thus in the diftribution of justice, is refpect of perfons. Otherwife in matters of mere grace and favour, refpect of perfons hath no place, according to that common rule of divines, προσωποληψία locum non habet in gratuitis, fed in debitis. Now this the fcripture every where fpeaks of, as a thing very far from God. Deut. x. 17. The Lord your God is the God of Gods, and Lord of Lords, a great God, a mighty and a terrible, which regardeth not perfons, nor taketh rewards. 2 Chron. xix. 7. There is no iniquity with the Lord our God, nor respect of perfons, nor taking of gifts. Job xxxiv. 18, 19. Is it fit to fay to a King, Thou art wicked? or to Princes, Te are ungodly? how much less to him that accepteth not the perfons of Princes, nor regardeth the rich more than the poor for they are all the work of his hands. Rom. ii. 6. Who will render to every man according to his deeds for there is no respect of persons with God. A&ts x. 34, 35. Of a truth 1 perceive that God • is no refpecter of perfons: but in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him, Eph. vi. 8, 9. The Apoftle there preffeth

the duties of fervants to mafters, from this confideration, that whatsoever good thing any man doth, the fame fhall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free; and at the 9th verfe, Ye mafters do the fame thing unto them, forbearing threatening; knowing that your mafter alfo is in heaven, neither is there refpect of perfons with him. He maketh this likewife an argument, why men fhould not oppress and deal deceitfully one with another, Col. iii. 25. But he that doth wrong, fhall receive for the wrong which he hath done; and there is no respect of perfons. And in general, St. Peter urgeth this confideration upon all men, to deter them from fin in any kind, 1 Pet. i. 17. And if ye call on the father, who without respect of perfons judgeth according to every man's work, pafs the time of your fojourning here in fear.

And befides that the fcripture doth remove this at the greatest distance from God, it gives us alfo seve ral inftances of the impartiality of the divine justice, that it is not to be perverted and turned afide by a

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ny of thofe extrinsical confiderations which commonly fway with men; it is not to be prevailed with and overcome by flattery and intreaties, Mat. vii. 21, 22. Not every one that faith unto me, Lord, Lord, fhall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doth the will of my father which is in heaven, &c. The divine juftice is not to be impofed upon by good words, and external fhews, and falfe profeffions fo neither by any external relation to him; For many fhall come from the east, and from the west, and fhall fit down with Abraham, Ifaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of God, but the children of the kingdom Shall be caft out into utter darkness.

And however men may bear up themselves now upon their worldly greatnefs and power, certainly there is a time coming, when the greateft perfons in the world, thofe who overturn kingdoms, and lay wafte countries, and opprefs and ruin millions of mankind for the gratifying of their own lufts and ambiti on, I fay, there is a day coming, when even these, as much, nay, more than others, fhall fear and tremble before the impartial justice of God. Rev. vi. 15. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty and every bond man, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens, and in the rocks of the mountains: For the great day of his wrath is come, and who shall be able to ftand? The impartial juftice of God will treat the greatest and the meaneft perfons alike. Rev. xx. 12. I saw the dead, fmall and great, ftand before God; and the books were opened and another book was opened, which is the book of Life: and the dead were judged out of thofe things which were written in the books, according to their works. All judged according to their works.

men,

I fhould next proceed to vindicate the justice of God in the diftribution of rewards and punifhments, from thofe objections, which feem to impeach it. But before I enter upon this, it will be convenient to fatisfy one queftion, which hath occafioned great difputes in the world, and that is, how far juftice, efpecially as to the punishment of offenders, is effenNn3

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tial to God? And for the clearing of this matter, I fhall briefly lay down thefe propofitions:

First, I take this for a certain and undoubted truth, that every perfection is effential to God, and cannot be imagined to be feparated from the divine nature, because this is the natural notion which men have of God, that he is a being that hath all perfection.

Secondly, The actual conftant exercife of those divine perfections, the effects whereof are without himself, is not effential to God. For inftance, though God be effentially powerful and good, yet it is not neceffary, that he fhould always exercife his power and goodness, but at fuch times, and in fuch a manner, as feems beft to his wifdom; and this is likewife true of his wisdom and juftice, because these are perfections, the effects whereof are terminated upon fomething without himself.

