AMIN t66 Of the Sentence tó be paft'd Vol. II. Second Thing I propoted to enquire into, viz. The Grounds and Reafons of this, Why the Rewards which {hall be diftributed at the Day of Judgment, {hall bear a Proportion to the Good or Evil which Men have done in this Life ? And, I. That they (hall be correfpondept to the Nature andQuality ofour A&ions, the Juftice and Equityof the Divine ProvidenceBoth plainly require. For Juftice is to.give to every one that which of Due belongs to him : Now of Equity it be- longs to them that doWell, that it fhould go well with them ; and to the Evil, that it should be ill with them, that every.one fhould receive the Fruit ofhis Do- ings. Not that we canftriûly merit 'any Thing at the Handof God. It is Good- nefs to reward an innocent Creature, and it is Goodnefs to reward the good A&i- ons of thofe who havebeen Sinners ; but Juftice requires that good and bad Men fhould not fare alike., Thus Abraham reafons from the Juftice of God, That the Righteous fhould be as the Wicked, that be far from thee : Shall not the fudge of all the World doRight ?, And confidering the Promifes which the Goodnefsof God hath made freely to good Men; for their Encouragement in Goodnefs, the Performance of thefe Promifes is founded in the Rigthteoufnefs and Faithfulnefs of God. 2. That the Rewards of the next Life fhould bear a Proportion to the Degree of the Good or Evil done by us in this Life, is clearly founded in theEquity and Reafonablenefsof the Thing; it being very much for the Encouragement of Holinefs and Goodnefs, to be aflùr'd that whatever we do for God now, will be fully confider'd and rewarded hereafter; that hewill take notice of the leaft Ser- vice that we do for him, and that every Degree of Grace and Holinefs tall be crowned with an anfwerable Degree of Glory and Happinelss. And fo on the other hand, it tends very much to difcountenance Sin, and to keep Men front running to theHeight of Impiety ; to confider that every Sin will aggravate their Mifery, and that everyDegree of Wickednefs will add to the Weight of their Torment ; and that tho' they be Children of Wrathalready, yet by adding Iniquity toTránfgrefion, they may caufe the Wrath of God and his jeatonfse to fmoakagainfi them, and bring moreCurfes upon themfelves, andmake themfelves Tentimes moré the Children of Wrath. And indeed in the Nature of the Thing, it cannot be otherwife; but that the better and more holy anyMan is, themore capable he fhould be ofHappinefs, and the more difnofed for the Enjoyment of God ; and the more wickedany Man is, the more he fhould exafperate his ownConfcience, and awaken thofeFuries which rage in his Brea(t. He treafures up more Wrath againfl the Day ofWrath, and piles up more Fuel for everlafting Burnings. The Torments of Hell are in Scripturecom- pared to Fire; now the more Fuel and greater Store of combuftible Matter is calf into it, the more fierce and raging it muff be. I have done with the Explication, and (hall now apply what bath been de- liver'd : I. If Sentence (hall be pafs'd at the Great Day according to the good or bad A&ions of Men, this thews us what fhould be the great. Care of every Man in this Life ; to attend to the Nature and Quality of our A&ions, and to obferve that Difference between them in our Pra&ice now, whichourJudge will certainly make in the Sentence which he will pafs upon them at the Great Day. And yet fo blind and miftaken is the greateft Part of the World, that they make this the kart Part of their Care and Bufinefs. Men are generallyvery folicitous to be rich and great, and to be in ahealthful and profperous Condition, and do with all pof- fible Care feek to avoidSicknefs and Poverty, and Meannefs: But how few are concerned to be virtuous and good, and to avoid Wickednefs and Vice ! And yet thefe moral Diff: rencesofMenat the.Day ofJudgment will onlybe taken into Conti- deration : Other Things will not profit us in the Day of Wrath. God in that Day will not proceed withMen according to their outward Quality and Condition in this Life, their eternal Eftate (hall not then be decided according to their Wealth or Poverty, their Height and Meannefs in this World : It will not then be en- quired what Office a Man bore, what Titlesof Honour, what Manors orLordthips he was Ownerof; but how he bathbehaved himfelf in thofe Circumftances, what Life he hath made of his Wealth and Power, what Good or Evil hebath done; t whether
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