consciousness, that witness of God, which is more and greater than ten thousand human witnesses.

12. If he do not now bear witness with thy spirit, that thou art a child of God, O that he might convince thee, thou poor unawakened sinner, by his demonstration and power, that thou art a child of the devil' O that, as I prophesy, there might now be "noise and a shaking;" and may "the bones come together, bone to his bone!" Then, "come from the four winds, O Breath! and breathe on these slain, that they may live!" And do not ye harden your hearts, and resist the Holy Ghost, who even now is come to convince you of sin, "because you believe not on the name of the only begotten Son of God."

II. 1. Wherefore, "Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead." God calleth thee now by my mouth; and bids thee know thyself, thou fallen spirit, thy true state and only concern below. "What meanest thou, O sleeper? Arise! Call upon thy God, if so be thy God will think upon thee, that thou perish not." A mighty tempest is stirred up round about thee, and thou art sinking into the depths of perdition, the gulf of God's judgments. If thou would escape them, cast thyself into them. "Judge thyself, and thou shalt not be judged of the Lord."

2. Awake, awake! Stand up this moment, lest thou "drink at the Lord's hand the cup of his fury.' "" Stir up thyself" to lay hold on the Lord, the Lord thy Righteousness, mighty to save! Shake thyself from the dust." At least, let the earthquake of God's threatenings shake thee. Awake, and cry out with the trembling jailer, "What must I do to be saved?" And never rest, till thou believe on the Lord Jesus, with a faith which is his gift, by the operation of his Spirit.

3. If I speak to any one of you, more than to another, it is to thee, who thinkest thyself unconcerned in this exhortation. "I have a message from God unto thee." In his name, I warn thee to flee from the wrath to come. Thou unholy soul, see thy picture in condemned Peter, lying in the dark dungeon, between the soldiers, bound with two VOL. VII.

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chains, the keepers before the door keeping the prison. The night is far spent, the morning is at hand, when thou art to be brought forth to execution. And in these dreadful circumstances, thou art fast asleep; thou art fast asleep in the devil's arms, on the brink of the pit, in the jaws of everlasting destruction!

4. O may the Angel of the Lord come upon thee, and the light shine into thy prison! And mayest thou feel the stroke of an Almighty Hand, raising thee, with, "Arise up quickly, gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals, cast thy garment about thee, and follow me."

5. Awake, thou everlasting spirit! out of thy dream of worldly happiness. Did not God create thee for himself? Then, thou canst not rest, till thou rest in him. Return, thou wanderer. Fly back to thy ark. This is not thy home. Think not of building tabernacles here. Thou art but a stranger, a sojourner upon earth: à creature of a day, but just launching out into an unchangeable state. Make haste. Eternity is at hand. Eternity depends on this moment. An eternity of happiness, or an eternity of misery!

6. In what state is thy soul? Was God, while I am yet speaking, to require it of thee, art thou ready to meet death and judgment? Canst thou stand in his sight, "who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity?" Art thou " meet to be partaker of the inheritance of the saints in light ?” Hast thou❝fought a good fight, and kept the faith?" Hast thou secured the one thing needful? Hast thou recovered the image of God, even righteousness and true holiness? Hast thou put off the old man, and put on the new? Art thou clothed upon with Christ?

7. Hast thou oil in thy lamp? Grace in thy heart? Dost thou"love the Lord thy God, with all thy heart, and with all thy mind, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength?" Is that mind in thee, which was also in Christ Jesus? Art thou a Christian indeed? That is, a new creas ture. Are old things passed away, and all things become new?

8. Art thou "a partaker of the divine nature? Knowest

thou not, that Christ is in thee, except thou be reprobate!" Knowest thou, that God "dwelleth in thee, and thou in God, by his Spirit, which he hath given thee?" Knowest thou that "thy body is a temple of the Holy Ghost, which thou hast of God?" Hast thou the witness in thyself? The earnest of thine inheritance? Art thou "sealed by that Spirit of Promise, unto the day of redemption ?" Hast thou received the Holy Ghost? Or, dost thou start at the ques-. tion, not knowing whether there be any Holy Ghost?

9. If it offend thee, be thou assured, that thou neither art a Christian, nor desirest to be one. Nay, thy very prayer is turned into sin; and thou hast solemnly mocked God this very day, by praying for the inspiration of his Holy Spirit, when thou didst not believe there was any such thing to be received.

