told them, that I have spoken to, and it is to be told, till it be mended, that it were a happy thing if people would but spend half that time, nay a quarter of that time, in secret thoughts about salvation, that they spend in hearing the word of salva tion; and it is a hard matter if people cannot be prevailed with about this.--I can well assure you, that all the solid soul-thriving of the hearers of the gospel, is not so much in what they hear, in the preaching of the word, as in what they digest in their secret thoughts and meditations about it. Now is it any wonder that people take to any courses about their salvation, when they thus trifle about it? For if the end be not precious in a man's eyes, you can never expect to have him thoughtful about the means.

[4.] In all natural men there is unbelief of God's word. It is a hard question to resolve, What was the first sin? Any child can tell you, that the first sin of mankind was eating the forbidden fruit: it is true, the first sin was ripe in that action but what was the first wandering thought from God? Whether it was the man's discontent with the state that he was made in; or aspiring after a higher state than that in which he was made; or a jealousy of God; or unbelief of the word of God; that unbelief was in it is most certain. The serpent began his temptation this way, Yea, hath God said ye shall not eat of every tree in the garden? Hath God said you shall surely die? Ye shall not surely die, Gen. iii. 1, 4. The scope of his temptation was this, to bring in sin and ruin upon the world, by making sinless Adam to doubt of the truth of God's threatening; and he well knew that if once the awful faith of the truth of God's threatening was weakened in their minds, that they would soon make bold on the sin. God's threatening was as a kind of fence against the sin: In the day that thou eatest, thou shalt surely die. "Assure thyself of "death if ever you meddle with the forbidden fruit." Satan knew that death was terrible to man, and that he would not easily rush upon it; aye, but, saith he, God hath not said ye shall surely die, but you shall live, and be as Gods, if you transgress. Sirs, the Devil brought in the first sin and ruin upon mankind, by the unbelief of God's word of threatening. And he brings in the eternal ruin of men under the gospel by unbelief

men are under utter darkness about this; and therefore it is no wonder that they betake themselves to other ways than the grace of God in Christ.

3dly, All natural men are ignorant of the righteousness of God in Christ.

Every natural

[2.] In every natural man there is pride. man is a proud man: proud towards God. That which goes under the name of pride amongst men is greatly mistaken. Pride towards man is a base thing; but it is pride towards God that I am speaking of. The poor sinner thinks that he is not quite so bare and empty, but that he hath something of his own wherein he may stand accepted before God-every natural man doth think so-it fares with a natural man as it doth with some poor men that are born of great families, whose fathers left them, as we use to say, a high birth, but a poor purse. Now this proud gentleman chooses a great deal rather to wear his own thread-bare coat, than another man's livery. Just so it is with sinners; their father Adam was a great lord: lord of this world, heir of righteousness, rich in stock-enough to have made all his posterity rich before God: but he broke and failed, and turned us all beggars into the world. But there comes another person, God's own Son, and he offers to clothe the poor beggar; but the poor proud man had rather go to hell in the rags that his father Adam left him, than go to heaven in the robe that Christ offers him, dyed in his own blood.

[3] In every natural man there is awful trifling about the great concerns of salvation. The truth is, people are not thoroughly awakened, nor in good earnest about the matters of salvation. It lies not near their heart as a weighty question, What shall I do to be saved? These thoughts do not press them, "I am a poor man that must shortly die, and "this crazy carcase of mine will shortly moulder into the grave; but my soul must live for ever in, and "enter upon an eternal state, as soon as the last breath of my "body expires, and what shall become of me then ?" The greatest part of the world trifle about this great question, "What shall I do to be saved, to be secure to eternity?" What a shameful thing is it to think of this! I have often

"dust of the

told them, that I have spoken to, and it is to be told, till it be mended, that it were a happy thing if people would but spend half that time, nay a quarter of that time, in secret thoughts about salvation, that they spend in hearing the word of salva tion; and it is a hard matter if people cannot be prevailed with about this.--I can well assure you, that all the solid soul-thriving of the hearers of the gospel, is not so much in what they hear, in the preaching of the word, as in what they digest in their secret thoughts and meditations about it. Now is it any wonder that people take to any courses about their salvation, when they thus trifle about it? For if the end be not precious in a man's eyes, you can never expect to have him thoughtful about the means.

