him and lift up thy heart to him with reverence nor feel the fire kindle in thy heart and thy self willing to be offered up as a whole Burnt-offering in that fire To offer up Body and Soul with all their several faculties and actions as a living Sacrifice to him is but thy reasonable service Rom. 12.1 As it is his end why he made thee so it should be thy end to have his works continually in thine eye his Word ever in thine heart and his praises everlastingly in thy mouth This was the resolution of David and should be thine I will sing unto the Lord saith he as long as I live I will sing praises to my God whilst I have my being My meditation of him shall be sweet I will be glad in the Lord Psal 104.33 34. Consider that he hath infinite wisdom and therefore is fit to rule thee and all the world he hath infinite power and therefore its stark madness for such a Worm to resist him one word of his mouth will undo the Body and Soul for ever one angry frown of his Countenance will make thee wither and turn that moving body of thine into a dead and lifeless Clod yea and send thy Soul into eternal misery Didst thou but consider the holiness of his Nature and how much he abhorreth all sin and wickedness wouldst thou dare to commit it with so much boldness Didst thou but consider what a piercing eye he hath to whom the darkness and the light are both alike Psal 139.12 wouldst thou think to cover and conceal thy Sins from him or use craft and subtilty to blind his eyes Thou dost not consider what he is whilst thou usest such silly shifts as these are they do but provoke a wise man that hath but a Beam of Gods infinite wisdom how much more are they like to provoke him There 's nothing like ingenuity and plain dealing and humble confessing of thy Sin when thou hast to do with him Consideration of the Divine Purity and Justice would be a very effectual defence against all unjust and unrighteous practices If thou dost but consider what antipathy there is in Sin to the Divine Nature and what an affront it is to the Majesty of Heaven and Earth it would not go down so easily nor be such a sweet morsel to thee When men begin to take off the eye of their Consideration from God then they begin to walk in darkness and know not at what they stumble What makes men so vain and wicked in their imaginations and practices but because God is not in all their thoughts by Consideration What makes the ungodly to prefer the pleasures of Sin which are but for a season but because they do not eye and consider the recompence of reward What makes men either to neglect to come to God by prayer or to put up faint and cold supplications to him but that they consider not that he is and that he is a rewarder of all them that diligently seek him Thou wouldst not murmur and repine at any of Gods Providences towards thee if thou didst but consider what Equity Wisdom and Mercy there is in all his dealings towards thee thou wouldst endure the Cross and despise the shame if thou didst but seriously consider the joys that are set before thee thou wouldst be stedfast and unmoveable always abounding in the work of the Lord if thou didst but consider thy labour cannot be in vain in the Lord. I advise thee therefore to consider and think more frequently what an impartial righteous Judge thou hast to do with in thy actions and how dear thou shalt pay for thy Sin one of these days if thou wilt commit it and this would spur thee forward to thy duty when thou wouldst neglect it and keep thee backward from Sinful practice when thou wouldst commit it Let my counsel therefore be acceptable to thee have God more frequently in thy Meditations consider that he seeth and knoweth thy ways that he abhorreth all wickedness both of heart and life that he is the Governour of the World to whom all these things are as nothing that commandeth the Beings of Heaven and Earth that hath the Winds and the Sea and Men and Devils in the Chain of his Providence that was from all Eternity and is the same for ever and ever but thou art of yesterday and knowest nothing Job 8.9 Thou mayst resist the will of his Command and Precept because it is to try thee but thou canst not withstand the will of his purpose what he doth will peremptorily shall come to pass The Counsel of the Lord standeth for ever the thoughts of his heart to all Generations Psa 33.11 If thou lovest thy own Soul let God be continually before thy eyes it is because thou knowest him not that thou art so unlike him it is because thou art not acquainted with him that thy heart is so void of love to him it is because thou understandest him not that thou dost so little fear and reverence him And why hast thou so little knowledge and understanding of him but because thou considerest him not Didst thou but well consider his Omnipotency thou wouldst fear him more than all the world beside Didst thou but consider his Veracity thou wouldst take