Thunder-bolt fo foon as ever we have Vol. VII. offended; that the wrath of God doth not fall upon the intemperate perfon, as it did upon the Ifraelites, whilft the meat and drink is yet in their mouths; that a Man is not ftruck dead or mad whilft he is telling a Lye; that the Soul of the prophane and falfe Swearer does not expire with his Oaths and Perjuries.

2. That God fpares us when it is in his power fo eafily to ruin us; when he can with one word command us out of Being, and by cutting afunder one little thread, let us drop into Hell. If God were difpofed to feverity, he could deal with us after another manner; and as the expref fion is in the Prophet, ease himself of • his Adverfaries, and be avenged of his Enemies.

3. That God exerciseth this pati ence to Sinners, flagrante bello, while they are up in Arms against him, and committing Hoftilities upon him; he bears with us, even when we are challenging his Juftice to punish us; and provoking his Power to deftroy

us.

4. That

4. That he is fo very flow and un- M VOLVII willing to punish, and to inflict his Judgments upon us. As for eternal Punishments, God defers them a long while; and by all proper ways and means endeavours to prevent them, and to bring us to repentance. And as for those temporal Judgments which God inflicts upon Sinners, he carries himself so, that we may plainly fee all the figns of unwillingness that can be ; he trys to prevent them, he is loth to fet about this work; and when he does, it is with much reluctance ; and then he is easily perfwaded and prevail'd withal not to do it; and when he does, he does it not rigorou fly, and to extremity; and he is foon taken off after he is engaged in it. All which are great inftances and evidences of his wonderful patience to Sinners.

(1.) God's unwillingness to punish appears, in that he labours to prevent punishment; and that he may effectually do this, he endeavours to prevent fin, the meritorious Caufe of God's Judgments. To this end he hath threatened it with fevere punishments, that the dread of them may make

us

Vol. VII.

us afraid to offend; and if this will not do, he does not yet give us over, but gives us a space of repentance, and invites us earneftly to turn to him, and thereby to prevent his Judgments; be expoftulates with Sinners, and reafons the cafe with them, as if he were more concerned not to punifh, than they are not to be punished; and thus by his earneft defire of our repentance, he fhews how little he defires our ruine.

(2.) He is long before he goes about this work. Judgment is in Scripture call'd his ftrange work; as if he were not acquainted with it, and hardly knew how to go about it on the fudden. He is represented as not prepared for fuch a work, Deut. 32. 41. If I whet my glittering Sword; as if the Inftruments of Punishment were not ready for us. Nay, by a ftrange kind of condescention to our Capacities, and to fet forth to us the patience of God, and his flowness to wrath, after the manner of Men, he is reprefented as keeping out of the way, that he may not be tempted to deftroy us; Exod. 33. 2, 3. where he tells Mofes, that he would fend an Angel before them, but

1

I will not go up in the midst of thee, left IVol. VII
confume thee in the way.
At works of Mercy he is
very rea
dy and forward. When Daniel pray
ed for the deliverance of the People of
Ifrael out of Captivity, the Angel
tells him, that at the beginning of his
fupplication, the commandment came forth,
to bring him a promise of their deli-
verance. The
The mercy of God many
times prevents our Prayers, and out-
runs our Wishes and Defires: but
when he comes to affliction, he takes
time to do it; he paffeth by many
provocations, and waits long in expe-
&tation,that by our repentance we will
prevent his Judgments; he hearkned
and heard (faith God in the Prophet Je-
remiah) but they spake not aright, no man
repented him of his wickedneß, faying,
What have I done? He is reprefented as
waiting and liftning, to hear if any
penitent word would drop from them;
he gives the Sinner time to repent and
reflect upon his actions, and to confi
der what he hath done, and fpace to
reafon himself into repentance. For
this reafon the Judgments of God do
often follow the fins of Men at a great
distance, otherwife he could eafily
M

make

1

make them mend their pace, and conVol. VII. fume us in a moment.

(3.) When he goes about this work, he does it with much reluctance, Amos 11.8, 9. How shall I give thee up,Ephraim? how fball I deliver thee, Ifrael? mine heart is turned within me, and my repentings are kindled together. He is reprefented as making many effays and offers before he came to it. Pfal. 106. 26. Many a time lifted he up bis hand in the wilderneß to destroy them. He made as if he would do it, and let fall his hand again, as if he could not find in his heart to be fo fevere. God witholds his Judgments till he is weary of holding in, as the Expreffion is, Jer. 6. 11. till he can forbear no longer. Jer. 44. 22. So that the Lord could no longer bear, becaufe of the evil of your doings, and because of the abominations, which Je have committed.

(4.) God is eafily prevailed upon not to punish. When he seemed refolved upon it, to destroy the murmuring If raelites, yet how often, at the interceffion of Mofes, did he turn away his wrath? That he will accept of very low terms to spare a very wicked People, appears by the inftance of Sodom, where if there had been but ten righte

ous