come pleased with his King; or because it is the choice of his heart, that he should live and reign forever. His forced submission is of no worth, but his rebellious heart is pleased with it, and the devil will seek to persuade him, that this is a sound conversion.*

"These several particulars, to which your attention has been called, probably include many of the ways, by which the devil seeks to promote graceless conversions among the children of Adam. But let it not be imagined, that all his stratagems have been exposed. They are many, and various: and when he finds certain wiles of his discovered and exposed, he may be expected to shift his ground, and take new methods to deceive. The old wile of seeing

"I would here observe, that I do not suppose, false conversions are always effected by the influence of evil spirits. We may, without their wiles, deceive ourselves. And they could not deceive us with a selfish religion, if our hearts did not prefer such religion. Men deceive one another, and are abundantly instrumental of promoting false conversions. But it is also evident, that evil spirits are instrumental of promoting them, by their deceitfully imitating the work of God's Spirit, and painting upon the imagination such images as will be likely to make us believe, that God hath done great things for us. As Satan is the prince of all these evil spirits, and the head of all the kingdom of darkness, he may be said to be the author of all the mischief which is done. In this sense, it may not be improper to represent every false conversion as his work."

Herein is Satan's grand device in bringing about his false conversions-he keeps thousands forever from getting a true one. They consider all is well, and all is safe, and therefore nothing can arouse them. No trouble for fear of being lost at all takes hold of them. When it is declared in their hearing, that unless a man be born again, he cannot enter

Christ on the cross, or with a smiling countenance; and seeing lights, and hearing voices, is not entirely laid aside as it respects us; but there are probably more among our congregations, who are deceived by an unaccountable relief of mind after great distress, without searching for the moral cause of this relief; or by a forced submission to God; or feeling a new liberty in prayer; which things, it has been shown, do not necessarily imply a new heart. Many in our day are probably deceived by forcing themselves to believe, that they are interested in Christ. There are those that hold the sentiment, that any heart is a soil good enough for the growth of faith; that it can spring up in an unrenewed heart, and that this will produce a renovation. But that faith, which can spring up in a natural heart, can be no cause or evidence of the new birth. It is the duty of all men, regenerate, and unregenerate, to believe on Christ; but while men remain unregenerate, they never do believe, in any better sense than the devils themselves, of whom it is said, "they believe and tremble.'

"In view of what has been said about Satan's conversions, some may desire to ask what becomes of these conversions. To this inquiry it may be answered:

"First. Very many of them come to nothing in a short time. It has not been uncommon,

into the kingdom of heaven, they feel rather comfortable than otherwise; taking it for granted, that they have already experienced this gracious change.

after seasons of special attention to reli see numbers of the professed converts, a few months, returning to their folly. are others, who endure longer; and yet greater temptation assails them, are als to turn back. Satan's conversions mak for apostacies from the christian church. apostacies, especially when they take among those, who have appeared to be out of darkness into marvellous light, great contempt on the cause of truth. we see one very important object, which t vil has in promoting these false conver He does not seek merely the destruction soul of the false convert; but he desig bring the work of the Holy Spirit into con In view of such apostacies, he knows tha ny will say, 'See these men; they were great converts, and were mightily taken u the things of religion; but now, they do n lieve any thing about it; they do not ev lieve the bible. Some of these apostates b open infidels. In supporting the infidel they have advantage over their fellows they will back it all, by saying, that they all about christianity, not even exceptin experimental part, which any christian k They have been converted as well as he they know it all to be a delusion. Here mistake. It is true, their conversion was lusion, and the work of the devil; but the

τι

Secondly. Some of those who are deceived about their conversion, do undoubtedly continue under this deception as long as they live.*

*This is agreeable to what Bunyan has stated in his Pil grim's Progress concerning Ignorance. "Now while I was gazing on these things, (says he,) I turned my head to look back, and saw Ignorance coming up to the river side; but he soon got over, and that without half the difficulty which the other two men met with; for it happened that there was then in that place one Vain-hope, a ferry-man, who with his boat helped him over; so he, as the other, I saw did ascend the hill, to come up to the gate. When he came up to the gate he looked up to the writing that was above, and then began to knock, supposing that entrance would have been quickly administered to him: But he was asked by the man who looked over the top of the gate, Whence come you and what would you have? He answered I have eat and drank in the presence of the King, and he has taught in our streets. They then asked him for his certificate, that they might go in and shew it to the King; so be fumbled in his bosom for one, and found none. So they told the King; but he would not come down to see him, but commanded the two shining ones that conducted Christian and Hopeful to the city, to go out and take Ignorance, and bind him hand and foot, and have him away. Then they took him up, and carried him through the air to the door that I saw on the side of the hill, and put him in there. Then I saw that there was a way to hell, even from the gates of heaven, as well as from the city of Destruction." "Hence see, (says the author of notes on Pilgrim's Progress) that ignorant vain confident professors, may keep up a profession, even unto the end, and maintain a hope even unto the last. Vain Hope is ever ready to assist Ignorance. He wanted him at the last, and he found him. He had been his companion through life, and will not forsake him in the hour of death. You see Ignorance had no bands in his death; no fears, no doubts and sorrows, no terror, all appeared serene and happy Vain-hope was his ferryman, and he, as the good folks say, died like a lamb; Oh, but did such lambs see what was to follow, when Vain-hope had wafted them over the river, they would roar like lions.""Yea (says one) many tens of thousands of high professors,

There are some, who, by a false con build their house upon the sand, whos is never swept away until they die. Th those, who do not find out that they 1 oil in their vessels, until the bridegroom ready come. There are not a few, wh to go through life, without giving up the when they appear to have very little, thing to keep alive their hope, except to lect, and once in a while, relate what th experienced. They can well remember. such a time, when they were in great about their future state, they saw a ligh ing into their chamber: Or they can ren a very remarkable dream which they ha how affected with it they were when they Or they can remember the time, when the a text came to them, which assured them happy state. These things they can rem and relate, as long as they live. This them feel comfortable, when they think and this is all the religion they desire.

"There are others whose hearts are ed with a false conversion, who appear qu ferently from these, and yet are no better. take much pains to nourish and keep aliv hope, and Satan seems disposed to lend aid to help them to do it. It is observed every animal lives upon his own food. observation may be applied to religion.