Two Discourses, Section 1 · Chapter 6
CHAP. VI.
Thirdly: Reaſons. 1. God's Juſtice. 2. Avenging Wrath, otherwiſe not ſatisfied. A Demonſtration added.
I Come now to the Reaſons of it, which will ſhew the neceſſity of this courſe, namely, of God's taking it into his own hands. It might be wondred at, that the great God having an Hoſt or Army of creatures ready to be his Avengers, ſhould over and above what they might do, himſelf ſet his hand to this: But God and Chriſt are ſo far from eſteeming this a ſtaining of their Glory, as earthly Judges think it would be to execute any themſelves, that this being a Trophee of regaining Honour debaſed by the Creature, they account it a part of their Glory. Thus God here challengeth it to himſelf, Vengeance is mine, as a Glory he would not give to any other. And Chriſt is ſo far from accounting, that he ſtaineth his Compare for this Interpretation, Revel. 19. with Iſa. 63.Raiment with their Blood, Iſa. 63. as that he glories to tread the Wine-preſs of his Father's Wrath alone. He glories in it.
There are two Reaſons drawn from the final Cauſes of this Puniſhment, which makes this Diſpenſation neceſſary: 1. It is for the Glory of his Juſtice. 2. It is an Act of Avenging Wrath, retributing Vengeance. Which two do center in this as a third, That it is to be Deſtruction to the Perſons it falls upon, as the iſſue of both. All which can never be attained but by an execution made by God's own immediate Wrath.
I ſhall found theſe Reaſons, as I did the other Proofs, upon what I find Foundations for, in theſe very Texts I have choſen.
1. It is an Act of Juſtice; ſo in this Heb. 10. I will repay; and 2 Theſſ. 1. 6. It is a righteous thing in God. foreign, to repay again or recompence, and verſ. 9. foreign, who ſhall pay or lay down a Puniſhment juſtly ſentenced; which in Heb. 2. 2. is called a juſt Recompence of Reward. And Rom. 6. laſt, the Wages or Reward of Sin. And this is the laſt Payment, and all that for ever, Sin in them, or God for Sin, ſhall have; and therefore that whereby the Glory of God is to be fully recovered.
2. It is an Act of avenging Wrath, as in both theſe places is expreſſed.
Let us ſee what evidence of Reaſon each of theſe apart do afford, much more put together.
1. Justice. Concerning that the aſſertion is, That if there be a Satisfaction made for Man's Sin unto God's Justice, but ſo far as it may be attained upon the Creature to be puniſh'd in Hell, God himſelf will ſet his immediate hand to it, and Juſtice requires this.
The Explication.
1. I ſay, A Satisfaction, ſo far as may be attained upon the Creature that hath ſinned, and which is to be the Subject of this Puniſhment. I put this in, becauſe otherwiſe it muſt be affirmed of Chriſt alone, that he gave full ſatisfaction unto God's Juſtice, in whom there was foreign, a Manifeſtation or Rom. 3. 25Demonſtration of God's Juſtice for Sins that were past: yet ſtill, as although a full Satisfaction can never be had from or upon the Creature, (therefore in Hell they alwas ſuffer) yet God doth recover what can be had, and payeth himſelf out of them as far as it will go; as thoſe Phraſes, Paying the utmost farthing, Mat. 5. 26. and, Selling them and all they had, to make Money thereof, Mat. 18. 25. do ſhew.
2. In this caſe, that which juſtice will require unto any tolerable equitable ſatisfaction in this Puniſhment, is, that as exact a proportion be obſerved, as poſſibly there may be, and as the Subject is capable of. The Juſtice of God as it is according to Truth, ſo exactneſs and equity: and the work of God is perfect in every kind; and performed in due Weight, Number and Meaſure, but above all elſe, where Juſtice is profeſſed. You may hear Juſtice ſpeak in Iſaiah, Chap. 59. [According] to their Deeds, [Accordingly] he will repay recompence to his Enemies. There is an [According] and an [Accordingly] to that: So as all due Meaſures and Rules of Proportion every way ſhall be obſerved. Which Meaſures being ſet out in this matter, will evidently demonſtrate that God's immediate Hand is neceſſarily required thereto.
