to the EPHESIAN s. ~ Firft, We will6egin with our Underfiandings. All the parts ofWit and Wlf.. ~ dom, that all the Men of the World have had, or !hall have, if they were all in one Man's Heart or Head, they could not help him to look up to a Soviour, I Cor. 2. ~. 6, 7, 8. that your Faith !hould not fiand in the Wifdom of Men, but in the Power ofGod; and in I Cor. J.I8,19. he there profecutes it to the End,he faith, God bath a deGgn by fetting up Fai~h in the Hearts of Men; to fave theni thereby; and to confound all the Wifdom of the World, faith h!!, the preaching ofthe Crofs ;, to them Foolij!meji, b11t unto 'w tbat believe, it;, the Power oJGoc'l•. It ple:tftd God by the foolij!mofs of"Preaching tofove them that rvere loft. He !hews that as God had in Man's Redemption (as appears in that in Gemjs) an Eye to confound the Devil; and fo chufeth out that which is the mofr excellent thing,faith; faith he, I will do it by the mofr fooli!h means, as by that Man that is crucified,and by the foolitb means ofFaith and Preaching, which all the wifefl: Men !hall not. attain to ; he cloth not fay he will confound the wife Men, but the Wifdomof Men, Some wife Men are Cived, bqt he faith, he will confound Wifdom,for they mufl: lay their Wifdom afide when they come to believe; he ufeth two or three Words, he faith in the 19thVerte,he will make no u(e ofWifdom ; then he faith; he bath made it Fooli!hnefs, he bath put a (corn upon it; as in the 2othVer(e, he {hews that the Wifdom of Men is the fooli!he!l thing in the World. Thenmy Brethren, Jf you would know the Reafon,why God does fo,and know the Reafon,why that Wifdom in Man cannot thus attain toFaith:the Reafon why he; dotb it,is,that he may confound that which is in Man, the chiefefl: Excellencies, and that it may be in his Power to Cave whom he will, and that it maybe in his Power only to raife Men up to what degrees of Grace he hinifelf !hall pleafe. This hedotfi while he makes notufeofWifdom,becaufe foolifi1Men hecan makebelieve as much as the wifefr Meo,nay he ufually raifesFaith up to a greater degree in the fooii!heft Men,than the wifefr in the World, than what by their Learning they can attain to, Let me not only tell you that Wifdom f.1lls fhort ofit, and is not able to do it; but natural Wifdom is in itfelfa hinderance to it, and all the Wifdom a11d Reafori in a Man is againfi the way ofFaith. Saith Wildom, I think by my Brains and Wit to attain this, which a fooli!h Soul !hall not do.Pride is oppofite to Faitli,and Knowledg puffs up Pride.No Man is more oppofite to Faith, than he wholeHeart iS"Iifted up in him. The ]11ftfoal~ live by Faith, Hab.2. He whofe Heart is lifteq up in him, is not Right: therefore nothing fo oppofite to Faith, as Pride and Wif.. dam. And Knowledg fince it puffs up, when the wifefi Men in the World, and great Men in the World come to believe, Faith lays them as low as the pooreft Man in the World; fuch a Soul will C1y, I would not care ifl were a Fool, the poore!l Beggar in the World, fo I had a Dram ofFaith. . Then Reafon, which is alfo joined withWiG:Iom, being the Form of a Mari, as he is a Man, it is it that confrimtes the Man, and fo it is the highefi thing till Faith comes, and then Faith oppofetb it,fubducs it, as Reafan fubdues Senfe; and then Reafon rifeth up againfl Faith, when it comes to be put from its Kingly Power and Dignity, Which it hath had all its Days. When a Stranger comes and tellS R.eafou ofa {!range thing in another vVorld, which Reafon never took in before, and on the News oftbis be mufl: lay down his Reafon at the Feet ofthis fame Te– fiimony, and t:ike the Law at his Mouth ; Realon which hath been the fuprearri Principle in Man's Heart,willncver do this; faith Faith, I will have all thefe Rea– fonings and Principles put fi·om you, Reafon !lands on them; Rom. 4· i9. faith Reafdn, cdnfider yout· dead Body;Abrahambeing not weak in Faith,heconGdere4 not his dead Body; Rea(on would have put in many ObjeCtions, but he confiderecl not his dead Body, but gave himfelfup to Faith. In the third place, The fl:ronger Rtafon any Man bath when he carries io believe, he will find the harder pull ofit; Men ofParts,the larger their Knowledg is, they are againfl: believing the more : why ? becaufe they will find out Argjl-· mcms againfr theinfelves; and all a Man's Reafon and Parts wil!bu;t fetve,io maliie' hJS IndtCl:ment more agamfr htmfclf,and the mote !hroudly a Man wdl argue, (an& efpecially being a Man offirong Rea[on) he will reafon againfi hirofelf, to .the a• mazcment of all Men, and as before Faith, you will never believe iifi you, feQ: your lofl: Condition, What makes Men fay that Confcience tells them' fu,' but tbe}l * Qq z wili
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