36. Tell obdurate finners of the wrath of God, and that he will come to plead his caufe against them; for the most part they take no notice of what you fay, nor have any ferious thoughts about it; but go on, as if they were refolved they fhould deal well enough with him. Notwithstanding all their ftoutnefs, a day is coming, wherein fearfulness shall surprise them, and make them cry out, Who among ft us shall dwell with devouring fire? Who among ft us fhall inhabit with everlasting burnings? Yea, if the Lord be pleased in this life, in an especial manner, to draw nigh to any of them, they quickly fee, that their hearts cannot endure, nor can their hands be Strong, Ezek. xxii. 14. Their hands hang down, and their ftout hearts tremble like an afpen-leaf.

He who first finned, and had firft occafion to have serious thoughts about God's marking of fin, gives us a notable inftance of what we have affirmed. And the first in every kind, is the measure of all that follows in the fame kind, Gen. iii. 8. He heard the voice of God; fo he had done before, without the leaft trouble or confternation of spirit: He was made for communion with God; and that he might hear his voice was part of his bleffedness. But now, faith he, I heard thy voice and was afraid, and hid myself. He knew that God was coming in the inqueft of fin, and he was not able to bear the thoughts of meeting him; could he have gone into the bowels of the earth from whence he was taken, and have been there hid from God, he would not have failed to have attempted it. Things are now altered with him; in that God whom he loved before, as good, holy, powerful, righteous creator, preferver and benefactor and rewarder, he faw nothing now, but wrath, indignation, vengeance and terror. This makes him tremble out these dreadful words, I heard thy voice, and was afraid, and hid myself.

The giving of the law afterwards, evinces what effects the confideration of God's proceeding with finners, according to the tenor of it, muft needs produce, Exod. xx. 18, 19. All the people faw the thundering and the lightnings,

lightnings, and the voice of the trumpet, and the mountain Smoking, as the apoftle alfo defcribes it, Heb. xii. 18. In this manner came forth from the Lord that fiery law, Deut. xxxii. 2. So that all who are concerned in it, did exceedingly fear and tremble. And yet all this respects but the feverity of the law in general. There is a folemnity, that carrieth an awe with it, in the preparation of an affize, to be kept and held by poor worms like ourselves; but the dread of it, is peculiar to the malefactors, for whofe trial and execution all this preparation is made. When a foul comes to think that all this dreadful preparation, this appearance of terrible majefty, thefe ftreams of the fiery law, are all pointed towards him, it will make him cry out, Lord, who can ftand? And this law is ftill in force towards finners, even as it was on the day wherein it was given on mount Sinai. Though Mofes grew old, yet his ftrength never failed; nor hath his law, the law given by him, loft any thing of its ftrength, power, or authority towards finners. It is ftill accompanied with thunderings and lightnings as of old; and it will not fail to reprefent the terror of the Lord to a guilty foul.

Among the faints themselves, I could produce inftances to manifeft that they have found it to be thus. The cafes of Job, David, Heman are known; I fhall only confider it in Chrift himself. From himself he had no occafion of any difcouraging thought; being holy, harmless, undefiled. He fulfilled all righteoufnefs, did his Father's will in all things, and abode in his love. This must needs be attended with the highest peace and moft bleffed joy. In the very entrance of his trials, he had a full perfuafion of a comfortable iffue and fuccefs; as we may fee, Ifa. l. 7, 8. But yet when his foul was exercised with thoughts of God's marking our iniquities upon him, it was forrowful unto the death. He was amazed, and very heavy, Mark xiv 33. His agony, his bloody fweat, his ftrong cries and fupplications, his reiterated prayers, If it be poffible, let this cup pass from me, his laft and dreadful cry, My God, my God, why

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baft thou forfaken me? All manifeft what apprehenfions he had, of what it was for God to mark iniquities. Well may poor finners cry out, Lord, who shall ftand? When the Son of God himself fo trembled under the weight of it.

In ferious thoughts of God marking fin, he is reprefented unto the foul under all those glorious terrible attributes and excellencies which are apt to beger a dread and terror in the hearts of finners, when they have no relief from any covenant-engagements in Chrift. The foul looks upon him as the great lawgiver, James iv. 12. able to revenge the breach of it, by destroying body and foul in hell-fire, as one terrible in holinefs, of purer eyes than to behold iniquity; fo alfo in greatness and in power; the living God, into whofe hands it is a fearful thing to fall; as attended with vindictive justice, faying, Vengeance is mine, and I will recompenfe, Heb. x. 30. Now, for a foul to confider God, cloathed with all these dreadful and terrible excellencies, coming to deal with finners according to the tenor of his fiery law, it cannot but make them cry out with Mofes, I exceedingly quake and tremble..

