Book I, Part 3, Chapter 3. Against those who continue in their Sins confiding in the mercy of God

1. There are others who continue in their wicked lives, confiding in God's mercies, and in the merits of our Saviour's passion, whom it is requisite to undeceive, as well as the rest. You say the mercy of God is great, since he died on the cross for the salvation of sinners : I confess it is very great, since it bears with so great a blasphemy as in making his goodness the motive of your wickedness, and turning the cross, which he made use of as his instrument for the destroying the kingdom of sin, into an instrument for establishing and promoting it ; and whereas you are obliged to lay down a thousand lives, if you had them, in return for that which he laid down for you, you take occasion from thence to deny him that single life you have received from him. This crime was a greater affliction to our Saviour than the death he suffered ; for though he never complained of his sufferings, yet he does of this injury by the prophet, saying, ^Sinners have built upon my back, they have extended their iniquity ?" Ps. cxxviii. 3. Who is it that taught you to deduce this consequence, that, because God is good, you will take the liberty of sinning, and escape without being punished ? The Holy Ghost does not teach us to argue after that manner, but thus : Because God is good, he deserves to be honored, obeyed and loved above all things ; because God is good, it is just I should be so too, and that I should hope in his mercy for the pardon of sins, though they be ever so great, if I do but return to him with my whole heart ; because God is good and infinitely good, it will be the greater crime in me to offend so much goodness ; and for this reason, the greater you suppose this mercy, which you put your trust in, so much the more heinous is every sin you commit against it. Nor is it just that such a crime should go unpunished ; nay, it belongs to divine justice to take care it should not ; neither is this justice, as you falsely persuade yourself, opposite to the divine goodness, but is its sister and protectress, and cannot by any means consent that such a crime should pass unpunished.

2. This sort of excuse is not new, but has been long used in the world. This was the dispute between the true and false prophets ; for those coming from Almighty God threatened the people with the execution of his justice ; these, speaking of their own head, promised them a false peace and mercy ; and as soon as ever God's heavy judgments had discovered the truth of the one, and the lies of the others, the true prophets said, " Where are now your prophets who prophesied to you and said, The king of Babylon (that is, Nabuchodonosor) shall not come upon you?" Jer. xxxviii. 18.

3. You say God is very merciful ; but believe me, whosoever you are that say so, he has not opened your eyes yet to let you see how great his justice is ; for, if he had, you would cry out with the prophet, " Who is there, O Lord, that knows the power of thy wrath, and who can measure the greatness of thy indignation for fear ?" Ps. lxxxix. 11.

4. That you may the more clearly perceive the danger of this mistake, let us go hand in hand together awhile. Neither you nor I have ever seen God's justice, as it is in itself, to know how far it reaches, nor have we any other way of knowing God in this world but by his works. Let us then go now into this spiritual world of the Holy Scriptures ; and when we have been there awhile, we will come into this terrestrial world we live in, to take a view, in each of them, of the effects of the divine justice, that we may be the better able to know what it is.

5. This journey will be very advantageous to us ; for besides the end we propose to ourselves, we shall receive another very considerable benefit, which is, the exciting and nourishing of the fear of God in our hearts, which the saints tell us is the treasure, the defence, the ballast of our soul. So that a vessel is not safe unless it will be poised and ballasted, because any gust of wind may overset her, so neither can the soul be secure if it wants the weight of this fear. It is fear keeps her from being carried away and overturned by the winds either of human or divine favors ; whereas, let her be ever so richly fraught, she is perpetually in danger of being cast away whilst she wants this ballast. It is necessary, then, that not only those who are just entered into God's service, but even those who have been a long time in his family, should live continually in fear ; nor is this virtue required in sinners only, who have motives enough to excite them to it, but also in the just, who have not done so much as the others have to be afraid of; the subject of those persons' fear is, because they have fallen already ; the motive these have is, lest they should fall ; the one ought to be afraid, because of their past sins, and the others, upon the account of the dangers they may probably be exposed to.

6. If you would know how this holy fear is to be produced within you, I tell you, that when it is once infused into your soul by grace, it is preserved and increased there, by frequent reflections on the effects of God's justice, which we are now going to treat of. Let these be the frequent entertainment of your thoughts, and you will find this fear will by degrees be formed in you.

