turned into a frightful Visage by Death whether natural or violent as Absalom's was whose Beauty surpassed that of Women What is Wit but a Flash and tho it be excellent and deservedly coveted by all yet alas how soon is the sharpest Wit spoiled and confus'd by Melancholy or Phrensy And as of these so it may be concluded of all the rest of Nature's Endowments which loudly proclaim that true Blessedness is not in them Nor is it in the Goods of Fortune I confess Fortune may render you very prosperous in having the Advantage of her favourable and beneficial gales but the most she can do for you is to raise you by the wings of Fame exalt you to the highest pitch of Honour set upon your Heads a fading Diadem and waft you into the port of your wish'd for Possession Wealth enabling you to accommodate your selves with every thing desirable to the Heart and delightful in the Eyes of vain Man as in the case of Solomon But it 's not in Fortune to make you happy tho she would at once empty her self to fill you If Crowns or Kingdoms could make Men happy then Saul Ahab and Nebuchadnezzar had been blessed Neither can Honour or Wisdom else Haman and Ahitophel had been Blessed Nor can Riches and great Possessions if they could the young and rich Man in the Gospel had been blessed who from his increasing Goods thought himself a very happy Man he sang a Requiem to his Soul and caressed himself with a Come eat drink and be merry thou hast Goods laid up for many Years Luke 12.19 as if he had said Come Soul forbear to weary and perplex thy self with plodding contriving and projecting Means and Artifices for the gaining of more cease to weary thy self by toilsome Labour take thine ease thy fill of Pleasure eat drink and be merry thou hast Goods laid up for many Years But notwithstanding the great Advantage he had of other Men in appearance he was in truth no wiser than a Fool nor happier by his trusting in those things than one miserable beyond all Expression as is evident from the Lord 's own estimate of him and what he says to him in the 20th Verse And God said Thou Fool this Night shall thy Soul be required of thee then whose shall these things be which thou hast provided Neither can the highest attainments in Tongues and Languages make Men Blessed else Herod had been happy who in his Oration to the People delivered himself so exquisitely that they concluded it rather to be the Voice of a God than of a Man Acts 12.22 Also on this foot of Account the Learned Greeks had been Blessed whose attainments in the Learning of the Schools were such as raised them above the having any venerable esteem of the Wisdom of God accounting Christ in the ministration of the Gospel to be but Foolishness 1 Cor. 1.23 Now were it possible for Man to possess himself of most or all these good things at once he might notwithstanding be of all Men the most Miserable as may be concluded from that amazing and direful outcry to the weighty Hills and Mountains to fall upon them and crush them as it were into nothing so that they might be but hid from the Presence of God and the Wrath of the Lamb Rev. 6.16 But who were these that thus courted the Hills and Mountains to fall on them Were they any other than the silly shrubs of the Earth poor Men Men of a mean Figure in the World Yes for the 15th Verse tells you that they were Kings of the Earth that is such Kings only whose Sins the Lord had marked and imputed upon their living repugnant and walking in a course that ran counter to those Laws which the King of Heaven and Earth had given them and by the Conduct whereof they should have order'd all their Affairs in obedience to him their Rightful Lord and Soveraign With these also you find ranked great Men rich Men mighty Men and chief Captains which may serve as a Memorandum to the Rich and Mighty of this World that they do not crush the Poor nor hurt the Needy nor by their Power and Austerity unjustly force the Poor from their Right nor by the use of Violence and Oppression increase their Wealth insulting over the distressed like that Imperious Pope of whom I have read that trod upon the Emperor's Neck to help himself on Horseback For a day of Accounts will come when such will be convinced with great Horror and Dread that it is not in the power of Riches and Royalties to make Men Blessed And on the other hand there is no Distress so great nor Poverty so extreme nor Affliction so deep as to render that Man miserable whose Sin is not imputed Such a Man is taught to believe that his present Evils with respect to his Afflictions shall work for his good and turn to his Advantage by the disposition of God's good Providence which is ingaged for him Else the