Dr. TILLOTSON's SERMON Before the QUEEN March the 7th 1689 90. A SERMON Preach'd before the QUEEN AT WHITE-HALL March the 7th 1689 90. By JOHN TILLOTSON D. D. Dean of St. Paul's And Clerk of the Closet to His Majesty Published by Their Majesties Special Command LONDON Printed for Brabazon Aylmer at the Three Pigeons against the Royal Exchange in Cornhil Will. Rogers at the Sun over-against St. Dunstan's Church in Fleet-street and John Tillotson Bookseller in London M DC XC A SERMON Preached at White-Hall MATTH 25. 46. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment but the Righteous into life eternal AMong all the arguments to Repentance and a good Life those have the greatest force and power upon the minds of men which are fetch'd from another World and from the final state of good and bad men after this Life And this our Saviour represents to us in a most lively manner in that prospect which in the later part of this Chapter he gives us of the Judgment of the great Day namely that at the end of the World the Son of Man shall come in his glory with his Holy Angels and shall sit upon the Throne of his Glory and all Nations shall be gathered before him and shall be separated into two great Companies the Righteous and the Wicked who shall stand the one on the Right hand and the other on the Left of this great Judge who shall pronounce sentence severally upon them according to the actions which they have done in this Life The Righteous shall be rewarded with eternal happiness and the Wicked shall be sentenc'd to everlasting punishment And these that is the Wicked shall go away into everlasting punishment but the Righteous into Life eternal The Words are plain and need no explication For I take it for granted that every one at first hearing of them does clearly apprehend the difference between the Righteous and the Wicked and between endless Happiness and Misery But although these Words be so very easie to be understood they can never be too much consider'd by us The Scope and design of them is to represent to us the different Fates of good and bad men in another World and that their Ends there will be as different as their Ways and doings have been here in this World The serious consideration whereof is the greatest discouragement to Sin and the most powerful argument in the World to a holy and vertuous life Because it is an argument taken from our greatest and most lasting interest our happiness or our misery to all Eternity A concernment of that vast consequence that it must be the greatest stupidity and folly in the World for any man to neglect it This eternal state of Rewards and Punishments in another World our Blessed Saviour hath clearly revealed to us And as to one part of it viz. That good men shall be eternally happy in another World every one gladly admits it But many are loth that the other part should be true concerning the eternal punishment of wicked men And therefore they pretend that it is contrary to the Justice of God to punish temporary Crimes with eternal Torments Because Justice always observes a proportion between Offences and Punishments but between temporary Sins and eternal Punishments there is no proportion And as this seems hard to be reconcil'd with Justice so much more with that excess of Goodness which we suppose to be in God And therefore they say that though God seem to have declar'd that impenitent Sinners shall be everlastingly punish'd yet these declarations of Scripture are so to be mollified and understood as that we may be able to reconcile them with the essential perfections of the Divine nature This is the full force and strength of the Objection And my work at this time shall be to clear if I can this difficult Point And that for these two Reasons First For the vindication of the Divine Justice and Goodness That God may be justified in his sayings and appear Righteous when he judgeth And Secondly because the belief of the threatnings of God in their utmost extent is of so great moment to a good Life and so great a discouragement to Sin For the sting of Sin is the terrour of eternal punishment and if men were once set free from the fear and belief of this the most powerful restraint from Sin would be taken away So that in answer to this Objection I shall endeavour to prove these two things First That the eternal punishment of wicked men in another World is plainly threatned in Scripture Secondly That this is not inconsistent either with the Justice or the Goodness of God First That the eternal punishment of wicked men in another World is plainly threatned in Scripture namely in these following Texts Matth. 18. 8. It is better for thee to enter into Life halt and maimed than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire And Matth. 25. 41. Depart ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels And here in the Text these that is the wicked shall go away into everlasting punishment And Mark 9. It is there three several times with great vehemency repeated by our Saviour where their worm dyeth not and the fire is not quenched And 2 Thess. 1. 9. speaking of them that know not God and obey not the Gospel of his Son it is said of them who shall be punish'd with everlasting destruction I know very well that great endeavour hath been us'd to avoid the force of these Texts by shewing that the words for ever and everlasting are frequently us'd in Scripture in a more limited sence only for a long duration and continuance Thus for ever doth very often in the Old Testament only signifie for a long time and till the end of the Jewish Dispensation And in the Epistle of St. Jude verse 7th The Cities of Sodom and Gomorrah are said to be set forth for an example suffering the vengeance of eternal fire that is of a fire that was not extinguish'd till those Cities were utterly consumed And therefore to clear the meaning of the forementioned Texts First I shall readily grant that the words for ever and everlasting do not always in Scripture signifie an endless duration and that this is sufficiently proved by the instances alledg'd to this purpose But then Secondly it cannot be denyed on the other hand that these words are often in Scripture used in a larger sence and so as necessarily to signifie an interminable and endless duration As where Eternity is attributed to God and he is said to live for ever and ever And where eternal happiness is another World is promised to good men and that they shall be for ever with the Lord. Now the very same words and expressions are used concerning the punishment of wicked men in another life and there is great reason why we should understand them in the same extent Both because if
