Of EJe[/ion. ~are faid to be b:gotten of God, as the F.uhtr of Ltghts; both places agreeing in BonK lV. tlmtmpon, thar fuch Sons doth God beget, tve11 chttdrtn of!igh 1 ,.ana tuch ~products as thetr Grace• are. And t hus much tor the fir(\ compar,fon betweea the work• of rhemr,Jves,_with the dilftrence of them; as in 0 ur Jamts it is held out in Ttmporar) l'rofellours,and tl1ofe that are truly Regenerate. The rL Com~;nrifon holds forth the Refpect, or Re(larcl God hath for an-J towards hts F~tfl rrulls for ever alter they lte brought lonh by him, 'Jifferent from what he beareth unto th<or her, I' he Work on Temporarie•. Which different refpect hecl<ganrl.• JotSour, and amplifies from and by what this vi· fible Sun bears, ~nd holds toward• tb<fe tiuits forememion~d, which are but Grafs whtch 1t bnng• forrb. r. This Vilible Stm, .7 1mrs tells us, Verf 11. and Chri!\ alfo, no fooner 3 • rif<·t\ but Wtth a JCorchmg lteat " withers icch Grafs [§c. bur not fo God's Ftrfljr11it s; he permittetll not T<mpration tofetze on them. unlcfs need be as Ptttr tells us, and bur fo tar as need • : He reitrains the roughnefsof th~ Ji;.,(l Wmd that w ould h11r1them, ltai, 27 Take• core the Su,-jbJ!l 11ot 6ttrn lhtm by d".J, 110r the lo1uv11 by mgb;, PiaiR1 1ti 6. This in the Eleventh Verjt. . . 2 . In rtfpecr of its Courfcs, Mnrrom, and lnlluences towards them, in Vrrf. !.~ta1i~';~'~: 17. clearlydifFerent rom w h a ~ ~vdrht Ji:J1 iher c{ L;gbtJ ho)deth towards I< ill• v•l•iili J;i;; ofwhic,~ by and by. For l"' I fdld) Ill> a compar.lon of God unto the Sttn ftctrllit: with d1fft.:rencr·. ~'.}"~·~~~ And m) Brethrrn, be awarr of this once ror oll, and take it along with you, 1oo .ud maoy as t he Mealure and trut R u1e ol lnt< rpretarion to thefe words; That hi> chief ••hers. end here, is not to ermpar God ro the Su11, in refpecto: t!Je purity and un· changroblcnefs of his Nature or Etfcnce, as if it run thus, That though the Sun fhnuld be lutjrcr to aVanablends, and to a Shadow, nnd Darkncfs in it felf (which to our V•ew it is not, as we d..ly may obfe(ve) yet that God is not:And yet unto th .~ do Commentators ordinarily carry the fcope of 1:1mes in rhispaf· fage; and 111 the very readtng you ordtnanly apprehend <h1s mean ng of it. But theApoflle'• fcope is to compare the Stm in the vanuion of his Courfes and Motions to and fro, up and down, towards the Earth, and towards rhe Fruits it bath begotten thcreon; and thereby, asby the contrary, to fer out what an unchang•ble poOure and carriage, and dealings, God holds towards thefe his Firfl ;ruits, that it is W•thout variablenefs, or lhadow of turmng, namely, of turning offfrom them ; no, never in the Jeafr. J. That it is not fo much to fet out the Unchangablenefs that is in himfelf, as the Unchangablenefs of his love towards th~fehis perfect gifts, which hav• ing once come down from this Father •f Lights, he never turns <'ff from them however, but carries himfelf without variat>on towards them everlaf\. ingly. That this is his meaning, r. Not only the very trrms ofthe Similitude here ufed do lhew, for they lignifie the vorious Courfcs and Motions ofthe Su11 (of . which by and by)ofwhich he fays, God IS w11hou1 them, and therefore it muft '\ be underllood, he intends to fignine, that God is without fuch a variation of Motion, Po!lure, or the like, towards his C. ildren: But, 2. The nrxt ~ords do etprelly explain them ofhis Wt!l, and fool the motions t~ereof: O f his own \Vill he begot us,at the lirfl, and accordi~gly in1ke mannerconnnues the fame, his goodwtll after the productiOn. - T his is it that thcfe words, Without va· . riablrnrfs, ,mdQJaqoq~<fturnmg, princip•ll) point us to. Though i<deed it rimlt be added, That t his Unchangablenefs ofhis Will tO· tr.mtasolil· wards them, proceedeth from the tmrhangab!mrf! of hts naturr, according ro l•m""" .,. that of the Pr~phet, M.ll,uht 3· 6. I"" thr Lord, I change 1101, Th;s IS the ~~f;~~i~~~:4• f{)J.mdation o~all ; A~d .rht.rtfor~ it ~s, that 1ou ~ht Sons o{Jacobaft 11ot co11/H· •mm& br· mul. Yet lltll fo,as tt <S h1s Free'wtll that flnwmg from lm Nature,cometh be· nignit•" i~· tween Us, and that his utichangable Nature, which is the immedi•te Caufe of ~;';{;;,.,on it : For that is alfo one of the differences here made ofGod from thi-s Stm, th< r8. v. That the Sut1 begets its Fruits,· 1/ece.Jlitatt natur~t, out ofa neceffity ofnatu«, but
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