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very little religion, unless he wishes to have as much as he can.-God Almighty has not bȧlanced things in this nice manner at least he keeps this matter among the secrets of eternity. The rule he gives us, is, Be ye perfect, as your heavenly father is perfect: that is, do the best you can yourselves, and then truft God, through the merits of Chrift. God will chufe fuch for his fervants, as follow this rule the best.

Let us conclude with one confideration more, (but it is a confideration truly awful) that if among the many who are called, fo few are chofen-if among the many wanderers through this vale of mifery, fo few gain the true roadhow ought we to fear, left we should be found rather among the many, than among the few; and how ought this to awaken every power within us to endeavour to gain a place among those bleffed few!

May God, of his infinite mercy, affift us in seeing our true intereft, that we may pursue it as we ought; and that as we are among the many, who are called, we may be alfo, in God's good time, through Chrift, among the few, who are chofen.

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SERMON VI.

NUMBERS, XXXii. 23.

IF YE HAVE SINNED AGAINST THE LORD, BE SURE YOUR SIN WILL FIND YOU OUT.

ON entering the promised land, a party of the Ifraelites made a request to Mofes for fome. grounds, which they thought lay very conveniently for them. Mofes confented on certain conditions: but was very earnest, that the conditions he prescribed, fhould be faithfully obferved. In his language on this occafion, he uses the words of the text. He represents fin, by which he means the confequence of fin, under the strong image of a perfon, who fhould certainly find out every tranfgreffor among them; who

who did not punctually perform the condition, to which he had agreed.

As the image which Mofes thus gives of Sin's finding out every finner, is a very happy one; I fhall dwell a little upon it in the following difcourse, and shew you first the certainty of what the text threatens, that our Sin will find us out; and Secondly, the means of avoiding the mifchief it threatens.

In the first place, our Sin will certainly find us out. Some men indeed are fo hardened in wickedness-so totally loft to confcience, and reflection, that they are long able to hide themfelves, as it were, from Sin. They are fo intrenched in wickednefs, that Sin cannot find a fingle opening to come at them. Such perfons. may live long before their Sin finds them out. It must wait for opportunities-a time of fickness, or a time of diftrefs, when a man's wickedness has drawn fome heavy calamity upon him. Then his Sin will be sure to find him out. It will hold up a frightful mirror before him; and fhew him, that himself has been the cause of all he fuffers. It is for this reason, that jails, and other places of confinement, are now often most happily con

trived with fingle cells, where criminals are confined apart, and not fuffered to mix together. By intercourse they encourage each other in wickedness. But when a guilty wretch is left entirely to himself, where he has nothing to converfe with but his own thoughts, then it is poffible, his Sin may find him out; and bring him to serious reflection.But I am speaking of the wickedeft part of mankind, such as are fhut out from fociety, or in dread of being cut off from it. No fuch wretches are now my hearers.

Crimes however are not confined to jails, and outlawries. The whole world, we know, lieth in wickedness*. Vice peoples it, in all its variety of shapes-and in all its variety of guilt-open, and covert, from the profligate man of pleasure, who glories in his fhame, to the fly old knave, who has nothing but softness on his tongue; and nothing in his heart but a defign to cheat you.

Now among all the finners of which this wicked world confifts, not one shall efcape. The text will furely be fulfilled upon each. At some time or other his Sin will furely find him out; and call him to a fevere account.

• Јонх, v. 19.

Even

Even if a man's defperate hardened nature-or if fudden death, or other circumstance, should prevent his fins finding him out in this world, he has not yet made his escape. His Sin will continue the pursuit into the next, where it will have him at a dreadful advantage.

SIN being thus represented as a merciless creditor of an unforgiving temper—demanding debts with the utmost rigour, let us see how we may beft avoid the mischief it threatens.This I proposed next to confider.

In the first place, as we are affured in the text that our Sin will certainly find us out, it is the part of wisdom to be beforehand with it, and find it out firft. Sin can never find us out, but at fome great difadvantage-when it is ftrong, and we are weak-when habits of wickednefs have been formed; and we have fuffered fome mischief from them or when our fpirits are low, and we feel the world finking under us.But on the other hand, if we take the active part, and endeavour to find out Sin first, we prevent this bad effect.

It is in this cafe as in others of the fame kind. If we are in debt, our debts, that is, our creditors, will find us out. But when we are beforehand,

VOL. I.

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