voke him to walk worthy of that vocation wherewith he is called, whose hope of heaven doth not enable him to purify himself and to perfect holiness in the fear of God. What a contradiction is it to say, we patronize sinful sloth in men, when we tell them, if they are true Christians, that they shall continue working! is it sloth, to continue working? or, do we encourage men to be idle, by assuring them, if they are Christians, they must and shall work? yet this is the natural strain and tendency of our doctrine. What greater encouragement can you have to obedience, than this? if you will work, you shall not fail of your end; because the End itself is possible; because the Means to it are direct and certain; and because, if you once begin to work, you shall most assuredly Persevere till you have attained that end, even the salvation of your own souls?

And this is One Reason, why your labour shall not be in vain. [2] Your labour shall not be in vain, because this end shall fully answer, yea infinitely exceed, all that Cost and Pains which you are at in procuring it.

It is not so, in the things of this world. As to this, that of the Psalmist holds true: Surely every man walketh in a vain shew: surely they are disquieted in vain: Ps. xxxix. 6. though they do attain their end; and that, because that very end, that they grasp, is itself but vanity. But, can any man account heaven and happiness a vain thing? Is it not infinitely worth all, yea more than all, that thou canst do or suffer for it? Certainly, when you come to enjoy it, you will not think it a hard bargain, that it stood you in so many duties and difficulties before you came to the possession of it. No: if there could be any sorrow in that state of perfect joy, it would be, not that we have done so much; but that we have done no more: not that we have gone through so much anguish in repentance, or that we have sustained such great conflicts in self-denial and mortification; but that we waded no deeper in our own tears, nor deeper in the blood of our own lusts; that we have not more vexed and crossed our carnal self, and taken more pains in the ways of God. Could there be any sorrow in heaven, this would be the cause of it. But, certainly, a great part of our joy there, will be to reflect back upon those duties and works of obedience, through which, though with much struggling and striving, we have attained unto that most blessed state.

And this is the last argument or motive, that I shall insist upon: Work; for your labour shall not be in vain, you shall

certainly accomplish your end; and this end shall abundantly recompense you for all your labour and pains.

To conclude, then, this head. You have, at large, seen what can be pleaded on the behalf of obedience. What is it now, that you can object against these things? Are they not true? Are they not cogent? Your consciences, I know, tell you that they are so. Why, then, do they not prevail with you? Why sit you still, holding your arms in your bosoms? Sirs, I have not spoken to you fables or mysteries, that cannot be understood; but the truth, in all plainness: and, if you will not lay it to heart, believe it there is a day coming, when you shall too late know, that once you had a proffer of salvation, and you might have been happy for working for it. But, alas! this is the desperate folly of men: they do not prize salvation, while it is attainable: they never account their souls precious, till they are lost; yea, and lost, beyond all hope of recovery. I cannot tell how these many and weighty Arguments, that have been propounded, may work with you: God and your own consciences know but this I can tell, the Devil can never bring such strong reasons, why you should destroy and damn yourselves, as have now been laid before you why you should work out your own salvation. And, if they do not prevail with you, truly there is nothing that you can plead for yourselves: you cannot plead, that you could not do these things; that objection hath been answered: you cannot plead, that there would no profit arise to you if you did them; for the reward hath been abundantly discovered to you: if you plead any thing, it must be because you will not do them; and that is the thing, that will condemn you. Therefore, if these things do not prevail with you; if you still continue obstinate, and, instead of working the works of God, you work the works of your father the Devil; God acquits him. self: your blood lies not upon him: you have been fairly warned and told of it: but your own destruction shall justly lie upon your own heads.

:

V. And thus, having done with the Arguments to press you to this Duty of working out your own salvation with fear and trembling; I now come to ANSWER SOME OBJECTIONS.

And,

OBJECT. i. It may possibly enter into the heart of some des

perate sinner or other to say, "These indeed are strong Argus ments, that have been propounded for the Enforcing of this Duty of working out our salvation, upon those that expect sal vation; but, for my part, I pretend not so high: let me but now enjoy the sins that I serve and the pleasures that I pursue; and, for the state of my soul hereafter, I shall commend it to the mercy of God. Had I true grace, I might be persuaded to attempt this hard work, with hopes of some good success: but I own myself to be a sinner, and you tell me I cannot change my own heart, and without this change no salvation can be expected; why then should I disquiet myself in vain, by labouring for that, which I cannot accomplish? If I must perish, I will perish with as much Ease and Pleasure as I may. If I must go to hell, I may be as soon carried down thither in a flood of tears, as with a flood of sins. If God hath sentenced me to hell hereafter, why should I sentence myself to a hell here? And, therefore, if salvation and happiness be such points, I will give them over, and embrace more easy and obvious pleasures."

