their childhood, though with many ordinary sins, and have, by undiscerned degrees, grown up unto true godliness. These are uncertain when they first had special grace, and were not open scandalous violators of their baptismal vow; and, therefore, I can lay no such injunction on them.

But I would have all do thus, that have thus broken that vow, and are converted afterward to true repentance, for all the reasons which I now mentioned: and the universal church hath ever been for such public repentance in such a case; yea, and for particular gross lapses afterward. And the papists to this day call it the sacrament of penance, though they corrupt it by auricular confession, when it should be open; and by many unwarrantable adjuncts and formalities.

S. What would you have me do after that?

P. I will record your name in the church book among the church communicants, and we will all pray for your confirmation and perseverance; and you must live as a member of the holy catholic church of Christ, in the communion of saints, and return no more to your ungodly, sinful life: and come to me again, and I shall give you further counsel. In the mean time, you may do as the converted eunuch did, (the lord treasurer of the queen of Ethiopia, Acts viii. 39,) even go on your way rejoicing in this, that you are united to Christ, and are justified from all your former sins, and are sincerely entered into the covenant and family of God, and are made a fellow-citizen with the saints, and an heir of certain, endless glory.

THE FIFTH DAY'S CONFERENCE.

Directions to the converted against temptations.

Speakers.-Paul, a Teacher; and Saul, a Learner.

PAUL. Welcome, neighbour. How go matters with your soul?

SAUL. I thank God and my Redeemer, and you, his minister, since I publicly repented, renounced my sin, and gave up myself to my God, and Saviour, and Sanctifier. I find myself as in a new world. My hopes revive, and I have had already more b Eph. ii. 12; Rom. viii. 16-18, 30, 32. e Rom. v. 1-6,10.

comfort in believing, and in seeking God, than ever I had in my life of sin. I am grieved and ashamed that I stood off so long, and have spent so much of my life in wickedness, and in wronging God, who gave me life. I am ashamed that ever such trifles and fooleries possessed my heart, and kept me so long from a holy life, and that I delayed after I was convinced. I could wish, from my very heart, that I had spent all that time of my life in beggary, slavery, or a gaol, which I have spent in a fleshly, sinful course. O had I not now a merciful God, a sufficient Saviour, a pardoning covenant of grace, and a comforting Sanctifier, which way should I look, or what should I do? It amazeth me to think what a dangerous state I so long lived in. O what if God had cut off my life, and taken away my unsanctified soul, what would have become of me for ever! O that I had sooner turned to my God, and sooner cast away my sins, and sooner tried a holy life! But my soul doth magnify the Lord, and my Spirit doth rejoice in God my Saviour, that he hath pitied a self-destroying sinner, and at last his mercy hath d abounded where my sin did abound.

P. It is but little of his goodness which as yet you have tasted of, in comparison of what you must find at last. But that you may yet make sure work, I shall spend this day's con ference in acquainting you what temptations you have yet to overcome, and what dangers to escape, for yet you have but begun your race and warfare.

S. Your counsel hath hitherto been so good, that I shall gladly hear the rest.

P. 1. The first temptation that you are like to meet with, is a seeminge difficulty and puzzling darkness in all, or many of the doctrines and practices of godliness. You will think strange of many things that are taught you, and you will be stalled at the difficulties of understanding and believing, of meditating and praying, of watching against sin, and of doing your duty. And by reason of this difficulty, Satan would make God's service seem wearisome, uncomfortable, and grievous to you, and so turn back your love from God.

And all this will be, because you are yet but as a stranger to it; like a scholar that entereth upon books and sciences, which he never meddled with before; or like an apprentice that newly learneth his trade; or like a traveller in a strange way and country. To an ignorant and inexperienced person, that never d Roin. v. 12, 13, to the end.

John vi.60; Heb. v. 11, 12; 2 Pet. iii. 16.

meddled with such things before, but hath been used to a contrary course of life, all things will seem strange and difficult at first.

S. What course must I take to escape this temptation?

1. When you meet with any difficulty, you must still remember that it is your own dark mind, or backward heart, that is the cause, and never suspect God's word or ways, no more than a sick man will blame the meat, instead of his stomach, if he loath a feast. But take occasion to renew your repentance, and think, ‘All this is along of myself, who spent my youth in sin and folly, which I should have spent in hearing the word of God, and practising a godly life. What need have I now to double my labour to overcome all this!'

2. Resolve to wait patiently on God in the use of all his means, and teaching, time, and use, and grace will make all more plain, and easy, and delightful to you. Do not expect that it should come all on a sudden, without time, and diligence, and patience.

