WE have before us a poor Son of Death within Three or Four Hours of an Awful Eter­nity, whose Condition is a most af­fecting SERMON unto us. But that it may be so, I am desired by him, to Entertain you with a SER­MON on a Text by himself assign'd unto me, than which the whole Bible affords not a more tremendous one. Give now, O All ye People, every one of you, Give a most Lively At­tention to the Words of a Dying Man; yea, Attend unto the Word of the Ever-living GOD, in,

AMong the Visions of GOD, granted unto a Favourite of Heaven, we find an Angel of the Lord flying thro' the midst of Heaven, and saying with a loud Voice, Fear GOD, and give Glory to Him. Yea, But here we have the LORD of that Angel Himself coming down unto the Earth, and saying with a loud Voice, O Fear the glorious GOD! It is our Great SAVIOUR, who Himself is very GOD, that now speaks unto us. You are sensible, That our SAVIOUR was now sending forth His Apostles and His Ministers; to Reveal those Truths of the Gospel, which had hitherto been Covered. The Faithful Discharge of their [Page 3] Ministry, would be Dangerous unto them; would bring even the Dan­gers of nothing less than Death it self upon them. To fortify them against the Fear of Death, Our SAVIOUR warns them of a de­struction after Death, which is more to be fear'd than any Death. Un­faithfulness unto GOD and a Neg­lect of our Duty to Him, will Expose us to a Destruction of Soul as well as of Body, in a dreadful HELL, after Death; A Destruction more dreadful than any▪ Death. From the Apprehension of this De­struction we are to be quickned unto the Fear of GOD. The Fear of GOD will Quicken us unto all possible Fidelity, Intergrity, Acti­vity in the Discharge of our Duty to Him; will set us above the Fear of what any Man on Earth, or even all the Men in the World, can do unto us.

This is the sum of the matter. This, This the DOCTRINE of GOD our SAVIOUR; and the [Page 4] Roaring of the Lion, at which they are more stupid than the Beasts of the Forrest, who tremble not

The Destruction of the Soul as well as of the Body, in HELL, is a Thing so much more Formidable than any Death, as that it Infinitely Obliges us all unto the Fear of the Glorious GOD; who can inflict it on us, and will inflict it on them who do not Fear Him.

Syrs, You are to stand, before a DOCTRINE provided by a Dying Man for your Entertainment, as the People did of old before the flaming Mountain, upon which there were Thunders and Lightnings, and the Voice of a Trumpet, Exceeding Loud, So that all the People that were in the Camp, trembled at it.

There are first of all some very awful Truths of the Gospel, which must be known, and be spoken in the Light, and set in a true Light be­fore you.

[Page 5] I. It is most certain, That SIN must be Punished in Destructive Mi­series upon the Sinner; a Destructi­on proceeding from the Just Reven­ges of GOD The Holy GOD has given us a Law, which requires our Homage unto Him, and our Kind­ness unto our Neighbour. And a Just Law it is! While the great GOD is what He is, and His Crea­ture Man, is what He is, there will be such Things due, as His Law has thus required. We must for ever own, Psal. CXIX. 142. Thy Righteousness is an everlasting Righte­ousness, and thy Law is the Truth. 'Tis a Law Originally written on the Tables of our Hearts; and upon the Defacing of those Writings in our Fall from GOD, we have it more fully Explained in the Sacred Scrip­tures which the Prophetick Spirit has provided for us. In this Law there is a Punishment assign'd for the Trans­gression of it. Indeed, it were not a Law, if it were not arm'd with a Penalty. And still there is Justice [Page 6] in all of this. It is Just, That the Displeasure of the Holy GOD a­gainst the Transgression of His Law, should be declared in the Punish­ment of the Transgressor. It is Just, That when the Law of the Holy GOD has been Transgress'd, the Crime should be punished in those Destructive Miseries, which accor­ding to it belong unto the Sinner. The Destructive Miseries of the Sinner, are the Just Revenges of GOD upon him, demanding a Sa­tisfaction, and a Reparation, for the Violations of His Law. The Justice of GOD herein Vindicates His Vi­olated Law; Magnifies it and makes it Honourable. And herein He as­serts and exerts those His Excel­lencies, which have been Denied, been Defied, been Reproached in our Sin; For every Sin does deny the GOD that is Above. Wherefore, from the Justice of GOD it now comes to pass, That no Sin can be committed, but it must be Punished. Either the Sinner must himself be [Page 7] miserable; or else, One must be found, that may be a Surety for the Sinner, and shall Smart for it. That word, Rom. VI. 23. The Wages of Sin is Death: and that word, Prov. XIII. 21. Evil pursueth Sinners;—'Tis a word that must be Executed. The Truth of a GOD that cannot lye, stands engaged for the Execu­tion of it. Upon a Sin, the Justice of GOD will demand a Sacrifice; The Object is Destroy'd, that is made a Sacrifice.

