has been, as it were, set forth crucified before your eyes. You have been a hundred times told, that you are but lost men till you come to him: as often you have been told of the evil of sin, of the vanity of sin, the world, and all the pleasures and wealth it can afford; of the shortness and uncertainty of your lives, and the endless duration of the joy or torment of the life to come. All this, and more than this, have you been told, and told again; and though all this has not converted you, yet you are alive, and might have mercy, this day, if you had but hearts to entertain it. And now let reason itself be judge-whether it be the fault of God or you, if after all this you will be unconverted and be damned? If you die now, it is because you will die. What could be said more to you? or what course can be taken that is likelier to prevail? Are you able to say, and make it good, We would fain have been converted, and become new creatures, but we could not; we would fain have forsaken our sins, but we could not; we would have changed our company, and our thoughts, and our discourse, but we could not.? Why could you not, if you would? What hindered you, but the wickedness of your hearts? Who forced you to sin? or who held you back from duty? Did God put in any exceptions against you in his word, when he invited sinners to return; and when he promised mercy to those who do return? Did he say, I will pardon all that repent, except thee? Did he shut you out from the liberty of his holy worship? Did he forbid you to pray to him any more than others? You know he did not. God did not drive you away from him, but you ran away yourselves. And when he called you to him, you would not come. If God had excepted you out of the general promise and offer of mercy; or had said to you, Stand off, I will have nothing to do with such as you; pray not to me, for I will not hear you; if you repent ever so much, I will not regard you; then you had had a fair excuse. You might have said, To what end should I repent and turn, when it will do no good? But this was not your case. You

might have had Christ to be your Lord and Saviour, your Head and Husband, as well as others, and you would not, because you felt not yourself sick enough for the physician; because you could not spare your disease. In your hearts you said as those rebels, We will not have this man to reign over us.(b) Christ would have gathered you under the wings of his salvation, and you would not. would not. What desires of your welfare did the Lord express in his holy word! With what compassion did he stand over you, and say, O that my people had hearkened unto me, and that they had walked in my ways! O that there were such a heart in this people, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever! O that they were wise, that they understood this! and that they would consider their latter end! He would have been your God, and done all for you that your souls could desire: but you loved the world and your flesh above him, and therefore you would not hearken to him: though you complimented with him, and gave him high titles, yet when it came to the closing you would have none of him. No marvel then if he gave you up to your own hearts' lusts, and you walked in your own counsels. He condescends to reason, and pleads the case with you, and asks you, "What is there in me, or my service, that you should be so much against me? What harm have I done thee, sinner? Have I deserved this unkind dealing at thy hand? Many mercies have I showed thee: for which of them dost thou thus despise me? Is it I, or is it Satan, that is thy enemy? Is it I, or is it thyself, that would undo thee? Is it a holy life, or a life of sin, which thou hast cause to fly from? If thou be undone, thou procurest this to thyself, by forsaking me, the Lord, that would have saved thee." Do ye thus requite the Lord, O foolish people, and unwise? Is not he thy father, that hath bought thee? Hath he not made thee, and established thee? (c) When he saw that you forsook (c) Deut. xxxii. 6.

(b) Luke xix. 14.

him, even for nothing, and turned away from the Lord, to hunt after the chaff and feathers of the world, he told you your folly, and called you to a more profitable employment.-Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread, and your labour for that which satisfieth not? Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear, 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.(d) And when ye would not hear, what complaints have you put him to, charging it on you as your wilfulness and stubbornness? Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid. For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the Fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water. Many a time has Christ proclaimed that free invitation to youLet him that is athirst come; and whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely.(e) But you oblige him to complain, after all his offers. They will not come to me, that they may have life.(f) He has invited you to a feast with him in the kingdom of his grace: and you have had excuses, from your grounds, and your cattle, and your worldly business; and when you would not come, you said you could not; and provoked him to resolve, that you should never taste of his supper. And whose fault is it now but your own? And what can you say is the chief cause of your damnation, but your own wills? You would be damned.

USE.

1. FROM hence you may see, not only what blasphemy and impiety it is, to lay the blame of men's destruction upon God; but also how unfit these wicked wretches are to bring in such a charge against their Maker. They cry out against God, and say, He

(d) Isa. lv. 2, 3. (e) Rev. xxii. 17. (f) John v. 40.

gives them not grace, and his threatenings are severe, and God forbid that all should be damned that are not converted: and they think it hard measure that a short sin should have an endless suffering; and if they be damned, they say they cannot help it: when, in the mean time, they are busy about their own destruction, even cutting the throat of their own souls, and will not be persuaded to hold their hands. They think God would be cruel if he should damn them: and yet they are so cruel to themselves, that they will run into the fire of hell, when God has told them it is a little before them; and neither entreaties nor threatenings, nor any thing that can be said, will stop them. We see them almost undone; their careless worldly lives tell us that they are in the power of the devil; we know, if they die before they are converted, all the world cannot save them; and knowing the uncertainty of their lives, we are afraid every day lest they drop into the fire. And therefore we entreat them to pity their own souls, and not to undo themselves when mercy is at hand: and they will not hear us. We entreat them to cast away their sin, and come to Christ without delay, and to have some mercy on themselves; but they will have none. And yet they think that God must be cruel, if he condemn them. O wilful, wretched sinners! It is not God that is cruel to you; it is you that are cruel to yourselves. You are told, that you must turn or burn; and yet you turn not. You are told, that if you will keep your sins, you shall keep the curse of God with them; and yet you will keep them. You are told, that there is no way to happiness, but by holiness; and yet you will not be holy. What would you have God say more to you? What would you have him do with his mercy? He offers it you, and you will not have it. You are in the ditch of sin and misery, and he would give you his hand to help you out, and you refuse his help: he would cleanse you from your sins, and you would rather keep them. Would you have him bring you to heaven whether you will or no? or would you have him bring you and your sins to heaven

together? Why, that is an impossibility; you may as well expect that he should turn the sun into darkness. What! an unsanctified heart to be in heaven! It cannot be: There nothing entereth that is unclean. All the day long hath he stretched out his hand to a disobedient and gainsaying people. What will you do now? Will you cry to God for mercy? Why, God calls upon you to have mercy upon yourselves, and you will not. Ministers see the poisoned cup in the drunkard's hands, and tell him, There is poison in it, and desire him to have mercy on his soul, and forbear; and he will not hear us: drink it he must and will, he loves it: and therefore, though hell comes next, he says he cannot help it. What should one say to such men as these? We tell the ungodly, "It is not such a life that will serve the turn, or ever bring you to heaven. If a bear was at your back, you would mend your pace; and when the curse of God is at your back, and Satan and hell are at your back, will you not stir, but ask, what needs all this ado? Is an immortal soul of no more worth? O have mercy upon yourselves!" But they will have no mercy on themselves. We tell them, the end will be bitter. "Who can dwell with everlasting fire?" And yet they will have no mercy upon themselves. And will these shameless wretches say, that God is more merciful than to condemn them, when it is themselves that cruelly run upon condemnation, and we cannot stop them? If we fall down on our knees to them, we cannot stop them: but to hell they will go, and yet will not believe that they are going thither. If we beg of them, for the sake of God that made them, and preserves them; for the sake of Christ who died for them; for the sake of their own poor souls, to pity themselves, and to go no further in the way to hell, but come to Christ while his arms are open, and enter into the state of life while the door stands open, and now take mercy, while mercy may be had; they will not be persuaded. And yet they say, I hope God will be merciful. Did you never consider what he says, It is a people of no understanding: therefore he