and the soul in which it is may draw very sad conclusions about the issue and event concluding its life not only to be hazarded but quite extinguished Psal. 51. 10 11 12. but though it be ready to dye God wonderfully preserves it from death it hath as well its reviving as its fainting seasons and thus you see what are the lovely and eximious properties of the new creature In the next place Fourthly We will demonstrate the necessity of this new creation to all that are in Christ and by him expect to attain 4. salvation and the necessity of the new creature will appear divers ways First From the positive and express will of God revealed in Scripture touching this matter search the Scriptures and you shall find God hath laid the whole stress and weight of your eternal happiness by Jesus Christ upon this work of the spirit in your souls So our Saviour tells Nicodemus John 3. 5. Verily verily I say unto thee except a man be born of water and of the spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God agreeable whereunto are those words of the Apostle Heb. 12. 14. Without holiness no man shall see the Lord. And whereas some may think that their birth right priviledges injoyment of Ordinances and profession of Religion may commend them to Gods acceptance without this new creation he shews them how fond and ungrounded all such hopes are Gal. 6. 15. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing nor uncircumcision but a new creature Christ and Heaven are the gifts of God and he is at liberty to bestow them upon what terms and conditions he pleaseth and this is the way the only way and stated method in which he will bring men by Christ unto glory men may raze out the impressions of these things from their own hearts but they can never alter the setled course and method of Salvation either we must be new creatures as the precepts of the word command us or lost and damned creatures as the threatnings of the word plainly tell us Secondly This new Creation is the inchoative part of that great Salvation which we expect through Christ and therefore without this all hopes and expectations of Salvation must vanish Salvation and renovation are inseparably connected Our glory in Heaven if we rightly understand its nature consisteth in two things namely our assimilation to God and our fruition of God and both these take their beginning and rise from our renovation in this world here we begin to be changed into his Image in some degree 2 Cor. 3. 18. for the new man is created after God as was opened above In the work of grace God is said to begin that good work which is to be finished or consummated in the day of Christ Phil. 1. 6. Now nothing can be more irrational than to imagine that ever that design or work should be finished and perfected which never had a beginning Thirdly So necessary is the new creation to all that expect salvation by Christ that without this Heaven would be no Heaven and the glory thereof no glory to us by reason of the unsuitableness and aversation of our carnal minds thereunto the carnal mind is enmity against God Rom. 8. 7. and enmity is exclusive of all complacency and delight there is a necessity of a suitable and agreeable frame of heart to God in order to that complacential rest of our souls in him and this agreeable temper is wrought by our new creation 2 Cor. 5. 5. He that hath wrought us for the self-same thing is God renovation you see is the working or moulding of a mans spirit into an agreeable temper or as it is in Col. 1. 12. the making of us meet for the inheritance of the Saints in light From all which it follows that seeing there can be no complacence or delight in God without suitableness and conformity to him as is plain from 1 Joh. 3. 2. as well as from the reason and nature of the thing it self either God must become like us suitable to our sinful corrupt and vain hearts which were but a rude blasphemy once to imagine or else we must be made agreeable and suitable to God which is the very thing I am now proving the necessity of Fourthly There is an absolute necessity of the new creature to all that expect interest in Christ and the glory to come since all the characters marks and signs of such an interest are constantly taken from the new creature wrought in us Look over all the marks and signs of interest in Christ or salvation by him which are dispersed through the Scriptures and you shall still find purity of heart Matth. 5. 8. holiness both in principle and practice Heb. 12. 14. mortification of sin Rom. 8. 13. longing for Christs appearance 2 Tim. 4. 8. with multitudes more of the same nature to be constantly made the marks and signs of our salvation by Christ. So that either we must have a new Bible or a new Heart for if these Scriptures be the true and faithful words of God no unrenewed creature can see his face which was the fourth thing to be opened Fifthly The last thing to be opened is how the new creation is an infallible proof and evidence of the souls interest 5. in Christ and this will appear divers ways First Where all the saving graces of the spirit are there interest in Christ must needs be certain and where the new creature is there all the saving graces of the spirit are for what is the new creature but the frame or Systeme of all special saving graces it is not this or that particular grace as faith or hope or love to God which constitutes the new creature for these are but as so many particular limbs or branches of it but the new creature is comprehensive of all the graces of the Spirit Gal. 5. 22 23. The fruit of the Spirit is love peace joy long-suffering gentleness goodness faith meekness temperance c. any one of the saving special graces of the Spirit gives proof of our interest in Christ how much more then the new creature which is the complex frame or Systeme of all the graces together Secondly To conclude where all the causes of an interest in Christ are found and all the effects and fruits of an interest in Christ do appear there undoubtedly a real interest in Christ is found but where-ever you find a new creature you find all the causes and all the effects of an interest in Christ for there you shall find First The impulsive cause viz. the electing love of God from which the new creature is inseparable 1 Pet. 1. 2. with the new creature also the meritorious efficient and final causes of interest in Christ and union with him are ever found Eph. 2. 10. Eph. 1. 4 5 6. Secondly All the effects and fruits of interest in Christ are found with the new creature there are all the fruits
All delights all pleasures all joys which are not phantastick and delusive have their spring and origin here Rom. 8. 6. to be spiritually minded is life and peace i. e. a most serene placid life such a soul becomes so far as it is influenced and sanctified by the Spirit the very region of life and peace when one thing is thus predicated of another in casu recto saith a learned man it speaks their intimate Connexion peace is so connatural to this life that you may either call it a life that hath peace in it or a peace that hath life in it yea it hath its enclosed pleasures in it Such as a stranger intermeddles not with Prov. 14. 10. Regeneration is the term from which all true pleasure commences you never live a merry day till you begin to live to God therefore it 's said Luke 15. 24. when the prodigal son was returned to his Father and reconciled then they began to be merry None can make another by any words to understand what that pleasure is which the renewed soul feels diffused through all its faculties and affections in its communion with the Lord and in the sealings and witnessings of his Spirit That is a very apt and well known similitude which Peter Martyr used and the Lord blessed to the conversion of that Noble Marquess Galeacius If said he a man should see a company of people dancing upon the top of a remote hill he would be apt to conclude they were a company of wild distracted people but if he draw nearer and behold the excellent order and hear the ravishing sweet Musick that is among them he will quickly alter his opinion of them and fall a dancing himself with them All the delights in the sensual-life all the pleasure that ever your lusts gave you are but as the putrid stinking waters of a corrupt pond where Toads lye croaking and spawning to the Crystal streams of the most pure and pleasant fountain Fourthly This life of God with which the regenerate are quickened in their Union with Christ as it is a pleasant so it is also a growing increasing life Joh. 4. 14. It shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life It is not in our Sanctification as it is in our Justification our Justification is compleat and perfect no defect is found there but the new Creature labours under many defects all believers are equally Justified but not equally Sanctified therefore you read 2 Cor. 4. 16. that the inward man is renewed day by day and 2 Pet. 3. 18. Christians are exhorted to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour if this work were perfect and finished at once as Justification is there could be no renewing day by day nor growth in grace perfectum est cui nihil deest cui nihil addi potest the Apostle indeed prays for the Thessalonians that God would sanctifie them 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 wholly perfectly 1 Thes. 5. 23. and this is matter of prayer and hope for at last it will grow up to perfection but this perfect holiness is reserved for the perfect state in the world to come and none but * Perfectio Sanctificationis in isthaâ—… vil a non reperitur nisi in somniis quorundam sanaticorum 〈◊〉 deluded proud spirits boast of it here but when that which is perfect is come then that which is in part shall be done away 1 Cor. 13. 9 10. and upon the imperfection of the new Creature in every faculty that warfare and dayly conflict spoken of Gal. 5. 17. and experienced by every Christian is grounded grace rises gradually in the soul as the Sun doth in the heavens which shineth more and more unto a perfect day Prov. 4. 18. Fifthly To Conclude this life with which the regenerate are quickened is an everlasting life This is the record that God hath given us eternal life and this life is in his son 1 Joh. 5. 