therefore be persuaded, without any farther delay, to enter immediately upon this our holy warfare, and by faith and consideration, &c. to lay the foundation of a religious resolution; that so when we are actually engaged against our spiritual enemies, we may be able to stand our ground against all temptations, and that having finally conquered and subdued them, we may receive that immortal crown, which God the righteous Judge hath laid up for the victorious.

And so I have done with the first part of our Christian warfare, viz. our entrance into it.

SECT. III.

Concerning the second part of the Christian warfare; with a particular account of the duties thereunto appertaining.

I SHALL now proceed to the second part of our Christian warfare, viz. the course and progress of it, which consists in holy living. For when once we have reduced our wills to a firm and well-grounded resolution of entering into this militant state, that which is next incumbent upon us is to pursue our resolution in the future course of our lives and actions; that is, to abstain from all sin, and endeavour to mortify our inclination to it, and to practise all the contrary graces and virtues, and endeavour to improve them to farther and farther degrees of perfection; or, as the scripture expresses it, to cease to do evil, and to learn to do well; to strive against sin, and to die to it, and to grow in grace, and perfect holiness in the fear of God. In this consists the course and progress of our Christian warfare. In order whereunto it is indispensably necessary.

that we should still repeat the practice of those duties by which we were first prepared to enter into it all those means by which our good resolution was produced being naturally conducive to maintain and support it. And therefore we find, that faith and consideration, &c. are not enjoined as temporary duties, that are only to be practised in the beginning of our warfare, but as means that will be always necessary for us throughout our whole progress to heaven. For so we are commanded not only to acquire a sincere faith or belief of the gospel, but to continue and be established in it, Coloss. i. 23. compared with chap. ii. 7. And so again, we are enjoined not only to admit the proposals of religion into our consideration, but to keep them there, Luke viii. 15. and suffer them to dwell richly in us, Coloss. iii. 16. and so for all those other preparatory duties. For that from a hearty conviction of our need of Christ, we should beg all mercies of God in his name, and for his sake, is a standing precept of Christan devotion, John xvi. 24. and so is also confession of our sins to God, 1 John i. 9. and prayer for his grace and assistance, Coloss. iv. 2. Nor is it only required that we should once repent, or change our bad resolution for a good one, but that we should also repeat and confirm our good resolution; that we should stablish our hearts, that is, keep our wills fixed and determined to all good intentions and purposes, James v. 8. and stand fast in the Lord, that is, adhere to the profession and practice of Christianity with a firm and constant resolution, Phil. iv. 1. For to proceed in our Christian warfare is constantly to live up to our good resolution, which will require a continued application of those means by which we

were first prepared and disposed to enter into it. Thus faith is no less necessary to enable us to perform, than it was to prepare us to make our good resolution; and still the more we believe our religion, the more we shall think ourselves concerned in its proposals, and consequently the more firmly we shall be resolved to close with and embrace them; and so still as our faith improves in degrees of certainty, our resolution will proportionably grow stronger and stronger. Again, if it were necessary to the birth of our resolution, that we should first duly weigh and consider the motives and the difficulties of the duties we were resolving on, then it will be no less necessary to the growth and improvement of it, that we should frequently consider over these motives and difficulties again, and balance them one against another. And at first especially, while our good resolution is yet in its infancy, it will be very necessary that we should every day, before we go abroad into the world, spend some portion of time in fore-thinking of the many temptations that do lie in wait for us, whether in our business or company, or necessary refreshments and diversions; and forearming ourselves against them with the motives and arguments of our religion; that so we may have our weapons ready whenever they shall assault us, and be always provided to resist them. Again, if it were necessary to the forming our resolution, that we should be convinced of the necessity and reality of our Saviour's mediation, then it will be no less necessary to the performance of it, that our hope and fear, which are the springs of our action, should still be excited by the glorious assurance of mercy, and horrid prospect of sin, which this conviction implies. Once more,

was it necessary to the well-making of our resolution, that we should affect ourselves beforehand with a hearty shame and sorrow for our past transgressions, then it will be no less necessary for the strengthening and confirming it, that we should ever and anon revive this our shame and grief, by reflecting on the filthiness of our past state, and the weakness and imperfection of our present, and by an ingenuous confession of both to the high and holy God; that so our shame and sorrow for our sins being digested into anger and displeasure, may sharpen our resolution, and animate it more and more against them. In short, if it be necessary to the founding of our resolution, that we should first earnestly implore the divine grace and assistance, then it will be no less necessary for the continuance of it, that for the same purpose we should continually apply ourselves to the throne of grace; that we should every morning commit ourselves to God's grace and protection, and never presume to venture among the snares of the world without him; that we shall count it as unsafe for us to go out of our chambers without being armed with God's aid, as it is to rush naked into a battle amongst swords and spears: in a word, that we should every morning and evening, at least, recommend ourselves to God, and beseech him to defend us against all those terrors and allurements, which either the Devil or our own lusts shall propose, to withdraw us from our good resolution. And if upon all these preparatory exercises of our faith, consideration, &c. it was at first necessary for us to enter into a solemn resolution, it will be no less necessary, that with the same continued preparations we should frequently iterate and renew it, especially at first,

till the strength of our bad inclinations is in some measure broken and abated. Now we should take care to go every day out of our chambers fresh armed, as men that expect an enemy at the threshold; and not to trust our weak souls among the temptations of the world, till we have first chained up our inclinations with new vows of fidelity. So that you see the duties of our entrance into the Christian warfare are not so peculiar to that state, but that they are also to be practised in the course and progress of it.

But then besides these, there are sundry others that are necessary to our successful progress therein; all which I shall reduce to these following heads:

1. That we take care to arm ourselves with patience and courage to undergo and encounter the trouble and difficulty of it.

2. That we propose to ourselves the most excellent examples.

3. That we apply ourselves to our spiritual guides for direction.

4. That we be very curious of our aims and intentions.

5. That we should possess our minds with a lively sense and awful apprehension of God's presence with and inspection over us.

6. That we frequently examine and review our own actions.

7. That we be very watchful and circumspect in the conduct and management of ourselves.

8. That we should betake ourselves to some honest calling, and behave ourselves diligently and industriously therein.