forbearance what in reason remains for us but a fearful looking for of Judgment and fiery Indignation to consume us And what almost can Justice or even Goodness it self do less than to inflict that punishment upon us which with eyes open we would wilfully run upon and which no warning no persuasion no importunity could prevail with us to avoid And when as the Apostle says knowing the Judgment of God that they which commit such things are worthy of death yet for all that we would venture to commit them And therefore whatever we suffer we do but inherit our own choice and have no reason to complain of God who hath set before us Life and Death eternal Happiness and Misery and hath left us to be the Carvers of our own Fortune And if after all this we will obstinately refuse this happiness and wilfully run upon this Misery Wo unto us for we have rewarded evil to our selves You see then by all that hath been said upon this Argment what we have all reason to expect if we will still go on in our Sins and will not be brought to Repentance You have heard what a terrible Punishment the just God hath threaten'd to the Workers of Iniquity and that in as plain words as can be used to express any thing These that is the wicked shall go away into everlasting Punishment but the righteous into Life eternal Here are Life and Death Happiness and Misery set before us Not this frail and mortal Life which is hardly worth the having were it not in order to a better and happier Life nor a temporal Death to get above the dread whereof should not me thinks be difficult to us were it not for the bitter and terrible consequences of it But an eternal Life and an eternal enjoyment of all things which can render Life pleasant and happy and a perpetual Death which will for ever torment us but never make an end of us These God propounds to our choice And if the consideration of them will not prevail with us to leave our sins and to reform our lives what will Weightier Motives cannot be propos'd to the understanding of Man than everlasting Punishment and Life eternal than the greatest and most durable happiness and the most intolerable and lasting misery that human Nature is capable of Now considering in what terms the Threatnings of the Gospel are express'd we have all the reason in the world to believe that the Punishment of Sinners in another world will be everlasting However we cannot be certain of the contrary time enough to prevent it not till we come there and find by experience how it is And if it prove so it will then be too late either to prevent that terrible Doom or to get it revers'd Some comfort themselves with the uncomfortable and uncertain hope of being discharg'd out of Being and reduc'd to their first Nothing at least after the tedious and terrible suffering of the most grievous and exquisite Torments for innumerable Ages And if this should happen to be true good God! how feeble how cold a comfort is this Where is the Reason and Understanding of Men to make this their last Refuge and Hope and to lean upon it as a matter of mighty consolation that they shall be miserable beyond all imagination and beyond all patience for God knows how many Ages Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge No right sense and judgment of things No consideration and care of themselves no concernment for their own lasting Interest and Happiness Origen I know not for what good reason is said to have been of opinion That the punishment of Devils and wicked men after the Day of Judgment will continue but for a thousand years and that after that time they shall all be finally saved I can very hardly persuade my self that so wise and learned a man as Origen was should be positive in an Opinion for which there can be no certain ground in Reason especially for the punctual and precise term of a thousand years and for which there is no ground at all that I know of from Divine Revelation But upon the whole matter however it be be it for a thousand years or be it for a longer and unknown term or be it for ever which seems to be plainly threaten'd in the Gospel I say however it be this is certain that it is infinitely wiser to take care to avoid it than to dispute it and to run the final hazard of it Put it which way we will especially if we put it at the worst as in all prudence we ought to do it is by all possible means to be provided against So terrible so intolerable is the thought yea the very least suspicion of being miserable for ever And now give me leave to ask You as St. Paul did King Agrippa Do you believe the Scriptures And I hope I may answer my self as he did I know you do believe them And in them these things are clearly revealed and are part of that Creed of which we make a solemn profession every day And yet when we consider how most men live is it credible that they do firmly believe this plain Declaration of our Saviour and our Judge That the wicked shall go away into everlasting Punishment but the righteous into Life eternal Or if they do in some sort believe it is it credible that they do at all consider it seriously and lay it to heart So that if we have a mind to reconcile our belief with our Actions we must either alter our Bible and our Creed or we must change our Lives Let us then consider and shew our selves men And if we do so can any man to please himself for a little while be contented to be punish'd for ever and for the shadow of a short and imperfect happiness in this life be willing to run the hazard of being really and eternally miserable in the next World Surely this consideration alone of the extreme and endless misery of impenitent Sinners in another World if it were but well wrought into our minds would be sufficient to kill all the temptations of this World and to lay them dead at our feet and to make us deaf to all the Enchantments of Sin and Vice Because they bid us so infinitely to our loss when they offer us the enjoyment of a short Pleasure upon so very hard and unequal a condition as that of being miserable for ever The eternal Rewards and Punishments of another Life which are the great Sanction and Security of God's Laws one would think should be a sufficient weight to cast the Scales against any Pleasure or any Pain that this World can tempt or can threaten us withal And yet after all this will we still go on to do wickedly when we know the terrours of the Lord and that we must one day answer all our bold violations of his Law and contempts of his Authority with the loss of our
