Chapter 1

CHAP. I.

1. God acts upon the creature first, and not the creature first upon God. 2. The Lord's dominion of influences on free will. 3. Nor are we to be idle and sleep, because the Lord is Master of his own influences. 4. The Lord commands not us to have, or want influences. 5. Influences are not our warrant to act, but the efficient cause thereof.

Here much has been said of the sovereignty of the Lord in divine influences. Now are we to speak of the way of getting these influences, and of the necessity of them, and how we may fetch the wind.

1. By natural actings.

2. By supernatural actings; by the word and promise.

3. By the efficient causes of influences, especially by the Spirit. Hence the division of influences.

1. By the infused habit of grace.

2. By spiritual dispositions.

In all which our faith, praying, using of grace, have their several influences.

What we may do to fetch heavenly influences from God, is above my reach to determine: only let these propositions be considered.

Prop. 1. God by order of nature first acts upon the creature, and gives his stirring up influence to it. We cannot, in genere causae physicae, first breath upon God; he prevenes the Sun, and the Sun rises or rises not, as the Lord pleases to act upon it; but no second causes do prevene the first or universal cause: the Sun and Heaven do act first upon the Rose, but the Rose does not first act upon the Sun and Heaven (Job 37:7). He seals up the hand of every man that all men may know his works, &c. By the breath of God frost is given; this shows that the host of creatures in Heaven and in Earth, and the Sea are all dead passive sleepy cyphers and can do nothing, if the Lord does not stir them. God must be Father, Lord, and Author of all created actings, and faith would without carefulness or unbelief commit all to so wise a steersman; though (Philippians 4:6) the Sea shall drown me, the Fire consume me, the Air suffocate me; yet I desire to hear and obey that, Be careful in nothing, but pray (Matthew 6). I shall perish for want (ver. 25), Take no thought. They will kill me, if I confess Christ; Fear not (Matthew 10:28, 29), your Father cares for two sparrows and for every hair of your head. O but the Ship I am in is a sinking. Why are you fearful (Matthew 8:26)? waken Christ by praying; ah, my little daughter is dead, Fear not, only believe (Mark 5:36); ah they shall deliver us to synagogues and prisons, and bring us before Kings, and all men shall hate us for Christ's sake. True: But there shall not one hair of your head perish; its but our unbelief which sees God suffering all to roll and reel as Fortune, Nature, and Devils will, which makes us sinfully care; for the Lord and Father of Christ cannot vace, and Christ's not working is contrary to John 5:17, but all are in a good hand.

Obj. But Heman says (Psalm 88:13), In the morning shall my prayer prevent you, so the word [〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉] in piel, antecessit, antevert it, praeoccupavit, anticipavit; its to go before in time, in earliness (Psalm 119:148), Mine eyes prevent the night watch. Deuteronomy 23:4, The Amalekites prevented you not with bread; its to go before in place (Psalm 68:26), The singers went before; its strange that any prayer could prevent God.

Ans. Not properly, he says himself (Job 41:11), Who has prevented me (the same word) that I should repay him? Then our preventing of God should lay some debt upon God, which is impossible; and as Paul observes (Romans 11:35), [〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉]; who gave him first? Therefore 1. He speaks (Psalm 88) of God after the manner of men, as if Heman, in a manner, were more early up in the morning to pray than the Lord were ready to hear; the contrary whereof is true; as if Heman's early praying wakened God (Psalm 44:23), Awake, why sleepest you? 2. There is a preventing of God as a Deliverer and a Comforter; God's order is, that our praying makes an impulsion and stirring on the Lord first, and then he delivers and comforts (Psalm 24:6; Psalm 18:6, 7, & 16), and so in order to comfort and deliverance in genere mediorum moralium prayer wakens Heaven and puts the Lord a working; but as touching the order of real and physical actings, the Lord prevents us: the string of the Harp or Viol is not said to touch the hand of the Musician, but the Musician's hand touches the string, hence is music. Nor does the Axe stir and lift up the arm of the Carpenter, but the Carpenter's arm lifts up the Axe: therefore they who teach that our prayer and the actings of our free will can, and may prevent grace, in place of preventing grace, give us nature and the creature preventing God: we read of the Father drawing us, and the Son with the odour of his ointments drawing sinners; but to teach that nature prevents grace is to say we are before and above God: whereas the Rose warms not the Sun, but the Sun warms and nourishes the Rose; and the corn and herbs do not refresh the Heaven and the Clouds, but Heaven and Clouds nourish and refresh the corn and grass; and it must be untoward and froward divinity that the sick man heals the Physician. It is the grace (to speak so) of the Lord's free grace that the Lord prevents us, not we him; its impossible that nature can prevent grace.

