Remains of that excellent minister of Jesus Christ, Mr. Joseph Alleine being a collection…Remaines of that excellent minister of Jesus Christ, Mr. Joseph Alleine being a collection…

O Brethren, I beseech you consider it! It is an awakening truth, but deserves your consideration; there are many that will not only be undone by their swearing, and deceiving, and the like; but many will be undone by their praying and hearing, I mean they will be undone by them, by making them the matter of their righteousness before God; and by their confidence and trust, and leaning to their duties. There be many persons, whose prayers and good duties will serve for no other end, but to blind them, and harden them to their own destruction. If you perform religious duties, and do not look into the manner of performing them, and take care that you be upright, you may come to blind, and harden your selves by them. O there are multitudes of Professors in Hell this day for wanting care to enquire into this, what ingredients there were in their duties; whether they sprang from principles of grace, or, but from common convictions; whether they were done for, and from themselves, more than from and for God, This made Luther say that he was afraid ⟨p. 65⟩more of his good works, than of his sins, for his good works were apt to lift him up, but his sins did keep him humble. O Brethren! you had need to look about you, Satan can make a snare of your good duties, to catch your souls by. There are two ways whereby men may be undone by their duties, (1) when they make them as a supposed righteousness, when men do perform Religious duties, and expect that these should obtain the favour of God, and remission of sins, or, at least, should help with the merits of Jesus, to make up a righteousness for them, on which they may climb up to heaven, and stand before God. Thus those carnal Jews, though they were zealous of their duties required by the Law, yet they were lost by going about to establish those as a righteousness of their own. Rom. 10. 3 (2) when they make them as a mistaken evidence. There are many persons (I conceive) that are so far convinced of the sinfulness of their duties, that they do not lean to these as their Righteousness before God, that those should obtain Gods favour, and their pardon; yet they do conclude that this is an evidence that they have an interest in Christ; and hereby they deceive their own souls-

O Brethren, I beseech you consider it! It is an awakening truth, but deserves your consideration; there are many that will not only be undone by their swearing, and deceiving, and the like; but many will be undone by their praying and hearing, I mean they will be undone by them, by making them the matter of their righteousness before God; and by their confidence and trust, and leaning to their duties. There be many persons, whose prayers and good duties will serve for no other end, but to blind them, and harden them to their own destruction. If you perform religious duties, and do not look into the manner of performing them, and take care that you be upright, you may come to blind, and harden your selves by them. O there are multitudes of Professors in Hell this day for wanting care to enquire into this, what ingredients there were in their duties; whether they sprang from principles of grace, or, but from common convictions; whether they were done for, and from themselves, more than from and for God, This made Luther say that he was afraid