Future Judgment makes this necessary 3 dly Let us then consider how this matter may be reconciled that we are saved by Grace and justified by Faith in Christ and yet must be judged by our Works And this is very easily done for we shall be judged by our Works according to the Gracious Terms of the Gospel The Faith of Christ was never intended to give us a liberty in sinning or to excuse us from the necessity of a holy life and as far as the necessity of holiness is reconcilable with the Grace of the Gospel so far our being judged by our Works is reconcilable with our being saved by Grace upon the same Terms that the Gospel promises Pardon and Forgiveness we shall be pardoned at the Day of Judgment whatever the Gospel promises to reward shall be rewarded at the Day of Judgment and thus we are judged by Grace and by Works too This is easily understood by those who know any thing of the Gospel of Christ and therefore I shall at present but just mention it The Gospel of Christ promises Pardon of sin to true Penitents who are heartily sorry for their sins abhor themselves for them make restitution for the Injuries they have done to Men beg God's Pardon in the Name and Mediation of Christ and amend their Lives for Christ has made atonement and expiation for such Sinners and therefore at the Day of Judgment no Man shall be condemned for such sins as he has heartily repented of and reformed and this is to be judged by Grace as well as by our Works for the Law prescribes our Duty but promises no Pardon no not to Penitents this is owing to the Grace of God through the Merits and Mediation of Christ but though the Grace of the Gospel pardons true Penitents yet the same Gospel threatens eternal damnation against impenitent Sinners The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all unrighteousness and ungodliness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness To them who are contentious and do not obey the truth but obey unrighteousness indignation and wrath tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doth evil And therefore impenient Sinners will be judged and condemned for their sins at the last Day by the Mediatour of the Covenant of Grace for the Gospel itself condemns them Thus the Grace of God that bringeth salvation and hath appeared unto all men teacheth us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly and righteously and godly in this present world And therefore without holiness no man shall see God Heaven is the Reward only of good Men who live in the Exercise of all Christian Graces and Vertues and therefore good Men must be judged must be rewarded according to their Works and yet this is Gospel-Grace too for such a glorious Reward as Heaven is above the Merit of the most perfect Vertue in this World The best Man cannot challenge such a Reward from the Justice of God and therefore it is owing to Gospel-Grace the wages of sin is death but eternal life is the gift of God not the merit and desert of our Works through our Lord Iesus Christ. Especially when we consider that this great and perfect Reward is bestowed upon a very imperfect Vertue the Obedience of the best Men is very defective stained and sullied with Human Weaknesses Indiscretions Follies Ignorances Mistakes indecent Surprizes of Passion or coldness and flatness of Devotion and too often interrupted with wilful and scandalous sins such as nothing but Grace can pardon and therefore much more nothing but Grace can reward and therefore good Men are judged by Grace and rewarded by Grace though according to their Works We are all Sinners we are all obnoxious to the Justice of God would he be extream to mark what is done amiss but since a perfect Vertue is not to be expected from Mankind in this lapsed state God is pleased to accept of sincerity instead of perfection and through the Merits of Christ and Faith in his Blood to account him a righteous Man who sincerely loves and fears him and obeys his Laws though with the Weaknesses and Infirmities incident to Humane Nature So that our being judged by our Works signifies no more but that we are distinguished by the Good or Evil we do into good or bad Men according to the favourable allowances of the Gospel and then bad Men receive the just desert of their sins and good Men receive those Rewards not which they have merited but which the Grace of God and the Merits of Christ have prepared and purchased for them This is a plain account how Christians may be judged by their Works and yet saved by Grace and by Faith in Christ and the righteousness and equity of the last Judgment seems to entitle Heathens themselves thô they have no Covenant Right to it to some degrees of this Grace for I cannot think that God in judging the World will deal more rigorously and severely with Heathens than he will with Christians that he will demand most where he has given least which is contrary to our Saviour's Rule of Judgment and therefore I cannot but hope that Christ in judging of their Works will make the same favourable allowances to them which the Gospel makes to those who do believe in Christ that is to say that he will allow of the Repentance of a Heathen if it were sincere and hearty and did reform his Life as well as of the Repentance of a Christian that he will overlook the same Defects and Imperfections in the good Actions of Heathens who lived vertuous Lives who worshipped the One true God and observed the natural Rules of Sobriety Justice and Righteousness that he will in the Actions of Christians That if any Heathen should be found equally vertuous with the meanest Christian who shall be finally saved that Heathen at least will not be damned and indeed would seem to have reason to complain of unequal usage if he should St. Paul tells us both with respect to Jews and Heathens as well as Christians That God will judge the secrets of men by Christ Iesus according to the Gospel And if the Gospel be the Rule of judging all Mens Actions they must be all equally judged with respect to the Good or Evil of their Actions and be judged as the Gospel judges I grant the Heathens had no promise of Pardon upon their Repentance but yet all Mankind believed so well of the Goodness and Mercy of God that they hoped for Pardon upon their Repentance thus we find the Ninivites did and they had it and indeed it was this perswasion that taught them to pray to God and to offer Sacrifices which had been insignificant things had they not been perswaded that God both could and would pardon sin when Sinners repent Nor have the Heathens any Covenant Title to Salvation and yet they were generally perswaded that good Men shall be rewarded and the
prove that he shall be judged i. e. that he shall be rewarded or punished for all the good or evil that he does in the World for a wise Being will take care to govern the Creatures which he makes and to govern them in such a way as is agreeable to the natures he has given them and since Man who is a free Agent can be governed only by Hopes and Fears God would never have made Man had he not intended to judge him that is he would never have made such a Creature as can be governed only by the hope of rewards and by the fear of punishments had he not resolved to lay these restraints upon him to reward and punish him according to his works how necessary rewards and punishments are to the Government of Mankind we see in Humane Societies which cannot subsist without them notwithstanding the severest Laws and the severest Executions every Age and every Country produces great Prodigies of Wickedness which no doubt would be much greater and more numerous were there no Laws and Government to restrain them and when the universal experience of Mankind convinces the World of the necessity of Laws and Government why should we think that the wise Maker of Man should not over-awe him also with a sence of his own Power and Justice which is a more effectual restraint than the Rods and Axes of Princes 4. Thus if Man by the condition of his nature be an inferior depending Creature he iâ— by nature accountable to God who is his Soveraign Lord and this is a good argument that he must give an account of himself to God for there is no