The sovereign and final happiness of man with the effectual means to obtain itThe soveraign and final happiness of man with the effectual means to obtain it

1. The Wisdom of God requires that the Punishment threatened in his Law, as it must so be firmly decreed, that all obstinate Rebels shall of necessity undergo it, so it must incomparably exceed all temporal Evils, to which Men may be exposed for their Obedience to the divine Commands. Otherwise the threatening would not be an effectual restraint from Sin. For the propinquity of an Evil makes a strange impression on the Mind, and present Fear makes a Person solicitous to avoid the incursion of a danger ready to seize on him, without forecasting to prevent an evil looked on at a distance. Therefore that the sanction of the divine Law may preserve the Precepts inviolable, that there may be a continual reverence of it, and a fixed resolution in the Heart of Men not to transgress, the penally threatened must be in its own nature so terrible, that the fear of it may conquer the apprehension of all present Evils, that can be inflicted to force us to Sin. As on the other side, to confirm our purpose to please God in all things, the Reward of Obedience must be of infallible assurance, that all and only those who serve him faithfully shall enjoy in the future ⟨p. 239⟩State, and so excellent, that all the allurements of the World, may in comparison with it, be of no consideration to divert us from our Duty. They command the Heart, and have its most prevailing Respects, from whom is expected the most desirable Good, and feared the most terrible Evils. Therefore our Saviour warns his Disciples, Fear not them that can kill the Body, (make that part die that is mortal) but fear him that after he has killed, has power to cast into Hell, yea I say unto you, fear him. All the exquisite Tortures, that the most cruel contriving and powerful malice of wicked Men can inflict, is so much less than the Wrath to come, that avoid the one and venture on the other, is more brutish Stupidity, than that of the Horse or Mule, that starts at the shadow of a Bush, and springs over a Precipice.

1. The Wisdom of God requires that the Punishment threatned in his Law, as it must so be firmly decreed, that all obstinate Rebels shall of necessity undergo it, so it must incomparably exceed all temporal Evils, to which Men may be exposed for their Obedience to the divine Commands. Otherwise the threatning would not be an effectual restraint from Sin. For the propinquity of an Evil makes a strange impression on the Mind, and present Fear makes a Person sollicitous to avoid the incursion of a danger ready to seize on him, without forecasting to prevent an evil look'd on at a distance. Therefore that the sanction of the divine Law may preserve the Precepts inviolable, that there may be a continual reverence of it, and a fixed resolution in the Heart of Men not to transgress, the penaly threatned must be in its own nature so terrible, that the fear of it may conquer the apprehension of all present Evils, that can be inflicted to force us to Sin. As on the other side, to confirm our purpose to please God in all things, the Reward of Obedience must be of infallible assurance, that all and only those who serve him faithfully shall enjoy in the future