condemnation that light hath come into the world, and men have loved darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil." And again, "If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin; but now they have no cloak for their sin." In the same spirit. too, is that passage from the apostle, "How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation? He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses. Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite to the spirit of grace?"

From all this it appears that there is no force in the self-justifying plea of sinners drawn from their inability to repent and believe and comply with the gospel; that unbelief is the great sin of the evangelized world; and that it will be the chief cause of their final and eternal condemnation at the last great day.

V. Some men have recourse at different times, to all these refuges, or perhaps to several of them at the same time.

They do not depend upon any one of these, but flee to them all as a general city of refuge consisting of so many particular fortresses or citadels; and when beaten from one they betake themselves to another; sometimes they plead in justification of themselves their ignorance, and that they are not satisfied as to the doctrines and duties of the gospel; but being convinced of the insufficiency of this plea, and that they might inform and satisfy themselves if they would, and that therefore their ignorance is voluntary and inexcusable, they have recourse to their good works their justice, morality, or outward attendance on means, and depend on these in the manner already described. Being driven hence by a conviction of the imperfection and insufficiency of their good works, they fly to the absolute and infinite mercy and grace of God. Being driven hence they shield themselves under their inability. And when this is made to appear inadequate to their purpose, they fly back to some of their former refuges, endeavoring to rest on them as a satisfying ground of hope.

Sometimes, too, as I have already hinted, they will take possession of several of these refuges at the same time, expecting to make up by the others what is wanting in some of them. For example, they think themselves in a good measure excusable on account of their ignorance. But fearing to depend wholly on this, so far as they do know, they plead that they have good works to show, and bring them in aid of their ignorance. Not daring, however, to pretend to perfection of goodness, they hope God

will be merciful and overlook their imperfections. And still being doubtful of this, they derive much ease and comfort from their inability. Thus they have a manifold ground of dependence; and what is lacking in one part they expect will be supplied by another. But as every part is essentially deficient-is wholly a refuge of lies, the same is true of the whole taken together.

Before I leave this head, I cannot but observe, that often sinners pervert the most wholesome and important truths in order to quiet their consciences or justify themselves. When they are taught the total depravity of human nature, they own it perhaps, and make themselves easy on that subject by saying, "What can such poor, lost, depraved creatures do in religion? surely nothing at all." When on the other hand they are exhorted to repent, and believe, and comply with the gospel, they at once fly to the idea that they are not totally depraved, but have a good principle within them, which they need but to cultivate to make them good enough. When they are shown, however, that none but the regenerate ever do or will comply with God's requirements, they quietly sit down in the idea that being unregenerate and having no power to comply, they are not therefore to be blamed. When, however, they are taught that they are to be blamed for not complying with the gospel, and that their inability is only and wholly voluntary, and of the moral kind, then they take courage, and flatter themselves that they have power enough, and can use it whenever they wish, and in this idea become self-sufficient and self-righteous; and presuming on the future, neglect religion for the present. In this manner do sinners fly from one excuse to another and pervert the most wholesome truths of the gospel, in order to quiet their consciences and go on calmly and without remorse in the way that leads to hell. Amazing their folly! Astonishing their madness!

Besides these, I might mention several other false refuges of sinners under the gospel-such as the general custom, or the example of individuals; a false conversion, wherein they have had great terrors, and then great comforts; great zeal, but not according to knowledge; inward suggestions and impulses, etc. But time does not permit me to enlarge on any of these, or on several others that I might mention. I rather hasten to close with some practical uses and reflections. And,

1. Let me entreat you, my hearers, carefully to examine yourselves in view of this subject. You see something of what it is to betake yourselves to refuges of lies-refuges which God will sweep away. Apply, then, these general observations to your

selves, feeling that they may have reference to your case. It is not for me to point out by name those who betake themselves to such false refuges. But you are to judge, in the light of God's truth, of your own characters, whether or not you are of this description. Doubtless there are many such in the world;—but who and where are they? Are there none in our country and nation? Are there not some in this place-in this house? Why not here as well as anywhere else? To suppose that we are so much better than those of any other place or community, would neither be consistent with reason, or christian humility, or even decent modesty. It is admitted by all to be a time of general ease and indifference as to spiritual things. What is the cause of it? If men did but see and believe the truth, having at the same time no false refuge to quiet them, could they remain so listless and secure? Would not the love of God melt, and the wrath of God make them tremble? It is impossible but that it should be so. And so long as they are secure in sin, they have some refuge of lies by which they are lulled into this fearful drowsiness. And as this is the case with secure sinners in general, so it is undoubtedly the case with the secure sinners of this assembly-with every one of you who hear me this day who are out of Christ, and exposed to the damning curse of God's holy law, while yet you are unconcerned about it. I entreat you, therefore, to examine carefully and candidly what is your refuge -what your ground of confidence-what the cause of your present security and negligence of your everlasting interests? Is it a pretence of ignorance, and want of satisfying information as to the truth? Or is it the plea of innocence and good works? is it your own inability, or the infinite grace and mercy of God? Put these questions to yourselves, not in a hasty and careless manner, but seriously, deliberately, and with candid reflection upon your own temper and conduct. Remember that God is present with you while you are doing it. And if upon such an examination you shall find that you are making a refuge of any or all of these things, then,

