would be totally inconsistent with his having any benevolent love towards them. The hatred of sinners towards one another arises from selfishness; and, consequently, is inconsistent with their having true benevolence to each other. But God has no selfishness, and never loves or hates from selfish motives. He is as benevolent in hating, as in loving sinners. The same pure, perfect, disinterested benevolence in God, necessarily disposes him to exercise complacency towards saints, and displeasure, displacency and hatred towards sinners. The distinction between God's love of benevolence, and love of complacence, is no arbitrary distinction, but founded in the nature of things. It is morally impossible that God should exercise true benevolence towards saints, and not exercise complacence towards them at the same time. And it is no less impossible that God should exercise true benevolence towards sinners, and not exercise displeasure, displacency and hatred towards them at the same time. It is not only consistent that God should exercise benevolence towards sinners, and at the same time exercise displeasure, displacency and hatred towards them, but it is absolutely necessary that he should both love and hate them at the same time. And whoever makes and understands the essential distinction between the love of benevolence and the love of complacence in the Deity, cannot help seeing that God must exercise the love of benevolence towards sinners, while he exercises perfect displeasure, displacency and hatred towards their depraved and selfish characters. And, of course, he must see that all the declarations of God's love towards them, in sending his Son to redeem and save them, are consistent with all his declarations of hatred, anger and wrath towards them, for all their selfishness, impenitence, unbelief and disobedience. God's benevolence towards sinners affords no argument to prove that he loves them with the love of complacence, but a conclusive argument to prove that he hates them. Who can imagine that a virtuous and religious parent, who loves all his children with the love of true benevolence, should love them all with equal love of complacence, when some are dutiful and obedient, but others are undutiful and disobedient? And who can suppose that the kind Parent of the universe, who loves all his creatures with pure and impartial benevolence, should love them all with equal complacence, while some love him and others hate him; while some obey him and others disobey him; while some are perfectly holy and others perfectly unholy and rebellious? The distinction between the love of benevolence and the love of complacence is agreeable to common sense; and every person of common sense is capable of seeing it, and does see it, in respect to mankind. A child seven years old can see the benevolence of his parent towards him, while he ex

presses his displeasure, his anger, and his disposition to punish him for his wicked conduct. But still many men of more than common sense and common learning, either cannot, or will not see this distinction; and endeavor to prove God's love of complacence towards sinners from his love of benevolence towards them, in sending his Son to die for them, and in loading them with the blessings of providence, and in giving them the offers of mercy.

IMPROVEMENT.

1. If God's hatred of impenitent sinners is consistent with his love of benevolence towards them, then it is consistent with his benevolence to hate them as long as they continue impenitent. If they continue impenitent as long as they live, then it is consistent with his benevolence to hate them as long as they live. If they continue impenitent in a dying hour, then it is consistent with his benevolence to hate them in a dying hour. If they continue impenitent after death, it is consistent with his benevolence to hate them after death. And if they should continue impenitent to all eternity, it is consistent with his benevolence to hate them to all eternity. His hatred towards them must continue as long as they continue hateful objects; and they certainly continue hateful objects as long as they continue depraved and impenitent. God's benevolence towards them will never produce complacence towards them; but, on the contrary, it must necessarily produce displacency and hatred towards them. Some, indeed, imagine that though sinners remain impenitent in this world, they will become penitent in another world, and then God's hatred and displeasure towards them will cease. This supposition is neither rational, nor scriptural. There is no reason to think that sinners will be more pleased with the character of God, when it is more fully unfolded in another world, than they are with it in this world; but will hate it the more, the more clearly they see it; and their greater hatred to God will have no tendency to lead them to repentance for hating him. And though God has promised to make saints meet for the inheritance of heaven, yet he has made no promise that he will prepare impenitent sinners for the kingdom of glory. But it is expressly said that if they die vile, they shall remain vile; if they die unholy they shall remain unholy. And as long as they remain unholy, they must remain hateful objects in the sight of God, whose perfect benevolence hates and abhors all unholy creatures. And as God's hatred of sinners in this world is consistent with his benevolence towards them in this world, so his hatred of sinners in another world is consistent with his benevolence towards them in another world.

Some excellent divines suppose that God's benevolence

towards impenitent sinners will entirely cease in another world. The question has been seriously stated, why saints should love sinners in this world and not love them after they are finally cast off. And the answer given was, that God loves sinners while in this world, but will not love them after they are cast off in another world; and that saints should feel towards impenitent sinners in another world, as God feels towards them. Though he loves them in this world, yet he has no love to them in another world; even his love of benevolence towards them entirely ceases in eternity; and so the love of saints towards them should and will entirely cease after they leave this state of probation. But why should God's love of benevolence cease to sinners in another world? They will be as proper objects of benevolence there, as they are here. God will have as good reason to exercise benevolence towards them, as he has here. Here he does not exercise benevolence towards them, because he feels any complacence towards them. He hates them here with perfect hatred; as perfect hatred as that which he exercises towards the fallen angels. They are here as vile as the fallen angels, and deserve God's hatred as much as the fallen angels do; and yet he loves them with perfect benevolence. The truth is, God always did, and always will love fallen angels, notwithstanding their guilty rebellion; and he now loves rebellious men, and always will love them, though they always continue in rebellion against him. It is entirely consistent, and absolutely necessary, that God should exercise benevolence towards fallen angels and fallen men, notwithstanding their great criminality and guilt; for his benevolence towards them is the only just cause of his holy hatred of them. If he should cease to exercise holy benevolence towards them, he must necessarily exercise an unholy malevolence towards them, which would be becoming as sinful and odious as they. Though God and all holy beings will for ever hate unholy ones, yet they will never feel malevolence towards them. But the moment they should cease to exercise benevolence towards the spirits in prison, they would begin to exercise malevolence towards them, which would be infinitely criminal. It is demonstrable from God's loving and hating sinners in this world, that he will continue to love and hate them, as long as they are impenitent.

