,Or, Th! New 'Birth. Firft, Becau(t ufually otu Grate U the ftgn Of an~ther. Signs of Grace are Graces I. thcmfclves, ana therefore ftand in ~eed ' tO be CYlden~ed by ·other figns; and them Buaufttm! ·figns being ·Graces too, do ftand m need to be evtdenced by others, and fo we G'lf.ft 1e.~ fuould run to an infinitum, unlefs the Spirit _of God by his Wituefs puts a ftgp to Z:,:,~~~ ~r t his fearch. Secondly, Becaufe moft of the figm lltld evidences of true Grace may be fo eXaElly coun- 2. terfci.ted by Hypocrites, that the judgment that we pafs upon our [dues by thefo alone, will B~:n14 fi ftillleave place for perp!e.t'ing doubts and fears, left all our Graces, and all our figm of them ifDg fllnr too, fl1ould be but HJ,pocritical Delujions. So_ then unto a _fnll AJlhrance there is neccf::~~a/a6: farily required an mward peremptory wttnefs of the Holy Ghoft; figns and marksc~unterfti· .without his infallible Teftimony are infignificant and unfatisfa8:ory things. ttd. Thirdly, That Ajfurance that Chriftians have of their Regeneration, M not wrought in 3· them mecrly by the Tef!imony of the Spirit without the help of jigns and madu. As marks -:t/fo•llnft and figns cannot raife up to a full AJfurance without the Spirit of God, fo neither :,o:~ht do we obtain a full Affi1rance meerly by the Teftimony of the Spirit without the by ,f:t Spl· help of fi gns and marks; for to what end doth the Scripture fo much abound in giv-rit ~itbard ing Characters of Men's Eftates, which is the main fcope and drift of the whole firft/igmh,nd Epiftlc of St. John? Thefe were all fuperftuous, if the ufual way of the Spirit's evi-mar • dcncing were without them. I~~ Reg~neratetl, but bow come I to be aJfured of this? Not barely becaufe tbe Sptnt tefhfies to me that I am fo, that looks too much like Enthujillfm, and a wild and groundlefs Delufion, but tbe Spirit proceeds in a more rational way, Jam a Chrifl:ian and Regenerated becaufe I find thofe marks up- ·on me that can belong to none but .to fuch who are fo. Indeed all our Affi1rance muft be intim:1tely refolved into the alone verdic:t of the Spirit of God, and that without the help of further figns and marks; for when a Chriftian gains Affi1rance he doth n0t with the Sun r:un thorough all the figns of the Zodiack to know if he b; a Chriftilrt by this and this 'fi.gn, and then to try the tmth of that fign by another and that other by a third, and fo onward, that were endlefs and unfatisfaC!:ory· but when he is brought to figns that lie a remove or two off from the Grace that he enquires after, he doth not ufually make a farther fearch whether they be tru ly in him or not, but the Spirit darts in a clear and heavenly light that difcovers therrt to him not difcourforily only but intuitively, fo as .that he is able to fay they are in me beyond all deceit, Fourthly, The ufi~t~l way whereby C1rriflians come to be Ajfured of their Regeneration, i& 4 : by the joint Teftimony both of marks and Jigtu of Grace, and alfo bJ_the Spirit) s witne/fing ro A/forAnct ~u thllt rhefe marks and figns are in m. The Word and the Spint arc the Twin-lights is ~braintd that difcovcr to us our Condition. And as Mariners prefage to themfelves a profpe-b.J. tht r,. rous Voyage when two lights? qaftor and_ Pol/ux, ~ppear, but a dangerous Voyage if~:;:~":' .:!.1 only one appears:. So !~ere It IS unfafe m the tna~ of our Regeneration to rake up by rht w1,. with one finglc fohtary hght; but when both the hght of Scripture marks and figns tu ft ~r t!H and ~lfo of the Spirit's ~itneffing appear together, _we may then profpcroufiy ~nJ Splri;. happily proceed to a dtfcovery of our felves. So m .Rum. 8. 16. The Spirit beareth witnefs with u~r fpirits that we ~re chil4un of c;:od. To evtden.c~ that we arc born aJ_ain there comes m a twofold Witnefs, the Wltncfs of our Sptnts, and the Witnefs of God's Spirit; our Spirit depofeth that we are fa, that we are born again and become the Children of God, and thisrjt doth by obferving the proper Marks and CharaCters that the Script we ~ives of a Child of God; and the Spirit of God comes in as anothet" Witnefs, that in the Mouth of two WitneJfes th is may bc .eftablilhed and by his immed iate light clears up the truth of that Attefbtion that Confcien~ did make, which takes away all Doubtings and Hefitances, and fills us with a full , Affurance, yea, gives us a Plerothy; fo that ftill marks and figns arc of great ufe for the difoovery of the trnth of Grac~. In I 'John 2. 3· .By thil we know that we know him,. if we keep his Commandments: But ibll we,may be puzzled to know whether our keep-- ing of God)s Commandments be fuch a ground for our Comfort, therefore the Witnefs of the Spirit is here required to feal a.1.1d confirm this unto us, without which !Ell we lha\1 be to feek Alfurance for all the marks tha; the Scripture Jays down for evidences of our Gr:1ccs.
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