innocency of my hands have I done this and God bears witness to him that in the integrity of his heart he did it not knowing her to be another mans wife not with an intention to wrong her husband by taking her there is and may be a moral integrity in a particular action and a man may mean truly in that he doth and do that which is evil and yet not with an evil intention Now will Conscience excuse the man in the presence of God and say I intended no evil in that which I have done Joh. 16.2 they shall think that they do God good service nay in the worst and the most wicked actions even persecuting the Saints a man may conceive therein that he has done God service and he may bless himself in his own heart and Conscience may not only acquit a man but applaud him in that which he has done and so there is many a man out of a blind zeal and a spirit of errour and delusion that looks upon those things as great services to God and intends them so which will be discovered to be the great sins of their lives at the last day as it was in the Jews persecuting of Christ and the Desciples setting up the Law against the Gospel going about to establish their own righteousnes and not submiting unto the righteousness of Christ therein so Acts 13.50 there are devout and honourable women are stir'd up against the Apostles doctrine they made use of that natural devotion that was in them to persecute the Gospel and as Beza doth observe they did raise the persecution persuasis sc maritis engaged their husbands in the quarrel which is the condition of many a poor well meaning man that is not acquainted with the depths of Satan and the the delusions of the times at this day Secondly Sometimes it is from a mans ignorance and want of light and so his Conscience he thinks is good and speaks peace to him because he doth not see the evil that is in him Rom. 7. I was alive without the Law once he speaks it in reference to his state of unregeneracy and he saith sin was dead in respect of the guilt and the accusing and condemning power of it and Paul was alive full of presumtious self-confidence and self-excusations and acquitting himself and his Conscience did speak peace unto him and there is no guilt at all but yet afterwards the commandment came in the spiritual and convincing power of it and then the guilt of sin revived in me and I saw my self a dead man for without the Law sin is dead and therefore many a man that is quiet because the Law of God is not opened to him he has the Law in the Letter but not in the spiritual sence of it it is with ignorant souls in this respect as with colours in the dark there they are but not seen till the light be brought in so many a man is in the guilt of all abominations but they are not discovered till the light be brought in and then a man wonders how it was possible his Conscience could be quiet and hath such a load lye upon it Thirdly From a spirit of slumber that God pours out upon a man in judgment his Conscience being quiet through common works and outward duties a man having escaped the common pollutions of the world and lives in no gross way of sinning and is exceedingly censorious and severely exclaims against others and condemns and reproves those sins in others he doth shine as a light and is honoured by the Saints as one that doth truly fear God and is eminent in the profession of Religion as the foolish Virgins and the thorny ground have a lamp of profession bring forth some fruit has a name to live and with this Conscience is quieted and its peace is not disturbed and so it is with many a temporarie believer that had never more then a natural Conscience and some of them their Conscience in respect of the guilt of them is never awakened but they go out of the world even in a fools paradise with great hopes and say Lord Lord Mat. 7.22 have we not prophesied in thy name c as they are brought in saying at the day of judgment c. at death every mans eternal state is cast for immediately after death comes judgment Heb. 9.27 and in this day it is for men shall have a particular sentence passed upon them and receive their doom for their eternal state before the last day but at death men shall say Lord Lord open to me c. and from thence some of our divines say that an hypocrite may live and dye with a quiet Conscience in self-delusions and yet miss of Heaven in the height of his hopes and therefore it 's said Rom. 2.17 of the hypocritical Jews that they rest in the Law c. and so they may do along time in the profession and outward Priviledges of the Law and an outward obedience thereunto that when God shall awaken their Consciences as he doth many of them some to conviction only and some to conversion they are surprized with the greatest horrour and amazement of any other men in the world and though there may be a great deal of quiet and seeming goodness in Conscience that is natural yet it is not truly a good Conscience it has but a shew of goodness and there is the guilt of sin laid up in it that will surely shew forth it self at the last and great day sin lyes at the door and it will awaken and revive and condemn him But there is away to keep the Conscience pure from the guilt of sin in the sight of God that a man shall have no more Conscience of sin and there are three ways or steps to a pure Conscience before God in this respect First In a mans Conversion when the Lord Christ as a surety and as a sacrifice is offered unto him and he consents to the terms upon which Christ is offered that he may have an interest in the satisfaction that he has given and that his sins may be done away and he stand righteous and aquited before God and so at a mans Conversion all his sins in his unregenerate state is pardoned and the guilt of them is covered so that they are unto his Conscience as if they had never been his sins are by virtue of union imputed to Christ and Christs righteousness imputed to him and he is made the Lord our righteousness 2 Cor 5.21 1 Pet. 3.21 and we are the righteousness of God in him which is by the answer of a good Conscience which I conceive to be an allusion to the antient manner of baptising wherein the people confessed their sins and did answer unto certain questions that were then asked therein engaging themselves by a publick profession unto Christ to consent to his Covenant so when it was done sincerely then it is said to be the answer of a
are evil and the false reasonings of sin in the Conscience the man cannot see men are given over to believe the lyes of their own spirits and cannot say is there not a lye in my right hand and a seared Conscience with a hot Iron that man despises the threatning and judgment of God 1 Tim. 4.9 and is wholly insensible as seared flesh And all this defilement is not brought into the Conscience from without but grows out of it by custome in sinning And the ground of it is because Conscience is the highest faculty and has the highest office in the man and therefore it is by corruption of the Conscience that all the rest of the faculties are so exceedingly corrupted as they are because Conscience doth not its duty and therefore God will mainly lay load upon the Conscience after this life as this had the main hand in defiling the man so it shall be the great instrument in tormenting the man for could men walk on in sin as they do if Conscience did its duty if it did instruct suggest accuse truly as in the name of God and never excuse but upon grounds from the judgment that God gives of things c. The great pollution of the whole soul flows from the pollution of the Conscience and therefore when the Papists do crowd down the defilement of the soul unto the inferiour faculties the affections and passions as if they were the sink of the soul and all the filthiness were swept down upon them but as for the understanding the will they are in a great measure free the Mistress or Lady in the soul and if a light be brought into the understanding the will has a power to follow and so say the Arminians also and it is a doctrine that spreads much amongst us so when you hear Divines say that of all the faculties the Conscience is the least polluted take heed of it for the main filthiness of thy soul lyes there And the reason that is commonly given is because Conscience in the worst men doth many times take part with God against sin when Lust carries a man and his will is very violently bent upon it but consider in an unregenerate man this doth not proceed from the purity of his Conscience even at that time when it doth take part with God but because there is the spirit of God comes in and stirs up Conscience and lays a command upon it and forceth it to do its duty which it would be glad to let alone and let Lust revel in it without controle it would surely gratify the affection it has to Lust but that the spirit of God comes in and over-aws the Conscience and doth awaken and terrify it and force it to speak and therefore it doth not any more argue the purity of Conscience then Balaams blessing of the people of Israel in the wilderness did argue his love to Israel whom he did earnestly desire to have cursed and did greedily follow after the wayges of unrighteousness but that the Lord held a strickt hand upon his Convcience that he durst not sin in it being over-awd but it was no thanks to Balaam And so it is here no thanks to Conscience which is corrupt and will by degrees grow insencible and incourage a man desperately in a way of sinning even to despight of the spirit of Gods grace Now How shall this defilement be purged all these dead works how shall they be cleansed It is by the blood of Christ First From the Holyness of his nature as he is our Head For by the blood of Christ is meant all his active and passive obedience and in his active obedience the holyness of his nature must be taken in as he was man he received the spirit He had a union and an unction from the free grace of the Father calling him to this great work and by a glorious sovereignty appointed Christ to be the head of his Church and the second Adam to stand in their stead to perform all for them and to receive all for them c. So he did receive the spirit as an unction from the Father Isa 42.1 I will put my spirit upon him he shall be cloathed with the Holy Ghost and put it on as a garment and this spirit he doth receive as a head that he may disperse it for the infinite holyness of the Divine nature could no more be communicated then the infinite righteousness of the Divine nature could be imputed and therefore he must perform perfect obedience in his humane nature for our justification that it may be imputed to us and he must receive perfect holiness in his humane nature for our sanctification that it may be imparted to us John 17.19 For their sakes I sanctify my self that is recieved a spirit of sanctification that it might be unto them a principle of holiness and the fountain of their sanctification also which I conceive to be meant by the Law of the spirit of life that is in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death Rom. 8.2 What is the Law of sin and death It is the power of sin to condemnation defiling and destroying and what is the Law of the spirit of Life it is put for the powerful and commanding work of the living and the quickning spirit of Christ and this Law not as it is in us but as it is in Christ it is this that frees us both in respect of justification and of sanctification also from the law of sin to defile and rule and also to condemn and to destroy and thus from the holiness of the nature of Christ it comes to pass that the same spirit that was in him is conveyed unto us his union did abundantly sanctifie him in himself it being persoual and therefore there was an inpeccability the actus est suppositi but his unction was for us he had a fulness of the spirit as he was our surety he paid our debt and as our head so he received a spirit for us and dispenced it to us c. thus you see the sanctification of the humane nature of Christ doth purge a mans Conseience from dead works even the Law of the spirit of life that is in Christ Jesus makes us free from the Law of sin Secondly There is in the blood of Christ a causa meritoria and it doth meritoriously purge the Couscience for though there was the fulness of all grace in the humane nature of Christ yet it could never have been conveyed unto us without a satisfaction had gone before God must be satisfied that men might be sanctified for there is in the sufferings of Christ two things First The payment of a debt Secondly There is a redundancy of merit some thing must be procured for man non solum instauratus est Aust sed melioratus à peccatis ablutus instauratus est in caeteris melioratus Aust Tom. 4.9 123. p. 613. First It
