inequality of Gods present Distributions which lies upon Providence will then be cleared up by a full and Liberal Amends For then God's Righteousness in Judgment that in great part lay hid before will be fully Revealed and made manifest Rom. 2. 5. Quest. But when he deals thus graciously with all the good how will he proceed with ill Men Answ. In all the equity of a fair Tryal but yet to a just Condemnation When he bears with all Natural Infirmities and reasonably abates for outward Impediments and connives at involuntary Failings and forgives all the sins of the Penitents he will avenge the willful Sins of all impenitent Persons according to their Deserts For he will judge the World in Righteousness Act. 17. 31. To the wicked he will say Depart from me ye workers of iniquity Mat. 7. 23. And when they that have done Good come forth to the Resurrection of Life they that have done Evil shall come to the Resurrection of Damnation Joh. 5. 29. Quest. What Punishment shall these Miserable Men be condemned to Answ. All the Plagues of Hell where their Spirits shall always be gnawed and preyed upon by the Worm of Conscience and their Bodies scorched with Fire and Flames Go ye cursed into everlasting Fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels Mat. 25. 41. Yea they shall have all the smart of Fire where 't is the hottest being cast into a Furnace of Fire Mat. 13. 42. and into a Lake of Fire burning with Brimstone Rev. 19. 20. And there as the Fire is not quenched so their Worm of Conscience Dyeth not Mar. 9. 44. Quest. And when shall all these Dreadful Miseries seize them Answ. So soon as this Terrible Sentence of Go ye Cursed into everlasting Fire is solemnly passed upon them For this way of Effecting things is by his Omnipotent Word When he said let there be Light or Earth immediately there was so at first Gen 1. 3 9. And when he shall say go ye Cursed into everlasting Fire in obedience to that all-powerful Word streight-way a Fire shall come forth from his Presence and shall seize on the whole Earth and Air where his Adversaries Abode is and set it all on fire about them turning all this lower World which probably thenceforwards is to serve for no other use into one intire Globe of Fire or Flaming Furnace The Fire that shall Torment and Scorch the Damned at the coming of our Lord shall burn up the Earth and melt the Elements and Crack the Heavens making them dissolve and pass away with a Great Noise says St. Peter 2 Pet. 3. 10 12. The Heavens and Earth that are now says he again are kept in store and reserved unto Fire against the Day of Judgment and Perdition of Ungodly Men the Fire that shall break out from God upon the Ungodly being it seems to seize and dissolve them ver 7. And the Fire that comes down from God to devour and torment the Devil and all he has deceived Day and Night for ever shall make the Earth and Heaven that now is flee away as may seem from St. John and leave nothing but a devouring Hell or a World of never Dying Fire and Flame in its place Rev. 20. 9 10 11 14. and c. 21. 1. And when once this is kindled those forelorn Wretches may cry in vain to the Hills to fall on them and to the Rocks to cover them For every Cave is then a Furnace and every high Hill a Flaming Mountain a Fervent Heat has melted all the World and nothing is to be felt or seen but boyling Element and scorching Fire all about them Quest. Oh! the wonder of God's Mercy which shall then be displayed towards all his Saints and the Terror of his Judgments which shall then be inflicted on all incorrigible Offenders Must not this expectation of Christ's future Judgment of us for all our Actions make us very careful how we lead our Lives Answ. Yes it should do it above all things We must account for all our Thoughts Words and Actions And an Eternity of highest Bliss or Woe depends upon the account we make And therefore we had need to do all things here with such care that when we are taken to task at that Great Day we may give in a good and comfortable account of them Seeing God will be more terrible in punishing all ungodly Sinners what manner of Persons ought we to be in all holy Conversation and Godliness 2 Pet. 3. 11 12. Quest. That day you say will surprize the World as a Thief in the Night and it is most uncertain to every Man when he shall be called to it Ought not that to make us every day secure our Peace with God and watch always to be in a readiness and preparation for that great Account Answ. Yes there is no room for preparation afterwards if we are unprepared when he calls as the Foolish Virgins experienced to their cost Watch therefore for ye know neither the Day nor the Hour wherein the Son of Man cometh Mat. 25. 