______.2.~?- _ _ .. _ A F un~~q}_~~'l'!!o'!on Dr. W illiam Bates~ ----;;;;cl I may fuppofc my Ci:cumih~be fo k;;;;;-tha;~t is ob~ious~~ to undcrfiand I could do 1t no fooner. It will not be unufeful, to make fame brjefRefleB:ion, upon this miraculous Work ~a~u~;-fio;~J ~~~:,"~~c~i~~~~~~ct~:~~- fp~~~~a~~~~!e~~ft~i~~~~~~·J~~{o~~~~~~s Works of this kind, y<;t ngt'l:nention'd by the other Eva:nge1il1s;. Jell, as is fuppos'ds it lhould revive tile fewiftt;Maiice again_fi Lazarus; who, as Eptphani11s tells us w ' _reported to. have li v'~ jo Years aftc1:. within. which time the others had aJ( wr~s whereas tillS Evangehlt wrote not, ull afttr Ius final deceafe. ' It was wrought for the fame great End, for whicluill his wonderful Works were d.one, and writ!en, gene r~lly, for , the Glory of G?d, as is imii!'atcd, v, 4 . and particularly, as thiS Evangehfi. tells us, Ch. 20. , 20, 21. 2 hat we _mtght believe that 'Jejiu was the Chrijf, the Son of God; and t)Jat beheving {\•e might have life through his Name. And tbo' they'!!' had th!s defign-; ThJS, toward the end of his Courfe, feems meant for the !all, and condufive, flroak,l1avin.rr a brighter, and more confpicuous appearance of t.bc Divine Glory in it, for a fuller, and more conviCtive, demonfirarion, thac he was the-Son of God;-<~nd the Mellias, as he gave himfdf out to be. And -all things were defi&n'd in the aptelt Subferv1ency hereto; that, once for all, this long d1fputed Pomt m•ght be put OU\ of,all doubt. For this End it is orde1'ed, that Lazarus lhould at thistime fall fick. Nothing more appeared to Humane ProfpeB:, .but that the Difeafe befel him •ccording to the common courfeof Natu raiC~ules, But fays our Lord, This Sicknefi is not 11nto Dwh· 1vh. as the final_ and P.rnianent event, or defign of it; b11t for the glorJ of God, tha~ the Son of God •mght be glo~/fiea therebJ, ,v. 4· Gnd's Counfels lie deep, not obvious to common view... When fuch . ~ Servant of God is fallen fick, we know not what he intends to br,ing ;out of it . .ftisGiory, . may in his own_way, ar.d time, fo much the more brighdy lhine fortH, t ho1 we yet dil1inB:ly knqw not when, 9 r how. . Upon thisac~ouot, wlien our Lord not only heard of f--azarns's ficknefs, but kn~w he was dead, he yet defers two days, even tho' he knew lum to , have then been at -l~al1 two ~a~s d<;ad befof~: So that when lje now comes to the place he finds bim td have fain f~e5 d4J1;./n the Gravr; v,i 17. Jie refolves to give fo much the greater fcope, and advaniage, to the Glory ofthe divine Power, to difplay and evidence itfelf. He defers till now Death, and the Grave, were in full dominion, that his Conquel1 might be the more glorious. He had before rais'd fame from Death, none from the Grave. The lamenting Relatives were now in defpair : The thoughts of Reltitution were quite laid afide. All their hopes were buried with the Deceas'd in the fame Grave, as may be colle£ted from fundry following Vedes. , In the like defpair, not long after, were the mournful Difciples, concerning their not only deceafcd, but entomb'd Lord, unto whofe furpnzing Refurrechon, this feems a defign'd P••elude . , The bereaved Relations, and their Comforters were now all abandon'd to Sorrow, and drench! in Tears. And with the refi we are told, v. 3 S· that 'Jefi" wept. But why was this? 'Was it that he knew not his own Mind, or dil1rul1ed his own Power? .- He had 1?Jven fufficient Intimation o'f his own pu rpofe, and of the Forefight he had of ' the certain, glorious Iifue, of this gloomy dark Providence. 'Tis evident therefore fdr wh~t~lt! ' rvept not. · 'TiS not fa obVious to conclude for what he wept . . '· It is moif unworthy of him to fuppofc his was feigned Sorrow, or that he lhed hy- -p\:icritical Tears. Nor wa• this the only infiance of his _weeping; No,_ no, he was a Ma11 ofSorrow, acquainted with Griefi; and had always m Vl~w, fufficrent caufe of teal Soul-trouble, as this iS call'd, v:·n· He groane~ in Spirtt and was rro•bled; It ·mull be, by the Contexture· of the Evangelical H•ltory, near the t.ime of his weeping over 'Jerufolem, when his Soul was fill'd and taken up wah fad and moumfut Themes. · · -· -ii'Ht who can tell what thoughts lay deep in that large and comprehenfivc Mind! WC are tU re,: t'h6' he wept 'With the rejf, that ,twas not as they we~t, nor fro~ the fame MotiVes. His thoughts were not as their thoughts, but as far w1dcr, an~ h1gher,. as the Hea~ens are than the Earth. We have no way to know what his thoughts were, we know what they might be. He faw not Jmif'lem only, but all this. World bUried 'in Sin and Death. He could riot as tht flcond'A dam be, the R~/urreflton anti Eife, as he fpeaks, v. •S· without beholding, with a compallionate Heart, the Impurities, and M1feries, wherewith it was dclug'd bJthe Flrji. ; And
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