the real Merits of a Cause whether I have not very fairly and clearly expounded those places of St. Paul which I have produced upon this head together with all others of a like meaning and signification which it is not necessary accurately to insert so as that no advantage can be reaped from them to the Calvinistical Doctrine The Second Account which I shall give of the origine and progress of this Opinion and of its Continuance among us to this Day shall be taken from those Texts in the Epistles of St. Paul where he describes the Lucta or Contention which is to be found more or less in every man for it is not equal in all between the two principles of the Flesh and Spirit or between the natural tendencies and desires of the humane Soul as it moves from its self by an inward spring or principle of self activity abstracted from all Intanglement or Encumbrance from the Body which are all regulated by the sober and steady deliberations of right reason without any Prejudice Humour Interest or Passion and between those desires which are owing to the union of the intellectual or spiritual principle with matter from whence it comes to pass that our nobler part is perpetually sollicited and frequently overborn by the importunity of sensual Pleasures by yielding too frequently or too grosly to which it follows unavoidably that the natural strength and activity of the mind will be by degrees impaired as Elastical Bodies by moysture lose their Spring or as the Bodies of men or other Animals by want of exercise and too much ease are used to grow Scorbutick resty and unactive but on the contrary by constant breathing activity and motion they acquire new strength and arrive to an Athletical firmitude and vigour as it is also with the Mind which is not more impaired by a tame and cowardly submission to Animal and fleshly desires than it is improved and strengthned by a stout and resolute resistance of them In this continual combat between concupiscence and reason consists that spiritual Warfare which we are obliged to maintain with the World the Flesh and the Devil in the conquest of which Enemies or in our utmost endeavour towards it as being an effect of the natural strength and activity of the Soul shaking off the Cloggs and Encumbrances of the sensual or lower Life which is wholly governed by gross and corporeal Impressions from without the nature of Virtue consists a on the otherside Vice is nothing else but an unnecessary yielding to so mean impulses or it is that decay or infirmity of mind which is the consequence of such a yielding This Combat is excellently described by St. Paul in the Seventh Chapter of his Epistle to the Romans from the 14th verse to the end of that Chapter in these words We know that the Law is Spiritual but I am carnal sold under Sin For that which I do I allow not For what I would that do I not but what I hate that do I. If then I do that which I would not I consent unto the Law that it is good Now then it is no more I that do it but Sin that dwelleth in me For I know that in me that is in my Flesh dwelleth no good thing For to will is present with me but how to perform that which is good I find not For the good that I would I do not but the evil which I would not that I do now if I do that I would not it is no more I that do it but Sin that dwelleth in me I find then a Law that when I would do good evil is present with me For I delight in the Law of God after the inward man But I see another Law in my Members warring against the Law of my mind and bringing me into Captivity to the Law of Sin which is in my Members O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this Death I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord So then with my mind I my self serve the Law of God but with the flesh the Law of Sin Much such a Description as this we have likewise by the same Apostle in his Epistle to the Galathians c. 5. v. 17. The Flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit against the Flesh and these are contrary the one to the other so that ye cannot do the things that ye would Where he also acquaints us what are the distinct works of the Flesh and the Spirit the First consisting mainly in the gratification of sensual Appetites and desires or in an ambitious pursuit after the Pomp and Vanities of this world or in that turbulent and uneven constitution of mind in those either private or publick Mischiefs which are the usual consequences of Lust and Passion as the latter are chiefly discernible by such a calmness and serenity of Mind and Will as does perpetually accompany the Soul of man when it is moved from it self from an inward spring and principle of its own and when its streams are not troubled or turned back with violence upon their Fountain by the tempestuous winds of Passion such a calmness and serenity as makes a man most easie to himself most acceptable to others and most fit to enjoy an intimate Friendship and Communion with God Now the works of the Flesh saith he v. 18 19 20 21 22 23. are manifest which are these Adultery Fornication Uncleanness Lasciviousness Idolatry Witchcraft Hatred Variance Emulations Wrath Strife Seditions Heresies Envyings Murthers Drunkenness Revellings and such like of the which I tell you before as I have also told you in time past that they which do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God but the fruit of the Spirit is Love Joy Peace Long-suffering Gentleness Goodness Faith Meekness Temperance against such there is no Law And from this distinction of the Flesh and the Spirit men are denominated according to the respective Predominancy of either sometimes Carnal or Natural and sometimes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Spiritual men So in the next Chapter v. 1. Brethren