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2 Cor. v. 10. We must all appear before the Fudgment Seat of Chrift, that every one may receive the Things done in his Body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. St Peter delivers the fame Doctrine, I Pet. i. 17. If ye call on the Father, fays he, who without Refpect of Perfons judgeth according to every Man's Work, pafs the Time of your fojourning here in Fear. St John delivers exactly the fame important Truth, Rev. xxii. 12. Where God fays, Behold, I come quickly, and my Reward is with me, to give every Man according as his Work fhall be. Now if according to this general Doctrine, every Man is to be rewarded according to his Works; as there is a vaft Difference and Variety both in the Quality and Quantity of the bad Works of wicked Men, there must likewife be a great Difference in their feveral Degrees of Punishments.

(2) But the Scripture doth not only give us these general Declarations, that God will reward every Man according to his Works, which yet would perhaps fufficiently prove this Doctrine of the Inequality of Rewards of both good and bad; it goes further, and is more exprefs to the Point in this Matter: while it acquaints us, that of thofe Sinners which fhall be punished, some shall be punished more, fome lefs, according to the Quality of their Offences. This is plain from Luke xii. 47, 48. Where we are told, that that Servant which knew his Lord's Will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his Will, shall be beaten with many Stripes; but he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of Stripes, fhall be beaten with few Stripes. And in general, thofe Perfons who have enjoyed the greatest Bleffings

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and the best Means of Grace, and yet have abused them, fhall receive greater Punishment than other Sinners who had not fo good Opportunities. This is the clear Purport of our Saviour's Doctrine with Relation to thofe Cities, where moft of his mighty Works had been wrought, Chorazin, Bethfaida, and Capernaum, and yet repented not: for he fays exprefly, Matt. xi. 22, 24. That it fhall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon, nay even for Sodom, at the Day of Judgment, than for them.

3. But now, Thirdly, let us go on, as we propofed, to confider what ground there is in the Nature and Reason of the Thing, for this Doctrine concerning the different Degrees of Punishments in the World to come.

(1) It is very plain that all wicked People are not wicked to the fame Degree: But one goes on in a wicked Courfe many Degrees beyond another.

(2) Of those who go on to the fame Degree and Pitch of Wickednefs, yet the Sin is not equal in them all. For in fome, perhaps it is only a Sin of Ignorance, and the Error of their Education; in others, it is ftudied Perverseness and Wickedness. Some have been Captains and Ringleaders in Vice, others have been but Followers and Acceffories; fome have been drawn in by the Violence of Temptations; others have been their own Devils and Tempters; fome have finned against powerful Means of Grace; and have acquired ftrong Habits and Customs of Sinning; others have not been bleffed with fuch Means, and have gone on but fearfully in the Ways of Sin; and in all Probability would have come off, had they had the fame Help and Affiftance that others had.

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had. Now it is very improbable that the righteous Judge of all the Earth will condemn all these Perfons to the fame Degrees of Punishments. Particularly in the Sin of Murder unrepented of (the Sin of my Text) do we think God will make no Difference between one that inwardly hated his Neighbour, but governed that Hatred fo, that it neither broke out into undecent Words, or injurious Actions; and another that let it go to the Degree of actual Murder? It would be thought ftrange Juftice here upon Earth, to bring all larger and leffer Criminals under the fame Condemnation; and certainly we are to believe, that in the future State, there will be a much more exact Adminiftration of Juftice, than is adminiftred by the beft Jufticiary here.

IV. So now I am come to the Fourth and last Thing I propofed on this Head, which is, to draw fome Inferences from it for our Edification.

(1) First then, This Doctrine may ferve to vindicate the Justice of God; which, according to the common Notions moft People have of Hell Torments, muft lie under fome Imputations. For to think that all Perfons, who fall fhort of Heaven, fhall fuffer alike in that hideous Place, is what we can never in our own Minds reconcile with the strict Rules of Juftice. But if we fuppofe many feveral Degrees of God's Wrath; fome leffer, for the poor ignorant Heathen, who transgreffed only the Law of Nature; and others, who have not been furnished with powerful Means of Grace,and fome greater, for thofe who have abused greater Talents; this makes Matters look with a more equitable Afpect. We know indeed fo little of the future State either of Rewards or Punishmens,

nishments, and are fo great Strangers to the whole Oeconomy of it; that we ought by no Means to admit any hard Thoughts of God's Providence to fink into our Minds upon that Account; but to reft in this general, that the Judge of all the Earth will certainly do right; and that he will Reward every Man according to his Works.

(2) This Doctrine may ferve to deter even wicked Men from feveral High Degrees of Wickedness, to which a contrary Belief might embolden them. For fuppofing the very worst Success of all their Endeavours after Repentance and Amendment of Life, tho' their vitious Habits are fo rooted that they cannot entirely extirpate them yet by this Doctrine their Labour is not loft; for every Abatement of Evil will meet with a suitable Abatement of Punishment in the future State; and if Men cannot become altogether fo good, yet there is fome Comfort in being lefs bad than they were: for if they go on, they may, through the Grace of God, in time obtain an entire Victory, and fo be infinitely happy. At leaft, they will be fure to be less miferable than they would have been, had they given loofe Reins to their Wickedness,

(3) Let this Doctrine put us upon the Trial and Examination of our own State; and if we are bad, let us find out what Degree of Badnefs we are in, that we may be able to make a right Judgment of our felves, and to build our Hopes and Fears on a right Bottom. Some Perfons, who are very bad themselves, feed themfelves with good Hopes to the laft, only because they know, or at leaft fancy, that fome others are great deal worse. Sometimes this worse Opipion of others proceeds from Cenforiousness and Uncharitableness;

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Uncharitableness; there is nothing more common than for Men to look with a friendly and favourable Eye on their own Faults; and with a very cenforious one on the Faults of others. But fuppofing their Judgments in this Particular to be exactly right; that is, that there are other Men and Women a great deal worfe than themselves; what then? muft they conclude from thence, that themselves fhall go to Heaven, because they are better, at least not fo bad as thofe others? No, all that is to be concluded from fuch an Obfervation, if it were true, is, that they shall not be condemned to an equal Degree of Torment with these others; but yet that without Repentance we shall all likewife perish, Luke xiii. 5. Let us learn then to make another Ufe of our Obfervations, of the different States and Degrees of Wickedness in Men; for though fome of them are fo good, that we may fay of them as our Saviour faid of a certain Scribe, who had good Notions of his Duty; Thou art not far from the Kingdom of God, Mark xii. 34. yet even these Perfons, if they go no further, fhall certainly fall fhort of it. O! what Pity it is, we may observe some Perfons endued with a great many good Faculties and Abilities, with a great many obliging and commendable Morals, who yet being immerfed in fome one Vice or other, are held faft by the Devil; what Pity is it, I fay, that they cannot go a little further, and extricate their Liberty, who are led captive by him at his Pleasure? one Leak unstopt is fufficient to fink a Ship, though in other Refpects ever fo tight and wellbuilt; fo one Vice indulged, is fufficient to bring any Man to Hell, if he had ever fo many other good Qualities,

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