8 I: Quefiions,and Cafes ofConfcience Chap i% O etc. Row many ways doth blafphemybre4out ? Anfw. The Schoolmen fay three ways. I. Cum attribuiturDeo, quod ei nonconvenit. When we affirm that of God which is umbefeeming his Ma jetty , and incompatible with his holy andDivine nature As to make him a "creature, or aliar, or cruelunjufl, unmeryeiful, i fnl, or the caufe of fin. a.0 %:m a Deo removetur, quad ei convenit, when we deny that to God , which indeedbelongs tohim, as a Chron.32. r7. 3. Cumattribuitur ereatur' , ga:od'Deoappropriatur. When we put that up- on a creature which is proper to God Thus when the Ifraelites had made a golden calf, and Paid, 7his ss thy God, O Ifrael, &c..Its called bafphemy , Nth. yt i8. they commited great blafphemies. Ste -O. Sedg*ickr Part. Sermon. Quefl, whit meanes may we ufe to prevent , and cure tentateons to Blaf- lem ? p Anfw. Firfl,we mull get affurance ofGods loveto us, and then we fhall love him, and love alwayes thinks, and fpcaks well of the party beloved : But if we once entertain thoughts that God hates us , and will curfe us , then we will hate him , and be ready to curfe him : and this is incident to us when under fo me great afNi&ion, as we fee in Sobs cafe : whenGodchaflens in fore , and worfe then commonly he Both others, and whenwe finde fome circumflances for which we cannot finde a prefident in the world , then we begin to appre- hend tome unkinde dealing from God , andconcludes that he hates us, and thenwewill be ready to hate him again, and begin to enter into fome termes of blafphemy,to prevent and cure which, we mutt know-,that tino affli&ions , be they never fogreat, unufual, or unhard of, are any certaine f fines of Gods anger , much leffe of his hatred. lobwas the firft that was ever ufed as he was, and his foolifh wife would thence conclude that God hated her , and her huf- band. lonah had a croffe, the like whereof was never in the world before, yet was it no fruit of Gods hatred : Jacob had fore , and heavy affli&ions , yet was it ever true, (Jacob have I loved) even whenhe affli&ed him : and Efate had great outward profperity, andyetthat was as true , Efate have Ihated : Be then convinced that God loves thee,andall the devils inhell,and all the lulls in Original fin cannot make thee blafpheme God. Secondly, we muffget our fins pardoned,repent ofall our iniquities,ánd then the croffe can never wring from us wordsof blafphemy : It is not the great-. neffe of the croffe, but the guilt of fin working with the fling of the croft which snakes men in tribulation toblafphem, Rcv.i6.11. Thirdly, fuppofe the worts: havewe blafphemed ? yet we mull repent ofour blafphemy,and hope inGod;to defpair is tomake us uncapable of mercy:To de- fpair by reafon ofblafphemy is a worfefin thenblafphemy it felf : theyare both agamti the goodneffcofGod : but defpaire is againft hisgoodneffe,.mercy, and truth. Indeed its an horrible crime to blafphemc God , and-the worfe , be- caufe its fomewhat like that unpardonable fume : Befides , otherfinnes are a- gainfl God in his greatneffe, government, &c. but this is againfi his goodnefs, and God as he is reprefented tous (lands more upon his goodneffe then his greatneffe , and. therefore blafphemy bath always been heldairiongtl thegreat- efloffins , therefore we should the more beaware ofit,andwe may the better avoidit, becaufe it's againfi that natural inbredprinciple ofa Deity ; fo that na- tureitfelf is afraid of it. Satan indeed is a great blafphemer, and laboursby all means to bring us to it , but we mutt fet the Word and Spirit ofGodagainil it , yea, and the Law .of too ; and if at any timewe be overtaken with ir, yet we muff remem- ber that. its pardonable, t Tim. 1.13. I was (faithPatti) a blafphemer,'C'c. yea,
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