Thirdly, It is effential to God to love goodness, and hate fin, wherever he fees them. It is not neceffary there fhould be a world, or reasonable creatures in it but upon fuppofition that God makes fuch creatures, it is agreeable to the divine nature, to give them good and righteous laws, to encourage them in the doing of that which is good, and to dif courage them from doing that which is evil; which cannot be done, but by rewards and punishments; and therefore it is agreeable to the perfection of the divine nature, to reward goodness, and to pu nish fin.

Fourthly, As for those rewards which the gospel promifeth, and the punishments which it threatens, there is fome difference to be made between the rewarding and punishing justice of God.

1. As for that abundant reward God is pleafed to promife to good men, the promise of it is founded in his goodness; and the performance of that promife, in his juftice; for it is juftice to perform what he promises, though the promife of fo great and abundant a reward was mere goodness.

2. As for the punishing juftice of God, about which hath been the great question, whether that be effential

425 fential to God or not, it feems very plain, that it is not neceffary that God fhould inflict thofe judgments which he threatens, because he hath threatened them; for there is not the like obligation upon perfons to perform their threatenings, that there is to perform their promifes; becaufe God by his promife becomes a debtor to those to whom he makes the promise ; but when he threatens, he is the creditor, and we are debtors to his juftice; and as a creditor, he may remit the punishment which he hath threatened But then if we confider God as loving goodness and hating fin; if we look upon him as governor of the world, and concerned to preferve good order, to encourage holiness and righteoufnefs, and to difcountenance fin, under this confideration it is effential to him to punish fin at fuch times, and in fuch manner and circumftances, as feems beft to his wifdom.

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And I am not at all moved by that, which is urged by fome learned men to the contrary, that if nifhing justice were effential to God, then he muft punifh the finner immediately, fo foon as he hath offended, and to the utmost of his power; becaufe whatever acts naturally, acts neceffarily, and to the utmost: For I do not fuppofe fuch a juftice effential to God as acts neceffarily, but fuch a justice, which as to the time, and manner, and circumftances of its acting, is regulated and determined by his wifdom; and there is the fame reafon likewife of his goodness.

I come now to the objections, which are taken partly from the difpenfations of God in this world, and partly from the punishments of the other.

First, Ás to the difpenfations of God in this world, there are these two things objected against the juftice of the divine providence.

I. The inequality of God's dealings with good and bad men in this world.

II. The translation of punishments, punishing one man's fin upon another, as the fins of the fathers upon the children, of the Prince upon the people. I begin with the

I. Objection. The inequality of God's dealing with good and bad men in this world. In this life

things happen promifcuously, there is one event to the righteous and the wicked; if the wicked fuffer and are afflicted, fo are the righteous; if the righteous fometimes flourish, fo do the wicked: And is not this unjust, that thofe who are fo unequal as to their deferts, fhould be equally dealt withal? Or if there be any inequality, it is ufually the wrong way; the wicked do, many times, profper more in the world, and the righteous are frequently more afflicted. This was the great objection of old against the providence of God, which the heathen Philofophers took fo much pains to anfwer; nay, it did often shake the faith of holy and good men in the Old Testament: Job xii. 6. The tabernacles of robbers profper, and they that provoke God are fecure; into whofe hand God bringeth abundantly; and chap. xxi. 7, 8, 9. he expoftulates the fame matter again: And David fays, this was a great tumbling-block to him, Pfal. lxxiii. 2, 3. and the like we find in the Prophets, Jer. xii. 1. and Hab. i. 13. This objection I have elsewhere . confidered I shall now very briefly offer two or three things, which I hope will be fufficient to break the force of it.

1. It must be granted, that it is not neceffary to juftice, to fhew itfelf immediately, and to difpenfe rewards and punishments fo foon as there are objects for them. This is not thought neceffary among men; much more ought we to leave it to the wif dom of God to determine the time and circumftances of the exercising of his juftice; and we are not to conclude, that the providence of God is unjust, if he do not bestow rewards, and inflict punishments, juft when we think he should.

2. If God intended this life for a state of trial, wherein he would prove the obedience of men, and their free inclination to good or evil; it is not reafonable to expect that he fhould follow men with prefent rewards and punishments; for that would lay too great a force upon men, fo that there would hardly be any opportunity of trying them; but, on the contrary, there is all the reafon in the world to prefume that God, fhould exercife the graces and vir

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