He pleads, that he cannot help his heart's being so bad....that he did not bring himself into that condition, but that he was brought into it by the fall of Adam, which he could not possibly prevent, and which he had no hand in. But when he comes, in a clear and realizing manner, to see and feel the whole truth, viz. that he does not care for God, nor desire to, but is really an enemy to him in his very heart, and voluntarily so, and that all his fair pretences and promises, prayers and tears, are but mere hypocrisy, arising only from self-love, and guilty fears, and mercenary hopes, Now the business is done: For, says he, It matters not how I came into this condition, nor whether I can help having so bad a heart, since I am voluntarily just such a one as Iam, and really love and choose to be what I am. Rom. vii. 8, 9.... Sin revived and I died. He feels himself without excuse, and that his mouth is stopped, and that he must be forced to own the sentence just; for he feels that it is not owing to any compulsion or natural necessity, but that he is voluntarily and heartily such a one as he is: And now, and not till now, does he feel himself to be a sinner, completely so; for he, all along before, fancied some goodness to be in him, and thought himself in some measure excusable: and now, and not til now, is he prepared to attribute his salvation entirely to free and sovereign grace. All along before he had something to say for himself, like the Pharisee: But, with the publican, he now sees that he lies at mercy.... Luke xviii. 13. This is the very thing that makes all mankind to blame, altogether to blame, for being what they are, namely that they are voluntarily so; this is the reason they deserve to be damned for being so, and this, when seen and felt by the awakened sinner, effectually stops his mouth.

And this, also, is the very thing that makes believers see themselves wholly to blame for not being perfectly holy, and lays a foundation for their mourning for their want of a perfect conformity to the law. They feel their defects are not the result of a natural necessity, but only of the remains of their old aversion to God, which, so far as they are unsanctified, they are

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voluntary in:* And hence they cry out, I am carnal, sold under sin,O wretched man that I am !...Rom. vii. 14, 24; and set themselves down for beasts and fools....Psalm lxxiii. 22.

And finally, this want of a good temper....this voluntary and stubborn aversion to God, and love to themselves, the world and sin, is ALL that renders the immediate influences of the holy spirit so absolutely necessary, or indeed at all needful, to recover and bring them to love God with all their hearts. A bare representation of what God is, were men of a right temper, would ravish their hearts; for his beauty and glory are infinite. It is nothing, therefore, but their badness that makes it needful that there should be line upon line, and precept upon precept. It is their aversion to God, that makes any persuasions at all needful; for, were they of a right temper, they would love God with all their hearts, of their own accord. And surely, were not

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*OBJ. "But does not St. Paul say, in Rom. vii. 18, To will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good, I find not ?"

ANS. 'Tis true, he had a strong disposition to be perfectly holy, but his disposition was not perfect. He had a strong disposition to love God supremely, live to him entirely, and delight in him wholly, but his whole heart was not perfectly disposed to do so. There was a spirit of aversion to God, and love to sin, remaining in him. In me, that is, in my flesh, dwells no good thing....and this was the ground and cause of all his inipotency: So that when he says, To will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good, I find not, he means, "To be in a measure disposed to love God supremely, live to him entirely, and delight in him whelly, is natural and easy; but how to get my whole heart into the disposition, I find not-it "is beyond me, through the remains of the flesh, i. e. of my native contra"riety to God, and love to sin:" Which remaining contrariety to God, and propensity to sin, so far as he was unsanctified, he was voluntary in; but so far as he was sanctified, he perfectly hated. With my mind, I myself serve the law of God, but with my flesh the law of sin....ver. 25. And so the spirit lusted against the flesh, and the flesh against the spirit; and these two were contrary the one to the other, and hence he could not do the things that he would...Gal. v. 17.

OBJ." But does not St. Paul speak several times, in Rom. vii. as if he "was not properly to blame for his remaining corruptions, when he says, It " is not I, but sin that dwelleth in me !"

ANS. He only means, by that phrase, to let us know that his remaining corruption was not the governing principle in him: according to what he had said in Rom. vi. 14....Sin shall not have the dominion over you, for ye are not under the law, but under grace: but does not at all design to insinuate, that he did not see himself to blame, yea wholly to blame, for his remaining corruption....For though he says sometimes, It is not I, but sin that dwelleth in me, yet, at other times, I am carnal, sold under sin...ver. 14. O wretched man that I am....ver. 24-like a broken-hearted penitent. But he could not have mourned for his remaining corruption as being sinful, if he had not

felt himself to blame for it.

