CHAP. 6

 

Containing Directions for Conversion.

 

 BEFORE you readest these Directions, I advise thee, yea, I charge thee, before GOD and his holy angels, to resolve to follow them, (as far as conscience shall be convinced of their agreeableness to GOD’s word,) and call in his assistance and blessing, that they may succeed. And as I have sought the LORD, and consulted his oracles what advice to give thee, so must you entertain it with that awe, reverence, and purpose of obedience, which the word of the living GOD does require.

 

 " Set thine heart unto all that I shall testify unto thee this day; for it is not a vain thing, it is your life." This is the end of all that has been spoken hitherto, to bring you to make use of GOD’s means for your conversion. I would not trouble you nor torment you, before the time, with the forethoughts of your eternal misery, but in order to your making your escape. Were you shut up under your present misery, without remedy, it were but mercy to let you alone, that you might take in that little poor comfort of which you are capable in this world; but you may yet be happy, if you do not wilfully refuse the means of your recovery. Behold, I hold open the door unto you; arise, take your flight: I set the way of life before you; walk in it, and you shall live and not die. It grieves me to think that you should be your own murderers, and throw yourselves headlong, when GOD and man cry out to you, " Spare thyself." The GOD that made thee, erica' out to thee, " Do thyself no harm." The Ministers of CHRIST forewarn men,' and follow, and fain would have them back; but, alas! no expostulations will prevail: men will hurl themselves into perdition, while pity itself looks on.

 

 What shall I say Would it not grieve a person of ally humanity, if, in the time, of a raging plague, he should have a receipt that would infallibly cure all the country, and recover the most hopeless patients, and yet his friends and neighbors should die by hundreds about him, because they would not use it Men and brethren, though you carry the certain symptoms of death in your faces, yet 1 have a receipt that will cure you all; that will cure you infallibly: follow but these few directions, and if you do not then win heaven, I will be content to lose it.

 

 Hear, then, O sinner! and as ever you wouldest be converted, embrace these following counsels:

 

Direction 1: Set it down with thyself, as an undoubted truth, that it is impossible for thee ever to get to Heaven in thy unconverted state. Can any other but CHRIST

 

save thee Now He tells thee, he will never do it, except you be converted. Direction 2: Labor to get a lively sense and feeling of thy sins. Till men are weary and heavy laden, they will not come to CHRIST. They must set themselves down for dead men, before they will come to CHRIST that they may have life. Labor, therefore, to set all thy sins in order before thee; never be afraid to look upon them, but let thy spirit make diligent search. Inquire into thy heart, and into thy life; enter into a thorough examination of thyself, and of all thy ways, and call in the help of GOD’s Spirit, in the sense of thine own inability; for it is his proper work to convince of sin. Spread all before the face of thy conscience: cease not from striving with GOD, and thy soul, till it cry out, under the sense of thy sins, " What must I do to be saved "

 

 To this purpose, Meditate on the number of thy sins. DAVID'S heart failed when he thought of this, and considered that he had more sins than hairs. This made him cry out, and call upon the multitude of GOD’s tender mercies. Look backward: where was ever the place, what was ever the time, in which you didst not sin Look inward: what part or power can you find in soul or body, but it is poisoned with sin what duty dost you ever perform, into which poison is not shed O how great is the sum of thy debts, who has been, all thy life long, running upon the books, and never didst, nor can, pay one penny! Look over the sin of thy nature, with all its cursed brood, and the sins of thy life: call to mind thy omissions, and commissions; the sins of thy thoughts, of thy words, of thine actions; the sins of thy youth, the sins of thy years. Be not like a desperate bankrupt, that is afraid to look over his books: read the records of conscience carefully. These books must be opened sooner or later.

 

 Meditate upon the aggravation of thy sins. They are the grand enemies against the GOD of thy life, and against the life of thy soul: in a word, they are the public enemies of all mankind. How do DAVID,’'ZRA, DANIEL, and all the good Levites, aggravate their sins, from the consideration of their injuriousness to GOD, of their opposition to his good and righteous laws, and of the mercies and warnings against which they were committed. O the work that sin has made in the. world! This is the enemy that has brought in death, that has robbed and enslaved man, that has digged hell. This is the enemy that has turned the creation upside down, and sown dissension between man and the creatures,—between man and man, yea, between man and himself, setting the will against the judgment, lust against conscience,—yea, worst of all, between GOD and man, making the lapsed sinner both hateful to GOD, and the hater of him. O man! how can you make so light of sin This is the traitor that shed the blood of the SON of GOD, that sold him, that mocked him, that scourged him, that spit in his face, that digged his hands, that pierced his side, that pressed his soul, that mangled his body, that never left him till it had bound him, condemned him, nailed him, crucified him, and put him to open shame. This is that deadly poison, so powerful of operation, that one drop of it, shed upon the root of mankind, has corrupted, spoiled, and poisoned, undone his whole race at once. This is the bloody executioner, that has killed the prophets, burned the martyrs, murdered all the apostles, all the patriarchs, all the kings and potentates; that has destroyed cities, swallowed up empires, and devoured whole nations. Whatever was the weapon that it was done by, it was sin that did the execution. Study the nature of sin, till thy heart be brought to fear and loathe it; and meditate on the aggravations of thy particular sins, how you have sinned against all GOD’s warnings, against thine own prayers, against mercies, against correction, against clearest light, against freeest love, against thine own resolutions, against promises, vows, and covenants of better obedience. Charge thy heart home with these things, till it blush for shame, and be brought out of all good opinion of itself.

 

 Meditate upon the desert of sin. It cries up to heaven: it calls for vengeance: its due wages are death and damnation: it pulls the curse of GOD upon the soul and body. The least sinful word or thought lays thee under the infinite wrath of GOD. O what a load of wrath, what a weight of curses, what a treasure of vengeance, have all the millions of thy sins then deserved!

 

 Meditate upon the deformity and defilement of sin. It is as black as hell; the very image of the devil drawn upon the soul. It would more affright thee to see thyself in the hateful deformity of thy nature, than to see the Devil. There is no mire so unclean, no carcass so offensive, no plague or leprosy so noisome, as sin, in which you art all enrolled, and so covered with its odious filth, that you art rendered more displeasing to the pure and holy nature of the glorious GOD, than the most filthy object can be to thee.

 

 Above all other sins, fix the eye of consideration on these two: 1. The Sin of thy Nature. It is to little purpose to lop the branches, while the root remains untouched. In vain do men lave out the streams, when the fountain is running which fills up all again. Let the axe of thy repentance (like DAVID'S) go to the root of sin. Study how deep, how close, how permanent is thy natural pollution, and how universal it is, till you dost cry out, in the language of ST. PAUL, against thy " Body of Death." Look into all thy parts and powers, and see what unclean vessels, what dunghills, what sinks they are become. The heart is never soundly broken, till thoroughly convinced of the heinousness of original sin. Here fix thy thoughts; this is that which makes thee backward to all good, and prone to all evil; which sheds blindness, pride, prejudice, unbelief, into thy mind; enmity, inconstancy, obstinacy, into thy will; inordinate heats and colds into thy affections; insensibility, henumbedness, unfaithfulness, into thy conscience; slipperiness into thy memory; and, in a word which has put every wheel of thy soul out of order, and made it, of a habitation of holiness, to become a very hellof iniquity. This is that which has defiled, corrupted, perverted all thy members, and turned them into weapons of unrighteousness, and servants of sin; which has filled the head with carnal and corrupt designs, the hand with sinful practices, the eyes with wandering and wantonness, the tongue with deadly poison; which has opened the ears to tales, flattery, and filthy communication, and shut them against the instruction of life, and has rendered thy heart a very forge for sin, and the cursed womb of all deadly conceptions; so that it pours forth its wickedness without ceasing, even as naturally, freely, and unweariedly, as a fountain does pour forth its waters, or the raging sea does cast forth mire and dirt. And wilt you tell us any longer of thy good heart O never cease to meditate on this desperate contagion, till, with EPHRAIM, you bemoan thyself; and with shame and sorrow smite on thy breast, as the publican; and with Joe, abhor thyself, and repent in dust and ashes.—2. The particular evil to which you art most addicted, find out, with all its aggravations; and set home upon thy heart all GOD's threatenings against it. Repentance drives before it the whole herd, but especially sticks the arrow in the beloved sin, and singles this out above the rest. O labor to make this sin odious to thy soul, and double thy guards and thy re-solutions against it, because this does most dishonor GOD, and endanger thee.

 

 Direction 3: Strive to c ect thy heart with a deep sense of thy present misery. Read over the foregoing chapter again and again. Remember, when you liast down, that, for ought you knows, you rnaycst awake in flames; and when you risest up, that by the next night you may make thy bed in hell. Is it a little matter to live in such a fearful case To stand tottering upon the brink of the bottomless pit, and to live at the mercy of every disease, which, if it do but fall upon thee, will send thee forthwith into the burnings Suppose you sawest a condemned wretch hanging over NEBUCHADNEZZAR'S burning fiery furnace, by nothing but a twine-thread, would not thy heart tremble for such a one Why you art the man: this is thy very case, O man, woman, that readest this, if you be yet unconverted. What if the thread of thy life should break! (Why you knows not but it may be the next night, yea, the next moment!) Where wouldest you be then Whither wouldest you drop Verily, upon the crack of this thread, you fallest into the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, where you must he in a fiery ocean, while GOD has a being. And does not thy soul tremble as you readest Do not thy tears bedew the paper, and thy heart throb in thy bosom Dost you not yet begin to smite on thy breast, and bethink thyself what need you have of a change Oh, what is thy heart made of Have you not only lost all regard to GOD, but art you without any love and pity to thyself

 

 O study thy misery, till thy heart does cry out for CHRIST, as earnestly as ever a drowning man did for a boat. Alen must even be forced out of themselves, or else they will not come to CHRIST. Therefore, hold the eyes of conscience open; amplify thy misery as much as possible; do not flee from the sight of it. The sense of thy misery is necessary to the cure. Better fear the torments that abide thee now, than feel them hereafter.

