longest in duration and the shortest in fruition not that the enjoyment of any thing there is short but because in the shortest enjoyment there is all Every moment of eternity being filled with all the blessednesse of eternity Thirdly This shews the reason why the Lord taketh such leisure to do his work he doth not precipitate or thrust on his designs because he may take what time he will God hath all time at his command Men bear sway and rule over persons and places God only ruleth times Man hath not one day in his power not only not the day to come but not the day present Go to now saith the Apostle James chap. 4.13 14. ye that say to day or to morrow we will go into such a City and continue there a year and buy and sell and get gain whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow Nor indeed doth any man know whether he shall be on the morrow or on all the day wherein he is God can boast of to morrow that is of eternity or of all time to come Man cannot boast of tomorrow that is of the next day no nor of the next time to come of the same day Hence it is that man must hasten lest he misse his season When David had Saul at an advantage 1 Sam. 24.5 they about him advise him to make use of it and not to let it slip Behold the day of which the Lord said unto thee c. Sr having such a day take hold of it if you let this go you may never see such another Time is no part of the dominion of Kings So likewise Abishai counsels David upon the same advantage 1 Sam. 26.8 God hath delivered thy enemy into thine hand this day let him go this day and probably thou shalt never have the like day again Now therefore let me smite him I pray thee with the spear even to the earth at once and I will not smite him the second time I can dispatch him at one time and possibly thou shalt not have a second time In a good work it is good yea t is best to do our work at once and not to expect what we may or may never have a second time when we have a time To day if ye will hear his voice harden not your hearts He hath much hardnes but no wisdom in his heart who hopes to do that good to morrow which he resolvs to neglect untill to morrow A wise man may hope to do that to morrow which he cannot do to day but it is highest folly to resolve upon a neglect of any duty this day upon a hope of doing it next day It is said Revel 12.6 Woe to the inhabitants of the earth because the devil is come down having great wrath why so angry because he knoweth that his time is but short When the devil knows he hath but a little time he will do as much work as he can and do it presently he sees all will scape out of his hands else Only the Lord hastens not neither needeth he to hasten his work at any time upon this ground because he hath but a short time He can take what time he will and make his day as long and his daies as many as himself pleaseth for the acting of his counsels whether to punish or to shew mercy And hence it is that he delaieth till wicked profane spirits wonder yea scoff at his delay and think surely the Lord will never do any such thing as he hath threatned or promised because he staieth so long before he doth it wheras indeed to him that inhabiteth eternity deferment is no delay though to us it seem so whose times are measured out by inches and hours by moments and by minutes Those profane wretches Isa 5.19 call the Lord and provoke him to action Let him make speed and hasten his work that we may see it The Lord appears slow and slack to many men but the Lord is not slack as some men count slacknesse 2 Pet. 3.9 Men think he is slack when he is only patient and themselves ignorant That a thousand years to the Lord are but as one day God doth not measure time by our pole nor cast it up by our Arithmetike Eternity doth not only like the unjust steward bid us write fifty for an hundred but one for a thousand and which bears the disproportion of divers hundreds in every one of that thousand one day for a thousand years Time is not only a small thing but nothing unto God Mine age saith David is nothing unto thee Psal 39.5 And if all Nations before him are as nothing if they are counted to him lesse then nothing Isa 40.17 Then not only the age of one man but the ages of all men added together are before him as nothing and are counted to him lesse then nothing Surely he cannot want time to do all things before whom all times are nothing He cannot want time to pour out his judgements and to empty the vials of his wrath upon wicked men nor can he want time to fulfill his promises and to make good every word of blessing which he hath spoken to or concerning his own people Wicked men Doe not ye hope Godly men Do not ye fear God will not doe what he hath said because he hath not already done it He hath not lost his time or season because he hath not accepted that which ye thought to be the time or season Christ warns his Disciples Joh. 9.4 to make haste about their work for the night namely of death cometh wherein no man can work while you have the day do your work for I know what day yours is your day will be gone and the night will come then you can work no more But Gods day fears no night what ever comes he can do his work The Preacher gives the same counsel upon the same ground Eccles 9. Whatsoever thine hand findeth to do do it with all thy might lay hold upon the fore-lock of time why There is no wisdom or counsel in the grave whither thou goest When thou diest there is an end of all thy working time doe thy work well for thou canst not recall a day of thy life to mend thy work in neither canst thou work at all in that night of death The Lords day knows nothing of a grave nor is his Sunne acquainted with going down if he seem slack to his work or slack at his work this day and the next c. yet he hath another day at his call and after that another and another all which are to him but one day Therefore he takes or leaves defers or hastens comes or goes at pleasure Are thy daies O Lord as mans daies Are thy years as the daies of men I know they are not But why doth Job make so many of these negative queries The next words will answer Verse 6. That thou enquirest after mine iniquity and searchest after my sinne Here
