4-7~ The Nature and Neciffity rf Regeneration: fore F:~ith is before )uftific~tion, an_d ispartof our_Regeneratio~. The Apoftle now proceeds ro the la!t Lmk of d\15 Golden Cham, Whom be ;uflifitJ them he al[o glorijieJ; where we may obferve that iris at leaft probable, that rhe Glorification that the Apofile here fpcaks of, may not be the Glory of Heaven becaufc he fpeaks of it as a thing already paft and done, whom he harh juftified he ha rh glorified: We may, wirho!ltoffering Violence to theWords, interpret ir of Sanflijiclltion ; whom he harh Jufiified, them he hath glorified, that is fan8:ified ; fo that Glorification here is no more than Sanctification, for Sand:ificrtrion is alfo called Glory in 2 Cor. 3· 18. We alfo beholding the Glory of the LJrJ are cbanged into the fame image from glory unto glory, ns by theS(irit oftbe Lr>ril· fro~ Glory to Glory, that is, from one Degree of Sanctification to another · for indeed Holinefs, that is, our Sanctification, ..and the Glory of Heaven, 'are but one and the fame thing for Subftance, differing in Degrees and Circumftances. So much now for the Names, whereby this great Change is called; let us now proceed to confider rhe Narurc of it, which, becaufe it is a Mutation of rhe whole Man, we cannot better do it, thanbyconfideringthe Terms both from which, and to which this Mutdtion or Change. paffeth. Let us therefore firft rake a view what Man i; in his unregenerate Scare, and then behold him as he is new and as he bears the glorious Lineaments of God's Image upon his Soul. ' In his unregenerate Scare, Firft, I fuall not confider him as he is obnoxious to Divine.Wrath and Vengeance,for fo he is a Child of Wrnth,and Heir of Hell and Perdition : But I fhall confider him as he ftands alienated from the Divine Ho/i. nrfl and Purity, and as he is defpoiled of all thofechoice Perfections wherewith his Nature was at firft endow'd. And here give me leave eo reprefenc eo your Eyes,a wretched and fad Spe£facle, whofe Bowels cannot but yearn to read that Defcripdon which the Prophet makes, Eiek x6. r), I 6. of a poor forfaken In· faut, fwathed in its own clotted Blood, all raw and ulcerated, caft out into the open Field, helplefs for its Weak11ejf, and lo:uhfome. for its DeformitJ, whofe Cries were choak'd by the Filch in which it wallow' d. This is rhe very Emblem JFh ·. of what we our fe lves arc in our UnregeneraCJ, cafi out to the loathing of our tht~:;;;lp·l)crfOns, rowlinp our f~lves in ?Ur own filth, i'mporent that we cannot help tio11 of an our felves, and fo choak d up w1th our own Blood,rhat we cannot ask it ofGgJ, unregene-. A leprous Perfon, that fucks his own Sores, and bath nothing to feed on but ~·atr~tat' the Corruption that ifi'ucs from thence, is not a more loathfOme Spe8:acle, ':' 11 J;t than Man in his Stare of Unregeneracy, whofe Soul is all puftulent, full ofWounds, confijl. Bruifes, and putrified Sores; whofc Food is nothing elfe but the Sten~h and Purulency that breaks out from thence : But I Jhall not ftand to reprefem it to you in Generals; to oome therefore to Particulars, I 1ball give you thefe fol· }oWing Pofitions., whichmayclearup borh, wherein confifts theStareofUnugentracy, and alfo the Mifery of fuch a St.ate. Firfi, The Corruption of an tmregenernte State conjijls in blottingout the Divine Image, J. tht t· that Refemblance ofGod which WIZ! jlampt upon our Souls in our jirfl CreatiotJ. What 17,; an~ the Image of God is, I fhall more clearty fhew you afterwards, and how it is dt}~cing again reftored to us in Regeneratitm; in the mean time it may fUfficc, that by ef God's the Jmatre of God, I mean thofc fpiritual Habits of Knowledg~ and Holinefs th~c 1;_"a~ d; were c;nferr'd on Adam in his firft CreatiotJ, and on us in him : Thefe Habits ' e ou • were natural to him, and cdncreaccd with him, whereby his Underftanding was raifed eo a clear and farisfying Knowledge of Divine Truths, and his Will inclined to a free and unforced Performance of Divine and Spiritual Allions ; in this confifted a great Part of the Image of God : It confiftcd alfo in the h~rmonious Subordination of the inferior Faculties to the fuperior, the Will being fubject to the Dictates of theUnderftanding, and the Affeffionsfubjcet: to the Commands and Soveraigntyof the \Vill. Bur now all this is loft, in our unregenerate State we are depriv 'd of it, and there is nothing bur Ruin and an undigefted Chaos, left in an unregenerate Soul : Darknefs covers rhe Face of the Underftanding, that great Deep, and Diforders and Tumults fway his Affections comrary t6 the Guidance of his \Viil, and thefe'fway his Will concrary to the Ditbtes ofReafon; fo thatit is in a Scare of meerConfufion,Diforder and Rebellion, as of M :m agairift God, fo alfo ofM:tn againft himfelf: le is 2 Stare of utter Blindnefs and Impotency, TYben we were wrnk,then God{tnr his Sun in the M.t· nrfs
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