First, This is what Men have Naturally some Apprehensions of: Men are Naturally Apprehensive of it, and bring into the World with them a Principle in their Souls, which when it is awakened, gives them an Assurance of it; That Sin must and will be Punished, by the Justice of GOD. It is truly affir­med, Rom. I. 32. They know the Judgments of GOD, that they which commit such Things are worthy of Death. The GOD who forms the Spirit of Man within him, and left on it some [Page 8] Tendencies for a Re-Union, to Himself; has made some Indelible Impressions of His Justice on the Spirit of Man; Impressions, Con­victions, Perswasions, That GOD will punish Sin; and, That the wrath of GOD will come on the Children of Disobedience, for doing such Things as are found in their Evil doings. Governours themselves do Tremble, when they hear of a Judgment to come. Emperours them­selves are uneasy amidst all the Pleasures and Grandeurs of their Palaces; 'Tis because they know, There is One Higher than they, who will Punish their Misdemeanours, with Destructive Miseries upon them. The rude Pagans have not been without their Notions of such a thing. The Barbarous Maltese themselves, had their Notions of a Vengeance that would pursue Wic­ked Men; such as Murderers. The Ancient Law-givers, were wont in the close of their Laws, to men­tion the Vindictive Justice of GOD: [Page 9] The clause was, Qui secus faxit, Deus ipse Vindex erit. The Old Pagans had a sense of a Nemesis, or a Vindictive Justice which ter­rified them. And it was the dread of this, which kept them so close to the Task of Sacrificing; yea, the Dread of it brought them even to Humane Oblations. Our common Ad­versary took such advantage thereof, as to push them upon such Horrid Oblations; To make them do like the King of Moab in his Anguish; To make them offer up no less than, The Fruit of their Body for the Sin of their Soul. A Desire to pacify the Vindictive Justice of GOD; This is the Origin of all the Severe Penances wherewith so many Superstitious People in the World have mortified themselves. The Belief of this Vindictive Justice; Oh! It has a strange Force on the minds of Men! Sinner, Thou canst not shake it off: It will haunt thee, as long as thou art in the World; It will seize thee in all the dire [Page 10] Effects of it, when thou hast left the World. I requst every ungod­ly Man to make the Reflection; Friend, when thou hast been doing an Ill Thing, has not something within thee, told thee, A Just GOD will one day punish thee for this! Oh! Do not slight such unfailing, such amazing praesages; Fools! Do not any more make a mock of Sin, as you use to do!

Secondly. The Thing is yet more clearly and fully discovered, in the Book that is given by Inspiration of GOD. Our BIBLE has the Incon­testible marks of such a Book. Now that Sin will be punished by the Justice of GOD in Destructive Miseries upon the Sinner; This is that unto which our Bible does a­bundantly Testify. Of our Bible we may say, Rom. I. 18. Here The wrath of GOD is Revealed from Heaven against all Ungodliness and Unrighteousness of Men. The Book of GOD is Expanded like the Firmament of Heaven over the [Page 11] Church of GOD. In this Firma­ment the GOD of Glory thunders; That Powerful Voice of GOD is ever now and then, heard Thundering there; The Justice of GOD will not let Sin go unpunished! That Thunder­ing Voice of Justice is here uttered from the Mouth of GOD, Wo to the Wicked, it shall go ill with him, for the Reward of his hands shall be given him; That Thundering Voice▪ GOD will render Tribulation & Wrath, Indignation and Anguish, upon every Soul of Man which doeth Evil. In this Book, how often do we find Things of such an Aspect as this! I will punish you according to the Fruit of your Doings, saith the Lord. How often is the Anger of a Glorious GOD against Sin here told unto us! Yea, with Terms that carry the highest Indignation in them! We must not imagine any Passion in the Infinite GOD, like what there is in Angry Men! But such Expres­sions are used, as Philo says well, For the Instruction of the Multitude. [Page 12] There is no Perturbation of Mind like that of our Anger, in the Glo­rious God. But it means, A Justice Resolved that Sin shall be punished. Thus tis that GOD is Angry every Day! These, These must be our Doxologies unto Him; O Lord, Thou art not a GOD that has pleasure in Wickedness; neither shall evil dwell with thee; The foolish shall not stand in thy sight; Thou hatest all workers of Iniquity.

II. You have been told, That Sin must be Punished. But, when, and where, shall the Punishment be dis­pensed? The Proposition, which you were called but now to come and see, was like the Pale Horse whereof you read in the Apocalypse. You have seen Death mounted, and com­ing towards the Sinner; and Swal­lowing the Ground with fierce Rage in the swift Advances of it. But now, HELL follows. I am now to tell you, That the Destructive miseries brought in the Punishment of Sin up­on the Sinner; are chiefly reserved [Page 13] for an HELL in a FUTURE STATE; And there will be a De­struction brought both on the Soul and on the Body, of the Sinner, in that astonishing Punishment.

It is very plain, That the Punish­ment which the GOD of Truth has Threatened for Sin, is not inflicted in the Present State. The Threa­tenings of GOD which are all True and Faithfull, and shall surely come to pass, are not fulfilled in the Pre­sent State. The Sentence against e­vil Works is not so speedily Executed, but that the Ungodly often Prosper in the World, neither are they plagued like others, nor are there any Bonds in their Death: At the same time, The Children of GOD, may say, All the Day long have I been plagued. But, O you that have your Hearts fully set in you to do Evil, From this very Thing you may Conclude, That there is a FUTURE STATE, wherein the Punishment of Sin, will be such that it shall be according to that word; Mine Eye shall not spare, [Page 14] neither will I have pitty; I will recom­pence thee, O Sinner, according to thy ways, and ye shall know, that I am the Lord, who smites you! The Argu­ment lies thus; If there be a Just GOD it must be so! If there be a­ny Justice in Heaven, there must be an HELL wherein there will be found, A strange Punishment reserved for the workers of Iniquity. O Epi­curean Atheists, If you try to weaken the Foundation of this astonishing Argument, GOD has placed an Of­ficer within you, who will tear you in pieces, and there shall be none to deliver you.

