and in Them the Image and Work of God to the vilest of Drudgeries When the Vnderstanding which is capable of the Knowledge of God and should be exercis'd to the right conceiving of all Virtues and the best Methods of bringing them forth into Action shall be fill'd with Impure Conceptions and wrought up to the Knowledge of all Wickedness and of the readiest ways of reducing it upon all occasions into practice When the Will which ought to be bent to the pleasing of God in an Universal Compliance with his Laws shall be forward in the desiring and prosecuting of Evil and shall rest satisfied in the accomplishment of it When the Memory which is so well fitted for God's Service shall be far from retaining the great Mercies he hath shewed to Men in general and to ourselves in particular in various Circumstances of our Lives When the excellent Things of God's Law are allow'd no room in it but on the contrary when itself is chiefly imploy'd in the remembring of those things which are light and vain in the preserving present to our Minds the readiest ways of bringing about ill Actions and in the keeping fresh those Injuries which by others have been done us whether through Imprudence Passion or Design that we may never upon Opportunities forget to revenge them When the Affections which should be engaged in an Holy Joy at the great things which God hath done for us in an Vnfeigned Love to Him for his being so loving and gracious unto us in a Delight in those Commandments which are so agreeable to the Nature and Souls of Men in an Ardent Longing for that Blessed State where we shall be wholly freed from Sin When these Affections I say shall be turned into Coldness towards God and the Things of Heaven into an hot and eager persuit after those things which minister only to Worldly Advantage or Sensual Pleasures into Ill Wishes towards others Envy at their Welfare Delight in their Troubles or Miscarriages And likewise when our Bodies which are Temples of the Holy Ghost shall be alienated to prophane Uses when our Members which are the Members of Christ shall be made to become the Members of Vnrighteousness our Eyes in beholding Vanity our Tongues in uttering Deceit or those things which Minister not Grace to the Hearers our Hands in doing that which is Evil our Feet in being swift in running to Mischief all of which were made for better Ends. When Men which were Created in the Similitude of God and should in their Actions also be like him shall through Disobedience have their Bodies and Souls brought under to such vile Offices is not the Great God made to serve in the Principal of his Handy-Works on Earth Certainly he is We know among Men there may be a suffering of Indignities in Effigie in somthing that shall represent the Man though his Person be absent or untouched and the Discredit shall redound to him in great measure as if he himself had in Person suffered And will it be otherwise with the Almighty God We are his Image and Likeness in respect of our Souls and both in our Souls and Bodies we bear the Image of his Son our Lord who was pleased to take upon him our whole Nature If therefore Disobedience shall throw such Dishonour on his Image and Workmanship in us although it reach not his Person to hurt that it yet makes him through his Works and his Image too as we are his Works and Image to serve Neither doth it Theophilus any more spare the Almighty in the other visible things of the World. The Sun and Moon and Stars in their Light and Influences The Earth and Sea and all the Creatures thereof in their several Capacities He made instrumental to the Life and Virtuous Actions of Men and through them to his own Praise and Glory And therefore since They as of themselves being Mute cannot Celebrate the Praises of their Creator Man's Mouth is to be theirs and to offer up Praise unto God in their stead Thus did the Royal Psalmist for them Praise the Lord ye Sun and Moon Praise him all the Stars of Light. Praise the Lord ye Heavens and ye Waters that be above the Heavens Praise the Lord from the Earth ye Deeps Fire and Hail Snow and Vapours Wind and Storm fulfilling his Word Mountains and all Hills Fruitful Trees and all Cedars Beasts and all Cattel Creeping things and Flying Fowl Psal 148. So likewise since these Visible Things of themselves are unable to do any Virtuous Deeds in relation unto Men our Hands are in some sort to become theirs through which they are to promote Actions of Justice of Kindness and of Mercy These are the Ends for which they were made and in them all they are to do Service unto God. But Theophilus our Disobedience to the Divine Law turns all these things another way and makes the Holy God in his Creation to be Instrumental unto Services which are quite contrary unto Himself When the Sun shall rise and make the Day only that those Sins may be acted which require Day-light in the Commission When it shall set and Night come on merely for the accomplishing of those Vices which need secresie chiefly and darkness When Malice and Ill Nature shall strengthen themselves by calling to their Aid whatever we possess rather than fall unactive to the ground When what should in Sobriety be imploy'd for the good of ourselves and in Charity and Friendship for the Benefit of others shall be abused to Intemperance Covetousness or Ambition is not God through the Works which he hath Created made to Serve Yea to Serve the worst of Beings his greatest Adversary in the worst of Services Theoph. Were it not that the Creation is by some Religious Men improved to right Ends we might not wonder if it should give Signs that it rather would be reduced to its first nothing than be thus abused to the Dishonour of its Maker and of itself Eubul This Slavery Theophilus the Creature is in a manner sensible of for the Apostle saith Rom. 8.22 The whole Creation Groaneth and travelleth in pain together until now and all upon the aceount that it is made Subject unto Vanity and brought under the Bondage of Corruption It is not willingly that it thus serveth the Prince of Darkness It groaneth and travelleth in pain Which expressions denote the State it is now in to be a State of great Misery and speak forth the greatest longing and the most earnest Expectation to be delivered from it into the glorious Liberty of the Sons of God Where as those Sons of God shall be freed from Sin and shall do Service pure and uncorrupted unto God so the rest of the Visible Creation which hath too much and too long been forc'd to minister unto Vain Ends and Ungodly Practices shall be asserted also into that Freedom where it never shall be imployed more but in the true Service of God whose Service is perfect
Christ it is not because these Laws do not extend unto Them but because They refuse them The Goodness of God is not the less for not being entertain'd by the Generality of Men. Were it with an Impartial Eye look'd upon it might excite the Praises of all Men. That now every Nation is in the sight of God of equal account with the Land of Judea Every City that will truly own and obey his Laws is esteem'd no less than Jerusalem and every Temple where true Devotion is offered up where the Laws of Christ are un-corruptly declared and his Sacraments duly Administred as highly valued by him as the Gates of Sion and the Temple there And as he respects not One Nation before another so neither is He a respecter of Persons The Poor Man shall not be despised because he is Poor but shall have his Obedience kindly accepted and fully Rewarded Neither shall the Rich be Envy'd or Rejected because he is Rich but shall find our Lord Faithful and Just in the Valuing and Recompensing the Observance of his Laws So that we may say with David possibly in a larger Sense than he meant of Lands Nations and People which in Holy Writ are often limited to the Tribes and Families of the Jews the Regions and Cities of Palestine O be joyful in the Lord all ye Lands serve the Lord with Gladness and come before his presence with a Song Let the People Praise thee O God yea let all the People Praise thee For having given such Excellent Laws to all People thou wilt judge the folk righteously and with thy especial favour govern all the Nations upon Earth Hear ye all ye