Influences of the life of grace. Or, A practical treatise concerning the way, manner, and means of having and improving of spiritual dispositions, and quickning influences from Christ the resurrection and the life. By Samuel Rutherfurd, Professor of Divinity in the Vniversity of St. Andrews in Scotland.

OF INFLUENCES OF DIVINE GRACE. (Book 1)

CANTIC. 1. 4.

Draw me; we will run.

Ch. 1.

Mans dubious and tottering estate under the first, his safer estate under the second Adam. 2 True li∣berty. 3 Grace loves to be restrained from doing of evil. Adam was not to believe or pray for perseve∣rance.

THere being in the Covenant of works no in∣fluences, by which we may will and doe to the end, promised to Adam; and no prede∣terminating influences, and no Gospel-fear of God, by which we shall persevere, and not depart from the Lord, being promised in the new and everlasting covenant, Jer. 32. 39. 4. This prin∣cipall difference between the covenants remains to be dis∣cussed.

There must be in this point, considerable differences be∣tween the Covenants;* 1.1 as 1. God intended that no man should be saved by the Law: for grace, mercy, forbearance, and the patience of God towards sinners sould for eternity, have been hid from sinfull man, if righteousness and life had been by the Law. But God intended that all men to

be saved, should be saved by the Covenant of grace, 1 Cor. 1. 21. Rom. 3. 21, 22. as Rom. 10. 5, 6, 7. compared with Rom. 3. 9, 10, & 20. Gal. 3. 8, 9, 10. as both the Scripture and the issue of two dispensations, of Law and Gospel, do evidence. 2. Man in the covenant of works was under no tutor but Adams free will; but now man as an interdicted heir, for former wasteries, is disinherited, so that he hath not the mastery of his own estate, is put under another Lord, even Jesus Christ, as his tutor; and since it is so, the less our own, the better; the more we are under the law, the less we are under grace, as Rom. 7. the less freedom (or rather physicall licence) to sin, the more true liberty, Psal. 119. 45. I will walk at liberty, for I seek thy precepts. Christ by his covenant layeth the aw of grace upon us; whether grace be taken physically, for an inward principle of grace; or morally, for a gracious fear to sin,* 1.2 its all one; the more under Christ any is, the less is he free to sin; as the better and stronger the keeper is, who is put upon a broken man and a priso∣ner, who is a bankrupt, the less can he take on new debt, Rom. 6. 20, 22. the less can he make a sinfull escape; ungra∣cious are they, who say, Ah if I had my will, I would doe o∣therwise; grace loves to be restrained from doing evil, 1. Sam. 22. 23. Satan seeks leave, or rather cursed licence, if it were but to destroy the Gadarens swine, and he reputes it his torment not to dwell with his Legions, in the distra∣cted man to torment him, Matth. 8. Such cannot complain, Would God breath on me with his influences of grace, I would be as holy as David; nay, there is in the man a tor∣menting sorrow, that he cannot have more power, and stronger influences of hell to doe more evill; and so he hates these influences of grace of which he speaks.

It may be doubted (ere we speak of other differences) whether perseverance was promised to Adam in a law-state, or not; for if prayer was a worship enjoyned to Adam be∣fore the fall, no less then publick worship of praising for the workmanship of creation, Gen. 2. 2, 3. it may be said, if Adam was to suit any thing in prayer to God, then especi∣ally was he to pray that he might not sin, and might not be led into temptation, but might stand in obedience, and so might have influences to determine his will to stand and

continue therein, and this the law of nature seems to say. 2. If he was to trust in God for acts of providence, for his standing in obedience, then especially, for acts of the Lords free predetermination to cause him to stand; and so both praying and believing must relate to a promise; and if so, then must the Lord have promised in the first covenant of works, perseverance and influences to persevere.

Ans.* 1.3 It may be probably said, Adam was to pray, but the particulars he was to suit in prayer are as unknown to us as any thing; he was to sanctifie a Sabbath, and to praise, and to exalt God in his works of creation; but for praying for perseverance and predeterminating influences by which he might persevere, while Scripture speaks, we must doubt; he was to desire, to intend and purpose to persevere, as he was obliged by the law of God to persevere; but for insti∣tuted praying or believing that God should give to Adam perseverance, either absolutely or upon condition, that he should pray for perseverance; and so upon condition that he should persevere in praying for, or in believing of in∣fluences to persevere, the Scripture is silent; and we can say nothing, where Scripture-light doth not lead the way: its like that the onely means moral of persevering must be here a law without, the image of God within, and Adams free will in obeying; but God having a purpose that the covenant of works should not be the fixed standing way of justification and life;* 1.4 and that the elect Angels should be confirmed, that they should not fall, nor be able to fall; yet have we no warrant to say, that they came to that State either by praying or meriting, or law obedience, but of free grace: or that Adam's first sin was neglect of pray∣ing for perseverance. As to the other, there is no doubt but the first command did engage Adam to rely upon God for strength and divine influence, as promised by any co∣venant; of works or grace, is another thing. Yea its un∣written that either Law or Gospel (which then was not) promised any such thing.

What a blessed condition are we in,* 1.5 above that of A∣dam! grace was given to Adam immediately from God, but in a separated way from God, the stream being as it were cut off from the fountain, and was in Adam as a Winter

well that in Summer may goe dry; but grace is now gi∣ven first to the second Adam as the head and fountain, and to the Elect in a way of unseparable union of the stream with the fountain, as he partakes of grace in Christ, and mediately. And the neerer the streams run to the foun∣tain, the stronger and the more unfailing is the emanation, as may appear in the man Jesus united personally to God, in the Angels now confirmed in Christ their head, Col. 2. 10. in the glorified who act by an immediate influence from God in Christ immediately, and at the well head enjoyed; any distance from God may be neer some fall.

CHAP. II.

Gods acting influences. 2 His influences are in all crea∣tures. 3 The sweet safety of believers in possible ca∣lamities. 4 Our atheism in reading the Book of pro∣vidence, &c.

1. THat there are strong influences upon all causes from the Lord, may be evinced. 1 From the holy tongue; the Hebrews use the verb in hiphil noting a double action; when one causeth another to act, to note influences, Deut. 32. 39. I cause to die, and I cause to live. Hannah so sings, 1 Sam. 2. 6. Jehovah causeth to die, and causeth to live; he causeth to goe down to the grave, and to come vp again; the Lord maketh poor,* 1.6 and he maketh rich; he maketh low, and he maketh high; so the passive verb is used. Which perfection, in short, is in that language above others, and when such actions are ascribed to God, they shew that God hath an influence and impulsion, as the first cause in all actions; the Scripture herein abounds. The Greek lan∣guage comes short of this, Joh. 5. 17. My Father, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 wor∣keth hitherto, & I work. And though he work all works in all creatures, yet in believers this is made true in Pauls sense, Philipp. 2. Work out your salvation in fear and trembling. How? but we may miscarry and fail. True, saith he, if you, you alone, without the influence of grace did the work;

work out, vers. 13. For its God who is the worker in you to will and work; alluding to the Hebrew word, he saith, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. how the connection is between our working and the effectual praedeterminating influences of God, is to us dark, but this argument of Paul saith they well agree, and he infers this thesis, they both physically and morally are to work out their salvation, in whom God both by the habit and actual influence of grace worketh to will and to doe, then must influences of grace so be at hand when the believers are to act, as they are no less under a precept, and a command to act, be∣lieve, pray, then the husband-man is under a com∣mand to plow in Summer, and to sow, lest he be poor; But the question is de modo, how they are at hand, whither so as the free will of man may command, and have in its power the influences of God's grace, or the Lord by the dominion of his strong influence, sweetly and connaturally commands and hath in his power our free will, according to his good pleasure; Sure its safer that nature be under grace and the dominion thereof, then grace be under na∣ture, as it must be better Divinity that God reign, then man reign; more of this after; And that Jehovah be Lord of mans actings, then man be lord of Jehovah's soveraig∣nity.

2. Beside that, every being must be from the being of beings, and so every action natural or supernatural must be attended with sutable influences from God; so the Scri∣pture is clear,

That 1. God can serve a sort of law-inhibition upon all creatures, that they act not; and what he takes from them, except the withdrawing of his own influences, we know not; Job 9. 7. He commandeth the Sun and it riseth not, and sealeth up the Stars. Psal. 106. 9. He rebuked the red Sea also, and it was dried up. God, by the interposition of the faith of his own, will not have strong walls to stand, Heb. 11. 30. but they must fall; nor Lions to eat the prey, Verse 33. nor a violent fire to burn, nor the sword to devour, 34.

As 2. They act at his command, Psal. 78. 26. He caused the East wind to blow in the Heavens, and by his power he brought in the South wind; whether this be by a strong

terminating influence,* 1.7 which displeaseth adversaries of grace and providence, or some other way, we contend not for words; but if the Scripture hold forth, as it doth, that the Lord by his strong and invincible dominion doth indeclinably, and without any possible failing bring forth his decreed effect, some impulsion of God immanent, tran∣sient, or mixed, which is terminate upon all second causes there must be; for as he can and doth hinder naturall causes to work, as the Sunne to move towards his down∣going, Josh. 12. 13. Isa. 38. 8. the Lyon to eat the man, where∣as he did fear the ass, 1 Kings 13. 28. so he is the father and cause of all things that fall out, Job 38. 28. Hath the rain a father, or who hath begotten the drops of dew? 29. Out of whose womb came the yce? and the hoary-frost of Heaven, who hath gendered it? 31. Canst thou bind the sweet influ∣ences of the Pleiades? or loose the bands of Orion? This teacheth that Job cannot, nor can any creature at his nod; but the Lord can, and he onely binds up or lets out the influences of Pleiades, the starres which rise in the Spring, and bring forth flowers and hearbs; and orders the course of Orion which bringeth Winter; and order the starres that rise in the South, and in the North. 34. Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may co∣ver thee? See his actings.

3. His influences are in things small, as in the falling of a Sparrow to the earth; not one hair of the head but it is numbred by him, Luke 21. 18. Matth. 10. 29, 30, 31. Not a gourd groweth, nor a worm eats it, but at his command. Jonah. 4. 6, 7. Amos 4. 7, 8, 9. Joel 1. 1, 2, 3, 4. Psal. 105. 29, 30, 31, 32, 33. &c. he hath an hand in the bird-nests building. Psal. 104. 17, 18. And

4. The actings of the Lord are in great things, as the translation of Kingdoms, Dominions, and Thrones, Dan. 4. 32. Jer. 27. 5, 6, 7. In all the rises and fallings of Princes, the Starres of whatever magnitude, Isa. 40. 21. 1 Sam. 2. 7, 8. Psalm. 76. 12.

5. His actings are in matter of lots that seem to be ruled

by fortune and chance. Prov. 16. 33. Genes. 49. Deut. 33. compared with Josh. 14. 1, 2, 3.

6. Especially in bowing the free will, and determining all the actions of evil angels. 1 Kings 22. 21, 22, 23. Job 1. 6, 7, 8. Job 2. 1, 2, 3. Gen. 3. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Matth. 8. 29, 30, 31. and good, Luke 2. 9, 13. Matth. 28. 1, 2, 3. Acts 1. 20. 2 Thes. 1. 7. leading and determining the free will of all men, the King, Prov. 21. 1. the Prince, Gen. 43. 13. Esther 4. 16, 17. com∣pared with Chap. 5. & 2. c. 7. 2, 3. he graciously enclines the will and hearts of men, Deut. 30. 6. Jer. 32. 39, 40. Ezek. 36. 27. as the Saints pray, Psal. 119. 33, 34, 36, 88. Psal. 86. 11. Cant. 1. & 4.

He hardneth the heart, and blinds the mind, as in his judgement he pleaseth, Job 12. 16. Ezek. 14. 9. Exod. 14. 8. Deut.* 1.8 2. 30. 2 Sam. 12. 11, 12. Esay 6. 9, 10. Matth. 13. 14, 15. John 12. 37, 38, 39, 40. Rom. 1. 24, 25, 26, 27, 28. Rom. 11. 8. And many such things are with him, the more spiritually minded any is, the more bent is the heart to follow and eye God in all his actings; and he shall see how wise in heart the steeresman is, who watcheth at the helm; and it shall appeare what precious thoughts take up the believer, who sees such millions and numberless numbers of influ∣ences with all the drops of rain, hail, dew falling between the creation and the dissolving of the world: all which he binds in his garment, Prov. 30. 2. and what numbers of in∣fluences he joyns to all the blasts of winds and storms which he gathers in is fists, ibid. what influences of the Al∣mighty must there be at all the actings, stirrings, and moti∣ons of Angels in Heaven, of damned spirits, of men, elect and reprobate, of birds, beasts, creeping things, fishes, in the wise connection of all these with the Lords intended end?

And if this be observed, suppose the body of the Hea∣vens, which in its wide bosome contains all, were broken and fell down in many thousand pieces, Faith in the infi∣nite wisdome, goodnesse and power of God will bid the believer be silent, and sleep and hope within his own gar∣ment. God excellently rules all; the best of created things next to that precious thing Christ man, is the Church, and the Lord will specially care for that, and for me among the rest.

3. No doubt we are brutish and look to all the stirrings with much Atheisme and little faith, as if all stirrings in Nature,* 1.9 Societies and Kingdoms, were set on work by the sway of Nature, and blind Fortune, without God, as a wheel rolling about with the mighty violence of a strong arm, moves a long time, after the arm of the mover is re∣moved: Or suppose a pair of Charet-wheels were letten loose in the top of a huge Mountain, and should move down some hundred thousands of Millions of miles for hundreds of years after the man who set them first a work, were dead; So we fools believe that God gave a mighty strong shake or some Omnipotent impulsion to all causes natural, free and contingent, to Heaven and Earth, Sea and Land, to all Creatures in them, Angels and Men, and did bid them be a going; for he must sleep, and could not actually stir them any more. Nor can we see God in all, and that he contrived this, that one should rise early and eat the bread of sorrow, and yet be poor: another should be wise admirably, and want bread; another fight valiantly and be foiled, and a man run swiftly, and lose the race. Psal. 127. 1, 2, 3. Eccles. 9. 11. and that much sowing, hath little reaping, Hag. 1. 6. for Hab. 2. 13. Be∣hold is it not of the Lord of hosts that the people should la∣bour in the very fire, and the people shall weary themselves for very vanity? Chaldaea doth sweat and pine her self for the very wind and nothing: We see not that nature miscar∣ries and parts with child, when his good providence who rules all is not Mid-wife; and a barren-womb brings forth many births, and she that is no Mother hath a rich issue, when soveraignity pleases; this is my faith and comfort.

CHAP. III.

Hence to descend more particularly to enquire 1. What influences are. 2. Whenc•• they come. 3. The necessity of influences. 4. How they are above us, and of the Soveraignty of him who best ows them. 5. What we may doe to fetch them.

INfluences are acts of God concurring with created causes under him,* 1.10 and a sort of continued Creation; as God of nothing makes all things, so in his providence he gives a day to all borrowed beings, in their being preserved by him, and they are the Lords debtors, in being acted by him, or then they could not stir nor move.

2. The same free goodnesse (which is a sort of grace) which moved God to create the Sun and give it being, so also ••••ts him to give influences to the motions and actings of the Sun; the end that moves the Man to make the Plough and the Cart, moves him to draw the Plough and driv•• the Cart by Beasts; so that in reference to the end, there is deb••tum quoddam connaturale, some connatural dueness of influences: all Creatures are dead Cyphers which sig••ifie nothing,* 1.11 except the influence of God add a figure to them; and they lie dead, if he stir them not; Some Cows let not down their Milk but to their own Calves; and the Creatures are as Pictures and Idols who let out no Efficacy, no Vertue, except the Lord act upon them; Sometimes the Sea ebbs not, the Wind blows not, the Sun shines not, the Fire burns not, because this influ∣ence is (as it were) the Charm that is a wanting, and he hath a sort of a checklock upon all second causes.

3. Though God move and must act in all, in causes natural and free, so as, in some sense, he must concur in willing and nilling;* 1.12 yet he out of Soveraignty of grace, stands more aloofe in bestowing influences to gracious and supernatural nilling and willing, (for Predestination and free Election to glory here hath place;) for that he pre∣pared in his eternal decree; so many outlettings and ema∣nations

of free acts of grace to carry to glory so many selected Angels and Men, and denyed these outgoings of free love to others, he intending they should be to Angels and Men, both their grace and song of praise; he hath not given out such refined influences of free love to other Creatures, to the motions of Sun and Moon to the Seas eb∣bing and flowing.

4. Q. What then is the fountain cause of gracious in∣fluences and breathings of the Spirit?

Ans.* 1.13 Sure, Jesus Christ must be the meritorious and fountain cause of such influences;

For 1. We suppose that Christ is the head of the elect Angels: God having purposed to save man of grace, he gave this mighty separating influence distinguishing the Standing and Elect Angels from the falling and repro∣bate Angels, else it cannot be said they are Elect Angels, as 1 Tim. 5. 21. nor can their standing be of free grace (for they could not stand, except the Lord had chosen them to stand as the means; as he chose them to glory as to the end) except the Lord had joyned his predetermi∣nating acting to cause them to stand, and reconciled them Colos. 1. 20. to himself, giving to them medicinal confirm∣ing grace that they never should be sick. Now the Elect Angels are the special Messengers, and New Covenant Officers, mini••tring Spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation, Heb. 1. 14. And the Angels Ezek. 1. are acted in all their motions by that Jehovah, whose glory Isaiah saw, Isa. 6. 1, 2, 3. John 12. 37. of which Jehovah also Ezekiel 1. v. 28. as v. 12. And the four living creatures went, every one straight forward: whither the Spirit was to go they went, and they turned not when they went. And also verse 20. They are then rightly called the Angels of the Lord Jesus, 2 Thes. 1. 7. for they cover their faces (it is no•• blushing for sin) and their feet with wings, Isa. 6. while they stand before and see the face of their Soveraign and high Master; and so its clear that the actings of special and supernatural providence toward and about the redee∣med Church come from Christ, as head of Angels, and as the heir of all things, who makes all things new, Heb. 1. 2, 3.

Rev. 21. 5. and who works with the father, Joh. 5. 17. in a new∣covenant providence to make new Heavens and new Earth, and to act all for the elects sake, Colos. 1. 16. 17. yea and this Spirit at whose direction, the living creatures move and rest, come and go, Zech. 1. 12, 20. is the same spirit promised and sent by Christ, John 16. 7, 13, 14. of which Christ, he shall receive of mine and give it to you: by the influences of this Spirit sent by Christ, are the Redeemed led, Rom. 8. 14. directed Acts 16. 6, 9, 10, 14. sealed and con∣firmed Eph. 4. 30. having received the earnest of the Spirit, 2 Cor. 1. 22. taught, guided, & the Word made effectual, John 16. 13. convinced of sin, and throughly rebuked, vers. 7, 8, 9. comforted, Joh. 14. 16. and the memory sanctified and quick∣ned to remember necessary truths, Joh. 14. 26. and the whole man made able by the anointing for all things, 1 John 2. 20, 27. Hence these influences of grace are from the spirit, not as from the third person of the blessed Trinity simply; for so the spirit is the power of God, sometimes as Judge sitting, and by a Judicial power, making tormenting con∣victions dreadfully effectual upon the consciences of Divels, Matth. 8. 29. Luke 4. 34, 35. of which the chains of dark∣nesse may be a part, 2 Pet. 2. 4. Jude v. 6. as also neither from the spirit, as the power of God Creator, Job 26. 13. Job 32. 8. in making and governing all, Psal. 104. 30. but from the Spirit, as the fruit and purchase of Christs death and merits; and as saving grace is from Christ the fountain, so also the saving influences of Christ as Mediator, and of stirring us up to will and do, Phil. 2. 13. and to stand and persevere in the state of grace, must be dispensed covenant ways, Jerem. 32. 3, 37, 38, 39, 40. Isa. 59. 20, 21. Isa. 54. 10, 11, 12. by his bloud. So Christ speaketh to the spirit, Cant. 4. 16. Stir up thou North wind, come forth thou South, blow upon my garden, that the spice thereof may flow out. Where Christ commands influences of the spirit of the North and South wind, though of contrary qualities, of cold and heat, moist and dry; both in sharp rebukes, and sweet conso∣lations, to fall upon his Church and garden; and it is his desire, as Spouse and Mediator, that the Spirit breath upon, and make efficacious the word, otherwise there is

but deadnesse, Ezech. 37. 9. Come from the four winds, O wind, How upon these slain, that they may live. John 3. 8. And the flowing of the spices, is the souls being quickned, revived, comforted, and the graces increased by the breathings of the spirit.

Hence 1. the fear that Christ shall be wanting in bestow∣ing influences,* 1.14 (so do many weak ones) is a broken half faith, looking upon Christ as half a Saviour; what? he that died to purchase the spirit, shall he not carry on the work of redemption, by applying it, and carry∣ing on of what he hath begun? Indeed among men, he who made the Ship by art, hath neither art nor power to command wind and tide for sailing, for they are done by diverse powers, the one by a created, the other by an un∣created power; but here the same merit of bloud which purchased grace habitual, did also make due and conna∣tural (in its own kind) actual influences of saving grace to carry on the work; hence a case of Christian and super∣natural prudence, it is so to fear our own sinful weaknesse, and to be humbled and cast down for our propension to fall away, as to believe that constant and everlasting love shall work to will and to do to the end: Then 1. torment∣ing Popish fear, Ah I shall, I may fall away. (2.) And the weak practical doubting of this, it may be, I shall perish, I cannot stand out. And 3. the law, spirit of bondage, I cannot be saved, who am so sinfully weak and wicked, have all three this, in commune; an undervaluing of the power of the free love, and an overvaluing of the strength of corrup∣tion; as if wickednesse, and he that in the world, were greater then he that is in these who are born of God, 1 John 4. 4. and stronger then grace; for its natural to be of that opinion, that grace worketh not irresistibly, prevailingly, and with all might, according to his glorious power. Collos. 1. 11. and according to that 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 exceeding great power, by which he raised Christ from the dead, Ephes. 1: 18, 19. and so while legally we distrust and fear our own weaknesse, we do unbelievingly doubt of the mighty power of grace, though we see it not; for to see unbelief, (it is so spiritual a sin) is almost to overcome it; among

all sins it is most invisible, and best seen with the light of the Spirit; faith sees well unbelief, but unbelief can neither see faith nor it self. 2. There is required of believers the exercise of faith, in laying hold on the promises of actual influences from Christ the Mediator.* 1.15 John 15. 2. Every branch that leareth fruit (in me, for that must be repeated) the Father purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. Ephes. 1. 3. Blessed be God, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places, in Chri••t; but to cause us will, and do, is a spiritual blessing. Ephes. 2. 13. But now in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off, are made neer (not by Redemption only, but actual believing) in the bloud of Christ.

2. Ephes. 6. 18. Praying always with all prayer and sup∣plication in the spirit. By the influences of that spirit, whom Christ sent in his own name, John 14. 26.

3. If the spirit glorifie Christ by receiving of Christ, and shewing it to Christs own Disciples, John 16. 14. then all the influences of the spirit in acts gracious, when the spirit teacheth, and bringeth to remembrance all things, John 14. 26. convinceth of sin, John 16. 8. guideth and leadeth, John 16. 13. Rom. 8. 14. mortifieth, Rom. 8. 13. quickneth, Rom. 8. 10, 11. comforteth, and sealeth, and confirmeth. John 14. 16. Ephes. 4. 30. 2 Cor. 1. 22. must be done by influences of the spirit, received from Christ. For (saith Christ) He shall receive of mine. Heb. 13. 13. By Christ therefore let us offer to God the sacrifice of praise continually.

4. Also what we suit from God in the name of Christ, that we suit from Christs merits and death. But we ask all which we ask in Christs name, John 14. 14. John 15. 17. And therefore do obtain from God, for Christs sake and the merits of his death, the inclining of the heart to his testi∣monies, to be led in his way, not to be led into tempta∣tions; to persevere to the end, to be taught his way, and if there were any grace, such as all gracious influences are, which comes not from Christ, in whom it is, and from whose fulnesse it is, it must be referred to another cause then to Christ.

5. All the promises are yea and amen in Christ, 2 Cor. 1. and so must the promise of perseverance be, Jer. 31. 39, 40. Isa. 54. 10. Isa. 59. 21. and so the promise of influences of grace to persevere.

6. Christs undertaking as High Priest, Advocate, and In∣tercessor, is to carry on, and perfect as Mediator, all that are given to him of the Father, and to lose none, but to raise them up at the last day, and to give them life eternal, John 17. 1, 2. & 11. 12. John 6. 37, 38, 39, 40. 1 Cor. 1. 7, 8. 1 John 2. 1, 2. Heb. 7. 22, 23, 24, 25. Heb. 9. 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28. Heb. 10. 10. John 14. 16. Luke 22. 31, 32. Rev. 8. 3, 4, 5.

7. Christ as head by the influence of life and saving grace, acts upon all the members, by quickening them to will and to doe, Ephes. 4. 16. Eph. 2. 21, 22. Eph. 1. 21. & 22. Eph. 2. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

8. Christ as King gives repentance and remission, Acts 5. 31, 32. Then must he by that power royal give influences to acts of repentance and of faith.

9. As Prophet he opens the heart to understand the Scri∣ptures, Luke 24. 45. Act. 9. 17. and so must give influences for that effect.

Hence are we to look for the watering of the garden of red wine every moment, from Christ the fountain of life, and to know that we should wither from the root, if Christ, withdraw his influence; and so grace puts us under a ne∣cessity of grace, to carry on the work of salvation. 2. Yea it is to believe Christ is but an imperfect and half a Saviour, and wanting in his Office, if we doubt he shall give in∣fluences to perfect to the end what he hath begun; then branches out of Christ, and cut off from him, must wither. 1. Make sure union with the Vine-tree, if you would be sure of growing to the end. 2. Know the way to the well of life, be much with Christ, and lie, and be neer to the well, if you would have influences every moment. 3. The most glorious and shining Professors that are not in Christ, shall turn Apostates; a plant above the earth, with borrow∣ed earth on the top of an house, may grow for a short space, but shall wither. 4. Heathen influences from a Creator

without Christ shall not bear you out; the vertues of Tully, of Seneca, Regulus, are of that nature that they may dry up. 5. Yea, weak Believers, doubting that Christ shall give influences to work in you to will and to doe, is 1. To que∣stion whether Christ shall faithfully acquit himself in the duty of his Office; for by office he conferrs influences. 2. Its to question his nature, whether the Head shall inlive its members.

CHAP. IV.

The necessity of influences of Grace. Of the Soveraign∣ty of God in dispensing influences.

IT is easie to determine that there is a sort of necessity of the Lords bestowing influences upon all natural causes, of this before.

In so far as willing and nilling are acts of second causes in the same sphere with natural causes; there seems to be no more reason for denying influences to nilling and wil∣ling simply,* 1.16 yea or for literal hearing and praying, then for plowing and sowing, except that here God acts in a dread∣ful way of Justice, toward Pharaoh and other reprobates, in leaving them to the actings of their own heart; only it may be said, that God finding his child under deadness, and acting in a dead and literal way, as he hath bowels of compassion toward his chosen, under the evil of sin, that are ready to be drowned, he joynes his help of influences, seeing his own goe about duties with wrestling and pain, since he knows some one way or other they must be over the water, and helped, otherwise they cannot stir.

