2.10 And so the Gospel hath proved to be especially to those who have been prepared to receive it by being concerned in their own minds how they should do to be saved Thus when our Saviour preached the Gospel first in Galilee it is said that then the People saw a great light and to them who sate in the region of the shadow of death light was sprung up Mat. 4. So such as were pricked in their hearts through a sense of guilt and danger gladly received the Word which brought them tidings of remission of sin through Christ upon Repentance Act. 2.37 42. Thus again when the Gospel was first preached in Samaria it is said there was great joy in that City Act. 8. The Gentiles also when they had the Gospel first preached unto them at Antioch they were glad and glorified the Word of the Lord Act. 13.47 The Gospel was not so welcome to all where it came and what was the reason it was not as well as to others The reason was because they had not learned by the Fathers teaching as some had done but stifled the operations of natural light in their minds and had laboured to lay their Consciences asleep again after at any time they had been awakened by God They laboured to put thoughts about their future state out of their minds because they found them troublesom unto them They closed their eyes and stopped their ears against any thing that tended to awaken them But all did not so but remained thoughtful about their future state after death when God once had awakened them by strong impressions of natural Religion to be concerned in their own minds about it And they were such as these who were wont to receive the Gospel and believe it when it came among them As we see for instance in those Gentiles to whom Paul and Barnabas preached Acts 13.48 For it is said of them As many as were ordained to eternal life believed Or as others from the Greek read it As many as were disposed to or for eternal life believed that is as I after others understand it As many as were ordered or whose thoughts were ordered and minds disposed for eternal life that is to look after eternal life these were the People that believed And indeed the Gospel was design'd in chief as it should seem for those whose hearts and minds are bruised or broken with fears and cares about their Salvation For thus run the words of that Prophesie which was fulfilled in the Publication of the Gospel by Christ The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he hath anointed me to preach the Gospel to the Poor he hath sent me to heal the broken hearted to preach deliverance to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind to set at liberty them that are bruised to preach the acceptable year of the Lord Luke 4.18 19. Which is true not onely in respect of those that are bruised and broken in heart with godly sorrow for sin but also in respect of such whose hearts and minds are bruised and battered with fears and terrours in reference to that misery to which they stand exposed for sin And it is further considerable to our purpose that those which our Saviour invites to come to him and promiseth them rest if they do are such as labour and are heavy laden that labour under and are laden with anxious thoughts and cares about their future state for they are a wearisom burden to the mind Mat. 11.28 And again If any man thirst let him come to me and drink saith our Saviour John 7.37 and let him that is athirst come Rev. 22.17 to wit such as lack and long for some cooling and refreshing to their minds and spirits which are heated and inflamed with anxious thoughts and cares about the condition of their souls for the future when they shall leave the body For this Invitation is made to such as were not yet come to Christ had not yet truly believed in him For a true belief in him quencheth this kind of thirst And therefore our Saviour saith he that believeth in me shall never thirst John 6.35 And again Whosoever drinketh of the water which I shall give him shall never thirst John 4.14 This water when once well drunk of quencheth that flame which before burnt up the spirits Again to shew what preparation of mind is necessary to make us prize Christ when offered and willing to be governed by him in order to our cure and ease consider that saying of our Saviour Mat. 9.12 The Whole need not the Physician but the Sick to wit such as are ill at ease in their own minds for that is the meaning of the Metaphor I conceive Other than such have not a sense of their need of a Physician nor will care to be governed by his Methods of Physick Which was the reason why our Saviour chose rather to be among Publicans and Sinners than Pharisees for those being more sensible of their obnoxiousness to Gods displeasure than the Pharisees were who trusted in themselves that they were righteous were better prepared to receive the Gospel than the Pharisees were Which appears by that saying of Christ to them Mat. 21.31 Verily I say unto you that the Publicans and Harlots go into the Kingdom of Heaven before you Thus we see how the teaching of the Father by impressions of natural Religion upon the mind prepares men for a belief in Christ and a receiving his Gospel as they come thereby to be convinced of their guiltiness and of their obnoxiousness to the displeasure of God thereby and to be concerned in their own minds about their future state after death 2. I am now in the second place to shew how the teaching of the Father by natural Religion prepares Men for a belief of the Gospel as they come thereby to a sensible discerning of the nature and tendency of moral righteousness and goodness Men are taught by natural Religion that it is a thing good in it self and well becoming them to adore and worship God the author of their Being and to seek unto him in all their needs to be just and faithful and kind one to another And they know and find by experience that when they most observe to do so they have most ease in their own minds Their Consciences never trouble them for any thing of this nature these things when they do them do not make them afraid of God as things of a contrary nature do Such as these are things about which mens thoughts do excuse them as the Apostles phrase is Rom. 2.15 And men find a vast difference between excusing and accusing thoughts These do not draw men before the Judgment Seat of God before the Judgment Day does come as accusing thoughts do Now the stronger sense men have of the excellent nature of moral righteousness and goodness and of its peaceable and comfortable effects upon the mind the better prepared they must needs be to
difficulty is found in our entrance upon the work while we are unaccustomed to it while our corruptions are yet strong and our strength but little yet if we do but hold on our way and rally again as oft as we we receive any foils we shall be sure to overcome at last and come off with compleat Victory Because as S. John saith greater is he that is in us than he that is in the World And though our beginning be but small yet our latter end shall greatly increase It is said of our blessed Saviour that a bruised Reed he shall not break and smoaking Flax he shall not quench until he send forth judgment unto victory And thus we see how very much depends upon the due knowledge and understanding of the nature and method of Divine Assistance and of the terms on which we may expect it The better understanding and practical use of all which by such whose abilities do not set them above it is the design of the following Discourse THE CONTENTS CHAP. I. HOw God prepares men towards performing the Condition of the Promise by causing Principles of Natural Religion to operate on the mind pag. 1. CHAP. II. How God by adding Revealed Religion to that which is Natural prepared the Jews for the performance of the Condition of the Promise p. 36. CHAP. III. Of the necessity of those effects on the Mind which God sometimes works by Principles of Natural Religion to prepare all those for the performance of the Condition of the Promise which do at all perform it p. 54. CHAP. IV. How by the very nature of the Gospel God does assist men in performing the Condition of the Promise p. 71. CHAP. V. How by the Holy Spirits operation upon the Mind and Will men are assisted in performing the Condition of the Promise p. 91. CHAP. VI. Of Gods assisting those that perish towards their performing the Condition of the Promise of Salvation and of their refusing to make use of that assistance and of their perishing for that reason Of Gods not hindering men from refusing his assistance and of the reason why p. 130. CHAP. VII Of the After-Assistance of the Holy Spirit which those receive who have been assisted already to perform the Condition of the Promise as new beginners in doing so p. 177. CHAP. VIII Cautions against mens depriving themselves of Divine Assistance by running into two contrary extreams p. 206. CHAP. IX Something of the grounds of incouragement which such have to expect assistance fully to perform the Condition of the Promise as have not refused to make use of Gods preparatory assistance towards it p. 225. ERRATA Pag. 101. l. 17. for stony ground r. high-way side A DISCOURSE OF Divine Assistance CHAP. I. How God prepares men towards performing the condition of the Promise by causing Principles of Natural Religion to operate on the Mind ALmighty God and our Saviour have thus far prevented all endeavours of ours towards the bringing about our Salvation The Father hath given his Son to be the Saviour of the World and the Son hath given himself a Ransom for all and tasted Death for every man and upon account of his Death and Passion a Promise is made to all men of pardon of Sin and eternal Life upon condition of Repentance Faith and sincere Obedience And God the Father Son and Holy Spirit are