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ID Title Author Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication) STC Words Pages
A40817 Of the impunity of bad men in the world a sermon preach'd at White-hall, Decemb. 30, 1694 / by Philip Falle ... Falle, Philip, 1656-1742. 1695 (1695) Wing F340; ESTC R585 11,660 34

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Apprehension of it is not strong enough to make them turn from their Evil Ways Which probably may be All the Wise KING intended in the Text tho the words may also bear a larger Construction For to do Evil are Terms of great Latitude Because Sentence against an Evil Work is not executed speedily THEREFORE the Heart of the Sons of Men is fully set in them TO DO EVIL Secondly Expound this Riddle of Providence the Impunity of Bad Men in the World 1. Publick Societies or Bodies of Men are Punish'd in this World tho' Particular Persons may not By Publick Societies I mean Kingdoms Nations and States and Churches these being also considered as Societies of Christian Men who have special Rules set them for their Conduct in that Relation wherein they stand to each other For instance National Judgments for National Sins are Immoderate Droughts excessive Rains and Inundations of Waters Contrary Seasons and a Conflict in the Elements all which cause Famines and Barrenness in the Earth Pestilences and other Contagious and Malignant Distempers Like That which having lately raged over several Parts of the Kingdom has at last deprived us of our Excellent our Incomparable QUEEN whose Pious Just Mild and Prudent Government in Conjunction with our Gracious SOVEREIGN was so Great a Blessing to these Nations A Blessing which our Sins made us unworthy of Therefore God in his Great Anger has taken her away from us and Translated Her to a better Crown Conflagrations Earthquakes The Miseries and Desolations of unprosperous and unsuccessful War Infatuation of Publick Ministeries and Councels Civil Discords and the like Punishments attending Christian Societies are Heresies or Errors in Doctrine Strong Delusions (i) 2 Thess ii 11. A Lying and a Credulous Spirit sent out among Men Schisms and Dissentions among Brethren Outward Persecutions from Adversaries And lastly a removal of God's Candlestick (k) Rev. ii 5. and a transferring of his Kingdom to others that will bring forth the Fruits thereof (l) Matth. xxi 43. With such Judgments as these Almighty God Punishes the Sins of Civil and Religious Communities in this World And they are therefore call'd Temporal Judgments because they are inflicted here and can be no where else and to put a difference betwixt Them and those Eternal Judgments that are reserved for Particular Bad Men in the other World And God seldom delays these Judgments upon Societies as he delays the Punishment of Particular Persons for this plain Reason That should these Judgments be respited too long they would not fall on those Sinful Generations that have deserved them and have provoked God to send them abroad into the World Those Generations would pass away and being gone these Judgments would not reach them The guilty Dead would not feel these Publick Calamities in their Graves 2. As for Particular Bad Men they are a Punishment to themselves A Bad Man always bears a secret Punishment within Him Every ill Action he does exposes him to the severe Rebukes and Lashes of his own Conscience (m) Cicer. de Leg. Lib. 1. §. 40 Paenas luunt homines non tàm Judiciis quàm angore Conscientiae And there can hardly be a greater Punishment than a Guilty Mind to a Bad Man in this World Moreover the Tumult and Disorder of his Passions which clash with each other and often meet with exasperating Difficulties in the pursuit of unlawful Objects his restless Desires his awakening Fears and Jealousies and Distrusts and Thirst of Revenge These and a Thousand things more of the like nature disturb the Peace and Tranquillity of his Soul For the Wicked are like the troubled Sea when it cannot rest whose Waters cast up Mire and Dirt There is no Peace saith my Gd to the Wicked (n) Isa lvii 20 21. A Bad Man can never have that inward Complacency and Ease which is the peculiar Fruit of an innocent and well-spent Life which springs from a good Conscience and from calm and well-govern'd Passions So that tho' we should suppose a Bad Man to live Prosperously as to all outward Enjoyments and Circumstances of Life and to depart at last from the World without any apparent Mark of Divine Displeasure against him for his Sins still it cannot be said that he goes off Unpunish'd so long as whilst he lived he carried these Tormentors in his Breast viz. these Horrors and Anxieties of Conscience these fretting and vexatious Passions which were a terrible Punishment tho' he suffer'd no other And this Plutarch (o) Lib. de eis qui serò puniuntur à Numine urges in answer to those who in his Time denied the Divine Providence in the World because they said the Wicked were not punish'd Are they not punish'd who lie under such cruel Agonies of Mind and whom still one raging Lust or other robs of all the Good and Quiet of their Lives which is the case of every Soul of Man that doth Evil. 3. Nor are Bad Men secure even against Outward Punishment For Wickedness and Vice are not always Prosperous in the World There have been in all Times innumerable Instances of Bad Men who have been as Poor and Wretched and in every respect as Unhappy in the World as others have met with as many Misfortunes and Disappointments and cross Accidents have been as destitute of all the Comforts of Life and have had as Tragical Ends. Wickedness and Vice have a natural Tendency to make Men miserable in this World But Providence often interferes by more Immediate Punishments God does not always Punish Bad Men in this World but he does it sometimes Not a day but he crushes one bold Sinner or other into ruine We too often call Casualties and Fortuitous Disasters things that the Effects of the Divine Indignation tho' it acts by Secondary Causes But some Punishments bear very Signal Marks of Divine Vengeance and one may visibly discern the Finger of God in them Therefore no Bad Man can promise himself Impunity even in this World and Sentence against an Evil Work IS sometimes executed speedily This were enough to vindicate the Divine Justice and Providence from the Exceptions and Cavils of Men tho' no more were said in this Matter For this shews that there is a God That he is no idle Spectator of Human Affairs That he is an Enemy to Wickedness and Vice That he is concern'd for the Honour and Majesty of his Laws And that many times Punishment hangs o'er a Sinner's head like a Cloud charg'd with Thunder ready to break upon him when he is least aware of it But I shall pursue this Argument further For still it is very evident that God does not always punish Bad Men in this World He Punishes Some but he Punishes not All. Many lead very Wicked Lives who setting aside that inward Trouble of Mind which no Bad Man can more or less be exempt from live in great Prosperity and Affluency of all the Good Things of this World The