11. this principle of life is the seed of God and that remains in the soul for ever 1 Joh. 3. 9. it is no transient vanishing thing but a fixed permanent principle which abides in the soul for ever a man may lose his gifts but grace abides the soul may and must be separated from the body but grace cannot be separated from the soul when all forsake us this sticks by us This infused principle is therefore vastly different both from the extraordinary gifts of prophecie wherein the Spirit sometimes was said to come upon men under the old Testament 1 Sam. 10. 6 10. and from the common vanishing effects he sometimes produceth in the unregenerate of which we have frequent accounts in the new Testament Heb. 6. 4. and Joh. 5. 35. it 's one thing for the Spirit to come upon a man in the way of present influence and assistance and another thing to dwell in a man as his Temple And thus of the nature and quality of this blessed work of the Spirit in quickening us Secondly Having seen the nature and properties of the spiritual life we are concerned in the next place to enquire 2. into the way and manner in which it is wrought and infused by the Spirit and here we must say First of all That the work is wrought in the soul very mysteriously so Christ tells Nicodemus Joh. 3. 8. The wind bloweth where it listeth and thou hearest the sound thereof but canst not tell whence it cometh or whither it goeth so is every one that is born of the Spirit there be many opinions among Philosophers about the original of winds but we have no certain knowledge of it we deseribe it by its effects and properties but know little of its original and if the works of God in nature be so abstruse and unsearchable how much more are these sublime and supernatural works of the Spirit so We are not able to solve the Phaenomena of nature we can give no account of our own formation in the womb Eccles. 11. 5. who can exactly describe how the parts of the body are formed and the soul infused it's curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth as the Psalmist speaks Psal. 139. 16. but how we know not Basil saith divers questions may be moved about a Fly which may pose the greatest Philosopher we know little of the forms and essences of natural things much less of these profound and abstruse spiritual things Secondly But though we cannot pry into these secrets by the eye of reason yet God hath revealed this to us in his word that it is wrought by his own almighty power Eph. 1. 19. The Apostle ascribes this work to the exceeding greatness of the power of God and this must needs be if we consider how the Spirit of God expresses it in Scripture by a new Creation i. e. a giving being to something out of nothing Eph. 2. 10. In this it differs from all the effects of humane power for man always
is in the several parts of a Christians life is the effect of this infused principle of spiritual life Thirdly Another aim and design of God in the infusion of this principle of life is thereby to prepare and qualifie the soul for the enjoyment of himself in heaven except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God Joh. 3. 3. all that shall possess that inheritance must be begotten again to it as the Apostle speaks 1 Pet. 1. 3 4. this principle of grace is the very seed of that glory it 's eternal life in the root and principle Joh. 17. 3. by this the soul is attempered and qualified for that state and imployment what is the life of glory but the vision of God and the souls assimilation to God by that vision from both which results that unspeakable joy and delight which passeth understanding but what vision of God assimilation to God or delight in God can that soul have which was never quickened with the supernatural principle of grace The temper of such souls is expressed in that sad Character Zech. 11. 8. my soul loathed them and their soul also abhorred me for want of this vital principle it is that the very same duties and ordinances which are the delights and highest pleasures of the Saints are no better than a meer drudgery and bondage to others Maâ—… 1. 13. heaven would be no heaven to a dead soul this principle of life in its daily growth and improvement is our meetness as well as our evidence for heaven these are the main ends of its infusion Fourthly In the next place according to the method proposed I am obliged to shew you that this quickening work is 4. wholly supernatural it is the sole and proper work of the Spirit of God So Christ himself expressly asserts it in Joh. 3. 6 8. That which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit the wind bloweth where it listeth and thou hearest the sound thereof but canst not tell whence it cometh nor whither it goeth so is every one that is born of the Spirit Believers are the birth or off-spring of the Spirit who produceth the new creature in them in an unintelligible manner even to themselves So far it is above their own ability to produce that it is above their capacity to understand the way of its production as if you should ask do you know from whence the wind comes no do you know whither it goes no but you hear and feel it when it blows yes why so is every one that is born of the Spirit he feels the efficacy and discerns the effects of the Spirit on his own soul but cannot understand or describe the manner of its production this is not only above the carnal but above the renewed mind to comprehend we can contribute nothing I mean actively to the production of this principle of life we may indeed be said to concur passively with the Spirit in it that is there is found in us a capacity aptness or receptiveness of this principle of life our nature is endowed with such faculties and powers as are meet subjects to receive and instruments to act this spiritual life God only quickens the rational nature with spiritual life It is true also that in the progress of Sanctification a man doth actively concurr with the Spirit but in the first production of this spiritual principle he can do nothing he can indeed perform those external duties that have a remote tendency to it but he cannot by the power of nature perform any saving act or contribute any thing more than a passive capacity to the implantation of a new principle as will appear by the following Arguments Argument 1. He that actively concurrs to his own regeneration makes himself to differ but this is denyed to all regenerate men 1 Cor. 4. 7. who maketh thee to differ from another and what hast thou that thou didst not receive Arg. 2. That to which the Scripture ascribes both impotency and enmity with respect to grace cannot actively and of it self concurr to the production of it But the Scripture ascribes both impotency and enmity to Nature with respect to grace It denyes to it a power to do anything of it self Joh. 15. 5. and which is less it denies to it power to speak a good word Matth. 12. 34. and which is least of all it denies it power to think a good thought 2 Cor. 3. 5. This impotency if there were no more cuts off all pretence of our active concurrence but then if we consider that it ascribes enmity to our natures as well as impotency how clear is the case see Rom. 8. 7. the carnal mind is enmity against God and Col. 1. 21. and you that were enemies in your minds by wicked works So then Nature is so far productive of this principle as impotency and enmity can enable it to be so Arg. 3. That which is of natural production must needs be subject to natural dissolution that which is born of the flesh is flesh a perishing thing sor everything is as its principle is and there can be no more in the effect than there is in the cause but this principle of spiritual life is not subject to dissolution it is the water that springs up into everlasting life Joh. 4. 14. the seed of God which remaineth in the regenerate soul 1 Joh. 3. 9. and all this because it 's born not of corruptible but of incorruptible seed 1 Pet. 1. 23. Arg. 4. If our new birth be our resurrection a new creation yea a victory over nature then we cannot actively contribute to its production but under all these notions it is represented to us in the Scriptures It 's our resurrection from the dead Eph. 5. 14. and you know the body is wholly passive in its resurrection but though it concurrs not yet it gives pre-existent matter therefore the metaphor is designedly varied Eph. 4. 24. where it 's call'd a creation in which there is neither active concurrence nor pre-existent matter but though Creation excludes pre-existent matter yet in proâ—…cing something out of nothing there is no reluctancy nor opposition therefore to shew how purely supernatural this principle of life is it is cloathed and presented to us in the notion of a victory 2 Cor. 10. 4. and so leaves all to grace Arg. 5. If nature could produce or but actively concurr to the production of this spiritual life then the best natures would be soonest quickened with it and the worst natures not at all or last and least of all but contrarily we find the worst natures often regenerated and the best left in the state of spiritual death with how many sweet homilitical vertues was the young man adorned Mark 10. 21. yet graceless and what a sink of sin was Mary Magdalen Luke 7. 37. yet sanctified thus beautiful Rachel is barren whilst blear-ey'd Leah bears children And there is
