worfe than to die in a dungeon among ferpents; for these curfed ferpents, your fins, will go to the grave with you as your companions, and to the tribunal with you as your accufers, and to hell with you as your tormentors. 2. Your fouls, while diseased, are most loathfome to God; for you are not only without the image and Spirit of God, but you are fwarming with the vermin of fin and filthy lufts. 3. You are flaves to the devil, drudging night and day at his work, grinding at his mill, and feeding on his hufks; he hath you in fetters, but you are infenfible of it: Satan deals with you as the Philistines with Sampfon, puts out your eyes that you may not fee your chains. 4. Your whole actions, natural, civil, and religious, are all an abomination to God. Not only your eating and drinking, buying and felling; but also your praying and communicating, are abhorred, as being without faith in Jefus Chrift. Befides, the leprofy of fin which overfpreads you, defiles all your best performances. 5. Your difeafe is still the more dangerous, that you are not fenfible of it; for while it is fo, you are out of the way of healing, according to Mat. ix. 12. The whole fee no need of a phyfician. Awake, therefore, O fecure foul, confider thy cafe, and flee to the great Physician for help; until you fee your mifery, you will not prize the remedy.

2. Confider, though you be moft miferable and diftreffed by fin, yet you have the balm of Gilead freely offered to you in the gofpel, that can heal and fave the moft diseased foul, Ifa. xlv. 22. Look unto me," faith Christ," and be ye faved." And though ye have been ftout-hearted against God, yet, faith he, "Hearken unto me, I bring near my righteoufnefs to you," Ifa. xlvi. 12, 13. It is a pleasure to him to bring this balm near to you, and to see poor finners willing to make use of it; for, faith he, Ezek. xviii. 32. "I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, wherefore turn yourfelves, and live ye." See alfo Ezek. xxxiii. 2.

3. Confider how long you have flighted this balm already; wherefore, if you neglect it any longer, your day of grace may come to an end, and your healing time go over; fo that, when you would be healed, the balm

may

may be far from you. Wherefore improve your day, like that people in Capernaum, Luke iv. 40. " Now when the fun was fetting, all they who had any fick with divers difeafes, brought them unto him, and he laid his hand on every one of them, and healed them." Go you, O diseased fouls, and do likewife. Many of you have delayed till the fun is at the fetting, the fun of the gofpel, the fun of your life, the fun of your health and ftrength. O, then, make hafte before the fun fet, to bring your fick fouls to Chrift to be cured: For now is the accepted time," 2 Cor. vi. 2. Now is your healing day. And if you fhould lofe this day of your healing, to-morrow may be the day of your eternal wounding.

Quest. But what shall we do to attain to a sense and feeling of our wounds, in order to healing?

Ans. Take this advice:

1. Be diligent in the use of all outward means: read the fcriptures, and get the knowledge of your loft state in Adam, and the way of falvation through a Surety's righteousness. Attend the preaching of the word, which is the ufual means of converfion: be not absent from the ordinary occafions of it, left you miss that fermon that was most suitable to your cafe, and might have been the means of faving your fouls. The devil is at pains to keep you from fome sermons, for he may know what minifters are preparing before hand, and when he fees any thing coming that is likely to touch you, he will contrive fome temptation to keep you back from hearing it.

2. Study to affect your hearts with what you hear of your mortal disease, the finful natures you brought into the world, their pollution, rebellion, and enmity against God. Think upon the many acts of rebellion you have broke out against heaven. Think alfo how near you are, while unhealed, to everlasting burning, yea, every moment on the brink of the fiery furnace, and kept out of it only by the thread of life, which may be broke by any bit of bread you eat, by flipping of a foot, by ftumbling of a horfe, and by hundreds of dif tempers, which, like fo many lighted candles, are ready

to

to burn the thread, and let your diseased souls drop into the pit for ever.

3. When God fhoots the arrow of conviction into the confcience, do not feek to shake it out till it reach the end for which it was fent. Be not like those who go to their callings to work it out, or to their cups to drink it out, or to their beds to fleep it out, or to their games to divert it out. But go rather to your knees, and pray that the wound may be medicinal and saving, that it may be as deep as needful, and the power of the Lord may be prefent to heal you: Apply to Jefus your Phyfician, that he may take out the arrow with his own hand, and bring the balm of Gilead to the wound.

4. Apply to the holy Spirit, who is the author of faving convictions, and implore his gracious influences; for the dry bones ftir not till he breathe upon them. It is the office of the Holy Ghoft to apply Chrift's purchafe to you, and faving convictions are the firft part of that purchase he makes you partake of. Plead then with him, "Lord, come and do thine office, art thou not as willing to apply as Chrift was to purchase? Is not the Spirit the applier as freely promifed as Chrift the Physician! Is not that a free promife, Ezek. xxxvi. "I will put my Spirit within you?" It depends upon no condition in us, only it is faid, ver. 37. "I will be enquired of by the house of Ifrael to do it for them." And now, Lord, I am enquiring for it as I can, O do it for me."

