but inconsiderable and slight reasons and upon fallacious arguments and grounds and such as he doth or might know to be fallacious did he make due use of his reason Else it would be a Natural Impotency and a man could be no more blamed for it than you can blame a man for his antipathy to Cheese that is not chosen upon any arguments Now in this sense a Cannot and Will not are all one they do not differ specie in kind only in degree It is a higher degree of volition or chusing you may call it Wilfulness stubbornness Obstinacy Moral Impotency all these signifie the same Deut. 21.18 If a man have a stubborn Son that will not obey the voyce of his Father Stubborness is only a Will not obey not a Cannot in the properest sense as opposed to Will not only a higher degree of will not but of the same species In this sense are apparently these and such Scriptures to be understood Can the blackmore change his skin so He that is accustomed to evil cannot do well The first Cannot here is Natural and so without fault he cannot change his skin if he would never so fain and therefore a command to change it would not oblige But the second is the Moral Cannot Gen. 37.4 Josephs Brethren hated him and could not speak peaceably to him that is through envy not but that they could if they would Luke 11.7 Trouble me not my door is shut and my children in bed I cannot rise to give thee This cannot is a will-not upon such reasons and is so explained in the words following Though he will not rise yet because of his Importunity he will rise and give him whatsoever he needeth In this sense the Carnal mind is Enmity against God and is not subject to the Law of God neither in deed can be in this Moral sense And God giveth us power in this sense observe I do not say only in this sense but mostly as the chief meaning for somthing I could say but I must not intermix things aliene not by giving new faculties but by causing us to will and do of his own good pleasure Phil. 3.13 And in this sense we pray Create in us a clean heart and renew a right Spirit within us No man can come to me except the Father draw him meaneth no more than that Ye will not come to me that ye might have life only it may denote a more strong overflowing stream of the will and a resolved refusal of him or to speak more exactly it denotes the Will-not with a modus and modes do not differ really from the things modified It denotes the Will not with this wicked modification that this willnot will always continue unless God do by some super-effluence of his grace make them willing of unwilling not but that they had the Natural power or faculty of willing it or could if they would without that adventitious drawing but they were so resolved against submitting to him that they could not obtain to will the contrary yea this Cannot was through their own choice upon some reasons like that Luke 14.20 He had Married a Wife and could not come The design of the parable is to shew what hinders men from coming to Christ and how inexcuable they are in refusing such offers the meaning therefore is not that his new Wife did cling about him or tye his legs that he could not for this would have excused but that he chose to stay and entertain himself with his new Married Wife as more desirable to him than the Feast And so one must go see his Oxen and another his Farme The meaning is it is so far from being an indifferent thing to me whether I leave my Wife to go or not that I so quite praeponderate the other way that I cannot so much as obtain of my self to parley about it to debate upon it my reason is so great that you may well excuse me have me excused Dut this will admit of no excuse there is no sufficient reason can be given for forsaking the Fountain of Living Waters to go to broken Cisterns and this they did or might have known I could here if there was need demonstrate further to you that it is impossible there should be any thing but Will in this Impotency for if there was it would excuse so far But this will appear more fully in going on and I suppose I may spare my self that labour For to make this fully intelligible to you is I think enough to prove it And therefore I will represent it further to you The Angels in Heaven have an Impotency of Sinning if I may call the Moral perfection an Impotency which is most properly to be called the Moral power being a holy rectitude of Will and the power opposite to the Moral Impotency in eodem genere morale and so is of the same general nature and fit to explain this by for it is a Moral Cannot sin not a Natural for they have the Natural power of sinning can sin if they would else it would not be laudable Morally no more than it is that a Beast cannot sin they have such a Moral rectitude and goodness they cannot obtain of themselves to Will it but you may as well go and perswade a man in his right mind to put his hand into the fire they neither will nor in the sense explained can Will it nor dare the Angel durst not bring a railing accusation and that for substantial and weighty reasons This calls to mind those expressions How can I do this evil And Rev. 2.2 Thou can'st not bear those that are evil And 1. John 3.9 He cannot sin because he is born of God and Gods people are dead and Crucified unto the World and to sin Which last words shew that if you will have dead in Scripture alwayes to signifie a want of Natural power you must say that Gods people have not a Natural power to sin cannot sin if they would I dare say farther you