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upon EZEKIELl 131
fuffer) not with refpe£r, to the Eternal Punifh- Chapter
ments of the next. See Bifhop Sanderfon's Third XVIII.
Sermon upon i Kjngs xxi. 29. " The Scripture l/VNJ
" takes notice of a certain Meafure of Iniquity,
" which is filling up from one Generation to ano-
" ther, 'till at laft it makes a Nation or Family
u ripe for Deftru&ion. And altho' thofe Perfons
" on whom this Vengeance falls, fuffer no more
" than their own Perfonal Sins deferved ; yet be-
" caufe the Sins of former Generations which they
" equal or out-do, make it time for God utterly to
" deftroy them, the Punifhments due to the Sins of
" many Ages and Generations are faid to fall upon
" them. See Matth. xxiii. 35, 56. Dr. Sherlock of
" Providence, Chap. 8.
Ver. 4. "Behold all Souls are mine,"] As they are Ver. 4.
all equally my Creatures, fo my Dealings with
them fhall be without Prejudice or Partiality.
Ibid. The Soul that fmneth, it fiall die..3 Death
is the Wages of Sin, and all Men being Sinners,
the Sentence of Temporal Death paffes equally upon
them all. But as Life fignifies in general all
that Happinefs which attends God's Favour, fo
Death denotes all thofe Punifhments which are the
Effe&s of the Divine Difpleafure. See 2 Sam. xli.
1 3. under which are comprehended the Miferies of
the next World ; and thefe fhall be allotted to Men
according to their Deferts, without any regard to
the Faults of their Anceftors, which fhall not then
be laid to their Charge, or taken into Account to
aggravate their Guilt.
As the Prophets inftruct: Men in the Practice of
Inward and Evangelical Righteoufnefs, and in order
to it fpeak flightingly of the meer External Du-
S 2 ties