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thither: Therefore born again ye must be; elfe ye shall never fee heaven, ye fhall perifh eternally. For, (1.) There is a bill of exclufion against you in the court of heaven, and against all your fort: Except a man be born again, he cannot fee the kingdom of God," 1 John iii. 3. Here is a bar before you, that men and angels cannot remove. And to hope for heaven, over the belly of this peremptory fentence, is to hope that God will recal his word, and facrifice his truth and faithfuloefs to your fafety; which is infinitely more than to hope the earth fhall be forfaken for you, and the rock removed out of his place. (2.) There is no holiness without regeneration. It is the new man, "which is created in true holinefs," Eph. iv. 24. And no heaven without holiness; for "withaut holiness no man shall fee the Lord," Heb, xii. 14. Will the gates of pearl be opened, to let in dogs and fwine? No; their place is without, Rev. xxii. 15. God will not admit fuch into the holy place of communion with him here; and will he admit them into the holiest of all hereafter? Will he take the children of the devil, and give them to fit with him on his throne? Or will he bring the unclean into the city, whofe ftreet is pure gold? Be not deceived: grace and glory are but two links of one chain, which God has joined, and no man fhall put afunder. None are tranfplanted into the paradife above, but out of the nursery of grace below. If ye be unholy while in this world, ye will be for ever miferable in the world to come. (3.) All the unregenerate are without Chrift, and therefore have no hope while in that cafe, Eph. ii. 12. Will Chrift prepare manfions of glory for them, that refufe to receive him in their hearts? Nay; rather, will he not laugh at their calamity, who now fet at nought all his counfel? Prov. i. 25, 26. Laftly, There is an infallible connection betwist a finally unregenerate ftate and damnation, rifing from the nature of the things themfelves and from the decree of heaven, which is fixed and unmoveable as mountains of brafs, John iii. 3. Rom. viii. 6. “To be carnally minded is death." An unregenerate ftate is hell in the bud. It is eternal deftruction in embryo; growing daily, tho' thou doft not dif cern it. Death is painted on many a fair face, in this life. Depraved nature makes men meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the damned, in utter darkness. (1.) The heart of ftone within thee, is a finking weight; as a ftone naturally goes downward, fo the hard ftony heart tends downward to the bottomlefs pit. Ye are hardned against reproof: though ye are told your danger, yet you will not fee it; ye will not believe

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it. But remember, that the confcience its being now feared with a hot iron, is a fad prefage of everlafting burnings. (2.) Your unfruitfulness under the means of grace, fits you for the axe of God's judgments, Matth. iii, 10. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit, is hewn down, and caft into the fire." The withered branch is fuel for the fire, John xv. 6. Tremble at this, ye defpifers of the gofpel: if ye be not thereby made meet for heaven, ye will be like the barren ground, bearing briers and thorns, "nigh unto curfing, whofe end is to be burned," Heb. vi. 8. (3.) The hellifh difpofitions of mind which discover themselves in profanity of life, fit the guilty for the regions of horror. A profane life will have a miferable end. "They which do such things, (hall not inherit the kingdom of God," Gal. v. 19, 20, 21. Think on this, ye prayerlefs perfons, ye mockers of religion, ye curfers and fwearers, ye unclean and unjuft-perfons, who have not fo much as moral honefty to keep you from lying, cheating and ftealing. What fort of a tree think ye it to be, upon which these fruits grow? Is it a tree of righteoufnefs, which the Lord hath planted? Or is it not such an one as cumbers the ground, which God will pluck up for fuel to the fire of his, wrath? (4.) Your being dead in fin, makes you meet to be wrapt in flames of brimstone, as a winding theet; and to be buried in the bottomlefs pit, as in a grave. Great was the cry in Egypt, when the first-born in each family was dead but are there not many families, where all are dead together? Nay, many there are, who are twice dead, plucked up by the roots. Sometime, in their life, they have been rouzed by apprehenfions of death, and its confequences; but now they are fo far on their way to the land of darkness, that they hardly ever have the teaft glimmering of light from heaven. (5.) The darkness of your minds prefageth eternal darkness. O the horrible ignorance fome are plagued with; while others who have got fome rays of morning light into their heads, are utterly void of fpiritual light in their hearts! If ye knew your cafe, ye would cry out, Oh! darknefs! darkness! darkness! making way for the blacknefs of darknefs for ever! The facecovering is upon you already, as condemned perfons; fo near sare ye to everlafting darknefs. It is only Jefus Chrift who can stop the execution, pull the napkin off the face of the condemned malefactor, and put a pardon in his hand, Ifa. xx. 7. “ And he will destroy in this mountain, the face of the covering cast› over all people," i. e. The face-covering caft over the condem ned, as in Haman's cafe, Either vii. 8. As the word went out

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of the king's mouth, they covered Haman's face." Laftly, The chains of darknefs ye are bound with in the prifon of your depraved ftate, Ifa. Ixi, 1. fit you to be caft into the burning fiery furnace. Ah! miferable men! Sometimes their confciences ftir within them, and they begin to think of amending their ways. But, alas! they are in chains, they cannot do it. They are chained by the heart; their lufts cleave so fast to them, that they cannot, nay, they will not, fhake them off. Thus you fee what affinity there is betwixt an unregenerate ftate, and the ftate of the damned, the ftate of abfolute and irretrievable mifery be convinced then, that ye muft be born again; put a high value on the new birth, and eagerly defire it.

