Edwards - BX7230 .E4 1746

PART II. to dfiinbuifh h'fetions. 51 with him, and appear with a cheerful Countenance, and talk with a loud Voice : and however, before his Deliverance, he was full of quarrellings againft the juftice of God, that now it fhould be eafy for him to fubmit to God, and own hisUnworthinefs, and cry out againft himfelf, and appear to be very humble before God, and lye at his Feet as tame as a Lamb ; and that he should now confefs his Unwor- thinefs, and cry out, Why me 2 Why me 2 (Like Saul, who when Samuel told him that God had appointed him to be King, makes an- fwer, Am not Ia Benjamite, of the fmalleejl of the Tribes of Ifrael, and my Family the leall of all the Families of the Tribe of Benjamin ? Wherefore then fpeakefl thou fo to me? Much in the Language of Da- vid, the true Saint, 2 Sam. y. 18. Who am I, andwhat is myFather's Houle, that thou hall brought me hitherto ! ) Nor is it to be wonder'd at, that now he fhould delight to be with them who acknowledge and applaud his happy Circumftances, and fhould love all fuch as e- Deem and admire him and what he has experienc'd, and have violent Zeal againft all fuch as would make nothing of fuch Things, and be difpofed openly to feparate, and as it were to proclaim War with all who ben't of his Party, and fhould now glory in his Sufferings, and be very much for condemning and cenfuring all who feem to doubt, or make any Difficulty of thefe Things ; and while the Warmth of his Affe6tions laft, fhould be mighty forward to take Pains, and deny himfelf, to promote the Intereft of the Party who he imagines favour fuchThings, and feem earneftly defirous to increafe the Number of them, as the Pharifees compaf ed Sea and Land to make one Profe- lyte f. And fo I might go on, and mention many other Things, which will naturally arife in fuck- Circumfiances. He muff have but flightly confider'd human Nature, who thinks fuch Things as thefe can't arife in this Manner, without any fupernatural Interpofition of divine Power. As from true divine Love flow all chriftian Affeaions, fo from a counterfeit Love in likeManner, naturally flow other falfe Affections. In both Cafes, Love is the Fountain, and the other Affections are the Streams. The various Faculties, Principles and Affeaions of the human Nature, are as it were many Channels from one Fountain : If there befweetWater in theFountain, fweet Water will from thence flow out into thofe various Channels ; but if the Water in the Foun- t " Affociating with godly Men don't prove that a Man has " Grace : Ahithophel was David's Companion. Sorrows for " the Aftli6tions of the Church, and Defires for the Converfion cc of Souls, don't prove it. Thefe Things may be found in " carnal Men, and fo can be no Evidences of Grace ". Stod- dard's Nature ofPaving Converfion, p. 82. E 2 taint

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