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Evid. 2. How eafily are men led afide to fin! The children, who are not perfuaded to good, are otherways fimple ones; easily wrought upon; thofe whom the word cannot draw to holiness, are led by Satan at his pleafure. Profane Efau, that cunning man, Gen. xxv. 27. was as eafily cheated of the bleffing, as if he had been a fool or an ideot. The more natural a thing is, it is the more eafy: fo Christ's yoke is eafy to the faints, in fo far as they are partakers of the diving nature: and fin is easy to the unrenewed man; but to learn to do good, as difficult as for the Ethiopian to change his skin; because the will naturally hangs towards evil; but is averfe to good. A child can cause a round thing to run, while he cannot move a fquare thing of the fame weight; for the roundness makes it fit for motion, fo that it goes with a touch. Even fo, when men find the heart easily carried towards fin, while it is as a dead weight in the way of holiness; we muft bring the reafon of this from the natural fet and difpofition of the heart, whereby it is prone and bent to evil. Were man's will naturally, but in an equal balance to good and evil, the one might be embraced with as little difficulty as the other; but experience teftifics, it is not fo. In the facred hiftory of the Ifraelites, especially in the book of Judges, how often do we find them forfaking JEHOVAH, the mighty GOD, and doting upon the idols of the nations about them? But did ever one of thefe nations grow fond of Ifrael's GOD, and forfake their own idols? No, no; tho' man is naturally given to changes, it is but from evil to evil, not from evil to good, Jer. ii. 10,11. Hath a nation changed their gods, which yet are no gods? But my people have changed their glory, for that which doth not profit. Surely the will of man stands not in equal balance, but has a caft to the wrong fide. Evid. 3. Confider how men go on ftill in the way of fin, till they meet with a stop, and that from another hand than their own; Ifa. lvii. 17. I hid me, and he went on frowardly in the way of his heart. If God withdraw his reftraining hand, and lay the reins on the finner's neck, he is in no doubt what way to choose; for (obferve it) the way of fin is the way of his heart; his heart naturally lies that way; it hath a natural propenfity to fin: As long As long as God suffereth them, they walk in their own way, Acts xiv. 16. The natural man is fo fixed in his woful choice, that there needs no more to thew he is oft from God's way, but to tell he is upon his own.

Evid. 4. Whatever good impreffions are made upon him they do not laft. Tho' his heart be firm as a stone, yea, harder than the nether mill-fone, in point of receiving of them; it is otherwise unftable as water, and cannot keep them. It works against the receiving of them; and, when they are made, it works them off, and returns to its natural bias; Hof. vi. 4. Your goodness is as the morning cloud, and as the early dew, it goeth away. The morning cloud promifeth a hearty fhower; but, when the fun arifeth, it evanitheth: the fun beats upon the early dew, and it evaporates; so the husbandman's expectation is difappointed. Such is the goodness of the natu

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ral man. Some fharp affliction, or piercing conviction obligeth him in fome fort, to turn from his evil courfe: but his will not being renewed, religion is ftill against the grain with him, and therefore this goes off, again, Pfal. lxxviii. 34, 36, 37. Tho' a ftone, thrown up into the air, may abide there a little while; yet its natural heavinefs will bring it down to the earth again: and fo do unrenewed men return to the wallowing in the mire; becaufe altho' they were walhed, yet their fwinih nature was not changed. It is hard to caufe wet wood take fire, hard to make it keep fire: but it is harder than either of these to make the unrenewed will retain attained goodness; which is a plain evidence of the natural bent of the will to evil.

Evid. laft. Do the faints ferve the Lord now, as they were wont to ferve fin in their unconverted state? Very far from it, Rom. vi. 20. When ye were the fervants of fin, ye were free from righteousness. Sin got all, and admitted no partner; but now, when they are the fervants of Chrift, are they free from fin? Nay, there are ftill with them fome deeds of the old man, fhewing that he is but dying in them. And hence their hearts often mifgive them, and flip afide unto evil, then they would do good, Ram. vii. 21. They need to watch, and keep their hearts with all diligence: and their fad experience teacheth them, that, He that trufteth in his own heart is a fool, Prov. xxviii. 26. If it be thus in the green tree, how muft it be in the dry?

