as indeed though not in thy sence it is so what hast thou done how hast thou helped him that is without power how savest thou the arme that hath no strength how hast thou performed the part of a friend eyther in comforting me or in counselling me so the words are a close Ironicall rebuke of what Bildad sayd in the former Chapter Thou camest to strengthen and helpe me consider how well thou hast made good thy owne intendment how hast thou helped him that is without power thou hast spoken words fitter to weaken then to strengthen to cast downe then to raise up and so hast quite mistaken the matter Thou shouldest not have amplyfyed the power and majesty of God before a man in my condition Thou shouldest rather have opened the doctrine of free-grace and of the fatherly affection of God to his poore servants and children while they are under his sharpest corrections Thy words should have been like oyle like milke and honey but thou hast spoken very hard words if not gall and wormewood to my wearied soule Though what thou hast spoken be in it selfe true yet it is to me improper and unsuitable out of time and unseasonable and therefore weigh with thy selfe How hast thou helped him that is without power We may paralel this context with that of the Apostle 1 Cor. 4.8.10 where with much holy derision he rebukes the over-weening and high opinion which the Corinthians had of their present attainements and perfections in spiritualls Now ye are full now ye are rich ye have reigned like Kings without us and I would to God that ye did reigne that we might reigne with you As if he had sayd I could wish with all my heart it were as well with you as you thinke it is that we also might have a part with you in those gloryes of the Gospel But I feare ye are onely puft up with notions and that your portion is but smal in true solid spirituall knowledge I feare ye have little except in conceit and there ye have a great deale too much and upon the same account he puts it upon them againe at the 10th verse We are fools for Christs sake but ye are wise in Christ we are weake but ye are strong ye are honourable but we are despised Thus Job here ye looke upon me as a weake man as a man of no power but you are wise and learned see how you have played your part and discharged your duty you thinke you have a wonderfull faculty in helping the weake in saving those who are ready to perish in teaching the unlearned in counselling the unwise whereas I am neyther so weake nor ignorant nor destitute of counsel as you thinke I am and if I were your oration is wide of the marke or reacheth not my case and therefore can doe me no good How hast thou helped him that hath no power And which is the same in other words How savest thou the arme that hath no strength The arme is an eminent member of the body and in Scripture it often signifies strength because the arme holdeth out and acteth the strength of the whole body How hast thou saved the arme that hath no strength that is the man that hath no strength There is a threefold strength first naturall which is twofold first of the mind or inward parts secondly of the body or outward parts secondly there is a civill strength which is the command or Authority which a man hath over others thirdly there is a spirituall strength which is the command which a man hath over himselfe both in doing good and in avoyding evill or both for the due enjoyment of good and induring of evill When Job saith How savest thou the arme that hath no strength we may expound it both of the first and third sort of strength For Job had indeed lost the strength of his body and his friends thought he had lost the strength both of his parts and graces Which is more cleare in the next interrogation Vers 3. How hast thâ—s counselled him that hath no wisdome To give counsel is the worke of the wise and they who are unwise have most need of counsel though they seldome thinke so And it may be a very disputable question who is the wiser man he that gives good counsel or he that readily receives it makes good use of it Good counsel directs how to judge of things how to speake and how to act In the multitude of Counselers there is safety saith Solomon and they must needs be unsafe who eyther have none to give them counsel or refuse wholesome counsel when 't is given Counsell is to a man without wisdome as bread is to a man that is hungry or as cloaths to a man that is naked Master Broughton translates What doest thou counsel without wisdome Right counsel is the very spirits of wisedome but thy counsel is flat and hath no spirits in it Thus his translation referrs the want of wisdom to the counsel which Bildad gave Job but ours refers it to Job to whom Bildad undertook to give counsel How hast thou counselled him that hath no wisdom As if he had sayd Thou O Bildad lookest upon me as a man without wisdome If I am so I doe not perceive that thy counsel is like to make me much wiser Thy counsel will even leave me where it found me and 't is wel if it doe not put me backward What strange kinde of counsel is thine How hast thou counselled him that hath no wisdome From all these cutting questions put together Observe First They who are weake and without wisdome should be holpen and tenderly dealt with by grave and gratious counsel The words of the wise conveigh strength to the weake comfort to the sorrowfull and counsel to those who know not what to doe See the tendernesse of Christ to the weake Math 12.18 19. Behold my servant whom I have chosen and my beloved in whom my soule is well pleased I will put my spirit upon him and he shall shew judgement unto the Gentiles He meaneth not judgement as judgement is opposed to mercy Jesus Christ did not come in that sense to shew judgement to the Gentiles he did not come to bring wrath upon them but he came to shew mercy to the Gentiles to those who were sinners of the Gentiles who sat in darknesse and in the shaddow of death he shewed mercifull judgement he shewed them the knowledge of God he reformed and purged them from their sins and sinfull Idolatryes he brought them into a holy state and order under Gospel Government this is the judgement which Christ brought to the Gentiles this judgement is a mercy he shall bring Judgement to the Gentiles How shall he doe it he shall not strive nor cry neither shall any man heare his voyce in the streets that is he shall not deale boysterously and contentiously he shall not be vexatious and rigorous he shall not act as a
us We sucke and are satisfied with the breasts of consolation by beleeving Isa 66.11 that is we beleeving draw forth that sweetnesse of the promise which the word declares to be the portion of Beleevers Thus spirituall delight is made up and therefore Saints are sayd to rejoyce in beleeving with joy unspeakeable and full of glory 1 Pet. 1.8 that is having as much and as cleare a manifestation yea participation and tast of that Glory in beleeving which is prepared and reserved for them against the next life as they are capable to receive and more then they are able to express in this life Then shalt thou delight thy selfe in the Allmighty We may looke upon the words first as a command and then observe That it is our duty to delight our selves in God Delight in God is both a priviledge and a duty it is commanded in the Law and it is promised in the Gospel God is pleased to give us many things in the world not onely for necessity but for delight A heathen looking upon the various provisions which the Great Creator hath made not onely for the maintenance of man in his being but for his comfortable and pleasurable being Some of which affect the sences the eye the eare the tast c. others are sweetly contentfull to the understanding with all the faculties of the soule He I say concludes this from it Neque enim necessitatibus tantuâ— nostris provisum est usque in delicijs amâ—mur Sen l. 4. de Benif c. 5. The bountifull Creator hath provided