of the lying tongue, Ephef. 5. 27. Satan will no more tempt or trouble us (Rev. 12. 9.) Matth. 25. 41. Sin and death will be excluded; and all the fears and horrours of both: For the face of Latinite Love will perfectly and perpetually thine upon us, and thine us into perfect perpetual Glory, Love and Joy and will feed these, and the thankful and prasful.cxpreflions of them, to all eternity, Matth. 5. 46. 2 Cor. 4. 17.11 Rev. 2, & 3.

Direct 10. Lastly, Think bem neer all this must needs be If the day of the Lord was near in the times of the Apoftles, it cannot be far off to us. If the worlds duration be to fix thousand years the time which arrogant presumption molt plautibly gucffeth at) it will be less than 350 years to it. Though we know not the time, we know it cannot be long.

And let me conclude with a warning to both forts, of Readers: And 1. To the ungodly unprepared finner. Poor foul! doft thou believe this dreadful day or not? if not, why s doft thou diffemble, by profeffing it in thy Creed if thou do, how can't thou live fo merrily or quietly in a careless unprepared ftate? Canft thou poffibly forget fo great, fo fure, fo near a day? Alas, it will be another kind of meeting, than Chrift had with finners upon earth; when he came in mock-b ness and humiliation, not to judge and condemn the world, but to be falfly judged and condemned by them, John 3. 17.5 & 12. 47. Nor will it be fuch a mecting as Chrift had with, thee, either by his Minifters that called thee to repent, who were men whom thou couldeft calily defpife; or by his Spirit which thou couldeft refifts and quench, or by his affling Rod, which did but fay to thee, Go, fin no more, left worse: befall thee, Joh. 5. 14. Heb. 12-10, 12 1 Tim. 5 24. Nor as the Judgment of mans: Alfize, which paffeth fentence only against a temporal life, Luk 124 Nor like the treaty of a Judas with his new awakened confcience here. O no! It will be a more glorious, bat more dreadful day: It will be the. meeting, not only of a creature with his Creatour, but of a: finner with a juft and boly God, and of a despiser of grace, with the God whom he defpifed: O terrible day to the unbelieving, ungodly, carnal and impenitent! Heb.10.31. & 2.3. & 10.12 Efff.3.

Luke

Luke 19. 27. There mult thou appear to receive thy final doom to hear the laft word that ever thou mutt hear from Jefus Chrift (unless his everlafting wrath be called his Word) And O how different will it be from the words which thou waft wont to hear! Thou watt went to hear the calls of grace: Mercy did intreat the: to return to God: Chrift by his Minifters did befeech thee to be reconciled: But if thou intreat bim for pardon and peace, with the loud eft cryes, it would be all in vain, Matth. 7. 21, 22, 23. Prov. 1. 27, 18. Now the voice is, Bebold the Lamb of God, who taketh away the fins of the world, John 1. 29. But then it will be, [Bebold be cometh with clouds, end every eye shall fee him, and they alfo which pierced him, and all the kindreds of the earth fhall wail, because of him, Rev. 1.7. And behold the Lord cometh with ten thousands of bis Saints, to execute Judgment upen all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them, of all their ungodly deeds, which they have ungodly committed, and of all their bard fpeeches, which ungodly finners have spoken against him, Jude 14, 15. Now he entreateth you to come to him that you may have life, John 5:40. But then you will cry to the Mountains to fall upon you, and the bills to cover you from his prefence, Luke 23. 30. Rev. 6. 16. Now he faith, Behold Iftand at the door and knocks If any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will fup with him, and be with me, Rev. 3. 20. But when once you hear that midnight cry, Behold the Bridegroom cometh, go ye forth and meet him; then they that are ready shall go in, and the door fhall be shut against the rest, Matth. 25.9, 10. The door of mercy fhall be fhut: Your Reprobation will be then made fure, Rom. 9. 22. & 2.5. The day of thy vifitation is then past, (Luke 19. 41,42.) No more offers of Christ and mercy: No more intreaties to accept them: No more calls to turn and live: Minifters must no more preach, and perfwade, and intreat in vain. Friends muft no more warn thee, and pray for thee. All is done already that they can do for thy foul for ever. No more Arivings of the Spirit with thy confcience; and no more patience, health or time to be abufed upon fleshly lufts and pleasures: All these things are past away, 1 Cor. 7. 31. 2 Cor. 4. 17. And the door of Hope will be alfo fhut: No more hope

of

of a part in Chrift: No more hope of the fuccefs of Sermons, of Prayers, or of any other means: No hopes of pardon, of juftification, of falvation; or of any abatement of thy woe, Luke 16. 25, 26. Behold this in the accepted time; behold this is the day of falvation, a Cor. 6: a. Heb. 6.4, 5, 6, 8 Pfal.5.4, 5.1 & 9.7. James 1. 15.

