The Almofl-Cbriflian Difcovcrcd. ing Grace, from ftrong workings of the affections, which may fometirnes upori thefe acc~unts be deceitful and wickod, and unregenerate Men may have Alfecl:ions ftir... red up in them 11pon thefe grounds, but the.n they are always vanifhing and fleeting, and are only permanent while the violence of fame external caufe doth excite them, <ind they are always unfruitful; though their Affetl:ions may ftir within them, yet they are not efficacious to pnt them upon a holy Life and Converf.·nion. IV. Every change that is wrought upon the Will, is no certain evidence of the truth of Grace; a Man may fall fhort of true faving Grace, when there is yet a great changr wrought upon the Will; it is true, it is the thorough change of the Will, wherdn Grace doth principally con lift; this is the firft principal Act. from the Spirit of Life, without which, whatfoever other ch.ange is wrought upon us, it is no more than to fet the hand of the Watch to the nght hour when the Spring is broken. The Philofophers call the WiU, the commanding, f wayi11g faculty of the Soul, that controuls all the lnferiour faculties, and makes them obey its inclinations; fo that fuch as the Will is, fuch is the whole Man: And therefore the Scripture in fctting forth the two-fold State of Men, cloth it by fhewing the temper of their Wills; unregenerate Men are defcribed by their wilfulnefs, Ye wifJ not come to mt that ye might have Life, 21ohn 4· The People of God are defcribed by their willingnefs, Pfal. 1 16. 3· 71uyfhall be a willing People in the Daj of thy Power. And here I Ihall endeavour two things. Firft, To fhew you after what manner the Spirit of God doth work this renewing change upon the \\till. Secondly, What other change is wrought upon it which falls lhort of trueG,acl', though oftentimes it is taken for it. For the firlt, We mult know that there are two ways, whereby God doth cffeaually change the Heart and Will of a Sinner: And thefe arc Mo1al Swt~jions, and Phyfical Dtterminatiom, which is nothing elfe, hut God's All-powerful Grace, where.. by he doth immediately turn the bent and inclinatit.:m of the \Vill towards himfelf, and both thefe do always concur and accrue to tlus great change. He doth firft convince a Sinner, and pcrfuadc him of the rationality of the:: ways of God, of the vilenefs and emptinefs of thofe vain things, which his delires fo ,eagerly pm·fue: Ani:l on the other hand, he clearly rcprefcJ<ts the Glory and Excellency of himfelf and his ways, that he is the greateft good that we can enjoy, and yet there is no other way to enjoy him, but by loving and ferving of him: To do this he makei ufe of moral Swafions, and works upon our reafon, by cogem and prevailing Arguments, which at laft diffhfeth fuch Heavenly fweetnefs through the Heart of a Chriftian, which makes him difreliJh thofefulfom delights of fin, that feparate from that infinite Good, with which it holds comparifon, fo that he finds more true de. light in God and his ways, and more alluring and charming joy in them, than ever he did before in fenfual pleafure; more are thereby carried forth unto them, by an infallible, yet altogether free, voluntary and amorous motion.; and this is done by the real efficiency likewife of the Spirit of God upon the Will, and this efficiency is fo fweetly attempered to the native Liberty of the \Vill, that it will be a pain and a torment to the Soul, to be feparated from that God, whom now his underftanding doth apprehend, and whom his Will doth clafp about 1 as the real and chiefeft good. Here you fee are both moral Swalions, and Phyrical Determinations, of the \IV ill to the Work of Grace; God doth realJy tletermine it by the efficacious touch of his Grace, whereby he powerfully turns the bent and inclination of it to himfelf, which before ftocd towards fin and vanity; and that this might not infringe the Wills Prerogative of atl:ing freely, he doth at the fame time morally perfuade it, by reprefentiog himfelf as the beft and moft fatisfying object of it; notwithfranding the irrefiftablenefs of God's working upon the Will; yet frill Man's Will is free in God's working of Grace, which !Ome have tl10UP:ht to be an irreconcilable difference. "' For the freedom of the \Vill doth not confift in redoubled pure Acts, for other· wife the Saints and Angels themfelves, that are under that blciU~d neceffity, that theycannot but love and ferve God, would not love him and ferve him freely: The liberty of the WilJ, confifts in an atl:iog upon rational grounds and motives, which by how much ftronger they are, by fo much more they turn the necefiity of the Will to him, and yet by fo much the more the Will is free in atl:ing: So that here the liberty of the Will may not violate the caufality of God's purpofe, he Z z z z z changeth
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