398 `Z he Danger of all /Town Sm, both from Vol.' L But the wrath of God is not confined by any of thefe limits. once bath God fpoken (faith David by an Elegant Hebrew Phrafe to exprefs the certainty of the thing) once bath Gadfpoken, and twice I haveheard this, that power belongs to Gad, Pfal. 62. I I. He bath a Mighty Arm, and whenhe pleafeth to ftretch it out, none may flay it, norfay unto him, what doll thou; he hath power. enough to make good all histhreatnings ; whatever he fays he is able toeffeâ,. and whatever he purpofeth he can bring to pafs ; for his Councilfhallhand, and he roil/ accomplifh all his pleafure; he need but fpeak the word, and it is done ; for we can neither re- lift hisPower, nor fly from it ; if we fly to the utmoft parts of the Earth, his hand can reach us, for in his hand are all the corners of the Earth ; if we take re- fuge in the Grave (and we cannot do that without his leave) thither his wrath can follow us ; and there it will overtake us; for his power is not confined, to thisWorld, nor limited to our Bodies; after he bath kill'd, he can defiroy both Bo- dy and Soul in Hell. And this is that wrath of God which is revealed from Heaven, and which the Apoftle chiefly intends, viz. the Mifery and Punifhmentof another World, this God bath threatned Sinners withal; to exprefs which to us, as fully as words cando, he heaps up in the next Chapter fo many weighty and terrible words, indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguifh upon every Soul of Man that doth evil; in oppolition to that great and glorious Reward of immortality and eternal life, which is promifed to a patient continually in well-doing. So that the wrath of God which is here denounced againfl the impiety and un- righteoufnefs ofMen, comprehends all the Evils and Miferies of this and the other World, which every Sinner is in danger of whilft he continues impenitent ; for as according to the tenour of the Gofpel, Godlinefs bath the promifes of this Life, and ofthat which is to come, fo impenitency inSin expofethMen to the Evils of both Worlds, to the Judgments of the Life that now is, and to the endlefs and intolerable torments of that which is to come. And what can be more dreadful than the difpleafure of an Almighty and Eternal Being ? who can punilh to the utmolt, and who lives for ever, to execute his wrath and vengeance upon Sinners; fo that well might the Apoftle fay, it is afearful thing tofall into the hands of the living God. Confider this all ye thatforget God, that negleêt him, and live in continual dif-. obedience tohis Holy and Righteous Laws ; much more thofe who defpife and affront him, and live in a perpetual defiance of him. Willye provoke the Lord to jealoufie ? are yeflronger than he ? Think of it ferioufly, and forget him if you can, defpife him if you dare ; confider this, left he take you intoconfideration, and rouze like a Lion out of deep, and tearyou inpieces, and there be none to de- liver. This is thefirfï Obfervation, the infinite danger that a wicked and finful Courfe Both expofe Men to, the wrath of God, which doth not only lignifie more than all the Evils that we know, but than all thofe which the wildelt fears and fufpicions of our Minds can imagine. Secondly, The next thing obfervable, is the clear and undoubted Revelation which the Gofpel hath made of this danger, the wrath of God is revealed, &c. By which the Apoftle intimates to us, that this was but obfcurelyknown to the World before, at lealt in Comparifonof that clear difcovery which the Gofpel bath now made of it ; fo that I may allude to thatexpreflìon in job, which' he applies to Death and the Grave, that Hell is nakedbefore us, anddefirutlion bath no covering. Not but that Mankind had always apprehenfions and jealoufies of the danger of a wicked Life, and Sinners were always afraid of the vengeanceof God pur- fuing their evil Deeds, not only in this Life, but after it too ; and tho' they had turn'd the Punifbments of another World into ridiculous Fables, yet the wirer fort of Mankind could not get it out of their Minds, that there was fomething real under them ; and that Ixon's Wheel, which by a perpetual Motion carried him about ; and Sifyphus his Stone, which he was perpetually rolling up the Hill, and when he had got it near the top tumbled down, and full created him a new
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