Weight of them to be intollerable and too heavy for him to bear, as it was with Cain, Gen. 4. 13. My Punishment, (faith he,) is greater than 1 can bear.

Secondly, A Man living thus under a Sense of his Sins, may repent, and be forry for them, and yet be under this Covenant, and yet be in a damned State, Mat. 27. 3. And when he (Judas) faw what was done, he repented.

Thirdly, Men may not only be convinced, and. also repent for their Sins, but they may also defire the Prayers of the Children of God for them too, and yet be under this Covenant and Curfe; Exod. 10. 16, 17. And Pharaoh called for Mofes and Aaron, and faid, I have finned; intreat the Lord your God that he may take away from me thefe Plagues.

Fourthly, A Man may also humble himself for his Offences and Difobedience against his God, and yet be under this Covenant: See 1 Kings 21. 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29..

Fifthly, A Man may make Reftitution unto Men for the Offence he hath done unto them, and yet be under this Covenant.

Sixthly, A Man may do much Work for God in his Generation, and yet be under this first Covenant; as Jehu, who did do that which God bid him, 2 Kings 9.25,26. and yet God threatneth even Jehu, becaufe, tho' he did do the Thing that the Lord commanded him, yet, he did it not from a right Principle; for had he, the Lord would not have faid, Yet a little while, and I will avenge the Blood of Jezreel upon the Houfe of Jehu, Hofea i. 4.

Seventhly, Men may hear and fear the Ser vants of the Lord, and Reverence them very

highly;

highly; yea, and when they hear, they may not only hear, but hear and do, and that gladly too, not one or two Things, but many; mark, many Things gladly, and yet be loft, and yet be damned, (fee Mark 6. 20.) For Herod feared John (why? not because he had any Civil Power over him, but) because he was a juft Man, and holy, and obferved him, and when he heard him, he did many Things, and heard him gladly. It may be, that thou thinkeft, that becaufe thou heareft fuch and fuch, therefore thou art better than thy Neighbours: But know for certain, that thou mayeft not only hear, but thou mayeft hear and do, and that not with a backward Will, but gladly; mark, gladly, and yet be Herod ftil', an Enemy to the Lord Jefus ftill. Confider this I

pray you.

2. But, Secondly, To the fecond Thing, which is this, How far may fuch a one go? To what may fuch a one attain? Whither may he arrive, and yet be an undone Man, under this Covenant?

Anfw. Firft, fuch a one may be received into Fellowship with the Saints, as they are in a vifible Way of walking one with another; they may walk Hand in Hand together, (fee Mat. 25. 1. where he faith) The Kingdom of Heaven (that is, a vifible Company of Profeflors of Chrift) is likened to ten Virgins, which took their Lamps, and went forth to meet the Bridegroom, five of them were wife, and five were foolif. These in the firft Place are called Virgins; that is, such as are clear from the Pollutions of the World: Secondly, they are faid to go forth; that is, from the Rudiments and Traditions of Men: Thirdly, they do agree to take their Lamps with them; that is,. to profefs themselves the Servants of Jefus Chrift,

that

that wait upon him, and for him; and yet when he came, he found half of them (even them Virgins) that had Lamps, that alfo went forth from the Pollutions of the World, and the Cuftoms of Men, to be fuch as loft their precious Souls (fee Verse 10.) which they should not have done, had they not been under the Covenant of Grâce, and fo, not under the Law.

Secondly, They may attain to a great deal of Honour in the faid Company of Profeffors (that which may be accounted Honour) infomuch that they may be put in truft with Church-Affairs, and bear the Bag, as Judas did. I fpeak not this to fhame the Saints, but being beloved I warn them; yet I fpeak this on purpose, that it might (if the Lord will) knock at the Door of the Souls of Profeffors; confider Demas.