most the wicked have cause enough to fear those in whom God delights Tâ—â—t of the Prophet which text hath variety of interpretations is taken in this sense Isa 53.8 Who shall declare his generation It is the word of the text Who shall declare his age or the generation of Christ Some understand it of his eterâ—â—â—â— generation Others of his â—â—â—â—â—rall generation when he was â—â—â—â—rnate the mystery whereof was beyond words A third of that eternity which followed his passion As if it were an Antithesis to those words He was taken from prison and he was cut off but who shall declare his generation You may quickly write up the daies that Christ lived here upon earth they were but few even his pilgrimage was short on earth but who can declare his generation Those infinite and eternall ages and revolutions thorow which he shall passe though now you have quickly cut off his life Others by his generation understand the holy seed and issue the children of Christ His Crosse was fruitfull and his sufferings productive of an infinite generation Who can declare it Though you cut off the Father yet this father by dying will give life to an innumerable posterity Who can declare his generation So vers 10. He shall see his seed But besides all these we may with good probability interpret the word generation for the time when Christ sojourned in the flesh Quis cogitare aut dicere potest quam perversi fuerint homines qui tempore ejus victuri sint Pined Who can declare his generation That is who can describe the time or the age wherein Christ lived As if he had said you see here in this glasse of prophecy how they will use Christ how bloudily and cruelly they will deal with him he shall be imprisoned he shall be cut off and numbred among transgressours Who can declare his generation What pen is able with lively colours to paint out the several wickednesses and tyrannies of that age acted against and inflicted upon that holy and innocent lamb Iesus Christ who came to die for the sins of the world Surely his generation or the story of his age will be such as no pen is able to draw out or fully to delineate Who shall declare his age The age which Bildad cals Iob to enquire into is not a part of mans life or the whole life of a man or one age of men or state of times but the whole space of time from the very beginning with all things done or suffered and the persons who have been active or passive doers or sufferers in those times Thus enquire of the former age The reason why he called him to enquire of the former age was because in those times the will of God was not reduced to writing The divinity of the first ages was traditionall The Scriptures were not composed for more than 2000. years after the creation buâ—â—he minde of God was either immediately revealed or carried from father to son from generation to generation being preserved not in paper and 〈◊〉 or other formall records but in the memories and hearts of tâ—â—â—â—ithfull untill the giving of the Dâ—â— Hence it was that Bildad refers Iob to those revelations or to the experiences of the fathers concerning the dealings of God in former ages Columnae duae inscriptae à nepotibus Adami characteres quosdam figuras mathematicas pro siderum observatione potius quaÌ„ ullam historiaÌ„ aut exquisitam de Deo ejus providentia doctrinam habuisse dicuntur Beros l. 8 Ant. Berosus in his eighth book of Antiquities reports that the fathers after Adam set up two great pillars upon which some affirm they inscribed many divine truths but he tels us that those pillars of which some monuments were seen after the floud were filled rather with Astronomicall observations Mathematicall scheams of the heavens and figures of starrs we cannot put much value upon either of these opinions The former cannot warrant us that any thing was registred and written by Gods appointment till the writing of the Law And therefore Bildad according to the usage of those times sends Iob for information to the traditions and reports of the fathers For after the Law was written the Prophets in case of emergent doubts and controversies sent the people not to the traditions or experiences of former ages but To the Law and to the testimony if they speak not according to this word it is because there is no light or no morning in them Isa 8.20 The word once written was the rule and though it cannot speak yet it must teach us how to speak If we speak not according to this there is no light in us But the word not being written Bildad advises Job well Enquire of the former age And prepare thy self to the search of their fathers Having counsel'd him to enquire of the former age he addeth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Prepare thy self to the search of their fathers as if he had said Fundare aptare parare ordinare stabilire significat though I bid thee enquire yet I would not have thee rush hand over head upon this enquiry Prepare thy self The word signifies to lay a good foundation Due preparations are the foundations of action Hence it signifies also to establish because a matter is established and confirmed by wise preparations and considerate addresses to it Those things stand fastest about which we make not too much haste Further the word signifies the fixing of the minde Fix thy heart upon this work keep thy spirits intent Psal 108.1 My heart is fixed saith David which some render My heart is prepared I will sing and give praise Prepare thy self To the search of their fathers Before he advised him to enquire of the former age here To search their fathers as if he had said Do not confine thy self to the immediately fore-passed times but go as high as thou canst The former age as was touched upon that passage may include all times past but here to avoid all mistakes he gives it in expresly The fathers of the former age are the fathers of every age All that have lived before us come under the relation of our fathers The fathers were dead but they lived in their monuments and works these he must search so farre as any mark or remembrance of them could be found Hence observe First That as it is a duty in all so it was a custome in ancient times carefully to record the dealings of God with them for the use of ensuing generations To what end should Job search if nothing were to be found The Jews were commanded to remember the works of God for their learning after the word was written Psal 78.5 He established a testimony in Jacob c. That they should make them known to their children God hath alwaies had a book of his acts and monuments as well as of his laws and institutions Names given to children and yearly feasts
