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noble, and calling the weak, bafe, and despised, 1 Cor. i. 26, 27. Yea, he often leaves the fair and fmooth, and takes the rugged and knotty, and fuch were fome of you, but ye are washed, &c. 1 Cor.vi 11. If ye enquire, why fo? We find no other reafon but because they were chofen in him, Eph. i. 4. Predeftinated to the adoption of children, by Jefus Chrift, ver. 5. Thus are they gathered together in Chrift: while the reft are left growing on their natural stock, to be afterwards bound up in bundles for the fire. Wherefore, to whomfo ever the gospel may come in vain, it will have a bleft effect on God's elect, Acts xiii. 48. As many as were ordained to eternal life, believed! Where the Lord has much people, the gofpel will have much fuccefs, fooner or latter. Such as are to be faved, will

be added to the mystical body of Christ.

How the branches are taken out of the natural Stock, and ingrafted into the fupernatural Stock.

IV. I am to fhew how the branches are cut off from the natural ftock, the first Adam, and grafted into the true Vine, the Lord Jefus Chrift. Thanks to the husbandman, not to the branch, that it is cut off from its natural stock, and ingrafted into a new one. The finner, in his coming off from the firft ftock, is paffive; and neither can nor will come off from it of his own accord; but clings to it, till almighty power make him to fall off, John vi. 44. No man can come unto me, except the Father which hath sent me, draw him. And chap. v. 40. Ye will not come to me, that ye might have life. The ingrafted branches are God's husbandry, 1 Cor. iii.

The

planting of the Lord, Ifa. Ixi. 3. The ordinary means he makes ufe of in this work, is the miniftry of the word, 1 Cor. iii 9 We are labourers together with God. But the efficacy thereof is wholly from him, whatever the minifter's part or piety be, ver. 7. Neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth: but God that giveth the increafe. The Apostle preached to the Jews, yet the body of that people remained in infidelity, Rom. x. 16. Who hath believed our report? Yea, Chrift himself, who spoke as never man spoke, faith concerning the fuccefs of his own miniftry, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, Ifa xlix. The branches may be hacked by the preaching of the word: but the stroke will never go through, till it be carried home on them, by an omnipotent arm. However God's ordinary way is, by the foolishness of - preaching to fave them that believe, 1 Cor. i. 21.

The cutting off of the branch from the natural stock, is performed by the prunning knife of the law, in the hand of the Spirit of God, Gal. ii. 19. For I, through the law, am dead to the law. It is by the bond of the covenant of works, as I faid before, that we are knit to our natural ftock; and therefore, as a wife, unwilling to be put away, pleads and hangs by the marriage tie; fo do men by the

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covenant of works. They hold by it, like the man who held the thip with his hands; and when one hand was cut off, held it with the other; and when both were cut off, held it with his teeth. This will appear from a diftinct view of the Lord's work on men, in bring. ing them off from the old ftock; which I now offer in thefe following particulars.

First, When the Spirit of the Lord comes to deal with a perfon, to bring him to Chrift; he finds him in Laodicea's cafe, in a found fleep of fecurity, dreaming of heaven, and the favour of God, tho' full of fin again the holy One of Ifrael. Rev. iii. 17. Thou knoweft not that thou art wretched, and mifèrable, and poor, and blind, and naked. And therefore he darts in fome beams of light into the dark foul; and lets the man fee he is a loft man, if he urn not over a new leaf, and betake himself to a new courfe of life. Thus by the Spirit of the Lord, acting as a Jpirit of bondage, there is a criminal court erected in the man's breaft; where he is arraigned, accused, and condemned for breaking the law of God, convinced of fin and judgment, John xvi. 8. And now he can no longer fleep fecurely in his former courfe of life. ftroke the branch gets, in order to cutting off.

This is the first

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Secondly, Hereupon the man forfakes his former profane courfes his lying, fwearing, Sabbath-breaking, ftealing, and fuch like practices, though they be dear to him as right eyes, he will rather quit them, than ruin his foul. The fhip is like to fink, and therefore he throweth his goods over-board, that he himself may not perish. And now he begins to blefs himself in his heart, and look joyfully on his evidences for heaven; thinking himself a better fervant to God than many others, Luke xviii. 11. God, I thank thee I am not as other men are extortioners, unjust, adulterers, &c. But he foon gets another ftroke with the ax of the law, fhewing him that it is only he that doth what is written in the law, who can be faved by it; and that his negative holiness is too fcanty a cover from the storm of God's wrath. thus, although his fins of commiffion only were heavy on him before: his fins of omiffion now crowd into his thoughts, attended with a train of law-curfes and vengeance. And each of the ten commands difcharges thunder-claps of wrath against him, for his omitting required duties.