Fourthly, There is a natural contrariety, direct oppofition and enmity, in the will of man, to God himself, and his holy will, Rom. viii. 7. The carnal mind is enmity against God, for it is not fubject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. The will was once God's deputy in the foul, fet to command there for him ;, but now it is fet up against him. If you would have the picture of it, in its natural flate, the very reverse of the will of God reprefents it. If the fruit hanging before one's eyes, be but forbidden, that is fufficient to draw the heart after it. Let me inftance in the fin of profane fwearing and curfing, to which fome are fo abandoned, that they take a pride in them; belching out horrid oaths and curfes, as if hell opened with the opening of their mouths, or larding their fpeeches with minced oaths, as faith, bath, fai'd ye, hai'd ye, and fuch like and all this without any manner of provocation, tho' even that would not excufé them, Pray tell me, (1.) What profit is there here? A thief gets fomething in his hand for his pains; a drunkard gets a belly-full; but what do ye get? Others ferve the devil for pay; but ye arc volunteers, that expect no reward, but your work itfelf, in affronting of heaven. And if you repent not, you will get your reward in full tale; when ye go to hell, your work will follow you. The drunkard thall not have a drop of water to cool bis tongue there. Nor will the covetous man's wealth follow him into the other world: but ye shall drive on your old trade there. And an eternity fhall be long enough to give you your heart's fill of it. (2.) What pleasure is there here, but what flows from your trampling upon the holy law? Which of

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your fenfes doth fwearing or curfing gratify? If it gratify your ears, it can only be by the noife it makes against the heavens. Tho' you had a mind to give up yourfelves to all manner of profanity and fenf uality, there is fo little pleasure can be strained out of these, that we must needs conclude, your love to them, in this case, is a love to them for themselves; a devilish unhired love, without any profpect of profit or pleasure from them otherwife. If any fhall fay, these are monsters of men; be it fo: yet alas! the world is fruitful of fuch monfters they are to be found almoft every-where. And allow me to fay, They must be admitted as the mouth of the whole unregenerate world against heaven, Rom. iii. 14. Whofe mouth is full of curfing and bitterness. Ver. 19. Now we know, that what things foever the law faith, it faith to them who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.

I have a charge against every unregenerate man and woman, young or old, to be verified by the teftimonies of the fcriptures of truth, and the teftimany of their own confciences; namely, that whether they be profeffors or prophane, whether they be, feeing they are not born again, they are heart-enemies to God: to the Son of God; to the Spirit of God: and to the law of God. Hear this, ye carelefs fouls, that live at eafe in your natural state.

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ift, Ye are enemies to God in your minds, Col. i. 21, as yet reconciled to him, the natural enmity is not as yet flain, tho' perhaps it lies hid, and ye do not perceive it. (1.) Ye are enemies to the very being of God, Pfal. xv. 1. The fool hath faid in his heart, there is no God. The proud man would that none were above himself: the rebel, that there were no king; and the unrenewed man, who is a mafs of pride and rebellion, that there were no God. He faith it

in his heart, he wifheth it were fo, tho' he be afhamed and afraid to fpeak it out. And that all natural inen are fuch fools, appears from the Apostle's quoting a part of this pfalm, That every mouth may be Stopped, Rom. iii. 10, 11, 12, 19. I own indeed, that while the natural man looks on God as the Creator and Preferver of the world because he loves his own felf, therefore his heart rifeth not againft the being of his Benefactor: but this enmity will quickly appear, when he looks on God, as the Rector and Judge of the world, bind ing him, under the pain of the curle, to exact holiness, and girding him with the cords of death, because of his fin. Liften, in this cafe, to the voice of the heart, and thou will find it to be no God (2.) Ye are enemies to the nature of God, Job xxi. 14. They Jay unto God, Depart from us; for we defire not the knowledge of thy ways. Men fet up to themselves an idol of their own fancy, instead of God; and then fall down and worship it. They love him no other way, than Jacob loved Leah, while he took her for Rachel. Every natural man is an enemy to God, as he is revealed in his word. An infinitely holy, juft, powerful and true Being, is not the God whom he loves, but the God whom he loathes. In effect men naturally are haters of God,

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Rom. i. 30. And if they could, they certainly would make him another than what he is. For, confider it is a certain truth, That whatfoever is in God, is God: and therefore his attributes or perfections are not any thing really diftinct from himfelf. If God's attributes be not himself, he is a compound being, and fo not the first being (which to fay is blafphemous) for the parts compounding are before the compound itself; but he is Alpha and Omega, the first and the laft.

