Mr. FALLE's SERMON AT WHITEHALL, Dec. 30. 1694.   

Of the Impunity of Bad Men in the World  
A SERMON Preached at White-Hall, Decemb. 30. 1694.  
By PHILIP FALL, Chaplain in Ordinary to His Majesty.  
Published by Command.  
LONDON, Printed for John Newton at the Three Pigeons, over-against the Inner-Temple-Gate, in Fleetstreet, 1695.   
ECCLES. VIII. xi. 
Because Sentence against an Evil Work is not executed speedily, therefore the Heart of the Sons of Men is fully set in them to do Evil.  
NOthing has been more apt to give Offence, and to perplex the Minds of Men, than the Unequal Distribution of Rewards and Punishments in this Life. The Impunity of Bad Men in the World seems to many very hard to be accounted for. It may not therefore be amiss to have this Matter rightly stated, and satisfaction given to anxious and doubting Minds about it. Which, so far as God enables me, I shall attempt from the Words I have read. Because Sentence against an Evil Work is not executed speedily, therefore the Heart of the Sons of Men is fully set in them to do Evil.  
They are the Words of a Great KING; the Result of that excellent Wisdom with which God had enlarged his Royal Heart, and of the long Observation he had made on the Ways of Providence in the Government of the World.  
In speaking to them I shall, 

First, Show some very dangerous Mistakes that are about this Matter.  
Secondly, Expound this Riddle of Providence, the Impunity of Bad Men in the World.    

First, Show some very dangerous Mistakes that are about this Matter. For, because Sentence against an Evil Work is not Executed speedily, THEREFORE the Heart of the Sons of Men is fully set in them to do Evil.  
I. This has been the great Objection of Atheists in all Ages against the Being of a God 
(a) Simplic. in Epicter. Cap. 38. . The Impunity of Bad Men in the World has been the common Popular Pretence to oppose the Belief of the Deity. That a God, armed with infinite and irresistible Power, should tamely suffer Bad Men to violate his Laws, and bid open Defiance to his Authority, and not to resent the Affront, by sending quick and exemplary Punishment on such Transgressor's, is what they think cannot be reconciled to a Rational Apprehension. This, they say, is to destroy the Notion of a God; who, if he were, would Govern the World by a more steady Justice. The Story of Diagoras is well known, who, seeing a Wretch forswear himself and remain unpunished, became a Professed Atheist.  
II. Others admit the Being of a God, but deny his Providence in the Administration of Human Affairs, because they see Bad Men unpunished in the World 
(b) Cicer. de Nat. Deor. Lib. 3. §. 81. etc. Salvian. de Gubern. Dei passim. . They say, that if there was a Providence, solicitous about the Rectitude or Obliquity of Men's Actions, it would dispense suitable Retributions. But the greatest Villainies triumph with Impunity in the World! And this, they say, is a reproach to Providence: And an Argument that God takes no care of the little things of this lower World: That Virtue and Vice are alike to him: That he looks with indifferency on the Good or Evil of Human Acts: Which the Epicureans do say to be indeed beneath the Dignity and Excellency of so elevated a Nature as God, taken up in the Contemplation of his own Perfections and Happiness, to be concerned about.  
III. Bad Men that own a God and a Providence, seeing their Crimes unpunished, fall into another Error. It raises them to a great Confidence about the Nature of those Actions, which because God does not Punish they think cannot be Bad 
(c) Prospetum ac felix Sçelus Virtus vocatur. Sen. . They take this Impunity for a Token of the Divine Liking and Approbation: as Dionysius said the Gods were pleased with his Sacrilege, when they sent him a prosperous Voyage after he had robbed their Temples 
(d) Cicer. ut Supr. §. 83. . How often is Success urged in the World to justify the goodness of an Action. This may have some weight as to Public Societies, which have their Reward in this World. Outward Prosperity may be indeed a good Indication of God's Favour to Public and National Interests: A very good Sign of his Blessing upon great Transactions wherein Kingdom are concerned. But 'tis a very fallacious Rule to judge of Particular Actions and Cases by these External Administrations of Providence. And there is this pecular inconvenience in it: That 'tis the greatest Impediment I know to Repentance and Amendment of Life. For how should that Man Repent who is possessed with an Opinion, that a Fact, for which he is called upon to ask God Forgiveness, has had the Divine Stamp and Testimony of Success to prove the lawfulness of it? These Delusions are frequent among Men.  