11 12 13. Quest. Since Christ has reserved the judgment of all Men to himself who best knows and who alone is able unerringly to judge of them Must not this make us wary not to judge and censure one another Answ. Yes by all means for this Judgment he esteems an usurpation upon his Office. Why doest thou judge thy Brother or why doest thou set at naught thy Brother We shall all stand at the Judgment Seat of Christ Rom. 14. 10. Who art thou that Judgest another Man's Servant To his own Master he stands or falls ver 4. Nay he tells us as we have no Authority to do it so we are unfit for it because we cannot see each others Hearts and so in many Censures we pass can have no true Judgment of Men and Actions as he has Judge nothing before the Time until the Lord come who will bring to Light the hidden things of Darkness and make manifest the Counsels of the Hearts 1 Cor. 4. 5. Quest. And since God will clear the Innocent before Men and Angels and in his judgment set all right at last Is not this a support to us under all the unjust Slanders and wrongful Judgments we meet with here in this World Answ. Yes for it shews all will be fully wiped off if we can have a little patience Our Innocence shall shine the brighter for the Vail that was drawn before it as the Sun doth when he recovers from a Cloud For then God shall bring forth our Righteousness as the Light and our Judgment as the Noon-day Psal. 37. 6. So that in such Cases we may all say as St. Paul it is a very small thing with me that I should be judged of Mans Judgment because he that judgeth me iâ— the Lord who will shortly reverse all the Errors of Mens Censures and shew them Publickly to all the World 1 Cor. 4. 3 4. CHAP. VIII Of the Holy Ghost The Contents The
them to these already given Ans. Yes Fourthly That he should put an end to the Jewish Sacrifices and to the Covenant brought in by Moses by reason of its imperfection and instead thereof make a new and more Gracious and Perfect Covenant between God and Men. And this being a most publick change and abolishing an Institution most peculiarly distinguished and universally eyed and taken notice of among Men it must needs be a convincing sign and such as all might easily see and observe when it came When Messiah comes saith the Prophet Daniel he shall make an end of sin-offerings and cause the Mosaical Sacrifices and Oblations to cease Dan. 9. 24 27. Behold the days come saith the Lord by Jeremiah that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and Judah Jer. 31. 31. Which days are plainly the days of Messiah noted verse 22. who was to be the Messenger or Angel of the Covenant answerable to the Angel of God's Presence among the Jews by whose ministry he established the Mosaick Covenant as Malachy foretold Mal. 3. 1. And this Covenant was to offer more large Indulgence and richer Overtures of Grace which would make it a Message of Joy as Zechary a publication of Peace and Salvation a bringing glad tidings of good a binding up of broken hearts and proclaiming liberty to the Captives and preaching the acceptable year of the Lord as Isaiah it was to forgive iniquity as Jeremy making reconciliation for it as Daniel opening a fountain to wash away sin and uncleanness as Zechary says Quest. And did Jesus fulfil all this Ans. Yes he hath taken off the yoke of Moses and abolished all its Ordinances nailing them unto his Cross Col. 2. 14. He hath fulfilled all former and superseded all later Sacrifices by once offering that one Sacrifice of himself Heb. 9. 25 26. He hath brought in a new Covenant the Laws whereof have more root in our own Reason called their being writ in our hearts and minds which makes them the easier to be remembred as Moses is brought in saying the Laws of Messiah should be according to an old Tradition of the Rabbies and the Mercy whereof extends to the forgiveness of more sins as the Prophets foretold than could be hoped for by the Law of Moses For Murder or Adultery under that Law God admitted of no Sacrifice to bear any persons iniquity as may be seen in Leviticus and as David declares in Uriah's case Psal. 51. 16. Nor for Idolatry Deut. 17. 2 3 c. nor for giving their seed to Moloch nor for seeking after Wizards nor for cursing Parents nor for Incest or Sodomy or Bestiality all which were Surely to be put to death according to God's Ordinance Lev. 20. 2 6 9 11 12 13 15 16. Nor in general for any presumptuous offence the iniquity whereof as the Law says was not to be laid upon any Sacrifice but to rest upon themselves and they to be utterly cut off Num. 15. 30 31. and die without mercy Heb. 10. 