Jericho not only to tremble, but to tumble down before them. Christ commanded Lazarus to come out of the grave, and there went a divine power and virtue with that call of Christ, which made him to rise. The means are the Spirit's triumphing chariot, in which he pleases to ride conquering and to conquer the souls of men, 2 Cor. ii. 14. ' While Peter yet spake, the Holy Ghost fell on aU them that heard the word,' Acts x. 44. 0 man, thou canst not tell but that whilst thou art in the use of divine helps, a secret power of the Spirit may break in upon thee, and make the means effectual to thy conversion and salvation. Many thousands have found it so, and therefore address thyself to the use of the means, and wait at the pool ; thou canst not tell how soon the Spirit may come and move upon thy soul ; it may be this day, this hour, yea, this very moment wherein I am thus speaking to thee. But,
5. Fifthly, I answer. That the sense of thine own inability, insuffi- ciency, and impotency, should provoke thee to run to Christ, and to lay hold on his everlasting strength, and to pAy the throne of grace, and to give God no rest, till he has renewed and sanctified thy soul, till he has effectually turned thee ''from, darkness to light,' Acts xxvi. 18, till he has bespangled thy soul with grace, and filled thee with his Spirit, and made thee partakers of his holiness, Heb. xii. 10. It was a good saying of one, I)a quodjuhes, etjube quod vis. Give what thou commandest, and command what thou wilt.i Oh, go to God, and tell him that what he has commanded in some scriptures, he has promised to give in other scriptures, and therefore press him to make good his promises, that so you may obey his precepts. Oh, tell him that if he will but ' sprinkle clean water upon thee, and put his Spirit within thee, and give a new heart unto thee,' according to his promise, that then ' thou wilt walk in his statutes, and keep his judgments, and do them,' Ezek. xxxvi, 25-28. Oh, tell him that if he will but ' put his fear into thy heart,' according to his promise, that then ' thou wilt never depart from him,' Jer. xxxii. 40. Oh, tell him that he has com- manded thee to beheve, and that he has also promised to give thee faith, and therefore if he will but make good his promise, thou shalt be sure to obey his precepts, Phil. i. 29 ; James v. 17. Oh, tell him that he has frequently commanded thee to ' repent,' Acts v. 31, and that he has also graciously promised to give * repentance,' 2 Tim. ii. 25, and therefore if he will but perform his promise, thou shalt not fail to obey his precepts, &c. Oh, tell him that thou hast no mind to be damned, tell him that thou tremblest at the thoughts of hell, tell him that thou canst not without much horror think of ' dwelling with a devouring fire, of dwelling with everlasting burnings,' Isa. xxxiii. 14 ; 2 Thes. i 7-10. Oh, teU him that thou dreadest an eternal separation from him, and therefore earnestly beseech him, for his Son's sake, and for his glory sake, and his promise sake, and thy soul's sake, that he would renew thy nature, and sanctify thy soul, that so thou mayest not perish to all eternity. But,
6. Sixthly and lastly. What disingenuity, yea, what injustice and unrighteousness is this, that thou shouldst lie complaining of the loant of power ^ when thou dost not use and improve the power thou hast.,
.HeB. XII. 14.] AND BEAUTY OF HOLINESS. 245
Without the power and assistance of special grace, thou hast power to attend religious duties and services ; thou hast power to turn thy back upon the infectious and dangerous society of wicked and ungodly men ; thou hast power to keep at a distance from the * harlot's door/ thou hast power to keep thy mouth of blasphemy shut, thou hast power to keep thy hands from stealing, and thy feet ' from being swift to shed innocent blood;' thou hast power to bring thy body to an ordinance, though thou hast not power to bring thy soul to the ordinance. 1 The noble Bereans brought their bodies to the ordinance, and they took the heads of the apostle's sermon, and compared them with the Scrip- ture, and yet they were in an unrenewed and unsanctified estate, Acts xvii. 11, 12. 0 sirs, you have power to come to public ordinances, and to set yourselves under the droppings of a gospel powerful min- istry ; you have power to lie at the pool of Bethesda, and there to wait till the cure be wrought ; but where is the unsanctified soul that im- proves the power he has ? Tell me, 0 vain man, why should God trust thee with a greater power, when thou makest no conscience of improving that power thou hast ? Why should God trust thee with ten talents, when thou hast no heart to improve the two that he has already trusted thee withal ? What wise father or master will trust that child or servant with hundreds or thousands, who makes no con- science of improving far lesser sums to the honour and advantage of the father or the master ? How dost thou know, 0 man, but that upon the faithful improvement of that power thou hast, God may add a greater power to thee ? If thou wilt but go that two miles thou canst, God may strike in with thee, and enable thee to go ten. It is a dangerous thing to neglect the doing of that which thou canst do, because that thou canst not do everything that thou shouldst do. Suppose a father or a master should say to his son or servant. Take such and such wares and commodities, and carry them to such and such places, for such and such chapmen ; and the son or servant should say. Well, though there be some small light burdens that I can well enough carry, yet there are many heavy burdens that I cannot carry, and therefore I will carry none at all : may not the father of such a son, or the master of such a servant, in much justice and righteousness severely punish such a son or servant ? Doubtless yes. Why, this is the very case of all unsanctified souls. God commands them to be- lieve and repent, and to love him with all their hearts, and to set him up as the object of their fear, and to give him the pre-eminence in all things, &c. But these are supernatural acts, beyond their power ; and he commands them to attend on the means of grace, and to wait at wisdom's door. He commands them to apply themselves to public ordinances, and to keep close to family duties, and to turn their backs upon such and such vicious societies, &c., and these are things they can do ; and yet because they cannot do the former, they wilfully and wickedly refuse to do the latter ; because they cannot bear the heaviest burden, they are resolved they will bear none at all; and because they cannot do everything they should, they will do nothing at all, except it be to complain that God is a hard master, and expects to reap where he does not sow. Now how just and righteous a thing it
' James iii. 10; Eph. iv. 28 ; Kom. iii. 15.
246 THE NECESSITY, EXCELLENCY, RARITY, [HeB. XII. 14.