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NEuer let any vse that idle sophistry against his owne soule, as to say; I know what God hath appointed shall be done. If he will saue me, he will giue mee grace to vse the meanes: if not, all my la∣bour is but in vaine. For all be this Reason for the substance of it, in it selfe, be true, yet in regard of
him it is both idle & pre∣posterous. It is idle, be∣cause the very dissolute manner of such as thus reason, prooues them al∣together vnholy and pro∣phane; such as wold faine put God to all the labour of sauing them, whether they would or no, with∣out any consequent labor of their own. And if God will not take so much paines with them, as in spight of their owne idle dispositions, to work out all their saluation, him∣selfe, then it secretly ac∣cuses him as a cause of their perishing, when in∣deed it is their idlenesse,
which will not vndergoe the labour of liuing well, that makes them vnfit, & in-disposed to receiue grace, and their owne wicked and ill life, which is the cause of their eter∣nal punishment & death.
It becommeth not vs therefore to looke first to Gods secret will (like the ouer-curious inhabitants of Bethshemesh, whose ir∣reuerent boldnesse God punished with the slaugh∣ter of 50070. men, 1 Sam. 6. 19.) and so to our pu∣nishment. For both these are yet hidden from our eyes; and then to Gods grace, which is the means
of our saluation, and our own vitious and impeni∣tent courses which are the meanes of our perishing. For this is preposterous; & by the wicked figure of 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 confoūds the sight of our vnderstanding: but if wee would deale wisely with our soules, wee must looke to see that which is secret, by that which is reuealed, and that which is hid, by that which is manifest: Now the Grace of God, if it be in vs, re∣ueales & manifests it selfe.
—Quis enim celauerat ignem Lumine qui sēper prodigitur ipse suo!And our owne desperate and impenitent life is
known to our selues and others sufficiently. If the Sunne be risen, wee shall finde him sooner by his beames vpon the tops of the Mountaines, then in the Orient of Heauen it selfe; and so the Loue of God is sooner discoue∣red to rise in thy heart by the beames of Grace it there shows abroad, then by the flame of it self that shines in his owne breast in Heauen. If then Grace imbrighten thy heart, thou maist from Grace assure thy selfe of Gods loue, and thine own glo∣rie: but if thou findest in thy selfe an impenitent &
incorrigible heart, thou mayst then iustly worke vpon thy selfe a sence of thy misery: I dare not say thou art sure of GODS wrath, but I must say, ex∣cept thou repent, & God change thy heart, thou art yet in a fearefull and lost estate; say not there∣fore thus. God hath cast me out from his fauour, therefore my heart is ob∣durate, impenitent, in∣corrigible. For this is to argue from that thou knowest not; whether God fauours thee or no: but thus rather. My heart is obdurate, impenitent, incorrigible, therefore if
I so continue, God will surely cast mee out from his fauour and presence. And this thou maist se∣curely doe, because thine owne conscience is both a witnesse and a iudge of thy life, whether it be im∣penitent or not: Again, neuer argue thus; God will saue mee, therefore I shall bee sure to vse the meanes; for that is to dis∣pute, ab ignoto: For who knowes the will of God? but thus rather I will bee sure to vse the meanes, therefore I am sure God will saue mee, and this is to dispute 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 frō things knowne. For who
knowes not whether hee vse the meanes God hath appointed him in his word to worke out his saluation by? which that thou maist be sure of, hee hath giuen thee his pro∣mise, his word, his oath, (Heb. 6. 17. 18.) his wri∣tings by his Secretaries the Prophets, which are the conueyances of thy heauenly inheritance; he hath signed thē with two indeleble seales imprin∣ted into thy flesh by bap∣tisme, and into his owne by his Passion and death, the appointed infallible witnesses to testifie his deed. His spirit & thine
owne, thy faith and thy loue (Rom. 8. 16. 1 Iohn. 3. 14. and 1 Iohn 5. 10.) so that although thou beest now on earth, yet when thou hast thy eui∣dence for heauen so sure∣lie made ouer to thee, thou canst not but bee most secure and sure of thy right and title, if thou hast once receiued them, and still keepest them in thine heart, being rege∣nerate and borne anew. Vse therefore the meanes GOD hath appointed thee, and then attend as∣suredly his promised bles∣sing. For all such promi∣ses of GOD haue some
condition or other al∣waies eyther implied, or exprest. If thou labour, God will prosper thee, if thou vse the right means God appoints, he wil en∣rich thee; onely the diffe∣rence betweene the con∣ditions of spirituall and temporal blessings is, that he hath giuen many wic∣ked men▪ power in them∣selues to performe the condition required for these vnder-benefits, but the conditions of glory, which are the graces of Repentance; Faith and Loue hee reserues in his owne power, to bestow vpon whom only it plea∣seth
him: being not the Steward of other mens goods, as Man is, but the Lord of his owne. Sowe therefore the seeds of La∣bour, and of Grace in thy Youth, and looke for a haruest in thine age of sufficiency and glory.
But to returne to the labour which Isaac im∣ployed his time in, which was Sowing the ground, wee may from thence learne, that