with the most sensible emphasis utter these words Who can declare the Works of his Justice or who can endure them For his Covenant is afar off and the tryal of all things is in the end I need not dwell on a large explication of the words though the latter part of them is not so plain as not to need some clearing An unforced and obvious sense will arise from them by granting they present to our Observation I. The Unsearchableness and Terror of Gods Justice Who can declare the Works of his Justice or who can endure them II. That his Mercies the result of his Promises and Covenant are not to be measured wholly from the Good Men enjoy or the Evil they suffer in this Life but the next which is farther off is the proper season when we can make a right Judgment and certain determination of the state of Man and of the Justice and Mercy of God in his Misery or Happiness And First The works of God's Justice or his Judgments are ineffable they are to us unfathomable and like the great Deep Whence comes it to pass that all Humane affairs are so full of vicissitude and change that no Man can in this Life assure himself of the success or discern the certain event of any of his Actions No Human design or contrivance though founded upon the greatest reason and policy and carried on by the most prudent managment but may defeat the Contriver Our foresight is so short that we cannot tell what will befall us the next minute We cannot securely provide for our safety We can neither foresee nor prevent evils that may befall us We are so subjected to Sickness and Death to Crosses and Disappointments in this World that our security is owing to the vigilance and protection and our success and all prosperous events that attend us to the guidance and conduct of an Almighty Providence This is that Invisible Power that disposes and rules all Created Beings over-rules Human Actions and is the cause that the Race is not to the Swift nor the Battle to the Mighty Now this Providence is that whereby God either foresees or Permits orders and directs things to a certain end Which is done oftentimes through so many turnings and windings and carried on in so dark and mysterious way and so far above all Humane Scrutiny that though it concerns our selves and our disposal in this Life we are forced with the Psalmist to confess Such Knowledge is too wonderful for us it is high we cannot attain to it And the knowledge 〈◊〉 scarce of any thing is more above us or more unattainable by us than of that important day and hour of our Lord and Masters coming in that particular Judgment and Punishment for man's Primitive Rebellion To reflect how the Providence of God who takes care of the meanest of his Creatures so that not a Sparrow falls to the ground without his advertency determines the frail lives of men How strangely different and various are the means and works of his Justice in this particular we may use the Apostle's Exclamation How unsearchable are his Jugdments and his ways past finding out Indeed so short sighted are we in what may come or happen that we are non-pluss'd in our desires and puzzled in our choice of things in this World A short Life is often-times but a long never fails of being subject to Aches Infirmities Pains Afflictions Weakness and innumerable Evils So that a long Life under these Circumstances is what no Wise or Good Man will chuse for Himself or desire for his Friend Especially if he consider that the longer we Live the further are we from our desired Haven of Rest and Quietness and the longer exposed to the tempestuous Billows and Storms of this Life For alas what is it we are so fond of in it It is full of Wants in the midst of Worldly Plenty so frail and deficient that according to the Psalmist in our best estate we are altogether Vanity And the Funeral Office most fitly pronounces In the midst of Life we are in Death And we shall readily assent thereunto upon reflecting that there is scarce a Creature so feeble but may deprive us of this good and if armed by Providence the meanest are more than sufficient to effect it A Fly an Hair a Grape-stone if poor Anacreon's story be true can extinguish this faint Lamp of Life And the young Lady whose innocence shields her from the Fatal Sword shall rather than fail meet with Death at the point of her Needle Death according to an Elegant Author reigns in all the portions of our time The Autumn with its Fruits provides disorders for us and the Winter Cold turns them into sharp Diseases The Spring brings forth Flowers to strew our Hearses and the Summer gives green Turf to cover our Graves To be short since in every place and season we are in danger since every thing even the necessaries of Life may destroy it the Air may infect and our Food surfeit us how unreasonable is it to build our hopes upon this fickle Life and how reasonable is it to suppose that which is but as a span long would be even as nothing were it not wholly supported by an Almighty Power and