ruin, appear as a witness in my behalf, and, from the midst of everlasting burnings, let thy parched tongue send forth some such words as these: "Let not my teacher come into this place of torment; condemn him not on my account. I clear him, Lord, I clear him: he brought me thy messages, whether I would hear or whether I would forbear; he warned me of my rebellion against thee, and told me that these endless horrors would be my portion, if I stiffened my neck and hardened my heart; but I set at nought all his counsels, and would none of his reproofs." Yes, sinner, despise me here if thou wilt, and wonder why I urge thee so much to consider the things that belong to thy peace, before they be hid from thine eyes; call me here an enthusiast, and laugh at the concern I feel for thy perishing soul. But hereafter thou wilt do me justice, clear me before the Lord Jesus, and acknowledge that thy blood is upon thine own head, that thou art undone because thou wouldest be undone, because thou wouldest take neither warning nor reproof.

Yet if now thou art not quite given up to a reprobate mind; if thy stupid conscience is not entirely past feeling; if thy worldly soul is yet accessible to some touches of divine grace, some motions of God's Spirit; if thou yet desirest to arise and return to thy long-despised Father, to that God from whom thou hast so deeply revolted; if this very day that thou hearest his warning voice, and hardenest not thy heart, though thou hast been hitherto most rebellious, he will yet show thee mercy. Rend, O rend, your careless hearts, and not your garments ; for why will ye die, O house of Israel? Hath the Lord any pleasure in the death of him that dieth? Does not such an one die because he will die? because he will not turn to the Lord with weeping, fasting, and praying; because he will not be delivered from the world, the flesh, and the devil; because he will not be presented to God as a chaste virgin in Christ? "Ye will not come unto me," said once that dear Saviour, "ye will not come unto me that ye may have life :" and shall we still give him room to complain in heaven as he did when on earth; or shall we know the time of our visitation, and hasten

to him with all our aggravated guilt? If we choose this better part, as the Lord liveth, we shall find him most willing and able to pardon our sins, and sanctify our nature; to create in us clean hearts, and renew right spirits within us which may God grant unto us all, for his mercy's sake!

SERMON VI.

O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end.-Deut. xxxii. 29.

IF the dying words of a good man ought to make the deepest impression upon us, and precepts given by one just launching into eternity should be valued so much the more, as we cannot suspect him to be influenced by any motives but those of love and concern for our welfare, what regard ought we to pay to the words of the text, since they were some of the last which were spoken by one of the best and greatest of men that ever lived, namely, Moses !

The day approached in which he was to be gathered to his fathers. For notwithstanding the repeated prayers he had made to enter into the good land of Canaan, God, whose inflexible justice often punishes the least faults in his saints, how much more the greatest sins in his enemies! God, I say, having resolved to make him an example of his invincible hatred to sin, and of the necessity he stands under to require satisfaction where it is committed, had told him that he must submit to die before his time, for having spoken unadvisedly with his lips at the waters of Meribah. Moses worshipped and humbly submitted to the Lord; well persuaded that his Redeemer lived; and that though worms should soon prey on his body, the God whom he served would deliver his soul from the pangs of the second death.

To spend the short time he had to live wholly in the work of faith and labour of love, he called together the people of Israel; read to them all the words of God's law;

brought to their remembrance the many miracles which the Lord had done for them, to bring them out of Egypt with a stretched-out arm, opening a way through the Red Sea, destroying all their enemies, causing the clouds to rain delicious food, and the rocks to yield water-springs, to preserve their lives in the wilderness. In short, he laid before them life and death in the most affecting manner; and besought them, sometimes by glorious promises, and sometimes by dreadful threatenings, not to provoke the Lord their God, but to cleave to him with full purpose of heart; telling them that the God of their fathers would bless them for ever, if they would but love him with all their souls; and adding, that if they departed from him, he would pursue them with his severest judgments, and scatter them over the face of the whole earth, as we see them in our days.

