action itself; he works it. And so the apostle speaks concerning christians in common in Phil. 1. 29. that it is given to them to believe; not only the principle, but the act of faith is said to be the gift of God; for to believe is the act of faith. It is given not only to believe but to suffer, that is, the act of faith and the act of patience, the exercise of both the one and the other are given things. And it is very remarkable to this purpose that God doth therefore promise that he would be the Author unto his people of their good works which they shall do by his Spirit. You see it is the tenour of his covenant in Ezek. 36. 27. I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments and do them. Sure this is a peculiar thing and different from what can be said of many other sorts of action, but concerning this sort of action he causes the very doing of the thing. Nothing can be more plain.

We may farther argue it, fifthly, from the reference which holy and good actions have unto that same rank and order of things unto which spiritual habits and principles do belong. Take you such a sphere of good things, include good habits within that compass, and you must include good actions within it too; and then, if one be from God, the other must be from him, for every such good and perfect gift is from above, James 1. 17. Now will I say, if an act of grace, or a holy spiritual action be a good action, then it is from God, as that which he causes, or which he may be said to give; it is a gift of his grace: and we cannot say that the habit is a spiritual good thing, and that the act is not, when as the habit is in order to the act, and were otherwise useless. And if habitual grace be a good thing, we may upon that account say, that actual grace, or the exercise of grace, is better, because it is that to which the other is subordinate, and to which it serves, and therefore may with the greatest certainty and clearness be concluded to be a divine gift.

We may farther argue, sixthly, from the analogy which there is between the direct and the reflex actions of a christian. For consider the reflex actions, by which he looks in upon himself, and takes notice of such and such things wrought and done in him, and concludes his relation to God, as a child; how are these reflex acts wrought? By the Spirit of God, bearing witness with our spirits; and you must suppose it to be the superior in this work, as it belongs to it to be. must then be proportionably so in reference to the direct acts of a christian too. That is, If I cannot know without the Spirit's testimony witnessing with my spirit, that I am a child of God; then I cannot do the direct actions which are proper to

a child, without that Spirit overruling and acting my spirit in that case. I cannot believe, I cannot love &c.

We may yet again argue, seventhly, from the many apostolical prayers, which we find scattered up and down in the epistles, by which actual grace, or grace in exercise is implored for the christians unto whom they were written. Certainly such prayers were not impertinent or improper. Do but look into some of those passages briefly. In 2 Thes. 3. 5. the apostle prays that God would direct their hearts into the love of himself, and into the patient waiting for Christ. These were acts of grace, loving himself, and expecting the appearance of his Son; why, the Lord, saith he, direct your hearts thereinto, or determine them unto this very thing. It would be very strange to suppose that a man's heart should need such direction or determination unto another sort of actions; that is, that I should as much need that God should determine it to hate him, unto which my heart is so propense and inclined of itself but as to such spiritual actions as these, you see the exigency of the case is such, as to make such a prayer as this very proper, "Lord, direct their hearts into the love of thee, direct their hearts into the expectation of thy Son." It is plain then that the very acts were referred unto the divine productive power, or determinative influence, not the bare inclination. And the apostle prays also for the Colossians, in Col. 1. 9, 10. that they might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing; that expression walk (by which you have heard in the opening of that term in the text, acting, or exercising of grace is to be understood) he explains, as we did, by working; being fruitful in every good work-strengthened with all might, &c. The like also you find in the epistle to the Hebrews chap. 13. ver. 20, 22. The apostle there supplicates the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, that he would make them perfect in every good work to do his will. Here is still the action, the exercise of grace, in reference unto which it is matter of prayer to God, that God would make them do so and so, or efficaciously determine their spirits unto such actions.

We may argue from hence, lastly, that the Scripture makes certain discernable characters to be as it were impressed on such and such actions, namely, those that are spiritual and holy, as by which it might be known that God was the Author of them. To give you an instance in that one expression in John 3. 20, 21. The form of expression may lie thus, in reference to what had been before spoken concerning the light, that light in which every one must be understood to walk, that

He

walks holily, or in the Spirit, as you have before heard. who so walks, in such light, comes to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest that they are wrought in God. A true light will make it manifest that such and such works are wrought in God. It is therefore necessarily supposed that they are some discriminative characters between works and works, and that those which God makes men do are distinguishable by the divine light, from those which he never doth so entitle himself to; that holy and spiritual actions, in short, may be said to have been wrought in God.