iv There is a Fault incident to many otherwise Good Men. They are uneasy at the Impunity of Bad Men in the World. They repine at the Patience and Long-suffering of God towards them. And this undoubtedly is a Sin. For is their Eye Evil because their Master is Good 
(e) Mat. xx. 15. ? And ought they not to acquiesce in the Divine Methods and Dispensations, and adore the Righteousness of God's Ways in the World, altho' perhaps they cannot comprehend them? Thus Jonah was Angry because God spared Nineveh 
(f) Jonah iv. 1, 2. . I knew, says he, that thou art a Gracious God, and Merciful, slow to Anger, and of great Kindness, and repentest thee of the Evil. A strange reason to be Angry with God for! And there appears to have been something of this Spirit and Temper in the Author of the LXXIII. Psalm 
(g) Ver. 2. etc. . As for me, my feet were almost gone, my Steps had well nigh slipped. For I was envious at the Foolish, when I saw the Prosperity of the Wicked. For there are no Bands in their Death, but their strength is firm. They are not in trouble as other Men, neither are they plagued like other Men. Behold these are the Ungodly, who prosper in the World: They increase in Riches. Verily, I have cleansed my Heart in vain, and washed my hands in Innocency. For all day long have I been plagued, and chastened every Morning. And Jeremiah expostulates thus the matter with God 
(h) Chap. xii. Ver. 1, 2. . Righteous art thou, O Lord, when I plead with thee: Yet let me talk with thee of thy Judgements. Wherefore doth the way of the Wicked prosper? Wherefore are all they happy that deal very Treacherously? Thou hast planted them, yea, they have taken root: They grow, yea, they bring forth Fruit.  
V But the Great and Common Evil that is among Men, arising from the Impunity of Bad Men in the World, is, that there are very Few that from thence do not take Encouragement to go on securely in their Sins: not dreading that Punishment which some think will never come; others look on at such a Distance that the Apprehension of it is not strong enough to make them turn from their Evil Ways: Which probably may be All the Wise KING intended in the Text, though the words may also bear a larger Construction; For to do Evil are Terms of great Latitude. Because Sentence against an Evil Work is not executed speedily, THEREFORE the Heart of the Sons of Men is fully set in them TO DO EVIL.   

Secondly, Expound this Riddle of Providence, the Impunity of Bad Men in the World.  
1. Public Societies or Bodies of Men are Punished in this World, tho' Particular Persons may not. By Public Societies I mean Kingdoms, Nations, and States, and Churches; these being also considered as Societies of Christian Men, who have special Rules set them for their Conduct, in that Relation wherein they stand to each other. For instance. National Judgements for National Sins, are, Immoderate Droughts, excessive Rains, and Inundations of Waters, Contrary Seasons, and a Conflict in the Elements, all which cause Famines and Barrenness in the Earth: Pestilences, and other Contagious and Malignant Distempers; Like That which having lately raged over several Parts of the Kingdom, has at last deprived us of our Excellent, our Incomparable, QUEEN; whose Pious, Just, Mildred, and Prudent Government, in Conjunction with our Gracious SOVEREIGN, was so Great a Blessing to these Nations; A Blessing which our Sins made us unworthy of; Therefore God in his Great Anger has taken her away from us, and Translated Her to a better Crown: Conflagrations: Earthquakes: The Miseries and Desolations of unprosperous and unsuccessful War: Infatuation of Public Ministeries and Counsels: Civil Discords: and the like. Punishments attending Christian Societies, are, Heresies, or Errors in Doctrine, Strong Delusions 
(i) 2 Thess. two. 11. , A Lying and a Credulous Spirit sent out among Men: Schisms and Dissensions among Brethren: Outward Persecutions from Adversaries: And lastly, a removal of God's Candlestick 
(k) Rev. two. 5. , and a transferring of his Kingdom to others that will bring forth the Fruits thereof 
(l) Matth. xxi. 43. . With such Judgements as these Almighty God Punishes the Sins of Civil and Religious Communities in this World: And they are therefore called Temporal Judgements, because they are inflicted here, and can be no where else; and to put a difference betwixt Them, and those Eternal Judgements that are reserved for Particular Bad Men in the other World.  
