0A.14. Chapter IV.

Chapter IV. The Evidence of Facts Produced as the Reason of Judgment All sins, whether secret or openly visible, shall be brought to judgment.

Sins of omission and commission.

All the aggravations and circumstances of sin. The manner of this judicial proceeding is by opening the books. The books of the law and gospel shall be unfolded in all their precepts, and men’s lives compared with them. The omniscience of God will give convincing evidence of men’s works. The book of conscience shall be opened, and accuse or excuse men.

Satan will be a principal accuser. The wicked will accuse one another. The saints of God will give testimony against the wicked. The impartiality of the sentence will make the divine justice conspicuous.

There will be no distinction of persons in that judgment.

There will be a distinction of causes.

Every man shall be judged according to the tenor of his good works, and the desert of his bad works. The harvest shall be answerable to the sowing of the seed, both in kind and measure.

II. I shall now proceed to consider the evidence that is produced as the reason of that judgment. The temper of divine justice is very observable in the particular judgments recorded in Scripture. In the first process of justice on earth, we read that God made the inquiry of Adam, "have you eaten of the tree whereof I commanded you that you should not eat?" Gen 3:11, and by palpable evidence convinced him before he condemned him.

Thus before the fiery vengeance upon the wicked cities, the memory of which will never be extinguished, the Lord said to Abraham, "because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is grievous, I will go down now, and see whether they have done according to the cry of it that is come up unto me," Gen 18:20-21; namely, whether they were so excessively wicked, "if not, I will know." God is pleased to incarnate himself in man’s expression, to declare more sensibly to us, that he never punishes with rashness, but after an equal trial of the cause.

Thus we read of that profane king of Babylon, Belshazzar, "that he was weighed in the balance, and found lacking," Dan 5:27, before he was sentenced to be deprived of his kingdom and life. And the destruction of the anti-christian world is attended with solemn hallelujahs for the righteousness of that judgment, Rev 19:2-3. And in the last day the righteousness of God’s proceedings shall be universally manifest and magnified. It is therefore called "the day of the revelation of the righteous judgment of God." Rom 2:5.

Now in order to this, the Scripture informs us, that all the works of men shall be brought into judgment, "For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil." Ecc 12:14. And the apostle says, "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or evil." 2Co 5:10. All sins, whether secret or open and visible, shall be accounted for. Those sins that have been done in the most secret retirement, so that no eye of man could take cognizance of them; sins concealed from the eye of the day, the light of the sun, and from the eye of night, the light of a candle—shall then be made manifest. Nay, the sins of the thoughts and affections, of which Satan could not accuse men, when the inward fire of lust or malice is not revealed by the least smoke or sparkles, by no expressions, all those shall be brought to judgment, "God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ." Rom 2:16. The sins of omission of our duty which are so numerous—from carelessness and diversions, from slothfulness and delays, and that now so little affect us; for we are more sensible of what we do, than of what we have not done; the guilt of all these shall then be heavily charged on the conscience of the sinner. "I was an hungry, and you gave me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me nothing to drink," was the accusation of the reprobates from the Judge himself. "To him who knows to do good, and does it not, to him it is a sin." James 4. The neglect of improving all the means, advantages, and opportunities of doing or receiving good, will be a great part of that judgment. The Lord called his servants to an account for the talents committed to their trust, and required increase in proportion to their number and worth.

All sins of commission in youth and old age, whether "gross sensuality, as lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revelings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries, and all excess of riot, shall be accounted for to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead," 1Pe 4:5; or acts of unrighteousness to others. "He who does wrong, shall receive according to the wrong he has done." Col 3:25. And sins of a lesser guilt, for which the most are not touched with grief or shame, shall then be produced in judgment.

