But to pa.s.s these, and to come to some other demonstrations for the clearing of this--

Let us a little consider,

What man is, upon whom the Father, the Son, and the Spirit bestows this grace.

1. [An enemy to G.o.d.] By nature he is an enemy to G.o.d, an enemy in his mind. "The carnal mind is enmity against G.o.d, for it is not subject to the law of G.o.d, neither indeed can be" (Rom 8:7; Col 1:21).

2. [A slave to sin.] So that the state of man was this--he was not only over persuaded on a sudden to sin against G.o.d, but he drank this sin, like water, into his very nature, mingled it with every faculty of his soul and member of his body; by the means of which he became alienated from G.o.d, and an enemy to him in his very heart; and wilt thou, O Lord, as the Scripture hath it, "And dost thou open thine eyes upon such an one?" (Job 14:3). Yea, open thy heart, and take this man, not into judgment, but into mercy with thee?

3. [In covenant with death and h.e.l.l.] Further, man by his sin had not only given himself to be a captive slave to the devil, but, continuing in his sin, he made head against his G.o.d, struck up a covenant with death, and made an agreement with h.e.l.l; but for G.o.d to open his eyes upon such an one, and to take hold of him by riches of grace, this is amazing (Isa 28:16-18).

See where G.o.d found the Jew when he came to look upon him to save him--"As for thy nativity," says G.o.d, "in the day thou wast born thy navel was not cut, neither wast thou washed in water to supple thee; thou wast not salted at all, nor swaddled at all. None eye pitied thee, to do any of these unto thee, to have compa.s.sion upon thee; but thou wast cast out in the open field, to the loathing of thy person, in the day that thou wast born. And when I pa.s.sed by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee, when thou wast in thy blood, Live; yea, I said unto thee, when thou wast in thy blood, Live.--Now when I pa.s.sed by thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love; and I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness; yea, I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord G.o.d, and thou becamest mine." Sinner, see further into the chapter, Ezekiel 16.

All this is the grace of G.o.d; every word in this text smells of grace.

But before I pa.s.s this, let us a little take notice of

The carriage of G.o.d to man, and again of man to G.o.d, in his conversion.

FIRST. OF G.o.d'S CARRIAGE TO MAN. He comes to him while he is in his sins, in his blood; he comes to him now, not in the heat and fire of his jealousy, but "in the cool of the day," in unspeakable gentleness, mercy, pity, and bowels of love; not in clothing himself with vengeance, but in a way of entreaty, and meekly beseecheth the sinner to be reconciled unto him (2 Cor 5:19,20).

It is expected among men that he which giveth the offence should be the first in seeking peace; but, sinner, betwixt G.o.d and man it is not so; not that we loved G.o.d, not that we chose G.o.d; but "G.o.d was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespa.s.ses unto them." G.o.d is the first that seeketh peace; and, as I said, in a way of entreaty he bids his ministers pray you in Christ's stead; "as though G.o.d did beseech you by us, we pray you, in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to G.o.d." O sinner, wilt thou not open? Behold, G.o.d the Father and his Son Jesus Christ stand both at the door of thy heart, beseeching there for favour from thee, that thou wilt be reconciled to them, with promise, if thou wilt comply, to forgive thee all thy sins. O grace! O amazing grace! To see a prince entreat a beggar to receive an alms would be a strange sight; to see a king entreat the traitor to accept of mercy would be a stranger sight than that; but to see G.o.d entreat a sinner, to hear Christ say, "I stand at the door and knock," with a heart full and a heaven full of grace to bestow upon him that opens, this is such a sight as dazzles the eyes of angels. What sayest thou now, sinner? Is not this G.o.d rich in mercy? Hath not this G.o.d great love for sinners? Nay, further, that thou mayest not have any ground to doubt that all this is but complementing, thou hast also here declared that G.o.d hath made his Christ "to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of G.o.d in him." If G.o.d would have stuck at anything, he would have stuck at the death of his Son; but he "delivered him up for us"

freely; "how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?"

