A sermon of spiritual life and death Preached before the king, at White-Hal, November,…A sermon of spirituall life and death Preached before the king, at White-Hal, Nouember,…

My beloved, it is true, it is the great mystery ¹of life and regeneration: but that we may explain to you what virtue this is, that comes ⟨p. 18⟩out from Christ; what kind of infusion and transmission it is, we will explain it as far as it is expressible; and it is done after this manner: Even as you see an Artificer, when ²he goes about any work of Art, there goes a certain influence from the skill that is stated in his mind, that passes upon the work as he moulds it, and fashions it, and sets a stamp upon it, according to the Idea that is seated within: Or as when the will moves the members to and fro, there goes a commanding acting power, that acts the members, that stirs them according to the disposition of the will: Or as we see in the work of Nature, when as Bees make their Combs, or Birds their Nests, there goes out a certain instinct from God the Author of Nature, that impels and instigates the Creatures to do according to their kind. Such a kind, I say, such a kind it is of virtue and power (which the Scripture calls, the ^gvirtue of his resurrection) that comes from Christ: the Spirit of Christ, that ^hmoulds and fashions the heart of a man, that ⁱcommands powerfully in him, and ^kguides and directs him to do agreeable to his will. And this is it (my beloved) which the Apostle speaks of, Ephes. 1. 19. he prays there, that their eyes might be opened to see the exceeding greatness of his power; that is, it is not an empty form of godliness, but an effectual prevalent power, that puts not upon us only a washy colour of ⟨p. 19⟩a good profession, but dyes the heart in grain with grace and holiness; that is, it doth not only alter the superficies,