holinesse if I could attaine it But what doe I stand wishing I haue beene told that the spirit of God is he who regenerateth his people Wherefore I wil beg at his hand that mighty and sauing worke of his spirit and boldly I may doe it for Christ Iesus hath promised to all that thirst that if they come Isa 55.1 he will make them drinke of the waters of life Yea he hath told me that if we men who are euil can yet giue naturall good things to our children that aske them God will much more giue his spirit to them that aske it For his promise is to poure waters vpon the dry ground and flouds vpon the thirsty ground and to poure out of his spirit vpon all flesh Well I am assured the word of God is true and these promises shall be performed to euery one that asketh that he may receiue and to euery one that seeketh that he may finde for the Lord is rich in grace and giues to all that aske hits no man in the teeth And therefore I will take courage to call vpon him for that most desireable gift of God euen the spirit of regeneration Thus hauing enkindled thy desires bow thou the knees of thy body and of thy soule too vnto the king of heauen and poure out thy requests in the most submissiue earnest manner thou canst saying either in these words or to this purpose O Lord I am a lost sheep I am a child of wrath by nature I am most miserable most sinful I see that in me there dwelleth no good thing and if I be not renewed I must perish I beseech thee haue mercy vpon me that I perish not Send thy blessed spirit into mine heart to regenerate me for so is thy promise plainly made in thy word Thou knowest that I cannot make my selfe new O let thy spirit come vpon me and make me to haue a new heart and a new spirit Lord Iesus Christ send thy spirit into mee which may restore mee from this death of sinne which now at last thou hast made me to feele vnto the life of holinesse Thou toldest the woman of Samaria 〈◊〉 4. that if she would aske of thee thou wouldest giue her the water of life Now Lord I come and aske of thee that water that liuing that pretious water of the holy spirit O giue it vnto mee that I may neuer thirst but that it may spring forth in my belly and become a riuer of water O Lord I beg not money I beg not honour I beg not health I beg not naturall wisedome but I beg that which I haue more need to receiue and shall haue more benefit by receiuing and which thou hast more promised to giue and shalt haue more honour by giuing then by any such temporary or externall thing O giue me therefore thy holy spirit to regenerate me and make mee to feele by experience the truth of thy gratious promises My brethren I haue put these prayers into your mouthes learne you to poure them forth before the throne of grace in secret forget not in some such manner of words to cry for this best of all gifts and beg earnestly and if thou canst not amplifie yet multiply if thou canst not vse variety of words yet repeate the same request often and againe and againe if thine inuention serues not to say more let thy desire force thee to dwell vpon this 20. times rather then faile twice 20. times O Lord giue vnto me a miserable sinner thy spirit of life grace to regenerate me for so hast thou promised to them that aske I aske Lord resolue to continue asking I certifie you all frō God and by this authority of Christ Iesus committed to his Ministers do verily assure you that he who so seeketh regeneration shall as certainly be regenerate as God is true of his word and that is more certaine then the Sunnes shining in the heauens and the earths keeping his owne place I know that Satan will step forth to hinder you from following this counsell he will striue to make you carelesse of it all together as if there were no neede of begging so hard but I assure thee that he doth but beguile thee Neuer any man was regenerate nor shall be after yeeres of ability to pray vnlesse he doe pray for it for the gift of the spirit is promised to you that aske and to none else and by telling thy selfe of thy misery in wanting regeneration thou shalt easily shake thy selfe out of this carelesnes and bring thy selfe to a care of seeking that which but by seeking thou canst not get and but by getting thou canst not be saued Then will the Diuell assaile thee with more tentations and cast obiections and doubts in thy way as if it were in vaine to pray for sure thou shalt not be heard but beleeue him not hee is a lyar in going about to make thee make God a lyar for is not the promise so vniuersall as no man is excluded that doth not exclude himselfe doth it not runne thus euery one that asketh receiueth euery one that seeketh findeth and therefore say thou to thine owne heart if euery one why not I sure I will aske then and will not spare to speede by sparing to speake to God And that thou maiest yet more imbolden thy selfe know that God hath tyed thee by a kind of vow to seeke to him for the spirit of regeneration and himselfe to giue it vnto thee when thou so seekest For tell me art thou not a man professing to be of the Christian religion Wast thou not baptized in the name of the Father the Sonne and the holy Ghost To what end was this washing but to assure thee of the spirit of God working like water to thy regeneration Wherefore vrge thou the Lord with his owne seale and say O Lord what better euidence can I wish Thou hast giuen me the seale of regeneration O make it to appeare not to haue beene an empty signe Lord baptise me with the Spirit and with Water euen wash me and cleanse me by that pure Water of thy holy Spirit which may sanctifie me throughout and make me a new creature If any doubt arise in thine heart looke thus to the seale of the couenant and confirme thy faith and assure thy selfe that God will neuer falsifie his bond and seale he will wash thee according to his couenant sealed vp vnto thee by Baptisme In very deed brethren it is an absurdity to imagine that all that are baptized with water are also infallibly regenerated but yet it is sure that all such might be regenerated if considering what this seale importeth they would duly and earnestly seeke vnto the Lord for performance thereof This is that I call vpon you now to do if already any haue not done it Let the remembrance of thy Baptisme with water cause thee to seeke to him that can giue the Baptisme of the spirit
labouring to driue into their heads the maine points of Christian doctrine and that in such familiar sort of questioning with them that they may make him perceiue they know what they speake Must not children be brought vp in information of the Lord and how this should be if they be not catechized I thinke no man can conceiue Is not knowledge as necessary for the soule as foode for the body Doubtlesse he must be void of knowledge that will denie it How then shall he not deserue to be called worse then an Infidell that cares not though his peoples soules be sterued You all know that the master is inioyned to looke that his seruants breake not the Sabbath Assure your selues the law of God puts one part of his duty for all parts of the same kind so that hee must as well looke to him that he know God and his worship as that he doe not prophane his Sabbath Salomons mother taught him when he was young Shee may bee a president for all mothers and the father should bee ashamed to be found negligent in that wherein the mother must be forward Abraham commanded his seruants to keepe the law of God How should hee command them to keepe it if he had not taught it them God would haue him that was bought with money circumcised Doubtlesse then he would haue him also instructed in the religion of the Iewes whereof that circumcision was a badge In very deed if this and the former duty be not done by the master he shewes himselfe little to heed the saluation of his family So that whosoeuer doth make conscience of helping his houshold to heauen must leade them the way by seruing the Lord with them and teaching them his waies Thirdly Thirdly bringing them to the Church he must likewise bring them to the assembly of God to heare his word preached and examine them what they haue learnt and remembred For if people be at Church and attend not little shall they get by the word and if they be neuer demanded what they haue heard they will not likely attend but a desire of not shaming themselues by silence to such questions will make them bow their eares and listen Indeed herein the master must consider the capacity of his seruants and encourage those of meane wits in the little they can doe and rather draw them to remember something who are lesse ready for that dutie by louing perswasion then by tartnesse of speech and by commending to them the necessity of remembring the word rather then by speeches of disgrace And if they cannot remember any thing yet he must not desist to examine exhort admonish still for why this is the best meanes that he can doe to make them marke and obserue and hauing done his owne duty he shall bee blamelesse before God though they be negligent And last of al he must not forget to pray vnto God for the regenerating of those vnder his roofe in speciall 4. Praying for regeneration For if Paul did beg of God the saluation of the Iewes his country-men shall a gouernour of a family forget those of his family whom he daily sees and speaketh with In truth of all requests that a man can make for his people this is the most behoofefull and the most necessary This the master that doth shall finde himselfe made louing charitable patient courteous towards his seruants for in exercising Christian charity towards them he shall be sure to find it encrease And if he make such particular prayers either they shall be heard to his great content or at least they shall bee accepted by God as fruits of his charity as much as if they were heard If God be glorified by the conuersion and saluation