I fhall therefore make ufe of fome motives to prefs poor perishing finners to flee from fin and wrath to Jesus Chrift the only Saviour, and to receive and reft upon him for life and falvation; and then come to the facrament, to get their right and title to Chrift, and all his purchase, fealed and confirmed.

I. Take a view of the mifery of a natural and Christlefs condition and O that God would open your eyes to let you fee it, and convince you, that, while thou art in this ftate, thou art a rebel to thy God, a prodigal to thy father, a flave to thy lufts, and an alien to the common-wealth of Ifrael! If thou comest not to Christ with thy burdens, the whole burden of unpardoned fin lies upon thy own back; and this is a burden that will fink thee lower than the grave; nay, it will prefs thee to the lowest hell, and keep thee eternally finking there. Confider alfo, how vile and lothfome thou and all thy actions, whether natural, civil, or religious, are in the fight of a holy God: While thou art of Chrift, thy foul is naked, and fwarms with the vermin of filthy lufts; and thou haft neither a garment to cover thee, nor a fountain to wash thee: The leprofy of fin fpreads over all, fo that, from the crown of the head to the fole of the foot, there is nothing but bruises and putrifying fores; fo that there is no mire fo unclean, no vomit fo lothfome, no carrion fo offenfive, no peftilence fo naufeous, as thou art, in thy Chriftlefs ftate, in the eyes of a holy God who cannot look upon iniquity but with abhorrence. Again, confider, thou art a flave to Satan the worst of tyrants; he rules and works in your hearts, as a workman doth in his shop, Eph. ii. 2. He ufes your powers, faculties, fenfes and members, according to his pleafure: He fays, Go, and you go: Do this and you do it. Your bondage is worse than the Ifraelites under Pharaoh; for they groaned under theirs, but, alas! you are fenfible of yours, neither will you believe it. devil knows, that if you perceived your flavery, you would feek to make your efcape from him; therefore, to make fure work, he deals with you as the Philistines did with Sampfon; puts out your eyes, that you may not

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fee your chains, nor look to Chrift for liberty: O that God would open them, and caufe you groan under your fetters, and look to Chrift for relief!

Moreover, while thou art in thy Chriftlefs ftate, God's wrath is ftill burning against thee, the flaming fword of juftice is always over thy neck, Pfal. vii. x1." God is angry with the wicked every day," every day of the week, and every hour of the day: When thou goeft out and comeft in, riseft up or lieft down, God is still angry with thee; yea, he hath bent his bow, and made ready his arrows, which are fteeled with wrath, and headed with vengeance: Nay, his bow is drawn, and his ar rows are at the flight; and, O Chriftless foul, thou art the very butt thereof; and if he let them fly, they will pierce thee to the very foul, and who will heal that wound? What a dangerous ftate is this?

And, further, all the curfes of the law are levelled against thee, and a juft God is engaged by his oath to ruin thee, if thou abideft in this ftate, Heb, iii. 18. "To whom fware he, that they fhould not enter into his reft, but to them that believed not?" Should not the thoughts of this make thee tremble? Were it but the oath of a man, or company of men, to procure thy death, as of those forty men that bound themselves with an oath, they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul, it would bereave thee of thy night's reft and quiet till they were made friends with thee: And, will the oath of the great God have no effect upon thee, nor move thee to flee to Chrift for protection and reconciliation? Who can help thee or deal for thee, if Chrift be neglected? With what face canft thou look to him, or cry for mercy from him, when he comes to judge thee at the laft day? If thou remain Chriftless now, thou wilt be fpeechlefs, helplefs and hopeless then. O think, what pale faces, quivering lips, fainting hearts, and trembling confciences, will be among Chriftlefs finners then! How will their heads hang down and knees knock together, and cry, Alas, for the day! They can look no where for comfort; for the Judge frowns on them, the faints deride them, their own friends upbraid them, the angels mock them, the

devil fcoffs at them, the heavens thunder against thems the earth flames about them, and hell groans for them, and down they will go roaring and howling for ever.

O Chriftless soul, how cant thou think to ly in that dark dungeon for ever, where there is nothing but weeping and gnashing of teeth to be heard, and utter darkness to be seen, but never a blink of the light of God's favour to all eternity? How wilt thou live in that pit where there is no water? Not a drop of comfort or refreshment to the thirty fcorched prifoners; no, not fo much as one drop to cool their tongue; the torments there are both endless and eafelefs. O poor Christlefs foul, thou art, as it were, apprehended by Juftice for thy debt, and brought the length of this prifon door, and there are hundreds of difeafes and devils waiting for a warrant to open the door to let you in; and, wilt thou not employ a furety nor feek for a ranfon, when Juftice is waiting a while to fee if thou wilt do it, and Chrift is earnestly offering himself to be thy cautioner, and his blood to ranfom thee from this pit? And to be fure no other thing will do it. See Zech. ix. 11.