1. Let the demerit of Sin be weighed: And for that in the General, I refer unto the firſt of theſe Treatiſes of the heinouſneſs of Sin. And we ſhall find, that although the craſſer part of Sin is an inordinate luſting after, or enjoyment of things created, or ſinful Comforts in Creatures; yet that the great and Foundation evil of it lieth in an averſion or turning off from God, and therein and thereby there is a reflecting upon God an immediate ſlight or undervalue, to an infiniteneſs of diſhonour and contempt caſt upon his Goodneſs, Bleſſedneſs, that is to be had in him; as alſo to his Soveraignty, Prerogative, Supremacy, Holineſs, &c. which are ſhewn forth and laid at Stake of every of his Laws, whereof Sin is the Tranſgreſſion. Now if indeed it could have been ſuppoſed, that Sin were nothing elſe but that groſs and craſs part ſpoken of, the enjoyment of Creatures, than a puniſhment by Creatures only, might equivalently, have been even with that its obliquity of debaſing its own excellency unto Creatures: But it being an immediate reflection upon God Himſelf, none can fill up the proportion of a meet and full Puniſhment, which Juſtice doth require for this, but God Himſelf. I may make uſe of Eli's ſpeech, 1 Sam. 2. 25. If one Man ſin againſt another, the Judg ſhall judg him, and revenge it: but if againſt God, who ſhall intreat for him? Thus he. And upon the ſame or like ground of Reaſon I infer, if one Creature wrong another, a Creature of the ſame kind can revenge it. If a Man ſhed Man's Blood, ſo far as it is wrong to the bare Creature, By Man ſhall his Blood be ſhed; ſo ſays the Law in relation to Man's day in this World: But if Man ſin againſt God, who ſhall recompence it, when God's day comes wherein he is to be glorifyed? none, ſo as to give ſatisfaction to his moſt exact Juſtice, but God Himſelf.
Yea further, if we retained to that opinion of many Learned Men, That Adam's enjoyment of God for ever, in that holy Eſtate of Innocency, ſhould have been of God, but as manifeſted in and by Creatures, and his holy Law, and not as in Himſelf, or as in Heaven, &c. yet this would not ſerve for a Rule whereby to eſtimate, or make proportion, that therefore this Puniſhment ſhould oppoſitely be only from God, by and through Creatures. For whatever his enjoyment ſhould have been, whether of God mediately, or of God as in Himſelf immediately, I diſpute not: yet to be ſure when God was caſt off by him, or is by us immediately and directly reflected upon, [even God as God] which is that, whereby every Man's Sin is heightned in Rom. 1. 21. the meaning whereof is, that God as in Himſelf is debaſed by Sin. So that as the Apoſtle ſays in the like caſe, Rom. 5. 15. [Not as the Offence, ſo is the free Gift.] On the contrary, upon the like ground, Not as was the caſe or merit of Adam's Righteouſneſs, ſo is the demerit of Sin; and ſo, nor of Puniſhment. Becauſe there is ſo tranſcendent an undueneſs, yea, an injury done to the great God Himſelf by the Creature in Sinning, over and above the proportion of all created Grace or Obedience. For all Obedience was due, and all Man's Reward in obeying was from the meer goodneſs of God, which He, and his Obedience, and all depended upon: and ſo the proportion thereof is no way to be lookt at, either as the meaſure of the evil of Sin, or of what is to be the Puniſhment thereof. Sin we are ſure is ſo great an Evil, as no meer Creature, but Chriſt God-Man, and his Obedience or Suffering could have ſatisfied God for, in the behalf of another. And why may it not alſo be ſaid, that as none but He, that was ſubjectivè God, could ſatisfy God for the demerit of Sin, committed againſt God objectivè? ſo that Sin is ſuch an evil, as cannot in the Sinner himſelf be throughly puniſhed unto the ſatisfaction of Juſtice, but by God Himſelf efficiently; that is, God, to be the inflicter thereof immediately.
A ſecond equitable rule of Proportion, that Juſtice (requiring the fulleſt ſatisfaction that may be had) will exact, is that the principal Author and Actor in the Sin ſhould principally bear the Puniſhment. This not only Vengeance (which is the ſecond Topick) doth in a more eminent manner aim at, and affect, but Juſtice doth call for it alſo; The Juſtice both of God, and Men. Now the principal in Sin is known to be the Soul of Man. Which I ſhall urge, when I come to ſhew how Vengeance alſo ſeeketh to wreck it ſelf thereon. That which ſerves to my preſent purpoſe (which is this, that in the point of ſatisfaction, to be made unto God's Juſtice, it is moſt proper for God Himſelf to puniſh Sin in the Soul) in order thereunto, is,
Firſt, to enquire, What is it in Soul or Spirit of Man, which God, when he comes to deal ſtrictly and down-rightly, as a Judg of Mens Souls, hath principally to do withal? All muſt acknowledg that it is Conſcience that hath to do with God as a Judge: for it muſt be that in Man, which is the moſt proper ſeat of the guilt of Sin, which guilt is the obligation unto Judgment and Puniſhment. And this to be Mens Conſciences, the Scriptures hold forth, and every Man's own Soul feels. Hence alſo to be purged from an evil Conſcience, is all one, and to be perfectly acquitted from the Guilt of Sin. And for God no more to remember our Sins, or to be atoned with us as a Judg; is all one as to ſay, that we on our parts have no more Conſcience of Sins, Heb. 10. 2, 3, 10, 11, 17. verſes compared. Conſcience is that part of the Soul, whereby God as the Judg arraigneth every Man. It is the Hand which a guilty Soul holds up at God's Bar for all the reſt of Man; and is God's Witneſs within Man againſt himſelf, Rom. 2. 15. and that in order unto Judgment, as follows in verſe 16.
