5. As for the devils, they will be ready to be tormentors. They that are incentives to sin will be tormentors for sin afterwards.
6. As for the church, what comfort can a wicked man look for from the church, whom he hath despised, and whose ministry he hath rejected ?
7. And for the damned spirits, they are all in that cursed condition with himself. Therefore, 'where shall the ungodly appear?' 1 Pet. iv. 18. Ere long whence shall he hope for comfort ? Neither from God, nor angels, nor devils, nor wicked men, nor good men. None of them all will yield him a dram of comfort.
Let us not therefore delude ourselves, but get into Christ, get into the ark in time, that when any public calamity shall come, we may be safe in Christ. If we be at peace with God, by repentance of sins, and by faith in Christ, everything will minister thoughts of comfort to us. "We cannot think of God, but as our Father ; of Christ as our Redeemer and recon- ciler, that hath brought God and us together. The Holy Ghost takes upon him the term of a Comforter for such. Angels, they are ministering spirits. As for the church itself, God's people, they all have a common stock of prayers for us. Every one that saith, ' Our Father,' thinks of us; and all other things, they are at peace with us, as Job saith, ' The stones in the street,' Job v. 23 ; nay, the stone in a man's body, the terrible pangs that comes from that disease, they have a blessing upon them. In the greatest extremities, a soul that is at peace with God, however God do not deliver him from the trouble, yet he delivers and supports him in the trouble ; and as the troubles increase, so his comforts increase ; and the very troubles are peace with him. ' All work for the best to them that love God,' Rom. viii. 28. And in the greatest confusions and tumults of states, yet ' the righteous is afraid of no ill tidings,' Ps. cxii. 7, because his heart is fixed upon God's love in Christ. The wicked, when war and desolation, and signs of God's anger appear from heaven, they 'shake as the trees of the forest,' as a wicked Ahaz, Isa. vii. 2 ; as a Belshazzar, when there is but a fear of trouble. How did he know that the hand-
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writing was against him ? It was nothing but this naughty conscience. He knew not what it was till it was expounded. So when any ti-oubles comes upon wicked men, their consciences upbraid them with their former life. Their knees knock together, and they grow pale as Bclshazzar. Oh the misery of a man that hath not made his peace with God, in the evil day, and the comfort of a man that hath ! There is the difference between godly and ungodly man. Consider them in calamities. The one is at peace with God, in the midst of all calamities and troubles; nay, as I said, even troubles themselves are peaceable to him.
Yea, when death comes, which is the upshot of all, the sting of it is taken away, and it is for our greatest good. He that hath made his peace with God, he can say, with old Simeon, ' Lord, now let thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation,' Luke ii. 30. Mine eyes have seen Christ with the eye of faith. He is willing to yield his soul to God, because he is at peace with God. Their graves are their beds, and their souls rest with God. They die in peace, and commend their souls to God, ' as to a faithful Creator,' 1 Peter iv. 19, with a great deal of con- fidence : as Saint Paul saith, ' I have fought the good fight, I have kept the faith, I have run my race ; henceforth is reserved for me a crown of righteousness ; and not for me only, but for all those that love the blessed and glorious appearing of Christ.' Oh the comfort of a gracious soul in the hour of death, that hath made its peace with God, Job xviii. 14, when ' the king of fears,' death, shall look with a ghastly, terrible look upon men that have not made their peace. But to the other it is the end of misery, the inlet to eternal happiness. * Blessed are those that die in the Lord,' in the peace of the Lord; 'they rest from their labours,' from the labour of sin, of callings, of afflictions, Rev. xiv. 13. There is no resting till then. Saint Paul himself was troubled with the remainders of sin, with afflic- tions and troubles of his calling; but blessed are they that die in the peace of God in Christ. They rest from their labours. And after death, what comfort are those in that have made their peace with God in Christ ! Then their Saviour is to be their Judge. He that makes intercession for them in heaven will be their Judge ; and will the head give sentence against the members, the husband against the wife and spouse ? Oh no ! There- fore the godly have comfortable and sweet thoughts of those blessed times, that astonisheth wicked men. They have a glorious expectation of the times to come. They cannot think of death and judgment, when their souls are in a good frame, without much comfort. ' Lift up your heads, for your redemption draws near,' Luke xxi. 28. Therefore let us not con- ceive slightly of this peace. It is not a freedom from petty ills, and an advancement to a little good ; but it is a freedom from ills that are above nature ; from the wrath of God, before which no creature can stand ; no, not the angels themselves ; from hell and damnation ; the curse of God ; from the kingdom of Satan. It is a freedom from that condition that all the powers of the world shall tremble at. How can they stand before the anger of God ? And it is an advancement to the greatest good ; a free- dom from bondage ; an advancement to sonship. Therefore let us have high thoughts of this peace ; as the angels had, when they sang, ' Glory to God on high, on earth peace.'