ance and reformation, in this age of distinguished inattention to the works, the word, and ways of God. Is it not the general case, Lord, when thy hand is lifted up, they will not see!' How loud are the alarms which awful Providence is sounding in our dull and heavy ears! The Lord's judgments are visibly in the earth; but where does it appear that the inhabitants are learning righteousness? In this country infidelity and immorality of all kinds make the most provoking progress. The cup of our iniquity appears to be brim-full, and the cup of God's wrath now ready to be poured out upon the despisers of the riches of his goodness and long-suffering." You hear a great deal of bad news, my brethren, of the political and warlike kind: but here is bad news of a still more alarming kind. This not only endangers our country, but threatens the everlasting ruin of immor. tal souls and this deprives us of that good which we might extract out of those evils, and makes them pure, unmingled evils to us. But shall not this congregation be an exception from this general complaint? The Lord's voice crieth unto Hanover; and will ye not hear the rod, and him that hath appointed it ?* To promote this design, in my little sphere, is the great end I now have in view; and, for that purpose,

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I shall endeavour to show you what good effects afflictions should have upon us, especially on impenitent sinners. This my text naturally leads me to: for though, in express terms, it only contains a complaint of the misimprovement of afflictions, or incorrigibleness under them, yet this very plainly points out the right improvement of them. When it is said, "Lord, thou hast stricken them, but they were not grieved;" this implies that they should have been grieved-grieved for their undutiful conduct towards God, which has exposed them to the scourges of his rod grieved with a godly sorrow, with kindly generous relentings for sin, as against God, and not merely as tending to ruin themselves. When the prophet complains, "Thou hast consumed them, but they refused to receive correction," it is implied that they should have received correction, that they should have submitted to the rod, as to the chastisement of a provoked, and yet indulgent father, without sullen murmuring against it, or fainting under it-that they should be made sensible of their sin, and reduced to their duty. When the prophet complains, "They have made their faces harder than a rock,” * Micah vi. 9.

it implies that their faces should have been flushed with ingenuous shame and blushing, and washed with streams of penitential tears. And when he complains, "They have refused to return," it implies that they ought immediately to have returned to him that smote them. And hence it follows, that ingenuous sorrow, shame, and repentance; a submissive, corrigible temper, and a sincere conversion to God, are the effects which afflictions should have upon us, according to my text. Indeed I know no more convictive method of showing what it is to misimprove afflictions, and be incorrigible under them, than to show positively what it is to make a right use of them, or what are their proper effects when sanctified: for if you find they have not had such effects upon you, you may be sure you have refused to receive correction.

To bring sinners to repentance, God has instituted the gospel and its ordinances, and for this end they are dispensed among you; for this end also he rouses your consciences within you,and communicates his holy Spirit to work upon your hearts. Now afflictions are so many auxiliaries to assist these forces, to reduce you into captivity to the obedience of Christ. When the persuasions of his word are disregarded-when the warnings of your own consciences are slighted, and the motions of the holy Spirit resisted, then our heavenly Father takes his rod, and either shakes it over your heads, to see if the threatening will answer the end, without the infliction; or he actually scourges you to make you sensible of your duty. The great design of all this, as I told you, is to bring you to repentance, or to turn you to him. This is the sum, the result of sanctified afflictions. Let us, then, inquire what this is? And that I may be the more concise, and use an uniform language on this subject, I shall include all that I have to say concerning the right improvement of afflictions under this one inquiry-What is it to turn to the Lord? to which the other expressions contained in my text may be reduced.

First, Turning to God, presupposes a deep conviction that you have gone astray, both from the way of duty and the way of safety. You never will leave your present course, till you plainly see that it leads you down to the chambers of death. You .. never will turn to the Lord, till you are sensible you are under the most pressing, absolute necessity to do so, both from duty and interest.

Oh, sirs, if it should please God to open the eyes of uncon verted sinners among you this day, what strange, unsuspected, and astonishing views would open to you, concerning your past and present course and condition! Then, to your surprise, you would see that you have lived so many years in the world, without so much as earnestly attempting that work, which is the great business of your life. You would see that your hopes of heaven, in your present condition, are but a delusive dream; and that you are every moment in the utmost danger of sinking into the depth of misery, under the heavy wrath of Almighty God. You would see what plain, reasonable, and important duties, you have carelessly neglected, both towards God and man; and what a long train of known, wilful sins, you have obstinately persisted in. You would see how criminally deficient you have been, even in those duties which, as to the matter of them, you have performed that even your good actions have not proceeded from good principles and ends; the love of God, a regard to his authority, and a view to his glory: but from some low, mercenary, selfish principles and views; and that the reason why you abstained from any act of sin, was not your love to God, and regard to his will; but because you had no temptation to it, or because you apprehended it might injure your character or temporal in terest, or perhaps render you eternally miserable. You would see that you have not such good hearts as you once flattered yourselves you had; but that they are deceitful and desperately wicked. You would see that they are and have always been destitute of the reality of all the christian graces, and have im. posed upon you hitherto with counterfeits and deceitful appearances; destitute of true repentance, faith, and love, towards God and Jesus Christ; and full of pride, hypocrisy, ignorance, hardness of heart, disaffection to God and his government, unbelief, earthly-mindedness, sensuality, sordid and wicked lusts and passions; and an endless variety of evils too numerous to be mentioned. In short, you would see yourselves a mere mass of corruption; and you would wonder you have not sunk into hell long ago, as rotten fruit falls to the ground. This would, no doubt, be a surprising, unexpected discovery to some of you: you have no such thoughts of yourselves, but the quite contrary. But the reason why you do not see this to be your case, in fact, is because the god of this world has blinded your minds, and because your

