hath spoken? But do you think that this unbelief will make your danger ever the less? No, it is this that increaseth your danger. What if a man in the midst of evil, will wink, or put his eyes out, is he therefore safe, because he seeth not his danger? Again, therefore, I beseech you, if you be men of reason, if you be not resolved to be your own enemies, and to do the worst you can against yourselves, if you do not long for damnation; O, then believe God, and take time while you have it, and make out for conversion without delay. And instead of hoping to be saved against the word of God, and as it were in despite of him, and whether he will or no; see that you presently yield to the word, by which he would convert you, if you do not resist it. Believe your present misery, and look out presently to Christ for the remedy, and thank God that you may, and that the day of his patience is not past. And if the devil and sin do still so harden your hearts, that you will not believe, nor take this counsel, remember that thou wast told, that the unconverted shall not enter into heaven. Remember that this was preached to thee from the word of God, and thou wouldst not believe it. Yea, thou shalt remember it whether thou wilt or no.

3. I beseech you consider further; that while a man is unconverted, he hath no sin pardoned; all the sin that ever he committed, is yet upon his own score, and he shall answer for it before God, and suffer for it for ever, if he thus continue. I do not speak this either of my own head: I will now give you but three texts of Scripture to prove it, which is as good as three hundred. Mark iv. 12. When Christ speaks of those that were judicially hardened, because they had wilfully resisted grace, he addeth, "Lest at any time they should be converted, and their sin should be forgiven them." By which you see, that till men are converted, their sin is not forgiven them. And Acts xxvi. 18. "I send thee to open their eyes, and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and an inheritance," &c. You see then, that men receive not forgiveness of sins, till they are turned from the power of sin to God. Rom. viii. 30. This is the order of God's saving grace. "Whom he calleth, (that is, converteth) them he justifieth; and whom

he justifieth, them he glorifieth." So that no man is justified, before he be called.

Consider then, what a fearful case it is to have a load of unpardoned sin upon your souls. One unpardoned sin would as sure condemn a man for ever, as one stab at the heart would kill a man. What then will so many thousands do? Poor sinner, if Christianity, and humanity did not bind me to compassionate thy soul, I would not tell thee these things to trouble thee. But I cannot forbear, unless I would be cruel to thee. It seemeth an easy matter to a felon to think of his crime, while he is not apprehended, because he lives in hope to escape, and therefore he can laugh when he talks of the gallows; but when he comes to it, the case is altered: offenders may escape the justice of men, but no man can so escape the hand of God. It may now seem a small and easy matter to you, to think and talk of unpardoned sin; but the day is coming when you would give all the world if you had it, for a pardon, as light as you do now make of it: all are sinners, but all are not unpardoned sinners: it is not all sinners that shall perish; for then we should all perish; but all unpardoned sinners shall perish; and all unconverted sinners are unpardoned. When sin is pardoned, the terror of it is gone; then a man hath a sure refuge against the accusation: he can say at judgment, if he be accused of his sin, that he hath a pardon of all through the blood of Christ, and then there is no more to be done against him: but so cannot the unpardoned. O, heavy case for a poor trembling sinner to hear, At such a time thou didst abuse God's creatures, and his name, and his word, and his ordinances; at such a time thou didst neglect duty, and misspend thy time, even the Lord's day,' and to have nothing to say against the accusation. What a sight will it be for him, to have all his sins set in order before him1! All the sins of his youth, and his riper age; of ignorance, and of knowledge, and have no remedy against the justice and the wrath of God! Once there was a remedy offered them, but being finally neglected, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin, "but a certain looking for of judgment, and fiery indignation that shall devour the adversary m." Tell me, I beseech you, sirs, what do you think

to do by the sins that you are guilty of? Do you believe that you shall come to judgment for them, or not? If not; what do you here among Christians? If you do, will you tell me what you mean to say, or how do you think to come off, and to escape? Either you must have a pardon, or not: if you have not pardon, what do you think will become of you? There is no question of it, but an unpardoned sinner must be damned, as sure as the devils themselves are damned for Christ telleth you this will be the sentence, "Depart ye cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels "." O, woe to that man that ever he was born, that shall stand at God's bar with unpardoned sin. It will be heavier upon thy soul, than a mountain upon thy body, and press thee down to everlasting misery. Unpardoned sin is the very fuel of hell. If angels and men should all join together to save an unpardoned sinner at judgment, they could not do it. What hope have you then to escape, or to see the face of God with comfort? I beseech you,

