position also, the believer has vastly the advantage of you. He has all the happiness in this life which Christianity affords: and this you must be a stranger

to.

He can live in comfort, and die in peace. His religion deprives him of nothing which can any way contribute to his rational happiness and delight; but every way tends to subserve and promote them. And certainly (even upon your own principles) he may have as fair a claim to sincerity, in his endeavours to approve himself to the glorious Author of our being, as you can have; and consequently as good a prospect of future blessedness. So that, upon the whole, it is evident that he has nothing to fear from his principles, whether they be true or false. He has no cause for those stinging reflections: What if I am mistaken! What if my sentiments should prove false, when it comes to the decisive trial!

And now let us turn the tables, and consider the bitter fruits of your fatal mistake, if Christianity should at last prove true. You cannot but acknowledge, that there have been great numbers of men of the best moral qualifications, whose intellectual powers were no ways inferior to theirs on the other side of the question, who have professed the truth and experienced the power of that religion which you have despised. How many most excellent persons of the greatest integrity, learning, and sagacity, have at their peril appeared to stand by this cause; and have sacrificed their estates, their honours, and their lives, to the despised and persecuted doctrines of the cross! It is certain that you cannot have a greater assurance of being in the right than these men have had; and consequently there is at least a probability on their side, as much as on yours. You yourself, therefore, and all the unbelieving gentlemen of your acquaintance, who have any degree of modesty left, must necessarily own, that the cause possibly may turn out against them. And what if it should? I am even afraid to represent the consequences in a proper light; it will probably be esteemed preachment or cant; or be voted harsh, uncivil, or unmannerly treatment.

But, Sir, I would pray you to consider this matter, without any resentment of my rustic method of address. Consider it only as it is represented in the Scriptures; and in that view it will appear, that the dreadful confusion, the amazing horror, and the eternal misery, which will be the consequence of your infidelity, will be vastly beyond the utmost stretch of your most exalted apprehension or imagination. As soon as your soul is separated from your body, it will become the immediate object of the divine wrath; and how lightly soever you may think of these things at present, you will find, that is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. When the great Judge of the world shall descend from heaven, to take vengeance on all those who do not obey the gospel of Jesus Christ, where will our unbelieving gentlemen appear? Will not their mirth be quite spoiled, their sarcastic flouts and fleers be for ever over, when they must stand trembling at the left hand of their judge, having no possible refuge to betake themselves to, no plea to make for their infidelity, no place of retreat in a dissolving world to hide their heads! What comfort will it then afford them, to say, "Alas! how have we been deceived! We never thought it would have come to this! Now we have found to our cost, that there is something more in the doctrines of a final retribution than fable or fiction, priestcraft or fanaticism, however we have, in the gaiety of our temper rejected and despised them." Will they then be possessed of a sufficient bravery and presence of mind, to out-face their glorious Judge; and to hear with intrepidity the terrible sentence, Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels! Will they with their usual frolic humour, endure the execution of this sentence, and with sport and pastime, welter in the eternal flames of that furnace of fire, that is the destined abode of every final unbeliever?

Now, Sir, does it not infinitely concern you, to consider the case before you in this awful view, to compare and make a proper estimate of the inconceivably

different states of the believer and the infidel, both with respect to time and eternity; and to enter upon. the disquisition you propose, with a mind duly impressed with the vast importance of your coming to a safe conclusion?

You tell that me, 66 you cannot, from the nature of things, see any necessity of such a way of salvation, as the gospel proposes. The light of nature teaches us, that God is merciful; and consequently that he will pardon sinners, upon their repentance and amendment of life." Let us then consider this case impartially.

