even Moses sheweth when he calleth the Lord the God of Abraham c. So Iohn 3.14 Ioh. 6.32 which cannot be said of the books called Apocryphal Quest 1. verse 1. What is meant by the heaven and the earth By the heaven I conceive we are to understand two things Resp The highest heaven the heaven of the blessed the dwelling place of glorified Saints and Angels called also the heaven of heavens 1 King 8.27 This heaven I conceive was made before the earth although I lay not any stresse upon the order of the words Repentance is not before Faith because sometimes set in the first place in the text nor was David before Abraham because David is set in the first place in the text Matth. 1. 1. By the heaven we are to understand Angels Iob 38. 7. Where wert thou saith God when I laid the foundations of the earth viz. when the first matter was made of which the world was composed for the earth to speak strictly is without foundations and hangeth upon nothing like a round ball in the aire when the morning starres viz. the Angels for the lights of heaven Sunne Moone and Starres were not yet created sang together c. To this purpose consider That all kinds of beings were created the first six dayes Angels are like the heaven in their spirituality and incorruptibility as also in their power over sublunary and earthly bodies and therefore may be so called The Saints are called heaven seven times in one Chapter as carnal and eathly-minded men are called earth verse 16. And the Rev. 12. earth helped the woman now if the Saints be called heaven in the Scripture why not the Angels From the consideration of the method that was taken by God in the Creation of man so soone as mans seat was perfected man was created It is probable that proportionably when those blessed invisible mansions were finished on the first day the Angels were created By the earth is meant that whole confused Chaos of earth and water which was yet without forme and void as is afterwards described in the second verse now this might be called the earth as when an house is in fieri we call it an house and say an house is a building Quest 2. verse 1. It is said God created the heaven and the earth and yet 2 Cor. 4. 4. Satan is called the God of this world God is the God of the world ratione Resp creationis in regard of creation Satan is the god of the world ratione cultûs in regard of service He rules in the children of disobedience Quest 3. verse 2. Why God should begin time with darknesse It is no greater a wonder then that the Resp Lord should begin a glorious world with a rude and confused Chaos the progresse of his Wisdome in making the world being for the most part from more imperfect things to perfect from a Chaos to beauty from the servants and furniture to man the Lord and Master of this great house Darknesse is a privation now the habit Object must alwayes actually go before the privation in the same subject This darknesse was rather a negation Resp 1 then a privation Take privation largely and so it may be first in subjecto capaci As silence may be before speech and blindnesse before sight in a man who is a subject capable of both so here darknesse might be before light because the subject of the first matter was capable of both Quest 4. verse 3. God said verse 3. Let there be light and yet Sun Moon and Stars not created till the fourth day That light which before the fourth day Resp was scattered up and down upon the earth was afterwards gathered together into the bodies of the Sun Moon and Stars Quest 5. verse 5. It is said The evening and the morning was the first day now how could there be morning or evening before the Sun was created Evening and Morning in this place is Resp 1 not to be taken according to their usual signification but Morning for all that time it was light Evening for all that time it was dark There is no argument from the present state of things since the Sun was created to the former state of things before the Sun was created morning is now caused one way by the rising of the Sun then caused another way by light scattered up and down upon the earth Quest 6. verse 11 12. Whether the World began with the Autumne Some have thought that it began in the Resp 1 Spring and that upon two grounds 1. Because the spring is the time of encrease as we fin de by experience in fish and fowle 2. Because Adam was thrust out of Paradise to till the ground and spring-time is aptest for tillage Others and I conceive more probably thiâ—k the world began in the Autumne for it is said expressely that the earth brought forth â—â—â—sse and herb yeelding seed after his â—workâ— the tree yeelding fruit whose seed 〈…〉 self after its kind so that as man 〈…〉 a childe but a perfect man so the trees and plants were created in their perfection and therefore when the Serpent tempted our first parents which was immediately after their creation the Tree of knowledge of good and evil had fruit fully ripe on it The woman saw that the tree Gen. 3. 6. was good for food and that it was pleasant for the eyes Quest 7. verse 14. Whether from those words let them be for signes and for seasons and for dayes and for years Astrological predictions be warrantable Neg. There are two sorts of predictions Resp lawful from the consideration of the position of the heavens 1. Praedictiones naturales natural predictions viz. when by the rising or setting of the heavenly luminaries by their opposition conjunction and various aspects we are able to foretel natural events viz. the Eclipse of the Sun and Moone c. 2. Praedictiones civiles civil predictions viz. when the husbandman by the course of the Sun Moone and Stars is able to say when it will be a commodious season for sowing setting ingraffing pruning c. So that we say with the Scriptures that the Stars are for signes viz. for signes and seasons and dayes and years And that they are not only ornamental but influential As trees and herbs were created not only to beautifie the earth but otherwise for the use of man and beast to feed them and to cure them so the Stars were created not only to beautifie the heavens but for the use and comfort of man Certainly if God hath given vertue to springs and fountains stones minerals plants every spire of grasse that growes upon the earth much more to the Stars of heaven But 3. Praedictiones Astrologicae Astrological Predictions when men from the consideration of the face of the heavens will take upon them to foretel contingent events which shal befal Kingdoms or Common-wealths or particular persons these are unlawful 1. They are Antiscriptural
dayes for Divine service how improbable is it that Cain and Abel should concurre at the same time in bringing their offerings unto the Lord and if not at the same time how could Cain discerne that Abels offering was respected and accepted of God when his was Gen. 4.3 not and besides it is said In processe of time it came to passe that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. In the processe of time or at the end of days as it is in the margin of your Bibles and as the original will bear it viz. on the Sabbath-day when there is an end of the dayes of the week and they begin again I might adde that it is not improbable but that Noah and his family kept the Sabbath in the Ark for it is said that he stayed Gen. 8. 10 12. other seven dayes and sent forth the Dove out of the Ark and verse 12. He stayed other seven dayes and sent forth the Dove why did Noah this on the seventh day It was likely that then Noah and his family were at prayer and engaged in the worship and service of God and at such times it is good to make experiments of Gods fatherly care of us and providence over us Quest. 