Providence And as for the various ways and means of our Deaths they are only open to his Omniscient Eye So that who shall declare these Works of his Justice But Secondly The Divine Judgments are terrible The Works of his Justice who can endure Though his Compassion and tender Mercies fail not Though he doth not Afflict willingly nor grieve the Children of Men though great be the forbearance and long-suffering of God towards us yet we may so far abuse his Patience and receive his Grace in vain as to render him a God of the sharpest Anger and highest Resentment And so he is set out by the Holy Spirit to be against obdurate and impenitent Sinners Such will experience him the strictest Justiciary For our God is a consuming Fire The Worm of Conscience that never dyeth and Flames unquenchable are the instruments of his Justice Now such a wounded Spirit who can bear Or who can dwell with everlasting burnings So that as this wise Author observes there is a due proportion of Mercy and Justice in God v. 11 12. Mercy and Wrath are with him He is mighty to forgive and to pour out displeasure As his Mercy is great so is his Correction also He judgeth a Man according to his Works Now according to our sence of things it would seem a just and equitable Law that only Good men should be entituled to Rewards and Mercies and the Wicked to God's Judgments And so all Men in this World as well as in the next should be happy or miserable fortunate or unfortunate according to their own deservings That the best of Men should fare best and the worst receive the coursest treatment any one without much
in a State of Sin whosoever conceives the contrary deceives himself and the truth is not in him Yea the best of Men have been grievous sinners so that the most upright of our kind can only pretend to a comparative goodness are only good in respect of those who are more wicked for in an absolute sense there is none that doth good no not one and none that can be called good but God only Now let us farther reflect that the wages of Sin is Death and that Good Men according to the common acceptation of the Word are obnoxious and we shall be fully convinced that crosses and sufferings in this Life are mild punishments even to the Righteous and the Best deserve the worst of Temporal Judgments This no less nor worse a Man than David owns who confesses his Sins and acknowledges if God pleases to punish him for them his Justice cannot be impeached or questioned Against thee have I sinned and done evil in thy sight that thou mayest be justified when thou speakest and clear when thou judgest And thus St. Paul vindicates the Divine Justice in this particular and silences such as murmur against it But if our unrighteousness commend the righteousness of God what shall we say is God unrighteous who taketh vengeance I speak as a Man God forbid for how then shall God judge the World So that it is both Just and Merciful in God to afflict us here Just to punish us in this Life and Merciful in that he does it in order to acquit us in the next which we ought to own as an exceeding act of Grace and Kindness The Tenderest Father punishes the very beginnings of Sin nips the first buddings of Vice in his Son and after the Punishment is over is reconciled to him But if his Vices and Extravagancies become too great and prove above the corrections of a Father he is cast off and dis-inherited That our Heavenly Father deals so with us is a Truth most manifest The Apostles witnesses If ye endure chastening God dealeth with you as with Sons but if ye be without chastisement then are ye Bastards and no Sons So that when wicked Men pass with impunity here they are greater objects of our Pity than our Envy and we ought not to fret our selves because of evil doers neither be envious against the workers of Iniquity who are fattened and appointed as Sheep for the slaughter and treasure up wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of God's righteous Judgment who will then render to every Man acccording to his deeds For surely there is an end and thine expectation shall not be cut off Hence we may raise more comfortable hopes from their severe afflictions in this World than from their outward flourishing and prosperity Thus we see God's favours and frowns in temporal blessings and sufferings are no rule to measure the Happiness or Misery of Men in the next Life We must rest satisfied and suspend our Judgment here because Lastly The Tryal of all things is in the end The end crowns every Action and Work of Man and the last and finishing stroak is of mighty importance As the Tree falls so it lies A Sincere Repentance and a stedfast Faith to the last are necessary qualifications to make an happy Conclusion of this Life and fit us for that Judgment which after Death is appointed for all Men. Under their conduct we shall abide with comfort The great Tryal of things in the End at that last and general Judgment and coming of our Lord a day of joy and comfort