not onely ready willing and desirous to assist us to perform this condition but do actually assist even those towards it to a degree and until that assistance is refused opposed and rejected who yet perish for want onely of performing that condition Now this Divine Assistance which men receive in performing the condition on which Pardon and Life are promised is intended to be the subject matter of this Discourse In the entrance upon which I shall suppose and take for granted that the promise of the pardon of Sin and eternal Life is conditional and that Faith Repentance and sincere Obedience make up the whole of this condition And that we may the better come to understand the nature manner and method of this Divine Assistance I shall endeavour two things 1. To shew what is done by God by way of Preparation to prepare and dispose the minds of men to perform the condition of the Promise in Repenting Believing and in sincerely obeying the Gospel 2. To shew what is done by God to assist them in that performance being so prepared That something is done by God by way of Preparation without which no man does savingly believe in Christ I gather from our Saviours own words in John 6.44 No man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him And again Ver. 65. Therefore said I unto you that no man can come to me except it were given unto him of my Father And in Verse 45. thus Every man therefore that hath heard and learned of the Father cometh unto me These sayings of our Saviour shew that something must be done upon men by God the Father before they can repair to Christ as to the great Master that hath the words of eternal life as resolving to be ruled and governed by his Doctrine and Precepts in seeking Salvation or which is the same before they can become his real and true Disciples or Scholars in learning practically of him the way to eternal life for that is it I understand by coming to Christ And this according to our Saviours doctrine no man can do that is not first prepared for it by the Father by hearing and learning of him and by being drawn by him Now what effect upon the Soul that is or what temper of mind it is which is caused by the Fathers teaching and which does prepare men so as that they come to Christ thereupon is not here said in the fore-cited words of our Saviour But we may be able to make some judgment of it after two or three things are considered which our Saviours words direct us to 1. It is not Faith it self as having Christ for its object For coming to Christ or believing in him is the effect of that temper of mind which is wrought by the Fathers teaching and drawing here spoken of or at least is consequent to it 2. This temper of mind wrought by the Fathers teaching or operation is such in the nature of it as does incline and dispose men to come to Christ and to believe in him though it be not that coming to him it self nor that believing in him For every man that hath heard and learned of the Father does come to the Son 3. This temper of mind is such an effect and that by which it is wrought such an act as is most properly attributed unto God the Father It is that which comes by mens learning of the Father it is that by which the Father draws them These things considered that temper of mind then which does most incline and dispose men to come to Christ and to believe
their own hurt and to think it inconsistent with his natural goodness being infinite not to save them if he can And therefore to undeceive men in this matter I have insisted the more on these things and to shew how agreeable it is to the Divine Wisdom for God to withdraw his assistance from men after they have obstinatery persisted in refusing and opposing it in its design upon them And if it be agreeable to his wisdom it cannot be disagreeable to his goodness for it is as well goodness in God to controul Vice as it is for him to encourage Vertue in what way and by what methods seems best unto him There is a great deal of difference between true love and goodness and fondness Men by fondness love many times without reason and bestow their favours more than becomes them But true and generous goodness governs it self by wisdom and prudence and so it doth in God The wisdom of God will not suffer his goodness to throw away his saving benefits upon those who by incapacitating themselves to enjoy them have rendred themselves altogether unworthy of them For it would disparage the wisdom and so the goodness of God the donor in case he should confer them upon such because his different affection to evil and good would be thereby in a great measure obscured and the sinews of his Government weakned Honour is not seemly for a Fool saith the Wise-man Prov. 26.1 As it will not become the Fool himself so neither will it become the wisdom of him that confers it to place it on one so uncapable of it as a Fool is CHAP. VII Of the after-assistance of the Holy Spirit which those receive who have been assisted already to perform the condition of the promise as new beginners in doing so THose who have been assisted by God to repent believe and obey and therein to begin their performance of the condition of the promise of pardon and life do still stand in need of his further assistance to persevere and to continue to do so to their lives end and to do it more and more excellently For as Believers hold their title in the benefits promised no longer than they continue to perform the condition on which the promise of them is made so neither do they continue in the performance of that condition longer than they are assisted by God to do so Now to persevere in performing the condition of the promise is as necessary for men to continue their title to the benefits promised as their performance of that condition at the first was to begin it For the promise runs thus He that shall endure to the end the same shall be saved Mat. 24.13 And to him that overcometh and keepeth my works unto the end will I give power over the Nations Rev. 2.26 But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness and committeth iniquity all the righteousness which he hath done shall not be mentioned in the trespass which he hath trespassed and in the sin which he hath sinned in them he shall die Ezek. 18.24 And as this perseverance is necessary for the reason and end aforesaid so is a constant and continual assistance from God to enable the Disciples of Christ so to persevere As the same power is necessary to continue the natural life which first gave being to it so is it in the spiritual life and state also Ye are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation 1 Pet. 1.5 Being confident of this very thing that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ Phil. 1.6 And that which is very remarkable touching this After-assistance of which I speak is That a greater presence and more constant assistance of the Spirit of God is promised and vouchsafed unto men after they believe than they had before This appears by having the Holy Spirit given them after in such a degree which they had not before and by Gods dwelling and the Spirits abiding in them after who did not do so before First those who have believed the Gospel and sincerely delivered up themselves to the conduct of it in their lives do thereby come under that special priviledge of having the Holy Spirit given them to assist influence and quicken them and to carry on the work of sanctification in them This our Saviour promised John 7.38 39. Jesus cried saying he that believeth on me out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water this saith the Evangelist he spake of the Spirit which they that believe on him should receive Acts 2.38 Repent and be baptized for the remission of sins and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost Which promises we find made good afterwards in several instances Of the Believers it is said Acts 4.31 that they were all filled with the Holy Ghost And Acts 5.32 We saith S. Peter are witnesses of these things and so is the Holy Ghost whom God hath given to them that obey him And S. Paul to the Ephesians saith After ye believed ye were sealed with the holy spirit of promise chap. 1.13 that is they were marked for his and distinguished from those that were not by his giving them the Spirit For if any man have not the Spirit of Chhist he is none of his Rom. 8.9 Sensual not having the Spirit Jude 19. It is true indeed those first Christians and others after for some time did receive the Holy Spirit in a sense that was peculiar to those times for the confirmation and propagation of the Christian Religion until it was well setled and had taken some rooting in the World As when they were in an extraordinary way enabled by the Spirit to speak with other tongues and to perform other miraculous operations as our Saviour had foretold they should For these signs said he shall follow them that believe in my name in my name they shall cast out Devils they shall speak with new tongues c. Mark 16.17 A more full and particular enumeration of which extraordinary gifts of the Spirit scattered among the Believers of those times we have in 1 Cor. 12. But besides these the Believers then received in receiving the Holy Spirit an increase of gracious qualifications called the fruit of the Spirit such as love joy peace long-suffering gentleness goodness faith meekness and temperance as the Apostle reckons them up Gal. 5.22 And in this sense the Holy Spirit hath been given to all true Believers ever since and is now For if any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his he is no true Christian Rom. 8.9 By mens having the Spirit then and by the Spirits being given them after they believe is meant I conceive a more constant and a more plentiful influence and effusion of the Spirit to change and renew them to restore them to the likeness of God to the spirit and temper of Jesus Christ than ever was vouchsafed them
