picable, base objects to spend their thoughts upon, than about God. And is it, think you, a light piece of wickedness for a man to have such an enmity in his heart against God? And then again, weeping that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ, | the hearts of men say; they rather choose the most deswhose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things," Philip. iii. 18, 19. Observe those very persons who are here spoken of as minding earthly things, are also said to be such as have chosen to themselves another god. Their god is their belly. This we are not to understand strictly, but in a large sense; to wit, their sensual appetite. Their belly is their god; and accordingly they mind earthly things, and their hearts are quite taken off from God. And do not think this is a light piece of wickedness, to live a whole life's time in this manner; especially under the Gospel, and the profession of the Christian name. The apostle as it were weeps over it. It is a thing, saith he, that I cannot think of without passion and tears; to see a company of wretches that call themselves Christians, and profess themselves to be so, who yet are the enemies of the cross of Christ; they are apparently such, for they mind earthly things. This then is one thing that forgetfulness of God includes, namely, earthly-mindedness; which is the most horrid wickedness you can think of, for it stands in most direct opposition to God; and therefore covetousness is called idolatry, or a taking another god. And then again, "Where (3.) In the third place, forgetfulness of God includes in it plainly a contempt of him; or implies that we have a base, low, dishonourable esteem of God. It is said (in the psalm next to that in which is my text) of the wicked man, that "God is not in all his thoughts," Psal. x. 4. The wicked wretch passes from day to day, and never affords God a serious thought, nor allows him a place th re And what is the reason of it? Why the Psalmist puts it plainly upon an open manifest contempt of God. fore (saith he) doth the wicked contemn God?" ver. 13. He speaks, as indeed the interrogation imports, with a kind of passion. Oh! wherefore is it? what heart can think of a reason, why any man should presume to contemn God? In short, their taking low base things into their thoughts while they shut out God, plainly proceeds from a contempt of him, and because they despise him in their own hearts. And, "These (4.) To add no more, forgetfulness of God implies atheism; which involves in it all wickedness, as being the (2.) It included enmity against God. It is a plain case; root and bottom of all. Persons who forget God, plainly if men from day to day forget God, it is because they hate deny in their own hearts that there is such a one; who him, and cannot endure the thoughts of him. It is ex- ought to be the highest supreme object of their thoughts pressly spoken of some, that "they liked not to retain and affections. This evidently appears from the connexGod in their knowledge," Rom. i. 28. What is it to re-ion of the beginning of the fourteenth psalm, with the foltain God in our knowledge, but to have frequent actual lowing verses. "The fool hath said in his heart, there is thoughts about him? such as I have already spoken of, no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable numerous and affecting thoughts. This is to retain God works. The Lord looked down from heaven upon the in our knowledge. But can they be said to do so, who children of men, to see if there were any that did understand do not think of God? who have no actual thoughts of and seek God." And the report you have is this: "They God, from day to day? And why is this? Because they are all gone aside; they are altogether become filthy; there do not like them. The thoughts of God are grating, griev- is none that doeth good, no not one." There is not a person ous, and annoying to their spirits; and therefore it is they to be found among all these wretches that understands, or do not think of him, because they do not love to think of seeks after God; or hath any serious thoughts or considerhim. This must needs be so, especially considering the ation about him. And what is the reason of all this? case of such persons under the Gospel. God is ever be- Why, like fools as they are, they have said in their hearts, fore their eyes, they cannot look any way but they must that there is no God: and hence it is that their minds and see God shining upon them. He is shining upon them understandings have quite forgotten, and given over to look in his creatures, in his providences, but especially in the towards him; whereas "he that comes to God must believe ordinances of the Gospel of his Son; and yet these persons that he is, and that he is the rewarder of them that diliwill not now mind God, nor take notice of him. What is gently seek him," Heb. xi. 6. They are corrupted within the reason of it? They do not, because they will not; or themselves, and then surmise that there is no such Being because their hearts cannot bear it. "Oh! take away to whom they are accountable; and therefore they live God from my thoughts! take him away from my soul! securely, neglecting and forgetting him, from day to day, It is a burden, a pressure on my