35 4 An .Expofit%an upon Chap. g, their own hearts,as that they rather con-1 nd fcan the important affairs of Prin -' tea& it by their own voluntary faults, Ices and States : even fuch madneffe is it as Pharaoh did, and the obftinate Jewes did alto, Soh .8.44. T t M. What ufe is to be made of this laft inftrullion ? S s L.That we mutt diligentlybeware how we conferee with mens unrefor- med reafon in the matter of Gods eter- nall predeffination, becaufe thereby we (hall be carried into infinite errors and blafphemies againft God. Our duty therefore, is with ¡meekneffe and reve- rence to (loop to that which God re- veals in the Scripture: admiring with Paul, Rom.t t. 33. or with Mary pon. dering, what our dull minds cannot at firft conceive, Lulo. 51. Ti M.Come we now to the anfwer of the Apofile to theformer objeltion, and tell us how he proceedeth ? S s L.Firft,by his Apoftolicall au- thority,he beateth down the malepert- nefle of man in difputing with God, and this he performs by comparing the exceeding infirmity of man thecreature, with the high majeffy of God the Crea- tor. [0 man, who art thou that pleadeft againft God ?] T r M. What is me ont here by pleading? S a L.A fancy over -bold queffioning with God, to call him, his !decrees, and doings, unto our account or exami- nation. T I M. What is the inftrtd!ion out of thefe words ? S t L. That it is a great impudeney for any man to fubjea the deep coon- felt of God, 'to the blinde, poor, and beggerly reafon of man. This is proved firft by Deut.2 9.2 9 . where it is written, That ferret things belong to G`od. And Proverbs, He thatftarcheth the glory, fhall be confounded with the majefty': Alfo Efai. 6. 2. The Cherubims covering their fires before the throne of God,!teach us this modefty, that we fhóuld not pry into that whichGod will have kept fe- cret from us. This do&rinemay be Pet forth by the comparifon ofa weak eye unable to look on the Sun in his beauty and ftrength ; or of a Pimple or ignorant Boor, f prefuming to lift in filly man, to reafon and drive againft God, thinking to bring his a &ions and decrees under our controlement and cenfure : as if all without our reach ought to be rejeáed. T t M. What profit if to be made of this inf trutíion ? S t L. Fitt, it ferves juftly to re- prove the audaciouswickedneffe offuch men as are too bulge to examine God and his wages ; why he made the world no fooner,what he did, and where he was before the world ; why he made fome poor, and not all rich ; why he would not chufe and fave all ; why he fuffered Adam to fall, fithence he might have kept him from fin, &c. Such per- fons little confider how eafie a thing it is, for that infinite Majefty to confound thefe curious fools, with his very beck. Secondly, the godly are here to be exhorted to bridle this wickedneffe in themfelves, by a due meditation of Godsoinfinite greatneffe,compared with .their own molt pitiful fmaneffe, be- ing in refpe& of him, not fo (much as a drop of water in refpe& of the whole fea, or as a little dim candle to the light of the Sun. Flow fmall a portion of that incomprehenfible wifedome do we fee ? This therefore will be our wif- dome to labour in all fincerity, and humbly to know,boleeve, and do, that which we by his word !hall perceive to belong to us. DIALOGUE )(IIV Verf. 20,21. Shall the thing formed fay to bim that formed it, Why haft thou-made me thus ? Bath not the Potter power over the clay, to make of the fame lump,one vef Je! to honour, and another to difhonour ? TI 110Tu sus. %Hat doth this Text contain ? S t L. The reali anfwer of Paul to the thing objeaed, to wit ; cru- elty
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