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prudence!-Shun the fatal rock on which he fplit to his deftruction!-For the honour of Chriftianity;-for the reputation and prosperity of the State, and as you regard your own reputation and happiness in this world, and in the next; and for the confolation of your parents alfo, be exhorted, be entreated, to forfake the thorny way of vice, and to tread the peaceful, happy path of virtue !

6. Turn your eyes, my brethren, and behold a moment the weeping, the difconfolate mother! Pity her wo! Sympathize with her in her diftrefs! Despise her add not to her grief.

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I have, lastly, to address a few words to you, Sir, who are now the victim of juftice!-Unhappy man!-For you we feel; for you we mourn!-Through the prevalence of vice, your heart became eftranged from God! In fickness, you formed refolutions of amendment; but, I fear, in your own strength; for they vanished like the morning cloud or early dew. Thus you became more and more hardened in iniquity? God, in just displeasure, seemed almost totally to have forfaken you! Not having his fear before you eyes, by an indulgence of the paffion of anger and revenge, you have murdered an inoffenfive, harmless neighbour!-You fay, that you did not mean to take his life; that you had not murder in your heart! But, at least, was not your conduct towards him lawless, cruel, barbarous! In the estimation of God and man, it was murderous!-You honeftly, however, confess the crime! You wish finners may take warning by your example! You own the juftice of your fentence! You are now to expiate your offence, agreeably to the exprefs command of God, with your blood!-While the hand of justice is raised for execution, we lament your fate; we deplore your wretchedness!--Nothing confoles

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us but your penitence!-You fay, you have spread your fins before God! That you heartily bewail them! That your only refuge is in the blood of Chrift! That God hath spoken peace to your foul! That you believe your pardon is fealed in heaven! That your whole trust is in the mercy of God, through Chrift! That you are refigned to your fate, and that you will leave the world with affured hopes of acceptance with God, through the righteousness of the merciful Saviour!

We hope your expectations of heaven are rational, fcriptural! But, be not deceived! The adversary of fouls is fubtle! If you die in delufion, you are loft for ever; muft endure the miseries of eternal condemnation !

But if your hopes of falvation are juft, how great and happy will be your change in a few moments! Bonds you will exchange for heavenly freedom! Infamy for honour! Pain for pleasure! Death for life! You will add to the trophies of Divine grace. With the murderous Manaffah, and other finners, you will join in the praises of redeeming love!

You certainly have no reason to despair of the mercy of heaven! Chrift came not to call the righteous, but finners to repentance! The broken and contrite beart will not be defpifed by the God of compaffion!-Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted! And if even fome of the murderers of Chrift embraced the faith, and found mercy, wherefore fhould you despair of falvation? For them Chrift prayed; because with God there is mercy and plenteousness of redemption!

To God's tender mercy, through Chrift, we commit you; and in your behalf, we humbly addrefs the throne of grace!

SERMON XXVIII.

TRUST IN GOD.

BY

JOHN WITHERSPOON, D. D. L. L. D.

Col. N. C. P.

ISAIAH 1. 10.

Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his fervant, that walketh in darkness, and hath no light? let bim trust in the name of the Lord, and Stay upon his God.

T is faid of every real believer, that he walks by

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faith and not by fight. If this is true, it will follow, that his faith must be exposed to a variety of trials, while he continues in a world of fenfe. Thefe trials arife from the state of his own mind-from his outward condition-from the state of the world with which he stands connected, and from the mutual influence of all these, one upon another. From this fituation it is easy to see, that there are few duties, for the exercise of which a

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good man will have greater or more frequent occafion, than that of trust and reliance upon God., Truft is the duty and the refuge of the needy-of the dependentof the weak-the timorous, and the diftreffed. How many are included under one or more of these characters; or rather, who is it that can fay he is altogether excluded?

Agreeably to this, we need but open the facred volume, to perceive how frequent the exhortations are to trust in God, and how many views are given us of his power, wisdom, mercy and faithfulness, to encourage us to an unfhaken reliance. At the fame time, I am forry to say, that there are few duties which are more imperfectly understood by many profeffing Chriftians. Even pious perfons often fin both on the right hand and on the left, that is to fay, both by diffidence and prefumption. I have, therefore, laid hold of this opportunity, and made choice of this paffage of Scripture, in order to open and illuftrate a little this important duty of a fervant of God. How feafonable it is you will eafily perceive, for in the facrament of the Lord's Supper we have set before us Chrift Jefus, the unfpeakable gift of God-the great pledge of his love, and the great foun. dation of our reliance upon him, not only for his faving mercy in general, but for every neceffary bleffing in our way to eternal rest.

This paffage of Scripture is also well fuited to the fubject. It was spoken to the Jews in a lax and diffolute age, when many had turned their backs upon the fervice of God-had deferted his ordinances, and defpifed his fervants, which is always an occafion both of afflic tion and temptation to his own children. This appears from the first words of the chapter. For thus faith the Lord, Where is the bill of your mother's divorcement, whom I have put away? and which of my creditors is it to whom

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I have fold you? Behold, for your iniquities you have fold your felves, and for your tranfgreffions is your mother put away. As alfo from the 3d and 4th verfes: I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make fackloth their covering. The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in seafon to him that is weary.

In difcourfing further on this fubje&t, it is proposed, through the affiftance of Divine grace,

I. To open a little the character and state of those who are called upon, and exhorted to truft in the name of the Lord.

II. To explain the duty of truft, and point out the foundation of it.

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III. To apply the fubject for your inftruction and comfort.

In the first place, then, I am to open a little the character and state of those who are here called upon, and exhorted to truft in the name of the Lord.

Their description is as follows: Who is among you that feareth the Lord, and obeyeth the voice of his fervant, that walketh in darkness, and bath no light? let him truft in the name of the Lord, and stay himself upon his God. It will help us to enter into the spirit and meaning of the Prophet's words, if we keep in view the ftate of the Jewish church, hinted at a little ago, Who is among you; that is, if there is one or more,-if there is a small select number in the midst of general corruption and depravity, who have kept their garments unpolluted, though iniquity abounds, and the love of many waxeth cold, that feareth the Lord? You know it is common in Scripture to describe religion in general by fome particular leading branch of it. The fear of God is often made use of for this purpose, as in that paffage, there shall be no want to

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