give thyself the leasure seriously to ponder those * scriptures in the margin; methinks they should have the fame effect that the handwriting upon the plaifter of the wall had upon that jovial king in the height of a frolic, Daniel v. 5. Reason thus with thine own heart, and thou wilt find the conclufion unavoidable; either I fhall repent for fin, or I fhall not: If I fhall not, then must I howl under the wrath of God for fin, in the loweft hell for evermore. If I fhall, then by what I have now read of the throbs and wounds of confcience, I fee what this heart of mine, this vain heart of mine, must feel in this world."O how much wiser was the choice that Mofes made, Heb. xi. 25. the worst of fufferings rather than the best of fin, the pleasures of fin, which are but for a season !

Inf. 3. Is there fuch a burden in fin, then the most tender compaffion is a debt due to fouls afflicted and heavy laden with fin. Their condition cries for pity, whatever their tongues do; they seem to call upon you, as Job upon his friends; "Have pity, have pity upon me, O ye my friends, for the hand of God hath touched me," Job xix. 21. And O let all that have felt the wounds and anguish of an afflicted confcience themselves, learn from their own experience tenderly to pity and help others. Gal. vi. 1. "You that are spi" ritual, restore († or fet him in joint again) in the spirit of meek"ness, confidering thyself."

Ifrael was commanded to be kind to ftrangers, for, faith God, you know the heart of a stranger. And furely if any cafe in the world require help, pity, and all compaffionate tendernefs, this doth; and yet how do fome flight spiritual troubles upon others? Parents flight them in their own children, mafters in their fervants; the more brutish and wicked they! O had you but felt yourselves what they feel, you would never treat them as you do. But let this comfort fuch poor creatures, Chrift hath felt them, and will pity and help them; yea, he therefore would feel them himself, that he might have compaffion upon you. If men will not, God will pity you; if men be fo cruel to perfecute him whom God. hath fmitten, God will be fo kind to pour balm into the wounds that fin hath made: if they pull away the fhoulder from you, and will not be concerned about your troubles, except it be to aggravate them, God will not ferve you fo: but certainly you that have paf-! fed through the fame difficulties, you cannot be without compaffion to them that are now grappling with them.

Inf. 4. How inexpreffibly dreadful is the fate of the damned, who muft bear the burden of all their fins upon themfelves, without relief, or hope of deliverance! Mark ix. 44. "where their worm dieth not, " and the fire is not quenched."

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Prov. xx. 7. Ibid. xxiii. 31, 32. Job xx. 12, 13, 14. James i. 15. Rom. vi. 21. ↑ Karagriile, luxata membra in fuum locum reftituere.

O! If fin upon the foul that is coming to Chrift for deliverance, be fo burdenfome, what is it upon the foul that is fhut out from Chrift, and all hopes of deliverance for ever! For, do but ponder thefe differences betwixt thefe two burdens.

-First, No foul is fo capacious now, to take in the fulness of the evil and mifery of fin, as they are who are gone down to the place of torments. Even as the joys of God's face above are as much unknown to them that have the fore-taftes and first-fruits of them here by faith, fo the mifery of the damned is much unknown, even to them that have in their confciences now, the bittereft taste and fenfe of fin in this world: as we have the visions of heaven, so we have the vifions of hell, alfo, but darkly through a glafs.

Secondly, No burden of fin preffeth fo continually upon the foul here as it doth there. Afflicted fouls, on earth, have intermiffions, and breathing times; but in hell there are no lucid intervals, the wrath of God there is ftill flowing; it is in fluxu continuo, Ifa. xxx. 33. a ftream of brimstone.

Thirdly, No burden of fin lies upon any of God's elect fo long as on the damned, who do, and must bear it: our troubles about fin are but short, though they should run parallel with the line of life; but the troubles of the damned are parallel with the endless line of eternity.

