Bates - HP BX5200 B3 1700

The Harmony of the Divine Attributes ~ condemns the guilty, and that ftrong and obftinate Avcrfion which is in corrupted Man ~from true Fehc1ty. Here IS a Mediator reveal'd, who IS ahle to fa'Ue to the tJttermoft, Heb. 7· 25. who bath quench'd the Wrath of God by the Blood of his Divine Sacrifice: Who bath expiated Sin by the value of his Death, and purifies the Soul by the virtue of his Life, that it may confent to its own Salvation. No lefs than a Divine Power could perlorm this Work. From hence the fuperlative Excellency of Evangelical Knowledge doth arife: All other Knowlcdg is unprofitable without it, and that alone can make us perfectly blelTed ; 1'hi; is Life eternal, to knozv thee, and 'jefos Chrijl whom thou IMjl fint, Joh. '7· 3· I will briefly confider how ineffectual all other knowlcdg is, whether Nat•- ra.!, Politual, or Morttl, to recover us from our Mifery. The moll exaCt infight into Natural thi•gs leaves the Mind bl ind and poor, ignorant of Happinefs, and the way to it. S~lomon, who bad an extraordinary ~eafure ~f Natural Knowledge, and was able to fet a )Uft price upon it, tells us, that the tncreaji! of Kyo1vledge fVM ttttended JV~th proportionable ~cgrees of SorrOw, Ecclef. r. For the more a Nlan kno:vs, the more he d1fcerns the infuffietency of that knowledge to fupply his DefeC!s, and fansfy his Defires. He was therefore weary of his Wifdom, as well as of his Folly. The Devils ]mow more than the .profoundeU: Philofophers; yet their Knowledge doth not allevia~e their TOl:mcnts. 'T1s ~ot only iofu~cient to prevent Mifery, but will more expofe to 1t by enlargmg the Faculnes, and makmg them more capable of Torment. 'Tis the Obfervation of St. Ambro{e, That when God difcovered the Creation of the World to Moje1, He did not inform l~im of the greatn.efs of t~1e J:Ieavens, the number of the Stars, their .tlfpefis and In~ue!'ces; whether they denve the1r L1ght from the Su':, or have.it inherent in their own Bodtes; from whence Eclipfes are caufed ; how the Rambow is Pamted; how the Winds lly in the Air, or the caufes of the ebbing and flowing of the s,.: but fo much as might be a foundation of Faith and Obedience, and left the reil, ,Q.Naji marcefientu japienti£ vamtates,_as the Vanities of perifh in~ Wifdom, (Ambrof.p.6. Hexam. c. z.) The moft knowing Plulofopher, tho' encompaft wstb theje fParks, yet if ignorant of the Redeemer, jball lie doJVn m jorrmv for e'l!e~-. St~~~~ h~~l~~~u~oV~r ;:~~fer ~~~;~~fs~;n°~:~. to :~ 1~o~~~~~~i~gt ~~sK:a~~~:er~fr~ 'tis terminated within the compafs df this !hart Life, and provides not for Death, and Eternity. The Wifdom of the World is Folly in a difguife, a fpecious Ignorance, which, although it may fecure the Temporal State, yet it leaves us naked and expofed to Spiritual ~nemJ..es who war agamjf the Sottl. And all the Moral Knowledge which is treafur'd up in the Books of the Heathens, is infufficient to reftore Man to his Original Integrity and rehcity. Reafon. fees t~Jat Man is ignorant, •nd guilty, mortal and m1fera• ble · that be is tranfported w•th vam Paffions, and tormented With Accufauons of Confcie:Jce but it could not redrefs thefe Evils. Corrupt Nature is hlse an imperfeCt Building th;t lies in Rubbifh, the ImperfeCtion is vifible, but not the way how to finifh it: for through the ignorance of the firft defign , every . one follows Ius own fancy ; whereas wben the ArchiteCt comes to finifb h!S own ProJeCt, 1t appears regular and beautiful. Thus the various direCtions of Philofophers to recover fain Man out of his Ruins, and to rai[e him to his firft State, were vain. Some glimmerings they had, that rhe Happinefs of nhc reafonable Nature confilled in its Union with God; but in order to this, they proJlOunded fuch means as were not only incffeC!ual, buc oppolite. Such is the Pride and Folly of Carnal W1fdom, that to bring God and Man together, it advances Man, and (m ) S•pi· deprelTes God The Stozcks afcnbed to their w.re Man (m). thofe Prerogatives wheretilt w~1 J?iis by he equall'd theu· Supre~e Go.d. They made h1m ~he Arch1te8 of Ius Vutue and Fe. ?.:f::~,J;i~, ;~i~?':ca;;~e %~:~. :~~'J=~~~~~,;u~~ei{;, ~y~a~?~tJ~;:~;r; in %~:}~;1 ~~~~~~!,~he~~~: Con!rfYVt.~fiJm infiead of curing, they fomented the heredttary and prlnCI~al D1feafes of Mankmd, Pride ~J:~~~i~:;~ d~ and Concupifc:nce, which, at firft, caus'd the Separ~rion ot Man from God, and infin~tely Scnec. incruafc rhe d10:ance betwe~n tbe~. for w~1at Stn~ are more comrary to the MaJefty and Purity of God than Pnde, wluch ro?s h1m ~f hts Hon~ur; ~nd Carnal Lufr, wl~ich turns a Man into a Beaft? llefides, all rheirl~vennons to e~p1ate Sm, toappeafe the Detty, and mal<e him favourable, to calm the Confctence, were fnvolous and unprofitable. And their moll generous Principjes,. and accurate Precepts, were fhort of rhar Purity and Per. feC!ion wherewith Moral Duues are perform'd to God and Men. Briefly, they wafted their Candle in vain, in fearchmg for the way to true Happmefs. Bm God who created Man for the enjoyment of himlelf, hath happily accompl!Ol'd his Erernal Decree, by th~ work of our Redemption, wherei~ IllS o.wn Glory 1s mott vdib!c. And the Gofpel which reveals this ro us, humbles whom 1t JUfhfies, and comforts thoic that were condemned: It aba[es more than the Law, but without defpair; and advances more than Nature could, ' but

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