Again, 2. I enquire, when it ſhall come to the execution of the Puniſhment ſentenced, What is it in the Soul or Spirit of Man that is moſt directly and naturally capable of Anguiſh and Torment, and what that part is, which God may moſt properly ſtrike a Man's Soul in, when he would rebuke him for Sin? Certainly, ſtill a Man's Conſcience. All Beaſts have one tender part above any other, that moſt grieves them, if ſmitten: This, in guilty Man is Conſcience. We ſee it in Cain and Judas, God burnt them both in this Hand; in the Hand of Conſcience in this World.
Having by theſe two Enquiries, ſtated the Principal, both in Guilt, and in being the Seat of the Execution; I ſhall for the Proof hereof, as alſo in order to the clearer making forth the Argument afore us, namely, that Juſtice requires God's immediate Hand, &c. I ſhall in a more ample manner ſet together theſe five enſuing Aſſertions.
The Firſt, That Conſcience, and the intellectual or underſtanding Power in Man's Soul, are God's Engagee, and the Principal in a double reſpect. 1. Conſcience is reſponſible for the whole in Man: or if you will, principal in the Obligation. As being that, which, by its own acknowledgment of a Judgment, made unto God, when he ſhall come to judge, binds over it ſelf, and with it ſelf, the whole Soul for the Payment. And upon that account is to be reckoned the chief Obligee: and therefore the Execution is juſtly to be ſerved upon it, and through it upon the whole Soul. 2. If we take in together with Conſcience, the underſtanding part in Man; the Intelligentia, or the Spirit of the Mind in the ſummity of it; That is really to be accounted alſo the Principal, in reſpect of its ſhare in the very acts of Sinning; ſo as juſtly the Guilt of every act is refunded upon it, as the principal Actor. For it is betruſted by God, with the ſteering and management of the whole Soul, with the conduct of it, as the General. By reaſon of that Light, God at firſt ſeated in it, it was appointed for ever to be the Guide and Leader of the Will and Affections. And therefore God juſtly requireth the account, or the defaults and miſcarriages of the whole, at its Hands. According to the equity of thoſe Rules declared concerning Rulers of the People, Jer. 5. 4, 5. Theſe have known the way of the Lord, &c. As alſo from that other like to it, given forth touching the Prieſts, and which we find ſo often inculcated in Ezekiel, I will require their Blood at the Prieſts Hands. And all theſe founded upon one and the ſame common ground, common unto Conſcience with theſe; namely, Conſcience and Knowledg there being the Guides: And yet, in that Conſcience gives but an ineffectual weak warning againſt Sin (which ſhould powerfully ſway the whole) and the Spirit of the Mind, or the practick Underſtanding doth ſtill wickedly give ſecret conſent unto Sin, &c. Hence therefore that denunciation in Ezekiel holds, that God will require the Blood of (the Soul) at its hands. Although the Soul (the Will and Affections) do periſh too, in their Iniquity as it is there ſpoken. And, for this cauſe it becomes Juſtice to puniſh this chief Agent and Offender, or this great Miniſter of State in ſinning, and to make theſe the Seat of the Execution above any or all other Faculties.
2. It will furthermore agree with the Rules of Justice, yea, it will be a ſpecial Trophy unto Juſtice, to have Sin it ſelf in the Guilt of it, made as far as poſſibly to be it's own Tormentor, and Inſtrument of the higheſt Puniſhment in and unto the Soul that hath ſinned. There is no Sword like unto that, will Juſtice ſay, to ſlay a Sinner withall. It is of all other the moſt proper and exquiſite way of puniſhing. For the Sinner to eat (for ever) of the Fruit of his own Ways, and Prov. 1. 31.to be filled with their own Devices; and their Iniquity to ſlay them. This is the juſteſt and higheſt Doom which Wiſdom it ſelf can invent, or God's Power execute. The very ſame doth Jeremy alſo ſpeak, Jer. 2. 19. Thine own Wickedneſs ſhall correct thee; know therefore, and ſee, that it is an evil thing and a bitter, that thou haſt forſaken the Lord thy God. Certainly for the Sinner to feel in the moſt intimate and immediate manner that may be, the bitterneſs of the Guilt of Sin; and to find that that, above all other Puniſhments that can be inflicted, is the ſharpeſt and ſevereſt: this is a tranſcendent ſtrain of Juſtice indeed. Now this is moſt exquiſitely accompliſh'd through that proper capacity which Conſcience and the intellectual part in Man have as to this very thing: And in their being the Seat of the Guilt of Sin, they are thereby further fitted to become the Veſſel or Receptacle of this the higheſt Puniſhment. This is in a great meaſure verified by that in Iſa. 59. 11, 12. We roar all like Bears: And what was it that cauſed this? For our Tranſgreſſions are multiplied before thee, and our Sins teſtify against us: For our Tranſgreſſions are with us, (they dwell with and poſſeſs us, and we poſſeſs them, as Job alſo ſpeaks): And as for our Iniquities, we know them. It was their very knowing of their Sins, as ſet on by God, that made them thus roar, which is the loudeſt and wildeſt Tone of Grief, and Note of inſufferable Torment. And obſerve, how that that Knowledg had two things in contemplation, which cauſed the Roaring: 1. Sin, together with the Wrath of God. Our Tranſgreſſions are multiplied afore thee. And ſo they had God in their eye as a Judge; which thoſe words ſhew, We look for Salvation, but it is far from us, v. 11. And, 2. They teſtify against us. This was the accuſation of their own Conſciences themſelves. So as it was Conſcience which was the Seat, the Habitation, (as it were) where theſe two took up their dwellings, continually quartered upon, and poſſeſſed. Jeremy ſays the ſame, To ſee and know how bitter a thing it is to ſin, &c. And though theſe Scriptures ſpeak not immediately of Hell, yet they do clearly point out to us, what, and wherein the moſt exquiſite puniſhment of Sin lieth, and by what effected; namely, Knowledg of Sin and Wrath: whether it be in Men in forerunning Anguiſh in this Life, or hereafter in Hell in the fulneſs of it.
