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SERMON XVIII.

ON FUTURE RETRIBUTION.

2 COR. V. 11,-first clause.

Knowing therefore the terrors of the Lord, we persuade men.

HOPE and fear are passions deeply implanted in our nature; and to their influence may be referred a very considerable part of human conduct. Religion, and especially revealed religion, addresses itself chiefly to these passions; proposing on the one hand the most glorious rewards, both present and future, as motives to embrace it, and to be governed by its dictates; and assuring mankind on the other, that the inevitable consequence of rejecting it, and contemning its laws, will be not only a forfeiture of the happiness which it offers, but a positive infliction of severe and never-ending punishment. It sets before us life and death as objects of hope and fear; it expressly declares, that "we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." And

again that God will render to every man according to his deeds: "To them, who, by patient continuance in well-doing, seek for glory, and honour, and immortality, eternal life; but, unto them that are contentious, and obey not the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil.”

In our present fallen condition, hope, alone, very seldom proves a sufficient incentive to seek after the happiness proposed to us by our religion. Even those who, upon the whole, rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, find sufficient cause in their consciousness of weakness and imperfection, to make them occasionally fear and tremble. And very many, there is but too much reason to suspect, would gladly give up their claim to an interest in the promises of the Gospel, provided they could be fully assured of escaping the punishment denounced in it against the workers of iniquity. To such persons, it is in vain to address arguments drawn from the pleasures of a holy life, or of a spiritual intercourse with the Deity;-in vain, to tell them of that ineffable satisfaction of heart, that holy joy, that peace of mind which passeth all understanding, which dwell with those whose constant aim it is to please God; who love, fear, adore, and obey him, because he is all perfect, infinitely powerful, wise and good. In vain, you would allure them to the practice of those duties which he commands, and to the acquisition of that temper and disposition of mind, which he approves, by exhibiting to their view, and pressing on their consideration, the happy con

sequences which would result to them, both here and hereafter, from such a conduct. The habitual sinner, who hath lived without God in the world, and is enslaved to his lusts, can scarcely be brought to listen to the offer of any other pleasure, than that which sensual gratification affords. And even, if he should listen to a discourse on the pleasures of religion, it would be almost as unintelligible to him, as a disquisition on the nature of colours would be to a man who had been born blind. He wants or, at least, is greatly deficient in, the sense or apprehension on which what is said on that subject is fitted to make an impression. To bring such a person to repentance, and a new and better life, it therefore becomes necessary to alarm his fears, by setting before him the terrors of the Lord. And if, in addressing him, you can in the first place so far prevail, as to convince him of the reality of a future state of retribution, then will there be good ground to hope, he may be persuaded to repent and forsake his sins, that, through the merits of a Redeemer, he may become an object of the Divine mercy, and escape the dreadful fate of being finally cast into the place of torment prepared for the wicked.

First,-With regard to the reality of a future state of retribution, let me call your attention to the following considerations.

We all acknowledge the existence of a God. Were it denied, it is a point which might without difficulty, be established by the most convincing and satisfactory proof. We discover by the light of reason, that is,

by making use of this faculty, in examining those manifestations of himself, which he hath made in the works of his creation, and the conduct of his providence, that this Being must be infinitely powerful, wise, and good. If he is an all-wise and benevolent Being, which all nature, nay, the very constitution of our own frame, to go no further, proclaims him to be; then, it necessarily follows, that he must delight in the happiness of his creatures, and if he does not create them absolutely happy, that he will make them capable of becoming so, and will afford the means requisite for the attainment of that end. Such means were certainly in the power of an omnipotent Being to bestow; and that an infinitely good Being would bestow them, we cannot for a moment entertain the smallest doubt. But, we actually find, that our beneficent Creator hath been most liberal in this respect. He hath so

constituted us, that our duty and our happiness are inseparably connected. And that we might be at no loss to know wherein our duty consisted, he hath placed a monitor within our breasts, by which we are taught to distinguish between right and wrong, and prompted to pursue the one, and warned to avoid the other. Superadded to this, he hath been graciously pleased to reveal to us a law, in which our duty is fully made known to us, and explained and enforced in the clearest and most convincing manner. That this law is of Divine origin, we have no reason to doubt, for not only are the external proofs, with which it is transmitted to us, as clear and unexcep

tionable as any thing of the kind can be, but its own internal excellence, and the suitableness of its doctrines and precepts to the nature and condition of man, evidently shew that it is dictated by the Spirit of God. But a law without sanctions annexed to it, could have no effect in securing our obedience. It could be considered only in the light of a directory; and not as affording encouragement to obedience, on the one hand, by promises of reward,—or deterring from disobedience on the other by denunciations of punishment. But, as has been already observed, the law of God is any thing but deficient in this respect. Under the Divine government, the rewards of obedience are no less than the greatest possible happiness, that may be enjoyed in this life, and in the world to come, a bliss, perfect, unbounded, and everlasting, such as eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive. The punishment denounced against transgressors is dreadful and terrible beyond conception. It is not the extinction of existence, but continuance in it for ever, in a state of torment,—such as, when we attempt to conceive it, as described in several places in Scripture, makes the mind shrink back with horror, and anxious to persuade itself, that God is too merciful to punish any of his creatures, in a manner so terribly severe. But His word forbids the indulgence of any such suggestion. It is there expressly declared, that the wicked shall be cast into hell-fire, prepared for the devil and his angels,—and there left to be tormented by spirits as wicked as them