of our children and seruants as well as our owne and his glory be as it should be deere vnto vs as wel as our owne saluation why should we forget to beg at his hands so profitable a thing for persons so neere vnto vs Wherefore if thou hast formerly been behind hand in mentioning thy wife childreÌ„ seruants to God this way now make it one of thy daily harty petitions O Lord be thou intreated to make these my children thy children these my seruants thy seruants let thy spirit work grace in theÌ„ that they may be true members of thy family the Church of the sanctified as well as of this my family But there remaineth one peculiar thing in behalfe of Infants Especially for Infants to bring them to â—aptisme in right manner that is not alone to bring them to Baptisme which all do as a matter of course but to bring them to Baptisme with an high esteeme of the ordinance with feruent praiers to God for his blessing vpon it that it may be effectual for their regeneration Doubtlesse Baptisme is the Sacrament of the New birth and looke what efficacy the Lords Supper hath to feed our soules the same I must thinke vnlesse I could see a difference in the common nature of these two Sacraments hath Baptisme to the re-begetting Wherefore it is a most behoofefull duty of the parents not with those publike prayers alone which are made in and by the congregation being very well and fitly prescribed in our Liturgie but with most vrgent prayers at home to beg of God that his Infant may bee washed with the holy Ghost as well as with water Is not a New birth worth asking thinke we thy child cannot aske therefore it is thy dutie as to bring him to be baptized so to striue with God in earnest prayers that his Baptisme may become effectuall For my part brethren none errour seemes to me more absurd then to imagine that the spirit of regeneration is included in water as a medecine in a boxe or so necessarily ioyned to the water as a sweet smell to something that is perfumed that all which are baptized should also bee inwardly and actually regenerated But this I hold that wee should beg the regeneration of each one that is baptized and presume him to be regenerate because wee see the seale of the new birth stamped vpon him But among other causes of the in-efficacy of this Sacrament I thinke one chiefe to bee the parents little esteeme of it that rather doe it as a matter of course then as a thing that shall be behoofefull for them and that they expect Gods blessing vpon for the sealing vp of regeneration God is not for the most part hee is not importuned as he expecteth to be for his co-operation with this ordinance Many and many parents come to the baptisme of their children or cause their children to be brought vnto it without faith without feruent prayer without any care vsed to haue it blessed vnto their children Many a good man would bee afraid to come to the Communion himselfe without some speciall calling vpon God for his heauenly blessing without some speciall care of renuing his repentance but â—uen of those
by the pen of S. Iames a world of wickednesse then alas how many and how great worlds of wickednesse are included in this one little world of man Now how should so foule so vncleane so polluted a creature set his foote within the portall of heauen How should such an heape of hellish lusts and diuellish vices bee receiued into that happie palace and holy mansion place of Saints and Angels What was the reason that the diuell could not tarie in heauen hauing once been there was it not because he had infected himselfe with sinne with which seeing all mankinde are whollie poysoned and couered ouer from head to foote being of their father the diuell nothing else but euen little diuels differing from the great ones not in substance and parts of corruption but alone in the degrees thereof as a childe of foure or fiue yeeres from a man of thirtie or fortie how can hee possibly finde any place in the kingdome of heauen Thus therefore we conclude our reason Sinne can haue no place no dwelling none intertainment in the kingdome of God Man vnregenerate is nothing else but a very compound or bundle of dirt and sinne Wherefore man vnregenerate cannot possibly finde a place in heauen And this is the first reason from the sinfulnesse of mans nature Reason 2 From the purity of Gods nature The second followes taken from the puritie of Gods nature The Lord is a God of pure eyes and can abide none iniquitie yea the wicked and the workers of iniquitie his soule hateth Hee is as contrary to sinne as heate to colde as light to darknesse as any two contrarie things in the world can be imagined to be contrarie and a great deale more too For other things are contrary each to other alone in regard of their qualities But the very nature substance and being of God is contrary to sinne For sinne is a taxie disorder confusion a not being and God is order perfection holinesse an absolute and a simple being For holinesse in God is not an accident but his very essence is holinesse and he is after an inconceiueable and incomprehensible manner infinitly and essentially good holy and pure Wherefore there can be no reconciliation nor vnion betwixt him and the sinner till the sinfulnes of the sinner be remoued and the image of God be formed and imprinted in him a fresh Euen as the poison of an Adder is contrary to the nature of a man and the venome of a Toade extreamly opposite to his life and therefore no force can compell no wages hire no Rhetorique perswade no perswasion induce him to lodge a Toade or Serpent in his bosome so is it impossible that the most holy pure righteous perfect essence of God should admit into a societie of grace and glorie with him the impure filthie loathsome toadlike serpentine nature of man For though the infinit perfection excellencie of Gods nature be such that he cannot receiue any hurt or indamagemēt from sin as a man is hurt by the poyson of a poysonfull creature yet still withal such is his excellencie and the infinitnes of his power and goodnesse that he cannot but remoue farre and farre from himselfe al things whatsoeuer that are contrary vnto himselfe What fellowship can there be betwixt light darknesse God and wickednesse How can things absolutely and essentially contrary be ioyned together in one Seeing God is perfectly holy and man if we may vse that epithite in this matter perfectly sinfull either God must become sinfull like to man or man holy like to God or else there can be no gratious vnion and communion betwixt man and God Now to imagine that God should become sinfull is the most blasphemous and vtterly impossible imagination in all the world Wherefore vnlesse a man be made holy that is to say be regenerate or borne againe he cannot see the kingdome of God In the third place let vs peruse the couenant of grace Reason 3 in which the Lord hath manifested his purposes of goodnesse to the sonnes of men From the tenour of the couenant of grace and we shall finde that it runneth along in these promises Ezek. 36.26 I will giue you a new heart and a new spirit will I put within you I will take away the stony heart out of your bodies and giue you an heart of flesh Hence it is easie to reason thus Whosoeuer is a stranger to the couenant of promise is likewise a stranger from all happinesse and from eternall life Now vntill a man be regenerate he is a stranger to that couenant For why that promiseth in the first place a new heart and a new spirit wherefore it must needes follow that vntill a man be regenerate hee cannot be saued Lastly let vs consider the end of our Sauiour Christs Reason 4 death and sufferings From the end of Christs death was it only to purge vs from the guilt of sinne and to saue vs from the pit of hell was it not also to redeeme vs from this present euill world that we being sanctified by his truth might auoid the corruptions that are in the world through lust and become a peculiar people vnto him zealous of good workes Doubtlesse had Christ gone about to ransome vs vpon other termes he must haue lost his labour altogether If Christ should come and dye for one man ten thousand times all those deaths should profit that one man nothing at all for his saluation vnlesse he be made a new creature For the death of Christ though it be of force to reconcile mercie and iustice in God yet is not of force enough to make God vniust or to diminish any whit his infinite righteousnesse which should be diminished yea annihilated if he should open the gates of heauen to vnholy vnsanctified vnregenerate persons for then should he be a louer of the wicked then should fooles dwel with him then should hee haue fellowship with the vnrighteous and communion with the darkest darknesse Whereas the Scripture saith that he is light 1 Iohn 1.5 and in him is no darknes and that if we walke in darknes and say wee haue communion with him we lie and deale not truly For al that are in heauen are loued of God and haue communion with him Wherefore such admittance of such men into heauen can no more stand with Gods iustice thē it can stand with a mans life to be cast into the bottome of the sea For this cause it was neuer the meaning or intentiō of our Sauiour to open heauen to any but to those whō he would sanctifie and by sanctification bring to saluation And so we conclude the point in this manner Whosoeuer is without Christ cannot possibly come to heauen For he is the way the truth and the life Euery vnregenerate man is without Christ for all that are in him are new creatures hauing crucified the flesh with the affections lusts Therefore no vnregenerate man so continuing can
