Selected quad for the lemma: friend_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
friend_n	integrity_n	job_n	unsound_a	10	3	16.7255	5	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A35538	An exposition with practical observations continued upon the thirty-eighth, thirty-ninth, fortieth, forty-first, and forty-second, being the five last, chapters of the book of Job being the substance of fifty-two lectures or meditations / by Joseph Caryl ...	Caryl, Joseph, 1602-1673.	1653 (1653)	Wing C777; ESTC R19353	930,090	1,092

Job having with steddy yet trembling attention heard all these words spoken to him with irrefragable authority by the Lord himself out of the whirlwind sate down convinced that surely the great God the Creator of the ends of the earth who had so exact an eye upon all those creatures both for the continuance of their species or kinds and the preservation of their individuals or particulars could not possibly cast off the care of man-kind nor of him in particular no nor put any man to any hardship or suffering but for some great end or ends glorious always to himself and in the issue good for the wise and patient sufferer He was also convinced that himself not well understanding the mysteries of providence nor indeed could any more fully understand them than he did the mysteries of creation or the manner how God laid the foundations of the earth and shut up the sea with doors he I say not well understanding the mysteries of providence was convinced that he had done very ill to make such long and loud complaints about it that is about the severity of Gods dealings with him as if like an enemy he intended him nothing but pain and sorrow by the pains and sorrows which he endured Thus at last Job began to see that as being himself Gods creature God might do with him what he pleased and that God being his absolute Soveraign could not wrong him whatever he was pleased to do with him so that forasmuch as God was so careful of and kind to those inferior reasonless creatures there was no shadow of a reason why he should have the least jealousie of Gods kindness to him and regard of him much less make such an out-cry that God was unkind to and regardless of Him whom he had not only ennobled as the rest of mankind with reason but renewed by grace and filled with the holy fear of his great and glorious name These impressions being made upon Job by the mighty power of God speaking to him out of the whirlwind he presently cryed out as fast against himself and against his own ignorance and rashness as he had done before concerning the harshness of his sufferings under the hand of God confessing chap. 40.4 Behold I am vile what shall I answer thee And chap. 42.3 6. I have uttered that I understood not things too wonderful for me which I knew not wherefore I abhor my self and repent in dust and ashes Job being thus humbled and melted down Job who was lately in the dust of dishonour and almost in the dust of death being thus brought to the dust of repentance the Lord suffered him not to lye long there but quickly raised him up out of all his sufferings and passing by all his mispeakings while sufferings lay heavy upon him he The Lord passed sentence upon or gave judgment against Eliphaz and his two friends as not having spoken of him the thing that was right as his servant Job and not only so but commanded them to do him right by acknowledging that they had wronged him why else were they ordered by the Lord to go unto him as a mediator for their peace why else were they ordered by the Lord to bring their sacrifice unto him that he offering it up and praying for them the wrath of God which was kindled against them might be quenched and they received into favour All these offices of love Job freely did for them and no sooner had he done them but God heaped favours upon him doubling his former substance and causing all his former friends who had carried it unfriendly unhandsomely towards him and would not own him in the day of his distress to hasten their addresses to bring him honourable presents and redintegrate their broken friendship with him In all these things God blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning and he found by comfortable experience which was mentioned at the beginning of this prefatory Epistle out of Solomon's Ecclesiastes that the end of a thing is better than the beginning of it the latter end of his life being fuller of peace riches and honour than the former and he not ending his life in this world till he was full of days fuller of grace and fully fitted for an endless life in glory Thus as in the foregoing parts of this book we have heard of the patience of Job so in this we may see as the Apostle James saith chap. 5.11 the end of the Lord. But what was that end of the Lord Any man of ordinary capacity reading the holy story may resolve it in the common way that The Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before that being restored his seven thousand sheep were multiplyed to fourteen thousand his three thousand camels to six thousand his five hundred yoke of oxen to a thousand and his five hundred she-asses to as many This end of the Lord with Job is obvious and runs in sight to every Reader nor can it be denied but that this was a very good and an honourable end yet behold the Lord made a much better and more honourable end for Job than this This was the end of Jobs cross that was not only so but also of his controversie Satan charged Job as an Hypocrite his friends joyned with Satan in that yet stayed not there they charged him likewise as Hetorodox as a man not only unsincere in his profession of religion but unsound in the principles of it The Lord made an end for Job in this matter also abetting his opinion in that great and difficult probleme of providence rather than theirs giving him the day and putting the crown of victory upon his head in that dispute while he said to Eliphaz and his two friends Ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right as my servant Job This this was The end of the Lord. To hear this gracious determination from the mouth of the supream and infallible moderator of all controversies was without controversie a thousand times more pleasing and satisfactory to Jobs spirit not only than the double cattle which the Lord gave him but than if the Lord had given him all the cattle upon a thousand hills or than if all the fowls of the air and fishes of the sea had been given to him In this end of the Lord for Job we may see not only that the Lord is infinitely wise and just but as it followeth in that place of the Apostle James very pitiful and of tender mercy The Lord shews himself very pitiful and of tender mercy when he puts an end to the crosses of his servants by doubling their outward comforts he doth so too when he puts an end to the controversies of his servants by vindicating their credit and making it appear that they have spoken of him and of his ways the thing that is right or more rightly than their opposers and reproachers This example of the Lords pity and tender mercy in doing both