All the sins of our words, so easily committed, and not so easily observed, shall then be called to a heavy remembrance. The Judge himself tells us, "I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment." Mat 12:1-50. And if vain words, the signs and immediate effects of a vain mind, shall sadly increase our accounts, how much more all the contentious, fierce and revengeful words; the detracting, false, wicked and injurious words; the impure, filthy and impure words; the profane, blasphemous and impious words, that "flow from the evil treasure of the heart!" O their dreadful number and oppressing weight! And all the aggravations and circumstances of men’s sins, that raise their guilt to such fearful heights, shall be enumerated in order to judgment. For thus it was foretold, "behold, the Lord comes with ten thousand of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them, of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed; and all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him." Jude 1:14-15. And all the good works of the saints shall then be remembered, even to the least work of piety, the "giving of two mites to the treasury of the temple," Luk 21:3-4; and the least works of charity, the "giving a cup of cold water to a disciple," Mat 10:42, upon the account of his relation to Christ. All their secret graces and duties shall then be rewarded. The manner of this judicial evidence is set forth to us in Scripture, by the "opening the books;" congruously to proceedings in human courts, wherein the information and charge is produced from writings for the conviction of the accused. Thus it was represented to John in a vision, "I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened, and the dead were judged out of the things that were written in the books, according to their works." Rev 20:12.

1. The books of the law and gospel shall then be opened in all the injunctions and prohibitions, and our lives compared with them. Our Savior told the Jews, "do not think that I will accuse you to my Father; there is one that accuses you, even Moses, in whom you trust; not the person, but the law of Moses." John 5:45. And he denounced against those that reject the gospel, "the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge them in the last day." John 12:48. The LAW is the exact transcript of God’s sacred will, the natural and immutable rule of righteousness; it is pure, forbids all sin, and enjoins universal holiness; it is spiritual, requires not only a conformity in words and actions, but inward sanctity in mind and heart; for the soul is the principal part of man, entirely open to God’s eye, the maker and judge of it. Even the most enlightened saints have but an imperfect knowledge of it here. This made holy David, after his meditation upon its purity and perfection, to cry out in an agony, "who can understand his errors! cleanse me from secret sins." Psa 19:1-14. This, when opened in its spiritual and comprehensive nature, by a wise and holy preacher, darts a light into the conscience, and reveals many secret sins, that like so many serpents were still and quiet in the dark; but upon the sudden breaking in of the light, fly upon the sinner, and torment him with their mortal stings. But when the Lawgiver himself shall expound the law in its full extent and perfection, with respect to all the duties it commands, and sins it forbids, how guilty will men appear? how unable to answer one article of a thousand charged upon them?

2. The omniscience of God will give most convincing evidence of all our works, "all things are naked and open to his eyes, with whom we have to do in judgment." Heb 4:13. The psalmist declares the infinite perspicacity of his sight, "the darkness hides not from you, but the night shines as the day." Psa 139:1-24. As his light and transcendent brightness is invisible to us, 1Ti 6:16—so our thickest darkness is visible to him. We cannot see things in the night, because the darkness hinders the reception of the rays, that insinuate into the eyes, and cause sight; but the eyes of our Judge are like a "flame of fire," Rev 1:14. dispelling all darkness. From his throne in Heaven, his piercing eye sees through all the concealments of men’s sins. "You have set our iniquities before you, and our secret sins in the light of your countenance!" Psa 90:8.

He revealed the sacrilege of Achan, the lie of Gehazi, the deceit of Ananias. Saul’s disobedience in sparing the Amalekites devoted to destruction, 1Sa 15:21 had the pretense of piety, and, as a sacrifice, was laid on the altar. And David’s murder of Uriah was imputed to the chance of war as a sufficient excuse, 2Sa 11:5. But though they might have deceived others, they could not deceive God. He is intimately present with the souls of men, which are unsearchable to the most discerning angels of light, and knows all their most secret designs and desires—the deepest seeds of their actions. He alone has exact scales to weigh all the principles, aims and affections that are inseparable from their works. The Pharisees, in whom pride was the first property, and hypocrisy a second nature, could not with all their saintly shows impose on our Savior, "for he knew what was in man," Mat 23:14. He revealed their alms to be not the effect of charity, but ostentation, Mat 6:2 and their specious acts of devotion to be a bait to entrap some rich prey, Mat 23:14. And this divine knowledge of men and their actions, is in order to accurate and final judgment. Thus the wise king declares, "does not he who ponders the heart, consider it? and he who keeps your soul, does not he know it? and shall not he render to every man according to his works?" Pro 24:12. And God himself testifies, "I the Lord search the heart, even to give to every man according to his works." Jer 17:10. For this reason he is said to keep a register of men’s sins. Thus he speaks of the impure idolatries of the Jews, "behold, it is written before me," Isa 65:6; to signify his exact and actual knowledge, "I will not keep silence, but will recompense, even recompense into their bosoms." At the day of judgment he will declare his knowledge of their sins before all, and the most secret shall be made evident, as if written on their foreheads in the most plain and legible characters.

