DeUT. XXX. 15.] THE SEVENTEENTH SERMON. 3G1
and hateth the evil, he will express this in answerable effects, good with life, and evil with death.
In short, the diflercnce between good and evil is not more naturally known, than it is naturally known that the one is to be punished, the other rewarded : whether we consider the wisdom of God, which Rorteth and joins all things according to their natural order, — and therefore sin, which is a moral evil, is joined with sufferings, a natural evil, that is, a feeling of something painful to nature, and afflictive to it ; or the justice of God, which dealeth differently with men that differ in themselves ; or the holiness of God, who therefore will express his love to the good in making them happy, and his de- testation of the wicked in the misery of their punishment.
2. The greatness of both these, — life and death ; they are both eternal. Punishment in one scale holdeth conformity with the re- ward in the other. The full reward is an ' eternal and far more ex- ceeding weight of glory,' called everlasting life ; so is the full punish- ment, the eternal abode of body and soul under torments, expressed by everlasting fire. If we did only deal with you upon slight and ctieap motives, you might refuse to hearken ; but when we tell you of life and death eternal, you ought most seriously to consider : — Whatever can be hoped or feared from man is comparatively of little moment, because his power of doing good or evil is limited ; but on the one 8ide, ' It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God,' Heb. X. 31 ; on the other side, Rom. v. 2, ' We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.' God will act like himself, infinitely gloriously, especially when he is ' all in all,' when he doth not act by the media- tion of the creatures, but immediately punishing the wicked and rewarding the good. The vessel can convey no more than it receiveth. When the creature is an instrument of vengeance, God acteth accord- ing to the proportion and rate of that creature ; as if a giant should strike one with a straw. If God doth us good by an ordinance, the water runneth but as the pipe will contain ; he cannot manifest him- self in that latitude, but then God is all himself immediately. Con- sider : —
[1.] The greatness of the death that accompanieth evil. The afflictions and sorrows of this life are a part of this death. When Moses here had insisted on many temporal plagues which should befall his people, he saith, ' I have set life and death before you.' There are many miseries in this life which are the fruit of sin, which would make your hearts ache and your ears tingle to hear of. And then death, which consists in the separation of the soul from the body, is the king of terrors. But we speak of the second death, which is far more terrible, which consists in an eternal separation from the blessed and glorious presence of the Lord ; no death like this. In all creatures that have sense, death is accompanied with pain ; but this ia a perpetual living to deadly pain and torment, from whence there can be no release. In the first death, the pain may lie in one place, but in the second it extends all over. The first death, the more it prevaileth the more we are past feeling ; but in this death the sufferer has a greater vivacity than ever, the capacity of every sense is enlarged, and made more receptive of pain. While we are in the body, vehemens
3C2 THE SEVENTEENTH SERMON. [DeUT. XXX. 15.
sensibile coniimpit sensinn — the more vehemently and violently any- thin*:: strikes upon the senses, the more doth it dead the sense ; as the inhabitants about the fall of Nilus are deaf with the continual noise. Too much light puts out the eyes ; taste is dulled by custom. But here the capacity is improved by feeling. The power of God sustains the sinner, whilst his wrath torments him. As the saints are pre- pared for the blessedness of heaven, we cannot bear the least glimpse of that happiness which they enjoy above ; so the wicked are fitted to endure those inconceivable pains. When the first death approaches, there is struggling for life, men would not die ; but in the second death they desire a final destruction, they would not live.
[2.] The greatness and excellency of that life that ensueth good. All manner of blessings in this life is the lowest step of it. At death, when the spirit returneth to God that gave it, then it bcginneth to be discovered, but it is consummated when body and soul shall be translated to heaven. This is life indeed. Nescio an ista vita, mor- talis vita, an vitalis mors, dicenda sit — the present life is a kind of death, always in fluxu ; like a stream, it runneth from us as fast as it cometh to us : Job xiv. 2, ' He fleeth away as a shadow, and con- tinueth not.' We die as fast as we live, like the shadow of a star in a flowing stream. This life is annoyed with a thousand sorrows and calamities ; but there is a freedom from all sin and misery, and a full fruition of pleasures for evermore, Ps. xvi. 11, and our capacities are strong to bear them. This life is patched up with supplies from the creatures, there is a full fruition of God himself, 1 Cor. xiii. 12. And in this life such ' din's may come wherein we have no pleasure,' Eccles. xii. 1. Life itself becomes a burthen ; but that life, as it lasteth for ever, so we are never weary of it. The enjo}Tnent of God is new and fresh to us every moment. As tlie angels for thousands of years are ])eholding the face of God, but never weary of so doing, so shall we always delight ourselves in seeing God as he is.