do conceive much rather the meaning to be as I sin every day and thereby do daily contract a new guilt so grant that I may have the righteousness of Christ imputed unto me every day and a penitent heart given me that thereby I may have the qualifications that God requires unto pardon and my iniquities be blotted out For though I conceive it a truth that justification as far as it respects a mans state is done at once and is perfect in instanti that a man is but once justified that is put unto a state of pardon and righteousness and acceptation as soon as made one with Christ yet I conceive the pardon of sin to be a continued act that as a man doth sin daily so he has an actual pardon daily by the imputation of Christ's righteousness unto him anew The sacrifice indeed was offered but once and never to be repeated but the imputation of it is continued to the end of the World and the application of it is the act of every day and therefore some say that God does give us the same things over and over again daily as we sin daily and stand in daily need of it as he doth the Sun it had as much light in it the first day it was made as it hath now and God has not given us a new Sun but the same daily shines so it is with the imputation of Christs obedience who is the Son of Righteousness So that though a man be for his state once for all put into a state of justification yet remission of sins is an act that is continued daily and shall never be perfected till sin shall be done away and till the soul shall cease to say Lord forgive us our trespasses and then God shall cease forgiving but while the Saints do sin so long there is a daily remission upon a daily repentance and a renewed application So if a man sins daily and would have the guilt of his sins taken off his Conscience it must be by a daily confession a daily repentance and humiliation a daily application of the righteousness of Christ and therein by prayer seeking unto God for pardon daily for I know no other means to take the guilt of sin off the Conscience These things I speak partly to awaken the people of God that are justified freely by grace that they might not dare to pass a day in a way of sinning and that they may not dare to lye down with any sin unrepented of also and partly that those abominable and dangerous doctrines that are now abroad in the world to turn the grace of God and the promises of the Gospel into wantoness may be avoided when men say all our sins are pardoned allready and therefore though we may have sin in our conversation yet we have none in our Conscience God sees no iniquity in his people and he loves them in Christ and therefore loves them never the worse for all their sins c. And therefore they need not pray for pardon for they have it already but onely they must believe that they are pardoned and must believe that they need not repent for all is done away in Christ and it is onely for persons that are unregenerate to repent for sin and to ask pardon but for them that are in Christ their sins are pardoned c But let me tell you and the Lord will make you know that as you sin every day and contract a new guilt so there is no way to get this guilt taken off thy Conscience but by a daily repentance for it and a daily application of the righteousness of Christ that thy sins may be blotted out from the presence of the Lord for though thou be washed yet thou hast daily need to wash thy feet There is nothing that the heart of man is more willing and ready to shift off then the duty of repentance though as Tertullian saith he was nulle rei nisi penitentiae natus and yet it is with men as Luther says of himself there was no word that he did hate and abhor so much as that word Repent it is that the heart of man goes against and you have most need to be exhorted to it Thirdly There is another way to keep the Conscience pure from the guilt of sin and that is for a man to get assurance of Gods favour the light of his countenance and to walk in it all day long Psal 89.15 Blessed are the people that know the joyful sound They shall walk O Lord in the light of thy countenance When a man hath the witnesses either of blood and water which are more remote and the spirit of God speaks in them and in all ordinances of the Gospel or else when a man has a more immediate testimony from the spirit of God the Lord saying to his soul be of good cheer thy sins be forgiven thee the Lord sends his spirit that speaks to the soul as the prophet Nathan to David God hath taken away thy sin and this is Gods speaking to the soul pardon and peace which is the portion of many of the Saints when a mans soul draws near to the grave and his life to the destroyers and the Lord comes in and says deliver his soul from death for I have found a ransome and truly there are souls that do walk in the light of Gods countenance all the day long and their souls are as the upper Region quiet and are allways Calme though sin they do yet they speedily repent and humble their souls for it and their peace is never interrupted nor the light of Gods Countenance taken from them but they receive of his pardoning mercy dayly and dayly bear witness to it that their sins are done away and so their Consciences are never clogged with them But as soon as God withdraws the light of his countenance from any poor soul by and by the guilt of sin ariseth and Conscience is terrified and there is a thick cloud over spreads the whole soul and a mans heart is like unto a troubled Sea that cannot rest see what restless tossings David was in while his sin lay upon his Conscience and God hid his face day and night they are so heavy upon me that all the night long I make my bed to swim with my tears oh take me not out of thy presence will the Lord cast off for ever and his mercy is it clean gone will he be gracious no more Thus a man that would have a clear Conscience in respect of guilt must make it his business to walk in the light of Gods Countenance all the day Having thus far seen how a man may keep a Conscience pure from the guilt of sin Let us now come to the second how a mans Conscience may be preserved pure from the defilement and the pollution of sin And here we are to consider that there are two things in Conscience and answerable unto them there is a
THE Worm that Dyeth not OR HELL TORMENTS In The CERTAINTY AND ETERNITY of Them Plainly Discovered in several Sermons Preached on Mark Chap. the 9th and the 48. v. By that Painful and Laborious Minister of the Gospel William Strong And now published by his own Notes as a means to deter from Sin and to stir up to Mortification LONDON Printed by T. R. and M. D. and are to be sold by Fra. Titon at the three Daggers in Fleet-street 1672. GOOD READER A Discourse of Hell cannot be unprofitable and unseasonable in an age wherein many deny the eternal recompenses others live as if they did not believe them yea among those that take on a stricter form of living many carry it on with such coldness and deadness that their conversations no way look like a flight from wrath to come or a pursuit after eternal life and therefore they need to be awakened Sermons of Hell may keep many out of Hell yea it concerneth the best and most serious to know what wrath they have escaped to quicken their thankfulness for that they are as brands plucked out of the burning As it heightned the sence of their deliverance to the Israelites when they looked back and saw the Egyptians tumbling in the waters of the Red-Sea which they passed through without harm surely they that cannot endure to hear of Hell or read of Hell discover too much of the guilt and security of their own hearts presumption is a coward and a run-away but Faith supposeth the worst Psal 23.4 and so encountreth its enemy in the open fields if the torments prepared for the disobedient and impenitent be so â—orrible and grievous we all need to be more srious in settling our eâ—erâ—â—â— interests upon a sure bottom and fâ—undation and to learn that holy mixture of serving God with fear and rejoycing with trembling and so to take sanctuary at the Lords Grace and enter our selves heirs to the priviledges of the Gospel that our claim may never be disproved nor our hope leave us ashamed This is the design of these Sermons of the reverend Author which were transcribed from his own Notes not indeed prepared for the Press but the Pulpit and if they want any thing of that accuracy which might be expected from one so able in the work of the Ministry The Candid Reader will distinguish between what is intended to be spoken to one Auditory and written to the World and how much is reserved to be uttered on the suddain in the heat and vigour of speaking for enlivening and polishment on such occasions What is left was conceived useful and therefore put into thy hands The Blessing of God Almighty go along with it and sanctifie it to thy Soul which is the hearty Prayer of thy Servants in the Lords Work Tho. Manton J. Rowe MARK 9.48 Where their Worm dyeth not and the Fire is not quenched MY purpose is to break up those Treasures of wrath which God hath reserved for his enemies Psal 90.11 Ephes 3.19 which not only passeth knowledge but also fear his love to his People passeth knowledge his wrath to his enemies passeth fear a full discovery by me you cannot expect seeing it passeth knowledge and answerable affections in you I cannot expect to the utmost seeing that it passeth fear but if it may be a means to deter you from sin and a motive unto mortification I shall have my end in the discourse as Christ his end in the exhortation The words are to be considered either respective in reference unto what goes before and so we see them several times repeated to press the duty of mortification of a mans dearest darling Lust his most pleasant and most profitable sin that sin is resembled unto a body in Scripture is clear Rom. 7 4. the body of sin and the body of death and that some sins are in this body â—s the right hand and the right eye is as clear also called a mans sweet morsel his own iniquity the peccatum in deliciis the right eye is in the body the dearest and the right hand is most usefull serviceable 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 profitable and advantageous to the body but if it be a stumbling block to thee and cause thee to offend God and forsake the way of his obedience then cut it off pluck it out it is a hyperbolical expression Sic animo tuo comparatus esto though thou do not actually yet intentionally and in thy purpose and resolution of heart part with what is dearest to thee then that it should be a means or an occasion of sin unto thee and the reason it given better enter into life maimed that is though thou think'st if thou part with such a lust thou shouldest live uncomfortably and be as a maimed and but half a man all thy days yet in common reason the whole is better than any part therefore better suffer the excision of a member than the dissolution of the body in your own judgement and the judgement of the World be counted imperfect men all your days rather than suffer the destruction of the body and soul in Hell Hence we are to learn First that whatever is near and dear unto a man if it be an occasion of his sin either to hinder from duty in omission or to provoke unto any lust by way of commission a man is to reject it with ind gnation pluck it out â—ut it off cast it from him The dearest thing must be parted with either as a snare or as a sacrifice Secondly Even Gods own people may have some dear pleasant and profitable lusts right hands to be cut off and right eyes to be plucked out Thridly If they should part with them they may look upon themselves and the World may count them as maimed men but Fourthly though they may seem so to themselves and the World to judge of them yet it is their best course that they could take Fifthly The good and evill of all things is to be judged by the end and issue of it i'ts better because thou enterest into life and it 's worse because keeping them thou wilt indanger body and soul in hell Sixthly Legal motives are of use even to the regenerated and therefore Christians may use them and not be legal Christians indeed the more ingenious services are the better and the more freely and readily the heart comes off from sin upon the principles of the Gospel and performes duty from a spirit of love fearing the Lord and his goodness obeying from a cord of love and thankfulness the love of Christ constraining But yet this will work no longer than grace hath the upper hand and if corruption prevail to call in these helps is not only lawfull but necessary But to come to the words of my Text They are a description of that destruction that keeping a right hand or a right eye that offends a man will bring upon him It is destruction in hell even of
