« revived, and I died,” Rom. vii. 9. i. e. all my vain hopes expired; no artifice of Satan can any longer quiet the finner's confcience; he apprehends himfelf in a miferable condition, meditates an efcape; farewell now to found and quiet fleep: no peace till out of danger.

8. Every effectual knock of Chrift gives an alarm to hell, and puts Satan to all his shifts and arts to fecure the poffeffion of the convinced finner. The devil is a jealous fpirit, and when his intereft is in danger he beftirs himself to purpofe; the time of conviction is an hour of temptation. "We wrestle not with flesh and "blood, (faith the apoftle) but against principalities, against pow❝ers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against fpi"ritual wickedness, (or wicked fpirits) in high places," or about heavenlies, Eph. vi. 12. The ftrife betwixt Satan and the foul is now for no less than the prize of eternal life; it is now for all, or none, for life or death, for heaven or hell: The powers of hell are now all in arms to deftroy convictions, and fecure the poffeffion of the foul againft Chrift; as when a granado falls into a garrifon, the first care of the defendants is, to ftifle and choak it before it break. Whilft Chrift is fpeaking by his Spirit in one ear, the devil is whispering in the other; and the things he whifpers to quench convictions are ufually fuch as thefe: It is time enough yet, what need fuch hafte? Enjoy thy pleafures a little longer, thou mayeft come to Chrift and be faved at laft. If that will not do, then he changeth his voice: To what purpose wilt thou go to Chrift? It is now too late, the time of grace is over; hadft thou come to him in thy youth, and obeyed his firft call, it had been fomewhat, but now it is to no purpose. If this will not quiet the foul, then he faith, Thy fins are too great to be pardoned, there is no hope for fuch a prodigious finner as thou art. If the Lord help the foul to overcome this by difcovering to it the riches of mercy, pardoning the greateft of finners; then he reprefents the multitudes which are in the fame cafe with the convinced finner; Come, fear not, if it go ill with thee, it will be as bad for millions of men and women; if thou go to hell, thousands will go with thee: But if the foul be loth to be damned for company, then he bids it look upon the train of troubles and afflictions that come along with Chrift, and will certainly follow him, if the door be open to let him in: If Chrift come in, reproaches, loffes, and fufferings will certainly come in with him; troops of miferies and calamities follow him; himfelf hath told thee fo, and art thou mad to ruin all thy comforts in the world, and plunge thyfelf into a fea of trouble for what thine eyes never faw? But if the foul reply, these are more tolerable than damnation; better my flefh fuffer for a time, than my foul be caft away for ever. Then he reprefents the infuperable difficul

ties of religion; What a hard thing it is to be faved, how many painful duties and acts of mortification the foul muft pafs through! Thus you fee what an alarm conviction gives to the powers of hell.

9. Every effectual knock of Chrift is followed on, and new convictions revive old and former ones, and the Lord never leaves knocking till the door be opened; if one fermon will not do, another fhall; if one wound be plaiftered and healed by the art of Satan, a freth wound fhall be made; if a former conviction vanish, the next fhall be fealed upon the foul; and when the Spirit of the Lord sealeth a conviction upon the confcience, raze it out who can? And here is the difference betwixt special and common convictions; common convictions come and go, they put the foul in a fright for a day or a month, and then trouble it no more for ever; but special convictions will be continued, one thing backs another; for Chrift is in pursuit of the foul, and will give it chafe, till at last he overtake, and come up with it.

