Influences of the Life of Grace, Part 2 · Chapter 1
CHAP. I.
1. God acts upon the creature firſt, and not the creature firſt upon God. 2. The Lord's dominion of influences on free will. 3. Nor are we to be idle and ſleep, becauſe the Lord is Maſter of his own influences. 4. The Lord commands not us to have, or want influences. 5. Influences are not our warrant to act, but the efficient cauſe thereof.
HItherto much hath been ſaid of the Soveraignty of the Lord in divine influences. Now are we to ſpeak of the way of getting theſe influences, and of the neceſſity of them, and how we may fetch the wind.
1. By natural actings.
2. By ſupernatural actings; by the word and promiſe.
3. By the efficient cauſes of influences, eſpecially by the Spirit. Hence the diviſion of influences.
1. By the infuſed habit of grace.
2. By ſpiritual diſpoſitions.
In all which our faith, praying, uſing of grace, have their ſeveral influences.
What we may doe to fetch heavenly influences from God, is above my reach to determine: only let theſe Propoſitions be conſidered.
Prop. 1. God by order of nature firſt acts upon the creature, and gives his ſtirring up influence to it. We cannot, in genere cauſae phyſicae, firſt breath upon God; he prevenes the Sun, and the Sun riſeth or riſeth not, as the Lord pleaſeth to act upon it; but no ſecond cauſes do prevene the firſt or univerſal cauſe: the Sun and Heaven do act firſt upon the Roſe, but the Roſe doth not firſt act upon the Sun and Heaven; Job 37. 7. He ſealeth up the hand of every man that all men may know his works, &c. By the breath of God froſt is given; this ſhows that the hoſt of creatures in Heaven and in Earth, and the Sea are all dead paſſive ſleepy cyphers and can do nothing, if the Lord do not ſtir them. God muſt be Father, Lord, and Author of all created actings, and faith would without carefulneſs or unbelief commit all to ſo wiſe a Steersman; though (Phil. 4. 6.) the Sea ſhall drown me, the Fire conſume me, the Air ſuffocate me; yet I deſire to hear and obey that, Be careful in nothing, but pray, Matth. 6. I ſhall periſh for want, ver. 25.We are to meet all conditions of life with cloſing with his holy diſpenſation. Take no thought. They will kill me, if I confeſs Chriſt; Fear not, Matth. 10. 28, 29. your Father cares for two ſparrows and for every hair of your head. O but the Ship I am in is a ſinking. Matth. 8. 26. Why are ye fearful? waken Chriſt by praying; ah, my little daughter is dead, Fear not, only believe, Mark 5. 36. ah they ſhall deliver us to ſynagogues and priſons, and bring us before Kings, and all men ſhall hate us for Chriſt's ſake. True: But there ſhall not one hair of your head periſh; Luke 21. 12, 17.its but our unbelief which ſees God ſuffering all to roll and reel as Fortune, Nature, and Devils will, which makes us ſinfully care; For the Lord and Father of Chriſt cannot vace, and Chriſt's not working is contrary to John 5. 17. but all are in a good hand.
Obj. But Heman ſaith, Pſal. 88. 13. In the morning ſhall my prayer prevent thee, So the word foreign in piel, anteceſſit, antevert it, praeoccupavit, anticipavit; its to go before in time, in earlineſs, Pſal. 119. 148. Mine eyes prevent the night watch. Deut. 23. 4. The Amalekites prevented you not with bread; its to go before in place, Pſal. 68. 26. The ſingers went before; its ſtrange that any prayer could prevent God.
Anſ. Not properly, he ſaith himſelf, JOb 41. 11. Who hath prevented me (the ſame word) that I ſhould repay him? then our preventing of God ſhould lay ſome debt upon God, which is unpoſſible; and as Paul obſerves, Rom. 11. 35. foreign; who gave him firſt? Therefore 1. He ſpeaks Pſal. 88. of God after the manner of men, as if Heman, in a manner, were more early up in the morning to pray then the Lord were ready to hear; the contrary whereof is true; as if Heman's early praying wakened God, Pſal. 44. 23. Awake, why ſleepeſt thou? 2. There is a preventing of God as a Deliverer and a Comforter;Now we cannot prevent God. God's order is, that our praying makes an impulſion and ſtirring on the Lord firſt, and then he delivers and comforts, Pſal. 24. 6. Pſal. 18. 6, 7, & 16. and ſo in order to comfort and deliverance in genere mediorum moralium prayer wakens Heaven and puts the Lord a working; but as touching the order of real and phyſical actings, the Lord prevents us: the ſtring of the Harp or Viol is not ſaid to touch the hand of the Muſician, but the Muſician's hand toucheth the ſtring, hence is Muſick. Nor does the Axe ſtir and lift up the arm of the Carpenter, but the Carpenter's arm lifts up the Axe: therefore they who teach that our prayer and the actings of our free will can, and may prevent grace, in place of preventing grace, give us nature and the creature preventing God: we read of the Father drawing us, and the Son with the odour of his ointments drawing ſinners; but to teach that nature prevents grace is to ſay we are before and above God: whereas the Roſe warms not the Sun, but the Sun warms and nouriſhes the Roſe; and the corn and herbs do not refreſh the Heaven and the Clouds, but Heaven and Clouds nouriſh and refreſh the corn and graſs; and it muſt be untoward and froward divinity that the ſick man heals the Phyſician. It is the grace (to ſpeak ſo) of the Lord's free grace that the Lord prevents us, not we him; its impoſſible that nature can prevent grace.