have their thoughts sinking deeper into these things than others these thoughts lye with different degrees of weight upon men but all are most solemnly and awfully concerned about their condition all frothiness and frolicks are gone and the heart settles it self in deepest earnest about its eternal state Secondly The heart that receives Jesus Christ is in a frame of deep humiliation and self-abasement O when a man begins to apprehend the first approaches of grace pardon and mercy â—…y Jesus Christ to his soul a soul convinced of its utter unworthiness and desert of hell and can scarce expect any thing else from the just and holy God but damnation how do the first dawnings of mercy melt and humble it O Lord what am I that thou shouldest feed me and preserve me that thou shouldest but for a few years spare me and forbear me but that ever Jesus Christ should love me and give himself for me that such a wretched sinner as I should obtain Union with his person pardon peace and salvation by his blood Lord whence is this to such a worm as I and will Christ indeed bestow himself upon me shall so great a blessing as Christ ever come within the arms of such a soul as mine will God in very deed be reconciled to me in his son what to me to such an enemy as I have been shall my sins which are so many so horrid so much aggravated beyond the sins of most men be forgiven me O what am I vile dust base wretch that ever God should do this for me And now is that Scripture indeed fulfill'd and made good Ezech. 16. 63. That thou maist remember and be confounded and never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame when I am pacified towards thee for all that thou hast done saith the Lord God Thus that poor broken-hearted believer stood behind Christ weeping and washing his feet with tears as one quite melted down and overcome with the sense of mercy to such a vile sinner Luke 7. 38. Thirdly The soul that receives Jesus Christ is in a weary Condition restless and full of disquietness neither able to bear the burden of sin nor knowing how to be discharged from it except Christ will give it ease Matth. 11. 28. Come unto me that is believe in me you that are weary and heavy laden if they do not look into their own souls they know there 's no safety and if they do there 's no comfort O the burdensome sense of sin overweighs them they are ready to fail to sink under it Fourthly The soul that rightly receives Christ is not only in a weary but in a longing condition never did the hart pant more earnestly for the water-brooks never did the hireling desire the shadow never did a condemned person long for a pardon more than the soul longs after Jesus Christ. O said David that one would give me of the waters of the well of Bethlehem to drink O saith the poor humbled sinner that one would give me of the open'd fountain of the blood of Christ to drink O for one drop of that precious blood O for one encouraging smile from Christ O now were ten thousand worlds at my command and Christ to be bought how freely would I lay them all down to purchase him but he is the gift of God O that God would give me Christ if I should go in raggs and hunger and thirst all my days in this world Fifthly The soul in the time of its closing with or receiving Christ is in a state of conflict it hangs betwixt hopes and fears encouragements and discouragements which occasion many a sad stand and pause in the way to Christ sometimes the number and nature of its sins discourage it then the riches and freeness of the grace of Christ erects his hopes again there 's little hope saith unbelief nay it 's utterly impossible saith Satan that ever such a wretch as thou shouldst find mercy now the hands hang down O but then there 's a necessity an absolute necessity I have not the choice of two but am shut-up to one way of deliverance others have found mercy and the invitation is to all that are weary and to all that are athirst he saith he that cometh to him he will in no wise cast-out now new hopes inspire the soul and the hands that did hang down are again strengthned These are the Concomitant frames that accompany faith Lastly Examine the Consequents and effects of Faith if you 3. Mark would be satisfied of the truth and sincerity of it and such are First Evangelical meltings and ingenuous thawings of the heart under the apprehensions of grace and mercy Zech. 12. 10. They shall look upon me whom they have pierced and shall mourn Secondly Love to Christ his ways and people Gal. 5. 6. Faith worketh by love i. e. it represents the love of God and then makes use of the sweetness of it by way of argument to constrain the soul to all acts of obedience wherein it may testifie the reality of its love to God and Christ. Thirdly Heart purity Acts 15. 9. purifying their hearts by faith it doth not only cleanse the hands but the heart no principle in man besides faith can do this morality may hide corruption but faith only purifies the heart from it Fourthly Obedience to the commands of Christ Rom. 16. 26. the very name of faith is call'd upon obedience for it accepts Christ as Lord and urges upon the soul the most powerful arguments in the world to draw it to obedience In a word let the poor doubting believer that questions his faith reflect upon those things that are unquestionable in his own experience which being well considered will greatly tend to his satisfaction in this point It 's very doubtful to you whether you believe but yet in the mean while it may be past doubt being a matter of clear experience that you have been deeply convinced of sin struck off from all carnal props and refuges made willing to accept Jesus Christ upon what terms soever you might enjoy him you doubt whether Christ be yours but it 's past doubt that you have a most high and precious esteem of Christ that you heartily long for him that you prize and love all whether persons or things that bears his image that nothing in the world would please your hearts like a transformation into his likeness that you had rather your souls should be fill'd with his Spirit than your houses with Gold and Silver 'T is doubtful whether Christ be yours but it 's past doubt that one smile from Christ one token of his love would do you more good than all the honours and smiles of the world and nothing so grieves you as your grieving him by sin doth you dare not say that you have received him nor can you deny but that you have had many sick days and nights for him that you have gone into many secret places with
them and communicates his favour to them as they are in Christ he is all and in all The gifts and blessings of the Spirit are given to men as they are in Christ and without respect to any external differences made in this world among men hence we find excellent treasures of grace in mean and contemptible persons in the world poor in the world rich in faith and heirs of the Kingdome and as all believers without difference receive from Christ so they are not debarr'd from any blessing that is in Christ all is yours for ye are Christs 1 Cor. 3. ult with Christ God freely gives us all things Rom. 8. 32. Position 5. The Communion believers have with Christ in spiritual benefits Position 5. is a very great mystery far above the understanding of natural men There are no footsteps of this thing in all the works of creation therefore the Apostle calls it the unsearchable riches of Christ Eph. 3. 8. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the word signifies that which hath no footsteps to trace it by yea 't is so deep a mystery that the Angels themselves stoop down to look into it 1 Pet. 1. 12. Eye hath not seen nor ear heard neither have entred into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them them that love him but God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit 1 Cor. 2. 9 10. Thirdly and Lastly I shall in a few particulars open the dignity and excellency of this fruit of our Union with Christ and shew you that a greater glory and honour cannot be put upon man than to be thus in fellowship with Jesus Christ Joh. 17. 22. The glory which thou gavest me I have given them that they may be one as we are one and therefore more particularly let it be considered First With whom we are associated even the Son of God with him that is over all God blessed for ever Our association with Angels is an high advancement for Angels and Saints are fellow servants in the fame family Rev. 19. 10. and through Christ we are come to an innumerable company of Angels Heb. 12. 22. but what is all this to our fellowship with Jesus Christ himself and that in another manner than Angels have for though Christ be to them an head of dominion yet not an head of vital influence as he is to his mystical body the Church this therefore is to them a great mystery which they greatly affect to study and pry into Secondly What we are that are dignified with this title the fellows or copartners with Jesus Christ not only dust by nature dust thou art but sinful dust such wretched sinners as by nature and the sentence of the Law ought to be associated with devils and partakers with them of the wrath of the almighty God to all eternity Thirdly The benefits we are partakers of in and with the Lord Jesus Christ and indeed they are wonderful and astonishing things so far as they do already appear but yet we see but little of them comparatively to what we shall see 1 Joh. 3. 1 2. Now are we the sons of God and it doth not yet appear what we shall be but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is O what will that be to see him as he is and to be transformed into his likeness Fourthly The way and manner in which we are brought into this fellowship with Christ which is yet more admirable The Apostle gives us a strange account of it in 2 Cor. 8. 9. For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich yet for your sakes he became poor that ye through â—…is poverty might be rich he empties himself of his glory that we might be fill'd he is made a curse that we might enjoy the blessing he submits to be crown'd with thorns that we might be crowned with glory and honour he puts himself into the number of worms Psal. 22. 6. that we might be made equal to the Angels O the unconceivable grace of Christ Fifthly The reciprocal nature of that communion which is betwixt Christ and believers we do not only partake of what is his but he partakes of what is ours he hath fellowship with us in all our wants sorrows miseries and afflictions and we have communion with him in his righteousness grace sonship and glory he takes part of our misery and we take part of his blessedness our sufferings are his sufferings Col. 1. 24. O what an honour is it to thee poor wretch whom a great many would not turn aside to ask how thou doest to have a King yea the Prince of all the Kings of the earth to pity relieve sympathize groan and bleed with thee to sit by thee in all thy troubles and give thee his Cordials to say thy troubles are my troubles and thy afflictions are my afflictions whatever toucheth thee toucheth me also O what name shall we give unto such grace as this is Sixthly and Lastly Consider the perpetuity of this priviledge your fellowship with Christ is interminable and abides for ever Christ and the Saints shall be glorified together Rom. 8. 