All the goodness of the saints shall then be revealed by the Judge. Their greatest excellencies are invisible to the eyes of men; the sanctity of their aims and affections, which gives life and value to all the acts of obedience; their secret duties, wherein the sincerity and ardency of their souls is most expressed, are only known to God. And such is the excellent humility of the saints, that the more they are enriched, and abound with the gracious influences of the Spirit, the less they reveal to the world; as the celestial bodies, when in nearest conjunction with the sun, and most filled with his light, are least in appearance to the inhabitants of the earth. But God has a book of remembrance: "Then those who feared the LORD talked with each other, and the LORD listened and heard. A book of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the LORD and honored his name. "They will be mine," says the LORD Almighty, "in the day when I make up my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as in compassion a man spares his son who serves him. And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not." Mal 3:16-18

3. The conscience of every man shall then be opened, and "give an accusing or excusing testimony of all things;" Rom 2:15-16; for these acts of conscience in the present life, have a final respect to God’s tribunal. And though the accounts are so vast, there shall be an exact agreement between the books of God’s omniscience and of conscience in the "day of judgment." Now indeed the conscience of man, though ever so inquisitive and diligent in examining and revising his ways, is unable to take a just account of his sins. As one who would count the first appearing stars in the evening—before he can tally them, others appear and confound his memory with their number. Just so, when conscience is seriously intent in reflecting upon itself, before it can reckon up the sins committed against one command, innumerable others appear. This made the psalmist, upon the survey of his actions, break forth in amazement and perplexity, "My iniquities are more than the hairs upon my head, therefore my heart fails me!" Psa 40:12. But it will be one of the miracles of that day, to manifest all their sins to the view of the conscience. Now the records of conscience are often obliterated, and the sins written therein are forgotten. But then they shall appear in so clear an impression, that the wicked shall be inexcusable to themselves, and conscience shall subscribe their condemnation. And O the formidable spectacle, when conscience enlightened by a beam from Heaven, shall present to a sinner the sins of his whole life in one view!

Now conscience is a notary in every man’s bosom; and though it is not always vocal—yet it always notes their thoughts and actions. "The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with a point of a diamond it is engraved upon the tables of the heart." Jer 17:1. But then it shall be compelled to give a full charge against the guilty. Of this we have an infallible presage in this world, when conscience turns the point against the breast of a sinner, and forces the tongue, by a secret instigation, to accuse the person. And this information of conscience at the last will make the sinner speechless; for the book of accounts with divine justice, was always in his own keeping; and whatever is recorded there, was written with his own hand! And how will those hardened sinners that now kick against the goads of conscience, then be able to repel its strong and quick accusations before that terrible tribunal!

4. Other numerous witnesses will appear to finish the process of that day. Not as if God who knows all things, needs information, but for the public conviction of the wicked.