3. It is not, nor can it be the meer Spiritual evil that is in Sin, as Sin is Sin, and an oppoſite to true Holineſs, and as it ſtands in a contrariety to the Holineſs and Goodneſs of God; that is not it which Men in Hell ſhall ſpiritually know and ſee, ſo as to lay to heart the evil thereof in that reſpect: No, for that is the peculiar effect of Grace, and proper to the Saints; even as to ſee the Beauty that is in Holineſs, as it is Holineſs, likewiſe is—It is therefore Sin in the bitter effects thereof only, whereby Souls ſtill remaining wholly ſinful, (as thoſe in Hell do) can come to know this bitterneſs of Sin.
Now to proſecute this: The evil of Sin is not ſufficiently or perfectly felt, no, not in the effects of it, by the Conſcience of a Sinner, (ſo as it may be) until it be felt in that which is the higheſt, and moſt tranſcendent, and proper, moſt immediate and firſt-born effect thereof, of all other. And that is no other than the Wrath and Indignation of the All-powerful God: For that his Wrath ſhall break in upon the Sinner, and ſo conſidered, it is the moſt proper effect of all other of the demerit of Sin, God being ſtirred up and provoked thereunto by Sin. Do you provoke the Lord to Jealouſy? 1 Cor. 10. 22. The like, Jer. 7. 19. Sins are as a heap of Charcoal, wicked Mens Conſciences the Oven, and God's Wrath the Fire: Let this Fire be put into this Coal, and let both meet in a guilty Conſcience, and it inſtantly becomes a fiery Oven within it ſelf. And as concerning all other Puniſhments, I may ſay it, That all other, of what kind or from whomſoever, although they are all the effects and deſerts of Sin, according to that in Jeremy: [Thy way, and thy doings have procured theſe things to thee,] and this is thy Wickedneſs; as it follows there in Jer. 4. 18. Yet ſtill theſe are all of them deficient, and fall ſhort in repreſenting unto the Heart and Conſcience the demerit of Sin, even ſo far as by the effects it may be known, and the Soul yet further is capable to feel: But if once the Wrath and Indignation of the Great God come into the Soul and Conſcience, this when felt doth bear ſome anſwerable proportion, as an effect, unto ſo great an Evil as Sin is, which it hath deſerved; and when revealed unto and impreſſed upon the Sinner's Conſcience, it hath alſo the fulleſt dimenſions of ſuch an Evil (even to the Sinner alſo) as Sin juſtly deſerveth, as far as any way the Creature is capable. Then it is that the Sinner feels, and takes in the evil of Sin, not as in ſecundary outward effects only, (and ſuch all other Puniſhments whatſoever are in compariſon to the Wrath of God, and therefore fall ſhort) but in this caſe it feels immediately the demerit of Sin, in that which is the Cauſe, the only Cauſe, the highest Cauſe of all other ſecundary Puniſhments which Sin hath alſo deſerved, whereof it alſo is the cauſe. And this Diſpenſation of immediate Wrath riſeth up unto the exacteſt demonſtration of the evil that is in Sin, which any way from Effects can be made or given unto the Creature.
