common gifts of the Spirit, God was not bound to give them, nor is he to con- tinue them. Thou hast some knowledge of the tilings of God ; thou mayest for all this die without knowledge at last : thou art a sinner in chains ; restraining grace keeps thee in ; this may he taken off, and thou let loose to thy lusts as freely as ever. And how can he persevere, that in one day may from praying fall to cursing ; from a whining, complaining conscience, come to have a seared conscience?
Thirdly, Every unregenerate man, when most busy with profession, hath those engagements lie upon him, that will necessarily, when put to it, take him off one time or other. One is engaged to the woi-ld ; and when he can come to a good market for that, then he goes away : he cannot have both, and now he will make it appear which he loves best : * Demas hath forsaken us, and em- braced this present world.' Another is a slave to liis lust ; and when this calls him, he must go, in spite of profession, conscience, God and all. Herod feared John, and did many things ; but love is stronger than fear ; his love to Herodias overcomes his fear of John, and makes him cut off at once the head of John, and the hopeful buddings which appeared in the tenderness of his conscience and begun reformation. One root of bitterness or other will spring up in such a one. If the complexion of the soul be profane, it will at last come to it, however for a while there may be some religious colour ajipcar in the man's face from some other external cause.
Use. — -This shews us what is the root of all final apostasy ; and that is, the want of a thorough change of the heart. The apostate doth not lose the grace he had, but discovers he never had any ; and it is no wonder to hear that he proves bankrupt, that was worse than nouglit when he first set up. M^ny take up their saintship upon trust, and ti-ade in the duties of religion with the credit they have gained from others' opinion of them. They believe themselves to be Christians, because others hope them to be such ; and so their great business is, by a zeal in those exercises of religion that lie outmost, to keep up the credit they have abroad, but do not look to get a stock of solid grace within, which should maintain them in their profession ; and this proves their undoing at last. Let it therefore make us, in the fear of God, to consider upon what score we take up our profession. Is there that within which bears proportion to our outward zeal ? Have we laid a good bottom 1 Is not the superstructure top-heavy, jetting too far beyond the weak foundation? They say trees shoot as much in the root under ground as in the branches above, and so doth true grace. O remember what was the perishing of the seed in stony ground ! it lacked root ; and why so, but because it was stony ? Be willing the plough should go deep enough to humble thee for sin, and rend thy heart from sin. The soul effectually brought out of the love of sin, as sin, will never be thorough friends with it again. In a word, be serious to find out the great spring that sets all thy wheels on motion in thy religious trade. Do as men that would know how much they are worth, who set what they owe on one side, and what stock they have on the other ; and then when they have laid out enough to discharge all debts and engagements, what remains to themselves they may call their own. Thus do thou consider what thou standest engaged to, thy worldly credit, profit, slavish fear of God, and selfish desire of happiness ; and when thou hast allowed for all these, see then what remains of thy fear of God, love to God, &c. If nothing, thou art naught ; if any, the less there be the weaker Christian thou art ; and when thou comest to be tried in God's fire, thou wilt suffer loss of all the other, which as hay and stubble will be burnt up.
Sf.ction V. — Doct. 3. Every soul clad with this annour of God shall stand and persevere ; or thus, true grace can never be vanquished. The Chi'istian is born a conqueror, the gates of hell shall not prevail against him. ' He that is born of God overcometh the world,' 1 John v. 4. Mark from whence the victory is dated, even from his birth : there is victory sown in his new nature, even that seed of (xod, which will keep him from being swallowed up by sin or Satan. As Christ rose, never to die more, so doth hp raise souls from the grave of sin, never to come under the power of spiritual death more. ' These holy ones of God cannot see corruption.' Hence he that believes is said in the present tense to have eternal life. As the law that came four hundred years_ after could not make void the promise to Abraham, so nothing that intervenes
183 AND HAVING DONE ALL, TO STAND.