10. Laftly, All the knocks of Chrift ceafe and end when the finner's day of grace is ended; this is of dreadful confideration; when the time of mercy is over, no more strivings of the Spirit with a man after that. Chrift faith to the drowfy finner, as he fpake to the drowfy difciples in the garden, Sleep on now, and take your reft. So here, I called thee in fuch a fermon, but thou heardest not; by fuch a providence, but thou obeyedst not; fleep on now, and take thy reft: "My people would not hearken to my voice, and Ifrael "would none of me; fo I gave them up to their own hearts luft, "to walk in their own counfels," Pfal. lxxxi. 11, 12. q. d. I have done with them, the treaty is ended, I will make no more effays towards their converfion and falvation. So I gave So I gave them up. Methinks it founds as much as this,-Take them fin, take them devil, I will have no more to do with them :-fo Hofea iv. 17. «Ephraim "is joined to idols, let him alone." His heart is glued fast to sin, he is enamoured upon other lovers, let him alone. O beloved, it is a dreadful thing for God to fay, Let this man alone in his formality, and that man in his carnal fecurity. Let not this be mifapplied by poor trembling fouls under conviction: I know the fear of this judgment is upon their hearts, nothing makes them tremble more than left the day of grace be ended with them. But there is no ground for this fear, whilft the Spirit continues convincing, and the foul trembling left his convictions fhould prove ineffectual. Thus much of the nature, inftruments, and manner of Chrift's knocking at the door of a finner's heart. Our way is now opened to a fruitful application of this point, which I will wind up in divers neceffary ufes.

I. Ufe, for Information.

And first, The point before us will be useful for information in the following inferences and deductions.

Infer. 1. Into how deep a fleep hath fin caft the fouls of finners, that Chrift must fand fo long, and give fuch loud repeated knocks before it will awake and open to him? There is the fpirit of a deep fleep fallen upon men, like that into which God caft Adam; God fpeaks once, yea, twice, but man regards it not; it is the hardest thing in the world to rouse and awaken a man out of his carnal fecurity. Look over Satan's kingdom, and you fhall find a general ftillness and quietness among his fubjects; there is no trouble for fin, no ftrivings after falvation, no cryings out, "What fhall we do to be "faved?" Go into the crowds of carnal men and women, and you fhall find them all intent and bufy about other matters. How long fhall you be in their company before you hear one groan for fin, or fee one tear flide from their eyes on that account? Oh! what a marvellous thing is here! do not their confciences know the guilt that lies upon them? Are they not aware of a day of reckoning which approacheth? Yes, yes, thefe things are not hid from their confciences: What art then is ufed to keep them fo ftill and quiet? Why, there are divers rattles to ftill the confciences of finners, and they do it effectually. There are four caufes and occafions of this wonderful ftillness in the fouls of finners.

1. Ignorance of the nature of regenerating grace, taking that for regeneration, which is none of it; thus did the Jews, John viii. 25. confidently affirm God to be their God, and yet they did not know him. How many poor ignorant creatures think there is no need of any other work of regeneration, but what paffed upon them in baptifm? They were born and baptized Chriftians, and that is enough, they think, to fave them: Mat. iii. 9. "We have Abraham to our father." They thought it fufficient that Abraham's blood ran in their veins, though there were not a fpark of Abraham's faith kindled in their fouls. The Lord forgive the fin of thofe men that lead poor fouls into fuch fatal miftakes. O if men were but aware of the neceffity of a greater and farther work to pafs upon their fouls than their baptifm, common powerlefs profefiion, or the fimilar works which appear upon formal hypocrites, heaven and earth would ring with their cries. But ignorance of the nature and neceflity of special regenerating grace, like a dofe of opium, cafts the confciences of many into this deep fleep.

2. Freedom from groffer fins and pollutions of the world, stills and quiets the confciences of thousands; they have bad a civil, fober, and fair education; and though there be no grace and re

generation, yet what faints do they feem to themselves, being adorned with fobriety and civility! This ftilled the confcience of the Pharifee, Luke xviii. 11. "God, I thank thee, that I am not "as other men are, extortioners, unjuft, adulterers, or even as "this publican." Thus, like delicate Agag, they spruce up themfelves with moral homolitical virtues, wherein many thousand Heathens were more gay than themselves; but juftice will hew them to pieces as Agag was, for all their moral ornaments and endow

ments.