the whole man body and soul for to keep one member or to please one pleasant gainfull darling Lust In the torments of hell there are two parts First something Privative a privation of all good whatsoever might make them happy and something Positive an addition of whatever might make them miserable The first is expressed by Christ depart from me ye cursed Mat. 25.41 The Positive part of the torments of hell are set forth in these words where their worm dyeth not wherein we may observe First the torment of the Creature from God 2dly From himself something principal and something accidental that from God which is the principal part of heâ—l torment is the fire the less principal the worm In the words therefore is discribed the positive part of the torments of hell First that which is Essential and principal the Fire Secondly That which is less Principal the Worm Thirdly The eternity of them both the fire is never quenched nor the Worm never dies I will take them as they lye in the Text and begin first with that which is less principal the Worm their worm never dyes Here we may note two things First the torment it self a Worm Secondly the particularity of the torment Their Worm Every man shall have his own Worm The words are taken out of Isa 66.24 The Lord had promised the glorious deliverance of the Church and had threatned the utter destruction of his enemies and when they were destroyed the Saints should look upon them and triumph over them the Saints shall have dominion over them in the morning and they shall go forth in their contemplation and consider not only their present outward condition and misery but their eternal condition Their Worm never dyes and their fire is not quenched to all Eternity and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh To begin with the Torment it self it 's a Worm which is not to be understood literally but metaphorically of something that holds some resemblance and some analogy to it Now a Worm in Scripture is put to resemble two things First something that is despicable and to be contemned fear not thou worm Jacob Secondly something that is tormenting and continually vexing and so it 's in this place here the Phylosophers tell us Nihil est in intellectu c. And therefore the Lord is pleased to help our understandings to express spiritual things by earthly similitudes and resemblances as Christ saith of the Misteries of the Gospel he could not speak them as they were but by earthly things that is in respect of the manner of delivery though the things were in themselves spiritual and if the Lord do it by things that men have experience of in this life how much more the things that are reserved for the World to come as the joys of Heaven by all good things the torments of hell by all evill things Whatever is most terrible to sence and most tormenting as Fire Brimstone darkness and a Worm which are only to help our understanding in those things which both pass fear and knowledge as after death it is set forth as a thing dreadfull to nature to have worms breed out of a man and feed upon him Job 24.20 as Job speaks The Worms shall feed sweetly on him he shall be no more remembred c. And the greatest persons that have lain upon beds of Ivory and have had Tapistry for their covering must say unto the worms ye are my sisters the Moth eats them as a garment and the Worm devours them as wooll c. Now to have these bodies that have been cloathed sumptuously and fed delicately to be cloathed with worms and to become their food is sad and even dismal to nature after a mans dissolution But if these worms should breed in a man and feed upon him whilst he were alive it would be much more terrible as it was a torment invented by a Tyrant to keep a man in a Coffin and feed him till by his own filth he breed worms and these worms devoured his flesh and he dyed by them The judgement that came upon Herod by the immediate stroak of an Angel Acts 12.23 and the same judgement is said to be inflicted upon Maximinus the Emperor that his body putrify'd bred worms continually Now this is a fearfull thing and dreadfull to nature to come upon the body but what will it be for a worm to be gnawing upon the soul for ever For in respect of that fire in Hell our fire here is but a painted fire it 's true also in reference to the Worm therein This being a Metaphorical expression let us come to open it a little what it is and wherein the resemblance doth consist This Worm is generally to be understood of the furious reflection of the soul upon it self in consideration of it's by past life neglected opportunities and it 's present hopeless and unrecoverable condition and so the tormenting acts of Conscience upon the man are resembled by the Worm and the resemblance lies in two things First a Worm is bred out of the putrifaction of the subject in which it is now in the conscience of men there is much corruption the conscience is as it were the sink where all the evil in a man is there is first much of the filthiness and defilement of sin in the conscience Tit. 1.15 Their conscience is defiled Mat. 23.27 like whited Sepulchres outwardly fair but inwardly full of rottenness and all uncleannesse they may easily breed worms Heb. 9.14 Secondly All the guilt of sin in the soul settles upon the conscience and it needs purging for all the works done by an unregenerate man are dead works because they proceed from a dead nature and because they all tend unto death and though these things be the work of the whole soul and every faculty yet the guilt of them all is laid upon the conscience and if there be so much filthiness and putrifaction both of guilt and defilement in the conscience it is no wonder if it breed a worm as all other putrifactions do and this being the worst it is not strange if it breed the worst and the most devouring Worm Secondly It doth alwayes gnaw upon the subject in which it is bred and so it is with this Worm it is alwayes feeding upon the soul and that for ever For it is with a mans spirit as with mill-stones when there is nothing else it grindes it self c. Now God will stop the current of all the creatures after this life Luke 16.25 There shall be nothing from without for the spirit of a man to feed upon and then it will turn in upon it self for ever Here most of the acts of a mans soul are direâ—â— upon objects without him there are few reflexe acts man will not turn in upon himself But then a mans acts shall be full of reflection upon himself for ever Now this furious reflection of the
3.17 be it known unto thee O King we will not serve thy gods c. Acts 1.20 We cannot but speak a necessity is laid upon me I must preach c. Jer. 20 9. The Word was in him as fire he could not forbear it is the impulse of Conscience that was the cause there is a double necessity Externa interna c. Now according unto this order and subordination of the faculties so shall the torment be Conscience is subject to none but God therefore the spirit of bondage shall come into the Conscience and trouble that and this shall torment the whole man and as God does usually set up Governours and they become Instruments of wrath over the kingdoms where they dwell if they be good they are a special blessing they are the breath of our Nostrils the stay of our Tribes the Chariots and Horsemen but if they be wicked they ruine the kingdom Psal 75.3 Saul had even destroyed the Nation they are ravening Lyons and evening Wolves Zeph. 3.3 So it is in the government of the inward man if the Conscience be good it s the greatest blessing and if evil the greatest curse for as none has the Power the Authority and the Opportunity to undo a people like those that have the Rule over them so it is with the Conscience there is nothing hath that Authority and Oppertunity to undo a man like it because it is alwayes with him where soever he goes and therefore 〈◊〉 Mala domestica Austine compare an evil Wife and an evil Conscience because they are both intolerablâ— burdensome evils a continual droping none have the Opertunity 〈◊〉 Torment like these Thirdly Conscience here has 〈◊〉 great hand in corrupting the whoâ— man and therefore it is no wondeâ— if hereafter it should have the greâ— hand in Tormenting him First Here Conscience is blinâ— and does not shew a man what is 〈◊〉 Duty and so many men Sin igâ—rantly for want of an inlightneâ— Conscience when the eye of 〈◊〉 man is darkned Math. 6. Hoâ— great is that darkness Secondly Conscience is dead a spirit of slumber is upon it that though it know things to be evil yet it stirs not against them or if it does it is but faintly but a good Conscience exerciseth Authority over the whole man and smites him when ever he does evil as 1 Sam. 24.17 Thirdly it is erroneous and carries men unto evil violently under a pretence of good a zeal not according to knowledg Joh. 16.2 For zeal persecuting the Church Tantus eram Saulus â—hat he thought him worthy of eternal death that descented from the Authority of his Religion in any thing it is from a deceived heart an erroneous Conscience Fourthly Conscience will be bribed by Lust takes in carnal reason and corrupt principles and will be satisfied in them Rom 1. imprisons truths in unrighteousness 1 Tim. 4.2 And it is insensible of any thing and it is just with God that that Officer in the man that had the great hand in corrupting should also have the great hand in tormenting the whole man Quest 4. Fourthly Why is not Conscience a Worm here as well as hereafter in Hell First Because Conscience cannot work of it self unless the Spirit of God awaken it c. Secondly Here is the working time of Conscience its suffering time shall be hereafter Here Conscience has great workes to do and great talents to imploy Heb. 13.18 The charge of the whole Life lies upon the Conscience and the Lord haâ— here a great house 2 Tim. 2.20 Understand it of the World or of the Church yet he has in it Vessek of Honour and some to Dishonour Now Why does God suspend the torment of the Devils It is because Christ has much work for them to do and they would have no pleasure in Sin if their Torments were fuller so it is with wicked men also and therefore the Lord has appointed a working time for Conscience to perform its viatory office and he has a pointed a suffering time for Conscience allo and he will not Torment them before that time Thirdly Hereby the Lord does exalt his own patience and long suffering so much the more for Sin being an infinite evil and a man that is