found their waiting on the Lord was not in vain; the Lord pitied them, and gave them a heart to believe and receive Chrift. This is the direction I offer then; ftudy the right ufe of the means of faith.

[3] Study to get removed from you all the obftructions and impediments of faith and receiving of Chrift: and the impediments are thefe fix.

1. One impediment of faith, that hinders the receiving of him, is natural atheifm: The fool bath faid in his beart, There is no God. And an atheistical spirit hath moft fordid apprehenfions of God; it doth not take him up in the greatness of his nature, nor in the authority of his word. God looks not like a God to that person : the word of God is not like the word of God; the sweet promises are but empty notions to the man; the sharp threatenings of hell and wrath, are but terrible fables to him. O feek that the power of God may remove this impediment; otherwife you will never believe, nor receive Chrift.

2. Another impediment is grofs ignorance; ignorance of God and of Chrift. Many foolifhly queftion, whether or not they have an intereft in Chrift, before ever they know that there is a Chrift: they are ignorant of Christ, and his excellency; ignorant of the law, and its feverity; ignorant of the gofpel, and its condefcendency; ignorant of themselves, and their finfulness, and misery, and their abfolute need that they ftand in of this glorious gofpel-remedy. If they knew the difpofition of God towards finners out of Chrift, they would not take rest, while they are exposed to that consuming fire, and within the flood-mark of his wrath. If they were not ignorant of their natural state, they would not réft content in that state. If they knew Chrift, they would not be content to live without him: "If thou knewest the gift of God, (fays Chrift to the woman of Samaria,) and who it is that faith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water, John iv. 10. My people are deftroyed for lake of knowledge." O ignorant fouls, you are nearer hell than others; your ftate is darkness, and it borders upon utter darkness. You fwear, and lie,

and

and drink drunk, and break the Sabbath, and committ uncleannefs; you flight ordinances, you flight duties, you flight prayer, in fecret and family; you go on in fin without flying to Chrift; and all is because of your ignorance: They that know his name put their trust in him; but you know him not, and therefore believe not. Why, fay you, many have knowledge that make no good ufe of it; yea, they are more gracelefs and profane, than we that are poor ignorant creatures. I anfwer, That their knowledge is but head-knowledge, and not heart-knowledge; er elfe it would influence their heart and life; and they have a fad account to make, for finning against fo much. knowledge; but this will not help you; for profanity kills them, and ignorance kills you; they die of one difeafe, and you die of another. Will you reject knowledge becaufe fome abufe it? Why, that is as ridiculous as to fay, Because many die, who have both food and phyfic, and plenty of means for preserving life; therefore, I will ufe no means, for preferving of my life at all. They that have food and phyfic may die; but they that have none of them cannot live; fo, whoever perifh, ignorant perfons, that flight the means, are fure to perish.

3. A third impediment of faith that you need to feek removed is prefumption. Many prefume they have Christ already, and thus they need not receive him: they will not confefs that they want Chrift. Many prefume they have a righteoufnefs of their own: Chrift spoke a parable to certain perfons that trufted in themfelves, that they were righteous. If a proud man hath money in his houfe, he will fcorn to be obliged to his neighbour: fo it is with the proud finner, his language is, I have never wronged any man; none can fay, black is the eye of my head; I am neither whore nor thief; I have a good heart to God; and have done as well as I could. Alas! poor deluded creature, cannot the God, who charges his angels with folly, fee a fault in you? yea, millions of deformities doth he fee: and is this a fufficient bottom for you to fail in to heaven? There is a leak in the veffel that will fink you for ever into the bottomlefs pit: the foul is the paffenger, graces are the fails, the Spirit is

the

the wind, but Chrift only is the bottom, in which you can fail fafe to glory. It is faid of fome in the Acts, they came and burnt their books, whenever they came and believed in Chrift: fo, if ever you believe in Chrift, that trash must be burnt; you must be forced out of felves, and obliged to relinquifh every thing about you.

your

4. The next impediment of faith, is earthly-mindednefs and worldly difpofitions. The vanity of the world fo poffeffes the mind, that there is no room for Chrift: the thoughts of the world fhut out the thoughts of God. As Saul hid himself among the ftuff, fo many are buried and abforbed in the midft of the world. And yet, all the best things of the world are like the fhadow of the fun, which the leaft cloud can remove; like a heap of chaff, which the wind can blow away; and like Jonah's gourd, which any worm can eat out.