have such apprehensions of God as of Angels and of good men I mean Analogically though you should in anger say you have not However I am sure you ought to have such apprehensions for otherwise you have unworthy and sinful apprehensions and contrary to Scripture which speaketh in such a way as God must speak or else could not be understood by us in speaking of Himself I say you have such apprehensions of God as you borrow from these things amongst men when you thank God for keeping Covenant and Promise you apprehend He hath the Natural power of destroying you when he will notwithstanding-his promise else you cannot possibly thank him for keeping Covenant You might indeed admire him under a contrary Conception but not thank him for Thanks in the very formal Conception of it is for doing some thing that one had a Natural power to do otherwise If any should conceive that his Promise like some kind of Charm did take away
the undistinguished words of can or cannot Take the wickedst man in the World that is most accustomed to do evil and hath the greatest aversation of will to good and so one that cannot in the moral Sense explained do well nor obtain of him-self to leave his evil ways without wonderful help from Heaven yet we are sure he is bound to leave off his wickedness and turn from his sins and is blameable in not turning from them this day that he hath this moral Impotency though God do not such wonderful things for him And is not only blameable interpretatively because he made himself thus morally Impotent and brought this wicked aversation of will upon himself but is blameable formally this day in not obeying and turning to God because he hath this day the natural Faculty and Power of obeying such commands For if he had not but was made by his sins as I suppose some have been a natural Fool so that he had not the natural Power to understand and chuse the good and refuse the evil it would not then be his duty this day so to obey and turn 3ly I have also shewed that one sort of Impotency the greater it is the greater is the Fault and the less it is the less is the Fault in not doing what a man hath the impotency to do And that the other sort of Impotency the greater it is the less is the Fault and the less it is the greater is the Fault which manifesteth these two kinds of Impotency to be quite different in their own Natures and that the difference of one excusing the other not cannot arise from one coming one way and the other another 4ly To make this further apparent if such a thing can be made more apparent consider that which I have also in part spoken of Christ's humane Nature had such an abundant effusion of the Holy Spirit as caused in him a morally insuperable Holy Rectitude of Will And we are yet sure notwithstanding this that his doing good and eschewing evil was morally laudable because this Holiness of will did not take away his natural Power and Faculty of doing sinfully no more than mens morally insuperable wickedness and eversation of will to good taketh away their natural Power and Faculty of doing Well Now we may with as much Reason deny the one as the other viz. deny that Christ's Obedience was laudable bcause of the Spirits causing this Holiness though he had the natural Power to do otherwise as deny that a man is culpable in not obeying god that hath the natural Power to obey because of his morally insuperable wickedness come this wickedness which way it will Yea let intelligent men consider and they will see that if some manichaean malum principium should make a man wicked just as the most wicked man now is though he can give Reasons why God would not permit this to be and however not without some great Provocation of mankind yet such a man though he would not be to blame formally to be so made yet he would be to blame to continue wicked as he is and it would be his fault not to obey God while he hath notwithstanding this wickedness the natural Power to put off such wickedness and to obey God that is while he is not a natural Fool that hath not the faculty to know and chuse the good and refuse the evil Now to conclude though a man that will not distinguish may puzle and confound his own Notions and may be puzled by others by the words Can and Cannot as in such Speeches as these viz. Can a man obey without Grace Can he actually obey without Grace Can he actually without Grace obey spiritually or acceptably Can he without Grace actually find in his heart to obey Which Questions are to be answered affirmatively while by the word Can is meant the natural Power and Faculty else it would not be men's duty so to obey But such questions are to be answered negatively when the meaning is hath he not such a wicked aversation of will as will certainly hinder him except Grace overcome it Now I say though such a man as resolves to be in the dark by not distinguishing may thus be puzled yet I think no man of competent abilities can easily be puzled so as to be dubious about the substance of what I have spoken concerning one impotency excusing and the other not would he but consider when the words Can or Cannot are objected before him whether the opposers mean by those words the want of the very natural Faculty and Power or necessary object or only a Cannot in respect of his being hindred by his wickedness or vitious habits Thus you see that what I have spoken in the Discourse of Natural and Moral Impotency can as I there said stand on its own Legs though I should not know how to speak a wise word concerning the propagation of the Soul and sin And though I incline to the Souls coming ex traduce as seeming to me the way most agreeable to Scripture and the best to answer difficulties by and I can almost as easily puzle my self about the Soul of Beasts being ex traduce as mens yet my design is especially till things I have spoken be better considered not to speak such things as may occasion differences when my design is to put an end to them Nor to give occasion to any that have a mind to reflect on what I have spoken to run from the question and things well intelligible to things less intelligible and no way helpfull to decide the important controversies of free Will Election and special Grace Finished