but dust to provoke God to his Face and to do it the rather because God forbears them and sin the more because God forbears them and because of his patience because sentence is not executed speedily therefore the hearts of the children of men are fully set to do evil now that God should bear with much patience and long suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction and that the Lord should not stretch forth his own hand against them but that he should also suspend the working of their one Consciences and should not let loose the reins upon them which would bring them down in the midst of their galantry as Belshazer Felix Judas c. And that God should keep a hand upon their Consciences and withhold their own thoughts from flying upon them it does wonderfully set forth the patience of God The Lord knows how to reserve the wicked to the day of wrath Fourthly Many things here which stop the mouth of Conscience shall hereafter be removed and then Conscience will speak The Worm of Conscience is to the Soul as they say the disease of the Wolf is to the Body If it be fed with something from without will eat the less inwardly but take away all supplies from without and it destroys inwardly as all the good things of this Life will be gone and then the Soul turns in upon it self and will be its own Tormentor foâ— ever Rev. 20.12 And I saw thâ— dead small and great stand before God and the Books were openedâ— and another Book was opened which is the Book of Life and the Deaâ— were judged out of those things whicâ— were written in the Books according to their works It is an allusion to the day of judgment That 's granted by all The books opened are First the book of the Law and Gospel Secondly of Gods Omnisciency Thirdly of his Decre Fourthly the book of Conscience All those ancient Records that lay hid as Colours in the dark Rom. 2.15.16 or as something that is written with the juice of a Lemon you may read it when you bring it to the fire but not till then But we will now set forth those Tormenting acts of Conscience hereafter which shall be as the gnawings of this never dying worm but before we come to speak unto them perticularly it 's necessary that these four things be premised First That after this Life the Spirit of God shall come into the Conscience of a wicked man as a spirit of bondage fully for ever Conscience is but a subordinate power and acts allways with reference to a higher Law as a rule and a higher power as a Judge it is Regnum sub graviore Regno And therefore it never works by it self
alone but it doth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 2.14.15 Rom 1. as well as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and hence it is that the same thing hath such different effects upon the spirits of men There were many in the company of Belshazar when the hand-wrighting apeared Dan. 5.5.6 and yet none that we read of was affected with it but the King and it was not the hand-wrighting that troubled him but at the same time the spirit of God did come into his Conscience and his own thoughts troubled him stir'd up and acted his Conscience and they sudenly terrisie him as the word doth here signify And â—rov 18.14 We reaâ— of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a sad anâ— troubled broaken and tender spirit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And who has power over the spirits of a man It is subject unto none but God and the spirit of God and therefore none is able to wound the spirit of a man no more then they can command it without the spirit of God come in with it Therefore one man is moved by a threatning and another man is not one man is pricked in his heart and the other feels it not It is as tâ—e spirit of God doth come into the Conscience of men Now as there is a twofold Covenant so there is a twofold Spirit That is in respect of the double effect that the spirit of God works upon the spirits of men for every man hath the spirit of God working in him answerable to the Covenant under which he stands Christ having the administration of both Covenants the Covenant of grace and the Covenant of works and the spirit of Christ being the Prorex of Christ in the administration of all things in his kingdom the spirit that accompanies the first Covenant and works in all that are under it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 8.15 2 Tim. 1.7 But the spirit that acompanies the Covenant of grace and works in all those whose Covenant is changed is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Rom. 8.45 2 Cor. 3.17 And the liberty or the bondage of a mans spirit lies mainly in his Conscience The spirit of God coming in to a mans Conscience gives him boldness and a manuduction into the presence of God the boldness of a man that has a spirit of adoption Job 2 it makes him lift up his face in the presence of God and the spirit coming into a mans heart as a spirit of Bondage it casts upon a man chains of darkness Jude 6. Heb. 2.15 Now As here in this life the spirit of God as a spirit of Sonship and Adoption comes into the soul but by degrees and we do but receive the first fruits Rom. 8.23 The earnest Ephes 9.4 All is but as a spark to the Fire a drop to the Ocean and the spirit of God works and withdraws it self and the man is diserted so now the coming of the spirit of God into the Conscience is but a pledge and the first fruits of wrath which now a man receives but in the first fruits in a weak measure and with much intermission We have our well and our ill dayes c. And men have their deversions notwithstanding the pangs of their Consciences Caine can build Cities to drown the cry of Conscience but hereafter as the spirit of God in Heaven shall be perfectly a spirit of Adoption so in Hell it shall be perfectly a spirit of Bondage and Fear and that without intermission or interception for ever Secondly After this Life Conscience shall be perfectly inlightned and perfectly awakened There are two great evils that hinder the working of Conscience in this Life First A blindness and that both sinful and penal Luk 19.11 They would not know the things of their peace in the day of their peace therefore they were now hid from their eyes and so men go hoodwinckt to Hell and fall into distruction ere they apprehend their danger Mal. 3.8 Will a man rob God c. And they say wherein have we rob'd thee Isa 26.11 The hand of the Lord is lifted up but they will not see and Isa 5.20 They call evil good and good evil put darkness for light and light for darkness and they Math. 6.7 Did think they had prayed well when they babled much for they did expect to be heard for it and so there is a great deal of blindness that does sease upon men Judicially Rom. 11.7 Secondly There is also a spirit of stumber Isa 29.10 The word in the Hebrew is the same that is used of Adam when God took out a rib from him Gen. 2.21 Let God threaten judgment and terrour out of his word and the man awakes not but is in a deep sleep still But there are some spiritual Judgments that are also eternal a man being forsaken of God and God leaving him to the willful wickedness of his own spirit But there are some that are but temporal and only for the time of this Life God gives men over to Atheism and the Fool says there is no God But though there are Atheists here there are no Atheists in Hell God gives men over to blindness here that they will not see that sin is so great an evil and the wrath of God is so dreadful as it is But they shall see and the blindness of their minds shall be done away and they shall be awakned and the spirit of slumber removed and Conscience shall never sleep again Thirdly All the faculties of the soul shall be inlarged here they are streightned by sin and are of a narrow capacity and it is little either joy or sorrow that they are capable of also Conscience renewed is capable of a little Grace there is an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a measure a pitch to which they come and that is but little before they be translated to Glory it is but a taste that the Lord is gracious it is but the first fruits of the spirit but after this life all the faculties shall be inlarged that they shall be made vessels prepared for Glory So wicked men Cain and Judas they are capable of a little wrath here as a man cannot see God and live he is not capable of the glory of Heaven so neither is a man capable of the torments of Hell and live a child is capable of more wrath in Hell then the wickedest man that ever was whilest he lived here therefore they shall be vessels fitted for destruction c. And hence it is that men cannot call to mind the offers of grace and opertunities neglected rejected motions the duties omited the sins commited Sermons heard the truths that were offered to be disposed the several checks of a mans own Conscience and the several admonitions of friends reproaches of enemies c. A man cannot conceive how it should be but then our faculties shall be inlarged and we shall put off our houses of Clay by which the soul is streightened and it shall be conversant
one potion and therefore it will be good for you to take that in time also Now what is this medicine that will purge the Conscience it is the blood of Christ onely Heb. 9.14 It shall purge your Conscience from dead works and Heb. 10.22 Having our hearts sprinkled from an evil Conscience Here is first the disease and that is dead works with the subject of it or the part of the evil affected that is the Conscience Secondly There is the medicine it 's the bloud of Christ who offered himself by the eternal spirit without spot to God Thirdly The manner how this blood doth it it is by sprinkling and therein the power of this medicine is put forth First The disease dead works in the Conscience are of two sorts Guilt and Lust c. But to awaken every mans Conscience to get it purged take these considerations First By nature every mans Conscience is defiled Tit. 1.15 Heb. 9.14 the blood of Christ comes upon no mans Conscience but it finds it polluted with dead works for whether we consider either the guilt or the defilement of sin it 's the Conscience that is the main receptacle of it the guilt is laid up there Jer. 17.1 The sin of Judah is written with a pen of Iron and with the point of a Diamond it is spoken de summo indelibili reatu it was written upon their Consciences and upon the horns of their Altars nec deleri potest nec latere for it did appear upon every Altar and every new act of sin adds unto the defilement of Conscience that 's the Tophet the Golgotha of the soul men of corrupt Consciences are graves though they appear not so Now when a man shall consider how our iniquities are gone over our heads and are more in number then the hairs of our head and even answerable to the sand upon the Sea shore innumerable What filthy polluted Consciences must such men needs have Secondly Consider what a miserable thing it is for a man to have a polluted Conscience First It breaks a mans peace the inward man is never quiet Isa 57.21 There is no peace says my God to the wicked It is as Austin compares it to a bad wife that when a man hath met with hard labour abroad trouble and afflictions from without and retires himself and hopes to find some comfort at home but there he has never a quiet hour this is more troublesome then any of his outward crosses can be for it is an evil Wife that 's a continual droping so is Conscience Fugiet ab agro ad civitatem à publico ad domum à domo ad cubiculum sequitur tribulatio Secondly It imbitters all a mans comforts a good Conscience will sweeten every cross Paul and Silas can sing in the stocks Ubi cunque alibipassus est tribulationes illuc confugiet ibi inveniet Deum c. and the Martyrs rejoyce a the stake for whensoever any man suffers tribulation for keeping a good Conscience thither God hastens and finds him and makes him rejoyce in the testimony of his Conscience so an evil Conscience will imbitter every comfort Paul can stand with boldness at the