 

 Direction 4: Settle it in thy heart, that you art under an utter inability ever to recover thyself. Never think thy praying, reading, hearing, confessing, amending, will do the cure: these must be attended to, but you art undone if you restest in them. You art a lost man, if you hopest to escape drowning upon any other plank, but JESUS CHRIST. You must unlearn thyself, and renounce thy own strength, and throw thyself wholly upon CHRIST, as a man that swim meth casteth himself upon the water, or else you can not escape. While men trust in them-selves, and establish their own righteousness, and have confidence in the flesh, they will not come savingly to CHRIST. You must know thy gain to be_ but loss and dung,—thy strength, but weakness,—thy righteousness, rags and rottenness, before there will be an effectual closure between CHRIST and thee. Can the lifeless carcass shake off its grave-cloaths, and loose the bonds of death Then may you recover thyself, who art dead in trespasses and sins. Therefore, when you goest to pray or meditate, or to do any of the duties to which you art here directed, call in the help of THE SPIRIT, as despairing to do any thing pleasing to GOD, in thine own strength: yet neglect not thy duty, but he at the pool, and wait in the way of THE SPIRIT. While the EUNUCH was reading, the HOLY GHOST sent PHILIP to him: When the disciples were praying, when CORNELIUS and his friends were hearing, the Hoax GHOST fell upon them, and filled them all. Strive to give up thyself to CHRIST; strive to pray, strive to meditate, strive a hundred and a hundred times, try to do it as well as you can; and while you art endeavoring in the way of thy duty, THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD will cone upon thee, and help thee to do what of thyself you art utterly unable to do.

 

 Direction 5: Forthwith renounce all thy Sins. If you yield to any sin, you art undone. In vain dost you hope for life by CHRIST, except you depart from iniquity. Forsake thy sins, or else,you can not find mercy. You can not be married to CHRIST, except divorced from sin: give tip the traitor, or you can have no peace with heaven. You must part with thy sills or with thy soul: spare but one Sin, and though it be but a little, or a secret one, though you may plead necessity, and have a hundred shifts and excuses for it, the life of thv soul must. go for the life of that sin.

 

 O sinner, hear and consider. If you wilt part with thy sins, Corp will give thee his CHRIST. Is not this a fair exchange I testify unto thee this day, that if you perish, it is not because there was never a Savior provided, nor life tendered, but because you preferredst (with the.Yews) the murderer before thy Savroua, sin before CHRIST. Search thy heart therefore with candles, as the Jews did their houses, for leaven before the Passover; labor to find out thy sins; enter into thy closet, and consider, What evil have I lived in What duty have I neglected towards GOD What sin have [ lived in against my brother Never stand looking upon thy sin, nor rolling the morsel under thy tongue, but spit it out as poison, with fear and detestation. Alas! what will thy sins do for thee, that you should hesitate about parting with them They will flatter thee, but they will undo thee, and cut thy throat while they smile upon thee, and arm the justice and wrath of the infinite GOD against thee. They will open hell for thee, and pile up fuel to burn thee. Behold the gibbet that they have prepared for thee. O serve them like HAMAN, and do upon them the execution they would else have done upon thee. Away with them, crucify them, and let CHRIST only be LORD over thee.

 

 Direction 6: Make a solemn choice of GOD for thy Portion and Blessedness. With all possible devotion and veneration avouch the LORD for thy Con. Set the world, with all its glory, and paint, and gallantry, with all its pleasures, and promotions, on the one hand; and set GOD, with all his excellencies and perfections, on the other; and see that you deliberately make thy choice. Take up thy rest in GOD; set thyself down under his shadow; let his promises and perfections turn the scale against all the world. Settle it in thy heart that the LORD is an all-sufficient portion, and that you can not be miserable while you have GOD to live upon: take him for thy shield, and exceeding great reward. GOD alone is more than all the world; content thyself with him: let others carry the preferments and glory of the world; place you thy happiness in his favor, and the light of his countenance.

 

 Poor Sinner, you art fallen off from GOD, and have engaged his power and wrath against thee': yet know that, of his abundant grace, he does offer to be thy GOD again in CHRisr. What sayest You, man Wilt you have the LORD for thy GOD Take this counsel, and you shall have him. Come to him by CHRIST; renounce the idols of thine own pleasures, gain, or reputation. Let these be pulled out of the throne, and set Golfs interest upper-most in thy heart: take him as GOD, to be chief in thy affection, esteem, and intentions; for he will not endure to have any set above him. In a word, you must take him in all his personal Relations, and in all his essential Perfections.

 

 First, In all his personal Relations.—GOD THE FATHER must be taken for thy Father. O say to him with the Prodigal, " Father, I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight, and am not worthy to be called thy son;" but since of thy wonderful mercy you art pleased to take me, that am of myself as a dog, or a swine, and a child of the Devil, to be thy child, I solemnly take thee for my Father, commend myself to thy care, trust to thy Providence, and cast my burthen on thy shoulders. I depend on thy provision, and submit to thy corrections, and trust under the shadow of thy wings, and hide in thy chambers, and flee to thy name. I renounce all confidence in myself; 1 repose my confidence in thee; I depose my concernments with thee."—Again, GOD the SON must be taken for thy Savior, for thy Redeemer, and Righteousness. He must be accepted as the only way to the FATHER, and the only means of life. O then put off the raiment of thy captivity, put on thy wedding-garment, and go and marry thyself to JESUS CHRIST. " LORD, I am thine, and all that I have, my body, my soul, my name, my estate. I send a bill of divorce to my other lovers, I give my heart to thee; I will be thine undividedly, thine everlastingly. I will set thy name on all I have, and use it only as thy goods, as thy LORD during thy leave, resigning all to thee; I will have no king but thee: reign you over me. Other LORDs have had dominion over me; but now I will make mention of thy name only; and do here take an oath of fealty to thee, promising and vowing to serve, love, and fear thee, above all competitors. I disavow mine own righteousness, and despair of ever being saved for mine own duties, or graces; and lean only on thine all--sufficient sacrifice and intercession for pardon, and life, and acceptance before GOD. I take thee for my only guide and instructor, resolving to be led and directed by thee, and to wait for thy counsel, and that thine shall be the casting voice with me."—Lastly, GOD THE SPIRIT must be taken for thy sanctifier, for thine advocate, thy counsellor, thy comforter, the teacher of thine ignorance, the pledge and earnest of thine inheritance. " Come, you SPIRIT OF THE MOST HIGH! here is a house for thee, here is a temple for thee; here do you rest for ever: lo’ I give up the possession to thee, full possession. I send thee the keys of my heart, that all may be for thy use, that you may put thy goods, thy grace, into every room. I give up the use of all to thee, that every faculty and every member may be thine instrument to work righteousness, and do the will of my Father which is in heaven."

 

 Secondly, In all his essential Perfections.—Consider how the LORD has revealed himself to thee in his word wilt you take him as such a GOD O sinner, here is the most blessed news that ever came to the sons of men; the LORD will be thy GOD, if you wilt but close with him in his excellencies. Wilt you have the merciful, the gracious, the sin-pardoning GOD to be thy GOD O yes, (says the sinner,) I am undone otherwise. But the FATHER tells thee, "I am the holy and sin-hating GOD: if you wilt be owned as one of my people, you must be holy; holy in heart, holy in life: you must put away all thine iniquities, be they ever so near, ever so natural, ever so necessary to the maintenance of thy interest. Unless you wilt be at defiance with sin, I cannot be thy GOD. Cast out the leaven, put away the evil of thy doings, cease to do evil, learn to do well, or else I can have nothing to do with thee. Bring forth mine enemies, or there is no peace to be had with me." What does thine heart answer "LORD, I desire to have thee as such a GOD; I desire to be holy as you art holy. I love thee, not only for thy goodness and mercy, but for thy holiness and purity. I take thy holiness for my happiness; O be to me a fountain of holiness; set on me the stamp and impress of thy holiness. I will thankfully part with all my sins at thy command: my wilful sins I do forthwith forsake: and as for mine infirmities, I will strive against_ them in the use of the means; I detest them, and will pray and war against them, and never let them have quiet rest in my soul." —Beloved, whosoever of you will thus accept of the LORD for his GOD, he shall have him.

 

 Again he tells you, " I am the all-sufficient GOD." (Gen. 17: 1.) This is as if he said, " Will you lay all at my feet, and give it up to my disposal, and take me for your only portion will you own and honor my all-sufficiency will you take me as your happiness and treasure, your hope and bliss I am both a sun and a shield; will you have me for your all" (Gen. 15: I; Psal. lxxxiv. 11.) Now, what dost you say to this; does thy mouth water after the onions and flesh-pots of Egypt Art you does to exchange the happiness of earth for a part in GOD; and though you wouldest be glad to have GOD and the world too, yet can you not think of having him, and nothing but him; but hadst you rather take up with the earth below, if GOD would but let thee keep it as long as you wouldest This is a fearful sign. But if you art willing to sell all for the pearl of great price, if thine heart answer, " LORD, I desire no other portion but thee: take the corn and the wine and the oil, whoso will, so I may have the light of thy countenance: I fix upon thee for my happiness; I gladly venture myself on thee, and trust myself with thee; I set my hopes in thee; I con-tent myself with thee: let me hear thee say, I am thy GOD, thy salvation, and I have enough, all I wish for: I will make no terms with thee, but for thyself; let me but surely have thee; let me be able to make good my claim, and see my title to thyself, and, as for other things, Heave them to thee; give me more or less, any thing or nothing, I will be satisfied in my GOD;"—if you take him thus, he is thy own.

