2. Secondly, Natural ignorance ; this keeps all in peace : they that see not, fear not. There are but two ways to quiet the hearts of men about their spiritual and eternal concernments, viz. the way of assurance and faith, or the way of ignorance and self-deceit; by the one we are put beyond danger, by the other beyond fear, though the danger be greater. Satan could never quiet men, if he did not first blind them.
3. Thirdly, False evidences of the love of God is another spring feeding this security, vain hope, and false joy in the hearts of men : see the power of it to hush and still the conscience, Mat. vii. 22. " Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we " not prophesied in thy name ?*" &c. The things upon which they built their evidence and confidence, were external things in religion ; yet they had a quieting power upon them, as if they had been the best evidences in the World.
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4. Fourthly, Slight workings of the gospel ; such are transient motions of the affections under the word* Ileb. vi. 8. the working of their desires about spiritual objects. John vi. 34. Math. xxv. 8. the external change and reformation of their ways, Mat. xii. 43. all which serve to nourish the vain hopes of the unregenerate.
5. Fifthly, Self-love is an apparent reason and ground of secu- rity and false hope, Mat. vii. 3. It makes a man to overlook great evils in himself, whilst he is sharp-sighted to discover and censure lesser evils in others : self-love takes away the sight of sin, by bring- ing it too near the eye.
6. Sixthly, Mens comparing themselves with those that are more profane and grossly wicked than themselves, serves notably to quiet and hush the conscience asleep; " God, I thank thee, (said the " Pharisee), I am not as other men, or as this publican.7' O what a saint did he seem to himself, when he stood by those that were externally more wicked.
7. Seventhly, and lastly, The policy of Satan to manage all these things to the blinding and ruining of the souls of men, is another great reason they live so securely and pleasantly as they do, in a state of so much danger and misery, 2 Cor. iv. 3, 4. " The god of this " world hath blinded the minds of them that believe not."
Thirdly, You have seen what the life of the unregenerate is, and what maintains that life. In the next place, I shall give you evidence that this is the life the generality of the world do live ; a life of carnal security, vain hope, and false joy ; this will evidently appear, if we consider,
First, The activity and liveliness of men's spirits in pursuit of the world. O how lively and vigorous are their hearts in the ma- nagement of earthly designs ! Psal. vi. 4. " Who will shew us any " good ?" The world eats up their hearts, time, and strength. Now this could never be, if their eyes were but opened to see the danger and misery their souls are in. How few designs for the world run in the thoughts of a condemned man ? O if God had ever made the light of conviction to shine into their consciences, certainly the temptations would lie the quite contrary way, even in too great a neglect of things of this life ! But this briskness and liveliness plainly shew the great security which is upon most men.
Secondly, The marvellous quietness and stillness that is in the thoughts and consciences of men, about their everlasting concern- ments, plainly shews this to be the life of the unregenerate : How few scruples, doubts, or fears shall you hear from them? How many years may a man live in carnal families, before he shall hear such a question as this seriously propounded, " What shall I do to " be saved ?" There are no questions in their lips, because no fear or sense of danger in their hearts.
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Thirdly, The general contentedness, and professed willingness of carnal men to die, give clear evidence that such a life of security and vain hope is the life they live ; " Like sheep they are laid in " the grave," Psal. xlix. 14. O how quiet and still are their con- sciences, when there are but a few breaths more between them and everlasting burnings ! Had God opened their eyes to appre- hend the consequences of death, and what follows the pale horse, Rev. vi. 8. it were impossible but that every unregenerate man should make that bed on which he dies shake and tremble under him. Fourthly, and lastly, The low esteem men have for Christ, and the total neglect of, at least the mere trifling with, those duties in which he is to be found, plainly discover this stupid secure life to be the life that the generality of the world do live ; for were men sensible of the disease of sin, there could be no quieting them with- out " Christ the physician,'1 Phil. iii. 8. All the business they have to do in this world could never keep them from their knees, or make them strangers to their closets ; all which, and much more that might be said of the like nature, gives too full and clear proof of this sad assertion, that this is the life the ungenerate world generally lives. Fourthly, In the last place, I would speak a few words to disco- ver the danger of such a life as hath been described ; to which pur- pose let the following brief hints be seriously minded.
First, By these things souls are inevitably betrayed into hell and eternal ruin ; this blinding is in order to damning, 2 Cor. iv. 3, 4. " If our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost ; whose " eyes the god of this world hath blinded.1' Those that are turn- ed over into eternal death are thus generally hoodwinked and blinded in order thereunto, Isa. vi. 9. 10. " And he said go and " tell this people, hear ye indeed, but understand not: and see " ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the hearts of this people " fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes ; lest they " see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand <{ with their hearts, and convert, and be healed.11
Secondly, As damning is the event of blinding, so nothing makes hell a more terrible surprize to the soul than this doth : By this means the wrath of God is felt before its danger be apprehended ; a man is past all hope, before he begins to have any fear : his eternal ruin, like a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, cometh suddenly at an instant, Isa. xxx. 13. and as it damns surely and surprizingly, so,
Thirdly, Nothing more aggravates a man's damnation than to sink suddenly into it, from amidst so many hopes, and high confi- dence of safety : For a man to find himself in hell, when he thought and concluded himself within a step of heaven, O what a hell will it be to such men ! The higher vain hopes lifted them up, the
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more dreadful must their fall be, Matth. vii. 22. And as it damns surely, surprizingly, and with highest aggravations, so,