to the Godly but of Terror to the Wicked Under them though ever so sharp bodily agonies and pangs conclude this frail Life of Man Charity will oblige us to Pronounce the end of that Man is Peace And I hope Christian Charity will thus judge of our Deceased Friend Concerning whom I must beg leave to speak a word or two and so conclude In which I shall use all the modesty and sincerity that becomes this Place and my Profession I need not acquaint you that He was a Gentleman born to an ample Fortune and Estate and became too early perhaps Master both of That and Himself For he had the Misfortune to lose his Father when young which affords oftentimes an occasion to young Gentlemen of lashing out into great Excesses Under such unhappy circumstances it must be an extraordinary pitch of Prudence and an uncommon tendency to Virtue and inclination to Goodness that can secure and keep Youth within just bounds in this licentious and vicious Age. But I shall confine my self in what I speak upon this subject to my own knowledge And if from thence it shall appear that the last and finishing Stroaks of his Life be in different Characters and made a distinct figure from the former part thereof known to some of you it will I hope be owned as an Argument of his Repentance and a reason for comfortable hopes to you and all his surviving Friends concerning him My knowledge of him has been but of late I cannot say I intimately knew him untill his Late affliction and last Sickness Upon the former which was occasioned by the Death of his Son though his grief was great and he seemed afflicted to the last degree yet I must own I scarce ever met with any one who expressed himself better on the Duty of Christian submission to God's will and what good uses we ought to make of such severe Afflictions And I hope he made a Good use of that for since that time his Excellent Lady and the whole Family can bear me Witness they discovered a great change in the choise of his Company the observing regular hours the avoiding excesses the keeping generally at home and exercising himself in reading and in all respects observed in him a far more Serious and Sober deportment And to his Last long Illness when I was frequently called and went to visit and assist him I found in him all the Notes and Temper of one truly penitent and who seriously applyed himself to make his Peace with God by an Humble Confession by an hearty sorrow for his Sins by a Professed Resolution of better obedience if God should restore him by a Devout receiving the Blessed Sacrament and by constant Prayers Now as to his sincerity in these Duties and devout performance of them it is best known to that Omniscient God who is the only Searcher of hearts to whom they were offered But his generous Oblation and Charity to the Poor when He receiv'd the Sacrament in his Sickness and the frequent opportunities he took of being Charitable at other times beyond most in the place where he lived a Duty which Hypocrites commonly fail in as being too chargeable will strongly plead for his sincerity will cover a multitude of his smaller sins of failure and infirmity where-ever that Charity prevails which is kind believeth all things hopeth all things Under this head I ought
consideration would think should best agree with a Mercy and Justice infinitely perfect But there is nothing more certain than that the dispensation of Providence are otherwise and yet altogether righteous For in the general Acts of God's Bounty and Mercy such as our Preservation which next to our Creation is an instance of the Divine Goodness the Providence of God is indifferently extended to both parties And in other subordinate Blessings which conduce to preserving both both have ordinarily an equal share from our Heavenly Father He maketh his Sun to shine on the Evil and on the Good and sendeth his Rain on the Just and on the Vnjust Now though such instances do but more illustriously declare the Goodness of God Though to forgive does not interfere with but rather extols his Mercy Yet is it strange that his Judgments should be indifferently dispensed to both parties it is matter of admiration to him who is unacquainted with the Oracles of God But this difficulty is easily removed by reflecting on the II. Second Observable from the words That the Divine Favour is not wholly to be measured from the good or Evil men suffer in this Life but the next is the proper season to judge rightly of their Misery or Happiness And First The Divine Favour is not to be measured from the Good or Evil men suffer in this Life God's Promises and Covenant under the Gospel are afar off being extended to the Gentiles as well as the Jews and respect not barely Temporal but Spiritual and Nobler Blessings For we know the Good and Bad things of this World are promiscuously bestowed by Providence As no virtuous or Religious qualities can certainly intitle men to the former So no vicious or Sinfull habits can expose Men inevitably