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is oppofed to humility and felf-denial, which Christ en joins on all his difciples: it is oppofed to that felf-loath ing that he requires. The felfifh man will not be cover ed with the vail of blufhing: No; he feldom takes a look of his failings. He looks more on his beauty than his defilement. He will not cry out with Agur, in the context, "I am more brutish than any man; I have not the understanding of a man." The motto of the humble man is, "I abhor myfelf, and repent in duft and ashes." The motto of the felf-conceited man is, " God, I thank thee, I am not like other men." He looks on any thing of attainment through a magnifying glafs; but upon his fins in a diminishing one.

5. The evil of felf-conceit is great in refpect of duties. The evil of it will appear very great, if we confider the following particulars, among feveral others. -For it produceth rafhnefs in adventuring upon duty; even the moft folemn duty: becaufe, being pure in their own eyes, they stand upon no duty; while the poor, humble and felf-abafed creature is afraid left he mifmanage his work. It produceth a fuperficial performance of duty: though they think very much of their duties, yet they perform them but overly; for they imagine any fort of fervice for them is enough. And yet it produceth a kind of meritorious opinion of their duties: "Wherefore have we fafted, and thou feeft not? Wherefore have we afflicted our foul, and thou takeft no knowledge ?" Isa. lviii. 3, 4. As if God had been faulty, in not taking notice of their performances.-We might mention a variety of other things to the fame purpofe.

6. The evil of felf-conceit will appear in refpect of danger. The evil of it is exceeding great. Why fo? Here is great deceit; for, "He that thinketh himself to be fomething, when he is nothing, deceiveth himself," Gal. vi. 3. And this is the worst of all deceit. To deceive another, is certainly a great fault; but to deceive ourselves, what a terrible evil is it! For a man to kill and destroy another, is a fad thing; but to kill and destroy himself, is yet more dreadful!-The felf-conceited perfon imagines he can perform any duty; that he can read, pray, communicate, believe, repent: but he deceives

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himself. To be deceived about earthly things is ill; but to be deceived and cheated out of our immortal fouls, alas! that is worst of all. When a felf-conceited perfon hears the threatening, or the promife, he mifapplies all: that threatening is not to him, he thinks; and yet that is his portion that promife is to him, he imagines; and yet he hath no part in that matter.-Again, as fuch people are never likely to get good of ordinances; fo, they are not eafily convinced of their mistake and no wonder; for we are told, Jer. vii. 5. They hold fast deceit," when we fay all we poffibly can fay to them. They will fill declare, that they have a good heart towards God, and that they have a great love to Chrift; though yet they never faw their ill heart, nor their ftrong enmity: "They hold faft deceit." Self-conceited perfons will come under a fad difappointment in the iffue; for,"Fearfulness fhall furprise the hypocrite in Zion. Who among us fhall dwell with devouring fire? Who can abide with everlasting burning?" Why will they be furprised with fear and terror? What is the matter? Why, they had a good hope of heaven; and so, the higher their hope, the more difmal their fall and disappointment. Oh! how many ride triumphantly to hell in a chariot of foul-deftroying delufion! They imagine they are right enough, and that all is well; 'while it is quite otherwife with them.

SERMON XVI.

PROV. XXX. 12.

There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness.

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[The ninth Sermon on this Text.]

HIS text affigns two or three differences between the godly and the wicked. 1. They differ from each other in their number; there is a generation of wicked

men

men and hypocrites, a multitude of them: whereas the godly are but a little flok, an handful, a remnant, a few. 2. Thy differ from each other in their judgment; particularly in their judgment about themselves. Wicked men and hypocrites are proud, and pure in their own eyes; whereas the godly are humble, and vile in their own eyes. 3. They differ from each other in their real qualities. The wicked and hypocritical generation are really vile and polluted, never wafhen from their filthinefs; whereas the godly are purified in part, and cleanfed from their filthinefs; at leaft, it is their exercife to get their defilement daily washed away with the blood of Chrift.

It is remarkable, that as felf-abafement and purity go together; (for, they that are impure and vile in their own eyes, are a people wafhed from their filthiness;} fo, on the other hand, felf-conceit and impurity go together; for, the generation that are pure in their own eyes, are not washed from their filthinefs. The former look upon themfelves as impure, and yet are pure; the latter judge themselves pure, but are impure.

The doctrinal part of the fubje&t having been finished in the preceding discourse, it remains now that we make fome practical improvement of the point.

