Ver. 41. xxvth. Chapter of St. MATTHEW; 207 our Confcience : There was a fair advantage ; 'tis good to feel the Worm while it may be killed, to take notice of Checks of Confcience for the prefent, and the motions of Gods Spirit : This is a (park that will not be quenched. (4.) The Folly of their own Choice : Men will not fee now, but they ¡hall fee ; Ifa. 26. a t. Lord, when thy hand is lifted up, they will not fee; but they (hall fee, and be afbamed. Their Linderftandings are cleared to know the worth of things, and their Eyes opened when 'ris too late. Ter. 17. 11. At his latter end he fad be a Fool. He was a Fool all his Life-time to negle& God for a Trifle, but now he is a Fool in the Judgment of his own Heart : If I had been as a&ive for God as for my Lulls, it would have been otherwife with me. Temptations are gone, Lulls are gone ; the World paffeth away, and the Lulls thereof: There is no relifh of Pleafures in Hell, if they could have them ; they have now the bitter expe- rience of the toll they have been at, therefore fadly reffe& upon their folly: Convi &ion heightens their torment. Ter. 2. 17, 18, t 9. Halt thou not procured this unto thy fèlf, in that thou hall forfaken the Lord thy God, when he led thee by the way ? And now what hag thou to do in the way of 'Egypt, to drink the Waters of Si- hor? Or what haft thou to do in the way of Afyria, to drink the waters of the River ? Thine own wickednefs ¡hall corral thee, and thy Backflidings fall reprove thee Know therefore and fee, that it is an evil thing and a bitter that thou haft forfaken the Lord thy God. This is your way in the Valley : As when Children burn, and feel the gripes of a Difeafe, we upbraid them, This is your eating of raw Fruit: Experi- ence maketh them feel the fmart of it. Secondly, There is the Senfe of their prefent Pain : Here, when we are correa- ed we are fenflefs, like Stocks and Stones ; but there, mull needs be feeling, be- caufe there is nothing to mitigate their torment ; no carnal Comforts wherein to fteep Confcience, no carnal Companions that can be 'a Comfort to tis : The more we look upon them, the more we fee our own forrow by refleaion. There is nothing left, but Indignation and Impatience, and gnawing their Tongues becaufe of their Anguifh : Their difcontent is part of their torment. Thirdly, For the future, their Condition is hopelefs : If there could be Hope in Hell, the Punifhment would be the better borne ; but there remaineth nothing but a fearful looking for of the fiery indignation of God, Heb. ro. 27. And 'tis a living God, who liveth for ever and ever, that is their Enemy : Oh ! who can think of it without Aftoniíhment ! When they have run through thoufands of Years, they Bill expe& more. 'Tis tedious to think of a fhort fit of Pain of the Stone, or Gout, but that is for ever. They endure all at once, by thinking of what is to come. II. There is the Tire, or an 'alive Senfe of the Wrath of God r Confider the Greatnefs of it in thefe Circumftances.' (r.) God bath en Immediate hand in the Sufferings of the Wicked. Heb. ro. 33, 'Tis a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. The Wicked fall im- mediately into his hands, the Quarrel is his own, therefore lie will take revenge by his immediate Power : No Creature is ftrong enough to convey all his wrath, as a Bucket cannot contain an Ocean. Mans Anger is like himfelf, weak and finite, but Gods is infinite, Pfal. yo. Ir. Who knoweth the power of thine Anger? Surely we do not confider what it is to fall into Gods hands. (2.) God lets himfelf a -work to fee what he can doe, and what a Creature can bear. The Capacity of the Creature is enlarged to the utmoft : Rom. 9. 22. Wat if God willing to thew his wrath, and make his Power known, endured with mach long- fuffering the.Veffelo of Wrath fitted to deftrulïion. His Juftice decreeth it, his Wtf- dom defigneth it, and his Power executeth it. He falleth upon us as an Enemy tp the utmolt; with one hand he upholdeth the Creature, and with the other puuifheth it. Here, he fheweth what a Creature can do when armed by him, hereafter what he can do himfelf : Pfal. 78. 39, For he remembred they were but fh fb : be' did not flirre up all his Wrath. It did' not break out in its full weight and force. (3.) Con, Q
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