28. Nay under it a curse was pronounced not only to those who were guilty of some certain offences but what was more hard to be avoided to all who continued not in all points written in the Law to do them Deut. 27. 26. Gal. 3. 10. But for all these sins unpardonable by the Mosaick Covenant our Saviour who according to the Holy Prophets was to bring in a fuller Pardon and Oblivion of sins than before was offered doth proclaim Pardon on Mens true Repentance by his New Covenant By it as S. Paul declares all that believe are justified from all things from which they could not be justified by the law of Moses Act. 13. 38 39. Quest. Was he to do any more things besides this Ans. Yes Fifthly To found a kingdom and appear as a mighty Prince The Government says Isaiah shall be upon his shoulder and it shall increase without end upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom to order and establish it with justice and judgment for ever Isaiah 9. 6 7. And this Principality they say shall be not over the Jewish Nation alone to whom the Church of God had been confined aforetime but over the Gentiles too who should all come in and submit to him The root of Jesse which shall stand for an Ensign of the People shall set up an Ensign for the Nations and unto it shall the Gentiles seek Isa. 11. 10 12. My servant shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles I will give him for a covenant of the People for a light of the Gentiles for salvation to the ends of the earth Isaiah 42. 1 6. 49. 6. To him whom man despiseth Kings shall see and arise Princes also shall worship I will lift up my hand to the Gentiles and they shall bring thy sons in their arms and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders And Kings shall be thy nursing-fathers and their Queens thy nursing-mothers they shall bow down to thee with their face towards the earth and lick up the dust of thy feet Isa. 49. 7 22 23. Quest. If Messiah were to come as such a Royal Prince and erect an Universal Monarchy over all Nations by that he might easily be known and no Man would be at a loss to discern who is he when once this is done Ans. No more than they are at a loss to know who is the King of Great Britain the German Emperour or the Grand Signior Besides the dependancies that make so many concerned with them the Quality and Greatness of such Characters is enough to make any Man known and draw all Eyes upon him Quest. And did Jesus found such a Kingdom Ans. Yes such Kingly Power he claimed before Pontius Pilate John 18. 37. And such he exercises in the World. His Dominion praised be God goes beyond the Jews and is spread far and wide among the Nations whose Princes submit their Scepters to his and glory in being his Servants and account being stiled Defenders of the Faith most Christian or Catholick Kings the very Flower of all their Titles Quest. But how did he appear like such a mighty Prince since he made no pompous Entrance with splendid Retinues and strong Guards nor erected any Courts to judge of Properties nor listed potent Armies to repel Invaders nor came furnished either with rich Mannors and Preferments to reward good Services or with visible and present Punishments such as Confiscations Prisons Gibbets to avenge the Transgressions of his Followers Ans. This indeed was the thing that of all others was a stumbling Block to the Jews who expected a Secular Saviour a Prince in worldly Power Pomp and Greatness But as to Messiah's outward appearance the Prophets foretold quite contrary things So did Isaiah among others calling Christ him whom man despiseth whom the nation abhorreth a servant of rulers Isaiah 49. 7. He shall grow up saith he in another place as a
on being under his Protection and going on lawful Errands Matth. 8. 24 25 26. God very commonly suffers good Mens dangers which at last he designs to remove to go on first to the greatest extremities that their Faith and Trust may pass through a more full trial and illustrious exercise Quest. Must it teach us any thing else Ans. Yes Secondly in no case to forsake God and fly to any Foreign and unlawful Aids For if we stick to him this over-ruling Power when things are at the worst can with a Word put all the evil by and rescue us And if we forsake him he can as easily turn that Power against us and make us fall by our own succours For as this Almighty Arm is able to bring all things about for us so when it pleases can it also bring them about against us in spite of all probabilities Quest. This is a stupendious height of Power how will God employ it Ans. In making good all his Promises and executing all his Threatnings heaping Favours on his Friends and faithful Servants and Judgments on his Enemies So that all Holy Men shall