He will shut up his tender mercies. When once he has risen and shut the door, he will no more regard their calls. Though they plead, Lord, Lord, open to us; he will answer, "I know you not, whence ye are. Depart from me, all workers of iniquity." Because he has called, and they have refused-has stretched out his hand, and they have not regarded, but have set at nought his counsels and reproofs; he will mock when their fear comes. They shall call, but he will not answer-shall seek, and shall not find him. They shall eat the fruit of their doings, and be filled with their own devices.

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The saints will shew no pity. What was spoken to Jerusalem, when for her impenitence she was given over to destruction, may here be appliedWho shall have pity upon thee?—Who shall bemoan thee?-Or, Who shall turn aside to ask, how thou dost? Thou hast forsaken the Lord, and art gone backward. He has been weary of repenting. His hand is stretched out against thee. Their hopeless, unpitied misery, is most affectingly represented by the Saviour, in the parable of the rich man, who died in impenitence and infidelity. In hell he lifthis eyes, being in torments, and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus, who had in vain sought relief at his gate, lying in the patriarch's bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember, that thou, in thy life time, receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And bes les all this, between us and you there is a great gulph fixed, which cannot be passed. As obvious reasons why no mercy could be extended to him, Abraham refers him to the justice of God in his punishment, and to the immutable decree, which

had made his punishment perpetual. The rich man could not have asked less, and yet this little was denied. There is no room for pity, when the final sentence is passed. Abraham bade him consider, that in his life time he despised heaven, valuing and seeking only the pleasures of sense, which having enjoyed to the full, he could not think it unjust, that by the sentence of God, whose laws he had dared to violate, he was now excluded from those blest abodes, which he had utterly despised. On the other hand, Lazarus had borne the miseries of life with patience, had trusted in God with humble assurance, and had looked forward, with steady hope, to a better state; and therefore his temporary afflictions were now rewarded with everlasting consolations. And as for sending Lazarus to mitigate the severity of his torment, this was impossible, for the different states of the blessed, and the wretched, though in sight of each other, were so divided, as to admit no intercourse.

In the present world, many prayers are made, and many means are used, for the recovery of sinners; and blessings are often granted them in consequence of the fervent petitions, and kind offices of their pious friends: But in the future world, they will enjoy such advantages no more.

The godly parent now warns, exhorts, and counsels his children with affectionate concern. If he sees them still bent on their wicked course, he weeps over them, and supplicates the powerful interposition of divine grace for their recovery. The thought of their eternal destruction is too painful for him to realize. But the godly parent, in heaven, no more mourns over, or intercedes for his children suffering for their sins. He justifies the sentence of God by which they are condemned.

Good Christians lament the perverseness, and are grieved for the madness of sinners, whose hearts

are full of evil while they live, and who, with thoughtless presumption, are hastening down to the dead. But in heaven they glorify God for his righteous judgment on them, who refused the overtures of his mercy.

How wretched will be their condition, when all their sins, in full weight, fall upon them, and their presumptuous hopes sink under them-when they are cast forth from the presence of God into utter darkness, and there are none to pity them! O that they were wise, that they understood this; that they would consider their latter end!

4. How carefully ought sinners now to apply the assistances which they have, in order to their preparation for future glory. The time is coming, when there will be none to help them.

It is the duty and concern of good men, in this world, to reclaim the wicked from their destructive ways, and save their souls from death.

Ministers are to watch for souls, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom, that they may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. They are to take heed to themselves and to their doctrine, that they may save themselves, and those who hear them.

Parents are to bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, to teach them sound wisdom and discretion, guard them against dangerous temptations, and restrain them when they make themselves vile. They can have no greater joy than to see their children walk in the truth, and to look forward, with strong and lively hope, to that glorious day, when they shall appear among the blessed of the Lord, and their children with them.

The aged, by their holy example, and heavenly conversation, are to teach the young to be soberminded.

Christians are to exhort one another daily, while it is called today, lest any be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

These duties, though too much neglected, yet are, in some degree, performed in the Christian world. Where is the sinner, who can say, he has had none of these advantages-no public instructions, or private counsels ?-Where is the youth, who can say, he has had no parental admonitions and rebukes?

You are now under the stated means of salvation; and there are those near you, who would rejoice to assist you in the great work of preparing for another world. There are those, who sometimes offer you their assistance. Consider, that these means can be enjoyed only in this world. They will cease in another. None will appear to help you there. Advantages, on which your eternal happiness depends, and which can be had only now, ought to be improved with diligence and care. It is the voice of wisdom-Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not. Blessed is the man, who heareth me, watching daily at my gate, and waiting at the posts of my doors. Whoso findeth me, findeth life; but whoso sinneth against me, wrongeth his own soul.

Ye who despise instruction and hate reproof-ye who neglect the public institutions of God's house, or attend them in a careless and indifferent manner-ye who disobey the counsels, and contemn the warnings of parents, and break loose from the kind restraints, which they lay upon you-ye who give indulgence to every evil inclination, and treat religion as a matter of no concern-ye who resolve that you will rejoice in your youth, and that your hearts shall cheer you in the days of health, that you will walk in the way of your own heart, and the sight of your own eyes-know ye, that for all these

things, God will bring you into judgment. Can your heart endure, or your hands be strong, when God shall deal with you? He has spoken it, and will do it. And you will mourn at the last, when your flesh, and your body are consumed, and will say, How have we hated instruction, and our hearts despised reproof? We have not obeyed the voice of our teachers, nor inclined our ears to them, who instructed us. We were in almost all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.

5. We see the madness of sinners, who, for a transient pleasure, expose themselves to permanent misery.

The wise man looks forward to futurity. He considers what will make him happy on the whole. It is not the enjoyment of today, or tomorrow, of this year, or this life only; it is the happiness of his whole existence, which determines his conduct. He will not pursue a present pleasure, at the hazard of incurring future misery, greater in degree, and longer in duration. For misery, though future now, will be real when it comes. How contrary to this dictate of wisdom is the conduct of wicked men! Some present interest or gratification is the motive which draws them into iniquity; and yet they know full well, that the advantage is momentary, and the pleasure transient; but the consequence of sin, indulged through life, is permanent as their existence, and more dreadful than their imagination can paint. What infatuation is here; Ye men of reason, be astonished at this!

Esau stands marked in scripture, as an example of folly and profaneness. He for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. The indulgence was a single meal-The loss was his birthright. The birthright, once alienated, was gone forever, and the blessing with it, and could never be regained. Afterward, when he would have inherited the