Grat. cap. 12. and that they fhall abide and perfevere till they Chap. 5. come to the recompence of reward in Heaven. St. Aufiin diftinguishes of a double adjutorium gratiæ, or De Corrept. help of grace. Adam had that grace, without which he could not have obeyed; Gods People have that, which causes them to obey. The first gave him a poffe, a power to obey and perfevere: The fecond gives us the very velle & perficere, the very willing and working with perfeverance. Hereupon he obferves, that Adams will, though found and without fpot, did not perfevere in an ampler good, whileft our will, though weak and infected with indwelling Corruption, doth perfevere in a leffer. Adam, with all his Holinefs fell before an Apple, a little titillation of pleasure ; but the Christian Martyrs have ftood it out, notwithstanding the reliques of fin in them, against racks and torments. Under the first Covenant the stock of Grace was in Mans own hand, the stress lay upon his Will; the principle of Holiness in him was fubjected to it, to be continued or forfeited. But under the fecond Covenant, which was founded at fo vast an expence as the Blood of God, Mans Will is not made Trustee a fecond time, the stock is not in his own hand; Grace is a Victor, and fubdues the Will unto it felf. Hence this Covenant cannot, as the other did, mifcarry: God was a friend to innocent Adam ; but in the second Covenant God comes nearer to us in a double Union, fuch as Adam never dreamt of. There is an Hypoftatical Union, the Son of God taking our nature into himself, and, which is founded thereon, a Mystical Union, Believers being in a wonderful manner united unto Chrift, as members unto Chap. 5. unto their head. In the firft Union of the Divine hand, band, John 10. 29. I know fome take these words Chap. 5. with a limitation, None can pluck them away with. out their own voluntary confent: but this limitation makes the words altogether infignificant; it is not poffible, that they should be plucked away without their confent: The words therefore, with that limitation, run thus, None can pluck them, but in fuch a way as the fame is poffible to be done; and thus they fignifie nothing. That which our Saviour makes impoffible in the Text, becomes in the Glofs as poffible as any other thing. Here we fee the incomparable Love of God to his People; there is in Christ an everlasting Covenant ordered in all things, and fure; they are preferved in Chrift, and that unto falvation. This infinite immenfe Love of God in Christ can do no less than call for a return. What? was it not enough for him to give us a World of Crea- tures? Hath he given his Son, his only begotten, dearly beloved Son for us? Hath he given him fo far, as to be made flefh, and made under the Law, the command and curfe of it? Hath he thereby removed all Evils, and procured all good things for us? Hath he done this for Sinners, for Enemies, and that out of an eternal design of Grace; out of fuch Love, as was an impulfe to it felf, without any attractive on our part to move him thereunto? And after all this, fhall not our hearts take fire, and burn within us with Love to him again? When his Love was up in Eternity, fhall not ours appear in time? When he loved us worthless, meritlefs Creatures, fhall not we love him upon the highest and greatest attractives? When he gave his Son, when the Giver. Chap. 5. and the Gift were both infinite, fhall our finite affections be shut up from him, or denied unto him? Our Love to his is but a little drop, a poor inconfiderable nothing and with what face or reason can we withhold it, when infinite Love calls for it? Hath God himself come down, as it were, from his altitude, and in admirable Grace followed us? First into our flesh, and then into a Law-subjection, and at last into a Curfe and Penal Sufferings; and all this upon an errand of Peace and Reconciliation to reduce us again to himself, and to happiness in him: and shall we yet fly away from him, and by an horrible indignity turn our backs upon fuch admirable pursuits of Love and Grace? After fuch a deliverance from Sin and Hell as this, May we think our felves our own, or turn away our hearts, so much as in the glance of a thought, from fo great a Saviour? After fuch a purchase of Grace and Heaven, should we not lye down at his feet in extatical admirations, and fend up our dearest affections to the great Donor? If Creatures, if Laws, if Ordinances move us not; fhall we yet be unaffected at the fpectacle of a God incarnate, obeying, bleeding, dying, for us Sinners and Enemies? It's horrible ingratitude, having fuch a profpect of infinite Love before our eyes. Let us do, as becomes us; give God our heart, not a piece or corner of it, but all; not in fome weak languid velleities, but in the highest strains and raifures of fpirit; not in fome drops or rivulets, but in a full stream and current of affections, fuch as is due to him who is the Original of fouls. Our defires, before vagrant on Earth, fhould now take Wing and fly up to Heaven; our Love, once in corrupt con conjunction with Creatures, fhould now afpire after Chap. 5. a pure Union with him, who is Love it felf: Our delights fhould no longer toy or sport with vanity, but spread, and fweetly dilate themselves in the Beams of infinite Goodness: All the Powers of our Souls should now be gathered in from the World, and upon a full deliberate choice fhould be placed upon the Center of Perfections. The proof of all this must be in a life of Obedience; without this it is meer vanity to fay, that we love him. Holy Love goes not alone, or without a train of good works following after it: the warmth and ardor of it in the heart purifies the life; the inward fuavity of it facilitates the outward Command, and naturalizes us to Obedience: as it fets a high rate and eftimation upon God himself, fo upon every jot and tittle of his Law. The complacency, which we find in him, makes us take pleasure in all the pure ways, which he hath fet before us; if we esteem him above Worlds and Creatures, we will allow his Will to be above all Wills, and fubject ours to it. Moreover the Love of God moves us to love our Neighbour. What? hath God gone before us in fuch admirable steps of Love? and fhall we not be followers of him as dear children, and walk in love, as the Apostle fpeaks, Eph. 5. 1, 2? Can there be an higher or nobler pattern than Love it felf? Shall he do good in the sphere of Nature, and more and higher good in the sphere of Grace, and we do none in our little fphere? Shall infinite Bowels and Mercies be open,and finite ones fhut? When God hath given fo great a Gift as his own Son, May we withhold our little Pittances of Charity? Would we receive all, and give O no |