1 Contempt of Christ and his gospel is worse than sodomy.
376 THE NECESSITY, EXCELLENCY, RARITY, [HeB. XII. 14.
reserved for them. ' Give him his portion with hypocrites ; ' for number and weight there are no torments in hell to the torments of hypocrites. Counterfeit sanctity is double iniquity, and therefore it is but justice that the hj^ocrite should have double torment. And so in that Luke xii. 47, 48, ' That servant that knows his Master's will, and doth it not, shall be beaten with many stripes. And he that knew it not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes.* Sins against light and knowledge are sins against the noblest remedy. They waste and wound the conscience most, they most open sinners' mouths to blaspheme against God, and they most harden sinners' hearts in sinning against God ; and every way they dare God most, and provoke God most to strike with an iron rod, and to whip the knowing transgressor, not with rods but with scorpions. It is very observable, that the more light and knowledge men sin against in this world, the greater judgments God gives them up to, even in this life, Eom. i. 21-23. Take a remarkable instance in the most refined and civil heathens, who are presumed to have most light and know- ledge, who were given up to the most beastly errors about the nature of God, as the Romans and Grecians, who worshipped fevers and human passions, yea, every paltry thing, &c. ; whereas the Scythians and more barbarous nations worshipped the sun, and the thunder, &c., things terrible in themselves. Oh, how much more, then, will God in the great day give them up to the greatest judgments, who have given themselves up to the greatest sins ! Certainly the professors of this age, yea, of this city, whether they go to heaven or hell, will be the greatest debtors that shall be in either place — the one to the free grace of God, and the other to his justice. That they that have most of hell in their mouths, and most of hell in their hearts, and most of hell in their lives, should have most of hell in their souls at last, is but justice. I shall conclude this second argument with a saying of one of the ancients [Augustine] ; Look, saith he, as in heaven one is more glorious than another, so in hell one shall be more miserable than another. Now if there be degrees of torments in hell, which I suppose the scriptures but now cited doth undeniably prove, then, doubtless, there will be degrees of glory in heaven.
[3.] Thirdly, God in this life dispenses the gifts and graces of his Spirit unequally among his saints ; to some he gives two talents, to others five, and to others ten. Hence it is you read both of a weak faith, and of a strong faith. ' Why are ye afraid, 0 ye of Uttle faith ?' and, ' 0 woman, great is thy faith ;' and, ' Verily, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel' i And hence it is that you read both of weak Christians, and of strong Christians. * He that is weak in the faith receive ;' ' another who is weak eateth herbs ;' ' and to the weak, I became as weak, that I might win the weak ;' ' we then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves;' 'when I am weak, then am I strong.' 2 And hence it is that you read of babes, and of children, and of young men, and of old men, in the Scripture. Saints are of difierent growths. Some are but babes in gifts and grace, others are children, others
^ Mat. XXV., viii. 10, 23, and xv. 28.
• Eom. liv. 1, 2 ; 1 Cor. ix 22 ; 2 Cor. xii. 10 ; Heb. v. 13, 14; 1 Pet. ii. 2, and v. 1.
HeB. XII. 14.] AND BEAUTY OP HOLINESS. 377
young men, and others old men. That God that distributes the good things of this world unequally among the sons of men, as to some more, to others less ; to some great things, to others little things ; to some high things, to others low things ; that God unequally distributes spiritual blessings among his dearest children ; to some he gives more light, to others less ; to some a greater measure of love, to others a less ; to some a greater degree of joy, to others a less, &c. Some saints shine in grace and holiness as the firmament, and others shine in grace and holiness as the stars ; some shine in grace and holiness as the moon, and others shine in grace and holiness as the sun ; and all this springs from those different measures of grace and holiness that God bestows upon his people. Now doubtless men may as well plead for equal degrees of grace, as they may for equal degrees of glory ; they may as well plead for an equal share in the good things of this world, as they may plead for an equal share in the happiness and blessedness of that other world. Doubtless as God dispenses his gifts and graces unequally in this life, so he will dispense his rewards unequally in the other life. As men's gifts and graces are different here on earth, so their glory shall be different when they come to heaven. Without all peradventure they shall have the whitest and the largest robes of honour, and the heaviest and the brightest crowns of glory, whose souls are most richly adorned with grace, and whose lives are most eminently bespangled with holiness. The more grace and holiness any saint hath here, the more he is prepared and fitted for glory ; and the more any saint is fitted for glory, the more that saint shall at last be filled with glory. The greatest measures of grace and holiness do most enlarge the soul, and widen the soul, and capacitate the soul, to take in the greatest measures of glory ; and therefore the more grace, the more glory, the more holiness, the more happiness, a saint shall have at last. Certainly God will crown his own gracious works in his children proportionable to what they are, but they are difierent and unequally in all his children in respect of measures and degrees ; and therefore God will set different crowns of glory upon the heads of his children at last. But,
[4.] Fourthly, They that have more grace and holiness than others, they are more like to God than others. They bear his glorious image in a greater print, they have a brighter character of God upon them, and they are the most lively picture of God in all the world.