goodness, that he both knows he can, and knows he will, finally bring good out of evil, light out of darkness, order out of disorder, and holiness, harmony, and peace, out of all the sin, confusion, and uproar; and all that has happened shall, through a long eternity, serve as a means, in the sight of all worlds, to establish his throne, confirm his government, make his law honourable, his justice appear tremendous, his grace glorious, and sin an exceeding great and dreadful evil.— Therefore he enjoys a perfect tranquillity, and an undisturbed felicity, although a world of wickedness lies open to his view, and millions of things are transacted, which have a natural tendency to grieve him, (and that not merely forty years long, but from age to age, ever since the world began,) to weary him; to vex his holy Spirit; to break his heart; to press him as a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves.

But no thanks to the sinner, that God is happy. He is no friend to God's felicity. His ways tend to grieve and distress the HOLY ONE of Israel; and that which is God's comfort is a terror to the sinner. He dreads the day when all things shall be set to rights: and when the ALMIGHTY will ease himself of his adversaries, and avenge himself of his enemies. Thus we see how sin is against GOD: it is against his nature, law, authority, government, being, honour, happi

II. I am to show how GREAT the evil of sin is on this account. The evil of sin, as has been observed, arises from our obligations to do otherwise. And therefore, the greater our obligations are to God, the greater is the evil of sinning against him. Our obligations to love, honour, and obey God, originally arise from his worthiness to be loved, honoured, and obeyed by us. But he is infinitely worthy to be loved, honoured, and obeyed by us: therefore our obligations to do so are infinite and so, to sin against him, must be esteemed an infinite evil.

But it is quite beyond our capacity to comprehend the vileness there is in treating God as the sinner does; unless we could, as he can, comprehend all his greatness and glory, f Isai. i. 24.

and fully see all the grounds and reasons there are for us to love, reverence, and obey him, and feel all their binding force. God is fully conscious to himself, that he is infinitely worthy of all love, honour, and obedience, for what he is in himself: besides that he is the Maker and Lord of the universe; the maintainer and upholder of the world, and rightful king, and sovereign over all. He is fully conscious, there is infinite reason for us to rejoice in him, exult in his government, and be glad in his service; and that the contrary temper and conduct of his creatures, is infinitely unreasonable and wicked. And although we cannot comprehend the exceeding vileness of rising in rebellion against the MOST HIGH; yet we may be easily convinced, that it is an infinite evil. Yea, if we are but really convinced that God is infinitely great and glorious, it will be to us self-evident, that he is infinitely worthy of all love, honour, and obedience: and that consequently, to disesteem, despise, and disobey him, is infinitely vile. It is low and mean thoughts of God, which cause secure sinners to be insensible of the great evil of sin. Those heretics who deny the infinite evil of sin, do but, by the means, proclaim to the world their ignorance of the DEITY. Had not God known sin to be an infinite evil, he would never have threatened an infinite punishment, even the eternal pains of hell; where the worm shall never die, and the fire shall never be quenched & And were not Christ, our compassionate Redeemer, sensible of the infinite evil of sin, he could never find it in his heart, at the day of judgment, to say to the wicked on his left hand, Depart, ye cursed, into EVERLASTING fireh. And were not all the hosts of heaven in the same sentiment, they would never join to say, Hallelujah, salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God: for true and righteous are his judg ments; Hallelujah, for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth; when they see the smoke of their torments ascending for ever and ever. Yea, were not the punishment apprehended to be justly deserved, it could not answer any of the good ends of punishment in the moral world: but would for ever appear a great and dreadful blemish in the divine conduct, in the g Mark ix. 44. 46. 48. h Mat. xxv. 41. i Rev. xix. 1—6. VOL. 111.

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sight of all intelligent beings. God himself could not approve of it, and would never do it. And therefore, notwithstanding it is so contrary to the natural sentiment of a heart secure in sin, yet we have sufficient matter of conviction, that there is really an infinite evil in sin, as it is against God. And when these heavens and this earth, which are now "kept in store, and reserved unto fire, against the day of judgment, and perdition of ungodly men," shall all be in a flame, and melt with fervent heat, and the whole material system be dissolved and wrapped together, hurled into one general heap, (perhaps,) to be everlastingly a lake of fire and brimstone for the punishment of the ungodly : I say, when God comes thus to show his wrath, and make his power known in the destruction of the wicked'; it will make all intelligent creatures, in earth and hell, effectually sensible what an evil sin is, and how God stands affected towards it ". This visible emblem of his wrath, this immense lake of fire and brimstone, will give an exact and infallible comment upon God's law, and show, beyond dispute, what the threatening means": nor will it any more, throughout eternal ages, at all be doubted whether sin be an infinite evil.