secondly It noteth such a shout as is in an army where a King in person is leader or victour Thirdly The shout of a King is amongst them because the voice of a King should be as the sound of a trumpet or some loud instrument to enform and direct his people as also to enourage them From all we see this rejoycing is no ordinary joy It is a high a triumphant joy I will fill thy lips with rejoycing till thou shall sing VICTORIA over all thine enemies and calamities Further This also is in it a rejoycing with praise not a bare rejoycing in the blessings and deliverances but a rejoycing in the praises of God who hath given those blessings and wrought those deliverances The Septuagint translate it by rendring of thanks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. confessioâ—e laudis gratiarum actionis pro accepta resti tutaque soelicitate or a confession of praise I will not cast thee away till I have filled thy lips with rejoycing that is with my praises Thus David praies Psal 71.8 Let my mouth be filled with thy praise and with thine honour all the day long Praise filling the heart fils the mouth joy as well as sorrow pent up stifles the Spirit Hence we may observe First That as joy is the portion of the people of God so in good time they shall receive their portion He will not cast off a perfect man till he fill his mouth with joy and his lips with rejoycing Joy is their due and joy they shall have Hereafter they shall have their Masters joy Enter into your Masters joy will Christ say at last Now they shall have such a joy as befits them whilest they are in their Masters service And as rejoycing is the portion so the proper portion the peculiar of godly men Though laughing as it is a naturall act is common to all men yet in the sense we speak of laughter is appropriated unto godly and perfect men They only can laugh indeed who have mourned indeed Tibi ridet mihi non sibi A wicked man doth but feign a laugh He laughs to thee and to me but he doth not laugh to himself He hath no true laughter while he laughs His laughter is madnesse and proceeds from his ignorance not from his reason Besides other marks of difference which shall be put between the servants of God and their enemies this is one My servants shall rejoyce and ye shall be ashamed Isa 65.13 This joy arises two waies First From the greatnesse of the blessing which they receive for themselves We must rejoyce in the least mercy how greatly then in the greatest Our joyes take their measure by our mercies When Sarah had a Son she said God hath made me to laugh so that all that hear me shall laugh with me Gen. 21.6 Her mercy in receiving a sonne was so great that it would serve a whole world to make merry with The man that had found his lost sheep laid it on his shoulders rejoycing it was a pleasant burden to him and when he came home he called together his friends and neighbours saying Rejoyce with me Luk. 15.6 As some afflictions are so big that all our own sorrows are not large enough to weep and mourn over them so some blessings are so big that they call out more then our own affections to rejoyce over them Secondly This overflowing joy arises from the greatnesse of those judgements which are poured out upon the enemies of the Saints The overthrow of Pharaoh at the red sea of Jabin and Sisera at the brook Kishon filled all hearts and mouths with laughter and so shall the overthrow of Babylon Rev. 15. Thus when God doth great things for his people and great things against his enemies then it is time to rejoyce greatly Psal 126.1 The Lord hath done great things for us whereof we rejoyce say the captive Jews in the morning or first dawnings of their deliverance from Babylon and more then so Then was our mouth fill'd with laughter and our tongue with singing And there is cause of great rejoycing in those great things because then God fulfils his promises and makes his Name glorious in his providences Then God is greatly honoured when his people are greatly delivered then the blasphemies of wicked men are unanswerably confuted and their mouths for ever stopped From all these considerations the hearts of the Saints are filled with laughter and their mouths with rejoycing in a day when God works great things At such times joy and this degree of it is not only our priviledge but our duty When we carry a message of thanks to God we must not come with uncheerfull countenances or sowr faces It is a comely thing when our affections keep time and proportion with the dispensations of God When we cannot sing the songs of Sion or use our harps by the waters of Babylon and when we cannot but sing either in the restoring of Sion or in the ruines of Babylon Some may object those texts Woe to them that laugh c. Luk. 6.25 It seems laughter is the portion of wicked men for woe we are sure is their portion It 's true worldly laughter a laughter in corn and wine and oil a laughter in riches and honours and carnall pleasures as such is a laughter with a woe annexed But to laugh in the sense of the goodnesse of God giving us outward good things to expresse our selves joyfully when God expresses himself graciously is not only comely but holy When Gods heart comes out at his hand and is seen in his actions our hearts should come out at our mouths and be heard in our exultations Thus we have seen the effect of the goodnesse of God upon his own people See the effect of his justice upon wicked men Verse 22. They that hate thee shall be cloathed with shame and the dwelling place of the wicked shall come to nought God resists or will not put forth his hand to evil doers then follows They shall be brought to shame Shame is opposite to laughing he that rejoyceth usually holds up his head and cares not who sees him but he that is ashamed holds down his head and endures not to be seen Some men laugh in their sleeves as we say but all men would be ashamed in their sleeves They that hate thee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Odâ—o habuit contempsit Dicitur etiam aliquando peâ— comparationem alterius quod nagis amâ—â—ur non quod propriè odio habeatur Rab. Dav. in l. Rad. The word hath a double signification First It imports the putting forth of bitter hatred when a man sets himself maliciously against his brother Secondly It is taken comparatively for a lesser or more remisse putting forth of love He may be said to hate who wants a due heat and height of love In that sense Jacob was taxed for hating Leah Gen. 29.31 When the Lord saw that Leah was hated c. Take
p. 49. We must not despise small beginnings p. 52. Sorrow is not easily shaken off p. 347. Soveraignty of God p. 284. Soul taken two waies in Scripture p. 412. Three things weary and load the soul p. 413. Soul and life in man are distinct 418. Spirit A three-fold work of the spirit p. 480. Spirit of man taken three waies p 528. Starre what it is p. 207. The differences of the stars ib. 208. The number of the known stars p. 208. The known stars represented in fourty one images ibid. All the stars are particularly placed in the heavens for the good of man p. 212. Man very apt to commit idolatry with the stars p. 212 215. God knows the number and names of all the stars p. 213. Some stars more excellent then others ib. The power and wisdom of God shine forth from the stars p. 214. Six things shew the power and wisdom of God in making and ordering the stars p. 215. Starres can do nothing of themselves but as God orders p 217. They are for signs but not for infallible signs p. 219. It is a duty to study the starres