CHAP. I. The Introduction to the WORK, with some general Account of its Design.

§ 1. WHEN we look round about us with an attentive eye, and consider the cha­racters and pursuits of men, we plain­ly see, that though, in the original constitution of their natures, they only, of all the creatures that dwell on the face of the earth, be capable of religion, yet many of them shamefully neglect it. And whatever diffe­rent notions people may entertain of what they call re­ligion, all must agree in owning, that it is very far from being an universal thing.

§ 2. Religion, in its most general view, is such a sense of God on the soul, and such a conviction of our obliga­tions to him, and of our dependance upon him, as shall engage us to make it our great care to conduct ourselves in a manner which we have reason to believe will be [Page 2] pleasing to him. Now, when we have given this plain account of religion, it is by no means necessary that we should search among the savages of the African or Ame­rican nations, to find instances of those who are strangers to it. When we view the conduct of the generality of people at home, in a Christian and Protestant nation, in a nation whose obligations to God have been singular, almost beyond those of any other people under Heaven, will any one presume to say, that religion has an univer­sal reign among us? will any one suppose that it prevails in every life? that it reigns in every heart? alas! the avowed infidelity, the profanation of the name and day of God, the drunkenness, the lewdness, the injustice the falsehood, the pride, the prodigality, the base selfishness, the stupid insensibility of the spiritual and eternal inte­rests of themselves and others, which so generally appear among us, loudly proclaim the contrary. So that one would imagine, upon this view, that thousands and ten thousands thought the neglect and even the contempt, of religion were a glory rather than a reproach. And where is the neighbourhood, where is the society, where is the happy family, (consisting of any considerable num­ber,) in which, on a more exact examination, we find reason to say, "Religion fills even this little circle?" There is, perhaps, a freedom from any gross and scanda­lous immoralities, an external decency of behaviour, an attendance on the outward forms of worship in public, and (here and there) in the family; yet amidst all this, there is nothing which looks like the genuine actings of the spiritual and divine life. There is no appearance of love to God, no reverence for his presence, no desire of his favour as the highest good: there is no cordial belief of the gospel of salvation; no eager solicitude to escape that condemnation which we have incurred by sin; no hearty concern to secure that eternal life which Christ has purchased and secured for his people, and which he freely promises to all who will receive him. Alas! whatever the love of a friend, or ever of a parent, can do: whatever inclination there may [...] to hope all things, and believe all things, the most favourable; evi­dence [Page 3] to the contrary will force itself upon the mind, and extort the unwilling conclusion, that, whatever else may be amiable in this dear friend, in that favourite child, "religion dwells not in its breast."

§ 3. To a heart that firmly believes the gospel, and views persons and things in the light of eternity, this is one of the most mournful considerations in the world. And indeed, to such a one, all the other calamities and evils of human nature appears trifles when compared with this, the absence of real religion, and that contra­riety to it, which reigns in so many thousands of man­kind. Let this be cured, and all the other evils will easily be borne; nay, good will be extracted out of them: but if this continue, it "bringeth forth fruit unto death ^(a);" and in consequence of it, multitudes, who share the entertainments of an indulgent Providence with us, and are at least allied to us by the bond of the same common nature, must, in a few years, be swept away into "utter destruction," and be plunged beyond redemption "into everlasting burnings."

§ 4. I doubt not but that there are many, under those various forms of religious profession, which have so un­happily divided us in this nation, who are not only la­menting this in public, if their office in life calls them to an opportunity of doing it, but are likewise mourning before God in secret, under a sense of this sad state of things; and who can appeal to him that searches all hearts, as to the sincerity of their desires to revive the languishing cause of vital Christianity and substantial piety, and, among the rest, the author of this treatise, may with confidence, say, it is this which animates him to the present attempt, in the midst of so many other cares and labours; for this, he is willing to lay aside many of those curious amusements in science which might suit his own private taste, and perhaps open a way to some reputation in the learned world: for this, he is willing to wave the laboured ornaments of speech, that he may, if possible, descend to the capacity of the [Page 4] lowest part of mankind: for this, he would endeavour to convince the judgment, and to reach the heart, of every reader: and in a word, for this, without any dread of the name of an Enthusiast, whoever may at random throw it out upon the occasion, he would, as it were, enter with you into your closet from day to day, and with all plainness and freedom, as well as serious­ness, would discourse to you of the great things which he has learnt from the Christian revelation, and on which he assuredly knows your everlasting happiness to depend: that if you hitherto have lived without religion, you may now be awakened to the consideration of it, and may be instructed in its nature and importance; or that, if you are already, through divine grace, experi­mentally acquainted with it, you may be assisted to make a greater progress.

§ 5. But he earnestly intreats this favor of you, that, as it is plainly a serious business we are entering upon, you would be pleased to give him a serious and an at­tentive hearing. He intreats that these addresses, and these meditations, may be perused at leisure, and be thought over in retirement; and that you would do him and yourself the justice to believe the representations which are here made, and the warnings which are here given, to proceed from sincerity and love; from an heart which would not designedly give one moment's unnecessary pain to the meanest creature on the face of the earth, and much less to any human mind. If he be importunate, it is, because he at least imagines that there is just reason for it; and fears, least amidst the multi­tudes who are undone by the utter neglect of religion, and among those who are greatly damaged for want of a more resolute and constant attendance to it: this may be the case of some into whose hands this treatise may fall.

§ 6. He is a barbarian, and deserve, not to be called a man, who can look on the sorrows of his fellow-creatures without drawing out his soul unto them, and wishing, at least, that it were in the power of his hand to help them. Surely earth would be in Heaven to that man [Page 5] who could go about from place to place, scattering hap­piness wheresoever he came, though it were only the body that he were capable of relieving, and though he could impart nothing better than the happiness of a mor­tal life. But the happiness rises in proportion to the na­ture and degree of the good which he imparts. Happy, are we ready to say, were those honored servants of Christ, who in the early days of his church, were the be­nevolent and sympathising instruments of conveying mi­raculous healing to those whose cases seemed desperate; who poured in upon the blind and the deaf the pleasures of light and sound, and called up the dead to the powers of action and enjoyment. But this is an honor and hap­piness which it is not fit for God commonly to bestow on mortal men. Yet there have been in every age, and, blessed be his name, there still are those, whom he has condescended to make his instruments in conveying nobler and more lasting blessings than these to their fel­low-creatures. Death hath long since veiled the eyes and stopped the ears of those who were the subjects of miraculous healing, and recovered its empire over those who were once recalled from the grave. But the souls who were prevailed on to receive the gospel live for ever. God has owned the labours of his faithful ministers in every age to produce these blessed effects; and some of them being dead, yet speaketh ^(b) with power and suc­cess in this important cause. Wonder not then if, living and dying, I be ambitious of this honor; and if "my mouth be freely opened," where I can truly say, "My heart is enlarged ^(c)."

§ 7. Informing my general plan, I have been solicitous that this little treatise might, if possible, be useful to all its readers, and contain something suitable to each. I will therefore take the man, and the Christian, in a great variety of circumstances. I will first suppose myself ad­dressing to one of the vast number of thoughtless crea­tures, who have hitherto been utterly unconcerned about religion; and will try what can be done, by all plainness and earnestness of address, to awaken him from this fa­tal [Page 6] lethargy, to a care (chap. 2.) an affectionate and an immediate care about it, (chap. 3.) I will labour to fix a deep and awful conviction of guilt upon his conscience. (chap. 4.), and to strip him of his vain excuses and his flattering hopes, (chap. 5.) I will read to him, oh! that I could fix on his heart, that sentence, that dreadful sen­tence, which a righteous and an Almighty God hath de­nounced against him as a sinner, (chap. 6.); and endea­vour to show him in how helpless a state he lies under this condemnation, as to any capacity he has of deliver­ing himself, (chap. 7.) But I do not mean to leave any in so terrible a situation; I will joyfully proclaim ‘the glad tidings of pardon and salvation by Christ Jesus our Lord,’ which is all the support and confidence of my own soul, (chap. 8.); and then I will give some ge­neral view of the way by which this salvation is to be obtained, (chap. 9.); urging the sinner to accept of it as affectionately as I can, (chap. 10.); though nothing can be sufficiently pathetic, where, as in this matter, the life of an immortal soul is in question.

§ 8. Too probable it is, that some will, after all this, remain insensible; and therefore, that their sad case may not incumber the following articles, I shall here take a solemn leave of them, (chap. 11.); and then shall turn and address myself, as compassionately as I can to a most contrary character; I mean to a soul overwhelmed with a sense of the greatness of its sins, and trembling under the burden, as if there were no more hope for him in God, (chap. 12.) and that nothing may be omitted which may give solid peace to the troubled spirit, I shall endea­vour to guide its enquiries as to the evidences of sincere repentance and faith, (chap. 13.); which will be far­ther illustrated by a more particular view of the several branches of the Christian temper, such as may serve at once to assist the reader in judging what he is, and to show him what he should labour to be, (chap. 14) This will naturally lead to a view of the need we have of the influ­ences of the blessed Spirit to assist us in the important and difficult work of the true Christian; and of the encourage­ment we have to hope for these divine assistances, (chap. [Page 7] 15.) In an humble dependence on which I shall then en­ter on the consideration of several cases, which often oc­cur in the Christian life, in which, particular addresses to the conscience may be requisite and useful.

§ 9. As some peculiar difficulties and discouragements attend the first entrance on a religious course, it will here be our first care to animate the young convert a­gainst them, (chap. 16.) And that it may be done more effectually, I shall urge a solemn dedication of himself to God, (chap. 17.); to be confirmed by entering into the full communion of the church by an approach to the sa­cred table, (chap. 18.) That these engagements may be more happily fulfilled, we shall endeavour to draw a more particular plan of that devout, regular, and accu­rate course, which ought daily to be attended to, (chap. 19.); and because the idea will probably rise so much higher than what is the general practice, even of good men, we shall endeavour to persuade the reader to make the attempt, hard as it may seem, (chap. 20.); and shall caution him against various temptations, which might otherwise draw him aside to negligence and sin, (chap. 21.)

§ 10. Happy will it be for the reader, if these exhor­tations and cautions to be attended to with becoming re­gard: but as it is, alas! too probable, that, notwith­standing all, the infirmities of nature will sometimes pre­vail, we shall consider the case of deadness and langour in religion, which often steals upon us by insensible de­grees, (chap. 22.); from whence there is too easy a pas­sage to that terrible one of a return unto known and de­liberate sin, (chap. 23.) And as the one or the other of these tends, in a proportionable degree, to provoke the blessed God to hide his face, and his injured Spirit to withdraw, that melancholy condition will be taken into a particular survey, (chap. 24.) I shall then take notice also of the case of great and heavy afflictions in life, (chap. 25.) a discipline which the best of men have reason to expect, especially when they backslide from God, and yield to their spiritual enemies.

[Page 8]§ 11. Instances of this kind will, I fear, be too fre­quent; yet, I trust, there will be many others, whose path, like the dawning light," will ‘shine more and more unto the perfect day ^(d).’ And therefore we shall endeavour, in the best manner we can, to as­sist the Christian in passing a true judgment on the growth of grace in his heart, (chap. 26.) as we had done before in judging of its sincerity. And as nothing conduces more to the advancement of grace than the lively ex­ercise of love to God, a holy joy in him, we shall here remind the real Christian of those mercies which tend to excite that love and joy (chap. 27.) and, in the views of them, to animate him to those vigorous efforts of usefulness in life which so well becomes his character, and will have so happy an efficacy on brightening his crown, (chap. 28.) Supposing him to act accordingly, we shall then labour to illustrate and assist the delight with which he may look forward to the awful solemnities of death and judgment, (chap. 29.): and shall close the scene by accompanying him, as it were, to the nearest confines of that dark valley, through which he is to pass to glory; giving him such directions as may seem most subservient to his honouring God, and adorning religion, by his dying behaviour, (chap. 30.) Nor am I without a pleasing hope, that, through the divine blessing and grace, I may be, in some instances, so successful as to leave those triumphing in the views of judgment and eternity, and glorifying God by a truly Christian life and death, whom I found trembling in the apprehensions of future misery; or, perhaps, in a much more dangerous and miserable circumstance than that; I mean, entirely forgetting the prospect, and sunk into the most stupid insensibility of those things, for an attendance to which the human mind was formed, and in comparison of which all the pursuits of this transitory life are emptier than wind, and lighter than a feather.

§ 12. Such a variety of heads must, to be sure, be handled but briefly, as we intend to bring them within [Page 9] the bulk of a moderate volume. I shall not, therefore, discuss them, as a preacher might properly do in ser­mons, in which the truths of religion are professedly to be explained and taught, defended and improved, in a wide variety, and long detail of propositions, arguments, objections, replies, and inferences, marshalled, and num­bered under their distinct generals. I shall here speak in a looser and freer manner, as a friend to a friend; just as I would do if I were to be in person admitted to a private audience by one whom I tenderly loved, and whose circumstance and character I knew to be like that which the title of one chapter or another of this treatise describes. And when I have discoursed with him a little while, which will seldom be so long as half an hour, I shall, as it were, step aside, and leave him to meditate on what be has heard, or endeavour to assist him in such servent addresses to God as it may be pro­per to mingle with those meditations. In the mean time, I will here take the liberty to pray over my read­er and my work, and to commend it solemnly to the divine blessing, in token of my deep conviction of an entire dependance upon it.. And I am well persuaded, that sentiments like these are common, in the general, to every faithful minister, to every real Christian.

CHAP. II. The careless Sinner awakened.

§ 1. SHAMEFULLY and fatally as religion is ne­glected in the world, yet, blessed be God, it has some sincere disciples; children of Wisdom, by whom, even in this foolish and degenerate age, it "is justified ^(a);" who having, by divine grace, been brought to the knowledge of God in Christ, have faith­fully devoted their hearts to him, and, by a natural consequence, are devoting their lives to his service. Could I be sure this treatise would fall into no other hands but theirs, my work would be shorter, easier, and pleasanter.

§ 2. But, among the thousands that neglect religion, it is more than possible that some of my readers may be included; and I am so deeply affected with their un­happy case, that the temper of my heart, as well as the proper method of my subject, [...]ds me, in the first place, to address myself to such; to apply to every one of them: and therefore, to you, O reader, whoever you are, who may come under the denomination of ‘a care­less sinner.’

[Page 13]§ 3. Be not, I beseech you, angry at the name. The physicians of souls must speak plainly, or they may mur­der those whom they should cure. I would make no harsh and [...]nreasonable supposition. I would charge you with nothing more than is absolutely necessary to convince you that you are the person to whom I speak. I will not, therefore, imagine you to be a profane and abandoned profligate. I will not suppose that you al­low yourself to blaspheme God, to dishonour his name by customary swearing, or grossly to violate the sabbath, or commonly to neglect the solemnities of his public worship: I will not imagine that you have injured your neighbours in their lives, their chastity, or their posses­sions, either by violence, or by fraud; or that you have scandalously debased the rational nature of man by that vile intemperance which transforms us into the worst kind of brutes, or something beneath them.

§ 4. In opposition to all this, I will suppose that you believe the existence and providence of God, and the truth of Christianity as a revelation from him: of which, if you have any doubt, I must desire that you would immediately seek your satisfaction elsewhere ^*. I say, immediately: because not to believe it, is, in effect, to disbelieve it; and will make your ruin equally certain, though, perhaps, it may leave it less aggravated, than if contempt and opposition had been added to suspicion and neglect. But, supposing you to be a nominal Chris­tian, and not a Deist or a Sceptic; I will also suppose your conduct among men to be not only blameless, but amiable; and that they who know you most intimately, must acknowledge that you are just and sober, humane and courteous, compassionate and liberal; yet, with all this, you may "lack that one thing ^(b)," on which your eternal happiness depends.

[Page 14]§ 5. I beseech you, reader, whoever you are, that you would look seriously into your own heart, and ask it this one plain question, "Am I truly religious?" Is the love of God the governing principle [...] my life? Do I walk under a sense of his presence? Do I con­verse with him from day to day, in the exercise of prayer and praise? And am I, on the whole, making his service my business and my delight, regarding him as my Master and my Father?

§ 6. It is my present business only to address myself to the person whose conscience answers in the negative. And I would address with equal plainness, and equal freedom, to high and low, to rich and poor: to you who (as the Scripture, with a dreadful propriety, ex­presses it) "live without God in the world ^(c);" and while, in words and forms, you "own God, deny him in your actions ^(d)," and behave yourselves in the main, (a few external ceremonies only excepted,) just as you would do if you believed, and were sure, there was no God. Unhappy creature, whoever you are! your own heart condemns you immediately; and how much more that ‘God who is greater than your heart, and know­eth all things ^(e).’ He is "in secret ^(f)," as well as in public; and words cannot express the delight with which his children converse with him alone: but in se­cret you acknowledge him not; you neither pray to him, nor praise him in your retirements. Accounts, correspondencies, studies, may often bring you into your closet; but if nothing but devotion were to be transacted there, it would be to you quite an unfrequent­ed place. And thus you go on from day to day, in a con­tinual forgetfulness of God; and are as thoughtless a­bout religion, as if you had long since demonstrated it to yourself that it was a mere dream. If, indeed, you are sick, you will perhaps cry to God for health; in any extreme danger you will lift up your eyes and voice for deliverance; but as for the pardon of sin, and the other [Page 15] blessings of the gospel, you are not at all inwardly so­licitous about them, though you profess to believe that the gospel is divine, and the blessings of it eternal. All your thoughts, and all your hours, are divided between the business and amusements of life: and if, now and then, an awful providence, or a serious sermon or book, awakens you, it is but a few days, or it may be, a few hours, and you are the same careless creature you ever were before. On the whole, you act as if you were re­solved to put it to the venture, and, at your own ex­pence, to make the experiment, whether the conse­quences of neglecting religion be indeed as terrible as its ministers and friends have represented. Their re­monstrances do, indeed, sometimes force themselves up­on you, as (considering the age and country in which you live) it is hardly possible entirely to avoid them; but you have, it may be, found out the art of Isaiah's people, ‘Hearing to hear, and not understand; and seeing to see, and not perceive; your heart is waxed gross, your eyes are closed, and your ears heavy ^(g).’ Under the very ordinances of worship, your thoughts "are at the ends of the earth ^(h)." Every amusement of the imagination is welcome, if it may but lead away your mind from so insipid and so disagreeable a subject as religion. And, probably, the very last time you were in a worshipping assembly, you managed just as you would have done if you had thought God know nothing of your behaviour; or as if you did not think it worth one single care whether he were pleased or displeased with it.

§ 7. Alas! is it then come to this, with all your be­lief of God, and providence and scripture! that religion is not worth a thought! that it is not worth one hour's serious consideration and reflection, ‘what God and Christ are, and what you yourself are, and what you must hereafter be?’ Where then are all your rati­onal faculties? How are they employed; or rather, how are they stupified and benumbed?

[Page 16]§ 8. The certainty and importance of the things of which I speak are so evident, from the principles which you yourselves grant, that one might almost set a child or an idiot to reason upon them; and yet they are ne­glected by those who are grown up to understanding, and; perhaps, some of them to such refinement of un­derstanding, that they would think themselves greatly injured if they were not to be reckoned among the po­liter and the more learned part of mankind.

§ 9. But it is not your neglect, Sirs, that can destroy the being or importance of such things as these. It may indeed destroy you, but it cannot in the least affect them. Permit me, therefore, having been myself awakened, to come to each of you, and say, as the mariners did to Jo [...]h, while asleep in the midst of a much less dan­gerous storm, "What "meanest thou, O s [...]eeper? A­rise, and call upon "thy God ^{(i) (i)}." Do you doubt as to the reasonableness, or necessity, of doing it? ‘I will demand, and answer me ^(l):’ Answer me to your own conscience, as one that must, ere long, render ano­ther kind of account.

§ 10. You own that there is a God, and well you may; for you cannot open your eyes but you must see the evident proofs of his being, his presence, and his agency You behold him around you in every object: you feel him within you, if I may so speak, in every vein, and in every nerve: you see, and you feel, not only that he hath formed you with an exquisite wis­dom, which no mortal man could ever fully explain or comprehend; but that he is continually near you, wherever you are, and however you are employed, by day, or by night; "in him you live, and move, and have your being ^(l)." Common sense will tell you, that it is not your own wisdom, and power, and attention, that causes your heart to beat, and your blood to cir­culate; that draws in, and sends out, that breath of life, that precarious breath of a most uncertain life, "that is in your nostrils ^(m)." These things are done [Page 17] when you sleep as well as in those waking moments, when you think not of the circulation of the blood, nor of the necessity of breathing, nor, so much as recollect that you have a heart and lungs. Now, what is this but the hand of God perpetually supporting and actuating those curious machines that he has made?

§ 11. Nor is this his care limited to you; but, if you look all around you, far as your views can reach, you see it extending itself on every side; and, oh, how much farther than you can trace it! Reflect on the light and heat which the sun every where disperses? on the air which surrounds all our globe, on the right temperature of which the life of the whole human race depends, and that of all the inferior creatures which dwell on the earth. Think of the suitable and plentiful provision made for man and beast: the grass the grain, the va­riety of fruits, and herbs, and flowers; every thing that nourishes us, every thing that delight us; and say, whether it do not speak plainly and loudly that our al­mighty Maker is near, and that he is careful of us, and kind to us. And while all these things proclaim his goodness, do they not also proclaim his power? For what power has any thing comparable to that which furnishes out these gifts of royal bounty; and which, unwearied and unchanged, produces continually, from day to day, and from age to age, such astonishing and magnificent effects over the face of the whole earth, and through all the regions of heaven?

§ 12. It is then evident, that God is present, present with you at this moment; even God, your Creator and preserver, God, the Creator and Preserver of the whole visible and invisible world. And is he not present as a most observant and attentive Being? ‘He that formed the eye, shall not he see? He that planted the ear, shall not he hear? He that teaches man knowledge,’ that gives him his rational faculties, and pours in on his opening mind all the light it receives by them, "shall not he know ⁽ⁿ⁾?" He who sees all the ne­cessities [Page 18] of his creatures, so seasonably to provide for them, shall he not see their actions too; and seeing, shall he not judge of them? Has he given us a sense and discernment of what is good and evil, of what is true and false, of what is fair and deformed in temper and conduct? and has he himself no discernment of these things? Trifle not with your conscience, which tells you at once, that he judges of it, and approves or con­demns, as it is decent or indecent, reasonable or unrea­sonable; and that the judgment which he passes is of infinite importance to all his creatures.

§ 13. And now, to apply all this to your own case, let me seriously a [...] you, Is it a decent and reasonable thing that this great and glorious Benefactor should be neglected by his rational creatures? By those that are capable of attaining to some knowledge of him, and presenting to him some homage? Is it decent and rea­sonable that he should he forgotten and neglected by you? Are you alone, of all the works of his hands, for­gotten and neglected by him? Oh sinner, thoughtless as you are, you cannot dare to say that, or even to think it. You need not go back to the helpless days of your infancy and childhood to convince you of the contrary; you need not, in order to this, to recollect the remark­able deliverances which, perhaps, were wrought out for you many years ago: the repose of the last night, the refreshment and comfort you have received this day; yea, the mercies you are receiving this very moment, bear witness to him; and yet you regard him not. Ungrateful creature that you are! could you have treat­ed any human benefactor thus? Could you have borne to neglect a kind parent, or any generous friend that had but for a few months acted the part of a parent to you? to have taken no notice of him, while in his pre­sence; to have returned him no thanks; to have had no contrivances to make some little acknowledgment for all his goodness? Human nature, bad as it is, is not fallen so low; nay, the brutal nature is not so low as this. Surely every domestic animal around you, must shame such ingratitude. If you do but for a few days [Page 19] take a little kind notice of a dog, and feed him with the refuse of your table, he will wait upon you, and love to be near you; he will be eager to follow you from place to place? and when after a little absence, you re­turn home, will try, by a thousand fond transported motions, to tell you how much he rejoices to see you again. Nay brutes, far less sagacious and apprehensive, have some sense of our kindness, and express it after their way; as the blessed God condescends to observe, in this very view in which I mention it, ‘the dull ox knows his owner, and the stupid ass his master's crib ^(o):’ what lamentable degeneracy therefore is it that you do not know, that you, who have been numbered among God's professed people, do not, and, will not, consider your numberless obligations to him?

§ 14. Surely, if you have any ingenuity of temper, you must be ashamed and grieved in the review; but if you have not, give me leave farther to expostulate with you on this head, by setting it in something of a different light. Can you think yourselves safe while you are acting a part like this? Do you not in your conscience believe there will be a future judgment? Do you not believe there is an invisible and eternal world? As professed Christians, we all believe it; for it is no controverted point, but displayed in Scripture with so clear an evidence, that, subtile and ingenious as men are in error, they have not yet found out a way to evade it. And believing this, do you not see, that while you are thus wandering from God, ‘de­struction and misery are in your ways ^(p)?’ Will this indolence and negligence of temper, be any security to you? will it guard you from death? will it excuse you from judgment? You might much more reasonably expect, that shutting your eyes would be a defence a­gainst the rage of a devouring lion; or that looking another way should secure your body from being pierced by a bullet or a sword. When God speaks of the ex­travagant folly of some thoughtless creatures, who would [Page 20] hearken to no admonition now, he adds, in a very aw­ful manner, "in the latter day they shall consider it perfectly ^(q)." And is not this applicable to you? Must you not, sooner or later, be brought to think of these things whether you will or no? And, in the mean time, do you not certainly know, that timely and seri­ous reflection upon them is, through divine grace, the only way to prevent your ruin?

§ 15. Yes, sinner, I need not multiply words on a subject like this. Your conscience is already inwardly convinced, though your pride may be unwilling to own it. And, to prove it, let me ask you one question more: Would you, upon any terms and considerations what­ever, come to a resolution, absolutely to dismiss all fur­ther thought of religion, and all care about it, from this day and hour, and to abide by the consequences of that neglect? I believe hardly any man living would be bold enough to determine upon this; I believe most of my readers would be ready to tremble at the thought of it.

§. 16. But if it be necessary to take these things into consideration at all, it is necessary to do it quickly; for life itself is not so very long, nor so certain, that a wise man should risk much upon its continuance. And I hope to convince you, when I have another hearing, that it is necessary to do it immediately; and that next to the madness of resolving you will not think of re­ligion at all, is that of saying you will think of it hereafter. In the mean time, pause on the hints which have been already given, and they will prepare you to receive what is to be added on that head.

CHAP. III. The awakened Sinner urged to immediate Consi­deration, and cautioned against Delay.

§ 1. I HOPE my last address so far awakened the convictions of my reader, as to bring him to this purpose, ‘That some time or other he would at­tend to religious considerations.’ But give me leave to ask earnestly and punctually, "When that shall be?" — ‘Go thy way for this time, and at a more conve­nient season I will send for thee,’ was the language and the ruin of unhappy Felix ^(d), when he trembled under the reasonings and expostulations of the apostle. The tempter presumed not to urge that he should give [Page 24] up all thoughts of repentance and reformation; but only that, considering the present hurry of his affairs, (as no doubt they were many,) he should defer it to a longer day. The artifice succeeded, and Felix was un­done.

§ 2. Will you, reader, dismiss me thus? For your own sake, and out of tender compassion to your perish­ing immortal soul, I would not willingly take up with such a dismission and excuse. No, not though you should fix a time; though you should determine on the next year, or month, or week, or day. I would turn upon you, with all the eagerness and tenderness of friend­ly importunity, and intreat you to bring the matter to an issue even now; for if you say, ‘I will think on these things to-morrow,’ I shall have little hope, and shall conclude, that all that I have hitherto urged, and all that you have read, hath been offered and view­ed in vain.

§ 3. When I invite you to the care and practice of religion, it may seem strange that it should be necessary for me affectionately to plead the case with you, in or­der to your immediate regard and compliance. What I am inviting you to is so noble and excellent in itself, so well worthy the dignity of our rational nature, so suitable to it, so manly, and so wise, that one would imagine you should take fire, as it were at the first hear­ing of it; yea, that so delightful a view should present­ly possess your whole soul with a kind of indignation against yourself that you pursued it no sooner. ‘May I lift up mine eyes and my soul to God? may I de­vote myself to him? may I even now commence a friendship with him, a friendship which shall last for ever, the security, the delight, the glory of this immortal nature of mine? And shall I draw back, and say, Nevertheless, let me not commence this friendship too soon: let me live at least a few weeks, or a few days longer, without God in the world?’ Surely it would be much more reasonable to turn inward, and say, ‘Oh, my soul, on what vile husks hast thou been feeding, while thine heavenly Father hath been [Page 25] forsaken and injured? Shall I desire to multiply the days of my poverty, my scandal, and my misery?’ On this principle, surely, an immediate return to God should, in all reason, be chosen, rather than to play the fool any longer, and go on a little more to displease God, and thereby to starve and to wound your own soul, even though your continuance in life were ever so certain, and your capacity to return to God and your duty ever so entirely in your own power now, and in every future moment, through scores of years yet to come.

§ 4. But who, or what are you, that you should lay your account for years, or for months to come? "What is your life?" Is it not "even as a vapour that ap­peareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away ^(b)?" And what is your security, or what is your peculiar warrant, that you should thus depend upon the cer­tainty of its continuance? and that so absolutely a [...] to venture, as it were, to pawn your soul upon it? Why, you will perhaps say, ‘I am young, and in all my bloom and vigour: I see hundreds about me, who are more than double my age, and not a few of them who seem to think it too soon to attend to religion yet.’ You view the living, and you talk thus: but I beseech you think of the dead. Return in your thoughts to those graves, in which you have left some of your young com­panions and your friends. You saw them a while ago gay and active; warm with life, and hopes, and schemes; and some of them would have thought a friend strangely importunate that should have interrupted them in their business, and their pleasures, with a so­lemn lecture of death and eternity: yet they were then on the very borders of both. You have since seen their corpses, or at least their coffins; and probably carried about with you the badges of mourning which you received at their funerals. Those once vigorous, and, perhaps, beautiful bodies of theirs, now lying moulder­ing in the dust, as senseless and helpless as the most de­cripid [Page 26] pieces of human nature which fourscore years ever brought down to it. And, what is infinitely more to be regarded, their souls, whether prepared for this great change, or thoughtless of it, have made their ap­pearance before God, and are, at this moment, fixed either in heaven or in hell. Now, let me seriously ask you, Would it be miraculous, or would it be strange, if such an event should befal you? How are you sure that some fatal disease shall not this day begin to work in your veins? How are you sure that you shall ever be capable of reading or thinking any more, if you do not attend to what you now read, and pursue the thought which is now offering itself to your mind? This sudden alteration may, at least, possibly happen; and if it does, it will be to you a terrible one indeed. To be thus surprised into the presence of a forgotten God; to be torn away, at once, from a world, to which your whole heart and soul has been rivetted; a world, which has engrossed all your thoughts and cares, all your desires and pursuits; and be fixed in a state, which you could never be so far persuaded to think of, as to spend so much as one hour in serious preparation for it: how must you even shudder at the apprehension of it, and with what horror must it fill you? It seems matter of wonder, that, in such circumstances, you are not almost distracted with the thoughts of the uncertainty of life, and are not even ready to die for fear of death. To trifle with God any longer, after so solemn an admo­nition as this, would be a circumstance of additional provocation, which, after all the rest, might be fatal: nor is there any thing that you can expect in such a case, but that he should cut you off immediately, and teach other thoughtless creatures, by your ruin, what a hazardous experiment they make when they act as you are acting.

§. 5. And will you, after all, run this desperate risk? For what imaginable purpose can you do it? Do you think the business of religion will become less necessary, or more easy, by your delay? You know that it will not. You know, that whatever the blessed God demands [Page 27] now, he will also demand twenty or thirty years hence, if you should live to see the time. God hath fixed the method, in which he will pardon and accept sinners, in his gospel. And, will he ever alter that method? or, if he will not, Can men alter it? You like not to think of repenting, and humbling yourself before God, to receive righteousness and life from his free grace in Christ; and you above all dislike the thought of re­turning to God in the ways of holy obedience. But will he ever dispense with any of these, and publish a new gospel, with promises of life and salvation to im­penitent unbelieving sinners, if they will but call themselves Christians, and submit to a few external rites? How long do you think you might wait for such a change in the constitution of things? You know death will come upon you; and you cannot but know in your own conscience, that a general dissolution will come upon the world long before God can thus deny himself, and contradict all his perfections, and all his declarations.

§ 6. Or, if his demand continue the same, as they assuredly will, do you think any thing, which is now dis­agreeable to you in them, will be less disagreeable here­after than it is at present? Shall you live finless, when it is become more habitual to you, and when conscience is yet more enfeebled and debauched? If you are ‘run­ning with the footmen and fainting, shall you be able to contend with the horsemen ^(c)?’ Surely you can­not imagine it. You would not say in any distemper which threatened your life, ‘I will stay till I grow a little worse, and then I will apply to a Physician: I will let my disease get a little more rooting in my vitals, and then I will try what can be done to re­move it.’ No; it is only where the life of the soul is concerned that men think thus wildly: the life and health of the body appear too precious to be thus trifled away.

§ 7. If, after such desperate experiments, you are [Page 28] ever recovered, it must be by an operation of divine grace on your soul, yet more powerful and more won­derful, in proportion to the increasing inveteracy of your spiritual maladies. And can you expect that the Holy Spirit should be more ready to assist you, in con­sequence of your having so shamefully trifled with him, and affronted him! he is now, in some measure, mov­ing on your heart: if you feel any secret relentings in it upon what you read, it is a sign you are not yet ut­terly forsaken: but who can tell whether these are not the last touches he will ever give to a heart so long hardened against him? Who can tell but God may this day ‘swear in his wrath, that you shall not enter into his rest ^(d)?’ I have been telling you that you may immediately die. You own it possibly you may. And can you think of any thing more terrible? Yes, sinner, I will tell you of one thing more dreadful than imme­diate death and immediate damnation. The blessed God may say, ‘As for that wretched creature, who has so long trifled with me, and provoked me, let him still live: let him live in the midst of pros­perity and plenty: let him live under the purest and most powerful ordinances of the gospel too; that he may abuse them, to aggravate his condemnation, and die under seven-fold guilt, and a seven-fold curse. I will not give him the grace to think of his ways for one serious moment more; but he shall go on from bad to worse, filling up the measure of his iniquities, till death and destruction seize him in an unexpected hour, and wrath come upon him to the uttermost ^(e).’

§ 8. You think this is an uncommon case; but I fear it is much otherwise. I fear there are few congregations where the word of God has been faithfully preached, and where it has been long despised, especially by those whom it had once awakened, in which the eye of God does not see a number of such wretched souls; though it is impossible for us to pronounce upon the case who they are.

[Page 29]§ 9. I pretend not to say how he will deal with you, oh reader; whether he will immediately cut you off or seal you up under final hardness and impenitency of heart; or whether his grace may, at length, awaken you, to consider your ways, and to return to him, even when your heart is grown yet more obdurate than it is at present: for to his almighty grace nothing is hard, nor even to transform a rock of marble into a man and a saint. But this I will confidently say, That if you delay any longer, the time will come when you will bitterly repent of that delay; and either lament it be­fore God in the anguish of your heart here, or curse your own folly and madness in hell; yea, when you will wish that, dreadful as hell is, you had rather fallen into it sooner than have lived in the midst of so many abused mercies, to render the degrees of your punish­ment more insupportable, and your sense of it more ex­quisitely tormenting.

§. 10. I do therefore earnestly exhort you, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by the worth, and, if I may so speak, by the blood of your immortal and pe­rishing soul, that you delay not a day or an hour longer. Far from ‘giving sleep to your eyes, or slumber to your eyelids ^(f),’ in the continued neglect of this im­portant concern "take with you," even now, ‘words, and turn unto the Lord ^(g);’ and before you quit the place where you now are, fall upon your knees in his sacred presence, and pour out your heart in such language, or at least to some such purpose as this.

CHAP. IV. The Sinner arraigned and convicted.

§ 1. AS I am attempting to lead you to true religion, and not merely to some superficial form of it, I am sensible I can do it no otherwise than in the way of deep humiliation. And therefore, supposing you are persuaded, through the divine blessing on which you have before read, to take it into consideration, I would now endeavour, in the first place, with all the se­riousness I can, to make you heartily sensible of your guilt before God. For I well know, that unless you are convinced of this, and affected with the conviction, all the provisions of gospel grace will be slighted, and your soul infallibly destroyed in the midst of the noblest means appointed for its recovery. I am fully persuaded that thousands live and die in a course of sin, without feeling upon their hearts any sense that they are sin­ners; though they cannot, for shame, but own it in words. And therefore let me deal faithfully with you, though I may seem to deal roughly; for complaisance is not to give law to addresses in which the life of your soul is concerned.

§ 2. Permit me, therefore, O sinner, to consider my­self at this time as an advocate for God; as one employ­ed in his name to plead against thee, and to charge thee with nothing less than being a rebel and a traitor a­gainst the sovereign Majesty of heaven and earth. However thou mayest he dignified or distinguished a­mong [Page 33] men; if the noblest blood run in thy veins; if thy seat were among princes, and thine arm were "the terror of the Mighty in the land of the living ^(a);" it would ‘be necessary thou shouldst be told, and told plainly, thou hast broken the "laws of the King of kings,’ and by the breach of it art become ob­noxious to his righteous condemnation.

§ 3. Your conscience tells you, that you were born the natural subject of God: born under the indispen­sible obligations of his law. For it is most apparent, that the constitution of your rational nature, which makes you capable of receiving law from God, binds you to obey it. And it is equally evident and certain, that you have not exactly obeyed this law; nay, that you have violated it in many aggravated instances.

§ 4. Will you dare to deny this! Will you dare to assert your innocence! Remember, it must be a com­plete innocence; yes, and a perfect righteousness too; or it can stand you in no stead, farther than to prove that, though a condemned sinner, you are not quite so criminal as some others, and will not have quite so hot a place in hell as they. And when this is considered, will you plead not guilty to the charge? Search the records of your own conscience, for God searcheth them: ask it seriously, "Have you never in your lives sinned against God?" Solomon declared, that, in his day, there was not a just man upon earth, who did good, and sinned not ^(b):" and the apostle Paul, that "all had sinned and come short of the glory of God ^(c):" that "both Jews and Gentiles," which, you know, comprehended the whole human race,) "were all under sin ^(d)." And can you pretend any imaginable reason to believe the world is grown so much better since their days, that any should now plead their own case as an exception? Or will you, however, presume to arise in the face of the omniscient Majesty of heaven, and say, "I am the man."

[Page 34]§ 5. Supposing, as before, you have been free from those gross acts of immorality, which are so perniciou [...] to society, that they have generally been punishable by human laws; can you pretend that you have not, in smaller instances, violated the rules of piety, of temper­ance, and of charity? Is there any one person, who has intimately known you, that would not be able to testify you had said or done something amiss? Or, if others could not convict you, would not your own heart do it? Does it not prove you guilty of pride, of passion, of sen­suality, of an excessive fondness for the world and its enjoyments; of murmuring, or at least of secretly re­pining against God under the strokes of an afflictive pro­vidence; of mispending a great deal of your time; of abusing the gifts of God's bounty to vain, if not (in some instances) to pernicious purposes; of mocking him when you have pretended to engage in his worship, "drawing near to him with your mouth and your lips, while your heart has been far from him ^(e)?" Does not conscience condemn you of some one breach of the law at least: And, by one breach of it you are, in a sense, a scriptural sence "become guilty of all ^(f);" and are as incapable of being justified before God by any obe­dience of your own, as if you had committed ten thou­sand offences. But, in reality, there are ten thousand and more chargeable to your account. When you come to reflect on all your sins of negligence, as well as of those of commission; on all the instances in which you have ‘failed to do good, when it was in the power of your hand to do it ^(g);’ on all the instances in which acts of devotion have been omitted, especially in secret; and on all those cases in which you have shewn a stupid disregard to the honour of God, and to the temporal and eternal happiness of your fellow creatures; when all these, I say, are reviewed, the number will swell be­yond possibility of account, and force you to cry out, ‘Mine iniquities are more than the hairs of my head ^(h).’ They will appear in such a light before you, [Page 35] that your own heart will charge you with countless multitudes; and how much more then ‘that God who is greater than your heart, and knoweth all things ⁽ⁱ⁾!’

§ 6. And say, sinner, is it a little thing that you have presumed to set light by the authority of the God of heaven, and to violate his law, if it had been by mere carelessness and inattention? how much more heinous, therefore, is the guilt, when in so many instances you have done it knowingly and wilfully? Give me leave seriously to ask you, and let me intreat you to ask your own soul, ‘Against whom hast thou magnified thyself? against whom hast thou exalted thy voice ^(k),’ or lifted up thy rebellious hand! On whose law, oh sinner, hast thou presumed to trample? And whose friendship and whose enmity hast thou therefore dared to affront? Is it a man like thyself that thou hast insulted? is it only a temporal monarch? Only one, ‘who can kill thy body, and then hath no more that he can do ^(l)?’ Nay, sinner, thou wouldest not have dared to treat a temporal prince as thou hast treated the ‘King eter­nal, immortal, and invisible ^(m).’ No price could have hired thee to deal by the majesty of an earthly sovereign, as thou hast dealt by thy God before whom the cherubim and seraphim are continually bowing. Not one opposing or complaining, disputing, or mur­muring word is heard among all the celestial legions when the intimations of his will are published to them; and who art thou, oh wretched man, who art thou that thou shouldest oppose him? that thou shouldest op­pose and provoke a God of infinite power and terror, who needs but exert one single act of his sovereign will, and thou art in a moment stripped of every possession; cut off from every hope; destroyed and rooted up from existence, if that were his pleasure; or, what is incon­ceivably worse, consigned over to the severest and most lasting agonies? Yet this is the God whom thou hast offended; whom thou hast affronted to his face, pre­suming [Page 36] to violate his express laws in his very presence: this is the God before whom thou standest as a convicted criminal; convicted, not of one or two particular of­fences, but of thousands and of ten thousands; of a course and series of rebellions and provocations, in which thou hast persisted, more or less, ever since thou wast born; and the particulars of which have been attended with almost every conceivable circumstance of aggrava­tion. Reflect on particulars, and deny the charge if you can.