5. A fifth impediment of faith is, a heart-league with fin, which hinders the match with Chrift: why, we are married to other lovers, and in love with fin; Chrift comes as a Saviour to fave from fin; well, he is welcome; yea, but it is to fave from fuch a beloved fin, as your drunkennefs, whoredom, lewd and carnal company: why, here the heart recoils; Oh! I cannot live without my nature; I cannot part with Benjamin. At the root of unbelief, try when you will, you will find the heart is in league with fome luft, which it cannot part with. O Sirs, feek the removal of these impediments.

6. Impediment of faith is, the cunning artifices of natural unbelief. The unbelieving heart hath a thoufand deceits, whereby it keeps off people from Christ, and from the receiving of him. Sometimes unbelief prefents impoffibilitics before the man: O it is impoffible that God will have mercy on you it is impoffible that the like of you can get to heaven. Unbelief will present a thoufand difficulties and difcouragements; There is a lion in the way: you will never be able to believe, never be able to pray, never be able to hold on in God's way. Unbelief doth harden the heart, and turn it fo ftupid, that they are no more moved with the word, than if they were a thoufand miles from ordinances. Unbelief fills the heart with flothfulness, fo as the man doth not

put

put forth his hand, as it were, to receive the offered Saviour and falvation. Yea, unbelief prefents a world of wrong objects of faith, and that hinders true faith, or believing in, and receiving of the Lord Jefus Christ, the only true object.

There are four things that unbelief doth cunningly lead men to build upon, that feem good things, and are fo indeed; but yet wrong objects of faith, namely, fense, duties, graces, providence.

(1.) Through the cunning of unbelief, a man will build his faith upon fenfe, and not upon Chrift: thus Thomas, Except I put my fingers into the print of the nails, and thruft my hand into the hole of his fide, I will not believe." O Sirs, to believe in a bare word of promife, abstract from fenfe, is a great mystery: and and therefore, when one makes fenfe and feeling his idol, God ufually withdraws himself, and denies fenfible tokens of his prefence, that he may learn to build upon Chrift only, or upon a bare word of promife, and not upon any fenfible enjoyment.

(2.) Through the cunning of unbelief, a man will build his faith upon his duties, and establishing a righteoufnefs of his own, not fubmitting to the righteoufnefs of God. And thus he builds upon felf: or, like the whorish woman, that divided the child, he makes the object of his faith, half Chrift, and half felf, when unbelief cannot prevail to exclude Christ wholly.

(3.) Through the cunning of unbelief, a man will build his faith upon his graces; and fo lies open to that challenge, Ezek. xvi. 15. "Thou didst put thy trust in thy beauty." And thus, through the cunning of the old ferpent, and of unbelief, the man will build his faith upon his faith, and not his faith upon Chrift: it is not Chrift that is the righteoufnefs of fuch perfons, but their faith is their righteoufnefs. Hence many can give no other ground of their faith, but just this, they believe: and what is the foundation of their faith? Why, they believe because they believe; they hope to be faved, because they believe and whence do they believe, but because they believe? Alas! it is a fancy instead of faith; and a fancy built upon a fancy. (4.) Through

(4.) Through the cunning of unbelief, a man will build his faith upon providence: hence, afk at fome people, what is the ground of their hope for heaven? O, fay they, God hath been good and kind to me all my days; he hath many times protected me from danger, and provided for me in difficulties, and fed me in my ftraits; yea, perhaps, he is only feeding you for a day of flaughter no man can know love or hatred by thefe outward providences.-Thefe wrong objects of faith, and grounds of believing, are great obftacles and impediments, in the way of true believing and receiving of Chrift.

Now, O Sirs, feek that all these impediments of faith may be taken out of the way; whether it be atheism, ignorance prefumption, earthly mindednefs, a heart-league with fin, or the cunnings of natural unbelief, prefenting wrong objects of faith. Another direction is,

[4] Study the art of pleading with God for grace to receive Chrift. It is true, God is not bound to hear an unbeliever's prayer; but he that hears the ravens when they cry, may hear you when you plead with him for the bleffing. And, if you would learn the art of pleading, there are fix pleas, or arguments, wherewith you may urge him to pity you.

A new

1. Plead his promise, Ezek. xxxvi. 26, 27. heart alfo will I give you, and a new fpirit will I put within you; and I will take away the ftony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my ftatutes; and ye fhall keep my judgments, and dɔ them." It is a free and gracious promife: cry to him to make good that word to you, feeing he hath faid, "For this will I be enquired of by the houfe of Ifrael, to do it for them," ver. 37. Tell him, that now you are come to enquire, and requeft him to do it.

2. Plead your own impotency and inability to help yourselves; this was the impotent man's plea at the pool of Bethesda, John v. 6, 7. When Jefus faw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that cafe, be faith unto bim, Wilt thou be made whole? The impotent man anfwered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is

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