God's Wrath dreadful to Sinners. • Mat.:~. . For if we obferve, it is faid to be roerlajling Fire prept~ red {01· the De·vi/- antl 4r. hu Angtls. Now the Dt't!ils are fpiritual Subftances, and. flames of Fire them.. Pfd. 104. fely~s. · He makttb his Ange!s Spirits, and ~i~ Minijlers! that is, his Minifiring 4· Sputts, -w.herher good or evil, whether Mmtfl:ers of hts Wrath, or Minifiers of his Mercy, He maketh them Flame.s of Fire. They are fuch piercing al)d fuhtil !'lames, that Lightning it felf is but grofs. and dull, compared eo them: ' Yet here ts a Fire that lhaiJ even torture Fire it felf; -a Fire that fh:.all burn rhofe Flames of Fire; and that is God, who being a Spirit, and the God of Spirits, can ealily pierce ill\O the very Centre Qf their Being. So rhar the Damned in Heillhall for ever fip.4 chemfelves burnt with a double Fire, a Material Fire, fuited and adapted to in'lprefs Pain and Torment upon the Body, yet without waiting and conf).lming it; and an lnvijible Int'tlleE!t~al Fire, chat fhall prey upon t:he Soul, and fill it with ,unfpeakable Anguiih. and Horror, and this is no other chan God him1eJf. ar -'" · · . And in this there is a true Parallel bet'iVeen 'Heaven ,and Helt ; for as in Heaven, Fhpugh there arc many created Excellencies and Glories, which contribute to , t~e f3eat1tude of the Saints; yet their mofi fubfiantial Happinefsisfrom cheir im~~diate fruidon o( God : So Hk:wife in Hdl, t.hough there be many creac(jd and mv~nted T orturu, yet the mofi Intolerable M1fery of the Damned, is from the imrof;!~iace infliction aQ.d infufion of the Divine Wrath into them, which no Creature can convey to them in fuch a Manner_and Meafure as i:hey there feel it ; bur God himfelf pours the full Vials of ir into their Souls. And thereRam. 9• fore as the Saints are called Veffi!s of Mere;, fo the Wicked are called Vrj]eh cf _Wrath, fitted for Dejlruflion. Such Velfels into which God will pour in of hiS Vengenance, and fill brim full with hi~ Wrath and Fury for ever. 1 Thef. r. The Apoftle fpeaking of wicked Men, tells us, Thej p.all be punijlud with ,_. 9· verlqfting .l)dfr.u{/ion from the Pre/ence of the Lord, and from the Glory of his Power. Whe~e )Ve muft nor think. that <!1is Phrafe rFrom the PYe[ence of rh, Lordl d•· noc~s only that part of thetr Puntlhrnent whtch we call p~Znn Danmi, 9r the Pu.- nifhm.ent Qf Lofs ; 1 but rather that it denotes the efflcient Caufe -of their prena Sen{t:S,,1 on ~he Punifhment ofSenfe ;, I)Ot that their Punjfhmencfhall ,only be, to .be. ~Or, pyyr hanifhed from his Prefence, hut that this Prefence fhall be active in .inf!iCJ:ing Puni.{hm~nts upon them; and we may read it thus, They fl~alt jJ~ puni.fhed with ev.er.la{ling Dejlrz~Efi9n; by the Prefence of the Lord, and by the GlorJ ofhif Power: For ·~is God's glorious Power is effeCtive of their E>eftruction, fo alfo is his dread Plife~c~ of that confu.ming and tormenting Fire. , 'And rhus much briefly for the firfl Thing obfervable in the Text, namely, God's 1~ppropriating Vengeance unrohimfelf, Vengeonce belonguh zmtome; and it ~s a fal{ing into the Hands of the Living Gt~d. . I come now to the /econd Thing oofervable m the Words, the dreadfulnefs of: this Vengeance inferred, from the confideracion of rhe Author and Inflitler of it ; lo.r becaufe it is Divine Vengenance, and a falling into the Hands of rh~ Living God, therefore it muft needs be very terrible. And here I !hall firft take notice of thofe Expreffions that my Text affords, to fet forth the TerroW' of thiS Wrath. And then confider other Demonilrations of it. And here;, 1 , Firft, Confider that all other Vengeance is as nothing in comparifon of that which God rakes on a damned Soul. You may poffibly have heard of ftrange and horrid Revenges chat fome cruel Men ha\'e carved out unto themfelves, putting th.o.(e that have offended them to fuch Tortures as wer.e unfit for Men eicherto iz;ttlid: or fuffer. Hijlories abound with fuch Babaritiu ; I am loch eo offend you'r Ears fO much as to recount them, let us only take an eftimace by the dreadful S Revenge chat David took on the Ammonites: He put them under SMvJ, and Harlan~m.u., ,ro?l!J of Iron, and made thtm pafs through the Brick-Kilm. And all this Severity, (if not to fay Cruelty)was to revenge the infolem Affront done to hisEmbaffadors. It is doubtlefs no flnall Torture to be burnt alive, for Fire is a fearching Thing, and ,eats deep into the Senfes; but yet this kind ofDeath was a merciful difpatch 'in conip3ri!On of the others: Think what it is to beftrercht along, to have the lhafp Spikes of an Harrow tear up your Flefh, and draw out your Bowels. and Bones after them: Or What it is to be fawn afunder, and to have thofe {mall Teeth e3c their way flowly thorow you, while they jarr againfi your Bones, and pull out your Nerves and Sinews thread by thread. How many DeathJ, thi,vk you, were thefe miferable Creatures compelled ro fuffer before rhey wer:,i~::d
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