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matter of exhortation, and thus indeed proves that there is a view in which it may be considered as a duty incumbent upon us (as when Moses said, Circumcise the fore-skin of your heart*; and Jeremiah, in imitation of him, Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, and take away the fore-skin of your heart;) so here it is put in the form of a promise, to signify that wherever it was done, it was in consequence of God's preventing and assisting grace.On the same principle, the Father promises to Christ, Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power: And if any pretend that these words may possibly admit of another version, though I know none more just than this, there are many other parallel places which are not attended with any ambiguity at all. Such, in particular, is that gracious promise, which, though it was immediately Made to the house of Israel, is never. theless quoted by the apostles as expressive of God's gospel covenant with all believers; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people §: Or as it is elsewhere expressed by the same prophet Jeremiah, I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me for ever; and I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.-And Ezekiel echoes back the same language by the same Spirit; I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh; that they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them; which is afterwards repeated again almost in the same words; A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh; and I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them**.-Now such a transformation of the heart and spirit as may be represented by a thorough renovation, or by changing stone into flesh, speaks the doctrine I am asserting in as plain terms as we could contrive or express, and beautifully points out at once the greatness and excellency of the change, and the almighty power by which it is effected; for we may assure ourselves God would never promise such influences, if he did not really mean to impart them. But again,

*Deut. x. 16.
+ Jer. iv. 4.
Jer. xxxii. 39, 40. Ezek. xi. 19, 20.

Psal. cx. 3. § Jer. xxxi. 33. Heb. viii. 10. ** Ezek. xxxvi. 26. 27.

2. Agreeably to the tenor of these promises, the scripture also ascribes this work to a divine agency, when it is affected."

Thus the apostle John, when he is speaking of those who on receiving Christ become the sons of God, declares concerning them that they Were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God*; plainly intimating that it was to him, and not only or chiefly to themselves or others, that this happy change was to be ascribed; which is well explained by those words of St. James, in which he says, Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first-fruits of his creaturest. Accordingly our Lord, as you have heard at large, insists upon it as absolutely necessary to a man's Entering into the kingdom of God, not only that he should be born again, but more particularly that he should be born of the spirit, i. e. by the sanctifying influence of the spirit of God operating upon his soul, to purify and cleanse it.-And as this great work of regeneration chiefly consists in being brought to faith and repentance, you may observe, that each of these are spoken of as a divine production in the mind, or as the gift of God to it. Thus the believing Jews, with one consent, expressed their conviction when they heard the story of Cornelius, and declare, Then has God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life§. And so the apostle Paul expresses it, when speaking of the possibility that some might be Recovered out of the snare of the devil, he says, If God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth. That very attention to the gospel, which is the first step towards the production of faith in the soul, is resolved into this, when it is said, that The Lord opened Lydia's heart, that she attended to the things which were spoken by Paul ¶. And with regard to the progress of it, it is not only said in general, You hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins, but faith expressly declared to be the gift of God **; and the apostle says to the Philippians, that it was Given to them to believe ++: Nay, it is represented as a most glorious and illustrious effort of divine power, and ascribed to The exceeding greatness of his power towards them that believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead‡‡.—And in this view it is, that this change is called a new creation §§: plainly implying, as

*John i. 13.

2 Tim. ii. 25, 26. Eph. i. 19, 20.

† Jam. i. 18.
Acts xvi. 14.
§§ 2 Cor. v. 17.

+ John iii. 3, 5.
** Ephes. ii. 1, 8.

Acts xi. 18. tt Phil. i. 29.

a celebrated writer well expresses it, "that something must here be done in us, and for us, which cannot be done by us." Wherefore it is said, that The new man is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him; and We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works: Not to insist upon the great variety of parallel passages in which the same thoughts are expressed almost in the very same words. But he indeed who would reckon up all the scriptures, both in the Old and New Testament, which directly or indirectly refer to this, must transcribe a larger part of both than would be convenient to read at one time in a worshipping assembly.-But we may further, by a very strong consequence, infer the doctrine I am now maintaining from those various passages of the sacred writers, in which,

3. "The increase of piety, in an heart already regenerated, is spoken of as the work of God."

