mayeft juftly fay to me, that I fhall never taste of thy fupper; or, if I go to it, that it fhall not be for the better, but for the worfe; I fhall meet with a frown inftead of a fmile, a curfe instead of a welcome, a breach instead of a bleffing. Lord, thou mayeft instead of bread give me a ftone, and for the cup of the new teftament, give me a cup of wrath and trembling. Thou mayeft juftly turn my hard heart into a stone, instead of turning my ftony heart into a heart of flesh."

When thou haft in this manner aggravated thy crimes and condemned thyfelf, yet do not despair; but as the poor condemned criminal may cry for mercy, fo lét a poor, humbled, felf condemned finner, cry to a merciful God for pity. Say, "Lord, I am afhamed and confounded at my former madness and folly: I have nothing to plead for myfelf, except, with the poor publican ftanding afar off, to fmite upon my breaft, and lift up mine eyes to heaven, and fay," God be merciful to me a finner." All my refuge, all my hope, is in the free mercy of God, through Jefus Chrift. Lord, make me a monument of free grace to all the ages of eternity. But, alas, I am afhamed to fpeak of mercy and grace, who have already abused fo much thereof, yea, trampled on the blood that should fave me. But, Lord, what can I do, or whither shall I go? Should I despair with Cain, or make away myself with Judas? Oh, no: This, Lord, were to affront thy mercy yet more, and utterly to reject the gospel-remedy which thou valueft fo highly. This thing I will not do; but, feeing I have heard fo glorious a report of the mercy of the king of Ifrael, I will even venture to his throne of grace, where free mercy reigns to pardon abounding fins, and where Jefus Chrift fits to fave the chief of finners. Lord Jefus, reach from heaven thy merciful hand, to fave me a poor finner, who, like Peter, am ready to fink in the fea of my fins and miferies; that fo the bleffing of a heavy laden finner, that is ready to perifh, may come on thy head for ever. Lord, fave me, or elfe I perif; wash away the guilt of my many heinous fins, with the merit of that blood which ran down from thy wounds on the cross, that I am to fee reprefented in the facrament, or I am

undone.

undone. Lord, I am told of the efficacy of this blood, that it hath a mighty current, and the highest mountains of guilt cannot ftop its courfe: Oh, let the bieffed experiment be tried on me, as it hath been on thoufands before me. I am also told, that thou haft fought after many finners while running from thee; nay, fol lowed them to the very gates of hell with a pardon in thy hand; and, when fatan has been ready to tumble them in, thou haft caught them and brought them back again. And, wilt thou now refufe me, who am feeking after thee? Lord, thou heardft and helped, nay, died for thine enemies, before they cried to thee for help : And, wilt thou now reject me, who am come to lay down my arms, and cry to thee for mercy? Haft thou not faid, that he that confeffeth and forfaketh his fins, fhall find mercy? Thy word was never yet known to fail? Lord, be it to me according to thy word."

And, having betaken thyfelf to Chrift thy Surety's merit, humbly plead it with God for thy pardon and acceptance; fay, "Lord, I have indeed broken all thy commands; but, hath not my Surety fulfilled them all? I have, alas, affronted thy juftice; but, hath not my Surety fatisfied it? I have deserved thy wrath, but he hath endured it. The chaftifement of my peace was upon him: O let the merit of his righteoufnefs be upon me. Lord, remember not what I have done against thee; but remember what he hath done and fuffered for me. Oh, when I confider thy greatnefs and my own unworthiness, thy purity and my uncleannefs, thy glory and my vilenefs, I am confounded and difcouraged to draw near to thy table: But when I confider thy bounty and goodness, my Saviour's merit, and thy mercy and readiness to forgive, I am encouraged to come. And, O that I could come with a broken and a contrite heart, which is a pleasant facrifice to God !"

Object." But, (faith fome poor difcouraged foul) I would fain fet about the work of humiliation, in order to prepare me for the facrament; but, O my hard heart will not break; alas, it is fo hardened and bound up, that I cannot get one tear for fin." 3 K 2

Anf.

Anf. Remember that it is Chrift, who hath purchased, who hath promised, and who freely beftoweth repentance on poor finners; therefore go to him and feek it: And, that it may be wrought in you, plead for the bleffed Spirit, which he hath also promifed, to be fent to take off the fcales of blindness from your eyes which fatan hath put on, that fo you may fee fin in its blacknefs and deformity. Cry with Job, What I know not, teach thou me O make me to know my tranfgreffion and my fin. God hath fet before you feveral looking-glaffes to reprefent the evil of fin to you; O make use of them. You have the glass of God's holy nature, the glass of his holy law, the glafs of the damned's torments, and the glass of Chrift's fufferings: Look frequently into thefe. View the infinite purity and fpotle fsnefs of God's nature; confider his holy law in its fpiritual meaning and large extent; meditate on the eternal fhricks and howlings of damned fouls: And, in a fpecial manner, behold Chrift's bloody agonies for fin. A right look of him whom ye have pierced, will caufe you mourn, Zech. xii. 10..