And it highly concerns us to consider, whether indeed the course and tenour of our actions is capable of having this said concerning it. Looking over the course of my conversation, can I say, "My works have been wrought in God; bring them to the light, and it will appear that they are wrought in God?" Even those works wherein we have immediately to do with him, the works and duties of religion themselves. O! can we say, that they are works wrought in God? "I have been so carried out in prayer, as that I could find this prayer was wrought in God; and so carried out in meditation, and conferring with my own heart, in self-thoughts, that bring these into the light, and I can discern that they were wrought in God; the impress of the divine hand and power is visible upon them?" Alas! how plainly convictive would the light which we have among us be concerning most of our works, that they are not wrought in God, that they are done at a very great distance from God, and that we have had little commerce with God in them! That little walking in the Spirit that appears even among those who profess religion at this day, is a great testimony against us, that God hath little to do by his Spirit with the government of our lives; that is, we do not put ourselves under it, and resign ourselves to it. (As when we come to speak of our own part in this matter we shall have occasion to shew; though there we are acted too.) The vanity and the deadness of our spirits, the formality, the licentiousness and the extravagancies of our spirits, alas! they too plainly shew that we do not walk in the Spirit, and that our works are not wrought in God. There is not a religion living amongst us, which is God-wrought, whereunto we can entitle him as the Author of it.

It was therefore necessary to insist, as we have done, in letting you understand what dependance we must have upon an immediate influence, as to every good work, which leaves not our spirits undetermined or at loose, but, they being averse to every thing of that kind, oversways them thereinto. It was necessary, I say, that the truth in this matter should be

held forth to us, because I am very much persuaded, that this is the great worm at the root of religion this day. Faith in the eternal Spirit is not acted to draw forth that life and influence which would make our religion a living, active thing, and hold it forth lovely and beautiful in the eyes of the world. Therefore it is that we are such languishing creatures as to the business of religion, and as to all spiritual actions, because it is not enough understood that all these works must be wrought in us and for us. For if that were understood, we should not be so self-confident as we are, when we go to duties, and concerning the government of our conversations, to cover ourselves with a covering that is not of God's Spirit, and make up to ourselves a texture of religion which it never wrought for us, never put on us: nor should we be so inobservant of the motions and breathings of that Spirit, make so little of them, call for them so seldom, and complain so little when there is a cessation, a retraction of that influence from us in any measure. Certainly our judgments have need to be rectified about this matter, and actual thoughts to be revived in our hearts, that we cannot move a step in our spiritual way and walk without the help of this Spirit; that it must do all in us and for us. Whilst this is not understood and considered, we wander, and live apart from God, and Christ, and his Spirit, as if we could choose our own way, and do all, that is needful for us to do, of ourselves; and so we betray ourselves into ruin and death, when we should be soaring aloft in that way which is the way of the wise. For we are not to think (as we shall have occasion to shew) that because this Spirit governeth our way by a strong, that therefore it doth it by a violent hand. No! but in a certain method which it hath prescribed and wherein it must act with our concurrence: otherwise we could not be said to walk in the Spirit, but should be merely passive, stupid blocks, and no more. We should no more walk than a stone walks, when it is moved to roll by a violent hand.

SERMON XV.*

WE are shewing how it belongs to the state of regenerate persons to walk in the Spirit, and have hitherto considered it as a privilege agreeable to their state. They may do

so.

We have proposed to shew the extent of this privilege, or what communications of the Spirit must be understood to lie within the compass of it; and the attainableness of it, or how ready the Spirit is to give forth these communications according as the case shall require. As to the former of these, we have shewn that the privilege consists in these two things, namely, A communication of spiritual light, and a communication of spiritual power. Both these have been spoken to, and we may refer unto either, or unto both of them, not only such a communication as is necessary for the operations of grace, but even the comforting and consolatory communications also, which are sometimes spoken of under the name of light, "light in the Lord;"and sometimes under the name of strength and power, as when the joy of the Lord, is said to be "the strength of his people."

But we pass over unto the next head, namely.

(2.) To shew the attainableness of the Spirit; or how apt the blessed Spirit of God is to communicate and give forth such influence, as the case doth require, that they who live in the Spirit, may be capable of walking in the Spirit. And here it

* Preached March 27th, 1678. at Cordwainer's Hall,