opened the Eyes of him that was born blinde the Pharisees would believe never the more that he was of God and yet all the pretence they could finde against him was because this cure was wrought on the Sabbath-day vers 16. For when they had strictly examined all circumstances of the Miracle and the healed person in conclusion talked such unanswerable reason against them Herein is a marvelous thing that ye know not whence he is c. Since the world began was it not heard that any man opened the Eyes of one that was born blinde If this man were not of God he could do nothing i. e. he could do no such works as these they were resolved to give him the hearing no longer but first bitterly reproached him and then cast him out Now our Saviour frequently told these men that their prejudice against him arose from their Lusts How saith he can ye believe who receive honour from one another and seek not the honour that cometh from God onely John 5.44 i. e. so long as your Hearts are set upon worldly greatness and the praise of men which if you can compass you care not in the mean while whether God approves of you or not it is no wonder that ye reject my Doctrine who came not to answer your ambitious and worldly expectations although I come with testimony from God and the works that I do bear witness of me vers 36. Thus the Apostle tells us That the God of this world blindeth 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 2 Cor. 4.4 where we have a plain reason given us by the Apostle why some believed not who had the light of the Gospel shining about them i. e. who had it preached to them with its proper evidence viz. because the God of this world had blinded their Mindes i. e. because they were blinded with the prejudices of prevailing Lust and Passion by which the Devil rules in the Children of disobedience Wherefore as Faith is necessary to that more perfect victory over our Lusts which includes the universal doing of God's Will So on the other hand our mindes must in some degree be disengaged from the power of our Lusts before we can heartily believe viz. so far as that we may be ready to yield to the truth how contrary sover it proves to our sensual and worldly affections and consequently that they shall not hinder our attention and consideration when the Word of God is offered to be made known to us Of this teachable disposition we have a remarkable instance in Acts 16.14 The Lord opened Lydia 's heart that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul where we may observe 1. That her being qualified to hear which is here expressed by the opening of her Heart is ascribed to a divine operation which prevented even her attention to what she heard 2. That the immediate effect of the Lords opening her Heart was not her believing but her attending to those things which were spoken of Paul i. e. she heard him diligently without prejudice and passion and was willing to embrace the truth This was the effect of God's Spirit and whoever is thus disposed will believe the Gospel when it is made known to him because it is indeed the Word of God This is that temper of minde which was all that our Saviour desired to finde among men in order to the convincing of them that he was the true Prophet If any man will do his will he shall know of the Doctrine whether it be of God or whether I speak of my self Joh. 7.17 i. e. If a man be willing to do whatsoever shall appear to be the Will of God and so is not prejudiced against the truth by his Lusts such a one will easily be convinced that my Doctrine is of God And because this temper comes from the divine Spirit therefore he that is thus disposed is said to be of God For it is exactly to the same purpose what our Saviour saith John 8.47 He that is of God heareth God's Words ye therefore hear them not because ye are not of God For this was the Answer he made to that Question of his own If I say the truth why do ye not believe me He gives the reason himself Because ye are not of God The meaning whereof is plain from vers 44. Ye are of your Father the Devil and the lusts of your Father ye will do he was a murderer from the beginning and abode not in the truth c. So that to be of the Devil is to be wedded to our Lusts and enraged against the truth that contradicts them And therefore the contrary state or temper to be of God is plainly to be ready to perform all duty and to believe all truth and whoever was thus disposed would hear God's Words and believe them vers 47. Thus after our Saviour had appealed to the Miracles which he wrought before his Enemies Joh. 10.25 he tells them But ye believe not because ye are not of my sheep Where by Sheep cannot be meant actual Disciples for then the sence were Ye believe not because ye believe not But such as were by a teachable spirit disposed to be so and would hear his voice for such as these would follow him assoon as he called them because he was the true Shepherd Now that this preparedness of minde to embrace the truth was an effect of the divine Spirit is clearly implied in vers 29. My Father who gave them me i. e. who hath thus disposed and qualified them to hear my voice is greater than all and none is able to pluck them out of my Fathers hands to defeat them of that eternal Life which Christ had promised v. 28. All these places being compared with John 6.37 give a clear light to the true interpretation thereof All that the Father giveth me shall come unto me i. e. will believe in me and become my Disciples and then to be given of the Father is the same thing with being resolved to do the Will of God Joh. 7.17 and being of God Joh. 8.47 and being Christ's Sheep Joh. 10.26 All which Phrases signifie that humility and teachableness of minde whereby men are prepared to believe the truth Onely the Fathers giving such persons to Christ is an expression noting that divine Grace whereby their mindes are thus disposed for which reason being brought to this temper is called vers 44. being drawn by the Father No man can come to me except the Father who hath sent me draw him i. e. unless the grace of God hath so far prevailed over his Affections as to indue him with an impartial love to the truth and his Heart be thereby opened to attend to God's Word And in this sence we may use those words of the Apostle spoken upon another occasion No man can say that Jesus is the Lord