spirit! I cannot bear the through their whole life. There is also a like connexion thoughts of God." Thus says the apostle; "They that in the fiftieth psalm, towards the latter end. are after the flesh, do mind the things of the flesh; but things hast thou done (having summed up a great many they that are after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For kinds of wickedness before in the preceding verses) and I to be carnally-minded is death, but to be spiritually-mind- kept silence. Thou thoughtest that I was altogether such ed is life and peace. The carnal mind is enmity against a one as thyself; but I will reprove thee and set them in God," Rom. viii. 5, 6, 7. Do but observe here; he tells order before thine eyes. Now consider this, ye that forget us that they who are after the flesh, or carnally-minded, God!" To deny any of God's essential attributes, is to will not mind any of the things of the Spirit of God; and take away his being. To say, that he is not so holy, as to that it is to be resolved into this, namely, that a carnal hate sin; that he is not so just, as to revenge and punish mind is enmity against God. And it is a plain case that sinners; is to say, that he is not. such a one must be an enemy to him. Therefore it is, that he minds the things of the earth and of flesh; and will not look after God, nor spend any thoughts about him. No, he will rather choose to live upon dirt, and feed upon trash; and to spend thoughts and affections upon things that are as vile as earth and dung. And if such persons would but consult their hearts they would find it so. For, alas! when you are alone, and retired, have nothing else to do but to think of God, (as upon such a day as this especially, when you have no other business but to think upon him, a) pray consider, which way do your.thoughts run? Can you say, it is God that is the object of your thoughts and affections? that upon such a day as this, they are from morning to night taken up about nothing else but God? You have nothing else to do but to think of God; and if your thoughts decline, and turn aside after covetousness and the things of this world, what is this but a plain enmity against him? And this is what a This passage makes it very probable, that this sermon was preached on one of those fast-days, which were frequently solemnized before the restoration, by public authority. Well! this you see is connected with forgetting of God. But this God whom you slight, and make so little reckon ing of; this God, I say, will reprove you. And I pray, consider, ye that forget God, who have all this while looked upon him as if he was like the idols of this world, that the time is coming when he will set your sins in order before your faces. And thus I have evinced to you this truth, that they are wicked persons who forget God; which is evidenced thus: to wit, forgetfulness of God excludes all religion, and also includes all wickedness; and what would you have more? It must needs then denominate such a person, who lives in the guilt of it, a wicked person with a witness; since it grasps within its compass all wickedness, and shuts out all religion. b IV. The fourth thing propounded to be spoken to, was this; namely, That these wicked persons, who thus live in a forgetfulness of God, must be turned into hell. I b If any should find this discourse too long to be read at once, particularly in families, here is a proper resting-place. shall touch briefly upon it, ana so close with a few words of application. As it is the property of the wicked man to forget God, so it must be his portion to be turned into hell. The eviction of this will be easily evident from considering these three things only-1. It is most consonant to the justice of God that thus it should be-2. It is most agreeable to his law; and-3. It is most serviceable to his honour and glory. 1. The justice of God doth require this; that those persons, who live in this world forgetful of God, should at last be turned into hell. If God be just he must deal in this manner with a company of rebels; who never take notice of him all their days, and shut him out of their hearts and thoughts. What! can the highest God, the eternal Majesty, suffer such an affront as this from base dirt and earth, and never take vengeance? Is God unrighteous who taketh vengeance? (Rom. iii. 5.) as the apostle speaks in this case. No, undoubtedly. But I cannot stand now to insist on particulars. 2. It is agreeable to his law that God should thus punish the wicked. It is one and the self-same law that is a rule of duty to ns, and which by the Divine appointment is a rule of judgment unto him. And this righteous law hath determined, that they who thus sin, must be thus punished. For this we need go no further than the text itself. "The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God." The law of God hath expressly provided in this case; so that if any man should now think to put in his exception against this determination of God, alas! it must be said to him: "Vain wretch, it is now too late! This law was made long ago; before thou wert born, or heard of in the world, and ever since the world was. And dost thou think a law shall be repealed in a way of favour to a most rebellious wretch, which the sovereign eternal God had established before the ages of the world; that it might be a fundamental and invariable rule of God's proceedings even to the end of it? Alas! it cannot be." God hath decreed many thousand years ago this law; that they who do forget him, shall be turned into hell without mercy. And if this be their continual state and frame without a change, it must needs be thus with them. There is no alteration in this case; for "God is not a man that he should lie, nor the son of man that he should repent, (heathen Balaam knew so much of God as that came to.) Hath. he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?" Numb. xxiii. 