God's Wrath dreadful to Sinner f. 37} God is as it were on fire. 1etdoufie, fays Solomon, i~ the Rag e of a Man. Prov. 6; No~ when God's Jealoufie Jhall be ftirred in him, thin~ hoW irhpetuoufiy it will 3+ break forth in the fe:arful effetl:s of it. Tbe Lord flu~ ll JHr ,up ']esdoUfie like a lfa.4'!.J3: • Man of tf/ar; he jhall cry, yea, roa r, he jllflll prrvnil againft his Emmio. If the calm and fed ace Works of God are fo great and wonderful, how great theri will his Vengeance. be, when Anger, Fury, ar:d Indignation fh~ll excite and w~ec hi~ · Powerto fuew the very utmoft of what 1t can do ? And ~he~efore we. finC:l that though God had inftitled dreadful Plagues upon the Ifrael~ta m the W1ldernefs, and had {hewn mighty effeCts of his Po~er and Vengeance, yet we find the ChUrch P!i . bleifeth him, Tb tJ t he turned a.way hu Anger, af!d ~id not ftir up all hi1_ Wrath. 18~ 1· 7 8 · But in HeY God ftirs up all lus Wrath, every thtng 1s fee and bent ag~mfi the Damned: And as to the Saint1 in Heavcn,every Attribute ofGod concurrs ro make him merciful and gracious to them ; So to the Wicked in Hell, all the Perfections of God confj:>ire eirherto ftir up and kindle his Wrath,orclfe tb affift hirh in the execution of it upon them. The infinite Wifdom of God contrives their PuDifhmems, and which way ro· \ay them ens fo that they Jhall be moft lharp and poinant. The Po,vtr of God that rouzes ic felf againftthem, and proffers all its Succours and Affifiance umo Vwgeance. The Eternity and UtJchangt~~ blencfi ofGod come in as a dreadful Addition,and makes that Wrath which of it ii:lfis infupporca.- ble to be alfoeverlafting. Yea, chatfweetand mildAttributeofGod,hisMercy, the'only Refuge and the only Comfort of miferable Mankind, yet even this turns againft them coo, and becaufe they defpifed it when it lhone forth in Patience and Forbearance,will not now regard rhem when they fiand in need of its Refcue and Deliverance: So chat all that is in God, arms ic felf to take Vmguznceon Sinnet"s: And 0 think how fore and fearful that Vengeance will be, wbenGodJhall pUt forth all that is in himfelf for the execuringof his Wrath uponimpenitem Sinners ! And thus I have done with the Demonftratiom of the DreadfulnefS of God's Wrath taken from the \Vords in the TeXi:, Vengeance i1 1ni1ie, I wili teCompence it.. •ru a fearful thing ro Jati inro the H.mds of the Living God. . Let us now confider fome other Demonftrations of the GreamefS of this Wrath. And, Fi rft, It appears to. be exceeding dreadful in that it is fe.t forth to us in Scripwre (; by a11 thofe things which are moft terrible to flu mane Nature. God maketh ufe of many MetaphoricalExpreffions of rhings moft grievous eo our Senfes, that from them we mt~y cake an hint to conceive how intolerable his Wrath is in it felf. It is cal_l<;d a Prilon,_rhe Spi,irs in P,jfm, that ~s, .'he Souls of thofe_Men to whom the ;;}~<t. 3 • Spmt of Chnft m NMh went, and preach d m the Days of cheu Mortal Life btit for t~eir Di.Cobedienceare fhuc up under theWrath of God in H~\}, And cert;lnly He/J IS a Pnfon large enough eo hold all the World. Tbe Wicked j1Mii be turned Pfal. !1. into HeU, and all the Nt; t ions tha t fi. rgtt God. A Prifon it is where the Devil and 17 ' . wicked Spi its are fhackled with Chains of maff'y and fubftantial Datknefs. Tbt:y :1 Pet. 2 •· are, fays the Apoftle, rt{tMJed in Chaim of Darknefs unto the Judgment of the 4 ' grellt Day. And they are there kept in everlafting Chains under Darknefs not one · Cranny in this great Prifon to let in the leaft ray or gliillJ>fe of Light. It is called .a Place o[ Torment. It is a Region of Wo and Mifery, wherein Horrour De- Luke t6. fpair and Torrure for ever dwell, and are in their m oft proper Seat and Habitati- :1S. on. It is called, a drowning of Men in Dejlmflion and Perdition. One would think r Tim.£; that to be drowned, might fignifie Death enough of itfelf; but to be drowned in 9· Perdici?n and ~eftrutl:ion, ftgnifies m\)re?ver the fatalnefs ~nd the depth of that . Death ~nro wluc~ they are plunged. It IS called, a being cafl bound H1md(ind Foot ~at. , 2 • int? utter Darknefs; A be.ing ~brown ~nto a. Furance of Fire, to1be burnt alive. iJ~r. 11 • le 1s called, a Lpke of F:re, mto wh1ch wtcked Men :lball be plunged all over 4l, so. where they lhalllye wallowing and rowling among Millipns ofaamned Spirits i~ Rev. lo. thofe infernal Flames. And rhis Lake is continually fed with a fulphurous ftream' of;(· Brimjfo11t : And this Fire and Brimftone is that which never fliall be quenched :l:v. ' 9 · !fe. 7.vill b"rn up the .chaff ~ith unquenchable Fire. And laftly,, to name no more; Mat. 1 . lt 1s c~lled everlafi.mg F1r.e prepared for the Dlvil and his A1Jgeh. And now we rl. are ~r.nved at the htgh:fi pttch of what Senfe can feel, or Imagination conceive. Mat. 2 5· Or Jf It be poffibl: that In your dee~efi Thoughts you can conCeive any thingmore 41 ' drea?ful than tht~, you may ca!l 1t a Sea of molten Brimi1M~c, fee all on fire, and connnually fpewwg out footy dar~ Flames, wherein endlefs Multitud"es of finful Cc cc Wretches
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