Thus David, even when he felt himself disposed to the most vigorous prosecution of religion, solemnly declares his dependance upon continued divine influences to enable him to execute the holy purpose he was then most affectionately forming: I will run the way of thy commandments, says he, when thou shalt enlarge my heart, or when thou shalt influence it with a steady principle of zeal, and with those devout passions which may make every branch of my duty easy and delightful. And the apostle Paul declares his persuasion that God would continue those gracious influences which he had already imparted: He that has begun a good work in you, will perform it until the day of Jesus Christs. And when he speaks of the ardent desire with which christians were aspiring towards a better world, he adds, He that hath wrought us for the self-same thing, is God. Thus also he ascribes his continued fidelity in the ministry to the grace of God that was with him, As being one that had obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful¶; And By the grace of God, says he, I am what I am; and if I have laboured more abundantly than others, it is not I, but the grace of God which was with me**: On the same principle he acknowledges, that the success of Apollos in watering, as well as his own in planting, was to be referred to this, that God gave the increase, in the one case as well as the other††. And he concludes his

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epistle to the Hebrews with this remarkable prayer; The God of peace make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ -But indeed, as every prayer that the apostles offer for any of their christian brethren and friends, that they may grow in grace, might be urged for the illustration of this head, I choose rather to refer the rest to your own observation on this general hint, than to enter into a more particular enumeration. I shall only add, to complete the argument,

4. That the scripture often declares "the necessity as well as the reality of such influences, and refers the ruin of man to this circumstance, that God, in his righteous judgment, had withheld or withdrawn them."

When Moses would upbraid the obstinacy of the Israelites, that all the profusion of wonders wrought for them in Egypt and in the wilderness had not produced any suitable impressions; so much was he accustomed to think of every thing good, in the moral, as well as in the natural world, as the gift of God, that he uses this remarkable expression: Yet the Lord hath not given you a heart to perceive, and eyes to see, and ears to hear, unto this day+.—And our Lord, the propriety of whose expressions surely none can arraign, speaks to the same purpose, when adoring the divine conduct with respect to the dispensation of saving light and of gospel blessings, he says, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. If some of the plainest and lowest of the people, who were in comparison to others but as little children, understood and received the gospel, while the learned men and politicians of the age despised it, God revealed it to the former, while he suffered the veil of prejudice to remain on the mind of the latter, though his almighty hand could easily have removed it. Those other words of our Lord must not be omitted here, in which he says, No man can come unto me, except the Father, which hath sent me, draw him§; And what this drawing of the Father means, he himself has explained by saying, No man can come unto me, except it be given him of my Father||; and elsewhere he expresses it by Learning of the Father; all which must undoubtedly signify a divine agency and influence on the

*Heb. xiii. 20, 21.
§ John vi. 44.

Deut. xxix. 4. || Ver. 65.

Matt. xi. 25, 26. ¶ Ver. 45.

mind.-Nay, a more forcible expression than this, is made use of by the Evangelist, where he takes notice of the unbelief of those that saw the miracles of Christ, Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said, he has blinded their eyes, and hardened their hearts*: Which is agreeable to that expression of the apostle Paul, He has mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth+: A thought which the apostle pursues at large through the following verses.

These, to be sure, are very emphatical scriptures: And though it is necessary to understand them in such a qualified sense as to make them consistent with other scriptures, which charge men's destruction, not on any necessitating decree of God, but upon themselves, and the abuse of their own faculties; yet still these expressions must stand for something; and in the most moderate sense that can be put upon them, they directly confirm what I have here brought them to prove. So that on the whole, the matter must come to this, "That the eause of men's final and everlasting ruin may be referred, in one view of it, to God's withholding those gracious influences, which if they had been imparted, would indeed have subdued the greatest perverseness: But his withholding these influences is not merely an arbitrary act, but the just punishment of men's wickedness, and of their obstinate folly in trifling with the means of his grace, and grieving his Spirit till it was provoked to withdraw." This thought, which I might largely prove to you to be a compendium of the scripture scheme, reconciles all; and any consequences drawn from one part of that scheme to the denial of the other, how plausible soever, must certainly be false.

I hope what I have here said may be sufficient to fix a conviction in your judgments and consciences, "that regeneration is ultimately to be referred to a divine influence upon the soul;" or, as the apostle expresses it in the text, that God saves us of his mercy, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour.

I shall conclude with two or three reflections, which though so exceeding obvious, I shall touch upon, in regard to their great importance, without offering, as I might, to dilate on each of them at large.

[1.] Let those who have experienced this divine change in their souls give God the glory of it.

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