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2. If any sinners think they desire to go to heaven, it is a clear evidence that they are ignorant of heaven and of their own hearts. Sinners generally are ignorant of heaven and view it as a mere asylum, or a place of refuge from the miseries of the damned, which they dread and wish by all means to escape. If they might have their choice, they would greatly prefer living in this world always and never go to heaven; but as they are rationally convinced, that they must sooner or later die and leave this world forever, so they would rather go to heaven and not be doomed to take up their final and eternal residence in the regions of darkness and lie down in eternal sorrow. They feel as Balaam felt and pray, if they do pray to God, "Let me die the death of the righteous and let my last end be as his." But Balaam afterwards recalled his wish; and so do sinners very often, after they have made the same prayer. How do young and old in a time of sickness, or some other scene of trouble and distress, call upon God, to shew mercy and admit them into his family; but as soon as they recover from sickness, or escape from danger, cast off fear and restrain prayer before God. But sinners, under the awakening and convincing influence of the divine spirit, are more deeply impressed and more anxiously concerned to escape the wrath to come; and they imagine they desire, above all things, to go to heaven and fondly imagine that they are far more willing to be in heaven, than God is to admit them there. But all such persons are greatly mistaker. They have no just idea of heaven, nor of their own hearts. They are not under genuine convictions & are grossly ignorant of the plague of their own hearts. They are not convinced, that they deserve eternal destruction, nor are they willing that God should cast them off forever; but their hearts rise in sensible opposition to God's amiable and awful vindictive justice and absolute sovereignty. Though they ardently wish to escape hell, yet they will not submit to God's absolute sovereignty to escape it. Though they should be admitted to heaven, their hearts would rise against God and all

the heavenly hosts, who praise him for dooming the impenitent to the regions of darkness and despair. Instead of saying Amen, Alleluia, they would be speechless and inwardly curse God and die. If God would give them the best place in heaven and offer them the whole universe to fall down and cordially join the heavenly hosts in praising him for punishing any creature eternally, they would reject the offer. They would wish to exchange heaven for any other place. Sinners under genuine convictions have often felt and said, they had no desire to go to heaven with their present views and feelings. And so long as any sinner retains his carnal mind, which is enmity against God, he is grossly and dangerously ignorant of heaven and of his own heart, if he thinks he really desires to go to heaven, for any other reason, than to escape future and eternal punishment, which is a selfish and criminal desire, let it risc ever so high. Awakened sinners are extremely apt to imagine, that their strong and ardent desires to go to heaven are really virtuous and acceptable to God. But they are only desirous that God would submit to them and sacrifice the good of the universe to deliver them from deserved punishment. The devil had as good a desire, when he said to Christ "I beseech thee, torment me not." It is of infinite importance, that sinners should have a knowledge of heaven and of their own hearts.

3. If the place and business of heaven be such as they have been described, then sinners may see what is the real and sole difficulty in the way of their going to heaven They generally plead, that they have not power enough to go, though they wish, desire, seek and strive to go. This is their most common and they think the most forcible plea, when they are driven to make any excuse. But it is totally groundless. The truth is, they are too strong, instead of being too weak. They are stout hearted. They cannot bear the spirit and business of heaven. They know enough to hate heaven and its holy and benevolent inhabitants. And they have strength to avoid walking in the straight

and narrow path to heaven; and to walk and even run in the broad road to destruction. It is not true that they have no strength, but that they have no heart to go to heaven. The way of transgressors is hard.—They put forth more strength, more courage, more resolution and more zeal, in travelling the forbidden paths to ruin, than others do, in running their christian race to heaven. If they would seriously, critically and impartially examine the exercises of their own hearts, they would find that Christ has told them what is the real difficulty in the way of their obtaining salvation. "Ye will not come to me, that ye may have life."

