TO A SOUND CONVERSION. 329 bring -you any other gospel, you are not to receive it,. but to hold him accursed. And surely there is no angel to be` 'believed before the Son of God, who carne from the Father to bring us this:doctrine. And if you stand on these terms with God, I shall leave you till he deal with you in a more convincing away. God has a voice that will make you hear. Though he entreat you to hear the voice of his gospel, he will make you hear the voice of his condemning sentence. We can- not make von believe against your wills ; but God will make you feel against your wills. But why will you not believe this word of God, which tells us that the wicked must be converted, or condemned? It is because you judge it- unlikely that God should be so unmerciful you think it cruelty to damn men `everlastingly for so small a thing as a sinful life. And this leads us to the second thing; which is, to justify the equity of God in his laws and judgments. And, first, I think you,will not deny, that it is most suitable to an immortal soul, to be ruled by laws which promise an immortal reward, and threaten an endless punishment. Otherwise the law would not be suited to the nature of the subject, who will not be fully ruled by any lower means, than the hopes or fears of everlasting things : as it is in the case of temporal punishment, if a law were now made that the most heinous crimes should be punished with a hundred years' captivity, this might be of some efficacy, it being equal to oar-Eyes. But if there had been no other penalties before the flood, when men lived eight or nine hundred years,, it would not have been sufficient, because men would know that they might have so many hundred years' impunity afterwards. So it is in our present case. 2. When you find in the word of God that so it is, and so it will be, do you think yourself fit to contra- dict this word ? Will you call your maker to the bar, and examine his word ? Will you sit upon him, and judge him by the law of your conceits? Are you wiser and better than he? Must the Godrof heaven come to school to you to learn wisdom ? Must infinite Wisdom 11 T t
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