4Q The Corruptim ·of·the Underjlanding. _ State n. Bamfon into the hands of the PhiliflineJ, and are deprived– ()f-our two ey.es. 'There iJ none that underjlandeth,. Rom. iii. I I. Mind .andJconfcience at·e defiled, Tlt. i. 15. The natural man's apprehenfio.n of divine things is corrupt; Pfal.l. 2 I. Thou thougbt~jl thal.l waJ altogether jitch an one ;! thyfelf. His judgment, is corrupt, apd cannot ' be othe,wife, feeing his eye is evil : and trherefore the fcrip– tures, to lhew that men did all wroitg, fays, Every one did that which waJ rig/J.I in hiJ own eye.r,' Judges xvii. 6. :aod xxi. 2 5., And his imaginations, or reafonings, muH be cafl: down, by the power of the word, being , of a piece , with, his ju~gment, -2 Con x. 5. But ·to point out this cor– Jupti~n of.-· the· mind or underfiandiog more particularly, , , let thefe following things be confidered, I Firfl, There is a natural weaknefs in the-mihds ,of men, .– with refpetl~to fpiritual things. The apolHe determines , . c-oncerning ~very one 'that is not endued,wil h the graces 'of the Spirit, That.he iJ blind, and-cannot foeafar cfh . ·2 Pet. i. 9· Hence the Spil'it of God in the fcri_pmre clothes, as it were, divine -uuths with earthly figures, ·evtn· as . parents teach their. children, ufing Gmilitu~es, Iiof.,:fr.ii·. 1 o. which;. tho~ it doth not cu.re,yet'doth evidence thisnat iltaJ weaknefs.. in ,the minds of men. But we want not·plain proofs of it – from exper-ience-. As, ( L }-How hard-a tafk is it to teach ·\ many people the common p.rinci·pl:es of our holy r~ligioog and to make :truths fo plain as the-y may underfiand them? . ' ' Here there mu_ft be precept up,o:npre_cept, precept ufon pret:ept; line upo'n line, line upon line, lfa. 'xxviii, 9· Try the fatne perfons in ether things, they· {hall be found ·•-.vifer in. Jbeirgeneratirm thanthechildren of/ight, ,They underfrand their work and buGnefs in the world, as well as their neigh .. hours; tho.~ they be very fiupi-d and unteachab}e in the· mat~ ters of God. Tell them how they may advance their w..orldly wealth, or how they may gratify their lufis, and 'they' will quick!yunderfiand thefe things; tho'itisvery ·hard to make t il em know how t!1eir fouls may be f~ved; or how their hearts may find reO: in Jefus Chrifi. , (2.) Confider thefe .. who have many ad:vantages, beyond the com,mon_gang of mankind ; who have had the benefit of good education and inHruCl:ion; yea, and are blefi with the light of grace in , t hflt rneafure, wherein it is.dilhibuted to the·faints .on earth; eL
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=