Prop. 2. Though the Lord's promiſe and his free decree hath tyed himſelf (in a manner) to be prevented by a moral cauſe;The Lord ſtrongly bows free will. yet that moral cauſe even the praying man ſtirs not until God firſt prevent him to pray. Hence the Lord moves and wheels about the heart and will of the man, who is moſt free and moſt abſolute among all the ſons of men, even the King, Prov. 21. 1. and that not if the King will and ſay amen with his prior or former or collateral conſent, but whitherſoever Jehovah will. Hence our prayers that God would incline our hearts to his teſtimonies, Pſal. 119. 36. Not incline the heart to any evil thing, Pſal. 141. 4. Ʋnite the heart to fear his name, Pſal. 86. 11. So Jacob prays the Lord would give his ſons favour in the eyes of the Governour of Egypt a Heathen man as to him: (Eſther and her maids pray for grace in the eyes of Ahaſuerus,) ſee Gen. 43. 14. The Lord Almighty give you mercy before the man. If God could not indecliuably bow the will to his own way, ſide, or end, (be it by antecedent predetermination or what way elſe you ſhall call it, ſo the Lord be the more Maſter of willing and nilling then the creature) but in ſo doing he ſhould deſtroy free will; we ſhould in all ſuch petitions pray for the deſtroying of free will, where ſure, we pray for perfecting and the ſanctified bowing of free will to obey God. 2. If the dominion of free acts remain ſtrongly in the creatures power, we muſt in theſe ſuits (incline my heart unto thy teſtimonies) (lead us not into temptation) pray the Lord for that which is not in his power to give. 3. If God do carry free will whitherſoever he pleaſeth, then we muſt not defer the only praiſe of our obedience, and of our victory over temptations, to the grace of God, but to free will which made the diſcriminating difference. 1. Hence we are to commit our free will to the Lord's dominion of grace, and not to believe that ſuch a tottering Goddeſſe as free will which hath loſt and deſtroyed Angels and the firſt man Adam, can guide well enough; Yea, 2. we are to bleſs the Lord for that impotency (if ſo it may be called) that the ſoveraign Lord's heavenly influences are not in the creatures coffers, to be husbanded by the creature; how falſe is it that Chriſt hath bought free will to himſelf. 3. How ſweet is it that our head Chriſt, and we in him are more maſters of mens hatred and favour, then they are themſelves, Prov. 3. 1, 4. Pſal. 106. 46. for would enemies and haters ſhew us favour and love, if they were abſolute Maſters and Lords of their own hatred and love? not at all; we muſt thank and bleſſe an higher hand then ſuch men. 4. Should we pray more, we ſhould be more rained upon in our withered condition, by ſhowrs of influences of grace.
Object. By your way we cannot pray for influences, except the Lord beſtow on us other foregoing influences.
Anſw. What follows but that we are to pray that we may pray,We are to pray for our own prayers. and that we are to pray for our own prayers that they may be ſteeled with faith and ſtrength of grace; And David prays for his own prayers, Pſal. 5. 2. Pſal. 28. 2. Pſal. 88. 2. Pſal. 141. 2. 2. Would the Objector reliſh prayers without influences of grace? can nature pray in the holy Ghoſt? can Chriſt intercede for the accepting of natures work?