Barr when Felix doth tremble on the Bench there is no state can secure a man that has an evil Conscience his comforts will not secure him they will all be imbittered take the choycest pleasures of sin that any man of you doth injoy it is this adds Water to your Wine and adds a tincture of Gall and Wormwood to all your sweetness and delicacies There is an evil spirit that comes upon Saul from the Lord and what is that Turbatur iâ—i anima Conscientia immoderata tristitia a diabolo excitata and when God did suffer Satan to come in and disquiet his Conscience all the comforts of a kingdome could not sweeten such a mans spirit neither can he have any sweetness in them all Thirdly It takes away a mans courage a good Conscience makes a man to be as bold as a Lyon and he can set his face as a Rock let the storm come and yet the Rock shakes not and he is not afraid of evil tideings but the wicked flyes when none pursues them and indeed they need no other pursuer for there is within them Lethalis arundo as a Deer that is shot may run but still carries his misery with him and as Cain surely every one that meets me will slay me Gen. 11.4 Herod when he heard of the fame of Jesus he says surely it is John the Baptist he is risen from the dead and therefore mighty works shew forth themselves in him Fourthly It unfits a man for every duty for the guilt of it arising in the Conscience stops a mans mouth and shuts up his heart before the Lord brings him into the presence of God as a Malefactor into the presence of the Judg with a vail upon his face and pollutes all his services his prayer is turned into sin for all things are defiled unto them whose Consciences are defiled Tit. 1.15 Fifthly A man cannot promise himself any acceptance or success in any thing he does Mal. 3.4 He shall purge them as silver and then shall their sacrifices be pleasant unto the Lord c. and Psal 51.13 Open thou my lips then shall I teach transgressours thy way c. God may indeed work great things by men of polluted Consciences but they cannot promise themselves success in any thing that they undertake till their Consciences be purged Sixthly Thou art in a continual fear and expectation when God will awaken it as he surely will do for sin lyes at the dore but between a godly man and sin there is a wall that will never open but between a wicked man and sin there is a dore that though it may be shut long it will open at last and an evil Conscience it is that watcheth at the dore till the man dare look out miserrimum est talem habere janitorum Luther A Spirit of slumber upon a man and a seared Conscience is a great judgment but it will not last allways it is at farthest but for the time of this Life and then the callumne upon Conscience shall be worne off and the slumber cast away and it shall be awakened so as never to sleep again Read the story of Cain and Belteshazar of Judas and of Spira c. Nay Lay your ears to Hell a while and hear the clamours of polluted Consciences there and you shall see that the greatest plague that can befall a man in this life is to be left unto the power of an evil Conscience so that you had need to seek to have your Consciences purged and this is specially to be considered of you that are grown old in wickedness and whose bones are still full of the sins of your youth having been laying in defilement into your Consciences long surely all this filth the sink and sodoms of vanity
rowl away the stone from the grave but it was done in a legal and judiciary way and therefore he is said to be justified He is near that justifies me 1 Tim. 3.16 Isa 50.8 And by this he doth convince the World of righteousness because the Lord delivered him from death Because he doth go to the Father Sixthly For a Soul by an Almighty power of God to rest upon this satisfaction of his and to plead it before God for himself at his judgment seat First To look upon Christ as dying not for himself but as a surety for in justification and the purging of Conscience from the guilt of sin the eye of Faith is mainly set upon Christ crucified Christ as dying and that as a surety to make satisfaction 1 Cor. 2.2 Heb 9.22 I desire to know nothing but Christ and Christ crucyfied for without sheding of blood there is no remission For though it is true that the personal excellencies that be in Christ are the objects of Faith yet that Faith as it comes to Christ in the act of justyfication and being quit of the guilt of sin it mainly looks upon Christ dying Christ satisfying Secondly To look upon Christ as a representative head as one in whom I died as a surety so as one in whome I rose he was justyfied and I in him because as he dyed for me so for me he was justified also and Christ was formerly condemned therefore there must an act of aquiting pass upon Christ and therefore Heb. 9.28 That it was so apeared plainly for he did bear the sins of many in respect of the guilt of them and he shall apear the second time without sin that is have the guilt of no sin charged upon him in oposition unto his former bearing our iniquities he shall be aquitted before men and angels and therefore he rose as the first fruits as a person representing all the rest of the elect and he was justified in the spirit that is raised up by the power of the divine nature thereby he was manifested to be justified and as he is sanctified as a common person and receives an Image for us that we must bear the Image of the heavenly there is life eternal laid up in him so he is justified as a common person from the guilt of sin that not any iniquity remains unsatisfied for in his behalf that is the ransom in his death is fully paid and as we were condemned in Adam a common person so it is reason we should be justified by Christ as in a common person also now when a soul by an almighty work of the spirit of God looks upon all these acts of Christ and the soul rests upon them in respect of the guilt of sin he doth put his sins upon the head of his surety and looks upon himself as acquitted in his justification and casts himself upon it that he may attain it thus the blood of Christ is said by a mighty work of the spirit on Christs part and faith on ours to be sprinkled upon our Consciences to purge them from the guilt of dead works Quest But how shall I know whether there be such an almighty power put forth in me that I may stay my soul upon Christs blood thus satisfying that I might be able thereby to see my Conscience purged and pacified and the terrour of sin taken away Answ A man shall know this almighty work of the spirit sprinkling this blood of Christ upon the Conscience by enabling a man unto that which all the power and improvement of a natural Conscience cannot perform and it will be seen in three things First When a mans Conscience awakened and convinced of sin doth yet make after reconciliation with God and union with Christ for a natural Conscience can find it easie to believe while he goes on still in his sins and Conscience is a sleep and indeed the faith of most men is but a good conceit of themselves from the self flatery of their own hearts but as soon as Conscience is awakened by and by they fly from God and look upon him as an enemy Luke 3.5 there are Mountains to be made a plain and there are Valleys to be fill'd now when a soul considers himself under the condemnation of sin the curse of the Law and looks upon God as an angry judge and yet saith I have heard that the Lord of Israel is a mercifull God and if mercy save me I shall be saved and if mercy destroy me I shall but dye I will fly to him whom I have offended and lye down at his footstool there is nothing in the world that I desire like unto reconciliation with him and I would be reconciled to him in his own way the way of union with Christ I would he found in him not having my own righteousness I would submit to the way of the Gospel Oh blessed is the Man unto whom the Lord imputes this righteousness and he is made the righteousness of God in Christ when a soul thus convinced of sin saith God be mercifull to me a sinner I will now go to him and leave my self with him let him do as it seemeth good to him as David said if the Lord delight in me he will save me c. truly all the power of nature improved can never make men leave themselves with God in this manner Secondly When a mans sins are discovered and the Lord leads a man into the wardrope of Christs righteousness and enables him to see how there is enough therein to cover them all and as God saw enough of Christs righteousness to satisfie him in point of justice so the Lord doth by a glorious light shew unto the soul enough of Christs righteousness to satisfy also in point of guilt that the soul can in some measure in Christ answer all the objections that Conscience can make by some spiritual reasonings drawn from the Lord Jesus Christ as when Conscience objects sin is a transgression of the Law but the soul answers the sufferings of Christ are the humiliation of the Law-giver sin is a dishonour to God in point of goods but Christ that made all things with him and had the same title unto all that God the Father had he laid down all and became poor and took a new title unto all he had more then a world to lay down sin did wrong God in point of honour but he that was the brightness of his glory did abase himself and made himself of no reputation and did bring thereby more honour to God he being subject to him then the subjection of all the creatures could have done it was a higher honour to the Soveraignty of God to have his son a servant then could have been to have had the service of all the creatures and he can do him more service and bring him in more glory in an hour then all the creatures could have done if man had stood to eternity sin did offend
doth purchase the persons of the elect Acts 20.28 therefore they are called a purchased people 1 Pet. 2.9 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ephes 1.14 they are the seed that do arise from the travel of his soul for he dyed as a grain that he might not abide alone John 12.32 when the Son of man is lifted up he will draw all men unto him and the selecting of the Saints out of this world is a fruit of his death and a part of the purchase thereof Gal. 1.4 Secondly All the graces and all the gifts of the Holy Ghost are part of his purchase though in him they were free he did not merit his unction no more then his union the humane nature could not merit it yet as they are bestowed upon us so they are the fruit of his merit for they could never have conveyed this unto us if he had not satisfied God and laid down a price answerable unto all and therefore Ephes 4.9 10. he that ascended is the same that descended into the lower parts of the Earth and he ascended that he might fill all things all the fruit of his ascention comes from his humiliation had he never descended he had never ascended therefore all the fulness of the graces and the gifts that the elect have it is grounded upon this the fruit of all his offices is grounded upon his Priest-hood he does as a Prophet teach but that he had never done if he had not satisfied he doth as a King dispence gifts but these gifts he gives to his people by his priesthood as an honour that the Lord has given him because of his abasement and his humiliation and thus our sanctification and the purging of the Conscience flows from the death of Christ which is the meritorious cause thereof Thirdly The active obedience of Christ is the pattern and the causa exemplaris of all that holiness and purification that is required of us our holiness consisting in a conformity into Christ he having received the Image of God in himself and by beholding of his Image we are changed into the same 2 Cor 7. last verse Christs life is a living Scripture a visible commentary upon the Law of God whose actions we must follow be you followers of me as I am of Christ looking to Jesus and seting him before us 1 Pet. 2.21 as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Copy for us to