prayed together; had frequented religious focieties; had ftirred up each other to love and holiness, and endeavoured 'to convince each other of the evil of fin, and how obnoxious they are to the wrath of GOD; and the neceffity of being weary and heavy laden with a sense thereof; that they might have escaped the punishment which they fuffer, by their following the finful and polite diverfions of the age they felt into. But as it was against God himself they had finned, fo no less than GOD will punish them for their offences: he hath prepared these torments for his enemies; his continual anger will still be devouring of them; his breath of indignation will kindle the flame; his wrath will be a continual bur den to their fouls. Woe be to him who falls under the ftroke of the Almighty!

Thus they are not weary and heavy laden with their fins, who can follow the polite and fashionable entertainments of the age. But,

Secondly, I am to fhew you what it is to be weary and heavy laden with fins. And

1. You may be faid, my brethren, to be weary and heavy laden, when your fins are grievous unto you, and it is with grief and trouble you commit them.

You, who are awakened unto a sense of your fins, who fee how hateful they are to GOD, and how they lay you open to his wrath and indignation, and would willingly avoid them; who hate yourfelves for committing them; when you are thus convinced of fin, when you fee the terrors of the law, and are afraid of his judgments; then you may be faid to be weary of your fins. And O how terrible do they appear when you are firft awakened to a sense of them; when you fee nothing but the wrath of GOD ready to fall upon you, and

you

are afraid of his judgments! O how heavy is your fin to you then! Then you feel the weight thereof, and that it is grievous to be borne.

2. When you are obliged to cry out under the burden of your fins, and know not what to do for relief; when this is your cafe, you are weary of your fins. It does not consist in a weariness all of a fudden: no, it is the continual burden of your foul, it is your grief and concern that you cannot live without offending Gop, and finning against him; and these

fins are fo many and fo great, that you fear they will not be forgiven.

I come, Secondly, to fhew you what is meant by coming to CHRIST.

It is not, my brethren, coming with your own works: no, you must come in full dependance upon the LORD JESUS CHRIST, looking on him as the LORD who died to fave finners: Go to him, tell him you are loft, undone, miferable finners, and that you deserve nothing but hell; and when you thus go to the LORD JESUS CHRIST out of yourself, in full dependance on the LORD JESUS CHRIST, you will find him an able and a willing faviour: he is pleased to see sinners coming to him in a sense of their own unworthiness; and when their case seems to be most dangerous, moft diftreffed, then the LORD in his mercy fteps in and gives you his grace; he puts his Spirit within you, takes away your heart of stone, and gives you a heart of flesh. Stand not out then against this LORD, but go unto him, not in your own ftrength, but in the ftrength of JESUS CHRIST.

And this brings me, Thirdly, to confider the exhortation CHRIST gives unto all of you, high and low, rich and poor, one with another, to come unto him that you may have rest. And if JESUS CHRIST gives you reft, you may be fure it will be a reft indeed; it will be fuch a rest as your foul wants; it will be a reft which the world can neither give nor take away. O come all of ye this night, and you shall find rest: JESUS CHRIST hath promifed it. Here is a gracious invitation, and do not let a little rain hurry you away from the. hearing of it; do but confider what the devil and damned fpirits would give to have the offer of mercy, and to accept of CHRIST, that they may be delivered from the torments they labour under, and must do fo for ever; or, how pleafing. would this rain be to them to cool their parched tongues; but they are denied both, while you have mercy offered to you; free and rich mercy to come to CHRIST: here is food for your fouls, and the rain is to bring forth the fruits of the earth, as food for your bodies. Here is mercy upon mercy.

