BookiV. AFFLICTION COMPARED To HEAT. 931 I N F E R E N C E ~ I. WHAT a Mercy is it God's People have not been drowned in thefe Floods, long before tillS T1me !_ It JS the Lord only that hath fet up a Standard againft them. As the Waters have rofe h1gher and lugher, fo he hath gracioufiy raifed the Banks of his divine Providence, and thereby prevented the Dan<>er. IJ. Let not God's People be afraid, for the Lord fit~ upon the Floods, &c. I. He fits upon the Floods as. an Obferver, his Eye is upon the Wicked, he fees what they are domg m fecret, theJr Counfels are not hid from him. 2. The Lord fits upon the Floods, to dire<'l and order their Courfe; Afflictions are ordered by him, b9th in refpeCl: of Kind and Duration. 3· The Lord Gts upon the Floods as a Re/trainer; he can alfwage thefe mighty Waters at h1s Pleafure: Surely the Wrath of Man jha/1 praife thee, and the Remainder of Wrath jhalt thou reflrain. 4· The Lord Gts upon the Floods, as a Preferver; he it is that keeps his Saints from drowmng: When.thott pa.!Jefl through the Waters, I will be with thee, &c. Ifa. xliii. 2. 5· The Lord hts upon the Floods as a glonous Dehverer: Many are the .d./fliClions of the Righteous, but the Lord delivereth him out of them all. A F F L I c T I 0 N COMPARED TO H EAT. . Where thou makeflthy Flock to refl at No011, Cant. i. 7· .d Shadow from the Heat, &c. Ifa. xxv. 4· And whm the Sun was up, they were fcorched, Matt. xiii. 6. THE Afflictions and Sorrows of the Godly are fet forth by Extremes, by extreme Cold, Frofts, &c. and then again by extreme Heat: Both are grievous 1o be borne and endured. Their EfFects are fuch, that they aptly illu!hate the Miferies of the Lord's People in this World. By the Heat, or hot and fcorching Beams of the Sun, in Matt. xiii. 6. our Savior himfelf fheweth, is meant Perfecution, Verfe 21. P A R A L L E L ~ . I. NATURAL Heat is from Heaven, it is occaGoned by the fcorching Beams of the Sun, the Earth naturally being cold: So .djj/iClions come not out of the Dufl, neither doth Trouble JPring out of the Ground, &c. Job v. 6, 7· Though the meritoriouS Caufe of all our Sufferings is our Sin, and fo materially they are from ourfelves; yet the Lord is the efficient Caufe of them: Is there any Evil in the City, and I have not done it? II. Great Heat, or the continual fcorching Beams of the Sun, are grievous to be borne: So fore Affiicrions, and fiery Trials, are grievous to God's People, I mean their fidhy Part: No .!1./fliClion for the prefent Jeems joyous, but grievous, &c. Heb. xii. I I. III. In a Time of great Heat, or in the hotteft Time of the Day, ir. very hot Coun– tries, crreat Labor is unpleafant, and very hard to be undergone: So it is hard to labor and b,;:.r heavy Burdens in God's Vineyard, viz. to ftand up for, and maintain the Truth, in a Time of hot Perfecution, as many faithful Servants of God found by Ex– perience in the Marian Days, &c. IV. Great Heat, or the continual fcorching Beams of the Sun, quickly fade, con– fume, and fpoil the Beamr of the Body: So cruel Sufferings and Perfecutions fpoil the outward Beauty of the Church, making her look very black and deformed in the Eyes of the World, which made the Spoufe to cry out, I am black, &c. which fhe attri– buted to the vehement and fcorching Sun-Beams of Perfecution : The Sun bath looked upon me, Cant. i. 5, 6. An<) as Perfecution feems to mar the external Beauty of the Church and People of God, rendering them the moll: miferable People in the World to a carnal Eye: So likewife other AffiiCl:ions have the like EfFeCt upon the Body: My Skin, faith Job, is black upon me, and my Bones are burnt with Heat, Job xxx. 30. The Skin, and external Beauty cannot hold its own againft the ill EffeCts of a Difeafe, efpe– cially if la!l:ing: When thou -with Rebukes dofl correCI a Man for his Iniquity, Jhou makefl his Beauty to confume away like a Moth, &c. Pfal. xxxtx. 1I. V. The fcorching Heat of the Sun is but for a fhort Time, in the Heat of the Day : So the Perfecution lath but for a fhorc Time : Our Ajj/iflions which arc but for a Mo– mmt, &c, Sorrow may continue for a Night, bztl Joy jha/1 be in the Morning, &c. vr. r..
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