can declare the great things of God, but he to whom God shall reveal them?

Secondly, This expreffion of the wrath of God be ing revealed from heaven, doth not only imply the

ear difcovery of the thing, but likewife fomething extraordinary in the manner of the difcovery. It is not only a natural impreffion upon the minds of men, that God will feverely punish finners; but he hath taken care that mankind should be inftructed in this matter in a very particular and extraordinary manher. He hath not left it to the reafon of men to collect it from the confideration of his attributes and perfections, his holiness and juftice, and from the confideration of the promifcuous administration of his providence towards good and bad men in this world; but he hath been pleafed to fend an extraordinary perfon from heaven, on purpofe to declare this thing plainly to the world: The wrath of God is revealed from heaven; that is, God fent his own Son from hea. ven, on purpofe to declare his wrath against all obftinate and impenitent finners, that he might effectually awaken the drowfy world to repentance; he hath fent an extraordinary ambaffador into the world, to give warning to all thofe who continue in their fins, of the judgment of the great day, and to fummon them before his dreadful tribunal. So the Apoftle tells the Athenians, Acts xvii. 30. 31. Now he commandeth all men every whéré to repent; because he hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness, by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given affurance unto all men, in that be hath raifed him from the dead.

Thirdly, This expreffion implies likewife the certainty of this difcovery. If the wrath of God had only been declared in the difcourfes of wife men, though grounded upon very probable reafon, yet it might have been brought into doubt by the contrary reafonings of fubtle and difputing men: But to put the matter out of all queftion, we have a divine teftimony for it, and God hath confirmed it from heaven, by figns, and wonders, and miracles, espe cially by the refurrection of Jefus Chrift from the

dead;

dead, for by this he hath given affurance unto all -men, that it is he who is ordained of God to judge the_quick and dead.

9

Thus you fee in what refpect the wrath of God is faid to be revealed from heaven, in that the gospel hath made a more clear, and particular, and certain discovery of the judgment of the great day, than ever was made to the world before. I proceed to

the

Third obfervation, which I fhall fpeak but briefly to; namely, that every wicked and vicious practice doth expofe men to this dreadful danger. The Apoftle inftanceth in the two chief heads to which the fins of men may be reduced, impiety towards God, and unrighteousness towards men; and therefore he is to be understood to denounce the wrath of God against every particular kind of fin, comprehended under thefe general heads; fo that no man that allows himself in any impiety and wickedness of life can hope to escape the wrath of God. Therefore it concerns us to be entirely religious, and to have reSpect to all God's commandments; and to take heed that we do not allow ourselves in the practice of any kind of fin whatfoever, becaufe the living in aeny one known fin is enough to expofe us to the dreadful wrath of God. Though a man be just and righteous in his dealings with men, yet if he neglect the worship and fervice of God, this will certainly bring him under condemnation; and on the other thand, though a man may ferve God never fo diligently and devoutly, yet if he be defective in righteoufnefs toward men, if he deal falfly and fraudulently with his neighbour, he fhall not efcape the wrath of God. Though a man pretend to never fo much piety and devotion, yet if he be unrighteous, he fhall not inherit the kingdom of God. If any man -over-reach and defraud his brother in any matter, the Lord is the avenger of fuch, faith St. Paul, 1 Theff. iv. 6.

I

So that here is a very powerful argument to take men off from all fin, and to engage them to a conftant and careful difcharge of their whole duty to

ward

ward God and men, and to reform whatever is amifs either in the frame and temper of, their minds, or in the actions and courfe of their lives; because any kind of wickednefs, any one fort of vicious course, lays men open to the vengeance of God, and the punishments of another world; the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness, and unrighteousness of men; there is no exception in the cafe, we muft forfake all fin, fubdue every luft, be holy in all manner of converfation, otherwife we can have no reasonable hopes of efcaping the wrath of God, and the damnation of hell. But to proceed to the