think may take Sanctuary in that Ignorance which will I hope make some abatement for the mistakes of the people but as for the rest they would do well to consider those dreadful words of our Lord Luke 17.1 2. It is impossible but that offences will come but wo unto him through whom they come It were better for him that a mill-stone were hanged about his neck and he cast into the sea than that he should offend one of these little ones SECT 5. I should come next to consider that Argument of the Doctor which lies particularly against the supposal of Regeneration to be a Metaphorical expression of reformation of Life according to the Scriptures which he takes to be his Adversaries notion of Regeneration But it is fit their notion should be better understood than as 't is lamely represented by him Wherefore my next business shall be to state what I conceive to be the true meaning of Regeneration which being done I promise the Doctor not to forget his Objection against it The meaning of being Regenerate or born again will be fully known if we know what it signifies as a State and what as an Effect I shall first consider what is the meaning of being Regenerate as that phrase implies the state or condition of that man who is said to be Regenerate and then I shall offer those reasons which make it evident that that meaning is fit to be expressed by this Metaphor 1. As Regeneration denotes a State I affirm that to be regenerate or born again signifies in its utmost meaning to become a sincere Proselyte or Disciple of our Lord Jesus I shall first briefly shew what I mean by a sincere Disciple of Christ. Secondly I shall prove that to be the meaning of a regenerate state To be a sincere Disciple of Jesus consists in these two things 1. In being baptized as our Saviour requires 2. In making good the profession of Baptism which is to believe in Christ and to obey his Commands This is clearly answerable to that rule which our Blessed Saviour gave to his Apostles according to which they were to make men his Disciples Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost i. e. admitting them by Baptism into the Church and thereby engaging them to believe and to profess their Faith in the Father Son and Holy Ghost and of that Doctrine to which they have born record Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you i. e. and by the same Baptism engaging them to obey all my Commands That therefore which makes us sincere Disciples is thus to believe and obey as we are by Baptism engaged to do Now because to obey the Commands of Christ whatever we lose or suffer by it is the clearest proof we can give to our selves or others that we own him in good earnest to be our Lord and Master and that we do heartily believe him to be the Son of God therefore we finde that our Saviour speaks of this obedience to him as if it were the onely thing in which our being his true Disciples did consist Thus John 15.8 Herein is my Father glorified that ye bear much fruit that ye be fruitful in Piety and good works so shall ye be my Disciples The same thing is affirmed of obedience to one but that a very remarkable Precept of our Saviour John 13.34 A new commandment I give unto you that ye love one another as I have loved you By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples if you have love one to another i. e. such love as Christ had to us Now we are not to think that this last saying of our Saviour concerning that one instance of obedience to him or that the former concerning obedience in general do exclude either the one obedience to the rest of his Laws or the other believing him to be the Son of God from being necessary to make us his true Disciples But that by such an high act of Vertue as to love the Brethren as Christ loved us it may strongly be concluded that we will not stick at any thing he requires of us and that our yielding a sincere obedience to all his Commands does clearly suppose that we believe him to be the Son of God and all his promises to be true Hence our Saviour does not admit that we can be his Disciples if we do not entirely submit our selves to him If any man come to me and hate not his Father c. and his own life also he cannot be my Disciple i. e. unless he loves God and Truth and Goodness so much more than all his worldly Interests even his Life it self that he may be said to hate these things when his love to them is compared with his love to Christ he cannot be a Disciple of Christ He cannot be so if he be not willing to part with all earthly things in obedience to Christ. The meaning is he cannot be a sincere Disciple he cannot answer the profession of Baptism while it is thus with him Thus are we taught to interpret those words by our Saviour himself in another place If ye continue in my word to do according to it whatever