3. verse 4. In the first Chapter it is said that God made the heavens and the earth in six dayes and in this verse it is said These are the generations of the heaven and the earth in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens From this place some would gather that Resp 1 all the world was made in one day and that Moses doth divide the creation into six dayes propter captum that it might be the better understood Others conceive that Moses relates to that first matter or substance of which all things were created now this was made in one day Others think with whom I close that Moses doth not speak strictly here but indefinitely in the day the Lord made the earth that is to say in the time the Lord made the earth so it is taken in other places of Scripture To day if you will hear Psal 95.7 his voice c. Quest. 4. verse 5. How God could be said to create every plant of the field before it was in the earth Either the meaning is that they were Resp 1 created potentialiter in the first masse and so created before they were in the earth Or else the meaning is this God created every plant of the field before it was in the earth viz. there was not a plant in the earth before God created it Quest 5. verse 7. It is said God formed man of the dust of the earth How can man be said to be made of dust or earth when he is made of the four elements earth fire aire water Moses saies God formed man of the dust Resp 1 of the earth but not only of the dust of the earth Moses loquitur de terra ut de causa partiali non totali Moses speaks of the dust but as part of that matter of which man was made But he expresses the one and therefore Object by consequence denies the other This is just as if a man by calling one his Resp fathers sonne should deny him to be his mothers Quest 6. verse 7. Why doth the Lord speak distinctly in this verse concerning mans body and soul We shall finde God speaks of other creatures in the bulk body and soul together Let the waters bring forth abandantly the moving creature that hath life and so verse Gen. 1. 20 24 24. Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kinde c. To note the spirituality and immateriality Resp 1 of the soul the soul of man non educitur ex potentiâ materiae as the Learned phrase it but the body was made of one kind of substance and the soul of another for Consider 1. The condition and nature of its object speaks this truth Seneca could say Hoc habet argumentum anima suae divinitatis quòd illam divina delectant This argument of its spirituality hath the soul of man in its own essence that it is delighted with things divine and spiritual If the soul were material we could not reach to the knowledge of any thing but that which is material and we might as well see Angels with our eyes as understand them with our mindes We say Receptio fit per modum recipientis you cannot fill a chest with vertue 2. It s independence on the body it is able of it self to performe its own actions without the help and concurrence of the outward man It seeth when the eys beshut and sometimes seeth not when the eyes be open It travelleth while the body resteth resteth when the body travelleth Rev. 1. 10. When John saw his glorious revelation he is said to be in the spirit when Paul had his revelations and saw things unutterable he knew not whether he were in the body or out of the body for beleevers to know that there are laid up for the Saints such joyes which eye hath not seene nor eare heard what is this but to leave sense behinde us and out-run our bodies 3. Time that wears out all corporeal things addes perfection to the souls and understandings of men old men who have the weakest bodies have the most lively and vigorous souls yea we may observe that men who have the most admirable soul-accomplishments have usually the weakest bodies and are not of the longest lives 'T is a remarkable passage that of Saint John to Gaius I wish saith he that thy body prospered even as thy soul prospers Here is a clear text against the Atheists of these dayes that question whether there be a soul or not the truth is a man cannot doubt of it without it as a man cannot prove Logick to be unnecessary but by Logick as a man cannot say he is dumb without speaking Quest 7. verse 7. In what sense these words are to be understood He breathed into his face the breath of life for the Manichees from hence held that the soul was part of Gods Essence as the breath is part of a mans substance It is true in mans breath there is part of Resp his substance but these words are not spoken of God properly but metaphorically if Moses should have said Jehovah by the power of his Spirit without making use of any elementary matter breathed into man a vital soul An horrid blasphemy to think the Essence of God should be subject to change ignorance sinne c. as the soul is Quest. 8. verse 7. Why is God said to breath into his nostrils or face the breath of life rather then into any other part of the body Because the operations of the soul discover themselves in no part of the body Resp 1 more then in the face hence a living man is usually pictured smiling or reading c. And besides the face and head
delivered by a man is called the voice of God Samuel also said unto Saul The Lord sent me to anoint 1 Sa. 15.1 thee to be King over his people now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the Lord. The Learned conceive that the voice of God in this place is not to be taken for a sound or a noyse but for an articulate voice but now whether this voice was formed in the aire As at the time of the Baptisme and transfiguration of our Saviour or whether it was formed in some body God at that time assuming the visible shape of a man is not very cleare yet the latter seems to be probable 1. He deals with man by way of judiciall processe as a man first he calls him to an account for the crime he had committed and then pronounces sentence against him 2. Ye read of the Lord God walking in the garden which seems as it were to point toward this opinion Quest. 21. verse 8. 'T is said They heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden and yet it is said in Jeremiah that the Lord filleth heaven and earth Jer. 23.24 The Divine essence fills heaven and Resp earth and yet that visible forme whereby God manifests his presence may be circumscribed to a place and so it was in this Case Quest 22. verse 8. It is said they hid themselves from the presence of the Lord and yet the Psalmist Ps 139.7 8. sayes Whither shall I go from thy spirit or whither shall I flee from thy presence c. 'T is true we cannot hide our selves from Gods presence yet we may from that visible Resp forme that God appears in for the present and possibly this may be the meaning in this place c. In vaine doth the sinner endeavour to run away from God and the terrours of Conscience This is just as if the wounded Deere should go about to run from the deadly Arrow that sticks in his side this is like the fish which swimmeth to the length of the Line with the Hooke in its mouth The best way to run from God is to run to God viz. from his wrath to his mercy To close and get in avoids the blow when a storme arises the Mariner puts forth to sea Quest 23. verse 9. God calls man Adam where art thou and yet in Jeremiah Mine eyes are upon all their wayes neither is there iniquity hid Jer. 16.17 from mine eyes Non interogat ut ipse sciat sed ut hominem Resp 1 scire et agnoscere faciat God doth not propound this question to Adam that he might know but that man might know that he did know Non est vox ignorantis sed ad judicium citantis It is not the voice of one that desired to be informed but of a Judge calling man to an account for the transgression of the Command Quest 24. verse 9. Why doth not God call Eve by her name as well as Adam they having both sinned Some say to note it concernes the husband Resp to take heed not onely of what is done by himselfe but also by his wife or family he may be called to an account for it Quest 25. vers 10. It is said I heard thy voice in the garden and I was afraid did not Adam feare God before Yes but he feared him before with a Resp sonne-like filial feare now with a base unworthy servile feare He feared him before because of his goodnesse now he fears him because of his vengeance so when the image of God is repaired The people of God have not a slavish wiredrawen and compelled affection towards God but their affections freely melt and drop towards God as the honey drops out of the Comb feare and love must be mixed and tempered together indeed they do not well asunder as if a man would make the most perfect beautifull colour he would temper the purest white and the fairest red together such is that for which the spouse giveth her beloved the Commendation that he was candidus et rubicundus white and ruddy feare without love would set us in the forlorne hope and precipitate us into despaire and love without fear would make us wanton and secure therefore there is not onely magnitude but pulchritude in God he is not onely great to cause us to feare him but he is good to cause us to love him Quest 26. verse 12. The man said The woman whom thou gavest to be with me she gave me of the Tree and I did eat And yet the Apostle saith 1 Tim. 2. 