People give Ear all ye Inhabitants of the World both Low and High Rich and Poor one with another the Goodness of God is the same to you all in these his Holy Laws Praise him therefore and Magnifie him for ever Eubul And have we not also from hence Theophilus an instance of Gods Wisdom and Mercy in putting these his Laws into Writing and enjoyning the frequent Reading and Preaching of them What are for all the World and do belong to all Nations how distant soever could not so conveniently have been dispersed for the good of all had they been confined to some Mens Breasts only Whereas now in their being written they can the more easily and punctually be known And from their being translated into all Languages and speaking in those Languages the same thing God is pleased happily to reverse the Confusion of Tongues at Babel Had they been left merely to an Oral Tradition we by reason of the Passions Prejudices Interests and to say the best the weakness of the Memories of Men should have had little security for their being preserved uncorrupt if yet they would have been preserved at all The Instance is sad but not impertinent to be mention'd how by this Traditional way the Knowledge of God and his Laws were in not many Hundred Years after the Flood in effect wholly lost not retrieveable but by new Revelations and the Constituting as it were a new Ecclesiastick State in Abraham and his Posterity to which for a not unlike Reason he afterwards saw it requisite to write his Laws in the Mount. Besides how would they have escaped amidst the Enthusiasms of many who pretend unto fairer Revelations than any of these Written Laws Which shews the great Wisdom of God in committing these his Laws unto Writing and may also shew Us that no Laws which are not Written are to be accounted His how Divine soever they may be pretended For why these should be put in Writing for the securing them from the corrupt Passions and personal Weaknesses of Men and others of no less Authority and Concern as is pretended than These should be left merely to the Breasts and Tongues of some Men who are of like Passions and Deficiencies with others I must confess Theophilus I understand not Nor is Gods Mercy less shewn than his Wisdom in that now we are not to go we know not whither to seek the Will of God that we may obey it but have his Laws near us and at hand in every place As God said to the Israelites Deut. 30.13 so may it now be said to all Men These Laws are not hidden from thee neither are they far off They are not in Heaven that thou shouldst say Who shall go up for us into Heaven and bring them unto us that we may hear them and do them Neither are they beyond the Sea that thou shouldst say Who shall go over the Sea for us and bring them unto us that we may hear them and do them But they are nigh unto thee in thy Mouth and in thy Heart that thou mayst do them Nigh they are and not a Family but may have them always lie open to their view not a particular Person but may have them as a Treasure in his Chamber or Closet Neither doth God only take care that these his Laws should be made known by being Written but he hath also commanded that they being Written should be Preached For those Precepts Preach the Word be Instant in season and out of season Reprove Rebuke Exhort with all long-Suffering and Doctrine are not Temporary ones given to Timothy and in Him to cease but such as are to be practised by Ministers to the end of the World. They must not be negligent to put Men always in Remembrance of these Laws though they be already known but still Line must be upon Line and Precept upon Precept here a little and there a little A very great Mercy of God it is Theophilus that he will have his Laws though they be written to be yet thus frequently Preach'd that none may perish for want of Knowledge And a Mercy it is no less that though his Laws be Preached he yet hath caused them to be written putting them into the Hands of every Christian That in case False Teachers should arise as 't is foretold there will we may have wherewithal to discover and disprove them And truly the having the Holy Scriptures in their Hand and Eye is a Priviledge that one would wonder any should endeavour to take away from the People since it always by the Bounty of God belong'd unto them Under the Old Testament the Divine Laws were to be bound upon the Hands of the People and to be as it were Frontlets between their Eyes to be written also on the Posts of their Houses and on their Gates so far were they from being withheld Under the New Testament we find that the Writings of the Evangelists were not composed for the use of the Apostles only but for every Christian also in particular As may in good sort be seen by our Saviour's Sermon in the Mount which was not spoken to the Disciples as Ministers but as private Christians For at his Preaching it there were no Apostles they not being made nor sent till afterwards We find also that all the
Favours of God to their Souls Thinking it possibly no more than their duty so to do But surely the former is not necessary Let your Speech be seasoned with Salt implies as one well Comments it that as our Meat should have a Relish from Salt so our Speech should have the Savour of Religion But that it should be wholly of Religion is not any more necessary than that our Meat should be wholly Salt. And for the later I may say That Spiritual Evidences and the Secret Favours which God may have vouch-safed to us should have a kind of Modesty attending them which should forbid the seeking after Auditors and Spectators He that said Cerne Dionysia fastum deposui See Dionysia I have no Pride left was perchance the more Proud from his Boasted Humility Such joyful Sentiments of Gods Mercy and Love should in some respect imitate godly Sorrow and holy Fasting causing the Man to enter into his Closet that he may not appear unto Men to rejoyce Satisfied with his Eye alone who puts such Gladness into the Heart Or else imparting it to one or some Christian Friends only where he shall not be thought to appear 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 some great one dearer unto God than other Men. And thus Theophilus you see what little reason there is for the finding fault with our Saviours Laws as if by forbidding idle Words they overturned all the pleasure of Society They rather provide that Conversation shall have the more pleasure by all foolish impertinent deceitful and opprobrious Talks being discarded from it and by such excellent and useful variety of Discourses being afforded as shall be befitting Men to use In a word they allow us to be Innocently Chearful but not Extravagantly Merry and command our Conversation to be Religious yet free from Affectedness and Indiscretion Theoph. I see we have reason to use some of our words in Thankfulness to our Lawgiver who hath indulged us such a Freedom as by them to exercise all the chearful Virtues that nourish and commend a sociable Conversation Whoever it is that loves the innocent Enjoyments of Acquaintance and Friends the kind Expressions which they use to each other the grateful Entertainment of profitable and ingenious Discourses and who is it that loves them not must also love the Laws of our Lord which banish all those words that shall any way corrupt or sower so great a Pleasure And whosoever shall find fault with these Laws as if they enjoyned a moroseness of Temper either do not understand them or else are for such a licentious and ill-natur'd way of Converse as even an Honest Heathen would condemn Eubul The next unreasonable Thing is the Loving of Enemies even while they persist to be injurious which they say deprives us of that sense of Honour and Courage which as we are Men should belong unto us and makes way also for new and greater Injuries to be done us But that the Loving of Enemies even when they persist to be injurious is not so unreasonable a thing may hence appear Because some of the better sort of Heathens who had Nature chiefly their Guide have gone a good step towards it and do commend the with-holding of Revenge as very honourable in those that do it and do urge many good Arguments for it Nempe hoc indocti They are the ignorant sort that would vent their