praise and the glory of his happy change saying Not unto us not unto us but unto thy name be the praise and the glory of this great work Quest. Doth Regeneration admit any degrees Answ. Yes verily For Regeneration may be considered in the beginning and progress of it or in the consummation and perfection of it It is begun and increaseth in this life it is consummate and perfect in the life to come In this life there is spirit mixed with flesh that is grace with some corruption of nature as is evident by the Apostles complaint in these words When I would do good evil is present with me For I delight in the Law of God after the inward man But I see another law in my members warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my mâ—mbers So that sin and corruption doth remain in all the regenerate as long as their souls remain in their mortal bodies it remains though it doth not raign in them It is in this life cast down but not cast out And this God in great wisdom is pleased to permit to keep us humble and low in our selves and to drive us unto Jesus Christ that as long as this flux of blood runneth we should alwayes be desirous to touch at least the hem of his garment But at death that corruption will be utterly consumed and body and soul clean freed from it insomuch as at the resurrection when body and soul shall be again united the regeneration begun in this World will be manifested to be most perfect Whereas in this life the most regenerate are imperfect through the Reliques of sin and remainder of corruption which will abide in them so long as they abide and continue in this World Now seeing the work of Regeneration is imperfect in the very best here in this life and that there remains flesh and corruption in them so long as they remain in this World Do not thou look too high I mean after a greater measure and degree of grace than here is to be had Many there are who being regenerate by the spirit of God and so brought out of the state of nature into the state of grace presently look for a freedom from all sin and corruption which because they find working and stirring in them thereupon question the work of Regeneration and truth of grace in their souls But let such know that they look for more than here is to be found or than God expects from them For God doth not expect or require of us here freedom from sin and corruption but that we should endeavour to subdue and mortifie it more and more according to the measure of grace and strength which we have received from him He doth not require of us that we be without sin but that sin do not rule nor raign in our mortal bodies according to that of the Apostle Let not sin raign in your mortal bodies Neither doth the Lord require of us exact and perfect righteousness which is impossible to our corrupt nature but only that we strive and labour after it that we sincerely endeavour to serve him after the directions of his Word And that for our failings and imperfections we do in an humble confession bewail the same and then beg the pardon and forgiveness of them in and through the merits of Jesus Christ. And this God will accept of for he esteemeth more of our affections than of our actions and accepteth the will for the deed according to that of the Apostle If there be a willing mind it is accepted according to that a man hath and not according to that he hath not CHAP. IV. Of the Parts of Regeneration and Causes concurring thereunto HAving shewed you what regeneration is and how it doth admit degrees I shall shew you the Parts of Regeneration which are two 1. Mortification 2. Vivification Mortification is implyed under the phrases of casting off and crucifying the old man and destroying the body of sin This is a duty expresly enjoyned in these words mortifie your members which are upon the earth By members on the earth he meaneth all sorts of lusts and sins whereunto a natural man is given as is evident by the particular instances which he himself reckoneth up in the words following as fornication uncleanness c. These must be mortified that is put to death It is not enough to curb and hold in sin but the life of it must be let out And indeed it is not possible to put on the new man till the old man be cast off Therefore there is a necessity of mortification first before vivification For the bringing in of one form presupposeth the putting out or destroying of the other Wherefore after Mortification followeth Vivification 2. Vivification is the begetting of the life of grace in us whence we live in holiness and righteousness It is set forth in Scripture by Gods quickning us and by our walking in newness of life Vivification then implyeth a new spiritual life which God by his spirit worketh in us which is clean contrary to our former natural corrupt course of life For the effects of this life are holiness and righteousness and all manner of good works Now it is absolutely necessary that this part of regeneration namely Vivification be added to Mortification which is the other part even as necessary as that Christ being dead should be raised Where had been the benefit of Christs death if he had not risen from the dead And what can be imagined to be the profit of mortification without vivification It is therefore the accustomed course of Sacred Scripture to infer the following of holiness upon the flying of sin the doing of good upon eschewing of evil Now the things which God hath joyned together let no man put asunder Let us therefore prove our regeneration not only by ceasing from sin but following holiness and working righteousness Content not thy self to say I am not what I was unless thou canst also add I am what I was not It will be but little boot to thee to say I am no drunkard nor swearer nor covetous nor a walker after the flesh unless thou canst also say By the grace of God I now walk after the spirit in faith and love and holy obedience watchfull unto and endeavouring after a fruitfulness in every good work Thou art not unjust thou sayest but doest thou shew mercy Thou art no longer earthly but art thou heavenly minded Thou art no longer contentious or quarrelsome but art thou a peace-maker Thou hast no longer fellowship with the ungodly but art thou a familiar of the Saints Thou wilt not now curse or swear or lye or scoff but dost thou pray and bless Dost thou hear and read and meditate on God Dost thou study thine heart and govern thy thoughts and affections Dost thou bridle thy tongue set a watch
in any condition till you be renewed and sanctified by the spirit of God Aâ—as how many be there in the World who though in their natural and carnal estate yet live as securely and merrily as if their condition were as safe and good as the best Ask them one by one Whether the work of Regeneration be wrought in their souls and some will answer they hope it is others that they never doubted it though none of them know what Regeneration is nor ever minded any such thing And yet these men have not only read but do likewise believe the words of our Saviour who hath told them that except they be born again they cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven Ah sinner I beseech thee for the sake of thy precious and immortal soul to stir up in thy self an hearty desire and sincere endeavour after this blessed work As it is the one thing necessary to salvation so let it be the main thing of thy desire and endeavour There is nothing deserves precedency in thy thoughts aims and labours before this David resolved not to give sleep to his eyes nor slumber to his eye-lids till be found out an habitation for the Lord. The habitation which pleaseth God most is thine heart but it must be a renewed heart Oh how darest thou sleep a night in that house where God doth not dwell and he dwells not in thee unless thou beest Regenerated by his holy Spirit In the fear of God therefore see thou give no rest to thy soul no ease to thy mind till thou find a blessed change wrought in thee till thou findest thou art brought out of the state of nature into the state of grace Neither sit down satisfied in the enjoyment of any worldly comfort without the enjoyment of this mercy And indeed how canst thou live merrily or sleep quietly so long as thou livest in thine unregenerate estate in which if thou shouldest die thou wouldest perish for ever even to all Eternity Especially considering the uncertainty of thy life whether thou shalt live a day or an hour longer For the more profitable handling this Use I shall 1. Give you some Motives to quicken up your desires and endeavours after the work of Regeneration 2. Shew you the Means to be performed for the better artaining thereunto The Motives may be drawn to these three heads 1. The Excellency 2. The Utility 3. The Necessity of Regeneration I. For the first the Excellency thereof will appear from these four particulars 1. Regeneration doth enoble a man raise him up towards his Original perfection Man was made the noblest of all creatures in this visible World in the image and likeness of God Sin defaced the Image of God and stamped the Image of the Devil upon him A sinner is a man degenerated into a beast Man being in honour abideth not but is like the beasts that perish He lives like a beast and dies like a beast not knowing whither he goeth Every man is brutish in his knowledge He hath a brutish heart lives a brutish life By grace man comes to himself is raised up from a beast to a man again renewed after the Image of God The spirit of glory and of God shines forth in him There 's more of the glory of God seen in a Saint than in all the works of God under the Sun nay than in the glorious Sun in the Heavens The Sun Moon and Stars fall short of the glory of the new-creature 2. The Excellency of Regeneration appears in that it makes a man a true Christian. A man is not really a Christian because he hath been Baptized beareth the name and frequenteth the ordinances of Christ but because he is Regenerated by the Spirit of Christ and thereby translated out of a state of sin and death into a state of life and peace For as under the law he was not a Iew who was one outwardly being circumcised in the flesh But he was a Iew who was one inwardly being circumcised in his heart and spirit as the Apostle expresseth In like manner he is no true Christian who is only outwardly Baptized but he who is inwardly Baptized by the Spirit and whose heart is changed and renewed 3. The Excellency of this new birth appears in this that it is the beginning of eternal life and happiness even of the same life which we shall live hereafter in Heaven with the Saints and glorious Angels to all Eternity Grace here is not only an evidence of glory hereafter but it is the beginning of that glory which hereafter we shall more fully enjoy in Heaven Grace and glory differ only in degree for grace is glory begun here and glory is grace consummated and perfected hereafter Now considering that this is such an excellent state how doth it concern you as earnestly to desire so industriously to endeavour after it in the use of all means God hath sanctified II. Another Motive may be taken from the Utility of Regeneration If it be demanded What is the profit thereof we may answer 〈◊〉 the Apostle did of Circumcision Much every way For this is that Godliness which is profitable unto all things having promises of the life that now is and of that which is to come that is it hath Heaven and Earth entailed on it and therefore must needs be profitable The Regenerate therefore are called heirs of the Promises Such only have the true riches being rich in faith as the Apostle Iames calleth them As Laodicea was poor though abounding in outward fulness So these are truly rich though destitute of many outward things having an interest in God who is the fountain of all blessings How should the consideration hereof stir you up as earnestly to thirst so sincerely to endeavour after this blessed state III. Another Motive may be taken from the necessity of Regeneration It is absolutely necessary to Salvation It had been better for thee never to have been born than not to be born again It is as necessary as Heaven and happiness For saith our Saviour himself Except a man be born again he cannot see much less enter into the Kingdom of Heaven So that there is no hope of the Salvation of any unregenerate man or woman but if they live and die in that estate their portion will be death and damnation with the Devils and damned to all Eternity And in regard of the uncertainty of their lives they are not sure to be out of Hell one day longer Ah sinner What dost thou mean then to continue in thy carnal and unregenerate estate As sure as the word of God is true if thou dye therein thou art shut out of all hope of mercy for ever and shalt pass into easeless and endless misery In the fear of God therefore when thou risest up in the Morning consider with thy self that thou art uncertain of being out of Hell till the Evening And when thou lyest down consider