Imprimatur Geo. Thorp Rever in Christo P. D. D ne Gulielmo Archiep Cant. Ã Sacr. Dom. Febr. 18. 1678 9. A DISCOURSE OF Divine Assistance AND THE METHOD thereof Shewing what Assistance Men receive from God in performing the Condition of the Promise of pardon of Sin and Eternal Life By W. A. Phil. 2.12 13. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure Mat. 13.12 Whosoever hath to him shall be given and he shall have more abundance LONDON Printed by M. C. for Walter Kettilby at the Bishops-head in S. Pauls Church-yard 1679. THE PREFACE TO THE READER MVch indeed hath been written of the Divine Assistance in parts and upon occasion of handling other doctrines such as Repentance Faith Regeneration c. But yet I cannot say that much hath been done by any entire and set Discourse upon this Subject especially not upon Gods preventing grace and preparatory assistance which yet is one branch of the whole and hugely necessary to be well understood and considered Vpon which account I cannot but think that something further of this nature though but vulgarly done may be of good use to Vulgar capacities who can better understand this great Doctrine when they see the parts put together and how they relate to and depend one upon another than otherwise they can And therefore the better to prepare the Reader for the ensuing Discourse I shall instance in some few things to shew the usefulness of a clear and distinct understanding of the Nature and Method of Divine Assistance and the terms on which it may be expected And first touching the Method of Gods assistance It is endeavoured in the following Discourse to shew that God by his preventing grace usually begins with men in assisting them towards performance of the condition of the promise by raising in them a sense of their guilt and danger and by awakening their fear and all to stir them up to apply themselves to the remedy For Fear being a most powerful principle and spring of Action when any thing strong will if any thing will put them upon endeavours to provide for their own safety But if men be ignorant and unacquainted with this Method of Gods assistance they will be in much danger of taking these first operations of God upon their minds to be but like other thoughts which come and go there without being much taken notice of or else but for a fit of Melancholy to be withstood and striven against and so unawares they may quench the Spirit under the notion of removing Melancholy thoughts Whereas if they were made sensible of the Nature of Gods Preparatory Assistance they would probably be more afraid to slight such working of their thoughts lest in doing so they should slight the warning of God himself and the safety of their own souls The knowledge of this Method of Gods Assistance serves also to direct those who labour the conversion of souls and to help on the Work of Repentance in men frequently to inculcate upon the minds of Vnreformed Sinners such arguments and considerations as are apt and proper to make them sensible of their guilt and danger and to awaken their fears For when by their doing so these applications from without by the Word meet with Gods applications to the mind by his Spirit within the operation will be so much the more powerful and the more likely to prevail And because men are too apt to discharge themselves of such fears as much as they can by some vain and delusive reasonings in their minds and because a resolution to become new men hereafter though they delay it for the present is one of them therefore to prevent this the greatness of the folly and the greatness of the danger of such a delay should be strenuously urged upon them as a Folly so great that the folly of those that see their whole Estates or their Lives in apparent danger and yet do not make all the haste they can to secure them is no folly in comparison of this For they are not onely in danger thereby of being eternally lost by being snatched away under such a delay but also of being deprived of all Divine Assistance for the future although they should live never so long For from him that hath not i. e. hath not used that which he first had shall be taken away that which he hath saith our Saviour Bad men are apt to flatter and deceive themselves with this opinion also viz. that they have no power to be better or to perform the condition of the promise nor never had and that they cannot be better till God give them of his grace to be so by giving them more power to that end than ever yet he gave them and that it is not consistent with his Mercy nor with his Justice neither to destroy men for not doing that which he never gave them power to do from both which together they are apt to conclude themselves in a safe condition especially considering that Christ died for them though otherwise they are apparently vicious in their lives But if they would but understand the Method and Order of Divine Assistance and the Nature and Terms of it they would find themselves under a great and dangerous mistake For the very Reason which they urge as part of the ground of their confidence of the safeness of their condition viz. that it is not consistent with the Mercy nor with the Justice of God to destroy men for not doing that which he never gave them power to do is a strong Argument to prove that he doth give such men whom he destroys before he destroys them power to do that for the not doing of which he doth destroy them and consequently that he hath given such bad men as reason as aforesaid power to have been better and that therefore the mercifulness of God can be no security to them of not being destroyed until they become better If this were not so it would follow that either none should perish or that it is inconsistent with the Mercy and Justice of God that they do according to the tenor of these mens reasoning Both which are equally false and the latter blasphemous also And therefore it is a deceitful and absurd way of reasoning for such men to conclude that the reason why they are no better is because God hath not given them power to be so It is true indeed God hath not given power unto men that are bad to have been better necessarily and unavoidably for if he had they could not have been so bad as now they are Nor do I say that God hath given such men an immediate power to do all that which belongs unto a compleat performance of the condition of the promise but he gives them a remote power to do it by giving them an immediate power to begin it And if they do
right eye to do it they were in danger of being cast into Hell where their Worm dieth not and the Fire is not quenched Mark 9.43 That they were condemned already and that the wrath of God did abide on them so long as they continued in unbelief John 3.18 36. When S. Paul preached Repentance at Athens his argument to persuade to it was because God hath appointed a day in the which he will judge the World in righteousness Acts 17.30 31. And no greater argument can be used to awaken mens fears and to hasten them out of an impenitent state than to set before them the terrour of that day and the danger they are in every hour of falling under it so long as they remain unreformed The consideration of which while the impression was upon him made Felix the Roman Governour on the Bench to tremble when Paul at the Bar reasoned of righteousness temperance and the judgment to come Acts 24.25 And generally mens Repentance takes its first rise from their fears of falling under the wrath of Almighty God Which doth very well accord with what was said by David in the Psalms and twice by Solomon in his Proverbs The fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom Psal 111.10 Prov. 1.7 and 9.10 The beginning of Wisdom that is of becoming truly wise as men are when they become truly religious and never till then And this usually begins as I say in those fears which are raised in men out of a sense of their obnoxiousness to the wrath and displeasure of God for sin past And from thence indeed it proceeds to a fear of displeasing him any farther for time to come in hope of obtaining pardon for what is past and this is wisdom indeed there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be seared Psal 130.4 But fear in this latter sense hath its rise and beginning from fear in the former The principle of Self-preservation which is deeply rooted in every mans nature does naturally cause a fear of God as armed with Almighty power to destroy them that have provoked him But in mans degenerate state we cannot say it is so natural to fear displeasing him nor is attained to without some hope of pardon for what is past Fear in the former sense goes before fear in the latter as the needle does before the thred It hath indeed as godly sorrow hath a tendency in it to work Repentance though neither of them amount to saving repentance it self Fear of wrath hath torment in it and that prepares a man to hearken to that which will give him ease to wit the doctrine of pardon through Christ and to the doctrine of Repentance as the condition of obtaining it As rain and moisture are to the ground on which Weeds or Thorns grow to prepare the way of tearing them up by the root so is the fear of Gods wrath to make way for the plucking up mens lusts by the root it makes the heart more soft and tender For by how much sin hath disquieted and perplexed the mind with fears of the wrath of God provided it be not to excess as in case of despair by so much the less grievous it will be to part with it in hope of obtaining both ease and pardon thereby But here to prevent all mis use of this Doctrine touching the necessity of a sense in each