and when all things are seen by the clear and searching light of eternity; then, what wilt thou say? Anticipate the answer you will then give; consider and con over the plea you will offer then. What

will you say?

My object is to show you that none of the pleas, which, under such circumstances, are usually offered, will you be able to allege; that, in short, you will be unable to say any thing; and that, by your speechlessness before the throne, you will, however reluctantly, justify the sentence which consigns you to destruction. What wilt thou say?

You will not be able to say that you were ignorant of the existence of the law, for the transgression of which you are condemned. You know now that God has, in the capacity of your sovereign and moral governor, enacted a law, the great principles of which he has written upon the heart, and the details of which constitute a portion of his external revelation.

Nor can you say that this law is unintelligible. Whatever obscurity attaches to the doctrines of the Bible, none rests on its precepts. Who, having a heart, cannot comprehend what is meant by, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and thy neighbor as thyself?" Who knoweth not what he would have others do to him, and, consequently, what he should do to them? And doth not nature itself distinctly intimate how a dependant and highly favored creature, like one of you, should feel and act towards his supreme benefactor. Unintelligible!

Nor, again, can you reasonably complain of the character of this law. "The law is holy and the

commandment holy, just, and good." Its spirit is love; its tendency happiness. That one word, in which all the law is comprehended, children what is it? Is it equity? No; it is love. It is all it ought to be. It is nothing it should not be. Wherein could it be amended? Which of its requirements ought to be dispensed with? What one of its demands lowered in the least?

Nor can you complain of any want of adaptation in this law; that it transcends your capacities, exceeds your natural powers of performance. No; you want no new faculty to obey it perfectly. You want only a rectified heart. You want but the will. It suits every thing belonging to you but your inclinations. No man could ever say that, with every disposition to obey it, he was unable.

It

You cannot plead ignorance of its penalty. would not avail you, if you could, for the grand reason why you should obey the law of God, is not derived from its penalty. But you know that it has a penalty, and what the penalty is. You read "the soul that sinneth, it shall die. Cursed is every one. who continueth not in all things written in the book of the law to do them." It seems to you excessive, and yet it does not deter you from sin. You cannot say that you were not warned of the consequences of disobedience; and that God strikes, before he speaks. No; he speaks first, and often, and long, and loud, and terrifically, and affectionately, and only strikes, when all has been said in vain, and then reluctantly, for he hath no pleasure in the death of the wicked. How often hast thou not been warned,

and by how many voices, some external, and one still and small within thee, and reasoned with, entreated, expostulated with! What has not been done to deter and to dissuade you from sinning? What obstructions have not been thrown in your way to destruction! But you surmount them all. What then wilt thou say, when he shall punish thee?

That you have never transgressed this law, or only once, or but seldom, and then inadvertently, through infirmity? This you will not say; you

Who has not sinned many times, and deliberately? What if you were strongly tempted; you were not necessitated to sin; and if there were impulses that urged you on, were there not also restraints to keep you back? Why should not these have prevailed rather than those? Will you plead a corrupt nature as your apology? The Psalmist recognizes that truth, but he does not plead it in exculpation. And it is certain that God will not receive it as a valid apology. Why then should you urge it? Ought it to be received? Should the sinfulness of your heart justify the sinfulness of your life? Can the strength of your propensity to evil excuse your actual evil doings?

Will you say that your sin did no harm, injured no one, no one but God? But you must allow the law-giver to be the judge of that. The consequences of a particular sin he alone is able to trace out. There is no such thing as an inoffensive sin. Adam might have urged this plea, with as much propriety as any one of his offspring. What parent, whose authority has been diregarded in a particular instance

by a child, will accept from him the plea that his offence injured no one?

Will you be able to say, that, when you had sinned, God hastened the execution of the sentence against you; struck the blow immediately, waited not for a second offence, and gave you no opportunity to evade the stroke; that, as soon as you found you had sinned, you were sorry, and penitently sought his face, but was spurned away, and that you `found no place for reconciliation with him, though you sought it carefully with tears; and that, seeing your case to be hopeless, you went on sinning in despair; that God showed no disposition to be reconciled to you, and did nothing to promote a reconciliation; and that even after your sin, God dealt only unkindly with you, spake only roughly to you, looked only frowningly upon you, and just barely supported you in being, grudging you every comfort, or distilling good into your cup only drop by drop, instead of filling it to overflowing with his bounty? In short that refuge failed you, and no one cared for your soul? Wilt thou say this? Can you? Has God showed no disposition to be reconciled to you? What ! when he so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life;" when he spared not his own Son! Has he done nothing, has he not done every thing to bring about reconciliation? done, until he asks "what more could have been done, that I have not done?" And now he beseeches you to be reconciled to him, and requires in order to reconciliation, only that which is involved in reconciliation,

your repentance and submission to him. And he waits long with you, gives you ample time for reflection and decision; and the meanwhile looks benevolently towards you, speaks soothingly to you, calls you his son, his daughter, and treats you as a father does a child, and follows you with such affectionate importunity that if a man were equally urgent with you, you would suspect him of being influenced by some sinister and selfish motive; and the first faint sigh of the sorrowful heart he hears, and the feeble resolution to arise and go back he encourages and strengthens, and goes out himself to meet the returning penitent, interrupts his confession, embraces him, honors him, rejoices over him. Ah what wilt thou say, when he shall punish thee? That refuge failed thee? What, when there was this refuge, Jesus Christ, open, accessible, and ample, the stronghold of his righteousness to which you were invited to turn? That no one cared for thy soul? Ah, did not God care for it when he so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life? Did not Christ care for it when in Gethsemane he agonized and on Calvary bled for souls? And would the Holy Spirit follow and strive with thee as he does, if he cared not for your soul? Would angels rejoice in the repentance of the soul, if they cared not for it? Ah, you are not that friendless, deserted being, that no one cares for you. There are many now on earth who care for you. Faithful ministers care for you and therefore they plead with you. Real Christians care for you,