. . . -1------------- to the E P H E S I A N S. My Brethren, The G,z/atia!IS (to fee t he vanitr of corrupt nature in this way)~ are an lnfiance. They had beheved lA Jefus Chnfl, yet they found amore ealie Sermon way by way of doing, and lookwg mto tnemfelves; a~d they had rather fub)ect XXI:X. themfelves to the whole Ceremomal Law_ogaw, and _JO}:n. that to Chnfr. than ~.I take Chrill alone. What am1ferable thwg IS th1s! fh1s 1s the way of Nature• Therefore now there is nothing in a man's feif to help him to belteve, all '' a• gainll it. 1 . dI' h n. Nay, my Brcthren,Secondly, If a mancome to be 1eve an 1ve, e mua have no ground in himfeif, upon wine~ he bUildeth, laywg hold. upon Jefus Clmfr. When you come tob elieve, you wdl find that &If Will be mterpoling a great many grounds. Thzs fame I wdl trouble yo~. Look,as when you come to a fick Friend, you will be bnngmg th1s ~nd that wuh you, a~d fay, Take this; and take chat, it will do you good: So th1s Stlf, th1s fame I, 1t w•ll be mterpofing, it will be putting you upon th1s duty and that duty, and uporn:l!Jtng fueh and fuch things,thatfoyoumay cometolive. Now for a man t<i-ccimeto fay, Not 1; 6st Lhrijl, f will hve no ltfe elfe, here lteth the work of Fanh. fn Rom. 4· 5. To him that works 11ot, fatth he, but btlteveth 011 htm that ;u(lz{ieth the u11godly, to him Faith is imptztedfor RighteouftJtjs. That works 11ot; 'What is the mean" ing of that? The meoning is nor, That a man that hath no Grace in him, or no good Works, for then A6raham fhould not have be~n faved, he infianceth in him, Faith wrought with his Works, you know J .zmes tellerh us fo. What is meant then by it, Not to him that works? That is, when a man cometh to believe, he looks not to any works in himfelf. My Brethren, I will tell you this, when you come to believe you will find this, that if Self have nothing elfe to help you to believe, it will tell you, It bath nothing, it is humbled, &c. If yon now take that as a ground why you believe, (indeed it is that which driverh you to believe,) then your Faith is founded upon that which works. Now, faith the Apofile, To him that u•orks 11ot, that is, when he cometh to believe, he looks ro no works, he looks upon himfelf as if he had nothing at all, no works, no qua– lifications whatfoever, to cafe his heart in point of believing; No, he looks upon himfelf as ungodly, That works 11ot, faith he, 6ut 6elieveth 011 him that jtlf/zfieth the tmgod!J. Thofe are the terms he believeth upon at firft, nay, and the terms upon which he mull exercife Faith. all. his days; if he come to exercifc naked Faith, he mull look upon hrm that )Ufilfieth the ungodly. Now, my Brethren, this is amifcrable cafe, whenas a man mull have life put inro the Soul again our of another, from nothing in himfelf; there is no ground at all in hirnfelf that muft help him to believe. Nay, I will go further with you, to fhew }ou that this Faith is a pure Re• furreCl:ion, meerly put in by God. When a man cometh to the point of be– lieving; he bath not only no grounds in himfdf to help him, to eafe him in it but he bath no power or all to put forth a hand to lay hold upon Cl1rill. A mart is a. a dead Branch cut off, there he lieth ; it God will take tiJat de,zd Bra11chand graff it m, fo he is able to do it, os the Apoftle's exprellion is Rom.t J.i l· Bur. my Brethren, when he cometh to believe, as he is a dead man in his own appre' henlion condemned, fo he bath no firength to lay hold upon life in Chrifl:. What f•ith Heman in that 88 Pja!m verfe 4? I am (faith he) M rz "'"" thJt h.l/h 110 .flrmgth. I remember once a man in great difirefs of Confcience a Friend of mine faid unro him, Bt!iweyoa i11 Chnjl: Sairh he, To•Jder iJ rz Sta; 6id mr !qy hold11p0111t; for mdeed to lay hold upon rhe Lord Jefus Chrifi , to clofe with h1m nakedly and fheerly by a hand of Fatth, a man hath no power of himfclf ro do tt; but as God findeth you Chnfr, fo he mufr find you a hand too. The A· poftle telleth us, Rom., .6. Wht1J we were withottl I1rr,~th, faith he. My Bre· thren, There is nor only adeadnefs in refpect of the Se~m nee of death , bm in'" refpectof rhe power of another life; whm w~ were without j/rength, faith he. I have often compared the fiate of fuch a man to one tl·1at is falling ot!' from a Pinacle; there is a Rope, if he can catch hold on it, but l'e wants hands, his hands are cut off, and fo he falleth down and crufheth him/elf to pieces. Now, for God to createHands, to create Faith in a man's Soul, whereby he may lay hold upon Chnfr; my Brethren, here is an· Almighty power, there is nothing D d d ~ in
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