2. As there are some saving graces from the Mediator, so must there be some mediatory influences bestowed covenant wayes upon the chosen of God. But 1. Free goodness, and not natural necessity, made the world; and that same free∣dome intervenes, in continuing, being and acting in crea∣tures,

which act by nature. Fire casteth heat, the Sun light and influences, the Sea ebeth and floweth by nature; yet there must also be a free new commission sealed from eternity, to every acting of nature; he commandeth the Sun, and it riseth not; forbideth the fire to cast out heat, and it obeyeth, Job 9. 7. Heb. 11. 34. Dan. 3. 27. and it is an obliging and an indearing of the heart to God,* 1.17 to come dayly under new debt, and multiplied free gifts, and it renews acts of love in us, as fresh actings of salvation flow: whether it be new deliverances, Psal. 18. 1, 2, 6, 7. Psal. 116. 1, 2, 3, 4. or new acts of keeping faith from drying up in the fire, 1 Pet. 1. 3, 4. so as you being tried as gold, verse 8. y•• love having not seen him. 2. It extracts acts of praying, sense of spiritual slownesse seems to pray, Cant. 1. 4. Draw me, we will run; and sense of spiritual dulnesse, Psal. 119. 33. Teach me, O Lord, the way of thy statutes. 3. Hence comes humble relying upon God, when faith is put to believe that at every stirring of the members, and at every lifting of the foot, for a new step, the head must stir in heaven, and let down new influences of life; and the bottles of Heaven, and well of life, must let down new flowings of rain, every moment, upon the withered garden; if as much rain fell in one day, as would suffice the earth for seven years, and a man might eat so much at one meal, as he should neither be hungry nor thirsty for five years, there should not be such dayly dependance upon new influences for rain and dew dayly, and for our dayly bread this day. We can but (4.) hence, but believe the infinite wisedome of the Lord, who well knows how to husband and steward his showres; for in the man Christ they are continual. John 8. 29. He that sent me is with me, the Father hath not left me alone, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 nor dismissed me, for I do always 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 the thing that please him: When ever we do what is displeasing to God, the Father of Christ leaves us, out of the depth of his soveraignty of dispensing influences. Christ was never so morally deserted.* 1.18

1. As the Lord would have a falling law-Adam, to whom he denied influences, that nature might be nature; so he also would have a standing and never sinning-Adam, that

grace might appear to be grace. 2. Upon supposition that the second Adam is God man, it was impossible but the man Christ, in all his actions moral should want influences, or ever sin, or be left alone of the Father, but he must always do the thing that pleaseth the Father; nor is there any murmuring to be against the dispensation of deepest wisdom, why we have not at our pleasure influences of grace, that we should never sin, as the man Christ never sinned. 3. Say we could see no reason, the thing is notire; the Lord acts in the (first) elect Angels, that they never sin; he denied in the first fall influences to the reprobate Angels; and since the Lord hath condemned them, and tied them with chains of darknesse, that their whole actions, except the acts of intellectual being and living, and the acts of knowing, believing, desiring, fearing, &c. in the substance of the act, should be only moral, and only sin in all the substan∣tial circumstances,* 1.19 John 8. 44. Satan was a man-slayer 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 and stood not in the truth, being created in the first truth, adhering to God, 1 John 3. 8. the Divel sinned from the beginning: hence he is called 1 Peter 5. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 the contrary party in law; and 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 goes about like a roaring Lion, seeking whom he may drink over. So that though there be in men actions of the phansie, as to claw the head, rub the beard, actions of the vegetative life, to grow to age, to decline in old age; senescere, pubescere, adolescere, that are under no Law, and so no sins; yet all Satans actions are moral, these excepted of which we spoke, and influences to moral actions, granted to reprobate men, as to gives alms, to go and hear the word, visit the sick, and imprisoned, are denied to Satan. Some men are also 2. Reprobate to good works, Tit. 1. 16. and cannot believe: and here is soveraignty that God works in some vessels of mercy to will and to do, not in others. 3. As touching the measure of grace, and the degrees of saving influences, the Lord walketh in a latitude of freedome, all men have not alike measure of saving grace and faith. 4. His freedome shines in the work of conversion: John Baptist is filled with the holy Ghost from the womb, Luke 1. 15. but (2.) the woman of Samaria, Matthew, Zachaeus, Magdalen, Abraham,

Saul, go on in a wretched state of nature, for some consi∣derable tract of years, and then are visited with influences of life; and (3.) the Thief that was crucified with Christ upon the Cross, in his outgoing is converted, and not till then;* 1.20 except the soveraign liberty of God silence us, no other reason can occur of these things to mans understand∣ing. (4.) In the Saints this liberty is clear; fewer falls in Joseph then in David; and so he must be nearer to dayly influences to the one, then the other. So the Lord left Hezekiah to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart, 2 Chron. 32. 31. Thus much Noah his drunkennesse, Lot his incest, David his adultery and murdering of Ʋriah, Peter his denying of Christ and his Judaizing, Gal. 2. pro∣clame to us, that though Saints are to believe perseverance, and so that in Christ, there shall be furnished to them out∣lettings of life from the fountain to bring them to glory, as touching the habitual tract of their journey to Heaven; yet hath the Lord reserved a liberty hic & nunc, to let out and withdraw influences; and the faith of believers is to rest upon the promise upon this condition, that they fret not at his dispensation, who by sad falls on Ice and sli∣dery way must correct our sinful rashness, and teach chil∣dren godly wariness; nor is there any thing in our folly to be seen but his wisdome. (5.) And sinful slips in us, and freedome of withdrawing in the Lord, bring us to be the engaged debtors of grace;* 1.21 and this sets the higher price upon our Advocate's intercession; when we sin 1 Joh. 2. 1, 2. his withdrawings usher the way to his own outlet∣tings of grace; he knows how to dry us up, that we may, being withered, come under the debt of new watering; more of this hereafter.

There is here no creating of clouds or rain, by King or Husbandman, or Hosts of men; the Husbandmans faith and prayer in extreme drought may fetch rain: but we have, in these actings in which God must joyn his gracious influence, no real influence upon the Lord's influences; the Rose acts not upon the Sun by influences, but the Sun acts upon the Rose, though we may pray for influences of grace.

Nor can tears and wrestling extort influences, when the Lord is upon a•• act of declaring his soveraignty in trying us,* 1.22 there is praying, and yet heaviness and dropping away of soul, bids on, and the Petitioner remains like a bottle on the smoak; the Glass set must run out so many hours; ere the Sea flow again, the Sea-man weeps and prays, but the storm continues and the wind hears him not, and he that creates the wind suspends his acting. God hath not said that the husband-man may pray away Winter, while the season be over; nor that the Traveller, when the Sun is set and darkness come, should pray away the night, while the hours be over; So here God hath fixed a time for a winter season of heaviness and trying deadness. The Lord's mind is to pray for the right melting of the metal, and not for the quenching and removing of the fire, he must do his work; its wisdom to know who orders our prayers, and to pray for something about his withdrawing, and not for the removal of the withdrawing it self; Paul three times prays 2 Cor. 12. for the removal of the Messenger of Satan: But prayer stirs not right then in all points; he should have prayed for sufficiency of grace: our gracious Lord laying aside the dross of our prayer, hears us not in granting what we suit, but what we ought to suit in prayer, and in granting what we suit not formally, but what the Spirit suits internally in us; The man in a Feaver cries for a Drink, the Physitian forbids to give him drink, and yet gives to quench the thirst some other thing then drink; so the sick mans suit is profitably heard. Yet my meaning is not, that the Lord cannot, or will not at all take off an arrestment of disertion, at the praying of his children, the Lord cannot repeal that, Psal. 50. 15. Call upon me in the day of trouble, I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorifie me; therefore he repeals it not under withdrawings, which are amongst the greatest of such troubles as put us to call upon God.

2. Christ under the Lord's withdrawings, in point of comfort and enjoyment of the felt favour of God prayed and was heard, Heb. 5. 7. Matth. 26. 38, 39. Luke 22. 42, 43. therefore by the like he doth hear us in such a case; I

fetch the Argument a proportion; for Christ in whom Sa∣tan finds nothing, is not capable of the withdrawings of God in point of duty. If any say it was Christ's duty al∣ways to rejoyce in God,

I answer, It was an affirmative Precept which did not oblige the man Christ actually in every moment of time; and in radice it did, habitu it did, habitually it did oblige him; for that rejoyce evermore, obligeth not ever to actual rejoycing, but to a savory habit of rejoycing; nor did that (pray continually) oblige the man Christ to pray actu∣ally and to speak to God, when he was preaching and speaking to men, at one time; nor was actually rejoycing in God physically consistent with actual sorrow in suf∣fering.

3. The praying to be led of God in his way, not to be led into temptation must include a suit that God would send influences, and not forsake us in the way of his obedience under our defections: therefore there is need of a special submission and a reserve of time to sail when his flowings set the soul a float. Hence may a child of God submit to his deep soveraignty in withdrawings, and stoop humbly to the Lord's holy decree, (his holy will be done upon clay) and yet also desire presently the removal of sinful deadness, and pray against our sinful omission which necessarily follows upon the Lord's withdrawing, and we are to nill and hate sinning, which results from the withdrawing; therefore both pray and forget that ye have prayed, and adore soveraignty. Pray under withdrawing for influ∣ences, yet trust not on the act of praying; and though he still withdraw, pray, but without fainting under, and fret∣ting against soveraignty.

The habit being of the nature of a power cannot actuate itself, nor can we actuate and make use of the power of grace; now as the God of nature is he in whom we live, and move, and so we are acted by him in our natural stirrings; so in Christ Redeemer Emanuel in whom is the fulness and fountain of grace we live spiritually. Neither have we the use and exercise of our grace in our own hand, nor can we believe when we will, as a Musitian can sing when he will.

CHAP. V.

Whether or not the Lord's withdrawing of his influ∣ences and impressions of grace doth acquit and free us of guiltiness? objections removed.

WE are not a little slandered by Jesuits and Armi∣nians, as such who by the device of forbowing and predeterminating influences of grace, do destroy the na∣ture of Free-will and voluntary obedience to God in this Argument.

He who withdraws such an influence and impression of grace, without which the act of obedience is physically impossi∣ble, he is the cause of disobedience, and he renders the non∣obeyer guiltless and excusable.

But God according to the way of Calvin and his, with∣draws such an influence and impression of grace, because without his impression of grace, its impossible physically that the Will can be bowed to obey, it being essentially requisite in the act of obedience. Therefore God must be the cause of disobe∣dience by this, and render the non-obeyer guiltless and excu∣sable.

Ans.* 1.23 Though my dimness could not lose this Argument, the validity and power of the grace of God, should be no less, and the guiltiness of man as much as it is.

But 1. He who withdraws such an influence and impression of grace, from the reasonable creature, constrained, com∣pelled, and unwilling to want such an influence; he is the cause of the disobedience, and rendreth the non-obeyer guiltless and excusable. The Proposition in that sense is true; But now the assumption is most false; For if the man should seek and desire the influence of God in that very act, and the Lord deny it and withdraw it violently from the Will, as if the Child a drowning should cry to the Father being obliged to help, that he would reach help, and the Father shall refuse, then is the Father the cause of the Child's drowning; and so should the holy Lord be the cause of

our disobedience, and render us guiltless and excusable if he were obliged not to withdraw.

But he who withdraws his influence from the creature, who in the same act of wanting, is most willing to want it, and gives in the same act of disobedience, his virtual consent to the same withdrawing, he is the cause of the disobedience of the act, and renders the non-obeyer guiltless and excusable. The Proposition in this sense is false; and the Assumption true. God so withdraws his influence that in the same act, the man is unexcusably willing to want it. He is de∣servedly cold, who joyfully and willingly yields to the pulling away of his coat; Here that is true, an injury is not done to a man who receives it as a favour: Volenti non fit injuria; as is clear in the Lord's active hardning of Phara∣oh's heart, Exod. 7. 3. and Pharaoh's hardning of his own heart, Exod. 8. 15. both in a material act.

2. He who withdraws his influence, in the same moment of time (though first by order of nature) from the creature, who (2.)* 1.24 is willing to want that influence; and (3.) is a withdrawer of his influence by no obligation at all to give it; he is the cause of disobedience. The Proposition so ta∣ken, is false; Only it follows, that the withdrawing of the influence is the physical cause of non-obedience, not the moral cause of disobedience.

For 1. The withdrawer of the influence is under no ob∣ligation by any binding law to bestow it.

2. The man that wants the influence is willing to want it.

3. The man is obliged, who so wants the influence by an expresly binding law of God to perform the act com∣manded, and to abstain from the contrary act forbidden; and these three are the grounds why the Lord is not chargeable with the act of disobedience; and man is guilty and chargeable therewith. Hence man is the culpable cause of disobedience; and he never wants the influence of God, but his own sin interpretatively is the cause. The withdrawing of Dew and Rain is the cause of barrennesse or non-fertility; the Lord's withdrawing is the physical cause of non-obedience; but the will of man is the only formal, vital, subjective, moral, and (as it were) the ma∣terial

cause of sin; yea the only formal and efficient cause of sin.

Obj. He that casts away his coat, is deservedly cold; for he doth it against deliberate reason,* 1.25 except he be mad, or in an extreme distemper of body; But no man refuseth divine influ∣ences with deliberate reason and the law of nature. 2. The law of nature lays bands upon men not to cast away their cloaths; but to have, or to want the influences of God, falleth under no command of God laid upon man. 3. No man, by your way, hath the influences of grace in his own power to re∣ceive or reject them, as he that casteth away his garments in a cold day, hath undeniably such a power.

Ans. Every comparison in some thing halteth; he who casts away his coat, is deservedly cold, true, and with delibe∣rate reason and foolishly so doth; and that is false, that no man with deliberate reason refuseth divine influences; For willing or deliberate yielding to the sin, either of omis∣sion, or of commission, which is conjoyned with the Lord's withdrawing of his influences, is both our formal sinning against the obligation of a command, and a yielding virtual (which is enough to make up guiltiness) to the want of di∣vine influences.

2. True it is, to have or to want the influence of God, fal∣leth under no command of God laid upon man, as a man is by the law of nature forbidden to cast away his coat in a cold season; but in virtual yielding to have influences of God, conjoyned with doing evil, and in virtual yielding to want influences conjoyned with other sins of omission or com∣mission, we sin, and so are under a command; as he who refuseth a Staff, or a stronger man to lean upon in going thorow a water, is guilty of drowning himself.

3. Thus far we are deliberately to desire influences that we are to pray for them; Draw me, Cant. 1. 4. Lord teach me, Psal. 119. 33. Open mine eyes, that I may behold the won∣ders of thy Law, ver. 18. Incline mine heart to thy testimo∣nies, and not to covetousness, v. 36. As we are obliged to have a new heart, and to have the image of God, which we willingly lost in Adam, and to be renewed in the spirit of our mind, and to make to our selves a new heart, and are

commanded so to doe, Ezech. 18: 31. Ephes. 4. 23. and yet the Lord's omnipotent creating of a new heart in us can∣not fall under a Commandement formally obliging us to create in our selves a new heart, and so are we cammand∣ed consequently to have the breathings and influences of grace. 1. In the same act in the which we are commanded to obey. 2. In that we are to pray for, and to desire the breathings of God. 3. In that there is a promise, to him that hath it shall be given, Matth. 25. 29. Matth. 13. 12. but how far the promise extends is after to be discussed. (3.) As touching influences natural, they seem to be com∣mon to free and voluntary Agents, and also to natural causes; so the Lord commandeth the Sun to rise, and it riseth, Psal. 104. 19. and he commandeth the Sun, and it riseth not, Job 9. 7. it rains, because the Lord lifteth up his voice unto the clouds,* 1.26 that abundance of rain may come; he sendeth out lightnings, Jerem. 14. 22. Psal. 107. 33, 34. God hunteth the prey for the Lyon, and gives food to the Ra∣ven. Job 38. 35. 36. v. 41. In all these the natural cause acts, and yet hath not in its power the influences of God; and when God withdraws his influences so as natural causes act not, they find no positive violence offered to restrain them, or by-way of any positive impediment to hinder them, only there is a negative withdrawing of influences upon the Lord's part which they want with a sort of natu∣ral yielding to the want thereof; and yet they have and keep still their natural power to act, actu primo, as the first cause shall set them on work: And the very like may be said of moral Agents; God withdraws his influence, they sin, but find no positive violence comming from the Lord's withdrawing, to restrain them or impose upon them, and they connaturally and with a virtual willingness yield to such withdrawings, and keep an inferiour dominion over their own actings.

Hence 1. Moral Agents are to set to work to doe duties, & not to wait upon God's acts of influences; but they are to act, as if the influences of God were in their power; for the influence from Heaven to the duty belongs to God, (he does not lay formal commands upon us to have, or to want his

influences) and the duty is ours; but we love more to look to God, and judge anxiously his providence of withdraw∣ing of influences, then upon our own duty. Its strange: I judge his holy withdrawings, and not my own sinful omissions.

2. No man is to complain of the Lord's withdrawing of influences; You are joyful and well content to want them. Men put out their own eyes and yet complain God hath made them blind: Of this, more hereafter.

But this Argument may be retorted,* 1.27 and unpossible it is to defend the Dominion and Soveraignty of God by these Principles; so if it be not in the dominion and soveraignty of God to procure or hinder the acts of final obedience or disobedience, he cannot be Master of salvation, and of the certain number of the saved; but the free-will of man must be absolute ever here, and the salvation of any must be physically impossible to the soveraign Lord.

But by the Adversaries way; its not in the dominion and soveraignty of God to procure, or to hinder the acts of final obedience or disobedience of any; but it must be ab∣solutely in the power of created free-will, all things needful to be done, both upon the part of the Lord's Decree, and of the Lord's Influences, being done, to nill or will, obey or disobey. And 2. its in the power of created free-will to doe, or obey, and to refuse, or disobey. And 3. to have the strongest influences of God in its dominion and created power, or to want them. 4. Created freewill first stirs and concurs, by order of nature, before the soveraign Lord joyn his influence; all these be the Principles of Pelagians, Jesuits, Arminians; so shall created free-will have the do∣minion above and before the soveraign Lord of all the acts of obedience, of all the chosen of God, as to their number, who shall be saved, who not, how many, how few.

CHAP. VI.

Q. Whether or no are we to believe, pray, praise, read, confer only then when the Spirit actually moves us to believe, pray, praise, &c. and not otherwise? 1. Duties are to be done under spiritual withdrawings. 2. The precept and the influence differ. 3. We are and may pray at fixed hours.

THe Question is the same of elicite acts,* 1.28 of love, fear, hope, faith, and of imperate acts of praying, hearing, praising; only the difference is, hardly can we set a time to believing; the object sometime wakens us, Psal. 56. 3. What time I am afraid, Ile trust in thee; otherwise that binds ever, which is, Psal. 62. 8. Trust in him at all times. The Lord hath more fixed a time for praying continually, and for praising the Lord always, 1 Thes. 5. Psal. 146. 1.

2. The question is alike in all actions, and in spiritual and supernatural actions; as whether the Husbandman may Plow and Sow at fit seasons, or only when the Lord the cause of causes joyns his influence; for these and the like are no less impossible without the connatural influences of God, then the acts of praying, believing without the su∣pernatural influences of grace. Now we would think it ri∣diculous, should the Husbandman never plow but only when he is disposed to plow; suppose he sleep longer in the morning then he should.

3. The actual Influence cannot be a Rule; for we can∣not know or feel the actual influence of God, Creator, or of Grace, but only when we are aworking.

4.* 1.29 The question of the obligation is one thing, and the question of ability to pray is another; for Magus yet in the Gall of bitterness, is under the obligation of a Commande∣ment, Acts 8. 22. Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thoughts of thine heart may be forgiven thee; And in a state of nature, he is most unable and so far more indisposed to pray and repent; And the

believing Thessalonians are under a command to pray con∣tinually, 1 Thes. 5. 17. to praise, to rejoyce, ver. 16. 18. what ever their indisposition be. Now though the man fal'n in Adam be unable to keep and do the Law, and natu∣ral men living in the visible Church, be unable & indispo∣sed to believe in Christ and to pray, yet except we say that such are under neither Law nor Gospel, we cannot say that men, because of their wretched estate, are not obliged to pray, believe, love Christ, walk with God. Libertines say its unlawful and a taking of the Name of God in vain, to aym at praying, when the Spirit withdraws. Suppose we could not reconcile our inability and our indisposition to pray, nor the acting of strong grace and of weak will; yet when God hath undeniably commanded duties and pro∣mised in the new Covenant grace, and gives the new heart, and the habit of grace, no man hath warrant upon the ac∣count of the Lord's denying influence to abstain from du∣ties; for upon the same account one might cast himself in the Fire, and another in the Water; why, it may be the Lord shall deny his influence to the fire and water, to burn or consume us, and so the water shall not overwhelme me, nor the fire consume me, though I wickedly cast my self in fire and water.

Now what Familists and Libertines may object on the contrary should be heard.

Obj. 1. We are never to take the Name of God in vain, but to pray without the acting of the Spirit is to take the Name of God in vain.

Ans. The Antecedent is true; we are never to take the Name of God in vain, nor obliged to any sin: but the Con∣sequence is naught; therefore we are not to pray, nor ob∣liged to pray, except the Spirit either by disposition facili∣tate us, or actually move us; For the disposition or actual mo••ion of the Spirit, is neither our Rule, nor a part of our rule. For 1. The command to pray is the common ob∣ligi••g Rule to both Elect and Reprobate, and obligeth all equally; but neither the spiritual disposition, nor the sa∣ving acting of the Spirit so equal to all is our Rule. 2. The command is exposed to every one to make use of it as he

pleaseth;* 1.30 but the saving acting of the Spirit is not in every mans power. 3. The command is a Rule and Object of our Faith, and gives me not strength to obey; but the hea∣venly disposition and saving acting are not the object, but the efficient cause which addeth strength to obey: the command craves the debt; its true, its impossible to pray in faith without the acting of the Spirit; it follows only that its so impossible that we are also guilty and unexcusable in our virtual desiring that it may be so. We are wounded but we love to shed our own bloud. As also in the Regene∣rate there is never an utter withdrawing; the habit of grace keeps the heart warm, and loves to be blown upon and stirred, even under actual ceasing of breathings.

Obj. 2. When there is an utter ceasing of the spirit, it would appear that the spirit forbids us to lift at his work, until the Spirit the only Master of work be there himself.

Ans. One of the three is ever a work, either the Father is waiting till the Son pray, John 14. or the Son is comman∣ding the breathings of the Spirit.* 1.31 It is some casual work that the sinner is the passive object of the Spirit; there is never an utter ceasing of the Spirit. There are some habi∣tual stirrings of the Seed of God under the ceasing of actu∣al influence, as the ripe Apple enclines to fall off the Tree when there is no shaking of it; the Ship is a mending in the Shore when she sails not: and if it were no more, but one of the three is a working about a Child of God; its not to be despised; For who knows the thoughts of Christ and his pleading in Heaven for such as suffer the evil of affliction for Christ? And if a believer wrestle under deadnesse, Christ much more is a work to help a more spiritual suffe∣rer, to wit, one that is as it were a patient under sin and flesh, and the withdrawing of God.

Obj. 3. There is no Commandment in the New Testament for the doing of half a Duty, to wit, to pray and not to pray in Faith, and Fervour; therefore we cannot be commanded to pray, when the Spirit withdraws his influence, without which, the Duty, of necessity, must be lame and broken.

Ans. It follows not, for there is less of the Gospel in the command as a command; for, in either Law-command or in

Gospel-precept,* 1.32 the Lord commands whole and unbroken obedience; and in it God seeks somewhat, which he lost in Adam, which we are obliged to doe, and he is under no Law to give us grace to obey; And as is said, we are wil∣ling to want his help, where the command should put us to a humble missing and mourning for our wants, and a di∣strusting of our own strength, and a weeping over our bro∣ken condition, and a high prizing of our surety and his strength. 2. Its a part of command that we go about the bulk or body of the duty, and gather together the dry bones and wait humbly until he command the Wind and Spirit to blow on them, and we sin in omitting of half a command.

Obj. 4. His yoak is easie, and his Commandments are not grievous; but if it be not in our power to pray, when he withdraws,* 1.33 his Commandments shall be unpossible and his yoak heavy.

Ans. His command is easie by the grace of God and love of Christ; the Wheels move sweetly, when Grace and Love oyls the Soul; and yet it no more hinders that we cannot pray, when he withdraws, then the burning of the Fire, and the rising of the Sun, which are works of Nature most easie and sweet, are possible; when the Lord forbids the Fire to burn, and the Sun to rise, his Gospel commands actu primo, of themselves are sweet, but under withdrawings hard and legal.

Obj. 5. Praying and seeking of God at set and fixed hours were not lawful; For if we cannot pray, but when the Spirit moves us, we cannot say, we shall pray at any hour: for we cannot tie the Spirit's joyning to our hours; and again, if we are to pray at any hour we please, we use the habit of grace and supplication, when, and as we will; as a Musitian may sing when he will, or not sing.

Ans. 1. We have not any question now about religious set hours, such as the morning and evening Sacrifice, or the three hours of prayer used by David, Morning, Evening, and at Noon, Psal. 55. 17. and Daniel chap. 6. 10, 11. Acts 3. 1. Acts 10. 3, 9, 10. and the godly Jews; for by no divine Precept are we tied to such hours. Papists abuse

the Scripture to Canonick hours; But in Christian pru∣dence we may fix a time to reading, praying, conferring on the Word, and to other sacred duties; yet do we not tie the Spirit's joyning to our hour; the man Christ set a night apart for praying; and so did Jacob for wrestling by tears with the great Angel, Genes▪ 32. 24. Hos. 12. 3, 4. without limitting the Spirit in his influences to any time; nor yet will it follow that we use the habit or spirit of grace and supplication, when we will; for sanctified will is to set the time, and to actuate it self by the habit of grace; And the same Argument shall conclude, that the Husbandman who sets a time for plowing and sowing, must limit the Lord to joyn his influences: For except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain, who build it; though they set days to the hired Masons. Except the Lord keep the City, the Watch-man watcheth but in vain; though times be set to the hired Watchers. Its in vain to rise up early, Psal. 127. 1, 2. and its as impossible to plow, build, watch, rise early, without the common influence of God the first cause, as it is to pray in Faith without the special breathing of the Spirit of grace. Yet Libertines and Anti∣nomians will not say that they sin in setting a time for building, plowing, watching; these seem considerable a∣bout hours of praying.

1. Though we fix an hour, it becomes Faith to await the Angels moving of the water, and when the Lord adds his influences to step in and joyn our strength cheerfully and with humble praises to him who draws.

2. When there is a bentness of heart such a day or such a fixed hour to pray, build not too much upon the appoint∣ment and promises of our own heart, to say to morrow, Ile do wonders by prayer, & remove mountains. 1. Its good here, as in a purpose of going to a City to continue there a year, and buy and sell and get gain, to say in a trembling subordina∣tion to God, as James counselleth chap. 4. 13, 15. If the Lord will, we shall live; so, to say if the holy soveraignty of grace breath fairly and strongly, Ile do well in praying; yet not I, but his grace; and if the wind of the Lord blow not, ah I cannot sail. 2. As in the case of James his Merchant,

and of Peter's undertaking, Ile die with thee, rather or I deny thee. So here 1. The man sows broad hopes upon his own praying, and the harvest is thin and nothing. 2. Such a Preacher shall set the Ship a float, and all shall be well, if such an Instrument act, and then the Lord is away, and the Reed is broken, and the Sea flows not. 3. At the Death of such an Eminent Christian, O there must be strange manifestations; and the poor man is taken away under a cloud, and in a huge deal of darkness. The faith of our reposing upon our selves and the creature, and our not reposing on the Lord's acting in us to will and to do, in these set times does disappoint us. A godly jealousie and de∣spair of our selves, & a relying wholy upon the Lords actings is good; and seldom can we difference between presumptu∣ous confidence on our selves, with a godly trembling, and a pure and spiritual relying upon God in his breathings of grace. (3.) We stumble, that when the impetuous faird of resolving is on, and possibly the Lord effectually acting us; yet when it comes to the time of praying, the whole spirit is a lump of deadness, and the Comforter is away; and the flesh saith, I covenanted a meeting with Christ, and he covenanted with me; but I kept the appointed time, and he failed and came not according to his promise; And we do not remember, that there is a promise that he will work in us to will and to doe; but for a Covenant that the Spi∣rit shall keep your fixed hour, where is that? for the Spi∣rit, even the hour before blows sweetly and the hour after; but he is absent at your fixed hour. In a word, we may limit a time for your Duty; for the obligation (to pray continally) is perpetual; but we cannot limit a time or an hour to his breathing. Its ever true, John 3. 8. The Wind bloweth where it listeth. (4.) The more Angel-like and the more spiritual pride is, such as is Angel-haughtiness in the damned spirits who were not content with their own sta∣tion, and in Evah, the more sinful guiltiness is in it; Pride resulting from acts common to men, as that of the King of Assyria, Isa. 37. and that of the King of Babylon, Hab. 2. Isa. 14. 13, 14. is nothing so damnable as the proud fathe∣ring of holiness and grace upon our vain nature; and here

we think we can command the ebbing and flowing of the Sea, and have the breathings of the Spirit at our will; and if we be humble, it should especially be in stooping to the most poor and holy actings of the Soveraign Lord, and presumptuous relying on self; here is the first samplar pride.

Neither do we consider that most of the Arguments, if we may act when, and where, we will, Salvation and Dam∣nation, and all the high actings of gracious Soveraignty must be under our power; if we may, or can act without the habit and influence of grace, and must be here, as when one great higher Wheel moves and turns about many Wheels, and the first moves the second, and second the third, and the third the fourth, and so forth; so must the habits of Grace, and the influences of the Spirit, and all the outgoings of God be subject to mans Free-will as the first mover; if we can pray and praise under the withdraw∣ings of God.

Hence the 6. Argument may be removed, that though we cannot pray, but when, and as the Spirit moves us; it fol∣lows, both that we are not loosed from our obligation to pray, nor can we pray more or less fervently, but as the grace of Christ, in whom is all fulness, qualifies us in the habit and actings, because the gracious acts depend not upon our Free-will simply, but upon our Free-will as in∣structed with the supernatural habit infused; nor do the more intense and stronger actings of love, of faith, of prayer, depend upon our Free-will, but as instructed with the stronger habit and actual influences of God; But more hereafter of this.

CHAP. VII.

Of the Soveraignty of God in his actings, and especially in influences. And 2. what Soveraignty is.

BEcause the influence of the Lord's grace depends most upon the Soveraignty of God, so far above us, as is spoken in the fourth Article; its needful we speak of these.

• 1. What Soveraignty is.
• 2. In how many particulars the soveraignty of God doth appear.
• 3. What submission we owe, and how we are to stoop thereunto.
• 4. Such as are most active in doing God's will, are most submissively patient in suffering his will, & contra.
• 5. We are to give submission of pain to God.
• 6. Providence of the Gospel is above Law-providence.
• 7. The righteousness of God is incomparably above our righteousness.
• 8. Our Justification is not negative only.
• 9. The Law requires sinless suffering.
• 10. Inherent righteousness is not the adequate end of the Gospel.

