God's Wrath dreadful to Sinners. 375 is that State of Woe and and Wrath, to which rhe De'Vil is for ever fentenced. And Damnation, How can you e{cape the Damnatilin of Hell ? And fometimes it is termed Judgment, A certain fearful looking for of Judgment tmd Fi.ery Indignati- H b on. And in Jt~de 1 f· to execute Judt,ment upt:Jn a1I the Ungodly. W~ich ~enotes 'J. 7~ ·to. that their Punifhmem fhall be mfhcted upon them from God, as he IS a Juij:Jude 15 • and Righteous Judge. And Secondly God is an .Avengtr as well as a Ju{lge. i-f( is a Party concerned as having been 'wronged_ a~d ~OJUred by their Sins. And in relation to this, rh; Punilhmems that God wtllwfhd: upon them, are called Wrath and Fury, fmoaking Anger and Jealoufie : The Anger of the LordmJd his Jealoufie jiJaltJmoak againft Deut. 2 , . that Man. Alfo, 'Fiery Indignat ion, all which we find amafS'd and heaped eo- 2o. gerher My Determination (fai th God) is to gather the Natiom, to' pour upon them Heh. Io. mine I~dignarion, even all my fierc e Anger; for all the Eortk .P1all be dev_oured wit'f i~pb.J.i. the Fi" of my 'Jealoufe. Now all thefe Exprelftons figmfie the ternblenefs of chat Vengeance which G~d will tak~. For when t~e Wrat~ of Man only ftirs him up eo revenge an InJury, he wtll be furc to do It to tbe utmoft extremity of all his Power. And if the Revmge of a poor weak Man be fo dreadful a thing how infupporrable will be the Vengeance of the great God, w~o aff'umes i eo himfelf as parc ·of his Royalty? Vengeance is mine. See that ternble place, God is j eal,us N b and the Lord revenget~ : the Lord revengeth, and is fi!rior~s ; the J.:»"d wJ/1 t t< ke Vtngt~ a 'J. 2 . ance . on his Ad74erJarus, and he ~t~rveth Wrath Jor hJJ Enem;es. ~~~d referveth Wrath for Sinners, and keeps It m ftore, even that Wrath whtch themfelves have treafured up againll the Day of Wrath. Now chis Revenging-Wr11th of God hath Two things in it chat juftly make ft dreadful. Firfl, In chat Revenge always aims at Satisfaction, and feeks to repair Inju- J , J;ies received, by infl!CHn$ Punifhment on the Offender. This gives eafe eo the Party grieved; a1.1d tf ~h1: Revenge be commenfurace eo .the gre~tnefs of che Offence he refts fausfied m tt. And therefore, God fpeakmg of h1mfelf according to th~ Palftons and Affections of Men, folaces himfelf in the thoughts of that Vengeance he would take upon Sinners, Ah! I will eafeme ofmine Adverfaries, 1 iuil/ Ifa. 1 , 24 ; avenge me of mine EnemieJ. And 0 how dreadful that Revenge muft be, that "ihall eafe rhe Hean of God, and give him fatisfaction for the heinous Provocations that Sinners have committed againft him ! For confider, • Firfl, How great and manifold our Offences have'been; and every Act of Sin yea,the Jeaft thac ever we commitced,is an infinite Debt,and carries in it an infi~ nice Guilc,becaufe committed againft an infinite Majefiy. For all Offences cake their Meafures,not only from the Matter of the Ad:,buc from the Perfon againft whom they are committed: As a reviling injurious \Vord againft our Equals Will but bear an ACtion at Law; but againft the Prince, it is High·Treafon, and punilhabie withDeath. So here,the leaft Offence againll the infinite Majefty ofGod becomes it felf infinite: The Guilt of it is far beyond whatfoever we can poffibiY conceive;and yet what infinite Numbers ofrhefe infinite Sins have we committed? The P{almifl tell us, They are more thnn the flairs ofour fiend. Yea,we may wellJtake Pfal in ali cheSandsofche Sea-fhoreco caft them up by. Our Thoughts are inceffan'tiy 12 .' 1-o. in Motion; they keep pacewith the Moments, and are continually twinkling and yet,Evtry lmPgination of the Thoughts of our Hearts is evil. What Muldtudes of ci1em have been groOy wicked and impious; Atheiftical,Biafphemous,Unclean Worldly and Malicious! and the bell of the'm have been very defective and far lhort of that Spirituality and Heavenlinefs chat ought to give a Tind~re umo them And befides the Sins of our Thoughts,how deep have our Tongues fee us on eh~ fcore! We have talk'd our ~elves in debt to the Jullice of God, and with our own Breath have been blowmg up everlaftmg and unquenchable Fire. And add to the~e the numberlefs crowd and fum of our finful ACt:ions, wherein we have bufily 1mployed o.ut felves to pro_voke.t!J~Holy_andJealousGodtoWrath, and we {hall find our Sms to be doubly mfimte tn thetr own particular Guilt and Demerit. And now,O Sinner,when an angry and furious God fhall cowe eo exact from thee a full farisfad:ion for all thefe lnjuries,a SatisfaCtion in whtch he may eternally reft and acquiefce, fuch as may repair and recompence his wron ed Honour, think fadlywith thy felf, how infini;ely dreadful this mull needsgbe. Aifure thy felf God will not lofe by thee,but will fetch his Glory out.of thee, and * t2ke
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