Or, The New <J3irth. 49~ Secondly, As all unrtgenerate Men fail in the Principk, fo they alfo fail in the End ofall ~· their Afliom· For fuch as a Man's Principle is, fuch alfo will be the End th:lt he An am:inz propounds. ~atcr will naturally ri~e n? higher tha~ the Spring-head from whence tl:l~;~~~~ it flows; fo neither nn any ~an s Prmc~ples a~:rr~ htm out to at! above thcmfelves.~u tb.u Why now as the love of God IS the movmg PnnCiple to a Regenerate Man, fo the rhry d•• Glory of God in his determining End. And .fo on the contrary, .felf-love being the only Principle of an Unregenerate Man's AChons, Self-prefeJ:vat~on muft he his utmoft: End into which he rcfolves all. And becaufe God hath ut hts Word of Truth threatned dcftruction to thofe that perfevere in fin, and promifed an unconcciveable reward of Glory to Obedience; felf~love here interpofeth, and excites to the cxtcr~ nal Duties of Religion, that thereby it may efcape the one and obtain the other. Now herein felf-l0ve is very kind, for by propounding himfelf as his end, he lofeth the reward fought for, and all his fervices become only fins. 1 would not be thought to condemn this kind of felf-feeking in Religion, for l know 'tis one of the greateft Incentives to Obedience. Mofes had refpe£f to the recompencc of reward, and encouraged himfclf by it; yea, Chrift, a greater than .(i'fofeJ, the Apoftle faith, He had an eye upon the glory for before him, to encourage him to undergo thofe Humiliations and Abafcments th:lt he was fent into the \Vorld for; only when a Man's felf-eoncernmcnts il:and fo full in his Eye that he cannot look either befides them, or above them, then doth fuch felf-ends become finful in themfelves, and turn alfo every aCt ion that is direCTed by. them into fin: . Now ~e~e then let ~very carnal unchanged finner fee the fad and deplorable condition he IS m, what little ground he hath to hope for Heaven and Salvation: Alas, finners, how do you hope to be faved? The only way th:tt leads to Heaven and Happinefs is Faith and good Works; not f11ch eqt~ivocal good \\forks as moft Men rely upon, but fuch genuine ones as have the love of God for their Principle, and the glory of God for their End; and fbch no unregenerate Man can produce, all the reil ~re but trafh and lumber, and fi1ch as will rather burthen than crown your Souls at the lafl: Day. Think of it ferionfiy unlefs the Foundation be laid in a real change of Grace wrought upon your Souls: all that afterwards you build is but Hay and Stubble, fuch as will only add Fuel to y,our unqt~enchable F_ire; think nOt therefore as _many ign~rant, fottifu People do~ of bal1anc1ng your evil Deeds by your good; for tf you are m an unregenerate, in a natura l.fta te and condition, if the fame that you came into the World, there is nothing but what is evil and finful. And it is very fad to confider, that when God and your own Confciences fhall come at the laft Day to take a review of our Lives· thofe Lives that have been full of Attio.tls, perhaps for Forty, Fifty, or Threefcor~ Years together, and they fuall be found to be but one continued Series of wickednefs, one fin fi1ece~d~ng anoth~r. without the leaft gap mad~ in it by one good ·and holy Work. Th1s IS the condmon of every unregenerate Smner; and therefore if ever' you hope for Heaven endeavour for Regeneration, for this change is abfolutely necelfary for the railing of any of your ACI:ions from being finful to be holy. Fourthly, Heaven in &riprurt U promifed to be given by 1M)' of lnhtritance, 1t1td no + otherwife: So you have it in A£f.1 20. 32. and in At1J 26. I 8. and il\ many other flta"VmsJ places. Now an Inheritance denotes Sonfhip; God will not give that InheritanceP'~mt{tJ unto any but to thofe that arc his own Chi~dren: We are all of ns natur<Jliy Stran-:j'{,,l/d~' ge:s to God, a~d. before we can become _his Chtldren we mnft b.e Ne"? Born, and by tanu. thiS New Birth lt IS that we are made Heirs of Glory, and Coheirs wtth Jefus Chrift our Elder Brother, and therefore Regeneration is abfolutcly necelfary unto Eternal Salvation. .Fifthly, It iJ not for- the honour of God to beft.ow f!caven an~ Happin_cfs upon finful Men 5· w~thout they are changed. The Glory of God IS chiefly rnamfefted Ill our Regenerati-It is 'Not· on: Should he admit Sinners into Heaven, many of his Attributes would fhffer fonh~ H~ thereby; his Truth would filffcr in raving thofe whom in his Word he had doomed nauro~G ••I to DJmnation: His Jufi:ice would fitffer; for if he fuould favc all wicked Men, and 'fte::_ow leave .none as Velfels ofWrath, what would become of the Glory of his Juftice andupDn M~"' Seven~y? If he lhould fave fome, and notal!, this would be partiality, feeing all.,ithfut 11 accordmg to the terms of the Gofpel are equally liable to Damnation. His Holi- chtmgt. nefs would fu~er alfo, _in the admitting of unholy and impure Men to inhabit for ever before h1m, who IS of purer Eyes than to behold fin on Earth with approbation, and therefore certainly will not behold fin in Heaven with countenance. R r r r 2 Sixthly
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