2. If God loves and hates sinners in this world at all, then he loves and hates them more than any other being does in the universe. It appears from what has been said, that God does really both love and hate impenitent sinners. Christ loved and hated impenitent sinners, while he lived upon earth. He loved and hated the impenitent young man, who appeared externally so lovely. He loved and hated Judas. He loved and hated the impenitent Jews. He loved and hated even his murderers,

on the cross. Holy angels love and hate unholy men. Holy men love and hate unholy men. Holy friends love and hate unholy friends. And holy parents love and hate their unholy, impenitent children. But God loves and hates impenitent sinners, more than the man Christ Jesus loved and hated them; more than holy angels love and hate them; more than holy friends love and hate them; more than holy parents love and hate them. His love of benevolence bears proportion to all his great and essential attributes. His love of benevolence to im penitent sinners is infinitely strong and tender. He loves every sinful human soul, more than any other being loves it. And as his hatred of impenitent sinners flows from his infinitely strong and tender benevolence towards them; so his hatred of them is unspeakably greater than the hatred of any other being. And it always appears so to impenitent sinners themselves, when they are awakened to realize his infinite hatred. They had rather that the united hatred of all created beings should be pointed against them, and fall upon them, than that his holy wrath should be pointed against them, and fall upon them. The scripture speaks of the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God; but these strong expressions but faintly represent the greatness of that wrath of God which abides upon impenitent sinners every day, notwithstanding all the displays of benevolence towards them in the course of his providence. Indeed, all the indications of his benevolence are equal indications of his wrath and displeasure towards them; because his wrath flows from, and is equal to his infinite benevolence.

3. If impenitent sinners themselves are as much the objects of God's hatred, as of his love, then it is very important that they should be made sensible of it. They are willing to believe that God loves them; and they love to hear of the astonishing love of benevolence towards them, displayed in sending his Son to die for them, and in lavishing upon them the blessings of providence. But they are not so willing to believe that God hates them as much as he loves them; and they are as unwilling to hear this disagreeable truth inculcated upon them. Hence they love to hear ministers preach upon the marvellous love of God towards them; but cannot bear to hear ministers preach upon God's holy and just displeasure, and wrath against them. They can bear to hear that God hates depravity, selfishness, impenitence, unbelief, disobedience and rebellion in the abstract. But it is not true that God hates these sins in the abstract, and as separate from sinners themselves. He hates sinners themselves, who are depraved, who are selfish, who are impenitent, who are unbelieving, who are disobedient, and who are rebellious. Christ did not preach about sin in the abstract, as being an object of God's displeas

ure; but about sinners themselves being the objects of God's displeasure. He told them that they were of their father the devil, and felt and acted as he did; that they had both seen and hated both him and his Father; and that they were serpents and a generation of vipers, who deserved the damnation of hell. This they disliked, and said that he reproached them. Sinners now dislike to hear that God hates all workers of iniquity, and that his wrath is pointed against them, and constantly abides upon them. I know that it is much more pleasing to sinners to preach the love than the hatred of God towards them; but it is not much more safe. They are ready enough to believe that God loves them, but they are slow of heart to believe that God hates them, as vile and odious creatures, even as vile and odious as those in a state of irrecoverable misery. Paul had zeal and fidelity enough to inculcate this truth upon the heart and conscience of a sinner, with plainness and pungency. He said, "O full of all subtlety and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?" Paul knew that this was the true character of Elymas the sorcerer, and of himself, before his heart was changed. Nor was this character peculiar to them, but is common to the most amiable impenitent sinners in the world. They are perfectly sinful, and consequently perfectly hateful, in the sight of a heart searching God. This truth ought to be plainly and forcibly inculcated upon the hearts and consciences of sinners, to prepare them to see and feel the necessity of embracing the mercy of God offered to them in the gospel.

4. If it be consistent with the benevolence of God towards sinners to hate them, then it is consistent with his benevolence to express his hatred towards them. The only reason why some suppose it is inconsistent with God's love to sinners to punish them, is because it is inconsistent with his benevolence to hate them. But we have shown that it is consistent with God's love of benevolence, to hate unholy, selfish, malevolent sinners. The consequence is undeniable, that it is consistent with his benevolence to punish those whom he hates, and whom his very benevolence disposes him to hate. Punishment is the expression, and the only proper expression of hatred. The infliction of pain, or natural evil, is no punishment, when it is. not designed to express hatred towards the subject of it. The surgeon, in the amputation of a limb, often inflicts great pain upon the patient, but he expresses love and not hatred; and therefore the pain he inflicts is no punishment. But it is the sole design of punishment, to express hatred towards the punished. And if the punished deserve to be hated, they equally deserve to be punished, which is the proper and just ex