Thefe things work on their minds the conclufion mentioned before, is afferted in these words; namely, that God's marking of fin according to the tenor of the law, and man's falvation, utterly inconfiftent; a conclufion, that muft needs fhake a foul, when preffed under a sense of its own guilt.

When a perfon who is really guilty, and knows himfelf to be guilty, is brought unto his trial, he hath but thefe four grounds of hope that his fafety and his trial may be confiftent. He may think that either, First, The judge will not be able to find out or difcover his crimes; or, Secondly That fome one will powerfully intercede for him with the judge; or, Thirdly, That the rule of the law is not fo ftrict as to take notice of his miscarriages; or, Fourthly, That the penalty of it is not fo fevere, but that there may be a way of efcape. Cut him fhort of his expectations from fome, one, or all of thefe,

and

and all his hopes muft of neceffity perish. And how is it in this cafe?

First, Of the judge, we have spoken fomewhat already. The prefent enquiry is, Whether any thing may be hid from him or no, and fo a door of efcape be opened to a finner? The apoftle tells us, That all things are open and naked unto him, Heb. iv. 12. and the pfalmift, that there is not a thought in our hearts, nor a word in our tongue, but he understandeth it afar off, and knoweth it altogether, Pfal. cxxxix. 2, 4. What the finner knows of himfelf, that may caufe him to fear, that God knows alfo; He is greater than our hearts, and knoweth all things, 1 John iii. 20. When God fhall. not only fet in order before the finner the fecret fins, which he retains fome remembrance of; but also brings to mind and reprefents to him, that world of filth and folly, which either he never took any real notice of, or hath utterly forgotten, it will trouble him, yea, confound him.

Secondly, But may not this judge be intreated to pafs by what he knows, and to deal favourably with the fianer? May not an interceffor be obtained to plead in behalf of the guilty foul? Eli determines this matter, 1 Sam. ii. 25 If one man fin against another, the judge Jhall judge him; but if a man fin against the Lord, who fhall intreat for him? There is not, faith Job, between us, one that might argue the cafe, in pleading for me, and fo make up the matter, laying his hand upon us both, Job ix. 33. We now confider a finner purely under the adminiftration of the law, which knows nothing of a Mediator. In that cafe, who fhall take upon him to intercede for a finner? Befides, that all creatures in heaven and earth, are engaged in the quarrel of God against finners; and befides the greatnefs and terror of his majefty, that will certainly deter all or any of them from undertaking any fuch work; what is the request that in this cafe must be put up unto God? Is it not, that he would cease to be holy, leave off from being righteous, relinquish his throne, deny himself, and his

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fovereignty, that a rebel, a traitor, his curfed enemy, may live and efcape his juftice: Is this request reafonable? Is he fit to intercede for finners that makes it? Would he not by fo doing prove himself to be the greatest of them? The finner cannot then expect any door of escape to be opened unto him? All the world is against him; and the cafe must be tried out nakedly between God and him: But,

1 hirdly, It may be the rule of the law, whereby the finner is to be tried, is not fo ftrict, but that in case of fuch fins as he is guilty of, it may admit of a favourable interpretation; or that the good that he hath done, may be laid in the balance against his evil, and fo fome relief be obtained that way. But the matter is quite otherwife; there is no good action of a finner, though it were perfectly good, that can ly in the balance with, or compenfate the evil of, the leaft fin committed: For all good is due on another account, though no guilt were incurred. And the payment of money that a man owes, that he hath borrowed, makes no fatisfaction for what he hath ftole; no more will our duties compenfate for our fins. Nor is there any good action of a finner, but it hath evil and guilt enough attending it, to render it unacceptable; fo that men may well cease from thoughts of their fupererogation. Befides, where there is any one fin, if all the good in the world might be fuppofed to be in the fame perfon, yet in the indifpenfible order of our dependance on God, nothing of that good could come into confideration, until the guilt of that fiu were answered for unto the utmoft. Now, the penalty of every fin, being the eternal ruin of the finner, all his fuppofed good can ftand him in little ftead. And for the law itself, it is an iffue of the holinefs, righteoufuefs, and wisdom of God; fo that there is not any evil, fo great or fmall, but is forbidden in it, and condemned by it. Hereupon David fo ftates this whole matter, Pfal. cxliii 2. Enter not into judgment with thy fervant, for in thy fight shall no man living be juftified. That is, if things are to be tried out and de

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