Blasphemas ignorantium auribus ingeris Nos liperum arbitrium condâ—mnare damnetur ille qui damnat Autor lib. Hypognosticôn which was not Austin but an Ancient writer against the Pelagians a little after Austin saith Quisquis negaverit liberum arbitrium Catholicus non est Aug. lib. de Fid. cont Manic Quis non clamet Stultum esse prae cepta dare ei cui liberum non est quod praecipitur facere Et Inquium esse eum damnare cui non fuit potestas jussa complere But you shall find none of the Ancients saying that it is unjust for God to require of men what their stubborn or morally inflexible wickedness of their Wills only hinders them from deing or what they cannot find in their hearts to do or what they are so wickedly bent not to do that except God take away this resistency of Will by his Grace they will never do which is the Moral or Wicked Impotency I have explained following ages did also maintain it whatever any say to the contrary Now it is a common answer of ‖ Centur Magdeburg Scultet Medul Pat. learned men that it is true They did so but yet their judgments herein are not much to be regarded because they say they contradict themselves For those very Authors that lived before Pelagius had not that occasion to speak largely and exactly of the necessity of Grace none being so boldly wicked as to deny it till he as Vincentius Lirinensis observes yet when they have occasion they speak as high as any for the necessity of Grace and of mens insuperable wickedness and how that without Christ and his Spirit and Grace we can do nothing good and of Gods working in us to will and to do of his good pleasure I grant it is apparent that those more Ancient Fathers do generally as is said thus * You may find many occasional short expressions demonstrably to argue their judgments in this particular against the Pelagian way in these Authors following though censured as speaking too high for Free Will and in almost any other of the Ancients before Pelagius viz. Just Mart. Jerenaeus Tertul. Arnob. Cypr. Lact. Athanas Basil Ambr. speak viz. of our Impotency to God and for the necessity of Grace But am confident they do not in sense contradict themselves no more than I but meant generally the same that I do and could easily make it appear viz. That men have the Natural power of Free-will but were far from denying the Morally insuperable wicked wilfulness of it without Grace And now I must leave it to your Judgments and Censures Whether I contradict my self or no. There are many learned men pretend with great confidence that this Distinguishing is to no purpose and that men are not too blame if there be any present Impotency at all on men to the immediate duty be it what it will or call it what you will Wilfulness Wickedness Moral Impotency for It will excuse say they as well as Natural and therefore contend that except God by his Grace give to men over and beside their Natural power some kind of aequilibrium or equal-inclination of their Will to good and bad they would not be too blame for disobeying the Gospel this they call a second power and it is the same they mean by their Preventing and Subsequent Grace as appears when they explain them and they pretend that this Grace doth work and that this is all that Grace doth work for it doth not say they encline the Will any farther than by giving it a power to encline either way Now I greatly dislike this Notion and this also must either fall or the notion of Moral Impotency and what hath been said of it falls as not standing in any stead but excusing as well as the Natural I shall therefore search more narrowly into it and also into what can be said any way that I can think of against what is here propounded I wish any Opposer was now here for I would impartially know the truth that would soberly tell me what he would have God do to wicked men to make them without excuse if he pretend that this is not enough for this end that they have the Natural faculties and promises and threatnings and providences afflicting or prosperous that is an object intelligible fitted and suited objectively to work this great change of heart and will I am confident such a one could only name these five things with any shew of reason and he that can name a sixth erit mihi parvus Apollo would do more than ever was done yet First I would have God give a man more of the Natural power and faculty of chusing good and refusing evil that he may be inexcusable But this is irrational He hath power of willing good and if a third or fourth power yea if ten times as much power of willing good was given him it would be all one For this is no reason at all of his not willing good because he hath not the Natural power to will it else it would excuse but he will not chuse it And they that do chuse good