all which doth ill reflect upon God, and mifrepre fents him to his creatures, and difcourages our application to him, and is apt to take us off from fol lowing after God, and laying hold of him, as the phrase is, Prov. iii. 18. of wifdom, lay hold of her, let her not go, for he is thy life. Should we believe any thing of this nature, concerning God, it would be fo great a difcouragement, that we should let all alone, and not think ourselves greatly concerned to act in a way of religion.

For I remember the great philofopher hath observed, * That no man, in point of wisdom, tho' he be concerned never fo much, will take into confideration things that are impoffible.

There are two things which no wife man doth fubmit to his own care or thought, and they are neceffaries, and impoffibles. For things necessary, he needs not charge himself with them; for they will be done of course; and for things impoffible, it is a vain thing for him to undertake; for they cannot be done by him, or any power whatsoever. Wherefore we are not to conceive ourselves to be in the ftate of impoffibility; therefore we must fuppofe, that God is with us by his grace and affiftance; and while God is with us, that we are able to do those things that he requires of us, to wash and make us clean, and to put away the evil of our doings. Which words are to be confidered,

First, According to their form.

* Arift. Rhet. 1. 1. c. 4.

Secondly

Secondly, According to their matter.

1. According to their form, they are an exhortation; and fo for that purpose, I have made choice of them to set on a former argument: it having been made appear, that God is not wanting in neceffaries, nor doth forfake till he be forfaken, and that it is not in vain, that we are exhorted to our duty.

2. As the words may be confidered in refpect of the matter, they afford thefe two obfervations.

First, That fin is, in itself, a thing of defilement and pollution.

Secondly, That religion is a motion of restoration, for this is religious motion, to wash and make us clean, and to put away the evil of our doings.

But that which I fhall infift upon, is to confider thefe words as an exhortation made by an inftrument of God, one that God did affume, own, and ftand by; and therefore we may imagine that God was prefent with this exhortation, and that those who were thus exhorted, not only ought, but might do fomething in anfwer to this exhortation for no intelligent agent acting in a way of wisdom, as the all-wife God always doth, would call any one to that which he knew was not in his power to do: and therefore we must not attribute any fuch thing to the all-wife God. No man of wisdom and understanding, does either himself attempt, or call upon others to do that, which neither he, nor they are able to do.

We do therefore conclude, that when God calls upon perfons to do any thing, he doth afford necef

fary

fary affiftance, by which they are enabled to obey and do the thing he commands. In Ezek. chap. xxxvii. we find God to ask this question of the prophet, can these dry bones live? the prophet gives a wife anfwer, O God thou knoweft, intimating that by the power of nature it could not be done; but if God would make use of his power (as we, read he did) then it was poffible; for he calls to the wind to blow and bring bone to his bone, and caused flesh and finews to cover them; by which means, he caufed dead and dry bones to live. In common philofophy we determine, that some things cannot be done, but then we confine it to the power of nature but by the power of God, things that are impoffible to be done by the power of nature, may be done. The like inftance is of Lazarus, he was dead, and had been dead for fome time; yet our Saviour calls to Lazarus, and bids him come forth, John xi. 43. Now as I before hinted to you, the way of motion in intellectual nature, is different from the way of motion in inferior nature: In intellectual nature, the way of motion is to propose, declare and fhew, to excite by reafon and argument, to warn, to admonifh, to foretell, to convince, to promife, to threaten, to reward, to punish, to enlighten the understanding, to move the will, to affect the confcience, and the like. Thefe are the of motion in intellectual nature; now, he ways who by his voice doth rend the rocks, and make mountains to quake and tremble he doth alfo, when he pleaseth, melt and break the ftony heart; but then it is in this way, as it is remarkable what

we

we read, Gen. ix. 27. God perfuaded Japhet to dwell in the tents of Shem. And it is paffion in a way of perfection, thus to receive from God; or, as we call it, to fuffer under divine motion and it is confervative of our liberty and freedom, and most natural for a creature, that is made intelligent and voluntary, thus to admit the creator's touch. Every creature according to its nature, is affected, moved, and suffers under God. Now intellectual nature is moved in this way, in a way of illumination, perfuafion, mental conviction and fatisfaction; for this you must know and understand, that intellectual nature, remaining such, cannot be divested of intelligence and freedom; for those are its necessary and effential perfections, and a man ceaseth to be a man, if divested of thefe, and turned out of intellectual nature; he ceaseth to be à man. But as long as he is a man, he cannot be without the neceffary perfections of human nature intelligence and liberty.

That which may be faid in this cafe is, that ill habits do strangely byafs, and incline our faculties: but tho' they do this, yet they do not abfolutely determine our faculties, or fink them: for thefe faculties are of the effence of our fouls. I confefs 'tis with much difficulty, they are to be overcome; for the prophet Jeremiah faith, that they which are accuftomed to do evil can no more do well, than the blackmoor can change his skin, or the leopard his spots, Jer. xiii. 2, 3. which represents the difficuty to be even morally impoffible, and not to be done without great difficulty; but yet no habit doth absolutely deter mine any faculty; but the faculty is free notwithVOL. I.

Y

ftan

cover any

standing any habit acquired, or never fo long in poffeffion otherwife it were impoffible ever to rehabitual finner, which, thanks be to God through his grace, proves fometimes otherwise. And of this we have many inftances in fcripture, of perfons that have been shot into the world, and in very hazardous employments, as fitting at the receipt of custom, who were odious to the Jews because of their very employment, perfons ranked with finners; yet upon our Saviour's call, they left all and followed him: you have also an account by the divine author to the Hebrews, of Abraham, Heb. xi. 8. That he did leave his country and all his friends, and acquaintance and worldly intereft, and obeyed the heaVenly call, not knowing whither be went: there is fuch an impreffion on the mind of man, but in a way faitable to intellectual nature, that doth carry them on as effectually, as the feveral creatures by an imPreffion made upon them, gathered themselves to Noah into the ark, Gen. vii. 7. &c.

But now I fhall proceed to give you an account of three things; only let me put you in mind of the faying of an eminent perfon, and it is this, That it is better to have no opinion of God, than to have an unworthy opinion of him* for if you have no opinion of him, it is fimple unbelief, but if you have an unworthy opinion of him, it is to use him with contumely and difhonour. When God calls upon men to repent and turn to him, and thereby declares himself favourable, and that he will admit men to his favour and grace; not only that they shall meet with entertainment

Plutarch de fuperftitione,