write after and whose virtues we must shew forth our happiness being to be like him in glory 1 John 3.3 we must resemble him here as a child doth his father for as we have born the Image of the earthly so we must bear the Image of the heavenly as we have born the one here in sin and guilt so we must bear the other here in grace and hereafter in glory Fourthly Christs blood doth cleanse us by the precepts and the promises of the Gospel he doth sanctifie us by his truth John 17. First by the precepts of it for he saith be you holy as I am holy and learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart as obedient children fashion not your selves according to the lusts of your former ignorance put off the old man and put ye on the new man be not conformable to the World but be transformed by the renewing of your mind and all these precepts have a purging vertue because through the blood of Christ all the commands of the Gospel carry grace with them and a spirit that inables men to fullfil the command jubet juvat Indeed you may well question can a thing that is intrinsically unclean purge it self can a Black-moor change his skin c. It is true he cannot but there is a creating word verbum factivum such as Christ said unto the Leper I will be thou clean and by his commanding it the soul is cleansed as when God by a way of command did cause the creatures to to stand up act of nothing for the commands of the Gospel they are as seed by which a man is begotten and they are as a mold into which a man is transformed Rom. 6.17 A man is cast into it as into a frame that doth change him and fides impetrat qu od lex * Aust imperat Secondly In the promises of the Gospel and they are all grounded in the blood of Christ for all the promises are in him yea and in him Amen he is the center and they are all as so many lines drawn from him he is the great promise that gives being unto all the rest of the promises and efficacy it 's the death of the Testatour that doth confirme the Testament it were else a blank and therefore the Sacrament of the Lords Supper is called the New Testament in his blood Matth. 26.28 That is the whole New Testament and the promises thereof are offered and sealed unto you in his blood and if it were not a Testament in his blood it were invalid and of none effect and the promises of the Gospel do purge the Conscience First As they are objects of Faith Christ having promised in them a purification Isa 4.4 Zac. 13.1 There is a fountain open for sin and for uncleanness Isa 52.15 it is aspersiâ— doctrinae justitiae Mal. 3.1 He shall sit as a refiner and shall sanctify the sons of Levi with refiners fire c. Exek 36.25.37 I will sprinkle clean water upon them c. They shall not defile themselves any more with their Idols and with their detestable things Now the soul looking upon the faithfullness of God and his goodness ingaged in these sayeth having these promises let us cleanse our selves from all filthiness both of flesh and spirit and these promises Faith turns into prayer and obtains the mercy promised because all these promises are confirmed by the bloud of Christ Secondly The promises do purge the Conscience as they are grounds of hope for they are onely promises that are the grounds of hope to the saints Psal 119.49 establish thy word unto thy servant upon which thou hast caused me to hope and a hope that is grounded upon a promise is a hope that will never make a man ashamed and hope is a great ground of purging Tit. 2.12.13 Looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ c. who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify to himself a peculiar people c. The grace of God bringing salvation teacheth us that denying ungodliness and worldly Lusts c. Looking for the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of God as many as have this hope do purify themselves even as he is pure c. Truly in all things the more lively a mans hopes are the more springing his endeavours are And he doth take care to cast away that which will cloud his hope or defer it Phâ—l 3.12 I have a hope of the
holy Math. call no man father upon Earth no man Rabbi upon Earth search the Scriptures Act. 17.11 John 4.1 try the spirits take nothing upon trust it s no disparagement unto the best Ministry to subject their doctrine to the Scriptures Christ himself ordered us to subject his doctrine to the tryal search the Scriptures for in them you think you have eternal life they testifie of me and by this he did confirm his doctrine if once you take things from the authority of man you set the man in the place of Christ and God in judgment may give him up to errour that you may be mislead by him who was so willing to follow his Commandment 1 Cor. 12.2 You were caried away with dumb Idols as you were led the blind lead the blind it is an honour due to God onely to be believed ex authoritate dicentis And therefore away with the names of men I am of Paul and I of Apollo c. For Paul and Apollo c. Is nothing but instruments by whom you believe and there cannot be a greater injury to your Teachers then to set them in the place of Christ c. Sixthly Avoid as much as possible Society with those by whom thou mayest be drawn to be seduced cease to hear that instruction that causeth thee to err from the way of knowledge Prov. 19.27 Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds and destitute of the truth supposing that gain is godliness 2 Tim. 6.5 from such withdraw thy self 1 John 1.10 receive them not into your house bid them not God speed have no common familiarity with them fly from enemies to the truths of God as from a Plague or else if thou dally with them thou wilt be in danger of being insnared by them Lastly Be much in prayer to be preserved when so many even the third part of the Stars of Heaven be swept down that thou mayest stand with the Lamb and not receive the mark of the Beast when the World wonders after him it is a great mercy and therefore say Can. 1.7 Lord shew me where thou feedest where thou makest thy flocks to rest at noon for why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions remember it is not parts nor learning nor common grace that will secure a man from believing lyes for we see men of the greatest parts commonly are taken the wits and the disputers of this World and it is not a form of godlyness nor a profession of Religion but it is walking close with God in that profession we see men in our days that have driven the trade of Religion for many years together and yet may become but broaken professors and prove bankrupt at last become the Leaders of some new Sect and there the height of their Religion ends and if once thy heart sit loose in prayer even in this know thou art immediately in danger to be corrupted and seduced for if once a man cease to pray against sin thou art in danger to commit it this is the way for a man to keep his Conscience pure in the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of it that his judgment be not defiled But there is a double misery that we do labour under at this time as there are heresies and false doctrines on the one side and you must keep your Consciences pure from that leaven so also there is profaneness and all manner of devilish practises on the other side and men do commonly think by objecting the one to justify themselves in the other some are enemies unto Christ in opinion teaching for doctrines the traditions of men and there are some are enemies to Christ in conversation whose god is their belly who glory in their shame and give themselves over unto all excess of riot Christ has enemies even where his kingdom is set up Psal 110 2 For he must rule in the middle of his enemies the time will come when he shall rule over them but now he rules amongst them and those enemies are of three sorts First Some are Christians but not in purity as Hereticks and false teachers and some are Christians but not in sincerity as hypocrites and those that are false hearted and lastly some are called Christians but have not so much as an external conformity and such are prophane and all professed workers of iniquity and there is onely this difference between them one speaks against the Truth and the other lives against the Truth and so all the benefits that we have by having the name of Christ called upon us is this ad hoatantum preceptorum sacrorum scite cognoscimus ut post interdict a gravius peccemus It will be necessary therefore that something be spoken to fortifie your souls and to exhort you to keep your Consciences pure from principles of prophaneness in conversation as well as principles of heresy in opinion for all mens ways are grounded upon the principles with which their mind is stored and by these the man walks and therefore the great work in conversion is to distroy mens former principles and cast down their strong holds and bring their 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 reasonings into subjection lay but these two principles in a mans heart that the Church cannot err and that the Church of Rome is the true Church onely and that man though he know not or consent not unto many of the doctrines of Popery yet he is a Papist in his principles and these will necessarily bring in all the rest and inforce the man to consent unto them all as they shall be discovered to him so there are certain principles that if they be layd in a mans heart though he may not walk in many ways of Prophaneness but for some reasons there is a restraint upon him yet he is in his heart a prophane man and will be ready to break forth into all the ways of prophaneness as occasion and opertunity shall present it self and the principles are such as these First That is the best Religion that men do receive by tradition from their Fathers so they in Jer. 44.17 Our Fathers did burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and then they had plenty of victuals but since there has been innovations and changes in Religion we have never seen peace nor a good day Have any of the nations changed their gods Jer 2 1◠That Religion which they have received by inheritance they take themselves deeply ingaged to keep close to it and say will you be wiser then your fore-fathers and will you say that they have all dyed in errour and will you condemn all these to Hell as men living in errour who were counted good men in their generation When as we know that Christ dyed to redeem us from our vain conversation that we received by tradition from our Fathers and men meerly acquainted with the 1 Pe◠1.18 Scriptures do know that God has promised unto his people
