Twenty sermons preached at Oxford before His Majesty, and elsewhere

2. Take this for another difference: That Gods children can as earnestly desire grace as mercy; The temporary desire mercy, but never desire grace. The believer desires grace to have his nature healed, to hate his former conversation. The temporary never had, nor never will have this desire; should one come to the temporary believer, and tell him God will be merciful unto him, you may go on, and take your fill of sin, you shall be sure of mercy; he would like this well, and think it the welcomest news as could be, because he only fears damnation, and self-love makes him only desire freedom from that; but now the child of God hates sin, though there were no Hell, Judge nor Tormentor; he begs as hard of God for grace, as for mercy, and would do so, were there no punishment. His nature being changed, he desireth grace, as well as mercy, which the temporary never does.

2. Take this for another difference: That Gods children can as earnestly desire grace as mercy; The temporary desire mercy, but never desire grace. The believer desires grace to have his nature healed, to hate his former conversation. The temporary never had, nor never will have this desire; should one come to the temporary believer, and tell him God will be merciful unto him, you may go on, and take your fill of sin, you shall be sure of mercy; he would like this well, and think it the welcomest news as could be, because he only fears damnation, and self-love makes him only desire freedome from that; but now the child of God hates sin, though there were no Hell, Judge nor Tormentor; he begs as hard of God for grace, as for mercy, and would do so, were there no punishment. His nature being chang'd, he desireth grace, as well as mercy, which the temporary never does.

3. The last mark is from the words of the Apostle, Neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but faith which worketh by love. Love and the new creature puts Gods children on work; their hearts are first altered, and changed by being made new creatures. As the Scripture saith, his flesh is circumcised, he is a dead man; dead, not, as formerly, in trespasses and sins, but dead unto them.