4. To understand Gods concurrence as a Judge, we must not say too much of it, nor too little. We must not say too much of it, lest we leave a stain •nd blemish upon the divine Glory; God infuseth no sin, no blindness nor hardness into the hearts of men, all influences from Heaven are good; he conveyeth no deceit into the minds of men immediately, nor doth he command or persuade men to oppose the truth. Nor doth he impe• or excite their inward propensions so to do. All this belongeth not to God, but either to man or Satan. Nor must we say too little; as for instance, God is not said to blind or harden by bare prescience or foresight that they will be blinded or hardened; because God foreseeth other things, and yet they are not ascribed unto God: as that men will kill, or steal, or do wrong, and yet God is not said to kill, or steal, as he is said to blind and harden; and therefore there is a difference between Gods concurrence to this effect, and other sins. Nor only by way of manifestation, as if this were all the sense that in the course of his Providence God doth in the issue declare ⟨p. 207⟩how blind and hard they are. That some other thing is meant by it, is seen in the Prayers by which we deprecate this heavy Judgment; As when the Saints pray, Isa. 63.17. Lord harden not our hearts from thy fear, or David, Psal. 119.19. Lord hide not thy Commandments from me. They mean not thus, Lord show not to the World how hard and blind I am, but cure my blindness and hardness of heart: keep back this Judgment from me. Again we must not say, that all that God doth, is a bare, naked, and idle permission, as if it happened besides his will and intention, and God had no more to do in it, than a man that standeth on the shore, and seeth a Ship ready to be drowned, he might have he•ped it, but permitted it. No, besides all this, there is not a bare permission only, but a permissive intention, and a judicial sentence, which is seconded by an active Providence. Many things concur to the blinding of the mind, and hardening of the heart, all which God willeth but justly. The wicked take occasions of their own accord, to blind and harden themselves. Satan tempteth of his own malice, but all this could not be done with effect and success, without the will of God. There is a supreme power over-ruling, and ordering all that is done in the World.
4. To understand Gods concurrence as a Judge, we must not say too much of it, nor too little. We must not say too much of it, lest we leave a stain •nd blemish upon the divine Glory; God infuseth no sin, no blindness nor hardness into the hearts of men, all influences from Heaven are good; he conveyeth no deceit into the minds of men immediately, nor doth he command or perswade men to oppose the truth. Nor doth he impe• or excite their inward propensions so to do. All this belongeth not to God, but either to man or Sathan. Nor must we say too little; as for instance, God is not said to blind or harden by bare prescience or foresight that they will be blinded or hardned; because God foreseeth other things, and yet they are not ascribed unto God: as that men will kill, or steal, or do wrong, and yet God is not said to kill, or steal, as he is said to blind and harden; and therefore there is a difference between Gods concurrence to this effect, and other sins. Nor only by way of manifestation, as if this were all the sense that in the course of his Providence God doth in the issue declare ⟨p. 207⟩how blind and hard they are. That some other thing is meant by it, is seen in the Prayers by which we deprecate this heavy Judgment; As when the Saints pray, Isa. 63.17. Lord harden not our hearts from thy fear, or David, Psal. 119.19. Lord hide not thy Commandments from me. They mean not thus, Lord shew not to the World how hard and blind I am, but cure my blindness and hardness of heart: keep back this Judgment from me. Again we must not say, that all that God doth, is a bare, naked, and idle permission, as if it happened besides his will and intention, and God had no more to do in it, than a man that standeth on the shore, and seeth a Ship ready to be drowned, he might have he•ped it, but permitted it. No, besides all this, there is not a bare permission only, but a permissive intention, and a judicial sentence, which is seconded by an active Providence. Many things concur to the blinding of the mind, and hardning of the heart, all which God willeth but justly. The wicked take occasions of their own accord, to blind and harden themselves. Sathan tempteth of his own ma•ice, but all this could not be done with effect and success, without the will of God. There is a supreme power over-ruling, and ordering all that is done in the World.
