SERM.guments to our minds, and bring them to our reCCXXIII-membrance.

Fourthly, the Spirit of God may be conceived to work faith in us, by holding our minds intent upon this evidence, till it hath wrought it's effect upon us. And this I do not doubt, but the Spirit of GoD, out of his abundant grace and goodnefs to men, often doth; and I believe many men have found their minds kept intent upon fuch confiderations, as have mightily prevailed upon them, and been effectual to perfuade them to entertain and obey the gofpel; and must acknowledge that their minds were awakened by fuch confiderations, and made attentive to them, beyond their own inclinations to think upon fuch things; and in such a strange and unaccountable manner, as they cannot in reafon but attribute to fome fuperior influence, viz. to the holy Spirit of GOD.

Fifthly, by removing the impediments which hinder our effectual affent to the gofpel. And in this and the laft particular, I conceive, the work of the Spirit of GOD in the producing of faith, principally to confift; I fay in these principally, not abfolutely excluding the former. The great impediment to the belief and entertainment of the gospel, is the prejudice which the minds of men are apt to conceive against it, either upon account of their education in a contrary religion, or upon account of their lufts, or fome worldly intereft, to which the gospel is oppofite. Now these are so many bars upon the understandings of men, to keep out the truth from entering into them. The prejudice of a contrary education, is a monftrous obftacle to religion. When men have believed otherwise from their youth, and have had contrary principles implanted in them in their tender years, and have all their lives been pof

feft

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feft with contrary apprehenfions of things; the clear- SER M. eft truths that can be offered to them, come upon infinite difadvantage; their understandings are tinctured, and put falfe colours upon every thing that is reprefented to them.. And this was the cafe of the Jews, when the Meffias came; they were poffeft with prejudices against his mean appearance, and had fashioned to themselves another kind of Meffias, that fhould be a glorious temporal prince; and had been brought up in this apprehenfion; and this made therm fo invincibly obftinate against the reception of him; though the whole nation, when he came, were in expectation of him. And this was alfo the cafe of the Gentiles, when the gofpel was first preached to them, they had been educated in a contrary religion, and were poffeft with quite other apprehenfions, which made the paffage of the gofpel infinitely difficult. And I doubt not but that in the firft publifhing of the gofpel, the Spirit did remarkably work upon the minds of men, for the removing of these prejudices, and thereby making way for the entertainment of the gofpel. And though this prejudice be not now upon us in these parts of the world, who are brought up in the chriftian religion; yet the lufts and interefts of men are now great obftacles to the effectual entertainment of the gofpel; and the Spirit of GOD, doth many times eminently appear in the reftraining and conquering the lufts of men, and removing those other prejudices which hinder them from embracing the truth.

Sixthly, the last way whereby the Spirit of GoD may be faid to work in us an effectual belief of the gofpel, is by furthering, and helping forward the efficacy of this perfuafion upon our hearts and lives, in the first work of converfion and regeneration, and

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SER M. in the progreffive work of fanctification afterward; both which the fcripture doth every where attribute to the Spirit of GOD, as the author and efficient cause. The faith which "purifies the heart," and

conquers the world," and "works by love," hath this effect from the Spirit of GOD. Hence we are faid to be "fanctified by the renewing of the holy "Ghoft, and the belief of the truth," and "to be kept by the mighty power of God through faith "unto falvation."

Thus I have fhewn you, as briefly and clearly as I could, how the Spirit of GOD doth concur to the begetting of this divine faith and perfuafion in us, and consequently in what respects faith may be faid to be the gift of GOD. I fhall only draw two or three inferences from this difcourfe.

I. We may learn from hence to attribute all the good that is in us, or that we do in any kind, to GOD. Every good thing is from GOD; fo St. James tells us, that every good and perfect work comes "down even from the Father of lights." Much more are we to afcribe to the free grace of God all the revelation of fupernatural truth, which we cannot 'poffibly come to the knowledge of, unless GoD of his free grace and goodnefs be pleafed to difcover it to us. And fo likewise are we to afcribe to GOD, and the ope ration of his holy Spirit upon our hearts, 'our belief of those truths, and affent to them. Confidering the corruption and degeneracy of human nature, and the oppofition of the lufts and prejudices of men to dr vine truth, we ftand in need of the grace of God, and the operation of his Spirit upon our hearts, to bring us to a firm affent to the gofpel: for as "fresh and

blood could not reveal thefe truths to us," fo neither is it very apt to affent to them when they are reVealed.

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In the phrase of fcripture, all good is attributed SER M. to God; and all spiritual good to the holy Spirit of GOD working in us, and affifting us to the doing of it. As on the other hand, the fcripture attributes all those fins that are committed in the world, to the influence of evil Spirits. "He that committeth fin "is of the devil." And though we do not know many times, how the Spirit of GOD worketh a good inclination in us, yet it is fafe to follow the phrafe of fcripture, and to afcribe all good to GOD, as in fome way or other the author of it.

II. This doth not excufe the infidelity of men, that "faith is the gift of GOD." For though no man doth believe without fome influence of the divine Spirit upon his heart, yet this does by no means excuse those who believe not, any more than it is an excufe to the infidelity of men, that the fcripture attributes it to the devil, as in fome fort the cause of it. He is faid "to blind the eyes of them that believe "not, left the light of the glorious gofpel of CHRIST "fhould fhine unto them." But the unbelief of men is a fault for all this; because the devil cannot blind our minds, unless we consent to it: he can only fuggeft falfe principles to us: but we may chufe whether we will entertain them or not: he can only tempt us to reject the truth; but we may chufe whether we will do fo or not. In this we are faulty, because we may refift the devil, and quench or repel thofe fiery darts which he cafts into our minds: but if we will confent to his temptations, and fuffer ourselves to be blinded by him, the fault of our unbelief is our own, as well as his; and we are guilty of the infidelity. which we fuffer him to tempt us to.

So on the other hand, though "faith be the gift "of God;" yet those that believe not are faulty

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SERM. upon this account, that they quench and refift the ¡bleffed motions of God's Spirit, and the influence and operation of the Spirit of GOD, which accompany the truth of the gofpel to the minds of men, and produce their effect wherever they are not oppofed and rejected by the prejudice and perverfenefs of men.

III. Let us depend upon GOD for every good gift; and earnestly beg the affiftance and influence of his holy Spirit, which is ío neceffary to us to beget faith in us, and to preferve, and to make it effectual upon our hearts and lives. Bread is not more neceffary to the fupport of our natural life, than the holy Spirit of God to our fpiritual life.

For our encouragement to afk this gift of God's holy Spirit, our SAVIOUR hath told us, that God is very ready to bestow him upon us. No father upon earth is more ready to give bread to his children that cry after him, than God is to give his Spirit to those that heartily and earnestly beg it of him. So our SAVIOUR affures us, Luke xi. 11, 12, 13. "if a fon "shall afk bread of any of you that is a father, will "he give him a ftone? or if he afk a fifh, will he "for a fish give him a ferpent? or if he fhall afk an 66 egg, will he offer him a fcorpion? If ye then, being "evil, know how to give good gifts unto your chil"dren; how much more fhall your heavenly Father "give the holy Spirit to them that ask him?"

And now I have done with the first thing that I propounded, which was to open the nature of faith to you in general. I have been the longer upon this, because I thought it very material, and important to the fettling of right apprehenfions in us concerning religion, and divine things; and I have all along endeavoured to make things as eafy and plain as the

nature