The Christians great interest

They undertake to do all that God will command them, so that they still go about in any case to establish their own righteousness, not submitting unto the righteousness of God. But I may say, that convictions and exercise about corruption, and that body of death, inclining ⟨p. 28⟩to evil, and disenabling for good, is not the leas• part of the work, where the Lord is preparing his own way. They use to judge themselves very wretched, because of a body of sin, and are at their wits end how to be delivered, as Paul speaketh when he is under the exercise of it afterwards, Rom. 7. 19. 3. It will ordinarily be found, that the convictions which are in hypocrites, either are not so serious, as that some other business will not put• them out of head before any satisfaction be gotten, as in Cain, who went and built a City, and we hear no more o• his Convictions, Gen. 4. Felix went away until a mor• convenient time, and we hear no more of his trembling, Act• 24. 25. Or, if that work become very serious, then i• runneth to the other extremity and despair of relief, leaving no room for any escape. So we find Judas very serious in his Convictions, yet he grew desperate, and hanged himself, Mat. 27. 4, 5. But where the Lord prepareth his own way, the work is both so serious, as the person cannot be put off it, (until he find some satisfaction) and yet under that very seriousness he lieth open for relief: both which are clear in the Gaolers words, What shall I do to be saved? Acts 16. 30. This serious enquiry after Relief, is a very observable thing in the preparatory work which leadeth on to Christ; yet we desire none to lay too much weight on these things, since God hath allowed clearer differences between the precious and the vile.