Serm. XCVII. The Long-fufferingofGod. 73' according to thy hard and impenitent heart , treafurejf up to thy(elf wrath, again'! the day of wrath, and the revelation of the righteous judgment of God God now keeps in his Difpleafure ; but all the while we go on in an impenitent Court.; the wrath of God is continually increafing , and will at !aft be manifefted by the righteous Judgment of God upon Sinners. God now exercifeth and difplayeth his milder Attributes, his Goodnefs, and Mercy, and Patience ; but thefe will not always hold out, there is a dreadful Day a coming , wherein (as the Apoftle fpeaks) Godwill thew his wrath, andmakehispower known , after he hath endured with much longfuffering the vefTels of wrath fittedfor dejlruffion. All this long time of God's Patience and Forbearance his wrath is kindled, and he is whetting hisglit- tering [word, and making /harp his arrows ; and this long Preparation doth portend a much more dreadful Execution ; fo that we fhould reafon thus from the Long- fuffering of God ; God bears with us, and fpares us at prefent, and keeps in his Anger ; therefore if we go on to provoke him, time will come when he will not fpare, but his Anger will flame forth, and his jealoufy fmoak againft w. This is but reafonable to expe&, that they who in this World forfake their own mercies, the Mercy of God in thenext fhould forfake them. 4. Another falle Conclufion which Men draw from the Delay of Punifhment is, that becaufe it iS delayed , therefore it is not fo certain ; the. Sinner efcapes for the prefent, and tho' he have tome Mifgivings and fearful Apprehenfions of the future, yet he hopes his Fears may be greater than his'Danger. 'Tis true indeed, we are not fo certain of the Mifery of wicked Men in ano- ther World, as if it were prefent, and we lay groaning under the Weight of it ; fuch a Certainty as this, would not only leave no place for doubting, but even for that which we properly and aridly call Faith for Faith is the evidence of things not feet:. But Pure we have other Faculties betides Senfe to judge of things by ; we may be fufficiently certain of many things which are neither prefent nor fenfible, of many things paft and future, upon good Ground and Teftimony; we are fure that we were born, andyet we have no remembrance of it ; we are certain that we (hall dye, tho' we never had the Experience of it. Things may be certain in their Caufes, as wellas in their prefent Exiftence, if the Cau- fes be certain. The truth of God, who hath declared thefe things to us , is an abundant ground of Affurance tous, tho' they be at a great Diftance. The Cer- tainty of things is not fhaken by our wavering Belief concerning them. Betides, the very Light of Nature, and the commonReafon of Mankind, bath always made a contrary Inference from the long-fuffering of God, and the De- lay of prefent Punifhment. Tho' Men are apt to think, that becaufe Judgment is deferr'd, therefore it is not certain ; yet the very Light of Nature bath taught Men to reafon otherwife ; that becaufe God is fo patient to Sinners in this Life, therefore there will á time come when they fhall be punifh'd ; that becaufe this Life is a time of Trial and Forbearance, therefore there Thai] be another State af- ter this Life, which (hall be a Seafon of Recompence. And by this Argument chiefly it was that the wifeft of the Heathen fatisfied themfelves concerning ano- ther State after this Life, and anfwer'd the troublefome Obje&ion againft the Provideñee of God, from the unequal Adminiftration of Things in this World, fo vifible in the Affli&ions and Sufferings of good Men , and the Profperity of the Wicked ; viz. That there would be another State that would adjuft all thefe Matters, and fee them ftreight, when good and bad Men fhould receive the full Recompence of their Deeds. The 5th and láft falfe Conclufion , which Men draw from the Long-fuffering of God and the Delay of Punifhment is this , That it is however probablyat force diflance, and therefore they may fin yet awhile longer, and all this Dan- ger may be prevented time enough, by a future Repentance in our Old Age , or at the Hour of Death ; and they arc' confirmed very much in this Hope, becaufe they fee Menmuch worfe than themfelves, great Criminals and Malefa&ors, up- on two or three Days warning, to perform this Work of Repentance very fub- flantially, and todye with great Comfort and Affurance of their Salvation. This is the moft common Delufion of all the-teft, and hath been, I am afraid, the A a a a a a ruin
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