4. The Mysteriousness of it, above all natural Reason. The Devil playeth on all hands; sometimes the Doctrine of the Gospel is too plain, sometimes too mystical. It cannot enter into their Hearts to conceive how God should be distinguished into three Persons; how God should become Man, and the like: and therefore scoffing Atheists, such as are rife in the latter days, question all: And having lost the Light of their Reason, yet retain the pride of their Reason, and are objecting all the Difficulties they can think of, against the Truth of the Word of God; and are apt to say as Nicodemus, John 3. 9. How can these things be? Till they see a Reason for every thing, they will not own it. Indeed, we must see á Reason why we believe every thing, and that is, Divine Revelation contained in the Word of God; but we cannot always see a reason of every thing which we do believe, for many things are Mysteries, and we receive ⟨p. 236⟩them as we do Pills, not chew, but swallow them; we take them upon the Credit of the Revealer: to chew, produceth a loathsome ejection, to swallow an wholesome Remedy. Believing in the common Notion of it, is a receiving a Truth upon the trust of another: So it differeth from knowing, for then we reason of our selves; and Divine Faith is a receiving such things as God hath revealed, because he hath revealed them: Then our first enquiry is, Whether these things be so or so? not how they can be so? Therefore we begin at the wrong end, if we enquire first, How can this be? In many cases, constat de re, the thing is evident in Scripture; but, non constat de modo, how it can be, is beyond our reach. Now when we should believe, we dispute, and cavil rather than enquire. If any thing be not plainly revealed by God, you may reject it without sin; but if it be, you must not contradict all that you cannot comprehend; The Trinity of the Persons, in the Unity of the Divine Essence; or how a Virgin should conceive; o• how a God can become Man: 'Tis sufficient that all this is revealed in Scripture, which carrieth its own Evidence in its ⟨p. 237⟩Forehead, and shineth by its own Light, and hath the Seal and Stamp of God upon it. In short, to believe, is not to receive a thing in its own Evidence, but upon the credit of the Testifier: If you will not credit it, unless the thing be evident in it self, you do not believe Christ, but your own Reason;
4. The Mysteriousness of it, above all natural Reason. The Devil playeth on all hands; sometimes the Doctrine of the Gospel is too plain, sometimes too mystical. It cannot enter into their Hearts to conceive how God should be distinguished into three Persons; how God should become Man, and the like: and therefore scoffing Atheists, such as are rife in the latter days, question all: And having lost the Light of their Reason, yet retain the pride of their Reason, and are objecting all the Difficulties they can think of, against the Truth of the Word of God; and are apt to say as Nichodemus, John 3. 9. How can these things be? Till they see a Reason for every thing, they will not own it. Indeed, we must see á Reason why we believe every thing, and that is, Divine Revelation contained in the Word of God; but we cannot always see a reason of every thing which we do believe, for many things are Mysteries, and we receive ⟨p. 236⟩them as we do Pills, not chew, but swallow them; we take them upon the Credit of the Revealer: to chew, produceth a loathsome ejection, to swallow an wholsome Remedy. Believing in the common Notion of it, is a receiving a Truth upon the trust of another: So it differeth from knowing, for then we reason of our selves; and Divine Faith is a receiving such things as God hath revealed, because he hath revealed them: Then our first enquiry is, Whether these things be so or so? not how they can be so? Therefore we begin at the wrong end, if we enquire first, How can this be? In many cases, constat de re, the thing is evident in Scripture; but, non constat de modo, how it can be, is beyond our reach. Now when we should believe, we dispute, and cavil rather than enquire. If any thing be not plainly revealed by God, you may reject it without sin; but if it be, you must not contradict all that you cannot comprehend; The Trinity of the Persons, in the Unity of the Divine Essence; or how a Virgin should conceive; o• how a God can become Man: 'Tis sufficient that all this is revealed in Scripture, which carrieth its own Evidence in its ⟨p. 237⟩Forehead, and shineth by its own Light, and hath the Seal and Stamp of God upon it. In short, to believe, is not to receive a thing in its own Evidence, but upon the credit of the Testifier: If you will not credit it, unless the thing be evident in it self, you do not believe Christ, but your own Reason;