if a man be overtaken in a fault ye which are Spiritual restore such an one in the Spirit of meekness considering thy self lest tho◠also be tempted 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ye which are Spiritual that is ye who have mortified the Flesh with its affections and Lusts ye who have given your selves up to the guidance and conduct of the inward-man whose Souls are as far as may be retired within themselves freed from the Dominion of Prejudice and Temptation and making no further account of any thing without than it is necessary to the support of Life or serviceable to the noble ends of Happiness and Virtue ye who measure all things by a steady and impartial reason according to their true estimate and value and not as they are falsly and unskilfully represented by the specious flatteries of a deluded fancy and so those things or truths of which
punishment of his in another world that was instantly to have Commenced for a temporary cooler Hell here hardened his heart and obstructed all possibility of Repentance from him and so concluded him in this life in an irreversible Estate Which notion he afterwards improves to the same purposes that I have done and after some further discourse upon this occasion p. 18. He concludes thus All which being not only granted but proposed as necessary considerations to be taken along with this Doctrine it remains still clear and uncontrouled that God may if he will thus punish a hard heart with total and final substraction of Grace and so with hardening irreversibly either here which I only say he may but know not that he will or at the hour of Death at which time there is no doubt but he will thus proceed with every impepenitent I account my self very happy in having jumped so exactly in my sentiments of things with so famous and renowned a Champion of our Church and I was the more pleased in the first of these Citations to find not only the notion but the very words in which it is expressed to come so near to some of mine in the following Discourse though I had not the good fortune to see Dr. Hammond's Treatise till near two Months after I had written mine when upon showing what I had written to a worthy Friend to have his opinion of it he was pleased to communicate that piece of the Doctors to me which when I found it so agreeable to mine own thoughts you may well imagine I read it with abundance of satisfaction But still there is some small difference betwixt the learned Doctor and me He as I do humbly conceive out of a needless tenderness for the Honour of God and for the Glory of his attributes to make his patience and forbearance with us the more remarkable and conspicuous will not admit of this way of procedure till the last cast when the man is grown desperate and it is almost in vain to expect any amendment from him nay he will not positively determine whether ever God do visit men with final impenitence till the hour of Death But it is very clear that whatever God may lawfully do without any violence to his Justice that he may do at all times whenever there is a lawful or justifiable occasion since therefore it is confessed on all hands that God may and does oftentimes take away Sinners in the middest of their days by a particular Judgment the consequence of which without all question is inevitable Damnation why may he not as well harden and blind men sooner or later as he pleases himself into an irreversible Impenitence so as it shall be impossible for them to Repent that he may reserve them on this side the Grave to be the publick examples of his Justice to the world For no man can be any more than Damned and therefore with respect to the offender himself these are but two several instances of the same rightful dominion and Soveraignty over us which may take the forfeiture of our Sins either way and at what time it shall seem best to the supream Lord and uncontroulable proprietor of all things It is true indeed the common impressions which are so deeply rooted in us all concerning the divine nature and the daily experience we have of his infinite Goodness in the administration of this lower world will not permit us to think that God will do either of these without very great provocations but we are to consider that all men are not equally ripe for punishment at the same time or age there is great difference as to the frequent repetition of Sin as to the different enormity or heinousness of the Crimes committed and as to the different aggravation of those circumstances under which they are committed one man sins against greater convictions after greater Mercies under more powerful Influences of the holy Spirit than another and these things would make a vast difference as to the time of inflicting punishment though the divine Justice were always to be administred ad pondus and did always hold the same proportion to the Sins of men but then it is to be considered in the second place that God is not bound to extend the same patience to all nor indeed so much to any as he does but in some he may take the forfeiture of their Sins sooner in some later as he pleases himself which whoever shall seriously reflect upon will find it a Doctrine not only very reasonable in it self but in its Consequences so wholesome that nothing can be more For what greater Inducement can there possibly be to an holy and virtuous life to care and watchfulness in all our Conversation than to think that we are every moment upon our good behaviour and that God if we continue to provoke him any longer may the next minute seal our everlasting Doom and consign us over to eternal Flames may put us into an irrecoverable State of degeneracy and Apostacy in this life that we may be made a Spectacle of shame and horrour in this world and an eternal prey