Part 196

And therefore, as I have something to say by way of personal application, give me leave therefore, with the utmost tenderness, and at the same time with faithfulness, to call upon you, my dear friends. My text is introduced in an awful manner, “Verily I say unto you;” and what JESUS said then, he says now to you, to me, and to as many as sit under a preached gospel, and to as many as the LORD our GOD shall call. Let me exhort you to see whether ye are converted; whether such a great and almighty change has passed upon any of your souls. As I told you before, so I tell you again, ye all hope to go to heaven, and I pray GOD Almighty ye may be all there: when I see such a congregation as this, if my heart is in a proper frame, I feel myself ready to lay down my life, to be instrumental only to save one soul. It makes my heart bleed within me, it makes me sometimes most unwilling to preach, lest that word that I hope will do good, may increase the damnation of any, and perhaps of a great part of the auditory, through their own unbelief. Give me leave to deal faithfully with your souls. I have your dead warrant in my hand: CHRIST has said it, JESUS will stand to it, it is like the laws of the _Medes_ and _Persians_, it altereth not. Hark, O man! hark, O woman! he that hath ears to hear, let him hear what the LORD JESUS CHRIST says, “Verily I say unto you, except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” Though this is _Saturday_ night, and ye are now preparing for the sabbath, for what you know, you may yet never live to see the sabbath. You have had awful proofs of this lately; a woman died but yesterday, a man died the day before, another was killed by something that fell from a house, and it may be in twenty-four hours more, many of you may be carried into an unalterable state. Now then, for GOD’s sake, for your own souls sake, if ye have a mind to dwell with GOD, and cannot bear the thought of dwelling in everlasting burning, before I go any further, silently put up one prayer, or say _Amen_ to the prayer I would put in your mouths; “LORD, search me and try me; LORD, examine my heart, and let my conscience speak; O let me know whether I am converted or not!” What say ye, my dear hearers? what say ye, my fellow-sinners? what say ye, my guilty brethren? Has GOD by his blessed Spirit wrought such a change in your hearts? I do not ask you, whether GOD has made you angels? That I know will never be; I only ask you, Whether ye have any well-grounded hope to think that GOD has made you new creatures in CHRIST JESUS? So renewed and changed your natures, that you can say, I humbly hope, that as to the habitual temper and tendency of my mind, that my heart is free from wickedness; I have a husband, I have a wife, I have also children, I keep a shop, I mind my business; but I love these creatures for GOD’s sake, and do every thing for CHRIST: and if GOD was now to call me away, according to the habitual temper of my mind, I can say, LORD, I am ready; and however I love the creatures, I hope I can say, Whom have I in heaven but thee? Whom have I in heaven, O my GOD and my dear Redeemer, that I desire in comparison of thee? Can you thank GOD for the creatures, and say at the same time, these are not my CHRIST? I speak in plain language, you know my way of preaching: I do not want to play the orator, I do not want to be counted a scholar; I want to speak so as I may reach poor people’s hearts. What say ye, my dear hearers? Are ye sensible of your weakness? Do ye feel that ye are poor, miserable, blind, and naked by nature? Do ye give up your hearts, your affections, your wills, your understanding to be guided by the Spirit of GOD, as a little child gives up its hand to be guided by its parent? Are ye little in your own eyes? Do ye think meanly of yourselves? And do you want to learn something new every day? I mention these marks, because I am apt to believe they are more adapted to a great many of your capacities. A great many of you have not that flowing of affection ye sometimes had, therefore ye are for giving up all your evidences, and making way for the devil’s coming into your heart. You are not brought up to the mount as ye used to be, therefore ye conclude ye have no grace at all. But if the LORD JESUS CHRIST has emptied thee, and humbled thee, if he is giving thee to see and know that thou art nothing; though thou art not growing upward, thou art growing downward; and though thou hast not so much joy, yet thy heart is emptying to be more abundantly replenished by and by. Can any of you follow me? Then, give GOD thanks, and take the comfort of it.