§ I. Of the effects of the divine Justice mentioned in the Holy Scriptures. — 7. The first effect of God's justice, which the Holy Scripture speaks of, is the reprobation of the angels. The beginning of the ways of God was first shown on the prince of devils, as we find in the book of Job (ch. xl. 14) ; " for since all the ways of God are mercy and justice" (Ps. xxiv. 10), his justice, till this first crime, had never manifested itself. It was shut up in the bosom of God, like a sword in a scabbard, which the prophet Ezechiel was frighted at, when he considered what destruction it would make ; Ezec. xxi. This first sin it was that made God draw the sword : and consider what a terrible blow the first was. Do but look up, and you will see what a deal of hurt it did ; you will see one of the richest jewels of God's house,' one of the greatest ornaments of heaven, a draft which gives so lively a representation of the divine splendor and beauty, "fall down from heaven like a flash of lightning," for one proud thought; Luc. x. 18. He that was before the prince of angels, was made the chief of devils ; he that was before so very beautiful and glorious, became as oppositely deformed and ugly ; he that was crowned before with the greatest glory, was condemned to the severest torments ; he that was before God's greatest favorite, was changed into his greatest enemy, and so will continue for all eternity. What a subject of admiration must this be to those heavenly spirits, who well know from whence and whither that so. noble a creature fell! With what astonishment will they repeat these words of Isaias (ch. xiv. 12) ; " How are you fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, you who rose in the morning !"

8. Descend from heaven to the terrestrial paradise, and you will there see another fall, no less terrible than the foimer, had it no been retrieved ; Gen. iii. For if the angels fell, every one of them had committed an actual sin, which was the occasion of his fall. But what actual sin has an infant been guilty of to deserve to be sent into the world a child of wrath and indignation? There is no need of any actual sin for this ; it is enough to be descended from one who sinned, and by sinning infected the very root of all human nature, which was in him, that so the child is born with that sin ; so great is the glory and majesty of God, that a creature, for one offence committed against it, deserves no less a punishment than this is. If Aman, Ahasuerus's creature (Esther iii.), did not look on himself as satisfied, when he was revenged of Mardocheus, whom he imagined to be the man that had injured and abused him; but, on the contrary, thought his greatness obliged him to destroy all the Jews, for the affront which one single man had offered him ; what great matter, then, is it, for Almighty God's glory and infinite greatness to exact such a punishment ? Consider, then, the first man turned out of paradise for eating of one morsel, for which the whole world has been ever since condemned to hunger and want. After the revolution of so many ages, the infant child carries the mark of his father's wound along with him, and is made a child of wrath, not only before he is capable of committing any sin, but. even before he is born. This injury is not put up yet, though it is so long since it was done, though it has been divided among so many millions of men, and has been so often and so severely punished. On the contrary, all those torments that have been suffered in the world to this day, all the deaths that have been hitherto, and all the souls that have been burning in hell fire since the fall of the angels, or that shall burn there for all eternity, are nothing but so many effects of the first crime, and so many proofs of the divine justice. Nay, what is still more astonishing, it continues, notwithstanding the redemption of the wTorld by the blood of Christ. And yet, if man had not had this remedy applied to him, there would have been no difference at all between him and the devil, because the one would have had as great a probability of obtaining his salvation as the other. Are not these proofs of the divine justice strong enough to convince you?

9. But as if this yoke, which the sons of Adam have so long groaned under, were not heavy enough, there have been from that time downward, new additions of punishments on punishments for new sins, which have taken their rise from this first sin. The whole world was drowned by the deluge ; Gen. vii. God rained down fire and brimstone from heaven on five lewd cities ; Gen. xiv. The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan and Abiron alive for contending with Moses ; Num. xvi. Aaron's two sons, Nadab and Abiu, for omitting one single ceremony in their sacrifice, were burnt on a sudden by the fire of the sanctuary, without finding any mercy, either on the consideration of their own dignity, as priests, or their father's sanctity, or the familiarity which Moses, their uncle, had with God ; Levit. x. We read in the New Testament, that Ananias and Sapphira, for lying to St. Peter, in a matter which did not seem to be of any very great moment, fell down dead both of them on the spot ; Acts v.