 

 Again he tells you; " I am the Sovereign LORD: If you will have me for your GOD, you must give me the supremacy. (Mat. 6: 24.) You must not make me a second to sin, or any worldly interest. If you will be mypeople, I must have the rule over you; you must not live according to your own pleasure. Will you come under my yoke Will you bow to my government Will you submit to my discipline, to my word, to my rod" Sinner, what sayest you to this Dost you say, "LORD, I had rather be at thy command, than live according to my own pleasure: I had rather have thy will to be done, than mine: I approve of, and con-sent to thy laws, and account it my privilege to live under them; and though the flesh rebel, I am resolved to take no other LORD but thee. I willingly take the oath of thy supremacy, and acknowledge thee for my Sovereign; and resolve all my days to pay the tribute of worship, obedience, love, and service, to thee; and to live to thee, as the end of my life." This is a right accepting of GOD.

 

 To be short, he tells you; " I am the true and faithful GOD: If you will have me for your GOD, you must be content to trust me. (2 Tim. 1: 12; Prov. 3: 5.) Will you venture yourselves upon my word, and depend on my faithfulness, and take my bond for your security Will you be content to follow me in poverty and reproach, and affliction here, and to tarry till the next world for preferment Will you be content to labor and suffer, and to tarry for your returns till the resurrection of the just The womb of my promise will not presently bring forth: will you have the patience to wait"—Now, beloved, what say you to this Will you have this GOD for your GOD Will you be content to live by faith, and trust him for an unseen happiness, an unseen heaven, an unseen glory Do your hearts answer, " LORD, we will venture ourselves upon thee; we commit ourselves to thee; we know whom we have trusted; we are willing to take thy word; we will prefer thy promises before our own possessions, and the hopes of heaven before all the enjoyments of earth; we will wait for thy leisure. Do what you wilt here, so that we may but have thy faithful promise for heaven hereafter."—If you can in truth, and upon deliberation thus accept of GOD, he will be yours.—Thus there must be, in a right conversion to GOD, a closing with him suitable to his excellencies. For when men close with his mercy, but yet love sin; or will take him for their benefactor, but not for their sovereign, or for their patron, but not for their portion; this is no thorough and no sound conversion.

 

Direction 7: Accept of the LORD JESUS zn all his Ogees, and with all his Inconveniences, as thine. Sinner, you have undone thyself, and art plunged into deplorable misery, out of which you art never able to climb up; but JESUS CHRIST is able and ready to help thee, and He freely tenders himself to thee. Be thy sins ever so many, ever so great, of ever so long continuance, yet you shall be most certainly pardoned and saved, if you dost not wretchedly neglect the offer which, in the name of GOD, is here made unto thee. The LORD JESUS calls unto thee; look to him, and be saved. (Isa. xlv. 22.) Come unto him, and he will in no wise cast thee out. (John 6: 37.) Yea, he is a suitor to thee, and beseecheth thee to be reconciled. (2 Cor. 5: 2O.) He cries in the streets, he knocks at thy door, he wooes thee to accept of him and live with him. (Pro', 1: 2O; Rev. 3:2O.) If you die, it is because you wouldest not come to him for life. (John 5: 4O.) Now accept of an offered CHRIST, and you art made for ever; now give thy consent to him, and the match is made; all the world cannot hinder it. Do not stand aloof, because of thine unworthiness. Man, I tell thee, nothing in the world can undo thee but thine unwillingness: speak, man, art you willing for the match Wilt you have CHRIST in all his relations to be thine; thy King, thy Priest, thy Prophet Wilt you have him with all his inconveniences Take not CHRIST hand over head, but sit down first, and count the cost. Wilt you lay all at his feet wilt you be content to run all hazard with him wilt you take thy lot with him, fall where it will wilt you deny thyself, take up thy cross, and follow him

 

 Art you deliberately, understandingly, freely, fixedly determined to cleave to him, in all times and conditions If so, my soul for thine, you shall never perish, but art passed from death to life. Here lies the main point of thy salvation, that you be found thus closing with JESUS CHRIST; and therefore, if you love thyself, see that you be faithful to GOD and thy soul here.

 

 Direction 8: Resign up all thy Powers and Faculties, and thy whole Interest, to be his. The LORD seeks not ours, but us: resign therefore thy body, with all its members, to him, and thy soul, with all its powers; that he may be glorified in thy body, and in thy spirit, which are his. In a right closure with CHRIST,' all the faculties submit to him. The Judgment subscribes, "LORD, you art worthy of all acceptation, chief of ten thousand: happy is the man that finds thee. All the things that are to be desired, are not to be compared with thee." The Understanding lays aside its corrupt reasonings and cavils, and its prejudices against CHRIST and his ways. It is now past disputing, and decides for CHRIST against all the world. It sees such a treasure in this field, such a value in this pearl, as is worth all: " Here is the richest bargain that ever I made; here is the richest prize that ever man was offered; here is the most sovereign remedy that ever mercy prepared: he is worthy of my esteem, worthy of my choice, worthy of my love, worthy to be embraced, adored, admired, for evermore. I approve of his articles; his terms are righteous and reasonable, full of equity and mercy." Again, the Will resigns: it stands no longer wavering, but is peremptorily deter-mined: " LORD, thy love has overcome me; you have won me, and you shall have me: come in, LORD; to thee I freely open; I consent to be saved in thine own way; you shall have any thing, you shall have all, let me have but thee." The Memory submits to CHRIST. "LORD, here is a store-house for thee; out with this trash, and lay in the treasure; let me be a repository of thy truth, thy promises, thy providences." The Conscience comes in; " LORD, Iwill ever side with thee; I will be thy faithful register; I will warn when the sinner is tempted, and smite when you art offended. I will witness for thee, and judge for thee, and guide into thy ways, and will never let sin have quiet in this soul." The Affections also come in to CHRIST. " O," says Love, " I am sick for thee." " O," says Desire, "now I have my longing: here is the satisfaction I sought for: here is the DESIRE of NATIONS: here is bread for me, and balm for me, all that I want." Fear bows the knee with awe and veneration: " Welcome, LORD, to thee will 1 pay my homage; thy word and thy rod shall command my motions; thee will I reverence and adore; before thee will I fall down and worship." Grief likewise comes in: " LORD, thy displeasure and thy dishonor, thy people's calamities and mine own iniquities, shall alone move me: I will mourn when you art offended; I will weep when thy cause is wounded." Anger like-wise declares for CHRIST: " LORD, nothing so enrages me as my folly against thee; that I should be so bewitched as to hearken to Hi," flatteries of sin, and the temptations' of SATAN, against thee." Hatred too will side with CHRIST: " I protest mortal enmity with thine enemies; I never will be the friend of thy foes; I vow an immortal quarrel with every sin, I will give no quarter, I will make no peace."—Thus let all thy powers submit to JESUS CHRIST.

 

 Again: You must give up thy whole interest to hint: if there be any thing that you keepest back from CHRIST, it will be thine undoing. Unless you wilt forsake all, (in the resolution of thine heart,) you can not be his disciple. You must hate father and mother, yea, and thine own life also, in comparison of him. In a word, you must give him thyself, and all that you hast, without reservation; or else you can have no part in him.

 

 Direction 9. Make choice of the Laws of CHRIST, as the rule of thy Words, Thoughts, and Actions. This is the true convert's choice. But here remember these three rules: 1. You must choose them all: there is no conning to heaven by a partial obedience. None may think it enough to adopt the cheap and easy part of religion, and leave the duties which are most costly and self-denying; you must take all or none. A sincere convert, though he makes most conscience of the greatest sins and weightiest duties, yet he makes true conscience of little sins, and of all duties. 2. You must choose then for all times: for prosperity, and for adversity; whether it rain or shine. A true convert is resolved in his way; he will stand to his choice, and will not set his back to the wind, and he of the religion of the times. 3. This must not be done hastily, but with de-liberation and understanding. That disobedient son said, " I go, Sir, but went not." (Matt. 21: 3O.) How fairly did they promise, who said, " All that the LORD Our Got shall speak unto thee, we will do it:" and it is probable they spoke as they meant; but when it came to trial, it was found that there was not such a heart in them, as to do what they had promised. If you would be sincere in closing with the laws of CHRIST, (l.) Study the meaning, and latitude, and compass of them. Remember that they are very spiritual, and reach to the very thoughts of the heart, so that if you will walk by this rule, your very thoughts, and inward motions, must be under government;—that they are very strict, self-denying, and quite contrary to your xiatural inclinations, so that you must take the strait gate, and the narrow way, and be content to have the flesh curbed from the liberty it desires; and in aword, that they are very large: 

 

 "Thy commandment is exceeding broad." (2.) Rest not in general commands, (for there is much deceit in that,) but bring down thy heart to the particular commands of CHRIST. Those Jews mentioned by the Prophet seemed as well resolved as any in the world, and called GOD to witness they meant as they said; but they rested in generals. When GOD'S commands crossed their inclination, they would not obey. (3.) Observe the special duties to which thy heart is most averse, and the special sins to which it is most inclined: and see whether it be truly resolved to perform the one, and forego the other. What sayest you to thy bosom sin, thy gainful sin to costly, and hazardous, and flesh-displeasing duties If you lialtest here, and dost not resolve, by the grace of Got, to cross thy flesh, you art unsound.

 

 Direction 10: Let all this be completed in a Solemn Covenant between GOD and thy soul. For thy better help therein, take these few directions.

 

 I. Set apart some time, more than once, to be spent in secret before the LORD:

 

 (1.) In seeking earnestly his special assistance and gracious acceptance of thee.

 

 (2.) In considering distinctly all the conditions of the covenant, expressed in the form hereafter proposed.

 

 (3.) In searching thine heart, whether you art sincerely willing to forsake all thy sins, and resign thyself, thy body and soul, unto GOD, to serve him in holiness and righteousness all the days of thy life.

 

 2. Compose thy spirit into the most serious frame possible, suitable to a transaction of so high importance.

 

 3. Lay hold on the Covenant of GOD, and rely upon his promise that he will give grace and strength, whereby you may be enabled to perform thy promise. Trust not to the strength of thine own resolutions, but take hold on his strength.

 

 4. Resolve to be faithful. Having engaged thine heart, opened thy mouth, and subscribed with thy hand unto the LORD, resolve in his strength never to go back.

