men; such a relation being yet built on higher grounds and respects; for as good they have another original from him; virtue springeth in their hearts from a heavenly seed; that emendation and perfection of nature is produced by his grace enlightening and quickening them; they are images of him, resembling him in judgment and disposition of mind, in will and purpose, in action and behavior; the which resemblances do argue them to be the sons of God, and indeed do constitute them such; for, 'Love your enemies,' saith our Lord, bless those that curse you, do good to those that hate you—that you may be the sons of your Father in heaven;' and 'Love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing thence; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the sons of the Most High.' Imitation of God in goodness and beneficence doth, we see, found a filial relation unto God: to such, God answerably doth bear a paternal kindness and compassion; for, 'Like as a father pitieth his children, so,' saith the psalmist, the Lord pitieth them that fear him.' He in all respects dealeth with them as with his children ; ὡς υἱοῖς προσφέρεται, as the Apostle to the Hebrews speaketh: he teacheth and guideth them with wholesome advice on all occasions; for, ‹ What man is he that feareth the Lord? him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose' and, The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord:' he gently removeth and correcteth them; · Whom,' saith the wise man, 'God loveth he correcteth, even as a father the son in whom he delighteth:' he maintaineth them with all needful sustenance and accommodation without their care or trouble; for, Take no care,' saith our Saviour, saying, ' What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed ?—for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things;' he so knoweth and considereth it, as to provide, that there shall not be,' as the psalmist affirmeth, any want unto them that fear him :' he protecteth them from all danger, supporteth them in all distress, and rescueth them from all mischief; for, 'His eyes are open on the righteous-to deliver his soul from death, and to keep him alive in famine; he keepeth all his bones, so that none of them is broken-though he fall, he shall not utterly be cast down, for the Lord upholdeth him with his

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hand; many are his afflictions, but the Lord delivereth him out of all.' Such paternal affections doth God bear, such paternal acts doth he exercise, toward good men; the which even Pagan wise men did apprehend; of whom one thus expresseth himself; 'God,' saith he, hath a fatherly mind toward good men, and strongly loveth them-between them and God there is a friendship which virtue doth conciliate; a friendship, do I say? yea, a kindred and similitude; for that a good man is God's disciple and imitator, and his true offspring, whom that magnificent Father, no softly exacter of virtue, doth, after the manner of severe parents, educate hardly."*

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5. We may farther observe, that God in his proceedings with men, whereby he particularly designeth to contain them within bounds of duty, and thereby to lead them unto happiness, delighteth to represent himself under this obliging and endearing relation: thus he did in regard to his ancient people on all occasions express himself: Who are Israelites, whose is the adoption?' saith St. Paul, reckoning this as the first of those privileges which appertain to the Jews; it was the commission to Moses; Thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, even my firstborn; and I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me :' Moses also, foreseeing how that people would misbehave themselves, doth thus in God's name expostulate with them: Do you thus requite the Lord, O foolish people and unwise? is not he thy Father that bought thee? hath he not made thee, and established thee?' Of the Rock that begat thee thou art unmindful, and hast forgotten God that formed thee:' David also thus addresseth himself to God in their behalf; Blessed be thou, Lord God of Israel our Father, for ever and ever; thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty' and, 'Doubtless,' saith Isaiah, 'thou art our Father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowlege us not; thou, O Lord, art our Father, our Redeemer; thy name is from everlasting:' and, 'I am,' saith God in Jeremiah, ́ a Father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn;' Is Ephraim my dear son, is he a pleasant child?' He is, the LXX. render it, in way of assertion, not of interrogation.

Sen. de Provid. 1. 2.

6. But in the Christian dispensation God more signally representeth himself in this quality and notion. God herein treateth us, not so much as our Lord and Master, with imperious rigor and awfulness, as our Father, with most gracious condescension, and allurements of kindness: Our Lord (the only Son of God in a sense infinitely most peculiar and high) was not,' saith the Apostle, ashamed to call us brethren;' 'Go,' said our Lord, for instance of that gracious condescension, to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and to your Father; both my God, and your God:' and such are the advantages peculiar to Christians, grounding this relation toward them, that St. Paul, comparing our state in regard to God with that of the Jews, doth thus infer; 'So that thou (0 Christian) art not now a servant, but a son:' so it is asserted, and accordingly (which is worth our while distinctly to observe) all the performances of God toward us, and in our behalf, are of such a nature, and are set out in such terms, as do ground and import this relation: for,

