Or, The New 'Birth. 495 vices ofVVickcd Men, cannot but caft them back as dung an~ filth in their Faces; for God accepting of nothing bu~ what is perfeCt, and th_c fervices of wicked Men w3nting rite Merits of jcfi1s C:h~tft, they ~ome ~p before Go~! as unfavoury !tenches inftead of fweet fmells. Tins ts the frmtlefs tffue of all wtcked Mens Duttcs, and therefore the Apoflte tells us in Heb. _1 (. That without Faith it. U i1npoj[ibte to ple~fo God, becaufe Faith is that Grace that umtes and makes us one Wtth Chrilt, and gives us -an Intereft in thofe Merits that alone can procure acceptance for ourfelves, and for our ferviccs; but now wicked ond unregenerate Men have not this Faith, and therefore nothing that they do is well plea ling unto God ; they may for the good works that they do be rewarded poffibly with Temporal Bleilings, and certainly with the mitigation of future PuniOunent, but the Reward of Eternal Life belongs to none but to chore whore fervices arc accepted thorough him to whom their Perfons are united. Sec here then the miferable Shipwrack of all the hopes of carnal Men, who regard not what they arc, .bnt look on~y, and .that too with a too fav~>llrablc E~e upon •what they do, and with the boaftmg Eharifit make large Inventones of the1r good \Vorks; they Faft twice a ~Neck, and givt Alms often, they are frequent in I)rayer, :md conft:ant at the Ordinances, and therefore they think certainly they fh:~ll enter into Hcavea with the forwardeft; but alas, what is all this? God refpctl:s wh<1t than art as well as what thou daft; and if all your Duties proceed from an unchanged u.nrencwcd Heart~ he n~ither accepts them, nor regards the.m : Thou p~rJmps tlnnkeft ~hou haft la1d up a &rea~ Mafs ofTreafi1re for thy Soul agamft the time to come, whereas at the laft day It Will be found to be but great heaps of dung and filth ; n:1y, let me tell you, Ihould you pray till your Knees took root in the Earth, could yon nail your Eyes to Heaven, could you melt your Hearts igto Te~u~ and vandh away in.to fight, yea, and fpend every moment of your Lives f.ir better th:In ever you ft)cnt tbe bcft, and. yet Jhould you remain unfantl:ified and unchangcJ, all this would be of no account with God, but inftead of an Euge, fVe!l tknt good artd fltithful Scr;ant, you would meet wi~h that unexpected d~mand, Who bath rrquited thcfe things at your hands? Confider fen~mfly and fadly of tlus, you who think that you have many Duties upon the. File in HeavCil, as fo many Evidences of your Ri?;ht and Title unto Heaven; why now as you would not have all thcfe to be loft, and utterly in vain, fo look to it that they proceed from Hearts that :1re truly fanCWicd and renewed, without which they will be of no avail at all in God's efteem. And fo much for the Demonftrations of this Point. S E R M 0 N XIII. JOHN iii. )• 1efm anfivered, verily, verily I foy unto thee, except a Man be born of Water, and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the /(jngdom of God. I Come now to make fomc Ufe and Application of what bath been fpoken concerning this great and neccffary DoCtrine of Regeneration; it is no~ a particular Dotlrinc that concerns fame Perfons, and not others; upon this lies the Eternal Salvation of the whole World, And therefore in the firft place, Stting it U impoffiblt ever to obtain Life Eternal r; without Rtgmtration, or tht Ntw-birth, ltt us thtn by thU try our Titlt to Heavtn. Put it ufo u fi" feriouny to the qutftion, Arc we indeed Born again? Are we become the Children E:rtt~mittc:_ of God, fuch as have a Right and Title to the purchafcd Inheritance? The qutftion tim. is of vaft concernmen t, and a miftake in this, either hazards our Souls by prcfumptuous Conceits that we are the Children of God, when yet we are Strangers and Enemies to him, or deft:roys our Comfort by fi.nill:er Apprchenfions that we are Aliens and Outcafts, when yet yve arc begotten again by his Sp~t, at leafi: to the grounds of a lively hope. I !hall endeavour ~o mauage this ufe ofTrial; Firft 7
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