dervaluing in our thoughts is a thing punishable: "How fhall we escape if we neglect fo great falvation" Have we walked worthy of the dignity we are called to by the gospel? Have we carried ourselves fo in fpiritual things, as to rule our base lufts? Have we been careful of private prayer, to offer ourselves to God as priests? Are we not preffed in St. Paul's Epiftles, "to carry ourselves worthy of our profeffion," and have we done fo? Let us examine our carriage, and fee how proportionable it is to God's advancing of us in thefe glorious times of the gofpel, and this will bring us on our knees.

We are ashamed of a little unkindness to men; but when we confider how unkind we have been to God, who thought not his dear Son and heaven happinefs too much for us, who, befides other favours, protects and clothes, and 'feeds us every day, and yet we have not been answerable. These considerations should humble us proportionable to our carriage to men. Can we be ashamed to offer an unkindness to men, and are we not afhamed, cannot we be abafed with this that we have carried ourselves fo towards God? It comes from atheism and infidelity of heart, that either we believe not these things to be good, or elfe that we have not our part or portion in them, could we ever be fo dead and dull hearted elfe?

3. Again, that we may be humbled, let us call to mind, now in this day of humiliation, our special fins; we may foon know them; our confciences and our enemies will upbraid us for them; and we are to loath to hear of them above all, either by the ministry or by our friends. We with above all, that the preacher would not speak of them, and we fret if he do; for our hearts run upon them above all. So let us fearch our false hearts, which way they run: and now in the day of our abasement, let us think what would lie heaviest on our conscience, if God fhould take us now with fickness or sudden death; let us think with ourselves what is the fin that would afflict me most ? that would ftagger me moft, that would shake my faith most; whether it be filthinefs or profaneness, or swearing or injustice, and whether have I made fatisfaction or no? Let me examine, if God fhould strike me with his arrow now, what fin would rob me of my comfort, and make me afraid to yield my foul to God. Now think of it, this is the way to be humbled: you may now bring yourselves to confider of that which at other times you will not give yourselves leifure to do. What are

days

days of fafting for, but to give ourselves leifure, that we may not think of meat and drink and bufinefs? These days should be days of reft, that we may think of that which concerns our fouls: take the advantage when thou refteth from thinking of other business, think with thine own foul what will lie heaviest upon thy foul. This is required to humiliation : this real humiliation that is outward, it is a proteftation of the inward; and verbal humiliation is but an expreffion of what we do inwardly.

There are two things wondrous neceffary, before the foul can be in the right frame it should be in.

First, the foul must apprehend deeply what distance it hath from God, what alienates it from God, before it can be wise : and it must be eftranged from that, before ever it can come to couple and join with God. When the foul apprehends what feparates it from God, and conceives as it fhould do of that, then it will be the readier to apprehend God, and then all duties will come off eafily. Therefore let us first of all work upon our fouls to be humbled, by all the helps that can be.

4. And to help it, confider now at this time, how uncertain our life is—we know not who may be stricken next; and confider what the dangerous iffue is, if we humble not ourselves here, before God humble us in our graves. Let us help humiliation by all that may be: For where this is, all will follow eafily: a man will go out of himself to God, when he is abased in himself, and fees no comfort in heaven or earth, but in God; that there is nothing to be ftuck to in the world, but all is vanity; and he may be ftripped of life, and of all these comforts ere long. When a man is abased, faith and obedience will come off eafily. What is the reason that Chrift is not relished more, and that many fall off? They were never deeply humbled: according to the depth of humiliation, fo is the growth of holiness of life, and the height of faith. All graces rife higher as the foul is. more deeply humbled. The more we defcend deeply in digging and rending up our hearts, the more the word of God finks into the good ground, that fuffers the plough to rend it up, and cut off the weeds. The more deeply we are humbled, the more the fruits of God's word appear in our hearts and lives, the more fruitful is our converfation: all comes indeed upon the truth of our humiliation; and when that is not deep and true, all the reft is fhallow and counterfeit there we should work it upon our hearts.

And

5. Labour to be humble and low in all the powers of our fouls; to have humble judgments, to think of ourselves as God thinks of us. God thinks of us as finners: God and Chrift think of us, that we are fuch as must deny all in us before we be fit for heaven. Let us judge of ourselves, as he that must be our judge doth, and will judge of us ere long Labour to have low opinions of ourselves, what we are in ourselves, empty of all good, defiled with all ill.

And this will breed poverty of spirit in our judgments. Then let us labour for humility in our affections, to bring ourselves more to God, to stoop to him in fear and reverence, and humility, in our ob dience and conversation to God and to men, every way. Let humility fpread itfelf over all the parts and powers of the foul and body, and over our whole lives. I cannot ftand further upon that.

