fonaoly exercifed, it will lie overgrown by and by, ana filled full, with the {linking weeds of thofe corruptions; and our coming over our heart and way, by taking a re- view of it, is like a careful gardener's daily coming over his garden with his weeding-iron ; the one is no more neceffary to the garden, than the other is neceffary to our heart and way. And the reafon why fo many hearts are, like the f uggards garden, all olergrowt s . ith nettles and briars, is the neglect of this felf-examination Many% alas ! take on a profeffion of religion, but take no pains to be anfwerable to it, neither do they look to the weeds and hemlocks of fins, that, inflead of good fruits to God fpring up in their heart, and overfpread their life ó There- fore from all this I befeech yeu take this word of adver- tifement, As you would have the profef{ion of your re- ligion well fluffed and filled up with the power of it, and would not have it as a ghoflly houfe, having a fair íhew' outwardly, and empty within, or, as a painted fepulchreo beautiful without, and full of rottennefs and dead mens bones within ; and, as ye would not have much falfe bulk without fubflance, be much in the exercife of this excel- lent duty of felf- examination, and ferious in it. I shall here anfwer two or three objeittons that may bë propofed about putting this concerning duty in practice And, firil, It may be objes`led, That this is a very hard and difficutlty pra&icable thing; we cannot do ity we do not do it, it will not go with us; and indeed, there is naturally in us all an averfnefs from nothing more thaa from this : And we conceive, that whoever will effay it in earnefl, will find it to be a difficult duty indeed, more difficult and harder to be gone about than either pray - er, hearing of the word, or conference on a fpiritual fuiojeEt It being a duty wherein the inner-man, at the bar of confcience, and fo in force refpe& at the bar of God's tribunal, is exercifed and taken up ; which rriak- eth it difficult even to them that would fain go about it. We íhall therefore, in anJwer to thisobjeffion9 2 Speak fornething in general. 1. We íilall fpeak more particu- larly to f orne direEtions or helps, for 'making it eafy. In general , we fay, iß, That the duty would not be feared
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