Contr. No man can groundedly believe the prcist Love of God to him, nor his own Elction or Juftification, before he bath (yea before he find in himself) a fpecial love to God. Because he that bath no fpecial love to God, must believe a lye if he believe that he is justified, or that ever God revealed to him that he is elect, or specially beloved of God: and no than hath any evidence or proof at all of his election, and Gods Special love, till he have this evidence of his fpecial love to God. Till he know this, he cannot know that any other is fincere.

2. They that deny or blafphetne Gods common love to fallen man, and his univerfal pardoning Covenant, do their worft to keep men from being moved to the fpecial Low of God by his common Love: But when they have done their worst, it fhall ftand as a fure obligation. Is there not verfon enough to bind men to love God above all, even as one that yet way be their happiness in his own infinire Goodness, und all the revelations of it by Chrift, and in his to loving the world, as to give his only Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. And in his giving a free pardon of all lin to mankind, and offering life eternal to them, to that none but the final refufers thall lofe it, and intresting them to accept it, &c? Is not all this fufficient in reason to mOVE THEN to the love of God, if the Spirit help them to wake use of Reafon (as he muft do what Rrafons foever are prefented to them) unless men think that God doth not oblige them by any kindnefs which they can pollibly reject? or by any thing which many others do partake of?

Yet here note, that by Gods common love to man, I do not mean, any which he hath to Reprobates, under the confideration of final defpifers of his Antecedent Love: But of that Antecedent Love it felf, which he hath thewed to loft mankind in Chrift.

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And note affo, that I do not deny but that Love of God in forme men may be true, where their own prefamption that God hath elected them, and loved them above others, before they had any proof of it, was an additional motive: But this is outs way, and not Gods.

Errour 43. That trufing to any thing, Jaw Gol and Jus Chrift, for our falvation, i fin and damnable.

Contr.

Contr. Confufion cheateth and choaketh mens understanding. In a word, to trust to any thing but God, and Chrift, and the holy Spirit, for any of that which is the proper part of God, of Chrift, of the Spirit, is fin and damnable. But to truft to any thing or perfon, for that which is but his own part, is but our duty. And he that prayeth, and readeth, and heareth, and endeavoureth, and looketh to be never the better by them, nor trufteth them for their proper part, will be both heartless and formal in his work.

And I have fhewed before, that the Scripture, the Promife the Apostles, the Minifter, and every Chriftian and boneft man, hath a certain truft due to them for that which is their part, even in order to our falvation. I may truft only to the skill of the Phyfician, and yet truft his Apothecary, and the Boy that carryeth the Medicine for their part.

Errour 44. That it is finful, and contrary to free grace, to Look at any thing in our felves, or our own inherent righteousness, as the evidence of our Juftification.

Contr. Then no man can know his Juftification at all. The Spirit of Holiness and Adoption in our felves, is our carneft of falvation, and the witness that we are Gods children, and the pledge of Gods love; as is proved before. This is Gods feal, as God knoweth who are his; fo he that will know it himfelf, muft depart from iniquity, when he nameth Chrift. If God fanctific none but thofe whom he juftifieth, then may the fan&ified know that they are juftified. Hath God delivered in Scripture fo many figns or characters of the juftified in

vain?

Obje&. The witneß of the Spirit only can affure w.

Anf. You know not what the witness of the Spirit is; or elle you would know that it is the Spirit making us koly, and poffefling us with a filial love of God, and with a defire to pleafe him, and a dependance on him, &c. which is the witness, even by way of an inberent evidence (and helping us to perceive that evidence, and take comfort in it.) As a childlike love, and a pleafing obedience, and dependance, with alikeness to the Father, is a witness, that is, an evidence which is your child.

Errour 45. That it is finfulto perfwade wicked mento pray

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for Juftification, or any grace, or to do any thing for it; feeing their prayers and doings are abominable to God, and cannot please

him.

Contr. Then it is finful to perfwade a wicked man from his wickedness: Praying and obeying, is departing from wickednefs. He that prayeth to be fanctified indeed, is repenting and turning from his fin to God. We never exhort wicked men to pray with the tongue, without the defire of the heart. Defire is the foul of prayer, and words are but the body: We perfwade them not to diffemble: But as Peter did Simon, A&is 8. Repent and pray for forgiveness. And if we may not exhort them to good defires (and to excite and exprefs the best defires they have) we may not exhort them to converfion, Ifa. 55.6, 10. Seek the Lord while he may be found, and call upon kim while bei neer. Let the wicked forsake his way, &c. You fee there that praying is a repenting act; and when we exhort them to pray, we exhort them to repent and seek God.

Obje. But they have no ability to do it.