betides you for so doing in this world then are ye my Disciples indeed St. John 8.31 So that the best notion we can frame of a true Disciple of Christ and that to which we are guided by Christ himself is this that he is one who doth so firmly believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that all his promises are true as to love God above all things and yield an hearty obedience to all the Commands of Christ. Now Secondly I am to prove that the state of Regeneration means no more than to become such a Disciple of Christ as I have described and my first Argument is this 1. It is acknowledged that unless we be Regenerate we cannot see the Kingdom of God and withal that if we be Regenerate we have thereby all that is necessary to qualifie us for his Kingdom It is I think likewise acknowledged that it is equally necessary and sufficient for that end that we be the sincere Disciples of Christ. Let these things be granted and I am much mistaken if it does not follow that to be Regenerate and to be a sincere Disciple of Christ are the same thing If the latter be not readily granted it is clearly proved from all those Scriptures which suppose Faith and Obedience to be necessary and sufficient qualifications for eternal Happiness such as these He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved but he that believeth not shall be damned Christ is the Author of salvation to them that obey him He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life and he that believeth not on the Son shall not see life but the wrath of God abideth on him Blessed are the pure in
depend upon that force onely which the bare Revelation of the motives to obedience hath to perswade us For if we could reasonably expect no other power to overcome the world and to practise all Christian Virtues than what ariseth merely from such a consideration of the promises and threatnings of the Gospel and all other obligations to obedience represented to us therein as we are able to excite in our selves and to bring one another to then did the Apostle in vain spend those his solemn Prayers in behalf of others and in vain were they required to pray for themselves in like manner and it would be lost labour to call now upon God to help us by his Grace after he has revealed the Doctrines of the Gospel to us and setled the Ministry of the Church to bring men to repentance and good works Seeing therefore that the attainment of all Virtues and Qualifications necessary to Salvation ought to be a subject of our Prayers seeing these Prayers cannot be profitable unless there be a divine Grace and that distinct from the Revelation of the Gospel obtainable thereby for the producing of those Qualifications in us since Prayer also is one necessary means prescribed for the attaining of them it follows that all Christian Virtues are the Graces of the Holy Spirit or the effects of his Operation in us Wherefore we may conclude with St. James If any man lack wisdom let him ask of God that giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not and it shall be given him Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and cometh down from the Father of Lights with whom is no variableness nor shadow of turning James 1.5 17. who will not fail of his promise but give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him SECT 3. By the same Argument it is clear that there is a communication of the divine Spirit to good men that they may yet further improve in the fruits of Faith and grow in Grace As our Saviour saith Every branch that beareth fruit he purgeth it that it may bring forth more fruit Joh. 15.2 For thus also the Apostle saith And this I pray that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgement that you may still be more powerfully prompted to Charity and all Christian works by a deep sense of their goodness that you may approve things that are excellent that you may apprehend all Christian Virtues to be as excellent as they are in their own nature that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ that being thus strongly disposed to all righteousness you may constantly and universally do the Will of God being filled with the fruits of righteousness Phil. 1.9 10. And this progress in the Christian life which the Apostle prayed for in their behalf together with that perseverance which it would be the means of he does not onely by his Prayers suppose to be the effect of a divine Operation but he expresly ascribes it thereunto vers 6. where he tells them how strongly he was perswaded that God who had begun a good work in them would perfect it until the day of Christ. To the same purpose is that Prayer The God of Peace make you perfect in every good work to do his will working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight Heb. 13.21 But if we consult the Holy Scriptures we shall finde that the Operations of the Holy Spirit are more plentifully communicated to men when they become holy and good than they were before and this I take to be clearly affirmed in those passages wherein God is said to dwell in them And because this consideration cannot but strongly move us to follow the study of Piety I shall distinctly shew 1. What we are to understand by God's dwelling in men and 2. That they are holy and good men onely in whom God dwells As to the former it is observable that God's dwelling in Christians is sometimes joyned with the mention of their being his Temple as you may see 1 Cor. 3.16 2 Cor. 6.16 Eph. 2.21 22. Now from hence it is obvious to gather that these Phrases allude to what had