,_,.._ to the E P HE S l AN s. 3~i a-g-a-ip-,-v-e-r .. ~~~.~F~o=r~hj-G-,-a-c~-,-.-a-r~-fl-aw_d._,_l--:f""t""ho-u"";,-;h-~7 ft-a-ck:-. n-o-w-:I-ed7 g-e-:d-i-t-on-c--:e-; -:a-c-..;$~ ilnowledg 1t again. You l!:.no,w t~at I,tule, (whiCh ts an mfalhble one, and ever- ~ lafiiJ,Jgly holds truoc) t\la~ of t\le Apof,tle in Rom. 5· Where Sin hath ahomtded,there Grace ahoundeth mHch more. ( I will not !land to enla~ge any more upon that ; ) Fo,rit is one ofthe Ends that God ha.d ( whichcl will not now inG!t upon) for which he did futfer.his Children to lye in fuch a Condition. SecondfJ, You may improve it too for a he!p td your Faith. Though the Guiit ofSin is in it felf, take it in a direCt way, one ofthe greateft opp6!ites to Faith t\l~t caq be, yet God impro\feS it in tbe Heart ofa Believer, to be the greatefl: help tQ F~ilh many ways that could pa.ve been. As, 1. It helpeth our Faith, in ~efpefi o,fa Senfe ofour own emptinefs. There is I)O.thing that dot!> move a Man to felf-emptiqefs more, or gives him a greater expe~ ~ieoce of it, than the Confideratiop o,fthat Condition he was once in by Nature. For to be fure that then thou h'!dfl: qo.t \he Jeafi Power, not the leafl: Ability, not th~ lqft Faculty, to think one good Thought, or to put forth one Holy AinJ towafds God, to do any thing that might help forward thine own Salvation; or fD_agnify and advance the Glory ofGod. There was but one Mean to Salvation; aqcl that was, to believe. God provided a Relilcdy in Jefus Chrift, a Remedy without us which re'luireth nothing "'ithin us but Faith.Take anyMan that was iq his natural Eftate,let him but remember tbat,and h~ mufl: needs remember this,that he !>ad not the leafi Power to bdieve; for he was dead, he was empty ofall Grace, otFJd Abilities to exefcift< Grace. And rhereforc the Apof\le faith here in the 81/J yerl'e ofthe 2dofthe Ephefia/1if, _BJ Grqce;e arefaved, thro11ghFaith, and that not of yOJlr felves neither, it f. the Gift ofGod. He makes thisa Corollary from this; that they bad, been dead in Sins an.d Tr,ejpajfos, that they had formerly been in an unregenerate State and Condition. A Man by the Confideration thereof bath Ex: perience, that tbo God provided a Remedy, yet he had not a Haod nor a Heart to lay hold upon it,but he fhould (ifleft to himfelf) havc_perifhed everlaftingly 5 and that as God found him a Cbrifl, fo he muft find him Hands to lay hold upori him, or be had been undone, 2. it helps forward this Perfwafion in Faith (which istheSpjritofFaiih) that a Man can never be jufiified by any Wor)is of his own: and, I f.1y, this dcith natu– turally rife from the Confidetation ofhis once being in the State of Nature; It iS the firongeft Argument (I will pot qmch inflft upon it, on!y fo much as niay now clear it) to perfivade or convince the Soul, that he cah never be jufl:ified by hi$ own Righteoufi1efs, though he harp n.ever fo much given him afrefh and anew by Ood ; why? Becaufe he was onct in the State of Nature. He hathfaved tU (fait& ~he-Apo!lle, in Tit. 3· 3, 4, 5·) .not by Wori{f of Rigp/eOH[nefs which we have doRe; why? by what doth he prove it? r:aeca~Je we werefa11Jetimes ourfelves Foolijb and Difobedient, &r. (he mentioaeth their Natural Condition in the Verfes before) Our once having been in the State ofNature, it fpoils, it difenableth all Holinefs wrought in us by Cbrifi, ever to ju!lify usbefore 6qd. My Brethren; the Argu– ment why we cannot be jnfl:ified by our own Works,doth not only lie in this,that our Works are imperfeCt; for know, they fhall be perfect one day,ahd God if~e pleafed might make them perfeCl: )!ere: but fuppofe he had made us perfectly Holy in this Life; yet notwitbflanding flill we fhould not be juflified by it ; why~ Becaufe we were once in the State ofNature, ungodly Perfons, and this Righte– oufi!efs which we hlve now, it is a borrowed Righteoufnefs, by virtue ofa new' Covenant; the Covenant ofGrace, and therefore it can never avail to jufl:ify, a~· Works under the Covenant of Works did, for I fay it is but b-orrowed. And therefore fee what the Apoflle faith, in this Epl!. 2. 9, 10. Do but mark the fcope ofthofetwo Verfes (it is punCtual to what l<;lrive 'lt, and qow have mentioned) We are not favl!d bJ Workj (faith be)/eft any M.,.fbollld boaft.Why are we not U.vcd by Works? b:ive Believers nd Works? Yes, bgt they can n_ever be faved by Works;' Why? For (faith he) we are' his Wor~manjbip created in Chrift JeftU to good Wori{f. Here is his Reafon ;- and his Scope is nialjjfcfily this,faith be,tnere was a time w,heti - you h•d no Grace, no Holinefs; nor nothing in you, you were utterly dtdd ;;; Sins and TrefPajfis (fo he faith in the fo'rnier Verfe.) Well now yQu have Holinefs wrought in you, you are a Workmanibip cr_.tec:l i.:\1 Chrift Je{us to good Wor,ks,' 6ut
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