Recommended from Phil 2. 12, 1 3· we tranllatc Charity, might, fot the avoiding of fome Miftakes, better have been tranflated Love; hut, however, we muft take CharitY. for a difpofition to relieve the Wants and Necefficies of othfrs with refpect o~ L.ove to God and his Image; if this good Work be not from Grace through a Pnnctple of Love to God and Obedience to his Command, it hut the empty 'lhell and Hmk of a good Work, and it avails a Man nothing. Yea further, if after thi~, I give my Body ro h burned ~ttJd ha-ve not CJ~arity, it projittth me nothing: If my Suul burn not as clear and bright in Love, as my Body in the Flame~, it availtth me nothing. I burn only what was dead before, and offer a CatcaH. infread of a Sacrifice. There is no Work or Duty how fpecious foeve', that is of any profit to the Soul, if that Work or Duty'hath not the Life and Power of fame .Grace or other exp.retred in it. Well then, this is the firft Ground why Works without Grace are fru1tlefs, becaufe they are empty and livelefs. Grace is the Life and Spirit of good Works. (2.) SeCDndty, All Works and Duties whatever without Grace leave the Heart in the fame cfl:ate of Sin, and therefore the Perfon in the fame eftate of Wrath and Condemnation as before. For, (I-) Firjf, All of them are not a fufficient expiation for the gnilt of any one Sin. Should fuch Men pray and figh tiU their Breath were turned into a Cloud, and covered the Face of the whole Sky: Should they weep till they drown'd themfelves in their own Tears, yet if. all this could be fuppofed to be only the remorfe of Nature, and not true and godly Sorrow; they would ftil1 be under the fame ftate of Condemnation as the moft feared Sinner in the \.Yorld. The Prophet Micah tells of fome that bad very high for Pardon and Forgivenefs, as if they were refolved to carry it at any rate whatever. Wherewith, fay M'cab 6 they, jhall we come be[fm the Lord and bow our {elves before the mofl high God? ShaiJ 6 ' 7 • • we come before him rvirh burnt Oj'erings, And with CAlves of A Tear old! Will the • • Lord be pJeafed with Thoufands of Rams, and with ten Thoufarzds of Rivers of Oil! Shall we give our Firft-b~rn for our Tranjgrcffiom, the Fruit of our Bodies for tht Sin of our Souls ! What high Rates are here bidden, and yet all this falls lhort ! There is but one Grace, and that is Faith, that can give us a Right and Title: to that Righteoufnefs that fhall be a fuffident Expiation and Atonemc:nt for all our Sins. (2.) Secondly, All Attainments Jnd Attempts, all Endeavours and Duties, without Grace, can never mortifie and fubduc the Power and Dominion of any one Luft or Corruption. Men may divert and chain, and reftrain their Corruptions, and impale in their Lufts, fo that they fhall not break forth into any outrag.icus Wickednefs ; but yet without Grate they can never fubdue ~hem becaufe it is Grace alone that can lay the Ax to the Root of this evil Tree. Well then, notwithftanding all that bath been faid concerning the Power of Nature, what Men may do thereby and how far they may go, yet here you fee what Impotency there is in Nature without Grace, and what it cannot reach to perform. Bat now this is not fpoken that hereby any fuould be difcouraged from Working, and becaufe fome doubt of the Truth of their Graces, that therefore they fhould deflft from a courfc of Holinefs and Obedience; this were plainly to thwart the whole defig11 of this Subjea : No, all that bath been faid, is, to perfuade Men not to rert fatisficd in any '\.\fork of Obedience or Religion, in which fome Grace is not breathed or exercifed., nor to look upon them at all as indu(l:ive to· Salvation as in themfeh•es, but as in reference to true Grace. How many poor Souls arc there, who hecaufe they run on in a round of Duties> becaufe they do fomething that they call good Works, think that Salvation is as furc their own, as if all the Promifes in the Scripture were fealcd and delivered to them by God hirnfelf? And yet poor Creatures, never examine or re~ard from what Principle thistheir Obedience flows, whether from a Principle of Grace, or from the old corrupt Principle of .Nature, new-vampt from fame new Operations of the corn. mon Spirit. Believe it, this is not that Obedience that God requires, nor that he will accept, _an inwar,d Gr~An1 if breathed by Grace:, is of more account with God, and will be more available to the Soul than the moft pompous and fpecious Se~vices of unregenerate Men. What is it to God, when you offer not only the Blind and the Lame, but the Dead alfo? Is it not rather an Abomination than Obedience? The Apoftle tells us, Without Worls, FAith is dead. And it is as true · on the other fide alfo, that Works without Faith and other Graces. of the Spirit, Jam'3'20 " L Ill I arc
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=