Bates - HP BX5200 B3 1700

Spiritual Per feE! ion. loru ~tre thy works, and that my foul knows r~ght well.. ! was nu,de in fecrtt, an~ curioujl1 wrou;,ht in tht lowtf/ parts of thr Earth. Thmteyes dtd fu my (ubflance, Jll being tmptr{e fl, andintbybook allmymembenwer1 written. If one Member had been defeC:hve, the Eye, the Hand, t he Tongue, if one feofe had been wanting, what inconvenience, what deformity had iofucd ? To a Body of Flefh the Divine Maker united an immortal Soul, capable to know and love, to obey and enJOY him, who is the Fountain of Felicity : A Soul incomparably more precious in the account of our Creator and Redeemer, than ail the World. It heiohtcns the GoodnefS of God, that he firft prepared the World, reviewed it, and appro';,cd all as Good, and then introduced Mao as his Vice-Roy to polfefs and rule it. The great Univerfe he did nor make for the meer {how of his Power, but for the demonllration of his Goodoefs unto Mao. The reflection upon thefe firft !lene firs, our being Rea. fonable Creatures, which is the foundation of all other Benefits, how fhould it> ingage us . to love and ferve our Maker. with all our Powers in their belt Capacities? Our obligation - is founded in Natural and Divine Right. The Law of coofccrating the firft Fruits was ~f~~~~~t~~~~;;ai;~~:R tt~: p~~~:o~e~i~~et~h~r~:s:rr~a~1~;;~i:~~~ i~fle'f~le~~o~~ of our Love, and lefs fevere in requiring it fbould be confecrated to him? The ' Fruits of a young Plant are not more pleafiog to him than of an old Tree; but he would inllruct us to give the firft AfleEt ions of our Souls to him. ,. If we raife our Thoughts, and diftiofrly confider Creating GoodoefS, our Affections will be more inflam'd in the fenfe of ir. \Ve were born in difiant fpaces of rihle,1 according to his eternal benevolent Decree. Notwithll:anding the different temporal circumftaoces of our coming into the World, we are all equally obliged to his eternal Goodne IS. Let us confider, that in the pure poffibility of being, we.were not dillioguifh"d from an infinite number that fhall never be, (for as his Power is without any limirs but his Will, the poffible production of Men is without number) yet he was pleafed to raife us into aaual Being. This was a m oft: free Favour; and by refleaing on it, unlefs we are dead as the Grave, we fball find a warm lively feofe of it in our Hears. If a Prince exal~ and emich a Favourite, his own Iotereft is mix'd with the Honour and Profit of the Favourite; for he expects Service from him : But God, whofe Happioefs is infinite and indeficieot, cannot receive any benefit from the fervice of the Creature 1 His Favours are above all deferr, and beyond all requital. ,. If we confider God as our preferver and beoefaClor, our obligations to Love and ThaokfulnefS are io~oite. The firft being and uninterrupted duration of the World is from the fame powerful Caufe : For nothing can make it felf when 'tis not, nor preferve it felf wheo 'tis. Some have revived that erroneous Opinion, That as a Clock form"d by an Artificer, and the Weights drawn up, regularly !hikes the Hours, and continues its Motion and Sound, in the abfence of the Artificer: So the perpetual coocourfe of the Divine Providence is nor neceifary for the fupport and operations of every Creature, but Nature may work of it felf, and turn the Wheels of all Things within irscomp<fS. But · the lnlhncc is defective, there being an extream difparity between the Work of an Artificer, in forming a Clock, whole matter is independent upon him, and God's giving the firft ~eing to the Creatures, wi th Powers to act by his actual concurrence: For every Creature ismainrain'd by a fucceffivecontinual production. To affeCt us, confider, the preferver of Men brought us fafe ly into the World through the dark VaUey of Death, where thoufaods arc firangled in the birth. We are born by him from the be!IJ, and <arried If•. 4 6. 3, from the womb. How compaffiooate was his Goodo~rs to us in our Infancy, the flare of wants and weakoefs, when we ~ere abfolutely incapable of procuring fupplies, or fecuriog our felves from many dangers furrouodiog us? The preparing the Milk for our Nourifhmentis the work of the God of Nature. The Blood of the Mother, by the fecret channels of the Veins, istraosfufediotothe Breafts, and isa living ~priogthere. They are bur two, becaufe ~tis the ordinary Law of Nature to have but twoChildrenataBirth. They are plan ted near the Heart, which is the Forge of Natural Heat, and transforms the Blood collected in the Breafts into Milk. And there is a Myfiery of Love in it; for the Mother in the fame time nourifhes her Child with delight, regards and im braces it. From Infancy his M ercy grows up with us, and never forfakes us. He is tht God of o· r Lz~n He d~awsa Curta!n of Prore~ion and Rcflaboutusin the Night9 and repairs our f.ilnt Faculues ; mherw1fe our Bodtes would foon decay imo a diffolmion. He (prrads our Table_, a?d fits our Cup. He is thtlengthof our days. There isfuch a compofitlon of Contranettes m the Humours of the Body, fo many Veins and Arteries and Nerves, that derive the vital and animal Spirits from the Heart and Head to ;n the parrs, we are expofed to fo many deftruEtive accidents, that were not the tender ProviK k k k 2 deoce

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