 

 Lastly, Being thus prepared, on some convenient time set apart for the purpose, set upon the work in the most solemn manner possible, as if the LORD were visibly presented before thine eyes; fall down on thy knees; and spreading forth thine hands towards heaven, open thine heart to the LORD in these or the like words.

 

 " O most dreadful GOD! for the passion of thy Son, I beseech thee, accept of thy poor prodigal, now prostrating himself at thy door. I have fallen from thee by mine iniquity; and am by nature a son of death, and a thousand-fold more the child of hell, by my wicked practice. But, of thine infinite grace, you have promised grace to me in CHRIST, if I will but turn to thee with all my heart: therefore, upon the call of thy gospel, I am now come in, and, throwing down my weapons, submit to thy mercy.

 

 "And because you requirest, as the condition of my peace with thee, that I should put away mine idols, and be at defiance with all thine enemies, which I acknowledge I have wickedly sided with, against thee; I here from the bottom of my heart renounce them all: firmly covenanting with thee, not to allow myself in any known sin, but conscientiously to use all the means which I know you have prescribed for the utter destruction of all my corruptions. And whereas I have inordinately and idolatrously let out my affections upon the world, I do here resign up my heart to thee that madest it; humbly protesting before thy glorious majesty, that it is the firm resolution of my heart, and that I do unfeignedly desire grace from thee, that when you shall call me hereunto, I may practice this my resolution, to forsake all that is dear unto me in this world, rather than to turn from thee; and that [ will watch against all its temptations, whether of prosperity or adversity, lest they should withdraw my heart from thee; beseeching thee also to help me against the temptations of SATAN, to whose suggestions I resolve, by thy grace, never to yield myself a servant. And because my own righteousness is but filthy rags, I renounce all confidence therein; and acknowledge that I am, of myself, a hope-less, helpless, undone creature, without righteousness or strength.

 

 " And forasmuch as you bast, of thy bottomless mercy, offered most graciously to me, wretched sinner, to be again my GOD, through CHRIST, if I would accept of thee; I call heaven and earth to record this day, that I do here solemnly avouch thee for the LORD My GOD: and with all possible veneration bowing the neck of my soul under the feet of thy most sacred Majesty, I do here take Thee, LORD JEHOVAH, FATHER, SON, and Hots GHOST, for myportion and chief good; and give up myself, my body and soul, for thy servant, promising and vowing to serve thee in holiness and righteousness all the days of my life.

 

 " And since you have appointed the LORD JESUS CHRIST the only means of coming unto thee, I do here accept of Him, as the only new and living way, by which sinners may have access to thee; and do hereby solemnly join myself in marriage-covenant to him.

 

 " O blessed JESUS, I come to thee hungry, and poor, and wretched, and miserable, and blind, and naked; a most loathsome, polluted wretch; a guilty, condemned male-factor; unworthy even to wash the feet of the servants of my LORD, and much more to be solemnly married to the King of Glory: but since such is thine unparalleled love, I do here with all my power accept thee, and do take thee for my head and husband; for better, for worse; for richer, for poorer; for all times and conditions; to love, honor, and obey thee, before all others; and this to the death. I embrace thee in all thy offices; I renounce mine own worthiness, and do here avow thee to be the LORD my righteousness: I renounce mine own wisdom, and here take thee for mine only guide: I renounce mine own will, and take thy will for my law.

 

 " And since you have told mc, that I must suffer if I will reign, I do here covenant with thee to take my lot with thee, and, by thy grace assisting, to run all hazards with thee; trusting that neither life nor death shall part between thee and me.

 

 " And because you have been pleased to give me thy holy Laws as the rule of my life, and the way in which I should walk to thy kingdom, I do here willingly put my neck under thy yoke, and set my shoulder to thy burden; and subscribing to all thy laws, as holy, just, and good, I solemnly take them as the rule of my words, thoughts, and actions; promising that though my flesh contradict and rebel, yet I will endeavor to order and govern my whole life according to their direction, and will not allow myself in the neglect of any thing that I know to be my duty.

 

 " Only, because through the frailty of my flesh I am subject to many failings, I ani bold humbly to protest, that unallowed miscarriages) contrary to the settled bent and resolution of my heart, shall not make void this Covenant; for so you have said.

 

 " Now, Almighty GOD, Searcher of Hearts, you knows that I make this Covenant with thee this day, without any known guile or reservation; beseeching thee, that if you seest any flaw or falsehood therein, you wouldest discover it to me, and help me to do it aright.

 

 " And now, Glory be to thee, O GOD the FATHER, whom I shall be bold, from this day forward, to look upon as my GOD and FATHER, that ever you should find out such a way for the recovery of undone sinners. Glory be to thee, O GOD the SON, who has loved me, and washed me from my sins in thine own blood, and art now become my Savior and Redeemer. Glory be to thee, O GOD the HOLY GHOST, who, by the finger of thine almighty power, have turned my heart from sin to GOD.

 

 " O dreadful JEHOVAH, the LORD GOD Omnipotent! FATHER, SON, and HOLY GHOST! you art now become my Covenant-Friend; and I, through thy infinite grace, am become thy Covenant-Servant. Amen, So be it! And the Covenant which I have made on earth, let it ratified in heaven!"

 

 This Covenant I advise that you should make, not only in heart, but in word; not only in word, but in writing; and that you should, with all possible reverence, spread the writing before the LORD, as if you would present it to him as your act and deed: and when you have done this, set your hand to it; and keep it as a memorial of the solemn transactions that have passed between GOD and you, that you may have recourse to it in doubts and temptations.

 

Direction 11: Take heed of delaying thy Conversion, and set upon a speedy and present turning. Remember and tremble at the sad instance of the foolish virgins, who came not till the door of mercy was shut; and of convinced FELIx, who put off PAUL to another season, and we never find that he had such a season more. O come in while it is called to-day, lest the day of grace should be over, and the things that belong to thy peace should be hid from thine eyes. Now mercy is wooing thee; now CHRIST is waiting to be gracious to thee, and the Spirit of GOD is striving with thee; now ministers are calling; now conscience is stirring; now oil may be had, you have opportunity for the buying; now CHRIST is to be had for the taking. O strike in with the offers of grace, now or never. If you make light of this offer, GOD may swear in his wrath that you shall not taste of his supper.

 

 Direction 12: Attend conscientiously upon the Word, as the means appointed for thy Conversion. Attend, I say, not customarily, but conscientiously; with this desire, design, hope, and expectation, that you may be converted by it. To every sermon you hearest, come with this thought: "I hope GOD will now come in; I hope this day may be the time, this may be the man, by whom GOD will bring me home." When you art coming to the ordinances, lift up thine heart thus to GOD: " LORD, let this be the sabbath, this the season, wherein I may receive renewing grace! Oh let it be said, that to-day such an one was born unto thee."

 

Direction X[II. Strike in with the SPIRIT, when he begins to work upon thy heart. Quench not the SPIRIT; do not out-strive him; do not resist him. Beware of putting out convictions by evil company, or worldly business. When you findest any troubles for sin, and fears about thy eternal state, beg of GOD that they may never leave thee, till they have wrought off thy heart from sin, and wrought it over to JESUS CHRIST. Say to him, "Strike home, LORD; leave not the work in the midst. If you seest that I am not yet wounded enough, that I am not troubled enough, wound me yet deeper, LORD; O go to the bottom of my corruption, let out the life-blood of my sins."—Thus yield up thyself to the workings of the SPIRIT, and hoist thy sails to his gales.

 

 Direction 14: Set upon the constant and diligent use of serious and fervent-Prayer. He that neglects prayer is a profane and unsanctified sinner. He that is not constant in prayer is but a hypocrite. This is one of the first things conversion appears in, that it sets men on praying. Therefore set to this duty: let never a day pass over thee wherein you have not, morning and evening, set apart some time for solemn prayer in secret. Call thy family also together daily and duly, to worship GOD with thee. Woe be unto thee, if thine be found amongst the families that call not upon GOD's name. Cold and lifeless devotions will not reach half way to heaven. Be fervent and importunate: without violence the kingdom of heaven will not be taken: you must strive to enter, and wrestle with tears and supplications as JACOB, if you meanest to carry the blessing. You art undone for ever without grace, and therefore you must resolve to take no denial. That man that is fixed in this resolution; Well, I must have grace, and I never will give over till I have grace, and I will never leave seeking, and waiting, and striving with GOD, and my own heart, till he do renew me by the power of his grace: this man is in the likeliest way to win grace.

 

 " But GOD heareth not sinners, their prayer is an abomination."

 

 Answer. Distinguish between sinners. There are, 1: Resolved sinners: their, prayers GOD abhors: 2. Re-turning sinners: these GOD will come forth to, and meet with mercy though yet afar off.

 

 Is it not good comfort that he calls thee Does he set thee on the use of means, and dost you think he will mock thee Doubtless, he will not fail thee, if you be not wanting to thyself. O pray, and faint not! Throw thyself at the feet of GOD; it is for thy life, and therefore follow him, and give not over. What though GOD do not presently open to thee Is not grace worth the waiting for Knock and wait; and sooner or later mercy will come.

 

 [The original text which would be shown here, taken from page 147, was too damaged to be legible.]

 

 And of all temptations, one of the most fatal and pernicious is evil company. O what hopeful beginnings have these often stifled! O the souls, the estates, the families, the towns, that these have ruined! How many a poor sinner has been enlightened and convinced, and has been just ready to escape the snare, and yet wicked company have "pulled him back, and made him seven-fold more the child of hell.