II. As it is God's command that you should receive and believe on his Son Jefus Chrift; fo he declares that it is a work above all others moft pleafing to him, John vi. 29. It is emphatically called his commandment, I John iii 23. being a command he values more than all other commands in the Bible: And fo, upon the other hand, there is no fin fo provoking to God, as unbelief and rejection of Chrift; yea, he is more offended with it, than with the breaking of all his other commands, See Heb. x. 28. 29. Put all your fins in one scale, and unbelief in another, and you will find that unbelief weighs down all the reft; for it is a fighting of the whole work of redemption, which is the mafter-piece of all God's works, being that which his heart is most fet upon, and he hath been at most pains about, 1 John iv. 9. O be perfuaded then to do the work that is moft acceptable to God, and obey his great command of believing upon the name of his Son, The whole creation obeys his commands; he commands the fun to run its daily courfe, and it obeys him; he commands the fea VOL. I.

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to ebb and flow twice a day, and it obeys to a minute i he commands the angels and all the hoft of heaven, and they punctually obey him: And will you only be difobedient to him, and that to his beloved command, when yet he hath done more for you than for the whole 'creation ?

III. Confider what an unfpeakable mercy and happinefs it is to you, to enjoy the free offers of Jefus Chrift, and to have God commanding you to receive him. How would the fallen angels value fuch a mercy, if they had it! They would not be loth to leave their dungeon and accept of a Saviour, as you are: But their ftate is eternally hopeless and defperate, there is no remedy for their mifery. O do not put yourselves in the fame cafe with them, by flighting the offered remedy. How would damned fouls prize fuch an offer! The leaft news and remoteft hopes of it, would make them leap in their chains, and fing in the flames. O how glad would they be to lift up their flaming hands to grip to the cords of love and mercy, if they could be let down to them in that dark dungeon! Why then fhould ye wilfully put your felves into the fame hopeless condition with them, by your unbelief? Nay, your neglecting fo many offers will fink you far deeper in that fcalding lake of fire and brimstone, and increase your flames to more vehemency than those of others who have not been fo privileged. O how will devils, Turks, Jews, and Pagans, upbraid you there, for your inexcufable folly in flighting your mercy, and deftroying your fouls! Be wife then in time, prize your privilege, and confider the things that belong to your peace, before they be hid from your eyes.

IV. Confider what an excellent and fuitable help Chrift is for fallen finners; he is well furnished and qualified for your cafe; he hath gold for your poverty, eye falve for your blindnefs, balm for your wounds, phyfic for your difeafes, bread for your hunger, white raiment for your nakedness, a fountain for your pollution, and a ransom for your debt and bondage. In a word, he hath a broad plaifter for your broad fore, a deep fountain for your deep guilt; he is the chief of

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Saviours for the chief of finners. Behold how one deep calls to another, the depth of thy mifery to the depth of his mercy. Are your fins and miferies very extenfive, then view the large dimenfions of his mercy: Who can fathom the height, the depth, the breadth, or the length of it? As for its height, it is high as heaven, and furmounts the highest mountains of guilt; it is fo deep, that it can bury the greatest of your fins; it is as broad as the east is distant from the weft; and, for its length, it is from everlasting to everlasting: So that it fully anfwers all your wants and miferies. In Chrift there is all you need or can defire; there is both food and phyfic, clothing, strength and cordials. O finner, here is blood to juftify thee, and water to cleanse thee; here is the water of life, O believer, that will restore thy foul again, renew thy youth as the eagles, cure all thy difeafes, and heal all thy pains. In a word, you have in Chrift all that can make you good, all that can make you great, and all that can make you happy.

V. Confider how near you are to Chrift and mercy. The remedy is prepared, and falvation is brought to your very door: So that you need not fay, Who will afcend to heaven, and bring me down the water of life? For it is brought to earth to thy hand: You need not fay, Who will roll me away the flone from the well-mouth? For Chrift hath done it for thee; and as it is now a fountain opened and running by your door, O why will ye be fo mad as perifh for thirft befide this fountain? Or ftarve for hunger befide a full feaft? Or die of your wounds befide a phyfician? And all for want of heart to accept the offer? O, it would be fad to be fo near Chrift, and yet eternally mifs him; to perifh like the thief on the cross with a Saviour at your fide; to be within a step of him, and yet never touch him; yea, to fink into hell betwixt the outstretched arms of his mercy, and with the fweet calls founding in your ears. What a heart-ftinging confideration will this be to yòu in that place of torment for ever? O then, ftir up yourfelves to take hold of Chrift, when he is fo near and in your offer: Strive earneftly, while there is an ark prepared, and a window opened in the fide of it, and the 3L 2

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