rews are cautioned to beware of a hardness | hat is caused by unbelief and a departing om the living God; a hardness completed hrough the deceitfulness of sin; such as that 1 the provocation, of whom God sware that boy should not enter into his rest. It was is kind of darkness also that both Cain and dimael and Esau were hardened with after ey had committed their great transgressions. 2. It is the greatest kind of hardness, and chce they are said to be harder than a rock r than adamant-that is, harder than flint; hard that nothing can enter.

1. It is a hardness, therefore, which is incuunle, of which a man must die and be damned. larren professor, hearken to this.

A fourth sign that such a professor is quite ast grace is when he fortifies his hard heart gainst the tenor of God's word. This is alled hardening themselves against God, and aning of the Spirit against him; as thus, then after a profession of faith in the Lord sus, and of the doctrine that is according to liness, they shall embolden themselves in ourses of sin by promising themselves that hey shall have life and salvation notwithtanding. Barren professor, hearken to this. bis man is called a root that beareth gall and formwood, or a poisonous herb-such an one is abominated of God, yea, the abhorred of is soul. For this man saith, I shall have *ace, though I walk in the imagination or tubbornness of my heart, to add drunkenness o thirst-an opinion flat against the whole word of God, yea, against the very nature of

d himself. Wherefore he adds, "Then the anger of the Lord, and his jealousy, shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in God's book shall lie upon lit, and God shall blot out his name from under heaven."

Yea, that man shall not fail to be effectually destroyed, saith the text. "The Lord shall separate that man unto evil, out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant."

He shall separate him unto evil; he shall give him up, he shall leave him to his heart; he shall separate him to that or those that will assuredly be too hard for him.

Now this judgment is much effected when God hath given a man up unto Satan, and hath given Satan leave, without fail, to com

plete his destruction-I say, when God hath given Satan leave effectually to complete his destruction; for all that are delivered up unto Satan have not and do not come to this end. But that is the man whom God shall separate to evil, and shall leave in the hands of Satan, to complete without fail his destruction.

Thus he served Ahab, a man that sold himself to work wickedness in the sight of the Lord. "And the Lord said, Who shall persuade Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead? And one said on this manner, and another said on that manner; and there came forth a spirit and stood before the Lord, and said, I will persuade him. And the Lord said unto him, Wherewith? And he said, I will go forth and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also; go forth and do so." Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail: do thy will, I leave him in thine hand, go forth, and do so.

Wherefore in these judgments the Lord doth much concern himself for the management thereof, because of the provocation wherewith they have provoked him. This is the man whose ruin he contriveth, and bringeth to pass by his own contrivance. “I will choose their delusions for them; I will bring their fears upon them." I will choose their devices or the wickedness that their hearts are contriving. I, even I, will cause them to be accepted of and delightful to them. But who are they that must thus be seared? Why, those among professors that have chosen their own ways, those whose soul delighteth in their abominations.

Because they receive not the love of the truth, that they might be saved, for this cause God shall send them strong delusions, that they should believe a lie, that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

"God shall send them." It is a great word. Yea, God shall send them strong delusionsdelusions that shall do, that shall make them believe a lie. Why so? "That they all might be damned, every one of them who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness."

There is nothing more provoking to the Lord than for a man to promise when God threateneth; for a man to be light of conceit that he shall be safe, and yet to be more wicked than in former days. This man's soul abhorreth the truth of God; no marvel, therefore,

a way contrary to God, to bring about his own salvation; no marvel, therefore, if God invent a way to bring about this man's damnation; and seeing that these rebels are at this point, we shall have peace; God will see whose word shall stand, his or theirs.

A fifth sign of a man being past grace is when he shall at this scoff, and inwardly grin, and fret against the Lord, secretly purposing to continue his course and put all to the venture, despising the messengers of the Lord. "He that despised Moses's law died without mercy; of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy who hath trodden under foot the Son of God !" &c.

Wherefore against these despisers God hath set himself, and foretold that they shall not believe, but perish. 'Behold, ye despisers, and wonder and perish; for I work a work in your days which ye shall in nowise believe, though a man declare it unto you."

Thus far we have treated of the barren fig tree or fruitless professor, with some signs to know him by, whereto is added also some signs of one who neither will nor can, by any means, be fruitful, but they must miserably perish. Now being come to the time of execution, I shall speak a word to that also: "After that thou shalt cut it down." Christ at last turns the barren fig tree over to the justice of God, shakes his hands off him, and gives him up to the fire for his unprofitableness.

