falling upon an active subject (such as the soul of man is) doth necessarily infer disorder and irregularity in its operations. Take away light from the air, it must be dark, and when the sun is down it must be night. So it is if grace be taken away. The great work of grace is to make God our last end, and our chiefest good. Now this last end being changed, all things must needs run into disorder with man. Why? for the last end is principium universalissimum, the most universal principle upon which all moral perfections depend. Look, as Adam and Eve after they had eaten the forbidden fruit, forfeited the image of God, and were polluted; so we. Why, did God infuse pollution and filthiness in them? or had the fruit any such poisonous quality? No: their last end was changed, which is the great principle that runs through all our actions; and when our end is changed, then all runs to disorder. They fell from God whom before they made their chiefest good, and their last end. I say they fell from God as envious, false, and wishing ill to them; and by the Devil's instigation turned to the creature to find happiness in them, against the express will and command of God. As the first man was infected, so are all men wholly perverted, for sin still consists in a conversion from God to the creature (Jer. ii. 13.-2 Tim. iii. 4). By the change of our end all moral goodness is lost, for all means are subordinate to the last end, and are determined by it. Now necessarily thus it will be without grace, there will be a conversion of a man to the creature, and the body, with the conveniences and comforts thereof; the interest and concernments of the body are set up instead of God. For though the soul cometh down from the superior world, yet it soon forgets its Divine original, and being put into the body, it conforms itself to the body, and only adheres to objects visible, corporeal. As water being put into a square vessel hath a square form, into a round vessel hath a round form; so the soul being infused into the body, is led by it, and accommodates all its faculties and operations to the welfare of the body. And thence comes our ignorance, averseness of soul from holiness, unruliness of appetite, and inclination to sensual things. In short, without grace a man's mind may be carried headlong after worldly vanities. As water runs where it finds a passage, so the soul of man being destitute of the image of God, finds a passage through temporal things, and so runs out that way.

2. As man is thus corrupted and prone to worldly objects by natural inclination; so by inveterate custom. As soon as we are born we follow our sensual appetite; and the first years of man's life are merely governed by sense, and the pleasures thereof are born and bred up with us, and deeply engraven in our natures; and by constant living in the world, conversing with corporeal objects the taint increaseth upon us, and so we are more deeply dyed and settled in a worldly frame, and we live in the pursuit of honour, gain, and pleasure, according as the particular temper of our bodies, and course of our interest to determine us. "Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good that are accustomed to do evil" (Jer. xiii. 23). Custom is as another nature, and hardly left. We find by experience, the more we are accustomed to any course of life, the more we delight in it, and are weaned from it with a very great difficulty. Every act disposeth the soul to the habit, and after the habit or custom is produced, then every new deliberate act adds a stiffness of bent or sway unto the faculty into which the custom is seated; and the longer this evil custom is continued, the more easily are

we carried away with temptations that suit it, and more hardly swayed to the contrary. Now this stiffness of will in a carnal course is that which the Scripture calls hardness of heart, and a heart of stone, for a man is ensnared by these customs; and of all customs, covetousness or worldliness is the most dangerous. Why? Because this is a sin of more credit, and less infamy in the world. And this will multiply its acts in the soul most, and works incessantly: "Having hearts exercised with covetous practices" (2 Peter ii. 14).

Well then, these lusts being born and bred up with us from our infancy, they plead prescription. Religion, that comes afterward and finds us biassed and prepossessed with other inclinations, which by reason of long use is not easily broken and shaken off; as upon trial whenever we are called upon, or begin to apply ourselves to the ways of life we shall be easily sensible of this stiffness of heart and obstinacy that bends us another way.

3rdly, The heart being thus deeply engaged to temporal things, or things base and earthly, it cannot be set upon that which is spiritual and heavenly; for David propounds these things here as inconsistent:" To thy testimonies Lord, and not to covetousness." If the heart be addicted to worldly things, it is necessarily averse from God, and his testimonies; for the habitual bent of the heart to any one sin is inconsistent with grace, or a thorough obedience to God's will. That which the heart is inclined to hath the throne. Now when we inquire after grace, Have I grace or not? Have I the work of God upon my heart? The question is not, what there is of God in the heart, but whether that of God hath the throne. Something of God is in the heart of the wickedest man that is, and something of sin in the best heart that is; therefore which way is the sway, the bent, the habitual and prevailing inclination of the soul? what hath the dominion? "Sin hath not the dominion, for ye are not under the law, but under grace" (Rom. vi. 14). What hath the prevalency of the heart? Though the conscience takes part with God, as it may strongly in a wicked man, yet which way is the bent of our souls? And as all sin in its reign is inconsistent with grace, so much more worldly affections: "No man can serve two masters," &c. (Mat. vi. 24) It is as inconsistent as for a man to look two ways at once. And the Chaldee on this very text, “Incline my heart to thy testimonies," reads it, "and not unto mammon." You cannot be inclined to God and mammon. "If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him" (1 John ii. 15). The world draws men from the love of God, and from his service. And labour after temporal things deadens and hindereth us from looking after things which are eternal; and we lose the relish of things to come, and things spiritual, the more the love of worldly things doth increase upon us. The schoolmen say of worldliness, it is that which most of all draws us off from God as our last end, and chief good, and makes us cleave to the creature; therefore it is called adultery and idolatry; adultery (James iv. 4), as it draws away our love, delight, and complacency from God; and idolatry (Col. iii. 5), as it diverts our trust, and placeth it in wealth, and sublunary things. The glutton or sensualist's love is withdrawn from God, and therefore his belly is said to be his God (Phil. iii. 19). Interpretatively that is a man's God which is the last end of his actions, and upon which all his thoughts, affections, and endeavours run most. But now covetousness is not only a spiritual fornication and adultery which draws off our