his word for the greatest security and give more credit to it than if thou hadst the word and Oath of the most trusty and sufficient men thou wouldst certainly believe the threatnings thereof and foresee the accomplishment of the promises thereof as if they were already made good and steer thy life according to the most wise and excellent precepts thereof Consider but his faithfulness and thou wilt see no reason to distrust him They that know thy Name saith the Prophet David will trust in thee for thou Lord hast never forsaken those that trust in thee Psal 9.10 Thou wouldst venture thy life and all thy comforts upon his Word come what will thou wouldst trust in the Lord and do good Psal 37.3 And whilst thou art intent upon thy duty wouldst not fear though men and Devils should combine against thee and the more experience thou hast the more thou wouldst be confident and say It 's better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man It 's better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in Princes Psal 118.8 9. Do but consider that he is a Spirit and thou wilt abhor a meer bodily service and tremble to let thy lips go when thy heart imagineth deceit and is not imployed in his worship and thou wouldest worship him in spirit and in truth John 4.23 24. Therefore men worship him they know not how nor care not in what manner because they worship they know not what Ver. 22. Men would not dare to offer up to him the Sacrifice of fools if they did but consider with whom they have to do Eccles 5.1 Neither would they come with dead hearts before the living God This is the
amongst the Forgetters of Gods Word For Faith or Subjection to the Person of Christ and Obedience to his Laws and abrenunciation of all that would hinder this Subjection of our Hearts and Obedience of our Lives are Three great ends for which the Word of God was ordained and appointed and a high Reverence of its Authority and deep Sense of its Importance and firm perswasion of its certainty would most undoubtedly bring to pass For it is most unquestionable that God would not fail these his own means 1. First They must read or hear these Instructions slightly and unworthily that are not deeply wrought upon by the consideration of their Author and the Divinity that is instamp'd upon them It 's not enough that you believe and acknowledge this but that you be frequently under the thought of it And it is a weighty truth worthy your remembrance That the Soul is never wrought upon to any purpose either in its Understanding Will or Affections but by frequent serious and repeated Acts. The main difficulty therefore in the work of Conversion and a saving change on our part lies here in bringing our thoughts to a devout and frequent meditation of these Objects which God hath resolved shall do the work if ever it be done And though he can change the Heart by a word and in a moment if he please yet he hath told us flatly he will not do it ordinarily without these means And therefore he awakens every Soul to such Meditations whom he will shew mercy to A Mans Thoughts are the means that God makes most use of in renewing his Heart Do thou not presume whoever thou art that God will infuse Sanctification into thy Heart by a miracle when thou art thinking all the day yea all the week long upon meer vanity if not doing worse But this by the way He that doth not strike his heart into superlative Reverence of this Word by thinking often of that Holy Spirit by whom it was word for word inspired will never be made fit to take it into his heart and chew upon it when he lies down and riseth up to curb every base Inclination of his Soul by it and to resolve they shall bend to this Word or have no quiet The Heart is so prone to Earth and Vanity and the Flesh with its Affections and Lusts are so strong and masterless that they will never obey unless such Authority be produced Yea there 's none that are well vers'd in their own Hearts but will find how they will slight such Authority and sometime venture to contemn it But as he that doth wisely govern a Family or other Society much more a Kingdom will not suffer his Authority to be trampled on nor his Laws to stand for Ciphers but will vindicate them with the greatest Power and Majesty that he can put on much more will the Lord of Heaven and Earth stand up in the behalf of his own Authority and vindicate the best Laws that ever were made from contempt And if any sinner be so sottish as to think that his Wit or Pedigree or Riches or Esteem in the World will bear him out in such irreverence let me say to such a one as once Samuel said to Saul 1 Sam. 15.16 Stay and I will tell thee what the Lord hath said of such a one Them that honour me I will honour and they that despise me shall lightly be esteemed 1 Sam. 2.30 Be as wise and as great as thou wilt the Lord will shame thee sooner or later and kick thee down into Scorn and