Royal Prophet had never proclaim'd it good for him that he was Afflicted Psal 119.71 Nay further by Faith in the Promises the Good whereof is that Man's Portion alone whose Sin is not imputed he is helped to peirce the Clouds of the thickest darkness and look into that delightsome Region of Heaven it self and there behold the smiles of a loving Father towards him the endeavours of a wise faithful and compassionate Advocate for him yielding him such a taste and sense of the sweetness of Divine Love as raises him above the sense and bitterness of Affliction It was this that made St. Peter and John rejoice that they were counted worthy to suffer Stripes for the Lord Jesus It was this that made St. Paul and Silas tho laden with heavy Shackles and their feet made fast in the Stocks to sing the Praises of God Acts 16. 'T is not the Evil Accidents or Indisposition that attends our Bodies or Interests in the World that can make the Man whose Sin is not imputed unhappy or miserable for the wise Man tells us That the Spirit of a Man sustains his Infirmities Prov. 18.14 A Man may have a sound Spirit in a weak and sickly Body a free and chearful Spirit in a Body closely confin'd and oblig'd to undergo the last Severities of Art and Physick as blistering blooding cupping and dismembring nay in a Body sinking by the power and prevalency of a Distemper into dissolution which of all things is most dreadful to humane nature But under such a Circumstance what matter of Joy would it be to a Man to have his weak and languishing Body restored to a sound and healthful frame and habit for which how are Physicians courted their assistance sollicited and some Men do let their Gold fly as if they had no regard unto it But to have Sin pardoned and be freed from the imputation of its guilt is much rather and more truly a ground of joy to the Soul tho dwelling in a Body
weak and impotent as is certain from what our Blessed Saviour says to the Man sick of the Palsy Son be of good chear thy Sins are forgiven thee Mat. 9.2 Mark it 's not be of good chear for thou art made whole but thy Sins are forgiven thee This is enough to make the Lame to walk the Deaf to hear the Blind to see here 's that which is sufficient to turn our Weeping into Laughter our Mourning into Rejoicing our Death into Life and to settle us in a belief that he and he alone is blessed whose Sin is not imputed Now such are blessed 1. In Life as thereby God takes the Children of Men into a state of Grace and Favour with himself For God's not imputing Sin is the removal of that which begot the difference and hath maintain'd the distance betwixt him and his Creatures Isa 59.2 Of all Evils Sin is the greatest because it hath not the least mixture of Good in it to make it tolerable nor doth it produce the least good to any Creature It was Sin that turned the Angels out of Heaven that cast Man out of Paradise that brought the Curse upon the Creation and Wrath upon Sinners To be freed therefore from so great an Evil is one part of our Happiness and that which compleats it is God's taking us into Favour whose Favour is better than Life as the Psalmist says Psal 63.3 in whose Favour you may rest assured of all Advantages necessary to render you happy in this Life as the supply of your Wants Psal 34.9 10. Prov. 10.3 protection from Dangers Psal 33.18 34.10 guidance in all your Ways Psal 37.23 c. Prov. 3.6 strength against Temptation 1 Cor. 10.13 a sanctified use of Afflictions Rom. 8.28 and deliverance out of Trouble Psal 34.19 22. Such unto whom the Lord imputes not Sin may no less rest confident of Peace For being justified by Faith we have Peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ Rom. 5.1 Which Peace of God will fill our hearts and keep us in peace when others are in trouble and quiet tho the World be in an uproar And tho many are hurried to and fro by cutting Perplexities fretting Disappointments and growing Fears God will make their Habitations quiet resting-places there is scarcely any thing that shall offend and molest them for Peace is always the sure Effect and Fruit of Righteousness to Justification as Isa 32.17 18. As they have Peace and Provision so they shall have every thing necessary to render them blessed in Life Psal 84.11 for God will withhold no good thing from them to whom he will not impute Sin 2. They are blessed also in Death because God's not imputing Sin is to dispoil Death of all Power that otherwise might render it hurtful to us Guilt which is Death's fiery Sting is taken away and he ceases to be a King of Terrors They fear him not how terrible soever he may be in his march towards them They whose Sin is not imputed are ready to