Of EleUion. · 7 the Ailiflaoce and Concurrence of the Divi~iry of Chr i!l, appearing in it r-..A../'\ with Power, of whom yet Peter, by the Holy Gho!l; declares, 1 'l'et.~, Chap. 1, C/arifl ( fays he ) 6ring put to du1th in tht Flejh, 6tet quicknrdby thr. Spirit : ~ (namely of his Godhead)v.r 9· By which al{o(that Spirit nam:ly) he n>rntrmd preached to thr Spirits m Prijo!l; (that is, that are now 1n Hell) which fometzmes in the days ofNoahwere difo6etlirnt unto that Noah's preaching the Gofpel to them, with which Chri!l's Spirit had gone forth and prtach'd in and • by NMh to them. And yet with all thefe helps of Free-will Grace (as we may call it ) tbey remained f!efh, or tmrtgeneralt a11dungodly, os Mofes in Gen. 6. and the fame Petrr tells us, yea, an whole worldof u11godly ones, :z. Prt, :z.; 5. and but one Noah with his Family were faved: And how came that to pafs? liut as God faysof him, Noah bath found GrtKt in my fight: Anfwerable unto, ByGrace you arr favrd, as the Apo!lle to the EleCt Ephejians, Chap. '. 4, 5· compared with Chap. :z.. 4• 5· whillt the World round about them con– tinued drad in trefpaJJrs a11d in .fins ( with all their helps, that could not qt~icken them) Ephej. :z.. I, :z., ~' 4· I might go over the In!lances in Chrifi's and the Apa!lles times , wherein you would fee the fame Iffue; but let thefe fuffice. Only becaufe fame may perhaps enquire, That if the Wills and AffeCtions of thefe Jews were really affeCted and fiirred, then they had the power to will and 10 turn; and wherein were thefe helps defeCtive then, and not fuffici· ent? The Anfwer is, That they fiill wanted a Power fpiritually to will and dif.. cern , as bath been faid. Taeir Wills remained flill in their native Corruption, and h•d not new inherent habitual Power infufed into them, without whieh they could not will any one Ad: truly good. This habitual change of heart is that new hrart which God complained was wanting, even whilfl, and in the mid{t of their being fo affeCted. The Will of Man is, as was faid, the proper Seat of Sin ; and the firength of that Sin, that is therein feared, is the Preda– minancy of Self-love; and that Self-love remaining in its Predominancy, is that which th~Scripturesdo term Flt}h , ns well as any other Lufl. And this Self in the Will remaining fiill in its Predominancy (as it doth untill a new Principle of Holinefs towards God chiefly be infufed )may be affected with many things; both in Law and Gofpel: And from out of that Principle fo af– feCted and fiirred, Man's Will may ufc thofe helps and aililtanccs, and ad ac· cordingly; andfo the Iffue falls as it did afore ; that the Heart and Will re– maining a Thorn as afore, and not turned into a Fig-tree, you cannot gather Figs on it. There is a worlc, and 'tis the highcfi work, of the Word and Go– fpel, that is lhon of Saving; 'tisa work accompanyidg the Word and Spirit; which greatly affeCts the Heart, fo as to fuffer Perfecution, and yet is lhort of a Saving work, or of the Heart its being made the g•od Ground, and an homjl Heart: 'Tis the tho~tzy GroU1zd, as Chrifi in the Parable bath told us; that though the Word took root in it, yet it changed not the Thorns, but was the Thorny Ground fiill; and fu the heart remaining inwardly fuch, is there" fore m all it brings forth, plainly faid to be mzfruitf"l: Mark. 4· I9· .dtJdtht Carts of the World, mtdtht deaitfulnefs of Riches, audthe L11fls of othtr thwgs entrii1J; in, choak the Wo~d, rmdituuomtth unfruitfr•l: Yea,Ve~fe 7• to _yutd no fruit. Why? For all adiogs of the Heart, though about things fpmtual, that are only for a Man's {elf, are faid to be no fruit to God, Hafea J o•. I· !fraet u an empty Vine, that 6ringeth forth fruit to it felf ~ which wh1l!l lt doth only for and to it felf,felf-love then is faid to continue in its Predo· minancy.And iris faid,tbat Regeneration u 11ot of tht will of tht Ftejh, Johtt 1. I~- that 1s of the Will flill remaining Flefh, which yet it is, though a Man be never fo much affeCted with what the Word delivers, if his Will and Affe. ~ion be mov_ed chiefly or only by what affeCts Self-love, without having an h•gher Prmc1ple wgenerated or begotten in it by EleCtion-Grace: And there– fore no wonder if the Apa{tle fays, It u tlot of him thflt rtml, or him that :WiUr;for_MensWi~ls may be greatly moved, and incited unto a running, which ts the fwtftefl MotiOn, and yet b~ deficient of R.egeneration.So that to conclude, bnc
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