7.0! . !,7,. 54 That ye maybe able toland thrive not in love andholineffe as ofold, when the milk was not fo much, nor that fo fpiritfull)he bath had advantage by the di- vifions of the godly, to hard( n thofe that are wicked into a fur- ther difdainofReligion, and by the bloody wars of lateyeares, to boile up the wrathof the Poplfhand profane crue to a higher pitch ofrage and fury againit Chrifts little remnant then ever : fo that if ever GodMould fuffer the fword to fall into their hand , they are difciplin'd and fitted to play the bloody butch. ers on Chrifis fheep above their fore-fathers, (neither are they fo creft-fallen, but that they can hope for fuch a day, yea, take up fome of thofe joyes upon truft afore-hand to folace them. felves, while the ref follow.) And now (Chriftian) may be their confidence, together with the diftratied flare of Chrifts affaires in the world, may difcompole thy Spirit, concerning the iffueof thefe rollingProvidences that are over our heads,but be flill,poor heart, and know that the conteft is not between the Church and Satan, but between Chrift and him. Thefeare the two Ciampi. ons. Stand now, 0 ye Army of Saints,ftill by faith, to fee,the _All- wife God wrefile with a fubtil devil. If you live not to fee the period of thefe great confufions, yet generations after you (hall behold the Almighty fmite off this Gollob's head with his own fword, and take this cunning hunter in the toileof his own policies, that faith which afcribes greatneffe and wifdom to God, will fhrink up Satans fubtilty into a nigrom nihil, a thing of no- thing. Incredoli timent diobolkm, quafileonernmi fide forte.: oil:- ciont goofi vermirttlum. Etrn. Unbelief feares Satan as a Lion, faith treads on him as a worme. Behold therefore thy God at work, and promife thy left that what he is about, will be an ex- cellent piece. None cm drive him from his work. The Pilot is beaten from the helme, and can do little in a ftorme, but lets the (hip go a drift. The Architect cannot work, when night drawer the curraine, yea, is driven off the Scaffold with a florme of raine, filch Workmen are the wifeft Counfellours and mighti- eft Princes on earth. A pinch may come, when it is as vain to fay, Help 0King, as, Help 0 beggar ; mans wifdommay be le- vell.'d with folly, but God is never interrupted. All the plots of hell and commotions on earth, have not fd much as fbak't Gods hand, to fpoile one letter or line that he hathbeen drawing The znyiterioufnefieof his Providence may hang a curtain before his work,
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