matters vnto his Creator the eternall fountaine and first cause of being and of blisse euen vnto the God of heauen in comparison of whom all things are lesse and worse then nothing and likewise vnto the things of God remission of sinnes the fauour of God communion with Christ Iesus encrease of holinesse and the like to these which are by an excellency called the things of God because they are the chiefest of all those things that he bestowes vpon the sonnes of men and to the seeking whereof hee directs them in his holy word whereas else they would neuer haue sought them This is the materiall cause of regeneration The formall is infusion as witnesseth the Lord himselfe saying I will poure vpon the house of Dauid Zach. 12.10 the spirit of grace And in another place I will poure flouds vpon the dry ground And Paul saith 2. Tim. 1.7 God hath giuen vs the spirit of a right mind For whereas some qualities are implanted in men by nature some attained vnto by their owne industry and by vertue of certaine actions for that purpose performed and some againe are wrought in thē by a supernaturall work of God this gift of holinesse is neither naturally descended vnto them as it should haue been had their parents been innocent nor yet attained by their diligence and paines or by force and power of any action done by them but is put into them by the spirit of God working aboue and beyond either their power or the power of the acts that they shall doe for the attaining of it Let vs make the matter more plainly vnderstood by comparisons The power of seeing is naturally bestowed vpon all men in their very birth and by the course of nature working in their mothers wombe This power or vse of this facultie is altogether denied vnto some men and they are borne starke blinde as was hee of whom we reade in the Gospell Christ with spettle made cley and hauing anoynted his eyes bade him to wash and he returned seeing We say now that into this man the power or act of seeing was infused for why by nature he could not see The spettle cley water had no such naturall force in them as to worke the power of seeing in an eye that through naturall indisposition wanted it Wherefore it must needes be infused that is wrought in that person by a supernaturall worke of God So againe Health is a qualitie sicknesse for example a burning ague taketh away this qualitie of health A man being so sicke of such a disease consulteth with Physitians receiueth potions from them and recouereth his health this qualitie now was acquired or gotten by paines and industrie For by vertue of some inherent qualitie in the medicines receiued was this qualitie of health restored vnto the body But a man that was sick of an ague in the time of Peter sending to him receiueth a napkin from him and by the receiuing of it is healed This health was an infused health for not any power inherent in the cloth or deriued from the body of Peter but a supernaturall worke of God did procure that health at the presence of such outward actions In like sort Holinesse was to Adam a naturall power or abilitie created in him and with him and immediatly accompanying his nature or issuing from it But the diuell robbed him of it by taking that from him and poysoning him with the contrary naturall impotencie of sinne for I suppose we may well call sinne I meane originall sinne a naturall impotencie or a mischieuous and corrupt disorder in all the faculties Wherefore it is requisite that he recouer it againe if hee shall be saued Now the Lord of heauen pleaseth by meanes of the word as it were by the spettle of his mouth making cley to anoynt his eyes to re-beget or recreate this qualitie of holinesse in him not that the word hath any natural inherent ability of working holinesse no more then a napkin of curing an ague but alone because the Lord sees it fit in and with that doctrine to worke this worke by a power immediatly and solely deriued from himselfe So may a man by long study obtaine the science of naturall Philosophie which is a qualitie and an habit but the Lord did please by his owne immediate power to deriue this science into the minde of Salomon and therefore his knowledge was an infused knowledge and more excellent for measure and degree then euer any man did or could attaine by studie So the power of speaking and vnderstanding any language is a quality which by study or custome of hearing and speaking a man may worke in himselfe and he that by much labour and reading gets for example his Latin tongue hath wrought this qualitie in himselfe but the Apostles had the knowledge of speaking all and by name the Latin tongue put into them suddenly by the immediate operation of the holy Ghost and by vertue of a diuine worke in an vnconceiueable manner working in their imaginations So we call holinesse an infused qualitie because the holy Ghost by vertue of his owne hand and by power immediatly deriued from himselfe not by vertue of any power naturally dwelling either in man or in the Word doth please in and with the word to worke it in man The spirit of life doth breathe it into those in whom it is and they haue it by the meere efficacie of his diuine power not of the meanes in themselues considered Neither yet must we neglect those exercises and ordinances in and by which it pleaseth him to co-operate and to conueigh vnto vs this grace but rather must with all diligence apply our selues vnto them that by making our selues subiect vnto his blessed will we may likewise bee capable of this excellent worke of his Though cley made of spettle and the water of Siloah had no such vertue in them as to make a blinde eye see and to turne the naturall impotencie backe againe into the power of seeing yet the man that was borne blinde was to vse that washing and that cley for else his disobedience to Christ would haue depriued him of the diuine vertue of Christ which vpon his obedience shewed it selfe in healing him So regeneration is not attaineable by vertue of any act or acts that wee or any creature can doe but it commeth from aboue and is effected by an inconceiueable power of Gods spirit for it must needes farre surpasse the strength of a creature to change the soule and to cause a returne from so miserable a priuation or naturall impotencie as sinne is vnto so glorious blessed and excellent an habit or supernaturall abilitie as that holinesse is into which we are transformed But for all this he that would haue the holy Ghost shew his infinite power in making such a change in him must willingly submit himselfe to the doing of any actions whatsoeuer wherewithall the spirit of God shall manifest that it is his pleasure to ioyne
this his happie and powerfull working And such is the formall cause of regeneration The finall cause or the end of it is the glorie of God in the saluation of the partie regenerate For to speake truth it were a shame and reproch to the God of heauen to let a sinner that is to say his professed enemie come into heauen for this would vpbraide him with falsehood in regard of his word and with want of holinesse and iustice in his nature Now the Lord cannot be so weake as to doe any thing that should giue him iust cause to speake as of God wee must needes speake after the manner of men of being ashamed thereof Wherefore that he may with glory and honour and praise and the content of his owne most holy nature take thither so many of the corrupted sonnes of Adam as hee pleaseth to make vessels of honour it is his will and care thus to change their nature and to renew them by his spirit and so he obtaineth the fullest fulnesse of glorie that may be in their happinesse being for euer praised by all his holy creatures and which more is infinitly satisfying himselfe in the beholding of the excellencie of that great work of their blessednes and the most pure and holy and admirable meanes that hee hath ordained to bring them vnto it And these are the causes of regeneration The next thing mentioned in the description is the subiect of it which is the whole man in all the powers of the soule and of the body according as the Apostle prayeth for the Thessalonians 1. Thes 5.23 that they might bee sanctified throughout and that their whole soule and body might be kept blamelesse And by this note it is differenced from all other changes that may carrie any resemblance to it they being all but partiall changes either of the outside alone and not the inside or of some one power alone not of all the powers because indeed they are not fruites of holinesse but either of hollownesse and selfe-loue or at best of a bare and weake worke of illumination And thus haue I performed the first thing intended in describing regeneration of which if any man demaund what it is wee say it is a change that is a bringing of a new and here too of a contrary qualitie in stead of the old that was before if who makes the change the holy Ghost if by what meanes by the word if in what manner by infusion that is by the working of a proper and immediate vertue deriued from himselfe If from what and to what this change is from the sinfulnesse of a man which he receiueth from Adam successiuely to holinesse If wherein in the whole man soule and body and all the powers of both If to what end to the glory of the worker and saluation of him in whom it is wrought O happy worke of an happy workman by an happy instrument and thrice happy that man in whom this blessed worker shall vouchsafe to accomplish this his most worthy and excellent and onely blessed worke to so worthy and blessed a purpose CHAP. IIII. Shewing the order of working Regeneration 2. The order of regenerating in foure acts NOw I proceede to declare in what order the Spirit of God pleaseth to performe this most admirable change which is done in these foure actions which I shall lay downe First the spirit of God working in and with the Law but tempered with the Gospell becomes a spirit of contrition causing a man to see and feele his extreame sinfulnes 1. Shewing a man his naturall sinfulnesse and wretchednes in so much that hee is euen wounded at the very heart therwith and his sinfull and