Seventhly, The teachings of God make their own way into the dullest and weakest capacities, Isa. xxxii. 4. " The heart also of " the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of the " stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly.1'' Upon this account Christ said, Matth. xi. 25. " I thank thee, O Father, Lord of " heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the " wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes." It is admirable to see what clear illuminations some poor illiterate Chris- tians have in the mysteries of Christ and salvation, which others, of great abilities, deep and searching heads, can never discover with all their learning and study.
Eighthly, To conclude, The teachings of God are transforming teachings ; 2 Cor. iii. 18. they change the soul into the same image ; God casts them, whom he teacheth, into the very mould of those
320 TUH METHOD OF GRACE. HEME. XXIII.
truths which they learn of him, Rom. vi. 17. These are the teach- ings of God, and thus he instructeth those that come to Christ.
Secondly, Next let us see what influence divine teachings have upon souls, in bringing them to Christ ; and we shall find a three- fold influence in them.
1. They have an influence upon the external means, by which they come to Christ.
2. They have an influence upon the mind, to remove what hin- dered it from Christ.
3. They have an influence upon the will, to allure and draw it to Christ.
First, They have an influence upon the means by which we come to Christ ; the best ordinances are but a dead letter except the Spirit, the teaching and quickening Spirit of God, work in fellow- ship with them, 2 Cor. iii. 6. The best ministers, like the dis- ciples, cast forth the net, but take nothing, win not one soul to God, till God teach as well as they. Paul is nothing, and Apollos nothing, but God that giveth the increase, 1 Cor. iii. 7. Let the most learned, eloquent, and powerful orator be in the pulpit, yet no man's heart is persuaded till it hear the voice of God ; Cathe- dram in ecrtis habet, qui corda docet
Secondly, They have influence upon the mind, to remove what hindered it from Christ. Except the minds of men be first un- taught those errors, by which they are prejudiced against Christ, they will never be persuaded to come unto him ; and nothing but the Father's teachings can unteach those errors, and cure those evils of the mind. The natural mind of man slights the truths of God, until God teach them ; and then they tremble with an aw- ful reverence of them. Sin is but a trifle, till God shews us the face of it in the glass of the law, and then it appears ex- ceeding sinful, Rom. vii. IS. We think God to be such a one as ourselves, Psal. 1. 21. until he discover himself unto us in his infi- nite greatness, awful holiness, and severe justice; and then we' cry, who can stand before this great and dreadful God ! We thought it was time enough hereafter, to mind the concernments of another world, until the Lord open our eyes, to see in what danger we stand upon the very brink of eternity ; and then no- thing alarms us more, than the fears that our time will be finished before the great work of salvation be finished. We thought our- selves in a converted state before, till God made us to see the neces- sity of another manner of conversion, upon pain of eternal dam- nation. We readily caught hold upon the promises before, when we had no right to them ; but the teachings of God make the pre- sumptuous sinner let go his hold, that he may take a better and surer bold of them in Christ. We once thought that the death
SERM. XXIII. THE METHOD OF GRACE. 521
of Christ, in itself, had been enough to secure our salvation ; but, under the teachings of God, we discern plainly the necessity of a change of heart and state ; or else the blood of Christ can never profit us. Thus the teachings of God remove the errors of the mind, by which men are withheld from Christ.
Thirdly, The teachings of God powerfully attract and allure the will of a sinner to Christ, Hos. ii. 14. But of these drawings of the Father I have largely spoken before, and therefore shall sav no more of them in this place, but hasten to the last thing pro- pounded, viz.
Thirdly, Why it is impossible for any man to come to Christ without the Father's teachings ; and the impossibilities hereof will appear three ways.
1. From the power of sin.
2. From the indisposition of man.
3. From the nature of faith.
By all which, the last point designed to be spoken to from this .scripture, will be fully cleared, and the whole prepared for appli- cation.
First, The impossibility of coming to Christ without the teachings of the Father, will appear from the power of sin, which hath so strong an holdfast upon the hearts and affections of all unregene- rate men, that no human arguments or persuasions whatsoever can divorce or separate them ; for,
First, Sin is connatural with the soul, it is born and bred with a man ; Psal. Ii. 4. Isa. xlviii. 8. It is as natural for fallen man to sin, as it is to breathe.
Secondly, The power of sin hath been strengthening itself from the beginning, by long continued custom, which gives it the force of a second nature, and makes regeneration and mortification na- turally impossible, Jer. xv. 23. " Can the Ethiopian change his " skin, or the leopard his spots ? Then may he also do good that " is accustomed to do evil."
Thirdly, Sin is the delight of a sinner : " It is sport to a fool " to do mischief," Prov. x. 23. Carnal men have no other plea- sure in this world, but what arises from their lusts ; to cut off their corruptions by mortification, were at once to deprive them of all the pleasure of their lives.
Fourthly, Sin being connatural, customary, and delightful, doth therefore bewitch their affections and inchant their hearts, to that degree of madness and fascination, that they rather chuse damna- tion by God, than separation from sin : " Their hearts are fully " set in them to do evil," Eccles. viii. 1J. they rush into sin, as the " horse rusheth into the battle," Jer. viii. 6. And now, what think you can separate a man from his beloved lust, except the
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powerful and effectual teachings of God ? Nothing but a light from heaven can rectify and reduce the inchanted mind ; no power, but that of God, can change and alter the sinful bent and inclination of the will ; it is a task above all the power of the creature.