therefore forfake them, because otherwise God will tortake us, being angry and offended at us. Thus we find David troubles for this especially, that his fin was committed against God; Pfal. li; 4, 5. And in the parable of the prodigal fon, tho his ftraits were the firft occafion of his coming to himself; yet his having offended God was the principle motive of his return to his father; Luke. xv. 21. And whofoever amongst you fhall be thus difpleated with your fins, because God is difpleafed at them and therefore forfake them because they offend him; fuch forfake them fo as it is required in my text, in order to their pardon.

2. CONSIDER fin is the tranfgreffion of God's law, and upon that account should be forfaken, even because of its contrariety and repugnancy to fo holy a law as that is This is to forfake fin for its own fake; not only because it is of dangerous confequence, but because it is fin. This is that which made the reliques of his fin fo grievous and irkfome to St. Paul, becaute the law was fpiritual, and he was carnal, fold under fin; Rom. vii. 12, 13, 14. And this is that which fhould make us both loath and leave our fins, because they are repugnant to fo exact a rule, fo divine a law as God's is.. And whofoever forfakes his fins upon this account, needs not fear but he fhall find mercy, according to the promise in my text.

3. CONSIDER how much ingratitude there

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is in every fin; I lay, ingratitude, which itself was always look'd upon as one of the greatest abfurdities that a man can be guilty of. But if our ingratitude to men be fo, what fhall we call ingratitude againft God? Queftionless there is no word to be found in any language, whereby to exprefs the heinoulness of it. And yet in every fin, there is not only a rebellion against God, as he is our dread and all-glorious Sovereign; but there is ingratitude against him too, as he is our good and all-gracious Father: Which he himself makes ufe of as a great aggravation of our fins, 2 Sam. xii. 7, 8. Ifa. i. 3. chap. v. 2, 3, 4. Deut. xxxii. 6. And this verily is that which fhould make us all afhamed of our felves,and blufh at each remembrance of ourselves; that we have been fo defperately finful against God, notwithstanding that he hath been fo infinitely merciful unto us; that we should live continually upon him, and yet live continually against him; that we fhould have nothing but what we receive from his mercy, and yet do nothing but what is offencive to his Majefty: Oh perverfe and ungrateful generation! Do we thus requite the Lord for all his mercies that we have received from him? Is this all the recompence we give him for his creation and continual prefurvation of us? Oh fhameful ingratitude! The very thoughts whereof fhould make us even loath and abhor ourfelves, and refolve for the future against sin, because it is fin, an offence

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to God's Glory, repugnancy to his laws, and the height of ingratitude in the very abstract.

CONSIDER these things, O all ye that have hitherto indulged your felves in any known fin, and tell me, whether you have any reafon to be fo loath to part with your fins: fins: What pleasure, what profit, what good did you ever find in them, that may countervail their evil and malignity? Can there be an pleasure in difpleafing God? Any profit in lofing your own. fouls? Or any good in evil itfelf? Certainly there can be none : And therefore be advised for your own good, to bid adieu this day to all your fins; harbour these spiritual vipers no longer in your breaft, but whatsoever you know to be offenfive unto God, let it be fo to you. Make no longer a trade of fin, nor walk in the paths that lead to ruin; but forfake both your former ways and thoughts, neither practice fin in your lives, nor indulging it in your hearts; but turn ye, turn from all your evil ways, to ferve the living God, and you need not fear but you will find grace and favour at his righteous hands, according to my text, Let the wicked forfake bis way,

BUT you must not think, that every forfaking of fin hath pardon entailed upon it, but such only whereby we fo leave our fins as to cleave to God: For it is not enough to go out of Egypt, unless we enter into Canaan. We must not only cease to do eyil, but learn to do well ;

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and therefore it is here faid,Let the wicked forJake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord: So that as fin is the terminus a quo, God muft be the terminus ad quem, in our converfion. It is fin that we must turn from, and it is God we muft turn to, otherwise all our turnings will fignify nothing. They turn iaith the prophet, but not to the moft High, they are as a deceitfil bow; Hofea vii. 16. implying, that this is but a deceitful converfion, that as a deceitful bow will never hit the mark, nor accomplish what they aim at. And verily the want of knowing or confidering this, hath been the ruin and downfall of many in Ifrael; who forfaking the fins which formerly they lived in, prefently conclude themfelves real converts; whereas there are feveral ways whereby a man may turn from his fins, and yet remain as finful as formerly he was, or how foever be far from turning to the Lord, fo as to find favour and acceptance with him.

FOR, Ift, a man may turn from one fin to another, from an open to a fecret, from a publick to a private, from a bodily to a fpiritual fin: As, heretofore, perhaps, thou hast been a profane and debauched wretch; but now being turn'd from thy profanenefs and debauchery, that thou art felfconceited, and righteous in thine own eyes, and fo art turned from bad to worse, from a publican to a pharifee, from an open fin

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ner to a mock-faint; and fo art in a worfe condition than thou waft before: For feeft thou a man wife, as the wifeman faith, or righteous in his own eyes; there is more hopes of a fool than of him.

THUS there are too many amongst us, who from a prodigal become covetous, from adulterers. go a whoring after the idols of this world, tom fwearing turn to lying, from drunkenness to cenforioufnefs, and from intemperance to pride and felfconceitedness. And questionless these and fuch like fins which they turn to, are every whit as bad or worse than those which they turned from: And therefore this is no forfaking fin in general, but only fome particular fins; or rather, it is no forfaking fin at all, but ex changing one fin for another, and often of a great one for a greater; as our Saviour intimates in the parable of the unclean fpirit, Mat. 12. 45.

NEITHER, in the next place, is it enough to turn from a finful to a mere civil course of life. Though this be a great converfion in the world's account, it is not fo in God's: For generally fuch an external change as this proceeds from fome unfound principle, or fome inferior caufe or other. Thus, fear of poverty may make a prodigal turn a good husband, and fear or fickneis may force the intemperate man to become fober; and the fear of one external punishment or other makes many a man forbear the actual commiffion of thofe fins which otherwife he