ISAIAH Chap. Verse Vol. Page 14 13 14 1 40 26 16 1 77 27 4 1 46 32 2 1 120 41 2 1 133 51 1 1 Ibid. 63 15 16 1 214 65 8 1 107 JEREMIAH Chap. Verse Vol. Page 6 19 1 40 10 11 1 5 LAMENTATION Chap. Verse Vol. Page EZEKIEL Chap. Verse Vol. Page DANIEL Chap. Verse Vol. Page 4 30 32 1 134 HOSEA Chap. Verse Vol. Page JOEL Chap. Verse Vol. Page AMOS Chap. Verse Vol. Page OBADIAH  Verse Vol. Page JONAH MICAH NAHVM HABAKKVK ZEPHANIAH HAGGAI ZECHARIAH Chap. Verse Vol. Page 14 6 1 103 MALACHY Chap. Verse Vol. Page 3 17 1 171 THE New-Testament MATTHEW CHap. Verse Vol. Page 5 29 1 15 6 29 1 6 10 39 1 25 16 26 1 20 23 17 1 76 31 35 1 59 14 1 104 24 37 to 44 1 Ibid. MARK Chap. Verse Vol. Page 7 34 1 17 10 17 1 178 LVKE Chap. Verse Vol. Page 2 46 51 1 60 12 51 1 69 JOHN Chap. Verse Vol. Page 8 56 1 157 10 7 9 1 113 16 21 1 52 8 9 1 184 ACTS Chap. Verse Vol. Page 10 14 20 28 1 125 13 34 1 205 14 22 1 143 ROMANS Chap. Verse Vol. Page 4 13 1 139 8 1 1 176 9 11 12 18 1 75 15 1 175 16 20 1 50 1 CORINTHIANS Chap. Verse Vol. Page 10 16 1 71 11 19 1 69 2 CORINTHIANS GALATIANS Chap. Verse Vol. Page 3 12 1 166 4 24 1 164 c. EPHESIANS Chap. Verse Vol. Page 1 4 5 6 7 8 9 1 75  3 1 Ibid. 2 10 1 2 3 11 1 108 4 3 4 13 1 62 6 4 1 55 PHILIPPIANS COLOSSIANS 1 THESSALONIANS 2 THESSALONIANS 1 TIMOTHY Chap. Verse Vol. Page 2 14 1 43 4 1 4 1 8 2 TIMOTHY TITVS Chap. Verse Vol. Page 3 4 1 214 PHILEMON HEBREWS Chap. Verse Vol. Page 8 10 1 177 9 10 11 1 70 10 15 16 1 191 5 1 98 11 6 1 79 80 9 to 16 1 137 c. 12 14 1 69 JAMES Chap. Verse Vol. Page 1 13 14 1 45 17 1 100 3 6 8 1 18 17 1 159 1 PETER Chap. Verse Vol. Page 3 19 1 102  20 21 1 112 126 2 PETER 1.2 and 3. of JOHN 1 Joh. Ch. Verse Vol. Page 2 16 1 43 5 19 1 49 3 12 1 55 JVDE  Verse Vol. Page  6 1 40 REVELATION Chap. Verse Vol. Page 14 4 1 139 18 4 1 133 21 3 1 122 ERRATA'S in the whole First Volume IN Page 14. Chapter the Third is omitted at line 32. Page 214. for 94. after 91. read 92. Title Page line 9. read Goel for God Next to Page 277. Page 279. is set before Page 278. AN Alphabetical TABLE OF THE Principal Matters contain'd in the First Volume of the Old Testament WHEREIN The Figure 1. signifies the First Volume and the Letter p. signifies Page as it is found either in the First or in the Second or in the Third Volume or in the Supplement betwixt the First and Second and the Numerical Figures do refer to those Pages c. A. ABEL his Birth Life and Death Vol. 1. Page 55. 56 c. Abraham the Friend of God p. 129. hath the Resemblance of God the the Father p. 130. and of God the Son p. ibid. and of every true Christian p. 131. His Call whence and whither p. 132 to 136. His Ten Tyrals named p. 143. Acceptance with God how obtained p. 80 81 82. Adam Wiser than Solomon p. 29. He named all things suitable to their Natures p. 30. How made after God's Image and placed in Paradise p. 31. All Creatures are Subject to him p. 32. God gave Eve to him the blessing of Marriage p. 33 34 35. and the blessing of the Sabbath p. 36 37 38. Nothing is Recorded of Adam's Conversion c. p. 176. Adultery God punishes it in Kings p. 163. Angels when Created the Fall of some their Malice and Mischief to Man p. 41. Ark of Noah largely described p. 109 110 111. How it was a Type of the Church p. 112 113 114 115. The Disparity p. 116. We should prepare an Ark to save us p. 117 118 119. How it was a Type of Christ p. 120. Arminian Refuted p. 171. B. Babel the Building and Builder of that Tower p. 134 135. Baptism of Believer's Seed Vindicated p. 198 199. Barrenness in Soul as well as Body and sometimes in the Church p. 160. C. Cain the Cursed one described at large Vol. 1. Page 55 56 c. Calling Every Man must be of some Employ p. 57 59 60. in some it is necessary wherein to learn it p. 61 62. None are born to be Idle p. 412. Canaan was Abraham's three ways p. 138. Ceremonies quarrel about them is Antient See Quarrel p. 121 122. Children must Honour their Parents p. 132. They must not be Vnnatural to them p. 329. but provide for them in their Old Age p. 406 414. Christ See Ark. Joseph His fulness must invite us to come to him as the fulness of Joseph's Garners drew the Patriarchs to Egypt p. 406. Christendom the Womb of it described p. 219 221 222. Christian like Rebekah's Womb hath strugglings of Flesh and Spirit p. 223 c. His Excellency described p. 360 361. All other Men do fare better for them p. 363. Church see Ark hath three great Adversaries bad Priests bad Princes and bad People p. 395. How she was Seated first in Goshen p. 416. Her various Conditions she passeth through in the Wilderness of this lower World p. 464 to 468. Cloud What that Cloudy Pillar was which guided Israel through the Wilderness and the manner of that Conduct p. 457 458 459 460 to 463. Covenant twofold represented by Sarah and Hagar p. 164. The Difference 'twixt that of Works and of Grace p. 166 167 168. We may know under which Covenant we are p. 174. One Sin broke that of Works but many Sins cannot break that of Grace p. 175. That on Sinai what it was p. 179. How it was made with three publick Persons with Adam Noah and Abraham p. 180. And so with Moses and Israel p. 181. That this was not a Third Covenant but that of Grace p. 182. The Covenant betwixt the Father and Son ab eterno what p. 187. The Spirit is a Witness to it p 191. Names of the Covenant of Grace Hebrew Greek and Latine p. 194 195. It s Nature p. 196. 'T is Free Firm Full and Holy p. 203 to 212. How our Union with this Covenant is known p. 113 114. Creation The Creator who had ab eterno been Deus contractus then became Deus expansus p. 1. What it is p. 2. Of the Heavens and of the Earth p. 3 4. The vast Variety of created Beings in the Heaven Earth and Sea p. 6 7. Of Man's Creation p. 9. Crosses attend Pious Persons and Families p. 311. D. Death is threefold Temporal Spiritual ond Eternal p. 97. It s Uncertainty should make us Wise p. 227 228. Then God saith
must be Isaac and not Ishmael nor any other may none but Abraham be the Priest to slay this Sacrifice Can this Inhumane Action be done by no Hands but by the Hands of his own Father Must my own Hands destroy the Seed of my own Loins Is there no way to be faithful to my God but in being unnatural to my Son and in making my self a Monster of Parents to all the World 5. If I who profess Religion do such an Unparallell'd Irreligious Act how shall I hereby give just occasion to the Enemies of the Lord to Blaspheme to lay Reproach upon Religion and to Rail against God himself as if he were not only the Abettor but also the very Author of such matchless Villany Oh! how will all the Banks of Blasphemy against both God and Religion be broken down among the Heathen And how will Men spend their spite and justly angred indignities on me saying There goes the Barbarous Man that most brutishly Butcher'd his own Son 6. As I shall never be able after this Act to look any Man in the Face so least of all my own dear Sarah who will never Affect or Embrace more the Murderer of her Beloved Child whom she bred brought forth and brought up in Sorrow as 1 Chron. 4.9 yet now was become not her Jabez or Jazeb a sorrowful Son but her Isaac indeed a Son of much Joy and Laughter as the Name signifies Alas Whither shall I go and which way shall I turn me when all people shall hiss at the very sight of me and the Wife of my Bosom shall spit in my Face instead of Entertaining me for becoming a Butcher to her Dear Son How may she more justly Ring that loud Peal in my Ears saying as Zipporah said after to her Husband Moses Surely a Bloody Husband thou art to me twice over Exod. 4.25 26. Thus shall I make my Conjugium to become a Conjurgium my Yoke of Wedlock an unbearable Yoke when I have made her a most justly peevish froward and morose Woman continually scolding with me in all other after-occurrences and thus my Marriage shall become my not Merry-age but Marr-age by laying the Foundation by this Fact of continual Contentions Brawling and Brangling will be dropping scalding hot upon my Head uncessantly which I can neither cure nor carry patiently Prov. 19.13 How may the dog-Dog-Letter r lead me a dog-Dog-life and make me wish to live in the corner of the House-top Prov. 21.9 or which is worse in the VVilderness among Ravenous Beasts and Venemous Serpents in greatest danger and want of all necessary Accommodations ver 19. 