SERM. how late foever, is, to fuch Men, ftill a III. Surprize, as great and fatal as if they were judicially fnacth'd away by an Act of Divine Vengeance.

Thirdly, The Danger of Dying as they have chosen to live, that is impenitent, will appear yet more threatening, if we confider the Provocation, by that Course given to the Spirit of Grace, to depart finally from them. Without the Influence of THAT there can be no perfect fpiritual Life, of which it is the Principle; nor therefore any Spiritual Acts, to which alfo it must concurr. In this Cafe, a Man's everlasting State is as much determined, as if he were already dead. So nothing can be faid to aggravate the Defperateness of it.

But let us weigh the Reasons for apprehending fuch a State may be the Lot of thefe Trufters to a late Repentance, The firft Reason is from their Behaviour. If we recollect what has been obferved of it, that it is not only finful, and wilfully fo; and does therefore refift and reject the Operations of Divine Grace: But that all this is heighten'd with a Presumption of

eluding

eluding the Purpose and Commands of SERM. God for a good Life, and yet cunningly III. decline the Vengeance he threatens to a bad one. Upon this Recollection, I fay, it is seen, nothing can be more provoking of the Majesty and Purity of God to take his Holy Spirit from them. In Special; can we be without Fear, that they who make the long-fuffering of God to wait, refufing the offer'd Affiftance of his Heavenly Grace, and upon this very impious Thought, that it shall attend their future Difpofition long hence, when the evil Days come; can we (I fay) be without Fear, that these fhould be denied that Grace, by themselves fo long denied, and, instead of Repentance, made an Encouragement for bolder Impiety? Surely the Punishment is very much fuited to the Crime. And whoever reads the Scriptures must fee, how perpetually the Divine Justice triumphs, as it were, in adapting the Sufferings of wicked Men to the Na ture of their Provocation. Indeed, the very Cafe now under our Confideration, feems to be handled in this Manner in the ift of Proverbs. There the Divine Wifdom cries

to

SERM. to dilatory Sinners, How long, ye fimple

III. ones, will ye love Simplicity? and the Scorners delight in their Scorning, and Fools bate Knowledge? Turn you at my Reproof: Behold I will pour out my Spirit unto you, I will make known my Words unto you. But this Exhortation (in the 22d and 23d Verfes) proving ineffectual, hear what follows: Because I have called, and ye refufed; I have ftretched out my Hand, and no Man regarded; but ye bave fer at nought all my Counsel, and would none of my Reproof: I also will laugh at your Calamity, I will mock when your Fear cometh, when your Fear cometh as Defolation, and your Deftruction cometh as Whirlwind; when Diftrefs and Anguish cometh upon you. Then fhall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall feek me early, but they shall not find me ; for that they hated Knowledge, and did not choose the Fear of the Lord. They would none of my Counfel, they defpifed all my Reproof. Therefore shall they eat of the Fruit of their own Way, and be filled with their own Devices. I must say, these Words, if they do not point out the very Punishment

a

III.

Punishment we are confidering of, yet by SERM.
Parity of Reason from temporal to fpiritual
Matters, give the utmoft Cause to appre-
hend it.

Secondly, Let us confider on the Part of the Divine Majefty, in what Manner his Juftice proceeds, by feveral known Cafes ; and our Apprehenfion of his punishing thus Impenitence with Impenitence, will be much confirmed.

The first shall be that of the Ifraelites in the Wilderness; of whom, and the Judgments upon them, St. Paul hath faid, All thefe Things happen'd unto them for Enfamples; and they are written for our Admonition, upon whom the Ends of the World are come. These Men,, for their repeated Tranfgreffions and Hardness of Heart, were by an Oath excluded the Land of Canaan. Their Lives, mean while, were prolong'd, and their Pilgrimage many Years continued, but without all Poffibility of entring into the holy Place of Reft. And ought not we to fear being put under a like Incapacity, and exhort one another daily, as the Apoftle infers from this Example, while it is called To

day:

SERM. day; left any of us be barden'd through the III. Deceitfulness of Sin? Yes furely, they that provoke it must with juftice dread a Sentence of Exclufion from the Heavenly Canaan, even while they are to Appearance in the State of Travellers thither.

Another Inftance to this Purpose may be found in God's Dealing with Pharaoh. His Hiftory in Exodus fhews, that after repeated Hardenings of his Heart, he was judicially harden'd; not deftroy'd immediately, but referv'd incurable to the Day of Destruction; fo that Mofes could say to him, when he promised Obedience, As for thee and thy Servants, I know that ye will not yet fear the Lord God: And to the fame Purpose in the Name of God, In very deed for this Caufe have I raised thee up [or as the moft ancient Tranflation renders it, hast thou been preferv'd] for to fhew in thee my Power; and that my Name may be declared throughout all the Earth. He was preferv'd alive, not for his own Behoof, but repriev'd only for a Time to anfwer certain Ends of Providence. And now confider, if all that will be like him, that will not hear the Voice of the Lord