hearken in time, before the door is shut against thee, than tell thee there is no hope of thy repenting and returning. But if the foregoing description of the people of God does not agree with the state of thy soul, is it then a hard question, whether thou shalt ever be saved? Need I ascend up into heaven to know, that _without holiness no man shall see the Lord_; or, that only _the pure in heart shall see God_, or, that _except a man be born again, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God_? Need I go up to heaven, to inquire that of Christ, which he came down to earth to tell us; and sent his Spirit in his apostles to tell us; and which he and they have left upon record to all the world? And though I know not the secrets of thy heart, and therefore cannot tell thee by name, whether it be thy state, or no; yet if thou art but willing and diligent, thou mayest know thyself, whether thou art an heir of heaven or not. 'Tis the main thing I desire, that if thou art yet miserable, thou mayest discern and escape it. But _how_ canst thou _escape, if thou neglect_ Christ and _salvation_? 'Tis as impossible as for the devils themselves to be saved. Nay, God has more plainly and frequently spoken it in Scripture of such sinners as thou art, than he has of the devils. Methinks a sight of thy case should strike thee with amazement and horror. When Belshazzar _saw the fingers of a man's hand that wrote upon the wall, his countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against the other_:[247] What trembling then should seize on thee, who hast the hand of God himself against thee, not in a sentence or two, but in the very scope of the Scriptures, threatening the loss of an everlasting kingdom? Because I would fain have thee lay it to heart, I will shew thee——the nature of thy loss of heaven,—together with its aggravations. [Footnote 246] Judges iii, 20. [Footnote 247] Daniel v, 5, 6. § 2. (1.) In their loss of heaven the ungodly lose—the saint's personal perfection,—God himself,—all delightful affections towards God, and the blessed society of angels and saints.