to theE PHE S I A N s. Jhipped for it elfe; nay, he could fcarcc be brought to bel!eve it, the Angel was~ [; ·n to fay Theft are thefi'Jings of God, mtd they are tr11e. Thus, when God Snm.Xlf. a!eth to b~eak all he meaneth to mend all ; and he will never ceafe till he hath ~ ~~ought the Chur~h to the lull flature of a perfect man in Chrifl. Fear not confuftons therefore , for the iffue of theni will be a doling in the end , it will be a gatheri11g together of all again i1l mu. Again, Alter the Reformation, the Church is to get power againfl /!ntichrijf, and againfl all his Adherents; The Wu~teJfes, faah he, /ball have power to do thus and thus, RtV.I" ye, but after that power, when they have gorten it and carried it as you think they lhall do, the~e w1H be an unbu!ldwg, a fcartenng ot the Power, of the holy People,_ (o 1t 1s exprefl 'Drm.12.7. he fpeaksthere of thefe latter times• . Fear 1t not, tor 1f God pull do~o one Temple, he w1ll fetup the Holy of Hutiefl afterward. And as 1t followeth 10 that fame 12th of 'Dmmt, BltfJedare thojt ihat comt to tbofe days; and thrice bleLfed indeed a!e they, for they lhall fee better times. Fear not therefore God's fcatrering. What a miferable confulion was there when M:tn fell! All was fcattered, Man divided from God, from Angels from himfelf. Chrifl came into the world when all Nations were divided, Me~ from Men, and things on Earth from things in Heaven. So he will do in the Church, fcatter all that he may,make all up agam ; melt all,that he may mend all. Fear not thenhisfcattering. I have dooe you fee with the defign it (elf, which God had. I am now to come to the Time when this great difpenfation began, when 6od did break up his De– crees that had laid hid from everlafling in his breafi, and ordered the difpenfa– tion and adminifiration of things to his Chmch ; and then I !hall have finilhed the 1oth verfe. The Text telleth us, that he pttrpofedin bimfelj; i11 or for the difeenfatio11 of the fielnefs of time, to gather togetker all things in Him. Concerning this tnne, firfi in General, the meaning is this, That God that hath made every bulincfs under the Sun, hathfet a time for it. So you have it Eccl.~.r. To every thing, faith he, there is a feafim, anda time to eve~ purpofe wtdtr the Stm. Here is nowadifpenfationo[ thejull~t(s of Seafims, lfo the word lignifi– eth)and of the greateft purpofes God had,(not under the Heavens;but before the Heavens were,) which he purpofed in himfelf from everlafling• .Atime,faith he, there;, to be bor11; If there be a time to be born,and a time to die, (as the fecond verfe faith) there was certainly a (ul11efs of time when Me.Jliah ll10uld be born, when all things lhould be gathered in the perfon of Chrifi in one, and when all Jhould be fcattered again, and he lhould die, as I opened before. There;, a time, faith he, v.~. to break down, and a time to build up. So there is a time when he fuffered all the world ro lie fcattered,and a time when he buildeth them up. The word 'Di{pmji1tio11, i< a Family word, and is taken from rearing, or building up an Houfe. There" a ttme, fa!thhe,v.). toca(l(/o1ttsilWt!J, mtdatimetogather flones together. God let all the flones, both of ."fews and GeRtiles, lie fcattered; but when the fer time came he had pity upon thofe Stones, (as the expreffion is Pj.102.14,)and gather'd them all in one.lt was adzjpmjatio11 o{thefulttejs oftimn. I am to open here thefe Three things : 1. What is meant by fi•lnefs oftimes, 2. Why di{pwfatio11 of the[11l11efs of times, is added. ~.In, or for: ~or indeed the word rather lignifieth, For the dijpmjtztion of ttmes, than m. r.For thefullufs oftimes,when this great projeCl:ofGod began to take its birth,' as I may fo fpeak.There was fome Jhews of it before,but when the great deli~ery was, that was when Chnfl came firfi mto the world, and after his Afceolion 10!0 Heaven,then Jews and Gwtiles were called,and Angt!s fall down before bim and acknowledge h1m the1r Head,and all thi11gs were gathtredtogether in one. There was firfl a fuiJJe{s of times when this was done; and fecondly, a[ul11e[s of feafo11S, for fo the word in the Original fignifieth; lr is not onlyafi•l11ejs of time, as you have it,G,,/,4+but it is alfo afitllufs of Jtt•jo11s: for fo I fay the word lignifieth. Firfl, It was afnlnejs of time for tbis great work, \V hen Chrifl: came into the World.And why was it a[ttlnefs of tim£TWhat i< meant by{ttl11ejs of time here? l 2 Then
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