(2.) Though many of these creatures shall be consumed in this last fire, yet they shall have an esse cognitum, in the memory and conscience of the sinner, though not an esse rei, an actual existence. And thus the wine abused to drunkenness may witness against the drunkard ; the sacrilegious morsels which the glutton alienated from the poor, and devoted to lust and appetite, shall witness against the glutton. Memoria prceteriiorum is one of the punishments in hell : Luke xvi. 25, ' Son, remember that thou in thy life-time receivedst thy good things.' The very clothing by which they did manifest their pride, shall witness against the proud , the lands, goods, and houses of worldlings, Isa. v. 8, shall witness against the worldling; the gold and silver which they preferred before everlasting riches, shall wit- ness against the carnal ; the place, the room, the bed wherein men committed filthiness and lewdness, shall witness against the unclean ; when conscience shall be forced to the review, all these things shall come into his mind. To this also may be referred that passage ; Josh. xxiv. 27, 'And Joshua said unto all the people. Behold this stone shall be a witness unto us, for it hath heard all the words of the Lord, which he spake unto us ; it shall be there for a witness to you, lest you deny your God.' How could the stone which he had placed' under a great oak, which was very near the sanctuary of the Lord, hear or give witness ? Partly by God's appeal, and partly by their memory and conscience. It was a monument to put them in
184 SERMONS UPON ROMANS VIII. [SeR. XXIX.
mind of this solemn covenant ; and so might serve to convince them of their sin. Thus hearing' is ascribed to a senseless stone, because it was a circumstance that might be produced in the judgment.
Thirdly, How we know it ? For who ever heard the groaning of the whole creation ?
1. By sensible experience we know the vanity of the creature. Ocular demonstration is enough to tell us all that things are frail and perish- ing: Ps. cxix. 96, ' I have seen an end of all perfection.'
2. The word affirmeth, First, That this came in by man's sin ; and the common apprehension of mankind attesteth it, that wicked men are unprofitable burdens of the earth, and bring a judgment on the place where they live. Secondly, That God having repaired the woild by Christ, there is a better estate appointed for man ; and so by con- sequence for the creatures, which are an appendage to him: Isa. xi. 6, 7, 8, 9. The enmity of the creature shall cease there, as in Noah's ark.
3. The Spirit improveth it, both the vanity of the creature, and our mortality, and the hopes of restoration. God must teach us the plainest lessons: Ps. xc. 12, ' Lord, teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.' Deut. xxix. 2, 3, 4, ' Ye have seen all that the Lord did before your eyes in the land of Egypt, unto Pharoah, and unto all his servants, and unto all his land; the great temptations which thine eyes have seen, the signs and the great miracles , yet the Lord hath not given you an heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day.' And the hopes of restoration : faith is his mere gift and production : Eph. ii. 8, ' For by grace ye are saved, through faith ; and that not of ourselves, it is the gift of God.'
From the whole take these corollaries :
1. That sinful man is an enemy to all the creatures, as well as to himself. He hath brought misery upon himself, and all the world which was his place to dwell in. The creation was a well-tuned instru- ment, upon which man might make music to the praise and honour of God ; but the strings of the harp are broken ; and there is nothing but jarring instead of harmony, and groans for praise. Yea, man him- self, who is the mouth of the creation, is very dumb and tongue-tied in the praises of God.
2. That every particular land fareth the worse for wicked men. Man hath brought a burden on the creation, and the increase of wicked men showeth the ruin of any people or country : Prov. xi. 10, 11, ' When it goeth well with the righteous, the city rejoiceth ; and when the wicked perish, there is shouting. By the blessing of the upright the city is exalted : but it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked.' The mean- ing of these two proverbs is, that the godly bring on a blessing on the land where they live, and the wicked a curse. The godly bring on a blessing by their prayers and holy example, God's providence, and respect thereunto ; but the wicked a curse by their abuse of the creatures. The corrupt world think otherwise, that all their dishonour, their judg- ments, come from suffering the godly to live amongst them. ' It is not for the king's profit to suffer them to live,' Esth. iii. 8.
3. That we must not ascribe the alterations and changes of the creature to chance or fortune, but to God's providence punishing man's sin. S(>me