been said of God's dwelling in the Temple at Hierusalem and before that in the Tabernacle and therefore that they will be more easily explained by observing the use of them in the Old Testament and to this way we are plainly directed in the New as you will see by consulting 2 Cor. 6.16 where the Apostle cites a place out of the Old containing God's promise to dwell among the Israelites First of all the Sheckinah or Habitation of God was in the holy place within the Vail where God said he would appear in the Cloud of Incense Lev. 16.2 and where the Ark of God was And hence the place of the Ark was called his Dwelling as we may see by comparing David's intimation of his purpose to build an house for God with God's Message to him upon that occasion I dwell saith David in an house of Cedar and the ARK OF GOD dwelleth within Curtains 2 Sam. 7.2 But the Prophets words to him were these Thus saith the Lord Shalt thou build me an house for ME to dwell in or for MY ARK whereas to this day I have walked in a Tabernacle vers 5. Thus the place within the Vail where the Ark was while the Tabernacle stood and the Oracle into which it was carried after the building of the Temple was called the Most Holy place the place where God vouchsafed to be present in a peculiar manner The Symbols of his presence there were the Cherubims or Angels under which the Ark was placed and thus we finde in Jacob's vision that the presence of God was signified by an appearance of Angels Gen. 28.12 And the manner of the appearance of the Angel to the Shepherds is described by the glory of the Lord shining round about them Luke 2.9 For this reason it is that God is so often called by the name of him that dwelleth between the Cherubims who was pleased thereby to signifie his presence in the Most Holy place But that which I chiefly aim at is this that God's dwelling in this place was a testimony of his peculiar mercy and kindness towards the House of Israel and that he would bless and prosper them if they would keep his Commandments And for this reason the Ark was called the Ark of the Covenant between God and them For first the Tables of the Commandments which they were to keep were laid up in the Ark and then the Blessings which God would bestow upon them were signified by the Ark's standing under the Mercy-seat which was covered with the Wings of the Cherubims between which God was so often said to dwell So that the presence of God was there exhibited as it were sitting upon a Throne of Mercy to dispense his favours and blessings amongst the Children of Israel And to this
purpose it is observable that God's dwelling thus in the Most Holy place is called his dwelling amongst the Israelites Thus when he commanded the building of the Ark Let them saith he make me a Sanctuary that I may dwell amongst THEM Exod. 25.8 And after he had promised to sanctifie the Tabernacle with his Glory he tells Moses And I will dwell amongst the Children of Israel and will be their God Exod. 29.45 Now that the presence of his mercy and favour towards them was meant in this promise appears by the following words And they shall know that I am the Lord their God that brought them forth out of the land of Aegypt i. e. he would so manifest his power in protecting and defending them from all their Enemies that they should know he had the same care of them which he shewed in delivering them from the Aegyptian bondage But this is yet more clearly signified by those words In all places where I record my NAME I will come unto thee and BLESS thee Exod. 20.24 For the Name of God as we find in 2 Sam. 6.2 was The Lord of Hosts that dwelleth between the Cherubims And this is that account which the Psalmist gives of God's dwelling in Sion where the Ark of his presence was The Lord hath chosen Sion he hath desired it for his habitation This is my rest for ever here will I dwell for I have desired it I will abundantly satisfie her poor with bread I will cloath her Priests with salvation and her Saints shall shout aloud for joy Psal. 132.13 Thus in times of distress and danger they began their prayers for deliverance by invoking the Lord God of Israel that dwelleth between the Cherubims 2 Kings 19.15 and Psal. 80.1 By all which it appears that Gods dwelling there signified the peculiar favour which he had towards the house of Israel before all other people And accordingly we may observe that the Scripture doth use to express the presence of God amongst them when they were punished for their sins not by dwelling with them but by visiting them which you know is a word that does not imply continuance and long abode as the other does and is therefore much fitter than that to express the presence of his angry Justice who delighteth not in Vengeance but in Mercy and who is more easily prevailed with to withdraw his displeasure than his favour and kindness Thus saith the high and lofty One I DWELL with him that is of a contrite and humble spirit which that it signifies the lasting presence of his favour is plain from the following words For I will not contend for ever neither will I be always wroth for the spirit should fail before me and the souls which I have made Isa. 57.15 16. Although God is said to visit men both when he is present to punish them as in Exod. 32.34 Psal. 89.36 c. and when he is present to deliver and bless them as in Exod. 3.16 Psal. 106.4 yet 't is in respect of the latter onely that he is said to dwell amongst them Now as I observed before the Apostle cites that promise of God made to the Israelites that he would dwell in them applying it to the