10. What shall I say of God's dreadful judgments ? Solomon, the wisest among the children of men, for whom God had such a tender love that he commanded him to be called the " beloved of the Lord," came at last, by God's unsearchable judgments, to fall into the worst and greatest of all sins, viz. the adoring of idols ; 2 Kings xii. 24 ; 3 Kings xi. Can there be any thing more dreadful than this is ? And yet if you did but know how many judgments of the same nature happen every day in the church, you would perhaps be no less surprised at them than at all that has been said. For you would see a great many stars fallen from heaven, you would see several persons that have been invited to God's table, and have been fed with the bread of angels, brought into such a miserable condition, as to long after the food of swine to satisfy their hunger (Luke xv.); you would see a great number of chaste souls more beautiful and more glorious than the sun, sullied all over and darker than the midnight sky ; all which was occasioned by the sins and offences they fell into ; for God's decrees and judgments lay no necessity on men's actions, nor deprive them of tjieir free-will.

11. But what is still more : could there be a greater proof of this justice, than that God should not be satisfied with any less satisfaction than the death of his only begotten Son, to purchase pardon for mankind? Can any words be more moving than those of our Saviour to the women who followed him when he went to be crucified ? u Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep over me, but weep over yourselves and your children ; for behold the days shall come in which they shall say, Happy those women that are barren, and the wombs which have not conceived, and the breasts which have not given suck. Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall upon us ; and to the hills, Cover us. Because if they do these things to the green-wood, what will they do to the dry?" Luke xxiii. 28 — 31. As if he had said more clearly, If this tree of life and of innocence, on which there has never been any worm or rust of sin, burns thus, by the flames of the divine justice, for the sins of other persons, what will become of the barren and dry tree, which not charity, but malice, has overloaded with its own crimes? How rigorous, therefore, must God's justice be in those other works of his, in which mercy does not exert itself, since it is so severe in this, which is the effect of his infinite goodness ?

12. But if you are so dull as not to see the force of these arguments, reflect on the eternity of hell-torments, and consider how terrible this justice is, which, for a sin of but one moment, condemns the soul to nothing less than pains everlasting. This dreadful justice suits very well with the mercy you so highly commend. Can any thing be so dreadful as to see how this great God, seated on the throne of his glory, will from thence look down on a soul after it has been tormented millions of years in such a terrible manner, without being moved to the least pity and compassion ? On the contrary, he will take pleasure in such a soul's sufferings, and will never put an end or limit to them, nor give it any hopes of ever finding ease. O wonders of the divine justice ! O subject of our astonishment and admiration ! O the unfathomable depth of this abyss ! Who is there so unreasonable and senseless as not to tremble at the thoughts of so dreadful a punishment ?

§ II. Of the Effects of the divine Justice which are to be seen in this World— 13. Let us now leave the Holy Scripture, and come to the visible world, and we shall there find other effects of a most terrible and most severe justice. They who are ever so little enlightened with the knowledge of God, live, whilst they are in this world, in such fear and apprehension of these effects of justice, that, though they are able to conceive all the rest of God's works, yet they cannot do so in respect of this, but are forced to content themselves with a sincere and humble act of faith. Who is there that is not surprised to see the whole face of the earth covered over with infidelity ? To see what a nursery the devil has here to people hell ? To see that the greatest part of the world has been as much overshadowed with the darkness of its errors, even since our Saviour's death, as it was before ? What is all the Christian world in comparison to what the infidels possess, and to what is discovered every day ? All the rest is under the tyranny of the prince of darkness, without the least glimmering of the sun of justice. There the light of truth has never shone out ; there no more rain or dew falls down from heaven than used to do upon the mountains of Gelboe ; 2 Kings iii. From thence the devils still continue to carry off a great number of souls every day to everlasting flames, as they have done ever since the beginning of the world. For as in the time of the deluge no one escaped, that was not in Noe's ark (Gen. vii.) ; as none of the inhabitants of Jericho were saved but Rahab and her family, so neither can any one be saved but these of the house of God, that is the church ; Jos. vi. 2 ; Pet. iii.

