PART II. to difinguifh 4 lions. 83 therefore, that his Heart is touch'd, and greatly .affe&ed, when he hears another give a probable Account of this Work, wrought on his own Heart, and when he fees in him probable Appearances of Holi= nefs ; whether thofe pleating Appearances have any Thing real to anfwer them,or no. And if heufes the fameWords,which are commonly made ufe of, to exprefs the Affect} ions of true Saints, and tells of many Things following one another in anOrder,agreeable to the Method of the Experience of him that hears him, and allo fpeaks freely and bold- ly, and with an Air of Affurance : No wonder that the other thinks his Experiences harmonize with his own. And if befides all this, in giving his Relation, he fpeaks with much Affe&ion ; and above all, if in fpeaking, he feems to Phew much Affe&ion to him, to whom he fpeaks, fuch an Affeaion as the Galatians did to the Apoflle Paul ; thefe Things will naturally have a powerful Influence, to affe& and draw his Hearers Heart, and open wide the Doors of his Charity to- wards him. David fpeaks as one who had felt ilhithophel's. Talk, and had once a fweet Savour and Relifh of it. And therefore exceeding great was his Surprife and Difappointment, when he fell ; it was al- moff too much for him. Pfal. 55. 12, 13, 14. It was not an Enemy ---then I could have borne it,---but it was thou, a Man, mine Equal, my Guide, and my llcquaintance ; we took fweet Counfel together, and walked unto the Houfe of God in Company. It is with Profeffors of Religion, efpecially fuch as become fo in a Time of out-pouring of the Spirit of God, as it is with the Bloffoms in the Spring * ; there are vaff Numbers of them upon the Trees, which all look fair and promifing ; but yet very many of them never come to any Thing. And many of thofe, that in a little Time wi- ther up, and drop off, and rot under the Trees ; yet for a while, look as beautiful and gay as others ; and not only fo, but finellSweet, and fend forth a pleafant Odour : So that we can't, by any of our Senfes, certainly diffinguifh thofe Bloffoms which have in them that fecret Vertue, which will afterwards appear in the Fruit, and that in- ward Solidity and Strength which (hall enable them to bear,and caufe them to be perfected by the hot Summer Sun, that will dry up the others. 'Tis the mature Fruit which comes afterwards, and not the beautiful Colours and Smell of the Bloffom, that we mutt judge by. So new Converts, (profeffedly fo) in their Talk about Things of Re- ligion, may appear fair,and be very favoury,and the Saints may think * A Time of out-pouring of the Spirit of God, reviving Religion, and producing the pleafant Appearances of it, in new Converts, is in Scripture compared to this very Thing, viz. the fpring Seafon, when the benign Influences of the Heavens, caufe the Bloffoms to put forth. Cant. 2. xi, 12. G 2 they
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