k, rr il sk { i8o Chap.'. Of Religion , anditsoppofits. Com.r, and in the firft place , becaufe the feeking of it will fantlifie all things elfe. Efa 55.6. Seek the Lord ( faith the Prophet ) while he may be found, and fall upon him while Phil.z. zt. he is near. Sr. Paul faith AU leek their own, not the things which are Jefus Chrifls. But ifwe give primum to our own , and not when we leek for Chrifls, God wilinot be near, but leavesus. Deur-Æ.a9- z. The fecond is given by Mofes. If thou leek the Lord thy God with el thy Jer.z9.t3 heart, and with all thySoul, thou (halt find him. God faith by the Prophet, Yefhall feek me and find me, when ye fha11 fearch for me with all your heart. Wemutt feek with tears, as Marydid the BodyofChrifl, john20. 15. we muff leek for the truth, Prov 2.4. as Solomon faith Men mull do for wifdom , how is that ? as Men leek for Silveror Jer.+5 s. hid Treafures ; and, as the Prophet, if ye will enquire, enquire; that is, enquire in deed. But if either we primum quereregrandia, if we firft feekgreat thingsfor our felves,and Religion after ; or leek, and not feek, by feeking coldly ; Sends feeking his Fathers Aires, and the Woman feeking her Groat will prove to be with more care than ours for Religion : fuch feekers will never find. 3. The third is. .As we mint leek for the truth , if we have it not , and whenwe I Tien 63 have it examine it, fo when we have it, we muft acquiefcere we muff rest in it. The Ephef,ó.L4. ufc ofReligion ferves us inflead ofa Girdle to gird our Loyns, that is, Truth mull be applyed as dole to our Souls, as a Girdle to our Reins. For the negative part , what is here forbidden , may be reduced to thefetwo heads. r. One extream oppofite to true Religion, is nimium, the excefs , when we give honour, either cui non oportet, to whom it is not due, or quantum non oportet, or more than is due : the firft is commonly called Idolatry, theother fuperilition. 2. Another extream is parum , the cefedl when we do not give honour cuiopor set, to whom it is due , or so, quantum opoi set, not fo much as is due. The firft is called prophanenefs , whichufually ends in rlrheifine, the otheris non-acquiefeence, or not refting in Religion, when Men leek out novelties , and receive the Truth only in part : and this divides it felfinto two branches. a. Schifine, z. Herefre: which ends in Apoflacy. a. The rai non oportet, is Idolatry , whether it be by giving divine honour and worship, or afcribing any part of Gods office to anyCreature, as St.Anguftine fpeaks: within whichcomes dealing, andcovenanting with the Devil , or trusting tohis In. ftruments, Sorcerers, Charmers, Dreamers, and other Inchanters. So ifa Man yield anyofthe formeraffedlions,and vertues,as Love,Fear, &c. to theDevil, if be fear the Stars,or attribute any thing to Drearns,Inchantments,Ligatures,Lots,Charaäers,&c. bent.í8.ro,T, it is comprehended within this. God telleth us by theProphet, that none can fore- fltew things to come but himfelf, ( nor meaning things known by natural caufes ) but where there is caufa libera a free caufe. Therefore ifdivine honour be attributed toanyof there, a part of Godspeculiar offices, is taken from him, and the molt of Jer,,TO.s. them are reckoned up by Mofes, and God threatens to punish them. In the Prophet Efa.s. t 9. 3eremy,there is a plain Commandment againfl the afcribing any thing to Stars. So like- Ezek.ztzr; wife againfl Wizards and Divination. Saul enquired ofthe Witch ofEndor, and r Sam. 28.16. you fee Gods anger towards him for it. 'And Ahaziahufin the like means to recover Chromso,ry $ g a Kings 1.3, ' his licknefs,was reprovedby Elijah, is it not becaufe there is noGod in 7frael, that ye go to inquire of Rani the God of Ekron ? Though the Witchat Endor fore- told Saul's death, and fpake tenth., yet Saul's AC} is condemned. r Chronicles so. r 3. Aa.16.17,18. And though the Pythonifl in the Ails confelfed , that the Apoflles were Servantsof the livingGod, yet St. Paul rebuked the Spirit that was in her, and made him come Deut.z.t.z.s. forth. yea, though aProphet foretell a truth; and yet faith , let usgo after other Gods, he (hall baput to death. The othci, quantum non oportet, to give too much honour, is commonly re- ferred to fuperltition. The fecond Council at Nice eredled Images , and their prin.- finalreafon was, becaufe God could not be remembrcd too much : but that wasno good Argument, for then there could be nofuperflition. Tully thews how theword fuperflition camefirft up. There were certain old Romans, that did nothing but pray, day and night, that their Children might outlive them, and befuperftires whereupon they were called fuperftitious. In this refpedt we alfo condemn the Euchytes. It
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