Remember that

2. Be exhorted at once to abandon them. they are refuges of lies, which will deceive you just in proportion as you put your confidence in them. You would not choose to be deceived as to your temporal affairs. Much less should you wish to be in affairs of infinite moment, in those that relate to the salvation of the soul. But these false refuges will deceive you to your eternal ruin. Or rather now they will not deceive you; for so far as they have been made known to you, you cannot be deceived by them. You now know what they are, and

what is your danger from them. If, then, you still will trust to
them, you do it wilfully, against the light of your own minds, with
your eyes open, and knowing what the consequences will be to
yourselves. Consider, then, those consequences as they are ex-
pressed in the strong and even terrible language of our text.
"The hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters
shall overflow the hiding place." "As it was in the days of
Noah, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be."
In the days
of Noah the waters overflowed the loftiest habitations of man,
and even the peaks of the highest mountains, and swept the in-
habitants of the world from all their refuges of supposed safety
away to ruin and death. All the high places of the earth proved
to them but refuges of lies. The waters also rolled themselves
into all the caves and dens of the earth, and drowned those who
had there taken refuge. "And as it was in the days of Lot, so
shall the coming of the Son of Man be." The fire and brimstone
which God rained down from heaven on the inhabitants of Sodom
soon consumed or swept away their places of refuge, as though
it had been by a deluge of liquid fire. And so shall all your vain
hiding places and your false refuges be overflowed and swept
away, and you too if you continue in them, in that dreadful storm
of wrath and fiery indignation which God will pour down upon
the wicked. What then will you do for a refuge for a hiding
place, when the universe is dissolved and the world is in flames?
How will you then be amazed when you shall find your founda-
tion giving way from beneath you-when you shall find by too
late experience that all that was told you of false confidences and
refuges of lies, was real truth? How will you be vexed at your-
selves, and at your madness in trusting to them, and that too
when you were so clearly and fully warned of your danger?
Deep must have been the vexation and self-reproaches of the old
world, and the inhabitants of Sodom, at their own folly and mad-
ness, when they found all the predictions of Noah and Lot veri-
fied, and also found that though they had had sufficient opportu-
nity to escape, yet now it was too late, and they must perish!
But far greater is the folly and madness of which you are guilty,
in neglecting to escape from not a temporal death or deluge, but
from the endless wrath and vengeance of God, which will not
only sweep you away from all your false confidences, but will
bury you in eternal death and wo, where their worm dieth not,
and their fire is not quenched.

Especially what consummate, what infinite folly and madness are you guilty of in trusting to any refuge of lies when a true and

proper and perfectly safe refuge is provided for you and freely offered to your acceptance. "Thus saith the Lord God, Behold I lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation; he that believeth shall not make haste." Here is a sure and safe hiding place; for God himself hath declared that " a man shall be a hiding place from the wind and a covert from the tempest, as rivers of waters in a dry place, and the shadow of a great rock in a weary land." Abandon, then, all false refuges, all vain hiding places, and come to this sure foundation, this refuge of safety. To it you are invited, and urged, and besought to flee, by the strongest and most persuasive motives that can be either exhibited or conceived. Yield then to those motives, and flee to this refuge that you may be safe forever. Or if you will not do this-if you will not abandon your false confidences and grounds of hope, at least let me obtain one thing of you. And that is,

3. That you will at least act an open and manly and decided part in this important affair. Confess openly that you do and that you mean to make lies your refuge, and under falsehood to hide yourselves. It is best to be open and explicit in our temporal affairs, and much more so in things that relate to eternity. By "a fair show in the flesh" you may indeed deceive men but you cannot deceive God. He knows your real character and temper and conduct as well without this confession as with it. Nothing, therefore, can be gained by concealment. On the other hand an open acknowledgment of the real truth may tend to strike conviction to your own consciences, to bring your characters to your own view, and make you attend to your own hearts. In this view it may be of signal service to you, for it may waken and rouse you to flee from the wrath to come. Confess then openly and plainly that for the sake of present peace of conscience and to quiet the fears of God's wrath-that in order to gratify your carnal, covetous or ambitious desires you are resolved to lay hold of every plausible ground of hope of God's favor, or of future safety and felicity, and of every plausible excuse for your own impenitence and unbelief. Admit that you care not what the pretence or excuse is, if you can but persuade yourself that it is true, and can find in it present peace. Admit that you are resolved to grasp the present world, and present comfort, no matter what becomes of the future; that you are determined to secure your temporal interest, and to enjoy the pleasures of this life, whether in the future you inherit heaven or hell-whether you are saved or damned. Admit, in short, that for your part you will eat and