7. And that which is still worse and nearer How shall I be able to stand before the checks and chidings of my own Conscience which I cannot fly from but must carry it in my Bosom to sting me continually and in all places and Companies for Murdering so dutiful and gracious a Son Had Isaac been a foolish Son which Solomon saith is the calamity of his Father Prov. 19.13 I might have been less troubled though David could never have done with his doleful Ditty Oh Absalom my Son my Son would God I had died for thee 2 Sam. 18.33 and 19.4 Notwithstanding his being a Graceless and Rebellious Son and Died by other Hands and not by his own yea Trussed up 'twixt Heaven and Earth as unvvorthy of either by Gods ovvn immediate Hand but my Isaac vvas a wise Son which made a glad Father Prov. 10.1 and 15.20 his Fathers Light as Abner and Joy or Laughter as Abigail signifie yet must I be the Murtherer 8. How can this my Murdering practice be reconciled to Gods gracious Promise How can Isaac Die and yet Live to be the Father of Nations and of that Blessed Seed Christ Jesus the Redeemer in whom all the Nations of the Earth were to be blessed Gen 22.18 Gal. 3.8 16. How can it be my way to keep Isaac for these great purposes promised thus wickedly to kill him Such and many more with the aforesaid might have been the carnal Reasonings of Abraham's Heart against his Obedience to this grievous command of God but through the strength of his Faith Fear and Love to God he doth not dispute but dispatch he doth not argue but obey the command God knew he spoke in that command to a faithful Abraham and Abraham knew he dealt with a most Holy God who was too kind to do him any harm and too just to do him any wrong therefore doth he Act his part and leaves Gods part to himself to order and issue all according to his own Wisdom Power and Goodness he obeys the command and leaves the Success of his Obedience to the great God who out of his Soveraignty giving no account of any of his matters to Man Job 33.13 had given our that command thus Abraham is said to Offer up Isaac Heb. 11.17 insomuch as he did Offer him up purposely though he did it not actually Inferences hence be 1. As Abraham did so every Child of Abraham ought to Evidence their Fear and Love to God Gen. 22.12 Now I know c. not as if God were ignorant at any time of any thing for he is Omniscient God knew Abraham's Fear of Love Hosea 3.5 before but now he made Experience of it when Abraham testified his Faith by his Obedience and declared it openly to all the World Oh that we could give such real Evidences of our Love to Christ as Abraham did here and as Peter did Mat. 14.28 29. in adventuring to walk upon a boisterous Sea c. Alas we murmur to wet our Feet where he and many Martyrs waded deep in the Salt Waters of Affliction 2. Our best Evidence hereof is to Offer up our Isaac to God our Herodias our Dalilah whatever is our Joy and Laughter not warranted by the Word as the Ambitious Mind its Honour the Voluptuous its Pleasure the Covetous its Treasure and the Envious its Revenge c. Alas the Spirit naturally in us lusteth to Envy Jam. 4.5 and will be as forward in Returning as Persecutors are in Offering Evil Revenge is said to be sweet 1 Sam. 24.19 We should Offer up this Isaac and not avenge our selves Rom. 12.19 but rather keep the Kings peace and so give place unto wrath that is to the wrath of God into which Mans wrath must be melted which is ready to seize upon our Adversaries if we do not by an over-hasty Revenge prevent it Psal 94.12 Luke 18.7 8. I say unto you saith Christ that ye resist not evil Mat. 5.39 for in some cases to resist is to be overcome saith Paul Rom. 12.21 There be three Scripture Phrases that teach us our Duty 1. Be still Psal 46.10 2. Stand still Exod. 14.13 3. Sit still Isa 30.7 'T is a thousand times better Aristotle could say to suffer an hundred injuries than to offer one Commit all in a way of well doing to a faithful Creator 1 Pet. 4.19 3. We must place our Confidence
appear when I come to speak particularly of its properties which is a Spring of comfort never dried up Death ends other Covenants 'twixt Man and Man or Woman c. but neither Death nor Desertions disannuls this he is still Abraham's God though Dead he shall Rise he loses none of his The last Difference to omit many others for brevities sake is The Two Covenants differ in their Ends and Effects 1. The first Covenant was designed only to make way for the Dispensation of the second so that the former is as a Glass to discover unto Man his Malady and Misery by Sin but the latter his Remedy and Relief by Christ 't is as a School-master to whip us home to him Gal. 3.24 2. The first is to discover sin and so wounds and terrifies the Soul of a Sinner as oft to cast Sparks of Hell-fire into the Conscience and Firebrands of dreadful Despair into the wounded Spirit 't is a Judge to condemn sin if not a Bridle to restrain it but the second doth most graciously not only cover sin but also cure the Soul of Sin both in its guilt and filth pronouncing a pardon and promising also a power yea removing the Curse and applying the Blessing 3. The first is the Ministration of Death and a Killing Letter which though it proposeth a way to Life yet promiseth no power to attain it and no pardon to the Transgressor of it but curseth as well as accuseth and condemneth to Death But the second is the Ministration of Life as it communicates the quickning Spirit that Heavenly Manna which is Rained down in the sweet Dews of Evangelical Doctrine Gal. 3.2 and 2 Pet. 1.22 therefore is it call'd the Ministration of the Spirit 2 Cor. 3 6 7 8. which not only propoundeth a way to Life but also promiseth such Operations of the Spirit as shall raise up Sinners from the Death of Sin and restore them to a Life of Holiness and Happiness The words of David he shall surely die was the voice of the first Covenant or the Law but the words of Nathan thou shalt not die 2 Sam. 12.5 13. was the voice of the second Covenant or the Gospel In the former you have David awarding Death to Sin in the latter Nathan awarding Life to Repentance for Sin 4. The first Covenant is so full of Rigour and Exactness that it weighs Obedience by the Ballance and if there be but the least Grain wanting it will Repute it too light and reject it as not current Coin in the Court of the Covenant of Works 't is like the Law of the Nazarites Numb 6.12 If a Man did not observe exactly all the Ceremonies commanded all the thirty days of his Separation but offended in any one Circumstance either in the middle or at the end of that term of Time all his former observances though never so strictly performed must be lost and the Man must begin the World again he must renew the term of another thirty days as if he had done nothing at all before one small pollution though at unawares contracted might nullifie many days purification Thus the Law of Works requireth a perfect perfonal and perpetual Observation and Obedience yea and curseth him that continueth not in all things commanded Deut. 27.26 Gal. 3.10 and whosoever keepeth the whole Law and doth but fail in one point he is guilty of all Jam. 2.10 whoever follows not the direction of it to an Hair breadth must fall under the correction of it to its utmost extremity But the Second Covenant Examines or Tries all Obedience not by the Ballance but by the Touch Stone and what it finds sincere that it accepts though it be imperfect looking always at Truth more than at Measure and at the willingness of the offerer more than at the worthiness of the Offering 2 Cor. 8.12 so low doth Gods highness in this second Covenant stoop to our meanness as to accept of a little of the best Gen. 43.11 Sic minimo capitar thuris honore Deus Many more might be added As 5. The First Covenant is for humbling the Old Man and for stopping his Mouth before the Lord bringing upon him sense of Sin and fear of wrath Rom. 7.7 8 9. but the second is for exalting and exhilarating the New-Man not only stopping the Mouth of that Cursing Covenant but also opening a Believers Mouth in his Blessing the Lord for this Blessed and Blessing Covenant 2 Sam. 23.5 c. excusing and absolving him from all his Sins in Christ 6. The First Engendreth to Bondage causing all the Children of Adam to be Born of the Bond-Woman Hagar as they are all by Nature the Children of VVrath Gal. 4.2 and Eph. 2.3 but the Second generateth to Liberty 2 Cor. 3.17 and Joh. 8.36 wherein Christ by his free and noble Spirit so called Psal 51.12 freeth a man from the Invisible Chains of the Kingdom of Darkness This Blessed Covenant maketh the Bond-slaves of the Law to become Free-holders of the Gospel 7. The First leaveth the Soul in the Dark about his Peace and Comfort as to Eternity but the Second setleth it upon a well grounded tranquillity A man may do never so many good works yet cannot he by the first Covenant come up to any certain confidence before God as that young Pharisee who thought verily with himself that he had kept all the Commandments and that he was aforehand with God yet could he not be quieted in his own mind but was unsatisfied doubting whether he had done enough to bring him to Heaven therefore came he running and congeeing to Christ for further satisfaction Mark 10.17 Mat. 19.16 20. and was sent away with a sad Heart because Christ required that which he was not willing to perform notwithstanding his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 VVhat lack I yet Christ could have told him thou art therefore guilty of the breach of every Commandment because thou conceitest thy self to be a keeper of all and thou therefore lackest every thing because in thy own Thoughts thou lackest nothing but in the Second Covenant wherein a Man renounces his own Righteousness and runs for refuge to the Righteousness of Christ then hath Conscience a Rock of Ages to cast its Anchor of Confidence upon whereas the other rests upon Sand no higher than themselves Isa 26.3 Psal 61.2 Waves in swelling Waters get above them and wash them off whereas being Justified by Faith we have Peace with God Rom. 5.1 2. a Blessed Calm is lodged in the Conscience which neither the blowing of the VVind the falling of the Rain nor the Torrent of Flouds can take away Mat. 7.24 26. all are either Wise or otherwise even Foolish Builders as Rom. 10.3 c. 8. The First Covenant is not able to save any man no not the purest and most Innocent man Adam now much less since 't is weak through the Flesh Rom. 8.3 hence did Adam fall from that first state of life both Totally and Finally and if