Anf. Thus the Devil would excufe finners, and accuse God. Thus you may put by all Gods commands, and say, God fhould not have commanded them to repent, believe, love him, obey him, nor love one another, nor forbear their fins; for they have no ability to do it. But they have their natural faculties, or powers, and they have common grace ; and Gods way of giving them fpecial grace, is by meeting them in the ufe of his appointed means; and not by meeting them in an Ale-house, or in finful courfes. (However a foul may be met with in his perfecuting, and God may be found of them that fought him not, yet that is not his ufual, nor his appointed way.) Can any man of reafon dream that it is not the duty of a wicked man to ufe any means for the obtaining of grace, or to be better; nor to do any, thing towards his own recovery and falvation? Nature and Scripture teach men as foon as they fee their fin and mifery, to fay, What must I do to be faved? As the repenting Jews, and Paul, and the Jaylor did, Als 2. 37. & A&ts &. & 16.

The prayers of a wicked man as wicked,are abominables that is, both his wicked prayers, and his praying to quiet and frengthen himself in his wickednefs, or praying with the

tongue

tongue without the heart. The prayers which come from at common faith, and common good defires are better than none, but have no promise of Juftification. But the wicked must be exhorted both to this, and more, even to repent, defire and pray fincerely.

Errour 46. It is finful, and against free grace, to think that any works or actions of our own, are rewardable; or to say, that they are meritorious, though it be nothing but rewardableness that is meant by it.

Contr. The Papifts have fo much abufed the word merit, by many dangerous opinions about it, that it is now become more unmeet to be used by us than it was in ancient times, when the Doctors and Churches (even Austin himself)did commonly ule it. But if nothing be meant by it, but rewardableness, or the relation of a duty to the reward as freely promifed by God. (as many Papifts themselves understand it, and the ancient Fathers generally did) he that will charge a man with errour in doctrine for the ufe of an inconvenient word, is unchari table and perverfe, efpecially when it is other mens abuse, which hath done moft to make it inconvenient. The merit of the caufe is a common phrase among all Lawyers, when there is commutative meriting intended. I have fully fhewed in my Confeffion, that the Scripture frequently ufeth the word [wortby which is the fame or full as much: And a fubje& may be faid to merit protection of his Prince; and a scholar to merit praife of his Mafter, and a child to deserve love and refpe& from his Parents, and all this in no respect to commutative Juftice, wherein the Rewarder is fuppofed to be a gainer at all; but only in governing diftributive Justice, which giveth every one that which (by gift or any way) is his due. And that every good man, and every good a&ion, deferveth praise, that is, to be esteemed fuch as it is. And that there is alfo a com parative merit, and a not meriting evil: As a Believer may be faid not to deferve damnation by the Covenant of Grace, but only by (or according to) the Law of Nature or Works.

But to pass from the word merit (which I had rather were quite difufed, becaufe the danger is greater than the benefit) the thing fignified thus by it, is paft all difpute, viz. that whatever duty God hath promised a Keward to, that duty or work Yy 2

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is Rewardable according to the tenour of that promife: And they that deny this, deny Gods Laws, and Government, and Judgement, and his Covenant of Grace, and leave not themfelves one promise for faith to reft upon: So certainly would all thefe perfons be damned, if God in mercy did not keep them from digefting their own errours, and bringing them into practice.

Eriour 47. God is pleased with us only for the righteousness of Christ, and not for any thing in our felves.

Contr. This is fufficiently anfwered before. He blafphemeth God, who thinketh that he is no better pleased with holiness than with wickedness; with well doing, than with ill doing. They that are in the flesh cannot please God, Rom. 8. 6, 7. but the fpiritual and obedient may. Without faith it is impoffible to pleafe him, because unbelievers think not that he is a Rewarder, and therefore will not ferk his reward aright: But they that will please him, muft believe that he is,and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently feek him, Heb. 11. 6. They forget not to do good and diftribute, because with fuch facrifices God is well pleafed, Heb. 13. And in a word, it is the work of all their lives to labour, that whether living or dying they may be accepted of bim, 2 Cor. 5. 8, 9. and to be fuch, and to do thofe things as are pleafing in his fight. Nay, I will add, that as the glory of God, that is, the glorious demonstration or appearance of himself in his works, is materially the ultimate end of man; fo the pleafing of himself in this his glory fhining in his Image andWorks, is the very apex, or highest formal notion of this ultimate end of God and of man, as far as is within our reach.

No mans works pleafe God out of Chrift, both because they are unfound and bad in the fpring and end, and because their faultiness is not pardoned. But in Chrift, the perfons and duties of the godly are pleafing to God, because they have his Image, and are fincerely good, and because their former fins, and prefent imperfections are forgiven for the fake of Chrift (who never reconciled God to wickedness.

Errour 48. It is mercenary to work for a reward, and legal to fet men on doing for falvation.

Contr. It is legal or foolish to think of working for any

reward,