§ 7. If knowledge be an aggravation of guilt, thy guilt, O sinner, is greatly aggravated? For thou wast born in Emmanuel's land, and God hath "written to thee the great things of his law, yet thou hast ac­counted them as a strange thing ⁽ⁿ⁾." Thou hast "known to do good, and hast not done it ^(o);" and therefore to thee the omission of it has been sin indeed. "Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard ^(p)?" wast thou not early taught the will of God in thine infant years? Hast thou not since received repeated lessons, by which it has been inculcated again and again, in public and in private, by preaching and reading the word of God? nay, hath it not been thy duty, in some instances, so plain, that even without any instruction at all thine own reason might easily have inferred it? and hast thou not also been warned of the consequences of disobedience? Hast thou not ‘known the righteous judgment of God, that they who commit such things are worthy of death? yet thou hast, perhaps, not on­ly done the same, but hast taken pleasure in those that do them ^(q);’ hast chosen them for thy most intimate friends and companions; so as thereby to strengthen, by the force of example and converse, the hands of each other in your iniquities.

§ 8 Nay, more, if divine love and mercy be any ag­gravation of the sins committed against it, thy crimes, O sinner, are heinously aggravated. Must thou not ack­nowledge [Page 37] it, O foolish creature, and unwise? hast thou not been "nourished and brought up by him as his child, "and yet hast rebelled against him ^(r)?" Did not God, "take you out of the womb ^(s)?" did he not watch over you in your infant days, and guard you from a multitude of dangers, which the most careful parent or nurse could not have observed or warded off? Has he not given you your rational powers? and is it not by him you have been favoured with every oppor­tunity of improving them? Has he not every day sup­plied your wants with an unwearied liberality; and added, with respect to many who will read this, the delicacies of life to its necessary supports? Has he not "heard you cry when trouble came upon you ^(t);" and frequently appeared for your deliverance, when in the distresses of nature you had called upon him for help? Has he not rescued you from ruin, when it seemed just ready to swallow you up; and healed your diseases, when it seemed to all about you that the "residue of your days was cut off in the midst ^(u)?" Or, if it had not been so, is not this long continued and uninter­rupted health, which you have enjoyed for so many years, to be acknowledged as an equivalent obligation? Look around upon all your possessions, and say what one thing have you in the world which his goodness did not give you, and which he hath not thus far pre­served to you? Add to all this, the kind notices of his will which he hath sent you; the tender expostulations which he hath used with you to bring you to a wiser and a better temper; and the discoveries and gracious invitations of his gospel, which you have heard, and which you have despised: and then say whether your rebellion has not been aggravated by the vilest ingra­titude, and whether that aggravation can be accounted small?

§ 9. Again, if it be any aggravation of sin to be committed against conscience, thy crimes, O sinner, [Page 38] have been so aggravated. Consult the records of it, and then dispute the fact if thou can. ‘There is a spi­rit in man, and the inspiration of the Almighty giv­eth him understanding ^(w);’ and then understand­ing will act, and a secret conviction of being account­able to its Maker and Preserver is inseparable from the actings of it. It is easy, to object to human remon­strances, and to give things false colourings before men; but the heart often condemns, while the tongue excuses. Have you not often found it so? has not conscience re­monstrated against your past conduct; and have not these remonstrances been very painful too? I have been assured by a gentleman of undoubted credit, that when he was in the pursuit of all the gayest sensualities of life, and was reckoned one of the happiest of mankind, when he has seen a dog come into the room where he was among his merry companions, he has groaned in­wardly, and said, "Oh that I had been that dog!" And hast thou, O sinner, felt nothing like this? has thy conscience been so stupified, so ‘seared with a hot iron ^(x),’ that it has never cried out of any of the violences which have been done in it? has it never warned thee of the fatal consequences of what thou hast done in opposition to it? These warnings are, in effect, the voice of God; they are the admonitions which he gave thee by his vicegerent in thy breast. And when his sentence for thy evil works is executed upon thee in everlasting death, thou shalt hear that voice speaking to thee again in a louder tone and a severer accent than before: and thou shalt be tormented with its upbraid­ings thro' eternity, because thou wouldest not in time hearken to its admonitions.

§ 10. Let me add farther: If it be any aggravation that sin has been committed after God has been moving by his Spirit on the mind, surely your sin has been at­tended with that aggravation too. Under the Mosaic dispensation, dark and imperfect as it was, the Spirit strove with the Jews; else Stephen could not have [Page 39] charged it upon them that, through all their generations, "they had always resisted him ^(y)." [...], surely we may much more reasonably apprehend that he strives with sinners under the gospel. And have you never experienced any thing of this kind, even when there has been no external circumstance to awaken you, nor any pious teacher near you; have you never perceived some secret impulse upon your mind, leading you to think of religion, urging you to an immediate consideration of it, sweetly inviting you to make trial of it, and warn­ing you that you would lament this stupid neglect? O sinner why were not these happy motions attended to? why did you not, as it were, spread out all the sails of your soul to catch that heavenly, that favourable breeze? But you have carelessly neglected it: you have over­borne these kind influences: how reasonably then might the sentence have gone forth in righteous displeasure, "My Spirit "shall no more strive ^(z)?" And, indeed, who can say that it is not already gone forth? If you feel no secret agitation of mind, no remorse, no awak­ening, while you read such a remonstrance as this, there will be room, great room, to suspect it.

§ 11. There is indeed one aggravation more, which may not attend your guilt, I mean that of being com­mitted against solemn covenant engagements: a circum­stance which has lain heavy on the consciences of many, who perhaps, in the mean series of their lives have serv­ed God with great integrity. But let me call you to think to what is this owing? Is it not, that you have never personally made any solemn profession of devoting yourself to God at all? have never done any thing which has appeared to your own apprehension an action by which you made a covenant with him; though you have heard so much of his covenant, though you have been so solemnly and so tenderly invited to it? And in this view, how monstrous must this circumstance appear, which at first was mentioned as some alleviation of guilt! yet I must add, that you are not, perhaps, alto­gether [Page 40] so free from guilt on this head as you may a [...] first imagine [...] will not insist on the covenant which your parents [...]de in your name when they devoted you to God in baptism; though it is really a weights matter, and by calling yourself a Christian you hav [...] professed to own and avow what they then did; but [...] would remind you of what may have been more per­sonal and express. Has your heart been, even from your youth, hardened to so uncommon a degree that you have never cried to God in any season of danger and difficulty? and did you never mingle vows with those cries? did you never promise, that if God would hear and help you in that hour of extremity, you would forsake your sins, and serve him as long as you lived? He heard and helped you, or you had not been reading these lines; and, by such deliverance did, as it were, bind down your vows upon you: and therefore your guilt in the violation of them remains before him, though you are stupid enough to forget them. Nothing is forgotten, nothing is overlooked by him; and the day will come when the record shall be laid before you too.

§ 12. And now, O sinner, think seriously with thy­self what defence thou wilt make to all this! Prepare thine apology, call thy witnesses; make thine appeal from him whom thou hast thus offended to some supe­rior judge, if such there be. Alas, those apologies are so weak and vain that one of thy fellow-worms may easily detect and confound them, as I will endeavour presently to show thee. But thy foreboding conscience already knows the issue. Thou art convicted; convicted of the most aggravated offences. Thou "hast not humbled thine heart, but lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven ^(a);" and "thy sentence shall come forth from his presence ^(b)." "Thou hast violated his known laws: thou hast despised and abused his numberless mercies: thou hast affronted conscience, his vicegerent in thy soul; thou hast resisted and [Page 41] grieved his Spirit: thou hast trifled with him in all thy pretended submissions; and, in one word, and that his own, thou hast done evil things as thou couldest ^(c)." Thousands are, no doubt, already in hell, whose guilt never equalled thine; and, it is astonishing, that God has spared thee to read this representation of the case, or to make any pause upon it. Oh waste not so pre­cious a moment, but enter as attentively, and as hum­bly, as thou canst, into those reflections, which suit a case so lamentable and so terrible as thine!

CHAP. V. The Sinner stripped of his vain Pleas.

§ 1. MY last discourse left the sinner in a very a­larming and a very pitiable circumstance; a criminal convicted at the bar of God, disarmed of all pretences to perfect innocence and sinless obedience, and, consequently obnoxious to the sentence of a holy law, which can make no allowance for any transgression, no, not for the least; but pronounces death and a curse against every act of disobedience: how much more then against those numberless and aggravated acts of rebel­lion, of which, O sinner, thy conscience hath con­demned [Page 44] thee before God! I would hope some of my readers will ingeniously fall under the conviction, and not think of making any apology: for, sure I am, that humbly to plead guilty at the divine bar, is the most de­cent, and, all things considered, the most prudent thing that can be done in such an unhappy circumstance. Yet I know the treachery and the self-flattery of a sinful and a corrupted heart. I know what excuses it makes; and how, when it is driven from one refuge it flies to ano­ther, to fortify itself against full conviction, and to per­suade, not merely another, but itself, ‘That, if it has been in some instances to blame, it is not quite so criminal as was represented; that there are at least con­siderations that plead in its favour, which, if they cannot justify, will, in some degree excuse.’ A se­cret reserve of this kind, sometimes perhaps scarce formed into a distinct reflection, breaks the force of conviction, and often prevents that deep humiliation before God, which is the happiest token of an approach­ing deliverance. I will therefore examine into some of these particulars; and for that purpose would seriously ask thee, O sinner, what thou hast to offer in arrest to judgement what plea thou canst urge for thyself why the sentence of God should not go forth against thee, and why thou shouldst not fall into the hands of his justice?

§ 2. But this I must premise, That the question is not, how thou wouldst answer to me, a weak sinful worm like thyself, who am shortly to stand with thee at the same bar: ( ‘the Lord grant that I may find mercy of the Lord in that day ^(a)!’ but, what wilt thou reply to thy Judge? What couldst thou plead if thou wast now actually before his tribunal; where, to multiply vain words, and to frame idle apologies, would be but to increase thy guilt and provocation▪ Surely the very thought of his presence must supersede a thousand of those trifling excuses which now some­times impose on "a generation that are pure in their own eyes, though they are not washed from their [Page 45] filthiness ^(b):" or, while they are conscious of their "own impurities, trust in words than cannot profit ^(c)," and "lean upon broken reeds ^(d)."

§ 3. You will not, to be sure, in such a circumstance, plead "That you are descended from pious parents." That was, indeed, your privilege, and "wo be to you that you have abused it, and ‘forsaken the God of your fathers ^(e).’ Ishmael was immediately descended from Abraham, the friend of God; and Esau was the son of Isaac, who was born according to the promise; yet, you know, they were both c [...] off from the bless­ing, to which they apprehended they had a kind of he­reditary claim. You may remember that our Lord does not only speak of one who could call Abraham fa­ther. Who was "tormented in flames ^(f);" but expressly declares, that ‘many of the children of the kingdom shall be shut out of it;’ and, when others come from the most distant parts to sit down in it, shall be distinguished from their companions in misery only by louder accents of lamentation, and more furious "gnashing of the teeth ^(g)."

§ 4. Nor will you then presume to plead, ‘That you had exercised your thoughts about the speculative part of religion:’ for to what end can this serve but to increase your condemnation? Since you have broken God's law, since you have contradicted the most obvi­ous and apparent obligations of religion, to have in­quired into it, and argued upon it, is a circumstance that proves your guilt more audacious. What? did you think religion was merely an exercise of men's wit, and the amusement of their curiosity? If you argued about it on the principles of common sense, you must have judged and proved it to be a practical thing: and, if it was so, why did not you practise accordingly? You knew the particular branches of it; and why then did you not attend to every one of them? To have [Page 46] pleaded an unavoidable ignorance would have been the happiest plea that could have remained for you: nay, an actual, tho' faulty, ignorance would have been some little allay of your guilt. But if, by your own con­fession, you have "known your Master's will, and have not done it," you bear witness against yourself, that you deserve to be beaten with many "stripes ^(h)."

§ 5. Nor yet, again, will it suffice to say, ‘That you have had right notions, both of the doctrines and the precepts of religion.’ Your advantage for prac­tising it was therefore the greater: but understanding and acting right can never go for the same thing in the judgment of God or of man. In "believing there is one God." you have done well; but "the devils also believe, and tremble ⁽ⁱ⁾." In acknowledging Christ to be the Son of God, and the Holy One, you have done well too; but, you know, the unclean spi­rits made this very orthodox confession ^(k), and yet they are ‘reserved in everlasting chains, under darkness, unto the judgment of the great day ^(l).’ And will you place any secret confidence in that which might be pleaded by the infernal spirits as well as by you?

§ 6. But, perhaps, you may think of pleading, ‘That you have actually done something in religion.’ Hav­ing judged what faith was the soundest, and what wor­ship the purest, you entered yourselves into those socie­ties where such articles of faith were professed, and such forms of worship were practised; and, amongst these, you have signalized yourselves, by the exactness of your attendance, by the zeal with which you have espoused their cause, and by the earnestness with which you have contended for such principles and practices. —O sinner, I much fear that this zeal of thine about the circumstantials of religion will swell thine account, rather than be allowed in abatement of it. He that searches thine heart knows from whence it arose, and how far it extended. Perhaps he sees that it was all [Page 47] hypocrisy; an artful veil, under which thou wast car­rying on thy mean designs for this world; while the sacred names of God and Religion were profaned and prostituted in the basest manner; and, if so, thou art cursed with a distinguished curse for so daring an insult on the divine omniscience, as well as justice. Or, per­haps, the earnestness with which you have been "con­tending for the faith" and worship "which was once delivered to the saints ^(m)," or which, it is possible, you may rashly have concluded to be that, might be mere pride and bitterness of spirit: and all the zeal you have expressed might possibly arise from a confi­dence in your own judgment, from an impatience of contradiction, or from a secret malignity of spirit, which delighted itself in condemning, and even in worrying others; yea, which, (if I may be allowed the expres­sion) fiercely preyed upon religion, as the tiger upon the lamb, to turn it into a nature most contrary to its own. And shall this screen you before the great tri­bunal? Shall it not rather awaken the displeasure it is pleading to avert?

§ 7. But say that this your zeal for notions and forms has been ever so well intended, and, so far as it has gone, ever so well conducted too; what will that avail to­wards vindicating thee in so many instances of negli­gence and disobedience as are recorded against thee ‘in the book of God's remembrance?’ Were the reveal­ed doctrines of the gospel to be earnestly maintained (as indeed they ought) and was the great practical pur­pose for which they were revealed to be forgot? Was the very mint, and annise, and cummin, to be tithed, and were "the weightier matters of the law to be o­mitted ⁽ⁿ⁾?" even that love to God, which is its first "and great command ^(o)?" Oh, how wilt thou be able to vindicate even the justest sentence thou hast passed on others for their infidelity or for their disobedience, with­out being "condemned out of thine own mouth ^(p)!"

[Page 48]§ 8. Will you then plead ‘your fair moral character your works of righteousness and of mercy?’ H [...] your obedience to the law of God been complete, the plea might be allowed as important and valid; but I have supposed and proved above, that conscience testi­fies to the contrary; and you will not now dare to contradict it. I add farther, had these works of your [...] which you now urge, proceeded from a sincere love to God, and a genuine faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, yo [...] would not have thought of pleading them any othe [...] wise than as an evidence of your interest in the gospel covenant, and in the blessings of it, procured by the righteousness and blood of the Redeemer: and that faith, had it been sincere, would not have been attend­ed with such deep humility, and with such solemn ap­prehensions of the divine holiness and glory; that, in­stead of pleading any works of your own before God, you would rather have implored his pardon for the mix­ture of sinful imperfection attending the very best of them. Now, as you are a stranger to this humble and sanctifying principle (which here, in this address, I suppose my reader to be) it is absolutely necessary you should be plainly and faithfully told, that neither so­briety, nor honesty, not humanity, will justify you be­fore the tribunal of God, when he ‘lays judgment to the line, and righteousness to the plummet ^(q),’ and examines all your actions, and all your thoughts, with the strictest severity. You have not been a drunkard, an adulterer, or a robber. So far it is well. You stand before a righteous God, who will do you ample justice; and therefore will not condemn you for drunkenness, adultery, or robbery. But you have forgotten him, your Parent and your Benefactor; you have ‘cast off fear, and restrained prayer before him, ^(r);’ you have despised the blood of his Son, and all the im­mortal blessings which he purchased with it. For this, therefore, you are judged, and condemned. And as for any thing that has looked like virtue and human­ity [Page 49] in your temper and conduct, the exercise of it has, in a great measure, been its own reward, if there were any thing more than form and artifice in it; and the various bounties of divine Providence to you amidst all your numberless provocations, have been a thousand times more than an equivalent for such defective and imperfect virtues as these. You remain, therefore chargeable with the guilt of a thousand offences, for which you have no excuse at all; though there are some other instances in which you did not grossly offend. And those good works, in which you have been so rea­dy to trust, will no more vindicate you in his awful pre­sence, than a man's kindness to his poor neighbours would be allowed as a plea in arrest of judgment, when he stood convicted of high treason against his prince.

§ 9. But you will, perhaps, be ready to say, ‘You did not expect all this: you did not think the con­sequences of neglecting religion would have been so fatal.’ And why did you not think it? Why did you not examine more attentively and more impartially? why did you suffer the pride and folly of your vain heart to take up with such superficial appearances, and trust the light suggestions of your own prejudiced mind against the express declaration of the word of God? Had you reflected on his character, as the supreme Governor of the world, you would have seen the ne­cessity of such a day of retribution as we are now refer­ring to. Had you regarded the Scripture, the divine authority of which you professed to believe, every page might have taught you to expect it. "You did not think of religion?" and of what were you thinking when you forgot or neglected it? Had you too much employment of another kind? of what kind, I beseech you? What end could you propose by any thing else of equal moment? Nay, with all your engagements, conscience will tell you that there have been seasons when, for want of thought, time and life have been a burden to you: yet you guarded against thought as against an enemy, and cast up (as it were) an intrench­ment [Page 50] of inconsideration around you on every side, as if it had been to defend you from the most dangerous in­vasion. God knew you were thoughtless; and there­fore he sent you ‘line upon line, and precept upon precept ^(s),’ in such plain language that it needed no genius or study to understand it. He tried you too with afflictions as well as with mercies, to awaken you out of your fatal lethargy; and yet, when awakened, you would lie down again upon the bed of sloth. And now, pleasing as your dreams might be, ‘you must lie down in sorrow ^(t).’ Reflection has at last overtaken you, and must be heard as a tormentor, since it might not be heard as a friend.

§ 10. But some may, perhaps, imagine, that one im­portant apology is yet unheard, and that there may be room to say, ‘You were, by the necessity of your na­ture, impelled to those things which are now charged upon you as crimes; whereas it was not in your pow­er to have avoided them in the circumstances in which you were placed.’ If this will do any thing, it indeed promises to do much; so much, that it will a­mount to nothing. If I were disposed to answer you upon the folly and madness of your own principles, I might say, that the same consideration which proves it was necessary for you to offend, proves also that it is necessary for God to punish you: and that, indeed, he cannot but do it: and I might further say, with an ex­cellent writer of our own age ^*, ‘That the same prin­ciples which destroy the injustice of sins, destroy the injustice of punishments too.’ But, if you cannot admit this, if you should still reply in spite of principle, That it must be unjust to punish you for an action ut­terly and absolutely unavoidable; I really think you would answer right. But, in that answer you will con­tradict your own scheme, (as I observed above): and I leave your conscience to judge what sort of a scheme that must be which would make all kind of punishment unjust; for the argument will, on the whole, be the [Page 51] same, whether with regard to human punishment or divine. It is a scheme full of confusion and horror. You would not, I am sure, take it from a servant who had robbed you, and then fired your house; you would ne­ver inwardly believe, that he could not have helped it, or think that he had fairly excused himself by such a plea. And, I am persuaded, you would be so far from presuming to offer it to God at the great day, that you would not venture to turn it into a prayer even now. Imagine you saw a malefactor dying with such words as these: O God, it is true, I did indeed rob and mur­der ‘my fellow-creature; but thou knowest that, as my circumstances were ordered, I could not do other­wise: my will was irresistibly determined by the motives which thou didst set before me; and I could as well have shaken the foundations of the earth, or darkened the sun in the firmament, as have resisted the impulse which bore me on.’ I put it to your conscience whether you would not look on such a speech as this with detestation, as one enormity added to ano­ther. Yet, if the excuse would have any weight in your mouth, it would have equal weight in his, or would be equally applicable to any the most shocking occasion. But, indeed, it is so contrary to the plainest principles of common reason, that I can hardly persuade myself any one could seriously and thoroughly believe it; and should imagine my time very ill employed here if I were to set myself to combat those pretences to argu­ment, by which the wantonness of human wit has at­tempted to varnish it over.

§ 11. You see, then, on the whole, the vanity of all your pleas, and how easily the most plausible of them might be silenced by a mortal man like yourself; how much more, then, by Him who searches all hearts, and can, in a moment, flash in upon the conscience a most powerful and irresistible conviction? What then can you do while you stand convicted in the presence of God? what should you do but hold your peace under an inward sense of your inexcusable guilt, and prepare yourself to hear the sentence which his law pronounces against [Page 52] you? You must feel the execution of it, if the gospel does not at length deliver you; and you must feel something of the terror of it before you can be excit­ed to seek to that gospel for deliverance.

CHAP. VI. The Sinner sentenced.

§ 1. HEAR, O sinner, "and I will speak ^(a) yet once more, as in the name of God; of God, thine almighty Judge, who, if thou dost not attend to his servants, will, ere long, speak unto thee in a more immediate manner, with an energy and terror which thou shalt not be able to resist.

§ 2. Thou hast been convicted as in his presence. Thy pleas have been over-ruled, or rather they have been silenced. It appears before God, it appears to thine own conscience, that thou hast nothing more to of­fer in arrest of judgment; therefore hear thy sentence, and summon up, if thou canst, all the powers of thy soul to bear the execution of it: ‘It is indeed a very small thing to be judged of man's judgment; but he that now judgeth thee is the Lord ^(b).’ Hea [...] there­fore, and tremble, while I tell thee how he will speak to thee; or rather while I shew thee, from express scrip­ture, how he doth even now speak, and what is the au­thentic and recorded sentence of his word, even of hi [...] word who hath said, "Heaven and earth shall pass a­way; but not "one title of my word shall ever pass away ^(c)."

[Page 55]§ 3. The law of God speaks, not to thee alone, O sinner, nor to thee by any particular address; but in a most universal language it speaks to all transgressors and levels its terrors against all offences, great or small, without any exception; and this is its language, ‘Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them ^(d).’ This is its voice to the whole world; and this it speaks to thee. Its awful contents are thy personal concern, O reader, and thy conscience knows it. Far from "con­tinuing in all things that are written therein to do them," thou canst not but be sensible, that "innu­merable evils have compassed thee about ^(e)." It is then manifest "thou art the man," whom it con­demns; thou art even now, "cursed with a curse ^(f)," as God emphatically speaks, "with the curse," of the most high God; yea, ‘all the curses which are written in the book of the law are pointed against thee ^(g).’ God may righteously execute any of them upon thee in a moment; and though thou at present feelest none of them, yet, if infinite mercy doth not prevent, it is but a little while, and they will "come into thy bowels like "water," till thou art burst asunder with them, and shall penetrate "like oil into thy bones ^(h)."

§ 4. Thus saith the Lord, ‘The soul that sinneth shall die ⁽ⁱ⁾.’ But thou hast sinned, and therefore thou art under a sentence of death: and, oh, unhappy creature, of what a death! what will the end of these things be? That the agonies of dissolving nature shall seize thee; that thy soul shall be torn away from thy languishing body, and thou ‘return to the dust from whence thou wast taken ^(k)!’ This is indeed one awful effect of sin. In these affecting characters has God, through all nations, and all ages of men, written the awful register and memorial of his holy abhorrence of it, and righteous displeasure against it. But alas! [Page 56] all this solemn pomp and horror of dying is but the open­ing of a dreadful scene. It is but a rough kind of stroke, by which the fetters are knocked off, when the crimi­nal is led out to torture and execution.

§ 5. Thus saith the Lord, ‘the wicked shall be turned into hell, even all the nations that forget God ^(l).’ Though there be whole nations of them, their multitudes and their power shall be no defence to them. They shall be driven into hell together; in that flaming prison which divine vengeance hath prepared; into Tophet, which is ordained of old, even for royal sinners as well as for others, so little can any human distinction protect. ‘He hath made it deep and large, the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone shall kindle it ^(m);’ and the flaming torrent shall flow in upon it so fast, that it shall be turned into a sea of liquid fire; or, as the Scripture also expresse it, ‘A lake burning with fire and brimstone for ever and ever ⁽ⁿ⁾;’ this is the second death, and the death to which thou, O sinner, by the word of God are doomed.

§ 6. And shall this sentence stand upon record in vain? shall the law speak it, and the gospel speak it? and shall it never be pronounced more audibly? and will God never require and execute the punishment? He will, O sinner, require it, and he will execute it, though he may seem for a while to delay. For well dost thou know that ‘he hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the whole world in righteousness, by that Man whom he hath ordained, of which he hath given as­surance in having raised him from the dead ^(o).’ And when God judgeth the world, O reader, whoever thou art, he will judge thee: and while I remind thee of it, I would also remember that he will judge me: and ‘knowing the terror of the Lord ^(p)," that I may deliver my own soul ^(q),’ I would with all plainness and sincerity labour to deliver thine.

[Page 57]§ 7. I, therefore, repeat the solemn warning: Thou, O sinner, shalt "stand before the judgment-seat of Christ ^(r)" Thou shalt see that pompous appearance, the description of which is grown so familiar to thee, that the repetition of it makes no impression on thy mind! but surely, stupid as thou now art, the shrill trumpet of the arch-angel shall shake thy very soul; and if nothing else can awaken and alarm thee, the convul­sions and flames of a disolving world shall do it.

§ 8. Dost thou really think that the intent of Christ's final appearance is only to recover his people from the grave, and to raise them to glory and happiness? What­ever assurance thou hast that there shall be a resurrection of the just, thou hast the same that there shall also be a resurrection of the unjust ^(s); that he shall separate the rising dead one from another, ‘as a shepherd di­videth the sheep from the goats ^(t),’ with equal cer­tainty, and with infinitely greater ease. Or can you imagine that he will only make an example of some flagrant and notorious sinners, when it is said, that ‘all the deal, both small and great, shall stand before God ^(u);’ and that even he who knew not his master's will, and, consequently, seems of all others to have had the fairest excuse for his omission to obey it, yet even he, for that very omission, shall be beaten, though with fewer stripes ^(w)? Or can you think that a sentence to be delivered with so much pomp and majesty, a sentence by which the righteous judgment of God is to be revealed, and to have its most conspicuous and final triumph, will be inconsiderable, or the punishment to which it shall consign the sinner be flight or tolerable? There would have been little reason to apprehend that, even if we had been left barely to our own conjectures, what that sentence should be: but this is far from be­ing the case. Our Lord Jesus Christ, in his infinite con­descension and compassion, has been pleased to give us a copy of the sentence, and, no doubt, a most exact co­py; [Page 58] and the words which contain it are worthy of be­ing inscribed on every heart. The King, amidst all the splendour and dignity, in which he shall then appear, ‘shall say unto those on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world ^(x);’ and where the word of a King is, there is power indeed ^(y). And these words have a power which may justly ani­mate the heart of the humble Christian under the most overwhelming sorrow, and may fill him with "joy un­speakable and full of glory ^(z)." To be pronounced the blessed of the Lord? to be called to a kingdom! to the immediate, the everlasting inheritance of it! and of such a kingdom! so well prepared, so glorious, so complete, so exquisitely fitted for the delight and en­tertainment of such creatures so formed and so renewed, that it shall appear worthy the eternal counsels of God to have contrived it, worthy his eternal love to have prepared it, and to have delighted himself with the views of bestowing it upon his people! Behold, a blessed hope indeed! a lively glorious hope, to which we are begotten again by the resurrection of Christ from the dead ^(a), and formed by the sanctifying influ­ence of the Spirit of God upon our minds! But it is a hope, from which thou, O sinner, art at present ex­cluded: and methinks that might be grievous, to reflect, ‘These gracious words shall Christ speak to some, to multitudes, but not to me; on me there is no blessed­ness pronounced: for me there is no kingdom pre­pared.’ But is that all? Alas! sinner, our Lord hath given thee a dreadful counterpart to this: he has told us what he will say to thee, if thou continuest what thou art; to thee, and all the nations of the impenitent and unbelieving world, be they ever so numerous, be the rank of particular criminals ever so great. He shall say to the kings of the earth, who have been rebels against him, to ‘the great and rich men, and the chief cap­tains, and the mighty men, as well as to every bond­man, [Page 59] and every freeman’ of inferior rank ^(b), DE­PART FROM ME, YE CURSED, INTO EVERLASTING FIRE, PREPARED FOR THE DEVIL AND HIS AN­GELS ^(c). Oh, pause upon these weighty words, that thou mayest enter into something of the importance of them!

§ 9. He will say, Depart; you shall be driven from his presence with disgrace and infamy; from Him, the source of life and blessedness, in a nearness to whom all the inhabitants of heaven continually rejoice: you shall depart accursed; you have broken God's law, and its curse falls upon you; and you are and shall be under that curse, that abiding curse; from that day forward you shall be regarded by God, and all his creatures, as an accursed and abominable thing; as the most detest­able and the most miserable part of the creation: you shall go into fire; and, oh, consider into what fire! Is it merely into one fierce blaze, which shall consume you in a moment, though with exquisite pain? that were terrible: but, oh, such terrors are not to be named with these: thine, sinner, is everlasting fire; it is that which our Lord hath in such awful terms described as prevail­ing there, "where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched;" and then says it a second time, "Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched;" and again, in wonderful compassion, a third time, ‘Where their worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched ^(d).’ Nor was it originally pre­pared, or principally intended for you; it was pre­pared for the devil and his angels; for those first grand re­bels who were, immediately upon their fall, doomed to it; and since you have taken part with them in their apostasy, you must sink with them in that flaming ruin; and sink so much the deeper as you have despised a Saviour who was never offered to them, These must be your companions, and your tormentors, with whom you must dwell for ever. And is it I that say this? or [Page 60] says not the law and the gospel the same? Does not the Lord Jesus Christ expressly say it, ‘who is the faithful and true witness ^(e);’ even he who himself is to pro­nounce the sentence.

§ 10. And when it is thus pronounced, and pro­nounced by him, shall it not also be executed? Who could imagine the contrary? who could imagine there should be all this pompous declaration to fill the mind only with vain terror, and that this sentence should vanish into smoke? You may easily apprehend that this would be a greater reproach to the divine administra­tion than if sentence were never to be passed; and there­fore, we might easily have inferred the execution of it from the process of preceding judgment. But least the treacherous heart of a sinner should deceive him with so vain a hope, the assurance of that execution is imme­diately added in very memorable terms: It shall be done; it shall immediately be done. Then, on that very day, while the sound of it is yet in their ears, ‘the wicked shall go away into everlasting punish­ment ^(f)’ and thou, O reader, whoever thou art, being found in their number, shalt go away with them; shall be driven on among all these wretched multitudes, and plunged with them into eternal ruin. The wide gates of hell shall be open to receive thee; they shall be shut upon thee for ever to inclose thee, and be fast barred by the almighty hand of divine justice, to prevent all hope, all possibility of escape, for ever.

§ 11. And now prepare thyself ‘to meet the Lord thy God ^(g):’ summon up all the resolution of thy mind to endure such a sentence, such an execution as this: for "he will not meet thee as a man ^(h)," whose heart may sometimes fail him, when about to exert a needful act of severity, so that compassion may prevail against reason and justice. No, he will meet thee as a God, whose schemes and purposes are all immovable as his throne. I therefore, testify to thee in his name this [Page 61] day, that, if God be true, he will thus speak; and that, if he be able, he will thus act. And, on supposition of thy continuance in thine impenitency and unbelief, thou art brought into this miserable case, that if God be not either false or weak, thou art undone, thou art eternally undone.

CHAP. VII. The helpless State of the Sinner under Condemnation.

§ 1. SINNER, thou hast heard the sentence of God, as it stands upon record in his sacred and im­mutable word. And wilt thou lye down under it in everlasting despair? wilt thou make no attempt to be delivered from it, when it speaks nothing less than eter­nal death to thy soul? If a criminal, condemned by hu­man laws, has but the least shadow of hope that he may possibly escape, he is all attention to it. If there be a friend who he thinks can help him, with what strong importunity does he entreat the interposition of that friend? And, even while he is before the judge, how difficult is it often to force him away from the bar, while the cry of Mercy, mercy, mercy, may be heard, though it be never so unreasonable? A mere possibility that it may make some impression makes him eager in it, and unwilling to be silenced and removed.

§ 2. Wilt thou not then, O sinner, ere yet execution is done, that execution which may, perhaps, be done this very day, wilt thou not cast about in thy thoughts what measures may be taken for deliverance? Yet what measures can be taken? Consider attentively; for it is [Page 64] an affair of moment. Thy wisdom, thy power, thy e­loquence, or thine interest, can never be exerted on a greater occasion. If thou canst help thyself, do. If thou hast any secret source of relief, go not out of thy­self for other assistance. If thou hast any sacrifice to offer, if thou hast any strength to exert, yea if thou hast any allies on earth, or in the invisible world, who can defend and deliver thee, take thine own way, so that thou mayest but be delivered at all, and we may not see thy ruin. But say, O sinner, in the presence of God, what sacrifice thou wilt present, what strength thou wilt exert, what allies thou wilt have re­course to, on so urgent, so hopeless an occasion: for, hopeless I must indeed pronounce it, if such methods are taken.

§ 3. The justice of God is injured: hast thou any a­tonement to make to it? If thou wast brought to an inquiry and proposal, like that of the awakened sinner, ‘Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil ^[a]?’ Alas! wert thou as great a prince as Solomon himself, and couldst thou indeed purchase such sacrifices as these, there would be no room to mention them, ‘Lebanon would not be sufficient to burn, nor all the beasts thereof for a burnt offering ^[b].’ Even under that dispensation, which admitted and required sacrifices in some cases, the blood of bulls and of goats, though it exempted the offender from farther temporal punish­ment, could not take away sin ^[c], nor prevail by any means to purge the conscience in the sight of God. And that soul that had done ought presumptuously, was not allowed to bring any sin-offering, or trespass-offering at all, but was condemned to ‘die without mercy ^[d].’ Now God and thine own conscience know that thine offences have not been merely the er­rors of ignorance and inadvertency, but that thou hast [Page 65] sinned with an high hand, in repeated aggravated in­stances, as thou hast acknowledged already.—Shouldst thou add, with the wretched sinner described above, ‘Shall I give my first-born for my transgression, the fr [...]t of my body for the sin of my soul ^[e]?’ What could the blood of a beloved child do in such a case, but dye thy crimes so much the deeper, and add a yet un­known horror to them? Thou hast offended a Being of infinite Majesty; and if that offence is to be expi­ated by blood, it must be by another kind of blood than that which flows in the veins of thy children, or in thine own.

§ 4. Wilt thou then suffer thyself, till thou hast made full satisfaction? But how shall that satisfaction be made? Shall it be by any calamities to be endured in this mor­tal momentary life? Is the justice of God, then, esteem­ed so little a thing, that the sorrows of a few days should suffice to answer its demands? Or dost thou think of fu­ture sufferings in the invisible world? If thou dost, that is not deliverance: and, with regard to that, I may venture to say, When thou hast made full satisfaction, thou wilt be released: when thou hast paid the utmost farthing of that debt, thy prison-doors shall be opened. In the mean time, thou must "make thy bed in hell ^[f]:" and, O unhappy man? wilt thou lie down there with a secret hope that the moment will come when the ri­gour of divine justice will not be able to inflict any thing more than thou hast endured, and when thou mayest claim thy discharge as a matter of right? It would indeed be well for thee if thou couldest carry down with thee such a hope, false and flattering as it is: but, alas! thou wilt see things in so just a light, that to have no comfort but this will be eternal despair. That one word of thy sentence, Everlasting fire; that one declaration, "The worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched;" will be sufficient to strike such a thought into black con­fusion, and to overwhelm thee with hopeless agony and horror.

§ 5. Or do you think that your future reformation [Page 66] and diligence in duty for the time to come will proc [...] your discharge from this sentence? Take heed, sinner, what kind of obedience thou thinkest of offering to a [...] holy God. That must be spotless and complete, which his infinite sanctity can approve and accept, if he consider thee in thyself alone; there must be no inconstancy, no forgetfulness, no mixture of sin attending it. And wilt thou, enfeebled as thou art, by so much original corrup­tion, and so many sinful habits contracted by innume­rable actual transgressions, undertake to render such an obedience and that for all the remainder of thy life? In vain wouldst thou attempt it even for one day. New guilt would immediately plunge thee into new ruin; but if it did not; if from this moment to the very end of thy life all were as complete obedience as the law of God required from Adam in Paradise, would that be suffi­cient to cancel past guilt? would it discharge an old debt that thou hadst not contracted a new one? Offer this to thy neighbour, and see if he will accept it for payment; and if he will not, wilt thou presume to offer it to thy God?

§ 6. But I will not multiply words on so plain a sub­ject. While I speak thus, time is passing away, death presses on, and judgment is approaching. And what can save thee from these awful scenes, or what can pro­tect thee in them? Can the world save thee? that vain delusive idol of thy wishes and pursuits, to which thou art sacrificing thine eternal hopes? Well dost thou know that it will utterly forsake thee when thou needest it most; and that not one of its enjoyments can be carried along with thee into the invisible state; no, not so much as a trifle to remember it by, if thou couldst desire to remember so inconstant and so treacherous a friend as the world has been.

§ 7. And when you are dead, or when you are dying, can your sinful companion save you? Is there any one of them, if he were ever so desirous of doing it, that "can give unto God a ransom for you ^[g]," to deli­ver you from going down to the grave, or from going down to hell? Alas! you will probably be so sensible [Page 67] of this, that when you lye on the border of the grave, you will be unwilling to see or to converse with those that were once your favourite companions. They will afflict you rather than relieve you, even then how much less can they relieve you before the bar of God, when they are overwhelmed with their own condemnation?

§ 8. As for the powers of darkness, you are sure they will be far from any ability or inclination to help you. Satan has been watching and labouring for your destruction, and he will triumph in it. But if there could be any thing of an amicable confederacy between you, what would that be but an association in ruin? For the day of judgment of ungodly men will also be the judgment of these rebellious spirits; and the fire in­to which thou, O sinner, must depart, is that which was "prepared for the devil and his angels ^(h)."

§ 9. Will the celestial spirits then save thee? will they interpose their power or their prayers in thy fa­vour? An interposition of power, when sentence is gone forth against thee, were an act of rebellion against Heaven, which these holy and excellent creatures would abhor. And when the final pleasure of the Judge is known, instead of interceding, in vain, for the wretch­ed criminal, they would rather, with ardent zeal for the glory of their Lord, and cordial acquiescence in the determination of his wisdom and justice, prepare to exe­cute it. Yea, difficult as it may at present be to conceive it, it is a certain truth, that the servants of Christ who now most tenderly love you, and most affectionately seek your salvation, not excepting those who are allied to you in the nearest bonds of nature, or of friendship, even they shall put their Amen to it. Now, indeed their bowels yearn over you, and their eye poureth out tears on your account; now they expostulate with you, and plead with God for you, if by any means, while yet there is hope, you may be ‘plucked as a firebrand out of the burning ⁽ⁱ⁾;’ but, alas! their remon­strances you will not regard; and as for their prayers, what should they ask for you? what but this, that you [Page 68] may see yourselves to be undone? and that, utterly de­spairing of any help from yourselves, or from any creat­ed power, you may lye before God in humility and bro­kenness of heart; that, submitting yourselves, to his righteous judgment, and in an utter renunciation of all self-dependence, and of all creature dependence, you may lift up an humble look towards him, as almost from the depths of hell, if peradventure he may have compassion upon you, and may himself direct you to that only method of rescue which, while things con­tinue as in present circumstances they are, neither earth, nor hell, nor heaven, can afford you.

CHAP. VIII. News of Salvation by Christ, brought to the con­vinced and condemned Sinner.

§ 1. MY dear reader! it is the great design of the gospel, and, wherever it is cordially received, it is the glorious effect of it, to fill the heart with senti­ments of love; to teach us to abhor all unnecessary ri­gour and severity, and to delight, not in the grief, but in the happiness of our fellow-creatures. I can hardly apprehend how he can be a Christian who takes plea­sure in the distress which appears even in a brute, much less in that of a human mind; and, especially, in such distress as the thoughts I have been proposing must give, if there be any due attention to their weight and ener­gy. I have often felt a tender regret while I have been representing these things; and I could have wished from mine heart that it had not been necessary to have placed them in so severe and so painful a light. But now I am addressing myself to a part of my work, which I undertake with untterable pleasure; and to that which indeed I had in view, in all those awful things which I have already been laying before you. I have been showing you, that, if you hitherto have lived in a state of impenitence and sin, you are condemned by God's righteous judgment▪ and have in yourself no spring of hope and no possibility of deliverance. But I [Page 71] mean not to leave you under this sad apprehension, to lye down and die in despair, complaining of that cruel zeal which has "tormented you before the time." Matth. viii, 29.

§ 2. Arise, O thou dejected soul, that art prostrate in the dust before God, and trembling under the ter­rors of his righteous sentence: for I am commissioned to tell thee, that though ‘thou hast destroyed thyself, in God is thine help, Hosea 13, 9." I bring thee good tidings of great joy, Luke 2, 10,’ which de­light my own heart while I proclaim them, and will, I hope, reach and revive thine; even the tidings of salvation by the blood and righteousness of the Redeem­er. And I give it thee, for thy greater security, in the words of a gracious and forgiving God, that ‘he is in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, and not imputing to them their trespasses, 2 Cor. 5, 19.’

§ 3. This is the best news that ever was heard, the most important message which God ever sent to his creatures; and though I doubt not at all, but living, as you have done, in a Christian country, you have heard it often, perhaps a thousand and a thousand times, I will, with all simplicity and plainness, repeat it to you again, and repeat it as if you had never heard it before. If thou, O sinner, shouldst now, for the first time, feel it, then will it be as a new gospel unto thee, though so fa­miliar to thine ear; nor shall it be grievous for me to speak what is so common, since to you it is safe and ne­cessary, Phil. 3, 1. They who are most deeply and in­timately acquainted with it, instead of being cloyed and satiated, will hear it with distinguished pleasure; and as for those who have hitherto slighted it, I am sure they had need to hear it again. Nor is it absolutely impos­sible that some one soul, at least, may read these lines who hath never been clearly and fully instructed in this important doctrine, though his everlasting All de­pends on knowing and receiving it. I will therefore take care that such a one shall not have it to plead at the bar of God, that tho' he lived in a Christian coun­try, he was never plainly and faithfully taught the doctrine of salvation by Jesus Christ, ‘the way, the [Page 72] truth, and the life, by whom alone we come unto the Father, John 14, 6.’