for more then our necessity or he hath provided more then will barely serve our turne to live upon we are loved even up to our delights Now I say though the Lord hath provided delights for us in the creature yet it is our duty our greatest our highest duty to delight chiefly in the Lord to delight in him first and to delight in nothing but in reference unto him nothing should be pleasing to us but as there is an impresse or stampe of the love of God upon it or as it tasts of his goodnesse And indeed what can delight us long but this thought that God delighteth in us or that we are a delight to God that God is Good and that God is good to us having tasted his goodnes we should love and delight in him above all our delights The Psalmist Psal 137.6 preferred Jerusalem above his chiefest joy how much more should we preferre the God of Jerusalem above our chiefest joy God delighteth in man whom he hath made and who is his son by Grace next to Jesus Christ who is his son by nature and Jesus Christ delighteth in man whom he hath redeemed and should not man delight in his maker in his father in his redeemer We have a most divine description of the delight which the Father takes in Christ his Son and which Christ taketh in his redeemed ones Pro. 8.30 31. Then was I by him as one brought up with him and I was daily his delight Christ was the delight of his father and he delighted in his father rejoycing alwayes before him rejoycing in the habitable parts of his earth and my delight was with the sons of men Jesus Christ himselfe takes up many of his delights with the sonnes of men whom he calls the habitable parts of the earth even those of the sonnes of men that are a habitation of God through the Spirit Hae sunt piorum delicia suvâ—ssimae voluptaâ—es deo placaâ— to fâ—ui cujus eliam deliciae sunt habitare intereos qui ipsum animo reverentur colunt Now I say as the delight of the Father is in the Sonne and the delight of the Sonne in the Father and the delight both of Father and Sonne in the Saints in the habitable parts of the earth or with the sonnes of men so the delight of the sonnes of men should be in the Father and in the Sonne there should our delight be there should we take our highest contentment Secondly The words are rather to be taken for a promise Then shalt thou have thy delight in the Lord Then that is when thou turnest from sinfull delights or delight in sin I assure thee of spirituall delight Whence observe That they who mourne for and turne from sinne shall have delights in the Lord. When once sinne is bitter to us the Lord will be sweete to us and untill sin be bitter to us the Lord is not sweete to us sinne hinders our delightfull enjoyment of the creature it puts gall and wormwood into our dish and cup it is that which makes all relations grievous and burthensome to us yet this is but a small matter that it hinders us from the contentment and sweetnesses which are to be had in the creature sinne takes us off from delighting in God That soule cannot delight in the Almighty who loveth and continueth in the love of sinne If such professe delight in God it is but a false boast and a high presumption it is impossible for such to delight in the Lord indeed Job Chap. 27.10 saith of the hypocrite Will he delight himselfe in the Allmighty will he alwayes call upon God He may pretend to a delight in the Allmighty he may have some flashes some raptures but his joyes and delights are not in the Allmighty what joyes soever he hath they are in somewhat below God the hypocrite may delight himselfe in somewhat received from the Almighty in some present benefit or future expectation that he hath from the Almighty he cannot delight in the Allmighty himselfe or in God as God As it is impossible in the nature of the thing for a man to delight in sin and in God too so God hath sayd that he who hath a delight in sin shall not finde any delight in him God hath sayd Delight thy selfe in me and I will give thee the desires of thy heart Psal 37.4 But if any man will follow the desires of his owne heart he shall not delight himselfe in God Sinne separateth between God and us Isa 59.2 that is it separates between the comforts and mercies which are in God and us sin doth not cannot separate us from the power or presence from the eye or justice of God so sinne doth not separate for God is nigh to sinners both to see what they are doing and to punish them for what they â—â—ve done sinfully but sin separates from all those delights that flow from God from those joyes which his people take in him yea sin breeds a strangenesse between God and the soule so that the soule that loveth sinne cannot have any holy familiarity or converse with God The Lord saith to those who repent Isa 1.18 Come let us reason together c. As if he had sayd I am now ready to debate the matter with you that repent and how great soever your sinnes have been they shall be blotted out Whereas before the Lord tells them that he was
in man to desire God to strike through his pride and it is a great act of mercy to man when God doth so The more God smiteth our sins the more he declares his love to and his care of our soules The remainders of pride in the Saints shall be smitten through but sinners who remaine in their pride shall be smitten through themselves God whose power and understanding are made known by smiting through the proud waves of the Sea will at last make his Justice and his holynes knowne by smiting through the proud hearts of men or rather men of proud hearts Proud men strike at God yea kicke against him no wonder then if he strike and kicke them All the sufferings of Christ are wrapt up under that one word His humiliation implying that as he was smitten for all our sins so most of all for our pride That man whose pride is not smitten to death or mortifyed by the death of Christ shall surely be smitten to death even to eternall death for his pride As God understandeth thoroughly who are proud so by his understanding he will smite through the proud JOB CHAP. 26. Vers 13 14. By his Spirit he hath garnished the heavens his hand hath formed the crooked Serpent Lo these are parts of his wayes but how little a portion is heard of him but the thunder of his power who can understand JOB hath given us a particular of many illustrious works of God what he doth in the depths below Et ut in opere ipsius pulcherrimo desinam hic ille est qui coelos illa enarrabili pulchritudine exornavit spherae illae suis giris undique coelos serpeÌ„tium instar percurreÌ„tes sunt opus manibus ipsius tornatum Bez and what in the hights above in this verse he gives another instance and that a very choyce one upon the same subject As if he had sayd After all this large discourse which I have made of the workes of God I will conclude with that which is the most remarkeable peice of them all This is he who hath adorn'd the heavens with that unutterable beauty wherewith they shine and the spheares which wind and turne round about the heavens like Serpents are smoothed and polished by his hand Vers 13. By his Spirit he hath garnished the heavens The Spirit of God is taken two wayes in Scripture First q. d. visua voluntate ut nomen spiritus saepius in scriptura usurpatur sed malo ipsum dei spiritum almum accipere quo omnia deus fecit Merc for the power of God Secondly and so here for God the power as distinct from the Father and the Son By whom God wrought all things in the creation of the world Gen 1.2 The Earth was without forme and voyd and darkenes was upon the face of the deepe and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters It is a rule in Divinity That the external workes of the Trinity are undevided and so the Three Persons concurred in the making of the world God the Father created and is called Father in Scripture not onely in relation to the Eternall ineffable Generation of God the Son but also in reference to the production of the creature God the