Corn.9. of Sufpition, &9'c;. Cháp 1 and proper ufe of it is fòr our own prefervation, and fafety'; and fo in matters that concern the health and fafetyof foul or body, there is the only lawful life of it ; for in thefe things it is better to be nimium tiniidur Boomparumprudent, a little too timed, rather then a little improvident. This we fee in S.paalr pra, A,#1 29.3 í, - (lice, when the Mariners laid, they would but cart oüt the Anchor, he fearing they would have gone down into the boat, and left them in the lhip, he faid,Zln. left thefe abide in the /hip, ye cannot befamed. Nowwhen fuch affeetions as are, given for our own good, are converted to the hurt and prejudice ofother,this is an abufe ; yet in this cafe it is fo common in the world, that not the godly themfelves are free from it,but there is a diffe- ience between fufpitions arifing in them and in the wicked : When Chrift( faid . to fudaa,what thou doefl dogaicIily ; prefently fufpitions arofe in the hearts of the Apoftles ; one thought, that Chrift would have him to buy what they needed a, gainft the Feall ; others, that it was about giving fomewhat to the poor. Sufpi , . tions will arife, but in evil men they are politive, in good men privative. The A- polle had fome fear and fufpition of the Galatians, which prevailed to the drnti_ Ga1.4,11, notion of his good opinion of them, but not to a politive judgment of the con- trary. Another example of this privative fufpitionwe have inSimon the Leper; ágainff Chrift ; he fufpeûfed him not to be a Prophet, becaufe he admitted a fin - ful woman fo neer him, till Chrift, bythe Parable propounded to hina, madehim Luke 7'.39, alter his judgment, which hedid prefently ; his opinion of Chrift began to lef- fen, but he came not fo far as to conclude any thing pofitively. The godlymay have a diminution of their goodopinion of fome,but this affirms nothing ; they may fufpend their good opinion ,buttheydo not admit or cherifh tbofe thoughrs, fo as to come to a pofitive determination,and to fay it is fo. But evil men,as Frft they fufpeCt and fay, I alwaies fufpeffed him tobe fuch an one; fo they go fur- ther, and make è fufpition judicium, a judgmentupon abarsfufpition, which is as S. fiterom faith tomake trabem e feFluca, a beam ofamote : andnot only fo, but they proceed further, to refolve in their mind what to do hereupon againft the party fufpeeted, and fometimethey proceed to aft accordingly. - Now for a man to keep himfelf from rath judging upon fufpitions, he muff confider two things," i.That fuch thoughts and affeetions as arife in himfelf,the faine bethinks to arife Errte, a8,inß in others,and fo fuch as we think others to be,fuch we are commonlyour fel ves, Sirp :lion, as if we he angry,when another fpeaks evil to us,we fufpecì,that if we fpeak evil to any, he is angry with us. Cum ipfe fiultusfit, omnesftultos putat, the fool thinks all Othersto be fools. If aman make himfelf the mealure of all things, he cannot but fufpeet evil of others, ifhe himfelf be evil z. As a mans affeCtionsare,fo arehis fufpitions:If he be ill affesfed to any,eve ry final) fufpition' makes a conclulion.Vvhenthe mindof the Difciples ran upon bread,the Leaven of the Pharifees was a Loaf,they under-flood Chrift of Loaves, Mark8.14. when he meant the Doetrine of the Pharifees. On the other fide, yorephrbre_ Gea.37.8. thren were ill affeEfed to him, and thenevery. dream did increafe theirhatred. if therefore we walk fimply,and remove evil affeetions from us, and {trice againft fufpitions,there is goodhope we may remove them ; otherwife , we (hall be apt from fufpitions to proceed to conclutions,as they did againft Paal,when the Vi. Ads 28.4, per faftned upon his hand, thatconcluded him to be a Murtherer. There are fix things to be obferved, tokeep our fufpitions from growing into conclulions, and they may be reduced to two, for they concern either the ground, or the object. a. The ground whereuponthey rife. Sufpitions naturally rife from flender r. "Segrainds ground ; fometimes in good, as when the Difciples gathered from Chriffs an- "fear ¡ufpiti- fwer, toS.Peter, that 7ohnJbould not dye ; fome in evil, as when they concluded, John 21.23, that becaufe Peter wasof Galilee, as his fpeech (hewed thereforehe was one of Mark ,4,9, Chrifts Difciples ; therefore everyman muff examin his grounds. z. The object, which is either God, or Man. t. About God. Mens fufpitionswill rife about many things-which belong on- 2. Far the ob. ly to God, which they will lift and lean, and draw conclulions from them. As, jzfl a.The knowledge of the heart,is Gods Prerogative, yet how common is it,for ' About Gad,, 517 men
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