he hoped might serve better than hell when he could not stay any longer in the world, is now taken for his home, the place of his only hope and rest, where he shall see, and love, and praise that God, who has his heart already. The Bible, which was before to him but as a common book, is now as the law of God, as a letter written to him from heaven, and subscribed with the name of the eternal Majesty; it is the rule of his thoughts, and words, and deeds; the commands are binding, and the promises of it speak life to his soul. In short, he has a new end in his thoughts, and a new way in his endeavours, and therefore his heart and life are new. So that this is not a change in one, or two, or twenty points; but in the whole soul and conversation.

Do you believe this, sirs, or do you not? Surely you dare not say you do not. These are not controversies, where one pious man is of one mind, and another of another; all Christians are agreed in this; and if you will not believe the God of truth, and that in a case where every sect and party believe him, you are utterly inexcuseable.

But if you do believe this, how comes it to pass that you live so quietly in an unconverted state? Do you know that you are converted? Can you find this wonderful change upon your souls? Have you been thus born again, and made anew? If you cannot tell the day or week of your change, do you find that the work is done? and that you have such hearts as are before described? Alas! the most follow their worldly business, and little trouble their mind with such thoughts. And if they be but restrained from scandalous sins, and can say, I am no whoremonger, or thief, or curser, or swearer, or tipler, or extortioner, I go to church and say my prayers; they think this true conversion, and they shall be saved as well as any. Alas! this is a foolish cheating of yourselves. This is too gross neglect of your immortal souls. Can you make so light of heaven and hell? Your corpses will shortly lie in the dust, and angels or devils will presently seize upon your souls, and every man and woman

of you all will shortly be among other company, and in another case than now you are; you will dwell in those houses but a little longer; you will work in your shops, and fields, but a little longer; you will sit in these seats, and dwell on this earth, but a little longer; you will see with these eyes, and hear with those ears, and speak with those tongues, but a little longer: and can you forget this? O what a place will you be shortly in of joy or torment! O what a sight will you shortly see in heaven or hell! O what thoughts will shortly fill your hearts with unspeakable delight or horror! What work will you be employed in? To praise the Lord with saints and angels, or to cry out in fire unquenchable with devils? And should all this be forgotten? And all this will be endless, and sealed up by an unchangeable decree. Eternity, eternity, will be the measure of your joys or sorrows; and can this be forgotten? And all this is true, most certainly true: when you have gone up and down a little longer, and slept and awaked a few times more, you will be dead and gone, and find all true which now I tell you. And can you now forget it? You shall then remember, that you heard this sermon, and that on this day, and in this place, you were remembered of these things: and yet shall they be now so much forgotten?

Beloved, if the Lord had not awakened me to believe and lay to heart these things myself, I should have perished for ever: but if he has made me sensible of them, it will constrain me to compassionate you. If your eyes were so far opened as to see hell, and you saw your neighbours, that were unconverted, dragged thither with hideous cries, though they were such as you accounted honest people on earth; such a sight would make you warn all about you, lest they should go to that place of torment. Why, faith is a kind of sight; it is the eye of the soul, the evidence of things not seen: if I believe God, it is next to seeing; and therefore I beseech you excuse me, if I be as earnest with you about these matters, as if I had seen them. If I were to die to-mor row, and it were in my power to come again from another world, and tell you what I had seen; would

you not be willing to hear me? And would you not believe and regard what I should tell you? If I might preach one sermon to you after I am dead, and have seen what is done in the world to come, would you not have me plainly speak the truth, and would you not crowd to hear me? And would you not lay it to heart? But this must not be; God has his appointed way of teaching you; and he will not humour unbelievers so far as to send men from the dead to them, and to alter his established way: if any man quarrel with the sun, God will not humour him so far as to set him up a clearer light. Friends, I beseech you regard me now, as you would do if I should come from the dead to you; for I can give you as full assurance of the truth of what I say to you, as if I had been there, and seen it with mine eyes, for it is possible for one from the dead to deceive you; but Jesus Christ can never deceive you: the word of God delivered in scripture, and sealed up by the miracles and holy workings of the Spirit, can never deceive you. Believe this, or believe nothing. Believe, and obey this, or you are undone: now as ever you believe the word of God, and as ever you care for the salvation of your souls, let me beg of you this reasonable request; that you would without further delay, when you are gone hence, remember what you heard, and enter into an earnest search of your hearts, and say to yourselves,-Is it so indeed? Must I turn or die? Must I be converted or condemned? It is time for me then to look about me, before it be too late. O why did I not look after this till now? Why did I venturously put off so great a business? Was I awake? O blessed God, what a mercy is it thou didst not cut off my life all this while? Well, God for bid that I should neglect this work any longer. What state is my soul in? Am I converted, or am I not? Was ever such a work done upon my soul? Have I been illuminated by the word and Spirit of the Lord, to see the odiousness of sin, the need of a Saviour, the love of Christ, and the excellencies of God and glory? Is my heart broken, or humbled within me, for my former life? Have I thankfully entertained my Saviour and Lord,