receive and entertain him knowing that in this his last and most violent Effort he is like to go away with a poor Conquest the greatest execution he can do upon them is to cut the Thread of Life and send their frail brittle weak and sickly Bodies to the dust for a while to sleep in the Grave whilst blessed Angels wait the fatal stroak to take the fleeting Soul into their embraces and with Wings extended carry them swiftly into the happiness of Abraham's Bosom I confess there is reason enough for the Man whose Sin and Guilt is bound upon him to dread the approach and tremble at the sight of such an Enemy arm'd with nothing but Terrors and ready to wound the Soul with his flaming and siery Sting ready to cut the thin-spun Thread of Life which when done he is violently seized by some of the Infernal Crew and hurried unavoidably to the Confines and Region of utter Darkness to suffer the Pains of Eternal Fire O that Sinners would timely consider of this to break off every vicious Course by Repentance laying hold on the Righteousness of Christ by a lively Faith exprest by sincere obedience to the Commands of the Gospel lest their Sin hasten Death and in death proves their ruin But Death is so far from being hurtful to the Man whose Sin is not imputed that it is truly necessary as the only means by which blessed Souls are conveyed from sojourning in these tottering houses of Clay to live for ever with their Saviour in that house and building not made with hands eternal in the Heavens This made holy Paul chuse rather to die than live that he might be with Christ which was best of all Phil. 1.23 and 2 Cor. 5.1 2. So that the Man to whom the Lord imputes not Sin is blessed in Death and not only so but in the 3d place Such are blessed after death in that death lands them safe on that shore where they shall for ever rejoice in celebrating the Memory of the Grace of God in not imputing Sin unto them Their entrance into Heaven is made sure and every thing removed that otherwise might obstruct it who shall there be blessed and happy in the highest degree if we consider First The perfect freedom they shall have in Heaven from all Evil. On Earth holy Souls have often the greatest share of Affliction and Trouble as one Link follows another in the Chain or as one Wave another so deep calleth unto deep Psal 42.7 Here with Lazarus they have their evil things Poverty Pain Sickness Sores Crosses Troubles Temptations Afflictions Diseases and Death but all these evil things and more shall be left behind them in death and in Heaven they shall have no sense of them For God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes and there shall be no more death neither sorrow nor crying neither shall there be any more pain for the former things are passed away Rev. 21.4 Tho it will be quite otherwise with the Wicked who here on Earth had their good things but shall then have their evil things they shall no more enjoy the precious things their Souls lusted after and the things that were dainty and goodly being departed they shall find them no more at all Rev. 18.14 no not one drop of Water to cool their flaming Tongues Such as affect Sin here tho God so earnestly sollicites them to the contrary must for their contempt of his Grace be content to lie down in everlasting burnings where without relief they must roll in tormenting flames and shall have no rest day nor night Rev. 4.8 The Wicked then shall have their evil things but the Godly their good things who shall be for ever raised above the sense of any thing afflicting and in this respect they are blessed Secondly The Man whose Sin is not imputed is blessed after Death considering he is then put into such a condition as renders it utterly impossible for him to
forfeit this Grace or to lose so desirable a Happiness as that of Heaven is Serious and devout Souls on Earth are or at least ought to be fearful of nothing more than of losing the Favour of God or that they receive not his Grace in vain O the Fears and Tears the Cares and Prayers the Watchings and Strivings of the truly pious all which speak forth the possbility of it as well as the many sad Instances we have upon Record to the end we may not lust as they lusted 1 Cor. 10.6 but avoid the Rocks on which they split But such is the state of the Godly in Heaven after Death that it renders their Abiding certain stable and unalterable There is no Evil there much less any Sin not a Temptation to incline the Will to offend no both Will and Power will be wanting in Heaven to make a forfeiture of it There is a Gulf fixed betwixt the saved and the damned which makes it impossible for them to change their Stations or to pass from