the wrath of God. Wo's me that there is any fo grofly ignorant, in a church that has been bleffed with more clear and fatisfying difcoveries of God's mind and will, than most churches in the world. Ye fay, ye have done no man any inju ry, and therefore ye will be fayed. I answer, Ye have injured God, and therefore ye will be damned. Ye fay, ye have injured no man; I anfwer, Ye understand not well what ye fay, otherwise ye fhould not have the confidence to talk at the rate ye do. (1.) Ye have injured all with whom ye have converfed, in whom ye are concerned, in as far as ye have not laid out yourself in paying the debt ye owe them. Love is a debt we owe to all, Rom. xiii. 8. and he that has never evidenced hislove to them, in a serious concern about their falvation, is extremely injurious to them, in as far as he detain's from them that which is unqueftionably their due: and past all peradventure, he that was never ferious about his own falvation, was never really concerned about the falvation of o thers; and therefore has detained from them what was their undoubted right. (2.) Didft thou never fee thy brother fin? No doubt thou haft. Well then, didft thou reprove him? I fear not. Yea, many of this fort of perfons can, it may be, fee their own children, wives, fervants, and neareft relations, commit grofs acts of fin, and yet never reprove them. Is it not fo with many of you? I am fure ye cannot deny it. Well, is not this a real injury done to thofe perfons ye fhould have reproved? It is a hating them in your heart. God himself fays fo, and fure his judgment is according to truth, Lev. xix. 17. Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart: thou shalt in any ways rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer fin upon him. In fine, with what confidence dare ye fay ye have done no man any injury, when by a tract of fin, ye have been doing the utmost ye could to bring down the wrath of a fin-revenging God upon yourfelves, and upon all who live with you in the fame fociety? IV. Others, when purfued by the difcoveries of in, get in behind the church privileges, and think there to fcreen themfelves from the wrath of God. Thus it was with the wretches fpoken of by the prophet Jeremiah, in that vii chap, of his book; they did steal, murder, commit adultery, fwear falfly, burn incenfe unto Baal. Well, the Lord threatens, them with wrath, bids them amend their ways and their doings: but they fat ftill fecure and unconcerned, never affected either with the difcovery of fin, or with threatenings of wrath. What is the matter? Have the men no fenfe of hazard at all? They could not altogether thut their eyes upon the clear difcoveries the prophet made of their fins to them, or of that confequential mifery he did threaten them withal; but they fheltered themfelves behind their church privileges, and they cry out to him, The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are thefe, ver. 4. And I make no doubt but it is fo with fome of you. It may be, ye reafon as Manoah did in another cafe, If the Lord defigned to damn us, he would not have given us grdinances as he has done. Now, I only offer two or three things that will fufficiently expose the weakness of this defence, or hiding place. And, (1.) I fay, Ye may indeed reafon thus, God has eftablished gofpel ordinances, the figns of his prefence amongst us; therefore he will fave fome. He will not bring the means of grace without doing fome fome good by them. Yet, (2.) I fay ye cannot thence infer that he will fave you; for, 1. Many who have had the gospel ordinances have been damned. 2. It is not the having, but the inproving of them that faves any. 3. To lean upon them is the worft mifimprovement of them poffible, and therefore take care that ye truft not in lying words, faying, The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are thefe. V. Others finding no shelter from their convictions here, betake themfelves to their good duties. We tell them, they are finners, and lay open to their eyes their miferable and wretched condition and ftate: they turn their eyes to their duties, and, like the Pharifee fpoken of by our Lord, Luke xviii. 11. they will stop the mouth of confcience, with an enumeration of their perfor mances, whereby they excel others. True it is, will fuch an one fay, I bave finned; but on the other hand, I am not guilty of grofs outbreakings, and fcandalous fins; nay, more, I am much and frequent in the performance of the duties of religion, I pray, I faft, I communicate, and a great many other things I do, and therefore I hope to get heaven notwithstanding all my fins. O how natural is it for man to prefer a defenceless. hiding place of his own contrivance, to the impregnable city of refuge contrived by infinite wif dom and grace. the homefpun robe of his own, to the heaven-wrought robe of Chrift's righteoufnefs? Here many of you hide yourselves; I pray, I read, I feek into God, and therefore all is well: A fad conclufion! To this plea I anfwer, (1.) If ye fhould diffolve in tears, pray till your knees grow into the ground, and give all ye have in alms, and faft every day; all this will not atone N 2 for for one fin. (2.) Your beft duties do but increase your guilt. This the church well faw, Ifa. Ixiv. 6. We are all as an unclean thing, and ́all ́our righteoufnefs are as filthy rags, (3.) Good duties when refted on, have damned many, but never did, nor ever fhall fave any. To lean to them, is to fay to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods; a fin that the Lord forbids and abominates. VI. Another fort of perfons, when convictions get hold of them, and their fin and mifery are plainly and clearly difcovered to them, get in behind their good refolutions, and thereby they fhelter themfelves. They refolve to confider of this matter at a more convenient feafon, like Fe lix who difiniffed Paul when once he came to deal closely with him, and promised him a hearing afterwards: fo do many, when they are almoft convinced, they dimifs convictions, and promife to hear them afterwards. Now, I fhall addrefs myfelf to fuch in a few ferious expoftulatory que stions. And, (1.) Lenquire at you, Is the confi deration of fin and mifery, and of your efcape from it, a bufinefs to be delayed? Is there any thing that ye can be concerned about that deferves to be preferred to this? Is there any hazard like damnation any mercy comparable to falvation from the wrath of God? If a man gain a world and lofe a foul, is he profited by the exchange! (2.) Who is better judge of the moft convenient occafion, God or ye? He has determined the prefent opportunity to be the beft: Now is the ac• cepted time, now is the day of falvation, (3) When art thou refolved to take under ferious con fideration thy fin and mifery, that now thou fhifteft the thoughts of? Ye must surely fay, that it will be fome time after this. But now I ask you, What What certainty have ye of fuch a time? And what certainty have ye that ye fhall then have the means that are neceffary in order to this end? I believe ye dare not fay that ye are fure of either. (4.) Sure I am, fome who in the fame manner have made many fair promifes and refolutions, have thereby cheated themselves out of their fouls." But a VII. Sort get in behind their own ignorance,' and think to shelter themselves there. They promife themfelves fafety, though they be not concerned about falvation, because they are but ignorant. God, fay they, may deal feverely with o thers that know better things; but for me, I hope he will have mercy upon me, because I know no better. With what aftonishing confidence have we heard fome plead this! Ye fay ye are ignorant, and therefore God will have mercy upon your I say ye are ignorant, and therefore God will have no mercy upon you, Ifa. xxvii. 11. Ye are ignorant, but whofe fault is it? Has not God given you the means of knowlege? Has not the light of the glorious gospel shined clearly about you? Have not others got knowlege by the ufe of the very fame means which ye have neglected and flighted? This is a common excufe for fins, but a moft unhappy one as ever any meddled withal; for, (1.) God has exprefly told us, that ignorant people hall be damned, 2 Theff. i. 8, 9. (2.) He has told us that ignorance will be the ground of the fentence. This is the 'condemnation of ignorant finners, that they love darkness rather than light, John iii. 19. Nor will it excufe you to tell, that ye want time; for, (1.) All other things fhould give place to this. Seek firft the kingdom of God, and the righteousness thereof, and other things will N 3 , come |