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worm shall never die, their fire never be quenched, and repeated it over and over". And this fire is not designed for their purification, as some dream, but expressly for their DESTRUCTION *, for their second death, for their EVERLASTING PUNISHMENT, than which nothing can be plainer to determine against their notion. The righteous will be considered as the wheat, and the wicked as the chaff, and the tares, which are not to be purified, but to be burnt, and that with unquenchable fire, and the smoke of their torments shall ascend for ever for ever. And this is so far from being out of love to them, as being designed at last for happiness, that in them God means to show his wrath, and make his power known, as being vessels of wrath fitted for destruction. Thus God teaches us his word; nor can any with the least show of reason say, but that the eternity of hell torments, and that under the notion of a punishment, is as plainly and fully expressed, as though God had intended we should believe it. Why then is a guilty world so loath to believe it? Doubtless it is because they do not feel that they deserve it. And not being sensible, that they deserve eternal damnation, they venture to disbelieve it, and endeavour to evade the testimo ny of divine revelation; and then proceed to raise objections from reason against it.

As to their methods of evading the testimony of divine revelation, they need no particular answer; because these men themselves are sensible, that the Scriptures speak quite plain enough. And if they would for once, speak out their hearts, they would say, that it is not because the eternity of helltorments is not plainly revealed in Scripture, but only be cause they do not like to believe the doctrine, that makes them doubt it. It seems too severe that the sinner should lie in hell to all eternity. Therefore they set themselves to evade Scripture, and to raise objections against it. And no sooner will these men have heard, what has now been advan ced concerning the law of Moses, and the law of nature, as requiring perfect obedience on pain of eternal damnation, but these objections will be in their minds.

u Mark ix. 43—48. x Matt. x. 28. 2 Thes. i. . y Rev. xx. 14.

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1. It is not right for God to require of his creatures more than they can do, under the penalty of any punishment at all."

2. "If some sins do deserve some punishment; yet no sin, how great soever, deserves eternal damnation.”

3. "Or rather, strictly speaking, sin deserves no punish

ment at all."

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Now these positions, every one will soon discern, need no particular answer from divine revelation; because, the whole of divine revelation is itself a standing confutation of them. Did not God from Mount Sinai require the whole congregation of Israel to love the Lord their God with all their heart, and obey him in every thing? And was not the curse denounced against the man that should fail in any one point? Now could the whole congregation yield this sinless perfection every day of their lives, without the least defect in heart, or life? And did not the curse mean, at least, some punishment? And thus the whole law of Moses is a standing confutation of their first maxim. And as for the other two, if any regard was to be had to the plain declarations of the New Testament, sin not only deserves punishment, but everlasting punishment; and at the day of judgment it will be inflicted on all Christless sinners. But it is no satisfaction to these men, to have their objections answered, and their mouths stopped, by the word of God. For, although they pretend to believe the holy Scriptures to be divine; yet, finding so many things in the bible that do by no means suit them, they do as St. Paul did in another case, appeal to Cæsar, as the higher power, and where he hoped to have better justice done him. So, with the same view, these men appeal to reason; nor will they believe the Scriptures mean this or that, how plainly soever expressed, unless it quadrates with their notions, and so appears to them rational. Now were there no depravity in their hearts, to blind and bias their minds, I should have no fear of joining issue according to their desire, and submit these points to be decided solely by reason. For I believe they can be demonstrated from reason as fully, although not so easily, as from Scripture. The Scripture has given us an edition of the law of nature, much plainer and more legible

than that which we have by nature. And this indeed is the true cause that these men appeal from it, as the light of truth there shines too insufferably bright, and refer themselves to reason which, our depravity being so great, they can more easily shut their eyes against. However, who knows but that their hearts may be touched, when the great God is brought into view, and set before their eyes! Therefore,

Let us place ourselves before the awful tribunal of Christ, and attentively view these points, in the light in which they will stand at that solemn day, when every man's conscience will be convinced that God's law is strictly just.

When Christ comes in the glory of his Father, and all the holy angels with him, and the infinite majesty and greatness of the invisible God shines forth in him, and it appears that all the nations of the earth are as the small dust of the balance, or drop of the bucket before him; yea, that the whole created system is as nothing and vanity, when compared to God, the great being, the almighty creator, now each of these objections will be sapped at their very foundation. When God appears,