14. That Adam was not deceived but the woman The Apostle may speake of the manner Resp 1 of the seduction of our first parents Adam was not deceived viz. by the Serpent but the woman The Serpent deceived Eve but Eve could not in propriety of speech be said to deceive Adam for that person may be said properly to deceive who perswades to something false and injurious animo fallendi with an intention to wrong another and in this sense the Serpent may be said to deceive Eve But Eve had no thoughts of over-reaching her husband therefore Adam was not deceived but the woman Quest 27. vâ—rse 14. Why the Serpent was not examined by God as well as the man or woman The examination of the man and woman Resp was in order to their repentance and so by Consequence in order to their salvation but God would shew no mercy to the Serpent Quest 28. verse 14. Upon whom this curse was pronounced upon the Serpent or Satan or Satan and the Serpent Some would have it onely spoken of the Resp 1 brute Serpent and the Jews are very zealous in the maintaining of this assertion But if this were a truth then it would follow that the brute creature that Satan made use of should be punished but Satan himselfe who was the principall actor in tempting our first parents to sinne should escape unpunished Some would have it onely spoken of the spirituall Serpent the Devill because the brute was onely passive and abused by the Devil for the calling on of his sinfull designes But neither can this be for if this curse had not beene pronounced upon a true Serpent why should this Serpent be reckoned amongst the beasts of the field And why doth not Moses make mention of Satan in this whole Chapter Some would divide the controversie applying the first part of the curse in the 14. verse to the brute Serpent and the latter in the 15. verse to the Devil the spiritual Serpent But neither can this be for 1. The subject the Spirit of God speakes of is not changed but the same in the 14. and 15. verses ver 14. The Lord said to the Serpent Thou art cursed above all cattel And verse 15. I will put enmity between thee and the woman c 2. It is cleare that the words in the 15. ver without any straining are applicable to the brute Serpent viz.
Deut. 18. 14. Esay 44. 25. Esay 47. 13. Jer. 10. 1 2. 2. They are unreasonable if there were any certainty in the Astrological Art it would appeare in those Predictions that concerne the weather which is the proper subject of the Planets operation but how false and uncertaine those are I shall leave to any to judge that will read them without prejudice 'T is the observation of a learned Author that the weather may be guessed by the heavens when the time is near and natural causes have begun to work As in the Evening we may guesse of the weather the next day and in the Morning of the weather in the Afternoone that a cloud will bring a shower and South-winde heat according to that of our Saviour When a cloud Luke 12. 54 55. ariseth out of the West straightway ye say There cometh a shower and when ye see the South-winde blow ye say There will be heat but long before to declare these things is impossible To this purpose is that of Ambrose saith he when raine was desired of all and one said the new Moone will bring raine although we were desirous of raine it did me good no raine fell till it came at the prayers of the Church that it might appear it came not by the influence of the moon but by the providence of God A man can no more tell what God will do by looking upon the Stars and Heavens then one can tell the counsels and determinations of a Prince by looking on his Palace 'T is sad to think how apt we are to run into extreams some are so bold as to ascribe the knowledge of future contingencies unto man some so disingenuous as to deny it to God have a care of both the one is Scylla the other Charybdis things are contingent to us which are not so to God In a Syllogisme if the major be necessary yet if the minor be contingent the conclusion is contingent the first cause is certaine the second causes fluctuating and wavering hence flowes contingencie We use to say Omne quod est quando est necesse est esse God sees things in termino in periodo hence they are certain to God we see things in motu in itinere hence they are contingent to us those things which are contingent in regard of their own natures are certaine in regard of Gods fore-knowledge and in subordination to his decree Quest 8. verse 14. Why the Lord made the light and dayes and nights as also the earth to yeeld her encrease before the Sun and Stars were created That the Lord might teach us though Resp he commonly makes use of means for the preservation of the creatures yet he is not tied to means He hath bound us to them but he hath not bound himself He hath made the Sun to give us light yet he is able to give light without the Sun God with all the creatures that he hath made is no more then God without any of the creatures that he hath made Quest. 9. verse 24. It is said Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kinde cattell and creeping things Now the question is whether in the beginning every creeping thing was created Neg. Augustine was of opinion that Resp creatures that were generated of dead bodies were not created at first and Vallesius in his book de sacra Philosophia renders the reason of it Frustrà fit per plura quod fieri potest per pauciora God saw that these would be produced by generation alone and therefore what need was there of creation Quest 10. verse 25. It is said God made the beasts of the earth the sixth day Now the question is why the beasts were created with man rather then with fishes or fowles The reason may be this man was not Resp made to swim with fishes in the Sea or to flie with fowles in the aire but to live and move with beasts upon the earth therefore on the same day whereon man was made the beasts were made Quest 11. verse 25. Whether those kindes of creatures which are brought forth by a mixt generation as the Mule by the mixture of the Asse and the Mare were created Neg. Saith the judicious Willet for Resp these Reasons 1. Because these are not distinct kindes of creatures from others but the first kinds made in the creation mixed and conjoyned together 2. Because we finde it directly expressed that Anah found the Mules in the Gen. 36. 24 Wildernesse as he fed the Asses of Zibeon his father this is set down as strange and therefore they were not created ab initio Quest 12. verse 26. Wherefore God said Let us make man in our Image and not Let there be man as he said Let there be a firmament Let there be light Let the earth bring forth the living thing The Scripture herein speaks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Resp after the manner of men and would commend unto us the excellent workmanship of God in the Creation of man a work farre more choice then the light heaven and all the rest of the creatures men of wisdome when they are to handle matters of importance enter into consultation and take the greater care in the performance of them Quest. 