and refuse evil have not more of this Natural faculty are not more men are not in this sense further from Natural fools than other men Secondly Or I would have God give him more of the Gospel send more Ministers and awakening providences yea send some from the Dead But this was well answered They have Moses and the Prophets that was enough to make them inexcusable and these under the Gospel have more than so more than the Old Testament Thirdly I would have God to make them actually willing that they may be inexcusable But this is a contradiction and it is to say Wicked men and Devils do not sin except God actually make them not to sin And yet this is the meaning of such passages or they are not sense It doth not excuse for God to give the faculties of willing which is the power of chusing it except he give them also preventing Grace that is make them willing actually Indeed when all is said you must say or say worse that That Grace concerning which the Controversie is lyeth in making men actually willing as distinct from giving power of Willing call it second or third power or what you will and the design of what I say here is not to oppose this but to prove it as you will see in going on but only I am shewing here that Gods denying of this doth not excuse men so as it can be said they do not sin in not obeying the Gospel Or Fourthly I would have him make them to be without Temptation to sin that they may be without excuse But will not your Servant be without excuse in Robbing you unless he had no temptation to it This is an unreasonable demand it is enough that God promises a far greater good than that they deprive themselves of by obedience and threatens a far greater
evil to them sinning than that they incur by their obedience Would you have no self-denyal in the World Many obey God that have greater temptations to disobedience in those things wherein they obey than those have that disobey him in such things Fifthly Or I would have God make them less actually unwilling to good and take off from them much of this Moral Impotency or chosen resolvedness to go on in sinfull wayes which is in part to sanctifie them and to make them in part actually willing to deny themselves as any one may easily understand and then they will be too blame and be guilty of sin if they obey not First Suppose God do not this as we are certain he doth not to all yet are not you and all men in the world sure This doth not excuse Else the most incorrigible and wilful offenders would be most sinless and excusable Can any man in earnest say that a man is not bound to leave his evil wayes and that he doth not sin in going on in them while he is fully and peremptorily resolved to go on in them Yet this seemeth apparently to be the meaning of many learned men in pleading for an indifferancy of Will Secondly What way is there possible to cause a man to leave off this wilfulness to put off this Vitious habit which he hath the Natural power to put off if he would that is threatned enough and promised enough but some way moving a volition by some way causing him to desire the good and dislike the evil If you shall say I would have him take away the Vitious habits you hide your meaning in obscure words or you mean I would have him not only give him the power of willing the contrary which he hath but also some way make his Will encline to the other way that he may be inexcusable Thirdly Do not you use to Object that this would be to destroy the freedom of mans will and so his humane Nature to cause the volition any other way than by giving the power of Willing For if God may by his Spirit in some way to us unknown distinct from meerly propounding the object which he doth where the Gospel is preached without difference without destroying mans freedom take away in part mans great Wilfulness or Unwillingness to good why may he not quite and totally or however to the prevailing degree take away thus by his Spirit his Unwillingness to Good and cause a man to Will or chuse Good without destroying his Freedom Do not now put this all off with these common words unexplained which distinction may have a good sense if rightly explained viz God giveth all men Preventing Grace else they would be in no fault and upon their right use of that he giveth them Subsequent Grace I will shew you that these words do but hide your meaning and that by the subsequent you mean no more than by your preventing Grace and by preventing Grace no more then the faculty or power of willing and obeying if one would you make the subsequent Grace to be given only ex hypothesi upon the supposition men use the preventing well Consider therefore a little that you call preventing Grace whether is this the same with some of those things before-mentioned or some thing distinct Whether is this preventing Grace any more than Gods general povidential Act of making men Naturally perfect giveing men the power or faculty of chusing Good and Evil and so leaving them to their meer self-determination If not it is no more than giving the faculties which is rather to be called giving * Posse habere fidem Charitatem naturae est hominum habere autem gratiae fidelium Aug. de praed Sanct. cap. 5. Nature than Grace If you say as some do and then unsay it again this preventing Grace doth more for it doth excite and move Let me ask Doth it excite and move potentially only or actually and really you will it may be say Actually for to say only potentially is a contradiction and is no more than