418 DIRECTIONS FOR GETTING AND KEEPING bled at one of the choicest mercies ofyour life, yea, that your life was capable of, and for, which you owe to God such abundant thanks! Doubt 4. ' But my great fear is, that the life of grace is not yet within me, because I am so void of spiritual sense and feeling. Methinks I am in spiritual things as dead as a block, and my heart as hard as a rock, or thenether millstone. Grace is a principle of new life, and life is a principle of sense and motion ; it causeth vigor and activity. Such should I have in duty, if I had the life of grace. But I feel the great curse of a dead heart within me. God seems to withdraw his quickening Spirit, and to forsake me ;' and to give me upto thehardnessofmyheart. If Iwere in covenant with him, I should feel the blessing of the covenant within 'me; thehard heart would be taken out of my body, and a heart of flesh, a soft heart, would be given to me. But I cannot weep, one tear for my sins. 1 can think on the blood, of Christ, and of mybloody sins that caused it, and all will not wring one tear frommine eyes ; and, therefore, I fear that my soul is yet destitute of the life of grace.' Answ. 1. A soft heart consisteth in two things. (1.) That the will be persuadable, tractable, and yielding to God, and pliable to his will. (2.) That the affections or passions be somewhat mov- ed herewithal about spiritual things. Some degree more orlese of the latter doth concur with the former ; but I have told you, that it is the former,wherein the heart and life of grace doth lie, and that the latter is very various, and uncertain to try by. Many do much overlook the Scripture meaning of the word hard-heartedness. Mark it up and down concerning the Israelites, who are so"oft charged by Moses, David, Ísaiah, Jeremiah, and other prophets, to be hard-hearted, or to harden their hearts, or stiffen their necks ; and you will find that the most usual meaningaf the Holy Ghost is this, They were an intractable, disobedient, obstinate people; or,, as the Greek word in the New Testament signifieth, which we often translate unbelieving, they were an unpersuadable people; no say- ing would serve them. They set light by God'scommands, prom- ises, and severest threatenings, and judgments themselves ; nothing would move them to forsake their sins, and obey the voice of God. You shall find that hardness of heart is seldomput for want of tears, or a melting, weeping disposition; and never at all for the want of such tears, where the will is tractable and obedient. I pray you examine yourself then according to this rule. God offereth bis love in Christ, and Christ with all his benefits, to you. Are you willing to accept them? He commandeth you to worship him, and use hisordinances, and love his people, and others, and to for-. sake your known iniquities, so far that they may not have do-
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