464 Verf. s. an Expoftion upon the Book of J o B. Chap. 37.. blefs his people with peace. Thus the Lord thundereth rnarzeiloufly and there are glorious marvels which he thundereth ; he converts fanners. The thunder of the Gofpel frights them our of fin, and thegrace of ir gives them peace. Tkms,thoughl like not their way who aregiven to allegorize the Scriptures,yer,I doubt not but we maymske a profitablede both of this andmany other Scriptures by way of allegory. Tnis being an undeniable truth, which is the groundof ir,That the Lord puts forth, as it were, the power of Thunder and Lightning in the ;preaching of his Word,there two things are to be marked. Firfi, That Thunder and Lightning are a kind of Word of God to us, they tell us ( though confufedly, yet plainly enough, for the convi&ion and condemnation of gainfayers)rhere is a God; the greatefi Princes of the world have taken notice by Thunder and T'empefl that there is a Godover all,governing all;nor needs there any more teaching than that to condemne Athiefls and Mockers at Religion. We fayproverbially of fome men,who make a rude noife, they are fo loud that we cannot hear God Thunder for them ; yet know there's no noire can fo drown the voice of Gods Thunder in theClouds, but it will condemn all that hearit nor, fo as co acknowledg God in ir. Secondly, We thould mark, that as Thunder and Lightning are a kind of Voice or Word of God to us,Co theWord of God,or the Voice of God,fpeaking inhis Word, is a kindof Thunder and Lightning to us,very mighty, very powerful, even clothed with an irre(illible power and might.And therefore if we take the Prophet David in 29th Pfalm before mentioned, fpeaking, in the former part of it, of the effeecs of Natural Thunder only; yet toward the clofe of the Pfalm, he applyeth it to the Word of God, ,whilehe faith (v. 9.) e/1nd in his Temple doth every onefpeah, ofhisglory; that is, the Word and Ordinances of God, mini(Içed in his Church, or Temple, will put every one to acknowledge and fpeak of the glorious Power of God , even much more than the mighty Thunder which foundeth in our Bares, or the fubtil Lightning which flafheth in our eyes. There is a far more royal power in the Thunder of the Word, than in the word of Thun- der ; This terrifyeth only to Convi&ion , but that terrifieth ro Salvation for after God fpeakes terror there in his Threatnings, he fpeaks comfort in the Promifes; and when he bath
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