An exposition with practical observations continued upon the thirty-fifth, thirty-sixth, and thirty-seventh chapters of…

of which Christ being about to give his people warning,¹ not to believe those deceivers, who say, Lo here is Christ, &c. saith (Mat. 24.27.) For as the Lightning cometh out of the East, and shineth even unto the West, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be; that is, as the Lightning instantly passeth from one part of the heaven to the other visibly, so shall the coming of the Son of man be, a sudden, swift, and visible coming•; Ye shall not need to go into corners to show or see him, for he shall come as the Lightning discovering himself to all by the brightness of his coming. There was such an apprehension of the swiftness of the Lightning among the Ancients, that though the Latin word signifying to Lighten, is accented ⟨p. 452⟩long,² yet because Lightning is so swift in motion they were wont to pronounce it short; Lightning being so quick and active, they thought it was not suitable to draw it out in speaking by a long pronunciation. But though Lightning have such a violent and swift motion, yet 'tis under Gods command and direction, and it shall make no more haste than God will. An arrow flies with a very violent and swift motion, yet it is God that directeth the arrow, he di•ects it more than the man that shoots it; and when a shot is made, as we say, at random, God then di•ects it; as in that notable history of Ahab, when he, against the counsel of God given him by Micaiah, would needs go up to the battle at Ramoth Gilead (1 Kings 22.34.) the text saith, There was a man who drew a bow at a venture, we put in the Ma gin, He drew a bow in his simplicity, he had no special intention against Ahab, he did not aim at Ahab when he shot his arrow, but God carried it to the right mark, to fulfil that which he had determined and spoken concerning Ahab; yea, he directed it not only to the right man▪ but to the right place, the joint of his armour. When in battle, arrows, and darts, and bullets are sent forth, as so many thunder-bolts, the Lord directs them and hands them whither they shall go, whom they shall hit, and where. God also directeth the thunder-bolts of his Word, where and whom they shall hit. And (to the point in general) that the Lord hath a guidance over those things that are most contingent, we may see in that of Moses, when he gave a Law from the Lord about the man that goeth with his Neighbour to cut Wood;