19. 3. And again in the third place, it is most serviceable to his glory and honour, that thus it should be; I mean, that those who persist, and go on to the last in a forgetfulness of God, should be turned into hell. For what glory hath he otherwise of them? "The Lord hath made all things for himself; yea, even the wicked for the day of evil," Prov. xvi. 4. He will punish them in the day of judgment, because they are the most perverse creatures that ever came out of his hands. He hath made them for the day of wrath, as the wise man speaks; and there is no other way for the Lord to have his honour and glory of those persons. See to this purpose what is spoken in the words immediately before the text; "The Lord is known by the judgment which he executeth:" and then it follows, "The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God." And why must this be? Because God will never else be known by them. Here they live so many years in the world, and God shows himself by his creatures, by his providences, and by his ordinances; and The learned author seems, almost every where, to quote texts of Scripture with great propriety, and is generally very happy and judicious in his descants upon them; of which all his posthumous discourses (as well as those published by himself are an abundant testimony; notwithstanding the liberty he allow ed himself, and the familiar freedom with which he delivered them, without written notes. But the editor is apprehensive, that some may look upon the quotation of this passage from Solomon, as an exception. It must be acknowledged, that these words have often been made use of in favour of a very discouraging doctrine: which, above all others, tends to enervate the force of all the motives and arguments, that can be made use of, to engage persons to attend to the exhortations to a holy and religious life. And because some may imagine the author, from his comment on the passage, understood it in the sense bere alluded to, which is evidently contrary to the general strain and tenor of his sentiments, in all his writings, it may not be improper to endeavour to set it in its true point of light, and to show in what sense the author may be understood. It is very true, the glory of God's justice requires (as the author had observed) that wicked men be punished For to suppose that God will make those happy, who live in a criminal forgetfulness of him, is a kind of outraging all his perSections; and no more to be imagined than that he will make an innocent be they will take no notice of him: they spend away their days, and allow God none of their thoughts. "I cannot be regarded by these creatures, (saith God,) they do not regard, nor take notice of me. Well! I shall take my leave of them. When they come to be turned into hell, and to fall under the pressures of everlasting wrath and misery, then they will not forget God; then they will know the God they never knew before; then they will remember him, though now they never think of him. Let them now try (saith God) whether they will forget. me, now that I have them under my wrath and vengeance While they are in this world, they banish me out of their hearts and thoughts; I cannot get one spare thought fron them from one day to another; but when they come to feel me, and the power of my anger, they will then know that which they would never know before." Thus you see, that God's justice, his law, and his glory require, that those wicked persons who forget God should be turned into hell. I shall close all with some few words of application. I. We may hence learn, that religion consisting of mere externals will never save any man. A person may be a wicked man, and liable to be turned into hell, notwithstanding any religion that lies in mere outside show. You see this plainly, that men are liable to be turned into hell for their forgetfulness of God. Why, a man may forget God, and yet live under ordinances, and under the Gospel. A man may forget God, and yet may be a moral man, and just and righteous in his dealings among men. And therefore, it is nothing that lies in mere externals, that will either denominate a man religious, or that will save him from perishing. A man may go to the utmost extent of all outside religion, and yet forget God; be wicked all the while, and so turned into hell at last. And therefore, it is a vanity for men to deceive themselves into a hope, that all is well with them; and that all shall go well with them at last, because they are professors, and enjoy Gospel privileges; or because that no man can challenge them with fraud, injury, or wrong done to their neighbours. It is