After that thou shalt cut it down. Two things are here to be considered:

1. The executioner; thou, the great, the dreadful, the eternal God. These words, therefore, as I have already said, signify that Christ the Mediator, through whom alone salvation comes, and by whom alone execution hath been deferred, now giveth up the soul, forbears to speak one syllable more for him, or to do the least act of grace further to try for his recovery, but delivereth him up to that fearful dispensation, "to fall into the hand of the living God."

2. The second to be considered is, the instrument by which this execution is done, and that is death, compared here to an axe; and forasmuch as the tree is not felled at one blow, therefore the strokes are here continued till all the blows be struck at it that are requisite for its felling, for now cutting time and cutting work is come; cutting must be his portion till he be cut down. "After that thou shalt cut it

often useth, therewith to take the barren ng tree out of the vineyard, out of a profession and also out of the world at once. But th axe is now new ground; it cometh well edged to the roots of this barren fig tree. It hath been whetted by sin, by the law, and by a forma profession, and therefore must and will make deep gashes, not only in the natural life, bur in the heart and conscience also of this professor. "The wages of sin is death, the sting of death is sin." Wherefore death comes nat to this man as he doth to saints, muzzled or without his sting, but with open mouth, in all his strength; yea, he sends his first-born, which is guilt, to devour his strength and to bring him to the king of terrors.

But to give you, in a few particulars, the manner of this man's dying.

1. Now he hath his fruitless fruit beleaguer ! him round his bed, together with all the bands i and legions of his other wickedness. His owo iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden in the cords of his sins,

2. Now some terrible discovery of God is made out unto him, to the perplexing and terifying of his guilty conscience. God sha cast upon him and not spare, and he shall be afraid of that which is high.

3. The dark entry he is to go through wi be a sore amazement to him; "for fear shali; be in the way;" yea, terrors will take hold o him when he shall see the yawning jaws of death to gape upon him, and the doors of the shadow of death open to give him passage out of the world. Now, who will meet me in this dark entry? How shall I pass through this dark entry into another world?

4. For by reason of guilt and a shaking conscience his life will hang in continual doubt before him, and he shall be afraid day and night, and shall have no assurance of his life.

5. Now also want will come up against him; it will come up like an armed man. This is a terrible army to him that is graceless in beatt and fruitless in life. This want will continually cry in thy ears, Here is a new birth wanting, a new heart and a new spirit wanting; here is faith wanting, here is love att repentance wanting, here is the fear of G0% wanting, and a good conversation. *Thou art weighed in the balance, and art found wanting."

6. Together with these standeth by the copanions of death, death and hell, death ad

evils, death and endless torment in the eversting flames of devouring fire. When God all come up unto the people he will invade em with his troops.

But how will this man die? Can his heart ow endure or can his hands be made strong? 1. God, and Christ, and pity have left him. En against light, against mercy, and the longffering of God is come up against him; his ope and confidence now is dying by him, and is conscience totters and shakes continually ithin him.

2. Death is at work, cutting of him down, wing both bark and heart, both body and ul asunder: the man groans, but death hears m not: he looks ghastly, carefully, dejectly; he sighs, he sweats, he trembles, death atters nothing.

3. Fearful cogitations haunt him, misgivgs, direful apprehensions of God terrify him. ow he hath time to think what the loss of aven will be, and what the torments of hell Il be; now he looks no way but he is ighted.

4. Now would he live, but may not; he ould live, though it were but the life of a

bedrid man, but must not. He that cuts him down sways him as the feller of wood sways the tottering tree, now this way, then that; at last a root breaks, an heart-string, an eyestring snaps asunder.

5. And now, could the soul be annihilated or brought to nothing, how happy would it count itself! But it sees that may not be. Wherefore it is put to a wonderful strait; stay in the body it may not, go out of the body it dares not. Life is going, the blood settles in the flesh, and the lungs being no more able to draw breath through the nostrils, at last out goes the weary, trembling soul, who is immediately seized by devils, who lay lurking in every hole in the chamber for that very purpose. His friends take care of the body, wrap it up in the sheet or coffin, but the soul is out of their thought and reach, going down to the chambers of death.

I had thought to have enlarged, but I forbear. God, who teaches man to profit, bless this brief and plain discourse to thy soul who yet standest a professor in the land of the living, amongst the trees of his garden! Amen.