day do most perfectly Some have found by woful experience what an intollerable burden one sin is to the conscience when the Lord hath been pleased to set it home When Iudas had betrayed his Master and his conscience began to accuse him for the same it was such an intollerable burden to him that he was not able to stand under it but went and hanged himself Now if one sin proves so intollerable who then can stand under the weight of the many millions of sins which he hath committed in the whole course of his life especially when God shall set them all home together upon his conscience Ah sinner If the reading one leaf of this book was so dreadful to Iudas how dreadfull and terrible will it be to thee when thou shalt read not only one leaf but the whole book from the beginning to the end and therein see the millions of sins committed by thee whereof as thy whole life so thy whole book will be filled within and without and interlined with lamentation mourning and woe Ah in what a woful case will thy heart then be what horrour and astonishment will then possess thy soul when all thy lies and oaths all thy raylings and rotten speeches all thy filthy and unclean thoughts thy mispent time in Taverns and Ale-houses thy worldliness and covetousness the vanities and rebellions of thy whole life shall be brought to thy remembrance and at once charged upon thy graceless soul. 2. At the day of Iudgement there will be a discovery of thy sins to all the World For as the Apostle speaketh Hidden things shall on that day be brought to light They shall not only be called to remembrance by the sinner himself but likewise exposed to the view and censure of others There is no sin so secretly and closely committed but then shall be discovered to the view of all There is scarce a wicked man in the World though never so formal but he hath at some time or other committed some such sin in secret which he would not have others to know for all the World But know for certain that at the day of judgement all the World shall hear thereof For then all thy secret sins and close villanies shall be discovered and layd open before Angels Men and Devils thy secret Whoredomes and close Adulteries thy Pilfrings and stealings thy false Weights and Measures thy Hypocrisies and Dissemblings shall be discovered to the view of all and that to thine eternal shame and confusion And therefore the day of Judgement is called the day of revelation when many Murthers Thefts Adulteries and other abominations which come not to light here shall at that day be made known and discovered to the view of all The Husband shall then behold the Whoredomes of his Wife and the Wife the Adulteries of her Husband the Master the Pilferings of his Servant and the Servant the deceitfulness of his Master Yea then not only thy words and actions but also thy secret thoughts and imaginations how vain and wanton how filthy and abominable soever they have been shall appear to the view of all Never therefore adventure upon the committing of any sin in hope of secrecy because thou seemest safe from the eyes of men For suppose thy sin lyeth undiscovered unto the last and great day yet then shall it out with a witness and be made manifest to the view of all Q. If any shall ask how their sins shall be discovered to all the World at the last and great day A. 1. By their own confessions and complaints extorted from them by the power of God For then will they cry out in the bitterness of their souls with these or such like expressions Woe and alas that ever I slighted the manifold gracious invitations of Iesus Christ and preferred my base lusts and corruptions before him that I have opened the door of my heart to every sinful temptation but never would open it to let in Iesus Christ that I so often rejected the motions of Gods spirit stirring me up to turn from my sins unto God and hearkened more unto the solicitations of the Devil than to the motions of Gods spirit that I neglected the many opportunities and means of grace afforded unto me and trifled away my pretious time in vanity and pleasure yea sin and wickedness spending that time in the Ale-house and in following my sinful lusts and pleasures wherein I should have been praying in my closet or attending upon the Ministry of the Word or reading the Scriptures with other good books that I should preferâ— my Wordly business before the service of God that the World should have more of my heart and time than my maker and Redeemer 2. By the cryes and complaints of those whom they have wronged and oppressed Then Abels blood will cry out afresh against Cain and the hungry bellies of the poor will cry out against those hard-hearted rich worldlings who would not afford them the least comfort or relief And starved souls will then cry out against their ignorant scandalous Ministers for not giving them the bread of life The Wives and the Children of Gamesters Drunkards and Whore-masters being impoverished by their sins will then cry out against them for spending their small means in the satisfying their sinfull lusts The poor Tenants will then cry out against their covetous unmerciful Land-lords for raising and racking their rents to such an height as they could not earn their bread by all their care and labour 3. By the testimony of Gods spirit who will then come in as a witness against thee saying at such a time I shewed thee the evil of thy sins and how sad the issue of them would be and thereupon perswaded thee to turn from thy sins unto God but thou wouldst not at such a time I shewed thee thy misery without Christ and thy need of him how thou wouldst be undone for ever without an interest in Christ and how willing Christ was to receive the worst of sinners unto mercy upon their coming in to him but thou hearknedst to the Devil more than to me to his suggestions rather than to my motions 4. By the testimony of the Devil who is now a tempter but will then be an accuser whose chief design in tempting us to sin is that he may have wherewithall to accuse us in that great day that so he might drive us into the same condemnation with himself Thus you see there are several wayes of discovering the sins of the wicked and ungodly at the day of judgement even to the view of all Now I know no better way to prevent the discovery of your sins at that great day than here in this time and day of grace to call your selves to an account to search and examine your own hearts and lives and thâ—n to judge and condemn your selves for your manifold sins and transgressions for as the Apostle speaketh If we judge our selves we shall not be condemned
worketh faith to close with Jesus Christ. For untill thou beest truly humbled under a sense and apprehension of thy sins and misery it is not possible thou shouldst heartily desire Christ much less cordially embrace him as thy Saviour and redeemer Oh therefore labour in the use of all means God hath sanctified to get thine heart kindly humbled and broken for thy sins To this end 1. Look back into thy life and call to mind as many of thy sins as possibly thou canst the sins of thy youth as well as of thy riper years thy sins of omission as well as thy sins of commission yea the sins of thy holy services Especially call to mind the greatest and grossest of thy sins though they were committed long ago Thus did the Prodigal begin his humiliation and repentance by a serious examination of his former course of life calling to remembrance his departure from such a gracious Father his own wandrings in the wayes of wickedness in which he had lost himself and then as the text noteth He arose and came to his Father and with tears said unto him Father I have sinned against Heaven and against thee and am no more worthy to be called thy Son To acknowledge thy self in the general to be a sinner works but a formal kind of repentance and humiliation if any at all But if thou wouldst be truly humbled thou must descend to thy special and particular sins saying this evil have I done and that good have I left undone 2. Consider together with the number the hainousness of thy sins To this end call to mind the aggravating circumstances of them as how thou hast sinned against the motions of Gods Spirit the admonitions of his Ministers the checks of thine own conscience against the light of nature against the patience and long-suffering of God which should have led thee to repentance 3. Seriously consider the fearful threatnings against sin and sinners which are all judgements and plagues here and eternal death and condemnation hereafter and apply them to thy self reasoning thus If the least transgression of the Law deserveth the curse of God yea all judgements and plagues here and eternal condemnation hereafter then how many curses and plagues what and how great condemnation have I deserved who have committed sins innumerable for number and hainous in their quality And withall consider the truth and faithfulness of God in making good his threatnings as well as his promises 4. Beg this great Mercy of an humbled heart from God For it is he who must strike our stony hearts these hard Rocks of ours before they can yield any water of true repentance it is he who must pour out of the spirit of grace upon our hard hearts before we can pour out any penitent tears or lament as we ought for our sins It is he that must thaw our frozen hearts before they can dissolve into kindly sorrow To him therefore alone thou must go for this great work of humiliation And that thy prayers may be the more prevalent 1. Confess unto God the hardness of thine heart how it is grown to such an adamantine hardness that neither the thundrings nor threatnings of the Law nor the sweet showers the promises of the Gospel can make it relent or dissolve Confess unto God that Though thou hast broken his holy and righteous Laws ten thousand thousand times yet the consideration thereof hath not broken thine heart Oh this rock this rock when shall it be pierced Oh this hard heart I cannot break it I would melt I would mourn but cannot I can mourn for a lost friend for a lost estate but I cannot mourn for a lost soul. Oh what groanings and sighings and lamentations will afflictions press out of me but my sins my sins how little do they move me The pains of my body I can feel and roar under but O what a stock am I under the plague of my heart Lord smite this rock My plaints are before thee mine eyes are towards thee I cannot weep but I can cry for a broken heart Lord hear me 2. In thy Prayers plead that gracious promise of God to take away the stony hearts out of our flesh and to give us hearts of flesh Hath God promised and is there no hope in the promise Is there hope and wilt thou not lay hold on that hope plead with thy God upon his own word Is not this thy Word O Lord Hast not thou said thou wilt make this stone flesh will it ever be done if thou dost it not wilt not thou do what thou hast said Is it not thy will that I should believe thou wilt Oh perform thy word unto thy Servant wherein thou hast commanded me to put my trust 3. Be importunate in this request of thine unto God often renewing thy prayers and never give over till thou find thine hard heart brought into a mourning and melting frame Though God for a while seemeth deaf to thy prayers yet be not thou dumb many petitions he cannot deny IV. Resolve to give a present bill of divorce to all thy sinful lusts and pleasures utterly to renounce and forsake thine old sinful course of life and to set upon a new course to serve God in holiness and righteousness all the remaining part of thy life It s vain for thee to lament and bewail thy past sins if thou wilt not give over thy sinning trade For as the Apostle adviseth Thou must first put off the old man with his corrupt-lusts before thou put oâ— the new man Thou therefore who hast accustomed thy self to swearing and cursing to whoring and drinking to scoffing and railing against the people of God resolve to swear and curse no more to whore and drink no more to scoff and rail no more but cast them away with detestation avoiding the places and occasions of these sins For it is a vain thing to think thy self strong enough to abstain from any sin when thou canst not withdraw thy self from the occasions thereof Ah sinner if thou hast any regard to thy precious soul it will be thy wisdom speedily to resolve to leave thine old course of life and to turn over a new leaf Think not of peace with God whilest thou art at peace with sin Think not that thine old scores are crossed whilest thou art so freely scoring up a new Deceive not thy self thy divorce from sin and thy marriage with Christ must be both on the same day And count not thy self divorced till thou and thy sins be parted Resolve this day to have done with thy old wayes for ever At once give Christ his welcome and thy lusts their farewell There is no true humiliation for sin where there is not a resolution against it Say not thou art not humbled enough how little soever thy sorrow be if thou art sincerely resolved against iniquity And say not thou art humble enough how deep soever it hath been if there follow not this resolution
