The Bowels of Tender Mercy Sealed in the Everlasting Covenant, Religious treatise · Part 2 · Chapter 15 · Section 1
SECT. I.
1 Uſe. DOth God promiſe to cauſe his people to walk in his Statutes and to do them? hence we may be informed of ſeveral things.
Firſt, That then without all queſtion, the natural and unregenerate man hath A natural man can of himſelf do no good.no ſufficiency in himſelf to do any ſpiritual good: For if the people of God (who are called by grace, and are made alive by grace,) are not ſufficient of themſelves, but do ſtand in need of the grace of God to cauſe them to walk in Gods Statutes; much more inſufficient is every natural man to the doing of good, who is dead in treſpaſſes and ſins. Hear what the ſcriptures ſpeak of the natural man, 1 Cor. 2. 14. The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are fooliſhneſs unto him, neither can he know them, becauſe they are ſpiritually diſcerned. Jer. 4. 22. Tbey are ſottiſh children, and they have no underſtanding; they are wiſe to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge. Hoſe. 8. 12. I have written to him the great things of my Law, but they were counted a ſtrange thing. Pſal. 14. 1. The fool hath ſaid in his heart there is no God; they are corrupt, thy have done abominable works, there is none that doth good. Prov. 13. 19. It is abomination to fooles to depart from evil. Levit. 26. 43. Becauſe they deſpiſed my judgments, and becauſe their ſoul abhorred my Statutes. Jer. 13. 23. Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the Leopard his ſpots? then may ye alſo do good, that are accuſtomed to do evil. Tit. 1. 16. Being abominable, and diſobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.
By all theſe places it doth appear, that there is no power and ſufficiency in any natural man to any ſpiritual good, but a total want thereof, and a total oppoſition unto it.
Secondly, That then God is no hard, cruel, or rigorous maſter unto his ſervants, but very kinde and gracious; we have no reaſon to complain at all, but rather to bleſs him, and cheerfully to ſerve him.
There are ſeven things which do reſpect the people of God, &c.
1. Enterance, which takes in, 1. Union: Of him are ye in Chriſt Jeſus. 1. Cor. 1. 3. 2. Regeneration. 3. Repentance: This God works in them of his own grace. Jam. 1. 18. Of his own good will begat he us with the word of truth. Phil. 1. 29. Unto you it is given to believe. Acts 11. 18. Then hath God alſo to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.
2. Performances; this likewiſe doth God work in his people. Phil. 2. 13. It is God which worketh in you, to will and to do of his good pleaſure.God is no hard maſter.
3. Sufferance. Phil. 1. 29. Unto you it is given in the behalf of Chriſt, not only to believe on him, but alſo to ſuffer for his ſake.
4. Reſiſtance. 1. Of ſinful works. 2 Tim. 4. 18. The Lord ſhall deliver me from every evil work. 2. From ſinful temptations. 1 Cor. 10. 13. God is faithful, who will not ſuffer you to be tempted above that you are able.
5. Perſeverance. Phil. 1. 6. Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you, will perform it until the day of Chriſt. 1 Pet. 1. 5. We are kept by the power of God through faith unto ſalvation.
6. Acceptance.
7. Recompence.
Thirdly, Then you ſee the ſame reaſon why, when the ſame truths of God Why ſome receive the truth, and others do not. Why not all. God leaves ſome to themſelves, and not others. They which walk not in Gods wayes, are none of his.are preached, and the ſame wayes of life are revealed, ſome do receive thoſe truths, but others do not; and ſome do walk in thoſe wayes, and ſome do not.
Queſt. Why do they not all do ſo? The Reaſon is,
Sol. Becauſe God leaves ſome unto themſelves, and others he doth not leave unto themſelves; they do both of them hear the way to heaven, but they have not both the ſame grace and ſtrength given to walk in the way to heaven.
Fourthly, Then they are none of Gods people, who never found any ſufficiency, any ability, any actual ſtrength to walk in the wayes which God hath Commanded: why ſo? becauſe God promiſeth to cauſe his people to walk in his Statutes, and to do them. I grant that all the people of God do not walk alike in his Statutes; ſome are more lively, ſome are more forward, ſome are more high, and full, and vigorous, and exact then others are; nevertheleſs every one of them hath obtained grace and ſtrength in his proportion to walk in Gods Statutes; every one of them doth pray, and every one of them doth repent, and every one of them doth believe, doth walk in newneſs of obedience, and every one of them doth fear the Lord, and makes conſcience of his wayes, and ſtrives after perfection.