reason to think that God will not call Man to an account when he has made him by nature accountable to himself for the nature of things is the most certain Rule to know how God will govern them at least the nature of things is a strong presumption unless there be plain and positive evidence to the contrary He who acknowledges that Man is by nature an inferior Creature who is acâ—ountable to God for all his actions must reasonably take it for granted without any further proof that God will judge him and call him to an account for God has declared his intentions to judge him by making him such a Creature as is to be judged and there is no pretence and shew of reason to say that God will not take an account of Man whom he has by nature made an accountable Creature unless we can produce a plain and express Revelation of God's Will that he will not judge Mankind No Man can prove by Reason that God will not judge Mankind for no reason can be good against the nature of things and the nature of things do most reasonably prove a Judgment and therefore we ought to take it for granted that God will judge the World till we see a plain Revelation that he will not This is worth observing because it puts the proof upon those who deny a Judgement where in reason it ought to lie for those who have the reason and nature of things on their side have as good natural evidence as they can have and need seek no farther but those who will believe contrary to the nature of things ought to prove their exemption from the Laws and Condition of their Nature I desire you seriously to consider this and to lay it to heart for it is a very sensible Argument and if well managed will convince you how foolish and unreasonable all your hopes are of escaping the Judgment of God unless you have some secret Revelation of this which the rest of Mankind know nothing of To represent this as plainly and familliarly as I can give me leave to ask you some few questions or rather seriously ask your selves such questions as these Why do I hope that God will not judge me am I not obnoxious to the Judgment of God am I not his Creature and is he not my Soveraign Lord and is he not then my Judge and why should I expect that my Natural Lord and Judge will not judge me Do not Parents judge their Children and Masters their Servants and Princes their Subjects and all Superiors their Inferiors and can I think that God alone who is the Soveraign Lord of all and from whom all inferior Power and Authority is derived should not himself judge his Creatures has God renounced his Authority or is the exercise of it too troublesome to him has he made us accountable Creatures but to give no account has he made us in subjection to himself to exercise no authority over us We had better say that God has made us all soveraign independent unaccountable Creatures which is less absurd then to say that God is our Soveraign Lord but will not judge us that is will not exercise his Soveraign Authority All this seems to be self-evident and to carry its own proof and conviction with it and there is but one Evasion that I know of by the help of which Men flatter themselves still into the Opinion that God will not judge them or at least that it is not evident from the Light of Nature that he will and that is that all this proves indeed that God may judge us if he please but not that he will we are his Creatures and obnoxious to his Power and Justice and this proves that he may judge us if he please but he is under no force and therefore if he please also he may not judge us and while this is possible Men who love their sins are apt to flatter themselves that God will not judge them Now this is no Objection to us Christians who have a plain and express Revelation of God's Will in this point that he will judge the World though it is an additional satisfaction to see that the nature and reason of Things do so well agree with Revelation but however at present I shall set aside Revelation and consider whether what I have now discoursed do not as well prove that God will as that he may judge the World Now to prove this I will only suppose one Principle which I will thank no Man to grant me That what the reason and nature of Things proves ought to be done that God will do for though God is under no force and necessity yet his own Nature is a Rule and Law to him what ought to be done every wise and good and just Being will do and therefore God will certainly do it who is infinite Wisdom and what the nature of Things require to be done that is the prescription of his own Wisdom for he made all things and therefore by giving such natures to his Creatures he has made a Law for himself and sufficiently declared what he intends to do Now let any Man consider what I have already discoursed and tell me whether a reasonable Creature who is a free Agent and under the power and authority of a Superior who prescribes him
is the sum of the Law and the Prophets The universal Rule of Moral Justice and Goodness which is to do that which is for the natural good of Mankind whatever our sense and experience tells us is naturally good and beneficial to ourselves which would be a very imperfect Rule if there were not an inseparable connexion between Moral and Natural Good The not observing this is the true reason why some Men can form no Notion at all of Moral Good or Evil but think Vertue and Vice to be meer arbitrary Notions which have no foundation in the Nature of Things as indeed they can have none but only this that Vertue is to love and choose and do that which has a natural good in it which is good to ourselves or others that Vice is to love and choose and do that which has some natural evil in it or which is hurtful to ourselves or others as for instance Charity which is one of the most excellent Vertues of the Christian Life consists in doing every thing which is for the good of Men in feeding the Hungry clothing the Naked relieving the Injured and Oppressed the Fatherless and the Widdow in directing advising assisting comforting Men in difficulties and distress in forgiving Injuries concealing Faults judging charitably and in all such other acts of Goodness as are greatly for the benefit of Mankind whereas the contrary Vice does all the contrary Evils and Mischiefs to the great hurt and injury of Men and whoever considers this must confess that Moral Good and Evil is as real a thing as Natural Good and Evil is and I suppose no Man who has his senses about him will deny that there is such a thing as Natural Good and Evil as for instance Pain and Pleasure and then his same senses will in abundance of instances tell him the essential difference between Moral Good and Evil On the other hand the true and onely reason why Men so vastly differ in their Notions of Moral Good and Evil is because in many instances they are not agreed what Natural Good and Evil is some Men call nothing good or evil but what is good or evil to their Bodies such as Pain and Pleasure and the Causes and Instruments of them Health and Sickness Riches and Poverty and the like others think and with much greater reason that we should take our Souls into the account too that whatever is for the ease and pleasure of our Minds whatever adorns and perfects a reasonable Nature is a Natural Good to Men as Wisdom and Knowledge and regular and well-govern'd Appetites and Passions do and therefore these are the foundation of Moral Vertues too but whatever debases our Natures and is a reproach to the reason and understanding of a Man whatever thrusts him down into the rank of brute Creatures and either disturbs his ease or changes the pleasures of a Man for those of a Beast are great Natural Evils too if the perfection and happiness of Humane Nature be a Natural Good and therefore to choose and to act such things is morally evil This is enough to shew what Moral Good and Evil is that it has a necessary relation to Natural Good and Evil and it were easie here to prove were it not too long a Digression that all the Laws of the Gospel do either command what is for the good and happiness of Mankind of every private Man and of publick Communities or forbid such things as are hurtful and prejudicial