of their State by Creation. firfl, I would propound it to be conlidered, That aU this concerning his~ Faith and the Things revealed to h1m, were flJII but 1\'Jthm the compa{s of Cha!J. 7· Natu;e, And thofe limits which at firfl I fer to bound the Natural Knowledge ~ of God With ; fo as it wa• neither above the due to Nature, nor the way and Sphere of ir. . . . for, firll, fn the Nature of Man there rs fi1ch an A8:, to believe and to trufl one that is faithful, as well as there is to think, and to be. We find it in Corrupt Nature; a difpolition of believing another man ; fo as to believe is not limply and wholly a Supernatural ACt. And fecondly, That Man in his .firfl Creation fhould have a Principle in him to converfe with that God ,whom he knew to be God out of Natural Light, and to have made Heaven and Earth; whenfoever that God fhould fpeak and Communicate ·any thing to him, chat might exprefs his Will to him, fo far as might concern his prefent Condition; was alfonaturalin this fenfe, That it was a due to the Nature of Man. for Man bcmg • focuble Creature, rn . tlur he was R.eafonable, made in the Image of God which was natural , ir was meet he fl1ould be able to converfc with rhat great God by mutual Speech, as well as with his Wife·, or any other Intelligent Nature: Speech is the ground of FellowU>ip, And therefore both Prayer, which is Speech to God, and to hear God fpeakiog to us,are made Natural duties by our Divines,as well as to love him. • And thirdly, When ·God did thus fpeak; That Man lhould believe, and're– ceive the Teftimony of God as true, whatever it was that was revealed, was not above the Due of Nature, nor the way of Nature. Not above the Due of Nature, lorelfe Cod hadfpokeinvain: Nor above the Light of Nature, to a(Ient to it, for the Ground of Faith's aifent is refolved into the Light of this, That God is true. For he knew out of the fame principles and diCtates of Na– tnre , That God was ttue, faithful, 2nd jufl in his word. as well as he knew he waspowerful in his Works: For it was part of the Law·writtm in his hwrt , 10 which the Image of Goa confifled. He fl10uld not lye, but fpeak truth ; Therefore that God much more fhould be True. Truth was part of Cods Image i'n him: Therelore Ephtf. 4• 24. Truth being made a parr of Gods Im>ge, it follows, Verf 2). Wherefore prlt away lyi11g : T hetctore in G0d much more Truth is eifential to his Nature. He might take that Attri. bute up out of his own heart by a Natural Light, as well as Gods Holinefs; our of the righteous Image of ;tin himfelf; fo as he needed not char to be laid . in his h~art by faith, Therefore now to believe God when he fpeaks to him, and to teceive his Teflimony , was but from the power of an inbred light : Yea, and although, fuppofe the thing revealed fhould have been above the Light of Nature, yet the Divine Ahthority upon which his belief was to re– ceive it, was acknowledged by no other Light than Nature, and the DiCtate of ir, That God muft needs be true in what he fpeaks. And yet th is is rhe greateft thing in Faith, the receiving Gods Tefrimony, _7o111J l· 5' l· He th.•t bath rueivrd hu Teflimotty, bath {et to hu feat, that Godu tr11e. And then fourthly, Whereas the Qt!eflion might fiill be, By what L'g:>t he ihould know it was God that fpake, when God did fpeak? I tal<e it, In the y;ay God ufcd then to fpeak; it was but the Natural Light of Sanetdled Realon, which might difcern rhatalfo. ft was with fome fuch Evidence , as . he might know it was God in the Voice given, as trul.v as he knew 'twas God b:>:' hrs Works: Such were the vilible Apparitions and viGonsmade. For other– wJfe It had been eafier for Satan to have counterfeited Gods Voice and appeur– ance , and have fooner deceived Eve thereby, as the old Ptophct deceived the other Wtth a lalfe Command, than in that way he took. And it is more evident by this_, That after his fall , when all holy light was extinguilhr, yet he knew and d1fcerned theVoice cf God in the Garden • and was afraid, there· ·fore much more afore. And it was a doe to Nature, That if God did (peak, he fhould fa fjJeak, os mi~;ht evidence unto Nature , it was he that f~nke. Which was cafle for God to do fom e way or other; for Ba/,wm difcnned the Difference, and wondred ar it, when at firfl he thought to have convct!l with his Devils, H 2 And
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