HEB. I. •, 2. 1. Vfe, Let us labourro grow in knowledge, God rev~als hi~nfelf by piece• meal, do not therefore !lick in the fir{\ pnnc1plesof Reltgwn;_. ns theApo!lles exhortation to t heHrbrews, Chap.6, Therei s a great deal ot Ignorance;there– fore labour to go on to perfection, and grow in Chri~; he rev~als himfelf by piece meal, not as if he had alrcad:f obtamed, therefore there IS m~re know· ledge to be had; the greate!\ part ol tuat you l;rioW,ISthe lea!\ part ol what you knownot, . 2. It may teach Mini!lers, to raife the Age that they live in; in knowledge, though of the fame truths in a clearer manner, Matt. 1 j •52· It is faid he that 1s a right Scribr, that is fit to do fervice in the Church ofGod,is like a Hous-holder; which bringeth lorth things New and Old; there is no man but God difcovereth to himmoreor the fameby a further hght, than to another. j . It may humble young Chn!\~ans that thmk when they :ire fir!\ converted, that tht y have all knowledge, and therefore take upon them to ceofu re mt n that have been long 1n Clm!l, and out of thetr own expenence, t hey w1ll lrame opi– nions, comparing but a few Notes together. Ala is, ye know but a piece of what you !hall know ! When you have been 10 Chn!l T en or Twenty years , then fpeak, then thofe Opin_ions which you have now will fall off·, and experience will fhew them to be talle; they thmk themfelves as Pa11!, that nothmg can be added unto them; but what fa ysP m•! r Cor.q," ? W!m J] was aChild,~c.He takes a comparifon from a Child, as being a Man, but raifed up to his Spiritual e!\ate, and thou alfo wilt thenput away Chi!dtjh tbings. 4· If God in former Ages did reveal himfelf but by piece-meal, and if that piece-meallmowledge, which they had by inch and inch, did make them holy ;· tor how holy was E11och and .Abraham, that had but one Prom1fe, then how much more holy fhould we be, that have had fo full a difcovery:? If one Promife wrought fo much on their hearts, how much more fhould fo many Promifes on ours? 5• Here we fee, that God cloth work on men by degrees. It is .So!omons com– panfon, t hat R ighteoufiufs jhi1;eth as the dawmng of the d")', till it come to perfect day. Convedion out of the flare of Nature into the flate of Grace, is called comi11g out uf dar/wefs into light. Now Light comes into tbe World by degrees; A man that fitteth up in the Night, when the fir{\ break of the day is he cannot difcern ; but half, or a quarter of arr hour after, he begins to fee ligln. Thus it is with many poor Souls, they have Light break in upon them; they can tell that they were in darknefs, but the in!lant when this Light bral>e in, t hey know not, becaufe God reveals himfelf by degrees, I am now to !hew how God reveals himfelf "'"'e}""' ; he did cal1 himfelf and his Revelations into fcveral moulds and fhapes, imo feveral ways of ex– preiTing himfel~ that fo he might reveal himfelf to the People; as V IJj(es is called .,,J1eP@-, becaufe he had lngmium verfiJtzlr, and was able to ea!\ himfelf into feveral moulds in his feveral dealings with men; fo l1kewife God hath re– vealed himfelf ""'o!le}m"' after feveral waies. Thus he did under the Old Te!lament. In Ho(n.ro. it is faid, that be nm!ti• plied Vzjimts, becau(e he was various in it ; he ufed divers likeneffes and ex- · pre!lions of himfelf, while be fpake by the PrGphets. We have it more plain in Numb. r 2.'6. If therr be a P ropbrt among you, I the L ord w i/J make my [elf /mown to him ill a Vzjio11, tmd w ill {peak to bim in a 'Drram. T hu• you fee that there are feveral ways that God did fpeak to men by , by Vtjions ami 'Dreams, and in dark Spreches ; but when he came to Moju, who was a type of Chrrf/ , (lor he is faid to be a T ype in th is particular , when it is faid, I wt/J .ratjr 11p a P rophet like rmto 1hee,) it is faid,that he {pake tohim mouth to moutb, as a mmzJpraks to bu frimd,Nttmb.4. r 2. he fpeah to him in an apparent man– ner; but by all the Prophet's he did fpeak in dark Speeches in riddles: So in the Vifion of the great Eagle, Ezek.17,2. it is called a Riddle,he fp ake fometimes byVtjious and fometimcs by 'Drrams, yet the Vil1ons were more clear things than fpeaking by Dreams; theretore it is faid, Tbe young mm (ball fee Vtjiolls, andtbe old me" {ha/J dream dreams ; the young men had more acute Pa ns : and therefore they had more clear revdation. Thus G<Jd rcvealtd him(· If' to 'ju(eph S in
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