 

 In a word, I have no hopes of thee, except you wilt shake off thy evil company. CHRIST speaks to thee, as to them in another case; "If you seek me, then let these go their way." Thy life lies upon it; forsake these, or else you can not live. Let this sentence be written upon thy conscience, "A COMPANION OF FOOLS SHALL BE DESTROYED." The LORD has spoken it, and who shall reverse it And wilt you run upon destruction, when GOD himself does forewarn thee If GOD do ever change thy heart, it will appear in the change of thy company. Oh, fear and fly this gulf, by which so many thousands of souls have been swallowed into perdition. It will be hard for thee, indeed, to make thine escape: thy companions will be mocking thee out of thy religion, and will study to fill thee with prejudices against strictness, as ridiculous and comfortless. They will be flattering thee, and alluring thee; but remember the warnings of the HOLY GHOST, " My son, if sinners entice thee, consent you not. If they say, Come with us, cast in thy lot among us; walk not you in the way with them, refrain thy foot from their path; avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it and pass away; for the way of the wicked is as darkness, they know not at what they stumble. They lay wait far their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives."

 

 My soul is moved within me, to see how many of my hearers are like to perish, both they and their houses, by this wicked snare; even the haunting of such places and company, whereby they are drawn into sin. Once more I admonish you, as MosEs did Israel, "Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men." O! flee from them as you would those that had the plague-sores in their foreheads. These are the devil's panders and decoys; and if you dost not make thine escape, they will prove thine eternal ruin.

 

 Direction 16: Lastly, Set apart a day to humble thy soul in secret, by fasting and prayer, and to work a sense of thy sins and miseries upon thy heart. Read over some good exposition of the commandments; write down the duties omitted, and sins committed, by thee, against every commandment; and so make a catalogue of thy sins, and with shame and sorrow spread them before the LORD. And if thy heart be truly willing, join thyself solemnly to the LORD in that Covenant set down in the ninth Direction, and the LORD grant thee mercy in his sight.

 

 Thus have I told thee what you must do to be saved. Wilt you now obey the voice of the LORD Wilt you arise and set thyself to the work O man! what answer wilt you make What excuse wilt you have, if you should perish at last through very wilfulness, when you have known the way of life I do not fear thy miscarrying, if thine own idleness do not at last undo thee, in neglecting the use of the means that are so plainly here prescribed. Rouse up, O sluggard, and ply thy work: be doing, and the LORD will be with thee.

 

A soliloquy for an unregenerate Sinner.

 

 Ah wretched man that I am! what a condition have 1 brought my.’ into by sin! I see my heart has but deceived me ail this while, in flattering me that my condition was good: I see I am a lost and undone man, for ever undone, unless the LORD help me out of this condition. My sins! my sins! LORD, what an unclean, polluted wretch am I!! More loathsome and odious to thee, than the most hateful venom, or noisome carcass, can be to me. O what a hell of sin is in this heart of mine, which I flattered myself to be a good heart! LORD, how universally am I corrupted in all my parts, powers, and performances! All the imaginations of the thoughts of my heart are only evil continually. My heart is a very sink of all sin: and O the innumerable hosts and swarms of sinful thoughts, words, and actions, that have flown from thence! O the load of guilt that is on my soul! My head is full, my heart is full, my mind, and my members, they are all full of sin. O my sins! how do they stare upon me! how do they witness against me! Woe is me, my creditors are upon me; every commandment taketh hold upon me for more than ten thousand talents, yea, ten thousand times ten thousand. How endless, then, is the sum of all my debts! Woe unto me, for my debts are infinite, and my sins are increased: they are wrongs to an infinite Majesty; and if he that committed treason against a mortal is worthy to be drawn and quartered, what have I deserved, that have so often lifted up my hand against heaven, and have struck at the crown and dignity of the Almighty.

 

 O my sins, my sins! Behold a troop cometh! Multitudes, multitudes! There is no number of their armies. Innumerable evils have compassed me about: mine iniquities have taken hold upon me; they have set themselves in array against me. It were better to have all the regiments of hell come against me, than w have my sins fall upon me, to the spoiling of my soul. LORD, how I am surrounded How many are they that rise up against me They have beset me behind and before; they swarm within me, and without me: they have possessed all my powers, and have fortified my unhappy soul, as a garrison, which this brood of hell does maintain against the GOD that made me.

 

 And they are as mighty as they are many. The sands are many, but then they are not great: the mountains great, but then they are not many. But woe is me! my sins are as many as the sands, and as mighty as the mountains; their weight is greater than their number. It were better that the rocks and the mountains should fall upon me, than the crushing and insupportable load of my own sins. LORD, I am heavy laden; let mercy help, or I am gone. Unload me of this heavy guilt, this sinking load, or I am crushed without hope, and must be pressed down to hell. If my grief were thoroughly weighed, and my sins laid in the balances together, they would be heavier than the sand of the sea; therefore my words are swallowed up: they would weigh down all the rocks, and the hills, and turn the balance against all the isles of the earth. O LORD, you knows my manifold transgressions, and my mighty sins.

 

 Ah my soul! alas my glory! whither art you humbled' Once the glory of the creation, and the image of GOD; now a lump of filthiness, a coffin of rottenness, replenished with stench and loathsomeness. O what work has sin made with thee! You shall be termed Forsaken, and all the rooms of thy faculties, Desolate; and the name that you shall be called by is Ichabod, or Where is the glory How art you come down My beauty is turned into deformity, and my glory into shame. LORD, what a loathsome leper am I How offensive to the most holy GOD, whose eyes cannot behold iniquity.

 

 And what misery have my sins brought upon me! LORD, what a case am I in! Sold under sin, cast out of Gov's favor, accursed from the LORD, cursed in my body, cursed in my soul, cursed in my name, in myestate, my relations, and all that I have!' My sins are unpardoned, and my soul within a step of death. Alas! what shall I do whither shall I go which way shall I look GOD is frowning on me from above, hell gaping for me beneath; conscience smiting inc within, temptations and dangers surrounding me without. Oh, whither shall I flee What place can hide me from Omniscience What power can secure me from Omnipotence

 

What meanest You, O my soul, to go on thus Art you in league with hell Have you made a covenant with death Art you in love with misery Is it good for thee to be here Alas! what shall I do Shall I go on in my sinful ways Then certain damnation will be mine end. And shall I be so besotted, as to go and sell my soul to the flames for a little ease, for a little pleasure or gain Shall I linger any longer in this wretched estate No; if I tarry here, I shall die. What, then, is there no help, no hope None, except I turn. But is there any remedy for such woeful misery any mercy after such provoking iniquity Yes, as sure as Gov's oath is true, I shall have pardon and mercy yet, if presently, unfeignedly, and unreservedly, I turn by CHRIST to Him.

 

 Why then I thank thee, O most merciful JEHOVAH, that thy patience has waited for me hitherto; for hadst you taken me away in this state, I had perished for ever. I adore thy grace, and accept the offers of thy mercy: 1 renounce all my sins, and resolve, by thy grace, to set myself against them, and follow thee in holiness and righteousness all the days of my life.

 

 Who am I, LORD, that I should make any claim unto Thee, or have any part or portion in Thee, who am not worthy to lick up the dust of thy feet Yet since You holdest up the golden sceptre, I am bold to come and touch. To despair, would be to disparage thy mercy; and to stand off, when you biddest me to come, would be at once to undo myself, and rebel against thee. There-fore, I bow my soul to thee, and with all possible thankfulness accept thee as mine, and give up myself to thee as thine. You shall be sovereign over me, my King and my GOD: you shall be in the throne, and all my powers shall bow to thee; they shall come and worship before thy feet; you shall be my portion, O LORD, and I will rest in thee.

 

 You tallest for my heart: O that it were in any way fit for thine acceptance! I am unworthy, O LORD, everlastingly unworthy, to be thine: but since you wilt have it so, I freely give up my heart to thee; take it, it is thine: O that it were better! But, LORD, I put it into thine hand, who alone can mend it; mould it after thine own heart; make it as You wouldest have it, holy, humble, heavenly, soft, tender, flexible; and write thy law upon it.

 

 Come, LORD JESUS, come quickly; enter in triumphantly: take me to Thee for ever. I give up to Thee, I come to Thee as the only way to the FATHER, as the only Mediator, the means ordained to bring me to GOD. I have destroyed myself, but in Thee is my help: save, LORD, or I perish; I am worthy to die, and to be damned. Never was the hire more due to the servant, than death and hell are due to me for my sins; but I flee to thy merits, I trust alone to the virtue of thy sacrifice, and the prevalency of thy intercession; I submit to thy teaching, I make choice of thy government: stand open, ye ever-lasting doors, that the King of Glory may come in.

 

 O you SPIRIT OF THE MOST HIGH, the Comforter and Sanctifier of thy chosen; come in with all thy glorious train, all thy fruits and graces; let me be thine habitation. I can give thee only that which is thine own already! but here, with the poor widow, I cast my two mites, my soul and my body, into thy treasury, fully resigning them up to thee, to be sanctified by thee, to be servants to thee: they shall be thy patients, cure you their malady; they shall be thy agents, govern you their motions. Too long have I served the world, too long have I hearkened tO SATAN; but now I renounce them all, and will be ruled. by thy dictates and directions, and guided by thy counsel.

 

 O blessed TRINITY! O glorious UNITY! I deliver up myself to thee; receive me; write thy name, O LORD, upon me, and upon all that I have, as thy proper goods: set thy mark upon me, upon every member of my body, and every faculty of my soul. I have chosen thy precepts; thy law will I lay before me: this shall be the copy which I will keep in my eye, and study to write after. According to this rule do I resolve, by thy grace, to walk; after this law shall my whole man be governed. I resolve, in the power of thy grace, to cleave to thee and thy holy ways, whatever it cost me. I am sure I cannot finally be a loser by thee; therefore I will be content with reproach, and difficulties, and hardships here; and will deny myself, and take up my cross, and follow thee. LORD JESUS, thy yoke is easy, thy cross is welcome, as it is the way to thee. I lay aside all hopes of worldly happiness; I will be content to tarry till I come to thee: let me be poor and low, little and despised here, so that I may be admitted to live and reign with thee hereafter. LORD, you have my heart and hand to this agreement: be it as the laws of the Hades and Persians, never to be reversed: to this I will stand; in this resolution, by grace, I will live and die. I have sworn, and will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments. I have given my free consent, I have made my everlasting choice: LORD JESUS, confirm the contract! Amen.

