336 An Expojition of the EpiJlle ~---------- -----------· --------------- ·~ And what is the reafon he cloth it l Sermol! In one word the Reafon is this; Becaufe he would {hew, by a comparifon of XXVL the work of Grace with other lower worl<ings of his upon mens hearrs, what ~an excellent thing Grace is, that it is preciow Faith indeed, which is the Fait!> of God's Elect, as the Apoaie ~Peter calleth it2 Pa.t.t. There is nothing i.n na– ture but bath a counterfeit. Go up to the Heavens, there you fee the beams of the Sun, and you have ftreams in the Air; you have Stars, you Jhall have falling Stars and Comets. Go down to the Earth, you have precious Stones, and you have the counterfeit of them, Brijlot Stones like to Diamonds; and the excel– lency of the one is fet off by the other : And God endeareth his Children fo much the more to him by this. Saith he, I have wrought fo jar upo1l auothtr mmls beart, 6t1t it wM 11ot Grace; I might .bave do11e fo Wllh yo11, 6t1t I o'l/trcame J011, I {/retched forth the excudi1Jg great11ejs of my power to )'Oil. And he doth do it too for this end, that all may fee their own weaknefs, that as the Apo!lk faith, the Law WM weak thro11gb the jlejh, fo the Gofpel !hall be weak through the fleflJ, and all forts of AIJi!iances(but what doth the deed) !hall all be weak through the flelh too. God may !lrive with men, but if he dotb not put forth a powertoovercome them, they will overcome lum. He doth it I fay, to !hew the corruption of man's nature, and to !hew the weaknefs of it, the ut– mo!i pravity of it, how it weakneth all means of Grace; therefore he complain– eth, Wbat.cotlld have 6em do11e more i11 my Vi11eyard,that I have 11ot do11t m it? that is, by way of Means. And (which mo!i of all I would have you obferve for the underflam!ing of this,) whereas you will fay, If Godgive 110t fufficimtGrace to convert,why 4oth be try tbefe concitifio11s? I Anfwer you thus; Though it is not fufficient Grace to convert a man in the !late of corruption, yet take a man as he was in Adam, (and God confidereth every man as he was in him,) the fame helps heaffordethnow to corrupt Nature would be fufficient to have kept AJam, and God is not bound to any more, ft i; fufficient r fay, not in regard of the !late ol corrupnon to convert; but in this fenfe it is fufficient, that the fame abilities and aiJi!iance given to Adam in Inno– cency, (and it is the fault of all Mankind, their Sin, that they are fallen from it) would have enabled him to have fiood, and God (as I faid) is not bound to any more. And to clear God in this too, let me add this, That all thefe workings upon mens hearts, as they are mals of corrupt nature, fo they m1ghnly tend to lellen mens pumlhments, for they keep them from many fins. Yea, that which is wrought in the heart is in fame. way acceptable toGod, this is more, God accept· eth ot it,though not for Grace 1t felf, yet he hkes It well that corrupt Nature will be wrought upon fo far, though it be not turned to him effectually. You know he loved the young man that faid, he had kept a/J tbofe tbilfgs ji·om hi& ;•outh; and fo to fee a man affeded at a Sermon, God IS pleafed With It, he accepts it accord– ing to its kind. Asbring me a brafs !hilling •. I fay it is not a fl1illing, it will not pafsfarCoin;. butil you as~ me whether Jt be worth any thing l I fayitis worth fomethmg m Its kmd, Jt 1s worth fomethmg as brafs, though it is not worth fomething as a lhilling: fo thefe workings are acceptable unto God in their kind, though he takes them not for Grace, they are not currant Mo– ney. Havingth~s explained to you and laid this foundation, That the Holy Ghoft bath lower lunds of workmgs upon the hearts of men, which yet notwith– fianding do not arife to true Grace. I will come now to fl1ew you, That God doth not put torth the fame power 10 thefe, as he doth pm forch in a faving work. That is the point which I am next to handle. To dcmon!irate this unto you. The. explication of it I refer to two Heads; Firfl,
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=