XX. Is it not possible for you to set your love upon Christ? Is it not attainable? Devils cannot love him, but you can. Damned Souls cannot love him, but you can if you would; for have you not the means to help you to love him? Is not he Preached to you? Is not the Spirit striving with you? Will you say you cannot love him though you ⟨p. 175⟩would? That I utterly deny, for if you were really willing to love him, you could love him; nay, if you do unfeignedly Will to love him, you do love him, for what is Willing but Loving? And what hinders you from Loving, but your not willing to love him? Will you say, you want power? What power do you mean? The Natural faculty or power of the Will? That you have; how else do you Will any thing you do? Will you say you want a power of Willing to love Christ? What is that, but that you are unwilling to love him? And if you cannot, because you will not, the more you plead your Cannot, the more you aggravate your Will not. A Natural Power God hath given you, that is a Will, if you lye under a Moral Impotency, that is your Sin; and what is this Moral Cannot, or Impotency, but the averseness of the Will from Christ? Therefore, though without the powerful workings of the Grace and Spirit of God, you cannot love Christ sincerely, yet this Cannot is your Will not; for if by the Grace of God you were enabled to Will, you could, and if you were as willing to love Christ, as some now are, that once were as unwilling as now you be, you could love him as well as they. Why should you stand off, and say, If it were possible for me to love Christ, I would? How! Possible! What! Is there no difference betwixt you and a Devil? Betwixt you and the Damned in Hell? You can love the World; can you do that? You can love your Self; can you do that? Yes. And I suppose you can love Sin too, can you not? To our Grief, and your Shame, we find it: But why can you love World, and Self, and Sin? Is it not because you will? Do you do it against your ⟨p. 176⟩Will? I wish you did, then there might be more hopes you would be persuaded to love Christ. You can, and do love Sin, because you are willing; have but as great willingness to love Christ, as the World and Sin, and then it may be said, Not only that you can, but do love Christ.
XX. Is it not possible for you to set your love upon Christ? Is it not attainable? Devils cannot love him, but you can. Damned Souls cannot love him, but you can if you would; for have you not the means to help you to love him? Is not he Preached to you? Is not the Spirit striving with you? Will you say you cannot love him though you ⟨p. 175⟩would? That I utterly deny, for if you were really willing to love him, you could love him; nay, if you do unfeignedly Will to love him, you do love him, for what is Willing but Loving? And what hinders you from Loving, but your not willing to love him? Will you say, you want power? What power do you mean? The Natural faculty or power of the Will? That you have; how else do you Will any thing you do? Will you say you want a power of Willing to love Christ? What is that, but that you are unwilling to love him? And if you cannot, because you will not, the more you plead your Cannot, the more you aggravate your Will not. A Natural Power God hath given you, that is a Will, if you lye under a Moral Impotency, that is your Sin; and what is this Moral Cannot, or Impotency, but the averseness of the Will from Christ? Therefore, though without the powerful workings of the Grace and Spirit of God, you cannot love Christ sincerely, yet this Cannot is your Will not; for if by the Grace of God you were enabled to Will, you could, and if you were as willing to love Christ, as some now are, that once were as unwilling as now you be, you could love him as well as they. Why should you stand off, and say, If it were possible for me to love Christ, I would? How! Possible! What! Is there no difference betwixt you and a Devil? Betwixt you and the Damned in Hell? You can love the World; can you do that? You can love your Self; can you do that? Yes. And I suppose you can love Sin too, can you not? To our Grief, and your Shame, we find it: But why can you love World, and Self, and Sin? Is it not because you will? Do you do it against your ⟨p. 176⟩Will? I wish you did, then there might be more hopes you would be perswaded to love Christ. You can, and do love Sin, because you are willing; have but as great willingness to love Christ, as the World and Sin, and then it may be said, Not only that you can, but do love Christ.