spleen upon their Enemies But Chrysippus non dicit idem Learn'd Chrysippus is of another mind and mild Thales and wise Socrates Qui partem acceptae saeva inter vincla cieutae Accusatori nollet dare Who though by false Accusations thrown into Prison and condemned to end his Life by drinking Poison would yet could he have done it not have given his Accuser a part with him Juv. Sat. 13. So that if it be Unreasonable it is not altogether the fault of Christianity and they in some measure must condemn Those who have been accounted Wise Men in the World and the great Promoters of Virtue before they can find fault with the Laws of our Lord. And indeed when the visible things of the World do all joyn together as they manifestly do in a kind of mutual Concord for the promoting the welfare of Men The Sun and Stars not shining to themselves The Earth not bringing forth Herbs and Fruit upon her own Account nor the Beasts and Fowls feeding merely for their own Lives but all of these either immediately or mediately for Mans use and Service And also when Men are born into the World more impotent as truly they are than any other Creatures naked altogether and helpless for a longer time than what brings many other things to their full Growth and Perfection and this that they may owe their being nurs'd up to the Tenderness and Care of others it may seem to do more than hint That as Friendship and Good-will is highly to be maintain'd amongst us so when by any Persons they are broken the Breach is not to be continued but by friendly yieldings and the being affected with pity towards the Distemper of Mens Minds as we usually are towards the Diseases of their Bodies is presently to be closed up For shall the good of Men which is so carried on by all things else be neglected by ourselves Or shall the Passion of a Man which may quickly wear off prevail more for our Disrespect than the Dignity of Human Nature shall for our kindness to him But suppose that a Retaliation of Injuries be not naturally against Justice yet certainly these Men who urge the unreasonableness of Loving Enemies cannot but grant that in case the History of our Redemption be true it is but just and equitable that our Enemies while they are Enemies should be Loved For while we were Enemies to Christ he dyed for us while we had provoked God to throw his Wrath upon us a Wrath which would have been greater than we could have born our Blessed Lord in pity to us came from Heaven to Save us And when We merely by being Loved as Enemies are preserved from destruction shall We think it such an unreasonable thing to bear a Loving respect towards Those who are our Enemies Especially when the greatest Trespasses which they can commit against us are nothing in Comparison of those which we have committed against God and which are forgiven us by Him. Besides as Christ hath born our Image by taking upon him our Nature so there is none of our Enemies but retain in their Nature as they are Men the Honour that our Lord hath done us and in some sort do wear his Image And can we if we rightly weigh things shew any thing but Love there where is a Resemblance of the Son of Man who hath shewed the greatest Love to us And though Injuries be done us by Those who bear the likeness of Him that never did wrong to any Man yet so far should those Injuries be from hindring of our Love that they should rather put us
continually in yours without any ceasing or decay for the great Veneration and Love which you express to these Laws Theoph. Truly Eubulus it is impossible there should be any true Happiness without them Should not the Understanding be recovered from that Blindness and Errour which are in it should not the Will be reduced from its Pravity and Perverseness Should not the Affections be delivered from their Tumultuousness and Evil Excesses even Heaven would not be a place of Joy and Bliss For how unagreeable would Glorious Mansions be and an incorruptible Body were the Soul imperfect and vicious in all its Faculties unacquainted with Holiness secretly grudging at God's Will and openly disobeying it What would the Salvation be should Saint with Saint carry it ill-naturedly and enjoy their Immortality only for the Perpetuating of their Dissentions And if to them whose Natures are not fashioned by these Laws Heaven would not afford an Happiness we may be sure Earth will not Which makes me Eubulus to pity those Men as Enemies to their own Welfare who esteem Liberty and Greatness to be then alone truly perfect when they are attended with a Licentiousness doing whatever liketh them without any respect had to the Laws of God or Man. Whereas God himself who is infinite in Majesty and most absolute in Power acteth according to the Eternal Laws of Righteousness and Goodness And it is the perfection of his Greatness and Liberty so to do Eubul What you have said I cannot gainsay but do much approve And though I confess I could never think as some have done that the Scriptures bare saying that they are the Word of God is a sufficient Testimony that they are so yet from the inward Excellence of these Laws and those admirable Motives which are added to them for the securing of our Obedience there is methinks a substantial Proof of their Divinity and Truth Can it be thought that the Devil could ever prompt any Man to make Laws so righteous and good as these are Or that he would promote their Observance with such mighty Rewards such severe Threatnings and such sacred Considerations If so then surely our Saviour's Argument of Satans being divided against himself and his Kingdoms not being able thereby to stand might be altogether as valid in the present case as then it was when the Jews said that Devils were cast out by Beelzebub the Prince of the Devils Neither have we more reason to imagine That any Man out of his own falseness and deceit did make these Laws since they are so directly destructive of all falseness and deceit and may justly be supposed to be everlastingly so in that they are recommended to the World with Considerations so powerful and savoury From their own Purity therefore and Goodness they may well be own'd to be the same Divine Precepts which in reality they are Theoph. And let me add That no Man ever deserv'd to be so much honour'd among Men as He hath done who hath given these Laws and beyond all example hath encouraged their practice I cannot but think somtimes how highly the grave Lucretius hath extoll'd and is himself highly extoll'd by some for so doing his Epicurus who endeavour'd to Arm Men against all Fears by the beating down of all Religion and the excluding the Gods from the knowledge of every thing on Earth as being neither pleas'd with good Actions nor offended with evil ones And He so far well doth shew that all other Inventions however very much conducive to the Welfare of Men are yet nothing to be compared to That which will quiet tumultuous Passions and render the Mind well informed and steady Compare saith he with This the great things which others have found out Ceres and Bacchus are much honour'd She as having first taught the way of sowing Corn He as having first instructed Men in planting of Vines But yet without these things Mens Lives may be sustain'd and as report goes some Nations even now do live without them At bene non poterat sine puro pectore vivi but without a Breast well purged a Man can have no happy Life And then he goes on with the Praises of his Philosopher as being worthy a Place among the Gods. But if He had so much Honour who profanely taught Men not to fear what shall our Lord have who with sacred Religion directs Men in the pleasant and right Paths to Happiness Who gives them Laws which will render them easie to themselves and acceptable unto others Who in any Troubles that may befal them affords them the only Methods of Comfort by telling them that God is a Father unto Men in every thing taking care of them and ordering even Afflictions for the good of those who are pious Who makes known everlasting Joys after Death which are prepared for those that live holy Lives and renders the way thereunto not difficult by the help which he continually vouchsafes from above And all this in such a wonderful manner by having loved