Chain and he cannot go one link thereof farther than he pleaseth 2 From siâ— Though the Regenerate are not freed from the in-being of sin which doth and will live in them so long as they live in this World yet are they freed both from the guilt of sin and from the power and dominion of sin 1. From the guilt of sin that is from that wrath and punishment which is due to sin so that none of our sins shall be able to condemn us For Christ as our Surety Saviour and Redeemer did bear all our sins in his body upon the tree and there offered up his life as an all sufficient Sacrifice and full satisfaction to Gods justice for the same So that God being fully satisfied by the death of Christ for our sins he will not nay he cannot in justice require satisfaction again from us Well therefore might the Apostle make this bold challenge who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods elect seeing Christ hath dyed and by his death fully satisfied Gods justice for their sins 2. From the power and dominion of sin which cometh to pass by the Spirit of Christ conveighed to them whereby their sins are in some measure mortified and subdued so that they do not rule nor raign in them as formerly Sin shall not have dominion over you saith the Apostle and why because you are not under the Law but under grace In our unregenerate estate sin had not only possession of us but dominion over us so that we did yield a willing subjection unto the command of sin But since we are regenerated by the Spirit of God we are freed though not from the in-being yet from the dominion of sin So that though sin may tyrannize over us yet shall it not raign in us We shall not yield a free and willing obedience to the command thereof This is the great comfort of Gods Children that though sin be not removed yet it is subdued Though they oftentimes feel the workings and stirrings of corruption in them which make them to have many a sad heart and wet eye yet are they freed through Christ from the dominion of sin 3. The Regenerate are freed from the Law not only from the Ceremonial and Iudicial Law which were peculiar to the Jews and dyed with the decay of their Common-wealth but likewise from the Moral Law which concerns all men at all times in all places yet not as it is a rule of Obedience and Christian walking for so it still remains in force even to the Children of God even after their Regeneration But 1. As it was a Covenant of works or as the Covenant thereof was works We are not absolutely bound to such rigour and exactness as that required Indeed we ought to endeavor after the most perfect obedience and to be humbled for our defects and failings therein but not to despair because of them for all failings not allowed are pardoned Besides Christ our surety hath in all things fullfilled the Law and performed perfect obedience thereunto So that the strictness of the Law being fulfilled by our surety it s not expected that it should be performed by us in our own persons 2. We are freed from the Curse and condemnation of the Law Christ saith the Apostle hath redeemed us from the curse of the Law being made a curse for us So that although we do not perform it in that exact manner and measure which it requireth yet our transgressions shall not be imputed to us to condemnation The Law may condemn the actions but not the persons of the Regenerate it hath nothing to do with them therefore the Apostle saith There is no condemnation to them which are in Christ Iesus V. Provision of all needfull good things is another priviledge of the Regenerate who have a right to all good things through Christ and the possession of all things God seeth good for them It is observable that when God was with Israel in the Wilderness where nothing was to be had they lacked nothing It is naturally engrafted into all Parents to provide for their Children what then can they want who have God for their Father who as he is all-sufficient so a most loving Father to his Children whose love far surpasseth the love of natural Parents to their Children Art thou a Child of God by Regeneration then look up to thy Heavenly Father for a supply of all good things For can they that are evill know how to give good gifts to their Children saith our Saviour And shall not your Heavenly Father give to you the things whereof ye have need He feedeth the Fowls of the air and the Beasts of the Field and he that is carefull to provide for his Hawks and his Hounds will he suffer his Children to beg and starve who must one day be his heirs Be not then faithless but believe and say not What shall we eat or what shall we drink or wherewithall shall we be cloathed For your Heavenly Father knoweth whereof ye have need and shall relieve you VI. Acceptance of their Services though full of weaknesses infirmities and imperfections Natural Parents are not more ready to accept of the weak Services performed by their Children than God is to take in good part the imperfect services of his Children How maimed and broken are our prayers many times yet coming from a broken heart they find acceptance with God Though he regardeth not the glorious works of hypocrites yet he graciously accepteth of the weak Services of his Children done in sincerity When we cannot pray with that affection and fervency as we desire yet if we set upon it with an honest and sincere heart doing it in obedience to the command of God with a desire to approve our selves unto him therein and grieving for our failings and imperfections God will overlook our failings and crown our weak endeavours with acceptance VII Protection from things hurtfull is another priviledge of the Regenerate They are here subject to manifold casualties and contingencies from which the Lord in mercy protects them keeping Watch and Ward for them Yea he is said to be a wall of fire round about his people A wall to defend them and of fire to consume those that rise up against them So that they shall not be afraid of evil tydings for their hearts are fixed trusting in the Lord. I deny not but the Children of God may be wronged oppressed spoiled of all they have and unjustly stain yet in all these shall they not be hurt for God will turn all to their good Note what David said of Shimei's cursing him The Lord will look on my affliction and requite good for his cursing this day On this ground the Hebrews took joyfully the spoyling of their goods VIII Support under all afflictions is another priviledge of the Regenerate For God is present with them in all their afflictions supporting their weakness with his might
saw him to be amongst them that murthered him that went deeper to his heart than the swords of all his enemies did or could In like manner the sins of Gods Children are greater in his sight and do more grieve him than the sins of other men II. Consider thine high and holy calling Thou art called out of darkness into light out of the Kingdom of Satan into the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Shall there be no difference betwixt the Children of the Kingdom and the Children of the wicked one betwixt Gods servants and the Devils slaves Art thou one of the called of God oh how doth it concern thee to follow the counsel of the Apostle to the Ephesians namely to walk worthy of the Vocation wherewith thou art called that is suitable to the dignity and purity of it 1. Thy calling is an high calling And therefore as men called to high places carry themselves answerably thereunto In like manner thou being called to be a Christian it is thy duty that thou maist not disgrace thy holy profession and that worthy name by which thou art called to carry thy self becomingly and suitably to it by hating every sin labouring daily in the mortifying every lust and corruption keeping thy self unspotted of the World 2. Thy calling is an holy calling the end thereof is holiness For God hath not called us unto uncleanness but unto holiness Now an holy calling ought to be accompanied with an holy life and conversation Being called from darkness to light from sinfulness to holiness from the flesh to the Spirit from Satan to God is it not most meet thou shouldst cast off the unfruitfull works of darkness and walk as a Child of light That thou shouldst no more give thy members as Servants unto sin but as Servants unto righteousness That thou shouldst no more fulfill the Lusts of the flesh but walk in the Spirit after the motions thereof This is to walk worthy of the vocation whereunto thou art called III. Consider the many great and singular priviledges God hath vouchsafed unto you Being raised above the condition of other men it beseemeth not you to act as the men of the World but to live above their rate to be more Holy and Heavenly in your conversation more zealous for God more fervent in the performance of holy and religious duties The Lord expects greater matters and other manner of Service from you than from other men for he hath done more for you and bestowed more on you than upon all the World besides When you call to mind your priviledges reason thus with your selves Hath God made us partakers of such and such special mercies and singular priviledges Oh then what manner of persons ought we to be in all holy conversation and Godliness How ought we to walk worthy such singular priviledges by singularity of actions doing some singular things for God who hath dealt so singularly well for us As God hath abounded to us in his choicest mercies so he expects we should be abundant in singular duties CHAP. XIX Sheweth the singular good things which the Regenerate ought to do aboue others I. TO make Conscience of their precious time and to improve it to the best advantage Carnal men make little or no conscience of spending their time to any good advantage Oh the many golden hours and dayes and weeks and years that thousands of them spend who yet cannot give the least account wherein they have done any thing which tends to the glory of God the good of others or the farthering their own Salvation Their minds are so much set upon their carnal lusts and pleasures that their chief care is not so much how to improve their time as how they may pass it away in mirth and jollity That which when it is once gone all the World will not buy it back what a cheap thing is it accounted But oh how doth it concern such whom God hath called to prize the time which he is pleased to afford unto them and to be carefull in improving the same to some good advantage yea to gather up the fragments of time every inch of it that nothing may be lost We cannot well spare one spare hour O make the best of thy day To this end 1. Consider that thine everlasting state depends upon thy well or ill spending of thy time Many make light of their time and thereupon play and sport it away Yet there is no moment which thou dost mispend but for ought thou knowest it may be the very time upon which thine eternal state doth depend Oh what a madness must it needs be for an hour or dayes pleasure to hazard the loss of everlasting happiness and to incurr the danger of eternal misery And yet how few think of the passing away their time or that any great matter depends thereupon 2. Consider the preciousness of time which is of more worth than all the riches and treasures in the World for they cannot purchase one minute of time Should the Lord be pleased to vouchsafe unto a damned soul in hell but one weeks time to live again upon the earth for tryal how he would improve the same to his souls advantage Oh how highly would he prize it how carefully would he improve every moment thereof how serious would he be in every holy duty and in all the concernments of his soul how conscionable in spending of the Sabbath how watchfull would he be on that day over his thoughts words and actions Should he hear Christ tendred in the Ministry of the Gospel as a Saviour to poor sinners oh how readily would he close with the offer of Jesus Christ how heartily would he embrace him Should he be tempted by some carnal friends to spend one day with them in mirth and jollity how would he answer them Alas the time on which my everlasting condition doth depend is very short and must it not be egregious folly in me to trifle away part thereof Shall I implunge my soul into eternal flames for a little pleasure and short delight Oh God forbid And hereby may you see how precious time is Surely little reason have any to be so sparing of their wealth and so prodigal of their time when as all the wealth in the World as before is said cannot purchase one hours time 3. Consider how much precious time you have already lost how many hours and dayes and weeks and years you have trifled away in vanity and pleasure yea in sin and wickedness Though in likelihood the greatest part of your time is past and gone yet it is to be feared that little of your work is done Is it not meet then now to begin to make Conscience of your precious time and to improve it better The time which you have already lost can never be recalled O let no more of it run out in vain Oh think it too much that you have spent so much of it already to so little