They are such Important, but so very Terrible, Things which are now to be published among you, That you may well demand some un­questionable, some ungainsayable, Demonstrations of them. Now, I call to mind a saying, Luk. XVI. 31. If they hear not Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be perswaded, though one Rose from the Dead. We have had coming to us from the Dead, [Page 15] such Things among our selves, that a Man must render himself unwor­thy of a Conversation among Men, who shall deny the matters of Fact, and the plain Consequences of them, That there is a World of Evil Spirits; and, therefore also, a World of good Ones. But I wave these Proofs; Nor indeed will Wicked People hear them. I will carry you to one who is Greater than Moses and the Prophets; even Him, who was by Moses and the Prophets com­mended unto us; One also who is Risen from the Dead.

The Resurrection of our Blessed JESUS from the Dead, has had such Infallible Proofs, that nothing but some Satanick Energy can make any Man such a Bruit, as to admit a­ny Doubt upon it. Now the Re­surrection of our Blessed JESUS from the Dead, is a Victorious De­monstration, That He is the SON of GOD, and the CHRIST, the Sa­viour of the World, and that what­ever He has Declared in His Gos­pel, [Page 16] is to be relied upon. Well▪ We will now hear what our Blessed JE­SUS has declared unto us; and not be so Criminally unreasonable as to ask for any further Demonstration. Speak, O Glorious LORD, and O thou True Witness, who art the Deliverer of Souls; we will hear all that thou shalt speak unto us. Lord, We will Believe; Help thou our Unbelief!

First. Our SAVIOUR has assured us of this; The SOUL of Man dies not, when his Body dies. There are many Considerations, which render it more than probable, That the Soul of Man is an Immortal Spirit. The Appetites for Immortality, the Praesages of Immortality, by GOD implanted in the Soul, cannot be made by Him in Vain. The Soul is not in its Constitution a perishable sub­stance. 'Tis evidently an Intellectual Being, of such a Constitution as to have no Seeds of Corruption in it. The Soul so Differs from the Body, as to make us Think (and this very Thing, To Think, is more than [Page 17] Body can do!) that it Survives after the Death of the Body. Being Spi­rit and not Flesh, therefore they shall not fail together. But above all, there is this to put the point beyond all Probability. The Glorious LORD, who is the Creator and Redeemer of our Soul, has positively told us, They which kill the Body are not able to kill the Soul. No profane shuf­flings can Evade the force of this Proof! Man, Thy Soul, is a Candle of the Lord. Thy SAVIOUR who has placed this Lamp in the Earthen Vessel, has affirmed unto thee, that it is not Extinguished by the Break­ing of the Earthen Vessel. No, He will keep it in its Existance to Eter­nal Ages. The Spring in my Watch, will not be stript of its Elasticity, and cease to be a Spring, when it shall be taken out of the Machine whereof it now causes the various Motions. Nor the Soul when ta­ken out of the Body.

Secondly. Our SAVIOUR has as­sured us of this; That the Body which [Page 18] is by Death parted from the Soul, shall by a Resurrection from the Dead, be Restored unto it. It is not a Final and Endless parting of them, when the Dust returns to the Earth as it was, and the Spirit returns to GOD that gave it. No; The Body and Soul, may say to one another at parting; We shall come together again. The Glorious LORD, who Rais'd His own Body from the Dead, has left us no Room to doubt of His Raising Ours, when He has peremp­torily told us; Joh. V. 28, 29. The Hour is Coming, in the which, all that are in the Graves shall hear His Voice; And they shall come forth; They that have done good unto the Resurrection of Life; and they that have done evil, unto the Resurrection of Damnation. It is most certainly so! GOD In­carnate and Enthroned in our SA­VIOUR will one Day Return from Heaven, and in that notable Day, according to the working of His Migh­ty Power, whereby He is able to sub­due all things unto Himself, He will [Page 19] fetch the Seeds of our dissolved Bo­dies from the Chambers of Death; He will Fill the Dead Bodies; He will return them to our Souls; to be Re-animated, with marvellous alterations upon them.