 

CHAP. 7 Containing the Motives to Conversion.

 

 THOUGH what is already said of the necessity of con-version, and of the miseries of the unconverted, might be sufficient to induce any considering mind to resolve upon a present turning to GOD; yet. knowing of what desperate obstinacy the heart of man is naturally capable, I have thought it necessary to add some Motives to persuade you to it.

 

 LORD! fail me not now, at my last attempts. If any soul have read hitherto, and be yet untouched, now, LORD, fasten conviction in him, and do thy work: now take him by the heart, overcome him, and persuade him, till he say, " You have prevailed, for you went stronger than 1:" LORD, didst you not make me a fisher of men And have I toiled all this while, and caught nothing Alas! that I should have spent my strength for nought! And now I am casting my last: LORD JESUS, stand you upon the shore, and direct how and where I shall spread my net; and let me so enclose with arguments the souls I seek for, that they may not be able to get out. Now, LORD, for a multitude of souls! Now for a full draught! O LORD GOD, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me this once, O GOD!

 

Men and brethren, heaven and earth call upon you; yea, hell itself does preach the doctrine of repentance unto you; the angels of the churches travail with you; the angels of heaven wait for you, for your turning to GOD. O sinner, why should the devils make merry with thee Why should you be a prey for that devouring Leviathan Why should harpies and hell-hounds tear thee, and make a feast upon thee; and when they have got thee into the snare, and have fastened their talons in thee, laugh at thy destruction, and deride thy misery This must be thy case, except you turn: and were it not better you should be a joy to angels, than a laughing-stock for devils If you wouldest but come in, the heavenly host would take up their anthems, and sing, "Glory to GOD in the highest;" the morning stars would sing together, and all the sons of GOD shout for joy. The glorious spirits would rejoice, in that there would be a new brother added to their society, another heir born to their LORD, and the lost son received safe and sound. The true penitent's tears are, indeed, the wine that cheereth both Gob and man.

 

 If you think it a little thing that men and angels would rejoice at thy conversion, know that GOD himself wouldrejoice over thee, even with singing, and rest in his love. Never did JACOB, with such joy, weep over the neck of his JOSEPH, as that with which thy heavenly Father would rejoice over thee. Look over the story of the prodigal. Methinks I see how the aged father lays aside his state, and forgets his years: behold how he runneth! O the haste that mercy makes! The sinner makes not half that speed. Methinks I see how his bowels turn, how his compassions yearn. How quick-sighted is love! Mercy spies him a great way off; forgets his riotous courses, horrid unthankfulness, and debauched practices; (not a word of these;) and receives him with open arms, falls on his neck, forgets his rags, kisses the lips that deserved to be loathed, and calls for the fatted calf, the best robe, the ring, the shoes, the best cheer in heaven's store, the best attire in heaven's wardrobe. Yea, the joy cannot be held in one breast; others must be called to participate; the friends must meet, and make merry. Angels must wait, but the prodigal must be set at table, under his father's wing: he is the joy of the feast, he is the sweet subject of the father's delight: the friends sympathize, but none knows the felicity the father enjoys in his new-born son, whom he has received from the dead. Me-thinks I hear the music and dancing at a distance. O the melody of the heavenly choristers! I cannot learn the song, but methinks I over-hear the burden of it; at which all the harmonious choir, with one consent, strike sweetly in: ",For this my son was dead, and is alive again; was lost, and is found." I need not farther explain the parable; GOD is the Father; CHRIST is the cheer; his righteousness the robe; his graces the ornaments; ministers, saints, and angels, the friends and servants; and you that readest (if you wilt but unfeignedly repent) the welcome prodigal, the happy instance of this grace, and blessed subject of this joy and love.

 

 O rock! O adamant! What! not moved yet! Not yet resolved to turn forthwith, and to close with mercy! I will try thee yet once again: if one were sent to thee from the dead, wouldest you be persuaded Why, hear the voice from the dead, from the damned, crying to thee that you should repent: " I pray thee, that you wouldest send him to my father's house, for I have five brethren, that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment." Hear, O plan! thy predecessors in impenitence preach to thee from the infernal gibbet. O look down into the bottomless pit: see how the smoke of their torment ascends for ever and ever! How black are the fiends, how furious their tor-mentors It is their only music to hear how the miser-able sufferers roar,—to hear their bones crack: it is their meat and drink, to see how their flesh fries, and their fat drops; to drench them with burning metal, and to tear open their bodies, and pour in fierce burning brass into their bowels, and into the recesses and ventricles of their hearts. What thinkest you of those chains of darkness, of those instruments of cruelty Can you be content to burn Seest you how the worm gnaweth, how the oven gloweth, how the fire rageth What sagest you to that river of brimstone, dark and horrible, that gulf of perdition Wilt you take up thy habitation there O lay thine ear to the door of hell! Hearest you the curses and blasphemies, the weeping and wailings How they lament their folly, and curse their day! How do they roar and yell, and gnash their teeth! How deep are their groans; how feeling are their moans; how unconceivable are their miseries! If the shrieks of KoRAH, DATHAN, and ABIRAM, were so terrible, (when the earth chive asunder, and opened her mouth, and swallowed them up,) that all Israel fled at the cry of them; oh, how fearful would the cry be, if GOD should take off the covering from the mouth of hell, and•let the cry of the damned ascend in all its terror among the children of men! And of all their moans and misery, this is the piercing, killing emphasis and burden, For ever! for ever!

 

 Why, as GOD liveth, that made thy soul, you art but a few hours distant from all this, except you repent, and be converted. Oh, I am even lost and swallowed up in the abundance of those arguments which I might suggest. If there be any point of wisdom in all the world, it is to repent; if there be any thing righteous, any thing reasonable, this is it: if there be any thing in the world that may be called madness and folly, any thing that may be counted sottish, absurd, brutish, and unreasonable, it is this, to go on in thine unconverted state. Let me beg thee, as you wouldest not wilfully destroy thyself, to sit clown and weigh, besides what has been said, these following motives; and let conscience speak, if it be not reasonable that you should repent and turn to GOD.

 

 I. The GOD that made thee, does most graciously invite thee.

 

 (1.) His most sweet and merciful nature does invite thee. O the kindness of GOD, his working bowels, his tender mercies! They are infinitely above our thoughts; higher than heaven, what can we do deeper than hell, what can we know "He is full of compassion, and gracious; long suffering, and plenteous in mercy." This is a great argument to persuade sinners to come in: "Turn unto the LORD your GOD, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil." If GOD would not repent of the evil, it would be a discouragement to us to repent: if there were no hope of mercy, it were no such wonder if rebels should stand out: but never had subjects such a gracious prince, such patience, clemency, and pity, to deal with, as you have. "Who is a GOD like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity" O sinners, see what a GOD you have to deal with! If you will but turn, " he will turn again, and have compassion on you: he will subdue your iniquities, and cast all your sins into the depth of the sea. Return unto me, says the LORD OF HOSTS, and I will return unto you." Sinners do not fail in having too high thoughts of GOD's mercies; but, first, in overlooking his justice, secondly, in promising themselves mercy out of GOD's way. His mercy is beyond all imagination; " great mercies," "manifold mercies," "tender mercies," "sure mercies," " everlasting mercies," are all thy own, if you wilt but turn. Art you willing to come in Why, the LORD has laid aside his terror, erected a throne of grace, and holds forth the golden sceptre: touch, and live. Would a merciful man slay his enemy, when prostrate at his feet, acknowledging his wrong, begging pardon, and offering to enter with him into a covenant of peace Much less will the merciful GOD.

 

(2.) His Calls and Promises invite thee. Ah, what an earnest suitor is mercy! How lovingly, how instantly it calls after thee! How passionately it wooeth thee! " Return, you backsliding Israel, says the LORD, and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you; for I am merciful, says the LORD, and I will not keep anger for ever: only acknowledge thine iniquity. Turn, O backsliding children, says the LORD, for I am married unto you: return, and I will heal your backslidings. As I live, says the LORD GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that he turn from his way, and live. Turn ye, turn ye, from your evil ways, for why will ye die, O house of Israel Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions, so iniquity shall not be your ruin. Cast away from you all your transgressions, and make you a clean heart, and a new spirit; for why will ye die, O house of Israel for I’ have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, says the LORD GOD: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye."

 

 O melting and gracious words! The voice of a GOD, and not of a man! This is not the manner of men, for the offended sovereign to sue to the offending traitor. How does mercy follow thee, and plead with thee! Is not thy heart broken yet O that " to-day" you wouldest " hear his voice."

 

 2. The doors of heaven are thrown open to thee, the everlasting gates are set wide for thee, and an abundant entrance into the kingdom of heaven administered to thee. CHRIST now says to thee, "Arise, and take possession." View the glory of the other world, as set forth in the map of the Gospel. Get thee up to Pisgah, and lift up thine eyes westward, northward, southward, and eastward, and see the good land that is beyond Jordan, and that goodly mountain. Behold the paradise of GOD, watered with the streams of glory. Arise, and walk through the land, in the length of it, and in the breadth of it; for the land which you seest, the LORD will give it thee for ever, if you wilt but return. Let me say to thee, as PAUL said to AGRIPPA, "Believest you the Prophets" If you believest indeed, do but view what glorious things are spoken of the city of GOD; and know, that all this is here tendered, in the name of GOD, to thee: as verily as GOD is true, it shall be for ever thine, if you wilt but thoroughly turn.

 

 Behold the city of pure transparent gold, whose foundations are garnished with all manner of precious stones, whose gates are pearls, whose light is glory, whose temple is GOD. Believest you this If you dost, art you not worse than distracted, who wilt not take possession, when the gates are thrown open to thee, and you art bid to enter O ye sons of folly, will ye embrace the dunghills, and refuse the kingdom Behold the LORD GOD taketh you up into the mountain, shows you the kingdom of heaven, and all the glory thereof, and tells you, " All this will I give you, if you will fall down and worship me;" if you will submit to mercy, accept my SON, and serve me in righteousness and holiness! " O fools and slow of heart to believe!" Will you seek and serve the world, and neglect eternal glory What! not enter into paradise, when the flaming sword, that was once set to keep you out, is now used to drive you in! But you will say, I am uncharitable to think you infidels and unbelievers. Why, what shall I think you Either you are desperate unbelievers, that do not credit it; or stark distracted, if you know and believe the excellency and eternity of this glory, and yet do so fearfully neglect it. Surely you have no faith, or no reason.

