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belongs; and not only but have Affu- SERM. rance enough to expect, notwithstand- XI. ing their wicked Lives and Actions, which cut off all Ground of Expectation of any thing that is good, the fame Favour of God, as those who are never fo righteous. Thus Balaam, who had liv'd the Life of the Wicked, had Confidence enough, notwithstanding that, to fay, Let me die the Death of the Righteous, and let my last End be like bis. However, Cain was fo incensed at this, that his Offering was not accepted as well as his Brother's, that he took an Opportunity to flay him, thinking perhaps to ease his troubled Mind, by venting his Wrath upon a Perfon, whom his Envy had mark'd out, as a proper Object of it: But, alas! the dreadful Experiment would by no means anfwer the End propos'd: It was fo far from removing one Evil, that it created a thoufand more, which now began to sprout from it, and spread abroad thier fatal Influences. The Blood which he thought was fpilt upon the Ground, and which the Earth had opened her Mouth to receive, to receive, and would foon disappear for ever, now began to live, and call to Heaven for Vengeance. And he faid, What haft thou done? Hh 2 The

SERM. The Voice of thy Brother's Blood crieth XI. unto me from the Ground. Here we are to obferve, that God does not afk this Question with an Expectation of being inform'd, as if he was ignorant of what Cain had done, but only to make him fenfible of the Heineoufness of his Guilt. In difcourfing upon the Words of the Text I will fhew,

1.

First, That all Sin, efpecially Sins of a heinous Nature, fuch as Murder, calls to Heaven for Vengeance.

Secondly, I fhall make fome proper Obfervations upon it.

First then, I am to fhew, that all Sin, efpecially Sins of a heinous Nature, fuch as Murder, calls to Heaven for Vengeance. As God is the great Governor of the World, and a Being infinitely juft, wife, and good, it is neceffary to fuppofe, that he intends the Welfare and Happiness of the whole Creation; and that he will put a fufficient Check upon whatever would deftroy it. Accordingly he has imprefs'd upon all Beings in the Universe certain Propofitions of Action, as they ftand to each other; and whatever Being acts out of this Proportion feels of Courfe an Inconvenience attending it; which Inconvenience is likewife imprefs'd

directed and go

and

and

prefs'd upon all Nature, and a Senfe of it SERM. upon every Being in exact Proportion, XI. as it ftands in the Universe. For without this it were impoffible the World to fubfift: Evil, as it is in its own Nature oppofite to Good, would, if it were not controul'd, certainly deftroy it; God has therefore fufficiently controul'd it. In Beings that act neceffarily, it is controul'd by certain neceffary Laws, by which they are vern'd for the Good of the whole. Thus the Sea ebbs and flows, the Ground fends forth Herbs Trees for the Delight and Ufe of Man; and all this according to certain Rules imprefs'd upon Nature: The heavenly Bodies too move on in their appointed Course, whereas were thefe fubject to no Laws, the Disorder, i. e. the Evil that would enfue, would foon fpread its deftructive Influences over the Face of all Nature; but God has fixed the Bounds of all Things, and therefore they, as the Pfalmift fays, fulfil his Word. To the Sea he has faid, Hitherto halt thou go, and no further; and here fhall thy proud Waves be stayed; and to all things elfe he has fix'd their Bounds, which they cannot pass.

In Moral Agents it is controul'd by the Vengeance that is due to it, and

that

SERM that infallibly attends it: For to fupXI. pofe Evil without this is to fuppofe God not infinitely wife and good.

and himself, as

Now if there are the fame Proportions between every two Men in the World, as there is between a Man there certainly are, for what are all the Men upon Earth, but the General Man, or Human Nature, fplit abroad into Individuals, fecondly, no one can offer any Injury to another without doing an Injury to himself; for Punishment, which is the natural Reaction to Evil, will of course operate back upon him. Thus Vengeance which is every injur'd Perfon's Right in a State of Nature, when Men are form'd into Societies, is lodg'd in other Hands, who deal it out as well as they can, in proportion to the Injuries or Evils committed. But because all human Knowledge is vaftly imperfect, and therefore cannot allot to every Crime the fpecific Vengeance that is due to it; and because every Injury or Evil a Man does to another, not only operates back upon himself, but flies directly up to God, as hurting or wounding him in his Image, he has taken Care to fupply the Defects of human Injustice by allotting to every Crime its due proportion'd Punishment;

Punishment; and he, who knows the SERM. true Springs and Movements of every XI. Action, who knows every minute Degree of Good or Evil that is in them, knows how to deal out his Rewards and Punishments in exact Proportion : And because every Evil, as it endeavours to poifon Good, is an Attempt to pollute the very Fountain of Good, hence it is, that God looks upon every Evil a Man does himself, or another, or the Society, as done to him, and will certainly punish it accordingly: And of this every Sinner is fenfible, and is fufficiently inform'd by the Remorfe that attends his evil Action, which is the Beginning of the Vengeance that will follow them; and which is a gracious wife Provifion God has made to controul Evil, and at the fame Time to make Reparation to Juftice; for the Remorfe that attends an evil Action is a Punishment of it, and from the Senfe every one has, that there is a Punishment due to Sin, and will certainly one Time or other overtake him, if not in this Life, where he can have only his Proportion of Chance, yet in the next, where all Chance will be turn'd into Certainty, there arifes a well-grounded Fear, which is a continual Check to the Evil, and keeps the moral World upon its true Bafis. Thus you fee the Con

nexion

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