SECTION I1.I 557 not certain, whilst thou art here in this life, for amongst the living there is hope? The Son of God stands ready to receive the worst of sinners to the arms of his mercy, " Theblood of Christ can cleanse from all sin ;" 1 John i. 7, 9. " This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Jesus Christ came to save the chief of sinners ;" 1 Tim. i. 15. And none who ever came to him has been or shall be cast out; Job vi. 37. Why wilt Ilion seal and confirm for ever the sentence of thy own con- demnation ? Why wilt thou reject the condescending grace of the Saviour, who delights to relieve the distressed sinner ? Art thou so rash and desperately wicked, as to employ thy last mo- ments and thy latest powers in this world, to commit a bold and horrid sin against the Goa of all grace, to preclude thy own re- pentance, and forbid the Son of God to save thee ? Besides, This is not true that thy punishment-will be the less if thou destroy thyself. For damnation and punishment in hell will be the greater and deeper according to the aggravation of the sins which have brought the sinner thither : Now self- murder is a sin so heinous and aggravated, that if thou die impenitently under the guilt of it, thy damnation will doubt- less be the greater for it, and thy torments the more into- lerable. It is a vain and deceitful hope that some persons may have indulged under such a temptation, viz. " That God will not impute sin to them in this matter, because their anguish of mind is so great; and that if it be a crime, they will pray for the pardon of it before they commit it." This is a mere vain delu- sion of the tempter. Canst thou ever imagine that God will hear such prayers ? David was of another mind ; Ps. lxvi. 18. " If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." If thou comest before God with bloody resolutions in thy heart, God will not accept of thy petitions. Is. i. 15. " When you make many prayers I will not hear your hands are full of blood." The prayer for pardon of a wilful intended sin, before it is committed, is a,most flagrant and complicatedpiece of folly and impiety, and can never find access even to a throne of grace. VI. The last pretence I shall mention for the practice of self-murder, is this : Some poor melancholy creature may say, " I am so hurried with vile, wicked, blasphemous thoughts that my life is a burden to me, and I would fain be rid of it. I am surrounded and overwhelmed night and day with such a crowd and tumult of distracting fears, and dismal imaginations, that I can hardly get a moinent'.s rest. My soul longs to be quit of this body, and free from the impetuous, and never-ceasing assault of vexing and disquieting thoughts." Or perhaps the soul - coritplaius thus, " I am importuned with the endless buzz and
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=