Influences of the life of grace

Gods acting influences. 2 His influences are in all creatures. 3 The sweet safety of believers in possible calamities. 4 Our atheism in reading the Book of providence, &c.

1. That there are strong influences upon all causes from the Lord, may be evinced. 1 From the holy tongue; the Hebrews use the verb in hiphil noting a double action; when one causeth another to act, to note influences, Deut. 32. 39. I cause to die, and I cause to live. Hannah so sings, 1 Sam. 2. 6. Jehovah causeth to die, and causeth to live; he causeth to go down to the grave, and to come up again; the Lord maketh poor, ¹and he maketh rich; he maketh low, and he maketh high; so the passive verb is used. Which perfection, in short, is in that language above others, and when such actions are ascribed to God, they show that God hath an influence and impulsion, as the first cause in all actions; the Scripture herein abounds. The Greek language comes short of this, Joh. 5. 17. My Father, [Greek or Hebrew] worketh hitherto, & I work. And though he work all works in all creatures, yet in believers this is made true in Pauls sense, Philip. 2. Work out your salvation in fear and trembling. How? but we may miscarry and fail. True, saith he, if you, you alone, without the influence of grace did the work; ⟨p. 5⟩work out, vers. 13. For its God who is the worker in you to will and work; alluding to the Hebrew word, he saith, [Greek or Hebrew]. how the connection is between our working and the effectual praedeterminating influences of God, is to us dark, but this argument of Paul saith they well agree, and he infers this thesis, they both physically and morally are to work out their salvation, in whom God both by the habit and actual influence of grace worketh to will and to do, then must influences of grace so be at hand when the believers are to act, as they are no less under a precept, and a command to act, believe, pray, then the husband-man is under a command to plough in Summer, and to sow, lest he be poor; But the question is de modo, how they are at hand, whither so as the free will of man may command, and have in its power the influences of God's grace, or the Lord by the dominion of his strong influence, sweetly and connaturally commands and hath in his power our free will, according to his good pleasure; Sure its safer that nature be under grace and the dominion thereof, then grace be under nature, as it must be better Divinity that God reign, then man reign; more of this after;