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oufnefs. Bieffed be that philofopher that has found the pearl of great price; and for ever bleffed be that anatomift that has crucified and diffected the old man with his affections and lufts. And is not that man the best prognosticator, that, from the teftimony of a good confcience, can fay with the Pfalmift-be shall guide me with his counsel, and receive me into glory; if fo, then I take it for granted that he alfo will be found to be the beft builder at laft, who has heard the gospel and obeyed it; and, like a wife mafterbuilder, has dug deep and founded his faith and hope on the rock of Ifrael; when the rains defcend, and the winds blow, and the floods come and beat violently upon that boufe, it could not be moved, because it was founded upon a rock. Luke vi. 48. All arts and fciences befides thefe, will be of little ufe in the day of judgment; and as they have a tendency to lift graceless men up with pride, and to fet them above the pure and fimple word of God, they are not worthy of the name of wisdom, as fpeaketh the prophet: The wife men are ashamed, they are difmayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of the Lord, and what wisdom is there in them? Jer. viii. 9.

God, as the God of nature, hath given many excellent gifts and parts to men, though fallen. Beauty, wit, fkill, and wonderful ingenuity, as may be seen in the writings of atheists, deifts, and other heathens; but, without preventing-grace be given,

they

they are fure to be exercised to the dishonour of the bountiful Giver. The greatest part of our university education consists in plundering the natural abilities of heathens. I have obferved inen, of acquired learning, who have difcourfed with the fublimity of a Homer, yet at the fame time feemed as destitute of natural and spiritual abilities as Peter the wild boy, who was found in the woods of Hanover. Such only fhine in the natural abilities of others; and their borrowed language, from the native idiot, is as diftinguishable as the parrot's note from the perfon's voice which it mimics; for, as the wife man faith, excellent Speech becometh not a fool. Prov. xvii. 7.

Abimaaz. To be fure there are no acquirements like the pure gifts which flow from God, who is the giver of every good and of every perfect gift; and when God gives grace to sanctify a natural gift, then it is of great use;—a man's gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men. Prov. xviii. 16. And certainly it is a great bleffing to the church of God, while Chrift, the stone of help, is the fubftance of the gift, and used in the awakening of finners, and establishing of saints: a gift is as a precious stone in the eyes of him that bath it; whitherfover it turneth it profpereth. Prov. xvii. 8. And for my part I have read many volumes of learned and gracious men's nervous reafonings against error, and erroneous men; fuch as volumes of fermons to prove the being of a God,

the authenticity of the scriptures, the reasonablenefs of the Chriftian religion, &c. which I could never get either establishment or comfort from..

Cufbi. The volumes of fermons, and other treatises, that have been written to prove the being of a God, have brought many to doubt: of fuch a being, where no doubt ever rofe before about it. And as for proving the authenticity of fcripture by fcholaftic reasoning, it is like lighting. of a taper to find out the fun when he fhines in his meridian. All fystems of error that have ever been. published are like Ahab's harnefs- there are always joints enough left open for the arrow of vengeance; the word of God is fufficient to marr every false system however compiled, and that God will let them know when he fweeps away the refuges of lies.

The natural propenfity of a man to fin against the light of nature,-the guilt that he is perpetually stung with,-the fear of death and judgment that he is always in bondage to,—the checks that he feels before the commiffion of fin,—the violence that he is obliged to offer to his confcience afterwards, the reflections that he often makes,-and the judgments that appear abroad in the earth, &c. &c. are quite fufficient, not only to prove the existence of God, but the cognizance that he daily takes both of them and their actions. And this is fufficient alfo to prove the authenticity of his word; for there is not a corruption that ftirs in man's heart,

-not

not a lafcivious thought that roves on his mind, -not a crime that he commits,-not a cogitation that he feels,-nor a judgment that he fears, but what are discovered by a divine ray in the secret oracles, and flash many awful convictions on the confcience of every tranfgreffor. This fhews the law written in their heart; and if an appeal to God, to fcripture, to confcience, to creation, and to the accomplishment of the prophecies, are not fufficient to convince them, scholastic reasoning will hardly do it. The man that will daringly deny the hourly verdict of his thoughts, and the perpetual decifion of his own confcience, is more hardened than the devil himself; for Satan never denied the conviction that he felt, nor the vengeance he feared, in all the outcry that he made in the days of our Lord's ministry. There is not an erroneous man in all the world but what fulfils fome part or other of the fcriptures. God has promised to send strong delufions that men may believe a lie, and be damned for rejecting the truth, and taking pleasure in unrighteousness; therefore I think fuch defperate finners are not worth the notice of a divine; they are fubverted, and fin, being condemned of their own con[cience, Tit. iii. 11; and to reprove fuch scorners, is to get one's felf a blot. Prov. ix. 7.

The Almighty, as the God of falvation, can never be discovered in his gracious purpofes but in his own rays; as faith our blessed apostle, For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness,

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bath fhined into our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jefus Chrift. 2 Cor. iv. 6.

Abimaaz. My dear brother, I never felt my foul fo fweetly entertained and established in my life, as I have by your converfation. I have often wished to know the mind and will of God in many of these particulars which you have mentioned; you are as Elihu was to Job, according to my wish in God's ftead, Job xxxiii. 6; for I am like the two difconfolate difciples when the Saviour overtook them, and opened up, explained, and applied the Scriptures, till their hearts burned within them. And indeed if you had not spoken against the sufficiency of human learning, I fhould have thought you a profeffor of the languages, a doctor of divinity, a master of arts, a critical reviewer, an antiquarian, and a fellow of the royal fociety.

Cufbi. You may take me juft as you please. I profefs fomething of the language of Canaan, and I think he is the beft doctor that is the moft ufeful to fouls; a found divine is a profeffor of the beft art; the man that knows truth from error is a valuable critic; he that has made his calling and election fure, is a good antiquarian; and he that is found in faith, is a fellow of that fociety that is divinely and eternally royal. 1 Peter ii. 9. Rev. v. 10.

Abimaaz. I perceive thou art a man of humour, as well as a man of grace, and certainly have a

competent

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