heed of some special sins that above others do most defile the Conscience though indeed all sins defile the Conscience but some sins are of a more bewitching and a more defiling nature then others as First Secret sins will provoke God to give thee up to the judgment of a defiled Conscience as he did Judas because he was a Devil Secondly Idolatry Take heed of hankering after that abomination either to worship an Idol a false god or the true God in a false manner and it is this last that you are most in danger of therefore let it not be said of any of you you know not what you worship but be able to say we know what we worship and how we worship God in spirit and truth and do not set up mans post by Gods post away with all traditious and inventions of men in the worship of God If you would keep Gods presence observe his order let all be done according to the pattern to the Law and to the Testament c. Else God may in just judgment send us strong delusions to believe lies which I fear is like to befall many of this nation who have not received the truth in ths love of it Thirdly Take heed of drunkenness and Whoredome Hos 14.12 Whoredome and Wine and new Wine Prov 2.19 take away thy heart none that go unto her return again neither take they hold of the paths of Life c. Flee fornication and be not drunk with Wine there is a woe to the drunkards c. Whoremongers and adulterers God will judge These sins besot men c. Lastly Be much in a secret judging of your selves and in a private examination Hag. 1.7 the Lord saith consider your ways and set your hearts upon them and turn in upon your actions and overlook them again bring them to the Light prove your selves and judge your selves and do it often there is a daily judicatory to be erected a cultus conscientiae which a man should be busied about every day Matt. 25.7 Then all those Virgins arose and trimmed their lamps the wise as well as the foolish c. Ego de terrenis negotiis simpliciter accipio Calv. Whilest men are in this World there is a daily defilement that will cleave unto them a squallor there will be something out of order that there must be a daily and a continual triming the wise as well as the foolish Virgins must be found in it and truely if a man neglects it but a while and keeps not a constant course in it a man shall find a strange averseness in his spirit thereunto all his life after for the way to sin's defilement is mainly by insensibleness a man is hardened by the deceitfulness of sin and walks with God at a venture and truely if Satan brings a man to that once he hath prevailed very farr and will exceedingly defile the man We have spoken of keeping a good Conscience 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 towards God let us now come to consider also what it is for a man to keep a good Conscience towards man for both these must go together he must keep a good Conscience in all things as was hinted formerly and be holy 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for a dead fly spoils the whole Box of Oyntment and a good Conscience is like to the eye it hates motes and they disquiet it as well as beams It 's an errour in the common sort of men to think all Religion lyes in their just and upright carriage towards men as the Pharisees did and to such I say doth your righteousness exceed the righteousness of the cribes and Pharisees if not you shall never enter into the Kingdom of God c. Indeed there is a civil honesty a sweet and an ingenious carriage towards men that is very lovely and these are commonly called the worlds Saints and indeed they have nothing amongst them appears so pleasing Mar. 10.21 Christ loved the young man and yet peculiar Grace he had none for he was under the reigning power of covetousness and therefore there was something in him that was more general for which Christ loved him he had restraining grace and a sweet outward carriage that even the spirit of God had wrought in him habent filii concubinarum sua munera c. and yet Christ said to him for all these accomplishments one thing thou lackest c. and if thou walk never so uprightly before men that thou be esteemed the worlds Saint and thou couldest bring a testimony of thy good behaviour from all the ingenious men of thy age yet without an inward work of grace and regeneration and a heart inlivened by a spirit of faith so that all these works flow from union with Christ and from a principle of love wrought in thee to God truly all that thou dost is abominable to God in non renatis non solum peccata sed bona opera sunt mortalia for fides est caput bonorum operum and if that be wanting all of it is but nature improved and new dressed and so can never please God semen naturae non consurgit in fructum gratiae for a mans duties do proceed from the same principles that his sins do and there must be a renewing in the spirit of his mind before God accepts any service of him And there are some men do turn to the other extream and they say that all obedience is mainly towards God and therefore they are much in prayer and hearing and run from Ordinance to Ordinance and they do speak much also of keeping a good Conscience before God but yet they are negligent and loose in their carriages towards men they are as censorious and unjust and deceitfull busie-bodies in other mens matters proud boasters false accusers whisperers c. Yet these men would pass for Saints and think themselves in the highest form of professors Now this is a sure rule a pure Conscience though he cannot keep all the commandments of God yet he has a respect unto them all as Psal 119.6 with a care to walk answerable unto them and there is none that he doth wholly neglect as the word in the Hebrew signifies that man therefore whose profession for God is never so high and talkes never so much of having a good heart to Gods word and would be accounted in his religious duties even Angelical he prays much hears much fasts much c. Yet if he practise it not in his particular place in his relations in his shop in his dealings with a man I shall strongly suspect that man of hallowness and hypocrisie how ever he may tip his Tongue like a Saint yet he may boldly be reckoned amongst the sinners and such are spots in our feasts c. Now To stir you up to this Duty of keeping a good Conscience towards men let me exhort you to observe these particulars First Take special care of the souls that are committed to your
9.1 The Well or the deep or the bottomless pit because a mans estate there is eternal there is no changing a man sinks into a bottomless pit where there is no hope that ever a man shall rise again a great gulf there is and there is no changing of a mans state so ever Thus doth the spirit of God in Scripture by Metaphors of all sorts of things that are dreadfull unto sence set forth the condition of the damned and the torments that he has reserved for them in the life to come Thus we see that God has done alâ— in a Metaphorical way and by borrowed expressions and so I conceive it is in this place and therefore it will be necessary that we do inquire what the Lord doth usually expresâ— by fire in Scripture and thereby wâ— shall find out the meaning of thâ—â— fire in the text that never shall bâ— quenched I find in Scripture many things expressed by fire but to ouâ— present purpose especially these two first the wrath and displeasure of the great God which does break forth upon men as fire upon stubble and and so it 's expressed in Deut. 4.24 Heb. 12. last The Lord thy God is a consuming fire and it is said that the light of Israel shall be for a fire c. The same God that is a fire for light unto his people comforting them and shinein upon them the same ignis vorans to his enemies as briars and thorns in one day so Deut. 32.22 For a fire is kindled in my anger and shall burn to the lowest Hell 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there is a grave where the bodies of men are buried but there is also a lower grave and a deeper destruction for their souls therefore is the wrath of God in Scripture commonly expressed by fire Secondly By the fruits and effects of wrath all miseries and calamities that come upon men whatsoever Psal 66.12 Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads we went thorow fire and water all manner of miseries thou broughtest us forth into a wealthy place c. Through the wrath of the Lord is the Land darkened c. Isa 2.19 And the people shall be as fewel for the fire and so Glausius does expound that place Isa 24.15 Wherefore glorifie the Lord in the fire 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he had spoken of great afflictions that God would bring upon the people even desolation and destruction but yet the Lord will not make a full end some shall be left as the shaking of an Olive-tree and as the Grape gleanings after the Vintage and they shall sing for the Majesty of the Lord and shall glorify the Lord in the fires in all those sad things and tokens of his wrath that have come upon other men in their sight and yet they have been preserved even in the fires By fire Here I conceive to be meant all the positive part of the torments of Hell and because they are not onely upon the soul but also upon the body as in Heaven there shall be all bodyly perfections so there shall be also in Hell all bodily miseries whatsoever may make a man perfectly miserable Therefore the wrath of God and all the positive effects of this wrath is here meant by fire First To begin with the wrath of God and that is the fire that is here meant and hence the Doctrine is this That it is the wrath of God in Hell Doct. that shall be the great Tormentor the immediate Executioner Here God doth punish men by the creatures but hereafter they shall fall immediately into the hands of the living God This we shall prove by these arguments and demonstrations First After this life God shall be be all in all as it is said 1 Cor. 15.28 In this life all Gods dispensations are by the creatures he governs by them by Magistrates and Ministers and Angels and also he doth permit the Devils to have power and dominion but he will then put down all rule and authority and power not onely Magistrates and Ministers but even Angels and Devils when the dispensatory kingdome of Christ in this World shall have an end then all these creature-administrations shall cease no more comforts by ordinances and Relations no more miseries by enimies but God shall be all in all either in mercy or in wrath and all the misery of the creatures shall be from hence Rom. 9.22 It is to shew his wrath and to make his power known 2 Thes 1.9 punished with eternal destruction from the presence of God and the glory of his power therefore as in Heaven the comforts of souls shall come in mainly from God imediately so in Hell shall their terrour also for all the comfort of the creatures shall cease and it is the wrath of God immediately that shall be the great torment Secondly After this Life God doth intend to dispence all his wrath and to show it forth as the wrath of a God Psal 78.38 And if he will do so he must do it immediately as it Heaven if he will shew forth the love of a God he must do it immediately and therefore though God could comfort a man exceedingly by the creatures yet they are to mean to testifie Gods Love Eccles 9 1. There is no creature that is a vessel that car receiven all the Love of God and empty it into the man so he cannot know hacred for there is no creature can be 〈◊〉 able to receive all the 〈…〉 and therefore as in Heaven there shall be something beyond all creature comforts so in Hell shall be something beyond all created miseries Therefore Rom. 9.22 They be called vessels of wrath that God made to receive it Thirdly The wrath of God after this Life shall he such as passeth knowledge and passeth fear Who knows the power of thy wrath Psal 90.11 Now there is no creature can fill the Soul all the goodness that is in the creature cannot satisfie the hope of man and all the evil in the creature cannot satisfie the fears of man there will still be something that will go beyond a mans knowledg and that a mans fears will go beyond and therefore we commonly say men are more feard then hurt But in Heaven as the soul will be satisfied beyond all the good of the creatures and that beyond a mans hopes for the Lord will come to be admired in his Saints Now 2 Thes 1. Admiration is the overplus of Expectation so in Hell the Soul will be filled with torment beyond what was or can be apprehended in the creatures and as the good will pass a mans hopes so will the evil in Hell pass a mans fears but this cannot be in the creature for the good of it cannot pass the one and all the evil of it cannot go beyond the other and therefore if a mans comforts were only created all the comforts in the World would not make up Heaven or happiness for they are but
