an; except the Father which has fent me, SER M. draw him. And This is the

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Second thing to be confidered in the Text; the meaning of these latter words, except the Father, which has fent me, draw him. Which expreffion, many Writers in Divinity have fo understood, as if thereby was fignified, that no man had it in his own Power to become a good Chriftian, or to perform any good Action; but that every Act of Virtue, was operated or produced in him by the immediate Power of God. And thus much of Truth there is indeed in That Notion; that neither in any religious, nor in any natural action, does any one perform any thing, but by a Power freely given him from, and entirely depending upon, upon, the good pleasure of God. In Him, and by virtue of Powers and Faculties continually depending upon him, we live and move and have our Being, and perform all, even the natural Actions of Life. In the execution of Civil Power and Authority, or of any Office whatsoever, there is ftill further, not only a continual dependance upon the Will of God for the use of men's natural Faculties; but moreover a dependance upon God's general Providence in F 2

the

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SERM. the Government of the World, to order things fo, as that the Authority, whatever it is, may actually take place: Thus Pilate could have had no Power to judge or condemn our Lord, or any other perfon, except it were given him from above, Joh. xix. 11. And the Baptift in This fense well expreffes the Succefs of his Own Ministry, A man can receive nothing, fays he, Job. iii. 27. him from Heaven.

except it be given In religious matters ftill further, 'tis not only true, that 'tis God who giveth us both to will and to do of his good pleasure; that 'tis God from whom alone we receive the rational Faculties, or Powers, both of choofing and acting; but moreover, that 'tis owing to his fuperabundant grace and favour, to his free Gift and undeferved Bounty in Chrift, that he has afforded us the Benefit of a Revelation, the Advantage of a clearer and more express declaration of his Will, the Afiftances of his Holy Spirit, an Authoritative Afurance of Pardon upon Repentance, and a more complete Discovery of the Rewards and Punishments in the future State, than could be obtained by the bare Light of Nature. All This, I

fay,

Tay, is unquestionably true; and ought to SER M. be continually and thankfully acknowledg- III. ed, with a juft and humble fense of our Dependence upon God in every thing that we Are, or Do. But it is not the Meaning of the Text before us, nor what our Saviour is at all here fpeaking of in this whole Difcourfe. For where any one is exhorting men to act, and preffing them to perform their Duty; 'tis not there a proper. Argument or Incitement to Diligence, (though it is undoubtedly in itself a certain Truth,) to tell them they can do nothing at all, unless God give them Power; but the proper Motive is to affure them, that becaufe God has actually given them Power, therefore he expects and requires it of them, that they fhould act accordingly. Thus St Paul argues to the Philippians, ch. ii. 12. Work out your own Salvation with Fear and Trembling ; For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do, of his good pleasure. The meaning plainly is; God has given you Power to choose and act, therefore work out your own Salvation. And for the fame reafon, when our Saviour, in the Text, tells the unbelieving Jews, by

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SER M. way of Reproof for their obftinate Infidelity, and not by way of pitying them for any Want of Power to do their Duty; when he tells them (I fay) by way of Reproof for their unreasonable Infidelity, that no man can come to Him, except the Father draw him; 'tis very certain he does not by these words mean to express any Act of God upon Them, but some certain affection or difpofition of Theirs with regard to God.

FOR the further clearing of which explication of our Lord's fenfe, 'tis to be obferved in the general nature of language, that when Any Perfon or Thing is faid to draw another, the word (draw) may with equal propriety of Speech, fignify either the Action of Him who draws the Other, or the Action of the Other who is drawn by him. And that, both in Scripture and in vulgar language, it much more frequently fignifies the Action of Him who is drawn, than of Him who draws, will appear most evidently, and beyond All contradiction, from the following confiderations, Our Saviour difcourfing with the Jews, Job. xii. 32. And I, fays he, if I be lifted up from the Earth, will draw

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draw all men unto me: His meaning clear-S ER M. ly is, not to exprefs any Act of his Own upon Men; but that, after his crucifixion, many nations and people, convinced by the Excellency of his doctrine, and by the Miracles it was attended with, fhould by their own Will and Act embrace his Religion. In like manner when God by the Prophet declared concerning the Ifraelites of old, Jer. xxxi. 3. With loving Kindness have I drawn thee, and Hof. xi. 4. I drew them with Cords of a man, with Bands of Love; every one fees the Meaning to be This only, that the confideration of the kindness and love of God, fhown forth to the Ifraelites in fo many eminent Inftances of Mercy, was a very strong reason to prevail with them to obey and ferve him cheerfully. The fense is the very fame, as in that of St. Paul, 2 Cor. v. 14. The Love of Christ conftraineth us; which is a ftronger expreffion than that of drawing us: The Love of Chrift, fays he, constrains or compells us, -that we should not henceforth live unto ourselves, but unto Him who died for us, and rofe again. A fenfe of Gratitude, draws Us; Acts of Kindness, Love and Good-will,

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