1.* 1.34 To know what Soveraignty is. 1. Let us see what it is not. 1. Omnipotency and Soveraignty thus differ; Omnipotency looks simply to effects physically, what the Lord can doe: he can of stones make sons to Abraham; he can create millions of Worlds; his Soveraignty is not only his holy Nature what he can doe and so supposeth his Om∣nipoteucy, but also what he doth freely, or doth not freely, and doth by no natural necessity, and so it includes his holy supreme Liberty, and also what the Lord may doe, as it were Jure he may doe all things, and (as Elihu saith) gives not an account of his matters to any, Job 33. 13. by his holy soveraign Will as above all Laws that bind the ra∣tional Creatures, he does as he pleaseth, and what he plea∣seth: and none can say What dost thou? Hence 1. Its graci∣ousness

of holy Soveraignty, that because he is Soveraign, he does not crush us; the flesh speaks that in Job 10. 3. to the Lord; Is it good to thee that thou shouldest oppress? and because he is soveraign upon the account of his soveraign∣ty, he crusheth not under his feet all the prisoners of the earth: to turn aside the right of a man before the face of the most High, Lam. 3. 33, 34. whereas, to sinful soveraigns, power is a Law many take by violence, fields and houses, because its in the power of their ha••ds to doe it, Micah 2. the Law of the Lion and the great Fish, to devour the Lamb and swallow the lesser Fish, is only power and strength. Satan and his ne∣ver stays in this side of their power, but doth all the evil they can; Jerem. 3. 5. Behold, thou hast spoken, and done evill as thou could; the soveraignty of God saith he may withdraw influences of grace from Angels and Men as pleaseth him best; he may let this Ground wither and dry up as a Rock, and make the other Plot of Ground near by, like a fruitful Paradice; and why may not Soveraignty dispose of hearts to harden them? but his outgoings of so∣veraignty are not always to destroy.

2. Our great ones are so far above the bloud, the cries and sufferings of the needy; let the poor die in the pit, they have an higher imployment then to lend their heart to lodge thoughts of compassion toward the afflicted, Amos 6. 1, 2, 3, 4. greatness dispises the desolation of the poor; but Job 36. 5. Behold, God is mighty and dispiseth not any; saith Elihu, Psal. 69. 33. The Lord despiseth not his prisoners; why? and is he not above their tears? yea, 34. let Heaven and Earth praise him; then must he be great and high a∣bove the mourners, yet he owns their tears, Psal. 102. 19, 20.

3. And the Lord's Soveraignty hinders him not to give a sort of reckoning of his doings, Isa. 5. Judge between me and my vineyard, Mich. 6. 3. O my people, what have I done to thee? often pride hindereth sinful soveraigns to ease the heart of the oppressed with a reason of their deeds.

2.* 1.35 What is Soveraignty? its his superexcellent Highness by which his holy Will essentially wise and just, is a Law and Rule to himself to doe what he pleaseth, holily, wisely,

most freely. But why doth the Lord drive Cart-wheels over the bones of his people? let alone: he will not doe it always, and say it were so, This cometh forth from the Lord of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel and excellent in work∣ing, Isa. 28. 29. a godly heart is smitten with the wisdome and authority of holy soveraignty; why is Jerusalem spoi∣led? and why are the Nations at ease? holy Soveraignty should meeken and silence all men, Zech. 2. 13. Be silent, O all flesh before the Lord: supreme Soveraignty cannot erre; and the faith of this quiets the heart under all sufferings; Hezekiah, Isa. 38. 15. What shall I say? he hath spoken to me, and himself hath done it. Divels and Men are to be looked on as passive rods (there is no principle of life in the Rod, in the Sword to lift up themselves against us) they are Wheels rolled about by holy Soveraignty. Ah the Physi∣cian slew my child, the wicked enemy slew the father and the son, the malicious rail against me; but not any of these dumb Rods did move themselves: the Lord bids Shimei curse David; the Lord sends the Assyrians against the Na∣tion of his fury. Consider the Copy, holy Jesus, Matth. 26. puts three Seals, three Subscriptions to one blanck and sad bill of Wrath; Nevertheless not my will, but thy will be done. How was he the formost in the journey to Jerusalem? to suf∣fer, as willing that his Bloud be Ink, and his Soul and Body sheets of Paper; on which might be written (as it were) to be read by Men and Angels, for all Eternity, the Glory and Justice of spotless Soveraignty; and he who said Amen to the Curse, teacheth us, if God should say, I have no de∣light in thee, to consent, 2 Sam. 15. 26. and say, here am I, let him doe to me as seemeth good to him. The wishes of Moses and Paul, who desire their parts in the Book of Life, and of Christ to be laid in pawn for the shining of the glory of the Lord in saving of many; and that expression of Da∣vid saith, that a gracious submission to Soveraignty will bring the man to this, Let him doe to me what seems good in his eyes; if he say, he hath no delight in me: well, let An∣gels and Men Read and Sing the Glory of the Lord, in the flamings of the holy Soveraignty and spotless Justice of God in my torment; and it becomes me consentingly to lay my soul

as a threshing floor under his eternal smitings, and to judge I owe a spirit to be eternal oyl and fire-wood, to eternally revenging wrath. The Children of God know how hard∣ly Faith can command Sense to come up to the obligation of receiving in the bosome, with kissing and adoring the firie indignation of the Lord. Yet are we to drink with Christ, the Cup of sad absence, and his holy withdrawings. Heman hath come near this, and David and Jonah; all thy waves have gone over me, thy wrath lies hard upon me; and yet hear savoury prayers speaking the rejoycing, and kissing of soveraignty, and prayers comming out of the furnace of Hell, Ps. 88. 1. O Lord God of my salvation, I cry day and night before thee: What? cries of Faith out of the bowels of a Sea of wrath! Jonah 2. 2. Out of the belly of Hell I cryed, saith Jonah; and waves of wrath, all the waves, all the waves of thy wrath are gone over me, saith David, Psal. 45. 8. Yet the Lord will command his loving kindness in the day time, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life. O how sweet are these; tormenting pain and godly patience; pining pain and sweet praises and psalms of Saveraignty; The tormented man sings his own Hell in a Psalm sounding up to Heaven; Psal. 6. Psal. 42. Psal. 38. God smites me, and I love God, Psal. 42. 7. All thy waves and thy billows are gone over me; yet this Sea and all the waves of this Hell cannot quench heavenly love and the fire of thirsting after God, v. 1. As the Hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. When fiery wrath is in its outgoing, the Lord sends out wrath and Arrows that stick fast in the soul; but David prays to an angry God, he roars and burns in wrath; I pray, Psal. 38. he casts on me waves of Hell; I send up tears and cries to him, Psal. 6, 1, 6. he breaks me with breach upon breach, and sore vexes my soul; I believe and trust in his salvation, Psal. 18. 4, 5, 6. Thus its possible, for a Saint to love his own fiery hell, and receive the coals of flaming wrath in his arms, for his holy Soveraign and glorious Name, who is pleased so to deal with him, and upon the Consideration that so it seem good to the only wise and soveraign Lord. But oh how unlike are we to a people in the furnace adoring

the Lord in the outgoings of soveraign Justice! when the Lord smites, some murmure, others swear, lie, whore, op∣press, many mock godliness and hate it, all go on to break the marriage-faith of a Land once betrothed to God; and ah! if the watchmen had not been guides to these who high∣ly wronged Jesus Christ.

From the former,* 1.36 follows patient silence, and an use of our submission to his Soveraignty who withdraws his influ∣ences from us, so as sinning follows thereupon: Hence there is a great abuse of repentance, which is bastard-repentance. We grieve at the fair work of the Lord's holy permissive pro∣vidence, and are not humbled at our foul sinning, resulting by our own fault, from such a providence. See a Copy of a Law-sorrow (repentance I call it not) in Adam, before any Gospel was heard of, Gen. 3. 12. that, or, the woman whom thou gave (to be) with me, she 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 she gave me of the tree: There is an Emphasis in the Woman; The, or that Woman. 2. An Emphasis in the Lord's liberality; Thou gave her, by way of goodness and liberality; but I wish the Lord never had been good nor liberal in that kind.* 1.37 3. To be with me (as an helper, who now is a tempter.) 4. She (as the chief cause) gave me of the fruit, and I did eat. I repent (says he in sense) that thou was that graciously Good as to give me a tempter, but I am not grieved for my own sin in eating. So the common excuse; woe to the Provi∣dence that God sent such an unhappy counseller to me; oh what had I to do there? So does Job repent in some respect in his weakness, not that he came in the world an heir of wrath, and a sinner, but ah the fatal and wrathful Decree of God, that ever I was born to such misery, Job 3. 3. Let the day perish, wherein I was born, Jerem. 20. 14. But the Lord willeth the Crucifiers of Christ to mourn that they 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 with wicked hands crucified and slew Christ: and yet Peter counsels them, Acts 2. 23. to submit humbly to the determinate Counsel and Fore-knowledge of God. Our deceitful hearts are readier to repent for the holy Events and Facts of divine Providence, then for our own sins, as if the holy Lord did erre in his permissive provi∣dence, and we doe not amisse in transgressing of an holy

Law;* 1.38 But such as are most active to doe the will of God, and esteem it their meat and drink to obey his will, as Jesus Christ, Jo••. 4. 34. and go about doing good, Acts 10. 38, 39. are most passively savoury and graciously submissive to suf∣fer the will of God, as he was, Matth. 26. Nevertheless not my will, but thy will be done; Isa. 53. 7. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; he as a Lamb to the slaughter, and as a Sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth. 1 Pet. 2. 23. Who when he was reviled, reviled not again: when he suffered, he threatned not, but committed himself to him that judgeth rightously. And Jeremiah who mourned so, for sin as he desired his head were waters, and his eyes a fountain of tears, that he might both be humbled for the judgements and the sins of the people, Jer. 9. 1, 2. hath said much in the book of the La∣mentations for justifying God, Lam. 1. 18. Lam. 3. 38, 40, 41, 42. Lam. 4. 10, 11, 12, 13. Lam. 5. 19, 20. and was willing himself to be carried captive; So was Daniel who mourns and confesseth and fasteth three full weeks, Dan. 4. Dan. 10. 2, 3. and ascribeth righteousness to God; The more sub∣mission there is in Job, there is the more spiritual frame of a gracious spirit in him, Job. 1. 21, 22. 2 Sam. 16. 10. and they who fret most at suffering; as Cain, Gen. 4. 13. and Je∣horam, 2 Kings 6. 23. Shall I wait any longer upon the Lord? are most froward and unwilling to doe or act the will of God. And on the contrary, such are most impatient and blasphemous in suffering as damned reprobates, who are less active in doing God's will and denying it. 2. The Lord requires unto holy Soveraignty a submission to that permis∣sive providence of his;* 1.39 he suspends his gracious influences, and what can we doe but sin? Say a milstone were tied with Chains in the Air, if the Chain break, the stone must fall. Remove the Sun and it must be dark night. The Lord knowingly and of purpose withdraws his influences, and Angles or Men in their strength cannot stand. Con∣vene and summon the wittiest thoughts of Men and An∣gels, who acknowledge a providence, and answer to this; suppose a master of a house, excellent in goodness and of a deep reach of wisdome to let fall, out of his hand two pre∣cious

stones of incomparable worth, Jewels of the price of the half of the Earth, and he only can keep them safe, yet he suffers them knowingly and purposely to fall and be broken: The Lord who hangeth the Earth upon nothing, and its not moved, might and could have kept Men and Angels in their integrity, but of purpose he suffers them to fall and be broken upon a mighty rock.

2. A husbandman hath a huge broad and vast plat of ground most fertile for wheat, olive trees, the most delicious and excellent vines in great abundance, its a wide land of honey, of Milk, of many gardens of incomparably fragrant herbs, with meadows and grass for millions of flocks, he sees a great River shall overflow all this land, this husbandman only can fence off the river with a strong bank, yet he knowingly suffers the Flood to overflow and drown all, that nothing can more grow in it, then the bottome of the Sea.

3. A Governour of Ten rich and populous Cities, knows of a train of fire, which by degrees shall at length consume, in one flame, men, women, sucking children, gold, silver, houses, gardens, he can quench the train, if he please, yet he suffers a strong wind to blow upon it, withdraws not water from it,* 1.40 which is a sort of fomenting thereof, until all be consumed. What can here be said to him who gives not ac∣count of any of his matters? this is the free dispensation of the only wise God to standing and to falling Angels and Men, and who can judge God or find him out in this? It may seem needless curiosity to determine, which of the two Pro∣vidences, and which of the two Wills in the holy Lord must be first or choicest; Whether that by which Adam should have stood happy in perfect obedience without fall or sin given to the Covenant of works, or that Providence and Will by which the Lord designed, to bring in the wonder of mercy and grace, Emanuel, God manifest in the flesh, the de∣light of Men and Angels? it seems to say that the Lord's will is more set upon Adam's final dutie, which never had being, and which the Lord immutably from Eternity, de∣creed should never be, then his holy Will is fixed upon that wonder of the World, of Heaven and Earth; the riches of the glory of his grace and other attributed in that precious

and incomparable mystery, God manifested in the flesh. Its true, God wills us rather to obey, and not to wound our selves by sin,* 1.41 then put him to pardon our disobedience, or to seek a Mediator or remedy for sin. But the Lord by his commanding will, in his Law chargeth us under the pain of condemnation to obey; but the Lord by no commanding will in his Law chargeth himself to provide and seek a Satisfier and Mediator: he provides a Redeemer by his will of purpose and holy decree, nor willed he ever fallen Adam to solicite his author comman∣ding or decreeing will to provide a Physician for sick sinners.

But except we seek a knot in a Rush. 1. Its Adam's duty and all mankinds in him to stand, obey and never sin: and God wills this obligation to lie upon man as an eter∣nally obliging duty;* 1.42 And this is true even now and eter∣nally [Adam ought never to have sinned.]

2. God never willed Adam, nor commanded him in Law or Gospel, either absolutely or comparatively to put the Lord to seek a remedy or a Saviour to satisfie for us, or to pardon sin; we read of no such will.

3. Nor is it fit to say, that the Lord had rather David committed adultery and murther, by God's permission, and be pardoned for it, then not to commit it; for if this be meant of the commanding will of God, no man can justly charge us with putting such contradictory wills upon God; as also its unpossible that God can will the adultery of David to be, by any other will, then his will of purpose and hloy decree.

And then 4. The righteous Lord loves righteousnesse, yet the Lord absolutely and simply willed rather the holy, free submissive obedience of the second Adam to be, then he wills the final obedience of the first Adam; and he wills more the manifestation of the glory of his free grace, par∣doning mercy, revenging justice in that excellent of the most excellent our Emanuel, then the legislative glory of Adam and all his possible final obedience;* 1.43 and the Lord wills no end rather then his own glory; but the Lord ne∣ver commands us to will but what he approveth, and its

needless to enquire whether a more eminent declarative glory could be,* 1.44 then that which is the delight of the Lord's soul, the pleasure of the Lord, love greater then any man hath, the rejoycing of the Lord, loved and desired to be read, looked unto with wondring and adoring by the holy An∣gels; nor can any inherent righteousness of man please the Lord, in any imaginable measure and manner, as the obe∣dience of Christ in offering himself to God through the eter∣nal Spirit, Heb. 4. 14. And if it be true, that lost man gains more in the second Adam,* 1.45 Christ Jesus, then he lost in the first Adam, clear it is that there is no comparison between the declarative glory of the Gospel, to wit, the glory of the humble, willing, and eminently and admira∣bly excellent obedience of Christ God-man in dying tali modo and the declarative glory of the Law, 2 Cor. 3. or between the glory of the righteousnesse of God through saith, and the glory of the inherent righteousness through the grace of God; for the righteousness of God through faith, must be more excellent then the righteousness of man, or then all the acts of man by grace, believing, hoping, lovering, repenting, praying, praising eternally in Heaven, suffering of martyrdome; and therefore it cannot be said that God would rather in an antecedent, and principal in∣tention have us to forbear sin and Adam to stand in Law∣obedience, then to put him to remedy sin, and out of the greatest love of God to man to send his Son in the World to save sinners, as if the intention and heart-purpose of God had been principally that the first Adam should stand, and all in him and the Court of the Law of Works should be for ever; and that the Lord in a second intention and (as if it were) compelled by a cross wind must sail into a next best and second harbour, which yet undoubtedly is the excel∣lentest and highest declarative glory of the Lord which the conceptions of Angels or Men can reach, and was (if I may so speak) the eternal delight of the Lord, while as yet, he had not made the earth, or the fields, Pro. 8. 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31. though I am far from thinking that any thing with∣out God, doth conclude his holy Soveraignty; yet the Lord's soul delighting in the holy obedience of Christ and

the eternal declarative glory thereof, shall be highest to me, and in the hearts (I conceive) of the godly, the most emi∣nent revealed end, and to Scripture.

4. Neither is it better pleasing to God, not to sin, then when the man hath sinned, to seek pardon for sin in the bloud of Christ.* 1.46 I know not what Scripture so speaks or so teacheth both the one and the other is the approving and commanding will of God; and if the Gospel be more glo∣rious and excellent then the Law, 2 Cor. 3. as it must be; the seeking of a pardon is a duty commanded in the Gospel and Covenant of grace, and not sinning, is as such an act commanded in the poor and simple Covenant of works gi∣ven to Adam. I shall heartily yield to sin upon hope of pardon (if any intelligent pure and only Antinomians so teach) is utterly unlawful; but upon supposition that the person is a sinner, it is a more gracious act of obedience (yea more glorious if I may so speak) to fly to our Sanctu∣ary and Citie of refuge Jesus Christ upon Gospel-princi∣ples, then upon Law-principles not to sin; And thus must the comparison of betterness and excellency be made. But the arguing seems to infer, that it is our mind, that God willeth us to desire and practically to will rather that Christ the Physician should appear in the declarative glory of grace, mercy, pardoning, punishing, justice, then that we should practically will our own Law-odedience; but this is forced on us and is not our mind, but a wicked Principle of Libertines; for we ought rather to obey the Law and practically to will final obedience to the Law of works and eschew sinning as Hell, rather then desire and with a more intense and a stronger practical will seek the incarnation of God; for that practical will can never be in us without sinning.

Yea 4. It is a shame to compare together the righteous∣ness of God (and we are in Christ made this righteousness of God, 2 Cor. 5. 21.) and the inherent, mixt, imperfect righteousness of a renewed man; for the one needs no par∣don, and the other is sinful, and as menstruous cloaths without a pardon, Isa. 64. 6. I mean not that the believing, praying, &c. of the regenerate are formally and in the sub∣stance

of the act sins, but by accident they are sinful and polluted; but even in the substance of the act, they are nothing comparable to the acts of obedience in Christ, which are every way complete and perfect according to the strictest rule of the Law of works.

Yea 5.* 1.47 Its a false ground to say that by justification or remission of sins (as some say, but they are not every way the same) only the guilt of sin is removed, or only delive∣rance from eternal punishment; for Christ's dying and satisfying is ours, he dying in our stead and place, and we dying in him legally (not physically) and so are we not only by his satisfaction which is made ours, and by faith applyed to us, negatively freed from Hell, but positively righteous; (I say not inherently or personally) for Christ's satisfaction is not a meer dying, nor meer suffering; for beasts may die and suffer much. But such a dying and such a suffering, for 1. Christ's dying and satisfying hath an excellency from the subject God-man who dyed, Act. 20. 28. 2. It hath an excellent qualification from the patience, sub∣mission, willingness of God-man, the like wherof could be in no simple Man, in no Angel, in no Creature; for the perso∣nal influence of God was in him & his obedience. As for the damned in Hell, their satisfaction is of another nature dif∣ferent from Christ's, & is only satispassion and pure torment, not holy, willing, suffering as the Law requires sinless suf∣ferings as contradistinguished from active obedience. How be it the Law moral doth require patient and submissive suffering without dispairing or blaspheming, in any reason∣able Creature; for the holy Law cannot but condemn sin and blasphemy, adhering either to our acting or suffering.

Nor 6. Let it be said to the undervaluing of the righteous∣ness of God through faith, that inherent righteousness is the full end of Christ's bloud; when in the state of glory, there shal be no more pardoning of sin, but perfect inherent holiness.

For 1. that inherent holiness in the estate of glory is not perfect legal holiness, nor the formal cause of our justifica∣tion in glory; because all the glorified once sinned, and so for eternity are such as have violated the Law.

2. Our righteousness from the time forward shall not only

be inherent; for the righteousness of God is an everlasting righteousness,* 1.48 Dan. 9. 24. and how that robe of Christ's surety-righteousness shall in the state of glory, be laid by as an old useless garment, and the robe of inherent righteous∣ness in lieu of it put on for ever. The Scripture does not speak; What men without Scripture, speak, we care not.

3. Nor is our inherent righteousness only either the a∣dequate end of Christ's bloud, or of faith and labours, as if God intended as his only end to make us eternally Law-righteous; whereas he shall eternally delight in us, and lead us in glory as those that are freely redeemed in the bloud of the Lamb; for the Lamb shall be the everlasting righteousness of all crowned with glory, Rev. 4. 8, 9, 10. Rev. 5. 11, 12, 13. Rev. 7. 14, 15, 16.

3. Soveraignty challengeth submission to the will of God in doing and in suffering, because it is his obliging will; we fail not a little in the former▪ when we pray, because the Mast of the Ship is broken, and death is at the bedside; and we hear the Word, because it is the fashion, and abstain from fornication, and from other works of darkness, and put on a sort of holiness, not because it is the will of God, even our sanctification;* 1.49 as for eating, drinking, sleeping, waking, they are spiritually minded who doe not these things for nature and lust, but as wel-pleasing to the Lord, and find a convincing and perswading reason in the holy commanding will of the Soveraign Lord why they ought to be done upon a spiritual account; and the other is no less spiritual; for many are sick and die, many are poor, and persecuted for weldoing, because they cannot chuse, but so it must be, not because as Peter saith, 1 Pet. 3▪ 17. So is the well of God in a spiritual account to them; for when holy Soveraignty hath laid on the necessity of dying, of sickness and pain, and a gracious spirit shall close with that; this is spiritual patience.

4. Because the Lord hath a dominion over second causes, and as it were, a strong lock upon all Creatures to open and s••ut at his pleasure, and he puts a seal upon Sun and Stars, Job 9. 7, 8, 9. that they cease and shine, or shine not, or go down; we are to put our Amen and Seal to So∣veraignties

decrees. I rise early, and there is no bread; ah Lord: I lay in a soft bed, and there is no sleep in the night, but pain. Say, Amen, Lord: the Fig-tree blossoms not this year, yet I will rejoyce in the Lord, Hab. 3. 16, 17. Soveraignty hath so appointed, there is nothing but rolling of garments in bloud, and captivity and spoils; yet pray, thy will be done in the Earth, as it is done in the Heaven.

CHAP. VIII.

Divers Particulars in which Soveraignty appears.

• 1. SOveraignty and the glorious liberty of God appears in 1. His Decrees.
• 2. The Works of God, especially 1. Of Creation. 2. Of common Providence.
• 3. Works of more special Providence.
• 1. Works of Justice.
• 2. Works of Free-grace.

The Soveraignty of his Decrees, is 1. In these two so∣lemn and celebrious Decrees of Election and Reprobation. He loved Jacob and hated Esau before ever the children had done good or evil, Rom. 9. this is a humbling thought to clay graciously disposed which dare not contradict the Soveraign potter. The Lord might have appointed my chair before the Throne, and my eternal crown to Judas and to Pharaoh; and the same Lord might so have ordered as the furnace of the traitor Judas in Hell should have been my furnace in Hell.* 1.50 2. O what depth of love, did the King chuse me, or did he once name my name, and write me for life eternal?

This is a hardning thought in the fallen Angels and re∣probate men, that they strive against and hate the provi∣dence permitting their fall and sin; but doe neither strive against, nor hate their permitted fall and sin 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 why doth he yet, (notwithstanding of his irresistible Decree, find fault with our sin? why doth he not blame his own

Decree?) who hath resisted his will? a graceless soul will flee upon eternal Decrees and Events that belong to God, but is never humbled for sin and remission of duties;* 1.51 The gracious soul is much upon these thoughts, O the freedome of the eternal emanations of free grace, and the depth of the outgoings of Soveraign justice, and does mournfully complain of its own sinful actings, Psal. 51. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. we are to say Amen to his way. Soveraignty is not our Rule, clay is not to watch over the Lord's acts of holy Sove∣raignty, but in point of submitting to the opened and re∣vealed Decrees, but is to eye the rule, watch over the heart in point of duties.

2. All things to be, and never to be, are written in his book, Psal. 139. 16. the number of David's members; all the hairs of the head are numbred,* 1.52 Matth. 10. 30. all the piles of dust and sand, all the drops of dew, rain, hail, snow, all the drops of the sea, rivers, lakes, fountains of the Earth, Isa. 40. 12. Pro. 30. 4. all the ounces and dram weights of the hills and mountains are exactly weighed as in ballances, and numbred by holy Soveraignty, all the blasts of wind gathered in his fists, Prov. 30. 4. he knows how many inches and spans are in the Earth from East to West, and in the compass and circle of the body of the World or great All and the highest Heaven round a∣bout, Isa. 40. 12, 17. the number of Angels good and evil, of men, of beasts, birds, fishes, creeping things, he tells the number of the Stars (whether odd or even) and calleth them by their names, Psal. 147. 4. and Soveraignty could have made their number greater by seventy seven Milli∣ons; so he knows the number of trees, herbs, flowers, leaves of trees, piles or threds of grass, the number of acti∣ons, motions, intentions, purposes of Men and Angels, actual and only possible and impossible, but never to fall out; all the stirrings in Heaven and Earth, Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite, Psal. 147. 5.

2. He decreed twelve thousand of every Tribe to be sealed, a certain number for an uncertain; he wrote so many, not one more nor fewer; Why are many called and few chosen? the blessed number of Persons, by Country,

House, Head, Name to be bought by the ransome of Christ's bloud is agreed upon between the Father and the Son not one more paid for and ransomed, not one fewer, the number of the Citizens were agreed upon; they are not moveable Tenants, the Lord loves not to put out, or to put in, none can take your chair and Crown in Heaven; its a deep to consider how millions of millions of influences and stirrings the Soveraign Lord laid up beside himself from eternity to let out upon his hosts of Creatures, and e∣specially Men and Angels, and a treasure of influences of grace are with him; would we bring our witherednesse under these eternal dewings, we should have more of the anointing.

3. The Lord's Soveraignty decreed not things only,* 1.53 but the connexion of things, as between Bread and Wine used according to the Lord's Institution, and the broken Body and shed bloud of Christ: they suit not together of their own Nature and Essentially; therefore by the intervening will of God.

2. In things of remote nature, this is seen, 2 Kings 13. 19. If thou had smitten the ground five or six times, then hadst thou smitten Syria, till thou had consumed it: whereas now thou shalt smite Syria but thrice. The connexion of the Kings smiting of the ground and of smiting of the Syri∣ans, is not from the nature of the things themselves, but from the free appointment of God: if Christ talk with the woman of Samaria and ask of her a Drink of water, he shall convert her, and the Samaritans before he leave her. If Job be spoiled, he shall humbly submit himself to God, and bless him. There may be more or less conveniency between the things, but all the connection of things in this kind might in their contraries have been as true, if so holy Soveraignty had appointed.

3. He who decrees the existence of things in time and place, he decrees the co-existence of the same things. Now that Joseph should be the subject matter of killing or selling when the Ishmalites came by, and that Ahasuerus cannot sleep in the night, when that very passage of the Persian Chronicle must be read in the which is the story of Mor∣decai's

loyal revealing the treason was from him, and they were tied together by no nature of things, by no influences of Planets and Stars, but by the Soveraign will of God: now the co-existence of things is a real event of providence as is clear. Its from the Lord that Peter and Paul lived toge∣ther in the same age and time, and Abraham and David lived not together, and from the holy decree of God that Jezebels body be cast out, when there is none willing to bury her; and from the holy decree of God, that the Souldiers came with Spears to break the Legs of Christ, and that they find him dead and so break not one bone of him: yea the existence and living and acting of all things, and the co-existence, living and working together of them are from the same providence of God, or then from nature, or from the blind fortune, neither of which we can say; and who appoints the meeting of two Seas, or the meeting of two Rivers, or of two Men at the same place? or that the new Star should be in Cassiopeia rather then in another part of the Firmament? doth not David bless the Lord who sent Abigail to meet him with a counsel of peace? then must these confluences and co-existences of things be writ∣ten in the Lord's book, and so decreed, Psal. 139. 16. and from the Creator God, as the efficient, and for God and his glory, as the end, Rom. 11. 36. Rev. 4. 11. Prov. 16. 4.

5. The wisedom of God so appoints, as means for his end, that black and white should be in the same body, for beauty, the poor and the rich, the full and the hungry to try the charity of the rich and patience of the poor; that some should weep, some sing and rejoyce at the laying of the foundation of the second Temple, Ezra 3, 6. Some of these are acts of mercy,* 1.54 Jesus cometh by the way and two blind men sit by the way; Matthew, Zacheus are in such places and Christ comes by and saves both the one, and the other.

7. Some are acts of justice, as the falling of a piece of a milstone by a womans hand, and Abimelech's near approa∣ching to the Tower, that a woman might kill him, who might, twenty other ways have died, if the Lord did not rule all the going of Achab to the war.

2. The arrow at a venture shot at Achab and passing by hundreds.

3. The arrow directed to the one only naked part of his body.

4 The washing of the wounds in such a Pool in the field of Jezreel.

5. The Dogs licking of the bloud of Achab are all so linked together, by the Lord's holy and just Decree, as this is clear, if Achab go to the War against the Syrians, the Dogs shall lick his bloud, and he shall die in the battel.