14. Consider again, in this little spot of the world, which the Christians possess, how each one behaves himself, and you will see, that in all this mystical body there is scarce one proud part, from the soul of the feet to the crown of the head ; Isa. i. Lay aside but a very few of the chief cities, where you may see some marks of sound doctrine, and run over all the Other towns and countries, where they have no notion of the true worship, and you will find many places of which wTe may truly say what God said once of Jerusalem, " Go round about the ways of Jerusalem, and look in the streets, to see if you can find a man that is truly just, and I will show mercy towards him;" Jerem. v. 1. I do not desire you to run up and down the market-places, or to public houses, which are for the most part full of nothing but lying and deceit. Do but consider what passes in your neighbor's families, and, as Jeremy says, " Do but give an ear to what they say, and you will scarce hear any one good word amongst them ;" Jerem. viii. 6. Go where you will, and you will hear nothing but murmuring, detracting, swearing, blaspheming, quarrelling, coveting and fighting. In fine, the tongue and the heart entertain themselves every where wTith the things of this world, and with the ways of promoting their interests, while at the same time God and heavenly things are what they trouble themselves about but little, unless it be in blaspheming and swearing by his holy name. Such a remembrance as this God himself complained of by his prophet, saying, " They remember me, but not in truth and justice, but only in swearing falsely by my name ;" Isa. xlviii. 1 ; Zach. v. So that a man can hardly tell, at least by what he sees, whether these persons are Christians or heathens, except perhaps by the high towrers and steeples he sees at a distance, and by the oaths and perjuries he hears when he comes nearer. What pretence, then, have such persons to reckon themselves in the number of those of whom Isaias said, " All that shall see them shall know them, because they are the seed which the Lord has blessed ?" Isa. lxi. 9. If, therefore, the life of a Christian ought to be such, that every one that sees shall acknowledge him to be a child of God, what rank shall we put those in, who rather seem to despise and laugh at Jesus Christ, than to live as become Christians ?

15. How can you choose but see by this the effects of God's justice, since the crimes of the world are so many and so great ? For that the permitting men to fall into sin is one of the greatest punishments, and one of the most manifest signs of God's anger, is a truth as undeniable, as that the preserving a soul from sin is one of the greatest favors he is capable of receiving from God. Thus we read in the book of Kings, that God's anger was kindled against the children of Israel, and, therefore, he permitted David to fall into the sin of pride, of ordering Joab to go number the people ; 2 Kings xxiv. We read in Ecclesiasticus, " That God will preserve the merciful men from all evil, and will not permit them to be entangled in their sins ;" Eccl. xxiii. 16. For as one part of the rewrard due to virtue is the increase of virtue itself, so it frequently happens that the punishment of one sin is the permission to fall into another. Thus we see the severest punishments inflicted for the most heinous sin that ever was committed 30 U2 m the world, to wit, the putting of the Son of God to death, was that which the prophet threatened the authors of this crime with, when he said, " Add iniquity, O Lord, to their iniquity, and let them not enter into thy justice" (Ps. lxviii. 28) ; that is to say, permit them not to keep and obey thy commandments. And what follows from all this ? The same prophet tells us himself, in the next verse, where he says, " Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and let them not be written amongst the just ;" Ibid. ver. 29.

16. If, therefore, God's punishing of one sin by permitting another be so severe a punishment, and so great a proof of his anger, how is it possible you should not see the marks of the divine justice amongst such a number of sins as are even in fame and reputation in the world ? Turn your eyes which way you please, and you shall scarce see any thing but sins, like men in the midst of the sea, who have no other object but sky and water. And can you see all these sins without seeing justice too ? Can you be in the middle of the ocean, and see no water? And if all this world is nothing but an ocean of sins, it must needs be an ocean of justice. There is no need of going down into hell to see how the divine justice manifests itself there, we may see it plainly enough in this world.