People again As before He opened a new way never gone before to deliver them out of eminent Danger at the Red Sea A true and due consideration of this great Truth might have prevented their murmuring but alas they look'd too low at Moses and too little at Jehovah who had taken them into his Conduct pardon'd this Sin also and shew'd Moses a Tree that should sweeten those bitter Waters c. at Moses fervent Prayer Exod. 15.25 Here was a Tree at hand even in this dry Desart as there was a Well of Water nigh Hagar in the Wilderness though she saw it not till God had opened her Eyes Gen. 21.19 nor Moses saw this Tree till God shew'd it him and the Nature and Vertue of it The Hebrew Doctors as Elias in Lexico Chald. say it was a Tree that bore Flowers like Lillies but exceeding bitter it being the manner of the holy blessed God say they to make that which is bitter sweet by that which is bitter Thus Elisha heal'd the Waters of Jericho by Salt 2 King 2.21 which was more like to make them more bitter And Christ heal'd the blind Man with Clay which was more like to put out his Eyes than to open them But herein God shews his Power by healing one contrary with another dulcifying those Waters by a bitter Tree But others judge it more probable that this Tree was like our Liquorice which Ecclesiasticus 38.5 intimates Was not the waters made sweet with wood that the virtue thereof might be known and which might be sweet enough to give a grateful Relish to a particular draught But that the main body of the Waters should be dulcified by casting it in this could not be natural but miraculous God could have given sweetened Waters for so many hundred thousand c. to drink without this Tree yet useth he this external Sign and Instrument to make a deeper Impression upon Israel's dull apprehensions and to teach us that the weans which God appoints may not be neglected either for Soul or Body But the mystical signification of this Tree is redundant in Authors quisque abundat in sensu proprio 1. It signifies say some what we are by Nature even bitter in thought word and deed yet sweetned by grace as the Waters by this Tree 2. Others say it signifies the Law which is a killing Letter in it self unpleasant to the taste c. but 't is sweetned to us by the Gospel c. 3. This Tree was a figure of the Tree of Life or of that Rod which was to spring out of the Root of Jesse Isa 11.1 who sweetens all to us Matth. 11.29 Christ is the Fir-tree Hos 14.8 the Vine John 15.1 whose Leaves heal Nations Rev. 22.2 4. 'T is a Type of Christ's sweet Cross and easie Yoke that sweetneth and facilitateth all our bitter and heavy Afflictions which are compared to VVaters Psal 69.2 yet are hereby made light and joyful Gal. 3.13 1 Pet. 2.21 24. 2 Cor. 1.5 7 10. and 4.17 Rom. 5.3 and 6.3 4. N.B. VVhat then if we meet with the bitter VVaters of Affliction in the VVilderness of this VVorld Despond not so long as we have the Remedy by us to redress this Malady our Antidote is at hand The 6th Remark upon this fifth Station is God proves his Church by bewildering her for gracious ends to do her good at the latter end Deut. 8.2 15 16. VVhat this Law was wherewith he proved Israel at Marah Exod. 15.25 there be several sentiments of it To omit the Jewish Fables As 1. The eating of Swine's flesh was here forbid 2. The Sacrifice of the Red Cow was here commanded 3. The Seven Precepts of Noah 4. The Law of the Sabbath and other Ceremonies c. all Conjectures without ground As to the Sabbath 't is probable they kept it in Egypt tho' remisly as both the number of the Seventh Day Passover and the manner of keeping that Day with an Holy Rest Exod. 12.16 do intimate The Law of the Sabbath was immediately given after the Creation not here but their Opinion is more probable who say that First The Lord renew'd his Covenant made with the Patriarchs of old and now reviv'd it with their posterity at Marah or Secondly It may relate to that summary Statute expressed in the next verse If thou wilt keep all my Commandments c. v. 26. which God premiseth as a preface to the Law to be after given on Mount Sinai within the space of little more than a Month as may be gathered by comparing Exod. 16.1 with Exod. 19.1 So there appeared no necessity here to prevent that time and place yet this preface premised as a preparation for that dreadful Day hath annexed to it a most gracious promise of healing all Diseases by an Almighty Physician both those of the Soul forgiving their Iniquities and healing their Souls Psal 41.4 and 103.3 and those of the Body also Ibidem Which sheweth that obedience to God's Law is the best preservative against sickness 1 Cor. 11.30 31. and 2 Chron. 30.20 c. The Last Remark from the connexion of Marah Israel's fifth station to Elim their sixth Exod. 15.27 sheweth that instead of all their discouragements at the former they are better treated with better and more pleasant encouragements and accommodations in the latter place where they met with twelve Wells plenty of Waters for every Tribe one and seventy Palm-Trees made a Badge of Victory Rev. 7.9 or Date-Trees alluding to the seventy Elders the Jewish Sanedrim those abounding with refreshing shade and pleasant Fruit Thus sadness endures an Evening but joy comes in the Morning to bewildred ones Psal 30.5 c. Now come we to Israel's Eighth Station in the Desart of Zin their seventh having nothing memorable being omitted Exod. 16.1 Oh how changeable were the Churches Affairs here no sooner was one impediment master'd but another starts up and stares her in the face Plenty at Elim where Palm-Trees signifie the Righteous Psal 92.12 and were a sign of Victory Rev. 7.9 over that tentation at Mara thro' the Cross of Christ did not last long They are again conducted to the Red Sea on the Arabian shore Numb 33.10 11. and from thence hither where they meet with new and more wants the want of Bread their third hinderance for which they murmured again as before for want of water forgetting all the fresh Experiences of Divine favours behind them and not looking unto Jesus who went before them Heb. 12.3 their joy dwindles This happened one Month after their leaving Egypt in which thirty days time all the provisions they had brought thence upon their shoulders were quite spent though eating sparingly thereof all that time also Now Famine pincheth them having no prospect of more provision in a barren Wilderness unless they had fain upon their own Flocks and Herds which would not have serv'd such an Host for above a Month Numb 11.22 and which they peculiarly preserved for an increase
back 4. They are doomed to wander in the Wilderness Forty Years till their Carcases were all consumed ver 33 34. Children bear the Whoredoms of Parents and wander so long with them including the Year past and part of the second Numb 10 11. All must know to their cost God will not be charged with breach of Promise which was upon a Condition broken by them so could not be whole on God's part Then did Moses Pen the nintieth Psalm for God's shortening Mens Lives c. to cut them the sooner off in the Wilderness Then the seventh and last Observable is Some of Israel's unhappy War with their Adversaries without God and the Ark going with them after their Mourning greatly for this sad Sentence c. ver 34 40 41 42 43 44 45. They in a blind Zeal as the Hebrew signifies rashly climb the Mountain confess they had finned when God gave them cause to cry yet resolve to Sin again in going up against the Command both of God and Moses and without the Ark This Presumption pushes them out of God's Precincts and so out of God's Protection Their Adversaries smote them to Horma which signifies a Curse or utter Destruction After this they wept but God would not hear so they abode in Kadesh many Days Deut. 1.45 46. Thus the Jews dealt with Jesus and John Baptist as those with Caleb and Joshua till Wrath came without Remedy 1 Thess 2.15 16. Because Israel abode at this fifteenth Station Kadesh-Barnea for many Days Deut. 1.46 according to the Days they had abode at Sinai ver 6. which contained one whole