to the E P H E S I A N S. ·· d ·n'pl~iri terms I carmot come, he makes that his e!cufe; for fuch lufls as thefe ~ an 1 have :~.mighty power upon a Man's heart; how great? See what Chrifl's s,rm.on -~~~~ expreffion 1s, that was _the Saviour of Souls,and knew what belonged to the XXIV. converting ofthem, for hed1ed for them. In Matt.19.24. There was a nch man ~ came to him and he was an ingenious man;Chnfl preached theGolpel to lum.moved his heart a little, he ufed allMoral perfw~l!ons to h1m that could be, told h1m th the jhouldhave Etemal Life;yet he goetn away:what cloth Chnflmferr upon this ? You fhall find the f\ory of that young man is the IntroduCtion to the words i uote this place for, A rich·mmt (faith be) JbaU hardly mtamto tht Kzng- /}111 of Heaven: Hardly_? that is no great matter. What doth ourSaviour Chrill ? He rifeth higher m his expreffion, Alld agam I fr')' tmtoyou, tl u eaji~ trfor a Cameltogo through the rye ofa. Needle, th"nfor anchmmt toenttr iitto the Kingdom of God; not for one that IS nch limply, but Mark telleth us cap.Jd. for one that tr11~etb w hu riches, that IS h1s expreffion, Firfl he faith It IS hard. Secondly, it is fo hard, as it is enjier for aCamel to go through the rye of aNee~ die. It was a Proverb among the ,7ews, anditisinmanyof tbeRabbms ex– tant to this day. You will fay that is an abfurdity to ufe fuch an expre!Tion, a Camrt to go 1brottgh thr eye of a Needlt; the more abfurdity there is in it, the more it exprelfeth the impo!Tibility. In the Third place, faith Chrifl, With me11 this i< impo1fi61e, but with God all thi11gs art pof/iblr ; it i~ impo!Tible for all the men m the world to do the work for another man; thaCis, limply 1mpo1Tible, but w1th God a/J thwgs art poJ!i– btr; why doth he fay all thi11gs ? It it were a flight Work he would not fay fo; but faith he, wit!~ God that works all thmgs clfe, that liath an omnipotent pow– er tofubdue all thit~,gs to htmjtlf, with him it is po!Tible, he mufl do this, I find this word, Allthi?tgr are pof!iMe, ufed but mone or two cafes; Tt is ufed upon rhe Incarnation of Chrifl, when the Angel had told Mary that Jefus Chrifi Jhould be born of her, faith he, w1th Godalt th111gs are po/ji61e, and that was the bighefl work that ever he did, he /hrwrd f/rewgth with hi& arm there. So it is faid of his working in us, Ephef. 3· 20. and the like you have Phil.j·21. According to the power whereby he {ubdueth allthings unto himftlf, that is the power that wori<S in us; that is the power that mufl work a man off whofe heart is fet upon his riches, and is fet upon any pleafure. My Brethren, it is not the offers of Etemity, it is not all the perfwalions of men a~Angels,nor of the Holy·Ghofl himfclf,ifthey be but meer moral perfwa– fions,will make a man part with a Bird in the hand ior two in the buil1;my meaning is that will make a man part with his Lufls, or his pleafures and liri, and take and accept the offers of Eternity ; but,.it-mufl be the power of God with whom all thi11gs are poJfible, and he muft put forth as much power to work this as he put– tcth forth to work all things elfe. And fo now you have feen the power that is ·!hewn in defiroying this oppolite, lin• . I will lout fpeak a word of the power that is in Creating. There is yet lome-· thmg to be done, there mull be a new Creauon bel!des this deflruc:tion. There is a taking away the old heart, old things pafs away, you fee what a power that requireth.. The ~econd thing in Ezekid that .I .mentioned ( becaufe that place holdeth this out) IS a New Heart and a New Spmt, and to work that is a work of Creation, it is an Almighty power of God. Now Creation is a wor~ that bath no matter to work upon, that is properly Creation, and therefore requireth an intinitepowcr. Crratt'tTtme (faith he) acleanHeart, Pj,1l. 'J'· Saich he in ,7ob. 14. 4· Who ca11 vrit1g a clean thi11,g out of a11 tmclemz? If a man's heart be ~anclean, if he come to.have a clean heart, certainly it rriufl be created. We are therefore faid to be·\he:W~rhn~~t/hipof God, createdto good works, in that Se– cond t? theEphef. Mar\c,tt! It IS not only a workmg upon the heart, but a work– maniiJIP It IS ca-lled. And If you wtll know the manner of feuing up ond producing i.t, it is by way of Creation. , I might be large in fhewiog you,that befides this deflroying old things, there is a Creating of new principles, and Gracious difpolitions in the ~eart belore a man turenth to God,which are the foundatiens of his turning toGod,71Jrn me an Ijhall be_tunud. I will name but a Scripture or two; and then I wil!lbew you the m1ghty Power that goeth to create this difpolition. S f firfi,
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