to them but my present Design will not suffer me to straggle so far out of the way II. The second branch of this Argument is That according to the â—eneral sence of Mankind what is good ouâ—ht to be rewarded and what is wicked ought to be punished For the proof of this I shall appeal in the first place to all Civilized Nations who live under Laws and Government for there is no such Nation but thinks fit to restrain Wickedness by a publick Vengeance on those who commit it indeed their Laws and Punishments are not always the same nor do they all punish the same Crimes nor with the same Punishments but all of them punish such Crimes as they think injurious to the Publick which is the principal concernment of Civil Government and inflict such Penalties on them as they judge proportioned to such Crimes or sufficient to restrain the commission of them some Capital some Pecuniary Mulcts Confiscation of Goods loss of Honour Corporal Punishments Imprisonment Banishment or some publick Marks of perpetual Infamy which is a certain argument that the Wisdom of all Nations thinks it fit that Wickedness should be punished that those who do Evil should suffer evil and indeed all Mankind is so sensible of this that there is not a greater Reproach to any Government then the Impunity of Vice nor a greater Glory to it than the strict and equal Administration of Justice Where publick Justice fails as it does in a great many instances we must next appeal to private Revenge to understand what the sence of Mankind is about the desert of Sin for there is not a more natural nor more eager Passion in Humane Nature all Men naturally desire to return the Injury they suffer upon the heads of those who do it and account it no Injury but a great act of Justice to do so In many Nations some private Injuries have been left to private Revenge and the Jewish Law itself permitted a Retaliation of Injuries an Eye for an Eye and a Tooth for a Tooth though it did not permit the injured Person to take this Revenge himself but made the publick Magistrate the Judge of it It may be you will wonder I should appeal to the impatient thirst and appetite of Revenge to prove the sence of Mankind that Sin ought to be punished when private Revenge itself is a great Evil and forbid by the Gospel of our Saviour but for all that Revenge is a natural Passion and speaks the furious rage and language of Nature that Sin ought to be punished It is that Passion in us which ministers to punitive Justice as a natural tenderness and compassion does to Charity and therefore the passion itself is not sinful though the irregular exercise of it is it is implanted in all Mankind as the love of Justice is but all Men must not execute Revenge no more than every Man can administer Justice where every Man is a Minister of Justice he may execute his Revenge too that is where there are no publick Laws and Government but when we are incorporated into Civil Societies private Revenge is superseded by publick Justice and to revenge ourselves is an Offence against the State but this publick Justice is executing Revenge still tho' without that partiality and passion which Men betray in their own cause and tho' our Saviour forbids private Revenge it is not because Sin does not deserve to be punished but to teach us those great Christian Vertues of Patience
self-evident Consequence that if God govern the World he will judge it that is reward every Man according to his Works for the principal Act of Government is to Judge and it is impossible he should be a wise and just Governour who does not judge The difference between the Providence of God or his present Government of the World and a Final Judgment is no more but this That they have different Ends and therefore must have different Rules and Measures but they are both God's judging the World and therefore if God begins his Judgment of Mankind in this World there is no reason to doubt buâ— he will finish and perfect his Judgment in the next if he judges Mankind now aâ— far as is proper to the state of this World it is a sufficient reason to believe that iâ— the next World he will exercise such act of Judgment as are proper for that State The great Ends of Providence in thiâ— World are the Preservation of Human Societies the Incouragement of Piety anâ— Vertue and the Discouragement of Vicâ— to keep Men under Discipline to lay Râ—â—straints upon their Lusts and Passions 〈◊〉 wean them from the love of this Worlâ— to exercise their Graces their Faith and Patience and Charity and by the different methods of Kindness and Severity as his own Wisdom judges best and fittest to reclaim the wicked and the wandering Prodigals and to advance good Men to greater degrees and perfections of Goodness the end of God's judging Mankind in the next World is to allot Men such Rewards and Punishments as are proportioned to their Works and Deserts to bestow Eternal Life on good Men and to execute the threatning of Eternal Death upon bad Men which is the Final Conclusion and Consummation of Judgment and if God judges all Men in this World as far as is necessary for this World it is reasonable to think that he will perfect his Judgment in the World to come Now it is plain he does the first as will appear from particulars He corrects the Miscarriages of Publick Government Publick Injustice and Oppression a Publick Contempt of God and of Religion and of all things sacred a General Corruption of Manners and an Inundation of Wickedness such Nations seldom escape long without a severe Scourge unless God makes use of them to scourge other Nations as wicked as themselves but a Righteous and Religious Nation which preserves Justice among Men and the Knowledge and Reverence and Worship of God is the Darling and Favourite of Providence and is blessed with all prosperous Successes both at Home and Abroad So the wise Man tells us That righteousness exalteth a nation but sin is the reproach of any people Thus it is apt to do of itself but the Divine Justice and Providence takes care that it shall do so for though every particular good Man is not rewarded nor every particular bad Man punished in this World yet God governs Kingdoms and Nations by a more equal and steady Justice for indeed publick Societies are the principal Objects of his Rewards and Punishments in this World because the good Government of Mankind depends so much upon it the Vertues or Vices of private Men have but a narrow influence and can do but little good or hurt but publick Government is a publick Good or Mischief and the Disorders of it are like an Eclipse of the Sun which brings Darkness upon the World and therefore such a very wicked Nation is seldom long unpunished or a righteous Nation oppressed And this is a visible Exercise of God's Judgment in this World in rewarding or punishing Kingdoms and Nations which are the great Wheels of Providence whereon the regular Motion and good Government of the World depends as I observed to you before that God governs the World by erecting Humane Governments and therefore is more especially concerned to govern them Thus in order to discourage Wickedness and to encourage true Piety and Vertue which is another End of Providence it is not necessary that God should reward every good Man or punish every bad Man in this World some few great Examples of such Rewards and Punishments are sufficient to this purpose especially if they are so many and so frequent that no bad Man can promise himself Impunity even in this Life nor any good Man have reason to despond or distrust Providence and as many Complaints as there are of the Prosperity of bad Men and the Sufferings of the good yet every Age and every Country nay almost every Village will furnish us with so many Examples of miserable Sinners and of the visible Rewards of Vertue as are abundantly enough to make all considering Men reverence the Divine Justice and Providence and therefore God exercises as great as frequent as visible Acts of Judgment as the State of this World requires Especially when we consider that this World is a State of Discipline a School of Vertue where we must learn to govern our Passions and Appetites to conquer vicious Habits and to live above