who offered himself with pardon and life to my soul? Do I hate my former sinful life, and the remnant of every sin that is in me? Do I fly from them as my deadly enemies? Do I give up myself to a life of holiness? Do I love it, and delight in it? Can I truly say that I am dead to the world, and that I live for God, and the glory which he has promised? Has heaven more of my estimation than earth? And is God the dearest and highest in my soul? Once, I am sure, I lived principally to the world and the flesh, and God had nothing but some heartless services, which the world could spare, and which were the leavings of the flesh. Is my heart now turned another way? Have I a new design, and a new end, and a new train of holy affections? Have I set my hopes and heart on heaven? And is it the design of my heart and life, to get well to heaven, and see the glorious face of God, and live in his everlasting love and praise? Do I conquer all gross sins, and am I weary, and willing to be rid of mine infirmities? This is the state of a converted soul. And thus it must be with me, or I must perish. Is it thus with me indeed, or is it not? It is time to get this doubt resolved before the dreadful Judge resolve it. I am not such a stranger to my own heart and life, but I may perceive whether I am thus converted or not; if I be not, it will do me no good to flatter my soul with false hopes. I am resolved no more to deceive myself, but endeavour to know truly, whether I am converted; that if I be, I may rejoice in it, and glorify my gracious Lord, and comfortably go on till I reach the crown: but if I be not, I may beg and seek after the grace that will convert me, and turn without any more delay; for if I find in time that I am out of the way, by the help of Christ I may turn and be recovered; but if I stay till either my heart be forsaken of God in blindness and hardness, or till I be caught away by death, it is then too late. There is no place for repentance and conversion then: I know it must be now

or never.

Sirs, this is my request to you, that you will but take your hearts to task, and thus examine them till

you see, if it may be whether you are converted or not? It undoes many thousands, that they think they are in the way to salvation, when they are not; and that they are converted, when it is no such thing. And then, when we call to them daily to turn, they think this concerns not them; for they are turned already, and hope they shall do well enough in the way that they are in, when, alas! all this while they live to the world and flesh, and are strangers to God and eternal life. And all this, because we cannot persuade them to spend a few hours in the examining of their states. Are there not many self-deceiving wretches that hear me this day, who never bestowed one hour in all their lives, to examine their souls, and try whether they were truly converted or not? O merciful God, who will care for such wretches, that care no more for themselves? If all that are in the state of damnation did but know it, they durst not continue in it. The greatest hope that the devil has of bringing you to damnation without a rescue, is by keeping you blindfold, and making you believe that you may do well enough in the way that you are in. If you knew that you were lost for ever, if you should die as you are; durst you sleep another night in the state that you are in? Durst you live another day in it? Could you laugh, or be merry, in such a state? What! and not know but you may be snatched away to hell in an hour! Sure it would constrain you to forsake your former company and courses, and to betake yourselves to the ways of holiness. Sure it would drive you to cry to God for a new heart, and to seek help of those who are fit to counsel you. There is none of you, sure, that cares not for being damned. Well then, I beseech you, presently make inquiry into your hearts, and give them no rest, till you find out your condition; that if it be good, you may rejoice in it, and go on; and if it be bad, you may presently look about you for recovery, as men that believe they must turn or die. What say you? Will you resolve, and promise to be at so much labour for your own souls? Will you fall upon this self-examination when you go home? Is my request