A Sermon on Gal. 3· 1 o. fourthly, They !hall be curfed ro Purpofe, and lye for ever under rhe Revenging Wrath of God: Their Sentence is, Depart from me ye Cur fed, Matth. 25. 41. Hell indeed is rhe General A!fembly of all Curfesand Plagues. All the Curies th<y have undergone in this pretenr Life are bur the Curfes and Prepara!ions ro rhis Faral and . Final Curfe. They are eternally curfed, Fir /I, In their Separation from the Sight and Prefence of God. They have indeed the PieH:nce of his Wrath .to torment them, and of his Power to uphold them under their Torments, and to enlarge their Souls ro contai n all rhoH: Vials of Pure Wrath and Fury which he will pour into them; bm they are fOr ever cur oH·from rhe Prefence of his Grace, and of his Glory. The Enjoyment of God is the SoleBl,fied· nefs of a Rational Creature: And therefOre to be cur off from thofe lneffJble Corn· inunications of himfdf~ which he voucbfafes to the Bteffed Spirits, is fuch a Curfe as is as Ineffable as are the Joys and Happinefies which they lofe. Secondly, They are curfed in the Society of Devils and Damned Spirits; hideous Company, who horh upbraid and torture rbem fOr their Sins. · Thirdly, They are accurfed in the Work of Hell; for their whole Emplo~ment !hall be Blafpheming and Curfing, and in the Angui!h and Horror of rheirSpirirs roar· ing out, and exclaiming both againft God and themfi:: lves: Then at thq loved Cur/ing, and cloatbed tbemJelvu with it tu with a Garment, fo it /hall come into tbeir Bowels like Waur, and like Oil intotbeir Bonet; as the Pfalmiff fpeaks, PJalm 109. J8. Fourthly, They !hall be curfed in the Pains and Torments they mull eternally fuller. Every Limb !hall drop with Flakes of Unquenchable Fire, and the Worm of Confci. ence fhall prey upon them, and fling them wirh Unfupportablc Anguifh; and in this Unfpeakable Torrnre !hall they ever live a never-dying Death. This is their find Curfe, Upon the WickedGodjhali rain Fire, Snare; and Brimflone. and an horrible Tempejl; thisjha/1 he tbc Portion of their Cup. And thus you fee what Malignity and Venom the Curfe contains, which the Law threatens again!! all the Tranfgrelfors of it. Now briefly to apply this. Firjl, See here what an Accurfed Thing Sin is, that carries wtapp'd up in its Bowels Woe, Wra1h, and Eternal Death. To this ir is that you owe all the Miferies you have already felt; and to this are due all that God bath threarned to infiiU hereafter. The Law is not to be condemned for condemning the Tranfgreffors of it; the Jufiice of God is not to be cenfur'd for taking the Forfeiture of our Live$ and Souls, but all our Mifery is to be charged upon our felves, upon our Conupt Natures, and our Sinful Lives. We our felves breed thofe Vipers that gnaw our very Bowels: And as Putrified Bodies breed rhofe Filthy Worms and Jnfetls ·which devour them, fo do we breed thofe Filthy Lufu in our Hearts which are continually preying upon our Vitals, and will at Iall fatall y deflroy us. As God is an Holy God, 10 he infinitely hares Sin; and as he is a Ju!lGod, fo he will a!furedly puni!h it: Not a Soul of Man !hall efcape, not a Sin pafi by without having its due Curfe; yea, we finrl God fo hares Sin, that when he found but the Imputation of it upon his own Son, Divine Vengeance would not fuffer him toefcape, but loads him witb Sorrow, and fills his Soul with Darknefs and Agonies, nails him to the Crofs, and tbere exaEls fro"\ him a Dread ful Recompence, which he was fain to make good mthe UrmoltDemand of his Fa ther's JuDice before he could be difcharged. One Drop of this Poifim being let fall upon tbe once Glorious Angels rurn'd them into Devils, made all tbeir Rays of Light and Lufire fall ofF from them; and being onCe tainted with this Venom, God could no longer endure them in his PrefencC, but hurls them down all flaming into Hell. It is Sin that' is the Fewel of thole unquenchable Flames, and lays in all thofe Stores of Fire and Brimftone which !hall there burn for ever. It is a Sin that dilrobed Man of his Innocen~e, turned l1im out of Paradife, and will certainly, if not repented of and forfaken, turn bim into Hell. And therefore as ye love God, or your own Souls, be fure tbat ye hate Iniquity ; entertain not any Kind Thoughts of ir, however it tempt and folicire you. Remember the Curfe of God is affix'd infc, parably unto it ; and if you will fulfur the Accurfed Thing to cleave unto you, you mllfr tOr ever be accurfed with it. Secondly, If every Tranfgre!for of the Law be accurfed, foe then the Defperote Folly of thofe Wretches who make flight of Sin, and account the Commiffion of it a Matter of fmall or no Concern to them. They play with Dea th, and dally with Woes and Cutfes; and foftupid and infenftte are they, that they rhink rh~~
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