Caryl - Houston-Packer Collection BS1415 .C37 v4

250 C hap. I 2. An ExpoJ'tion upon thecoo; ofJos. Vert:i6. Waters fatten, and waters deffroy the earth. We pray in drought for rain and waters ; the Lord can give us rain, until rain fhall afflict as much as drought. There is noearthly thing but we may have coo much ofit. The exceffe of any;creature is a judgment upon thecreature. We may Coon have too much fire, and to much water,toomuch heat and co much cold ; as the want of thçfè things troubles us,tò likewife doth the glut ofthem : we depend uponGod as much for the quantity and mealure of'out- ward met cies,as for themercies themfelves. See here a difference between the things of nature and the things of grace. We can never have too muchof grace, nor too much ofthe fpirit. The morewe have of thefe the better, andwe are then befit, when we have molt. A gracious heart grows up to glory, through the abun- dance ofgrace. Be not drunk with wine wherein is exceffe, ( is the Apofiles caution, ( Eph. 5. i8.) But be filled with the fpirit. We may drink wine quickly to excels, hut we cannot be tilled with the fpiritro exce(s, there is no excefs poffible in that, and therefore the Apofile gives no caution about it. Take your fill of the fpirit gnu cannot be overfri'd. The wine of the fpi- rit doth not make'us drunk, the more wedrinkof it the more fo- ber we are. And thewaters o& the [pint donever drown us,the Aim more and the oftener they fall upon us, oroverflow us, the more fruitful we are. The waters ofthe fpirit are never tent outtooverturn;the foul ; the mightyeft inundations of Grace, mak'esthe heart mighty for God. Spiritual things in the leaft de- gree are a bleffing, and the-greater the degree is, the greater is the biding. Hence that promife,. In the later dayes (faith God ) will pour out my fpirit, you (hall not only have Come drops; and fill dews, but (trong fhowrs, rivers and torrents flowing down from heaven,upon the dry and parched ground,upon the barren wildernel,to make it like Eden the gardenofGod ; fuch rivers fhall run intoyou, 'till you fhall have rivers running from you. He that belreveth on me (faith Ghri(t, lob. 7. 38. ) out of his belly Jhall flow rivers of living water : This he fpake of the fpirit, which they that believe on him fbould receive. Verfe 16. With hine is Jlrengthand wifclome, the deceivedandthe deceiver are.his. The former inftance was in theworks of nature, now Job in; aancech incivil things ;. (hewing the providence and power of God

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