The Gales of Grace, Tract · Chapter 1
CHAP. I. ¶ The entrance into the matter, by ſhewing the occaſion and ſumme of the Text.
Sect. 1. The occaſion, and coherenceTHis third chapter of Saint Iohn, from the firſt verſe to the 22. is a dialogue or conference betwixt the Sauiour of Iſrael, and a Maiſter in Iſrael (I meane) Chriſt Ieſus and Nicodemus, concerning the cauſes of eternall ſaluation: wherin our Sauior amongſt many other neceſſarie doctrines (touching the merits of hisaVerſes 13.14. obedience,bv. 15.16. faith in his bloud, thecv. 16.17. louelove of the Father, in ſending his Son out of his owne boſome, to ranſome and redeeme the world of Beleeuers; which hee handleth heere and there, within the compaſſe of thoſe verſes) falleth in the firſt place, vponupon the point of Regeneration, beeing occaſioned thereunto, by the ſpeech which Nicodemus put foorth to him in the ſecond verſe; Rabbi, we know thou art a teacher come from God: that is, Not onelyonly the vulgar ſort of people, but alſo wee Phariſes are perſwaded, and doe confeſſe, that thou art a Teacher and Doctor, not aſſuming the office of inſtructing by an vnlawfull vſurpation, but ſent by an extraordinary and immediate calling from God himſelfe, whoſe preſence and power doth manifeſt it ſelfe in thy Doctrine, by the miracles which he enableth thee to doe for the ratifying & confirming of that which thou teacheſt. By which ſpeech Chriſt, perceiuing a ſecret deſire in this Doctor to be taught in the way of God, beginneth ſomewhat obſcurely to tell him of a certaine ſecond or new-birth, making entrance thereinto with a vehement aſſeueration or proteſtation in the third verſe; Ʋerily, verily, I ſay vntounto thee, Except a man be borne againe, he cannot ſee the kingdome of God: as if hee ſhould hauehave ſaid; Sayeſt thou ſo, Nicodemus, that I am an extraordinary teacher ſent from God, not called after an ordinary manner? thou ſpeakeſt true, and ſuch an one ſhalt thou now finde me; for I can inſtruct thee in ſuch a myſticall peece of Diuinitie, as by all the humane learning thou haſt, thou ſhalt neuer be able to gage the depth, nor fadome the bottome of it: And wotteſt thou what it is? A man muſt be borne againe, Nicodemus. And that thou mayeſt not thinke that I ſpeake more then I can iuſtifie, I proteſt vntounto thee, Verily, verily, a man muſt of neceſſitie be borne againe: what ſayeſt thou to this? Didſt thou euer heare the like Diuinitie? Truely no (ſayth he, in the fourth verſe) and though I heare it now, I can ſcarce beleeue it, it is the ſtrangeſt Doctrine that euer I heard; to mee thou ſeemeſt to preach impoſſibilities, and to make that abſolutely needfull, which I can no way conceiue to be poſsible: How can a man be borne when he is olde? Can hee enter the ſecond time into his mothers wombe, and be borne? Nicodemus, hauing thus bewrayed his groſſe ignorance, and that he was driuen into a maze by that which Chriſt ſpake, Chriſt replieth vppon him againe, as willing to reach him, and openeth his minde and his mouth a little more plainely about the matter, in the fift verſe, Except a man be borne of the *foreign.Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdome of God. q. d. I thought (Nicodemus) I ſhould make thee wonder, I tolde thee I ſhould grauell thee: well, perceiuing thee thus plunged, I wil help thee: the ſecond or new birth which I nowſpeake of, is not naturall, but ſpirituall; I diſcourſe not of a reentring into the mothers wombe the ſecond time naturally (for I know that to be impoſsible) but of an entring of the holy Ghoſt into the ſoule by grace ſpiritually, and in this ſenſe would I hauehave thee to vnderſtand me: and for a man thus to be borne agayne, is ſo far from being impoſsible, that it is moſt neceſſary and needefull, if he minde euer to enter into the Kingdome of God, either of grace heere, or of glory hereafter.dVerſe 7. Maruell not therefore, that I ſaid vntounto thee, Ye muſt be borne againe. Now our Sauiour hauing by this occaſion entred vponupon ſo woorthy a ſubiect, as the doctrine of Regeneration is; in handling the ſame, he doth amplifie it from a three-folde particular: firſt, from the effect of it: ſecondly, from the contrary: thirdly, from the efficient cauſe of it. Firſt, the effect of regeneration is the reward that followeth it, viz. the inheritance of an heauenly kingdome, in the later end both of the third and fift verſes, Except a man be borne againe; or, of the Spirit, he can not ſee, nor enter into the Kingdome of God: giuing vsus to vnderſtand, that if a man be regenerate, he ſhall poſſeſſe the Kingdome of Heauen. Secondly, the contrary vntounto this worke of the new-birth, is the corruption of the fleſh, and the power of the ſame, expreſſed in the ſixt verſe; That which is borne of the fleſh, is fleſh: but that which is borne of the ſpirit, is ſpirit. Thirdly, the efficient cauſe, or immediate agent of this worke, is the Spirit of God or the holy Ghoſt, ſet out by a two-folde metaphor or ſimilitude: firſt, likened to Water in the fift verſe, Except a man be borne of water, and the ſpirit, &c. i. of the ſpirit, which is like vntounto water: and ſecondly reſembled to Wind, in the preſent Text.
The Winde bloweth where it liſteth: and thou heareſt the ſound thereof, but canst not tell whence it commeth, and whither it goeth; ſo is eueryevery one that is borne of the ſpirit.
Sect. 2. The ſumme.Which words (as wee ſee) for the ſumme and ſubſtance of them are nothing elſe but a Compariſon vſed by our Sauiour, in conference with Nicodemus, to expreſſe the operation of the moſt bleſſed Spirit of God, in effecting and contriuing that excellent worke of Regeneration in the hearts of the Elect: which Compariſon is taken from the liberty to breathe, from the noyſe and ſound, that are in the wind, when it moueth the ayre; and this for the coherence and ſubſtance. From whence what we may gather in generall for our learning (before we come to diuide and vnbowel the Text more particularly) we ſhall ſee by that which followeth in two concluſions.