220 Chap. t 2 . .stn Expoftion upon the hookof jub.Vcri. to. fuileft extent. Whom he will he flay.,, and rrborn he will be keeps a- live. ,It is the comfort of our lives-that our lives, are in the handof God. Thatwhich is in his hand ,is in a fafe hand. it is not in the . power of ail the world to take away one lite whichGod will keep. As the fafety of the Soul in the ftate of grace lies in this, that it is in the hand of G id,as Chrift argues in the loth of john; Te are in my Fathers hand, that is, your fpiritual ettate is in his hand, and my Fatherwhichkane you unto me is greater than all, and noman is able to pluck you out of my Fathers hand, Here is the fafety of the Saints; and that's the priviledge we have wader the Covenant of grace by Chrift, beyond what we had under the Covenant of works in Adam. Our fpiritual life was then in our own hand, now: it is in the handof God. Here all() in its pro- portion lies the fafetyof our natural life,it is in thehawdofGod, God hath not only taken the life of our fouls into his own hand, but thelife of our bodies coo; he difpofeth of lives as he plea- feth, he can fay ro one in a day of common Calami.v, Thou fhalt have thy life for aprey, and to another, Thou /halt die by the Sword, &c. What can we fay in thefe times of death, when thebreath bath gone out of many thoufands; Why hath it not gone out of our bodies ? No other account can be given but this,Our breath is in the hand ofGod ; were it not fo, the breath of many of us had not been in our bodies at this time. Further, It Ihould teach us to honour that God, in whole hand our breath is. Daniel checked Belfhazzar becaufe he failed in this, The God in whop hand thy breath is, halt thou not honoured. How caretul are we to peafe thofe who haveour ethics in their hands : We refpe& ulm alto very much inwhole hand our health is : But if our life be hi the hand of another (as fometimes it is) how do we ftudyand ftrive to comply with the commands, vea with the very hnmotu s of fuch a man. Shall we not.honour God inw_hoje handour breath is ? Laftly.,lf our breath be in the hand of God,it teacheth us,that the time of our death, and of the going forthof our breth,is jet down and difpofed by God. Sometimes a l cknefs endangers our life and threatens to flop our brealh preently ; but God fairh,no,ir (hall nor, be. Sometimes outward vi,lence invades us, but a, David comforts him relt,,,Our times a,e inUddshand; And asnomie can takeaway 'Veil- He will continue i., fonone cancontinue,ife, f He
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