Thirdly. Our SAVIOUR hath assured us of this; That after a Re­surrection from the Dead, the Wicked shall in Body as well as in Soul, be Punished with very Destructive Mise­ries. Be sure, The Soul of a Wicked Man cannot but be very miserable, from the Time of its going from the Body. 'Tis a Soul stript of all the Enjoyments, which it chuses instead of the Glorious GOD, from whom it has wretchedly wandred; It is a Soul full of Remorse for its past Follies, and full of Horror in the prospect of a Wrath to come; It is a Soul, Abhorred by GOD, and Ba­nished from GOD, and Associated with Devils, which are Tormentors unto it. And, Oh! the Torments of it! Now, it cannot be supposed, that the Soul of a Wicked [Page 20] Man, will have its Condition mend­ed by a Return to the Body. No; The Resurrection of the Dead will be, upon that Intention; [For so it is to be read;] 2 Cor. V. 10 We must all appear before the Judg­ment-Seat of CHRIST, that every one may receive in the Body, according to what he hath done, whether Good or Bad. But, Oh! what will the Soul suffer in the Body, and what will the Raised Body suffer with and from the Soul, when GOD shall again unite them, on purpose to lay upon them the Punishment which belongs unto them! Syrs, Will you hearken to the Faithful sayings of GOD! The Gospel of our SAVI­OUR, has given us all possible Assurance, That GOD has appointed a Day wherein He will Judge the World by Him; and That we shall all stand before the Judgment-Seat of CHRIST; and, That every one of us shall give an Account of himself unto GOD. The Gospel of our SAVIOUR, has given us an undoubted Assurance, That [Page 21] He will come to render unto all Men according to their works; and, That then the Wicked shall go away into an Everlasting Punishment. The Gospel of our SAVIOUR has given us a Repeted Assurance, That the Wicked shall be Punished with an Everlasting Destruction from the Presence of the Lord, and from the Glory of His Power; and, That the Angels shall come forth and cast them into a Fur­nace of Fire; where shall be wailing and gnashing of Teeth. After this Gospel, there is no room for any Disquisition. The Gospel speaks these things; There is no want of any further Demonstration.

III. Twice has the Trumpet sound­ed; The sound must wax Louder and Louder. Behold, the Third Pro­clamation of Wo unto the Wicked, now cometh quickly! You are to be now informed, That no Death can be so Formidable as the Punishment of Sin in Destructive Miseries upon the Soul as well as the Body of the Sinner, in the HELL that is [Page 22] to come after Death. Unto this Amazing Punishment, the Denomi­nation given is that, Rev. XX. 14. This is the Second Death. But veri­ly, There is nothing in the First Death, which may be compared un­to the Destructive Miseries in that Second Death. DEATH is the King of Terrors; But in comparison of the Second Death, it is but a Shadow of Death; It has no Terrors compa­rable to those of the Second Death.

Unto this tremendous Assertion, there has been a mighty Army of Martyrs who have born a Testimony, which ought to be far from Con­temptible with us. Come with me, to Mahanaim, and see the Hosts of GOD, and hear their Testimony. There have been Thousands of good and wise Men, who rather than Sin against the Glorious GOD have not loved their Lives unto the Death; but been willing to Dye be­fore the Term to which in the course of Nature they might have lived. When these Men were put [Page 23] in mind of this thing, Death is Bit­ter; One of them spoke the mind of all the rest, when he said, But HELL is more Bitter than any Death! Death in all the most hideous and horrible Forms of it, and with all the most Insufferable Tortures, has been set before them. This Death have they chosen, and unto all the Torturous Cruelties which that Cursed Monster Persecution could afflict them withal, have they Courageously and Cheerfully Ex­posed themselves. Why, They have all said, No Death of the Body from the Hand of Man can be so formidable, as the Destruction of Soul as well as Body from the Hand of GOD, after Death, unto which our Sin against GOD would render us obnoxious. The Servants of GOD, who have suffered Martyrdom have been the Excellent of the Earth; and such a Spirit of GOD has rested on them, in their sufferings, that we cannot reasonably imagine them left unto a Delusion, in the Grand Prin­ciple [Page 24] that acted them. These Wit­nesses of GOD, ascending up into Heaven in a Cloud, call with a Loud Voice from thence unto us; It was well worth all our Sufferings, to escape the Destructive Miseries of the Hell, from which we are now delivered!

What will be the more special kinds of the Destructive miseries in the Punishment of the Damned in HELL; This is a Thing very much con­cealed from us, as well as the more particular place of Torment. Our Saxon Word, HELL, signifies, a Pit, and one that is covered over. Doubt­less, our Language wants Words to express the Destructive Miseries in that Pit of Destruction, and so it can be no other than very much covered over. And yet the Mouth of the Pit has been so much Dis­covered unto us that we shall not fall into it, except with madness in our Heart while we live, we will go unto the Dead. You shall presently see the Mouth of the Pit opened, and the Smoak of the Torment come [Page 25] up, which is to ascend for ever and ever.

The Name which our SAVI­OUR uses for the HELL wherein GOD will destroy both Soul and Body of the Wicked, even, GEHENNA; This carries in it, what is very For­midable. 'Tis as much as to say, The Valley of Hinnom. Tragical Things were done in the Valley of Hinnom, when the Diabolical Idola­ters offered up their Children to Molock there; and employed the Noise of Drums to drown the dole­ful Cry of the Infants while they were Burning Alive unto the Devil. It seems, the Ejulations of wret­ches Burning Alive, [But, O Lord, How Long! How Long!] These, it seems, will give some Idea of the Punishment inflicted on the multitudes, alas, the multitudes!—in the Dis­mal Valley of Destruction.

But, you look for Demonstrations. I affirm to you, No Death so For­midable, as the Destructive Miseries of that HELL, wherein the wicked [Page 26] shall be punished. Now, Listen to the Demonstrations; yea, Tremble at them.

