Clarke - BV4500_C46_1659_v1

0 1 Quefiions, and Cafes ofConfcience Chap. i 5;' 1 the Devil wouldhave them, Pfa1,14.I, z. when they fay there is no G.d : it fol Sows, they are corrupt, they have don. abominable work!. The Devil indeed can- not be a fiat Atheift, for he believes and trembles, yet he bears a goodwill to Atheifm, becaufe he knows that that fin Both much advantagehis Kingdom, He knows that it is themafter -vein in our original lull, and therefore he tempts much to it, and indeed would prevail to make us Atheifts, but that God hash fowrought in us an impreiliion of a Deity, being the main Pillar of theLaw of Nature, that we-cannot pof ibly, nor all the Deviis -in Hell alfìftingwith their forces, utterly extingurfli this Law out of our hearts : Hence we finde that our deepel£Atheilts in toe. world, when they are in extremity, and out to it \ith fome fudden aifrighànent, do ufe to cry, O'God, O Lord, and therefore this corruption and ienliit;,tion is with the_more eafe oppoied,' andaniwered. For a man hathon his fide the vv orks of Nature, theLawof Nature, the ftirringsand terrours ofhis Confcience fearing,and trembling at wrath to come : but when all is done, that which inuft, and one'ywill hold us up againft the tentation, when weare ftrongly aflaultedby Satan, is to fly to the Word, of God. The Word faith that there is a God, and therefore I will believe that there is aGod. But whenwe are free from tentatiòn, other confiderations. taken from the nature, and various. a&s of Gods providence may flop the mouth of our lulls which would :not have God in all our 'thoughts : but when we are'fet upon by fome fierce tentation, the fafeft way is, I. Not toenter into difputeswithour own reafon ; for the underítandingof man is too weak to reachthe comprehenfion of a Deity. He that nudes much about the nature, and infinitebeingof God, (hall but let in Satan the more: the belt counfel than fora poorChriFtian is in any handnot to ftudy this point, not to difpute rthis Argument , left at length he fay in his heart , I cannot conceive what God is, and therefore I doubt whether there be fucha being or no. 2. Cleave to theWord, and fay :, Though my reafon cannot tell what to make of st ; though Intl in me fay, that there is noGod at all : though Satanfay there is noGod, and mof't men live as if there were noGod ; yet becauseI finde it in- the Word, and the Scripture. faithIt, I muff; and do, and will believe it : Doubts indeed whichhave any ground muff be difputed and anfwered : but Atheifin is the denial of- the fini principle of all Religion, and therefore-the bell way is to begin and end with the Word, and to know that fuch a principle as lithe effence and exiftenceof a God ought not to be fomuchas queflioned : and thereforeput off furh thoughts as oft as they come, as nor fit, or worthy thyconf%deration : and thou that finde by often reje&ing of them, thy con- fcience will bebetter fettled, and confirmed, than by going about by reafon to anfwer them. Cape1 onTentations. Quest. Inwhomare there AtbeiJ1ic,4l thoughts that there is no God :? Anfw. Thefe wicked thoughts arenot onely in fome notorious finners,but in . the corrupt mindeof every fon of Adam,.natùrally, Pfal,Io.4. and 14.1. where Davids fool is not fome fpecial finnep,but every impenitent (inner,how civil fo ever his life be ; though histonguebe afhamed to utter it,yet his corrupt nature, is prone'to think it, that there Is no God. So Paulinfinuates, Kom.3.9, &c. Obje&. But it's ingrafed into every mans heart by nature that there is aGod ? Anfw.. Thefe two thoughts, that there is a God, and that there is no God, may be, andare both in one and the fame heart The fame man that by the light of nature'thinks there is,a. God, may by that corruptionand darknefs of, mmde, that came-by Adams fall, think that there is noGod : as heat, and cold - may be iri the fame 'body in remifs degrees..,, L. Quell. How dotha man by thi k ngdeny fjod in his heart ?.. .Anfiv.- Firft, by turning the true God into an idol of a mans brain? Se

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