brought off from before they can be reconciled to God; it is for their benefit that I chiefly defign this discourse, though it may also be useful, and shall be in part applied to the children of God. It is an affecting thought when pursued to its confequences; yet, alas! it is unqueftionably true, that in every affembly, fuch as this, of profes fing Chriftians, there are not a few, who are in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity, under the wrath of God, and liable to the condemning fentence of his law; and at the fame time, that the far greatest part of them are ignorant of it, and know not that they are wretched, and poor, and blind, and naked.

In difcourfing farther upon this fubject, therefore, I fhall,

I. Endeavour to prove and illustrate this truth, that all mankind are by nature in a state of fin and misery, under the bondage of corruption, and liable to the wrath of God.

II. I fhall briefly fhew you, that being brought to a lively fenfe, and genuine conviction of this, is the first and a neceffary step to the faving knowledge of God in Christ. And, in the last place, Shall make fome practical improvement of the fubject.

I. In the first place, then, I am to prove and illuftrate this truth, that all mankind are by nature in a state of fin and misery, under the bondage of corruption, and liable to the wrath of God. What is faid in this paffage

of the Laodiceans, is univerfally true of the pofterity of Adam. Unless an inward and effential change has been wrought upon them by the grace of God, they are wretched, and miferable, and poor, and blind, and naked.

It is also true of them, as well as the Laodiceans, that they know it not; but vainly prefume themselves to be rich, and increased with goods, and to have need of nothing. If these two things are jointly true of many of you my hearers, there is nothing in which you can have fo great a concern; therefore, let me earnestly befeech your most serious attention to what shall be said, as the fuccefs of this conviction is neceffary to your understanding, or profiting by any other part of divine truth, as I fhall afterwards fhew you.

The proof of the truth here afferted, can be only of two kinds: 1. From Scripture, which is the teftimony of God declaring it; 2. From the vifible ftate of the world, and our own experience finding it to be fo.

1. That all mankind are by nature in a state of fin and mifery, appears from the express and repeated teftimony of the word of God. And this teftimony we have, not only in particular paffages carrying the truth, but in the ftrain and fpirit of the whole, and the feveral difpenfations of Divine Providence there recorded, which are all of them built upon this fuppofition, and intended to remedy this univerfal evil.

See what God declares: Gen. vi. 5. And God faw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart, was only evil continually. And again, the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth. We may take the Pfalmist David's teftimony of himself, as a fample of the rest of mankind; and indeed he plainly intimates that it is a common calamity: Who can understand his errors? Cleanse thou me from fecret faults. Behold! I was shapen in iniquity, and in fin did my mother conceive me.

We may take alfo the teftimony of the Apofle Paul in his epifile to the Romans, which is the more full to our

present

prefent purpose, that as he had never been at Rome, he is there laying the foundation of religion in general, and the Christian difpenfation in particular, by a clear and explicit proof of the need the world had of a Saviour, from its univerfal corruption and depravity. See then what he says-What then? Are we better than they? No, in no wife; for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under fin. As it is written, There is mone righteous, no not one. And again-Now we know that what things foever the law faith, it faith to them who are under the law, that every mouth may be flopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.-For all have finned and come short of the glory of God.

You may alfo fee, that the Apoftle traces this diforder to its very fource.-Wherefore as by one man fin entered into the world, and death by fin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have finned.

I fhall add but one exprefs fcripture-teftimony more. -And you bath be quickened who were dead in trefpaffes

and fins.

But befides the particular paffages of fcripture, pofitively declaring this truth, the whole frame and contexture of the fcriptures, and all the difpenfations of Divinę Providence recorded in them, are a proof of the fame thing. Man is every where confidered as in a fallen and finful ftate. Every thing that is prescribed to him, and every thing that is done for him, goes upon that fuppofi.. tion. It is not one man, or a few men that are in fcripture called to repentance, but all without exception. Now repentance is only the duty of a finner. An innocent person cannot repent, he has nothing to grieve for in his heart, or to forfake in his life. It is alfo proper to obferve, that one of the fcripture-characters of God is, merciful and gracious, flow to anger, forgiving iniquity, tranfgrefion

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tranfgreffion and fin. Now, he could not be to us a forgiving God, and there would be no need that he should be revealed under that character, unless we were fiuners that flood in need of pardon. Mercy, indeed, is the diftinguishing attribute of God, and this can only have respect to offenders. All the other perfections of God might be exercised towards pure and holy creatures, but mercy only towards finners. He might be a good, holy, juft, wife, powerful God to perfons in a state of innocence, but he can fhew mercy only to the guilty.

Do not the difpenfations of God's providence fhew the fame thing? He fent the flood as a teftimony of the wickednefs of the world, and for the punishment of a guilty race. Remember alfo the facrifices which were appointed and accepted by God from the beginning of the world. Sacrifices are for atonement and expiation. They are plainly a fubftitution in the room of a forfeited. life. It is doing violence to common fenfe, to make them any thing elfe. The whole Jewish economy, which had in it fo many facrifices, fo many offerings, fo many washings and purifications, does plainly fuppofe the perfon ufing them to be infected with fin or moral pollution. Had not this been the cafe, they had been extremely abfurd and improper.

But the ftrongest teftimony of all that God hath given to the guilt and corruption of mankind, is his fending his own Son into the world to redeem them by the facrifice of himfelf. To what purpofe redeem them if they were not in bondage? Why fo coftly an expiation if our lives had not been forfeited to Divine juftice? But that it was for this purpofe that Chrift came into the world, is fo plain from the whole of the fcriptures, that I fhall felect but one paff ge out of many to prove it.-Whom God bath jet forth to be a propitiation, through faith in his

blood,

blood, to declare his righteousness, for the remiffion of fins that are paft, through the forbearance of God.

What is said already on this head is a full proof from fcripture, that man is now by nature in a ftate of fin; that he is alfo, in confequence of that, in a ftate of mifery, and liable to the wrath of God, is proved by many of the fame paffages, and by many others.-For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodlinefs and unrighteoufnefs of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness. For the wages of fin is death, &c. But I need not multiply paffages to this purpofe, for in all God's difpenfations, the deferved punishment of finners is as evident as their finfulness itfelf. It is indeed fully proved from the effential perfections of God, particularly his holiness and juftice. He is of purer eyes than that he can behold iniquity. Evil cannot dwell with him, nor fools, that is, finners, ftand in his fight.

Is not all this then, my brethren, a fufficient proof from the teftimony of God, that man in a natural state is finful and miferable? Shall we affirm ourselves to be whole if he faith we are unfound? Do we know more than God? Will we not give credit to the fountain of truth? Nor is it any objection to this, that we ourselves know it not, or are but little fenfible of it. One confiderable part of the disease is blindness of understanding; fo that we may and must, till our eyes are opened, be ignorant of our danger. We may think and fay that we are rich, and increased in goods, and have need of nothing; while we are wretched and miferable, and blind and naked.

2. The fame thing appears from the vifible flate of the world, and our own experience. Unbelievers are apt to hear with indifference and neglect, what they are told from scripture-teftimony, unless otherwife confirmed to them; and it is with the unbeliever we have now to do.

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