vnhappy estate becomes a wofull bondage captiuitie vnto him The Lord doth not alone raise vp miserable terrors of conscience in him in regard of some one or more grosse offēces that he hath actually committed although often hee maketh these very terrors a meanes of making himselfe a passage to enter in at but hee opens the eyes of the minde to see the very mud and filth of the soule that lay at the bottome before vnseene and vndiscerned The Spirit conuinceth him of sinne It shewes him that generall wickednes and sinfulnes of his nature whereof we spake before Now he feeles his vnbeliefe pride ignorance hypocrisie and other heart-corruptions Hee iudgeth himselfe worthy to be destroyed not alone hauing a sight of his own inability to escape damnation but likewise of the iustice of God in damning him so that hee doth euen stoupe and yeeld himselfe thereto Whereas before hee was aliue without the Law not hauing the true knowledg of it now the Law comming in the sound power and working of it through the strength of the holy Ghost causeth that he becomes dead in his owne sense and apprehension but sinne becomes aliue to his sense and feeling and hee perceiuing the strength force violence and mischieuousnes of it more then euer before now cryes out with the Apostle O miserable man that I am and now confesseth that he is carnall and sold vnder sinne as the same Apostle did in the same sense of his naturall wretchednesse which the comming of the life of grace had brought with it Thus the death of sinne begins to be changed into life in that it is felt and discerned For the very first working of this new life must needs be a feeling of the old death in sinnes and trespasses Not I say alone of his death in hell in regard of his deseruing the torments thereof but of his death in sinnes and trespasses of his vtter inabilitie to do any good thing of his vtter emptines of all heauenly graces of his extreame slauerie to vngodlines and vnrighteousnes and all the lusts of the flesh and of his perpetuall and vehement pronenes to all abomination and wickednes There is often I confesse a work and a very terrible work of the Law the naturall conscience together procuring most extreame and hideously-bitter pangs and hellish agonies in the soule of man where the spirit of regeneration neither is nor euer shall be this being alone a fruite of the spirit of bondage not of the spirit of grace And oftentimes againe the spirit of sanctification comes into the soule together with this spirit of bondage making a violent entrie and by maine force breaking open the heart formerly locked and barred against it and so beginning this sauing worke of holinesse But terrors of conscience which may be in all vnregenerate men because they are already in all the damned into whom no part nor peece of regeneration can enter is farre different from this first degree of the worke of a new birth The sanctifying spirit laies the filthinesse not alone the danger of sinne before the eyes of the mind It causeth a man not alone to be in extreame anguish because he feares he must be damned but euen to loathe and abhorre himselfe and to be very
of God to reforme ones heart and soule as well as his free fauour to pardon former offences An vnsanctified man by benefit of Christian acquaintance in long and heauie terrours may come to the one of these to the other alone the Spirit of sanctification can leade one To which passe when the heart is once brought at length 4. A perswasion of mercie bringing a resolution of obedience the fourth act of the Holy Ghost doth plainely shew it selfe for it becomes a spirit of adoption within him the very earnest penny of saluation sealing vp vnto him the fauour of God the pardon of sinne the attaining of life and by a new and in truth considering the difference of former times a strange worke perswading him that God is reconciled vnto him and hath accepted him for his childe As it made him able to take vnto him words and goe vnto the Lord crauing to bee accepted graciously so it brings him word againe from God that he shal be yea that he is accepted gratiously and answering him euen as one would say with a sensible answer in the middest of his prayers oft-times so strongly and vndoubtedlie â—â—â—ures him of his being heard that hee makes for the time no more question of it then whither he liues yea or no. From which assurance of spirit hauing tasted the sweetnesse of Gods Grace and felt how good the consolations of his Word and Spirit are he growes resolute in his very soule for the time to come in all things to please God and finds a new kind of disposition inabling him to auoide euill and doe good so hauing put his necke vnder the gentle and easie yoke of Christ Iesus hee finds rest vnto his soule and thus is Christ formed in him and he transformed into a new creature For this firme purpose of will to please God in all things is so manifest and euident and sensible a worke of grace that now we may say this act of regeneration is growne to some good ripenesse and euen now perfected in him before he was in making a new man but now he is made new now he is begotten againe and become a sonne of God and heire of his kingdome and fellow-heire of Christ I know that it may befall an hypocrite lying vnder the burthen of a terrified conscience which may be totally and perpetually separated from regeneration and regeneration from it by the diligent inculcating of the comforts of the Gospell and the earnest labour of some Christian and godly men that in such case would faine speake peace to bee brought because they are told there is none other way of comfort to a purpose of neuer committing such and such grosse sinnes as they are accused of in their owne soules and to some promise of amendment of life but this is rather a resolution forced vpon them by striuing of others hereupon promising comfort then a thing growing in themselues out of the sense of the louing kindnesse of the Lord their God Whereas a Christian finds somewhat within him inclining him and making him to say within himselfe and euen little lesse then to sweare and vow with Dauid that hee will surely keepe the righteous iudgements of the Lord and that in all things and for euer to his dying day And thus is the worke of regeneratioÌ„ brought to some perfectioÌ„ thus doth the holy Ghost mould the soule of a man into a new fashion thus doth hee stampe vpon him a new image and as you would say the very lineaments and proportion of God his Father whom in a sweete likenesse that makes him amiable to God and Angels he begins to resemble Onely my brethren vnderstand you one thing for the better conceiuing of all that hath been spoken There are two sorts of regenerate men in the world Some it pleaseth God to call to himselfe euen very betimes dropping pietie and grace into them almost together with their mothers milke by benefit of that great fauour of God holy and Christian education and that euen in certaine insensible degrees so that they cannot so easily name the beginning and progression of this worke In these all the forenamed things are most manifestly found for in truth the working of them doth not cease till life cease and that so as sometimes the one of these workes of grace is more strong then the other Sometimes they find a more sensible abasement of themselues within their owne hearts out of the apprehension of their sinfulnesse sometimes desires and prayers are more vehement sometimes a comfortable resolution of pleasing God doth more mightily stirre in them yet because of the early working and that they were wrought in a still manner by very small degrees the worke did almost goe beyond obseruation and they cannot so distinctly tell when they began to be abased when to be raised vp But there is another sort of men regenerate who did liue a long time in vnregeneracie yea perhaps also in profanenes and notable and notorious wickednesse for oft it falleth out that the Pharisies and Scribes make lesse haste to the kingdome of heauen then the Publicans and sinners I meane that the grosse offenders are sooner regenerated then the ciuill liuers Now for such men it pleaseth the holy Ghost many times yea most times to worke these foure fore-rehearsed workes very distinctly making as it were some euident pause betwixt each of them and grace goes forward in them euen step after step in the manner that hath been described Most times if not alwaies the difference of their former life when they were but dead making the matter euident enough they can name when and where and by what meanes the Lord began first to lay them low to pull them downe and as they say in nature corruption and generation goe together to kil their old man by terrors till being so slaine he had in a calmer manner shewed them the filthinesse and lothsomnesse of it They can tell what longings they felt before they durst pray and what adoe they had to bring themselues to pray and then how long they continued praying before they were answered and lastly wheÌ„ that sweet tidings came that rauished their soule with ioy and made them so inamoured of Gods goodnesse that they euen made a strong couenant with him to walke in his waies and keepe his iudgements All these things I say they can tell well and nothing doth them more good then to recount with themselues this mightie act of the most high whereby their foules with as great a miracle as once Lazarus his body were raised vp from the rotten graue of sinne wherein they lay wrapt vp in the winding sheet of hardnesse of heart and blindnesse of mind stinking and putrifying as a carcasse crawleth with wormes swarming with those noysome lusts that are able to poyson vp an honest heart CHAP. V. Shewing the effects of Regeneration ANd so haue you brethren the order and so farre as may be collected out of scripture the