state of the Christian Church as you may see 2 Cor. 6.16 Wherefore God's dwelling in men as this phrase is used in the New Testament signifies also his peculiar grace and favour toward them as the Apostle himself explains it by subjoyning that other place thereto And I will be a Father unto you and ye shall be my Sons and Daughters saith the Lord God Almighty And this is that testimony which he hath given us hereof that the Word was made Flesh and dwelt among us full of grace and truth John 1.14 By whom we have received God's blessings and favours and the clear revelations of his Will more freely than the Israelites ever did by the dwelling of the Ark amongst them They prayed towards their most Holy place where God was extraordinarily present that he would stir up his strength and come and save them But we look up to the more Holy Mercy-seat where God is more gloriously present than he was between the Cherubims even to Jesus whom all the Angels of God worship and in whom the fulness of the God-head dwelleth bodily that through him we may have help and salvation The Name of God which he hath now recorded amongst us is The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and by this name we invoke him that he would come unto us and bless us And there is as great difference between the Blessings that God's coming to us and dwelling amongst us implies and those which were promised to the Israelites as between the testimonies themselves of God's presence amongst them and amongst us They were temporal favours and deliverances which they promised to themselves from God's presence in the most Holy place But we look for a salvation incomparably more excellent God having blessed us through Christ with all spiritual blessings in things that concern Heaven Eph. 1.3 The Enemies we are to subdue by the strength of the Lord and the power of his might are those which would hinder us of our heavenly Canaan viz. our sensual Lusts and earthly Affections and the temptations of the World and the Devil For we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities against powers against the rulers of the darkness of this world against spiritual wickednesses in high places Eph. 6.12 against all the suggestions of evil spirits whether to more gross and sensual or to more refin'd and spiritual vices And they are Enemies so much more dangerous than those which the Israelites had to deal withal that theirs do not deserve to be called Principalities c. when they are compared with those here mentioned by the Apostle Thus by the Spirit of God dwelling in us twice mentioned by St. Paul Rom. 8.9 11. we are to understand the presence of his Grace whereby we are constantly enabled to mortifie the deeds of the Body vers 13. For then our Bodies shall have a blessed Resurrection vers 11. and the Spirit is life because of Righteousness vers 10. our Souls shall then be qualified for eternal Life and Happiness Now this being certain to come to pass if the Spirit of God dwelleth in us it is plain that the peculiar grace and favour of God towards us which is signified thereby is that by which we may be kept from living after the flesh which if we do we shall die and enabled to mortifie the deeds of the Body to subdue our spiritual Enemies more perfectly and to prevail finally against them that we may live vers 13. Therefore to conclude this point as God's dwelling amongst the Israelites signified his peculiar favour to them in protecting and defending them and bringing them to the Land of Canaan and blessing them with plenty and increase c. so is the peculiar presence of his Grace
Christian Virtue is ascribed both to the Holy Spirit and to the Word of God in that Prayer of St. Paul for the Colossians that they might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding that they might walk worthy of the Lord unto all well-pleasing being fruitful in every good work c. that is by the means of a fuller understanding of the Will of God Col. 1.9 10. And the co-operation of both these Causes for the producing of the same Effect is yet more plainly expressed in those words of our Saviour's Prayer for his Disciples Sanctifie them through thy TRVTH thy WORD is TRVTH where nothing can be more plain than this that the holiness of Believers is ascribed to the Operation of Truth upon their mindes viz. that Truth which is revealed in the Gospel Seing then that the Gospel is not onely in it self a proper means of converting the Unbeliever and the Disobedient of confirming and improving the sincere Convert but as you see the Graces of the Holy Spirit are those effects also which the Scriptures frequently ascribe to the weightiness of those Reasons and Considerations that are offered to our understandings by the Word of God We must be careful not to define the manner whereby the Holy Spirit worketh in the mindes of men to produce these Graces so as to deny them to be the Genuine and proper effects of divine Truths which is done by assigning such a manner of Operation to the Holy Spirit as must needs be inconsistent with ascribing Conversion to the Operation of Truth Wherefore it is too boldly done of Dr. Owen and his Party to affirm that Conversion is an effect of such an Operation of the Holy Spirit upon the minde as makes it impossible for a man not to be converted and withal that Conversion is impossible without such an irresistible Operation For 1. If a man must necessarily resist the whole strength of God's Word till Conversion be wrought in him by an irresistible action of the Spirit as these men teach then 't is plainly absurd to