derest solicitations of the gospel, and the repeated admonitions of its most faithiul ministers; but now, sinner, you shall have an interview with him; if that may be called an interview, in which you will not dare to lift up your head to view the face of your tremendous and inexorable Judge. There, at last, how distant soever the time of your life, and the place of your abode, may have been, there shall we see how courageously your hearts will endure, and how strong your hands will be, when the Lord doth this. There shall I see thee, O reader, whoever thou art that goest on in the thine im'penitency, among thousands and ten thousands of despairing wretches, trembling and confounded. There shall I hear thy cries among the rest, rending the very heavens in vain. The judge will rise from the 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 wouldst 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.

11. 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, everlasting destruction. It would signify nething to add a prayer here, 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 will I now apply myself to God for you, O unhappy creature! And if you disdain so much as to read what my compassion dictates, I hope they who have felt the power of the gospel on their 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; to thee therefore do I humbly apply myself in behalf of this dear immortal soul, which thou here seest perishing in its sins, and bardening itself against that everlasting gospel, which has been the power of God to the salvation of so many thousands and millions. 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, 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, that thy gospel hath been preached to this hardened wretch, and salvation by thy blood hath been offered him, though he continue to despise it. And may thine unworthy messenger be unto God a sweet savor in Christ and in this very soul, even though it should at last perish! But, oh that, after all his 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, oh thou Lord of universal nature, that he who made the soul can cause the sword of conviction to come near and enter into it. Oh that, in thine infi

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nite wisdom and love, thou wouldst find out a way to interpose, and save this sinner from death! from eternal death! Oh 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; oh that thou wouldst lay hold on him, while he is yet joined to the living and hath hope! Thy immutable laws, in the dispensation of grace, forbid that a soul should be converted and renewed after its entrance on the invisible world: Oh let thy sacred Spirit work, while he is yet, as it were within the sphere of his 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 those depths of damnation and ruin, on the very brink of which he so evidently appears! Oh that thou wouldst bring him, if that be necessary, and seem to thee most expedient, into any depths of calamity and distress! Oh that, with Manasseh, he may be taken in the thorns, and laden with the fetters of afflic tion, if that may but cause him to seek the God of his fathers.

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 deliverance, 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 all humble submission to thy will, that this sinner may be saved! Or if not, that the labor 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 labored for their de liverance and happiness, may view them in the regions of glory, as the spoils with which thou hast honored 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 rebel, and accursed, polluted sinners, kings and priests unto God; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever.

Amen.

CHAP. XII.

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

The case described at large, 1--4, as it frequently occurs, 5. Granting all that the dejected soul charges on itself, 6. The invitations and promises of Christ give hope, 7. The reader urged, under all his burdens and tears, to an humble application to him, 3, which is accord. ingly exemplified in the concluding reflection and prayer.

1. 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 of relief.

2. 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 terrers. For mine

iniquities are gone up unto the heavens, and my transgressions have reached unto the clouds. My case is quite singular. Surely there never was so great a sin

ner as I. I have received so many mercies, I 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. It is 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. 1 arise and wonder that my bed hath not been my grave; wonder, that my soul is not separated from my flesh, and surrounded with devils and damned spirits.

3. 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 expect 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; I 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 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.

4. Ishould 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, sev. eral who are now in the number of the most established, cheerful, and useful Christians. I hope divine grace will add to you the rest, if out of these depths you be enabled to cry unto God; and though, like Jonab,