"examples, to the intent that we should not luft after evil things, "as they also lufted."

3. Am I willing to feel what they felt for fin? O, I dare not follow them in the ways of fin! quia me vesliga terrent; Left God should plunge me into the deeps of horror, into which he caft them.

Thus learn to keep your hearts in the hour of temptation to fin. Seafon 10. The tenth special season to keep the heart with all diligence, is the time of fpiritual darkness and doubting, when it is with the foul as it was with Paul in his dangerous voyage, neither ་ fun, nor moon, nor ftar appears for many days: When by reafon ⚫ of the hidings of God's face, the prevalency of corruption, and the ⚫inevidence of grace, the foul is even ready to give up all its hopes ⚫ and comforts for loft; to draw fad and defperate conclufions upon itfelf; to call its former comforts vain delufions; its grace hypocrify. When the ferene and clear heavens are overcast with dark clouds, yea, filled with thunders and horrible tempefts, when the poor penfive foul fits down and weeps forth this fad lamentation, "My hope is perifhed from the Lord!" Now to keep the heart from finking in fuch a day as this, to enable it to maintain its own ⚫ fincerity, is a matter of great difficulty. The tenth cafe then will be this?'

Cafe 10. How the people of God, in dark and doubting feafons, may keep their hearts from entertaining fuch fad conclufions about their eftates, as def troy their peace, and unfit them for their duty.

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There are two general heads to which the grounds of doubting our fincerity may be reduced. (1.) God's carriage towards the foul, either in the time of fome extraordinary affliction, or of fome long and fad defertion. Or, (2.) The foul's carriage towards God: And here it ufually argues against the truth of its own graces, either (1.) From its relapfes into the fame fins from which it had formerly rifen with fhame and forrow. Or, (2.) From the fenfible declining of its affections from God. Or, (3.) From the excess of the affections towards creature-comforts and enjoyments. Or, (4.) From its enlargements in public, and often ftraitnings in private duties. Or, (5.) From fome horrid injections of Satan, with which the foul is greatly perplexed. Or, laftly, From God's filence and feeming denial of its long depending fuits and prayers.

Thefe are the common grounds of those fad conclufions: Now in order to the establishment and fupport of the heart in this condition, it will be neceffary,

1. That you be acquainted with fome general truths, which have a tendency to the settlement of a trembling and doubting foul. 2. That you be rightly inftructed about the forementioned ticulars, which are the grounds of your doubting.

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The general truths' requifite for poor doubting fouls to be acquainted with, are thefe:

1. That every working and appearance of hypocrify doth not presently prove the perfon in whom it is, to be an hypocrite. You muft carefully diftinguish between the prefence and predominancy of hypocrify: There are remains of deceitfulness in the best hearts; David and Peter had fad experience of it; yet the standing frame and general bent of the heart being upright, it did not denominate them hypocrites.

2. That we ought as well to hear what can be faid for us as againft us: It is the fin of upright hearts fometimes to ufe an over-rigid, and mercilefs feverity against themselves: They do not indifferently confider the cafe of their own fouls: It is in this cafe, as Solomon speaks in another, Prov. xii. 7. "There is that maketh himself "rich, and yet hath nothing; and there is that inaketh himself poor, "and yet hath great riches." It is the damning fin of the felf-flattering hypocrite, to make his condition better than it is: And it is the fin an 1 folly of fome upright ones, to make their condition worse than indeed it is. Why thould you be fuch enemies to your own peace? To read over the evidences of God's love to your fouls, as a man doth a book which he intends to confute? Why do you study to find evations, to turn off thofe comforts which are due to you? It is faid of Jofeph, that he was minded to put away his efpoufed Mary, not knowing that that holy thing which was conceived in her, was by the Holy Ghoft: And this may be your cafe. And a third truth is this:

3. That many a faint hath charged and condemned himself for that, which God will never charge him with, nor condemn him for. "Why "haft thou hardened our hearts from thy fear," (faith the church) Ifa. lxiii. 17. and yet the verfe before manifefts, that their hearts were not fo hardened: Godly Bradford wrote himself an hypocrite, a painted fepulchre; yet doubtless God acquitted him of that charge.