17. while he hath any glory they shall partake with him 'T is said indeed 1 Cor. 15. 24. that there shall be a time when Christ will deliver up the Kingdome to his father but the meaning is not that ever he will cease to be an head to his Saints or they from being his members no no the relation never cease Justification Sanctification and Adoption are everlasting things and we can never be devested of them Infer 1. Are the Saints Christs fellows what honourable persons then are Infer 1. they and how should they be esteemed and valued in the world If a King who is the fountain of honour do but raise a man by his favour and dignifie him by bestowing some honourable Title upon him what respect and observance is presently paid him by all persons but what are all the vain and empty Titles of honour to the glorious and substantial priviledges with which believers are dignified and raised above all other men by Jesus Christ he is the son of God and they are the sons of God also he is the heir of all things and they are joynt-heirs with Christ. He reigns in glory and they shall reign with him he sits upon the throne and they shall sit with him in his throne O that this vile world did but know the dignity of believers they would never slight hate abuse and persecute them as they do and O that believers did but understand their own happiness and priviledges by Christ they would never droop and sink under every small trouble at tâ—…t rate they do Infer 2. How abundantly hath God provided for all the necessities and wants of believers Christ is a storehouse fill'd with blessings Infer 2. and mercies and it 's all for them from him
before his face but the merciful God casts them all behind his back never to behold them more so as to charge them upon his pardoned people And thus you see what the pardon of sin is what the price that purchaseth pardon is and what riches of grace God manifesteth in the remission of Believers sins which were the things to be explained and opened in the Doctrinal part The improvement of the whole you will have in the following Uses Inference 1. If this be so that all Believers and none but Believers receive Inference 1. the remission of their sins through the riches of grace by the blood of Christ What a happy condition then are Believers in Those that never felt the load of sin may make light of a pardon but so cannot you that have been in the deeps of trouble and fear about it those that have been upon the rack of an accusing and condemning Conscience as David Heman and many of the Saints have been can never sufficiently value a pardon Blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven whose sin is covered blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity Psal. 32. 1 2. or O the blessednesses and felicities of the pardoned man as the Hebrew sounds Remission cannot but appear the wonder of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 mercies if we consider through what difficulties the grace of God makes way for it to our souls what strong bars the love of God breaks asunder to open our way to this priviledge for there can be no pardon without a Mediator no other Mediator but the Son of God the Son of God cannot discharge our debts but by taking them upon himself as our surety and making full payment by bearing the wrath of God for us and when all this is done there can be no actual pardon except the spirit of grace open our blind eyes break our hard hearts and draw them to Christ in the way of believing And as the mercy of remission comes to us through wonderful difficulties so it is in it self a compleat and perfect mercy God would not be at such vast expence of the riches of his grace Christ would not lay out the invaluable treasures of his precious blood to procure a cheap and common blessing for us Rejoyce then ye pardoned souls God hath done great things for you for which you have cause to be glad Inference 2. Hence it follows That interest in Christ by faith brings the Inference 2. Conscience of a Believer into a state of rest and peace Rom. 5. 1. Being justified by faith we have peace with God I say not that every Believer is presently brought into actual peace and tranquillity of Conscience there may be many fears and much trouble even in a pardoned soul but this is an undoubted truth that faith brings the pardoned soul into that condition and state where he may find perfect rest in his Conscience with respect to the guilt and danger of sin The blood of Christ sprinkles us from an evil that is an accusing condemning Conscience We are apt to fear that this or that special sin which hath most terrified and affrighted our Consciences is not forgiven but if there be riches enough in the grace of God and efficacy enough in the blood of Christ then the sins of Believers all their sins great as well as small one as well as another without limitation or exception are pardoned For let us but consider if God remits no sin to any man but with respect to the blood of Christ then all sins are pardoned as well as any one sin because the dignity and desert of that blood is infinite and as much deserves an universal pardon for all sins as the particular pardon of any even the least sin Moreover remission is an act of Gods Fatherly love in Christ and if it be so then certainly no sin of any Believer can be retained or excluded from pardon for then the same soul should be in the favour of God so far as it is pardoned and out of the favour of God so far as it is unpardoned and all this at one and the same instant of time which is a thing both repugnant to it self and to the whole stream of the Gospel To Conclude what is the design and end of remission but the saving of the pardoned soul But if any sin be retained or excluded from pardon the retaining of that sin must needs irritate and void the pardon of all other sins and so the acts of God must cross and contradict each other and the design and end of God miscarry and be lost which can never be So then we conclude faith brings the believing soul into a state of rest and peace Inference 3. Hence it also follows That no remission is to be expected by any Inference 3. soul without interest by faith in Jesus Christ no Christ no pardon no faith no Christ. Yet how apt are many poor deluded souls to expect pardon in that way where never any soul yet did or ever can meet it Some look for pardon from the absolute mercy of God without any regard to the blood of Christ or their interest therein we have sinned but God is merciful Some expect remission of sin by vertue of their own duties not Christs merits I have sinned but I will repent restore reform and God will pardon but little do such men know how they therein diminish the evil of sin undervalue the justice of God slight the blood of Christ and put an undoing cheat upon their own souls for-ever to expect pardon from absolute mercy or our own duties is to knock at the wrong dore which God hath shut up to all the world Rom. 3. 20. Whilst these two principles abide firm that the price of pardon is only in the blood of Christ and the benefit of pardon only by the application of his blood to us this must remain a sure conclusion that no remission is to be expected by any soul without interest by faith in Jesus Christ. Repentance restitution and reformation are excellent duties in their kind and in their proper places but they were never meant for saviours or satisfactions to God for sin Inference 4. If the riches of grace be thus manifested in the pardon of sin Inference 4. how vile an abuse is it of the grace of God to take the more liberty to sin because grace abounds in the pardon of it Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound God forbid Rom. 6. 1 2. Will no cheaper stuff than the grace of God serve to make a cloak for sin O vile abuse of the most excellent thing in the whole world did Christ shed his blood to expiate our guilt and dare we make that a plea to extenuate our guilt God forbid If it be intolerable ingratitude among men to requite good with evil sure that sin must want a name bad enough to express it which puts the greatest
and the validity of our claim to Jesus Christ. In pursuance of which design I shall first lay down some general rules and then propose some particular tryals First I shall lay down some general rules for the due information of our minds in this point upon which so great a weight hangs Rule 1. Though the Spirit of God be given to us and worketh in us yet he worketh not as a natural and necessary but as a free and arbitrary agent he neither assists nor sanctifies as the fire burneth ad ultimum sui posse as much as he can assist or sanctifie but as much as he pleaseth Dividing to every man severally as he will 1 Cor. 12. 11. bestowing greater measures of gifts and graces upon some than upon others and assisting the same person more at one season than another and all this variety of operation floweth from his own good pleasure his grace is his own he may give it as he pleaseth Rule 2. There is a great difference in the manner of the spirits working before and after the work of regeneration whilest we are unregenerate he works upon us as upon dead Creatures that work not at all with him and what motion there is in our souls is a counter-motion to the spirit but after regeneration it is not so he then works upon a complying and willing mind we work and he assists Rom. 8. 26. our conscience witnesseth and he beareth witness with it Rom. 8. 16. It is therefore an Errour of dangerous consequence to think that sanctified persons are not bound to stir or strive in the way of duty without a sensible impulse or preventing motion of the spirit Isa. 64. 7. Rule 3. Though the Spirit of God be given to believers and workâ—…th in them yet believers themselves may do or omit such things as may obsâ—…ruct the working and obscure the very being of the spirit of God in them ita nos tractat ut à nobis tractatur he dealeth with us in his evidencing and comforting work as we deal with him in point of tenderness and obedience to his dictates there is a grieving yea there is a quenching of the Spirit by the lusts and corruptions of those hearts in which he dwelleth and though he will not forsake his habitation as a spirit of sanctification yet he may for a time desert it as a spirit of consolation Psal. 51. 