What an awful sight must this have been! a whole nation, men, women, and children, standing before the Lord! and Moses, the greatest of prophets, and the friend of God, expostulating with them for the last time! Methinks I see the effect of his pathetic discourse spreading through that numerous congregation. Thousands lift up weeping eyes to heaven in an ecstasy of praise and thanksgiving for God's mercies to them; while thousands more fix themselves on the ground with shame and confusion, ready to say, "We are not worthy of the least of the Lord's mercies, for we are a rebellious people; it is because his compassions fail not that we are not consumed." On every side the trembling hands of aged people, with the feeble ones of children, are lifted up to heaven to witness, that henceforth they will love the Lord, and serve him only; and with one consent they cry, as in the days of Elijah, "The Lord, he is the God; the Lord, he is the God;" he is the God to whom we will cleave for ever.

This moving scene had a due effect on Moses: he mixed, no doubt, his tears of joy with the tears of repentance which he saw in the people's eyes. But, alas! the knowledge he had of the human heart made. him at the same time foresee that this goodness would

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not last longer than the early dew; and that prosperity, with fulness of bread, would soon cause them to forget the Lord, and trample under foot the promises and threatenings he had laid before them. He foresaw that their hearts would be drawn aside by the cares and pleasures of the world, so as to remember no more the heavenly Canaan, of which the earthly one was but a figure. He saw that the little concerns of this life would swallow up the important ones of that which is to come. fore, overwhelmed with holy grief, he looked up to heaven, and expressed in the words of the text the thoughts of his bleeding heart, "O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!" Having breathed that solemn wish, he blessed them once more, and the same day went up to mount Nebo, from which, having taken a view of the earthly Canaan, he committed his spirit into the hands of the Lord, to carry it to the heavenly one, while the dust of his body returned to dust.

Having thus related on what occasion the words of the text were spoken, I come, in the second place, to dwell upon their general meaning; and, lastly, I shall endeavour to apply them to your hearts. In the mean time, may the grace of God so assist me in speaking, and you in hearing, that "Moses and the prophets" may never rise up in judgment to accuse us of having despised their solemn exhortations.

1. Since no scripture is of private interpretation, the words of the text certainly imply, that, of those who are called "the people of God," whether they go by the denomination of "Israelites," as formerly, or that of "Christians," as in our days, far the greatest part want true wisdom and understanding in the things that nearly concern them; so that every minister of the gospel has as much reason as Moses to break out into this prayer, “() that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!"

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It is to be wished it were harder to make good the melancholy assertion; but, to the disgrace of our holy religion, nothing is easier. It has been granted, by the

very heathens, that the sum of true wisdom is to know ourselves, and what is our business here. Now, suppose one was to ask most Christians, what they do here, and what is their business upon earth; if they were to answer according to the maxims they follow in life, would they not show their folly rather than true wisdom? Would not the rich man say, "I am here to take care of and enjoy an estate; to spend my time in hunting, horse-racing, cards, and company; to clothe myself with purple and fine linen, to fare sumptuously every day, and contrive various diversions to kill time and forget myself?" Would not the busy merchant, or anxious farmer, answer, "I am in the world to toil early and late; my business is to get an estate; and God has blessed me therein; for now my warehouses or barns are very nigh full, and I shall soon say to my soul, Soul, take thine ease now, for thou hast much property laid up for many years?"" A third class of people would answer, "We do not desire so much; and the end of all our labours is to pay every man his own, and then to settle in some comfortable way of business, and provide for our children." Now, all these answers would be reasonable in the mouths of heathens; for "after those things the gentiles seek," says our Lord; and I make no doubt but the beasts that perish, if they were endued with the faculty of speech, could give as good an account of themselves, and attain unto all the wisdom of worldlings. For, though to provide for the body is part of our duty, yet it is but the least part of it. "Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” Thus speaks Christ and true Christians. Believe him! Accordingly their answer to the question, mentioned above, would be as different from that of worldly people as light from darkness.

"We are everlasting spirits," would they say; "we came out of God's hands pure, and holy, and happy. But now, involved in flesh and blood, partakers of the guilt of fallen Adam, and born into the world children of wrath, we have by nature proud and hardened hearts,