us even unto Death with a Love much stronger than Death itself Eubul Our Lord doth indeed in these things deserve Honour above all Men and we may often on his account sing that Anthem which at his Birth the Angels sung Glory be to God on high on Earth Peace Good-will towards Men. And I will further say That They who faithfully give up their Names unto him have the Precedency not only of all Those who among the Heathens pretended to the study of Wisdom but also of God's own People the Jews yea in a sort even of David himself who was so dear to him and whom in our Discourse we have had occasion so often to mention For though I cannot but yield that this King had a fair insight into the Kingdom of the Messias and the things belonging unto it there being in his Psalms so many undoubted Descriptions thereof yet it will not be an Untruth to affirm That the meanest Christian among us hath unless it be his own fault more clear Revelations of Christ of Life and Immortality and of the Assistances of the Holy Spirit than David had or any of the Prophets The words of our Lord tending to what I now say are very remarkable Verily I say unto you Among them that are born of Women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist Notwithstanding he that is least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he Matth. 11.11 i. e. However a very great Prophet John was one that above all the rest had the Honour to see our Lord in the Flesh a thing which many Prophets and Kings had desired to see and had not seen it yet the least Disciple or Christian when Christ shall be set at the Right-Hand of God and shall raise up an Heavenly Kingdom upon Earth shall he greater than John. i. e. From the being Baptized with the Holy Ghost and having a larger knowledge of the Divine Will manifested being made acquainted with higher and
Epistles excepting those only to particular Persons are written to the Holy Brethren To the Churches of God that are sanctified in Jesus Christ And to all that call upon the Name of the Lord Jesus And hereupon we may discern as in a late Book hath been well discoursed that the Holy Scriptures are as it were a Trust committed to every Christian and he is to be so true to his charge as by no means to part with it Yea these Sacred Writings are our Lord's Will and Testament by which a Man becomes an Heir through Jesus Christ And if so then He that is Heir of an Estate hath surely no less right to the Conveyances that make over the Estate than he hath to the Estate itself And therefore if in common Estates upon Earth it will be every Man's Prudence to secure to himself the Deeds upon which the Estates depend In this Heavenly Inheritance it will be every Man 's not Prudence only but Duty to preserve to himself the Writings that conveigh it The reason is because though a Man may without blame somtimes part with an Inheritance on Earth yet with That in Heaven he cannot without the Imputation of Folly and Wickedness and even the exposing of his own Soul to Sale and Servitude The Pleadings of some Men viz. That the permitting the Scriptures to be in the Hands of the common People is the cause of Schisms and Heresies would have more weight with it if in the Ages most fruitful of Schisms and Heresies the Learned had not had therein as great a share as not to say a greater than any others and if where the Vulgar have of late in this matter seem'd most guilty we had not too much reason to believe That even Those who most complain of them have by their secret Emissaries seduced them on purpose into Errors and divided them into Parties when otherwise they would have walked in straiter Paths and been more at Unity amongst themselves But though there hath been by some an ill use made of the Scriptures yet God to whom These Things long before were not hid thought them not reason enough for hindring the Writing of his Will or for the withholding it when written from the Hands of any And his Goodness and Wisdom is herein manifested in that the ill effects which would have proceeded from the not writing his Laws or the denying them to the Eye of the Vulgar would in all probability have been far more and greater than from the contrary And the good effects of their being written and allow'd to the use of all Men are by the blessing of God much greater than the bad Consequences now are Theoph. Inferr'd also may be the Reasonableness that these Laws should endure without Abrogation or Change so long as the World shall stand The Gospel is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Everlasting Gospel Rev. 14.6 Such as never shall cease nor be as to the Laws of it in any case Repeal'd And upon this account it is that the Time from our Lord's Ascension to the End of the World or his Coming to Judgment is called the Last Days in Holy Writ A great many years indeed have passed since these Laws were given by our Lord and a great many more possibly may pass before the Dissolution of the World shall be but yet these are the Last Days because we are not to expect another Dispension nor another Lawgiver For it is He that will be with us in his Laws and by his Spirit unto the End of the World. Better Laws cannot be given None can Imagine how there should be any Other more sutable to Infinite Holiness Justice and Goodness in Him that gives them or more agreeable to the Nature and Soul of Men to whom they are given And so if the Gospel wherein these Laws are be called Everlasting if the Time that shall be to the End of the World together with that which hath already been since these Laws were given hath the Appellation of the Last Days upon the account that a further Declaration of God's Will is not to be expected we from our foregoing Discourse may easily perceive that abundant Reason there is why it so should be And whosoever they be that shall make the Breach of any of the Divine Laws either to be none or a less fault now than in former Ages it was under a Pretence that our Nature groweth weaker every Day than other and must therefore have its Allowances in Disobedience for so they seem too plainly to affirm who say Hodie pro fornicatione neminem esse deponendum quia fragiliora sunt nostra Corpora quà m olim erant Distinct 82 in Gloss do fouly reflect upon our Lawgivers perpetual institution and make those Sacred Precepts which should govern the evil Inclinations of Men to be in effect over-ruled by them which is a thing so extreamly ill that the World must be weak indeed when it is not odious to a Religious Ear. Eubul Your Inferences Theophilus are Right and I cannot at present think of another But that must not hinder your further going on with them Theoph. I have done what I promised following every one of yours with another But if you have made an end your ceasing is my excuse and may well be so Eubul To draw then to a Conclusion of this our Subject I hope in the Consideration of the Divine Laws we have not exceeded the bounds of our Duty by inquiring further than we ought to do Theoph. I think I justly may absolve you from any such fault now committed For though it be a fault over-curiously to pry into the Laws of our Lord as if all the Reasons of them were to be understood by us and though where we do not understand many things in Relation to them we are to acquiesce by persuading ourselves that they are in every respect Holy and Just yet where the reasons of them lie open to view or at least by an Humble and Devout search into them may easily be found out there it will be well-becoming us and no more than Duty to look into them That the Excellences of them may be discern'd by us and that our Love of them and Gods Glory from them may be the more raised and magnified And indeed Eubulus in all your words I have perceived nothing but what is agreeable to so humble a search and so pious an end And I acknowledge myself as much edified thereby so likewise much obliged to you Eubul The Design of our Discourse hath been good And that I trust will cast a Vail upon what Defects soever may have been in it And if it hath administred to your Satisfaction or in the Apostle's words but stirr'd up your pure Mind by way of Remembrance I shall account its doing so to be sufficiently my Reward A good Work it would be Theophilus if upon occasion we could prevail abroad for a due esteem and love of these sacred Laws Men are apt to