And God seldom delays these Judgements upon Societies, as he delays the Punishment of Particular Persons, for this plain Reason: That, should these Judgements be respited too long, they would not fall on those Sinful Generations that have deserved them, and have provoked God to send them abroad into the World. Those Generations would pass away, and, being gone, these Judgements would not reach them. The guilty Dead would not feel these Public Calamities in their Graves.  
2. As for Particular Bad Men, they are a Punishment to themselves. A Bad Man always bears a secret Punishment within Him. Every ill Action he does exposes him to the severe Rebukes and Lashes of his own Conscience 
(m) Cicer. de Leg. Lib. 1. §. 40 Paenas luunt homines non tàm Judiciis quàm angore Conscientiae. . And there can hardly be a greater Punishment than a Guilty Mind to a Bad Man in this World. Moreover, the Tumult and Disorder of his Passions, which clash with each other, and often meet with exasperating Difficulties in the pursuit of unlawful Objects, his restless Desires, his awakening Fears, and Jealousies, and Distrusts, and Thirst of Revenge, These, and a Thousand things more of the like nature, disturb the Peace and Tranquillity of his Soul. For the Wicked are like the troubled Sea, when it cannot rest, whose Waters cast up Mire and Dirt: There is no Peace, saith my Gd, to the Wicked 
(n) Isa. lvii. 20, 21. . A Bad Man can never have that inward Complacency and Ease which is the peculiar Fruit of an innocent and well-spent Life; which springs from a good Conscience, and from calm and well-governed Passions. So that tho' we should suppose a Bad Man to live Prosperously, as to all outward Enjoyments and Circumstances of Life, and to departed at last from the World without any apparent Mark of Divine Displeasure against him for his Sins, still it cannot be said that he goes off Unpunished, so long as whilst he lived he carried these Tormentors in his Breast, viz. these Horrors and Anxieties of Conscience, these fretting and vexatious Passions, which were a terrible Punishment tho' he suffered no other. And this Plutarch 
(o) Lib. de eye qui serò puniuntur à Numine.  urges, in answer to those who in his Time denied the Divine Providence in the World, because they said the Wicked were not punished. Are they not punished who lie under such cruel Agonies of Mind, and whom still one raging Lust or other robs of all the Good and Quiet of their Lives? which is the case of every Soul of Man that doth Evil.  
3. Nor are Bad Men secure even against Outward Punishment. For Wickedness and Vice are not always Prosperous in the World. There have been in all Times innumerable Instances of Bad Men, who have been as Poor, and Wretched, and in every respect as Unhappy in the World, as others; have met with as many Misfortunes, and Disappointments, and cross Accidents; have been as destitute of all the Comforts of Life; and have had as Tragical Ends. Wickedness and Vice have a natural Tendency to make Men miserable in this World: But Providence often interferes by more Immediate Punishments. God does not always Punish Bad Men in this World, but he does it sometimes. Not a day but he crushes one bold Sinner or other into ruin. We too often call Casualties, and Fortuitous Disasters, things that the Effects of the Divine Indignation, tho' it acts by Secondary Causes: But some Punishments bear very Signal Marks of Divine Vengeance, and one may visibly discern the Finger of God in them. Therefore no Bad Man can promise himself Impunity even in this World, and Sentence against an Evil Work IS sometimes executed speedily.   

This were enough to vindicate the Divine Justice and Providence from the Exceptions and Cavils of Men, tho' no more were said in this Matter. For this shows that there is a God; That he is no idle Spectator of Human Affairs; That he is an Enemy to Wickedness and Vice; That he is concerned for the Honour and Majesty of his Laws; And that many times Punishment hangs o'er a Sinner's head, like a Cloud charged with Thunder, ready to break upon him when he is least ware of it. But I shall pursue this Argument further. For still it is very evident that God does not always punish Bad Men in this World. He Punishes Some, but he Punishes not All. Many lead very Wicked Lives, who, setting aside that inward Trouble of Mind, which no Bad Man can more or less be exempt from, live in great Prosperity and Affluency of all the Good Things of this World.  