taste the sweetness of it in endearing Providences in this World as Jacob Joseph David and the Patriarchs and pious Men of old did and in Glorious and endless Rewards in the next And wicked Men shall feel the smart of it in all the crosses and penal inflictions of this Life and in the everlasting torments of the Life to come Quest. If this irresistible Power were not to be thus justly and kindly used though we should basely fear and dread yet should we not love and value him that has it Ans. No for nothing is so hateful as power in the hands of malice which makes us have such an utter hatred of the powers of darkness And this must teach all ambitious Men never to covet and all Potent Men never to employ their Power to oppress or tyrannize to accomplish unlawful Lusts or to work their wills on others But only to encourage Virtue and reward it to protect the innocent relieve the oppressed curb the vicious or some way or other to do good with it Quest. Another Branch of God's Almightiness you said is his Sovereignty and Power to command and order all things What mean you by God's Sovereignty Ans. His Supreme Authority being accountable to none but having Power to order and injoyn all things as seemeth fittest to his own Wisdom Quest. What doth this imply Ans. Two things both Empire that is a Power to injoyn and command as a Ruler and Dominion that is a Power to allot and dispose as a Proprietor God may give any Commands and exact them of any Persons as an absolute Governour and make any distributions of Things or allotment of States and Conditions as an absolute Lord and Proprietor And he is Sovereign in both these being bound to please none but only to order as seems best to himself Quest. Doth God exercise over the World a Sovereign Empire Ans. Yes all other Rulers as the Apostle says are but his ministers Rom. 13. 4. but he still keeps the controlling Power and the Reins of Government in his own Hands being the blessed and only Potentate King of kings and Lord of lords 1 Tim. 6. 15. He hath prepared his throne in heaven and his kingdom ruleth over all Psalm 103. 19. And this Empire he exercises in giving and exacting all Commands and guiding and directing all Actions and turns in the World as he pleases Quest Has God an absolute and unlimited Power to command all things Ans. Yes all that his Creatures by his Grace are capable of doing and all that his most Holy and Perfect Nature is capable of injoyning Quest. Why do you say all his Creatures by his Grace are capable of doing Ans. Because his most just and equitable Government cannot impose an impossible thing His Laws indeed might be impossible to us considered naked in our own strength but not as consider'd under those assistances and that strength which he is ready to afford us He doth not reap where he has not sown and whatsoever his Laws require his Spirit will assist Men to perform His commandments are not grievous 1 John 5. 3. and his yoke is easie and its burden light Matth. 11. 30. Quest. Why do you add also all that his most Holy and Perfect Nature is capable of injoyning Ans. To shew he doth not give Commands out of unlimited Will and Arbitrariness but doth all according to unalterable Principles of Goodness and Justice He may command whatsoever he will but then he cannot will all that we may fancy but only all that is like himself i. e. all that is Wise and Good. He never Wills against the Perfection of his Nature because he will do it Quest. I perceive then that God having commanded Holiness and Justice and Mercifulness and Truth and Faithfulness and the like which are his own Natural Perfections there is no possibility of his reversing these Commands to shew unlimitedness of Will and commanding their contraries Ans. No in commanding these Virtues he only commands us to be like himself to be holy as he is holy perfect in kindness as he is perfect as the Scripture says And being Transcripts of his own Perfections these Virtues are a limitation to his Will and whilst he is himself he can never will them to be otherwise Indeed it is his Command which makes them become duties to us and instances of our obedience but that which made him command them was the Goodness they had antecedent to his Command as being Draughts of his own Perfections He willed them because they were Good and like himself And he being unchangeable they must be always like him and upon that account he must always will them whence they are said to be duties of Essential and Eternal Goodness and Obligation Quest. Doth God exercise this Empire also in guiding and directing all Actions and Turns in the World as he pleases Ans. Yes he doth according to his will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth and none can stay his hand or say unto him What doest thou as Nebuchadnezzar most justly acknowledged when he returned to himself Dan. 4. 