Box of Ointment on the Head of our Lord That wheresoever the Gospel should be preached in the whole World there also should this that this woman hath done be told for a memorial of her Mat. 26.13 In the same manner are the good Actions of Holy Men preserved in the Scripture that they may be told as a Memorial of them wheresoever these Sacred Writings shall come and so long as they shall last which shall be to the End of the World. Moses shall for ever be celebrated who refused to be called the Son of Pharaoh 's Daughter choosing rather to suffer Afflictions with the People of God than to enjoy the Pleasures of Sin for a Season Abraham's Faith shall never cease to be praised till Faith itself shall cease and be turned into Vision Gideon Barak Sampson Jephtha David also and Samuel and all the Prophets and Apostles shall for their faithful Deeds be had in Everlasting Remembrance Such Honour have all God's Saints And though they be happy in the enjoyment of the Recompence of Reward and may seem not to need any of that praise which Earth can give yet surely it cannot but be esteemed an high Favor from God unto them while they are Blessed in Heaven to be Honourable on Earth and Celebrated themselves here while they are praising God there Had we ourselves Theophilus no use and benefit from these examples yet their being Registred as an Honour to the Persons that lived so well is sufficient reason for their being written Though truly in this their Honour we may reap a great deal of satisfaction For those Righteous Actions which God hath so much honoured Them for we may justly conclude He will be well pleased with in Vs Since He is no Respecter of Persons in every Nation he that feareth Him and worketh Righteousness being accepted with him 'T is true indeed we cannot expect that God will give Divine Authority to any more Books than the Bible and write our Names in them But He hath other ways of Rewarding Holy Livers on Earth besides enrolling them in a Sacred Volume that shall last as long as the World. He can give us Honour and Prosperity while we Live and can Embalm us also in a lasting Name when we are dead And though he should not do this yet we read of another Book of God in which the Names and all the good Actions of Faithful Men are recorded and which at the last day will be opened when every man shall receive according to his works The Righteous Deeds of Holy Men being preserved in the Books of Scripture may put us in mind of this other Book And the Honour which they have of being never forgotten in this world encourageth us to the like Holy and Just Actions that we may be remembred in the world to come Theoph. God grant we may at last be remembred there and then I shall little care though the same Earth that covers my Body bury my Memory also Though yet the Honour of Living in Sacred Writings after Death and of being made instrumental to other Mens virtuous Deeds and to the more comely performing of them I acknowledge to be very great And since God is pleased to make a Good Name and the Being for Ages Exemplary to be a Reward of a well-led Life I will not blame Those why by rightly ordering their Lives have an Eye to such a Reward Eubul I am sure we have a great deal of Reason to account it a Blessing that we have had so many patterns of Virtue set us by which we are the better capacitated for being Happy ourselves and being also Examples unto others The Faith indeed of Abraham is thought by some to have been the more excellent and even to have given him the Name of the Father of the Faithful upon the account that he had no precedent Example of any ones Believing in God He dwelling in Vr of the Chaldees where they were all Idolaters But supposing this were so and that therefore our Faith cannot have the accomplishment of Father Abrahams because we have Him and many Others our Examples Yet our Condition in our Faith is much the more sure unto us than it would have been if we had had none in whose steps we might tread For who of us would have done as Abraham did We may therefore praise God in that he hath caused us to be Born into the World after so many excellent Persons whose Examples may direct us further than of our Selves we could have gone And albeit we shall not have the Honour to receive others into our Bosome when in Heaven as Abraham doth yet if we can the more easily have a place in his and be our Selves in some measure Leaders of other Men thither we shall have no reason to complain of any want of Happiness but a great deal of cause to rejoyce that the way to Heaven was made so plain and that we had so many encouragements in it not to faint And with reference unto this The Church hath piously ordered that we should bless Gods H. Name for all his Servants departed this Life in his Faith and Fear Beseeching him to give us Grace so to follow their Examples that with Them we may be partakers of his Heavenly Kingdom Theoph. A great Esteem and Love Eubulus we may have for the Examples of Holy Men but it must at last End in the Esteem and Love of the Laws of Christ which include in them all the Good that the best Examples of Men ever have shewn or can shew Eubulus It must so Theophilus For all those actions of Men and Women famous in their Generations The Practice of Righteousness and Mercy of Munificence and Liberality of Temperance and Sobriety of unfeigned Devotion and Piety towards God all of which every Man hath a Tongue to praise are but imperfect draughts of these Holy Laws I say imperfect Draughts Because no Man our Blessed Lord alone excepted hath ever yet risen to that height of Excellence which they require Very pleasing they are as they are represented in the Lives of Good Men though they there are not unlike a Beautiful Face drawn to great disadvantage and with many unbecoming Shades But could we see them without failure exprest in the demeanor of any Man and had Eyes clear enough to behold them we should confess that they were a Sight too good for Earth However in the commendable actions of Men with the imperfections of Mortality if we would but reflect thus to wit The Constancy of that Man is a pleasant thing to behold The Righteousness of this Man is truely Comely Mercy and Goodness here is a real Ornament to the Actor Friendship and Kindness there How amiable are they The Flourishing of Society in Peace and Industry and all publick Virtues The Affections and Tenderness of Parents The Submission and Dutifulness of Children The Dwelling of Brethren together in Unity And the Affability and Usefulness of Neighbors to each
Law properly so called but in the Psalms And I doubt not but as the Psalms are called in a larger Sense Gods Law so our Psalmists in these words O how I love thy Law meaneth all that God by Divine Inspiration hath caused to be written as well as the Law taken in the strictest signification Theoph. Give me leave to tell you that I look not upon you to have done your task throughly unless you deal with the other Parts of Holy Scripture as you have done with that which is properly Preceptive Eubul There is the less need of this because if That be excellent and amiable in relation to us the rest of the Bible as being in order unto and promotive of the Precepts there for so in reality it is must be Excellent and Amiable likewise whether it be Historical or Prophetick Adhortative or Devotional and to one or other of these all except what we have already discours'd of or at least the most of what the Sacred Writings include is reducible Theoph. If you would be a little particular herein you would seem to me not to exceed the Bounds of your Discourse Good Eubulus begin with the Historical part of the Bible which for the great things it containeth and the Faithful account which it giveth doth when ever I read it afford me very great satisfaction Eubul That the accounts of things are Faithful and Written with a design of Truth the Holy Writers not sparing themselves but putting down their own faults as several of them in several places do is a very great Evidence Such an Integrity cannot but be Loved where from Historians having less respect to their