Disgrace 2. Secondly They are forgetful of the Word of God that are not considerably moved with the most important matters which it sets before them If thou readest it not frequently thou forgetest it in the grossest sense and thine own Conscience will fall upon and condemn thee And if thou dost read it yet if thy very Heart be not affected with those matters in the Word which more concern thee than all the World so as to shew it in thy Life I would not for all the World hear that Judgment that thou shalt shortly hear Doth it so much concern thee what thou shalt Eat and what thou shalt Drink and wherewithal thou shalt be cloathed and how thou shalt Sleep or enjoy thy Health much more how thou shalt visit this or that Friend do this or that petty business as how thou shalt save thy Soul how thou mayst get thy Heart affected with its Sin and Misery and set a value upon Christ as he deserveth this is not easily done how thou mayst break off thine Affections from these things that will abuse them and certainly blast every good work in thy Heart and turn thy Religion into meer Hypocrisie For it is impossible that the Love of God should be in that Heart where the love of any worldly thing doth prevail Hearken therefore and listen attentively what necessity the Word of God layeth upon Self-denial 〈◊〉 mortification of the Flesh with its Affections and Lusts He that will be my Disciple must deny himself take up his Cross and follow me Luke 9.23 And if ye live after the Flesh ye shall die Rom. 8.13 If thine Estate Life or Credit only were here concerned thy neglect would not prove thee so perfectly mad and distracted as now it doth when the Eternal Life and Welfare of thy Soul is so much concerned 3. Thirdly They that live not under any serious thoughts of the certain accomplishment of all that is threatned or promised in the Word cannot but forget the Word The things that are contained in the Scripture if they were liable to some doubt yet were worthy to be thought on because they concern so much if they should prove true And this is an Argument that will stop their Mouths that chuse a Romance or vain Ballad before the Word of God to be the matters of their thoughts But when God will certainly make good every Judgment he hath threatned to the impenitent sinner and when every wicked person that dies in his sin shall as certainly feel those dreadful Woes as now he hears or may hear them pronounced O what an advantage is here to beget a Resolution to withstand every Temptation that would draw us to those things that are thus threatned Though it were a pleasing and profitable Lust it 's stark madness to fulfil it O if we had 〈◊〉 or felt the wrath of God in another World it would be Armour of Proof against all wilful presumptuous sin for ever afterwards and would awaken the Soul to any pains or diligence to escape it And is it not as certain as if we had seen or felt it Hath the Lord said that he will laugh at the destruction of a sinner and mock when his fear cometh Prov. 1.26 Hath he said that he will shortly come with his Fan in his hand and thorowly purge his Floor and gather his Wheat into the Garner but that he will burn up the
all born into the World in a state of Forgetfulness and that Naturally God is not minded by us he is not in all our thoughts 1. By a usually Hebraism in never a one of them so worthily regarded as he ought Psal 10.4 Oblivion goes before Remembrance in every Child of Adam I know Forgetfulness doth suppose that we either had or should have had the habit of which this is the privavation We cannot be said in any propriety of Speech to forget that which we never did or never ought to have Remembred As a thing can never be said to be blind which never saw nor ought to have seen But it is our miserable and unhappy case and condition that we were made to Remember God and to give him the highest of our Praises and had a Nature fit for so high and noble Service and yet are born into the World in a gross ignorance of God with a Nature that continually disposeth us to forget him and to entertain the most contemptible Vanities into our Thoughts and Affections before him This is the Disease that Christ came to Cure with the greatest pity and compassion to Mankind which it is the intenâ— of his Word and Cross and Spirit and all his Ordinances to remove and which is cured in a sincere and prevailing measure in all that shall see his Face to their comfort hereafter And although Infants are not actually guilty of this sin as neither they are of any other sin because they are not come to the use of their Reason and therefore cannot perform any act properly vertuous or sinful yet they have an oblivious Disposition a Seed in them that will bring forth this cursed Fruit when they are capable But for those that have pass'd an Infants state and are grown up to the use of Reason there 's nothing that they remember and think