Defs in all its dimenfions. He is the fecond Adam, who took thee out of the horrible pit, and out of the miry clay. How broad were the fkirts of that love, which covered fuch a multitude of fins! Eehold the length of it, reaching from everlasting to everlafting," Pfal. cit. 17. The depth of it, going fo low as to deliver thee" from the lowest hell,". Pfal. lxxxvi. 13. The height of it, in raifing thee up to. “ fitin heavenly places," Eph. i. 6.

FOURTHLY, Be humble, carry low fails, walk foftly all your years. Be not proud of your gifts, graces, privileges, or at.. tainments but remember ye were children of wrath, even as others. The peacock walks fowly, hangs down his ftarryfeathers, while he looks to his black feet. "Look ye to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged," and walk, humbly, as it becomes free-grace's debtors..

you to.

LASTLY, Be wholly for your Lord. Every wife is obligedTM to be dutiful to her husband;, but double ties lie upon her who was taken from a prifon or a dunghill. If your Lord has delivered you from wrath, ye ought, upon that very account, to be wholly his to act for him, to fuffer for him, and to do, whatever he calls The faints have no reason to com-plain of their lot in the world, whatever it be. Well may's they bear the Crofs for him, by whom the carfe was born away from them. Well may they bear the wrath of men, in his caufe, who has freed them from the wrath of God; and chear-fully go to a fire for him, by whom hell fire is quenched to them. Soul and body, and all thou hadft in the world, were fometimes under wrath: he has removed that wrath, and shall not all these be at his fervice? That thy foul is not overwhelmed with the wrath of God, is owing purely to Jefus Christ; and fall it not then be a temple for his fpirit? That thy heart is not filled with horror and defpair, is owing to him only to whom then fhould · it be devoted but to him alone? That thine eyes are not blinded with the fmoak of the pit, thy hands are not fettered with chains of darknefs, thy tongue is not broiling in the fire of hell, and thy feet are not ftanding in that lake that burns with fre and brimstone, is owing purely to Jefus Chrift; and shall not thefe eyes be employed him, thefe hands act for him, that tongue fpeak for him, and thefe feet fpeedily run his errands ? ) To him who believes that he was a child of wrath, even as, others, but is now delivered by the bleffed Jefus, nothing wil appear too much, to do or suffer for his deliverer, when he has a fair call to its

State II. III. To conclude with a word to all: Let no man think lightly of fin, which lays the finner open to the wrath of God. Let not the fin of our nature, which wreaths the yoke of God's wrath to early about our necks, feem a fmall thing in our eyes. Fear the Lord, because of his dreadful wrath. Tremble at the thought of fin, against which God has fuch fiery indignation. Look on his wrath, aud ftand in awe, and fin not. Do you

think this is to prefs you to flavish fear? If it were fo, one had better be a flave to God with a trembling heart; than a free man to the devil, with a feared confcience, and a heart of adamant, But it is not fo, you may love him, and thus fear him too; yea, ye ought to do it, though ye were faints of the rit magnitude. See Pfal cxix. io. Matth. x. 28. Luke xii. 5. Heb. xii. 28. 29. Altho ye have paft the gulf of wrath, being in Jefus Chrift yet it is but reasonable, your hearts fhiver when ye look back to it. Your fin ftill deferves wrath even as the fin of others and it would be terrible to be in a fiery furnace; altho' by a miracle, we were fo fenced against it, as that it could not harm us.

:

HE A D III.

Man's utter Inability to recover himself.

ROMANS V. 6.

For when we were yet without ftrength, in due time Chrift died for the ungodly.

JOHN ★i. 44. No man can come to me, except the Father which bath fent me, draw him.

WE

E have now had a view of the total corruption of man's nure, and that load of wratir which lies on him, that gulph of mifery he is plunged into in his natural state. But there's one part of his mifery that deferves particular confideraBon; namely, his utter inability to recover himfelf, the knowledge of which is neceflary for the due humiliation of a finner. What I defign here is, only to propofe a few things, whereby

1

to convince the unregenerate man of this his inability; that he may fee an abfolure need of Chrift, and of the power of his grace.

As a man that is fallen into a pit, cannot be fuppofed to help himself out of it, but by one of two ways; either by doing all himself alone, or taking hold of, and improving the Help offered him by others fo an unconverted man cannot be fuppofed to help himself out of that state, but either the way of the Law, or Covenant of Works, by doing all himself without Chrift: or elfe in the way of the Gofpel, or Covenant of Grace, by exerting his own ftrength to lay hold upon, and to make use of the help offered him by a Saviour. But, alas! the unconverted man is dead in the pit, and cannot help himself, either of these ways. Not in the first way for the firft text tells us, that when our Lord came to help us, We were without strength,” unable to recover ourselves. We were ungodly; therefore under a barden of guilt and wrath; yet without ftrength, unable to and under it and unable to throw it off, or get from under it; fo that all mankind had undoubtedly perished, had not Chrift died for the ungodly, and brought help to them who could never have recovered themfelves. But when Chrift comes andoffe eh help to finners, cannot they take it? Cannot they im prove help when it comes to their hands? No, the fecond text tells us, they cannot : No man can come unto me, (i, e. be lieve in me, John vi. 35.) except the Father draw him." This. is a drawing which enables them to come, who till then could not come, and therefore cod not help themfelves, by improv ing the help offered. It is a drawing, which is always effectual; for it can be no lefs than hearing and learning of the Father, which whofo partakes of, cometh to Chrift. ver. 25. There fore it is not drawing in the way of mere moral fuafion, which may be, yea and always is ineffectual: but it is drawing by mighty power, Eph. i. 19. abfolutely necefiary for them that have no power in themfelves to come and take hold of the offered help.

