Head f. ttuhetix:r hr;rn again, o.P not. J 79 And art thou now walking in newoefs ·of life? T~us ye may .difcover, \vhether ye are born . again, or not. ·. _ But, for your further- help in thi~ matter, I will difcourfe ,a little of another fign of regenera~ioo, namely, The love of ·the brethren; an evidence whereby the weakefl: and mofi ti– morous' faints have often had comfort, when they could have Jitt le or no confolation from other marks propofed to them: T hi s t he apo fl !c lays down, I Jl)h>z iii. I 4· lVe ~nt;w thllt ~»e- have pa.ffedfr?m ·death unttJ life, hecl:rufe w~ l!Jve th~ bre– thren. It is not to be thought that t,het. apoqle., by the brethren in th is pl:ice,- means brethren by a· Gof!}mon relation to the fi rft Adam, but t,o the fecond Adam Chrifl: Jefus: be – .cau fe, however true 1 it is, that univerfat benevolence, a .goed -will to the whole race of mankind, takes place in the renewed foul, as bei ng a lively lineament of th·e divine i– mage; ye t the whole context fpe:lks of thofe that are the fo n.r ofGod, ver . 1, 2. children o.f God, ver. 10. born of God , vet. 9· di!linguifhing betwixt the children of God, and t/;e children of .the devi l, ver. to. betwixt thefe that are of the di!'Vil, ver. 8, '2. and thefe that are oj God, ver. to. ' And t h e te x t itfelf comes in as a reafon why we fuould not mar vel that the world hates toe brethren, the <;hildren of G od, 1N r. t 3. How ,.can we marvel at it, feeiog the love of t he brethren is an evidence of one's havin·gpa!Jtdfrom death t o-life? And therefore it w~re abfurd to look for that love among!l: the men· of the world, wb.o He dead in trefpajfu andjin. They cannot ·love the brethren; no marvel th~n that they hate them. ·Wher.efore it is plain, that by bre– thren here, are meant brethren by·regeneration Now, in order to fet tlris mark ,ef regeneration in a true Light, conGder tbefe thtee things . (I·~ rhis Io~-e to the brethren, is a love to them as fuch. T·hen do we ,fove them in the fenfe of the text, when the grace,~ or image 0f God in them , is the chief motive of our love to them When ' we IGve the godl-y for their god! inefs, the faints f0.r tb e-ir fanc :; tity ~r holinefs; then we 1 ~ ve God in them, and fo may conclude, we are born of God~ for every me that loveth hi11t that heg«t .'l oveth him alfo that is be~ottm o.fhim, r John v. t . Hypocrlites may love faints, en -tccount of a <)i..,i:l relati– on to them; becanfe of their t bL~ iog converfation; for tbeir being of the fame ,epinion with themfelves in religious matters ;
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