a vain thing for them to think that therefore they are safe, and in no danger. They are all the while forgetters of God, and that is enough to bespeak them wicked; let them in other respects be what they will. And therefore you are to know, that it is not taking up a profession, or this and that form of religion, that will entitle a soul to glory and salvation at last; but it must be the having of such a work done upon the heart, as will turn the stream of a man's soul towards God, and carry his thoughts and affections after him. It is this or nothing, that must make you Christians, and save you from hell. It is but too common a vanity in these days, wherein we live, for men of carnal hearts and corrupt minds, that could never endure to be at the pains and expense to wait upon God in the way of his ordinances, in order to have their hearts thus changed and turned unto God; it is, I say, a common vanity with such persons, to think that all their business, in order to secure themselves and provide for their own safety and welfare, is to take up a certain form of worshipping and serving God. Alas! a man may perish, and go to hell, whatever form he is of, if he has a carnal heart; a heart that doth not delight in God: this will be sufficient to damn a man at last, let him take what course or be of what religion he will. And it is a plain case, it speaks an unsound, shifting heart, which cannot endure that such a work as this should be done, but slinks ing, for instance an angel that never fell, eternally miserable out of mere sovereignty and pleasure. Neither reason nor revelation represent the Almighty as so terrible to the innocent, or so easy to the guilty. But to assert that wicked men, persisting in forgetfulness of God and a course of sin, will be punished in the day of wrath; is to assert a very great and awful truth, and very probably is all that the author meant by this passage. But however, as the learned Bishop Patrick observes, the sense of the place seems to be this; that God makes use of wicked men, as well as all things else, to answer the ends of his providence in this world. As for instance; by the ambition of tyrants he inflicts those calamities, which he designs upon a wicked nation or people. But the sense, after all, needs not to be so confined. God has made all things for himself; or, as the words may be rendered, he has made all things to correspond, or answer to each other; yea, even the wicked for the day of evil. That is, not only to be his scourge or instrument of bringing calamities upon others in this life, but has suited and proportioned the punishment of evil men to their deserts; or has settled the connexion between vice and misery in the world to come: just as he has fixed the relation of virtue to future happiness; or, as it is elegantly expressed, made righteousness and peace to kiss each other. be what thou wilt in profession and pretence; yet if I be not in thy thoughts, if I be forgotten by thee, I will look upon thee as a wicked person, as one that shall be turned into hell." Truly, if the case be so, you must learn to correct that foolish imagination, that your thoughts are free; or that you may use them as you please: and know, that if men will give him no place there, this is a desperate, horrid wickedness, that the great God will be avenged upon one day. away from it. Such are pinching and galling ways; and thoughts are not free; that is, men are not at liberty, as therefore they seek for ease and rest some other way, and they vainly imagine, to dispose of their thoughts as they for a cheaper method of getting to heaven; as if going into will. Alas! the case is quite otherwise than what many such a party would save a man. Why, alas! it will not poor wretches imagine. They go up and down in the do it. It must be a change wrought upon the heart and world, never minding God from day to day, and they think soul, that will take it off from this world, and pitch it upon this is no sin; saying, "Why, what is this? It is but the God; if we would have an interest in him, or live in his disposing my thoughts; and surely I may do what I will blessedness another day. There are those, who are like with my thoughts. What matter is it what becomes of the persons Saint Paul speaks of to Timothy. "The time them?" But saith God; "What is there else that I value (says he) will come, when they will not endure sound doc-more, or set a greater price upon, than the thoughts and trine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to them-affections of the soul? I must have them or nothing. So, selves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables," 2 Tim. iv. 3, 4. Thus it is with many wretched souls in the ways of God: while they have been walking in them, it may be they have been barren and unfruitful, through their carnal hearts, which cannot endure to have any thing done to the purpose; therefore they desire to find an easier way than this. They run to other teachers, having itching ears; and think of going to heaven upon other terms, by only taking up other forms, and changing IV. Since the case is thus, that wicked men, and all the way of their religion. This speaks a heart to be un- those who forget God, shall be turned into hell; we may sound; as it is a sign