c For these objections, and the whole scheme they belong to in all its various shapes, grow up out of the heart's insensibility of the infinite greatness and glory of God.—It would otherwise, be quite impossible that men, and men of thought and penetration, should ever once imagine, that, in a perfect moral government, where an exact proportion is, as themselves acknowledge, always observed, and what is most fit, and right, and beautiful is always done, that in such a government, the GREAT GOD should be less regarded, than the created system; the INFINITE CREATOR less respected, than the finite creature for it is a more gross absurdity, than it would be for a mathematician to affirm, that a million such systems as ours, would be less than a pin's point. And yet, as absurd as it is, it lies at the bottom of almost all the corrupt schemes of religion now in vogue.-First they lay it down for a maxim, "that the honour of the DEITY is not at all considered, or regarded by the supreme moral governor of the world; but only the good of the creature." And upon this foundation, chevalier Ramsey builds his scheme, and so do the ingenious Hutcheson and Turnbull, and the celebrated Taylor, and so does Tindal the famous Deist.---And each, taking this point for granted, seem to demonstrate their various schemes.-Ramsey, "that all, even the devils not excepted, will be finally happy." Hutcheson and Turnbull, “that we naturally have the moral image of God in our hearts."---Taylor, "that we are not fallen creatures." Tindal, "that the Old and New Testament are not from God."

But let this stupidity be removed from the heart, and a realizing sense of the infinite greatness and glory of God fill the soul, so as thoranghly to convince the

and appears in his infinite greatness, clothed with infinite majesty, vested with an authority infinitely binding, the commandment will come, sin revive, and the sinner die. Reason and natural conscience will be fully convinced, that the law was strictly just. And every guilty creature will be forced to say, when doomed to depart into everlasting fire, the Lord is righteous. Then the bold libertine, in the utmost horror, will see the weakness of all his former pleas. Methinks I hear him say, trembling before the bar of Christ,

"What did I mean, stupid wretch that I was, to say that sin deserved no punishment? What! was it no crime to affront the dread majesty of heaven and earth to his face, as I did in every sin? Was it no crime to treat with contempt HIM whom all heaven adores? Was it no crime to turn my back upon my Maker, and revolt from my rightful sovereign ? And by my example to encourage others to go on boldly in rebellion? And if these were crimes, and dreadful crimes I now see they were, does it not now become the righteous governor and judge of the world to be displeased, and to testify his displeasure, and to make his wrath smoke against such a wretch? I once scoffed at serious piety, and ridiculed strict godliness, and was really an open enemy to Jesus Christ. And is it not fit that he should now treat me according to my character? And with indignation banish me for ever from his presence! And from the presence of all his saints, whom once I despised! to dwell for ever with devils, whose interest I served!

"This is the Gon, the infinitely great Gon, whose law I said was too severe! The height of what he required of

heart, that an infinite regard is, and ought to be had, to the honour of the DEITY, in the moral government of the world, and all their schemes will fall to the ground at once. For now we shall see, why sin is punished eternally; and that human nature is, in fact, totally corrupt; that the doctrine of original sin is true; that the Old and New Testament are perfectly agreeable to the perfections of God, and needs of fallen man, and have all the internal marks of divinity.It will be self-evident, that it is an infinite evil to sin against such a God; we naturally have none of that temper towards him which we ought; we are fallen, lost cran. tures; we need such a Redeemer and such a Sanctifier as are exhibited in the Old and New Testament; it is fit God should be exalted, the sinner humbled, and grace glorified, agreeable to the Scripture plan.

me was to love him with all my heart; as I now see yonder saints and angels love him. But I did not love him! I did not like his ways! I loved my vain companions, and my sinful carnal pleasures! His threatening to punish me for it, instead of reclaiming, did but make me hate his law and government the worse. And I loved to indulge bard thoughts of him, as being too severe; pretending for my excuse, that I had no power to love him; only, alas! because I was not suited with him; but hated all his ways. In this I was like the devil, that I had no heart for God, to love him, or live to him; but was disposed to walk contrary to him in all things. And for this, God may justly hate me, and cast me off, with the devil for ever. For such a kind of inability, I never thought, excused any of my fellow-creatures, who treated me with disrespect and ill-nature on earth. And if they alleged, that they could not help hating me, by way of excuse; if the fault was not in me, but in themselves, I never thought them the less to blame, but the more. Their saying they could not help hating me, instead of excusing the fault, always made it seem worse. Now, this great God will deal with me by the same rule. I said, I could not love him; but the fault was not in him, but in me. For, to other beings he appears infinitely amiable; and I only am to blame, that he does not appear so to me. And it is right and just I should be punished.

"And now I behold the Judge ready to pronounce my final doom, the dreadful sentence, depart ye cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels a. I would not believe hell-torments to be eternal, although expressly asserted in God's word. I, stupid wretch that I was, did not feel that I deserved everlasting punishment. I was like the fool, who said in his heart, there is no God. But now I see there is a God; an infinitely GREAT GOD; whom all are under infinite obligations to honour and obey. I might have been before convinced, that God was infinitely worthy to be loved, honoured, and obeyed; and that his infinite worthiness laid me under an infinite obligation; and that an infinite obligation rendered me infinitely to blame; and that

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