sinner of his obnoxiousness to the wrath of God to prepare him for such a Repentance Faith and Obedience as is saving let this be observed and remembred by way of caution to wit That no greater a sense hereof is necessary to this end than that which issues and ends in such a Repentance Faith and Obedience We must not measure the truth and sincerity of our Repentance Faith and Obedience by the measure or degree of the sense we have of our liableness to Gods wrath or our fears of it but on the contrary the dueness or sufficiency of such a sense to prepare us by the truth and sincerity of our Repentance Faith and Obedience It is not unlikely but that Cain and Judas might have a greater sense of their obnoxiousness to the wrath and displeasure of God than most of those who through a due sense of their liableness to wrath have been prepared for a saving Repentance Faith and Obedience but yet we cannot judge by that that they had any such Repentance or Faith So much sense therefore of mens danger by reason of their guilt of sin is sufficient be it more or less as does prevail with them sincerely to repent of sin past to receive Christ Jesus as Saviour Lord and Governour for time to come to save them from sin by his death and to be governed by his precepts and example for all times to come whether peaceful and prosperous or however adverse or hazardous they may be And the reason why such a sense is sufficient be it more or less is because it reacheth its end it hath done its work for which it was raised by God when once it hath thus drawn men to Christ to become his true Disciples to believe in him and to learn of him the Christian life All means whatsoever are sufficient in their kind when they attain their end for which they were appointed and so this of which we now speak This is a truth seen by its own light By this the great mistake of some good people appears who have been afraid to apply Christ unto themselves as a Saviour and to lay hold of the gracious promises of the Gospel as being in doubt with themselves whether they had been sufficiently humbled broken and prepared by legal terrors when yet they have been zealously desirous and industrious to approve themselves to him in a good life When once men are made willing to receive Christ as Lord and Saviour and to walk in him as they have received him there is no place left to question whether their humiliation hath been sufficient or no. For our Saviours invitation of coming to him is made to him that is athirst and his promise to him that does come in good earnest is that he will by no means cast him out The promise of being received if they do come to Christ is not made upon condition of being thus or thus humbled but upon condition of their coming to him Nor does any degree of that humiliation which consisteth in fear or terror avail any man further than it is an occasion of his applying himself to the remedy prepared by God against his danger By what hath been said to shew what sense of ones spiritual danger is sufficient in its kind and for the end for which it serves it may appear also That such persons as have by the advantage of a pious education drunk in operative principles of godliness in the early days of their lives so that like Ohadiah they have feared God from their youth or as Timothy have known the holy Scriptures from a child need
not be in doubt of their own good estate Godward though they have not found in themselves so tormenting a sense of their spiritual danger as some others have done to prepare and dispose them to repent and believe the Gospel if they can but find and feel in themselves Repentance and Faith in the true nature and genuine effects of them No man need much to be concerned about the nature of the means as whether it be proportionate to the end after he once sees the end effected in himself His sense of danger is sufficient which causeth him to fly in due time to the place of refuge There needs a greater sense of danger and more affecting fears to make one willing to part with those sins and evil ways he hath been long accustomed to and hath had a strong affection for than there is to make another willing to forego those evils he never had much to do with nor much affection for An ordinary blast may throw down a Plant before it hath taken rooting when no less than a great tempest and strong blast will tear up a Tree of long standing and deep rooting Yet I must say that the greater sense men have of the greatness of the danger they were in and the more that sense hath afflicted their soul with fear and grief by so much the more they are likely to value and prize to love and honour that Saviour by whom they find themselves delivered from it Hence it is that such as have been greater sinners than others before conversion have many times proved more eminent Saints than others after fuller of love to Christ and zeal for him Thus it was with Mary Magdalen who loved much because much was forgiven her as our Saviour said Whereas as he observes likewise that he to whom but little is forgiven the same loveth but little Luke 27.47 And thus I have dispatched the first of the two things I proposed to insist on and to explain to wit what is done by God by way of preparation to dispose the minds of men to perform the condition of the promise I shall now proceed to the second which is to shew what is done by God to assist men in the actual performance of that condition on which pardon of sin and eternal life are promised CHAP. IV. How by the very Nature of the Gospel God does assist men in performing the condition of the Promise IN shewing what God does in assisting men in the performance of the condition of the promise of Pardon and Life two things will come under consideration I. What assistance is given by God by his very giving us the Gospel to this end and II. What by the influence and operation of his Spirit 1. That men are assisted by the Gospel in their performing the condition of the promise of pardon and life is very evident S. Paul saith it is the power of God to salvation to every one that believeth Rom. 1.16 That he had begotten the Christian Corinthians through the Gospel 1 Cor. 4.15 And S. James that God of his own will begat the Christians by the word of truth Jam. 1.18 And S. Peter that they were born again not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible by the word of God which liveth and abideth for ever 1 Pet. 1.23 Supposing men to be prepared by such teaching of God the Father as hath been before described the Gospel it self is of such a nature as makes it very apt to attract and draw such men to the belief of it and obedience to it when attended to in which the performance of the condition of the promise doth consist and this in a double respect I. In respect of the subject matter of it or things contained in it II. In respect of the evidence by which it is confirmed to be from God and undoubtedly true 1. In respect of the subject matter of it or things contained in it As for instance it contains a Declaration who and what an one Jesus Christ is viz. the Son of God and Saviour of the World and what he hath suffered to make atonement for the sin of the World and to obtain reconciliation between God and men after their rebellion against him And the Gospel as such cannot but facilitate its own way into the minds of such men as are burdened and pained with the sense of their own guilt and liableness to Gods displeasure It being suited to their case and contrived on purpose to give to such ease and relief it cannot but render it self acceptable to them This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the World to save Sinners saith S. Paul 1 Tim. 1.15 It is indeed a saying a doctrine worthy of acceptation if any thing is so which the World ever knew yea worthy of all acceptation to the highest degree And its being so makes sinners which are sensible of their very great need of a Saviour the more ready and willing to believe it and to hearken to any thing that tends to strengthen their belief of it We have a saying which is found true upon common observation That men are willing to believe that to be true which they would fain have to prove so and are inquisitive after the evidence of its truth that they may confidently believe it and rejoice in it I have shewed before with what joy the Gospel was entertained at its first going forth into the World by such as were to any considerable degree made sensible of the danger they were in by reason of sin and therefore I do not need to enlarge upon it farther here Again the Gospel contains great and precious promises of pardon of sin and eternal life upon condition of Repentance Faith and new Obedience and most dreadful threatnings against such as reject those terms Now the Gospel in these respects is of a persuasive nature and hath an aptness and fitness in it to prevail with men to use their endeavours of performing the condition of escaping the damnation of Hell and of obtaining the glory of Heaven First the terrible threatnings denounced against such as continue unreformed in their lives when these fall into minds already disquieted with fears for what is past are very apt to alienate mens minds from sin and so to help on the performance of that part of the condition of the promise which consisteth in Repentance or amendment of life The stronger sense men have of their danger by reason of sin formerly committed and also of running into greater danger if they continue in sin after pardon is offered upon condition of amendment the more easily will they be persuaded and prevailed upon to accept of the condition of pardon and to put forth their endeavour to perform it The sense of danger which divine threatnings do awake in men when any thing strong will cause them to enquire how they may escape it to the end they may speedily fall upon the use of
