Sermons upon death and eternal judgment

How will the stubborn Atheist, that pleases himself with vain imaginations of the Eternity of the World, and the Mortality of the Soul, be confounded when he feels the truth of Scripture-threatenings, to his eternal sorrow? then all their Railleries will be turned into Lamentations. 'Tis not for ^*want of power that God spares the Wicked, but because they are always in his hands, and he can make them as miserable as they are sinful when he pleases.² 'Tis not through the neglect of Justice, but for most wise and holy Reasons, as shall appear in the last day, when a decisive irreversible Judgment shall be pronounced, ⟨p. 111⟩and immediately inflicted upon them before the World.³ When an Actor at Athens spoke with Admiration of Riches, as the most valuable Acquisition, and of the Felicity of Rich Men: the People were in an Uproar at the immorality of the Speech, and were ready to chase him from the Stage. But the Poet himself appeared, and desired them to stop their Fury till they saw the Catastrophe, the wretched end of that sordid Miser. Thus we are apt to accuse the ways of God when the Wicked flourish; but we should stop our tumultuous thoughts, for their end will absolve Divine Providence from all undue reflections upon the account of their temporal happiness.

How will the stubborn Atheist, that pleases himself with vain imaginations of the Eternity of the World, and the Mortality of the Soul, be confounded when he feels the truth of Scripture-threatnings, to his eternal sorrow? then all their Ralleries will be turn'd into Lamentations. 'Tis not for ^*want of power that God spares the Wicked, but because they are alwayes in his hands, and he can make them as miserable as they are sinful when he pleases.² 'Tis not through the neglect of Justice, but for most wise and holy Reasons, as shall appear in the last day, when a decisive irreversible Judgment shall be propronounc'd,