D F T H E H 0 L y s c R I p T u R E s. xix of Cre~tures, and Lord of the whole World,)has left him in a worfe Condition, in the prefent Pollure we find him, than the meaneft Creatures, to wh~m he has _g1ven fufficl– ent Means to attain the h1gheft End of the1r Bemgs: But that mfimte ":"1fdom fbou!d deal rhus is abfurd -and unreafonable to conceive. If he grant, there IS any where a Revelati;n from God to the World, let it be produced, and judge if it be any way a:ble to vie with the Scriptures, for all rhofe glorious Characters and Marks of divine..__ Authority, Power, and Excellency, which we hav~ enumerated. ' XV. If the Scripttires be neith~r the Invention of J?evils nor Men, then it can be from none but God: But they are not from Devils; tor neither could they work MI– racles, nor deliver rrue Prophecies to confirm them ; nor would it confift wi~h God's Sovereignty over them, or with his GoodneJs, Wifdom, or Fairhfu!nef> of governing the World; nor would Satan fpeak fo much for God, nor lay ll1ch a Defign for Man's Salvation, and againll: his own Kingdom, nor be fo induftrious to draw the World to unbelief of it. Nor were the Scripwres the Invention of Men; for they muft b~ either good Men, or bad Men : Good Men they could not be; for nothing could be more oppofite to Goodnefs, nay, even common llonefly, than to affume the Name of God fallly, feign M~racles, and cheat People With Prom1fes of another 'vVorld. And then on the Other Side, it is as impo!Eble ill Men could be the Devilers of fo holy a Book: For can any ratiohal Man think, that wicked Deceivers would fo highly advance the Glory oi God? Would they lo villify themfelves, and brand and fiigmatife their own Practices ? Could fuch an admirable undeniable Spirit of H olinefs, Riglmouf– nefs, and Self-denial, as runs through every Vein of Scripture, proceed from the In– .vention of the Wicked? Would they ever have extolled their Enemies, the Godly, and framed fuch perfect fpiritual Laws? or laid fuch a Defign againft the Flefb, and all their worldly Happinefs, as every where the Scope o.- the Scripture doth carry on ? If we cannot gather Grapes of Thorns, and Figs of Thifl:les, then may we be all'ured, that no ill Men had an Hand in Writing and promoting this good and holy Book: XVI. The divine ·Compolition of this bleffed Book is not -a little manifelled by the continual Rage of the Devil againft it, which appears not only in fiirring up his lnfhu– ments utterly to fc1pprefs it, {for what Book in the \Vorld ever met with fuch Oppofi– tion? as aforefaid) bm alfo in thofe Temptations with which he affaults the H earts of Men, when-they apply themfelves .to the lerious Study of it. We can read any other hliftory, and readily entenain and credit it; but when we once come to the .Bible, firangt Objections, l~oubts, and CuriofJties arife, and prefently we are apt to queftion the Truth and Poffibility of every Paff:•ge: Thefe are the Suggeftions of Satan, to ren– .der that holy Book inelfeftual to us, the Scope and Purport of which he knows tends ,direCtly to the Overthrow of his Kingdom of Darknefs. .Some of .the moft frequent Oqjeetions againft the Bible, are thele that follow: Oij. x. How Men, in the relpec'live Ages wherein the feveral Parts of the Bib!~ were written, could know that they were written by an intidlible Spirit; and fo dif– tinguifh them from other Writings ? Anfw. Two Wa,ys: .Firft, By the ~1ality of the Perf0ns; and fecondly, from the Nature and ~1ality of the Matter. As for lvlofes, there could not be the lea!t Caufe of doubting his being infpired by God, fince he wrought fuch Miracles, and had a vifible and audible Intercourfe with the Lord, as we read, Exod. xix. 9· that the Lord faid unto him, Lo, I come unto thee in a thick Cloud, that che People may hear ,, when I jpeak with thee, and belie·ve .thee for ever. The other Parrs of the Old Tefta– ment were written by Prophets, and holy Men. And though feveral of them were not rece~.ved and hearkened to as fuch, by the corrupt ruling Parr of the Jews, whil!t they hved; yot they were acknowledged afterwards, as well for the Sanctity of their Lives, and the fulfilling of.thofe Things mentioned, the Judgments which they foretold coming to pafs, and the Agreeablenefs of what they delivered to the eftablilhed Wor– fbij> of God. For two Ways God himfelf had provided, for difcovering all P.retences to Revelation: Firft, If any fuch Pretender went. about to feduce the People to Jdo– .latty, he was to be rejected.-rhe Prophet that jha/1 fpeak in the Name of other Gods, • jhall
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=