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waves and said, Hither ge Mall go, and no further ? Saul when he is breathing out of Naughters", and making havock of the . Church, even then he becomes a Paul. When the soul is even ripe for Judgement, then mercy shines out upon it. And that which would seem the moft reasonable time for vengeance, is made a blessed opportunity of Chewing mercy. 4. Consider the eficacious and overçowering work of

grace. he iuft force thee to be happy, and neceffitate thee to salvation, and compell thee to come in. li is not enough to provide the means bue he nyft Atrongly apply them ; unless the arm of the Lord be reveald, there's none will believe our report.

be thou cam't occasionally to hear a Serhion ; well, God hath the two-edged (word in his own hand; he brandill's the glittering sword, he fought againt thee, he wounded thee, and frighted thee out of thy lins. Well, thoú wenrelt

away

wich groans, and fighs, and tears; like a Hart ftuck with an arrow, panting and breathing, and fain would have some refreshment; Ere long he met with a faithful Messenger, and sent thee some balm from Gilead; he began to let io Come of his love to thy roul, and to cheer thee with Gospel Cordiats, and were they not all bought with the riches of free grace?or-it may be thou cam'ft into a Church with a mind, to smile ac Religion, to laugh at goodness , to mock at Piecy; or else to guesse the best : hou cameltofor flowers, and not for fruit , to crop an Elegancy, lo take acquaintance of a Nation, or fine expression; us be once to here an eloquent Ambrose. Thou cam'it for a bait, but meei'it with an hook,and 'was happy for thee that thou werı so caughr; thou thought't only to see the flourishing of the sword, but thou felt'At the edge ofic, and 't was well for thee that thou wert so wounded.

5. Remember the manner how he thus wrought upon thee:it may be it was win lofter and gentler impressions, in a winning,

a in a melting way: he drew thee with the cords of a man, and fweetly diffolv'd thy itony heart,'Tis true,che Law had its work and ftruck thee with ţhe flaming edge of a curse, but the Gospel presently brought oil and powr'd it into the wounded spirit. The love of Christ was the powerful Suada:Heavens Rhetorick: there was DemQ/thenes his double Deity in it, wala and dydyxm,

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it constrain'd chee to obedience : And was it not mercy to be dealt withall in lo mild a way? Well but what if thou wert a more knotty and obdurate piece, and it was not a litile matter would rame thy unruly spirit ? God came in a more victorious and triumphant manner, and led Capeivity captive, when he gave gifts unto thy soul. He was fain to batier down frong holds, and bring to the ground towering imaginations. Thou hadft a rockly and finty lpirit,and was not his word an Hammer? did not he cake it into his own hand?he (mote the kcny rock indeed, so as the waters guled out : Well, and had he no bowels all the while ? was it not abundance of mercy to take pains with such an obftinate finner ? Refer it you to wliat you will, we'l put it under the head of free grace.

6.Thick upon those mountains of opposition that were bearen down when this goodly fabrick of the Temple went up with the thoutings and acclamations of free grace. The ftrorg man was disposielt, all the plots and fratagems of Satan were fruftrated. God crutht his designs, and blafted his enterprises, and broke his spares, and rescu'd thee out of the paw of the Lion.' 'Twas

' m.ch love and grace to set a filly bird out of the soare, to ransom a poor captive, to break the chain, and beat off the irons, o disentagle a soul, and set it at liberty. And then he armet thee againft the disgraces and trowns of the world, and forti. fied thee againft the (miles and blandishments of the world, and carried thee again the potent ftreams of examples, which all ran another way:free grace hid thy soul under the shadow of ics wings.

7. Haft thou not fresh supplies of free grace flowing in conii. bually upon chy soul, and maintaining it to all eternity ? If God in this new creation had given thee', as he did at the first, a ltock of grace, and left it to thine own improvement, thou would'At have spent it immediately: Thou haft somewhat of free grace, every moment of thy spiritual being. God feeds and preferves the humidum radicale of the soul, or else it would quickly walte away. He sends chee in rich influences and auxiliary forces and keeps thee by his mighty power through faith unto, Cala vatjon, 1 : And this is no small work of grace, Conservatio, you know, 'çis continuata creatio. 8. Compare thy self with those that have had none of all this .