Fourthly, Under thefe troubles, the foul hath hope, but there, all hope is cut off: all the gospel is full of hope, it breathes nothing but hope to finners that are moving Chrift-ward under their troubles; but in hell the pangs of defperation rend their confciences for ever. So that, upon all accounts, the ftate of the damned is inexpreffibly dreadful.

Inf. 5. If the burden of fin be fo heavy, how freet then must the pardon of fin be to a fin-burdened foul! Is it a refreshment to a prisoner to have his chains knocked off? A comfort to a debtor to have his debts paid, and obligations cancelled? What joy must it then be to a fin-burthened foul, to hear the voice of pardon and peace in his trembling confcience! Is the light of the morning pleasant to a man after a weary, tiresome night? the fpring of the year pleasant after a hard and tedious winter? They are fo indeed; but nothing fo fweet as the favour, peace, and pardon of God, to a foul that hath been long restlefs, and anxious, under the terrors and fears of confcience. For, though after pardon and peace a man remembers fin ftill, yet it is as one that remembers the dangerous pits, and deep waters, from which he hath been wonderfully delivered, and had a narrow efcape. O the unconceivable sweetness of a pardon! Who can read it without tears of joy? Are we glad when the grinding pain of the ftone, or racking fits of the cholic are over? And fhall we not be tranfported, when the accufations and

condemnations of confcience are over? Tongue cannot exprefs what these things are; his joy is fomething that no words can convey to the understanding of another, that never felt the anguifh of fin.

Inf. 6. Laftly, In bow fad a cafe are thofe that never felt any bur den in fin, that never were kept waking and restless one night for fin? There is a burdened confcience, and there is a benumbed confcience. The firft is more painful, but the laft more dangerous. O it is a fearful blow of God upon a man's foul, to ftrike it fenfelefs and ftupid, fo that though mountains of guilt lie upon it, it feels no pain or preffure: and this is fo much more fad, because it incapacitates the foul for Chrift, and is a prefage and fore-runner of hell. It would grieve the heart of a man, to fee a delirious perfon in the rage and height of a fever, to laugh at thofe that are weeping for him, call them fools, and telling them he is as well as any of them: much fo is the cafe of many thousand fouls; the God of mercy pity them.

Second ufe for counsel.

The only further ufe I fhall make of this point here, fhall be to direct and counfel fouls that are weary and heavy laden with the burden of fin, in order to their obtaining true reft and peace. And first,

First counfel.

Satisfy not yourselves in fruitless complaints to men. Many do fo, but they are never the nearer. I grant it is lawful in fpiritual diftreffes to complain to men, yea, and it is a great mercy if we have any near us in times of trouble that are judicious, tender and faithful, into whofe bofoms we may pour out our troubles; but to rest in this, fhort of Chrift, is no better than a fnare of the devil to deftroy us. Is there not a God to go to in trouble? The best of men, in the neglect of Chrift, are but phyficians of no value. Be wife and wary in your choice of Chriftian friends, to whom you open your complaints; fome are not clear themselves in the doctrine of Chrift and faith, others are of a dark and troubled fpirit, as you are, and will but entangle you more. "As for me (faith Job) is "my complaint to man, and if it were fo, why fhould not my "fpirit be troubled?" Job xxi. 4. One hour betwixt Chrift and thy foul in fecret, will do more to thy true relief than all other counsellors and comforters in the world can do.

Second counfel.

Beware of a falfe peace, which is more dangerous than your trouble for fin can be. Many men are afraid of their troubles, but I think they have more caufe to fear their peace a great deal. There is a twofold peace that ruins moft men, peace in fin, and peace with fin: O how glad are fome perfons when their troubles are gone;

but I dare not rejoice with them. It is like him that rejoices his ague is gone, that it hath left him in a deep confumption. You are got rid of your troubles, but God knows how you have left them; your wounds are skinned over, better they were kept open. Surely they have much to answer for, that help on these delufions, healing the hurt of fouls flightly, by crying, Peace, peace, when there is no peace. The falle peace you beget in them, will be a real trouble to yourselves in the iffue, Jer. vi. 14.

