...In reference to the change thus wrought by the power and grace of our heavenly Father, it is said, " Of his own will begat he us by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first-fruit of his creatures. " Ye are born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by...

...our Lord " Jesus Christ.";}: Thus likewise says another apostle, " Of his own will begat he us with the " word of truth ; that we should be a kind of first " fruits of his creatures.''^ And our Lord himself says, " My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, •' and they follow me ; and...

...to the Corinthians, ' I have begotten, you through the Gospel.' ' Of his own will/ says St. James, ' begat he us by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first-fruits of his créatures.' We are ' born again,' says St. Peter, ' not of corruptible seed, but...

...speaking of himself, and of the churches to whom he wrote, says, ' Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures,' James i. 18. St. Peter writes to the churches in Pontus, &c. ' Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father,...

...may all say of the Father of lights, with the Apostle James; "• Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures." The truly pious are therefore the children of God, in a higher and more endearing sense than others...

...lights, with whom is no variableness, " neither shadow of turning. Of his own will " begat he us with the word of truth ; that we " should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures."1 " Of his own will he begat us." 2 Let the reader compare this with the words of the evangelist...

...with it. " The wind blows where it listeth, so is every one that is born of the Spirit." John iii. 8. Of .his own will begat he us by the word of truth. Ordinances are as the pool of Bethesdu, which had its healing virtue only when the angel moved the...

...relation in which we stand to God : " of his own will," says he, (chap. i. 18—21.) " begat He us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; (for...

...18), speaking of the first converts in the apostolic age, says, " Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures;" ie of those who should at any period to the end of the world be created anew in Christ Jesus. In like...

...hath quickened us together with Christ (by grace are ye saved), 5. Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures. Jam. i. 18. 6 Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart, saying, Theseventh year, the...