own Reputation than to the verity of things a Man may be as well satisfied in his knowledge of the most Ancient Times as he is in those which he Lives in and sees with his Eyes Yea such History may much the more engage his Love when it gives him not merely the knowledge of the first Times but such a knowledge as to a good Man puts a Relish into All Times and will make the years pass more gratefully to the End of the World. Look we Theophilus upon the account of the Creation of the World which we may be certain was Written by Gods Immediate Appointment and Inspiration for the exciting a due Fear and Love of Him i. e. an Obedience to his Laws and what Delight may we not conceive therefrom While the Wise Men of the World have in vain sought how this goodly Fabrick of the Heaven and Earth came to be such as it is some of them affirming it to be from all Eternity the same which we now see it others determining it to be from a lucky hit of Matter casually coming together into this Beauteous Form We amidst their Errors can pity them and the more enjoy the Truth from the Ignorance and Darkness which these Searchers have been in But as the knowledge of a Truth which they could not reach unto may upon that score be prized by us so we may intermingle the greatest Love with our Esteem of it because it gives us such a firm support throughout our Lives God who Created the World did it not more to manifest his Power than to express his Goodness unto Men whom he made to enjoy it and to be served by all things in it And how Cold and Vnaffecting are the Other Opinions in respect of this Truth Were the World such as it now is from all Eternity altogether without a Deity or with no Relation unto one which is the opinion of some Atheistical Men it could not give us the pleasure of thinking that it was the effect of Divine Power and Love to us Nay were it Eternal by a necessary Efflux from the Goodness of a Deity which could not refrain from the thus exerting itself as the Platonists hold where would be the Favour For that which cannot possibly be otherwise layeth no Obligation upon us And should the World have risen merely by Chance as the Epicureans would have it there would this way also have been the Total absence of Kindness For what hath Chance to do with Kindness whose perfection it is to have the Understanding and Will along with it But now in the History of the Worlds Beginning we can behold the Love and Beneficence of the Great Creator and with Pleasure can Contemplate Him who makes his Goodness to be seen in every thing though Himself be Invisible So great a Priviledge is it to have the World founded in the Divine Power Wisdom and Love that one who knows those things and is a Virtuous Person would not for a World that the World should be without them The Light would be a less pleasant thing to behold should it not have been from Him who is the Fountain of Light. And what pleasure would the Heavenly Bodies whether those which we term fixed or those which as Cicero speaks are Vocabulo nonâ—e errantia Planets not in reality but word only afford by their Motion and Influence were it not from the Creators Order that they thus Move from his Care of us that they thus shed their Influence Could we not say also concerning these Earthly Things That Manifold are thy Works O Lord in Wisdom hast thou made them all the Earth is full of thy Riches And even concerning ourselves likewise that Man was first formed by God who breathed into him the Breath of Life that ever since we have been fearfully and wonderfully made and that in his Book are all our Members Written both We and They should lose all our Excellence For an Excellence wholly destitute of Wisdom wholly destitute of Love would be an empty thing yea a meer Contradiction Theoph. It must needs be yielded that such History is Worthy to be Loved on the Considerations you now mention'd and one Consideration more may be added viz. That though there be in some antient Authors some things not altogether unlike to this History they in probability having either seen Moses's Writings and so out of design mingled Fictions with them for the making an Opinion of their own or else heard an imperfect Relation of them and so given us only some faint resemblances of Truth though the best they could yet none of them all do give that satisfaction to a Religious Reader which Moses doth He having been throughly instructed by the Creator himself for what he hath Written and having given Confirmation also of its Truth by the Wonders which he wrought Eubul It is not difficult to conceive why though even by Natural Reason it may be inferred that the World owed its Form and Fashion to a Divine Power there yet is such a defective account of the Origen of the Universe from the Philosophers of Old. For they however otherwise of good Knowledge and great Industry relying altogether on the Experience of the Works of Nature in which they saw that somthing was requisite for the production of another thing could not
shew the Unspeakable Love of God unto us and to instruct us in such a pureness of Devotion towards him as becomes Creatures of Rational Souls to exercise towards their Creator and infinitely Loving Father To instruct us also in such an Amiableness of Deportment towards Men as shall shew that they are heartily loved by us These things cannot be the Design of an Envious and Evil Nature No nor yet of wordly Praise or Profit Not of Profit for they taught the way of being Rich towards God Of laying up of Treasures in Heaven which was the refusing the Mammon of Unrighteousness by giving Alms to the Poor and forsaking Houses and Lands for the Sake of Christ Neither were these Politick Precepts to Teach Men to despise these things that the Teachers themselves might be the more enriched by them for They by their own Example no less than by Precepts had shewed that those wordly things were meanly to be accounted of They forsook all and followed Christ And surely they did altogether as little design Praise to themselves for all which they said or did they spake and acted for the Glory of God. The Pharisees they Condemned for looking after the Praise of Men Matth. 6. And others they infixed a Note of Discredit upon for Loving the Praise of Men more than the Praise of God. They wrote down Precepts for the avoiding of applause in our good actions yea so far were they from the seeking after Praise themselves that they Registred their own and Companions Failings At the Betraying of Jesus all his Disciples cowardly forsook him and fled Matth. 26. And this is writ by one who himself forsook him and fled as well as the rest And St. Peter's denying of his Master is at large described by St. Mark who was his Intimate and Friend And the whole is approved of by St. Peter who had the viewing of St. Mark 's Writings and as is thought by some did dictate the Matter of them From these considerations there is no reason to think that the Penmen of the New Testament wrote Falshoods or things that they did not throughly know to be true Add to these the unlikelyhood that poor Fishermen for such the Disciples as to the greater part were and the rest not much better could raise such a Story of their own Heads so agreeable to the Predictions of the Old Testament and yet false or that they would have done it so contrary to the expectation of the Jews and to their own expectation also a little before Who thought of nothing more than of a Messias who as a King should deliver them from their Earthly Enemies Especially when Indignities Reproaches loss of all Comforts yea of Life itself fell upon them for what they Attested and might have been avoided by their Silence or denying it Such Evils might indeed terrifie Truth and render it forsaken but that they should encourage a feigned thing and bear up Mens Spirits for the spreading of a Lye who is it can imagine Certainly no Man can with any shew of Reason do it Who shall yet further consider that none could possibly be greater encouragers of Speaking Truth than the Apostles were in all their Writings nor greater Enemies to false Speaking than They. For they forbid it under pain of Eternal Damnation Nothing must enter into the New Jerusalem which maketh a Lye And all