The End of Divine Punishment in this World must be the Correction or the Destruction of the Offender. But there are very good Reasons why God does not always Punish Bad Men in this World, with respect to either of These.   

With respect to the First,  
I. God does not always Punish Bad Men in this World, because he considers Men as Rational Creatures, and who ought therefore to be dealt with by Rational Methods. Present and Frequent Punishments would not be congruous to the Nature of Man. The Rod and the Whip are only fit for Beasts, Creatures void of Understanding, but of quick Sense, not to be argued but lashed into Duty by the Pungency of Present Pain. But to Man, endowed with Reason, capable of looking Forwards, and of taking a Prospect of Things tho' at never so great a Distance, the Threats of Future Punishment are a sufficient Check; nor is it needful that God, in the ordinary Course of his Justice in this World, should use any other. I say, in the ordinary Course of his Justice, because some Examples may be necessary in the World. But, for the Generality of Men, This no doubt is the most suitable Method, because it leaves room for the exercise of the Powers of Reason. God has given to every Man Natural Notices of Good and Evil. To us Christians he has added his Word for a more perfect Rule of Life. He Encourages Good Men: He Threatens the Bad: And he has actually Punished some, even in this World, for a Warning to others. After that, what can be proper for God to do more, but to leave the rest and gross of Mankind to the Use of that Reason he has given them? Should God be always busy in Beating and Punishing Men in this World, it had been enough to have endowed them with the Common Instinct or Sense of Feeling. And accordingly I observe that St. Paul, in his Epistle to the Romans 
(p) Ch. xii. Ver. 1. , calls that Service which God requires from Man in this World, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, a Reasonable Service; that is, a Service grounded on the Conviction of the Judgement, and on the Principles and Deductions of Reason.  
II. God does not always Punish Bad Men in this World, because Man is a Free Agent: But Present Punishment would bring a Force and a Compulsion upon him, in consistent with that Freedom; and his Obedience to God would not be Voluntary, because it were not Free 
(q) Vid. Tertul. advers. Martion. Lib. II. Cap. 5. & 6. . It would not be the Obedience of a Man, prompted by inward Inclination and Choice, but the Obedience of a Machine, moved by outward Violence and Impulse: There would be nothing Commendable in it. Here then must be Temperament, that the continual Awe and Dread of Punishment may not destroy the Freedom of the Will. Men ought to reverence the Divine Judgements, but they must not be so always under the Stroke and Terror of the Rod, as to be thereby deprived of the Liberty of their Actions. Thus God, in not executing speedy Punishment upon Sinners in this World, shows wonderful Wisdom, and a due Regard to the Frame of Humane Nature.   

With respect to the Second,  
I. God does not always Punish Bad Men in this World, because He takes no Pleasure in the Death of the Wicked 
(r) Ezek. xxxiii. 11. , and does not afflict willingly, nor grieve the Children of Men 
(s) Lament. iii. 33. . Now 'tis very consonant to Reason that he should not hasten, what he does not willingly. And this gives a Noble Idea of the Divine Nature; free from Cruelty, raised above all the sour and Vindictive Passions of Men; like that Glorious Heaven in which he dwells, where reigns an Eternal Sweetness and Serenity, while Storms and Tempests are formed in the lower Regions. Were God pleased with the Sufferings and Miseries of Men, with what horrid Executions and Tragedies would he not every Day fill the World, when so many Blasphemies and Impieties against him call daily aloud for Vengeance? But our Gracious and Good God bears long with Sinners, because 'tis with Regret that he destroys his Creatures; who therefore may be more properly said to destroy themselves, since, when at any time they are punished, 'tis rather their Choice than his Act.  