p. 220. Strength of two sorts p. 158. Strength of God opened ibid. Strength signified by five distinct words in the Hebrew pag. 289. Strength of God insuperable p. 289. The strength of God appears in three things pag. 290. Sunne at Gods command p. 189. Shadow of the Sunne going back in Hezekiahs time p. 193. The rising of the Sunne is an act of favour renewed to the world every day p. 196 Supplication The nature of it p. 29. Supplication properly what it is p. 266. T TEmptation makes the Saints sometimes weary of their lives p. 420. Great afflictions lay us open to great temptations p. 430. Thousand How taken in Scripture p. 151. One of a thousand what it means ib. Time is very swift p. 334. Swift as and swifter then a Post shewed in ten particulars p. 335. Tradition and immediate revelation the rule till the Word was written p. 56. Trust what it is p. 89. A two-fold effect of trust ibid. Trust of hypocrites like a Spiders web in five things p. 90 91. Truth is more ancient then errour p. 59. Truth cannot be had with ease pag. 61. Four things fit us for the search of truth ib. Truth is to be highly esteemed p. 71. We should yeeld to one another in controversies as farre as truth will let us p. 146. Truth is ever the same and we should be the same to truth p. 307. Great truths must be resolutely maintained p. 308. Type what it is properly p. 32. V Vision of God in heaven not in his Essence p. 231. We cannot see God fully on earth in his Word and works p. 228 232. That we see so little of God should humble us p. 233. Visitation of God three-fold p. 527. Untill notes a continued act p. 132. W WAshing What it imports ceremonial washings p. 365 366. Wicked men have their name from unquietnesse p. 309. They often abound with earthly things p. 324. They have a just title to the earthly things which they enjoy p. 325 326. How it is in vain for a wicked man to seek unto God and how not p. 362. 363. To be accounted wicked is a sore affliction p. 434. Wicked men in what sense they may be said to have prosperity p. 448. To be wicked or to do wickedly is inconsistent with grace p. 476. A wicked man who described in five particulars p. 476 c. All men are either godly or wicked p. 482. Wise What it is to be wise in heart p. 156. God is infinitely wise p. 157. Witnesse and party must not be the same man p 295. Woes of two sorts pag. 542. Woe is the portion of the wicked p. 543. Words It is our duty to watch over our words p. 5. It is a duty to give check to the idle or evil words of others ib. Words like a strong winde shewed in six particulars p. 8 9. God is not taken with fine words p. 259. Worldly things have no consistence They are alwaies in motion p. 336 337. They passe as if they had never been 341. Worldly estate of good men as transitory as that of evil men p 342. Works of God are to be recorded for after times p. 57. It is our duty to enquire into former times p. 58. It is but little of God that we are able to see in his works p. 228 â—32 Y YEsterday Taken three waies in Scripture p. 62. A TABLE OF THOSE SCRIPTVRES Which are occasionally cleared and briefly illustrated in the fore-going EXPOSITIONS The first number directs to the Chapter the second to the Verse the third to the Page of the Book Genesis Chap. Vers Pag. 1. 1. 199. 1. 8. 201. 1. 14. 207. 2. 2. 442. 3. 16. 277. 4. 6. 25. 4. 10. 371 6. 6. 498. 7. 23. 99. 11. 5. 15. 11. 15. 474. 18. 21. 474. 18. 25. 11. 19. 16. 126. 22. 12. 474. 25. 23. 49 289 25. 32. 524. 27. 33. 331. 28. 19. 133. 29. 31. 137. 31. 24. 194 385 31. 47. 106. 32. 9 10 11. 256 42. 11 19 31. 406 Exodus Chap. Vers Pag. 10. 28. 166. 13. 4. 73. 15. 11. 380. 20. 6. 31. 23. 1. 389. 23. 1. 125. 23. 2. 164. 33. 20. 229. 34. 7. 36â— Leviticus Chap. Vers Pag. 1. 4. 388 390 4. 15. 388 19. 15. 48 26. 44. 123. Numbers Chap. Vers Pag. 8. 10. 389. 23. 21. 135. 24. 17. 204. Deuteronomy Chap. Vers Pag. 2. 11. 401. 3. 23. 30 4. 19. 212 8. 2. 474 10. 12. 54. 11. 24. 204. 18. 9. 218. 21. 6 7. 368. 29. 26. 213. 32. 13. 204. 33. 9. 303 Joshua Chap. Vers Pag. 6. 5. 134. 7. 7 8. 240. 10. 12. 190. Judges Chap. Vers Pag. 5. 20. 217 6. 21. 150 7. 31. 134 14. 12. 140 1 Samuel Chap. Vers Pag. 1. 18. 346. 1. 19. 501 15. 29. 242 377 15. 32. 286. 17. 33. 375. 22. 18. 289. 24. 14. 26 28. 19. 63 2 Samuel Chap. Vers Pag. 5. 8. 495. 12. 12. 102. 19. 24. 217 21. 1. 437. 22. 19. 93. 1 Kings Chap. Vers Pag. 4. 32 33. 75 7. 21. 100 8. 29. 24. 2 Kings Chap. Vers Pag. 4. 29. 285 9. 26. 62 14. 9. 150 20. 9 10. 193 21. 13. 55â— 2 Chronicles Chap. Vers Pag. 30. 5. 60 Nehemiah Chap. Vers Pag. 6. 9. 126 Esther Chap. Vers Pag. 7. 8. 327 9. 29 31. 99 Job Chap. Vers Pag. 12. 12 13. 473 13. 3. 255 14. 18. 173 15. 19. 322 18. 4. â—74 19. 6. 14 20. 22. 111 21. 2. 171 23. 13. 243 26. 7. 186 26. 12. 245 30. 23. 293 33. 11. 77 33. 19. 416 33. 23. 151 34. 29. 327 37. 18. 200 201 38. 22. 202 38. 31. 217 40. 13. 327 42. 5 6. 252 Psalms Psal Vers Pag. 2. 1. 205 2. 9. 503 4. 2. 4 8. 3. 221 9. 18. 501 14. 5. 55 17. 14. 324 18. 7. 102 18. 25 26. 35 19. 1. 221 19. 4. 9 221 19. 5. 194 22. 29. 507 24. 1 2. 185 33. 6. 7 36. 6. 175 36. 9. 501 46. 2. 175 50. 16. 363 50. 18. 377 51. 4. 21 51. 9. 367 56. 5. 352 58. 8. 177 61. 7. 55 69. 6 7. 139 73. 4. 313 73. 9. 9 73. 15. 33 â—â—â— â—â—â— 187 76. 6. 195 77. 9. 501 77. 9. 78 81. 12. 129 82. 5. 329 89. 15. 134 89. 25. 389 90. 6. 151 90. 11. 403 91. 13. 203 94. 9. 487 95. 10. 88 100. 3. 444 102 27. 225 103 14. 505 104. 32. 174 105. 15. 195 106. 23. 137 108. 1. 57 108. 9. 203 110. 7. 545 119. 116. 139 119. 121. 12 121. 5. 529 130. 3. 539 139. 14 15. 443 143. 2. 154 144. 5. 172 148. 8. 192 Proverbs Chap. Vers Pag. 1. 22. 4 1. 32. 26 7. 27. 210 8. 27. 202 18. 23. 30 19. 11. 226 24. 4. 21â— 23. â— 28. 234 27. 19. 250 28. 14. 161 29. 15. â—23 31. 8. 225 Ecclesiastes Chap. Vers Pag. 1. 16. 13 2. 18. 117 5. 2 259 6. 10. 379 7. 13. 14 8. 4. 241 8. 11. 163 9. 2. 482 10. 7. 328 12. 1. 78 Canticless Chap. Vers Pag. 1. 6. 458 2. 4. 274 5. 10. 151 5. 12. 367 Isaiah Chap. Vers Pag. 1. 18. 255 367 3. 1. 93 3. 9. 138 347 6. 5. 230. 252 8. 9. 167 10. 26. 312 11. 4. 7 11. 3. 425 14. 23. 91 19. 25. 444 24. 20. 187 25. 4. 278 26. 19. 507 27. 8. 556 27. 11. 446 27. 4. 167 28. 15. 312 28. 7. 110 28. 21 560 30. 7. 246 30. 13. 314 32. 17. 46 32. 2. 454 33. 14. 91 38. 10 12. 414 38. 3. 265 40. 31. 340 40. 4. 173 40. 28. 158 41. 15. 172 42. 25. 179 43. 26. 258 43. 13. 194 44. 20. 390 44. 24 25. 218 45. 11. 240 446 47. 3. 556 49. 15 16. 80 81 49. 23. 246 51. 9. 41 245 53. 8. 55 53. 9 12. 359 55. 6 7 8. 378 57. 17. 77 57. 20. 206 57. 1â—â— 404 58. 3. 82 154 59. 6. 97 62. 6. 501 64. 1. 174 64. 6 7. 25 350 484 65. 24. 39 66. 5. 124 66. 12. 557 Jeremiah Chap. Vers Pag. 2. 22. 370 2. 29. 154 2. 31. 80 2. 32. 79 2. 34. 467 7. 1 2. 97 7. 4 9. 363 8. 6. 406 8. 14. 239 10. 24. 403 11. 13. 141 12. 1. 153 15. 2. 26 15. 1. 238 18. 4. 503 22. 24. 17 23. 10. 4â—6 23. 14. 126 27. 6. 323 30. 14. â—79 31. 35. 216 31. 28. 36 50. 20. 467 50. 7. 45 â—â—â— â—â— â—â—â— Lamentations Chap. Vers Pag. 3. 36. 18 3. 59. 14 3. 37. 195 4. 6. 313. Ezekiel Chap. Vers Pag. 3. 8 9. 160 6. 9. 88 16. 49. 126 18. 25. 154 20. 47. 311 21. 3. 310 32. 7. 191 36. 31. 413 Daniel Chap. Vers Pag. 2. 35. 112. 4. 35. 239 7. 9. 460 8. 5. 109 341 9. 14. 37â— Hosea Chap. Vers Pag. 2. 2. 154 2. 21 22. 217 4. 14. â—6