to infinite and everlasting Torments in the next Certainly if this one Consideration were but throughly impressed upon the minds of men there is nothing in the world that could have better effects or produce a more lasting or a more universal reformation in it And therefore as you cannot well if you reflect upon the Circumstances of most men enlarge this power of obduration in God so far as to make the exercise of it unjust so the farther you do extend it with consistency to reason and Justice the better effects it will produce and the greater advantages will be reaped from it There are indeed two things which have made many learned and pious Persons cautious of admitting so much as I have done First Lest God by this means should be looked upon as the Author of Sin and therefore as the only way in their opinion to avoid this inconvenience they generally interpret all those places only of a divine permission without which indeed it is impossible any Action should be done or any event come to pass because upon his will and power the very existence of all things does depend in him we live and move and have our being therefore if he did not sometimes permit at least and suffer bad things to be done no such thing could ever come to pass besides that a divine permission is of absolute necessity to the very being of virtue and true Religion in the world for if men could not Act otherwise than they do they could not be said to be either good or bad and therefore that men may use that freedom which is given them aright it is necessary they should also have a power of determining themselves another way To be sure with respect to this life this must be granted to be unavoidably true for what is our whole life
they could be of no moment or avail with God who is the searcher of Hearts and delights rather in the Sacrifice of a clean and humble Spirit than in the fat of Rams or the blood of Bulls and Goats which could not put away Sin any otherwise than in a Typical way as they pointed at that great Sacrifice which was in God's appointed time to be offered up for the Sins of the whole World neither could they Atone for that uncleanness or insincerity of Mind with which those Sacrifices themselves were offer'd up or those other Mosaick Ceremonies performed These were the two reasons why Justification could not be obtained by the works of the Law of Moses but neither was the Law of Nature sufficient for this purpose not that it was not perfect in it self for every Law is thus far perfect That it obliges no farther to punishment than it does to obedience and so the same Apostle tells us Rom. 2. 14 15. That the Gentiles which have not the Law do by nature the things contained in the Law these having not the Law are a Law unto themselves which shew the work of the Law written in their Hearts their Conscience also bearing witness and their Thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another But though the Law of nature be perfect in it self that is it requires nothing of us but what is truly and intrinsically good Nay nothing but what all things considered is most for our advantage â—t exacts no more punishment than it requires Obedience it Commands nothing which is naturally impossible to be performed which no Law can be supposed to do yet considering the many Temptations and Infirmities to which we are obnoxious it is morally impossible but at some time or other it will so come to pass that what through in inadvertency Temptation or Frailty we shall step aside out of the milky way of Innocence and Truth into the forbidden paths of Lust and Errour and it is certain that no man ever did hitherto nor will ever hereafter live in perfect Innocence except our Saviour himself who was created in the utmost perfection of the humane Nature assisted and improved by a most intimate presence and union of the Divine So that in this case a Sin being once committed it is necessary in order to our Justification that is to our being freed from the punishment which is consequent upon it for the guilt can never be wholly washed away any more than it is possible for that never to have been which is already past I say it is necessary that this Justification be attained one of these five ways for there can no other be thought of First We may please our selves with a conceit that the Innocence of our past lives may a tone and satisfie for the offence committed but this cannot be because that Innocence how great soever is no more than what we were obliged to before so that having done no more than our Duty we have nothing left by way of supererrogation to make amends for what we have done amiss and set the account right again between God and our selves Secondly We may hope that our Repentance will be available with God and that he will set our Sorrow against our Sin and let the former expiate for the latter and it is certain that the very next thing to Innocence is Repentance and that God will not despise a broken and a contrite Heart but still it is equally certain that whereever there is Repentance there is Guilt and whereever there is Guilt the right of punishment still remains in him against whom the offence is committed if he have not actually remitted it already or at least obliged himself by promise that he will do it But then Thirdly The third way from which some might peradventure promise to themselves to be justified or pardoned for their Offences is by the Obedience of the remaining part of their Life but this will not do neither for a reason already mentioned namely because that Obedience is no more than we are obliged to pay and so has nothing to spare by way of Expiation for all or any of those Transgressions which we have committed and though it be true that this Obedience is a certain sign that