8. The administration of the means of salvation to Ca∣pernaum, not to Tyrus and Sidon which would rather have repented then Capernaum, does prove this is from the Lord; if Peter hear, the Lord shall effectually perswade him to be∣lieve; if Cain, Pharaoh, Judas, hear, the Lord shall not effe∣ctually perswade them to believe. The Lord commands reprobates to repent and believe, if they would be saved; yet did he never decree the belief, repentance or salvation of any of them: does not Soveraignty here shine? who de∣crees the non-salvation of Judas, and the non-effectual drawing of Judas to Christ? which saith there be no property so called, and bands of conditions lying upon the Lord; if Judas repent he shall be saved, as if a father promise to his son an hundreth Acres of land upon condition that the son pay him one hundreth shillings; if the father only can and must furnish to the son the hundreth shillings, and in the mean time deny the purpose in his heart, to deny to furnish the hundreth shillings; it cannot be so strictly said that there is the tie and band of a proper condition lying upon the father, though it doth lie upon the son. And however the ways of the holy Lord be equal, yet are they far above our ways, and we are to be silenced at the bottomless depth of holy Soveraignty; he lays obligations to duties upon us, and is free from the debt of paying or bestowing the sum of gracious influences (without which we willingly cannot perform these duties) upon us: and he may justly crave what we cannot pay, when our impotency to pay is both our own, and also goes along with our elective, free chusing and hearty willingness, and rejoycing not to pay,

and to want the sum, which only the Lord can of free grace give us: O the depth of the riches both of the wisedome and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judgements, and his ways past finding out, Rom. 11. 33. To this head also I refer.

4. That Soveraignty which hath place in chusing and calling Nations, as Israel because he freely loves, Deut 7. 7. Israel, and their seed, not other Nations, Deut. 10. 7. he saith, preach to Macedonia, not to Bithynia, and though af∣terward the Gospel came to Bithynia, many deservedly perished, old and young, ere it came.

5.* 1.55 It is admirable Soveraignty, how many thousand possible plagues and evils he holds off, such as millions of pests, and diseases of Egypt and evil beasts, Deut. 7. 15. Lev. 26. 6. why the Bones of Christ are not broken; why a Dog stirs not a tongue against Israel; why one only World, not athousand worlds were created: he appoints how long, what number of minuts, hours, or years, his own shall be in the Furnace; the Lord stands beside as Master of the work, & eyes the melting, what quantity of Hony, or of Gall shal be in the Cup, how many hours ye shall weep, how many days or hours the Candle of the Almighty shall shine on your Tabernacle. Then be humble, when he shines, and submissive at the time and measure of sufferings; the evils that are holden off us before in their causes they be prepared, when we know not, should teach us to adore Soveraignty. A friend that takes our defence when we are absent, and an Advocate who answers for the sick and far distant client, and not knowing that his cause is called and debated; yea for an heir sucking the Breasts, does call for much love and esteem. Christ's care shines for Peter and the winnowed believers, when he prays and intercedes that their faith fail not, when they know not any such thing; for a hid love moves much. The Lord fences us, we not knowing any such thing, from drow∣ning and our children in floods, deep wells, from burning quick, from a Hell of torment in every tooth, finger, bone, sinew, artery, lith, member of the body, of our selves, of father, mother, son, daughter; and from spoyling, captivi∣ty, imprisonment, gravels, guts, botches, convulsions palsies,

possessions by Divels, madness, terror, and agony of mind, as many children drowned, be not quick, killed in the womb, and perished in the first world, and hundreds and millions of the like possible destructions, are decreed to pass by me and you, and do fall upon others by holy Sove∣raignties appointment.

6. The due timing of the worlds Creation,* 1.56 and of all things of time is from admirable Soveraignty, why the world had not being, ten thousand millions of imaginary ages sooner, or so many ages later; and from whence came this, In the beginning God created the Heaven and the Earth, is a depth of Soveraignty; its wonderful, Angels and souls of Men are created eternal, time cannot wast them: the body of man, though a creature drawn out of the same no∣thing, is not so. There is a Plant that grows a year only, there is a Flower that smiles a moneth, another three moneths, some Roses are green in March, some in May, some in June only, and there is a Tree that grows an hun∣dred years; The like disparity there is of the life of Beasts and Birds; He hath appointed a time for every purpose under Heaven, a time to be born, a time to die; and accor∣dingly are there several outgoings and influences of the Lord.

As 1. He will not have all the four Monarchies flourish at once in there rose and bloom, but one to be greater, another lesser, as all Rivers are not alike, nor can all Con∣querors be victors at one time.

2. The Lord lands some children after three moneths, sucking, laughing, weeping; others live some days in the Womb, and the Womb is their grave; yet often eternity is a recompence for want of time, and that is Gold for Iron and Copper; others sail fourscore and a hundred years, and never find a gracious harbour: We fret, because the wicked live long and prosper; because we forget that So∣veraignty hath determined how many hours wicked men shall laugh, how many talents or stone weights of the Earth they shall have; and because the Bride weeps, when shall the night be gone? and the day dawn? and the King come? there is a sort of account rendred of this by John,

who had been prophecying of all the Vials of wrath to be poured on the Earth, especially under the Anti-Christs reign, Behold he comes quickly, Rev. 1. 7. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.

3. We complain of circumstances which are well timed by infinite wisedone: should sickness and botches come upon Job, when poverty had gone before? Doth the Lord give an account of the substance, or of the circumstances of his actions? Job 33. 11. this ounce of Gall must be in, or nothing, the Child must be drowned in a Fountain and River, when there are none to help. Job was absent when God laid the corner stone of the Earth.

4. The Lord times his actions of deliverance well, when our strength is gone, Deut. 32. 36. Gal. 4. 4. Exod. 12. 42. Jer. 29. 10. but we do badly time our sins. They tempted him, and provoked him; but, when? at the red Sea, and in the Wilderness, Psal. 78. 17. Exod. 14. Psal. 106. 7. It was untimous sinning in such straits, when their very moneth was come, so as they could not fly from his hand.

CHAP. IX.

Of the Soveraignty of God in the works of Creation and Providence, in other considerations.

1. IN regard of the Lord's manner of working. 2. And of his end of working. 3. And of his omnipotent arm. 4. Of his holiness, he could not in greater wisedom have created things (for nothing can be added to infinite wisedom and goodness) so infinitenesse was at the creating of a worm,* 1.57 as at the creating of the Angel Gabriel: but in regard of things created, he could have made a more per∣fect world, then this and the Angel-nature, mans nature, the Sun, Birds, Beasts of more excellency, as touching per∣fection both of nature and accidents, then these that now are; But here Soveraignty hath place.

2. The foot should not complain, why made he not me the head? and the least of. Stars, why made he me not the Sun? nor the Earth say out of the lump of poor Nothing out of the which I came, he might have made me the Globe of the Heaven of Heavens, or an Angel, but he would not.

3. Why made not God the first Adam as perfect as the second Adam? a house that can stand alone, is better then an old house that needs aprop. O quarrel not, the Vine tree is a more noble plant then the thorn, and the one must be propped else it grows not. 2. The man Christ needs influences of graces as well, as another man. 3. The An∣gels and glorified Spirits need the like; Man a house of clay needs a pillar of excellent matter of the gold of free-grace to hold him up in his actings.

4. Why made he me not as holy as the man Christ? why was this man born blind? O cease, he who gives not an account of any of his matters, when he made you a man might have made you a snake or a stone; he is debter, of two eyes, or of half an eye, of the lowest gift or grace ima∣ginable to no man; close with all he does. That is an evil wit that disputes with God; Submission, silent submission to the hardest dispensation makes the child of God victorious; we are above all things in conquering, when we are below all things, in submitting for the Lord.

2. Job or any answer, Job 38. 8. Who shut up the Sea with doors, as if it had issued out of the womb? Ver. 9. When I made the cloud the garments thereof, and thick darkness a swadling band for it. Job 26. 7. He stretcheth out the North over the empty place, and hangeth the Earth upon nothing; give a reason of East and West.

3. The Lord puts forth Soveraignty on Jeroboam's arm to dry it up, on Mephibosheth's feet, upon the mans eye-holes, Joh. 9. that they should be empty of eyes, on Judas his bowels, on Job's body smitten with boyls, his outgoings of Soveraignty appear on the Fig-tree which he curseth, on the Gourd of Jonah, for he blasts it, on the Fig-tree and Vine-tree,* 1.58 for he marrs them, Joel 1. 4. As it pleaseth him he setteth one piece of clay on the Throne, to glister, another bit of clay behind the mill, where he sweats and

is hungry; Zeph. 3. 12. I will leave in the midst thereof an afflicted and a poor people, or sick; yea dryed up, as Fish-ponds and Brooks use to be when the rest are swept away. Joseph is rich and all the Corn of Egypt is his, and his bre∣thren want bread, and are low like Carriers, driving horses with loads on them.

5. Job gets no leave to swallow his spittle, Job 7. 19. Precious Israel is plowed, Psal. 129. 1. and her back made a field of bloud; like two legs and a piece of an ear of a devoured sheep, plucked out of the mouth of a Lion, Amos 3. 12. the man Christ a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, a worm and not a man; and all the Earth sit∣teth still and is at rest, Zech. 1. 11. the wicked shine, are fat, their breasts are full of milk; and you stumble at this, Shall any teach the Almighty knowledge, Job 21. 22, 23, 24. Amos 6. 1, 2, 3. Psal. 73. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, &c.

6. Except Soveraignty, what can silence the mind of one who stumbles and doubts, and weeps, because so many In∣fants are burnt in Sodom with fire, so many in the old World are drowned with waters in the mothers womb and the cradle, the young sucking children of the Amalekites, & of Babylon, who never drew a sword against the people of God, could never bow their knee to the Idol God Pel, nor stretch out their hands to him, perish by the sword, and their heads dasht against stones? O they were guilty of sin original, yea and so were Moses, David, Samuel, Noah, Job, and Daniel when they were in the womb and weeping on the breasts.

7. Soveraignty determines what is just; righteous Abel dies in bloud, godly Josiah in war, many bloody men smile out their soul in peace; I took Sodom away (saith the Lord, Ezech. 16. 50.) as I saw good; a wall falls upon twenty seven thousand and kills them, 1 Kings 20. the Lord shoots an arrow of the Pestilence at the camp of the Assyrians, and without a misse takes away, in one night, an hundred and fourscore and five thousand chosen men, Isa. 37. 36. 2 Chro. 13, 18. there fell of Israel at once five hundered thousand; how many graves must be there? Pharaoh and his Princes are drowned in the Sea, Herod killed with worms; then

simple judgements as divided from sin, prove nothing; but how are we to stoop and tremble at holy Sove∣raignty?

8. As touching gifts and graces much is to be seen of So∣veraignty. Elihu saith, Job 32. 9. Great men are not al∣ways wise, neither do the aged understand judgement. Beau∣tie is a debt that God ows not to pay to Absalom; nor wisedom to Achitophel more then to a stark fool, or to any man who is born as a wild Ass colt. This Soveraignty gives faith to Abraham, to Moses meekness, to David sin∣cerity, to Josiah zeal, to Job patience, to the man Christ the fulness of the Spirit above measure; there is more grace of godly painfulness given to Paul then to the dayly eye-wit∣nesses of Christ; I laboured more abundantly then they all, 1 Cor. 15. you might have had wisedom and used it, as Achitophel; and yet saith one, God hath given me no more grace, therefore let God blame God that I doe as I doe; if he had given me more grace, I would have done better: and if I had a heart according to the heart of God, I would have been as holy, sincere, and zealous as David; but he denyed it to me, out of his absolute Soveraignty, which is far above my will and my strength, influences of grace both for the obtaining of the habits and the acts of Sove∣raign grace.

Ans. These practical Propositions are to be considered,* 1.59 1. Prop. 1. It is proud nature which saith, God is to be blamed; for whether the Lord give, or withhold more grace; holiness and spotlesness doth essentially convey his Soveraignty. Matth. 20. 15. Is it not lawful for me to doe, what I will, with mine own, saith he who is Almighty; For he who is in an unsearchable way, above all law that binds the Creature, can be subject to no blame. Suppose the evil servant say, Matth. 25. 24. Lord, I knew thee, that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and ga∣thering where thou hast not strowed; That is, thou seekest much obedience, and a large harvest, and sowest upon my heart little grace, and gave me but one talent; if thou hadst given me five talents, or two talents, I should have done as well as the servant who received five or two: but

thou didst not any such thing, therefore blame thy self: and so it is the very complaint of the very malignant servant; as also the rich Gluttons divinity reflects upon the gracious dispensation of God, Luke 16. 30. Nay father Abraham, but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent; Which is, as much, as God is to be blamed, that his five brethren repent not; for he bestows not sufficient helps of salvation on them.

Q. 1. What is the book of Moses and the Prophets but a paper roll of letters and syllables; would he send a Prea∣cher from Hell, and a Messenger from Heaven to give them sufficient warning and instruction of a Heaven and a Hell, it were good, but that he does not, he then is to be blamed; not my five brethren. 2. He who shews mercy on whom he will, and hardneth whom he will, and that by a strong mighty will which no man can resist, he can find fault with no man, though he sin and harden his own heart; For his absolute Soveraign will is far above me and my strength; but so doth the Lord, saith the carnal man, Rom. 4. 18. 19. and the holy Ghost saith, such an Objection is unworthy to be moved or answered; nor becomes it base clay and the clay pot so to argue with the great potter and former of all things.

2. Influences for getting of the habits or performing the acts of saving grace, are the Lord's own; therefore Sove∣raignty is his Law, he may bestow them, or withhold them, as he pleaseth; especially if the Creature be willing to want these influences, and if the Sun rejoyce with all his heart at the influences and concurring providences of God to the contrary sinful actings, as he doth; Exod. 5. 2, 8, 16, 17, 18. Psal. 14. 4. Psal. 10. 6, 7, 8. 4. 10, 11. Psal. 36. 3, 4. Psal. 84. 5, 6, 7, 8. Prov. 1. 11, 12. Prov. 2. 14. Prov. 4. 16. 17. Prov. 10. 23. Prov. 14. 9. Prov. 7. 18. Prov. 9. 17. Psal. 49. 11. Luke 11. 39. Psal. 5. 9. Psal. 64. 6.

3. Though we could not conceal the Lord's concluding of all under unbelief, and their guiltiness, who are so con∣cluded, and the mystery of the Lord's rejecting the Jews and calling the Gentiles, with the free obedience of the one and free disobedience of the other, and the Lord's having

mercy on whom he will, and hardning whom he will, with their willing running in ways of disobedience and rebel∣lion, and say as Paul, Rom. 11. 33. O the depth, &c. yet ad∣versaries have no cause of objecting this to us more then to the Scriptures of God.

4. Prop. Gracelesness is satisfied with gracelesness, and is no more desirous and thirsty for grace nor darkness after the Sun light,* 1.60 or coldness desireth the fires heat; yea as Satan cannot destroy Satan, the body of sin cannot love to be subdued by grace; and the man hating both Christ and his Father, John 15. 24. and pleasing himself in that way, who yet complains that God doth withdraw his grace, and so cannot command us, or exhort us to repentance, is like to him who lies still in the furnace, and loves to be burnt, and complains that he is scorched and tormented, and the Lord will not lift him out of the furnace.

5. What a proud Pelagian nature is this, for any to say had he the habit of grace which was in David, he could act as David, and could secure himself from adultery and murther; but how did David, who had David's heart, fall in these horrid crimes? can any interpose himself surety, and put grace which he hath not, or nature which he can∣not command, to undertake to obey God in all things; were it not safer to be pained with the bondage of sin, and be sick for Christ and his grace, and never to interpose self to be surety for self, but to be strong in free grace only, Ephes. 6. 10.

CHAP. X.

1. Soveraignty in actings of grace, 2. We are not to seek influences, but such as are suitable to the Word. 3. Of divers influences. 4. How we complain of want of influences, and how we may suit them. 5. We are to act under indispositions. 6. How we are to pray continualy. 7. Not to act duties while we feel breathings of the Spirit is an unsafe Rule. 8. Pre∣parations before Duties. 9. To wait on breathings before we act Duties, how lawful, how not.

LEt it be futher considered in these Particulars, how unjust we are, and how free the Lord is.

1. Who ever complains of the want of grace and yet remains in the state of nature, doth close with his want of grace.

For 1. The renewed mans complaining of the want of grace, is neither in sense or godly feeling, nor in faith and humble believing. Nature can no more complain of the want of grace with any spiritual and godly sense, then a sucking child can weep, because he is not an understanding man of thirty years old;* 1.61 for darkness cannot seek after the Sun light, for so it should desire its own destruction; nor can cold desire heat, nor Satan be divided against Satan, and therefore these are but feigned and counterfeit bemonings; For the actings of sinful nature with delight say, that the man hates grace, which he professeth, he so much desires; for only grace can thirst after, and long for grace. Joh. 15. 24. If I had not done among them the works which no other man did, they had not had sin: but now they have both seen and hated both me and my Father. Such a hatred of the fulness of grace, Jesus Christ, cannot consist with a lively desire of grace.

Prop. 2. It is a right Rule, not to separate Soveraignty from the Word, or the Omnipotency of grace from the

Promise, otherwise we make a sort of Idol of Omnipotency; seek we them and pray for influences of grace not perem∣ptorily hic & nunc to every single acting,* 1.62 Psal. 119. 2. My soul cleaveth to the dust: quicken thou me according to thy word. Ver. 28. My soul melteth for heaviness: strengthen thou me according to thy word. Ver. 107. I am afficted very much, quicken thou me according to thy word, v. 154.

For 1. A gracious heart seeks no other out-lettings of grace to this or that duty, but according to the promise; Now the promise is not contrary to the Soveraign dispensa∣tion; and there is no such Soveraignty, but that there are many withdrawings of God, whence follows deadness and the souls melting for heaviness; Nor is there either pro∣mise or dispensation, that the belever shall, in every mo∣ment of time, be lively and vigorous, and have the heart lifted up in the ways of God; except we would say, Earth is Heaven, and we are not for a time in heaviness, if need be.

2. There is a bastard literal heat and vigor of going about duties that comes not from the Word; no bastard∣heat comes from the Word, but by accident; for the Spirit that speaks in the Word, speaks his own spiritual and lively comforts and actings; not that which may flow from a let∣ter, which is common to Seneca and other humane Writers, and the Prophets, though even the style, liveliness, majesty and divinity that may be seen in the letter of the Scripture are eminently above the like in other Writers; The Spirit immediately inspiring, and the Spirit quickning in the Word, are both the same Spirit that Christ promised to send, John 16. of which Christ, ver. 14. He shall glorifie me, he shall receive of mine (a word most mysterious) and shall shew it unto you; and believers are afraid that their hearts receive some other quickning between the sound of the Word, and the actings of the Lord upon their hearts, which causeth them to pray for no quickning, but according to the Word.

The like may 3. be said of the salvation of the Lord, Psal. 91. 16. I will shew him my salvation. Isa. 12. 2. For the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song, he also is become my salvation. Psal. 119. 170. Let my supplication come before

thee, deliver me according to thy word; for we are apt to seek strange and whorish influences; the like whereof the Lord bestows not upon his people, Psal. 119. 132. Look thou upon me and be merciful unto me, as thou uses to doe to those that love thy name. Psal. 106. 4. Remember me, O Lord, with the favour that thou bearest to thy people: O visit me with thy sal∣vation: V.* 1.63 5. That I may see the good of thy chosen, that I may rejoyce in the gladness of thy Nation: that I may glory with thine inheritance. Its cold comfort we reap without the word; its true, his omnipotency was eternal before there was a Word or Promise made to us, but now the Lord will have the Word or Promise to be the officina the work-house of his Spirit and of the quickning influences thereof.

5. As also there is a salvation and escape out of prison by keys of our own making, and by putting out the hand to iniquity, Psal. 125. and the heart is much for the bulk of a deliverance from Hell: and for the body and lump of a mercy,* 1.64 were it Heaven, and Baalam's paradise, or the end of the righteous, whether it be purchased by the ransome of Christ's bloud, or no, and faith laying hold thereon, or no.

6. And we love to have the remission and the righteous∣ness of Christ in his bloud, the separated from holiness and sanctification:* 1.65 but the Scripture conjoyneth them: 1 Cor. 1. 30. Gal. 1. 4. 1 Cor. 6. 11. Heb. 10. 10. Heb. 13. 12, 13. 1 Pet. 2. 24. yea is a holy justification (to speak so) is the cleanly, kindly, sure absolution of the sinner; for Christ loves no•• and washes not in his bloud, but such as he makes Kings and Priests unto God, Rev. 1. 5. in so saying, I ho∣nour good works more then Mr. Baxter doth, who makes them as good as Christ's bloud, even the price of pardon, Ephes. 1. 7. Col. 1. 14.

Yea and 7. We could be satisfied with dumb and scru∣pulous influences and inspirations contrary unto, and se∣parated from the Word, as Evah, Gen. 3. 4, 5, 6. 1 Kings 13. 18. Matth. 4. 3, 6, 8, 9.

8. What could the powerful influences of God Creator separated from Christ the treasure-house of love and mercy doe to us? and if Omnipotency were separated from the

promises of the Gospel, could it save us, in the Lord's way? through the bloud of Christ; for power in God cannot (to speak so) save men, but by the Name of Jesus Christ, the only saving Name under Heaven, Acts 4. 12. nor can Om∣nipotency work a redemption now in this Gospel-dispen∣sation, but that which is by bloud, Ephes. 1. 7. Col. 1. 13. And that which is to declare the righteousness of God for the remission of sins. Power acts by way of compleat satisfacti∣on, as the exceeding greatness of God's power to us-ward who believe, is of the same size with the mighty power which raised Christ from the dead, and set him on the right-hand of God in heavenly places, Ephes. 1. 14, 20. The power of translating a sinner from Satans Kingdome to the Kingdom of the Son of his love works as acted (as it were) and set on work to act righteously to translate no man, but the person for whom a ransome of bloud is given to justice, as the Princes right power is only for the good of free and legal subjects, Col. 1. 11, 12, 13. and that all power in Heaven and Earth to save, Matth. 28. 18. John 17. 2. Matth. 11. 27. and that Kingly and Royal power to give repetance to Israel and forgiveness of sins, Acts 5. 31. to forgive sins, Matth. 9. 6. to raise and quicken the dead, John 5. 26, 28, 29. is a power (in a way) purchased by the bloud of at∣tonement, Rom. 14. 9. For to this end Christ both dyed and rose, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living. And by the way, its a righteous power over all flesh and in Heaven and Earth, though he died not for all flesh, and for all the Angels in Heaven, and all the men on Earth; it were strange to say Christ died for the reprobate, and not for their sins and final unbelief and rejecting of Christ, to obtain a power to pardon some of their sins, and not all, and to give them repentance from some dead works, and not from all dead works; and to purge them from some, but not from all their sins.

3. Its most unjust to lay the blame of our sinful omissi∣ons, upon holy Soveraignty, because he withdraws influ∣ences: For 1. That is to reproach God, this is like the malecontentedness of Satan and of Hell: for the damned complain that ever they were born, and that they cannot

be annihilated, and that hils and mountains cover them not quick in soul and body; yea they storm and rage because God gives them a being capable of eternal woe. 2. The wakened consciences of men out of Christ often fall upon this recrimination; the gnawing of conscience of Judas, is, I have sinned; and of the young man, Prov. 5. 12. How have I hated instruction? and my heart dispised reproof? Yet it is a more commendable complaining and more hopeful to complain of sinful neglect of means, then of di∣vine permissive providence of sin upon the Lord's with∣drawing of gracious influences, but conscience in its kindly acting is the tormenting worm that eats self. No Divel alledges this; its true, Satan bites at providence; God hedges about a hypocrite, Job. and God commends him (says he) Christ torments us before the time: Satan trembles and frets at the existence of God, and that God is above him, Joh 1. 9, 10. Matth. 8. 29. Jam. 2. 19. and so all his words to Christ speak a barking at providence, Matth. 4. its wrong that the Son of God should want bread; it is an useless providence that the man Christ go down stairs; for God (saith he) should save him though he throw himself down headlong. Satan is a better Master, who gives all the Kingdomes of the World to his Worship∣pers, then God, who denies Bread to his own wel-beloved Son; thus doth Satan, but in another kind, fret. So Gen. 3. its a bad providence that Adam and Evah are not as knowing as God, and Luke 5. 34. What have we to doe with Christ? But may not conscience accuse providence in the Lord's withdrawing of grace, especially being wakened?

Ans. The Conscience of Divels and the Damned is a∣wakned either penally or sinfully; these may be distingui∣shed here; the Conscience as penally wakned by the Judge, primarily gnaws and torments it self for sin as punished; I have sinned saith Judas, and he casts down the seven pieces, feeling the worm; but as the Conscience is sinfully wakned by it self in blaspheming the God of Heaven, Rev. 16. 9, 11. because of pain, it also frets against providence, but is is not pain'd for the want of saving grace and holy influ∣ences

which might have prevented sin; yea their blasphem∣ings of God eternally, is a seal and a closeing with the state of unrenewed nature which is never moved for sin, but wrestles against the providence which sometime did permit sin,* 1.66 which now hath such tormenting consequences though the conscience in the mean time being taken with the Iustre and apparent good in sin, did also close with the opportu∣nity of sin, and with providence opening the way to tenta∣tions, Prov. 7. 15. and seek such a providence, Gen. 39. 11, 12. and embrace it, Mark 14. 10, 11. yet is there saving good in a regulated spiritual complaining of the want of saving influences;

So as 1. They be not looked on as misdeeds of provi∣dence, and we say not the Lord might have lent me the in∣fluence to such a self-denying death as Abraham's journey in aiming to sacrifice his only son for God, but he would not.

2. Its good if there be a holy submissive complaining of the want of gracious influences, as terminated upon duties, Isa. 63. 17. O Lord, why hast thou made us to erre from thy ways? and hardened our hearts from thy fear? and not looked on, as withdrawings of meer providence. Though there be a holy claimbring to God, ver. 19. we are thine; yet we are so thine, as thy grace is Soveraign; Thou never bearest rule over them, they were not called by thy name, and yet no praise or thanks to Israel that they were called by his Name rather then the Heathen.

3. We may pray for, and so earnestly suit and desire in∣fluences, as Draw me; quicken me, encline my heart, unto thy testimonies; Therefore we may pray against withdrawings of influences, as sad privations of dreadful consequents; and so much is held forth in that Petition lead us not unto temptation.

4. Yet so, as there is no deserving in us of having eyes to see, and spiritual influences to see, to hear, to perceive with a new heart, Deut. 29. 2, 3. as its not the merit of one part of the Earth, the South, that it lie nearer the Sun then another Northern part; nor the good deserving of one Horse that he wear a golden Saddle and a silken Bridle,

rather than another: this would be minded; What am I Lord? as it was Christ's mind to cry down works in point of salvation, yet not to cry down all actings by way of duty in the New-covenant way. Therefore 5. since grace may be desired (and all gracious influences are grace;) so is there a conformity betwixt the believers will suiting influences, and the revealed and approving will of God (I say not his high decree and ordaining will;) for sure New-Testament or New-Covenant prayers, new oyl, and new supply of grace, do import a fresh supply and wate∣ring of influences, to be furnished to believers; & especially since we may pray, Hallowed be thy Name in me, thy King∣dome come to me; thy will be done (by me) in the Earth, is it is in Heaven.

5. We may and ought to suit of God what the Lord promiseth in the Covenant of grace; but the Lord promi∣seth to bestow predeterminating grace in this Covenant,* 1.67 as after shall be cleared. Now the faultiness of this, I will not pray, untill the Spirit act upon me, and move me to pray, is seen in that it importeth that the moral ground of pray∣ing is not, the command of God, pray continually, and that command (call upon me in the day of trouble) which is most false; for another warrant for all moral obedience, then precept, promise or practise, can no man give; yea it sup∣poseth that the warrant of prayer is the influence of grace; Now the influence of grace is the efficient helping cause, not the rule, not the objective cause of either our praying or any acts of our obedience. Yea it is the way of Enthysiasts to make divine impulsions, and not the word of precept the Rule of our obedience.

2.* 1.68 This (I will not pray untill the Spirit first act upon me) must have either this sense, I will not pray untill the Lord first give a praying disposition, or, untill the Lord first actually breath upon me. This latter saith indeed, I will not pray until I pray; for the Lord's actual influence in∣cludes praying. The former cannot be said; For there is no warrant to disobey the command (pray continually) un∣till I get a new disposition from Heaven; for then might all praying of the renewed be shifted, and the three Disci∣ples

in the garden might have said to Christ, our Master bids us pray, but we are heavy with sleep and indisposed, and cannot pray, and so must we be excused.

2. Upon the same account, Magus, Acts 8. 21. and o∣ther unrenewed men should shift the command of praying; for while we be translated, out of nature to the King∣dome of grace, we want the habit of grace and spirit of adoption by which only we can pray acceptably.

3. How unsavoury shall this be? a man falls over a Bridge and is a drowning, another is going to the place of Execution to die, another is sick to death, all of them may by this shift say, we must not pray lest we take the Name of God in vain, untill the Spirit breath upon us heavenly im∣pressions, of speaking in the Spirit to God.

4. This shift cannot stand to suspend praying, until the Spirit breath from on high; for we are to pray for the spirit's breathing, and for teaching, quickning, enlarging of heart that we may pray and praise, Psal. 51. 15. Psal. 119. 36, 37, 40, 48. Wind fetches wind here, and fire begets fire, as cold flint creates hot fire: so the Atheists, let them pray that can pray; I'me no Minister; But it hath this, I am ready to pray, but the blame of my not praying, is to be laid on the Spirit, for the wind blows not; but this is but witty laziness, as when the Sea-man will sleep and attempt no Sea-voyage, and lay the blame, which is his fall, upon the wind which blows not after his mind; it appears he is but a sleeper; not a Husband-man who for bears plow∣ing and sowing upon the account only that he finds not a season so desirable as he craves, and that he is indisposed to plow spiritually as a Christian; He who observes the wind shall not sow: and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap, Eccl. 11. 4. So are we to refer to his holy Soveraignty the flowings of the Spirit, and to set about holy duties, as if these flowings were in our power;* 1.69 We are to know that the command and precept of spiritual duties is laid on us, as we are reasonable creatures as hearers of the Gospel, not under the reduplication as spiritually or not spiritually disposed; as the Creditor and the Law charge men to pay their just debts, not as they are poor, or rich, but as they are deb∣ters:

yea precepts from the Lord bind the creature as the creature, and moral precepts bind Men and Angels as ca∣pable to obey, though not fit and disposed. Therefore must we here distinguish betwixt nature capable or having at any time power to obey; and the real, or (as it were) the physical aptitude and idoneous disposition to obey. The latter takes not away the obligation to pray or be∣lieve. David's being overclouded with a temptation is not an excuse of adultery and murther; nor is he thereby freed from praying; Lord, lead me not into temptation.

