The life of faith in three parts, the first is a sermon on Heb.…

Direct. 20. By this it is plain, that the Spirit worketh not on man as a dead thing, which hath no principle of activity in it self; nor as on a naturally necessitated Agent, which hath no self-determining faculty of will; but as on a living free self-determining Agent, which hath duty of its own to perform for the attaining of the end desired.

Those therefore that upon the pretence of the Spirits doing all, and our doing nothing without him, will lye idle, and not do their parts with him, and say that they wait for the motions of the Spirit, and that our endeavours will not further the end, do abuse the Spirit, and contradict themselves; seeing the Spirits work is to stir us up to endeavour, which when we refuse to do, we disobey and strive against the Spirit.

Direct. 21. Though sometimes the Spirit work so efficaciously, as certainly to cause the volition, or other effect which it moveth to; yet sometimes it so moveth, as procureth not the effect, when yet it gave man all the power and help which was necessary to the effect; because that man failed of that endeavour of his own, which should have concurred to the effect, and which he was able without more help to have performed.