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Show SignJ ofChrijt'l ~and~ Itt 111 tbmfore ca(! off the rPurk.! of dark,_nejf, and let UJ p~t oil the •rmor of light. That Chri!lian were a bafe Apollate indeed that being a Turi<ifh !lave; {j10uld renounce Chrill when he kno~eth that his ranfome is coming,hls redemption nigh, &c. But you will fay in the hll place ; how fhould we behold, and fee Chrills coming? I told you before· the nudmr~~ by which he is to be feen. To apply it 010rtly. · 1. Sit Aown, and takfng a pro{pd1 of the world, med itate of the nature vfGod; as a pure and holy and jull God, and as a gracious and loving Father;and fay thus to thy felf:Will God indure his Children to be always in dar/;_nejf; the apple of .his eye to be d/w;yr grievrdl can a lov ing God bear this, or can a jujl God indurt the aboundings of iniquiry,and the blafphemits offinnerJ a/way1 ?· 2. Sit down and fludy the Scriptures, the promi{e1, the propbeJiu Hot fulfilled, apd fay thus with thy felf,Is not my God rru fh itfel~ fai thfu'l to his wo>d and promifes? mull not thefe words of God be Yea and Amw, and bave a being one day as well as others? · 3. Obfcrve GodJ provideHW. The Pfalmill, Pfal. 107. v. 7.faith of thefe, whofo obfervrth theft thing! i< rPi{e, and he jhaU fee the Salvation of the Lord. Matters of Providence, that are extraordinary in" w.ork's of ·n'ature, are God1 jign1; it is true, 'iis hard ro make a particular judgment of them, till time·makes the interpretation. ObCerve rhem,bur rake heed of being too bold to determine particulars upon them. Judicial Allrologers are too infolenc in rhis thing. I O~all only mind yoq of what Ifaid before 'IIJattoGodJ people i?t prof}>erit;• tbJy are ufually fif.ltl of great !udgmrntJto come upon th<>n f or tlmr Sm1; To GodJ people tn affii{.lton •nd adverfrty, they •re ~<[ual!Y jig111 of G,d, comi11g in f!/tal mercy. And fo much 0Ja!l .ferve both for this Doctrine, and for this Verfe. Canr: ' Cant. 2.9. l'v[y Beloved iJ·Ii~e a Ro;'and a y;t~ng Hart; behold he J!andeth behind 011r waU; he look,;tb forth attbe rPindow,fhewinghimfelfthrough ' the Latte[r. THE Spoufe yet continuetl1 her fpeech in the preceeding verfe: 01t difcerned her beloved 'IJ)ming, with fpeed and chearfulncfs, trampling under foot all obllacles and impedimems,a~d leaping over rbem; and with relation to that doubrlefs tt chtefly ts, that 01e here compareth him to a F..oe and a yoHng H"rt: I noted to you before that the Roes and Harts lfe, 1. very{wift Creature~, 2. very amiable arid loving Creatures; fo that thts refemblar:ce ?f the Lord Jefus Ch1ill doth either fignify <he Spoufes Fatth m Chrilts fpeedy coming unto her. Or, 2. J:!.r Love and deltgl:t"' him or his Love and delight in her. In whtch fcnfe foever ot the • t w~ you take the words, I have heret?fore fpoken to it, and fhall not take up that difcourfe aha in. l thmk the form.er ts mol\ pr?per; by the eye offaith !he had feen her beloved comtog,and rmkrng ha(le (().her help, and for his fwjftnefs in com in~ drfcerned by the eye of her Fairh, fhe here elegantly comparcth htm to the Roe and to the young l-brt,yet not without refped- to rhc other ~:orr on; for Chrift a! ways appeareth lovely to theSouls of hts people, and efpecially in the day of his return to them. But I fay I O!lll not touc? that paffage, which gently handi~d, can afford us no o~ber notions offruth,than I have already !rom fome of the foregorng vcrfes largely diftourfed amoogH you. I pwcecd therefore to the_ other three of which the Text is m"lde up: B,hold, he.f!andetb bebmdtbe waU ;'he look_<tb forth at the windawJ, (hew in~ himfelflhrougb the LatufJeJ; where you have, 1. A note of Attention or Obf<rvation, :-tlM Behold. 2. 'Ihe thing to be beheld. · 1. fli1 place a11d pof/ure; his place was behind the ~all [ he was not yet come-into the houfe ]his po!lure was jla11dmg ,hc {bndttb behind the w.,U; he is behind his Spoufes wlil, or as to hrs Spoufe like o_ne behind a wall, but he rejfe,th not there, he keeps the motion of one yet nNat refi,heftandetb. · F f 2 Se•ondly, |