5. The last thing in the description is, the usual attendant or consequence of this sin; it worketh desperate and hopeless fear. They fear him whom they hate with a slavish, hopeless fear, such as devils have: "A certain fearful looking for of judgment, and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries." They know that God will put out his power against them; they tremble in the remembrance of it; and if they could be above him, and destroy him, they would; and since they cannot reach that, they hate with the utmost of heart-malice, and do persecute him, and all that is his, with despite.

III. As for the third thing proposed, namely, the conclusions to be drawn from what is said, whereby we will speak directly to the objection. 1. As I hinted before, since the sin against the Holy Ghost is so remarkable, and may be well known where it is, none should charge themselves with it unless they can prove and make clear the charge; for it is a great wrong done unto God to labour to persuade my soul that he will never pardon me: it is the very way to make me desperate, and to lead me to the unpardonable sin; therefore, unless thou canst and dare say that thou dost hate the way which God has devised for the saving of sinners, and dost resolve to oppose the prosperity of his kingdom, both with thyself and others, out of malice and despite against God, thou oughtest not to suspect thyself guilty of this sin. 2. Whatsoever thou hast done against God, if thou dost repent it, and wish it were undone, thou cannot be guilty of this sin; for in it heart-malice and despite against God do still prevail. 3. If thou art

content to be his debtor for pardon, and would be infinitely obliged to him for it, then thou cannot, in that case, be guilty of the sin against the Holy Ghost; for, as we showed before, they who are guilty of it do so despise God, that they would not be his debtors for salvation. 4. Whatsoever thou hast done, if thou hast a desire after Jesus Christ, and dost look with a grieved heart after him, and cannot think of parting with his blessed company for ever; or, if thou must part with him, yet dost wish well to him, and all his, thou needest not suspect thyself to be guilty of this unpardonable sin; for there can be no such hatred of him in thy bosom as is necessarily required to make up that sin. 5. If thou would be above the reach of that sin, and secure against it for ever, then go work up thy heart. to be pleased with salvation by Christ Jesus, and to close with God in him, acquiescing in him as the sufficient ransom and rest, as we have been pressing before, and yield to him to be saved in his way. Do this in good earnest, and thou shalt be for ever put out of the reach of that deadly thing with which Satan doth affright so many poor seekers of God.

CHAP. V.

Objections, taken from Want of Power to believe, and Unfruitfulness, answered.

Object. ALTHOUGH I be not excluded from the benefit of the new covenant, yet it is not in my power to believe on Christ; for faith is the gift of God, and above the strength of flesh and blood.

Answ. It is true, that saving faith, by which alone a man can heartily close with God in Christ, is above our power, and is the gift of God, as we said before in the premises: yet remember, 1. The Lord hath left it as a duty upon all who hear this gospel cordially by faith, to close with his offer of salvation through Christ, as is clear in the Scripture. And you must know, that although it be in our power to perform that duty of ourselves, yet the Lord may justly condemn us for not performing it, and we are inexcusable; because at first he made man perfectly able to do whatsoever he should command. 2. The Lord commanding this thing which is above our power, wills us to be sensible of our inability to do the thing, and would have us to put him to work it He hath promised to give the new heart, and he hath not excluded any from the benefit of that promise. 3. The Lord uses, by these commands and invitations, and men's meditations on them, and their supplication about the thing, to convey power to the soul to perform the duty.

in us.

Therefore, for answer to the objection, I do entreat thee, in the Lord's name, to lay to heart these his commandments and promises, and meditate on them, and upon that blessed business of the new covenant, and pray unto God, as you can, over them, "for he will be inquired to do these things," and lay thy cold heart to that device of God expressed in the Scripture, and unto Christ Jesus, who is given for a covenant to the people, and look to him for life and quickening. Go and endeavour to be pleased with that salvation in the way God doth offer it, and to close with, and rest on, Christ for it, as if all were in thy power; yet looking to him for the thing, as knowing that it must come from him; and if thou do So, "he who meets those who remember him in his ways," will not be wanting on his part; and thou shalt not have ground to say, that thou movedst towards the thing until thou couldst do no more for want of strength, and so left it at God's door: it shall not fail on his part, if thou have a mind for the business; yea, I may say, if by all thou hast ever heard of that matter, thy heart loveth it, and desireth to be engaged with it, thou hast it already performed within thee: so that difficulty is past before thou wast aware of it.

Object. Many who have closed with Christ Jesus, as has been stated, are still complaining of their leanness and fruitlessness, which makes my heart lay the less weight on that duty of believing.

Answ. If thou be convinced that it is a duty to believe on Christ, as has been stated, you may not refuse it under any pretence. As for those com

plaints of some who have looked after him, not admitting every one to be judge of his own fruit, I

say,

1. Many, by their jealousies of God's love, and by their unbelief, after they have so closed with God, do obstruct many precious communications, which otherwise would be let out to them: "And he did not many mighty works there, because of their unbelief."

2. It cannot be that any whose heart is gone out after Christ" have found him a wilderness." Surely they find somewhat in their spirit swaying them towards God in these two great things, namely, how to be found in him in that day: "Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord; for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung that I may win Christ, and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:" and how to show forth to his praise in the land of the living-"Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live and keep thy word:" "Wilt thou not deliver my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the land of the living?" They find these two things aloft in the soul, and that is much. Moreover they shall, after search, if they judge aright, ever find such an emptiness in the creatures, that abundance of the creature cannot fill up: all is vanity, only God can fill the empty room in their heart; and when he but breathes a little, there is no