§ 4. I do therefore testify unto you this day, that the holy and gracious Majesty of heaven and earth, foresee­ing the fatal apostacy into which the whole human race would fall, did not determine to deal in a way of strict and rigorous severity with us, so as to consign us over to universal ruin and inevitable damnation; but, on the contrary, he determined to enter into a treaty of peace and reconciliation, and to publish to all, whom the gospel should reach, the express offers of life and glory, in a certain method, which his infinite wisdom judged suit­able to the purity of his nature, and the honour of his go­vernment. This method was indeed a most astonishing one, which, familiar, as it is to our thoughts and our tongues, I cannot recollect and mention without great amazement. He determined to send his own Son into the world, "the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, Heb. 1, 3. partaker of his own di­vine perfections and honours, to be not merely a teacher of righteousness, and a messenger of grace, but also a sacrifice for the sins of men; and would consent to his saving them on no other condition but this, that he should not only labour, but die in the cause.

§ 5. Accordingly, at such a period of time as infinite Wisdom saw most convenient, the Lord Jesus Christ ap­peared in human flesh; and after he had gone through incessant and long continued fatigues, and borne all the preceding injuries which the ingratitude and malice of men could inflict, he voluntarily ‘submitted himself to death, even the death of the cross; Phil. 2, 8.’ and having been ‘delivered for our offences, was rais­ed again for our justification, Rom. 4, 25.’ After his resurrection he continued long enough on earth to give his followers most convincing evidences of it, and then "ascended into heaven in their sight, Acts 1, 9— 11;" and sent down his Spirit from thence upon his apos­tles, to enable them, in the most persuasive and autho­ritative manner, to "preach the gospel, Luke 24, 40:" and he has given it in charge to them, and to those who, [Page 73] in every age, succeed them in this part of their office, that it should be published "to every creature, Mark. 16, 15;" that all who believe in it may be saved, by virtue of its abiding energy, and the immutable power and grace of its divine author, who is, ‘the same yes­terday, to-day and for ever, Heb. 13, 8.’

§ 6. This gospel do I therefore now preach, and pro­claim unto thee, O reader, with the sincerest desire that, through divine grace, it may this very day be ‘salva­tion to thy soul, Luke 19, 9.’ Know therefore, and consider it, whosoever thou art, that as surely as these words are now before thine eyes, so sure it is that the incarnate Son of God "was made a spectacle to the world, and to "angels, and to men, 1 Cor. 4, 9;" his back torn with scourges, his head with thorns, his limbs stretched out as on a rack, and nailed to the accursed tree; and in this miserable condition he was hung up by his hands and his feet, as an object of public infamy and contempt. Thus did he die, in the midst of all the taunts and insults of his cruel enemies who thirsted for his blood; and which was the saddest circumstance of all, in the midst of these agonies with which he closed the most innocent, perfect, and useful life that ever was spent upon earth, he had not those supports of the divine presence which sinful men have often ex­perienced, when they have been suffering for the testi­mony of their conscience. They have often burst out into transports of joy and songs of praise while their ex­ecutioners have been glutting their hellish malice, and more than savage barbarity, by making their tor­ments artificially grievous; but the crucified Jesus cried out, in the distress of his spotless and holy soul, ‘My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Matth. 27, 46.’

§ 7. Look upon our dear Redeemer! Look up to this mournful, dreadful, yet, in one view, delightful spectacle, and then ask thine own heart, Do ye believe that Jesus suffered and died thus? and why did he suf­fer and die? Let me answer in God's own words, ‘He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities, and the chastisement of our peace was [Page 74] upon him, that by his stripes we might be healed: it pleased the Lord to bruise him, and to put him to grief, when he made his soul an offering for sin?’ for, the Lord "laid on him the iniquity of us all, Isa. 53, 5.6.10. So that I may address you in the words of the Apostle, ‘Be it known unto you therefore, that through this man is preached unto you the forgive­ness of sin, Acts 13, 38.’ as it was his command, just after he arose from the dead, that ‘repentance and remission of his sins should be preached in his name unto all nations, beginning at Jerusalem, Luke 24, 47;’ the very place where his blood had so lately been shed in so cruel a manner. I do therefore testify unto you, in the words of another inspired writer, that "Christ was made sin," that is, a sin-offering, "for us though he knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him, 2 Cor. 5, 21;" that is, that through the righteousness he has fulfilled, and the atonement he has made, we might be accepted by God as righteous, and be not only pardoned, but re­ceived into his favour. ‘To you is the word of this salvation sent, Acts 13, 26;’ and to you, O reader, are the blessings of it even now offered by God; sin­cerely offered; so that, after all I have said under the former heads, it is not your having broken the law of God that shall prove your ruin, if you do not also reject his gospel. It is not all those legions of sins which rise up in battle array against you that shall be able to de­stroy you, if unbelief do not lead them on, and final impenitence do not bring up the rear. I know that guilt is a timorous thing: I will therefore speak in the words of God himself; nor can any be more comfort­able: ‘He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, John 3, 36; and he shall never come into con­demnation, John 5, 24: there is therefore now no condemnation,’ no kind or degree of it, to them, to any one of them, ‘who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit, Rom. 8, 1.’ You have indeed been a very great sinner, and your offences have truly been attended with most heinous aggravations; nevertheless, you may rejoice in [Page 75] the assurance, that ‘where sin hath abounded, there shall grace much more abound, Rom. 5, 20; that where sin hath reigned unto death,’ where it has had its most unlimited sway, and most unresisted tri­umph, there shall ‘righteousness reign to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord, Rom. 5, 21.’ That righteousness, to which, on believing on him, thou wilt be entitled, shall not only break those chains by which sin is (as it were) dragging thee at its chariot wheels with a furious pace to eternal ruin, but it shall clothe thee with the robes of salvation, shall six thee on a throne of glory, where thou shalt live and reign for ever among the princes of heaven; shalt reign in immortal beauty and joy, without one remaining scar of divine displeasure upon thee, without any single mark by which it could be known that thou hadst ever been obnoxious to wrath and a curse; except it be an anthem of praise, to "the Lamb that was slain, and "has washed thee from thy sins in his own blood, Rev. 1, 5.

§ 8. Nor is it necessary, in order to thy being re­leased from guilt, and entitled to this high and com­plete felicity, that thou shouldst, before thou wilt ven­ture to apply to Jesus, bring any good works of thine own to recommend thee to his acceptance. Is it in­deed true, that if thy faith be sincere, it will certainly produce them: but I have the authority of the word of God to tell thee, that if thou this day sincerely be­lievest in the name of the Son of God, thou shalt this day be taken under his care, and be numbered among those of his sheep, to whom he hath graciously declared that "he will give eternal life;" and, that they shall "never perish, John 10, 28. Thou hast no need there­fore to say, ‘Who shall go up into heaven? or, who shall descend into the deep" for me? "For the word is nigh thee, in thy mouth, and in thine heart, Rom. 10, 6.7.8." With this joyful message I leave thee; with this faithful saying," indeed worthy of all acceptation, 1 Tim. 1, 15; with this gospel, O sinner, which is my life, and which, if thou dost not reject it, will be thine too.’

CHAP. IX. A more particular Account of the Way by which this Salvation is to be obtained.

§ 1. I NOW consider you, my dear reader, as com­ing to me with the enquiry which the Jews once addressed to our Lord. "What shall we do that we may work the works of God, John 6, 28?" what method shall I take to secure that redemption and sal­vation which I am told Christ has procured for his peo­ple? I would answer it as seriously and carefully as pos­sible, as one that knows of what importance it is to you to be rightly informed; and that knows also how strictly he is to answer to God for the sincerity and care with which the reply is made. May I be enabled to "speak as his oracle, 1 Pet. 4, 11." that is, in such a manner as faithfully to echo back what the sacred o­racles teach!

§ 2. And here, that I may be sure to follow the safest guides, and the fairest examples, I must preach salvati­on to you, in the way of ‘repentance towards God, and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, Acts 20, 21;’ that Good old doctrine which the apostles preached, and which no man can pretend to change, but at the peril of his own soul and of theirs who attend to him.

§ 3. I suppose that you are by this time convinced of your guilt and condemnation, and of your own ina­bility to recover yourself. Let me, nevertheless, urge you to feel that conviction yet more deeply, and to im­press it with yet greater weight upon your soul; that you have "undone yourself," and that ‘in yourself is not your help found, Hosea 13, 9.’ Be persuaded, therefore, expressly and solemnly, and sincerely, to give up all self-dependence, which, if you do not guard against it, will be ready to return secretly, before it is observ­ed, and will lead you to attempt building up what you have just been destroying.

§ 4. Be assured, that if ever you are saved, you must ascribe that salvation entirely to the free grace of God. If, guilty and miserable as you are, you are not only ac­cepted [Page 79] but crowned, you must "lay down your crown," with all humble acknowledgment, before the throne Rev. 4, 10. ‘No flesh must glory in his presence; but he that glorieth must glory in the Lord: for of him are we in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption, 1 Cor. 1.29,—31.’ and you must be sensible you are in such a state, as having none of these in yourself, to need them in another. You must there­fore be sensible that you are ignorant and guilty, pollut­ed, and enslaved; or, as our Lord expresses it, (with re­gard to some that were under a Christian profession,) that, as a sinner, ‘you are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked, Rev. 3, 17.’

§ 5. If these views be deeply impressed upon your mind, you will be prepared to receive what I am now to say. Hear, therefore, in a few words, your duty, your remedy, and your safety, which consists in this, ‘That you must apply to Christ with a deep abhorrence of your former sins, and a firm resolution of forsaking them; forming that resolution in the strength of his grace, and fixing your dependence on him for your ac­ceptance with God, even while you are purposing to do your very best; and when you have actually done the best you ever will do in consequence of that pur­pose.’

§ 6. The first and most important advice that I can give you in the present circumstances is, That "you look to Christ, and apply yourself to him." And here, "say not in your heart, Who shall ascend into heaven, to bring him down to me Rom. 10, 6?" or, Who shall raise me up thither to present me before him? The blessed Jesus, "by whom all things consist Col. 1, 17." by whom the whole system of them is supported, for­gotten as he is by most that bear his name, "is not far from any of us "Acts 17, 27;" nor could he have pro­mised to have been, ‘wherever two or three are met together in his name Mat. 18, 20,’ but in conse­quence of those truly divine perfections by which he is every where present. Would you therefore, O sinner, desire to be saved? go to the Saviour: would you desire [Page 80] to be delivered, look to that great Deliverer; and though you should be overwhelmed with guilt, and shame, and fear, and horror, that you should be incapa­ble of speaking to him, fall down in this speechless con­fusion at his feet, and ‘behold him, as the Lamb "of God, that taketh away the sin of the world John 1, 29.’

§ 7. Behold him therefore with an attentive eye, and say whether the sight does not touch, and even melt, thy very heart? Dost thou not feel what a foolish and what a wretched creature thou hast been, that for the sake of such low and sordid gratifications and interests as those which thou hast been pursuing, thou shouldst thus ‘kill the Prince of life Acts 3, 15.’ Behold the deep wounds which he bore for thee. ‘Look on him whom thou hast pierced, and surely thou must mourn Zech. 12, 10,’ unless thine heart be hardened into stone. Which of thy past sins canst thou reflect upon, and say, "For this it was worth my while thus to have injured my Saviour, and to have exposed the Son of God to such sufferings!" And what future temptations can a­rise so considerable, that thou shouldest say, ‘For the sake of this I will crucify my Lord again Heb. 6, 6?’ Sinner, thou must repent; thou must repent of every sin, and must forsake it; but if thou dost it to any pur­pose, I well know it must be as at the foot of the cross. Thou must sacrifice every lust, even the dearest tho' it should be like a right hand, or a right eye Mat. 5.29.30; and therefore, that thou mayest, if possible, be an­imated to it, I have led thee to that altar, on which ‘Christ himself was sacrificed for thee, an offering of a sweet-smelling savour Eph. 5, 2. Thou must yield up thyself to God, as one alive from the dead Rom. 6, 13;’ and therefore I have showed thee at what a price he purchased thee: ‘For thou wast not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of the Son of God, that Lamb without blemish and without spot 1 Pet. 1, 18.19.’ And now I would ask thee, as before the Lord, what does thine own heart say to it? Art thou grieved for thy former offences? art thou willing to [Page 81] forsake thy sins? art thou willing to become the chear­ful, thankful servant of him, ‘who hath purchased thee with his own blood?’

§ 8. I will suppose such a purpose as this rising in thine heart: how determinate it is, and how effectual it may be, I know not; what different views may arise hereafter, or how soon the present sense may wear off: but this I assuredly know, that thou wilt never see reason to change these views; for however thou may­est alter, the Lord ‘Jesus Christ is the same yester­day, to-day, and forever Heb. 13, 8:’ and the rea­sons that now recommend repentance and faith, as fit and as necessary, will continue invariable, as long as the perfections of the blessed God are the same, and as long as his Son continues the same.

§ 9. But while you have these views and these pur­poses, I must remind you, that this is not all that is ne­cessary to your salvation. You must not only purpose, but, as God gives opportunity, you must act as those who are convinced of the evil of sin, and of the necessity and excellence of holiness: and that you may be enabled to do so in other instances, you must, in the first place, and as the first great work of God, (as our Lord himself calls it,) ‘believe in him whom God hath sent John 6, 29.’ You must confide in him; ‘must commit your soul into the hands of Christ, to be saved by him in his own appointed method of salvation.’ This is the great act of saving faith; and I pray God that you may experimentally know what it means, so as to be able to say with the apostle Paul, in the near view of death itself, ‘I know whom I have believed, and am per­suaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him until that day, 2 Tim. 1, 12;’ that great decisive day, which, if we are Christians, we have always in view. To this I would urge you; and oh that I could be so happy as to engage you to it while I am illustrating it in this and the following ad­dresses! Be assured you must not apply yourselves im­mediately to God, as absolutely or in himself considered, in the neglect of a Mediator. It will neither be ac­ceptable to him, nor safe for you, to rush into his pre­sence [Page 82] without any regard to his own Son, whom he hath appointed to introduce sinners to him; and if you com [...] otherwise, you come as one who is not a sinner: th [...] very manner of presenting the address will be interpre [...] ed as a denial of that guilt with which he knows you are chargeable; and therefore he will not admit you nor so much as look upon you. And accordingly, o [...] Lord, knowing how much every man living was con­cerned in this, says in the most universal terms, ‘No man cometh unto the Father but by me, John 14, 6.’

§ 10. Apply therefore to this glorious Redeemer, a­miable, (as he will appear to every believing eye,) in the blood which he shed upon the cross, and in the wounds which he received there. Go to him, O sin­ner, this day, this moment, with all thy sins about thee. Go just as thou art; for if thou wilt never ap­ply to him till thou art first righteous and holy, thou wilt never be righteous and holy at all; nor canst be so, on this supposition, unless there were some way of be­ing so without him, and then there would be no occa­sion for applying to him for righteousness and holiness. It were indeed as if it should be said, that a sick man should defer his application to a physician till his health be recovered. Let me, therefore, repeat it without offence, go to him just as thou art, and say, (Oh that thou mayest this moment be enabled to say it from thy very soul!) ‘Blessed Jesus, I am surely one of the most sinful, and one of the most miserable creatures that ever fell prostrate before thee;’ nevertheless, I come because I have heard that thou didst once say, ‘Come unto me, all ye that labour, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest, Matt. 11, 28.’ I come because I have heard that thou didst graciously say, ‘Him, that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out, John 6, 37.’ O thou Prince of peace, O thou King of glory, I am a condemned miserable sin­ner. I have ruined my own soul, and am condemned for ever, if thou dost not help me and save me. I have broken thy Father's law and thine, for thou art ‘one with him, John 10, 30.’ I have deserved condemn­ation and wrath, and I am, even at this very moment [Page 83] under a sentence of everlasting destruction; a destruc­tion which will be aggravated by all the contempt which I have cast upon thee, O thou bleeding Lamb of God; for I cannot, and will not, dissemble it be­fore thee, that I have wronged thee, most basely and ungratefully wronged thee, under the character of a Saviour as well as of a Lord: but now I am willing to submit to thee; and I have brought my poor trem­bling soul to lodge it in thine hands, if thou wilt con­descend to receive it, and if thou dost not it must pe­rish. O Lord, I lie at thy feet; stretch out ‘thy gol­den sceptre that I may live! Esth. 4, 11. yea if it please the King, let the life of my soul be given me as my petition! Esth. 7, 3.’ I have no treasure where­with to purchase it; I have no equivalent to give thee for it; but if that compassionate heart of thine can find a pleasure in saving one of the most distressed creatures under heaven, that pleasure thou mayest here find. O Lord, I have foolishly attempted to be mine own sa­viour, but it will not do: I am sensible the attempt is vain; and therefore I give it over, and look unto thee. On thee, blessed Jesus, who art sure and stedfast, do I desire to fix my anchor: on thee, as the only sure foundation, would I build my eternal hopes: to thy teaching, O thou unerring Prophet of the Lord, would I submit: be thy doctrines ever so mysterious, it is e­nough for me that thou thyself hast said it: to thine atonement, obedience and intercession, O thou holy and ever acceptable High-Priest, would I trust: and to thy government, O thou exalted Sovereign, would I yield a willing, delightful subjection. In token of re­verence and love, I "kiss the Son; Psalm 2, 12." I kiss the ground before his feet: I admit thee, O my Saviour, and welcome thee with unutterable joy, to the throne in my heart: ascend it, and reign there for ever! subdue mine enemies, O Lord, for they are thine; and make me thy faithful, thy zealous servant; faithful to death, and zealous to eternity!"

§ 11. Such as this must be the language of your very heart before the Lord. But then remember, that in consequence hereof, it must be the language of your [Page 84] life too. The unmeaning words of the lips would be a vain mockery. The most affectionate transport of the passions, should it be transient and ineffectual, would be but like a blaze of straw presented instead of incense at his altar. With such humility, with such love, with such cordial self dedication and submission of soul, must thou often prostrate thyself in the presence of Christ: and then thou must go away, and keep him in thy view; must go away, and live unto God through him, "denying ungodliness and worldly lusts," and behav­ing thyself ‘soberly, righteously, and godly, in this vain ensnaring world, Tit. 2, 12.’ You must make it your care to shew your love by obedience; by form­ing yourself as much as possible according to the temper and manner of Jesus, in whom you believe. You must make it the great point of your ambition, (and a no­bler view you cannot entertain) to be a living image of Christ; that, so far as circumstances will allow, even those who have heard and read but little of him may, by observing you, in some measure see and know what kind of a life that of the blessed Jesus was. And this must be your constant care, your prevailing character, as long as you live. You must follow him whithersoever he leads you; must follow him with a cross on your shoulder, when he commands you to ‘take it up; Matth. 16, 24; and so must be faithful even un­to death, expecting the crown of life, Rev. 2, 10.’

§ 12. This, so far as I have been able to learn from the word of God, is the way to safety and glory; the surest, the only way you can take. It is the way which every faithful minister of Christ has trod, and is tread­ing; and the way to which, as he tenders the salvation of his own soul, he must direct others. We cannot, we would not, alter it in favour of ourselves, or of our dear­est friends. It is the way in which alone, so far as we can judge, it becomes the blessed God to save his apos­tate creatures. And therefore, reader, I beseech and intreat you seriously to consider it; and let your own conscience answer, as in the presence of God, whether you are willing to acquiesce in it or not. But know, that to reject it is thine eternal death. For as ‘there [Page 85] is no other name under heaven given among men whereby we can be saved, Acts 4, 12,’ but this of Jesus of Nazareth, so there is no other method but this in which Jesus himself will save us.

CHAP. X. The Sinner seriously urged and intreated to accept of Salvation in this way.

THUS far have I often known convictions and im­pressions to arise, (if I might judge by the strong­est appearances,) which, after all, have worn off again, Some unhappy circumstance of external temptation, ever joined by the inward reluctance of an unsanctified heart, to this holy and humbling scheme of redemption, has been the ruin of multitudes. And ‘through the de­ceitfulness of sin, they have been hardened, Heb. 3, 13, till they seem to have been utterly de­stroyed, and that without remedy, Prov. 29, 1.’ And therefore, O thou immortal creature, who art now reading these lines, I beseech thee, that while affairs are in this critical situation; while there are these ba­lancings of mind between accepting and rejecting that glorious gospel, which, in the integrity of my heart, I have now been laying before you, you would once more give me an attentive audience, while I plead in God's behalf (shall I say?) or rather in your own; while ‘as an ambassador for Christ, and as tho' God did beseech you by me, I pray you in Christ's stead, that you would be reconciled to God, 2 Cor. 5, 20;’ and would not, after these awakenings, and these in­quiries, be a madness, which it will surely be the dole­ful [Page 88] business of a miserable eternity to lament, reject this compassionate counsel of God towards you.

§ 2. One would, indeed, imagine there should be no need of importunity here. One would conclude, that as soon as perishing sinners are told that an offending God is ready to be reconciled; that he offers them a full pardon for all their aggravated sins; yea, that he is willing to adopt them into his family now, that he may at length admit them to his heavenly presence; all should, with the utmost readiness and pleasure, embrace so kind a message, and fall at his feet in speechless transports of astonishment, gratitude and joy. But, alas! we find it much otherwise. We see multitudes quite unmoved, and the impressions which are made on many more, are feeble and transient. Lest it should be thus with you, O reader, let me urge the message with which I have the honour to be charged: let me entreat you to be reconciled to God, and to accept of pardon and salvation in the way in which it is so freely offered to you.

§ 3. I intreat you, by the majesty of that God, in whose name I come; whose voice fills all heaven with reverence and obedience. He speaks not in vain to le­gions of angels; but if there could be any contention a­mong those blessed spirits, it would be, who should be first to execute his commands. O let him not speak in vain to a wretched mortal! I intreat you ‘by the ter­rors of his wrath,’ who could speak to you in thun­der; who could▪ by one single act of his will, cut off this precarious life of yours, and send you down to hell. I beseech you by his mercies, by his tender mercies; by the bowels of his compassion which still earn over you, as those of a parent over a dear son, over a tender child, whom, notwithstanding his former ungrateful rebellions, "he earnestly remembers still, Jer. 31, 20." I beseech and intreat you, by all this paternal goodness, that you do not (as it were) compel him to lose the character of the gentle parent in that of the righteous judge; so that (as he threatens with regard to those whom he had just called his sons and his daughters) ‘a fire should be kin­dled in his anger, which should burn unto the lowest hell, Deut. 32, 19.22.’

[Page 89]§ 4. I beseech you farther, by the name and love of our dying Saviour; I beseech you by all the condescen­sion of his incarnation; by that poverty to which he vo­luntarily submitted, that you might be enriched with eternal treasures, 2 Cor. 8, 9; by all the gracious in­vitations which he gave, which still sound in his word, and still coming (as it were) warm from his heart ‘are sweeter than honey, or the honey comb, Ps. 19, 10.’ I beseech you by all his glorious works of power and wonder, which were also works of love. I beseech you by the memory of the most benevolent person, and the most generous friend. I beseech you by the memory of what he suffered, as well as of what he said and did; by the agony which he endured in the garden, when his body was covered ‘with a dew of blood, Luke 22, 44.’ I beseech you by all that tender distress which he felt, when his dearest friends ‘forsook him and fled, Matt. 26, 56’ and his blood thirsty enemies dragged him away, like the meanest of slaves, and like the vilest of criminals. I beseech you by the blows and bruises, by the stripes and lashes, which this injured Sovereign endured while in their rebellious hands; by the shame of spitting, from which he hid not that kind and ve­nerable countenance, Isa. 50, 6. I beseech you by the purple robe, the sceptre of reed, and the crown of thorns, which this King of glory wore, that he might set us among the princes of heaven, Psalm 113, 8. I beseech you by the heavy burden of the cross, under which he panted, and toiled, and fainted, in the pain­ful way to Golgotha, John 19, 17, that he might free us from the burden of our sins. I beseech you by the remembrance of those rude nails that tore the veins and arteries, the nerves and tendons, of his sacred hands and feet; and by that invincible, that triumphant good­ness, which, while the iron pierced his flesh, engaged him to cry out, ‘Father forgive them for they know not what they do, Luke 22, 34.’ I beseech you by the unutterable anguish which he bore when lifted up upon the cross, and extended there as on a rack, for six painful hours, that you open your heart to those at­tractive influences, which have drawn to him thousands [Page 90] and ten thousands, John 13, 32. I beseech you by all that insult and derision which the Lord of glory bore there, Matt. 27, 29—44; by that parching thirst, which could hardly obtain the relief of vinegar, John 19, 28.29; by that doleful cry, so astonishing in the mouth of the only begotten of the Father, ‘My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Matt. 27, 46.’ I beseech you by the grace that subdued and pardoned a dying ma­lefactor, Luke 23, 42.43; by that compassion for sin­ners, by that compassion for you, which wrought in his heart, long as its vital motion continued, and which ended not when he ‘bowed his head, saying, It is finished, and gave up the ghost, John 19, 30.’ I be­seech you by the triumphs of that resurrection, by which he was ‘declared to be the Son of God with power, by the Spirit of holiness,’ which wrought to accom­plish it, Rom. 1, 4; by that gracious tenderness which attempered all those triumphs, when he said to ‘her out of whom he had cast seven devils,’ concerning his disciples who had treated him so basely, ‘Go, tell my brother, I ascend unto my Father and your Father, unto my God and your God, John 20, 17.’ I beseech you by that condescension with which he said to Tho­mas, when his unbelief had such an unreasonable de­mand, ‘Reach hither thy finger and behold my hands, and reach thither thine hand, and put it into my side; and be not faithless but believing, John 20, 27.’ I beseech you by that generous and faithful care of his people, which he carried up with him to the regions of glory, and which engaged him to send down his Spirit, in that rich profusion of miraculous gifts, to spread the progress of his saving word, Acts 2, 33. I beseech you by that voice of sympathy and power with which he said to Saul, while injuring his church, ‘Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? Acts 9, 4.’ by that generous goodness which spared that prostrate enemy, when he lay trembling at his feet, and raised him to such a dignity as to be not inferior to the very chiefest apos­tles, 2 Cor. 12, 11. I beseech you by the memory of all that Christ hath already done, by the expectation of all he will farther do, for his people. I beseech you at [Page 91] once, by the sceptre of his grace, and by that sword of his justice, with which all his incorrigible enemies shall be "slain before him, Luke 19, 27," that you do not "trifle away these precious moments while his Spirit is thus breathing upon you, that you do not lose an op­portunity which may never return, and on the improve­ment of which your eternity depends.

§ 5. I beseech you by all the bowels of compassion which you owe to the faithful ministers of Christ, who are studying and labouring, preaching and praying, wearing out their time, exhausting their strength, and, very probably, shortening their lives, for the salvation of your soul, and of souls like yours. I beseech you by the affection with which all that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity, long to see you brought back to him. I beseech you by the friendship of the living, and by the memory of the dead; by the ruin of those who have trifled away their days, and are perished in their sins, and by the happiness of those who have embraced the gospel, and are saved by it. I beseech you by the great expectation of that important day, ‘when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven, 2 Thess. 1, 7;’ by "the terrors of a dissolving world 2 Pet. 3, 10;" by "the sound of the arch-angel's trumpet," and of that infinitely more awful sentence, "Come ye, blessed," and "Depart, ye cursed," with which that grand so­lemnity shall close, Matt. 25, 34.41.

§ 6. I beseech you, finally, by your own precious, and immortal soul; by the sure prospect of a dying bed or a sudden surprise into the invisible state; and as you would feel one sparkle of comfort in your departing spirit, when "your flesh and your heart are failing." I beseech you by your own personal appearance before the tribunal of Christ, (for a personal appearance it must be, even to them who now sit on thrones of their own;) by all the transports of the blessed, and by all the ago­nies of the damned, the one or the other, of which must be your everlasting portion. I affectionately in­treat and beseech you, in the strength of all these united considerations, as you will answer it to me, who may, in that day, be summoned to testify against you; and, which is unspeakably more, as you will answer it to your [Page 92] own conscience, as you will answer it to the eternal Judge: that you dismiss not these thoughts, these medi­tations, and these cares, till you have brought matters to a happy issue; till you have made a resolute choice of Christ, and his appointed way of salvation, and till you have solemnly devoted yourself to God in the bonds of an everlasting covenant.

§ 7. And thus I leave the matter before you, and be­fore the Lord. I have told you my errand, I have dis­charged my embassy. Stronger arguments I cannot use; more endearing and more awful considerations I cannot suggest. Chuse, therefore, whether you will go out (as it were) clothed in sackcloth, to cast yourself at the feet of him who now sends you these equitable and gracious terms of peace and pardon, or, whether you will hold it out till he appears, sword in hand, to reckon with you for your treasons and your crimes, and for this neglect­ed embassy among the rest of them? Fain would I hope the best; nor can I believe that this labour of love shall be so entirely unsuccessful, that not one soul shall be brought to the foot of Christ in cordial submission and humble faith. ‘Take with you, therefore, words, and turn unto the Lord, Hos. 14, 2;’, and, on that those which follow might, in effect at least, be the genuine language of every one that reads them.

CHAP. XI. A solemn Address to those who will not be persuaded to fall in with the Design of the Gospel.

§ 1. I WOULD humbly hope that the preceding chapters will be the means of awakening some stupid and insensible sinners; the means of convincing them of their need of gospel salvation, and of engaging some cordially to accept it. Yet I cannot flatter myself so far as to hope this should be the case with regard to all into whose hands this book shall come. What ‘am I, alas, better than my fathers, 1 Kings 19, 4,’ or better than my brethren, who have, in all ages, been repeating their complaints, with regard to multitudes, that they ‘have stretched out their hands all the day long to a disobedient a [...] gainsaying people? Rom. 10, 21.’ Many such may perhaps, be found in the number of my readers; many, of whom neither consi­derations of terror nor of love will make any deep and lasting impression; many who, as our Lord learned by experience to express it, ‘when we pipe to them, will not dance, and when we mourn unto them, will not lament, Matth. 11, 17.’ I can say no more to per­suade them, if they make light of what I have already [Page] said. Here, therefore, we must part; in this chapter I must take my leave of them; and, oh, that I could do it in such a manner as to fix, at parting, some convictions upon their hearts; that, though I seem to leave them for a little while, and send them back to review again the former chapters, as those in which alone they have any present concern, they might soon, as it were, over­take me again, and find a suitableness in the remaining part of this discourse, which at present they cannot pos­sibly find. Unhappy creatures! I quit you, as a physi­cian quits a patient whom he loves, and is just about to give over as incurable; he returns again and again, and re-examines the several symptoms, to observe whether there be not some one of them more favourable than the rest, which may encourage a renewed application.

§ 2. So would I once more return to you. You do not find in yourself any disposition to embrace the gos­pel, to apply yourself to Christ, to give yourself up to the service of God, and to make religion the business of your life. But, if I cannot prevail upon you to do this, let me engage you at least to answer me, or rather to answer your own conscience, ‘Why you will not do it?’ Is it owing to any secret disbelief of the great principles of religion? If it be, the case is different from what I have yet considered, and the cure must be differ­ent. This is not a place to combat with the scruples of infidelity. Nevertheless, I would desire you seriously to inquire how far those scruples extend. Do they affect only some particular doctrines of the gospel on which my argument hath turned? or do they affect the whole Christian revelation? or do they reach yet farther, and extend themselves to natural religion as well as revealed, so that it should be a doubt with you whether there be any God, and Providence, and future state, or not? As these cases are all different, so it will be of great importance to distinguish the one from the other, that you may know on what principle to build as certain, in the examination of those concerning which you are yet in doubt. But, whatever these doubts are, I would farther ask you, How long have they continued, and what method have you taken to get them resolved? Do [Page 96] you imagine that in matters of such moment, it will be an allowable case for you to trifle on, neglecting to inquire into the evidence of these things, and then plead your not being satisfied in that evidence, as an excuse for not acting according to them? Must not the prin­ciples of common sense assure you that, if these things be true, (as when you talk of doubting about them, you acknowledge it, at least possibly they may,) they are of infinitely greater importance than any of the affairs of life, whether of business or pleasure, for the sake of which you neglect them? Why then do you continue indolent and unconcerned, from week to week, and from month to month, which, probably, conscience tells you is the case?

§ 3. Do you ask what method you should take to be resolved? It is no hard question. Open your eyes; set yourself to think: let conscience speak, and verily do I believe that, if it be not feared in an uncommon de­gree, you will find shrewd forebodings of the certainty both of natural and revealed religion, and of the abso­lute necessity of repentance, faith, and holiness, to a life of future felicity. If you are a person of any learning, you cannot but know by what writers, and in what treat­ises, these great truths are defended. And, if you are not, you may find, in almost every town and neigh­bourhood, persons capable of informing you in the main evidences of Christianity, and of answering such scru­ples against it as unlearned minds may have met with. Set yourself then, in the name of God, immediately to consider the matter. If you study at all, bend your studies close this way; and trifle not with mathematics, or poetry, or history, or law, or physic, (which are all, comparatively light as a feather,) while you neglect this. Study the argument as for your life; for much more than life depends on it. See how far you are sa­tisfied, and why that satisfaction reaches no farther. Compare evidences on both sides. And, above all, con­sider the design and tendency of the New Testament, to what it would lead you, and all them that cordially obey it; and then say whether it be not good. And con­sider how naturally its truth is connected with its good­ness. [Page 97] Trace the character and sentiments of its authors, whose living image, (if I may be allowed the expres­sion) is still preserved in their writings; and then ask your own heart, Can you think this was a forgery? an impious cruel forgery? For such it must have been if it were a forgery at all, a scheme to mock God, and to ruin men, even the best of men, such as reverenced conscience and would abide all extremeties for what they apprehended to be truth. Put the question to your own heart, Can I in my conscience believe it to be such an imposture? Can I look up to an omniscient God, and say, ‘O Lord, thou knowest that it is in reverence to thee, and in love to truth and virtue, that I reject this book, and the method to happiness here laid down?’

§ 4. But there are difficulties in the way.—And what then? Have those difficulties never been cleared? Go to the living advocates for Christianity, to those of whose abilities, candour, and piety, you have the best opinion, if your prejudices will give you leave to have a good o­pinion of any such: tell them your difficulties; hear their solutions; weigh them seriously, as those who know they must answer it to God; and, while doubts continue, follow the truth as far as it will lead you, and take heed that you do not ‘imprison it in unrighteous­ness, Rom. 1, 18.’

Nothing appears more inconsistent and absurd than for a man solemnly to pretend dissatisfaction in the evi­dences of the gospel, as a reason why he cannot in con­science be a thorough Christian; when yet at the same time he violates the most apparent dictates of reason and conscience, and lives in vices condemned even by the Heathens. Oh sirs! Christ has judged concerning such, and judged most righteously and most wisely; ‘They do evil, and therefore they hate the light, nei­ther come they to the light, lest their deeds should be made manifest, and be reproved, John 3, 20.’ But there is a light that will make manifest and reprove their works, to which they shall be compelled to come, and the painful scrutiny of which they shall be forced to abide.

§ 5. In the mean time, if you are determined to in­quire [Page 98] no farther into the matter now, give me leave at least, from a sincere concern, that you may not heap upon your head more aggravated ruin, to intreat you that you would be cautious how you expose yourself to get greater danger by what you must yourself own to be unnecessary, I mean attempts to pervert others from believing the truth of the gospel. Leave them, for God's sake, and for your own, in possession of those plea­sures, and those hopes, which nothing but Christianity can give them, and act not as if you were solicitous to add to the guilt of an infidel the tenfold damnation, which they who have been the perverters and destroyers of the souls of others must expect to meet, if that gospel, which they have so adventurously opposed, should prove, as it certainly will, a serious, and to them a dreadful truth.

§ 6. If I cannot prevail here, but the pride of dis­playing a superiority of understanding should bear on such a reader, even in opposition to his own favourite maxims of the innocence of terror, and the equality of all religions consistent with social virtue, to do his ut­most to trample down the gospel with contempt, I would, however, dismiss him with one proposal, which I think the importance of the affair may fully justify. If you have done with your examination into Christianity, and determine to live and conduct yourself as if it were as­suredly false, sit down then and make a memorandum of that determination. Write it down: ‘On such a day of such a year, I deliberately resolved that I would live and die rejecting Christianity myself, and doing all I could to overthrow it.’ This day I determined not only to renounce all subjection to, and expectation from Jesus of Nazareth, but also to make it a serious part of the business of my life to destroy, as far as I possibly can, all regard to him in the minds of others, and to ex­ert my most vigorous efforts in the way of reasoning, or of ridicule, to sink the credit of his religion, and if it be possibly, to root it out of the world; in calm stea­dy defiance of that day, when his followers say, He shall appear in so much majesty and terror, to execute the ven­geance threatened to his enemies. Dare you write this and sign it? I firmly believe that many a man, who [Page 99] would be thought a Deist, and endeavours to encrease the number, would not: and if you in particular dare not to do it, whence does that small remainder of cau­tion arise? the cause is plain. There is in your consci­ence some secret apprehension that this rejected, this op­posed, this derided gospel may, after all prove true; and if there be such an apprehension, then let conscience do its office, and convict you of the impious madness of acting as if it were most certainly and demonstrably false. Let it tell you at large how possible it is that ‘happily you may be found fighting against God, Act. 5, 39:’ that, bold as you are, in defying the terrors of the Lord, you may possibly fall into his hands, may chance to hear that despised sentence, which, when you hear it from the mouth of the eternal Judge, you will not be able to despise: I will repeat it again in spite of all your scorn, you may hear the King say to you, ‘De­part accursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels, Matth. 25, 41.’ And now go and pervert and burlesque the scripture, go and lampoon the character of its heroes, and ridicule the sublime dis­courses of its prophets and its apostles, as some have done who have left little behind them but the short-lived monu­ments of their ignorance, their profaneness, and their malice: go and spread like them the banners of Infide­lity, and pride thyself in the number of credulous crea­tures listed under them. But take heed lest the insulted Galilean direct a secret arrow to thine heart, and stop thy licentious breath before it has finished the next sen­tence thou wouldst utter against him.

§ 7. I will now turn myself from the Deist or the Sceptic, and direct my address to the nominal Chris­tian; if he may upon any terms be called a Christian, who feels not, after all I have pleaded, a disposition to subject himself to the government and the grace of that Saviour whose name he bears. O sinner, thou art turning away from my Lord, in whose cause I speak; but let me earnestly entreat thee seriously to consider why thou art turning away, ‘and to whom thou wilt go from him, whom thou acknowledgest to have the words of eternal life, John 6.68.’ You call yourself a Christian, and yet will not by any means be [Page 100] persuaded to seek salvation in good earnest from and through Jesus Christ, whom you call your Master and your Lord. How do you for a moment excuse this negligence to your own conscience? If I had urged you on any controverted point, it might have altered the case. If I had laboured hard to make you the disciple of any particular party of Christians, your de­lay might have been more reasonable: nay, perhaps, your refusing to acquiesce might have been an act of apprehended duty to our common Master. But is it matter of controversy among Christians, whether there be a great, holy, and righteous God; and whether such a being, whom we agree to own, should be reverenced and loved, or neglected and dishonoured? Is it matter of controversy whether a sinner should deeply and seri­ously repent of his sins, or whether he should go on in them? Is it a disputed point amongst us whether Jesus became incarnate, and died upon the cross for the re­demption of sinners or no? And if it be not, can it be disputed by them who believe him to be the Son of God, and the Saviour of men, whether a sinner should seek to him or neglect him? or whether one who professes to be a christian should depart from iniquity, or give him­self up to the practice of it? Are the precepts of our great Master written obscurely in his word, and there should be room seriously to question whether he require a devout, holy, humble, spiritual, watchful, self-deny­ing life, or whether he allow the contrary? Has Christ, after all his pretensions of bringing life and imortality to light, left it more uncertain than he found it, whether there be any future state of happiness and misery, or for whom these states are respectively intended? Is it mat­ter of controversy whether God will or will not ‘bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil Eccl. 12, 14? or whether at the conclusion of that judgment, the wicked shall go away into everlasting punishment, and the righteous into life eternal Matt. 25, 46?’ You will not, I am sure, for very shame pretend any doubt about those things, and yet call yourself a Chri­stian. Why then will you not be persuaded to lay them to heart, and to act as duty and interest so evidently re­quire? [Page 101] Oh sinner, the cause is too obvious; a cause in­deed quite unworthy of being called a reason. It is be­cause thou art blinded and bespotted with thy vanities and thy lusts. It is because thou hast some perishing trifle, which charms thy imagination and thy senses, so that it is dearer to thee than God and Christ, than thy own soul and its salvation. It is, in a word, be­cause thou art still under the influence of that carnal mind, which, whatever pious forms it may sometimes admit and pretend, ‘is enmity against God, and is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be Rom. 8, 7.’ And therefore thou art in the very case of those wretches, concerning whom our Lord said, in the days of his flesh, ‘Ye will not come unto me that ye might have life John 5, 40;’ and there­fore "ye shall die in your sins John 8, 24."

§ 8. In this case I see not what can signify to renew those expostulations and addresses, which I have made in the former chapters. As our blessed Redeemer says of those who rejected his gospel, ‘Ye have both seen and hated both me and my Father John 15, 24;’ so may I truly say with regard to you. I have endeavoured to show you in the plainest and clearest words, both Christ and the Father; I have urged the obligations you are under to both; I have laid before you your guilt, and your condemnation; I have pointed out the only remedy; I have pointed out the Rock on which I have built my own eternal hopes, and the way in which a­lone I expect salvation; I have recommended those things to you, which, if God gives me an opportunity, I will, with my dying breath, earnestly and affectionate­ly recommend to my own children, and to all the dearest friends that I have upon earth who may then be near me; esteeming it the highest token of my friendship, the surest proof of my love to them: and if believing the gospel to be true, you resolve to reject it, I have nothing farther to say, but that you must abide by the consequence—Yet as Moses, when he went out from the presence of Pharaoh for the last time, finding his heart yet more hardened by all the judgments and de­liverances with which he had formerly been exercised, denounced upon him God's passing through the land in [Page 102] terror to smite the first-born with death, and warned him of that great and lamentable cry which the sword of the destroying angel should raise throughout all his realm Exod. 9, 4,—6; so will I, sinner, now when I am quitting thee, speak to thee yet again, ‘whether thou wilt hear or whether thou wilt forbear Ez. 2, 7;’ and denounce that much more terrible judgment, which the sword of divine vengeance, already whetted and drawn and bathed as it were in heaven Isa. 34, 5. is preparing a­gainst thee; which shall end in a much more doleful cry, though thou wert greater and more obstinate than that haughty monarch. Yes, sinner, that I may, with the A­postle Paul, when "turning to others," who are more like to hear me, ‘shake my raiment, and say, I am pure from your blood Acts 18, 6;’ I will once more tell you what the end of these things will be; And, oh, that I could speak to purpose! Oh that I could thunder in thine ear such a peal of terror as might awaken thee, and be too loud to be drowned in all the noise of carnal mirth, or to be deadened by those dangerous opiates, with which thou art contriving to stupify thy consci­ence!