Son or the Eternal Word created Joh. 1.1 2 3. In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God All things were made by him and without him was nothing made that was made God the Spirit or Holy-Ghost he likewise created and He onely is mentioned by Moses distinctly or by name as the Agent in the original constitution of all things 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 non simplicem motionem denotat sed qualem columba perficit cum evis ad excludendum pullos incubat Rab Selom Verbum â—ranslatum ab avibus pullitiei suae incubantibus Jun. And the Hebrew word rendred in our translatioÌ„ moved the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters by which the Agency of the Spirit in that Great worke is expressed caryeth in it a very accurate significancy of that formative vertue or power which the Spirit put forth about it For it is a metaphor taken from birds who sit upon their eggs to hatch and bring forth their young ones and so importeth the effectual working of the Spirit whereby that confused masse or heape was drawne out and formed up into those severall creatures specifyed by Moses in the Historie of the Creation Among which we find the Garnishing of the heavens spoken of here by Job is reported by Moses for the worke of the fourth day Further we may consider the heavens first in their matter and being secondly in their beauty and ornaments Job speakes of the latter By his Spirit he hath garnished the heavens 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 adornavit decoravit pulchrè fecit God hath not onely created but pollished and as it were painted or embroydered the heavens The originall word implyeth the making of them beautifull contentfull and pleasant unto the eye this is the Lords worke And therefore as the whole world because of the excellent order and beauty of it is exprest in the Greeke by a word that signifies beautifull 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 so some parts of the world have a speciall beauty and lustre put upon them beyond the rest The heavens are not like a plaine garment as we say without welt or guard but they are laced and trimmed they are enamel'd and spangled they glister and sparkle in our eyes with rayes and beames of light By his Spirit he hath garnished the heavens If it be asked what is this garnishing of the heavens I answer the setting or placing in of those excellent lights Sunne Moone and Starres in the heavens are the garnishing of them Light is beautifull and the more light any thing hath the more beauty it hath Precious stones have much light in them those lights the Starres are as so many stones of beauty and glory set or moving in the heavens Light as diffused and shed abroad in the ayre is exceeding delightfull and beautifull but light as it is contracted and drawne together into the Sunne Moone and Starres is farre more beautifull light in the ayre pleaseth the eye but light in the Sunne conquers and dazzel's the eye by the excessive beauty and brightnesse of it In the first day of the Creation God sayd Let there be light and there was light but in the fourth day he sayd let there be lights that is let there be severall vessells to receave hold and containe light and then to issue it out among the inhabitants of the earth Gen. 1.14 And God sayd let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night and let them be for signes and for seasons and for dayes and for yeares and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth and it was so And
is a Jewell of the greatest price that women can weare so it is a most rich and precious Jewell for a man to weare and as at all times so then especially meeknes and peaceablenes of spirit becomes man when God seemes to come in anger and to be at warre with him Bildad sayd of Job Chap. 18. v. 4. He teareth himselfe in his anger As if he had sayd the man's mad or distracted now Eliphaz adviseth him Be at peace be quiet This is a good interpretation and wee may note from it That it is our Duty to sit downe quiet and satisfied under the saddest dispensations of God A submitting spirit under an afflicting hand how comely is it To be at peace in our selves when all is unquiet about us how blessed a sight is it there are some who trouble themselves a great deale more than all the troubles that are upon them can Man is naturally a very unquiet creature an angry peece of flesh when God is angry he is apt to storme till his heart is subdued to God he cannot beare the hand of God Wicked men naturally as the Prophet Esay found them Chap. 51.20 are like a wilde Bull in a netâ— full of the fury of God and not onely so but full of fury against God throwing up the dust and moyling themselves when the nett of God hath caught them or when God hath caught them in his net God catcheth his owne people in his net many times as well as the wicked His owne people are like a dove in a net but the wicked are like a wild Bul in a net I grant the Doves will flutter a while when the net hath caught them Impatiency doth often breake out in the best of Saints it is a hard thing to keep the heart quiet within while our estate is unquiet without and to be at peace in our selves when God seemes to be at warre with us It is hard for us to hold our peace much more to be at peace in an afflicted condition yet this lesson though very hard Saints have learned David saith Psal 39.9 I was dumbe I opened not my mouth because thou didst it His was not a sullen silence but a patient silence He had not a word to say against God when God speake hard words against him yea when God was at blowes at sharpes with him Paul also had learned in every estate to be content Phil. 4.11 how ever the world went with him he was at peace Cum eâ— pacem habe in gratiam redi qui nunc alienatus es velut hostis Secondly Be at peace may refer unto God and so it is but the heightening of our acquaintance with him for first there must be an acquainting and then a making up of peace when friends fall out they must first speake with one another before the breach can be healed if they doe not treate there can be no reconciliation After treating comes peace As peace is the fruit of the lips Isa 57.19 when God treates with man by man so when man treats with man and when man treats with God Acquaint now thy selfe with him call for a treaty and therein make thy peace Be at peace with him do not any longer continue thy unholy warre with God Eliphaz supposing Job as a man setting himselfe against God had reason to bespeake him thus Hence note That till wee doe acquaint our selves with God wee can have no peace with him The wicked are like the troubled Sea whose waves cast up mire and dirt there is no peace to the wicked saith my God Isa 57.21 why no peace to the wicked the wicked have no acquaintance with God they are strangers they are afarre off from God and God beholds them afarre off therefore there is no peace to them if they have any peace it is a false peace a deceitfull peace or it is but a short peace which will quickly break out into a warre againe when once Conscience is awakened when that sleeping Lyon is rouzed what will become of all their peace they will then â—â—â—d indeed that their soule is among Lions and that they have been onely secure not safe or that theirs hath been at best a trâ—â—e onely not a peace no peace till acquinted with God and no acquaintance with God can produce peace but that which is by Jesus Christ He is the Peace-maker who is also the Mediatour sinners cannot have peace by any immediate acquainâ—â—â—â—e with God for he is a consuming fire and sinners standing alone are but as dry stubble before him When wee are made nigh to or acquainted with God by the blood of Jesus Christ then and not till then are we at peace with him Acquaint thy selfe with him and be at peace no peace without acquaintance with God no acquaintance with God but by Christ therefore no peace but by Christ Secondly Observe That God is ready to give peace to or to be at peace with those that acquaint themselves with him Acquaint thy selfe with him and be at peace as if he should say â—â—ou shalt certainly be at peace with him if thou doest but acquaint thy selfe with him for the Lord will not alwayes chide his love is everlasting but his anger towards his câ—â—â—â—â—es but foâ— a moment As the wisdome of God in man so much more the most wise God is Gentle and easie to be entreated The Lord is found of those who seeke him not Isa 65.1 Surely then he will be found of those that seeke him he is not implacable no nor inexorable The Lord hath declared himselfe full of Compassion to returning sinners so full of compassion that he seeks the acquaintance of sinners and beseeches them to be reconciled to him much more will he be acquainted with them who beseech him that they may be reconciled to him Fury is not in me saith the Lord Isa 27.4 5. who would set the bryars and thornes in battel against me that is who would be so foolish as to encourage sinfull men to be so foole-hardy as to stand out against me or contend with me for alas as it followes in the text I would goe through them I would burne them together There 's no dealing with me upon those termes but I will tell you upon what termes a 〈◊〉 may deale with me Let him lay hold of my strength that he â—â—y make peace with me and he shall make peace with me that is he shall nâ—â— loose his labour he shall find peace if he take hold of my strâ—â—gth One would thinke he should rather have sayd let him take hold of my mercy and goodnes but he saith Let him take hold of my strength To oppose the strength of God is most dangerous but by faith to take hold of it that 's both the duty and the priviledge of an humbled sinner Proud sinners oppose the strength of God humbled sinners take hold of it as their strength As a man seing another whom he hath offended but is
unable to resist or make his party good with him with much submission takes hold of his arme or weapon endeavouring by earnest suit to stay him from smiting And indeed to take hold of the strength of God is to take hold on his mercy The strength of God to save sinners lyes in his mercy and that mercy is in his Son who is his strength to save sinners if a sinner lay hold of this strength the mercy of God in his Son that he may make-peace with God if this be his designe he shall make peace there shall not be a treaty with God in Christ for peace in vaine if a sinner should take hold of the strength of his owne righteousnes performances if he should take hold of the strength of all the Angels in heaven he could not make peace with God nor would God agree with him upon those termes Such a soule must returne re infecta without his errand God is ready to be at peace with 〈◊〉 but we must have our peace in his way not in our owne Acquaint now thy selfe with him and be at peace And this peace whether in our selves or with God is no light or unprofitable thing as Eliphaz to provoke Job to pursue and seeke after it tells him in the last words of this verse Thereby good shall come unto thee Thereby whereby or by what what is it that shall procure or produce this good The answer is at hand Thy acquaintance with God thy being at peace will procure all good things for thee Acquaint thy selfe with him and be at peace be at peace in thy own spirit be quiet be at peace with God be reconciled every way good shall come unto thee Mr Broughton renders Prosperity shall come unto thee the sence is the same Others read in stead of good shall come unto thee thy comings in shall be good thou shalt have a good revenâ—â—â—ood income Proventus tuus erit bonus Drus whereas before evill came upon thee now thy coâ—â—â—gs in shall be good This also is of the same meaning with our translation I shall not need to stay upon the opening of the words there is no difficulty in them From their dependance in that he saith Acquaint thy selfe with him and be at peace so shall good come unto thee These words are brought in by way of inference upon the former whence Observe That when wee are estranged from God good is estranged from us God can stop the Influences of all our mercies from us he can lay an embargo upon all Creatures from bringing any good to us the there be store of treasure and rich Commodity in the place yet he can barre up all that no good can come unto us yea the Lord in such cases doth often lay a stop upon the spirit of prayer in his own people and when the heart is stopt that we cannot pray then usually good is stopt and kept back from coming to us Prayer is that which fetches in mercy and good things through the love of God in Jesus Christ Prayer may have a twofold stop First prayer may have a stop in the heart secondly Prayer which comes forth of the heart may have a stop in heaven the Lord doth even shut out-prayer sometimes and when prayer is shut out no good can get out to us Prayer is sent upon a message to heaven and if our messenger be shut out of doores and not admitted in what answer can we expect by his message And the Lord as he doth stop such from the receiving of further good so from the receiving of good by what they have already Wee may have that which in the nature of it is good and yet have no good by it God can stop the creature in our hands that it shall not at all give us any Comfort as well as he can stop any creature-comfort from comming into our hands Unlesse the Lord in one sence stop the creature it quickly leakes out all the Comfort which he hath put into it and proves to us indeed what sin hath made it a broken Cistern And unlesse the Lord open the creature the creature cannot give forth that good which it hath It will be to us as a Cisterne without a vent to passe out the water for our use There 's many a one who hath enough in his hand take it in any kinde but he enjoyes nothing of it because the Lord locks up the conduit or the cisterne and then how much good soever there is in it there 's none for him It is all one to us whether we have onely a broken Cisterne for our portion or a Cisterne alwayes lockt up for as the one lets all the water run out so the other holds all the water in we are as farre from good if our Cisterne hold all as if it held nothing at all It is then not onely our duty and our holines to acquaint our selves and be at peace with God but our wisdome and our interest For it is as he pleaseth alwayes and usually as we please him that eyther we have any thing that is good comming to us or that any good commeth to us by that which we have Secondly Note which is a Corallary from the former observation That the renewing of our Communion with God and making peace with him is followed with all manner of mercies and good things So shall good come unto thee There was never any man a looser by acquaintance with God Gods acquaintance is a gainfull acquaintance Our acquaintance with God should we consider it abstractly and separate from all benefit but his very acquaintance yet that is benefit enough God is the chiefest Good and therefore when we enjoy him we enjoy all Good The enjoyment of God himselfe is infinitely more then the enjoyment of all created good things that come from God Friends are sometimes in those heights of friendship and noblenes of spirit one to another that they count the enjoyment of one another to be more then all the benefits they can heape upon or reape by one another it is your good Company saith such a friend and your acquaintance that delights me more then all the good you can bestow upon mee And is not God much more so to us Thus I say acquaintance with God alone is all good but besides as the poynt leads us to consider God gives out good things from himselfe to all his holy acquaintants temporall or bodily good comes to us by his acquaintance and so also and that chiefly doth spirituall or soule good Acquaint thy selfe with God and the dewes of grace showers of the Spirit shall fall into thy bosome Acquaint thy selfe with God and spirituall Comfort shall flow in unto thee spirituall strength shall flow in unto thee thy soule shall be filled as with marrow and fatnes And as good shall come to thee in person so to thine to thy family and posterity good shall come And as God will cause good to