By this time, methinks you thould better know what the ufe and meaning of the Gospel, and Grace, and Ministers is; and what is the defign of Preaching, and in what manner it should be done. Would you have us filent, or talk to you as in jeaft, while we see fuch a day as this before us? Every truc Preacher spaketh to you with Judgment and Eternity on his cyc. Our work is to prepare you, or to help you to prepare to meet the Lord, and to be ready for your final fentence: O then with what feriousness should we speak, and should you bear, and fhould both we and you prepare! It's pitty to fee people hear Sermons many years, and not fo much as know what a Sermon is; or what is the use and nature of it. Ifour bufinels were to draw away Difciples after us, and to make our felves the admired heads of factions, then we would fpeak those perverfe things contrary to the docrine which you have been taught, by which our ends might be casryed on, Ads 20. 35. Rom. 16. 17. Or if our defign were to be bigh, and great, and rich, we would flatter the great ones of the world, that we might rule you with violence inftead of love: Or if we confulted our cafe, we should fpare much of this labour, and let you filently alone, at cheaper rates to the flesh, than now we speak to you. But O who can be filent, who is engaged in this facred office, when he forefeeth what will shortly be the iffue of our prevailing, or not prevailing with you! Now as we love Chrift, we must feed bis sheep; and neceffery is laid upon us, and woe be unto us if we preach not the Gospel, 1 Cor. 9. 16. Our preaching Christ is to warn every man, and teach every man, that we may prefent every man perfect in Cbrißt Jefus, Col.1.22 And to per fwade men as knowing the terrours of the Lord, 2 Cor. 9. 10, 11. Heb. 12. 25,29. If it were only that we loved fo to hear our felves talk; or to be cryed up by many followers, we deserved to pay dear indeed for fuch Preaching. But when our Lord loved and pittied fouls at the rate of his fufferings and bloody

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death,

death, furely our rates are not above the worth of fouls. Ó what a doleful fight is it to us, to forefee by faith how loud, how carneftly you would knock and cry, when the door is fhut, and hope is gone! And what you would then give for one of thefe daies which you now are aweary of; and for a drop of that mercy which now doth beg your entertainment!

What then remaineth, but as ever you believe that day,and as ever you care what becometh of your fouls and bodies for ever; and as ever you would not be charged and condemned, as final and obftinate refusers of mercy and falvation; yea and for wronging the Minifters of Chrift, by making them ftudy and preach in vain: That you harden not your hearts, but hear Chrifts voice, to day, while it is called to day, before the' door of grace be fhut: O cry while crying and begging may do good: Meet Chrift now as my brit prepare you to meet him then. Meet him now as the Prodigal met his Father, Luke 15. Saying, I bave finned, and am no more worthy to be called thy Son, make me one of thy hired fervants.

Meet God as Abigail met David, 1 Sam. 25. 32,34. with an offering of peace (even Chrift apprehended by an obedient faith:) When the heard from David, Except thou hadst hafted and come to meet me, all had been deftroyed.

Meet him to enquire of his facred Oracle, what is like to become of thy foul; as the King of Syria fent Hazael with a present to Elisha, to meet him, saying, Shall I recover of this difcafe? 2 King. 8. 8. Or as Paul met with Chrift when he humbled and converted him, faying, Who art thou, Lord? and what wouldst thou bave me do? A&ts 9.

Meet him as the men of Ifrael and Juda did David their King, 2 Sam. 19. ftriving who fhould firft own and honour him, Amos 4. 12. Meet God thus now when he calleth you by his Word, when he perfwadeth you by his Minifters, when he moveth you by his Spirit, when he allureth and obligeth you by his mercies, while he driveth you by affliction, while he waiteth on you by his patience, and by all these calleth you to repent, to love him, and to obey ; to set your hearts on Heaven if ever you hope it should be your portion : Meet him thus now, and then you may joyfully meet him in his glory. II. And

II. And O all you that are true Believers,lift up your heads with hope and joy, for your final deliverance draweth nigh. The world hath but a little while longer to abufe you: Satan hath but a little while more to moleft you: The blinded Sodomites thall not long be groping for your doors: You fhall not long walk among fires and dangers, nor live with enemics, nor with troublesome unsuitable friends: You have not. long to bear the burden of that wearifome body, of that feducing fieth, of thofe unruly paffions, or thofe difordered thoughts; you have not long to groan under the misery of that troubled and doubting confcience, that darkened-mind, those dull affections, thofe remnants of unbelief, ftupidity and carnality; nor to cry out with weariness from day to day, O when thall I know God better, and love him more! Death is coming, and quickly after, Chrift is coming: One will begin, and the other perfect your full deliverance, and put an end to thefe complaints.

And remember, that though Death hath somewhat in it, which to nature is terrible (God having made the love of Life to be the pondus, or fpring of motion to the great engine of the fenfitive worldy yet what is there in the fecond coming of Chrift, that fhould feem unwelcome to you? You shall not meet an enemy, but a friend; your fureft, and your greateft friend, one that hath done more for you than all the world hath done; and one that is ready now to do much more, and fhew his love and friendship to the height. One that will be then your fureft friend, when all the world thall caft you off. You go not to be condemned, but to be openly juftified; yca boneured before all the world, and fentenced to endless glory. -You go not to be numbered with the enemies of holiness, or with the flothful and unprofitable fervants'; but to be perfecly incorporated into the heavenly fociety, and to fee the glori hed faces of Henoch, Moses and Elias, of Peter, and John, and Paul, and Timothy, and all the Saints that ever you knew, or whole writings you have ever read, or whofe names you ever heard of, & millions more. You go to be better acquainted with thole Angels that rejoyced at your repentance, and that tribitired for your good, and that bore you in their hands, and were your continual guard both night and day. You go to G888

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