Now here is verbal humiliation, that is, by confeffion, ex preffing our humiliation by our words, as the people of God do here by confeffion, laying open our fins that God may cover them; what we hide God will never cure: therefore we should take heed, that now we are to deal with God, we lay open the bottom of our fouls to him- let not the iron be in the wound. You know a furgeon can heal nothing. if the iron or poisoned arrow ftick there If there be corruption in the ftomach, it muft up; if it be ill gotten goods, it will not digeft, up it muft all to God. For men, except there be fcruples that a man cannot free his confcience, there is no neceffity, though great conveniency; but between God and the foul, open all by confeffion, and give not over till thou haft brought pardon to thy heart of that fin thou haft confeffed. Every flight confeffion is not enough, but it must be a refolved downright confeffion, without guile of fpirit, as it is in Pfal xxxii. this is the courfe that David takes there; until he dealt roundly with his foul without guile, his moisture was as the drought of fummer;" he was in fome dangerous difeafe that could not be cured. And if we look to be preserved from falling into tickuefs, or if we be fick, to be cured, we mult begin the cure in our fouls, lay open the wound to God-" I faid, I will confefs my fin, and thou forgavelt me:" he begins with confeffion. So all perfons that either fear or are under any judgment let them begin with laying open their fouls to God: whe the toul is healed, he will heal the body prefently after; for he lays fickness upon the

body

body for the foul; and when the wound is healed, the plaifler will fall off of itfelf; therefore, let us lay open our fins by confeffion, and fhame our fouls all that we can.

er.

This is the way to give glory to God-let us join both together, our own ease, and glory to God. When we have laid open our fouls to God, and laid as much against ourselves as the devil could do that way; for let us think what the devil' would lay to our charge at the hour of death and the day of judgement; he would lay hard to our charge this and that; let us accuse ourfelves as he would, and as he will ere long. The more we accuse and judge ourselves, and fet up a tribunal in our hearts, certainly there will follow an incredible eafe. Jonah was caft into the sea, and there was ease in the fhip. Achan was ftoned, and the plague was ftayed. Out with Jonah, out with Achan, and there will follow eafe and quiet in the foul prefently; conscience will receive wonderful eafe. It muft needs be fo, for when God is honoured, confcience is purified. God is honoured by confeffion of fin every way. It honours his omniscience, that he is all-feeing, that he fees our fins, and fearcheth the hearts, our fecrets are not hid from him. It honours his powWhat makes us confefs our fins, but that we are afraid of his power, leaft he should execute it? And what makes us confefs our fins, but that we know, there is " mercy with him that he may be feared? and that there is pardon for fin; we would not confefs our fins elfe. With men, it is confefs, and have execution; but with God, confefs and have mercy; it is his own proteftation. We would never lay open our fins, but for mercy. So it honours God; and when he is honoured, he honours the foul with inward peace and tranquility. We can never have peace in our fouls, till we have dealt roundly with our fins, and favour them not a whit, till we have ripened our confession to be a thorough confeffion. What is the difference between a chriftian and another man? another perfon flubbers over his fins, God is merciful, &c. and he thinks, if he come to the congregation, and follow the minifter, it will ferve the turn. But a chriftian knows that religion is another manner of matter, another kind of work than fo: he must deal thoroughly and feriously, and lay open his fin as the chief enemy in the world, and labour to raise all the hatred he can against it, and make it the object of his bitter displeasure, as being that which hath done him more hurt than all the world befides; and

fo

fo he confeffeth it, with all the aggravation of hatred and envy that he can.

But to come more particularly to the confeffion here spoken of, "We all are as an unclean thing," &c.

We all.

We fee here holy men themselves confefs their fins, and rank themselves among finners in their confeffions. So we learn hence this;,

That we in our confeffions (in our fastings especially) ought to rank ourselves amongst the rest of finners, and not to exempt ourselves from other finners. Perhaps we are not guilty of fome fins that they have been guilty of: God hath been merciful to us, and kept us in obedience in fome things: but alas! there is none of us all but have had a hand in the fins of the times; the beft of all conditions are guilty of them; therefore we have cause to rank ourselves among others, as he faith here, " we all are as an unclean thing" and as Daniel, he makes a confeffion of the fins of all, we are all of us guilty.

How are we all guilty?

We are all guilty in this respect, we receive fome taint and foil from the times we live in, either our zeal is weakened, we do not grieve fo much for the fins of the times, and who is not guilty in this refpect? We do not grieve and lament as we should: St. Paul tells the Corinthians, they fhould have been forry and humbled; they were guilty of the fin of the incestuous perfon, because they were not humbled for it. We are thus far guilty, at leaft the best of us, that we do not forrow for the common fins. Alas how many fins are there that every body may see in the times in all ranks? In paftors, what unfaithfulness; and in governors, and places of juftice; what crying of the poor and men oppreffed; and in all ranks of people we fee a general fecurity, we fee filthinefs, and hear oaths, " for which the land mourns," as Jeremiah faith, Jer. xxiii. Thefe and fuch like fins provoke God, and folicit the vengeance of God, and will have no nay till they have pulled down vengeance. Who hath been fo much humbled for these fins as he ought? Perhaps ourselves are not perfonally guilty of them but are they not our fins, fo far as we are not abafed for them, and oppofe them, and reprefs them as we should