OCR Text |
Show Chrift mu~ Jirft fpe11k.to his sppuft, him, thefe are adionl of the in ward man; good adions becaufe God hath commanded them, and internal, becaufc properly the aCtions of the inward man, and fuch which a man might perform if he had never a member of his b6dy at liberty. There arc alfo gbod aCtions, partly external, partly internal, that is, fuch where rhe concurrence both of the outward and inward man is neceffary to make the adion truly and c<impleatly good. As now vocal prayer, hearing the·word, &c. Secondly, we mull diilingui!h concerning perfons;for though 111 perfons have the fame natural inability, yet the cafe is widely different betwixt juilified and un·julllfied Souls, betwixt fuch as have and fuch as have no inter.ell in him. Thefe things being pre- ' rr.ifed, I lball. indeavour to Ia¥ down the truth in thefe three con-clulibns. . ' . . r. A Chriilian by vertue ofcommoiJf!ace,deniedto llone,andmore [ally granted to thofe who fit uHiler the means of grace, may do ma»y ex;ternal atrious; yea and [.me inward atliont, that ar< materiaUy G_ood.l to!d you before that by aetio.ns m•ttria71ygood,l under.lland fu~h ad;ons as were commandcd·m the word of Bed, .and by it m:ide the duty , of al) men : ,Now I fay, many of thefe may be done by Common·grac~ dc!nied co none, ·and arc freely. io the powar of mans will. Thus who doubts but men have pow~r to go to Church;-or fiay at home to read a Cltaptcr, or not read It, to keep from an Alehoufe, or to go to it, to Swear, Lye,'Cheat, or not to do thefe things to do work,'find pleafure on the Sabbathday' · or not to do th~fe things with a rhoufana of 'fuoh' things mo:e.Who knoweth not that H£Tod heard John Baptijf gladly,M'ar. 6.20. That thoufands hear the Gofpel, who yet have tailed nothing of fpecial diningui!hing grace; yea and by how much the means of grace ~re .more granted to any by fo much they are the more ad v~ntaged to thefe thingj, 'as they ate daily urged and preffed to tm:fe things,and taught how to pelfotm them ·: hence men by vertue of this Common-grace ofGnd, which is denied to none upon whom the Gofpel fhines, may Read, Hear, I'Jay, get fome knowledg of God , think of their fins, have fome fenfe of them, and trouble for ihem,Jlnd avoid many external acts of fin. \'hus filr for a Sopl \O A rife and come, req\lites no further Jp••ki~g of Cbrijl than by )lis word, by his prov'idencc, by the Preaclu?g of the Gofpel, upon which, if man will but put forth that nauve power which God hath given him, all thefe things may be done. what is more :'~qllired to them, than the tOte of our locomotive faculty, our ab!lmes to Read, Hear, Meditate, of which experience telkth us, that even the lapfcd S~jj,IS of men are not deveficd in other things, and as not in other filings ~o not in 1hefc,fuppofing the obl' ·cts prefent, ( whzch the Prov1dence of God, and Commongrace doth alford men. ) .In .this w<wrc aglfed with 1hc grealell' Putrons olfree:wlY.l ndced tim mull be undcrllod in ordinary ca. fes, lor fuppo!Jng.a VIOlent temptation to fome ol th,fc tinfc•l actio? s, 0:' t? the ntgled of thefe duties, what power be hath left in h1s ~·II ul) regenera ted, 10 rt fi £1 fuch a !hock is ano1her qucfiion; napn fuch a cafe, Souls p.1!Td!'ed of fpecial and diflingu i01ing Grace arc notal ways able to fland,but being kf1 by God, do oftm fall and bow down to the temprcr. 2. f.or intemal SpirituJl actions, and indeed all actionsformaly fl,aod, ·I~ 1SIIOt mouf.b, that Clm!llh>uld fpeak,fo hit Spo11ji f or tbe domg oftbem, 111 h1s word or by tb· preachiltt, of it; nor can any Soul perform them zrnl,fr he [peaks to it by the po•verf~tl VoiCe of his Spint H/lto her heart. Here now we have a ~;rear many adverfaries thi: old Pela~i~ns,.th~ latrr Arminia>u, the PapifiJ, &c. The Pelagi~ a111 of old mamtamcd,that a man by the meer power of nalllre might fulfil· aU the comm~>rdme>tls of God, and thlt there wJs no need of r.he Grace of God, or allitlance of~is Spirit. Armini ms give a httle more to ?."" t!Mn t.h" comes to, bur yet they deny that a>ry Epifcop. Pijp. zmmediJte a/11011 of the Sptrit ofGod upon o"r Wdl<,il neceffiry in 46.Cor.1. order to bellC·v•ng, when (he word u before him. T hey tell us that the wtll of man i1 of its or»u IIJ~Hu, free both to good and evil, and thJt .'hey cannot believe, there IS any fuch impotency to good up-on .hlm. They tell us dut unregnur.:zteme1t)are fuch as are ltotcal- /ed by th• w>rd, or fuch as arl' called by the word : T ,1e tirll only c 11 are dead in ~ms. T hey tell us m.•ny have a por»er to come to Cbri/1, .;/t. H"t· #bo yu a/] tully don t come. Tne p,,pijls Jrc not all of one mind in the cafe. Aqtti1t1.U tells us that " man in his natural Jfo.~te ·ca;JJtot love God above aU thin~'- from a•ry pnwernf11ature. and a~oin that AJ' 12"'· q. n1JJte catt prrp.Jre or d,jpop him{elfto receive drvint> 'grJce; bl·. t Bon:~- 1 9' art. :j. ve>tt"rr,.Sc"'"'·'"d others I peak mnre boldly. The Articles of the Cb>mbof.England (to "'''ich we adhere) fJy thus : Thatfitcb Art. l n • . tJ the cmdttw'n of man fi>tce tbe f•U of AdJm thJt nf hiJ own p•wer fatt.dbybiJ otPn n:Jrk.f, m1encannot C01JVr~rt and prep.1re themfilveJ f,; all~- Tf;~t wztbo~t. l iJe prev"Htin!! gr Jet: nf Gl)d whicb iJ throuf!.h. Chrifl, mJi{J•tg '" wtU•ng ; and the <D<IptratmggrJce of God, wben "'' T t •rt |