And

Thirdly, Upon this he turns to a pofitively holy courfe of life. He not only is not profane, but he performs religious duties: he prays, feeks the knowledge of the principles of religion, ftrictly obferves the Lord's day, and, like Herod, does many things, and hears fermons gladly. In one word, there is a great conformity in his outward converfation, to the letter of both tables of the law. And now there is a mighty change upon the man, that his neighbours cannot mifs to take notice of. Hence he is cheerfully admitted by the godly into their fociety, as a praying perfon, and can confer with thein about religious matters, yea, and about foul-exercife, which fome are not acquainted with. And their good opinion of him confirms his good

opinion of himself, This ftep in religion is fatal to many, who never get beyond it. But here the Lord reacheth the elect-branch a farther. ftroke. Confcience flies in the man's face, for fomé wrong steps in his conversation: the neglect of fome duty, or commiffion of fome fin, which is a blot in his converfation: and then the flaming fword of the law appears again over his head: and the curfe rings in his ears, for curfed is he that continueth not in all things written in the laws to do them, Gal. iii. ro.

Fourthly, On this account he is obliged to feek another falve for his fore. He goes to God, confeffeth his fin; feeks the pardon of it, promifing to watch against it for the time to come; and fo finds eafe, and thinks he may very well take it, feeing the fcripture faith, If we confess our fins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our fins, John i. 9. not confidering that he grafps at a privilege, which is theirs only who are ingrafted into Chrift, and under the covenant of grace; and which the branches yet growing on the old stock cannot plead. And here fometimes there are formal and exprefs vows made against fuch and fuch fins, and binding to fuch and fuch duties. Thus many go on all their days; knowing no other religion but to do duties, and to confefs, and pray for pardon of that wherein they fail; promifing themselves eternal happiness, though they are utter ftrangers to Christ. Here many elect ones have been caft down wounded, and many reprobates have been flain; while the wounds of neither of them have been deep enough, to cut them off from their natural stock. But the Spirit of the Lord gives yet a deeper ftroke to the branch which is to be cut off; fhewing him, that, as yet, he is but an out-fide faint; and discovering to him the filthy lufts lodged in his heart, which he took no notice of before, Rom vii. 9. When the commandment came, fin revived, and I died. Then he fees his heart a dung-hill of hellish lufts; filled with covetoufness, pride, malice, filthiness, and the like. Now, as foon as the door of the chambers of his imagery is thus opened to him, and he fees what they do there in the dark, his out-fide religion is blown up as infufficient; and he learns a new leffon in religion; namely, That he is not a Few which is one outwardly, Rom. ii. 28.

Fifthly, Upon this he goes further, even to in fide religion; fets to work more vigorously than ever, mourns over the evils of his heart, and strives to bear down the weeds he finds growing in that neglected garden. He labours to curb his pride and paffion; and to banish fpeculative impurities; prays more fervently, hears attentively, and ftrives to get his heart affected in every religious duty he performs; and thus he comes to think himself not only an outfide, but an infide Christian. Wonder not at this: for there is nothing in it beyond the power of nature, or what oue may attain to under a vigorous influence of the covenant of works. Therefore another yet deeper ftroke is reached. The law chargeth home on the man's confcience, thal he was a tranfgreffor from the womb; that he came into the world a guilty creature: and that, in the time of his ignorance, and

even fince his eyes were opened, he has been guilty of many actual fins, either altogether overlooked by him, or not fufficiently mourned over: (For fpiritual fores, not healed by the blood of Chrift, but skinned over fome other way, are easily ruffled, and as foon break out again.) And therefore the law takes him by the throat, saying, Pay what thou owest.

