The Natitre and NeceJii~ ofRegeneration: T;,t 1 :·/J e Secondly, The /"!age~~ God r_eftored to us in our Regeneration, differ; ftom th!!lt wherein if G d g. we were firft crrated m thu, that st ]hall nroer be total~) loft and ejf~tced M the other 1va1 d flm; to'~ herein it excels t~e other. , You fee how foo~ Adam loft his, one Sin brought fi1ch a by ~e~t~u- gre~t b~ot upon tt_, that 1~ was no l?ngetdifce~nable for the Image of God; but now rat/~njh<~fl rho thiS Image fhme not m fuch bnght and onent Colours as that did yet are they ;;;:,'!, bi~ _more lafting ~nd dur:ib~e Colours ~han the fort?er Image had: Yea, ~ha' the Re e- ,,.a Zt/' ner~te comm1t m~ny Sms that ftam a~d fully 1t, yet ~he Spirit of God !till refregfhad,Mthat eth lt by the eonunualmfiuences of hts Grace, and will prefcrve it entire that in t;/';;~ ~1a.t g_reatdDay wbhcn G.od fbal~ cdomde tbo ~xaminebeevery Soul whofc Image a~d Super· Crwed 1Cnpuon o. you :ar, I.t may m ee e 1een we ar the lmasc of God, and may be wJJt. ownc_d by hHn as h1s Children, an? as thofe that belong to hun. The forming now of tlus Image of God on the Soul, iS the product of the New Birtb;- SERMON XII. JOHN iii. S· 'Jejiu ,~Pfivered, verily, verily I fly ttnto thee, except < Man be born of Water , ' \,;r and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the KJngdom of God. ' 'NOW in that the Scripture calls the refl:oringofthis Image of God, a New Rtflm· Bir~h; it w_ill be expedient to confider what this Metaphor to be born "'""w 6t· again doth Import. And here I Ihall touch upon fome remarkable twi~tDnif· refemblances that are betwixt a natural and a fpiria~al Birth, between tu~"l t~~d. onr firil: and our fecond Birth. :::1 ~~~: Firft, .Thtn to be bom again implies, that M no Man can beftow upon himfelf a natural 1 • Being, fo muchltfs can any Man biftow upon himfelfa fupernatural Being. What! where As n~ M4n were all of us an hundred years fince? All m that vaft wild Wildcrnefs of nothing, tMl btjf'~ all Oeeping in onr own Caufes, we our felves not having then fo much Exifrence as ~e~:·'fo:0 our very Dreams have no~v; and could we awake our felves ont of that Oeep, could M411g w• we procure our own Bcmg, could we fetch from Heaven thofe Sparks of Divine be,fluD" Fire, thofe Souls of ours which are now kindled in our Breafl:s, could we our felves J!irltl/•1 tic that Vital Knot betwixt our Souls and Bodies? No more certainly can any car- ~~~~if:pm nal natural Man , that is as much nothing in Grace, as we before we were born were 'm 1 · meer nothings in Nature, call down into his Soul from Heaven that living and afr· ivc Principle of Grace, .that fh.ould make him a new Man and a new Creature. And therefore the &:ripture chufeth to exprefs this New Birth by fuch terms as. do import in us an utter impoffibility and impotency to effect it by our own Power: It is called the quickning of the dead in Eph. 2. _I. You hath_he_quiclned, fays the Apof!le, whq were dead in rrefpaffi; and fins. Look how Impoffible It IS for a dead Man that IS fhut down under the Barrs of the Grave, that is crumbled away into Duft and AJhcs, to pick up agaii1 every fcattered Duft, and form them again into the fame Members, and llow impotlible it is for him to breathe without a Soul, or to breathe that Soul into himfelf. Why a like impoffible is it for a natural Man who bath lain many years ftinking and rottin~ in the death of Sin, to lhake off from himfelf that fpiritual death, or breathe Into himfelfthat fpiritual and heavenly:Life that may make him a living Sou l before God. Moreover the Grace of Regeneration is faid to be created "!pb. 4o in us. in E_ph- 4· 24. l'_ut on the new man? which after God M cre.ated in righteoufnefi a"d ~t· true holinejs. In Creation the Creature IS formed out of nothmg, and what can nothing Contribute to Being? Why fuch is every na;ural Man, h~ is .meer nothing in refpec:t of Grace, and therefore can work nothing of Grace 10 lumfelf. , Thus y~u fee the Scripture carries it, that no more tlun a Child can beget it felf, or a dead Man quicken htmfelf, or a non-entity create it fclf; no more can any c:trnal Man regenerate himfclf, or work true faving Grace in his own Soul. Indeed there are a growing number of Men who think that Regenrration is the effea of Free-will, t~~
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