Hearken then, O unregenerate man, and be convinced, that as thou art in a moit miferable flate by nature: fo thou art utterly unable to recover thyfof any manner of way. Thou art ruined; and what way wilt thou go to work, to recover thyfelf? Which of thefe two ways, wilt thou chufe? Wilt thou try it alone! Or wilt thou make ufe of help? Wilt thou fall on the way of works, or on the way of the gospel? I know very well, thou wilt not fo much as try the way of the gospel, till once thou haft found the recovery impracticable, in the way

of the law. Therefore we fhall begin where corrupt natur teaches men to begin, viz at the way of the Law of Works.

I. Sinner, I would have thee believe that thy working will never effect it. Work and do thy beft; thou fhalt never be able to work thyfelf out of this ftate of corruption and wrath." Thou must have Chrift, elle thou fhalt perifh eternally. It is only Chrift in you, can be the hope of glory. But if thou wilt needs try it, then I mult lay before thee, from the unalterable word of the living God, two things which thou must do for thyfelf. And if thou can't do them, it must be yielded, that thou art able to recover thyfelf: but if not, then thou canst donothing this way, for thy recovery.

FIRST, "If thou wilt enter into life, keep the Commandments," Math. xix. 17. That is, if thou wilt by doing, enter into life, then perfectly keep the ten commands. For the scope of these words is, to beat down the pride of man's heart; and to let him fee the abfolute need of a Saviour, from the impoffibility of keeping the law. The anfwer is given, fuitable to the addrefs. Our Lord checks him for his compliment, "Goods Mafter," ver. 16. telling him, "There is none good but one, that is God," ver. 17. As if he had faid, you' think yourself: a good man, and me another; but where goodness is fpoken of, men and angels may vail their faces before the good God. And as to his question, wherein he difcovereth his legal difpofition, Chrift does not anfwer him, faying, "Believe and thou shalt be faved:" that would not have beep fo feafonable in the case of one, who thought he could do well enough for himself, if he but knew what good things he fhould do; but, fuitable to the humour the man was in, he bid him "keepthe commandments: keep them nicely and accurately, as thofe that watch malefactors in prifon, leat any of them efcape, and their life go for their's. See then, O unregenerate man, what thou canft do in this matter; for if thou wilt recover thyfelf in this way, thou muft perfectly keep, the commandments of God.

And (1.) Thy obedience, must be perfect in refpect of the principle of it; that is, thy foul, the principle of action, muft be perfectly pure, and altogether without fin. For the law requires all moral perfection; not only actual, but habitual, and fo condemns original fin; impurity of nature, as well as of actions. Now, if thou canft bring this to pafs, thou shalt be able to answer that question of Solomon's fo as never one of Adam's pofterity could yet answer it, Prov. xx. 9.. 5. Who can fay, I have made my heart clean" But if thou canf not, the

very want of this perfection is a fin; and fo lays thee open to the curfe, and cuts thee off from life. Yea, it makes all thine actions, even thy best actions finful," For who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? Job xive4. And doft thou think by fin, to help thyself out of fin and mifery? (2.) Thy obedience must also be perfect in parts. It must be as broad as the whole Law of God if thou lackeft one thing, thou art undone; for the Law denounceth the curfe on him that continueth not in every thing written therein, Gal, iii. 10. Thou must giye internal and external obedience to the whole Law; keep all the Commands, in heart and life. If thou breakeft any one of them, that will infure thy ruin. A vain thought, or idle word, will fil fhut thee up under the curfe. (3) It must be perfect in respect of degrees; as was the obedience of Adam, while he food in his innocence. This the Law requires, and will accept of no lefs, Mat. xxii. 37. " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with all thy heart, and with all thy foul, and with all thy mind." If one degree of that love required by the Law, be wanting; if each part of thy obedience be not fcrewed up to the greatest height commanded that want is a breach of the Law, and fo leaves thee fill under the curfe. One may bring as many buckets of water to a house that is on fire, as he is able to carry: and yet it may be confumed; and will be fo, if he bring not as many as will quench the fire. Even fo, although thou fhould do what thou art able, in keeping the commands if thou fail in the least degree of obedience which the Law enjoins, thou art certainly ruined for ever; unless thou take hold of Chrift, renouncing all thy righteoufnefs as filthy rags. See Rom. x. 5. Gal. iii. 10. Laftly, It must be perpetual, as the man Chrift's obedience was, who always did the things that pleafed the father; for the tenor of the Law is, " Curfed is he that continueth not in all things written in the Law, to do them. Hence, tho' Adam's obedience was for a while abfolutely perfect; yet becaufe at length he tripped in one point, viz. in-eat ing the forbidden fruit, he fell under the curfe of the Law. If one fhould live a dutiful fubject to his prince, till the clofe of his days, and then confpire against him, he muft die for his treafon. Even fo, tho' thou shouldeft, all the time of thy life, live in perfect obedience to the law of God: and only at the hour of death entertain a vain thought, or proncoace an idle word: that idle word or vain thought, would blot out all thy former righteoufnefs, and ruin thee; namely, in this way, in which thou art feeking to recover thyself.

Now,