to stones and pillars have been the preservatives and memorials of his wonderfull works The works of God are his holinesse justice power mercy truth made visible The administrations of God in one age are for the instruction of all ages God spake with Jacob only in person at Bethel yet there the Scripture saith he spake with all his posterity Hos 12.4 He found him in Bethel and there he spake with us It is then a debt to posterity to shew them what God hath done for us Observe Secondly That it is our duty to enquire into the dealings of God in all ages It was their duty before the word was written and it is a duty still The works of God are to be studied and read over as well as his word Deut. 4.20 32. Ask now of the daies that are past which were before thee since the day that God created man upon earth and ask from one side of heaven to another enquire every way to see whether ever God dealt with a people as he hath dealt with thee whether God did ever assay to take to himself a Nation from the middest of another Nation by temptations and by signs and by wonders c. Enquire this of all the former times So Deut. 32.7 Remember the daies of old consider the years of many generations ask thy father and he will shew thee thy Elders and they will tell thee The Psalmist promises to rehearse what these were enjoyned to record Psal 78.3 4. I will open my mouth in a parable I will utter dark sayings of old which we have heard and known and our fathers have told us Our speaking of and enquiring into what God hath done shews the harmony between his word and works And the former providences of God are food for our faith as well as the promises of God Thirdly That which I shall rather insist upon is this True antiquity ever gives a testimony to the truth Hence the Prophets send the people back to antiquity Jer. 6.16 Enquire for the good old-way Every old way is not a good way but in every good old way we may walk safely and see the footsteps of truth Quod antiquissimum verissiâ—um It is a received rule That is truest which is ancientest It is certainly so for truth is not only ancient but eternall Truth is as old as God himself for truth is nothing else but the minde of God truth was with God from everlasting Truth is commonly called the daughter of time yet in a sense it is the mother of time for it was before time was and therefore no question that which is ancientest is truest Yet there is a great abuse of this principle Look back to antiquity and consult with your fathers say many and see what they did how they believed But what is the antiquity they call us to consult with It is not as Moses spake in that place of Deuteronomy antiquity since God created man upon earth or since Jesus Christ was upon the earth and gave out his Gospel-laws but it is the antiquity of some later ages and editions an antiquity far short of what is indeed the ancient time The Apostle 1 Joh. 2.7 gives us the definition of an old commandment This is the old commandment which was from the beginning Our sinfull nature is called the old man and yet it is a corrupt man It is called the old-man not that it is older then the new man the new man is not of a younger house or later date then the old man Holinesse was before corruption And the image of God upon man elder then sinne the image of the devil There are many corruptions in doctrine in opinion in worship in practice which go for very old And there are many doctrines which we call new truths Is it because those corruptions are older then these new truths No new truths are elder then the oldest corruptions That which we call the new world was created in the beginning though discovered but yesterday So new truths were given from the beginning only they were unknown till of late and we may well conceive that some goodly regions of truth are still terra incognita undiscovered God having reserved them for the honour and industry of some divine Columbus who may give us an exacter sea-card of divine mysteries then the world hath yet seen though enough hath been seen from the beginning for the safe steering of our course to heaven He that would enquire and make a diligent search for truth must goe to the first institutions That 's the old commandment which was from the beginning The Prophet Ezekiel Chap. 23.43 speaks of some who were grown old in adulteries that is old in adulterating and corrupting the truth and worship of God That which is old may be old in evil and fuller of errours then it is of daies We finde when the good Kings of Judah reformed they did not search only into what was done in the ages immediately before them or what their next fathers had done but they searcht what was done in the times of their godly fathers how many removes soever distant from them Hezekiah 2 Chron. 29.6 tels the Levites that their fathers were in an errour that they had trespassed and done that which was evil in the sight of the Lord and had forsaken him and Chap. 30.5 speaking of the observation of the Passeover he saith They had not done it of a long time in such sort as it was written therefore v. 7. he dehorteth them saying Be not ye like your fathers which trespassed against the Lord God of your fathers he doth not mean that they should not be like their first fathers who had the truth purely committed to them and so worshipped God purely but be not like your immediate fore-fathers or your corrupt fore-fathers how many descents and generations so ever ye can number from them And this was a thing so strange that when Hezekiah sent the Posts from City to City thorow the Countries of Ephraim and Manasseh with this message that he would have a reformation according to the first institution or patern and would not have them stay in what their fore-fathers had done It is said vers 10. That they laughed the messengers to scorn and they mocked them what must we now be wiser then our fathers Yes saith he you have done evil a long time you and your fathers therefore I must bring you back to your first fathers in comparison of whom the fathers you claim by were but children and those degenerate children It is said of Josiah's reformation 2 King 23.22 That there was not the like from the daies of the Judges nor in all the daies of the Kings of Israel and Judah he went to the very beginning of all there had not been such a thing done before So that if any should have objected why may not such a reformation serve us as served those Kings and Judges No saith Josiah I will search