3. The ftrict performance of the external duties of religion quiets the confciences of many; they question not but those that do fo well fhall fare well, and that God will never damn men and women that keep their church and fay their prayers as they do. Thus the carnal Jews deluded themfelves, crying, "The temple "of the Lord, the temple of the Lord:" As malefactors, in fome of our neighbouring kingdoms, fly to the church from the hand of juftice, fo do thefe; but God will pluck them from the horns of the altar, and convince them that the empty name of religion is no fecurity from damnation.

4. Many confciences are ftill and quieted in a natural, finful ftate, by miûinterpreting the voices of providence; it may be God profpers your earthly affairs, fucceeds and fimiles upon your undertakings; and this you conclude muft be a token of his love and favour: But alas! this is a great mistake, the Lord give you better evidences of his love than thefe; for who profper more in the world than wicked men? And who are more croffed than the people of God? Read Job xxi. and Pfal. Ixxiji. and compare both with Eccl. ix. 1. and you will quickly find the vanity of all hopes fuch a foundation.

built upon

However, by fuch things as thefe are, the god of this world blinds the eyes of multitudes.

Infer. 2. If every conviction be a knock of Chrift, how deeply are all fouls concerned in the fuccefs and iffue of them?

Conviction is an embryo of the new creature; if it go out its full time, and come to a perfect new birth, it brings forth falvation to your fouls; if it mifcarry finally, you are finally loft. It is of infinite concernment therefore to every man and woman to be tender over these convictions of their confciences. It is true, conviction and converfion are two things; there may be conviction without converfion, though there can be no converfion without conviction. The bloffoms upon the trees in the fpring of the year cannot properly be called fruit, they are rather the rudiments of fruit, or fomething in order to fruit. If they open kindly, and knit or fet firmly, perfect fruit follows them; but if a blast or froity mornings kill them, no fruit is to be expected. Thus it is

here, great care therefore ought to be taken about the prefervation and fuccefs of convictions, both by

1. The foul itself that is under them.

2. And by all others that are concerned about them.

1. What care fhould the foul itfelf have, upon whom convictions are wrought; have a care, friends, how you quench them, divert or hinder the operations of them, left you hinder as much as in you lies, the very conception of Chrift in your fouls by them. I remember it is faid, Exod. xxi. 22. " If men ftrive and "hurt a woman with child, and mifchief follow, life fhall be "given for life." The life of your fouls is bound up in the life of your convictions. I know it is hard for men and women to dwell with their own convictions; guilt and wrath are fad fubjects for men's thoughts to dwell upon; but yet it is far better to dwell with the thoughts of fin and wrath here, than to lie fweltering under them in hell for ever. You may be rid of your convictions and your falvation together; be not too eager after peace, a good trouble is better than a falfe peace. And on the other fide, beware that your convictions and troubles turn not into difcouragements to faith; this will crofs the proper intention of them: they are Chrift's knocks for entrance, and were never intended to be bars or ftumbling-blocks in your way to him; not stops, but steps in your way to Chrift.

2. Let all others that are concerned about convinced fouls, beware what counfels they give, and what rules they prescribe, left they render them abortive, and deftroy all in the bud. There are two errors too commonly committed, one in excess, perfuading fouls under trouble of confcience that there is no coming for them to Chrift, unless they be fo and fo prepared, humbled juft to fuch a degree; this is dangerous counfel, it overheats the troubles of confcience, and keeps the foul from its proper, prefent duty and remedy. I am fure Paul and Silas took no fuch courfe with the convinced Jailor, nor Peter with the three thousand wounded confciences, Acts ii. Nor do I find where God hath ftated the time and degree of fpiritual troubles, fo that there muft be no addreffes to Chrift in the way of faith, until they have fuffered them fo long and to fuch an height: if they have imbittered fin to the foul, and made it fee the neceffity of a Saviour, I think they cannot move too foon after Chrift in the way of faith. Let no man fet bounds where God fets none.

There is another error committed in defect, when promifes and comforts are prefently applied, before the nature of faith is known, or one act of recumbency put forth towards Chrift: thefe hafty comforts come to nothing; they will not, they cannot stand. It is a dangerous thing to apply gofpel-cordials, and pour out the pre