would be, or rather, what it would not be. But, alas! the heart grows careless again, and quickly returns, like water removed from the fire, to its native coldnefs. Could you but keep those things for ever in your hearts, what Christians would you be, what lives would you live? and how is it that these things remain no longer with us? Doubtless it is because we fuffer our hearts to take cold again; we should be as careful after an ordinance or duty, to prevent this, as one that comes out of a hot bath, or great fweat, is of going out into the chill air. We have our hot and cold fits by turns; and what is the reason, but our unfkilfulness and careleffness in keeping the heart?

It is a thousand pities, that the ordinances of God, as to their quickening and comforting effects, fhould be like those human ordinances the apoftle speaks of, that perish in the ufing. O then, let me fay to you, as Job xv. 11. "Do the confolati"ons of God feem small to you?" Look over these ten special benefits; weigh them in a just balance; are they small matters ? Is it a fmall matter to have thy weak understanding affifted? Thy endangered foul antidoted, thy fincerity cleared, thy communion with God fweetened, thy fails filled in prayer? Is it a fmall thing to have the decayed power of godlinefs again recovered, all fatal fcandals removed, an inftrumental fitness to ferve Christ obtained, the communion of faints restored to its primitive glory, and the influences of ordinances abiding in the fouls of faints? If these be no common bleffings, no small benefits, then, furely, it is a great duty to keep the heart with all diligence.

The III. Ufe for direction.

The next ufe fhall be for direction to fome fpecial means, for the keeping of the heart. And here, befides what hath been hinted in the explication of the duty at the beginning of this difcourfe, to which I refer the reader, and all thofe directions throughout the whole, appropriated to particular cafes and feafons; I fhall farther add feveral other general means of excellent use to this end. And the first is this:

I Means. Would you thus keep your hearts as hath been perfuaded? Then furnifb your hearts richly with the word of God, which is their best prefervative against fin.

Keep the word, and the word will keep you: as the first receiving of the word regenerated your hearts, fo the keeping of the word within you will preferve your hearts: Col. iii. 16. "Let the word of Chrift dwell richly in you:" let it dwell, not tarry with you for a night, and let it dwell richly or plen

tifully; in all that is of it, in its commands, promifes, threats; in all that is in you, in your understanding, memories, confciences, affections, and then it will preferve your hearts; Pfalm cxix. 11. "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I

might not fin against thee." It is the flipperiness of our hearts in reference to the word, that caufes fo many flips in our lives. Confcience cannot be urged or awed with forgotten truths; but keep it in the heart, and it will keep both heart and life uprght; Pfalm xxxvii. 31. "The law of his God is in his heart: none of his fteps fhall flide;" or if he do, the word will recover the ftraying heart again; Matth. xxvi. 57. "Then Peter remembered the words of Jefus, and wept "bitterly." We never lofe our hearts, till they have first loft the efficaciousand powerful impreffion of the word.

2 Means. Call your hearts frequently to an account, if ever you mean to keep them with God.

Thofe that put a stock into the hands of unfaithful or fufpicious fervants, will be fure to make fhort reckonings with them; "The heart is deceitful, above all things, and defperately wick"ed," Jer. xvii. 9. O it is as neceffary as fweet, that we and our reins, that is, we and our fecret thoughts, fhould confer together every night, Pfalm xvi. 7. We fhould call our hearts to account every evening, and fay, O my heart! Where haft thou been to day? Where have thy thoughts been wandering to day? What an account canft thou give of them? O naughty heart! vain heart! couldft thou not abide by the fountain of delights? Is there better entertainment with the creature than with God? The oftner the heart meets with rebukes and checks for wandering, the lefs it will wander: If every vain thought were retracted with a figh, every excurfion of the heart from God with a fevere check, it would not dare fo boldly and frequently to digrefs and ftep afide; thofe actions which are committed with reluctancy, are not committed with frequency.

3 Means. He that will keep his heart, muft take heed of plunging himself into fuch a multiplicity of earthly bufinefs, as he cannot manage without neglecting his main business.

It cannot be imagined he thould keep his heart with God, that hath loft himself in a wood of earthly bufinefs: Take heed you do not pinch your fouls, by gratifying the immoderate defires of your flefh. I with many Chriftians could truly fay what an* heathen once did! I do not give, but only lend my

**Seneca.

felf to business.' It is faid Germanicus reigned in the Romans hearts; Tiberius only in their provinces. Though the world be in your hands, let it not juftle Christ out of your hearts.

Take heed, Christian, left thy shop fteal away thy heart from thy clofet; God never intended earthly employments for ftop, but rather for a step to heavenly ones. O let not Ariftippus the heathen, arise in judgment against thee, who faid, He would rather neglect his means, than his mind; his farm, than his foul.' If thy fhip be overladen, thou must caft fome over-board: More bufinefs than thou canst well manage, is like more meat than thou canst well digeft, which will quickly make a fickly foul.