V. The fifth thing we propofed in the method, was the application of the doctrine; which we fhall effay in feveral ufes.

The firft ufe that we make, fhall be of Information. If it be fo, as has been affirmed, That felf-conceit is. incident to a multitude of profeffors, then we may infer the following things.

1. Hence fee the degeneracy of our nature, by reason of the fall. Alas! how corrupt is our nature now! The devil made our firft parents fancy, that they should be as gods; and now he makes men dream that they are as gods; for, this felf-conceit is a deifying of ourselves. Self is the god that we adore naturally. Inftead of lawful felf-love, unlawful felf-conceit takes place. There is a lawful felf-love injoined; "Thou fhalt love thy neighbour as thy felf;" where, you fee, it is our duty tolove our

felves;

felves; and then our neighbour as ourfelves. And if the generation had a right and lawful love to themselves, either foul or body; they would not deftroy their bodies by intemperance and infobriety, and ruin their fouls by wilful fin and impenitency: but, inftead of lawful felflove, finful felf-love takes the throne. Self-conceit and felf-admiration, felf-will and felf-fatisfaction prevail.

2. See what is the great tendency of true gospelpreaching; namely, to difcover and diminish all felfpurity and felf-righteousness, that Chrift alone may be exalted: yea, the defign of it is to level and dash down all that felf-conceited purity, whereby people are pure in their own eyes, that it may advance gofpel-purity, by which we may be pure in God's fight. Some make a vast noise about preaching up good works, and of their being friends to holinefs and the law; while yet the tendency of their doctrine. may be only to make people pure and holy in their own eyes, and in the eyes of men: but that which a gofpel-minifter efpecially aims at, is, to get people pure in the fight of God. He cannot fatisfy himself merely in preaching up good works, and charity, piety, devotion, mercy, tendernefs, honefty, civility, morality, &c. which is very commendable; and would to God there were more of thefe; but he goes farther, and labours principally to get the foundation of true holiness laid in the heart, felf-purity mortified, the principles rectified, and Christ formed in the heart: otherwife, they build, without laying a foundation. It may be observed, with regret, there never were lefs morality amongst perfons of all ranks, than fince fo many minifters laid afide evangelical preaching, and made the inculcating moral duties their principal theme. And many who extol moral virtues, are themfelves the most immoral perfons. The Pharifees fet up for great friends to the law, when Chrift appeared on the ftage; and they flouted at him, as if he had been an enemy to good works, when he was telling them that they were but hypocrites: "Think they (faith he), that I am come to deftroy the law? Nay, Except your righteoufnefs exceed the righteoufness of the Scribes and Pharifees, ye cannot enter into the kingdom of God." Why, they were pure in their

Own

own eyes; they verily imagined they were friends to holinefs: yet they made clean but the outfide, and were not internally walhed from their filthinefs. The doctrine of the Pharifees was much about wafhings, and legal pu rification: Yea, faith Chrift; but I tell you, you must be pure in heart, otherwise you cannot fee God. Why, fay the Pharifees, you must do good works, and bring forth good fruits: Yea, faith Chrift; but make the tree good, otherwife the fruit cannot be good. The principles must be changed, the nature renewed, and the foul implanted into Chrift; then, and not till then, can any do what is fpiritually good. Till there be both a fpiritual habit of grace, wrought by the efficacious power of the Spirit of God; and a fpiritual communication of heavenly influences, to excite that habit into exercise, there can be no pure act, no holy work acceptable to God: and whatever doctrine doth not aim at this, it comes fo far fhort of preffing holinefs, that it may indeed make hypocrites; but can never direct people how to go one step beyond hypocrify and felf-conceit: for, without this radical change, a man may well be pure in his own eyes, and in the eyes of others; but is not puré in God's eyes, nor wafhen from his filthinefs.

3. Hence fee the difference that there is between be lievers and hypocrites. The hypocrite doth the fame action externally that the found believer doth; he may pray and praife, and read, and hear, and what not. What doth the beft believer that I do not? faith the hypocrite. What can they do but I will do? Yea, he may exceed the believer in the multitude of duties. But, behold! all the while he is a mafs of impurity and pollution; and only pure in his own eyes. He may indeed affect holiness, and feem to be one that is freed of felf-conceit; but yet felf is ftill his principle, and felf fill his end. Whereas the true believer, as fuch, hath no self-conceit, but what is his burden; no felf-motive, but what is his grief; no felf-ends or aims, but what are his exercise either fooner or later. And, in a word, there is as great a difference between the most refined hypocrite, and the pooreft believer, as there is between a painted image, and a living man; yea, as there is beVOL. I.

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