(Rom 8:32). 11

But this is not all. G.o.d doth not only beseech thee to be reconciled to him, but further, for thy encouragement, he hath p.r.o.nounced, in thy hearing, exceeding great and precious promises; "and hath confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for G.o.d to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us"

(Heb 6:18,19; Isa 1:18; 55:6,7; Jer 51:5).

SECOND. OF MAN'S CARRIAGE TO G.o.d. Let us come now to the carriage of these sinners to G.o.d, and that from the first day he beginneth to deal with their souls, even to the time that they are to be taken up into heaven. And,

First. To begin with G.o.d's ordinary dealing with sinners, when at first he ministereth conviction to them by his Word, how strangely do they behave themselves! They love not to have their consciences touched; they like not to ponder upon what they have been, what they are, or what is like to become of them hereafter; such thoughts they count unmanly, hurtful, disadvantageous; therefore "they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear" (Zech 7,11). And now they are for anything rather than the Word; an alehouse, a wh.o.r.ehouse, a playhouse, sports, pleasures, sleep, the world, and what not so they may stave12 off the power of the word of G.o.d.

Second. If G.o.d now comes up closer to them, and begins to fasten conviction upon the conscience, though such conviction be the first step to faith and repentance, yea, and to life eternal, yet what shifts will they have to forget them, and wear them off! Yea, although they now begin to see that they must either turn or burn, 13 yet oftentimes even then they will study to wave a present conversion: they object, they are too young to turn yet; seven years hence time enough, when they are old, or come upon a sick-bed.

O what an enemy is man to his own salvation! I am persuaded that G.o.d hath visited some of you often with his Word, even twice and thrice, and you have thrown water as fast as he hath by the Word cast fire upon your conscience. 14

Christian, what had become of thee if G.o.d had taken thy denial for an answer, and said, Then will I carry the word of salvation to another, and he will hear it? Sinner, turn, says G.o.d. Lord, I cannot tend15 it, says the sinner. Turn or burn, says G.o.d. I will venture that, says the sinner. Turn, and be saved, says G.o.d. I cannot leave my pleasures, says the sinner: sweet sins, sweet pleasures, sweet delights, says the sinner. But what grace is it in G.o.d thus to parley with the sinner! O the patience of G.o.d to a poor sinner!

What if G.o.d should now say, Then get thee to thy sins, get thee to thy delights, get thee to thy pleasures, take them for thy portion, they shall be all thy heaven, all thy happiness, and all thy portion?

Third. But G.o.d comes again, and shows the sinner the necessity of turning now; now or not at all; yea, and giveth the sinner this conviction so strongly, that he cannot put it off. But behold, the sinner has one spark of enmity still. If he must needs turn now, he will either turn from one sin to another, from great ones to little ones, from many to few, or from all to one, and there stop.

But perhaps convictions will not thus leave him. Why, then, he will turn from profaneness to the law of Moses, and will dwell as long as G.o.d will let him upon his own seeming goodness. And now observe him, he is a great stickler for legal performance; now he will be a good neighbour, he will pay every man his own, will leave off his swearing, the alehouse, his sports, and carnal delights; he will read, pray, talk of Scripture, and be a very busy one in religion, such as it is; now he will please G.o.d, and make him amends for all the wrong he hath done him, and will feed him with chapters, and prayers, and promises, and vows, and a great many more such dainty dishes as these, persuading himself that now he must needs be fair for heaven, and thinks besides that he serveth G.o.d as well as any man in England can. 16

But all this while he is as ignorant of Christ as the stool he sits on, and no nearer heaven than was the blind Pharisee; only he has got in a cleaner way to h.e.l.l than the rest of his neighbours are in--"There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness" (Prov 30:12).