sins subjects to yield a voluntary subjection of our selves unto the commands of sin Q. How may we know when corruption is mortified in us A. When it is not only restrained and kept from such ordinary breakings out into actual sins but the lusts and motions that issue from it are a grief to us yea we hate and detest them and groan under the burden of them we watch against them fight against them earnestly desiring to be delivered from them crying out with the Apostle O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from this body of sin and corruption For the more profitable pressing this so necessary and difficult a duty I shall 1. Shew you some Motives and arguments to enforce the same 2. Some Means whereby it may be effected 3. The Manner how it ought to be performed The Reasons forcing this work of Mortification upon the Regenerate are these 1. After Regeneration there remaineth a body of sin and corruption in the best which if we endeavour not by the help of Gods Spirit to mortifie and subdue will gather strength and become mighty to the great hinderance of our duty and darkning all our comfort 2. Corruption doth not only remain in us as long as we live in this World but it is alwayes in continual work either stirring us up to evil or keeping us from that which is good or defiling our best actions In which respect saith the Apostle the flesh lusteth against the Spirit And from his own experience he cryeth out I see another Law in my members warring against the Law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the Law of sin which is in my members so that I cannot do the good which I would but rather do the evil which I hate How doth it then concern us daily and hourly to fight and strive against these lusts which are continually working and warring in our members hindering and spoiling all our duties breaking our peace undermining all our hopes and comforts and seeking our lives we must either kill or be killed 3. By a conscionable performance of this duty we shall be freed from those hainous and scandalous sins into which other mens lusts do carry them Should corruption have its way and course without resistance in the best of us it would soon break forth into the most loathsome and disgracefull sins that are committed by the very worst of men as we see in David Solomon and others Is it not then needfull for us to keep down and withstand the first motions and risings of sin in our hearts before it break forth into such wicked and disgracefull acts which will blast our credit and reputation and bring a scandal upon our Religion and profession 4. Mortification of sin was one special end of Christs death who dyed to save his people from their sins not to save them in their sins but from their sins as from the guilt and punishment so from the power of them And indeed whom Christ delivers from the damnation of sin he first delivers also from the dominion of sin Whom he intends to save from hell he first saveth them from iniquity he saves their souls by killing their sins If thou findest any lust to remain unmortified in thee bearing rule in thine heart and sway in thy life thou hast just cause to question thy interest in Christ and his salvation They that are Christs have Crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts II. The Means whereby the work of Mortification may be effected by us are these I. When thou feelest corruption working in thee and stirring thee up to evil then call to mind and lay to heart the ensuing considerations 1. Consider the shortness of the pleasure of sin with the length of the punishment following thereupon without true and unfeined repentance The one for a moment the other everlasting The pleasure is but short but the punishment is for ever and ever The torments of the damned in hell are intensively most grievous in themselves but that which mainly and infinitely adds to the greatness of them is because they are eternal They are tormented day and night for ever and ever The Worm is alwayes gnawing and the fire continually burning therefore called unquenchable fire Oh what a folly must it then needs be yea and madness beyond admiration for the short fruition of these perishing pleasures and transient contentments here to implunge our selves into everlasting burnings Oh how terrible is the thought of eternity in those tormenting flames where the damned would think themselves happy if after they had endured them so many thousand years as there are Sands on the Sea-shore or Stars in the Firmament they might then be assured of enlargement But when all that time is past and innumerable millions of years and ages are run out they are as far from an end as at their first entrance Why wilt thou then purchase a little sensual delight at so dear a rate for a moments pleasure to incurr everlasting woe and misery O the fire of hell if thou wouldst send down thy thoughts thither would burn up thy Lusts which otherwise will be the fuel to burn thy soul. 2. Consider thy extream folly in gratifying thy sinfull Lusts thereby thou hast chosen and preferred thy fleshly pleasure thy carnal content before the glory of God the everlasting joyes of Heaven and the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Oh monstrous madness and unconceivable folly at which the Angels blush and Heaven and Earth cannot but stand amazed 3. Call to mind and consider some of the threatnings in Gods Word as against sin in general so against that particular Lust which thou findest most working and stirring in thee and unto which thou findest strongest inclinations in thy self First Call to mind and consider sâ—me of the threatnings against sin and sinners in general Upon the wicked saith the Psalmist God shall rain fire and brimstone and an horrible tempest this shall be the portion of their cup. And saith the Apostle Indignation and wrath tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doth evil Secondly When thou findest any inclination in thy self to a particular sin as unto drunkenness seriously consider that of the Wise man who hath woe who hath sorrow who hath contentions c. they that tarry long at the Wine they that go to seek mixt Wine When thou findest any inclination or temptation unto uncleanness seriously weigh that of the Apostle Be not deceived neither Fornicators nor Idolaters nor Adulterers nor Effeminate shall inherit the Kingdom of God And again Whoremongers and Adulterers God will judge When thou findest any inclinations unto Covetousness call to mind that of the Prophet Isaiah Wo unto them that joyne house to house and lay field to field till there be no place and that of the Apostle The love of money is the root of all evil which while some have
he be born again so as he speaketh not only of notorious sinners as adulterers drunkards swearers c. but of all who are in their natural condition though they live never so unblamably free from all scandalous sins if they be not born again their civil righteousness will do them little good for they shall never see the Kingdom of God Be born Except a man be born This is spoken metaphorically and spiritually in allusion to our natural birth which Nicodemus not observing clean misconstrued Christs words Now this word born or begotten is used to shew that the whole nature of man must be changed and in a manner new framed not in regard of the substance but of the qualities of it The natural essence and substance either of the soul or body is not destroyed but still remaineth only it is divested of the old and invested with new qualities He that is regenerated hath a renewed understanding a renewed will renewed affections yea new desires and a new conversation So that the meaning is No man can enter into heaven unless by the spirit of God he be first altered and changed from what he was even brought out of the state of nature into the state of grace and so become a new creature as in regard of his new manner of creation so in regard of his new manner of conversation leading another manner of life than he did before Born again The original word translated again is as well attributed to place as to time and signifieth above as well as again as vers 31. And indeed this is the most usual signification of the word and therefore some translate it so here except a man be born from above as it is in our old translation And though our new translators of the Bible have altered it yet have they put in the Margin from above But questionless in this place the word signifieth again for so Nicodemus taketh it verse 4. how can a man be born when he is old can he enter the second time into his Mothers Womb and be born So that the word here hath respect to the time more than to the place and implyeth the necessity of a second birth that a man be born of the spirit as well as born of the flesh otherwise it had been better for him he had never been born at all He cannot see the Kingdom of God Kingdom is here taken for that happy estate whereunto God bringeth his elect in Christ the entrance thereunto is in this life which is commonly called the Kingdom of grace The full possession is in the life to come called the Kingdom of glory These are not two distinct Kingdoms but two degrees of one and the same Kingdom Now whereas Christ faith He cannot see the Kingdom of God it 's in effect as much as He cannot enter into the Kingdom of God as our Saviour clearly explaineth verse 5. Except a man be born of water and of the spirit he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God that is He cannot be saved Having thus cleared the words by shewing you the sense and meaning of them They afford unto us this point of Doctrine Doct. Regeneration is necessary to salvation Or To make a man a member of the invisible Church and so aâ— heir of Gods Kingdom it is necessary that he be regenerate and born again and thereby brought out of the state of nature into the state of grace This very Doctrine for substance is again inculcated verse 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 Now our Saviours twice repeating this Doctrine both in verse 3. and verse 5. and in both places prefixing a double asseveration Verily Verily doth notably confirm the truth of it and therefore there needs no farther proof thereof But for the better conceiving and right applying this Doctrine I shall shew you 1. The Nature of Regeneration What it is 2. The Parts of Regeneration 3. The Causes which concurr to the work of Regeneration 4. The Reasons proving the necessity of Regeneration to Salvation 5. The uses of the point CHAP. III. Of the Nature of Regeneration What it is I. REgeneration is that grace whereby a natural man is made a spiritual or new man Even he that by sin was a Child of the Devil is made a Child of God For as by vertue of our natural birth that which was no man is made a man or Son of man So by this Spiritual birth he that was a natural man is made a new man even a spiritual man a child of God So that to speak properly Regeneration is another birth after the former A spiritual birth after our natural birth whereby a man is as it were another man As it is said of Calch that he was a man of another spirit So may it be said of a regenerate man that he is of another spirit being quite altered and changed from what he was before The notation of the Greek and Latine words imports as much Not unfitly called regeneration because by it we are restored to that image of God wherein we were at first created Now this regeneration or new birth cannot be meant of a birth after the flesh for no natural or carnal thing is to be conceipted in regeneration But regeneration is a spiritual birth a birth of the spirit as is evident by those words that which is born of the spirit is spirit So as by the work of Regeneration flesh is turned into spirit that is the carnal corrupt disposition of man is changed and altered into a renewed and sanctified disposition whereby it appears that Regeneration is as it were a new creation and a regenerate man is called a new-creature being renewed throughout both thorow his soul with all the powers and faculties thereof and thorow his body with all the parts and members thereof So that the blind understanding is in some measure inlightned with the knowledge of God and the knowledge of Jesus Christ. The stubborn and contumacious will is in some measure obedient and conformable to the will of God The seared and benummed conscience is now quickned and awakened The hard heart softned the unruly affections crucified And the body with all the parts and members thereof are made ready instruments to put in execution the good intentions of the mind Thus by Regeneration men are wrought upon throughout being wonderfully altered and changed from what they were before in relation to which alteration they are said to be born again Which may inform us of the wonderful depravation of our nature which was such as mending and repairing would not serve the turn but God must new make and new create us we must be born again made new creatures Which consideration should me-thinks take away all ground of boasting from any man and stir up every regenerate person to give unto God the
