Page:Sermon preached on a preparation-day, before the sacrament of the Lord's-Supper, at Bruntisland, upon 2 Sam. vii. 20. Do as thou hast said.pdf/9

 ? Hear that word, Iſa. lv. 13. Instead of the thorn ſhall come up the fir tree; and inſtead of the briar, the myrtle tree; and it ſhall be to the Lord for a name, and for an everlaſting ſign that ſhall not be cut off. Hoſ. xiv. 8. I am like a green fir tree, from me is thy fruit found.” Hath he ſaid ſo? Then put him to his word, ſaying, Lord Do as thou hast ſaid.

Alas! But is there any word for me, that have been a fool a mocker a ſcorner, that have laughed at all religion and godlineſs; is there any merciful words that I may take hold of? Ye, God ſays. Prov. i. 22. "Ye ſcorners that delight in ſcorning, and fools that hate knowledge, turn ye at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my Spirit unto you, I will make known my word unto you." Doth he ſay ſo? Then put him to his word, ſaying, O do as thou haſt ſaid.

But what ſays God to one that hath a plagued heart, a hard heart, a baſe heart, full of all manner of evils, and all the plagues of hell? Why, God ſays, Ezek. xxxvi 26. "A new heart will I give you, and a new Spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the ſtony heart out of your fleſh, and will give you an heart of fleſh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cauſe you to walk in my ſtatutes." And whatever be the plague, he hath ſaid, I am the Lord; that healeth thee.--Hath he ſaid ſo? Then O put him to his word, saying, Lord, Do as thou haſt ſaid.

Ah! But doth God ſay any thing to a ſtupid wretch, that only hear you, but is no more affected than the ſtones of the wall, and that is quite dead, and can no more ſtir than a rock, and hath no more life than a dead corpſe? God ſays, and O that he would ſay it with power, "Come from the four winds, O breath, and breath upon theſe ſlain, that they may live. Ezek. xxxvii. 12. I will open your graves, and cauſe you to come out of your graves, and ye ſhall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, and ſhall put my Spirit in you, and ye ſhall live." Hath he ſaid fo? Then O put him to his word, ſaying, Lord, Do as thou haſt ſaid.

But, Oh! is there any word that God ſays concerning me, that have forfeited God's favour, by heaping up great and inſuperable mountains betwixt him and me, that I fear he will never come over? Why, he ſays, Zech. iv. 7. "Who art thou, O great mountain ? Before our Zerubbabel, thou ſhalt become a plain. He ſhall bring forth the head ſtone Rh