o6 " ,$) .. And therefore as we ufe to apply Fire and burning Coals to L<thar~ick Perfons to awaken them ; fo,we have need to heap. Coals of Fire upo11 Metls Heads, tO fi eak with fiery Tongues, and thunde~Woe, and Wrath, an?Judgmentsagainft them· th:it we may rouze thefecure llupid World, and fcorch them into Life and Senfe:· . > In the Words we have thefe two Parts obfervable. Firft, An Appropriation of Vengeance unto God, VengeanubelohgethuhtDPnt; I 1vill recompence,[aitb the Lord;. . • . . • S.condl; The Dreadfulnefs of that Vengeance mferred, from the confideratJon of che ~Au~hor and Inflicter of it? It is a fearful thing to fall into the Hands of the living God:J . • • -· . I begin with the ftrfl of thefe, God's appropnatmg and challenging Vengeance Unto himfelf. Vengeance blongeth unto me, 1 will recompence, faith the Lord. Which Paffage the Apojlle cites out of Deuteronomy, To "!e ~elongeth Venge"nu ",;d ~ 32; R.ecompence, and the Lord Jl~all judge his People_• • lt.ts.hts great and royal Pre- J.S. rogative cha~ he doth fometHnes make ufe <?f m mfhthng Judgrbenrs upon che Wicked in this World, but moll efpecially m the World to come. And to this furure Vengeance, the Words oug~u parcic~larly to be applied. Now from this confideradon, chat Vengeance m a pecuhar manner belongs unto the great God; we may obferve, That CXod himfe/f will be the immediate lnjlifler 1 l DJ tht Puniflmunts of the Damned. It is chetefore heie called a [ amng in the Hands 1' the living GoJ, which denotes his immediate Efficiency in their Torments. It is true, God doth ufe feveral lnfiruments of Torture in Hell. IThefe is the worm that 11ever die~, and the Fire that never goes out, which I fuppofe to be not onlY. a Metaphorical, but poffibly a Material Fire, elevated to fuch ·a degree ofSubnlty, as thatitlhall at once torture the Soul, and no! confume the Body. And this Fire the Devih, who are their- Executioners, will ~e officiouOy raking about them, ufing all their malicious Art to increafe their ecertlal Mifery. But thefe things are out fmall Appendages, and the flighter Circumllances of their Torments; the mofi exaCt and intolerable part of their Torture lhall be inflitt:ed on chef!l fro.m another Ffre,an intelHgenr.Eve.rlafting,and therefore an unquenchable Ftre, even God h1mfelf, for fo he IS fatd to be, Our God 1.1 a confuming Fi1·e. Hcb. 11 ; And though we ordinarily fpeak only of Hell Fire, yet not only Hell but '9· Heaven is full of this Fire ; confute that place, U'ho among tiJ jhall dwell wi.tb the lfa. 31 : dtvotlring Fire? Who amrmg UJ ]hall dwell with everla{ling Burnings? Would not one 14think at the firll fbund of the Words, that the Prophet fpeaks only of fuch as fhould be damned in Hell, remaining there in everlafting Burnings? And de.. mands .of r.hem, who a~oz:g !hem could :ndure ~this? No, but it appearS plainl;Y, that t~ts Flre and Burmng IS 1~ Heaven 1t. felf, . and the Prophet by putting this Quefhon, Who ]halt dwtlt 1VJth the devourmg Fire and t.verlajling B11rning1 ? Asks who Jhall be faved, and not who Jhall be deftroyed? And therefore in the 1 ;th Yer[e, he tells us, that he fhall do it, who walk.tth uprightly, and {pealulh 11 prighrlj that Jefii{eth the gain of Opprej]ion, that Jhaketh hH Hands from holding of Bribe/ that jloppeth his Eurs from hearing. of Blcod, and fhutttt.h ~is Eyes from [eeing o{ Evil. Such a one lhall dwell wuh the devounng F1re ; that IS ·he Jhall for ever dwell with God in Heaven. So that we fee God is a Fi,; both to the Wicked, and to the Godly; to the Wicked he is a pmetrati11g torturing Fire and they are com~ufiible Matter for hi~ Wrath and Vengeance to prey upon ;but to the Godly he ts a purifJ•'~g and cheriflung Ftre only. And as Li{htning doth not only cleanfe and refine the Air, but rends Trees and Rocks in pieces • diiTolves Metals, and breaks thorow wharfoever oppofeth it: So this great and AlmightJ Fi~e onl~ re~relheth and comforteth. the Godly, whereas it breaks and tears eh; W1cked m p1eces, and melts them hke Wax before the fcorching Heat of it And though I deny not but there may be fomewhat like that which we corn~ monly apprehend, when we fpeak of Hell, fome unquenchable Flames propared by the Wifdom and Power of God for the eternal Torment of thofe that !hall be call there-into; yet withal I think that their moft exquifite Torments lhall be from that Fire that is God himfelf, Bbbb For
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