the fanction of a righteous, but violated law. The one feels himfelfa miferable creature; the other confeffes himfelf a guilty finner. The one is terrified, and the other is humbled.

It is fome doubt with me, whether in fruitless convictions there is any fenfe at all of fin, as fuch; I mean, as truly meriting punishment from a juft and holy God. Such perfons ordinarily are difpleafed at the holiness of God's nature, and murmur at the ftrictnefs of his law; and therefore, however much they may dread fuffering here or hereafter, they cannot be faid to be convinced of fin. We have feen fome who, when afflictions brought their fins to remembrance, were but driven on, by defpair, to higher degrees of guilt, and, the more they feemed to fear the approaching judgment of God, only increased in the impatience of blafpheming rage.

However, as there is a great measure of deceit in the human heart, fome may be ready to flatter themselves, on the one hand, that they have feen the evil of fin in itself; and fome, on the other, to fear that they have not seen it as they ought, because their forrow has not risen to the requifite degree. Many have expreffed uneafinefs that they never mourned for fin in a manner correfponding to the ftrong fcripture declarations of its odious and hateful nature, or to the following defcription of gofpel penitents: "And I will pour upon the houfe of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and fupplication, and they fhall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they fhall mourn for him as one mourneth "for his only fon, and fhall be in bitterness for him, as "one that is in bitterness for his first born."* For this reafon I fhall make an obfervation or two on the degree of forrow for fin in true penitents, which may enable us to judge in every queftion of the fame nature.

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1. One thing, in general, must be carefully remembered, that we ought not to lay down one rule for all perfons. We are not to measure the forrow of any true penitent, and make a standard from it for the effects or expreffions

* Zech. xii. 10.

of forrow in any other. The ftrength of all the paffions, and their readiness to exprefs themfelves, is greater naturally in fome than in others. There is nothing of which men may be more fenfible from daily experience. Love and hatred, joy and grief, defire and averfion, fhew themfelves by much more violent emotions in fome than in others. It would be wrong, therefore, to reduce all to one rule, and none ought to look upon it as a juft caufe of difquiet, that they have not had the fame degree or depth of diftrefs and anguish, which others have had, of whom they have read or heard. Another circumftance may alfo be the occafion of diverfity. In fome, convictions may have been more early and gradual, and, therefore, lefs violent and fenfible. It is not to be fuppofed that Sanuel, whose very conception was the answer of prayer, who was called from his mother's womb, and ferved in the temple from his being a child, fhould have experienced the fame depth of humiliation with fuch as Manaffeh, for example, who had been guilty of many atrocious crimes, and continued long in a hardened and infenfible ftate. Therefore,

2. Suffer me to observe, that the great and principal evidence of a proper degree of conviction and forrow for fin, is its permanency and practical influence. Genuine conviction is not a flash of fervor, however strong, but a deep, abiding, and governing principle, which will fhew its ftrength, by its habitual power over its oppofite. Every true penitent will join in thefe words of Elihu: "Surely "it is meet to be faid unto God, I have borne chaflife"ment, I will not offend any more; that which I fee "not, teach thou me; if I have done iniquity, I will do "no more."* Nothing elfe will be a fufficient evidence of penitence, where this is wanting; and where this is the cafe, nothing can be wanting that is really neceflary. This may, perhaps, as I obferved on another part of this discourse, be thought too general, but I am perfuaded it is the only fafe ground to build upon, according to the fcriptures. Every other claim of relation will be rejected at laft by our Saviour and Judge, as he hath plainly told

us: "Not every one that faith unto me, Lord, lord, fhall “enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doth the "will of my father which is in heaven. Many will fay "to me in that day, Lord, lord, have we not prophefied "in thy name? and in thy name caft out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will "I profefs unto them, I never knew you, depart from me, ye that work iniquity."*

Would any know, therefore, whether their forrow for fin hath been to the requifite degree, let me intreat them to fuffer confcience to anfwer honeftly to the following interrogatories. Has your conviction of fin been fuch as to make you abhor and hate it in every form? Hath it been fuch as to make you refolve upon a thorough and perpetual feparation from your once beloved pleasures? Does it make you ready to examine the lawfulness of every purfuit, and to abflain even from every doubtful or fuf pected practice? Is there no known fin that you are defirous to excufe or palliate, ftudious to conceal, or willing to fpare? Remember this neceflary caution of our Saviour: "And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and "caft it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one "of thy members fhould perifh, and not that thy whole body fhould be caft into hell. And if thy right hand "offend thee, cut it off, and caft it from thee; for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members fhould pe"rifh, and not that thy whole body fhould be caft into

hell." Is there no fin, however long practifed, or however greatly delighted in; is there no fin, however gainful or honorable, but you defire liberty from its enflaving power, as well as deliverance from its condemning guilt? Is there no part of the law of God, of the duty and character of a Chriftian, however ungrateful to a covetous heart, however defpifed by a fcorning world, but you acknowledge its obligation? Would you, indeed, rather be holy than great? Do you rather choose persecution with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of fin for a feafon? See what terms Chrift makes with