viz. the Son of God and consequently that his doctrine is of divine authority Many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his Disciples which are not written in this Book But these are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God and that believing ye might have life through his name John 29.30 31. These miracles in conjunction with the nature of our Saviours doctrine in nothing contrary to natural Religion had certainly a very great tendency in them to beget a belief in him and of his doctrine or else he would never have marvelled as he did at the unbelief of those which saw them and heard him Mark 6.6 He marvelled at their unbelief Their unbelief under such circumstances is mentioned again as matter of wonder John 12.37 But though he had done so many miracles before them yet they believed not on him But this would have been no matter of marvel to our Saviour or wonder to his Disciples if there had not been a mighty power in those miracles to convirce men and to persuade them to believe To this end also served the resurrection of Christ from the dead for by that he was mightily declared to be the Son of God Rom. 1.4 And when the Apostles of our Lord were after his Resurrection sent forth to convert the World to Christianity by preaching the Gospel to them as a means to make it efficacious to this end and to procure it credit and authority in the minds of men they were endued by the Lord with a power of working miracles and of speaking with new tongues Mark 16.20 They went forth and preached every where the Lord working with them and confirming the word with signs following Heb. 2.4 God also bearing them witness both with signs and wonders and divers miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost according to his own will And it was in respect of these powerful confirmations of the Gospel I doubt not that S. Paul says his preaching was in demonstration of the spirit and of power and not with enticing or persuasible words of mans wisdom 1 Cor. 2.4 It was by reason of this kind of demonstration of the Gospel to be from God which was made by the miraculous operation of the Spirit by the Apostles that the Gospel was received as the Word of God and not as the Word of Man as all those Discourses of Philosophers were which had no other confirmation than what the Wit and Oratory of men could derive from principles of natural and humane Wisdom But the Apostles doctrine as it was in the nature of it above humane pitch to find out so their way of confirming of it was above all humane power and wisdom also As their doctrine was known onely by the Holy Spirits revealing so the arguments motives and reasons by which they persuaded men to believe it to be from God were fetched from the Spirits own mighty operations which were visible to men as well those that did not as those which did believe They compared and suited spiritual things with spiritual ver 13. The nature of their arguments by which they persuaded men to believe their doctrine were suited to the nature of their doctrine both being from the Holy Spirit The one by the Spirits revelation to the Apostles the other by the Spirits miraculous operations by the Apostles They proved their doctrine was revealed to them by God by the testimony which he gave that he had sent them to preach what they did preach by enabling them to do such things which none could do but by virtue of a divine power which put forth it self in them God as was said did bear them witness by signs wonders and by divers miracles which he enabled them to do and to shew And being the Gospel was upon the account of this confirmation received as the Word of God and not of Man as the Author of it therefore it was that it did operate so powerfully as it did in the hearts and lives of them that received it to the transforming them in their minds and spirits and in the tenour of their lives and actions into other manner of men than they were before By reason of which transformation the Scripture stiles them New Creatures and the man thus altered the New Man When ye received the Word of God which ye heard of us saith S. Paul ye received it not as the word of man but as it is in truth the Word of God which effectually worketh also in you that believe 1 Thess 2.13 The Gospel then thus confirmed as hath been represented was and is so glorious an object of Faith and so every way sitted and prepared to command mens belief of it that S. Paul supposeth it impossible but that men should believe it unless the Devil hath strangely blinded their minds And therefore he saith 2 Cor. 4.3 4. If our Gospel be hid it is hid to them that are lost in whom the God of this World hath blinded the minds of them which believe not lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ who is the image of God should shine unto them And thus we see what great assistance God hath vouchsafed us for our performing the condition of the promise by giving us his Gospel The Lord by his Prophet speaking of how much he had done for his People of old to enable them to be what he expected they should be in order to the happiness he designed them saith Isa 5.4 What could have been done more to my Vineyard that I have not done in it that is What in reason could they expect he should have done more to make them become obedient and fruitful than he had done And yet he hath done much more for us who live under the Gospel than he did for them For he hath sent his own Son to reconcile us to himself and himself to us by his death He hath sent his own Son to persuade men which is more than all the Prophets which he sent before And as he is greater himself so he persuades by greater arguments than the Prophets were wont to do both in respect of what hath been done for us already to oblige us and in respect of what he will do in rewarding if obedient and in punishing if disobedient And all this lies fair before us in the Gospel by which life and immortality is brought to light and which comes to us more gloriously attested also than the doctrine of Moses and the Prophets did to them And therefore the Lord may much more appeal to us than he did to them and say What could have been done more to engage you to believe and obey the Gospel and so to perform the condition of the promise which I have not done And if so How then shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him And yet behold
save a man who enjoys the Gospel which may be sufficient to save such a one as Cornelius was before the Gospel was made known to him God is a God of knowledge and judgment by him actions are weighed and all circumstances of a mans case considered And doubtless God makes larger allowances in estimating the goodness of a mans performances that hath less assistance than he doth in estimating his for good that hath more This I have here noted the rather to the end we who have the Gospel may have the more charitable opinion concerning the state and condition of some of them which have it not and likewise to put them in mind who enjoy more means and therein more assistance from God than others how absolutely necessary it is for them to do more than others to the obtaining from God the approbation of good and saithful servants and such as have performed the condition of the promise 2. Having now made out the first of the things proposed viz. That God doth assist even those that perish towards their performing the condition on which pardon and life are promised until that assistance is rejected I proceed now to the second Which is to shew that the reason why men are deprived of the pardon and salvation purchased by our Saviour is founded in their refusing to make use of Gods assisting grace through which otherwise they might have been enabled to have performed the condition on which pardon and life are promised Whatever means God useth tending to awaken direct or persuade men to repent reform and amend are his aids and assistances vouchsafed them to that end And such are his reproofs instructions commands counsels threatnings and promises when applied by his Spirit unto the minds of men Now then mens refusing to hearken to and to consider these things or to comply with them and their endeavouring not to be affected with them or moved by them is their refusing to be assisted by God to perform the condition of the promise And upon this very thing is both the wickedness of men and their destruction charged in Scripture and that under a great variety of expression Sometimes it is termed a not enclining the ear to hear a not hearkening a refusing to hear a refusing to return a stopping the ears that they might not hear a closing the eyes that they may not see a rejecting of the word of the Lord and of the counsel of God against themselves These things which are spoken of the outward senses do signifie and represent the posture of bad mens minds when they refuse to set their hearts to what God says or does to them They seeing see not and hearing they hear not as our Saviour expresseth it Mat. 13.13 as men are said to do when their minds are not at all busied or concerned with the things they hear or see And when it is so with them they are no more moved or affected with the things they see or hear than as if they had not seen nor heard them at all And when the Scripture saith that they stop their ears that they may not hear this signifies somewhat more to wit the arming themselves against what is said so that the things spoken may not enter their souls nor at all affect them and is much what the same thing which the Scripture means by mens hardening themselves and stiffening their neeks These are so far from endeavouring to comply with Gods applications to them for the altering their