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of finners, the fame thing will appear with increafing evidence. Those who are not humbled under a fenfe of guilt and corruption, will treat with great contempt a purchased pardon and a crucified Saviour. This our Lord himself often tells us in the plaineft terms. "They that

are whole need not a physician, but they that "are fick. I came not to call the righteous, "but finners to repentance *." To these indeed his invitation and call is particularly addreffed Come unto me, all ye that labour, "and are heavy laden, and I will give you reft +."

To the fame purpose we fhall find many other paffages, both of the prophetic and apoftolic writings. The glad tidings of falvation are always directed to the humble, miferable, brokenhearted, thirsty, perifhing foul. Thus in the prophet Ifaiah, "Ho, every one that thirfteth, 66 come ye to the waters; and he that hath no << money, come ye, buy and eat; yea, come "buy wine and milk, without money and with"out price." When Chrift entered on his perfonal miniftry, he opened his commiffion in the following terms. "The Spirit of the Lord " is upon me, because he hath anointed me "to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath "fent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach + Matt. xi, 29. + If. lv. 1. "de

* Luke v. 31, 32.

"deliverance to the captives, and recovering of fight to the blind; to fet at liberty them that are bruifed, to preach the acceptable

year of the Lord *.". I fhall only mention one other paffage: "And I will give to him "that is athirft of the fountain of the water of life freely t.”

From these paffages, and many others in the fame ftrain, it is evident beyond contradiction, that there muft be a deep humiliation of mind, and fenfe of guilt and wretchedness, before a finner can be brought unto God. This indeed hath ordinarily been confidered as the first step towards converfion. In order to treat of it in the moft clear, and at the fame time the most useful manner, I fhall divide it into two branches, and firft, confider what is the true and genuine. fource of conviction or forrow for fin; and fecondly, to what degree it must be, in order to a faving change.

First then, let us confider what is the true and genuine fource of conviction and forrow for fin. And here we may observe in general, that, properly speaking, there can be but two fources of forrow or humiliation of mind at all, viz. fear of suffering, and fenfe of the evil and defert of fin. Both these are found in true penitents; and it is their union and mutual influence that dif * Luke iv, 18. † Rev. xxi. 6.

tinguishes

tinguishes repentance unto life from every counterfeit. Many have trembled through fear of punishment from God, and been dismayed at the tokens of his presence, who, notwithstanding, lived and died strangers to true religion, or any faving change. We fee that even Judas the traitor to his Lord repented, confeffed his fin, nay, did what he could to repair the wrong, throwing back the price of innocent blood; and yet hanged himself in defpair. The fcripture only further fays, he went into his own place; but there have been few, if any, interpreters of fcripture, who entertained any doubt that it was the place of torment. We every day fee that occafional danger, or the apprehenfion of immediate death, throws fome into fits of terror, extorts from them confeffions of guilt, or promises of amendment; and yet, in a little time they return to their former practices, and fin with the fame fecurity, and perhaps with greater avidity than before.

What is the effential defect of such seeming penitents? It is that they have no just sense of the evil of fin in itfelf; they have no inward cordial approbation of the holiness of God's nature and law, or of the juftice of that sentence of conderanation which ftands written against every tranfgreffor. Here, O Chriftian,

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is the cardinal point on which true repentance turns, and the reader may plainly perceive the reafon and neceffity of what was formerly obferved, that there must be a discovery of the infinite glory and amiableness of the divine nature. Without this there may be a flavish terror, but no true humiliation. It is only when a finner fees the unspeakable majesty, the tranfcendent glory, and infinite amiablenefs of the divine nature, that he is truly, effectually, and unfeignedly humbled.

Oh! that I could deliver this with proper force! that I could write and speak under an experimental sense of its truth! The finner then perceives how infinitely worthy his Maker is of the highest esteem, the most ardent love, and the moft unremitted obedience. He then fees, that every intelligent creature, from the most shining feraph in the heavenly hoft, to the meanest and most despised mortal worm, is under an infinite, eternal, unchangeable obligation to love God with all his heart, and ftrength, and mind. On this account he is convinced, that alienated affection and misplaced allegiance is infinitely finful. He fees this obligation to be founded not merely nor chiefly on the greatnefs of divine power, but on the intrinfic inherent excellence of the divine nature. Therefore he is perfuaded, that there is not only danger in rebelling againft, or dif K honouring

honouring God, but a great and manifest wrong and injustice in refufing to honour him. This ftrikes him with a sense of his own guilt, and the guilt of all those who live" without God in "the world."

At once to confirm and illuftrate this truth, I must make two obfervations, which will be found univerfally to hold, on the character and conduct of true penitents. 1ft, That they obtain a new sense of the excellence and obligation of the duties of divine worship, both public and private. Before, they were apt to confider the duties of worship as little more than the means of religion; that the fear of an invifible Judge might be a bond upon the confcience, and keep men from fraud and difhonefty, or from riot and fenfuality. They were cold and formal therefore in their own attendance, and never heard any fpeak of joy or fenfible communion with God in his fanctuary, but they were ready to exprefs their deteftation of it as hypocrify, or their contempt of it as enthusiasm and folly.

But now the language of adoration is in fome measure understood, which had been wholly infipid and without meaning before. They join with the pfalmift in faying, "Honour and ma

jefty are before him, ftrength and beauty are "in his fanctuary. Give unto the Lord, O ye kindreds of the people, give unto the Lord

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