in such cases ought to be, such a vineyard, ought to bring forth grapes answerable to all the acts of God's - care and grace towards it.

2. Such a day is the season that is allotted us for special work and duty. So the apostle informs us, 2 Pet. iii, 2, "Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought we to be in all holy conversation and godliness!" What manner of persons we ought to be? Judge in yourselves, and. act accordingly. Great light, great holiness, great reformation in hearts, houses, and churches are expected in such a day. All advantages of this season are to have their use and improvement, or we lose the end of it. Every thing that concurs to constitute such a day, hath advantages in it to promote special work in us, and if we answer them not, our time for it is irrecoverably lost; and what bitterness will this be in the end!

3. Every such day is a day of great trials. The Lord Christ comes in it with his fan in his hand, to sift and try the corn; "his fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather in his wheat into his garner, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." The fan of Christ is his word; and by the preaching of it, he separates the precious from the vile, the wheat from the chaff. He comes into his floor, the church, where there is a mixture of corn and chaff; he sifts and winnows them by his word and Spirit, casting off light, empty, and fruitless professors. Such a day is described by Daniel, chap. xii, 10, "Many shall be purified, made white and tried, but the wicked. shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand." Many, that is, of the saints, shall be purified, (173) purged, made clean from such defilements as in their affections or

conversation they had contracted: and made white; shall be whitened in their profession; shall be rendered more eminent, conspicuous, and glorious; and tried, as in a furnace, that it may appear what metal they are made of: but wicked and false professors shall be discovered and so far hardened, that they shall go on, and grow high in their wickedness to their utter destruction. And therefore it concerns us heedfully to regard such a season; for,

4. Unto whom such a day is lost, they also themselves are lost. It is God's last dealing with them. If this be neglected, if this be despised, he hath done with them. He saith to them in it, "This is the acceptable time, this is the day of salvation." If this day pass over, night will come wherein men cannot work. So speaks our Savior concerning Jerusalem which then enjoyed that day, but was on the point of utterly losing it, Luke xix, 41, 42, "And when he was come near he beheld the city, and wept over it, saying, if thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong to thy peace; but now they are hid from thine eyes." He wept, which is but once more recorded of him in the gospel, John xi, 35; and the word here used, (ε×λaucɛ) denotes a weeping with lamentation, A just consideration of the mournful subject moved his holy, tender, merciful heart, to the deepest commiseration. He did it also for our example; that we may know how deplorable and miserable a thing it is for a people, a city, a person to withstand or lose their day of grace. If thou hadst known, even thou:" the reduplication is very emphatically, "thou, even THOU;" thou ancient city, thou city of David, thou seat of the temple and worship of the great God, thou ancient habitation of the church; "If thou hadst known;" or oh! that thou hadst known; "at least in this thy day,"

They had enjoyed many smaller days of grace, many messages or dealings of the prophets, as our Savior reminds them, Matt. xxi, 33-36. These they despised, persecuted, rejected, and so lost the season of their preaching; but they were days of less moment, and not decretory of their state and condition. "Another day" they were to have, which he calls "this their day;" the day so long foretold and determined by Daniel the prophet, wherein the Son of God was to come, and was now actually come amongst them; and what did he treat with them about? "The things which belong to their peace;" of repentance and reconciliation, the things which might have given them peace with God, and continued their peace in the world; but they refused these things, neglected their day, and suffered it to pass over their heads unimproved. What was the issue of all this? God would deal no more with them; the things of their peace shall now be hid from them, and themselves be left to destruction; for,

$25. When such a dispensation is lost, when the evening of such a day is come, and the work of it not accomplished.

1. It may be God will bring wasting destruction upon the persons, churches, or people that have despised it. So he dealt with Jerusalem, as it was foretold by our Savior in the place before mentioned, Luke xix, 43, 44. The things of thy peace are now over and hid from thee. What then shall follow? Why "the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee around, and keep thee in on every side; and shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave within thee one stone upon another, because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation."

Because thou hast not discerned thy day, nor regarded it, hast not answered the mind of God in it, all this shall speedily befall thee. The same hath been the issue of many renowned churches; the very places

where they were planted are utterly consumed. Temporal judgments are ofttimes the issue of despised spiritual mercies.

2. God may, and sometimes doth, leave such people, churches, or persons, as have withstood his dealings by way of grace, to possess their outward station in the world, and yet hide the things of their peace utterly from them, by a removal of the means of grace. He can leave to men their kingdoms in this world, and yet take away the kingdom of heaven, and give it others. They may dwell still in their houses, but yet be in the dark, their candlestick and the light of it being consumed together. This is what God threateneth, 2 Thes. ii, 2-12, "Because men would not receive the truth in the love thereof," or improve the day of their gospel which they enjoyed, "God sent them strong delusions that they should believe a lie." And how came it to pass? By removing the sound and sincere preaching of the word, he gave advantage to seducers and false teachers to impose their superstition, idolatry, and heresies upon their credulity. So God punished the neglect and disobedience of the churches of Europe, under the papal apostasy. And let us take heed lest this vial of wrath be also poured upon us; or,

3. God may leave to such persons the outward dispensation of the means of grace, and yet withhold that efficacy of his spirit which alone can render them useful to the souls of men. Hence the word becomes to have a quite contrary effect to what it hath under the influences of special grace. God then spake to a people thus: Isa, vi, 9, 10, "Hear you indeed, but under

stand not, and see you indeed, but perceive not: make the heart of this people fast, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes, lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and convert and be healed." I have now done with them, saith God; I have no design or purpose any more to deal with them about their conversion and healing: and therefore, although I will have the preaching of the word as yet continued among them, yet it shall have no effect upon them, but through their unbelief, to blind them and harden them to their destruction. And for these reasons, amongst others, ought such a day as we have described carefully to be attended to.

$26. This duty being of so great importance, it may be seasonably inquired, how may a man, how may a church know, that it is such a day, such a season of the gospel with them, so as to be suitably stirred up to the performance of such a duty? I answer they may know it two ways.

1. From the outward signs of it, as the day is known by the light and heat of the sun which is the cause thereof. Neglect and ignorance of this was charged by our Savior on the Jews frequently; see Matt. xvi, 3, "O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky, but ye cannot discern the face of the times." As God hath planted such signs in natural things, hath so ordered them, that one should be a sign and discovery of another; so he hath appointed signs of this day of grace, of the coming of the Messiah, whereby it also may be known. But these, saith he, you cannot discern; (8 duvarlɛ) you cannot; but withal he lets them know why they could not; because they were hypocrites; and either grossly neglected, or despised the means and advantages they had for that purpose. Herein consisted the wisdom of the children of Issachar,