it right, and not neglect it. But this is the abuse of the grace of God, to neglect it. For his grace and favour towards us, is for our encouragement; his aid and assistance is for our performance; and fince he doth fo declare his grace and goodness to us, we are obliged to obey and please him. And fince he doth afford us his aid and affistance, we are enabled to turn to him: and all men that have any experience of themfelves, or acquaintance with God, are free and ingenuous, in the acknowledgement, that we are beholden to the grace of God both for the ftrengthning of us, and carrying of us on, for the exciting of us and enabling of us, and profpering of us in any good work, so that we may say, our sufficiency is of God, 2 Cor. iii. 5. And as this is true in it self, so it is the sense of every one that is partaker of God's grace; and he that hath attained to the highest growth in religion, this man Idare fay, will make the freest and fulleft acknowledgement of the divine grace, and he will fay fincerely and heartily, that through the grace of God, I am what I am, 1 Cor. xv. 10. There are two questions which will easily be refolved, Who made thee to differ from another? Or what haft thou that thou haft not received? I Cor. iv. 7. I say these two questions are readily and chearfully answered by every one that is the fubject of the grace of God. If he do but confult his own experience, he will fay, that he has nothing but what he received from God, and is the fruit of his grace; and that it is the grace of God that makes him fo differ from another. And as this is the sense of every good man that is VOL. I.

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the

the grace of God for what he is, fo it is becoming and comely, to acknowledge grace, and to look upon it as the leaft return that we can make. For on our part, there is neither antecedent merit, or after recompence; we live by grace, and therefore it is comely for us, to acknowledge grace, Pfal. Ixvi. 16. The gracious and ingenuous foul doth not account any thing more reasonable than to be grateful to its benefactor.

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upon

this

I will conclude now with this, that fcore of magnifying and advancing the grace of God, two things are not to be done, which fome that are unwary do interpret as derogatory to the grace of God, and fo I hope fhall prevent all miftakes. To wit,

1. They are not to be blamed or looked upon as neglecters of God's grace, or undervaluers of it, or to abate it in the leaft, who vigorously and with all imaginable zeal, call upon men to ufe, employ, and improve the principles of God's creation: that charge it upon men, as a point of religion and confcience, to ufe, employ and improve the principles of God's creation. I find that fome men take offence, to hear reafon spoken of out of a pulpit, or to hear thofe great words of natural light, of principles of reafon, and confcience. They are doubtless in a mighty miftake, for these two things are very consistent, as I fhall fhew you by and by, and there is no inconfiftency between the grace of God, and the calling upon men carefully to ufe, improve and employ the principles of God's creation, and the telling men they fhall meet with no difcouragement from

God,

God, forasmuch as he will not leave them, till they first leave him. And indeed this is a very profitable work to call upon men to answer the principles of their creation, to fulfil natural light, to answer natural confcience, to be throughout rational in what they do; for these things have a divine foundation. The fpirit in man is the candle of the Lord lighted by God, and lighting men to God. It is from God by way of efficiency, and to God finally. And then

2. For the other, thofe two great places of fcripture will answer all that I fay, to wit, that we may speak clearly and fully to any one that is in a way of religion or in dependance upon God, or in the use of means, that there is no difcouragement lies upon him, from any thought or purpose of evil in God against him, or that God will be wanting to him, unless he first fall off from God, and leave him. İn every nation, he that feareth God and worketh righteoufnefs, is accepted of him, Acts. x. 15. And therefore to speak of natural light, of the use of reafon in religion, is to do no differvice atall to grace; for God is acknowledged in both in the former, as laying the ground-work of his creation in the latter, as reviving and reftóring it. So that these do agree together, as God doth agree to himself God laying the religion of conscience, and making man in such a power of judging; and God restoring him to the felf fame ftate again, after he had confented to iniquity, whereby he had marred his principles, and disabled himself; fo that I say, these two do as well agree together, as God doth agree

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with himself; for God is the author of nature, and the restorer of it. By the way I will obferve how little there is in many controversies; if wife and temperate men had the managing of them; but when once there is fufpicion and jealoufy, these make and increase differences. This is in fhort all that I will fay, it is not poffible for any one that is a right believer not to depend on the grace of God; it is highly ingenuous for him to make all poffible acknowledgements, it becomes him to think that he owes all his hopes to the goodnefs of God, and that he stood in need of a divine ftrength for every new motion; yea to attribute every thing that is good to the grace of God.

But notwithstanding this, first we are to call upon one another, every body is to engage himself to excite all the powers of nature, to act according to rea-. fon and to answer all principles of natural light and confcience; and this we are to do in compliance with grace.

And Secondly, We will by no means upon any pretence difcourage any one that is in a difpofition God-ward; for we are by fcripture warranted to tell men, that God doth not forsake men, till he be first forfaken of men, and that God will not refufe any one that comes unto him ; but is a real friend to fouls, and doth delight in the converfion of finners, and doth his part toward the attaining of it; and this I have added to take off offence and fcandal, that so no one may be mistaken. Men are not fo far to prefs the principles of God's creation, as to neglect the grace of God: nor fo far to depend on the

grace

373 grace of God as to neglect the principles of God's creation. I put them in conjunction, and they agree as well together, as God doth with himself.

DISCOURSE XXIV.

The PRACTICE of those who are improved.

PHILIPPIANS iii. 15.

Let as many of us therefore as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God fhall reveal even this unto you.

us

Et therefore as many of us as be perfect, be thus as minded. But had he not denied perfection before, ver. 12. not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: who doth he now fpeak of? Let as many as be perfect be thus minded, take an account of this in fix or seven particulars.

1. It is a fuppofition of charity; what he had before denied of himself he doth admit in refpect of others. And indeed we feel our own infirmities, and know our own weakneffes, fhortnefs and im- · perfection; but we obferve other men's graces. The best of men know more by themselves, than by others. He finds how oft he is out of frame and ́ temper, how oft he is indifpofed: but other perfons are known only by their excellencies, by their virtues;

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