Selected quad for the lemma: heaven_n
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A67398
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The necessity of regeneration in two sermons to the University of Oxford / by John Wallis ...
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Wallis, John, 1616-1703.
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1682
(1682)
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Wing W595; ESTC R12565
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29,011
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54
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Kingdome of God Which is partly a Note of Distinction partly a Note of Eminence 'T is usual in Scripture when a word of ordinary use for Natural and Earthly things is Metaphorically applied to signifie somewhat that is Spiritual to add some Epithete for Distinction As when Christ is called the True Vine the True Shepheard the Bread of Life the Bread that came down from Heaven the Spiritual Rock c. by way of distinction from Bread a Rock a Vine a Shepheard in the proper acceptation of the words But they do withall imply an Eminency or Greater Excellency of the things so Metaphorically described then of that which the words in their proper sense do signifie For the meaning is not that Christ is Truly a Vine or Truly a Shepheard c. in the proper sense of those words But somewhat that is thereby resembled more Excellent than it That he is so Fruitfull so Pleasant so Comfortable as that the Fruitfulness of the Vine the Pleasantness of the Grape the Comfortableness of the Wine which makes glad the heart of man is but a faint Shadow and Resemblance of what he is in Truth That he is so Kind so Tender so Carefull of his as that the Kindness the Tenderness the Care of a Shepheard towards his Flock doth but faintly Resemble what he is in Truth So here The Kingdom of God or as elsewhere the Kingdome of Heaven the Heavenly Kingdome with the like expressions do import not such as what Men on Earth call a Kingdome But somewhat else thereby resembled and somewhat more Excellent which God vouchsafes to call by that name as much surpassing that of Men as Heaven is above the Earth Heb. 12.28 A Kingdome that cannot be shaken 1 Pet. 1.4 An Inheritance Incorruptible and Vndefiled and which fadeth not away reserved in Heaven for us 1 Pet. 5.4 A Crown of Righteousness which fadeth not away 2 Tim. 4.8 A Crown of Righteousness laid up for us which God the Righteous Judge shall give us in that day Mat. 25.34 A Kingdome prepared for us from the beginning of the world By the Kingdome of God therefore we are to understand that Glory that Happiness that Blessed Condition whatever it is which the Children of God those that are born again do seek after and shall enjoy Partly in this life where it is called the Kingdome of Grace and partly hereafter which is the Kingdome of Glory And thus we are to understand it in Mat. 6.33 Seek first the Kingdome of God and his righteousness And 1. Cor. 6.9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdome of God Gal. 5.19 21. The works of the flesh are manifest adultery fornication uncleanness c. with a large Catalogue of such others which concludes with this They which doe such things shall not inherit the Kingdome of God But Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdome of God Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake for theirs is the Kingdome of God Mat. 5.3 10. Now this Blessedness of the Children of God here and hereafter is called by the name of a Kingdome Not as if this did fully express the nature of it But because as the saying is Nihil est in intellectu quod non fuit prius in sensu We cannot easily apprehend Intellectual objects otherwise than by some resemblance of things to Sense And therefore there being a want of Words and of Notions too which might adequately express the nature of this Spiritual and Heavenly Happiness we are fain to make use of sensible things some way to Resemble them though not perfectly to Express them by And all those things which are looked upon here as the most Excellent the most Desirable in any kind are made use of to this purpose 'T is called Life and Life Eternal 'T is called a Treasure laid up in Heaven and Durable Riches 'T is called Fulness of Joy and Pleasures for evermore 'T is called a Royal Feast a Marriage Supper a Feast of fat things 'T is called a Reward a glorious Inheritance Everlasting Mansions an House not made with hands and the like 'T is called a Crown of Glory a Crown of Righteousness a Heavenly Kingdome the Kingdome of Heaven and as here the Kingdome of God Not as if any or all of those did adequately express its worth But these being the great Desirable things of the World and which our Senses are carried away with They are all made use of to represent a Condition which hath as much and more of Happiness than all that of Riches and Honours Profits and Pleasures Gladness and Feasting Houses and Lands Treasures and Inheritances Crowns and Kingdoms yea and Life it self And when we have fancy'd all that is Great and Glorious in all these Sensible Objects we must then conceive there is somewhat yet more Excellent than all that we can fancy 1 Cor. 2.9 For Eye hath not seen nor hath Ear heard nor hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive what God hath prepared for them that love him And such is that Kingdome of God which the Text speaks of Now what it is to see this Kingdome of God is not hard to understand It is not to see it afar off so as to have no concernment in it as the Rich Glutton Luk. 16.23 in the Parable might See Lazarus in Abrahams bosome but without any possibility of coming there But so to see as to Enjoy it and bear a part in it So to see as when Christ saith Mat. 5.8 Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God Or as Saint Paul 2 Cor. 3.18 So to see the Glory of God as to be changed into the same image from glory to glory Or as St. John 1 Joh. 3.2 Behold we are now the Sons of God and it doth not yet appear what we shall be But when he shall appear or as the words may as well be rendered when it shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is An Operative sight not meerly Speculative So here To see it is To enjoy it or as Christ explains himself ver 5. To enter into it For what is here said He cannot See the Kingdome of God is there He cannot Enter into the Kingdome of God Or to Inherit it As 1 Cor. 15.50 Flesh and bloud cannot Inherit the Kingdome of God To See the Kingdome of God therefore is to Enjoy to Enter into and to Inherit that Glory that Happy and Blessed Condition which God hath designed for those that he makes his Children But those who are to Enjoy this Happiness must first be Born again For so we heard but now Flesh and Bloud cannot inherit the Kingdome of God And as the Text hath it Except a man be born again he cannot see the Kingdome of God We are therefore in the second place to consider what it is To be Born again or as the Margin reads it To be Born