Satan will then bring in a bloody charge against them. Such is his malignity, that he is a complainer of God to man, and by calumniating the blessed Creator, seduced our first parents; and he is now the accuser of men to God. He is styled the "accuser of the brethren before God day and night." Sometimes falsely, as when he taxed Job, that his piety was mercenary; and often truly, to provoke the divine displeasure. But though his charge is just against them as sinners—yet as penitent sinners they are absolved by the Judge upon the throne of grace. This we have represented to the prophet Zechary, "Joshua the high priest, a type of the believer, standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to accuse him;" Zec 3:1-3; for that was the place of accusers. But Christ the blessed reconciler interposed, "And the Lord said to Satan, the Lord rebuke you, O Satan, even the Lord that has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you." But he will principally act the part of an accuser of the wicked at the last judgment. This is intimated in that fearful imprecation, "Let Satan stand at his right hand; when he is judged, let him be condemned." Psa 109:6-7. He is now an active watchful spirit, whose diligence is equal to his malice, and by glittering snares, or violent temptations, draws men to sin. But then he will be their most bitter accuser, not from zeal of justice, but pure malignity. Then he will aggravate their crimes by the most killing circumstances, though in accusing them he indites himself, their sins being usually done by his solicitations. And the wicked themselves will accuse one another. In this world fellow-sinners usually conceal one another’s wickedness, restrained by their own obnoxiousness. But then all who have been jointly engaged in the commission of sin, will impeach each other. The voluptuous sinners that have excited one another to lust or luxury, "Come let us take our fill of love until the morning." Pro 7:18. "Come I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; for tomorrow shall be as to day, and much more abundant." Isa 56:12. All the charming companions and associates will with fierceness charge one another. And the malicious cruel sinners that say, "Come let us lay wait for blood, let us swallow them up quick as the grave," will then, like enraged furies, fly upon one another. In all sins of collusion, the inferior instruments will accuse their directors for their pernicious counsel, and the directors will accuse the instruments for their wicked compliance. And all the holy servants of God, who by their instructions, counsels, admonitions, examples, have endeavored to make the world better; especially those who by their place and relation were more concerned, and more zealously and compassionately urged and persuaded those under their care to reform their lives, and save their souls, will give a heavy testimony against them. Indeed the very presence of the saints will upbraid the wicked, for their resisting all the warning, melting entreaties, all the grave and serious reproofs, all the tender earnest expostulations, that were ineffectual by the hardness of their hearts.

Briefly, the Scripture itself will give judgment against men’s sins. Thus the prophet speaking of the house built by rapine and extortion, "The stones of the wall cry, and the beams answer them," Hab 2:11; and with concurrent testimony accuse the unrighteous builder. And James declares, that "the wages of the hireling, kept back by fraud, cry against the oppressor. And the rust of gold and silver treasured up, is a witness against the covetous." Jas 5:3-4. And this by the recognition of conscience will be a memorial against them hereafter. To what the Scripture speaks of this kind of evidence of men’s sins, I shall add a useful representation framed by a heathen, to signify that wickedness, however secretly committed, shall be brought to light in judgment. He tells us, "That the soul of a very guilty wretch was after death arraigned before one of the severe judges below. And at his trial, because his atrocious crimes were done in secret, he stood upon his defense, denying all. The judge commanded his lamp to be produced, which was an eye witness of his wickedness. The lamp appeared, and being demanded what it knew of him? answered with a sigh, would that I had been conscious of nothing, for even now the remembrance of his villainies makes me to tremble; I wish my light had been extinguished, that the oil that maintained it had quenched it. But I burnt with disdain, and cast about some sparks to fire his impure bed; and was grieved that my little flame was so weak as not to consume it. I said within myself, if the sun saw these villainies, it would be eclipsed, and leave the world in darkness. But I now perceive why I was constrained to give light to him, that being a secret spy of his impurity, his thefts and cruelties, I might reveal them." But we that are enlightened by Scripture, and know that God is omnipresent, and that whatever sin is done, though in the deepest and darkest recess, is manifest to him—have no need of Lucian’s lamp to make our judge to be feared by us. The impartiality of the sentence will make the justice of God conspicuous before the whole world. This consists in two things.

1. There will be no distinction of persons.

2. There will be a distinction of causes in that judgment; and according to their nature, the sentence will pass upon all.

