202 ofRegeneration. SE In the next,place there is the occafron of their words,implied in that, 7efaa an- fwered, forit doch not appear to what words of N,icodemuuChrift dab_anfwer and therefore the groundof this fpeech feemeth very difficult to finde %W, In;thé 'New Teffament to anfwer is (ometimes nomore then to begin co [peak, not dono. ring any relation to a difcoutfe going before . bah= it Maywell be Conngaedto the words before : Either thus, as fame, Thotr thIIkenalrideimu, I aro krueer Prophet only, Thou lookeft upon me only as a man Cent from God, verily thou can't not perceiveor difcern any more, unteile thou art regenerated. Others chink more probably that Nicodemus after that henoufable compellation given our Sa- viour, did then enquirehowhe might be made partaker of the Kingdom of hea- ven, only the Evangeliftdid not relate it, becaufe our Saviours anfwer did (uffici- ently manifeft it. t We come then to the Propofition, where is cdnfrderable, i thefubjei ,then the attribute : The fubje&, unlcffe a manbebarnagain( wherein'tnarkthe unioerfälicy, unleffea man; he doch not fay, Unlelfe thou,' including hereby every one : And be born again, he dochnot fay, behealed, orcured; orjefkored tohealth, but born again ; The greek word <ïnmS-w tome make from above, as it is tiled afterwards in the Chapter : but it's plain that it ligniheth as much as déuarç;or, by the reply of Nicodemua, how cana manbe born thefacond aime: The attribute is, he cannot fee the Kingdom of God, that is, poffeffe ir,as the Latinifms fay,; cernere baredieatem, by this is meant, not the prefent difpenfationof grace,but future glory inheaven. Wary. Without regeneration there ÿr no la'l arcan, No falva: ion It is not enough tobe born once naturally, but we muff be alío a fecond time without regc- fpiritually. The main thing to clear this doarine, wi,lbeto thew whategenera- ne''''on. tion is, and I (hall do that fielt negatively, then pofrtively : What reeve_, What it is not. ration is no:. And firft, It it not ar Nicad.mmgrofly conceived, afecandentring into the womb; a. It's a wonder that Nicademur a learned man,not in e,fri/otle, or humane arts,bat in the Lawof God,in the Scriptures,where he had read of a new heart and taking away the heart oflfone,E'zek.36, a6.yetlhouldapprehend no better. but thougha man could in a naturali way beborn a thoufand timesover, yet fach is that abomi- nable defilcatent and ()cadential'contagion in everyone,that this natural beingrah be no more made glorious in heaven then a black coal a glorious Starre. Thus our Saviour afterwards (hewing the ground of regeneration, faith, That which.is born ofthe fleb, to lleth. What a folly then is it toglory in a mans birch, a Prince, a No- bleman, a Gentleman by birth 1 for though therehave priviledges among men, yet they do not exempt from corks beforeGod : Oh that thofe who glory in their blond could difcover well the works of Gods Spirit in them, and this is univer- fatlytrue, evenof chore who haveexcellent, ingenious,good natures, fuch asTo- navevatareofwhom by an hyperbole it was laid, Inhoc homine non peccavit Adam This good nature, this kinde, this ingenious nature mull be born from above ; It muff not only have external culture anddrelfng,but internall alteration,and with- out that it burneth in hell as well as others. Secondly, lea not,in another extremity,to havea new phyfscall being, As notto lolo the e(lentials we had of a foul and the faculties thereof: fome have confer- fedly talked of a tranfubllantiaeion into the beingof God,and tels us of a (lunge deification, or beingmadeGod withGod. Thefe men have affeeced uncouth and obfolete expreffions, as the Paracelfians do in Phyfick t No, though born of God, Yet not made God, only we have the image of God in us, and that which is by way of fub(fance inhim is only by accident in us. It is true, the Scripture éalleth it a divine nature,1.Pet. r.4. a new creature, a Gor,y.17.the inwardman,and this made Illyrictaa withhis followers at leali in words to erre, ( for fome excufe his fenfe) when he laid, The fublfanceof a man is corrupted, and fo his fubffance mutt bechanged. It's true the Scripture uleth fachexpreflions to (hew how reali, intimate, and fixed the work of grace is; It's not a notion, it's not a fancy; No mote
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