men very bad indeed, there would be no occasion for his ambassadors with such earnestness to beseech them: We pray you, says the apostle, in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God....II. Cor. v. 20. But now, that all external means that can possibly be used....all arguments, and motives, and entreaties, urged in the most forceable manner, should not be able to recover men to God, no not one, in all the world, without the immediate influences of the holy spirit, can surely be attributed to nothing short of this, that an apostate world are, in very deed, at enmity against God, and their contrariety to him is mightily settled and rooted in their hearts-mightily settled and rooted indeed, that Paul was nothing, and Apollos nothing, and all their most vigorous efforts nothing; so that without the immediate influences of the holy spirit, not one, by them, although the best preachers, of mere men, that ever lived, could be persuaded to turn to God....I. Cor. iii. 7; but that the world should, in fact, rise in arms, and put the messengers of heaven to death, seems to argue enmity and malice, to the highest degree. It is men's badness that keeps them from taking in right apprehensions of God, and that makes them blind to the beauty of the divine nature, and that makes them hate God, instead of loving him : but for this, they would love God of their own accord, without any more ado. If God were your father, (says Christ) ye would love me; ye are of your father the devil, therefore ye hate me. Surely, then, all the world are inexcusable, and wholly to blame, for their continuance in sin, and justly deserve eternal damnation at the hands of God, as was before said: Nor is it any excuse to say, "God does not give me sufficient grace to make "me better;" since I might love God, with all my heart, of my own accord, with all the ease in the world, if I were but of a right temper: Yea, such is his glory and beauty, that I could not but be ravished with it, were I such as I ought to be; and my needing any special grace to make me love God, argues that I am an enemy to him, a vile, abominable wretch, not fit to live: And to pretend to excuse myself, and say, "I cannot, "and God will not make me," is just as bad as if a rebellious

child should go to his father, and say, "I hate you, and cannot "love you, and God will not, by his almighty power, make me "better, and therefore I am not to blame;" for the wretch could not but love his good father, were it not that he is so exceedingly vitiated in his temper. If our impotency, consisted in and resulted from our want of natural capacities....if it was the business of the holy spirit to give us new natural faculties, then we might plead our inability, and plead God's not giving us sufficient power, in excuse for ourselves: But since all our impotency takes its rise entirely from another quarter, and all our need of the influences of the holy spirit to bring us to love God results from our badness, therefore are we without excuse, although God leaves us entirely to ourselves: And indeed nothing can be more absurd than to suppose the Governor of the world obliged to make his creatures love him, in spite of all their aversion; or more wicked than to lay the blame of their not loving him, upon him, in case he does not.... Fer. vii. 8. 9, 10—16.

OBJ. But if it be granted that men's natural powers are adequate with the law of God, and so they, as to their natural capacities, are capable of a perfect conformity to the law; and if it be granted that the outward advantages, which all have who live under the gospel, are sufficient, were men but of a right temper, to lead them to the true knowledge of God, and so, that all such are without excuse; yet, if any part of mankind do not enjoy sufficient outward advantages for the true knowledge of God, without which it is impossible they should either love or serve him, how can such justly and fairly be acccounted altogether to blame, and whol ly inexcusable? If the heathen, who have no other outward advantages whereby to gain the true knowledge of God, than the works of creation and providence, do but honestly improve what they have, shall not they be accepted, although they fall short of sinless perfection? Or is it right and fair that they should be damned?

ANs. I suppose that those advantages, which all mankind do actually enjoy, would be sufficient to lead them to a true knowledge of God, and so to love and serve him, were they of

a right disposition, and were it not for the prejudices that blind and darken their minds, which arise from their enmity to God, and love to themselves, the world, and sin....Rom. i. 20, 28: And I suppose that God, the wise and holy, just and good Governor of the world, is under no natural obligation to use any supernatural means for the removal of those prejudices; (Rom. ix. 15.) especially considering that men love them, and are obstinate in them, and will not let them be removed if they can help it, as is, in fact, the case....Rom. i. 18, 28—John iii. 19: And I suppose that, since the law is holy, just and good, nothing short of sinless perfection can, or ought to, pass with the supreme Law-giver and Judge of the world, as a condition of acceptance....Gal. iii. 10-Rom. iii. 20: And I suppose that God was under no obligations to provide a Savior to bear the curse of the law, and answer its demands for any, since all are voluntarily at enmity against him and his law....Rom. v. 8. Upon the whole, I suppose that all mankind might have been left in their fallen state, without a Savior, or any offers of pardon and peace, or any supernatural advantages whatsoever; and that yet their natural obligations to love God with all their hearts, would have by no means ceased; and that it would have been perfectly just and right with God, to have inflicted eternal damnation upon us, for our not doing so....Rom. i. 18, and iii. 19. And besides, I suppose that all the nations of the earth might have had the gospel preached to them, and, to this day, enjoyed it, had not the world been in arms against it, and killed the messengers of peace, who were sent to carry the glad tidings of pardon and salvation round the world.... Mat. xxviii. 19: And I suppose, that still, in every age of the Christian church, there have been ministers of Christ, who would gladly go to the farthest parts of the earth, to carry the joyful news of a Savior, were men but willing to receive the news, and repent, and convert, and return to God: Iknow, there are such in this age; from all which, I suppose that it is right, fair, and just, for God to execute the threatening of his law according to his declared design ...Rom. ii. 5, 6. Thus much in general; but, to be more particular,