1. There will be no distinction of persons. In human courts the judges sometimes extend and amplify the evidence; and sometimes contract or smother the evidence. They are more rigorous or favorable in their sentence, as they are biased towards the people before them. But the Righteous Judge of the world is incapable of being inclined to favor or severity upon such base motives. This is frequently declared in Scripture, to possess us with his fear. "If you call upon the Father, who without respect of persons judges according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear." 1Pe 1:17. No spiritual privileges upon which men are so apt to presume, namely, that they are members of the reformed church, that they have been very generous, that they enjoy the ordinances in their purest administration—will avail them, without real holiness in their hearts and lives. The being united to churches of the most glorious profession, of strictest purity, and sublime devotion, does no more prove one to be a real saint, than the being of an eminent company of merchants proves one to be a rich citizen.

Those who bow the knee and not the heart in reverence, who give the empty title of Lord to Christ, without the tribute of obedience—will be rejected by him. "Many shall say at the day of judgment, Lord, Lord, we have prophesied in your name, and done many wondrous works." Mat 7:22. "Then will the Judge say, I know you not; depart from me you workers of iniquity." No degrees of civil greatness will be of any consequence and advantage in that day. John testifies, "I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God," in the same line, to receive their trial. Kings shall then be divested of their imperial titles, of their crowns and scepters, and their robes of state, and only be accompanied with their works. Of this we have an undoubted proof, in that they are no more exempted from the common law of dying than the basest slave. Death, that rugged officer, arrests them without ceremony, and summons them to appear before that solemn tribunal. The royal purple could not protect Herod from being devoured by worms. The apostle speaks indefinitely in the forecited place, "He who does wrong, shall receive for the wrong he has done; and there is no respect of persons." No circumstantial accidents can derive pure worth, or truly debase people, but inherent qualities, and actions that flow from them; and accordingly, "the high and holy God" will accept or disapprove them. What Paul observes of the saving grace of the gospel being freely offered to all, is applicable in this case. He tells us, "There is neither Greek nor Jew, Barbarian nor Scythian, Slave nor Free" who are preferred or excluded upon a carnal account, but that all may equally partake of the spiritual blessings.

Thus the difference of nationalities will be no privilege or prejudice to any in the day of judgment. The most rude and contemptible shall have as fair and equal a trial, as the most polite and civilized; the ignorant Barbarians as the learned Grecians, that so much boasted of their vain excellencies above them—the negroes in Africa will be judges just as the people of Europe; for they have the same relation to God their Maker, and as truly bear the impression of God stamped upon the human nature in the creation, and therefore common to the whole species of mankind. An idol may be fashioned in ebony as well as in ivory. In summary, all men are equally subject to his laws, and shall be equally accountable for their actions. "The rich and the poor shall then meet together, without distinction, before God the Maker and Judge of them all."

2. There shall be a distinction of causes, and every man be judged "according to his works"—the tenor of good works, and the desert of bad works. The apostle assures us, "That whatever a man sows, that shall he reap; he who sows to the flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he who sows to the Spirit, shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." Gal 6:7-8. The harvest shall be according to the seed both in kind and measure.

"Those who by patient continuance in well doing, seek for glory, and honor, and immortality, shall obtain eternal life." Rom 2:7. Indeed, "eternal life is the gift of infinite bounty," Rom 6:23; nay of "pure mercy," Jude 1:21, and mercy excludes merit. It is said of the blessed martyrs, who contended for the truth and purity of the gospel to the death, that "their robes were washed white in the blood of the Lamb," Rev 7:14—not in their own blood. Their right to Heaven was from the application of Christ’s merits to them. But the reward is dispensed from God according to the evangelical law; not only as a magnificent prince, but as "a Righteous Judge." All those to whom the gospel promises eternal life, shall infallibly obtain it. Those who were sensible of their sins, and cordially forsaking them, did humbly and entirely depend upon the grace of God, through the blessed reconciler and Savior, shall be justified and glorified.

