The Nature··and Ner!i}jitj.'?f Regeneration: Chrift and Gofpel-MyJleries wi·th Aifedions ahd:'Cofiviill!iurt s.' 11.Yo)l~ natnrht Gapaoities ; had we heard them !pe-ak urtftudied ta'ltguag\' SJ tand .facrt th~ril work_ing Miracles, healihlphe Sio~, raifing the Bead, coal~ we a ' th"dugh! that 1r was pollible for any of thofe, who were fo filvouredartd'lillea bytht;lffo-> !J Ghoff, tb be yet in an ilnregeherate-State, 'in. ~ · St:treof Wr-afh1'andDa1bi¥.tl. tion? Yer thar there migh•forne of thefh. be fo, is dear, for th~'111ff.JIIt(P,e~k! of the like, fuch who had rajfed the heavenly Gift, were- mdJe paijHk'lfi of thi 'HoTj Hob, 6. 4· Ghoft, anJ yet thry might faU mvay, Heb. 6. 4· That is, there ws,~ tlleni'ihtho!~ Primitive Times that had an Effufibn of the extraordinary Gift! of· 'the''Holf GBoft poured out upon them; offpeaking with Tongues, of ~ooltl a!ld ready Uttci:ance, of working of Miracles, and the like--; and yee fu'9h ' as thefe, that . had tafted ofthefe heavenly Gifts, and were made Partakers t!Hne iio!jGBof!. :;fell away ; 't!hat is, rhey were never truly regenerate. ·. And cercaihly, ·if tile~ e.-Xtraordirlary Gifcs might befoundfeparate from: true·Grace; l)iUch more m~ ,rhofeiriferior Gifts that the Spirit now difpenceth amohg Chriftiq'ns be Wirfiotit true regenerating Grace. A Man may difcourfe of Spiritttal Mfj1Hits coPiqpflY and clearly ; he may have Gifts of Knowledge and Urrerailee ;- he ]ha}f preach wirh Evidence and Dernonftration, and pray wich E~targement ~nd Affed:ion;and y~r nocwirhftanding all this,be an urrefSrrangerto fiwin~ Wdr~ ef Grace, Gifts prove no•hing; thefe Gifts may be buf the Gilding of a rotten Poft, the Varnifh of a corrupt Heart. As it was a Cuftom Of did to crOW&. thofe Beafts Heads with Garlands of FlowerS, that were ordajn'd eo be a Sa- ~• crifice: So GoJ may fometimes crown the He2dSof wicked Me:ft with ftdWtJ fares and Gifts, whom yet he intends to make a Sacrifice of eo his W rach and juftice. ' 4 ~ f< << ·(" Fifthly and lafily, A ci'Vil andharmlefl I?emeanour is not this Statet~fReguieratitfn. • .A Czvt! f There are many chat are of a good Nature, that live blamele!ly as td me ;t~a~m- Wotld, and that nearly n!fembleGract; fuch as St. Paul was, W-ho [peaking of ;:ano'urhliimfelf faith, Touching the Law he '"M blamtlejl. And fuch was rhe young Mar\ Mt Rege- in the Go[pel, that came to Chrift, and demande,d what furH1er Lefi"orl ' he 11eration. fuould take our, having obey'd all the ~ommands, as he thoUght ; and Vet thfs alfo is fhort of the Regenerating Grace of the Spirit, and argues only afweet Difpofition; not a graci0us Heart. - :r. c And thus you fee how eafily Men m~y miftake ' themfelves 'in the gfeal Work of Regeneration, upon which depends their Eternal Happihefs; fot ~ice'pt a Man be born again be jiJa!l ne'Ver fee the kingdom of God; and yet it is tdo too much to be feared, that many, yea, very many reft upon thefe things, .;nd think the great determining Change is certainly wrought upon them only,becaufe they are morally honeft, or eminently gifted, dr much reform'd, ot ·· gain'd over to the Profeffion of the Truth with fuch a Sr£1 or Part} of Prof"effors; whereas indeed the Nnu-Birth confifis in none of all thefe things. Briefly therefore to inform you what it is ; you may rake it thus : What ~e· Regener8tion is a Change of the 7vhole Man in e'Vtr} Part and Faculty thereof, fio/p !..tneratlOn "· State of jinful Nature, to a State of {upernatural Grace, where':J the Image if 11 ' God, thpt we defaced and loft by our firft TranfgrejJion, i1 again in Jome good mea[«rt reftored. Now as .every Science hath its proper Terms, char are as fo manyKeys to unlock the Myfieries contain'd in it; · fo efpecially Divinity abounds with Terms that are peculiar to its own Doctrine, and in QO one Point more thdr( in this, of the l'o-reat Change that a Sinner undergoes, when he is ~ranflated from a Stare o Nature to a State of Grace. That Grace that concurs nCJ'vV .unto this great Change, it is of two forts : · Either filch as alters the Relations wherein we ftand unto God,. or fuch as alters the Difpofir:ions and Habits of our Souls. Of the former fott ate EleE!ion, which is antecedent to our Faith, and Reconciliation, Tujli.fication, Adoptitm, and MJftical Union, which are Confequenrs umo ir ; of thefe Graces ir iS nor my Bufinefs now tO treat, becaufe they lodge only in the Breaft of God, and their formal Effe£! is nor a Jiepernatural Infitjion of any new !Ja~its or Principles, but only ofnew Relations : When we fpe>k of a Perfon JUftJfied and adopted, the true adeqt,ate Notions of rhefe Terms do not declare how his Heart is changed towards God; but, ifl may fo fpeak, how God's Heart is changed tOWards . him ; not that he ftands otherwife affelled unto God, but.otherwife relatea · to
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