desire is a death to the desirer A godly mans desires are active desires they put him upon enquiry lead him to the meanes of enjoying the good desâ—ered And though God be unexpectedly found of some that seeke him not yet no man can expect to finde God but he that seeketh him And indeed what should the Creature doe but be upon an enquiry after God there is a Naturality in it hee being the supream beeing that we who have our being from him should seeke after him And the Apostle tells us Act. 17.26 27. that this is the designe of God in making of one blood all Nations of men for to dwel on the face of the earth and in determining the times before appoynted and the bounds of their habitation namely That they should seeke the Lord if haply they might feel after him and finde him though he be not farre from every one of us for in him we live c. The Lord is neer all he hath a presence in all places with all persons but the Lord would have all seeke feele grope after him even such as have but a dim light of him as those have that doe not seeke so much with their eyes as with their hands they onely feele after the things which they would have There is a light in the spirits of all men that haply they may feele after God and finde him They who have not Scripture light Gospel light the highest light yet have some kinde or degree of light they have some glimmerings though no cleare discernings And that should put them on to seeke God much more should they seeke after him who have clearest light And where there is any heate of affection to God a little light will serve them to seeke after him they that are true desierers will be diligent seekers And they who seeking God have found him will seeke him yet againe yea they will seeke him more and more as long as there is any thing more of God to be found And there will alwayes be more of God to be found for here we know God but in part and therefore have found him but in part and hence it is that all the Saints in this life or on this side Glory even they of the highest forme and greatest proficiency in grace and knowledge are called Seekers this is the generation of them that seeke him Psal 24.6 not such seekers as we finde too many in these dayes who as if all were upon uncertainties in religion say they have as yet found nothing for as there is something wherein the most knowing and strongest Christians may be to seeke so there are many things yea all things necessary to salvation or without which we cannot be saved which the weakest may finde and know sufficiently though not sully And as they who desire to finde these things will be diligent in seeking them so they may know in themselves or be fully assured that they have found them and so even while they still continue to be seekers know that they are already Finders Lastly Observe God is every where yet especially some where to be found As there is a finding time so there is a finding place and finding meanes There is a finding time saith holy David Psal 32.6 For this shall every one that is godly pray to thee in a time when thou mayest be found The Hebrew is in a finding time though I would not give any one a stop from seeking God at any time yet I must say there is a speciall finding time And this the Apostle calls the Accepted time 2 Cor. 6.2 that is the time which we ought to lay hold upon or accept as also the time wherein we shall be acceptable or finde acceptation There is also a finding place there is a where as well as a when God specially is to be found I mean it not of a meere locality as if God were now to be found more in one place then in another for Paul saith 1 Tim. 6.8 I will that men every where lift up pure hands without wrath and doubting And Christ told the woman Joh. 4.21 The houre cometh when ye shall neyther in this Mountaine nor yet at Jerusalem worship the father not as if Christ had forbid the worship of the father in those places for the time coming but he enlargeth publick worship to all places or abrogates all differences of place under the Gospel as to the worship of the Father Yet if any man shall enquire where may I find God or say as Job here O that I knew where I might finde him I would answer First Seeke him in his promises search the Scriptures there you will finde God Secondly Look for him in his Ordinaces of prayer and preaching c. for there he hath promised to be present Where two or three are met together in my name there am I in the midst of them Math. 18.20 When the Church or Spouse in the Canticles Chap. 1.7 8. Askes the Question Tell me O thou whom my soule loveth where thou feedest where thou makest thy flocks to rest at Noone Christ her Beloved answers If thou know not O thou fayrest among Women goe thy way forth by the footesteps of the flocke and feed thy kids besides the Sheepherds tents That is follow the holy practices and examples of the Saints in all former ages which the Apostle calls walking in the steps of the faith of Abraham Rom. 4.12 And againe hearken to the voyce of faithfull Teachers who as Shepherds feed the flocke of God with knowledge and understanding Waite at these Shepherds tents saith Christ and there thou shalt finde a presence of God with thee and his blessing upon thee Thirdly And above all Seeke God in Christ The father is onely to be found in the Sonne Looke to Jesus Christ and in him you cannot but behold God for he is the brightnes of his glory and the expresse image of his person Heb. 1.3 and therefore as he that hath the Son hath the Father also so he that by an eye of faith and in the light of the Word and Spirit Beholdeth the Son beholdeth the Father also For the light of the knowledge of the glory of God is given us in the face of Jesus Christ 2 Cor. 4.6 The light of the knowledge of the goodnesse of God of his mercy Justice holines which are his glory shineth forth from Jesus Christ that is in and by Christ it appeares gloriously that God is exceeding good mercifull just holy Therefore to every wearied soule complaining of the losse of God and crying out O that I knew where I might finde him The summe of all the Counsell that I can give or indeed that can be given is this Seek God in Christ and he will be found O that I knew where I might finde him That I might come even to his seat Some conceive these words as the issue of a distemperd spirit others tax Job with too much boldnes that
the Lord hath blessed that is as the smel of a fruitfull feild So it may be sayd that the earth or land where a man lives Describit quomodo sese gereresoleant ut suae maleficia coÌ„modius tegant eligunt sibi sedâ—s in vastis locis unde dicit nec se convertit ad vias vinearum quia vineae in locis cultis sitae sunt non procul ab urbibus Merc and his portion in it is cursed while he lives in a barren desolate land which looks as if it were under the perpetuall curse of God And according to this interpretation the later part of the verse and he beholdeth not the way of the vineyards may be thus understood He comes not into any fruitfull fields Vineyards are planted in a fruitfull soyle and fruitfull vines are full of the blessing of God Thus as the portion of the wicked in the earth is alwayes cursed by a decree from God so it may be sayd that their portion is sometimes cursed by their owne Election because for the better secreting and hiding of themselves from the eye of Justice they spend their dayes in such places as by reason of their wastnes and barrennes seeme to confesse themselves under a curse Their portion is cursed in the earth Hence note First Sin brings a Curse with it When Jâ—b had described the