affections from God, but idolatry. Considering our relation in the covenant, it is spiritual adultery; and, above this, it is idolatry, because men think they can never be happy, well, nor have any comfortable being, unless they have a great portion of these outward things.

4thly, This frame of heart cannot be altered, until we be changed by God's grace. Why? For there is no principle remaining in us that can alter this frame, or make us so far unsatisfied with our present state, as to look after other things, that can break the force of our natural and customary inclinations. There are three things which lie against the change of

the heart towards God.

1. There is nature, which wholly carrieth us to please the flesh, and inordinately to seek the good of the body. Now nature cannot rise higher than itself, and determine itself to things above its sphere and compass. As the philosopher saith of water, it cannot be forced to rise higher than its fountain. Our actions cannot exceed their principle, which is self-love. But besides this,

2. There is custom added to nature, which makes it more stiff and obstinate; so that if it may be supposed that conscience is sensible of our mistake and ill choice, and some weighty considerations should be propounded to us, as it is easy to show that eternal things are far better than temporal, and spiritual things than carnal: if conscience, I say, should come in, and represent the ill state wherein we are; yet because the poise of our hearts doth customarily carry us another way, we are not inclined to God, or to the concernment of eternal life; for it is not argument merely will do it. In a pair of scales, though the weights be equal, yet if the scales be not equal there may be wrong done: so, though the argument be never so powerful, yet if the heart that weighs them, be customarily engaged and carried away with the momentary and cursory delights of the flesh, alas! these will sway us, and affect us more than all those pure, everlasting delights we may enjoy by communion with God. In all reason a lesser good should not be preferred before a greater. And worldly delights, which are not only base and dreggy, but also short and vanishing, and the occasion of much evil to us; these should not be preferred before eternal happiness. But here lies our misery, though the pleasures which affect us be less in themselves, yet our habitual propension and customary inclination to them is greater. Look, as in a pair of balances, though the weight of the one side be lesser, yet if the scales be not even and equal pendent, if the beam be longer on the one side than the other, the lesser weight on the longer side of the beam will over-poise the greater weight on the shorter side: so, while the soul is perverted by evil customs, and the heart doth hang more to temporal things, than to spiritual and eternal, certainly there must be something from above that must determine us. Man's heart can never be swayed, until the Lord joins the assistance of

3. There is God's curse, or penal hardness. For as nature groweth into a custom, so by our sinful customs God is provoked, and doth withdraw those common influences of grace, by which our condition might be bettered, and in justice he gives up our hearts to their own sway: 'Ephraim is joined to idols, let him alone" (Hos. iv. 17). "So I gave them up to their own hearts' lust; and they walked in their own counsels" (Psalm lxxxi. 12). So that we have not those frequent checks and gripes of conscience, those warnings and good thoughts as before: "Let

him alone:" "Providence, let him alone;"" "Conscience, 'let him alone;'" and the sinner is left to his own will. Therefore out of all the work remaineth to be God's alone, who only hath authority to pardon, and power to cure the distempers of our hearts; he hath authority to take off that judicial hardness which he as a judge may continue upon us, and which the saints deprecate in these forms of speeches: "Incline my heart to thy testimonies," &c. And so he hath power to take off the natural and customary hardness which is in us. For the heart of man is in his hand as the rivers of water (Prov. xxi. 1), and can as easily draw us out to good as water followeth when the trench is cut. But what needeth more arguing in the case? David saith here, Lord, "incline mine heart." And, "The Lord our God be with us, that he may incline our hearts unto him, to walk in all his ways, and keep his commandments" (1 Kings viii. 57, 58). It is God's work alone to bend the crooked stick the other way. But you will say, This work sometimes is ascribed to man; for instance, verse 112 of this Psalm: "I have inclined my heart to perform thy statutes alway, even unto the end." And Joshua, chap. xxiv. 23, "Incline your heart unto the Lord God of Israel."