4. Of this immediate Wrath (as it is an evil of Puniſhment) the Conſcience and intellectual part in Man's Soul is not only capable to be made the Veſſel, the Receptacle thereof, but it lies immediatly expoſed unto it. It is bare and naked unto him with whom we have to do, Heb. 4. 13. as in reſpect to God's knowledg, ſo of God's puniſhing, as I have elſewhere ſhewn. Conſcience is as an open Door or In-let; or as an open Window is to the Sun, ſo it to God, for him to come in at at any time. That when ever God will but take upon him to perform and execute the part of a Judg and Avenger, a Conſcience that is guilty lies expoſed nakedly and barely unto his Anger, to receive the ſtrokes and impreſſions of it. For I ask, What is God's Juſtice againſt Sin, but his juſt Anger againſt Sin? (as Rom. 3. 5. the Original hath it.) And what is a guilty Conſcience, but that in Man that is naturally ſuſcipient or apprehenſive of it? And theſe two are ſuited as Faculty and Object, and are (as it were) made one for the other; there needs no third or other thing (if God but pleaſe to hold forth his Anger, and apply the Corroſive to the Sore, ſo this unto the Soul) to convey his own diſpleaſure by; Conſcience hath an ear to hear what God will ſpeak, without any Medium to convey the Voice. Look as Faith is a Principle peculiarly fitted to take in God's free Grace, and Chriſt's Righteouſneſs; ſuch is Conſcience (when guilty) unto God's Wrath, immediatly ſuſceptive of it. If God will but ſet a Mans Sins in order afore him, and withal ſay unto Conſcience, I am angry; yea, look but angrily, and preſent himſelf as ſuch; then Conſcience inſtantly, like the ſenſible Plant, is ſtruck, ſhrinks, and falls down. For if God be angry but a little, as Pſal. 2. laſt, and rebuke us in his Anger, Pſal. 6. 1. then, at the very rebuke of his Countenance we periſh, Pſal. 80. And it is moſt certain that God can reveal his Anger to the Soul immediatly, as well as his Favour. And what is this Puniſhment we are ſpeaking of, but the Revelation of the righteous Judgment of God, revealed, as afore others, ſo principally to a Man's own Soul? as verſ. 9. And what is that Judgment, but God's Judgment, expreſſed, as in ſentencing, ſo in ſhewing his Anger and Wrath againſt Sin? as the whole ſtream of that Scripture ſhews. It is therefore the Wrath and Face of God and the Lamb, when diſcovered, which a guilty Conſcience flies from, Rev. 6. 16. That, as Luther ſays, Animus ſibi male conſcius potius ad Diabolum ipſum ferretur, quam ad Deum accederet: It had rather be brought afore the Devil, and ſee his face, than ſee God's. Terror of Conſcience, what is it, but all one and God's Wrath in Conſcience? See it in its contrary: Peace (which we call Peace of Conſcience) which paſſeth Ʋnderſtanding, is rather denominated the [Peace of God] which paſſeth underſtanding, Phil. 4. 7. than Peace of Conſcience, although Conſcience be the Subject pacified, and whoſe Peace and Quietus eſt it is. And in like manner Terror is ſtiled, the Terror of the Lord, 2 Cor. 5. 11. And theſe things may perhaps afford as true a Light towards the underſtanding of that Maxim of the Apoſtle, Rom. 2. 8, 9. Indignation and Wrath, (viz. of God,) Tribulation and Anguiſh upon every Soul (as the ſeat of their Anguiſh) of Man that doth evil, as any other. And withal ſhew how it comes to paſs, that this Tribulation is executed from that Wrath, even by the reception of Conſcience. For of Conſcience alſo the following words, verſ. 15. do there ſpeak, and that as in order unto Judgment, verſ. 16.
5. I add, as a Corollary from this, that Conſcience, though it be thus naked and open to God and his Wrath, yet it is ſo great a ſecluſe, ſo faſt and privy a Cabinet, ſo intimate a Power and Principle, in and unto the Soul it ſelf; and ſo entirely reſerved unto God himſelf, who is the Lord thereof: as it is not immediately ſubjicible to, or to be broke open by Creatures: No, not thoſe who are ſuperiour Spirits to it, either Angels or Devils; they are not able to terrify the Conſcience, until it hath been firſt made raw and tender by God. God only made the Heart, and God only knows the Heart, and God only can come at and ſtrike at the root of the Heart. The Devils or Angels can come but into an outward Room, the Fancy, and caſt in Images thereinto; the Fancy being the Souls Looking-glaſs, wherein it vieweth its own thoughts, and from which it takes off into it ſelf the Species that are caſt in there. Alſo they may ſtir bodily Paſſions (both which I have elſewhere ſhewn) but they cannot enter into the Cloſet of the Soul. God only is intimior intimo noſtro, as the Ancients expreſs it; God only is greater than our Hearts, as the Apoſtle expreſſeth it. Conſcience is a Book ſo faſt claſp'd, as it is God's Prerogative alone to open it; which he then at that day will do: and thereunto, that likewiſe may be applied, He openeth, and none ſhuts; and he ſhuts, and none opens. That Speech holds as true of Conſcience, as of any other thing. And as it is a Book which he alone can open, ſo in which he alone can write over every Man's Sins, not with Ink, but with Wrath, which, like Aqua fortis, every letter of it ſhall eat into the Soul. According unto that in Job: Thou writeſt bitter things againſt me, and cauſest me to poſſeſs the Sins of my Youth, Job 13. 26. Let no Man therefore imagine, that Devils are the greateſt Tormentors of Men, or of their Conſciences in Hell: or if any would affirm it, I would demand, Who it is that torments the Conſciences of Devils themſelves? Certainly none but God. They now believing there is a God, do tremble; but in Hell they fear him, and for ever have to do with him. And it is as ſure, that the ſame God, with whom thoſe Spirits and their Conſciences have for ever to do, the Conſciences of Men ſhall alſo.