Prop. 3. Becauſe God only is Lord and Maſter of freewill and of the actings of all creatures,There is no warrant for us not to act, becauſe God is Lord of our actings. we are not to be idle, and upon that account to act nothing; for then ſhould not the husband-man plow, ſow, and labour; for God only is Lord and Maſter of the actings of the husband-man; and without the influences and bleſſing from on high, the husband-mans labours from the beginning of the year to the end, were no better then to plant Vine-trees in the bottom of the river Euphrates, or to ſow Barley or Wheat in the Ocean ſea. And ſo ſhould the Sea-man never ſayl; for God only can create winds and tide, and God only is Maſter of the ebbing and flowing of the Sea, and of ſayling, and of right ſteering of the Veſſel; for ſince the Lord declares not his mind on the contrary, by forbidding men to pray,How we are to doe, though God only work in us to doe. and others to plow and ſayl. 2. Since the Lord offers no poſitive violence to hinder theſe actings; And 3. becauſe he commandeth us to doe them, it becomes us to ſet to work, and to act with and under him, and to commit the event and bleſſing to him. Indeed, if the Lord were ſo Lord of our actings, as he did all and whole the work, and we did act nothing at all in praying, yea and in plowing, but were meer dead and uſeleſs patients, as Libertines dream, ſomething might follow to juſtifie our idleneſs; but our corruption following Satan teacheth us either to ſacrifice to our own net, and ſay vainly, either we doe all, and God does nothing, and ſo we darken his glory who works all our works in us, and for us, or then we ſay on the other extreme we doe nothing, and God does all; and therefore muſt we ſay let God pray, labour the earth, trade and ſayl, and put our hand in our boſome and ſleep? but the former is ſacriledge and idolatry, and robs the Lord of his glory, and the latter is proclaimed diſobedience; Yea, and whether the influence of God antecedently maſter the creatures actings, or we joyntly and collaterally be maſtered and determined by the creature, we are in both caſes to act and doe what is good, and are not to make God's influence our rule of doing, or not doing.
Prop. 4. Hence to have, or not to have the influence of God, is not commanded in the Word nor have we any phyſical power over the Lord's acts of Omnipotency; for we do not formally love God and keep his Commandments, in a way commendable (if we ſpeak of the moral cauſe of obedience) becauſe he works in us both to will and to doe, but becauſe he hath commanded us to love him, and to keep his Commandments, John 14. 15. Pſal. 119. 4, 5, 6.
Hence 1. The Libertine is blaſphemouſly wide, the creature can doe (ſays he) nothing good or evil, God worketh all ſin, all obedience immediately in us; its in vain to read, pray, hear the word, meditate, confer, or go about works of reforming abuſes in religion, becauſe all theſe are to no purpoſe, without the ſpirit. 2. We are not to do any thing, becauſe God in his word hath commanded us to doe it,The Word is the rule of doing, the Spirit the real efficient cauſe. but becauſe the Spirit immediately acts in us to doe, and immediate impulſion of the Spirit is now inſtead of the Law and of the word of God, either written or preached; but this is a wicked confounding of the efficient real cauſe and the ſtrength of which we obey, with the objective cauſe and morally directing, commanding and perſwading rule according to which we are to regulate and order our obedience; yea, and children can contradict this who know that the Maſon who imploys his ſtrength to build, muſt be differenced from the Maſons Rule and the Art, plummet and line according to which he works: for otherwiſe its all one as to ſay the power or faculty viſive of ſeeing were light were colours that are ſeen, and the ſouldiers force and ſtrength of apprehending a man, and Law and juſtice according to which they do it, were all one: a gracious ſoul doth all acts of obedience upon the account of a command of God, and fetcheth his moral and godly delight from the command of God: the facility and ſtrength of doing is indeed from the Spirit, for whoſe help he deſires to be thankful and to whom he deſires to give all the praiſe and glory.
2. Its a falſe Spirit which is ſo contrary to the word of precept and command.
3. Its fit to ſubſcribe to that, Pſal. 127. 1. Except the Lord build the houſe, they build in vain that build; except the Lord watch the City, the watchman waketh but in vain. 1 Cor. 3. 7. So then neither is he that planteth, nor he that watereth any thing but God that giveth increaſe. But the holy Ghoſt never dreamed of ſuch an inference, therefore let builders, watchmen and Miniſters of the Goſpel go to bed and ſleep, for God, he alone ſhall build Cities and Houſes, and watch over men and all ſocieties, and bring all ſouls to Chriſt; yea, he hath commanded us to act and to help the Lord (ſo he ſpeaketh, Judges 5. 23. 1 Cor. 3. 9. 1 Cor. 4. 1. and it hath a real truth, though he needs no help from the creature) and we are for his holy commands ſake to act, and to eye and truſt in him who in all the acts of nature, and oeconomy and art leads the way, and in all the acts of grace; yea, we are to rejoyce that the Lord Jeſus is Maſter of work and only Steerſman.