be drawn half way to Chrift, and return again. So it was with Agrippa, Acts xxvi. 28. ev oλyw μe weides, within a very little, thou perfuadeft me to be a Chriftian: But in God's elected ones, it is effectual: * Their wills are not only almoft, but altogether perfuaded to embrace Christ, and quit the ways of fin, how pleasant, gainful, and dear foever they have been to them. The Lord not only draws, but draws home those fouls to Christ, John vi. 37. "All that the Father hath given me, fhall come

"to me."

It is confeffed, that in drawing home of the very elect to Christ, there may be, and frequently are, many paufes, ftands, and demurs; they have convictions, affections, and refolutions ftirring in them, which, like early bloffoms, feem to be nipt and die away again. There is frequently, (in young ones efpe. cially), an hopeful appearance of grace; they make confcience of avoiding fins, and performing duties: they have fometimes great awakenings under the word, they are obferved to retire for meditation and prayer; and delight to be in the company of Christians and after all this, youthful lufts and vanities are found to stifle and choak thefe hopeful beginnings, and the work seems to stand, (it may be some years), at a paufe; however, at laft, the Lord makes it victorious over all opposition, and fets it home with power upon their hearts.

:

Fifthly, To conclude, thofe whom the Father draws to Chrift, he draws them finally and for ever. "The gifts and "calling of God are without repentance," Rom. xi. 29.: they are fo, as to God the giver; he never repents that he hath cal led his people into the fellowship of his Son Chrift Jefus: and they are fo on the believer's part; he is never forry, whatever he afterwards meets with, that he is come to Christ.

There is a time when Chriftians are drawn to Chrift, but there fhall never be a time in which they shall be drawn away from Chrift, John x. 29. There is no plucking them out of the Father's hand. It was common to a proverb, in the primi tive times, when they would exprefs an impoffibility, to fay, "You may as foon draw a Chriftian from Chrift, as do it." When Chrift afked that queftion of the difciples, "Will ye "alfo go away? Lord, (faid Peter, in the name of them all), to whom shall we go? Thou haft the words of eternal life,”

*Suafion is the act of one ufing endeavours; perfuafion the act of an efficient caufe. He ufes fuafion, who gives advice; perfuafion is the deed of him who determines a man to what he pleafes. Eraf

mus.

John vi. 68. They are thus drawn, do with full purpose of heart, cleave unto the Lord. And thus of the manner and quality of effectual drawing.

Thirdly, In the last place, I am to evince the impoffibility of coming to Chrift without the Father's drawings: and this will evidently appear upon the confideration of these two parti

culars.

First, The difficulty of this work is above all the power of

nature to overcome.

Secondly, That little power and ability that nature hath, it will never employ to fuch a purpose as this; till the drawing power of God be upon the will of a finner.

Firft, If all the power of nature were employed in this defign, yet fuch are the difficulties of this work, that it furmounts all the abilities of nature. This the fcripture very plainly affirms, Epb. ii. 8. "By grace are ye faved through faith, and "that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God." To think of Chrift is eafy, but to come to Chrift, is, to nature, impoffible: To fend forth cold and ineffectual wishes to Chrift we may, but to bring Chrift and the foul together, requires the almighty power of God, Eph. i. 19. The grace of faith by which we come to Chrift, is as much the free gift of God, as Christ himfelf, who is the object of faith, Phil. i. 29. "To you it is freely given to believe." And this will eafily appear to your un derstandings, if you do but confider

Subject

The Act, and of this work of faith, or coming to Christ,

Enemies

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First, Confider the fubject of faith in which it is wrought; or what it is that is drawn to Chrift: It is the heart of a finner which is naturally as indifpofed for this work, as the wood which Elijah laid in order upon the altar, was to catch fire, when he had poured fo much water upon it, as did not only wet the wood, but also filled up the trench round about it, I Kings xviii. 33. For it is naturally a dark, blind, and ignorant, heart, Job. xi. 12. And fuch an heart can never believe, till he that commanded the light to fhine out of darkness do fhine into it, 2 Cor. V. 14.

Nor will it avail any thing to fay, though man be born in darknefs and ignorance, yet afterwards he may acquire knowledge in the use of means, as we fee many natural men do to a very high degree: For this is not that light that brings the foul to Christ, yea, this natural, unfanctified light blinds the foul, and

prejudices it more against Christ than ever it was before, 1 Cor, i. 21, 26.

As it is a blind ignorant heart, fo it is a felfifh heart by na, ture: All its designs and aims terminate in felf: this is the cen ter and weight of the foul; no righteoufnefs but its own is fought after, that, or none, Rom. x. 3. Now, for a foul to renounce and deny felf, in all its forms, modes, and interests, as every one doth that cometh to Chrift; to disclaim and deny natural, moral, and religious felf, and come to Christ, as a poor, miferable, wretched, empty creature; to live upon his righteoufnefs for ever, is as fupernatural and wonderful, as to fee thethills and mountains start from their bafes and centres, and fly likę wandering atoms in the air.

Nay, this heart which is to come to Chrift, is not only dark and felfish, but full of pride. O it is a defperate proud heart by nature, it cannot submit to come to Chrift, as Benhadad's fervants came to the king of Ifrael, with fackcloth on their loins, and ropes upon their heads. To take guilt, fhame, and confufion of face to ourselves, and acknowledge the righteoufnels of God in our eternal damnation; to come to Chrift naked, and empty, as one that juftifies the ungodly: I fay, nature left to itfelf, would as foon be damned as do this: the proud heart can never come to this, till the Lord have humbled and broken it by his power.