the Body and the Pleasures of it to forgive Injuries to love Enemies to Suffer patiently to be contented with a Little to trust Providence to live by Faith and Hope of unseen Things now such a State as this will not admit of an exact Distribution of Rewards and Punishments Bad Men must not always be punished for their Sins because sometimes External Prosperity and a Sence of the Divine Goodness may work more kindly on them or if they be punished their Punishments must be rather Corrections than Acts of Justice that is they must not always bear proportion to their Deserts but to their Cure as a Father corrects his Child not so much to punish his Fault as to reform it And for the same reason good Men must not always be prosperous for they may need Adversity to exercise encrease and brighten their Vertues and to make them greater Examples to the World or if God sees fit to reward them it must be in such instances and such proportions as they can bear not always what they may deserve but what will be for their good Thus God governs the World with great Justice and Judgment as far as the State of this World requires and admits and what reason then is there to question whether God will judge Mankind in the World to come His Exercise of Justice and Judgment in this World proves that he is the Jâ—dge of the World not an idle and unconcerned Spectator of Humane Actions that he interests himself in the Affair of Mankind is solicitous to make all his Creatures happy is an Enemy to Wickedness and to wicked Men but the Friend Protector and Father of good Men and if God be the Judge of the World why should we think that he will not judge it nay if he actually execute Justice and Judgment in this World why should we think that he has reserved no Acts of Judgment for the next World which is a more
it and this is made a great Objection against Providence That many bad Men are prosperous and many good Men afflicted And a foolish Objection it is against Providence but a very good Argument for a Future Judgment When we have so many Arguments to prove that God does govern the World that he does even in this Life reward good Men and punish the wicked as much as is necessary for the good Government of the World it is very absurd to confute all this only by saying that he does not govern the World as we think he ought to govern it that is that he does not punish every bad Man nor reward every good Man in this Life Whoever would make good this Argument must prove that there is no other World after this wherein God can reward those good Men and punish those wicked Men whom he has not sufficiently rewarded or punished in this Life or he must prove that it is absolutely necessary to the ends of Government to reward every good Man and to punish every wicked Man in this World and not to defer their final Rewards and Punishments to the next for if it be granted that there is another World after this and that God if he sees fit may defer the final Rewards and Punishments of good and bad Men to the next World then this is no Objection at all against Providence But then instead of being an Objection against Providence it becomes a very strong Argument for a Future Judgment For if God does Govern and Judge the World and yet Justice is not equally and impartially administred to all Men but some good Men are greatly afflicted and some wicked Men are greatly prosperous it is little less than a Demonstration that there is some other Judgment to come besides what God exercises in this World for it is certain if God judge the World at all he will judge it righteously and will render to every Man according to his Works for Justice and Righteousness is essential to the Notion of a God and therefore since we see this is not always done in this World we must conclude that God's Judgment of Mankind does not end with this World but extends to a Future State that is that there is a Judgment to come after this Life when we shall be rewarded according to our Works 3. That the Judgment of God in this World is not Final appears from this that the Rewards and Punishments of this Life cannot be the final and proper Rewards and Punishments of good and bad Men External Prosperity and external Miseries and Sufferings are the only Rewards and Punishments we are capable of in this Life and therefore when God would visibly express his Kindness and Favour to good Men he makes them prosperous and when he would express his Anger and Displeasure against the wicked he punishes them with some Temporal Evils and this is all that can be done in this World except the peace and satisfaction or the guilty remorse of our own Consciences which God can heighten as he sees fit But now it is certain that external Prosperity is not the proper and peculiar Reward of Vertue nor external Sufferings the peculiar Punishment of Sin for if they were a just and righteous Judge could never permit bad Men to be prosperous nor good Men to be afflicted if Prosperity were due only to Vertue and Afflictions and Sufferings to Vice The promiscuous Distribution of the good and evil Things of this World both to good and to bad Men proves that Prosperity is not always good nor Adversity always evil that Prosperity is rather a present Encouragement then the proper Reward of Vertue and external Calamities rather a Curb and Restraint than the proper Punishment of Vice and therefore when God can serve the ends of his Providence by it he may make bad Men prosperous and afflict the good for this is not to transfer the necessary and peculiar Rewards of Vertue upon bad Men nor to inflict the peculiar Punishments of Sin upon good Men which cannot be done by a just and righteous Judge Now if the Happiness and Miseries of this Life be not the proper and peculiar and inseparable Rewards and Punishments of Vertue and Vice then there are some other Rewards and Punishments reserved for good and bad Men in the next World such Rewards as no bad Man shall share in and such Punishments as shall not be inflicted on any good Man that is besides the Providence and Judgement of God in this World God will Judge good and bad Men in the next and render to every Man according to his Works II. The Nature of the Divine Providence and Government and the Manner and Circumstances of its Administration in this World are a plain Indication of a Future Judgment The visible design of Providence is not to reward all good Men and to punish the wicked in this World for this is not done but to curb and restrain Wickedness and to encourage Piety and Vertue and therefore God gives us such Examples of his Justice as are sufficient to over-awe Mankind and make them fear his Power and Vengeance and such Examples of his Favour Kindness and Regard to good Men as may encourage them to be good and vertuous with the expectation of great Rewards But what does all this signifie unless it proves that God will punish bad Men and reward the good and if it proves this it must prove that God will do it in the next World for it is plain that he does not do it here And therefore if we will allow that God governs the World wisely we must confess that the Examples of God's Goodness and Justice in this World prove a Future Judgement for they are not so universal as to answer the ends of Justice in rewarding good Men and punishing the wicked in this World and unless they prove a Future Judgment they are not sufficient either to over-awe and restrain bad Men or to encourage the good for though the frequent Examples of God's Justice and Severity against Sin destroys Mens security in sinning for no bad Man can be sure that God will not punish him as he does a great many other bad Men yet we daily see they would venture this did not the present execution of Justice threaten them with the more terrible Judgement of the next World Thus if we consider the Providence of God as a Method of Discipline whereby he conquers Mens love to Sin and breaks the Habits of Vice or exercises and improves their Vertues this is a very unaccountable thing without a Future Judgement Why should God exercise so much Patience towards wicked Men and bare so long with them to conquer them by Methods of Kindness were it not in great Goodness to give them time for Repentance that they may escape Eternal Miseries Why should God exercise Men with such long and repeated Severities to conquer their Love to this World to teach them to govern