of an unsound body, that can rest learn hence, that there are but few that shall be saved. Do itself in no posture, but lies tumbling and tossing in the but weigh the case seriously, and consider with yourselves, bed. It hath rest no where; when it hath rolled one way how few there are that so live, or in the face of whose conto another, it must come back to the same pitch and pos-versations it appears, that their hearts are set upon God! ture it was in before. Why, the man is not well! alas! whose minds are taken up about him, walking up and the fault is not in the bed, but the body; it is because the down the world from morning to night, rejoicing and debody is not well, but unsound and unhealthy, that it can- lighting themselves in God! Oh, how few such there are; not rest. And so men under the ordinances of the Gospel and consequently how few that are not wicked, and shall dispensation cannot find rest to themselves. They cannot not be turned into hell at last! My friends, God doth not indeed find fault with them; but they have fleshly carnal dally with us in such scriptures as these. They are plain hearts, that cannot endure any thing should be done to words which are here spoken, and we may turn off the change, and turn them unto God; and therefore they seek edge of them from rending and cutting our hearts if we out new ways, that they may get to heaven in a cheaper will; but one day we shall hear that we were told, and read and an easier manner. And if such souls have a mind to also, that "The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the go in those ways, that were never known or heard of be- nations that forget God." We may easily therefore learn fore, for so many years, they will not find what they seek. from hence, that going to heaven is not so common a thing For, alas! a carnal heart will carry its own pest and trouble as most men take it to be. Alas! it is not, if the word of about it, wherever it goes: and they will be forced either God be true. It will be found, that going to hell will be to say at last, the old way of real religion is best; or else much more ordinary among men that live under the Gosthey will cast off all religion, and there will be the end, as pel, than going to heaven. For it is said, they shall be experience in this case doth abundantly witness. turned into hell that forget God. Now, are not these plain words? Do they not evince and demonstrate that a great part (alas! the greatest part) are hurrying into hell apace? And is it not sad and miserable to think, that poor souls should thus spend all their life-time under a Gospel of grace? and that so much light and love should shine from heaven in vain? It should not be thought of, without pain and agony, that men should thus perish; that there should be so few saved from hell and destruction, notwithstanding they are under a Gospel of light and salvation! The truth I am upon is intimated in part of the message to the church of Sardis. "Thou hast a few names even in Sardis, which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy," Rev. iii. 4. Alas! how few are there, how few amongst a whole assembly and congregation of people, that keep themselves from pollution through lusts? How few names are there to be found in an assembly, who come under the character of persons that have not defiled their garments! or, of those who have numerous thoughts of God from day to day! How few are there, that do not come under the character in the text, of being forgetters of God; and so of such as must be turned into hell? It concerns us all to be serious in thinking upon this matter. God hath been serious in revealing this truth to us; and his Spirit is poured out for the confirming, establishing, and pressing it upon your hearts and spirits, whoever you are; and therefore think well of it, and consider seriously how few good men there are, who shall finally be saved. II. As this plainly instructs us, that religion, lying in externals only, will never save a man; so it informs us also, that wickedness, lying in the heart and thoughts, will abundantly suffice to damn a man. And this is no strange doctrine; at least it should not seem to any that have ever read the Bible, and know what belongs to true religion. Do not you know, that the heart and the thoughts are the prime and principal spring of that wickedness that ruins souls and turns them into hell for ever? "Out of the heart (says Christ) proceed evil thoughts;" (Matt. xv. 19.) and these speak a man defiled, make him wicked, and turn him into hell at last. Observe also this scripture: "O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved: how long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?" Jer. iv. 14. Wickedness and vain thoughts here are parallel expressions, which expound one another. That wickedness, of which the prophet speaks, consists in the vanity of the thoughts: and those are a man's vainest and most wicked thoughts, that run beside God; and have not him for their object, nor terminate upon him. Therefore wash thine heart from this wickedness, for certainly else there will be no salvation for thee. Alas! thou art a damned man, a lost creature, if thine heart be not washed from this wickedness of the