As 1. Under indispositions moral we rejoyce, that sinful indispositions do befriend us, and smile upon us to promote sin; as some love them well who counsel them, and joyn with them in drunkenness, and are their brethren in ini∣quity: so do we foment indispositions, and welcome and fatten them, and do not violence to our corruption, and deadness, and heardness; and some expone false light, to be God's secret and virtual approving Will they should commit the sin; as Evah saw the fruit that it was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise. Gen. 3. 6. Here Evah substitutes the tentation in place of the precept, and false light fosters and cherisheth a sinful lust and a wicked disposition to sin. It is a sort of tempting of the tempting disposition, whereas is were good to complain under a sinful disposition as un∣der the bondage of a part of the body of sin, as Paul doth, Rom. 7. for a sinful disposition is but a branch and bud of the body of sin which we are to wrestle against, as a most dangerous opposite to spiritual obedience. Indeed some∣time a spiritual disposition to pray or praise, or hope, goes along with the command. Now the obligation of the com∣mand to praise is ever one, and its good when the man can say, My heart is fixed, I will praise, Psal. 5••. and the com∣mand to wait on the Lord lies ever on; it is a rich mercy when the disposition goes along with the command; as Psal. 25. 15. Mine eyes are ever (in the habit and holy dis∣position) toward the Lord; and Psal. 130. 6. My soul wait∣eth for the Lord, more then they that watch for the morn∣ing. Farther not to pray till the Spirit move us, and

simply to abstain from praying or any other spiritual duty upon simple ignorance that we are not obliged to pray except the spirit move us, is weakness in some godly, who may be overtaken with that error, but in knowing and ju∣dicious men who are Libertines,* 1.70 it is wickedness, and some∣what more then weakness; for it is to abstain from spiri∣tual duties though not considering or without religious weighing the Commandment, pray continually: and is a making of the Spirit's acting our Bible, and to confound the Scripture and the Spirit, as Libertines did; so Calvin saith of them, and so do others.

2. The sense of this, pray continually, cannot be pray assiduously at all occasions, except the Spirit withdraw his in∣fluences; for here three things are considerable.

If 1. The providential call of God to pray, suppose that sick∣ness, incursions of Divels, or extreme suffering be on.

If 2. A more special supernatural providence of a heavenly fervor and stirring of the Spirit be on.

If 3. Only the obligation of a command be on to pray upon all occasions, Christian prudence directing to obey affirma∣tive Precepts.

Now as to the First.

Ass. 1. Suppose there be some seeming contradiction be∣twixt extreme pain and absence or withdrawings; yet a seeming contradiction only and not real it is,* 1.71 and the man is called to an habitual praying disposition, because what commands obligeth us to be renewed in the spirit of our mind, Ephes. 4. 23. lays a tie on us to doe it without delay, Isa. 55. 6. Psal. 55. 7, 8. Joel 2. 12. and consequenter ever to be in a savoury disposition and to savour of the things of the Spirit, whether the spirit actually heat the soul with such savoriness; for otherwise our Saviour rebukes the disciples on no just ground when they were sleepy, for want of an actual heavenly disposition to pray; Could ye not watch with me one hour. The physical indisposition to pray does not take away the moral obligation to pray then. 2. Though pain and extreme soul-heaviness that the man can∣not speak, Psal. 77. 4. and Hezekiah can but chatter as a crane or a swallow, Isa. 38. 14. and the Church can scarce

breath out a word of prayer, Lam. 3. 36. yet doth not the Lord in sending on a physical or judicial indisposition, contradict his own moral tie, which he hath laid on, by his command to pray at all times.

Ass. 2.* 1.72 If a more spiritual heat of Spirit, enclining to pray, or prophecy, or preach, or praise be on David, Psal. 39. 1, 2, 3. on Ezekiel, chap. 3. 14. on Paul, Acts 17. 16, 17, 22, &c. on the same Royal Prophet, Psal. 57. 7, 8, 9, 10. Psal. 45. 1, 2. then two fires being stirred should flame more vehemently, when to this fire there is a command added; now though Oars be laid aside as uselesse, when the wind is fair, and favourable on the Sayls, and it be not possible that a man can both ride on a spirited nimble horse, and also walk the same time on foot; yet here by no means, must the word or conscience of the command of God be laid aside; For as the physical facility comes from the spirit's holy impulsion, and spiritual warmness that is on; so the savoury and gracious morality flows from the consi∣dered and believed precept, and the sanctified heart would close sweetly both with the one and the other; for special∣ly the moral or obediential part is from the command, and the most genuine and kindly obedience comes from the Word. It is the real and physical part that comes from the Spirit, and that is onely so far good and morally lawful, as the Spirit and Word goe along to∣gether.

Ass. 3. It must be holden that duty as duty is a moral motive we are to be led withal, and we to look with fear and trembling to the command, what ever withdrawing of the Spirit or of his influences there be;* 1.73 its true, what pro∣mises of a richer dispensation of grace are made in the Messiah, Zech. 12. 10. Ezech. 11. 19, 20. Isa. 55. 11, 12. Isa. 44. 1, 2, 3, 4, &c. are to be considered by us; but yet so, no Scripture saith, Stand still and act no duties until the Spirit of grace first strongly breath upon the heart; that is, to say no obeying of God is to be gone about, until feeling of the breathings of the Spirit go before faith, and praying, and all duties: and what is this but a tying of the spirit to our spiritual senses? men then cannot be accused nor

condemned for not calling upon God, and not believing, because natural men truly can say, we could not walk be∣fore on•• Guide, nor sayl without our Steers-man the Spi∣rit. Now the Spirit's drawings we never felt, and this were to render the Word of God useless; its enough to us, the command cries to the conscience, the voice of the Lord sounds in the Word, and none can alledge any con∣trary actings of the Spirit; As also how shall the feelings of the Spirit be known but by the Word? and the Spirit not simply, but the spirit with the word is the only Guide, since we are bidden, try the spirits whether they are of God, or not, 1 John 4. 1. and as hard it were to put con∣verted ones to such a method; it were to render Duties suspicious and dangerous, and to condemn Scripture-light, as guilty of darkness.

2. We are now after Scripture is closed, and the com∣pleat Canon given to us, to follow no duty but what is warranted by the Word, and that the Spirit alone works not by the Word, it must then be wild-corn, and no part of the Lord's husbandry, and so not from the Lord: that we are not to pray, while first we feel the actings of the Spirit, for that position is both beside, and contrary to the Word. Something might be said for this, we are not to eat while we feel hunger, nor to sleep while we feel drouziness, though if eating and sleeping be looked on as duties, it can∣not bear the weight of Scriptural truth; yet to look to fee∣lings, as a Rule before we obey a Command of God, and to make the feelings of breathings our Rule hath no colour of truth.

Ass. 4. It may be looked on as another extremity to look to no actings,* 1.74 nor dispositions of the heart before we pray; for though the disposition of the heart be no rule morally obliging us, yet to fall upon duties looking only to the Rule, knowing the duty is a duty and sutable to the Rule, and no more but to flie to acting in our own strength is not good.

For 1. It is required, that beside it be an uncontrover∣ted duty, other Spiritual and Evangelick circumstances would be considered, as whether Jehu intend the honour of

God in killing the Priests of Baal; whether the intended honour of God breath upon Pharisees, in praying, and in almes-giving, or if only a thirst to be seen of men, do blow the trumpet and encourage men to the work.

2. The frame of the heart in doing would be looked to, as we suppose Elisha did right in that he would not pro∣phecy, while as a passion of Anger was upon him, and therefore called for a Ministrel to sing a Psalm, and then the Spirit of the Lord acted upon him; and whether, while wrath is on, pure hands can be lifted up to God, see 1 Tim. 2. 8. possible out of eager opposition to Enthysiasts and Libertines we run on another extreme, that we rush on duties upon no other account, but only the Scripture is clear, Do this in remembrance of me; and that warranted us to eat at the Lord's Supper prepared or not prepared, but to rush on the dutie while some preparation or self-exami∣nation go before is clear against another command of God, Let a man try and examine himself and so let him eat; some duties are of that nature, that ex natura rei of themselves they require fixed preparations, as the Priests sanctifying of themselves, and these who offered before they came to the Altar, Psal. 26. 6. Exod. 40. 31 but whether this may warrant none to pray, while they first prepare themselves to pray, before they pray, by praying, and so that prayer which is preparatory must be prepared by another prepa∣ratory prayer; and so, without end, spiritual preparations must in infinitum go on before spiritual preparations is ano∣ther question. A fixed and set preparation before every duty is not requisite; but sure a preparing of the heart to seek the Lord, should go before solemn actions. 1 Sam. 7. 3. Job 11. 13. 1 Chron. 29. 18. 2 Chron. 12. 13. and be∣yond all controversie, we sin against God, and stumble many in headlong rushing upon duties, not looking to a spiritual frame of heart, in comming to the house of God, and not taking heed to the feet, and in yoaking the Cart before the Horse. When we first sacrifice, and then hear, Eccles. 5. 1. godly prudence which dwels with wisedom saith both a fools bolt is soon shot, and a fools sacrifice is soon offered. Some receive the word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 suddenly, Mark

4. 16. 1. Sayling is more safely delay'd in the time of an ex∣treme storm, and sowing when the wind is mighty, then at∣tempted; and if the affections be raveiled, and the heart smoaking with some fiery disorders, that distemper would be mourned for and prayed against; headlong and precipi∣tate duties done in hast argue great profanness and irreve∣rence to the holy Lord whom we serve and worship. 2. They speak an irreverent not eying of God. 3. Want of bend∣edness of heart in holy duties. I speak not this, as if praying either set, or instructed, or ejaculatory suits, were to be de∣layed.

Ass. 5.* 1.75 To wait upon the flowings of the Spirit, hath not one single meaning. Libertines waiting on the actings of the spirit, and there professed feriation and abstinence from praying, hearing, is a sad delusion.

1. Its a hardning of the heart, while it is to day, and then the foolish Virgins had good reason to be foolish, and to neglect the market, and buy no Oyl while the market of Mercy was gone and over, why? the spirit blew never fair for their spiritual trading; and therefore they are to be excused in that they sleeped all their life.

2. Its a confounding of the Rule, the Word of God, and of the Spirit which quickens the Word, and makes it effe∣ctual.

3. Its to excuse all wicked men, and to loose them from the law of God; We can doe no better, blame the Spirit, (say they) which blows not; and many other absurdities hence follow.

2. To wait on the Spirit's flowings, that is with a lesse measure of the spirit to fetch more, and by two talents to gain four, is so lawful a waiting for the breathings of the spirit, as to plow and wait patiently for the harvest, to sayl and wait till the Jewels and Gold come home, and the Ship land, is commendable; this is to bring forth fruit with patience, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.

3. To wait upon the flowings of the Spirit, which out of holy Soveraignty comes in a larger measure, then is ordi∣nary, as an high spring-tyde; as my heart is confirmed or prepared, my heart is confirmed or prepared. Is 1. To

welcome and adore the Lord in these high manifestations, and wisedom requires that the soul which is taken into the Kings chamber, and finds many outlettings, and sweet and rich accesse in praying, should multiply bills, and being heard for his own pardon as David was, Psal. 51. should put in a bill for building of the walls of Zion, and so should the soul being in a higher strain, and admitted to a more then ordinary feast of fat things, eat and drink more abundant∣ly, Cant. 5. 1. as Esther finding the King on a strain of gra∣ciousness to her; Esther, what is thy Petition? follows her suit, and lays hold on the opportunity, and her suit is not for the safety of one single man, but for the lives of the whole Church of God, even all the Jews. 2. To leave off wrestling too soon is a sort of violence done, and a dam∣ming up of the mighty flowings of the Spirit; No doubt a lazy pursuing of the victory, when we prevail with God, is a mighty neglect.

4. So to wait for the Spirit's high manifestation, as to set bounds to him, and to look, this shall be a great feast, and the instruments are eminent, is a limitting of God; hope of that kind would be humble and submissive: there being no word of promise, as concerning the quantity and measure of the emanations and outlettings of the Spirit; for that is his own Soveraignty to doe with his own as he thinks good; we would be more careful, to receive, and believe, and praise, then to widen hope, in order to instruments, to wit, such a shining Prophet, beyond what is revealed; sure be∣lieving his word is better then censuring Soveraignty. I∣dolatry is here crafty and subtil.

Ass. 6. If we speak of preparations, going before the real and physical stirrings of saving grace, there are not any upon our part, except we say with Pelagians, that we begin and the Spirit follows.

CHAP. XI.

1. Our impotency to duties being reproved, cannot excuse us in the omitting of them. 2. The wicked habit in sleeping men is faulty. 3. Therefore the withdraw∣ing of influences excuses not. 4. The Creatures sin is not from the Lord's withdrawing of influences of grace formally, but from our withdrawing of our hearts from his moral Commandment. 5. The Ob∣jection of many, (if God would give me influences of grace as he did to Moses and David I would be as holy as any) discussed, the Objector and the Ob∣jection both answered. 6. The non-sense of the Ob∣jection opened. 7. A natural man hates influences both physical, and moral, though he wish physical in∣fluences. 8. The Objection exalteth nature, abuseth grace, and many ways reproacheth God, his Grace, Soveraignty, Wisedom, &c.

Q. WHether or no doth our impotency to pray and be∣lieve clear and justifie us,* 1.76 in that we believe not and pray not?

Ans. Not at all: for one and the same cannot be a just excuse, and a due rebuke:* 1.77 but the holy Ghost rebukes our cannot as a sinful cannot, and so our impotency cannot be a just excuse. So, Joshua chap. 24. 19. Ye cannot serve the Lord. Isa. 29. 11. I cannot read the book, that is, I am sinfully ignorant of prophecy. Isa. 44. 18. They cannot understand, no more then blind men. Jer. 6. Their ear is uncircumcised, they cannot hearken. The Lord grievously challengeth the people, ver. 11. I am full of the anger of the Lord, and denounce wrath against this rebellious cannot; for not only is the tree rejected as bearing evil fruit, but also because the sap is sour, and the bulk rotten. Christ speaks rebukingly of some impotent cannot of the world; Joh. 14.

17. I will send you the Spirit of truth, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, which the world cannot receive, Rom. 8. 7. The wise∣dom of the flesh is not subject to the law of God, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 neither indeed can be. Ver. 8. They that are in the flesh 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 cannot please God. 1 Cor. 2. 14. The natural man cannot know the things of God; 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, it is a condemning of the natural man, as he is opposed to the spiritual man, who is praised as one who knows the secrets of God.

2. And he is condemned as one who judgeth the things of the Gospel foolishness. John 6. 44. No man can come to me, except the father draw him; And that is a most wicked shift of him who married a wife, Luke 14. 20. therefore I cannot come; we excuse such wicked weakness with this, God help us, we cannot without his grace doe better.

3. The very sinful habit and power is reproved in the Word, even the power as it is contra-distinguished from the sinful act; Psal. 14. 1. The habitual fool hath said in his heart there is not a God.

The habitual blindness and hardness of heart that may be in sleeping men, the state of non-regeneration, and the state of death and of uncircumcision of heart, is con∣demned, Eph. 2. 1, 2. 3. Col. 1. 13. 14. Psal. 14. 3. their poy∣son of nature, Psal 58. 4. the uncircumcision of heart, Jer. 9. 26. the sinful frame of the heart, Gen. 6. 5. Gen. 8. 21. Hence, of force it must follow, that this is no good con∣sequence, the sleeping man or swooning man, acting and committing no actual guiltiness, and making no use of free-will, is guilty and rebukable before God, as the sleeping Wolf is bloudy,* 1.78 the sleeping Lion is cruel, because of the bloudy and cruel nature, that is inherently in both, when neither of them do actually devour; so though influences to the material acts of sin, be not in our power, yet, since we lodge that sinful power, and virtually (as is said) consent to want the breathings of God, and consent that the sinful acts have hous-room, in the sleeping man, we are thence guil∣ty upon that account, though we sleep and are patient in carrying sinful powers, and sinful acts now inherent in us, and the withdrawing of influences of grace upon the same

account, cannot be an honest excuse; why, I pray not? yea the wicked impotency, and indisposition, and the three Disciples drouziness, and sleepiness the same way physical, being on them in the night, Matth. 26. is a new guiltinesse moral, (for Christ commanded watching in vigorousnesse then) and their actual not praying, is another guiltiness.

3. Under withdrawings of influences of grace we are guilty.* 1.79 1. In not considering the temptation, signs and won∣ders we see and hear, Deut. 29. 3. yea though the Lord's not giving a new heart, be not our sin formally; yet our not having, nor receiving of a new heart, is our sin. The sowrness and naughtiness of the Earth in bringing forth poysonable weeds, is the Earth's own indispotion; the Sun and Clouds extract these poysonable herbs; the natural driness of some rocky Earth and the not raining of the clouds meet both in one, to wit, the barrenness of the earth; and this takes not away the faultiness of this earth so rocky. 2. Our guiltiness that appears is evident, in our eik which we make to original and natural malice; for acquired pra∣vity meets with natural and original corruption, like two floods to make a Sea or a great River; or as when a man forceth a wound to bleed, which of it self would bleed: And again, what ever may be said of the result of the Lord's withdrawing of influences, we add an impulsion to his withdrawing, as the adding of the heat of an Oven neer the root of a fruit tree, to cause it to ripen, adds something to the heat of the Sun, and the Influences of the Heavens, and when the heart walketh after the heart of our detestable things, as it is Ezech. 11. 21. and with the intended bensil of the free-will, we put our seal and consent to the Lord's withdrawing; there is no ground to complain of his with∣drawing.

Q. But does not the Lord's withdrawing of his influ∣ences, since without his concurrence of that kind our act∣ings are impossible, doe violence to free-will, which must be indifferent to act or not to act, to doe or not to doe?

Ans. This is a weak reason; for to our willing the influ∣ence of God is natural, and so is it to our nilling; the Lord ••akes his influences, and the withdrawing thereof conna∣tural

to all our actions to both willing and to nilling: dri∣ness and barrenness is as connatural to the tree as budding and fruit-bearing, if God add his influences either to the one or to the other;* 1.80 yea, since the Lord's concurrence is sutable to the nature of second causes, the fire leaves not off to be fire, nor is its nature destroyed, if the Lord withdraw his influence, so that the fire burns not the three children: nor is violence done to nature, by the Lord's joyning of his influence to the fire to burn in acts of righteousness or of sin; there is still nilling and willing. And suppose that the Mar∣tyr chose to die a violent death, for the confirming of the truth, there is no violence done to free will; nay, there is no miracle in the Lord's concurring to the material acts of sin.

2. To have dominion over the Soveraignty of God is no part of the creatures liberty,* 1.81 but only it is free in order to its own actings; nor is it essential to the free-will of Men or Angels, or any creature to have the influences of God in its power or at hand; As it is no part of the Sun's power of yielding light, or of the fires quality of casting heat to have dominion and command over the influences of God the supreme and first cause: but the Lord hath so a dominion over second causes, both in acts natural and supernatural, that his influence as Midwife ever attends (saving his holy Soveraignty) the bringing forth of all births, and effects of second causes. So as in the free-wills moral actings the not acting of free-will, or the marring of the birth of new obedience to a law of God is never from the Lord's physical withdrawing of his influence, as from a culpable cause; but the sinfulness of the action is ever from our own sinful withdrawing of our will from under the moral sway of the holy command of God:* 1.82 and let it be a mystery how the Lord withdraws his concurrence, as being above a law, & he is holy and spotless in so doing, and how we are under a law and sinfully guilty in that we love to want his holy influence, and its our sin, and he loves to withdraw his in∣fluence; and it is his holy Soveraignty. Both which are clear in Scripture, if we confess that we are debters to the Lord, and to his just Law, and his holy Soveraignty, in that he yieldeth his influences, and in his having mercy on

whom he will, and in hardning whom he will, in the Lord's drawing of men or his not drawing of them to Christ; in revealing the Gospel mystery savingly to whom he will, Rom. 9. 18. John 6. 44, 63. Matth, 11. 26, 27. nor can the Lord be a debter to the Creature in these. And this my∣sterie is a clear revealed truth,* 1.83 if we yield that the Lord's active drawing, calling, inviting of sinners to come to Christ is his holy and sinless work; and our passive not be∣ing drawn, and not being effectually called and invited to come to Christ is our sin of unbelief and our refusing and rebellious rejecting of his call,* 1.84 Isa. 65. 1, 2. Prov. 1. 24, 25, 26. John 5. 40. and that he so calleth and hath mercy on whom he will, because he will, as it is the flesh and carnal wisedom that objecteth. But God so calling some, as they must come, because so he willeth; and so calling other some, as they must be hardened, because he willeth, gives a seeming ground to two great Objections.

1. Why then doth God find fault and rebuke and eternally refuse the so called? for if they were called with that draw∣ing power that others are called with, sure they would be∣lieve and come: but they are not so called; therefore God cannot blame us, & find the fault in unbelievers, Rom. 18. 19.

2. If God so call some as they obey, and others as they o∣bey not, because he will, who can resist his will? his will is as himself: then do we reject God's calling, and eternally perish, because God so doth will? Now not any ever brea∣thing, moved any such Objections, but the carnal Jew in Paul's time, and the Socinians, Jesuits, and Arminians in the age we now live in, and stumblers at the word; for all such enemies to grace, turn the Objection into an argument a∣gainst the absolute will, and invincible grace of God, and answer not with the holy Ghost, who Rom. 9. calls it a bold fleshly replying unto God. v. 20. for the holy Ghost asserts the Soveraignty of God, as the potter over the clay, & the guil∣tiness of vessels of wrath, Rom. 9. 22. and their disobedience in refusing the call of God, v. 29. & their following like Pha∣risees Law-righteousness by works, and stumbling at Christ the stumbling stone laid in Sion, Rom. 9. 31, 32, 33. wheras the Gentils were called of free grace, v. 24. 25, 26. therefore they

must be of the same stamp with the fleshly Jews, who thus object against us, and such are the Patrons of universal grace and free-will. Hence let that be discussed.

1. Would God give me grace I would be a man according to God's heart, as well as David.

But 2. I was born in sin and I cannot have more grace then God hath given me.

3. Would God give me a new power, I would run; now this power he denyes to me, and gives to many.

That this special practical doubt may be fully removed.

1. A word to the Objector. 2. To the Objection.

To the Objector 1. If the Lord had given me the same grace that he gave David,* 1.85 I should run as David. 1. It is of much concernment, who moves the Objection, whether a Convert, or a non-convert: it is commendable in nei∣ther; but in an unhumbled non-convert, it is senseless. If the sense be, had the Lord bestowed on me the grace habi∣tual and actual, such as he bestowed on David, I should be a man according to the Lord's heart, as well as David. No thanks, no praise or glory to David, that he is a man ac∣cording to God's heart; True; and therefore no guilt is upon the Objector, nor is any punishment due to him that he remains in cursed nature; this follows not.

2. The sense is;* 1.86 had I grace I should be a gracious man: what is this but I would have been a convert, if God had made me a convert.

But 1. The Objector says no more, then the fallen An∣gels, had the Lord made us Divels to be elect Angels, and confirmed us in grace, then should we have been elect An∣gels; So might Judas have said, had grace made me the beloved Disciple that leaned on Christ's bosome, I should have been a sound believer; this is a meer speculation, no preaching of heart-love, to the man Christ; all the Re∣probate may say, had the Lord made us all holy and sin∣less men in a personal union with Christ, we should all have been Christ's; Cursed Libertines and Quakers so call themselves; have they any more of the outlettings and flowings of free grace for that? not a whit.

2. If God would give me the grace which he bestowed on

David,* 1.87 I should be a man according to God's heart; True; but what is this to one who still dwels in nature; should the sleeper say, had I laboured more, and slumbred and lain in my bed less, I should have been richer; but that supposition, will neither be bread to feed him, nor a web to cloath him; there is nothing here, but only idle wishing. O, if I had bread, and such empty desires cannot feed an hungry man, who is both idle and hungry. Were the Ob∣jector a Seeker, and did he search for wisedom as silver, and dig for her as for hid treasures, it were real or rational hunger; but there is not a right esteem of bread, there is no wise life-hunger, such as is in living men.

3. It were good that the Objector were humbled, and did lie at the water side, and complain, oh if his Ship would fetch me over, and his wind would blow: Who shall deliver me? what shall I doe? were he loathing his own ways, and highly in love with such ways of godliness, as David and the Saints walked in, it were good; joyn de∣spairing in self, and feeling of a wretched condition, with some desires of David's grace, that should be liker a laying hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, we will go with you. But the Objector is full and rich, and self-righ∣teous and whole, and needs not the Physician, and his own civil hell torments him not; A Heaven of work-holiness, and law-righteousness is the lie that is in his right-hand, he feeds upon such ashes.

4. The Objector would be convinced of his backward desires:* 1.88 O, if I had grace I would then labour and run. Is it not 1. A contradiction; he loves to be watered with the streams and dewings of Christ, and hates and loaths the fountain. But now have they both seen and hated me and my father, John 15. 24. The world cannot receive the Spirit, John 19. 17. and so must hate the Spirit and all his influences;* 1.89 Fools hate wisedom. And 2. Every spece and kind of being is delighted with its own being; the Serpent hath not a desire or a real love to be turned into a man, nor would a Lion be turned into a Lamb, nor a Divel into an elect Angel; that desire is contrary to the malice he hath to the image of God in the elect Angels; the withered

Earth loves rain and dew, it would be perfected in its kind; but a body of sin fights to keep its own being, and would not be destroyed by an habit of grace; nor doth an heir of wrath and a limbe of Satan, seriously desire to be a child of God; nor one tormented in Hell really will to be a holy Saint in Heaven; he only would be an eased and painless man, and seeks not to be free of blaspheming God. See Balaam's, and the rich man's desire, Numb. 23. 10. Luke 16. 24. Rev. 6. 15, 16, 17.

3. True it is,* 1.90 we love not moral influences; and to be actors in holiness, that spoils and robs the man of his sweet lusts: we would be content to be passive and have the breathings of the Spirit come upon us sleeping and without toyl, that we might feel the only sweetness, and delight of duties, not the duty and the gracious acting it self; as a man loves to have been made holy, not to be holy, nor to be made holy by acting and toyling; for the man who hates the Spirit and hates Christ, as the unrenewed Obje∣ctor doth, how can he love unfainedly either the gracious habit of holiness, or the gracious influences of Christ? and therefore we may have a desire, of the Lord's real and physical influences, and hate holy moral influences; for the damned only deprecate torment, but they make no pray∣ers to God to be made holy, Mark 5. 7. Matth. 8. 29. Rev. 6. 16.

4. He who so objects, being a non-convert, yea all con∣verts in this life in so far as there are in us the remainders of a body of sin, close not a little with that divinity of Satan, Gen. 3. 5. Ye shall be as Gods,* 1.91 knowing good and evil; and there∣fore love to be independent and to be from under God, as is the unhappy word of Spira in point of suffering, O if I were above God. So speak the enemies of our Lord, who love not gracious influences, (as Christ is a wel-govern∣ing, a sweetly awing Lord in all his influences) Psal. 2. 3. Let us break their bands and cast away their cords; though they be silken cords. So the Citizens of Christ, Luk. 19. 14. hate him and set mans will on Jesus Christ's throne, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, We will not have this man to reign over us; the World hates a ruling and reigning Christ; and so we

hate his holy actings, and the wishing to have grace and gracious influences ruling in us, is a dream; we really de∣sire no such thing, but love an independency of our own, as was the unlucky prayer of the son who loved not to be under his heavenly Father, Luke 15. 12. The younger son said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And so hate men the Lord in his influ∣ences of the word, rebuking them, Isa. 30. 11. Cause the holy One of Israel to cease from before us. And so this Objector; O that he would give me the double of David's grace, is an empty wish, as if hot fire would say, O that I were quenched with cold water; a lover of grace must be a gra∣cious man.

As to the Objection it self,

1. It is false;* 1.92 If I had grace, I should improve it to gra∣cious actings: For you improve not nature, and the en∣dowments and parts of nature, to natural actings; and upon the same account, he who improves not grace of three degrees, would not better improve grace of six de∣grees. Natural wisedom is not used for Christ, but against him, and the Gospel, and is mispended in plotting, laying of snares for the godly, in taking crafty counsel against the Israel of God, in gathering and heaping together riches, in painting and busking lies against the truth, and a thousand ways of that kind; whereas that wisedom might have been profitable, for building of the house of God, and in edify∣ing a mans own soul, and the souls of others.

2. In relations; of a Master, a Head of a family, a Parent, the power hath been used against God, not for him. Would God I were Judge of the Land, I would doe justice to every man. And when Absalom was made a piece of a King, he did no justice, in lying with, and defiling his own father's wives; then Absalom if he had had triple more power, he would not have used it better.