Year as they spent a whole Year at Sinai wherein a great deal of Work occurred as before so here we have many Occurrences in this whole Year following also And whereas God bids them upon their Murmuring c. To turn back to the Red Sea Deut. 1.40 The Lord's meaning was that at their next March whensoever it was which came not till long after that Divine Decree of their wandring so long in the Wilderness They should not go forward towards Canaan but right back again towards the Red Sea from whence they came During their long Station at Kadesh after the old Generation were doomed to dye short of Canaan c. sundry other Occurrences happened besides those before mentioned before their Retrograde Motion In the next place after the Judgment upon the disobedient Parents to be worn out in the Wilderness God remembreth Mercy and suffereth not his whole Wrath to arise but sealeth up his Love again to those late Revolters-Children whom He teacheth what to do when they came to Canaan Numb 15.1 to 12. in the Laws of Sacrificing wherein God promiseth to smell a sweet Savour from the Herd and from the Flock and the same Privilege is promised to all the Stranger Proselytes that embrace the true Religion The Sins of both committed by Errour and Ignorance should be equally expiated when they offered up their Homage to the Chief Lord of all from ver 12 to 27. By all which was figured their Reconciliation unto God and his Grace towards them in Christ Thus after the Curse of the Law for Sin succeedeth for our Comfort the Grace of the Gospel by Faith Checkered Work of Black and White proportionably intermingled is look'd upon as very beautiful Work This comely mixture of the black of Justice and of the white of Mercy God often exposeth to publick View upon Scripture-Record not only here but elsewhere In like manner after the Destruction of twenty four Thousand for the Sin of Baal-peor Numb 25. The Lord causeth the Children of Israel to be numbred again Numb 26. and anew appointeth the Land of Promise to be given to them for an Inheritance and repeateth again the Laws of sacrificing at the solemn Feasts in Numb 28. 29. That upon the Example of Wrath upon the sinful Parents He might discover his remembrance of Mercy in Christ unto the Penitent Believing Children Another remarkable Occurrence happened here at Kadesh-Barnea which was the Severity of God's Justice and Judgments against all proud and presumptuous Sinners in General Numb 15.30 for though there be a Pardon ready Sealed in course by God in Christ for all such as Sin by Infirmity Incogitancy Inadvertency or oversight c. Lev. 4.2 13. else we might die in our Sins while the Pardon is providing yet no such remedy is promised or provided for such as Sin with an high hand proudly and presumptuously with an uncover'd face as Onkelos in Chaldee expoundeth it openly and boldly as not ashamed their Sin should be seen of Men. This is call'd the great offence Psal 19.11 And the Reason is rendred because it reproacheth the Lord as if he wanted either Wisdom to observe or Power to punish such presumptuous Sinners who proudly conceit themselves to be out of the reach of God's Rod Ezek. 20.27 There is no Sacrifice for this Sin but the Sinner is to be cut off either by the Hand of the Magistrate where his Deed deserveth Death by the Law or by immediate Vengeance of the Hand of God as Numb 14.37 And this Severity against such Sinners is exemplified in particular upon a Sabbath-breaker Numb 15.31 32 33 34 35 36. where we may observe 1. The Perpetration of one particular presumptuous Sin together with its circumstances as what where when and how The Fact was seemingly but a small Matter namely gathering a few sticks c. and possibly he might pretend some necessity or conveniency to himself thereby c. but because really is was done with an high Hand in contempt of God and his Law and a prophaning of his Holy Sabbath though in the Wilderness wherein the Sabbath in respect of Cessation from Works was precisely observed but so were not the Laws about Sacrifices for it was written about their Meat and Drink Offerings c. When ye be come into Canaan c. that then and then only they were to be observed yet the Sabbath was to be strictly kept both within the Land and without even in the Wilderness 2. The Punishment for this perpetrated Fact of prophaning the Sabbath wherein 1. The Sinner is apprehended 2. Accused 3. Imprisoned because it was not yet known what Sentence to pass upon him For though the matter of the Fact was twice Doomed with Death Exod. 31.14 and 35.2 Yet was it not declared what manner of Death such a Sinner should dye Therefore God is consulted about this who expresly declareth it ver 35. Besides though the Law be in the rigour of it a killing Letter yet might it admit of some favourable Construction from Necessity c. Which might make the Offender capable of pardon So Moses did not rashly doom him nor ought Magistrates be hasty in matters of Life and Death as in other Cases of an Inferiour Nature They ought to be wary God and his Word ought to be consulted 4. He was Condemned God himself passing the Sentence that he should be
which is not Mortis Susceptivus capable of being put to Death yet it is said to be Mortified because by its being Devoted to God for the Service of his Sanctuary according to the common Notion of Church-Lands it as it were dyeth passing away from a Secular to a Sacred use In like manner saith he that the Death of Man there mentioned is not a Corporal but a Civil and Spiritual Death like that of Jephtah's Daughter who died to the World when devoted to Prayers and Fastings c. as a Recluse spending her perpetual Virginity in Religious Exercises Answer 3. That Law of putting to Death there is limited with Mikol Asher Lo de omnibus quae sunt sub suâ potestate which he hath a power over but the Jews had no power over the Lives of their very Servants insomuch that if any Master kill'd his Servant casually he was to be surely punish'd for it by the Law of God Exod. 21.20 Much less was it lawful for him to take away the Life of his Servant wilfully and intentionally upon pretence of any Vow as this was but least of all hath a Father power over his Child to take away his or her Life under pretence of a Vow for though Servants be said to be their Master's Money Exod. 21.21 Yet Children are not so to their Parents but are indeed themselves of a Second Edition and so in slaying them they do Tantamont slay themselves in them whereas both Masters and Fathers are bound up from Murdering either Servants or Sons c. by that great Command of God Thou shalt do no Murther whereof Jephtah is made a Breaker by those that say he Sacrific'd his Child Answer 4. Nor will that Law of God which impowereth Parents to get their Stubborn and Rebellious Children Stoned Deut. 21.18 19 20 21. afford any relief to the first Opinion no more than that Law which commands Parents to have their hands first in stoning their Idolatrous Children Deut. 13.8 9. N. B. For neither of those Instances come near or concern our Case in hand for Jephtah's Daughter was a Pious Virgin not so much for ought we know as tainted with Idolatry much less a down-right and known Idolatress and as she was one that durst not transgress the Commands of the first Table in Adoring Srtange Gods instead of the true Jehovah so was she no less careful and conscientious concerning the Duties of the Second Table here 's no Stubborness or Rebellion heard of here Oh how did she Honour her Father in her most Humble Answer to him saying Father do not for my sake make thy self a Transgressour to God I freely give my Consent to thy Vow I am willing to bear my Burthen and to live a Virgin all my Life as one cut off from the Comfort of Children my Will is wrap'd up in thy Will Oh my Father Her words ver 36. import all this as if she had been in Christ's School and had learnt his words Father not my Will but thy Will be done Matth. 