I know there is no pious heart, but shivereth with horror at such language as this, though it be but presented to it; and may, and does, think it rather the speech of devils, than men that are in a way of salvation. It is true, it is the speech of devils; but it is the speech of devils, in men's hearts. But, what! shall we leave these men to such desperate resolutions? Shall we suffer them thus to go down flaming to hell? Certainly, religion hath reason enough in it to convince such as these, if they will but shew themselves to be rational men.

For, consider, thou, who wouldst rather perish, than make thy life a trouble to thee by obedience: God, under thy disobedience, may make thy life a trouble, yea a hell to thee, by his terrors. Thou thinkest the filthy garments of thy sin and pollution sit more easy and loose about thee, than the close garments of holiness and obedience will do: nay, but God can wrap and roll these filthy garments of thine in brimstone, and set them on fire about thine ears. Many men's consciences, indeed, are like iron, that hath lain for some time out of the fire, which you would not suspect to be hot, till you let some water fall upon it, and then it appears to be so by its noise and hissing so, truly, their consciences seem cold and dead, and such as you might handle at your pleasure; but, when once God lets fall some drops of his wrath upon them, then they hiss, and

boil, and fill the soul with smoke and smother. A hard heart is no security from a troubled conscience. It is with the hearts and consciences of wicked men, as it is with a sore in the body; which, it may be, is the hardest part in the body and yet the sorest also the red flesh about the sore is hard, and yet full of pain and anguish: so is it, many times, with the hearts and consciences of wicked men; which, though they are exceeding hard, yet are full of pain and anguish. We read of Heman, that, whilst he suffered the terrors of God, he was distracted: Ps. lxxxviii. 15. And, David tells us, The sorrows of death compassed me about, and the pains of hell gat hold of me: Ps. cxvi. 3. And, if the wrath of the Almighty be thus sore and terrible upon these holy men, whose hearts were sound towards God; how fretting and galling will it be upon the ulcerated consciences of sinners! No man hath his present contentment and delight in his own power, no more than he hath his own conscience in his own power; which will speak, yea and speak terrible things too, when the sinner hath done all he can to stifle it. Nay, let every sinner speak: How is it with you, after the madness and rage of your sin is over? are you not then haunted with direful thoughts of horror and amazement, that are, as it were, gnawing and devouring your hearts? And are these they, who are content to buy ease and quietness at so dear a rate, as the loss of their precious and immortal souls; and to be eternally tormented hereafter, besides their present pain and anguish after the committing of sin now, which if they feel not always yet frequently they do? But, if God should give them up to such hardness of heart, as to become altogether insensible and stupid while they continue in this world; yet what will this avail them? will they not purchase their ease and pleasure very dearly; to lose their souls for ever hereafter, and to suffer the pains of hell eternally? The Devil hath put a horrid cheat upon these men: for they do not change their troubles and sorrows, but only the time of them: and, for a little fancied sensual ease and pleasure in this world, (which it may be they may enjoy, and it may be not; for, possibly, God may be so provoked by them, that he may suddenly cut them off in their sins: but, if not, it is but for a very little time that the pleasures of their sins and lusts will last, and then) an eternity of pain and torment shall be their portion. Sinners, be not therefore deceived: suffer not the Devil to abuse you; and to impose his drudgery upon you, under the pretence of ease and quietness. If, therefore, it be

only present contentment and satisfaction, that you seek; if you think that you shall perish, but yet you would perish the easiest way; that is not, believe it, by giving up yourselves to a way and course of sin, but in a way of duty and laborious working: in that only, can you find present contentment; and in that possibly, you may find eternal happiness.

OBJECT. ii. "But," may some say, "the works of God would be more pleasing to us, if we could but work them. But, first, we have no working principle: we are in a state of nature, and without grace; so that we cannot work. And, secondly, we cannot implant this grace in ourselves."

To this I answer: Though you neither have grace, nor can work grace in yourselves, yet you can do much, yea very much, in order to salvation, by the mere strength of nature and the liberty of your own will. This is a consideration, that needs to be frequently pressed upon the consciences of wicked men: they often hear unto what a state of weakness sin hath reduced them, and that without grace they can do nothing that is pleasing unto God or advantageous to themselves; and, by this, they are put out of conceit of setting upon the work of God, and leave the salvation of their souls at all adventures.

Consider, therefore, Sinners, how much you may do towards your own salvation, from your own nature and free-will. And, here,

1. The vilest sinner, even by the power of nature and his own free-will, may attain to the highest degree and pitch of preparation, that is usually wrought in the heart antecedently to or before true grace.

Such are legal conviction and contrition, a sad sight of sin, and a deep sorrow for it, together with strong resolutions and purposes against it, with strong desires after grace and holiness, and the like. And the reason of this is, because all these things are short of grace: and, whatever is short of true grace, falls within the compass of nature and free-will, which is common unto all men ; which, though it be indeed wounded and maimed, yet may make shift to go so far as this comes to. True grace is only the creation of the power of God, and not the production of nature or free-will: wherefore, after all this preparation is wrought, a sinner can no more work grace in himself, than he could before; yet he is now nearer to grace, and in a greater