THE

ANALOGY

O F

DIVINE WISDOM,

BETWEEN THE

Different States of human Nature,

IN THE

Womb, and in the World;

As influenced by

Civil Prudence, Moral, and

SPIRITUAL MOTIVES.

PART IV.

DUBLIN:

Printed in the Year MDCCL.

THE

ANALOGY

O F

Divine Wisdom, &c.

JOHN iii. 12.

believe not

If I have you told earthly things, and ye bow fhall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly Things?

HEN our Saviour, by his Miracles, had

W acquired the Character of a teacher come

from GOD; Nicodemus, a Perfon of eminent ftation among the Jews, came privately to him, in order to be inftructed by him. Our Saviour, as every wife instructor fhould do, begins with the eafieft truths, and referves the fublimer and more difficult doctrines of chriftianity, for the latter part of the leffon.

He tells Nicodemus firft, that a new and spiritual birth is neceffary to every one, who is to be a difci ple of his; which he expreffes in the terms of a natural birth: Except a man be born again, he cannot fee the kingdom of GOD. The enquirer wonders at the expreffion: Can a man enter the fecond time into bis mother's womb, and be born? Our Saviour then explains himself: Except a man be born of water, and of the fpirit, he cannot enter into the

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kingdom

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kingdom of GOD.-Marvel not that I faid unto thee, You must be born again. The wind bloweth where it lifteth; and thou beareft the found thereof, but canft not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: So is every one that is born of the spirit. That is; this new birth is not a vifible change; yet it is as real an one; and the effects of it are more confiderable and lafting, than of the natural birth. Nor ought this to be incredible: For in the natural world there are many things, of the caule and manner of which ye are entirely ignorant, which are very difcernible in their effects. No man knows the origin of wind, or fees the manner of its motion; yet the extraordinary effects of it, in wafting fhips upon the fea, in moving machines upon the land, and other both ufeful and injurious inftances, are evident to all men. Thus the regeneration of a man, by true religion, and the fpirit of Gov, though not difcernible to human eye, yet, in its effects, is as great and real a change, in refpect to eternal life, as a natural birth is in refpect to a mortal life.

Still Nicodemus feems ignorant, and asks again, How can these things be? Our Saviour, having Spoken plain enough to be underflood, by one of

The winds may be called the wings of Mankind, by means whereof, men fly through the feas, and maintain traffick, and corTrefpondence, with all the parts of the globe. They are alfo the fweepers of man's habitation the earth, and at the fame time brush and cleanse the air about it. On the other hand, they fometimes tear up, and enrage the fea, that would otherwise remain quiet and undeftructive, and have likewife other mifchievous effects. Again, they produce ftrong and violent motions, with human affiftance; and thus, as Servants to Mankind, drive our fhips, and turn our mills. Thus may they be applied to abundance of useful purposes, if men would exert their diligence. The nature of the winds is ufually reckoned an occult or fecret thing; and no wonder, whilft the nature and power of the air, which the winds adminifter to, and wait upon (as, in the language of the Poets, Eolus does on Juno) remain abfolutely unknown. See Lord Verulam's Treatife.

mean

mean capacity, much more by one of the best education among the Jews, replies, art thou a mafter in Ifrael, and knoweft not these things?" What is "there in all I faid, which an ordinary Jew, much "more one of the great council, might not well "understand? Do you not yourselves make profelytes by washing them with water, and count "them new-born perfons? And as for that inward holinefs and purity I fpeak of, have not the prophets foretold, that GOD will plentifully commu"nicate his fpirit in the days of the MESSIAH for that purpofe? If I have told you earthly things, "and ye believe not, how fhall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? If ye believe me not, in "these plain obvious things, which I have fuited "to your capacities, and delivered in easy comἐσ parifons, drawn from the most natural and com"mon things here on earth, how much less will ye

believe me, when I tell you more fublime and heavenly myfteries; when I declare to you the "divinity of my perfon, and the dignity of my "office, the fpiritual nature of my kingdom, and "the fufferings which I must first undergo for the "redemption and falvation of Mankind?".

These words therefore plainly imply a reference to temporal things, in order to explain fpiritual; confequently fome analogy between them which a human mind not extremely prejudiced cannot avoid perceiving This analogy is often made use of in the fcriptures; fome inftances of which fhall, in their proper places, be mentioned in the fequel of this difcourfe.

The general heads of analogy, which shall be treated at prefent, are,

First, That of the moral government of the world to the natural government of it.

Secondly, That of religion to prudence..

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First,