Third counfel.

Let all that are under inward troubles for fin, take heed of drawing defperate conclusions against themselves, and the final fate of their own fouls. Though your cafe be fad, it is not defperate; though the night be troublefome and tedious, keep on in the way to Christ, and light will fpring up. To mourn for fin is your duty; to conclude there is no hope for you in Chrift, is your fin. You have wronged God enough already, do not add a farther and greater abufe to all the reft, by an abfolute defpair of mercy. It was your fin formerly to prefume beyond any promife, it is your fin now to despair against many commands. I would fay as the apoftle in another cafe, I would not have you mourn as men that have no hope: your condition is fad as it is, but yet it is much better than once it You were once full of fin and void of fenfe, now you have the fenfe of fin, which is no fmall mercy. You were once quite out of the way and method of mercy, now you are in that very path wherein mercy meets the elect of God. Keep hope, therefore, at the bottom of all your troubles.

was.

Fourth counfel.

Obferve whether your troubles for fin produce fuch fruits and ef fects in your fouls as theirs do, which end at last in Chrift and everlasting peace.

First, One that is truly burdened with fin, will not allow himfelf to live in the fecret practice of fin; either your trouble will put an end to your courfe of finning, or your finning will put an end to your troubles. Confult 2 Cor. vii. 11.

Secondly, True forrow for fin will give you very low and vile thoughts of yourselves; as you were covered with pride before, so will be covered with shame after God hath convinced and hum→ bled you, Rom. vi. 21.

you

Thirdly, A foul really burdened with fin will never stand in his own juftification before God, nor extenuate and mince it in his confeffions to him, Pfal. li. 3, 4

Fourthly, The burdens of fin will make a man fet light by all other burdens of affliction, Lam. iii. 22. Micah vii. 9. The more you feel fin, the less you feel affliction.

Fifthly, A foul truly burdened for fin will take no hearty joy or

comfort in any outward enjoyment of this world, till Chrift come and feek peace to the foul, Lam. iii. 28. Just so the foul fits alone and keepeth filence; merry company is a burden, and music is but howling to him.

Fifth counfel.

Beware of those things that make your troubles longer than they ought to be. There be feveral errors and mistakes that hold poor fouls much longer in their fears and terrors than elfe they might be; and fuch are,

Firft, Ignorance of the nature of faving faith, and the neceffity of it. Till you come to believe, you cannot have peace; and while & you mistake the nature, or apprehend not the neceffity of faith, you are not like to find that path of peace.

Secondly, Labouring to heal the wounds that the law hath made upon your confciences, by a more ftrict obedience to it for the future, in the neglect of Chrift and his righteousness.

Thirdly, In obfervance of what God hath already done for you, in these preparatory works of the law, in order to your falvation by Jefus Chrift. Q! if you would but compare what you now are, with what you lately were, it would give fome relief. But the laft and principal thing is this:

Sixth counfel.

Haften to Chrift in the way of faith, and you fhall find reft; and till then all the world cannot give you reft. The fooner you tranfact with Chrift, in the way of faith, the fooner you shall be at peace and enter into his reft; for those that believe do now enter into reft. You may labour and strive, look this way and that, but all in vain; Christ and peace come together. No fooner do you come to him, and roll your burden on him, receive him as he offers himself, but the foul feels itfelf eafed on a fudden;" being "juftified by faith, we have peace with God," Rom. v. 1. And thus in finishing the firft, we are brought home to the fecond obfervation.

Doct. 2. That fin-burdened fouls are folemnly invited to come to Chrift.

This point founds fweetly in the car of a diftreffed finner; it is the most joyful voice that ever the foul heard: the voice of bleffing from mount Gerizim, the ravishing voice from mount Sion, "Ye are come to Jefus the Mediator." In opening of it I will fhew,

1. What it is to come to Christ.

2. How Chrift invites men to come to him.

3. Why his invitation is directed to burdened fouls.