Prop. 2. Though the Lord's promise and his free decree has tyed himself (in a manner) to be prevented by a moral cause; yet that moral cause even the praying man stirs not until God first prevent him to pray. Hence the Lord moves and wheels about the heart and will of the man, who is most free and most absolute among all the sons of men, even the King (Proverbs 21:1), and that not if the King will and say amen with his prior or former or collateral consent, but whithersoever Jehovah will. Hence our prayers that God would incline our hearts to his testimonies (Psalm 119:36), not incline the heart to any evil thing (Psalm 141:4), unite the heart to fear his name (Psalm 86:11). So Jacob prays the Lord would give his sons favor in the eyes of the Governor of Egypt a heathen man as to him: (Esther and her maids pray for grace in the eyes of Ahasuerus,) see Genesis 43:14: "The Lord Almighty give you mercy before the man." If God could not indeclinably bow the will to his own way, side, or end, (be it by antecedent predetermination or what way else you shall call it, so the Lord be the more Master of willing and nilling than the creature) but in so doing he should destroy free will; we should in all such petitions pray for the destroying of free will, where sure, we pray for perfecting and the sanctified bowing of free will to obey God. 2. If the dominion of free acts remain strongly in the creature's power, we must in these suits (incline my heart to your testimonies) (lead us not into temptation) pray the Lord for that which is not in his power to give. 3. If God do carry free will whithersoever he pleases, then we must not defer the only praise of our obedience, and of our victory over temptations, to the grace of God, but to free will which made the discriminating difference. 1. Hence we are to commit our free will to the Lord's dominion of grace, and not to believe that such a tottering goddess as free will which has lost and destroyed Angels and the first man Adam, can guide well enough; yes, 2. we are to bless the Lord for that impotency (if so it may be called) that the sovereign Lord's heavenly influences are not in the creature's coffers, to be husbanded by the creature; how false is it that Christ has bought free will to himself. 3. How sweet is it that our head Christ, and we in him are more masters of men's hatred and favor, than they are themselves (Proverbs 3:1, 4; Psalm 106:46), for would enemies and haters show us favor and love, if they were absolute Masters and Lords of their own hatred and love? Not at all; we must thank and bless an higher hand than such men. 4. Should we pray more, we should be more rained upon in our withered condition, by showers of influences of grace.

Object. By your way we cannot pray for influences, except the Lord bestow on us other foregoing influences.

Answ. What follows but that we are to pray that we may pray, and that we are to pray for our own prayers that they may be steeled with faith and strength of grace; and David prays for his own prayers (Psalm 5:2; Psalm 28:2; Psalm 88:2; Psalm 141:2). 2. Would the Objector relish prayers without influences of grace? Can nature pray in the Holy Ghost? Can Christ intercede for the accepting of nature's work?

