286 Chap. 3'3. An F; tpofition Capon the Boo of Jo s. ,And I may give you five reafons why God tired to apply him- felf to man indreams., Firll,becauie in Veep man is,as I may fay, at bell leifure for God to deal with him'; he is not difiraeled with bufineíte, nor hurried with the,labours of this life, but is at tell,. Secoo3ly, when weare awake: we are very ready to debate and difcufie what we receive by our own reafon, we are ready to Logick itwith God ; but in fleepwe take things barely as offe- red without difcuilions ordiïputes. Thirdly, in fleepe when allis quiet, that which God repreidnts,. takes and leaves a deeper im- preliiön upon the mind of man. Common experience teacheth us how dreams flick, and how thofeapprehentons which we have in our fleep dwell & abide with us when awake.Fourthly,I conceive the Lorddoth this chiefly thathemay 1aaew hisdivine skill in tea- ching& inflru&ing man,or that he bath a peculiar art in teaching; he teaches fo,as none of the mailersoflearning were ever able to teach and intlru; l their Schollars. There was never any man could teach another when he was afleep ; they that are taught mull at left be awake, yea they mull not only be awakebut watchfull ; but nowGod is fuch a teacher, Inch an inílru6lor; that when we are afleep he canconvay inlru&ion and teach us his leffons this ( I fay ) doth wonderfully magnifie the divine skill and power of God, who is able tomake us heare and underfland do&rine even when-we are afleep and cannot heare. There may be alfo a fifth confederation moving God to this. Poflïbly God would hereby ailureus, that the,fou.l is a diflin& eflence, and bath its diflin t operations from the body ; and that even death it.felf:cannot de- prive the foul of man of its working For what is fleep but a kind ofdeath ? fleep is a fhort death, and death is along fleepe. Now when the body is ( upon the matter) laid afide, the foul can goe to work : when the body lyes like a block and flirs not, the foul canbetfit it fellabout manymatters, and run its thoughts to the utmofl,ends<ofthe earth, yea and raife them up to the highefl heavens, in bleffed intercourfes with God himfelf. There's no need toprove thematter of fa& that 'tis :fo; what night,with refe- rence to Tome or other,doth not utter this poynt of knowledg?nor need I flay toprove that this is, ifnot ademonflrative, yet a very probable argument ofthe diflin l fubtantiallity of the foul from thebody, namely its operations when thebody ( with.allitspro- per and peculiar facultiesandpo*ers) is a fleepe, and contri- bytes Verf. II.
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