DJco:-~'1 Ef!•J •f ./!:luifm. Aftsli• J7• · An Expojition upon the Yea, and thefe Clouds, how often are they charged with Thunder and Lightn ings; ::ts tho' it were fo ordered of purpofe, that if their Contexture cannot convince, yet their Terrour might affright the Atheift? Who can, give any fatisfa&ory acconnr, how that Artillery came there planted? or how thofe Terrours ofMankind arc there generated? Let the Atheifl: tell me how it comes to pafs, that fuch contraries meet together in one, and that the fame Cloud fuould be both a Fountain of Water, and yet a Furnace of Fire. And therefore the Prophet afcribes this particularly ti"J God's Almighty Provide~ce, ']er. to. 13 • .J:[e maketh li,ghtnings with rain: and.acco1!nteth it. filCh a remarkable mftance of the DIVIne Qperation, that he repeatcth ltagam, Chap. 51· 16. If we defcend into the loweft ftory of this great Building, the Earth; what a Shop qf\Vonders !ball we find there l That the whole Mafs and Globe of it lboukl hang pendulous in the Air without any thing to fi1pport it; and whereas final! Bodies of little weight fall through the Air, yet that this great and ponderous Body fhould be fixed for ever in its place, having no foundation, no fi1pport, . but that Air which every Mote and Flie doth eafily cut through; that t~is round Ball of Earth lbould be inhabited on every part; that the feet of other Men fhould be oppofite to ours, and yet they walk as erctl:, and be as much upon the face of the E:trth as we are; that the middle point of the Earth lbould be the loweft part of it, and of the Univerfe, and wh:ttfoever is beyond that' is upwards: Thefe :md many others are fi1ch unaccountable Myflcrics to our Comprehcnfion ;and yet are found fo infalliblycertain by Experience, and manifold Proofs, that he muft be an Atheift out of meer fpi ght,. who fhall ferioufly confider them, and not be induced by that confideration to ~dore the Infinite Power and Wifdom of the Author of them. It would be too long to inftance in the Yarious forts of Creatur es that we behold; how artificially they are framed; what an excellent Configuration there may he ob_., fervcd in their feveral parts; what fi1bfer viency of one to another? how they: arc fuitcd to the Offices of Nature; what fecret channels and conveyances for Life and Spirits? what Springs of various motions are included in the fh1aU bt'x.ly of a Flic, or of a Mite. Certainly there is not the ]caft thing that an Athcift can caft his Eye upon, bnt it confutes him; but efpecially if he fhall ferioufi y confider the wonderful Structure of an humane Body, the excellent contrivance and ufe of all the part:::, he cannot chufe but after he hath admired the Art ifice of the VVork, ndmirc alfo t he Infinite Wifdom of the Maker, and cry out with holy David, * I mn fcmfully and wonderfully made, and curioujly wrought in the loweft parts of the earth. Yea, not only a Dm;id, but Calm an Heathen, (one who it is thought was not over credulous in Matt ers of Religion, yet) when he had minutely infpe&ed the many Wonders and Miracles that were contained in the Frame of our Body, he could not forbear compofing an Hymn to the praife of our All -wife Creator. And therefore as the Lod Yerulam obferves, God never wrought a Miracle to convince an Athcift, becaufe his ordinary Works may convince him; and unlefs Men wiil be wilfully and ft nbbornly blind, they muft needs fubfcribc to that of St. Paul, Go..1. hruh not left himjtlf without witnefs, in that he doth good, and gives m rain from hea- ':Jen, and fruitful Jeafons , filling our hearts with food and gladnefs. And Rom. J. 20. The invifible things of God are clearly foen ftom the creation of the 1t:1orld, being underftood by the things that are made, even hU eternal Power and God-head? fo that they llre 1t1ithout excufc. When we fee Foot-ftcps evidently imprinted on the Earth, Iha\1 we not eafily colleCt that certainly fome one hath paft that way? When we fee a frately Fahrick built, according to all the Rules of Art, and adorned with all the riches and beauty that Magnificence can expend about it; muft we not prefen tly conclnclc, that certainly there was fomc skilful ArchiteCt that bu ilt it? Truly everv Creantre is quoddam ve.fligium Dei j we may obferve his Foot-fteps in i~, ·and fee how his Attributes, l1is Wifdom, his Good.nefs, and his Power have ~R along that Way. And the whole World, it is a ftate ly Fabrick, an Houfe that God hath erected"for himfcl f; the magnificence and fplendor of it is fui_table to the ftate of the Great King? it is his Palace, built for the Houfc of his Kingdom, and the Honour of his Majefty. And we rilay ea lily conclllde, that fo excellen t a Strutl:ure, muft needs have an excellent Architc8:; and that that the Builder and Maker of it is God. Now that which makes fomc proud Spirits backward to acknowledge God in the Works of Nature, is, that they think they can by their Rcafon alone give a plaufible accoun t of thofeEffe8:s andPhrenomena which we fee in theV/orld,by deducing them . from
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