ould ye condemn him
presently? No, but stay till ye see what he will do next, wait till the
due time, and when ye see a better piece of workmanship on that ground, ye
shall absolve him. Though God often change his work, do not think he
changes his counsel and purposes as men do, no, "he is in one mind, and
who can turn him?" Therefore he had that change in his mind when he made
the work, when he erected such a throne, he had this in his mind to cast
it down within such a space, and so his change--his throwing down--is as
perfect in his mind, as his building up. Ye have large and big
apprehensions of temporal kingdoms and crowns of government, and such
like, as if they were great, yea, only things, but they are not so to him.
All this world and its standing, all the kingdoms and their affairs are
not his great work and business. He hath a great work, the bringing of
many sons to glory, and the completing of Jesus Christ; building of that
glorious mystical building, the holy temple made up of living stones, of
which Christ is the foundation, and chief corner-stone both, and it is
this that he attends to most. Other works among men, though they have more
noise, they are less concerned. All these are but in the by, and
subservient to his great design, and like the scaffolds of a building,
that are, it may be, sometimes very needful. Nay, but when the building is
completed, he shall remove all these, he hath no more use of them: kings
shall be thy nurse fathers, kings shall bow to thee. He is not much
concerned in government nor in governors, but for his little flock's sake,
and if these were gathered, all these shall have an end, and the flock
alone abide for ever.

"And all his ways are judgment." This is to the same purpose,--his ways and
his works are one. And this is the perfection of his work, that it is all
right and equal; whether they be in justice or mercy, they are all
righteous and holy, no iniquity in them, his ways are straight and equal,
exact as if they were measured by an exact even rule, but because we make
application of a crooked rule to them, we do imagine that they are
crooked, as the blind man judges no light to be, because he sees it not.
How may the Lord contend and plead with us, as with that people, Ezek.
xviii. 25. Is it possible that any can challenge him and clear themselves,
who will be justified of all when he is judged, and before whom no flesh
can be justified? And yet, behold the iniquity of