[4.] In all natural men there is unbelief of God's word. It is a hard question to resolve, What was the first sin? Any child can tell you, that the first sin of mankind was eating the forbidden fruit: it is true, the first sin was ripe in that action but what was the first wandering thought from God? Whether it was the man's discontent with the state that he was made in; or aspiring after a higher state than that in which he was made; or a jealousy of God; or unbelief of the word of God; that unbelief was in it is most certain. The serpent began his temptation this way, Yea, hath God said ye shall not eat of every tree in the garden? Hath God said you shall surely die? Ye shall not surely die, Gen. iii. 1, 4. The scope of his temptation was this, to bring in sin and ruin upon the world, by making sinless Adam to doubt of the truth of God's threatening; and he well knew that if once the awful faith of the truth of God's threatening was weakened in their minds, that they would soon make bold on the sin. God's threatening was as a kind of fence against the sin: In the day that thou eatest, thou shalt surely die. "Assure thyself of "death if ever you meddle with the forbidden fruit." Satan knew that death was terrible to man, and that he would not easily rush upon it; aye, but, saith he, God hath not said ye shall surely die, but you shall live, and be as Gods, if you transgress. Sirs, the Devil brought in the first sin and ruin upon mankind, by the unbelief of God's word of threatening. And he brings in the eternal ruin of men under the gospel by unbelief

of God's word of promise: every natural man hath an evil heart of unbelief in him, as the apostle warns all to take heed of: Heb. iii. 12. Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. This matter of unbelief is many ways spoken of in the word: the way of salvation by Jesus Christ, and his righteousness, stands all in the word of God. If you ask the last question concerning a man's faith, you must resolve it into the word of God there are, indeed, many questions that go before it, but this must be the last. If you ask, How may a sinner be saved? The answer is, By the righteousness of Christ. If you ask again, Who is this Jesus Christ, whose righteousness will be the salvation of all them that have it? He is the great Son of God, that took our sins on him. Well, but how shall this righteousness be mine? By faith alone: if I lay hold of it, and venture my soul on it, it is mine? Aye, but the last question is, How do you know that it shall be so? God hath said it in his word, Acts x. 43. To him give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth on him shall receive remission of sins. Now every natural man having unbelief in him, God's word hath no weight on him. We find they proclaim their unbelief in every thing. When God commands, they proclaim their unbelief in disobeying; when God corrects them, they proclaim their unbelief in rushing again upon the same courses that God punishes them for; when God threatens and warns the sinner of his danger in such a sin, the man proclaims his unbelief by staying still in it and what are all these but acts of gross unbelief? When God commands, the man thinks, that God means not as he speaks; when God threatens, the unbeliever thinks God will not do as he threatens-When God promises, saith the same unbelief, Though God speaks fair, he will not be as good as "his word."

Now, is it any wonder that every natural man takes another way of salvation besides the righteousness of Christ, when every natural man hath these four woeful things in him? And, indeed, none can do otherwise till these four things are overthrown in him-till the darkness is removed by the illu mination of the Spirit of God-and the pride be brought VOL. IV.

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down by humbling grace--and the security of the conscience be brought down by awakening grace-and till the power of unbelief be broke by the Spirit's working faith. So much for the causes of this.

(2.) I am now to shew what the effects are that flow from these causes; or, what flows from this woeful natural aversion in all men from the grace of God, and from their inclinations to frustrate it.

1st, Hence it comes to pass that the world is filled with fancies, and devices of men to please God.

This runs through the whole earth: the religion, (if I may call it by that name) of the Pagans; the religion of the Turks, and the Mahometans, and of the Papists, however they may differ in a great many points of doctrine, and particular circumstances of worship, yet they all agree in this; all these religions, and all religions in the world, except the true, are filled with many devices of men to render themselves acceptable to God. The Lord brings them in, Micah vi. 6. making this enquiry, Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God? Shall I come before him with burnt-offerings, with calves of a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I give my first-born for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? Pray take notice here; one of the grossest idolatries that ever was in the world, and the most abominable act of it, is this, when parents, to pacify God for their sins, have offered their children in sacrifice to their idols; this hath been frequently practised in the world, and, it may be, is at this day in some parts of the world. Whence can this be that there should be so strange a violation of one of the strongest bonds of nature? It is not to be supposed that these people did so because they did not love their children; no doubt but they loved them as well as you do yours: but only here lay the matter; they were under a strong conviction of sin, and under strong desires to please God: and they were ignorant of the true sacrifice, and, therefore, they offer to God what they think best, and what they love best; and that they hope God will accept most kindly from them. Sirs, you think there are many fopperies in Popery, fit only

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