11. Rule 4. Those things which discover the indwelling of the Spirit in believers are not so much the matter of their duties or substance of their actions as the more secret springs holy aims and spiritual manner of their doing or performing of them 't is not so much the matter of a prayer the neat and orderly expressions in which it is uttered as the inward sense and spiritual design of the soul 't is not the choice of elegant words whereby our conceptions are cloathed or the copiousness of the matter with which we are furnished for even a poor stammering tongue and broken language may have more of the spirit of God in it This made Luther say he saw more excellency in the duty of a plain rustick Christian than in all the Triumphs of Casar and Alexander the beauty and excellency of spiritual duties is an inward hidden thing Rule 5. All the motions and operations of the spirit are alwayes harmonical and suitable to the written word Isa. 8. 20. To the Law and to the Testimony if they speak not according to this word it is because there is no light in them The Scriptures are by the inspiration of the spirit therefore his inspirations into the hearts of believers must either substantially agree with the Scriptures or the inspirations of the spirit be self-repugnant and contradictory to one another It is very observable that the works of grace wrought by the spirit in the hearts of believers are represented to us in Scripture as a transcript or copy of the written word Jer. 31. 33. I will write my Law in their hearts Now as a true copy answers the original word for word letter for letter point for point so do the works of the spirit in our souls harmonize with the dictates of the spirit in the Scriptures whatsoever motion therefore shall be found repugnant thereunto must not be fathered upon the spirit of God but laid at the door of its proper parents the spirit of errour and corrupt nature Rule 6. Although the works of the spirit in all sanctified persons do substantially agree both with the written word and with one another as ten thousand copies penned from one original must needs agree within themselves yet as to the manner of infusion and operation there are found many circumstantial differences the spirit of God doth not hold one and the same method of working upon all hearts the work of grace is introduced into some souls with more terrour and trouble for sin than it is in others he wrought upon Paul one way upon Lydia in another way he holds some much longer under terrours and troubles than he doth others inveterate and more prophane sinners find stronger troubles for sin and are held longer under them than those are into whose hearts grace is more early and insensibly infused by the spirits blessing upon religious education but as these have less trouble than the others at first so commonly they have less clearness and more doubts and fears about the work of the spirit afterwards Rule 7. There is a great difference found betwixt the sanctifying and the comforting influences of the spirit upon believers in respect of constancy and permanency his sanctifying influences abide for ever in the soul they never depart but his comforting influences come and go and abide not long upon the hearts of believers Sanctification belongs to the being of a Christian Consolation only to his well being the first therefore is fixed and abiding the later various and inconstant Sanctification brings us to Heaven hereafter consolation brings Heaven into us here our safety lyes in the former our cheerfulness only in the latter There are times and seasons in the lives of believers wherein the spirit of God doth more signally and eminently seal their spirits and ravish their hearts with Joy Rara hora brevis mora sapit quidem suavissime sed gustatur rarissime Bern. unspeakable but what Bernard speaketh is certainly true in the experience of Christians It is a sweet hour and it is but an hour a thing of short continuance the relish of it is exceeding sweet but it is not often that Christians taste it And so much may suffice for the general rules about the in-being and workings of the spirit in believers for the better information of our understandings and prevention of mistakes in this matter I shall next according to promise lay down the particular marks and tryals by which we may discern whether God hath given us his spirit or no by which grown Christians when they are in a due composed
frame may by the assistance of the spirit of God for which therefore they are bound to pray discern his indwelling and working in themselves Evidence 1. In whomsoever the spirit of Christ is a spirit of sanctification to that man or woman he hath been more or less a spirit of conviction and humiliation this is the order which the spirit constantly observes in adult or grown converts Joh. 16. 8 9. and when he is come he will reprove the world of sin and of righteousness and of Judgement of sin because they believed not on me This you see is the method he observes all the world over he shall reprove or convince the world of sin Conviction of sin hath the same respect unto sanctification as the blossoms of trees have to the fruits that follow them a blossom is but fructus imperfectus ordinabilis an imperfect fruit in it self and in order to a more perfect and noble fruit where there are no blossoms we can expect no fruit and where we see no convictions of sin we can expect no conversion to Christ. Hath then the spirit of God been a spirit of conviction to thee hath he more particularly convinced thee of sin because thou hast not believed on him i. e. hath he shewn thee thy sin and misery as an Unbeliever not only terrified and affrighted thy conscience with this or that more notorious act of sin but sully convinced thee of the state of sin that thou art in by reason of thy unbelief which holding thee from Christ must needs also hold thee under the guilt of all thy other sins This gives at least a strong probability that God hath given thee his spirit especially when this conviction remains day and night upon thy soul so that nothing but Christ can give it rest and consequently the great inquisition of thy soul is after Christ and none but Christ. Evidence 2. As the spirit of God hath been a convincing so he is a quickening spirit to all those to whom he is given Rom. 8. 2. The law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the Law of sin and death he is the spirit of life i. e. the principle of spiritual life in the souls whom he inhabiteth for uniting them to Christ he unites them to the fountain of life and this spiritual life in believers manifests it self as the natural life doth in vital actions and operations When the spirit of God comes into the soul of a man that was dead and senseless under sin O saith he now I begin to feel the weight and load of sin Rom. 7. 24. now I begin to hunger and thirst after Christ and his Ordinances 1 Pet. 2. 2. now I begin to breath after God in spiritual prayer Acts 9. 11. Spiritual life hath its spiritual senses and suitable operations O think upon this you that cannot feel any burthen in sin you that have no hungerings or thirstings after Christ how can the spirit of God be in you I do not deny but there may at some times be much deadness and senselesness upon the hearts of Christians but this is their disease not their nature it is but at some times not alwayes and when it is so with them they are burthened with it and complain oâ—… it as their greatest affliction in this world their spirits are not easie and at rest in such a condition as yours are their spirit is as a bone out of joint an Arm dislocated which cannot move any way without pain Evidence 3. Those to whom God giveth his spirit have a tender sympathy with all the interest and concernments of Christ this must needs be so if the same spirit which is in Christ dwelleth also in thy heart if thou be a partaker of his spirit then what he loves thou lovest and what he hateth thou hatest this is a very plain case even in nature it self we find that the many members of the same natural body being animated by one and the same spirit of life whether one member suffer all the members suffer with it or one member be honoured all the members rejoice with it now ye are the body of Christ and members in particular 1 Cor. 12. 26 27. For look as Christ the head of that body is touched with a tender sense and feeling of the miseries and troubles of his people he is persecuted when they are persecuted Acts 9. 4. so they that have the spirit of Christ in them cannot be without a deep and tender sense of the reproach and dishonours that are done to Christ this is as it were a sword in their bones Psal. 42. 3. If his publick worship cease the assemblies of his people scattered it cannot but go to the hearts of all in whom the spirit of Christ is they will be sorrowful for the solemn assemblies the reproach of them will be a burthen Zeph. 3. 18. Those that have the spirit of Christ do not more earnestly long after any one thing in this world than the advancement of Christs interest by conversion and reformation in the Kingdoms of the earth Psal. 45. 3 4. Paul could rejoice that Christ was Preached though his own afflictions were increased Phil. 1. 16. 18. and John could rejoice that Christ encreased though he himself decreased yet therein was his joy fulfilled Joh. 3. 29. so certainly the concernments of Christ must and will touch that heart which is the habitation of his spirit I cannot deny but even a good Baruch may be under a temptation to seek great things for himself and be too much swallowed up in his own concernments when God is plucking up and breaking down Jer. 45. 4 5. but this is only the influence of a temptation the true temper and spirit of a believer inclines him to sorrow and mourning when things are in this sad posture Ezech. 9. 4. Go through the midst of the City through the midst of Jerusalem and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof O Reader lay thine hand upon thine heart is it thus with thee dost thou sympathize with the affairs and concernments of Christ in the world or carest thou not which way things go with the people of God and Gospel of Christ so long as thine own affairs prosper and all things are well with thee Evidence 4. Where ever the spirit of God dwelleth he doth in some degree mortifie and subdue the evils and corruptions of the soul in which he resides this spirit lusteth against the flesh Gal. 5. 17. and believers through the spirit do mortifie the deeds of the body Rom. 8. 13. this is one special part of his sanctifying work I do not say he so kills and subdues sin in believers as that it shall never trouble or defile them any more no no that freedom belongs to the perfect state in heaven but its dominion is taken away though its
