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'SECT.
III.]
THE HAPPINESS
OF
SEPARATE
SPIRITS.
591
entirely conferred
by
grace, yet,
as
one
observes here,
"
The
Lord
hath fixed
a
proportion
between
the
work
and
the
reward;"
so
that
as
one has different
degrees
of
goodness,
the other
shall
have different degrees
of ex-
cellency.
Our
Saviour assures us,
that
the
torments
of
hell shall
admit of
various
degrees
and distinctions
;
some
will
be
more
exquisite and terrible than others:
It
shall be
more
tolerable
for
Sodom
and Gomorrah
in
the
day
of
judg-
ment,
who never sinned against
hair
so
much
light, than
it
shall be for
Chorazin, Rethsaida, and
Capernaum,
where Christ himself
had
preached
his
gospel, and con-
firmed
it
with most
evident
miracles
;
Mat.
xi.
21
-24.
And
the servants who did
not
the
will
of their Lord,
shall be
beaten with
more
or
fewer stripes, according to
their
different
degrees of
knowledge
and
advantages
of
instruction
;
Luke
xii,
47,
48.
Now
may we
not,
by
a
parallel reasoning, suppose
there
will
be various
orders
and degrees
of
reward
in
heaven,
as
well
as
punishment
in
hell;
since
there
is
scarce
a
greater
variety
among
the
degrees
of
wickedness among
sinners
on earth, than
there
is
of
holiness
among the
saints
?
When
the apostle
is
describing
the
glories
of
the
body
at the great resurrection,
he seems
to
represent
the
dif-
ferences
of
glory
that
shall
he
conferred
on
different
saints, by the difference
of
the
great
luminaries
of
hea-
ven,
1
Cor. xv.
41,
42.
There
is one
glory
of
the
suit,
another
glory
of
the moon,
and another
glory
of
the
stars
:
for
one
star differs
from
another, in
glory
:
So-
also is the
resurt,ection
of
the dead.
The
prophet
Tiániel led
the way
to this
description, and
the
same
Spirit
taught
the apostle
the same
language
;
Dan.
xii.
2,
3.
And
many
of
diem,
that
sleep
in
the
dust
of
the
earth, shall
awake,
sonic
to
everlasting
life,
and
some
to shame
and everlasting contempt; and
they
that
be
wise
shall
shine,
with
common
glory
as
the
brightness
of
the
firmament ;
and
they
that turn
many
to
righteousness,
shall have a
peculiar
lustre,
as
the
stars,
for
ever
and
ever.
And
if
there be
a
difference
in
the
visible
glories
of
the
saints
at
the resurrection,
if
those
who
turn
many
to righteousness
shall
sparkle
in
that day, with
brighter
beams
than
those who are only
wise for
their
own
salva-
tion,
the
same reason
leads
us to
believe
a
difference
of