be equal, there can then be no reason for the degrees of punishment in another world. But, to deny that there are degrees of punishment there, is not only contrary to reafon, but to our Saviour's exprefs affertion, that fome fhall be beaten with many ftripes, and fome with fewer; and that it shall be more tolerable for fome in the day of judgment, than for others. Befides that by the fame reafon that the leaft fin that is committed against God may be faid to be infinite becaufe of its object, the leaft punishment that is inflicted by God may be faid to be infinite because of its author; and then all punishments from God, as well as all fin's against him, would be equal; which is palpably absurd. So that this anfwer is by no means fufficient to break the force of this objection.

II. It is faid by others, That if wicked men lived for ever in this world, they would fin for ever; and therefore they deferve to be punished for ever. But this hath neither truth nor reafon enough in it to give fatisfaction. For who can certainly tell, that if a man lived never fo long, he would never repent and grow better?

Befides that the juftice of God doth only punish the

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fins which men have committed in this life, and not those which they might poffibly have committed if they had lived longer.

III. It is faid, in the laft place, That God hath fet before men everlafting happinefs and mifery, and the finner hath his choice. Here are two things faid, which feem to bid fairly towards an answer.

1. That the reward which God promiseth to our obedience, is equal to the punishment which he threatens to our difobedience: but yet this I doubt will not reach the bufinefs; because though it be not contrary to juftice, to exceed in rewards, that being matter of mere favour; yet it may be fo, to exceed in punishments.

2. It is further faid, that the finner in this cafe hath nothing to complain of, fince he hath his own choice. This, I confefs, is enough to filence the finner, and to make him to acknowledge that his deftruction is of himfelf: but yet, for all that, it does not feem fo clearly to fatisfy the objection from the difproportion between the fault and the punishment.

And therefore I fhall endeavour to clear, if it may be, this matter yet a little further, by these following confiderations.

I. Let it be confidered, that the meafure of penalties with refpect to crimes is not only, nor always to be taken from the quality and degree of the offence, much lefs from the duration and continuance of it; but from the ends and realons of government; which requires fuch penalties as may, if it be poffible, fecure the obfervation of the law, and deter men from the breach of it. And the reafon of this is evident; because if it were once declared, that no man should fuffer longer for any crime than according to the proportion of the time in which it was committed, the confequence of this would be, that finners would be better husbands of their time, and fin fo much the fafter, that they might have the greater bargain of it, and might fatisfy for their fins by a fhorter punishment

And it would be unreasonable likewife upon another account; because some of the greatest fins may perhaps be committed in the shortest time: for inftance, murder; the act whereof may be over in a moment, but the

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