God and the greatest can do no more then kill the body as the life of the Soul comes from God only so does the death of the Soul also for he only is the father of spirits and the Lord loves variety in his dominion over us he will for a time govern by the Creatures and comfort by the Creatures and afflict by them but hereafter he will then govern by himself immediately and comfort and afflict by himself immediately the one in this life and the other in the life to come First Vse This informes us that there are certain men that are children of wrath knowing the terror of the Lord we would perswade you to fly from the wrath to come for it is a fearfull thing to fall into the hands of the living God Here first I will shew you who the persons are that be the children of wrath Secondly what we would perswade them to if the Spirit of God joyn with us therein First Who they are and unto whom this use is directed that there are some children of wrath is plain Isa 10.6 The people of my wrath that is appointed to wrath and Isa 34.5 a sword is bathed in Heaven which doth express the decree and purpose of wrath it is upon the people of his curse now if this be true of temporal wrath how much more of eternal wrath which the Apostle saith is the condition of all men by nature even of the elect of God as well as of others before they are converted Ephes 2.3 We by nature were dead in trespasses and sins as well as others and children of wrath now they are said to be the children of it because they were born to it and it is their inheritance all that ever they must look for men appointed to it as a child of death is a man deserving death and appointed thereunto and as the Saints are called the children of light so are these also children of wrath so if you would ask for whom is this wrath and who according to the rules of the word are under it it is every man that is in a state of nature and a state of unregenerasy But how should a man know who it is that is in a state of nature surely a man may know if he will but behold his face in the Glass of the Word and discerne what manner of person he is James 1.24 There is a judgment that passeth upon the eternal states of men in the Word of God 1 Cor. 14.25 Ezek. 20 The man is judged of all and the secrets of his heart are made manifest and he saith that God is in you of a truth a man looking into the Word may discerne what his estate is Now first they are children of wrath that are children of disobedience Col. 3.6 for these things the wrath of God comes upon the children of disobedience John He that is born of God sinneth not non operatur peccatum he that committeth sin is the servant of sin and he that commits sin is of the Devil that is that lives and lyes in any known way of sinning that he doth reserve unto himself a sweet Morsell that he cannot cast out that the comfort of his life comes in by he eats the bread of wickedness and drinks the Wine of violence he feeds upon huskes and upon ashes Isa 44.20 over whom sin has dominion and it reigns in their mortal body and they obey it in the lust thereof and take care to make provision for 't thou art yet in my sins and not only sins of commission but sins of omission for such also this fire is prepared Depart from me you cursed into everlasting fire Mat. 25 prepared for the Devil an his Angels for I was hungry and ye gave me no meat it is not you took away my meat and naked and ye robbed me of my cloathing I was amongst you and ye put me into prison but ye did not visit me and Minister unto me c. So that even sins of omission also prove an unregenerate state and will make a man lyable unto this wrath at the coming of the Lord. Secondly The wrath of God is revealed from Heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men Rom. 1. who withhold the truthin unrighteousness When men are convinced that such things are duties and will acknowledge them and that such things are sins and yet for some worldly ends and base respects will not forbear to practise them as many of the Pharisees were convinced that Christ was the Messiah and yet for fear of the Jews durst not confess him Joh. 12.42 that go on in sin against their own light and convictions from day to day and against many warnings and admonissions and his own remembrances of the dealings of God both with himself and others that have been engaged in sinfull courses and truly this fire will not burn hotter upon any sort of sinners in the world then they that sin against light and in this manner do withhold the truth in unrighteousness Thirdly They are asted by no other spirit but the spirit of this world for there is a double spirit that men are acted by in all their actions the Spirit of God acts some men and the spirit of the world acts others they that are regenerate have received the Spirit of Christ and where the spirit of Christ is there are all the fruits of the Spirit and the inward man is in some measure conformed unto Christ whereas other men are acted by no other rules but the custom of the world for worldly ends that look no higher then the things of this life and the things that are seen whereas a man that is regenerate has received another spirit that acts him by another rule for he is led by the Spirit and unto a higher end he looks upon the things that are not seen Fourthly 2 Cor. 4. In this are the children of God manifest and the children of the Devil he that doth not righteousness is not of God and he that loves not his brother verse the 14. We know that we are translated from death to life because we love the brethren now when a mans heart is imbittered against the Saints of the most high he doth wish evil to them and if any evil doth befall them he rejoyceth and at least if he can do no more he will inwardly please himself that they are brought low it 's an argument that thou art one of the Serpents seed and thy envy is both thy sin and thy Plague as it is the Devils I will put enmity sayes God between the seed of the Serpent and the seed of the Woman the enmity is put into the Devils Curse and if thou didst love him that did beget thou wouldst love them that are begotten of him and thou that dost hate the Image of God wheresoever it is and the more thou dost see of the Image of God in the man the more thou
mercy but there is a time when the door will be past opening Mat. 25.10 Eccl. 9.20 and all mercy will be shut out for ever there is no work nor device nor knowledge nor wisdom in the Grave whither thou goest The day of Grace has an end but the day of wrath will never end the days of Grace may be numbred but the days of wrath shall be numberless for the Scripture doth say that if the day of Grace be once overpast it will never return again Secondly An ungodly mans hope is said in Scripture to dye with him Job 11.20 his hope is as the giving up of the Ghost He breaths out his last hope and his last breath together for when a wicked man dyes his hope perishes Pro. 11.7 but the Righteous has hope in his death his hope is a living hope and therefore it dyes not with his body Now how comes it to pass a mans hope perishes this is grounded upon the eternity that is to come for were there not an eternity a mans hope would live but at a mans death a wicked mans eternal state being cast his hope dyes because there can be no expectation of a change in all afflictions here there is hope of an end or some mitigation Zac. 9 1◠they are all prisoners of hope c. And the Lord shall say to them in that day Turn you to the strong hold c. but in Hell there is no hope of any other state no not for one moment but the torment continues to eternity Rev. 20. Thirdly Hell is called a bottomless pit Luke 8.31 And this must needs express the eternity of it out of a pit in which there is no bottom there can be no redemption but a man must sink and sinks for ever it is eternity to the bottom there are pits here in which men may be cast not only into the prison but into the Sea or into the Dungeon in the prison and yet out of all these they may be delivered by the blood of the Covenant and brought out but this bottomless pit there is no blood of the Covenant to redeem from There is a great Gulfe set that is by a divine decree stablished and fixed a mans state is set for eternity and there is no hope of a change a passage here there is from death to life but there is none hereafter for there is a great Gulse that God has set between that there can be no passage no change of a mans condition there can be no translation for judgment pronounced against a man at the last day is eternal judgment Fifthly If a man that is under this torment would come forth there be Chains cast upon him to keep him under that darkness Jude 6. so that he cannot escape as Jude sayes the Angels that kept not their first estate but left their own habitation are kept in Chains under darkness 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they are kept in Chains that is the Judgment of God and the power of God significat potentiam Dei quâ tanqnam vinculis aeternis nunquam solvendis Estius and it is under darkness either in Hell the darkness there or under the darkness and the guilty thoughts of their own spirits now under both these the Devils are already and this is the wrath and these are the Chains that are prepared for all the seed of the Serpent which shall torment them Sixthly This fire can never goe out because there will be for ever a supply of the fuel now if there be always combustble matter added to fire here the fire will never go out but in this there will be always a supply the fire will still have an addition of fuel and of blowing the pile thereof is fire and much wood sa 30.33 the breath of the Lord like a stream of Brimstone doth kindle it c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies not barely a stream but a torrent a flood a violent and swift-running stream from much waters and Brimstone is the most fierce burning for fire to work upon and it is most hardly quenched and a River a Torrent of Brimstone the wrath of the Lord 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 burning in it the fuel is the wrath of God as a River of Brimstone burning in it as in this life the spirit of God in a work of grace is not only fire but oil it is maintained and supplied by the same grace and the same spirit and is maintained by it so after this life the spirit of God will not only be fire but a River of brimstone and their will be a dayly maintanance a continual supply of the same wrath for ever therefore that fire can never be quenched Let us now look in the grounds of this eternity and that the rather because there is a principal in the minds of men ready to tax the Lord of cruelty and injustice that he should for the sins of a few years lay upon men punishment and torment to eternity the acts transient and but for a moment that the wrath of God should be permanent and never end and therefore say they these things cannot fland with the justice of God or with his mercy therefore they conceive that men shall be but punished for a time and a time for their deliverance will come when this worm shall dye and this fire shall be quenched and some say the persons shall be destroyed and others that they be annihelated as the Socinians and divers desperate Libertines at this day that will never be perswaded that it can agree with the merciful nature of God to make creatures eternally to destroy them for a few acts of sin committed a few years here in this life and Origen was so merciful in this kind that he would have the Devil saved after some years and Hell fire to be wholly put out and Austin in his time had to do cum misericordibus quibusdam qui nolunt credere poenam sempiternam futuram c. But that men after some certain time should be delivered de civet L. 21. c. 17. Now The grounds of this eternity of wrath are these First Gods intention from eternity was to shew his wrath and to make his power known unto the vessels of wrath Rom. 9.21.22 All men are in his hand as clay in the hand of the potter and it is in his power to make them vessels of honour or dishonour Now if the Lord will shew the riches of his glory and of his mercy unto the vessels of mercy it must be to eternity and to everlasting life so if the Lord will shew forth the power of his wrath it must be to eternity for the one must answer the other and if there be eternal mercy to manifest the one there will require eternal wrath to shew forth the other for there are but two things in which the love of God is seen and in which his wrath is seen and they are things