Might not G.o.d now cut off this sinner, and cast him out of his sight; might he not leave him here to his own choice, to be deluded by, and to fall in his own righteousness, because he "trusteth to it, and commits iniquity"? (Eze 33:13). But grace, preventing grace, preserves him. It is true, this turn of the sinner, as I said, is a turning short of Christ; but,

Fourth. G.o.d in this way of the sinner will mercifully follow him, and show him the shortness of his performances, the emptiness of his duties, and the uncleanness of his righteousness (Isa 28:20; 64:6). Thus I speak of the sinner, the salvation of whose soul is graciously intended and contrived of G.o.d; for he shall by gospel light be wearied out of all; he shall be made to see the vanity of all, and that the personal righteousness of Jesus Christ, and that only, is it which of G.o.d is ordained to save the sinner from the due reward of his sins. But behold, the sinner now, at the sight and sense of his own nothingness, falleth into a kind of despair; for although he hath it in him to presume of salvation, through the delusiveness of his own good opinion of himself, yet he hath it not in himself to have a good opinion of the grace of G.o.d in the righteousness of Christ; wherefore he concludeth, that if salvation be alone of the grace of G.o.d, through the righteousness of Christ, and that all of a man's own is utterly rejected, as to the justification of his person with G.o.d, then he is cast away. Now the reason of this sinking of heart is the sight that G.o.d hath given him, a sight of the uncleanness of his best performance; the former sight of his immoralities did somewhat distress him, and make him betake himself to his own good deeds to ease his conscience, wherefore this was his prop, his stay; but behold, now G.o.d hath taken this from under him, and now he falls; wherefore his best doth also now forsake him, and flies away like the morning dew, or a bird, or as the chaff that is driven with the whirlwind, and the smoke out of a chimney (Hosea 9:11; 13:3). Besides, this revelation of the emptiness of his own righteousness, brings also with it a further discovery of the naughtiness of his heart, in its hypocrisies, pride, unbelief, hardness of heart, deadness, and backwardness to all gospel and new-covenant obedience, which sight of himself lies like millstones upon his shoulders, and sinks him yet further into doubts and fears of d.a.m.nation. For, bid him now receive Christ, he answers he cannot, he dares not. Ask him why he cannot, he will answer he has no faith, nor hope in his heart. Tell him that grace is offered him freely, he says, but I have no heart to receive it; besides, he finds not, as he thinks, any gracious disposition in his soul, and therefore concludes he doth not belong to G.o.d's mercy, nor hath an interest in the blood of Christ, and therefore dares not presume to believe; wherefore, as I said, he sinks in his heart, he dies in his thoughts, he doubts, he despairs, and concludes he shall never be saved.

Fifth. But behold, the G.o.d of all grace leaveth him not in this distress, but comes up now to him closer than ever; he sends the Spirit of adoption, the blessed Comforter, to him, to tell him, "G.o.d is love," and therefore not willing to reject the broken in heart; bids him cry and pray for an evidence of mercy to his soul, and says, "Peradventure you may be hid in the day of the Lord's anger." At this the sinner takes some encouragement, yet he can get no more than that which will hang upon a mere probability, which by the next doubt that ariseth in the heart is blown quite away, and the soul left again in his first plight, or worse, where he lamentably bewails his miserable state, and is tormented with a thousand fears of perishing, for he hears not a word from heaven, perhaps for several weeks together. Wherefore unbelief begins to get the mastery of him, and takes off the very edge and spirit of prayer, and inclination to hear the Word any longer; yea, the devil also claps in with these thoughts, saying that all your prayers, and hearing, and reading, and G.o.dly company which you frequent, will rise up in judgment against you at last; therefore better it is, if you must be d.a.m.ned, to choose as easy a place in h.e.l.l as you can. The soul at this, being quite discouraged, thinks to do as it hath been taught, and with dying thoughts it begins to faint when it goeth to prayer or to hear the word; but behold, when all hope seems to be quite gone, and the soul concludes, I DIE, I PERISH, in comes, on a sudden, the Spirit of G.o.d again, with some good word of G.o.d, which the soul never thought of before, which word of G.o.d commands a calm in the soul, makes unbelief give place, encourageth to hope and wait upon G.o.d again; perhaps it gives some little sight of Christ to the soul, and of his blessed undertaking for sinners. But behold, so soon as the power of things does again begin to wear off the heart, the sinner gives place to unbelief, questions G.o.d's mercy, and fears d.a.m.ning again; he also entertains hard thoughts of G.o.d and Christ, and thinks former encouragements were fancies, delusions, or mere think-so's. And why doth not G.o.d now cast the sinner to h.e.l.l for his thus abusing his mercy and grace. O no! "He will have mercy on whom he will have mercy, and he will have compa.s.sion on whom he will have compa.s.sion"; wherefore "goodness and mercy shall follow him all the days of his life, that he may dwell in the house of the Lord for ever" (Psa 23:6).

