SECTION V $13 3I'I. " Ever maintain upon your spirits, an awful sense of the evil and guilt of your past sins, of the holiness and justice of the great God, who has threatened to punish sinners with ever- lasting misery, and then the gospel which discovers pardo:;ing grace, will be ever dear to you, and Jesus the Son of God, the Saviour, will appear so desirable, that you will never part with him." Be strict in the observation of your own heart and life, and compare it frequently with the perfect lawof God : And then you will find such daily and continual returns of guilt upon your conscience, by the evil working of your passions, by the disor- ders of your spirits, by the frequent commission of sins, and the defects of your best duties, that you will highly value the gospel of Christ, the discoveries of divine grace, and the doctrine of `reconcilïátion by the blood of atonement. Make use of every fresh commission of sin, as a means to awakenyour first sense of the great anddreadful evil of it, and of your desert of death and hell, for the violation of Gotl's holy law : This will make you love the doctrine of the priesthood of Christ : You will delight, in contemplating theglory of his person, who Could become an all-sufficient sacrifice to expiate the guilt of your iniquities, and to deliver you from everlastingdeath. If you lose this tenderness of conscience, and look upon in as a little or harmless thing, it is no wonder that the doctrine of salvation by Jesus Christ sinks in your esteem, and you will be easily drawn away from thegospel of Christ. A common, cold and unaffectingcomplaint of the infirmities of human nature, and the general notion -of the mercy of Gnd, will be ready to make such a stupid conscience easy, and you will be tempted to run back from the gospel of grace to the religion Of nature: But if you keep upon your own hearts, a perpetual deep sense of the heinous evil and dreadful demerit of sin, the cavils of infidels against the gospel will have but little force upon your souls, unless they could shew you a better way to obtain forgiveness than the atonement of the Son of God. IV. Take all occasions to observe the inward corruptionof your own nature, the sinful tendencies of your spirits, the evil passions which dwell in you, your natural aversion to strict holinesss, and your weakness to fulfil those very duties which the light of nature requires. Andat the sane time, surveythe temptations ofa sin- ful.world, which lie all around you, and attend you in every motion, to allure or affright you from God and goodness. wé'h{le these things are fresh and lively upon the spirit, you w:11 main- tain a high esteem for the gospel of Christ, wherein therejs so much relief given to the weakness of nature, )y the force of di- vine motives, and by the influences of the ,Holy Spirit. There are rich treasures of grace provided tó rectify ttte disorders of our
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