9. Lastly, If thou wilt preserve tenderness of heart, consider the viiserahle estate of hardness of heart. Such an one that hath an hard heart is next to hell itself, to the estate of a damned spirit, a most terrible estate. A hard heart is neither melted with promises nor broken with threatenings. He hath no bowels of pity to men or love to God. He forgets all judgment for things past, and looks for none to come. When the soul is in this case, it is fit for nothing but for sin and the devil, whereas a tender-hearted man is fit for all good. Let God threaten : he trembles and quakes ; let God promise: his heart melts and rejoiceth, and makes him even to break forth into thanksgiving ; let God command : he will perform all ; he is fit for any good thing to God and man. But when a man's heart is hardened
* That is, ' stun,' = harden. — G.
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by hypocrisy, covetousness, or custom in sin, lie liath no pity, no com- passion : let God command, thi'eaten, or promise, yet the heart is never a whit moved. This is a terrible estate of soul.
Now, to speak a little to young men that are like to this holy man Josiah. Surely his tenderness had some advantage from his years. Let those that are young by all means labour to keep tenderness of heart ; for if young persons be good, there is a sweet communion between God and them, before the heart be pestered with the cares of the world. God delights much in the prayers of young men, because they come not from so polluted a soul, hardened with the practices of this world. Let such, therefore, as are young, take advantage of it, to repent in time of their sins, and let them not put it oft' unto their old days. While we are young, let us not neglect natural tenderness ; although we cannot bring ourselves under the compass of God's kingdom by it, yet shall we get our hearts the sooner to be tender. In our youth, therefoi'e, let us not neglect this good opportunity, as good Josiah did not when he was but young. Therefore let us repent of every sin betimes, and acquaint ourselves with those that are good ; as it is said, Heb. iii. 18, ' Let us provoke one another daily, while it is called to-day, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.' Let us use all means to keep our hearts tender. Oh, it is a blessed estate ! We are fit to live when our hearts are tender ; fit to die, fit to receive anything from God, fit for duties of honesty to men, for any service to God. But when we have lost sense and feeling, it must be the almighty power of God that must recover us again, and not one amongst an hundred comes to good. Therefore labour to preserve a tender, soft, and melting heart.
Now, ere I proceed, give me leave to answer some cases of conscience, as,
Quest. 1. First, Whether the children of God may be subject to this hard- ness of heart, opposed to this tenderness ?
Quest. 2. Secondly, Whether a Christian may be more sensible of out- ward things than of spiritual, as the love of God, or his own sin, and the like?
Sol. 1. To the first I answer, that the child of God may be hard-hearted. He may have some degrees of hardness of heart in him. For a Christian is a compounded creature ; he hath not only body and soul, but flesh and spirit. He is but in part renewed ; and therefore, having in him both flesh and spirit, he is subject to hardness of heart ; and it is clear that it may be so. Examples shew that God's children are not always alike sensible of the wrath of God and of his mercy. They do not yield so to his commands as they should. But what is the reason that God doth suffer his children to fall into this hardness of heart ? There is something in us that makes him give us up unto it, for we are no longer soft than he works upon us.
Quest. But what doth move him to leave us in- this disposition ?
Sol. I answer, he doth it for correction of former negligences, for sins of omission ; especially when they neglect some means of grace whereby their hearts might be kept tender: it is for want of stirring up of God's grace in them ; for want of an high esteem of grace bestowed upon them ; want of care of their company, for not associating themselves with such as are tender-hearted ; and from hence it comes that God sufiers his children to fall into hardness of heart.
Quest. But now, from hence ariseth another question : How may a man know his heart from the heart of a reprobate, seeing that God's children may have hardness of heart ?
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Aiif. I answer, that the heart of a man that is a very reprohato is totally, wholly, and finally hardened, and it is joined with security and insensible- ness ; it is joined with obstinacy, and with contempt of the means. But the child of God hath not total and final hardness of heart, but hath a sensiblencss of it, he feeleth and seeth it. Total hardness doth feel nothing, hut a Christian that hath hardness of heart, doth feel that he hath it; as a man that hath the stone in his bladder, feels and knows that he hath a stone. A hard-hearted man feels nothing, but ho that hath but only hard- ness of heart doth feel : for there is difierence between hardness of heart and a hard heart ; for the child of God may havo hardness of heart, but not a hard heart. Now, I say a child of God that hath hardness of heart is sensible of his hardness, and performs the actions of a sensible soul : he useth some good means for the softening of it, for the sense thereof is grievous to him above all other crosses ; and whiles he is under it, he thinks that all is not with him as it should be : therefore he complains of it above all other afflictions, which makes him cry to God, as we may see, Isa. Ixiii. 17, * Why hast thou hardened our hearts from thy fear ?'