35. He presides in all Councils and directs and over-rules all Actions and Events I form the light and create darkness I make peace and create evil I the Lord do all these things Isaiah 45. 7. And this Administration of things is called his Providence which has already been discoursed of Quest. Has God also a Sovereign Dominion to dispose of all things and allot all their different states and conditions as a Supreme Proprietor Ans. Yes his Hand made all things bestowing upon them both the Workmanship and the Materials and his Power still preserves them and all this for what uses he pleases Thou hast created all things and for thy pleasure they are and were created Rev. 4. 11. As the clay is in
And for Providential disadvantages as Multiplicity of Business greatness of Temptations Bodily Indispositions For Pitiable Defects of Degrees in Duties Great Latitude on the side of Bliss and all not required to be of the same Size He will Reward Good Things tho' done with Difficulty and Reluctance yea when Pitiably stain'd with impure mixtures Our Judge will shew all this Candor and would have us expect it In Recompencing good Men he will consider the Difficulties and Oppositions And the hazard and cost of their Services And the hardships of Providence allotted to exercise good Men in this Life Of the Condemnation of ill Men. The Fire which is to torment them shall burn up and dissolve the Worldâ— Practical Inferences from the last judgment Quest. THE Seventh Article is That from Gods Right-Hand Jesus Christ shall come to judge both the quick and the dead Is there any Necessity of a Future Judgment Answ. Yes upon many Accounts As 1st For an exact Discrimination to distinguish Persons Numbers of ill Men are Hypocrites or Good only in outward appearance and these pass here for Saints But at the last Day God will make them manifest and put them into Separate Companies Dividing as Christ foretold the Sheep from the Goats Mal. 25. 32. 2. For the clearing of Gods Justice which seems in this World oftentimes to misplace Rewards and Punishments afflicting the Righteous and making Sinners Prosperous and therfore will surly be manifested in allotting more suitable Retributions visibly Rewarding the good and Punishing the wicked afterwards Thus St. Paul told the Thessalonians that their Present Sufferings who were Gods good Servants was a Token and Pledge of Gods Future Rewards on them and of his â—unishments upon their Persecutors The Persecutions and Tribulations you endure are â— manifest Token of the Righteous Judgment â—f God i. e. a token and ingagement that God will hereafter manifest his Righteous Judgment in their Punishment and â—our Reward Seeing it is a Righteous Thing â—ith God to recompence Tribulation to them â—hat trouble you and to you who are troubled â—est with us when the Lord Jesus shall be reâ—ealed from Heaven with his mighty Angels â— Thes. 1. 4 5 6 7. And that Day St. Paul â—alls the Revelation of the Righteous Judgment â—f God when however here they might â—eem connived at God will render to every Man according to his Deeds Rom. 2. 5 6. 3. For Reversing the Error of all Humane Judgments All Humane Courts are â—nder God who is the Supreme Dispenser of Justice and Protector of injured Innoâ—ence And therefore if Humane Courts who are his Substitutes through Corruption â—r Mistake Condemn the Innocent it may â—eseem him whose Care comprehends â—nd whose Justice will do Right to all â—o Reverse the Error and clear them again to all the World. 4. For the support of Religion which â—as no sufficient encouragement without Hope of future Rewards He that comes to God in Religion must believe he is a Rewarder of those that diligently seek him Heb. 11. â— Moses and the Patriarchs served God out of a Respect to the Recompence of a Reward v. 26. And this Reward was not present here but Future in another World. They dyed not having received the Promises but only having seen them afar off confessing themselves here to be Strangers and Pilgrims and to seek a Country in a better place v. 13 14 16. So that they were Religious from an eye to future Judgment and Retributions Quest. From these Reasons it may seem fit and necessary God should have a Future Judgment but are we sure he will have it Answ. Yes he hath given assurance unto all men that he will judge the World by Jesus Christ by raising him from the Dead Act. 17. 