rise from his tribunal with majestic composure, and leave thee to be hurried down to those everlasting burnings, to which his righteous vengeance hath doomed thee, because thou wouldest not be saved from them. Hell shall shut its mouth upon thee for ever, and the sad echo of thy groans and outcries shall be lost amidst the hallelujahs of heaven, to all that find mercy of the Lord in that day.

This will most assuredly be the end of these things: and thou, as a Christian, professest to know, and to believe it. It moves my heart at least, if it moves not thine. I firmly believe, that every one, who himself obtains salvation and glory, will bear so much of his Saviour's image in wisdom and goodness, in zeal for God, and a steady regard to the happiness of the whole creation, that he will behold this sad scene with calm approbation, and without any painful commotion of mind. But as yet I am flesh and blood; and therefore my bowels are troubled, and mine eyes often overflow with grief, to think that wretched sinners will have no more compassion upon their own souls; to think, that, in spite of all admonition, they will obstinately run upon final and everlasting destruction. It would signify nothing here to add a prayer or a meditation for your use. Poor creature, you will not meditate! you will not pray! Yet as I have often poured out my heart in prayer over a dying friend, when the force of his distemper has rendered him incapable of joining with me; so I will now apply myself to God for you, Õ unhappy creature! And if you disdain so much as to read what my compassion dictates; yet I hope, they who have felt the power of the gospel on their own souls, as they cannot but pity such as you, will join with me in such cordial, though broken petitions, as these.

A PRAYER in Behalf of an Impenitent Sinner, in the Case described above.

"ALMIGHTY GOD! "with thee all things are possible:" (Matt. xix. 26.) to thee therefore do I humbly apply myself in behalf of this dear immortal soul, which

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thou here seest perishing in its sins, and hardening itself against that everlasting gospel, which has been the power of GOD to the salvation of so many thousands and mil. lions. Thou art witness, O blessed God, thou art witness to the plainness and seriousness with which the message has been delivered. It is in thy presence that these awful words have been written; and in thy presence have they been read. Be pleased therefore to record it in the book of thy remembrance, that so "if this wicked man dieth in his iniquity, after the warning has been so plainly and solemnly given him, his blood may not be required at my hand,” (Ezek. xxxiii. 8, 9.) nor at the hand of that Christian friend, whoever he is, by whom this book has been put into his with a sincere desire for the salvation of his soul. Be witness, O blessed "Jesus, in the day in which thou shalt judge the secrets of all hearts," (Rom. iii. 16.) that thy gospel has been preached to this hardened sinner, and salvation by thy blood has been offered him, though he continue to despise it. And may thy unworthy messenger be "unto GOD a sweet savour in Christ," in this very soul, even though it should at last perish! (2 Cor. ii. 15.)

"But Ŏ that, after all this hardness and impenitence, thou wouldst still be pleased, by the sovereign power of thine efficacious grace, to awaken and convert him. Well do we know, O thou Lord of universal nature, that he who made the soul, can cause the sword of conviction to come near and enter into it. O that, in thine infinite wisdom and love, thou wouldst find out a way to interpose, and save this sinner from death, from eternal death! O that, if it be thy blessed will, thou wouldst immediately do it: thou knowest, O God, he is a dying creature: thou knowest, that if any thing be done for him, it must be done quickly: thou seest, in the book of thy wise and gracious decrees, a moment marked, which must seal him up in an unchangeable state: O that thou wouldst lay hold on him, while he is yet "joined with the living, and hath hope!" (Eccles. ix. 4.) Thy immutable laws in the dispensation of grace forbid that a soul should be converted and renewed

after its entrance on the invisible world: O let thy sacred Spirit work, while he is yet as it were within the sphere of its operations! Work, O God, by whatever method thou pleasest; only have mercy upon him! O Lord, have mercy upon him, that he sink not into these depths of damnation and ruin, on the very brink of which he so evidently appears! O that thou wouldst bring him, if that be necessary, and seem to thee most expedient, into any depths of calamity and distress! O that, with Manasseh, he may be taken in the thorns, and laden with the fetters of affliction, if that may but cause him "to seek the GoD of his fathers." (2 Chron. xxxiii. 11, 12.)

