"power given him from above, and the fecret in"fluences of God's Holy Spirit, adding force and 66 energy to his own endeavours, force his way "through it. Conscious, therefore, of his own "weakness, he will acknowledge the neceflity of "God's grace; and being ready to fink through "his own natural weight, unless supported by foreign help, he will cry out with St. Peter, "Save me, Lord, or ELSE I perish. "Some philofophers of old flattered the pride "and vanity of men, by teaching them that they "wanted nothing to make them virtuous, but "only a firm and steady refolution of being fo; "that this refolution they themselves were masters "of, and might exert at their own pleasure. "They confidently boasted that their happiness "was a thing wholly in their own power; that "they need not afk of the gods to be virtuous, "nor.confequently to be happy, fince they could "be fo without their aid or concurrence, or even "in defpight of them. The Pelagians afterwards "raised their herefies upon the principles which "these heathen philofophers had first broached; "they engaged in the quarrel of depraved nature "againft divine grace: all our diforders they "would have to be the effects not of fin but of 66 nature; all our evil inclinations feemed to them "capable of being fubdued by our own unassisted "reafon; and they did not think the fuccour of any fupernatural grace necessary either for the "combating of vice, or the maintenance of their "integrity and virtue. But the fober Chriftian "hath learned from the fcriptures to speak and "to think more humbly of himself, and more be"comingly and magnificently of God; we are "there taught that we are not fufficient of ourselves to think, much lefs to do, any thing as of our "felves, but that our fufficiency is of God; that it is "God which worketh within us both to will and to "do of his good pleafure; that it is by the Spirit we "muft mortify the deeds of the body, if we would "live; that it is God who, by his Spirit, makes "us perfect in every good work to do his will, work"ing in us that which is well-pleafing in his fight. "The humble and devout Chriftian being thus "fatisfied of the neceffity of God's grace, both "from his own experience and from the fcrip"tures, and being affured of the VITAL INFLU"ENCES of this fpirit from the promises made to "him in the gofpel, will not be over-curious to "inquire into the fecret and inconceivable man"ner of its operation. He will choose rather to "FEEL these influences, than to understand or ex"plain them, and will not doubt of that power, " which, though he cannot give an account of as "to the manner of its working, he plainly per"ceives to be great and marvellous from its mighty and wonderful effects: for when, in "reading the holy fcriptures, he finds the veil of darkness removed from before his UNDERSTANDING; "when those clouds of ignorance that had over"caft his mind, are prefently difperfed; when "the doubts under which he had for some time "laboured are on a fudden cleared; when such "pious thoughts as were wont to pass transiently "are long dwelt upon, fo as to leave behind them "deep and lasting impreffions; when these are "fuggefted to him without his seeking, and are "urged and preffed upon him fo importunately, "that he cannot choose but liften unto them; "when, from a calm and ferious confideration of "the ftate of his own foul, the odioufnefs and "danger of fin, the beauty and neceffity of holi"nefs, he is led to make good and pious refolu ❝tions "tions of ferving God with greater purity for the "time to come; when he finds a fudden impulse "upon his fpirits, rouzing him up to the per"formance of fome important duty which he had "before neglected; or an unexpected check, "ftopping him in the midst of his course, when "he is rushing on blindly and impetuously to the "commiffion of fome heinous fin; when in his "devotions he finds his attention fixed, his affections "inflamed, and his heart melted within him; when, "while the voice of God's minifter preaching the "faving truths of the gospel sounds in his ears, "he is fenfible of an INWARD VOICE fpeaking with greater force and efficacy to his foul, to his "understanding, and to his heart; when, under "the preffure of any grievous affliction, he feels "unexpected joy and comfort; when light rifes "up in the midst of darkness; when there is given "unto him beauty for afbes, the oil of joy for mourn"ing, the garment of praife for the Spirit of heavi"ness; upon all these and the like occafions he is "fenfible of the prefence and aid of God's Holy "Spirit, whofe grace alone is fufficient to all these "purposes, and whofe ftrength is thus made perfect in his weakness. "How the operation of God's Holy Spirit is "confiftent with the freedom of our own wills; "how far we are paffive and how far active in "thofe good thoughts, words, and works, which "are wrought in us by the influence of this Holy "Spirit, the practical Christian doth not much "trouble himself to inquire. Whatsoever is good "in him, that he devoutly afcribes not unto him"felf, but unto the grace of God which was "afforded him; O Lord, not unto me, but unto "thy name be the glory; or having by his former "fins juftly merited to be left destitute and for "faken; "faken; in the latter cafe he is as ready to make "Daniel's humble acknowledgment; O Lord, " righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto me confu"fion of face. He will leave it to others to difpute "about the nature, extent, and efficacy of this "( grace, and will make it his own chief labour to "obtain, to cherish, and to improve it; he strives, "according to the best of his judgment, to form " right notions of its efficacy, but he is ftill more "folicitous that no mistakes in his opinions about "it may have any dangerous influence upon his "practice. He cannot be very wrong in his no"tions, whilft he believes that man's will is nei"ther fo free, as without God's grace to do good, << nor fo enflaved, as not to be at liberty either to concur with or to refift that grace: but whether "these notions about a matter so intricate be ex actly right or not, he is fully affured that he "cannot be mistaken in his measures of acting, "if he exerts his own endeavours with as much "vigour and earnestnefs, as if by them alone he "were finally to ftand or fall; and, at the fame "time, implores God's grace with as much fer"vency, as if that alone could support him :-if "he neither relies fo far on his own ftrength, as "not humbly to acknowledge that it is God alone "who works in him both to will and to do, nor fo "far depends on the grace of God to fave him, "as to forget that he is required to work out his "own falvation :-if, laftly, at his approaches to "the holy altar, he doth prepare himself for the "reception of the bleffed facrament, with as much "care, diligence, and fcrupulofity,, as if the be"nefits he there expects did entirely depend upon "the difpofition he brings along with him, and "his own fitness to communicate, and yet, at the "fame time, not trufting on his own imperfect ❝righteouf E 74 « righteousness, but on God's infinite mercy, he "doth there, with faith, with humility, with re"verence, address himself to that blessed SPIRIT, "who is the giver of every good and perfect gift, "that he may be filled with his grace and hea"venly benediction." I cannot but hope that these opinions of a clasfical scholar, a man adorned with all elegant and polite learning, as well as with philosophy; a man, whofe habits of life and focial connexions tended to remove him from all contagion of vulgar enthusiasm, will have great weight with the elegant and polite part of the world, in recommending the neglected or exploded doctrine of grace. No man needs blush to entertain the religious fentiments of Bishop Smalridge; nor can folly or fanaticism be reasonably imputed to divines like him, whose minds were enriched with all the ftores of fcience, and polished with all the graces of ornamental litera ture. SECTION XIII. Human Learning highly useful, and to be pursued with all Diligence, but cannot, of itself, furnish EVIDENCES of Christianity completely fatisfactory, like thofe which the Heart of the good Chriftian feels from the Divine Influence: with the Opinion of Doctor Ifaac Watts. L ployment |