17. But if you can see nothing beyond yourself, at least look into yourself: consider that if you are in the state of sin, you are under the stroke of this justice, and are then most exposed to it when you think you are most secure. St. Augustine was once in this condition, as he himself acknowledges, when he says, " I was drowned in the depth of sin ; your anger was provoked against me, and I knew nothing of it. I was quite deaf to the noise which the chains of my mortality made, and this ignorance of your anger and of my fault was a punishment of the pride of my soul." Conf. L. 2. c. 2. Now if God has inflicted this kind of punishment on you, and has permitted you to remain blind for so long a time, and to be drowned in your iniquities, how can you falsely imagine yourself to be in so happy a condition, when all things go so ill with you ? Let him who is in favor with God talk of his graces and mercies ; but he who sutlers the rigor of his justice should talk of nothing but his justice. Will God, out of his mercy, permit you to live so long in your sins, and not permit you to run headlong into hell, out of his justice ? O that you did but know how small the distance is between sin and the punishment, and between grace and glory. When a man is in the state of grace, what great matter is it to make him partaker of glory, or to punish him when he has committed any sin ? Grace is the beginning and purchase of glory ; so sin is an introduction and highway to hell.

18. Besides, what can be more terrible than to see that though <,he pains of hell are so dreadful, as we have described them

God should permit so great a number to be damned, and so few to be saved. But that you may not think I design to impose on you, when I say that this number is so very small, "He that counts the stars in the heavens, and calls them by their names," will tell you the same ; Ps. cxlvi. 4. Can any man, without astonishment and fright, hear these words of our Saviour, which are so well known, and yet so little understood and regarded ? They are in his words to his disciples, when he answered them the question, whether the number of the elect were small or not : " Enter," says- he, " at the narrow gate, because broad is the gate and open is the way which leads to destruction, and many there are that walk in it : how narrow is the gate and how straight is the way which leads to life, and there are but few that find it!" Matt. vii. 13, 14. Who can imagine how our Saviour was moved, when he cried out, not in a cold and indifferent manner, but with such an emphatic exclamation, " How narrow is the gate, and how straight is the way !"

19. All the world was destroyed by the waters of the deluge, and only eight souls were preserved in Noe's ark (Gen. vii.), which, according to St. Peter, represents the small number of the elect, in comparison of the reproved ; 2 Pet. ii. 5. God brought six hundred thousand men out of Egypt, without counting their wives and children, to lead them into the land of promise ; and for this end he assisted and favored them in several respects, in a peculiar manner (Exod. xii.) ; yet, after all, they by their own fault, lost the land which God of his grace had offered them, and only two men of this great number had the happiness to go into it; Num. xiv. 30. From whence all the holy fathers unanimously conclude, that this is a figure of the great number of those that are damned, and of the few that are saved ; which is the meaning of these words, " that many are called, but few are chosen ;"- Matt. xx. 15. For this reason, the just, in several places of Holy Scripture, are called precious stones ; to give us to understand that just men are as rarely to be found in the world as precious stones, and that the number of the wicked as far exceeds that of the good, as the number of the ordinary stones does that of the precious ; as Solomon declared to us, when he said, " The number of fools is infinite ;" Eccles. i. 15. If, therefore, the number of the elect is so small, and so soon counted up, as the figure represents it to us, and as truth itself tells us (for you see how many persons were by a just judgment of God, deprived of the happiness they were called to) ; how can you stand so unconcerned in this common danger and universal deluge? If the number of the elect were equal to that of the damned, you would still have sufficient reason to fear for yourself; but what do I talk of being equal? for to be damned to hell for all eternity is a misery so great, that though there were but one person out of the whole race of mankind to be sent thither, each particular man ought to tremble for himself. When our Saviour told his disciples, as he was at supper with them, that "one amongst them was to betray him" (John xiii. 21), they all began to be afraid, though their consciences told them they were innocent : because, when a crime is very heinous, though it touch but few, every one is afraid lest he should have some share in it. If a great army of men were standing in a field, and should understand, by divine revelation, that a thunderbolt was to fall and take one of them off, none knowing who it was to be, every one would be afraid lest he should be the person, and look on the danger as his own. What, then, would their apprehension be, if half the army, or the greater part, were to be destroyed by this thunderbolt ? Tell me now, you that are so wise in worldly affairs, but senseless to what regards your salvation, since God here reveals to you that the thunderbolt of his divine justice will fall on so great a number of persons, and so few shall escape it, how can you live so unconcerned and fearless, when you know not which of the parties you belong to ? Is hell to be dreaded less than thunder ? Has God given you any security for your salvation ? There is nothing that can give you any certainty of it. Your own works condemn you, and as the case now stands, unless you turn over a new leaf, you are one of the reprobates, and can you still be unconcerned at your danger ?