Then the Judge will discern between sincere faith and vain presumption, and will justify the faith of the saints by the genuine fruits of it, "the godliness, righteousness, and sobriety of their lives," and a victorious perseverance in their duty, notwithstanding all the pleasing temptations or tortures to withdraw them from it. Thus the apostle expresses his humble confidence, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished my course; henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which God the Righteous Judge will give me at that day, and not only to me, but to all who love his appearance." 2Ti 4:5; 2Ti 4:8.

We read in the description of the last judgment, that "the book of life was opened; the names of all who were written in Heaven," Rev 20:12, shall then be declared, that it may appear they are "saved by grace." For it was his most free pleasure to select some from the common mass of perdition, who were naturally as guilty and corrupted as others, and to predestine them to eternal glory, and effectual persevering grace to prepare them for it. "The saints are created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God has before ordained, that they should walk in them." The new creation is as undeserved and entire an effect of God’s love as the first was. But it is said, "That every man was judged according to his works." For eternal election does not entitle a person immediately to Heaven, but according to the order established in the gospel. Thus the King at the last day speaks to the elect, "Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you before the foundation of the world; for I was hungry, and you fed me; naked, and you clothed me." Mat 25:34-35. And according as the saints have excelled in fidelity and zeal in God’s service, they shall be rewarded with a more excellent glory. The stars of the supreme Heaven are of a different brightness and greatness, as the stars of the visible firmament. Indeed all are perfectly happy, without jealousy that any are superior to them in that kingdom. But God will crown his own graces as the saints have improved them. Our Savior valued the widow’s two mites, as transcending all the magnificent gifts of others, because of the degrees of love in the giver. There was a richer mine of affection in her heart, gold of a more noble vein, more pure and precious than all their riches. This was of greater price in God’s account, who weighs motives in his balance. God "will accept and reward according to what a man has, and not according to what he has not." 2Co 8:12. He who improves but two talents with his best skill and diligence, shall have a greater reward than another who had ten talents, and was remiss and less careful to employ them for his master’s profit. The rule will be exactly observed, "He who sows bountifully, shall reap bountifully; and he who sows sparingly, shall reap sparingly." And if God will be thus impartial in rewarding the saints, then much more in punishing the wicked. For the remuneration of our duty is the effect of his free grace; but the recompenses of sin are due, and decreed by divine justice, in number, weight, and measure. The severity of the sentence will be in proportion, as men’s sins have been more numerous and heinous. Although all the damned shall be equally miserable in despair, all broken on an endless wheel—yet the degrees of their torment are different. Sins of ignorance are extenuated in comparison of rebellious sins against knowledge. The first are like a servant’s dashing against his master in the dark, the other like the insolent striking him in the light. As willful and heinous sins incur greater guilt, they will earn greater punishment. Accordingly our Savior predicts, "That servant who knows his master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows. But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked." Luk 12:47-48.

Unimproved knowledge, is worse than ignorance. For this reason the case of heathen will be more tolerable than that of the Jews; for though some natural principles were strong and quick in their minds, which made them sensible of their duty and danger—yet their knowledge was not so clear and perfect as the law delivered by Moses. Those sins that were infirmities in a pagan, were presumptuous in a Jew. And the case of the Jews will be more tolerable than of disobedient professors, who enjoy the gospel less charged with ceremonies, and more abundant in grace than the Mosaic dispensation. Those who have set before them the life of Christ, the model of all perfection, who are excited by such loud calls "to flee from the wrath to come"—and yet are deaf and without regard to the commands, nay to the melting invitations and precious promises of the gospel—shall have a more intolerable judgment than the most guilty sinners, even the Sodomites and Sidonians who were strangers to it. The precious blood of the Son of God despised, induces a crimson guilt! And as sins are committed with pride and pleasure, with eager appetite and obstinacy, the revenge of justice will be more heavy upon people.