it doth not but it would move if it was not hindred which I shall after take notice of therefore you will say It doth actually move and excite Now what doth it move and excite but the Will And what is that but to cause actual Willing If it excite motion there is no motion of the Will but willing and nilling consenting or dissenting liking of the thing it is moved to or disliking and it doth not move nilling dissent or dislike of the good if it really move and excite it doth not move nothing this would be to cause a standing motion So that this if granted is to grant that God doth not meerly give power by it to the will to move it self but doth over and above this move the Will which you so much dread If you shall say as I know you will at last movet sed nihil promovet this doth move the Will make men willing actually only on condition they consent be willing and obey and use it well First This is a weak manner of speaking It is to say it maketh men willing on condition they be willing or not unwilling that is on condition they have no need of it and that the work be done before it come Secondly This is to run them both into one and make the preventing Grace the same with the subsequent Thirdly Yea this is to deny all but the common Grace of giving the faculties if it be proper to call it Grace and the Gospel Now to speak of the subsequent Grace If a man use this preventing Grace well will the subsequent certainly follow You say yea Which of those things above named doth this belong to Will this subsequent grace only give them power of willing Good or make them actually to will it If it only give them power to chuse the good this is the Natural faculty Doth it also make them actually willing you will say That cannot be the proper use of this for they are actually willing before else they could not have used the preventing Grace well Therefore you will say this is to make them continue and persevere and grow in actual willingness But will this keep them actually willing You will say No not unless they continue using this Grace right and that they do not except they continue actually willing to use it aright That is it will make them persevere in chusing Good and refusing the Evil on condition they do persevere chusing the Good and refusing the Evil that is on condition they have no need of it And your subsequent Grace is also no more than giving the faculty and power and the same with your preventing Grace And so the total amounts to no more than this If they improve that free-Will without which they cannot be men they shall be men still while they live You may apply what is here spoken to any effect that can be assigned to
to perform that nothing hinders their performances but their own wilfulness And to be so much further willing of the Salvation of some as to resolve to use effectual means to cause such to perform it eventually Is not the Scripture clear for both And if we must measure Him by our selves is it such a difficulty that none can understand for one to be really willing to entertain such a one to be his Servant if he will upon such sufficient offers and perswasions and yet resolve he will go no further and to be so willing to have another his Servant that he is resolved to use all means to compass it Suppose we cannot understand these things may we deny in Divinity whatsoever we cannot understand consistent as the Trinity in Unity It is apparent that many things that were inextricable Difficulties in former have in after Ages been made well Intelligible by Studious Men. How know you but had half that Pains that Learned men have lately taken in opposing been spent in reconciling the distant Opinions about Grace and Free-will That might ere this have been done more satisfactorily which I have here weakly endeavoured and done but too unsatisfactorily to my self VSE 2d OWn and thankfully acknowledge God and his good Spirit in every good Work in things you are sure were done by your own Free-will as all such are yea though you know not how to answer the Objections you can frame against this thankfulness Have you believed complied with the Gospel To you was the Arme of the Lord revealed to you it was given to believe Are you made of his willing people it was done in a day of his Power Therefore say not How am I to be commended But say with David 1 Chro. 29.14 Who am I that I should be able to offer so willingly for all things come of thee Who made thee to differ Why made he thee to differ and since you cannot answer this last question Adore special Grace Can you say you must follow him and cannot let him go and that you have in the sense explained a Moral cannot sin and draw back This is not from Self and Nature No the Moral cannot do Good is from that O say God hath cast his Mantle over me though I cannot tell what he hath done or how yet God knows what and something he hath done say The Finger of God is here It is God hath made such Iron to swim the Father hath drawn How opened he thine eyes I cannot tell but this I can tell whereas I was born Blind and Deaf and Lame now I see and Walk and hear Hast thou this day done some Good avoided some Evil overcome some Temptation Say not though true in a right sense as Deborah once did O my Soul Thou hast troden down strength but say with them This day we perceive the Lord hath been amongst us in that we have been with-held from this Sin I live yet not I but Christ in me Gal. 2. 