a Father so perfect a Sauiour and then falling downe telleth the Lord how wicked he findes himselfe what foule desires are stirred in him and how weake he is to make resistance he beseecheth God to pull out this pricke of his flesh to strengthen him against these wicked desires and to establish his heart in a sincere purpose of obedience by his holy spirit and so riseth vp confirmed Thus I say he doth vsually and ordinarily though sometimes the suddenneâ—â—â— of occasions hinders him that he cannot and sometimes his owne neglect of dutie hath so estranged him that he findes no power so to doe in which last case he is often foyled in the former not so often Lastly the conscience if it take the foyle once or twice is benumbed and silenced Sometimes it suffers its mouth to be cleane stopped by some idle shift and vaine distinction which the wit that in many men is too good for their conscience hath inuented for the iustification of euill and after some such paultry defence or apologie a man is suffered to sinne freely enough But if the thing be neuer so vniustifiable yet after two or three times doing it the heart is hardened the naturall conscience put to silence and a mans checkes grow faint or none at all vntill some crosse come or some immediate hand of God to set it on working againe For why the vnsanctified man as he did not beg grace to hold him vp before his sinne so neither after hath any heart to goe and confesse it and craue the spirit of repentance but either lets it passe or falles to extenuate and excuse it vnlesse perhaps it grow desperate as in Iudas But now the santification of the will doth still get the victory though it may receiue a foyle It will not bee put downe it will not be vanquished yea euery latter time of offending it is more vehement in its opposition then before at least so farre as to make a man appeare more vile and abominable to himselfe So it brings him into Gods presence againe sooner or later and makes him say Lord I haue done exceeding foolishly but ah doe away the sinne of thy seruant for thy Sonnes sake and Lord through thy grace helpe me that hereafter I may offend no more Thus commonly he doth quickly renue his repentance and the spirit wins the field of the flesh though it were somewhat disaduantaged and made to recoyle backe at first For stronger is the spirit that is in vs then that that is in the world grace is alwaies in conclusion more auailable then naturall corruption Yea when Gods children are most deeply cast through presumption of sinning into the sownes of deadnesse security and vnconscionablenesse yet then still they heare a voyce behind them saying This is the way walke in it Then the sanctification of the will shewes it selfe in many motions and risings against the euils that they doe and by renewing in them the purposes of amendment though these purposes perhaps in case of great preuailing of corruption be so weake and feeble that they be not put in practice any thing thoroughly till God arise to weaken corruption and to strengthen grace and then he weepes and prayes and recouers himselfe resoluing to sinne so no more and standing to his resolutions And so fareth a poore Christian within himselfe There is a ciuill warre in his very bosome and his bowels be somtimes little lesse then rent asunder with intestine discord betwixt himselfe and himselfe Hee is no longer one but two men the old and the new deadly enemies dwelling both in one roome He findes two lawes in his heart the law of his flesh and the law of the spirit that drawing him captiue to sinne and this helping him out of that captiuitie He serues God in one part of his will and sinne in the other not meaning this last of such a seruing of sinne as was before his new birth but some kind of seruing euen a doing of that sometimes that sinne doth perswade though vnwillingly and against the haire Neither yet is this all for as within hee is thus perplexed 3. The world so can he not long be free from disquietment without The third enemy stands vp quickly and that is the world and that hates him malignes him abhors him cannot away with him When once some glimpse of Gods image shineth in him then worldly men perceiuing it if they were his friends turne foes They thinke and call him a foole they say he is either proud or stout or mad or all After a while also come slanders as it were stronger and sharper weapons then if the times will giue leaue his enemies growing in rage as he growes in goodnesse hee meetes often with losse of goods banishment and euen death it selfe So the world tries what she can doe by violence if that way seeme the fittest course of pulling him backe againe into her society but if the case bee such that that way seeme not at first so plausible the world assaults him with strong allurements his friends and neighbours will perswade him to returne to bee himselfe againe he shall haue large offers of friendship and of gaine Many entreaties many promises many assurances and many performances of good turnes as strong baits are held out before him to diuert him from the wayes of godlinesse And these fairer assaults often hurt him much more then the more violent but yet still his faith is his victory by which he ouercomes the world The assurance that he findes in himselfe of Gods eternall loue and the sweet effects therof makes him to disdaine these sugred allurements and to stand strong against those bitter encounters flatter they or frowne they doe him good or doe him euill still hee holds himselfe to this conclusion hee will not leaue God to cleaue vnto the world againe Thus you see how the regenerate man is laid too on euery hand within without on euery side There is no day in a yeere no houre in a day nay verily scarce any minute in an houre wherein some one or other of these his backe friends doth not striue to doe him a spight The worst enemie is within himselfe the next is the diuell and the world the least These welcome him in this manner into the City of God Thus they entertaine him into the society of Christs mysticall body But in all these things he is an excellent conquerour yea verily more then a conquerour through him that hath loued him for he is out of all danger of euer being quite ouercome Wherefore notwithstanding all the trouble of this first effect of grace 2. A good life the second will follow the first and that is a good conuersation A man would imagine that the forenamed incumbrances should so farre discourage his heart to whom they befell as to take from him all boldnesse so much as to attempt a good course And indeed so it would were he not continually led and strengthened by
4. Growing in grace so likewise a spiritual by degrees encreaseth waxeth stronger stronger approching neerer to perfection that with a proportionable sutable encrease of euery part and member as I may call it of the new man For though in some parts he may be weaker then in others yet in those weaker parts also considering the weaknesse there is a growth correspondent to the growing of other parts Ioh. 15.2 All the branches that bring forth fruit in Christ the vine the Father the good husbandman purgeth that they may bring forth more fruit and in Christ all the body hauing nourishment ministred and knit together Colos 2.19 encreaseth with the encrease of God and that also according to the effectuall working of euery part A liuing branch in a liuing tree will draw sap and get growth A liuing member of a liuing body cannot by the course of nature but attract fit nouriture and procure to it selfe a going forward in stature till the stature bee full and perfect Doubtlesse Christ is a liuing tree his mysticall body a liuing body wherefore the regenerate must needs be growing But this matter of growth doth stand in need of a sound explanation Vnderstand therefore that there is a double growth one in greatnesse the other in goodnesse one in quantity the other in quality So you may see a man from his birth to 24. or 25. yeeres grow bigger and bigger he is higher and thicker hath larger lims and stronger ioynts but from these yeeres vpward he growes wiser sager more stable more sober and better setled also in his bodily might So an apple from Spring to Midsommer or after growes larger and larger in bignesse from thence to the time of its pulling it growes pleasanter and pleasanter in taste and better and better relished Thus it is with a Christian man For a good space of time hee doth sensibly encrease in knowing and leauing more sinnes and in knowing and doing more duties this is to grow in bignesse but after a good time spent in Christs schoole and that there bee but few new lessons not aboue his forme as it were to be learnt hee cons ouer the old lessons againe and gets them more perfectly by heart and better vnderstood Those sins he leaueth he leaueth with more sincerity with more rectified zeale with more loue to God with more detestation of sinne Those duties likewise which he performeth he performeth more aduisedly more resolutely more humbly more soundly and with a more entire bending of his soule to the glory of God in them then before This is his growing in goodnesse and in ripenesse And alwaies in this latter kinde of growth a Christian man stands so affected that hee doth most of all quarrell with himselfe for not growing when he growes most of all Yea his slippes into some grosse faults and it may bee also sometimes too too thicke doe further this his growth ordinarily so that he neuer growes faster and better then after the time that some falles have discouered vnto him his badnesse for then he growes in humility in hatred of himselfe in suspicion of his owne frailty whereby he is made capable of a profitable growing in all vertues till at length this become his excellency that the better he is the meaner he is in his owne eyes and the further he proceedeth the more he is acquainted with his owne defects and