Let

Let me beseech you to come unto CHRIST, and he will

give you reft: shall find reft unto your fouls. O you,

you

my weary, burthened brethren, do but go to CHRIST in this manner, and though you go to him weary, you fhall find reft before you come from him: let not any thing short of the LORD JESUS CHRIST be your reft; for wherever you feek you will be difappointed; but if you do but feck unto the LORD JESUS CHRIST, there you will find a fulness of every! thing which your weary foul wants. Go to him this night; here is an invitation to all you who are weary fouls. He does not call you, O Pharifees; no, it is only you' weary finners; and fure you will not ftay from him, but accept of his invitation; do not delay; one moment may be dangerous death may take you off fuddenly. You know not but that a fit of the apoplexy may hurry you from time into eternity therefore, be not for ftaying till you have something to bring; come in all your rags, in alt your filthiness, in all your diftreffes, and you will foon find JESUS CHRIST ready to help, and to relieve you: he loves you as well in your rags, as in your best garments; he regards not your drefs; no, do but come unto him, and you fhall foon find reft for your fouls.

What fay you? Shall I tell my Mafter you will come unto him, and that you will accept him on his own terms. Let me, my brethren, befeech you to take JESUS without any thing of your own righteousness: for if you expect to mix any thing of yourself with CHRIST, you build upon a fandy foundation; but if you take CHRIST for your reft, he will be that unto you. Let me befeech you to build upon this rock of ages. O my brethren, think of the gracious invitation, "Come unto me," to JESUS CHRIST: it is he that calls you: And will you not go?

Come, come unto him. If your fouls were not immortal, and you in danger of lofing them, I would not thus fpeak unto you; but the love of your fouls constrains me to speak : methinks this would conftrain me to fpeak unto you for ever. Come then by faith, and lay hold of the LORD JESUS: though he be in heaven, he now calleth thee. Come, all ye drunkards, fwearers, fabbath-breakers, adulterers, fornicators; come, all ye fcoffers, harlots, thieves, and murderers, and

3

JESUS

JESUS CHRIST will fave you; he will give you reft, if you are weary of your fins. O come lay hold upon him. Had I lefs love for your fouls, I might fpeak lefs; but that love of GOD, which is shed abroad in my heart, will not permit me to leave you, till I fee whether you will come to CHRIST or no. O for your life receive him, for fear he may never call you any more. Behold, the Bridegroom cometh; it may be this night the cry may be made. How would you bear this, if you were fure to die before the morning light? GOD grant you may begin to live, that when the king of terrors fhall come, you may have nothing to do but to commit your fouls into the hands of a faithful Redeemer.

Now to God the Father, GOD the Son, and God the Holy Ghoft, be all honour, praifes, dominion, and power, henceforth and for evermore, Amen, Amen.

SERMON

SER MON

XXII.

The Folly and Danger of parting with CHRIST for the Pleasures and Profits of Life.

MATTHEW viii. 23, to the End.

And when he was entered into a fhip, his difciples followed him. And behold, there arose a great tempeft in the fea, infomuch that the fhip was covered with the waves: But he was afleep. And his difciples came to him, and awoke him, faying, Lord, fave us, we perish. And he faith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose and rebuked the winds and the fea, and there was a great calm. But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the fea obey him! And when he was come to the other fide into the country of the Gergefenes, there met him two poffeffed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, fo that no man might pafs by that way. And behold, they cried out, faying, What have we to do with thee, Jefus, thou Son of God? Art thou come hither to torment us before the time? And there was, a good way off from them, an herd of many fwine, feeding. So the devils befought him, faying, If thou caft us out, fuffer us to go away into the herd of fwine. And he faid unto them, Go: And when they were come out, they went into the herd of swine; and behold, the whole herd of fwine ran violently down a fleep place into the fea, and perished in the waters. And they that kept them, fled and went their ways into the city, and told every thing; and what was befallen to the possessed of the devils. And behold, the whole city came out to meet fefus, and when they faw him, they befought him that he would depart out of their coafts.

F we were but fenfible of the great neceffity there is, in this our day, of being real chriftians, fure we should noɛ . be contented with being nominal ones; but we are funk into I know not what; we are no better than baptifed heathens:

And