This seems to be the thing which led those poor distressed Wretches, intimated Micah vi. 6. into their gross mistakes and errors, about the method of the remission of their sins. "Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself " before the high God? Shall I come before him with burntofferings, with calves of a year old? Will the Lord be pleaf"ed with thousands of rams, or with ten thousand of rivers of *" oil? Shall I give my first-born for my transgression, the fruit " of my body for the fin of my foul?" They were ready to purchase inward peace, and buy out their pardon at any rate. Nothing but the twinges of confcience could have extorted these things from them. Great is the efficacy and torment of a guilty confcience.

Satan, who feels more of this in himself than any other creature in the world, and knows how ready poor ignorant, but distressed sinners, are to catch at any thing that looks like ease, or comfort, and being jealous what these troubles of confcience may issue into, prepares for them such erroneous doctrines, and opinions, under the names of anodines, and quieting recipe's, by swallowing of which they feel some present ease; but their disease is thereby made fo much the more incurable.

* It is upon this account he hath found such vent in the world for his penances, pilgrimages, and indulgences among the Papists. But seeing this ware will not go off among the reformed, and more enlightened professors of Christianity, he changeth his hand, and fitteth other doses under other names, to quiet fick and distressed souls, before ever their frights of confcience come to fettle into true repentance and faith, in the blood of Christ, by dressing up, and presenting to them such opinions as these, viz.

That they may boldly apply to themselves all the promises of pardon and peace, without any respect at all to repentance or faith in themselves; that it is not at all needful, nay, that it is illegal and finful to have any respect to these things, forasmuch as their fins were pardoned, and they justified from eternity; and that the covenant of grace is in all respects absolute, and is made to finners, as finners, without any regard to their faith or

* Mr. Gataker, in his book against Saltmarsh, p. 27. tells us of one that had taken ill courses, and being under much trouble of mind, could not be quiet till he turned Papist, and had been shrieved and absolved by a priest.

repentance; and whatever fins there be in them, God fees them not §.

To fuch a charm of troubles as this, how earnestly doth the ear of a distressed confcience liften? how greedily doth it fuck in such pleasing words? Are all fins that are pardoned, pardoned before they are committed? and, Does the covenant of grace require neither repentance nor faith antecedently to the application of the promises? How groundless then are all my fears and troubles? This, like a dose of opium, quiets, or rather stupifies the raging confcience; for, even an error in judgment, till it be detected and discovered to be so, quiets and comforts the heart, as well as principles of truth; but, whenever the fallacy shall be detected, whether here or hereafter, the anguish of conscience must be increased, or (which is worse) left desperate.

The remedies.

To prevent and cure this mistake and error in the foul, by which it is fitted and prepared to catch any erroneous principle (which is but plausible) for its present relief and ease, I shall defire my reader seriously to ponder and confider the following queries upon this cafe.

Query 1. Whether, by the vote of the whole rational world, a good trouble be not better than a false peace? Present ease is defirable, but eternal safety is much more fo: and, if these two cannot consist under the present circumstances of the foul, Whether it be not better to endure for a time those painful pangs, than feel more acute and eternal ones, by quieting conscience with false remedies before the time?

It is bad to ly tossing a few days under a laborious fever; but far worse to have that fever turned into a lethargy, or fatal apoplexy. Erroneous principles may rid the foul of its present pain, and eternal hopes and safety together. Acute pains are better than a senseless stupidity. Though the present rage of confcience be not a right and kindly conviction, yet it may lead to it, and terminate in faith and union with Christ at last; if Satan do not this way practise upon it, and quench it before its time.

Query 2. Bethink yourselves feriously, whether troubles fo quieted and laid asleep, will not revive and turn again upon thee with a double force, as foon as the virtue of the drug (1 mean the erroneous principle) hath spent itself?

§ Saltmarsh, in the title page of his book called Free-grace, shews you the sovereign virtue of Antinomian principles, to quiet troubles of confcience of twelve years growth.

4

The efficacy of truth is eternal, and will maintain the peace it gives for ever; but all delusions must vanish, and the troubles which they dammed up for a time, break out with a greater force. Satan employs two forts of witches, some to torment the bodies of men with grievous pain and anguish: but then he hath his white witches at hand, to relieve and ease them. And, have these poor wretches any great caufe, think you, to boast of the cure, who are eased of their pains at the price of their fouls?

Much like unto this, are the cures of inward troubles by erroneous principles. I lament the case of blinded Papists, who by pilgrimages, and offerings to the shrines of titular faints, attempt the cure of a lesser sin by committing a greater: is it because there is not a God in Ifrael, who is able in due season to pacify confcience with proper and durable gospel-remedies, that we fuffer our troubles thus to precipitate us into the snares of Satan, for the fake of present ease?

Query 3. Read the Scriptures, and enquire, Whether God's people, who have lain long under sharp inward terrors, have not, at last, found fettlement and inward peace by those very methods which the principles that quiet you do utterly exclude?