And as for all other mediate or outward ways of Judgments executed, in which the Wrath of God is revealed from Heaven, but as at the ſecond hand, take the ſoreſt and ſevereſt of them that ever God executed by Creatures; yea, ſuppoſe all of the ſeveral kinds of Providential Judgments (I call them ſuch which are executed upon Men in this World afore-hand) which God hath, as Judg of all the World, in his riding Circuit through all Ages ſince the Fall, revealed his Wrath from Heaven by, againſt all ſorts of Unrighteouſneſs of Men, (as the Apoſtle ſpeaking of theſe Judgments ſays, in Rom. 1. 18.) Suppoſe, I ſay, they were let flie upon any one Sinner, all at once, yet would they not reach or touch that Man's Conſcience, further than as God ſhould, over and above the efficacy of them, ſtrike the Conſcience it ſelf with his anger and diſpleaſure, revealed more or leſs by himſelf therewith. And, although in all ſuch Judgments his goings forth are as of a Judg, and he accompanies ſuch Judgments more or leſs, but as with ſome ordinary light and glimmerings of an angry Deity; yet his coming as a Judg upon Mens Conſciences, at the Day of Wrath, and Revelation of the Righteous Judgment of God (as if he had never revealed his Wrath before) this is another manner of coming, and ſhewing himſelf a Judg indeed, rendring Indignation and Wrath upon the Souls of Men: And of that Judgment it is, the ſame Apoſtle in the ſecond Chapter treats, as of that other in the former.
And I may ſay of all the former, in compariſon to this latter, that they all are but as the Batteries of the Out-works, and as Bullets ſhot againſt the Walls, in a Siege, which may indeed terrify the Inhabitants, and make them tremble; Deut. 32. Rom. 2.and ſo theſe the Soul, as by remote effects in the Suburbs of it. But the latter is as ſhooting in of Granadoes, which have been laid up with him in his Treaſury, carrying Fire from thence in them, the Fire of his fierce and ſoreſt Indignation; and theſe himſelf alone can ſhoot into the inwards of Mens Souls. And this is as ſhooting Fire into the the very Magazine, into that which is the moſt inward in the Soul, and fortified againſt the entrance of all created Powers; the Magazine where all the Gun-pouder lies, that is, the guilt of a Man's Sins: ſo as there needeth nothing elſe to blow up all. If his Wrath doth but touch, it takes, and ſets all on Fire.
Yea, give me leave upon the ſame ground, and by the like reaſon, further to ſay, That all the material Fire in Hell, by which the Soul ſhall and will ſuffer by way of a Compatibility (as it is termed) or ſuffering by and with the Body an unſpeakable Torment; and this for the Sins a Man is guilty of: yet theſe Flames nor theſe Puniſhments (taken materially, and abſtracted from this Revelation of God's Wrath) would not break into Conſcience; not until God did therewithal break in with the Fire of his Wrath, and make the Conſcience and intellectual Spirit of the Mind a fiery Oven within it ſelf, as the Pſalmiſt expreſſeth it in Pſal. 21. 9. almoſt in theſe very words.
This being the ſtate of matters between God, the Judg of all, and the Souls and Conſciences of Sinners, as touching that due and equitable Puniſhment for Sin, and the execution thereof, which Mens Souls are capable of: I ſhall now compleat the reaſon, why the Juſtice of God ſhould move him to be willing; yea, and that there is in reſpect unto Divine Juſtice a kind of requiſiteneſs (if not neceſſity) for the Great God to take this courſe to puniſh the Sinner, by the Revelation of his own immediate Wrath. And this I ſhall do, by gathering together what hath been ſaid, from which the Arguments for both theſe two Aſſertions that follow, lie fair.
1. That God for his Juſtice ſake ſhould be willing. For Conſcience being the principal Engagee obliged unto God as a Judg, and the underſtanding Power in Man the eminent Tranſgreſſor, and both lying ſo naked and immediately expoſed unto God's Wrath, and capable to receive the Revelation of it. An Anguiſh made thereby in the Soul, is the moſt proper, natural, ſuitable Reward unto Sin, to pay the Sinner home in his own Coin; as alſo the moſt ready, direct, and ſhort way for God to take.
