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Have you ever been awakened to a sense of God's difpleafure.against you, because of your offences? Have you ever been brought under deep conviction, that the Judge and Governor of the world is juftly angry with you, as tranfgreffors of his holy laws? Has the horrible nature of fin ever been opened to your view; so that your fouls have been afflicted on account of it? Has the guilt of fin ever laid on your confciences, as a burden too heavy for you to bear? And have you ever been brought to exclaim with the prophet Isaiah, "Woe is me, I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips."

When David poured out his penitential confeffions before God, he spake of a broken heart, and complained of the anguifh he felt, as being like that occafioned by broken bones. The arrows of the Almighty fuck faft in him; there was no reft. in his bones because of his fin; he even roared by reason of the difquietness of his fpirit. Our Lord represents the condition of poor fouls, who come to him, as a weary and burdened one. "Come unto me all ye that labour, and are heavy laden, and I will give you reft." Job complains, that the terrors of God fet themselves in array against him. Peter's hearers, when God gave them repentance, were pricked to the heart. Paul had the law opened

to him in fuch a manner, that his fins revived, and he died; his delufive hopes and comforts were at an end; and the law, which was originally ordained to life, he found to be unto death.

The law is our school-mafter, to bring us unto Christ; its terrors are usually seen and felt, in some degree, before we experience the grace and comforts of the gofpel. An apprehenfion of divine wrath commonly precedes the discoveries of pardoning love; and fin is made bitter to us, before we taste that the Lord is gracious. We receive not the confolation arising from God's favour, generally speaking, till we have feen ourfelves in danger of his everlasting displeasure. The poor finner perceives that he is in a ftate of condemnation and ruin, and owns that it is of the Lord's mercy he is alive, and not sent to that place of punishment which his crimes have deferved. His mouth is stopped by the consciousness of his guilt, so that he is convinced it would be just in God to caft him off for

ever.

I am far from having any design to fix a standard for the degree of penitential difquietude. The convictions of fome are attended with much more terror than thofe of others. I am farther ftill from having any intention to fuggeft, that a long course of time is neceffary for thefe difcoveries. Peter's

hearers

》ཟློ-ར་་་་

hearers were brought to a sense of their fins, and to discoveries of pardoning mercy on the fame day, in the fame place, if not under the fame fermon. The jailor at Philippi faw himself a loft finner, and rejoiced in the falvation of Jefus the fame night.

But I do not find any instance in the word of God, of a man's being filled with the comforts of divine love and favour, who has never had any fense of the evil of fin, or of his own miferable. and undone state. That faith does not appear to be of the faving kind, which is not accompanied with repentance from dead works. It is ufual for poor finners to have their minds enlightened to fee the, nature and number of their crimes, and to be filled with awful apprehensions of the dreadful malignity of fin, before they are brought to rejoice in God's favour and pardoning love." In that day thou shalt fay, O Lord I will praise thee; for though thou waft angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortest me. Behold God is my falvation; I will truft, and not be afraid; for the Lord Jehovah is my ftrength and my fong; he is alfo become my falvation."

I would ask you farther, Have you been convinced that the whole world cannot procure you an interest in the divine favour? That neither angels

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in heaven, nor men on earth; that neither riches, honours, gifts, endowments, nor qualifications of any kind, can reconcile you to God? Are you perfuaded that thousands of rams, and ten thoufands of rivers of oil would be of no avail in this cafe? That should all the holy men on earth unite with the faints in heaven to procure your pardon, they would not prevail? That should Noah, Daniel and Job, Lot, Mofes and Samuel stand up to turn away the wrath of God from you, they would not fucceed? That if all the angels in heaven fhould intercede for you, their interpofition would not be sufficient? Nay, have you been made senfible that your own prayers, tears, fastings, and humiliations cannot atone for the leaft of your offences? That nothing wrought in you, or performed by you, can make amends for what you have done amifs, pacify divine wrath, or entitle you to the favour and acceptance of that holy Being against whom you have finned?

He who is under the teachings and guidance of the holy Spirit of God, is fully perfuaded, that his own righteousness is but as filthy rags in point of merit; that no qualifications he can bring, will be of any avail; that nothing can give fatisfaction to injured juftice, but a facrifice of infinite value; and fuch is the facrifice which Jefus Chrift has

offered.

offered. It is the blood of that Lamb of God alone which cleanseth from all fin, who, by one offering, hath perfected for ever them that are fanctified. The finner who is taught of God, dares not approach the divine throne but through a Mediator. He knows that acceptance with him is only in the Beloved; in whom the Father hath declared himself well-pleased. He knows that justice must have full fatisfaction, and that this is no where to be found, but in the atonement which the Son of God made, when he appeared in the end of the world, to put away fin by the facrifice of himself.

I will ask you again; Have you earnestly fought reconciliation with God through the Redeemer? Though there is nothing meritorious in all your feeking, yet this is the appointed mean of coming. to the enjoyment of a sense of intereft in the divine favour. If the fubjects of an earthly potentate have been guilty of treasonable practices against his throne and government, and he has made it known to them, that he will not be reconciled, except they seek his favour through the mediation of his fon and heir, the offending subjects can have no ground to expect a reinftatement in their prince's favour, fo long as they neglect the appointed way. Herod was highly displeased with the men of Tyre and Sidon; but they came with one accord to