416 DIRECTIONS FOE GETTING AND KEEPING then maybe zealous for his religion without God's Spirit, or any true sanctification, when yet you cannot be so truly zealous for yours without it. Indeed the speculative part of our religion, sep- arated from the practical, or from the hard and self-denying part of the practical, many a wicked man may . be zealous for; as to main- tain the Godhead, or that God is merciful, &c. Or to maintain against the Jews that Jesus is the Christ; or against the Turks, that he is the onlyRedeemer and teacher of the church ; or against the Papists, that all the Christians in the world are Christ's church as well as the Romans ; and against the Socinians and Arians that Christ is God, &c. But this is but a small part of our religion ; nor doth this, or any heathenish zeal, sanctify the heart, or truly mortify the flesh or overcome the world. They may contemn life, and cast it awayfor their pride and vain-glory ; but not for the hopes ofa holy and blessed life with God. This is but the prevalency of one corruption against another, or rather of vice against nature. , There is a common grace of God that goeth alongwith common truths, and according to the measure of their obedience to the trtith, such was the change it wrought ; which was done by common truths, and common grace together, but not by their false mixtures at all. But Godbath annexed his special grace only to the special truths of the gospel or Christian religion. If, thetefore,God do, by common grace, work a great change on a heathen, by the means ofcommon truths, and do by his special grace work a greater and special change on you, by the means of the special truths of the gospel, have you any reason hereupon to suspect your condition ? Or should you not rather both admire that providence and common grace which is manifested without the church, and humbly, rejoic- ingly and thankfully embrace that special saving grace, which is manifested to yourself above them ? 2. And for that which you speak of education, you have as much cause to doubt of your conversion,.because it was wrought by public preaching, as because it waswrought by education. For, 1. Both are by the gospel; for it is the gospel that your parents taught you, as well as which the preacher teacheth you. 2. I have showed you, that ifparents did not shamefully neglect their duties, the word publicly preached would not be the ordinary instrument ofregeneration to the children of true Christians, but would only build them up, and direct them in the faith and in obedience. The proof is very plain : If we should speak nothing of the inter- est of our infants in the covenant grace, upon the conditional force of their parents' faith, nor of their baptism ; yet, Deut. vi. Ephes. vi. and oft in the Proverbs, you may find, that it is God's strict command, that parents should teach God's word to their children, and bring them up in the nurture and admonitionof the Lord ; yea,
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