124 / 808
tit
éphefian.r,Chap.t,
V
E
R.Io.
red,Exod.rz.çr.When
the 7o.yeares
are
expired,
Dan.g.Chrift,
in
the
fulneffe
of
time,
(hall
be
exhibited
:
It
cannot be,
but that God
Mould
both
appoint
times
for
every purpofe, and execute
in
them the
thing
that
he bath purpofed ;
To
defrgnetimes
is
his
prerogative;
as a
Matter
of
a
family
bath this power, to let
all
times which he will have
this
or
that
bufineffe taken in
hand,fo
4Ols
e.7. Secondly;
Such
is
his
wifdome,
that
heonely knoweth how to
appoint
the
fittelt feafons for
all his
workes
:
as
the
husband -man,
it
is
his
wifdome
or
skill in husbandry,
which maketh
him know
the
fitteft feafons
for Eating, Sowing,
Set
-
ting,Graffing,and
fuch like bufineffes.
Now
look
as
mans fidelity doth
binde
him,
if
he
bath
faid
he will do this
or that,
at fuch
a
time,
to
make
his
word
good,&
do it accordingly: So
Gods
fidelity
doth
fo
bind him,
that
he wil
not but mofifaithfullyexecute
al
that good
he
bath purpofed
to
us,in
the
feafons
which with himfelf
he
bath difpenfed thereunto.
lPfe
r
The
Vfe is,
firft
to reprove
our weakneffe,
who
thinke
God often
to
delay
:
No,
God
is
not flacke,
as
men
count
flackneffe
;
he
doth but
Waite
his
fit
opportunities, which
his
wifdome bath prefixed.
If
the
husbandman doe not
reape at
Midfommer,
he
is
not
faid
to delay
rea-
ping, becaufe
it
is
not time to
reape then
:
So
God, who doth
never flay
but
till the
fit
time come,may
notbe
faid
to delay:To our
fenfe it
feemeth
otherwife, but we mutt learne
to judge righteous judgement. How
long
it
is fit
forme
to
purge,and when
I
mutt have reftoratives given me,this
the Phyfitianmutt prefcribe.
Yfi 2.
Secondly
;
We
mutt learneto waiteon God
:
It
is
not
fit
we
should
'
teach
him
his
time,
make
him be
at oür call, dance
attendance
at our
wits
:
Superiours would take
it in
great
fnuffe,
that
their
inferiours
fhould offer
them this
meafure. Againe
,
we would
not now
in
Win-
ter
have
Midfommer weather, for
it
would
not
be kindly.
Thus
in
the
winter- feafons
of
any
trial,we
Mould
not
with the
funfhine
of
this or
that
bleffing,before
ourGod doth
fee it
may befeafonably
beftowed,remem-
bring that
the
man
who
beleeverh,muft not
make any
prcpofterous
haft,
Dc£f,r,
Obferve fecondly,
that
he
faith,
the
gracious purpofe
of
opening the
Gofpell
is
that
we
might
be
gathered. Obferve,
That
God by
opening
to
us
the Gofpell,
Both
bring
us
to
his
Chrift,
Chap.q..
Hegivetha
Paftor
and
Teacher, who
may
outwardly
reveale
thefe things ;
that
he
may gather
his
Saints, knitting them
to
their head,& one
with another
:
So
he gave
the Prieft, Levite,
and
Prophet to
this end.
How
often,
faith
Chrift,
would
i
have gathered
thee, as a
hen
Both
her chickens under
her wing
?
and
you
would
nat.
Looke
as
the
newel
of
a
gracious Prince
calleth
togetherfubjeéts who were
fled
under
tyranny hither
and thi-
ther:So the opening to
us
of
this ourKing and
Saviour,who mutt
fave
us
from
finne
;
this Both make
us
fly
home to him,
as
Pigeons
ufe
to
their
owne
lockers.
For the better underftanding
of
this
point:Firft,
we mull
know that
by nature weare
many
waies difperfed and
fevered;
Second-
ly,
the order
in
which we come to be gathered.
rò
1.
For the
firft, the are
disjoyned from
God
our father
;
the
prodigall
is
the type
of
us,
who
was
now wandred from
his
father
houfe,
and
would