a beginning to be perfectly holy hereafter and not initially holy here to live with God in glory hereafter and yet here live and lye in thy filthiness and uncleanness Canst thou expect hereafter to live in the everlasting love of God and yet here have no true love to him at all Canst thou expect hereafter fulness of delight in the presence of God and yet here have no delight in him at all But takest thy whole delight either in satisfying thy covetous humour by heaping up riches or in gratifying thy sinfull lusts and affections by yielding to the solicitations of the flesh Be not deceived as I said before so I must say it again Grace is a necessary beginning of glory As sin is death begun and hell begun so is grace the first fruits of life and glory And as certain as it is that he shall never find an hell hereafter who is purged from his sins here so undoubtedly certain is it that he shall never come into the divine presence hereafter who is not here made partaker of the divine nature he shall never enter into the Kingdom of glory who is not first born into the Kingdom of grace Be a convert in this World or thou wilt be a reprobate in the other World Thou mayest as well expect a birth where there hath been nothing formed in the Womb a Noon-tide where there hath been no dawning as ever look to see the day-light of glory who hast never known the morning of grace Reas. 4. From that corruption of mans Nature in which he is brought into the World For our first Parents having by their fall defaced that image of God in which they were at first created and being thereupon corrupted and polluted in every power of their soul and part of their body all that come from them are in like manner corrupted and polluted an unclean off-spring from unclean progenitors For who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean not one as Iob speaketh And saith our Saviour That which is born of the flesh is flesh that is Every one that is born of man every mothers Child is carnal and corrupt every man by his first birth is polluted and unclean Now no unclean person can enter into Gods Kingdom Believe it Sinner God will never take thee from the dunghill reeking in thy Lusts and set thee down by him in the Throne The holy land was never intended for a Sepulchre to bury the dead in to be filled with filth and rottenness it 's no den for Dragons nor nest for Serpents and Vipers nor was ever designed to be peopled with Dogs and Swine Without shall be Dogs Corruption shall not inherit incorruption nor shall flesh and blood inherit the Kingdom of God Bastards may not inherit Thou must first be a child and have the spirit of a child in thee and then thou art an heir an heir of God and a joynt heir with Christ. Reas. 5. From the holiness of Gods nature which is such that no unclean person can stand in his presence The Prophet Habbakkuk sets him forth to be of purer eyes than to behold evil neither can be look on iniquity And saith the Psalmist Evill shall not dwell with thee neither shall the foolish stand in thy sight Where by the foolish may be meant the wicked and profane as it is often taken in Scripture wicked men are fools and such shall not stand in the sight and presence of God There is a contrariety between the holy nature of God and the unholy nature of carnal and unregenerate men And therefore what communion can there be between them Between an holy God and unholy creatures Between a pure God and impure creatures Surely none at all So much the Apostle expresseth where he saith what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness Or the righteous God with unrighteous men What communion hath light with darkness which interrogation implyeth a strong negation Believe it sinners if ever you look to enjoy communion with God in glory you must have union with him in grace you must here be regenerate and become new creatures yea holy as he is holy that you may be such as he may dwell withall and delight in For as the Apostle speaketh Without holiness no man shall see the Lord. He shall be so far from enjoying the presence of God that he shall not so much as see him Lev. 10.3 Saith Moses to Aaron God will be sanctified in them that come nigh him that is that draw near unto him in any of his Ordinances Now to the sanctifying God in his Ordinances there is required 1. That his Nature be renewed and sanctified An unsanctified heart cannot sanctifie God Gather my Saints together unto me 2. That he have holy and awfull apprehensions of God God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of his Saints and to be bad in reverence of all them that are about him 3. That he bring holy affections Every ordinance of God as it requires our affections to be employed and exercised in it so holy affections such affections as do arise from an holy heart and are suitable to an holy God Now can carnal men thus sanctifie God they pollute and profane his holy name they cannot sanctifie it Can they not sanctifie God and can they be accepted of God or find any pleasure in his presence If God be not sanctified in them he will be sanctified upon them his wrath will break forth upon them so far shall they be from enjoying any comfortable communion with him Now if such sanctity and holiness be necessary in those who draw near unto him in his ordinances How much more to the enjoying immediate communion with him in Heaven will not God meet thee at a prayer and will he suffer thee to meet him in Paradise will he not let thee see his face at his Table and will he let thee sit down with him in his Kingdom Maist thou not come into his Courts and shalt thou enter into the holy of holies Was the man without a wedding garment thrust out from his presence here below and shall he be received into his mansion above How can these things be CHAP. VI. An Vse of Exhortation to endeavour after Regeneration with quickning Motives thereunto HAving thus done with the Explication and Confirmation of the point Come we now to the use and Application thereof I. The first may be an use of Exhortation both to the unregenerate and to the Regenerate First to the unregenerate Is Regeneration absolutely necessary to Salvation Oh then how doth it concern you who are yet in your sins and under the power of corrupt nature earnestly to desire and industriously to labour after this saving change in the use of all meaâ—s God hath sanctified thereunto Let yâ—â—r outward condition be what it will be ye never so rich never so honourable yet far be it from you to sit down satisfied
of man is come to seek and to save that which is lost Where by the lost whom Christ came to save are not meant every sinner who indeed are lost men but such as have a spiritual feeling of the woful plight and condition wherein they are by reason of their sins And again saith our Saviour I am not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance As by the righteous are meant such as are so in their own opinion and conceit so by sinners are meant such as are sensible of their wretched miserable condition and groan under the weight and burthen of their sins whom Christ especially invites to come unto him saying Come unto me all ye who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest 1. The more sensible any are of their miserable condition by nature the more sensible will they be of their need of Iesus Christ. They that are whole saith our Saviour need not a Physitian but they that are sick In like manner such as are whole and sound in their own conceit see no need of Christ but such as are sick of their sins and sensible of their miserable and lost condition they feel a need and necessity of Christ who is the only Physitian that can help them and without whom they look upon themselves as undone for ever 2. Sense of our miserable condition by nature will stir us up to seek after Iesus Christ for help and deliverance As the man-slayer under the Law being pursued by the avenger of blood betook himself to a City of râ—fuge for shelter and defence So the poor sinner pursued by the Hue and Cry of his sins betakes himself unto Jesus Christ who is a true City of refuge to all who fly unto him Yea the more sensible any man is of his misery by sin the more will he hasten after Jesus Christ. And certainly one special reason why Christ is so little sought after by many and his gracious invitations so slighted and neglected is because they are not sensible of the wofull plight and condition wherein they are by nature 3. Sense of our miserable condition will make us more highly to prize Iesus Christ and to preferr him before all things in the World besides The truth is the more sensible any of us are of our unregenerate estate the more highly shall we prize Jesus Christ. In what measure we can discern the heighth and depth the beadth and length of our miserable condition by nature in the same measure shall we discern the heighth and depth the breadth and length of the worth and excellency of Jesus Christ and accordingly shall we prize and value him Q. If any shall ask how may I get my heart deeply affected with a sense of my miserable condition by nature A. 1. Steep thy thoughts frequently in a serious meditation of thy sad and deplorable condition so long as thou continuest in thine unregenerate estate How thou art no better than a servant to sin and slave to thy lusts under the bondage and command of Satan doing his drudgery yea and under the curse of God and guilt of all thy sins and lyable to all sorts of Judgements both temporal spiritual and eternal Consider likewise the miseries which will accompany thee at thy death and after thy death even at the day of Judgement and after the day of Judgement when thou shalt not only be deprived of all happiness but exposed to such miseries as neither the tongue of man can express nor the heart of man conceive and that to all Eternity if thou dyest in thine unregenerate estate Ah sinner if thou wouldst but frequently chew this bitter pill it would not only purge thee of thy sinful corruptions and noysome humours which now are praedominant in thee but likewise exceedingly make to thy spiritual health and welfare 2. Be earnest with God in prayer that by his spirit he would convince thee of thy miserable condition by nature and make thee truly and throughly sensible thereof Consider that it is the office of the spirit of God to convince thee and so to affect and afflict thy heart for sin Ioh. 16.8 He shall reprove or convince the World of sin It 's true his chief work is to convince of righteousness whereby he becomes a Comforter as he is there called and it 's therefore said ver 14. He shall take of mine and shew it unto you he shall take of my blood of my bowels of my righteousness of the pardons which I have procured of the peace which I have purchased he shall take of mine and shew it unto you This is his great work but his first work is He shall take of your own and shew it unto you he shall set your sins and your guilt and your miseries before you Look thee here soul see what thou art what a vile thing what an unclean thing what a wretched thing thou art what an hell thou hast within thee what a Devil thou art become what a treasure what a portion thou hast laid up for thy self even wrath and fire and brimstone this must be the portion of thy cup. This sad and dismal sight the spirit of God presents to the soul and therewith affrights and afflicts it O beg this spirit God hath promised to give it those that ask it how much more shall your heavenly Father give his spirit to them that ask it of him Beg for this work of the Spirit his convincing work as well as his comforting work resist not this holy Spirit shut not thine eyes against this light but be wilâ—ing to see and feel the worst of thy case to know and be deeply affected with thy abominable wickedness and the intolerable misery that it 's bringing upon thee III. Labour to be truly humbled for thy sins as the cause of thy present sad condition It is not sufficient to get thine heart in some measure affected with the sense thereof but thy care must likewise be to get thine heart into an humbled and broken frame for the same Having spent many years in sinning what caust thou do less than spend some hours in mourning and sorrowing for the same Having all thy life long broken the most holy and righteous Laws of God what canst thou do less than to get thine heart broken for the same which usually goeth before or at least accompanyeth our new birth For as no Child is ordinarily born without some throws so no man is ordinarily regenerated and born anew by the Spirit without some pangs of sorrow and humiliation though not all with a like measure it being sanctified by God to be the entrance into the state of grace Humiliation is as necessary to salvation as faith and you may as well think of being saved without faith as without repentance and humiliation which like Iohn Baptist prepareth the way for Christ and therefore is the most immediate disposition that God usually worketh in the soul before he