way and course of life that they are afraid of being affected with or converted by any thing that may be spoken or done to them Their ears are dull of hearing and their eyes they have closed lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and should understand with their hearts and should be converted and I should heal them saith our Lord concerning them Matt. 13.15 It is true indeed No man can come to the Son except it be given him of the Father and except the Father draw him John 6.44 65. But then the reason why men are not drawn so as to be prepared to come to the Son so soon as he is sufficiently revealed to them is because they refuse to be so The Wisdom of God speaks after this manner I have called and ye refused I have stretched out my hand and no man regarded they would none of my counsel they despised all my reproof the turning away of the simple shall slay them Prov. 1.24 God we see calls and stretcheth out his hands to sinners he reproves he counsels and persuades and this is his drawing But many of those whom he thus draws they we see refuse they regard not they despise they turn away and this is their refusing and rejecting Gods assistance it is their refusing to be drawn and it is this their refusing and turning away that slayes them See that ye refuse not him that speaketh for if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth much more shall not we escape if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven Heb. 12.25 How oft would I have gathered you and ye would not saith our Saviour Mat. 23.37 And again Ye will not come to me that ye might have life John 5.40 3. We may perceive by all this that Gods method of drawing men is not to work upon them in an irresistible manner for if it were there would be no place left to draw back or to refuse which yet by the Scriptures and experimental observation we see there is But this will further appear when we consider that the same preparatory grace and assistance from God which will dispose some to repentance proves ineffectual to others which could not be if repentance were wrought in an irresistible manner and way Our Saviour hath told us for instance that if Tyre and Sidon had but had the same means of repentance vouchsafed unto them which Corazin and Bethsaida had they would have repented when yet Corazin and Bethsaida did not Mat. 11.21 Wo unto thee Corazin wo unto thee Bethsaida for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes Nay a less degree and proportion of means will work repentance in some when a greater will not in others Which is an evident proof that repentance may be wrought by a less proportion of means than that which is irresistible otherwise that which is irresistible in its operation may be resisted which is a contradiction in terms The men of Nineveh repented at the preaching of Jonas when the obstinate Jews did not repent though they had more powerful means vouchsafed them to bring them to it than the men of Nineveh had to wit the preaching and many mighty miracles of our Saviour which was the reason why our Saviour said the men of Nineveh should rise in judgment against them and condemn them Mat. 12.41 The
men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation and shall condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonas and behold a greater than Jonas is here That which is or may be made ineffectual to its end is not irresistible in its operation but the means of repentance vouchsafed the unbelieving Jews was made ineffectual by them as to their repentance though more and greater than the men of Nineveh had by which repentance was wrought in them By which it is manifest that the repentance of the Ninevites was not wrought by an irresistible operation because the means used to bring the unbelieving Jews to repentance was greater than that the Ninevites had and yet was resisted Though I do not say or think that God doth always give the same degree of assistance to all persons in like cases he doth what he will with his own it is enough he gives sufficient to all yet the reason of the different event of the same means of grace vouchsafed to those that do not repent and to those that do ordinarily so far as we can judge lies in the greater degree of untractableness and unteachableness which is found in the one than is found in the other by means whereof the same applications and assistances from God are rendred ineffectual to the one which are not so to the other But if the method and manner of Gods operation in working repentance and faith were irresistible no degree of obstinacy in men could withstand it or render it ineffectual There is an opinion indeed much different from this and which hath obtained even among many good and worthy men which does suppose the reason of the different event of Gods applications to men to lie in the different manner of his applying himself to them As when we are invited by it to conceive that the reason why some repent and others do not is because God works it irresistibly in the one when he refuses to do so in the other The ill consequents of which opinion we may well suppose they were no whit aware of who were the first promoters of it and were far enough from owning them though they held fast the opinion which does infer them But yet if the things necessarily consequent upon this opinion prove it to be bad it can be no breach of any rule of charity or modesty to mention them upon so fair an occasion as this now before us but rather the contrary if I should not and may consist well enough with that veneration I have for the memory of many of those who have embraced it This opinion renders the damnation of such as perish impossible for them ever to have escaped after they had once sinned For if nothing less than Gods irresistible operation be sufficient to bring sinners to repentance then would it have been impossible for any that perish to have prevented it because no such means of repentance was ever vouchsafed them for if it had they could not but have repented as well as any This opinion therefore tends to lessen the grace and mercy of God in that provision which he hath made for the redemption of the World as if it were not sufficient for the salvation of any but such as are and shall be actually and eventually saved It implies and supposes that the reason why such as perish are not saved by the death of Christ as well as others is for want of so much compassion in God towards them as to assist them to perform the condition on which such salvation is purchased and promised Whereas Almighty God hath not onely given his Son to be a propitiation for the sin of the whole World but hath also afforded such assistance unto all as by which they might have come to perform that condition upon which the promise of salvation is made as I have before endeavored to shew It does not consist with the plain and obvious sense of such Scriptures as tell us that God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance For how can we conceive any such willingness in God concerning those who yet do perish if he should wholly have refused them that assistance without which it was impossible they should repent and escape perishing An opinion it seems to be if it were true which would render all Gods applications to those that perish to have prevented their perishing useless and insignificant For to what end should other means be used to bring those to repentance who in the issue do not repent if no other means be sufficient to effect it in them but such an irresistible operation of God as he never intended them And how ill a representation would it make of God if he according to the tenor of this opinion should at last condemn men for not repenting and for not believing and obeying the Gospel when it was impossible they should so long as God refused to work these graces irresistibly in them And truly if those that perish had so much to plead in excuse for themselves why they did not repent under all the mighty motives they had to persuade them to it and other means to assist them in it it would abate or rather quite take away a great part of the torments of the damned which do arise from a sense of their gross wilful and obstinate neglect to hearken to those powerful motives they once had to persuade them to repent and to make use of those helps and means they once had to assist them in it If they could but plead the impossibility of their repenting upon the account of Gods not vouchsafing them the irresistible operations of his grace and Spirit which was granted to all others that escape perishing it would in a great measure at least abate the tormenting gnawing of the worm that never dieth For then it would leave no place for those gripes of conscience fierce self-accusations and intolerable self-reflections which proceed from the remembrance and consideration of the loss of the opportunity they once had given them from God of escaping the misery they have brought upon themselves wherewith they are perpetually racked For if they could believe that all they could have done here in this life towards the escaping of that miserable state would have availed them nothing but that it depended wholly upon the irresistible operation of God upon them which was altogether out of their power they might perhaps turn their rage against Almighty God for not affording them the same means of escaping as he had done others that were sinners as well as themselves but would hardly reflect upon themselves for not doing that which was impossible for them to have done This ill consequence alone of the opinion under consideration if there were no other were enough one would think to detect the crookedness and deformity of it which yet as I have said hath obtained so long as it hath done among many good men as