First. Let Righteousness, Cry, and Equity put forth her Voice. 'Tis thus that she cries at the Gates of Death. Such Things as Wicked Men have most Unrighteously done unto Godly Men, have they not been very For­midable? Those Abominable Men, who have been, The Haters of GOD; What have they done to the Peo­ple of GOD? The Best People in the World, falling into the Hands of the Worst, how barbarously have they been Tortured and Butchered? They have with Boots had the ve­ry marrow forced out of their Bones. They have been stretch'd upon Racks till they have been left in a swoon with their Bones all out of Joint. They have been broken on Wheels, and many Hours have passed, before the Coup de Grace has been given them. Slow Fires have roasted them to Death. Authors who have written, De Crucia [...] [Page 27] Martyrum, have not a Page, but what is Formidable. What Formida­ble Things have been done upon the Best of Men, by that First-born of Tyrants, the Vile Person lately at Versailles, and the rest of his Bre­thren? What Formidable Things, in the Popish Inquisition? But now, We are taught of GOD; Cor. III. 25. He who doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done. The Question is, Whether there be a Righteous GOD? But GOD forbid, That ever this should be a Question! There were an Infandous Blasphe­ming in the Question. Well; since there is a Righteous GOD, and, Verily, There is a GOD who Judges in the Earth, it necessarily follows, There must be an HELL in which there must be a Punishment for the Wicked, at least as Formidable as the worst Things which the Godly have suffered from them; at least Propor­tion'd unto the Wrongs which the Wicked have done unto the Godly. But this will soon infer something [Page 28] that shall be vet more Formidable!

Secondly. We have seen HELL begun upon Earth; And from thence we may gather, how Formidable, and much more painful than any Death, will be the Punishment of the Wicked, in that HELL to which they are going down. If the Raised Bodies of the Wicked, must feel Pains at least Equal to what they gave unto the Bodies of others here, and be used no better than some In­humane Caribbaeans do their Slaves, they will now be worse of it, be­cause their Souls will feel, what the sufferers from them here, did not undergo. The Horrors raised in a Guilty Conscience, what are they but some sparkles of HELL shot into the Souls of Men? But these Hor­rors, How Intolerable! How Into­lerable! It was long since observed; Prov. XVIII. 14. A wounded Spirit, who can bear? Persons under the Horrors of a Guilty Conscience, how Formidably are they Cruciated? They Roar by Reason of the Disquiet­ness [Page 29] of their Heart. Yea, They chuse Strangling rather than Life. One a­mong us, kept fearfully crying out, I am all on Fire under the Wrath of GOD! and went, and hanged him­self. Some that have wounded their Conscience by sinful Compliances and Apostasies, have been so unable to bear the Wounds, that they have Retracted what they have done, and have gone and have told, the Tor­mentors, No Death you can inflict, is a thousandth part so bad, as the wounds which we feel in our Souls! Yea, How often have People under the Hor­rors of a Guilty Conscience, grown lean, and pale, and ghastly; and been meer Magor-Missabib's, a Terror to themselves, and all about them! How often, have they pro­fess'd, That Burning in the Fire on the Hearth, would be a Mitigation of their Miseries! One of them over hearing People speak, about Burn­ing in the Fire, cried out, Oh! That is but a meer Metaphor for what my [...] Endures! Now, In HELL, the [Page 30] Horrors of a Guilty Conscience do seize upon the Souls of the wicked, in the fullest Efficacy, and with a vast Enlargement of their Faculties, to receive the lashes of the Furies. GOD has an Instrument of His Ven­geance in the Conscience of a Wick­ed Man. And Oh! the Scourges, Oh! the Scorches, which it will give unto him, when the Vengeance of Eternal Fire falls upon him! Can any Death be so Formidable, as what is felt from a Conscience arm'd with Guilt, and in the Name of the Holy GOD upbraiding a Sinner with a Fiery Indignation?

As an Appendix unto this Arti­cle, I will offer to your View, the astonishing Distress into which our Blessed JESUS Himself was thrown, when GOD laid upon him the Iniqui­ties of us all, and He underwent the Punishment, which was due for the Sins of His Elect. Syrs, Go to Gethsemane, and see the Blessed JE­SUS prostrate in the Dust, and Blood mingled with the Sweat which [Page 31] dropped from Him; See Him very Heavy, very Sorrowful, sore Ama­zed, in most inexpressible perplexi­ties crying out▪ Oh! My Father, let this Cup pass from me! Go to Golgo­tha, and see the Blessed JESUS hanging on the Tree, with His Bones out of Joint; See Him with His Heart melted like wax in the midst of His Bowels, and crying out, My God, my God, Why hast thou for­saken me? All this done, to the JE­SUS, who was Holy, Harmless, Un­defiled, and Separate from Sinners, when He was a sufferer for Sinners! And now, O Sinful ones, How will you bear the Punishment of your own Sin? Ye sorry Briars and Thorns, How will you stand before that Con­suming Fire? The Cup which made that mighty One, our Immanuel, to stagger, will certainly be too strong for the miserable Sinner.

