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IV.

thy Judges. But take heed, O Man, what SERMON thou doeft? For herein thou appealeft to a Court that sheweth no Mercy; and therefore unless thou canst bring with thee a perfect Obedience to the whole Law in every Jot and Tittle of its Requirements, come not near the dreadful burning Mount of Sinai; for what faith the Voice?" Curfed is every one that continueth in all things "which are written in the Book of the Law "to do them." But art thou refolved to abide by thy Plea, and to put the Iffue of thy Tryal upon the Validity of it? Stand forth then and anfwer, before Heaven and Earth, for Men and Angels are thy Witneffes. Haft thou kept the whole Law, and walked in all the Commandments and Ordinances of the Lord blameless from thy Youth up until now? Haft thou never done thofe things which thou oughteft not to have done? And never left undone thofe things which thou fhouldft have done? Haft thou ever been a dutiful Child, and loved the Lord thy God with all thine Heart, with all thy Soul, and with all thy Strength, and thy Neighbour as thyself? Haft thou fet a watch continually upon the Door of thy Lips, and never offended with thyTongue?

H 3

And

IV.

SERMON And haft thou preferved thy Mind at all Times free from every unclean and finful Thought, Defire, Imagination, and Luft? For know, that God's Commandment is exceeding broad, and extendeth to the inmoft Receffes of the Soul. Speak now, O Prisoner, and answer to thy Examination, for thou art upon Life and Death! What, anfwereft thou nothing! How is it that thy Countenance is fallen, and that thou art become speechlefs in the Judgment ! The Reason is evident

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thy Plea of Obe

thy Confcience

and the Law is be

thou

come the Ministration of thy Condemnation.
Behold, O Man! O Woman! whoever thou
art that seekest to be juftified by thy Doings,
this is thy very Cafe - Thou art weighed
in the Balance and found wanting
art convicted of being a Debtor to the Law,
and therefore fhalt be caft into Prifon till
thou haft paid the uttermoft Farthing, but
this thou shalt never be able to do to all
Eternity.

Come then, my fellow Sinners, be per+ fuaded, ere it be too late, to retract your Pleas of Innocence and Obedience, to renounce as well your Righteousness, as

your

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IV.

your Unrighteousness, and to caft yourselves SERMON upon the Mercies of God in Chrift fefus. If you are obftinately bent upon standing Tryal at the Bar of God's Juftice, I am bold to tell you that you are undone for ever, nor will it be in the Power of all the Hoft of Heaven to help you, for every Soul of Man is guilty before God, guilty of fhedding the Blood of the Son of God, and therefore God's Juftice is the Man-flayer, the Avenger of Blood. Flee then for your Lives Flee for your Souls to the City of Refuge, and lay hold on the Horns of the Altar, for herein lies your only Safety, even in the Merits and atoning Blood of that Lamb of God whom our Sins have crucified and flain. Such is the Love of Jefus to Sinners! -Such is the Love of Jefus to his Murderers! Are we then void of all Righteousness in ourselves that can justify? áll Tranfgreffors of God's holy Law, and as fuch liable to the Curfe and Condemnation of it? Let us go as poor, penitent Sinners in Faith to the Author and Mediator of a better Covenant, even to Him who is the End of the Law for Righteousness to all them that believe, and who has fulfilled the Law, and was made Sin for us, that we H 4 might

IV.

SERMON might be made the Righteousness of God IN HIM. So fhall He be to us a Jefus to fave us from our Sins; and fo fhall we be able to fay to Him with Confidence in the Judg ment: Thou shalt anfwer for me O Lord my God! For benceforth there is no Condemnation to them that are in Chrift fefus.

To conclude with a Word to those who put their Truft in the Lord, and in that Righteousness which is of God by Faith.

Art thou a Chriftian? Suffer a Word of of Exhortation, and permit me to remind thee that thou art on a Voyage to Eternity in the midst of a tempeftuous Ocean, where many Difficulties and Dangers await thee; and therefore that thou must prepare thy Soul for Temptation. What if from thy first fetting out until now the Wind has been fair and thy Paffage favourable, yet flatter not thyself with vain Hopes, that it will hold thus with thee unto the End; for no one ever yet reached the Shore of the heavenly Canaan without meeting a Storm by the Way. Mofes, and Job, and David, and all the Worthies of old Time bear Witnefs to this Truth from more than common Experience; nay, the Son of God himfelf had a Conflict with the sharpest

Storm

IV.

Storm that Nature ever felt, for the Prince SERMON of the Power of the Air and all the Potentates of Darkness conspired to heighten the Fury and Horrors of it; yea, the Wrath of God was in it, and therefore it fhook both Heaven and Earth. How then mayft thou hope to escape without encountring fome adverse Blast?

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But perhaps thou art already come to thy Tryal, and therefore standeft more in need of Comfort than Warning: The stormy Wind perhaps is already risen, Tribulation and Anguish have got faft hold on thee, and thou art to thy thinking vexed with all God's Storms; without are Fightings and within are Fears, whilft thou art left in Darkness and in the Deep, without one Gleam of Light or Comfort to chear thy benighted Soul, and serve thee for an Anchor of Hope: Nay, it may be, thou art not only toffed with thefe Waves of Affliction and Sorrow, which shake the very Foundations of thy Faith, but the Wind alfo is contrary; God's Providences feem all against thee, thy beft Purposes and Refolutions are defeated; thy most promis ing Hopes miscarry, and thou profpereft in nothing thou putteft thine Hand unto;

yea

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