in sickness as well as in health in disgrace with men as well as when most honoured and cryed up by them when naked as well as when cloathed as well in rags as in the richest array Hence that confident conclusion vers 38. I am perswaded that neither death nor life c. shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. And if so then we see where our true interest lyeth Let us make sure of Christ he will never leave us all earthly friends may Friends are a great mercy but they are not a sure mercy Again Consider Jobs friends who came not at him when in that afflicted condition yet as soon as ever God turned his captivity and made him prosper in the world then they would own him then they came Hence note Thirdly Such as are no friends in adversity will readily shew themselves friendly in prosperity That they came then is an intimation if not a proof that they came not before but then they came What Christ spake in another case I may apply by way of allusion to this Where the carcase is thither will the Eagles be gathered together When Job was up his friends appear'd All are ready to worship the rising Sun When the face of things and times change with us then the faces of friends change towards us then they have other respects and countenances for us this spirit of the world hath been anciently observed Si fueris foelix multos numerabis amicos Tempora si fuerintnubila solus eris even by Heathens If you be happy or restored to happiness you shall number many friends though you had none before Such friends are like those birds that visit our coasts in Summer when 't is warm weather when every thing flourisheth and is green then some birds visit us who all the Winter when 't is cold frost and snow leave us Fa●ther it may be conceived that several of Jobs friends left him not only upon the occasion of his poverty and want but upon the supposition of his hypocrisie and wickedness many of them might have the same opinion of him which those three had who particularly dealt with him that surely he was a bad man because the Lord brought so much evil upon him Now when the Lord restored Job they had another a better opinion of him the Lord also giving a visible testimony of his accepting Job Hence note Fourthly God will one time or other vindicate the integrity of his faithful servants and set them right in the opinion of others God suffered Jobs integrity to lie under a cloud of supposed hypocrisie but at last the Lord restored him to his credit as well as to his estate and made his unkind and not only suspicious but censorious friends acknowledge that he was upright and faithful The Lord promiseth Psalm 37.6 to bring forth the righteousness of his servants as the light and their judgement as the noon-day that is a right judgement in others concerning them as well as the rightness of their judgement in what they have done and been or his own most righteous judgement in favour of them They who had a wrong judgement and took a false measure of Job measuring him by the outward dispensations of God and judging of his heart by his state and of his spirit by the face of his affairs these were at last otherwise perswaded of him 'T is as the way so the sin and folly of many to judge upon appearance upon the appearance of Gods outward dealings they conclude men good or bad as their outward condition is good or bad and therefore the Lord to redeem the credit of his faithful servants that lye under such misapprehensions sends prosperity and manifests his gracious acceptance of them that men of that perverse opinion may be convinced and delivered out of their error Note Fifthly The Lords favouring us or turning the light of his countenance towards us can soon cause men to favour us and shine upon us See what a change the Lord made at that time both in the state of things and in the hearts of men when the Lord outwardly forsook Job friends forsook him children mockt him acquaintance despised him his very servants slighted him yet no sooner did the Lord return in the manifestations of his favour but they all returne desiring to ingratiate themselves with him and strive who shall engage him most God can quickly give us new friends or restore the old Exple●● contumelias honoribus detrimenta muneribus execrationes precibus The hearts of all men are in the hand of the Lord who turns them from us or to us as he pleaseth When God manifests his favour he can command our favour with men Though that which is a real motive of the Lords favour to his people their holiness and holy walkings gets them many enemies and they are hated for it by many yet the Lord discovering or owning the graces of his servants by signal favours often gets them credit and sets them right in the opinion of men Thus it was with Job all his friends returned to him upon the Lords high respect to him in turning his captivity Again in that Jobs friends came to him Cui dominus favet ei omnia favent Observe Sixthly It is the duty of friends to be friendly to come to and visit one another It is a duty to do so in both the seasons or in all the changes of our life It is a duty to do so in times of prosperity when God shines upon our Tabernacle When any receive extraordinary mercies it is the duty of friends to shew them extraordinary courtesies and to bless God for them and with them When Elizabeths neighbours and cousins heard how the Lord had shewed great mercy upon her they rejoyced with her Luke 1.58 It is a duty to rejoyce with those that rejoyce and to come to them that we may rejoyce with them It is a duty also to visit those that mourn and to mourn with them Friendly visits are a duty in all the seasons of our lives Once more Then came all his brethren c. It was late e're they came but they came Hence Note It is better to perform a duty late than not at all They had a long time even all the time of his long affliction neglected or at least slackned this duty of visiting Job yet they did not reason thus with themselves It is in vain to visit him now or our visiting him now may be thought but a flattering with him or a fawning upon him No though they had neglected him before they would not add new to their old incivilities We say of repentance which is a coming to God Late repentance is seldom true yet true repentance is never too late None should think it too late to come to God though they have long neglected him nor should sinners who have long neglected God be discouraged Though

