natural birth procures our spiritual regeneration; his unspotted life restores us to a blissful immortality; his bitter agony gives us calm repose: his bloody sweat washes away our manifold pollutions; his deep wounds distil the balm that heals our envenomed sores; his perfect obedience is our first title to endless felicity; his full atonement purchases our free justification; his cruel death is the spring of immortal life; his grave the gate of heaven; his resurrection the pledge of glory; his ascension, the triumph of our souls; his sitting at the right hand of the Majesty on high, the earnest of our future coronation and exalted felicity; and his prevailing intercession the inexhaustible fountain of our blessings. Come then, conscious sinner, come to the feast of pardoning love; taste with us, that the Lord is gracious. Let not a false humility detain thee, under pretence, that "thou art not yet humbled and broken enough for sin." Alas! who can humble thee but Jesus, that says, without me ye can do nothing? and how canst thou be broken, but by falling upon this chief corner-stone? If humiliation and contrition are parts of the salvation which he merited for thee, is it not the quintes sence of self-righteousness, to attempt to obtain them without hin? away then, for ever away with such a dangerou, excuse! Nor let the remembrance of thy sins keep thee from the speediest application to Jesus for grace and pardon. What! though thy crimes are of the deepest dye, and most enormous magnitude; though they are innumerable as the sand on the sea shore, and aggravated by the most uncommon and horrid circumstances; yet thou needest not despair: he has opened a fountain for sin of every kind, and uncleanness of every degree; his blood cleanses from all sin. He is a Redeemer most eminently fitted, a Saviour most completely qualified to restore corrupt, guilty, apostate undone mankind; the vilest of the vile, the foulest of the foul not excepted. He is almighty, and therefore perfectly able to restore lapsed powers, root up inveterate habits, and implant heavenly tempers. He is love itself, compassionate, merciful, pardoning love, become incarnate for thee. And shall he, that spared not his own life, but delivered himself up for us all....shall he not with his own blood, also freely give us all things? Behold, oh behold him with the eye of thy faith : cruelly torn with various instruments of torture, he hangs aloft on the accursed tree, between two of the most execrable malefactors; and there, insulted more than they, he bears our infamous load of guilt. He knows no sin, and yet he is made sin for us: he becomes a curse, to redeem us from the curse of the law: his own self bears our sins in his own body on the tree he is wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace is upon him, God hath laid on him the iniquity of us all, and with his stripes we are healed. See, Pardon for lost sinners is written with pointed steel and streaming blood, on his pierced hands and feet The double flood issuing from his wounded side, more than seals the dear-bought blessing: The hand-writing against us is nailed to his cross, and blotted out with his precious blood: His open arms invite, draw, and welcome returning prodigals, and there encircled, the worst of sinners may find a safe and delightful retreat, a real and present heaven. : O sinner, let thy heart fly thither on the wings of eager expectation and impetuous desire.... By all that is near, dear, and sacred to thee, fly.... Fly from eternal death....Fly for eternal life. The law, violated by ten thousand transgressions, pursues thee with ten thousand curses: the sword of divine vengeance flames over thy devoted head: Sin, the sting of death, has been a thousand times shot into thy wretched breast: its subtle and dire poison continually works in thy hardened, or distressed heart: Guilt, the sting of sin.... the never-dying worm, perpetually benumbs thy sta $ pid soul or gnaws thy restless conscience: Raging lusts, those sparks of the fire of hell, which nothing but the blood of the cross can quench; or fierce passions, those flashes of infernal lightning, that portend an impending storm, frequently break out in thy benighted soul; an heart-felt pledge of tormenting flames: Satan, whom thou hast perhaps invoked by horrid imprecations, goes about as a roaring lion, seeking to ensnare his careless votary, or devour his desperate worshipper: Death levels his pointed spear, at thy thoughtless or throbbing heart: Hell itself is moved from beneath, to meet thee at thy coming; and the grave gapes at thy feet, ready to close her hideous mouth upon her accursed prey. Fly then, miserable sinner....if thy flesh is not brass, and thou canst not dwell with everlasting burnings, fly for shelter to the bloody cross of Jesus. There thou wilt meet him, who was, and is, and is to come; Emmanuel God with us, who appeared as the son of man, to make his