us, fo God accepts all things we do, through his merits and and mediation for us.

FURTHERMORE, We may obferve from these words, that whatfoever we do by Chrift, it is ftill we that do it. I, faith the apoftle, can do all things through Chrift, and, through Chrift which strengthens me. He was the perfon

whom Chrift enabled to act, and he was the perfon who acted by the ability which Chrift gave him. So it is with all of us; all the good we do, we do it by Chrift's affiftance; but we are properly the agents who do it by that affiftance. As when he himself was incarnate of the bleffed Virgin,he was conceived in her by the power of the holy Ghoft overshadowing her, and yet fhe is faid to have conceived him. Behold, faith the angel unto her, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and fhalt bring forth a Son, and fbalt call his name Jefus, Luke. i. 31. So here, all holy defires, all good counfels, and all juft works come from God, being wrought in us by the power of Chrift's holy Spirit; yet nevertheleís we are the perfons who produce and act them by that power: And therefore, where our Saviour faith to his difciples, When they deliver you up, take no thought how or what you shall speak, for it shall be given you in that fame hour what you shall fpeak; for it is not you that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which fpeaketh in you, Mat. x. 19. 20. The meaning is not, that they fhould not be the perfon

person that spake; for himself saith they shall, it fhall be given you what ye shall peak; but the meaning is, that they should not speak of themselves, of their own heads; but the matter they were to fpeak, fhould be dictated and fuggefted into them by the holy Ghoft, who is there faid to speak in them; but they were to fpeak it to the people. To the fame purpose is that remarkable faying of St. Paul, By the grace of God I am what I am; and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain, but Ilaboured more abundantly than they all; yet not 1, but the grace of God which was with me, 1 Cor. xv. 10. That is, not I by my own ftrength, but by the grace of Cod: It is by that I labour more abundantly than others; it is by that I am what I am, and do what I do; but ftill it's I that am and do fo. He afcribes the glory of all he did to the grace of God, yet nevertheless he was the perfon who did it by that grace; As, altho it be the heat and influence of the fun, which by God's bleffing upon it, cauf eth the earth to fructify; yet it is the earth it Self that bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dreffed, as the apoftle speaks, Heb. vi. 7.

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NEITHER Will it feem ftrange, that we should be faid to do that which we do not by our own, but by Chrift's ftrength, if we confider that in this cafe we are not mere tools or machines; but Chrift by his holy Spirit moves upon our minds

in a way fuitable to our nature, as we are reafonable creatures, endowed with a power of dif cerning between good and evil, and of chufing the one before the other; and therefore he ufeth no violence upon us; he doth not drive, but lead us, Rom. ii. 4. he doth not force us one way or other contrary to our wills; but he difpels thofe clouds aad fogs which darken our understandings, and corrupt our judgments, and clears up our apprehenfions of good and evil, that we judge aright both of one and the other; and then freeing our wills from fuch distempers as diforder and pervert them, he influenceth and disposeth them fo, that we freely, and of our own accord, chufe the good before the evil, and fo become a willing people in the day of his power, Plal. cx. 3. willing to obferve and do whatfoever he commands. But for this we are beholden to his power, who is therefore faid to work in us to will, as well as to do, Phil. ii. 13. because it is by his grace that our wills are thus inclined to do what is good, as well as our hands empowered to do it: And therefore David prays, that God would incline his heart, faying to him, Incline my heart to thy teflimonies Pfal. cxix. 36. And accordingly, after the repetition of each commandment, we pray to God faying, Lord have mercy upon us, and incline our hearts to keep this law. And fecing Chrift is pleased thus to work upon us in a way fo agreeable to our natural conftitution; altho we can do nothing but

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by his grace and power, yet whatsoever we do, we are the perfons who do it, and who do it as men, as understanding and free agents, with the whole bent and inclination of our own wills, and fo make it our own act; as it is faid of Lidia, That God opened her heart, that she attended to what was spoken by Paul, Acts. xvi. 14. God opened her heart, and then fhe herself attended and embraced the truth. So in the text, altho St. Paul was tenfible that whatsoever he did, he did it only by the ftrength of Chrift, yet he doth not fay Chrift doth all things by me, but, I my felf can do all things by Christ which Strengtheneth me.

AND hence it is that God is graciously pleafed for his Son's fake to accept of what we do, as done by us, because tho we do it not by our own ftrength, but his, yet it is we that do it; and altho we are fo far from meriting any thing at his hands by what we do, that we are more beholden to him than he is to us for it; yet howfoever upon the account of what Chrift hath meritted for us, he of his infinite mercy is pleafed to recompence all the good we do, with a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory. This we may be affured of, as St. Paul was, when he faid, I have fought a good fight, I have finished my courfe, I have kept the faith: All this he did through Chrift which strengthened him: And then he adds, From henceforth is Jaid up for me a crown of righteousness, which

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the Lord, the righteous Fudge shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but to them alfo that love his appearing, 2 Tim. iv. 7, S. And fo on the other fide, if any of us fail in our duty to God, we must bear the blame and the punishment too: For feeing Chrift's grace is fufficient for us all, and none of us but may, if we will, do all things neceffary to our falvation through him; if there be any fuch thing which we do not, it is not because we cannot, but because we will not do it, and fo the fault is wholly in our felves, in the obftinacy and perverfenefs of our wills, and therefore we juftly deferve to be punished for it. This the gofpel reprefents to us under the fimilitude of a tree, that hath all things neceffary to make it fruitful, and yet continues barren, or doth not bring forth good fruit. Now alfo, faith St. John the baptift, even now, that the Son of righteousness is rifen upon the world; now the ax is laid to the rout of the trees, therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit, is bewen down and caft into the fire, Mat. iii 10. And in the parable of the fig-tree which a man planted in his vineyard, and finding no fruit upon it for three years. together, in which it fhould have borne tome, He faid to the dreffer of the vineyard, cut it down, why cumbereth it the ground; and he anfwering faid, Lord, let it alone this year also till I fall dig about it and dung it, ( and fo do every thing that may make it bear:) and Z

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