nature but is a pure work of creation The heathen Philosophers could neither understand nor acknowledge the creation of the world because that notion was repugnant to this maxime of reason ex nihilo nihil fit out of nothing nothing can be made thus did they insanire cum ratione befool themselves with their own reasonings and after the same manner some great pretenders to reason among us voting it an absurdity to affirm that the work of grace is not virtually and potentially contained in nature the new Creation in the old Fourthly It was the vertue and efficacy of the spirit of God which gave the natural world its being by Creation Gen. 1. 2. the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters it hovered over the chaos as the wings of a bird do over her eggs as the same word is rendred Deut. 32. 11. cherishing as it were by incubation that rude mass by a secret quickening influence by which it drew all the Creatures into their several forms and particular natures So it is in the new Creation a quickning influence must come from the spirit of God or else the new creature can never be formed in us Joh. 3. 8. So is every one that is born of the Spirit and ver 6. that which is born of the spirit is spirit Fifthly The word of God was the instrument of the first creation Psal. 33. 6 9. By the word of the Lord were the Heavens made and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth for he spake and it was done he commanded and it stood fast the word of God is also the instrument of the new Creation or work of Grace in man 1 Pet. 1. 23. Being born again not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible by the word of God which liveth and abideth for ever So James 1. 18. Of his own will beg at he us with the word of truth of his own will that was the impulsive cause with the word of truth that is the instrumental cause great respect and honour love and delight is due to the word upon this account that it is the instrument of our regeneration or new Creation Sixthly The same power which created the world still under-props and supports it in its being the world owes its conservation as well as its existence to the power of God without which it could not subsist one moment Just so it is with the new Creation which entirely depends upon the preserving power which first formed it Jude ver 1. Preserved in Christ Jesus and 1 Pet. 1. 5. Who were kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation as in a natural way we live move and have our being in God Acts 17. 28. so in a spiritual way we continue believing repenting loving and delighting in God without whose continued influence upon our souls we could do neither Seventhly In a word God surveyed the first Creation with complacence and great delight he beheld the work of his hands and approved them as very good Gen. 1. 31. so is it also in the second creation nothing pleaseth and delights God more than the works of grace in the souls of his people it is not any outward priviledge of nature or gift of Providence which commends any man to God circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing but a new creature Gal. 6. 15. And thus you see upon what grounds the work of regeneration in man is stiled a new Creature which was the first thing to be opened Secondly Next we must enquire in what respects every soul that is in Christ is renewed or made a new Creature 2. and here we shall find a threefold renovation of every man that is in Christ viz. He is renewed 1. In his state and Condition 2. In his frame and Constitution 3. In his practice and Conversation First He is renewed in his state and condition for he passeth from death to life in his Justification 1 Joh. 3. 14. he was condemned by the Law he is now Justified freely by grace through the redemption which is in Christ he was under the curse of the first Covenant he is under the blessing of the new Covenant he was afar off but is now made nigh unto God an alien a stranger once now of the houshold of God Eph. 2. 12 13. O blessed change from a sad to a sweet and comfortable condition There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus Rom. 8. 1. Secondly Every man in Christ is renewed in his frame and constitution all the faculties and affections of his soul are renewed by regeneration his understanding was dark but now is light in the Lord Eph. 5. 8. his conscience was dead and secure or full of guilt and horrour but is now become tender watchful and full of peace Heb. 9. 14. his will was rebellious stubborn and inflexible but is now made obedient and complying with the will of God Psal. 110. 2. his desires did once pant and spend themselves in the pursuit of vanities now they are set upon God Isa. 26. 8. his Love did fondly dote upon ensnaring earthly objects now it is swallowed up in the infinite excellencies of God and Christ Psal. 119. 97. his joy was once in trifles and things of nought now his rejoycing is in Christ Jesus Phil. 3. 3. his fears once were versant about noxious creatures now God is the object of the fear of reverence Act. 9. 31. and sin the object of the fear of caution 2 Cor. 7. 11. his hopes and expectations were only from the world present but now from that to come Heb. 6. 19. Thus the soul in its faculties and affections is renewed which being done the members and senses of the body must needs be destinated and imployed by it in new services no more to be the weapons of unrighteousness but instruments of service to Jesus Christ Rom. 6. 19. and thus all that are in Christ are renewed in their frame and constitution Thirdly The man in Christ is renewed in his practice and Conversation the manner of operation alwayes follows the nature of beings now the regenerate not being what they were cannot walk and act as once they did Eph. 2. 1 2 3. And you hath he quickned who were once dead in trespasses and sins wherein ye walked according to the course of this world c. they were carryed away like water by the strength of the tyde by the influence of their own corrupt natures and the customes and examples of the world but the case is now altered So in 1 Cor. 6. 11. the Apostle shews believers their old companions in sin and tells them such were some of you but ye are washed but ye are sanctified c. q. d. the world is now well altered with you thanks be to the grace of God for it This wonderful change of practice which is so universal and remarkable in all the regenerate and immediately consequent to their conversion sets
the world a wondring at them 1 Pet. 4. 4. Wherein they think it strange that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Obstupescent ut ad rei inusitatae spectaculum Beza Ils se trouvent tous nouveaux comme en 〈◊〉 autre monde you run not with them to the same excess of riot speaking evil of you they think it strange the word signifies to stand at gaze as the hen doth which hath brooded and hatched Partridge Eggs when she seeth the Chickens which she hath brought forth take the wing and fly away from her thus do the men of the world stand amazed to see their old companions in sin whose language once was vain and earthly it may be prophane and filthy now to be praying speaking of God Heaven and things spiritual having no more to do with them as to sin except by way of reprehension and admonition this amazes the world and makes them look with a strange admiring eye upon the people of God Thirdly In the next place let us enquire into the properties 3. and qualities of this new creature and shew you as we are able what they are yet Reader expect not here an exact and accurate account of that which is so great a mystery for if questions may be moved about a silly fly which may puzzle the greatest Philosopher to resolve them how much more may we conceive this great and marvellous work of God the most mysterious and admirable of all his works to surmount the understandings of the most illuminated Christians O how little do we know of the nature properties and operations of this new Creature so far as God hath revealed it to our weak understandings we may speak of it And First The Scripture speaks of it as a thing of great difficulty to be conceived by man Joh. 3. 8. The wind bloweth where it listeth and thou hearest the sound thereof but canst not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth so is every one that is born of the spirit The original of winds is a question of great difficulty in Philosophy we hear the voice of the wind feel its mighty force and behold its strange effects but neither know whence it comes or whither it goes ask a man Do you hear the wind blow yes do you feel it blow yes very sensibly do you see the effects of it rending and overturning the trees yes very plainly but can you describe its nature or declare its original no that is a mystery which I do not understand why fo Just so it is with him that is born of the spirit the holy spirit of God whose nature and operations we understand but little of comes from heaven quickens and influences our souls beats down and mortifies our lusts by his almighty power these effects of the spirit in us we experimentally feel and sensibly discern but how the spirit of God first entred into and quickned our souls and produced this new creature in them we understand little more of it than how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with Child Eccles. 