thoughts. "Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee," Acts viii. 22. In short, to exclude God out of our thoughts, and not to let him have a place there; not to mind, nor think upon God; is the greatest wickedness of the thoughts that can be. And therefore, though you cannot say of such a one, he will be drunk; or he will swear, cozen, or oppress; yet if you can say he will forget God, or that he lives all his days never minding nor thinking upon God; you say enough to speak him under wrath, and to turn him into hell without remedy. V. You may hence learn also, that God hath an inspection into, and a full knowledge of, the hearts and thoughts of men. This is evident, for you see he makes his judg ment upon what lies within the inward man; and his judg ment at last will proceed upon the same ground. “I must have those turned into hell, (saith the Almighty,) who never think of, nor remember their God: they must undergo my III. If they are wicked persons who do not think of wrath that have thus forgotten me." Now, if God's judg God, and shall for that reason be turned into hell, then allments must be thus determined upon what is in the heart of man, then he knows your hearts; and also what you do with your thoughts from day to day. His eye is upon your souls and spirits; and sees all the day long which way your affections lie, and which way they are carried: and it is by this he must guide his judgment at the last day. Thus says the Psalmist; "He that planteth the ear shall not he hear? He that formed the eye, shall not he see? He that chastiseth the heathen, shall not he correct? He that teacheth man knowledge, shall not he know? The Lord knoweth the thoughts of man, that they are vanity," Psal. xciv. 9, 10, 11. He knows well all the vanity of your spirits, though you may not observe it. His eyes are observing us all the day long, especially on such a day as this; and according to the observation he makes, he must judge us at the last day. And therefore he must be supposed to have a full and perfect understanding of all things; so as to be able in that day to lay out before a man the wickedness of his whole life; to spread before him the vain and wicked, the sensual and earthly thoughts, which he was perpetually exercised in; and of which his carnal heart was the continual tomb. And this cannot be a more difficult than it is a necessary thing to him, who must search the hearts, and try the reins, that he may judge accordingly at the last day. And then, is no difficult thing for you to know it. Say then, "I am And in order to this, you must in the first place endeavour to get a right and distinct knowledge of God; otherwise you can never think rightly of him. Study his word; labour to know what is there discovered of his justice, righteousness, holiness, and power; of his goodness, and his love. Take in the whole compass of the discovery of God, to make up the object of your thoughts; otherwise you do nothing; your thoughts will pitch upon some other thing, besides God. If you take in but part of the attributes of God, that is no God. It will be some idle fancy that you take in, and not God, if your thoughts are not so comprehensive as to take in the whole discovery of God in those several attributes, by which he makes himself known. And then in the next place you must labour to have a work of sanctification, and regeneration, wrought upon your own hearts. As there must be a right stating of the object, so there must be a right framing of the subject too; otherwise it will be to no purpose. If there be not a change hearts be turned towards God; to love, and delight in him, with all your soul, and strength; alas! your thoughts of God will not be voluntary, but forced; they will never be free, pleasant, and delightful. And therefore you must often go to God, and cry to him, and say; "Lord, I see my thoughts run from thee! I cannot think of God at any time with pleasantness. Sanctify this heart! turn it to thyself! else I am lost, and shall be turned into hell." Cry thus unto God mightily, and incessantly, till you find such a work done upon your souls; for that is the only thing that will procure a freedom, and facility of thoughts, towards God; those holy, pleasant, and delightful thoughts, of which a sanctified heart will be a continual spring and fountain. VI. And lastly, we may learn hence, that it is not an impossible or difficult thing for wicked men to know themselves to be such; and to make a judgment of their own estates God-ward. For you see, they have a plain rule to judge by; namely, this truth: He that forgets God is a wicked man; and he is a wicked man that thus forgets God; and he that forgets God must be turned into hell. I pray now do but consider, and think with yourselves. Is it so impossible for a man to know what is the ordinary course of his own thoughts? You may easily know if you will, at least the generality of you may know, what the current of your thoughts is; and so far make a judgment of your estate accordingly. This we must needs acknow-wrought in the very inward of your souls, so as that your ledge. For those men who are carnal and earthly, their hearts tell them they have not a thought of God, from day to day, from week to week, from year to year. Such persons cannot be so brutish and absurd, but