The four last things viz. death, judgment, heaven, hell, practically considered and applied in…

II. I shall now proceed to consider the Evidence of the Facts that is produced as the Reason of that Judgment.

II. I shall now proceed to consider the Evidence of the Facts that is produc'd 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 enquiry of Adam, Hast thou eaten of the Tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat? ¹and 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, ²Because 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; viz. whether they were so numerously and 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 precipitation, but after an equal trial of the Cause. Thus we read of that profane King of Babylon, ³Belshazzar, That he ⟨p. 181⟩was weighed in the Balance, and found wanting, before he was sentenced to be deprived of his Kingdom and Life. And the Destruction of the Antichristian State is attended with solemn Hallelujahs for the Righteousness of that Judgment.⁴ And in the last Day the Righteousness of God's Proceedings shall be universally manifest and magnified. 'Tis therefore called the Day of the Revelation of the righteous Judgment of God. Now in order to this,