 

 If you say you believest, let me next know thy resolutions. Wilt you embrace this for thy happiness Wilt you forego thy sinful gains, thy forbidden pleasures Wilt you be content to submit to present reproach and poverty, if they he in the way to heaven, and follow the LORD with humble self-denial, in a mortified and flesh-displeasing life If so, all is thine, and that for ever. is not the offer fair Is it not right that he should be damned, that will go on and perish, when all this may be had for the taking In a word, wilt you now close with these offers Wilt you take GOD at his word Wilt you let go the world, and rid thy hands of thy sins, and lay hold on eternal life If not, let conscience tell thee whether you art not distracted, that you should neglect so happy a choice.

 

 3. GOD will settle upon thee, at present, unspeakable privileges. Though the fullness of your blessedness shall be deferred till hereafter, yet GOD will give you no little things in hand. He will pluck you from the paw of the lion. The serpent shall bruise your heel, but you shall bruise his head. He shall deliver you from the present evil world. Prosperity shall not destroy you: adversity shall not separate between him and you. He will redeem you from the power of the grave, and make the king of terrors a messenger of peace to you. He will take out the curse from the cross, and make affliction the fining-pot, the fan, the physick, to blow off the chaff, purify the metal, and purge the mind. He will save you from the arrest of the law, and turn the curse into a blessing. He has the keys of hell and death, and shutteth so that no man opens; and he will shut its mouth, as once he did that of the lions, so that you shall not be hurt by the second death.

 

 But he will not only save you from misery, but install you in unspeakable prerogatives; he will bestow himself upon you: he will be a friend unto you, and a father unto you; he will be a sun and a shield: in a word, he will be a GOD to you. And what can be said more What you may expect that a GOD should do for you, and be to you, that he will be, that he will do. She who marries a prince, expects that he should provide for her like a prince, that she may live iii a suitable state, and have an answerable dowry. He who has a King for his father, or friend, expects that he should provide for him like a King. Alas! the Kings and Monarchs of the earth, so much above you, are but like the painted butterflies, if compared with GOD. As he does infinitely exceed the glory and power of his glittering dust, so he will, beyond all proportion, surpass, in providing for his favorites, whatever princes can do for theirs. He will give you grace and glory, and withhold no good thing from you. He will take you for his sons and daughters, and make you heirs of his promises, and establish his everlasting covenant with you. He will justify you from all that law, conscience, or SATAN, can charge upon you. He will give you free access into his presence, and accept your person, and receive your prayers. He will abide in you, and make you partakers of his counsels, and hold a constant and friendly communion with you. His ear shall be open, his door open, his store open to you, at all times, His blessing shall rest upon you; he will make your enemies to serve you, and cause all things to work for good unto you.

 

 4. The terms of Mercy are brought as low as possible. GOD has stooped as low to sinners, as he can with honor. He will not stain the glory of his holiness: and how could he come lower than he has done, unless he should do this He does not impose any thing unreasonable, or impossible, as a condition of life upon you. Two things were necessary to be done, according to the tenor of the first covenant, by you: (1.) That you should fully satisfy the demands of justice for past offences. (2.) That you should perform personally, perfectly, and perpetually, the whole law forthe time to come. But behold GOD's gracious abatement in both! He does not stand upon satisfaction from you; he expects nothing but that you should accept his SON, and He will be righteousness and redemption to you. And as to the future obedience, here he is content to yield to your weakness, and omit the rigour. He does not stand upon perfection as a condition of life, though he still insists upon it as due, but is content to accept of sincerity. Though you cannot pay the full debt, he will accept you according to that which you have, and take willingness for doing, and the purpose for the performance. (2 Cop. 8: 12.)

 

 O consider your Maker's condescension, and let rue say to you, as NAANIAN'S servant to him; " My father, if the Prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest you not have done it How much rather when he says unto thee, Wash and be clean " If GOD had demanded some terrible, severe, and rigorous thing of you, in order to escape eternal damnation, would you not have done it Suppose it had been to spend all your days in sorrow in some howling wilderness, or to pine yourselves with famine, or to offer the fruit of your bodies for the sin of your souls, would you not have thankfully accepted eternal redemption, though these had been the conditions Yea, farther: if GOD should have told you, that you should have burned in the fire for millions of ages, or have been so long tormented in hell, would you not have accepted it Alas! All these are not so much as one sand in the glass of eternity. If your offended Creator should have held you but one year upon the rack, and then bid you come and forsake your sills, accept CHRIST, and serve a few years in self-denial, or else he in this case for ever and ever; do you think you should have disputed the terms, and have been unresolved whether to accept of the proposal O sinner, return and live! Why should you die, when life is to be had for the taking Couldest you say indeed, " LORD, I know that you wast an hard man," you hadst some little excuse: but when the GOD of heaven has stooped so low, and abated sofar, if now you should stand aloof, who shall plead for thee

 

 5. Wherein you are impotent, GOD does offer grace to strengthen you. What though you are plunged into that misery, from which you can never get out CHRIST offereth to help you out; he stretcheth his hand to you, and if you perish, it is for refusing his help. " Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man open to me, I will come in." What though you are poor, and wretched, and blind, and naked CHRIST offereth a cure for your blindness, a cover for your nakedness, a remedy for your poverty; he tendereth to you his righteousness, his graces: " I counsel thee to buy of me gold, that you may be rich; and white raiment, that you may be cloathed; and anoint thine eyes with eye-salve, that you may see." Do you say, that condition is impossible, for I have not wherewith to buy You must know that this buying is without money, and without price. This buying is by begging, and seeking with diligence and constancy in the use of Gorr's means. GOD commandeth thee to know him, and to fear him. Dost you say, " Yea, but my mind is blinded, and my heart is hardened from this fear " I answer, GOD Both offer to enlighten thy mind, and to teach thee his fear. So that now, if men live in ignorance, and estrangement from the LORD, it is because " they will not understand, and desire not the knowledge of his ways." (Job 21: 14.) " If you criest after knowledge, if you seekest her as silver, then shall you understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of Goo." (Prov. 2: 3, 4, 5.) Is not this a fair offer, " Turn you at my reproof; behold, I will pour out my SPIRIT upon you " (Prov. 1: 23.) Though of your-selves you can do nothing, yet you may do all through his SPIRIT enabling you; and he Both offer assistance to you. GOD bids you " wash, and make you clean," (Isa. 1: 16.) You say, you are unable, as much as the leopard is to wash out his spots. (Jer. 13: 23.) Yea, but the LORD (does offer to purge you; so that if you be filthy still, it is through your own wilfulness: (Jer. 13: 27.) " O Jerusalem, wilt you not be made clean When shall it once be " GOD does wait for the time when you will be made dean, when you will yield to his motions, and accept of his offers, and let him do for and in you, what you cannot do for yourselves. You do not know how much GOD will do upon your importunity, if you will be but restless and urgent with him.

 

 You art not able to believe, nor repent: GOD appoints thee to use certain means in order to thy obtaining faith and repentance. Does not this argue, that GOD will bestow these graces upon thee if you dost seek him diligently in prayer, meditation, reading, hearing, selfexaminai:ion, and the rest of his means Otherwise GOD would but mock his poor creatures, if he enjoined these endeavors; and then, when they have been put hard to it, and continued waiting upon him for grace, denied them at last. Surely, if a good-natured man would not deal thus, much less will the most merciful and gracious GOD.

 

THE CONCLUSION.

 

 AND now, my brethren, let me know your minds What do you intend to do Will you go on and die or will you set about a thorough and speedy conversion, and lay hold on eternal life How long will you linger in Sodom how long vill you halt between two opinions Are you not yet resolved which to prefer, CHRIST Or BARABBAS Can the world do that for you which CHaisT can Will it stand by you to eternity Will pleasures, titles, lands, treasures, descend with you If not, is it not necessary to look after something that will What mean you, to stand wavering to and fro Shall I leave you at last no farther advanced than An RPPA,—hut almost persuaded Why, you are for ever lost, if left here: as good be notat all, as not altogether Christians. You are half of the mind to desist from your negligent life, and to set about a strict and holy course; you could wish you were as some others are, and could do as they can do: how long will you rest in idle wishes, and fruitless purposes When will you come to a fixed, full, and firm resolution 1)o not you see how SATAN _deludes you, by tempting you to delays How long has he drawn you on in the way of perdition How many years have you been purposing to amend What, if GOD should have taken you away, during that time

 

 Well! put inc not off with a dilatory answer: tell nie not of hereafter; I must have your present consent. If you be not now resolved, while the LORD is treating with you, and wooing you, much less are you likely to he so hereafter, when these impressions are worn out, and you are hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. Will you give me your hands Will you set open the doors, and give the LORD JESUS full and present possession Will you putyour names into his covenant Willyousubscribe What do you resolve upon If you are still bent upon delay, my labor is lost, and all is likely to come to nothing. Came! cast in your lot, and make your choice. " Now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation: To-day, if you will hear his voice."—Why should not this be the day from whence you should be able to date thine happiness Why should you venture a day longer in this dangerous and dreadful condition What if GOD should this night require thy soul " Oh that you might know, in this thy day, the things that belong unto thy peace, before they be hid from thine eyes! " This is thy day: others have had their day, and have received their doom; and now art you brought upon the stage of this world, here to act thy part for a whole eternity.,Remember you art now upon thy good behavior for everlasting; if you make not a wise choice now, you art undone for ever. What thy present choice is, such must thy eternal condition be,

 

 And is this true indeed Are life and death at thychoice Then, what hinders but that you should be happy Nothing does or can hinder, but thine own wilful neglect, or refusal. See, here is CHRIST; here are mercy, pardon, life: what hinders, but that you should be pardoned, and saved One of the martyrs, as he was praying at the stake, had his pardon set by him in a box, which indeed he properly refused, because offered upon unworthy terms; but here the terms are most honorable and easy. O sinner, wilt you burn with thy pardon by thee Do but forthwith consent to renounce thy sins, deny thyself, and take up the cross,—and you earnest the day; CHRIST is thine, pardon, peace, life, blessedness, all are thine. And is not this an offer worth embracing Why should you hesitate, or doubtfully dispute about the case Is it not past controversy, whether GOD be better than sin, and glory better than vanity Why should you forsake thine own mercy, and sin against thine own life When wilt you shake off thy sloth, and lay aside thine excuses " Boast not thyself of to morrow:" you knows not where this night may lodge thee.

