of his glory, ye shall also sit upon twelve thrones." Here, in the regeneration must be connected with the following words, and by no means with those that go before. And that this was a common method of speaking among the Jews, appears from Josephus, "To those, says he, whose fate it is to die for observing the law, God has given the privileges of being born again, and enjoying a more happy life, so that they are gainers by the exchange *." In like manner Philo saith, " "We shall hasten to the regeneration after death, &c. t" On the other hand, it is very well known, that this spiritual regeneration we are speaking of, is often in scripture called the resurrection.

Of this resurrection the word of the gospel is, as it were, the trumpet; and, at the same time, the immortal seed of this new birth, and therefore of immortality itself. Thus it is represented by the apostle Peter', and by the apostle James, who expressly tells us, "That he hath begotten us with the word of truth." Now the enlivening virtue and plastic power of this word is derived from the Holy Ghost, who is the true spring and fountain of this new life. Nor are the most extended powers of the human mind, or the strength of its understanding, any more able to restore this life within it, even upon hearing the glad tidings of the gospel, than it was capable of producing itself at first, or of being the author of its own being, or after death of restoring itself to life.

To this exalted dignity are admitted the humble, the poor, the obscure, the ignorant, barbarians, slaves, sinners, whom the world look upon as nothing, and hold in the greatest contempt: of these nothing is required but true and sincere faith; no learning, nor noble extract, nor any submission to 4 Matt. xix. 28.

* Τοῖς ὑπέρ νόμων διαφυλαχθέντων ἀποθανᾶσι ἔδωκεν ὁ Θεὸς γίνεσθαι τί πάλιν καὶ βίον αμείνω λαβειν ἐκ περιτροπης. Lib. i. cont. App.

† εις παλινγενεσίαν ὁρμησομεν μετα τὸν θάνατον, &c.

f 1 Pet. i. 23.

8 Jam. i. 18.

the Mosaic law, but upon every man, of whatever rank or condition, who believes this word, he in return bestows this dignity, "that they should become the sons of God;" that is, that what Christ was by nature, they should become by grace. Now, what is more sublime and exalted than this honour, that those, who were formerly children of Satan, and heirs of hell, should by faith alone be made the sons of God, brethren of Christ, and joint heirs of the heavenly kingdom?" If the sacred fire of the Romans happened at any time to be extinguished, it could only be lighted again at the rays of the sun. The life of souls, to be sure, is a sacred flame of divine love; this flame, as we are now born into the froward race of fallen mankind, is, alas! but too truly and unhappily extinguished, and by no means to be kindled again, but by the enlivening light and heat of the sun of righteousness, who is most auspiciously risen upon us.

LECTURE XVI.

Of REGENERATION.

THE great corruption of mankind, and their innate dispostion to every sort of wickedness, even the doctors of the heathen nations, that is, their philosophers and theologers, and their poets also, were sensible of, and acknowledged; though they were quite ignorant of the source from which this calamity was derived. They all own, "That it is natural to man to sin*;" even your favourite philosopher, who prevails in the schools, declares, that we are strongly inclined to vice t; and speaking of the charms and allurements of forbidden pleasures, he observes, that mankind by nature "is easily catched in these snares ‡." The Roman philosopher takes notice, "That the way to vice is not only a descent, but a downright precipice §" And the comic poet, "That mankind has always been, in every respect, a deceitful, subtle creature ||." "That we are all

The satyrist likewise observes, easily prevailed on to imitate things that are, in their nature, wicked and disgraceful ¶.

And the Lyric poet, "That the human race, bold

* Συμφύτον ειναί τοῖς ἀνθρώποις το ἁμαρτάνειν.

+ iunarapópes. Arist. Eth. ii.

† ἐυθήρατον εἶναι ὑπό τῶν τοιστῶν.

§ Ad vitia, non tantum pronum iter, sed et præceps.

|| Δόλερος μὲν δει κατὰ τὰνα δή τρόπον.

Πέφυκε άνθρωπο,

T

Dociles imitandis

Turpibus & pravis omnes sumus.

Juv. Satyr. xiv.

to attempt the greatest dangers, rushes with impetuosity upon forbidden crimes."

All the wise men among the heathens exerted their utmost, to remedy this evil by precepts and institutions of philosophy, but to very little purpose. They could not, by all their arts and all their precepts, make others better; nay, with regard to most of them, we may say, nor even themselves. But, "when there was no wisdom in the earth, says Lactantius, that blessed doctor was sent down from heaven, who is the way, the truth, and the life †,' and, by an almighty power, effected what all others had attempted in vain.

It is not at all to be doubted, but the end proposed by philosophy, was to renew and to reform mankind, and to reduce the course of their lives to a conformity with the precepts of wisdom and virtue. Whence the common definition given of philosophy, is, "That it is the rule of life, and the art or science of living uprightly." To this purpose Seneca says, Philosophy is the law of living honestly and uprightly." True religion, to be sure, has the same tendency: but it promotes its end with much greater force, and better success; because its principles are much more exalted, its precepts and instructions are of greater purity, and it is, besides, attended with a divine power, whereby it makes its way into the hearts of men, and purifies them with the greatest force and efficacy; and yet, at the same time, with the most wonderful pleasure and delight. And this is the regeneration of which we are speaking, and whereof we have already observed, that philosophy acknowledged it, even under the same name; but that it effected it, we absolutely deny. Now, it is evident from the

*

Audax omnia perpeti,

Gens humana ruit per vetitum nefas. HoR. Od. lib. i.

+ Sed cum nulla esset sapientia in terris, missus este cœlo doctor ille, via, veritas & vita.

very name, that we are to understand by it an inward change, and that a very remarkable one. And since God is called the author and source of this change, whatever the philosophers may have disputed, pro and con, concerning the origin of moral virtue, we are, by no means, to doubt, but this sacred and divine change upon the heart of man, is produced by an influence truly divine: and this was even Plato's opinion concerning virtue; nor do I imagine you are unacquainted with it. The same philsopher, and several others besides him, expressly asserted, that virtue was a kind of image or likeness of God, nay, that it was the effect of inspiration, and partook, in some respect, of a kind of divine nature. "No mind can be rightly disposed without divine influence, says Seneca* : And it was the saying of the Pythagorean philosophers, "That the end of man is to be made like to God t." "This mind, says Trismegistus, is God in man, and therefore some of the number of men are gods." And a little further on, "In whatever souls the mind presides, it illustrates them with its own brightness, opposing their immoralities and mad inclinations, just as a learned physician inflicts pain upon the body of his patient, by burning and cutting it, in order to recover it to health: in the same manner, the mind afflicts a voluptuous soul, that it may pull up pleasure by the very roots; for all diseases of the soul proceed from it: impiety is the severest distemper of the soul §."

What wonder is it then, if these very thoughts are expressed in the more divine oracles of the sacred scriptures, more fully, and with greater clearness ? And this conformation of the human mind to the

* Nulla sine Deo bona mens est.

† Τελῶ ἄνθρώπε ὁμοίωσις Θεῷ.

† ὄντος ὁ νᾶς ἐν μέν ἀνθρώποις θεὸς ἐσίν, διό καὶ τίνες των ανθρώπων θεόν εισι. Trismeg. περὶ να κοινᾶ πρὸς τατ.

§ ὅσαις ἂν νῦν ψύχαις, δε