§ 9. Seek what amusements and entertainments thou wilt, O sinner I tell thee, if thou wert equal in dignity, and power, and magnificence, to the great monarch of Babylon, ‘thy pomp shall be brought down to the grave, and all the sound of thy viols; the worm shall be spread under thee, and the worm shall cover thee Isa. 14, 11. Yes sinner, the end of these things is death Rom. 6, 21;’ death in its most terrible sense to thee, if this continue thy governing temper. Thou canst not avoid it; [...] if it be possible for any thing that I can say to preve [...] [...]ou shalt not forget it. Your ‘strength is not the strength of stones, nor is your flesh of brass Job. [...] 12.’ You are accessible to diseases as well as others and if some sudden acci­dent do not prevent it, we shall soon see how heroical­ly you will behave yourself on a dying bed, and in the near views of eternity. You that now despise Christ, and trifle with his gospel, we shall see you droop and languish; shall see all your relish for your carnal recre­ations, and your vain companions, lost. And if per­haps [Page 103] one and another of them bolt in upon you, and is brutish and desperate enough to attempt to entertain a dying man with a gay story, or a profane jest, we shall see how you will relish it. We shall see what comfort you will have in reflecting on what is past, or what hope in looking forward to what is to come. Perhaps, trembling and astonished, you will then be inquiring, in a wild kind of consternation, ‘what you shall do to be saved;’ calling for the ministers of Christ, whom you now despise for the earnestness with which they would labour to save your soul; and, it may be, falling into a dilirium, or dying convulsions, before they can come. Or perhaps we may see you flattering yourselves, through a long lingering illness, that you shall still recover, and putting off any serious reflection and conversation, for fear it should overset your spirits; and the cruel kindness of friends and phy­sicians, as if they were in league with Satan to make the destruction of your soul as sure as possible, may perhaps abet this fatal deceit.

§ 10. And if any of these probable cases happen, that is, in short, unless a miracle of grace snatch you "as a brand out of the burning," when the flames have as it were already taken hold of you, all these gloomy cir­cumstances, which pass in the chambers of illness, and the bed of death, are but the fore-runners, of infinitely more dreadful things, Oh, who can describe them! who can imagine them! when surviving friends are tenderly mourning over the breathless corpse, and taking a fond farewell of it before it is laid to consume away in the dark and silent grave, into what hands, O sinner, will thy soul be fallen! what scenes will open upon thy se­perate spirit, even before thy deserted flesh be cold, or thy sightless eyes are closed! it shall then know what it is to return to God to be rejected [...] him, as having re­jected his gospel and his Son, and despised [...]e only treaty of reconciliation; and that such a one so amaz­ingly condescending and gracious. Thou shalt know what it is to be disowned by Christ, whom thou hast refused to entertain; and what it is, as the certain and immediate consequence of that, to be left in the hands of the malignant spirits of hell. There will be no [Page 104] more friendship then; none to comfort, none to alevi­ate thy agony and distress; but, on the contrary, all around thee labouring to aggravate and increase them. Thou shalt pass away the intermediate years of the seperate state in dreadful expectation, and bitter out­cries of horror and remorse; and then thou shalt hear the trumpet of the arch-angel, in whatever cavern of that gloomy world thou art lodged. Its sound shall penetrate thy prison, where, doleful and horrible as it is, thou shalt nevertheless wish that thou mightest still be allowed to hide thy guilty head, rather than show it before the face of that awful Judge, before whom ‘heaven and earth are flying away Rev. 20, 11.’ But thou must come forth, and be re­united to a body, now formed for ever to endure ago­nies, which in this mortal state would have dissolved it in a moment. You would not be persuaded to come to Christ before; you would stupidly neglect him, in spight of reason, in spight of conscience, in spight of all the tenderest solicitations of the gospel, and the re­peated admonitions of its most faithful ministers: but now, sinner, you shall have an interview with him; if that may be called an interview, in which you will not dare to lift up your head to view the face of your tre­mendous and inexorable Judge. There, at least, how distant soever the time of our life, and the place of our abode, may have been, there shall we see how courage­ously your hearts will endure, and how, ‘strong your hands will be, when the Lord doth this, Exek. 22, 14.’ There shall I see thee, O reader, whoever thou art that goest on in thine impenitency, among thousands and ten thousands of despairing wretches, trembling and confounded. There shall I hear thy cries among the rest, rending the [...] [...]avens in vain. The Judge will rise from the tribu [...] with majestic composure, and leave th [...] [...] be hur [...] down to those everlasting burn­ings to which his righteous vengeance hath doomed thee, because thou wouldst not be saved from them. He [...] shall shut its mouth upon thee for ever, and the sad echo of thy groans and outcries shall be lost amidst the halle­lujahs of heaven to all that find mercy of the Lord in that day.

[Page 105]§ 11. This will most assuredly be the end of these things; and thou, as a Christian, professest to know and to believe it. It moves my heart at least, if it moves not thine. I firmly believe that every one, who him­self obtains salvation and glory, will bear so much of his Saviour's image in wisdom and goodness, in zeal for God, and a steady regard to the happiness of the whole crea­ation, that he will behold this sad scene with calm ap­probation, and without any painful commotion of mind. But as yet I am flesh and blood; and therefore my bowels are troubled, and mine eyes often overflow with grief, to think that wretched sinners will have no more compassion upon their own souls; to think, that in spight of all admonition, they will obstinately run upon final everlasting destruction. It would signify nothing to add a prayer here, or a meditation for your use. Poor crea­ture! you will not meditate! you will not pray! Yet, as I have often poured out my heart in prayer over a dying friend, when the force of his distemper has ren­dered him incapable of joining with me, so will I now apply myself to God for you, O unhappy creature! And if you disdain so much as to read what my com­passion dictates, yet I hope they who have felt the power of the gospel on their own souls, as they cannot but pity such as you, will join with me in such cordial, though broken petitions as these:

CHAP. XII. An Address to a Soul so overwhelmed with a Sense of the greatness of its Sins, that it dares not apply itself to Christ with any Hope of Salvation.

§ 1. I HAVE now done with those unhappy creatures who despise the gospel, and with those who ne­glect it. With pleasure do I now turn myself to those who will hear me with more regard. Among the va­rious cases which now present themselves to my thoughts and demand my tender, affectionate, respectful ca [...], there is none more worthy of compassion than that which I have mentioned in the title of this chapter; no [...] which requires a more immediate attempt of relief.

§ 2. It is very possible, some afflicted creature maybe ready to cry out, It is enough: aggravate my grief and my distress no more. The sentence you have been so awfully describing, as what shall be passed and execut­ed on the impenitent and unbelieving, is my sentence; and the terrors of it, are my terrors. For ‘mine ini­quities are gone up unto the heavens Rev. 18, 5,’ and my transgressions have reached unto the clouds. My case is quite singular. Surely there never was so great a sinner as I. I have received so many mercies, I have enjoyed so many advantages, I have heard so ma­ny invitations of gospel grace; and yet my heart has been so hard, and my nature is so exceeding sinful, and the number and aggravating circumstances of my pro­vocations have been such, that I dare not hope. It is enough that God hath supported me thus long; it is e­nough that, after so many years of wickedness, I am yet out of hell. Every day's reprieve is a mercy at which I am astonished. I lie down and wonder, that death and damnation have not seized me in my walks the day past. I arise and wonder that my bed hath not been my grave; wonder, that my soul is not separated from flesh, and surrounded with devils and damned spirits.

§ 3. I have indeed heard the message of salvation; but alas, it seems no message of salvation to me. There are happy souls that have hope; and their hope is [...] deed in Christ, and the grace of God manifested in [...] But then they feel in their hearts an encouragement [...] apply to him; whereas I dare not do it. Christ and [Page 109] grace are things in which I fear I have no part, and must expect none. There are exceeding rich and precious promises in the word of God; but they are to me as a sealed book, and are hid from me as to any personal use. I know Christ is able to save; I know he is willing to save some; but that he should be willing to save me, such a poluted, such a provoking creature, as, God knows, and as conscience knows, I have been, and to this day am; this I know not how to believe; and the utmost that I can do towards believing it is to acknow­ledge that it is not absolutely impossible, and that I do not yet lye down in complete despair; though, alas! I seem upon the very borders of it, and expect every day and hour to fall into it.

§ 4. I should not, perhaps, have entered so fully into this case if I had not seen many in it; and I will add, reader, for your encouragement, if it be your case, several who are now in the number of the most establish­ed, chearful, and useful Christians. And I hope divine grace will add you to the rest, if "out of these depths" you be enabled to "cry unto God Psal. 130, 1;" and though, like Jonah, you may seem to be "cast out from his presence," yet still, with Jonah, you "look towards his holy temple Jonah 2, 4."

§ 5. Let it not be imagined that it is in any neglect of that blessed Spirit, whose office it is to be the great Comforter, that I now attempt to reason you out of this disconsolate frame; for it is as the great source of rea­son that he deals with rational creatures, and it is in the use of rational means and considerations that he may most justly be expected to operate. Give me leave, therefore to address myself calmly to you, and to ask you what reason you have for all these passionate complaints and accusations against yourself? what reason have you to suggest that your case is singular, when so many have told you they have felt the same? what reason have you to conclude so hardly against yourself, when the gospel speaks in such favourable terms? or what reason to imagine that the gracious things it says are not intended for you? You know indeed more of the corruptions of your own heart than you know of the hearts of others; and you make a thousand charitable excuses for their [Page 110] visible failings and infirmities which you make not for your own; and it may be some of those, whom you ad­mire as eminent saints when compared with you, are, on their part, humbling themselves in the dust as unwor­thy to be numbered among the least of God's people, and wishing themselves like you, in whom they think they see much more good, and much less of evil than in themselves.

§ 6. But to suppose the worst? what if they were really the vilest sinner that ever lived upon the face of the earth? what ‘if your iniquities had gone up unto the heavens Rev. 18, 5.’ every day, and your trans­gressions had reached unto the clouds, reached thither with such horrid aggravations, that earth and heaven should have had reason to detest you as a monster of im­piety? Admitting all this, ‘is any thing too hard for the Lord Gen. 18, 14?’ are any sins of which a sinner can repent of so deep a dye that the blood of Christ cannot wash them away? Nay though it would be daring wickedness and monstrous folly for any "to sin that grace might abound Rom. 6, 1," yet had you indeed raised your account beyond all that divine grace has ever yet pardoned, who should ‘limit the holy One of Israel Psal. 78, 41?’ or who should pretend to say that it was impossible that God might, for your very wretchedness chuse you out from others, to make you a monument of mercy, and a trophy of hitherto unparalleled grace? The Apostle Paul strongly intimates this to have been the case with regard to him­self; and why might not you likewise, if indeed ‘the chief of sinners obtain mercy, that in you, as the Chief, Jesus Christ might show forth all long suffer­ing, for a pattern to them who shall hereafter be­lieve 1 Tim. 1, 15.16?’

§ 7. Gloomy as your apprehensions are, I would ask you plainly, Do you in your conscience think that Christ is not able to save you? What, is he not ‘able to save, even to the uttermost, them that come unto God by him Heb. 7, 25.’ Yes you will say, abundantly able to do it; but I dare not imagine that he will do it. And how do you know that he will not? He has helped the very greatest sinners of all, that have yet applied [Page 111] themselves to him; and he has made thee offers of grace and salvation in the most engaging and encourag­ing terms: ‘if any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink John 7, 37: Let him that is a thirst come; and whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely Rev. 22, 17: Come unto me, all ye that la­bour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest Mat. 9, 28:" and, once more, "Him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out John 6, 39.’ True, you will say, none that are given him by the Fa­ther: could I know I were of that number I could then apply chearfully to him. But dear reader, let me intreat you to look into the text itself, and see whether that li­mitation be expressly added there. Do you there read, ‘None of them whom the Father hath given me shall he cast out?’ The words are in a much more encou­raging form: and why should you frustrate his wisdom and goodness by such an addition of your own? ‘add not to his words, lest he reprove thee Prov. 30, 6:’ take them as they stand, and drink in the consolation of them. Our Lord knew into what perplexity some serious minds might possibly be thrown by what he had before been saying, "All that the Father hath given me shall come unto me;" and therefore as it were on purpose to balance it, he adds those gracious words, ‘Him that cometh unto me, I will in no wife,’ by no means on no consideration whatever, "cast out."

§ 8. If therefore you are already discouraged and ter­rified at the greatness of your sins, do not add to their weight and number that one greater and worse than all the rest, a distrust of the faithfulness and grace of the blessed Redeemer. Do not, so far as in you lies, oppose all the purposes of his love to you. O distressed soul, whom dost thou dread? to whom dost thou tremble to approach? Is there any thing so terrible in a crucified Redeemer, in "the Lamb that was slain?" If thou car­riest thy soul, almost sinking under the burden of its guilt, to lay it down at his feet, what dost thou offer him but the spoil which he bled and died to recover and pos­s [...]! and did he purchase it so dearly that he might re­ject it with disdain? Go to him directly, and fall down in his presence, and plead that misery of thine which [Page 112] thou hast now been pleading in a contrary view, as an engagement to your own soul to make the application, and as an argument with the compassionate Saviour to receive you: go, and be assured, ‘that where sin hath abounded, there grace shall much more abound Rom, 5, 20.’ Be assured, that if one sinner can pro­mise himself a more certain welcome than another, it is not he that is least guilty and miserable, but he that is most deeply humbled before God under a sense of that misery and guilt, and lies the lowest in the apprehensi­on of it.

CHAP. XIII. The doubting Soul more particularly assisted in its Inqui­ries as to the Sincerity of its Faith and Repentance.

§ 1. IN consequence of all the serious things which have been said in the former chapters, I hope it will be no false presumption to imagine that so [...] religious impressions may be made on hearts which [...] never felt them before; or may be revived where they have formerly grown cold and languid. Yet I [...] very sensible, and I desire that you may be so, ho [...] [Page 115] great danger there is of self-flattery on this important head; and how necessary is it to caution men against too hasty a conclusion that they are really converted, because they have felt some warm emotion on their minds, and have reformed the gross irregularities of their former conduct. A mistake here might be in­finitely fatal; it may prove the occasion of that false peace, which shall lead a man to bless himself in his own heart, and to conclude himself secure, while all the threatenings and curses of God's law are sounding in his ears, and lye indeed directly against him Deut. 29, 19.20; while, in the mean time he applies to him­self a thousand promises, in which he has no share; which may prove therefore, like generous wine to a man in an high fever, or strong opiates to one in a lethargy. The stony ground received the word with joy, and a promi­sing harvest seemed to be springing up; yet it soon wi­thered away Matth. 13, 5.6, and no reaper filled his arms with it. Now, that this may not be the case with you, that all my labours and yours hitherto may not be lost, and that a vain dream of security and happiness may not plunge you deeper in misery and ruin, give me leave to lead you into a serious inquiry into your own heart; that so you may be better able to judge of your case, and to distinguish between what is at most being only near the kingdom of heaven, and becoming indeed a member of it.

§ 2. Now this depends upon the sincerity of your faith in Christ, when faith is taken in its largest extent, as explained above; that is as comprehending repent­ance, and that steady purpose of new and universal obe­dience of which, wherever it is real, faith will assured­ly be the vital principle. Therefore to assist you in judging of your state, give me leave to ask you, or ra­ther to intreat you to ask yourself, What views you have had, and now have of sin, and of Christ? and what your future purposes are with regard to your conduct in the remainder of life that may lye before you? I shall not reason largely upon the several particulars I suggest under these heads, but rather refer you to your own reading and observation, to judge how agreeable they are to the word of God, the great rule by which [Page 116] our characters must quickly be tried, and our eternal state unalterably determined.

§ 3. Inquire seriously, in the first place, what views you have had of sin, and, what sentiments you have felt in your soul with regard to it. There was a time when it wore a flattering aspect, and made a fair in­chanting appearance, so that all your heart was charm­ed with it, and it was the very business of your life to practise it. But you have since been undeceived: you have felt it ‘bite like a serpent, and sting like an ad­der Prov. 23, 32:’ you have beheld it with an abhor­rence far greater than the delight which it ever gave you. So far it is well. It is thus with every true penitent, and with some I fear who are not of that number. Let me, therefore inquire farther, whence arose this abhor­rence? Was it merely from a principle of self love? was it merely because you had been wounded by it; was it merely because you had thereby brought condemnation and ruin upon your own soul? Was there no sense of its deformity, of its baseness, of its malignity, as committed against the blessed God, considered as a glorious, a bountiful, and a merciful being? Were you never pierc­ed by an apprehension of its vile ingratitude? And as for those purposes which have arisen in your heart a­gainst it, let me beseech you to reflect how they have been formed, and how they have hitherto been executed. Have they been universal? have they been resolute? and yet, amidst all that resolution, have they been humble? When you declared war with sin, was it with every sin? and is it an irreconcileable war which you determine by divine grace to push on, till you have en­tirely conquered it, or die in the attempt? And are you accordingly active in your endeavours to subdue and destroy it? If so, what are ‘the fruits worthy or re­pentance which you bring forth Luke 3, 8?’ It does not, I hope, all flow away in floods of grief: have you ‘ceased to do evil? are you learning to do well Isa. 1, 16.17?’ Doth your reformation show that you repent of your sins; or do your renewed relapses into sin prove that you repent even of what you call your repentance? Have you an inward abhorrence of all sin, and an unseigned zeal against it? And doth that pro­duce [Page 117] a care to guard against the occasions of it, and temptation, to it! Do you watch against the circum­stances that have ensnared you? and do you particular­ly double your guard against ‘that sin which does most easily beset you Heb. 12, 1:’ Is that laid aside, that the Christian race may be run: laid aside with a firm determination that you will return to it no more, that you will hold no more parley with it, that you will ne­ver take another step towards it?

§ 4. Permit me also further to inquire, what your views of Christ have been? what you think of him, and of your concern with him? have you been fully convinc­ed that there must be a correspondence settled between him and your soul; and do you see and feel, that you are not only to pay him a kind of distant homage, and transient compliment, as a very wise, benevolent, and excellent person, whose name and memory, you have a reverence for; but that, as he lives and reigns, as he is ever near you, and always observing you, so you must look to him, must approach him, must humbly transact business with him, and that, business of the highest im­portance, on which your salvation depends?

§ 5. You have been brought to inquire, ‘Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the most high God Micah. 6, 6?’ And once perhaps, you are thinking of sacrifices, which your own stores might have been sufficient to furnish out. Are you now convinced they will not suffice; and that you must have recourse to the Lamb which God hath provided? Have you had a view of Jesus, as ‘taking away the sin of the world John 1, 29? as made a sin-offering for us, though he knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him 2 Cor. 5, 21?’ Have you viewed him as perfectly righteous in himself; and despairing of being justified by any righteousness of your own, have you "submitted to the righteousness of God Rom. 10, 3?" Has your heart ever been brought to a deep conviction of this important truth, that if ever your are saved at all, it must be through Christ; that if ever God extend mercy to you at all, it must be for his sake; that if ever you are fixed in the temple of God above, you must stand there as an ever­lasting [Page 118] trophy of that victory which Christ has gained over the powers of hell, who would otherwise have tri­umphed over you?

§ 6. Our Lord says, ‘Look unto me, and be ye saved Isa. 45, 22." he says, "If I be lifted up, I shall draw all men unto me John 12, 32.’ Have [...] looked to him as the only Saviour? have you been drawn unto him by that sacred magnet, the attractive influ­ence of his dying love? Do you know what it is to come to Christ as a poor, ‘weary, and heavy laden sinner, that you may find rest Matth. 9, 28?’ do you know what it is in a spiritual sense to ‘eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of man John [...], 53;’ that is, to look upon Christ crucified as the great support of your soul, and to feel a desire after him, earnest as the appe­tite of Nature after its necessary food? Have you known what it is cordially to surrender yourself to Christ, as a poor creature whom love has made his property? Have you committed your immortal soul to him, that he ma [...] purify and save it; that he may govern it by the dic­tates of his word, and the influences of his Spirit; that he may use it for his glory; that he may appoint it to what exercise and discipline he pleases while it dwells here on flesh? and that he may receive it at death, and fix it among those spirits, who with perpetual songs of praise surround his throne, and are his servants for ever! Have you heartily consented to this? and do you, on this account of the matter, renew your consent? do you renew it deliberately and determinately, and feel your whole soul, as it were, saying, Amen, while you read this? If this be the case, then I can with great pleasure give you (as it were) the right hand of fellowship, and salute and embrace you as a sincere disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, as one who is ‘delivered from the power of darkness, and is translated into the kingdom of the Son of God Col. 1, 13.’ I can then salute you in the Lord, as one to whom, as a minister of Jesus, I am commissioned and charged to speak comfortably, and to tell you, not that I absolve you from your sins, for it is a small matter to be judged of man's judgment, but that the blessed God himself absolveth you; that you are one to whom he hath said in his gospel, and is continu­ally [Page 119] saying, "Your sins are forgiven you Luke 7, 48;" therefore go in peace, and take the comfort of it.

§ 7. But if you are a stranger to these experiences, and to this temper which I have now described, the great work [...] yet undone; you are an impenitent and unbelieving sinner, and ‘the wrath of God abideth on you John 3, 30.’ However you may have been a­wakened and alarmed, whatever resolutions you may have formed for amending your life, how right soever your notions may be, how pure soever your forms of worship, how ardent soever your zeal, how severe so­ever your mortification, how humane soever your tem­per, how inoffensive soever your life may be, I can speak no comfort to you. Vain are all your religious hopes, if there has not been a cordial humiliation before the presence of God for all your sins; if there has not been this avowed war declared against every thing dis­pleasing to God; if there has not been this sense of your need of Christ, and of your ruin without him; if there has not been this earnest application to him, this sur­render of your soul into his hands by faith; this renun­ciation of yourself, that you might fix on him the an­chor of your hope; if there has not been this unreserved dedication of yourself to be at all times, and in all re­spects, the faithful servant of God through him; and if you do not with all this acknowledge, that you are an unprofitable servant, who have no other expectation of acceptance or of pardon, but only through his righ­teousness and blood, and through the riches of divine grace in him; I repeat it again, that all your hopes are vain, and you are building on the sand Matth. 7, 26. The house you have already raised must be thrown down to the the ground, and the foundation be remov­ed and laid anew, or you and all your hopes will short­ly be swept away with it, and buried under it in ever­lasting ruin.

CHAP. XIV. A more particular view of the several branches of the Christian temper; by which the reader may be farther assisted in judging what he is, and what he should endeavour to be ^*.

§ 1. WHEN I consider the infinite importance of eternity, I find it exceedingly difficult to satisfy myself in any thing which I can say to men, where their eternal interests are concerned. I have given you a view, I hope I may truly say, a just as well as faithful view, of a truly Christian temper already. Yet, for your farther assistance, I would offer it to your consideration in various points of light, that you may be assisted in judging of what you are, and of what you ought to be. And in this I aim, not only at your con­viction, if you are yet a stranger to real religion, but at your farther edification, if by the grace of God you are by this time experimentally acquainted with it. Happy will you be, happy beyond expression, if, as you go on from one article to another, you can say, ‘This is my temper and character.’ Happy in no incon­siderable degree, if you can say, ‘This is what I de­sire, what I pray for, and what I pursue, in prefer­ence to every opposite view, though it be not what I have as yet attained.’

§ 2. Search then, and try, ‘what manner of spi [...] you are of Luke 9, 55. And may He that sea [...] eth all hearts" direct the inquiry; and enable [...] so to judge yourself, that you may not be [...]dem [...] of the Lord 1 Cor. 11, 31.32!’

[Page 123]§ 3. Know in the general, that if you are ‘a Chri­stian indeed, you have been renewed in the spirit of your minds Eph. 4, 23;’ so renewed as to be re­generate, "and born again." It is not enough to have assumed a new name, to have been brought under some new restraints, or to have made a partial change in some particulars of your conduct. The change must be great and universal. Inquire, then, whether you have enter­tained new apprehensions of things, have formed a practical judgment different from what you formerly did: whether the ends you purpose, the affections, which you feel working in your heart, and the course of action to which, by those affections, you are direct­ed, be on the whole new or old ^*?—Again, If you are a Christian indeed, you are ‘partaker of a divine na­ture 2 Pet. 1, 4,’ divine in its original, its tendency, and its resemblance. Inquire therefore whether God hath implanted a principle in your heart which tends to him, and which makes you like him. Search your soul attentively, to see if you have really the image there of God's moral perfections, of his holiness and righte­ousness, his goodness and fidelity; for ‘the new man is after God created in righteousness and true holi­ness Eph. 4, 24," and "is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him Col. 3, 10.’

§ 4. For your farther assistance, inquire whether ‘the same mind be in you which was also in Christ Phil 2, 5,’ whether you bear the image of God's incarnate Son, the brightest and the fairest resemblance of the Father, which earth or heaven has ever beheld? The blessed Jesus designed himself to be a model for all his followers; and he is certainly a model most fit for our imitation; an example in our nature, and in cir­cumstances adapted to general use; an example recom­mended to us at once by its spotless perfection, and by the endearing relation in which he stands to us, as our Master, our friend, and our head, as the person by whom our everlasting state is to be fixed, and in a re­semblance to whom our final happiness is to consist, [Page 124] if ever we are happy at all. Look then into the lift and temper of Christ, as described and illustrated in th [...] gospel, and search whether you can find any thing like it in your own life. Have you any thing of his devo­tion, love, and resignation to God? Any thing of his humility, meekness, and benevolence to men? Any thing of his purity and wisdom, his contempt of the world, his patience, his fortitude his zeal? And indeed, all the other branches of the Christian temper, which do not imply previous guilt in the person, by whom they are exercised, may be called in to illustrate and assist your inquiries under this head.

§ 5. Let me add, If you are a Christian, you are in the main "spiritually minded, as knowing that is life ‘and peace; whereas to be carnally minded is death Rom. 8, 6. Though you live in the flesh, you will not war after it 2 Cor. 10, 3;’ you will not take your orders and your commands from it. You will indeed attend to its necessary interests as matter of du­ty, but it will still be with regard to another and a nobler interest, that of the rational and immortal spirit. Your thoughts, your affections, your pursuits, your choice, will be determined by a regard to things spiri­tual rather than carnal.—In a word, ‘you will walk by faith, and not by sight 2 Cor 5, 7.’ Future, in­visible, and, in some degree, incomprehensible objects, will take up your mind. Your faith will act on the be­ing of God, his perfections, his providences, his pre­cepts, his threatenings, and his promises. It will act upon Christ, "whom having not seen, you will love," and honour 1 Pet. 1, 8. It will act on that unseen world, which it knows to be eternal, and therefore in­finitely more worthy of your affectionate regard, than any of ‘those things which are seen, and are tem­poral 2 Cor. 4, 18.’

§ 6. These are general views of the Christian temper, on which I would entreat you to examine yourself. And now I would go on to lead you into a survey of the gr [...] branches of it, as relating to God, our neighbours and ourselves: and of those qualifications which [...] each of these branches; such as sincerity, con [...]cy, tenderness, zeal and prudence. And I beg y [...] [...] [Page 125] attention, while I lay before you a few hints with re­gard to each, by which you may judge the better both of your state and of your duty.

§ 7. Examine then, I entreat you ‘the temper of your heart, with regard to the blessed God.’ Do you find there a reverential fear, and a supreme love and veneration for his incomparable excellencies, a desire after him as the highest good, and a cordial gratitude towards him as your supreme benefactor? Can you trust his care? Can you credit his testimony? Do you desire to pay an unreserved obedience to all that he commands, and an humble submission to all the disposals of his pro­vidence? Do you design his glory as your noblest end, and make it the great business of your life to approve yourself to him? Is it your governing care to imitate him, and to ‘serve him in spirit and in truth John 4, 24?’

§ 8. Faith in Christ I have already described at large; and therefore shall say nothing farther, either of that persuasion of his power and grace, which is the great foundation of it; or of that acceptance of Christ under all his characters or that surrender of the soul into his hands, in which its peculiar and distinguishing nature consists.

§ 9. If this faith in Christ be sincere, ‘it will un­doubtedly produce a love to him;’ which will ex­press itself in affectionate thoughts of him; in strict fi­delity to him; in a careful observation of his charge; in a regard to his Spirit, to his friends, and to his inte­rests; in a reverence to the memorials of his dying love, which he has instituted; and in an ardent desire after that heavenly world where he dwells, and where he will at length ‘have all his people to dwell with him John 17, 24’

§ 10. I may add, agreeably to the word of God, that thus believing in Christ, and loving him, you will ‘also rejoice in him;’ in his glorious design, and in his complete fitness to accomplish it; in the promises of his word, and in the priviledges of his people. It will be matter of joy to you that such a Redeemer has appear­ed in this world of ours; and your joy for yourselves will be proportionable to the degree of clearness with [Page 126] which you discern your interest in him, and relation to him.

§ 11. Let me farther lead you into some reflections on the temper of your heart towards the blessed Spirit. If we ‘have not the Spirit, of Christ, we are none of his Rom. 8, 9. If we are not led by the Spirit of God, we are not the children of God Rom. 8, 14.’ You will then, if you are a real Christian, desire that you may "be filled with the Spirit Eph. 5, 18;" that you may have every power of your soul subject to his authority; that his agency on your heart may be more constant, more operative, and more delightful. And to cherish these sacred influences, you will often have recourse to serious consideration and meditation: you will abstain from those sins which tend to grieve him: you will improve the tender seasons in which he seems to breathe upon your soul; you will strive earnestly with God in prayer, that you may have him ‘shed on you still more abundantly through Jesus Christ Tit. 3, 6:’ and you will be desirous to fall in with the great end of his mission, which was to ‘glorify Christ John 16, 14,’ and to establish his kingdom. You will desire his influence, as the Spirit of adoption, to render your acts of worship free and affectionate; your sorrow for sin overflowing and tender; your re­signation meek, and your love ardent: in a word, to carry you through life and death with the temper of a child who delights in his father, and who longs for his more immediate presence.

§ 12. Once more. If you are a Christian indeed, you will be desirous to obtain the spirit of courage. Amidst all that humility of soul to which you will be formed, you will wish to commence a hero in the cause of Christ, opposing with a vigorous resolution, the strongest efforts of the power of darkness, the inward corruption of your own heart, and all the outward dif­ficulties you may meet with in the way of your duty, while in the cause and in the strength of Christ you go on "conquering and to conquer."

§ 13. All these things may be considered a [...] branch­es of godliness; of that godliness which is ‘profitable for all things, and hath the promise of the life [Page 127] which now is, and of that which is to come. 1 Tim. 4, 8.’

§ 14. Let me now farther lay before you some branches of the Christian temper, which relate more immediately to ourselves. And here, if you are a Christian indeed, you will undoubtedly "prefer the soul to the ‘body, and things eternal to those things that are temporal.’ Conscious of the dignity and value of your immortal part, you will come to a firm resolution to secure its happiness, whatever is to be re­signed, whatever is to be endured in that view. If you are a real Christian, you will be also ‘clothed with humility 1 Pet. 5, 5.’ You will have a deep sense of your own imperfections, both natural and moral; of the short extent of our knowledge, of the uncertain­ty and weakness of your resolutions, and of your con­tinual dependence upon God, and upon almost every thing about you. And especially, you will be deeply sensible of your guilt; the remembrance of which will fill you with shame and confusion, even when you have some reason to hope it is forgiven. This will forbid all haughtiness and insolence in your behaviour to your fellow creatures. It will teach you under afflictive pro­vidences, with all holy submission, to ‘bear the in­dignation of the Lord," as those that know they have sinned against him Micah 7, 9.’—Again, if you are a Christian indeed, you will labour after ‘pu­rity of soul,’ and maintain a fixed abhorrence of all prohibited sensual indulgence. A recollection of past impurities will fill you with shame and grief; and you will endeavour for the future to guard your thoughts and desires, as well as your words and actions, and to abstain not only from the commission of evil, but from the distant appearance and probable occasions of it 1 Thes. 5, 22; as conscious of the perfect holiness of that God with whom you converse, and of the purifying nature of that hope 1 John 3, 3, which, by has gospel, he hath taught you to entertain.

§ 15. With this is nearly allied that ‘amiable vir­tue of temperance,’ which will teach you to guard against such a use of meats and drinks as indisposes the body for the service of the soul; or such an indulgence [Page 128] in either, as will rob you of that precious jewel, your time, or occasion an expence beyond what your circum­stances will admit, and beyond what will consist with those liberalities to the poor, which your relation and theirs to God and each other will require. In short, you will guard against whatever has a tendency to in­crease a sensual disposition; against whatever would a­lienate the soul from communion with God, and would diminish its zeal and activity in his service.

§ 16. The divine philosophy of the blessed JESUS will also teach you "a contented temper." It will mode­rate your desires of those wordly enjoyments, after which many feel such an insatiable thirst, ever growing with indulgence and success. You will guard against an immoderate care about those things which would lead you into a forgetfulness of your heavenly inheritance. If Providence disappoint your undertaking, you will submit. If others be more prosperous, you will not en­vy them; but rather will be thankful for what God is pleased to bestow upon them, as well as for what he gives you. No unlawful methods will be used to alter your present condition; and whatever it is, you will endeavour to make the best of it; remembering it is what infinite Wisdom and Goodness have appointed you, and that it is beyond all comparison better than you have deserved; yea, that the very deficiencies and inconveniencies of it may conduce to the improvement of your future and complete happiness.

§ 17. With contentment, if you are a disciple of Christ, ‘you will join patience too, and in patience will possess your soul Luke 21, 19.’ You cannot in­deed be quite insensible either of afflictions or of inju­ries; but your mind will be calm and composed under them, and steady in the prosecution of proper duty, though afflictions press, ond though your hopes, your dearest hopes and prospects be delayed. Patience will prevent hasty and rash conclusions, and fortify you against seeking irregular methods of relief; disposing you, in the mean time, till God shall be pleased to appear for you, to go on steadily in the way of your duty; ‘com­mitting yourself to him in well-doing 1 Pet. 4, 19.’ You will also be careful, that ‘patience may have [Page 129] its perfect work James 1, 4,’ and prevail in pro­portion to those circumstances which demand its pecu­liar exercise. For instance, When the successions of e­vil are long and various, so that deep calls to deep, and all God's waves and billows seem to be going over you one after another Ps. 42, 7; when God touches you in the most tender part; when the reasons of his conduct to you are quite unaccountable; when your natural spi­rits are weak and decayed, when unlawful methods of redress seem near and easy; still your reverence for the will of your heavenly Father will carry it against all, and keep you waiting quietly for deliverance in his own time and way.

N. B. If this chapter seem too long, it may properly be divided here.

§ 18. I have thus led you into a brief review of the Christian temper, with respect to God and ourselves: permit me now to add, That the gospel will teach you another set of very important lessons with respect to your fellow-creatures. They are all summed up in this, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, Rom. 13, 9;" and "whatsoever thou wouldest" (that is, whatsoever thou couldst in an exchange of circumstances fairly and reasonably desire,) "that others should do unto thee, do "thou likewise the same unto them Matth. 7, 12." The religion of the blessed Jesus, when it triumphs in your soul, will conquer the predominancy of an irre­gular self-love, and will teach you candidly and tenderly to look upon your neighbour as another self. As you are sensible of your own rights, you will be sensible of his; as you support your own character, you will sup­port his. You will desire his welfare, and be ready to relieve his necessity, as you would have your own con­sulted by another. You will put the kindest construc­tion upon his most dubious words and actions: you will take pleasure in his happiness you [...]ill feel his distress, in some measure as your own. A [...] [...] hap­py will you be, when this obvious rule is [...] to your mind, when this golden law is written upon your heart; and when it is habitually and impartially con­sulted [Page 130] by you upon every occasion, whether great or small.

§ 19. The gospel will also teach you, ‘to put on meekness Col. 3, 12,’ not only with respect to God, submitting to the authority of his word, and the disposal of his Providence, as was urged before, but also with regard to your brethren of mankind. Its gentle instruc­tions will form you to calmness, of temper under injuries and provocations, so that you may not be angry with­out or beyond just cause. It will engage you to guard your words, lest you provoke and exasperate those you should rather study by love to gain, and by tenderness to heal. Meekness will render you slow in using any rough and violent methods, if they can by any means be lawfully avoided; and ready to admit, and even to propose, a reconciliation, after they have been entered into, if there yet may be hope of succeeding. So far as this [...]ch of the Christian temper prevails in your heart, you will take care to avoid every thing which might give unnecessary offence to others; you will be­have yourself in a modest manner, according to your stati­on; and it will work, both with regard to superiors and inferiors; teaching you duly to honor the one, and not [...] overbear or oppress the other. And in religion itself, i [...] will restrain all immoderate sallies and harsh censures and will command down that wrath of man, which, in­stead of working, so often oppresses the righteousness o [...] God James 1, 20, and shames and wounds that good cause in which it is boisterously and furiously engaged.

§ 20. With this is naturally connected ‘a peaceful [...] disposition.’ If you are a Christian indeed, you wi [...] have such a value and esteem for peace, as to endeavou [...] to obtain and preserve it ‘as much as lyeth in yo [...] Rom. 12, 18,’ as much as you fairly and honorab [...] can. This will have such an influence upon your conduc [...] as to make you not only cautious of giving offence, an [...] slow in taking it, but earnestly desirous to regain peac [...] as soon as may be, when it is in any measure broken; that [...] [...]ound may be healed while it is green, and before [...]t begins to rankle and fester. And more espe­cially this disposition will engage you ‘to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace Eph. 4, 3,’ [Page 131] with all that in ‘every place call on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ 1 Cor. 1, 2;’ whom, if you truly love, you will also love all those whom you have reason to believe to be his disciples and servants.

§ 21. If you be yourselves indeed of that number, "you will also "put on bowels of mercy Col. 3, 12." The mercies of God, and those of the blessed Redeem­er, will work on your heart, to mould it to sentiments of compassion and generosity, so that you will feel the wants and sorrows of others; you will desire to relieve their necessities, and, as you have opportunity, you will do good both to their bodies and their souls; expressing your kind affections and suitable actions, which may both evidence their sincerity, and render them effec­tual.

§ 22. As a Christian, you will also maintain truth in­violable, not only in your solemn testimonies, when con­firmed by an oath, but likewise in common conversa­tion. You will remember, too, that your promises bring an obligation upon you, which you are by no means at liberty to break through. On the whole, you will be careful to keep a strict correspondence between your words and your actions, in such a manner as be­comes a servant of the God of truth.

§ 23. Once more, as amidst the strictest care to observe all the divine precepts you will still find many imperfections, on account of which you will be obliged to pray, that ‘God would not enter into strict judg­ment with you, as well knowing that in his sight you cannot be justified Psal. 143, 2:’ you will be careful not to judge others in such a manner as should awaken the severity of his judgment against yourself Matth. 7, 1.2. You will not, therefore, judge them [...]ragmatically, that is, when you have nothing to do with their actions; nor rashly, without inquiring into circumstances; nor partially, without weighing them attentively and fairly; nor uncharitably, putting the worst construction upon things in their own nature du­bious, deciding upon intentions as evil farther than they certainly appear to be so, pronouncing on the state of men, or on the whole of their character, from any par­ticular action, and involving the innocent with the guil­ty. [Page 132] There is a moderation contrary to all these ex­tremes, which the gospel recommends; and if you re­ceive the gospel in good earnest into your heart, it will lay the ax to the root of such evils as these.

§ 24. Having thus briefly illustrated the principle branches of the Christian temper and character, I shall conclude the representation with reminding you of some general qualifications, which must be mingled with all, and give a tincture to each of them; such as sincerity, constancy, tenderness, zeal and prudence.

§ 25. Always remember, ‘that sincerity is the very soul of true religion.’ A single intention to please God, and to approve ourselves to him must animate and govern all that we do in it. Under the influence of this principle you will impartially inquire into every intimation of duty, and apply to the practice of it so far as it is known to you. Your heart will be engaged in all you do. Your conduct in private and in secret will be agreeable to your most public behaviour. A sense of the divine authority will teach you to ‘esteem all God's precepts concerning all things to be right, and to hate every false way Psal. 119, 128.’

§ 26. Thus are you ‘in simplicity and godly sincerity to have your conversation in the world 2 Cor. 1, 12.’ And you are also to charge it upon your soul to be "sted­fast and ‘immoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord 1 Cor. 15, 58.’ There must not only be some sudden fits and starts of devotion, or of something which looks like it, but religion must be an habitual and permanent thing. There must be a purpose to adhere to it at all times. It must be made the stated and ordi­nary business of life. Deliberate and presumptuous sin [...] must be carefully avoided; a guard must be maintained against the common infirmities of life; and falls of one kind or of another must be matter of proportionable hu­miliation before God, and must occasion renewed reso­lution for his service. And thus you are to go on to the end of your life, not discouraged by the length and dif­ficulty of the way, nor allured on the one hand, or terified on the other, by all the various temptations which may surround and assault you. Your soul must be fir­ed on this basis, and you are still to behave yourself as [Page 133] one who knows he serves an unchangeable God, and who expects from him a kingdom which cannot be moved Heb. 12, 28.

§ 27. Again, so far as the gospel prevails in your heart, ‘your spirit will be tender, and the stone will be transformed into flesh.’ You will desire that your apprehension of divine things may be quick, your affections ready to take proper impressions, your consci­ence always easily touched, and, on the whole, your resolutions pliant to the divine authority, and cordially willing to be, and to do, whatever God shall appoint. You will have a tender regard to the word of God, a tender caution against sin, a tender guard against the snares of prosperity, a tender submission to God's afflict­ing hand: in a word, you will be tender wherever the divine honour is concerned; and careful neither to do any thing yourself, nor to allow any thing in another, so far as you can influence, by which God should be of­fended, or religion reproached.