4 Means. He that means to keep his heart, must carefully obferve its firft declinings from God, and ftop it there.

He that will find his houfe in good repair, muft ftop every chink as foon as difcoverd; and he that will keep his heart, must not let a vain thought be long neglected; the serpent of heart-apoftacy is beft killed in the egg of a fmall remiffion. Oh! if many poor decayed Chriftians had looked to their hearts in time, they had never come to that fad pafs they now are ? We may fay of heart-neglects, as the apoftle doth of vain bablings; that they increase to more and more ungodliness. Ne mo repente fit turpiffimus; little fins neglected, will quickly become great and mafterlefs: The greatest crocodile once lay in an egg; the greatest oak was once but an acorn. ing of a small train of powder may blow up all, by leading to a greater quantity. Men little think what a proud, vain wanton, or worldly thought may grow to: Behold how great a matter a little fire kindles !

5

The fir

Means. Take heed of lofing the liveliness and fweetness of your communion with God, left thereby your hearts be loofed off from God.

The heart is an hungry and restless thing; it will have fomething to feed upon; if it enjoy nothing from God, it will hunt for fomething among the creatures, and there it often lofes it felf, as well as its end. There is nothing more engages the heart to a conftancy and evenness in walking with God, than the sweetness which it taftes therein: As the Gauls, when once they tafted the fweet wine of Italy, could never be fatiffied till they conquered the country where it grew.

It is true, confcience of duty may keep the heart from ne glecting it; but when there is no higher motive, it drives on deadly, and is filled with diftractions; that which we delight VOL. VII. Q

in, we are never weary of, as is evident in the motions of the heart to earthly things, where the wheels being oiled with delight, run nimbly, and have often need of trigging; the motions of the heart upward would be as free, if its delight in heavenly things were as great.

6 Means. Habituate thy heart to spiritual meditations, if thou wouldst have it free from those burdenfime diverfions. By this means you will get a facility and dexterity in heartwork It is pity thofe fmaller portions of our time betwixt folemn duties fhould lie upon our hands, and be rendered useless to us. O learn to fave, and be good husbands upon your thoughts. To this purpose a neat author fpeaks; Thefe parentheses, which happen to come between the more folemn paffages (whether bufinefs or recreations) of human life, are wont to be loft by most men for want of a due value for them, and even by good men, for want of skill to preserve them; for though they do not properly despise them, yet they neglect, or lose them, for want of knowing how to refcue them, or what to do with them: But although grains of fand and afhes be, apart, but of a despicable smallness, and • liable to be scattered and blown away, yet the skilful artificer, by a vehement fire, brings numbers of those to afford him that noble fubftance, glafs, by whofe help we may both see ourselves, and our blemishes lively reprefented (as in looking-glaffes) and difcern celeftial objects (as with the telef copes) and with the fun beams kindle difpofed materials (as with burning-glaffes): So when thefe little fragments, or parcels of time, which if not carefully looked to, would be < diffipated and loft, come to be managed by a fkilful contemplator, and to be improved by the celeftial fire of devetion, they may be fo ordered as to afford us both looking glaffes to drefs our fouls by, and prospectives to discover heavenly wonders and incentives to inflame our hearts with zeal' Thus far he,

Something of that nature I have under hand, for a public benefit, if God give life to finifh, and opportunity to produce it: Certainly this is a great advantage for the keeping of the heart with God.

IV. Ufe of confolation.

Ifhall now close the whole with a word or two of con folation to all diligent and serious Chriftians, that faithfully and closely ply heart-work; that are groaning and weeping in fecret

* Boyle's occafional reflect. p. 9. 19,

over the hardness, pride, earthlinefs, and vanity of their hearts; that are fearing and trembling over the experienced deceitfulnefs and falfeness of them, whilst other vain profeffors eyes are abroad, their time and ftrength eaten up by fruitless disputes and earthly employments, or, at beft, by a cold and formal performance of fome heartlefs and empty duties. Poor Christian! I have three things to offer thee, in order to thy fupport and comfort; and, doubtlefs, either of them alone, mixed with faith, is fufficient to comfort thee over all the trouble thou haft with thine own heart.

1 Comfort. This argues thy heart to be upright and honest, whatever thy gifts and abilites are.

It is uprightness of heart will comfort thee upon a deathbed; 2 Kings xx. 2, 3. “Then he turned his face to the wall, "and prayed to the Lord, faying, remember now, O Lord, "how I have walked before thee in truth, and with a perfect "heart," &c.

I am really of his mind, who said, fi mihi daretur optio, eligerem Chriftiani ruftici fordidiffimum & maxime agrefte opus prae omnibus victoriis & triumphis Alexandri aut Caefaris; might I have my with, I would prefer the most despicable and fordid work of a ruftic Chriftian, before all the victories and triumphs of Alexander or Caefar; yea, let me add, before all the elaborated duties and excellent gifts of vain profeffors; before the tongues of men and angels. It will fignify more to my comfort, to fpend one folitary hour in mourning before the Lord over heart-corruption, than many hours in a feeming zealous, but really dead performance of common duties with the greatest enlargements and richest embellishments of parts and gifts.

1

By this very thing Chrift diftinguishes the formal and ferious Christian, Matth. vi. 5. The one is for the ftreet and fynagogue, for the obfervation and applause of men, but the other is a closet-man. he drives on a home-trade a heart-trade. Never be troubled then for the want of thofe things that a man may have and be eternally damned; but rather bless God for that which none but the favourites and darlings of heaven have. Many a one is now in hell that had a better head than thine; and many a one now in heaven that complained of as bad a heart as thine.

2 Comfort. Know further for thy comfort, that God would never leave thee under fo many heart-troubles and burdens if he intend not thy real benefit thereby.