218 SERMONS UPON 2 THESSALONIANS I. [SER. III.
(2.) Vindictive, or punishing justice. God punisheth none but sinners, and only for sin, and that according to the measure of the sin : Kom. ii. 7,-9, ' To them who, by patient continuance in well-doing, seek for glory, and honour, and immortality, eternal life. But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey un- righteousness, indignation and wrath ; tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that cloeth evil, of the Jew first and also of the gentile.' Despisers of the grace of the gospel, John iii. 19 ; Heb. x. 29, ' Of how much sorer punishment shall he be thought worthy ? ' There is a special guilt in such a sin, which will be most tormenting and vexing to us. They have no cause to impute their damnation to anything but their own wilful neglect.
3. This distributive justice is exercised either more darkly or plainly.
[1.] More darkly. The world is not governed by chance, but admin- istered by an all-wise and most just providence. Here in this world now there is a punishment of the wicked, and a reward of the righteous. For punishment God keepeth a petty sessions before the day of general assizes: wickedness is now punished : Kom. i. 18, 'The wrath of God is revealed from heaven,' &c. Now and then God doth so sensibly and visibly reward the righteous, that men are forced to acknowledge that godliness is matter of benefit in this world, abstracted from the rewards of another life : Ps. lviii. 11, ' Verily there is a God that judgeth in the earth, verily there is a reward for the righteous.'
[2.] More plainly hereafter, when God will openly and beyond all doubt and question make good his word to his people, and declare his vengeance against the wicked. The great end of the day of judgment is the demonstration of God's remunerative and vindictive justice; therefore called ' the day of the revelation of the righteous judgment of God,' Rom. ii. 5. He will not only glorify his love and mercy in the salvation of the elect, but his justice also in rewarding the performers of the condition, and what his promise hath made their due. The business then is to remove the veil, Acts xvii. 31. The difference between the last time and now is this —
(1.) That the righteous and the wicked have but the beginnings of their reward and punishment. The wicked are not altogether without punishment, but they are but the beginnings of sorrow, if you respect God's external or internal government. As to his internal government, the carnal world mindeth it not much, but yet others may perceive it, as by troubles and gripes of conscience, Heb. ii. 15, or impenitence, or hardness of heart : Epli. iv. 19, ' Past feeling ; ' Ps. lxxxi. 12, conscience terrified or stupified. But the external government of God is exercised, so far as the world is not left without a sufficient witness of the justice of God, to give them warning what they may expect in the other world, and to keep up the belief of a providence ; that is to say, that the gover- nor of the world mindeth the affairs of the world, and so that he may be known to be a holy and just God : Ps. clxv. 17, ' He is holy in all his ways, and righteous in all his works/ This is so far discovered in all the acts of God's providence, that the contrary is never discerned. Now we may say, Eev. xvi. 5, ' Thou art righteous, 0 Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus.' There is some fore- going punishment, which we may take notice of for the people of God
VER. 6, 7.] SERMONS UPON 2 THESSALONIANS I. 219
in this life. His servants have much of his mercy, and the beginnings of their reward in the beginnings of their salvation, but the fulness is reserved for the world to come. As to his internal government, his people have much of his love, in peace of conscience, increase of grace, tastes of God's acceptance, assistance of the Spirit, answers of prayer, and sweet foretastes of eternal life. As to his external government, men here may sometimes ' discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth. him not,' Mai. iii. 17, 18, but at the general judgment this is fully manifested in eternal reward and punishment.
(2.) The justice of God now appeareth more negatively than positively; that is to say, God doth nothing contrary to justice. As to his rewards of his servants, none can justly charge him for a neglect of them, they having deserved nothing which they enjoy, Gen. xxxii. 19, and having deserved much more than they suffer, Ezra ix. 13. All benefits are more, all corrections less than they deserve. And therefore it is uot necessary that the justice of God should be always positively conspicu- ous ; it is enough that it should be negatively conspicuous, that God do nothing contrary to his governing justice; as a man is always risible, yet he doth not always laugh ; we cannot deny the faculty because of the cessation of the act. God is always just, but he doth not always exercise his remunerative justice. So for the effects of his vindictive justice ; it is not always necessary they should be exercised in the day of his patience, in cutting off sinners presently as soon as they sin, and putting them into their final state ; because men are now upon their trial, and the present government of the world is not that of sense, but of faith ; therefore God waiteth to see if men will break off their sins, and make themselves capable of his mercy : 2 Peter iii. 9, ' God is not slack concerning his promise.' But hasty men would have all things done within time, without expectation of eternity. But God, that knoweth what long-suffering is necessary to the most obstinate creatures, doth not presently cast them off from all expectation of mercy. Chris- tianity would have lost a Paul and many a useful instrument if the final judgment of God had gone according to our fancies and hasty censures. There is room still for repentance, God being always willing that the apostate state of mankind should have time, and day, and means to repent, and turn unto the Lord.