§ 28. Nay, more than all this, you will, so far as true Christianity governs in your mind, ‘exert an holy zeal in the service of your Redeemer and your Father.’ You will be zealously affected in every good thing Gal. 4, 18. in proportion to its apprehended goodness and im­portance. You will be zealous especially to correct what is irregular in yourselves, and to act to the utmost of your ability for the cause of God. Nor will you be a­ble to look with an indifferent eye on the conduct of others in this view; but, so far as charity, meekness, and prudence will admit, you will testify your disap­probation of every thing in it which is dishonourable to God and injurious to men. And you will labour not only to reclaim men from such cour [...]s, but to engage them to religion, and to quicken them in it.

§ 29. And, once more, you will desire ‘to use the prudence which God hath given you,’ in judging what is, in present circumstances, your duty to God, your neighbour and yourself; what will be, on the whole, the most acceptable manner of discharging it, and how far it may be most advantageously pursued; as remembering, that he is indeed the wisest and the happiest man who, by constant attention of thought, dis­covers [Page 134] the greatest opportunities of doing good, and wi [...] ardent and animated resolution breaks through eve [...] opposition that he may improve those opportunities.

§ 30. This is such a view of the Christian temper [...] could conveniently be thrown within such narrow limi [...] and, I hope, it may assist many in the great and impor [...] ant work of self-examination. Let your own conscience answer how far you have already attained it, and how far you desire it; and let the principal tropics here touch­ed upon be fixed in your memory and in your heart, that you may be mentioning them before God in your daily addresses to the throne of grace, in order to receive from him all necessary assistances for bringing them into practice.

CHAP. XV. The Reader reminded how much he needs the Assist­ance of the Spirit of God, to form him to the Tem­per described above, and what encouragement he has to expect it.

[Page 138]§ 1. I HAVE now laid before you a plan of that tem­per and character which the gospel requires, and which, if you are a true Christian, you will desire and pursue. Surely there is in the very description of it, something which must powerfully strike every mind, which has any taste for what is truly beautiful and ex­cellent. And I question not, but you, my dear reader, will feel some impression of it upon your heart. You will immediately form some lively purpose of endea­vouring after it; and perhaps you may imagine you shall certainly and quickly attain to it. You see how reasonable it is, and what desirable consequences ne­cessarily attend it, and the aspect which it bears on your present enjoyment, and your future happiness; and therefore are determined you will act accordingly. But give me leave seriously to remind you how many there have been (would to God that several of the instances had not happened within the compass of my personal observation!) ‘whose goodness hath been like a morn­ing cloud, and the early dew, which soon passeth a­way Hos. 6, 4.’—There is not room indeed abso­lutely to apply the words of Joshua taken in the most rigorous sense, when he said to Israel, (that he might humble their too hasty and sanguine resolutions,) "You cannot serve the Lord Josh. 24, 19." But I will venture to say, you cannot easily do it. Alas! you know not the difficulties you have to break through; you know not the temptations, which Satan will throw in your way; you know not how importunate your vain and sinful companions will be to draw you back into the snare you may attempt to break; and, above all, you know not the subtile artifices which your own corruptions will practise upon you, in order to recover their dominion over you. You think the views you now have of things will be lasting, because the prin­ciples and objects to which they refer are so; but per­haps to-morrow may undeceive you, or rather dece [...] you anew. To-morrow may present some trifle in [...] new dress, which shall amuse you into a forgetfulne [...] of all this, nay, perhaps, before you lie down on you [...] bed, the impressions you now feel may wear off. T [...] corrupt desires of your own heart, now perhaps a litt [...] [Page 139] charmed down, and lying as if it were dead, may spring up again with new violence, as if they had slept o [...]y to recruit their vigour; and if you are not supported by a better strength than your own, this struggle for liberty will only make your future chains the h [...]vier, the more shameful, and the more fatal.

§ 2. What then is to be done, is the convinced sin­ner to lye down in despair? to say, ‘I am a helpless captive, and by exerting myself with violence may break my limbs sooner than my bonds, and increase the evil I would remove.’ God forbid! You can­not, I am persuaded, be so little acquainted with Chris­tianity as not to know, that the doctrine of divine assistances bears a very considerable part in it. You have often, I doubt not, read of ‘the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, as making us free from the law of sin and death Rom. 8, 2;’ and have been told that ‘through the Spirit we mortify the deeds of the body Rom. 8, 13: you have read of doing all things through Christ who strengthened us Phil. 4, 13; whose grace is sufficient for us, and whose strength is made perfect through weakness 2 Cor. 12, 9:’ permit me, therefore, now to call down your attention to this, as a truth of the clearest evidence, and the utmost importance.

§ 3. Reason, indeed, as well as the whole tenor of Scripture, agrees with this ^*. The whole created world has a necessary dependence on God: from him even the knowledge of the natural things is derived Ps. 94, 10; and skill in them is to be ascribed to him Exod. 31, 3.6. Much more loudly does so great and so excellent a work, as the new-forming the human mind, bespeak its divine Author. When you consider how various the branches of the Christian temper are, and how con­trary many of them also are to that temper which hath prevailed in your heart, and governed your life in time past, you must really see divine influences as necessary to produce and nourish them, as the influences of the sun and rain are to call up the variety of plants and [Page 140] flowers, and grain, and fruits, by which the earth is adorned, and our life supported. You will be yet m [...] sensible of this, if you reflect on the violent oppositi [...] which this happy work must expect to meet with, [...] which I shall presently warn you more largely, and which, if you have not already experienced, it must be because you have but very lately begun to think of re­ligion.

§ 4. Accordingly, if you give yourself leave to con­sult Scripture on this head, (and if you would live like a Christian, you must be consulting it every day, and forming your notions and actions by it,) you will see, that the whole tenor of it teaches that dependence up­on God which I am now recommending. You will particularly see, that the production of religion in the soul is matter of divine promise; that when it has been effected, Scripture ascribes it to a divine agency, and that the increase of grace and piety in the heart of those who are truly regenerate, is also spoken of as the work of God, who begins and carrys it on until the day of Jesus Christ Phil. 1, 6.

§ 5. In consequence of all these views, lay it down to yourself as a most certain principle, that no attempt in religion is to be made in your own strength. If you forget this, and God purposes finally to save you, he will humble you by repeated disappointments, till he teach you better. You will be ashamed of one scheme and effort, and of another, till you settle upon the true basis. He will also probably show you, not only in the general that your strength is to be derived from heaven; but particularly, that it is the office of the blessed Spirit to purify the heart, and to invigorate holy resolutions; and also, that in all these operations he is to be considered as the Spirit of Christ, working under his directions, and as a vital communication from him, under the character of the great head of the church, the grand Treasurer and Dispenser of these holy and beneficial influences. On which account it is called the ‘supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ Phil. 1, 19, who is exalted at the right hand of the Father, to give repentance and re­mission of sins Acts 5, 31: in whose grace alone we can be strong 2 Tim. 2, 17, and of whose fulness we receive, even grace for grace John 1, 16.’

[Page 141]§ 6. Resolve, therefore, strenuously for the service of God, and for the care of your soul; but resolve modestly and humbly. ‘Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men utterly fall; but they who wait on the Lord,’ are the persons who renew their strength Isa. 40, 30.31. When a soul is almost afraid to declare in the presence of the Lord, that it will not do this or that which has formerly offended him; when it is afraid absolutely to promise that it will per­form this or that duty with vigour and constancy; but only expresses its humble and earnest desire that it may by grace be enabled to avoid the one, or pursue the other; then, so far as my observation or experience have reached, it is in the best way to learn the happy art to conquer temptations, and of discharging duty.

§ 7. On the other hand, let not your dependence up­on this spirit, and your sense of your own weakness and insufficiency for any thing spiritually good without his continued aid, discourage you from devoting yourself to God, and engaging in a religious life, considering what abundant reason you have to hope that these gracious in­fluences will be communicated to you.—The light of na­ture at the same time that it teaches the need we have of help from God in a virtuous course, may lead us to conclude, that so benevolent a Being, who bestows on the most unworthy and careless part of mankind so ma­ny blessings will take a peculiar pleasure in communi­cating to such as humbly ask them, those gracious assist­ances which may form their deathless souls into his own resemblance, and fit them for that happiness to which their rational nature is suited, and for which it was in its first constitution intended.—The word of God will much more abundantly confirm such an hope. You there hear divine wi [...]om crying, even to those who had trifled with her instructions, ‘Turn ye at my reproof, and I will pour out my spirit upon you Prov. 1, 23.’ You hear the Apostle saying, ‘Let us come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in every time of need Heb. 4, 16.’ Yea, you there hear our Lord himself urging, in this sweet and convincing manner, ‘If ye, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much [Page 142] more shall your heavenly Father give his holy Sp [...] unto them that ask him Luke 11, 13?’ This gift and promise of the Spirit was given unto Christ, when he [...] cended up on high, in trust for all his tru [...] [...]scipl [...] God hath "shed it abroad abundantly upon us in him Tit. 3, 6." And I may add, that the very desire you feel after the farther communication of the Spirit is the result of the first fruits of it already given; so that you may with peculiar propriety interpret it as a special call, to ‘open your mouth wide that he may fill it Psal. 81, 10.’ You thirst, and therefore you may chearfully plead, that Jesus hath invited you to come unto him and drink; with a promise, not only that ‘you shall drink if ye come unto him, but also that out of your belly shall flow as it were rivers of living water John 7, 37.38,’ for the edification and refreshment of others.

§ 8. Go forth, therefore, with humble chearfulness, to the prosecution of all the duties of the Christian life. Go, and prosper, "in the strength of the Lord, mak­ing "mention of his righteousness, and of his only Psal. 71, 16."—And, as a token of farther communi­cations, may your heart be quickened to the most ear­nest desires after the blessings I have now been recom­mending to your pursuit! May you be stirred up to pour out your soul before God in such holy breathings as these! and may they be your daily language in his gracious presence!

CHAP. XVI. The Christian convert warned of, and animated against, those Discouragements which he must expect to meet with, when entering on a religious Course.

§ 1. WITH the utmost propriety has our divine Master required us to ‘strive to enter in at the strait gate Luke 13, 24;’ thereby (as it seems) intimating, not only that the passage is narrow, but that it is beset with enemies; beset on the right hand and on the left with enemies cunning and formidable. And be assured, O reader, that whatever your circumstances [Page 145] in life are, you must meet and encounter them. It will, therefore, be your prudence to survey them attentively in your own reflections, that you may see what you are to expect; and may consider in what armour it is ne­cessary you should be clothed, and with what weapons you must be furnished to manage the combat. You have often heard them marshalled as it were, under three great leaders, the flesh, the world, and the devil; and according to this distribution, I would call you to con­sider the forces of each, as setting themselves in array against you. O that you may be excited to ‘take to yourself the whole armour of God, and to quit your­self like a man 1 Cor. 16, 13.’ and a Christian!

§ 2. Let your conscience answer whether you do not carry about with you a corrupt and a degenerate nature? You will, I doubt not, feel its effects. You will feel, in the language of the Apostle, (who speaks of it as the case of Christians themselves,) ‘the flesh lusting against the spirit, so that you will not be able,’ in all in­stances "to do the things that you would Gal. 5, 17." You brought irregular propensities into the world along with you; and you have so often indulged those sinful inclinations that you have greatly increased their strength; and you will find, in consequence of it, that these ha­bits cannot be broken through without great difficulty. You will, no doubt, often recollect the strong figures in which the prophet describes a case like yours; and you will own that it is justly represented by that ‘of an Ethiopian changing his skin, and the leopard his spots Jer. 13, 23.’ It is indeed possible that at first you may find such an edge and eagerness upon your own spirits, as may lead you to imagine, that all oppo­sition will immediately fall before you; but alas! I fear, that in a little time these enemies, which seemed to be slain at your feet, will revive and recover their wea­pons; and renew the assault in one form or another. And perhaps your most painful combats may be with such as you had thought most easy to be vanquished; and your greatest danger may arise from some of those enemies from whom you apprehended the least; parti­cularly from pride, and from indolence of spirit; from a secret alienation of heart from God, and from a [...] [...] disposition for conversing with him, through an immo­derate [Page 146] attachment to things seen and temporal, which may be oftentimes exceeding dangerous to your salva­tion, though perhaps they be not absolutely and univer­sally prohibited. In a thousand of these instances you must learn to deny yourself, or you cannot be Christ's disciple Matt. 16, 24.

§ 3. You must also lay your account to find great difficulties from the world; from its manners, customs, and examples. The things of the world will hinder you one way; and the men of the world another. Perhaps you may meet with much less assistance in religion than you are now ready to expect from good men. The pre­sent generation of them is generally so cautious to avoid every thing that looks like ostentation, and there seems something so insupportably dreadful in the chage of en­thusiasm, that you will find most of your Christian breth­ren studying to conceal their virtue and their piety much more than others study to conceal their vices and their profaneness. But while, unless your situation be sin­gularly happy, you meet with very little aid one way, you will, no doubt, find great opposition another. The enemies of religion will be bold and active in their as­saults, while many of its friends seem unconcerned: and one sinner will probably exert himself more to corrupt you than ten Christians to secure and save you. They who have once been your companions in sin will try a thousand artful methods to allure you back again to their forsaken society: some of them perhaps with an appearance of tender fondness; and many more by the almost irrisistible art of banter and ridicule; that boasted test of right and wrong, as it has been wantonly called, will be tried upon you, perhaps without any regard to decency, or even to common humanity. You will be derided and insulted by those whose esteem and affection you naturally desire: and may find much more pro­priety than you imagine in the expression of the Apos­tle, "The trial of cruel mockings Heb. 11, 36," which some fear more than either sword or flames. This per­secution of the tongue you must expect to go through, and perhaps may be branded as a lunatic, for no other cause than that you now begin to exercise your reason to purpose, and will not join with those that are destroy­ing [Page 147] their own souls in their wild career of folly and madness.

§ 4. And it is not at all improbable, that, in the mean time, Satan may be doing his utmost to discourage and distress you. He will, no doubt, raise in your imagina­tion the most tempting idea of the gratifications, the in­dulgencies, and the companions, you are obliged to forsake; and give you the most discouraging and terri­fying view of the difficulties, severities and dangers, which are (as he will persuade you) inseperable from religion. He will not fail to represent God himself, the fountain of goodness and happiness, an hard master, whom it is impossible to please. He will perhaps fill you with the most distressful fears, and with cruel and insolent malice glory over you as his slave, when he knows you are the Lord's free-man. At one time he will study, by his vile suggestions, to interrupt you in your duties, as if they gave him an additional power over you: at another time he will endeavour to weary you of your devotion, by influencing you to prolong it to an immoderate and tedious length, lest his pow­er should be exerted upon you when it ceases. In short, this practised deceiver has artifices, which it would re­quire whole volumes to display, with particular cautions against each. And he will follow you with malicious arts and pursuits to the very end of your pilgrimage; and will leave no method unattemptd which may be likely to awaken your hands, and to sadden your heart; that if, through the gracious interposition of God, he cannot prevent your final happiness, he may at least im­pair your peace and your usefulness as you are passing to it.

§ 5. This is what the people of God feel; and what you will feel in some degree or other, if you have your lot and your portion among them. But, after all, be not discouraged: Christ is "the Captain of your salvati­on." Heb. 2, 10. It is delightful to consider him under this view. When we take a survey of these hosts of ene­mies, we may lift up our head amidst them all, and say, ‘More and greater is he that is with us, than all those that are against us 2 Kings 6, 16. Trust in the Lord, and you will be like Mount Zion, which cannot be [Page 148] moved, but abideth for ever Ps. 125, 2.’ When your enemies press upon you, remember you are to "fight in the presence of God Zech. 10, 5." Endea­vour therefore to act a gallant and resolute part: en­deavour to ‘resist them stedfastly in the faith 1 Pet. 5, 9. Remember, he can give power to the faint, and increase strength to them that have no might Isa. 40, 29.’ He hath done it in ten thousa [...] in­stances already; and he will do it in ten thousand more. How many striplings have conquered their gigantic foes in all their most formidable armour, when they have gone forth against them, though but (as it were) ‘with a staff and a sling, in the name of the Lord God of Israel 1 Sam. 17, 40.45.’ How many women and children have trodden down the force of the enemy, and ‘out of weakness have been made strong Heb. 11, 34.’

§ 6. Amidst all the opposition of earth and hell, look upward, and look forward, and you will feel your heart animated by the view. Your General is near: he is near to aid you; he is near to reward you. When you feel the temptation press the hardest, think of him who endured even the cross itself for your rescue. View the fortitude of your divine Leader, and endeavour to march on in his steps. Hearken to his voice, for he proclaims it aloud ‘Behold I come quickly, and my reward is with me Rev. 22, 12: Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life Rev. 2, 10.’ And, Oh how bright will it shine? and how long will its lustre last! when the gems that adorn the crowns of monarchs, and pass (instructive thought) from one roy­al hand to another through succeeding centuries, are [...]lted down in the last flame, it is ‘a crown of glory which fadeth not away 1 Pet. 5, 4.’

§ 7. It is indeed true, that ‘such as turn aside to crooked paths will be led forth with the workers of iniquity Psal. 125, 5,’ to that terrible execution, which the divine justice is preparing for them; and that it would have been ‘better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than after having known it to turn aside from the holy commandment 2 Pet. 2, 21." But I would, by divine grace, "hope better things of you Heb. 6, 9.’ And I make it my hearty [Page 149] prayer for you, my reader, that you may be ‘kept by the mighty power of God, kept as in a garrison, on all sides fortified in the securest manner, through faith unto salvation 1 Pet. 2, 5.’

CHAP. XVII. The Christian urged to, and assisted in, an express act of Self-dedication to the Service of God.

[Page 151]§ 1. AS I would hope, that, notwithstanding all the views of opposition which do or may arise, [...] in consideration of those noble supports and motives which have been mentioned in the two preceding chapters, you are heartily determined for the service of God, I would now urge you to make a solemn surrender of yourself unto it. Do not only form such a purpose in your heart, but expressly declare it in the divine pre­sence. Such solemnity in the manner of doing it is cer­tainly very reasonable in the nature of things; and sure­ly it is highly expedient, for binding to the Lord such a treacherous heart, as we know our own to be. It will be pleasant to reflect upon it, as done at such and such a time, with such and such circumstances of place and method, which may serve to strike the memory and the conscience. The sense of the vows of God which are upon you will strengthen you in an hour of temptation; and the recollection may also encourage your humble boldness and freedom in applying to him, under the character and relation of ‘your covenant God and Fa­ther,’ as future exigencies may require.

§ 2. Do it therefore, but do it deliberately. Consider what it is you are to do: and consider how reasonable it is that it should be done, and done cordially and chearfully; "and not by constraint but willingly 1 Pet. 5, 2:" for, in this sense and in every other, "God loves a chearful giver 2 Cor. 9, 7." Now, surely there is nothing we should do with greater chearful­ness, or more cordial consent, than making such a surrender of ourselves to the Lord; to the God who created us, who brought us into this pleasant and well furnished world, who supported us in our ten­der infancy, who guarded us in the thoughtless days of childhood and youth, who has hitherto continually helped, sustained, and preserved us. Nothing can be more reasonable than that we should acknowledge him as our rightful Owner and our sovereign Ruler; than that we should devote ourselves to him as our most gracious Benefactor, and seek him as our supreme feli­city. Nothing can be more apparently equitable than that we, the product of his power, and the price of his Son's blood, should be his, and his forever. If you see [Page 152] the matter in its just view, it will be the grief of yo [...] soul that you have ever alienated yourself from the bles­sed God and his service; so far will you be from wishi [...] to continue in that state of alienation another year, o [...] another day. You will rejoice to bring back to him his revolted creature; and as you have in times past ‘yielded your members, as instruments of unrighteous­ness unto sin, you will delight to yield yourselves unto God, as alive from the dead, and to employ your members as instruments of righteousness unto God Rom. 2, 13.’

§ 3. The surrender will also be as entire as it is chear­ful and immediate. All you are, and all you have, and all you can do, your time, your possessions, your influ­ence over others, will be devoted to him, that for the future it may be employed entirely for him, and to his glory. You will desire to keep back nothing from him; but will seriously judge that you are then in the truest and noblest sense your own when you are most entire­ly his. You are also, on this great occasion, to resign all that you have to the disposal of his wise and gracious Providence, not only owning his power, but consenting to his undoubted right, to do what he pleases with you, and all that he has given you; and declaring a hear­ty approbation of all that he has done, and of all that he may farther do.

§ 4. Once more, let me remind you, that this sur­render must be perpetual. You must give yourself up to God in such a manner, as never more to pretend to be your own: for the rights of God are, like his na­ture, eternal and immutable: and with regard to his rational creatures, are ‘the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever.’

§ 5. I would farther advise and urge, that this de­dication may be made with all possible solemnity. Do it in express words. And perhaps it may be in many cases most expedient, as many pious divines have re­commended, to do it in writing. Set your hand and seal to it, That on such a day of such a month and year, and at such a place, on full consideration and serious reflection, you came to this happy resolution, ‘that whatever others might do, you would serve the Lord Josh. 24, 13.’

[Page 153]§ 6. Such an instrument you may, if you please, draw up for yourself; or if you rather chuse to have it drawn up to your hand, you may find something of this nature below, in which you may easily make such al­terations as shall suit your circumstances, where there is any thing peculiar in them. But whatever you use, weigh it well, meditate attentively upon it, that you may ‘not be rash with your mouth to utter any thing before God Eccl. 5, 2.’ And when you determine to execute this instrument, let this transaction be at­tended with some more than ordinary religious retire­ment. Make it, if you conveniently can, a day of se­cret fasting and prayer; and when your heart is pre­pared with a becoming awe of the divine majesty, with an humble confidence in his goodness, and an earnest desire of his favour, then present yourself on your knees before God, and read it over deliberately and solemn­ly; and when you have signed it, lay it bye in some secure place, where you may review it whenever you please; and make it a rule with yourself to review it, if possible, at certain seasons of the year, that you may keep the remembrance of it.

§ 7. At least, take this course 'till you see your way clear to the table of the Lord, where you are to renew the same covenant, and to seal it with more affecting solemnities. And God grant that you may be enabled to keep it, and, in the whole of your conversation, to walk according to it! May it [...]e an anchor to your soul in every temptation, and a cordial to it in every afflic­tion! May the recollection of it embolden your addres­ses to the throne of grace now, and give additional strength to your departing spirit, in a consciousness that it is ascending to your covenant God and Father, and to that gracious Redeemer, whose power and faithful­ness will securely ‘keep what you commit to him until that day 2 Tim. 1, 12.’

CHAP. XVIII. Of entering into Church communion, by an At­tendance upon the Lord's Supper.

§ 1. I HOPE this chapter will find you, by a most express consent, become one of God's covenant-people, solemnly and cordially devoted to his service; and it is my hearty prayer, that the covenant you have [Page 161] made on earth may be ratified in heaven. But for your farther instruction and edification, give me leave to re­mind you, that our Lord Jesus Christ hath appointed a peculiar manner of expressing our regard to him, and of solemnly renewing his covenant with him, which, though it does not forbid any other proper way of do­ing it, must by no means be set aside or neglected for any human methods, how prudent and expedient so­ever they may appear to us.

§ 2. Our Lord has wisely ordained, that the advan­tages of society should be brought into religion; and as, by his command, professing Christians assemble together for other acts of public worship, so he has been pleased to institute a social ordinance, in which a whole assem­bly of them is to come to his table, and there to eat the same bread, and drink the same cup. And this they are to do as a token of their affectionate remembrance of his dying love, of their solemn surrender of themselves to God, and of their sincere love to another, and to all their fellow Christians.

§ 3. That these are indeed the great ends of the Lord's supper, I shall not now stay to argue at large.— You need only read what the Apostle St. Paul has writ­ten in the tenth and eleventh chapters of his first Epistle to the Corinthians, to convince you fully of this. He there expressly tells us, that our Lord commanded the bread to be eaten, and the wine to be drank in remem­brance of him 1 Cor. 11, 24.25. or as a commemora­tion or memorial of him: so that, as often as we at­tend this institution, we shew forth our Lord's death, which we are to do even until he come again Ver. 26. And it is particularly asserted, That the cup is the new Testament in his blood Ver. 25; that is, it is a seal of that covenant which was ratified by his blood. Now, it is evident that, in consequence of this, we are to ap­proach it with a view to that covenant, desiring its blessings, and resolving by divine grace to comply with its demands. On the whole, therefore, as the Apostle speaks, we have communion in the body and the blood of Christ Cor. 10, 16; and partaking of his table, and of his cup, we converse with Christ, and join ourselves to him as his people: as the Heathens had, in their i­dolatrous [Page 162] rites, communion with their deities, and joined themselves to them; and the Jews by eating their sa­crifices, conversed with Jehovah, and joined themselves to him. He farther reminds them, that though many, they were "one bread and one body, being all partakers of that one bread 1 Cor. 10, 17." and being ‘all made to drink into one spirit 1 Cor. 12, 13;’ that is, meet­ing together as if they were but one family, and join­ing in the commemoration of that one blood which was their common ransom, and of the Lord Jesus their com­mon head. Now, it is evident, all these reasonings are applicable to Christians in succeeding ages. Permit me, therefore, by the authority of our divine Master, to press upon you the observation of this precept.

§ 4. And let me also urge it, from the apparent ten­dency which it has to promote your truest advantage. You are setting out in the Christian life; and I have reminded you at large of the opposition you must expect to meet with in it. It is the love of Christ which must animate you to break through all. What then can be more desirable than to bear about with you a lively sense of it? and what can awaken that sense more than the contemplation of death as there represented! Who can behold the bread broken, and the wine poured out, and not reflect how the body of the blessed Jesus was even torn in pieces by his sufferings, and his sacred blood pou­red forth like water on the ground? Who can think of the heart-rending agonies of the Son of God, as the price of our redemption and salvation, and not feel his soul melted with tenderness, and inflamed with grateful affection? What an exalted view doth it give us of the blessings of the gospel-covenant, when we consider it as "established in the blood of God's only begotten Son?" and when we make our approach to God, as our hea­venly Father, and give up ourselves to his service in this solemn manner, what an awful tendency has it to fix the conviction, that ‘we are not our own, being bought with such a price 1 Cor. 6, 19.20?’ What a tendency has it to guard us against every temptation to those sins which we have so solemnly renounced, and to engage our fidelity to him to whom we have ‘bound our soul [...] as with an oath? Well may our hearts be knit to­gether [Page 163] in mutual love Col. 2, 12. when we con­sider ourselves as one in Christ Gal. 3, 28:’ his blood becomes the cement of the society, joins us in spirit, not only to each other, but "to all that in every place call "upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours 1 Cor. 1, 2: and we anticipate, in pleasing hope, that blessed day, when the assembly shall be com­plete, and we shall all "be forever with the Lord 1 Thess. 4, 17." Well may these views engage us to "deny ourselves, and to "take up our cross and follow our crucified Master Matt 26, 24:" well may they engage us to do our utmost by prayer, and all other suitable endeavours, to serve his followers and his friends; to serve those who [...] he hath purchased with his blood, and who are to be his associates and ours in the glories of an happy immortality.

§ 5. It is also the express institution and command of our blessed Redeemer, that the members of such so­cieties should be tenderly solicitous for the spiritual wel­fare of each other; and that, on the whose, his churches may be kept pure and holy, that they should ‘with­draw themselves from every brother that walketh dis­orderly 2 Thess. 3, 6; that they should mark such as cause offences or scandals amongst them, contrary to the doctrine which they have learned, and avoid them Rom. 16, 17;’ that if any obey not the word of Christ by his apostles, they should have no fellowship or communion with such, that they may be ashamed 2 Thess. 2, 14; that they should not eat with such as are notoriously irregular in their behaviour; but, on the contrary, should put away from among themselves such wicked persons 1 Cor. 5, 11.13. It is evident, there­fore, that the institution of such societies is greatly for the honour of Christianity, and for the advantage of its particular professors and consequently, every consi­deration of obedience to our common Lord, and of pru­dent regard to our own benefit, and that of our brethren, will require, that those who love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity should enter into them, and assemble among them in these their most solemn and peculiar acts of communion at his table.

§ 6. I intreat you, therefore, and, if I may presume [Page] [...]o say it, in his name, and by his authority, I charge [...] on your conscience, that this precept of our dying Lo [...] go not as it were, for nothing with you; but that, [...] you indeed love him, you keep this as well as the rest of his commandments.—I know you may be ready [...]o fo [...] objections. I have elsewhere debated many of the chi [...] of them at large, and I hope, not without some good effect ^*. The great question is that which relates to your being prepared for a worthy attendance: and, in con­junction with what hath been said before, I think that may be brought to a very short issue. Have you, so far a you know your own heart, been sincere in that deliberate surrender of yourself to God through Christ, which I recommend in the former chapter? If you have, (whether it were with or without the particular form or manner of doing it there recommended,) you have certainly taken hold of the covenant, and therefore have a right to the seal of it. And there is not, and cannot be, any other view of the ordinance in which you can have any farther objection to it. If you desire to remember Christ's death, if you desire to renew the dedication of yourself to God through him, if you would list yourself among his people, if you would love them, and do them good according to your ability; and, on the whole, would not allow yourself in the practice of any one known sin, or in the omission of any one known duty, then I will venture confidently to say, not only that you will be welcome to the ordinance, but that it was instituted for such as you.

§ 7. As for other objections, a few words may suffice, by way of reply. The weakness of the religious prin­ciple in your soul, if it be really implanted there, is so far from being an argument against your seeking such a method to strengthen [...]t, that it rather strongly inforces the necessity of doing it.—The neglect of this solemnity, by so many that call themselves Christians, should rather engage you so much the more to distinguish your [...]eal or an institution, in this respect so much slighted and [Page 165] injured. And as for the fears of aggravated guilt in case of apostasy, do not indulge them. This may, by the divine blessing, be an effectual remedy against the evil you fear; and, it is certain, that after what you must already have known and felt before you could be brought into your present situation, (on the suppositions I have now been making,) there can be no room to think of a retreat; no room, even for the wretched hope of be­ing less miserable than the generality of those that have perished. Your scheme, therefore, must be to make your salvation as sure, and to make it as glorious as possible: and I know not any appointment of our blessed Redeemer which may have a more comfortable aspect upon that blessed end than this which I am now re­commending to you.

§ 8. One thing I would at least insist upon, and I see not with what face it can be denied, I mean, That you should take this matter into a serious consideration; that you shall diligently inquire, whether you have reason in your conscience to believe it is the will of God, you should now approach to the ordinance, or not: and that you should continue your reflections, your inqui­ries, and your [...]vers, till you find farther encourage­ment to come, if that encouragement be hitherto want­ing. For of this be assured, that a state in which you are on the whole unfit to approach this ordinance, is a state in which you are destitute of the necessary prepa­rations for death and heaven: in which, therefore, if you would not allow yourselves to slumber on the brink of destruction, you ought not to rest so much as one single day.

CHAP. XIX. Some more particular Directions for maintaining con­tinual Communion with God, or being in his Fear all the Day long.

§ 1. I WOULD hope that upon, serious consideration, self-examination, and prayer, the reader may by this time be come to a resolution to attend the table of the Lord, and to seal his vows there. I will now sup­pose that solemn transaction to be over, or some other deliberate act to have passed, by which he has given himself up to the service of God; and that his concern now is to inquire how he may act according to the vo [...] of God which are upon him. Now, for his farther [Page 169] assistance here, besides the general view I have already given of the Christian temper and character, I will pro­pose some more particular directions relating to main­taining that devout, spiritual and heavenly character, which may in the language of Scripture, be called ‘A daily walking with God; or, Being in his fear all the day long Prov. 23, 17.’ And I know not how I can express the idea and plan which I have formed of this in a more clear and distinct manner than I did in a letter, which I wrote many years ago ^* to a young person of eminent piety, with whom I had then an intimate friendship; and who, to the great grief of all that knew him, died a few months after he received it. Yet [...] he lived long enough to reduce the directions [...] practice, which I wish and pray that every reader may do, so far as they may properly suit his capacities and circumstances in life, considering it as if addressed to himself.—I say, (and desire it may be observed) that I wish my reader may act on these directions so far as they may properly suit his capacities and circumstances in life; for I would be far from laying down the fol­lowing particulars as universal rules for all, or for any one person in the world at all times. Let them be practised by those that are able and when they have leisure; and when you cannot reach them all, come as near the most important of them as you conveniently can.—With this precaution I proceed to the letter, which I would hope, after this previous care to guard against the danger of mistaking it, will not discourage any the weakest Christian. Let us humbly and chear­fully do our best, and rejoice that we have so gracious a Father who knows all our infirmities, and compassion­ate an High Priest to recommend to divine acceptance the feeblest efforts of sincere duty and love!

§ 26. This, reader, with the alteration of a very few words, is the letter I wrote to a worthy friend, (now, I doubt not, with God,) about sixteen years ago: and I can assuredly say, that the experience of each of these years has confirmed me in these views, and established me in the persuasion, that one day thus spent is prefer­able to whole years of sensuality and the neglect of re­ligion. I chose to insert the letter as it is, because I thought the freedom and particularly of the advice I had given in it would appear most natural in its original form: and as I propose to inforce these advices in the next chapter, I shall conclude this with that medita­tion which I promised my friend as a postscript; and which I could wish you to make so familiar to yourself, as that you might be able to recollect the substance of it whenever you compose yourself to sleep.

CHAP. XX. A serious Persuasive to such a Method of spending our Days, as is represented in the former Chapter.

§ 1. I HAVE been assigning in the preceding chapter, what I fear will seem to some of my readers so hard a task, that they will want courage to attempt it; and it is indeed a life, in many respects, so far above that of the generality of Christians, that I am not with­out apprehensions that many who deserve the name may think the directions, after all the precautions with which I have proposed them, are carried to an unnecessary de­gree of nicety and strictness. But I am persuaded much [Page 184] of the credit and comfort of Christianity is lost in conse­quence of its professors fixing their aims too low, and not conceiving of their high and holy calling in so ele­vated and sublime a view as the nature of religion would require, and the word of God would direct. I am fully convinced, that the expressions of ‘walking with God; of being in the fear of the Lord all the day long Prov. 23, 17.’ and, above all, that of ‘loving the Lord our God with all our heart and soul, and mind and strength Mark. 12, 30.’ must require, if not all these circumstances, yet the substance of all that I have been recommending, so far as we have capacity, leisure and opportunity; and I cannot but think, that many might command more of the latter, and perhaps improve their capacities too, if they would take a due care in the im­provement of themselves, if they would give up vain and unnecessary diversions, and certain indulgencies, which only suit and delight the lower part of our nature, and (to say the best of them) deprive us of pleasures much better than themselves, if they do not plunge us into guilt. Many of these rules would appear easily practicable, if men would learn to know the value of time, and particularly to redeem it from unnecessary sleep, which wastes so many golden hours of the day: hours in which many of God's servants are delighting themselves in him, and drinking in full draughts of the water of life, while these their brethren are slumbering upon their beds, and lost in vain dreams, as far below the common entertainments of a rational creature as the pleasures of the sublimest devotion are above them.

§ 2. I know, likewise, that the mind is very fickle and inconstant, and that it is a hard thing to preserve such a government and authority over our thoughts as would be very desirable, and as the plan I have laid down will require. But so much of the honour of God, and so much of your own true happiness depends upon it, that I beg you will give me a patient and attentive hearing while I am pleading with you; and that you will seri­ously examine the arguments, and then judge whether a care and conduct like that which I have advised be not in itself reasonable; and whether it will not be highly conducive to your comfort and usefulness in life, your [Page 185] peace in death, and the advancement and increase of your eternal glory.

§ 3. Let conscience say, whether such a life, as I have described above, be not in itself highly reasonable. Look over the substance of it again, and bring it under a close examination; for I am very apprehensive that some weak objections may arise against the whole, which may, in their consequences, affect particulars, against which no reasonable man would presume to mark any objection at all. Recollect, O Christian, and carry it with you in your memory and your heart, while you are pursuing his review, that you are the creature of God, that you are purchased with the blood of Jesus; and then say whether these relations in which you stand do not de­mand all that application and resolution which I would engage you to. Suppose all the counsels I have given reduced into practice: suppose every day begun and concluded with such devout breathings after God, and such holy retirements for morning and evening converse with him and your own heart: suppose a daily care in contriving how your time may be managed, and in re­flecting how it has been employed: suppose this regard to God, this sense of his presence, and zeal for his glory to run through your acts of worship, your hours of bu­siness and recreation: suppose this attention to Provi­dence, this guard against temptations, this dependence upon divine influence, this government of the thoughts in solitude and of the discourses in company: nay, I will add farther, suppose every particular direction giv­en to be pursued, excepting when particular cases oc­cur, with respect to which you shall be able in consci­ence to say, ‘I wave it not from indolence and carelessness, but because I think it will just now be more pleasing to God to be doing something else;’ which may of­ten happen in human life where general rules are best concerted: suppose, I say, all this to be done, not for a day, or a week, but through the remainder of life, whether longer or shorter; and suppose this to be re­viewed at the close of life, in the full exercise of your rational faculties, will there be reason to say, in the re­flection, "I have taken too much pains in religion; the Author of my being did not deserve all this from me: [Page 186] less diligence, less fidelity, less zeal, than this might have been equivalent for the blood which was shed for my re­demption. A part of my heart, a part of my time, a part of my labours, might have sufficed for him who hath given me all my powers; for him, who hath deli­vered me from that destruction, which would have made them my everlasting torment; for him who is raising me to the regions of a blissful immortality." Can you with any face say this? If you cannot, then surely your conscience bears witness, that all I have recommended under the limitations above is reasonable; that duty and gratitude require it; and consequently that, by e­very allowed failure in it, you bring guilt upon your own soul, you offend God, and act unworthy your Christian profession.

§ 4. I intreat you farther to consider whether such a conduct as I have now been recommending would not conduce much to your comfort and usefulness in life. Reflect seriously what is true happiness Does it consist in distance from God, or in nearness to him! Surely you cannot be a Christian, surely you cannot be a ration­al man, if you doubt whether communion with the great Father of our spirits be a pleasure and felicity: and if it be, then surely they enjoy most of it who keep him most constantly in view. You cannot but know in your own conscience, that it is this which makes the happiness of heaven; and therefore the more of it any man enjoys upon earth, the more of heaven comes down into his soul. If you have made any trial of religion, though it be but a few months or weeks since you first became acquainted with it, you must be some judge of it upon your own experience, which have been the most pleasant days of your life. Have they not been those in which you have acted most upon these principles; those, in which you have most steadily and resolutely carried them through every hour of time, and every circumstance of life? The check which you must, in many instances, give to your own inclinations might seem disagreeable; but it would surely be overbalanced in a most happy manner by the satisfaction you would find in a consciousness of self-government; in having such a command of your thoughts, affections and ac­tions, [Page 187] as is much more glorious than any authority over others can be.

§ 5. I would also intreat you to consider the influence which such a conduct as this might have upon the hap­piness of others. And it is easy to be seen it must be very great; as you would find your heart always dis­posed to watch every opportunity of doing good, and to seize it with eagerness and delight. It would engage you to make it the study and business of your life to or­der things in such a manner that the end of one kind and useful action might be the beginning of another; in which you would go on as naturally as the inferior animals do in those productions and actions by which mankind are relieved or enriched; or as the earth bears her successive crops of different vegetable supplies. And though mankind be, in this corrupt state, so unhappily inclined to imitate evil examples rather than good; yet it may be expected, that while your light shines before men some seeing your good works, will endeavour to transcribe them in their own lives, and so to ‘glorify your Father which is in heaven Matth 5, 1.’ The charms of such beautiful models would surely impress some, and incline them at least to attempt an imitation; and every attempt would dispose to another. And thus, through the divine goodness, you might be entitled to a share in the praise, and the reward, not only of the good you had immediately done yourself, but likewise of that which you had engaged others to do. And no eye but that of an all searching God can see into what distant times or places the blessed consequences may reach. In every instance in which these consequences appear, it will put a generous and sublime joy into your heart, which no worldly prosperity could afford, and which would be the liveliest emblem of that high delight which the blessed God feels, in seeing and making his crea­tures happy.

§ 6. It is true indeed, that, amidst all these pious and benevolent cares afflictions may come, and in some mea­sure interrupt you in the midst of your pr [...]jected schemes. But surely these afflictions will sit much [...]ight­er when your heart is gladdened with the peaceful and joyful reflections of your own mind, and with so honour­able [Page 188] a testimony of conscience before God and man. Delightful will it be to go back to past scenes in your pleasing review, and to think that you have not only been sincerely humbling yourself for those past offences, which afflictions may bring to your remembrance; but that you have given substantial proofs of the sincerity of that humiliation, by a real reformation of what has been amiss, and by acting with strenuous and vigorous resolution on the contrary principle. And while con­verse with God, and doing good to men, are made the great business and pleasure of life, you will find a thou­sand opportunities of enjoyment, even in the midst of those afflictions, which would render you so incapable of relishing the pleasures of sense, that the mention of them might, in those circumstances, seem an insult and a reproach.

§ 7. At length death will come; that solemn and im­portant hour, which hath been passed through by so ma­ny thousands who have in the main lived such a life, and by so many millions who have neglected it. And let conscience say, if there was ever one of all these mil­lions who had then any reason to rejoice in that neglect; or any one, among the most strict and exemplary Chris­tians, who then lamented that his heart and life had been too zealously devoted to God? Let conscience say, whether they have wished to have a part of that time, which they have thus employed, given back to them again, that they might be more conformed to this world; that they might plunge themselves deeper into its amuse­ments, or pursue its honours, its possessions or its plea­sures with greater eagerness than they had done? If you were yourself dying, and a dear friend or child stood near you, and this book, and the last chapter of it should chance to come into your thoughts, would you caution that friend or child against conducting himself by such rules as I have advanced? The question may perhaps seem unnecessary where the answer is so plain and so certain. Well then, let me bese [...] you to learn how you should live, by reflecting how you would die, and what course you would wish to look back upon, when you are just quitting this world, and entering upon a­nother. Think seriously; what if death should surprise [Page 189] you on a sudden, and you should be called into eternity at an hour's or a minute's warning, would you not wish that your last day should have been thus begun, and the course of it, if it were a day of health and activity, should have been thus managed! Would you not wish that your Lord should find you engaged in such thoughts, and in such pursuits? Would not the passage, the flight from earth to heaven, be most easy, most pleasant, in this view and connection? And, on the other hand, if death should make more gradual approaches, would not the remembrance of such a pious, holy, humble, diligent, and useful life, make a dying bed much softer and ea­sier than it would otherwise be? You would not die de­pending upon these things: God forbid that you should! Sensible of your many imperfections, you would, no doubt desire to throw yourself at the feet of Christ, that you might appear before God adorned with his righte­ousness, and washed from your sins in his blood. You would also, with your dying breath, ascribe to the riches of his grace every good disposition you had found in your heart, and every worthy action you had been enabled to perform: but would it not give you a delight, worthy of being purchased with ten thousand worlds, to reflect, that ‘his grace bestowed on you had not been in vain 1 Cor. 15, 10;’ but that you had, from an humble principle of grateful love, glorified your heavenly Father on earth, and, in some degree, though not with the perfection you could desire, ‘finished the work which he had given you to do John 17, 4:’ that you had been living for many years past as on the borders of heaven, and endeavouring to form your heart and life to the temper and manners of its inhabitants?