Sixth. G.o.d, therefore, after all these provocations, comes by his Spirit to the soul again, and brings sealing grace and pardon to the conscience, testifying to it that its sins are forgiven, and that freely, for the sake of the blood of Christ; and now has the sinner such a sight of the grace of G.o.d in Christ as kindly breaks his heart with joy and comfort; now the soul knows what it is to eat promises; it also knows what it is to eat and drink the flesh and blood of Jesus Christ by faith; now it is driven by the power of his grace to its knees, to thank G.o.d for forgiveness of sins and for hopes of an inheritance amongst them that are sanctified by faith which is in Christ; now it hath a calm and sunshine; now "he washeth his steps with b.u.t.ter, and the rock pours him out rivers of oil" (Job 29:6).

Seventh. But after this, perhaps the soul grows cold again, it also forgets this grace received, and waxeth carnal, begins again to itch after the world, loseth the life and savour of heavenly things, grieves the Spirit of G.o.d, woefully backslides, casteth off closet duties quite, or else retains only the formality of them, is a reproach to religion, grieves the hearts of them that are awake, and tender of G.o.d's name, &c. But what will G.o.d do now? Will he take this advantage to destroy the sinner? No. Will he let him alone in his apostasy? No. Will he leave him to recover himself by the strength of his now languishing graces? No. What then? Why, he will seek this man out till he finds him, and bring him home to himself again: "For thus saith the Lord G.o.d, Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among the sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered.--I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick" (Eze 34:11,16).

Thus he dealt with the man that went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves; and thus he dealt with the prodigal you read of also (Luke 10:30-35; 15:20).

Of G.o.d's ordinary way of fetching the backslider home I will not now discourse--namely, whether he always breaketh his bones for his sins, as he broke David's; or whether he will all the days of their life, for this, leave them under guilt and darkness; or whether he will kill them now, that they may not be d.a.m.ned in the day of judgment, as he dealt with them at Corinth (1 Cor 11:30-32). He is wise, and can tell how to embitter backsliding to them he loveth.

He can break their bones, and save them; he can lay them in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deep, and save them; he can slay them as to this life, and save them. And herein again appears wonderful grace, that "Israel is not forsaken, nor Judah of his G.o.d, though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel" (Jer 51:5).

Eighth. But suppose G.o.d deals not either of these ways with the backslider, but shines upon him again, and seals up to him the remission of his sins a second time, saying, "I will heal their backslidings, and love them freely," what will the soul do now?

Surely it will walk humbly now, and holily all its days. It will never backslide again, will it? It may happen it will not, it may happen it will; it is just as his G.o.d keeps him; for although his sins are of himself, his standing is of G.o.d; I say, his standing, while he stands, and his recovery, if he falls, are both of G.o.d; wherefore, if G.o.d leaves him a little, the next gap he finds, away he is gone again. "My people," says G.o.d, "are bent to backsliding from me." How many times did David backslide; yea, Jehoshaphat and Peter! (2 Sam 11,24; 2 Chron 19:1-3; 20:1-5; Matt 26:69-71; Gal 2:11-13). As also in the third of Jeremiah it is said, "But thou hast played the harlot with many lovers, yet return unto me, saith the Lord" (verse 1). Here is grace! So many time as the soul backslides, so many times G.o.d brings him again--I mean, the soul that must be saved by grace--he renews his pardons, and multiplies them. "Lo, all these things worketh G.o.d oftentimes with man" (Job 33:29).

