3. The last question is. What special acts doth the soul put forth when it draweth nigh to God ? The answer may be given you from what was said before. There must be an act of faith in our wants ; by faith we must see that in God which we stand in need of in sense.
^ ' Absque cruore Domini nemo appropinquat Deo.'— •///crow.
J AS. IV. 8.] Ul'ON THE Kl'lfSTLE OF JAMES. 3G9
Fear must be actcd in all our ways, keepinjij us in God's eye : persons loose and regardless are far from God : ' Walk before me/ &c., Gen. xvii. 1. Then love and humility must be acted in holy duties. Draw- ing nigh doth chiefly imply humble and fervorous addresses ; when you come naked to God, as the rich man that will clothe you ; hungry to God, as the bountiful man that will feed you; sick to God, as the physician that will cure you ; as servants to your Lord, as disciples to your master, as blind to the light, as cold to the fire, &c. The creatures addresses are best when they begin in want and end in hope, when there is a rare mixture of humility and confidence; and love there must be in every duty, for God must be sought as well as served.
Well, then, let us all mind this duty. Sin is a departing from God, grace a returning. Draw nigh to him, make out after the comforts and supports of his presence : the way is by Christ, but you must resolve upon it; 1 must, and / will: Ps. xxvii. 8, ' Thy face. Lord, will I seek ;' there must be a care to bring the soul to this resolution. Mark that place, Jer. xxx. 21 , ' I will cause him to draw near and approach to me, saith the Lord; for who is this that engageth his heart to draw near to me ?' that is, by my Spirit I will comfort them. But will you engage your hearts ? Out of a conviction of the necessity and excel- lency of the duty, issue forth a practical decree : David doth, Ps. Ixxiii. 28, ' It is good for me to draw near to God.'
Object. There is one doubt in the text which must be cleared before we go further, and that ariseth from the phrase used, ' draw nigh to God,' as if it were in our own power. The old Pelagians abused this place; and the Pihemists in their notes say, that free-will and man's own endeavour is necessary in coming to God, and that man is a cause of making himself clean, though God's grace be the principal. Usually two things have been built upon this place : — (1.) That the beginning of conversion is in man's power; (2.) That this beginning doth merit or increase further grace from God ; for, say they, God will not draw near to man ere he do first draw near to him ; therefore, before special grace the beginning of conversion must be in man, and upon this beginning God will come in.
Sol. I answer — (1.) This place and the like showeth not what man will do, but what he ougJit to do. We left God ere he left us ; there- fore, we should be first in returning, as we were first in forsaking : the wronged party may in justice tarry for our submission; but yet, such is the Lord's kindness, that he loveth us first, 1 John iv. 19. (2.) Precepts to duty are not measures of strength : there is no good argument a mandato ad efeciiim, from what ought to be done to what can or shall be done. These things are expressed thus for another purpose : to show God's right, to convince the creature of weakness, to show us our duty, that man's endeavour is required, and that we should do our utmost, to convince us wherein we have failed, &c. (3.) These precepts are not useless ; to the elect they convey grace. God fulfilleth what he commandeth : evangelical commands carry their own blessing with them; ibr, by the co-working of the Spirit, by this means they are stirred up and made to draw near to God. Towards others they are convincing, and show us our obstinacy and contumacy; we will not come to God, and lie at the foot of his sovereignty, saying, 0 Lord,
VOL. IV. 2 A
370 AN EXPOSITION, WITH NOTES, [Jas. IV. 8.
thou hast said, Turn to me, and 1 will turn to you : ' Turn us and we shall be turned; draw us and we shall draw near to thee,' Jer. xxxi. 1 8. Men pretend cannot; the truth is they loill not come, hung^ry to the table, thirsty to the fountain ; they will not lie at God's feet for grace : so that those precepts convince the reprobate, and leave them without excuse. 1 shall conclude all with that sweet saying of Ber- nard, Nemo te queerer e 2^ot est ^ nisi qui prius invenerit ; vis igitur in- veniri ul quceraris, quari ut inveniaris ; jwtes quidem inveniri, nan tamen prccveniri — none can be aforehand with God ; we cannot seek him till we have found him ; he will be sought that he may be found, and found that he maybe sought: it is grace that must bring us to grace ; and the stray sheep cannot be brought home unless it be upon Christ's shoulders.