4. Every thing which is a ground of grief to the people of God, is not a fufficient ground of questioning their fincerity. There are many more things to trouble you, than there are to ftumble you: If upon every flip and failing through infirmity, you fhould question all that ever was wrought upon you, your life must be made up of doubtings and fears: You can never attain a settled peace, nor live that life of praise and thankfulness, the gofpel calls for.

5. The foul is not at all times fit to pass judgment upon its own condition: To be fure in the dark day of desertion, when the foul is benighted; and in the ftormy day of temptation, when the foul is in a hurry, it is utterly unfit to judge its eftate; "Examine your hearts "upon your beds, and be ftill," Pfal. iv. This is rather a feason for watching and refifting, than for judging and determining.

6. That every breach of peace with God, is not a breach of covenant with God. The wife hath many weakneffes and failings, often grieves and displeases her husband; yet in the main is faithful, and truly loves him: Thefe tailings may caufe him to alter his carriage, but not to withdraw his love, or deny his relation. "Return, O backfliding Ifrael, for I am married unto you."

7. Laftly, Whatever our fin, or trouble be, it fhou rather drive us to God, than from God. "Pardon my fin for it is great," Pfal. xxv. 11. Suppose it be true, that thou haft fo and fo finned, that thou art thus long and fadly deferted: Yet it is a falfe inference, that therefore thou shouldft be difcouraged, as if there were no help for thee in thy God. When you have well digested these feven establishing truths, if still the doubt remain, then confider what may be replied to the particular grounds of thefe doubts. As,

1. You doubt, and are ready to conclude, the Lord hath no regard or love for your fouls, because of fome extraordinary affliction which is come upon you: But I would not have thy foul fo to conclude, till thou be able fatisfactorily to anfwer thefe three queftions.

Question 1. If great troubles and afflictions be marks of God's hatred, why fhould not impunity and conftant profperity be tokens of his love? For contrariorum contraria eft ratio & confequentia? of contrary things, there is a contrary reafon and confequence: But is this fo indeed? or faith not the fcripture quite otherwife? Prov. i. 32. "The profperity of fools destroys them." So Pfal. xxxvii. 5.

Queft. 2. Dare I draw the fame conclufion upon all others that have been as much, yea, more afflicted than myself? If this argument conclude against thee, then fo it doth against every one in thy condition; yea, the greater the affliction of any child of God hath been, the more strongly the argument ftill concludes: And then woe to David, Job, Heman, Paul, and all that have been afflicted as they

were.

Queft. 3. Had God exempted you only from thofe troubles, which all other his people feel, would not that have been a greater ground of doubting to you than this? Efpecially fince the fcripture faith, Heb. xii. 8. "If ye be without chaftenings, whereof all are partakers, then "are ye baftards, and not fons."

Oh how is our Father put to it by froward children! If he afflicts, then one cries, he loves me not: If he exempt from afflictions, others queftion his love upon that ground. Surely you have other work to do, under the rod, than this.

2. Or do you rafhly infer, the Lord hath no love for you, because he hides his face from you; that your condition is miferable, because dark and uncomfortable? Before you draw fuch rath conclufions, fee what answer you can give to thefe four following queries.

Query 1. If any action of God towards his people will bear a favourable, as well as a harsh and fevere construction, why should not his people interpret it in the beft fenfe? And is not this fuch? May he not have a defign of love, as well as of hatred, in this difpenfation? May he not depart for a feason, and not for ever? Yea, that he might not depart for ever. You are not the first that have mistaken God's ends in desertion. Ifa. xlix. 14 "Sion « faid, the Lord hath forfaken me, my God hath forgotten me:"

Was it fo. indeed? Nothing lefs. Ver. 15. «Can a mother for"get," &c.

Query 2. Do you find the marks of an absolute, total and final defertion upon your own fpirits, that you are fo apt to conclude yours to be fuch? Do you find your hearts inclined to forfake God? Have you loft your confcientious tenderness in point of fin? If fo, fad characters appear upon you indeed; but if in this dark hour you are as tender of fin as ever, as much resolved to cleave to God as ever; I cannot, I will not forfake God, let him do what he will with me: O no, I cannot. If your hearts work thus, it can be but a partial, limited, and temporary desertion; by this he ftill keeps his intereft in your hearts, a fure fign he will return, and vifit you again.