11. 5. Therefore is the life of the new creature called a hidden life Col. 3. 3. the nature of that life is not only hidden totally from all carnal men but in a very great measure it is an hidden and unknown life unto spiritual men though themselves be the subjects of it Secondly But though this life of the new Creature be a great mystery and secret in some respects yet so far as it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 â—…ppears unto us the new creature is the most 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lovely creature that ever God made for the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 himself is upon it the new man is created 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 24. as the picture is drawn after the man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God himself delineated by the spirit that admirable Artist upon the soul of man holiness is the beauty and glory of God and in holiness the new creature is created after Gods own image Col. 3. 10. the regenerate soul hereby becomes holy 1 Joh. 3. 3. not essentially holy as God is nor yet efficiently holy for the regenerate soul can neither make it self nor others holy but the life of the new creature may be said to resemble the life of God in this that as God lives to himself so the new creature wholly lives to God as God loves holiness and hates the contrary so doth the new creature 't is in these things formed after the image of him that created it when God creates this creature in the soul of man we are said then to be partakers of the divine nature 2 Pet. 1. 4. so that there can be nothing communicated unto men which beautifies and adorns their souls as this new creation doth men do not resemble God as they are noble and as they are rich but as they are holy no gift no endowment of nature imbelishes the soul as this new creature doth an awful Majesty sits upon the brow of the new creature commanding the greatest and worst of men to do homage to it Mark 6. 20. yea such is the beauty of the new creature that Christ its Author is also its admirer Cant. 4. 9. Thou hast ravished mine heart with one of thine eyes Thirdly This New Creature is created in man upon the highest design that ever any work of God was wrought the end of its creation and infusion is high and noble Salvation to the soul in which it is wrought this is both the finis operis and the finis operantis it is the design both of the work and of the workman that wrought it when we receive the end of our faith we receive the salvation of our souls Salvation is the end faith as death is the end of sin so life eternal is the end of grace The new creature doth by the instinct and steady direction of its own nature take its course as directly to God and to heaven the place of his full enjoyment as the Rivers do to the Ocean it declares it self to be made for God by its restless workings after him and as salvation is the end of the new creature so it is the express design and end of him that created it 2 Cor. 5. 5. Now he that hath wrought us for the self same thing is God by this workmanship of his upon our souls he is now polishing preparing and making them meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in light Col. 1. 12. Fourthly The new Creation is the most necessary work that ever God wrought upon the soul of man the eternal well-being of his soul depends upon it and without it no man shall see God Heb. 12. 14. and Joh. 1. 3 5. Except ye be regenerate and born again ye cannot see the Kingdom of God can you be saved without Christ you know you cannot can you have interest in Christ without the new creature my Text expressly tells you it can never be for if any man
be in Christ he is a new creature O Reader what ever slight thoughts of this matter and with what a careless and unconcerned eye soever thou readest these lines yet know thou must either be a new creature or a miserable and damned creature for ever If civility without the new creature could save thee why are not the moral Heathens saved also if strictness of life without the new creature could save thee why did it not save the Scribes and Pharisees also if an high profession of Religion without the new creature can save thee why did it not save Judas Hymeneus and Philetus also Nothing is more evident than this that no repentance obedience self-denyal prayers tears reformations or ordinances without the new creation avail any thing to the salvation of thy soul the very blood of Christ himself without the new creature never did and never will save any man Oh how necessary a work is the new creation circumcision avails nothing and uncircumcision nothing but a new creature Fifthly The new Creature is a marvellous and wonderful creature there are many wonders in the first creation the works of the Lord are great sought out of all them that have pleasure therein Psal. 111. 2. but there are no wonders in nature like those in grace is it not the greatest wonder that ever was seen in the world except the incarnation of the Son of God to see the nature and temper of man so altered and changed as it is by grace to see Lascivious Corinthians and Idolatrous Ephesians become mortified and Heavenly Christians to see a fierce and cruel persecutor become a glorious confessor and sufferer for Christ Gal. 1. 23. to see the carnal-mind of man which was lately fully set in a strong bent to the world to be wholly taken off from its lusts and set upon things that are spiritual and heavenly certainly it was not a greater miracle to see dead Lazarus come out of his Sepulchre than it is to see the dead and carnal mind coming out of its Lusts to embrace Jesus Christ. It was not a greater wonder to see the dead dry bones in the vally to move and come together than it is to see a dead soul moving after God and moving to Christ in the way of faith Sixthly The new creature is an immortal creature a creature that shall never see death Joh. 4. 14. it is in the soul of man a well of water springing up into eternal life I will not adventure to say it is immortal in its own nature for it is but a creature as my Text calls it and we know that essential interminability is the incommunicable property of God the new creature hath both a beginning and succession and therefore might also have an end as to any thing in it self or its own nature experience also shews us that it is capable both of increasing and decreasing and may be brought nigh unto death Rev. 3. 2. the works of the spirit in believers may be ready to dye but though its perpetuity flow not out of its own nature it flows out of Gods Covenant and promises which make it an immortal Creature when all other excellencies in man go away as at death they will Job 4. 21. this excellency only remains our gifts may leave us our friends leave us our estates leave us but our graces will never leave us they ascend with the soul in which they inhere into glory when the stroke of death separates it from the body Seventhly The new Creature is an heavenly creature 't is not born of flesh nor of blood or of the will of man but of God Joh. 1. 13. its descent and original is heavenly it is spirit born of spirit Joh. 3. 6. its center is heaven and thither are all its tendencies Psal. 63. 8. its proper food on which it lives are heavenly things Psal. 4. 6 7. it cannot feed as other creatures do upon earthly things the object of all its delights and loves is in heaven Psal. 73. 26. Whom have I in heaven but thee the hopes and expectations of the new creature are all from heaven it looks for little in this world but waits for the coming of the Lord the life of the new creature upon earth is a life of patient waiting for Christ his desires and longings are after Heaven Phil. 1. 23. The flesh indeed lingers and would delay but the new creature hastens and would fain be gone 2 Cor. 5. 2. it is not at home while it is here it came from Heaven and cannot be quiet nor suffer the soul in which it dwells to be so until it comes thither again Eighthly The new creature is an active and laborious creature no sooner it is born but it is acting in the soul Acts 9. 6. behold he prayeth activity is its very nature Gal. 5. 25. If we live in the spirit let us walk in the spirit Nor is it to be admired that it should be always active and stirring in the soul seeing activity in obedience was the very end for which it was created for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works Eph. 2. 10. and he that is acted in the duties of Religion by this principle of the new creature or nature will so far as that principle acts him delight to do the will of God rejoice in the way of his Commandments and find the sweetest pleasure in the paths of duty Ninthly The new creature is a thriving creature growing from strength to strength 1 Pet. 2. 2. and changing the soul in which it is subjected from glory unto glory 2 Cor. 3. 18. The vigorous tendencies and constant strivings of this new creature is to attain its just perfection and maturity Phil. 3. 11. it can endure no stints and limits to its desires short of perfection every degree of strength it attains doth but whet and sharpen his desires after higher degrees upon this account it greatly delights in the Ordinances of God Duties of Religion and Society of the Saints as they are helps and improvements to it in order to its great design Tenthly The new creature is a creature of wonderful preservations there are many wonders of divine providences in Gratia nec totaliter intermittitur nec finaliter amittitur actus omittitur habitus non amittitur actio pervertitur fides noâ—… sâ—…bvertitur concutitur non excutitur deflâ—…it fructus latâ—… succus effectus justificationis suspenditur at â—…tus justificati non dissolvitur Suffrag Brit. the preservation of our natural lives but none like those whereby the life of the new creature is preserved in our souls there are critical times of temptation and desertion in which it is ready to dye Rev. 3. 2. the degrees of its strength and liveliness are sometimes sadly abated and 〈◊〉 sweet and comfortable workings intermitted Rev. 2. 4. the evidences by which its being in us was wont to be discovered may be and often are darkned 2 Pet. 1. 9.
