Page:Bush burning, yet not consumed, or, The church in the furnace, yet still preserved (2).pdf/9

 flame, a fire hotter than hell, that can harm the church of Chriſt. Why ſo ? The Lord is with her, I will be with thee. Can any thing harm a perſon when the Almighty is with him ? Surely no. Another ſcripture, affording a direct proof the doctrine, you have in Iſa xxvii 3. “ I the Lord do keep it, I will water it every moment; leſt any hurt it, I will keep it night and day". It will be a hot flame the waters of the holy ſpirit will not quench. O ſirs, there is a river that runs into the Buſh of Chriſt, that would quench hell’s flames, if it where pofitable they could freeze it. O! what is the flame this river will not quench? If a drop of it could but fall into hell, all its flames would be immediately quenched. The poor Buſh would be deſtroyed, did not the river of God run thro it. The Lord will keep it; leſt any hurt it, he will keep it night and day. That is a ſtrict guard indeed. ’Tis as if he had ſaid, I the owner, I the buyer and purchaſer of this glorious Buſh, am ſo much in love with it, am ſo much concerned for its ſafty and preſervation, that I will ſee to it, I will protect and defend it, day and night, from all harms and dangers. What reaſon have you to fear, believer, what the furnace be you are thrown into, when the Lord ſuperintends and guards thee? Truly, says the believer, I am not afraid of a foe in hell; for my head and huſband is my conſtant guard and protector. The believer may make a ſuppoſition that can never take place, hell’s flames, tho' he were in them, would be to him what Nebuchadnezzur’s fiery furnace was to the three heroic Jews. They would not hurt nor harm him in the leaſt; one in the form of God, and who thinks it no robbery to be equal with God would bear him company, and bring him out ſafe and ſound.

In the proſecution of the doctrine, I ſhall endeavour to do the following things.

I ſhall lhew why the church of Chriſt, in this repreſentation, compared to a Buſh.