towards their believing or by enabling them to believe at first Before men repent believe or begin to obey they have the Spirit at work in their minds indeed to suggest to their thoughts and considerations things of highest concernment to them and to incline them to look after them in time and before the day of grace and salvation is over and gone He then at times stands at the door and knocks and strives with every man and vouchsafes to such more and more of his assistance until they are enabled to believe who do not make fast the door against him but rather open to him and refuse not to be led on by degrees The more they attended to the teaching of the Father by his Spirit and the nearer they came to believe indeed the more frequent visits they had from him and the more assistance But after they have followed on so far and become so teachable as to believe indeed and sincerely to give up themselves to his conduct then he communicates himself more freely and more constantly to them than ever before in divine influence and assistance to root and establish them in the Christian Faith and Life and to carry them on further and further towards perfection This secondly is set out to us in another vein of Scriptures viz. such as speak of Gods dwelling in true Believers and sincere Christians and of their being the temple of the Holy Ghost of which nature are many texts Rom. 8.11 1 Cor. 3.16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you 1 Cor. 6.19 2 Cor. 6.16 Eph. 2.22 1 John 3.24 and 4.13 16. By all which is signified the more constant residence of the Holy Spirit in and with men after they believe and become true Christians to assist them in their great affairs for their souls and another World as one that is never long absent from them but ready at hand at all times to help them in doing their duty and to overcome temptations unless by grieving him they cause him to withdraw himself If a man love me he will keep my words and my Father will love him and we will come unto him and make our abode with him John 14.23 This giving of the Holy Spirit to sincere Christians to be always with them as his dwelling in them implies is not onely to help and assist them to persevere in doing onely so much as will entitle them to pardon and life barely as their performing the condition of the promise though but in the lowest sense of performance will do But Gods design in giving his Spirit to them after they have perform'd the condition in the lowest sense is to fit and prepare them for greater degrees of blessedness and glory for a higher and more glorious exaltation therein than a bare performance of the condition of the promise in simple consideration and in the lowest degree of performance will well bear Our Saviour came as he says that we might have life and that we might have it in abundance John 10.10 not barely to save us but to exalt us to such a height of glory that the glory and blessedness of his Body the Church might hold some good proportion with his own glory and blessedness as Head of it And to encourage true Christians to endeavour to excel in holiness and goodness in order to this there are other conditional promises made besides that of pardon and life upon condition of faith and repentance simply considered To such as give all diligence in adding to their Faith Vertue Knowledge Temperance Patience Godliness Brotherly kindness and Charity so that these things be in them and abound the promise is of an abundant entrance into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ 2 Pet. 1. And he that soweth bountifully shall reap bountifully 2 Cor. 9.6 And he that humbleth himself as a little child the same is greatest in the Kingdom of heaven Mat. 18.4 Besides the Vessels of Mercy will hold more or less glory according to their different capacities in grace and service as they are made larger or lesser By how much the more near Christians come to Christ in goodness by so much they are qualified to be the more near to him in happiness and glory But still as I say this greater and more constant presence of the Spirit is given to true Christians after they believe to carry on this great and glorious design of grace towards them to take them out of the spirit of this World and to lift them up in holiness and goodness thereby to make them capable of the greater glory and happiness To make this plain and familiar to our thoughts let it be considered that upon mens unfeigned believing follows immediately their adoption As many as received him to them he gave power right or priviledge to become the sons of God even to them that believe on his name John 1.12 This is a very great advancement indeed and holds some proportion to that deep humiliation our Saviour underwent to prepare our way to it Now those whom God adopts to be sons those he adopts to be heirs also to his great inheritance and glorious estate so saith the Apostle if children then heirs heirs of God yea joint-heirs with Christ Rom. 8.17 This being their happy case the blessed God and Father who hath adopted the Believers for his children and heirs gives them his Holy Spirit to be always with them puts his Spirit within them to tutor and discipline them and to give them thereby such breeding as may sit and prepare them for so high a relation and for so glorious an inheritance as that is which he intends to settle upon them Because ye are sons God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts saith the Apostle Gal. 4.6 Saint Paul having spoken of the happy state which he with other the Believers expect and long for after the dissolution of this earthly tabernacle in which the soul now dwells 2 Cor. 5. saith in verse 5. Now he that hath wrought us for the self-same thing is God who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit His giving them his Spirit to sit them for that inheritance is an earnest or pledge that he does really intend to bestow it upon them When he saith He that hath wrought us for the self-same thing is God we hereby see that it is the work of God by his Spirit to frame frame and fashion the Believers for that magnificent estate in the next World which is prepared for them and to which they are adopted This work of God upon them is to make them meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in light Gal. 1.12 These Believers are those Vessels of Mercy whom he thus afore prepares unto glory Rom. 9.23 It is the benevolent work and business of our Lord and Saviour by his Spirit so to sanctifie and cleanse the
hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath saith our Saviour Mat. 13.12 Him that hath not that is him that hath not used what he had as we may see by him that had the one talent and had it taken away because he did not use it And that this is the meaning of those words From him that hath not shall be taken away that which he hath appears by our Saviours next words Verse 13. by which he explains that saying of his Therefore speak I to them in Parables because they seeing see not and hearing they hear not Meaning that they had as it were eyes but did not see with them and ears but did not hear with them that is they had means by which they might have seen and heard and understood so much as would have made them capable of further discoveries and assistances but did not make use of them and therfore those farther discoveries and assistances were with-held from them which yet were granted to the Disciples What our Saviour here said in this matter was in answer to a question of the Disciples who asked him saying Why speakest thou to them in Parables Verse 10. And his answer was Because it was not given unto them the disobedient Jews to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven as it was to the Disciples And the reason why it was not given was as he shews because they seeing saw not and hearing heard not They had eyes and ears to see and hear with but did not use them for the ends for which they received them They had not heard and learned of the Father by attending to or regarding his methods of preparing men for the Faith of the Gospel They had not attended unto those things which natural Religion it self would have taught them and which they might have seen by the natural light of their minds as well as they saw external objects with the eyes of their bodies if they had not shut them Nor had they learned by his teaching them by Moses and the Prophets And because they did not use what they had before therefore it was that more assistance was not given them to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven That this was the reason of it is yet further confirmed by what our Saviour said on the other hand John 7.17 If any man will do his will i.e. the Fathers will he shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God or whether I speak of my self For by this we see that if these Jews to whom it was not given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom had been inclined and disposed in their own minds by former motives to have done the will of God which they already knew as others of them were it would have been given unto them as well as it was to the Disciples to have known those mysteries The reason therefore why this further knowledge was not given them was because they had no mind to do what they had been taught by God by a teaching antecedent to his teaching them by Christ By all which we may see that men cannot take a more direct course as I say to deprive themselves of that assistance from God by which they might perform the condition of the promise than by neglecting to do what they may and can do through Gods preventing grace towards that performance And if so then that opinion must needs be of a very dangerous nature that does incline men to such