380 DIRECTIONS AND PERSUASIONS him, even for nothings and turned away from the Lord, to hunt after the chaff and feathers of the world, he told you your folly,. and called you to á more ,profit -, able employment. " Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread, and your labour for that which satisfieth not ? Hearken' diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting co; venant with you, even the sure mercies ofDavid(d) And when we would not hear, what complaints have you put him to, charging it on you as your wilfulness and stubbornness? Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid. For my people have corrì- mitted two evils they have forsaken me, the Foun- tain of living' waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water. Many a time bas Christ proclaimed that free invitation to you=- .Let him that is athirst come ; and whosoever will, let him take of the water of lift freely.(e) But you oblige him to complain, after all his offers.. They will not come to me, that they may have lif .(f) He has invited you to a feast with him in the kingdom Of his grace and you have had excuses, from your grounds, and your cattle, and your worldly business; and when you would not come, you said you could not ; and provoked him to resolve, that you should never taste of his supper. And whose fault is it now but your own ? And what can you say is the chief cause of your damnation, but your own wills? You would be damned. 1. FRoM hence you may see, . not only what blas- phemy and impiety it is, to lay the blame of men's destruction upon God ; but also how unfit these wicked wretches are to bring in such a charge against their Maker. They cry out against God, and say, He (d) Isa. lv. 2, 3. (e) Rev. xxii. 17. (f) John v. 40.
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