§ 8 And, once more, let me intreat you to reflect on the view you will have of this matter when you come into a world of glory, if (which I hope will be the happy case,) divine mercy conduct you thither. Will not your reception there be affected by your care, or ne­gligence, in this holy course? Will it appear an indiffer­ent thing in the eye of the blessed Jesus, who distributes the crowns, and allots the thrones there, whether you have been among the most zealous, or the most indolent of his servants? Surely you must wish to have ‘an [Page 190] entrance administered unto you abundantly into the kingdom of your Lord and Saviour 2 Pet. 1, 11:’ and what can more certainly conduce to it than to be always abounding in his work 1 Cor. 15, 58? You cannot think so meanly of that glorious state as to ima­gine that you shall there look round about with a secret disappointment, and say in your heart, that you over­valued the inheritance you have received, and pursued it with too much earnestness. You will not surely com­plain that it had too many of your thoughts and cares: but, on the contrary, you have the highest reason to believe, that if any thing were capable of exciting your indignation and your grief there, it would be that, a­midst so many motives, and so many advantages, you exerted yourself no more in the prosecution of such a prize.

§ 9, But I will not enlarge on so clear a case, and therefore conclude the chapter with reminding you, that to allow yourself deliberately to sit down satisfied with any imperfect attainments in religion, and to look upon a more confirmed and improved state of it as what you do not desire, nay as what you secretly resolve that you will not pursue, is one of the most fatal signs we can well imagine that you are an entire stranger to the first principles of it.

CHAP. XXI. A Caution against various Temptations, by which the young Convert may be drawn aside from the Course recommended above.

§ 1. THE representation I have been making of the pleasure and advantage of a life spent in de­votedness to God, and communion with him, as I have described it above, will, I hope, engage you, my dear reader, to form some purposes, and make some attempt to obtain it. But, from considering the nature, and ob­serving the course of things, it appears exceedingly evi­dent, [Page 194] that, besides the general opposition, which I for­merly mentioned, as like to attend you in your first en­trance on a religious life, you will find, even after you have resolutely broke through this, a variety, of hinder­ances in any attempts of exemplary piety, and in the pro­secution of a remarkably strict and edifying course, will present themselves daily in your path. And whereas you may, by a few resolute efforts baffle some of the former sort of enemies, these will be perpetually renew­ing their ons [...], and a vigorous struggle must be continu­ally maintained with them. Give me leave now, there­fore, to be particular in my cautions against some of the chief of them. And here I would insist upon the difficul­ties which will arise from indolence and the love of plea­sure, from vain company, and from worldly cares. Each of these may prove ensnaring to any, and especially to young persons, to whom I would now have some par­ticular regard.

§ 2. I entreat you, therefore, in the first place, that you would guard against a sluggish and indolent temper. The love of ease insinuates itself into the heart, under a variety of plausible pretences, which are often allowed to pass, when temptations of a grosser nature would not be admitted. The mispending a little time seems to wise and good men but a small matter; yet this sometimes runs them into great inconveniences. It often leads them to break in upon the seasons regularly allotted to devo­tion, and to defer business. which might immediately be done, but being put off from day to day, is not done at all; and therefore the services of life are at least dimi­nished, and the rewards of eternity diminished propor­tionably; not to insist upon it, that very frequently lays the soul open to farther temptations, by which it falls, in consequence of being found unemployed. Be, therefore, suspicious of the first approaches of this kind. Remember, that the soul of man is an active being, and that it must end its pleasure in activity. Gird up, therefore, the "loins of your mind 1 Pet. 1, 13." En­deavour to keep yourself always well employed. Be ex­act, if I may with humble reverence use the expression, in your appointments with God. Meet him early in the morning; and say not with the sluggard, when the [Page 195] proper hour of rising is come, ‘A little more sleep, a little more slumber Prov. 6, 1.’ That time which prudence shall advise you, give to conversation, and to other recreations; but when that is elapsed, and no un­foreseen and important engagement presents, rise and be gone. Quit the company of your dearest friends, and retire to your proper business whether it be in the field, the shop, or the closet: for by acting contrary to the secret dictates of your mind, as to what it is just at the present moment best to do, though it be but in the man­ner of spending half an hour, some degree of guilt is con­tracted, and a habit is cherished, which may draw after it much worse consequences. Consider, therefore, what duties are to be dispatched, and in what seasons. Form your plan as prudently as you can, and pursue it resolute­ly: unless any unexpected incident arises, which leads you to conclude that duty calls you another way. Al­lowances for such unthought of interruptions must be made; but if, in consequence of this, you are obliged to omit any thing of importance which you purposed to have done to-day. do it if possible to-morrow: and do not cut yourself out new work till the former plan be dispatched; unless you really judge it, not merely more amusing, but more important. And always re­member, that a servant of Christ should see to it that he determine on these occasions as in his Master's pre­sence.

§ 3. Guard also against an excessive love of sensitive and animal pleasure, as that which will be a great hin­drance to you in that religious course which I have now been urging. You cannot but know that Christ has told us, that ‘a man must deny himself, and take up his cross daily, if he desire to become his disciple Luke 9, 23. Christ the Son of God, the Former and the Heir of all things, pleased not himself Rom. 15, 1;’ but submitted to want, to difficulties and hardships, in the way of duty, and some of them in the extremest kind and degree, for the glory of God, and the salvation of men. In this way we are to follow him; and as we know not how soon we may be called even to ‘resist unto blood, striving against sin Heb. 12, 4,’ it is cer­tainly best to accustom ourselves to that discipline which [Page 196] we may possibly be called out to exercise, even in such rigorous heights. A soft and delicate life will give force to temptations, which might easily be subdued by one who has habituated himself to ‘endure hardship, as a soldier of Jesus Christ 2 Tim 2, 3.’ It also produces an attachment to this world, and an unwillingness to leave it; which ill becomes those who are strangers and pilgrims on earth, and who expect so soon to be called away to that better country which they profess to seek Heb. 11, 13—16. Add to this, that what the world calls a life of pleasure, is necessarily a life of expence too, and may, perhaps, lead you, as it hath done many others, and es­pecially many who have been setting out in the world, beyond the limits which providence has assigned; and so, after a short course of indulgence, may produce pro­portionable want. And while in other cases it is true, that pity should be shown to the poor, this is a poverty that is justly contemptible, because it is the effect of a man's own folly; and when your want thus ‘comes upon you as an armed man Prov. 6, 11,’ you will not only find yourself stripped of the capacity you might otherwise have secured for performing those works of charity, which are so ornamental to a Christian pro­fession, but, probably, will be under strong temptations to some low artifice, or mean compliance, quite beneath the Christian character, and that of an upright man. Many who once made a high profession, after a series of such sorry and scandalous shifts, have fallen into the infamy of bankrupts, and of the worst kinds of bank­rupts; I mean such as have lavished away on themselves what was indeed the property of others, and so have injured, and perhaps ruined, the industrious, to feed a foolish, luxurious, or ostentatious humour, which, while indulged, was the shame of their own families, and, when it can be indulged no longer, is their torment. This will be a terrible reproach to religion: such a reproach to it, that a good man would rather chuse to live on bread and water, or indeed to die for want of them, than to occasion it.

§ 4. Guard, therefore, I beseech you, against any thing which might tend that way, especially by diligence in business, and by prudence and frugality in expence; [Page 197] which, by the divine blessing, may have a very happy influence to make your affairs prosperous, your health vigorous, and your mind easy. But this cannot be at­tained without keeping a resolute watch over yourself, and strenuously refusing to comply with many proposals which indolence or sensuality will offer in very plausible forms, and for which it will plead that it asks but very little. Take heed, lest, in this respect, you imitate those fond parents, who, by indulging their children in every little thing they have a mind to, encourage them, by in­sensible degrees, to grow still more encroaching and im­perious in their demands; as if they chose to be ruined with them, rather than to check in them what seems a trifle. Remember and consider that excellent remark, sealed by the ruin of so many thousands; ‘He that despiseth small things, shall fall by little and little.’

§ 5. In this view, give me leave also seriously and tenderly to caution you, my dear reader, against the snares of vain company. I speak not, as before, of that company, which is openly licentious and profane. I hope there is something now in your temper and views which would engage you to turn away from such with detestation and horror. But I beseech you to consider, that those companions may be very dangerous who might at first give you but very little alarm; I mean those, who, though not the declared enemies of religion, and professed followers of vice and disorder, yet nevertheless have no practical sense of divine things on their hearts, so far as can be judged by their conversation and beha­viour. You must often of necessity be with such persons, and Christianity not only allows, but requires, that you should, on all expedient occasions of intercourse with them, treat them with civility and respect: but chuse not such for your most intimate friends, and do not contrive to spend most of your leisure moments a­mong them. For such converse has a sensible tendency to alienate the soul from God, and to render it unfit for all spiritual communion with him. To convince you of this, do but reflect on your own experience, when you have been for many hours together among persons of such a character. Do you not find yourself more in­disposed for devotional exercises? Do you not find your [Page 189] heart, by insensible degrees, more and more inclined to a conformity to this world, and to look with a secret disrelish on those objects and employments to which rea­son directs as the noblest and the best? Observe the first symptoms, and guard against the snare in time: and, for this purpose endeavour to form friendships founded in piety, and supported by it. "Be a companion of them that fear God, and of them that keep his precepts Ps. 119, 63." You well know, that in the sight of God "they are the excellent of the earth;" let them therefore "be all your delight Psal. 16, 3." And that the peculiar benefit of their friendship may not be lost, endeavour to make the best of the hours you spend with them. The wisest of men has observed, that when "council in the heart of a man is like deep waters," that is, when it lyes low and concealed, "a man of un­derstanding will draw it out Prov. 20, 5." Endeavour therefore, on such occasions, so far as you can do it with decency and convenience, to give the conversation a re­ligious turn. And when serious and useful subjects are started in your presence, lay hold of them, and cultivate them; and, for that purpose, ‘let the word of Christ dwell richly in you Col. 3, 16.’ and be continually made "the man of your counsel Psal. 119, 24."

§ 6. If it be so, it will secure you, not only from the snares of idleness and luxury, but from the contagion of every bad example. And it will also engage you to guard against those excessive hurries of worldly business, which would fill up all your time and thoughts, and thereby choke the good word of God, and render it in a great measure, if not quite unfruitful Matth. 13, 22. Young people are generally of an enterprising disposi­tion: having experienced comparatively little of the fa­tigue of business, and of the disappointments and incum­brances of life, they easily swallow them up, and anni­hilate them in their imagination, and fancy that their spirit, their application and address, will be able to en­counter and surmount every obstacle or hindrance. But the event proves it otherwise. Let me intreat you, therefore, to be cautious how you plunge yourself into a greater variety of business than you are capable of ma­naging as you ought, that is, in consistence with the [Page 199] care of your souls, and the service of God; which cer­tainly ought not on any pretence to be neglected. It is true indeed, that a prudent regard to your worldly in­terest would require such a caution; as it is obvious to every careful observer, that multitudes are undone by grasping at more than they can conveniently manage.— Hence it has frequently been seen, that while they have seemed ‘resolved to be rich, they have pierced themselves through with many sorrows 1 Tim. 6, 10.’ have ruined their own families, and drawn down many others into desolation with them: whereas, could they have been contented with moderate employments, and moderate gains, they might have prospered in their business, and might, by sure degrees, under a divine blessing, have advanced to great and honourable increase. But if there were no danger at all to be apprehended on this head; if you were as certain of becoming rich and great as you are of perplexing and fatiguing your­self in the attempt; consider, I beseech you, how pre­carious these enjoyments are. Consider how often a ‘plentiful table becomes a snare, and that which should have been for a man's welfare becomes a trap Ps. 69, 22.’ Forget not that short lesson, which is so com­prehensive of the highest wisdom, ‘One thing is need­ful Luke 10, 4. Be daily thinking, while the gay and great things of life are glittering before your eyes, how soon death will come, and impoverish you at once; how soon it will strip you of all possessions but those which a naked soul can carry along with it into eternity, when it drops the body into the grave.’ E­TERNITY! ETERNITY! ETERNITY! Carry the view of it about with you, if it be possible, through every hour of waking life; and fully persuaded that you have no business, no interest in life, that is inconsistent with it: for whatsoever would be injurious to this view, is not your business, is not your interest. You see indeed, that the generality of men act as if they thought the great thing which God requires of them, in order to secure his favour, was to get as much of the world as possible; at least, as much as they can without any gross immorality, and without risking the loss of all, for mak­ing a little addition. And, as if it were to abet this de­sign, [Page 200] they tell others, and perhaps tell themselves, they only seek opportunities of greater usefulness, but, in effect, if they mean any thing more by this than a capa­city of usefulness, which, when they have it, they will not exert, they generally deceive themselves; and one way or another, it is a vain pretence. In most instances men seek the world,—either that they may hoard up riches for the mean and scandalous satisfaction of look­ing upon them while they are living, and of thinking, that when they are dead, it will be said of them, that they have left so many hundreds or thousands of pounds behind them; very probably to insnare their children, or other heirs, (for the vanity is not peculiar to those who have children of their own: —or else, that they may lavish away their riches on their lusts, and drown themselves in a gulph of sensuality, in which, if reason be not lost, religion is soon swallowed up, and, with it, all the noblest pleasures which can enter into the heart of man. In this view, the generality of rich people ap­pear to me objects of much greater compassion than the poor; especially as when both live (which is frequently the case) without any fear of God before their eyes, the rich abuse the greater variety and abundance of his fa­vours, and therefore will probably feel in that world of future ruin which awaits impenitent sinners, a more exquisite sense of their misery.

§ 7. And let me observe to you, my dear reader, lest you should think yourself secure from any such danger, that we have great reason to apprehend there are many now in a very wretched state, who once thought serious­ly of religion when they were first setting out, in lower circumstances of life, but they have since forsaken God for Mammon, and are now priding themselves in those golden chains, which, in all probability, before it be long, will leave them to remain in those of darkness. When, therefore, an attachment to the world may be followed with such fatal consequences, ‘let not thine heart envy sinners Prov. 22, 17;’ and do not, out of a desire of gaining what they have, be guilty of such folly, as to expose yourself to this double danger of fail­ing in the attempt, or of being undone by the success of it. Contract your desire: endeavour to be easy and [Page 201] content with a little: and if Providence call you out to act in a larger sphere, submit to it in obedience to Pro­vidence; but number it among the trials of life, which it will require a larger proportion of grace to bear well. For, be assured, that as affairs, and interest multiply, cares and duties will certainly increase, and probably disappointments and sorrows will increase in an equal proportion.

§ 8. On the whole, learn, by divine grace, to die to the present world; to look upon it as a low state of being, which God never intended for the final and com­plete happiness, or the supreme care, of any one of his children; a world, where something is indeed to be en­joyed, but chiefly from himself; where a great deal is to be borne with patience and resignation; and where some important duties are to be performed, and a course of discipline to be passed through, by which you are to be formed for a better state; to which, as a Christian, you are near, and to which God will call you, perhaps on a sudden but undoubtedly, if you hold on your way, in the fittest time, and the most convenient manner. Refer, therefore, all this to him. Let your hopes and fears, your expectations and desires, with regard to this world be kept as low as possible; and all your thoughts be united, as much as may be, in this one centre, what it is that God would, in present circumstances, have you to be; and what is that method of conduct by which you may most effectually please and glorify him?

CHAP. XXII. The Case of a Spiritual Decay and Langour in Religion.

§ 1. IF I am so happy as to prevail upon you in the exhortations and cautions I have given, you will probably go on with pleasure and comfort in reli­gion; and your path will generally be ‘like the morn­ing light, which shineth more and more until the perfect day Prov. 4, 18.’ Yet I dare not flatter [Page 204] myself with an expectation of such success as shall carry you above those varieties in temper, conduct and state, which have been more or less the complaint of the best of men.—Much do I fear that, how warmly soever your heart may be now impressed with the representation I have been making, though the great objects of your faith and hope continue unchangeable, your temper towards them will be changed. Much do I fear that you will feel your mind languish and tire in the good ways of God! nay, that you may be prevailed upon to take some step out of them, and may thus fall a prey to some of those temptations which you now look upon with a holy scorn. The probable consequence of this will be, that God will hide his face from you; that he will stretch forth his afflicting hand against you; and that you will still see your sorrowful moments, how chearfully soever you may now be ‘rejoicing in the Lord, and joying in the God of your salvation Hab. 3, 18.’ I hope, therefore, it may be of some service, if this too probable event should happen, to consider these cases a little more particularly: and I heartily pray that God would make what I shall say concerning them the means of restoring, comforting, and strengthening your soul, if he ever suffers you in any degree to deviate from him.

§ 2. We will first consider the case of spiritual de­clensions and langour in religion. And here I desire that, before I proceed any farther, you would observe, that I do not comprehend under this head, every abate­ment of that fervour which a young convert may find, when he first becomes experimentally acquainted with divine things. Our natures are so framed, that the no­velty of objects strikes them in something of a peculiar manner; not to urge how much more easily our passi­ons are impressed in the earlier years of life, than when we are more advanced in the journey of it. This, per­haps, is not sufficiently considered. Too great a stre [...] is commonly laid on the flow of affections; and for want of this, a Christian who is ripened in grace, and greatly advanced in his preparations for glory, may sometimes be ready to lament imaginary rather than real decays, and to say, without any just foundation. ‘Oh that it were with me as in months past Job. 29, 2.’ There­fore [Page 205] you can hardly be too frequently told, that reli­gion consists chiefly "in the resolution of the will for God, and in a constant care to avoid whatever we are persuaded he would disapprove, to dispatch the work he has assigned us in life, and to promote his glory in the happiness of mankind." To this we are chiefly to at­tend, looking in all to the simplicity and purity of those motives from which we act, which we know are chiefly regarded by that God who searches the heart; hum­bling ourselves before him at the same time under a sense of our many imperfections, and flying to the blood of Christ and the grace of the gospel.

§ 3. Having given this precaution, I will now a little more particularly describe the case which I call the state of a Christian, who is declining in religion, so far as it does not fall in with those which I shall consider in the following chapters. And I must observe, that it chiefly consists "in a forgetfulness of divine objects, and a remissness in those various duties to which we stand engaged by that solemn surrender which we have made of ourselves to the service of God." There will be a variety of symptoms, according to the different circumstances and relations in which the Christian is placed; but some will be of a more universal kind. It will be peculiarly proper to touch on these; and so much the rather as these declensions are often unobserved, like the grey hairs which were upon Ephraim, when he knew it not Hos. 7 9.

§ 4. Should you, my good reader, fall into this state, it will probably first discover itself by a failure in the duties of the closet. Not that I suppose they will at first or certainly conclude, that they will at all be wholly omitted, but they will be run over in a cold and formal manner. Sloth, or some of those other snares which I cautioned you against in the former chapter, will so far prevail upon you, that though perhaps you know and recollect that the proper season for retirement is come, you will sometimes indulge yourself upon your bed in the morning, sometimes in conversation or business in the evening, so as not to have convenient time for it: or perhaps, when you come into your closet at that sea­son, some favourite book you are desirous to read, some correspondence that you chuse to carry on, or some other [Page 206] amusement will present itself, and plead to be dipatched first. This will probably take up more time than you imagine; and then secret prayer will be hurried over, and perhaps reading the Scripture quite neglected. You will plead perhaps, that it is but for once; but the same allowance will be made a second and a third time; and it will grow more easy and familiar to you each time than it was the last. And thus God will be mocked, and your own soul will be defrauded of its spiritual meals, if I may be allowed the expression; the word of God will be slighted, and self-examination quite disused; and secret prayer itself will grow a burden rather than a delight; and a trifling ceremony rather than a devout homage, sit for the acceptance of our Father who is in heaven.

§ 5. If immediate and resolute measures be not taken for our recovery from these declensions, they will spread farther, and reach the acts of social worship. You will feel the effect in your families, and in public ordinances. And if you do not feel it, the symptoms will be so much the worse. Wandering thoughts will (as it were) eat out the very heart of these duties. It is not, I believe, the privilege of the most eminent Christians to be entire­ly free from them: but, probably, in these circumstan­ces, you will find but few intervals of strict attention, or of any thing which wears the appearance of inward de­votion. And when these heartless duties are concluded, there will scarce be a reflection made how little God hath been enjoyed in them, how little he hath been ho­noured by them. Perhaps the sacrament of the Lord's supper, being so admirably adapted to fix the attention of the soul, and to excite its warmest exercise of holy affections, may be the last ordinance in which these de­clensions will be felt. And yet who can say that the sa­cred table is a privileged place? Having been unnecessa­rily straitened in your preparations, you will attend with less fixedness and enlargement of heart than usual. And perhaps a dissatisfaction in the review, when there has been a remarkable alienation or insensibility of mind, may occasion a disposition to forsake your place and your duty there. And when your spiritual enemies have once gained this point upon you, it is probable you will [Page 207] fall by swifter degrees than ever, and your resistance to their attempts will grow weaker and weaker.

§ 6. When your love to God our Father, and to the Lord Jesus Christ fails, your fervour of Christian affec­tion to your brethren in Christ will proportionally de­cline, and your concern for usefulness in life abate; e­specially, where any thing is to be done for spiritual edi­fication. You will find one excuse or another for the neglect of religious discourse, perhaps not only among neighbours and Christian friends, when very convenient opportunities offer, but even with regard to those who are members of your own families, and to those who, if you are fixed in the superior relations of life, are com­mitted to your care.

§ 7. With this remissness, an attachment either to sensual pleasure or to worldly business will increase. For the soul must have something to employ it, and something to delight itself in; and as it turns to one or the other of these temptations of one sort or another will present themselves. In some instances, perhaps the strictest bounds of temperance, and the regular appoint­ments of life, may be broken in upon through a fondness for company, and the entertainments which often attend it. In other instances, the interests of life appearing greater than they did before, and taking up more of the mind, contrary interests of other persons may throw you into disquietude, or plunge you in debate and contenti­on; in which it is extremely difficult to preserve either the serenity or the innocence of the soul. And perhaps, if ministers and other Christian friends observe this, and endeavour, in a plain and faithful way, to reduce you from your wandering, a false delicacy of mind, often contracted in such a state as this, will render these at­tempts extremely disagreeable. The ulcer of the soul (if I may be allowed the expression) will not bear being touched when it most needs it; and one of the most generous and self denying instances of Christian friend­ship shall be turned into an occasion of coldness and dis­taste, yea perhaps of enmity.

§ 8. And possibly, to sum up all, this disordered state of mind may lead you into some prejudices against those very principles which might be most effectual or your [Page 208] recovery: and your great enemy may succeed so far in his attempts against you as to persuade you that you have lost nothing in religion, when you have almost lost all. He may, very probably, lead you to conclude, that your former devotional frames were mere fits of enthusiasm; and that the holy regularity of your walk before God was an unnecessary strictness and scrupulo­sity. Nay, you may think it a great improvement in understanding that you have learnt from some new masters, that if a man treat his fellow creatures with humanity and good nature, judging and reviling only those who would disturb others by the narrowness of their notions (for these are generally exempted from other objects of the most universal and disinterested be­nevolence so often boasted of) he must necessarily be in a very good state, though he pretend not to converse much with God, provided that he think respectfully of him, and do not provoke him by any gross immo­ralities.

§ 9. I mention this in the last stage of religious de­clensions, because I apprehend that to be its proper place; and I fear it will be found by experience to stand upon the very confines of that gross apostasy into deliberate and presumptuous sin, which will claim our consideration under the next head: and because, too, it is that sym­ptom which most effectually tends to prevent the suc­cess, and even the use, of any proper remedies, in con­sequence of a fond and fatal apprehension that they are needless. It is, if I may borrow the smile, like those fits of lethargic drowsiness which often precede apoplexies and death.

§ 10. It is by no means my design at this time to reckon up, much less to consider at large, those danger­ous principles which are now ready to possess the mind, and to lay the foundation of a false and treacherous peace. Indeed they are in different instances various, and sometimes run into opposite extremes; but if God awaken you to read your Bible with attention, and give you to feel the Spirit with which it is written, almost every page will flash in conviction upon the mind, and spread a light to scatter and disperse these shades of darkness.

[Page 209]§ 11. What I chiefly intend in this address is to en­gage you, if possible, as soon as you perceive the first symptoms of these declensions, to be upon your guard, and to endeavour as speedily as possible to recover your­self from them. And I would remind you, that the re­medy must begin where the first cause of complaint prevailed, I mean, in the closet. Take some time for recollection, and ask your own conscience seriously, How matters stand between the blessed God and your soul? Whether they are as they once were, and as you could wish them to be, if you saw your life just drawing to a period, and were to pass immediately into the eter­nal state? One serious thought of eternity shames a thou­sand vain excuses, with which, in the forgetfulness of it, we are ready to delude our own souls. And when you feel that secret misgiving of heart, which will naturally arise on this occasion, do not endeavour to palliate the matter, and to find out flight and artful coverings for what you cannot forbear secretly condemning; but ho­nestly fall under the conviction, and be humbling for it. Pour out your heart before God, and seek the renewed influences of his Spirit and grace. Return with more exactness to secret devotion, and to self-examination. Read the Scripture with yet greater diligence, and es­pecially the more devotional and spiritual parts of it. Labour to ground it in your heart, and to feel what you have reason to believe the sacred penmen felt when they wrote, so far as circumstances may agree. Open your soul with all simplicity to every lesson which the word of God would teach you; and guard against those things which you perceive to alienate your mind from inward religion, though there be nothing criminal in the things themselves. They may perhaps in the general be law­ful; to some, possibly, they may be expedient; but if they produce such an effect, as was mentioned above, it is certain they are not convenient for you. In these circumstances, above all, seek the converse of those Christians whose progress in religion seems most remark­able, and who adorn their profession in the most ami­able manner. Labour to obtain their temper and sen­timents, and lay open your case and your heart to them with all the freedom which prudence will permit. Em­ploy [Page 210] yourself at seasons of leisure in reading practical and devotional books, in which the mind and the heart of the pious author is transfused into the work, and in which you can (as it were) taste the genuine spirit of Chris­tianity. And, to conclude, Take the first opportunity that presents itself of making an approach to the table of the Lord, and spare neither time nor pains in the most serious preparation for it. There renew your co­venant with God; put your soul anew into the hand of Christ, and endeavour to view the wonders of his dying love in such a manner as may rekindle the languishing flame, and quicken you to more vigorous resolutions than ever, ‘to live unto him who died for you 2 Cor. 5, 15.’ And watch over your own heart, that the good impressions you then felt may continue. Rest not till you have obtained as confirmed a state in religion as you ever knew. Rest not till you have made a great­er progress than before: for it is certain more is yet be­hind; and it is only by a certain zeal to go forward that you can be secure from the danger of going backward, and of revolting more and more.

§ 12. I only add, that it is necessary to take these pre­cautions as soon as possible; or you will probably find a much swifter progress than you are aware in the down­hill road; and you may possibly be left of God to fall into some gross and aggravated sin, so as to fill your conscience with an agony and horror, which the pain of broken bones Ps. 51, 8. can but imperfectly express.

CHAP. XXIII. The sad Case of a relapse into known and deliberate Sin, after solemn Acts of Dedication to God, and some Progress made in Religion.

§ 1. THE declensions which I have described in the foregoing chapter must be acknowledged worthy of deep lamentation: but happy will you be, my dear reader, if you never know, by experience, a cir­cumstance yet more melancholy than this. Perhaps, when you consider the view of things which you now have, you imagine that no considerations can ever bribe you, in any single instance, to act contrary to the pre­sent dictates or suggestions of your conscience, and of the Spirit of God as setting it on work. No; you think it would be better for you to die. And you think right­ly. [Page 214] But Peter thought and said so too: ‘Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee Mat. 26, 35: and yet after all he fell; and therefore be not high minded, but fear Rom. 9, 20.’ It is not im­possible but you may fall into that very sin of which you imagine you are least in danger, or into that against which you have most solemnly resolved, and of which you have already most bitterly repented. You may re­lapse into it again and again; but, oh, if you do, nay, if you should deliberately and presumptuously fall but once, Low deep will it pierce your heart; how dear will you pay for all the pleasure with which the temptation has been baited? how will this seperate between God and you? What a desolation, what a dreadful desolation, will it spread over your soul! It is grievous to think of it. Perhaps in such a state you may feel more agony and dis­tress in your own conscience, when you come seriously to reflect, than you ever felt when you were first awakened and reclaimed; because the sin will be attended with some very high aggravations beyond those of your unregene­rate state. I well knew the person that said, ‘The a­gonies of a sinner in the first pangs of his repentance were not to be mentioned on the same day with those of the backslider in heart, when he comes to be filled with his own way Prov. 14, 14.’

§ 2. Indeed it is enough to wound one's heart to think how your's will be wounded: how all your comforts, all your evidences, all your hopes, will be clouded; what thick darkness will spread itself on every side, so that neither sun, nor moon, nor stars will appear in your heaven. Your spiritual consolations will be gone; and your temporal enjoyments will also be rendered tasteless and insipid. And if afflictions be sent, as they probably may, in order to reclaim you, a consciousness of guilt will sharpen and invenom the dart. Then will the ene­my of your soul, with all his art and power, rise up a­gainst you, encouraged by your fall, and labouring to trample you down in utter hopeless ruin. He will per­suade you that you are already undone beyond recovery: he will suggest that it signifies nothing to attempt it any more; for that very effort, every amendment, eve­ry act of repentance, will but make your case so much [Page 215] the worse, and plunge you lower and lower into hell.

§ 3. Thus will he endeavour by terrors to keep you from that sure remedy which yet remains. But yield not to him. Your case will indeed be sad; and if it be now your case, it is deplorably so; and to rest in it would be still much worse. Your heart would be hardened yet more and more; and nothing could be expected but sudden and aggravated destruction. Yet, blessed be God, it is not quite hopeless. ‘Your wounds are cor­rupted, because of your foolishness Ps. 38, 5;’ but the gangrene is not incurable. ‘There is balm in Gi­lead, there is a Physician there Jer. 8, 22.’ Do not therefore, render your condition hopeless, by now saying, "There is no hope Jer. 2, 25," and drawing a fatal argument from that false supposition for going after the idols you have loved. Let me address you in the lan­guage of God to his backsliding people, when they were ready to apprehend that to be their case, and to draw such a conclusion from it: ‘Only return unto me, saith the Lord Jer. 3, 1.13.’ Cry for renewed grace; and, in the strength of it, labour to return. Cry with David under the like guilt. ‘I have gone astray like a lost sheep, seek thy servant; for I do not forget thy commandment Ps. 119, 176;’ and that remembrance of them is, I hope, a token for good. But if thou wilt return at all, do it immediately. Take not one step more in that fatal path to which thou hast turned aside. Think not to add one sin more to the account, and then to repent; as if it would be but the same thing on the whole. The second error may be worse than the first; it may make way for another and another, and draw on a terrible train of consequences beyond all you can now imagine. Make haste, therefore, and do not de­lay. Escape, and fly as for thy life Gen. 19, 17. before ‘the dart strike through thy liver Prov. 7, 23. Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eye-lids Prov. 6, 4:’ lye not down upon thy bed under un­pardoned guilt, lest evil overtake thee, lest the sword of divine justice should smite thee; and whilst thou pro­posest to return to-morrow, thou shouldst this night go and take possession of hell.

§ 4. Return immediately; and permit me to add, [Page 216] return solemnly. Some very pious and excellent divines have expressed themselves upon this head in a manner which seems liable to dangerous abuse; when they urge men after a fall ‘not to stay to survey the ground, nor consider how they came to be thrown down, but im­mediately to get up and renew the race,’ In slighter cases the advice is good: but when conscience has suf­fered such violent outrage, by the commission of known, wilful and deliberate sin, (a case which one would hope should but seldom happen to those who have once sincere­ly entered on a religious course,) I can by no means think that either reason or Scripture encourage such a method. Especially would it be improper, if the action itself has been of so heinous a nature, that even to have fallen into it on the most sudden surprise of temptation, must greatly have ashamed, and terrified, and distressed the soul. Such an affair is dreadfully solemn, and should be treated accordingly. If this has been the sad case with you, my then unhappy reader, I would pity you, and mourn over you; and would beseech you, as you tender your peace, your recovery, the health and the very life of your soul, that you would not loiter away an hour. Retire immediately for serious reflection. Break thro' other engagements and employments, unless they be such as you cannot in conscience delay for a few hours, which can seldom happen in the circumstance I now suppose. This is the one thing needful. Set your­self to it, therefore, as in the presence of God, and hear at large patiently and humbly, what conscience has to say, though it chide and reproach severely. Yea, ear­nestly pray, that God would speak to you by conscience, and make you more thoroughly to know and feel ‘what an evil and bitter thing it is that you have thus for­saken him Jer. 2, 19.’ Think of all the aggravating circumstances attending your offence, and especially those which arise from abused mercy and goodness; which arise not only from your solemn vows and engagements to God, but from the views you have had of a Redeem­er's love, sealed even in blood. And are these the returns? Was it not enough that Christ should have been ‘thus injured by his enemies? must he be wounded in the house of his friends, too Zech. 13, 6? Were [Page 217] delivered to work such abominations as these Jer. 7, 10?’ Did the blessed Jesus groan and die for you, that you might sin with boldness and freedom, that you might extract, as it were, the very spirit and essence of sin, and offend God to a height of ingratitude and base­ness which would otherwise have been in the nature of things impossible! Oh, think how justly God might cast you out from his presence! How justly he might num­ber you among the most signal instances of his ven­geance! And think how ‘your heart would endure, or your hands be strong, if he would deal thus with you Ezek. 22, 14!’ Alas! all your former experi­encies would enhance your sense of the ruin and misery that must be felt in an eternal banishment from the di­vine presence and favour.

§ 5. Indulge such reflections as these. Stand the humbling sight of your sins in such a view as this. The more odious and more painful it appears, the greater prospect there will be of your benefit by attending to it. But the matter is not to rest here. All these re­flections are intended, not to grieve, but to cure; and to grieve no more than promote the cure. You are in­deed to look upon sin; but you are also, in such a cir­cumstance, if ever, to ‘look upon Christ: to look upon him whom you have now pierced" deeper than be­fore, and to mourn for him with sincerity and ten­derness Zech. 12, 10.’—The God whom you have injured and affronted, whose laws you have broken, and whose justice you have (as it were) challenged by this foolish wretched apostacy, is nevertheless ‘a most mer­ciful God Deut. 4, 31’ You cannot be so ready to return to him, as he is ready to receive you. Even now does he, as it were, solicit a reconciliation by those tender impressions which he is making upon your heart. But remember how he will be reconciled. It is in the very same way in which you made your first approaches to him; in the name, and for the sake of his dear Son. Come, therefore, in an humble dependence upon him. Renew your application to Jesus, that his blood may (as it were) be sprinkled upon your soul, that your soul may thereby be purified, and your guilt removed. This very sin of your's, which the blessed God foresaw, increased the weight of your Redeemer's [Page 218] sufferings: it was concerned in shedding his blood. Humbly go, and place your wounds (as it were) un­der the droppings of that precious balm by which alone they can be healed. That compassionate Saviour will delight to restore you, when you lye as an humble sup­plicant at his feet, and will graciously take part with you in that peace and pleasure which he gives. Through him renew your covenant with God, that broken co­venant, the breach of which divine justice might teach you to know ‘by terrible things in righteousness Ps. 65, 5;’ but mercy allows of an accommodation. Let the consciousness and remembrance of the breach engage you to enter into a covenant a new, under a deeper sense than ever of your own weakness, and a more cordial dependence on divine grace for your security, than you have ever yet entertained. I know you will be ashamed to present yourself among the children of God in his sanctuary, and especially at his table, under a consciousness of so much guilt; but break through that shame, if Providence open you the way. You would be humbled before your of­fended Father; but surely there is no place where you are more like to be humbled, than when you see your­self in his house; and no ordinance administered there can lay you lower than that in which ‘Christ is evi­dently set forth as crucified before your eyes Gal. 3, 1.’ Sinners are the only persons who have business there; the best of men come to that sacred table as sin­ners; as such make your approach to it; yea, as the greatest of sinners; as one who needs the blood of Jesus as much as any creature upon earth.

§ 6. And let me remind you of one thing more: If your fall has been of such a nature as to give any scandal to others, be not at all concerned to save appearances, and to moderate those mortifications, which deep humi­liation before them would occasion. The depth and pain of that mortification is indeed an excellent medicine, which God has in his wise goodness appointed for you in such circumstances as these. In such a case, confess your fault with the greatest frankness: aggravate it to the utmost; intreat pardon and prayer from those whom you have offended. Then, and never till then, will you be in the way to peace: not by palliating a fault, not by [Page 219] making vain excuses, not by objecting to the manner in which others may have treated you; as if the least ex­cess of rigour in a faithful admonition were a crime equal to some great immorality that occasioned it. This can only proceed from the madness of pride and self-love: it is the sensibility of a wound which is hardened, swell­ed, and enflamed! and it must be reduced and cooled, and suppled, before it can possibly be cured. To be cen­sured and condemned by men, will be but a little griev­ance to a soul thoroughly humbled and broken under a sense of having incurred the condemning sentence of God. Such a one will rather desire to glorify God, by submitting to deserved blame; and will fear deceiving others into a more favourable opinion of him than he in­wardly knows himself to deserve. These are the senti­ments which God gives to the sincere penitent in such a case; and by this means he restores him to that credit and regard among others, which he does not know how to seek; but which, nevertheless for the sake both of his comfort and usefulness, God wills that he should have; and which it is, humanely speaking, impossible for him to recover any other way. But there is something so honorable in the frank acknowledgment of a fault, and in deep humiliation for it, that all who see it must needs approve it. They pity an offender who is brought to such a disposition, and endeavour to comfort him with returning expressions, not only of their love, but of their esteem too.

§ 7. Excuse this digression, which may suit some cases; and which would suit many more, if a regular discipline were to be exercised in churches: for on such a suppo­sition, the Lord's supper could not be approached af­ter visible and scandalous falls without solemn confession of the offence and declarations of repentance. On the other hand, there may be instances of sad apostacy, where the crime, though highly aggravated before God, may not fall under human notice. In this case, remem­ber, that your business is with him to whose piercing eye every thing appears in its just light; before him there­fore prostrate your souls and seek a solemn reconcilia­tion with him, confirmed by the memorials of his dying Son. And when this is done, imagine not, that be­cause [Page 220] you have received the tokens of pardon, the guilt of your apostacy is to be forgot at once. Bear it still in your memory for future caution: lament it before God in the frequent returns of secret devotion especial­ly: and view with humiliation the scars of those wounds which your own folly occasioned, even when by divine grace they are thoroughly healed. For God establishes his covenant not to remove the sense of every past abo­mination, but ‘that thou mayest remember thy ways, and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame, even when I am pacified towards thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord Ezek. 16, 63.’

§ 8. And now, upon the whole, if you desire to at­tain such a temper, and to return by such steps as these, then immediately fall down before God, and pour out your heart in his presence, in language like this:

CHAP. XXIV. The Case of the Christian under the Hidings of God's Face.

§ 1. THERE is a case which often occurs in the Christian life, which they who accustom them­selves much to the exercise of devotion, have been used to call hidings of God's face. It is a phrase borrowed from the word of God, which I hope may shelter it from contempt at the first hearing. It will be my busi­ness in this chapter to state it as plainly as I can, and then to give some advices as to your own conduct when you fall into it, as it is very probable you may, before you have finished your journey through this wilderness.

§ 2. The meaning of it may partly be understood by the opposite phrase, of God's causing his face to shine upon a person, or lifting upon him the light of his countenance. This seems to carry in it an allusion to the pleasant and delightful appearance which the face of a friend has, and especially if, in a superior relation of life, when he [Page 225] converses with those whom he loves and delights in. Thus Job, when speaking of the regard paid him by his attendants, says, ‘If I smiled upon them, they be­lieved it not, and the light of my countenance they cast not down Job. 29, 24;’ that is, they were care­ful, in such an agreeable circumstance, to do nothing to displease me, or (as we speak) to cloud my brow. And David, when expressing his desire of the manifestation of Gods favour to him, says, ‘Lord lift thou up the light of thy reconciled countenance upon me;’ and, as the effect of it, declares, ‘thou hast put gladness in my heart more than if corn and wine increased Psal. 4, 6.7.’ Nor is it impossible that, in this phrase, as used by David, there may be some allusion to the bright shining forth of the Shechinah, that is, the lu­stre which dwelt in the cloud as the visible sign of the divine presence with Israel, which God was pleased pe­culiarly to manifest upon some public occasions, as a to­ken of his favour and acceptance.—On the other hand, therefore, for God to hide his face, must imply the with­holding the tokens of his favour, and must be esteemed a mark of his displeasure. Thus Isaiah uses it: ‘Your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear Isa. 59, 2." And again, "Thou hast hid thy face from us,’ as not regarding the calami­ties we suffer, ‘and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities Isa. 64, 7. So likewise for God to hide his face from our sins Ps. 51, 9. signifies to over­look them, and to take no farther notice of them.’ The same idea is, at other times, expressed by ‘God's hiding his eyes Isa. 1, 15.’ from persons of a cha­racter disagreeable to him, when they come to address him with their petitions, not vouchsafeing (as it were) to look towards them. This is plainly the scriptural sense of the word; and agreeably to this, it is generally used by Christians in our day, and every thing which seems a token of divine displeasure towards them is ex­pressed by it.