4. It appears from what has been said, that it is as easy for any to comply with the terms of salvation, as it is to be in heaven and cordially unite with the heavenly hosts in their enjoyments and employments. When any specify the difficulties they find in embracing the gospel, they mention the hard conditions upon which it offers salvation. They seem to think that they are much higher than they need to be and such as they cannot perform. But let us examine these terms distinctly and see whether any, that have ever been proposed, are more difficult to be complied with, than to be willing to be in heaven, if God would actually take them there. Is supreme love to God a term of salvation ? But can any be willing to be in heaven, unless they love God supremely? All the heavenly hosts love God supremely for what he is in himself, perfectly holy, just and good, And none can desire to be united with a holy society, without being united with them in affection. Is love to the decrees of God a term of salvation ? But can any desire to be in heaven, where the decrees of God are most visibly carried into effect and most joyfully admired and adored, without believing and loving the sovereignty of God, in forming and executing his decrees? Do some say, that love to a damning God is a term of salvation? But does not a sincere desire to be in heaven necessarily imply a desire to see and adore God, in casting the wicked into hell? All the heavenly hosts see, admire and praise

God for doing this. Do some say that a willingness to be damned is a term of salvation? But is it any more difficult for any one to be willing to be cast off forever himself, than to be willing to see others cast off forever, though he has been nearly and tenderly con-nected with some of them through life? The holy angels have been willing to see the apostate angels cast off forever. The spirits of just men have been willing to see those, with whom they had been intimately connected, cast off forever. The eleven apostles have been willing to see Judas cast off forever; and no doubt but David has been willing to see Absalom, his darling son, cast off forever. Now, if there be nothing more hard or difficult in complying with the terms of salvation, than there is in being really willing to be in heaven, then none have the least reason to complain of them; for certainly they cannot complain, that God requires them to be willing to be in heaven, in order to his actually admitting them to dwell with him and his holy subjects in that holy and happy place. The truth is, there is nothing, which God requires men to do in this life, in order to go to heaven, that is harder to be done than to be willing to be in heaven. The difficulty lies not in going, but in being there. A sincere desire to be in heaven will certainly carry any person there. Let no man deceive and destroy himself, by complaining of external difficulties in the way of going to heaven; for they all lie within himself, and nothing but his inwardly saying to God, depart from me, I desire not the knowledge of thy ways, can shut him out of the kingdom of glory.

5. It appears from what has been said, that lowering the terms of salvation has no tendency to allure men to heaven. Let heaven be properly described and let natural men really understand wherein its enjoyments and employments consist and they would not be willing to comply with any terms, that could be proposed, in order to obtain admission into it. Let external obedience, common honesty, or common deceney, be substituted in the place of supreme love to God,

a cordial approbation of his eternal purposes and unconditional submission to his absolute sovereignty and men be told, that they need not believe and love such doctrines in order to be saved. They would no sooner comply with the lowest, than with the highest terms of salvation, in a clear view of heaven. The experiment of lowering the terms of salvation has often been made. But what effect has it produced? The effect is well known. It has only made such, as were ignorant of their own hearts, think that they desire to go to heaven and were actually going there, while they possessed their natural heart, which is enmity against God; and totally unfitted them for heaven. This was the case in Christ's day, who told his disciples, that except their righteousness exceeded the external righteousness, which others had been taught to depend upon, they should in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. It is extremely dangerous for those, who preach the gospel, to lower down the terms of salvation, so as to please the natural heart. It may allure some to perform the externals of religion and to enjoy a hope of escaping the wrath to come; but such a false hope is extremely dangerous and instead of bringing men nearer to the kingdom of heaven, pushes them the furtherest from it and must be removed in order to embrace the gospel.

6. It appears from what has been said, that a clear realizing view of heaven, would put every sinner in the world out of doubt, in respect to his spiritual state. Sinners often complain of doubts and say they are troubled with fears. But let them realize the enjoyments and employments of heaven and their doubts. would vanish and they would sensibly know, that the love of God and of heaven is not in them and that they are totally unfit to be united with saints and angels in glorifying and enjoying God. They would know, that if the gate of heaven were opened to them, they would not enter into it. Their selfish hearts would shut them out. How many of the most amiable sinners have been brought to such a knowledge of their

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