our Repentance is sincere which will for that reason be sure to be the more available with God yet whatever motive or Inducement it may be to his Goodness it lays no such Obligation upon his Justice as that his right to punishment will be by this means destroyed But then if you consider how great the frailty and infirmity of humane Nature is and how lyable-our very Duties are to a mixture of Guilt and Imperfection by the coldness and indifference of their Performance by the want of a due fervour and ardency of Mind and by the wandering of our thoughts and affections towards unsuitable Objects and desires in the very midst of our Devotion and much more in the usual course of our Lives that Obedience how great soever it may Comparatively be when we set it in opposition to that of other men yet in it self it is so far from being able to expiate for the Sins and Follies of our past Life that it will upon account of its own defects stand in great need of another Expiation Wherefore these three ways being found so insufficient for the Justification of a Sinner for the reasons already mentioned the Fourth possible expedient that may be thought of in order to this end is that of God's free pardoning and remitting of Sin as an act of meer Goodness without any expiation or satisfaction performed by us either in our own proper Persons or in that of our Proxy But it seemed best to his infinite Wisdom to make use of this fifth and last way that is to accept of a Proxenetical or Vicarious expiation in our stead not that the other way had any Repugnancy in it to any of the Divine Attributes for it is the undoubted right of all Personalities whatsoever to remit those injuries which are done to themselves but as I conceive especially for these three reasons besides others which may very well be unknown to us and are only discernable to his unsearchable wisdom First Because as the Authour to the Hebrews tells us c. 9. v. 22. Almost all things are by the Law purged with Blood and without shedding of Blood there is no Remission the Jews therefore which was also more or less the case of all the Heathen world being used in their Religious rites to appease God's wrath by Sacrifices and by the shedding of Blood and this by the express Command of God himself it would have been an excuse to them not to believe the Gospel nor to accept of that pardon and remission which it offered if Justification had been proposed upon any other terms than those oâ— shedding of Blood besides that without this they would have had no reason to forsake the Mosaick platform of
promotion of Godliness distinguishes so exactly betwixt his own advices and the dictates of the Spirit and otherwhiles he is in doubt whether what he says be from himself or from the Spirit of God the influences of that Spirit not being so potent and sensible at one time as another To conclude when Jesus was driven of the Spirit into the Wilderness when Philip was carried through the Air to Azotus when Paul went bound in Spirit to Jerusalem and when he assayed to go into Macedonia but the Spirit suffered him not all these were influences of an irresistible Grace or Power proper to those times and of which there are no instances to be found in these Nay so violent were the Paroxysms of the Spirit at some times upon them that they were perfectly distracted and besides themselves scarce knowing what they did or said and by the extream eagerness and zeal with which they delivered what they had to say they seemed so to others oftener than they were So the Apostles on the day of Pentecost seemed to some to be full of new Wine Acts 2. 13. And though we shall allow it to be true as the Text tells us that they only mocked when they said this and it is likely some of them did not believe it themselves yet this had been but a cold sort of mockery had there been no manner of resemblance betwixt Men acted by the Spirit and Men that were full of new Wine For this reason it is that St. Paul to the Ephesians opposeth these two being drunk with Wine and being filled with the Spirit as having some kind of proportion and Analogy to each other c. 5. v. 18. Be not drunk with Wine wherein is Excess but be filled with the Spirit Upon which place Grotius has these words though I am not beholden to him for the Observation opponit res in aliquo similes illi vino implentur vos Spiritu And Peter standing up in defence of himself and of his fellow Apostles on the day of Pentecost lift up his Voice and said unto the Mockers v. 14 15 16 17 18. Ye Men of Judea and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem be this known unto you and harken to my words For these are not Drunk as ye suppose seeing it is but the Third hour of the day but this is that which was spoken by the Prophet Joel and it shall come to pass in the last days saith God I will power out of my Spirit upon all Flesh and your Sons and your Daughters shall Prophecy and your young Men shall see Visions and your old Men shall dream Dreams and on my Servants and on my Handmaidens I will power out in those days of my Spirit and they shall Prophecy in which place it is manifest though he wipe off that slanderous and disgraceful aspersion of their being Drunk with Wine yet he plainly acknowledges a resemblance as to outward appearance between those in that Condition and those who were acted with the Spirit of Prophecy and that this was the reason why the one was by some willfully and perhaps by others ignorantly mistaken for the other And what else I beseech you is or can be the meaning of that place of St. Paul to the Corinthians 2 Cor. 5. 