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of his people is called the devil's lie, and a horrible decree. The perfect righteousness which the surety wrought out, and which our great creditor accepts and imputes to the debtor, is styled imputed nonsense. Predestination to adoption and future glory is no security; for we may be children of God to-day, and children of the devil tomorrow. This vile speaking reflects upon the invariableness of God, the immutability of his counsel, the eternity of his love, the stability of his covenant, and the veracity of his oath and promise; and reflects the same upon the atonement of Christ, the sufficiency of his sacrifice, the value of his intercession, and upon the whole work of the Spirit of God. Thus the vile person in my text works iniquity, practises hypocrisy, speaks villany, and utters error against the Lord; which leads me to consider,

Fifthly, his drift in all this. It is to make empty the soul of the hungry, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail. The things which the hungry soul hungers after are,

First, righteousness, which the Spirit convinces him of, and which he makes him feel the need of, both from the sentence of the law, and from the accusations of his own conscience. An unrighteous man is condemned by the law, an unrighteous man is condemned by his conscience, an unrighteous man cannot face his Judge, an unrighteous man cannot stand in the judgment, an unrighteous man cannot stand in the congre

gation of the just, an unrighteous man cannot enter the kingdom of God; and by nature, God says, "There is none righteous, no, not one; there is none that doeth good." The awakened sinner sees and feels this; and, therefore, hungers and thirsts after righteousness; and the Saviour says, Blessed are such, for they shall be filled.

Secondly, he hungers after Christ, the bread of life; and that which sharpens his appetite is the fear of death, and dread of damnation; the fear of perishing in his sins, and the fear of eternal banishment from the presence of God, and the glory of his power. Such poor awakened souls have sometimes a beam of light darting in, and a gleam of hope starting up; but these often soon withdraw again, and all is dismal. Such an one runs from place to place, crying in his heart, "Who will shew us any good?" These vile persons in my text often get hold of such; and, instead of preaching Christ, they tell him to work out his salvation; but do not tell him, that God works in him either to will or to do. They bid him arise, and shake himself from the dust; but do not enforce the promised arm of the Lord. They bid him up, and be doing; but deny that God works all our works in us. They tell him to set in as a co-worker with the Spirit; but what is a poor wretch, who is covered with sin, and destitute of power, to do or to get, from such doctrine as this! How can the prodigal be received,

but in the best robe, which is not brought forth! How can he be fed, unless the fatted calf be set forth as killed before him, or unless satisfaction for sin by the sacrifice of Christ be described and enforced! How can he be wedded without the ring of eternal love! or how can he sit as an approved guest at the marriage-feast, without a wedding garment! and how is he to make his calling and election sure, if the whole counsel of God is kept back! In short, how can a soul be brought nigh to God, to love God, or even to entertain a thought worthy of him, under a man whose heart works iniquity, whose tongue practises hypocrisy, and who speaks villany, utters error against the Lord, and seeks to destroy the poor with lying words! So far is such a vile person from feeding the hungry, that he robs, plunders, and takes away, the very food from those that are fed; or, as my text says, he makes empty the soul of the hungry; that is, he strips him of what he has got; he plunders him, blinds him, staggers him, stumbles him, confounds him, embitters him; and brings him into bondage to the law, to the flesh, to sin, and to the accusations of Satan; and sets him down, like the prodigal, with the swine, or the wild asses in the wilderness: and, if he can zealously affect such a hungry soul, he will lead him in his chains wherever he pleases, until such time as the Spirit of God operates upon his heart; then he bursts his bonds, and knows,

by sad experience, what it is for the Philistines to be upon him. This churl will not only make empty the soul of the hungry, but

He will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail. The drink of the thirsty soul is the efficacy of the Saviour's blood, or the atonement of Christ received and enjoyed under the operations of the Spirit of grace. The water of life is the quickening energy of the Spirit; and the river of God's pleasure is the love of God in Christ Jesus, which is felt under the influence of God's Spirit, and which fills the soul with joy, peace, and divine consolation, in believing. But as pardon and eternal peace with God, through the blood of the Lamb, are denied by this vile person; and as the everlasting inhabitation of the Spirit is opposed and denied also; and the doctrine of the eternal love of God reprobated; and the gift of eternal life exploded, by asserting that all these things may be forfeited and lost; the dreadful consequences attending such errors must be, that divine refreshment, the pure stream of life and peace, will be rarely found; the Spirit is grieved, and ceases to operate; such persons speaking evil of the truths and ways of God; hypocrites increasing; the world applauding the candour and lenity of vile men; weak souls halting between two opinions, or between right and wrong; bastard Calvinists, who formerly favoured such, but recanted, and bore a testimony against them, returning like the dog, and licking up the old

vomit; losing their legal zeal, and all their eyesight; appearing afresh to favour Cain's old cause, and beginning to bring forth their strong reasons against the King of Jacob, and going gradually over to the children of the flesh; and, on the other hand, those who bear their stedfast testimony against their lying words, being reproached with rancour, spleen, a bad spirit, and the want of charity. Times will get worse and worse; the light will gradually withdraw; the sun will go down over the prophets; the shadows of the evening will stretch out; grievous wolves will creep forth, who will not spare the flock; the truths of the everlasting gospel, by the villany of these men, will be brought into contempt; and the inhabitants of two cities may, and will, ere long, go to a third city, to drink water, and not find a pure spring when they come there. All that these vile persons aim at is to conceal the bread of life, and to obscure the pure light of the gospel, which is a perfect glass, and in which we discover what they are, and so to bring on a famine, not of bread, nor of water, but of hearing the word of the Lord. When God is insulted, the Saviour opposed, and the Spirit grieved, the life and power of the gospel will be insensibly withdrawn, and a minister of the Spirit scarcely found. However, "When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst; I," saith the Lord, "will hear them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them." We come now,

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