becomes more sorrowfull and ashamed for the slownesse of his proceedings But now it must be further conceiued that this growth hath his stops stayes hindrances intermissions and those also somtimes euen some long space of time together euen for moneths and yeeres as is to be seene in Dauid Salomon Asa Vzziah and others For as in naturall life the child may grow till it be twentie or more yeeres old and then fall into a dangerous fit of sicknesse as an ague or the like which shall cast him vpon his bed and make his cheekes pale and wan his legges quaking and feeble his stomacke naught and quite turned away from almost all food his whole body faint and powerlesse so that he can neither stand nor goe nor scarce speake or moue himselfe but euen lie at point of death Euen so also in the life of grace there be Agues there bee diseases there bee sicknesses into which a Christian man euen now it may be come to so much ripenes as this life wil beare doth suddenly somtimes but most times by degrees fall headlong and almost dies though quite to die it bee impossible Now if you speake of his growing hee doth but grow backward euen as a sicke man growes weaker and weaker after sicknesse hath ceized vpon him These diseases grow for the most part from the comming in of promotion and wealth and the pleasures and vanities that most commonly come in with them that we may see how dangerous the goods and greatnesse of this world be to a Christian soule that cannot soundly digest and concoct them Or else they arise from the poysonfull infection of some euill companion or other to whom a man hath by some occasion foolishly linked himselfe in familiaritie In truth most times surfeting breeds spirituall sicknesse From the excessiue loue and liking and vsing and enioying of earthly things and from a conceit of ones owne being better and safer for their abundance a man comes to bee lesse satisfied in God and in holy duties and to haue lesse minde to thinke and muse of heauen and the graces of Gods Spirit the practising of which is the way to come to heauen So there is a stoppage and obstruction in the soule and hence so sensible a decay of spiritual strength til a man fall to heape more then one or two grosse sinnes and sometimes presumptuous one vpon the necke of another and sometimes to lie long in them before hee can see to reforme them or soundly renew his repentance for them the one hardning his heart and blinding his minde so that the other following can scarce be seene or felt Thus there is wrought a strange decay of the power of godlinesse euen in a true regenerate man by the encrease of his outward estate for he was a sanctified man Prou. 30.9 that prayed God not to giue him riches lest himselfe being full should denie God and say Who is the Lord And sometimes also on the contrarie euen hard and sharpe afflictions doe bring a decay of sanctification The anguish of a crosse may breede impatiencie distrust lying vsing of base shifts and twenty disorders in a regenerate mans life in so much that hee may be drawne to very grosse and sinfull practises But when the poore Christian soule is either of these waies diseased or any other like to them O then he fareth like to a sicke man indeed he feeles his disease with exceeding great paine It makes him groane and crie out many a time hee is weary full weary of such an estate No man is more
tyred with a burning fit of an ague then he with these fits Rest comfort quiet he can get none Indeed the diuell and the world in some cases doe as friends vse to doe in case of sicknesse They bring likely conserued Plums or Marmelade or some such like sweete meate which the poore sicke man takes indeede because they will haue it so that are about him but alas they doe but clamme his mouth and hee findes their very sweetnesse bitter and troublesome So the diuell and the world and the flesh offer to the Christian soule the pleasures and profits of this world as it were sweet meats he willing to find ease in any thing seekes if there it may bee had but alas he finds it not he cannot relish these pleasures he hath smal comfort in these profits this credit is a drie credit vnto him his heart will not relish such things as these but still he tosseth and tumbleth finding no rest in his estate nor perhaps power to get out of it for it may bee hee cannot bring himselfe to pray at all Psal 32.3 as Dauid could not for he saith of himselfe that he held his peace or if he doe it 's too coldly and faintly to remoue so mortall a sicknesse But still as the same Dauid also confesseth of himselfe he roareth and crieth out all the day long I cannot but be fully perswaded that there he describes his estate in the interim betwixt his sinne and his earnest repentance for some feeble offers to repentance perhaps he might haue before and so now his case is a very restlesse and diseasefull case Solomon the man that of all Gods sicke children I thinke by surfetting caught the so rest sicknesse shall witnesse this He wanted no sweete meates but they cloied him in stead of comforting him he professeth of them al that he found them meere vanity and vexation of Spirit So when a Christian lies vnder these spirituall diseases all his outward comforts are but euen vexation of spirit vnto him When he hath thus almost wounded and killed himselfe Oh how hee smarts and bleedes and is troubled Indeed he still perhaps is carried after the vanities of the world sinne hauing now so very much preuailed against him that he wants power to with-draw himselfe and to goe backe but yet full many a time hee sighes and groanes and lookes towards God and towards the spirituall rest of his former life and hee finds a very bitter bitter heart He is in very great extremity and it is euen a pang of death for him to remember how the case stood with him once and how it is now And in very truth were hee let alone in this case his soule would perish the life of grace would die and hee would proue his disease mortall But Ah hee hath a good Father who is also a good Physition who finding his disease grow mortall and that the admonitions of the Word in publike will not reforme him and that the voyce of the spirit behind him is now too weake to be heard by him though still it cease not to checke him and to call vpon him and to make him sometimes purpose to returne againe from this out-straying doth now like a good and wise practitioner administer some such phisicke as shall serue the turne Some potion of a bitter crosse which the spirit shall worke withall to make it effectuall is put into his hand to drinke it or some sore tentation of Satan or some horrible feare of heart which opens these stoppages purgeth out these humours reuiueth his soule and then wofully most wofully he cries out of himselfe laments his exceeding folly goes to God hartily confessing his sinnes and with all rigor passing sentence vpon himselfe for the same and so continues to mourne and cry and beg mercy till he finde it and then striues to make amends for his former not growing by growing so much the faster for it now So hee is recouered and continues to the end for totally or finally fall away by sinne he cannot because the annoynting of the spirit preserueth him till he be raised vp at the last day Christ will not cease keeping him yea to saluation is he kept by the power of that great God that hath adopted him to himselfe for a sonne and this spirituall life giuen in regeneration indeed becomes an eternall life sicke he may be dye he cannot CHAP. VI. Shewing the principall graces which by Regeneration are begotten in the soule ANd so much for the fourth effect of regeneration and for three of those things I promised to speake of I goe on now to the fourth and last point 4. The principall graces in regeneration bestowed on the regenerate viz. to make knowne vnto you the principall graces that shew themselues in the regenerate man and by hauing of which seeing by nature hee had them not he deserueth to be intitled a new creature These are in all the powers of his soule For as I said at first holinesse is infused into his whole man First 1. In his principall faculties in the principall faculties vnderstanding conscience and will Secondly in the inferiour powers thinking-power memory and affections of which let vs speake in order but briefly First then the vnderstanding of the regenerate is perfected with two most excellent and beautifull graces 1. In his vnderstanding knowledge and faith Knowledge I say first of God then of himselfe out of which springeth humility as a proper effect of both He perceiueth a new light shining within him inabling him to conceiue with a very stedfast apprehension not with a wauering wandring doubtful confused fancy as that was which he had before that there is a God an eternall and infinite essence his maker the maker of all things most wise most mighty most true most righteous most mercifull most holy hating sin with a perfect hatred and fully bent to punish the impenitent sinner with vnutterable punishments fully resolued with all louing kindnes to accept of the penitent And in one word euery way inconceiueably excellent as being indeed the fountaine of all goodnesse the creator preseruer gouernour of all things the Father the Son the holy Ghost as he hath reuealed himself to his Church The brightnesse of this light discouereth it selfe vpon his soule so effectually that now hee stands vndoubtedly perswaded of these things which is also a principall cause of all other the good things that are begun in him and so is fulfilled in him the word of God Heb. 8.11 saying They shall all know me from the least to the most Ioh. 17. last and againe righteous Father the world hath not knowne thee but these haue knowne that thou hast sent me and I haue made knowne thy name vnto them and wil make it knowne Iob. 17.3 So it begins to be to them life eternall to know the onely true God and him whom hee hath sent Iesus Christ Further as it
