98 of Ineffec`hxal Hearing theVYord. is done and ended, Gods end is now attained, &c. Oh tryyour felves here, have you heard, but never heard the voyce of the Lord, rufhing upon thee with MaJ, y,' fpeai;ing to thy heart, and the very fecrers ofit, but have laic., This is for others, and when you have thought r e roan bath fpoken to you, your hearts have then fwollL againft him ? or have you thus heart', but all dies and withers 111;z flowers?the fame heart gill, OF have you had forme powerfull ffroke which remains, but it forcech you not out of your felves to Chrift, thereto refs, there to joy, there to live, there to die? truly your time hath been fpent in vain, you never yet heard the Lord (peak. Oh mourn for it, thou art fill in thyblood, if he never Paid Live; in thy bondage, if the Lord never Paid, Come forth. This is the condition of manyto be lamented with tears. But if thou haft thus heardparticu- lady, and though but little light, life andpeace, yet it is of eternal efficacy, and all to draw thee to Chriff; then bleffe the Lord : For bleffect areyour, ears that hear, and I fay as Mofes laid, Deut. 4.32. Ask, ifever People heard Codfpraking and live. The Apeftle, Heb. iz. 24; makes' it a greater matter to come to hear God on Mount Sion, and yet live; Bleffed lae God i live. Obj.But may not many ofthe Saintshear,& hear the Lord fpeak but not feel this everlaffing power and efficacy?' 11/2/27). 1 would not lay a foundation of unthankfulneffe, nor difcourage any ; and therefore, note for anfwer thefe particulars. t. There may be aneternal efficacy of the Word, and yet lye hid, and not felt for a: time. The Word is com- pared, you know, to feed, and that in this refpea; the feed it is caft under the clod in the winter-time, and it hath a vertue in it to grow ; but it is hid;and comes not to blade , of a good while, and when it doth blade, yet it bears not fruit of a long time : So here, the Lord may call the feed of his Word into the ;heart ; but it is hidden for a time, it is not felt as yet, but there it a word ofrhreatning, a word of promite, a word of Coto- mand; a man may calf it by, and. fay, It belongs not to me ; a man may flight the command for a time : Yet not- withftanding,the Lord having caft his feed into the heart; it fhall fpring up. As many a child, the ' father fpeaks to it, and applies the word home to it, when it is of force years, the child regards it not c But now flay fome time, till
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