call you to come away out from among the world ly ing in wickedness. We are the voice, he is the caller, Luke x. 16. For even now when he is in hea ven, he speaketh to you by us, Heb. xii. 25.

7. Laftly, It is in this world only the call takes place, Matth. xxviii. 18, 19. As for those who are gone into the other world, the call can reach them no more; they are prifoners without hope. But while ye are here, the call is to you, particularly in the public affemblies, Prov. i. 20, 21. "Wisdom crieth without, the uttereth her voice in the streets; fhe crieth in the chief places of concourse, in the openings of the gates; in the city fhe uttereth her words," c.

I come now to the improvement of this fubject. USE I. Of information. This lets us fee,

1. Where we are all by nature, even in the world lying in wickednefs, being real members of that finful and miferable fociety. This is our native country, we are all natives of the world lying in wickedness, by our first birth. It is only by converfion and the new birth, that we come out from among them, and are naturalized in the heavenly country. Think on this, ye young, or aged, ftrangers to a work of converfion; and know where ye are.

2. Ye cannot abide among them, but in rebellion against the call of God. By this gospel ye are fummoned in the Lord's name to come out from among them; and if after that, ye take it on you to ftay, ye do it upon your peril, incurring the displeasure of Heaven, not only for your being among them, but your refufing to come out from among them.

3. The fin of gofpel-hearers abiding among them, is fearfully aggravated, and therefore will be fearfully punished. Every new gospel call is a new call from the Lord to you to come out from among them. How inexcufable will they then be, that give a deaf ear to them all? Matth. xi. 21. 22. "Wo unto thee, Chorazin, wo unto thee, Bethfaida; for if the mighty

works

works which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in fackcloth and ashes. But I fay unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgement than for you."

4. Laftly, Ye will furely be welcome to Christ coming out from among them; for he will never put away them whom he calls to him, John vi. 37. "Him that cometh to me, I will in no wife caft out." His call is not only your warrant to come, but as fuch it is an enfurance of your welcome, Mark x. 49. "And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called; and they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rife; he calleth thee."

USE II. Of exhortation. O finners, feeing it is fo, that the whole world lieth in wickednefs, and there is a call from the Lord to finners to come out from among them, hearken ye this day to the call, and come out from among them, all and every one of you. This is a point of the greatest weight, and therefore I fhall,

1. Branch out the exhortation more particularly, that ye may not be in the dark as to what ye are called to.

2. Address it to feveral forts of finners, that it may be the more closely brought home to the confcience. 3. Urge it with fome motives, that so it may be preffed upon you.

4. Confider the hinderances or impediments that keep men from coming out from among the world lying in wickedness, that so they may be removed out of the way.

FIRST, To branch out the exhortation more particularly, I lay it before you in these four branches,

Firft, O finner, believe it firmly, and confider it feriously, that the unregenerate, unconverted world is a fink of fin and wickedness, and doomed to destruction. This is infallible truth, I John v. 19. "The whole

world

world lieth in wickedness," John iii. ult. He that believeth not the Son, fhall not fee life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. Matth. xviii. 3. "Except ye be converted, and become as little children, 'ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." John iii. 3. Except a man be born again, he cannot fee the kingdom of God." If ye be not let into a view of this, to fee that society a moft finful and dangerous one, we will but beat the air in calling you to come out from among them. Open then the eyes of your minds, and fee by the light of God's word, the state of the unconverted world. See,

1. The finfulness of it, how they lie in their fin, original and actual, in the guilt of all their fins, in the pollution of them, under the dominion of fin, and in the practice of fin, doing nothing but what is fin, incapable to do any thing good or acceptable in God's fight. They are a Sodom for filthinefs; they are a company of fpiritual lepers, fet out without the camp of the faints where the Lord dwelleth and walketh; of dead men, whose beauty, fenfe and motion is gone, and on whofe fouls living lufts are preying, like fo many worms on the carcafe in the

grave.

2. The mifery of it; how they lie under the curse, Gal. iii, 10. with Rom. iii. 19. under the difpleasure and wrath of God. A black cloud of wrath hangs over them continually, John iii, ult. It never clears; fmiles of common providence they may have, whereby temporal mercies are laid to their hands, as victuals to the condemned man are carried into the prifon till his execution: but one fmile of special favour and love they never have, Pfal. vii. 11. "God is angry with the wicked every day." Some drops of wrath ftill falling on them, finking though filently into their fouls; and the full fhower and pouring out of the cloud is abiding them.

Secondly, Be convinced, O finner, that thou art among them; that their cafe is thy cafe, and thy part

and

and lot is among them; that thou art finful and miferable with them. It is the ruin of many, that they do not fee, and will not fee, that they are among them; and therefore they cannot come out from among them, Rev. iii. 17. "Because thou fayeft, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing: and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miferable, and poor, and blind, and naked." Matth.

ix. 12.

"They that be whole need not a physician, but they are fick." Are there not many of you, who have never seen this to this day? But if ye have not seen it, either ye are fanctified from the womb, or that is a certain fign ye are among them still. And, O how many have seen themselves among them, that yet were never freely brought out from among them, but after some awakening have juft lain down where they were among them before? But oh! open your eyes, young finners, and old finners, and fee yourselves among them, before you see yourselves among them in the lower world, where there is no coming out.

Thirdly, Be convinced that you cannot fafely abide one moment longer among them; fee the rock hanging over your head, ready to fall every moment, and to crush you to pieces; fee the inares, fire, and brimftone, ready to be rained down on you in that state, Pfal. xi. 6. Many think that it is not fafe indeed to die among them, but that yet they may fafely live a while longer among them. This ruins many, while delaying from time to time they are surprised into deftruction.

Laftly, Make away speedily from among them by converfion into God in Chrift, Ezek. xxxiii. 11. "Turn ye, turn ye, from your evil ways." That is, believe and repent, fo coming unto God by Christ. By faith we unite with Chrift, the head of the opposite society, and fo return unto God; and by repentance we return unto our duty. This is the coming out from among them we call you to. SECONDLY,

H

SECONDLY, I would addrefs this exhortation and call to feveral forts of finners among you. Come out from among them,

1. Ye that have all your days been at ease in the world lying in wickedness, never confidering that ye were there, nor concerned how to get out from among them. Open your eyes at length, know your natural ftate; fee yourselves children of hell, heirs of wrath; fleep no longer, but look about you, fee your danger, and come away, Prov. vi. 9. "How long wilt thou sleep, O fluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy fleep?"

2. Ye that having once been awakened, have fallen asleep again, and look on that former fright as a dream. Know that the danger you fometime saw, was most real, and reprefented your true cafe; and it was through the flight of Satan, ye were brought to take the armies of heaven advancing against you, for the fhadows of the mountains. Wherefore beftir yourselves again, take fecond thoughts, and come away.

3. Apoftates and backfliders, who fometime were on the way coming out from among them, but have now turned back, and fallen afresh to the way of the ...world lying in wickedness. Your cafe is very dangerous, Heb. x. 38. "If any man draw back, my foul fhall have no pleasure in him." Remember Lot's wife, who was turned into a pillar of falt, for looking back to Sodom, after fhe had got out of it. But our Lord is giving you a new call, Jer. iii. 22. "Return, ye backfliding children, and I will heal your backflidings." Hearken to it, or ye are doubly ruined,

4. Ye that are halting betwixt two opinions, in a doubt whether to come out from among the world lying in wickedness, or not yet. Confcience is preffing you forward, corruption is pulling you back; you hear one voice or whisper, faying, To-day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts; another faying, Not yet, there will be time enough after. Know this laft is the language from hell among them;

O'heed