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comes us to speak with caution and reserve; but still let me be permitted to remark that there are certain who almost touch those limits, passpersons ing beyond which, the things that belong to their peace will be for ever hidden from their eyes. The persons to whom I allude, are those who have been faithfully instructed in their duty; who have enjoyed in a high degree the common operations of the Holy Spirit; who have had deep and powerful convictions of their guilt; who have been filled with apprehension and terror at the punishment which they deserved; who have cried to God to have mercy upon them; who have solicitously inquired of the pious, "What shall we do to be saved ?" but who now have relapsed into more than their former coldness; have abandoned the exercises of devotion, live secure in known sin, and feeling no disquietude at their awful condition, jest at the most sacred truths of religion, and indulge an enmity against holiness, against the pious, against all that reprove or warn them. Such persons have indeed sad cause to apprehend that their day is on the decline, that the shadows of evening are fast overtaking them.

My brethren, when we press you, from time to time, to think of your everlasting interests, you secretly flatter yourselves that your health and life will still for a long time be continued to you, and that you will have sufficient leisure hereafter to attend to the concerns of your soul. I will not now tell you how dreadfully imprudent is this delay of repentance to a period which may never arrive : I will not point to the repository of the dead, and show you the worm and putrefaction preying upon the mouldering carcases of those who, like you, deferred their duty, intending afterwards to turn to the

Lord; but who were surprised by death, and whose souls are now "suffering the vengeance of eternal fire." What if you were certain of attaining even a patriarchal age, would this justify you in delaying repentance? Tell me, unhappy man, art thou assured that the day of thy grace will continue to the day of thy death? Hast thou read those secret counsels of God which Gabriel himself has not beheld, and discovered that the Almighty Lord of heaven and earth will patiently wait thy leisure till thy last sigh; will consent to be slighted and despised by thee, a worm, till thy final groan?

I cannot, without shuddering, look around on you, my brethren, and think that there are perhaps some in this assembly, to whom this may be the last mean of grace which God will accompany by his influences on them; some to whom the Spirit is perhaps now giving his last excitement, on the rejection of which he will for ever depart, and the destiny of these wretched men be irreversibly fixed; some who may henceforth stand, like the blasted fig-tree, only to wither and be burnt, having that awful curse denounced, "Let no fruit grow on you for ever:" (Matt. xxi. 18.) some, on whom, as on the foolish delaying virgins, the door of divine mercy is about for ever to be closed, and whose lives will be continued, like that of Pharaoh, only to glorify the power and the justice of God; some, in one word, to whom it would be an unspeakable blessing, if God should instantly plunge them into the gulf of despair, since their flames would be far less hot, their woes far less excruciating, than they will hereafter be. God of vengeance!" my flesh trembleth for fear of thee, and I am afraid of thy judgments!" Father of mer

cies! forbid that any of us should experience so fearful a doom.

And if you should be excited to attend to the concerns of piety by motives so terrible, so also should you be allured to it from considering,

2. That the Redeemer is desirous that you should not, by a criminal neglect of this precious season, bring upon yourselves this destruction.

This is sufficiently proved by the tears which he shed over perishing sinners. They were not an ostentatious display of unreal feeling, for " he never knew guile." Though he no longer is accessible to grief; though no sorrow enters into the kingdom of unmingled bliss; though no tears are shed upon the throne of glory, yet he still urges you not to neglect the day of your visitation.

Can you doubt of this, when you remember the names "full of grace" which he bears, the intent of his incarnation, the tender invitations and encouraging promises he has given you, the sufferings that he underwent for your salvation, and the welcome reception which he has given to every sinner, who has fled to him for safety.

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Listen also to the language which he uses as God. When he beholds sinners scorning his proffered grace, and obstinately rushing on to destruction, what is his conduct? Does he instantly dart forth his thunders, and. sink them in despair? No! he affectionately cries, "O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end:" (Deut. xxxii. 29.) "Oh that my people had hearkened unto me:" (Ps. lxxxi. 13.) "Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die ?" (Ezek. xxxii. 11.) "How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? How shall I deliver thee, Israel?

How shall I make thee as Admah? How shall I set thee as Zeboim? Mine heart is turned within me; my repentings are kindled together:" (Hos. xi. 8.) Hear again the solemn assurance of God's holy word, that the Lord "is not willing that any should perish; but that all should come to the knowledge of the truth: (2 Pet. iii. 9.) and lest this assurance should not satisfy us, confirming it by his oath, saying, "As I live, saith the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live:" (Ezek. xxxiii. 11.) It is true that these expressions are to be understood in a sense worthy of infinite perfection, and so as to exclude from the divinity any disappointment or sorrow. But even with these limitations, do they not convince you that the Redeemer, who now appears as "the mighty God," having "all power committed to him in heaven and on earth," desires not the sins or the miseries of man?

Do not suppose, however, that because he entertains such sentiments towards you, he will save you, though you continue impenitent. His compassion is not a weak sorrow which interferes with the claims of justice. He pities you as he pitied Jerusalem; if you like it remain impenitent, the sword of vengeance shall descend upon you as it did upon this city; and the remembrance of your Saviour's compassion shall only aggravate your torment, and shall constitute the very hell of hell.

O then, in time, weep with your weeping Saviour. Be not insensible to the tears of Immanuel. Let them not find the same hardness in your hearts as they did in those of the Jews. Let the terrors and mercies of the Lord, both of which are presented to you in this event, urge you to turn to him. If

these motives do not affect you, religion has no others to offer you, and all that we can do, is to mingle our tears with those of our Saviour, in weeping over your destiny.

But if, on the contrary, you are now resolved to renounce your sins, and instantly to devote yourselves to the Lord, the church will receive you with transport; angels will rejoice at your repentance; the compassionate Jesus will bestow upon you a "peace which passeth understanding," and will at last bear you to the Jerusalem on high, where all tears shall be wiped from your eyes, and an everlasting peace dwell in your soul. There you shall for ever fix your grateful view upon your Redeemer, and see him surrounded, not as on Mount Olivet, by a company of weak disciples, but by myriads of triumphant saints, with whom you shall join, while they swell the song of adoring praise, and cast their crowns before his throne.

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