punishment, being fuited to the quality of the offence, must be infinite. But fo it is, thy punishment, or fufferings for fin, cannot be infinité in value, feeing thou art a finite creature: therefore they must be infinite in duration or continuance; that is, they must be eternal. And fo all thy fufferings in this world, are but an earnett of what thou muft fuffer in the world to come

Now, finner, if thou canst anfwer thefe demands, thou mayst re cover thyfelf in the way of the law. But art thou not conscious of thy inability to do any of thefe things, much more to do them all? Yet if thou do not all, thou doft nothing. Turn then to what courfe of life thou wilt, thou art still in a state of wrath. Screw up thy obe dience to the greatest height thou canft; fuffer what God lays upon thee, yea add, if thou wilt to the burden, and walk under all, without the leaft impatience: yet all, this will not fatisfy the demands of the law; and therefore thou art ftill a ruined creature. Alas! finner, what art thou doing, while thou ftriveft to help thy felf; but doit not receive and unite with Jefus Chrift? Thou art labouring in the fire, wearying thy felf for very vanity; labouring to enter into heaven by the door, which Adam's fin fo bolted, as neither he, nor any of his loft pofterity can ever enter by it. Doft thou not fee the flaming fword of juftice keeping thee off from the tree of life? Dost thou not hear the law denouncing a curfe on thee for all thou art doing; ever for thy obedience, thý prayers, thy tears, thy reformation of life, &é. becaufe being under the law's dominion, thy beft works are not fo good, as it requires them to be, under the pain of the curfe? Believė it, tirs, if you live and die out of Chrift without being actually united to him as the fecond Adam a life giving Spirit, and without coming under the covert of his atoning blood; though you should do the utmoft that any man on earth can do, in keeping the commands of GOD, ye thall never see the face of GOD in peace. If you thould from this moment, bid an eternal farewel to this work's joy, and al the affairs thereof; and henceforth bufy yourselves with nothing, but the falvation of your fouls: if you fhould go into fome wilder nefs, live upon the graf of the field, and be companions of dragons and owls: if you thould retire to fome dark cavern of the earth, and weep there for your fins, until ye have wept yourselves blind, yea, wept out all the moisture of your body; if ye thould confefs with your tongue, until it cleave to the roof of your mouth; pray, till your knees grow hard as horns; faft, till your body become like a fkeleton; and after all this, give it to be burnt, the word is gone out of the Lord's mouth in righteoufnefs, and cannot return; you should perifh for ever, notwith landing of all this, as not being in Chrift, John xiv. 6. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. Actsiv 12. Neither is there falvation in any other. Mark xvi. 6. He that believeth nt, fhall be damned. Object. But God is a merciful God, and he knows we are not able to answer his demands: we hope therefore to be faved, if we well as we can, and keep the commands as well as we are able.

do as

Anf

Anf. (1) Though thou art able to do many things, thou art not able to do one thing aright; thou canst do nothing acceptable to God, being out of Chrift, John xv. 5. Without me ye can do nothing. An unrenewed man, as thou art, can do nothing but fin; as we have already evinced. Thy best actions are fin, and fo they increase thy debt to juftice; how then can it be expected they should leffen it? (2.) If God fhould offer to fave men upor, condition that they did all they could do, in obedience to his commands: we have ground to think, that these who would betake themselves to that way, fhould never be faved. For where is the man, that does as well as he can? Who fees not many falfe fteps he has made, which he might have evited? There are fo many things to be done, fo many temptations to carry us out of the road of duty, and our nature is fo very apt to be fet on fire of hell; that we would furely fail, even in fome point, that is within the compaís of our natural abilities. But (3.) Though thou shouldft do all thou art able to do, in vain doft thou hope to be faved in that way. What word of God is this hope of thine founded on? It is neither founded on law nor gofpel, and therefore it is but a delufion. It is not founded on the gofpel; for the gofpel leads the foul out of itself, to Jefus Chrift for all and it establisheth the law, Rom. iii. 31. whereas this hope of yours cannot be established, but on the ruin of the law, which God will magnify and make honourable. And hence it appears, that it is not founded on the law neither. When God fet Adam a-working for happiness to himself, and his pofterity, perfect obedience was the condition required of him; and a curfe was denounced in case of difobedience. The law being broken by him, he and his pofterity were fubjected to the penalty, for fin committed; and withal ftill bound to perfect obedience: for it is abfurd to think that man's finning and fuffering for his fin, fhould free him from his duty of obedience to his Creator. When Chrift came in the room of the elect, to purchase their falvation, the fame were the terms. Juftice had the elect under arreft: if he minds to deliver them, the terms are known. He muft fatisfy for their fin, by fuffering the punishment due to it; he muit do what they cannot do, viz. obey the law perfectly, and fo fulfil all righteoufnefs. Accordingly, all this he did, and fo became the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth, Rom. x. 4. And new doft thou think, God will abate of these terms to thee, when his own Son got no abatement of them? Expect it not, though thou thouldit beg it with tears of blood; for if they prevailed, they behoved to prevail against the truth, juftice and honour of God, Gal. ii. 10. Curfed is every one that continueth not in all things which written in the book of the law, to do them. Ver. 22. And the law is not of faith, but the man that doth them, fhall live in them. It is true, that God is merciful: he cannot but be merciful, unless he fave you in a way that is neither confiftent with his law nor gofpel? Hath not is goodness and mercy fufficiently appeared, in fending the Son of his Tove, to do what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the