*Matt. vii. 21, 22, 23. † Matt. v. 29, 30.

his difciples: "If any man will come after me, let him ་ deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me : "for whofoever will fave his life fhall lofe it, and whofo"ever will lofe his life, for my fake, fhall find it."* Upon the whole, inftead of finding fault with the duty or lot of God's children, can you truly fay, "O that there "were fuch an heart in me that I could keep his ftatutes! "The law of the Lord is perfectly holy. The paths of "the Lord toward me have been infinitely gracious. My "heart only is exceeding finful. O Lord, write thy law "in my heart, and put it in my inward parts: give me "a new heart and a new spirit, and caufe me to walk in thy statutes, and keep thy judgments, and do them."

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3. It is an excellent evidence of conviction's being right both in principle and in degree, when the penitent hath a greater fear of fin than of fuffering. As the great fource of genuine conviction of fin is a fenfe of its evil in itself, rather than an apprehenfion of its consequences even in the life to come, there is no way in which this will discover itself more diftin&ly, than in the views we have of fin, and fuffering in the prefent ftate. Whether do you grieve moft heartily for fin, or for worldly loffes? Which of them do you avoid with the greatest folicitude and care? Will not this fhow what it is that lies nearest your hearts, and hath the diminion there? Will not this fhow it in a manner that must be convincing even to yourfelves, and leave no room to reply? Alas! how heavy a fentence does this carry against many profeffing Chriftians? How great their anxiety about the things of time, how little about the concerns of eternity? How carefully will they obferve the increase or decreafe of their trade and opulence? But how little attention will they pay to the growth or decay of religion in their hearts? They will dread the arts, and fly from the fociety of a fraudulent dealer, but will fufpect no danger while their ears are drinking in the poifon of licentious or impure converfation. The lofs of a child, or the lofs of their fubftance, oppreffes them with forrow, while even the commiffion of grofs fin, if concealed from the world, produces a reflection scarcely felt, and fpeedily forgotten.

* Matt. xvi. 24.

I have faid, indeed, above, that all perfons are not equally fufceptible of violent emotions of any kind. But what fhall be faid of the fame perfons, who have the strongeft paflions on every other fubject, and nothing but coldnefs and indifference in matters of religion? What fhall be faid of the fame perfons, who are eafily and deeply affected with all temporal fufferings, and yet are but very flightly affected with a fenfe of the evil of fin? Whose tears flow readily and copioufly over a dying friend, but have no tears at all to fhed over a dying Saviour? Does this at all correfpond with the defcription given by the prophet, "of mourning as for an only fon?" In which penitential forrow is compared to the most severe and exquifite of all human calamities. I muft, however, observe, that temporal fufferings are ordinarily attended and aggravated by fenfible images, and are also fometimes fudden and unexpected, on both which accounts they may more powerfully call forth the expreffions of forrow and fympathy. But it is not difficult to judge which of them dwells moft heavily upon the mind, which of them would be firft avoided by the deliberate choice of the heart. Every true penitent does certainly fee fin to be the greateft of all evils, and will discover this by comparison with all the other evils of which he hath at prefent any knowledge or experience.

4. I fhall only mention one other evidence of conviction's being to a proper degree, which is when a sense of the evil of fin is ftill growing, inftead of diminishing. This will be found effentially to diflinguifh a fenfe of the evil of fin in itself, from a mere terror of God's power in taking vengeance on the finner. Time gradually weakens the one, but knowledge, and even the mercy of God, continues to increase the other. When a finner is brought under great convictions, it is a ftate fo painful and diftreffing, that it cannot continue long. Some kind of peace muft of neceffiry fucceed. Either he ftifles his convictions, hides the danger by fhutting his own eyes, and returns to his former fecurity and licentioufnefs of practice; or he does fome things for a time, to quiet the cries of confcience, and lay a foundation for future peace; or, lastly, he