to the latter Here sometimes Bad Men thrive and Good Men are afflicted Here sufferings assault the best of Men and the best of Causes To confirm this we can Summon in as Evidence The Glorious company of the Apostles the goodly Fellowship of the Prophets and all the Noble Army of Martyrs Now that God who always acts with the greatest Wisdom and has the most Glorious and just end in all his dispensations has most gracious designs and intents in the afflictions of his own Disciples the Professors of his Holy Religion is a truth not to be doubted but will be very plain if we consider the excellent reasons of Humane sufferings And that they are in the 1 st Place a Mean to try our Sincerity in our Profession our Patience and submission to God's will under them Not that God who searcheth all hearts has need of any means to try our Sincerity or discover the most inward thoughts of Men or that He who exactly knows our frames and how we are made and formed needs to lay open Humane passions and infirmities but by these our Christian Faith and hope are exercised and if sound and vigorous will bear us up and support us and will be found in this day of the Lord Laudable Glorious and Honourable By these Hypocrisy is exposed and laid open and the World discovers who are stedfast and sincere and who are treacherous and Apostates to the interest of his Church and Religion For an Hypocrite has not Patience and Courage to suffer for Righteousness sake While all things are serene and calm while Religion and our Duty to God ingage us in no danger stand in no opposition to our temporal interest than every Man has Courage enough to be of their side But if Religion exposes Men to any severe tryals if it carries any peril or trouble with it the sincere is quickly discerned from the Hypocrite So that thus The Lord tryeth the Righteous 2. As sufferings and judgments are to try our Sincerity and Patience so are they a means of our Conversion and Amendment They are God's Messengers sent as the Angels to Lot to call us out of this Sodom of iniquity and make us fix our desires on Heaven Indeed many times afflictions and Crosses are the last means to influence our repentance so that when the Mercies of God are unable to lead us his judgments are sufficient to drive us to the amendment of our Lives How many has the smart and agony of an acute distemper reformed who in a constant course of Health and Blessings were uncapable of any impression from the Bible or the Pulpit How many hath adversitiy losses of Relations and Estate mollified and made sensible of their Sins who were like Adders deaf to the voice of the charmer charmed he never so wisely This God declares was the errand of Troubles to his own People For in their Afflictions they will seek me early And this the Psalmist confesses he found effected in himself Before I was afflicted I went astray but now have I kept thy Word But 3 dly Judgments are Inflictions which all Men deserve as a just retribution for their Sins and Iniquities To see the Righteous suffer and Wicked prosper in this World was the Epicureans chief Argument against Providence and moved them to attribute all events to a blind Chance and irresistible Fate This made Aristophanes presume there was no God to superintend the World because the Bad domineer'd over the Good and the Heathen in Minutius Foelix to argue If the World were governed by Divine Providence and a Deity The Tyrants Phalaris and Dionysius had never deserved Kingdoms The Patriots Rutilius and Camillus had never undergone Banishment nor Socrates dyed by Poison And this gave occasion to that infidelity the Prophet Malachy mentions when the People Murmured It was vain to serve God because the Proud where happy yea they that work wickedness are set up yea they that tempt God are even delivered Indeed a slight consideration of this is enough to surprize us as it did divers of the Sacred Pen Men upon the like Distributions of Providence Job demands Wherefore do the Wicked live become old yea are mighty in power The Psalmists passion was raised at the sight of it I was envious at the foolish when I saw the prosperity of the wicked The Prophet questions how these dispensings can accord with Gods Righteousness and Justice Righteous art thou O Lord when I plead with thee yet let me talk with thee of thy Judgment Wherefore do the wicked prosper Thou that art of purer eyes than to behold evil and canst not look on iniquity wherefore lookest thou upon them that deal treacherously and holdest thy tongue when the wicked devoureth the man that is more righteous than he But upon closer Thoughts we shall be convinced that these distributions of Divine Providence in the Afflictions of Goodmen and impunity of the wicked are acts of the greatest Mercy and strictest Justice Which will appear plain if we seriously reflect that the Best of Men deserve the worst Temporal Judgments and that the wicked consequently deserve greater In this World all Mankind are