ivant of justice and of holiness shall be displayed before the whole assembled universe.]
5. A defiance of his power —
[Men who commit iniquity are represented as " stretching out their hands against God, and strengthening themselves against the Almighty ; yea, as running upon him, even on his neck, upon the thick bosses of his buckler* :" and to what a fearful extent this is done, we may see by the testimony of God himself: " They, the workers of iniquity, say. Let him make speed, and hasten his work, that we may see it : and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it "." Does this appear an exaggerated account of men's impiety? See then how they are described by the Psalmist : " The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God : God is not in all his thoughts. His ways are always grievous ; thy judgments are far above, out of his sight: as for all his enemies, he puffeth at them''." What an astonishing height of impiety is this ; to ptiff" at God's threatenings, as if we defied him to his face ! Yet do we see that this is the very conduct of men, whenever we warn them to flee from the wrath to come : we seem to menace them with judgments which they have no cause to fear, and to set in array against them an enemy whom they are at liberty to despise.]
When once we view sin as an offence against God, we shall be prepared to acknowledge, II. The equity of his judgments which he has de- nounced against it —
That God has denounced the heaviest judgments against it, is certain —
[Against s'm in general he has denounced eternal misery: " The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the people that
foro-et Gody " Against every individual that commits it,
he has also denounced his judgments : " The soul that sinneth,
it shall die^" Against every particular sin, whatever be
men's excuses for retaining it, the same awful sentence is pro- claimed* Death, everlasting death, is the wages due to
sin^, and the wages that shall be paid to every sinner at the
last day "^ ]
In executing these he will be completely justified —
[We are ready to account such denunciations of wrath
severe, and to question the equity of them But the
t Job XV. 25, 26.
u Isai. V. 19.
^ Ps. X. 4,
y Ps. ix. 17. Rom.i. 18.
z Ezek. xviii. 20.
1 Pet. i. 17.
a Mark ix. 42—48.
b Rom. vi. 23.
c Matt. xx\
.40.