If therefore we ſuppoſe Juſtice be left to have but its free and full courſe; if Juſtice (according to the Prophet's language, and God's own rule and direction given unto us) run down as Waters, and Righteouſneſs as a mighty Stream, in its proper natural Channel, and ſo as to fall into that moſt capacious Veſſel or Receptacle that is in Man to receive it. Again, if Divine Juſtice hath a will to put and lay its charge and execution where principally it is to be laid, even againſt the Principal, whether in the Obligation for Sin, or in the guilt of the Act of ſinning. Or if it be deemed, that Divine Juſtice will take a recovery where the fulleſt and faireſt advantage lies, and recover his principal Debt of that which is the principal Debtor; and from that in Man which is capable to afford the moſt due ſatisfaction and puniſhment, as being that which is the Treaſury of all the Guilt of Sin, and moſt exquiſitely capable to ſuffer, and thereby to make fulleſt payment for all. Then we may conclude that aſſuredly God is willing to wreck his juſt Anger, and in his Wrath to break forth upon the Conſcience and Intellectual Faculty of the Sinner in Hell, by the immediate Revelation of his Wrath, and that upon all the accounts fore-mentioned, thereby to puniſh it.—And we may well ſuppoſe that his Juſtice is willing to do this, becauſe God is (as the Pſalmiſt with an Emphaſis) Judg Himſelf, Pſal. 50. 6. And judgeth for Himſelf, Prov. 16. 4. And for the Recovery of his own Glory, and Revelation of his Righteous Judgment. And this Courſe of immediate Wrath being a way above all other ſo natural, ſo ready, ſo direct, ſo compendious, and ſo ſuited to the demerit of Sin, (as hath been ſhewn) we may well think that God will be rather willing to ſhew his Wrath (as the Apoſtle ſpeaks) this way, (if we could ſuppoſe there might be another,) becauſe this ſo falls in with, and agrees unto the rules and proportions of Juſtice fore-mentioned, which are moſt near and ſacred to him.
2. The ſecond Aſſertion, That it is alſo requiſite, yea, neceſſary, (I ſpeak it, as in relation to Juſtice attaining its ends.) For all mediate Puniſhments executed by Creatures being deficient, as unto that wherein the very Eſſence of this Puniſhment lies they all not reaching the Inwards of the Spirit of the Mind and Conſcience; and ſeeing that without God's wrath revealed therewith by God himſelf, all ſuch Puniſhments would not compleat the Juſtice of God in a Puniſhment in any tolerable meaſure ſuitable. Then if Juſtice will have its perfect work, and bring its Suit againſt the Sinner unto the ultimate iſſue, it is requiſite God himſelf put his immediate hand to the execution. For otherwiſe this Work of Juſtice will not be perfect, (as yet every of his Works in their kind are ſaid to be). And ſo he ſhould not only fall ſhort of ſatisfying his Juſtice, but alſo by not doing that towards it which is in his power to do, and which he is Lord of, he ſhould not in any tolerable meaſure content it. Eſpecially, if we further conſider, that when all is done that can be done, this Puniſhment will not ariſe to a perfect ſatisfaction (for the Creature's puniſhment will not afford it, and therefore it doth for ever ſuffer) but only unto what may be had out of them towards it. I ſhut this Point up therefore with this, that If God be Judg Himſelf, he will do this work Himſelf, which none elſe can perform for him; and without which all elſe would be utterly imperfect and defective. For, upon what hath been afore argued, I may ſay of all other Puniſhments and Puniſhers (although ſet by God upon a Man) what the Apoſtle ſays of thoſe legal Ordinances (though inſtituted by God for his Worſhip) That they could not make the Service perfect, as pertaining to the Conſcience. So, nor all outward Torments, take them alone without God's Wrath accompanying them, they cannot make a perfect or compleat Puniſhment as pertaining to the Conſcience.
And all this alſo ſhews one ſufficient reaſon of Difference, why earthly Kings and Judges leave the Execution of Traytors and Offenders wholly unto others: Becauſe they have no more Power, as in reſpect of Execution, to inflict a condign Puniſhment than other Men; but others can do it as exquiſitely, and their Juſtice be as fully ſatisfied thereby: but it is not ſo here. And for theſe cauſes God is ſo far from ſtaining his Glory thereby (which other Judges would eſteem to be ſo) as that it is the only way fully to recover his Glory. And ſo much for that Argument drawn from ſatisfying of Juſtice.
A ſecond Reaſon is drawn from ſatisfying of Vengeance, or Avenging Wrath as againſt Enemies; which heightens Juſtice. Thus in many places in the Old and New Teſtament, Deut. 32. Rom. 12. 19. 2 Cor. 10. 6. Rev. 6. 10. In which laſt place, God is ſtiled both a Judg and an Avenger, [Judg and Avenge] ſay the Saints there. A Judg moſt commonly doth acts of Juſtice in the behalf of others: but an Avenger is one that doth, or ſeeks Juſtice in his own Cauſe, and in his own behalf and Intereſt; therefore the next a-Kin, ſeeking the Life of a Murtherer, was termed an Avenger of Blood. Now God is more nearly concerned in this, than any Creatures can be, in what may concern Vengeance in them, for what ever Injury. This is therefore poena vindictae, as of one enraged and provoked; Patience having been abuſed, as Rom. 9. 22. and ſo is turned into Fury.
Now there are two properties of Vengeance, from whence I argue this, being put together.