§ 3. It is farther to be observed here, that the things which they judge to be manifestations of divine favour towards them, or complacency in them, are not only, [Page 226] nor chiefly, of a temporal nature, or such as merely re­late to the blessings of this animal and perishing life. David, though the promises of the law had a continual reference to such, yet was taught to look farther, and describes them as preferable to, and therefore plainly distinct from ‘the blessings of the corn-floor, or the wine press Ps. 4, 7.’ And if you, to whom I am now addressing, do not know them to be so, it is plain you are quite ignorant of the subject we are enquiring into, and indeed are yet to take out the first lessons of true religion. All that David says of ‘beholding the beauty of the Lord Ps. 27, 4. or being satisfied as with marrow and fatness, when he remembered him upon his bed Ps. 63, 5, 6." as well as with the goodness of his house, even of his holy temple Ps. 65, 4.’ is to be taken in the same sense, and can need very little explication to the truly experienced soul. But those that have known the light of God's counte­nance, and the shinings of his face, will, in proportion to the degree of that knowledge, be able to form some notion of the hiding of his face, or the withdrawing of the tokens he has given his people of his presence and favour, which sometimes greatly imbitters prosperity; as where the contrary is found, it sweetens afflictions, and often swallows up the sense of it.

§ 4. And give me leave to remind you, my Christian friend (for under that character I now address my rea­der) that to be thus deprived of the sense of God's love, and of the tokens of his favour, may soon be the case with you, though you may now have the pleasure to see "the candle of the Lord shining upon you," or though it may even seem to be sunshine and high noon in your soul. You may lose your lively views of the di­vine perfections and glories, in the contemplation of which you now find that inward satisfaction. You may think of the divine wisdom and power, of the divine mercy and fidelity, as well as of his righteousness and holiness, and feel little inward complacency of soul in the view; it may be, with respect to any lively im­pression, as if it were the contemplation merely of a com­mon object. It may seem to you as if you bad lost all idea to those important words, though the view had [Page 227] sometimes swallowed up your whole soul in transports of admiration, astonishment and love. You may lose your delightful sense of the divine favour. It may be matter of great and sad doubt with you, whether you do indeed belong to God; and all the work of his bless­ed spirit may be so vailed and shaded in the soul, that the peculiar characters by which the hand of that sa­cred Agent might be distinguished, shall be in a great measure lost; and you may be ready to imagine you had only deluded yourself in all the former hopes you have entertained. In consequence of this, those ordinances, in which you now rejoice, may grow very uncomfort­able to you, even when you do indeed desire communion with God in them. You may hear the most delightful evangelical truths opened, you may hear the privileges of God's children most affectionately represented, and not be aware that you have any part or lot in this mat­ter; and from that coldness and insensibility, may be drawing a farther argument, that you have nothing to do with them. And then your heart may meditate terror Is. 33, 18; and under the distress that overwhelms you, your dearest enjoyments may be reflected upon as adding to the weight of it, and making it more sen­sible, while you consider that you had once such a taste for these things, and have now lost it all. So that per­haps it may seem to you, that they who never felt any thing at all of religious impressions, are happier than you, or at least are less miserable. You may perhaps, in these melancholy hours, even doubt whether you have ever prayed at all; and whether all that you called your enjoyment of God were not some false delights, excited by the great enemy of souls, to make you apprehend that your state was good, that so you might continue his more secure prey.

§ 5. Such as this may be your case for a considerable time; and ordinances may be attended in vain, and the presence of God may be in vain sought in them. You may pour out your soul in private, and then come to public worship, and find little satisfaction in either; but be forced to take up the Psalmist's complaint; ‘My God, I cry in the day-time, but thou hearest not; and in the night-season, and am not silent Psal. 22, 2;’ [Page 228] or that of Job, ‘Behold, I go forward, but he is not there, and backward, but I cannot perceive him; on the left hand where he doth work, but I cannot be­hold him; he hideth himself on the right hand that I cannot see him Job. 23, 9:’ So that all which look­ed like religion in your mind shall seem, as it were, to be melted into grief, or chilled into fear, or crushed into a deep sense of your own unworthiness; in consequence of which, you shall not dare so much as to lift up your eyes before God, and be almost ashamed to take your place in a worshipping assembly among any that you think his servants. I have known this to be the case of some excellent Christians, whose improvements in religion have been distinguished, and whom God hath honoured above many of their brethren in what he hath done for them, and by them. Give me leave, there­fore, having thus described it, to offer you some plain advices with regard to it; and let not that be imputed to enthusiastic fancy which proceeds from an intimate and frequent view of facts on the one hand, and from a sincere affectionate desire on the other, to relieve the tender pious heart in so desolate a state. At least, I am persuaded the attempt will not be overlooked or disap­proved by ‘the great Shepherd of the Sheep Heb. 13, 20. who hath charged us to comfort the feeble minded 1 Thess. 5, 14.’

§ 6. And here I would first advise you most care­fully to inquire whether your present distress does indeed arise from causes which are truly spiritual; or whether it may not rather have its foundation in some disorder of body, or in the circumstances of life, in which you are providentially placed, which may break your spirits, and deject your mind? The influence of the inferior part of our nature on the nobler, the immortal spirit, while we continue in this imbodied state, is so evident, that no attentive person can, in the general, fail to have observed it; and yet these are cases in which it seems not to be sufficiently considered; and perhaps your own may be one of them. The state of the blood is often such as necessarily to suggest gloomy ideas even in dreams, and to indispose the soul for taking pleasure in any thing: and when it is so, why should it be im­agined [Page 229] to proceed from any peculiar divine displeasure, if it does not find its usual delight in religion? or why should God be thought to have departed from us, be­cause he suffers natural causes to produce natural ef­fects, without opposing by miracle to break the con­nexion? When this is the case, the help of the physi­cian is to be sought rather than that of the divine, or, at least, by all means, together with it; and medicine, di­et, exercise, and air, may, in a few weeks, effect that which the strongest reasonings, the most pathetic exhor­tations or consolations, might for many months have attempted in vain.

§ 7. In other instances, the dejection and feebleness of the mind may arise from something uncomfortable in our worldly circumstances; these may cloud as well as distract the thoughts, and embitter the temper, and thus render us in a great degree unfit for religious ser­vices or pleasures; and when it is so, the remedy is to be sought in submission to divine Providence; in ab­stracting our affections, as far as possible, from the present world; in a prudent care to ease ourselves of the burden, so far as we can, by moderating unnecessary expences, and by diligent application to business in hum­ble dependence on the divine blessing; in the mean time, endeavouring by faith to look up to him, who sometimes suffers his children to be brought into such difficulties, that he may endear himself more sensibly to them by the method he shall take for their relief.

§ 8. On the principles here laid down, it may per­haps appear, on enquiry, that the distress complained of may have a foundation very different from what was at first supposed. But where the health is found, and the circumstances easy; when the animal spirits are disposed for gaiety and entertainment, while all taste for religi­ous pleasure is in a manner gone; when the foul is seized with a kind of lethargic insensibility, or, what I had almost called a paralytic weakness, with respect to every religious exercise, even though there should not be that deep terryfying distress, or pungent amazement, which I before represented as the effect of melancholy; nor that anxiety about the accommodations of life, which strait circumstances naturally produce: I would in that [Page 230] case vary my advice, and urge you, with all possible attention and impartiality, to search into the cause which has brought upon you that great evil, under which you justly mourn. And probably, in the general, the cause is sin; some secret sin, which has not been discovered or observed by the eye of the world; for enormities that draw on them the observation and censure of others, will probably fall under the case mentioned in the form­er chapter, as they must be instances of known and de­liberate guilt. Now, the eye of God hath seen these evils which have escaped the notice of your fellow-crea­tures; and, in consequence of this care to conceal them from others, while you could not but know they were open to him, God has seen himself in a peculiar manner affronted and injured, I had almost said, insulted, by them; and hence his righteous displeasure. Oh! let that never be forgotten, which is so plainly said, so com­monly known, so familiar to almost every religious ear, yet too little felt by any of our hearts. ‘Your in­iquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you that he will not hear Isa. 59, 1, 2.’ And this is, on the whole, a merciful dispensation of God, though it may seem severe; regard it not, therefore, merely as your cala­mity, but as intended to awaken you, that you may not content yourself even with lying in tears of humiliation before the Lord, but, like Joshua, rise and exert your­self vigorously to put away from you that accursed thing, whatever it be. Let this be your immediate and ear­nest care that your pride may be humbled, that your watchfulness may be maintained, that your affections to the world may be deade [...]ed, and that, on the whole, your fitness for heaven may in every respect be increased. These are the designs of your heavenly Father, and let it be your great concern to co-operate with them.

§ 9. Receive it therefore, on the whole, as the most important advice that can be given you, ‘immediately to enter on a strict examination of your conscience.’ —Attend to its gentlest whispers. If a suspicion arises in your mind that any thing has not been right, trace that suspicion, search into every secret folding of your heart, improve to the purposes of a fuller discovery, [Page 231] the advices of your friends, the reproaches of your ene­mies: recollect for what your heart hath smitten you at the table of the Lord; for what it would smite you if you were upon a dying bed, and within this hour to enter on eternity. When you have made any dis­covery, note it down, and go on in your search till you can say, These are the remaining corruptions of my heart; these are the sins and follies of my life; this have I neglected; this have I done amiss. And when the account is as complete as you can make it, set your­self, in the strength of God, to a strenuous reforma­tion, or rather begin the reformation of every thing that seems amiss as soon as ever you discover it; ‘Re­turn to the Almighty, and thou shalt be built up, and put iniquity far from thy tabernacle; then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face unto God. Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he shall hear thee; thou shalt pay thy vows unto him, and his light shall shine upon thy ways Job. 22, 23 [...] 26.27.’

§ 10. In the mean time, be waiting for God with the deepest humility, and submit yourself to the discip­line of your heavenly Father, acknowledging his justice, and hoping in his mercy; even when your conscience is least severe in its remonstrances, and discovers nothing more than the common infirmities of God's people; yet still bow yourself down before him, and own, that so many are the evils of your best days, so many the im­perfections of your best services, that by them you have deserved all, and more than all, that you suffer: de­served, not only that your sun should be clouded, but that it should go down, and arise no more, but leave your soul in a state of everlasting darkness. And while the shade continues, be not impatient. Fret not your­self in any wise, but rather with a holy calmness and gentleness of soul, "wait on the Lord Ps. 37, 8.34." Be willing to stay his time, willing to bear his frown, in humble hope that he will at length "return and have compassion on you Jer. 12, 15." He ‘has not utterly forgotten to be gracious, nor "resolved that he will be favourable no more Ps. 77, 7.9.—For the Lord will not cast off for ever; but though he cause grief, [Page 232] yet will he have compassion according to the mul­titude of his mercies Lam. 3, 31.32. It is com­paratively but for a small moment that he hides his face from you; but you may humbly hope, that with great mercies he will gather you, and that with everlasting kindness he will have mercy on you Isa. 54, 7.8.’ These suitable words are not mine, but his; and they wear this as in the very front of them, ‘That a soul under the hidings of God's face may at least be one whom he will gather, and to whom he will extend everlasting favour.’

§ 11. But while the darkness continues, ‘go on in the way of your duty.’ Continue the use of means and ordinances: read, and meditate: pray, yea, and sing the praises of God too, though it may be with a heavy heart. Follow ‘the footsteps of his flock Cant. 1, 8; you may perhaps meet the Shepherd of souls’ in doing it. Place yourself at least in his way. It is possible you may by this means get a kind look from him; and one look, one turn of thought, which may happen in a moment, may, as it were, create a heaven in your soul at once. Go to the table of the Lord. If you cannot rejoice, go and mourn there. ‘Go and mourn that Saviour, whom by your sins you have pierced Zech. 12, 10;’ go and lament the breaches of that covenant, which you have there so often confirmed. Christ may perhaps ‘make himself known unto you in the breaking of bread Luke 24, 35,’ and you may find, to your surprise, that he hath been near you, when you imagined he was at the greatest distance from you; near you when you thought you were cast out from his presence. Seek your comfort in such en­joyments as these, and not in the vain amusements of this world, and in the pleasures of sense. I shall never forget that affectionate expression, which I am well as­sured broke out from an eminently pious heart, then al­most ready to break under the sorrows of this kind: ‘Lord, if I may not enjoy thee, let me enjoy nothing else; but go down mourning after thee to the grave!’ I wondered not to hear, that almost as soon as this sen­timent had been breathed out before God in prayer, the burden was taken off, and the joy of God's salvation restored.

[Page 233]§ 12. I shall add but one advice more, and that is, ‘That you renew your application to the blood of Je­sus, through whom the reconciliation between God and your soul has been accomplished.’ It is he that is our peace and by his blood it is that we are made nigh Eph. 2, 13.14; it is in him, as the Beloved of his soul, that God declares he is well pleased Matth. 3, 17; and it is in him that we are made accepted, to the glory of his grace Eph. 1, 6. Go therefore, O Christian, and apply by faith to a crucified Saviour: go, and apply to him as to a merciful High Priest ‘and pour out thy complaint before him, and show before him thy trouble Ps. 142, 2.’ Lay open the distress and anguish of thy soul to him, who once knew what it was to say, (O astonishing! that he of all others should ever have said it,) "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me Matth. 27, 46?" Look up for pity and relief to him, who himself suffered, being not only tempt­ed, but with regard to sensible manifestations, deserted, that he might thus know how to pity those that are in such a melancholy case, and be ready, as well as ‘able, to succour them Heb. 2, 18. He is, Emmanuel, God with us Matth. 1, 23;’ and it is only in and through him that his Father shines forth upon us with the mildest beams of mercy and of love. Let it be therefore your immediate care to renew your acquaint­ance with him. Review the records of his life and death: hear his words: behold his actions: and when you do so, surely you will find a secret sweetness diffus­ing itself over your soul. You will be brought into a calm, gentle, silent frame, in which faith and love will operate powerfully, and God may probably cause the still small voice of his comforting Spirit to be heard 1 Kings 19, 12. till your soul bursts out into a song of praise, and you may be ‘made glad, according to the days in which you have been afflicted Ps. 90, 15.’ In the mean time, such language as the following sup­plication speaks may be suitable.

CHAP. XXV. The CHRISTIAN struggling under great and heavy Afflictions.

§ 1. SINCE ‘man is born unto trouble as the sparks fly upward Job. 5, 7.’ and Adam has en­tailed on all his race the sad inheritance of calamity in their way to death, it will certainly be prudent and ne­cessary that we should all expect to meet with trials and afflictions; and that you, reader, whoever you are, should be endeavouring to gird on your armour, and put yourself into a posture to encounter those trials which will fall to your lot as a man, and a Christian. Pre­pare yourself to receive your afflictions, and to endure them, in a manner agreeable to both those characters. In this view, when you see others under the burden, consider how possible it is that you may be called out to the very same difficulties, or to others equal to them. Put your soul as in the place of theirs. Think how you could endure the load under which they lie; and endeavour at once to comfort them, and to strengthen your own heart; or rather, pray that God would do it. And observing how liable mortal life is to such sorrows, moderate your expectations from it; raise your thoughts above it; and form your schemes of happiness only for that world where they cannot be disappointed: in the mean time, blessing God, that your prosperity is length­ened out this far, and ascribing it to his special provi­dence that you continue so long unwounded, when so many showers of arrows are flying around you, and so many are falling by them on the right hand and on the left.

§ 2. When at length your turn comes, as it certainly will, from the first hour in which an affliction seizes you, realize to yourself the hand of God in it, and lose not the view of him in any second cause, which may [Page 238] have proved the immediate occasion. Let it be your first care ‘to humble yourself under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time 1 Pet. 5, 6.’ Own, that ‘he is just in all that is brought upon you. Neh. 9, 33." and "that in all these things he punishes you less than your iniquities deserve Ezra 9, 13.’ Compose yourself to bear his hand with patience, to glorify his name by a submission to his will, and to fall in with the gracious design of this visitation, as well as to wait the issue of it quietly, whatever the event may be.

§ 3. Now that ‘patience may have its perfect work James 1, 4.’ reflect frequently and deeply upon your own meanness and sinfulness. Consider how often every mercy has been forfeited, and every judgment deserved. And consider too, how long the patience of God hath borne with you, and how wonderfully it is still exerted towards you; and, indeed, not only his patience, but his bounty too. Afflicted as you are, (for I speak to you now as actually under the pressure,) look round and survey your remaining mercies, and be gratefully sensi­ble of them. Make the supposition of their being re­moved: what if God should stretch out his hand against you, and add poverty to pain, or pain to poverty, or the loss of friends to both; or the death of surviving friends to that of those who you are now mourning over; would not the wound be more grievous? Adore his goodness that this is not the case: and take heed, lest your un­thankfulness should provoke him to multiply your sor­rows. Consider also the need you have of discipline; how wholesome it may prove to your soul, and what merciful designs our heavenly Father has in all the cor­rections he sends upon his children.

§ 4. Nay, I will add, that, in consequence of all these considerations, it may well be expected, not only that you should submit to your afflictions, as what you can­not avoid, but that you should sweetly acquiesce in them, approve them; that you should not only justify, but glorify God, in sending them; that you should glorify him with your heart, and with your lips too. Think not praise unsuitable on such an occasion; nor think that praise alone to be suitable which takes its rise from [Page 239] remaining comforts: but know that it is your duty, not only to be thankful in your afflictions, but to be thank­ful on account of them.

§ 5. God himself has said, ‘In every thing give thanks 1 Thess. 5, 18; and he has taught his ser­vants to say, Yea also we glory in tribulation Rom. 5, 3.’ And most certain it is, that to true believers they are instances of divine mercy; for ‘whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth’ with peculiar and distinguishing en­dearment Heb. 12, 6. View your present afflictions in this light as chastisements of love; and then let your own heart say, whether love does not demand praise. Think with yourself, it is thus that God is making me conformable to his own Son; it is thus that he is training me up for complete glory. Thus he kills my corruptions; thus he strengthens my graces; thus he is wisely contriving to bring me nearer to himself, and to ripen me for the honours of his heavenly kingdom. It is ‘if need be, that I am in heaviness 1 Pet. 1, 6;’ and he surely knows what that need is better than I can pretend to teach him; and knows what peculiar propriety there is in this affliction to answer my present necessity, and do me that peculiar good which he is gra­ciously intending me by it. ‘This tribulation shall work patience, and patience experience and experience a more assured hope; even a hope which shall not make ashamed, while the love of God is shed abroad in my heart Rom. 5, 3.4.5.’ and shines through my af­fliction like the sun through a gently-descending cloud, darting in light upon the shade, and mingling fruitful­ness with weeping.

§ 6. Let it be then your earnest care, while you thus look on your affliction, whatever it maybe, as coming from the hand of God, to improve it to the purposes for which it was sent. And that you may so improve it, let it be your first concern to know what those purposes are. Summon up all the attention of your soul to ‘hear the rod, and him who hath appointed it Mic. 6, 9;’ and pray earnestly that you may understand its voice. Ex­amine your life, your words, and your heart; and pray, [Page 240] that God would so guide your inquiries, that you may "return unto the Lord that smiteth you Isa. 9, 13." To assist you in this call in the help of pious friends, and particularly of your ministers: intreat not only their prayers, but their advices too, as to the probable design of Providence; and encourage them freely to tell you any thing which occurs to their minds upon this head. And if such an occasion should lead them to touch upon some of the imperfections of your character and conduct, look upon it as a great token of their friendship, and take it not only patiently but thankfully. It does but ill be­come a Christian at any time to resent reproofs and ad­monitions, and least of all does it become him when the rebukes of his heavenly Father are upon him: he ought rather to seek admonitions at such a time as this, and voluntarily to offer his wounds to be searched by a faithful and skilful hand.

§ 7. And when, by one means or another, you have got a ray of light to direct you in the meaning and language of such dispensations, take heed that you do not in any degree, "harden yourself against God, and walk contrary to him Lev. 26, 27." Obstinate reluctance to the apprehended design of any providential stroke is inexpressibly provoking to him. Set yourself therefore to an immediate reformation of whatever you discover amiss; and labour to learn the general lessons of great­er submission to God's will, of a more calm indifference to the world, and of a closer attachment to divine con­verse, and to the views of an approaching invisible state. And whatever particular proportion or corres­pondence you may observe between this or that cir­cumstance in your affliction and your former transgres­sions, be especially careful to act according to that more peculiar and express voice of the rod. Then you may perhaps have speedy and remarkable reason to say, that ‘it hath been good for you, that you have been af­flicted Ps. 119, 71;’ and, with a multitude of others, may learn to number the times of your sharpest trials, among the sweetest and the most exalted moments of your life. For this purpose, let prayer be your frequent employment; and let such sentiments as these, if not in the very same terms, be often and affectionately poured out before God.

CHAP. XXVI. The CHRISTIAN assisted in examining into his Growth in Grace.

§ 1. IF by divine grace, you have been ‘born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible 1 Pet. 1, 23. even by that word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever,’ not only in the world, and in the church, but in particular souls in which it is sown; you will, ‘as new-born babes, desire the sin­cere milk of the word, that you may grow thereby 1 Pet. 2, 2.’ And though, in the most advanced state of religion on earth, we are but infants in comparison of what we hope to be, when in the heavenly world we arrive ‘unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ Eph. 4, 13;’ yet, as we have some exercise of a sanctified reason, we shall be solicitous that we may be growing and thriving in­fants. And you, my reader, if ‘so be that you have tasted that the Lord is gracious 1 Pet. 2, 3.’ will, I doubt not, feel this solicitude. I would therefore endeavour to assist you in making the inquiry, whether religion be on the advance in your souls. And here I shall warn you against some false marks of growth; [Page 245] and then shall endeavour to lay down others on which you may depend as more solid.—In this view, I would observe, that you are not to measure your growth in grace only, or chiefly, by your advances in knowledge, or in zeal, or any other passionate impression of the mind; no, nor by the fervor of devotion alone; but by the habitual determination of the will for God, and by your prevailing disposition to obey his commands, to submit to his disposals, and to subserve his schemes in the world.

§ 2. It must be allowed, that knowledge and affec­tion in religion are indeed desirable. Without some degree of the former, religion cannot be rational; and it is very reasonable to believe, that without some de­gree of the latter it cannot be sincere, in creatures whose natures are constituted like ours. Yet there may be a great deal of speculative knowledge, and a great deal of rapturous affection, where there is no true religion at all; and therefore much more, where there is no ad­vanced state in it.—The exercise of our rational facul­ties upon the evidences of divine revelation, and upon the declaration of it as continued in scripture, may fur­nish a very wicked man with a well digested body of orthodox divinity in his head, when not one single doctrine of it has ever reached his heart. An eloquent description of the sufferings of Christ, of the solemni­ties of judgment, of the joys of the blessed, and the mi­series of the damned, might move the breast even of a man who did not firmly believe them; as we often find ourselves strongly moved by well-wrought narrations, or discourses, which, at the same time, we know to have their foundation in fiction. Natural constitution, or such accidental causes as are, some of them, too low to be here mentioned, may supply the eyes with a flood of tears, which may discharge itself plenteously upon almost any occasion that shall first arise. And a proud impatience of contradiction, directly opposite as it is to the gentle spirit of Christianity, may make a man's blood boil when he hears the notions he has entertained, and especially those which he has openly and vigorously espoused, disputed and opposed. This may possibly lead him, in terms of strong indignation, to pour out his [Page 246] zeal and his rage before God in a fond conceit, that, as the God of truth, he is the patron of those favourite doctrines, by whose fair appearances perhaps he him­self is misled—And if these speculative refinements, or these affectionate sallies of the mind, be consistent with a total absence of true religion, they are much more ap­parently consistent with a very low estate of it. I would desire to lead you, my friend, into sublimer notions and juster marks; and refer you to other practical writers, and, above all, to the book of God, to prove how ma­terial they are. I would therefore intreat you to bring your own heart to answer, as in the presence of God, to such inquiries as these:

§ 3. Do you find ‘divine love, on the whole, ad­vancing in your soul?’—Do you feel yourself more and more sensible of the presence of God? and does that sense grew more delightful to you than it formerly was? Can you, even when your natural spirits are weak and low, and you are not in any frame for the ardors and ecstacies of devotion, nevertheless find a pleasing rest, a calm repose of heart, in the thought that God is near you, and that he sees the secret sentiments of your soul, while you are, as it were labouring up the hill, and casting a longing eye towards him, though you cannot say you enjoy any sensible communications from him? Is it agreeable to you to open your heart to his inspec­tion and regard? to present it to him laid bare of every disguise, and to say with David, ‘Thou, Lord, know­est thy servant 2 Sam. 7, 20?’ Do you find a growing esteem and approbation of that sacred law of God, which is the transcript of his moral perfections? Do you in­wardly ‘esteem all his precepts concerning all things to be right Psal. 119, 128?’ Do you discern, not on­ly the necessity, but the reasonableness, the beauty the pleasure, of obedience; and feel a growing scorn and contempt for those things which may be offered as the price of your innocence, and would tempt you to sacri­fice or to hazard your interest in the divine favour and friendship? Do you not find an ingenuous desire to please God, not only because he is so powerful, and has so many good and so many evil things entirely at his command, but from a veneration of his most amiable [Page 247] nature and character; and do you find your heart habi­tually reconciled to a most humble subjection, both to his commanding and to his disposing will? Do you per­ceive that your own will is now more ready and dispos­ed in every circumstance, to bear the yoke, and to sub­mit to the divine determination, whatever he appoints to be borne or forborne? Can you ‘in patience possess your soul Luke 21, 19?’ Can you maintain a more steady calmness and serenity when God is striking at your dearest enjoyments in this world, and acting most directly contrary to your present interests, to your na­tural passions and desires? If you can, it is a most certain and noble sign that grace is grown up in you to a very vigourous state.

§ 4. Examine also, "what effections you find in your heart towards those who are round about you, and to­wards the rest of mankind in general."—Do you find your heart overflow with undissembled and unrestrained benevolence? Are you more sensible than you once were of those many endearing bonds which unite all men, and especially all Christians, into one community; which make them brethren and fellow-citizens? Do all the un­friendly passions die and wither in your soul, while the kind social affections grow and strengthen? And though self-love was never the reigning passion since you be­came a true Christian, yet as some remainders of it are still too ready to work inwardly, and to show themselves, especially as sudden occasions arise, do you perceive that you get ground of them? Do you think of yourself only as one of a great number, whose particular interests and concerns are of little importance when compared with those of the community, and ought by all means, on all occasions, to be sacrificed to them?

§ 5. Reflect especially "on the temper of your mind towards those whom an unsanctified heart might be rea­dy to imagine it had some just excuse for excepting out of the list of those it loves, and towards whom you are ready to feel a secret aversion, or at least an alienation from them."—How does your mind stand affected to­wards those who differ from you in their religious sen­timents and practices? I do not say that Christian chari­ty will require you to think every error harmless. It [Page 248] argues no want of love to a friend in some cases to fear least his disorder should prove more fatal than he seems to imagine; nay, sometimes the very tenderness of friendship may increase that apprehension. But to hate persons because we think they are mistaken, and to ag­gravate every difference in judgment or practice, into a fatal and damnable error, that destroys all Christian communion and love, is a symptom generally much worse than the evil it condemns. Do you love the image of Christ in a person who thinks himself obliged in con­science to profess and worship in a manner different from yourself? Nay farther, can you love and honour that which is truly amiable and excellent in those in whom much is defective: in those in whom there is a mixture of bigotry and narrowness of spirit, which may lead them perhaps to slight, or even to censure, you? Can you love them as the disciples and servants of Christ, who, through a mistaken zeal, may be ready to ‘cast out your name as evil Luke 6, 22.’ to warn others against you as a dangerous person? This is none of the least triumphs of charity, nor any despicable evidence of an advance in religion.

§ 6. And, on this head, reflect farther, ‘how can you bear injuries?’—There is a certain hardness of soul in this respect, which argues a confirmed state in piety and virtue. Does every thing of this kind hurry and ruffle you, so as to put you on contrivances how you may recompense, or, at least, how you may disgrace and expose him who has done you the wrong? or can you stand the sh [...]k calmly, and easily divert your mind to other objects, only (when you recollect these things) pi [...]ying and praying for those who, with the worst tempers and views, are assaulting you? This is a Christ-like temper indeed; and he will own it as such; will own you as one of his soldiers, a [...] one of his heroes; especially if it rises so far, as instead of ‘being over­come of evil to overcome evil with good Rom. 12, 21.’ Watch over your spirit, and over your tongue, when injuries are offered; and see whether you be ready to meditate upon them, to aggravate them to yourself, to complain of them to others, and to lay on all the load and blame that you in justice can: or whether you be ready to [Page 249] put the kindest construction upon the offence, to excuse it as far as reason will allow, and (where, after all, it will wear a black and odious aspect) to forgive it, heartily to forgive it, and that even before any submission is made or pardon asked; and in token of the sincerity of that forgiveness, to be contriving what can be done by some benefit or other toward the injurious person to teach him a better temper.

§ 7. Examine farther "with regard to the other evils and calamities of life, and even with regard, to its un­certainties, how can you bear them?"—Do you find your soul is in this respect gathering strength? Have you fewer foreboding fears and disquieting alarms than you once had as to what may happen in life? Can you trust the wisdom and goodness of God to order your af­fairs for you with more complacency and chearfulness than formerly? Do you find you are unable to unite your thoughts more in surveying present circumstances, that you may collect immediate duty from them, though you know not what God will next appoint or call you to? And when you feel the smart of affliction, do you make a less matter of it? can you transfer your heart more easily to heavenly and divine objects, without an anxi­ous solicitude, whether this or that burthen be remov­ed, so it may be but sanctified to promote your commu­nion with God; and your ripeness for glory?

§ 8. Examine also, "whether you advance in humi­lity."—This is a silent, but most excellent grace; and they who are most eminent in it, are dearest to God, and most fit for the communications of his presence to them. Do you then feel your mind more emptied of proud and haughty imaginations; not prone so much to look back upon past services which it has performed, as forward to those which are yet before you, and inward upon the remaining imperfections of your heart? Do you more tenderly observe your daily slips and miscarriages, and find yourself disposed to mourn over those things before the Lord that once passed with you as slight mat­ters; though when you come to survey them as in the presence of God, you find they were not wholly invo­luntary, or free from guilt? Do you feel in your breast a deeper apprehension of the infinite majesty of the bless­ed [Page 250] God, and of the glory of his natural and moral per­fections; so as, in consequence of those views, to per­ceive yourself (as it were) annihilated in his presence, and to shrink into ‘less than nothing and vanity Isa. 40, 17?’ If this be your temper, God will look up­on you with peculiar favour, and will visit you more and more with the distinguished blessings of his grace.

§ 9. But there is another great branch and effect of Christian humility, which it would be an unpardonable negligence to omit. Let me, therefore, farther enquire, Are you more frequently renewing your application, your sincere, steady, determinate application, to the righteousness and blood of Christ, as being sensible how unworthy you are to appear before God otherwise than in him? And do the remaining corruptions of your heart humble you before him, though the disorders of your life are in a great measure cured? Are you more earnest to obtain the quickening influences of the Holy Spirit? and have you such a sense of your own weakness, as to engage you to depend in all the duties you perform up­on the communications of his grace to ‘help your in­firmities Rom. 8, 26?’ Can you, at the close of your most religious, exemplary, and useful days, blush before God for the deficiencies of them, while others perhaps may be ready to admire and extol your conduct? And while you give the glory of all that has been right to him from whom the strength and grace has been derived, are you coming to the blood of sprinkling to free you from the guilt which mingles itself even with the best of your services? Do you learn to receive the bounties of Providence, not only with thankfulness as coming from God, but with a mixture of shame and confusion too, un­der a consciousness that you do not deserve them, and are continually forfeiting them? And do you justify Providence in your afflictions and disappointments, even while many are flourishing around you in the full bloom of prosperity, whose offences have been more visible at least, and more notorious than yours?

§ 10. Do you also advance in ‘zeal and activity for the service of God, and the happiness of mankind?’ Does your love shew itself solid and sincere, by a con­tinual flow of good works from it? Can you view the [Page 251] sorrows of others with tender compassion, and with pro­jects and contrivances what you may do to relieve them? Do you feel in your breast that you are more frequently "devising liberal things Isa. 32." and ready to weave your own advantage or pleasure that you may accom­plish them? Do you find your imagination teeming (as it were) with conceptions and schemes for the ad­vancement of the cause and interest of Christ in the world, for the propogation of his gospel, and for the happiness of your fellow-creatures? And do you not only pray, but act for it; act in such a manner as to shew that you pray in earnest; and feel a readiness to do what little you can in this cause, even though others, who might, if they pleased, very conveniently do a vast deal more, will do nothing?

§ 11. And not to enlarge on this copious head, reflect once more, how your affections stand with regard to this world and another?"—Are you more deeply and practically convinced of the vanity of these ‘things which are seen and are temporal 2 Cor. 4, 18?’ Do you perceive your expectations from them, and your at­tachments to them, to diminish? You are willing to stay in this world as long as your Father pleases, and it is right and well; but do you find your bonds so loosened to it, that you are willing, heartily willing, to leave it at the shortest warning; so that if God should see fit to summon you away on a sudden, though it should be in the midst of your enjoyments, pursuits, expectations, and hopes, you would cordially consent to that remove; without saying, Lord, let me stay a little while longer to enjoy this or that agreeable entertainment, to finish this or that scheme? Can you think with an habitual calmness, and hearty approbation, if such be the divine pleasure, of walking no more when you lie down on your bed, of returning home no more when you go out of your house? And yet, on the other hand, how great soever the burthens of life are, do you find a willingness to bear them, in submission to the will of your heavenly Father, though it should be to many future years; and though they should be years of far greater affliction than you have ever yet seen? Can you say calmly and steadily, if not with such overflowings of tender affec­tions [Page 252] as you could desire, ‘Behold thy servant, thy child is in thine hand, do with me as seemeth good in thy sight 2 Sam. 15, 26!’ My will is melted in­to thine, to be lifted up, or laid down, to be carried out, or brought in, to be here or there, in this or that circumstance, just as thou pleasest, and as shall best suit with thy great extensive plan, which it is impossible that I, or all the angels in heaven, should mend.

§ 12. These, if I understand matters right, are some of the most substantial evidences of growth and establish­ment in religion. Search after them: bless God for them, so far as you discover them in yourself; and study to advance in them daily, under the influences of divine grace, to which I heartily recommend you, and to which I intreat you frequently to recommend yourself.

CHAP. XXVII. The advanced Christian reminded of the Mercies of God, and exhorted to the Exercises of habitual Love to him, and joy in him.

§ 1. I WOULD now suppose my reader to find, on an examination of his spiritual state, that he is growing in grace. And if you desire that this growth may at once be acknowledged and promoted, let me call your soul to that more affectionate exercise of love to God, and joy in him, which suits, and strengthens, and exalts, the character of the advanced Christian; and which I beseech you to regard, not only as your privi­lege, but as your duty too. Love is the most sublime generous principle of all true and acceptable obedience; and with love, when so wisely and happily fixed, when so certainly returned, joy, proportionable joy, must na­turally be connected. It may justly grieve a man that enters into the spirit of Christianity to see how low a life the generality even of sincere Christians commonly live in this respect. ‘Rejoice then in the Lord, ye righteous, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness Psal. 97, 12.’ and of all those other perfecti­ons and glories which are included in that majestic, that wonderful, that delightful, name, THE LORD THY GOD! Spend not your sacred moments merely in con­fession, or in petition, though each must have their dai­ly share: but give a part, a considerable part, to the celestial and angelic work of praise. Yea labour to carry about with you continually an heart overflowing with such sentiments, warmed and inflamed with such affections.

§ 2. Are there not continually rays enough diffused from the great Father of light and love to inkindle it in our bosom? Come, my Christian friend and brother, come and survey with me the goodness of our heavenly Father. And oh that he would give me such a sense of it, that I might represent it in a suitable manner; that "while I am musing the fire may burn" in my own [Page 255] heart Psal. 39, 3, and be communicated to your's! and oh that it might pass, with the lines I write, from soul to soul; awakening in the breast of every Christian that reads them, sentiments more worthy of the children of God, and the heirs of glory; who are to spend an eter­nity in those sacred exercises to which I am now endea­vouring to excite you!

§ 3. Have you not reason to adopt the words of David, and say, ‘How many are thy gracious thoughts unto me, O Lord! how great is the sum of them! When I would count them, they are more in number than the sand Ps. 139, 17.18.’ You indeed know where to begin the survey; for the favours of God to you began with your being. Commemorate it there­fore with a grateful heart, that the, ‘eyes which saw your substance, being yet imperfect,’ beheld you with a friendly care, "when you were made in secret," and have watched over you ever since; and that ‘the hand, which drew the plan of your members, when as yet there was none of them Ps. 139, 15, 16,’ not only fashioned them at first, but from that time has been concerned in keeping all your bones, so that not ‘one of them is broken Ps. 34, 20; and that indeed it is to this you owe it that you live.’ Look back up­on the path you have trod, from the day that God brought you out of the womb, and say, whether you do not, as it were, see all the rod thick set with the marks and memorials of the divine goodness. Recollect the places where you have lived, and the persons with whom you have most intimately conversed; and call to mind the mercies you have received in those places, and from those persons, as the instruments of the divine care and goodness. Recollect the difficulties and dangers with which you have been surrounded; and reflect attentive­ly on what God hath done to defend you from them, or to carry you through them. Think how often there has been "but a step between you and death;" and how suddenly God hath sometimes interposed to set you in safety, even before you apprehended your danger. Think of those chambers of illness in which you have been confined, and from whence perhaps you once thought you should go forth no more; but said, (with [Page 256] Hezekiah,) ‘In the cutting off of your days I shall go to the gates of the grave; I am deprived of the residue of my years Isa. 38, 10.’ God has, it may be, since that time, added many years to your life; and you know not how many may be in reserve, or how much usefulness and happiness may attend each. Sur­vey your circumstances in relative life; how many kind friends are surrounding you daily, and studying how they may contribute to your comfort. Reflect on those remarkable circumstances in providence, which occasi­oned the knitting of some bonds of this kind, which, next to those which join your soul to God, you number among the happiest. And forget not, in how many instances, when these dear lives have been threatened, lives perhaps more sensibly dear than your own, God hath given them back from the borders of the grave, and so added new endearments arising from that tender circumstance to all your after converse with them. Nor forget, in how gracious a manner he hath supported some others in their last moments, and enabled them to live behind a sweet odour of piety, which hath embalm­ed their memories revived you when ready to faint un­der the sorrows of the first separation, and, on the whole, made even the recollection of their death de­lightful.

§ 4. But it is more than time that I lead on your thoughts to the many spiritual mercies which God hath bestowed upon you, Look back, as it were, to the ‘rock from whence you were hewn, and to the hole of the pit from whence you were digged Isa. 51, 1.’ Reflect seriously on the state wherein divine grace found you: under how much guilt, under how much pollu­tion! in what danger, in what ruin! Think what was, and, oh, think with yet deeper reflection, what would have been the case! The eye of God, which penetrates into eternity, saw that your mind, amused with the trifles of present time and sensual gratification, was ut­terly ignorant and regardless of it; it saw you on the borders of eternity, and pitied you; saw that you would in a little time have been such a helpless wretched crea­ture, as the sinner that is just now dead, and has, to his in­finite surprise and everlasting terror, met his unexpected [Page 257] doom, and would, like him, stand thunder-struck in a­stonishment and despair. This God saw, and he pitied you; and being merciful to you, he provided in the counsels of his eternal love and grace, a Redeemer for you, and purchased you to himself with the blood of his Son; a price, which, if you will pause upon it, and think seriously what it was, must surely affect you to such a degree as to make you fall down before God in wonder and shame, to think it should ever have been given for you. To accomplish these blest purposes, he sent his grace into your heart; so that, though ‘you were once darkness, you are now light in the Lord Eph. 5, 8.’ He made that happy change which you now feel in your soul, and by his Holy Spirit which is given to you, he shed abroad that principle of love Rom. 5, 5, which is enkindled by this review, and now flames with greater ardor than before. Thus far he hath supported you in your Christian course; and, ‘having obtained help from him, it is that you continue even to this day Acts 26, 22.’ He hath not only blessed you, but made you a blessing Gen. 12, 2: and though you have not been so useful as that holy generosity of heart, which he has excited, would have engaged you to desire, yet some good you have done in the station in which he has fixed you. Some of your brethren of mankind has been re­lieved, perhaps, too, some thoughtless creature reclaimed to virtue and happiness, by his blessing on our endea­vours. Some in the way to heaven are praising God for you; and some, perhaps, already there are long­ing for your arrival, that they may thank you in no­bler and more expressive forms for benefits, the im­portance of which they now sufficiently understand, though while here they could never conceive it.

§ 5. Christian, look round on the numberless bless­ings of one kind and of another with which you are al­ready encompassed; and advance your prospect still farther to what faith yet discovers within the veil. Think of those now unknown transports with which thou shalt drop every burthen in the grave, and thine immortal spirit shall mount, light and joyful, holy and happy, to God, its original, its support, and its hope to God; the source of being, of holiness, and of pleasure; [Page 258] to Jesus, through whom all these mercies are derived to thee, and who will appoint thee a throne near his own, to be for ever the spectator and partaker of his glory. Think of the rapture with which thou shalt attend his triumph in the resurrection day, and receive this poor mouldering corruptible body, transformed into his glo­rious image; and then think, "these hopes are not mine alone, but the hopes of thousands and millions. Multi­tudes, whom I number among the dearest of my friends upon earth, are rejoicing with me in these apprehen­sions and views: and God gives me sometimes to see the smiles on their cheeks, the sweet humble hope that spar­kles in their eyes, and shines through the tears of tender gratitude; and to hear that little of their inward com­placency and joy which language can express. Yea, and multitudes more, who were once equally dear to me with these, though I have laid them in the grave, and wept over their dust, are living to God, living in the possession of inconceivable delights, and drinking large draughts of the water of life, which flows in perpetual streams at his right hand."

§ 6. O Christian, thou art still intimately united and allied to them. Death cannot break a friendship thus cemented; and it ought not to render thee insensible of the happiness of those friends for whose memory thou retainest so just an honour. They live to God, as his ser­vants; they "serve him, and see his face Rev. 22, 3 [...]4;" and they make but a small part of that glorious assem­bly. Millions equally worthy of thine esteem and af­fections with themselves inhabit those blissful regions: and wilt thou not rejoice in their joy? and wilt thou not adore that everlasting spring of holiness and happiness from whence each of these streams is derived? Yea, I will add, while the blessed angels are so kindly regard­ing us, while they are ministering to thee, O Christian, and bearing thee in their arms, ‘as an heir of salvation Heb. 1, 14,’ wilt thou not rejoice in their felicity too; and wilt thou not adore that God, who gives them all the superior glory of their more exalted nature, and gives them a heaven, which fills them with blessedness, even while they seem to withdraw from it that they may attend on thee?

