Unum necessarium awakenings for the unregenerate. Or, The nature and necessity of regeneration. Handled…

I. If a man would be Assured of a Name in the Book of Life, Let him then make sure of Regeneration, and of a New Life. In Well Ordered Common-wealths, all that are Born ▪ have their Names Written in a Book, designed for the Registering of such Matters. Why, God hath a Book, wherein all that are New-Born have their Names written for ever. There is a Book of Names, which is called, in Mat. 1.1: The Book of the Generation of Jesus Christ. The Fathers of our Lord, as to a Natural Generation, have their Names in that Book; but all that are Converted unto God, are as to a Spiritual Generation the Children of our Lord▪ These are styled, The Seed of the Self-Offering Messiah; and of these He says, ⟨p. 117⟩Behold, the Children that the Father has given me! Well, All of these Children have their Names also, in, A Book of the Generation of Jesus Christ. God had His Books of Genealogies in Israel, from which they that could not prove their Birth of such or such Parents, were put by from the Priesthood of the Lord. Yea, but it is a New-Birth alone, which will help us to find our Names in Gods Book of Genealogies. There were Foolish Questions about Genealogies, bandied in the Schools of the old Grammarians and Philosophers; the Apostle has Hissed at those Questions: but it is no Foolish Question, for a man to be Inquisitive after this Genealogy, Am I Born again? or No? The man that is Born from Above, may be sure that he has his Name written Above. We read of, A New Name. Thy Name was, A Child of Wrath; but is thy Name now, A Child of God? He that has this New Name, has his Name Written in the Book of Life. Let a man make sure of This, That he be a New Creature; That he Think and Walk like, One come into another World; That he have such a Respect unto God, biassing his Thoughts, his Ends, his Affections, his Discourses, his Behaviours, as he was once a Stranger unto; To a man thus New-Born, the Lord from Heaven speaks this Consolation, Son, Be of ⟨p. 118⟩Good Cheer, Thy Name is here in my Book of Life. We are informed, There is Joy in Heaven among the Angels, over one Sinner that Repenteth. Truly, if any of you will now come unto Repentance, you may be sure, the Angels of God will have your Names presently among them; the Angels of God will sing and say, Now we know the Name of one person more that must come to Live with us for ever.