in God full of assurance of the glory of God They whose days are filled with these divine enjoyments dye full of days how few days soever they have lived in this world They who live thus live many days in one day they who live thus have the tast and first fruits of eternity every day and therefore cannot but be satisfied with their days be they many or be they few He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most high Psal 91.1 that is who trusteth fully in God for safety by Christ in this world and for salvation in the next stands under the shadow and sweet influences of many promises mentioned in that Psalm for the preservation and prolongation of his life in the midst of a thousand deaths and dangers all which are summed up in that promise given at the 16th or last verse of the Psalm With long life will I satisfie him and shew him my salvation The Hebrew is with length of days will I satisfie him Which as it is true and firstly intended in that Psalm of a long life here and hath in that sense been often fulfilled ●o those who trust in God fully God gives to such not only a present escape from death in a time of Pestilence but gives them long life or their fill of living afterwards even in this world yet that which doth chiefly satisfie them is that long life of which the longest life in this world is but a shadow and to which it is a very nothing What is this long life Surely not a life of an hundred and forty years long as Job's was Job was so satisfied with the length of his life that he was willing to the as hath been shewed but Job was not so satisfied with it as to take that for his long life Every man would be satisfied but what doth satisfie a godly man what doth he hunger after for satisfaction Is it after honours No Is it after riches No Is it after pleasures No Is it after many dayes here No What is it then Nothing can satisfie the hunger of a gracious soul but life after this life the long and blesed life of eternity and that is chiefly intended him in that promise With long life will I satisfie him and shew him my salvation No length of life can satisfie us but as in it we have the fore-sights and fore-tasts of everlasting life or of that long life which is eternal salvation With this Job was satisfied with this the old Patriarchs were satisfied It is said of Abraham Gen. 25.8 He died in a good old age an old man and full of years O● Isaac also it is said Gen. 35.28 29. He died being old and full of dayes both had their fill of time but that which filled them both and that which only can fill any whose lives are yet measured by time is the hope of a blessed eternity I shall close the Point with an answer to this question why no more is said of Job but That he died being old and full of dayes whereas in both those places last named concerning Abraham and Isaac it is not only said that they died being old and full of days but this is added And were gathered to their people Abraham died and was gathered to his people Isaac dyed and was gathered to his people Why is it not also said of Job so good a man dying full of dayes and fuller of graces that he was gathered to his people I answer Abraham and Isaac lived and died among a people who were as themselves were in Covenant with God whereas Job lived among the Idumeans some affirming him to be of the posterity of Esau others of Abraham by his second wife Keturah Now all the sons which Abraham had by her he sent away from Isaac his son while he yet lived Eastward into the East Country Gen. 25.6 So that it being doubtful at least whether the people among whom Job lived were a godly people or no and that they were not being more probable as was shewed if not concluded in opening the first verse of the first Chapter for this reason I say we may suppose for the Scripture determines nothing in this matter that when the death of Job was spoken of nothing was spoken of his being gathered to his people So Job died being old and full of dayes This is that Job who was First A sorrowful man yea even a man of sorrows for a time among men as some expound his name Secondly A man hated by Satan at all times as others expound his name Thirdly A man highly approved and loved of God as appears by the testimony which he gave of him both first and last This is that Job who was First Famous for the afflictions with which God exercised and tryed him to the utmost Secondly More famous for his patience and constancy under those afflictions and tryals Thirdly Most famous for his wonderful deliverance out of those afflictions and tryals This is that Job who was First Famous for his riches and prosperity Secondly More famous for his vertues and integrity Thirdly Most famous for his victory over Satan in his deepest adversity This is that Job who was First Reviled by his Wife Secondly Reproached by his Friends Thirdly Deserted by his nearest Relations in the day of his greatest need This is that Job who was First Unjustly accused of charged with censured for the worst of iniquities Secondly Who stoutly maintained his own innocency against all those censures and charges Thirdly Who was clearly acquitted from them all by the testimony of his own conscience alwayes and by the testimony of God himself in the end This is that Job who was First Greatly distressed by the malice of the devil through the permission of God Secondly Mightily supported against the malice of the devil by the power of God in all his distresses Thirdly Fully resolved to trust in God with all his heart though he died under his hand in never so great distress This is that Job who First In the greatness of his pain expostulated sometimes with God over-boldly yet Secondly At the last submitted and humbled himself at the foot of God meekly Thirdly Was honoured as a Mediator for his mistaken friends and accepted in it by God graciously Once more This is that Job who First After his restoring was filled with the blessings of this life Secondly Lived long even to fulness of dayes in the full enjoyment of those blessings Thirdly Died peaceably and passed sweetly into the enjoyment of a better of a longer even an eternal life Thus I am come to the end of Job and to the end of the Book of Job yet before I end let me leave these five words as so many Uses of the whole Book of Job First While you live in this world live in the expectation of and preparation for changes Job met with them and who may not Secondly Be patient under all the troublesom changes which you meet