13. verse 26. God said Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and the fowles of the aire and the cattel but the question is whether if man had not fallen one man had had power over another Superiority and inferiority dominion Resp and subjection were not incompatible with the state of Innocencie the authoritative power that a father hath over his childe and an husband over his wife is founded in the light of nature and therefore not inconsistent with our primitive state Divines therefore distinguish betweene natural subjection and civil natural subjection should have continued in the state of integrity but as for civil subjection there had beene no such thing in the world if man had continued to serve God he needed none to serve him service come in by sinne and the encrease of it by the encrease of sinne We see when Canaan was so vile as to forget the duty of a sonne he is set in the lowest condition of a servant Cursed be Canaan a servant of servants shall he be unto Gen. 9. 5. his brethren viz. the lowest and most abject servant As God of gods the greatest God the Lord of lords the highest Lord so servant of servants the lowest and basest servant Quest 14. verse 27. God is said to create man after his owne image and Paul saies that the man is the image and glory of God but the woman is the 1 Cor. 11. 7. glory of the man the question is whether the woman was not made after Gods image as well as the man We may consider man and woman two Resp manner of wayes either as they were both rational creatures and so without question the woman was made after the image of
may be Object expounded thus God did actually purpose to sanctifie it after the giving of the Law If to sanctifie the seventh day be only Resp to purpose to sanctifie it then the Sabbath was no more sanctified since the creation then ab aeterno for then God purposed it should be sanctified c. For the further clearing of this truth I shall give you the Arguments of some learned persons why they conceive that the Sabbath was not instituted till the giving of the Law on mount Sinai Adam in innocency should not have Arg. 1 needed a Sabbath not his soul for every day was a Sabbath to that nor his body because his body was not then subject to wearinesse neither could it be appointed for the ease of servants because then no such thing as servitude in the world The Sabbath was instituted not for Resp 1 common rest or rest from natural wearinesse principally but for holy rest that the soul might have more immediate communion with God Returne to thy rest O my soule saith the Psalmist The rest of the soule is not a ceasing from all operation for that cannot stand with the nature of a spirit hence the soul is called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an act because it is still in action a spirit cannot be and not act but when the soule centers on God then it is said to rest Bodies rest in their proper places and souls rest in the enjoying of their proper objects Now Adam in innocency thogh his body was not subject to wearinesse might stand in need of such a rest as this is Adam was to serve God in a particular calling God took the man put him into the garden of Eden that he might dresse it keep Gen. 2. 5. it now Luther professeth It followes from hence saith he that if Adam had stood in his innocency yet he should have kept the seventh day holy viz. on that day he should have taught his children what was the Word of God wherein his worship did consist and wholly have sequestred himself to his service on other days he should have dressed and kept the garden though every day was to be spent in holinesse mediately in seeing God in the creatures and meeting with God in his labour yet it was not unsuitable for that estate to have one day in the week for more immediate and special converse with God and though it was no paine to him to dresse the garden yet this must needs take up his thoughts while he was about it The Saints and Angels in Heaven have Object had no set Sabbath and why man in innocency The state of innocency on earth should Resp not have been in all things alike to the state of glory in heaven and particularly in this there should have been marriage dressing of the garden day and night in Paradise but no such thing in Heaven We do not read that there was any other Arg. 2 positive precept or law given to our first parents in the state of innocency but only this that they should not eat of the forbidden fruit Now the command of God for the observation of the Sabbath is a positive command and that appears because although the worship of God do belong to the Law natural viz. founded in the Law of nature yet the circumstance of time when God in an especial manner is to be worshipped that we should keep an holy rest unto the Lord every seventh day this is a positive precept and was never determined by the Law of nature That Adam had from the creation at Resp least that which amounted to a positive Law for the observance of the Sabbath is plaine It is said God sanctified the seventh day Now though this word is variously taken in the Scripture yet in this place the seventh day must be said to be sanctified one of these two wayes Either by infusion of holinesse or sanctification into it now the circumstance of a seventh day is not capable of sanctification in this sense only rational creatures Angels and men may be said thus to be sanctified By separation of it from common use and dedication of it to an holy use as the Temple and Tabernacle were which had no inherent holinesse in them Now if the Sabbath were thus sanctified it must either be for the use of God or man either God must impose upon himself the observation of every seventh day to keep it holy which is absurd or else it was dedicated and consecrated for mans sake and use and if so man had that which amounted to a positive Law for the observation of the Sabbath When Moses makes repetition of the Arg. 3 Law of God Deut. 5. 15. he laies downe this as a ground of the observation of the seventh day as a Sabbath the deliverance of Israel out of Egypt therefore the Sabbath was not instituted from the creation This that is urged is placed by God by Resp way of preface and motive as an argument for the observation of all the Commandments yet who will say that none of them were in force till the deliverance of Israel out of Egypt This was one reason why the Sabbath Resp 2 should be sanctified but not the only reason therefore Exod. 20. 6. the reason that is rendered there why the seventh day is the Sabbath is this for in six dayes the Lord made heaven and earth c. The Jewes were to observe the Sabbath not only upon the ground of its first institution but upon reasons proper and peculiar to that Nation It is likely their deliverance out of Egypt was on the Sabbath day and therefore urged by Moses as a ground of their observation of it We finde not any expresse mention Arg. 4 that the Patriarchs before Moses time did sanctifie a Sabbath We may as well argue it was not kept Resp all the time of the Judges and Samuel because no expresse mention made in those Books of any such thing No doubt but they observed it because Object it was published on mount Sinai The like may we say of the Patriarchs Resp 1 before the promulgation of the Law on mount Sinai because it was sanctified from the Creation Abraham is commended for keeping Gods Commandments and the Sabbath is one of Gen. 26.5 them We may as well argue that the Patriarchs for two thousand five hundred yeares together observed not any day at all for the worship and service of God for there is in Scripture as much mention of a Sabbath as any other day yea It is plaine in the Scripture that the Jewes did keep the Sabbath before the Law was given This is that which the Lord hath said To morrow is the rest of the holy Exo 16.23 Sabhath unto the Lord c. I might adde that it is not improbable but the sacrifices of Cain and Abel were upon the Sabbath-day the usual stated time for such services If a time had not beene set apart even in Adams
