Let us gather up this discourse now. Surely man doth not determine himself to good, is not the supreme cause and author of his own happiness. Man is evilly inclined, and no culture, no education, no institution, can subdue and alter it : Job xiv. 4, ' Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean ? ' Man's heart will not be changed, and so no foundation laid for a different course. Suppose, for disputa- tion's sake, the means could do it without God, yet the question return- eth, how is it that some have better tempers, better education, better institution than others ? There is a kind of election and reprobation within the sphere of nature : Ps. cxlvii. 20, ' He hath not dealt so with every nation.' Some have fairer advantages, and more favour in the use of outward means ; that is only to be ascribed to God's provi- dence : but besides external providence, the scriptures teach us there is a necessity of internal grace, that all saving faith is the gift of God, Eph. ii. 8 ; it must come from him.
Why doth God work faith in some, not in others ? Inquire as long as you will, you must come to this at last : ' Even so, Father, because it pleased thee,' or, as it is in the text, it is merely the pleasure of his goodness. God acts freely, and giveth grace when and to whom he pleaseth. The free gift of God dependeth on some eternal decree and purpose ; for God doth nothing rashly and by chance, but all by counsel and predestination. There was some eternal choice and dis- tinction made between man and man. Why we, not others ? It was merely the good will of God and his free choice that made the differ- ence. Election implieth a choice ; for where all are taken, there is no choice : ' One of a city, and two of a tribe,' Jer. iii. 14 ; or, as it is, Mat. xxiv. 41, ' One taken, and the other left.' Jacob, not Esau ; Abel, not Cain. Why will he reveal himself to us, and not to the world ? Others were as eligible as we, our merits no more than theirs, we were as bad as they. All souls are God's, Ezek. xviii. 4. He created them as well as you, saw as much original sin in you as them. ' Was not Esau Jacob's brother ? ' Mai. i. 2. They had as much means as you, your prejudices and obstinacy as strong as theirs, as blind in mind, as perverse in heart : ' Who made you differ ? ' 1 Cor. iv. 7. Why you, not they ? You were as ignorant of God, as averse from him, as corrupt in manners ; so that when God had all
292 SERMONS UPON 2 THESSALONIANS I. [SER. X.
Adam's posterity in his prospect and view, it was mere grace dis- tinguished you.
2. His almighty power. It is very great sacrilege to rob God of his glory. Surely every thankful christian should say, ' By the grace of God I am what I am.' It is by his all-conquering Spirit that any are brought in to him : Acts xi. 21, ' The hand of the Lord was with him, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord.' So Isa. liii. 1, ' Who hath believed our report, and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed ? ' How diversely are people affected with the same things ? One is convinced of his misery, the other not at all moved ; one is drawn to Christ, the other goeth away dead and still averse to him. Some are pricked at heart, Acts ii. 37, others cut at heart, and gnash with their teeth at the delivery of the same doctrine, Acts vii. 50. Consider —
[1.] God doth not only invite and solicit us to good, but doth incline and dispose the heart to it. They are taught of God, and drawn of God : John vi. 44, 45, ' No man can come to me, except the Father who hath sent me draw him. Every man therefore that hath heard, and learned of the Father, cometh unto me.'
[2.] God doth not only help the will, but give the will itself ; not by curing the weakness, but by sanctifying it, and taking away the sin- fulness of it. If the will were only in a swoon and languishment, a little excitation would serve the turn ; it is not dead, but sleepeth ; but it is stark dead to spiritual things. And God's grace is not only necessary for facilitation, as a horse for a journey, that a man might not go on foot, but absolutely necessary. God giveth us not only a power to will if we please, or a power to do if we please, but the will itself : Jer. xxiv. 7, ' I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord ; ' Ezek. xxxvi. 27, ' I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes.'
[3.] Not only at first, but still all our work is done by his power. As he giveth us the habits which constitute the new creature, so he fur- nisheth us with those daily supplies by which the spiritual life is maintained in us ; therefore we must still put the crown on grace's head, in whatever we have done and suffered for him : Luke x. 16, ' Thy pound hath gained,' &c. ; Gal. ii. 20, ' I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me ; and the life which I live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God ; ' 1 Cor. xv. 10, ' By the grace of God I am what I am.' Of his own we still give him, therefore let us ascribe all to him.