life; for then he is as fure of thee as a robber is of a traveller, whom he has fast bound, lying in a ditch, and his mouth stopt that he cannot cry for help.":0 prayerless finner, confider fatan has thee faft bound, and is just ready to murder thee; and wilt thou not cry to God for help? Moreover, think what a brutish thing it is to live prayerlefs, as alas many do; they rife like the beafts in the morning, they work with the beafts all day, and ly down like beasts at night, and never mind to look up to God; till he lay them on their backs upon a death-bed, and then they begin to cry like the beafts, when the knife is at their throat. Confider, Oman, why God hath given thee a countenance erected to. wards heaven, and bath not made thee to creep on allfour, as other creatures, with their backs to heaven and mouths to earth; but to teach thee, that thou art made to converfe with thy Maker, and have intercourse with heaven, and that the world's husks are not fit food for thy foul. We would pity a poor man that were all bowed together, and forced to go like a beaft upon hands and feet, with his eyes always to the earth: And is it not a more pitiful fpectacle to fee a foul that is a fpark of heaven, and created for communion with God, so crippled with ignorance and earthly mindednefs, as ftill to be poring and grovelling upon the earth, without looking up to God its Maker and happinefs!

Of Sins of Commiffion on the Lord's day.

-II. IN the next place, I proceed to warn you against fins of commiffion, by which the Lord's day is too com monly profaned: And these are either inward or outward.

Inward fins, or heart fins, fhould be carefully guarded against this day, as being moft provoking to God, polluting to his worship, and hurtful to our fouls. Sinful thoughts are an abomination to God every day,

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Prov. xv. 26. but more efpecially this day. Thoughts are as loud in God's cars as words; and he commands evil thoughts to be forfaken, as well as evil ways, if we would have pardon, Ifa Iv. 7 Wherefore let us get renewed and fanctified hearts, and overawe them with the thoughts of God's prefence and omniscience: Let us imagine this day, that we hear the found of the last trumpet, and fee the throne fet, and God calling for an account of hearts; (for in that day he will judge hearts as well as lives) and, when any evil thought breaks in, fay, "What if God, who fees this, fhould prefently call me to account ?" Let us keep a conftant watch over our hearts this day, striving to crush all finful thoughts in the bud, at their firft rifing, cry out for God's help. Let us be fenfible what a mafs of villany is in the heart, "It is desperately wicked," as Jeremiah faith; yea, ff our inward part is very wickedness," Pfal. v. 9. Hence it was that Luther profeft, that "he feared his heart more than the pope or the cardinal" And Auguftine prayed, "Libera me, Domine, a meipfo." The heart is like the Trojan horfe, out of whofe belly proceeded armed enemies; so out of the heart proceed all evil words and actions, Mat. xv. 19. It is the corrupt fountain, from whence all the impure ftreams of actual fin do flow: Therefore we should look narrowly to it.

But, befides incident evil thoughts, we have many evil habits and plagues of heart, that we fhould guard againft on the Sabbath, being fuch as profane the day, and hinder the fanctification of it: Particularly,

1. Atheism, and mifbelief of God's truths. If this harbour or prevail in us, we can reap no profit by the word read or preached this day. Why do people delay or refuse to embrace Chrift, and leave their fins, but because they want a fixed and firm impreffion of the truths of the gofpel upon their hearts? It is true, you will not fay that you mifbelieve any of them, but you give no heart affent to the truth of them, which is little better; you give no firm inward credit to the gofpel, and to all its affertions, commands, threatenings and promifes, that they are come from God, and are moft true, certain and infallible. Were you once firmly perfuaded

perfuaded of the certainty of eternal life and eternal death, you would not stand so long hovering betwixt heaven and hell. If once you had the firm impreffions of eternal death, you would presently, "flee from the wrath to come ;" and if you had a due sense of eternal life, you would "run to take hold of the hope fet before you," Heb. vi. 18. But alas! nature is half blind, and cannot fee afar off, 2 Pet. 1. 9. To carnal hearts and eyes, there seems to be a mift upon eternity; they cannot fee into another world, and they cannot believe things not feen. But, O if you would be happy, you muft ftedfaftly believe the "immortality of the foul, and a future life; that the Bible is the true word of God, and that the bleffed God, fent his eternal Son Jesus Chrift into the world to affume man's nature, and die fer to redeem him from Gn and hell." With abhor rence renounce all doubting or unbelieving thoughts of these great truths; rather doubt of your own being than of thefe; believe that what now you hear with your ears concerning a future life and judgment-feat, you will fhortly fee with your eyes: If you do it not, you rub the highest affront on God that a creature is capable of; for you make your Creator a lyar, 1 John v. 10. This is a fin that devils are not chargeable with, for "they believe and tremble." O finner, what further confirma tion of the truth wouldeft thou have from God, than he hath already given thee? Thou haft his word, yea, his writ, ratified by his oath, confirmed by his miracles, and fealed by his Son's blood, which is far more, and far furer than either a voice from heaven, or a messenger from hell, according to 2 Pet. 1. 19. Luke xvi. 31.