their Appetites and Passions and to make them good Men if there be no Reward for Vertue and Piety in the next World Why should he afflict good Men all their Lives whose Vertue deserves a more prosperous Fortune only to exercise their Faith and Patience and to advance them still to more Divine Perfections unless he intended to reward their present Sufferings and their eminent Vertue with a brighter and more glorious Crown There are many Passages of Providence which there can be no other account given of but that they are Methods of Discipline to conquer Mens love to Sin or to improve their Graces and Vertues And I am sure there can be no account given of this why God should with so much Patience and Forbearance expect the Repentance of some Sinners and exercise good Men with so much Severity to make them better unless the Providence of God in this World have a principal regard to the Rewards and Punishments of the next that is unless there be a Judgment to come to reward good Men and to punish the wicked This I hope is sufficient to make good this Consequence That if God govern the World at present he will judge it-hereafter SECT IV. The Natural Presages of Conscience prove a Future Iudgment and if there be a Future State there must be a Future Iudgment V. THe Natural Presages of Conscience are another good Argument or a Future Judgment that is all Men naturally expect to be judged to be rewarded or punished for the Good or Evil they do and this is a strong Natural Presumption that God will Judge the World This is an Argument of great moment and therefore deserves to be particularly explained to which purpose I shall I. shew you That it is so 2. That this is not an artificial Impression but the natural Sence of our own Minds And 3. That this does prove that God will Judge the World and render to every Man according to his Works I. That it is so that all Men have a natural Presage of Judgment there is indeed a very â—ormidable Objection against this That very few Men live as if they did expect to be judged But this is as good an Argument against Mens belief of the Gospel of Christ and the express Revelation of a Future Judgment as it is against the Natural Sence and Presages of Conscience for there are too many who profess to believe the Gospel but do not live as if they did believe a Judgment But I need not trouble myself about this because it is an Objection only to Atheists and Infidels if indeed it be an Objection to them Other bad Men who live as if they did not believe a Judgment yet feel in themselves that they do believe it and when they think of it they believe and tremble too as the Devils do though at other times they are over-powered by the World and the Flesh to act contrary to the Convictions of Conscience and the Fears of Judgment The Heathens themselves who had only the Light of Nature to direct them were very sensible of the private Judgement of their own Consciences which did either accuse them when they did ill and fill them with remorse and fear of Vengeance or excuse commend and applaud them when they did well and give them great and chearful Hopes of a Reward as St. Paul tells us 2 Rom. 14.15 and is frequently observed by the Heathen Philosophers Poets Orators and Historians as a thing universally acknowledged and indeed I know no Man at this day who denies it and therefore I need not prove it All Men feel this in themselves even Atheists and Infidels whenever they are serious and thoughtful when the Judgements of God overtake them or they see the near Approaches of Death and another World The greatest Power cannot defend Men from these Fears Princes and Politicians are equally exposed to them with meaner Subjects those whom no Humane Power can touch are over-awed by an invisible Justice II. Since this is universally acknowledged the onely question is To what Cause to attribute these Fears and Rebukes of Conscience The Atheist will by no means allow these Fears to be Natural but only the Effect of a Superstitious Education as they say the Belief of a God and the differences of Good and Evil are Men have been taught from their very Infancy that there is an invisible Power that governs the World which will reward good Men and punish the wicked and have been frighted with the Fairy Stories of Infernal Judges and Styx and Acheron or Hell-fire and this made such an Impression upon their tender Fancies as can never be wore out at least not without great Industry and Resolution of Mind and this they say makes weak Men conclude that they are Natural But this is a very absurd and ridiculous Account of the Matter as will appear if you consider by what Rules we are to judge what is Natural and what not for if these Presages of Conscience have all the marks and signs of being natural that we can have that any thing is natural we must either say that nothing is natural or that we cannot tell what is natural and what not or we must confess it great Perversness of Mind to deny that to be natural which has all the signs and Marks of being natural that any thing can have Now I. That is Natural which is universal or common to the whole Kind for we have no other way of knowing what the Natures of Things are but by observing what is common to all Creatures of the same Kind and Species for nothing is common to all Individuals but a common Nature and if what is universal and common to all Mankind is Natural these Censures and Rebukes of Conscience are Natural for they are common to all Men for though we should grant that some few Atheists had wholly conquered these Fears and never feel the Lashes and Rebukes of their own Consciences such few and rare Examples ought to be lookt on as the Corruption of Humane Nature not as the Measure and Standard of it for it is no news to say that Humane Nature may be corrupted that the very essential Principles of it may be depraved and in such cases we always judge and that with very good reason that what is most common and universal is Natural not what is as rare and as ominous as a monstrous Birth 2dly Especially when we consider that that is most Natural which is born and bred with us and is the Original State of Humane Nature for Nature is before Art and before the voluntary Corruptions and Degeneracy of Nature This Atheists see and confess and therefore attribute the Belief of a God and the Checks of Conscience and the Fears of Judgment to Education that these Principles were instilled into us from the beginning and grow up with us into confirmed and setled Prejudices and I readily grant that Education has a great stroke in forming our
it become a Wise and Holy God to grant Indulgence to Vice Are Adulteries Fornications Drunkenness Gluttony Prophaneness Irreligion no Sins when committed by Young Men Can any one give a reason why these Sins should damn a Man of Forty or Fifty and be indulged in one of Twenty Does it become the Wise and Holy Governour of the World to contribute so much to the debauching Mankind as to indulge their youthful Lusts to suffer their render Minds to be corrupted with the love and practise of Vice to be prepossessed and prejudiced against the Severities of a Holy Life when Men by indulging their Lusts are grown fond of this World and of bodily Pleasures when are they likely to grow wise when will they think it time to submit to God's Government and to obey his Laws How seldom is it seen that Men who contract Habits of Wickedness in their Youth ever get a perfect mastery of them or prove seriously Religious and those who do with what infinite difficulty do they do it So that should God give liberty to Men to be as wicked as they please while they are young it would be to little purpose to give Laws to riper Years the Seeds of Vertue or Vice are sown in tender Minds and grow up with them and are very difficulty rooted out if God intends we should worship and obey him when we are Men he must lay early Restraints upon us and fashion our Minds betimes And that is a reason why he should judge Youth