make Conversion to be an effect of God's Word For upon this Hypothesis it contributes no more to a man's conversion than the hurling of a Pebble does to the throwing down of a mighty Wall that is falling by the fury of the Cannon If as the Doctor saith the Will cannot make use of that Grace for conversion which it can refuse if also it can resist all kinde of Perswasions Reasons Arguments and Motives as he himself supposes and by consequence that Operation of the Spirit whereby Conversion is caused be irresistible What can be more evident than that Conversion must upon these terms be onely and wholly the effect of an irresistible power and not at all of Reasons and Motives To say that the Operations of the Spirit produce their effects irresistibly because they are joyned with the Word is to ascribe an irresistible Operation to the Word as well as to the Spirit or rather to make the irresistibleness to arise from the concurrence of both those Causes Now besides that upon this Hypothesis all men to whom the Gospel is made known would be converted seeing we have proved the ministration of the Gospel to be accompanied with the Operations of the Spirit in all that hear it Besides this I say these men do not place the irresistible force by which Conversion as they say is wrought in the concurrence of the Word and the Spirit but in the sole Operation of the Spirit Now that Conversion should at the same time be an effect of God's Word which as they say a man cannot but resist till he is converted and of such an Operation of the Spirit too as is altogether irresistible is to me as unintelligible as Transubstantiation For if it were onely said that 't is possible for a man to resist the Operations of Truth and withal granted that Conversion must as well be an effect of the truth of God's Word as of the Holy Spirit 's Operating in our mindes it would plainly follow that his Operations were resistible The reason is because where an Effect depends upon the concurrence of two Causes he that hath it always in his power to resist the force of one is at any time able to frustrate the other and consequently to hinder the effect Now they themselves grant and it is plain by daily experience that the Word of God may be resisted and heard in vain as it was even when preached in the demonstration of the Spirit and Power Wherefore when the Operations of the Spirit conspire with the power of the Word to convert a sinner if he can be obstinate against the latter he may also quench the former and then they are not irresistible Furthermore it may be said if Conversion be wrought irresistibly by the sole Operation of the Spirit then the Word which may be resisted is unnecessary But if the Word cannot but be resisted till the effect is wrought by another power that is invincible viz. that of the Spirit then 't is plain that the effect is owing onely to that power which is to render the whole Ministry of the Gospel utterly vain and useless and to contradict all those passages of Scripture which attribute our Conversion to the force of divine Truth But 2. It is further evident from the manner of their explaining this irresistible Operation that they exclude all the influence of God's Word from being a means of Conversion Dr. Owen tells us that the Holy Ghost is the immediate Author and cause of Regeneration and he is often putting us in minde that we are converted by an immediate Physical Operation of the Spirit which he endeavours to prove for many Pages together Now a Physical Operation he opposeth to Moral and thereby excludeth from it all use of any Reasons Arguments and Motives whatsoever as he doth industriously more than once Now what is more plain than that to ascribe Conversion to such an Operation as this is wholly to exclude the Word of God from being any way subordinate to that Grace whereby we are converted For although the Doctor tells us sometimes that he grants a Moral Operation of the Spirit and that he onely denies the concurrence of that with the Word to be the total cause of Conversion yet by his leave he does not make it so much as a partial cause For if this Physical Operation onely is that Grace which can remove all obstacles and overcome all oppositions and infallibly produce the effect intended as he speaks if this Operation doth not consist in the use of any motive whatsoever contained in the Word of God Finally if this Operation be the immediate cause of Conversion if nothing intervenes between this Operation and the Effect it is then plain I conceive that the Word of God is wholly excluded from being a means of Conversion for neither is the use of any
more sensibly affected with those joys of the Holy Ghost which increase the love of Virtue and confirm him in every divine disposition 2. This is further evident from those passages in Holy Writ where we are required to grow in grace to abound in the work of the Lord and to go on to perfection For these places and the like do strongly imply that we cannot on a sudden arrive to any degree of goodness which we fall greatly short of at present much less that we can presently be filled with the fulness of God Wherefore it plainly follows that the Holy Spirit does not affect our mindes when we begin the Christian life in the same manner and measure that he moveth us in after we have made some progress in it or shall arrive to such an eminent degree of Christianity as may answer that expression of being filled with the fulness of God For if it were thus then we might become Men in Christ assoon as we are Babes and come to the fulness of our stature