6 fpirit murt both glorifie God; and as all the pans of the body, fo all the powers of the foul. Fir'l:, the underflanding, that in the old "!an is b/i;:de and ignorant about heavenly f.phcf 4 . 1 1. thirrgs, or howfoever it may know many thmgs; yet never can attain to faving know– Revel. 3 . , 8 . ledge; in the nnv wan it mull: be anointed with the eyc-falve of the Spirit, infpired with the knowledge of Divine truths, cfpecially with thofc facrccl and faving myll:eries which concern the kjngdom of God. Again, tbe ll'il/ that in the old man affects nothin!1 but vile and vain things, is froward and pcrverfc in the wayes of godlincfs; in the nn~ 1\om. 12 • 1 • man it mull prove and approve what is thegood, and acaptable, andper felt wt!l ofG"od; yea, it mull: attend and be fubordmatc to the grace of God, fith Gol mdccd, and God Phi!. 2 • 13 • oncly wo 1 ·kJ in us both the will a•d the deed, Phil. 2. I 3. Again, the ""mcry that in the old man is flippery in the things of Go.l, or if naturJlly goo:!, yet not fpiritually ufc– ful,in the new man 1t mull: be fanchfied to good performances; & although it cannot en– creafe to a great natural perfection (for grace doth not this) yet the perfections it bath mull: be llraight, and right, and guided to God-ward, Remember the Lord thy G"od, faith M vfes, Deut 8. 18. Again, the confcience that in the old ma• fleeps and flum– bcrs,or if it be awake, tears and roors, as ifa legion of Devils now poffeffed it· in Dem. s. ,s. the new man it mull: be calm and quiet; and yet not flecp or IT umber, but rather in a friendly loving manner check and co.ntrol wherefoever fin is, yea never be quiet, till with kinde and yet earnell expoll:ulattons, it draw the finner before God to confeffe his fault, and to feek p1rdon for it. Again, the affections that in the old man arc fenfual inordimte, bewitched, and fcton wrong obj~cts; in the nmman they mull: be turned another way. Mary Magdalene (you know) was given to unclean luits, but the I,ord diverted thisunful paflion, and fo !he became penitent, and thirl!ec! after grace. Ta fummc upall, all muft be renewed> the undr:rjlvt..ndiag,. tvill, memory, corfciencr: 1 PjfeCfi– om. cor. ~- 10· Col. I, 9· But to feel more of their fweetneffe, I will pound thcfe fpices, ond dwell a while on them. Now then for your better acquaintance with the regenerate man, and that you may know his difference from the mm unregenerate, obferve (I pray) thefc paffages. Firll, I fay, in the newman the tmderfhnding muft be renewed; fo the Apoll:Ie, The nen> man is renewed in /zyowledge, Col. 3. I o. and this knowledg-e implies two habits Wifdome, and Pr~tdence, Col. 1. 9· Firll, Wifdome, and that is fpeculative. Secondly; Prudenre, and that rs pract1cal. By the one the ch1Ue ofGod havmg the eyes of his minde opened and enlightened, doth fee the myfl:eries offalvation, the fecrcts of the Kingdom, the whole Counfcl, and the wonders of the Law of God; by the other he is enabled with a judicious fincerity, to deliberal:£ and determine in cafes of confcience in the praCl:ice of piety, and the experimental paffagcs ofa Chriflian man. If we con~ f!der the firll:, (Wifdome) how is it pofliblc · that a man unregenerate fhould know the mylleries offah>ation ?It may be he may go as far as the power of natural difcourfe, and light ofReafon can bear fway, he may befurnifhed with frore of rare and excellent learning, and yet for all this want the true knowledge offpiriwalwifdome. \Vhy fo? Be– caufe all his knowledge, like the light ofthe Moon, is difcharged upon others, but never returns and refleCl:s upon his own foul; he fhould know, but knowes not the darkneffe of his own under/landing, the difordcr of his own affections, the flumberof his own confcience, the deadneffe of his own heart : but the man regenerate (know he never fu little) he hath the faving /zyowledge, and in this he exceeds the greateft Rabbies, the profoundeft Clerks; he onely knows God with a ll:cdfall: apprehenfion, he only knows himfelf a moll: meau, bafe, and contemptible thing; his new birth hath learned him how wicked a creatnre he naturally is, and therefore in that refpect is he odious to himfelf, and loathfome in his own eyes: Or if we confider the fecond, (Prudence) How is it poflible that a man unregenerate fhould experimentally know the practice of piety in a Chrifl:ian courfe? fhould we in/lance in this myfl:ery of Regene– ration; Iiere is one Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jewes, and a teacher of !fi·~tei ; yet as learned as he was, if he confer with Chrill: about the falvation ofhis foul, he is fl:rangely childifh, and a meer infant; tell him of the new birth, and he thinks it as impoflible, as for a(l old man to return into his mothers womb, and be born again: The natural man eannot difcern the operations ofgrace, he knows not that dark and fearfu Ipaffage, which leads from tile /late of nature (through ftrange terrours and torments of fOul) into the. l'i<:h
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=