but I have not set them for Prophets If any presume to declare or resolve what shall be done I resolve to punish their presumption I take delight to frustrate men who delight in this and to befool them who would be thus wise This is my name The God that stretcheth out the heavens alone and that maketh diviners mad Great disappointments enrage and some men lose their reason when they lose the credit of doing things above reason Because they cannot be as Gods to fore-tell good or evil they will not be so much as men He makes the diviners mad The Law was peremptory and severe against them Deut. 18.9 There shall not be found amongst you any one that useth divination or is an observer of times why not an observer of times may we not observe times and seasons May we not look up to the heavens and consider their motions Yes we may observe times holily but not superstitiously as if some times were good others bad some lucky others unlucky as if the power of God were shut up in or over-ruled by his own instruments and inferiour causes this is dishonourable unto God and thus the Jews were forbidden to use any divination or to observe times The heavens and stars are for signs but they are not infallible signs They are ordinary signs of the change of weather Mat. 16.2 3. They are ordinary signs of the seasons of the year Spring and Summer and harvest and winter they are ordinary signs of a fit time to till and manure the ground to plow sowe and reap The earth is fitted and prepared for culture by the motion of the heavens The heavens are at once the Alphabet of the power and wisdom of God and of our works we may read there when to do many businesses Gen. 8.22 While the earth remaineth seed-time and harvest and cold and heat and summer and winter and day and night shall not cease Those seasons shall continually return according to the time of the year measured by the Sun Moon and Stars Thus they are signs of ordinary events And God sometimes puts the sign of an extraordinary event in them Mat. 24.29 Immediately after the tribulation of those daies shall the Sunne be darkned and the Moon shall not give her light and the stars shall fall from heaven and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken which some understand allegorically others literally of strange apparitions and impressions in heaven either before the destruction of Jerusalem or the day of judgement So Act. 2.19 20 c. Thus God puts a sign in them of extraordinary events But shall man from them prognosticate and fore-tell extraordinary events as when there shall be famine and pestilence war and trouble in Nations This the Lord abhorreth The counsels of God about these things are written in his own heart what is man that he should transcribe them from the heavens But if men will say they are written there God will blot out what they say and prove theirs to be but humane divinations yea that they were received from hell not written in heaven Isa 47.13 I will destroy the signs of them that divine let now the Astrologers the star-gazers the monethly Prognosticatours stand up and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee Behold they shall be as stubble they shall not be able to deliver themselves It is good to be a starre-beholder but a wicked thing to be a starre-gazer that is to look upon the stars so as if we could spell out the secret providences of God and read future events in the book of those creatures It is our duty to look upon the heavens as they declare the glory of God but it is a sin to look upon the heavens as if they could declare the destinies fates and fortunes of men All which vanities are largely and learnedly confuted by M Perkins in his book called The resolution of the Countrey-man about Prognostications Now that the successe of every creature is in God not in the stars we may see first in the order of the creation God created the earth and commanded it to bring forth fruit upon the third day but the lights in the firmament were made the fourth day The earth can bring forth without the midwifery or help of the heavens God himself made the earth fruitfull without yea before the stars were made Philo Judaers de opificio munâ—i Upon which one of the Ancients gives this observation Surely saith he the Lord in his providence made the earth fruitfull in all its glory before he put the stars in the heavens to the intent to make men see that the fruitfulnesse of the earth doth not depend upon the heavens or stars God needs neither the rain of the clouds nor the warmth of the Sun to produce these effects He that made all second causes to work in their ranks can work without the intervention of any second cause And because the Lord fore-saw men would dote much upon second causes and venture to prognosticate by the heavens the fates of men and the fruitfulnesse of the earth therefore he made the earth fruitfull before he made Arcturus or placed those constellations in the heavens Secondly The providence of God works under the decree of God His providence is the execution of his decree Therefore we must not bring the decrees down to providence but we must raise providence up to the decrees Thirdly The heavens and those heavenly bodies Arcturus c. are but generall causes there are speciall causes besides of the earths barrennesse or fruitfulnesse of tempests at sea and troubles at land and the Lord is able to invert all causes to work beyond causes without causes and against causes So that nothing can be infallibly fore-told from the positions conjunctions or revolutions of those heavenly bodies Lastly Observe That it is our duty to study the heavens and be acquainted with the stars In them the wonderfull works of God are seen and a sober knowledge in nature may be an advantage unto grace Holy David was such a student Psal 8.3 When I consider thy heavens the work of thy fingers the Moon and the Stars which thou hast ordained Consideration is not a transient or accidental but a resolved and a deliberate act Shall we think that God hath made those mighty bodies the stars to be past by without consideration Shall men only pore upon a lump of earth and not have their hearts lifted up to consider those lamps of light Shall man make no more use of the stars then the beasts of the earth do namely to see by them When I consider thy heavens saith David Heaven is the most considerable of all inanimate creatures and more considerable then most of the animate and Davids when when I consider the heavens notes not only a certainty that he did it but frequency in doing it Some of the Rabbins tell us that when Isaac went out into the field to meditate Gen.
