wages of unrighteoufnefs, yet he would not win them by curfing Ifrael but he died the death of the wicked, Num. xxxi. 8. All thou doft, while in an unregenerate ftate is for thy felf: and therefore it will fare with thee, as with a subject, who, having reduced the rebels, puts the crown on his own head; and therefore lofeth all his good fervice, and his head too.

Object. If it be thus with us, then we need never perform any religious duty at all. Anf. The conclufion is not just. No inability of thine can loofe thee from the duty God's law lays on thee: and there is lefs evil in thy doing thy duty, than there is in the omitting of it. But there is a mids betwixt omitting of duty, and the doing of it as thou doft it. A man ordereth mafons to build him a houfe. If they quite neglect the work, that will not be accepted; if they fall on, and build upon the old rotten foundation, neither will that pleafe: but they muft raze the old foundation, and build on firm ground. Go thou and do likewife. In the mean time, it is not in vain for thee, even for thee, to feek the Lord: for tho' he regards thee not, yet he may have refpect to his own ordinance, and do thee good thereby, as was faid before.

Secondly, Without regeneration there is no communion with God, There is a fociety on earth, whofe fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jefus Chrift, 1 John i, 3. But, out of that fociety, all the unregenerate are excluded; for they are all enemies to God, as ye heard before at large. are Now, can two walk together, except they be agreed Amos iii. 3. They are all unholy and what communion bath light with darkness- -Chrift with Belial? 2 Cor. vi. 14. 15. They may have a ew and femblance of holinefs; but they are ftrangers to true holiness, and therefore without God in the world. How fad is this cafe, to be employed in religious duties, but to have no fellowship with God in them I ye would not be content with your meat, unless it fed you; nor with your clothes, unless they kept you warm; and how can you fatisfy yourfelves with your duties, while they are not effectual to your communion with God?

Thirdly, Regeneration is abfolutely neceffary to qualify you for heaven. None go to heaven but they that are made meet for it, Col. i. 12. As it was with Solomon's temple, 1 Kings vi. 7. fo is it with the temple above: it is built of ftone made ready before it is brought thither; namely, of lively fiones, Pet. ii. v. wrought for the felf fame thing, 2 Cor. v. 5. for they cannot be laid in that glorious building, just as

they

they came out of the quarry of depraved nature. Jewels of gold are not meet for fwine, and far lefs jewels of glory for unrenewed finners. Beggars in their rags are not meet for kings houses; nor finners to enter into the king's palace, without the raiment of needle-work, Pfal. xlv. 14. 15. What wife man would bring fishes out of the water to feed in his meadow? Or fend his oxen to feed in the fea? Even as little are the unregenerate meet for heaven, or is heaven meet for them. It would never be liked of by them.

is

The unregenerate would find fault with heaven on feveral accounts. As (1.) That it is a strange country. Heaven is the renewed man's native country: his Father is in heaven; his mother is Jerufalem, which is above, Gal. iv, 26. He is born from above, John iii. 3 Heaven is his home, 2 Cor. v. I. Therefore he looks on himfelf.as a ftranger on this earth, and his head is homeward, Heb. 16. They defire a better country, that is an heavenly. But the unregenerate man is the man of the earth, Pfal. x. 18, written in the earth, Jer. xvii. 13. Now, home is home, be it never fo homely therefore he minds earthly things, Philip. iii. 19. There is a peculiar fweetnefs in our native foil; and hardly are men drawn to leave it, and dwell in a ftrange country. In no cafe does that prevail more, than in this; for unrenewed men would quit their pretenfions to heaven, were it not that they fee they cannot make a better of it. (2.) There is nothing there of what they delight moft in, as moft agreeable to the carnal heart. Rev. xxi. 27. And there fhall in no wife enter into it, any thing that defileth. When Mahomet gave out paradife to be a place of fenfual delights, his religion was greedily embraced; for that is the heaven men naturally chufe. If the covetous man could get bags full of gold there, and the voluptuous man could promife himfelf his fenfual delights there; they might be reconciled to heaven, and meet for it too: but fince it is not fo, the they may utter fair words about it, truly it has little of their hearts. (3) Every corner there is filled with that, which of all things they have the least liking of: and that is holiness, true holiness, perfect holiness. abhors Were one th fwine's flefh, bidden to a feast, where all the difhes were of that fort of meat, but variously prepared; he would find fault with every difh at the table, notwithstanding of all the art ufed to make them palatable. It is true, there is joy in heaven, but it is holy joy; there are pleafures in heaven, but they are holy pleasures; there are places to ftand by in hea

ven, but it is holy ground. That holiness that cafts up in every place, and in every thing there, would mar all to the unregenerate. (4.) Were they carried thither, they would not only change their place, which would be a great heartbreak to them; but they would change their company too. Truly they would never like the company there, who care not for communion with God here; nor value the fellowfhip of his people, at leaft in the vitals of practical godliness. Many indeed mix themselves with the godly on earth, to procure a name to themfelves, and to cover the naughtiness of their hearts; but that trade could not be managed there. (5.) They would never like the employment of heavens they care fo little for it now. The bufinefs of the faints there, would be an intolerable burden to them, feeing it is not agreeable to their nature. To be taken up in beholding, admiring, and praifing of him that fitteth on the throne, and of the Lamb, would be work unfuitable, and therefore unfavoury to an unrenewed foul. Laftly, They would find this fault with it, that the whole is of everlasting continuance. This would be a killingngredient in it, to them. How would fuch as now account the fabbath-day a burden, brook the celebrating of an everlafting fabbath in the heavens ?

