thy Face mall I be bid ; i. e. from the im- Serm. mediate Presence of God as heretofore, XI. and I Mall be a Fugitive and Vagabond in the Earth, and it hall come to pass, that every one, that findeth me, fall say me: But from this he was preserv'd, and accordingly a Mark was set upon him, lest any finding him should kill him. What that Mark was,

tho' there are many Conjectures about it, which are of little Use, unless it be to shew the Folly of those who make them, is not material; whatever it was we find it was something that prevented People from killing him; and this is all the Account we have, or need have concerning it.

Having thus shewn, that every Sin calls to Heaven for Vengeance ; and that the Sins that are of a Heinous Nature, such as Murder, do so in a more extraordinary manner, let us see now,

Secondly, What proper Observations are to be made upon it. And First

, we may observe the Goodness and Justice of God, in that he will not fuffer the least Evil to go without its Compensation ; that Punishment shall be the sure Consequence of Sin, which if it does not overtake a Man in this Life, upon account of the many Imperfections and Chances that attend the State of things, tho'it will always have its Chance for being

punilha

SERM punish'd here, which is all that Time
XI. can give it, and a Certainty of it in Eter-

nity there will surely be; and therefore
thothe Evil does go unpunish'd in this
Life, tho' here below the Wicked triumph
and the Ungodly prosper, yet as this is not
always the Cafe, so when it happens to
be so, it is not the Consequence of any
Male-Administration in God, but of the
Imperfection of the present State of things,
which cannot be perfected but in Eternity.

But there are some, who are so far
from thinking that there is any thing
wrong in a Sinner's not being punish'd in
this Life, that they rather incline on the
contrary to think it inconsistent with the
Goodness of God to punish any Man at
all, either here or hereafter ; as if Justice
was somewhat contrary to Goodness
and Goodness was bound to relieve the
Punishment that Injustice did inflict;
whereas these things are all one in God,
and only become different, as they are by
us differently apprehended. For to punish
the Evil is to do it as much Good as belongs
to it ; as to reward the Good is to render
it the Justice that is due to it. To an abso-
Jute Being these things are the same: To
Reason, Truth, Justice, and Goodness
are all one, and the same thing: And
in this View to thew Goodness to a Be-
ing is to shew it justice and Truth ;

and

i

so on.

and to thew Truth is to shew Justice SERM,
and Goodness, and so on: To the Sense XI.
they are not so, for that represents them
in different Lights, to one Faculty they
are one thing, to another another, and

To Pity, a Man is an Object of
Mercy ; to Resentment, an Object of
Justice; and to Love, an Object of
Goodness: So that upon the whole it is
not inconsistent with the Goodness of
God to punish Evil, any more than it
is inconsistent with his Justice to reward
Good ; if it was, then it would follow
that there is no Difference in things, and
that Good and Evil are the fame.

Secondly, If every Sin calls to Heaven for Vengeance, this may teach us the Malignancy of it, and Thew how cautious we ought to be of committing it; for tho' we may have a thousand Chances for escaping Punishment from Men, yet we have no Chance against God; it is all Certainty there.

Let us therefore upon the Commission of it be sure to be early in seeking God by Repentance; for that, as it is a making Reparation to Justice, will stand between us and Vengeance, and take off the Violence of the Blow : It will plead for us as Abraham did for Sodom; whereas an obftinate Impenitency is not only a denying of all Justice, and the Truth of things, but also a deny

ing

ز

SERM. ing of a Deity, or which is much the XI. fame, denying that he has any thing to

do in the Government of the World and because the way to prevent great Sins is to avoid small ones, let us rather guard against that which we think the molt minute: and inconsiderable, left for want of being kept under they borrow Strength from Indulgence, and grow at last unconquerable. As to the particular Sin of Murder a Man cannot come at it without wading thro' a deal of Malice,"Envy, Hatred, &c. These Avenues are therefore in the first place to be taken Care of

as they deferve our most serious Consideration. That Abel found Favour with God, when Cain could not, was the first thing that stirr'd up his Envy, which for want of being check'd, foon took Malice and other Companions to its Affistance and: at length broke out into the deadly Crime mention'd in the Text. If at any time then we find this to be the Cafe, that things go better with other People than ourselves; let, our Anger begin at home, and be employ'd upon the Evil of our own Hearts, to which it properly belongs; and let us, before we envy others,

, deserve better ourselves. Which that we may all do, God of his infinite Mercy grant for the sake of Jesus Chrift

, &c.

1

SER

ACTs xxiv. 25.
As he reasoned of Righteousness,

and Temperance, and Judgment
to come, Felix trembled, and
answered, Go thy way for this
Time, when I have a conveni-
ent Season I will call for thee.

59 Ighteousness, and Temperance, and

SERMO R Judgment to come, are very un- XII.

welcome Doctrine's to a Sinner

that has not lost all Sense of Shame and Remorse, and especially the last of these. For what Pleasure can he, who has been always accustom'd to indulge his Desires and Appetites, possibly take in hearing Lec

upon Temperance and Righteousness, that are fo opposite to this. Certainly these Sounds muf be very grating to a sensual Ear, especially since there is to be an After-Reckoning for these Things, where Kk

Punish

tures upon TO

1