26.39 A Dutiful Daughter indeed c. The Second Objection is Should this be granted that Jephtah only Devoted his Daughter to a perpetual Virginity it would too much symbolize with that Popish Doctrine of Votary-Nuns and those Monastick Vows of a Single Life for which we have neither Precept nor President in Scripture Answer 1. It may well be supposed that the fear of palliating that Popish Point about Nunneries hath been the principal Reason that hath prevailed with several Godly Learned Men to push them into those Sentiments that Jephtah's Vow ought rather to be understood of a Burnt-Offering than of Devoting his Daughter to the Service of God in a State of Virginity as this Second Opinion affirmeth N. B. But I think there is more ground of fearing that the first Opinion concerning Sacrificing her Jephtah's practice therein might be improv'd to a greater countenancing of Humane Sacrifices in that Day wherein many Instances were manifest of burning their Sons and Daughters to Moloch Whereas there was neither Precept nor President for any Monastick Separations at that time therefore this was not so dangerous to become a Pattern of any voluntary vowed Virginity in Monasteries as is practical in the Romish Church seeing this Virginity was not voluntarily vowed upon the Virgins part but it was violently imposed upon her by the Rash and Inconsiderate Vow of her own Father who lived in such corrupt times of Ignorance and Superstition that himself wanted not some Tincture thereof as will appear afterward when we come to enquire Whether Jephtah did well or ill both in making and paying his Vow And seeing his Daughter was so far from making any voluntary Vow of Virginity of her own accord though she obsequiously submitted to her Father's Disposing Authority over her yet doth she beg leave of her Father to lament her Destinated Life for two Months among the Mountains before she became a Recluse and to be confined to her place which is but a Sandy Foundation for such Monastick Lives as Popish Nuns lead N. B. But all Circumstances aforesaid being well considered this Example upon Record may rather serve as a Sea mark for shunning such Rocks from fear of Ship wrack than stand as a Pattern for following Ages 'T is safer to say This is Recorded by the Holy Ghost for our Caution and not for our Imitation Answer 2. Nor is it altogether Unscriptural for some Women to be so shut up as not to be given in Marriage ever after to pass by Tamar David's Daughter who was shut up in her Brother's House 2 Sam. 13.20 and David's Concubines who were shut up also we are not told how long David's Daughter remained in Absolom's House but we are told how long his Concubines were even to the Day of their Death 2 Sam. 20.3 N. B. Come we now to more Undefiled Instances as Anna the Prophetess Luk. 2.37 who was one of the few famous Witnesses of the Messiah's coming into the World and of whom Grotius saith that she was Affine huic Exemplum an Example near a-kin to this for she spent Fourscore and Eight Years of her Widowhood saving her Seven Years Marriage in frequent Fastings and Prayer in the Temple Night and Day she coming in at that instant when Simeon took up the Babe of Bethlehem into his Arms Simeoni Succinuit she Sang forth the Praises of that Beautiful Babe with Simeon also to make up a more Harmonious Consort ver 38. N. B. But still to step nearer the point in hand the Counsel of the great Apostle may be conferred herewith concerning Virgins which he confesseth cannot be Congruous to all but only to such as have the Gift of Continency and have so decreed reserving still a liberty of doing otherwise if need require which Popish Votaries do not and which Jephtah's Rash Vow indeed took away from his Daughter being not so careful as the Apostle was in not casting a Snare upon her that had decreed no
Romish Church say Ignorance is the Mother of Devotion yet God's word saith 't is the Mother of Destruction My People are destroyed for lack of Knowledge Hos 4.6 To be ignorant of God's Law is no Mother in Israel c. Mark 5. The Contents of the Letter wherein Mordecai doth not only give Commission from the King for all the Jews to stand upon their guard for securing their own Lives but also to Kill all those who sought to Kill them making use of the same words in Hanian's Decree Chap. 3.13 that all Men might know the King's Mind was Alter'd in giving Mordecai as large a Commission to save the Jews as ever Haman's was to destroy them The Third Part of this Chapter is the Consequents of this Edict Remark the First No sooner were there Transcripts of this Original Decree transmitted in all haste into all parts of the 127 Provinces where they were publickly proclaimed That upon that long-look'd-for Day the thirteenth Day of the twelfth Month the Jews should be ready to Avenge themselves upon their Enemies ve 12 13 14 but immediately the Jews fear of that Fatal Day was changed into a Joyful Festival Day beforehand ver 16. the Dread of that Dismal Day in Haman's Decree being once done away by Mordecai's Edict of a contrary Countermand the Jews became Joyful and had their Holy Merry Meetings wherein to bless God for this unexpected and undeserved Mercy And no doubt but this Feast and good Day here mentioned ver 17. was only a Preparative at this Time when the Bad Brunt of their panick fears was once over unto that Grand Feast Chap. 9. Remark the Second Mordecai having obtained his heart's desire for an effectual Deliverance of his poor People went out from the King in his greatest Grandeur with a great Crown of Gold upon his Head ver 15. we read not that Human had any such yet may we suppose that this was not the Grand Royal Crown peculiar only to the King but one with sufficient Distinction from it permitted to the Prime of Persian Princes yet was it so Glittering and Glorious together with all his other Royal Apparel and Accoutrements as to put the City as he marched through it into a Joyful Jubilee Now the People that had been before perplexed Chap. 3.15 were rarely revived with the sight of Triumphing Mordicai And that not the Jews only saith Piscator but also the other Citizens who were either allyed to them by Affinity or engaged with them in Worldly Concerns or out of their Humanity abhorring that so many Millions of Innoâ—ents should be Butcher'd by Haman's Bloody Decree and now rejoycing that it was countermanded so that Shushan now shone as Aben-Ezra reads it and that Lilly as Shushan Hebr. signifies was now most lovely and lightsome Remark the Third This Joy of the Jews so general over the whole Empire as well as in Shushan caused a fear to fall upon the People of the Land ver 17. so that they became Proselytes to the Jewish Religion and as some say either for fear or Love submitted to that severe Precept of Circumcision However the great God over-ruled Matters so that when they saw the King himself favour the Jews and the Queen and Mordecai were altogether of them as well as for them c. this so over-awed even the Malignant Persians that they may of them had no mind to meddle c. Esther CHAP. IX THIS Chapter relateth the slaughter of the Hamanists who both purpos'd and endeavour'd to slay the Jews In this History are Antecedents Concomitants and Consequents Remarks First upon the Antecedents as First The long look'd for lucky Day of Haman's Diabolical Let came at last ver 1. namely the thirteenth of Adar or February upon which Day Haman 's Abettors hoped to revel in the Jews Ruine for though the King had set forth a second Counter-Edict in May foregoing this following February yet many malignant Hamanists did doubtless despise this later Decree and scoffingly derided it as only extorted from the King by his Queen's importunity and perswading themselves and others that the King was of the same Mind as before in Haman's Time to have all the Jews rooted out and to rid the World of them notwithstanding he had in an over Vxorious Humour consented to this second Counter-Decree meerly to give his Wife Content Therefore they resolve to Arm themselves and join all their Forces to prosecute to the utmost Haman's first Letter of Licence upon the lucky Day and take no notice of the second procured by Esther and her Vncle N.B. Thus those that are ripe for Ruine harden their own Hearts and hasten their own Destruction And that which did harden and heighten them in this daring attempt was that the latter Letter did not at all Reverse and repeal the former but only gave the Jews Liberty to defend themselves whom they doubted not to over-power for what was this handful of poor Captives to the whole Persian Empire But above all they were deluded by the Devil who is the Author of all such Arts and Lots of Divination for foretelling any future Arbitrary and Contingent Events and who Cozen'd them with false hopes of a lucky Day c. Remark the Second The Jews prepare on their Part Vim vi repellere to repel force by force in Defence of their own Lives unto which the Law of Nature prompted them for Man naturally saith Aristotle is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Life-loving Creature and so indeed all Creatures from the highest Angel to the lowest Worm make much of their Lives N.B. The Jews had before made use of spiritual means as solemn Fasting and Prayer wherein they confidently committed their Righteous though disconsolate Cause to God who judgeth righteously yet dare they not tempt God by any wilful neglect of lawful means for their own Defence well-knowing that though the Care of the End belong'd to God yet the Care of the Means belong'd to them and therefore did they most industriously as for Life provide Temporal Means both Offensive and Defensive Weapons against that lucky unlucky Day of the thirteenth of Adar and this they did the more earnestly because they had the King's Commission for Arming themselves and gathering together c. without which this would have been reckon'd a Riot and Rebellion Hereupon Bernard highly Honours the Jews here saying though they were Laeti in Domino habentes gandium in re gaudium in spe c. the Jews had Joy Chap. 8.16 17. not doubting to possess what God had promis'd non tamen securi yet durst they not be secure but do Arm themselves for their Security The Second Part is the Concomitants of the Hamanists fall Remark the First Though the Jews Enemies were it seems allowed to take up Arms against the Jews when Haman's happy unhappy Day happened to fulfil Haman's bloody Letter whereof himself the Author repented and had rued it when he came to be hang'd for it and though those