one place to the other Luke 16.25 26. But Thirdly That which compleats the Blessedness of the Man to whom the Lord will not impute Sin after Death is the Happiness he shall actually and for ever enjoy in his Person in Heaven There he shall behold the Face of God and the Lamb there he shall partake of the Fulness of God's Glory be satisfied with the delights of his Presence and the Pleasures and Treasures that be at his right hand There the Righteous shall not only hear the Holy Quire of Blessed Angels and Saints triumphant warble forth the Praises of God but shall join with mouths full of Hallelujaths to God and the Lamb in a grateful memory of that kindness the Lord shewed them in not imputing Sin unto them There they shall be set upon stable and fixed Thrones their Heads crown'd with unfading Diadems and their Faces shine with rays of unconceivable Glory with greater luster and brightness than the Sun in the Firmament In a word it is a Blessedness too great to be expressed by the Tongue or to be conceiv'd by the Heart of man 1 Cor. 2.9 The most raised Imagination cannot reach it Thus we have shewed you that he and he alone is blessed whose Sin is not imputed If this be the assured Happiness of such unto whom the Lord will not impute Sin and more as is suggested it may be worth our inquiry how we may come to know certainly that we have obtained Impunity that this Act of Grace in the High Court of Heaven is past for us that our Names are there inrolled that we are the Men and Women to whom the Lord imputes no Sin and are consequently blessed Sirs 'T is certain there are Properties and Characters common to such as are thus privileged and among many I will name four which we shall find common to all on whom the Lord charges no Sin The First is sincere Love and Affection to God As it is the Fruit of Divine Love to be freed from the Imputation of Sin so 't is the property of every blest Soul to love the Lord. The Law of his Mouth is the Law of Love and Kindness his Soul is delighted in the contemplation of God's Love to him and accordingly goes forth with strong and hearty Love to him again A Man sensible of the greatness of that Wrath from which he is delivered and the greatness of that Happiness to which he is intitled cannot but express with hearty Affection the kind and respectful sentiment he hath of such Grace and Favour From hence it was that David ingages himself to love the Lord and declares his resolution therein Psal 116.1 I will says he love the Lord because he hath heard the Voice of my Supplication He hath now put me into the injoyment of that which I have long often and earnestly sued unto him for and which is in truth the answer of many Prayers therefore I will love him I cannot but love him his Love constrains me to love him because he loved me first 1 John 4.19 And this is further evident from what our Blessed Saviour says in the Parable to Simon the Pharisee telling us That Mary loved much because her Sins which were many were forgiven her Luke 7.47 God is in himself the only worthy Object of our Affection as he is perfectly amiable and altogether lovely were we not under an Obligation flowing from his Kindness in taking away our Sin but where a Soul is under this Obligation there will be a care to make some sutable return of Love and indeed our Love must be very great if it bears any proportion to the Love of God exprest in his not imputing Sin unto us But Secondly Obedience to his Commands without which 't is not possible to know our selves to be privileged Persons nor shall we ever be able to read our Names written in the Roll of Heaven There is no other way wherein we can express the truth and strength of our Love to God than by obedience to his Commands John 14.23 24. All love not so evidenced is nothing but dissimulation and mere pretence neither is there any Command that a Man will boggle at to whom the Lord imputes not Sin A sense of this Grace will wonderfully incline and quicken us to do his Will Isaiah's Lips were no sooner touched with a Coal from God's Altar importing the purging and taking away his Sin but it presently disposes him to God's Service When the Voice said Who shall go for us immediately the Prophet presents himself saying Here am I send me I am now ready for any Errand to ingage in any business for thy Glory Isa 6.7 8. If God is so kind to break our Fetters and to unloose the Cords that bound us and so set us at Liberty it is not that we should use our liberty as an occasion to the Flesh Gal. 5.13 and sin with a higher hand against God whose Grace abounds Rom. 6.1 2. but that we should love the Lord our God and serve him Deut. 10.12 which St. Paul did with