Ninth. But see yet more grace. I will speak here of heart-wanderings, and of daily miscarriages--I mean, of these common infirmities that are incident to the best of saints, and that attend them in their best performances; not that I intend, for I cannot, mention them particularly, that would be a task impossible; but such there are, worldly thoughts, unclean thoughts, too low thoughts of G.o.d, of Christ, of the Spirit, words, ways, and ordinances of G.o.d, by which a Christian transgresses many times; may I not say, sometimes many hundred times a day; yea, for aught I know, there are some saints, and them not long-lived either, that must receive, before they enter into life, millions of pardons from G.o.d for these; and every pardon is an act of grace, through the redemption that is in Christ's blood. 17

Seventy times seven times a day we sometimes sin against our brother; but how many times, in that day, do we sin against G.o.d?

Lord, "who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults" [sins], said David. And again, "If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared" (Matt 18:21,22; Psa 19:12; 130:3,4).

But to mention some of them. Sometimes they question the very being of G.o.d, or foolishly ask how he came to be at first; sometimes they question the truth of his Word, and suspect the harmony thereof, because their blind hearts and dull heads cannot reconcile it; yea, all fundamental truths lie open sometimes to the censure of their unbelief and atheism; as, namely, whether there be such an one as Christ, such a thing as the day of judgment, or whether there will be a heaven or h.e.l.l hereafter, and G.o.d pardons all these by his grace. When they believe these things, even then they sin, by not having such reverent, high, and holy thoughts of them as they ought; they sin also by having too, too good thoughts of themselves, of sin, and the world; sometimes, let me say, often, they wink too much at known sin, they bewail not, as they should, the infirmities of the flesh; the itching inclinations which they find in their hearts after vanity go too often from them unrepented of. I do not say but they repent them in the general. But all these things, O how often doth G.o.d forgive, through the riches of his grace!

They sin by not walking answerably to mercies received; yea, they come short in their thanks to G.o.d for them, even then when they most heartily acknowledge how unworthy they are of them; also, how little of the strength of them is spent to his praise, who freely poureth them into their bosoms; but from all these sins are they saved by grace. They sin in their most exact and spiritual performance of duties; they pray not, they hear not, they read not, they give not alms, they come not to the Lord's table, or other holy appointments of G.o.d, but in and with much coldness, deadness, wanderings of heart, ignorance, misapprehensions, &c. They forget G.o.d while they pray unto him; they forget Christ while they are at his table; they forget his Word even while they are reading of it.

How often do they make promises to G.o.d, and afterwards break them!

Yea, or if they keep promise in show, how much doth their heart even grudge the performing of them; how do they shuck18 at the cross; and how unwilling are they to lose that little they have for G.o.d, though all they have was given them to glorify him withal! 19

All these things, and a thousand times as many more, dwell in the flesh of man; and they may as soon go away from themselves as from these corruptions; yea, they may sooner cut the flesh from their bones than these motions of sin from their flesh; these will be with them in every duty--I mean, some or other of them; yea, as often as they look, or think, or hear, or speak. These are with them, especially when the man intends good in so doing: "When I would do good," says Paul, "evil is present with me." And G.o.d himself complains that "every imagination of the thoughts of the heart of man is only evil," and that "continually" (Rom 7:21; Gen 6:5).

By these things, therefore, we continually defile ourselves, and every one of our performances--I mean, in the judgment of the law--even mixing iniquity with those things which we hallow unto the Lord. "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness; all these evil things come from within, and defile the man" (Mark 7:21-23). Now what can deliver the soul from these but grace? "By grace ye are saved." QUEST. V.--WHAT MIGHT BE THE REASON MOVED G.o.d TO ORDAIN AND CHOOSE TO SAVE THOSE THAT HE SAVETH BY HIS GRACE, RATHER THAN BY ANY OTHER MEANS?

I come now to answer the fifth question; namely, to show why G.o.d saveth those that he saveth by grace, rather than by any other means.

