t ,. Head I. ·· it c~rruptet!, provnr. . not by nature; and they beget their children a.~ me·n, not as holy men. Wherefore as the circum'cife<;l parent begets an ~ncin~umcife? chiJd, and_after the pu~efi grain· is fo~n, we reap corn wtth the chaff; fo the hohefl: parents beget unholy children, and cannot communicate their grac~ t~ them, as they do their nature; which m'!'ny godly p:arents · .find true, in thei( fad ' experience. 'l/Jirdly, ·Confider the C\)rifeffion of the PfaJ-mifl: David, Pfa:~.li. 6. Behold I q;;aJ jhaperJ in iniquitj, and in )in did ?ny mother CQnceive me. Here h,e afcends from his actual £in, to 'the fountain of it, namely corrupt nature. He was a man acG:ording to God's own heart; but fro1}1 the begin"' ning it was not fo with him. ' He was-begotten in lawful marriage: but when the lU-mp was fl,1apen in the womb, ir. w~s a finful lump. Hence the corruption oLnature is cal– led the old man ; being 'as old as ourfelves, older tha·n grace, even in thofe tha are·fanctifiea from the \\Tomb. F()urthly, Hear our Lord) determination of the point, Jolw·iii .5. That w!Hcb·is born if the fl'ejh, is jlejh. Behold the uni,verf.al corruption of mankind, all are ffefh. Not that alJ are fra,i), tho' that is a fad truth tOO; yea, and OUT na- ' tural fr-ailty is an evidence of our nat\J·J'al corruption; but lhat is l}Ot the·fenfe·of rh is text : but here is the meaning of it, all are corrupt and finful, and that naturally:· hence our 1Lord argues here, that becaufethey are flefh, therefore they mull: beborn again, or elfe theycannot enter i?zto tbe kingdoJlJ if God, ver. 3· 5~ And as the' corruption of our natute evi,. denceth the abfolure ne.ceility ofregeneration '; fo the a.hfo– hne nectili~ y of regeneration plainly proves the corrupt i<'r:t t>f O\:l'f nature:-. for why fhould a man need a fecond bit th, if his ·nature were not quite marred in the llrH: bitth ?· In– fants mufi 'be born again> for.· that is 'an e:;<cept (John iii 3·.) which admits of no exception·.. And therefore, they were circumcifed und'er the Old Tefiament; ' as having the bod_y if the }ins o{tl.;e jt'ejh, (wh1ch is conveyed to them by o<l<' tural· generation) to put 'otf, CoL ii. r :r;. And noiv, . by rhe appo~:ntment of Jefus Chritl, rhey <He to be b<tptizect; which fays they ate unclean; and that there is no fai t ation for them, . bnt by the '"lvajhing of regweratim, a ~Jd rt– Ut'7.vmg· of the holy G'hojl, Tit . i!i. - ~. Fiftblj, M-an cena.inly is funk ve1"' townow, in c~n)p;ni ~
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