 

 Beloved, Now the HOLY SPIRIT is striving with you Ile will not always strive.—Have you not felt thy heart warmed by the word, and been almost persuaded to forsake thy sins, and come to GOD Have you not felt some good motions in thy mind, wherein you have been warned of thy danger, and told in what thy careless course would end It may be, you art like young SAMUEL, who, when the LORD called once and again, knew not the voice of the LORD. But these motions are the offers, and calls, and strivings of the SPIRIT. O know the day of thy visitation!

 

 Now the LORD JESUS stretcheth wide his arms to receive you: He beseeches you by us. Flow movingly, how meltingly, how passionately he calls!—Wilt you turn a deaf car to his voice It is not the voice that breaketh the cedars, and maketh the mountains to skip like a calf; that shaketh the wilderness,and divideth the flames of fire. It is not SINAI'S thunder, but the soft and still voice. It is not the voice of Mount EBAL, a voice of cursing and terror; but the voice of Mount GERIZIM, the voice of blessing and of glad tidings. It is not the voice of the trumpet, nor the noise of war; but a message of peace from the King of Peace. I may say to thee, O sinner, as MARTHA to her sister,’ The MASTER is come, and calls for thee." Now, with MARY, arise quickly, and cone unto him. How sweet are his invitations! He cries in the open concourse, " If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink." How free is he! He excludeth none: " Whosoever will, let him cone, and take the water of life freely. Who is simple, let him turn in hither; cone, cat of my bread, drink of the %vine which I have mingled. Come unto mc, take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, and ye shall find rest unto your souls. Him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out." How does he bemoan the obstinate refuser! " O Jerusalem, Jerusalem! how often would I have gathered thy children as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not. Behold me, behold me; I have stretched out my hands all the day to a rebellious people." O be persuaded now, at last, to throw yourselves into the arms of love.

 

Behold, O ye sons of men, the LORD JESUS has thrown open the prisons, and now he cometh to you, and beseecheth you to come out. If it were from a palace, or a paradise, that CHRIST did call you, it were no wonder if you were unwilling; but it is from your prison, from your chains, from the dungeon, from the darkness, that he calls you; and yet will you not come He calls you into liberty, and yet will you not hearken His yoke is easy, his laws are liberty, his service freedom; and what-ever prejudices you have against his ways, if GOD may be believed, you shall find them all pleasure and peace, weal shall taste sweetness and joy unutterable, and take intinite delight and felicity in then,

 

 Beloved, I am loth to leave you: I cannot tell how to give you up. I am now ready to conclude; but fain I would finish this bargain between CHRIST and you, before I end. What! shall I leave you as I found you at last Have you read hitherto, and are not yet resolved immediately to abandon all your sins, and close with CHRIST Alas! what shall I say, what shall I do Will you reject all my importunity Have I run in vain Have I used so many arguments, and spent so much time to persuade you, and yet must I sit down in disappointment But it is a small matter that you reject me; you put a slight upon the GOD that made you; you reject the bowels of a Savior, and will be found resisters of the Flom( Gnosr, if you will not now be prevailed with to repent and be converted.

 

 Well, though I have called you long, and ye have re-fused, I shall yet this (MCC more lift up my voice like a trumpet, and cry from the highest places of the city, before I conclude. Once more I shall call after regardless sinners, that, if it be possible, I may awaken them. " O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD!" Unless you arc resolved to die, lend your cars to the last calls of mercy. Behold, in the name of GOD, I make an open proclamation to you: " Hearken unto me, O ye children: hear instruction and be wise, and refuse it not."

 

 " Ho! every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that has no money; come ye, buy, and eat: yea, come; buy wine and milk without money, and without price. Wherefore do ye spend your money for that which is not bread and your labor for that which satisfieth not Hearken diligently unto me, and cat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your car, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of DAVID."

 

 Ho! every one that is sick of any manner of disease or torment, or is possessed with an evil spirit, whether of pride, or fury, or lust; or covetousness;‑

 

come to the Physician. Lo, here is He who “healeth all manner of sickness, and all manner of diseases among the people."

 

 Ho! every one that is in debt, and every one that is in distress, and every one that is discontented; gather your-selves unto CHRIST, and he will become a captain over you. He will be your protection from the arrests of the law, he will save you from the hand of justice. Behold, He is an open sanctuary to you, he is a known refuge. Away with your sins, and come in unto him, lest the anger of the LORD seize you, lest devouring wrath over-take you.

 

 Ho! every ignorant sinner, come and buy eye-salve, that you may see. Away with thine excuses; you art for ever lost, if you continuest in this state; but accept of CHRIST for thy prophet, and He will be a light unto thee. Cry unto him for knowledge, study his word, take pains about the principles of religion, humble thyself before Him, and he will teach thee his way, and make thee wise unto salvation. But if you wilt not follow Him, but sit down in idleness, because you have but one talent, he will condemn thee as a wicked and slothful servant.

 

 Ho! every profane sinner, come in and live. Return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon thee. Be entreated. O " return, come." You that have filled thy mouth with oaths and execrations, all manner of sins and blasphemies shall be forgiven thee, if you wilt but thoroughly turn to CHRIST. Though you \vast as unclean as MAGDALEN, yet "put away thy whoredoms out of thy sight, and thine adulteries from between thy breasts;" and give up thyself unto CHRIST, as a vessel of holiness for his. use alone; and then, " though thy sins be as scarlet, they shall be as wool; and though they be as crimson, they shall be as white as snow."

 

Hear! O ye drunkards; " How long will you be drunken! Put away your wine.,, Though you have rolled in the vomit of your sin, forsake your beloved vices, and the LORD will receive you. Give up yourselves unto CHRIST, to live soberly, righteously, and Godly; embrace his righteousness; accept his government; and though you have been like the swine, he will wash you.

 

 Hear! O ye seorners, hear the word of the LORD. Though you made sport at Godliness, and the professors of it; though you have scorned CHRIST, and his ways; yet, even you does he call, to be gathered under the wings of his mercy. In a word, though you should be found among the worst in that black roll, mentioned in 1 Cor. 6: 9, 1O, yet, upon your thorough conversion, you shall be washed, you shall be justified, you shall be sanctified, in the name of the LORD JESUS, and by the Spirit of our GOD.

 

 Ho! every formal professor, you that art but a lukewarm Christian, and restest in the form of Godliness, cease from thy halving and thy halting; be a throughout Christian; be zealous, and repent; and then, though you have been an offence to CHRIST, you shall become the joy of his heart.

 

And now, bear witness, that mercy has been offered you! "I call heaven and earth to record against you this day, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that you may live." I can but woo you, and warn you; I cannot compel you to be happy; if I could, I would. What answer will ye send me with to my Master Let me speak to you, as ABRAHAM'S servant did to some of old, "And now, if you will deal kindly and truly with my Master, tell me." O for such a happy answer as REBEKAH gave to them! "They called REBEKAH, and said unto her, Wilt you go with this man And she said, I will go." O that I had but this from you! Why should I be your accuser, who thirst for your salvation Why should the passionate pleadings and wooings of mercy be turned into the horrid aggravations of your obstinacy Judge in yourselves, Do you not think their condemnation will be doubly dreadful, who shall still go on in their sins, after all endeavors to recall them Doubtless, "it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon, yea, for Sodom and Gomorrah, in the day of judgment, than for you." (Matt. 11: 22-24.)

 

 Beloved, if you have any pity for your perishing souls, close with the present offers of mercy. If you would not continue and increase the pains of your travailing ministers, do not rest short of the New Birth. If the GOD that made you have any authority with you, obey his command, and come in. If you are not the despisers of grace, and would not shut up the doors of mercy against yourselves, repent and be converted. Let not heaven stand open for you in vain; let not the LORD JESUS open his blessings, and bid you buy without money and with-out price, in vain; let not his Ministers and his SPIRIT strive with you in vain, and leave you now at last unpersuadcd;—lest that sentence go forth against you, "The bellows are burnt; the lead is consumed of the fire; the founder melteth in vain. Reprobate silver shall men call them, because the LORD has rejected them!"

 

 FATHER OF SPIRITS! take in hand the heart that is too hard for my weakness. Do not you conclude, though I have done;—half a word from thine effectual power will do the work. O you that have the key of DAVID, that openest and no man shutteth; open you this heart, as you didst LYDIA'S, and let the King of Glory enter in, and make this soul thy captive. Let not the Tempter harden him by delays. Let him not stir from this place, nor take his eyes from these lines, till he be resolved to forego his sins, and to accept of life upon thy terms. In thy name, O LORD GOD, did I go forth to these labors; in thy name do I conclude them. Let not all the time they have cost be lost hours; let not all the thoughts' of my heart, and all the pains that have been about them, be lost labor. LORD, put thine hand on the heart of this reader; and send thy SPIRIT, as once you didst send PHILIP to join himself to the chariot of the Eunuch, while he was reading the word. And though I should never know it while I live, yet I beseech thee, O LORD GOD, let it be found at that day, that some souls are converted by these labors. And let some be able to stand forth and say, that by these persuasions they were won unto thee. Amen, Amen. Let him that readeth say, Amen!