how easily and quickly is it covered, or put out and extinguished. I need not fend you to the heathen world, to learn the truth of this; you all know it by experience. Was there no other evidence, your own confciences are instead of a thousand witneffes, that man, as to his natural confcience, as well as understanding, will and affections, is much marred clay.

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Nor does that great and boafted Diand, I mean unaffifted unenlightened reafon, lefs demonftrate the juftnefs of fuch an affertion. Far be it from me to decry or exclaim against human reason. CHRIST himself is called the Logos, the Reafon;" and I believe it would not require much learning, or take up much time to prove, that fo far and no farther than as we act agreeably to the laws of CHRIST JESUS, are we any way conformable to the laws of right reafon. His fervice is therefore called a reasonable service." And however his fervants and followers may now be looked upon as fools and madmen; yet there will come a time, when those who defpife and fet themselves to oppofe divine revelation, will find, that what they now call reafon, is only reafon depraved, and as utterly incapable, of itself, to guide us into the way of peace, or fhew the way of falvation, as the men of Sodom were to find Lot's door after they were fruck with blindness by the angels, who came to lead him out of the city. The horrid and dreadful mistakes, which the most refined reasoners in the heathen world ran into, both as to the object, as well as manner of divine worship, have fufficiently demonftrated the weakness and depravity of human reafon: nor do our modern boafters afford us any better proofs of the greatnefs of its ftrength, fince the best improvement they generally make of it, is only to reafon themselves into downright wilful infidelity, and thereby reason themselves out of eternal falvation. Need we now any further witnefs, that man, fallen man, is altogether a piece of marred clay?

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But this is not all, we have yet more evidence to call; for do the blindness of our understandings, the perverfeness of our will, the rebellion of our affections, the corruption of our confciences, the depravity of our reafon prove this charge; and does not the prefent difordered frame and conftitution of our bodies confirm the fame alfo? Doubtlefs in this refpect, man,

in the moft literal fenfe of the word, is a piece of marred clay. For GoD originally made him of the " duft of the earth." So that notwithstanding our boafting of our high pedigrees, and different defcent, we were all originally upon a level, and a little red earth was the common fubftratum out of which we were all formed. Clay indeed it was, but clay wonderfully modified, even by the immediate hands of the Creator of heaven and earth. One therefore hath obferved, that it is faid "GOD built the man," he did not form him rafhly or hastily, but built and finished him according to the plan before laid down in his own eternal mind. And though, as the great GOD is without body, parts, or paffions, we cannot fuppofe when it is faid "GOD made man after his own image," that it has any reference to his body, yet I cannot help thinking (with Doctor South) that as the eternal Logos was hereafter to appear, GOD manifeft in the flesh, infinite wisdom was undoubtedly exerted in forming a cafket into which fo invaluable a pearl was in the fulness of time to be depofited. Some of the ancients are faid to have afferted, that man at the first, had what we call a glory fhining round him; but without attempting to be wife above what is written, we may venture to affirm, that he had a glorious body, which knowing no fin, knew neither fickness nor pain. But now on this, as well as other accounts, he may juftly be called Ichabod; for its primitive ftrength and glory are fadly departed from it, and like the ruins of fome ancient and stately fabric, only so much left as to give us fome faint idea of what it was when it first appeared in its original and perfect beauty. The apoftle Paul, therefore, who knew how to call things by their proper names, as well as any man living, does not fcruple to term the human body, though in its original constitution fearfully and wonderfully made, a "vile body;" vile indeed! fince it is fubject to fuch vile difeafes, put to fuch vile, yea very vile ufes, and at length is to come to fo vile an end. "For duft we are, and to duft we must return." This among other confiderations, we may well fuppofe, caused the bleffed JESUS to weep at the grave of Lazarus. He wept, not only because his friend Lazarus was dead, but he wept to fee human nature, through man's own default, thus laid in ruins, by being fubject unto fuch a diffolution, made like unto the beasts that perish.

Let

Let us here paufe a while, and with our sympathizing› LORD, fee if we cannot shed a few filent tears at least, - upon the fame forrowful occafion. Who, who is there amongst us, that upon fuch a melancholy review of man's prefent, real, and moft deplorable depravity both in body and foul, can refrain from weeping over fuch a piece of marred clay? Who, who can help adopting holy David's lamentation over Saul and Jonathan? "How are the mighty fallen! How are they flain in their high places!" Originally it was not fo.. No, "GOD made man after his own image: in the image: of GOD made he man." Never was there fo much expreffed. in fo few words. He was created after GOD in righteousness and true holiness.

