and try whether you have the Spirit of Christ or not; and then search the Scripture, and try whether any man be his that hath not his Spirit (Rom. viii. 9.), or can be saved that is not converted and born again of the Spirit? Matt. xviii. 3. John iii. 3. 6. "Examine yourselves whether you be in the faith. Prove your ownselves. Know ye not your ownselves how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?" 2 Cor. xii. 5.

10. But you will say that the reason of your distaste against these that are so forward in religion is, that they are inwardly as bad as others, and as proud and worldly; and why do they not excel others in good works, as much as they do in their devotions?

Answ. 1. So they do, according to their ability. Twenty years' trial and more I have had of them since I was a minister of Christ, and I can truly say that, ordinarily, I have known of many a shilling, if not pounds, that have come from the purses of these that you call Puritans and precise, for one groat or penny that I have known come from most others about me of their rank, to any pious and charitable use. But all that are godly, are not rich; and though Christ extolleth the widow's two mites, the standers-by regarded them not; Matt. xii. 42, 43. "If there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not ;" 2 Cor. viii. 12. And he that hath said, "Take heed that you do not your alms before men to be seen of them; otherwise you have no reward of your Father which is in heaven" (Matt. vi. 1.); hath hereby kept his servants from making the world acquainted with much of their deeds of charity. And for the sins of the heart that you charge them with, they are known to none but God, unless they be discovered in their lives. But malice in all ages hath been used to such unproved slanders of the servants of the Lord.

2. But suppose them as bad as malice doth imagine: is that any reason why both they and you should not be better? It is holiness and not sin that I am pleading for. Is their godliness and care of salvation necessary, or not? If it be, why do you not imitate them in that? And if you know any fault in them, take warning and avoid it. But be not so mad as to run into hell, because some fall in the way to heaven, or some miss the way that seemed to go thither.

Imitate not the Judas in Christ's family, but the rest of his disciples, and that not in their falls, but in their faith and piety. All that shall be saved, have both holiness towards God, and justice and charity to men. "The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits;" James iii. 17. If you want the first, you are ungodly; if the latter, are hypocrites. And if the hypocrite and the ungodly will stand snarling here at one another, they shall perish together, in that misery that will convince them that neither of them were the heirs of life; when saints, and none but they, shall live with Christ. Object. But it is but a few that are of so strict a mind and life; and shall none be saved but these few?'

Answ. Christ hath told you whom he will save. He will not falsify his word, nor take the unsanctified into heaven for want of company. He hath told you that the gate is strait, and the way narrow that leads to life, and few there be that find it; Matt. vii. 14. and that it is a little flock to whom the Father will give the kingdom; Luke xii. 32. You shall not want company in heaven, nor find comfort in your company in hell.

But if you would have the number of the godly to be greater, why do you not increase it by your joining with them? Why do not all the town and parish agree together, and bind themselves in a covenant to serve and seek the Lord, as the Israelites; Josh. xxiv. 2 Chron. xv. 12, 13. O happy people that will thus accord, and heartily perform it!

And now, beloved hearers, I have finished this first part of my task, and proved to you the necessity of a holy life. That" one thing is needful," while you pitifully cumber yourselves about " many things," is the message that from Christ I have been hitherto delivering to you. What say you? Are you yet resolved to seek this one thing with the chiefest of your desires, and care, and labour, or are you not? Dare any one of you say that you have not heard that which should resolve a sober, considerate man? I think you dare not. But if you dare, I am sure you shall never be able to make it good, and justify your words to God, or to your consciences at last, or to any wise, impartial person. Now take your choice, whether you will now be SAINTS, and for ever like ANGELS; or now be like BRUTES, and for ever like DEVILS. For one of these must be your case, as sure as you have heard these words.

A SAINT OR A BRUTE.

THE SECOND PART.

Clearly proving by Reason as well as Scripture: I. In general, that Holiness is best, and necessary to our felicity. II. Particularly, that it is best, 1. For Societies. 2. For Individual Persons. And more distinctly, (1.) That it is the only way to Safety. (2.) Of Honesty. (3.) The most Gainful way. (4.) The most Honourable. (5.) The most Pleasant, and therefore to be chosen by all that will obey true Reason and be happy.