soul an offering for sin, for thy sin; and saved thy life from destruction, by losing his own in pangs, which made the sun turn pale, shook the earth, and caused the shattered graves to give up their dead. He is even now near to thy heart; he stands at the door, and gently knocks by the word of his grace. If thou hearest his voice, and openest by believing, he will come in the word of reconciliation shall be pow erfully ingrafted into thy heart; thou shalt know, experimentally know the truth, and the truth shall make thee free. Assured that he hath by himself purged thy sins, abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, thou shalt sup with him and he with thee; thou shalt eat the bread of God, which came down from heaven, to give life to a perishing world. Evangelical truth received by faith, will heal, nourish, comfort and sanctify thy soul. But perhaps thy guilty heart receives no consolation from these lines. Thou still considerest Christ only as a severe Lawgiver, or as an inflexible Judge ; and not as the propitiation for thy sins, and thy gracious, all-prevailing Advocate with the Father. Oh! how dost thou wrong both him, and thyself, by such false conceptions! And how soon would thy gloomy fears give place to triumphant joy, if thy thoughts of him corresponded with his gracious designs concerning thee! Wouldst thou know him better; behold him through the glass of his word, and not through the mist of thy fears; and thou wilt see that, far from watching over thee for evil, he fixes upon thee the piercing eye of his redeeming love; waits, that he may be gracious to thy soul, and calls, continually callsfor thee. Oh! if thou hast an ear listen, and as thou listenest wonder at the kind, reviving words, which proceed out of his mouth. VI. *"Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, says the Lord; speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, and her iniquity is pardoned; for, in me, she hath received of the Lord's hand, double for all her sins: He is well pleased for my righteousness sake, I have magnified the law and made it honourable; I have been lifted up, and now I draw all men unto me. My delights are with the sons of men, and therefore am *This part of the address is almost literally transcribed from the scripture, and it is designed for none but mourners in Sion, dejected sinners, who are backward to come to Christ, that they may have life. These want line upon line, and invitation upon invitation; and it is well if, after all, they are encouraged to come. As for full souls, I know they will loath this honey-comb. But while they complain "it has too many cells, and they are filled with the same thing," some poor hungry hearts will say, "One thing is needful" for us. We cannot have too much virgin-honey; its sweetness makes amends for the want of variety. If the manna fall abundantly round our tents, it will stir us up to praise, and not to murmur. Fulness of the bread of life will not make us wax fat and kick like Jeshurun, but bless God for his rich profusion, and with the disciples, we shall even gather the fragments that nothing be lost." I exalted, that I may have mercy upon them. Behold I come with a strong hand, my reward is with me, and my work before me. Every valley shall be exalted, every mountain and hill shall be made low; the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain; my glory shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. ry. "Hearken unto me, ye stout-hearted, that are far from righteousness; I bring near my righteousness, it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not tarSeek ye me while I may be found, call upon me while I am near: Return unto me, and I will have mercy upon you: and though ye have only done evil before me from your youth, I will abundantly pardon: For my thoughts are. not revengeful as your thoughts, nor may ways unloving as your ways: In me you shall be saved with an everlasting salvation. "Come therefore unto me, all ye that travail and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest: My yoke is easy, my burden is light, and my rest glorious. Ho! every one that thirsteth come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye buy and eat all that can revive, strengthen, and delight your souls; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labour for that which satisfieth not? Hearken diligently unto me, eat that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto me; hear, and your soul shall live : I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David, and you shall all know me, from the least to the greatest; for I will forgive your iniquity; and remember your sin no more. "Oh, if thou knewest the gifts of God, wretched sinner, and who it is that saith unto thee, If any man thirst, let him come to me and drink, thou wouldst have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water; a well, a fountain of it would have sprung |