when many neither labour nor sweat and yet have bread enough As for idle persons whilest they think Resp 1 to shake off that yoke that God hath put upon their necks they bind it faster and make it heavier To a person of any ingenuity idlenesse is a toyle nor is a man more weary then when he doth nothing We must distinguish of a three-fold labour 1. Labor Oeconomicus or mechanicus the labour of mechanicks as we call them or handicrafts-men of this the Apostle speaks Let him that stole steale no more Eph. 4.28 but rather let him labour working with his hands the thing which is good 2. Labor Politicus the labour of Magistrates and Governours so the Apostle speaking of the Magistrate He is the Minister of God to thee for good but if thou do Rom. 13.4 that which is evil be afraid for he beareth not the sword in vaine for he is the Minister of God c. 3. Labor Ecclesiasticus the labour of Ministers we may observe that whilest the world takes this to be an easie calling the Spirit of God in the Scripture frequently speaks of the labour and the work that doth attend it He that desires the office of a Bishop desires a good work And The workman is worthy of his hire And They that rule well are worthy of double honour especially they that labour in the Word and doctrine Ministers are called Starres now the Starres are in continuall motion for the good of the Universe they are to cry aloud and to lift up their voice like a Isa 58.1 trumpet Durante pugnâ non cessat Tuba The trumpet must be sounding all the while the battell is fighting The Church of God is Gods husbandry and the Ministers are his husbandmen Redit agricolis labor actus in Orbem The husbandman hath never done his work but the end of one task is still the beginning of another so it fares with the Ministers of the Gospel sometimes they are instructing poor ignorant souls then they are like Starres that shine in a cold winters night another while convincing gain-sayers then they are like those Starres that fought in their course against Sisera every man must be accountable for his idle words and a Minister for his idle silence Qui claves habent Ecclesiae ostia suorum labiorum aperiant A Minister had better be worne out with whetting then with rusting A way then with the fanatick Spirits of our dayes who call upon Ministers to work with their hands as if there were no other labour but hand-labour Consider 1. They confound those things that God would have distingushed there is the labour of the head and brain as well as of the hand 2. They overthrow as much as in them lyes the well-being if not the being of Kingdomes States Common-wealths in which they live for we stand in as much need of the Magistrate and Minister as we do of the Husbandman and handy-craftsman 3. Aaron with his posterity were Priests Ioshua David Iosias were Magistrates yet it might be said of them that they are their bread in the sweat of their browes Quest 46 vers 19. It is said here In the sweat of thy brows thou shalt eat thy bread and yet our Saviour hath taught us to pray Give us this day our daily bread If we earne our bread with our labour how is it a gift We earne it of man but not of God from man it is a debt but from God it is a Resp 1 gift It is an act of free grace that we have bread for our labour God might have said that we should labour and sweat and after all we should eat husks with hogs as the Prodigall or grasse with the Oxe as Nebuchadnezzar that in the sweat of our brows we eat bread is a mercy As the Scripture speaks of bread so of the staffe and stay of bread For behold the Lord the Lord of hosts doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the Isay 3.1 stay and staffe the whole stay of bread And the truth is a man is strengthened more by the staffe that is in his body then by the staffe that is in his hand it is not the corne and floure but the staffe of bread which supports the life and that is not any thing that comes out of the earth but the blessing of God which comes down from heaven The creature cannot hold up it selfe much lesse contribute to the subsistence of other things unlesse God continue the influence of his blessing upon it It is the observation of a Learned Author As soone as ever Christ cursed the figge-tree it withered and dried Ma. 11.20 up from the roots to shew that it was not the root alone but the blessing of Christ which did support the figge-tree it is pronounced Hos 4. 10. as a curse They shall eat and not have enough and again Ye shall eat and not Lev. 26. 26. be satisfied when I have broken the staffe of your bread ye shall eat and not be satisfied As good take a mouthfull of gravel as a mouthfull of bread and as able it is to nourish without Gods blessing The means by which we live are without life If they be living creatures as sheep and oxen and beasts and birds and fishes they must lose their lives before they can come to be helpes to ours so true is that saying mortibus vivimus we live by deaths now reason tells us Nihil dat quod non habet nothing can give that which it hath not How should food of it selfe preserve and further life which in it self is void of life the death of the creatures sheweth that our life is not from them but from something else By all which we may perceive how these Scriptures may be reconciled of Eating our bread in the sweat of our browes and yet to pray according to the forme our Saviour hath prescribed us Give us this day our daily bread Quest. 47. vers 19. Whether from this Scripture we have a command from God to labour To eat our bread in the sweat of our browes I conceive we have though some think that this was laid upon man after his Resp transgression rather as a curse which he must indure then a duty which he should performe for the clearing of this consider 1. It is granted that this was a curse laid upon man for his transgression 1. As some of Gods curses are promises as well as curses to set out his goodnesse so some of Gods curses are precepts as well as curses to set forth hâ—s justice Some of Gods curses are promises as well as curses so I will put enmity between thee and the woman It is a curse on he Serpent and yet a promise of the Messiah Some of Gods curses areprecepts as well as curses so Thy desire shall be to thy husband and he shall rule over thee this is Gen. 3.16 a curse and yet it is a precept Let our
1. pro à vel abs ut Gen. 44. 4. We may conclude therefore with safety that the Originall will beare this translation I have gotten a man from the Lord. That those that are of the other perswasion affirme that Eve understood that the Messiah should be God which was the occasion of the speech I have gotten a man the Lord. That to me it sounds discord to say that Eve should know so much of the Messiah as that he was God and yet that she should think that he should be born after the ordinary way of mankinde as Cain was Therefore I judge it safer to keep to our translation I have received a man from the Lord viz. by the favour and gift of God especially when I consider that good women have used such expressions in the like case as Leah And Leah conceived and bare a sonne and she called his Gen. 29. 32. name Reuben for she said Surely the Lord hath looked upon mine affliction and verse 33. And she conceived againe and bare a vers 33. sonne and said Because the Lord hath heard that I was hated he hath therefore given me this sonne also and she called his name Simeon See also ver 34. 35. of the same Chapter Let us Learne that riches and honours and children and servants and houses and lands are the gifts of God as well as grace and peace When the Jews should come to Canaan and grow great there was a caution given them to look up unto God as the donor When thou hast eaten and art full then thou shalt blesse the Lord Deu. 8. 