wickednesse of these men their murthers their adulteries and their thefts he concludes Their portion is Cursed Sin calleth for a Curse from men and it calleth for a Curse from God Solomon saith Pro. 12.26 He that withholdeth Corne that is who hoards it up and will not sel it at a reasonable rate resolving to make a dearth when God hath made none he who thus withholdeth Corne the people will curse him Now if the people curse him that will not let them have corne for money then much more him that stealeth or taketh away their corne without money He that destroyeth other mens goods gets a Curse in stead of good Eliphaz saith Chap. 5.3 I have seene the foolish taking roote but suddenly I Cursed his habitation that is I saw his habitation was Cursed or under a curse I knew what would become of him shortly In some Cases it may be lawfull for man to wish a Curse upon man and the Curse of man may be the Curse of God too and usually it is so when any man is generally cursed by men Vox populi vox dei The voyce of the people is the voyce of God When a man is followed with a Curse from the most of men good and bad it is an argument that there is a Curse gone out from God against him and that his portion is Cursed in the earth Sin is the deserving or procuring Cause and the wrath of God is the inflicting or productive Cause of the Curse Balaak hired Balaam to Curse the people of God but the Curse could not take the traine was laid but he could not make the powder take fire the Curse came not why the reason is given yea Balaam himselfe gives it Numb 23.21 He that is God hath not beheld Iniquity in Jacob neither hath he seene perversnes in Israel If there had been iniquity that is any national iniquity or publicke iniquity persisted in and not repented of among them that had brought the Curse inevitably but though Balaam laboured to Curse them though he went from hill to hill and tryed all meanes to get an opportunity to Curse them yet he could not for saith he God hath blessed them and I cannot reverse it There is no Iniquity in Jacob nor perversnes in Israel therefore their portion was blessed in the Earth Sin in whomsoever it is hath a Curse in the belly or bowels of it Even Christ himselfe taking our sin upon him was necessitated to take the Curse upon him which was due to our sin Christ taking our sin upon him was as the Apostle saith 2 Cor. 5.21 made sin for us that is an offering or a sacrifice for our sin yea as the same Apostle saith Gal. 3.13 He was therefore made a Curse for us And if Christ who having no sin in him did onely take our sin upon him could not avoyd the curse how shall they avoyd it who having no part in Christ have all manner of sin in them But it may be objected All men sin and yet many have no appearance of a Curse upon them nor is their portion Cursed in the earth I answer First This assertion is to be limited to unbeleevers or ungodly men Secondly unbeleevers and ungodly men are under a Curse though the Curse doe not breake out and appeare visibly upon them As the portion of a godly man may be blessed though there be no appearance of the blessing when nothing appeares upon him but affliction and the Cross yet the Godly man is blessed The Cross of a Godly man is like the prosperity of a wicked man The former hath an outward Cross but a Blessing at the bottome the latter hath outward prosperity but a curse at the bottome and bitternes in the end Againe the peace of the prophane is like the grace of hypocrites onely a shew hypocrites have a shew of grace an appearance of holynes yet they are but painted Sepulchres full of rottennes within So the wicked have a shew of peace and prosperity of benefits and blessings but a curse is within them and a curse hangs over them ready every moment to drop downe upon their heads For Secondly His portion is cursed that is 't is under a curse though the curse be not actually inflicted As the mercies of God are sure to his people yet many times very slow they come not presently but they will come So also the wrath and curse of God will surely come upon the wicked though as to outward effects impressions they are slow and long in comming Actings of mercy are for an appointed time Every vision is for an appointed time as the Lord told his Prophet Hab. 2.3 The vision of Judgement and wrath is for an appointed time as well as the vision of love and mercy That is all the love and all the wrath the blessing and the curse which are revealed in any way of vision are for an appointed time but at the end the vision will speake and not lye if it tarry waite for it for it will surely come and not tarry As it is I say in the visions of mercy and blessing so in those of wrath and of the curse They are for an appointed time in the end they will speake Sometimes the Curse is quick it apprehendeth the sinner in the very act it takes him in the manner as Phineas did Zimri and Cozbi And as Psal 78.30 While their meate was yet in their mouthes the wrath of God came upon them The sound of the Curse is sometimes at the heeles of sin at other times the sound of the Curse is a great way behind the sin no
wherein with respect to Christ apprehended by faith hee absolveth the beleever from sin and death and doth repute him just and righteous unto eternal life Of this the Apostle treates at large in the 3d 4 â—â— and 5th Chapters of the Epistle to the Romanes and in that to the Galatians This doctrine of free justification is the foundation and corner stone of all our comfort For whereas there is a double change in the state of a sinner first a relative change secondly an absolute and reall change The one is made in sanctification the other in Justification Sanctification is a reall change subduing corruption destroying the power of sin in us but Justification is not a Physicall or real change in the person it doth not make him that is unrighteous righteous in himselfe nor is man at all Justified in this sence by any selfe-righteousnes but it is onely a relative change as to his state To Justifie is a Law-terme signifying the pronouncing or declaring of a man righteous So that Justification is an act of God upon us or towards us Sanctification is an act of God in us This blessed Grace of Sanctification alwayes followeth the grace of Justification as an effect or fruit of it and though it may easily be distinguished from it yet it can no more be separated or divided from it then heate from fire or motion from life Yet I concave that Bildad in this place doth not speake of Justification in that strict Gospel sence as it imports the pronouncing of a man righteous for the sake of Christ or as if he supposed Job looked to be pronounced righteous for his owne sake But Bildad speakes of Justification here as to some particular act As for instance If any man will contend with God and that Bildad chargeth Job with as if God had done him some wrong or had afflicted him more then was need is he able to make this plea good and give proofe of before the Throne of God How can man be Justified with God There is a fourefold understanding of that phrase with God First Thus If any man shall presume to referre himselfe to the Judgement of God shall he be justified all at last must appeare before the Judgement of God whether they will referre themselves to him or no but suppose a man referre himselfe to God as Job had done by appealing to him can he be Justified Will God upon the tryall examination of his cause give Judgement or sentence for him But in this sence it is possible for a man to be justified with God and thus Job was justified by God at last against the opinion and censures of his three friends Secondly To be Justified with God is as much as this If man come neere to or set himselfe in the presence of God shall he be justified Man usually lookes upon himselfe at a distance from God he looks upon himselfe in his owne light and so thinkes himselfe righteous but when he lookes upon himselfe