his Benevolence and Beneficence to poor Saints 2 Cor. 8.9 And in His love to Brethren and forgiveness to others Eph. 5.2 This is Conformity in the practice of Outward and Moral Duties The Blind Papists do Blasphemously in making a Play upon Their Good-Friday wherein They Act over an Apish Imitation of all the personal parts of Christ's Redeeming the World And They do as Ridiculously in Imitating Christ's Real and Supernatural Miracles by shewing their false and pretended ones To pretend an Imitation of Christ in his Works of Redemption is Black Blasphemy And in his Work of Miracles is a plain Impossibility but to follow him in his Works of Holiness is both True Piety and a Manifest Duty We may imitate Him in his Morals not in his Miracles Austin saith well Christ no where bids us learn of Him How to crease a World or how to Raise the Dead c. But how to be Meek and Lowly and how to Love one another c. we must follow him in his Well Doings and in his Patient Suffering for Righteousness-sake The Thief on the Cross saith Austin was similis in Poenâ but dissimilis in Causâ He suffered the same Death with Christ but not for the same Cause N. B. This Example of Christ hath more in it than a bare Pattern or any other Example for it doth not only shew us what we ought to do but 't is also both a Remedy against many foul Vices and a Motive to â—â—â—y good Duties As 1. A serious Consideration of Christ's suffering the first and second Death for my Sin this must make me hate my Sin and my self for Sin that cost Christ so dear I am to be blamed as well as Judas the Jews Pilate c. Zech. 12.10 2. This Meditation is a means to breed Reformation and a Resolation to Sin no more and not to crucifie him afresh c. 3. This also must make me think that all my Sorrows and Sufferings are not comparable to Christ's Agony Bloody Sweat c. The Third Considerable is the Comfort from hence which is twofold 1. In our Conformity to Him here And 2. In that hereafter In the first Christ hath given us such a perfect Pattern of Holiness as the least Imperfection cannot be found in it 'T is comfort to a Learner to have a compleat Copy before him to write after that in minding it duely he may be mending his Letters daily So may we be mending our Lives of their crookedness much more if we were more in minding our straight Copy that Christ hath given us for our Example It is said of Hierom that having read the Godly Life and Christian Death of Holy Hilarion he folded up the Book and said well this Holy man Hilarion shall be the Champion whom I will follow Should we not much more say so of this Holy Child Jesus There is the Regula Regulans and the Regula Regulata The Example of Saints is but the Rule Ruled for the Example of our Saviour is the Rule Ruling The Saints are call'd a Cloud of Witnesses Heb. 12.1 That Cloud in the Wilderness had a directive Vertue in it yet had it a Black-side as well as a Bright So the best Saints had some soilings of Darkness some Naevos Patrum and Imperfections their Frailties recorded in Scripture are Exemple Cavendi non Cadendi their Sins are set down as Rocks in Maps that Sailers may shun them and not run upon those Rocks to suffer Shipwrack to their Ruine such as follow the Dark-side of this Cloud of Witnesses are Egyptians and are drowned in the bottomless Pit But such as follow the Light side thereof are Israelites and pass over to the Heavenly Canaan The Apostle Paul proposes Himself a Pattern 1 Thess 1.6 1 Cor. 10.33 yet with this Restriction that we should follow him no farther than he followed Christ 1 Cor. 11.1 not one Inch farther than Christ's perfect Pattern In thus Conforming to Christ here this brings us to our being conformed to Christ hereafter which is the second Branch of Comfort If like him in this Life we shall be like him in that to come Our Bodies shall be made like unto his Glorious Body which is the Standard Phil. 3.21 more glorious than was the Body of Adam in Innocency the Glory of that second Temple shall exceed the Glory of the first So there shall be no need of Adam's Mourning as the Jews did Ezra 3.12 then shall we live and reign with Christ But it shall not be so by a conforming to the World which is the second Branch to wit Nonconformity to the World For we are bid be transformed from that into Christ's Image be Holy with him here and then Happy with him hereafter CHAP. II. HAving dispatched the General Account of Christ's Life as it was the Light of Men shewing how we should be conformed to his Image John 1.4 and Rom. 8.20 Now I come to give a particular Account of his Life shewing how Christ was conformed to Man's Image even from his Conception to his Ascension All the steps that he took in this lower World as He was the Son of Man The first step Christ took upon Earth was His Conception in the Womb of the Virgin which the Apostle affirmeth Without Controversie a mighty Mystery 1 Tim. 3.16 Though the Morals concerning Chris's Meekness Humility Holiness c. be plain and obvious to the mind of Man as are all the Moral Duties contained in the two Tables of the Law of Moses Yet the Intellectuals concerning Christ's Conceptions are truly call'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hard to be understood which some wrest to their own Destruction 2 Pet. 3.16 by thrusting their dead and putrified Fancies into the bosom of the Scripture as of a Mother thereof like the Harlot 1 Kings 3.19 20. N. B. Oh would to God there were no Strife no Contention in the Church but about this grand Point which of us can be most conformable to Christ's Image in ways of Holiness and who can come up highest and nighest to him in Imitation of his Morals and which of us can be the best Writer after that perfect Pattern in pious Practices We may justly judge it the shame of Mankind that so many can imitate the Voices of Birds c. Yet so few do imitate the Vertues of Christ But as to those profound Points call'd profundum sine Fundo a depth without a Bottom Rom. 11.33 and unsearchable Counsels about Christ's Conception c. We can better Admire than Determine Pruritus disputandi destruit ecclesiam An Itch in searching unsearchable Mysteries brings both the Scratch and the Smart into the Church saith the Antient Father N.B. 'T is said The Spirit of God moved upon the Waters Gen. 1.2 but sure I am it is no other than the Spirit of the Devil that moves so much upon the Waters of Strife where Men dare be but Circumstantial in Substantials yet seem so Substantial in Circumstantiali which concern not the
our Lord would not turn stones into Bread nor come down from the Cross when he could have so done to save himself yet turns water into Wine for us and is content to be Crucified for saving his Church and Children Our Jonah is cast overboard then Justice is calm the Storm ceaseth c. CHAP. XXXIV Of Christs Burial HAving dispatched the Life and Death of Christ now come we to the Burial wherein there be three grand Remarks in its Antecedents Concomitants and Consequents The 1. Remark is The Antecedents of his Burial which is the lowest step in his State of Humiliation Now Christ is dead 't is thought expedient he should be buryed that there might be the Congruity foretold betwixt the Type of Jonah in the Whales Belly and the Antitype Jesus in the Bowels of the Earth As this was Christ's lowest step he took in his Humbled State so it was the turning step towards his Exalted State for when he had ended the shame of his Cross and had given up the Ghost now must he be Buryed yet shall have an Honourable Burial Therefore Joseph of Arimathea the Prophet Samuels City 1 Sam. 1.1 an Honourable Counseller taketh care that Christ now Crucified should not be Buried in the common Graves of Executed Malefactors but to be Intombed in his own Tomb Matth. 