I answer, these places do only note our subordinate operation, or the voluntary motion and resolution on our part. When God hath bent us, and inclined us to do his will; when God hath made our love to act, and poise us to that which is spiritual and good, then we do incline, we bend our hearts this way. So that all these expressions do not imply a coordinate but subordinate operation on man's part.

5thly, In this change there is a weakening of the old inclination to carnal vanities, and there is a new bent and frame of heart bestowed upon us. The heart is taken off from the love of base objects, and then fixed upon that which is good: "The Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart," &c. (Deut. xxx. 6). First, there is a circumcising, a paring away of the fleshliness of the heart, then an unfeigned love to God. So, "I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes" (Ezek. xxxvi. 26, 27). First, the untowardness of the will and affections is removed, and then a heart is given to us, which is tractable and pliable for gracious purposes. First, the weeds are plucked up, then we are planted wholly with a right seed. Or, first we cast off the old man, then put on the new (Eph. iv. 22, 23). The natural, inbred corruption which daily grows worse and worse, is more and more done away; as we cast off the old rotten garment, when we put

on new.

6thly, When our hearts are thus changed, they are ever and anon apt to return to the old bent and bias again. For David, a renewed man, he doth thus speak to God: O Lord, "incline my heart to thy testimonies, and not unto covetousness." He found his heart bowing and warping back again, and being sensible of the distemper, he complains of it to God. The inclination that is in them to evil is not so lost to the best of God's children, but it will return unless God still draw us after him. The spouse saith, "Draw me, we will run after thee" (Cant. i. 4). The spouse of Christ, those that were already taken into communion with him, they say, "Draw me." This is not a work to be done once, and no more, but often to be renewed and repeated in the soul; for there are some reliques of our natural averseness from God, and enmity to the yoke of his

word, yet left in the heart: "The flesh lusteth against the Spirit" (Gal. v. 17). There are two active principles within us, and they are always warring one upon another. Therefore there is need not only to be inclined at first, and drawn towards God; but we must go to him again and again, and pray to him daily that he would continue the bent of our hearts right, and weaken carnal affections, that we may mind better things.

USE I.—The use is to set you right in point of doctrine as to the necessity of grace, to bring us into a state of doing God's will; because some do grant the necessity of grace in words, but in deed they make it void.

Pelagius at first gave all to nature, acknowledged no necessity of divine grace; but when this proud doctrine found little countenance, he called nature by the name of grace; and when that deceit was discovered, he acknowledged no other grace but outward instruction, or the benefit of external revelation; that a man might by the word of God know and be put in mind of his duty. Being yet driven further, he acknowledged the grace of pardon; and before a man could do anything acceptably, there was a necessity of the remission of sin, and then he might obey God perfectly. But that not sufficing he acknowledged another grace, the example of Christ, which doth both secure our rule, and encourage our practice; and so made the grace of Christ to consist, not in the secret efficacy of his Spirit, but only in the example of Christ. But being driven further, to acknowledge the same internal grace (I mean his followers), they made it to consist in some illumination of the understanding, or some moral persuasion, by probable argument to excite the will; and this not absolutely necessary, but only for facilitation, as a horse to a journey, which otherwise a man might go on foot. Ay, but "the law was weak through the flesh" (Rom. viii. 3). But all this is short of that divine grace that is necessary.

Now there are others grant the secret influences of God's grace, but make the will of man to be a co-ordinate cause with God; namely, that God doth propound the object, hold forth inducing considerations, give some remote power and assistance; but still there is an indifferency in the will of man to accept and refuse, as liketh him best. Besides all this, there is a prevailing efficacy, or a real influence from the Spirit of God on the will, whereby it is moved infalliby and certainly to close with those things which God propounds unto him. God worketh efficaciously and determinately, not leaving it to the liberty of man's will to choose or refuse it, but man is determined, inclined, and actually poised by the grace of God to that which is good.

USE II. To press you to lay to heart these things. (1.) Be sensible of the strength and sway of thy affections to temporal objects; there the work begins. And till we have a sight of the disease, we are not careful after a remedy. David, though regenerate, took notice of some worldly tendencies in his heart; and if we observe our hearts, we shall find so. Paul groaned under the reliques of the flesh, and so should we under our bondage by sin. And then (2.) bewail it to the Lord, I am " as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke" (Jer. xxxi. 18), to bewail this stiffness of heart, and the treachery of sin whereby we are enchanted, wholly bent to that which is evil. And (3.) observe the abating of this strength of affection, and weaning of thy soul from such desires; for then the work of grace goes on when we begin to savour other things, and have inclinations of soul towards that which is heavenly and spiritual. "They that are after the flesh, do mind the things of the flesh and they that are after the