stirring thee up to any good duty omitted oh turn these motions into performances and presently fall upon the practice of those duties whether it be praying in thy closet or in thy Family or such like Doth the Spirit of God beam any light from the Word into thine understanding whereby thou art more throughly convinced of thy miserable condition by nature of the excellency of the new birth of the necessity thereof unto Salvation Labour to improve this light to the stirring up in thee an earnest longing desire after the work of Regeneration Hath the Spirit of God in a Sermon so convinced thee of some grofs scandalous sin or sins that thou art pricked at the heart and deeply humbled under the sense and apprehension of them oh content not thy self with some sudden pangs of affection but forthwith go into some secret place and there take the advantage of thy present relenting frame of heart for the more free and full confessing of thy sins unto God and ingaging thy self by a solemn covenant unto him to be more watchfull over thy self as against thy former lend and wicked courses so against the occasions leading thereunto Ah sinner it will be thy Wisdom carefully to observe and diligently to improve all the motions and stirrings of Gods Spirit in thy Soul and Conscience by seconding the work of this holy Spirit in thee Lose not the Wind and Tide the Wind may lye the Tide may turn and where art thou then 't will be hard Rowing against Wind or Tide Thou little thinkest what advantage such motions wisely improved may be to thy soul and what prejudice the slighting and neglecting of them may be unto thee for ought thou knowest thine eternal happiness or misery may depend upon the improving or slighting the same VIII Be much in the company of the godly walk with them who walk with God He that walketh with the wise shall be more wise he that walketh with the humble shall be more humble he that walketh with the holy shall learn holiness As there is no greater hinderance to the work of Christ than the society of the wicked So there is no greater furtherance to it than the society of those who fear God For there is none will be so ready to pitty and compassionate you to counsel and direct you in the way to Heaven as these none so ready to provoke and egg you on unto godliness to encourage and cheer you up when you do well and to reprove you when you do amiss as these none so ready to communicate their experiences to you O come say they and we will tell you what the Lord hath done for our souls So that in the company of the godly there is much good to be got they being like Lanthorns which disperse their light round about If thou beest much in their company thou shalt hear much of God much of Christ and much of Heaven they use to be talking much of the riches of that Countrey and the glory of that holy City whether they are travelling They will be opening to you the excellency of Jesus Christ the riches of his love the all-sufficiency of his Sacrifice his willingness to receive all poor sinners who will go unto him and adventure their souls upon him And who knoweth how much their discourse may warm thine heart and raise up thy desires after Christ. Agrippa was almost perswaded to be a Christian whilest he was talking with St. Paul And the Ennuch was not only almost but altogether perswaded whilest he was conversing with Philip. As therefore thou desirest to further the work of grace begun in thy soul be much in the company of those who are gracious who will be exceedingly helpfull to thee therein as by their prayers so by their counsel and good example For their lives tell thee what it is to walk in the Spirit what to mortifie the flesh and to live aboâ—e all the alluring vaâ—ities of the world Oh Christians encourage poor sinners to come among you let your discourses be practical Sermons let your wayes be living copies of that holy doctrine which you have received let your conversation be full of love life pitty compassion towards them be ready to teach counsel encourage and help them on after the Lord. Teach not sinners to say by the barrenness and unsavouriness of your lives there is no more of God to be gotten in the dwellings of the Righteous than in the tents of Wickedness Thus have I shewed you the Means on our part to be performed for the furthering the new birth and the work of Regeneration in your souls And now give me leave to propound one Question to you Are you resolved with the grace and assistance of God speedily to put your selves upon the practice of these Directions or no If you think these things more than necessary and are ready to say What need so much ado as if without so much hearing so much reading so much praying and the like there were no hope of Regeneration and Salvation you may then sit down and take your ease But know for certain that without a conscionable use of these Means you are like to fall short as of Regeneration here so of Salvation hereafter For where God hath appointed Means he doth not ordinarily work without them and therefore if you will not use Gods Means no wonder if you go without his grace Ah sinners I beseech you for the sake of your precious souls do not willfully refuse to be happy do not wittingly plunge your souls into everlasting miseries Be willing to be happy awaken your sleepy stir up your lazy hearts to be doing Heaven is not gotten with a wish everlasting glory is worthy your utmost pains and will not be gotten without it What say you after all that hath been said Are you willing to be converted to become new men and to take up a new course If you are not yet when will you Are you content to dye in your present state If you were now breathing out your last and just passing into another World would you not wish you had hearkened to counsel Though thou wilt live the life yet art thou content to dye the death of the obstinate and hardned Be not Brutes and mad men If Christ be best at death if holiness will be best at last if you know and believe that when you come to dye you shall wish you had made Christ sure then sure your standing out against Christ now your refusing grace now is the first-born of follies O be wise consider what 's before you Christ and the World holiness and sin life and death choose now for your selves and if you will be advised let your this dayes choice be the same which you are resolved shall be your dying choice If you would not choose to dye in your sins to dye Drunkards to dye adulterers to dye Scoffers to dye unbelievers live not out this day in such a dreadfull state CHAP.
yet was he received to mercy Hast thou been a Blasphemer or a Persecutor of the Saints and servants of God So was Paul and yet he obtained mercy Hast thou been a Filthy unclean person wallowing and delighting like a Sow in the filth of sin and mire of sinfull filthiness So did Mary Magdalea and many of the Corinthians yet were they washed with the blood of Iesus Christ justified and sanctified Hast thou been an Oppressor and Extortioner who hast got thine estate by over-reaching thy neighbours and grinding the faces of the poor So did Matthew and Zacheus who yet found mercy Why then is there not hope of mercy for thee when grace hath embraced such great and heinous sinners Q. Wilt thou say thou art a greater sinner than any of these forementioned A. 1. This is scarce credible But suppose thy sins do exceed the proportion of any one thou canst find pardoned in Scripture yet this were no just ground of despair because the depth of Gods mercy was never yet fathomed God never acted his mercy so far but he is able to act it farther Greater sinners than ever yet were pardoned may be pardoned And therefore though thy sins were more and greater than the sins of others yet there is hope of mercy for thee unless by thine infidelity thou dost exclude thy self from the same 2. Consider that there was no more in Manasseh Mary Magdalen Paul nor any of the Saints now in Heaven to move God to have compassion on them than there is in thee The Apostle saith that there is no difference for all have sinned The true cause of any mans Regeneration is the free grace and love of God For saith the Apostle we were all by nature the Children of wrath even as others But God who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us even when we were dead in sins hath quickned us And immediatly addeth By grace ye are saved Now seeing the free grace and love of God is the true cause of mans Regeneration and Salvation why shouldst thou imagine there is less love in God for thee than there was for them Obj. 5. Others object they fear their time and day of grace is past and gone having long stood out and rejected many offers of grace and that it is now too late to seek after the grace of God A. To this I answer that the slighting and rejecting the many offers of grace is very sad yea an heinous sin which calls for thy deepest sorrow and humiliation This made our Saviour to weep over Ierusalem because they neglected the day of their visitation But yet know 1. Though thou hast often refused and rejected the offers of grace yet is not thy condition hopeless in that it is not the sin against the Holy Ghost which alone cannot be pardoned but it is a sin though heinous yet pardonable Many have obtained mercy even for this and so mayest thou upon thy true humiliation and repentance For such is the mercy of God as he both can and will pardon even sins against mercy 2. It 's a question whether there be any Saint on Earth or in Heaven who before their closing with Christ by faith did not stand out against and reject many of his gracious invitations excepting such as were sanctified from the Womb. 'T is the Devil that puts it into thy mouth to say I have slighted many offers of grace therefore my day of grace is past and gone Do we not see by daily experience how Christ brings home some to himself in their old age who questionless in their youth and riper years turned many a deaf ear to his gracious invitations And that Christ is still willing and ready so to do appeareth by this that he continues his offers of grace though formerly neglected How oft would I have gathered thee saith Christ of Ierusalem 3. Christ hath several seasons of Conversion and Regeneration all come not in at the first hour of the day nor at the sixth hour Christ brings home some to himself in the latter end of their lives who have all the former part slighted and rejected his gracious invitations And therefore he will have them often renewed and tendred to poor sinners because though the time of some be to come in at the first offer yet the time of others is to come in upon renewed and multiplyed offers so that often renewing thy refusals is not an eternal prejudice 4. If thou art heartily sorry for thy former refusals and dost now unfeinedly desire to close with Christ I may with confidence say thy day of grace is not past For those affections wrought in thee by the Spirit of God are gracious hints that he intends thee good if yet thou wilt accept Such who have outstood their day are usually given up to a feared Conscience and reprobate mind and are hurried by the Devil to the committing of all manner of sin and wickedness and that with greediness and delight 5. Thou who fearest thy day of grace is past know this that if thou now findest in thy self a willingness to abandon thy former lusts and corruptions and to become a new creature to cast off the Devils service and to become the servant of the Lord Jesus thy day of grace is not past 6. It is evident thy day of grace is not past because the Lord hath not yet given over to strive with thee Is he not yet woing and beseeching thee by the Ministry of his Word by the motions of his Spirit to accept of the reconciliation purchased by the blood of his Son And doth not Christ himself stand knocking at the door of thine heart telling thee that if thou wilt open to him he will come in and sup with thee and thou with him It is yet the acceptable time and day of Salvation if thou wilt accept thou maist be accepted Say not foolishly my day is past but prove it is not so by coming in this day Harden not thine heart this day and thou shalt find God will not harden his ear against thy cry 7. Though thou hast long stood out yet know that God will not presently take the forfeiture of thee neither will Christ suddenly take his advantage against thee If the Lord were as hasty to punish sinners as they are forward to commit sin there would suddenly be an end of all And if Christ should be as forward to reject sinners as they are to reject him what hope of mercy were there But Christ is not so severe he is of great goodness and of great patience he makes tenders of grace and peace over and over again and waits our acceptance In which respect he is said to stand at their door and knock As knocking is usually a repetition of strokes so standing at the door and knocking implyeth his waiting for our opening Ah sinner doth Christ continue to renew his offers of grace and mercy unto thee and wilt
