^ " Fcfellit judicium raltestinum, propterea ibi videtur purgatus; Eomanam vcro ec- clcsiam, ubi eum esse notissimum scitis fallere usque quaque non potuit, quamvis et hoc fuerit utrumque conatus. Tanto judices fefellit occultius, quaiito expoiiit ista versu- tius." — August. Lib. de Peccat. Grig. cap. IG.
2 Samuel Parker; see page 121 of this vol. — Ed.
214 WOKK OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE [bOOK III.
And great variety there is, also^ in the perception and understanding of the work itself in them in whom it is wrought, for in itself it is secret and hidden, and is no other ways discoverable but in its causes and effects; for as "the wind bloweth Avhere it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth, so is every one that is born of the Spirit," John iii. 8.
In the minds and consciences of some, this is made known by in- fallible signs and tokens. Paul knew that Christ was formed and revealed in himself, Gal. i. 15, 16. So he declared that whoever is in Christ Jesus " is a new creature," 2 Cor. v. 1 7, — that is, is born again, — whether they know themselves so to be or no. And many are in the dark as to their own condition in this matter all their days ; for they " fear the LoED, and obey the voice of his servant" (Christ Jesus), and yet " walk in darkness, and have no light," Isa. 1. 10. They are " children of light," Luke xvi. 8, John xii. 36, Eph. v. 8, 1 Thess. v. 5 ; and yet " walk in darkness, and have no light : " which expres- sions have been well used and improved by some, and by others of late derided and blasphemed. ; And there is great variety in the carrying on of this work towards
f perfection, — in the groiuth of the new creature, or the iilcrease of grace implanted in our natures by it: for some, through the supplies of the Spirit, make a great and speedy progress towards perfection, others thrive slowly and bring forth little fruit; the causes and occa- sions whereof are not here to be enumerated. But notwithstanding all differences in previous dispositions, in the application of out- ward means, in the manner of it, ordinary or extraordinary, in the consequents of much or less fruit, the work itself in its own nature is of the same kind, one and the same. The elect of God were not re-
; generate one way, by one kind of operation of the Holy Spirit, under the Old Testament, and those under the New Testament [by] another. They who were miraculously converted, as Paul, or who upon their conversion had miraculous gifts bestowed on them, as had multitudes of the primitive Christians, were no otherwise regenerate, nor by any other internal efficiency of the Holy Spirit, than every one is at this day who is really made partaker of this grace and privilege. Neither were those miraculous operations of the Ploly Spirit which were visi- ble unto others any part of the work of regeneration, nor did they belong necessarily unto it; for many were the subjects of them, and received miraculous gifts by them, who were never regenerate, and many were regenerate who were never partakers of them. And it is a fruit of the highest ignorance and unacquaintedness imaginable with these things, to affirm that in the Avork of regeneration the Holy Spirit wrought of old miraculously, in and by outwardly visible
CHAP. I.] NEW CREATION BY REGENERATION. 215
operations, but now only in a human and rational way, leading our understanding by the rules of reason, unless the mere external mode and sign of his operation be intended: for all ever were, and ever shall be, regenerate by the same kind of operation, and the same effect of the Holy Spirit on the faculties of their souls ; which will be farther manifest if Ave consider, —
1. That the condition of all men, as unregenerate, is absolutely the same. One is not by nature more unregenerate than another. All men since the fall, and the corruption of our nature by sin, are in the same state and condition towards God. They are all alike alie- nated from him, and all alike under his curse, Ps. li. 5 ; John iii. 5, 36; Rom. iii. 19, v. 15-18; Eph. ii. 3; Tit. iii. 3, 4. There are degrees of wickedness in them that are unregenerate, but there is no difference as to state and condition between them, — all are unrege- nerate alike; as amongst those who are regenerate there are diffe- rent degrees of holiness and righteousness, one, it may be, far ex- ceeding another, yet there is between them no difference of state and condition, — they are all equally regenerate. Yea, some may be in a greater forwardness and preparation for the work itself, and thereby in a greater nearness to the state of it than others ; but the state it- self is incapable of such degrees. Now, it must be the same work, for the kind and nature of it, which relieves and translates men out of the same state and condition. That which gives the formal rea- son of the change of their state, of their translation from death to life, is and must be the same in all. If you can fix on any man, from the foundation of the world, who was not equally born in sin, and by nature dead in trespasses and sins, with all other men, the man Christ Jesus only excepted, I would grant that he might have another kind of regeneration than others have, but that I know he would stand in need of none at all.