and Antidote them against the flattering Temptations of this Life with the Hopes and Fears of another World If you think it hard that God should judge you for the Lewdness and Extravagancies of Youth consider whether it would not be much harder to suffer you to be corrupted when you are young and to damn you for continuing wicked when you are old The fears of Judgment may restrain and govern your youthful Passions and season you with the Principles of an early Piety which will grow up into confirmed Habits of Vertue which will direct and govern your Lives in this World and carry you safe to Heaven but if Young Men might sin securely without fear of Judgment in all likelihood tâ—ey would sin on till they were old enough to be damned 3. I must add this also that there is as little reason to expect that Young Men should be excused from being judged and from giving an account of their Actions as that any other Men whatsoever should be excused every Age has its peculiar Temptations and Difficulties and if this were a reason why they should not be judged no Men must be judged But Youth before it is corrupted and grown ungovernable has the fewest Temptations and the greatest Restraints and Preservatives of any Age and therefore is the least excusable Youth indeed is rash and giddy and inconsiderate but then it is or ought to be under the Direction and Government of Parents Masters and Tutors it is a great Misfortune to them when they are not and a great and fatal Miscarriage in Parents and Masters when they neglect the prudent Government of them But this is the Provision God has made for their Government and therefore has implanted in them a natural Awe and Reverence for their Parents and Superiours which makes their Counsels and Examples sacred which is a mighty advantge above what those Men have who have no Body to govern them and have no Government of themselves Their Reason indeed is weak but it is not corrupted as a great many others have corrupted their Reason by Principles of Atheism and Irreligion they have a Natural Sence of God and a Natural Awe and Reverence for his Justice and Providence and a Natural Belief of another World especially if any care has been taken to instruct them in the Principles of Christianity and this gives them a great Dread and Horror of Sin which they believe will bring the Judgments of God upon them in this World and in the next They have little Experience of the World and a great Curiosity to tast the Pleasures of it but they are not yet acquainted with the sinful Pleasures of it they have not contracted a Fondness for them and the Fear of God will more easily check and restrain a Curiosity then conquer a Habit and therefore they have a more easie Task to keep themselves innocent then old Sinners have to conquer their vicious Habits who must pluck out a right Eye and cut off a right Hand to enter into Heaven And the Natural Modesty of Youth is a mighty Restraint which makes them blush at the Thoughts of any Wickedness and so afraid of a Discovery when they think of committing it that it deprives them of the Opportunities of committing it and while Men retain their natural Modesty a thousand thoughts give check to them and a thousand Accidents disappoint them but when they have sinned away their Reputation and their Shame with it when they are hardened against Reproach and Infamy or have lost all sence of the difference between Good and Evil they have nothing to stop them till they come to Hell This is the Original State of Youth which was made for Piety and Vertue and all Men must acknowledge that they are in a much nearer disposition for it than old Sinners there is almost as much difficulty at first to debauch an innocent Mind as there is to reclaim an old Sinner to make the one conquer Shame as there is to make the other blush And why then should we think that Young Men shall not be judged by God for breaking through all these Restraints when it is as hard a thing for them to be bad as it is for others to be good why should they hope to escape in those Sins for which oâ—hers shall be judged and condemned This is sufficient to convince Young Men that God will judge them as well as others As young as they are they know when they do their Duty and when they transgress it and therefore may be called to an account for it It never becomes a holy God nor the wise Governour of the World to indulge Men in Sin and as little to indulge Young Men as any others for if he should indulge them in contracting vicious Habits when they are young he has less reason to judge and condemn them for it when they are old And indeed Young Men have least reason to expecâ— such an Indulgence for whatever their Temptations are it is much easier for them to keep themselves innocent then it is for other Men to conquer the Habits of Vice 2. Let me now perswade Young Men frequently to think of a Future Judgment There is great reason for this Exhortation because they are very apt to forget it and yet they have very great occasion for it 1. They are very apt to forget it Their Spirits are gay and brisk and they meet with such variety of Entertainments as will not admit of
prays to God Cleanse thou me from secret faults 19 Psal. 12. There is no reason to think it should be otherwise since our most secret Sins are visible to God All things are naked and open unto the eyâ—s of him with whom we have to do 4 Heb. 13. And when God knows our most secret Sins why should he not judge us for them Humane Judicatures will punish those Sins which are most secretly committed when they happen to be discovered for the Sin is never the less nor does it less deserve to be punished for being secret and therefore though such Sins may escape the Judgement of Men by being concealed they cannot escape God's Judgment who sees and knows them I grant that to commit Sin openly in the Face of the Sun argues greater Impudence in sinning does more publick Dishonour to God and gives greater Scandal to the World but secret Sins put as great a Contempt on God as open Impieties do for it is a plain Proof that such Sinners have a greater Reverence for Men than they have for God though they profess to believe that God is present every-where and sees all they do yet they securely commit the greatest Villanies under his Eye when no body else sees them which they durst not commit in the presence of the meanest Man This is a very unaccountable thing and one would imagine that such Men did not believe that God sees what they do in secret and yet they do believe it and we all know it is so It may be there are few Men but are guilty of some private Sins at sometime or other which nothing could have perswaded them to have committed publickly and yet when any Man is tempted by Secresie and and Retirement though he drives away the Thoughts of God as much as he can while he is in pursute of his Lusts and wicked Designs when he comes to himself and has time to think his Conscience speaks Terrour to him and puts him in mind that God sees him though Men do not But consider I beseech you if God will judge us for all our most secret Sins how little it will avail us to conceal our Sins from Men We may indeed by this means escape present Shame and Punishment but eternal Shame eternal Torment will be our Portion and are we more afraid of being reproached by Men then of being reproached by God and by our own Consciences then of being exposed to Shame in the General Assembly of Men and Angels when God shall bring to light all the hidden Works of Darkness are we more afraid of some Punishments in our Bodies or Estates which Humane Laws and Judicatures can inflict on us than we are of Hell where the Worm dieth not and the Fire is not quenched I am very sensible what it is that deceives Men in this matter and if you will but reflect upon yourselves you will find what I say to be true You do believe that God sees your most secret Sins and will judge and condemn you for them and you are more afraid of Hell then of all present Shame and Punishment and yet you will venture upon those Sins under the Eye of God which the Presence of a Man at least of such Men as will discover your Sin and Shame and punish you for it