will not seeme to you vnreasonable nor the motion light and not worth harkening to when the God of heauen sues vnto you that be his enemies to be changed and become his adopted sonnes Sure I am that if a Gentleman should with the same good meaning make the same offer to a poore miserable beggar either he would greedily accept the motion or else all that knew him would esteeme him mad How much worse then mad art thou then which wilt reiect the Lords owne motion offering to become thy Father and intreating thee to bee willing to be made his child by adoption you may perhaps say vnto me that you do already wish and desire so to bee with all your hearts but that all the difficultie lies in being made such as you desire to be And I answere that if you doe indeed and in truth long and desire to be regenerate with a setled and firme desire and stable and confirmed wishing of your hearts that then the greatest impediment is remoued and the greatest difficultie ouercome and your regeneration is now in a faire forwardnesse yea verily it is already begun and doe you but cherish these motions and it shall be perfected You may perhaps make another obiection and say that it is not in your power to regenerate your selues and therfore it is an idle attempt of me to perswade you to become such as you cannot make your selues to be for the Spirit of God must regenerate and who can command that to come vpon him To which I answere that indeed a man cannot possibly regenerate himselfe this is Gods act not his he is a meere patient in it But yet I say moreouer that the doctrine of the Gospell is the ministration of the Spirit and where that is preached as now it is preached amongst you there the holy Ghost comes to regenerate there he comes with his in-liuing vertues there he is present with his quickning power and he that wil not resist the motions and exhortations that the word and spirit of God doe raise vp within him shall surely be visited from on high and shall haue the spirit of God descending vpon him to make him a new creature Yea further I say to such an one that God hath appointed certaine things to be done by men which they that will not refuse to doe may doe and those that shall doe shall be regenerated For there is a common worke of illumination so making way for regeneration that it puts a power into man of doing that which when he shall doe the spirit of God will mightily worke within him to his quickening and purging All you therefore that finde your selues as yet not to be regenerate but yet faine would be for to others it is in vaine to speake they be not yet so farre inlightned as to be capable of regeneration but all you hearken and vnderstand what it is that you must doe that you may be regenerate and by doing which you shall not faile of receiuing this wonderfull blessing of a new life to be created in you onely yet with one prouiso that you doe not dampe the present motions of the word and spirit of God with procrastinations and delayes with putting off and deferring till an other time Nay you must accept of the offers of grace whilest it is called to day and know that nothing doth more harden your hearts and chase away the spirit of God from them then that foolish and slothful shifting off his perswasions with a purpose of setling about the worke hereafter but not yet Thou must take Gods time and not bid him tarry thy time It is no reason the King should waite vpon the traitor till he were at leisure to receiue a pardon If thou wilt not haue while when the Lord sees it fit to make thee a sweet promise of grace remember the terrible threatning of Wisdome You shall seeke me and not finde me Prou. 1.24.28 because I stretched out mine hands and you would not heare me O then venture not to put off God till hereafter Who can tell whether euer he will come so neere thee againe if at this time thine entertainment of him be no better then to shut vp the dores of thine heart and tell him the roomes are otherwise filled there is no place for him as yet But now I say with prouiso that you will now begin without further deferring I will shew you the way of life and tell you that which if you will be pleased to doe and it shall be no such hard matter nor impossible but that your owne soules shall confesse there is nothing to hinder you from doing it but your owne vnwillingnesse or carelesnesse or both if I say you will be pleased to doe I testifie vnto you in the name of the Lord that you shall bee regenerate and that from the time you begin to doe them you begin to be regenerate Now these things are in number three as I said before neither impossible for you to doe Wheâ—eof the meanes are three nor yet difficult there lackes but a willing mind and they be easily done onely vnderstand of them that you must not satisfie your selues with hauing done them once but must doe them continually because they are meanes of encreasing holinesse as well as attaining it The first is 1. To desire and pray for the spirit of regeneration so to nourish your apprehension of your owne misery in not being regenerated and your earnest desire of being regenerated for the escaping of this misery that it may breake forth into requests and petitions vnto God for his spirit of regeneration Goe thou and muse thus with thy selfe Alas I see most euidently that as yet I am but a sonne of old Adam there is no thorough change of mine heart nor of my life from sinne to holinesse I am as I was borne and haue not been altered by a new birth and therefore I am in no possibility of being saued This night if God should as how know I but he may this night take away my soule from me O I perish for out of heauen the blessed Sauiour of mankind hath excluded mee for thither he tels vs euidently that none must enter that are not borne againe and O miserable man I that am not yet capable of eternall life and that stand in such tearmes with God to this day that hee cannot both keepe his owne truth and saue my soule What shall I doe what course shall I take O could I once obtaine regeneration then I were safe then I were sure then if death should come immediately I neede not feare it then were the gates of heauen opened vnto mee and then I both might and should enter in thereto O that I were regenerate O that I were borne againe O that I were a new creature O that once the image of Christ Iesus were imprinted vpon me All the goods and honours of this world would not so much aduantage me as
barely read I cannot esteeme it quite deuoide of all power to regenerate where God doth not giue vnto men a possibilitie of vsing other helpe I see not that he should be thought either vnable or vnwilling to worke by this but where preaching with paines or cost may be gotten there he that to saue his labour or to spare his purse will neglect it shall neuer be borne againe Wherefore beloued you must make high account of this ordinance you must follow it you must be constant in frequenting it that the Lord by the mouthes of his faithful seruants may breathe the breath of life into you I confesse that there is a kind of fine neate daintie preaching consisting in wel-sounding words and streines of wit and humane learning to set out the skill and art of the speaker and make the hearer applaud and commend him which a man may well doubt whither God wil euer blesse to the winning of soules These selfe-preaching men that make preaching little else but an ostentation of wit and reading doe put this sword of the Spirit into a veluet scabbard that it cannot pricke and wound the heart it cannot worke life by working death first it cannot quicken by killing before it quicken But the plaine and downe-right preaching of the Word by laying it open in plaine termes to the eyes of the mind and laying it hard to the very consciences by exhortations rebukes and comforts for which it is profitable euen this foolish preaching is that that must make you wise to saluation Wherefore how much were it to be desired that all we Ministers would follow that whereby with fetching lesse circuits and taking lesse vnprofitable and selfe-intended labour wee might doe more good to men and bring more glory to God and Oh how much are you to be called vpon to loue the Word of God preached to be glad to haue it plainely deliuered vnto you and with earnestnesse pressed vpon you without all quirkes of wit and guilded shewes of mans wisdome and of gay words In one word therefore I doe you all to wit that this preaching is the instrument of God I meane the chiefe and principall instrument by which he is pleased to regenerate mens soules Wherefore I command you all in the name of the Lord to loue it honor it frequent it submit your selues to it as you loue your soules-health But let me adde one necessary obseruation more in this point They bee but vncleane beasts that doe not chew the cud If you will haue the Word which you heare effectuall to make you the sonnes of God you must not be carelesse and forgetfull hearers you must not let it slip from you as soone as it is heard but you must ioyne meditation with it and after you haue heard consider with your selues what you haue heard and ponder vpon it as vpon a thing that much concernes you and lay the precepts reproofes threats promises and exhortations thereof vnto your soules saying each to himselfe I see this is a dutie haue not I omitted it O yes I haue and so fall a begging pardon for former omissions and strength for more carefull performance hereafter and so in all the other parts of the Word that may be deliuered vnto you And brethren the Word thus heard in the Church and thus ruminated digested and concocted at home will be a Word of power vnto you to conuert you to God from the power of Satan Thus I haue shewed you the meanes of being made the sonnes and daughters