who do so must have their part in the Lake that burneth with Fire and Brimstone which is the Second Death These are some of those many proofs which confirm the Truth of Scripture Story and whoever is willing notwithstanding such Rational Evidence to disbelieve it is I doubt of such ill Principles and Morals that it is his interest such History should not be true For then there would be no Hell after this Life which should there be one he is conscious to himself would be very hot to Him. Theoph. He would deserve it should be so And none will be forward to pity his Misery who shall thus shut his Ears upon the message of his Happiness But Eubulus the Prophetick part of Scripture is next to have your Eye Eubul The Prophetick is in its way Historical also different only in this Historical tells you what hath been Prophetick tells you what will be and if it be fulfilled long since and written it passeth into a more surprizing sort of History We are much delighted in the account of former Times and not less desirous to know what will be in future And when that which hath been predicted cometh exactly so to pass we are the more taken with it because the Times to come more properly belong unto God and we look upon it as his immediate Hand if any thing be thus made know And hence it is that whatsoever hath the name of a Prophecie needeth nothing else to gain attention and to set itself off amongst the vulgar who in this respect could the less be found fault with were they not too forward to look upon every idle Prognostication as a Prophecie till at last they see the things to be false and themselves to be ridiculous from their Credulity But if ordinary short liv'd Predictions shall be thus attended unto with what delight may those be entertain'd which were of greater note and which God hath ordained as a part of Holy Writ to be Monuments of his Prescience to all Generations I will instance only in those Prophecies which respected our Blessed Saviour so long before his coming which may wonderfully delight us in the exceeding exactness of their being fulfilled what Heart will not be affected that reads the Prophecie of Esay c. 9. so very express concerning our Lord He speaks of Him in it as if he were already come To us a Child is Born to us a Son is given Highly pertinent to him in whom the promises are Yea and Amen and through whom God calleth those things that are not as though they were In which also there is a strange Propriety of Expression as to his Nature To us a Child is Born as Man he could be so to us a Son is given as he was God he could only be Given and not Born. The Time of our Lords Coming so rightly answering to the weeks of Daniel according to which also the Jews expected the Coming of the Messias about the Time our Redeemer came may well be our delight and the more because the wicked Jews seeing Daniel to stand the Christians in so much stead by his Prophecies have since that time made a new division of their Law into Prophetas and Hagiographos and have excluded Him from the number of Prophets and given him none of the highest places among the others whom they made to be of a lower Rank than the Prophets were These Prophecies Behold a Virgin shall bring forth a Son Esai 7.14 And the Lord hath created a new thing in the Earth a Woman shall compass a Man Jer. 31.22 How pleasant are they to the
Freedom This I doubt not but those words the whole Creation groaneth do signifie not only Men but the rest of the Creatures also which have been for so long a time abused to Unrighteousness Theoph. If thus it be in respect of the Creatures whose Being as to a great part of them is of the more insensible sort we may be sure that He who is a Jealous God of his Honour is more neerly concern'd Eubul Yes Theophilus he is throughly Sensible how Vnworthily in the Creations Thraldom he hath been dealt with and therefore all these things must have the Pollution which hath been thrown upon them to be purged off The Heavens shall pass away with a great Noise and the Elements shall Melt with Fervent Heat and all the Works therein shall be Burnt up 2 Pet. 3.10 and so shall be purified from their Corruption and Stains For v. 12. it is said We look for a new Heaven according to his Promise and a New Earth wherein dwelleth Righteousness all which Expressions though by some they be made to signifie the Dissolution of the Jewish State and the Establishment of the Gospel of Christ in the World yet certainly they have relation to the Last Day the Day of Judgment also if not only unto That And the Fire is denoted as to destroy the Vain Works of Men on the Earth so likewise to purifie those parts of the Creation which have by Men been abused unto Sin and Vanity Theoph. Were the Foul Nature of Disobedience rightly discern'd surely Eubulus all Men would abhor it For could any one on this side Hell be willing to bring such Servitude on God such Thraldom on the Creation and thereby such unspeakable Deformity on Themselves Eubul Such Evils are there in Disobedience that when we think the worst of it we think not bad enough but we have as yet only in part seen it of such an Extensive Nature is this hateful Thing that it would spread itself beyond all Time and Place And so the Actors of it although somthing shorereach'd they be in their Deeds yet are not so in their Will and Desires Yea they may truly be said to affect a kind of Eternity in their Sins The Pleasures of Wickedness in which they make God to Serve as hath been said how sorry are they that they are of no greater a length And did they but know how to do it how forward would they be to stretch them out into an Infinite Duration and bind the Almighty all the way to minister to their Polluted Conversations If Conscience within doth check them full gladly would they remove it for ever out of their Breasts that it might disturb them no more And Him who in Heaven is the Lord of All they would either wholly Dethrone and Dispossess of all his Sovereignty or else would entrust him with it no farther than to Serve their Humours as they upon occasion should call for it Theoph. Pray give a particular Instance or two of what you now say Eubul Take Theophilus the Malicious Man first he cannot it may be do much against them whom he Hates but he hath a Will to punish them Eternally knew he but how And this methinks those severe Curses too much speak out when he Dreadfully upon any Displeasure bids God to Damn Them and as far as his Words and Wishes will do it gives them over unto the Devil to be taken Neither is it any better with the Ambitious Man. He would be always rising above others and the Great God must for ever administer to his Proud Wishes and Designs If he at any time be disappointed in his Hopes and Enterprises he inwardly rageth and is in effect sorry that the Power of the Highest is not so much at least in his Hand as that he may exalt himself above all other Men and continue there without any fear of ever being Lower thus far God must always Serve him and when he should be accustom'd for some time to the greatest Height on Earth we have reason to think he would next wish to be the Supream of Heaven too and to extort the whole Power from the Creator of the World. Some Men perhaps would think that what I have spoken borders too much upon Fancy but Theophilus in Reality it doth not And well for us it is That there is a God above who will not let go his Power That his Laws are fixt and that his Authority in them will never can never be overthrown Happy are we that Heaven will always be his Gift and Hell be never otherwise than in his Disposals Alas what should we do if we and all things else were in the power of some Men How miserable would their Malice and ill Nature make us to be on Earth Upon what light Offences should we be sent quick into Hell How would Heaven lie open to Pride and Ambition How all the Work of our Redemption be trodden under foot And those sacred Laws in so much Righteousness and Mercy given us by our Lord how turn'd into Confusion Nothing is so evil but might they have their Wills God's Power should serve for the accomplishing and perpetuating of it And not only his Holy Name and his Works but his Person and Glorious Attributes should be