First. G.o.d saveth us by grace, because since sin is in the world, he can save us no other way; sin and transgression cannot be removed but by the grace of G.o.d through Christ; sin is the transgression of the law of G.o.d, who is perfectly just. Infinite justice cannot be satisfied with the recompence that man can make; for if it could, Christ Jesus himself needed not to have died; besides, man having sinned, and defiled himself thereby, all his acts are the acts of a defiled man; nay, further, the best of his performances are also defiled by his hands; these performances, therefore, cannot be a recompence for sin. Besides, to affirm that G.o.d saveth defiled man for the sake of his defiled duties--for so, I say, is every work of his hand--what is it but to say, G.o.d accepteth of one sinful act as a recompence and satisfaction for another? (Hag 2:14). But G.o.d, even of old, hath declared how he abominates imperfect sacrifices, therefore we can by no means be saved from sin but by grace (Rom 3:24).

Second. To a.s.sert that we may be saved any other way than by the grace of G.o.d, what is it but to object against the wisdom and prudence of G.o.d, wherein he aboundeth towards them whom he hath saved by grace? (Eph 1:5-8). His wisdom and prudence found out no other way, therefore he chooseth to save us by grace.

Third. We must be saved by grace, because else it follows that G.o.d is mutable in his decrees, for so hath he determined before the foundation of the world; therefore he saveth us not, nor chooseth to save us by any other way, than by grace (Eph 1:3,4; 3:8-11; Rom 9:23).

Fourth. If man should be saved any other way than by grace, G.o.d would be disappointed in his design to cut off boasting from his creature; but G.o.d's design to cut off boasting from his creature cannot be frustrated or disappointed; therefore he will save man by no other means than by grace; he, I say, hath designed that no flesh should glory in his presence, and therefore he refuseth their works; "Not of works, lest any man should boast." "Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay; but by the law of faith" (Eph 2:8,9; Rom 3:24-28).

Fifth. G.o.d hath ordained that we should be saved by grace, that he might have the praise and glory of our salvation; that we should be "to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the Beloved" (Eph 1:6). Now G.o.d will not lose his praise, and his glory he will not give to another; therefore G.o.d doth choose to save sinners but by his grace.

Sixth. G.o.d hath ordained, and doth choose to save us by grace, because, were there another way apparent, yet this is the way that is safest, and best secureth the soul. "Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise [the promise of eternal inheritance, (Heb 9:14-16)] might be sure to all the seed"

(Rom 4:16). No other way could have been sure. This is evident in Adam, the Jews, and, I will add, the fallen angels, who being turned over to another way than grace, you see in short time what became of them.

To be saved by grace supposeth that G.o.d hath taken the salvation of our souls into his own hand; and to be sure it is safer in G.o.d's hand than ours. Hence it is called the salvation of the Lord, the salvation of G.o.d, and salvation, and that of G.o.d.

When our salvation is in G.o.d's hand, himself is engaged to accomplish it for us. 1. Here is the mercy of G.o.d engaged for us (Rom 9:15).

2. Here is the wisdom of G.o.d engaged for us (Eph 1:7,8). 3. Here is the power of G.o.d engaged for us (1 Peter 1:3-5). 4. Here is the justice of G.o.d engaged for us (Rom 3:24,25). 5. Here is the holiness of G.o.d engaged for us (Psa 89:30-35). 6. Here is the care of G.o.d engaged for us, and his watchful eye is always over us for our good (1 Peter 5:7; Isa 27:1-3).

What shall I say? Grace can take us into favour with G.o.d, and that when we are in our blood (Eze 16:7,8). Grace can make children of us, though by nature we have been enemies to G.o.d (Rom 9:25,26).

Grace can make them G.o.d's people which were not G.o.d's people (1 Peter 2:9,10). Grace will not trust our own salvation in our own hands--"He putteth no trust in his saints" (Job 15:15). Grace can pardon our unG.o.dliness, justify us with Christ's righteousness; it can put the spirit of Jesus Christ within us, it can help us up when we are down, it can heal us when we are wounded, it can multiply pardons, as we, through frailty, multiply transgressions.