without growing and going on to perfection It is further observable that the Word of God is affirmed to be the means of our increasing in holiness we must desire the sincere Milk of the Word that we may grow thereby as St. Peter tells us and in Col. 1.9 St. Paul instructs us that the way whereby the Spirit maketh us to walk worthy of the Lord unto all well-pleasing being fruitful in every good work is by filling us with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding From whence I observe that our improvement in holiness is greater or lesser according as we consider and meditate upon divine Truths viz. for this end of governing our lives by them which is to know them in Wisdom and spiritual Vnderstanding Now since the effects of the Holy Spirit 's Operation in our mindes are as I have shewn the genuine and proper effects of the Word of God seriously considered and laid to heart it follows that the Holy Spirit worketh in us according to that measure wherein divine Truths are considered by us Therefore since our fruitfulness depends upon our increasing in the knowledge of God or that spiritual Vnderstanding which the Apostle speaks of the Holy Spirit who worketh in us by the Word of God does not make us capable of arriving to that state of walking before the Lord in all well-pleasing all at once but by degrees viz. as we increase in the knowledge of God by daily Meditation Lastly since by the experience we have of Humane Nature we see that customes are not easily and presently put off and that matters of difficulty cannot be made familiar to us but by use and practice more particularly that they who are accustomed to do evil cannot of a sudden learn to do well that ill habits are not wasted but by degrees that the difficulties of a Religious life press most upon us when we first enter upon it and that they wear away insensibly by continuance in well-doing likewise that vertue is improved by exercise and that the Path of the just as the Wise man speaks is as the shining light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day I say this being considered we must needs acknowledge that the Holy Spirit does not produce the effects of his Grace in the mindes of men all at once but that he accommodates his Operations to the state in which they are at present prompting them to that amendment which the measure of their capacity will admit And this I take to be a Consequence also of what the Doctor so fully grants viz. that the Spirit acts the mindes of men onely as they are meet to be acted according to their own Nature Power and Ability and according to their natural Operations For if we may trust the constant experience of Mankinde both of the good and the bad although an evil habit is sooner contracted than a good one yet none is gained without some use and exercise and ordinarily it cannot be otherwise Now if the Spirit moves us no otherwise than according to the Nature Power and Ability of our mindes we must not think that by his Grace we may leap out of a wicked course of life in a moment into the habits of Piety and Virtue but that he is in that manner present with us as to enable us to make a good beginning and if we do so that by his more abundant Grace we may proceed and so by degrees come to a divine temper of minde and to walk worthy of the Lord unto all well-pleasing There is no doubt but God if he pleaseth can in an instant change the most vicious man into a Saint but we have no more reason to think that he will do so than that he should work new Miracles to convert us But we have great reason to perswade us that he will not do so for if we may judge of the Manner and Measure of the Holy Spirit 's Operations by the promises of special Grace which belong onely to qualified and prepared persons or by the Commands of the Scripture to grow in Grace and in the knowledge of Christ or by the general experience of Humane Nature we may conclude that an habitual Sinner cannot become a good man in an instant He must first learn to be afraid of God's angry Justice he must be heartily sorry for his sins he must deeply consider the promises of the Gospel he must avoid the occasions of sin and fortifie himself with vehement resolutions to forsake his wicked course and he must make many earnest prayers before he can subdue his Lusts and overcome the world and yield a sincere obedience to all the Commands of God And by consequence he cannot expect that the Operations of the Holy Spirit should make him a holy man but by the former means and therefore by degrees This Consideration ought not to have been omitted because it may be of great use to two very different sorts of men 1. To those who have been long accustomed to a sinful course of life and think it impossible to recover themselves although they have the opportunities of amendment before them For it happens sometimes that such men wish they had taken an early care to live in the fear of God and the practice of Religion and Virtue but they believe it is now in vain to strive against those fatal habits which are so deeply rooted in their mindes and so they abandon themselves to carelessness and desperation The reason whereof is commonly this that when they attempted their own reformation and had purposed to lead a new life they soon found themselves surprized again by their former temptations and carried away as strongly by their sensual appetites as ever they were before which makes them conclude it is to no purpose to take any more pains with themselves as if because their freedom from the servitude of sin could not be effected in a