On the excellency of the Saul. 349 thy honours, or to thy brutilh Tufts, a fervant of fervants art thou. Fourthly, They are fuch things as God in his ordinary ad- miniftration of providence hash denied to the choicer of his fervants, fpecially in the times of the Gofpel : Many of the choice of his fervants in former times were in very low and mean condition; but for the times of the Gofpel, how did Chrir himfelf, who was the S6n of God, live ? hee had not a bole to hide his head in; The fowls of the air had Hefts; and the Fexes had holes, but the fox ofman, nó1- whereon to lay his head. Jefus Chrift, that was, infinitely beloved of the Father ; and all the Apoftles, they were in a poor mean condition, . every one of them died a violent death; but one, ly Zohn; wee have records of, their feveral forts of death; force crucified, force lloned, and, forme other kinds ofdeath, but all put to death, fave John, and read but the latter end of the eleventh of the Hebrews, Thofe that the world was not worthy of, how they wandered up and down, ho fheep- skins, and goat- skins, and dens, and caves of the earth. That was a little before Chrirs time, hee fpeaks of thofe in the time of the Macchabes:Now certainly, if God hath fo ordered thing; -in his general adminirranons, towards fuch as are moll dear in his eyes, as to deny them thefe .things, that they thal l ,have but little of therm there is noareat matter in them; _furely if there were any great matter in them, God would 'not deny them to his fervants; when a wicked rich man íliall look upon a poor man that walks humbly before God; and would not committhe leaf+ fin willingly for a world , meethinks fuch a man thould think thus, Oh Lord ! what a difference is there between fuch a poor man ánd I, and yet my confcience tells mee, that God bath more honour from him in one day, than hee bath from mee in all my life ; furely there is no fuch great matter in the things of the world, that God bath denied them him : If there were any great matter in them, certainly fuch as walk molt humbly with God, and moll dole with God, thould have them if they were abfolutely good, - -- And indeed, this is one great X x..3 realen
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=