Now were there no such atheists within the walls of London before it was destroyed by fire ? Oh how did practical atheism abound in London ! How many within thy walls, 0 London ! did profess they knew God, but in their works did deny him, being abominable and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate ! Titus i. IG. O sirs ! some there are that live loosely under the gospel, that run into all excess of riot, and that in the face of all promises and threatenings, mercies and judgments, yea, in the very face of life and death, of heaven and hell ; and others there are that sin freely in secret, that can be drunk and filthy in the dark, when the eye of man is not upon them. Certainly those men's hearts are very atheistical, that dare do that in the sight of God which they tremble to do before the eyes of men. How many are there that put the evil day ftir from them, that flatter themselves in their sins, that Avith Agag conclude, surely the bitterness of death is past, and that hell and wrath is past, and that they are in a fair way for heaven, when every step they take is towards the bottomless pit, and divine vengeance hangs over their heads, ready every moment to fall upon them ! Are there not many that seldom pray, and when they do, how cold, how careless, how dull,
ISA. XLII. 24, 25.] THE LATE FIERY DISPENSATION. 61
how dead, how heartless, how irreverent, are they in all their addresses to the great God ? Are there not many such atheists that use no prayer, nor Bible, but make Lucian their Old Testament, and Machiavel their New ? Are there not many that grant there is a God, but then it is such a God as is made up all of mercy, and there- upon they think, and speak, and do as wickedly as they please ? And are there not some that look upon God as a sin-revenging God, and thereupon wish that there were no God, or else that they were above him, as Spira did ? And are there not others that have very odd and foolish conceptions of God, as if he were an old man, sitting in heaven with royal robes upon his back, a glorious crown upon his head, and a kingly sceptre in his hand, and as if he had all the parts and propor- tion of a man, as the papists are pleased to picture him ? Some there are that are so drowned in sensual pleasures, that they scarce remem- ber that they have a God to honour, a hell to escape, a heaven to secure, souls to save, and an account to give up. And others there are who, when they find conscience begin to accuse and terrify them, then, with Cain, they go to their buildings, or with Saul to their music, or with the drunkards to their cups, or with the gamesters to their sports. Gen. iv. ; 1 Sam. xviii. 6, 10 ; Job xxxi. 24 ; Phil. iii. 19. Some there are that make their gold their god, as the covetous ; others make their bellies their god, as the drunkard and the glutton. Some make honours their god, as the ambitious ; and others make plea- sures their god, as the voluptuous. Some make religious duties their god, as the carnal gospellers ; and others make their moral virtues their god, as the civil honest man, Amos vi. ; Mat. xxiii. Now what abundance of such atheists w^ere there within and without the walls of London before the fiery judgment passed upon it ! The Scripture attributes the ruin of the old world to atheism and profaneness, Gen. vi. ; and why may not I attribute the ruin and desolation of London to the same ? Practical atheists are enough to overthrow the most flourishing nations, and the most flourishing cities that are in all the world.
But to prevent all mistakes in a business of so great a concernment, give me leave to say, that if we speak of atheists in a strict and proper sense, as meaning such as have simply and constantly denied all deity, then I must say that there was never any such creature in the world as simply and constantly to deny that there is a God. It is an inviolable principle, and indelibly stamped upon man's nature, that there is a God. They that shall deny that there is a God, must extinguish the very light of nature, by which the very heathen in all the ages of the world have acknowledged a supreme divine Being. Bion of Boristenesa i was a very great atheist all his lifetime ; he detiied the gods, despised their temples, and derided their worship ; yet when death came, he would rather have endured the greatest torment than to have died, and that not so much for fear of a natural death, but for fear of what followed after, lest God, whom he had denied, should give him up into the hand of the devil whom he had served ; and therefore at the time of his death he put forth his hand, crying. Salve, Pluto, salve,Welcome, devil, welcome — foolishly thinking
^ Eather Borysthenes : Laert. iv. 46 ,&c.— G.
62 London's lamentations on [Isa. XLII. 24, 25.
to pacify the devil by this flattering salutation.^ And Tully observes of Epicurus, that thougli no man seemed more to contemn both God and death, yet no man feared more both the one and the other. The philosophers did, with one consent, affirm that there is a God, and they called him, Nomine Deiiin, naiurd Sjjiriluiyi, ordine Motorem primiim, but knew him not. He that shall deny there is a God, sins with a very high hand against the light of nature ; for every creature, yea, the least gnat and fly, and the meanest worm that crawls upon the ground, will confute and confound tliat man that disputes whether there be a God or no. The name of God is written in such full, fair, and shining characters upon the whole creation, that all men may run and read that there is a God. The notion of a deity is so strongly and deeply impressed upon the tables of all men's hearts, that to deny a God is to quench the very principles of common nature ; yea, it is formally deicidium, a killing of God, as much as in the creature lies. There are none of these atheists in hell ; for the devils believe and tremble, James ii. 19. The Greek word i^piaaovai, that is here used, signifies properly the roaring of the sea ; it implies such an extreme fear, as causcth not only trembling, but also a roaring and screech- ing out, Mark vi. 49 ; Acts xvi. 29. The devils believe and acknow- ledge four articles of our faith. Mat. viii. 29, (1.) They acknowledge God ; (2.) Christ ; (3.) The day of judgment ; (4.) That they shall be tormented then ; so that he that doth not believe that there is a God, is more vile than a devil. To deny there is a God, is a sort of atheism that is not to be found in hell.
' On earth are atheists many, In hell there is not any.'