II. God does not always Punish Bad Men in this World, that he may set Man kind an Example of Longanimity, and Meekness under Injuries, and of mutual Forbearance to each other. And the World needs such an Example. God is provoked every Day 
(t) Ps. seven. 12. : Yet God passes by those Provocations, and bears with them that most grievously offend him. 'Tis to teach us to moderate our Heats, to conquer our Resentments, and not upon every bad Turn that Men do unto us to fly to speedy Revenge, and to Retaliate Evil for Evil. We ought to study nothing so much as to imitate the Divine Excellencies and Perfections; and then indeed we become like God, when, like him, we show Kindness and good Will even to those that deserve our Hatred and our Aversion. Love your Enemies, do good to them that hate you, and ye shall be the Children of the Highest, who is Kind to the Unthankful and to the Evil, who maketh his Sun to rise on Evil and on the Good, and sendeth his Rain on the Just and on the Unjust, says our Blessed Lord and Saviour 
(u) Mat. v. 45. Luke vi. 35. . This then is a very good Reason why God does not always Punish Bad Men in this World; and it must be agreeable to those innate Impressions which all Mankind have of the Divine Nature, forasmuch as Plutarch himself, a Heathen Philosopher, uses it on the like Occasion 
(w) Lib. de cis qui serò puniuntur a Numine. .  
And since the Words of the Text are the Words of a ROYAL PREACHER, and that this is too Godlike a Virtue to be confined among Private Men, why may we not suppose that the Great Governor of the World designs this Lenity and Indulgence to Sinners for an Example also to Those whom he has constituted his Vice-gerents on Earth 
(x) Senec. de Clem. Lib. I. Cap. 5. Deorum sibi animum asserens PRINCEPS, alios ex Civibus suis, quia utiles bonique sunt, libens videat; alios in numerum relinquat. Quosdam esse gaudeat, quosdam patiatur. ? KING'S are called Gods in Scripture 
(y) Psal. LXXXII. 1.6. , and they all bear the Sacred Character of that Almighty Power that Rules the Universe; But than they may be truly said to be the lively Images of the He avenly KING, when, like him, they are slow to Punishment, and show Mercy where they might use Severity.  
III. God does not always Punish Bad Men in this World, that they may have time to Repent and grow better. And this Reason is also given by the Heathen Moralist 
(z) Plutarch. ut supr. . Though a Sinner do Evil an Hundred times, his Days are Prolonged, says our ROYAL PREACHER, in the Verse which follows the Text. Prolonged no doubt for this, that, seeing the Iniquity of his Ways, he may fly from the Wrath to come 
(a) Mat. iii. 7. , which the Divine Benignity intends all Men should have the Wisdom to do.  
iv God does not always Punish Bad Men in this World, because this World is a State of Probation and Trial: And such a State will not admit of Present Punishment. For in order to be proved Men must be left in a manner to themselves.  
V God does not always Punish Bad Men in this World, because they are to have their Portion in it 
(b) Ps. xvii. 14. . Few Men are so very Bad as not to do some Good one time or other: And though That may not be enough to entitle them to the Glorious Rewards of another World, it may be enough to procure them a Reprieve from Punishment, and some Temporal Blessings in This. For the Righteous Judge of the World will not suffer the Good Actions even of Bad Men to go without a Recompense: And it must be such an one as this World will afford. Jehu was certainly a Bad Man; yet, for one Good Work that he did, in destroying the House of Ahab, as God had Commanded him, he enjoyed great Prosperity in his days, he died in Peace, and God promised that his Children of the Fourth Generation should sit on the Throne of Israel 
(c) 2 Kings x. 30. . Thus, the Wicked Rich Man was told in Hell that in his Life time he had received His Good Things 
(d) Luke xuj. 25. .  
VI God does not always Punish Bad Men in this World, because they are so intermixed with the Good, that the One cannot be Punished but the Other must participate in their Punishment: God therefore spares the Bad, in pity and compassion to the Good. If Bad Men did live in this World apart by themselves, than God might punish them without involving the Good in their Calamity: But there are such common Ties of Blood, and Kindred, of Alliance, and Friendship, of Interest, and the like, betwixt Them, that the Punishment of the One would be a real Torment and Affliction to the other. A Righteous Father may have a very Wicked Son, and a Righteous Son may have a very Wicked Father: But could a Father see his own Bowels, or a Son Him that begot him, hurried to Punishment, and not be concerned at it? There will be a Time when all these Relations of Flesh and Blood will cease; and That will be a proper Season for Punishment. In this World, the Tares cannot be gathered without rooting up the Wheat with them: Therefore they must both grow up together until the Harvest 
(e) Matth. xiii. 24. etc. . In Public and National Judgements Good Men indeed do often suffer undiscriminately with the Bad, because it cannot be otherwise. But even Public and National Judgements have been averted in favour to Good Men, who else must have shared in the Common Miseries of their Country. Sodom itself, that Wicked City, might have remained until this day, had there been but Ten Good Men in it. God would not have destroyed it for their sakes 
(f) Gen. xviii. 32. .  
