But furely it is a dangerous thing in divinity to build doctrines upon metaphors, efpecially if we ftrain them to all the fimilitudes which a quick and lively imagination can find out; whereas fome one obvious thing is commonly intended in the metaphor, and the meaning is abfolved and acquitted in that, and it is folly to purfue it in all thofe fimilitudes which a good fancy may fuggeft. When our Saviour fays, that he will come as a thief in the night, it is plain what he means, that the day of judgement will furprife the careless world when they leaft look for it, that he will come at an hour when they are not aware; and though he refemble his coming to that of a thief in the night, yet here is nothing of robbery in the cafe: So here, when the change which Chriftianity makes in men is called a new creation, this only imports the greatnefs of the change which, by the power of God's grace, is made upon the hearts and lives of men; and the metaphor is fufficiently abfolved in this plain sense and meaning of it, agreeable to the literal expreffions of fcripture concerning this thing: and there is no need that this change fhould in all other refpects anfwer the work of creation; and confequently there is no neceffity that it fhould be effected in an irresist ible manner, or that we fhould be altogether paffive in this change, and that we fhould no wife concur to it by any act of our own, or that this work should be done in an inftant, and admit of no fteps and degrees.

It is not neceffary that this change fhould be effected in an irrefiftible manner. God may do so, when he pleaseth, without any injury to his creatures; for it is certainly no wrong to any man to be made good and happy against his will; and I do not deny, but that God fometimes does fo. The call of the difciples to follow Chrift feems to have been a very fudden and forcible impreffion upon their minds, without any appearing reafon for it; for it is not reasonable for any man to leave his calling, and fol low every one that bids him do fo. The converfion of Saul from a perfecutor of Chriftianity, to a zealous preacher of it, was certainly effected, if not in

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an irresistible, yet in a very forcible and violent manner. The converfion of three thoufand at one fermon, when the Holy Ghoft defcended in a visible manner upon the Apoftles, was certainly the effect of a mighty and overpowering degree of God's grace. And the like may be faid of the fudden converfion of fo many perfons from Heathenifm, and great wickednefs and impiety of life, to the fincere profeffion of Chriftianity, by the preaching of the Apoftles afterwards.

But that this is not of abfolute neceffity, nor the ordinary methed of God's grace, to work upon the minds of men in fo overpowering, much lefs in an irrefiftible manner, is as plain as any thing of that nature can be, both from experience, and the reason of the thing, and the conftant tenor of the fcripture. We find that many (perhaps the greateft part) of thofe that are good, are made fo by the infenfible fteps and degrees of a religious education, and having been never vitious, can give no great account of any fenfible change; only that when they came to years of understanding, they confidered things more, and the principles that were inftilled into them in their younger years did put forth themselves more vigoroufly at that time; as feeds fprout out of the ground, after they have a good while been buried and lain hid in the earth.

And it is contrary to reafon, to make an irrefiftible act of divine power neceffary to our repentance and converfion; because this neceffarily involves in it two things which feem very unreafonable.

[1] That no man repents upon confideration and choice, but upon mere force and violent neceffity; which quite takes away the virtue of repentance, whatever virtue there may be in the confequent acts of a regenerate state.

[2] It implies, that the converfion and repentance of thofe upon whom God doth not work irrefiftibly is impoffible; which is the utmoft can be faid to excufe the impenitency of men, by taking it off from their own choice, and laying it upon the imVOL. V. poffibility

poffibility of the thing, and an utter difability in them. to chufe and do otherwise.