CHAP. I.

Holiness and its fruits are the best part. Wherein the Happiness of Saints consisteth.

LUKE x. 4

But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen the good part, which shall not be taken from her.

THOUGH I have before taken up this latter part of the text by way of motive, in the conclusion of the former part of this Treatise, I am very loath that a subject of so great importance should be so lightly passed over. And therefore, by God's assistance, I shall attempt a fuller handling of it. The Necessity of Holiness I have spoken of already. It is the Goodness of it that I am next to speak of.

And before I enter upon it, let me entreat thee reader, whoever thou art that openest this book, to remember that I am writing, and thou art reading of the greatest and highest matters in the world; and therefore come not to it with common affections, and read not this as thou wouldst do a history, or a rhetorical oration, to find delight for a curious mind; but confessing thyself a scholar to Christ, with reverence take thy lesson from him, as that which thou camest into the world to learn, and which all thy comforts, thy hopes, thy safety, and thy everlasting happiness depend upon.

And here in the entrance, I will freely tell you what moveth me to fall upon this subject, and be so earnest with you in this point. One thing is the observation of the carelessness and wilfulness of the most, that live in the neglect of holiness and everlasting life, for all that can be said to persuade them to a wiser course. While they all profess themselves to be Christians, and to take the Scripture for the word of God, and confess this word in particular to be true, that it is heaven and holiness that are the most necessary, and most to be desired and sought after, yet will they not be moved to live according to this profession, nor to love that most which they confess to be the best, nor to seek that first which they confess to be most needful. They have the case here decided by the mouth of the Lord Jesus Christ himself, and as plainly, and fully, and peremptorily decided as they could wish. If they were infidels, and understood but the law of nature, even reason might tell them that there is no doubt of it, but that eternal life is more to be sought after than transitory things. And yet they live as if the case had never been decided by Christ or by reason; or as if they had never heard of any life but this. Look into most towns, and see whether there be not more at Martha's work (and worse) than at Mary's. Look into most families, and see whether they be not with Martha, troubling themselves with many things, when the good part is almost cast aside. Even in the families of lords, knights, and gentlemen, that are doubly obliged to God, and pretend to be wiser than the ignorant vulgar, the matters of their salvation are turned out of doors, or thrust into a corner, and the matters of their bodies do take up the day. How many Marthas for one Mary shall we find among both rich and poor!

Yea, that is not the worst, but they that are so blind and wicked as to choose the worse part themselves, would have all about them do so too. And as Martha grudged at Mary's practice, and complaineth to Christ against her, so these repine at the choice of the godly, and think them but melancholy, crack-brained people, that make more ado for their salvation than they need. And they are not content to keep such ungodly thoughts in their breasts, to their own damnation, but they must be the devil's mouth to spit reproach in the face of holiness, and consequently in the face of Christ, as if they bid defiance to the Lord, and would make it their employment to jeer and scorn men's souls from heaven. If one in a family do with Mary choose the better part (though without any neglect of their calling in the world), the rest make a wonder of them, and some deride them; and some hate, and vilify, and threaten them, and few will imitate them. And who more forward to distaste and despise them than the masters of the families that are bound to teach and lead them in that way! So that a poor soul (even in a land and age that countenanceth holiness more than almost any other in the world) can scarcely sit at the feet of Christ, and learn his word, and seek his kingdom and righteousness first, but they are gazed at, and censured and derided, as if they did some very foolish, needless, yea, or wicked thing! As if it were the only folly for a man to follow Jesus Christ, and obey his God, and save his soul, and do that work with greatest diligence, for which he is a man, for which he hath his life, and time, and mercies, and which if he neglect, he is lost for ever! The Lord have mercy upon the poor deluded world! Whence comes this general damp and dotage upon the understandings and the hearts of men; of great men, of learned men, of men that are accounted wise in the world!

It is good and evil that constituteth all that wonderful difference that is between the reasonable creatures, both here and hereafter. The good of holiness, and the evil of sin do make the difference between the godly and the wicked. The good of everlasting happiness, and the evil of everlasting misery, doth make the difference between the glorified and the damned. Goodness in general is so naturally the object of man's will, that evil as evil cannot be desired, and good as good cannot be hated. What then is the matter that