1801.] Sin neceffarily leads to mifery in this world and the next. 255

nature is giving them daily evidence, if they could but fee it, that all the words of the Moft High fhall be fulfilled.

mufement or worldly intereft, or an unmolefted opportunity to indulge a finful with which lays it afleep. The confiderate finnner never approves himself-he always condemns himfelf.-It is fo in this life-it will be fo in death-and it must be fo in the world to come. In the world to come, those causes which now impede confideration will all be removed. And no finner, who confiders, either here or there can approve himself for being oppofed to God, his law and his government. Standing in the divine prefence, his own confcience will be both a witnefs and a judge against him. He never can approve himself for being oppofed, or for neglecting the duties which he owes to a God of infinite rectitude, wifdom and goodness; nor for being oppofed to a law and government which his own reafon muft juftify as right. In the world to come, we have reafon to think, that the powers of conscience will be renovated, or in other words, that the caufes which prevent their operation here, will be removed; and the finner's punishment will be, in a great degree, wrought out by the exercise of his own temper, and the judgment which he paffes on himfelf, thus fulfilling the defcription of the text, that "the end of thefe things is death."

2dly. Another of the caufes, which there is in the nature of things, to prove the truth of the Apostle's defcription, that, "the end of these things is death" is the unhappiness which creatures experience in the convictions of an evil and a condemning confcience. Although the confciences of evil men may often be afleep, it is fcarcely credible that this fhould always be the cafe. The calls of earthly pleasure are fometimes difcontinued a laffitude of animal nature fometimes deftroys the high wifh for fenfual gratification-and misfortunes in their perfons, or families, or properties, fometimes gives a paufe for confideration, and then confcience whifpers alarming words to the finful and guilty mind. They will be words creative of mifery; for a confiderate finner cannot approve himself; and felf-difapprobation must be mifery. As the appetites, through natural caufes, lofe their ftrength; as curiofity abates; and as approaching old age furnishes reafons for confidera. tion, confcience will begin to speak more freely. In this period of life, unlefs a man be very ftupid, he muft fometimes think of coming before his God; and if his conscience 3dly. If it fhould please God, difapproves, this will be an alarm- to place finners in a state of coning thought.-Affliction, bereave-nexion with each other in the world ment, lofs and difappointment to come, this must be another will, alfo, at any period of life, natural fource of unhappiness and produce the fame effects. Hence woe. The greater part of the we commonly fee them who are woes, which finners experience in deeply afflicted to be confiderate, this world, arife from caufes in and feel the need of a preparation their own temper and conduct.before they can come peacefully They afflict themfelves, and they into the prefence of God. Here afflict each other. They affli&t is a natural fource for mifery to the themselves by their own exceffive finful. A confcience is placed appetites and paflions which cannot in every breaft, and it is only a-be fatisfied; by their impatience

two. The first enquiry is, Whe-, er oblige God, in point of veraci

ther God explicitly threatened Adam, that in cafe of difobedience, he fhould fuffer the penalty of the divine law?

ty, to fee it executed. Had it done this, there could have been no room left for a difpenfation of grace, confiftently with divine truth, and God could not have extended mercy to him, on any terms whatever, or in virtue of any atonement, without a fatal wound to his own glory, and without shaking the foundation of the confidence of all his creatures in his

it fhould appear that in one instance God had forfeited his word, there could no longer remain any real fecurity, that he would execute any of his threatnings, or fulfil his promifes: Therefore God, in pro

Answer. The language, in which the penalty of the law was expreffed to Adam, was explicit. "Thou fhalt furely die," or as tranflated in the margin, Dying thou shalt die. In this penalty, an. nexed to the command, there was no ambiguity. No penalty affix-word. Divine truth is too facred ed to any law was ever given into admit of any commutation. If more unequivocal terms. In this refpect it was as explicit as poffible. 2. This penalty gave no encou ragement to Adam to hope for a difpenfation of grace, or that he fhould by any means efcape the evil denounced. But he had juftviding a way of mercy, must be reafon to conclude, in cafe of dif- confidered, as having informed us, obedience, that he should fuffer the that he had not pledged his word punishment. For there was no to execute the penalty, or we canunreasonable severity, either in the not reconcile his conduct, in this prohibition or the penalty, nor any inftance, with any grounds of fuintimations of grace made by reve- ture confidence in his truth.lation, or the light of nature, or That it may be manifeft, that to be inferred from any former dif. God had not bound himfelf, by his penfation of mercy to finners, word, to inflict the penalty of his which might fuggeft the idea to law on the tranfgreffor, it will be Adam, that God might, perhaps, ufeful to confider the obvious dif difpenfe with the penalty of his tinction, between a pofitive threatlaw. Therefore, when he be- ning, given as a prediction, that came a tranfgreffor, he had fuffi- in the cafe defcribed, the punishcient reafon to confider his cafe ment shall be inflicted, and a penhopeless. alty, confidered only as an expref3. Notwithstanding this, the fion of the demerit of tranfgrefpenalty of the law was fo far dif- fion, and the punishment to which penfed with, that Adam had, thro' the tranfgreffor becomes justly exthe atonement of Chrift, an oppor- pofed. In the first cafe, he who tunity given him to escape the evil threatens is bound to execute as denounced. This needs no proof, much as his word can bind him in as it is admitted in the question: any cafe whatever. But in the And if this is infufficient, the other, a mere penalty is not a pofwhole word of God, and the dec-itive affertion, that the punishment larations of Chrift in particular on fhall be inflicted. And I conceive this fubject, bring fufficient evi-it may be made manifeft, that there was no pofitive threatning made to

dence.