10 11. thy God for the good land which he hath given thee beware that thou forget not the Lord thy God c. Many who are perswaded that God gives grace and God gives heaven and salvation are hardly perswaded at least do not consider it that God gives riches and health and wealth and liberty Oh it is a sweet thing when a man can look upward from these lower things and can say that his earth hath dropped down to him from heaven There is no creature in the world that God hath made capable of knowing any thing of the first cause but onely the rationall creature And it is the excellency of man not onely to enjoy the good that he hath but to be able to rise up to the highest and first cause of all good It is observed of the doves that they peck and look upwards hence the Church in the Canticles is said to have doves eyes because they look so much up to heaven upon every good they receive As the Church hath doves eyes so the men of the world have dogs eyes dogs you know look up to their Master for a bone and when they have it they presently look down to the earth again wicked men will look up will pray to God when they want any thing but when they have received what they would have God shall not have one good look from them Quest 3. verse 2. Why did Adam bring up his sonnes one to be a keeper of sheep and the other a tiller of the ground To teach us that parents should bring Resp up their children to some employment and that it is the duty of every one industriously to apply himselfe to some calling or other Cain and Abel were heires apparent to the whole earth and yet they had their employments I know we ought to distinguish between manuall labour and mentall labour in the manner of employment may be some odds Manuall servile and mechanick labour is fit for men of a lower condition generous and ingenuous and liberall employments for persons of the greatest births and brightest intellectualls and this kinde of labour possibly might have suited best with Cain and Abel had it not been for the scarcity of persons then living in the world and the necessity of engaging in such callings for the present but every one ought to be industrious And therefore as a Learned Author very well observes That those Gallants who live in no setled course of life but spend their time in pleasure and vanity there is not the poorest contemptible creature that cryeth Oysters and Kitchin-stuffe in the street but deserveth his bread better then they and his course of life is of better esteeme with God and every sober wise man then theirs An horse that is neither good for the way nor the cart nor the race nor any other service let him be of never so good a breed never so well marked and shaped yet he is but a Jade His Master setteth nothing by him every man will say Better knock him in the head then keep him His skin though not much worth is yet better worth then the whole beast besides Let us have a care therefore of giving up our selves to the vanities and pleasures of the world An idle mans brain is the Devils shop where he forges all manner of sinne Nihil agendo malè agere disces Hierom thought that action and lawfull employment was a disheartning to the Devil and therefore he gives this advice Semper aliquid age ut te Diabolus inveniat occupatum Put thy selfe upon some businesse or other that when the Devil comes to tempt thee to sin he may not finde thee at leasure Quest 4. verse 3 4. Why did Cain bring of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord and Abel of the firstlings of his flock Both Cain and Abel brought such offerings unto the Lord as were suitable to that Resp way or calling in which God had set them Cain was a tiller of the ground and therefore brings as his offering the fruits thereof Abel was a keeper of sheep and therefore brings as his offering the firstlings of his flock As Old Testment Saints had their sacrifices under the Law so New Testament Saints have their sacrifices under the Gospel Almost every duty of Christianity in which a man consecrates himselfe to God is called a sacrifice righteousness is a sacrifice Offer the sacrifices of righteousnesse prayer is a sacrifice Let my prayer Psa 4.5 Psal 141. 2. be set before thee as incense and the lifting up of my hands as an Evening sacrifice Ps 51.17 Repentance is a sacrifice The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit a broken and contrite heart Lord thou wilt not dispise Almes-deeds Heb. 13.16 that is a sacrifice But to do good and to communicate forget not for with such sacrifices God is well pleased Thanksgiving is a sacrifice I will offer to thee the sacrifice Psal 116. 17. of thanksgiving and will call upon the Name of the Lord. It is usuall for the Spirit of God in the Scripture to describe spirituall duties by expressions drawn from Ceremonies and usages under the Law As Repentance is called Washing Wash ye make ye Isay 1.16 cleane put away the evill of your doings from before mine eyes So prayer is called Incense Let my prayer be
Cain and that God is said to speak to Cain because Adam had it by instinct from God But this consideration hath not strength enough in it to beat us off from the received opinion for what wickednesses are there imaginable but we should commit with greedinesse if God should give us up to the wickedinesse of our own spirits Well then learn How the commission of one sin leads us as it were by the hand to the commission of another There is in wicked courses a praecipitium when a man is at the top of an hill it is at his choice whether he will thence throw himself down or not but once let him head-long himself there is no stay till he come to the bottome It is an easier matter to keep our selves from entring into desperate courses then when once we have given our selves the reines to make a stop Nemo repente fit turpissimus As no man on the sudden becometh most excellent in vertue so no man on a sudden becomes desperate in evil There is such a combination of sinne as in the links of a chaine if a man draw one link all the rest will follow so malice follows after anger murther after hatred Adultery after drunkennesse If a man cast a stone into the water there ariseth presently a circle in the place presently after that another and so another till at last all the water be full of circles In like manner if a man commit one sinne another will follow upon it and after that another unlesse the grace of God prevent till he be out of measure sinfull Take heed therefore of the beginnings of sinne take Babylons brats and dash them against the stones We may learn that private spiritednesse is not a thing well pleasing to God we are commanded to shew our love and compassion to a beast Exod. 23. 5. If thou see the Asse of him that hateth thee lying under his burden and wouldest forbeare to help him thou shalt surely help with him and more should we shew compassion and love to our brother Am I my brothers keeper Take heed of that profane speech Christians ow a mutual serviceablenesse one unto another God makes no Patentees nor will he endure any Monopolies Christians must drive an open and free trade The excellency of other creatures is in their communication of themselves the Sun raying out his warme and cherishing beames the Fountain bubling out his purling streams the Earth yielding forth sovereign herbs and plants Christians are then in their excellency when they are communicative and useful I have read that the Art of Medicine was perfected thus As any one met with an herb and discovered the vertue of it by any accident he would post it up in some publick place and if any were sick or diseased he was laid in some beaten passage that every one might communicate the best receipt and say they the Physicians skill was perfected by a collection of those posted experiments and receipts of all things take heed of the napkin wrap not up your Talents As every one hath received the gift even 1 Pet. 4. 10. so minister the same one to another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God Quest. 