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Show :6o Prop. J, Qu. 2.Qu. lo Q:!.• What iJ the spo11fo1 Wi"ter- Cant. 2. ro, u, ~. My Beloved .JP•~e 1111d [aid unto me ~ Rift up my. Love !. my..fair one and wm a"'ay! For 1• the "'in1tr ir pa[t, tbe rain ir ovtr and gone. I S~ewed y.on the connexion of thefe words the Ia!\ day and ra~fcd_ fev~n Propofitions of DoCtrine frotn them. Th~ fir(\ of whtch ( vzz, That al~houg~ the Spoufe of Chri!l, may either not.hear he,rbeloveds vmce, or 1ffhe hear him may hear him fpeak ternbly; yet !he !hall, hear him fpeak again.) I handled the day. The fecond was from the compellation: In Winter and rainy "'eatber,t?e Spo~fe ofChrij! u yet hu Love, and hir f•irone. The th1rd thts, It ir Chr~{l and Cbrifi alone, that can fay to his Spoufe,rtfe up m~ Love ! my fair one! The fourth ~hts; That the Spoufe ofChrifl in this life hath her Winter, and IS fr~b)Cct to meet with Rainy weather : ljhaU change the order a httle, and make the fourth the fei:ond. _2. 'Ih~ SpoufiofChrift, the true Church of God, in tbir life meets wztb a Wrnttr, and with a rainy weather. . 3· E~m i~ the time of Winttr fhe it yet Chri{fr Love alfd fair one. I begm w1th the fir!\ of thefe two. . The true Church of Chri{!, and the truly believing Sot~l, in tbir life, meets wttb • Wmter •nd with rainy weather, It was Gods word to Noah,Gen. 8. 22, whUethe Earth remaineth Seed-time and Harvej!, and cold and heat, andf.ummerand winter, and d•y_and ntght fhaU not ceafi, and it is the !\atute of God concerning his Church. Tha: while his Church remains upon rhe Earth, c&id and be11t, fi<mmer and winter, day and night in her alfo !hall not c_eafe.In the openi_ng of this point, I mull enquire ; What tS meant by the Spoufer Winter and rJiny "'rather? f!'hY the Lurd hath fo ordered it. Then I !hall come co the Applicatton. What time or flace is that with the Spoufe, whkh is called her Jl'inter and Rainy weatber. It is aMetaphorical expreflion,0nd fignifieth ftlch a fiate as bears fome proportion; and hath fome refemblance with chat time of the year, which we call Winter, and with rainy weather. Winter is the Spoufes Winter :and RainJ• Dle lither. Is you know that time of the year betwixt Autumne and 1be Spring. It is to be confidered, 1. In the Caufes _ofit; 2. The Ad,jllntlr of it. 3. The effillr of it. · r. Thecaufe of the Winter is the diftan<e of the Sun. The Sun moves yet in its ecliptick line, and gives its light, and fends forth fome Beams; but its Beams come not fo direCtly upon the Earth, and therefore give not fo great a light, nor fend forth fuch an heat as at other times. 2, The Adj1<ntlr or properties of WiHter are cold and rain. The Beams of the Sun are the caufe of the heat of the Air, hence i> the cold of the Winter, when thofe Beams have not fo di~eCl an influence upon us. 2. The Winter a~ it is a time ofcold;fo alfo it is-a time of r.•in, andfroj!. Hyemr, ~ .-; vm , from rain. Ii is a time, that it is ufual to have much rain in. 3, The effellr ofWinter, the withering and decaying of plants and Howe>s, &c. their leaves and greennefs fails, they do not bud, nor bloffome, nor bring forth fruit; but, they are nipt, from the cold :\nd fro!ls, So that Winter is that .time of the year which through the abfence of the Sun is more cold, more rainy and troublefome, and, when through want of the inftuence oft he Sun upon the Earth , the Herbs and Plants do not grow nor !hew forth ~heir beauty, nor bring fqrth fruit as at other times. Rainy JPe•ther you all under!\and, it hath its ufe; .but it is a time that hinders people from making vifits to, and from in joying one another, and·keeps people much at home. Now I -fay the church of God, and the particular believing Soul, while in this lite, they alfo have their Winters and their Rainy weather; they have their variety of fiares, and God fometimes brings them into fuch !\ates, that may be refembled to Winter and to Rainy weather : well; but yon will fay what is the Spoufes Winter? what is her rainy wea-ther? ' 1. I find f6meliereundcr!!and the {fate .ofn.ture. The Apol\le faith, Eph. 2, 3.That thofe who. are quick.fned by Chri!l, p;ere once dead in trefPa[J'e! and finr; and were once the children of.wrarh even as others. She that God hath chofen for his Spoufe,and to is a Spoufe by an eternal defignation, by an eternal covenant, yea and 15y purchafe too, is yet a child of .yrarh by natnre, until quickened l5y the Lord Jefus Chri(\, and marrier! to him by fai th ; and this wioter is not until (by 'effefrual calling) the' Sun of d!jhteour.,cfs atilcth., |