Come then, O hard-hearted finner, and behold how thy fins pierced Chrift's head with thorns, his hands and feet with nail, his fide with a fpear, and his heart with forrows Behold how they preffed him down in the garden, till he fweat blood: Behold how they bound a. heavy crofs on his back, till he fainted with the load: Behold how they nailed him to the curfed tree, and made God frown upon him, fo that he was forced to cry out, my God, my God, why haft thou forfaken me? O, canft thou look on Golgotha, or Gethfemane, with dry eyes, or an unconcerned heart? Canft thou fee Chrift's eyes weep, and his heart melted like wax within him, and yet thy heart continue hard, and thine eyes dry? Come, hearken to his dying groans, and look to his bleeding wounds: Think you hear him faying to you, Behold what your fins have done! Is there any forrow like my forrow? O, wilt thou not fay to my hard heart, "What is this that thou haft done? Is not this the Son of God and the King of glory, that thou haft murdered by thy fins; and wilt thou not be grieved for them? Shall the hard rocks rent, the dead earth fhake, the

temple's

temple's vail rend, the fun vail its bright face, the heavens put on a mourning habit, and the whole creation look fad, when Chrift is fuffering for thy fins, and thou the guilty criminal, that shouldst have eternally howled in hell's flames, ftand only unconcerned?" Be astonished, O heavens, at this! And let thy hard heart bluth and be afhamed for it. Ah! fhall the history of Joseph in the pit move your heart more than that of Chrift upon the crofs? Shall the news of the tragical death or fufferings. of one of your friends or countrymen among the Turks, move your heart fooner than the death and sufferings of the innocent Son of God? O, then, go to God and complain of thy hard heart; take it and lay it before God's promife, Ezek. xxxvi 26. and plead that he would take it away, according to his word, "Lord, thou curedst all manner of plagues and diseases which were brought to thee while thou waft on earth: And haft not thou the fame bowels of mercy now in heaven? Surely thy goodness is ftill the fame, thy hinds are not shortened. that they cannot fave: Nay, there are holes now in thy hands, to let bleflings drop through them the more freely on us. Thou art my only phyfician, and to thee I will look for the cure: Lord, nothing will do it but the plaifter of thy blood."

Mourning is abfolutely neceffary for thee, O communicant, if thou wouldst have the wine of confolation in the facrament. When did Jacob find God in Bethel, but when he wept and made fupplication to God? Hof. xii. 4. When did Mary meet with Chrift, but when The fought him weeping and forrowing? John xx. 11. you caft out a flood of tears in Chrift's way, he will not be able for his compaffionate heart to pafs over it, but will turn in and lodge with you.

If

Object. "Alas! I cannot win to tears for fin. Are. tears abfolutely neceflary ?"

Anf. They are very defirable where they are; the penitent's tears are the joy of angels, and the delight of God, he keeps a bottle for them: Bet yet all conftitutions are not alike moist; a tender heart may be matched with a dry brain that cannot eafily command tears;

and

and some perhaps may lay more stress on tears than on the frame of the heart that produces them, not minding that God looks more to the inward frame than to the outward expreffions. But the truth is, if thou be one that canft get tears for other things, for wordly loffes and croffes, and yet can find none for fin, it is a fign thy heart is not right. How many, Alas, can weep abun dantly for the lofs of a child, yea, for a horfe or cow, and yet have not one tear for the loss of their foul, or of Chrift's favour or presence!

DIRECT. X. Flee to Jefus Chrift by Faith, and embrace him as he is offered to you in the Gospel, before you come to his Table.

NONE have a right to Chrift's table, but those who come first to him in the way of faith; for it is a feaft defigned only for believers.

What hath been faid above, concerning the multitude and heinousness of your fins, for which you ought to be humbled and mourn, may ferve to fhew your great need of Chrift to deliver you from them. Think not that your repentance, confeffions, or tears for fin, can any way fatisfy the justice of God for it, or merit acceptance or pardon for you: This were to put these things in Chrift's room, that are only means to lead you to him; and to take up with a righteousness of your own, instead of his, that allenarly can atone the juftice of God for finners. O then, fee that ye look beyond all to Chrift alone for atonement, righteoufnefs, pardon and falvation, and count all things but dung and lofs in refpect

of him.

Now, fince the gospel offers Chrift to all that hear it, and the call and command to receive and embrace Chrift as a Saviour is given to all and every one, even to the vileft of finners; you have a full warrant to lay hold on him for pardon, and flee to him for mercy: And you heinously fin against God and your own foul, if you neglect to do it. How shall we efcape if we neglect fo great * falvation, and flight fo great a Saviour.