Or, The New "Birth. hide it from the kna'wtedge of their Father; doubtlefs if the Authority of '),tc~b's prefencc had been with them it would a over-awed them for that wickednefs: \Vhy, behold a more awful and dread Father tha!l ']acob . was is always with yon : And therefore fince you can hide none of your Sins from your dread Father's fight, be careful that you commit none in his fight. Secondly, Imitate your Heavenly Father in hi& Goodnefs and IJ(}Unty unto all. He is kind 2. tO t~e froward, and to the difobedient; He caufeth hi& Sun to jhine, upon the good and 11J~t tl:q upon the bad, and doth good both to the jufl and to t~e unju{f; fhould qoo have avenged :~:fra:;,.. all thofe petulant Wrongs, and thofe arrogant Affronts that Smncrs have done :herinhir againft him, the whole World e'er this time would a been utterly defi:royed; but Bounry ana' he bath not left himfelf without Wittiefs; it is the Witnefs of his patience and Gmlnrfr. forberrance that the Sun yet lhines upon us, that the Ait fupports us, that the Hea .. vens give forth their cherilhing influen~e~ to us. Now here is a pattc;rn for you to . imitate; alas, you cannot be fo much InJured by Men, or fo beneficral to Men, as" God is; they depend no more upon you than you do upon them, but we all depend upon a p:tticnt and .forbea!ing God; and y~t .we arc apt u_pon eyery night pro:roca~ t ion to break forth mto Fire ~md Fury; thts IS not the D1fpofitton of God, neither fhould it be the Difpofition of his Children: The Divine Nature, whereof we are made partakers, prompts us to be Long~fuffering:, and full of Bowels of Mercy and Compaffion, and is pleafed when it ea~ like God for,sive others. Jefus Chrift who had all the Haft of Heaven and Earth m pay under hnn, a·nd could hive command~ ed whole Legions to have fecurcd and revenged himfclf; yet·when he Was under his Sufferings, hanging up:m the Crofs, how patiently did he indure the Scoffings, Shoutings and Mockings of Men, and opens not his Mouth othcrwife than in Prayer for them, Father, fo rtive them, for they know .not what they do; whm he was reviled he reviled not again? hmtate now your Lord and Mafter, your God and Father, and when the World reproaches you, and perfecutes you, lhew that you have learned one thing that nothing but true godlinefs can teach you, to wit, that you arc able and will ing to forgive them. , T hirdly, If you are the Children of God be patient and fubmiffive under hio correEfing 3• Hand ; is it no~ thy Father that aJ!liEfs thee? The Apoftle argues this fl:rongly, Heb. r 2. 9 · T~ he pi¥· I ( we fi1fer our earthly Parents to chaftife m for their p,leafure, how much more lhould we ri.mt u1d~,. fttfrer patiently the Chaftifements of our Heavenly Father, who doth it only for our ~u ';;re~ good,. and if need be. Nothing puts a fharper fi:i.ng-into A;flli?tion, and makeS them ~;6, 1 11 : . 9 • more m tolerable, than to look upon them as Pumlhments m flitted by an Avenging God; the.Soul is not able to bear up under fuch Affiittions, becaufe then it looks upon the lighteft and fmalleftevil that befalls it to be but as it w.ere the Pledge and Earncft of a far greater that ts to enfue. But now when we can look upon Affiittions as the Cluftifements of a gracious Father, this will enable us to belr them not only patiently, but thankfully alfo, asbeing the Teftimonicsand Elfeds of his fpedal Love unto us; for fays the Apoflle, He chafti{eth t'Very Son whom he receiveth. The end why God CJfts- thee into the Furnace of AfHitt ion is to · purifie thee from thy drofs, not to con fume thee; he knows v.:hat Afflidions, and the Meafures of them, will beft conduc:e to this end,, for he is a Wife God, and he will bring no other Afflitl:ion upon thee than what lhall accomplilh this end, for he is alfo J gracious Father. . Thefe Three Exhortltions belong to thofe who by the figns before-named, or any dther, ha~e attatncd to fame A'ffitrance that they are Renewed and Born again. In the fecond plate, Let .me fpea k to fuch as arc yet in a natural and finful Eftare , in the 2; fame deplofable ftatc of Sin and Mtfe.,.y in which they came int~ the World. Unto thefe now An f.:chDr1 Jha\1 only dire~ a TWofold E~hortation, and fo conclnHe the whole Subject. wron to Firft, B!w~t;e r~at ~du.tdJ- ~ot flatter y~urfelvet '1Pith any deludt'ng f(opes of Heav~n, you';;;;~gem ~ are as ye~ wtthoTIA. ~ny nght to tt• Thts IS mde~. a"dreacl.ful Cauttorl, w:hat, to beat 1 • Men off from their hopes of H~ven? A:nd co~monly 1t proves as fruttlefs as it is Not 10 dedreadfuly ~ei\sHopes ?fall thmgs frequently d~t!ive them, they maintai~ them.Iude thtmfelves with httle, cfpectally the hopes they have Of Heaven, and they live eitherfil<Vrr "With upon weak pr6babilit ies, or upon fi:rong fancies; and hence· the Scripture comparesf(fi hupt: the Hope of a Hypocrite .to a Spider's Web, 'Job 8. 4· Me1~ fl?in out their hopes out oC Het~t:tn. their own Bowels, and fettle themfelves in the midft of them, and doubt not but ·· they !hall ca~ch Heaven it felf in their foolifh Cobwebs. Sliobld I come and ask you all one by one, uo you and you hope to be fuved? Where is the Perfon that would Unu u not
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