And thus we have taken a brief and general view of the evil of sin, as it is against God. We might indeed here enter into a great variety of particulars, and largely show how sin, as it is against God, is aggravated on many accounts; not only considering merely what he is in himself, but the relation he stands in to us, and we to him, our dependance on him, his right to us, his authority over us, the greatness of redeeming love, the freeness of Gospel-grace, &c. And it might be distinctly considered, how amazingly vile it is for such as we be, to treat such a one as God is, in such sort, under such circumstances, and notwithstanding such additional bonds and obligations lying upon us. But I must omit this, and pass on,

III. To prove, that the GREAT EVIL of sin, consists in THIS, that it is against GOD. And this may easily appear. For a few words may soon make it evident, that although sin may really be a very great evil, as it is injurious to our fellowmen, or to ourselves; yet it is not so aggravated and heinous

k2 Pet. iii. 5-12. 7 Rom. ix. 22.

m Rom. ii. 5.

n Gal. iii, 10.

by infinite odds, in these respects, as on account of its being against GOD. To injure our fellow-creatures is wrong, very wrong; but what is a worm of the dust, compared to the LIVING GOD? If one man sin against another, the judge shall judge him; (and some recompense may be made,) but if a man sin against the Lord, who will entreat for him? (or make any atonement for his crime?) Yea, if by some act of sin we could do the greatest injury to the whole creation; yet what is the whole creation compared with GOD, the ALMIGHTY CREATOR? It is all but as a dust of the balance, or a drop of the bucket P. We may ruin ourselves by sin; we may plunge ourselves headlong into destruction; but what are we, compared with the GREAT JEHOVAH? Less than nothing, and vanity a. And what is a guilty rebel worth, compared with the MAJESTY OF HEAVEN? To rise up in rebellion against the GREAT GOD, go contrary to him, affront him, and treat him with contempt, is evidently the most wicked and heinous thing that possibly can be done. For here the GREATEST and BEST of Beings is insulted: yea, a BEING who is infinitely better than all other Beings put together. This is therefore the greatest evil there is in sin, by infinite odds.

And accordingly, thus we find the matter stands in Scripture-account. When men are guilty of such wicked deeds, as are injurious to themselves, or to their fellow-creatures; yet, by God, the righteous judge, they are blamed and punished for these sins, principally and chiefly, under the notion of their being committed against the LORD. Thus, when the Israelites were disheartened by the evil report of the spies, and refused to go up against the Canaanites, and talked of making captains, and returning to Egypt; although this conduct tended to disinherit themselves and their posterity of the land of Canaan for ever, yet it is not on this account, chiefly," that they were blamed, and so dreadfully punished; (nay, it is not so much as once mentioned, to aggravate their crime, or to show the justice of their punishment:) but it was all because they had sinned against the LORD. God had said, that he would drive out the nations before them but they p Isai. xl. 17.

1 Sam. ii. 25.

Isai. xl 15.

would not believe him. God had commanded them to go up and take possession; but they would not obey him. They did not believe he would be as good as his word; they were afraid to run such a venture, as to trust his fidelity; they had rather rebel against his command, and return to Egypt. Wherefore God is represented as being greatly affronted and provoked, and as swearing in his wrath, that they should never enter into his rest. As truly as I live, saith the Lord, your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness ®. But why was God so angry? Because they had rebelled against the Lord', would not believe him ", nor hearken to his voice: i. e. Not because their conduct was to their own damage, but because it offered an affront to God. Although it does not appear, that they had acted with a design to affront the ALMIGHTY; but rather from a principle of self-preservation. Just as sinners now a-days do, who turn their backs upon the heavenly Canaan, and lust after the leeks and onions of Egypt, the pleasures of sin; not with any design to affront God, but from self-love, and to gratify the desires of their hearts, all in pursuit of happiness. But yet really in fact they turn their backs upon the ALMIGHTY, and despise his commands; and for their offering this affront to the DEITY, damnation is threatened; and not so much because they go contrary to their own interest. And so again, there is the instance of David, who, it is plain, had no design to affront the MOST HIGH: but first he meant to gratify his lust with Uriah's wife; and afterwards contrived to save his credit by taking away Uriah's life: yet observe his charge and his doom, from the mouth of the Lord; "Because thou hast despised the Lord, and despised the commandment of the Lord, and given the enemies of the Lord occasion to blaspheme;" therefore so and so will I punish you. Therefore says David to God, Against thee, thee only, have I sinned. See also that confession in Daniel ix. 9-12. And that large representation of the nature of what passed between God and his people of old, and the reasons and grounds of the judgments inflicted upon them, in Ezek. xx. throughout. The Scrip

r Psalm xcv. 11. 8 Numb. xiv. 28, 29. t ver. 9. u ver. 11. x ver. 22. y 2 Sam. 12.