a neglect And yet such is the opinion that men are wholly passive in performing the condition of the promise For what can be a greater check as I have said to mens endeavours to effect any thing than an opinion that they can do nothing towards it Men are very prone to govern themselves in acting or forbearing to act by their principles and the notions they have of things if these be corrupt that which is the consequence of them cannot be sound Mens errour in practice is very much owing to the errour of their minds and wrong notions of things They do alway err in their heart for they have not known my ways saith the Holy Ghost Heb. 3.10 there the errour in life and practice begins If men have wrong notions in their minds of Gods ways and methods of proceeding with men in reference to their salvation it can hardly be avoided but they will more or less err in point of such practice also as is any way influenced by those notions If the light which is in you be darkness how great is that darkness Mat. 6.23 Almighty God gives to every man from whom he requires repentance and faith ability to do something towards it though not compleatly to repent and believe without further assistance than that which he gives at the first When men therefore do but improve that little which they have in doing that little which they can do towards their repenting and believing God will vouchsafe them further assistance and ability to do yet more towards it and if they do but improve that additional ability to the doing yet more towards the same end God will doubtless vouchsafe to such further and further assistance until they acquire thereby that true faith and repentance on which pardon and life are promised For so saith our Saviour Whosoever hath to him shall be given and he shall have abundance Mat. 13.12 And to you that have more shall be given And again With what measure ye mete it shall be measured to you Mark 4.24 All which sayings seem to signifie that according to Gods ordinary method of proceeding with men they shall have more or less assistance from him as they do with more or less care and diligence use what they have received already And as there is need for men to be cautioned against neglecting to use what power they have towards performing the condition of the promise in repenting and believing before they do repent and believe so there is need likewise of cautioning others against neglecting to improve their repentance faith and obedience from a lower to a higher degree from the state of Babes to a manly stature in Christianity For there is a danger of abusing this comfortable doctrine of Divine Assistance to a spiritual sloth idleness and negligence and that under pretence of honouring God and glorifying Free-grace as by leaving all to be done by him that he may have the honour of all As if men were not in confidence of Gods assistance and so in the strength of the Lord to run the race set before them but to be taken up into arms and carried all the way to Heaven without their running or going Whereas when men truly enter into the Christian state and seriously set their faces for heaven they then enter into a spiritual warfare against the Flesh World and Devil and they as the Israelites must fight for the promised Land before they enter it though they receive it by promise as they
did they must first fight the good sight of faith and then lay hold of eternal life It is he that overcometh that shall inherit all things Rev. 21.7 For men not to stir up themselves not to gird up the loins of their minds to sight their way through to Heaven but to resolve to be onely passive under pretence that the Captain of our salvation might have all the honour of the Victory would be much what as ridiculous as it would be for Souldiers in an Army to say they would leave it wholly to their Captain General to fight for them while they sit still that he might have all the honour of the Victory The ability of God and our Saviour to save hath no other limits save what his will directed by his infinite wisdom hath put upon it but the divine will hath so limited this power that the promise of Crowning is not made but to such as through striving overcome All the promises and assurances we have of Divine Assistance are to encourage our diligence and industry in working out and carrying quite through the business of our salvation and to overcome all that doth oppose us or which any way tends to hinder us in it Of this nature is that of S. Paul Phil. 2.12 13. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling for it is God that worketh in you to will and to do of his good pleasure Gods working in us his readiness to assist us is given as the motive and argument to persuade us to work out our own salvation If we do but put forth our selves to do what we can in doing our duty though it be with fear and trembling when we consider our own weakness and the strength of the enemies we are to encounter and overcome in doing so we are assured of this for our encouragement that if we do so we shall find an inward and secret assistance from God to fortifie our resolutions and to bring the same to good effect so that all our spiritual enemies shall not be able to hinder us but that we shall still hold on our way and grow stronger and stronger as Job speaks of the righteous and he that hath clean hands God will not fail to add more strength to our willing and doing in carrying on the work of grace and so of salvation to a greater height and more perfection if we are but faithful in endeavouring it our selves Be of good courage and God shall strengthen thine heart saith the Psalmist Psal 27.14 The motive wherewith to persuade men to be of good courage and firm resolution in the way of their duty is we see because then God will strengthen their hearts that is will yield them more and further assistance and by that means make their duty more and more easie to them as it must needs be to the same degree their strength is increased by which it is to be done The Lord is so ready nay so certain to assist his servants in their faithful endeavours to do their duty that they may be as sure of it and as much depend upon it as if they had it in their own power And therefore St. Paul exhorted the Christians to be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might Ephes 6.10 As if they might reckon themselves armed with his strength while they depend upon him for it in doing their duty Which made S. Paul speak so considently I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me Phil. 4.13 And again If ye through the Spirit do mortifie the deeds of the body ye shall live He accounted that if they had any mind to mortifie the deeds of the body they might be sure of help from the Spirit wherewith to do it whenever in good earnest they went about it But when men think themselves so sure of being kept by the power of God as that they grow careless and remiss as to their own endeavours of doing their duty and standing upon their guard against temptations they many times slip into such ways and doings by which the Spirit of God is grieved and withdraws from them and with-holds his quickning influences and then they grow dry and flat and unsavoury too and fall even then when they thought they stood sure 2. And the like may be said touching the danger on the other hand also For when men have such an opinion of their own power and ability to perform the condition of the promise as that they are not mindful of the Holy Spirits assistance nor sensible of their need of it but are negligent in addressing to God for it and in their dependance upon him for the supplies of it it cannot be expected that the Holy Spirit should take any such pleasure in such men as to take up his residence and make his abode with them And if not the communication of his assistance to such men must needs be more rare and more sparing and his visits less frequent And when they are so it will be visible in the dulness dead-heartedness and barrenness of such Christians though then they may retain a form of godliness For the Holy Spirit will not vouchsafe to such his special presence and assistance who do not know their need of it nor how to prize it And accordingly our Saviour speaking of the Spirit of truth saith whom the World cannot receive because it seeth him not neither knoweth him John 14.17 So that it seems mens receiving the Spirit depends very much upon their knowing him in the usefulness and benefit of his communications and valuing him accordingly So that we see there is danger of running into extremes on both hands either in mens pretending so much dependance upon divine Assistance as to neglect to do what they can do towards performing the condition of the promise or else in having such an opinion of their own power and ability to perform it as to over-look and neglect the Divine Assistance as if they had little or no need of it Such as this latter sort are far from the mind of S. Paul who was still careful to attribute his after as well as his first Christian performances to Divine Assistance I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me Gal. 2.20 I laboured more than they all yet not I but the grace of God which was with me 1 Cor. 15.10 And again I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ hath not wrought by me Rom. 15.18 Not that we are sufficient of our selves to think any thing as of our selves but our sufficiency is of God 2 Cor. 3.5 And our Saviour taught his Disciples to be of the same mind when he said Without me ye can do nothing John 15.5 And where Christians are full of the sense of their need of Divine Assistance and accordingly highly prize it seek it and depend on God for it and yet are withall as careful and diligent in their own endeavours as if all the