Prop. 3. Because God only is Lord and Master of free will and of the actings of all creatures, we are not to be idle, and upon that account to act nothing; for then should not the husbandman plow, sow, and labor; for God only is Lord and Master of the actings of the husbandman; and without the influences and blessing from on high, the husbandman's labors from the beginning of the year to the end, were no better than to plant vine-trees in the bottom of the river Euphrates, or to sow barley or wheat in the ocean sea. And so should the seaman never sail; for God only can create winds and tide, and God only is Master of the ebbing and flowing of the sea, and of sailing, and of right steering of the vessel; for since the Lord declares not his mind on the contrary, by forbidding men to pray, and others to plow and sail. 2. Since the Lord offers no positive violence to hinder these actings; and 3. because he commands us to do them, it becomes us to set to work, and to act with and under him, and to commit the event and blessing to him. Indeed, if the Lord were so Lord of our actings, as he did all and whole the work, and we did act nothing at all in praying, yes and in plowing, but were mere dead and useless patients, as Libertines dream, something might follow to justify our idleness; but our corruption following Satan teaches us either to sacrifice to our own net, and say vainly, either we do all, and God does nothing, and so we darken his glory who works all our works in us, and for us, or then we say on the other extreme we do nothing, and God does all; and therefore must we say let God pray, labor the earth, trade and sail, and put our hand in our bosom and sleep? But the former is sacrilege and idolatry, and robs the Lord of his glory, and the latter is proclaimed disobedience; yes, and whether the influence of God antecedently master the creature's actings, or we jointly and collaterally be mastered and determined by the creature, we are in both cases to act and do what is good, and are not to make God's influence our rule of doing, or not doing.

Prop. 4. Hence to have, or not to have the influence of God, is not commanded in the Word nor have we any physical power over the Lord's acts of omnipotency; for we do not formally love God and keep his commandments, in a way commendable (if we speak of the moral cause of obedience) because he works in us both to will and to do, but because he has commanded us to love him, and to keep his commandments (John 14:15; Psalm 119:4, 5, 6).

Hence 1. The Libertine is blasphemously wide, the creature can do (says he) nothing good or evil, God works all sin, all obedience immediately in us; it is in vain to read, pray, hear the word, meditate, confer, or go about works of reforming abuses in religion, because all these are to no purpose, without the Spirit. 2. We are not to do anything, because God in his word has commanded us to do it, but because the Spirit immediately acts in us to do, and immediate impulsion of the Spirit is now instead of the Law and of the word of God, either written or preached; but this is a wicked confounding of the efficient real cause and the strength of which we obey, with the objective cause and morally directing, commanding and persuading rule according to which we are to regulate and order our obedience. Yes, and children can contradict this who know that the Mason who employs his strength to build, must be differenced from the Mason's Rule and the Art, plummet and line according to which he works: for otherwise it is all one as to say the power or faculty visive of seeing were light were colours that are seen, and the soldier's force and strength of apprehending a man, and Law and justice according to which they do it, were all one. A gracious soul does all acts of obedience upon the account of a command of God, and fetches his moral and godly delight from the command of God: the facility and strength of doing is indeed from the Spirit, for whose help he desires to be thankful and to whom he desires to give all the praise and glory.

2. It is a false Spirit which is so contrary to the word of precept and command.

3. It is fit to subscribe to that (Psalm 127:1), "Except the Lord build the house, they build in vain that build; except the Lord watch the City, the watchman wakes but in vain." (1 Corinthians 3:7) "So then neither is he that plants, nor he that waters anything but God that gives increase." But the Holy Ghost never dreamed of such an inference, therefore let builders, watchmen and ministers of the Gospel go to bed and sleep, for God, he alone shall build cities and houses, and watch over men and all societies, and bring all souls to Christ. Yes, he has commanded us to act and to help the Lord (so he speaks, Judges 5:23; 1 Corinthians 3:9; 1 Corinthians 4:1, and it has a real truth, though he needs no help from the creature) and we are for his holy commands' sake to act, and to eye and trust in him who in all the acts of nature, and economy and art leads the way, and in all the acts of grace. Yes, we are to rejoice that the Lord Jesus is Master of work and only Steersman.