Traitors and Rebels to God, have incurr'd the Forfeiture of Honours, Eftates, and Lives, and are (as the Apostle expreffes it) Taken Captive, Taken alive as Prey, by the Devil at His Will. 2 Tim. 2. 26. I fay, fince we are by Nature every way in this forlorn and helpless State; Repentance, (fuppofing us to be still in this State of Nature) Repentance alone, (were it in our Power to Repent when we would, and even to Change our Hearts and Minds as we would) could never in the Nature of Things Suffice to do for us, the Thousandth Part of what we want to Raife and Reftore us; as to Reverse our Attainder; to Difcharge our Debt; to Redeem our Eftates; to Ranfom our Perfons. Much lefs ftill can we do the Leaft Part of thefe Works for ourselves, if, after we have been Reftored through Grace, or have had the Offer of fuch Reftoration; we do, by any New Defection, Relapfe into our former State. This, This Work of our Redemption muft (as the Pfal mist hath Admonish'd) on all Accounts Coft much more than any Man can Perform, more than any Man's Simple Repentance or Change of Mind and Inclination merely And therefore, must every Man let alone all Pretences to that Boaft for ever. But, I muft repeat, that Neither is this our Ca e: For neither have we any fuch Powers as thefe of Repenting when we will, and of Changing our Minds and Inclinations of Our felves, without which no Repentance is to be fuppos'd. For, This is another fad Confequence of the Fall, that our Minds also are in all their Faculties Cor Corrupted and Decayed with our Bodies; fo that, whatsoever our Abilities and Powers Originally were, they are now Forfeited and Loft with the Reft. For, Is it not with all other Men, as the Pfalmift for every Man did Confefs of Himfelf? Behold I was fhapen in Wickedness, and in Sin did my Mother conceive me. Pf. 51. 5. Yes, All Men by Nature are altogether become Abominable; and there is none that doth Good, no, not one. Pf. 14. 3. For, the Imagination of Man's Heart is only Evil from his Youth. Gen. 8. 21. The Original Treafon of our first Father has Attainted, Stain'd and Corrupted our Whole Blood and Nature; And, therefore, can we no more prevail by any Act of our own to purge off that Corruption, and to render ourfelves Uncorrupt. All Natural Bodies are Examples to us of This: No Natural Body can, of Itself, restore Itfelf from Corruption. Only the Application and Influence of fome other Clear, Sound and Subtile Natural Agent, as the Material Air, or Fire, is of Force to Separate and Difpel Corruption from fome Bodies. But no Natural Body whatsoever, when once Corrupted, can Purge, Cleanfe, and Reftore Itself. And, it is an Aphorifm, that The Corruption of the best Things is the most Corrupt of all. Confequently, therefore, the Corruption of the Mind or Soul in Man, is, in Itself, the most Desperate and Incurable of all Corruptions; And, confequently again, unless the Divine Spirit (which only Can) Do Interpofe to Separate and Cleanfe the Soul of Man once CorG 2 rupted rupted, it never can be Separated or Cleanfed at all: That is, It has in Itfelf no Sort of Faculty or Power to Separate or Cleanfe Itself from It's Corruptions: And, therefore, our Simple Repentance cannot in any Respect be the Mean of our Restoration from Sin, and from God's Wrath, to Righteousness, and to His Pardon and Forgiveness. All that we can do, is to Believe God; to Defire the Means, and Accept the Terms which He Graciously Offers to Reftore and Save us : And, this, (as It is Rendring to God the Things that are properly God's) fhall be allow'd to us for what we have not in Ourselves, nor can otherwise obtain than Communicatively from God, even for Imputed Righteousness. Where as, Pretending, like the Jews, to Establish our own Righteousness, and not fubmitting ourfelves to Believe, Seek, and Accept the Righteoufness of God in Chrift; but to Decline or Reject it, is the greatest Contempt of the greateft Mercy that the Deity can offer to Man; and, confequently, muft be the highest Crime that Man can Commit; A Crime the Same in Kind with that of the Fallen Angels, which even made them, what they are fince become, Devils. And, What can be the Iffue? But that they who do thus prefumptuously fet up for themselves, muft be left in the Other World to receive the Fruit of their own Doings in This? Which they would do well to confider before-hand. For, As As herein confifts the Liberty or Free-Agency which we have, either to Accept, and Concur with, the Operations of Grace; or to Reject and Oppose them; And as fuch Men have made ufe of their Liberty to Reject and Oppose thofe Operations, with all the kind Offers and Means of Redemption by Chrift; So will He affuredly Reject and Reprobate Them. In a Word, We have an Unction from the Holy One, by Virtue of which we do Abide in Him: All, therefore, that would be Saved, must be found in Him, having of His Sanctifying, Healing Oil in their Lamps: For, He Himself hath affured us, that they who either do neglect to Have; Or, Having, do wantonly and contemptuously Waft, or Deftroy this Oil; will, at the great Day when the Bridegroom fhall come, be fent with that bitter Sarcafm in the Parable, to Go, and Buy, or Provide it for themselves where they can find it: That is, They will be fhut out of the Celestial Bride-Chamber, with Infinite Contempt, for having Neglected or Scorned in due Time to Provide themselves of it. And, then, (whatsoever they may Imagine in the mean Time here) there will be no Place to offer their own pretended Repentances and Works in Stead of it: But rather (fo far as can be judged from Holy Scripture, and the Reason of Things.) To truft to thefe Counterfeit Succedaneums, to Men's own Works and Repentances, must be a fure Course to Vacate and Nullify thofe Repentances themselves; It must be a Crime for which |