sERti1. v.1 .TIlE SOUL DRAWING NEAR TO GOD. 87 o wretch that I am, that I should ever have indulged iniquity! that I should ever have, borne with such an in- finite evil in my heart ! that I should ever take delight in such mischief against God ! Now I hate and abhor myself because of sin. Ó that myhead were waters, and my eves a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night, because I have been such a sinner so long, and because I am so much a sinner still !" The heart of a saint that comes near to God, is pained at the memory of old sins;., and together with a present sweetness of divine love, there is a sort of anguish at the thoughts of past iniquities. A present God will make past. sins look dreadful and heinous ; therefore it is that sin looks so little to us, and appears so light a thing, because we sel- dom get near to the seat of God, and bring our iniqui- ties to that divine light. It is a very common instance, and you 'all know it, that a blot or spot on a paper or garment, looks so muchdeeper, when the place you view;it in is lighter; at noon-day, and in the eye of the sun, those smaller blemishes appear, which at other times are utterly un- seen, and every greater spot, every fouler stain, looks most odious and disagreeable. Just thus it is with the soul, when it is displayed under the eye of the Sun of Righteousness ; every blemish, every defilement ap- pears, and the soul hates itself so far as it is sinful, while sin itself looks infinitely more odious. Therefore Job says, ix. 3O, 31. Should I wash myself in snow-water, and make myself never so clean, thou wouldest plunge me in the ditch, andmy own clothes would abhor me: that " should I use all the methods of cleansing that are pos- sible, and then enter into thy immediate presence, that light of thy presence would .discover so many spots and defilements upon me, as if I had just plunged myself in a ditch, and my garments had been all over de- filed." [This sermon, if too long, may be divided here.] IV. At such a time there is a power and virtue enters into the soul, coming from a present God, to resist sin, and to oppose great temptation. " I can do all things,. if Christ be near to strengthen me," says the apostle,. Phil. iv. 13. When I was afflicted with the buffeting of Satan, says the same apostle.;: . Cor.. xii. 8 _g;. for this G4
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