Secondly, Let us take the act of faith into confideration alfo, as it is here defcribed by the foul's coming to Jefus Chrift; and you will find a neceffity of the Father's drawings; for this evidently implies, that which is against the stream and current of corrupt nature, and that which is above the sphere and capacity of the most refined and accomplished nature.

First, It is against the ftream and current of our corrupt nature to come to Chrift. For let us but confider the term from which the foul departs, when it comes to Chrift. In that day it leaves all its lutts, and ways of fin, how pleafant, sweet, and profitable foever they have been unto it, Ifa. Iv. 7. "Let the

wicked forfake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, * and let him return unto the Lord :" Way and thoughts, i. e. both the practice of and delight he had in fin, must be forfaken, and the outward and inward man must be cleanfed from it. Now there are in the bofoms of unregenerate men fuch darling Jafts, that have given them fo much practical and speculative pleafure, which have brought fo much profit to them; which have been born and bred up with them; and which, upon all these accounts, are endeared to their fouls to that degree, that

it is easier for them to die, than to forfake them: yea, nothing is more common among fuch men, than to venture eternal damnation, rather than fuffer a feparation from their fins.

And which is yet more difficult in coming to Chrift, the foul forfakes not only its finful felf, but its righteous felf: i. e. not only its worst fins, but its belt performances, accomplishments, and excellencies. Now this is one of the greatest straits that nature can be put to: Righteousness, by works, was the drft liquor that ever was put into the veffel, and it ftill retains the tang and favour of it, and will to the end of the world, Rom. x. 3. "For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going "about to establish their own righteousnefs, have not fubmit"ted themselves unto the righteou!nefs of God." #teraynoav, they have not fubmitted: To come naked and empty to Christ,' and receive all from him as a free-gift, is, to proud corrupt nature, the greateft abasement and fubmiffion in the world.

Let the gospel furnish its table with the richest and costliest dainties that ever the blood of Chrift purchased, fuch is the pride of nature, that it disdains to taffe them, except it may also pay for the fame. If the old hive be removed from the place where it was wont to stand, the bees will come home to the old place, yea, and many of them you fhall find will die there, rather than go to the hive, though it ftand in a far better place than it did before. Just fo ftands the cafe with men. The hive is removed, i. e. we are no more to expect righteousness as Adam did, by obeying and working, but by believing and coming to Chrift; but nature had as lieve be damned as do this: It ftill goes about to establish its own rigteousnefs.

Virtues, duties, and moral excellencies, thefe are the orna ments of nature; here is nature fet off in its fumptuous attire, and rich embellishments, and now to renounce it, difclaim and contemn it, as dross and dung, in comparison of Christ, as be lievers do, Phil. iii. 8. This, I fay, is against the grain of nature. We reckon it the strange effect of felf-denial in Mahomet the Great *, who being fo enamoured with his beautiful Irene, would be perfuaded, upon reafons of flate, with his own hand to strike off her head; and that, even when she appeared in all. her rich ornaments before him, rather like fuch a goddess, as the poets in their extafies use to feign, than a mortal créature. And yet certainly this is nothing to that felf-denial which is exercifed in our coming to Christ.

Secondly, And if we look to the other term to which the foul

Knolles Hiftory of the Turks.

moves, we shall find it acting as much above the fphere and ability of improved nature, as here it acts and moves against the ftream and current of corrupted nature for how wonderful and fupernatural an adventure is that, which the foul makes in the day that it comes to Jefus Christ.

Surely, for any poor foul to venture itself for ever upon Jesus Chrift, whom it never faw, nay, upon Chrift, whofe very exiftence, its own unbelief calls in question whether he be or no: and that when it is even weighed down to the dust, with the burdenfome fenfe of its own vilenefs and total unworthiness, feeling nothing in itself but fin and mifery, the workings of death and fears of wrath: to go to Chrift, of whofe pardoning grace and mercy it never had any the least experience, nor can find any ground of hope in itself that it fhall be accepted; this is as much above the power of nature, as it is for a stone to rife from the earth, and fix itself among the stars. Well might the apoftle afcribe it to that almighty Power which raised up Chrift from the dead, Eph. i. 19, 20. If the Lord draw not the foul, and that omnipotently, it can never come from itself to Chrift. And yet farther,

Thirdly, The natural impoffibility of coming to Chrift, will more clearly appear, if we confider the enemies to faith; or what blocks are rolled by Satan and his inftruments, into the way to Chrift: to mention, in this place, no more but our own carnal reafon, as it is armed and managed by the fubtilty of Satan, what a wonder is it that any foul should come to Christ?

These are the strong holds, (mentioned 2 Cor. x. 4 ) out of which those objections, fears, and difcouragements fally, by which the foul is fiercely affaulted in the way to Christ.

Wilt thou forfake all thy pleafures, merry company, and fenfible comforts, to live a fad, retired, penfive life? Wilt thou beggar and undo thyfelf, let go all thy comforts in hand, for an hope of that which thine eyes never faw, nor haft thou any certainty that it is any more than a fancy? Wilt thou that haft lived in reputation and credit all thy life, now become the fcorn and contempt of the world? Thinkeft thou thyself able to live fuch a ftrict, fevere, mortified, and felf-denying a life, as the word of God requires? And what if perfecution fhould arife, (as thou mayeft expect it will), canft thou forfake father and mother, wife and children, yea, and give up thine own life too, to a cruel and bloody death! be advised better, before thou refolve in fo. important a matter. What thinkeft thou of thy forefathers, that lived and died in that way thou art now living? Art thou wifer than they? Do not the generality of men walk in the fame