This is the account, which the facred volume gives us of this interefting point. This, this is that bleffed book, that book of books, from whence, together with an appeal to the experience of our own hearts, and the teftimonies of all paft ages, we have thought proper to fetch our proofs. For, after all, we must be obliged to divine revelation, to know: what we were, what we are, and what we are to be. In thefe, as in a true glass, we may fee our real and proper like-, nefs. And from these only can we trace the fource and fountain of all those innumerable evils, which like a deluge have, overflowed the natural and moral world. If any fhould ob-> ject against the authenticity of this revelation, and confe-. quently against the doctrine this day drawn from thence, they do in my opinion thereby very much confirm it. For unless: a man was very much difordered indeed, as to his understanding, will, affections, natural confcience, and his power of reasoning, he could never poffibly deny fuch a revelation, which is founded on a multiplicity of infallible external. evidences, hath so many internal evidences of a divine stamp› in every page, is fo fuited to the common exigencies of all mankind, fo agreeable to the experience of all men, and which hath been fo wonderfully handed and preferved to us, hath been so inftrumental to the convicting, converting, and comforting fo many millions of fouls, and hath, ftood the test of the moft fevere fcrutinies, and exact criticisms of the moft fubtle and refined, as well as of the most malicious and perfecuting enemies, that ever lived, even from the beginning of time to this very day. Perfons of fuch a

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turn of mind, I think, are rather to be prayed for, than dif puted with, if fo be this perverse wickedness of their hearts may be forgiven them: "They are in the very gall of bitternefs, and must have their confciences feared as it were with a red-hot iron," and must have their eyes blinded by the GoD of this world," otherwife they could not but fee, and feel, and affent to the truth of this doctrine, of man's being univerfally depraved; which not only in one or two, but in one or two thousands, in every page, I could almoft fay, is written, in fuch legible characters, that he that runs may read. Indeed, revelation itfelf is founded upon the doctrine of the fall. Had we kept our original integrity, the law of GoD would have yet been written in our hearts, and thereby the want of a divine revelation, at least such as ours, would have been fuperfeded; but being fallen, inftead of rifing in rebellion against GOD, we ought to be filled with unfpeakable thankfulness to our all bountiful Creator, who by a few lines in his own books hath discovered more to us, than all the philofophers and most learned men in the world could, or would, have difcovered, though they had ftudied to all eternity.

I am well aware, that fome who pretend to own the validity of divine revelation, are notwithstanding enemies to the doctrine that hath this day been delivered; and would fain elude the force of the proofs generally urged in defence of it, by faying, they only bespeak the corruption of particular perfons, or have reference only to the heathen world: but fuch perfons err, not knowing their own hearts, or the power of JESUS CHRIST: for by nature there is no difference between Few or Gentile, Greek or Barbarian, bond or free. We are altogether equally become abominable in God's fight, all equally fallen fhort of the glory of Gob, and confequently all alike so many pieces of marred clay.

How GoD came to fuffer man to fall? how long man ftood before he fell? and how the corruption contracted by the fall, is propagated to every individual of his fpecies ? are queftions of fuch an abftrufe and critical nature, that fhould I undertake to answer them, would be only gratifying a finful curiofity, and tempting you, as Satan tempted our firft parents, to eat forbidden fruit. It will much better anfwer

the

the defign of this prefent difcourfe, which is practical, to pafs

II. To the next thing proposed, and point out to you the abfolute neceffity there is of this fallen nature's being renewed.

This I have had all along in my eye, and on account of this, have purpofely been fo explicit on the firft general head: for has Archimedes once faid, "Give me a place where I may "fix my foot, and I will move the world;" fo without the leaft imputation of arrogance, with which, perhaps, he was juftly chargeable, we may venture to fay, grant the foregoing doctrine to be true, and then deny the neceffity of man's being renewed who can.

I fuppofe, I may take it for granted, that all of you amongst whom I am now preaching the kingdom of GoD, hope after death to go to a place which we call Heaven. And my heart's defire and prayer to GOD for you is, that you all may have manfions prepared for you there. But give me leave to tell you, was you now to see these heavens opened, and the angel (to ufe the words of the feraphic Hervey) cloathed with all his heavenly drapery, with one foot upon the earth, and another upon the fea; nay, were you to fee and hear the angel of the everlasting covenant, JESUS CHRIST himself, proclaiming time shall be no more," and giving you all an invitation immediately to come to heaven; heaven would be no heaven to you, nay it would be a hell to your fouls, unlefs you were first prepared for a proper enjoyment of it here on earth. For what communion hath light with darkness ?" Or what fellowship could unrenewed fons of Belial poffibly keep up with the pure and immaculate JESUS?,

The generality of people form ftrange ideas of heaven. And because the scriptures, in condefcenfion to the weakness" of our capacities, defcribe it by images taken from earthly delights and human grandeur, therefore they are apt to carry their thoughts no higher, and at the best only form to themfelves a kind of Mahometan paradife. But permit me to tell you, and GOD grant it may fink deep into your hearts! Heaven is rather a flate than a place; and confequently, unless VOL. V.

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