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Show TP!Jat i1 the spoufu Wint& and be not very kind indeed) buds and blo!foms and bring~ forth fruit. We fay the plants grow at the root, but they do not grow in rhe branches, they do not (lr•t forth, they do no~ bnng forth If nit. So it is with the Church of Chrill in the nme of perfccution, fhe Jives but that is all. I may fay fhe g~ows at the root, thtnce it is u(i~ally obfcrved that after a Pcrfccutton, th~re appear more ptofdTors more true Chrillians than were before tt, but her growth is not fmn 01e doth not bring forth fuc~ open fruit as torrnerly; the fruit of the individual Soul is one thmg,. the fnnt of the Church is another. Take the Church as a CollcCbve Body, what is . her fruit, but her publick praifing and honouri.ng ~od, pub!ick duties and exercifes of Religion, by which God IS lughly honoured in the world? Now I fay this fruit faileth in a time of Perfecution. This is the Churches Winter. But Secondly, The believing Soul hath her '(flinter too. Any /late of affiidion outward or inward, by which her Glory and Beauty is fpoiled, or by which fhe is hind red from her du~y, from her priviledg, in her communion wil~ God; that's her Wmter, and fo the believing Sou! hath many Winters. . . . r. Any time of o"tward afflilJions is 4 Wmter, ( m?eed ~h1s IS the gentleH Winter; ) You know there is. a dtfference m Wmters; fame are very fharp, and kill plants, others are more g7nrle, the Sun is at its ufual dillance but the Air (in regard oft he wmd,&c.) is fo temperate,that many ~trees do bud,blo!fome,~ring forth fruit, &c. So iris as to bodily ajJlilJions, they are the ~?uls ~toter and do argue an aBfence of God, from the perfons aflhded,tn .rome degree ; the prefence of his Gracious providence is not wtth t~em, fo a<; formerly; but yet as to, their in ward man they llilllind God llreogthening, upholding, quickening, comforting ~hem ; and fo though they cannot bring forth fome f~uir, yetthetr Graces bud, blolfome, and they bring forth the fruit ofFazth and Patzence,. as gloriou!ly as ever. This is I fay a Winter, but the be!\ ofWtnters. Such are any Affiictions which only touch the outward man, and do not reach to the Soul. 2. Divine defertions m•k! a Winter. This is indeed a fad Win· ter and properly fo called,theLord Chrifi is compared to.the Sun, and called the Sun of Righteou[nefi. Now when he wlthdra":s himfelf from the Souls of his people; and moves at a furth~r dl! lance from them. than at other times, that they find nothmg of the confolations or quickening influences of his Spirit,they feel ' not not their former warmth,life or heat, this is indeed a fad Winter upon all accounts: neither doth the Sun Chine upon them as forme~ly ,neither is there that plcafantnefs in their Souls as formerly. Th1~ is I faya very fad winter,neither do they grow in grace as former(y. 3· "(he time of'lemptationt is a Winter too: when they lie u¥der grievous follicitations to fin again!\ God, whether thofe tempta· tions be ab extra, {rom their Adver(~~ry the Devil, who goeth about like a roaring Lion feeking whom he may devour, or from hi< tn{trumtlltt finful men in the world, by intreatiu exhorting, by favours aU11riHg, by feownt frighting them, to the ruine of their • Souls, or from within: I fay, let the Temptations be of what nature they will, they make a Winter in the Soul. Winter is a windy time, and temptations are like unto winds: Such a time I fay .js to the Soul as a time of Winter. God at fuch a time is ab· fent from the Soul in fome degree : the Soul at fuch a time wants its ufual beauty & greennefs, and looks like a plant Chattered with boifierous winds which hath an ugly look, though it may not on· ly keep its life, but its leaves alfo, y)t it is Chattered and ruffied with the winds.• A Chri!lian under violent temptations looks unlovelily. Thus I have Chewed you what fiat~s of the Spoufe thefe are which are not unfitly refembled to a time of Winter and Rainy weathe.r. :For the proof of the Point as to the ~71, that it Is fo, I fhall not in fill upon it. For that the Church of Chri!l may be in a Oate of perfecution, or that particular believing Souls may be outwardly affiided with difeafes, lofs of liberty, &c. Or Inwardly affiicted by divine defertions,by diabolical Temptations, needs no proof. Let us only inq.,ire the Wifdom of divine Pro vi· dence in this thing, and the reafon of fuch difpenfations why . God is pleafed to bring his people fometimes into fuch /lares as are refembled by a Winter and Rainy weather. In the general we mull know and believe what the Pfalmi!l faith, Pfalm 2 )· 1 o. AU the paths o[the Lord are merry and truth unto fuch M k..eep his Covr· n4nt and hit 'ltftimo•iu. It is for the good ofhis Spoufe, that in the general: But more particularly, Let us but enquire the ufeflllnefs of a Winter and Rainy weather to the Earth : and we 01all gather fomething of the ufefulnefs of thefe flares unto the people. of God. 1. By the Winter,tbe temporaryanmeal plants art k,.H•wnfrom more conf!ant planuth•l bavtiJ moredttr•ble Root. You have in the Earth {orne plants that are called annu.al plants, they Jail but for Mm - |