p. 385 Believers their general assembly p. 338 Believers undergo two changes p. 335 Believers have Christ for their Altar p. 316 Believers should have a free spirit p. 332 Believers in what manner brought to God p. 338 Bodies of sinners how smitten by death p. 536 Blindness of mind what it is p. 569 Blindness-spiritual what it includes p. 571 Blindness-spiritual what it excludes p. 570 Blindness of mind evidenced six ways p. 574 Blinding artifices of Satan what ibid. Burdensom nature of sin opened p. 185 Burden of sin why it must be felt p. 191 C. CAre of Christians over Christs honour p. 28â—… Carnal relations admonished p. 85 Charity to Saints strongly urged p. 37 38 Causes of spiritual life twofold p. 532 Christ transcendent in holiness p. 500 Christians no troublers of the world p. 476 Christ outbids all other offerers p. 74 Christ the mercy of mercies p. 234 Christ eight things in him attractive p. 154 Christ communicates all blessings to us p. 172 Christ makes hast in extremity p. 191 Christs burden exceeding heavy p. 185 Christ the only Physician p. 217 Christ qualified as foretold p. 240 Christ comprehensive of all that 's lovely p. 250. Christ an incomparable friend p. 257 Christ the desire of all Nations and how p. 264 Christ the Lord of Glory p. 277 Christs glory twofold p. 278 Christ the only comfort of Saints p. 290 Christ should be precious to Saints p. 319 Christians why void of comfort p. 293 Circumspection how necessary p. 588 Civility no evidence of grace p. 449 Companions in sin to be abandoned p. 384 Communion with Christ twofold p. 166 Communion with Christ in what it consists p. 167 Communion with Christ a great mysterie p. 173 Communion with Christ admirable p. 174 Communion with Saints how pleasant p. 179 Compassion due to the distressed p. 186 Coming to Christ what it includes p. 193 Communion with God kills sin p. 484 Conviction precedaneous to faith p. 147 Contentation of Christ in a low estate p. 513 Condemnation twofold p. 542 Content pressed upon Converts p. 23 Conversion introductive to all mercies p. 19 Condescension of God in the Gospel p. 50 Conversion how illustrated p. 76 Consent included in faith p. 120 Consolation what it is p. 288 Consolation three kinds thereof ibid. Consolation three ingredienâ—…s thereof p. 289 Contempts of the world contemned p. 318 Conviction the first work of the Spirit p. 414 Congruity of divine drawings with the will of man p. 72 Concomitants of faith what they are p. 150 Conversion its stupendious effects p. 86 Conscience the offices thereof p. 186 Conscience benummed how sad p. 189 Complaints to men fruitless ibid. Confidence without ground what p. 349. Converts exhorted to praise p. 371 Corruption of nature discovered p. 8â—… D. DAmned their dreadful state opened p. 187 Danger of refusing Christ. p. 156 Damnation how aggravated p. 354 Danger of false confidence ibid. Death and deadness how differenced p. 422 Degrees of faith the least precious p. 142 Despair in our selves necessary p. 147 Despair not of carnal relations p. 87 Death how made sweet p. 43 Death on what account dreadful p. 189 Death of Christ its design and end p. 336 Deliverance from sin what a mercy p. 380 Decrees of God how executed p. 409 Delight in God eminent in Christ. p. 509 Death spiritual what it is p. 530 Dignity of Saints whence inferred p. 36 Discourses of Heaven sweet in the way p. 343 Difficulty of faith discovered p. 137 Diseases of the soul what they are p. 217 Directions about faith six p. 159 Directions to inflame desires p. 273 Discouragements in godliness unreasonable p. 387 Divine authority of Scriptures p. 364 Dominion of sin cured by Christ. p. 219 Dominion of sin destroyed in Saints p. 327 Dominion of sin wherein it consists p. 461 Drawings of God what they are p. 71 Drawings of God opened five ways p. 73 Duties no evidences of grace p. 450 Desires after Christ examined p. 270 Desires after Christ include blessings ibid. Dejections of Saints groundless p. 344 E. EFficacy of the Gospel how great p. 358 Efficacy of preaching whence it is p. 55 End of the new Creature twofold p. 435 English preaching its encomium p. 560 Embryo's spiritual what they are p. 370 Enjoyment of God mans chief good p. 337 Enemies to souls who are so p. 355 Engagements to obedience what p. 561 Engage not sin in our own strength p. 486 Esteem nothing lovely but Christ. p. 259 Eyes opened two ways p. 585 Evidences of spiritual death p. 531 Evidences of persons unreconciled p. 61 Evidences of carnal security p. 350 Evidences of the power of the word p. 359 Evidences of the Spirit in us p. 415 Evidences of mortification p. 469 492 Extent of Christs Kingdom large p. 265 Expectations of wrath terrible p. 187 Examples motives to faith p. 198 Expectation implied in faith p. 195 Experiences of others relieving p. 190 Examples useful in mortification p. 491 Examples of the world not to be imitated p. 587 F. FAith its subject act and enemies p. 79 Faith considered two ways p. 128 Faith whether in two faculties p. 120 Faith its encomium above other graces p. 129 Faith justifies not as a work p. 132 Faith justifies as an applying instrument p. 133. Faith precious in the least degree p. 144 Faith of Papists an absurd faith p. 145 Faith its Antecedents Concomitants and Consequents p. 146 Faith is not the souls rest p. 207 Faith how great a mercy to men p. 546 Faith its instrumentality in mortification p. 483 Fall of Adam how aggravated p. 51 False joy the only joy of carnal men p. 350 False joy twofold p. 351 Fears of death how cured p. 209 Fellowship with Christ our dignity p. 163. Fellowship with Christ not natural p. 171 Fellowship of Saints advantageous p. 478 Filth of sin what and how removed p. 208 Folly of self-righteousness p. 226 Following Christ the Saints duty p. 344 Free-grace and full satisfaction consistent p. 53. Freedom from the rigour of the Law p. 326 Freedom from guilt what a priviledge ibid. Freedom from the first Covenant p. 409 Frustration of the Gospel how p. 354 Fulness of Christs saving power p. 383 G. GEnerality of men in the way to Hell p. 3â—…6 Gifts of the Spirit twofold p. 407 Gifts no evidences of Grace p. 450 Glory of the Saints will be very great p. 282 Gospels strange success whence is is p. 396 Gospel an invaluable mercy p. 365 Gospel why so unsuccessful p. 355 Gospel Embassy what it implies p. 47 48 Gospel why ineffectual to men p. 87 Gospels scope to bring men to believe p. 131 Gospel its power to awaken men p. 360 Gospel its enlightning efficacy ibid. Gospel its wounding power p. 361 Gospel how it turns the heart ibid. Gospel its power not in it self p. 362 Gospel efficacy not in the instrument ibid. Gospel in every part presses mortification p. 466 Gospel