13. For whether we be beside our selves it is to God or whether we be sober it is for your Cause then this that whether we be in the Spirit or out of it we lay out our whole time and strength for your Edification In the Greek it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 where though 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in its most proper notion signifie to be in a Swoon or Trance and it is as much as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yet being opposed as it is in this place to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies a calm and composed temper of Spirit it must here denote that turbulent and unquiet disposition of Mind which is proper to Men in fits of Madness or Distraction Though sometimes itis true that the influences of the Spirit were so powerfull upon them that they fell into a perfect Transe having lost all Motion or sense of any thing about them In such a transport as this St. John saw his Apocalyptick Visions and the Prophets beheld insensible Representations the lively portraitures of things to come and St. Paul whether in the Body or out of the Body he could not tell was wrapt into the third Heaven and saw those Glories which it was neither lawfull nor possible to utter To the same purpose it is what Festus said with a loud Voice to Paul Acts 26. 24. Paul thou art beside thy self much Learning doth make the Mad. To which though St. Paul do there make answer v. 25. I am not Mad most noble Festus but speak forth the words of Truth and Soberness Yet there is no question but what with that heat of Temper which was natural to St. Paul and what with the concern he was in for the just Vindication of himself and his Religion And Lastly What with the influences of that Spirit by which in the defence of both these he was acted he did seem by his Mine and Voice and his unusual earnestness in the delivery of himself to be somewhat Distracted and besides himself which was so far from doing any prejudice to the Gospel that in the first place it freed those that heard it from any suspition of design and in the Second it appeared so plain that the Men were hearty and in earnest in what they said and that there was an unusual Spirit going along with them that though some looked upon it as no better than Madness yet with others it had a strange perswasiveness and was no doubt one of the main causes of those great Numbers which were used at once to be Converted to the Faith by the Ministry of the Gospel in those days upon whom though there usually fell a plentifull effusion of the Holy Ghost yet this was not till after they were in some measure converted by the Preaching of the Apostles So we find here in this very place of the Acts though Festus was not willing to allow that this earnestness of St. Paul was any thing better then Madness yet Agrippa notwithstanding his Jewish prejudices which were every whit as inveterate as the Heathen could say almost thou perswadest me to be a Christian And this no question is the meaning of that phrase of Preaching with Power and with Authority in opposition to the cold way of delivery of the Scribes and Pharisees that is Preaching with such a Mine and assurance such a Vigor strength and earnestness of Voice gesture and pression as had with some a strange perswasiveness though there were others who looked upon our Saviour to be Distracted or at least would have had it thought so as well as his Apostles To conclude under the old Testament there wanted not many instances of a like Nature all
the Prophets had usually the Garbe and deportment of Mad and Frantick Persons Saul being amongst them stript himself stark Naked and lay without his Clothes for an whole Night and a Day together It is the Character which one gave of the young Prophet who was sent by Elisha to Anoint Jehu 2 Kings 9. 11. Wherefore came this mad Fellow to thee and whoever shall read the Stories of Elijah and Elisha and his Servant Gehazi will without much difficulty be induced to believe that the Spirit of Prophecy was usually attended with a sort of Madness insomuch that it was the usual Opinion both in the Jewish and the Heathen Nations that there was somewhat Sacred and Divine in Frantick Persons as it is still among the Turks to this day which was therefore so far from being a disadvantage to the Message of a Prophet that it rather gave new Authority and Recommendation to it But since these extraordinary effusions of the Holy Spirit are now wholly ceased together with the reason of them there being no new Revelation to be expected and there being sufficient reason especially in these parts of the World to render every man inexcusable who does not believe this What folly is it to talk of irresistible Grace when the influences of the Spirit are so Gentle that they cannot be distinguished from the motions of a Man 's own Mind When we can give a reasonable Account of what we do and are not sensible of any Violence from without by which our natural Propensities are forcibly over-ruled though that there may be sometimes and in some particular Cases such an unaccountable and perhaps irresistible bent of our Minds which cannot well be attributed to any other Cause then to the spirit of God is a thing which I will not deny but since the Apostles themselves were not always in the Spirit and under the influences of such an irresistible Grace what Madness is it to affirm it of these Times when there is not the same occasion for it or do not Mens Consciences give the Lie to their Tongues when they talk of an irresistible Spirit in those very actions in which they seem to themselves and others to be the most perfectly free and unrestrained Thus much is sufficient if not too much in answer to the first Advantage which may be taken from the consideration of that Lucta or Contention which there is betwixt the two principles of the Flesh and the Spirit The second possible advantage which may be made is this that the Spiritual principle there mentioned may be pretended to be no part of the humane Nature but that it is only a supernatural influence of Divine Grace from above Rom. 8. 