rit, because God makes it fpring up, and grow upon thy duties. Secondly, Take this as a fure rule, Whatfoever rifes from felf, always aims at, and terminates in felf. This ftream cannot be carried higher than the fountain; if therefore thy aim, and end in striving for affections and enlargements in duty, be only to win applaufe from men, and appear to be what in reality thou art not, this, indeed, is the fruit of nature, and a very corrupt and hypocritical nature; but if thy heart be melted, or defire to be melted in the fenfe of the evil of fin, in order to the farther mortification of it; and, under the apprehenfions of the free grace and mercy of God in the pardon of fin, in order to the engaging of thy foul more firmly to him; if these, or fuch like, be thy ends and defigns, or be promoted and furthered by thine enlargements and fpiritual comforts, never reject them as the mere fruits of nature: A carnal root cannot bring forth fuch fruits as these.

Object. 3. Upon the contrary, fpiritual deadnefs, and indifpofednels to duties, and to thofe efpecially which are more fecret, fpiritual, and felf-denying than others, is the ground upon which many fpiritual fouls, who are yet truly gracious, do doubt the indwelling of the Spirit in them. O, faith fuch a foul, if the Spirit of God be in me, Why is it thus? Could my heart be fo dead, fo backward and averfe to fpiritual duties? No; thefe things would be my meat and my drink, the delights and pleasures of my life.

Sol. First, Thefe things indeed are very fad, and argue thy heart to be out of frame, as the body is, when it cannot relish the most defirable meats or drinks: But the question will be, how thy foul behaves itself in fuch a condition as this is? whether this be eafy or burdenfome to be borne by thee? and if thou complain under it as a burden; then what pains thou takeft to cafe thyfelf, and get rid of it?

Secondly, Know alfo, that there is a great difference betwixt fpiritual death, and fpiritual deadness; the former is the state of the unregenerate, the latter is the difeafe and complaint of many thoufand regenerate fouls: If David had not felt it as well as thee, he would never have cried out nine times in the compafs of one Pfalm, Quicken me, quicken me. Besides,

Thirdly, Though it be often, it is not so always with thee; there are feasons wherein the Lord breaks in upon thy heart, enlarges thy affections, and fets thy foul at liberty; to which times thou wilt do well to have an eye, in thefe dark and cloudy days.

Object. 4. But the Spirit of God is the comforter, as well as a fanc

He who inclines to that which is good, and is averse to that which is evil, has a defire of pleafing God, though fometimes, being feduced by evil concupiffence, through infirmity he may commit that which is difpleafing to God. Daven,

*

tifier: He doth not only enable men to believe, but after they be * lieve, he also feals them, Eph. i. 13. But I walk in darknefs, and am a ftranger to the fealing and comforting work of the Spirit: How therefore can I imagine the Spirit of God fhould dwell in me, who go from day to day in the bitternefs of my foul, mourning as without the fun?

Sol. There is a two-fold fealing, and a two-fold comfort: The Spirit fealeth both objectively, in the work of fanctification; and formally, in giving clear evidence of that work. Thou mayeft be fealed in the firft, whilft thou art not yet fealed in the fecond fenfe: If To, thy condition is fafe, although it be at present uncomforta ble. And, as to comfort, that alfo is of two forts, viz. feminal, or actual: in the root, or in the fruit; Light is fown for the righteous, Pfal. xcvii. 11. though the harveft to reap and gather in that joy and comfort be not yet come. And there are many other ways befide that of joy and comfort, whereby the indwelling of the Spirit may evidence itself in thy foul: If he do not enable thee to rejoice, yet if he enable thee fincerely to mourn for fin; if he do not enlarge thy heart in comfort, yet if he humble and purge thy heart by forrows; if he deny thee the aurance of faith, and yet give thee the dependence of faith, thou haft no reason to call in question, or deny the indwelling of the Spirit in thee for that cause.

Object. 5. But the apoftle faith, "They that walk in the Spi"rit, do not fulfil the lufts of the fleth," Gal. v. 16. but I find myfelf entangled, and frequently overcome by them: Therefore I doubt the Spirit of God is not in me.

Sol. It is poffible the ground of your doubting may be your miftake of the true fenfe and meaning of that fcripture: It is not the apoftle's meaning in that place, that fin in believers doth not work, tempt, and oftentimes overcome, and captivate them; for then he would contradict himself in Rom. vii. 23. where he thus complains, "But I fee another law in my members, warring against "the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law "of fin which is in my members." But two things are meant by that expreffion, "Ye fhall not fulfil the lufts of the flesh."

First, That the principle of grace will give a check to fin in its firft motions, and caufe it to mifcarry in the womb, like an untimely birth, before it come to its full maturity; it fhall never be able to gain the full confent of the will, as it doth in the unrege

nerate.

Secondly, If, notwithstanding all the oppofition grace makes to hinder the birth or commiffion of it, it doth yet prevail, and break forth into act; yet fuch acts of fin, as they are not committed without regret, fo they are followed with fhame, forrow, and true VOL. II. X x

repentance: And thofe very furprifals, and captivities of fin at one time, are made cautions and warnings to prevent it at another time. If it be fo with thee, thou doft not fulfil the lufts of the flesh.

