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Show Believers whJ_compared to Vines. as they lawfully may obviate all perrons, ~r things ~hat may any way hinder or prejudice them in the exerctfe of thetr grace, a11d bringing forth the fruits of holinefs. But we !hall obrcrv.e fev~· ral Propolitions included in 'I his General, and handle them m thm ~~ Cbijl~ · 7batevery true Believer it and ought to be at a Vuu, . rt t me. 7hat fome of tbrfl Viner have ttnder. groper, of w~tch the Lord Chrill hath a care. • . . That tbere are many Foxu, little Foxet: mmy thmgt whzcb are very prone to do mifchief. to do hurt to tbe Vmrr of Chrijl while they have thzder graper. i . . Tbat it it the will of Cbri{l, that hit Spoufe, M weU f or hzm M for tbemfelver, foou/d tai!J tht{e Foxu,that JpoiltheVinet wbm I h ry have tender graprt; . . ] begin with the fidl of thefe at thts ttme: . . . • Beltevert are and ought to be Cbrz(!r Vmer; Vmes, Chrr.fis Vwes • Why Vi>tet 1 How ; and why Chrijlt ViHu1. Thefe wtll be !llY two heads of Explication: I !hall with it Jotn the Confirmauon under the feveral brancbes of Explication. You fee whtther my dircourre leads me, viz to a Chewing,you the propriety of the metaphor which I !hall do in revcral particuTars. I. 'ot au the treet in the fiel!ltbe Vine hath le•ft external BeaHty. The Oak and the Alh and other trees are very lovely trees, run up to gre~t height, and look comely. The bark of fome tr~es, The tpreading tops of other trees, are very lovely ; bt~t t.he Vwe ha.th no fuch outward· comelincrs, all its excclk~cy _Ires mward; Its fiem is a writhel'd ill'favoured thing, ordmanly mor~ unlovely than any other plant;it fpreaderh indeed, but to no loveltnefs ~t all: The Kingt da11gbttr alfo it glortout nmhm. Look upon Behevers in their ex~rnal circumfiances, they reldom have any beauty. Ltlce thier Lord· they ordinarily grow like roott out of a dry ground, having"' for;, nor comeline{t; hence when the W~rld fees them, t~eycan [<e no beauty in tbem why they (hould be. difired. In Chrtfis time his Dirciples you know were but poor F11herme~, John 7 .48. 'Jhe Scribu and Pharifeu believed ~ot on hzm, but an tgnorant fort of people, as thel'harifla counted, a people that lqtew no! the '"':' and therefore were look'd upon by them as curfed. In Samt Paul s time not many wife men after tht f/efh, not maHy mtgbty, not man(. Hohl; w.ere caVed. In Saint ]arne's time, 7amu\ Chap. 3· ver e < God bad chof"en the poor. of the world to. be r~cb 111 fattb,ba~d J.• 'P . tt'f>.l Believer~ why compared to Piner. INirt oflhe Ki1tgdom; yea, and ordinarily they are men of fomwJ, and acquJtnted wzth f rteft; the ~un of allliction and. perfecution f.:orcheth them, thetr mothers chtldren are angry with them 1 yet are they admtrable plants, plants of righteoufners ; Vines plan tea· by the hand of the Father, purchafed and watered with the blood of the Son ; bedewed with the graces of the holy Spirit. Secondly, The Vine ita f eeble and dependa~zt pl•nt, it grows nor as other plants, nor can !land alone but is fafiened to fome wall or ( which was heretofore and is lldl in ufe, in other Countreys ) creeps up upon fome Hedg or Tree, or rome frame of wood; other wife it would bring forth no fruit unto any perfection. Chrill', Spoufe is in this renre a Vine,a dependant creature; all its fruitfulne(<,• ll their rpreading dependeth upon another.Our Lord hinteth this when he compareth himfelf to the Vine, believers to Br•ncbrr, J.oh. 15. 5· withont me y ou c•n do nothing, of our fd ves we cannoc fo much as think one rood thmzht.Nay we are far more dependent upon Chrifi, than the Vine is upon the W>~U or the 'Iru, or frame upon which it runs up; for though the Vine be fa fiened to there thihgs, and.ureth them as help> to firengthen it, yet ii brings fortll' fruit, from a flock o~juice in it felf; it dotl>not borrow its fructifying fap or juice from the Wall, or Tree, or Hedg, upon which i~ •uns; but the cafe i~otherwife betwixt our. Souls and Chrifi thofe habits of grace in us which prod ucc gracious acts ( which ar~ our fruit) th~y are dtrived_from Chrifi and infufed by him, and> firfi wrought tn us, then afhlled in us by his Spirit. We do no~ only depend upon Chrifi as an external help; but as to ou~ internal f1t'inciple, yea and as to that ability by which we produca our gracious habits into acts. Thirdly, The Vine is a very diffujive and JprMding plant you• fre from how little a plant it grows to cover the whole hde of the l)oufe. The collectiveSpoufl ofCbri(i,rhe Church is fuch. After thcarcenlion of Chrifi how li ttle was its m>mber, in 120 Souls in a• corner of the world1tn how fhor.t a time had it fpread its brauches. over three parts of the world, infomucp rhat the Apol!le appli~th the dtlfufivenefs of th!! Sun and Moon, communicating thei!' beams to th~ whole world, to the rpr~ading of rl1e Gofptl, R v;n,. to. 18. thezr jMnd went uoto aU the Earth; and thtir words un:o• t.he ~nd of the world. There is alfo a dilfufivcnt rs in eve•y l::eheving Soul, when Andrew was called, Job. r. '4· he find'Cth s;... mo11 andcalleth him to fee Chrjll, when Clll'ift had foLmd Rbilip,he. pr.cfently, 373 |