[3.] To cause them to shake off all delays in the business of salvation, to flee from the wrath to come, Mat. iii. 7, to flee for refuge to the hope set before them, Heb. vi. 18. No motion will serve here but flight ; we cannot get soon enough out of this condition ; while a great way off, meet thy enemy and make thy peace with him, Luke xiv. 32. You know not how soon God may take the advantage, and cut us off from all possibility of grace ; if Christ be an adversary, agree with him quickly. He is pleased to compare his coming to that of a thief ; by way of surprise he may steal upon you unawares. How many thousands are there in the other world, who did as little think of that doleful estate whilst they were pleasing the flesh, as you now do ? Therefore we should give ourselves no rest till our peace be made with God.
2. To the godly it is of use many ways.
[1.] You may bless God for your deliverance by Christ. It is said,
1 Thes. i. 13, ' Jesus hath delivered us from wrath to come.' And again, Eom. v. 9, ' Being justified by his blood, we are saved from wrath by him.' The more we consider the misery of the wicked, the more we may know what we have escaped, and what we have to bless God for. We were all once involved in this condemnation ; and if we be as brands plucked out of the burning, Zach. iii. 2, it is wholly to be ascribed to the Lord's grace. It is one part of the christian's heaven to think of hell ; the miseries of this life commend heaven to us, much, more the torments of the world to come. The Israelites, when they looked back and saw the Egyptians drowned in the waters, it heightened the deliverance, and made them more thankful for their own escape.
[2.] To quicken us to a greater love and likeness to Christ. Fear serveth well to guard our love, and then the torment and slavishness of it is lessened : 1 John iv. 17, ' Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment.' Where love is sincere, there is a study to imitate Christ ; and the more we imitate him, the more boldness. Boldness is opposite to shame, 1 John ii. 21 ; to fear, 1 John iv. 18, 'There is no fear in love, but perfect love cast- eth out fear.' The cause of shame is nakedness and folly. Nakedness :
2 Cor. v. 3, ' If so be that, being clothed, we shall not be found naked.' If destitute of all grace, we are naked. Folly, if we have made a per-
264 SERMONS UPON 2 THESSALONIANS I. [SeR. VIII.
verse choice : Luke xii. 20, ' Thou fool, this night shall thy soul be required of thee.' Fear mainly respects the wrath of God and eternal punishment ; we need not fear it, if we love him and be like him, for surely Christ will own his own image.
[3.] To try the strength of our faith. They that cannot endure such discourses discover much of the secret guilt and security of their own hearts, they cannot endure to hear the worst. It was a bad man that said, ' He prophesieth nothing but evil to me.' I cannot abide this preaching of hell and damnation. Presumption is a coward and a runaway, but faith encountereth its enemy in the open field : Ps. xxiii. 4, ' Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.' It supposeth the worst ; but a presumer's conscience is not soundly established, they cannot endure to hear of evil.
[4.] To counterbalance the fear of man, which cause th apostasy ; as here it is produced for the consolation of the faithful, and to abate the present terror of adversaries. What are the terrors of man to the terrors of Christ in the judgment ? Luke xii. 4, 5, ' Be not afraid of man, but of him that can destroy both body and soul ; ' Heb. iii. 12, ' The living God,' mortal man. Men may handle you cruelly, but they cannot reach the soul ; their anger is mortal, and we are mortal : ' Not accepting deliverance, that they might have a better resurrection/ Heb. xi. 35. Better endure this than expose ourselves to the wrath of God.
[5.] To warn their friends and relations, brothers, sisters, children, &c. Tell them what a dreadful thing the punishment of the wicked is ; as Dives in the parable : Luke xvi., ' Send to my father's house, for I have five brethren.' Shall we be less charitable than a man in hell is represented to be ? If we have a friend or child falling into sin, let us warn them of the danger thereof.
SERMON VIII.
When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and admired in all them that helieve (because our testimony among you ivas believed) in that day. — 2 Thes. i. 10.
The apostle now proceedeth to the other part of the righteous judgment of Christ, which concerneth the saints, for whose sake Christ princi- pally and chiefly cometh. His coming is not so terrible to the adver- saries as it shall be glorious and comfortable to the saints. In the same day in which he shall punish his adversaries, he will reward the faithful, ' When he shall come to be glorified in his saints,' &c.