And now, reader, upon the whole, if upon examination of thy heart by these rules, the Lord fhall help thee to difcern the faving work of the Spirit upon thy foul, and thereby thine interest in Chrift, What a happy man or woman art thou! what pleasure will arife to thy foul from fuch a difcovery! Look upon the frame of thine heart abfolutely as it is in itfelf at prefent, or comparatively, with what once it was, and others ftill are, and thou wilt find enough to transport and melt thy heart within thee: Certainly this is the moft glorious piece of workmanfhip that ever God wrought in the world upon any man, Eph. ii. 10. The Spirit of God is come down from heaven, and hath hallowed thy foul to be a temple for himfelf to dwell in; as he hath faid, "I will dwell in them, and walk " in them, and I will be their God, and they fhall be my people,” 2 Cor. vii. 16. Moreover, this gift of the Spirit is a fure pledge and earneft of thy future glory: Time was, when there was no fuch work upon thy foul. And, confidering the frame and temper of it, the total averfation, ftrong oppofition, and rooted enmity that was in it; it is the wonder of wonders, that ever fuch a work as this fhould be wrought upon fuch a heart as thine: that ever the Spirit of God, whofe nature is pure and perfect holiness, should chufe fuch an unclean, polluted, abominable heart to frame an ha bitation for himself there to dwell in; to fay of thy foul (now his fpiritual temple) as he once faid of the material temple at Jerufalem, Pfal. cxxxii. 13, 14. "The Lord hath chofen it, he hath de"fired it for his habitation. This is my reft for ever: Here will « Tdwell; for I have defired it.” O what hath God done for thy foul!

Think, reader, and think again : Are there not many thousands in the world of more ingenuous, fweet, and amiable difpofitions than thyfelf, whom yet the Spirit of God paffeth by, and leaveth them as tabernacles for Satan to dwell in? Such a one thou lately waft, and hadft ftill remained, if God had not wrought for thee, beyond all the expectations and defires of thine own heart. O blefs God that you have received not the fpirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that ye might know the things which are freely given unto you of God.

SERMON XXV.

Of the Nature and Neceffity of the NEW CREATURE.

2 COR. v. 17.

Therefore if any man be in Chrift, he is a new creature: old things are paffed away; behold, all things are become new.

You

OU have seen one trial of an interest in Christ, in our last discourse, namely, by the donation of the Spirit. We have here another trial of the fame matter, from one of the greatest, and most noble effects of the Spirit upon our fouls; namely, his work of renovation, or new creation: « If any man be in Chrift, he is a new "creature." The apoftle's fcope in the immediate context, is to diffuade Christians from a carnal, finful partiality, in their refpects to men: Not to defpife them after the manner of the world, according to the external differences, but the real internal worth and excellency that is in men. This the apoftle preffes by two arguments; one drawn from the end of Chrift's death, ver. 15. which was to take off from these selfish designs and carnal ends by which the whole world is fwayed. Secondly, From the new Spirit, by which believers are actuated: they that are in Christ are to judge and measure all things by a new rule: "If any man be in Chrift, "he is a new creature: Old things are paffed away;" q. d. we have done with that low, selfish spirit of the world, which was wholly governed by carnal intereft; we are now to judge by a new rule, to be actuated from a new principle, aim at a new and more noble end; “Behold, all things are become new." In these words we have three general parts, to be distinctly confidered, viz.

1. The great question to be determined, "If any man be in "Chrift?"

2. The rule by which it may be determined, viz. " he is a new "creature."

3. This general rule more particularly explained, "Old things "are paffed away; behold, all things are become new."

First, We have here the great queftion to be determined, Whether a man be in Chrift? A queftion upon the determination whereof, we must stand, or fall for ever. By [being in Chrift the apoftle doth not here mean the general profeffion of Chriftianity, which gives a man the reputation of an intereft in him; but by being in Chrift, he means an intereft in him, by vital union with his perfon, and real participation of his benefits. Now this is the queftion to be determined, the matter to be tried; than which,

nothing can be more folemn and important in the whole world. Secondly, The rule by which this great queftion may be determined, viz. The new creation; If any man be in Christ, he is a new "creature." By this rule all the titles and claims made to Chrift in the profeffing world, are to be examined. [If any man] be he what he will, high or low, great or small, learned or illiterate, young or old, if he pretend intereft in Chrift, this is the ftandard by which he must be tried: if he be in Christ, he is a new creature; and if he be not a new creature, he is not in Chrift, let his endowments, gifts, confidence, and reputation be what they will: [A new creature] not new phyfically, he is the fame perfon he was; but a new creature, that is, a creature renewed by gracious principles, newly infufed into him from above, which fway him and guide him in another manner, and to another end than ever he acted before; and thefe gracious principles not being educed out of any thing which was pre-exiftent in man, but infufed de novo, from above, are therefore called, in this place, a new creature: This is the rule by which our claim to Chrift muft be determined.

Thirdly, This general rule is here more particularly explained; "Old things are paffed away; behold, all things are become "new." He satisfies not himself to lay down this rule concisely, or express it in general terins, by telling us, the man in Christ must be a new creature; but more particularly, he fhews us what this new creature is, and what the parts thereof are, viz. Both

1. The privative part; "Old things are paffed away.”

2. The pofitive part thereof; "All things are become new." By old things, he means all thofe carnal principles, felf-ends, and flethly lufts belonging to the carnal ftate, or the old man: all thefe are paffed away; "not fimply, and perfectly, but only in "part at prefent, and wholly in hope and expectation hereafter.” So much briefly of the privative part of the new creature, "Old "things are paffed away." A word or two must be spoken of the pofitive part; "All things are become new." He means not that the old faculties of the foul are abolished, and new ones created in their room; but as our bodies may be faid to be new bodies, by reafon of their new endowments and qualities fuper-induced, and beftowed upon them in their refurrection, fo our fouls are now renewed by the infufion of new gracious principles into them, in the work of regeneration. Thefe two parts, viz. the privative part, the paffing away of old things; and the pofitive part, the renewing of all things, do, betwixt them, comprize the whole nature of fanctification, which, in other fcriptures, is expreffed by equiva lent phrafes; fometimes by putting off the old, and putting on

• Non fimpliciter, et perfecte, fed partim fpe. Eftius in loc,