bethink you what you mean to say, or how you think to come off? Should a wise man be going to such a judgment, and never once think what to say for himself, or how to escape when he comes thither? Will you then plead, that 'you hope you are pardoned by the blood of Christ?' Why, alas! that will be utterly vain; for there is no hope that God will be false to his word; and God hath assured you, that the blood of Christ and the mercy of God shall never pardon any sinner, but he that repenteth and is converted of his sin. Will you say, 'Though I am not pardoned now, yet I hope I may beg pardon then.' And do you think to cry aloud, and persuade the Judge? Oh! if that would do, what a cry would there then be! How many thousand and thousand souls would cry, Mercy, mercy, Lord, on a poor miserable wretch! O pity a lost sinner! O do not condemn thy creature; do not deliver me up to the tormentor; do not send me away from thy presence into those flames! O, as ever thou hadst pity on a sinner, have pity on me.' If crying, and praying would then serve the turn, how would they ring in the ears of Christ! Oh! but it is then too late! too late, sinners! you should have done this sooner. The day of grace is now past, and there is no remedy. Now

n Matt. xxv. 41.

prayer might do good (with forsaking sin through the blood of Christ) and men will not use it, but then it will do no good at all.

Do not say that I make this terrible doctrine of myself; the Scripture is full of it. Christ hath told you over and over of it: that if you are then found without the oil of saving grace in your lamps, you shall in vain cry Lord, Lord, open to us;' and long enough may you knock, before you can have any hearing; but Christ will say, "Verily, I know you not." It is not they that will cry "Lord, Lord, that shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but they that do the will of our Father which is in heaven." For many in that day will plead acquaintance with Christ, to whom he will profess, "I never knew you, depart from me all ye that work iniquity." They are his own words in Matt. vii. 21-23. I tell you again, if all the angels in heaven should fall down before the Lord Jesus Christ, and beg for you, (which they will never do) and beseech him to pardon your sins, he will not do it. For it is in this life that pardon must be gotten, or never. We have no hope to be wholly free from sin, but we may procure the pardon of it through Christ, and if it be not done now, it will never be done. Now must the pardon be procured, and sued out, and then it must be brought forth that you may not be condemned.

Now, as ever you would stand with boldness in judgment; sinners, repent and be converted, that you all may have the pardon of all your sins. As ever you would stand then at Christ's right hand, and not be sent into everlasting torment, look about you now for the pardon of your sins; for there was never man that got a pardon after he was dead, who died unpardoned. I give you but the same counsel which Peter gave the Jews. Repent ye, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord P." I pray you mark these words; you see there no man's sins will then be blotted out, but those that now repent and are converted.

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4. The next thing that I would entreat you to consider, is this; that as long as you are unconverted, you are the servants and slaves of satan, and under his power, and led

about as his captives at his will. It may be you do not think so much, nor believe this, but perhaps would take it ill to be told so. But God hath told us that so it is. There are but two sorts of men in the world, the slaves of sin, and the servants of Christ. All the world is in two armies: satan is the general of one, and Christ of the other, and these two are in continual conflict with one another. In his first assault with Adam our first father, satan overcame him by drawing him to sin, and thereby got him and his posterity into his power. The Lord Jesus comes of purpose to rescue us out of his hands, and this he doth by converting grace, and justification thereupon. So that, till a man be converted, he remaineth in the bondage and slavery of the devil; and when he is converted, he is entered among the free men and sons of God.

What think you of this? Is it not a miserable state to be the devil's bond-slaves? Why, if you will believe God, it is the case of all that are unconverted: nay, you may feel it in yourselves. Do you not feel that your wills are to do evil? That he leadeth you to worldliness, to drunkenness, or wickedness at his will? If he bid you rail or swear, you do it. If he bid you neglect everlasting life, you do it, and you have no heart to God and the life to come. Why, these are the marks of satan's bondage. Hear whether the Sripture speaks it not plainly: “Know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey, whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness"." "He that committeth sin is of the devil. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doth not righteousness, is not of God"." The meaning of both is, that he that hath the main bent of his heart and life for sin, that is, for the flesh and the world, is of the devil: and he that hath the main bent of his heart and life for God, that is, for righteousness, is a converted child of God. So, 2 Pet. ii. 19." For of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage." And in 2 Tim. ii. 26. they are said to be in the "snare of the devil, taken captive of him at his will." And in Acts xxvi. 18. it is expressly said, that conversion "turneth men from the power of satan unto God." So