leads them like scholars through several forms; and though at first in the centre, they know all that is necessary to salvation, yet things are beaten out afterwards unto a circumference. They know enough of Christ at first to save them, and of themselves enough to humble them; yet God suffers the wheel to go over them again and again. In reading the Scripture, observe it; read a chapter to-day, and when a man getteth his heart into a spiritual frame he will see many truths; let him read it the next day, and he will see something more, &c.: the reason is because God reveals himself by piecemeal.

Reason. Because indeed men are incapable of all at once, John xvi. 12. Our Saviour, though he came to reveal all fulness, yet how incapable were the apostles to apprehend it. He was fain to deliver over some of them to the Comforter. Paul, when he came to preach to the Corinthians, 1 Cor. iii. 2, he had many truths which he could not reveal unto them, for so long as they were carnal they were not capable of all truths, but as the flesh is emptying out of a man, so knowledge grows; so Isa. xxviii. 13, he was fain to speak by piecemeal, line upon line, and precept upon precept;' as ye teach young children a little now and a little then, for they cannot endure to be held long to their books; so is God fain to do with his. And as in teaching young scholars, what do tutors? They do read over first a compendium, some short grounds of logic, and then another book which is a systema, and then direct them to such commentaries that do enlarge truths. So God doth teach first by catechisms, which contain short fundamental truths, and then he goes over many truths in a larger manner in their hearts. A painter draws at the first but a few lines with a black coal; he will draw the shape of a man's face, but afterwards he goeth over it with colours and oil; so God doth with his church, and with private men, even as a master doth with his apprentice, he will not teach him all his knowledge at first, but he reserves something, that happily he will not teach him before he be to go out of his trade, he teacheth him by degrees; so God hath bound himself by covenant to teach you to know him; but something ye shall not know till you are to go from under his tuition.

And this he doth, first, to humble his people; he will have them know but in part. Though young converts have but a little knowledge, how proud are they! Much more if they had all at once.

And likewise, secondly, to shew the treasures in himself. In Christ are treasures that will hold digging to the end of the world; men would be weary if they had the same light still, therefore God goes on to discover, though the same truth, yet with new and diverse lights. Thus God reveals himself by piecemeals.

Use 1. Let us labour to grow in knowledge; God reveals himself by piecemeal, do not therefore stick in the first principles of religion; it is the apostle's exhortation to the Hebrews, chap. vi. There is a great deal of ignorance, therefore labour to go on to perfection, and grow in Christ; he reveals himself by piecemeal, not as if he had already obtained; therefore there is more knowledge to be had; the greatest part of that you know is the least part of what you know not.

Use 2. It may teach ministers to raise the age that they live in, in knowledge, though of the same truths, in a clearer manner, Mat. xiii. 52. It is said he that is a right scribe, that is fit to do service in the church of God, is like a householder, which bringeth forth things new and old; there is no man but God discovereth to him more, or the same by a further light, than to another.

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Use 3. It may humble young Christians, that think, when they are first converted, that they have all knowledge, and therefore take upon them to censure men that have been long in Christ; and out of their own experience they will frame opinions, comparing but a few notes together. Alas, ye have now know but a piece of what you shall know! When you have been in Christ which you ten or twenty years, then speak; then those opinions will fall off, and experience will shew them to be false. They think themselves as Paul, that nothing can be added unto them; but what says Paul, He takes a comparison from 1 Cor. xiii. 11? When I was a child,' &c. a child, as being a man, but raised up to his spiritual estate, and thou also wilt then put away childish things.'

Use 4. If God in former ages did reveal himself but by piecemeal, and if that piecemeal knowledge, which they had by inch and inch, did make them holy; for how holy was Enoch and Abraham that had but one promise; then how much more holy should we be, that have had so full a discovery! If one promise wrought so much on their hearts, how much more should so many promises on ours!

Use 5. Here we see that God doth work on men by degrees. It is Solomon's comparison, that righteousness shineth as the dawning of the Conversion out of the state of nature into day, till it come to perfect day. the state of grace is called coming out of darkness into light.' Now light comes into the world by degrees. A man that sitteth up in the night, when the first break of day is he cannot discern; but half, or a quarter of an hour after he begins to see light. Thus it is with many poor souls; they have light break in upon them; they can tell that they were in darkness, but the instant when this light brake in they know not, because God reveals himself by degrees.

