go, we hall in the iffue give a teftimony to this truth: if we obtain a favourable aniwer, then we must bear teftimony, that you did receive Christ our Lord upon his own terms, and therefore were finners; if you reject the counfel of God against yourselves, then we must bear witness that your are guilty of the greatest fin which any of the fons of Adam can be guilty of, unbelief; which makes God a liar, as the apostle John has it, 1 John v. 10. “He that believeth not God hath made him a liar, because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son; and this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son." Moreover, 7thly, The whole creation afferts this truth, that all have finned and come fhort of the glory of God; and confequeatly that part of it which ye ufe, afferts no less of you in particular. The apostle, Rom. viii. 22. tells us, that "the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now." Thefe creatures you daily ufe, they groan. If your ears were not deafened by fin, you might hear the very groans of the ground you tread upon, of the food ye eat, and of the raiment ye put on. Well, what is the matter? what occafions thefe groans? The apostle tells us in the 20th and 21ft verfes of that chapter, it is made fubject to vanity, and to the bondage of corruption; "for the creature was made fubject to vanity, not willingly, but by reafon of him who hath fubjected the fame in hope; becaufe the creature itfelf fhall alfo be delivered from the bondige of corruption, into the glorious liberty of the children of God." Here the apoftle afferts, (1.) That "the creature is made fubject to vanity," that is, is liable to be abufed by men, to other ends than it was at first designed for: it is fabject to this vanity, of falling fhort of the de.. fin of its creation, which was the glory of God, and of be. ing abafed to his dishonour through the corruption of man.. (2.) He afferts, that it was not willingly made fubject to it. O thame! the brute creatures condemn man. Man was willingly fubject to vanity, did willingly defift from the profecution of that which was the defign of his creation. The rest of the creatures are paffive in it; it is a fort of force put upon them. It is a violence done to the creatures, when they are fo abused to the service of fin: it is contrary to their very natures; for they ftill continue ac cording cording to the laws which God fet them in the beginning. (3) The only thing that makes them continue in being, when they are fo abufed by man, is the appointment of God. He continues them in being, not for this end, to be abused to a fubferviency to the lufts of men, though they make this ufe of the goodness of God; but that, by the continued effects of it, and proofs of undeferved kindness, he may lead them to repentance. (4) The apoftle afferts, that the creation fhall be a flarer with the fons of God, in their glorious delivery from the bondage of corruption, that is, when the children of God, thefe who have received Chrift, and by him power to become the fons of God, thall be fully freed from the remainders of the guilt, power, and pollution of fin, then the creature fhall no more be used contrary to God's defign in its creation, but fhall, in the hand of the rational creature, again become an inftrument for fhewing forth the glory of God, as it was at first defigned to be. And to fhew that the condition of the creature requires this, (5.) He in the 22d verfe afferts, that the whole creation groaneth, that is, complains of its hard ufage, of its being abufed by men's fin; and he extends this to the whole creation, that there may be no accefs for any who use the creatures to free themfelves of that which the complaint runs againft, to wit, fin. How can any free himself of fin, while all his enjoyments witness against him, that he has finned. O finners! the fun that fhines upon you groans, that it must give light to a finner, one who uses the light for an encouragement to fin against God. The ground ye tread upon groans with the weight of finners. The food that feeds you complains, that it must be fo horribly perverted as to ferve the lufts of a finner, as to furnish one with strength to fin against God. See Hab. ii. 11. James v. .3. 8thly, The judgments of God bear witness against you. As many rods as have ever been upon you, as many witneffes are there of this fad truth. The rod of God fpeaks; for we are commanded to hear the rod, Micah vi. 9. "The Lord's voice crieth unto the city, and the man of wisdom fhall fee thy name: hear ye the rod, and who hath ap pointed it." Every stroke that the hand of God lays upon us fpeaks; and the first thing it fays, is, Ye have finned, and come short of the glory of God. For affliction doth not fpring out of the ground, nor doth trouble arife out of the duft duft. And here we may boldly, with Eliphaz, Job. iv. 7. challenge you to give one inftance of any innocent who ever fuffered the leaft wrong or trouble. "Remember, I pray thee," fays he to Job, "who ever perished, being innocent? or where were the righteous cut off?" as if he had faid, Search the records of ancient times; rub up the memory, and give me but one inftance of any perfon who fuffered, and was not a finner. I defy thee to give one inflance. Indeed he was out in the application of that unquestionable truth: for he did thence endeavour to infer, that Job was a hypocrite. As to the application, we are not concerned in it; but for the truth itself, that we own, and challenge you to instance any. Our bleffed Lord indeed was free of perfonal failings, but not fo of imputed ones; for the Lord "laid upon him the iniquities of us all, and he was wound ded for our tranfgreffions." And therefore his fufferings are nowife inconfiftent with this truth, that none fuffer but finners; and therefore your fufferings are a proof, and do teftify, that ye have finned; "for God doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men," Lam. iii. 33. He takes not pleasure in afflicting his own creatures; but when he does it, it is for their fins. What God in his fovereignty may do, as to the punishing or rather afflicting of an innocent creature, we shall not determine. Learned men have learnedly, I may fay, played the fool, or trifled in debating this point, the determination whereof makes nothing to edification, were it poffible to determine it fatisfactorily. If any fhould ask me, Can God punish or afflict an innocent creature? I fhould answer, (1.) That queftions about what God can do are dangerous, and ought for moft part be forborne. (2.) Punish an innocent creature he cannot, for that prefuppofeth a fault. (3.) God, in the first formation of his creatures, did fet them fuch a law for their rule, as did lead them directly to the highest perfection their natures were capable of; and they walking ac. cording to that rule, i. e. being innocent, it is hard to conceive how they could fall fhort, or in any meafure fwerve from the end. If it be still inquired, Whether God may not, in his abfolute fovereignty, pafs over this, which feems to be the fixed and fettled order of his conduct towards the creatures, and afflict them, or fuffer them to meet with inconveniences, while they hold close to the rule that God God has fet them? If I fay, any ftates the question thu Then, (4.) I fhall only propofe another question to the inquirer, Can there poffibly fall within the compass of God's knowledge a defign which will make it worthy of his infinite wisdom and goodness to do fo, to break this law of nature, which is every way fuited to his wisdom and goodness? If he fay, there may, then he is obliged to produce it, which he will find hard enough to do: if he fay not, then he determines the question in the negative, but dangerously enough; for who knows the infinitely wife defigns which may fall within the compafs of the thoughts of the omnifcient God, whofe ways and thoughts are as far above the thoughts of man, as the heavens are above the earth? But whatever be in this nice debate, wherein we fhall not entangle curfelves, the truth we have advanced is certain, that no inftance can be given wherein God has afflicted thofe who have been abfolutely free from fin, inherent or imputed: and therefore the rods of God are witneffes against you, that ye have finned. Speak, O finners! did you never meet with an affliction in body or mind, in your perfons or families, in yourselves. or in your relations, young or old? Who, or where is the man or woman that never had a crofs? I believe that perfon is fcarce to be found in the world who has no complaints, that is, who have no croffes. Well then, as many croffes as ye have had, as many witneffes are there in giv. ing in teftimony against you, that you have finned. no finning, no fuffering. For gthly, In fine, to name no more witneffes, Death the king of terrors, is a witnefs against you, and gives teftimony against all, that they have finned; for "the wages of fin is death," Rom. vi. 23. It is only in that gives deathr a power over you. If any of you can plead exemption from death, then you may with some reason plead freedom from the charge we have laid against you; but if not, then in vain will all pretences, shifts, and evasions be. It may be, that we shall not, no not by the testimony of all the famous witneffes we have led against you, bring you to conviction of fin: but when Death, the king of terrors, begins his evidence, he will convince you, ere he has done with you; for he will fend you where ye shall be convinced not much to your comfort. Death is a ferjeant the great King; and when he takes you, arrefts you, cites you anon to appear before the bar that is in the higher house, how will your hearts fail you then? O finners! the fight of the grim meffenger Death, of the executioner Satan, of the place of torment hell, and the awful folemnity of the Judge of the quick and the dead, will fupercede any further proof, and will awaken the most sleepy confcience, which will then be, not only witnefs, but judge, and even executioner, to thofe who fhall not be able to plead an intereft in Chrift Jefus, who have never been convinced foundly of fin at the bar of the word. Thus we have made good our charge against all and every one of you, by the teftimony of a great many witnesses of unquestionable credit. It is therefore high time, O finners! for you to bethink yourselves what ye fhall answer when ye are reproved. Hitherto we have held in the general: we have charged fin upon you all, without fixing any particular fin upon any particular fort of perfons. Now we come to that which, in the next place, we proposed in management of this charge against you; and that is, THIRDLY, To make good the charge, by dealing particularly with the confciences of feveral forts of perfons among you, to bring you, if poffible, to a fenfe of your fin. All who are in this houfe may be ranked, according to the apostle John's divifion, into children, young men, and fathers; or into children, thofe of a middle age, and old perfons. Under young men and women are comprehended all thofe, whether they have families or not, who are not come to declining years, who are yet in the flower of their ftrength and vigour. To each of them I would apply myfelf in a way of conviction, and endeavour to bring them to a sense of fin, and that even of particular fins. But that I may proceed in this with the more clearness, I fall premife a few things, which may clear the way to what we defign upon this head. And, ter. 1st, There are two great defigns which every man should continually aim at, usefulness here, and happiness hereaf We come not into the world, as fome foolishly apprehend, to fpend or pafs our time, and no more of it. No; God has cut us out our work. We are all, in fome flation or other, to lay out ourselves for the advancement of |