590 Obj. •· Obj. 2. Obj. 3· Obj. 4· Obj. ,: PraCiical Chrifiianity, Firft, Some may cavil againft thU Command of rrorking out of O!IY Salvation M 4 thing impejJiblr. ' Secondly, As derogatory unto Chrif! and h£s Merits. Thirdly, Others, as prejudicial to the Free Grace of God, by which alone we a" fa1Jtd and r. ol by our own Works. ' Fourthly, Others look upon it M vain and nudle/s, fince God will certAinly bring to falvation al! tho~ whom J!e hath Ele.Ued ~n~ fo•e-known .accord~ng to h~·J purpofo; which purpofe of h1s, 1mther thetr not worktng wah tt, no nor thur workmg agamft it, fbu!l ever make veld or fruftrate. I begin with the Fidt: S~ty fome, wirh what 1ufti.ce 11nd Equity C4n God require ~hU D~ry of working ~ut of our Salvation, when. ~e know~ w~ have no powey tO perform t.t? Etther fay tiJey, tt tonccrnJ thofo that are fpmtually wcimtd and have their Salvation already begun, that thry perfeCt it by working Oj it our ; and if fo al.u to what purpofe iJ it, when they rhcmfelves can aO no further than they are aEled ? 'Tney cannot fa much M Will their own Salvation unlcfs God give thtm to Will; much ieJi thm can they work out their s~t-uarion: Or tlfe it conccrnr ail that live under the found of the Gofpcl though Reprobates and C~tfl-ways, though dead in Trefptl}{es and Sins. And U it ratio~ nal, is it juft and equal to bid dead Men work? 0/ doth it become that God, who w~uld be rhoutht by PA to be i;ifitiitely merciful and compaffionare, to mock and deride bum,we Mi[mes, in requiring of them thing_s that are impojJible? Had he commanded Ul to bri~g Light out of Darknifs: Had he b,d U& pull the Stars out of their OrbJ, or with one of our Hands to flop. t~e Sun _in it~ courfe_; . .All thefe fmpojfibilitiu we might 4; well do, M perform thefe d1vme Dutw, rouhout d~vme .AJ!iftar.ce ; we can M Joon glorifj our felves tts Janfli[y our [elves. Exhort and command nwer fo long, with M great .Authority anti Vehemency as you pleafe, yet till God move on m ~tnd work in 1u, you may as welt expea StockJ anJ Stones jiJould move at your [peaking as we. Aud if God doth but once be ... giu to move and roork in ru, We /haii work and move without your Exhortatiom. It is therefore (fay fuch as_thefe) alrogethe~in v~in to prefs Men to Duty tiU God works in them;for all your Exhortatmu are 110t [ujfictent ttil he works ; and when he works, all your Exhortations will be fruitle{J. To this I A 11(n1tr, and becaufc it is the common Plea of Sinners why they do not work,and it is that which queftionlefs doth too often rife in the Hearts and Thonghts of moft Men, whereby tbty ate greatly difi::ouraged, and their Hands weakned in their Obedience: 1 fhall, therefore the more largely and p:1rticularly .Anfwer this ObjdJitm. A11d, Anfw. 1. F:rfl, This fcrious and preffing Exhortation to Obedience and Working, doth not fuppoft in us, nor bit necdfary that it fuould fuppofe in us a Power eo obey, I mean it of a prefent and actuJl i'ower; oeicher doth our want of Pow~r take off our Obligation to obey . It may and will be granted, rh:1t there is no Commlnd of God, but doth fllpp rlfc a Poo\·er once bcltowed. Whether or no his abfi)lute un6 conr :--onlable Sonrcignty might have rcqufred that from us th:1t is above our Power evtr to perform, may rather rr.oddt!y be doobred1 thln peremptorily concluded: Yet this is certain, that thofe very Duties ti1at no\V \\e complain we have no Strength and Power to perform1 were once as fnhjea to our Power and the Freedom of our own Wills, as now natural and moral ACtions are: Subject (I fay) to our Power, either to perform them, or not to perform t hem ; not as though we came now into the World with this Power, for we are a\1 dead and ftillborn in refpe8: of Grace; but as having this Power in our fit:flParmt who was ourRepre{mrative,' for in him we muft be conlider'd as exifrent even when he exifted; and what he received, it w~s for us, and what he did was done by us, and what he loft we loft in him. Now if we have loft this Power of Obeying, mltft God alfo l_ofe his Privilege and Sovereignty of Command ing? Mnft he lcffen his Authority,' as we lelTen our Ability? Truly had .Adam om.:e thought of this flight, he might have :finn'd himfelf quite from under the command and domiuion of his Creator, and might foon have become thus free. Do not you yoor felves think you may, if a Deb• ter- of yours through his own default becomes a Bankrupt, require your Debt of him? So ftands the Cafe here between God and ns; we are all difabled to pay the Debt of Obedience tha£ we owe to God, but yet it is through our own default; and • the Power that we had, is not fo much loft, as wilfully thrown away; and may not God juftly come upon us for our Debt? Our want of Power takes not off our obligation to Obedience, becaufe it is through a wilful defecr that we are depriv~}
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