------------------------~------------------------------~· ~ An Expo[ition of the Epifile 3'52 ~ this. It is in 2 Pet.2.22. ( I opened it in part in the la!\ difcourfe; but that I lhall Sermo1t quote it now for, I did not open:) He fpeaks of men that leave their fins XXVH. through a great deal of light. He compared; rhem fir{\ to Swine, ( !/hewed that ~ before,) they were outwardly walhed, it was but re!\t'aining of corruption, He compareth themfccondlytoaDog; The 'Dog ( faith he) i& •·eturned to hi& ow11 vormt ttgaiu. .He compareth the natural Confcience of a man to the Stomach; do but make thts Stomachlick, gt~e tt but a Ptll or two to quicken nature, and it will ~om:t up all : So wtll a mans Confctence, 1f the Holy Gho!\ fall upon it;·· if he gtve tt but two or three of thofe Ptlls of Mercury : The Word of God is quick a11d powafut, no Q!Jcklilver ts hke tt, 1t w•ll make a man lick and lick to death. Here is no new principle put in, it is a working upon the old fiomach and humors thus, for though he vomtt as the Dog cloth, yet he loveth it !\ill · Sin and his Soul are as nearly united as before, the Dog returneth to liis vomi~ agairi. I might enlarge it to you by that Example of Felix , that trembled when Paul difcourfed of Judtme1lt to come, which I leave, becaufe I will hafioo•. Now when Confcience is thus wrought upon , and a man feeleth by a light of the Holy Gho!\ put into his Confcience (which his Confcience is capable oF, ) what the wrath of God is; what faith the Soul next ? Oh, for a Phyftcian ,.and Nature it fel f, if it be thus wrought upon, w<ll do this, will drive a man to the Phyfician; Thewholeneed ttot" Ph.>ficitm, buttheythatarejick. You hea,rd before, there is • natural principle in us to ufe a Mediatour unto God. Now a man living under the Gofpel, hath heard that Chrifi is the Mediatour; Educa– tion bath taught him that, even as it teacheth a Turk, that Mahomet is the Me– diatour to God. And by the fame principle that Agrippa believed Mo(ts and the Prophets, he believcth the Gofpel and Paut'sEpi!\les, and there he readeth of a Medtatour, and that this Mediatour is Chrifi. Now, my Brethren, in this cafe, a man's Soul having a further light, that na– tural principle beingfunher enlighmed, that light ol faith which he had byE– ducation being now further improved by the Holy Ghofi, a man cometh to re– member his Redeemer; be forgat him all his days before. There is an excellent expreiiion for this in Pfat.78. l4• li· Whei1 htflew them,– thm thty fought bim, and they retur1ud and mquirtd early after God: aud they remembred that God was their Rock, mtd the High God their Red,eemer. That Chrifi which a man before he was lick had negleded, he would ufe him complimentally; but now he bath need of him, he remembreth him as never he remembred him before; he remembreth that he is his Redeemer, if ever he be fave·d. When men do come thus to flnnd in need of Chrill, they con!ider him after a new manner, they remember him anew. Well then, in the Fourth place, The Gofpel that he knows, doth not only re– veal Chrifi to be a Redeemer to him.to pardon his fin, but that there isa happi– nefs which he bringeth with him, This !\andeth fully with a principle of nature too·; for I told you there was this principle in nature to defire happinefs beyond what is in this World, for no man is fatisfied with what is here. All this fuiteih with what is in Nature, and Nature improved by the light of the Holy Gholl will rife hitherto; therefore they are faid to be partakers of the heavmh gift, the heavenly gift is Chrifi. If thou knewtjl the gift of God, faith he, Joh. 4• And they are faid to taf/e of the powers of the world to come, Htb, 6. As they ta!\e of Hell, and know certainly there is a Hell; likewife there being a natural principle in them todefire a happinefs beyond what is in this World, it is.con– firmed wLen they hear out of the Word, that there is a happinefs, and there arc fome ta!\es of it too, of which this principle is capable of. Now lay this for a conclufion, That all thefe principles in nature are but im– proved, and fee how ealily a man w<ll be wrought upon. For there is in every man, belidesall this, SeJf.Iove, which is the predominant principle in rrian by nature, he loveth himfelf more than he loveth God ; herein lieth the bot– tom of man's corruption, (mark what I fay unto you) that makes him flefl1 for all this. Now if a man's Confcicnce be thus awakened , he feeth need of a Phy!ician ,' be feeth a happinefs which cometh with him , to which a man bath a Natural principle fuited ( the News of it is;) ~f thiS
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