Simile. You ſee that the leaſt finger in the body receives an influence from the head by which it moves, and ſtirs, and performs the office of its place: And ſo doth the meaneſt and weakeſt ſervant of Chriſt, receive a virtue and power from Chriſt to act, and walk in his proportion: Therefore thoſe men who ſtill continue in their wayes, and have no power to leave them, and who are ſtill charged to walk in Gods wayes, and have no heart nor power to obey him, (no power or ability at all to bewaile their ſins, to forſake their ſins, to poure out their hearts in prayer, to long after Chriſt, to love the Lord Jeſus Chriſt, to prize and hold communion with God;) theſe perſons are not as yet the people of Gods Covenant. There is nothing in the world to evidence it to their ſouls that they are ſo; nothing in practice; for they …eglect all holy walking with God; and nothing in their natures and hearts, for if they were renewed and changed by grace, preſently there would be an ability, an inclination, a deſire, an endeavour to walk with God according to his word.
Take it for a certain truth, that all perſons actually in Covenant with God, have a power given them (more or leſs) to walk as God would have them walk, and to do what God would have them to do; therefore conſider your ſelves and your conditions, all of you who are ſtill without ſtrength to walk; aſſuredly you are without life to quicken: all the children of God are alive, and are thus far enabled by his grace to chuſe his way, and to walk in his way with upright hearts.
Fifthly, Then the wayes of God are poſſible and paſſable wayes; why ſo? Gods wayes are poſſible and paſſable.becauſe the promiſe of God is annexed unto them.
There are two errors oppoſite unto this truth.
1. One is of the Papiſts, who make the wayes of God concerning us ſo paſſable, Papiſts confuted.that a man may perfectly fulfil the Law of God; nay as if this were a poor buſineſs, they teach that a man may do yet more then God requires, he may do works of ſupererogation, by which he may merit for himſelf and for his friends; this is a proud and falſe doctrine; for no man (except Chriſt) ever did or could with a legal exactneſs fulfil the will of God: In many things we offend all, ſaith the Apoſtle, Jam. 3. 2. And what man is he that liveth and ſineth not? there is no man that ſinneth not. 1 Kin. 8. 46. And who can ſay My heart is clean, or I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my ſin? Prov. 20. 9.
2. The other is of carnal and lazy Proteſtants, who when they are preſſed to Carnal Proteſtants confuted.leave their ſinful wayes, and to walk in the wayes of Gods Commandements, and to hold on in their walking all their dayes: O ſay they, this is impoſſible, and who can walk thus? But what Chriſt ſpake to another purpoſe, may be ſafely applied here, That which is impoſſible with men, is poſſible with God; or what Chryſoſtome replied about the work of turning the heart from ſin, that it was impoſſible, Tu non potes, ſed Dominus tuus potest, thou canſt not turn thy heart, but yet the Lord can turn thy heart: that I ſay in this caſe, It is impoſſible for any man by his own ſtrength to walk in all Gods Statutes, nevertheleſs it is poſſible ſo to do with Gods ſtrength: I can do all through Chriſt that ſtrengthens me. ſaith Paul. Phil. 4. 13. And Take my yoak upon you, (ſaith Chriſt,) Math. 11. 29. for my yoak is eaſie, and my burthen is light, ver. 30. How comes it to be eaſie and light? ſurely becauſe you have Chriſt help, as well as Chriſts Command: And thus it is with all the wayes of God; they are poſſible, and paſſable; why ſo? becauſe you have Gods Promiſe, as well as Gods Command. Indeed if they were wayes under a command, then there were no poſſible walking in them, becauſe then the acting of obedience unto them, would reſt upon our own ſtrength, which is none at all; but being wayes alſo under a promiſe of God. who ſaith that he will cauſe us to walk in them, now they are poſſible: For beloved, what God promiſeth to do for us, that reſts not upon our ſtrength, but his ſtrength to make us to do, and he is able to make all ſtrength to abound and increaſe within us.
Sixthly, Then it is nothing elſe but a fooliſh and proud conceit in men, to delay Of ſuch as defer walking in Gods wayes.and defer works of obedience until they 1. Have compaſſed ſo much of the world. 2. Come to be old. 3. Come to be ſick; then they will conſider their wayes, and then they will humble their hearts, and then they will repent, and then they will lay hold on Chriſt, and then they will lead new lives, and then they will make their peace with God, &c. Not knowing that it is God only who cauſeth us to walk in his Statutes, and to do them; and not knowing that we are not of our ſelves ſufficient to think any thing; and not knowing that ſupernatural power muſt be the foundation and cauſe of all ſupernatural works; and not knowing that God juſtly may, and often times doth deny his grace and help to them who have refuſed it, and doth leave the refuſing ſinner (forever) to his own luſts and wayes.