10. laboured more abundantly than all yet not I but the Grace of Christ 1 Cor. 15.10 Have you laboured abundantly it was from an abundance of Grace If a good Thought arise in your mind a good Desire in your heart take notice whence it is and be thankful he worketh to will and do The Preparations of the Heart in man and the answer of the Tongue is from the Lord Prov. 16.1 City grace grace at the setting of the first Stone at the first Springings and Offers towards good and at every degree of Progress set up your Stone and say Hitherto the Lord hath helped us Thou hast wrought all our Works in us and for us Isaiah 26.12 VSE 3d. BE deeply apprehensive of your need of help cry for the Spirit 's help in every thing He that hath begun the good Work must finish it or it will never be finished When you have with David praised him for what is past that you should offer so willingly and with a perfect Heart then pray 1 Chron. 29.18 Keep this for ever in the I magination of the Thoughts of the Hearts of thy People and prepare or establish and confirm their hearts unto thee When you cleave to the Lord with full purpose of Heart with full Resolution go unto God to satisfie such Resolutions go to him and say the Lord God say Amen to them Take heed of leaning to your own strength do not think you can do with some little courtesie of the Spirit with some little of the Divine Traction We are mutable Creatures change with every Wind of Temptation it may be resolved to day and staggering to morrow Oh our Levity Fickleness Oh the Rebellion of the Law of our Members put no Confidence in your selves Every man is a Lyer Be not high minded but fear We are not sufficient of our selves to think any thing as of our selves but our sufficiency is of God 2 Cor. 3.5 It is by his Power we are kept through Faith to Salvation and we can only be strong in the Lord and in the Power of his Might Not only our first drawing is from God unto God through Christ but the keeping us when drawn else we should draw back unto Perdition For we are Prone to it Our goodness is as the Morning Cloud and early Dew which soon goes away Say draw O Father we cannot come except the Father draw say while you live Draw us and we will run after thee draw and we will run with it Say not Draw and we will be idle and sit still Say not God worketh to will and to do therefore we will be idle You have not so learned Christ but contrary Phil. 2.12 13. Work out your own Salvation with Fear and Trembling For it is God worketh in you to will and to do of his good pleasure that is Forsake not him fear to refuse to co-operate with him lest he forsake you in respect of those Assistances that come from his free undeserved Will and Pleasure VSE 4th HOw ill do they that Place the Gospel-condition the thing that must be done or we undone in something that a man may say He cannot do if he would never so fain As in Assurance or Believing a man sins are pardoned or That he shall be saved Man hath a Natural Impotency to this till God have so revealed it by some Prophet or Revelation or some way that he may know in particular that his sins are pardoned And therefore it cannot fall till then under command Suppose there had been such a Promise as this which I abhor almost to mention If any man shall believe his Sins are pardoned they are or they shall be pardoned otherwise not no man could yet believe it A man might Lye and say I believe it but it is impossible he should upon this promise for there must essentially be some way to notifie unto him that his sins are pardoned before he believe it This would have been to have set life before us upon an
none of me Heb. had no liking of me so I gave them up to their own hearts Lusts How long did he stretch out his hands to disobedient gain-saying Souls Light came and thou loved'st Darkness and drew'st the Curtains to sleep now it may be he saith Sleep on as once to his Disciples And yet this very Providence is an awaking providence and should awake thee as it did them They slept no more after Christ said in anger Sleep on Obj. 12. But however I would have had God have saved me notwithstanding my sins though not form my sins Ans Very likely But would you have Christ the Minister of sin God forbid Would you have God an unholy Governour of the World Would you have it as well with the Wicked as with the Righteous Would'st thou have God never call men to an account that oppress thee wrong thee May he not glorifie his Justice on wilful Sinners chusing their own Destruction and fitting themselves for it notwithstanding his striving with them to reclaim them as well as glorifie his Mercy on repenting returning Sinners Would you not have God threaten Sinners Or would you have him not execute threatnings and so rule the VVorld by Deceit He told men what to hold to and expect if they go on in their sins and they chuse rather to suffer the Eternal Penalty so they may have the short pleasure of sin than Happiness on the reasonable termes of it Obj. 13. However I would have had him have threatned a lesser Punishment Ans You may rather say He threatned too little and that it was rather fit if it could have been that he had threatned more For you would not forsake your sins for those threats This is virtually to say it is not fit and right to make severe Laws against those courses that men are not willing or resolved not to leave or cannot find in their hearts to leave They shall know whose words shall stand mine or theirs Jer. 44.28 Obj. 14. But it is almost incredible that men all men should be so wicked so insuperable