or abide in him or no. And Bellarmine in his 5th book and 5th Chapter concerning justification citeth it to prove That a believer cannot know that he is justified but must believe blinde-fold or take the work of justification by grace in the dark For saith he God goeth by us and we see him not he passeth on and we perceive him not Allenâ—ssi â—e huÌ„c locum citat Bellarâ—inus ut probet nuâ—uÌ„ fidâ—lem scire an justificatus sit Coc. That is as his glosse speaks God commeth in favour to justifie or he leaveth under wrath and yet man remains ignorant both of the one and of the other state Surely he was at a great pinch to finde a proof for his point when he was forced to repair to this Scripture to seek one Providence toward man-kinde not the justification of a sinner is the proper subject of this text And as there is nothing for a blinde-fold justification here so many other Scriptures are expresly against it To say that a man cannot know when God loveth him or shineth upon him is to contradict what our Saviour asserts Joh. 14.17 I will send the Spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it seeth him not neither knoweth him but ye know him for he dwelleth with you and shall be in you Ye know him saith Christ to his people the Saints see God in a spirituall sense or in his workings upon their spirits And though God works much upon our spirits which we know not yet we have a promise of the Spirit by whom we know God in his workings Few know when God is nigh or when he is a farre off what his goings away mean or what his commings But when he cometh to the Saints they know he commeth and when he hideth or departeth from them they know his hidings and departures Hence their joies and over-flowings of comfort when he manifests his presence and hence their bitter complainings and cryings after him where he seems to absent himself and hide his face yet this Text hath a truth in it in reference to the inward and spirituall as well as the outward and providentiall dealings of God that sometimes He goeth by us and we see him not he passeth on also and we perceive him not Hence learn First That God is invisible in his essence and incomprehensible in many of his actions Mans eie cannot see him Mans understanding cannot comprehend what he doth But why speaks Job this as a matter of wonder if it be the common condition of man-kinde Behold he passeth by and I see him not who can see him who can perceive or comprehend him When Moses Exod. 33.20 desired to see his face the Lord answers No man can see my face and live God spake to Moses face to face that is familiarly as a man speaketh to his friend yet Moses did not could not see the face of God No man can see God in his essence or nature A sight of God would astonish yea swallow up the creature It is death to see the living God and man must die before he can see God so fully as he may and know as he is known But though the face of God be invisible yet his back-parts may be seen Behold saith the Lord to Moses there is a place by me stand thou there upon a rock and thou shalt see my back-parts thou shalt see much of my glory shining forth as much as thou canst bear as much as will satisfie thy desire were it a thousand times larger then it is though not so much as thou hast not knowing what thou askest desired of me My Name shall be proclaimed Gracious and mercifull c. the back-parts of God may be seen the invisible God discovereth much of himself to man and shews us a shadow of that substance which cannot be seen Some may object that of the Prophet Isaias crying out Woe unto me for mine eies have seen the King the Lord of hosts Chap. 6.5 Seen him could Isaias see him whom Job and Moses could not Isaias did not see him in his essence and nature but in the manifestations and breakings forth of his glory His train filled the Temple saith the Text vers 1. or his skirts It is an allusion to great Kings who when they walk in State have their trains or the skirt of their royall robe held up T' was this train which Isaias saw He saw not God who was present but he saw the manifest signs of his presence That speech of Isaiah seemed to savour of and border upon highest blasphemy and was therefore charged as an article of accusation against him he was indited of blasphemy for speaking those words I have seen the Lord his enemies taking or wresting it as if he had made the Lord corporeall and visible with the eie of the body And it is conceived he was put to death upon that and one other passage in his prophecy Cha. 1.10 calling the Princes of Judah Princes of Sodom and the people thereof the people of Gomorrah But though God be thus invisible in his essence yet there is a way by which the essence of God may be seen And of that Moses to whom the Lord said Thou canst not see my face the Authour to the Hebrews saith Heb. 11.24 That he saw him who was invisible the letter of the text carries a contradiction in the adjunct it is as much as if one should say He saw that which could not be seen The meaning is He saw him by the eye of faith who could not be seen by the eye of sense faith sees not only the back-parts but the face of Jehovah the essence of God is as clear to that eye as any of his attributes yea his essence is as plain to faith as any of his works are to sense Thus he is seen Whom no man hath seen nor can see 1 Tim. 6.16 not the Saints in heaven they are not able to see the Lord in his essence He passeth by them there and they see him not in heaven we are promised a sight of him yet not that fight Blessed are the poor in spirit for they shall see God and without holinesse no man shall see the Lord then holy men shall see him the state of the Saints in glory is vision as here it is faith 2 Cor. 13.12 We shall see him face to face and as he is 1 Joh. 3.2 These Scriptures which speak of the estate of the Saints beholding God in glory are not to be understood as if the nature and essence of God could be seen for no man hath seen that nor ever shall but they are meant of a more full and glorious manifestation of God We shall see then face to face that is more plainly for it is opposed to seeing him in a glasse we see him now in a glasse that is darkly in ordinances in duties in his word and in his works but there shall be no need of these glasses in heaven We