on less than God Secondly It 's here supposed that after any are recovered by Christ and awakened by his Word and Spirit to a due Remembrance of God they may fall back into such a degree of Forgetfulness again as that they may question whether ever they had a heart truly mindful of him though I believe they shall never totally and finally fall into Forgetfulness nor be forgotten of Christ if they be in the number of the Elect. And therefore though Christ commends the Church of Ephesus for her Faith and Patience yet he is said to have somewhat against her because she had left her Love Rev. 2.4 And she is warned to remember whence she is fallen and to repent and do her first works ver 5. These two particulars are evidently supposed in this last Proposition which I am now to prosecute and that Consideration of God his Word and Works is a necessary Remedy on our part to cure our hereditary Forgetfulness and bring us to the Remembrance I have been pleading for and to recover us after any Relapse And that for these Reasons First Because a Man can never come to the Remembrance of God till his Heart be sincerely affected with those truths that such a Remembrance doth pre-suppose but this can never be done without consideration There 's nothing that 's absent or Spiritual that can affect the Heart and get that Fort unless it be led in by Consideration that 's the Eye of the Soul and 't is the Eye only that can affect the Heart There 's nothing that can affect the Body or move the Bodily Passions that is not first apprehended by some Bodily Sense that is not seen or heard or perceived by some other sense Now Consideration supplies that to the Soul which the five Senses do to the Body it 's the Eye Ear and Taster of the Soul whereby it discerns what is good or evil to it and accordingly the Soul doth either embrace or abhor yea it mâ—st discover not only good and evil but the degree in which any thing is good or evil before the Soul can be suitably affected therewith which can never be done with any consideration If this Eye be shut set the greatest Danger before a Man and he will not fear set the greatest Delights before him and he will not be moved to desire them What 's the reason that a wicked Man goes on in sin and will not forsake it when you display Hell before his Eyes but because he considers it not It appears to him not to be so terrible because this Eye is shut If you run a Sword at a Man whose Eyes are shut and sees it not he will not endeavour to avoid the thrust but he that hath his Eyes open and sees what 's coming towards him will quickly start back and decline that instrument of Death A careless Man that never considered well what a fearful thing it is to fall into the Hands of God Heb. 10.31 noâ— how intolerable his Displeasure is when it shall break forth in good earnest and burn like a consuming fire will venture on it for a little deluding pleasure A Man that considers not the worth of his Soul will neglect it and not think it worth so many Prayers and Tears and such diligence as must be used to procure the Salvation thereof for till his Heart be touched with a lively feeling and sense of these truths he will not neglect them and live after the Flesh and if he doth not weigh and consider them his Heart will never be made to feel them What 's the reason that Men hug and embrace a little dirt and filth and suffer their Affections to cleave so fast to their Carnal Contentments It can be resolved into nothing better than that they do not consider what Sin and Folly they are guilty of and what an impediment they are being embraced to the true content and happiness of their Souls otherwise they would not nor could not be so mad as embrace the present World and to prefer it before the World to come Well then is it Consideration that must bring a Man to a worthy Remembrance of God because it opens the Eye and affects the Heart and puts an edge upon every Truth that doth bias and dispose the Soul to this Remembrance that it 's felt and entertained with some sincere measure of submission The Soul is such a Subject that cannot be wrought upon without its own consent and that 's not easily gained to any thing that 's of a reforming saving tendency unless frequent and serious Consideration make way The Soul will never consent to any purpose that the Flesh should be afflicted and humbled that it's Affections and Lusts should be mortified and subdued till Consideration shew the necessity thereof and the Death that will follow if this Death do not go before There are some truths that are preparative to this Remembrance which though they are easie to be known yet they will never be drunk in or digested till Consideration shew their excellency and plead their great necessity and importance to us and give
