the exercise of Mercy and works of Love in particular more than Sacrifices at the hands of his people for the particle there used is not an absolute Negative but a Comparative only as in the Text before Ezek. 18.23 Vid. Rivet in Hos 6.6 where the Particle not doth not deny his pleasure to punish but compares his will of punishing with his will of returning and of their Salvation in case they turn in Truth and prefers the latter before the former Now if we do but state the matter thus and infer the conclusion according to the sense of the Text it will need little or nothing more to be said for its confutation for who sees not the vanity of this Argument God regards the exercise of Charity and Works of mercy more than Sacrifices therefore none shall be punished for ever c. If he will take leave to infer thus I will give him leave to make the same conclusion from the History of Job's Cattel or the fiery Tails of Sampsons Foxes He concludes this Proof with a very great truth That God abhors cruelty but 't is such a Truth as little concerns either his design it self or the things that he had said immediately before but is brought in by the head and shoulders and is forced to stand in this improper place by the meer violence of his Resolute Pen. If he would make it serve his turn he must of necessity make it appear that God cannot punish an impenitent sinner everlastingly without being cruel which I am confident he cannot do and do verily hope he will not undertake to do And if he think so I might easily subdue his error if it be not maintained by an invincible perverseness and that by telling him wherein the cruelty of a punishment consisteth to wit not in the duration of it or degree of it but in the nature and merit of it As first when the person punished is not fit to bear the punishment as if a man should punish the perverseness of a child with a Rack instead of a Rod or as if he should disown and disinherit him for some smaller acts of disobedience to him This were cruelty because the punishment in the one is of such a nature as is unfit for the child to bear and in the other because 't is such as is not due for such an offence nor deserved by it as it respects man And therefore our honest Professors that revile and reproach us behind our backs for preaching God's word and taking their Tythes and make lyes of us for telling them the sad Truths that concern them are like enough to be indicted for cruelty when the Judge of the world shall come for though these things through his good Providence do not hurt us much yet they are things that are not deserved upon the former accounts and therefore are no better than cruelties in the eyes of him whose we are and whom we serve And on the other side though a punishment be never so great and grievous yet if it be such as the person punished doth deserve for his offence it is not cruelty but justice That wretched Villain Ravilliack that murthered that Renouned King of France in his Coach King Henry the IVth if I mistake not was afterwards taken and Tormented to death in a fearful manner yet I believe there were few honest men that ever accused his Judge of cruelty for condemning him to such a death because they knew he had well deserved it by the horrid crime he had committed And now having taken so much pains to make good his bad cause in the nineteen Proofs that we have seen there is no doubt but he will make the best use he can of his strength and skill in his 20th and last Proof as the Candle gives a great light a little before it goes out And behold what it is Proof 20 R. 'T is not for the glory of God to impose such a Punishment upon any man p. 189. for glory lieth not in imposing great and terrible Punishment but in mercy and forgiveness Exod. 34.6 7. But by his leave I judge otherwise and do not doubt but it is for his glory to impose great Punishment upon the wicked namely for the glory of his Justice which he doth not so much as pretend to disprove unless it be by telling us that glory consisteth in mercy and forgiveness for which he alledgeth Exod. 34.6 7. And how vain all this wisdome is a few Lines may discover for certainly God's glory doth not lye only in mercy and forgiveness for he was glorified upon his greatest Enemies even hard-hearted Pharaoh himself Rom. 9.17 yet he was not glorified in a way of mercy upon him but in a way of vengeance and severity and the same may be said of the Devils And in that Text in Exodus as the Lord proclaims himself to be merciful and gracious so one that will by no means clear the guilty or wicked so remaining And the not clearing of them is not an act of mercy my Author himself being Judge Then he adds thus R. Proverbs 10.12 'T is said Love covereth all sins But what of that for it doth not mean that God's love will cover or forgive all Men's sins penitent or impenitent no sure the Prophet tells us of some Esay 27.11 That he that made them will not have mercy upon them 'T is meant therefore of the love of Men one towards another Love so far as it prevails will cause a Man to cover to wit to overlook and pass by the sins of his Brethren against him vid. Synopsin crit in Pro. 10.12 so far as with a good conscience he may But he proceeds R. God doth all things for his glory p. 190. and it is more for his glory to save all men than to save