I think there is no need of arguments to convince you that you are a sinner. Do but consider the natural tendency of your affections, appetites, and passions; and review the past conduct of your life; and a demonstration of this sad truth will unavoidably stare you in the face. Let any man enter into himself, and seriously consider the natural operations of his own mind, and he must necessarily find, that instead of a frequent and delightful contemplation of the perfections of the Divine nature, instead of a thankful acknowledgment of his obligations to the divine goodness and beneficence, and instead of that sublime pleasure and satisfaction, that should flow from the remembrance of his Creator and Benefactor, his affections are naturally following mean, low and unreasonable, if not vile and wicked, entertainments. and gratifications. He will find, that all communications with his glorious Creator are naturally painful and uneasy to him: while every trifling amusement, and the vilest sensual object of his thoughts, find a more easy entrance, and a more peaceable rest in his soul. From hence it is most evident, that the heart is revolted from God, and that we have substituted the creature in his stead, as the object of our pursuit and delight. And besides this, who are there among the best of the children of men, whose consciences will not charge them with innumerable actual transgressions of the law of nature? From this view of the

case, you must therefore certainly find yourself in a state of moral pollution and guilt.

And can you in such a state as this, reflect upon a God of infinite purity and justice with comfort and courage? Will not conscience fly in your face, and upbraid you with your guilt and danger? Does not your reason tell you, that the great Creator and Governor of the world is too holy to approve, and too just to overlook such a fixed aversion to him, and such numerous sins and provocations against him as you cannot but charge to your own account?

But can

But" God is merciful." True, he is so, to all proper objects of mercy, and in a way agreeable to the laws of his immutable justice and holiness. you suppose, that God will give up his justice and holiness, as a sacrifice to his mercy, out of compassion to those who deserve no pity from him, to those who refuse the offers of his mercy in the gospel, because disagreeable to their sinful desires and imaginations?

But "Repentance will entitle the sinner to pardon, without any other atonement." Are you sure of this? Certain it is, that mankind have always, in all ages, thought otherwise. What else was the meaning of those sacrifices, that have every where obtained, and what the meaning of those superstitious austerities, and severe penances, that have been so commonly practised in the heathen world, if some atonement beside repentance was not thought necessary to pacify an offended deity? Consider, I entreat you, that as sin is contrary to the divine nature, it must be the object of God's displeasure. As it is contrary to the rules of his governing the world, it must deserve punishing. If God be the rector and governor of the world, he must have some laws to govern by. If he has laws to govern by, they must have some penalties to enforce them; these must be executed, or else they would be but scare-crows, without truth or justice. I entreat you also to consider, how the repentance of a guilty criminal can answer the demands of

justice. What satisfaction will our sorrow for sin afford to the Divine Being? How will it repair the dishonour done to the perfections of his nature? How will it rectify our depraved appetites and passions, and qualify us for the enjoyment of his favour? How will it vindicate his holiness, and discover to the rational world, his natural aversion to sin and sinners? Or how will the fear of God's displeasure be a sufficient restraint to men's lusts and vicious appetites, if sinners may suppose, that when they have gratified their lusts and taken their swing in sin, they can repent when they please, and thereby have an access to the favour of God? In a word, what evidence can you possibly pretend to from the light of nature, that repentance only will satisfy the divine justice, and reconcile you to God?

But, after all, were it even supposed that repentance would necessarily give us a claim to mercy, without any other satisfaction to God's justice, it must then be another sort of repentance, than you seem to suppose. You must then allow that this repentance must be a thorough change of heart and life. For you can hardly suppose that we are qualified for God's favour, while all the powers of our souls are in direct opposition and aversion to him. And is this repentance in our power? Can we at pleasure renew our own souls, and give ourselves new affections, dispositions, desires, and delights? Can we change the bent and bias of our inclinations to the objects of sense, and bring ourselves to love God above all things, and to take our chief delight and complacency in him! This must be obtained in order to enjoy the favour of God. And yet it is manifestly out of our reach. It must be the effect of an almighty power.

I hope you may now see the necessity of a Saviour, both to expiate your sin and guilt, which your repentance can never do, and to sanctify your depraved soul, and make you meet for the service and enjoyment of God. If these are obtained, you must bẹ certainly and eternally safe; but if you dare venture