I would speak a few words to you before I part from you this evening, by way of application. Let me beseech you to come to JESUS CHRIST; I invite you all to come to him and receive him as your LORD and Saviour; he is ready to receive you: if you are afraid to go because you are in a lost condition, he came to save such; and to such as were weary and heavy laden, such as feel the weight and burden of their sins, he has promised he will give rest: such as feel the weight and burden of their sins on their souls, a burden too heavy for them to bear, are weary of it, and know not how to obtain deliverance of it, in the name of my LORD and master, I invite you to come to him, that you may find rest for your souls.
If you will but come unto him he will not reproach you, as justly he might; he will not reflect upon you for not coming sooner unto him; no, my dear brethren, he will rejoice and be glad, and will say unto you, “Son, daughter, be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven you:” these words he said to others; and if you will but come unto him, by faith in his blood, he is ready to say the same unto you now, as he did to them formerly, for “he is the same to-day, yesterday and for ever:” though he suffered on the cross seventeen hundred years ago, yet he is the same in goodness and power as ever he was.
He calls you, by his ministers; O come unto him, beg of him to break your stubborn hearts, that you may be willing to be brought to him in his own way, to be made poor in spirit, and entitled to an inheritance among them that are sanctified.
O come and drink of the water of life; you may buy without money and without price; he is labouring to bring you back from sin, and from Satan unto himself: open the door of your hearts, and the King of glory shall enter in.
But if you are strangers to this doctrine, and account it foolishness; or, if you think you have enough of your own to recommend you to the favour of GOD, however you may go to church, or receive the sacrament, you have no true love to the LORD JESUS CHRIST; you are strangers to the truth of grace in your hearts, and are unacquainted with the new-birth; you do not know what it is to have your natures changed; and ’till you do experience these things, you never can enter into the kingdom of GOD.
What shall I say, my brethren, unto you? My heart is full, it is quite full, and I must speak, or I shall burst. What, do you think your souls of no value? do you esteem them as not worth saving? Are your pleasures worth more than your souls? Had you rather regard the diversions of this life, than the salvation of your souls? If so, you will never be partakers with him in glory; but if you come unto him, he will give you a new nature, supply you with his grace here, and bring you to glory hereafter; and there you may sing praises and hallelujahs to the Lamb for ever.
And may this be the happy end of all who hear me! may the LORD guide you by his counsel, until he comes to fetch you to heaven, and make you partakers of his glory!
May he direct you in his ways, and lead you in those paths which lead to everlasting life! May you be holy here, and happy hereafter: may your lives answer the profession you make, that we may all be found at the right hand of the LORD JESUS CHRIST, when he shall come to judge the world according to our works, whether they be good or evil! and that we then may be presented faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, GOD of his infinite mercy grant, &c.