10. Yet, on the authority of God's Word, and our own Church, I must repeat the question, "Hast thou received the Holy Ghost ?". If thou hast not, thou art not yet á Christian. For a Christian is a man, that is "anointed with the Holy Ghost, and with power." Thou art not yet made a partaker of pure religion and undefiled. Dost thou know what religion is? That it is a participation of the divine nature, the life of God in the soul of man: "Christ formed in the heart, Christ in thee, the hope of glory." Happiness and holiness; heaven begun upon earth. "A kingdom of God within thee: not meat and drink," no outward thing; "but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost ?” An everlasting kingdom brought into thy soul; a “ peace of God, that passeth all understanding; a joy unspeakable, and full of glory?"

11. Knowest thou, that "in Jesus Christ, neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith that worketh by love;" but a new creation? Seest thou the necessity of that inward change, that spiritual birth, that life from the dead? That holiness? And art thou thoroughly convinced, that without it, no man shall see the Lord? Art thou labouring after it? "Giving all diligence, to make thy calling and election sure? Working out thy salvation

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with fear and trembling? Agonizing to enter in at the strait gate!" Art thou in earnest about thy soul? And, canst thou tell the Searcher of hearts, "Thou, O God, art the thing that I long for!" Lord, thou knowest all things! Thou knowest that I would love thee!

12. Thou hopest to be saved; but what reason hast thou to give of the hope that is in thee? Is it because thou hast done no harm? Or, because thou hast done much good? Or, because thou art not like other men; but wise, or learned, or honest, and morally good? Esteemed of men, and of a fair reputation? Alas! all this will never bring thee to God. It is in his account lighter than vanity. Dost thou know Jesus Christ, whom he hath sent? Hath he taught thee, that, “by grace we are saved, through faith; and that not of ourselves; it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast?" Hast thou received the faithful saying, as the whole foundation of thy hope, "that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners ?" Hast thou learned what that meaneth, "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance? I am not sent, but to the lost sheep?" Art thou (he that heareth, let him understand!) lost, dead, damned already? Dost thou know thy deserts? Dost thou feel thy wants? Art thou poor in spirit? Mourning for God, and refusing to be comforted? Is the prodigal come to himself, and well content to be, therefore, thought beside himself; by those who are still feeding upon the husks which he hath left?. Art thou willing to live godly in Christ Jesus? And dost thou, therefore, suffer persecu tion? Do men say all manner of evil against thee falsely, for the Son of Man's sake?

15. O, that in all these questions ye may hear the voice that wakes the dead, and feel that hammer of the word, which breaketh the rocks in pieces! "If ye will hear his voice to-day, while it is called to-day, harden not your hearts." Now, awake, thou that sleepest in spiritual death, that thou sleep not in death eternal! Feel thy lost estate, and arise from the dead. Leave thine old companions in sin and death. Follow thou Jesus, and let the dead bury their

dead. "Save thyself from this untoward generation. Come out from among them, and be thou separate, and touch not the unclean thing, and the Lord shall receive thee, Christ shall give thee Light."

III. 1. This Promise, I come, lastly, to explain. And how encouraging a consideration is this, that whosoever thou art, who obeyest his call, thou canst not seek his face in vain. If thou even now awake and arise from the dead, he hath bound himself to give thee light. The Lord shall give thee grace and glory; the light of his grace here, and the light of his glory, when thou receivest the crown that fadeth not away. "Thy light shall break forth as the morning, and thy darkness be as the noon-day. God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, shall shine in thy heart; to give the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." the Sun of Righteousness arise, with healing in his wings." And in that day it shall be said unto thee, "Arise, shine: for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee." For Christ shall reveal himself in thee. And he is the true Light.

"On them that fear the Lord shall

2. God is Light, and will give himself to every awakened sinner, that waiteth for him: and thou shalt then be a tem ple of the living God, and Christ shall dwell in thy heart by faith" and, "being rooted and grounded in love, thou shalt be able to comprehend with all saints, what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height of that love of Christ which passeth knowledge, that thou mayest be filled with all the fulness of God."

3. Ye see your calling, brethren. We are called to be a habitation of God through his Spirit:" and through his Spirit dwelling in us, to be saints here, and partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light. So exceedingly great are the promises which are given unto us, actually given unto us who believe. For, by faith, "we receive, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit, which is of God," the sum of all the promises, "that we may know the things that are freely given to us of God."