A Crab-tree will never yield pleasant fruit, until you change the nature of it. Take a Crab-tree and plant it in the best soil that you have, and water it, and dress it, and prune it as much as you can, yet this Crab-tree will bear nothing but Crabs, sour fruit, till you come to graft it; and then your grafting of it, doth change the nature of the stock, and it hath another principle, and so then it brings forth good fruit. So it is in this case. Take the best natured man in the world, plant him in the best soil, in the best ground, in Church-ground, plant him in the house of God, and there let him be watered by the rain of holy Doctrine, and let him be dressed and cultivated every day, yet he will bring forth nothing but Crabs, nothing but unsavoury ⟨p. 41⟩fruit, till he himself be changed. Though he be under all those spiritual means, yet till those means have wrought effectually in him, his actions are all unsavoury. 'Tis only by our implantation into Jesus Christ, that we become fit to do good, so as is acceptable unto God. 'Tis this that makes the change. For as in nature, the graft doth change the stock; so in grace, the stock doth change the grafted branch. As we are grafted into Christ, he changes the branch; being planted into Christ, by the power of the Spirit, we are then made like him; and then we bring forth fruits of righteousness, which are to the glory of God by him. Mark the expression, Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Christ. That is, by virtue of union with Christ, of implantation and ingrafture into Christ. When once it is thus, then all your fruits are sweet fruit, and pleasant fruit, it is well ⟨p. 42⟩tasted. Why, it is done First, From a principle of life in Christ. And Secondly, It is done from a principle of Love unto Christ: and then when your works, whether respecting God or man are thus done, then they are the fulfilling, and the final end of the Commandment. For then they come from the pure heart. Of which hereafter (if God will, I may speak). And so much at the present of the point in General, That until there be a good Principle, there cannot be a good work.
A Crab-tree will never yield pleasant fruit, untill you change the nature of it. Take a Crab-tree and plant it in the best soil that you have, and water it, and dress it, and prune it as much as you can, yet this Crab-tree will bear nothing but Crabs, sowre fruit, till you come to graft it; and then your grafting of it, doth change the nature of the stock, and it hath another principle, and so then it brings forth good fruit. So it is in this case. Take the best natured man in the world, plant him in the best soil, in the best ground, in Church-ground, plant him in the house of God, and there let him be watered by the rain of holy Doctrine, and let him be drest and cultivated every day, yet he will bring forth nothing but Crabs, nothing but unsavoury ⟨p. 41⟩fruit, till he himself be changed. Though he be under all those spiritual means, yet till those means have wrought effectually in him, his actions are all unsavoury. 'Tis only by our implantation into Jesus Christ, that we become fit to do good, so as is acceptable unto God. 'Tis this that makes the change. For as in nature, the graft doth change the stock; so in grace, the stock doth change the grafted branch. As we are grafted into Christ, he changes the branch; being planted into Christ, by the power of the Spirit, we are then made like him; and then we bring forth fruits of righteousness, which are to the glory of God by him. Mark the expression, Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Christ. That is, by vertue of union with Christ, of implantation and ingrafture into Christ. When once it is thus, then all your fruits are sweet fruit, and pleasant fruit, it is well ⟨p. 42⟩tasted. Why, it is done First, From a principle of life in Christ. And Secondly, It is done from a principle of Love unto Christ: and then when your works, whether respecting God or man are thus done, then they are the fulfilling, and the final end of the Commandment. For then they come from the pure heart. Of which hereafter (if God will, I may speak). And so much at the present of the point in General, That until there be a good Principle, there cannot be a good work.