in it Justice indeed is concern'd that the Righteous and the Wicked should not be treated alike and farther yet that greater sins should have a heavier punishment and that mighty sinners should be mightily tormented but all this may be consider'd and adjusted in the degree and the intenseness of the suffering without making any difference in the duration of it The case then in short stands thus Whenever we break the Laws of God we fall into his hands and lye at his mercy and he may without injustice inflict what punishment upon us he pleaseth And consequently to secure his Law from violation he may beforehand threaten what penalties he thinks fit and necessary to deter men from the Transgression of it And this is not esteemed unjust among men to punish Crimes that are committed in an instant with the perpetual loss of Estate or Liberty or Life Secondly This will yet appear more reasonable when we consider that after all he that threatens hath still the power of execution in his own hands For there is this remarkable difference between Promises and Threatnings that he who promiseth passeth over a right to another and thereby stands obliged to him in Justice and Faithfulness to make good his promise and if he do not the party to whom the promise is made is not onely disappointed but injuriously dealt withal But in threatnings it is quite otherwise He that threatens keeps the right of punishing in his own hand and is not obliged to execute what he hath threatned any further than the reasons and ends of Government do require And he may without any injury to the party threatned remit and abate as much as he pleaseth of the punishment that he hath threatned And because in so doing he is not worse but better than his word no body can find fault or complain of any wrong or injustice thereby done to him Nor is this any impeachment of Gods truth and faithfulness any more than it is esteem'd among men a piece of falshood not to do what they have threatned God did absolutely threaten the destruction of the City of Niniveh and his peevish Prophet did understand the threatning to be absolute and was very angry with God for employing him in a message that was not made good But God understood his own right and did what he pleas'd notwithstanding the threatning he had denounc'd and for all Jonah was so touch'd in honour that he had rather have dyed himself than that Niniveh should not have been destroy'd onely to have verifi'd his message I know it is said in this case that God hath confirm'd these threatnings by an Oath which is a certain sign of the immutability of his counsel and therefore his Truth is concern'd in the strict and rigorous execution of them The Land of Canaan was a Type of Heaven and the Israelites who rebell'd in the Wilderness were also a Type of impenitent Sinners under the Gospel and consequently the Oath of God concerning the rebellious Israelites when he sware in his wrath that they should not enter into his rest that is into the Land of Canaan doth equally oblige Him to execute his threatning upon all impenitent Sinners under the Gospel that they shall never enter into the Kingdom of God And this is very truly reason'd so far as the threatning extends which if we attend to the plain words of it beyond which threatnings are never to be stretch'd doth not seem to reach any further than to the exclusion of impenitent Sinners out of Heaven and their falling finally short of the Rest and Happiness of the Righteous Which however directly overthrows the Opinion ascrib'd to Origen that the Devils and wicked men shall all be saved at last God having sworn in his wrath that they shall never enter into his rest But then as to the eteâ—nal misery and punishment threatned to wicked men in the other World though it be not necessarily comprehended in this Oath that they shall not enter into his Rest yet we are to consider that both the tenour of the Sentence which our Blessed Saviour hath assur'd us will be pass'd upon them at the Judgment of the Great Day Depart ye cursed into everlasting fire and likewise this Declaration in the Text that the Wicked shall go away into everlasting punishment though they do not restrain God from doing what he pleases yet they cut off from the Sinner all reasonable hopes of the relaxation or mitigation of them For since the great Judge of the World hath made so plain and express a Declaration and will certainly pass such a Sentence it would be the greatest folly and madness in the world for the Sinner to entertain any hope of escaping it and to venture his soul upon that hope I know but one thing more commonly said upon this Argument that seems material And that is this That the words death and destruction and perishing whereby the punishment of wicked men in the other World is most frequently express'd in Scripture do most properly import annihilation and an utter end of Being and therefore may reasonably be so understood in the matter of which we are now speaking To this I answer that these words and those which answer them in other Languages are often both in Scripture and other Authors used to signifie a state of great misery and suffering without the utter extinction of the miserable Thus God is often in Scripture said to bring destruction upon a Nation when he sends great Judgments upon them though they do not exterminate and make an utter end of them And nothing is more common in most Languages than by perishing to express a person's being undone and made very miserable As in that known passage in Tiberius his Letter to the Roman Senate Let all the Gods and Goddesses saith he destroy me worse than at this very time I feel my self to perish c. in which Saying the words destroy and perish are both of them us'd to express the miserable anguish and torment which at that time he felt in his mind as Tacitus tells us at large And as for the word Death a state of misery which is as bad or worse than death may properly enough be call'd by that name And for this reason the punishment of wicked men after the Day of Judgment is in the Book of the Revelation so frequently and fitly call'd the second death And the Lake of fire into which the wicked shall be cast to be tormented in it is expressely call'd the second death But besides this they that argue from the force of these words that the punishment of wicked men in the other world shall be nothing else but an utter end of their Being do necessarily fall into two great inconveniencies First that hereby they exclude all positive punishment and torment of Sinners For if the second death and to be destroy'd and to perish signifie nothing else but the Annihilation of Sinners and an utter