loufy over us; which fets fpies upon all our actions, and watches the circumftances, and tells the steps, and attends the bufinefs, the recreations, and the retirements of every man, and will not suffer a thought to wander, but he ufes means to correct its error, and to reduce it to himfelf. For he that created us, and daily fuftains us, he that intreats us to be happy, with an importunity fo vehement, as if not we, but himself were to receive the favour; he that would part with his only Son from his bofom and the embraces of eternity, and give him over to a shameful and curfed death for us, cannot but be fuppofed to love us with a great love, and to own us with an entire title, and therefore that he is defirous to fecure us to himfelf with an undivided affection.

Hitherto all is mercy. But if we provoke this jealoufy, and we continue ftill unreclaimed, he is implacable; that is, he will punish us eternally, unless we repent; and if we do, it may be he will not be appeafed in all inftances; and when he forgives us, he will make fome referves of his

wrath ;

wrath; he will punish our perfons, or our eftate; he will chaftife us at home or abroad, in our bodies or in our children; for he vifits the iniquities of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation. That is the fecond great ftroke he ftrikes againft fin, and comes next to be confidered.

THAT God doth fo is certain, because he faith he doth: And that this is just in him to do fo, is alfo as certain, therefore because he doth it. For as his laws are our measures, fo his actions and his own will are his own measures. He that hath right over all things, and all perfons, cannot do wrong to any thing. He that is justice itself, cannot be unjuft. But fince God is pleased to speak after the manner of men, it may well confift with our duty, to inquire into thofe manners of confideration, whereby we may understand the equity of God in this proceeding, and be inftructed alfo in our own danger if we perfevere in fin.

And,

And, first, it is to be obferved, that though a man may be made to Suffer, yet no man is made a finner, by the fault of another, without his own confent. For to every one God gives his choice, and fets good and evil before him; and therefore this evil is not a confequent to any fin but our own. By the fin of Adam, death came into the world; but this death is not an evil, but only to him who makes it fo, by his own perfonal offence. And it is obfervable, that before any man died, Chrift was promised; by whom death was to lose its fting; by whom death did cease to be an evil, and was, or might be, if we do belong to Chrift, a state of advantage. If we follow Chrift, death is our friend: If we imitate the fin of our firft parents, then death becomes an evil. For although their fin brought death into the world, yet it is only our own fin that can make it evil to us. And it is still only of temporal evils that the fcriptures fpeak, when they exprefs the confequences of the parents fin upon their children.

But

But although no man can be made a finner by the fault of another, yet for the fault of others many may become miferable; even all those, whofe relation is fuch to the finner, that he in any fenfe may by fuch inflictions himself be punished. In fuch cafe, fin is infectious, not only in example, but also in punishment.

And as it is a punishment to the parents, fo alfo it is not unjust as to the children; not only when the children follow the example, and are partakers of their fathers' fins, but even although they themselves be innocent thereof. For all the calamities in this life are incident to the most godly perfons in the world. And fince the King of heaven and earth was made a man of forrows; it cannot be called unjust, or intolerable, that innocent perfons should be preffed with temporal infelicities: only, in fuch cases, we must distinguish the mifery from the punishment. For that all the world dieth, is a punishment of Adam's fin; but it is no evil to thofe who die in the Lord, for they are bleffed in their death. Our children (it may be) shall be VOL. IV. fanctified

X

fanctified by a forrow, and purified by the fire of affliction, and they fhall receive the bleffing of it; but it is to their fathers a curfe, who fhall wound their own hearts with forrow, and cover their heads with a robe of fhame, for bringing fo great evil upon their house.

And God hath many ends of providence to serve, in this dispensation of his judgements. Hereby he expreffes the highest indignation against fin; and makes his examples lafting, communicative, and of great effect. It arrests the spirits of men, and surprises their loofeneffes, and restrains their gaiety, when we obferve, that the judgements of God find us out in all relations, and turn our comforts into sadness, and make our families the scene of forrows, and we can efcape him no where; and by fin are made obnoxious not only to perfonal judgements, but instead of tranfmitting to them bleffings, we leave them an entailed calamity, a mifery, and an evil name, the displeasure of God, and a treafure of wrath, for their portion and inheritance.

Now