VII. God does not always Punish Bad Men in this World, that he may exercise the Faith of Good Men. When a Good Man sees a Notorious Malefactor remain unpunished, nay, Flourish and Prosper, as tho' there was no God nor Providence in the World, 'tis an excellent Occasion that God gives him to retire within Himself, to live above Sense and External Shows and Appearances, to abstract his Thoughts from Gross and Corporeal Objects, to look beyond this Life, and to raise his Mind to the Contemplation of the Unseen and Invisible Things of another World; In a Word, to walk by Faith, and not by Sight 
(g) 2 Cor. v. 7. . Such was the Faith of the ancient Servants of God, when in their Time unpunished and successful Impiety overflowed the World, and their Righteous Souls were daily vexed with the filthy Conversation of the Wicked 
(h) 2 Pet. two. 7, 8. . We look not at the things which are seen, says the Apostle 
(i) 2 Cor. iv. 18. , but at the things which are not seen. And This is that Faith that overcomes the World 
(k) 1 John v. 4: . Should God execute Judgement in this World according to every Man's Deserts, there would be little left for Good Men to exercise their Faith about. It would be no longer Faith, but Evidence. Good Men indeed may be surprised at the Impunity of Bad Men in the World; But when they look further into the Matter, they will find great Reason to adore the Wisdom and Equity of the Divine Counsels, and to cry out in the Language of the Scripture, Great and Marvellous are thy Works, O Lord God Almighty! Just and True are thy Ways, thou King of Saints 
(l) Rev. xv. 3. !  
VIII. God does not always Punish Bad Men in this World, because, says Plutarch, 
(m)  sup.  he reserves them to be a Punishment to others. Even Good Men may need Correction. When they do so, and God will have the hands of Men to intervene in it, he does not usually employ the Ministry of other Good Men to chastise them; He employs Bad Men, as fittest for that Work: And he makes the Bad Punish one another. So that Bad Men are indeed in the World, what Common Executioners are in the best and wisest Governments. They are the Public Lictors that carry the Rods and Axes of the Supreme Dictator of the World, and must therefore be put in a Capacity to execute the Orders and Decrees of his Justice. This is to be understood more particularly of some Bad Men. Those I mean that are raised to Power and Authority in the World, and are thereby enabled to do so much the more Mischief. And this is the Case of Tyrants, and other Great Oppressors, and Enemies of the Repose and Happiness of Mankind. All these must be confessed to be Instruments in the hand of God, for the Punishment of those whom through their means he intends to Punish in this World. But they themselves must remain Unpunished: At least, until they have served the Ends of His Justice: and then their Turn may also come to Drink of the Cup of his Fury, and to be Punished by others as Bad as themselves.  
And is not this admirable Wisdom? In general, All Bad Men may be said to be the Ministers of the Divine Vengeance for the Punishment of each other. For being acted by Contrary Passions and Interests, led by Different Humours and Designs, they are perpetually thwarting and justling one another, and they are as Thorns and Goads in each other's side; the Hand of every one of them being continually against his Fellow 
(n) Judg. seven. 22. . Which in great measure supersedes the Necessity of more direct Punishment from God: For they take the Work out of God's Hands: and in this World one Bad Man is a Plague and a Scourge to another.  