Fruit may be so also There must be a New Nature to bring forth a New Life I have now done with the Explication of the Text and Doctrine There be two things yet remaining which if there had been time for it were proper enough to have been here discussed 1. From whence it is that this necessity of a New Birth proceeds 2. By what Power it must be wrought The first of them we have touched by the way in shewing It is not Humane Nature as God made it but Corrupt Nature that makes this work necessary For if we had not Degenerated from what God at first made us there would not have been that need of being Regenerated which now there is The latter is intimated partly by the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Text and partly in Christ's further Explication ver 5. Except a man be born of Water and of the Spirit For that which is born of the Flesh is but Flesh 'T is that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit But these the time not permitting I must either Omit altogether or at least reserve till another season The Necessity of REGENERATION A SERMON Preached before the UNIVERSITY of OXFORD AT St. Mary's Oxon. October 9th 1681. JOHN iij. 3. Jesus answered and said unto him Verily verily I say unto thee Except a man be born again he cannot see the Kingdome of God I Have heretofore begun the handling of this Text and through God's assistance hope now to finish it By the Kingdome of God is meant all that happy estate which the Children of God those that are born of him do enjoy as well here as hereafter This the Scripture doth usually set forth by Metaphors taken from all those things which amongst men are accounted excellent or desirable either as Necessary as Pleasant as Profitable as Glorious or on what other consideration soever as being much more desirable than all these put together and amongst the rest by that of a Kingdome 'T is called here the Kingdome of God and the Kingdome of Heaven elsewhere by way of Eminence and of Contradistinction to those on Earth those of Men as much surpassing them as Heaven is high above the Earth This Kingdome is commonly distinguished into that of Grace and that of Glory And they are both here intended in the word Kingdome But especially the latter Those of Grace being included in the former words Except a man be born again except he do here attain the Kingdome of Grace he cannot hope hereafter to see that of Glory To see this Kingdome is not so to see it as the Rich Glutton saw Lazarus in Abraham's bosome Luke 16.23 to see it a far off without being the better for it But so as when Christ says Mat. 5.8 Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God and Saint Paul Heb. 12.14 Without Holiness no man shall see the Lord That is to see it as to Enjoy it and have a share in it And he that would thus See the Kingdome of God must the Text tells us be born again That is he must have a New Nature a new Nativity He must by Regeneration or his First Birth or a Second Birth become a Child of God a Child of Grace as by Generation or his First Birth he is a Child of Man a Child of Sin Now we are in Scripture called the Children of God in a double sense Children of God by Adoption and Children of God by Regeneration Which though they both belong to the same Persons yet in a very different Notion The one implies a change of State or Condition As when a Person who by nature is not a Son is by Adoption put into such a condition as if he were a Son and intituled to the Inheritance The other implies a change of Nature or Disposition As when a Lion becomes as a Lamb when a Fierce nature becomes Meek and Gentle when a Wicked man becomes Holy Like as 't is one thing for a Prince to Pardon a Malefactour and put him into a condition of Not-guilty Another thing to make him an Honest man and not inclinable to the like offence again The former of these relates to Justification the other to Sanctification Adoption being the compleating of Justification as Regeneration is the beginning of Sanctification And 't is the latter of these that the Text means in being born again But though the Notions be different the Things do alway go both together And so the Text tells us Except a man be Born again he cannot See the Kingdome of God We cannot expect to be the Sons of God by Adoption and so intituled to the Kingdome of God unless we be first the Sons of God by Regeneration and so made partakers of the Divine Nature And this is the Result of what we discoursed more fully the last time To shew the necessity of this Change of Nature in those who shall see the Kingdome of God There remain yet two things to be as we then said considered 1. From whence it is that this Necessity of a new Birth proceeds And 2. By what Power it must be wrought And after that to make Application As to the First of these the Ground of this Necessity We are to consider of Man in a double capacity First as God made him and secondly as he made himself God made man upright saith Solomon but he hath found out many Inventions Eccles. 7.29 God at first created man after his own Image Gen. 1.26 27. In Knowledge Righteousness and true Holiness Eph. 4.24 Col. 3.10 Void of all Sin Habitual or Actual And had we continued in such a state as wherein God made us there would have been no necessity of this change of Nature We had then without it continued Holy and Happy Had there been no Sin there had been no need of a New-birth Had there not been a Degeneration from what God made us at first there had been no need of a Regeneration to reestate us in it But Man by Sin having lost his Holyness lost his Happiness also As by One man Sin came upon All So Death or Misery the Effect of Sin Rom. 5.12 By one man Sin entered into the World and Death by Sin And Death passed upon all men for that all have sinned Or as the Margin reads it in whom all have sinned And so Grotius renders it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 per quem By whom Ver. 14. Even upon them who had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression That is as it is commonly understood even on Children who had not sinned by imitation or as Adam did And so Grotius etiam pueros nullius commissi reos v. 13. From whence St. Paul there infers that there is Sin even in such As without which they would not been subject to Death And David tells us of himself Psal. 51.5 I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me And St. Paul likewise Rom. 7.18 I know that