17. vers 10. What is meant by this phrase The voice of thy brothers blood crieth unto me from the ground This is to be understood figuratively a Resp Metaphor taken from Courts of Justice Thy brothers blood crieth that is as if God should have said I know what thou hast done as clearly as if I had called thee to the barre of justice and the whole matter of fact had been heard and determined before me and upon the whole I should be called upon for justice By the way by what hath been said some light may be given for the understanding of that Scripture I saw under the Altar the soules of them that were slaine for the Word of God and for Rev. 6 9 10. the Testimony which they held and they cryed with a loud voice saying How long Oh Lord holy and true doest thou not judge and avenge our blood Which must not so be understood as if the soules of the blessed Saints should earnestly desire vengeance on them that shed their blood which is hardly competible with an heavenly State but may be expounded in the same manner as the words in this ver The voice of thy brothers blood crieth unto me viz. The Lord hath the blood that hath been shed for his Names sake fresh in his thoughts and will as certainly be revenged on them that shed it as if every drop of their blood were a tongue and continually crying in his eares for justice c. Well then Learn to avoid crying sins crying is applied to severall sins in the Scripture 1. To blood so in this vers Thy brothers blood cryeth 2. To the wickednesse of Sodome Gen 18. 10. The Lord God said Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great and because their sinne is very grievous c. 3. The oppression of Gods servants Exo. 2. 24. God heard their groaning c. 4. The oppression of the widowes and fatherlesse Exo. 22.23 Ye shall not afflict any widow or fatherlesse child if thou afflict them in any wise and they cry at all unto me I will surely heare their cry 5. The oppression of the Labourer Jam. 5.4 Behold the hire of your labourers which have reaped downe your field which is of you kept back by frand crieth And let us blesse God for Jesus Christ the Apostle doth ascribe a cry to the blood of Christ as Moses here to the blood of Abel And to Jesus the Mediatour of the new covenant and to the blood Hâ—b 12. 24. of sprinkling that speaketh better things then that of Abel In that speech of the Apostle there is an allusion made to the blood of Abel and to the cry thereof and he illustrates the cry of Christs blood for us by the cry of the blood of Abel against Cain yet see the dissimilitude as a reverend Author hath it thus 1. Abel was a Saint The blood of a wicked man if innocently shed cries if Abel had murdered Cain Cains blood would have cryed and called upon God for justice against Abel but Abels blood cryes according to the worth of the person Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his Saints Now if the blood of a Saint cry so how much more the blood of the King of Saints 2. Abels blood cryes from the ground but Christs blood is carried up to heaven The cry of the blood of a Saint may come up to heaven yet the blood it self doth not come up thither 3. Adde to this the intercession of Christ himselfe Christ by his own prayers seconds the cry of his blood the blood of a man doth cry though the man be dead but Christ ever liveth to make intercession for his people Quest. 18. vers 11 12. Why did the Lord pronounce against Cain
Scripture of any truly holy that are branded for this sinne Once Noah was overtaken with the love of Wine never with the Love of the world Lot was twice incestuous never covetous once David was besotted with the flesh never bewitched with the world Peter denyed his Master but it was not the love of the world but the feare of the world that caused him to fall into that sin Zaccheus had been a covetous person but no sooner doth he take Christ by the hand but the first thing he doth is to shake hands with covetousness Halfe my goods I give to the poore Qest 27. vers 19. From this Scripture where it is said That Lamech tooke unto him two wives it may be demanded whether Polygamy was a sinne in the time of the Law or not This question hath more perplexities Resp twining about it then at first I thought it might have I shall give you the opinion of learned men concerning it 1. Some conceive that Polygamy was not a sinne in the time of the Law the reasons they render are these Because we finde a Law made by God as touching those who had more wives then Arg. 1 one as in that text If a man have two wives one beloved and another hated and they have borne Deut. 21 15 16. him children both the beloved and the hated and if the first borne sonne be hers that was hated then it shall be when he maketh his sonnes to inherit that which he hath that he may not make the sonne of the beloved first-borne before the sonne of the hated who is indeed the first-borne Now if the Lord makes a Law concerning those who had more wives then one how could it then be a sin This is a non sequitur we finde Laws Resp in Scripture concerning things sinfull as If a man strive and hurt a woman so that her Ex 21.22 23. fruit depart from her and yet no mischiefe follow he shall be surely punished c. And if any mischief follow thou shalt give life for life So concerning theft He that stealeth a man Exo. 21.16 and selleth him he shall be surely put to death So concerning the price of an harlot Thou shalt not bring the hire of an whore Deut. 23. 18. or the price of a dogge into the house of the Lord thy God for any vow Arg. 2 They urge those words of the Lord to David Thus saith the Lord I anointed thee 2 Sam. 12. 7 8. King over Israel and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul and I gave thee thy Masters house and thy Masters wives into thy bosome this the Lord reckons as one of the mercies he had bestowed on David and therefore it was not a sin That phrase say some I gave thy Masters Resp wives into thy bosome is not to be understood of Gods giving them in a way of marriage unto David but of giving them into his power To clear this consider 1. This phrase of giving into a mans bosome in Scripture doth not alwayes signifie a marriage-union Render unto Psal 1 our neighbour seven-fold into their bosome So in Esay Your iniquities and the iniquiâ— of your fathers together saith the Lord which have burnt incense upon the mountaines and blâ—sphemed me upon the Hills therefore will I measure their former worke into their bosome 2. David had married Sauls Daughter Miâ—hol so that Sauls wives were Mothers in Law to David now you have an expresse Law Thou shalt not uncover the Lev. 18. 15. nakednesse of thy Daughter in Law Now if a father ought not to uncover the nakednesse of his Daughter in Law then certainly a Sonne ought not to uncover the nakednesse of his Mother in Law 2. Others conceive that Polygamy was a sinne perswaded thereunto by these reasons From the institution of marriage in Paradise Argu. 1 Therefore shall a man leave his Father and Mother and shall cleave to his wife and Gen. 2. 24. they shall be one flesh 'T is not said they two shall be one flâ—sh Object the word two is not found in the Hebrew text Though it be not explicitely yet 't is Resp implicitely in the text and therefore see how our Saviour renders the words when he urges them Have ye not read that he Mat 19.4 5. that made them at the beginning made them male and female and said For this cause shall a man leave Father and Mother and cleave to his wife and they twaine shall be one flesh The word two or twaine doth not Object exclude plurality as you may see in other Scriptures At the mouth of two witnesses Deu. 17.6 or three witnesses shall he that is worthy of death be put to death So in Matthew saith Christ Mat. 18. 19. If two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall aske it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven The word two or twaine is taken in Resp Scripture inclusively or exclusively in those places urged it is taken inclusively but here exclusively By those words two shall be one flesh Object is onely noted unto us the entire love that should be between man and wife that a man should love his wife as his own flesh But this doth not exclude plurality of wives A man may love his neighbour as himselfe and yet may love many neighbours There may be conjunctio animorum many Resp may be united in regard of their spirits but in marriage there is not onely conjunctio animorum sed corporum an union of spirits but of bodies God commends this unto us as that Object which is well pleasing to him that an Husband should have but one wife but he doth not command it Neg. For Matthew 19. 