conception of all our actions and such as the seed is such will be the fruit As evil thoughts bring forth evil actions so Heavenly thoughts bring forth an Heavenly conversation 4. Readiness to discourse on divine mysteries As they who have layed up much riches have sufficient by them to bring forth on all occasions so such as by frequent meditation have treasured up many precious truths have sufficient by them to produce for the benefit of those they converse withall Whereas others who have spent much time in reading and hearing and have not by meditation made it their own we see how barren they are I will meditate saith David of all thy works and talk of thy doings It is there observable how good conference follows upon holy meditation 5. Cheerfulness of Spirit To be much in Heaven by a frequent contemplation of things above will exceedingly cheer up our Spirits and make us walk comfortably For the proof hereof I dare appeal to the experience of any Heavenly-minded Christian. When is it that your hearts are most cheerfull but when you have been walking with God and beholding his face and looking to those things that are within the vail Certainly this will leave such a savour upon the heart of a Christian that he cannot but confess that one hour thus spent doth afford more true real joy and sweetness than all the riches and pleasures in the World Hereupon David cryed out How precious are thy thoughts unto me O God! As if he had said How delightful and comfortable are the thoughts that I have of thee yea saith he when I remember thee upon my bed and meditate on thee in the night watches my soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness And who is there that hath seriously experimented this divine exercise who doth not find abundance of sweetness and comfort in it Certainly no comfort no joy is to be compared with it No marvail then that many Christians walk so uncomfortably when they live at such a distance from Heaven Where is joy where is comfort but in Heaven Who are like to taste of these Heavenly comforts but those who go often thither Strangers shall not meddle with this joy How can Heaven be matter of joy to them who are never there nor consider the glorious things which God hath there prepared for those who love him 6. Another benefit of divine contemplation is a profitable improvement of time For thereby all the chinks and crevices of our time will be filled up There need be no vacuity when we have work that is so proper for every season yea and that will whet and quicken us to what ever other work God hath for us to do The most contemplative Christians are the most active Our holy thoughts will set us upon our holy work the thoughtless are usually the most fruitless of men 7. Victory over our lusts and corruptions is another benefit of divine contemplation It is recorded of Noah that though he lived in wicked and corrupt times yet he was a just and upright man The reason thereof is rendred in the next words He walked with God continually eying him and meditating of him By his frequent conversing with God he kept himself from the iniquities of the times as well as from the corruptions of his own heart And certainly there is no better preservative against sin than to have our minds and thoughts thus holily imployed about spiritual things For 1. By looking into our selves and considering our own hearts and wayes we discern the evils that are there we see such Worldliness and Covetousness in our hearts the very sight whereof will make us look the better to our selves 2. By spiritual meditation we come to have such an insight into the evil of sin the vanity of the Creature the folly of fleshly sensual delights that temptations unto sin will have the less power over us 3. Divine contemplation is a preservative against sin because it keeps the heart imployed When the heart is taken up with better things it hath no leisure to hearken to temptations no leisure to be lustfull and wanton to be Worldly or ambitious When we are idle and empty of God we are sure to be pestred with evil thoughts whilest we are well employed we are safe When the vessel is full you can put in no more And when the heart is filled with Heaven there is no room for Earth and vanity What 's the reason most mens hearts are so full of wicked wanton thoughts but because God is not in all their thoughts 4. Divine contemplation is a good preservative against sin in that our understandings are thereby cleared to judge rightly of our sinfull lusts and pleasures When a Christian hath been seriously musing either on those everlasting joys which are prepared for the Godly in Heaven or on those everlasting torments which are prepared for the wicked in hell what then are his apprehensions of his lusts and iniquities Oh how doth he befool himself for them when he sees what he is like to lose and suffer by them How could he even tear his very flesh and take revenge on himself for his earthly mindedness and fleshly pleasures for his mis-spent time that he hath so prodigally lavished and wofully wasted his golden and precious time in vanity and pleasure in sin and wickedness How verily doth he think there is no man in Bedlam so truly mad as they who for the short fruition of a momentary pleasure and delight here do plunge themselves into everlasting burnings in hell where is nothing but weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth CHAP. XXV Of Mortification ANother singular duty incumbent upon the Regenerate is To labour in the use of all good means for the mortification of the whole body of sin with all its affections and lusts especially those we feel most predominant in us True mortification extendeth it self to the whole of sin body and members root and branch even every sinfull lust Mortifie therefore your members which are upon the Earth saith the Apostle Where by Members on the Earth are meant the sinfull lusts and affections which are as the Members of that monstrous body of sin which is evident by the particular instances in the Words following namely Fornication uncleanness inordinate Affections and the like These must be mortified that is killed and destroyed The Regenerate by the Spirit of God are enabled as to restrain the actings of sin so by degrees to deaden the root Indeed this is not done to the uttermost while here we live I mean sin is not here so mortified and destroyed that it hath no residence nor activity in our hearts yet may it be so weakned and subdued as to lose its vigor power and strength and languish away more and more Though corruption keep possession in us after we are Regenerate yet hath it not dominion over us though we may be sins Captives yet shall we not be
oft-times ended in outward uncleanness and actual Adultery From the heart saith our Saviour proceed evil thoughts adulteries fornications c. Noting evil thoughts to be the cause of the uncleanness in the life In Athaliahs Massacre of the blood-royal young Ioash was hid in the bed-chamber there he was nurst and afterwards came to be King and ruled in the Throne Save any Lustfull thought nurse it in the bed-chamber of thy heart hide it there and it will in time come to be King and rule over thee So soon therefore as any lustful or exorbitant thoughts begin to arise in thine heart speedily reject the same quench the fire in the thatch crush the Cockatrice in the Egge stifle the first conception of sin Certainly as it is a dangerous neglect not to observe and embrace the first motions of Gods spirit in us so likewise not to take notice of the first thoughts and rising of sin in our hearts He who slights sinfull thoughts is in a fair way to sinfull actions They that are Christs saith the Apostle have Crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts The very affections and lusts of the flesh must be Crucified if we would prevent the works of the flesh IV. Sir up in thy self an earnest desire to have thy lusts mortified and subdued The reason why no more is done against sin is because we are too well contented to let it alone when nothing but the death of sin will satisfie thee thou wilt then use thy Weapons when once thou desirest in earnest the destruction of thine iniquities there 's hope they will not be long liv'd For God hath promised to satisfie the desire of those that fear him he will hear their groanings and deliver them Come unto me saith Christ all ye who labour and are heavy laden and I will give you case and rest Certainâ—y one special reason why many complain so much of the strength and prevalency of their corruptions is because they are not heartily willing to have them mortified and subdued They will indeed profess a willingness to part with their sins that they may be freed from the guilt of them and punishment due unto them but unwilling they are to part with the pleasure they find in them Thus Austin acknowledgeth of himself I prayed said he that my sins might be forgiven and mortified but yet I was afraid lâ—st my prayer should be heard and answered If therefore thou wouldst have thy sins mortified indeed stir up in thy self a willing mind thereunto V. Complain unto God of the prevalency of thy lusts and by prayer beg strength from him against the power of thâ—m From God it is that strength must be had it is his power alone that can support us against the power of sin And Prayer is the means of obtaining it This was the course that Paul took when he was troubled with that thorn in his flesh which expositors generally enterpret to be some strong motions and inclinations in him to some foul sin For this saith the text he besought the Lord thrice that is oftentimes And though he did not presently obtain a full deliverance yet did he receive strength sufficient to resist them so that he could not be overcome by them If we in like manner shall go unto God by prayer for his help laying open our condition and complaining to him thereof we shall for the present receive strength sufficient to resist and in Gods due time deliverance from our iniquities VI. Act faith in Christ for the mortifying thy sinfull lusts and corruptions To this end 1. Be sensible that thou art in thy sâ—â—f weak and unable to grapple with thy Lusts. Thou must despair of thine own strength ere thou wilt take hold on the strength of the Lord. Thou must be beaten out of thy self-confidence ere thou wilt go unto Christ. When thou seest thou art weak thou wilt turn to the strong hold 2. Bâ—lieve that Christ is able to succour and help thee In him doth all fullness dwell As he hath a fullness of grace in his heart so fullness of power in his hand whereby he is able to kill all thine enemies Sin is mighty but Christ is mightier The Devil is strong but Christ is stronger than he 3. Believe that Christ is as able so willing to subdue thine iniquities Thine enemies are his enemies and he will have their death if thou be a believer he hath undertaken for thee He is thy great High-Priest and thy Lord and King and hereupon not only by his mercifulness and kindness but by his office and interest he stands ingaged to pitty and relieve thee he will not be unfaithfull to his trust nor deaf to his own bowels which plead with him to save and help thee 4. By faith cast thy self upon Iesus Christ rest upon his power and goodness for his help and strength 'T is here in regard of Christs power as in regard of his promises As our resting and relying upon his promises in a time of danger and distress makes them our own So our resting and relying upon Christs power for help and support doth make it our own 5. By faith wait upon Christ in expectation of relief and succour against the working and stirring of thy corruptions Though relief come in but slowly from him yet wait for it because it will most surely come in the most seasonable time Hereby wilt thou ingage Christ to appear for thy help For as nothing doth more ingage the heart of a man to be helpfull to another than an expectation of help from him So certainly the raising up thine heart to an expectation of relief from Christ must needs be a great ingagement unto him to assist thee accordingly When Christ cured many of their bodily diseases and distempers while he lived upon the Earth we find their cure is still ascribed to their faith Now what was their faith They believed that Christ was both able and willing to cure them and thereupon with confidence went unto him for cure and so drew vertue from him accordingly This you may see in the poor Woman that had an issue of blood twelve years who came behind Christ and said If I may but touch the hem of his garment I shall be whole To whom Christ replyed Daughter be of good comfort thy faith hath made thee whole This is written as all other Scripture is for our learning to teach and instruct us what course to take for the curing of our spiritual maladies and diseases Hast thou any foul issue of Worldliness and Covetousness of pride or frowardness of passion or envy or the like running upon thee And wouldst thou be cured of them Do as that poor Woman did go unto Christ set thy faith at work on him believe his power and willingness let thy faith touch but the hem of his garment lay hold on him cast thy self on his blood and bowels wait at his door resolving not to return