treacherous hearts flatter you. This is, indeed, the truth of your case, while unconverted, if you believe the plainest declarations of the word of God, or the unanimous testimony of all, in all ages, who have had their eyes opened to see themselves, and have been taught that important and useful, though mortifying science, of self-knowledge and if ever God enlighten your blind minds, you would yourselves see that this is really your case. But, ah, the astonishing ignorance and self-flattery of the heart of man! Here, alas lies the difficulty in dealing with unconverted sinners! We cannot open their eyes to see their guilt and danger. Could we do this, a grand point would be gained, and the work would be well begun. But, alas! they will not believe they are so guilty, so vile and corrupt; and hence the gospel, which is a religion for self-condemned, broken-hearted sinners, is but an idle tale, or a vain speculation to them and to invite them to come to Christ, is but to invite the whole to a physician.

Farther, if it should please God to bring you out of darkness this day, into his marvellous light, then you would also see the exceeding sinfulness of sin. You would see, it is not that harmless innocent thing, or that slight excusable foible, you once took it to be; but that it is indeed the most abominable thing, the most terrible, base and malignant evil, upon earth, or in hell. Then, instead of wondering that such a thing should be punished with everlasting destruction by a gracious God, the parent of mankind; and instead of disputing yourselves into doubts about it, or cavilling at it, as cruel and unjust-instead of this, I say, you would rather wonder, that so dreadful an evil could be pardoned at all, upon any consideration whatsoever; and you would be more apt to question the possibility of forgiveness, than the justice of your punishment.

As the foundation of these discoveries, you would see the majesty, the excellency, the holiness, justice, and goodness of God; the purity and strictness of his law, and the equity and terror of its penalty. You would see your obligations to him; your numerous, strong, endearing and sacred obligations to him, as your Creator, Preserver and Redeemer; and the aggravated baseness, ingratitude, rebellion and impiety of having lived all your days in the wilful breach of such obligations. These things, and the like, you would see as in a new medium, and with other eyes, than you were wont to look upon them. And you would

see them with such glaring light and evidence, that you would be utterly astonished at your own sottish ignorance, that had never discovered them before. They would now appear as plain, as ever they were dark or doubtful. In consequence of this, you would be struck with wonder and horror at your former security and stupor, in so dangerous a condition. I really want words to express the views and apprehensions you would then have of things. O that experience may be your teacher! Blessed be God, I have seen and conversed with many a sinner formerly, upon their first receiving this conviction: formerly, I say; for alas! now-a-days I hardly meet with one to converse with me upon this subject: No; the generality have no such alarming views of themselves : like the Laodiceans, they are" rich in their own conceit; and know not that they are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked." But formerly it has been my happy employ to instruct such convinced sinners; and I can still remember, it was a very affecting conversation. Their language still seems to sound in my ears; and methinks I hear them complaining in a flood of tears, "Oh! what shall I do to be saved? I see I am upon the very brink of destruction: I see I have been all my life a poor deceived, self-flattering sinner. Oh! I never thought I was such a monster of wickedness, and upon the slippery brink of eternal ruin: but now I see it; now it is so evident to me, that I am amazed I never discovered it before. Oh! is there any possibility of escape, for such a condemned wretch as I? Let me but know what is necessary, and I will attempt any thing; I will deny myself in any thing, if I may but get my perishing soul for a prey." These are the affecting strains of awakened sinners. This must be your language, sinners, or at least the thoughts of your heart, before you can turn to the Lord. But ob! when shall we hear it from you? To teach you this lesson, God has sent the sword to ravage your country, and a deadly disease to spread desolation in your neighbourhood. To teach you this, your neighbours, or perhaps your parent, your child, or some of your relatives have died and shall they die in vain ? Oh! hear them as it were crying to you from the dust. Some of you have lost pious friends, who during their life laboured to awaken you out of your security. And when you view their