brought under and made Vassals to their wicked Imaginations and uncontroul'd Impiety Theoph. What could Disobedience do more if God were an Intruder in the World If he used his Power in an Oppressive way and if Man were least of all Creatures fitted for his Service Eubul Here it is Theophilus that Disobedience hath its Loathsomness For so far is the Almighty from being an Intruder that there was no God formed before him neither shall there be any after him nor is there any besides him He is the only Potentate King of Kings and Lord of Lords and so he usurps the Right of none affects no unjust Power The Heavens and the Earth were the Works of his Hands nor hath he ever made over his Right to any other None then can say that he intruded into the World and by Injustice holds the Dominion thereof Neither doth he Rule in an Oppressive way At the first â—â—nstrain'd by no necessity nor owing any thing to any one and needing the Services of none but prompted by his own Goodness alone He through his Power gave Being unto Men. When he had this done He honoured them with the Dominion over all Things in this Lower World but much more he honour'd them in making them such who could discern Him that Created them and could do him Service Indeed the meanest Creatures upon Earth however sensless in their Natures do yet serve God Even Snow and Hail Wind and Storm fulfil his Word but then they know not that they fulfil it and so their Obedience in respect of themselves is less worthy God may more truly be said to serve himself of them according to the Expression of the Prophet Jer. 34.10 than they be said properly
chiefly acceptable from Men unto God For He hath Loved them and his Love should be answer'd with Love again But true Love proceeds by the Persuasive Way and never shews itself aright but when it is Willing and Free and is wrought upon by kind Inducements and endearing Motives which are things that are at the greatest distance from Force Now this persuasive Method God generally takes with Men as being most sutable to their Natures and the proper way to prevail with them for that Obedience which as it ariseth from their Willingness and Love will be pleasing in his Sight He multiplieth his Favours upon them sendeth his Holy Spirit to quicken and excite him by Sacred Allurements and taking Suggestions but never with a mighty force to compel them or at most very rarely and that upon very signal Occasions Yea somtimes he useth the Severer Way partly out of Judgment but yet out of Love too Commissioning-Afflictions to fall upon them if by this means he may prevail with them yet always so as that he leaves room for their Will without which their Obedience would be of no worth with Him and not their Virtue in the least nor any way fit for Rewards This may be one Reason Another why God will not Force them into Obedience we may conceive to be this viz. That if they shall not by these gentle Methods be wrought upon but shall still persist in their Sins He may show his Power and Wisdom in improving into his Service and to his Glory those their Sins by which They in appearance made him to serve Thus did he in the King of Assyria Isai 10. Highly proud this King was and very great and his Greatness which consisted in large Possessions and Multitudes of Men the Works and Gifts of God both must be employ'd to no other Ends but the bringing under others though by the most unjustifiable Methods of Unrighteousness and Cruelty Well God sees the Designs of this Haughty Man and he will not presently check him The Jews were a Nation that had behaved themselves so ill that God styles them the People of his Wrath. Against these now will God improve the Pride and Cruelty of this Assyrian making Him his Rod to scourge Them O Assyrian the Rod of mine Anger I will send him against an Hypocritical Nation and against the People of my Wrath will I give him a Charge to take the Spoil and to take the Prey and to tread them down like the Mire in the Streets Vers 6. But that you may see this King had no good Design but the quite contrary it is said in the next Verse Howbeit he meaneth not so neither doth his Heart think so but it is in his Heart to cut off Nations not a few And therefore when God hath performed his whole Work upon Mount Sion and Samaria in punishing them thus by the Pride of the King of Assyria then will he also punish the stout Heart of that King and the Glory of his Looks Vers 12. Thus those Actions that are least intended by Men to God's Service will He by his Wisdom engage for his own Service yet so as that they shall remain Sins still in the Actors and shall at the last have the Recompence that is due unto them After the same manner also is it in other Sins In the Covetous God's Gifts must serve their greedy Desires and must be heap'd up for this End chiefly that the Owners may have as little a Dependence upon Providence as may be And could they think their Treasures should ever administer to Free-handedness and Liberality it would be their Trouble Yet these Men's sordid Desires and Actions God in his secret Wisdom somtimes will order to serve after some years in the good Offices of Charity and Pity in that He who by Vsury and unjust Gain encreaseth his Substance shall when he little intendeth so gather it for him that will pity the Poor Innumerable Instances might be given of God's improving the contrary Designs of Men into his Glory I will only say this That the Wisdom of the Almighty is on Earth in nothing more seen than in this I now mention His Service is hardly more frequently carried on by the pious and righteous Actions of good Men than it is by the indirect and crooked Practices of the Disobedient God as it were secretly arresting their ungodly Contrivances and bringing them about without any virtue of theirs or thanks to them somtimes that the Crafty may be taken in their own Craftiness somtimes that the Welfare of Good Men may be the more promoted and in all that it may be known That however Evil Men may endeavour to make Him in his Holy Name and Works serve their wicked Ends He yet Himself is the Great God that Ruleth over all And though many Devices may be in Mens Hearts yet the Counsel of the Lord That shall stand And whosoever considereth This together with the other Reasons before instanced in why God doth neither Cut these Wicked Men generally off nor force them into Obedience will have no cause to say that God acted below the Wisdom of Prudent Governors on Earth That Criminals are encouraged to continue in their Sins and Others to come in and be partakers with them by their Example Theoph. I confess what you have said I cannot but assent unto And do heartily acknowledge that God is Merciful and Wise in his Dealings with the Children of Men. Eubul But though God doth somtimes abstain from punishing their Disobedience and somtimes doth improve it for the effecting of what He himself would have done yet it is not thereupon the less Loathsome in its own Nature and Deform'd It tendeth as far as possible for ever to Dissolve the Community betwixt God as a Lawgiver and Men his Subjects And perchance we hence may not unmeetly discern how agreeably Rebellious Men are requited in being Eternally punished in Hell. Their will would have had their wickedness uncontroul'd and the pleasures thereof extended to an infinite Duration and God must thus for ever have Ministred unto them to the Eternal Overthrow of all that is Sacred They suffer therefore no longer than they would have Sinned And it is not Incongruous that they should for ever bear his Wrath who might they have had their Desire would for ever have made Him to Serve under Them for the maintaining of their Iniquities But Theophilus it is time to conclude Theoph. The coming on of Night tells us it is Yet I cannot Eubulus but make one Wish first viz. That Men would be willing not to be imposed upon by the false appearances of Disobedience for very deceitful Colours it often weareth but would consider the true Nature thereof in its Genuine Vncomeliness and Deformity Eubul It would be well if they would so do For I dare appeal even to wicked Men themselves whether it would not seem grosly ill in their Eyes if those Servants who by duty and many particular