3. In the matter of age; Were I old and grave, I would use the power of grace I have, to repent, walk softly, and be ho∣ly. Who told you that grace or parts not improved for God shall grow? and suppose they grow, who can promise, ex∣cept he give free will surety, that he shall improve grace,

except by the help of grace? and though grace help grace, yet cannot free will engage for the time to come, to set a dyet and term-day for turning to God the next year, and when you are old; when as ye are obliged while it is to day not to harden your heart, and presently to repent: this is to make repentance a tree which bears not fruit, while some scores of years after its planting; a holy heart doth fear and tremble under the present hardness and deadness.

4. In the point of instruments of doing good; If I had much riches, I would build Churches, Bridges, Hospitals, entertain many Poor, erect Schools and Colledges; Now, have the loyns of the poor and naked blessed you for any you have cloathed, even according to what you have. God seeks of no man above that he hath, or according to what he hath not: and if you fail in what you have, what can you say for what you have not; the formal cause of the charity, is the pouring or drawing out of the soul to the hungry,* 1.93 Isa. 58. 10. in faith, in lending to God, and ca∣sting your bread on the waters, Eccles. 11. 1, 2. Prov. 19. 17. Psal. 37. 26. Now a house full of Gold, cannot add a dram-weight to your mercifulness, and your trusting in God: but you are so much the richer that you have a stock in Hea∣ven, then if thou hadst a great venture at Sea, and so much Gold and so many Jewels comming home to you from West-India; nor can plenty of gold give you more grace.

5. Had I more grace, I would not deny Christ for fear of men, nor sell Christ for money, as did Peter and Judas. Now just so spake the Scribes and Pharisees, Matth. 23. 30. If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the bloud of the Prophets; and yet they slew the Apostles, and beat the Prophets, and kil∣led the precious heir Christ, Matth. 21. 33, 38, 33. Would ye have washed Christ's feet with tears, and wiped them with the hair of your head? would ye have kissed his feet? would ye have forsaken all, and followed him? your own heart must be dear and precious to you, when you under∣take so much in its name; and yet many that so speak in our age, persecute godliness, and hate Christ in his mem∣bers;

and many go off that way many miles on the North side, and the South side of the Cross, when the holy Ghost saith, there is not a Bridge over this River, but we mnst wade and swim through, at the nearest; and the road-way is, that through much tribulation, we must enter into the Kingdome of God, Acts 14. 22.

6. Yet if I had the grace of David,* 1.94 I would not do as many doe: what is that? ye would not have committed adultery and bloudshed; could you have commanded the influences of God, and warded off an evil hour of a sad desertion? so vain men have their own middle science, the new scientia media, that Jesuits have put upon God: the man foresees he could make a world of his own; for they say as the men, Jam. 4. 13, 14, 15. who eye not God in all their ways say, if we go to such a City and buy and sell, we shall get gain, and say not if God will, if we live; so many, had I a stronger habit of grace, I would not use self, and (I) and free will as Adam did; but know, it is a badder self, and a more wicked (I) then was in Adam; for the self so speak∣ing, is the flesh and the unrenewed part, and there was no unrenewed self, no such flesh in Adam, while he was yet endued with the image of God. So is this the ordinary discourse and language of this woulder, and wisher; by God's grace I should walk more closely with God then Noah, sure, more sincerely then he, I would not have been drunken with wine as he; but believe you that God who gave the habit of grace, to Noah, to Moses, to Dauid, to Hezekiah, would have given you all the actual influences to eschew the slips of infirmities, which these men committed; and except you suppose this, you must lean upon the habit of grace, which is but a creature, and so must not have the room of God. Now if you have not any such habit, your hope must be a broken Tree, and you leaning on a Cypher, and upon nothing.

7. The affections of desire,* 1.95 love, joy, sorrow, fear, faith, hope, anger, which remain in unrenewed men, lustered o∣ver with some remainders of the image of God, are wasted profusely in the service of sin; and these affections might serve much in a way of honouring God: And its a pity

that woulding and wishing is the All of many mens religi∣on; had I more grace, I would more honour God. Which is retorted, 1. Had I more habitual grace, and a richer talent, I would more dishonour God; Some have a great stock, and sin more terribly against the received mercy of habitual grace. 2. Its retorted, Had I more of nature and of natural parts, I should doe more for God; but more of nature you have, and what doe you? Is it not thus? had I the wings of an Eagle, I would flie. But these wings you have, and you lie, and you creep; you doe but slumber and sleep in the ways of God, you flie not. 3. Why is not this said, Had I more corruption (as it is easie to gain here, and doe evil, and wax worse and worse) I should run with Divels and Reprobate men, from evil to worse; for this is a truth, had I the acquired blinded mind of Pharaoh, and trayterous heart of Judas, I should be worse then they. If it be said there is not the like reason between nature, and grace; for one habit of saving grace helps to make the will stronger, and more bent to gracious actings, then gifts or common parts or natural parts.

Ans. It is true; the habit of saving grace makes the soul readier to act savingly for God. Saving grace doth more strongly effect the will in an habitual way,* 1.96 for gracious acts; But no habit either of grace or nature can actuate it self; and therefore it is presumption in a way of relying on the habit of grace to promise much to our selves.

8. Had I extraordinary helps of a teacher sent from Hell, I would believe.

Ans. 1. We believe not the word spoken by Angels, the Law, nor the word spoken by the Lord, Heb. 2. 3. and Heb. 12. 25. For if they escaped not, who refused him who spake on Earth; much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him who speaketh from Heaven. Christ came from Heaven and out of the bosome of the Father, and hath preached Heaven and Hell to us; for he had experience of wrath, answerable to the pain of Hell.

2. This is no other shift, then that of the rich man in the Parable, Luk. 16. 30. Nay, father Abraham, if one went to them from the dead, they will repent. Now repentance

flows not from the Preachers experience, though he had seen and felt the pains of Hell, or the joys of Heaven; nor doth the experience of Heaven's joy or Hell's torment, heal the broken and wounded will; and the rich man's divi∣nity hath been the same with Pelagians way, that if the word be feelingly and dexterously proposed, it can waken up the sleeping free will; and repentance is a work of na∣ture, if the fire be dexterously blown upon, it will certainly flame, and all depends upon the running and willing of his five brethren.

Now common grace, free will, and natural ability, at best is but a potency; the actual stirring of saving grace must extract, and (to speak so) milk out of the very saving habit, acts of sound believing, and repenting, or then the will and the habit must lie dead: far more is this true in natural powers and common graces.

Now in all this our Saviour answers well the whole doubt;* 1.97 he that is not faithful in little, can he be faithful in much? Luke 16. 11. If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous Mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? Verse 12. And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another mans, who shall give you that which is your own? Our Saviour reasons most strongly, Joh. 3. 12. If I have told you earthly things and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? He that is not able to bear a burden of the weight of one pound, would he bear a burden of a thousand talents? So he, If the Lord had given me ten talents, I should have equalled David or Paul, or the beloved disciple John, in grace and holiness. Now ye have not improved two talents, but digged them in the Earth: For it is not here as in earthly things; mow a Meadow twelve times in one year, and after thrice mowing ye shall have but little: take continually away from a deep fountain, and draw water from it night and day, at length it shall be ebb or dry; but act and improve the habit of grace, and the more it shall grow, and encrease: And its certain, grace can waken up sleeping free will, but free will cannot stir up grace; death cannot make use of life, but life can work upon deadness.

The next answer to this; had I grace, or more grace, I should be as holy as David: its a blowing up of nature, and a dethroning of Christ. For this (I) when you say, I should be holy as David, is not that gracious (I) of which Paul, Gal. 2. 20. I live not, but Christ lives in me; but its (I) and (self) divided from self and grace: but woe to the will se∣parated from Christ;* 1.98 woe to the branch cut off from the green and flourishing tree, its good for nothing but the fire; woe to the arm sawen off the living body; and by this, as one saith well, If God would give the power, you would of your self,* 1.99 add the will, this is the Pelagian heresie. Let God but make a stirring and a blowing, and give a sort of will, I could doe wonders: as if it were not the Lord, who works in us both to will and to doe of his good pleasure. Phil. 2. 13. yea it lays little upon God's calling: (for he cal∣leth Cain and Judas) and much, yea the All of our salva∣tion on our Answering. Christ knocks by word of mouth, and (I) and (self) free-will opens the heart of Lydia which debaseth Christ and powerfull grace. In all which consider, had you the influences of grace at your disposing; 1. Then, might free will bar the Iron door, against sin; that sin of Angels and men, without free wills good leave should never enter the world. And the Creature should be more Master and Lord Governour over providence, then the Soveraign Lord himself: then could the Lord erect no theatre, nor set a Chair of free-grace to the Mediator and Lord of grace, Jesus Christ, while first he took Counsel with created free will, and say, O creature may I have thy good leave to send my Son to the world, and the disease must be consulted, shall there be such a precious one, as the Physi∣cian, the healer of sinners? Its true, no sinner, no Saviour; no lost one, no Redeemer, such as our Emanuel; but its known, if influences of grace be, (as Pelagianizing universa∣lists say) at the disposing of nature, with that absolute indif∣ferency, the free creature may stand, or may fall, let the Al∣governing Lord doe his best to the contrary: there is here a created Soveraign dominion; If God create the creature free, it involves a contradiction, that God should be free to hold out or bring in sin, and hell, and misery, and God is

indifferent (except man must irrevocably perish) to send his Son in the flesh, to saue finners: and such a providence might have been, if mans free will had so been pleased to dispose of its own free acts, and of the influences of God, there should for ever have been no Saviour, no Emanuel, no declared free grace, no gracious design in God to open experimentally to Men and Angels the wonder of Christ and free grace; but that must come upon the Soveraign Lord, by some bide-by design of nature and created free will.

3. Were influences at our disposal, we might make our prayers only to our own free will, who only can by this way hear and help; but we pray to God only for quickning, determining, leading, and stirring up influences, and for effectual teaching; and influences are in a good hand, when the matter is so.

4. The unregenerate, as in Shepherd's select Cases, page 96. pag. 102. are not within the compass of any conditio∣nal promise, though in Baxter's Append. to Aphor. to Obj. 10. 11. p. 28. he puts a note of censure on it: for if the new heart were in the power of Cain and Judas, and this were holden forth to all and every one of mankind; run well and win the crown of conversion, and of the life of grace and of glory. For 1. You have sufficient grace to win it. 2. You have the influences of grace at your own disposal and power, be you Brasilian, Indian, or what else. Then were all men made independent Lords of salvation and damnation, and of the holy and deep decrees of Election and Repro∣bation. And if so, there were not such a thing as a decree of Reprobation, but as a sort of over-birth, and a decree of some after-wit, in the holy Majesty of God (after he were disappointed of his former Gospel-decree of choosing all to glory) who wisely, yea out of his manifold wisedom willed and decreed all to be saved, so they would use the universal power, and the influences of grace well, as they might and could; but unto what God should such make their prayers? whether to God the Father of our Lord Jesus, or to themselves, I cannot divine.

5. If so be influences be at mans disposal, could he kisse

the Mediator, stoop to free grace, and adore it, praise and sing his glory, who sits upon the Throne, and commend the Lamb who redeemed sinners out from among lost sinners?

6. In reason we can no more time, and dispose of the measure, manner and kind, of our own comforts, and of the kind and measure of the Lord's influences, then the Earth can dispose of the quantity of rain, and dew; and herbs, corn, or growing trees, can determine of the influ∣ences of the Sun, Moon, and Heavens.

The third Classe of Answers to the Lord's restrained way of giving of grace, and to him who says, (Had I more grace, I should be more holy) must be taken from the holy attributes of God; for this quarrel, why would not the Lord make me holier and let out richer influences of grace? is a reproaching of his Soveraignty. He makes not all the lumps of the great masse of clay, vessels of honour; that is true:* 1.100 Nor have they all alike nearness to the Throne of glory or the like measure of glory that are in Heaven; nor alike measure of gifts, all are not Apostles; nor alike measure of grace and holiness; nor are they all equally poor or equally rich, or equally wise and learned, or e∣qually believing in the same measure of assurance, the same measure of joy; For when Paul disputes thus, he hath mer∣cy on whom he will, and hardens whom he will, it comes to this; Why doth he then find fault? it is not in him that runs and wills; if the Lord would effectually call us Jews, we should run and will, and obey as vigorously as the Gentiles doe. But the Lord doth not so call us; there∣fore he cannot rebuke us, or find fault with us, that we believe not, and receive not the Messiah, and the righte∣ousnesse of God through faith, which is the very Objection in hand.

2.* 1.101 As the Objection is against the Soveraignty of God, so it is against the infinite wisedom of God: Why should the infinitely wise Lord, knowing, if Judas, and all the disobedi∣ent refusers of Christ, had the same grace, and influences of grace bestowed upon them, which he freely bestowed on his own, they would have obeyed; deny that grace, and

these influences, he knowingly denies them? After the Apo∣stle in three Chapters hath discussed this, Rom. 11. 33. he acknowledges there is a deep in it; O the depth of the riches, both of the wisedom and knowledge of God! how un∣searchable are his judgements, and his ways past finding out! No wonder it be a depth to me; but there is no more deep in it, if all have universal sufficient grace, and if all have the influences of grace in their power, then this is no depth: He that believes shall be saved; he that believes not shall be condemned, and God rewards those who seek him: I deny not there is a depth in all God's ways, in the industry of a Pismire, of a Coney, of a Locust; yea how the bones grow in the womb of her that is with child: But because the A∣postle having discoursed of Election and Reprobation, and of the Righteousness of Faith, and of the Law, Rom. cap. 9. c. 10. and of the casting off the Jews for a time, and the in∣comming of the Gentiles, Rom. 11. and then concludes, ver. 33. O the depth, both of the riches and knowledge of God, &c. there must be another sort of profundity in the words, to humane reason, then that wisedom of God shining in the works of Creation and providence, Rom. 1. 19, 20. Psal. 92. 5, 6, 7. Psal. 107. 43. Psal. 58. 10, 11, &c. Now the Do∣ctors of universal grace, and such as submit election and reprobation, obedience to the call of God, and disobedi∣ence, and all the influences of grace to the determination of free will, arise no higher then the depths of mans willing, and nilling. As also the Objector in this saith, God might have more honour and service of me, if so it had pleased him; and what is this? but God would be wiser, should he bestow grace and the influences of grace on me, and all mankind; for even such Arminians who cannot deny but God foresees, what motions and influences shall prevail with free will, what not, are burthened with this doubt; as we are, if mans carnal wisedom be judge.

3.* 1.102 This is a complaining against the free grace of God; there is a sort of grace of Creation, and a Comet or a Star is here left to complain, why made not the Lord me a shining Sun? and the Thistle must challenge God, why

made he not me a Fig-tree, or a Vine-tree? are not here beggars at the Lord's door boasting the Lord, because they get not an Almes of begged and borrowed being after their own carnal will? So here, what ebness of grace was this, that the Lord would not bestow the same influences of grace on Beelzebub the prince of divels, before he fell, as upon the Angel Gabriel, and the Seraphims, who flie with wings to doe his will, and cover their faces with wings, as blushing before infinite holiness? why bestows he not as much saving influences on me, as on David, Moses, Noah, Job, and Daniel? why not as much grace, and of the ful∣ness of the anointing, as upon the man Christ, that holy thing, Jesus?

4.* 1.103 And is not free goodness here complained of? God knowingly and wittingly (saith the lying Divel) envying you should be gods, forbids you to eat of the tree of know∣ledge of good and evil. Envy is contrary to communica∣tive goodness: free goodness gives freely in measure, in weight and number, as best pleaseth him; now God gives not grace enough.

5.* 1.104 His holiness and righteousness is arraigned. 1. He did not from eternity shew mercy, nor provide a new heart for me; then, that I serve not, as he deserves, let him blame himself, not me. 2. He created me a slippery clay vessel, which he saw should fall upon stones, and be broken; he might have made me brass and iron, that could not be bro∣ken. And 3. that I sin, wanting the fulness of the anoint∣ing, and influences in a personal union, as in the man Christ, is a defect in God, not in man; and all the sins I commit, he could have prevented them, and either would not, or could not.

6.* 1.105 Its repugnant to the Lord's holy charge, in governing the world; I would be holy and run, but he withdraws influences. What is this? but I doe my part, but the Lord is wanting in his part; I am willing to run, but he draws not; I follow, but he refuses to lead me; I answer, but he calleth not: a holy meekned soul sees all the blame in it self, and mercy and inviting kindness in God.

7. I would doe otherwise, but ah my sinful nature! I

was born in sin;* 1.106 this is a blaming of providence. 1. God denies influences, and the fulness of the holy Ghost from the womb to me, and all mankind, which he gave to the man Christ.

But 1. The flowing of sin original is a work of holy ju∣stice, who so punished the first fall; and you carp not at the indwelling of sin original, by which the poyson of the sinful nature, is hateful to God, Gen. 6. 5. Gen. 8. 21. but at the Lord's righteous smiting of our nature. Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, what makest thou? Isa. 45. 9. and as if he were a patient under sin original; Ah, I would be from under a body of sin,* 1.107 but I am captive, sold un∣der sin; This is a lye; every man is in this sense a captive under sin original, in that, nill he, will he, he is born in sin: and the flux of justice so determined, ere the man was born, but the unrenewed Objector is not so a captive: he that was never humbled for sin original, as David confes∣seth it his plagne and sore, Psal. 51. 5. and Job 14. 4. is not a captive, but a consenter to sin original.

2. He that willingly lends lodging and a furnace, and a warm hearth-stone to sin original, and remains willingly in the state of unrenewed nature, is not a patient under sin original, the man is not a captive and a prisoner against his will, to him who hath the power of life and death, and to him who sends a writ of grace, and bids him come out, and casts ope the prison doors, yet he remains there, eats, drinks, sleeps, sports. Christ the Lord of life hath sent the Gospel, which is a bill of free grace, he bids you come out of cursed nature, be renewed in the spirit of your mind, come to me, and I will ease you; yet ye will not change your life, this 20, 30, 40 years, since the Gospel of grace came to you; you eat, drink, sleep, wake, laugh, rejoyce in a state of distance from Christ, and refuse to come out of that prison.

3. I would I were without original sin, (ye say) and yet when you willingly lye, swear, whore, you put seal, subscrip∣tion, and consent to Adam's first sin; He that delights in the streams and drinks with delight, does he not love the water of the fountain? then to say, I would be without sin original,

is as much, as I would be without sin, and I would not be without sin; does not this man allow Adam's deed, and serve himself heir to Adam his father's sin, twenty times in one day? and in such a man sin original is not diminished, and brought down to a sin of infirmity; as in Paul, Rom. 7. 15. For that which I doe, I allow not; for what I would, that I doe not; but what I hate, that I doe. That is a san∣ctified would, a renewed hatred of one entering a protesta∣tion against sin; but original sin lives in its vigour and reign of the Law, in this man; and where this sin hath the full consent and bensil of the will, the Law, in its con∣demning power, is on its side. Hence that excuse the man brings, as in Fenner's Wilfull impenitency, page 95. 96. which proves that he is not humbled; thou excusest thy self for thy original sin too; Lord I would be without original sin, but I cannot; if I could, I would. Belike then if it had been thy case, as it was Adam's, thou wouldest not have eaten of the forbidden fruit; and therefore it was his fault, and not thine, and thou wouldest not have sinned, if thou couldst have otherwise chused. David confesseth this sin as his per∣sonal, as well as his natural sin, Psal, 51. 5. Behold, in iniquity (that is the highest of sin) I was formed, and in sin did my mother warme me, or conceive me, He names the person twice; and the holy Ghost blacks all faces with this sin, Rom. 5. 12. All, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 have sinned, and yet this Objector is more innocent then Adam. Verse 18. By the offence of one, judgement came upon all men unto condemnation; 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. Verse 19. By one mans disobedience, many were made sin∣ners; that is, all, except the man Christ; and this man must be free of sin and condemnation, as the second Adam.

4. He would have original sin removed in an extra∣ordinary way, and not in the Lord's own way, and so tempts God, as Satan tempted Christ to work miracles for bread, and to cast himself down over the pinacle of the Temple.

1. Now this, Lord, I would be without sin original, but I cannot, thou hast so ordained my nature to be; but it is

against my will and my heart, for my heart hates it, its dou∣ble dealing, and an untruth; for then the will must be clean, then the Objector must be cleaner and holier, then God says in Scripture the unrenewed man is.

2. Then must the will be, by nature, free of sin original, whereas the frame of the heart is only evil from the womb, and deceitful and desperately wicked, Gen. 6. 5. Gen. 8. 21. Jer. 17. 9.

3. Then must the holy Lord be in the fault, who might give influences of grace, and a whole nature; yea, and the holy Ghost from the womb, as he did to John the Baptist, but denies it.

But 1.* 1.108 God hath appointed no extraordinary way of healing our nature. The Baptist was from the womb cured of the dominion of sin original, it entered not with his life, in its full reign, as a King, as in others, and sin original was in the Baptist as in others, as to the demerit, if God should have entered in judgement with him. Now the Objector would be free of original sin in his own way, not in God's way.

1. He condemns God in that ever he permitted such a sin to be; what warrant is there in Scripture for striving with any providence or physical influences of God? none at all.

2. What warrant to complain that all from the womb have not the same influences of grace which the Lord gra∣ciously bestowed on John Baptist?

3. What warrant to desire the extraordinary removal of sin original by annihilation? for God hath appoint∣ed the Lamb of God to take away sin, and to dissolve the work of the Divel. The Lord's way is by praying, Wash me, and I shall be white as snow: and the Lord will tie us, not to the Socinian absolute taking away of sin, without Christ's satisfaction, but to an ordinance of the Law, Psal. 51. 7. Purge me with hysope. Hence this de∣ceit or sinful conceits in many; If God would add stronger influences of grace, I should be holy as an Angel. But this he does not; and so comes in a lazie dispairing, if

God will not give stronger influences physical, I cannot help it: I doe all that a man can doe, I pray night and day, tyde and time; therefore if I perish, I must perish: if God will not save me, I cannot be against his will; I can doe no more then I doe, but must refer my self to his will; So we would consider well, this sinful case of conscience, When 1. the man wishes to be free of the inherency of sin, because something that is penal in lust torments, and hinders sleep; some bodily pain goes along with night drinking, but yet he sticks strongly to the sinful acting thereof. 2. When the man should repent and mourn for his sinful delighting in sin, he murmurs that God would not counter-work the being of it, and that he so permitted it to be, and so disposed of the place, and strength of temptation, since he could have made it never to have been. And 3. The man wishes he might be a patient in the removing of it, and frets that God will not take it away, while he sleeps, but withall he refuses to be an actor; 1. In sorrowing according to God, and in loathing it. 2. In challenging himself, Prov. 5. How have I hated instruction. 3. In a godly improving of Jesus Christ, as the ransome-payer, and believing in him, for the Lord's way of moral removing of sin, by pardoning thereof, Jer. 50. 20.

But this is also a tempting of God. 1. We are not to pray for influences physical simply, and absolutely for all uses, and ends to work miracles, to remove mountains, but especially we are to pray for more influences,* 1.109 and such as are sutable to our ordinary duties; Psal. 119. 36. Incline my heart (but he suits not of God every bowing of the heart, abstracted from the word) incline my heart unto thy testimonies and not to covetousness. Ver. 133. Order my heart in thy s••eps, let not any iniquity have dominion over me. 2. David seeks not every sort of quickning influences; but Psal. 119. 25. Quicken thou me according to thy word. Verse 40. Quicken me in thy righteousnesse. Verse 88. Quicken me after thy loving kindness. Ver. 149. O Lord, quicken me according to thy judgement. Ver. 156, and 116. Ʋphold me according to thy word, that I may live. Quakers and Familists seek after the furious wild-fire of hell, skaddings and flammings of a spirit abstracted from the

word; Hence the brothers killing of the brother hath been father'd on the Spirit, and railing, bitter speaking, blas∣pheming have been laid upon such a spirit.

2. A spirit that suggests neglect of ordinances and means of salvation is not the Spirit of God. Would God put forth more power, and stronger influences, I should be holy in∣deed; in the mean time the man sleeps. So would the Lord put forth stronger influences, corn, and wheat, and vine-trees should grow without husbandry, and sowing; shall the husbandman plow not, and pray for such an har∣vest? so may the man say, Ile eat not, God can nourish me without bread. Influences in the fixed and ordinary pro∣vidence of God, are neither promised, nor to be expected, but in God's way of using means; the hand of the diligent makes rich. Should one step out of the Ship and attempt to walk on the Sea, having no warrant, but a spirit divi∣ded from the use of means, and from hearing, reading, meditating, praying? were not this a proud tempting of God?

3. Do not all the wretched and prophane, practically contradict God? the drunkard will draw, and pull by head and hair, influences to his drunken prayers; the swea∣rer, the oppressor, and the loos-liver will force influences to his empty faith, I believe and am saved; and there must be influences at these golden words, Jam. 2. 16. spoken to the naked and hungry, Depart in peace, be thou warmed and filled. There is some carnal fire and heat in their forma∣lities, and they look upon these influences of God and thank God for them, Luke 18. 11, 12. when as these influ∣ences are rather wrathful plagues of God, joyning with our sinful acting of hypocrisie, then favours and gracious con∣currences of God. But as to the lazie dispairing,

1. It was the peoples way, when they are exhorted to re∣pent, Jer. 18. 12. There is no hope, but we will walk after our own devices; and they were far from doing all, that men can doe, and praying night and day; they were stealing, mur∣thering, whoring, following false gods night and day, Jer. 7. 9. and yet they said they came to the Temple to pray and sacrifice night and day, ver. 10.

2. Is it not dreadful, that when God refuses to rain down influences on sleepers, and the Spirit breaths not upon dreamers, and men are resolved to doe no more, not to add a farthing more▪ for the field and the precious pearl Christ, if they perish, they must submit themselves to the will of God, they cannot force the Lord, nill he, will he, to save them? true, all the Reprobates that cry to hills and mountains to cover them, whether they will or no, they must refer themselves to the will of God; and this is a wicked chiding with God: if God will not save me by such actings, as may stand with mine ease and pleasure, let him destroy me; for Ile doe no more then I doe.

3. This is a murmuring, at the very marrow and flower of the Gospel, John 6. 43. Murmure not among your selves. Ver. 44. No man can come to me, except the Father that sent me draw him. Then are we enclined to make war with God, because he will not give us drawing influences, and bestows them upon some. Hence these Disciples gave over all use of means, ver. 66. Went back and walked no more with Jesus. What then shall they doe? they cannot force God to draw them: if the Lord will save us, its good; if not, we cannot mend it; we'l follow Christ and his new-Gospel no more.

4. Is it to you, fools, so approved a course to give over means, so blessed of God. If it can be made out, that the influences of God do so serve (in a manner) the instustry of men, then are ordinances and means not to be neglected. 1. Means used are the Lord's way of comming to us, and our way of coming to him,* 1.110 whether in the word preached, Acts 2. 36, 37. Acts 4. 4. Acts 10. 44. Acts 16. 14. John 4. 9, 10,—29, 30, 39, 40, 41, John 4. 50, 51. or in miracles or any other lawful way, 2. Because to some certain using of means in faith, there is a promise of an effectual blessing made, Pro. 2. My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my Commandments with thee. Ver. 2. So that thou encline thine ear unto wisedome. Ver. 5. Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God. Prov. 8. 17. I love them that love me, and they that seek me early, shall find me; John 3. 18. 36. John 5. 24. John 11. 25, 26, 27.

Prov. 3. 1, 2. Prov. 4. 20, 21, 22. 3. Neglect of means is dreadfully punished of God, Prov, 1. 24, 25, 26, 27. Prov. 5. 12. Prov. 6. 9, 10, 11. Luke 14. 16, 17, 18, 19. 10. 24. Hence the killing of the Prophets, and of the heir, is plagued with being cast out of the Vineyard, and the removal of the word of the Kingdom. 4. The assiduous using of means, and Jacob's wrestling in prayer all the night until day∣light, receiveth the influence of a blessing, and of the hear∣ing of the prayer in faith and feeling, Gen. 32. 26. 29. and it puts the soul in a nearest capacity to receive influences from God; love-sickness near the throne is near to influen∣ces of grace & glory, as sweet smelled herbs are near to such influences, so as presently they yield honey. Some refined earth curiously hardened by the influences of the Sun, is near to be turned unto fine gold, or choice silver; when we go about earthly business with half a heart or godly indif∣ferency, and with a distance from the Creature, we grow more heavenly and more disposed to receive the influences of God. But such a promise as this made to an unrenewed man yet in nature, this doe, and ye shall be converted, I read not; or let nature doe and grace follow; or let common grace begin, and the special grace of conversion shall follow.* 1.111 It cannot be proved by the word which Mr. Baxter saith, Appendix to his Aphorismes, answer to Obj. 10 11. pag. 260. That men would not accept Christ, and so believe for remission before their lives be reformed; and that Reformation of life must go before the belief or know∣ledge of pardon, though not before justifying faith.

For 1. This is to bid men keep a distance from holy Jesus, and not come at him, or touch him by faith, though the soul be humbly trembling before him; as the woman, Luk. 8. 47, 48. Mark 5. 33, 34. until they be holy and righte∣ous. It is very like to this, come not within sight of the Physician, by faith, until first you be healed and reformed, or come not to buy the fine linnen and the righteousness of the Saints, until first you be well cloathed with your own inherent righteousnesse: But who shall heal the sick, and cloath the naked sinner, if it be not Christ? Now Christ not believed in for pardon, is he at so huge a distance

from a sinner that he cannot heal, if never seen, and never touched by faith?

2. This is to bring in an inherent physical pardoning and justification by works; the Scripture knoweth not of any justification but one, and that is through the Redem∣ption which is in Christ Jesus.

