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

IT was a Mournful Question propounded by the Prophet, in Isa. 53.1. Who hath Believed? And it it is a Needful Question offered by the People in Isa. 63.17. Why are our hearts hardened? An Answer to the former Question is afforded unto us in the Bad Lives and the Ill Ways of many among our Neighbours every day; We see that Few Believe, That Few are Chosen, That Few find the Strait Gate. An Answer to the Latter Question is Couched in these words, among ⟨p. 140⟩the Obstructions of Conversion, with many Cautions and Warnings to be laid before you, none of the least is intimated in the Text now Read unto us.

These words are among the last words of Stephen, the Martyr of our Lord. The first Martyr of the New Testament, had the Name of Stephen, which signifies a Crown, & Specifies the Event and Reward of our Sufferings for God. This Blessed Martyr being accused unto the Council at Jerusalem, as a Contemner, yea, as a Blasphemer of their Temple Worship, he appeared before them with a Face full of Majesty, and an Heart full of Magnanimity, and in a grave Speech answered the Accusations. The chief drift of his Oration was, That the Worship of God, was performed before, and might be truly performed without, the Temple at Jerusalem; But he intermingles close hints that the Lord Jesus whom they had newly Murdered, was the Saviour sent by the Almighty to them. As the famous Deacon was thus going on, they, it seems, interrupted him; upon which he turns his Discourse into the sharp Reprehension; part of which we have now to insist upon. Our Text first, Asserts the Impenitency of the Jews; and, secondly, Assigns both an Instance and a Reason of that Impenitency. This is in that Remarkable ⟨p. 141⟩Clause, Ye do always Resist the Holy Ghost. So that we may observe,

These words are among the last words of Stephen, the Martyr of our Lord. The first Martyr of the New Testament, had the Name of Stephen, which signifies a Crown, & Specifes the Event and Reward of our Sufferings for God. This Blessed Martyr being accused unto the Council at Jerusalem, as a Contemner, yea, as a Blasphemer of their Temple Worship, he appeared before them with a Face full of Majesty, and an Heart full of Magnanimity, and in a grave Speech answered the Accusations. The chief drift of his Oration was, That the Worship of God, was performed before, and might be truly performed without, the Temple at Jerusalem; But he intermingles close hints that the Lord Jesus whom they had newly Murdered, was the Saviour sent by the Almighty to them. As the famous Deacon was thus going on, they, it seems, interrupted him; upon which he turns his Discourse into the sharp Reprehension; part of which we have now to insist upon. Our Text first, Asserts the Impenitency of the Jews; and, secondly, Assigns both an Instance and a Reason of that Impenitency. This is in that Remarkable