Lastly, Regeneration is abfolutely neceffary to your being admitted into heaven, John iii. 3. No heaven without it. Tho' carnal men could digeft all these things, which make heaven fo unfuitable for them; yet God will never buffer them to come thither. Therefore born again ye muft be; elfe ye fhall never fee heaven, ye fhall perih eternally. For (1.) There is a bill of exclufion paffed againft you in the court of heaven, and against all of your fort, Except a man be born again, he cannot fee the kingdom of God, John iii. 3. Here is a bar before you, that men and angels cannot remove. And to hope for heaven, over the belly of this peremptory fentence, is to hope that God will recall his word, and facrifice his truth and faithfulnefs to your fafety; which is infinitely more than to hope the earth fhall be forfaken for you, and the rock removed out of his place. (2.) There is no holinefs without regeneration. It is the new man, which is created in true holiness, Eph. iv. 24. And no heaven without holinefs; for without holiness no man fhall fee the Lord, Heb. xii. 14. Will the gates of pearl be opened, to let in dogs and fwine? No; their place is without, Rev. xxii. 15. God will not admit fuch into the holy place of communion with him here; and will he admit them into the holiest of all hereaf

ter

ter? Will he take the children of the devil, and give them to fit with him in his throne? Or will he bring the unclean into the city, whofe Street is pure gold? Be not deceived grace and glory are but two links of one chain, which God has joined, and no man fhall put afunder. None are tranfplanted into the paradife above, but out of the nursery of grace below. If ye be unholy while in this world, ye will be for ever miferable in the world to come. (3) All the unregenerate are without Chrift, and therefore having no hope while in that cafe, Eph. ii. 12. Will Chrift prepare manfions of glory for them, that refufe to receive him into their hearts? Nay, rather, will he not laugh at their calamity, who now fet at naught all his counfel? Prov. i. 25.26. Laftly, There is an infallible connexion betwixt a finally unregenerate state and damnation, arifing from the nature of the things themfelves; and from the decree of heaven, which is fixed and unmoveable as mountains of brafs, John iii. 3. Rom. viii. 6. To be carnally minded is death. An unregenerate ftate is hell in the bud. It is eternal deftruction in embryo; growing daily, tho' thou doft not difcern it. Death is painted on many a fair face, in his life. Depraved nature makes men meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the damned, in utter darkness. (1.) The heart of tone within thee, is a finking weight, as a ftone naturally goes downward; fo the hard ftony heart tends downward to the bottomlefs pit. Ye are hardened against reproof: though ye are told your danger; yet ye will not fee it, ye will not believe it. But remember, that the confcience, its being now feared with a hot iron, is a fad prefage of everlasting burnings. (2.) Your unfruitfulness under the means of grace, fits you for the ax of God's judgments, Matth. iii. 1o. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit, is hewn down and caft into the fire. The withered branch is fuel for the fire, John xv. 6. Tremble at this, ye defpifers of the gospel if ye be not thereby made meet for heaver, ye will be like the barren ground, bearing briers and thorns, nigh unto curfing, whofe end is to be burned, Heb. vi. 8. (3.). The hellifh difpofitions of mind, which difcover themselves in profanity of life, fit the guilty for the regi ons of horror. A profane life will have a miferable end. They which do fuch things fhall not inherit the kingdom of God, Gal. v. 19. 20. 21. Think on this, ye prayerlefs perfons, ye mockers of religion, ye curfers and fwearers, ye unclean, and unjuft perfons, who have not fo much as mo

ral

ral honefly to keep you from lying, cheating, and ftealing. What fort of a tree think ye it to be, upon which these fruits. grow! Is it a tree of righteoufnefs, which the Lord hath planted? Or is it not fuch an one as cambers the ground, which God will pluck up for fuel to the fire of his wrath (4.) Your being dead in fin makes you meet to be wrapt in flames of brimftone, as in the bottomlefs pit, as in a grave. Great was the cry in Egypt, when the firft-born in each family was dead; but are there not many families, where all are dead together? plucked up by the Toots. Sometime, in their life, they have been rouzed by apprehenfions of death, and its confequences; but now they are fo far on in their way to the land of darknefs, that they hardly ever have the leaft glimmering of light from heaven.

S Winding-fheet; and to be buried

Nay many there are, who are twice deade

.) The darkness of your minds prefageth eternal darkness. O the horrid ignorance fome are plagued with; while others who have got fome rays of reafon's light into their heads, are utterly void of fpiritual light in their hearts! If ye knew your cafe, ye would cry out, Oh! darknefs! darkness! darkness making way for the blackness of darkness for ever! The face-covering is upon you already, as condemned perfons; fo near are ye to everlasting darknefs. It is only Jefus Chrift who can ftop the execution, pull the napkin off the face of the condemned malefactor, and put a pardon in his hand. Ifa. xxv. 7. And he will deftroy in this mountain, the face of the covering caft over all people, i. e. The face-cover ing caft over the condemned, as in Haman's cafe. Efther vii. 8. As the word went out of the king's mouth, they covered Haman's face. Laftly, The chains of darknefs ye are bound with in the prifon of your depraved ftate, Ifa. Ixi. 1. fits you to be caft into the burning fiery furnace. Ah miferable men! fometimes their confciences ftir within them, and they be gin to think of amending their ways. But alas! they are in thains, they cannot do it. They are chained by the heart their lufts cleave fo faft to them, that they cannot, nay, they will not, fhake them off. Thus you fee what affinity there is betwixt an unregenerate ftate, and the ftate of the damned, the state of abfolute and irretrievable mifery. Be convinced then, that ye must be born again; put a high va lue on the new-birth, and eagerly defire it.

The text tells you, that the word is the feed, whereof the new creature is formed: therefore take heed to it, and entertain it, for it is your life. Apply yourselves to the read

ing