The fiery trial no strange thing; delivered in a sermon preached at Charlestown, February…The fiery tryal no strange thing; delivered in a sermon preached at Charlstown, February…

1. Things unusual, and with which we have no acquaintance: such things as rarely happen, as scarce come once in an age, are esteemed to be strange things: a man whom we never or seldom saw before, and with whom we have not taken up any familiarity or friendship, is usually counted and ⟨p. 5⟩called a stranger: familiarity and strangeness are opposed each to other: so that then we count the fiery trial a strange thing, when we look upon it as a thing unusual, a thing not wont to befall the people of God, a rare thing; so the phrase is used, Luke.5.26. We have seen strange things to day: such as ages have not produced the like.

1. Things unusual, and with which we have no acquaintance: such things as rarely happen, as scarce come once in an age, are esteemed to be strange things: a man whom we never or seldome saw before, and with whom we have not taken up any familiarity or friendship, is usually counted and ⟨p. 5⟩called a stranger: familiarity and strangeness are opposed each to other: so that then we count the fiery tryal a strange thing, when we look upon it as a thing unusual, a thing not wont to befal the people of God, a rare thing; so the phrase is used, Luke.5.26. We have seen strange things to day: such as ages have not produced the like.

2. Things unexpected; such as come upon us at unawares; which we did not so much as dream of; it never entered into our thoughts to look for, and apprehend any the least probability or likelihood of such events. Those things which we do expect, they are not strange to us when they come, and that because we were in our expectance familiarized with them; but when they come suddenly, they surprise us: when we expected and promised our selves to live at ease, and not to be molested, and now trouble comes, we are amused: and thus strangeness is opposed to expectance, so it is used Joh.33.3. a strange punishment to the workers of iniquity, i.e. such as they were secure in their thoughts against, and seized on them unlooked for.