31. Quest. How doth this assure it Answ. Both as an Instance of it since thereby he most justly rewarded our Saviour Christ who had done and suffered so much for him in this World. And also as it was Gods owning and irrefragable Testimony to his Doctrine which declares the Future Judgment as a Principal Part of it Quest. When is this Judgment to be Answ. At the end of the World when there shall be no more Days of Labour and Tryal but all of Recompence in Punishment or Reward Quest. If it be so far off men will be the less afraid of it they being very apt to overlook Dangers that lye remote as indeed when any things are far distant to look upon Great ones as little and little ones as none at all And will none be judged till the end of the World Answ. Yes That is only for the General Judgment of all men But every particular Man is sentenced at his Death either to a State of Bliss or Misery Quest. But if a man be condemned in the First Judgment since there is so great a Distance betwixt it and the Second may he not have time to make his Peace and either by doing or suffering something himself or by the Care and Kindness of his Friends offering Sacrifices Prayers or Alms for him get the Sentence reversed and his State alter'd and come off clear at the last Judgment Answ. No Betwixt the Place of Rewards and Punishments in the other World there is an unpassable Gulph fixed so that they who would pass from you to us cannot as Abraham told the Rich Man in Torment There is neither Repentance nor Reconciliation in the Grave When once the Night is come says our Saviour no Man can Work Joh. 9. 4. Now in this Life saith St. Paul is the accepted Time now is the Day of Salvation 2 Cor. 6. 2. And at the last Day Men shall all be tryed not for what they have done or suffered since they were separate Spirits but for what they did when they were Cloathed with their Bodies giving account for every thing done in the Body 2 Cor. 5. 10. And those deeds are not what others have done for us but what through the Grace of God and the Benifit of their Prayers we have been enabled to do for our selves Every Man shall receive for things done in his Body according to what he hath done saith St. Paul. And every Mans cause of rejoycing must be in himself alone and not in another by passing over his Neighbours Prayers or Merits to him For every man shall bear his own Burden Gal. 6. 4 5. As a just God will not punish one for anothers Sin so neither will he accept one for anothers Well-doing Ezek. 18. 20. Quest. If Sentence is so quickly passed upon them the Souls of good men are not in a deep sleep and insensible State but enter upon Happiness as the Souls of ill men do upon misery as soon as they leave this world Answ. Yes they do so For this day says our Saviour to the Penitent Thief thou shalt be with me in Paradise i. e. in a place of Happiness Luk. 23. 43. And for me to dye is gain saith S. Paul whereas an
be Active when he is at Rest and he may be doing Good to the Worlds End. Of these and all such Good Works of permanent Effects it may be said as St. Paul did of Abel's Faith whereto God gave witness that by it he being dead yet speaketh Heb. 11. 4. Quest. And is it thus also in bad Actions Answ. Yes For thus the wicked Opinions a Man broaches may infect after-Ages or his corrupt Example or Advice live in his Posterity and Acquaintance Or if he corrupt and seduce others into any Sins they may persist in them after he is reclaimed from them But then he will sin most of all in his Grave if he has introduced wicked and irreligious Laws and Customs which are hardly altered even where there is the plainest and greatest Reason for it or abused the Laws to possess himself of other Mens Rights which derives down the Crime and Curse of Detaining ill-gotten Goods on all his Posterity or writ Pestilential Books or establish'd any ungodly or injurious Thing the Mischief whereof no one knows when it may determine Quest. And when God comes to judge us will he take notice and have respect to these continued and multiplied Effects of our Actions Answ. 'T is just he should they being all imputable to us and reasonable to believe he will. For Jeroboam is taxed for sinning long after he was dead because other Mens Sins were owing to him he having establish'd Iniquity by a Law and formed an Idolatrous Schism and made Israel to sin 2 Kings 10. 29. And to this I suppose we may in part at least ascribe the Trouble and Concern of Ghosts and their sometimes appearing to make Satisfaction after any great Injuries have been done and not repaired in their Life-time Which may shew not only God's Care in doing Justice but their own in lessening their Account too On which Inducement I believe Dives was sollicitous to have his Brethren advertised of the Place of Torment by one sent from the other World Luke 16. 