27.57 to 60 Mar 15 43 to 47. Luke 23.50 to 54. and John 19.38 to the end All the four Evangelists do Record this Remarkable Action though with some difference in Circumstances yet with none in the Substance One of them calls him a Rich Man another a Good Man so that 't is possible for a great Man to be good greatness and goodness are not Inconsistent though not many Mighty yet some are called in all Ages to own the good ways of God Where-ever the free-grace of God cometh no difference is made betwixt the Rich and the Poor both Plenty and Poverty may be Sanctified to the owner and as there is room for both in the Kingdom of Grace so there is room for both in the Kingdom of Glory Christ's Parable Luke 16. tell us that poor Lazarus ly's lodged in the Bosom of Rich Abraham the Evangelist more saith that this Rich good Man went boldly in to Pilate and begged the Body of Jesus which he durst not have done had he not been Good as well as Rich for he being a Priest or a Levite and one of the Council Chamber of the Temple could not but expect that his Inraged fellow Priests and Privy-Councellours of the Sanhedrim would pick a quarrel with him and would at least fleece him of his Wealth for favouring the Body of him whom they had Executed as an Heretick and Traitor if they did not flea his Skin from of his Back for being a pattern to such a Person they having Threatned Pilate to Article against him for High Treason to Casar if he still persisted to Patronize the Innocency of Jesus Therefore this was a bold Act in Joseph thus to begg a supposed Traitors Body Mark addeth that Pilate wondred Christ should be so soon dead and when assured by the Centurion that it was so he granted this Counsellors Request St. John joyneth Nicodemus with Joseph who were both Members of the Ecclesiastick Court and we maâ— well suppose of them both what St. Luke affirms of the one only that neither of them had consented with that Privy Council to the Condemning of Christ These two Night Disciples became bold and publick Patrons of a Dead Jesus and Conjoin their helping Hands to bury the Body Honourably when all the Day-Disciples excepting John durst not shew their Heads but Dwindle away These two Timorous Proselites do now openly declare themselves to be the Disciples even of a Dead Saviour each of them acted their part Joseph begs the Body takes it down from the Cross at the leave of the Chief Magistrate Such a Friend was our Lord to Magistracy both in his Life and Death He will have Justice satisfied both in his Dying and when Dead he will not be taken down without Pilates leave his part was also to wrap up the Body in Linnen Clothes and to provide a New Sepulchre Hewen out of a Rock in his Garden wherein never any Man lay before him a Tomb that Joseph had prepared for himself but willingly Resigns it up to his Lord and Master who should from good Manners be first served before the Servant and who within three Days after Resigned it up to the lending Landlord no greater loss have they that lend to the Lord the Borrower Prov. 19.17 as well as the Lender of Mercy he borrows only of us what he first lends us and what we willingly lend to God he more willingly repays again with Interest as Joseph had his own New Sepulchre lent to the Lord for three days only Restored to him again with Advantage for Christ's Body lying that little time in it did Marvelously Perfume Consecrate and Sanctifie it for the better Reception of his own Body against the time of his laying it down As it was Joseph's part to prepare the Tomb for the Body so it was Nicodemus's part to prepare most precious Spices for Embalming the Body the same was done by the good Women likewise for further Imbalming him when their Sabbath was over all testifying their Love to their Lord but in that very preparation they all shewed how little Faith and Hope they had concerning speedy Resurrection though he had oft foretold it to them The 2. Remark is The Concomitants of Christ's Burial after the Antecedents and Preparatory Actions every Circumstance whereof Denominates it a very Honourable Burial As 1. The Persons Imployed in Interring the Crucified Body of Christ were two Honourable Persons some suppose they were for their Eminency of Prudence Piety and Justice c. called to be of Council by Pontius Pilate the proconsul of the Country of Judea besides their Membership of Dignity in the Jewish Sanhedrinâ— who yet consented not to that Cursed Vote therein Namely He is guilty of Death Matth. 26.66 He was not buryed by the hands of those Scoundrels that Crucified him as probably the two Thieves were 2. The place where his Body was Buried was an Honourable place for he was not Buried in a Dunghil as some Sordid Persecutors and Tyrants have been nor among the Carcasses of Executed Malefactors in Calvary but in a Garden the best and most Honourable of places John 19.41 As the first Adam had sinned and did fall in a Garden even in a Paradise the Garden of God So the Second Adam will be buried in a Garden even in the Garden of an Holy and Just Man Joseph that the place of Christ's burial might bear a proportion to the place of Adam's Fall The place of Christ's Burial was the place of his Resurrection also and so as all in Adam did fall in a Garden So all in Christ Rose again in a Garden 3. The Tomb it self was an Honourable
Liquor the Blood of Saints here also N.B. 'T was not sufficient to Rage in Judaea only but he will pursue them also six days Journey into Syria and his Outrage is aggravated herein that he spareth not the weaker Sex who are usually spar'd in such cases if they profess'd themselves Christians And it appeareth that the High Priest and that Council were no less outragious than he in putting a Sword into such a Mad-man's hand No less than the Destruction of the Church of Christ every where is designed by its Enemies both They and Saul hunt for Christians Lives The second Remark is Oh what an eminent Monument of Divine Mercy doth this Blood-thirsty Brute remain upon Scripture Record 1 Tim. 1.13 14 16. that a Pharisee a Persecutor of the first Magnitude and so malicious a Murderer should become a Christian an excellent Preacher of Christ and such an eminent Apostle N.B. Here a Wolf is changed into a Lamb Oh what cannot Omnipotency do out of his Free Grace Persecuting Saul is made a Praying and a Preaching Paul The Sacred Scriptures do largely relate what a notorious Villain this same Saul had been before his Conversion that none might despond or despair of the Free Grace of God so they have but hearts given them earnestly and sincerely to seek it This Man when converted doth as it were Pennance in a white Sheet confessing that he had been the chief of Sinners primus quo nullus prior aut pejor yet the Grace of Christ abounded to an overflow towards him as the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 1 Tim. 1.14 signifies Preaching ever this great Grace This introduceth Saul's Conversion so wonderful a work of God's Free Grace as is almost without a parallel in the Sacred Record N.B. As it was once said of the Old Testament Saul in derision Is Saul also among the Prophets 1 Sam. 10 11. and 19 24. Tho' the first was spoken for a Wonder yet the latter was uttered in a Jear importing all was surely well when such a Bloody Tyrant was so tyed up manacled maugre all his malice and madness So the same may be said of this New Testament Saul even with admiration Yea this latter is the greater Wonder of the two for the old Saul in his seeking Asses did but find a Temporal Kingdom but this young Saul while he was pursuing Death strangely stumbles upon Everlasting Life N.B. Oh marvelous Metamorphosis far beyond all Ovid's Pagan Dreams Here 's not only a Wolf turned into a Lamb but here 's a Monster of Nature changed into a Miracle of Grace Here 's a Child of Wrath become a Vessel of Mercy and a Son of Perdition an Heir of Salvation The former Saul had the Spirit of Prophecy come upon him which made him another man 1 Sam. 10.6 9. and 10. but this was for the time only who spake only as Balaam's Ass did for the Gift soon left him again he was not turned into a new Spiritual Man However this made many amazed that there should be Anser inter Olores Corvus inter Musas as the Latine's Proverb is suitable to that of the Hebrews A Goose among the Swans a Crow among the Muses a Rustick Saul among the Divine Prophets N.B. But there was more matter of Amazement at the change of this latter Saul Acts 9.21 who of a Cursed Tare was turned into Blessed Wheat and had a real Transmutation a thorough Transmentation and an Abiding work upon him Saul the Persecutor was turned into Paul the Preacher The power of that Chymist is worthily praised who can most curiously not only Refine the fine Gold from its Dross but also extract pure Gold out of drossy Copper How much more is the great God to be magnified who changes Dross and base Metal into the most Refined Gold 'T is only the God of Nature that hath the true Philosopher's Stone and can change the Nature of created Beings the bad into good and the old depraved Nature into that which is new and truly Divine Nature 2 Pet. 1.4 Such a great change as this of Saul into Paul was an unaccountable matter and therefore might truly cause Amazement But the Father saith Ex quovis ligno fit Mercurius cum Digitus Dei sit Statuarius The Omnipotent God can of crooked Timber make straight Pillars in his Temple He can of very Stones raise up Children to Abraham Matth. 