1 shall forbear giving of particular instances. But,
[9.] Ninthly, Many take up in an outwa7'd change and reformation; they have left some old courses and sinful practices which formerly they walked in, &c., and therefore they conclude and hope that their condition is good, and that all is well, and shall be for ever well with them. They were wont to swear, whore, be drunk, profane Sabbaths, reproach saints, &c. ; but now they have left all these practices, and therefore the main work is done, and they are made for ever. I con- fess sin is that abominable thing which God hates, Jer. xliv. 4, and therefore it is a very great mercy to turn from it. To leave one sin is a greater mercy than to win the whole world, Mat. xvi. 26 ; and it is certain that he that doth not outwardly reform shall never go to heaven, Job xxii. 23, 26. He that doth not leave his sins, he can never be happy here nor blessed hereafter ; and yet it is possible for a man, with Herod, to reform many things, and yet be a lost and undone man for ever, as he was, Mark vi. 20. Judas was a very reformed man, but he was never inwardly changed nor throughout sanctified, Mat. xxvi. 20-22 ; 1 Thes. v. 23. The scribes and Pharisees were outwardly reformed, but they were not inwardly renewed. A man may be an- other man than what once he was, and yet not be a new man, a new creature. When a sinner is sermon-sick, oh, then he will leave his sins ; but when that sickness is off, he returns with the dog to his vomit, and with the sow to her wallowing in the mire, 2 Cor. v. 17 ;
2 Pet. ii. 20, 22. Sometimes conscience is like the handwriting upon the wall, Dan. v. 5-8: it makes the sinner's countenance to change, and his thoughts to be troubled, and the joints of his loins to be loosed, and his knees to smite one against another. And now the sinner is all for reforming, and turning over a new leaf ; but when these agonies of con- science are over, the sinner returns to his old courses again, and often- times is twofold more a child of hell than before. Mat. xxiii. 15. There was a man in this city who was given up to the highest wickednesses; on his ,sick-bed conscience made an arrest of him, and he was filled with such wonderful horror and terror, that he cried out day and night that he was damned, he was damned, he was damned ; and when he had some small intervals, oh, what large promises did he make ! what a new man, a reformed man, he would be ! but when in time his terrors and sickness wrought off, he was sevenfold worse than before. Sometimes the awakened sinner parts with some sins to make room for others, and sometimes the sinner seems to give a bill of divorce to this sin and that, but it is only because his bodily strength fails him, or because he wants an opportunity, or because there is a more strict eye and watch upon him, or because the sword of the magistrate is more sharpened against him, or because 'he wants fuel, James iv. 3; he wants a purse to bear it out, or because some company, or some rela- tions, or some friends lie between him and his sins, so that he must either tread over them, or else keep from his sins ; or because he has deeply smarted for this sin, and that his name has been blotted, his credit and reputation stained, his trade decayed, his health impaired.
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his body wasted, &c., Prov. vi. 32-35. By these short hints it is evi- dent that men may attain to some outward reformation, whose states and hearts were never changed, and who were never taken into mar- riage union with Christ. But,
[10.] Tenthly and lastly, Many take up in a party. As of old some cried up Paul as the only deep preacher, and others cried up Apollos as the only eloquent preacher, and many cried up Cephas as the most zealous preacher, 1 Cor. i. 10-13. We are for the Church of England, say some ; we are for the Baptized people, say others ; we are for the Presbyterian government, cry some ; we are for the Congregational way, cry others. I have so much ingenuity and charity, as to judge that some of all these several parties and persuasions are really holy and will be eternally happy, are gracious and will be glorious, are sanctified and will be saved, are now governed b;^ Christ and will be hereafter glorified with Christ. Judas was one of Christ's party, if I may so speak, and yet he had no part nor portion in Christ, Mat. xxvi. 20-26. Demas was one of Paul's party, and yet he played the apos- tate, and turned an idolatrous priest at Thessalonica, as Dorotheus saith, 2 Tim, iv. 10.^ And Phygellus and Hermogenes were of Paul's party, but were only famous for their recidivation^ and apostasy, 2 Tim. i. 15. Hymeneus and Alexander were of Paul's party, but they made shipwreck of faith and a good conscience, 1 Tim, i. 19, 20. The five foolish virgins were in society with the wise, and were accounted as members of their association, and yet the door of heaven was shut against them. Mat, xxv. 1, 2, 12. Many light, slight, and vdin persons went with the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt, even a mixed multitude that embarked in the same bottom with them, and yet never arrived at the land of promise, Exod, xii, 38 ; Num. xi. 4. 0 my friends, it is not a man's being of this party or that, this •church or that, this way or that, this society or that, that will bring him to heaven, without a spiritual conjunction with Christ, 1 Pet. i, 4; Heb. i. 2. He that would enjoy the heavenly inheritance must be espoused to Christ, the heir of all things : ' For he that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son hath not life,' 1 John v, 12. This marriage-union between Christ and the soul is set forth to the life throughout the book of Solomon's Song, Cant. ii. 16, Though the marriage-union between Christ and the soul be imperceptible to the eye of reason, yet it is real, 1 Cor. vi, 17. Things in nature often work insensibly, yet really. We do not see the hand move on the dial, yet it moves. The sun exhales and draws up the vapours of the earth ■insensibly, yet really, Eccles, xi, 6. Now this marriage-union between Christ and the soul includes and takes in these following particulars : —
First, This marriage-union between Christ and the soul does in- clude and take in the souVs giving a present hill of divorce to all other lovers ; sin, the world, and Satan. 3 Are you seriously and sincerely willing for ever to renounce these, and be divorced from these ? There is no compounding betwixt Christ and them. Sin and your souls
^ As before, see foot-note and Index sub nomine. — G. " ' Relapse' = backsliding. — G,
^ Consult these scriptures : Hosea xiv. 8 ; Isa. ii. 20, and xxx, 22 ; Ps. xlv. 10 ; Exod. ,xii. 33 ; Isa. lix. 20.
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