4. The poe7ia sensus, the punishment of sense, is necessary also to quicken men to their duty, and to guard their love, and to show that God doth not make little reckoning of sin ; for, 2 Cor. v. 11, 'Know- ing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men," This is necessary in case of great deadness and numbness of conscience, and especially when a man is apt to miscarry by boisterous temptations, such as great fears and passionate and pleasing lusts. Fears: Luke xii. 4, 5, 'Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom you shall fear : Fear him which, after he hath killed, hath power to cast into hell ; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.' As one nail driveth out another, so the fear of God driveth out the fear of men and pleasing lusts : Rom. viii. 13, ' If you live after the flesh, ye shall die.'
5. The effect which it must produce is not such a fear as driveth us from God, but bringeth us to him ; not torment, and perplexity, and despairing anguish (1 John iv. 18, ' Fear hath torment '), but flight and caution. We ought to represent it as a great evil, from whence we must fly by faith and repentance : Mat. iii. 7, ' Who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come ?' and Heb. vi. 18 ; to quicken us in our flight to Christ, and taking sanctuary at the grace of the gospel ; and to engage us to more thankfulness for our deliverance by Christ : 1 Thes. i. 10, ' And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, who delivered us from the wrath to come ; ' and so keep at a distance from those things that may bring the wratli of God upon us.
6. Punishments on others are for our warning. When God's judg- ments are upon others for sin, his hand is to be observed with great reverence; as David: Ps. cxix. 119, 120, 'Thou puttest away all the wicked of the earth like dross : my flesh trembleth for fear of thee, and I am afraid of thy judgments.' Natui-alists say a lion will tremble to
230 SERMONS UPON EPIIESIANS V. [SeR. VL
see a dog beaten before him : Ps. Hi. G, ' The righteous shall see, and fear, aud shall laugh at him.' It is observable in the text, he doth not say the wrath of God shall come upon you, but upon ' the children of disobedience;' for he speaketh to the Ephesians as believers, or persons justified and sanctified. And it teacheth us that the dreadful wrath of God, that lighteth on reprobates, is for our warning. Tliough we do not look upon it as the portion of our cup, yet we nmst look U[)on it as dehiium ijeccaii, as an evil that God doth inflict for such sins ; therefore that sin ought to be shunned by the saints. God scourgeth and punisheth the wicked in our sight, that the regenerate may make use of their experience, and by their dying horrors, when they come to feel the effects of these sins, may tremble the more, and abhor those sins which are so displeasing to God.
Use. To teach us in what rank to place principles of obedience. There are several principles by which men are acted and influenced.
1. Some are false and rotten; as custom : Zech. vii. 3, 'As I have done these so many years.' Vainglory : ' To be seen of men,' Mat. vi. 1. Rapine: Mat. xxiii. 14, ' To devour widows' houses.' Envy: Phil. i. 15, IG, ' Some preach Christ out of envy and strife, and some also out of good will : the one preach Christ out of contention, not sincerely.'
2. Some are more tolerable ; as the hope of temporal mercies : Hosea vii. 14, ' Tliey have not cried unto me with their hearts when they howled upon their bed : they assemble themselves for corn and wine.' Fear of temporal judgments : Isa. Iviii. 5, ' Is it such a fast that I have chosen, a day for a man to afflict his soul ? is it to bow down his head as a bulrusli, to spread sackcloth and ashes under him ? Wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day unto the Lord ? ' Jer. ii. 2G, 'As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed ; ' frightened into a little religiousness, when death is at their backs : Ps. Ixxviii. 34, ' When he slew them, then they sought him, and they re- turned and inquired early after God.' To this rank 1 reckon also fear of hell, when it is alone. They shall be damned ; all their duties are a sin-offering, a sleepy sop to appease a guilty conscience ; all their repentance is but attrition, not contrition.
3. Some are very good and sound ; as when duties are done out of obedience to God, ujkju the urgings of an enlightened conscience, with- out the bent of a renewed heart ; for a regenerate man obeyeth not only as enjoined, but inclined. The principle is sound in the other, but the heart is not fitted. When a man considereth himself as a creature bound to obey his creator, whether willingly or unwillingly, he must do it : 1 Cor. ix. IG, 17, ' For though I preach the gospel,'l have nothing to glory of ; for necessity is laid upon me, yea, woe is unto me if I ])reach not the gospel : for if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward ; but if against my will, a dispensation of the gos])el is com- mitted to me.' There is a bond of duty lying upon us. But now it is better when it is enlarged and fitted by grace : Luke i. 74, 75, ' That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hands of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteous- ness before him all our days ; ' Heb. viii. 10, ' I will put my laws into their mind, and write them upon their hearts ; ' Ps. xl. 8, ' Thy law is