Query 3. Is fenfe and feeling a competent judge of God's actions and defigns? Or may a man fafely rely upon its teftimony, after fo many difcoveries of the fallibility of it? Is this a found argument? If God had any love for my foul, if it were not quite gone, I fhould feel it now, as well as in former times; but I cannot feel it, therefore it is quite gone. Do you not know the fun ftill keeps on his courfe in the heavens, even in dull and close weather, when you cannot fee it? And may it not be fo with the love of God? Read Ifa. 1. 10. May not I as well conclude in winter, when the flowers have hid their beautiful heads under ground, they are quite dead. and gone, because I cannot find them in December where I saw them in May?

Query 4 Think you the Lord cares not to break his children's hearts, and his own promise too? Hath he no more regard to cither? If he return no more, these must be the consequents, Ifa. lvii. 16, 17. Heb. xiii. 5.

Well, then, from God's carriage towards you, either in affliction, or desertion, no fuch difcouraging, heart-finking conclufions can be inferred. Next, let us fee whether they may not be inferred from our carriage towards God; and here the principal grounds of doubting are fuch as these :

1. I have fallen again into the fame fin from which I have formerly rifen with repentance and refolution; therefore my finning is cuftomary finning; a fpot that is not the fpot of God's children. Hence the upright foul trembles; upon this it is ready to affirm, that all its former humiliations for, and oppofitions unto fin, were but acts of hypocrify. But ftay, poor trembling heart.

Query 1. If this be fo, how comes it to pass that Chrift put fuch a favourable conftruction upon the difciples fleeping the third time, when he had as often reproved them for it? Matth. xxvi 40. 41. and how is it that we find in fcripture fo many promises made to God's people, not only upon their firft fins, but upon their backflidings alfo? Jer. iii. 22. Hof. xiv. 4.

Query 2. Is not your repentance and care renewed as often as your guilt is renewed? Yea, the oftener you fin, the more you are troubled; it VOL. V.

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is not so in customary finning, the rife whereof* Bernard excellently discovers. 1. (Saith he) When a man accustomed to good, finneth grievoufly, it seems infupportable, yea, he feems to defcend alive into hell. 2. In procefs of time it seems not infupportable, but heavy; and betwixt infupportable and heavy, there is no fmall descent.

3. Next it becomes light, his confcience fmites but faintly, and he feels not the stripes of it. 4. Then there is not only a total infenfiblenefs of it, but that which was bitter and difpleafing is now become sweet and pleafing, in fome degree. 5. Then it is turned into cuftom, and not only pleafes, but daily pleafes. Laftly, Cuftom is turned into nature; he cannot be pulled away from it, but defends and pleads for it: This is cuftomary finning, this is the way of the wicked; but the quite contrary is your condition.

Query 3. Are you fure, from fcripture-grounds, that good men may not relapfe again and again into the fame fin? It is true, as for grofs fins, they do not use to relapfe into them: David committed adultery no more: Paul perfecuted the church no more: Peter denied Chrift no more: But I fpeak of ordinary infirmities. Job's friends were good men, yet (faith he) chap. xix. 3. "These ten times have ye reproach"ed me." So then, no fuch conclufions follow from this first ground of doubting.

2. The fecond ground is the declining and withering of our affections to Spiritual things. O! (faith the upright foul) if ever I had been planted a right feed, I should have been as a green olive tree in the house of my God; but my branches wither, therefore my root is naught. But stay,

Query 1. May you not be mistaken about the decay of grace, and fading your affections? What if they are not fo quick and ravishing as at first, may not that be recompensed in the fpirituality and folidity of them now? Phil. i. 9. "I pray God your love may abound more " and more in all judgment:" It may be more folid, though not fo fervent or do not you mistake by looking forward to what you would be, rather than backward to what once you were? It is a good note of Ames, we discern the growth of grace, as the growth of plants, which we perceive rather Creviffe quam crefcere, to have grown, than to grow.

Query 2. But grant it be fo indeed, as you affirm, muft it needs follow, that the root of the matter is not in you? David's laft ways are diftinguifhed from his firft, 2 Chron. xvii. 3. and yet both first and last a holy man. The church of Ephefus is charged by Christ for leaving her first love, and yet a golden candlestick, many precious faints in that church, Rev. ii. 2, 3, 4.

3. A third ground of these fad conclufions is, the excess of your affections to fome creature-enjoyments. I fear I love the creature more than God; and if fo, my love is but hypocritical: I fometimes

* Lib. de Confc. p. 109.