righteous, now righteous ; before, evil, now
good. And live no longer after the old, de-
praved nature of the first, earthly Adam,
but after the new, sincere natui-e of the new
and heavenly Adam, Christ Jesus; as Paul
says, "Nevertheless, I live; yet not I, but
Christ liveth in me." Their poor, weak life
they renew daily, more and more, and that
after the image of him who created them;
their minds are after the mind of Christ,
they gladly walk as he walked ; crucify and
mortify their flesh with its evil lusts ; bury
their sin with baptism in the Lord's death,
and rise with him to a new life; circumcise
their hearts with the word of the Lord, and
are baptized with the Hol}^ Ghost in the
spotless, holy body of Clixist, as obedient
members and fellow-heirs of his church, ac-
cording to the true ordinance and word of
the Lord. They put on Christ and mani-
fest his Spirit, nature and power in all their
fruits; fear God with all the lieart, and seek,
in all their thoughts, words and works, noth-
ing but the praise of God and the salvation
of their beloved brethren. They know not
hatred and vengeance, for they love those
who hate them; do good to those who de-
spitefully use them, and pray for those who
persecute them; hate and resist avarice,
pride, rmchastity, pomp, drunkenness, for-
nication, adultery, hatred, envy, backbit-
ing, lying, defrauding, quarreling, blood-
shedding and idolatrj', all impure, carnal
works, and forsake the world with all its
lusts; meditate upon the law of the Lord by
day and by night; rejoice at the good, and
are grieved at the evil ; evil they do not re-
pay with evil, but with good; they seek not
self, nor their own good, but what is good
for their neighbors, both as to body and
soul; feed the hungry, and give drink to the
thirsty; entertain the needy, release prison-
ers, visit the sick, comfort the faint-hearted,
admonish the erring, and are ready after
their master's example, to give their lives
for their brethren. Again, their thoughts
are pure and chaste, their words are true
and seasoned with salt; with them yea is
yea, and nay is nay, and their works are
done in the fear of the Lord; their hearts
are heavenly and new; their minds, peace-
ful and joyful ; they seek righteousness
with all their powers. In short, they are
so assured in their faith through the Spirit
and word of God, that they will valiantly
overcome, by virtue of their faith, all blood-
thirsty, cruel tyrants, with all their tortures,
- punishment, exiling, plunder, stocks, stakes,
executioners, tormentors and counsel; and out of a pure zeal, with an innocent, pure, simple yea and nay are willing to die. The glory of Christ, the sweetness of the word, and the salvation of souls are dearer to them than any thing under heaven.
Behold, worthy reader, all those who are born of God with Christ, who thus conform 1 their weak life to the gospel, are thus con- verted, and follow the example of Christ, hear and believe his holy word, follow his commands, which he, in plain words com- manded us in the holy Scriptures, form the J holy, christian chui-ch which has the prom- j ise; the true children of God, brothers and I sisters of Christ; for they are born with him of one Father, and of the new Eve, the pure, chaste bride. They are flesh of Christ's flesh, and bone of his bone, the spiritual house of Israel, the spiritual city, Jerusa- j lem, temple and Mount Zion, the spiritual j ark of the Lord, in Vvhich are hidden the true bread of heaven, Christ Jesus and his blessed word, the green, blossoming rod of faith, and the spiritual tables of stone, with ! the commands of the Lord written thereon; ' they are the spiritual seed of Abraham, chil- dren of the promise, confederates of the cov- enant of God, and partakers of the heav- 1 enly blessings.
These regenerated have a spiritual king over them, who rules them by the unbroken sceptre of his mouth, namelj', with his Holy Spirit and Word, he clothes them with the garment of righteousness, of pure white silk; he refreshes them with the living wa- ter of his Holy Spirit, and feeds them with the bread of life. His name is Christ Jesus. They are the childi-en of peace, wlio have beaten their swords into j)lough-shares, and their spears into pruning hooks, and know of no war; and give to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's, Isa. 2: 4; Matt. 22: 21. Their sword is the sword of the Spirit, which they hold in a good conscience through the Holy Ghost. Their marriage is that of one I man and one women, according to the ordi-