the greatest Honour Pleasure Profit unless it be the Hypocrites and formal Professors that slight it over and whose Hearts are not engaged in the Work Mic. 2.7 Do not my words do good to him that walketh uprightly Verily there is a reward for the Righteous Psal 58.11 I mean such a one that comes not behind his Duty but keeps company with it You may safely and confidently aver to him that soweth Righteousness there is a sure reward as well as shall be Prov. 11.28 Many a refreshing joyful Song he hath whilst he is scattering this Seed what then will the joy of the Harvest be if Plowing and Sowing be such a pleasing Work I confess in all other Service that doth not refer to this the question may be truly put What doth it profit Where is any pleasure that my Heart and Soul can taste and find I have many a time come home by Weeping Cross when I have travelled hardest in the affairs and matters of this Life But he that saith his Heart hath found no sweetness nor reward in his approximation unto God and in the exercise of his Worship if he understands himself he doth but proclaim his Hypocrisie and tell the World that his Heart is defective in the Work That he doth not Worship his Maker and Redeemer in Spirit and in Truth Joh. 4.24 That he doth not consider to whom he doth repair nor what he may expect nor who is ready to intercede for him if he doth but look to him with a believing Heart otherwise if these things come under any due Consideration he could not find no taste nor sweetness in such a Service nor return with such a dry and empty Heart from the Fountain of infinite Joy and Fulness Could a Man come to the Sun and not be enlightened and stand under it's warm refreshing Beams and not be revived Could a Man touch the Hem and Border of Christs Garment and feel no Virtue come forth for his Refreshment much less can a Man stand in the presence of his Glory and have no reflections of Light and Comfort from him You may as well say that a Man may feed upon the most nourishing Sustenance and concoct what he eats and yet not thrive at all As that a Man may thoroughly and seriously consider the great sanctifying Truths and live under the power of such Thoughts and find nothing of Gust and Relish in them Peace and Comfort in some Degree are as inseparable from Grace if Consideration bring it into Exercise as Light is from the Sun And as Consideration doth gather strength and is more lively and vigorous so will the Exercise of Grace be more fervent and when Grace is upon the Wing and in a hasty flight Heaven-wards the Virgins that are her Companions Peace and Joy and Comfort I mean will not be dead and unactive but will like the shadow keep company and resemblance with the Body to which they do belong And they that are most frequent and strong in the Exercise of their Grace Faith Love and Hope will have the stronger and more frequent Consolations and Refreshments And therefore David whose Faith and Love and Thankfulness to God were continually working had the the greater sense and experience of this inward Joy and Comfort And such was the degree thereof oftentimes that he could not contain himself but he must needs break forth into Songs and Triumph How sweet are thy words unto my taste yea sweeter than Honey to my Mouth Psal 119.103 O how I love thy Law it is my Meditation all the day ver 97. Thy Statutes have been my Songs in the House of my Pilgrimage ver 54. The service of God must needs be tedious and irksome to them that have their minds on something else and think not what a courtesie they do themselves whilst they draw near to God with the Heart What a favour it is to approach such a presence What an Honour it reflects upon them and what advantage there comes in every way to him that offers a Sacrifice fit for God to accept 2. Exhortation SEcondly Having shewed you what an Obstruction Inconsideracy is to the Remembrance of God and instanced in two woful inconveniences that necessarily flow from an incogitant heedless Service of God By this time I hope our Eyes may be a little opened to see what a sin it 's to be defective in so great a Duty as Consideration is and therefore it 's the more seasonable to warn and beseech you that you would not at one dash blot out all true Worship of God and solid Peace and Comfort out of your own Hearts by a sin so inconsistent with the Rational Spiritual Nature that God hath bestowed upon Man Must not he that hath made both Soul and Body be worshiped with both and served with their united strength As the Eye guides the Body so doth Consideration first stir up and then steer and govern the Soul in all its operations and therefore if you leave out that the Soul cannot stir or move suitably to its Nature If then Forgetfulness of God be a sin that you would not for all the World be found guilty of at the great trying day then be sure not lay the Foundation of such a guilt by the neglect of Consideration Use that Faculty in all things if you would they should be wisely pone but fail not to use it in the service