Reverence and godly Fear. fible to rouze them, and but lit~le hope but that they will be burnt in this their Sleep: Yet if it may be poffible to awaken you, confider, (1.) Firft, That it iJ onLy God's Wrarh againjf Sinners, that 11'Jirku him ttrn'ble G~d.'s to hi; SaitJts. They are afraid of that fiery Indignation that hurn.ed againft the w~~~~ ~ Wicked ; and fhall not the Wicked then ~uch mar~ be .afraid, that muft t~em- ~;:;,m~~~; felves feel it! Our God, fays the Apoftle, ts a confummg Fn..c; but to whom IS he Hmtmifuch a confuming Fire? Not to thofe certainly whofe God he is; H; fha~l bum up ile_co bis AIL the Wicked of the Earth aJ Stubble. That God doth not always Jblc h1mfclf a lamu. gracious God and a reconciled Father, but fometimes puts on dreadful Title.s, his Children owe it to the Wicked; againft them alone it is that he arrays hlmfelf with all his Terrors: As a Father may affright his Children, by putting on thofe Arms that. he ufeth only againft his Enemies: So God daunts his own Children by appearing in his dread Power, his fevere Jufiice and confuming Wrath; but how much more may it a pale his Enemies, upon whom he intends to execute all this in the utmoft rigour and extremity? , . (2.) Secondly, AnMher Conjideration that may make the m(Jft {rcure Sinner to turn- GodiJim~ ble is this, Tht!t God himfelfwill be the immedit!.te lnjliUer of their PtmiflJments. They fdfis tbis fuAil be confumei::l by Fire, and offered up as a burnt Sacrifice to the Wrath eo~fumi;,g and Juftice of God; and that Fire that fuall for eve-r burn them is God him- Fzre. felf. God is a coofuming Fire. 1 do net deny but that there is another material Fire prepared and blown up in Hell for the punilhment of the Damned. but certaiuly their moll: fnb lle and exquiijte Torture fuall be from God himfclf, who is this confuming Fire. This \V"rath of God, which Jl1J.IJ for ever bt1rn and cnftame the Souls of the Damned, is called fiery Indignation, Heb. 10. 17· That Fire that dcfl:royed Nadab and Abihu was but a Type of this, and rhc Antitype infinitely tra.nfcends the Type; the dreadfulncfs of their temporal Death by Fire was but a taint refemblance of the Death of rhe Soul; what Firr mnfl: that be, of which that extraordinary Fire that fell down from Heaven it fclf, was but a meer Sha· dow? As the Fire that came down upon Elij,-th's St~cYijice did lick up the Water th:tt was poured into the Trenches; fo this fiery Indignation of God lha\1 1 in Hell, melt down the Damned, as it were, and then lick up their very Spirits and Souls. It is faid, Pfal. 104- 4· That God malus his Angels a flaming J:-""iye, It js the ncareft reprefentation that is given of the Angelica I Nature, that abounds both in fub~ tilty and force; He makes his Angels a flaming Ftre. Now when Chrifl: faith, G() into thofo flames of Fire, p1epured Joy the Devil and hi.s Anfe!.s; why the Devils thcmfeh•es are Flames of Fire, and what Ftre can he more piercine than themfclves, who have power over Fire? Yet there is a greater Fire than they, God is a confuming Fire, a Fire fo infinicely fcorching as will burn and torment even Fire it felf. It would be unfpeakable, terrible Wrath in God, if he Jhould make ufe of his Creatures for the punilhment of the Damned. \.Vho could bear it, if God fhould only keep a Man living forever in the niidfr of a Fufnacc, though but of a grofs, earthly Fire and Flames? Or, if God fhould bind a Man Hand ::md Foot, and call: 'him into a deep Pit full of Toads, Adders aud Scorpions, and there let hi Ill lie for ever? God knows all the feveral Stir.gs that are in his Creatures, and he can rake out of them the mofr lharp and piercing Ingredients; tbe Iharpnefs of the Sword,the infl.ammations of Poifons, the fcorchmgs of Fire 1 the anguilh of Pains, the faintnefs of Difeafcs, and of all thcfe can mJ.ke a mofi: tormenting Compo· fition, what intolerable Anguifh would th!s caufe? If then Crc~tures can caufe fnch Torture, oh! what a dreadful thing is it to fall into the Hands of God himfelf? When God conveys his Wra~h by Creatures, it mufi: needs lofe infinitely in the very conveyance of it: lt is but. as if a Giant fuould ftrike one with a Stur~ or a Feather l fo when God takes up one Creature to ftrikc another with, that Blow can be but weak; and yet how terrible.are thofe weak Blows to us? What will it be then, when God fhall immediately crufu us by the tmrebated Force of his own Almighty Arm? You, therefore, that perfevcre in Sin and in Security too, confider who you have to deal with, not with Creatures but with God himfelf; and do you not fear that uncreated Fire that can wrap you up in the Flames of his effential Wrath, and burn you for ever? Can thine Heart endure, or CAtJ thine Hands beflrong, faysGod, in thedayth~tt ljiMa de~tl with thee! The very Weaknefs of ~ God is ftronger than Men; God can look a Man to Death. The Breath of a Manls Noftrils is a fof; and quiet Thing, and yet the very Breath of God's No!l:rils can
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=