27 28. For he being the Head of his Family and a vicious Man might have done much in corrupting his Kindred and Acquaintance that resorted to him And they being made the worse by his Example and Influence the Growth of their Guilt and Fructification of the ill Seed he had sown would accumulate and increase his Sufferings Which Principle of Self-Love I take to be a better Reason of that Care of his than any Charity for others for which we have cause to think there is no Room in that Place For God is Love and he that dwells in Love dwells in God which certainly they do not who are excluded from his Presence into that State of Torment 1 Joh. 4. 16. And this should make all Men careful how they broach any ill Opinions or give others any evil Example or Advice But especially how they introduce or revive or any ways support Irreligious Customs or enrich themselves and Families by Injustice or establish any Wickedness lest thereby they sin in their Graves and have Power to offend God when they have no Power to serve him and continue daily adding Sin to Sin when they can no longer repent of them And on the other hand it should as much encourage them in any good and useful Deeds whose Effects when they spread beyond their Expectations or last beyond their Times they may reasonably hope that God who is more ready to reward than punish will impute to them Quest. I see at the last Day Men shall be judged for the Actions of their Lives But shall they be judged not only for their more Open and Publick but also for their most Secret Deeds that were committed under Concealment and in the Dark Answ. Yes for God shall bring every Work into Judgment with every Secret Thing whether it be Good or whether it be Evil Eccl. 12. 14. And therefore all Men are infinitely concern'd not to commit any Wickedness under the fancied Security of Privacy or act shamefully even in the Dark since all those Secret Works shall then be exposed to Publick View and they shall be put to shame and condemned for them before Angels and Men all looking on Quest. This is most terrible to all impenitent Sinners who will then be punish'd for these Sins But is it not discouraging to the Righteous too who have repented of them and are forgiven For their Secret Sins which cost them so much Sorrow here will then renew their Grief and put them to an open Shame if there must be such Publick Mention and Exposal of them Answ. No they are in no danger of any more trouble from them For when they are brought to light as Solomon says God will bring every Work into Judgment whether it be good or bad Eccl. 12. 14. that shall be only to set off the Impartiality of this Scrutiny and the Riches of Gods pardoning Mercy but they shall not be upbraided with them or lessen'd in the esteem either of Glorified Angels or of Men. For as God himself doth so do they esteem of Penitents as if they had always lived innocent and when once they have left them forget all their former Offences as if they had never been done So that as to all real Effects of their suffering from them either in their own Persons or in the Estimation of others the Sins of the Righteous at that Day are as if they were not mention'd but conceal'd And this will make out those Expressions of the Scriptures which speak of the Lord 's not imputing Sin to them and of their Sins being cover'd and of God's remembring their Sins and Iniquities no more They will not be mention'd so as to make them either afraid or ashamed which is as good as if they were wholly hid and never mention'd at all Quest. Among the Deeds of Men all those are not really Good which are so in outward Appearance and which the World takes for such Answ. No Several good Actions Hypocritical Men put on only in Disguise As the Pharisee seemed to be devout in making long Prayers when that was not to serve God but to get Trust among Men that he might be able to devour Widows Houses without suspicion Mat. 23. 14. And when the Precious Ointment was poured on Christ's Head Judas pretended great Care of the Poor and cried out of the Waste on that pretence when in truth that which made him speak was not his Charity but his Covetousness John 12. 5 6. Absalom pretends the Payment of a Vow in Hebron but the Design was to execute a fore-laid Rebellion 2 Sam. 15. 7 10. Many Men pretend Kindness only for Self-ends Religion for Secular Interests the Publick Good when they only seek to satisfie their own By-ends or private Resentments Quest. But when under this Hypocritical Mask Men commit ill Deeds under fair Colours will Christ at that Day bring this Hypocrisie to Light and condemn these Actions which the Authors justified to