Ambrose - Houston-Packer Collection BX5200 .A49 1674

~veight of fin, how fhould he otherwife but call: himfelf willingly into the fwect. com: paffionate inviting annes and embracements of Chnil:, whofe prom1fes run, I wzll eafe. h · 1 will rcfrcji> him ? You may fee fometimes a little mfant, upon apprehenf.ion an~ un,roach of fome fudden danger, how hafiily he runs into his mothers armes: even fo ~;fuly wounded fwul ( purfued by-the terrours ofthe Law, and fright.ed with the angry countenance uf Almighty God) 1t fhes With fpeed mto the bofome of 1ts bleffed Redee– mer, there it clings unto his bldfed wounds, there it reil:s upon h1s mentonous cieath, there it grafps about his crucified body: there 1t h1des 1t felf m the clefts of th1s Rock, yea•there it il:icks with this full refoluuon, that !hould all terrors, all tempt~twns, all men, all devils, combine together to <;aft h1m mto hell, they fhould tear mm, rent him, pull him, hale him from the bleedmg ~ounds, an~ tender bowelsofh1s heavenly Saviollr. This was Job's cafe, who m the b1ttereil: of h1s pangs could cry 1t out, fay– ing,Thougb the Lord fla)' me,yet will I mtft inhtm, Job I 3. I 5· And l mull: tell you, this * "ffiance, dependance, adhermce, reliance (orwhatfoever elfe we call1t) 11pon the mems of Cbrifl, '' the nght JHftifymg fatth , wh1ther 1f a man once come, there IS but one degree more, and he is then ~m again.] Mat. Il· 2l. fUdic. pirr~ fecuoda ca– rcch q6. fid'< jujlificaM 11011 t}i tAmum noti1ia, ["d etiam fiduciA, q~a !~nq~.~ m!dium ApplicA"J~S nobi; m!ritUm Cb~ifti, ~c i!' rcacquitfc itflus. Trc_l: c.ar.l. 2. infliwt. Loquen·; d( natura ftderJU}llftca~ru, .:pprelun{ro (jUS d.upltx ; un11 cognuroms m lllttlldlu, t~lura fid>~cr& m t!OIUII1.1!t, utrnmqu( 1ncludir fides--Ac nollm Bellat m. ~dtttl r§e Ul t~o1untatt. The !aft and highdl: ftep is, Vni7)erfal obedience to C~rift. No fooner ~ath he call: himfelf upon him, but he takes him (not onely as a Savwur to redeem lum from the miferies of fin,but) as an husband,a Lord,a King to ferve him,love him, honour him,& obey him : .Now will he taks hisyoks upon him ; now will he bear his cro fJe and follow af– t(r him ; now will he enter imo the narrow way ; now wlll he walk__m the holy path ; now will he alfociate himfelf to thatfelt and brotherhood that is ewry where fpo/:!n aJ;ainft; now will he oppofe himfelf againil: all fin whatfoever; now will he !hake off his old companions, brethren in iniquity; now will he keep peace and a go0d confcience to– wards God and man , now will he watch over his fecret fins, luftful thoughts, occa– fions of evil; now will he diretl: his words to the glorifying of God, and to give grace to ~hehearers; now will he conform all his aCl:ions to the foveraign!'y of grace; now willhe delight in the Word, the wayes, the Saints, thefervices of God; now will he never more turn again unto folly, or to his trade of fin, yea though Satan fet upon him with baits and allurements, to detain him in his bondage but by one darling-delight, one minion-fin, yet he refolves to anfwer him as Mofes did Phtilraoh, There jhaO not Jo much as an boofbe left behind; for well he knowes, one breach in the Ciry expofeth it to the enemy, one feak in a !hip will fink it in the Sea, one il:ab in the heart will fpeed a man to death ; one knot in a threed will Hay the needles palfage as well as five hund– dred; ~nd t~~reforehe will felt all, all that he hath, even all his fins, to the !aft filthy rag of h1s mmwn -dehght, h1s bew1tchmg-beloved bofome-fin. And riow is the new man born amougil: us, will you view him? Old things are paffed away, behold, all things t~re b~comc nen>,2 Coq .I7: His heart, his ey~, his ear,his tongue,his _underll:anding,his will, h1smemory, h1sconfc1ence, h1s love, h1s hatred, h1s hope, h1s feare, his joy, his forrow ; will you any more ? his thoughts, his words, his aCl:ions, his affeCtions, are all new; . this converfi~n is univerfal, thi.s-change is a through change; now is Chrill: formed m h1m, now 1s ~e transformed mto a new creat11re, before he was in making a new mau, but now he 1s made new; God the Father accepts him for his fori God the Son ftamps on him the Image of his Father, but more immediately God the' Holy Ghoft hath thus mo.ulded and fafh1oned him, as I have let you fee hirri, and now he IS born agam:] whiChexcept a man be, ---he(!hall not) mnnot fee the kjngdom of God. · - f Lo here thofe fteps that raife up a man to the il:ate of regeneration, .A Jigbt of fin, Senfeofmi.fery, Sorrow.forjin, Seekjngfor comfort. .Afight of Chrift, Dejire after Chrift, Relymg on Chrift, Obed«nce to Chrift. One word more before we have done. You fee how God brings along the mart whom he purpofeth i:o make his; and yet l~t no truly humbled !inner be d1fcouraged if he obfi:rve notfo diil:inctly the order of thefe fl:eps, and efpec1ally in that degree as (you fee) we have related; fori( in fubftance andeffe(_lc they have been wrought in th~m, if he h~ve them in truth (though perhaps not Ill tins degree) I dare pronounce ofhun,that he IS forely b•m again. It is one of out D ~ worthy 2 Cor.; N.

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