DISCOURSE XIII. 299 finite creature begins to make payment thereof with his own suf- ferings, these sufferings must be everlasting. It is evident, that one, wilful sin is sufficient to sink creatures under the indignation of a God for six thousand years : I call the angels who sinned for witnesses to this truth : They were formed in holiness and in glory before the creation of this lower world, and probably they sinned and fell before this creation too ; and they are yet imprisoned and confined under perpetual chains of darkness, as the word of God tells us, and reserved to ever- lasting punishaient at the judgment of' the great day. And if thou, O sinner, among the sons of men, if thou diest in an unregenerate, unholy and unpardoned state,, the sins of thy whole life are charged upon thee, and thou art daily treasuring up wrath against the day of wrath ; Rom. ii. 5. and thou shalt not escape from this prison till thou hast paid the utmost farth- ing ; Mat. v. 20. If one sin deserves all this misery which has been described, what a dreadful reckoning will the sins of thy whole lifecome to, when every command of God -which thou hast broken shall ap- pear and demand reparation for its injured honour ? Remember, O sinner, obstinate and rebellious, remember thou hast to do with a great and dreadful God, who has all thy " iniquities ever before his eyes ;" Isaiah Iv'. 5. Behold they are written before me, and I will recompense, saith the Lord, their iniquity into their bosom. He is a God that will never forget any of thy crimes. Amos viii. 7. The Lord path sworn by the excellency of Jacob, surely I will never forget any of their works. 'Though thon hast lost and forgot them, he will bring them again into thy conscience with a terrible remembrance; and when God comes `forth in a way of vengeance, every transgression and disobedi- ence shall receive a just recompense of' reward ; lieb. ü. 2. Ven- geance belongeth to me, saith the Lord; chapter x. 30. He that spared not his own. Son, when he laid on him the iniquity of vs all ; Rom. viii. 25. will never spare thee who art the personal and criminal transgressor. Eternal recompenses are clue to the demands of justice, and he will punish till full payment is made, equal to the evil of sin, that is, to all everlasting. II. " What infinite and eternal concerns hang upon the short and slender thread of human life ?" An eternal heaven or an eternal hell depend on our good or ill behaviour in this short and mortal state. While life remains the sinner's hope re- mains ; he abides on the stage of action, and this is the state of trial for eternity : But as soon as the thread of life is broken, -immediately ensues endless joy or endless sorrow. What a poor fleeting vapour,' what a thin and frail bubble is this feeble and uncertain thing which we call life ? And yet what matters of immense importance depend upon it ? This present life is
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=