354 The Life of Faith. for Duffificatio+o, or any grace, or to do ¡raj, thing for it ; faring, their prayers and doings are abominable to God, and cannot pleafe him. Contr. Then it is finful to perfwade a wicked man from his wickednefs : Praying and obeying, is departing from wicked- fiefs. He that prayeth to be fan6ifed indeed, is repenting and turning from his tin to God. We never exhort wicked men to pray with the tongue, without the defire of the heart. Delire is the fotal of prayer, and words are but the body a We per- fwade them not to diffemble : But as Peter did Simon, 4îls 8. Repent and pray for fergivcnefs. And if we may not exhort them to good d+.fi es (and to excite and exprefs the bell de- fires they have) we may not exhort them to converfion, Ifa. 55. 6, r o. Seekthe Lord while be may be found, and call ups,, him while lee n moor. Let the wicked forfake his way, &c. You fit there that praying is a repenting a4; and when we exhort them to pray, we exhort them to repent and leek God. Objra. But t bey.bave no ability to do it. Ant. Thus the Devil would excufe fingers, and accid& God. Thusyou may put by all Gods commands, and fay, God fhouid not have commanded them to repent, believe, love him, obey him, nor love one another, nor forbear their fins ; for They have noability to do it. But they have their natural faculties, or powers, and they have common grace ;and Gods way of givingthem (pecialgrace, is by meeting them in- the ufe ofhis appointed means ; and not by meeting them in anAFe-houle, or in finful courfes. (However a foul may be wet with in his perfccuting, and God may be found of them that fought him not ; yet that is not his ufual, nor his ap- pointed way.) Can any man ofreaîondream that it h not the duty of a:wicked man to eefe any meant for the obtaining of grzc, or tobe betters nor to do any thing towards his own recovery and falvation ?' Nature and Scripture teach men as faon as they fee their fin and mifery, to fay, What mull I do to bf Caved ? Aa the repenting Jews, and Paul, and the Jaylor did, AIh2.37. &Nis 8. &s-6. The prayers of a wick-of man as wicked,are abominable ; that is, both his wicked prayers-, and his praying to quiet and *lengthen . himfclf _ in. his wickcdncfs, or praying with the tongue -
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