"But I prescribe not to thine infinite wisdom. Thou hast displayed thy power in glorious and astonishing instances; which I thank thee that I have so circumstantially known, and by the knowledge of them have been fortified against the rash confidence of those who weakly and arrogantly pronounce that to be impossible, which is actually done. Thou hast, I know, done that by a single thought in retirement, when the happy man reclaimed by it hath been far from means, and far from ordinances, which neither the most awful admonitions, nor the most tender entreaties, nor the most terrible afflictions, nor the most wonderful deliverances, had been able to effect.

"Glorify thy name, O Lord, and glorify thy grace in the method which to thine infinite wisdom shall seem most expedient! Only grant, I beseech thee, with al. humble submission to thy will, that this sinner may be saved? or if not, that the labour of this part may not be altogether in vain; but that if some reject it to their aggravated ruin, others may hearken and live! That those thy servants, who have laboured for their deliverance and happiness, may view them in the regions of glory, as the spoils with which thou hast honoured them as the instruments of recovering; and may join with them in the hallelujahs of heaven "To Him, who hath loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us," of condemned rebels, and accursed

polluted sinners, "kings and priests unto GOD; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever! Amen.” (Revel. i. 5, 6.)

AN

ADDRESS

CHAPTER XII.

TO A SOUL SO OVERWHELMED WITH A SENSE OF THE GREATNESS OF ITS SINS, THAT IT DARES NOT APPLY ITSELF TO CHRIST WITH ANY HOPE OF SALVATION.

I HAVE now done with those unhappy creatures who despise the gospel, and with those who neglect it. With pleasure do I now turn myself to those who will hear me with more regard. Among the various cases which now present themselves to my thoughts, and demand my tender, affectionate, respectful care, there is none more worthy of compassion, than that which I have mentioned in the title of this chapter; none which requires a more immediate attempt to relieve.

It is very possible some afflicted creature may be ready to cry out, "It is enough: aggravate my grief and my distress no more. The sentence you have been so awfully describing, as what shall be passed and executed on the impenitent and unbelieving, is my sentence; and the terrors of it are my terrors. For mine iniquities have gone up unto the heavens, and my transgressions have reached unto the clouds.' (Rev. xviii. 5.) My case is quite singular. Surely there never was so great a sinner as I. I have received so many mercies, have enjoyed so many advantages, I have heard so many invitations of gospel grace; and yet my heart has been so hard, and my nature is so exceeding sinful, and the number and aggravating circumstances of my provocations have been such, that I dare not hope.

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enough, that God hath supported me thus long; it is enough, that after so many years of wickedness, I am yet out of hell. Every day's reprieve is a mercy, at which I am astonished. I lie down, and wonder that death and damnation have not seized me in my walks

the day past. I arise, and wonder that my bed has not been my grave; wonder that my soul is not separated from flesh, and surrounded with devils and damned spirits.

"I have indeed heard the message of salvation; but alas! it seems no message of salvation to me. There are happy souls that have hope; and their hope is indeed in Christ, and the grace of God manifested in him. But then they feel in their hearts an encouragement to apply to him, whereas I dare not do it. Christ and grace are things, in which I fear I have no part, and must e ect none. There are exceeding rich and precious promises in the word of God; but they are to me as a sealed book, and are hid from me as to any personal use. I know Christ is able to save: 1 know he is willing to save some. But that he should be willing to save me, such a polluted, such a provoking creature, as God knows, and as conscience knows, I have been, and to this day am; this I know not how to believe: and the utmost that I can do towards believing it, is to acknowledge that it is not absolutely impossible, and that I do not yet lie down in complete despair; though alas! I seem upon the very borders of it; and expect every day and hour to fall into it."

I should not perhaps have entered so fully into this case, if I had not seen many in it; and I will add, reader, for your encouragement, if it be your case, several who now are in the number of the most established, cheerful, and useful Christians. And I hope, divine grace will add you to the rest, if out of these depths you be enabled to " cry unto God;" (Psalm cxxx. 1.) and though, like Jonah, you may seem to be cast out from his presence, yet still, with Jonah, you "look towards his holy temple." (Jonah ii. 4.)

Let it not be imagined, that it is in any neglect of that blessed Spirit, whose office it is to be the great comforter, that I now attempt to reason you cut of this disconsolate frame; for it is as the great source of reason, that he deals with rational creatures; and it is in the use of rational means and considerations, that he may