I am now to shew how God reveals himself, woλurgónws. He did cast himself and his revelations into several moulds and shapes, into several ways of expressing himself, that so he might reveal himself to the people. As Ulysses is called Toλúrgoros, because he had ingenium versatile, and was able to cast himself into several moulds in his several dealings with men, so likewise God hath revealed himself oλurgóws, after several ways. In Hos. xii. 10 it is said, that Thus he did under the Old Testament. he multiplied visions,' because he was various in it; he used divers likenesses and expressions of himself while he spake by the prophets. We have it more plain in Num. xii. 6, If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known to him in a vision, and will speak to him in a dream.' Thus you see that there are several ways that God did speak to men by, by visions and dreams, and in dark speeches; but when he came to Moses, who was a type of Christ (for he is said to be a type in this particular, when it is said, 'I will raise up a prophet like unto thee'), it is said, that he spake to him mouth to mouth, as a man speaks to his friend,' Num. xii. 8, he speaks to him in an apparent manner; but by all the prophets he did speak in dark speeches, in riddles. So in the vision of the great eagle, Ezek. xvii. 2, it is called a riddle. He spake sometimes by visions and sometimes by dreams; yet the visions were more clear things than speaking by dreams; therefore it is said, 'The young men shall see visions, and the old men shall dream dreams;' the young men had more acute parts, and therefore they had more clear revelation. Thus God revealed himself to Joseph in dreams, and therefore he is called the dreamer, of his brethren; yet it is called the word of God,' Ps. cv. 19. So a hint in prayer, when it comes in with evidence, it is the word of God, as that

was to Joseph. He did reveal himself by dreams, to shew, first, that he can do that which no other teacher in the world can; for no teacher else can teach their scholar when they are asleep, but so the Lord did, and so he can still do. Secondly, he did it, to shew that, in revealing his message, reason should be asleep, and that should be subject to the revelation of God. He revealed himself likewise by visions, and in that regard the prophets are called Seers; and he revealed himself likewise by Urim and Thummim ; only those revelations were not for matter of doctrine, but of practice, when they were to deal in such and such a business. He revealed himself likewise by types; all the ceremonial law was but types of things to come. All these several ways did the Lord reveal himself to men in former times, πολυτρόπως.

The reasons of it are these.

Reason 1. Because he would shew forth, as the apostle in another case, Eph. iii. 10, his manifold wisdom.' It is the property and ability of a wise man to be able to represent himself several ways, and God hath always delighted so to do when he would reveal himself. He went two ways to work revealing himself: First, in the work of creation, Rom. i. 20, it is said, that the invisible things of God are seen clearly, being understood by the things that are made,' &c. ; yet this light is but a dark light. And therefore, secondly, he revealed himself in the law, wherein the image of his holiness, justice, and wisdom appeared. And these two things are the angels' catechisms (as I may so call them), which they and the old world have studied a long time; and in the end there came out another edition of himself, and all that is in him, and that is the gospel; and the text saith that he hath done this, to shew forth his manifold wisdom. Thus God hath more ways than one to represent himself to the people.

Reason 2. Secondly, because there are varieties of apprehensions; one man will be more taken by one way of revealing, and another by another. Thus the wise men were led to Christ by a star, God working on them according to their apprehensions. So the apostles, being fishermen, when they had caught a great draught of fish, Christ spake to them in their own language, and said, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.' Now there are several gifts in the church, which are but so many several ways of God's revealing himself; aud as in ministers there are several gifts, so in the hearers there are several apprehensions; some love a rousing ministry, others a more rational. As men's apprehensions are, so do they favour and relish men's gifts; and because men have several apprehensions, therefore hath he appointed several gifts. Thus God doth in converting men; he converts one man by affliction, another man he converts by his word, another man by the good example that he sees in another: 1 Pet. iii. 1, That they may, without the word, be won by the chaste conversation,' &c. So that the Lord hath several ways to bring his work about, revealing himself, Toλurgóws, therefore. So God lets man fall into manifold temptations, temptations of several sorts. God's dealings are exceeding various; some men he humbles with afflictions, others he overcomes with mercies; sometimes he deals in one way, and sometimes in another, so that if God hath given Christ to thee, thou mayest not stand to think at what door thou enterest in, what wind blew thee into heaven, for God hath many ways to bring thee in.

Use. It should teach ministers thus much, to mould truths into several forms and shapes, because they have several apprehensions to speak to. Idem potest variè dici, et verè dici. God himself used variety of similitudes

by his prophets, to this end, that he might speak to the people's apprehenhension. Thus we are to do, for God did it, moλurgónws. Christ used many parables to the same purpose, expressing faith to us under several expressions, as sometimes coming to Christ,' by eating of his flesh, and drinking of his blood;' sometimes by trusting on him,' and 'believing in him;' and why? Because in believers there are several apprehensions. Receiving Christ,' is the notion that expresseth the work of faith in one man; in another, coming to Christ,' is the notion that expresseth his faith; in another, eating Christ' savours with his apprehension. Thus Christ hath moulded it into several ways to suit several believers.