Thirdly. The Punishment of the Wicked in the HELL ordained of old by the King of Heaven for them; From whence will come the Princi­pal [Page 32] Infliction of it? O Hearken to me! The Principal Infliction of the Punishment on the Damned, will be with an Immediate Impression from the wrath of an Infinite GOD upon the Soul that is fixed in an Aver­sion for Him. O most Formidable Punishment! At the mention of it, will not our Souls Tremble, and our Hearts be removed out of their place? The Punishment of Sin in HELL, will be nothing less than the Wrath of an Almighty GOD, making a direful Impression on the Soul of the Sinner. The Sinner shall not be de­livered over into the Hands of only Finite Executioners: But the Almigh­ty GOD Himself, will take him into His own Hands, and make him feel such scalding strokes of His Wrath, as will be more torturous than flaming Sulphur, or than run­ning Bell-Metal. What will be the Fire of the Damned? There is an awful Intimation; Heb. XII. 29. Our God is a consuming Fire. Oh! 'Tis GOD approaching to them, as [Page 33] a Revenger, that will make their plagues wonderful. There will be wonder­ful Dolours in the Punishment of Sin, which will not be inflicted by the Administration of Creatures; But they shall be Immediate Ema­nations from a Provoked, Omnipo­tent, Omniscient GOD, Penetrating like Hot Lightning into the Dam­ned Soul; Immediate Coruscations from GOD, acting as a Consuming Fire. O Wicked Ones, I my self▪ will fight against you, with a strong Arm, even in great Wrath, saith the Lord. The great GOD Himself will shoot the Thunder of His Wrath into the Desolate Soul of the Sinner; GOD with His burning Wrath shall draw near to the Desolate Soul, and fill it with a Confusion that no words can describe unto them who are yet in the Flesh. Lord, Thou wilt make them as a Fiery Oven in the Time of thine Anger! The Lord will swallow them up with His wrath; so the Fire shall devour them. Arrows from the Wrath of GOD shall enter into [Page 34] the Soul of the Sinner; the Poison thereof, Oh! how it shall Enflame and Enrage the Spirit! Oh! The Groans of the Malefactor, when the Wrath of GOD shall be breaking of him; O GOD, Thy-Wrath lies hard upon me; Thy Fierce Wrath, O GOD, is going over me! Can any Death be so Formidable? Can thy Heart En­dure, or thy Hands be strong, when I shall deal with thee? saith the Lord.

Finally. There is this to render the Punishment of the Wicked in HELL beyond all Imagination For­midable. Do you know of any Period for the Punishment? Only an Aking Tooth, holding One for a Month together, how grievous! But the Exquisite Miseries of the Dam­ned, will they hold no more than a year? or will they come to a Pe­riod in a Thousand years? or after as many Millions of years, as there are Leaves upon the Trees, or Drops in the Sea, or Sands on the Shore; will they then come to a Period? or, could a Scroul as wide as the [Page 35] System of Our World, fill'd with Figures, contain the Number of years, which the Wicked are to see passing away in the Wrath of GOD! We know nothing of any Period. This we know, That our SAVI­OUR has called it, Mat. XXV. 4 [...]. An Everlasting Punishment. And there is a consideration, which the mind of a Christian cannot hear proposed, but he must like Moses before the Burning Mountain of old, cry out, I exceedingly fear and quake, at the mention of it! It is this; 'Tis plain, That our Mediator unto whom GOD has committed the Judg­ment, will adjudge the Wicked un­to a Punishment which will be For­midable. 'Tis plain, That our Me­diator at the Time of the End, when He delivers up his Kingdom to His Father, Leaves the Wicked still under their Punishment. If ever the Wick­ed be Released from their Punish­ment, it must be after the Son of GOD, shall cease to act as a Mediator. Now, when the Mediator has left [Page 36] them, in the Devouring Fire, and in the Everlasting Burnings, Who, who will there be to bring them out? Or, Is there any likelihood, that Souls, which have outstood their Time for Probation, and are fixed in all Malignity, should ever be chan­ged, and brought back unto an un­changeable GOD, who has finally Rejected them? O Punishment hope­less of a Period? Certainly, No Death can be so Formidable?

IV. But All have Sinned! And What? Is there no Remedy nor Es­caping? Yes, my Friends; I bring you good Tidings of great Joy! An Improvement is now to be made of these Faithful sayings: Which are also how Fearful ones! The FEAR of GOD, is now to be praescribed unto you, as the only Method of your Deliverance from the Destruc­tive Miseries which the Punishment Of Sin is big withal. Every One will take it for granted, That the GOD who is Able to Destroy both Soul and Body in Hell, is a GOD forever [Page 37] to be Feared. Who shall not Fear thee, O Lord, and Glorify thy Name? Certainly, A sorry Worm crawling upon the Earth, urging us to Sin against Him, cannot be so worthy to be Feared, as He. Think of this, O all you, whom the Fear of Man, may be likely to draw in­to any Snare of Sin. But I am now to advise you, That if you would be delivered from the Destruction of both Soul and Body in Hell, it must be by the Fear of GOD. So we are instructed, Prov. XIV. 27. The Fear of the Lord is a Fountain of Life, to depart from the Snares of Death. O our Gospellized People; You must come into the Fear of GOD Immediately, if you would not be destroy'd both Soul and Body in Hell, and if you would not perish wonder­fully! We may justly make that Exclamation once made by the Man of GOD; Lord, Who so considers as to know what Power thy Anger has! Yea, ev'n according to thy Fear so is thy flaming Wrath. Souls, According [Page 38] as the Fear of GOD is in you or not, so shall the Wrath of GOD be dispensed unto you. You are on every side surrounded with perswa­sives to the Fear of GOD, perswa­sives Enough to render your De­struction as Demerited as Unavoida­ble, if you continue the Children of Unperswadableness. But what is now insisted on is this; Oh! may you now be perswaded unto it, Knowing the Terror of the Lord. Come into the Fear of GOD, moved by this, De­struction from GOD, is a Terror to me!

