/,., "''"'"' ~, ~;:.: :: ~~::e::'"' '"'· ) oh , ,_,) 63 ' Evt rJ branch in me tk tb~areth not fruit it withers, then it is taken aw~y, and fo it is ,con fumed, and m ume burned; and hence, many that are firft , are in I time l":}l,Mauh.g.z~. a~d m""J th.z~ 11re laff firft: Men that have b~en mo!l: / forward, decay ; thetr gtfts decay, hfe d~cays, and there arc l~fl: : a;zd !.1f a:e firft; many newly brought home to Chn!l:, excel them, and liV<; fo, and dte fo, that one would think fhould never hold our. I need not fpeak more, I Scriprure is fo abundant: I fay it is after fome time of prot~tllon ; for at lirfi it rather grows thm decays and withers; bur afterward they have enough of it, it with<:rs and dies: And look as it is with fome bodies when they are h~althful, \they grow by all means; bur. when once Nature is fpent, aqd n?W declinin~, no- . thing recover~ them, th~ugn .they ~ay be kept at~ !~ay for a nme, but dye they /will wirh theu be!l: cordtals m thetr mouths; fott I$ here. \ For Explication of this Point, we a; e to attend how and why this is thus ; and that not in th<! worll:, but in the betl: of the foo!ith Virgins. Firll:, The Spirit of God comes upon many hypocrites in abundant and plentiful meafure of awakening grace; I fay it comes upon them as it did upon lJ1daam, N umb.24.2. And as it is in overflowin;; waters, which fpread far, and orow very deep, and fill many empry places, they fall upon the ground, they ~ome not from any fpring within the ground; and hence though they la!t not always, yet they la!t fome good time; fo it is here, the Grace and Spirit ofGod come fuddenly and plentifully upon many a man, which gives them a time of flourithng, it comes nor from i.mitation, or educarion,or moral perfwalion only, butphyllcally from theSpmtofGod, rSam.r ::>. I2. when theywondred that Saul was among the Prophets, one anfwered, ,..!J. u their f athorrt who gave them this gift ofi?r?phecy? is it ~or the Lord? fo the f:1me Lord is ri~h to Saul alfo: And I fay ttls only awakemng zrace; for renew m~ grace, f:wtngly tochangerheirnature,i~ nocgiven, but awakening grace, which work~upon confcience, and confcience upon rhe whole man ; and thus it was here with thefe Virgins, they had wonderf4llighr, and a fpirit of illumination eo fee the Lord Jefus, and hence to look for him with much affeaion and forwardnefs, as well as the wife, and to keep them company in Church-fdlow!hip, and though they were fecure, to complain of rheir decayi , and delir~ the fpirit of grace which they faw in the wife. Secondly, Though it cloth come upon them thus, yet it doch never reCI: within, foas to dwell there,to take Ui' an eternal manllon for himfelf, Ifa. r r . ro. hiueftJhsll be glorioHs, Ifa· S7·I 5· This is a favor the Lord fhews ·only to the contrite above all people in the wo: ld belides. Rom.8. r r. If the Spirir which raifed up Jefm Chrift from the dead d 1~e/l in p <, it jhall q!tick!tJ you, and ea/ ;ouup to b! SonJ", as it is there expreffed. • , Thirdly, Hence it Jotli decay by liule and litt)e ; as a man that dwels not, but fojournerh for a litr!e rime in a h0ufe, he removes by iittle and little, till at la!l: h~ is quite gone; as p) nds filled with rain water, which comes upon them, not fprlng water chat riferh up within them, it dries up by little and little until quire dry ; as it is with light, after' the Sun is declining and feuing, it decreafeth by little and little, nntil it be turned into darknefs ; fo it is here ; and as it was in the Che:ubims, where the glory of God was, and rhe Lord departed by little and little; as in Srml, lir!l: he neglects the command of the Lord in one thing, then in another, then the Spirit of God departed, and anevi~fPirit of fadnejs cam~ upon him ; and then h<: threatens David,then kills the Pnells of the Lord; then goes ro a Wirch, and at !all kills himfelf; and I fay this is becaufe the Lord dwels nor there; and hence Joh.r s.becaufe the branch is not engraffed into the flock; and this is ufually at the very heigbcof affcail) n
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