of God and in the matters of highest importance And as you have to do with God in all things either mediately or immediately in a nearer or remoter manner so it behoves you to consider if you will discharge the Duty and rightly perform your Work There are but two sorts of Actions that a Man hath a capacity to produce and in both we have to do with God 1. There are some Actions that have God for their Object or something immediately subservient to him and their end also Such are all Actions of Religious Worship whether External as Prayer Praises solemn Invocation of his Name in an assertory or promissory Oath hearing of the Word participation of the Sacraments or Internal as Faith Love Reverence Dependance Trust Submission 2. There are other Actions that have not God but something else for their Object yet they should have God for their Principal and Vltimate End Such are all the Actions where we have to do with Creatures whether They be Acts of Labour Refreshment In Study the Object about which our Action is conversant is that which our thoughts are exercised about whither it be Names or Things In Trafique the Object of our Action is that with or for which we Trafique In Eating and Drinking the Object is our Meat and Drink But the end in all these should be the pleasing of God and the promoting his Glory which is done when we ask Counsel of him and humbly beg his Direction in all these and heartily devote the Knowledge the Strength the Gain which comes in by these Actions
health and strength and friends may prove treacherous and unfaithful all thy worldly hopes may become like a Spiders Web Job 8.14 The Heavens over thy head may turn into darkness and the Sun and Stars may refuse to give their light the Earth may fail under thy feet and reel to and fro and stagger like a Drunken Man and the Inhabitants thereof may be at their wits end but the Word of God will never fail thee it shall be accomplished in despight of all opposing power and the threatnings and promises thereof shall stand when all other things shall fall to the ground and be like water that 's spilt on it that cannot be gathered up again Heaven and Earth shall pass away but not one jot nor tittle of the Word of God shall pass till all be fulfilled Mat. 5.18 And Mat. 24.35 God that hath established the Earth so firmly though it hang upon nothing and it abideth and shall abide till the great Earthquake shall come he that hath fixed the Ordinances of Heaven and Earth and setled the appointed times and seasons of Spring and Summer Winter and Harvest Day and Night and they continue to this daâ— without variation according to his Decree for all are his servants Psal 119.90 91. and Gen. 8.22 will make good the word that is gone out of his mouth and it shall not return till it hath accomplish'd that which he hath spoken Isa 55.11 And therefore David acknowledgeth that he had magnified his Word above all his Name So much for the matter of our Consideration or the things that we should frequently consider I conclude with that in Psal 107.43 Who so is wise will consider these things and they shall understand the loving kindness of the Lord. I come in the next place to speak to the manner or to shew how Consideration shold be exercised First after you have lift up your heart to God for the heavenly Light and Assistance set your self seriously to the duty as in his sight and presence Trifling with all matters of moment is inconsistent with the nature of such things and betrays our folly But it is the bane and poison of all Religion and a wicked disparagement both to that and our selves if whatsoever our hand findeth to do we should do it with our might Eccles 9.10 then much more should we rouze up our selves and put to all our strength when we have works of the greatest consequence in our hands we must not be slothful in such business as this is especially but fervent in spirit serving the Lord Rom. 12.11 Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain is a precept that extends it self to all Religious Acts and strictly forbids a slight and customary performance of them Thou art guilty of Irreverence and contempt of such sacred things and consequently of God himself to whom they are nearly related when thou medlest in them with a careless and wandring spirit and mayest expect that the anger of the Lord should wax hot against thee when thou art so cold in his service If God threatned to spew the Church of Laodicea out of his mouth because she was but lukewarm in his service Rev. 3.16 He will certainly deal worse with them that are stone-cold in their approaches to him The heart and soul of Consideration and all other Religious Acts are wanting when the heart and soul and strength are not imployed in them For when earnestness and serious intention of the mind and heart are deficient it not only turns Religious Acts into meer form but makes them utterly