More particularly, sins of consequence, whereby others are drawn to sin, will heighten the guilt, and the retribution of justice will be to every man "according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings." Jer 17:10. This will principally concern superiors in eminency of place, whose dignity has always a concomitant proportion of their duty. Their wicked actions are examples, and their examples more powerful rules than their laws, and give countenance to others to sin licentiously. They "sin with a high hand," and involve the ruin of innumerable people that depend upon them; as the dragon in the revelation, whose fall from Heaven swept away a train of lesser stars with him. And all civil magistrates, who by personal commission, or partial connivance, encourage and harden others in sin, and by their power discountenance serious religion, and obstruct the progress of it, heap up damnation to themselves! And the ministers of the word, who are obliged to "watch for the souls of men;" and should, like the heavens, by their light, influence and motion, their doctrine and lives—guide and quicken others in the ways of holiness; if by their neglect and wickedness others are lost forever, their account will be most heavy and undoing! Of this number are those, who by their unholy conduct weaken the authority and efficacy of the word, and more successfully persuade men to do evil, than by their preaching to do well. For we are apt to take deeper impression through the eye than through the ear, and to follow their practice rather than their counsel. These "perish not alone in their iniquity." And such who are unfaithful dispensers of the treasures of their Lord, and by licentious doctrines corrupt the minds of men, to imagine a mercy in God derogatory to his holiness, that although they live indulgently in sin, they may obtain an easy pardon and happiness at last; and such who employ their high commission for low and base ends. Just so, with those who instead of "preaching Jesus Christ, and him crucified," the pure and saving truths derived from the fountain of the gospel—entertain their hearers with flashy conceits, and studied vanities, to give a relish to curiosity, and to have the applause of fools, and obscure the native majesty of Scripture, enervate its force, and render it powerless to conscience. And those who spend their zeal in things of no consequence to salvation, and let fly bitter invectives against those who dissent from them in trivial matters, by which they harden atheistical scorners in vilifying the office of the ministry as a carnal invention, set up and used for secular ends; and induce others to place religion in formalities, as if conformity to needless rites would exclude the defects of substantial holiness.

It is observed in the Chaldee paraphrase, when God was inquiring of Cain concerning Abel, that he charges him, "The voice of your brother’s blood cries unto me;" as if Cain were a murderer, not of a single man only—but of a numerous race that might have descended from his brother. Thus a wicked minister will be charged, not only for murdering himself, but as many precious souls as might have been converted and saved, if he had faithfully performed his duty. And parents who should instill the principles of godliness into their children in their early age, and season their minds with the knowledge of the divine laws, to regulate their lives, and make them sensible of their obligations to obey them; who should recommend religion to their affections by a holy and heavenly conduct—if by the neglect of their duty their children are exposed as a prey to the tempter, and ruined forever, it will enhance their last reckoning, and increase the score of their guilts beyond expression! And heads of families, and all others who have authority and advantage to preserve or reform from evil those who are committed to their care, and to instruct and command them to do what is pleasing to God, and profitable to their souls—will be sadly accountable for those who perish by their neglect. In short, we see by common experience, that company and mutual consent is a usual motive to sin; and many people who alone would reject some temptations with abhorrence—yet are sociably sinful. Now all those who by excitation or example, lead others to destruction, as they are first in sin, will be chief in punishment. We read in the parable of the rich voluptuary, Luk 16:28, who being in Hell, he desired a messenger might be dispatched from the dead to warn his brethren, lest they should come to that place of torment. Is there such charity in Hell to the souls of others? No! that furnace always burns with its proper flames, there is not a spark of holy love there. But remembering how guilty he had been of their sins, feared that his torments would be increased by their coming thither. Society in endless sorrows does not divide them, but increases their sorrows.

Now if damnation for sin is such a misery as is expressed in the Scripture by the most violent figures, and words of the heaviest signification; if all the possible tortures suffered here on earth are but a flea-bite compared to the punishments of wrath in Hell—then how miserable shall those be, who, as if a single damnation were a light matter, do not only commit sin in their own persons, but are in combination with Satan to corrupt and destroy others, and multiply damnation against themselves! These "treasure up wrath against the day of wrath." In summary: The whole process of that day, the arraignment and sentence will be so ordered, the righteousness and reasonableness of the proceedings will be so manifest, as to clear the Judge, and confound the guilty. "God will be justified in his sentence, and righteous when he judges."