would have kept you from What is the meaning of this to be more afraid of God than of Men and yet to stand in more awe of Man than of God The Account of this which looks like a Mystery I think is very plain Men dare not commit those Sins publickly which they will venture on in private because if Men see their Wickedness they immediately forfeit their Reputation and get such a Blot and Stain on their Names which all the Tears of Repentance cannot wash out again for they know the World is ill-natured and every single Miscarriage which comes to be known leaves an indelible Character of Infamy on them and they are not willing to forfeit their Reputation which is so necessary to the Comforts of Life for ever And besides this if the Sins they commit be such as are punishable by Human Laws if they be known all their Repentance how sincere soever it be will not deliver them from Punishment and though they love their Sins very well they will not venture the punishment of them But now though God abhors all Sin more than the best Men do and Hell be a more terrible Punishment then any thing in this World yet God may be atoned and reconciled by Repentance Repentance will restore them to the Favour of God and hide and cover their Sins and blot them out of their account and reconcile them to their own Consciences and prevent their final Punishment in the next World and this they resolve upon repent they will and Repentance will secure them both from the future Shame and Punishment of Sin and therefore their onely care is to conceal their Shame from Men and to escape present Punishment And this is the reason why they dare commit those Sins in secret though they know God sees them which they dare not commit in the view of the World This makes the Presence and the Eye of God so ineffectual to restrain Mens Lusts that they hope after all their secret Villanies to be friends again with God but do not expect should the World discover their Wickedness that it would spare them or ever think well of them more This looks like a very notable Contrivance to preserve our Reputation in the World by Secresie and to regain the Favour of God by Repentance But the Devil is too cunning for Sinners for if the Awe and Reverence for God and the fear of a Future Judgment will not preserve Men from secret Sins their other hopes will deceive them such Mens Shame will not be long concealed and their Repentance will soon grow impossible When Men think to out-wit God his Justice and Providence is concerned for their discovery Almost as many Sinners as we see hanged or pilloried or whipt so many Demonstrations there are that Men cannot conceal their Sins or can never be sure they shall for all these Malefactors study Secresie and Concealment as much as they can and yet are at one time or other discovered and suffer that publick Shame and Punishment they deserve There are a thousand Accidents which betray the greatest Privacies a thousand Circumstances which make Men suspected and that makes them watched and curiously observed they cannot always use that Caution that is required or the Partners and Instruments of their Sins are discovered and then they betray one another Nay many Sins without great caution will betray themselves let Men be never so secret in their Lust it will be known to all the World when they begin to rot with it when the Marks of their Sin grow visible and can be hid no longer Nay Men who sin very cautiously and secretly at first in time grow more bold
not taught at all or only taught the Art of Living in the World by Labour and Industry that God might as well judge Men for being Rich or Poor when their Fortune is not at their own disposal but owing to their Birth or to prosperous or adverse Events of Providence as to judge Men by the different Degrees and Improvements of Knowledge Thus as for Faith some never heard of Christ at all or if they did it was only under the Character of an Imposter or of a Fable but never had the true Reasons of Faith explained to them others have been very ill instructed in the Faith of Christ and never had opportunity to rectifie their mistakes and yet as no Man is bound to know what Nature does not teach unless it be revealed to him so no Man is bound to believe what he has not so much as heard of nor to believe every thing he does hear without sufficient Evidence nor to receive the true Faith of Christ which he was never taught So that should God divide the World at the Last Day only into Believers and Infidels this would be a very unequal distribution because great part of the World never had the Faith of CHRIST preached to them and though Infidelity will condemn those Men who have been instructed in the Faith of CHRIST and would not believe yet it cannot in Reason and Justice be imputed to those Men who never heard of Christ. But now the Being and Providence of God and the Differences of Good and Evil are known to all Mankind Nature teaches this and therefore all Mankind are bound to know it and all Mankind may be judged by this Rule whether they know God and worship him as God and take care to do that which is good and to avoid the evil This account St. Paul gives us of it For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them for God hath shewed it unto them For the invisible things of God from the creation of the world are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made even his eternal power and Godhead so that they are without excuse Because that when they knew God they glorified him not as God neither were thankful but became vain in their imaginations and their foolish heart was darkened 1 Rom. 18 19 20 21. And the same Apostle tells us That the Gentiles which have not the Law no Divine written Law do by nature the things contained in the law these having not the law are a law unto themselves which shew the work of the law written in their hearts their consciences also bearing witness and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another 2 Rom. 14 15 16. So that all Mankind even Heathens themselves have a natural knowledge of GOD and of Good and Evil and therefore may be judged for what they know and condemned by God for transgressing those Laws of Righteousness for which their own Consciences condemn them for this leaves them without excuse And if God will judge the Heathens by their Works and condemn them for those sins they commit against the Light of Nature an equal Justice requires that Christians shall be judged by their Works also For is it equal to damn a Heathen for those Sins which a Christian may commit and be saved Will equal and impartial Justice allow that when a Heathen and a Christian are equally wicked the Christian shall be saved and the Heathen damned Is not this to accept the Persons of Men in Judgment to make a difference between the Men when there is no difference in their Actions And yet the same Apostle tells us There is no respect of persons with God for as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law 2 Rom. 11 12. And that this is the Rule of Judgment in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Iesus Christ according to the gospel v. 16. There is no other common and general Rule whereby all Mankind can be judged but only this to render to every Man according to his Works for there is nothing else for which Men must be judged that is common to all Men but the natural knowledge of God and the differences of Good and Evil Christians indeed know more than the Light of Nature taught Heathens and therefore have more to account for than Heathens have but if Heathens shall be condemned for their sins against the Light of Nature if they shall be judged according to their Works Christians have more reason to expect this for if God be a righteous and impartial Judge he cannot condemn one Sinner for his Sins and save another as wicked as he The nature of Vertue and Vice is the same in all Mankind whether Heathens Jews or Christians and deserves in itsself the same Rewards and Punishments if it be righteous in God to punish the Sins of Heathens it is righteous in God to punish the same Sins of Christians to render to all Men whoever they be according to their Works for this is