(1.) Because he is debtor to none. He may give his grace to whom he pleaseth, and withhold it as he will ; he is not bound to give or con- tinue, but is free to bestow or withhold. Man sinneth when he doth not hinder sin, because he is bound to hinder it all that he can : Neh. xiii. 17, ' Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said unto them. What evil thing is this that ye do, and profane the sabbath- day ? ' When the people profaned the sabbath, and they did not restrain them.
(2.) He knoweth how to make the best of any evil, to turn the greatest evil into the greatest good, which man cannot do, and ought not, being under a rule. We must not do evil that good may come of it: Rom. iii. 8, ' And not rather, as we be slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say, Let us do evil, that good may come ; whose damnation is just.'
(3.) There is an actual forfeiture. God is so far from being bound to continue grace, that he is bound in justice to withdraw what is given. When men stop their ears, God may shut them. But —
[2.] By tradition. He delivereth them up to the power of Satan, who worketh upon the corrupt nature of man, and hardeneth it ; he stirreth him up as the executioner of God's curse ; as the evil spirit had leave to seduce Ahab : 1 Kings xxii. 21, 22, ' And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and said, I will persuade him. And the Lord said unto him, Wherewith ? And he said, I will go forth, and I will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt persuade him, and prevail also ; go forth and do so.' There is a permissive intention, not an effective ; Satan is the efficient and instrument, God is the judge ; he permitteth Satan to excite and stir up their evil natures : they grieve his Spirit, and then God withdraweth, and leaveth them to an evil spirit ; as in Saul : 1 Sam. xvi.- 14, 'But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him.' The light of the Spirit of the Lord is gone, and then Satan filled him with rage and fury and cruelty. It is said, ' An evil spirit from the Lord,' because he was sent from God to punish him for his sins.
[3.] There is an active providence, which disposeth and propoundeth such objects as, meeting with a wicked heart, maketh it more hard. God maketh the best things the wicked enjoy to turn to the fall and destruction of those that have them. Sometimes natural comforts: Jer. vi. 21, 'Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will lay stum- bling-blocks before this people ; and the father and the sons together shall fall upon them, the neighbour and his friend shall perish.' Their
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table is made a snare, and an occasion and preparation and means to ruin them. They harden themselves by despising the goodness and patience of God : Eom. ii. 4, ' Or despisest thou the riches of his good- ness, and forbearance, and long-suffering, not knowing that the good- ness of God leadeth thee to repentance ? ' Sometimes corrections and chastisements ; these produce nothing but a greater contumacy ; as a resty horse, the more he is spurred forward, the more he goeth back- ward ; or as a fierce bull or bear groweth mad with baiting. In what a sad case are wicked men left by God ! JMercies corrupt them, and corrections enrage them ; as unsavoury herbs, the more they are pounded, the more they stink. Sometimes by spiritual ordinances and advantages ; the most spiritual means do them no good : Isa. vi. 10, ' Make the heart of this people tat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes, lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears. and convert and be healed.' He that bringeth in the light blindeth the owl. Water poured on lime maketh it burn the more ; so do the means of grace hurt wicked men, irritating their corruptions, or they resting in them. Sometimes by withdrawing the word and means of grace and prayers of his people : Acts xix. 9, * When divers were hardened, and believed not, but spake evil of that way before the multitude, he departed from them ;' Jer. vii. 16, 'Pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make inter- cession to me, for I will not hear thee." Do not any longer strive between me and them. Sometimes by disposing and ordering the deceits of false teachers : 2 Thes. ii. 10, H, ' They received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved : and for this cause God gave them up to strong delusions, that they should believe a lie ; ' Job xii. 16, ' The deceived and the deceiver are his.' This doth not fall out without a providence. The water runneth its own course, but the miller maketh use of it to drive his engine. As all things work to- gether for good to them that love God, so all things work for the worst to the wicked and impenitent. Providences and ordinances ; we read of them' that wrest the scriptures to their own destruction, 2 Peter iii. 16. Some are condemned to worldly happiness ; by ease and abund- ance of prosperity they are entangled : Prov. i. 32, ' The prosperity of fools shall destroy them ; ' as brute creatures, when in good plight, grow fierce and man-keen. If we will find the sin, God will find the occasion. I shall instance in Judas ; Christ had reproved him for be- grudging Mary's bounty, and ye read, Markxxvi. 16, ' From that time he sought opportunity to betray him.' He was offended with Christ's reproof. Judas was hurried on with wrath and avarice ; and when men are resolved, God in his providence suffereth them to have a fit opportunity. The priests, alarmed with the miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead, by which many wei'e drawn to believe in him, were thinking how to seize on him, and Judas comes in the nick, and asketh them, What will ye give me, and I will betray him to you ?