An Expojition of the Epiftle "'-~'\../~ As for Example, It is as if he fhould fay, t!le Mind of a man, .or the Eye of a Sermon man rather, it cannot fee an Angel; Why? For an Angel IS fpiYltually dif– XXV. cerned. One Angel can fee another; but take an Angel meerly as he is a Spi· ~ rit let him not uke a lhapc, rake him in his Sl'iritual nature, and the Eye of m;n cannot fee him; Why ? For he is a Spirit, and he mufi be difcerned fpiri– rually. Jufi fait is here, Take Spiritual things in their own nature, and he wants a faculty, a Spiritual principle to fee them with, to know them with. Therefore in the Fourth place, which is a fourth Reafon why that the Apo(\!c here would have a Spiritual, a new principle to go to help a man to fee Spiritual things fpirirually; This is a Fourth Reafon, in that he calleth him that dif– cerneth aSpirit11al mmt: He that is fpirituat, faith he, difcer~uth a!J thi11gs. What cloth he mean by a Spiritrwl mmt? You have it interpreted ."fohtL l· 8. That which is born of the Spirit i> Spirit, What is it.tha t is born of the Spi– rit ? It is not an act of knowing, but it is a principle of knowledge ; for al– waies that which cometh by birth is Nature, it isNatural difpofltions that are derived to us by our birth, therefore we ufe to fay of what is a man's difpo– firion, He harh it by nature. Therefore now his meaning is this, He is a Spiri– tual man, be is regenerate, he hath a new underfianding , a new princ:ple put into him, a quicknefs, a difpofttion of underfianding, which a Carnal man wants, and therefore he is not fitted to know Spiritual things as he is, You fl1all find in r Cor.I5·44· that the Apofile faith, There i& a 11atttrat body, and thae is 11 fpiritual6ody, they are the fame terms in the Greek that is ufe.d here, ANa– ttlral mmt and a Spiritual ma11. Now by Spiritual body there, what is meant? Spiritual endowments; As to lhine like t~e Sun, to have agility and ~imblenefs to move as an Angel, to have all fuch Spmtual endowments put upon 1t; herein lieth the fpiritualnefs of the Body, in oppofition to this Natural body of ours. So a Spiritual underfianding lieth in having new endowments, which en·ableth"' man to know Spiritual things in fuch a manner, as no Natural man in the world can I<now them. Well then, this is the fcope of this place, and fo I will leave it. That if you defire to know Spiritual things aright, you mufi have as-great a change wrought in your Minds to make them fpiritual, as your Bodies one day !hall hav" to make them fpirirual at the Refurrec:tion; new qualities and endowments put upon yourunderfiandings, new forms, .fo the Apo!Heexpre!Teth it, to be tranf– formed in the renewing of your .minds to know him, 'in that 12th of the Roma1Js. . Now then to gather up this fir!l: Head, This mull nece!Tari!y be done by a Creation, no lefs power than Went to create at lirfi. Nay it is not of th1s Crea– tion neither. To make that plain to you, That a man cannot know Spir~tual things, can· not have this principle of lmowleogc unlefs he be tnade a new Creature; it mufl be aC~e·ation that mufi do it. For this I do qoote 2 Cor. )• 115, 17. Read what the Apofile faith there, he fpealts of the dif!hent knowled,ge he had when he was an unregenerate man, aRd a·•regenerate man. Sec how he bpreifeth it. Wherefore (faith he) hmceforth d"'·T~vWi1 that is, hence from the time ofmy Con– verfion, .(for indeed aChrifiian r.eckonerh his.life from his Converfton,) Whtrt· fore hmaforth, that is, from the time of my Converfion, k11ow we 110 man after ter the flr/b; )'ea, though we have kuown Chri(/ a/itr thefief/;, from hmcejorth kt10w we him no mort. He fpeaks of knowledge you fee, and of fuch a knoW· ledge, as he had wrought in him from the time and infiant of his Converlion, di:fferingfr<>m that before. Belore, I knew men after the fltjh. That phrafe After the Fief/; referreth both to the tbmgs !mown, that IS·, I valued allmen and things as they were in the flefh; if I looked upon a man that was rich aQd honourable , I valued him by hislRiches and Honours, and what he was in flefl1ly things, by this I did let my efieem upon men, and accordingly upon things alfo; and this was all the un~erfianding I had both of Things and Perfons. Or the phrafe rcferreth unto his manner of knowing, or notes out the principle by which he knew them; K11ew them after the jlt/h, faith he, that is, from Carnal principles; my Underflanding was nothing but fle!h, Tht~t which is born of the jltjb lsj/e}b: And
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