tf Prejumptuozcs Sins. 439 on you ro ftand and to withfiand rhem all: Stand, al!ls! how can we? Such u~or weak f~ebl~Creacurisas we are, how can we ftand? Why, faysrhcApo- ~le, be jlrrmg in the Lord, there'~ your?ecuriry againft all the Force ofyour [piritual Enemies; lay hold on. hts .A~mtgbt! Power, and engage that fo~ y~:m, and this will bring you offrhe Fteld Wtth Vt8:oryand Conqueft. ~o agam m 2 Cor. 5 . 3. We are notfu{ficient, f:tys the Apoftle, ofourfelvu,_ to doan1 thmg_ tlf ofour[elves; not fufficienc to think a s:oo~ . Thought, ~nd rheretore nor fcffictent r~ rc~ft an evil Thought ; for our refi!bng of an evil Thought, muft be by thtnkmg a ood one : If an evii Thought rife up in our Hearts, we cannot of our feh·es fo much as think, that that Thought is evil, nor think that it ought eo be fnppreifed and ftifled ; and much lels can_we chen of our felvcs fupprefs any Sin; and what fhould we do under this utter Impotency and Inability, bur call in Divine Help and Affifiance? Our Sufficiency is of God: Why now, yet in th is we cannot think our Sufficiency eo be ofQod, nor can we depend upon the Sufficiency of God w enable us ~o do it~ for it is God~ f<J.ys the .Apo{!le;) that worketh in us hoth to lvili and to do of hu O"Wn good plea{ure, both to thmk and tO aCI: : So you have it in Philippians 2.12. So t~ac ic is rnOft evident to all that will nor wilfully fhut their Eyes againfi the Ltght of Truth, that both the firft Motions, _and the whole fucceeding Progrefs of the Soul;) either to the Performance of Duty or to the Refiftance of Sin,is whoily from God's Almighty Power engaged for them, and ftrengthn_ing th~m to the one, and for the other. Secondly, Another DemonftratJonoftb,sTruth, fhall be from the common E.Y:perience of aU. Ha~e ycu not found fom~times,_ that you could ~ith. holy Scorn and Difdain reJeCt thofe very Temprat1ons toSm, that at other times, when God harh ~bfented himfelf from you, ~hen he hath withdrawn his Power and Grace, they have fadly prevailed upon you, it may be, ro the CommiHion offome daring and prefumptuousSin; Have you not_found ino bcfo? Whatelfeischis, but an evident Argument, that it is not your own, but. God's Power, chat keeps you from the worft Sins? We may conclude, by our Falls, when Go~ dorh forfake us, that when we .ftand, we ftand not by our own Strength, but by his. Why do you not always fall? or why do younotalwaysftand? Will you fay it is becaufe we are not always alike tempted? If you be not, why then, fince the Devjl is always alike malicious? Even herein appears the Mercy ana Power of God, who Almightilyrebukeshim; But when you are alike tempted, whence proceeds it~ that fomerimes y~m yield, and fometimes )'ou refift a_nd conquer, bur only trom hence, fomeumes God is prefenr ro aHift you, and fomecimes he departs from you ro ~umble you ? H: 1s prefenr fometimes, ch'lt you might nor utterly fink and pen lb. under your Sms; and he abfenrs himfelf fOmetimes, tl1at you may be fenfible by your Falls, char formerly it was not your own, but hisPower rh at preferved you; and this may fuffice for the Demonfiration of the Truth, That iris not in the Power of the beff Chriftians t""o keep them[elvCJ from prefumptuouJSins, but God's PowRr only. Now by this r_im~ po.f]i~ly it ma--! ~rife up in the H earts offome prophane ones, to ObjeCf. make thejame ObjeCtiOn, M {ome dzd m the Apoftles Days, againff the Dottrine · · of Elec:tion; if it be (o, tbar it i1 not in my O)VnPower to keep my felf from tbeCommijfion of Sin, )'ea, of the greateH and worif Sin1, bnt only God's Power ; 1vby doth he )"et complain? /tVhy dotb he yet find fault with w., for doing -that lvhich 1ve cannot bur tlo, unlefi he hjm{elfpre{trve ttf from ,it? I might here cake Occafion to vindicate the Equity and Righteoufnefs of Anfiv. God, in requiring from us rl~e Exercife of char Power, that he beftow'd upon our Natures at firft, and whtch we loft only through our own wilful Fault: But I bave done this divers times already, and therefore I fhall only at prefenc briefly confider what Power Men have. ftilllefr them, both in a State ofNature and in a Stare of Grace;) to keep rhemfelves from the Commiffion of Sin and that in a few Particuhrs briefly. ' Firfi then, Cle~1r it i1, that whatever Power Mtn have, either to Natural.s or to Spiritt~alt ; 1er rhey Clln110l aCI or exercife that Power, 1Pithout exciting Influe1fce from God to quicken and rouz..e it : \Vho will fay, that a Man that fi ts bath noc Power to .rife, and. chat a M:u~ that ftands harh not Power eo walk ? And yet it is certatn he n!tthcr fuall nfe nor walk, unlefs God move, and excite, and rouze that ~ower of his, and put it upon that Work, for in him as 'JJ.'e live, fo we mO'Ue;) •nJ
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