a few In what sense we hold that few shall be saved hath already been shewed To wit comparatively with them that dye in their sins and perish for otherwise 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. Rev. 7.9 the number of them that are saved is a great number Now if Mr. R. supposeth that 't is more for God's glory to save all Men than to save some only he may enjoy his Opinion but ought not to impose it upon us as an undoubted truth without a sufficient proof which he hath not been pleas'd to give us The Apostle speaks all in a Verse of them that are saved 1 Cor. 1.18 and of them that perish Surely then God doth not save all for we read of some that perish but he doth what is most for his glory saith Mr. R. himself Therefore it is not most for his glory to save all or to save the Impenitent And if it were most for his glory to save all Men why would it not be most for his glory to save all the Angels too for is not their nature as noble and their salvation as precious as Man's And yet
a great adversary that delights in nothing more than in his hopes of seeing thee in the same Hell with himself do not joyn with him in working out thy own destruction He will surely do it if he can nor hath he any more compendious way and Method to undo thy Soul than to keep thee from considering thy State seriously and the dreadful danger thou art in while thou givest thy self up to the service of Sin and dost not chuse the fear of the Lord But to come directly to the point in hand Thou darest not spend any serious thoughts upon such matters lest it should distract thee It seems then thou takest thy self to be well in thy wits as yet and if thou art so indeed I may hope thou wilt not think it unreasonable to make use of thy Reason for the good of thy Soul I mean by answering for this particular these following Queries 1. Whether there can be any more dreadful or damnable distraction than for a man to follow his sins and not consider his danger to rebel against the King of Heaven wilfully and deliberately and not to take time to consider what he is doing and which way he is tending I think there can be no greater madness than this unless a greater degree of the same kind and I hope Reader thou art of the same opinion 't is sad to see a man that is thus mad for his Soul to neglect it still and plead that he doth so for fear of being mad O what monstrous madness is this 2. Whether thou wouldst Reason at this rate in other matters of far smaller moment Suppose thou hadst passed through some infected houses where the most were dead of the Disease and one say unto thee Alas man O how fearful is thy case consider the danger and seek out for help for those houses had the Plague and 't is ten to one but thou art infected c. wouldst thou reply I dare not consider of it lest the thoughts of my danger and death should dull my Spirits and make me Melancholy And why should not men Reason so in such cases but that they less mind their Souls concerns than their Bodies 3. Whether thy Reason was not given thee to consider of the state of thy Soul in order to its eternal welfare and whether God doth not require thee to consider thy ways what they are and what they tend to Hag. 1.5 Thus saith the Lord of Hosts consider your ways and Esay 1.3 he complains that his people did not consider And can you think that 't is the way to be mad to consider of them or that God will take away the use of your reason because you use it according to his will and command A Caution Yet think not of thy danger despairingly nor draw any sadder conclusions from the consideration of thy present state than the Scripture alloweth of Say not I must needs be damned because I am not yet in a state of Salvation or that thou must certainly go to Hell because thou hast been hitherto in the way to it c. 'T is not despairing of Salvation but returning from thy sins that is the work thou hast to mind and if thou returnest in Truth as sure as there is a Hell so surely thou shalt escape it through the Mercies of the Living God Read for thy comfort Esay 55.7 Dir. 2 Be sure to shun all gross and scandalous sins and all such company how merry soever that may be likely to draw thee to them or to harden thee in them 'T is as vain to promise your self Heaven while you walk in any way of gross wickedness as to promise your selves life and health when you resolve to take the rankest poyson I have told you in times past saith the Apostle and now tell you also that they that do such things not only those there mentioned but such like shall not inherit the Kingdom of God And especially Take heed of such courses as are injurious to men vengeance from God is most plainly intimated to be the Reward of such doings 1 Thess 4.6 That no man go beyond or defraud his brother in any matter for the Lord is the Avenger of all such as we also have forewarned you and testified Yea this course hath brought men to a hell here on earth Spira a famous Gentleman of Cittadella a Civil-Lawyer who was almost a Miracle of Spiritual misery and breathed out Woes and Terrors to himself continually discovered the sad thoughts that he had of his former practises in that kind confessing his sin with a most sorrowful heart His words are these Spira 's life p. 3. lin 1. translated I was exceedingly covetous of money and