Thirdly,They may attain to speak of the Word as Minifters, and become Preachers of the Gofpel of Jefus Chrift, infomuch that the People where they dwell, may even take up a Proverb concerning them, faying, Is be among the Prophets? his Gifts may be fo rare, his Tongue may be fo flu-ent, and his Matter may be fo fit, that he may fpeak with a Tongue like an Angel, and speak of the hidden Mysteries, yea, of them all; mark. that, (1 Cor. 13. 1, 2, 3, 4.) and yet be nothing, and yet be none of the Lord's anointed ones, with the Spirit of Grace favingly, but may live and die under the Curfe of the Law.

Fourthly, They may go yet further; they may have the Gifts of the Spirit of God, which may enable them to caft out Devils, to remove the. biggest Hills or Mountains in the World; nay, thou mayeft be. fo gifted, as to prophesy of Things to come, the moft glorious Things, even

the

A

the coming of the Lord Jefus Chrift, to reign over all his Enemies, and yet be but a Balaam, a wicked and a mad Prophet. See 2 Pet. 2. 16. Numb. 24. 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23,24,25. Fifthly, they may not only ftand thus for a while, for a little Seafon; but they may stand thus till the coming of our Lord Jefus Chrift with his holy Angels; ay, and not be difcovered of the Saints till that very Day. Then all thofe Virgins arofe (the Wife and the Foolish) then! when? why, when this Voice was heard, Behold the Bridegroom cometh, go you out to meet him (Mat.25. 1,2,3,4,5,6.) and yet was out of the Lord Jefus Chrift, and yet was under the Law.

Sixthly, Nay, further, they may not only continue in a Profeffion till then (fuppofing themfelves to be under the Grace of the Gofpel, when indeed they are under the Curfe of the Law) but even when the Bridegroom is come, they may ftill be fo confident of their State to be good, that they will even reafon out the Cafe with Chrift, why they are not let into the Kingdom of Glory, faying, Lord, Lord, have we not eaten and drank in thy Prefence? and haft not thou taught in our Streets? Nay further, Have not we taught in thy Name? and in thy Name caft out Devils?. nay not only thus, but done many; mark, we have done many wonderful Works: Nay, further, they were fo confident, that they commanded, in a command-. ing Way, faying, Lord, open to us. See here I bcfeech you, how far thefe went; they thought they had had intimate Acquaintance with Jefus Chrift; they thought he could not chufe but fave them; they had eat and drank with him, fat at the Table with him, received Power from him, executed the fame Power. In thy Name

have we done thus and thus; even wrought many wonderful Works. See Mat. 7. 22. Luke13, 25,26. And yet these poor Creatures were fhut out of the Kingdom. O confider this (I beseech you)

before it be too late, left you fay, Lord, let, us come in, when Chrift faith, Thruft him out, Verfe 28. hears you cry, Lord, open to us, when he faith, Depart, I know you not; left though you think of having Jay, you have weeping and gnashing of Teeth.

3. But, thirdly, the third Thing touched in the Queftion was this, What may fuch a one receive of God, who is under the Curfe of the Law?

And

First, they may receive an Anfwer to their Prayers from God at fome times, for fome Things as they do ftand in need of. I find in Scripture, that God did hear thefe Perfons that the Apoftle faith was caft out.. See Gen. 21. 17. God heard the Voice of the Lad (even of caft out Ifmael.) And the Angel of the Lord called to Hagar (which was the Bond-woman, and under the Law, Gal. 4. 30.) out of Heaven, and faid unto her, Fear not; for God hath heard the Voice of the Laa where he is. Friends, it may be you may think, because you have your Prayers answered in fome particular Things, therefore you may fuppofe, that as to your eternal State, your Condition is very good: But you must know, that God doth hear the Cry of a Company of Ishmaelites, the Sons of the Bond-woman, who are under the Law as a Covenant of Works. I do not fay he hears them as to their eternal State, but he heareth them as to feveral Streights that they go through in this Life, ay, and gives them Eafe. and Liberty from their Trouble. Here this poor

Wretch