14 The Saints 7nfarmitier® If there were a little Gold and much droffemin- gled together ; A wife man will not for the drofíe fake caft away the gold,but purifie and trye it:So if we have corne, although there be fome cockle in it,yet a wife husband-man will not reje k it,but winnow it,and purge it. So God being a wife God, doth not call us off prefently for our infirmities, if there be any truth and fincerity inus:And as God is wife,fo compaf- fionate,and beares with our infirmities. The Tafk- mafters wanted compaflion , and therefore expe&ed more from the ifraelites than they were able to doe : So whilft we were under the Law,there was a burthen laid upon us, which neither we nor our Fathers could beare;but now if we be once under grace,the Lord doth not lay fuch loads upon us : But if there bee truth in the heart,he accepts of our endeavours, although ac- companied with manyweaknefies® A fecond reafon is taken from the covenant, for fo long as a man is in the covenant , his infir- mities cannot cut him off from Gods mercy. N ow it is certaine, we may have many infirmi- ties,and the covenant renmaine unbroken : for e- very finne doth not breake the covenant, but thofe that untye the marriage knot : As in mar- riage every offence doth not difannull the marri- age, but onely the breach of thy marriage vow: to wit,Adultery : So onely here thofe finnes that breake the covenant, which untie the marriage knor,(as it were)and that is Firft, when we take any new Matter, and this we Beet on .
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