3. What is meant by Reformation, whether halfe or whole, whether begun or compleat reformation of life? whole and compleat reformation there is none, while the end and departure out of this life; and so no man is to be∣lieve remission of sins, until they be going out of the body. This is the comfortless doctrine of Papists, never to know and be assured of the graces freely given us of God, as in 1 Cor. 2. 12. and that Christ is in us except we be repro∣bates, 2 Cor. 13. 5. and never to know that we have life eternal, and never to know that God hears us, and that we are of God, contrary to 1 John 5. 13, 14, 15, 19. until we be going out of the world: as if Paul and John, did write onely to comfort dying Corinthians, and believers; and none could be of good cheer, and love Christ much, know∣ing their sins were forgiven; none could have hope, joy unspeakable and full of glory, and know they know God, and are translated from death to life, because they love the Brethren, until they be expiring, contrary to Mark 5. 24. Matth. 9. 1, 2. Luk. 7. 47, 48, 50. Rom. 5. 2. Rom. 8. 18, 24. Col. 1. 5, 27. 1 Pet. 1. 5, 6. Matth. 5. 11, 12. 1 John 2. 3. 1 John 3. 14. as if the holy Ghost should comfort us, and bid us rejoyce at fancies and at Moon shines, which we have to day, and may loose to morrow. If he mean half and begun Reformation; it must be begun justification, begun regeneration, begun conversion, and believing sa∣vingly begun, but not compleat: Now men cannot reform their life, until they please God, Heb. 11. 5, 6. nor can Enoch reform his life and walk with God till he believe: and believing necessarily is a laying hold of Christ for par∣don, Acts 10. 43. Luk. 7. 50. Matth. 9. 1.

4. Nor can there be a continued tract of repentance, and begun reformation of life which is a work of the Gospel and New Covenant, not of the Law, except there be a hopeful

mourning for sin, and a looking to him by faith, whom we have pierced, Zech. 12. 10. nor is it godly sorrow working repentance to salvation never to be repented of, as 2 Cor. 7. 10, 11. which wants faith of salvation, and faith of salva∣tion in Christ without faith of pardon, yea or begun justi∣fication without faith of pardon, is unpossible. Nor can there be a bringing forth fruit in Christ as implanted in the Vine-tree (which is only reformation of life acceptable to God) while men be first, by faith, engrafted in Christ as branches, growing in him, John 15. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. nor walk∣ing in God's Commandments, while first the heart of stone be removed, and a new heart and a new spirit given, as Ezech. 36. 26, 27. Isa. 44. 1, 2, 3, 4. nor can we believe with justifying and saving faith, while we be born again, 1 John 5. 1, 4, 5. for if so, it were as much as the tree blossoms, grows, and brings forth fruit, ere it be planted, and the birth moves and stirs and receives seed and nou∣rishment in the womb, before it receive life in the womb. 3. Nor does the Scripture tell us of a premeriting of the faith of pardon and remission by a reformation of life, so as conversion, the Gospel, and accepting of Christ as Lord, and a tract of obedience was required of the Jaylor, of Ly∣dia, and of the Thief upon the Cross, before they believe. For accepting of Christ as Lord, is obeying of Christ, and faith in Christ, as saith Mr Baxter; and so Faith must be required before Faith, and Reformation of life, before Re∣formation of life; and so Mr. Baxter forbids us to believe and accept Christ, for our Lord and King, pardoning trea∣son, while first we have reformed our lives. Now to re∣form our lives Evangelically, (for of this he must mean) is to accept Christ as our Lord; that is, to doe Evangeli∣cally and live, to obey the new Law, and to perform new obedience to Christ. Hence he saith, ibid. pag. 28. I desire him to tell me, whether he can prove, that any mans sins are pardoned, before they have accepted Christ for their Lord? that is, before faith. If not, whether this be not the Sub∣jection of the soul to Christ to be governed by him, and so a heart-reformation. Now it may be told Mr. Baxter, that accepting of Christ as our Lord, pag. 285. That is to take

him both as our Saviour and to obey him, pag. 286. to be sub∣ject to him and obey him, and to square our actions according to his will. Now the actions are not one or two, but all our actions to our death; and so no man compleatly takes Christ for his Lord, and so no man compleatly believes, until death; and so the consolations of Christ must be as morally cold as the consolations of Solon, who said, no man can be happy while he die; and the comforts of Aristotle, no man is happy who may fall in the calamities of Priamus. Christ must make us glad of a painted nothing; Rejoyce and be glad, there is a great reward laid up for you in Heaven; rejoyce with joy unspeakable and glorious, nothing can separate you from the love of God; mountains and hills may be removed, but my love is more stable. But 1. Ye cannot be sure; therefore doubt and tremble. 2. Suppose you stand to day, and know that you know him, you may be, and thousands as happy as you are, to morrow limbs of Satan and eternally damned. Now if no man compleatly take Christ until he have consummated and perfected his obedience to the death, Christ's word to any, be of good chear, thy sins are forgiven, is but comfortless; for they are neither forgiven, nor half forgiven, until he hath taken Christ for his Lord, and wrought his days work to the end; and then, and ne∣ver till then, can he have comfort in his wages and in his work. 2. It may be answered the woman diseased of the bloudy issue, Mar. 5. 34. the woman who did wash Christ's feet with her tears, Luk. 7. 47, 48. so the man sick of the palsie, Matth. 9. 2. the justifyed by faith who have peace with God, David, Psal. 103. 3. the repenting man upon the Cross, Luk. 23. 42, 43. had their sins forgiven upon the te∣stimony of believing, without any testimony of their good works; and Scripture tells us not, that a Master bids his servant rejoyce with joy unspeakable and glorious, at the beginning and morning of his day, for at night, he shall have a rich reward, if such a servant, and millions of ser∣vants in his case, may fall and loose whole wage, for they doe but half work.

CHAP. XII.

1. The Soveraingty of God is wonderful in the various tempers of renewed ones. 2. In various influences. 3. In the desertions of the Saints under the Old and under the New-Testament. 4. In variety of de∣sertions of elect and reprobate, and God's various di∣spensations to them. 5. Q. What we may doe to wrestle out from under desertions? 6. Variety of temptations. 7. Rules for our behaviour under them, in order to Influences.

THe Soveraignty of God is much to be observed, in the Lord's manner of dispensing of grace;* 1.112 James and John are called being at their Nets, and 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 immediately they l'ave their father and follow him, Matth. 4. 21, 22. Matthew hears but one word, follow me, Matth. 9. 9. and he follows Christ. A gentle throw of the key opens Lydia's heart: the hearers of Peter, who had crucified the Lord of glory, are more violently rent and torn, as if the sharpest points, or the stings of many impoysoned Dragons and Scorpions, had been at once fastned in their hearts, Acts 2. 37.* 1.113 the way of Saul's coming with trembling and asto∣nishment, and blindnesse, and fasting, and praying three days, and the Jaylors down casting may witness, that the lock being more rusted and the iron blunted, Acts 9. 6. 7, &c. more strength is required for the opening of the door, then the Lord otherwise imployed; as some Di∣vels are cast out with a word, and go out with some sort of humble prayers not to be tormented before the time, Matth. 8. others throw the possessed in the midst, and almost kill the child, so as beholders say, he is dead, Mark 9. there is a certain kind, which is not cast out but by fasting and pray∣ing. So some are filled with the holy Ghost from the womb; and hardly can John Baptist, give an account of his conversion, as to the degrees of pangs of the new-birth,

the way and manner, the place, the Mathematical hour, of the holy Ghost's sliding in, on the heart; Nor must we think none are in John Baptist's case; for beside that God imploys some to, and for rare advantages, and gaining of souls to the Kingdom of Christ, shall there be nothing of the holy Ghost in multitudes of infants in Covenant with God, of which many die, as ripe, as if they were, an hun∣dred years old? only beware we take not a sweet tractable nature, to be the very holy Ghost, and a work of Infant∣conversion, such as was in John Baptist: and let not others cast themselves away, as not belonging to Christ, who yet are his, because they know not, such pangs and throwings of the new-birth, as Saul, the Jaylor, the converts who killed Christ, Acts 2. where the skin of the boyle is doubly thick, some more violence is required, and a sharper lance is made use of, to open the wound.

2. Some require milder influences as beng led all their time, with sweetness of peace. The Arches grieved Joseph sore, no man more moved from vessel to vessel; then he, and meek Moses was much tossed; and both for any thing we read, far from cursing the day, wherein they were born. There is a temper of solid walkers by faith, enjoying much peace, yet not acquainted with great Spring-tydes, nor with extreme low ebbs, of the outlettings of the holy Ghost. I speak not of Moses as a Prophet, who saw God, and whom the Lord knew face to face, Deut 34. 10.

3.* 1.114 Some are led through fewer slips and fals, as John the disciple who leaned on Jesus bosome; excepting his fall of Angel-worship, and some other few, he seems not to be so high bended as Peter, who in Satans place, disswaded Christ from the working of our Redemption, denyed the Lord with cursing, did fouly Judaize, Gal. 2.

4.* 1.115 And it were hard to make all the Prophets of Jonah's mould, whose fear to preach to great Niniveh was extreme, and yet his courage of faith, and patience to be cast in the Sea with his own advise and consent, was as great, and his cruel selfishness to desire that all Niniveh old and young, should be destroyed, rather then his prophetical honour should be darkned in the least, shews what a piece of man he

was, and his justifying his anger against God, for a blast of wind on his head, and the withering of a poor herb, a gourd, do all hold forth that God leads some, in a way of influences beside the rest. O how is our meek Lord trou∣bled, and (to speak so) cumbred to bear all our manners, sinful tempers, and humours.

5.* 1.116 Nor are all Saints of the altitude of Elias his zeal; a man much and wholly for God, and fervent in prayer, yet he seems to challenge more zeal to himself for the slain Pro∣phets, digged down Altars, broken Covenant, then was in the holy Lord himself; and so prays that God would take away his life, as if he were the last man of the true Church of God living on Earth; and yet we read in all his suffer∣ings, no apprehension of the anger and indignation of God, such as was in others.

6. None are so trailed through Hell and fiery indigna∣tion, as Job, David, Jeremiah, Heman; there appear in them some habitual mistakes of the love of God, or rather (be∣cause sinful acquired habits, are scarcely to be found in the renewed) more fixed inclinations, to apprehend wrathful∣ness, and Law-dispensation in God, and few are led this way; and the outlettings of influences of grace must be various here.

7. Neither should it be strange, if we might place, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and others in a seventh class, who had their own complainings; One saying, my leanness, my leanness; another fasting and walking in sackcloth for the sanctuaries desolation, and yet most submissive to the holy dispensations of God. In all which, another mans compasse is not our rule of sayling, nor is the Lord's various di∣spensation to his children, which is ordered by his decree and will of pleasure, not by his commanding and appro∣ving will, the Scripture rule that we are to follow, in look∣ing after Influences; Every one would submit to be orde∣red of God; he hath almost a various way of leading his own: if the same compleat ransome, the same Promises, the same Guide, and Steersman to Heaven be mine, and the same hope of glory; yet the manifestations of God, the love visits, the influences of grace are hardly the same.

Its then a faulty ground of some, never one was like me, none of my condition in the world, since the Creation. Every one thinks their own hell on earth, the only hell. 2. Nor should Christians be unwilling, to know the spiritual con∣dition one of another; you may fall upon some, in your very course and kind. Its like David, Psal. 71. 7. Heman, Psal. 88. 15. the suffering Church, Lam. 1. 12. Psal. 102. 6, 7. Elias, 1 King. 19. 10. Isaiah and Christ, and the chil∣dren of Christ, who were wonders and signs, Isa. 8. 18. Heb. 2. 13. who were there alone as worlds wonders, might judge themselves like no other (though the man Christ could not mistake his own spiritual estate) as to their case spiritual, and God's dispensation towards them.

8. The Soveraignty of God's dealing with consciences in the Old and in the New Testament is to be observed. It is not,* 1.117 1. To be denyed, but the desertions under the Law in some respect, were more fiery and legal; the typi∣cal dimness and darkness made them to see less love, and more Law, and lesse of Christ the seat of mercy, and more of the curse and of wrath, as the night darkness ren∣ders spirits and dreadful things more terrible. 2. It was the purpose of God to awe generally that people more with Law-fear, and bondage, then his people under the New Testament. But it is a wicked doctrine of some Anabaptists, and others, that all desertions are, under the N. Testament cried down and gone; and it is our legal mistake, say they, that works trouble of conscience, under the N. Testament, and an exercise of such as are under the Covenant of works; though it may be said law-sorrow pursued these of the Old Testament; but the Saints now are less passive and more active, in pursuing sorrow according to God, yet in another respect, because of greatness of light, and Gospel experiences, and a higher measure of illuminations, and spiritual presence in more abundance is promised and prophecied; As, that all shall be taught of God; the Earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord; the light of the Moon, shall be as the light of the Sun, and the light of the Sun as the light of seven days, Jer. 31. 31, 32, 33. Isa. 54. 11, 12, 13. Isa. 11. 6, 9. Ezec. 36. 26, 27. Isa. 44. 1, 2, 3, 4. Joel. 2. 28.

Zech. 12. 10. under the New Testament; therefore the desertion is the sadder. Thirst near to the fountain is more intollerable; so we read not in the N. Testament of one like unto Job. chap. 3. c. 6. c. 16. c. 19, nor of such as David, Psal. 6. Psal. 38. nor of Heman, Psal. 88. nor of the Church, Psal. 77. Psal. 102. yet is there nothing harder then that of Paul, 2 Cor. 1. we cannot say, whether it was his persecution at Ephesus, or some great sickness; yet it is a most sad tryal, ver, 8. 9. 1. We was pressed, out of mea∣sure. 2.* 1.118 Above strength. 3. In so much that we dispaired, even of life. 4. But we had the sentence of death in our selves, and what ever be the kind; for even Christ had so much the more sorrow, at the withdrawing influences of the comforts that immediately flowed from the God-head personally united, and this was Christ's hell in part; there∣fore we are to look upon desertions in the song of Solomon as prophetical, and relating to the desertions in the New Testament, in the which the rise of the grief is not so much from the apprehension of sin legally tormenting, as from the sense of the want of the sweet comforting presence of God, and of the wel-beloved Christ; yet there is as much in that of pain, as in any we read, Cant. 5. 6. I rose up to open to my beloved, my beloved had withdrawn himself, and had passed away; my soul went forth, because of his speech: Ainsworth, My soul was gone, and departed, that is, failed, fainted, I was even a dead woman through fear and grief; for death is the departing of the soul from the body, Gen. 33. 18. This though an Evangelical desertion, is as much as David saith, my moisture is turned into the drought of Summer, and as the waves of the Lord's wrath com∣ming over Heman; yea, and it is more painful to be thrust out of Heaven, and to be deprived of an high measure of enjoyed and felt love, and is a sadder torment then all the law-burnings, though they have in David and others some such love-sickness, which was ordinary to the Old Testa∣ment-dispensation; and these and the like the soul is more able to bear: that the habit and stock is rich, as Christ, from the personally indwelling God-head, was strong in his desertions peculiar to him; and the richer the habit of

grace be, the more able is the soul to stand out: the strong ship is more able to endure the storm, then the crazy and rotten vessel; a Giant is fitter for a battle with a Giant, then a Child is.

9. Some are kept in perfect peace whose minds are staid on the Lord, and being justifyed by faith have peace with God, Isa. 26. 2. Rom. 5. 1. There are two sorts of dispensations, one fundamental, another not fundamental; the former is the Lord's carrying on his begun work, which is to will and doe to the end in his ordinary course; the dispensa∣tion which is not fundamental, respects the Lord's way of doing, hic & nunc, in such circumstances, and the degrees of grace given or infused, which do not vary the spece, and nature of the work. We read not of Daniel's cursing the day he was born in, as Jeremy and Job doe; nor is there any shaddow of it in Joseph; yet nothing hinders but Job and Jeremy may and did at other times, enjoy sweet pre∣sence, and nearness to God.

But 1. We would not take extraordinary feasts to be dayly food; nor should we much wonder when a change cometh: but how do we chide, quarrel, complain, because it is not always so? Nor 2. Should we be rough, but com∣passionate to sick ones: its the Lord's way that all in the house should not be sick at once; but some are sick and some whole to wait on the sick, and all to bear one ano∣thers burthens; all the diseases of the house are not the same in kind and degree.

2. Some do all their life dwell in the borders of hell, and never have fair sayling, nor fulness of assurance, until they be upon the shoar; such have only Star-light, and are called to pure living by faith, Isa. 50. 10.

3. Some, once in all their life have one only remarkable night of wrestling with God, and prevail, as Jacob did; and some love so their prison that they take a sentence, à non judice, à non habente potestatem: the Law severed from Christ, is no judge at all to believers; the Law speaks to its own that are under the Law, Rom. 3. 19. the Jaylor can command none but his own prisoners.

4. Some are frequently taken into the house of Wine,

and to the Kings Chamber. And what changes there be, Cant. 2. cap. 3. c. 4, 5, 9. 1. v. 6. may be seen its cleer, and he that runs may read; felt love is not heritage to any. There is a huge difference between Cant. 2. 6. His left hand is under mine head, and his right hand doth embrace me; And that, I sought him, but I found him not, chap. 3. And that is a joyful feast, Cant. 5. 1. I am come unto my garden, my sister, my spouse, I have gathered my myrrhe with my spice: eat O friends, drink, yea drink abundantly, O beloved! And that again is a sad song, ver. 6. My beloved had withdrawn himself; I sought him, but I found him not; I called him, but he answered me not.

5. Some are all their life creeping children, yet saved: a sincere affection in Nicodemus consists with much igno∣rance, yet is not the faith rotten.

6. It belongs to soveraignty that the little vessels of small quantity hang upon Christ, as well as the great, Isa. 22. 24. and that the lambs, as well as the stronger of the flock, are cared for by him, Isa. 40. 11. and that the bruised reeds have their dependence on him.

7. To this head of soveraignty belong the various kinds of desertions;* 1.119 As 1. None are so deserted as the fallen Angels; they have done for ever and ever with all influ∣ences of grace, and are eternally outlaws from the Court of the King, who is head of principalities and powers, Jude ver. 6. reserved 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 in everlasting chains, &c. 2 Pet. 2. 4. O but the chains of Divels are fiery and hellish.

2. Next to them are reprobate men, who cast off Christ, and turn into Satans camp. No saving influences are due to such as are reprobate to good works. Ah, beware of habitual hating of Christ, and his house, dependers and seed: yet are there here degrees; for none are in that measure deserted or blasphemers of the holy Ghost.

3. Christ's desertion was extremely penal and brought out tears and strong cries, mixt with a curse; and only in∣fluences were suspended as touching vision and enjoyment or fruition, and the actual comforts of God; the crown in a manner was laid aside out of the eye and sight of the man

Christ, yet wanted he never influences. 1. For acts of love; Father remove. 2. For acts of faith; O my father remove. 3. For acts of praying more earnestly, Luk. 23. 44. O my father remove this cup. 4. For acts of witnessing a good confession before Pontius Pilate. 5. For acts of preaching the confessing man to Paradise with him; none are eter∣nally and cursedly deserted who can pray and hope, and believe in the furnace as Christ.

4. The redeemed of God are not all one and the same way deserted. 1. Some are extremely at under as Job, who apprehended that God did pursue him as an enemy, Job 13. 20. though Job and every believer be the friend of God, Jam. 2. 23. 2. The Spouses desertions are less, being conveyed with love-sickness;* 1.120 Magdalen hath no wakenings of conscience for sin, nor any positive agony or law-chal∣lenges, but only love desertion, she says with tears; They have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him. 3. Some are meer desertions as to the act of sin. God is angry at David, when God withdraws, so as he numbers the people, and commits adultery and murther: and Christ is angry at Peter's pride when he suffers him to deny his Master; but neither David and Peter feels any an∣ger from the Lord in such withdrawings of gracious influ∣ences; but its so much the worse, the man is wounded in his sleep, and many moneths and days after the wounds bleed. O what trembling at holy soveraignty, why deadness to duties should come on David, not on Asa. On David at this time, not at another time: Hence a case may be, Whether absence of the Lord in his influences may be meer and only love sickness for him whom the soul loves, or also absence with conscience of sin?

Ans. The predominant may be sickness only for the want of Christ; as in the Spouse, Cant. 2. and in Magdalen, Joh. 20. I say the predominant, because we cannot say, that God withdraws in his outlettings of grace, but there is guiltiness in the Spouse so made sick because of his absence, and with Magdalen's sickness for Christ there appeareth a doting too much on the man Christ, Joh. 20. 13. I know not where they have laid him. Ver. 15. I will take him away.

Ver. 17. Touch me not. When we are too bent upon Christ as a Comforter, not as Christ, its just with God we be pained and sick with the want of him; and that we seek him and find him not, so spiritual ought we to be under the pain of absence.

2. But its cleer in the man Christ, there is paining, with drawing, and forsaking on the Lord's part; Why hast thou forsaken me? and neither sin nor conscience of sin, nor any hazard of love-sickness after God's near embracings, but upon the due account; for Christ could not idolize God as comforting.

Q. What may we doe to wrestle out from under de∣sertions? Ans.* 1.121 Distinguish these three.

1. Gracious withdrawing from whence cometh sin and un∣lelief.

2. The frowning of God, and hiding of his face.

3. The penal sorrow and smarting under his absence.

As to the First; Its lawful to plead and pray against withdrawings as they necessarily bring in sin; the more gracious the temper is, we shall pray more earnestly a∣gainst the least sin then against the most fiery hell.

As to the Second which is the frowning of God; 1. The nature of a child saith, its lawful to weep when the Father is angry. 2. Inherent grace and the sparkles of the image of God cannot endure well that eternal favour should be hid. 3. The nature of faith and of love to God will say, that the man should be saddened when the love of God is either hid or provoked. 4. The practice of the Saints saith so much, Job 13. 24. Wherefore hidest thou thy face? Psal. 13. 1. How long wilt thou hide thy face from me? 5. His shining is desirable; O send day light. Psal. 31. 16. Make thy face to shine upon thy servant. Psal. 80. 3, 7, 19. 6. Its lawful to deprecate the anger of God. Psal. 79. 5. How long Lord, wilt thou be angry, for ever? and especially a gracious heart is sadned most at the outgoings of wrath against prayer, Psal. 80. 4. in which the Mediator, and the precious name of God, in a manner, seem to suffer, Psal. 42. 3, 10.

Psal. 83. 1, 2, 3. Isa. 52. 5. Exod. 32. 11, 12. Josh. 7, 8, 9. 7. Hardly can a natural spirit lay to heart, yea or know that God is angry,* 1.122 as a child of God can doe; as its all one to a man in a dark pit under the earth whether it be day-light or mid-night; the one doth not comfort him, nor the other sadden him.

As to the Third; Its a great deceit that we more penally smart at the absence of the Paradise of comforting pre∣sence, then at the want of real communion with God; this should calm the heart notwithstanding the pain of the absence of God as a comforter, that we believe his unfelt love and care, as a God in Covenant. Mic. 7. 7. I will look unto the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation, my God shall hear me. Ver. 8. When I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me.

2. The Lord, as is elsewhere said, in a course of sove∣raignty deserting, will not come until his own time come; as some Feavers must have their own course of natural mo∣tion, so that the man shall sweat out of the tertian Ague by length of time: if you should use all the medicine of the Earth, yet this forbids not art and industry altogether, to help nature. So Christ under the stroke of soveraign ju∣stice prays and was heard in that which he feared, Heb. 5. 7. believed, hoped, and so overcame, Rev. 3. 21.

And because Soveraignty hath a special hand in tempta∣tions,* 1.123 we are to take heed to temptations to weaken us in duties; as Master, pity thy self. 2. Sometime Satan tempts to duties, to pray when we should hear. 3. Sometime to gross carnal sins, fall down and worship me; and sometimes to spiritual fins, If thou be the Son of God, command these stones to be made bread. 4. Sometimes to duties in the ex∣cess; as for Timothy to drink water, the incestuous man to mourn until he be swallowed up of grief, 2 Cor. 2. 5. Sometimes Satan tempts himself to goe out that he may more tempt, and return with seven divels worse then him∣self. 6. Sometimes he tempts by a boysterous imperious u∣surpation. Job is mine, he serves God for hire. All hy∣pocrites are Satan's, Job. 1. 7. Sometime he tempts to law∣ful liberties, to ear, setting the Law of nature in opposition

to the divine positive-law, Gen. 3. The tree is good for meat; then God and Nature ordained it for food. In all which, holy Soveraignty gives influences natural to the tem∣pter; nor will he have us to question his Soveraignty. 2. Nor would he have us to make either his giving or his with∣drawing of influences our rule. And 3. In all our actings he would have us to tremble; What if providence put a cross bensil or byas on the heart, what can influences not doe to hasten a Judas to his place, though the holy Lord remains spotless and free? 4. There is much need of that, lead us not into temptation. 5. Had the Gold will and rea∣son, it oweth thanks to the Goldsmith, though he burn and melt it, because he removes the drosse. Its true, the Physi∣cian lames and wounds particular nature, when he opens a vein; but he saves the whole body thereby, and the sick person ows him thanks. Were there no more but these ex∣cellent influences that act in temptations, as to their preci∣ous fruits, to wit, the humbling of the tempted sinner, the discovery of latent corruption, of the wiles of Satan, the praise and glory of his grace who knows how to counter-work (in a manner) his own influences, and doth invisibly uphold his own children, under these temptations; the Lord is here to be loved and adored, as wonderfull in counsel and excellent in working.

CHAP. XIII.

1. Of striving against Soveraignty. 2. Some striving is lawful. 3. A gracious behaviour it is to be woe at God's forsaking. 4. To repine at Soveraignty in hearing or not hearing of prayer. 5. Contradicting. 6. Murmuring. 7. Counter-working of Soveraignty is dreadful. 8. Opposing the operations of the Spirit. 9. Dispairing. 10. Reproaching proud disputing. 11. Submission to want of influences. 12. What way the Lord recompenseth desertions. 13. Closing with influences of the Law-rebukes.

ELihu most gravely speaketh, Job 33. 13. Why dost thou strive with him, for he gives not an account of any of his matters? The word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 is to strive and contend in words only, as Mercerus and Pagnin, either in judgement or out of judgement, jurgare. And its strange that any dare chide or scold with the soveraign Lord.

But 1. Jacob's striving and wrestling in a holy willful peremptoriness in praying, the Lord being on Jacob the wrestlers side really to bear him up by his grace, is a lawful striving.

2. There is a difference betwixt a meer temptation and a threatning. The woman of Canaan strives not against Christ's not answering her one word, Matth. 15. what? he is master of his own Answers. When Christ says, I came not but for the lost sheep of the house of Israel, she strives not; he is Master of his own journey from Heaven to Earth; yet that Answer weakens her not in the duetie of praying, and worshipping. But when she is reproached as to her interest in Christ, Its not meet to take the childrens bread and to give it to dogs, she mildly, yet in the bold∣ness of faith contradicts Christ: suppose Christ out of his own mouth should deny a child of God to be a child of God, there is place for a holy striving and contradicting of him.

3. It is a gracious behaviour in the man Christ,* 1.124 that he is affected with grief for the Lord's forsaking, and expres∣seth it with tears and strong cries, Heb. 5. Should not the child weep, when the father is angry? 2. The privation of the greatest good, such as the overclouding of the Lord's favour, is a due cause of sadness; Woman, why weepest thou, saith the Angel to Magdalen? why weep I? they have taken away my Lord. 3. It wants not reason I weep, for my father is dead; there is my mothers grave, she is very new buried, therefore I weep; all my goods are taken away, and therefore I weep; yet the Lord hath forsaken me, and I weep not; that is dreadful. So Job, Jeremiah, David, Hezekiah, are sadly afflicted, when the Lord seems angry.

4. There is a soveraignty in hearing or not hearing of prayer,* 1.125 against which we must not strive. 1. Sometime the unwritten bill is answered, Isa. 65. 24. and the Lord yields to our blank papers, and subscribes them. 2. Some times he hears the dumb mans signs, and his breathing, instead of his praying, Isa. 38. 14, 20. Lam. 3. 56. Psal. 6. 8. Psal. 102. 19, 20. 3. Sometimes the Lord hears, and sends the message of deliverance, but we hear not, nor doe we know or feel that he hears, Psal. 18. 4, 5, 6. compared with ver. 16. Dan. 10. 12. one crying for comfort may be heard and not comforted. Isa. 66. 13, 14. As one whom his mo∣ther comforts, so will I comfort you, and ye shall be comforted. And when ye see this, your heart shall rejoyce, and your bones shall flourish like a green herb.

5. The clays (no) and the great Potters (ay) and vain mans (I will) and the Almighties (I will not) are most unsutable.* 1.126 Isa. 29. 16. Shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed, say of hint that framed it, He hath no understanding? Rom. 9. 20. Who art thou, O man, that replyest against God? Isa. 45. 9. Woe to him that striveth with his Maker: Let the potsheard strive with the potsheards of the earth: shall the clay say to him that fashio∣neth it, What makest thou? or thy work, He hath no hands? Jer. 18. 6. O house of Israel, cannot I doe with you as the pot∣ter, saith the Lord? behold, as the clay is in the potters hand,

so are ye in my hand, O house of Israel. Humble speaking to God doth well become us. Abraham excuses his con∣trary pleading with God, Gen. 18. 27. Behold, now I have taken upon me to speak, who am but dust and ashes. Ver. 30. Oh, let not my Lord be angry, and I will speak, v. 32. Job 42. 3. Therefore have I uttered that I understood not, things too wonderful for me, that I knew not.

