on the Lord's Prayer. Sins rill their Punifhmenr be equal to their Offences, an~ become infinir~o:ly intolerable. F;urrhly, Confider thou canfi never pay God, nor d1fcharge the lcafi of rhy Debts for ever. l:<or, Fir(t, Thou canfr nor poffibly do it by any Dutie_s or ~C!\:ices in this Li~e: For wharfOe\'~r thou doH: is eirher requi red, or nor requaed ; 1f 1t be nor: retlutred it will be fo far ffom being a Sathfat1ion fOr thy Sins, that it will he an Addition ro them and a Piece of Wtll-worfhip, which will meet with that fad Greeting at the laft Day,' wbo hall; required tblje 17;ings at your Hands? Ifir be required it is no more than thou owett to God befOre, and if thou hadfi never finned, werrobliged to pJy it~ To rbmk ro farisfie fa tby Sins by thy Duties, is burro rob one Attrihure of God to pay ano1 her; fO~ whatfoever Obed i ~nce r~ou ca.nft perfotm thou owefi it !o the S0\ 7ereigmy and Holmefs of God: and hts Jufhce .wtll never accepr of thar whtch belongs w his Au thority. Befides) ir isabfurd to rhmk ro pay one Duty by anorher, ro dif· charge the DcbJ of Sin hy paying the DebJ of DUly. Secondly, Th0u canft nor pay offrby Debts by any Sufft!rings hereafter. le is true,. Sinners fh Jlllye eternally in Pcifon, and be eternally farisfy ing the offtnded Juftite of God; bur in all r~at Eternity tlz_erefh.allne~·e~ be t~lt Moment wh~rein .rhey may f~y, as Chrilt did in hts mlking SJt1sfa£hon, 11 u fim;hed, the Debr ts pa1d, and Jufhcl! h1 rb received as much as WJS due from me. No, tha r Sarisfa8:ion muft be eternally making, and therefore thi' Punifhmenr mu(t b~ ererm.lly llfting; . For e\•ery Sin, eren the lean Sin, is commiued againlt an Infinite God, and therefore the Punifhmenr of it muft be Infinite: For Offinces rake their Meafu res, as well from the Digniry of the Pt!rlOn againft whom they are commirted, as from the Heinoufnefs of the FaEl: in idelfconfidered. As a Reviling Word againll: the King is TreafOrfable~ againrt our Equa ls bur AE'tionable ; and therefore by the fame PropGrtion, the !Jme· Ofl<nce againlt the lr.finitc Majelly of the Great God muft n<cds catty Infinite Guilt in ir, that is, expoft;th ro infinite Punifhmenr. Now t11en, 0 Sinner, th ink wirh th;r felf what Sa risfatlion thou canft m.Jkc to God that car. bear a Proportion to thy infinite Offences. Thou canft not at once undergo an infinite Meaftue ofPunilhmenr, for thy Nature is bur finite. Couldfl: thou do this th en indeed there were Hope, yea, Cerrainry,of Relief for t hee, fOr Divine Juftice will nor exaa more than its due. Bur becaufe tbis is impoHi-hle, thy Woes and Torments in Hell mu(l be Eternal, that they may be fOme Way infinhe,as theJufiice is which rhou hart offended; infinire, if not in Degrees, yet in Duration and Continuance. And 0 what dreadfUl Dt::fplir will this caufe in thee, when thou fhaft ha ve been in Hdl undt.:r moft acure and infuffl!rable Torments Millions of Years of Years, and ycr the P•ymcnt ofall that SumofP!aguesar.d Woes fhall not be of Value <nough to fatilfie tor the lea it of thy Sins, not to crofsout of God's Book theleaft and fmallefl of thy l)ebu, but thy Accountfhall flillhe as great and as full as it was at thy fitft pl unging inro lid!, and ftill an Eternity of Torments remains to be paid by I het:! And now wretched Creatures that we are, whither !hall we turn ou r felves? . \..Vhn Hope, what Relief; can we find? Shall we fhtter our telves that God will. not require our Sine; ar our Hands? No, they are Debts, and therefOre he may~ and he is:, a ]ufl God, Jufl to him felt; and to the lorere!l of his own Glory, and thcrtfore he w1!l: God ha rh b~fOrchand rold us at wha t Rate we mutt ex pea to rake up our Sins , and what we mufi ply for them ar the laft. He hath told us as plainly as the Mourh of Truth can utter ir, rhar the tVages ofSin is De.ah, and the Ways Sinners chufe lead d.:.wn ro the Chambers of Hell and Dcflru8ion. Our own MiR:ry is our own Choice. He h:nh in his Word fer Lift! and Death before us 1 and declarid to us rhe Me;mshow Wt! mighrelCape the one, and obtain tbe other. He ha rh reprefented to us the Unconceh·ablcnefs of both : And if we will be !0 obftinate as after thefe mJn if(:ft RCpreft:mations to chufe !-feU and Death, h is but Reafon and Jufi:ice that we fhould have our own Choice; fOr ic is our Choice inrerpretatively when we chuf..: rhof~ Wdys and Aft ions that expo!€: to them. And thus much concerning the Ackoowledgment we make in this Petition 0/lr Debts. Dckts vaft and infinite, .whiclnheJufticeofGod will ftr iEHy require of Sinners in rbeu Elernal Condemnatton. Vebt.I, the leaft of which mJkes -us liable to be ca!t inro Prifon, into Hell, and for the leaft of which we can never fatisfie. B_ur ~1har, is there no Hope? Is there no Poffibility to crofs rhe Book, to cancel the r~it~t~~n1 wherehy we fiand Bound to the revenging Ju!l ice of God, and everbfiing - M m m. Truly
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