oz Chap. 34. An Expofition upon the Book,of J o s. Verf. 3, yetamon to all mankind good and bad; but the fpirituall fen-' tes of feei;g andhearing,are a fpeciail priviledge procniled to the elea, and a fruit of Gospel grace. (Ifa. 3 5 s) Then the eyes of ,the blind Jkall be opened, and the cares of the deafe !hall he swill-- Fed. He meanethit not either onlyor chiefly of the bodily eyes änd eares (thou Chri(f wrought miracles upon them,and heal- edboth the-blindädj deafe in the dayes of his fie(h ) but of the eyes and eares of the foul, which are oftendarkeand ftopt while the otherare 'free. enough in the exercifeoftheir feverall facul- ties. The feeing eye,which both Solomon and Ifaiah intend,is-the' eye which fo Teeth as that it followeth the good which it feeth ; and chat's tlieír hearing care which beleeveth and obeyeth what it heare. A fuperficiall feeing eye is ablind eye, and ..a formali- heáringBare is adeafe care in the fight and account of God. We ,fay it`is the fympt®me offoine diftérnper or growing difeafe upon the body, when thepallarecloth not meate ; Surely it ar- gueth a difeafed and rick foul, whenwe have no mind ro heare. ,aaor find rellifb in the word of God, Secondly, Nore. i cords arenot to-be receiated.nàr fubmitted to, nor beleeved as trae, till they are tryed. Itching cares arc bad, (z Tim. 4. 3, ) 7írying cares are good. You will not fwallow your meat till you have chewed and called_ it ; nor Mould you fwallowwords, till you have tryed them.; whyxelfehave we cires to heare ? Whyare we tru(led with.rea!'on to judge things with ? or with rules to judge them by ? There is nogreater Tyranny in the World, then to command a man tobe- leeve (byan implicit faith ) as others beleeve or to impofe our opinions and aflertions upon thofe that hear them, and not to give them liberty to try them. This is tobe at once ( as the A poflle lames expreffeth it, ( Chap. 3. r.) many Matters, or many Mafterswhere we fhould not be one. But Tome will fay, when the Word of God is preached, is chat ,,to be tryed by men ? have we a liberty to take that into confidera.; lion or totake and refufe it as weare perfwaded in our ownjudg- cents ? I anRver, Theword of God is iìot to be brought to the barre nor to,be tryed by man. The wordofGod is our Judge, there- fore
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