in Scripture; and therefore takes not away their obli gation to duty. See an address, where the strongest metaphors are retained, the exhortation given in these very terms, and the foundation of the duty plainly pointed out" Wherefore he saith, awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light." From which it is very plain, that the moral inability under which sinners now lie, as a consequence of the fall, is not of such a nature as to take away the guilt of sin, the propriety of exhortations to duty, or the necessity of endeavours after recovery.

But what shall we say? Alas! the very subject we are now speaking of, affords a new proof of the blindness, prejudice, and obstinacy of sinners. They are self-condemned; for they do not act the same part in similar cases. The affairs of the present life are not managed in so preposterous a manner. He that ploughs his ground, and throws in his seed, cannot so much as unite one grain to the clod; nay, he is not able to conceive how it is done. He cannot carry on, nay, he cannot so much as begin one single step of this wonderful process toward the subsequent crop; the mortification of the seed, the resurrection of the blade, and gradual increase, till it come to perfect maturity. Is it, therefore, reasonable that he should say, "I for my part can do nothing; it is, first and last, an effect of divine power and energy; and God can as easily raise a crop without sowing as with it, in a single instant and in any place, as in a long time by the mutual influence of soil and season; I will therefore spare myself the hardship of toil and labour, and wait with patience till I see what he will be pleased to send? Would this be madness? Would it be universally reputed so? And would it not be equal madness to turn the grace of God into licentiousness? Believe it, the warning is equally reasonable and equally necessary, in spiritual as in temporal

things; "Be not deceived, God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to the flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit, shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting."

CHAPTER II

Wherein this change doth properly and directly consist, and what are its principal evidences and fruits..

SECTION 1. Wherein the change in regeneration doth properly and directly consist.

I have hitherto, by general remarks, endeavoured to caution the reader against taking up with erroneous and defective views of the nature of religion. We' now proceed a step farther: and I would willingly point out, in as distinct a manner as I am able, what is the change which is wrought in all, without exception, who are the real children of God, by whatever means it is brought about; what it is in the temper and disposition, in the life and practice, which constitutes the difference between one who " is," and one who is "not born again." The different steps by which this change, may be effected in the sovereign providence of God, and the different degrees of perfection at which it may arrive, I purposely omit here, and reserve as the subject of a distinct head of discourse.

That we may enter on the subject with the greater perspicuity and simplicity, it will be proper to begin with observing, that the design and purpose of this change is to repair the loss which man sustained by the fall. Man, at his first creation, was made after the image of God, in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, and enjoyed uninterrupted fellowship and communion with him. He was not only subservient to the divine glory, by a natural and necessary subjection to the divine dominion, which all creatures are, have been, and ever will be, but by choice and inclination, his duty and delight being invariably the same. By the fall he became not only obnoxious to the divine displeasure, by a single act of transgression, but diso

bedient to the divine will in his habitual and prevailing inclination. This is the character given, not of one man only, but of the human race: "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

He became, at the same time, not only unworthy of, but wholly disinclined to communion with God, and habitually disposed to prefer the creature before the Creator, who is "God blessed for evermore" In regeneration, therefore, the sinner must be restored to the image of God, which, in a created nature, is but another expression for obedience to his will. He must also be restored to the exercise of love to him, and find his happiness and comfort in him. His habitual temper, his prevailing disposition, or that which hath the ascendency, must be the same that was perfect and without mixture before the fall, and shall be made equally, or perhaps more perfect in heaven, after death.

As the change must be entire and universal, corresponding to the corruption of the whole man it is not unusual to say it may be fully comprehended in the three following things, giving a new direction to the understanding, the will, and the affections. And no doubt, with respect to every one of these, there is a remarkable and sensible change. But as the understanding is a natural faculty, which becomes good or evil just as it is applied or employed, it would be scarce possible to illustrate the change in it without introducing, at the same time, a view of the disposition and tendency of the heart and affections. As, therefore, the change is properly of a moral or spiritual nature, it seems to me properly and directly to consist in these two things: 1. That our supreme and chief end be to serve and glorify God, and that every other aim be subordinate to this. 2. That the soul rest in God as its chief happiness, and habitually prefer his favour to

every other enjoyment. These two particulars I shall now endeavour to illustrate a little, in the order in which I have named them.

1. Our supreme and chief end must be to serve and glorify God, and every other aim must be subordinate to this.

All things were originally made, and are daily preserved for, nay, they shall certainly in the issue tend to the glory of God; that is, the excercise and illustration of divine perfection. With this great end of creation, the inclination and will of every intelligent creature ought to coincide. It is, according to Scripture and reason, the first duty of man to "give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name." This, I know, the world that lieth in wickedness can neither understand nor approve. "The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." The truth is, we ought not to be surprised to find it so, for in this the sin of man originally consisted, and in this the nature of all sin, as such doth still consist, namely, withdrawing the allegiance due to God, and refusing subjection to his will. The language of every unrenewed heart, and the language of every sinner's practice is, "Our lips are our own, who is lord over us?" But he that is renewed. and born again, hath seen his own entire dependence upon God, hath seen his Maker's right of dominion,. and the obligation upon all his creatures to be, in every respect, subservient to his glory, and, without reserve, submissive to his will. He hath seen this to be most fit and reasonable, because of the absolute perfection, and infinite excellence of the divine nature. He is convinced, that all preferring of our will to that of God, is a criminal usurpation by the creature, of the unalinable rights of the great Creator and sovereign Proprietor of all.

Regeneration, then, is communicating this new prin