Fourth obfervation; namely, that it is a very great aggravation of fin, for men to offend against the light of their own minds. The Apoftle here aggravates the wickedness of the heathen world, that they did not live up to that knowledge which they had of God, but contradicted it in their lives, holding the truth of God in unrighteoufnefs. And that he fpeaks here of the heathen, is plain from his following difcourse, and the character he gives of thofe perfons of whom he was fpeaking, who hold the truth of God in unrighteonfnefe; becaufe that which may be known of God is manifeft in them, for God hath fhewed it unto them; and this he proves, because those who were deftitute of divine revelation, were not without all knowledge of God, being led by the fight of this visible world, to the knowledge of an invifible Being and Power that was the author of it, ver. 20, 21. For the invifible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly feen, being understood by the things which are made, even his eternal power and Godhead, fo that they are without excufe, because that when they knew God, they glorified him not as God: (Hac eft fumma delicti, nolle agnofcere, quem ignorare non poffis, faith Tertullian to the heathen; "This is the height of thy fault, not to acknow"ledge him, whom thou canst not but know, not " to own him, of whom thou canst not be igno

rant, if thou wouldeft;)" neither were thankful ; they did not pay thofe acknowledgments to him which of right were due to the author of their be

ing

ing, and of all good things; but became vain in their imaginations; εματαιώθησαν ἐν τοῖς διαλογισμοῖς autav, they were fooled with their own reasonings. This he fpeaks of the Philofophers who in thofe great arguments of the being and providence of God, the immortality of the foul, and the rewards of another world, had lost the truth by too much fubtilty about it, and had difputed themselves into doubt and uncertainty about thofe things which were naturally known; for nimium altercando veritas amit titur; “Truth is many times loft by too much con"tention and difpute about it, and by too eager a purfuit of it, men many times out-run it, and leave it behind;" ver. 22. and profeffing themselves to be wife, they became foots. Men never play the fools more, than by endeavouring to be over-fubtle and wife; ver. 23. and changed the glory of the incorruptible God, into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and to four-footed beasts, and creeping things; here he fpeaks of the fottifhnefs of their idolatry, whereby they provoked God to give them up to all manner of lewdnefs and impurity; ver. 24. wherefore God also gave them up unto un-1 cleanness, through the lufts of their own hearts; and again, ver. 26. for this cause God gave them up to vile affections; and then he enumerates the abominable lufts and vices they were guilty of, notwithstan- : ding their natural acknowledgment of the divine juftice, ver. 32. who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit fuch things are worthy of death, not only do the fame, but have pleasure in them that do them. By all which it appears that he fpeaks of the Heathen, who offended against the natural light of their own minds, and therefore were without excufe. Quam fibi veniam fperare poffunt impietatis fue, qui non agnofcunt cultum ejus, quem prorsùs ignorari ab hominibus fas non eft faith Lactantius, How can they hope for pardon for their impie ty, who deny to worship that God of whom it is not poffible mankind should be wholly igno "rant?"

So

So that this is to hold the truth in unrighteousness, injuriously to fupprefs it, and to hinder the power and efficacy of it upon our minds and actions; for fo the word alter fometimes fignifies, as well as to hold faft; and this every man does, who acts contrary to what he believes and knows; he offers violence to the light of his own mind, and does injury to the truth, and keeps that a prifoner, which would fet him free; ye shall know the truth, (fays our Lord) and the truth fhall make you free.

And this is one of the highest aggravations of the fins of men, to offend against knowledge, and that light which God hath fet up in every man's mind. If men wander and stumble in the dark, it is not to be wondered at; many times it is unavoidable, and no care can prevent it: But in the light it is expected that men should look before them, and difcern their way. That natural light which the Heathen had, though it was but comparatively dim and imperfect, yet the Apostle takes notice of it as a great aggravation of their idolatrous and abominable practi

ces. Those natural notions which all men have of God, if they had in any measure attended to them, and governed themselves by them, might have been fufficient to have preserved them from difhonouring the Deity, by worshipping creatures instead of God: the common light of nature was enough to have difcovered to them the evil of those lewd and unnatural practices, which many of them were guilty of; but they detained and fuppreffed the truth most injuriously, and would not suffer it to have its natural and proper influence upon them. And this is that which left them without excufe, that from the light of nature they had knowledge enough to have done better, and to have preferved them from those great crimes which were fo common among them.'

And if this was fo great an aggravation of the impiety and wickedness of the Heathen, and left them without excufe, what apology can be made for the impiety and unrighteoufnefs of Chriftians, who have fo ftrong and clear a light to difcover to them their duty, and the danger of neglecting it; to whom the

wrath