unsuccessful You will miss of your intended purpose when you come to God and seek for mercy in a careless and customary manner you will never obtain wisdom at the hands of God if you know not how to be importunate for it when you are shut up in affliction and misery and cannot get out if you cannot cry aloud and knock at the door of grace it will never be opened to you The Lord will give you a praying spirit fervent in supplication if ever he intend to give you the thing prayed for He will give you a heart seriously to Consider if ever he work the saving truths into your heart if you are not serious in the service of God you cannot be sincere and how well God will accept that service in which sincerity is wanting look into the word of God and Judge The Consideration I am pressing you to is a principal part of Gods Worship I speak not of that which is occasional and ordinary for such Consideration must accompany all your Actions both toward God and men if ever they be prudently managed but of that Consideration which is set and solemn and that requires some time to be set apart for it as well as Prayer and other Duty during which time we must no more intermix our thoughts with worldly matters then we must in Prayer and Hearing and Reading the Word of God But our Meditations must be tied to the most weighty saving truths till we begin to feel the power of them upon our hearts that so they may command our Lives 'T is such serious Consideration as this about the greatest and uncontroverted truths for some set time together till suitable affections and resolutions be kindled in us which is such an excellent part of Gods Worship because it inspires the Soul with Life and Fitness for all other Worship and Service and if you do not awaken and call up the powers of your Soul and seriously imploy them in this work of Consideration you are never like to see the beauty and excellency of these saving truths nor to feel the mighty power of them Ignorance and prejudice have so fast closed the eyes of your understanding that unless you rub hard they will never be opened and the affections are so backward to the most weighty things that unless they be set upon in good earnest and enforced by the evidence and mighty power of these truths they will not stir to any purpose nor ripen your Soul for Practice Secondly You must narrowly watch over your heart and keep it close to the work and when it refuseth you must use the Authority God hath given you over it to compel it Though the Soul hath not that absolute command over its own thoughts and affections which once it had before it rebelled against God yet it hath not quite lost its Soveraignty and power Experience doth sufficiently assure us that we can command our thoughts to this or that subject keep them on it if we will take pains with them even those that want the special Grace of God and are unsanctified in heart can yet bend their thoughts to think on God his Attributes and his Word and Works the Life to come the vanity of Creatures and make very pertinent moving discourses on them else none can Preach but such as are endued with saving Light and Knowledge much more may they command
acknowledgeth And therefore Origen Arnob. Tertulian Justin Martyr Athanasius Clemens Alexandrinus Athenagoras Lactantius with the rest that dealt with the Heathens do make the pure Excellency of Christs Doctrine above all other Doctrine whereby it promoteth Holiness and Justice and order in the World and strongly opposeth all impious and unrighteous Practises in which the Devils are delighted whereby their Kingdom is very much weakened and in some places utterly ruined one of the main Arguments for the Christian Faith Would the Devil ever set any seal or give any confirming Testimony to such Precepts as command that which he hateth to such Promises as encourage Men every where to hate and oppose him to such threatening as tend exceedingly to discourage and bring to repentance all his Confederates Would he helpon such a Doctrine that teacheth Men What a filthy malicious Spirit he is and from what a Happiness he fell and what a design he driveth on against God and whatsoever hath the Face of Goodness and how he hateth Mankind and would bring all Men into the same cursed condition with himself Would he have Men know his devices least he should come upon them unawares And would he have them abhor and tremble at the mention of his very Name These are the effects that this Doctrin is like to have upon Mens Minds And therefore it 's past doubt that if the Devil could work Miracles he would never do it in the present case nor give the least Countenance to such writings But if he were Master of such a Seal and had that Faculty he would rather lend it to the Sects that seek to disparage undermine and cry down these Writings in the World He perfectly hateth that parity that runneth in every vein of the Christian Doctrine