fane sinner, with a hardened heart, a seared conscience, and a shameless countenance, on the one hand; and the refined, self-deceiving hypocrite, with his duties and his forms, on the other: between those who are furious, violent, and malignant enemies to religion in profession and practice, and those who answer discreetly with the young man in the gospel, and of whom it may be said, as our Saviour says of him, that they are not far from the kingdom of God." This shows at once the importance and difficulty of pointing out the great and distinguishing characters of real religion, and showing how it essentially differs from all counterfeits.

But now, from the account given above of the nature of regeneration, and what hath been further added in illustration of it, we may see how this distinction is to be made, as far as it can be made by any, excepting the great Searcher of hearts. I apprehend that the great and distinguishing mark of the truth and sincerity of religion in general, and of every gracious disposition in particular, arises from comparing it with its opposite. It is "the prevailing interest of God and the Redeemer in the heart, above the interest of inferior good; the habitual comparative preference we give to his service and enjoyment, before every other object of desire." This must be proved by its effects daily. And agreeably to this our blessed Lord says, "He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than me, is not worthy of me; and he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me." And again, in yet stronger terms, "If any man come to

me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple." Would you therefore know whether you are born again? Are you in doubt, when you find the spirit lusting against the flesh, and the flesh against the spirit? Try, by diligent and universal examination, which of them is, upon the whole, the strongest; which of them habitually yields to the other when they come in competition. Into this all other marks and signs of religion resolve themselves at last; and from the evidence they give of the prevalence of the love of God in the heart, they derive all their worth and value. Every holy disposition must be examined, not by its absolute, but its comparative strength; and the true knowledge of our state arises from the conclusion and result of the whole.

There were, in the last age, many and great debates among men of piety and learning, whether special and common grace differ essentially in their nature, or if they differ only in degree. What I have just now said, may perhaps be thought, by the intelligent reader, to imply my embracing the last of these opinions. My judgment of this question is the same I have formed of many others, that it is unnecessary, or even hurtful. It has, perhaps, if examined to the bottom, no distinct meaning at all; but if it has any meaning, I am afraid it is a question which it is impossible for us to resolve. That it may be made plain to persons of common understanding, the question is, Whether it is most proper to say, that a wicked man, or an unrenewed person, let his behaviour be ever so unexceptionable, or his experiences

ever so comfortable, can have no true love to God, no, not in the least degree: or whether we ought not rather to say, his love to God is less than his love to the creature. I confess I think it is best to say, in the words of the Holy Ghost, that "he loveth the creature more than the Creator"-that "he loveth the praise of man more than the praise of God;" and, for this reason, he hath no true love, either to God or man.

In the preceding part of this treatise I have affirmed, with sufficient clearness, that there must be an essential change in order to salvation; and that, till this be wrought, the person is in sin, and can do nothing but sin. The reason of this is very plain; that the supreme and governing motive of all his actions is wrong, and therefore every one of them must be so upon the whole. I suppose, if they were to explain themselves fully, this is chiefly meant by those who insist that there is an essential difference between special and common grace. And in this view, no doubt, it is not only certainly true, but a truth of very great importance. It appears, however, on the other hand, equally certain and undeniable, that when we observe good dispositions and good actions in one character, and see the same appearances in another, we have no way by which we can discover the difference, but by their perseverance and their comparative effects. Neither, indeed, has the person himself any other rule by which they can be judged. For which

reason I would be very willing to affirm both sides of the above question, to say that an unregenerate person has no true love to God or his neighbour, and, at the same time, that this is only because no love but

but that which is supreme and prevalent is true, or will be accepted as sincere.

Unless we take up the matter in this light, we are in danger of doing great hurt on both hands. On the one hand, it is ready to alarm the pious, humble, and timorous soul, if we say that special grace differs essentially from common grace, and that there must be something quite different in its kind, as to every gracious disposition, than what ever resided in hypocrites. Alas! will the fearful person say, I have seen some who have gone great lengths, who have been well esteemed and well received among all serious people, and yet have made shipwreck of the faith, dishonoured their profession, and opened the mouths of adversaries to blaspheme. They had all the appearance of as much love to God, as much delight in his service, as much zeal for his glory, as much strictness, and as much usefulness of conversation, nay, more than I can pretend to. What then am I to think of this? Must all my gracious dispositions be essentially different from theirs? and how is this difference to be made appear? To all such I would say, Those unhappy persons by their conduct, and that alone, plainly discover that they have either been wholly impostors and deceivers of the world, or that they have loved some object of carnal affection; some lust, of one kind or another, more than they loved God. The strength of their affections in one way, has been over-balanced by the dominion of corruption in another. And that corruption which has been long disguised or restrained, at last breaks out with so much the greater violence, and the greater noise. Again, on the other hand, by affirming that there

is a difference in kind between special and common grace, and that a hypocrite, or unrenewed person, cannot have the least measure of the same sort of love to God or man with a child of God, we are apt to make some slaves to sin, upon examining themselves, judge amiss in their own favour. They cannot help thinking that they have a real unfeigned affection for that which is good in many respects; as indeed they have, when it doth not stand in competition with their reigning or darling lust. To give an example of this it is frequently made a mark of true religion to love the people of God; and indeed it is one of the best, and when taken in the sense I have mentioned above, as a supreme and prevalent love, it is an infallible sign. It hath no less warrant than the word of God: "We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren: he that loveth not his brother abideth in death." But I dare say, there are many who live in sin, and are strangers to the power of godliness, who, upon the most impartial examination of themselves, would conclude that they did love the people of God.

Perhaps some will say, they may love good men, but they love them for other qualities, and cannot love them because of their piety. Experience tells us the contrary. They may esteem them, love them, speak well of them, and do them service because of their piety. Nay, I have known (though that is more rare) some very loose livers, who seemed to have nothing good about them but an esteem of pious persons, and a desire to espouse their cause, which they continued to do in all ordinary cases. But should these servants of God presume to reprove them