Oh! let me escape thither; (is it not a little one?) and my foul fhall live. And he faid unto him, fee, I have accepted thee concerning this thing alfo, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou haft spoken. Hafte thee, escape thither; for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither: therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.

more.

See now a man efcaping for his life! But his wife looked back from behind him; and at the fight of the unveiled face of the angel, the became petrified, and followed on no Remember Lot's wife. The fun was rifen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar. Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven. And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground And Abraham gat up early in the morning, to the place where he flood before the Lord. And he came juft in time to witnefs the explosi on of the vengeance of eternal fire upon the accurfed cities. And he looked towards Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the cities of the plain, and beheld, and lo, the fmoke of the country went up as the fmoke of a furnace.When the wicked are cut off, THOU SHALT SEE IT. The place where Abraham stood, was on the rifing ground, on the western fide of Sodom; and Lot went out on the oppofite eaftern fide.

I have been the more particular in remarking upon this memorable event of divine providence, as it is faid exprefsly, to be an

emblem or picture of the final destruction of Great Babylon, and of the cities of the fations in confederacy with her. And Babylon the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees excellency, Jhall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. Ifai. xiii. 19.

Though, undoubtedly, at the time of the end, when the tranfgreffors are come to the full, and the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled, and the finishing catastrophe will come upon the ungodly, there will be many thoufands of righteous fouls in the world; yet it is manifeft from the fcriptures, that from various unhappy caufes, they will be found in no condition of order and ftrength, so as to be able to make a stand against the overSpreading deluge of iniquity. And I heard the man cloathed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand, and his left hand unto heaven, and fware by him that liveth for ever, that it shall be for a time, times and a half: and when he fhall have ACCOMPLISHED to fcatter the power of the holy people, all these things fhall be FiNISHED. Dan. xii. 7.

The righteous, at that perilous jun&ture, whatever may be their numbers, will be trodden down and scattered-they will be at the end of all their skill and prowefs-and will be no more able to refift the torrent of apostacy and wickedness, than was the righteous man dwelling alone in Sodom. Then all the wicked of the earth will know, to their forrow, what wrong they have done to their own fouls, in difpifing, oppofing, and wear.

ing out the faints of the most high. Ah! then, all the proud and fcornful of the earth will be convinced of their mistake, and too late will confefs the truth which they had of ten been told, that the righteous, their reprovers, were their best friends.

This weak, broken, and forlorn ftate of the righteous, as to their influence and teftimony in the world, will not all, nor even in the greatest part, take place by means of the oppofition from without. Neither earth nor hell could effect so much, by means of their own proper forces; but the greateft evil will arife from apoflacy and corruption within. There will be among the covenant people themfelves, a great many fons in-law--men who love their ownfelves and the world, and the things which are in the world; through whofe debates and ftrifes, for their own things, the great compact and fettlement of the people in their embodied and organized flate, will be difquieted and difturbed; and this, to fuch a fuffering degree, that the moft faithful, the deareft brethren, and even the fathers themselves, will be forced, through painful neceffity, to fectarize and feparate.And it has long been known, that a breach of this nature, is like the breaking forth of wa ters-it will continue ftill to widen by new fectarisms, until it becomes great like the fea;

who can heal it?

It will be remembered, that the weak and inefficient state that Lot was found in, was occafioned at firft by a ftrife between the herdmen of Abraham and of Lot, which caufed

them to feparate themselves the one from the other; in which cafe the good man, Lot, was left alone; for it proved that he had not, as Abraham, an Eliezer to head his household; and, confequently, he loft his houfehold, and all his concern, together with his wife; and, most probably, two daughters. And yet, the mercy of God was greatly magnified, in faving him alive.

What will be the great caufe, leading to the final deftruction of the world, is plainly. intimated, Matt. xviii. 7. Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come: but WOE TO THAT MAN by whom the offence cometh. Thefe offences, as may be feen in the connection, were expected to arise among the brethren in the church; Cafes of offence, which caufe breaches in the church, may generally be traced to an individual, or at least to a fmall number of perfons. It is not unlikely, that the fons-in-law of Lot were the principals in the ftrifes among the herdmen, which caufed the fatal feparation between Abraham and Lot. It may be feen in the ftory of Laban and Jacob, that it was the cuftom of thefe people who kept cat. tle, to employ their daughters and fons-inlaw with their flocks; and it may be feared that Lot himself, though not the principal caufe, was yet not altogether innocent-the confequence of all which was, woe upon woe-woc upon the city! and woe upon the offenders-In like manner, our Lord pronounced a double woe, as the confequence of the offences which must come in the laft

Fff

days. Woe to the world-woe to them who are without, who will be ftumbled, and fnared, and fatally involved in the fearful refult of offences among the brethren; but, especially, woe to the man, the brother in the church, who is the firft aggreffor, or who is the prin cipal obftacle in the way of reconciliation and healing of the divifion; it had been good for that man, if he had not been born. Ah! little do the thoughtlefs world confider, how deeply their own intereft is concerned in the breaches and divifions which, in this day, are spreading in the church of Chrift. Is it nothing to you, that pass by? behold and fee!

all ye

To this broken, embarrassed and utterly helpless state of his people, in the laft days, our Lord often refers; as how they fhall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends: And there fhall be five in one houfe divided, three against two, and two against three. What then can be done?" It is plain, that when the matter comes to this, the cause, as it refpects the prefervation of the world, must be given over. And when we confider the abounding iniquity, and how faft the mighty forces of the great city are gathering around; whilft, at the fame time, the little flock of Chrift, by a complication of evils, are embarraffed on all fides; and their power divided and feattered in every quarter. Alas! how gloomy is the prospect.

The Lord's two witneffes, however, will never quit the ground-they will refolve to fell their lives at their post-and in the street