II. I come next to address thofe difeafed fouls who are fenfible and feeling, fick finners, who are convinced of their diftreffed cafe by nature, and their need of the physician; you are the proper objects of his care, Mat. ix. 12, 13. and xviii. 11. Luke xviii. 13, 14. I exhort all fuch to come and employ Christ, the only Physician of ifrael, to heal your wounded fouls. Delay not; for your disease is mortal; your wound is deep; the fooner you come, the better. Lofe not the season when Christ is dealing with you by his Spirit; but when the waters are stirred, fee that you presently step in, that you may be made whole.

Queft. How fhall we improve the feafon, so as to be cured of our disease?

VOL. III.

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Anf.

Anf. Obferve thefe directions:

1. As you ought to be concerned about your disease, fee that your trouble and concern be of the right kind. Be grieved for it, not only because it brings ruin upon yourselves, but mainly because it unfits you for glorifying God, and enjoying communion with him. Be troubled both for the general corruption of your natures, and for the particular plagues of your own hearts; point out thofe to your Phyfician which are moft grievous to you, whether it be hardnefs, blindness, unbelief, backfliding, pride, earthly-mindednefs, &c. Every man that would have accefs to God, muft "know the plague of his own heart," I Kings viii. 38. Chrift would have every man to point forth his ailment to him, with the blind man, Luke xviii. "C 41. What wilt thou that I fhall do unto thee?" Let your answer be ready like his, "Lord, that I may receive my fight," Lord, that my unbelief may be removed, that my hardness may be cured, my backfliding healed, &c. Lay open all your fores, and hide nothing from your Physician.

2. Come to Chrift with a firm belief and perfuafion of his power and ability to heal you. This is the thing he demands of every fick foul, as of thofe two blind men that followed him crying for help, Matth. ix. 28. "Believe ye that I am able to do this?" Believe ye that I have all fulness in me to answer all your wants, to cure all your difeafes, and fuit all your cafes! O for a ftrong faith in Chrift's power! This doth greatly glorify him.

3. Plead importunately with your Phyfician for a cure; he allows you to do it, and to fill your mouths with arguments for that end.

1. Plead the fovereign efficacy of his blood, that it is a remedy of infinite virtue, and can heal the most defperate difeafe; fay with the leper, Matth. viii. 2. "Lord, if thou wilt, thou canft make me clean;" as if he had faid, Thou mayft do with me as thou wilt, but one thing I am fure of, thou canft heal me: So fay you, Lord, I am fure thy blood can cure and cleanfe me, though I were as vile with fin as the leper was with Lis difeafe, fo that, if I die in my fins, it will not be for

want

want of virtue in Chrift's blood, the balm of Gilead is all-fufficient. As the leper's argument prevailed with Christ to cure him, fo a ftrong faith, and perfuafion of the virtue of Chrift's blood, will engage him to heal

you.

2. Plead the freenefs of his balm to all diseased fouls, that the fountain of his blood runs freely to the worst of lepers, that he fhuts out none from it, but invites all to come; that those who had the deepest wounds and most dangerous difeafes, have come upon the invitation, and been made whole, as Minaffeh, the woman of Samaria, Mary Magdalene, the penitent thief, Paul, the Corinthians, &c. Say, Lord, I come with the rest upon thy call, O do not shut me out.

3. Plead your inability to do any thing for your own healing, as the impotent man did with Chrift at the pool of Bethesda, John v 6, 7. In like manner fay, "Lord, I have been many years at the fide of the pool, near the healing balm, but I am impotent, and unable of myself to move one step towards it, far lefs to apply it: no man or angel can cure my lamenefs; Lord, if thou do not pity and help me, I must even die and perish within view of the balm.".

4. Plead with Jesus Christ, that he alone is the only qualified perfon in heaven or earth to be your Phyfi cian. "Lord, thou haft infinite knowledge and skill to difcern my difeafe, with its fymptoms and caufes, and to prefcribe the proper remedies Thou haft infinite

compaffions to pity me, and infinite power to relieve me, when I cry for help. Yea, thou haft human bowels and tenderness of heart alfo to fympathize with me in diftrefs. Nay, thou haft a commiffion from heaven to heal fuch diseased fouls as mine, which thou didit chear

fully accept. And thou haft come a long journey from heaven to earth to vifit the fick, and proclaim thy commiflion to them. Thou haft affumed my nature, and taken a human body that it might be pierced to fend forth a precious balm for my wounds; and hast graciously promised to apply this balm to all who come to thee, Hof. xiv. 1. 4. John vi. 3. Rev. xxii. 17. Yea, thou haft come to those who never fought thee

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