JI. Ignorance of the truths you hear this day, greatly hinders the fanctification of it. You cannot prize Chrift, clofe with him, or follow him, till fuch time as you know him. How can fuch hear the gospel, or em- * . brace Chrift offered therein, that know not their ruined natural condition and their remedy through Chrift? Many they know not Chrift's love and beauty, his abi lity, fufficiency and fitnefs, in his natures, offices, re lations, graces, Spirit and fulness: They know not the defign of his coming into the world; the manner

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of his thorowing our redemption by his obedience and fufferings, and the manner of applying it, and our getting an intereft therein, and the neceffity and nature of faith in order thereto. For as oft as many have faith in their mouths, they know not what it is; they are ignorant what it is to receive Chrift as a Surety and Saviour, as a Prieft and King; and therefore many gospel fermons and Sabbaths are entirely loft to them.

O finners, confider the danger of ignorance, it is a foul murdering fin, Hof. iv. 6. "My people are deftroyed for lack of knowledge" Do not think your ignorance will excufe you at a tribunal, or save you from hell: No, it will rather aggravate your fin and condemnation, to be found ignorant, in a land where the light fhines fo plentifully about you. Ignorance will be fo far from keeping off wrath from you, that God tells you it is a fpecial procuring caufe of wrath, and makes you more miferable than others, according to Ifaiah xxvii. ." This is a people of no understanding, therefore he that made them will not have mercy on them, and he that formed them will fhew them no favour."

Again, as ignorance is a damning fin in itself, fo it is the fruitful mother of many other fins and lufts, according to Pet. i. 14. What is the reafon why many fwear, lye, cheat, break the Sabbath, drink drunk, commit uncleannefs, flight ordinances, neglect prayer in their families and clofets, and go on in their fins, without repenting or fleeing to Chrift? It is because of their ignorance: They are ignorant of God, his infinite juftice and holy nature, the evil of fin, and what Christ hath fuffered for finners; they know not what regeneration, repentance and faith are, for all they fpeak of them; and how then can they practise them, or cry to God for them?

Object. "O (fay fome ignorant creatures) many have knowledge that make no good ufe of it; yea, they are more graceless and profane than we."

Anf. All this is too true, and thefe will have a fad account to make one day for finning againit fo much light. But this will be no help to you, for profanity VOL. IV.

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kills

kills them, and ignorance kills you; they die of one disease, and you die of antoher; and your difeafe is as fure to kill as theirs. For you to reject knowledge, because some who have it abuse it and perifh; is as ridi culous as for you to fay, because many die who have both food and phyfic, and plenty of means for preferving life, I will ufe no means for preferving my life at all; for, whoever die, you are sure to die: They that have both food and phyfic may die, but they that have none of them cannot live. So, whoever perish, ignorant perfons are fure to perish; for they know not their remedy, they cannot make ufe of the means of life. O ignorant fouls, you are nearer hell than others; your state is darkness, and it borders upon utter darkness; fo that you are, as it were, lodging in the next room to hell, having but a weak partition betwixt you and it, which death may break down in a moment, and let you país into it. When an ignorant finner dies, there goes not only duft to duft, but darkness to darkness; the darkness of ignorance to the darkness of hell: And is not this a fearful ftate for you to continue in? What madness is it for you to do it, when Chrift is daily inviting you to come to the light?

O ignorant finners, why fhould you continue in your ignorance, more than thefe of your rank in other places, who can difcourfe moft fenfibly of the principles of re ligion, and the concerns of their fouls, and can pray to excellent purpofe? Have you not rational fonts as well as they? Have you not the fame helps and advantages that they have, if you would but make use of them? Are you not as capable as they? You are as tharp and knowing about worldly affairs as others: You know well enough the rent of a piece of ground, the value of corn or cattle; but, alas! know nothing of the worth of your fouls, of Chrift and pardon to them: You are well verfed in the art of plowing, fowing and reaping, and know the right feafons for them; but, alas! you know not your seasons of mercy: You know your almanacks, the fairs and changes of the moon, you know your ftory books and ballads; and why might you not know your bibies as well, if you would employ the fame

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