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doctrine of divine grace, sometimes lay down such grounds of self-diffidence, as are very favourable to it, and evidently tend to prove the necessity of it. They own sometimes, in very strong terms, the necessity of distrusting the most promising good impressions. There is a remarkable passage to this purpose, in the writings of a celebrated modern author well versed in the moral writings of the ancients. His words are, But alas! the misfor

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tune of youth, and not of youth merely, but of • human nature, is such, that it is a thousand times 'easier to frame the highest ideas of virtue and goodness, than to practise the least part. And perhaps this is one of the chief reasons why virtue is so ill practised; because the impressions 'which seem so strong at first are too far relied on. We are apt to think, that what appears so fair, and strikes us so forcibly, at the first view, will surely hold with us. We launch forth into spe

'culation, and after a time, and see how slowly practice

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when we look back, comes up to it, we

are the sooner led to despondency, the higher we had carried our views before.' Here it is owned, that the motives to goodness may have considerable effects on men's minds without rectifying the prevalent dispositions of their hearts; and that, without having that effect, they may strike very forcibly, and make impressions which seem at first very strong. Though such impressions of goodness as he describes, are not the easiest things in the world, he affirms that it is a thousand times more difficult to practise the least part. It is evident, that a culpable weakness or perverseness, which defeats so promising impressions, and ideas of goodness which strike so very forcibly, affords strong arguments against that self-confidence that excludes dependence on divine grace. The author affirms that so bad success in the pursuit of goodness tends to despondency. It must of course, tend to make men

VOL. II.

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quit the pursuit. This shews how desirable, yea how needful it is, to have so powerful a preservative against despair of success, as the prospect of those powerful aids that are sufficient for surmounting all difficulties. It may perhaps be objected, that the passage just now cited treats only of the highest degrees of goodness. But though the be ginning of the passage speaks of the highest ideas of goodness, what follows about the inefficacy of the most promising impressions, seems plainly to be affirmed of the practice of goodness in general.

SECTION IV.

Of Divine supernatural Operations, and Mistakes concerning them.

TH

HEY who duly consider the danger of extremes, especially in the concerns of religion, must observe, that there are two extremes relating to the efficacy of second causes, which have a very bad influence on men's minds, in inquiries of the greatest importance. The one is, an unreasonable propensity to imagine divine interposition in things that are really the effects of the course of nature, acting in a constant dependence on the Deity: the other is, an excessive fondness for accounting for every thing by the natural efficacy of second causes, without admitting any immediate divine interposition whatever. The first of these extremes, is oft-times the occasion of various sorts of superstition and enthusiasm; and the other of more direct impiety.

Some speculative men, who set no bounds to the love of accounting for every thing, are strongly biassed against the doctrine of grace, as clashing

with their favourite prejudices. They are disgusted at a doctrine which ascribes to the First Cause, a manner of operation, in producing holiness and happiness, so unsuitable, as they imagine, to his manner of operation in his other works; and to the order that obtains hoth in the material and intellectual world. They seem to imagine, that in all the other divine works, every thing, without exception, happens merely according to a natural course, or according to the efficacy of second causes, operating suitably to general established laws, while the Deity only preserves these laws and the creatures governed by them. The doctrine of grace, appears to those men disagreeable to reason, as interfering with the uniformity of the divine works. And whereas the efficacy of grace is sometimes termed supernatural, because it exceeds the natural energy of second causes, sometimes people annex to that word several wrong notions, which strengthen their prejudices against the thing intended by it. They seem to imagine, that supernatural operation denotes such effects, and such a manner of working, as is unsuitable to the frame of human nature: and reverses the established order of nature as to the connection between causes and effects. It is proper therefore to make some remarks on supernatural operation, or immediate divine interposition in general, which will illustrate several important properties of the operations of grace, and shew that the prejudices. in view are ill founded.

It is of importance to observe, that supernatural operation does not imply a reversing of any of the established laws of nature. When people imagine all supernatural operation to be unsuitable to the perfection of the divine works, they seem to confound two things that are very different; namely, the reversing the order of the laws of nature, and changing the state or disposition of natural objects.

The state or disposition of natural objects may be changed by the First Cause, without any greater alteration of the laws of nature, than when such changes are produced in any object by external second causes, and particularly by free agents. Thus, for instance, when men turn a river into a new channel, though they are said to change its natural course, the motion of that power, after that change, is really as natural, or as suitable to the laws of nature, as before; though the change be an effect, which there was nothing in the nature of the river itself sufficient to produce. In like manner, it is evident, that the First Cause can easily work good and useful alterations in the state or disposition of various sorts of creatures, without any alteration of the laws of nature, or even any total alteration on the nature or disposition of these creatures themselves. Thus even in hearts void of holiness, the Deity can easily restrain wickedness, by good impressions contradicting particular corrupt passions; or turning some hurtful passions, such as anger and wrath, into kindness and goodwill, Gen. xxxii. In such a case, though these good impressions would not have happened without external interposition, yet may they operate afterwards in a natural way, in producing considerable good effects, such as the fruits of kind affection and goodwill, instead of those of anger or hatred.

These things shew, that supernatural operations in general, and consequently the operations of grace, do not imply a reversing of the laws of nature. This will be more evident in considering. afterwards the Scripture-account of the manner of these operations, and of the means that are subservient to them. But it may be proper first to take a view of those effects that are the main design of them. And here it may not be amiss to observe, what is the import of the word natural, according

to the best meaning of it, when it is opposed to what is unnatural, and is distinguished from the corruption of nature. According to this use of the word, it is evident that those things are said to be most natural, which are most suitable to the nature of things, and particularly to the plain scope or end of the structure of our own nature, or most subservient to the highest perfection of which it is capable. Taking words in this sense, that corruption which divine grace opposes, and is designed to root out, is the most unnatural thing in the world. It is proper to observe this, because, though the use of words be arbitrary, yet the ambiguity of expressions concerning what is natural or according to nature, sometimes occasions hurtful misconstructions, and is made a handle of to bad purposes.

If the things which distinguish our nature from inferior natures, should be considered as the principal things in our structure and frame, then it is certain, that the main things in our own nature, as well as every part of the nature of things about us, point out that to be our chief end and highest perfection which the Scripture represents to us as such. This is evident from the bright display that every thing in nature gives us of the glory and goodness of its author, the distinguishing capacity which the rational soul has of knowing, loving and enjoying him, together with its incapacity of happiness in any thing else; the native tendency of all the divine works and benefits to excite due acknowledgments of the all-powerful and wise Creator, and the infinitely kind Benefactor, and that conscience which teaches us to consider him as the moral Governor of the world, and remonstrates to us the infinite obligations we are under in point of justice, gratitude, and interest, to adhere to him as the source of all good, on whom we have so absolute a dependence. These things, if duly considered,

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