2. The next proof is from those assertions whereby all power is denied to man to convert himself to God, or to do anything that is spiritually good. As when it is said he cannot know, 1 Cor. ii. 14 ; he cannot believe, John vi. 44 ; he cannot obey, Eom. viii. 7. Nay, to instance in single acts : he cannot think a good thought of himself, 2 Cor. iii. 5 ; he cannot speak a good word : ' How can ye, being evil, speak good things?' Mat. xii. 34. He cannot do anything, John XV. 5. He doth not say, oiihil magnum, but nihil ; not ' no great thing,' but ' AVithout me ye can do nothing! Well, then, when man can neither know, nor believe, nor obey, nor think, nor speak, nor do anything without grace, surely man is ' without strength,' wholly impotent and unable to turn himself to God.
Ohj. 1. But here is an objection : If it be so, how can these things stand with the mercy of God, as the Creator of mankind, to require the debt of him that is not able to pay ? with the justice of God, as the judge of the world, to punish him with eternal death for the neglect of that which he could not perform ? or with the wisdom of the supreme lawgiver, to exhort him by promises who hath no power to do what he is exhorted unto ?
Ans. 1. I answer to the first — God doth not lose his right, though man hath lost his power ; their impotency doth not dissolve their obligation ; a drunken servant is a servant, and it is against all reason
llOM. V. G.j OUT OF HIS MISERY. 481
that tlie master sliould lose his right to command hy the servant's defanlt. A prodigal dehtor, that hath nothing to pay, yet is liable to he sued for the debt without any injustice. God contracted with us in Adam ; and that obedience which he requireth is not only due by covenant, but by law ; not only by positive law and contract, but by immutable right. It is harsh, men think, to suffer for Adam's fault, to which they were not conscious and actually consenting ; but every man will find an Adam in his own heart : the old man is there, wast- ing away the few remains of natural light and strength. And shall not God challenge the debt of obedience from a debtor that is both proud and prodigal ? We are proud ; for when we are miserable, we think ourselves happy ; and when we are poor, we think ourselves rich ; and when we are blind, we conceit ourselves very seeing; and when we are naked, we think ourselves well clad, Eev. iii. 17. And therefore God may admonish us of our duty, and demand his right; if for no other reason but to show us our impotency, and that we may not pretend that we were not called upon for what we owe. And as man is proud, so he is prodigal. We spend what is left, and throw away those relics of conscience and moral inclinations which escaped out of the ruins of the fall.
Ans. 2. As to the second, how God can with justice punish him for the neglect of what he could not do, I answer — Our natural impotency is voluntary. We must not consider man only as impotent to good, but as delighting in evil, and loving it with all his heart. As man can- not, so he will not, come to God, John v. 40, Our impotency lies in our obstinacy, and so man is left without excuse. We refuse the grace that is offered to us, and by continuing in sin, increase our bondage, our inveterate customs turning to another nature.
Ans. 3. As to the last, how God can exhort and persuade us, for answer, suppose w-e should say — This is only for the elect's sake, who certainly ' ai-e the called according to purpose,' Eom. viii. 28 ; whereas others are called obiter, ' by the by,' and as they live intermingled with them. If the elect did dwell alone, and were a distinct community hy them- selves, the objection were plausible ; but they are hidden amongst others, and therefore the reprobate have the like ftivour in the external means with them. The world standeth for the elect's sake, yet the sun doth not shine upon them alone, nor the showers fall upon their fields alone. Or let me illustrate it thus: The sun shineth, though blind men see it not ; the rain falls upon the rocks and mountains, as well as the fruitful valleys : so are exhortations of duty promiscuously tendered to good and bad. This might be answer enough ; but that which I rather say is, that these exhortations have their use ; for they carry their own blessing with them, to them to whom God means them for good. The word has a ministerial subserviency to the power of God ; as when Christ said, ' Lazarus, come forth,' it raised him out of his grave. As for others that are not converted by them, it is for their conviction, and to bridle their fierceness, and a means to civilise them, and keep them from growing worse, whereby many temporal blessings do accrue to them ; as Pagan Rome flourished in all manner of virtue and success as long as moral piece[)ts were in force. But of this more in the next objection.