being firm and stiff in themselves are moveable by the sinews There are other parts of the body which concur to the making up of this armour gristles muscles ligaments membranes all which serve for motion fastning and defence as well as bones and sinews but these being the principall and most known are here expressed for all the rest 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hippocr Bones give the body stability straitnesse and form They are as the carcase of a ship whereto the rest of the parts are fastned and by which they are sustained They are as the posts pillars beams and rafters of a house by whose knittings and contignations the whole building is both proportioned and supported And though the bones are for number very many and in their forms exceeding various some thick some thin some plain some hollow some of a greater others of a lesser bore yet are they so connected and fitted together by articulation or by coalition by contiguity or continuity as the Anatomists speak that they all appear as one bone or pack of bones Sinews or nerves derive their pedigree from the brain and are the organs by which the animall spirits are conveyed and flow into the whole body and with them both sense and motion Sinews have so much of strength in them that the same word is put to signifie both strength and sinews and to do a thing strongly and vigorously is to doe it nervosè sinewously It is wonderfull which Naturalists write of the conjugations and uses of the sinews to whose labours I referre the studious Reader for further satisfaction I have given enough to shew what this Text cals me to That God hath indeed clothed man with skin and flesh and fenced him with bones and sinews Some have quarrelled with the wisdom and goodnesse of God for turning man altogether naked and unarmed into the world This Scripture is enough to confute the unreasonablenesse of that quarrel Job thankfully acknowledgeth That he was both clothed and armed though not in the sense of these complainers It is more honourable for man to make himself artificiall clothing and arms then to have had none but naturall God hath given man reason to invent hands to prepare and a tongue to call for those things which by a Law of nature are imposed upon other creatures the power of reason and the skill of the hand are a better safeguard to man then any the beasts have and can provide whatsoever man wants to secure him either from cold or danger And though the body as now it stands be but as it were the sepulchre of that which God at first created though we lie open to so many diseases and deaths that the soul may well be said to inhabit an unwalled and an unfortified City yet man hath great cause for ever to extoll the bounty of God in those still continued ennoblements of this earthly mansion his mortall body Yea The noble structure and symmetry of our bodies invites our souls not only to thankfulnesse but to admiration One of the Ancients stileth man a great miracle Another The miracle of miracles A third The measure of all things A fourth The patern of the universe the worlds epitome The world in a small volume or a little world They also have distinguished the whole frame of the body into three stories in allusion to a like frame observable in the world First The superiour which they call intellectuall or angelicall because they conceived it to be the habitation of Angels or Intelligences The second or middle part they call celestiall or heavenly the seat of the Sunne and starres The third Elementary in which all corporeall creatures are procreated and nourished This division of the world is eminent in man for he also is a building of three stories The head which is the seat of reason the mansion the tower of wisdome and understanding is placed highest the brest or middle venter is the celestiall part wherein the heart like the Sun is predominant some have called the Sun The heart of the world and the heart The Sunne of mans body by whose lustre beams and influences all the other parts are quickned and refreshed hence we say when the heart fails all fails and while the heart holds all holds The third part of the body or the lower venter containing all parts necessary for the nutrition of individuals or the propagation of the species carrieth a cleare resemblance with the elementary or lowest parts of the universe There are five things in particular which as so many rounds of a lather may help us to raise our thoughts higher in the duty of holy admiration about this work of God First That God frameth up this goodly and beautifull fabrique out of such mean and improbable materials To consider out of what stuff our bodies are made advanceth the honour of him who made us Man can make his work except the form no better then the matter out of which he formeth it But as the form of mans body is better then the matter so the matter becomes better then it was before it received that form Secondly The matter out of which God maketh man is originally homogeneall or but of one kinde yet there is a strange heterogeny or variety in the very substance as well as in the shape of the severall parts which are therefore divided by the survaiers of this building into parts similar and dissimilar Is it not incredible to meer reason that one lump should be spread out into thin tender skin wrought into soft flesh extended into tough sinews hardened into strong bones that one piece should make an outward jerkin or cassock of skin an under garment of flesh columns and rafters of bones bands and ties of sinews that the same should make veins like chanels to carry and blood like water to be carried into every part to moisten and refresh it When an Artificer buildeth an house he requires more materials then one he must have stones and timber iron lead Quomodo ex re tantula sibi simili tamvariae discrepantes partes extiterunt haec profecto est stupenda omnino opifiâ—iâ— nostri sapientia vis ad quicquid efficienduÌ„ Merl. c. to compleat his fabrique but the Lord frameth all the parts rooms and contrivances of the body out of one and the same masse Thou dost not know saith Solomon how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with childe Eccles 11.5 Who can know by a meer rationall demonstration how a solid substance should grow out of that which is so fluid And that parts materially as well as figuratively unlike should arise out of a like matter Thirdly The work of God in the framing of man is internall as well as externall A statuary or an engraver will make the image or pourtraiture of a man but his work is all outward he cannot make bowels or fashion a heart within he cannot cut out veins bones and sinews