are

flesh?

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fefb? He has provided help for them that cannot help themfelves: but thou, infenfible of thine own weakness, wilt needs think to recover thyself by thine own works; while thou art no more able to do it, than to remove mountains of brass out of their place a

Wherefore I conclude thou art utterly unable to recover thyfelf, by the way of works, or of the law. O that thou wouldst conclude . the fame concerning thy felf!

II. Let us try next, what the finner can do to recover himself, in the way of the gofpel: It is likely, thou thinkelt, that howbeit thou canft not do all, by thyfelf alone; yet Jefus Chrift offering thee help," thou canft of thyfelf embrace it, and ufe it to thy recovery. But, O finner, be convinced of thine abfolute need of the grace of Christ, for truly there is help offered, but thou canst not accept of it: there is a rope caft out to hale fhip wrecked finners to land: but alas! they have no hands to catch hold of it. They are like infants expofed in the open field, that must starve, tho' their food be lying by them, unless one put it into their mouths. To convince natural men of this, let it be confidered,

First, That although Chrift is offered in the gofpel, yet they cannot believe in him. Saving faith is the faith of God's elect; the fpecial gift of God to them, wrought in them by his Spirit. Salvation is offered to them that will believe in Chrift; but how can ye believe? John v. 44. It is offered to thefe that will come to Chrift; but no man can come unto him, except the Father draw him. It is offered to them that will look to him, as lifted up on the pole of the gofpel, Ifa. xiv 22. but the natural man is fpiritually blind, Rev iii. 17. and as to the things of the Spirit of God, he cannot know them, for they are fpiritually difcerned, 1 Cor. ii. 14. Nay, whofoever will, he is welcome; let him co ne, Rev. xxii. 17. But there must be a day of power on the finner, before he will be willing, Pfal. cx. 3.

Secondly, Man naturally has nothing, wherewithal to improve, to his recovery, the help brought in by the gofpel. He is caft away in a ftate of wrath; but is bound hand and foot, fo that he cannot lay hold of the cords of love, thrown out to him in the gospel. The most skilful artificer cannot work without inftruments, nor can the moft cunning musician play well on an inftrument that is out of tune. How can one believe, how can he repent, whofe understanding is darkness, Eph. v.8. whofe heart is a ftony heart, inflexible, infenfible, Ezek, xxxvi. 26. whofe affections are wholly difordered and dftempered; who is averse to good, and bent to evil? The arms of natural abilities are too fhort to reach fupernatural help: hence thofe who most excel in them, are oft-times most eftranged from fpiritual things, Matth. xi. 24. Thou haft hid these things from the wife and prudent. Thirdly, Man cannot work a faving change on himself: but fo changed he must be, elfe he can neither believe nor repent, nor ever fee heaven. No action can be without a fuitable principle. Believing, repenting, and the like, are the product of the new nature; and can

Q2

never

never be produced by the old corrupt nature. Now, what can the natural man do in this ma ter? He must be regenerate, begotten again into a live y hype: but as the child cannot be active in his own genera. tion; fo a man annot be active, but paffive only, in his own regene ration. The heart is fhut againft Chrift: man cannot open it, only God can do it by his grace, Acts xvi. 14. He is dead in fin: he muft be quickned railed out of his grave: who can do this but God himself? Eph. 1, 5. Nay, he must be created in Chrift Felus untogood works, Eph. ii. 10. Thefe are works of omnipotency, and can be done by no lefs

power

Fourthly, Man, in his depraved state, is under an utter inability to do any thing truly good as was cleared before at large: how then can he obey the gofpel? His nature is the very reverfe of the gospel: how can he, of humfelf, fall in with that device of falvation, and accept the offered remedy? The corruption of man's nature infallibly concludes his utter inability to recover himself any manner of way: and whofo is convinced of the one, muit needs ad nit the other; for they ftand and fall together. Were all the purchase of Chrift offered to the unregenerate inan, for one good thought, he cannot command it, 2 Cor.

