Of the Creaturer, and the Condition .-~ BooK I I. As the Conclufron of tLis Difcourfe ; becaufe I would not maintain a Di– ~ fputc og .in(\ a mnltirude of Divines, who are of another mind in their Writings: If we will grant and luppofe, T hat there was fuch a Light of ' Faith vouchf•fcd A dam , as was Superiour un:o the Law of Nature fpeci– fied; ( whereby he .knew God in his Worl<s, and fuch R.evel:itions as ex– ternally earned their own Evidence with them) .even unto natural Faith, and to Inve been as Supernatural as ours : Yet !hll the Alf~rtron I aim ar, w.II hold true, That a Behevcrs knowmg of God, and en)oymg of him doth infrn;tely tranfcend that of his in many refpeCl:s: ' For, 1. If we confider the Ufes of his Faith then to hini, and of ours to us now, there is a vaf\ Difference, for even the Apof\Ie lived 1101 a!– W '!)'J 6y Faith, as a Chriflian, Grz/•. 2. 20. Thf lift I now ferJd is 6y Faitb &c. And Hebr, 10. ,s.. the Jufi are fa id to do fo. And it is fpoken of~ Clrriflian, in Oj'pofition to a legal Life, as appears by the Coherence ver~ •9· of that Gat. 2. I am derJd to the Law , (!)c. So not all, or th~ mofi of Adam's knowledge or enjn) ment of God came in that way: But the ordinary way Le liv'd, knew, and enjoyed God by, was by that fan– t.'l:ilicJ Light of Nature , joy n'd with Obfcrvation out of his Works: And thcrelore ,' althou~h be m ght have another Principle of Faith, for parti– cular Occa!ions extraordinary , to know God's mind by, whenever God would no\V and then Communicate himfelf to him; as alfo in cate of Temptation when any part of God's Will was quefiioned, or reafoned a– gainft, as jt was by Satan to Evt, then there was ufe of Faith above R.eafon to flick to the Won;!; .but fiill he walkt by Nature's Light, not that of Fa~th:Whereas the Apoflle fays_ofus,Thatwf walk byj(•ith,11otfight, 2(or.5-7. 'fatth was then (what ever 11 was, whether Natural or Supernatural) but a private Grace , which at times he had ufe of, as. he had of the rell: But now to us, it is a general c;;ra.co. All KBowledge is let in by it; e– very Truth is fealed up by 1t; tts advanced to the SupreamOffice, to be the gen:ral InflruCl:or; whereas the Light of Nature and fanctified R.ea– fon was then the predominant Principle : For R.eafon is predominant in man's Nature, as he is a Man, as Faith is in. a .Chriflian. The Jufi now I.vcs by Farth; not fo Adam then. Agam, Farth IS now the Bond of the Co· venant between God and us; becaufe it is a receiving Grace, Rom, 4· 1 J• 14, t6, But Love and Obedience from Man was then the Bond of his Co– venant, becaufe the Covenant was founded upon what Man returned to God , and continued upon his doing homage. In o word , Faith was then ( fuppofi ng him to have had the, fame Principle with us ) but as fenfe and joy in the Holy Ghofi is now to Believers: Tis true, fuch a Communion, a Believer hath with God at times, when God will appear to him in an extraordinary manner; but he ordinarily lives by Faith , without fuch fenfe. So A dam; whereas he lived in the Works of God, fiudying God in them, converfing with God in them, his Task being, by Obfervation, to till the Seeds of Light fawn in his Mind, as well as to till the Earth, ordinarily thus !mowing and enjoying God but by the Light of Nature, and accordingly obeying and loving of him , God did now and then make un Apparition to utter fame word to his Faith. Now therefore, if the Compari(on be made between his Eflate and ours ( if it be granted he had like Faith "ith us) it mufi withal be granted, that the difference is as great , as between a Man that once a week makes a meal of more than ordinary Fare, and a Ki11g that fares ddicioujiy fvtry day : For we or– dinarily do, or might (if the fault were not our own ) live by the Faith of the Son of God, in the Revelations of the Word , as our pro– per Element: He ordinarily , but in the Works of God, and his own Worl<s, \Vhat was extraordinary in him, is ordinary with us; his Excce· clings , our Commons. Wbi.ch if it were compleat, and tin and unbelief fully fubducd, how happy mu!\ it rmke us above him ? Look what dlf. ference there may be conceived now in the EOate of Grace , in refpeCl: of happy Communion with God, between the prefent Comfort of~ Be· herer,
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=