wicked with proper voluntary wickedness distinct from weakness as not some of them to do without this extraordinary and unnecessary as to the making men inexcusable Help from above what they can do in the sense explained without it If this was so God would be just indeed in their severest Condemnation though he do not give them this extraordinary help that actually causeth their Conversion Ans It is almost incredible indeed and will be looked on hereafter as a Devil's-miracle if I may so speak And it is to have unworthy Thoughts of God to think that that-refusing Mercy on the terms of it which is the Condemning sin will not appear some wonderfully culpable thing that men will befool themselves and wonder at their wickedness with astonishment for And to think God will not appear most clearly just in their severest Condemnation This should rather encline you to assent to what I have spoken than be looked on as a considerable objection against it Obj. 15. But yet it is a thing very unaccountable to us and almost unconceiveable that God should be so gracious as to do more for any however that he should fix on such and such persons in particular that were as guilty of such provocations by their wilfulness for a time as others Ans It is so This is a depth that no man can give a reason of It would be to pretend to be wiser than the Apostle Rom. 11.33 Yea or Christ himself while he was in this World Mat. 11.25 Luke 10.21 And to be wise not only above but contrary to what is written Not to confess our selves at aloss and only admire this And they that will give Reasons like reasons of such Counsels as if they had been God Councellours I dare confidently say shall give such as would if entertained practically destroy all Religion I do think that they do best that granting and holding such things do least busie them selves about them but only in admiring such his wayes as above their reach And I also think that a plain unlearned man that hath heard little of Learned mens debates about these Controversies of Free-will and Special Grace What austin speaks concerning Tempus may be applied to this Adjutorium gratiae and many other things Quid est ergo tempus Si nemo ex me quaerat scio si quaerenti explicare velium nescio fidenter tamen dico scire me c. Confess lib. 11. cap. 14. That liveth a Holy thankful Life wondering at Gods mercy in every good Motion of his Spirit for help and restraint and in every providence promoting his souls welfare as being such special Mercy that it was bestowed on him when denied others as good and better than he that I say such a one hath better and righter apprehensions though he know not how to explain them than I yea or then almost any that have much studied these things And I would not have entertained so many searching Thoughts about these things which I confess yet have not been very many had it not been in hope to convince them that I apprehend are in dangerous extreams And though I think I have or however I could more fully demonstrate that these things are in the main as I have here spoken yet I cannot but look upon my self as speaking very unsatisfactorily of the manner How Obj. 16. It doth seem plain that mans Destruction will be of himself for it doth not ly on Gods being wanting to man yet we are loath it should altogether lye on man therefore we will suppose It may be it will lye on neither Why may it not be laid on the Devil only It may be God is no way wanting so as that we can tell what he should have done more to save them But it may possibly be laid on the Devil or the World or Flesh Ans If these could sorce mens Wills against their Wills which is a Contradiction or take away the Natural power of VVilling or deprive of Power to do the Imperate acts this would so far excuse And to say that God would condemn a man in such a case would be to lay a mans Condemnation on God as not having done enough for us This would be to charge God if not directly and expresly yet obliquely and by Involution as it is commonly said These words were to charge God obliquely since they were made use of as an excuse viz. The Serpent beguiled me And the Woman which thou gavest me c. Satan the VVorld and the Flesh cannot hinder us from Duty without our own consent or against our will For if such a thing should happen it would be no Duty formally they can only tempt VVill this excuse a Thief before a Judg Such a one-tempted me or the Money tempted me But if another had forced him to that Act against his will it would have excused before the Judge Why hath
gratious operation of the Spirit not only giving the power but some way causing the very act Willing of distinct from giving the power of Willing and nilling which every sound man I mean every man in his right Wits hath Let every one now make hast and say hath he not waited long enough knocking while I refused to open Do not say I can when I will in this life turn and be accepted by your Doctrine therefore I may delay I have indeed shewed you can when you will but I have also shewed you cannot in a sense explained obtain of your self to Will it without extraordinary wonderful help from above If I maintained as some do that God only giveth men the Power of Willing and Nilling let it come from Nature or Grace that makes no difference in the case and that this is that Power without which men could not sin or which is all one could not be inexcusable in not turning to God and that God did not nor ever will go farther with any that are or ever