all readiness not once conferring with Flesh and Blood He demur'd not nor was discouraged by those floods of Troubles Tumults Perils Distresses Afflictions and Persecutions that he might raise up against himself none of these things hindred him from a vigorous ingaging in the Work of God's Service but he was obedient to the Heavenly Vision Acts 26.19 And as it is thus evident that Obedience is the Property of such as are in truth thus privileged with the Grace of God so I doubt not but we who have some good ground to hope that we are blessed upon God's not imputing Sin unto us have oftentimes avowed our selves to be the Lord's Servants and to render him the Service he calls for at our hands Which is 1. Sincere Obedience Obedience without Sincerity is no more that which God calls for than a stinking Breath flowing from corrupt Lungs is naturally
upon this Occasion Which is further evident if we consider 2. That the degree to which God has exalted his Grace and Mercy in Christ the Second Adam is not inferior but rather above the pitch and degree whereto he exalted his Justice in condemning all in the first Adam Justice makes no more than All Sinners in the first Adam upon his transgression and Grace makes no less than All righteous in Christ Jesus or through his Righteousness imputed For Rom. 5.18 as by the Offence of one Judgment came upon all Men to condemnation even so by the Righteousness of one the free Gift came upon all Men to justification of Life If upon all that believe who have sinned after the similitude of Adam's Transgression then much more upon them who have not so sinned because the preheminence is given to the free Gift of Grace by Christ as Rom. 5.14 15. intimating that if Adam's Sin was efficacious enough to make all men Sinners the Righteousness of Christ which is God's own Righteousness is much more efficacious to make them righteous And truly with reverence we may demand How can God himself express the extent of his Kindness in terms more positive and intelligible than he doth here And I am very certain we neither have nor ever had any reason to suspect him as insincere or to call in question the truth of his Allegation No his Word is an exact draught of his Mind and what he says he means As we all believe Infants were condemned in Adam there 's as good reason to believe 'em justified in Christ and such to whom the Lord will not impute Sin Which will further appear if we consider 3. The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ in becoming a Propitiation for the Sin of Infants not only for actual but original Sin not only for the Sins of the Adult and Believer but of the Infant also Had Christ been said to be a Propitiation for the Sins of Believers only it might have struck our hopes into a staggering posture with reference to the eternal State of our dying Babes unless Foederal Holiness so much talked or by some or the Faith of immediate Parents could have reliev'd them against the condemning Sin of our remote Parents But if that were so the greatest part of Infants are and must be unavoidably miserable as they are the Off-spring of Unbelievers which the greatest part of the World are Nay it may on good ground be conjectur'd that one half of those who profess themselves Church-Members are but little better since our blessed Saviour compares the Kingdom of Heaven to ten Virgins of whom five were wise and five were foolish Mat. 25.1 But blessed be God we have a better Bottom to build our hopes upon as to the eternal State of dying Babes than such sandy Foundations as those viz. Christ's expiating and doing away the Sins of the World by the Sacrifice of himself And this John Baptist had an eye to when he saw Christ coming and pointed at him saying Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the Sin of the World enough sure to resolve all Doubts and to stop every mouth for ever from contradicting what we have alledged That God imputes not Sin to the eternal condemnation of dying Infants since Christ died for them for them indefinitely and without exception May we not as warrantably question whether Christ died at all as to scruple much less to deny that he took away the condemning guilt of Original Sin by the Oblation of himself since he is said thereby to take away the Sin of the World Is there any one actual Sin in the World that so generally and universally extends it self as to deprave and corrupt all Flesh Old and Young Saint and Sinner Christian and Pagan I confess with grief and sorrow profane Swearing is very rife Lying and Dissimulation is very common Pride Covetousness Envy and Hatred Whoredom and Uncleanness Violence Murder and profaning the Sabbath of