Practical Chriftianity, can make their Duties acceptable and faving; and hence it is that they make no quicker difpatch and. riddance in their great Work. Now fuch Attempts as thefe are, . (I.) F irft, Difcouragitlg and difbe~trtning. And, (2.) Secondly, 'Thty art vAin aud fruitlef;. (1.) Firft, Thty ar: very difc~uraging. Dt~ties never fl?w freely from the Snul where ~race ts n'?t li ke a. continual Fou~tam_to fupply lt. Job, fpeaking of the Job 27.10. Hypocnrc, asks tillS Q].1efhon, W1!1 he deltght htmfrLf m God ? wilt he alzvays call upon him ? No, .he will n~t . 1 t is not P'?ffible that .he fhould do fo, though for a time · he may dnvc at a h.ag,h l ate, praymg both w!th Fervency and AffeCt ion, yet will he foon decay and famt, becaufc he hath no Ltfe of Grace to carry him through Duties; but he finds rhem to flow ftt1bbornly from him, and therefore through-- WeJrinefs and Difwntent at I aft he gives them over. The good Works ofgracelefs Perfons may be as ftom ilhing as if indeed they were tr ue Saints; but they have not a Root to fupply them, the Root of the M •. ttcr, as Job fpraks, U not in them and therefore they arc foon nipt alld fade· away. It is fimply impoffible t hat a P;rfon without the Life and Power of GrJce, lhould yerfeve t c in a cordiJl, affeaionat; performance of good Works; lntcreft, Cred1t, Refped and natural Confcience are too weak Wheels for fo great a Bunhen; it is Grace only that can ovc r·halanc; all outward Dif<.:ouragemenrs, yeJ, and \\·hich is more, that alone can remove all i nward alfo: This can make Obedience fweet to a Cbild of God, wh ich to a wick· ed Man muft needs be irkfome, and that becaufe he h:lth no relilh in t hem, St. M11tth. 16. 23· 71Jou favou rtft not the thingJ tt~ 11t "re of God; this may be much more faid of gracelefs Porfons, bccaufe they have not :Salt in them, for fo Grace Col. 4· 6. is called, that fhould make holy and he:.tvenly Things to- be favoury to them. What a Torment is it to be fiill chewing an unfavoury Prayer and an unfa. voury Meditation; to hear and fpeak thofe Words that their EJrs cannot relifh? MuftI always, Jays t he Sinner, offer this force to my felf? Muft 1 fl:i\1 ftrain and putnp for Tears and Sighs? Were Hollnefs as e~fie to me as it is to fame, no Life wo~ld l chufe fooner rhaJ~ that; bt~t I ~0: fira t t~1ed and· pinched up, and all good 'I htngs come out ot me li ke t he evtl Sptnt, whtch re nds and tears me, and is a torture and anguifh ro my Heart and Bo~vels : And it is fo, bccaufe in the per formance of them there is a neglect of that Grace that fhould make Duties becomeeafie, and t herefore fuch a one willlhortly_give overDutiesthemfelves, which he finds to be fo troublefome, yea1 and alfo g tve over all hopes of attaining any good at all by them. (2.) Second ly, Such Works are alfo, as to the obtajning of the laft and main Et;d, vttin 14nd fruirle{t , and that upon two Accounts. (t.) Firft, Becaufe the a&ing of Graa iJ the L;(e and Spirit D{ all our Works, with· out which they ·are all but Carkallh and dead Thi ngs, and only equivocally called good Works, even as the Pi&ure of a Man may be called a Man. IVe are, fayS the Apofl:le, hid Wor~mlfn/bip created in Chrjfo ']efm unto good Works; As after the .firft CreatiDn God took a furv ey of all the Works of his Hands, and pronounced them all very good, fo there is no Work of ours that God will pronounce to be a good Work, but what is t he effed of his creating Power, that is, the produ(.\ of Eph.2.to. his fcco nd Creation: Created, fays the Apoftle, to good Works. Good Works are no otherwife necelfary to Salvation, ~ut as they are the excrcifcs of Gra<.:e, by which we exprefs the life ard li kencfs of God, fo only are they necellJry unto Salvation. How Jhould Grace be feen and known but by Works? Firft, God imprinted his own Image upon our Souls in Regeneration, and !tamps us Fea~ ture for Feature, Grace for Grace, and Glory for· Glory: · But now becauf'e this is hid and concealed, therefore are we to copy forth t .his Image in a holy Conver· fation, and to exprefs every Grace in fame Duty or Work of Obedience or other. As t~ofe that we can fallitfg Stars dart from H eaven , and draw after t hem long Tra1ns of Light, fo God would have us to llioot up tJ He:1ven, bur yet to leave a Train of Light behind us. O ur Graces muft ihine always, we mullg0 on in good Works, and thefe good Works are of no value of account with God, of which 1Cor. 13 . Grace is not the End or Principle. What fays the Apoftlc? 'Tho,.gh I~beftow all 1 • my Goods tD feed the PoDr and h{!ve not Charity, it profitcth me nothing. Can·a Man be- . !tow all his Goods upon the Poor, and not be charitable? Indeed the Word tWat . we .
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