IX. God does not always Punish Bad Men in this World, because their Sins are not yet ripe for Punishment. The Measure of their Iniquities is not yet full 
(o) Gen. xv. 16. . Nemo repent fit Turpissimus. No Man becomes thoroughly Wicked at once. It must be Step after Step. One Sin must be added to another. From a small Heap they must rise to a Mountain: And then let the Sinner prepare to meet A JWDOMENT WORTHY OF GOD. And therefore,  
X. Lastly, God does not always Punish Bad Men in this World, because he has appointed a Day wherein he will pass a strict and impartial Judgement upon All Men, and will finally render to every one according to his Works 
(p) Matth. xuj. 27. . God needs not Punish Bad Men in this World, so long as he means to reckon with them in another World, and that sooner or later they must fall into his hands. And since a Thousand Years with the Lord are but as one Day 
(q) 2 Pet. three 8. , That short Impunity which Bad Men enjoy for a few Years in this World, attended with the endless Torments of another World, can be no Objection against the Divine Justice and Providence. Nay, Bad Men must account for this Impunity they now enjoy. It will aggravate their Gild, and add to their Punishment, that they made no better use of the Opportunity of Grace that was put into their hands, not considering that the Goodness of God led them to Repentance 
(r) Rom. two. 4. . Nor is there a more certain Proof of a Future State 
(s) See Dr. Sherlock of Judgement. Ch. 1. §. 3. , where God will retribute Punishments proportioned to every one's Demerits, than the Impunity of Bad Men in the World. That God does not Punish them now, says Chrysostom 
(t) Ad Pop. Autioch. Hom. xlvi. , is a Sad Presage that he has some Terrible Vengeance in store for them.   

From what has been said it may appear how little Reason some Men have to Impeach, and call into question, the Divine Justice and Providence, because Bad Men remain Unpunished in the World. Not that I think it possible to trace every Footstep, and solve All the Various Phenomena of Providence in the World. God's Judgements are a great Deep 
(u) Psa. xxxvi. 6. : His Ways are past finding out. For who has known the Mind of the Lord? and who has been his Counsellor 
(w) Rom. xi. 33, 34. ? But we may know as much as is necessary to set our Minds at ease about this Matter: Wherein if any thing yet remains that we cannot now extricate, let us remember that a Day is coming that will clear up This, and all other Dark Passages of Providence. Then, we shall be able to give an account of every Accident that happens to every Man in this Life. We shall read in the Books of Heaven the Orders of the Divine Counsels: And there we shall see with what infinite Goodness, and Justice, and Wisdom, God rules the World, and disposes of Human Affairs. In the mean while, it becomes us to reverence the Invisible Power and Majesty of God; To stand in awe of his Judgements, tho' they seem never so far off; To Work out our own Salvation with fear and trembling 
(x) Phil. two. 12. : Being firmly persuaded that God has set Bad Men in slippery Places: He casts them down, and destroys them. O how suddenly do they consume, perish, and come to a fearful End 
(y) Psal. lxxiii. 17, 18. !   
THE END.   

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ADVERTISEMENTS.  

SERMON sur l'Hymne Angélique & Eucharistique. Luc. II. 14. Prononcé dans l'Eglise de St. Sauveur en l'Isle de JERSEY, le 3me. jour d' Auril, 1687. jour de Cene. 4to.  
A SERMON Preached at St. Helier in the Isle of JERSEY, before the English Garrison, April 10. 1692. 4to.  
Of the Impunity of Bad Men in the World. A SERMON Preached at WHITEHALL, Dec. 30. 1694.  
An Account of the Isle of JERSEY, the Greatest of those Islands that are now the only Remainder of the English Dominions in France. With a new and accurate Map of the Island. Humbly Dedicated to His Majesty. 8vo.  
These Four Written by PHILIP FALL, M. A. Deputy from the States of the said Island, and Chaplain in Ordinary to His Majesty.   

The History of the Campagne in the Spanish Netherlands. Anno Dom. 1693. With an Exact Draught of the several Attacks of the French Line, by the Duke of Wirtemberg, with the Detachment under his Command. Done upon Copper. By Edw. D'Auvergne, M. A. Rector of St. Brelard in the Isle of JERSEY, and Chaplain to His Majesty's Regiment of Scots Guards. 4to.  
The History of the Campagne in the Spanish Netherlands, Anno Dom. 1694. With the Journal of the Siege of Hue. By the same Author. 4to.   
Printed for John Newton, at the Three Pigeons, over-against the Inner-Temple Gate, in Fleetstreet.