perfect his work in our falvation ?—It was a
powerful argument which the Apostle Paul
employed on a certain occafion with Agrippa,
Believeft thou the Prophets?' So fay I to
you, Do you believe the history of your Sa-
viour, as recorded by four Evangelifts? How
do you read them? What was it that affected
him with grief-was it not the hardness of
men's hearts? What was it that drew tears
from his compaffionate eyes-was it not the
view of Jerufalem, that impenitent city, which
knew not, or regarded not, the day of its
merciful vifitation? Nay, what was the er-
rand on which he folemnly declared himself
to be come into the world-was it not to 'feek
' and to fave them who were loft.'-And, O!
will ye counteract, by your obftinate folly, all
these gracious intentions on his part.
Will ye
perfift in rejecting his grace, until ye
torted vengeance and indignation from him
whofe heart is love? How dreadful, in that
cafe, muft your doom be!-As ye
love your
fouls, be warned in time against this defpe-
rate, this ruinous madness. The gracious call
ftill refounds in your ears, "to-day if ye will
hear his voice, harden not your hearts.'
And

have ex

f

C

And we, as ambaffadors, are ftill charged to beseech you, in Chrift's ftead, be ye reconC ciled to God.'

And now let me afk, What impreffion thefe plain and obvious remonftrances have made on your minds? What may be their effect, I cannot foretel. This I know that could I hope to fucceed better, I would with pleafure come down, and addrefs each of you, even on my bended knees, obtefting you by every folemn, every tender argument, to fly from the wrath to come. I easily foresee the time, when the remembrance of this offered grace thall either fill you with joy unutterable, or with fruitless and everlasting anguish. For whatever thoughtless finners may imagine, no word of God fhall ever return to him void, but fhall accomplish the purpose for which he fends it. "We are a sweet favour to God," faith the Apostle Paul, “in you that believe, and in you that perish; "to the one we are the favour of life unto life, "and to the other of death unto death." I am aware that pleadings of this kind are fometimes treated with ridicule; but the time is at hand when the fcoffer shall be made fober ; the

66

the view of death may do it-the day of judgment certainly will.

Now, then, is the accepted time. Now you may obtain an interest in this Saviour; and if you apply to him, as fure as God liveth, you fhall find mercy. Thus far I can go; but one ftep farther I cannot proceed upon fure ground. I cannot promise you on any future time. If you reject the counsel of God now, I cannot affure even the youngest of you of another opportunity. Before to-morrow your doom may be fixed unalterably. May God enable you to profit by thefe inftructions, and to his name be praife. Amen.

SER

SERMON XX.

I. JOHN, ii. 15.

353

Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world: If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

FRO

ROM thefe words I propofe, by divine
affiftance,

I. To defcribe that exceffive or finful love of the world, from which the Apostle here diffuades us.

II. To inquire wherein the malignity of this fin confifts.

III. To lay before you a few fymptoms of a worldly mind, and examine fome of the apologies upon which men flatter themselves with being free of it. And,

IV. To enforce the exhortation, and give fome directions how to get this undue affection towards earthly things mortified and subdued.

VOL. IV.

Z

I. It will readily occur to you, that the exhortation is to be understood under certain reftrictions. The place of his works, which God has appointed us to inhabit, cannot in itself be fuppofed an object deserving our averfion or dislike. This would be to impeach the goodness of our Creator, and to tax his handy work with imperfection. We may lawfully love the world, as it is the workmanship of God, and the mirror in which we behold the perfections of the invisible Creator. Creation is a large inftructive volume, and the fenfe of every line is God. The proper use of all the creatures is to lead us upwards to him that made them, and to kindle in our fouls the warmeft gratitude to that unwearied benefactor, who has provided fo liberally for our comfort and happiness. They are naturally the means of fupporting our bodies while we are employed in those duties which we owe to God, and they also enable us to fupply the wants of others, to leffen the miferies, and to heighten the lawful joys of our fellow creatures. On all these accounts we may and ought to value them as real blef