3.9 Nothing is too hard for that God in whose hand Saul's heart was Gen. 18.14 Job 42.2 c. This so Famous a Conversion of Saul stands Recorded in many remarkable circumstances As 1. The Time when 2. The Place where 3. The Manner how 4. The Witnesses thereof 5. The Concomitants and 6. The Consequents of it 1. The Time when it was while in the very Act of his outragious Persecution 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as the Adulteress was John 8.4 in the very nick of his highest Rebellion against Christ Acts 9.1 2. This Furioso Saul had got his Fatal Commission out of the High-Commission-Court of the High Priest who was as full of Fury as he so needed God's Bridle rather than Saul's Spur for in this whole Book of the Acts of the Apostles in all the over-busie oppositions stirred up against the Gospel we do find the Priests not only the busiest men but also as it is related all along Acts 7.1 and 9.1 and 23 2 c. They seem to be the only Men that were the principal Persecutors Though they were indeed mostly concerned in that cursed work because they looked upon it as belonging to their Function and Interest to look after the prevention of this growing evil of the Gospel as they prophanely mis-judged it Yet had they no distinct power from the Sanhedrim save only as a part thereof This is testified by Saul himself who best knew from whom he had those killing Commissions saying that he received his Letters of Life and Death not only from the High-Priest but from all the Estate of the Elders also Acts 22.5 N B. Notwithstanding this the Sacred Story pitcheth upon the Priests as a parcel of profligate persons who principally prompted on and promoted this Persecution Saul being thus furnished with Authority fetches a compass to fire out all the Christians at Damascus and no doubt this Wolf was worrying them all the way he went with his heart no doubt but Satan suggested many a murdering thought into his mischievous mind Here this Grand Informer this principal Apparitor like a Spanish Inquisitor or rather the great Apostle of that Hellish High-Priest who yet became through Grace the true and heavenly High-Priest's Apostle passeth end-ways almost an hundred and sixty Miles from Jerusalem and within sight of Damascus at Noon-time of the day was the Time of his Call N.B. The second is the Place where it was when he was come near to Damascus Acts 9.3 The Hebrew name of that place Damesec signifies a bagg of Blood so it was called because the Rabbins
the Gospel must retire out of Damascus into Arabia also where he was as it were Case-hardened for his ensuing Tryals N.B. No sooner is Saul returned out of Arabia unto Damascus again but immediately most eminent danger attended him wherein two things are most remarkable 1. By whom this danger was created Acts 9.23 24. And 2. By what means he escaped it verse 25. First The creators of this danger to Saul were his former Adversaries whom he had put to silence and so confounded verse 22. that they resolved then as before to answer him by Arms because they could not by Argument fraud or force being the best Mediums of Dispute with a baffled Antagonist Oh how long did Anger as Solomon saith Eccles 7.9 rest in the bosom of those fools For no lesser a time than about three years as some suppose If the Quarrel was started as is probable enough at his first Entrance into the Ministry N.B. Now upon his Return again how were their Souls sowred as the Lump is by the Leaven and the Vessel is by the Vinegar by this so long continuing Anger corrupting their hearts wherein it rested This sowre Sataniz'd Spirit stirred them up to lye in Ambush for his Life which some faithful Friend or other the design taking wind discovered to him and though they watched the Gates night and day with a purpose to kill him had he passed forth so that there was no way in their Apprehensions for making this escape yet the Lord delivered him Secondly How and by what helps This is more largely related by himself 2 Cor. 11.32 33. than it is here by Luke There it is intimated that those cursed Jews whom Saul had confounded by dint of a convincing Disputation had informed Aretas the King who was now in War against Herod the King for putting away his Daughter to make room for Herodias that Saul was come thither as Herod's Spy therefore did his Souldiers watch the Gates to apprehend him by the Order of Aretas's Substitute Yet by the help of those Christians who dwelt in Damascus he was let down in a Basket by the Wall so escaped he from their bloody hands The second place of Saul's exercising his Apostolical Office among the Jews for his work in Arabia was among Gentiles and not Recorded in Scripture to which I am confined was Jerusalem as his first was Damascus Saul's Journey to Jerusalem at this time hath many great Remarks As First He went not to this place until he was forced thither by flight from Damascus for saving his own life for which he had the Lord's Warrant to do Matth. 10.23 and which all Casuists do approve of when Persecution is personal especially leaving likewise a sufficient supply behind him N.B. Nor did Saul sin in this escape though it was done against the Roman Law which forbad all leaping over the Walls of a City or Garrison For Tully himself tells us that Loges semper ad aequitatem flectendae sunt Laws must always be interpreted in a sense most leaning to Equity And Apices Juris non sunt Jus the sense of the Law is the Law and not always the Letter Besides God's Glory and the good of Souls were more concerned in Saul's life whose Apostolical work was but now in the Embrio than to have it sacrificed to a quaint Punctilio of Obedience to an Humane Law made upon a meer Heathen Politick consideration God hath not set his Ministers as standing Marks or Butts to be shot at c. therefore was Tertullian too rigid in condemning all kind of flight in times of Persecution Saul fled both by the consent and by the help of the Church here The second Remark is Nor did Saul resort now to Jerusalem that he might receive an Apostolical Commission from the Colledge of Apostles there for that he had received three years before by an immediate Revelation from Christ himself and of this himself gives a large and liberal account Gal. 1.16 17 18 19. where he saith that he upon his Conversion conferred not with flesh and blood namely not with his own carnal Reason which is an evil Counsellor in spiritual matters only but also not with any mortal Man no not with the Colledge of the Apostles whom he calls Flesh and Blood agreeable to Matth. 16.17 1 Cor. 15.50 Ephes 6.12 and Heb. 2.14 Intimating hereby not only that he did not oppose his own carnal Reason to that extraordinary command he had personally and plainly received from Christ himself which would have been no better than down-right Rebellion but also that he did not learn the Gospel which he Preached from the Apostles for he had Preach'd it three years before this Journey to Jerusalem and when he now came thither he staid there but fifteen days which could not be a time long enough to learn such a profound Mystery in Nor did he then see any of the Apostles save Peter and James for probably all the other Apostles were either scattered from Jerusalem at Saul's first Journey thither by Persecution or they were attending their particular Charges of Apostleship in other places according to Rom. 12.7 Yea so far was he from learning any thing from Peter that he tells how he withstood him to the face afterwards Gal. 2.11 c. The third Remark is When Saul came near to Jerusalem neither his Conversion nor his Call to Preach the Gospel were heard of there insomuch that the Disciples in that City were afraid to admit him into fellowship with them Acts 9.26 for he was not known by face to them or to the Churches in Judaea Gal. 1.22 So far was he from learning the Christian Religion much farther from receiving his Apostolical Authority from them The Reasons of their not knowing him as a Convert and as a Preacher c. though they all knew him too well by smarting experience as a Persecutor when he made such havock among them Acts 8.3 may probably be supposed to be these 1. The great distance betwixt Jerusalem and Damascus being an hundred and twenty Miles or six days Journey 2. The little correspondence betwixt those two Cities while the two Kings Aretas King of Damascus and Herod King of the Jews waged War against one another as before which must intercept all interchange of Letters 3. The Persecution that then Raged at Jerusalem might discourage the Converts of Damascus from having any concourse or resorting thither 4. But above all the Remoteness of Arabia where Saul might spend some considerable part of his three years absence from Jerusalem betwixt which two places there could be but little Commerce Therefore those Disciples who had formerly felt his Raging Fury might justly be afraid of taking him into intimate communion with them though his Rage had been three years ago He must be a Probationer for some time before his Admission into Church Communion Our Lord himself would not lightly commit himself to any John 2.24 And this same Paul that stood some while Probationer