offering up a Morning Sacrifice of Prayer and thanksgiving Lord we acknowledge our great unworthiness to come into thy presence to present our Prayers and supplications unto thee But though we are unworthy yet Christ is worthy We beseech thee therefore for his sake to look graciously upon us to pass by our unworthiness and to strengthen our weakness To this end as we draw near unto thee so be thou pleased to draw near unto us enabling us to pray as with humility and sincerity so with zeal and fervency of spirit and with faith in Jesus Christ looking for audience and acceptance in and thorow him Blessed Lord God we cannot but acknowledge thou didst at first create us in a blessed and happy estate even after thine own image endowing us with true knowledge holiness and righteousness But we soon fell from that state of innocency and blessedness in the loynes of our first Father Adam and implunged our selves with him into a dreadfull gulf of sin and misery For O Lord besides the guilt of Adams sin we have contracted from him a Mass of corruption which hath poysoned our very natures polluted and defiled all the faculties of our souls with all the parts and members of our bodies So that we may more truly in regard of our spiritual uncleanness cry out Vnclean Vnclean than the Leper under the Law in regard of his bodily uncleanness And O Lord to this corruption of our natures we have added many many actual sins of our own which as they have been hainous in their quality so in their number and multitude have far exceeded the hairs of our heads and the sands on the Sea-shore which cannot be numbred The which we have committed through the whole course of our lives from our infancy to this present time So that we are now grown old in sin and overgrown with corruption Though the time thou hast allotted us here to live is very little even as a moment to Eternity yet alas how little of this little have we lived to thee our God or to the good of our own souls having mis-spent the greatest part of our dayes in vanity and pleasure We have continued ignorant of thee how much means of knowledge have we had and yet how little knowledge have we gotten oh how little have we done for our souls or the other World We have not considered what is like to become of us hereafter How little care and pains have we taken to make sure for Eternity we have taken the course to undo our selves for ever We have broken every one of thy most holy and righteous Laws ten thousand thousand times Yea we have sinned against thy Gospel in slighting the offers of grace Though thou hast sent unto us Ambassadour after Ambassadour to wooe and beseech us to abandon our sins and to receive Jesus Christ yet alas how have we slighted thy messengers and turned a deaf ear to all thy gracious invitations Though we are willing to take Christ for our Saviour to preserve us from hell and damnation yet alas how unwilling are we to take him for our Lord and King to yield obedience and subjection unto him Lord we cannot but acknowledge our great unthankfulness under those manifold favours and mercies thou hast in a plentiful measure conferred on us as also our unprofitableness under thy Fatherly chastisâ—ments laid upon us in love and for our good our discontentedness at our present state and condition And oh how careless and negligent have we been in the discharge of the duties of our places callings and relations Oh the multitude of worldly and covetous thoughts of proud and ambitious thoughts of wicked and prophane thoughts of wanton and unclean thoughts yea and of blasphemous and atheistical thoughts that lodge in the hearts of most of us and there revel it day and night And O Lord we cannot but acknowledge the deadness of our hearts the distractions of our minds in the performing holy duties We are active and lively about our worldly businesses but oh how dull and flat are we in our religious exercises praying as if we prayed not and hearing as if we heard not Lord make us truly apprehensive of our sins and misery that we may humble our selves under a sense of them and turn unto thee by true and unfained repentance Turn us O God and we shall be turned draw us and we will run after thee And O Lord whilest we are returning unto thee meet us we pray thee in the way and like a tender Father embrace us with the arms of thy mercy Our sins we confess are many and hainous yet we know and believe thy mercies are far more and the merits of Jesus Christ are far greater and therefore we are resolved to adventure our souls as upon the mercies of theâ— our God so upon the merits of Jesus Christ into whose arms we here cast our selves Oh be pleased to make us partakers both of the merit of Christs death in freeing us from the guilt of sin and of the virtue of Christs death in freeing us from the power and dominion of sin that it may not rule and raign in us as formerly Lord work in us a loathing and a true hatred of every sin especially of such we have been most addicted to and have most delighted in To this end convince us what a folly yea madness it is for the short fruition of a momentany pleasure here to implunge our selves into everlasting burnings Oh convert every unconverted soul among us bring us to Christ make us adventurers for the other World let us be resolved henceforth for an holy and righteous life instruct us in thy wayes and teach us thy Sâ—atutes Break the power of our sins subdue our rebellion and make us willing to be the Lord's Change our evil natures and give us another Spirit Help us sincerâ—ly to choose thee as our portion to love and fear and trust in thee and to walk humbly with thee all the dayes of our life Help us to set our affections on things abovâ— and no longer on this earth let us dye daily to sin and this World let us exercise our selvâ—s in keeping a good Consâ—iâ—nce towards God and men let us work out our Salvation with fear and trembling and give all diligence to make our calling and election sure and let not our labour herein be in vain Keep us O Lord from our iniquities keep us from the way of lying from all unrighteous and unjust dealing from wrath and evil speaking let us be true temperate peaceable and mercifull as the children of our heavenly Father Help us to be serious and savoury and tender and watchfull and hold us on constantly in our holy course to the end of our dayes Lord take us into thy keeping and protection this day keep us from all danger especially from sinning against thee To this end make us watchfull both against the occasions of sins and temptations thereunto Keep us we pray thee
7.22 He delighteth in the Law of God after the inward man Q. What other Grace doth the Gospel require besides faith A. Repentance Mat. 3 2. and 4.17 Q What is Repentance A. Repentance is such a change of the heart as causeth a new Life Repentance chiefly consisteth in the change of the mind and heart of a man As for the new life it is an effect and evidence of the new heart A new heart causeth a new life The outward change and renovation of a mans life is necessary For Repentance must be in the whole man and this latter giveth evidence to the truth of the former And where the former is there the latter will also be where there is a renewed heart there will be a reformed life For the soul hath an absolute command over the body and the body is wholy governed by the soul. Q Whence ariseth Repentance A. 1. From a sight and sense of sin with sorrow for it 2. From a faith of the pardon of sin I. By sight of sin is meant both a general and also a paricular knowledge of sin First A general knowledge of the nature of it what it is and of the loathsome properties of it how ugly and odious it maketh us in the pure eyes of God and of the fearful effects of it which are all miseries in this life a cursed death and eternal damnation Secondly A particular knowledge of our own sins Not only of those sins which are common to the nature of all men as Original corruption proneness to evil dulness to good c. But also of such particular Lusts as we feel warring in our members and such actual sins as we have committed in our lives As he that said I was a blaspheamer and a persecutor and an oppressor 1 Tim. 1.13 By sense of sin is meant a spiritual feeling of the wofull plight and condition wherein we lye by reason of sin When inwardly in our souls and consciences we are touched and wounded for our sins II. Faith concerning the pardon of sin is that which most kindly and effectually bringeth a man to Repentance The forementioned sight and sense of sin and sorrow for sin are excellent means to work in a man an hatred of sin and to make him wish he had never committed it yea and to make him think of turning from sin But faith in the pardon of sin whereby the soul is perswaded that all sins past shall be fully forgiven to him that repenteth and turneth from sin is a strong Motive to draw him from his former wicked courses And the Repentance that is by faith in Gods mercy wrought is most kindly wrought For faith as it apprehends pardon of sin most freely through Gods mercy in Christ Jesus so it works repentance by way of gratitude because it is pleasing and acceptable to God to turn from sin and because the good God is displeased and dishonoured by committing sin and continuing therein Q What are the outward Means appointed by God for the working and strengthning of faith repentance and other graces in us A. The Ordinances of God especially the Word Sacraments and Prayer The Ministry of the Word is the most necessary both for the working and encreasing faith and other graces That which the Apostle saith of faith That it cometh by hearing may bâ— applyed to all other graces They come by hearing the Word Preached And to shew that by it grace also is nourished The Apostle Peter exhorteth To desire the sincere milk of the Word that they may grow thereby 1 Pet. 2.2 How doth it then concern us as to give diligent heed to the Ministry of the Word So to mix faith with our hearing as by giving credence to what is delivered out of the Word of God so by applying to our selves those truths which the Word revealeth Q. What is a Sacrament A. An holy Ordinance instituted by Christ wherein by outward signs inward grace is signified and sealed So that there are three things necessary to the making up of a Sacrament 1. An outward sign 2. An inward or spiritual grace 3. Christs Instituiton Q. How many Sacraments are there A. Two only Baptism and the Lords Supper As the Jews of old had two ordinary Sacraments which were circumcision and the Passeover So Christians now have two such as answer to them Baptism to Circumcision Col. 3.11 12. The Lords Supper to the Passeover Luk. 22.15 c. Q. What is Baptism A. A Sacrament wherein by the washing with water in the name of the Faâ—her the Son and the Holy Ghost our Regâ—neration is signified and sealed In that Baptism is a Sacrament of our Regeneration it sheweth 1. That by nature we are born in a cursed condition who have therefore need to be new-born assoon as we are born Regeneration is so absolutely necessary to our Salvation as without it we cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven Iob. 3.3 2. That Baptism is a means of our Regeneration Gods Spirit in and by that Ordinance worketh this great work In which respect we are said to be born of water and of the Spirit Joh. 3.5 yet is not every one that is baptized really and inwardly regenerated It is not the bare washing with water but the working of the Spirit thereby by which we are Regenerated And the Spirit is a free agent and worketh when and upon whom it listeth Ioh. 3.8 Q. What is the outward sign in Baptism A. Water Act. 8.36 There is nothing so fit to set out our cleansing from sin as Water whereby that which is filthy is clean Q What is the inward thing signified by Water in Baptism A. The Blood of Christ. In relation hereunto Christ is said to have washed us from our sins in his blood Rev. 1.5 As Water hath a cleansing vertue so also hath Christs blood The blood of Iesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin 1 Joh. 1.7 Q. What is the Lords Supper A. A Sacrament of our spiritual nourishment wherein by receiving Bread and Wine according to Christs institution our communion with Christ is reprâ—sented and sealed The Lords Supper is addâ—d to Baptism as a needfull means to maintain that life of God which is begotten in us Q. What are the outward signs in the Lords Supper A. Bread and Wine Mat. 26.26 Q. What doth the Sacramental bread set out A. The body of Christ. This is evident by Christs own words who holding bread in his hands saith of it This is my body Matth. 26.26 that is by way of representation as if he had said This bread representeth my body Q. What doth Sacramental Wine set out A. The blood of Christ. This is evident by the words of institution where Christ holding the Cup that had the Wine in it and speaking of the Wine therein he saith This is my blood Mat. 26.27 Q What is signified by the Ministers breaking the bread A. That Christ was broken with torments for our sins The Apostle in 1 Cor. 11.24 Thus