Firſt, that it is the property of Revenge to vent it ſelf upon that which is principal in the Injury, and to make that the Veſſel of its Wrath, it will never be ſatisfied elſe. Now that is the Soul of Man, which is the chief ſeat and ſubject of the Corruption of Sin, the chief Cauſe of the Act proceeding from thence, and that in which the Guilt ariſing from both doth principally abide. The Body is but inſtrumental in what the Soul doth; yea, and in ſome, and the greateſt Sins, the Soul hath the ſole and immediate Hand. This Soul therefore which is the chiefeſt Veſſel of Sin, muſt be the chief Veſſel of Wrath. Indignation and Wrath upon every [Soul] of Man that doth evil, Rom. 2. 8. whereof this undeniable Inſtance is given by God, that the Soul is it that ſuffers for the whole Man until the Reſurrrection, as the Inſtance of the Rich Man ſhews. And it muſt be no leſs an immediate Sufferer, although not the alone Sufferer; but much more, after the day of Judgment, unto Eternity.
A ſecond thing which Vengeance affecteth is, that the perſon that wrought the Injury dye by the hand of himſelf, that is, the Avenger: It loves to do that work it ſelf. And this eſpecially holds good in this cauſe of God's, and ſeeing it is to recover glory to God by ſhewing Vengeance; He comes to be glorified, rendring Vengeance from the glory of his Power.
I need not go about to form up any Argument from hence, for theſe two things, eſpecially the latter, do ſpeak home unto the Point: And being added unto what hath been ſpoken in the former Head of Juſtice, may be ſufficient.
There is a third thing, which, as I ſaid, both Divine Juſtice and Vengeance do conſpire in; and that is, the utter Deſtruction of that which is the principal Offendor (which is the Soul) it is the nature of Vengeance to work the Deſtruction of that it is ſet againſt. And in this caſe of Sin, God's Juſtice alſo doth the ſame: the demerit of Sin is ſuch, as it exciteth Vengeance to it. And therefore in both theſe places which are my Texts, Deſtruction is mentioned as the iſſue and product of this Revenge, and Wrath. So in 2 Theſſ. 1. 6, 7. To render Vengeance on them, who ſhall be puniſhed with everlaſting Deſtruction, and Rom. 9. 22. to make known the power of his Wrath on thoſe Veſſels of Wrath, fitted to Deſtruction. Deſtroyed they ſhall be, though not in regard of being, for they are to be Veſſels of Wrath, and therefore to be ſtill kept whole, in reſpect of being, elſe they could hold no Wrath: And that is another property of Vengeance, to have the Party made ſenſible of its Miſery, and that his Enemy is even with him. And therefore God upholds their Being, but deſtroys their Souls in regard of well being. Now that is never till it be ſtript of every Comfort, and every corner of the Soul be filled with Miſery. For if any corner be empty, it is not deſtroyed, it will not die.
Now this third or laſt thing, doth of it ſelf afford, at leaſt a Demonſtration, ab effectis, from the event and effects of this Puniſhment: That therefore it is God's immediate hand that inflicts this Puniſhment. Which Demonſtration is to be added, unto the former Reaſon, which was drawn from the Cauſes of it. For I argue, asking this Queſtion, What is able to fill the Soul of Man, with good or evil? The Soul which was created in ſo large a Capacity, as to be filled with God, and with none but God himſelf; He only is able to fill the vaſt corners of it with either. Creatures like it ſelf may afflict and torment it much, eſpecially whilſt in the Body, ſo much, as to cauſe it to deſire Death, and a being out of the Body; but the Soul they are never able to deſtroy. The Soul is a Caſtle ſo ſtrong built, as it can bear the Aſſaults of all its fellow-Creatures, and ſuſtain it ſelf, and not ſink into Deſtruction. Nothing can deſtroy the well-being of the Soul but God's Power. For it is ſaid, They may kill the Body, but God only can kill the Soul. And elſe, according to that Argument of Chriſt, Fear not them that can kill the body only, &c. they were to be feared as God himſelf is, if they could kill the Soul, as God can do. For Chriſt ſays, God is therefore to be feared, and only to be feared, becauſe he can deſtroy both Body and Soul. And he redoubleth it with an Emphaſis, Fear him, yea, I ſay unto you, Fear him, Luke 12. 5. Indeed one Evangeliſt ſays, Fear him, which after he hath killed, hath power to caſt into Hell, which expreſſeth no more but an act of Authority to ſentence and caſt into Hell, as the Judge doth into Priſon. Yet the other Evangeliſt puts it upon this, becauſe he is able to kill the Soul, and that only he is able to deſtroy both Body and Soul in Hell. He ſays not barely to caſt into Hell as by way of Authority, but adds, kills and deſtroys in Hell, when they are caſt thither: For God is both Judg and Avenger. And therefore if it be Deſtruction, 'tis evident He only can, and muſt do the execution. And therefore, in the Text, 2 Theſ. 1. 8, 9. their being puniſhed with everlaſting Deſtruction, is attributed to the glory of his Power. Theſe are ſome of the Reaſons of this great Point.