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kindness showo unto theni, such as God hath left to themselves in the severity of his juftice, and this will set a goodly gloss upon free grace.

1. Many of them are such as have improv'd their present Atrength far better. Many Heathens have liv'd more accurately and exa&ly then some Christians in their voregenerate condicion, and yet one out of all ordinary possibility of salvation, and the others efficacioudly called. He may do with his own what he will, and he hath mercy on whom he will have mercy. Thus Publicans are before Pharisees and swelling Justitiaries: that free grace may be more apparent and conspicuous.

2. Some bave desired more frength, and in their way pray'd for it too, and it may be have had the prayers of others too and

gone

without it; but thou hast not called upon me, 0 Jacob; I was found of thee, when tbou sougbteft me not.

3. He past by men of nofi admirable endowments,moft care accomplishments, that in all probability would have done him a great deal more honourable service, then thou are like to do.' Would not an Aristotle have made a glorious Convert and fillid the world full of Divinity as he did of Philosophy? but God palsech by these fately Cedars of Lebanon, and choosech a few contemptible Shrubs, and this is the good will of him that dwelt in the bush; he hath chosen the town orta, the meer non entia of the world, to bring to nought the things that are,

So, that if thou look to the fountain, or the streams,or the corveigbances, you met with nothing but free grace.

Fourthly, I mighe draw an head of arguments,d Minori ad Ma. jus, common and restraining grace is free grace,how much more justifying and saveing grace, chat one is not so bad as another, is meer grace,

&c. This truth is full of use: Richly laden with fruit, if we had cime to gather it : Ple pue point at it.,

vse. Let none dare to abuso che grace of God, to fill mali. gnant and venomous consequencies out of so sweet and flowry a cruth. Cum gratia Dei fit mellea, ne comedas eam totam. Ther's

. none but love to hear of free grace; O this is soft and downy Do&rine , a Glken truth : O’tis a gentle breath that fans the Coul, and gives it sweet refreshment. O'tis a pleasant thing to ft under the Shadow of free grace, and fee Gods goodness

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ftreaming out before thee! But take head who e're thou art, of turning this grace of God into wantonness; and know, that Pris free grace in another sense too: God may take'r away when - he pleasech, chou know'st not which is the last offer: Believe it, he that negle&s this very present offer, ventures éteroity. And know withall, that as there are more liberal aspersions of grace in time of the Gospel, so there are larger viols of wrath too. Vinegar you know 'cis 1997) filius vini ; and the sweetest wine degenerates into the sharpeit vinegar. Grace abus'd, turns to fury. Whac, co fin against God, because he is good ? therefore to offend him, because he is merciful to multiply iniquities, because he blows them out for his own sake ? to kick against bowels of mercy, and to rebel against the golden Scepter, when 'tis ftrectht out, and motions of reconciliation propounded? truly this will be the very sting of hell, the Emphasis of damnation, this will hear the furnace seven times hotter: 'twill teach the worm that never dies to gnaw more cruelly, and put new kings into the eternal Scorpions : 'cwill prepare faming ingredients for the cup of wrath, and fill it up to the very brim. O how faia would'At thou then change places in hell with a Turk, or an Infidel, and be ambitious of ordinary damnation. But truly there is no ftronger

argument againft fin to an ingenuous spirit, then free grace. Because God is so prone to pardon, therefore the foul is so loath to displease.

THE

Here have been such noble and generous sprits in

some of the people of God, that they have been TA

frequent in such enquirys as these: What shall we render to the Lord for all his mercies ? And, what (hall we return him for all his goodness 2

And he in the Prophet Micab ( though he be

of a different temper from these yet he seemesh to be very solicitous and desirous to know what he should bring unto the Lord.For thus you may hear him fpeak in the sixth of Micab:Wherewith (saich hehall I appear before the Lord? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of Rams,&c?No,faith the Prophet : He katb seeped thee,o man,wbat is good, and what doth the Lord require of thee,but that thou should' t do jušily,&c. He hath Mewed thee, O man, wobat is good, and what doth the Lord require of thee, buc that thou should't give him thine heart, and that thou shouldeft love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy itrength. And therefore he here asks it of thee, by 7, nn, My Sonne, give me thine heart.

These words are spoken by Solomon, but not in his own Name, It had been too much for Solomon to have aske it for