378 VERSE 3. TheBirth0/4 Chrijiian ....e.,emsaamporiao IMew.r....eloOMoswev. Father,or who hathbegotten the Drops ofDeivifaith lob. Out ofwhole wombe came the Ice? and the hoary[roll of heavenwhobathgendred it? None but God is the parent ofthe Dew , it doth notflayfor nor expe& any humane concurrence,or caufality,Mich.5 Efai. 5' .1o. fuch is the call and converfion of a man to Chria, A heavenly calling,Heb.3.7. the operation of, God -47 lif,C042.I 2. A birth not ofbloud, nor ofthe will ofthe flefh,norofthe will ofman, but ofGod, lob.' . t. 'lob.3.9. Pawl may plant, and Apollo may water, but it is God that muff bleffe both ; nay it is God who by them, as his intim- mews, doth both; ofhis owne willbegat he ite,Iant. The Mi,iilers are aSavor of Chrifl,z Cor.2.15, It is not the garment but the perfume in it which diffufeth a Tweet fent : It is not the Labor of the Minifier, but Chria whom bee preached' ,that worketh upon the Ionic.. I laboured more abundantly than they all , yet not I, but the Grace ofgod which was with mee , i Cor.15. I0. It is not good therefore to have the faith ofGod in refpeel ofperfons; the feed ofthis fpirituallgencration cannot orherwife beegivenus than in earthen veffels,by menoflike paflions and infirmities with others. There- forewhen pure and good feed is here and there fowed, to attribute any thing to perfons , is to derogate from God; wheregifts are fewer, parts meaner,probabilities leffe , God may and often doth give an increafe above hope, as toDaniell Pulfeithat the excellency of the po- wer may beeofhim , andnot ofman. Though it bee a lame or a leprous hand which foweth the feed , yet the fucceffe is no way altered : good feed depends riot ii its growth on the hand that fowes ir, but on the earth that covers, and on the heavens that cherub it : SQ the word borroweth not its efficacy from any humane vertue, but from the heart which ponders, and the Spirit which fan- olifies it.. When
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