Now upon this, I would, for your conviction, propofe to your confciences a few queries, (1.) How ftand your hearts affected to the infinite purity and holiness of God? Confcience will give an answer to this, which the tongue will not fpeak out, If ye be not partakers of his holiness, ye cannot be reconciled to it. The Pagans finding they could not be like God in holiness, made their gods like themselves in filthiness: and thereby difcovered what fort of a god the natural man would have. God is holy; can an unholy creature love his unfpottel holiness Nay, it is the righteous only that can give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness, Pfal. lxxxvii. 12. God is light; can creatures of darkness rejoice therein? Nay, every one that doth evil hateth the light, John iii. 29. For, what communien hath light with darkness? 2 Cor. vi. 14. (2.) How ftand your hearts affected to the juftice of God? There is not a man, who is wedded to his lufts, as all the unregenerate are, but would be content, with the blood of his body, to blot that letter out of the name of God. Can the male factor love his condemning judge? Or an unjuftified finner, a juft God? No, he cannot, Luke vii. 47. To whom little is forgiven, the fame loveth little. Hence feeing men cannot get the doctrine of his Juftice blotted out of the Bible; yet it is fuch an eye-fore to them, that they ftrive to blot it out of their minds. And they ruin themselves by prefuming on his mercy; while they are not careful to get a righteoufness, wherein they may stand before his Justice; but fay in their heart, The Lord will not do good; neither will he do evil, Zeph. i. 12. (3.) How ftand ye affected to the Omniscience and Omniprefence of God? Men naturally would rather have a blind idol, than an all-feeing God; and therefore do what they can, as Adam did, to hide themselves from the presence of the Lord. They no more love an all-feeing, every-where-prefent God, than the thief loves to have the judge witnefs to his evil deeds. If it could be carried by votes, God would be voted out of the world, and clofed up in heaven: For the language of the carnal heart is, The Lord feeth us not; the Lord hath for faken the earth, Ezek. viii. 12 (4.) How ftand ye affected to the Truth and Veracity of God? There are but few in the world, that can heartily fubfcribe to that fentence of the apoftle, Rom. iii. 4. Let God be true, but every man a liar. Nay truly, there are many, who, in effect do hope that God will not be true to his word. There are thousands who hear the gospel, that hope to be faved, and think all fafe with them for eternity, who never had any experience of the new birth, nor do at all concern themselves in that question, Whether they are born

again, or not? A question that is like to wear out from among us this day. Our Lord's words are plain and peremptory, Except a man be born again, he cannot fee the kingdom of God. What are fuch hopes then, but real hopes that God (with profoundest reverence be it spoken) will recal his word, and that Chrift will prove a falfe prophet? What elfe means the finner, who, when he heareth the words of the curfe, bluff th himf. If in his heart, faying, I fhall have peace, tho' I walk in the imagination of mine heart, Deut xxix 19. Laftly, How ftand ye affected to the Power of God? None but new creatures will love him for it, on a fair view thereof; tho' others may flavishly fear him, upon the account of it. There is not a natural man, but would contribute to the utmost of his power to the building of another tower of Babel, to hem it in. On these grounds, I declare every unrenewed man an enemy to God.

2dly, Ye are enemies to the Son of God That enmity to Chrift is in your hearts, which would have made you join the husbandmen, who killed the heir, and caft him out of the vineyard: If ye had been befet with their temptations, and no more restrained than they were. Am I a dog, you will fay, to have fo treated my fweet Saviour? fo faid Hazael in another cafe; but when he had the temptation, he was a dog to do it. Many call Chrift their fweet Saviour, whofe confciences can bear witness, they never fucked fo much sweetness from him, as from their fweet lufts, which are ten times fweeter to them than their Saviour. He is no other way fweet to them, than as they abuse his death and fufferings, for the peaceable enjoyment of their lufts; that they may live as they lift in the world; and when they die, may be kept out of hell. Alas! it is but a mistaken Chrift that is fweet to you, whofe fouls lothe that Chrift, who is the brightness of the Father's glory, and the exprefs image of his perfon. It is with you as it was in the carnal Jews, who delighted in him while they miftook his errand into the world, fancying that he would be a temporal deliverer to them, Mal. But when he was come, and fat as a refiner and purifier of filver, verfe 2, 3. and caft them as reprobate filver, who thought to have had no fmall honour in the kingdom of the Meffiah; his doctrine galled their confciences, and they rested not till they imbrued their hands in his blood. To open your eyes in this point, which ye are fo loth to believe, I will lay before you, the enmity of your hearts against Christ and all his offices.

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1. Every unregenerate man is an enemy to Christ in his Prophetical Office. He is appointed of the Father, the great Prophet and Teacher; but not upon the world's call, who, in their natural state, would have unanimoufly voted against him: And therefore, when he came, he was condemned as a feducer and blafphemer. For evidence of this enmity, I will inftance in two things.

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Evidence 1. Confider the entertainment he meets with, when he comes to teach fouls inwardly by his Spirit. Men do what they can to stop their ears, like the deaf adder, that they may not hear his voice. They

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