part of worship occasion so much distress to many that are upright at the heart as this doth, which is appointed for their special consolation.

So when you are clear and vigorous in the life of faith, and can abhor all temptations to unbelief, and the beams of sacred verity in the Scriptures, have shewed you that it is the undoubted word of God, and you have quietly bottomed your soul on Christ, and built your hopes upon his promises, and can with a cheerful contempt let go the world for the accomplishment of your hopes; remember yet that there is a secret root of unbelief remaining in you, and that this odious sin is but imperfectly mortified in the best: and that it is more than possible that you may see the day when the tempter will assault you with questionings of the word of God, and trouble you with the injections of blasphemous thoughts and doubts, whether it be true or not! And that you that have thought of God, of Christ, of heaven, of the immortal state of souls, with joy and satisfied confidence, may be in the dark about them, affrighted with ugly suggestions of the enemy, and may think of them all with troublesome, distracting doubts, and be forced to cry with the disciples, "Lord increase our faith." (Luke xvii. 5.) And as he, Mark ix. 24, "Lord, I believe, help thou my unbelief." Yea, worse than so; some upright souls have been so amazed and distracted by the tempter, and their distempered hearts, as to think they do not believe at all, nor yet are able sincerely to say, "Lord help thou my unbelief." When yet at that time their fears and their abstaining from iniquity shew, that they believe the threatenings, and therefore indeed believe the word. Now if we did but thoroughly know ourselves, when faith is in its exercise and strength, and consider whither the secret seeds of remaining unbelief may bring us, being forewarned, we should be fore-armed, and should mortify our faith the better, and be provided against these sad assaults. And if the malignant spirit be suffered to storm this fortress of the soul, we should more manfully resist and we should not be overwhelmed with horror, as soon as any hideous and blasphemous temptations do assault us. (When Christ himself was not exempted from the most blasphemous temptation, even the worshipping of the devil instead of God; though in him there was no sinful disposition to entertain it, Matt. iv. 9, 10; John xiv. 30.)

O watch and pray, Christians, in your most prosperous and comfortable state! Watch and pray, lest ye enter into temptation: for you little think what is yet within you; and what advantage the deceiver hath; and how much of your own to take his part; and how low he may bring you, both in point of grace and peace, though he cannot damn

you.

I am troubled that I must tell you of so sad a case, that even the children of God may fall into, lest by troubling you with the opening of your danger, I should do any thing to bring you into it. But because self-ignorance, and not being beforehand acquainted with it, may do much more, I have timely shewed you the danger with the remedy.

5. Another instance of the darkness even of a heart that in part is sanctified, is in the successes of the temptations of adversity. When we want nothing, we think we value not the world, and we could bear the loss of all, but when poverty or danger comes, what trouble and unseemly whining is there, as if it were by a worldling that is deprived of his idol, and all the portion that ever he must have! And by the shameful moan and stir that we make for what we want, we shew more sinful overvaluing of it, and love to it, than before we observed or would believe. O how confidently and piously have I heard some inveigh against the love of the world, as if there had been no such thing in them; who yet have been so basely dejected, when they have been unexpectedly stripped of their estates, as if they had been quite undone !

How patiently do we think we could bear affliction, till we feel it! and how easily and piously can we exhort others unto patience, when we have no sense of what they suffer! But when our turn is come, alas, we seem to be other men. Suffering is now another thing; and patience harder than we imagined. And how inclinable are we to hearken to temptations, to use sinful means to come out of our sufferings! Who would have thought that faithful Abraham should have been so unbelieving, as to equivocate in such a danger, and expose the chastity of his wife to hazard, as we read in Gen. xii. 12, 13. 19? and that he should fall into the same sin again, on the same occasion, (Gen. xx,) to Abimelech, as before he had done with Pharaoh! and that Isaac should, after him, fall into the same sin, in the same place! (Gen.

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xxvi. 7.) The life of faith doth set us so much above the fear of man, and shew us the weakness and nothingness of mortal worms, and the faithfulness and all-sufficiency of God, that one would think the frowns and threatenings of a man should signify nothing to us, when God stands by, and giveth us such ample promises and security for our confirmation and encouragement: and yet what base dejectedness, and sinful compliances are many brought to, through the fear of man, that before the hour of this temptation, could talk as courageously as any! This was the case of Peter, before-mentioned, and of many a one that hath a wounded conscience, and wronged their profession by too cowardly a disposition; which if it where foreknown, we might do more for our confirmation, and should betake ourselves in time to Christ, in the use of means for strength. Few turn their backs on Christ, or a good cause in time of trial, that are jealous of themselves beforehand, and afraid lest they should forsake him: Few fall that are afraid of falling but the self-ignorant and self-confident are careless of their way, and it is they that fall.