to deal equally with all Men. 3 dly I add farther that nothing else is the proper Object of Judgment but the Good or Evil of our Actions and therefore if we be judged at all we must be judged for the Good or Evil we have done For does Judging signifie any thing else but Examining what Good or Evil such a Man hath done and rewarding or punishing him according to the Good or Evil he has done And therefore a righteous Judge cannot judge Men cannot reward or punish them for that which is neither Good nor Evil. Now is there any thing Good or Evil but Vertue or Vice What is Knowledge good for which does not direct and govern our Lives What is Faith good for which does not renew and sanctifie us Are there not very knowing and believing Devils Does not Faith and Knowledge make every sin we commit against Faith and against Knowledge the more inexcusable Does not our Saviour tell us That he who knows his master's will and does it not shall be beaten with many stripes What Merit or Vertue is there in a presumptuous reliance on Christ for Salvation to call him Lord Lord and not to do the things which he has commanded And can we think then that God will reward us for our Knowledge or our Faith and overlook all the Evils and Impurities of our Lives Will he reward us for that which deserves no Reward and not punish us for that which deserves punishment Is this to judge the World in Righteousness This is abundantly enough to prove that we must be judged according to our Works that we must receive the things done in the Body whether Good or Evil since the Righteousness of the
regard to the Merit of the Work but we must do something to reconcile the Love and Favour of God to us before we can expect the Rewards of Grace and there is no other way if I may so speak of obliging God but by doing good to Men for God's sake This I take to be a very reasonable account of the great Rewards of good Men so vastly disproportioned to their Works and very agreeable to our Saviour's Account of the Future Judgment that God rewards our Love and Charity not our Works which makes the Reward not of Debt but of Grace which has no proportion but what Grace the infinite Love and Goodness of GOD will give it which lays all manner of Obligations on us to be very charitable for if we would be rewarded by Grace if we would be rewarded for Kindnesses we must shew kindness 4 thly Our Saviour's Account of the Future Judgment with reference to the final Sentence of uncharitable Men justifies the Righteousness of it to all Mankind For how can Sinners be saved but by Grace And what Title have those to Grace and Mercy who will shew none Is there any thing in the World more hateful to Mankind or which all Men think more deserves punishment than Ill-Nature And if God damn Men only for their Ill-nature will not all Mankind justifie the Righteousness of his Judgments Will such Men find any Apologists Nay can they Apologize for themselves And what is Uncharitableness but Ill-nature What Cruelty and Barbarity is it to see Men want Food and Cloths and all the Necessaries of Life when we are satised their Wants are real not counterfeit not to indulge their Idleness and Luxury and not relieve them If nothing but Ill-nature shall be damned nothing but Ill-nature can complain of God and there is no scandal in that But we must consider Mankind as Sinners obnoxious to the Judgments of God who must be pardoned before they are rewarded now when both the Pardon and the Reward is wholly of Grace and Mercy has that Man any Title to either who will shew no Mercy Is it reasonable to expect that God in meer grace and kindness should bestow Heaven upon that Man who will not give a Morsel of Bread nor a Cup of Drink to the Poor and Necessitous for God's sake Do Men deal thus with one another Do we think that Man deserves any kindness who will shew none That he should be fed and clothed when he is in want who would never feed and cloath others That he should be forgiven who would never forgive Unless Sinners be saved by Grace they can never be saved for it is Grace must forgive those sins which Justice would punish It is Grace which must bestow Heaven on us which is a Reward too big for our best Works to deserve and therefore too big for Justice to give If our sins be not pardoned we must sink into Hell and if we have no Title to the Grace of God which alone can forgive sins they can never be pardoned and this gives a plain account how Uncharitableness must necessarily damn us for an uncharitable Man has no Right to the Grace of God Innocence may challenge Impunity and Meritorious Works may challenge a Reward but nothing but Kindness can challenge Kindness and as a Sinner cannot merit Heaven so an unmerciful and uncharitable Man does not deserve to have it given him and if Heaven be not given him he can never have it if his Sins be not pardoned by Grace Justice must lay hold on him and sentence him to everlasting Fire prepared for the Devil and Angels This is agreeable to the Reason of Mankind it is what all Men approve what all Men justifie when it shall appear at the last Day that though other sins have deserved Hell yet it is only our uncharitableness that hinders our Pardon and brings the Sentence of Condemnation on us all Mouths will be stopped before God Sinners themselves must confess the Righteousness of it their own Consciences must tell them that they have deserved no Mercy because they have shewn none and therefore we find in the account our Saviour gives us of it that when he condemned these uncharitable Men to Hell they made no exception against the Righteousness of the Sentence but only deny the Fact Lord when saw we thee hungry or thirsty or naked or sick or in prison and did not minister unto thee Though Mercy and Compassion and Forgiveness becomes the God of Love yet it does not unbecome Love itself infinite Love to condemn Ill-nature to everlasting Fire and there is nothing else which eternal and infinite Love will finally condemn and punish And this gives a plain account why Forgiveness of Sins is promised to no other particular Grace and Vertue but to Mercy and Charity Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy 5 Mat. 7. And the Psalmist tells us That with the merciful God will shew himself merciful but with the froward he will shew himself froward 18 Psal. 25 26. Our Saviour has taught us to pray for forgiveness upon the condition of our forgiving those who trespass against us For if ye forgive men their trespasses your heavenly Father will forgive you but if ye forgive not men their trespasses neither will your Father forgive your trespasses 6 Mat. 14.15 Which our Saviour represents at large in the Parable of the King who called his Servants to an account and finding one who ought him Ten thousand Talents and had nothing to pay he commands him and his Wife and Children to be sold and payment to be made but upon his earnest importunity forgave him the Debt this Servant meets his Fellow-Servant who ought him an Hundred Pence and cast him into Prison which his Lord hearing of revokes his Pardon and delivers him to the Tormentors till he should pay all that was undue to him So likewise saith our Saviour shall my heavenly Father do also unto you if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their trespasses 18 Mat. 23. c. Thus St. Peter tells us That Charity all Acts of kindness shewn to Men covereth a multitude of sins 1 Pet. 4.8 And the Prophet Daniel advises Nebuchadnezzar to break off his sins by righteousness and his iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor Heaven itself is promised to Acts of Charity Give and it shall be given unto you good measure pressed down and shaken together and running over shall men give into your bosom for with the same measure that ye meet withal it shall be measured unto you again 6 Luke 38. which plainly signifies the Rewards of the next Life This is to lay up treasures in heaven 6 Mat. 20. To make to our selves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness that when we fail they may receive us into everlasting habitations 16 Luke 9. As our Saviour tells the rich young Man If he would sell all he had and give to the poor he should