If you will fetch your peace from a groundless notion, that your fins were pardoned, and your persons justified from all eternity, and therefore you may apply boldly and confidently to yourselves the choicest promises and privileges in the gospel, without any regard to faith or repentance wrought by the Spirit in your fouls. I am sure holy David took another course for the fettlement of his confcience, Pfal. li. 6, 7, 8, 9, 10. And it hath been the constant practice of the faints, in ali ages, to clear their title to the righteousness of Chrift, wrought without them, by the works of his Spirit wrought within them.

Caufe 6. The next evil temper in the subject, preparing and disposing it for error, is an easy CREDULITY, or fequacious humour in men, rendering them apt to receive things upon truft from others, without due and thorough examination of the grounds and reasons of them themselves.

This is a disposition fitted to receive any impression feducers please to make upon them; they are faid to deceive the hearts of the simple, ἀκακων, i. c. credulous, but well meaning people that suspect no harm. It is faid, Prov. xiv. 15. "The " simple believeth every word." Through this sluice, or floodgate, what a multitude of errors in Popery have overflowed the people! They are told, they are not able to judgefor them selves, but must take the matters of their salvation upon truft from their spiritual guides; and so the filly people are easily seduced, and made easily receptive of the grossest absurdities their ignorant leaders please to impose upon them.

And it were to be wished, that those two points, viz. Mi niftrorum muta officia, et populi caca obfequia, the dumb services of their ministers, and the blind obedience of the people had staid within the Popish confines. But, alas, alas! how many simple Protestants be there, who may be said to carry their brains in other mens heads; and, like filly sheep, follow the next in the track before them; especially if their leaders have but wit and art enough to hide their errors under specious and plausible pretences. How many poisonous drugs hath Satan put off under the gilded titles of antiquity, zeal for God, higher attainments in godliness, new lights, &c.? How natural is it for men to follow in the track, and be tenacious of the principles and practices of their progenitors? Multitudes seem to hold their opinions jure hæreditario, by an hereditary right, as if their faith descended to them the same way their eftates do.

The emperor of Morocco told king John's ambassador, that he had lately read St. Paul's epistles; and truly, (faid he) were I now to chuse my religion, I would embrace Chriftianity • before any religion in the world; but every man ought to • die in that religion he received from his ancestors.

Many honest, well-meaning, but weak Christians, are also eafily beguiled by specious pretences of new light, and higher attainments in reformation. This makes the weaker fort of Christians pliable to many dangerous errors, cunningly infinuated under fuch taking titles. What are most of the erroneous opinions now vogued in the world, but old errors, under new names and titles ?

The remedies.

The remedies and preventions in this case, are such as follow :

Remedy 1. It is beneath a man to profess any opinion to be his own, whilst the grounds and reasons of it are in other mens keeping, and wholly unknown to himself.

If a man may tell gold after his father, then fure he may, and ought to try and examine doctrines and points of faith after him. We are commanded to be ready to give an account of the hope that is in us, and not to fay, This or that is my judgment or opinion, but let others give an account of the ground and reason of it.

I confefs, if he that leads me into an error were alone expof

ed to the hazard, and I quit and free, whatever become of him, it were quite another thing; but when our Saviour tells us Matth. xv. 14. that both (that is, the follower as well as the leader) fall into the ditch; at my peril be it, if I follow without eyes of my_own: that's but a weak building that is shored up by a prop from a neighbour's wall. How many men have ruined their estates by suretiship for others? but of all furetiship, none so dangerous as spiritual furetiship. • We neither ought • (as a late Worthy speaks) to defy the judgment of the weak• est, nor yet, on the other fide, to deify the judgment of the strongest Christian:' He that pins his faith upon another man's leeve, knows not whither he will carry it.

Remedy 2. As you ought not to abuse your Christian privilege and liberty, to try all things, I Theff. v. 21. so neither on the other side to undervalue or part with it. See the things that so much concern your eternal peace with your own eyes.

I shewed you before, this liberty is abused by extending it too far; and under the notion of proving all things, many embolden themselves to innovate and entertain any thing: yet, beware of bartering such a precious privilege for the fairest promises others can make in lieu of it. I would not flight, nor undervalue the piety and learning of others, nor yet put out my own eyes to see by theirs.

Remedy 3. Before you adventure to espouse the opinions of others, diligently observe and mark the fruits and consequences of those opinions in the lives of the zealous abettors and propagators of them: By their fruits (faith Chrift) ye shall know them.

When the opinion or doctrine naturally tends to looseness, or when it fucks and draws away all a man's zeal, to maintain and diffuse it, and practical religion thereby visibly languishes in their conversations; it is time for you to make a pause, before you advance one step farther towards it.

Cause 7. The next evil disposition that I shall note in the subject, is a vain CURIOSITY of mind, or an itching defire to pry into things unrevealed; at least, above our ability to fearch out and discover.

Of

It is an observation, as true as antient, Pruritus aurium fcabies ecclefiae, itching ears come to a scab upon the face of the church. The itch of novelty produceth the fcab of error, this disease the apostle warns us, 2 Tim. iv. 3. "For the time " will come, when they will not endure found Doctrine; but after their own lufts shall they heap to themselves teachers,