accordingly I applied my self to the getting of it corrupting justice by deceit and inventing ways to delude it Good causes I either defended deceitfully or sold them to the Adversary perfidiously Bad causes I maintained with all my might opposing often the known truth c. He saw That money was too hardly earned which was gotten with the loss of Justice and Truth Noverint universi caveant universè Dir. 3 Take heed of your Company Make not the known enemies of Religion and holiness your ordinary familiar Companions But mistake me not I am not perswading you to forsake your necessary Relations but your unnecessary wicked Companions and there is no hope of your Salvation till you are heartily willing to forsake them a companion of fools or wicked men that are notoriously such shall be destroyed Prov. 13.20 These are likely to frustrate as far as is possible the means of grace and Salvation to thy Soul keeping thee from Hearing or Reading or other duties when thou shouldst be about them and hardening thy heart against God's fear O how many that seemed very hopeful for Heaven a long time have yet at last been taken and overcome by this snare of the Devil and went to hell for company shun them carefully as you love your souls forsake the foolish live Pr. 9.6 better leave them than perish with them Dir. 4 If you would escape hell content not your selves with a false and ungrounded hope of escaping do not conclude your safety from false and insufficient grounds He that lyeth in an infected bed and hopeth that he is in no danger of the Disease because his Smell and Taste is good or on any the like insufficient ground and reason is not only never a whit the safer for his hope but is really so much the more in danger because he contents himself with his dangerous condition and concludes his safety from that which will not warrant any such conclusion Just so in the present case He that is in the way towards hell and yet hath a strong hope upon unsound grounds that he is not in danger of it is not the safer because he hopes but the more in danger because he hopes upon unsound grounds here therefore I shall name some sandy foundations upon which
Hinnom aforesaid This he enlargeth upon to little purpose for several pages together but that is the substance of his discourse so far as it opposeth my Doctrine and where he doth not oppose the Truth I can let him alone very contentedly nor need I be large upon this point we have enough for the upholding the Doctrine asserted whether this Text will serve to that end or not and that it need not be judged altogether impertinent to our purpose notwithstanding that which he hath said may be gathered in part from that which was said but now upon the word Gehenna upon which he had plaid the same Critick Mr. Calvin and Vatablus who could see as far as an ordinary man into a Text of Scripture whether they may compare with Mr. Richardson or not They I say count it no absurdity to interpret it of Hell for that place of Torture is as fit by a common figure to denote the place of Torment for the ungodly Vid. Synops Crit. in Esay 30 as Paradise the place of Pleasure was to signifie the place appointed for the Saints happy Mansions Of the Worm that never dyeth As Logicians say of an Absurdity that one being granted a thousand will follow it So Mr. R. being so vain as to discourse as he hath done upon other particulars was not afraid to shew himself so absurd as to give a suitable gloss upon these words of our Saviour where their Worm never dieth telling us that this is in this present life he means only in this life if he mean any thing to his purpose And to make it good he citeth Mark 9.44 Mark 9.43 44. p. 32. misprinted Mark 6. and Revelations 14.10 11. wherein he hath shewed himself very impartial for he hath not spared himself and his Cause There being hardly any Scriptures more apparently destructive of it than those the latter I have mentioned before the former I shall now insist on The words are these Mark 9.44 opened p. 32. to go into hell into the fire that never shall be quenched where viz. in which Hell their Worm speaking of the wicked never dyeth this is only in this life saith Mr. R. strange certainly for our Lord tells us 't is in Hell And I hope Mr. R. himself will not be so bold as to interpret Hell in this Text of the Grave For there is no Worm in the Grave but such as dyeth in a little time And this is so remarkable that it is set down three times within six Verses and therefore seems to note something more than a Punishment in this life only If he take it to be meant properly of a real and natural Worm 't is a sign he hath a Worm in his own Pate if he take it figuratively of the Worm of Conscience or the furious Reflections thereof upon its own wilful wickedness and its fierce Accusations c. as 't is commonly understood then he may not deny it to be after this present life is ended Those Accusations and Terrors of Conscience that Judas found in himself a little before he hang'd himself were doubtless continued in his Soul after its separation from the body and my Author cannot handsomly deny it unless he have entertained the sottish Dream of the Socinians That the Soul is asleep after the death of the Body And thus I have spoken to all that is in any tolerable sense considerable in the former part of his Book to the 32 page of it In that page he deals with another Text of Scripture but seeing it is such as I would not urge to prove Everlasting Punishments by and seeing his Discourse upon it is in a great part wild and extravagant I shall not trouble my self or my Reader with it but rather proceed to the 36 page where he hath something fit to be examined as of the Burning the Tares in Matth. 