Twenty sermons preached at Oxford before His Majesty, and elsewhere

Sol. I say, if thou seest thou hast a Will, then thou hast a warrant; I say not that this Will comes from thy self. It is not a blind faith will do thee good; the Word of God works faith in thee, thou hast not a Will to it born in thee. It is not a flower that grows in thine own Garden, but is planted by God; Joh. 6.44. No man can come unto me, except the Father which hath sent me, draw him. What? Will Christ offer violence to the Will, and draw a man against his Will? No, there is no such meaning. It is expounded in the 65th. verse. No man can come unto me, except it were given him of my Father. By this Christ showeth what he meant. If thou hast a Will to come, thank the Father for it; for of Him, as in the Philippians, we have both the Will and the Deed. Take for example that general Proclamation in ⟨p. 87⟩the book of Ezra, Whatever Jew would, might be free, Ezra 1.3. So said the King that had power to make them free; Who is there among you of all his people, his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah, and build the house of the God of Israel. Then we read, vers. 5. Then rose up the chief of the Fathers of Judah and Benjamin, and the Priest, and the Levites, with all them whose Spirit God had raised up to go up. Observe here, though the proclamation were general, yet the raising up of the Will was from the Spirit of the Lord. We must not by any means take our Will for a ground: the Will cometh from God; but if thou hast the Will, thou hast a warrant. Whoever will, let him take the water of life freely without covenanting: say not if thou hadst but a measure of faith, and such a measure of humiliation; for that were to compound with Christ: away with that; whosoever will, let him come. Christ keeps open house; Whosoever will, let him come: whosoever comes to him, he will in no wise cast out, Joh. 6.37. If thou hast a heart to come to him, he hath a willing heart to receive thee; as it was with the Prodigal Son, the Father stays not till he comes to him, but runs to meet him: he is swift to show Mercy, and to meet us, though we come slowly on towards him. But this is not all, there is a second gracious Word that is preached to a man, not yet in the state of Grace. A man that keeps open house, he seldom invites any particularly; but if he come, he shall be welcome. Christ, he keeps open house;