in the light of God and as one that is neer God will not all his spots and blemishes then appeare or rather will not he himselfe appeare all spot and blemish When he is once with God will he be any thing with himselfe but an impure and wretched creature In this sence Bildad might check Jobs boldnes in desiering to come so neere God even to his seate which would but have made him more vile in his owne eyes and discovered to him his owne impurities as it did to the Prophet Isayah Chap. 6.5 and as it did also to Job himselfe when he attained his wish and got so neere to God that he called it a seeing him with his eye Chap 42.5 Then we have not a word more of pleading his cause before God His mouth was stopt and he abhorred himselfe repenting in dust and ashes Thirdly Can man be justified with God that is if man compare himselfe with God an he be justified one man may compare himselfe with another and be justified And thus the fâ—ithfull people of God are called righteous and just in Scripture comparatively to wicked and unrighteous men But how can any man be just or righteous compared with God in comparison of whom all our righteousnesse is unrighteous and our very cleanenes filthy Fourthly To be justified with God is against God that is if man strive or contend with God in any thing as if God were too hard and severe towards him eyther by withholding good from him or bringing evill upon him can man be justifyed in this contention or will God be found to have done him any wrong without all question he will not From the words taken in a generall sence observe Man hath nothing of his owne to Justifie him before God There are two things considerable in man first his sinne secondly his righteousnesse his worst and his best all grant man cannot be justified by or for his sins nor can he at all be justifyed in or for his owne righteousnesse And that upon a twofold ground First Because the best of his righteousnesse is Imperfect and no Imperfect thing can be a ground of Justification and acceptance with God For though God doth justifie those who are imperfect yet hee never justified any man upon the account of that which is Imperfect God never tooke cockle-shels for payment he must have pure gold and he seeth wel enough what poore stuffe what base coyne the best of our righteousnesse is and therefore cannot admit any of it in justification For the purpose of God is to exalt himselfe in Justice as wel as in mercy by the justification of sinners And therefore the Apostle sayth Rom. 3.25 26. That God hath set forth Christ to be a propitiation through faith in his blood to declare his righteousnesse and he is not content to say it once but saith it againe To declare I say his righteousnesse that he might be just and the justifier of him that beleeveth in Jesus Secondly All the righteousnesse wrought by man is a due debt how can wee acquit our selves from the evill wee have done by any good which we doe seeing all the good we doe we ought to have done though we had never done any evill When we have done our best we may be ashamed of our doings we do so poorly But suppose we had done richly and bravely suppose our workes which indeed are full of drosse were pure gold and silver were precious stones and Jewels yet they are already due to God Wee owe all and all manner of obedience as wee are creatures And wee can never justifie our selves from our transgressions by satisfying could we reach them our obligations There is enough in Christ to justifie us but there is nothing in our selves All that Christ did was perfect and Christ was under no obligation to doe any thing but what he willingly submitted to doe for us This booke of Job beareth as great a testimony to this truth as any How often doth
He spake great things of the power and holynes of God but Jobs case called him to speake as much if not more and rather of the goodness and kindnes of God He spake enough to humble and cast Job downe at the sight of his natural uncleanenes but he should have spoken more to rayse him up and comfort him by shewing him that fountaine which is opened to wash in for sin and for uncleanenes Wee may quickly entangle a soule by speaking truth unlesse we shew him all that ruth which belongs to his condition The Scriptures have plenty of truth in them and are therefore able to make as wise unto salvation They are profitable for doctrine for reproofe for correction for instruction in righteousnes The Scripture is like that River spoken of Gen. 2.10 which went out of Eden to water the Garden and from thence it was parted and became into foure heads Paul in that place now mentioned 2 Tim. 3.16 shewes us the Scripture parting it selfe into foure heads first of Doctrine for establishing the truth secondly of reproofe for removing of error thirdly of correction for the beating downe of ill manners fourthly of instruction for building up in a holy conversation That so as it there follows the man of God may be perfect throughly furnished unto all good workes that is in Jobs language that he may be able plentifully to declare the solid truth the thing as it is and as knowingly to declare General truths so to apply them discerningly to the state of every person A fayling wherein Job is supposed to charge Bildad with in the next verse Vers 4. To whom hast thou uttered words Here Job taxeth Bildad with inconsideratenesse in reference to the person to whom he spake To whom hast thou uttered words hast thou considered to whom thou spakest Quem docere voluisti nonne eum qui fecit spiramentum Vulg The vulgar translation referrs it to God whom wouldst thou teach wouldst not thou teach him who made the breath surely thou takest upon thee to teach him who is the teacher of us all Thus many carry on the sense of this fourth verse according to the second interpretation of the second and third verses With which presumption Job taxed his friends once before and that in expresse termes Chap. 21 22. Shall any teach God knowledge seeing he judgeth those that are high But I conceive Jobs meaning is onely to shew Bildad that he had not well advised about his case and condition before he spake for Bildad might say is this a question to be asked to whom have I uttered words have not I been speaking to thee all this while art not thou the man for whose sake we are here met and about whom we have had all this dispute Why then doest thou aske to whom hast thou uttered words Job doubted not who it was to whom he spake but Job questions him as fearing he was not well acquainted with or had not enough layd to heart the state of the man to whom he spake dost thou know what my condition is and hast thou suited and cut out thy discourse to my condition to whom hast thou uttered words Hence note We should well consider the state of every person to whom we speak and apply our speech or doctrine accordingly Bildad in the former Chapter had been setting forth the power majesty and dread of God as also his infinite purity befoâ—e whom the Angels are not-cleane now sayth Job to whom hast thou uttered these words should I be thus dealt with thus handled who am a man cast downe already and under the terrours of God Is this discourse though an undoubted truth sutable to my condition Thou shouldst rather have represented God to my faith in his goodnesse and mercy in his long suffering and patience in his tendernesse and gentlenesse towards sinners thou shouldst have proclaimed that name of God to me which is his Glory Exod. 34.6 The Lord The Lord gracious and mercifull long suffering and aboundant in goodnes and truth this had been a description of God a proclamation of God fit for a man in my case Whereas thou hast onely told me of his mighty power and dominion of his Hosts and Armyes doest thou know to whom thou hast uttered these words Jesus Christ when here on earth considered to whom he was uttering words and therefore tells his Disciples Joh. 16.12 I have many things to