ment to you to knoio ivhetJier you liave this real holiness or no. Your souls lies upon it, eternity lies upon it, your all lies upon it, and an error here may make a man miserable for ever. It is good for thee to know the state of thy body, the state of thy family, the state of thy flock, but it is of infinite more consequence for thee to know the state of thine o^vn soul. Multi midta sciunt, se autem nemo — No man lives so miserable, nor no man dies so sadly, as he that lives and dies a stranger to his own soul. It is good for thee to set all reckonings even between thyseK and others, but it is far better to set all reckonings even between God and thine own soul. Ah, how many are there who are better known to others than they are to themselves I and who are able to give a better account of their lands and lordships, of their treasures and manors, yea, of their horses, hawks, and hounds, than they are of the state of their souls ! i Ah, how many are there that are very inquisitive to know things to come, to know what will be hereafter, to know whether they shall be great and rich in the world, Eccles. vii. 10, to know whether they shall be prosperous and suc- cessful in their undertakings, to know whether they shall be crowned with length of days, or whether they shall be cut off in the flower of their age ; to know the secret counsels of princes, and what will be the issue of such and such mutations and revolutions that have happened amongst us ; and yet are not at all inquisitive after the state of their souls, nor whether they have this real holiness, without which there is no happiness ! ^ They never inquire what will become of them here- after ; they never inquire what state they shall enter upon after death, whether upon a state of eternal woe or a state of everlasting bliss. Of all acquaintances in this world, there is none to that of a mans being acquainted with the state of his own soul. A mistake about my out- ward condition may trouble me, but a mistake about my spiritual con- dition may damn me. There are many ways to make up my mistakes about temporals, but there is no way to make up my mistakes about eternals. If at last I shall be found to be mistaken in the great con- cernments of my soul, I am undone for ever. Well, sirs, you are in a state of nature or in a state of grace ; you are in a state of darkness or in a state of light ; you are in a state of life or in a state of death ; you are in a state of love or in a state of wrath ; you are either goats or sheep, sons or slaves ; you are either in the broad way to destruc- tion or in the narrow way of salvation ; and therefore what can be of greater concernment in this world to you than to know in which of these two spiritual estates you are in ? How can you order aright your prayers, or your praises, or any religious services, till you come to know in which of these two spiritual estates you stand? — whether you be in a state of nature or in a state of grace, in a state of sin or in a state of holiness: for all religious duties must be ordered according to men's spnitual estates. If a man be in a state of nature, his work lies one way ; if he be in a state of holiness, his work lies another way ; by all which it is most evident that it very nearly concerns you to search and try whether you have this bird of paradise, holiness, in your
^ Luke xii. 16-21, and xvi. 19, 26. , . ,
^ Job xxi. 23, 24 ; Isa. xli. 22, 23, and xliii.9, 10. The heathens did admire that say- ing as an oracle, Nosce te ipsum — Know thy own self. , . VOL. IV. Q
98 THE NECESSITY, EXCELLENCY, RARITY, [Heb. XII. 14.
bosoms or no. And for a close, let me say, that a mistake about your spiritual estate will at last be found not only insufferable and inexcus- able, but very terrible and damnable.
3. Thirdly, Consider that a cordial willingness to enter upon this loorh of trial, is a hopeful evidence of your real integrity and sanctity. Unsanctified souls hate the light ; they had rather go to hell in the dark, than come to be weighed in the balance of the sanctuary, John iii. 20. As pure gold fears neither fire nor furnace, neither test nor touchstone, neither one balance nor another, so a pure heart, a sancti- fied soul, dares venture itself upon trial, yea, upon the very trial of God. For he knows that God never brings a pair of scales to weigh his graces, but only a touchstone to try the truth of his graces ; he knows if his gold be true, though it be never so little, it will pass for current with God.^ As bankrupts care not for casting up their ac- counts, because they know aU is naught, very naught, stark naught with them ; so unsanctified souls they care not to come to the trial, to the test, because they know that all is naught, yea, worse than naught with them. They have no mind to cast up their spiritual estates, be- cause at the foot of the account they must be put to read their neck- verse, * Undone, undone, for ever undone.' 2 And, therefore, as old de- formed women cannot endure to look into the looking-glass, lest their wrinkles and deformity should be discovered ; so unsanctified souls can- not endure to look into the glass of the gospel, lest their deformities, impieties, and wickednesses should be discovered and detected. I have read of the elephant, how unwilling he is to go into the water, but when he is forced into it, he puddles it, lest by the clearness of the stream he should discern his own deformity ; so unholy persons are very unwilling to look into their own hearts, or into the clear streams of Scripture, lest their souls' deformity and ugliness should appear, to their own terror and amazement. And therefore, as you would have a hopeful evidence of your integrity and sanctity, fall upon this work of trial. For as it is a hopeful evidence that the client's cause is good, when he is ready and willing to enter upon a trial, and as it is a hope- ful sign that a man's gold is true gold, when he is willing to bring it to the touchstone, and that a man thrives, when he is willing to cast up his books ; so it is a hopeful evidence that a Christian hath real holiness, when he is ready and willmg to bring his holiness to the test, to try whether it be true or no — when he is willing to cast up his books, that he may see what he is worth for another world, Gal. vi. 4, 5.