the Lord is very predominant yet none of these things are universal that which is common with one is abhor'd by another as the covetous Man cannot endure the approach of Pride Luxury and Prodigality But were any or all of these Sins of a universal Extent so as to corrupt all capable of committing them of what Sex and of what Nation soever yet our Infant Race is safe and out of all possibility of being stained by them or being brought under the power of any of them from their utter incapacity to commit any of those things by which the Wrath of God is brought upon the Children of Disobedience and them only For if no Sin can be intended by the Sin of the World but Original Corruption then the Immaculate Lamb of God hath atoned for that and taken it away so that it shall never be of efficacy and power to condemn a dying Infant any more than it shall be of force to condemn a true Believer the same reason being rendred for the one as for the other by the Apostle John who speaking of Christ saith 1 John 2.2 He is the Propitiation for our Sins and not for ours only but for the Sins of the whole World Mark not only for ours in which term he includes with himself all true Believers of what Rank soever high or low rich or poor respected or despised in the World whose Sins are done away by Christ's atoning for them But the Apostle adds for the Sins of the whole World Not of the whole World as it consists of habitual and voluntary Sinners as Swearers Drunkards Idolaters Adulterers and the like for such lie under the heavy charge and imputation of Sin until by Faith in Christ repentance from dead Works and obedience to the Gospel they shall by the Grace of God obtain Impunity Therefore the whole World consider'd in an Infant state and no other can be intended by the Apostle whereby the eternal blessedness of dying Infants is secured since God according to the Law of Grace through the Righteousness and Death of his Son hath acquitted and discharged Infant Man from the imputation of Adam's Sin so as that he shall not perish eternally for it But in case Man survives his Infant state and contracts Guilt by voluntary transgression in his own Person as you and I have done and be not renewed by Repentance from dead Works and justified by Faith in our Lord Jesus according to the Tenour of the Gospel then we must perish unavoidably and eternally not for Adam's Sin but for superadded Sins Sins of our own against the Law of Grace and the Love of a Redeemer Thus God is clear from the death of his Creatures and Sinners the alone Authors of their own destruction according to the Scriptures But for such Infants as survive not their Infant-state we conclude they are blessed because God will not impute Sin unto them as appears not only from the Law of Grace but 4. From the Law of Equity and Righteousness
The Judg of the whole Earth must do right he cannot but do so he may as well cease to be as cease to be righteous in all or any of his Ministrations and Procedures Men may be rigorous and unrighteous cruel and preposterous but God cannot be so it is contrary to his Nature and repugnant to that Law by which he will act and govern himself in all his proceedings with Man Now I appeal to all Men of common sense and understanding tho but of a small measure of ingenuity and honesty whether it be consistent with the common Rules of Justice and Equity among Men to punish the Innocent with the Nocent the Faultless with the Guilty Were it your own case could you think so Nay that the Criminal's Offence should be charged upon you and the Offender himself go free The latter of these all Men would decry as high injustice and a preposterous proceeding But so it is in the case in hand reserving that only Instance of Christ's suffering for us and in our stead by the designation of his Father and as an evidence of his good Will to us We have not only God charging the Sin of Adam upon his whole Posterity wherein he is perfectly just Adam considered as our common Head and we all in his Loins standing or falling in and with him but letting Adam go free and inflicting eternal punishment on his Seed But with reverence we may demand What makes vain Man to imagine that God will discharge Adam the actual Offender giving him immediately upon his Fall the promise of a Saviour and yet bind the guilt of that Sin upon the greatest part of his innocent Posterity who could neither avoid nor prevent it to their inevitable ruin and eternal destruction A Conception most unworthy of God and his dealing with Men For whatever Grace and Favour Adam received in so early a Promise of a Saviour he received it as well for his Posterity as for himself and as we had been