D{SC. Vti.'] FAITH IN ITS LOWEST DEGREES. 217 the same sort of character' and circumstance as the gen- tiles were in that age. 1. Ye that are in the ends of the earth, that are afar off from the church of God, his knowledge and his wor- ship. Ye that 'are at the greatest distance from the true Jerusalem. Ye . who are the vilest of sinners, utterly unholy, and without God in the world; Ye that have nothing of grace or religion in you, look unto Christ and be saved, for he came to save the sinners of the gentiles, and the vilest of mankind. . Ye that have not known the blessing of holy pa- rents, but were bred like heathens, who know not God, and born in families that call not on his 'name : Ye that never were trained up in religious education, that were never brought near to God.by a father that was in his co- venant; or a mother that believed in his gospel : Ye that were never solemnly devoted to God, nòr acknowledge any relation to him, he calls you this day to accept his salvation. s Or, 3. Ye that have, broke the bonds of a pious education, and ran away from God and his house, and his worship, as the gentiles had doñe from the religion and instruc- tions of Noah their ancestor. Ye that have wandered afar off from your Father's house, even to the ends of the earth,- and are perishing with the prodigal son at a dreadful distance from Úòd and heaven : Come, look unto .Christ and be saved.. 4. Ye that are mourning in darkness, as it were at the ends of the earth, and on the very borders Of hell, without hope, as the gentiles were; Eph. ii. 12. almost giving up all for lost, yielding to final despair, look to Jesus the Saviour, lay hold on,the hope-that is set before you and live. ,And while I am preaching in this placee, I may add also, .5. You that dwell in dark corners of this our land, far from any place of religious worship : Ye who live by the sides of the forest, or on bare and solitarycommons,' in a poor ignorant village, or in lonesome cottages, 'where letters and reading are not known, and,a bible is a. _strange. thing, where books are seldom seen, and the Thiswas delivered in a village in the country.
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