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deftruction for unbelief, and other things which I cannot help He has shown mercy to others, and refused it to me. I have now an opportunity to deliver myself, and there can be no danger of my being hurt for it : God will not be alive to revenge it. And then there will be no God for us to be terrified about, and so keep us in flavery."

Who would truft your heart, that fuch thoughts would not arife? And others much more horrid! Too dreadful to be mentioned! And therefore I forbear. Those natural men are foolishly infenfible of what is in their own. hearts, who think there would be no danger of any fuch workings of heart, if they knew they had opportunity.

5. You little confider how much your having no more of the fenfible exercifes of hatred to God, is owing to a being reftrained by fear. You have always been taught what a dreadful thing it is to hate God. And you have been taught what a dreadful being God is, and how terrible God's difpleasure is; that God fees the heart and knows all the thoughts; and that you are in his hands, and he can make you as miferable as he pleases, and as foon as he pleases. And these things have restrained you: and the fear that has rifen from these things, has kept you from appearing what you are; it has kept down your enmity, and made that ferpent afraid to fhow its head, as otherwise it would do. If a man were wholly under the power of an enemy, though he were never fo much of an enemy to him, he would be afraid to exercife his hatred in outward acts, unless it were with great difguife. And if it be fuppofed, that fuch an enemy, in whole power he was, could fee his heart, and know all his thoughts, and apprehended that he would put him to a terrible death, if he faw the workings of malice there, how greatly would this reftrain ! He would be afraid fo much as to believe himself, that he hated his enemy; but there would be all manner of fmothering, difguife, and hypocrify, and feigning even of thoughts and affections.

Thus your enmity has been kept under restraint;

and thus it has been from your infancy. You have grown up in it, fo that it has become an habitual retraint. You dare not so much as think you hate God. If you do exercife hatred, you have a difguife for it, whereby you endeavour even to hide it from your own confcience; and fo have all along deceived yourself. And your deceit is very old and habitual: and hence you are fo difficultly convinced. But this has been only reftraint: It has been no mortification. But there has been an enmity against God in its full strength. It has been only reftrained, like an enemy that durft not rife up and fhow himself.

SERMON VIII.

ROMANS V. 10.

For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son.

DOCTRINE.

Natural Men are God's Enemies.

AVING fhown,-in what refpeels they are enemies, to how great a degree they are enemies -and why they are fo, I proceed to anfwer fome objections.

The objection now under confideration is, that which many natural men make from their not being fenfible that they are God's enemies, whence they conclude, they have no enmity against God.*

This objection has been anfwered in five particulars, I now proceed to

Anf. 6. One reason why you have not felt more fenfible hatred to God may be, because you have not had much trial of what is in your heart. It may be God

* See the objection flated at large, page 235.

God has hitherto, in a great measure, let you alone. The enmity that is in men's hearts againft God, is like a ferpent, which, if it be let alone, lies ftill; but if any body disturbs it, will foon hifs, and be enraged, and fhow its ferpentine fpiteful nature.

Notwithstanding the good opinion you have of yourfelf, yet a little trial would fhow you to be a viper, and your heart would be fet all on rage against God. One thing that reftrains you now is your hope. You hope to receive many things from God. Your own intereft is concerned; you hope to make great gains of God. So that both hope and fear operate together, to restrain your enmity from fuch fenfible exercifes as otherwife would be. But if once hope were gone, you would foon fhow what you were you would foon feel your enmity against God in a rage.

7. If you pretend that you do not feel enmity against God, and yet act as an enemy, you may certainly conclude, that it is not because you are no enemy, but. because you do not know your own heart. Actions are the beft interpreters of the difpofition: they show, better than any thing elfe, what the heart is. It mult be because you do not obferve your own behaviour, that you question whether you are an enemy to God.

What other account can you give of your own carriage, but only your being God's enemy? What other account can be given of your fo oppofing God in your ways; walking fo exceeding contrary to him, contrary to his counfels, contrary to his commands, and contrary to his glory? What other account can be given of your cafting fo much contempt upon God; your fetting him fo low; your acting fo much against his authority, and against his kingdom and intereft in the world? What other account can be given of your fo fetting your will in oppofition to God's will, and that fo obftinately, for fo long a time, against fo many warnings as you have had? What other account can be given of your joining fo much with Satan, in the opposition he is making to the kingdom of God in the world?

world? And that you will join with him against God, though it be so much against your own interest, and though you expose yourself by it to everlasting mif. ery ?

Such like behaviour in one man towards another, would be looked on as fufficient evidence of a man's being an enemy to another. If he fhould be seen to behave thus from time to time, and that it was his conftant manner, none would want any better evidence, that he was an enemy to his neighbour. If you yourfelf had a fervant that carried it towards you, as you do towards God, you would not think there was need of any greater evidence of his being your enemy. If - your fervant fhould manifeft fo much contempt of you; fhould difregard your commands as much as you do the commands of God; and fhould go fo directly contrary; fhould in fo many ways act the very reverse of your commands; and fhould feem to fet himself in ways that were contrary to your will fo obftinately and incorrigibly, without any amendment from your repeated calls and warnings, and threatenings; and fhould act fo cross to you day and night, as you do to God; when you fought one thing, he would feek the contrary; when you did any work, he would, as much as in him lay, undo and deftroy your work; and fhould continually drive at fuch ends, as tended to overthrow the ends you aimed at when you fought to bring to pafs any defign, he would endeavour to overthrow your defign; and should fet himself as much against your intereft, as you do yourself against God's honour. And you fhould moreover fee him, from time to time, with others that were your declared mortal enemies and making them his counfellors, fo much as you do the devils, God's declared mortal enemies and hear.. kening to their counfels, as much as you do to Satan's temptations: fhould you not think you had fufficient. evidence that he was your enemy indeed?

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Therefore, confider feriously your own ways, and weigh your own behaviour. How canft thou fay, I

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am not polluted ?-fee thy way in the valley, know what thou haft done, Jer. ii. 23.

Obj. II. Natural men may be ready to object, the refpect they fhow to God, from time to time. This makes many to think that they are far from being fuch enemies to God. They carry it refpectfully towards God: they pray to him in fecret, and do it in as humble a manner as they are able. They attend on public worship, and take a great deal of pains to do it in a decent manner. It feems to them that they fhow God a great deal of refpect; they ufe many very refpectful terms in their prayer; they give him all the hoponr they can; they are refpectful in their manner of fpeaking, and in their voice, and their geftures, and the like.

But to this, I

Anfwer, That all this is done in mere hypocrify. All this feeming respect is feigned, there is no fincerity in it; there is external respect, but no refpe&t in the heart; there is a fhow, and nothing elfe. You only cover your enmity with a painted vail. You put on the difguife of a friend, but in your heart you are a mortal enemy for all that. There is external honour, but inward contempt; there is a fhow of friendship and regard, but inward hatred. You do but deceive yourfelf with your show of refpect, and endeavour to deceive God; not confidering that God looks not on the outward appearance, but that he looks on the heart.

Here confider particularly,

1. That much of that feeming refpect which natural men fhow to God, is owing to their education. They have been taught from their infancy that they ought to fhow great refpect to God. They have been taught to use respectful language, when fpeaking about God, and to behave with folemnity, when attending on thefe exercifes of religion, wherein they have to do with God. They, from their childhood, have feen that this is the manner of others, when they pray to God, to X 2 ufe

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