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Show : ' : I ~ I I I I I i ' ; l f I I ,1: I' IJ : . , 7'k~ T.?lfiJ of , fruit; tliat is good too in its kind,but it is not !'f4HJ meal: t~ere ne many men and .women In the 'Yorld, that brmg forth frutt, that Is i'n Its kjna good; but not weU-pleofing to Cod, becaufe the per( ons'are not accepted: fuch are all the mor•l allro~J of men, the Juflice a{ one, the liberality of another, they are fruit, th~y are thtngs in themfelves good; but cot acceptable toG•d; matertally, but not formally an<! fpiritually good._ . 3· The beli~vers on~y bung fort~ fr~tt as the Vine, wh~fe branches you know l>rtng forth frmt, by vertuc of that pme wh\ch they derive from the flock. I am the Vme, the tme Vme (faith Chrill, 1oh. 15. ) you are the_branchu, A1 the brancb canHOI bringfortb fruit unle{t it abrdetb 111 the_ V•~e; fo no mo~e ca11 yow. txctpt you abide in me. So that as the Vme ts wtth relatton to the Trees of the Wood; fo is the believer with reference to other n:en ; here is their difference, this is their dignity. . . . But Secondly This notion doth not more fpeak the drgmty than the duty ofbelie~err. It is their dignity, that the~ are Vi11u,. Ch'rifis Vines. It is their duty to be VintJ, generous Vtnes. The Pfalmi!l fpeaking of the .l(raelilel,faith, thou ball bro~tg6t a Vine oHt of Egypt, Ffal. 8o. 8. Every true believer is a Vine brought out of Egypt. Every Church ofChrilt, is a Vine brought out of£fypt. The Church is a Vine brought out of the Egypt of Paganifm, the Egypt of Poptry.- Every true believer is~ Vine, brought out of the Egypt of a natHral condition, wherein It was a worfe llave to Satan, to lulls and cprruptions, than ever the men of Ifrael were to the King or Task-maf\ers of Egypt. 0 let not God l~y of the Churcb to which we relate,nor of any of our Souls,as he fa_rd of the I[ral'litu complaining, ]<r.2. n. I pl~nted thee a noble Vme,wboUy a -right fred, how art thou then turned tnt a th; degwerate pl•~t of a ftraJfge Vine 11nto me ! Let none of t~efe Vmes be as the Vmu of Sodom 11or of the fieldJ of Gomorrab; let none of your Grapes be Gr11pe; of gaU, let n•ne of your clujfm be bitter. Anfwer the nature ofVioes in your lives; . • . 1. Be you dependent Vinet. The Vme1s an tnfirm feeble pla~t, and therefore runs upon an houfe, or a 1'r_ee, or an Hedg. 0 hve in a confiant fenfe of your own ~e~knefs, 1~ aconll~ntdep~nd~ncy upon the Lord Jefus Chrill ! thtsts that hfe of Fatth, wh1ch 1s fo frequently in Scripture commended to you: God hath prepared yo~ a wall to Jean to, a 'tree to r11n ~p•n. 0 lea~n !~ ll~c upon God learn to live upon ]etjll Cbrifl~ The Vmc m Its own ' .1' llrentgh, , colljidereelttJ C hrijh Pinu • _fir~ngth, ~a?n~t run upward, and defend its own fruit ; and its frutt r_ots tf tt_hes upon the Earth and comes to nothing; withor.t ·me, f~tth Chnll,you ca11 do nothing; in me, faith God,-iJ y•ur fruit found. I:re not upon the Earth, take heed of a carnal worldly converfatton, all the fruit of holinefs rots, when our Vines lye upon the ground : Bring forth your fruit in Chrijl. That Text J ob. I 5. Every branch in me, that bringeth Hof fortb fruit it Cllt off an~ cafl into tbe fiTi, may as well be tranllated, Every b;a11cb tbat brrngeth not forth fruit in m•. Tl1ere is a fruit that may be brought forth not in Chritl; but t!tat fruit is naught. 2. Be you VintJ for fruitfi<lne[r. They fay the Vine is of all plants the moll fruitful plani ; and its fruit is mot! pleofant fruit. Hence you lhall obferve in Scripture that the fruitfulnefs of the Vine is much made ufe of,Pfal. rzS. 3•' Thy Wife lltall bea,s afruilful Vine by thy houfe-fide, If. 3 2. I2. They lhalllament for the fruitfUl Vine. And Chrill mu'ch preffeth this in his parable of t]le Vine, J ob. I5, God complained ofl[rael that lbe was an •mpty P'i11e, Hof. I o. I. An empty Vine is almoll a foleciline in nature. J told you in the explication, that were it not for the fruit uf tbe Vineit weieone of ,iheworll e>f plants, Ezef<: I5.1,2,3. Hear what the Lord fpeak~th: Son of man, faith he, what i1 the Viilttree, more tflan any tree, or than a branch which i1 a"1011g the treu of the Forr~ft l jhaU 'Wood be tak_en thereof to do any worl{,, or will mm take a pm oftt to hang all) vef[el tbereoniBebold it i1 e>Jf into the fire for J;uel, the fire dtvouretb both tbe md1 thereof; and the midjl of it it burnt: Is it meet fir any worl{,l Behold when it WaJ wbolt, # w•J meet for no work,.Separate aChrillian from his fruits ofHolinefs and what is this Vine more than the other Trees of the Farrell? what's a Profeffor, what's a Chrillian more than another man if he be not more holy' more humble, more m(ek, more charitable ? nay, ~sl before told you, he is worfe than others as the Wood of the Vine'i. worfe than any other Wood, not fit for' Timber, not fit for any w?rk,_ no: lit fo much as to make a Pin to hang a Vell'cl on. Ordmanly It falleth out that Chrillians are none of the great, none of the rich men, none of the wife politick men in the world; _Youk,_now yo11r ~aUi;zg ( Brethrm, faith the Apottle.) not "'"'!Y wife, not. many rzch, nut many ltoble. Many wicked m~n, t~ough they bnn~ fort!1 no fruit unto God, yet do God fame ferVtce, though not tntenttonally, yet by accident as it were. They mak,t ajhJt/Q_wfor th:opprtlfed, they are wife men and ufeful in great C c c 2 atfain 379 ,, ·~ ~ -· ll' .j: ! . l :J ~ - ~ .t .I % , -~ _: i l i i t ~ ,I, ~~j I ! F~ I ' . iJ |