; both for recovering grace, to raise you up when fallen, and
for preventing grace, to preserve you from falling or relapsing again.

8th, That you may be the more active and vigilant in keeping covenant,
you must labor to maintain a constant fear of breaking it, and have a
fixed impression of the tremendous threatening denounced against
covenant-breakers; and you must know that all are such in God's account,
who satisfy themselves with the form of godliness, denying the power
thereof. For this end read and ponder these and the like scriptures.

Lev. xxvi. 25, "And I will bring a sword upon you, that shall avenge the
quarrel of my covenant, and when ye are gathered together within your
cities, I will send the pestilence among you: and ye shall be delivered
into the hand of the enemy." Neh. v. 13--"So God shall shake out every
man from his house, and from his labor, that performeth not this
promise; even thus be he shaken out and emptied." Jer. xi. 3, "Cursed be
the man that obeyeth not the words of this covenant, which I commanded
your fathers in the day that I brought them forth from the iron
furnace." Ezek. xvii. 15, "Shall he prosper? shall he escape that doth
such things? or shall he break the covenant and be delivered?" Verse 18,
"Seeing he hath despised the oath, by breaking the covenant, when lo, he
had given his hand, and hath done all these things, he shall not
escape." Verse 19th, "Therefore, thus saith the Lord God, as I live,
surely mine oath that he hath despised and my covenant that he hath
broken, even it will I recompense upon his own head."

The minister having given these exhortations, closed the day's work with
prayer, and singing a part of the ciii. Psalm from the 17th to the 19th
verse. And having intimated the time of meeting for more immediate
preparation for the _holy communion_, putting the people in mind to be
preparing for the work, by fervent prayer and supplication, joined with
serious and upright self-examination, he dismissed the congregation
after the usual form.

This true and unbiassed account of the work in its design, progress and
issue we have given, not to pre-occupy false reports only, which we
cannot rationally suppose an entire freedom from, unless we fall in with
the opposers of our covenanted reformation, and to purchase the good
opinion and commendation of men at the rate of losing the favor of God.
The main end of relating some of the more material heads, scope and
argumen