a.R----- Chap. 43. an Expof:tion upon theBoo;¿pf .] o a. Verf. E z, for, not his own cattel, but cattel of the fame kind, were refio- red to him double. There is no difficulty in there words. The Lord blefled the latter end of fob more than his beginning,gìving double or twice as many Sheep, Oxen, Camels, Arles, as he had before. Hence note ; Outward good things, Sheep and Oxen, Iloufes and Lands, Gold andSilver, are a biding, as theycome fromGod unto his fcrvants. Here is nothing laid of the belt things ; all was but Sheep and Oxen, yet in there lob received a blefsing. The Lord (Deut.2S. q..) made large promifes of blefsings to his obeying people, or to his people in cafe of obedience, and all in outward comforts; Bleffed (halt thoube in the City, and blefed(halt thou be in the fi; ld .; bleffedJhall be the fruit of thy body, and thefruit of thyground, and the fruit of thy cattel, the encreafe of thy kine, and the flocks of thy fheep ; bleffedjhalt be thy basket, and thy (tore, Spiritual things are the belt blefsings ; fpiricual things are not only the no` ble(f, but the moll neceffary blefsings. The favour of God, the light of his countenance, pardon of tin, grace inour hearts; theft areexcellent blefsings, and chete make us exceedingly bleffed ; and no doubt but J nbdid chiefly look after there blefsings; this goodman defired the light of Gods countenance, the thinings of his face upon him, the workings of his grace and fpiric in him, the evidences of his love to him, infinitely above cartel, corn and wine. A godly man accounts himfeif but in a poor con- dition, if he were to reckon all his elate in Houfes and Lands, in Sheep andOxen ; yet thereare ablefsing from the Lord upon him, and fo he accounts them. And (fill it mull be remembred, which bath already been touched , that before the coming of Chrifl, before there was a full difcovery, and a clear manifefta- tim, of the grace of God in Chriil to his people , they in chofe times were much led and fed with promifes of temporal blef 3ïngs. The faithful were allured to heaven by earthly things. Je- fusChri(.l (who camedown fromheaven to lift us up thither, who tookour nature, that we might partake of the divine nature, who was cloathed with our fielh, to thew that God dwelleth in us, and hub jryaed us to his glory and immortality ; Jefus Chrift, I fay) 989
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