Ver. 5; 6. xxvth Chapter of St. MATTHEW. 3 3 the Foundations of all Religion : Now fuppofing thefe Principles, there muff be a day of reckoning, for in the World the beft go to the walls many times, and are exercifed with Poverty, Difgrace and Scorn, when the wicked are full of Plenty, and live At cafe, Luk. 16. 2s. s Cor. 15. 19. Sure it is that there is a God, and Pure it is that he taketh care of humane aff irs, and will judge accordingly ; what is the reafon then of this difproportion ? the wicked are relerved to future punifhment, and the godly to future reward :' Now the diftin&ion that is put between men at death Both not fuffice, for that is private, and doth not vindicate the Juflice of God in the eyes of the world, and that is but upon a part : We read of the Spirits of juft men made perfe&, and the Spirits that are now in Prifón, but nothing of a reward for the Body, or punifhment for the Body ; the bodies of men being Servants of Righteoufnefs, or inftruments of fin, furely ought to partake of weal or woe, of the curie or bleffrng that is due to the perfon: for the Body is ( as Tertullian faith ) the Souls filler and coheir, and is to (hare with it in its Eftate ; but at Death the Body is fenfelefa, and mouldereth into duff, and 'till it be railed up again and joyned to the Soul, it can neither partake of weal or woe ; therefore there is a day when God will deal with the whole man : Otherwifc how fhall the Goodnefs of God ( who is a liberal rewarder of Vertue) appear, unlefs he render to the Body a full recompenfe of the Service it bath done the Soul, in yielding up all its natural Appetites, Pleafitres, Interèfts and Satisfa&ions to the eotiduc of Reafon and Grace, for the pra &ice of that which is good : Or the yúflice of God, which is the avenger of fin, which would be too narrow and defeaive, unlefs it punilh the Body with the Soul. Ufually the affe- Etions of the Body debauch the Soul, and the pleafures of the fenfes blind and mifguide our reafon : Certainly the love of fin being rooted in bodily pleafures, 'Lis fit it fhould be punifhed with pain, and fuch pain as is pròportionable to the dignity of him againft whom the offence is committed. Now God being of an infinite and unlimited Dignity and Authority, how could the punifhment of the Body by Death, be proportionable to the offence committed againft an infinite God ? An outrage done to the fupream Majefty of Princes, is punifhed more than an Offence againft an inferiour perfon ; therefore there muff be a time when the Bo- dy fhall be raifed, to be capable of fuch a Punilhment. Befides, how could the Soul be compleatly happy, fince 'twas made for a Body, if it fhould alwayes re- main a Widow, and never meet with its old mate again ? 2. It argueth from the Providence of God : There are many Judgments that are Pledges, that God will at length judge the World for fin ; as the Drowning of the old World, the Burning of Sodosn, the Deftruflion of °ferufalem, thefe are à document and proof what God will do to the reft of ungodly ones, for they are fet forth as an enfample,fude v.7. The force of the Argument lyeth in this, that God is the fame, ftill in one mind, who can turn him . he hateth the fin of one as well as the other ; in all his difpenfations he is alwayes confonant, and like himfelf, Gal. 3. 20. If he would not put up the fins of the old World, he will not put off the Iniquities of the new ; if he punifhed Sodom, he will punifh others that fin in like manner ; for he is not grown more indulgent to fin than he was before : Therefore if it be not now, there will be a time when he will call them to an account and reckoning. When Man firfl finned, God did not immediately execute the Sentence againft him, but gave him time of Repentance 'till he dyed ; and fine he giveth every man time and (pace ; he would not have all the World be born at once, and die at once, but to live in feveral fucceffons of Ages, from Father to Son in divers Generations, 'till he cometh to the period which Provi- dence hash fixed : Now as he reckoneth with every man particularly at Death; fo with all; the world at the end of time. Particular Judgments thew that God is not afleep nor unmindful of humane affairs, but the general Judgment is refer- red 'till then. ;. From the feelings of Confcience : After fin committed men tremble, though there be none to call them to an account, as when the fin is fecret, and the per- fon powerfull : Confcience is under a dread of divine Juflice, and the folemn Pro - cefs and Triumph which one day it mull have ; hence Confcience it fenfible, Rom. 2. 8. Felix trembled when, Paul reafoned of judgment to Tome, AEIs 24. 2î. There are hidden fears in the Conference, which fs loon revived and awakened by the thought of this day : Every guilty perfon is a Prifoner to Divine Juftiei,, and he., F
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