868 Book.IV. Part.V. Looking unto JiftU. Chap. 1 ;Sech I Jcr. lO, 9· ~: Cor .:..u. q#ity,. none a'te· children of God .bi' adopti on, but thofe that are children alfG by regeneration; no ne are heires of heaven, but they are new borne to it; Blejfed be God the Father of our Lord Jefus ,Chrift who ht~th begotten us a new-to an inheritance im- morttd. This fcale of fanCI:ification leaves upon the foul the like- nefsof Jefus Chrift,even grace for gra ce. 3. TLere is awork ofalfifting,exc:ting, q uickning grace, or of Gods gracious concourfe w~th chat habitual grace which he hath wrought in his people : now tbi1- is v ariom according to the good pleafure of his will ; the Spirit is more mightily prefent to fome chan to o.thers, yea more to the fame man at fometimes, and in fome condi~ions; fometimes the fame Chriftian is as a burning and a fhining light, fometimesas a fmoakin g fiaxe, the Spirit blowes how it /ifteth; fomctimes he fills the foul with fuller gales, fometimes againe fhe is becal med; a man hath more of the Spirit at one ,time than another ; now when the Spirit come$ in t~us by exciting, quickning, ftirring, and in abling us co aCI:, fo that we can fay as fometimes theProph et faid,it was in my heart as a burning, fire fout up in my bones, 11n"tl I was wear7 with forbearint, and could not flay; why then the Spirit leales and gives al furance to our fouls that we are his. 4• There is a work of1hining upon, .or inlighcening tbofe·gra- ces which the Spirit plants in us, an d helps us to cxercife; this fea[es to the purpofe ; and of this it is that the A poftle fpeaks, we hA'Jit received not the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is ofGoJ., thAt we maJ/zyow the things that arefreell given us of God. The things given to us may be freely received by us, and yet the receite of them not known to us, therefore the Spirit' for our further confolation doth (as it were) put his hand and feale to our receites, be fhine~ upon our graces, or he enlightens ou r grace5, whereby we may know we b eleeve, and know that we live. Indeed this is rare with Gods own people, fometimes (not- withftanding this feale) we may be in f uch a ftace asP au/ and his "" company were in the {hip, when they (aw neither fun nor ftar of ACt 17• :.o: man] dayes together; fo it may be that for a time we may fee rieicher fun nodl,ar; neither light in Gods couatenance, nor light In our fouls ; no grace ilfuing from God, no grace carrying the foul to God; yet in chis darke c ondition ifwe do as P1111l. and his company did,. ( i.) if we caft anchor even in the 4arke . . . - . . .l)ig~t
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