to the E PH E S I AN S. 343 !;ere is bur a working upon the principles that were in nature, without putting in~ • Sermo11 m~ . X To make this plain, r Wtii !hew you, . xvr. Fir£\, What rnnciples are m corrupt nature capable to be wrought upon by~ the Holy Ghofr. • . . . Secondly, I will /hew you, that there are thtngs m the World fu1table to work upon thefe principles of Nature, :.1 the Holy Gho!l: fetteth them home. d I b . I r. . . I b fi . Thirdly, That the Holy GI10H or 1 ut tmprove t 1e,e pnnctp es, y ettmg home thofe things in the Word futtable to them. You wiii fay, What are thofe principles in a man's Nature, that are capable thus to be wrought upon and improved by the Holy Ghofr Wtthout putttng in of new, that a man /hall feem to have abundance ol Rehgton, and be exceedmgly affected with Spiritual things ? , . . . r will go over fome. Take • mans Underllandmg, t here ts a ltght of Con– fcience in it, whereby a man knoweth there IS a God; as you may read, Rom.r. There is the letter of the Lr1w wnttett 111 thnr hearts, Rom.2o14, Now the Holy Gholl (without purring in of a new Eye) can reveal more and farther things of rite Law to t heir Confcience, than Nature of tt felf ever knew , and yet is capable to take in. Here .'s now b~t a work upon the old pnnc1ple, a raifing of it up higher, a revealtng new obJects to 1t. . There is namraiiy m a man's heart the knowledge that there ts a God, There is naturally in all mens hearts devotion to a Deity, The Holy Ghofl: comerh and works upon this principle, and convincetl1 a man's heart, that the God that made Heaven and Earth is the true God, and that Jefus Chrifi is the Saviour of the World. No1v rake a man that is brought up in litrky, the fame principle of natural devotion to a Deity carrieth him to worfl11p Mahomet, that carries ano– ther that isbronghtupin the Church to worfl1ip Chrill. The principle is one and the fame, only here is the difference, The one hath the happinefs to live in the Church, and to have the knowledge of the true Me(jir~h; Bur, I fay, the principle is tbe fame in him, that is in the heart of a Mahttmrtal!. Then the Holy Gholl cometl1 and works further upon· thts pnnc1ple, and convmceth tt with more fupernaturallmowledge concerning this Chrill, that through it he efcapes the pollutions of the World. This is for knowledge. There is like wife in a man a natural defire of happinefs. All men have a deiire of the chiefefl good. What is the reafon elfc you go and heap up fo maoy things together, R.iches, and Honours,&c? Now the Holy Ghofi comerh and works upon this principle in nature, and convinceth a man, that Heaven and to be with God is rhe only happinefs: And a man out of love to himfelf lillnerh after this happinefs; and, 0 that I m1ght dte the death of' the righteom! as Balaam did. So likewife for the matter of believing that a man is the Child of God , there is fuch a fel f.flar rery in the heart of a man, that if he hear any good news out of the Word that n,1en /hall be faved, I am the man (thinks he) that God will ho• nour,as Hmum thought him!cl f the only man whom the King would honour ,and fo every man thinketh; this felf-Jlattcry makes out the conclufion prefently, The Holy Gholl comes and terrifieth a man's Confcience, letterh it fee Sin as it is (for Confcience is to be fubject to Gcd, for it is his Vicegerent) when the Con– fcience is terrified; he heareth of the Gofpel and of Pardon of fin, the Holy Gholl makesh im believe ir, and thereupon he is filled with joy. And that very natural pnnc1ple, wh1ch m a man condemned to die, if he hear of a general Pardon, makes him b lieve himfelf to be in the number of thofe that /hall be pardoned. and fo is joyfu l in be lieving it, the fame will make a man joyful at the heari1;g of' the Go[pel, ns you have it in M ,,ff.t+ And be/ides, a man's Spirit is capable of a joy by the prefence of the Holy Gho([, they arc faid to1<1(/e of the powtrs of' the World to come. You know, naturally a man's Con(cience, if he do·well, hath peace in it; fo in the Law. So m the work or the Go!pd roo if a man hears of a pardon, and cloth any way reform through the knowledge of Chrill, to encourage him he hath a joy in Ins fJma, wh,ch the Holy Ghofl works, and yet fiill the principle is the f.1me; for
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