The text tells you, that the word is the feed, whereof the new creature is formed: therefore take heed to it, and entertain it, for it is your life. Apply yourselves to the reading of the Scriptures. Ye that cannot read, caufe others read it to you. Wait diligently on the preaching of the word, as by divine appointment, the fpecial mean of converfion: "For-it pleased God, by the foolishnefs of preaching, to fave them that believe," 1 Cor. i. 21. Wherefore caft not yourselves out of Christ's way; reject not the means of grace, left ye be found to judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life. Attend ye carfully to the word preached. Hear every fermon, as if you were hearing for eternity and take heed, the fowls of the air pick not up this feed from you, as it is fown. "Give thyfelf wholly to it," 1 Tim. iv. 15. "Receive it not as the word of men, but (as it is in truth) the word of God," 1 Theff. ii. 13. And hear it with application, looking on it as a meffage fent from heaven to you in particular, tho' not to you only, Rev. iii. 22. "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit faith unto the churches." Lay it up in your hearts, meditate upon it: and be not as the unclean beafts, that chew not the cud. But by earnest prayer beg the dew of heaven may fall on thy heart, that the feed may Spring up there.

More particularly, (1.) Receive the teflimony of the word of God, concerning the mifery of an unregenerate ftate; the finfulness thereof, and the abfolute neceffity of regeneration.(2.) Receive its teftimony concerning God, what a holy and just one he is. (3) Examine thy ways by it; namely, the thoughts of thy heart, the expreffions of thy lips, and the tenor of thy life. Look back thro' the feveral periods of thy life, and fee thy fins from the precepts of the word; and learn from its threatnings, what thou art liable to, on the account of these

fins. (4.) View the corruption of thy nature, by the help of the fame word of God; as a glafs which reprefents our ugly face in a lively manner. Were thefe things deeply rooted in the heart, they might be the feed of that fear and forrow, on account of thy foul's ftate, which are neceflary to prepare and ftir thee up to look after a Saviour: Fix your thoughts upon him offered to thee in the Gofpel, as fully fuited to thy cafe; having, by his obedience to the death, perfectly fatisfied the juftice of God, and brought in everlafting righteoufnefs. This may prove the feed of humiliation, defire, hope, and faith ; and put thee on to ftretch out the withered hand unto him, at his own.command..

Let these things fink deeply into your hearts, and improve them diligently. Remember, whatever ye be, ye MUST be born again; elfe it had been better for you, ye had never been ↑ born. Wherefore, if fhall live and die in an unreany of you generate state, ye will be inexcufable, having been fairly warned of your hazard.

HEAD II.

The MYSTICAL UNION betwixt
CHRIST and BELIEVERS.

JOHN XV. 5. I am the Vine, ye are the Branches.

HAVING TAVING fpoken of the change made by regeneration on all. thofe that fhall inherit eternal life, in oppofition to their 'natural real flate, the state of degeneracy; I proceed to fpeak. of the change made upon them, in their union with the Lord, Jefus Chrift, in oppofition to their natural relative state, the ftate of mifery. The doctrine of the faints union with Chrift, is. very plainly and fully infified on, from the beginning of the 12th verfe of this chapter; which is a part of our Lord's fare well fermon to his difciples. Sorrow had now filled their hearts; they were apt to fay, Alas! what will become of us, when our Mafter is taken from our head? Who will then inftru&t us? Who will folve our doubts? How will we be fupported under our difficulties and difcouragements? How will we be able to

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live, without our wonted communications with him? Where fore our Lord Jefus Chrift seasonably teaches them the mystery of their union with him, comparing himself to the vine. flock, and them to the branches.

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He compares, I fay, (1.) Himfelf to a vine ftock: "I am the vine. ?" He had been celebrating with his difciples the facrament of his fupper, that fign and feal of his people's union with himself; and had told them, “ - He would drink no more of the fruit of the vine, till he fhould drink it new with them, in his Father's kingdom :" and now he fhews himfelt to be the vine, from whence the wine of their confolation fhould come. The vine hath lefs beauty than many other trees: but is exceeding fruitful; fitly reprefenting the low condition our Lord was then in, yet bringing many fons to glory. But that which is chiefly aimed at, in his comparing himself to a vine, is to reprefent himself as the fuporter and nourisher of his people, in whom they live, and bring forth fruit. (2.) He compares them to the branches: Ye are the branches of that vine. Ye are the branches knit to, and growing on this ftock: drawing all your life and fap from it. It is a beautiful comparison : as if he had faid, I am as a vine; ye are as the branches of that vine. Now, there are two forts of branches, (1.) Natural branches, which at firft fpring out of the flock: thefe are the branches that are in the tree, and were never out of it. (2.) There are ingrafted branches, which are branches broken off from the tree that first gave them life; and put into another that grow upon it. Thus branches come to be on a tree, which originally were not on it. The branches mentioned in the text, are of the latter fort, branches broken off; (as the word in the original language denotes) namely, from the tree that firft gave them life. None of the children of men are natural branches of the fecond Adam, viz. Jefus Chrift, the true Vine; they are all the natural branches of the first Adam, that degenerate vine: but the elect are, all of them, fooner or later, broken off from the natural stock, and ingrafted into Chrift the true Vine.

DOCT." They who are in the fate of grace, are ingrafted in, and united to, the Lord Jefus Chrift." They are taken out of their parural stock, cut off from it; and are now ingrafted into Chrift as the new ftock, In handling of this, hall ipeak to the mystical union, (1.) More generally. (2.) More particularly

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