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Again, it is said he spake by the prophets to the fathers.' Those under the Old Testament are called fathers, because they were first in Christ,' as Eph. i. 12. It is an honour now to be an old convert, and therefore he puts it in, who first trusted in Christ'; therefore they are renowned, and their memory is everlasting. The saints under the New Testament, since the apostles' time, many or most of them, their memory is quite gone; but because these were they that first believed, we have a record of all the old worthies to the end of the world; and they are called fathers. And therefore it is an honour to be first in Christ, that so we may be patterns and examples to others; and it is a great motive to turn and to come into Christ soon, for it is said, 'They obtained a good report through their faith,' Heb. xi.; for to begin to believe first, when there were few examples and encouragements before them, is a great honour to faith, and it gives faith a good report. Thus Adam believed, having but one promise; and Abraham, being called out of a heathenish country, and having but few promises, he being the first example of all that believed, he is called 'the father of the faithful;' God honoured him for it. But these, though they are called fathers, yet in comparison of the times of the gospel, are called but children; it is the apostle's expression, Gal. iv. 3. The privileges of men under the gospel are exceeding far above theirs; though they were fathers, yet those things are revealed unto us which were not unto them. It is said in 1 Pet. i. 11, 12, that they ministered unto us;' so likewise, though those that did live many of them more near the primitive times than we that live in these times, though we honour their memories and call them fathers, yet we may truly say that there is more of the glory of the gospel revealed to us, in the days of Reformation, than was to them. Though they were fathers, and saw afar, yet we being set upon their backs, see further, though children.

And he mentions the fathers, because the Jews did so stick to the religion of their fathers; because Moses's law was given to their fathers, and was their religion. The apostle therefore, to take away this, because they stuck to religion simply because it was the religion of their fathers, says that God spake to them by the prophets, but to us by his Son.' That may be revealed unto the children which was not unto the fathers; so we that live in these days have a greater and clearer light than our fathers had, that lived under popery.

SERMON II.

God, who at sundry times, and in divers manners, spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds. HEB. I. 1, 2.

To come now to the other part of the words, in the last days he hath revealed himself unto us by his Son,' &c. The first thing we may observe hence is, why they should be called the last days'? These times of the

gospel are called the last days ;

First, That which is last implies more than one period to have gone before, for where there is ultimus there must be primus et medius at least; and therefore there were more periods than one that went before the revealing of the gospel; there were two eminent ones. The first was from the creation to Moses, when the law was given on mount Sinai, and the word committed to writing; the second was from Moses to Christ. These are days that are first and middle, and in comparison of those he calls these days the last days.'

Secondly, These are called 'the last days,' because upon us the ends of the world are come;' as 1 Cor. x. 11. All these things happened unto them for ensamples; and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends or the perfection of the world is come. All the days that went before were but types, and all the passages were but types; and those things that have been done in the times of the gospel have been the perfection of those things that went before. Was there wickedness before in the world? These last times shall be the perfection of the world in regard of wickedness; all the sins that were committed in the old world are but the præludiums to that villany that shall be hereafter. Was there grace stirring in the world before? It is but a type of that grace which shall be in the new world, in these last times. This is the last time, because it is the perfection of the other. So did God send judgment upon sin and sinners, they were types of what more eminent judgments he would bring upon men in these days. It is the harvest of the world; all that went before was but the sowing, this the ripening both of wickedness and grace. As the last act that is in a tragedy hath more in it than all the acts that went before, then comes in all the killing and butchering, and the plot doth then unfold itself; so all the other scenes that were upon the stage of the world make all way, to unfold this last; then comes in the bloody persecutions and heresies, and then comes sin and likewise grace to be at their full ripeness; and therefore the apostle saith, I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last,' &c. He doth allude to the last of the play, when they used at Rome their fence playing, they that came up last died for it; they went not off till one had killed the other. Now, saith he, 'I think that God,' &c., for the last time is the time wherein heresies and persecutions abound; then come in all the butchering, and all that went before was but a præludium of what was to come. Therefore ye shall find that the Revelation, which writes of the state of the church under the New Testament, alludes to passages in the Old, to shew that the Old was but a type of what was to be done under the New. As they had an Egypt and a Sodom, so we have a worse Egypt and Sodom, which is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt.' And as they had a Babylon that oppressed the church,