20. You say God's mercy encourages you : that is no answer to what has been said ; on the contrary, if the permitting of so many persons to be damned be not incompatible with his mercy, why may it not as well suffer you to be one of that number, if you live as they have done ? Do not you perceive, unhappy creature, that self-love deludes you, making you think better of yourself than of all the world besides ? What privilege have you above the rest of the children of Adam, not to go where all those, whose works you imitate, have been sent before you ?

21. If, as proved already, God is to be known by his works, I may safely say, that though we may make a great many comparisons between his mercy and his justice, in which his mercy will be always superior, yet we shall find at last that there are more vessels of wrath in the race of Adam, from which you descend, than there are of mercy ; because the number of the damned is so far greater than that of the elect ; 2 Tim. ii. 20 ; Rom. ix. 22, 23. Now, this does not happen for want of God's grace and assistance (for he, as the apostle tells us, would have all men saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth), but through the fault of the wicked, who will not make their advantage of God's mercies.

22. All I have hitherto said, has been to convince you, that if t is not incompatible with that infinite mercy of God you talk of, to permit so many infidels in the world, and so many bad Christians in the church, and to suffer all these infidels, and so great a number of 'these Christians to be lost forever, it will be no less agreeable to it that you should perish with them, if you behave yourself like them. Did the heavens smile at your birth, or were the decrees of God, and the laws of the gospel, changed in favor of you, that you should expect, to be singular in the world ? If it be no prejudice to this great mercy, that hell should enlarge its womb, and that so many thousands of souls should be swallowed up in it every day, what greater prejudice will it receive, if you, who live as they did, should be swallowed up amongst them? And lest you should say, that God was severe and rigorous then, but is mild and merciful now, consider that, notwithstanding all his mildness, there is nothing of what you have heard, which he does not permit to this very day ; so that you may have just cause to fear punishment though you be a Christian, if you are a bad one.

23. Will it be any lessening to God's glory, if you alone should fail or being admitted to it ? Have you any extraordinary qualities, which God stands particularly in need of, to make him bear with you and all your faults ? Or have you any particular privilege above all other men, which secures you from being damned, as well as they, if you are wicked? Since David's children, who were favored in consideration of their father's deserts, were punished by God, according to their crimes, whenever they did wickedly, and several of them came to unfortunate ends, can you be puffed up with a vain confidence, and imagine yourself to be secure ? 3 Kings ii. 4 Kings xiv. Absalom, Ammon, Adonias. You deceive yourself, unhappy man, you deceive yourself, if you think this is hoping in God : this is not hope, but presumption ; for hope is a confidence that God will forgive all your sins, though ever so many or so great, if you repent and amend. But it is presumption to believe, that though you persist in a wicked life, your salvation is secure. And do not think this is an indifferent sort of sin, for it is accounted one of those against the Holy Ghost, because it is an abuse and affront to the goodness of God, which is particularly attributed to the Holy Ghost, which sins, our Saviour has told us, are not forgiven in this world, nor in the next ; to signify that it is very hard to be forgiven, because they, as much as in them lies, shut up the gate of grace, and offend the Physician that is to heal us.

