' From me is thy fruit found.'
That is, whatsoever is gi-aciously or comfortably good to us, in us, or ■ issues from us, is all from God. Hence first of all we observe for our in- struction,
From a man's self comes nothing that is graciously good.
Whatsoever is savingly good is altogether from God. * Without me,' saith Christ, ' you can do nothing,' John xv. 5. Saint Paul was wondrous chary * of this point. 1 Cor. xv. 10 he saith ' he laboured more abundantly than they all : yet not I ' (he recalls himself), ' but the grace of God in him that did all ;' and of myself, as of myself, I cannot so much ' as think a good thought.' It is from God that we have means to make us fruitful, and from the gracious working of his Spirit comes it that thoy are eflectual. That we think a good thought, or open our mouths to speak a good word, it is from God's Spirit enabling us thereto. ' Open thou my mouth,' saith the psalmist, ' and my lips shall shew forth thy praise.' We are tongue- * That is, ' wary ' = circumspect. — G.
40-4 THE RETURNING BACKSLIDER. [SeRMON XIII.
tied and our lips sealed unless God open them. We cannot speak one savoury, seasonable word to further our accompt. We may speak empty words, but never a word comes from the heart that is gracious and good, but it must b6 by the Spirit of God. It is he who works all our works in us and for us. 'He begins the good work in us, and perfects it to the day of the Lord,' Isa. xxvi. 12, Phil. i. 6. The truth of this is wondrous clear.
If this be so, then undoubtedly the dilFerences in the graces of men, it is from another, merely from God and God's Spirit. There is indeed dif- ference in men, but this is originally fetched from the grace of God's Spirit. The good use of freedom, that we talk so much of, it is from God, as well as the endowments of it. We have free will, but the use of it is not in our power, to use this or that at our pleasure ; for ' it is God which gives the will and the deed,' Phil. ii. 13, of his good pleasure. Not only the deed, but the will too ; we should make the will an idol else. For so many wills, so manv idols, if we think one man in himself can difference himself by his will.
Again, in that God saith, ' From me is thy fniit found,' we may learn hence,
That fruit that is c/racious comes from us and from God too.
It is our fruit and God's, so that there is a subordination of gracious works under God. The fruit we have is from God, yet it is our fruit too.
Quest. How can this be ?
Sol. Yes, easily. We speak the words, but it is God that opens our hps. We believe, but it is God that gives us grace to believe. We do the action, but God gives us grace to do it. God opened the heart of Lydia to believe, Acts xvi. 14, so that God and we meet together in the same action. We have parts, understanding, will, affections, bodies and souls. Therefore the actions are said to be ours, because God works in us as understanding creatures ; but God sets the wheel a-going, so that the actions are originally his, and ours subordinately under him, ' From me is thy fruit found.'
If so be that God and man join in one action (' From me is thy fruit found ;' as though he should say, Whatsoever thou hast or sayest that is good, it is from me ; here we see how, and why good works cannot merit, though they come from God, as all goodness doth), yet in regard they come from us too, we add some tainture thereunto from our corrupt nature. What God and Christ himself doth, is absolute and perfect, as justification ; • but what fruit he works in us, there is somewhat of the old Adam in us, which taints the beauty of the work. It is God's fruit, coming from him, and yet our fruit also, coming from us ; which being so much tainted should humble us, in that we add nothing to the truth of God's work in us, but abasement and defilement by our corruptions. ' From me (saith God) is thy fruit found,' so much as is supernaturally good ; but because our nature is not altered on the sudden, but stiU tastes of the ' old leaven,' 1 Cor. V. 7, therefore there can be no meriting of salvation by any works we do, because they are not perfectly good.
Use 1. The clearing of these points, in our judgment, theij serve to icork in US a deep humiliation, seeing that we have nothing in ourselves but stains and defilements, all that is good in us coming from God, ' From me is thy fruit found.' What is from ourselves then, if all good in us comes from God ? We are a barren and a cursed soil, nothing that is good can come from us. Even as the earth was cursed after Adam's fall, and brought forth nothing but briers and thorns, so our soul naturally is a cursed soU in