work to do against the church and cause of Christ, he can call out unstable Christians to do it! If he would have godliness be scandalized, who hath he to do it but professors of godliness; some of them to give the scandal, and others to aggravate and divulge it? Would he have a church divided; how quickly doth he find a bone of contention; and who should do it but the unstable members of it? Would he have the truth opposed, and error and darkness to be promoted; who must do it but professors of the truth? Persuade some of them that truth is error, and error is truth, and the work will be done: they will furiously march out against their master, and think they do him service while they are fighting against him, and scorning, and shaming, if not killing his servants. Would he have public divisions maintained among all the churches of the world; it is but possessing the weaker, unstable pastors and people, with a perverse zeal for mere words and notions, as if the life of the church did therein consist; and they will be the devil's instruments at a beck, and all that will not word it as they, shall be called heretics, and the church shall have new articles added to its faith, under pretence of preserving and expounding the old ones. thus when Satan hath a work to do, if heathens and infidels cannot do it, it is only to call out Christians to do it if drunkards and malignant enemies cannot do it, it is but calling out some unstable professors of godliness to do it, and possessing the more injudicious part of the pastors with some carnal ends or blind consuming zeal.

And

O Christians! in the name of God, as you would avoid these devilish employments, labour for confirming strengthening grace; and rest not in your childish weakness and instability. If you are delivered from Satan, and have truly renounced him, and tasted the great salvation of Christ, methinks you should even tremble to consider what a thing it would be, if, after all this, you should prove, through your weakness, so serviceable to the devil, and so injurious to your dearest Lord. What! must those abuse him whom he hath redeemed from damnation? must those hands be employed to demolish his kingdom, that were washed by him, and should have built it up?—as if you were like Judas, that even now hath his hand with his Master in the dish, and presently lifts it up against him.

11. Moreover, while you are weaklings and unconfirmed, you will exceedingly encourage the ungodly in their false hopes, by being so like them as you are. When they see that you excel them so little, and in many things are as bad or worse than they, it strongly persuadeth them that their state is as good as yours, and that they may be saved as well as others, seeing the difference seemeth to be so small. They know that heaven and hell are much unlike, and vastly distant; and therefore they will hardly believe that they must be thrust into hell, when men that seem so little to differ from them must go to heaven. You would not believe how it hardeneth them in their sin when they see professors do as bad; and how it settleth them in presumption and impenitency to perceive your faults. When a

minister hath laboured to make the sins of the ungodly odious to him, and to break his heart with the terrors of the Lord, O, how it quieteth him, and healeth all again, to see the like sins, or others as bad, in the professors of religion! If these,' saith he, 'may be saved, notwithstanding such and such sins, what cause have I to fear!' O, wretched, unprofitable, scandalous professors! when we have studied and preached for men's conversion many a year, you go and undo all that we have done, by the scandal, or levity, or imprudence of an hour. When we have almost persuaded men to be Christians, you unpersuade them, and turn them back again, and do more harm by the weakness and scandal of your lives, than many of us can do good by life and doctrine. When we have brought sinners even to the door of life, you prove their enemies, and take them out of our hands again, and bring them back to their old captivity. Doth it not pierce your very hearts to think of it, that ever one soul, much more so many, should be shut out of glory, and burn in everlasting misery, and you should have a hand in it? Consider of this, and methinks you should desire confirming grace.

12. And methinks it should be very grievous to you, to be so like to the ungodly yourselves, and that Satan should still have so much interest in you. Holiness is God's image; and doth it not grieve you that you are so little like him? By his graces he keeps possession of you: and doth it not grieve you that God hath no more possession of you, but that Satan and sin should so defraud him of his own?

Will he condescend to dwell in so low a worm, so oft defiled with its iniquities? and doth it not wound you to think that even there he should be so straitened, and thrust into corners by a hellish enemy, as if that simple habitation were too much for him, and that dirty dwelling were too good for him, and as if you grudged him so much of the leavings of Satan, who had taken up the beginning of your days in sin?

Your corruption is the very image of the devil: and doth it not affright you to think that you should be so like him? You are charged not to be 'conformed to this world,' but to be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, that acceptable, and perfect will of God:' and yet will you stop in a state so like to those that perish? He that hath the least measure of saving grace, is likest to the children of the devil, of any man in the world that is not one of them. Seek therefore to increase.

13. And I beseech you consider that your excellency, and the glory and lustre of your graces, is one of God's appointed means for the honour of his Son, and gospel, and church, and for the conviction and conversion of the unbelieving world: and therefore, if you use not this means, you rob God and the church of that which is their due, and deprive sinners of one of the means of their salvation. You are commanded to let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.' Christians, be

awakened in the name of God to consider what

you

have to do with your graces;-you have the living

God to please and honour by them! As the excellency of the work doth honour the workman, so must your graces and lives honour God. You have the souls of the weak to confirm by your lives, and the souls of the ungodly to win by your lives. You should all be preachers, and even preach as you go up and down in the world, as a candle lighteth which way ever it goeth. As we are sent to save sinners, as ambassadors of Christ, by public proclamation of his will; so are you sent to save them as his servants and our helpers, and must preach by your lives and familiar exhortations, as we must do by authoritative instruction. A good life is a good sermon; yea those may be won by your sermons, that will not come to ours, or will not obey the doctrine which they hear. Even to women that must keep silence in the church, doth Peter command this way of preaching, that if any of them have husbands that obey not the word, they may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives.' Thousands can understand the meaning of a good life, that cannot understand the meaning of a good sermon. By this way you may preach to men of all languages, though your tongues had never learnt but one: for a holy, harmless, humble life, doth speak in all the languages of the world to men that have eyes to read it. This is the universal character and language, in which all sorts may perceive you speak the wondrous works of the Holy Ghost. I charge you therefore, Christians, deprive not God of the honour you owe him, nor the church, or souls of wicked men, of this excellent, powerful help, which you owe them, by continuing in your