5. Not that we are fufficient of ourselves, to think any thing as of our felves. Were it offered on condition of a good word, yet how can ye, being evil, fp ak good things? Matth xii. 35. Nay, were it left to yourlelves, to chufe what is eafieft; Chrift himself tells you, John XV. 5. Without me, ye can do nothing.

Laftly, he natural man cannot but refift the Lord, offering to help him; howbeit that resistance is infallibly overcome in the elect, by converting grace. Can the ftony heart chue but relift the ftroke? There is not only an inability, but an enmity and obftinacy in man's will by nature. God knows, natural man, (whether thou knowest it or not) that thou art obftinate, and thy neck is an iron finew, and thy brow brufs, Ifa. xlviii 4 and cannot be overcome, but by him, who •hath br ken the gates of brafs, and cut the bars of iron in fund r. Hence is there fuch hard work in converting a finner Sometimes he feems to be caught in the net of the gofpel; yet quickly he flips away again. The hook catcheth hold of him: but he ftruggles, till getting free of it, he makes away with a bleeding wound When good hopes are conceived of him, by thefe that travel in birth, for the forming of of Chrift in him; there is oft-times nothing brought forth but wind. The deceitful heart makes many a fhift to avoid a Saviour, and to cheat the man of his eternal happiness. Thus the natural man lies funk in a state of fin and wrath, utterly unable to recover himself.

Object. (1) If we be under an utter inability to do any good, how can God require us to do it? Anf. God making man upright, Ecclef. vii 29. gave him a power to do every thing he thould require of him: this power, man loft by his own fault. We were bound to serve God, and to do whatfoever he commanded us, as being his creatures; and alfo, we were under the fuperadded tye of a covenant, for that

effect.

effect Now, we having, by our own fault, difabled ourselves; fhall God lofe his right of requiring our talk, becaufe we have thrown away the strength he gave us, wherewithal to perform it? Flas the creditor no right to require payment of his money, because the debitor has fquandered it away, and is not able to pay him? Truly, if God can require no more of us than we are able to do; we need no more to fave us from wrath, but to make ourselves unable for every duty, and to incapacitate ourfelves for ferving of God any manner of way, -as profane men frequently do: and fo the deeper one is immerfed in fin, he will be the more fecure from wrath; for where God can require no duty of us, we do not fin in omitting it; and where there is no fin, there can be no wrath. (As to what may be urged by the unhumbled foul, againit the putting of our stock in Adam's hand; the righteoufnefs of that difpenfatioa was cleared before.) But more, over, the unrenewed man is daily throwing away the very remains of natural abilities; that light and ftrength which are to be found amongit the ruins of mankind. Nay, far her, he will not believe his own utter inability to help himfelf; fo that out of his own mouth he will be condemned Even thofe who make their natural impotency to good, a cover to their floth, do, with others, delay the work of turning to God from time to time; under convictions, make large promifes of reformation, which afterward they never regard; and delay their repentance to a death bed, as if they could help theinfelves in a mo. ment; which fpeaks them to be far from a due fenfe of their natural inability, whatever they pretend.

Now, if God can require of men, the duty they are not able to do; he can, in juftice, punith them for their not doing it, notwithstanding of their inability. If he have power to exact the debt of obedience: he has alfo power to caft the infolvent debtor in his prifon, for his not paying it Further, tho' unregenerate men have no gracious abilities; yet they want not natural abilities, which nevertheless they will not improve. There are many things they can do, which they do not, they will not do them; and therefore their damnation will be just. Nay, all their inability to good is voluntary; they will not come to Chrift, John v 40 They will not repent, they will die, Ezek. xviii.51. So they will be justly condemned: because they will not turn to God, nor come to Chrift; but love their chains better than their liberty, and darknefs rather than light. John iii 19.

Obj-Et (2.) Why do you then preach Chrift to us; call us to come to hin, to believe, repent, and ufe the means of falvation? Anf Because it is your duty fo to do. It is your duty to accept of Chrift as he is offered in the gospel; to repent of your fins, and to be holy in all manner of converfation: thefe things are commanded you of God; and his command, not your ability, is the measure of your duty. Moreover, thefe calls and exhortations, are the means that God is pleafed to make use of, for converting his elect, and working grace in their hearts: to them, faith cometh by hearing, Rom. x. 17. while they

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