There are Three Things to be more particularly in the Fear of GOD, now press'd upon you.

First. In the Fear of GOD, make your Flight unto your only SAVI­OUR, that you may be delivered from the Wrath of GOD and from the Destructive Miseries in that HELL which your Sin, has deserved for you. This, This is the Fear of GOD, in the Evangelical Notion of it; Such a Dread of the Divine Displeasure whereto our Sin Exposes us, as to Compel our Flight unto the only [Page 39] SAVIOUR from Sin, that by Him we may be Saved from it, Thus we read, Psal. CXLVII. 11. The Lord takes pleasure in them that Fear Him, in them that hope in His Mer­cies. Our Hope in a Glorious CHRIST, is our Hope in the Mercy of GOD. Without this Hope, there is no Genuine Fear of GOD. O People in Danger of a Damnation that slumbers not; You are to Re­member, That there is a JESUS who delivers from the Wrath to come. You are to Remember, That we have a Great SAVIOUR who has willingly undergone the Essentials of that Punishment which was due to His chosen for their Sin. You are to Remember, That when the Blood of our Great SAVIOUR is applied unto his chosen, to rescue them from their Punishment, He always inclines and strengthens them, to Confess and Forsake their Sin, and Return unto GOD. Now, you must in the Fear of GOD, fall down before your Great SAVIOUR, [Page 40] and with a wondrous Importunity beg it of Him; O my SAVIOUR, Do thou Reconcile me, [...] GOD, and Lead me in the Paths of Righteous­ness. My Friend, Except thou dost Wrestle hard for this, and as it be­comes an Israelite indeed, Weep and make Supplication to GOD for it, thou never shalt be Justified.

Secondly. The Fear of GOD, when 'tis wrought in a Soul, there is the Life of GOD begun in that Soul. O make out for, O make sure of, such a Vital Touch from GOD upon your minds, as will Quicken you to live unto Him. These always go together; Eccl. XII. 13 Fear GOD and keep His Commandments. The Fear of GOD infused into the Heart, will make a New Heart of it, and a clean One. Oh! Let that cry ascend from you with a matchless Agony, Create in me a Clean Heart, O GOD! The Fear of GOD, will dispose you to be afraid of every Thing which the Light of GOD within you, shall [Page 41] pronounce a sinful Thing. It will dispose you, to fill your Lives with continual Acknowledgments of GOD, and make it your main Design, to please Him, your main Business to Serve Him, and Acknowledge Him in all your ways. It will dispose you, to acquiesce in the Will of GOD, and behave your selves as under the Eye of God, and as those who must give unto Him an Account of your Behaviour. It will dispose you to follow the pattern of your SA­VIOUR, and rejoyce in an Imita­tion of Him, a Conformity to Him. It will dispose you to Love your Neighbour▪ and still do to him, as you would own it Right for him to do unto you. Without these Dis­positions, you cannot look for Ad­mission into those Gates, which are set open for none but the Righteous Nation. If you cannot shew such Tokens of Salvation, you shall never be received unto the Feast in the mount of GOD. Should a Soul without these Dispositions be taken [Page 42] into Heaven, that Holy Place would soon purge it out, clear it self of so disagreeable a Nusance. Wretched Soul, Heaven is a Soyl, that cannot bear such a venemous [...] in it. A Soul that has these Dispositions wro't in it, has Heaven it self in­wrought into the very Temper of it; and if it were possible for such a Sanctified Soul to be thrown down into HELL, it would carry Heaven thither with it. Now, If any of you lack this wisdom let him ask it of GOD!