6. Another instance that I may give you, is, in the unexpected appearances of pride in those that yet are truly humble. Humility speaks in their confessions, aggravating their sin, and searching heart and life for matter of self-accusation: they call themselves "Less than the least of all God's mercies." They are ready, with the woman of Canaan, (Matt. xv. 27,) even to own the name of dogs, and to confess themselves unworthy of the children's crumbs, and unworthy to tread upon the common earth, or to breathe in the air, or to live upon the patience and provisions of God: they will spend whole hours, and days of humiliation, in confessing their sin, and bewailing their weaknesses and want of grace, and lamenting their desert of misery. They are often cast down so much too low, that they dare not own the title of God's children, nor any of his special grace, but take themselves for mere unsanctified, hardened sinners; and all that can be said, will not convince them that they have any saving interest in Christ, nor hinder them from pouring out unjust accusations against themselves. And all this is done by them in the uprightness of their hearts, and not dissemblingly. And yet would you think, that with all this humility, there should be any pride? and that the same persons

should lift up themselves and resist their helps to further humiliation? Do they think in their dejections, that it is in their hearts so much to exalt themselves? I confess many of them are sensible of their pride, even to the increase of their humility; and as it is said of Hezekiah, "do humble themselves for the pride of their hearts, so that God's wrath doth not come upon them." (2 Chron. xxxii. 26.) But yet too few are so well acquainted with the power and rootedness of this sin at the heart, and the workings of it in the hour of temptation, as they should be. Observe it but at such times at these, and you will see that break forth, that before appeared not. 1. When we are undervalued and slighted, and meaner persons preferred before us; and when our words and judgments are made light of, and our parts thought to be poor and low; when any blot or dishonour is cast upon us, deserved or undeserved; when we are slandered or reproached, and used with despite: What a matter do we make of it, and how much then doth our pride appear in our distaste, and offence, and impatience! So that the same person that can pour out words of blame and shame against himself, cannot bear half as much from others, without displeasure and disquietness of mind. It would help us much to know this by ourselves, in the time of our humility, that we may be engaged to more watchfulness and resistance of our pride.

2. When we are reproved of any disgraceful sin, how hardly goes it down, and how many excuses have we! How seldom are we brought to downright penitent confessions! What secret distaste is apt to be rising in our hearts, against the reprover! And how seldom hath he that hearty thanks, which so great a benefit deserves! And would any think in our humiliations and large confessions unto God, that we were so proud! To know this by ourselves, would make us more suspicious and ashamed to be guilty of it.

3. When any preferment or honour is to be given, or any work to be done that is a mark of dignity, how apt are we to think ourselves as fit for it as any, and to be displeased, if the honour or employment do pass by us!

4. When we are admired, applauded, or excessively esteemed and loved, how apt are we to be too much pleased with it! which sheweth a proud desire to be somebody in the world; and that there is much of this venom at the bot

tom in our hearts, even when we lay ourselves in the dust, and walk in sackcloth, and pass the heaviest judgment on ourselves.

7. Another instance of our unacquaintedness with our hearts, and the latent, undiscerned corruption of them, is our little discerning or bewailing those secret master-sins, which lie at the root of all the rest, and are the life of the old man, and the cause of all the miscarriages of our lives. As, 1. Unbelief of the truth of the Holy Scriptures, of the immortality of the soul, and the life of joy or misery hereafter, and the other articles of the Christian faith. What abundance of Christians are sensible of their unbelief, as to the applying acts of faith that tend to their assurance of their own salvation, that are little sensible of any defect in the assenting act, or of any secret root of unbelief about the truth of the Gospel revelations! And yet, alas, it is this that weakeneth all our graces: it is this that feedeth all our woe! O happy men, were we free from this! What prayers should we put up! What lives should we lead! How watchfully should we walk! With what contempt should we look on the allurements of the world! With what disdain should we think on fleshly lusts! With what indignation should we meet the tempter, and scorn his base, unreasonable motions, if we did but perfectly believe the very truth of the Gospel, and world to come! How careful and earnest should we be, to make our calling and election sure! How great a matter should we make of sin, and of helps and hindrances in the way to heaven! How much should we prefer that state of life that furthereth our salvation, before that which strengtheneth our snares by furthering our prosperity and pleasure in the world, if we were not weak or wanting in our belief of the certain verity of these things! Did we better know the badness of our hearts herein, it would engage us more in fortifying the vitals, and looking better to our foundation, and winding up this spring of faith, which must give life to all right motions of the soul.

2. How insensible are too many of the great imperfection of their love to God! What passionate complaints have we of their want of sorrow for their sin, and want of memory, and of ability to pray, &c. when their complaints for want of love to God, and more affecting knowledge of him, are so cold and customary, as shews us they little observe the