were converted This would indeed be to maintain that you have no Impotency in any sense but that you can for any Impotency whatsoever Repent and turn as well as any that ever did turn and also that this you will have constantly while you are a man bound to repent and obey the Gospel This indeed would have some colour to maintain your presumption for then I could not tell nor any else how to calm your presumption in delaying but only by these two considerations you may die soon or be sooner deprived of your Reason and Understanding But beside these considerations I could not tell what argument to use to perswade men who are apt to have as good conceits of themselves as of others that are no more helped and inabled why they may not have a conceit they may at any time while continued sound men quit themselves as others that had no more help or assistance from Heaven and no more Impotency to Good then they will have and yet did quit themselves well after great neglects and long delays But I can tell you and have told you that by delaying and neglecting the means and helps and assistances he affords you increase your Moral Impotency and may and do provoke the Spirit to deny his help to work in you to Will while you have the power of Willing being sound men And if the Spirit do not help you in this extraordinary way you will as certainly as what is most certain go on even till Death through your morally insuperable wicked wilfulness And can no more in the moral sense explained thus Will Believe and Repent without this extraordinary help which you provoke him to deny you than a dead man can arise in a Natural sense without a Miracle Quest What may we do to be made willing to obtain and subserve this drawing of the Father and help of the Spirit to make us thus willing Answ Some have scarce any remiss will or desire at all of turning to God and so have as little desire to ask or use directions Some may be almost willing but not altogether in the prevailing degree as for example some are willing to part with many sins but it is not yet their prevailing will to part with all Some again are almost willing to give up themselves to God in every thing but there is an aestuation or fluctuation of their Will are waveringly willing off and on but are not come to a point to the settled firme choyce and resolution which is only the prevailing bent This drawing of the Father is frequently thus gradually at first a more wavering willingness is produced at last a more fixed and setled First Pride not your selves nay rest not satisfied as if safe for you are not in such begun willingness in your willingness in part to do some things yea many things as Herod yea all things like that young man in the Gospel who went away sorrowful as having some little willingness to what he refused but not a prevailing choice But yet own and bless God his Spirit for such beginnings if you desire they should grow and increase Know that these come not from your own wicked hearts of themselves Secondly Desire others to pray for you Thirdly Pray for these things as you are able Fourthly Meditate much on such things as may make you thus willing The vanity of the world Excellency of God the Love of God and Christ what he hath done and suffered for you c. Fifthly When almost willing unconstantly willing endeavour to engage your selves to tye your selves fast It is Gods way and you may expect his blessing on it so to engage your selves as you may say to temptations I have opened my mouth and cannot go back I have sworn and will perform Sixthly Let all take this advice Attend on his Ordinances He gives the encrease while Paul plants and Apollo waters Zach. 14.16 It shall come to pass that whosoever will not come up of all the Families of the carth to Jerusalem to worship the King the Lord of Hoasts on them shall be no rein Keep in his Church this is the way to expect raining on Irenaeus * Lib. cap. Sicut arida terra si non percipiat humorem non fructificar sic nos lignum a ridum existentes primum nunquam fructificaremus ad vitam sine supernâ voluntariâ pluviâ c. Qua propter necessarius nobis est ros Dei ut non comburamur neque infructuosi essiciamur c. calls the Spirit The Heavenly voluntary or arbitrary Rain And also compares it to the dew and the Church to Gideons Fleece on which the dew fell Keep in the way and road of the Spirit as you expect raining on Rejoyce to stand within Jerusalem's Gates Psal 122. The Church is Gods Vineyard it is good to be in it It lyeth more especially in the influences of the Sun and there fall the watering showers of Grace It is a fearful thing to run away from his walks And to get out of the reach of those weapons which are mighty through God Do not say Let ordinances alone till men be converted let Reading Hearring Praying alone Faith cometh by hearing beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord even in the glass of the Gospel we are transformed into his Image by the Spirit of the Lord. God opened Lydia 's heart in hearing Paul Act. 16.14 She heard us and God opened her heart to attend to the things spoken Let even them come that attend not God may open their hearts as hers to attend and consider They are said to reject the Counsel of God against themselves that refused to comply so far as to be baptized of John Luk. 7.29 30. It is a desireable thing for men to and dreadful for them not to frame their doings to return unto the Lord Hos 5.4 Now upon a Review of what I have said concerning Natural