which made Aeneas Sylv. say ut Plat. p. 328. Christiana Fides si Miraculis nonesset approbata Honestate suâ recipi debuit And therefore it would be a wonder indeed if he should do a Miracle to confirm it The Miracles therefore that were wrought in Attestation of this Doctrine never came from him He had no more hand in the Miracles than he had in the Doctrine they bore witness to or than he would have in the overthrow of his own Kingdom And therefore Mr. Stillingfleet Orig. Sac. l. 2.10 well makes it a Test or Criterium of Miracles wrought by a Divine Power where they tend to the overthrow of Satans Power in the World And this Argument taken from Miracles conjunct with the Holy Doctrine which they ratifie and attest is such a demonstration of the Truth of the Mosaical Religion before Christ and to the Christian Religion since that to attribute these Miracles to the Devil which could not possibly be wrought by any other Power than the Finger of the Holy-Ghost is now commonly thought by the most learned and judicious Divines to be The Blasphemy against the Holy-Ghost c. The unpardonable Sin Thus Athanasius Episcopus and Dr. Hammond thought and Mr. Baxter hath demonstratively shewed in his Treat of Infidelity The only Exception that can have any shew of Pretence to invalidate this Argument is that the matters of fact seem to be Questionable 1 Some may possibly question whether ever such Miracles were wrought to confirm the Scriptures or whether ever there were such a person as Christ that did such Mighty works that dyed and rose again from the Dead and poured forth a Holy and Miraculous Spirit upon his Followers for the Conviction of Infidels Answer The matter of Fact can be questioned with no more Reason than whether there be such a City as Rome or Constantinople by the Persons that never saw them or whether there ever lived such a Person as Julius or Augustus Caesar For there is the same or greater Evidence for THOSE than these is for These But there is none that will question these And the Reason is because this their Assent is grounded upon Two Principles that will not suffer any dissent The first is It 's impossible that so many Men in so many Ages should meet or combine in a Lye when they get nothing by their Lye Nulla ratam testis debet habere Ovid ubi premia falsi ibidem The second is It 's not possible the sences of so many Men should fail them and that they should all mistake and be deluded that were eye and Earwitnesses of the matter of Fact and both saw and heard the Authors of those Writings and the Miracles which they wrought to confirm them See Pet. Hart. de Mendozâ Phys disp 8. de Animâ Sect. 3. and Sect. 23.4 5. pag. 570. And the same Author to This Question what sort of Evidence is that by which I believe that there is such a place as Rome upon the witness of so many Men asserting it Answereth It is Physical For it is impossible even in a Physical sense that so many Men in so many Ages should so lye so that I have no less Evidence that there is a City called Rome than that all Fire is heating Thus he See Mr. Baxter's Spirits witness to the Truth of Christianity pag. 68. The same or as infallible Physical Evidence have we of the Truth of the Miracles by which the Holy-Ghost did witness to the Truth of the Christian Faith For First It 's naturally impossible that so many Churches in so many Countries of the World at such a distance should combine to lye in telling the world that the Holy-Ghost was given and Tongues spoken and Miracles done amongst them for so many Years if it had not been so Secondly Man hath a Nature as well as a Free-will and the understanding naturally enclines to Truth and the will hath naturally and of Necessity Good as Good for its object And man as well as Brutes hath a Nature that cannot but love it self and desire its own wellfare and abhor death and Misery Temporral and Eternal And therefore tho here and there a Man in some desperate Passion may make away himself yet we are Physically certain that it must be a thing which they do indeed believe that must perswade Cities and Countries of People in their wits to cast their Estates and Lives into the Hands of Bloody Tyrants and utterly ruin their worldly hopes And especially when they do all this in hope of a Blessedness in the Life to come Where it is impossible that so many Men of Reason should expect to be blessed for conspiring in a Lye but rather to be everlastingly cursed and miserable by the justice of that God from whom they expect their Reward I conclude therefore that the Case being resolved into Mans Natural Principles and inclinations so clearly as it is There is natural Evidence of the Truth of these Miracles This infallible Certainty that we have or may have is grounded upon Vniversal Tradition whereby Vniversal is not meant the Consent of all Men in the World no more than all the world is meant by Vniversal Church