4. The declaration made in the Adam, diftinct from a penalty, in penalty of the law did not howey-the fenfe that has now been defcriVOL. I. No. 7.

I i

bed. It is true, the penalty of the law was given in the words, Thou shalt furely die' But this

qualified fenfe of the word was explicit.

The fecond part of the question

fince God could, and did dispense with the penalties of the law, we have fure evidence, that he cannot, and will not, in fome future time, difpenfe alfo with the threat

as die in unbelief? The enquiry amounts to this. Whether God in difpenfing with the penalties of his law, fo as to provide a way of falvation for finners, does not give

er he will finally execute the threatnings of the Gospel? To this I reply.-1. If God had broken his word in the first case, we might well question whether he would regard it in the second, or in any thing else that he has engaged to do.

is no more than the ordinary lan-will now be confidered. Whether guage of all penalties, divine and human. They are always, and very fitly expreffed in this manner; and according to the known ufe of language, it means no more, than that in the view of the legif-nings of the Gofpel, against such lator, the offender deferves the punishment expreffed. When a man breaks the laws of a state or kingdom, to which he belongs, and incurs the penalty, no one fuppofes, that fuch ftate or king-room for fome uncertainty, whethdom is bound, in point of veraci. ty, to execute the punishment. Such penalties are not confidered as engaging its truth. States may be, and ufually are bound to execute the penalties of their laws upon offenders, by confiderations of public fafety, and the fupport of government. But these are different from the obligations of veracity. And hence, all governments, notwithstanding the penalties annexed to their laws, feel themselves at perfect liberty to pardon offenders, when they conceive that this will be confiftent with the public good. And fo in the cafe under confideration, Adam could not have known, or have had any just reafons to conclude, that the general good would not have required that he fhould fuffer. He was fatisfed that God was juft, and that the law was righteous, both in its precepts and penalties; and on this account, and not because he fuppofed that God had pledged his word, he had reafon to expect that he should fuffer without mercy.Thus the penalty of the law was explicit, and if penalties, can properly be called threatnings, and they certainly af. fume a threatning afpect over the finner, then the threatning in this

2. If the threatnings of the Gofpel are mere penalties, and in this refpect, of the fame nature as the penalties of the law, and it appears that God could, and did make fuch arrangements, that it was confiftent with the fupport of government, and the public welfare, that he fhould dispense with thofe penalties, then we cannot certainly conclude that he may not make fome fuch new arrangements by which it may confist with the general good, that he should also difpenfe with the threatnings of the Gofpel, altho' expreffed in the ftrongest language. Therefore,

3. If the cafe of fuch as die in uubelief be indeed defperate, the evidence of it to us, muft arife from a material difference in the nature of the penalties of the one, and the threatnings of the other. And this I conceive is truly the cafe, and that it is most manifeftly revealed to be fo in the Gofpel.

The nature of the penalties made | It has no penalty of its own, but

for rejection of Christ, and this is fo circumftanced that it cannot admit of the fmallest doubt whether. it will be executed, for it falls on fuch only, as are condemned by the law, and excluded from any benefit by Chrift, by the limitations of the gofpel.

4. Befides, the threatnings of the gofpel not only limit the releafe to fuch as believe, but they limit the period in which the benefit of this difpenfation may be fecured, and confine it to this life. They affure us that such as neglect to avail themselves of the prefent opportunity, fhall fuffer the direct courfe of law and juftice. They declare that judgment fhall be awarded according to the deeds done here in the body. All this proves, that the threatnings of the gofpel are properly limitations to the extent of its favors, and so are predictions, in which God has pledged his word, that the law fhall be executed on all others. They are not mere penalties, but declarations which engage God, in point of truth, to fee that they are executed,

known to Adam, has been already confidered. We shall now attend to the threatnings of the Gofpel, and fhall attempt to fhow, that they are fuch, that the veracity of God requires him to execute them against all fuch as incur them, by living and dying in unbelief; which was not the cafe with the penalty of the law against the tranfgreffor. That the threatnings of the Gospel are, in this refpect, effentially different from the penalty of the law, may be conclufively argued from the confideration, that the penalty of the law had been already revealed, before the Gospel was given; and therefore there could be no need that the penalty fhould be repeated in the fame way, and if it fhould feem to any one, that there might be need of this, yet the Gofpel does not profefs to be a repetition of the law, or of its penalties; but to be a very different difpenfation. It reveals to us, that upon particular terms, which are there stated, thofe penalties can, and shall be difpenfed with. And the threatnings of the Gospel are defigned to affure us, that those penalties fhall not be dispensed with, upon any other terms, than those which it reveals. These are repentance towards God, and faith in our Lord Jefus Chrift. Therefore it is declared, He that believeth on the Son of God is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned alrea-will then be two claffes of people, dy-He is condemned by the law, and that one shall be justified, and and not rescued by the gofpel, and the other punished. This theretherefore the wrath of God abid-fore, and other fimilar paffages in eth on him. All the threatnings the holy fcriptures fhow, that God, of the gofpel, except for the parti- to prevent unbelievers from precular fin of unbelief alone, are of fuming on his mercy, fince it is this nature, and are manifeftly de-known that he is a merciful being, figned to limit the releafe which it has given his word, that none propofes from the penalties of the fhall be benefitted by his mercy, law, to fuch as repent and believe.

5. Moreover, the reprefentation of the day of judgment, given in the 25th chapter of Matthew, evidently appears to be a prediction of what God is determined fhall take place. It is not given in the ftile of a penalty, but of a plain prediction. It declares that there