9. But ye are not in the Flesh but in the Spirit if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you and vers 13 14. For if ye live after the Flesh ye shall dye but if ye through the Spirit do mortifie the deeds of the Body ye shall live for as many as are led by the Spirit of God they are the Sons of God But to this it may be answered First That there are plainly in every Man if we will believe the express affirmation of St. Paul himself two distinct principles of Action which he calls the Flesh and Spirit and the latter of them sometimes the inward Man which is a sign that it is a part of our Selves c. 7. v. 22. For I delight in the Law of God after the inward Man and sometimes the Mind v. 23. But I see another Law in my Members Warring against the Law of my Mind Secondly This Spiritual principle in us is that which is properly the Image of God and the resemblance of his Nature betwixt which and the Divine Spirit there is a marvellous Harmony and Agreement For as the Carnal Mind is at Enmity with God Rom. 8. 7. So betwixt the spiritual Mind and him there is a wonderful Concord and Friendship he Cooperates and concurs with it in all its virtuous Endeavours and Undertakings And the Spirit it self beareth witness with our Spirit as it is v. 16. That we are the Children of God From whence it comes to pass that the that the same Effects are attributed to the Spirit of God and to our Spirit as their Cause because there is a Concurrence of both these for their Production and because the utmost perfection of Holiness is scarce attainable in a single Instance while we carry these fleshly Tabernacles about us and much less in the whole course and tenour of our Lives without the assistance of the Divine Spirit These are the two advantages which may be taken from the consideration of that strife or contention betwixt the two principles which is described by St. Paul which what Service they are like to do to the Predestinarian Cause we have already seen but it is now further to be considered that the very supposition of a Mind or inward Man or immaterial principle of Action for all these are one is at the same time an assertion of humane Freedom and a shaking off those Clogs and Fetters which the Calvinistical Fatality would put upon us For when things come to be examined to the Bottom it will be found that an immaterial Nature and a free Agent are the same Extension is the common attribute of all Substance whatsoever it being impossible to have any conception of any thing which is not somewhere or to have any notion of Place The School distinction betwixt Locus and Ubi being a very idle unintelligible Distinction which is not extended by real Parts and such as are at least by Cogitation separable from one another It being therefore so clear that no Man can possibly conceive otherwise but that all Substance is extended it follows in the next place either that there is but one sort of Substance or that there are several sorts of Extension If the first be granted the consequence of this will be First That matter must be self-moved for that there is such a Substance as Matter will not come into dispute And Secondly That all Matter hath a power of moving it self because what ever is of the essence of Matter must belong in common to all Matter whatsoever And Thirdly That all Matter may be moved with an equal celerity and degree of Motion because the Essences of things are indivisible and therefore if Motion be of the Essence of Matter considered barely as such and be not owing to some other principle from without it must belong equally to all Matter whatsoever And therefore in the Fourth place the reason why all Matter is not equally moved must be that it is indued with a power of exerting or suspending its Activity either pro arbitrio for no reason at all or by the measures of Prudence for the good of the World But if it be absurd ridiculous and contrary to experience to attribute so much Understanding Will or Power to every Stick and Clod to every seemingly
St. Matthew it is suited to the Capacity and to the Imaginations of men and all the show and formality belonging to it is borrowed from the Courts of Judicature upon Earth The Application of this and the preceeding instances to the Prophet Micah's Vision in the case of Ahab is so easie and so obvious that I need not insist upon it But because I have said it was a blessed Spirit which God was pleased to dispatch upon this fatal Errant which there are many that will not grant that may be thought to need some Vindication You must consider therefore that it was one of those Spirits which are exhibited in the Vision as standing round about the Throne of God but if it be impossible that an evil or fallen Spirit such as are the Devil and his Apostate Angels should ever enjoy so near a Communion with the divine presence should bask and solace it self in the comfortable Sun-shine of the divine Glory and Goodness and should enjoy so blest a Correspondence and so near a friendship with the immaculate Spirits of those untainted Angels who had never yet apostatized from their obedience towards God then without granting this to have been such a blessed Spirit that was employed upon this deceitful Errant you must be forced to confess a very great indecorum in the contexture of this Vision which being impressed by God himself upon the Imagination of the Prophet it is not likely that it should be so very disagreeable to the Nature to the Order and to the possibility of things It is true indeed that in the Apologue or Parabolical Narrative of the sufferings of Job it is said c. 1. v. 6 