to run away from it, and be saved! We cry so often, and lose our labour, and leave so many in their security and self-deceits, that we are too discouraged, and remit our desires, and lose our compassion; and ourselves, alas, grow dull, and too insensible of their case, and preach too often as coldly as if we could be content to let them perish. We are too apt to grow weary of holding the light to men asleep, or that shut their eyes and will not see it. When all that we have said is not regarded, and we know not what more to say than hath been said so long in vain, this damps our spirits; this makes so many of us preach almost as carelessly as we are heard. Regardless, sleepy hearers, make regardless, sleepy preachers. Frequent frustration abateth hope: and the fervour and diligence of prosecution ceaseth, as hope abateth. This is our fault: your insensibility is no good excuse for ours: but it is a fault not easily avoided.

And when we are stopped at the first door, and cannot conquer Satan's out-works, what hope have we of going further? If all that we can say, will not convince you that you are yet unsanctified and unjustified, how shall we get you to the duties that belong to such, in order to the attainment of this desirable state?

And here I think it not unreasonable to inform you of the reason why the most able, faithful ministers of Christ do search so deep, and speak so hardly of the case of unrenewed souls, as much displeaseth many of their hearers, and makes them say, they are too severe and terrible preachers. The zealous Antimonian saith, they are legalists; and the profane Antinomian saith, they rail and preach not mercy, but judgment only, and would drive men to despair, and make them mad. But will they tell God he is a legalist for making the law, even the Gospel law as well as the law of nature, and commanding us to preach it to the world? Shall they escape the sentence by reproaching the law-maker? Will not God judge the world; and judge them by a law; and will he not be just and beyond the reach of their reproach? O, sinner, this is not the smallest part of thy terror, that it is the Gospel that speaks this terror to thee, and excludes thee from salvation, unless thou be made new: it is mercy itself that thus condemneth thee, and judgeth thee to endless misery. You are mistaken, sirs, when you say we preach not mercy, and say we preach not the Gospel, but the law:

It is the Gospel that saith, "Except a man be born again, he cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven! and that if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, the same is none of his." (John iii. 3. 5; Rom. viii. 9.) The same Gospel that saith, "He that believeth shall be saved," saith also, that "He that believeth not shall be damned." (Mark xvi. 16.) Will you tell Christ, the Saviour of the world, that he is not merciful, because he talks to you of damnation? Mercy itself, when it tells you that "there is no condemnation," doth limit this pardon to them "that are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." (Rom. viii. 1.) It is sanctifying mercy that must save you, if ever you be saved, as well as justifying mercy. And will you refuse this mercy, and by no entreaty yield to have it, and yet think to be saved by it? What, saved by that mercy which you will not have? And will you say, we preach not mercy, because we tell you, that mercy will not save you, if you continue to reject it? To be saved by mercy without sanctification, is to be saved and not saved; to be saved by mercy without mercy: your words have no better sense than this: And are those afraid, lest preachers should make them mad by showing them their need of mercy, that are no wiser than to cast away their souls upon such senseless, self-contradicting conceits as these?

I beseech you, tell us whose words are they, think you, that say, "Without holiness none shall see God?" (Heb. xii. 14.) and that "He that is in Christ, is a new creature," (2 Cor. v. 17,) and such like passages which offend you; Are they ours, or are they God's? Did we indite the Holy Scriptures, or did the Holy Ghost? Is it long of us, if there be any words there that cross your flesh, and that you call bitter? Can we help it, if God will save none but sanctified believers? If you have any thing to say against it, you must say it to him we are sure that this is in his word: and we are sure he cannot lie: and therefore we are sure it is true: We are sure that he may do with his own as he list, and that he oweth you nothing, and that he may give his pardon and salvation to whom, and upon what terms he please: and therefore we are sure he doth you no wrong. But if you think otherwise, reproach not us that are but messengers; but prepare your charge, and make it good against your Maker, if you dare and can: You shall shortly come before

him, and be put to it to justify yourselves: if you can do it by recrimination, and can prevent your condemnation, by condemning the law and the Judge, try your strength and do your worst.

Ah, poor worms! dare you lift up the head, and move a tongue against the Lord! Did Infinite wisdom itself want wisdom, to make a law to rule the world? And did Infinite goodness want goodness to deal mercifully, and as was best with man! And shall justice itself be judged to be unjust? and that by you! by such silly, ignorant, naughty and unrighteous ones as you! as if you had the wisdom and goodness, which you think God wanted when he made his laws!