13. of the word Cursed c. which will be the Subject in part of the next Paragraph CHAP. II. SECT III. Mr. R's Inventions upon the Parable of the Tares Of the Tares in Matth. 13. of the word Cursed of Eternal Damnation of the word Fire and of the Corporeity of Hell-fire Mr. R. The Burning of the Tares p. 36. Matth. 13. i. e. at the end of the World v. 39. The Tares are the wicked the Harvest is the end of the World by which it appears that the Wicked with the Earth shall be consumed by fire v. 40.42 2 Pet. 3.7 BUT what will not those men venture to say that are resolved to maintain a bad Cause by the strength of their own ungodly wits The Wicked shall be consumed with the Earth it self and by this it appears saith he No such matter say I this is false in it self and therefore cannot appear to be true by that Text in St. Matth. That it is false in it self I need name no more than that formerly insisted on in 1 Cor. 15. the dead shall be raised incorruptible 1 Cor. 15.52 Those of the Wicked that are now dead shall be raised to life again at Judgment yea to a state of Incorruption and Immortality Of Burning the Tares and that these places do not speak the contrary is evident to those that duly consider them The former runs thus v. 40. c. As the Tares are gathered and burned in the Fire so shall it be with the wicked in the end of this world The Son of man shall send forth his Angels and they shall gather out of his Kingdom them that do Iniquity and v. 42. shall cast them into a Furnace of fire c. For my part I cannot conceive how he should make an Argument for it from hence unless it be from the comparison between them as thus The Tares are burned so as to remain no longer Tares But so shall it be at the end of the world in respect of the wicked And if he would reason so there is little reason we should much regard it They shall be burned as the Tares viz. as they shall in some respects i. e. certainly irresistibly as worthless things and the like But it follows not that they shall burn in the same manner in every thing as the Tares burn or that the fire shall have the same effects upon them which it hath upon the Tares 't is manifest it shall pain them and Torment them make them weep and gnash their teeth for vexation but surely it shall not make the Tares do so Esay 42. The Lord is as a man of War saith the Prophet shall I therefore apply Mr. R's Logick to that saying and infer in spight of Religion and good sense that the Lord is not in many places at once because a man of War is not or that the Lord is mortal because a man of War is so God forbid It is enough that he is like a man of War in other things or terrible as a man of War and as it were ready armed against his
And that so great sinners are worthy of more punishment than corporal death I believe was scarce ever doubted of by any but Mr. R. that ever were acquainted with Scripture and the sound writings that explain it yea I doubt not but the proudest Jesuit in the world would easily grant it and if it be needful to be proved these considerations may be sufficient for it Sin deserves worse punishment than corporal Death 1. That this is no more than the Beasts and Birds endure who never sinned they dye and dye totally whereas men though never so wicked dye only in their bodies as all but Atheists will acknowledge And can we think an obstinate rebellious sinner deserves no worse than that which the most harmless useful creatures do suffer 2. That the best of the Saints suffer death as well as the worst yea some of them have suffered much worse viz. by conflicting many years with horrid Temptations to despair and the like as Mr. Glover a most excellent Christian in the Book of Martyrs is said to have been in despair five years together And shall we think the wicked are worthy of no worse evil than the best of God's children have undergone God forbid p. 102. In the former part of his Book He tells us of some Books that were burnt in London by the Hangman and saith thereupon the same Spirit is alive to burn this which he hath written And I think it doth as well deserve that honour as ever any book in the world did as may appear not only by what hath been seen of it hitherto but also and especially by that which follows to the end of it and particularly by this act of his in this Page I am upon viz. by urging Rom. 6.21 to prove that there is not any thing to come after Death to speak in his own plain words p. 141. lin 16. Surely it is more than bad enough to doubt whether there be any thing to come after Death or not much worse to hold absolutely that there is not for that contradicts the Scriptures which tell us that after Death there is a Judgment and a Vengeance to be inflicted on them that obey not the Gospel of Christ 2 Thess 1.9 Hebrews 9.27 Heb. 9.27 and in a word everlasting shame and contempt to the wicked he means Dan. 12.2 c. But for a Man to act Mr. R.'s part and to