Now there was a day when the Sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord and Satan came also among them and c. 2. v. 1. Again there was a day when the Sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord and Satan came also among them to present himself before the Lord. But First This in the very truth and downright reality of things can never be that being the very nature and mainly consistent cause of his Misery that he is banished from the company of blessed Spirits and from all the favourable influences of the divine presence Secondly This in the parable it self is represented as a very unusual and in a manner impossible thing such as God himself seems as it were to wonder and be surprised at Therefore he asks him as if he little looked for his appearance there Whence comest thou c. 1. v. 7. and c. 2. v. 2. Thirdly In the story of Ahab God is represented 1 Kings 22. 19. Sitting on his Throne and all the Host of Heaven sitting by him on his right hand and on his left And it is to them that he propounds this Question v. 20. Who shall perswade Ahab that he may go up and fall at Ramoth Gilead From whence there are two things to be observed First He is introduced as speaking to the Host of Heaven but by that only the blessed Spirits are to be understood The Devils power and residence being confined to a more feculent and earthy Religion he is the Prince of the Air and of the powers of Darkness Secondly God is made to speak indifferently to them all therefore they were all alike but it is unreasonable to suppose an Host of wicked Spirits encompassing the Throne of God therefore I conclude they were all immaculate and good Spirits that had never yet failed in their obedience to their Maker So that upon the whole matter it appears that the form or modification of the parable of Job is so far from prejudicing what I have inferred from the construction of that other parable in the story of Ahab that it is indeed a very strong support and a mighty Confirmation to it But you will say a good Spirit cannot deceive why not if God himself may do it as I have proved in some cases that he may and I affirm this to be one of those cases or if you will not believe my bare affirmation I have sufficiently proved it 1 Sam. 16. 14. It is said the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul and an evil Spirit from the Lord troubled him it was an evil Spirit not so in it self perhaps but with relation to Saul whom it was determined to torment and vex An evil Spirit from before the Lord say the Chaldee Paraphrasts by which they seem to have had just such another Idea of it as Micah had of that Spirit that was sent to deceive the Prophets of Ahab Thus you may see how widely they are mistaken who would needs ascribe this Phaenomenon of Ahab to no more than a divine permission and not only so but the deception of the Prophets to the immediate agency of wicked Spirits without any necessity and contrary to the decorum and Schematism of the place though otherwise as I know God does permit the Devil and his confederate Angels to abuse and deceive mankind otherwise they could not do it so he may also sometimes be supposed to employ a wicked Angel to be the Minister of his wrath as well as he may one wicked man to execute his Vengeance upon another or incite an Idolatrous King to be the scourge and chastisement of a backsliding Nation which yet no man who understands these matters will deny but he may do and that he has sometimes actually done it Nay I think the construction of the parable of Job for though it be very true that there was such a man as Job who was a great example of piety in his Prosperous and of patience in his adverse Condition yet the story as it is managed in that sacred volume that goes by his name is not the History but the Character of a perfect person and is a parabolical descant upon a ground of truth I say the construction or way of managing that sacred story will if I am not mistaken evince that God does not only permit but sometimes employ the degenerate and fallen Angels upon his Errants For First He so expresses his permission for the time past that he gives him a kind of invitation for the time to come to make a trial of the virtue and integrity of his servant Job c. 1. v. 8. Hast thou considered my servant Job that there is none like him in the Earth a perfect and an upright man one that feareth God and escheweth evil and when Satan urged in derogation of his virtue that it was the effect of his interest and that he served God only for the advantages occurring to him by it God gives him an express permission v. 12. Behold all that he hath is in thy power only upon himself put not forth thine hand and if you consider all things with that exactness which you ought to do you will find that there was more than a permission in the case It being impossible for any finite Spirit by an act of his will to
have such power over the Elements as Satan is represented to have had at that time and it was a convincing argument to the Disciples that our Saviour was an extraordinary person and had his mission from above when the Winds and the Sea did hearken to his voice Matth. 8. 