will not save thy child. If it were our will, I would have you all go
to heaven. How many are there in the world that pray for their
children, and cry for them, and ready to die; and this will not do?
God's will is the rule of all; it is only through Jesus Christ, "which
were born, not of flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." Now I
come to the doctrine.

Men that believe in Jesus Christ to the effectual receiving of Jesus
Christ, they are born to it. He does not say they SHALL be born to it,
but they ARE born to it; born of God, unto God, and the things of God,
before they receive God to eternal salvation. "Except a man be born
again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Now unless he be born of
God, he cannot see it. Suppose the kingdom of God be what it will, he
cannot see it before he be begotten of God; suppose it be the Gospel,
he cannot see it before he be brought into a state of regeneration;
believing is the consequence of the new birth, "not of blood, nor of
the will of man, but of God."

First, I will give you a clear description of it under one similitude
or two. A child, before it be born into the world, is in the dark
dungeon of its mother's womb; so a child of God, before he be born
again, is in the dark dungeon of sin, sees nothing of the kingdom of
God, therefore it is called a new birth; the same soul has love one way
in its carnal condition, another way when it is born again.

Secondly, As it is compared to a birth, resembling a child in his
mother's womb, so it is compared to a man being raised out of the
grave; and to be born again is to be raised out of the grave of sin--
"Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall
give thee life." To be raised from the grave of sin is to be begotten