Sixthly, Then the finner fays in his heart, Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all: and fo falls to work to pacify an offended God, and to atone for thefe fins. He renews his repentance, fuch as it is; bears patiently the afflictions laid upon him; yea, he afflicts himfelf, denies himfelf the ufe of his lawful comforts, fighs deeply, mourns bitterly, cries with tears for a pardon, till he hath wrought up his heart to a conceit of having obtained it; having thus done penánce for what is past, and refolving to be a good fervant to God, and to hold on in outward and inward obedience, for the time to come. But the ftroke muft go nearer the heart yet, ere the branch fall off. The Lord discovers to him, in the glafs of the law, how he finneth in all he does, even when he does the best he can; and therefore the dreadful found returns to his ears, Gal. iii. 10. Curfed is every one that continueth not in all things, &c. When ye fafted and mourned, faith the Lord, Did ye at all faft unto me, even to me? Will muddy water make clean clothes? Will you fatisfy for one fin with another? Did not your thoughts wander in fuch a duty? Were not your affections flat in another? Did not your heart give a whorish look to fuch an idol? And did it not rife in a fit of impatience under fuch an affliction? Should I accept this of your hands? Curfed be the deceiver, which facrificeth to the Lord a corrupt thing, Mal. i. 13, 14. And thus he becomes fo far broke off, that he fees he is not able to satisfy the demands of the law.

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Seventhly, Hence, like a broken man, who finds he is not able to pay all his debts, he goes about to compound with his creditor. And being in purfuit of eafe and comfort, he does what he can to fulfil the law; and wherein he fails, he looks that God will accept the will for the deed. Thus doing his duty, and having a will to do better, he cheats himself in a perfuafion of the goodness of his ftate and hereby thoufands are ruined. But the elect get another ftroke, which loofeth their hold in this cafe. The doctrine of the law is born in on their confciences; demonftrating to them, that exact and perfect obedience is required by it, under pain of the curfe: and that it is doing, and not wishing to do, which will avail. Wishing to do better will not anfwer the law's demands: and therefore the curfe founds again, Curfed is every one that continueth not-to do them; that is, actually to do them. In vain is wishing then.

Eighthly, Being broken off from hopes of compounding with the law, he falls a-borrowing. He fees that all he can do to obey the law, and all his defires to be, and to do better, will not fave his foul: therefore he goes to Chrift, intreating, that his righteousness may

make

make up what is wanting in his own, and cover all the defects of his doings and fufferings; that fo God, for Chrift's fake, may accept them, and thereupon be reconciled. Thus doing what he can to fulfil the law, and looking to Chrift to make up all his defects, he comes at length, again to fleep in a found skin. Many perfons are ruined this way. This was the error of the Galatians, which Paul, in his epiftle to them, disputes against. But the Spirit of God breaks off the finner from this hold alfo: by bearing in on his confcience that great truth, Gal. iii. 12. The law is not of faith; but the man that doth them, hall live in them. There is no mixing of the law and faith in this business; the finner must hold by one of them, and let the other go: the way of the law, and the way of faith, are so far different, that it is not poffible for a finner to walk in the one, but he must come off from the other and if he be for doing, he must do all alone; Chrift will not do a part for him, if he do not all. A garment pieced up of fundry forts of righteoufness, is not a garment meet for the court of heaven. Thus the man, who was in a dream, and thought he was eating, is awakened by the stroke, and behold his foul is faint; his heart finks in him like a stone; while he finds he can neither bear his burden himself alone, nor can he get help under it.

Ninthly, What can one do, who muft needs pay, and yet neither has as much of his own as will bring him out of debt, nor can he get as much to borrow; and to beg he is afhamed? What can fuch a one do, I fay, but fell himfelf, as the man under the law, that was waxen poor Lev. xxv. 47. Therefore the finner beat off from so many holds, goes about to make a bargain with Chrift, and to fell himself to the Son of God, (if I may fo fpeak) folemnly promising and yowing, that he will be a fervant to Christ, as long as he lives, if he will fave. (his foul. And here oft-times the finner makes a perfonal covenant with Chrift, refigning himself to him on these terms; yea, and takes the facrament, to make the bargain fure. Hereupon the man's great care is, how to obey Chrift, keep his commands, and fo fulfil his bargain. And, in this the foul finds a falfe, unfound peace, for a while; till the Spirit of the Lord fetch another stroke, to cut off the man from this refuge of lies likewise. And that happens in this manner: When he fails of the duties he engaged, to, and falls again into the fin he covenanted againft; it is powerfully carried home on his confcience, that his covenant is broken: fo all his comfort goes, and terrors afresh feize on his foul, as one that has broken covenant with Chrift, and commonly the man, to help himself, renews his covenant, but breaks again as before. And how is it poffible it thould be otherwise, feeing he is still upon the old stock? Thus the work of many, all their days, as to their fouls, is nothing but a making and breaking fuch covenants, over and over again.

Object. Some, perhaps, will fay, "Who liveth and finneth not? "Who is there that faileth not of the duties he is engaged to? If "you reject this way as unfound, who then can be faved?"-

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