204 Fal(e Signsof Grace. S E cT. Wherein rege- neration lieth. a. der what this regeneration is not, you will finde excluded from this number, moll of thofe who yet externally account themfelves in Chrills flock, and children in his borate : do not therefore judge fpirituall parts andhead-abilities any filch great matter, for if thefe come not from a new heart within, if they are not firearm flowing from this fountain, they will vanifh like vapours, and bebut as the gar-. lands of flowers that were upon the bealts that were near facrificing : Oh but how is this work of regeneration and gracious mercy ofGod now negletted ?Who attendeth to it ? Who in the midfl of theft feverall opinions that fly abroad in the world, mindeththis neceffary thing ? In the next place, Ice us confider wherein this lyeth : and that in the gencrall we may fay is the reflauration in fame stature of that irete of'God, in which are Were created: Adamwas made after Gods image and likeneffe, gen. I.27. holy as he was, Epb.4.24. called therefore the Son of God, Luke 3. 38. This confilted in an univerfall reftitude of the whole man, in an holy frameof all the parts, faculties. and affeftions in a man: now when Adam fell, thiscuribus tlrorkmanfhipwas bro- ken to pieces ; no part, no affeftions coulddo their duty: grace therefore regene- rating is to rettore and repair theft breaches again : The blinded underllanding is inlìghtned, The contumacious will obedient, ThePeony heart fbftned, The unruly affeftions crucified, fo that this grace of regeneration makes the moll excellent alteration and wonderfull change thatcan be. It's far more then railing the bodies out of the grave, and making them incorruptible and glorious, and certainly if the people fo wondred to fee a lame cripple walk, a blinde man fee, how ought we to admire the greatneffeof Gods power in this fupernáturallchange? Now. this Image of God had thefe remarkable things in it; There was anuniverfall har- mony andproportion of all graces; for it is not the Image of a man if there be only the head or the hands, theremuff be the proportion of the whole body; fo in this work of regeneration there mutt be an univerfall alteration : Every part muff beborn again, as well as everypart is corrupted and every part (hall be glo- rified. Then again in this Image there is likeneffe and refemblance, for fo, to be an image, is a relative thing, and therefore by this weare Paid to be born of God, tobe childrenof God, becaufe we have an heavenly difpofition, love what he lo- veth, delight in What he delighteth, hate what he hateth. Even as wickedmen are Paid tobe of their Father the devil, 7oh.8.44. becaufe they do his works, they lie, aremalicious to the godly, refill and oppote the means of grace,as Satan : Thus the godly areof God their Father, becaufe his works they do, are holy as he is, mercifull as he is, righteous as he is, though with a valt ditproportion, Laltly, There was connaturallity and futableneffe of this image withmans nature, info- much that Divines call that righeeoufneffe naturali, not in refpeétof theprinciples fromwhence it came, for fo it was fupernaturall,' but the fubjeli unto whom it was a due perfeftion, fuppofing Gods will to create man for theenjoying of him - fell, even as his foul alfo maybe laid to be due tohim ; Now although this rege- nerationbe to us fupernaturall, and whollyof meet grace, yet when it is infufed, it makes filch a change that thewales ofGod are a delight tohim, I delight in the Law of God in the inward man e There is a fweet proportion between the heart that is made an holy fubjeat, and the Law of God which is an holy ob- jea. But more particularly let us confider the natureof it. Firlt, Thu new-birth make,grace to be in ua byway of an infufedlift, and fuper- naturall principle, fixed,and permanent ; It giveth a man afefnpernaturale, a fu.. pernaturall being: Therefore is itcalled the hiddenman, the inward man, a Pet, 3.4. The new creature, the divinenature. It's compared to a roor, to a foun- tain, to a foundation ; and now forwant of this, we fee fo much inconflancy and unfetledneffe in the mattersof religion and piety. Men have not a newnature, theyhave only new notions, or new motions, not new natures. When grace be- comes thus a rooted principle in us, then though the winder and florins blow, a man
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