3. Beware of murmuring and angry and fretting words against God;* 1.127 Exod. 14. 11. Were there no graves in Egypt? Exod. 15. 24. Exod. 16. 2. Numb. 14. 2, 27. and much more. Its dreadful to contend with the Almighty; and for so small a thing as a drink of water, and for a piece of flesh, should we fall a pleading with the soveraign Lord?

4. Especially we should not counter-work the uncontrou∣lable providence of God; for that is to give the Lord bat∣tle, and to lead an army against him: as Isa. 9. 10. The bricks are fallen down, but we will build them with hewen stones; the Sycamores are cut down, but we will change them unto Cedars.

5. There be divers kinds of striving with the Almighty; such are they who blasphemously oppose the shining and convincing power of the Spirit in Christ casting out divels, Matth. 12. such are they who gnash with the teeth and spit upon the shining beauty of godliness in Steven, Acts 7. and kick against pricks as persecutors doe, Acts 9. who if they had the Father and Spirit incarnate, as the Son was, would crucifie both, and would, were it in there blasphemous power, crucifie the God-head; whereas meek yielding to the actings and flowings of the Spirit in others, says there must be much of the Spirit there; for the Spirit cannot but love the Spirit.

6. Despairing stoutly of mercy and the power of grace is of this sort; when Cain, Judas, and others defie Omnipo∣tency and infinite mercy to save them, and spitefully hate the influences of saving grace, and say, mercy cannot save me; the compleat ransome of the bloud of God can∣not buy me from the second death: To this we may re∣duce a lazie despairing; what if I be never saved, I can, I will doe no more? The people are bidden return; nay,

there is no hope (say they,) Jer. 18. 12. but we will walk after our own devices.

7. There is here, the fainter reproaching of Omnipo∣tency, as if God were weary and not able to bring back the captive people, Isa. 40. 27, 28. Hence the Lord must prove his Omnipotency by that rare piece the curtain of Heaven stretched out, and a measuring line drawn over the Earth, Isa. 51. 14, 15. Isa. 50. 2, 2.

8. There is a proud disputing with God when we dare give in a bill against God. 1. Ah, he takes me for his enemy. 2. He hath left off to be gracious; An ungracious God is no God. O the pride of a tempted mind that dare oppose the very existence of God.

3. Some say, God hath need to be instructed to govern the world better, otherwise what needed that be said by Isa. 40. 13. Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord, or be∣ing his counsellour, hath taught him? Ver. 14. With whom took he counsell, who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgement, and taught him knowledge, and shewed him the way of understanding? Or what needs that Job 21. 22. Shall any teach God knowledge? seeing he judgeth things that are high. What a God is an unknowing God, who needs a lesson from the creature, or from some higher God? and then who taught that other God who is supposed to be higher then the most high? what a carnal mind is this that chaseth the Almighty God out of the world?

4. What doe they who curse the day, the stars, the twi∣light, the birth? as Job chap. 3. A gracious heart saith, let the Lord be the Lord, and closes with all the attributes of God, and with all the influences of Omnipotency, wise∣dome, goodness, and justice on men, and of love, mercy, grace, bounty, forbearance to the Saints, and to their own soul; this is to sing mercy, and to sing judgement: whereas its a note of Atheisme to wish and vote out of the world God, his attributes, and all the acting and influences of mercy, justice, truth, grace, soveraignty, and to say, Its not the Lord, the Lord can neither doe good, neither can be doe evil, Zeph. 1.

8. So would we beware to fight with the Lord's dispen∣sations

of grace; he is Lord and Soveraign disposer of his own comforts: whether we look upon comforts as duties commanded, 2 Thes. 5. 17. Jer. 31. 15. or as a reward of duties from the Lord, Rom. 15. 4. Psal. 27. 14. 2 Thes. 2. 16. Isa. 66. 13, 14. he is the Lord of all influences to work in us to will and to doe, and Master of his own rewards. The Lord is Master of his own love-visits, and is neither debtor to the man Christ, nor to the elect Angels; yea, the Lord's saving influences go along with his free decree of E∣lection; and look as the Lord of nature preserves the speces of Roses,* 1.128 of Vine-trees, though this or that individual rose or vine-tree may wither and be blasted; so he holds on the work of believing, praying, of hoping, and persevering to the end; though there may be a miscarrying in this or that particular act of faith, and some deadness in praying, hic & nunc. And as in a great work of a water-mill, some one of the wheels may be broken, and yet the Mill is kept a going, and the Ship still under sayl, though some instru∣ment, or other be wanting and laid aside for a while: So when there is a withdrawing of feeling of a presence in praying, as Cantic. 5. 6. I called him, but he an∣swered me not; yet influences flow in another duty of praising, ver. 10. My Beloved is white and ruddy, and the chief among ten thousand; And when there are withdraw-drawings of God, as touching vigourousness of believing, Why art thou disquieted, O my soul? &c. yet are there very large outlettings of God in love-sickness and strong desires after the Lord, Psal. 42. 2. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God. So is it that some River which floweth a far other way, in a new cutted out Channel, the former being dried up. So the bloud runs in another vein, and still furni∣sheth strength to the body: nor is there cause to complain, as if all strength were gone; for when the afflicted man eats ashes for bread, and drinks tears, & the heart is withered as grass, and the mans bones are burnt as an hearth, Psal. 102. the flood breaks out in another corner. Ver. 12. But thou, O Lord, shalt endure for ever; and thy remembrance unto all ge∣nerations. V. 19. He looks down from Heaven. 20. To hear the groaning of the Prisoner: to loose them that are appointed for

death. There is some spiritual compensation in the Lord's forbidding the wind to blow in one earth, when it strongly blows in another. Some deadned deserted ones are much meekned and made to speak out of the dust, and fed and fatned also with hunger; yea, if it were but lying at the gate of Christ and knocking, though no answer at all be re∣turned, it hath much of Christ in it, in other considerati∣ons; deadness may be on, and want of holy vigorous act∣ing of faith, and yet spiritual complainings; yea and with the complainings fervent praying, Psal. 119. 25. My soul cleaveth unto the dust: quicken thou me according to thy word. Ver. 28. My soul melteth for heaviness, strengthen me accor∣ding to thy word. Ye would judge righteously of the Lord, and see whether or no ye complain without cause; for though there be fainting, yet there is hoping, Psal. 119. 81. My soul fainteth for thy salvation, but I hope in thy word. Some children are always malecontent and still weeping, nothing in the house can please them: its the fault of some greedy wretches, who have abundance, and yet still com∣plain of want. It were good to turn our censuring of the Lord's providence into complaining of our own evil hearts, it follows humble and diligent obedience, that hath sweetness of submission, Psal. 119. 165. Great peace have they that keep thy Law and nothing shall offend;* 1.129 or (as the word is) stumble their feet There is a heart-covenanting with God, when the man saith, God shall doe nothing that shall stumble me; his killing of me, his casting me out of his presence, into hell shall not offend me, Job 1. 22. 2 Sam. 16. 10. The man Christ could be broken or offended at nothing, whether the traytor sell him, or the disciples for∣sake him, or the Jews apprehend him, or the souldiers spit on his face, or Pilate condemn him, or the people nod the head, shoot out the lip, and mock him; there is nothing can break Christ, but the Scriptures must be fulfilled in Christ's sufferings. If the Lord slay Aaron's sons, Aaron holds his peace. Let me be rained upon with showres of influences from Heaven, or let my fleece be dry, and let me be a bottle in the smoke, yet there is no unrighteousness with God, and in him is no darkness. Ah, I am dead, but the

Lord guides well; ah he is a Lion to me, and a Leopard; but the Lord is good to the soul that waits for him. The man that stumbles least at the sins of others and their falls, is the man nearest to God's heart. Psal. 18. 18. They prevented me in the day of my calamity. They wronged me, ver. 25. But I kept my self from my iniquity: and what can ye say against his withdrawings, will ye make it a quarrel that he hides his face? there is a deep of soveraignty between the Lord's withdrawing from Hezekiah, and Hezekiah's pride. God hardens Pharaoh's heart, and Pharaoh hardens his own heart, Joshua 11. 19, 20. Isaiah 57. 17. Psalm 81. 11, 12.

Qu. But what shall be done under deadness?

Ans. 1. If there be any life, life helps life; the one part of the worm acts upon the other to bring forth a motion of life.

2. Ye have no more reason to chide him for blasting your heart with withering, then that the Lord sends a wind upon the Rose, and dries it up, and the grace of it is gone.

3. Meddle not with his part but complain of your part; let his soveraignty alone and confess your own guiltiness; Isa. 64. 6, 8. there is a confession of our sin. But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and withal an acknowledgment of his Soveraignty, we are the clay and thou our potter.

4. When the Lord withdraws, seek again and again, be sick after him, Cant. 3. 1, 2, 3. Cant. 7. 6, 7, 8. Joh. 20. 1, 2, 3, 13. and know that Christ is never so absent, but there may be also much cause of praising and humble blessing God, if there be love-sickness for him, hunger after him, and a spiritual missing of him, as there is reason to com∣plain of the withdrawing of his influences; For Cant. 3. when Christ is absent, he is not absent; the soul is shined upon when the soul is overclouded,* 1.130 for it is noon-day at mid-night; he is absent as to feeling, as to finding, and quiet enjoying. I sought him, but I found him not; and again, I sought, him, but I found him not: but he is strongly present and shining, as to influences of grace. 1. In painful seeking in the bed by night, Cantic. chap. 3. ver. 1.

2. In and about the broad streets and ways, v. 2. 3. In using publick means; watch-men, saw ye him? v. 3. 4. In using other means in private. I went a little further. 5. In holy missing. I found him not, v. 1. I found him not, v. 2. In holy finding, v. 4. I found him. 6. And all the while his presence is mighty in the soul-love to him. I sought him whom my soul loved, four times expressed, v. 1. v. 2. v. 3. v. 4. so that the gleaning is better then the full harvest, the mid-night absence hath as many sweet priviledges as the noon days presence. A sinners seeking, loving, and longing and languishing after lost Christ is Heaven upon Earth; his pawns he leaves behind him are rich and sweet; nor can one be out of Heaven in a better desertion then missing and seeking the face of Jacob's God, Psal. 24. 6. Psal. 27. 8. Jer. 50. 4. so groundless often is our complai∣ning that we want Christ, that Christ guides and tutors us badly, that he mis-guides rather. Ah, how sinfully que∣rulous are we? he does all things well, his absence is pre∣sence, his frownings sweet and profitable. Yet is not this spoken to cool our fervour of seeking when we misse him, and find him not, but rather we are to go on; not to say any thing of Law-smiting and of Law-firings of the soul under apprehended wrath, especially that which hath Go∣spel-hope, and Gospel-sickness after Christ conjoyned with them;* 1.131 Rom. 7. The Law slew me. The Law kills no man who is under Christ out of hand, yea to such as are under grace somewhat of the Gospel-heaven cleaves to the Law-hell. Its a miracle how some are burnt with the Law, slain with the terrors of God, wounded with the arrows of the Al∣mighty, and yet are green in the surnace; as Job c. 6. c. 7. 20. I have sinned, what shall I doe to thee, O thou preserver of men? Ver. 21. Why dost thou not pardon my transgression, and take away my iniquity? To strive with the Law were to strive with God; so do Divels and reprobates for eternity wrestle with the Law-justice and the Law-curse: grace teacheth meek assenting to the Law as good and spiritual; neither Christ nor any of his live at ods and variance with the Law. Indeed to the Saints the Law is, as they say of Elements, They exist not in their purity but with some mixture;

For the Law to believers is managed by Christ, and in his hands made use of for saving ends, even when the believer is in the Law-furnace; nor is there any who could guide & make so good use of the Law as Jesus Christ. Some there are, that one nights waking under the terrors of the Law would make an end of them, if invisible Gospel strength were not furnished to them; and here there must be a mixture of Law-influences, and of Gospel impressions of Christ upon the spirit. It speaks much grace in Josiah, 2 Kings 22. 19. to feel and suffer, with softness and tenderness of a meek∣ned and a tamed heart, the smart and pain of the influ∣ences of the threatning Law. And its prevalency of grace for Hezekiah, Isa. 39. to stoop to the like and to say, good is the word of the Lord, even the word of a curse, Deut. 28. of threatning the saddest evils: as to kick like a fatted horse and to spurn at such impressions of wrath born in upon the conscience in Pharaoh, Exod. 10. 28. in Achab, 1 Kings 22. 26. in the Priests, Prophets, and People, Jer. 26. 8. of the chief Priests and Pharisees, Matth. 21. 45, 46. does proclaim much gracelesness of an undanted and unplowed heart: where there is any ingredient of Gospel-grace, there is a coming down and a stooping to the influences of God, of what kind soever,* 1.132 yea and generally a gracious spirit dare no more resist and pray against the Lord's will of pleasure or purpose in its event, then against any part of the revea∣led will of God or the will of precept, either Law or Go∣spel. The disciples were to watch and pray against the de∣creed and prophecied scattering of the flock, and their flee∣ing and forsaking of Christ, Matth. 26. 31, 32, 38, 41. but there can no case be given, in which we may resist the ap∣proving will of God in his word; that then must be a sweet conformity with God, when the heart sweetly closes with impressions of rebukes, threatnings, convictions, and influ∣ences of Evangelick commands. Its good earth that easily yields and cedes to the breakings and tillings made by the Plough;* 1.133 let the word act as the Lord will, in all its kinds, and the soul says amen: but the ground that breaks the Irons of the tilling Plough is convinced to be rocky and barren: every string of the harp beaten on by the hand of

the Musician, gives a resound like it self; a Bell of silver hath an other sort of excellent sound then a Bell of Brass or Iron: the gracious heart answers to every letter and im∣pression of the word, to the promise with faith, to the pre∣cept with pliableness of obedience, to the threatning with softness and godly trembling; for all the Word and Law and the several parts thereof are written and engraven in the heart; and the gracious heart is a double or a second copy of the Old and New Testament. So Achab on the contrary meets every word from Micaiah with hatred, and there is a resound and an echo of hatred and persecution which in the Pharisees meets the words of rebuke in Christ's mouth, and bitterness in Herod resounds when John Baptist does rebuke his incest, and adultery. Take it for a sad condition when there is a practical contrariety and hatred betwixt the heart and the word of the Lord; a heart loathing of the word and a rejecting thereof is dreadful; whereas the esteeming of the word sweeter then the honey or the honey comb, more then thousands of sil∣ver and gold, the mans treasure, his heritage, his souls de∣light and love night and day, his work, meditation, study, wisedom, do proclaim much of the new creation; the word being the seed of the new birth,* 1.134 and new creations must love the mother seed, its own native beginning, as the streams are of the same nature and likeness with the foun∣tain: the Word tries all mens hearts, see Joh. 7. 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46. Luk. 4. 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 28, 29. Acts 2. 12, 13, 37, 38, 39. Acts 7. 54, 55, &c. Acts 13. 38, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46. Acts 14. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, &c. Acts 17. 34, 35, 36. Some believe, some mock, the natural man cannot close with the word.* 1.135

Now Christ is given as a Leader and Commander to the people, Isa. 55. 4. charge him not as a misleading and a rash guide because he carries you through a wildernesse where there is neither flood nor fountain on the Earth, nor dew or rain from Heaven; you are withered and no influ∣ences come from him, let faith complain of the barrenness of the Earth but justifie the driness of the clouds: its the wisedom of God that teacheth the believer to weep be∣cause

he wants rain and moistness and is sinfully dry; and yet to submit to him who denies rain, and dew; for he gives not, here upon just grounds and holily; I want, de∣servedly for my just demerit.

Notes

• * 1.1

  God intended that no man should be sa∣ved by the law.
• * 1.2

  True liberty. Grace loves to be restrained from doing evil.
• * 1.3

  That the first Adam was to pray for per∣severance, is not clear.
• * 1.4

  Adam was to rely on God for perseve∣rance, but as promised by the covenant of works.
• * 1.5

  Our grace in the second A∣dam choicer then that in the first.
• * 1.6

  The Lords in∣fluences in all.
• * 1.7

  Divers write, and assert, there is not such a thing i∣maginable as the Lord's in∣vincible prede∣termination of second causes; but its but a simple denial of the conclu∣sion. Let any man show me how the Lord's sove∣raign domini∣on in procu∣ring all the a∣ctings of An∣gels, and Men, and of natural causes to be, or not to be as pleaseth the Soveraign Lord, who doth what he will in Heaven and Earth, can stand unhurt, (and stand it must) if ye re∣move the Lords insupe∣rable prede∣terminating thereof, or some act like this by which all must come to passe or not come to passe, as holy Sove∣raignity will, and I shall be silent; the arguments for his Dominion being answered according to Scripture and sound reason disp. Scholas. de providentia. Exercit. apolo. pro gratai divian. Christs dying and drawing.
• * 1.8

  Infinite almost influences of God.
• * 1.9

  We look not spiritually on influences.
• * 1.10

  What influ∣ences are.
• * 1.11

  Influences of God are suita∣ble to Gods end.
• * 1.12

  Influences of God for nil∣ling and wil∣ling most rare and excellent.
• * 1.13

  How Christ and the promi∣sed Spirit must be the causes of gracious in∣fluences.
• * 1.14

  We are to be∣lieve that he who purcha∣sed by his merit the habit of grace, shall give suita∣ble influences, and to fear also our pro∣pension to fall.
• * 1.15

  The promise of influences in Christ.
• * 1.16

  Necessity of influences.
• * 1.17

  Reasons of renewed influ∣ences.
• * 1.18

  The first Adam might want influ∣ences, the se∣cond cannot.
• * 1.19

  Satans actions always desti∣tute of influ∣ences.
• * 1.20

  How God withdraws in∣f••uences in particular acts hic & nunc, and yet hath promised to bestow influ∣ences on the regenerate by promise.
• * 1.21

  The Lord acts on us by his influences, but we act not on him.
• * 1.22

  How we can∣not pray away desertion and the trying withdraw∣ings, & yet are we to pray submissively for the remo∣val of deserti∣on, and are to pray against withdrawings.
• * 1.23

  The Lord's withdrawing makes not the holy one the author of sin nor destroys liberty.
• * 1.24

  The cause why God is not chargea∣ble with the act of disobedi∣ence, and man is chargeable.
• * 1.25

  How we in∣terpretatively yield to the want of influ∣ences of grace and sin for∣mally in the same act.
• * 1.26

  Our interpre∣tative wanting of influences and our for∣mal sinning in the same act, further clear'd.
• * 1.27

  The soveraign∣ty of God is de∣stroy'd by Pela∣gians to the end they may exa't mans Free-will.
• * 1.28

  Of our acts and spiritual duties under the spiri∣tual withdraw∣ings of God. Something of the state of the question.
• * 1.29

  Our inability to do duties, when the Spirit withdraws, loo∣seth us not from a moral obligation to perform the duties.
• * 1.30

  Aug. Epist. 89. Jubet Deus continentiam & dat conti∣nentia: Jubet per Legem, dat per Gratiam; jubet per Lite∣ram, dat per Spiritum. Dif∣ferences be∣twixt the com∣mand and the influences of the spirit clear that it is not formally sin to pray under withdrawings of influences of grace.
• * 1.31

  Ʋnder the ceasing of actu∣al breathing we are to stir the remainders of the Seed of God.
• * 1.32

  We are to doe our part in du∣ties under withdrawings.
• * 1.33

  Grace swee∣tens duties.
• * 1.34

  What Sove∣raignty is, and how it differs from omnipo∣tency.
• * 1.35

  Soveraignty is to be adored in the hardest conditions.
• * 1.36

  We storm more at permissive providences then at our own permitted sins.
• * 1.37

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉
• * 1.38

  They are most graciously a∣ctive to doe the will of God, who are most graciously pas∣sive to suffer his will, and on the contrary.
• * 1.39

  The unsearcha∣bleness of the Lord's dispen∣sation into the eternal stand∣ing and falling of Angels and Men.
• * 1.40

  Its vain to de∣termine that the providence of never sinning is choicer, then the providence of the inbring∣ing of Christ God-man to die for sinners.
• * 1.41

  As Mr. Baxter.
• * 1.42

  The rightous∣ness of God through faith is incompara∣bly above our inherent righ∣teousness.
• * 1.43

  Isa. 42. 1, 2. Isa. 53. 11. Matth. 3. 17. Matth. 17. 5.
• * 1.44

  John 3. 16. John 15. 13. Tit. 3. 45. Isa. 62. 2, 3. Eph. 3. 10. 1 Pet. 1. 12.
• * 1.45

  Its a more ••mi∣nently declara∣tive glory which is brought forth in the second Adam, nor possibly could have been in the full and fi∣nal obedience of the first A∣dam.
• * 1.46

  Not to sin by no Scripture is choicer then to seek pardon in Christ's bloud.
• * 1.47

  By justification we are not only negatively freed from guilt & wrath but also posi∣tively righte∣ous.
• * 1.48

  Inherent righ∣teousness in glo∣ry is not the compleat and adequate end of Gospel ju∣stification; or of the Lord's Gospel-dispen∣sation in com∣manding us to believe and be holy.
• * 1.49

  How spiritual service to doe all because of the holy will of the Lord.
• * 1.50

  We are not to struggle with permissive pro∣vidence, its not our Rule, but to be low, be∣cause of the deep results of that provi∣dence, our own permitted sins.
• * 1.51

  The soul-hum∣bling thoughts that should flow from holy Soveraignty.
• * 1.52

  The number of things possible, and impossible, that are to fall out, or exist, is under holy So∣veraignty.
• * 1.53

  The connection of things of which the ex∣tremes never shall come to pass, as also the existence and co-exi∣stence of things must be under the holy Sove∣raignty of God.
• * 1.54

  Soveraignty shines in means and end, things of rare provi∣dence and ju∣stice, in admi∣nistration of means of sal∣vation to some, not to others.
• * 1.55

  Soveraignty is eminent in hol∣ding of possible evils, and in determining the measure of sufferings.
• * 1.56

  The due time∣ing of things is from Sove∣raignty.
• * 1.57

  Q. Whether, and in what sense God can create things in better or worse case.
• * 1.58

  1 Sam. 2. 7. Psal. 75. 6.
• * 1.59

  The shift of complaining of want of influ∣ences is refu∣ted.
• * 1.60

  Who ever flat∣teringly com∣plain of the want of influ∣ences of grace, hate these in∣fluences.
• * 1.61

  Nature cannot complain of the want of gracious influ∣ences.
• * 1.62

  We are not to seek Influences of life separa∣ted from the word.
• * 1.63

  Calvin Com. 119. v. 28. abs{que} verbo nobis fuget dei potentia.
• * 1.64

  Omnipotency joyned with the Word saves.
• * 1.65

  Influences of God as Crea∣tor only cannot save us.
• * 1.66

  How we may lawfully com∣plain of with∣drawing of In∣fluences of grace; and how we may lawfully desire Influences.
• * 1.67

  The faultiness in not praying is not because the holy Spirit moves us not to pray, but be∣cause we stir not up our selvs to pray.
• * 1.68

  This (I will not pray untill the Lord first breath on me by his Spirit) is a wide mis∣take.
• * 1.69

  The precept chargeth us to obey as rational creatures not as disposed or indisposed.
• * 1.70

  What a delusi∣on there is in not praying till the Lord breath on us.
• * 1.71

  There is no con∣tradiction be∣twixt our phy∣sical indispositi∣on to pray, or to other duties and our moral obligation to perform these duties.
• * 1.72

  Both a spiritu∣al disposition may be on, and a conscience of obedience to pray at one time.
• * 1.73

  We are to act duties before we feel the a∣ctings of the Spirit.
• * 1.74

  Preparation before prayer.
• * 1.75

  To wait upon the breathings of the Spirit, how it is law∣ful, how not.
• * 1.76

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉
• * 1.77

  There is a wic∣ked weaknesse and a sinfull Cannot as con∣tradistinguish∣ed from sinful actings, which the holy Ghost reproves, and then must the indisposition to receive influ∣ences to pray, be no excuse to shift the duty.
• * 1.78

  The Lord's withdrawing of influences is conjoyned with our guiltiness, and cannot found an honest excuse for not praying.
• * 1.79

  The Lord's not giving a new heart is not our sin, and yet our not having a new heart is our guiltiness.
• * 1.80

  The Lord's in∣fluences are connatural to all our actings, and how.
• * 1.81

  Our actings have no do∣minion over the Lord's Sove∣raignty, but contrarily.
• * 1.82

  The sin of the creature is not from the Lords withdrawing of his physical influences, but from our with∣drawing from his moral command.
• * 1.83

  Magnus D. Twissus con∣tra Arnold. Corvinum. c. 13. sect. 1•• p. 437. n. 2. col. 1.
• * 1.84

  Quare licet ho∣minum malitiae tribuatur in solidum quod non credant, tamen etiam defectui gratiae nihilominus tribuendum est, quod non cure∣tur mentis cae∣citas, cordis insidelitas. Nam si affir∣matio sit causa affirmationis, etiam negatio erit causa ne∣gationis. Sic Servator ipse, Qui ex Deo est, Vocem audit Dei; vos autem propterea non auditis quia ex Deo non estis, Joan. 8. 37.
• * 1.85

  The objection of many, if God would give me influences of grace as he did to David, Mo∣ses, &c. I would be as holy as any, discussed.
• * 1.86

  The non-sense of this had I more grace, I should be more gracious.
• * 1.87

  If the ••b••ecto, of this (had I more grace I would 〈◊〉〈◊〉 gracious) were a humble ••••∣vert, the obje∣ction should be more savoury, yet not sounder.
• * 1.88

  O if I had more grace I would labour and run more, is a contradi∣ctory speech in the sluggard.
• * 1.89

  One spece de∣sires not to be turned into a∣nother, nor does a natural man desire to be a convert, Luke 14. 16, 17, 18, 19.
• * 1.90

  Natural men wish physical influences of God, but they hate moral ho∣liness.
• * 1.91

  Natural men love indepen∣dency and hate to be under the Lord's gover∣ning influences.
• * 1.92

  He that uses not a less power or gift of two degrees for God, would not use a power of ten degrees for God; as is cleared in in∣stances of 1. Wisedom. 2. Power of Ma∣gistracy. 3. Of old age. 4. Ri∣ches. 5. Habit of grace, &c.
• * 1.93

  Riches cannot add merciful∣••ess to men.
• * 1.94

  The Objection opened, If I had had the grace of Da∣vid, I would not have acted the wickedness which David acted.
• * 1.95

  The Objection had I more grace, I would be more graci∣ous, may be re∣torted.
• * 1.96

  Faith and Grace doe not depend upon extraordinary means, and teachers sent from hell; and we are much deceived, thin∣king, Had we more grace, we should be more gracious.
• * 1.97

  If free will be weak in the improving a natural power it will be so in the improving of supernatural grace.
• * 1.98

  Mr. Fenner's Wilful impeni∣tency, pag. 80.
• * 1.99

  There is an ex∣tolling of na∣ture in this (had I more grace, I would be more holy) for (I) and (self) is sepa∣rated from Christ.
• * 1.100

  The carnal Ob∣jection, If God gave stronger influences, I should be more holy, is a sinful complaining a∣gainst Sove∣raignty.
• * 1.101

  2. Against in∣finite wisedom, what a depth is here?
• * 1.102

  3. The Obje∣ction is against the freedom of grace.
• * 1.103

  The Objection chargeth the holy Lord with envy.
• * 1.104

  The objection chargeth the holy Lord with unrighteous∣ness.
• * 1.105

  It chargeth God with male-govern∣ment.
• * 1.106

  It strives with holy provi∣dence in the point of origi∣nal sin.
• * 1.107

  How we wish to be from un∣der sin origi∣nal, and how not.
• * 1.108

  God ties us to his own way of removing of sin, not to our empty wishing that it were removed.
• * 1.109

  What sort of influences we are to seek from God.
• * 1.110

  The using of means is an approved way of God.
• * 1.111

  How reforma∣tion of life goes not before re∣mission as Mr. Baxter saith.
• * 1.112

  Some violently b••ought in to know Christ, some more mildly.
• * 1.113

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• * 1.114

  John not under the same di∣spensation with Peter.
• * 1.115

  Jonah strong in his passions.
• * 1.116

  Eliah's temper.
• * 1.117

  The Old Testa∣ment dispensa∣tions and the New are com∣pared together, and their dif∣ferences.
• * 1.118

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• * 1.119

  Various kinds of desertions.
• * 1.120

  Various kinds of desertions on the Lord's redeemed.
• * 1.121

  Whether by prayer, or any other way we may wrestle out from under God's deser∣tions.
• * 1.122

  To deprecate the anger of God, how lau∣dable, how not.
• * 1.123

  Influences are given of God to various temptations.
• * 1.124

  It is a gracious temper to weep when the Lord is absent or angry.
• * 1.125

  A soveraignty in the Lord's hearing, or not hearing.
• * 1.126

  Strive not with sove∣raignty.
• * 1.127

  Divers kinds of striving with sove∣raignty.
• * 1.128

  Deadness and desertion may be on one way, and much of God in other actings.
• * 1.129

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 impegit offendit pede.
• * 1.130

  Christs absence is sometimes as good as his pre∣sence.
• * 1.131

  We are not to strive with the Law.
• * 1.132

  Sometime we may pray a∣gainst the de∣cree of God, but its never lawful to resist his commanding will.
• * 1.133

  Its good to an∣swer every im∣pression of his word.
• * 1.134

  1 Pet. 1. 23. The new-birth.
• * 1.135

  We may weep over our own dry hearts, when we want influences, but we cannot weep against the Lord be∣cause he gives not these influ∣ences.