Wiry tb~ ]ews were bou11d to beliel>e tlie Prophets. 8. All Prophecies were not of equal obligarion. The firfi Prophecies of any Prophet , who brought no attcfiation -by Miracles , nor had yet fpoken any Prop~ecie that had been fullfilled, might be a merci(ul revelation from God, which might oblige the hearers ro a reverent regard, and an enquiry into the authority of the Prophet , and a waiting in fufpcnfe till they faW whether it would come to pafs : And the fulllilling of it incrcafed their obligation. Some Pwpheoies'.that foretold but temporal things ( captivities or dfliverances ) might at lirfi (before the Prophets produced a Divine attefiation) be rather a bare predillion than a L12w; and if men bc;licved them not, it might not make them guilty of any damning fin at all, hut only they re– fufed that warning of a temporal judgement, which might have been of ufe to them had they received ir. 9· But our obligation now to believe the fame Scripture l'rophecies is greater ; becaufe we livo in the ages when moll of them are fullfillcd , and the reil are attefied by Cbrill and his Apofiles who proved their attefiations by manifold Miracles. 10. when the Prophets reproved the known fins of the people, and calkd men to fuch du– ties as the Law required, no man could fpecd ill by obeying fuch a Pwphct; becaufc the Mu– tcr of his Prophecies was found in Gods own L1w , which mufi of ncccllity be obeyed. And this is the chief part of the recorded Prophecies. l'>' u. And any man that fpake againfi any part' of Gods Law ( of natural or fuper-mtural revelation) was not to be believed, Dertt. 13· & 18. Becaufe God cannot fpeak contrary to himfelf. 12· But the Prophets themfelves had another kind of obligation to believe their own Vifions and lnfpirations, than any of their hearers had : For Gods great extraordinary Revelation, was like the Light, which immediately revealed it felf, and confirained the underfianding to know that it was of God : And fuch were the Revelations that came by Ang, lical apparitions, and Vifions. There– fore Prophets theofelves might be bound to more, than their bare word :could have bound their hearers to. As to wound themfclvcs, to go bare, to feed on dung, &c. And this was Abrab.tms cafe in offering lfaaclr.: Yet God did never command a Prophet, or any by a Prophet, a thing fim– ply evil, but only fuch things as were of a mutable nature, and which his will could alter and make to be good. And fuch was the <afe of Abrabam himfelt; if well confidered. ' PART. ir 10~
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=