they may know it, if they will, especially if they will take God's word. If not, let them see whether they can have any surer rule that cannot deceive. But if they will take God's word, they cannot but see that they are those persons who are wicked, as they are forgetful of God; and upon that account must be turned into hell at last. My friends! if we do not study wilfully to ruin ourselves, is it so hard a matter for a man, a reasonable man, to sit down at night and consider, "Whither have my thoughts been this day? Who hath had my thoughts most? What have I taken most pleasure in this day? Is it in God? hath he been so delightful and so pleasant, and the remembrance of him in my heart and soul, as the pleasures and comforts of this life have been to me? Have I taken so much delight to-day in the law of God, as I have in my friends, my riches, and my relations? And have I had that fear of God in my heart, lest I should sin against him, as I have had about my business and affairs, lest they should miscarry?" Is it impossible, I say, for a reasonable man thus to consider, from day to day, whither hath been the course of his heart and thoughts? And if he find it is thus with him; that he lives without having a thought of God, that may stay his heart, and ravish his soul; how obvious then is it, that he is a wicked wretch that the wrath of God pursues him! and that he must be turned into hell, without remedy, if this continues to be the state and condition of his soul! Consider this, and give me leave to close up all with one word of counsel and advice to such persons as these: and may it be acceptable to your hearts! 1. Own your state and condition. If the case be thus, as you see it is, that they are wicked persons who forget God, and that such shall be turned into hell; why, look into your own hearts, and see whether they are not forgetful of God. And when you find that it is thus with you, let your judgment pass upon your souls, and say; "My wretched and undone soul! thou art that soul whom this law condemns; whom this judgment convinceth as guilty of this wickedness against God, and liable to his vengeance upon this account!" Therefore I say, own your estate. It And to press all this, I will deal plainly with you. It the case be not thus; if your hearts are not turned, and changed, that you may have such thoughts of God as we have been speaking of, there is no avoiding the misery threatened in the text; but there must of necessity be an expectation shortly of being turned into hell. That must certainly be the portion of those persons that forget God. And is that a thing easy and tolerable to your thoughts? Is it easy and tolerable to you to think of being sent into that place of torment, without remedy and without hope; merely upon this account, because you would needs live without God in the world; and would never have your hearts brought towards him? Many deceive themselves with the opinion of a tolerable hell; and therefore, such a consideration hath no force upon their spirits in the least. But think upon it a little, think what hell is! Why, it is that place of torment, that God himself hath ordained for the punishment of wickedness and transgression against him. He himself is the Author of that state, and of that torment that doth belong unto it. It proceeds from almighty power, omnipotent wrath and justice. And is that, think you, a tolerable thing? That "Tophet (the hell which the text speaks of) is ordained of old-the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it," Isa. xxx. 33. Is this, think you then, a slight matter, for a man thus to hurry and throw away his soul? thus to suffer himself to run into this hell and destruction, and merely because he would live without God; slight, despise, and turn God out of his heart and at the end of the fiftieth psalm. "Now consider this, ye that forget God, lest I tear you to pieces, and there be none to deliver," Psal. 1. 22. What! are those who for get God wicked persons? must wicked persons be turned into hell? is this hell, and is this place appointed for the torment of such wretches, by the eternal and almighty God; that he may take his revenge upon them, for their slighting and neglecting of him, or for what they have done in this world? Why then consider this, all ye that forget God, lest he tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver you. And so much shall suffice to be spoken to this text. soul, while he is here in the world? Hell is appointed | close, that one scripture, partly touched on before, which is and prepared by God, in order to that just revenge that he must take, and will take, upon all those wicked transgressors, that have their hearts thus hardened, and shut up against him. Alas! that is a dreadful thing to think of. Revenge! the revenge of a God! that the eternal and almighty God should design such a thing, as the avenging of himself in such a way upon wicked men! O what heart, that is not made of stone or a rock, can choose but tremble? To think, "I shall shortly be subject unto the wrath of God, because I have forgotten him, and have lived without him in the world; unless my heart be wrought upon and turned to him as the God of my life;" how dreadful is this! Let me then recommend to you, in the |