represented by him under the disadvantages of the Fall so he being still in the station of a publick Person matters were negotiated with him as our common Head for the intitling us to the promised Saviour as well as before he and we in him did so fall The untoward Jews entertain'd such a conceit as this of God insomuch that by the vent they gave it in their Discourses it was taken up as a Proverb in Israel That the Fathers had eaten sowr Grapes and the Childrens teeth were set on edg Ezek. 18.2 But doth God take this kindly at their hands to represent him so unequal in his proceedings as to punish the Innocent with the Guilty No he resents it with great indignation and displeasure abhorring the thoughts they had of him and the measure by which they represented him as manifestly reflecting on the Goodness of his Nature and the Justice of those Rules and Eternal Laws of Righteousness by which he proceeded Wherefore he solemnly declares and that upon Oath That thenceforth they should have no more any occasion to use it as a Proverb As I live saith the Lord God all Souls are mine as the Soul of the Father is mine so also the Soul of the Son is mine but the Soul that sinneth it shall die as you read in the 3d and 4th Verses How positive and plain is the Lord in these terms to satisfy all and to rectify Israel's mistake whose Notions and ill-form'd Apprehensions had been very unworthy of him and who had without any ground conceiv'd him rigid and cruel Therefore Israel change your Opinion of me think of me no more as inequitable in my judicial proceedings with Man I tell you again The Soul that sinneth shall die the Son shall not bear the Iniquity of the Father and so on in the 20th Verse And this Justice and Righteousness of God's dealings is abundantly illustrated in that Passage wherein Moses expresses great tenderness and strong affection to sinning and revolting Israel in his intercession with God for them His Love inclin'd him willingly to be made a Sacrifice for them that had sinned rather than God should cast off all regard for 'em and enter the Lists as an Enemy against them Lord says Moses if thou wilt not pardon thy People blot me I pray thee out of the Book which thou hast written Exod. 32.32 To which the Lord replies as it were No no Moses thou hast not sinned and tho thou hast sufficiently expressed thy love to an undeserving People yet should I do as thou desirest it would be to act contrary to the Rules of perfect Equity and Justice from which I will not I cannot swerve and therefore it is only they that have sinned against me that I will blot out of my Book as vers 33. My love to my People hath been very great exprest by manifold acts of kindness but in case they sin as they have now done my Justice and Faithfulness will not let them go unpunished much less punish thee an innocent Person for their sin and acquit them thereupon from the sin and punishment due to it From all which it 's evident that God will not impute Sin to dying Infants to their eternal condemnation and that in both these respects that Man is blessed Infant as well as believing Man unto whom the Lord will not impute Sin The Doctrine from the words is That he and he alone is blessed whose Sin is not imputed and that dying Infants are assuredly blessed on that account I confess there are many in the World who from the prosperity of their present state and condition think all is well with them they are not under wracking pain nor pinching poverty they have their Wants supply'd and it may be more than their hearts can desire Psal 73.4 5 7. The Language of whose Hearts is the same with that of Babylon's Rev. 18.7 I sit as a Queen and shall see no sorrow whereas their Sun may he declining and as Zephar says Job 20.5 6 7. their Prosperty is very short the remainder of their days may be fill'd with trouble perplexity and disappointment and nothing remain but a sad prospect of mourning and sorrow in utter darkness if not prevented by a timely and hearty Repentance All is not Gold that glisters 't is too common for Man to mistake his own state and to think with Laodicea Rev. 3.17 because of their full enjoyment of this World's Wealth accompanied with a profession of the Christian Religion that they are Rich and have need of nothing when as in truth they are wretched miserable poor blind and naked The rich Man in the Gospel was no less mistaken at last as to his own state and condition Most certain it is that Nature has not power to endow us with Features so amiable and Faculties so excellent as to insure us of Blessedness The greatest Beauty is oft spoiled by a fit of Sickness as the Small Pox c. and sometimes not only defaced but