3. Keep still as an humble disciple of Christ, in a learning mind and way, and turn not, in self-conceitedness, to cavil against what you do not understand. This is the chief thing in which conversion maketh us like little children. (Matt. xviii. 3.) Children are conscious of their ignorance, and are teachable, and set not their wits against their teachers, till they grow towards twenty years of age, and then they grow wise in their own conceits, and begin to think that their tutors are mistaken, and to set their wits against the truth which they should receive. But of this more anon.

II. The second temptation will be, upon these difficulties and your mistakes in religion, to grow so perplexed as to be overwhelmed with doubts and fears, and so to turn melancholy, and ready to despair.

The devil will strive to lose you, and bewilder you in some mistakes, or to make you think that your conversion was not true, because you had no more brokenness of heart for sin, or because you know not just the time when you were converted. Or he will make you think that all religion lieth in striving to weep and break your heart more; or that you have no grace, because you have not such a lively sense of things invisible, as you have of the things that are seen. Or he will tell you that now you must not think nor talk of the world, but all your thoughts and talk must be of God, and his word and holy things,

and that all other is idle thoughts and talk; and that you must tie yourself to longer tasks of meditation and prayer than you have time and strength to carry on.

S. Sir, you make me admire to hear you. Can such motions. of holiness come from the devil. If I did not know you, I should suspect some carnal malignity against holiness in your speeches.

P. Did not the devil plead Scripture with Christ in his temptations? (Matt. iv.) And doth he not transform himself into an angel of light to deceive? When he cannot keep you in security and profaneness, he will put on a visor of godliness: and whenever the devil will seem religious and righteous, he will be religious and righteous overmuch.

S. What getteth he by this? Would he make us more religious?

P. You little know what he hopeth to get by it. Overdoing is undoing all; he would destroy all your religion by it. If you run your horse till you tire him or break his wind, is not that the way to lose your journey? Nothing over violent is durable. If a scholar study so hard as to crack his brains, he will never be a good scholar, or wise man, till he is cured. Our souls here are united to our bodies, and must go on that pace that the body can endure. If Satan can tempt you into longer and deeper musing (especially on the sadder objects in religion) than your body and brain can bear, you will grow melancholy before you are aware, and then you little know how ill a guest you have entertained.

For when once you are melancholy, you will be disabled then from secret prayer and from meditating at all: it will but confound you; you cannot bear it: and so by overdoing, you will come to do nothing of that sort of duty. And you will then have none but either fanatic whimsies, and visions, and prophesyings, or else (more usually) sad despairing thoughts in your mind: all that you hear, and read, and see, you will think maketh against you; you will believe nothing that soundeth comfortably to you; you can think none but black and hideous thoughts. The devil will tell you a hundred times over, that you are an hypocrite and unsanctified, and all that ever you did was in hypocrisy, and that none of your sins are yet forgiven; and that you shall as sure be in hell as if you were there already; that God is your enemy; that Christ is no Saviour for you; that you have sinned against the Holy Ghost, or that the day of grace is

past; that the Spirit is departed, and God hath forsaken you; that it is now too late, too late to repent and find mercy; and that you are undone for ever. These black thoughts will be like a beginning of hell to you.

And it is not yourself only that will be the sufferer by this; but many of the ignorant and wicked will, by seeing you, be hardened into a love of security and sensuality, and will fly from religion as a frightful thing which doth not illuminate men, but make them mad, or cast them into desperation. And so Satan will use you as some Papists have drawn the picture of a Protestant like a devil, or an ass, to affright men from religion; or as we set up maukins to frighten birds from the corn; as if he had written on your back for all to read, 'See what you must come to, if you will be religious.'

S. You describe to me so sad a case, as almost makes me melancholy to hear it, and it tempts me to be afraid of religion itself, if it tend to this: but what would you have me do to escape it?

P. Religion itself, as God commandeth it, tendeth not to this. It is a life of holy faith, and hope, and joy: but it is errors about religion that tend to it. And especially when any great cross or disappointment in the world becometh an advantage to the tempter to cast you into worldly discontents and cares, and trouble and perplexity of mind: this is the most usual beginner of melancholy; and then it turneth to religious trouble afterwards.

And I the rather tell you of it now, because you are capable, through God's mercy, of preventing it: but it is a disease which, when it seizeth on you, will disable you to think, or believe, or do any thing that much tendeth to your cure; words are usually in vain; it overcometh the freedom of the will.

The prevention is this: 1. Set not too much by any thing in the world, that so the losing of it may not be able to reach your heart. Take the world as nothing, and it can do nothing with you. Take it for dung, and the loss of it will not trouble you.

2. Keep true apprehensions of the nature of religion, that it lieth in faith, hope, and love; in righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost, in the forethoughts of everlasting glory; and in comforting yourself and one another, with remembering that you shall for ever be with the Lord, in thanksgiving to your bountiful God, and in his joyful praises: let these be your

Rom. xiv. 17; 1 Cor. xii. 31, and xiii; 1 Thess. iv. 17, 18.