The Conclusion. — 24. We will conclude this matter w7ith the discovery which the author of Ecclesiasticus makes us of this error, in these Words ; " Do not lose the fear which you ought to be in, on account of your sins being pardoned you ; and do not say, the mercy of the Lord is great, he will not remember the multitude of my sins. For his anger and his mercy are very near to one another, and his wrath looks upon sinners :" Eccl. v. 6, 7. If we are commanded to be afraid, even for those &ins which have been pardoned already, tell me how is it possible you should be^ free from fear, who daily increase the number of your sins ? Reflect well on these wTords, " The wrath of the Lord looks upon sinners," because the understanding of this whole discourse depends on it. To this end, you are to know, that though the mercy of God extends itself to sinners as well as to the just, and that every man partakes of it, either by being preserved by it, as some are, from falling into sin, or by being reclaimed from sin, as others are, and expected to do penance ; notwithstanding all this, those extraordinary favors which God promises in his Scriptures belong particularly to the just, to whom he is, in every point, as good as his word ; because they have not foiled in their promise to him, which was to observe his commandments with all the exactness and fidelity imaginable ; and because they have been obedient and dutiful children to him, therefore he shows himself a loving and tender Father to them. But as for all those threats and curses which you may read in the Holy Scriptures, and all those rigors and severities of the divine justice, persuade yourself that they are aimed at you, and all such as are like you. How great, then, must your blindness be, if you are not afraid of those threats, which are addressed immediately to you ; but, on the contrary, feed yourself up with the hopes of those favors which were not promised to you ! Take you what falls to your share, and let the just have what belongs to him. Anger is for you, therefore fear ; love and friendship are for the just, let him, therefore, rejoice. Would you have this made plain to you ? consider what David says : " The eyes of the Lord are upon the just, and his ears are open to their prayers. But his face is towards those that do evil, to blot the memory of them out of the earth." Ps. xxxiii. 16, 17. And in the book of Esdras you will find these words: "The hand of God" (that is, his fatherly providence) " is over all those that seek him, as they should do ; but his power, and strength, and fury is against all those that forsake him ;" Esdr. viii. 22.

25. If all we have said here be true, how can you go on thus deceiving yourself, unhappy wretch, who continue still in your sins? How can you stand idly thus with your arms across? Why do you change and confound the order of things ? Those words are not directed to you. Is it to you that the sweetness of the divine love and friendship is promised, whilst you continue thus in the state of anger and enmity ? This belongs to Jacob, not to Esau. This inheritance is for the good ; what pretence, therefore, can you, who are wicked, have to it ? Cease to be so, and it is yours. Cease to be so, and God will direct his love and his paternal providence to you ; but hitherto you have only usurped what is another man's right, and desire to enter into the possession of what you have nothing to do with. " Hope in God," says David, "and do that which is good ;" Ps. xxxvi. 3. And in another psalm. " Sacrifice a sacrifice of justice, and hope in the Lord :"

Ps. rv. 6. This is the right way of hoping, and not to continue in your sins, and think of gaining heaven by jesting with the Almighty's mercy. The true hope is to forsake your sins, and to have recourse to God. But if you remain obstinately in them, it is then no longer hope, but presumption. This is not to hope, it is rather to offend mercy, and thereby render yourself unworthy of ever obtaining it. Nor as being a member of the church is any advantage to him who, relying on her, takes no notice of her precepts, but lives wickedly, so it is but just that he should reap no benefit of God's mercy who lays hold of it to do evil.

26. This ought to be duly considered by the ministers of the word of God, who very often, not regarding to whom their discourse is directed, give wicked men encouragement to continue in their sins. They ought to consider that the more you let a man eat, the more hurt you do him ; so the more you encourage and exhort those persons that are obstinate in their sins, to this kind of confidence, the more ye encourage them to continue in their evil courses.

27. I will end this discourse with an excellent sentence out of St. Augustine, who says, " that men go to hell by hope as well as by despair ; by hoping ill whilst they lived, and by despairing worse at their death ;" Serm. 147. De Verb. Dom. I advise you, therefore, O sinner, whosoever you are, to lay aside this presumptuous confidence, and to remember that God has his justice as well as his mercy ; so that, as you consider his mercy to encourage your hope, you are likewise to reflect on his justice for the exciting of your fear. For, as St. Bernard says, " God has two feet, the one of mercy and the other of justice, and no one ought to embrace either of them without taking hold of both ; that so justice alone, without mercy, may not fright us into despair, nor mercy without justice, flatter us into presumption ;" Serm 80. in Cantic.