gospel; and, consequently, things that shall never be placed in the kingdom of heaven among those that are the children of life; though their sound, by their talk, be as if it were the tongue or voice of an angel.

FAITH. Well, though I was so fond of his company at first, yet I am as sick of it now. What shall I do to be rid of him?

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CHR. Take my advice, and do as I bid you, and you find that he soon will be sick of your company too, except God shall touch his heart, and turn it.

FAITH. What would you have me to do?

CHR. Why, go to him, and enter into serious conversation about the power of religion; and ask him plainly (when he has approved of it, for that he will do), whether this thing be in his heart.

Then Faithful stepped forward again, and said to Talkative, "Come, what cheer? How is it now?"

TALK. Thank you, well. I thought we should have had a great deal of talk by this time.

FAITH. Well, if you will, we will fall to it now; and since you left it with me to state the question, let it be this: How doth the saving grace of God discover itself, when it is in the heart of man?

TALK. I perceive, then, that our talk must be about the power of things. Well, it is a very good question, and I shall be willing to answer you. And take my answer in brief, thus: First, Where the grace of God is in the heart, it causeth a great outcry against sin. Secondly,

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FAITH. Nay, hold; let us consider of one at once. I think you should rather say, It shows itself, by inclining the soul to abbor its sin.

TALK. Why, what difference is there between crying out against sin, and the abhorring of sin?

FAITH. Oh; a great deal : a man may cry out against sin of policy; but he cannot abhor it but by virtue of a godly antipathy against it. I have heard many cry out against sin in the pulpit, who yet can abide it well enough in the heart. Joseph's mistress cried with a loud voice, as if she had been very holy; but she would, notwithstanding, willingly have committed uncleanness with him. Some cry out against sin, even as a woman cries out against her child in her lap, when she calleth it slut, and naughty girl, and then falls to hugging and kissing it.

TALK. You lie at the catch, I perceive.

FAITH. No, not I; I am only for setting things right. But what is the second thing whereby you will prove a discovery of a work of grace in the heart?

TALK. Great knowledge of gospel mysteries.

FAITH This sign should have been first; but, first or last, it is also false; for knowledge may be obtained in the mysteries of the gospel, and yet no work of grace in the soul. Yea, if a man have all knowledge, he may yet be nothing, and so, consequently, be no child of God. When Christ said, "Do you know all these things ?" and the disciples had answered, "Yes;" He added, " Blessed are ye if ye do them." He doth not lay the blessing in the

knowing of them, but in the doing of them. For there is a knowledge that is not attended with doing: "He that knoweth His master's will, and doeth it not." A man may know like an angel, and yet be no Christian; therefore your sign of it is not true. Indeed, to know is a thing that pleaseth talkers and boasters; but to do is that which pleaseth God. Not that the heart can be good without knowledge; for, without that the heart is nought. There are, therefore, two sorts of knowledge: knowledge that resteth in the bare speculation of things, and knowledge that is accompanied with the grace and faith of love, which puts a man upon doing even the will of God from the heart: the first of these will serve the talker; but without the other the true Christian is not content. "Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law;

yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart."

TALK. You lie at the catch again; this is not for edification.

FAITH. Well, if you please, propound another sign how this work of grace discovereth itself where it is.

TALK. Not I; for I see we shall not agree.

FAITH. Well, if you will not, allow me to do it.
TALK. You may use your liberty.

FAITH. A work of grace in the soul discovereth itself, either to him that hath it, or to standers by.

To him that hath it, thus: It gives him conviction of sin, especially of the defilement of his nature, and the sin of unbelief, for the sake of which he is sure to be damned,

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if he findeth not mercy at God's hand, by faith in Jesus Christ. This sight and sense of things worketh in him sorrow and shame for sin; he findeth, moreover, revealed in him, the Saviour of the world, and the absolute necessity of closing with Him for life; at the which he findeth hungering and thirsting after Him; to which hungerings, &c. the promise is made. Now, according to the strength or weakness of his faith in his Saviour, so is his joy and peace, so is his love to holiness, so are his desires to know Him more, and also to serve Him in this world. But, though I say it discovereth itself thus unto him, yet it is but seldom that he is able to conclude that this is a work of grace; because his corruptions now, and his abused reason, make his mind to misjudge in this manner; therefore, in him that hath this work there is required a very sound judgment before he can, with steadiness, conclude that this is a work of grace.

To others it is thus discovered :

1. By an experimental confession of his faith in Christ. 2. By a life answerable to that confession; to wit, a life of holiness, heart-holiness, family-holiness (if he hath a family), and by conversation-holiness in the world; which, in general, teacheth him inwardly to abhor his sin, and himself for it, in secret; to suppress it in his family, and to promote holiness in the world; not by talk only, as a hypocrite or talkative person may do, but by a practical subjection, in faith and love, to the power of the word. And now, sir, as to this brief description of the work of grace, and also

of the discovery of it, if you have aught to object, object; if not, then give me leave to propound to you a second question.

TALK. Nay, my part is not now to object, but to hear: let me therefore have your second question.

FAITH. It is this: Do you experience the first part of this description of it? And doth your life and conversation testify the same? Or, standeth your religion in word or tongue, and not in deed and in truth? Pray, if you incline to answer me this, say no more than you know the God above will say Amen to; and also nothing but what your conscience can justify you in: "for, not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth." Besides, to say I am thus and thus, when my conversation and all my neighbours tell me I lie, in great wickedness.

Then Talkative at first began to blush; but recovering himself, he thus replied: "You come now to experience, to conscience, and God; and to appeal to Him for justification of what is spoken. This kind of conversation I did not expect ; nor am I disposed to give answer to such questions, because I count not myself bound thereto, unless you take upon you to be a catechiser, and my judge. But, I pray you, will you tell me why you ask me such questions ?"

FAITH. Because I saw you forward to talk, and because I knew not that you had aught else but notion. Besides, to tell you all the truth, I have heard of you, that you are a man whose religion lies in talk, and that your conversation gives this your profession the lie. They say you are a sport