urge Holy Scripture in defence of such a Heathenish Opinion who can imagine how horrible a thing it is in the eyes of God I doubt not but he would suffer worse than corporal Death for it if God should deal with him after his deserts what ever slight thoughts he hath of it And how far these words The end of these things is Death I say how far these words are from proving that there is no Punishment for any after Death is so plain that there 's little need of any thing to be said about it for Death here signifies as before Eternal damnation As when it is said if ye live after the flesh ye shall dye that is be Damned Rom. 8.13 for however they live they are as much subject to temporal Death as 't is clear Proof 3d. R. Their Opinion of a Punishment never to end makes not sin p. 146. but Christ to be the cause of their so suffering for if Christ had not come there had been no Resurrection and if no Resurrection there could be no Punishment after Death But Christ may not be supposed to be the cause of their Punishment c. B. If this be a Proof it is a very ugly one certainly and will not be much valued by them that know what Christ or Sin or Punishment is However I shall not think much to say something to it I confess Christ is said to be the cause of the Resurrection of the Dead He is the efficient cause of the Resurrection of the wicked as he is God of the same substance with his Father and he is the Meritorious cause of the Resurrection of the Saints as their Head and Mediator I mean as their Resurrection is a glorious Resurrection in Philip. 3.11 If by any means I may attain to the Resurrection of the Dead * Intelligit non simplicem sed gloriosam Zanch. in loc Now observe his Argument Without the Resurrection the wicked could not be punished after Death Christ is the cause of their Resurrection if they be raised therefore if they suffer for ever Christ is the cause of it which is absurd This is manifestly his Proof in this matter and how absurd it is may be shewed in a Parallel case as thus Without life and strength Men could not rob on the High-way but it is God that gives them life and strength and without him they could not have them therefore God is the cause of their Robbing Would not a Christian abhor such a Reasoning as this yea would not the Devil himself be almost ashamed of it and yet if I am not most exceedingly mistaken it is as good a Reasoning as that of his yea the very same in kind If he had not forgotten all his Logick he might have remembred that Causa sine quâ non is not a cause strictly and properly so called but only a pre-requisite condition c. Sine ullo causali Influxu as the Learned Scheibler expresseth it * Topic. de causis cap. 2. Artic. 4. If my Author had not had Ink and Paper or something that might serve in stead of them he could not have written these his many Infallible Proofs yet if we speak properly it was not his Ink or his Paper or any such thing that was the cause of his writing them but his Error and his desire of defending it c. And seeing his great weakness in this particular it will not be much amiss to bring in to his Assistance the Learning of his Learned Brother Mr. Tho. Hobbs of Malmesbury who though in some things he speaks more honestly than my Author hath done yet is no approver of the Doctrine I contend for For in his Leviathan Chapter 44. p. 346. as the Reverend Dr. Tully citeth him in his Exposit Symboli he supposeth the Everlasting Punishment spoken of in the Gospel A Digression to Mr. Hobbs to be meant not of every Damned Man in particular but only to be specifical and to respect divers of them successively so as that one should be punished a time and then be turned into nothing then another to come in his place and so soon as he is annihilated another after him and another again after him and so on Which doubtless was the fruit of his own Invention for I verily believe it never came into the Head of any Man before him But I answer Answ 1 1. By his leave there can be no Everlasting Punishment upon them at this rate unless they who are first annihilated are made alive again after their annihilation for if they
13. The blackness of darkness for ever 2. It is a fast Prison such as they that are once in shall never be able to get out of The Doors of it are shut upon them by the Justice Truth and Power of the Almighty 3. It is a tormenting Prison Other Prisons are places where the Malefactors are reserved for Punishment but may have some ease and comforts during their aboad therein But Hell-Prison is the place of Punishment where the wrath of God is executed continually upon his Enemies I say continually for they shall be punished with an everlasting and therefore an ever-continuing destruction 2 Thess 1.8 9. The Doctrines of the Holy God were grievous to them though they heard of them but now and then What intolerable grief may the displeasure of God cause in them when they lye under it continually And the more dreadful will this Prison be to the Slaves of Satan because it will be if I may so call it a convincing Prison unto them Therein they shall be made to see their deserts as well as to feel their Punishment Though they shall have no light of comfort there yet they shall have a light of conviction The Lord Jesus at the Day of Judgment shall come from Heaven to convince