[Page 259]§ 7. This, and infinitely more than this, the blessed God is, and was, and shall ever be. The felicities of the blessed spirits that surround his throne, and thy felicities, O Christian, are immortal. These heavenly luminaries shall glow with an undecaying flame; and thou shalt shine and glitter among them, when the sun and stars are gone out. Still shall the unchanging Father of lights pour forth his beams upon them; and the lustre they re­flect from him, and their happiness in him, shall be ever­lasting, shall be ever growing. Bow down, O thou child of God, thou heir of glory, bow down, and let all that is within thee unite in one act of grateful love, and let all that is around thee, all that is before thee, in the pros­pects of an unbounded eternity, concur to elevate and transport thy soul: that thou mayest, as far as possible, begin the work and blessedness of heaven, in falling down before the God of it, in opening thine heart to his gracious influences, and in breathing out before him that incense of praise which these warm beams of his pre­sence and love have so great a tendency to produce, and to ennoble with a fragrancy resembling that of his pa­radise above.

CHAP. XXVIII. The established CHRISTIAN urged to exert Himself for Purposes of Usefulness.

§ 1. SUCH as I have described in the former chap­ter, I trust are, and will be, the frequent ex­ercises of your souls before God. Thus will your love and gratitude breathe itself forth in the divine presence, and will, through Jesus the great Mediator, come up before it as incense, and yield an acceptable savour. But then you must remember, this will not be the only effect of that love to God, which I have supposed so warm in your heart. If it be sincere, it will not spend itself in words alone; but will discover itself in actions, and will produce, as its genuine fruit, an unfeigned love to your fellow creatures, and an unwearied desire and labour to do them good continually.

§ 2. "Has the great Father of mercies," will you say, "looked upon me with so gracious an eye; has he not only forgiven me ten thousand offences, but en­riched me with such a variety of benefits; oh! what shall I render to him for them all! Instruct me, O ye oracles of eternal truth! instruct me, ye elder brethren in the family of my heavenly Father! instruct me above all, O thou Spirit of wisdom and of love, what I may be able to do to express my love to the great eternal fountain of love, and to approve my fidelity to him, [Page 264] who has already done so much to engage it, and who will take so much pleasure in owning and rewarding it!"

§ 3. This, O Christian, ‘is the command which we have heard from the beginning,’ and it will ever continue in unimpaired force, ‘that he who loveth God, should love his brother also John 4, 21;’ and should express that love, ‘not in word and profession alone, but in deed and in truth John 3, 28.’ You are to ‘love your neighbour as yourself; to love the whole creation of God;’ and, so far as your influence can extend, must endeavour to make it happy.

§ 4. "Yes," will you say, "and I do love it. I feel the golden chain of the divine love incircling us all, and binding us close to each other, joining us in one body; and diffusing, as it were, one soul through all. May happiness, true and sublime, perpetual and evergrowing happiness, reign through the whole world of God's ra­tional and obedient creatures in heaven and on earth! And may every revolted creature, that is capable of be­ing recovered and restored, be made obedient: Yea, may the necessary punishment of those who are irre­coverable, be over-ruled by infinite wisdom and love, to the good of the whole!"

§ 5. These are right sentiments; and if they are in­deed the sentiments of your heart, O reader, and not an empty form of vain words, they will be attended with a serious concern to act in subordination to this great scheme of divine Providence, according to your abilities in their utmost extent. And to this purpose they will put you on surveying the peculiar circumstances of your life and being, that you may discover what opportuni­ties of usefulness they now afford, and how those op­portunities and capacities may be improved. Enter, therefore, into such a survey; not that you may pride yourself in the distinctions of divine Providence or grace towards you, or ‘having received, may glory as if you had not received 1 Cor. 4, 7;’ but that you may deal faithfully with the great Proprietor, whose steward you are, and by whom you are entrusted with every ta­lent, which, with respect to any claim from your fellow creatures, you may call your own. And here, ‘hav­ing gifts differing according to the grace which is [Page 265] now given unto us Rom. 12, 6.’ let us hold the ba­lance with an impartial hand, that so we may deter­mine what it is that God requires of us; which is no­thing less than doing the most we can invent, contrive, and effect, for the general good. But, oh, how seldom is this estimate faithfully made! and how much does the world around us, and how much do our own souls suffer, for want of that fidelity!

§ 6. Hath God given you genius and learning? It was not that you might amuse or deck yourself with it, and kindle a blaze which should only serve to attract and dazzle the eyes of men; it was intended to be the means of leading both yourself and them to the Father of lights. And it will be your duty, according to the peculiar turn of that genius and capacity, either to en­deavour to improve and adorn human life, or, by a more direct application of it to divine subjects, to plead the cause of religion, to defend its truths, to enforce and recommend its practice, to deter men from courses which would be dishonourable to God and fatal to them­selves, and to try the utmost efforts of all the solemnity and tenderness with which you can clothe your address­es, to lead them into the paths of virtue and of happiness.

§ 7. Has God invested you with power, whether it be in a larger or smaller society? Remember, that this power was given you that God might be honoured, and those placed under your government, whether domes­tic or public, might be made happy. Be concerned therefore, whether you be entrusted with the rod, or the sword, it may "not be borne in vain Rom. 13, 4." Are you a magistrate? have you any share in the great and tremendous charge of enacting laws? Reverence the authority of the supreme Legislator, the great Guar­dian of society: promote none, consent to none, which you do not in your own conscience esteem, in present circumstances, an intimation of his will; and in the es­tablishment of which you do not firmly believe you shall be "his minister for good Rom. 13, 4." Have you the charge of executing laws; put life into them by a vigorous and strenuous execution, according to the nature of the particular office you bear. Retain not an empty name of authority. Permit not yourself, as [Page 266] it were, to fall asleep on the tribunal. Be active, be wakeful, be observant of what passeth around you. Pro­tect the upright and the innocent. Break in pieces the power of the oppressor. Unvail every dishonest art. Disgrace, as well as defeat, the wretch, that makes his distinguished abilities the disguise or protection of the wickedness which he ought rather to endeavour to ex­pose, and to drive out of the world with abhorrence.

§ 8. Are you placed only at the head of a private fa­mily? Rule it for God. Administer the concerns of that little kingdom with the same views, and for the same principles, which I have been inculcating on the powerful and the great; if by an unexpected accident any of them should suffer their eyes to glance upon the passage above. Your children and servants are your natural subjects. Let good order be established among them and keep them under a regular discipline. Let them be instructed in the principles of religion, that they may know how reasonable such a discipline is; and let them be accustomed to act accordingly. You can­not indeed change their hearts, but you may very much influence their conduct; and by that means may pre­serve them from many snares, may do a great deal to make them good members of society, and may ‘set them as it were, in the way of God's steps Ps. 85, 13.’ if peradventure passing by he may bless them with the riches of his grace. And fail not to do your utmost to convince them of their need of those blessings; la­bour to engage them to an high esteem of them, and to an earnest desire after them, as incomparably more va­luable than any thing else.

§ 9. Again, has God been pleased to raise you to esteem among your fellow-creatures, which is not al­ways in proportion to a man's rank or possessions in hu­man life? Are your counsels heard with attention? Is your company sought? Does God give you good accept­ance in the eyes of men, so that they do not only put the fairest construction on your words, but overlook faults of which you are conscious to yourself, and con­sider your actions and performances in the most indul­gent and favourable light? You ought to regard this, not only as a favour of Providence, and as an encourage­ment [Page 267] to you chearfully to pursue your duty, in the se­veral branches of it, for the time to come; but also, as giving you much greater opportunities of usefulness than in your present station you could otherwise have had. If your character has any weight in the world, throw it into the right scale. Endeavour to keep virtue and goodness in countenance. Affectionately give your hand to modest worth, where it seems to be depressed or over­looked, though shining, when viewed in its proper light, with a lustre which you may think much superior to your own. Be an advocate for truth; be a counsellor of peace; be an example of candour; and do all you can to reconcile the hearts of men, and especially of good men, to each other, however they may differ in their opinions about matters which it is possible for good men to dispute. And let the caution and humility of your behaviour in circumstances of such superior eminence, and amidst so many tokens of general esteem, silently reprove the rashness and haughtiness of those who, per­haps, are remarkable for little else; or who, if their abilities were indeed considerable, must be despised, and whose talents must be in a great measure lost to the pub­lic, till that rashness and haughtiness of spirit be sub­dued. Nor suffer yourself to be interrupted in this ge­nerous and worthy course by the little attacks of envy and calumny which you may meet with in it. Be still attentive to the general good, and steadily resolute in your efforts to promote it; and leave it to Providence to guard or to rescue your character from the base assaults of malice and falsehold; which will often, without your labour, confute themselves, and heap upon the authors greater shame, or (if they are inaccessible to that) great­er infamy, than your humanity will allow you to wish them.

§ 10. Once more: Has God blessed you with riches? has he placed you in such circumstances that you have more than you absolutely need for the subsistance of yourself and your family? Remember your approaching account. Remember what an incumbrance these things often prove to men in the way of their salvation, and how often, according to our Lord's express declara­tion, they render it ‘as difficult to enter into the king­dom [Page 268] of God, as it is for a camel to go through the eye of a needle Matth. 19, 24.’ Let it therefore be your immediate, your earnest, and your daily prayer, that riches may not be a snare and a shame to you, as they are to by far the greater part of their pos­sessors. Appropriate, I beseech you, some certain part and proportion of your estate and revenues to charita­ble uses; with a provisional increase, as God shall pros­per you, in any extraordinary instance. By this means you will always have a fund of charity at hand: and you will probably be more ready to communicate, when you look upon what is so deposited as not in any sense your own, but as already actually given away to those uses, though not yet affixed to particular objects. It is not for me to say what that proportion ought to be, To those who have large revenues and no children, perhaps a third and one half may be too little: to those whose incomes are small, and their charge con­siderable, though they have something more than is absolutely necessary, it is possible a tenth may be too much. But pray that God would guide your mind; make a trial for one year, on such terms as in your conscience you think will be most pleasing to him; and let your observations on that teach you to fix your proportion for the next; always remembering that he requires justice in the first place, and almsdeeds only so far as may consist with that. Yet, at the same time, take heed of that treacherous, delusive, and, in many in­stances, destructive imagination, that justice to your fa­mily requires that you should leave your children very rich; which has, perhaps, cost some parsimonious par­ents the lives of those darlings for whom they laid up the portion of the poor; and what fatal consequences of divine displeasure may attend it to those that yet sur­vive, God only knows; and I heartily pray that you or your's may never learn by experience.

§ 11. And that your heart may be yet more opened, and that your charity may be directed to the best pur­poses, let me briefly mention a variety of good uses, which may call for the consideration of those whom God has in this respect distinguished by an ability to do good, To assist the hints I am to offer, look round in the neigh­bourhood [Page 269] in which you live. Think how many honest and industrious, perhaps too, I might add, religious people are making very hard shifts to struggle through life. Think what a comfort that would be to them, which you might without any inconvenience spare from that abundance which God has given you.—Hearken also to any extraordinary call of charity which may happen, especially those of a public nature; and help them forward with your example and your interest, which, perhaps, may be of much greater importance than the sum which you contribute, considered in itself. Have a tongue to plead for the necessitous, as well as a hand to relieve them; and endeavour to discounte­nance those poor shameful excuses which covetousness often dictates to those whose art may indeed set some varnish on what they suggest, but so slight a one, that the coarse ground will appear through it.—See how ma­ny poor children are wandering naked and ignorant a­bout the streets, and in the way to all kinds of vice and misery; and consider what can be done towards clothing some of them at least, and instructing them in the prin­ciples of religion. Would every thriving family in a town, which is able to afford help on such occasions, cast a pitying eye on one poor family in its neighbourhood, and take it under their patronage, to assist in feeding, and clothing, and teaching the children, in supporting it in affliction, in defending it from wrongs, and in advising those that have the management of it, as circumstances may require, how great a difference would soon be pro­duced in the appearance of things amongst us?—Ob­serve who are sick, that if there be no public infirmary at hand to which you can introduce them, (where your contribution will yield the largest increase,) you may do something towards relieving them at home, and sup­plying them with advice and medicines, as well as with proper diet and attendance. Consider also the spiritual necessities of men; in providing for which, I would par­ticularly recommend to you the very important and noble charity of assisting young persons of genius and piety with what is necessary to support the expence of their education of the ministry, in a proper course of grammatical or academical studies. And grudge not [Page 270] some proportion of what God hath given you to those who, resigning all temporal views to minister to you the gospel of Christ, have surely an equitable claim to be supported by you, in a capacity of rendering you those services, however laborious, to which, for your sakes, and that of your common Lord, they have devot­ed their lives. And while you are so abundantly ‘sa­tisfied with the goodness of God's house, even of his holy temple Psal. 65.4,’ have compassion on those who dwell in a desert land; and rejoice to do something to­wards sending among the distant nations of the heathen world that glorious gospel which hath so long continued unknown to multitudes, though the knowledge of it, with becoming regard, to life everlasting.—These are a few important charities, which I would point out to those whom Providence has enriched with its peculiar boun­ties; and it renders gold more precious than it could appear in any other light, that it is capable of being em­ployed for such purposes. But if you should not have gold to spare for them, contribute your silver; or, as a farthing or a mite, is not overlooked by God when it is given from a truely generous and charitable heart Mark 12, 42.43, let that be chearfully dropped into the treasury where richer offerings cannot be afforded.

§ 12. And that, amidst so many pressing demands for charity, you may be better furnished to answer them, seriously reflect on your manner of living. I say not that God requires you should become one of the many poor relieved out of your income. The support of society, as at present established, will not only permit, but re­quire that some persons should allow themselves in the elegance and delights of life; by furnishing which, mul­titudes of poor families are much more creditably and comfortably subsisted, with greater advantage to them­selves, and safety to the public, than they could be if the price of their labours, or of the commodities in which they deal, were to be given them as an alms; nor can I imagine it greatful to God that his gifts should be refused, as if they were meant for snares and curses, rather than benefits. This were to frustrate the benevolent purposes of the gracious Father of mankind, and, if carried to its rigor, would be a sort of conspiracy against the whole [Page 271] system of nature. Let the bounties of providence be used; but let us carefully see to it that it be in a mode­rate and prudent manner, lest, by our own folly that which should have been for our welfare, become a trap Psal. 69, 22. Let conscience say, my dear reader, with regard to yourself, what proportion of the good things you possess, your heavenly Father intends for yourself, and what for your brethren; and live not as if you had no brethren, as if pleasing yourself in all the magnificence and luxury you can devise, were the end for which you were sent into the world. I fear this is the excess of the present age, and not an excess of rigor and mortification. Examine therefore your expences, and compare them with your income. That may be shamefully extravagant in you, which may not only be pardonable, but commendable in another of su­perior estate. Nor can you be sure that you do not exceed, merely because you do not plunge yourself in debt, nor render yourself incapable of laying up any thing for your family. If you be disabled from doing any thing for the poor, or any thing proportion­able to your rank in life, by that genteel and elegant way of living which affect, God must disapprove of such a conduct; and you ought, as you will answer it to him, to retrench it. And though the divine indulgence will undoubtedly be exercised to those in whom there is a sincere principle of faith in Christ, and undisembled love to God and man, though it act not to that height of be­neficence and usefulness which might have been attained; yet be assured of this, that he who rendereth to every one according to his works, will have a strict regard to the degrees of goodness in the distribution of final re­wards: so that every neglected opportunity draws af­ter it an irreparable loss, which will go into eternity along with you. And let me add, too, that every in­stance of negligence indulged renders the mind still more and more indolent and weak, and, consequently, more indisposed to recover the ground which has been lost or even to maintain that which has hitherto been kept.

§ 13. Complain not, that this is imposing hard things upon you. I am only directing your pleasures into a no­bler channel; and indeed that frugality, which is the [Page 272] source of such a generosity, far from being at all injurious to your reputation, will rather amongst wise and good men, greatly promote it. But you have far nobler mo­tives before you than those which arise from their re­gards. I speak to you as to a child of God, and a mem­ber of Christ; as joined therefore by the most intimate union to all the poorest of those that believe in him. I speak to you as to an heir of eternal glory, who ought therefore to have sentiments great and sublime in some proportion to that expected inheritance.

§ 14. Cast about therefore in your thoughts what good is to be done, and what you can do, either in your own person, or by your interest with others; and go about it with resolution, as in the name and presence of the Lord. And as the Lord giveth wisdom, and out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding Pro. 2, 6, go to the footstool of his throne, and there seek that guidance and that grace which may suit your present circumstances, and may be effectual to produce the fruits of holiness and usefulness, to his more abundant glory, and to the honour of your Christian profession.

CHAP. XXIX. The CHRISTIAN rejoicing in the Views of Death and Judgment.

§ 1. WHEN the visions of the Lord were closing upon John, the beloved disciple in the is­land of Patmos, it is observable, that he who gave him that revelation, even Jesus, the faithful and true witness concludes with those lively and important words: ‘He who testifieth these things, saith, Surely I come quick­ly:’ and John answers, with the greatest readiness and pleasure, ‘Amen, even so come, Lord Jesus Rev. 22, 20.’ Come as thou hast said, surely, and quick­ly!—And remember, O Christian, whoever you are, now reading these words, your divine Lord speaks in the same language to you: "Behold I come quickly." Yes, very quickly will he come by death, to turn the key, to open the door of the grave for thine admittance thither, and to lead thee through it into the now un­known regions of the invisible world. Nor is it long [Page 275] before the judge, who ‘standeth, at the door James 5, 9.’ will appear also to the universal judgment: and though perhaps not only scores but hundreds of years may lie between that period and the present moment, yet it is but a very small point of time to him, who views at once all the unmeasurable ages of a past and future eternity. ‘A thousand years are with him but as one day, and one day as a thousand years 2 Pet. 3, 8.’ In both these senses then does he come quickly; and I trust you can answer, with a glad Amen, that the warning is not terrible or unpleasant to your ears, but rather that his coming, his certain, his speedy coming, is the object of your delightful hope, and of your long expectation.

§ 2. I am sure it is reasonable it should be so; and yet perhaps Nature, fond of life, and unwilling to part with a long known abode, to enter on a state to which it is entirely a stranger, may recoil from the thoughts of dying; or, struck with the awful pomp of an expiring and dissolving world, may look on the judgment-day with some mixture of terror. And therefore my dear brother in the Lord, (for as such I can now estem you,) I would reason with you a little on this head, and would intreat you to look more attentively on this solemn ob­ject, which will, I trust, grow less disagreeable to you, as it is more familiarly viewed. Nay, I hope, that in­stead of starting back from it, you will rather spring forward towards it with joy and delight.

§ 3. Think, O Christian, when Christ comes to call you away by death, he comes—to set you at liberty from your present sorrows,—to deliver you from your strug­gles with remaining corruption,—and to receive you to dwell with himself in complete holiness and joy. You shall ‘be absent from the body, and be present with the Lord 2 Cor. 5, 8.’

§ 4. He will indeed call you away from this world! But, oh, what is this world that you should be fond of it, and cling to it with so much eagerness? How low are all those enjoyments that are peculiar to it; and how many its vexations, its snares, and its sorrows? Review your pilgrimage thus far; and though you must ack­nowledge, that ‘goodness and mercy have followed [Page 276] you all the days of your life Psal. 23, 6.’ yet has not that very mercy itself planted some thorns in your paths, and given you some wise and necessary, yet pain­ful, intimations, that "this is not your rest Mic. 2, 10?" Review the monuments of your withered joys, of your blasted hopes; if there be yet any monuments of them remaining, more than a mournful remembrance they have left behind in your afflicted heart. Look upon the graves that have swallowed up many of your dearest and most amiable friends, perhaps in the very bloom of life, and in the greatest intimacy of your converse with them; and reflect, that if you hold it out a few years more, death will renew its conquests at your ex­pence, and devour the most precious of those that yet survive. View the living as well as the dead; behold the state of human nature, under the many grievous marks of its apostacy from God; and say, whether a wise and good man would wish to continue always here.

Methinks, were I myself secure from being reached by any of the arrows that fly around me, I could not but mourn to see the wounds that are given by them, and to hear the groans of those that are continually falling un­der them. The diseases and calamities of mankind are so many, and, which is most grievous of all, the distem­pers of their minds are so various and so threatening, that the world appears almost like an hospital: and a man, whose heart is tender, is ready to feel his spirits broken, as he walks through it, and surveys the sad scene; especially when he sees how little he can do for the recovery of those whom he pities. Are you a Chris­tian, and does it not pierce your heart to see how human nature is sunk in vice and in shame? to see with what amazing insolence some are making themselves openly vile, and how the name of Christ is dishonoured by ma­ny too that call themselves his people? to see the un­lawful deeds and filthy practices of them that live un­godly, and to behold, at the same time, the infirmities at least, and irregularities, of those concerning whom we have better hopes? and do you not wish to escape from such a world, where a righteous and compassion­ate soul must be vexed from day to day by so many spec­tacles of sin and misery 2 Pet. 2, 8?"

[Page 277]§ 5. Yea, to come nearer home; do you not feel something within you which you long to quit, and which would imbitter even Paradise itself? something, which, were it to continue, would grieve and distress you even in the society of the blessed? Do you not feel a remainder of indwelling sin; the sad consequence of the original revolt of our nature from God? Are you not struggling every day with some residue of corrup­tion, or at least mourning on account of the weakness of your graces? Do you not often find your spirits dull and languid when you would desire to raise them to the greatest fervor in the service of God? Do you not find your hearts too often insensible of the richest instances of his love, and your hands feeble in his service, even when "to will is present with you Rom. 7, 18?" Does not your life, in its best days and hours, appear a low, unprofitable thing, when compared with what you are sensible it ought to be, and with what you wish that it were? Are you not frequently, as it were, stretching the pinions of the mind, and saying, ‘Oh that I had wings like a dove, that I might fly away and be at rest Ps. 55, 6?’

§ 6. Should you not then rejoice in the thought that Jesus comes to deliver you from these complaints? That he comes to answer your wishes, and to fulfil the largest desires of your hearts; those desires that he himself has inspired? That he comes to open upon you a world of purity and joy, of active, exalted, and unwearied ser­vices?

§ 7. O Christian, how often have you cast a longing eye towards those happy shores, and wished to pass the sea, the boisterous, unpleasant, dangerous sea, that separates you from them? When your Lord has conde­scended to make you a short visit in his ordinances on earth, how have you blest the time and the place, and pronounced it, amidst any other disadvantage of situ­ation, to be the very gate of heaven Gen. 28, 17? And is it so delightful to behold this gate, and will it not be much more so to enter into it? Is it so delightful to re­ceive the visits of Jesus for an hour, and will it not be infinitely more so to dwell with him for ever? "Lord," may you well say, ‘when I dwell with thee, I shall [Page 278] dwell in holiness, for thou thyself art holiness; I shall dwell in love, for thou thyself art love; I shall dwell in joy, for thou art the fountain of joy, as thou art in the Father, and the Father in thee John 17, 21.’ Bid welcome to his approach therefore, to take you at your word, and to fulfil to you that saying of his, on which your soul has so often rested with heavenly peace and pleasure; ‘Father I will, that they whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me John 17, 24.’

§ 8. Surely you may say in this view, ‘The sooner Christ comes the better.’ What though the residue of your days be cut off in the midst? what though you leave many expected pleasures in life untasted, and ma­ny schemes unaccomplished? Is it not enough that what is taken from a mortal life shall be added to a glorious eternity; and that you shall spend those days and years in the presence and service of Christ in heaven which you might otherwise have spent with him and for him in the imperfect enjoyments and labours of earth?

§ 9. But your prospects reach, not only beyond death, but beyond the separate state. For with regard to his final appearance to judgment, our Lord says, Surely I come quickly, in the sense illustrated before: and so it will appear to us, if we compare this interval of time with the blissful eternity which is to succeed it; and probably if we compare it with those ages which have already passed, since the sun began to measure out to earth its days and its years. And will you not here al­so sing your part in the joyful anthem, ‘Amen, even so come, Lord Jesus!’

§ 10. It is true, Christian, it is an awful day: a day in which Nature shall be thrown into a confusion as yet unknown. No earthquake, no eruption of burning mountains, no desolations of cities by devouring flames, or of countries by overflowing rivers or seas, can give any just emblem of that dreadful day: when ‘the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, as well as the earth and all that is therein, shall be burnt up 2 Pet. 3, 10. 12;’ when all nature shall flee away in amazement ‘before the face of the universal Judge Rev. [Page 279] 20, 11.’ and there shall be a great cry, far beyond what was known in the land of Egypt, when ‘there was not a house in which there was not one dead Exod 12, 30.’ Your flesh may be ready to tremble at the view; yet your spirit must surely rejoice in God your Saviour Luke 1, 47." You may justly say, ‘Let this illustrious day come, even with all its horrors!’ Yea, like the Christians described by the apostle 2 Pet. 3, 12. you may be looking for, and hasting to that day of terrible brightness and universal doom. For your Lord will then come to vindicate the justice of those proceedings which have been in many instances so much obscured, and because they have been obscured have been also blasphemed. He will come to display his magnificence, descending from heaven ‘with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God 1 Thess. 4, 16.’ taking his seat upon a throne infinitely exceeding that of earthly, or even of celestial princes, clothed with ‘his Father's glory and his own Luke 9, 26. surrounded with a numberless host of shining attendants, when coming to be glorified in his saints, and admired in all them that believe 2 Thess. 1, 10.’ His enemies shall also be pro­duced to grace his triumph: the serpent shall be seen there rolling in the dust, and trodden under foot by him and by all his servants: those who once condemned him shall tremble at his presence; and those who bowed the knee before him in profane mockery shall, in wild de­spair, ‘call to the mountains to fall upon them, and to the rocks to hide them, from the face of that Lamb of God Rev. 6, 16.’ whom they they once led away to the most inhuman slaughter.

§ 11. O Christian does not your loyal heart bound at the thought? and are you not ready, even while you read these lines, to begin the victorious shout in which you are then to join? He justly expects that your thoughts should be greatly elevated and impressed with the views of his triumph: but at the same time he permits you to remember your own personal share in the joy and glory of that blessed day: and even now he has the view before him of what his power and love shall then accomplish for your salvation. And what shall it not accomplish? He shall come to break the bars [Page 280] of the grave, and to re-animate your sleeping clay. Your bodies must indeed be laid in the dust, and be lodged there as a testimony of God's displeasure against sin? a­gainst the first sin that was ever committed from the sad consequences of which the dearest of his children cannot be exempted. But you shall then have an ear to hear the voice of the Son of God, and an eye to behold the lustre of his appearance: and shall ‘shine forth like the sun Mat. 13, 43.’ arising in the clear hea­ven, ‘which is as a bridegroom coming out of his cham­ber Ps. 19, 5.’ Your soul shall be new dressed to grace this high solemnity; and be clothed, not with the rags of mortality, but with the robes of glory; for ‘he shall change this vile body, to fashion it like his own glo­rious body Phil. 3, 21.’ And when you are thus royally arrayed, he shall confer public honours on you, and on all his people, before the assembled world. You may now perhaps be loaded with infamy, called by re­proachful names, and charged with crimes, or with views which your very soul abhors; but he will then ‘bring forth your righteousness as the light Ps. 28, 6. and your salvation as a lamp that burneth Isa. 62, 1.’ Though you have been dishonoured by men, you shall be acknowledged by God; and though treated as ‘the filth of the world, and the off-scouring of all things 1 Cor. 4, 13. he will shew that he regards you as his treasure, in the day that he makes up his jewels Mal. 3, 17. When he shall put away all the wick­ed of the earth like dross Ps. 119, 119.’ you shall be pronounced righteous in that full assembly; and though indeed you have broken the divine law, and might in strict justice have been condemned, yet being clothed with the righteousness of the great Redeemer, even "that righteousness which is of God by faith Phil. 3, 9." Justice itself shall acquit you, and join with Mercy in "bestowing upon you a crown of life 2 Tim. 4, 8."— Christ will ‘confess you before men and angels Luke 12. 8.—will pronounce you good and faithful servants, and call you to enter into the joy of your Lord Matt. 25, 21.;’ he will speak of you with en­dearment as his brethren, and will acknowledge the kindnesses which have been shown to you as if he had [Page 281] received them in his own person Matt. 25, 40." Yea, then shall you, O Christian, who may perhaps have sat in some of the lowest places in our assemblies, though it may be none of the rich and great of the earth would condescend to look upon, or to speak to you, be called to be assessors with Christ on his judgment-seat, and to join with him in the sentence he shall pass on wicked men, and rebellious angels.

§ 12. Nor is it merely one day of glory and of tri­umph; but when the Judge arises and ascends to his Father's court, all the blessed shall ascend with him, and you among the rest: you shall ascend together with your Saviour, ‘to his Father and your Father, to his God and your God John 20, 17.’ You shall go to make your appearance in the new Jerusalem, in those new shining forms that you have received, which will no doubt be attended with a correspondent improve­ment of mind; and take up your perpetual abode in that fulness of joy, with which you shall be filled and satisfied "in the presence of God Ps. 16, 11." upon the consummation of that happiness which the saints in the intermediate state have been wishing and waiting for. You shall go from the ruins of a dissolving world to ‘the new heavens and new earth, wherein righteous­ness for ever dwells 2 Pet. 3, 13.’ There all the number of God's elect shall be accomplished, and the happiness of each shall be completed. The whole so­ciety shall be ‘presented before God as the bride, the Lambs wife Rev. 21, 9.’ whom the eye of its celestial bridegroom shall survey with unutterable delight, and confess to be ‘without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing Eph. 5, 2;’ its character and state being just what he originally designed it to be, when he first en­gaged to give himself for it, to "redeem to God by his "blood Rev. 5, 9." So shall you ever be with each other, and with the Lord 1 Thess. 4, 17;" and immortal ages shall roll away, and find you still un­changed; your happiness always the same, and your re­lish for it the same; or rather ever growing, as your souls are approaching nearer and nearer to him who is the source of happiness, and the centre of infinite per­fection.

[Page 282]§ 13. And now, look round about upon earth, and single out, if you can, the enjoyments or the hopes, for the sake of which you would say, Lord, delay thy com­ing, or for the sake of which you any more should hesi­tate to express your longing for it, and to cry, ‘Even so come Lord Jesus, come quickly!’

CHAP. XXX. The CHRISTIAN honouring God by his dying Behaviour.

§ 1. THUS, my dear reader, I have endeavoured to lead you through a variety of circumstances; and those not fancied and imaginary, but such as do indeed occur in the human and Christian life. And I can truly and chearfully say, that I have marked out to you the path which I myself have trod, and in which it is my desire still to go on. I have ventured my own everlasting interests on that foundation on which I have directed you to adventure yours. What I have recom­mended as the grand business of your life, I desire to make the business of my own; and the most consider­able enjoyments which I expect or desire in the remain­ing days of my pilgrimage on earth, are such as I have directed you to seek, and endeavoured to assist you in attaining. Such love to God, such constant activity in his service, such pleasurable views of what lies beyond the grave, appear to me (God is my witness,) a felicity incomparable beyond any thing else which can offer it­self to our affection and pursuit: and I would not for [Page 285] ten thousand worlds resign my share in them, or consent even to the suspension of the delights which they afford, during the remainder of my abode here.

§ 2. I would humbly hope, through the divine blessing, that the hours you have spent in the review of these plain things may have turned to some profitable account, and that in consequence of what you have read, you have either been brought into the way of life and peace, or been induced to quicken your pace in it. Most heartily should I rejoice in being further useful to you, and that even to the last. Now there is one scene re­maining; a scene through which you must infallibly pass, which has something in it so awful, that I cannot but attempt doing a little to assist you in it; I mean the dark valley of the shadow of death. I would earnestly wish, that, for the credit of your profession, the comfort of your own soul, and the joy and edification of your surviving friends, you might die not only safely, but ho­nourably too: and therefore I would offer you a few parting advices. I am sensible indeed that Providence may determine the circumstances of your death in such a manner as that you may have no opportunity of act­ing upon the hints I now give you. Some unexpected accident from without, or from within, may, as it were, whirl you to heaven before you are aware; and you may find yourself so suddenly there, that it may seem a translation rather than a death. Or it is possible the force of a distemper may affect your understanding in such a manner that you may be quite insensible of the circumstances in which you are; and so your dissolution (though others may see it visibly and certainly approach­ing, may be as great a surprise to you as if you died in full health.

§ 3. But as it is, on the whole, probable you may have a more sensible passage out of time into eternity; and as much may, in various respects, depend on your dying behaviour, give me leave to propose some plain directions with relation to it, to be practised, if God give you opportunity, and remind you of them. It may not be improper to look over the twenty-ninth chapter again, when you find the symptoms of any threatening disorder: and I the rather hope, that what [Page 286] I say may be useful to you, as methinks, I find myself disposed to address you with something of that peculiar tenderness which we feel for a dying friend; to whom, as we expect that we shall speak to him no more, we send out, as it were, all our hearts in every word.

§ 4. I would advise then, in the first place, "that, as soon as possible, you would endeavour to get rid of all further care with regard to your temporal concerns, by settling them in time, in as reasonable and Christian a manner as you can." I could wish, there may be no­thing of that kind to hurry your mind when you are least able to bear it, or to distress or divide those who come after you. Do that which, in the presence of God, you judge most equitable, and which you verily believe will be most pleasing to him. Do it in as pru­dent and effectual a manner as you can: and then consider the world as a place you have quite done with, and its affairs as nothing farther to you, more than to one actually dead; unless as you may do any good to its inhabitants while yet you continue among them; and may, by any circumstance in your last actions or words in life leave a blessing behind you to those who have been your friends and fellow-travellers, while you have been dispatching that journey through it, which you are now finishing.

§ 5. That you may be the more at leisure, and the bet­ter prepared for this, "enter into some serious review of your own state, and endeavour to put your soul into as fit a posture as possible, for your solemn appearance before God." For a solemn thing indeed it is to go into his immediate presence! to stand before him, not as a supplicant at the throne of his grace, but at his bar as a seperate spirit, whose time of probation is over, and whose eternal state is to be immediately determined. Renew your humiliation before God for the imperfec­tions of your life, though it has in the main been devo­ted to his service. Renew your application to the mer­cies of God, as promised in the covenant of grace, and to the blood of Christ, as the blessed channel in which they flow. Resign yourself entirely to the divine disposal and conduct, as willing to serve God, either in this world or the other, as he shall see fit. And sensible of [Page 287] your sinfulness on the one hand, and of the divine wis­dom and goodness on the other, summon up all the forti­tude of your soul to bear, as well as you can, whatever his afflicting hand may further lay upon you, and to re­ceive the last stroke of it, as one who would obtain the most entire subjection to the great and good Father of spirits.

§ 6. Whatever you suffer, ‘endeavour to show your­self an example of patience." Let that amiable grace have its perfect work James 1, 4;’ and since it has so little more to do, let it close the scene nobly. Let there not be a murmuring word; and that there may not, watch against every repining thought; and when you feel any thing of that kind arising, look by faith up­on a dying Saviour, and ask your own heart, "was not his cross much more painful than the bed on which I lie? Was not his situation among blood-thirsty enemies infinitely more terrible than mine amidst the tenderness and care of so many affectionate friends? Did not the heavy load of my sins press him in a much more over­whelming manner than I am pressed by the load of these afflictions? and yet he bore all "as a Lamb" that is brought "to the slaughter Isa. 53, 7." Let the re­membrance of his sufferings be a means to sweeten your's: yea, let it cause you to rejoice, when you are called to bear the cross for a little while, before you wear the crown. Count it all joy that you have an op­portunity yet once more of honouring God by your pa­tience, which is now acting its last part, and will in a few days, perhaps in a few hours, be superseded by com­plete everlasting blessedness. And I am willing to hope, that in these views you will not only suppress all passi­onate complaints, but that your mouth will be filled with the praises of God? And that you will be speaking to those that are about you, not only of his justice, but of his goodness too. So that you will be enabled to com­municate your inward joys in such a manner, as may be a lively and edifying comment upon those words of the apostle, ‘Tribulation worketh patience; and pati­ence, experience; and experience, hope; even a hope which maketh not ashamed, while the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us Rom. 5, 3.4.5.’

[Page 288]§ 7. And now, my dear friend, now is the time, when it is especially expected from you that you bear an honourable testimony to religion. Tell those that are about you, as well as you can, (for you will never be able fully to express it,) what comfort and support you have found in it. Tell them, how it has brightened the darkest circumstances of your life; tell them, how it now reconciles you to the near views of death. Your words will carry with them a peculiar weight at such a season: there will be a kind of eloquence, even in the infirmities with which you are struggling, while you give them utterance; and you will be heard with atten­tion, with tenderness, with credit. And therefore, when the time of your departure is at hand, with un­affected freedom breathe out your joy, if you then feel (as I hope you will) an holy joy and delight in G [...] breathe out, however, your inward peace [...] of mind, if you be then peaceful and serene: oth [...] wi [...] mark it, and be encouraged to tread the steps which [...] to so happy an end. Tell them what you feel [...] vanity of the world; and they may learn to [...] less: tell them, what you feel of the substantial [...] of the gospel; and they may learn to value [...] for they cannot but know that they must lie [...] on a dying bed too, and must then need all [...] which the gospel itself can give them.

§ 8. And, to inforce the conviction the more, "give a solemn charge to those that are about you, that they spend their lives in the service of God, and govern themselves by the principles of real religion." You may remember, that Joshua and David, and other good men did so, when they perceived that the days drew near in which they should die. And you know not how the admonitions of a dying friend, or (as it may be with respect to some,) of a dying parent, may impress those who may have disregarded what you and others may have said to them before. At least, make the tri­al; and die labouring to glorify God, to save souls, and generously to sow the seeds of goodness and happiness in a world where you have no more harvests to reap. Per­haps they may spring up in a plentiful crop when the clods of the valley are covering your body: but if not, [Page 289] God will approve it; and the angels that wait around your bed to receive your departing soul will look upon each other with marks of approbation in their counte­nance, and own that this is to expire like a Christian, and to make a glorious improvement of mortality.

§ 9. And, in this last address to your fellow-mortals, whoever they are that providence brings near you "be sure that you tell how entirely and how chearfully your hopes and dependence in this season of the last extremi­ty are fixed, not upon your own merits and obedience, but on what the great Redeemer has done and suffered for sinners." Let them see that you die, as it were, at the foot of the cross: nothing will be so comfortable to yourself, nothing so edifying to them. Let the name of Jesus, therefore, be in your mouth, while you are able to speak; and when you can speak no longer, let it be in your heart, and endeavour that the last act of your soul, while it continues in the body, may be an act of humble faith in Christ. ‘Come unto God by him: enter into that which is within the veil, as with the blood of sprinkling, fresh upon you.’ It is an awful thing for such a sinner (as you, my Christian friend, with all the virtues the world may have admired, know yourself to be) to stand before that infinitely pure and holy Being, who has seen all your ways, and all your heart, and has a perfect knowledge of every mix­ture of imperfection, which has attended the best of your duties; but venture in that way, and you will find it both safe and pleasant.

§ 10. Once more: "To give you comfort in a dy­ing hour, and to support your feeble steps while you are travelling through this dark and painful way, take the word of God as a staff in your hand." Let books and mortal friends, now do their last office for you. Call, if you can, some experienced Christian, who has felt the power of the word of God upon his own heart; and let him bring the scripture, and turn you to some of those precious promises, which have been the food and re­joicing of his own soul. It is with this view, that I may carry the good office I am now engaged in, as far as possible. I shall here give you a collection of a few such admirable scriptures, each of them infinitely ‘more [Page 290] valuable than thousands of gold and silver Ps. 119, 27.’ And to convince you of the degree in which I esteem them, I will take the freedom to add, that I desire they may (if God give an opportunity) be read over to me, as I lie on my dying bed, with short inter­vals between them, that I may pause upon each, and renew something of that delightful relish, which, I bless God, I have often found in them. May your soul and mine be then composed to a sacred silence (whatever be the commotion of animal nature) while the voice of God speaks to us in language which he spoke to his servants of old, or in which he instructed them how they should speak to him, in circumstances of the great­est extremity!

§ 11. Can any more encouragement be wanting, when he says, ‘Fear not, for I am with thee; be not dismayed, for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee, yea, I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee, with the right hand of my righteousness Isa. 61, 10." And he is not a man that he should lie, or the son of man that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good Num. 23, 19!"—The Lord is my light, and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid Ps. 27, 1?"—"This God is our God for ever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death Ps. 68, 14." —Therefore though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff they comfort me Ps. 23, 4."—"I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord Gen. 49, 18."—"Oh continue thy loving kind­ness unto them that know thee, and thy righteousness to the upright in heart? For with thee is the foun­tain of life; in thy light shall we see light Ps. 36, 9.10."—"Thou wilt shew me the path of life; in thy presence is fulness of joy, at thy right hand there are pleasures for ever more Ps. 16, 11."—"As for me, I shall behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness Ps. 17, 15."—"For I know in whom I have believed, and am persuaded, that he is able to keep what I have [Page 291] committed to him until that day 2 Tim. 1, 2."— Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth; my flesh also shall rest in hope Ps. 16, 9."—"For if we believe that Jesus died, and rose again; those also that sleep in Jesus will God bring with him 1 Thess. 4, 14."—I give unto my sheep eternal life,’ said Jesus the good Shepherd, ‘and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my hand John 10, 28.—This is the will of him that sent me, that every one that believeth on me should have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day John 6, 40.—Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you: I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to myself; that where I am, there ye may also be John 14, 1.2.3.—Go, tell thy bre­thren, I ascend unto my Father and your Father; and to my God and your God John 20, 17.—Fa­ther I will, that those whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am, that they may behold my glo­ry which thou hast given me; that the love where­with thou hast loved me, may be in them, and I in them John 17, 24. 26.—He that testifieth these things, saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen, even so come, Lord Jesus Rev. 22; 20.—O death, where is thy sting? O grave where is thy victory? Thanks be to God who has given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ 1 Cor. 15, 55.57.’

§ 12. Thus may that God, ‘who knows the souls of his children in all their adversities Ps. 31, 7.’ and in whose sight ‘the death of his saints is precious Ps. 116, 15.’ cheer and support you and me in those last extremities of nature! May he add us to the happy number of those who have been more than conquerors in death! and may he give us those supplies of his Spirit, which may enable us to pour out our departing souls in such sentiments as those I would now suggest? though we should be no longer able to utter words, or to un­derstand them if they were to be read to us! Let us at least review them with all proper affections now, and [Page 292] lay up one prayer more for that awful moment! Oh that this, and all we have ever offered with regard to it, may then ‘come in remembrance before God Acts 10, 4.31!’