cency in all; and this throughout the whole of that book is charged upon them, as an aggravation of their guilt. Their profeffion they still kept up, and challenged God to fhew wherein they had failed of their duty. Now, this is much your cafe, your very appearance here carries in it fuch a challenge. Would ye come here without fcruple, and fo boldly rush into God's prefence whom ye have offended, were ye not at this with it, that ye judge God. either knows not, or will not be offended with what ye have done?

Now you have heard your charge opened, it is not as we have faid before, fome petty mifdemeanour that is libelled against you, but crimes as black as hell, atheifin, idolatry, blafphemy, robbery, rebellion and murder, and that against the God of your mercies, over the belly of a great many notable preventing means of grace, in spite of the moft folemn vows to the contrary, withour any fhadow of provocation, any prospect of real advantage, and all this notwithstanding a great many profeffions to the contrary.

Here is the fum and fubftance of your indictment, enough to make heaven and earth aftonithed, that God does not in fury fall upon us and make an utter end of us. If every one faw his own concernment in this matter, how would we be affected? it would make a strong work in this houfe.

This, O finners, is your charge: what have you to answer to it? Plead ye guilty or not? Sure I am, every foul in this houfe may fay with Job in that ix chapter of his book, and 20 ver. If I justify myself, mine own mouth fhall condemn me: if I fay I am perfect, it shall also prove me perverfe. If you plead guilty, and take with the charge

chage, what means this fecurity we fee among you? Is it not a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God? Is it an eafy thing to fuffer the punishment due to fuch crimes? Sure none can fay it is.

But it may be fome of you may be ready to fay, indeed we cannot deny ourfelves to be finners. God help us, for we have all finned; but indeed, we never thought, nor can we yet think that every fin has in it all these monftrous evils you have mentioned. God forbid we were all of us atheists, idolaters, blafphemers, robbers, murderers, and perjured rebels, as you have made us. No, we have indeed finned, but our confciences did never accufe us of any fuch monftrous impieties as these are. To thefe who fhall dare to fay or think fo, we answer, 1. We do indeed believe that many of your confciences did never accufe you of any fuch crimes. Many of you keep the eyes of confcience fast shut in ignorance. You fear to bring your deeds to the light of a well informed confcience, left they fhould be reproved. Others of you have finned your confciences afleep, or rather you have abused them, fo that they are either faint, that they cannot speak loud, or ftupified that they cannot fpeak at all.

Who

But all this will not prove your innocence as to the crimes alleged. Wherefore, 2. has the jufter eftimate of fin, God or you? Who knows best what malignity, what evil there is in its nature? Surely God knows beft what the honour of his own laws and authority is, and how får it is trampled upon by every fin. We are but of yesterday, and know nothing. 3. Whofe word, think ye, will ftand, God's or yours? God has by his word reprefented no lefs to be in it than we have faid to be in it, and therefore there is no lefs

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lefs in it. God will reckon fo, and deal with you not according to the judgment ye make of fin, but that which he makes. We have made it appear from the word of God, that fin is fuch as we have reprefented it; and if ye think more mildly of it, be doing, and behold the issue.

Having thus opened to you your indictment, I fhall now proceed,

II. To lead witneffes, against you to prove the charge, according to the method we laid down for the management of this business in our entry upon the improvement.

But before we begin this work, we shall briefly obviate a difficulty that may be started against the whole of what we are to fay under this head. To what purpofe is it (may fome fay) to lead witneffes to prove a charge, which is confeft? Wha denies this, that they are finners? every one will readily own fo much; and therefore, any thing that is faid to prove fuch a thing, feems perfectly loft. To this fhortly we fay, (1.) Though every body acknowleges that they are guilty; yet few, very few, believe to be true what they themfelves are ready to fay in this matter. We all own ourselves guilty of fin; but were it believed, would not every eye be full of tears? every heart full of fears? Would not our knees Belshazzar-like beat one against another, every face gather palenefs, and every mouth be full of that enquiry, Men and brethren, what shall we do to be faved? Sure they would; and that it is not fo, is a clear and unquestionable proof that we do not really beHieve what we fay. (2.) Were our only defign to juftify God in any meafures he has taken, or may take to punith us, then indeed fuch an ackuowlegement were fufficient to found a fentence

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of condemnation on, and to free God from any imputation of injustice in punishing them who acknowlege the crime: but our defignis of another fort; we are to study to bring you to fuch a fenfe of your fin, as may put you to enquire for a relief. And therefore, (3.). We are to use all methods which may in any meafure contribute to the furtherance of this defign; we are to effay all ways to awaken you out of that fecurity wherein you are like to fleep on, till you be entirely ruined, till there be no remedy or relief for you.

This prejudice being taken out of the way, we fhall now proceed to lead the witnesses against you. We have laid the blackest of crimes to your charge, and we have the ftrongeft evidence that you are guilty: for we can prove guilt upon you by witneffes, which may be compared with any, either as to capacity or integrity; witneffes who are faithful in this matter, and will not lie, according to the character given by the wife man, Prov. xiv. 5. A faithful witnefs will not lie. Witneffes they are who cannot be fufpected of partial counfel, who never would have advised you to fin, and who take no pleafure in accufing you; and therefore cannot be fufpected of malice, or of any ill or invidious design against you, as were cafy to make appear of every one of them whom we shall name.

Take heed therefore, we beseech you, to their teftimony. The gravity and confequence of the matter, the quality of the witnesses being the greatest in heaven or earth, and your own concernment in the whole, do join in pleading for your attention. O criminals, as your crimes are great, fo is the evidence we bring against you great: For,

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i. The

1. The Lord is witness against you. As he faid of old to his people in that xxix of Jer. and 23. fo he fays to you, young and old of you, who are here prefent, you have finned; Even I know and am a witness, faith the Lord. God, who cannot lie, accufes you as guilty of fin: And if we fay that we have not finned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us, 1 John i. 10. Here is a witness against you, O finners, to whose charge, I am fure, you have nothing to lay. Malice he purges himself of, Ezek. xxxiii. .11. As I live, faith the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Could it be any pleafure to him to ruin the work of his own hands? No fure.

2. Jefus Chrift, the eternal fon of God, the Amen and faithful witnefs, gives an evidence against you. He came to bear witness to the truth, and this was one of the great truths to which he bare witnefs, That all have finned, and therefore are under a fentence of condemnation, which can no o• therwise be repealed, but by believing on the name of the only begotten Son of God, John iii. 18. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not, is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. Chrift's very name bears witness to this truth. He is called Jefus, because he shall fave his people from their fins, Matth. 1. 21. And how could he fave them from their fins, had they none ?

3. Guilty you are, for the Spirit of truth, John xiv. 17. calls you fo. It is one of the offices of this glorious person of the ever bleffed Trinity, to convince the world of fin, John xvi. 8. And when he is come, he will convince the world of fin. If