all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds And doubtless Jude 14.15 that conviction will remain upon them when they are in Hell They will then be able to know what it was that they are sent thither for and that they are so miserable not meerly for God's good pleasure but for their own evil doings for obeying the Devil more than God for chusing the ways of wickedness before his holy pleasant Paths for rejecting the counsels of his Word and refusing to return that they might live They will then be able enough to understand that it was their loving of Darkness or Ignorance better than Light that made Christ say unto them I know you not and to cast them into that blackness of Darkness eternally Their mischievous designs and spightful dealings that hath laid them under the Vengeance of God and the malice of the Devil their mocking at Religion and laughing at Reproofs that hath moved God to laugh at their Calamity and mock at all their Woes and Cries Their Heathenish liberty on God's Holy-day that hath made them to be bound in those Chains of Damnation The Pride and Profaneness and Unconscionableness of their Hearts the cruelty and injustice of their hands the Deceit Hypocrisie and Baseness of their Tongues with all their witty fine-mouth'd Railings that brought them to that place of Torment and made their Bloud and Bones so Hot in that everlasting fiery Prison I might add more of their Bodies misery but I shall pass to that which is greater the miseries of their Souls for as they were most in sin so they will be also most in Punishment If a Man were never so full of pain in his Body The misery of their Souls yet if his Soul have some rest and comfort he is very far from perfect misery But alas it will not be so with the damned in Hell their Souls will be as far from ease as their Bodies for they will be afflicted perpetually with all sorts of tormenting passions and that 1. By sorrow in the saddest sense our Blessed Lord 1. By sorrow when he stood in the place of sinners had great experience of sorrow he was a Man of sorrows Esay 53. and acquainted with griefs and said that his Soul was exceeding sorrowful Matth. 26.28 O what sorrows then may we think will fall upon the Souls of the wicked in Hell If the Soul of that Holy One were so afflicted when he stood in the room of others what will be the case of them that must bear their own sins and answer the demands of Justice themselves Psal 32.10 The Psalmist tells us that many sorrows shall be to the wicked and as it is sometimes verified here in this World so certainly it will be most eminently fulfilled in the World to come How merry soever they may be on Earth our Lord assures us that they will be weeping and wailing Matth. 8.12 when they come to Hell And how happy would they think themselves to be if they might come out of Punishment when they have wept as many Tears as there be Drops in the Ocean 2. By shame Secondly By shame The boldest sinner of them all will then be ashamed when his eyes are open to see his sins and God's Majesty against whom they were committed with all the shameful aggravating circumstances of them How will they be confounded to see the Judge of the World set them on his left hand in the sight of Men and Angels and assign them their Portion amongst unclean Spirits And surely their confusion in Hell will not be less than that confusion that they suffered before they were there That punishment to which they are judged cannot be less than that which they suffered while they were brought forth to be judged They that gloried in their shame and made their Boast of their sins in the Day of God's patience will not do so in the Day of his Wrath. 3. By rage Thirdly They will be afflicted in their Souls by fury and rage these passions they were often tormented with on Earth upon small occasions yea many times upon no just occasion at all If a Man did but speak against the sins that they love yea if he did but admonish them soberly in private and entreat them for the love of Jesus to forsake those ways which his Soul hateth presently what a rage are they in and how mightily do storms of wrath arise in their Breasts and if they could kill them with a wish or burn them in their Beds with a fierce and fiery word they were likely to live but a few Hours longer If they have lost but a little of their estates or but so much as missed of a good Bargain they are ready to fret beyond measure at it But what will it be to lose their Souls and Heaven and endure the pains of Hell for the love of their foolish Lusts on Earth what unspeakable vexation will this be unto them when they have nothing at all to make up the loss to asswage their pain or abate their misery in any respect And thus our Saviour assures us the wicked will have as weeping so gnashing of teeth too when they shall see Abraham Isaac Matth. 8.11 12. and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven and they themselves shut out Fourthly In Hell they will be tormented by Desperation 4. Despair This is a fearful thing indeed and almost the only thing that wicked Men are much afraid of When we labour to beat down their false hopes of salvation and tell them they cannot be saved without that holiness that they yet hate they have no more compendious way to make our Sermons odious than to report that