1. The reception of a believer into the participation of the privileges and advantages which Christianity tendereth, is termed violería, the making him a son; the adopting him into God's family, the conferring on him the title and quality of God's child; together with the internal disposition of mind, and the liberty of access and intercourse, which do suit that relation: Whosoever,' saith St. John, did receive him, to them he gave the power (or privilege) to become the sons of God, even to them who believed in his name:' and, Ye are all,' saith St. Paul, the sons of God by faith in Christ Jesus ;' that is, by sincerely embracing Christianity: and, Behold,' saith St. John again, what manner of love the Father hath given us, that we should be called the sons of God:' and, Ye have not received the spirit of servitude unto fear, but ye have received the spirit of adoption, by which we cry, Abba, Father:' that is, by which in our prayers with humble affection we freely, confidently, and readily, according to our Saviour's institution, do say, Our Father.?

2. That renovation of our nature, and qualifying our minds, as the Gospel prescribeth and requireth, is called regeneration,

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a new creation, a new birth, the begetting a new man within us: 'If a man be not born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God;' that is, he cannot be a good Christian: Whoever is begot of God doth not sin;' that is, good Christians do not live in a course of disobedience: We are avrov oíŋμa, God's work,' or production, being created in Christ Jesus to good works: Ye have been taught to put on the new man, that is created according to the image of God in righteousness and true holiness.' In such terms is the effect of the Christian dispensation on our hearts and lives described; and that with the greatest reason; for no act of God toward us can be more fatherly, than working in us by his grace the principles of Christian life, and the practices springing from it; nothing doth nearer advance us to a similitude with God, and a 'participation of the Divine nature;' nothing doth conciliate from God a more tender affection to us, or worketh in us a more dutiful affection toward him, answerable to this relation, than doth a hearty compliance with the grace of the Gospel.

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3. The resurrection of good Christians after death to a better state of life, their entering into immortal bliss and glory, is worthily styled waλıyyeveoía, a being generated and born again; whereby they receive from God another more excellent life aud state of being, more like and conformable to God: for, We know,' saith St. John, that if he shall appear, (or, that when he shall appear, as some copies read it,) we shall be like him ;' and, ́As,' saith St. Paul, we have borne the image of the earthly (Adam,) we shall also bear the image of the heavenly:' 'We shall,' saith he, 'be metamorphosed,' or transfigured into the same image:' and,' They,' saith our Saviour, which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection of the dead—are the sons of God, being the sons of the resurrection :' that state of bliss is therefore styled a portion or inheritance, allotted to sons, and consequent on such a relation: If sons,' saith St. Paul, then heirs; heirs of God, and coheirs with Christ, receiving the reward and promise of an eter: nal inheritance:' Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,' saith St. Peter, who according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resur

rection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for us.'

4. I might adjoin, that Christian men do become the sons of God by the intervention of our Saviour, assuming our nature, and conforming himself to the likeness of men; whereby he becomes the firstborn of many brethren :''God,' saith St. Paul,sent forth his son, born of a woman, that we might receive the privilege of being made sons:' and, 'Children,' saith the Apostle to the Hebrews, partake of flesh and blood;' whence (as he meaneth to infer) our Lord being the Son of God, we on conjunction of nature with him, and as his brethren, become also such: he farther intimateth, that on this score we do surpass angels themselves; for that he took not on him the nature of angels, but took on him the seed of Abraham :' they were not, as we, dignified with a fraternal relation to the Son of God.

In so many several respects is God our Father; we are his children, as being his creatures, made, preserved, and maintained by him; as we are intellectual creatures, being placed in degree and quality of nature so near him; as we by virtue and goodness (produced in us by his grace) do anywise approach him, resemble him, and partake of his special favor; as we are Christians, adopted into his heavenly family, renewed by his holy grace, and destinated to a participation of his eternal glory.

Now the consideration of these grounds, (each one of them, and all of them together,) on which this relation of God unto us is founded, hath manifold good uses; it is apt to inform and admonish us concerning many necessary duties resulting from it; and to enforce on us the practice of them.

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1. It in general may teach, and should mind us, what reverence, honor, and observance is due from us unto God, in equity and justice, according to ingenuity and gratitude: If,' saith God in the Prophet, I be a Father, where is my honor ?? Our believing and acknowleging this relation is vain, if we do not yield the respects, and perform the duties answerable thereto. And if indeed we are obliged to love, to respect, to observe those, who have been the instruments of God in pro