sent you hither to break his laws, and follow your own lusts? And whether the satisfying of your flesh, and the gathering of a little worldly wealth, and the feathering of a nest which you must so quickly leave, be like to be the business that you were sent about into the world?

3. The next thing that I would have you consider of, is, how you have answered the ends of your creation, and how you have done the business that you came into the world to do. Look back upon the drift of your hearts and lives; read over the most ancient records of your consciences; and see what you have been, and what you have been doing in the world till now. Have you spent your days in seeking after God? and your estates and strength in faithfully serving him? Have you lived all this time in the admiration of his excellencies, and the fervent love of him, and delightful remembrance of him, and the zealous worship of him? If you had done this, you had not need of a conversion. But consider; have you not forgotten what business you had in the world, and little minded the world that you should have prepared for, and lived as if you knew not him that made you, or why he made you? Was sport and merriment the end that you were created for? Was ease and idleness, or eating or drinking, or vain discourses, or recreation, the business that you came into the world about? Was living to the flesh, and scraping up riches, or gaping after the esteem of men, the work that God sent you hither to do? Was this it that he preserved you for, and daily gave you in provision for? What, was it to forget him, and slight him, and turn him out of your hearts, and rob him of his service and honour; and set up your flesh in his stead, and give that to it that was due to him? Bethink you what you have done, and whether you have done the work that you were sent to do, or not.

4. The next thing you should use to consider of, is, how grievously you have sinned, and what a case it is that your sin hath brought you into. If you take but an impartial view of your lives, you may see how far

you have missed your marks, and how far you have been from what you should have been, and how little you have done of that which was your business; and O what abundance of aggravations have your sins! (which I shall pass over now, because I must mention them under another head.) It is not only some actual out-breakings against the bent of your heart and life; but your very heart was false, and gone from God, and set in you to do evil.

O the time that you have lost; the means and help that you have neglected; the motions that you have resisted; and swarms of evil thoughts that have filled your imaginations; the streams of vain and evil words that have flowed from your mouth; the works of darkness, in public and in secret, that God hath seen you in! And all this while, how empty were you in inward holiness, and how barren of good works, to God or men? What have you done with all your talents! and how little or nothing hath God had of all!

And now consider what a case you are in, while you remain unconverted: you have made yourselves the sinks of sin, the slaves of Satan, and the flesh; and are skilful in nothing but doing evil; if you be called to prayer or holy meditation, your hearts are against it, and you are not used to it, and therefore you know not how to do it to any purpose: but to think the thoughts of lust or covetousness, or hatred or malice, or revenge, this you can do without any toil; to speak of the world, or of your sports and pleasures, or against those that you bear ill will to, this you can do without any study: you are such as are spoken of, My people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have no understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.(d) You are grown strangers to the God that made you, in whose love and service you should live and find your chief delights. Your hearts are hardened, and you are

(d) Jer. iv. 22.

dead in your sins; the guilt of the sins of your lives is still upon you; you can neither look into your hearts or lives, no not one day of your lives, or the best hour that you have spent, but you must see the ugly face of sin, which deserveth condemnation. You have made God your enemy, that should have been your only felicity; and yet you are always at his mercy, and in his hands. Little do you know how long his patience will yet endure you; or what hour he will call away your souls; and if death come, alas, what a case will it find you in! How lamentably unready are you to meet him! How unready to appear before the dreadful God whom you have offended; and what a terrible appearance do do you think that will be to you! Most certainly if you die before you are converted, the inevitable consequence will be everlasting misery and despair. The law hath cursed you already; and the execution will be answerable, if you die in your sins. And thus you may see the gain of sin, and what it is that you have been doing all this while for your own souls; and what a case it is that you have brought yourselves into; and what need you have speedily to look about you.

5. The next step of your consideration should be this: bethink yourselves what a blessed condition you might be in, if by conversion you were recovered from this misery, and brought home to God. This moved the heart of the prodigal son to return. When he came to himself he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough, and to spare, and I perish with hunger. He that had not husks to feed on with the swine, considered the plenty that he had forsaken at home. The poorest member of the household of Christ is in a better condition than the greatest king on earth that is unconverted. You might have lived another kind of life than you have done, for safety, and benefit, and true content, if you would have turned your minds and life to God. Were you but converted, you would be living members of Christ, and his precious benefits would be yours; his blood

would cleanse you from all your sins, and they would be all freely forgiven you: God would be reconciled to you, and become your friend, yea, your Father and your God; and will take you for his adopted children: the Holy Ghost would dwell in you, `and guide your understandings, and show you that which flesh and blood cannot reveal, and bring you into acquaintance with the mysteries of God. He will be a Spirit of life and light within you, and work your hearts yet more to God, and give you yet stronger inclinations and affections to the things above. He will help you when you are weak, and quicken you when you are dull, and be your remembrancer when you are forgetful of necessary things. He will help you in prayer, both for matter and for manner, and help you in meditation, and conference, and other duties: he will warn you of your danger, and strengthen you against temptations, and help you to overcome; and if you fall, he will enable you to rise again. He will be an indwelling comforter to you, and so effectually speak peace to you in the midst of your disquietness, that by speaking it, he will create it in you; and in the multitude of your thoughts within you, his comforts will delight your souls. O what a life might you live, if Christ by his Spirit did once live in you! You may easily conjecture how tender Christ would be of his own members, how dearly he would love them, how constantly he would watch over them, how plentifully he would provide for them, and how safely he would preserve them! And if you should come into a rougher way, he would lead you out. Afflictions should never be laid on you but for your good; and continue no longer than your need continueth them, and be taken off at last to your satisfaction and contentment. Indeed your life would be a life of mercies: and that which is but a commou mercy to common men, would be a special mercy to you, as coming from your Father's love, and furthering your salvation, and hinting out to you your everlasting mercies. You could not open your eyes, but you would see that which may encourage and comfort you;

all the works of God which you behold, would show you his majesty, his love and power, and lead you to himself. You could not open your Bible, but you would find in it the blessed lines of love: O what good it would do you to read there the blessed attributes of your God! to look upon his name! to peruse the description of his most perfect nature! What good would it do you to read of the nature, and incarnation, and life, and death, and resurrection, and ascension, and intercession, and return of your blessed Redeemer! What good would it do you to find those holy rules which your new nature is agreeable to, and to read over the law that is written in your hearts, and read the curse from which you are delivered! What life and joy would your souls receive from the many, and full, and free promises of grace! Were you once but truly sanctified and made new, your condition would be often comfortable, but always safe; and when you were in the greatest fears and perplexities, you would still be fast in the arms of Christ! And what a life would that be, to have daily access to God in prayer; to have leave, in all your wants and dangers, to seek him with a promise of hearing and success! that you may be sure of much more from him, than a child can from the tenderest father, or a wife from the most loving husband upon earth! What a life would it be, when you may always think on God as your felicity, and fetch your highest delights from whom the ungodly have their greatest terrors! And it is no contemptible part of your benefits, that you may live among his people, and in their special love, and have a special communion with them, and interest in their prayers, and may possess among them the privileges of the saints, and the ordinances of God: that instead of idle talk, and the unprofitable fellowship of the children and works of darkness, you may join with the church of God in his praises, and feed with them at his table on the body and blood of Christ, and then have conveyances of renewed grace, and a renewed pardon sealed to your souls. But how long should I stay