27. What manner of man is this that even the Winds and the Sea obey him Thus when the destroying Angel smote the Host of the Assyrians when Moses with his Rod divided the Red-Sea and when Gideon with his Trumpets blew down the Walls of Jericho We must not think that it was the power of that Angel that wrought that execution the natural strength or skill of Moses or of Gideon by which those miraculous effects were brought to pass which are so plainly above the activity and beyond the sphere of all humane efficiency and power but it was the will of God overruling the ordinary course of Nature and positively concurring to make its laws give place to the will of these Instruments commissioned and employed by him neither is this any more than what Satan himself acknowledges in the parable of Job where although God is pleased to say Behold all that he hath is in thy power v. 12. Yet Satan plainly acknowledges v. 11. That he had no power to do that mischief which he did but what was truely and properly the power of God v. 11. But put forth thine hand now and touch all that he hath and he will curse thee to thy face My opinion therefore is that real miracles that is effects far surpassing the regular strength of Nature and as much exceeding the power of those at whose will those effects are brought to pass may be and have been actually allowed by God to false Apostles and false Christs as well as to true to the Magicians as well as to Moses and to the Devil himself who is the Prince of darkness as well as to an Angel of light and sure they were not mere Juggles and impostures which our Saviour honours with the Majestick titles of great signs and wonders so great that if it were possible for such to be deceived they should deceive the very Elect and yet this was a power with which the false Christs and false Prophets were to be indued by the express prediction of him who was truth it self Matth. 24. 24. Neither is it at all prejudical to such a supposition as this that the wonders of Antichrist and his adherents are called lying wonders 2 Thes 2. 9 For I do not deny that many have pretended to a power of miracles who really had it not and besides if you take the whole place together you will perhaps look upon this place instead of doing any prejudice to be a confirmation of my opinion in the Greek it is thus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Whose coming or appearance is after the working or activity of Satan with all power and signs and wonders of a lie Now it may seem very strange that perfect Tricks and Juggles the Cheats of Hocus Pocus and Legerdemain should be called not only by the magnificent names of power and signs and wonders but of all power all signs all wonders for the word all is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be referred to each of these It will therefore be better to interpret 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 wonders of a lie as if the Apostle had said wonders to confirm a lie or in confirmation of a false Doctrine as those works may be said to be works of Darkness which are done at Noon-day because they tend to the confirmation and Establishment of the Kingdom of Darkness or to the promotion and encrease of Satan's usurped rule and Soveraignty over the minds of men In Miracles there are three things to be considered the nature of them as to their Causes the nature of them as to their Effects and the tendency of them as to their design First As to their Causes it is necessary they stould be such as plainly carry along with them the marks and signatures of a supernatural power otherwise they are not miracles but Tricks and Juggles Secondly As to their effects if they do nothing but Mischief in the world or if they are calculated only for wonder and amazement not for use these are not sufficient grounds to rely upon that they are intended by God as a testimony to the truth but it is on the contrary justly suspicious without some further reason for our belief that it is a doctrine of Devils not of God whereas the excellence of our Saviours miracles consisted in this that setting aside his Doctrine they themselves were so useful and beneficial to mankind he healed Diseases he cleansed Lepers and he cast out Devils and he went about continually doing good which was a very strong argument that he had no ill design to bring any damage or prejudice to the world which is the whole tendency of Diabolical wonders when all his miracles were so full of Love so full of Charity and Goodness to mankind But Thirdly The tendency of these miracles is to be considered we must examine carefully those Doctrines which they pretend to advance if they be inconsistent with right reason or with natural Religion they are either Juggles and Impostures or at best they are but Diabolical wonders or it is the power of God cooperating with the wicked Insinuations of the Devil for the Sins of men to harden and to blind the world but it is impossible the Elect should be deceived they who are truly pious and sincere God will not suffer them to be so fatally imposed upon and men of rational and sober minds will easily conclude that these miracles are wrought in the name of Belzebub because they tend to the promotion of his interest and to the advancement of his Kingdom in the world Whereas if the Doctrine be consonant to reason and useful to mankind then these miracles are divine miracles then the Doctrine and the miracles do mutually confirm and strengthen one another because by our Saviours invincible argument it would be an absurd thing for the Devil to cast out himself since a Kingdom divided against it self cannot stand St. Paul seems to have foreseen that false Prophets might be and would be endued with a power of working real miracles and that the Devil might and would put on the appearance of an Angel of light when he so straightly charges his Galathians Gal. 1. 8. If an Angel from Heaven preach any other Gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you let him be accursed Nay the same Apostle tells us 1 Cor. 17. 1 2. That though a man have the gift of prophecie though he speak with the Tongue of men and Angels though he understand all Mysteries and all Knowledge and have all Faith so that he could remove Mountains yet if he have not Charity he is nothing that is he is nothing in himself and to others he ought to be looked