of the liuing God Be they not plaine be they not possible be they not easie If any of you misse of a new birth is it not because he cares not for it and in very truth because he is not willing to accept it I cal your owne soules to witnesse and that God in whose name and those Angels in whose presence I haue spoken these things vnto you that God desireth not your death hee would haue you saued hee offers saluation hee would haue you renewed and hee offers the spirit of renouation and if you want it it is only meerely wholly because you regard it not and because you will not take his directions in seeking it O thou therfore that art vnregenerate see thine vnregeneracie desire to be regenerate call vpon God for his Spirit of grace to regenerate thee ponder vpon his Law and his Gospell the seede of regeneration Hearken to his voyce speaking in his messengers and meditate on what thou shalt heare from them and thou shalt bee regenerate But if thou wilt needs stand in thine owne light and out of a conceit of being already in a good estate keepe thy selfe irrecouerably in an euill estate or out of sloathfull negligence or prophane carelesnesse omit to follow the sound directions which haue been giuen thee be thou euer then the child of the Diuell be thou euer the sonne of perdition worke out thine owne destruction and thy blood bee vpon thine owne head the Lord is free wee are free and of thine owne hand alone it shall be required CHAP. X. Comforting the Regenerate ANd so much bee spoken to them that are not borne againe 3. Vse to those that are regenerate Now from the same point also wee haue something to say to those that through the grace of God haue been blessed with this greatest of al blessings and that both for comfort and exhortation First then 1. Câ—ns let vs lay open before the sanctified man the riches of consolation of which the words of our Sauiour doe put him in possession This worke of the Spirit of God doth him more good then al the wealth strength health wit learning beauty credit fauour and grace that could befall him in the world For all these things fore-named a man may haue in as great abundance as this earth could yeeld and yet bee no whit nearer to heauenly felicitie yea bee quite out of all present possibilitie of attaining it But so soone as euer the Spirit of God from aboue hath visited the soule of a man and hath begotten in him the image of Christ Iesus so soone is he interessed into the glorious Kingdome of God and hath that riches and honour of heauen appertaining vnto him as an inheritance that cannot fal besides him Euery true Christian therefore be he of neuer so meane repute parts in the esteeme of others or of himself is yet a great and a rich heire and hath a mighty and large kingdome by vertue of this birth-right appertaining vnto him for the excluding of all that are not borne againe from out of heauen is a plaine admittance of all them into heauen to whom this benefit of a new birth hath befalne The one cannot but be saued as well as the other cannot possibly bee saued Seeing if the cause that hindreth our entrance into Gods Kingdome bee remoued we neede make no question but that our passage afterwards shall be found both certaine and easie enough
possible thankes O thou art good thou art gracious thou art full of compassion mercy pleaseth thee I feele I feele that thy mercy is ouer all thy workes and I haue cause to say by experience that thy mercy endureth for euer for thou hast made mee thine owne child by adoption which by nature was the child of wrath O blessed be thy great and glorious name for euermore Brethren open your mouths wide in thankes-giuing and God will fill them full of comfort and know that thou canst not haue a more sensible assurance of thy new birth then if thou canst feele thy selfe heartily moued to giue praise to God for it It shall witnesse to thee that thou art a new creature if thou canst giue many thankes to him that made thee so for hauing so made thee Reioyce therefore in thy blessednesse that art borne againe and bee frequently and heartily thankefull to him by whose word and spirit thou wast borne againe that so thou maist comfortably enioy this greatest of al blessings thy being borne againe CHAP. XI Exhorting the Regenerate to grow in Grace ANd this is the consolation of God wee haue to giue you O all yee his sonnes and daughters 2. Exhortation twofold hearken a little further I pray you to the exhortation that must ensue Seeing the Lord of Heauen hath created a new life in you learne you two things for the necessitie thereof to saluation First 1. To nourish this life of grace in themselues to cherish it in your selues secondly so much as is possible to propagate it vnto others First I say make much of this life of grace this new man created in you according to God in righteousnesse and true holinesse make much of it striue to confirme it strengthen it and increase it so soone as the life of nature is seene in a man he is made you know desirous of nourishment that augmentation may follow generation So be you also for your soules that you may at one time both shew your new birth and confirme it In truth this I must tell you assuredly for I know it to bee as true as the Lord himself is to be trusted of his word he that once hath this life shall neuer see death But I told you before that he may feele sicknesse and that if it were not for the sick-making phisicke which the Lord will giue him for his recouerie he might feele death Now therfore I am to entreate you all to saue the labour of taking physicke and that by seeking to preuent diseases and to grow in soundnesse of spirituall strength You all know right well what bee the chiefe things which impaire naturall strength and procure diseases of body namely poyson surfetting and staruing It is euen so likewise with the soule 1. By auoiding ill company and câ—oosing gâ—od 2. By auoiding things sinfull in resisting the first motions to ill first by poyson it inuenometh it selfe secondly by surfetting it distempereth it selfe and lastly by staruing it infeebleth it selfe Beware of ranke poyson Sinne I say sinne things vnlawfull and condemned these are very starke poyson to the soule Ratts-bane and Hen-bane and Mercury and Opium yea the very inward moisture of a Toade or Serpent are no more dangerous to the flesh then this is to the spirit And when a Christian man begins to yeeld so much to the naughtinesse of his owne hart that hee takes leaue to allow some sinne in himselfe in some small degrees then it ceaseth not to worke wofully in his soule till at last it haue caused him to breake forth into the grosse and foule practice of it and then is he poysoned indeede and if the Lord should not come with his physick he could not but bee damned but howsoeuer hee languisheth and is sicke he leeseth the sense of Gods fauour the desire of Gods seruice the comforts of Gods Word and the loue of the comming of Christ Iesus Lust reuenge deceit loue of money loue of credit loue of pleasure and all other corrupt affections lodging within if they once so farre preuaile that a man is willing to follow them in thoughts and words agreeable to their wicked nature doe by little and little euen grieue the Spirit of God and quench the graces of the holy Ghost till after a while a man falleth into some wicked act of some of these kinds and Oh then the burning and shooting and swelling of the body after the drinking of Ratts-bane is not more manifest in the bodie then the miserable effects of these sinnes are euident in the soule The conscience begins to accuse God is alienated the hart is hardned the mind blinded and sometimes a man lies long as it were in a sowne before he can recouer himselfe by repentance Wherefore the godly mans care must be to oppose the first motions of sinne to flie the occasions of euill doing to be careful of restraining himselfe from the very smallest degrees of wickednesse for a little sinne allowed will bring in a greater till that come accompanied with the greatest of all and that make a man little lesse then dead the second time We must therefore cast away the superfluitie of maliciousnesse that is this allowing of sinne and pleasing our selues in the occasions first degrees of it if euer we desire the spirituall health and wel-fare of our inner man Dauids conceitednesse begate idlenesse idlenesse begat adulterie adultery murder and all a long lying and deepe sleepe in sinne It is wofull to consider the miserable ruines that haue been made in the soules of many of Gods seruants by their carelesnes this way how weake they haue growne how their acquaintance with God their delight in his Word their comfort in prayer their desire of being dissolued and their ioy in a godly life hath been interrupted and how they haue come to that passe as scarce to shew to others or find in themselues any signe of liuing Perhaps this may be the very case of some amongst you that heare mee at this time O if it be get thee a preseruatiue take thee a large quantitie of godly sorrow feede vpon the bitter but wholesome hearbs of humiliation and griefe go and meditate on the threatnings of the Law on the death of Christ on the lamentable effects that others of Gods people haue found vpon their growing so naught and recouer thy selfe againe by hearty confession and humble begging of pardon and of strength And now all you that be as yet free from such wofull sicknesses be admonished by the miseries of others and let not the deceitfulnesse of sinne so farre preuaile against you that you should giue any allowance vnto it take any pleasure in the motions or occasions of it or giue your hearts leaue so much as to thinke or speake of it but with detestation Poyson is often sweete but a wise man had rather deny to his taste the delight of sweetnesse then fill his stomack with deadly pangs and gripings Sinne