And it is likewife contrary to the conftant tenor of the Bible, which fuppofeth that men do very frequently refift the grace and Holy Spirit of God. It is faid of the Pharifees by our Saviour, Luke vii. 30. that they rejected the counsel of God against themfelves; that is, the merciful defign of God for their falvation and of the Jews, Acts vii. 51. that they always refifted the Holy Ghoft. So that fome operations of God's grace and Holy Spirit are refiftible, and fuch as, if men did not refift them, would be effectual to bring them to faith and repentance; elfe why are the Pharifees faid to reject the counsel of God against themselves; that is, to their own ruin? implying, that if they had not rejected it, they might have been faved; and if they had, it had been without irrefiftible grace; for that which was offered to them was actually refifted by them. Other texts plainly fhew, that the reafon of mens impenitency and unbelief is not any thing wanting on God's part, but on theirs; as thofe known texts, wherein our Saviour laments the cafe of Jerufalem, because they obftinateJy brought deftruction upon themselves, Luke xix. 42. If thou hadst known in this thy day, the things that belong to thy peace; intimating, that they might have known them, fo as to have prevented that defolation which was coming upon them, and was a forerunner of their eternal ruin; but now they are hid from thine eyes; intimating, that then God gave themi up to their own blindness and obftinacy; but the time was when they might have known the things of their peace which cannot be upon the fuppofition of the neceffity of an irrefiftible act of God's grace to their converfion and repentance; becaufe then without that they could not have repented, and if that had been afforded to them, they had infallibly repented. So likewife in that other text, Matth. xxiii. 37. O Ferufalem, Ferufalem, how often would I have gathered thee, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! And in John v. 40. Fe will not come unto me that ye might have life.

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He would have gathered them, and they would not; he would have given them life, but they would not come to him. Are thefe ferious and compaffionate expoftu-. lations and declarations of our Saviour's gracious intention towards them, any wife confiftent with an impoffibility of their repentance? which yet muft be faid, if irresistible grace be neceffary thereto; for then repentance is impoffible without it; and that it was not afforded to them is plain, because they did not repent. The fame may be faid of that folemn declaration of God, Ezek. xxxiii. 11. As I live, faith the Lord God, I have no pleafure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way, and live. Can it be faid that God hath no pleasure in the death of finners, and yet be true, that he denies to the greatest part of them that grace which is neceflary to their repentance? Upon this fuppofition, how can it be true, that if the mighty works that were done in Chorazin and Bethfaida, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented, Matt. xi. 21. fince irrefiftible grace did not accompany thofe miracles? for if it had, Chorazin and Bethfaida had repented, and without it Tyre and Sidon could not repent.

The fame difficulty is in those texts wherein God is reprefented as expecting the repentance and converfion of finners; and our Saviour wondering at their unbelief and hardness of heart, and upbraiding them with it. Ifa. v. 4. What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes? Mark vi. 6. it is faid, our Saviour marvelled at the unbelief of the Jews; and chap. xvi. 4. that he upbraided his difciples with their unbelief and hardness of heart. But why fhould the repentance of finners be expected, or their unbelief marvelled at, or indeed be upbraided to them, by him who knew it impoffible to them, without an irresistible power and grace, which he knew likewife was not afforded to them? Neither God nor men have reason to wonder that any man does not

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The bottom of all that is faid to avoid this preffing difficulty, is this, "That this impotence and dif"ability of finners is their fin, and therefore cannot "be pleaded in their excufe for their impenitency; "but God may fill juftly require that of them. which they had once a natural power to do, but wilfully forfeited and loft it: they had this power"in Adam, and forfeited it by his difobedience.' fhew how flight this evafion is, I need not run into that argument, how far we are guilty of the fin of our first parents. That by that firft tranfgreffion and difobedience all mankind fuffers, and our natures are extremely corrupted and depraved, cannot be denied ; but the corruption of our natures is a thing very different from perfonal guilt, ftriatly and properly fo called. I will take the bufinefs much fhorter; and granting that mankind had in Adam a natural power to have continued obedient to the laws of God, yet fince by one man fin entered into the world, and all are now finners, here is an obligation to repentance, as well as to obedience, and men fhall be condemned for their impenitency. I afk now, Whether in Adam we had a power to repent? It is certain Adam had not this power; and therefore I cannot fee how we could lofe it, and forfeit it in him. Adam in. deed had a natural power not to have finned, and fo not to have needed repentance; but no power to repent in the state of innocency, because in that state repentance was impoffible, becaufe there could be no occafion for it. He had it not after his fall, because by that he forfeited all his power to that which is spiritually good. It is faid indeed he had it in innocency, but forfeited it by his fall; fo that he had it when there was no occafion or poffibility of the exercise of it, and loft it when there was occafion for it; or if he did not lofe it by his fall, we have it ftill, and then. there is no need of any fupernatural, much lefs ir refiftible grace, to repentance; fo that our impotency, as to the particular duty of repentance, cannot be charged