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will not be able to answer for himself, how then fhould he plead your caufe? And if he can do you no fervice, cannot fecure you against the anger of the Almighty, why will you be perfuaded by the Anger or Displeasure of a Man, though never fo great and powerful, to omit that, on which your eternal welfare doth depend?

Sinner, as light as thou makeft now of this ferious reflection on thy Spiritual concerns, thou muft confider them one time or other: If thou wilt not here, God will force thee to do it in C Hell, whether thou wilt or no: Here Confideration may do good, but there it will but aggravate thy torments; here it may fnatch thee like a Brand out of the Fire, there it will increase thy Flames; here it may be a means to enlighten thee, there it will be a means to confound thee for ever. Proud, Self-conceited Man, who canst find no time for ferious Confideration here! In Hell thou wilt have time enough, and Oh, how many fad Hours will it cause to confider, how thou haft mifpent thy time, how thou haft flung away fo many precious Hours upon thy unlawful pleafures, how thou haft derided fuch a Sermon, hardened thy Heart upon fuch a Discourse, flighted God's motions to Repentance, fmothered the checks of thine own Confcience, preferred the World before Heaven, obeyed Man more than thy Creator, fuffered every trivial outward Respect to call thee away from Devotion, mistrusted God's Providence, taken his Name in vain, laughed at the wholfom Counfels of thy Parents and Teachers, defpifed thy Neighbours, cen

fured

fured their Actions more than thy own, takén thy fill of Sin, been weary of following Chrift, backward to any thing that's good, delighted with nothing but Vanity and Folly, dishonoured God, difgraced Religion; exposed it to contempt and fcorn,drawn others into Vice, laugh'd Men into Folly, dragged them into Hell, murthered their Souls as well as thy own, neglected thy Prayers, difregarded the Poor, oppreffed the Needy, been greedy after the World, and undervalued the Pains and Coft God did bestow to entice thee to enter into his Reft! At this time thou❜lt be forced to confider, how great a Bleffing thou haft refused, what comfort thou haft deprived thy felf of, what a wife course those took, that would not be perfuaded by the vain careless World, to caft God's Law be hind them. But alas! thefe Confiderations would then be too late; time was, when thou mighteft have confidered the odiousness of Sin, and turned from thy evil ways; time was, when thou mightest have confidered the abfolute neceffity of defpifing the World, and dedicated thy felf, thy Children, thy Life and Wealth to God's Service; time was, when thou mightest have confidered, that God's Mercy and Patience did lead thee to Repentance, and fo have turned to God with all thy Heart, and this had been to fecure God's Favour, and to enter thy name in the Book of Life; but in Hell fuch Thoughts do but gnaw and fting the more, there they do but augment thy Sorrow and Indignation against thy felf; there they do but make thee weary of thy Life, and the worst of

it is, that there thou canst not be rid of these Confiderations, they'll come into thy mind against thy Will; here thou didst take pains to keep them out, there thou canst not hinder them from burthening and oppreffing thy Soul; here bufinefs and mirth diverted them, there thou canst not shake them off with all the Industry and Labour thou canst use; thou needst no accufer there, thefe Confiderations will be fufficient witneffes against thee; there, there thou❜lt wifh, O that I had believed the Preachers of the World! I find thofe Men were in the right, I find they faw more than I did, I find they were not mistaken; if I had followed their advice, I had built my House upon a Rock; I find they spoke no more but reafon, I find they exhorted me to nothing but what was fafe and beneficial to my Soul. Forgive me, ye Men of God, pardon my Contempt of your Zeal and Fervency, Ofend me fome Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his Finger in Water, and cool my Tongue: If your Prayers, if your Tears, if your Intreaties, if your Interceffions can prevail with God, O help, help, for I perish in this Gulph! Plead with your God, folicite for me at the Throne of Grace, double, treble your Cries and Supplications; try whether God will have Mercy on me, who have had no Mercy on my self. I am frighted, I am troubled on every fide; I would Stab my felf, and cannot; Die, and must not ; Escape, and dare not: Pity, pity a poor miferable Worm! Will none relieve me? Do all forfake me? Do Men and Angels leave me? Is there no Body to speak Comfort to me? Is C C

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there no Door for Confolation open? Are all the Avenues to Mercy fhut? Hear, hear ye Inhabitants of Heaven! Are you deaf to my Groans? Are you grown Strangers to Compaffion? Where is your wonted Clemency? Will no Repentance touch the Heart of God? Will no Sorrow move him? Will no Anguish melt him? Dull Citizens of that Celestial Common-wealth! Are you fo bufie with Hallelujahs as not to hear thefe Cries? Are you not frighted by these Sobs in your chearful Melodies? Are you fo taken up, that none of you can look down into thefe difmal Vaults?

Look! yonder is the bright Mofes, the Man whofe Face did shine, that with his Prayers difcomfited Amaleck, and when the Almighty would have deftroyed the Hoft of Ifrael, itood in the Gap, and blunted the confuming Angel's Sword! Is all his Power gone? Is the Virtue of his Prayer loft? Ah! will he not Pray, that this Wretch, this Worm, this poor Malefactor, who would fain repent, may be fet free? Where is that Joshua that prayed for the Sun's ftanding ftill, and it flood ftill in the midst of Heaven? Hath he no Prayer left to ftop my Calamity, and to give a Truce to my Torments? Where is that Elijah, that prayed that there might be no Rain, and there came no Rain for three Years and fix Months? And cannot he pray that this Fire may go out?

A thousand fuch Cries will then be in vain! Confideration now would most certainly prevent thofe Cries; this would reprefent the groans of those wretches, in that difmal Prifon, in fuch

lively Characters to thy mind, that thou wouldst be restless till thou didst get into the straight way that leads to Life; and art not thou ready to embrace it? What Friend, what Enemy, what Devil, what Charm quenches the Fire of thy Refolutions? Doft thou own God for thy Creator and Governor, one that hath greater Reafon to command thee, than thy Prince, or Mafter, or Parents, and doft thou refuse to obey him? Doft thou believe, that whatever is in Man, and can challenge Obedience, is more eminently in God; and doft thou fcruple to comply with his Will? Wilt thou prove a Rebel to thy Prince, a prodigal Son to thy Father, an unfaithful Servant to the best of Masters? Why shouldft not thou trust God with thy Soul? Why fhouldft not thou run at his Call? What is it, Sinner, that would make thee take thy ways into ferious Confideration? Would a Miracle do it? Why, thou haft as great Reason to believe, that thofe Miracles, which are recorded in the Gofpel to have been wrought for Confirmation of Chrift's Saying, were really wrought, and performed, as thou haft to believe the Reality of a Miracle, if thou fhouldft fee one wrought before thine Eyes. Either thou believeft that thofe Miracles were wrought by Chrift and his Apoftles, or thou doft not; if thou doft not, why doft not thou examine the Circumstances to be fatisfied? If thou doft, what need there any more Miracles? If thofe Miracles will not perfuade thee, how should a new Miracle do it? nay, how fhould we be fure that the Sight of a new Miracle would work upon thee? How Cc 2 foon