does not overtake him in this Life, becaufe, SERM, confidering the many Accidents that hap- XII, pen here, the Circle of Life is not large enough for it always to come round (tho' fome he will alway meet with here) yet in the next he will certainly meet with it in its full Proportion; so that no Objection will lie against this from the Slowness of its Progrefs, as long as it is fure at laft.

Of a

Certainty of Punifhment due to Sin here and hereafter God has given every Sinner a Consciousness, which, as it is on the one hand a terrifying Remembrance of paft Guilt, so it is a moft gracious Provision God has appointed to prevent future. So that God has not left himself without Witness in the Hearts of Men, where he has fet up a faithful Monitor to enable us to diftinguish between Good and Evil, and to chufe one and avoid the other; that all the World may be without Excufe, and that God may justify and clear himself when he is judged. And this Monitor which God has fet up in our Hearts, is by no means an imaginaryThing; nor is the Remembrance that it gives us upon the Commiffion of Evil an artificial Fear and Sorrow, as Atheistical People think (if they do think fo) a preternatural Fear infus'd into Men's Minds in their Infancy by

Parents,

SERM. Parents, Mafters, Guardians, Sc. tho' this XII. is a great Addition to it, but a Thing which God himself has planted in the Hearts of all Men; for we find it univerfally. 'Tis to be seen in those who have had little or no Inftruction of any kind, as well as in those that have; tho' not to fo great a Degree, for want of fuch a proper Cultivation. And befides, from whence could these People, who are fuppos'd to infufe this Fear into others, have it themselves? Or where had they a Foundation for this? A Thing so univerfal must be inftill'd by the Hand of Nature. Befides, if it were artificial it could never last long, the Impreffion would in time wear out, and the Mind would at laft recover its former State. But we find this is not the Cafe: For thefe Fears always remain, as long as there remains a Senfe of Good and Evil, and there will continue for the Ufes before-mention'd. Indeed this

natural Fear may, if neglected, in time wear out too; but then it is because 'tis fuppreffed, and not fuffer'd to have its due Influence upon us; whereas the other wears off of itself. Of this Remembrance we have many Inftances in Scripture, a very remarkable one in Belshazzar; I mean with refpect to the Hand-writing on the

1

Wall;

XII.

Wall; for the MENE TEKEL fet him SER M. all a trembling. Nor was it all the Grandeur, Magnificence, or Luxury with which he was furrounded, that could adminifter any Confolation to a troubled Mind. And indeed what from without can give any Satisfaction when the Mind within is difcompos'd? Many are the Amusements which the World affords, and which the Sense provides us with, to divert the Mind, and cheat it into Pleasure. Many the Devices and Experiments to disarm this inward Tormentor, and rob him of his Strength; but all in vain; there is no entring to bind the strong Man. What was it made Felix tremble but the Terror of Confcience, which the Apostle had awaken'd in him by preaching upon Temperance or Righteoufnefs, to which he had been a great Stranger, and especially upon the News of a Judgment to come? And indeed when all the Avenues of Pleafure are ftopp'd, and no Relief from without to the Mifery within, how melancholy must be that State! So that well might the wife Man fay, (Prov. xviii. 14.) A wounded Spirit who can bear? And alfo Job (Fob xxvii. 6.) well knowing how dreadful the Sting of Confcience muft be, refolves that his Heart fhall not reproach

him.

SERM. him. And tho' the bare putting People in XII. mind of their Crimes may not always have

a proper Influence, they may bully it out against fuch Remembrances as these; yet when a Judgment to come is press'd home to them, it seldom fails of making a deep Impreffion. The Confideration of another Life after this, where the Punishment that is allotted to Evil will be full grown, will awaken thofe Fears which no other Confi derations could reach. And poffibly the Apostle might have talk'd long enough of Righteousness and Temperance, tho' to little Purpose, if he had faid nothing of a future Account, an After-Reckoning. But when he mention'd a Judgment to come, then, very likely, it was that Felix trembled. And indeed the Terror of that Day is beyond all Expreffion, when we shall all appear before the Judgment-Seat of Chrift, to be rewarded or punifh'd for the Things done in the Body; when the everlafting Volume fhall be display'd, and every individual Sin, which lay concealed from all mortal Eyes, fhall appear in its full Magnitude; and still more if we go a little farther, and view the Sinner receiving Sentence of Condemnation, and just ready to depart from the Prefence of God for ever, into the

Eternity

Eternity of Sorrow that was prepar'd from SERM. the Foundation of the World to receive him. XII. Thefe Things are enough to melt the hardest Heart, and make the braveft Sinner tremble: Which, by the way, is no fmall Argument of a future Judgment, fince otherwife this Fear, which is plainly implanted in our Nature, would be planted there to no Purpose.

a

But what tho' after all God has implanted in the Heart of Man a Confcioufnefs of Punishment due to Sin, if People will, notwithstanding, refufe to give a proper Attention to it? Now the Folly and Danger of this I come,

Secondly, to confider. This Confeiousness of Punishment due to Sin I have already fhewn to be a gracious Provifion to prevent Evil for the future. But if we refufe to give it a due Attention, we fruftrate the Defign and Intention of it. What will it fignify for Confcience to call, if we will not hear? If it awakes us now and then from

the Lethargy of Sin, and we, with the Sluggard in the Proverbs, require a little more Sleep, a little folding of the Hands to Sleep » But do we confider the Confequence of thofe Things? Are we fure that this Confcience, L1

which