And whereas you tell us of preaching terribly to you, we cannot help it, if the true and righteous threatenings of God be terrible to the guilty. It is because we know the terrors of the Lord, that we preach them, to warn you to prevent them. And so did the apostles before us. (2 Cor. v. 11.) Either it is true that the unquenchable fire will be the portion of impenitent, unbelieving, fleshly, worldly, unsanctified men, or it is not true: If it were not true, the word of God were not true: and then what should you do with any preaching at all, or any religion! But if you confess it to be true, do you think in reason it should be silenced? Or can we tell men of so terrible a thing as hell, and tell them that it will certainly be their lot, unless they be new creatures, and not speak terribly to them! O, sirs, it is the wonder of my soul that it seemeth no more terrible, to all the ungodly that think they do believe it. Yea, and I would it did seem more terrible to the most, that it might affright you from your sin to God, and you might be saved. If you were running ignorantly into a coalpit, would you revile him that told you of it, and bid you stop if you love your life! would you tell him that he speaks bitterly or terribly to you? It is not the preacher that is the cause of your danger: he doth but tell you of it, that you may escape. If you are saved, you may thank him: but if you are lost, you may thank yourselves. It is you that deal bitterly and terribly with yourselves. Telling you of hell doth not make hell: warning you of it, is not causing it: nor is it God that is unmerciful, but you are foolishly cruel and unmerciful to yourselves. Do not think to despise the patience and mercy of the Lord, and then think to escape by accus

:

"He is

ing him of being unmerciful, and by saying, it is a terrible doctrine that we preach to you impenitent sinners! I confess to thee it is terrible, and more terrible than thy senseless heart imagineth, or is yet aware of: One day, if grace prevent it not, thou shalt find it ten thousand times more terrible than thou canst apprehend it now. When thou seest thy Judge with millions of his angels coming to condemn thee, thou wilt then say his laws are terrible indeed. Thou hast to do with a holy, jealous God, who is a "consuming fire,” (Heb. xii. 29,) and can such a God be despised, and not be terrible to thee? He is called, "The great, the mighty, and the terrible God." (Neh. ix. 32; Deut. vii. 21.) "With God is terrible majesty." (Job xxxvii. 22.) "He is terrible out of his holy place." (Psal. Ixviii. 35.) terrible to the greatest, even to the kings of the earth." (Psal. lxxvi. 12.) It is time for you therefore to tremble and submit, and think how unable you are to contend with him and not revile his word or works, because they are terrible; but fear him for them, and study them on purpose that you may fear and glorify him. And as David, “Say unto God, How terrible art thou in thy works! Through the greatness of thy power shall thy enemies submit themselves unto thee- Come and see the works of the Lord! He is terrible in his doings towards the children of men." (Psal. lxvi. 3. 5.) "Let them praise thy great and terrible name, for it is holy." (Psal. xcix. 3.) And will you reproach God, or his word, or works, or ministers, with that which is the matter of his praise? If it be terrible to hear of the wrath of God, how terrible will it be to feel it? Choose not a state of terror to yourselves, and preaching will be less terrible to you. Yield to the sanctifying work of Christ, and receive his Spirit: and then that which is terrible to others will be comfortable to you. What terror is it to the regenerate (that knoweth himself to be such), to hear that none but the regenerate shall be saved? What terror is it to them that mind the things of the Spirit, to hear of the misery of a fleshly mind, and that they that live after the flesh shall die? (Rom. viii. 8. 13.) The word of God is full of terror to the ungodly but return with all your hearts to God, and then what word of God speaks terror to you? Truly, sirs, it is more in your power than ours, to make our preaching easy and less terrible to you! We cannot change our doc

trine, but you may change your state and lives: we cannot preach another Gospel; but you may obey the Gospel which we preach. Obey it, and it will be the most comfortable word to you in the world. We cannot make void the word of God; but you may avoid the stroke by penitent submission. Do you think it is fitter to change our Master's word, and falsify the laws of God Almighty; or for you to change your crooked courses, which are condemned by this word, and to let go the sin which the law forbiddeth? It is you that must change, and not the law. It is you that must be conformed to it, and not the rule that must be made crooked to conform to you.

Say not as Ahab of Michaiah, of the minister: "I hate him, for he prophesieth not good of me, but evil;" (1 Kings xxii. 8 ;) For a Balaam could profess that if the king “would give him his house full of silver and gold, he could not go beyond the word of the Lord his God, to do less or more," (Numb. xxii. 19,) or "to do either good or bad of his own mind," as he after speaks, xxiv. 13. What good would it do you for a preacher to tell you a lie, and say that you may be pardoned and saved in an impenitent, unsanctified state? Do you think our saying so, would make it so? Will God falsify his word to make good ours? Or would he not deal with us as perfidious messengers that had betrayed our trust, and belied him, and deceived your souls? And would it save or ease an unregenerate man to have Christ condemn the minister for deceiving him, and telling him that he may be saved in such a state?

Do but let go the odious sin that the word of God doth speak so ill of, and then it will speak no ill of you.

Alas, sirs, what would you have a poor minister do, when God's command doth cross your pleasure; and when he is sure to offend either God or you? Which should he venture to offend? If he help not the ungodly to know their misery, he offendeth God: if he do it, he offendeth them. If he tell you, that " All they shall be damned that believe not the truth, but have pleasure in unrighteousness," your hearts rise against him for talking of damnation to you: and yet it is but the words of the Holy Ghost, (2 Thess. ii. 12,) which we are bound to preach! If he tell you that "If ye live after the flesh, ye shall die," you will be angry, (especially if he closely apply it to yourselves :) and if he