Thirdly. Take the Warnings of DYING MEN, against those Trans­gressions of the Wicked, which may say within our Heart, There is no Fear of GOD before the Eyes of those who practise them. To Fear GOD, and [...] Evil, are Things that for ever go together. We are told, Prov. XVI. 6. By the Fear of the Lord Men depart from Evil. And will not the Fear of the Lord, then cause you to Depart from such Evil as you hear Stigmatized in the La­mentations [Page 43] of Dying Men, who be­come sensible of what Evil they have Committed, and what Evil they have Incurred, by their wanting the Fear of GOD? You cannot be drawn into the Fear of GOD, by any thing more Effectually, than by taking up, The Thoughts of a Dy­ing Man. Oh! That every One in this great Auditory would be pre­vail'd withal, at least for this one In­stance and Action of Discretion; To Think seriously, If I were to Dye this Day, how should I wish that I had ordered my Life? Then take up steady Resolutions to Live accor­dingly, and so to walk in the Fear of GOD! But then, methinks, The Words of a Dying Man, should have some Effect upon you; and par­ticularly, One who is to Dye this Day, and is within a few Minutes to go whence he shall not Return! 'Tis not Enough that the Ruin of this poor Man does loudly call upon you, to avoid such Paths of the De­stroyer, as have brought him into [Page 44] Destructive Miseries; but his own paenitent and pathetick Request is added, That a great Notice may be taken of what is therein spoken unto you. Behold, A poor Man from the midst of the dark shadow of Death crying to you, with all the Anguish of a Dying Hour upon him▪ O Fear GOD, O Fear GOD, Lest He destroy you Body and Soul in Hell, as He will all them that Fear Him not! Being under Condemnation he so far does Fear GOD, as to beg it of you, that you would, Not cast off the Fear of GOD. Shall I say un­to you, That if the Fear of GOD, will not prevent your Profaning the Day of GOD, and your Neg­lecting the House of GOD, you shall mourn at the last; and be in utmost hazard of being shut out from the Rest of GOD, and from the Congregation of the Righteous! Shall I say unto you, That if the Fear of GOD will not Govern your Anger, you shall be the Froward Ones, who will fall into mischief▪ [Page 45] and fall under the Anger of GOD? Shall I say unto you, That if the Fear of GOD will not produce your Prayer to GOD, and cause you with your Families to call upon His Name, the Wrath of GOD shall be poured upon you, and upon your worse than Paganizing Families? Or shall it be said unto you; O our YOUNG PEOPLE, if you will not be the Early Seekers of GOD, and Followers of your SAVIOUR, He will per­mit the Destroyer to do sad Things upon you, and hurry you on to a Fearful End! All these Things are no other what this poor Man does Entreat me to speak from him unto you all, and beseech you to take No­tice of them. From him there is now this cry in the midst of the Assem­bly made unto you all; O Fear GOD in such Things as these, lest He destroy you wonderfully!

But, O DYING MAM, as I have now spoken from you, 'tis Time that I once again speak to you! [Page 46] Once again!—But as never to do it again. The last Words, my Friend, The last Words of your own FU­NERAL SERMON, are now to be address'd unto you.

Having been so concerned,—and it is no Bad sign to be so concerned, That your Neighbours may by the Fear of GOD, be preserved from the HELL, wherein the Wicked shall be Punished, Every One will take it for granted, that you have made it your own main Concern to be pre­served from that Place of Dragons. You are aware, 'Tis the Fear of GOD, that must preserve you! If you have the Fear of God now at last wrought in a Soul, which has been for Three or Four and Thirty years destitute of it, and Lying Dead in Trespasses and Sins; Then, Then, is your Grand point secured. Oh! Lift up an unpacified cry to the GOD of all Grace; Lord, Unite my Heart for thee, and for the Fearing of thy Name!

You have upon you some Symp­tomps! [Page 47] of a Begun Repentance, which comfort the Servants of GOD, who have been Travailing for you. But, Oh! Be inexpressibly sollicitous, That it be a Thorough Repentance. Man, It must be a very Heady Re­pentance. It will not be a Right work, if it be not an Heart-Work. O Tremble, O Tremble, Exceedingly; Lest the Confusion of, A Deceived Heart, prove your Portion after all.

Wherefore, Commune with your own Heart, and let your Spirit make a Diligent Search. O Examine; Is there no SIN, but what is become odi­ous to me? Examine; Is a whole CHRIST, with all His Benefits preci­ous to me? Examine! Is there nothing I so much long for as to have my Heart fill'd with the Love of GOD, and have GOD Reigning in my Soul? O make a Severe, Exact, Thorough Scrutiny!

If you are thus Really Turned unto GOD, then may you go away Singing, Return to thy Rest, O my Soul!—For Thou, O Lord, hast de­livered my Soul from Death!

[Page 48] Ah, Poor FENWICK, Wilt thou not magnify the Grace of GOD thy SAVIOUR! Of old, a City of Re­fuge in the Holy Land, would not receive and protect a Murderer. But in a Glorious CHRIST there is a City of Refuge that stands open for thee. A Paenitent Murderer may find a Refuge there. Oh! Fly for a Refuge unto the Hope set be­fore thee.

Marvellous has been the Favour of GOD, in stirring up the Hearts of His Ministers, to labour so Compassi­onately as they have done for thy Salvation. But all their Compassi­on is but a small, faint, cold Image of what thou shalt find in the Heart of their Master, and thy SAVIOUR.

Marvellous the Grace of our GOD, in making thee a Tender of that Blood which Cleanses from all Sin, and speaks better Things than the Blood of thy slain Brother, which cries from the Ground against thee.

Marvellous the Grace of our GOD in reaching out unto thee His very [Page 49] great and precious Promises; and par­ticularly that Word, which is worth Ten Worlds, Him that comes to me I will in no wise cast out.

And yet more Marvellous the Grace of our GOD, if after all thy Impiety, and Long, Long, Provoking Impenitence, He has overcome thee, to Receive His offered Grace, and lay Hold on Eternal Life.

Then, Then mayst thou hear thy SAVIOUR from Heaven Surprizing of thy humbled Soul, with such a Sweet Voice as that; Son, Be of good cheer, Thy Sins are forgiven thee! Such a Sweet Voice as that; This Day thou shalt be with me in Pa­radise.