5. The Resp question was asked Is it lawfull for a man to put away his wife for every cause Christ urges in answer to this question Gen. 2.24 Lamech primus Polygamus Polygamy had Argu. 2 its rise from Cains wicked race therefore likely sinfull and displeasing to God 3. There is a third opinion which I finde some learned persons inclinable to close with viz. That though Polygamy was a sin under the Law that is to say to Lamech and to the rest of Cains wicked progeny yet it was not a sinne to the Patriarchs and that though there was a law from the beginning that one man should have but one wife as Gen. 2.24 yet as to the obligation of it God gave a dispensation to the Patriarchs The reasons that encline them to this opinion are such as these If there were a Law whereby plurality Argu. 1 of wives were forbidden either it was known to the Patriarchs or not If it were known to them then they lived and died in a known sinne without Repentance as far as we can gather from the Scriptures If any say it was not known to them then this will follow that holy men from one generation to another lived and died
religion on those who succeeded Let the consideration of the frailty of our bodies teach us to consult for the good of our immortall soules We may observe many times it so falles out that our rational life is best when our vegetative is worst and we begin to grow in wisdome when we cease to grow in strength As it is with the rationall life so it should be with the spirituall when the life of the flesh is ready to dye the spiritual life should have so much the more spirit and vigour Quest 8. V. 24. It is said in this verse that Enoch was not for God tooke him now the question here may be whether Enoch was translated in soule and body or whether in soule only c Some thinke that Enoch was translated Resp in soule only and not in body and they say he died in the translation so as his soule only was taken up to heaven and his body slept in the earth I shall propound their arguments and give you the answers rendered thereunto No mortall body unglorified can enter Argu. 1 into heaven But there is no mention of his glorification Ergo. It is a slender kinde of arguing to say that Resp 1 a thing is not scriptural because it is not expressely mentioned in the Scripture The glorification of his body is plainly implied though not expressed for it is said he was translated that he should not see death Heb. 11.5 Now if his body saw not death it was made immortall which is a speciall part of glorification If the bodies of Enoch and Elias were translated Argu. 2 into heaven then it will follow that some ascended into heaven before Christ ascended thither But this seemes not to be allowed for heaven to us as Paradise to Adam was shut up till Christ opened it by hsme rits We readily grant that the opening of Resp 1 heaven the celestiall Paradise is to be ascribed to the merits of Christ We confidently deny that heaven was then only opened when Christ actually suffered or ascended up into heaven and we cannot but peremptorily assert that the force and efficacy of the merits of Christ extended to Old Testament-Saints long before Christs coming in the flesh for the Lord Jesus was a Lambe slain from the foundation of the world Christ the same yesterday to day and for ever and our Fathers under Old Testament-dispensations ate the same spiritual meat and drank the same spiritual drink as we do under the Gospel viz. the body of Christ crucified and his blood shed for the remission of sinnes and these things though they were future to hope yet they were present to faith which is the Substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seene From Joh. 3.13 And no man hath ascended Arg. 3 up to heaven but he that came downe from heaven even the Son of man which is in heaven By which words say some is signified that no man bodily ascended into heaven untill the time of Christs ascension This place is to be expounded Metaphorically Resp No man hath ascended into heaven so as to know the secrets of the Almighty and to lie in the bosome of the Father but onely Christ and indeed the context gives great light to this Exposition for the Lord Jesus would by this convince Nicodemus that he was more able to teach him heavenly mysteries then all the Doctors among the Jewes as you may perceive by vers 11. and 12. Verily I say unto thee We speak that we do know and â—estifie that we have seenâ— c. And besides Prov. 30. 4. Ascending up into heaven is made all one with the knowing of holy things From Heb. 6.20 Where Christ is called Arg. 4 the forerunner And Christ saith John 14. I go to prepare a place for you Therefore before Christs death and ascension a place was not prepared Christ might be called a forerunner Resp 1 in respect of those who died after his ascension Christ might be called the forerunner of his Saints under the Old Testament in regard of the effiâ—acy of his merits That a place was prepared for Old Testament-Saints by Christ but with respect to his future sufferings and merits and therefore though a place might be said to be prepared for Enoch and Elias yet it was necessary Christ should die and Christ should ascend From Col. 1.15 where Christ is called Arg. 5 the first-borne of every creature and verse 18. in all things to have the preeminence and Rom. 8.29 he is called the first-born among many brethren The primogeniture of Christ doth not Resp consist in this that no man either in regard of body or soul or both ascended into heaven before Christs coming in the flesh but in this that no man hath nor shall ever come thither but by the vertue and efficacy of his merits As Christ is called the first-fruits of them that sleep not because none arose 1 Cor. 15. â—0 before Jesus Christ but because he alone arose by his owne power and is the cause of the resurrection of all those that have or shall arise unto glory sâ— here Christ alone ascended into heaven by his owne power and is the cause of the ascension of his people unto glory To whom be glory for ever Amen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 FINIS Directions FOR The right understanding Of the SCRIPTURES 1. Rule THere are tropes or figurative expressions which are made use of by the Spirit of God in the Scriptures which if not warâ—ly observed will occasion a misunderstanding of the text The Scriptures are adorned with various kinds of Elegancies and Rhetoricall expressions demulcere animos legentis Amongst many others I shall instance in two 1. The figure called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a figure whereby one thing is signified by two severall Noune substantives As The Lord will create upon every dwelling place of Mount Sion and upon her assemblies a cloud aâ—d smoke by day viz. a smoaky cloud Isa 4. 5 So I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance but he that cometh after me is Mat. 3.11 mightier then I whose shoes I am not worthy to beare he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire viz. with the holy Ghost as with fire Sad consequences may follow upon the literall Interpretation of this Scripture I have read that the Abyseni tooke this text literally and when they baptized their children they poured water upon them and then marked them with an hot iron 2. The figure called Ironia whereby we speak one thing and meane another but signifie our meaning either by our gesture or manner of speaking this manner of speech though it be often abused unto sinne as in deriding and scorning our brethren yet is in it selfe lawfull if rightly used and of this we have example in the Scriptures Such a speech was that of Michaiah to wicked Ahab Go up and prosper If this figure were not 1 King 22. 15 observed we might question the