say unto you but ye cannot beare them now Christ would not put new wine into old botles but attemper'd his speech to the strength and capacity of his hearers Some must heare that which they cannot beare when that springs from their passion and impatience especially when from their love to and resolvednesse to goe onne in sinne Amos must not forbeare to speake though Amaziah cry out The Land is not able to beare all his words But we must take heed of forcing words upon any which they cannot beare or are not fit to heare eyther by reason of their afflictions and temptations or by reason of their present infirmities and incapacities The Apostle 2 Tim. 2.15 bids Timothy study to shew thy selfe approved unto God he doth not meane it in his private course of life and dayly converse which is the duty of every beleever but in his publicke course of life or converse as a Minister of the Gospel in that sayth he study to shew thy selfe approved unto God a workman that needeth not to be ashamed what kind of workman was Timothy his worke lay in the Word shew thy selfe a workeman and a Master in thy worke rightly dividing the word of truth how is the word to be divided he doth not meane of a gramaticall nor of a logicall division though there may be a use of these divisions of the Word but the dividing of the word intended by Paul is the dividing of it spiritually to the severall states and conditions of men giving to such a word of instruction to others a word of reproofe to a third sort words of comfort This is dividing the word aright And in doing this Paul would have Timothy declare himfelfe a workman that he needed not be ashamed He would have him know to whom he uttered words to know when he spake to sinners and when to Saints when he spake to the afflicted and when to them that were in a comfortable estate He would have him know when he spake to those who were hardned in their sin and when to those whose hearts were broken under the weight and sence of sin And thus as every man who uttereth words so Ministers of the Gospel especially should be well advised to whom they utter them For as the same garment will not serve every body to weare nor the same bed to lye upon so the same word will not serve every soule We must not doe as the tyrant who made one bed serve all his guests and they that were too long for it were cut shorter and they who
and 't is usuall in Scripture to speake that in negative words which was before spoken in affirmative As to be naked and to have no covering are the same so hell and destruction are the same and these two are often put together Pro. 15.11 Hell and destruction are before the Lord how much more the hearts of the children of men Though we know not where hel is nor what is done there though wee know not what is become of those that are destroyed nor what they suffer yet God doth and if the secrets of hel and devills are knowne to him then much more the secrets of the hearts of the children of men And as that proverb teacheth us that nothing is hid from God because hell and destruction are not so another proverb delivered in the same forme teacheth us that nothing in the creature can satisfie the desires and lustings of man even as hell and destruction can never be satisfied Prov. 27.20 Hell and destruction are never full so the eyes of men are never satisfyed The Devill who is the great executioner of the wrath of God is exprest by this word as hell is called destruction in the abstract so the Devill is called a destroyer in the concrete Revel 9.11 And they had a King over them which is the Angel of the bottomlesse pit or hell whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon but in the Greeke tongue hath his name Apollyon both the one and the other the Hebrew and the Greeke signifie the same thing a destroyer The Devill who is the Jaylour of hell is called a destroyer as hell it selfe is called destruction from the Co-incidency of these two termes Note Hell is destruction They that are once there are lost and lost for ever The reason why hell is called destruction is because they that are cast to hell are undone to eternity We read of a City Isa 19.18 which was called the City of destruction because it was to be utterly destroyed Hell may be called a City of destruction not because it shall ever be destroyed but because it shall ever be full of destruction and nothing but destruction shall be there There is no estate on earth so miserable but a man may be delivered out of it but out of hell there is no deliverance Heman saith Psal 88.11 Shall thy loving kindnesse be declared in the grave or thy faithfullnesse in destruction There grave and destruction are put together much more may hell and destruction be put together or for each other What ever comes into the grave is destroyed it rots and perisheth much more doth hell destroy all that comes thither And looke as the grave is to the body now a destroyer consuming so hell is to the soule now and will be to soule and body after the resurrection a destroyer tormenting The loving kindnesse of God shall not be declared in Hell nor any faithfullnesse of his in destruction unlesse it be his faithfullnesse according to what is threatned in the Word to destroy The Apostle Peter sayth 1 Ep 3.19 20. that Christ by the Spirit went and preached to the Spirits in prison which sometime were disobedient when once the long-suffering of God waited in the dayes of Noah c. It is true that Christ by the Spirit in the ministery of Noah did preach to those Spirits who were disobedient in the time when Noah preached and were in prison or in hel in the time when Peter wrote But Christ did not preach by his Spirit in the ministery of Noah or any other way to Spirits who were in prison or in hel while he preached to them There are no Sermons in hel nor any salvation there The loving kindnesse of God is aboundantly declared on earth but it shall not be declared in hel As there is nothing felt in hel but destruction so there is no salvation offered to those who are in hel There 's teares enow and mourning enough in hel but there is not the least Godly sorrow in hel which onely worketh repentance to salvation August lib. 21. de Civ dei cap 17. not to be repented of 2 Cor. 7.10 One of the ancients hath reported the opinion of some in his time who thought that though there be destruction in hel yet not eternal destruction but that sinners should be punished some a lesse others a longer time and that at last all shall be freed and yet saith he Origen was more mercifull in this poynt then these men for he held that the Devill himselfe should be saved at last Of this opinion I shall say no more in this place then this one thing which he there sayd These men will be found to erre by so much the more foulely against the right words of God so much the more perversely by how much they seeme to themselves to judge more mercifully for indeed the justice of God in punishing sinners is as much above the scale of mans thoughts as his mercyes in pardoning them are let not sinners flatter themselves in a hope of salvation when they are in hel who have neglected salvation while they were on the earth For as the Apostle saith Heb. 2.3 How shall we escape that is how shall we escape falling into hel if we neglect so great salvation so I may say how shall any escape by getting out of hell who neglect so great salvation Hel is destruction and as because heaven is a place of happinesse and salvation therefore heaven and happinesse heaven and salvation mutually or reciprocally signifie one another to obtaine heaven is to obtaine salvation to obtaine heaven is to obtaine happines So because hel is a place of misery and destruction therefore hel and misery hel and destruction signifie the same thing nor can they be separated Againe when he sayth Hell is naked before him and destruction hath no covering we learne There is nothing hid from the eye or knowledge of God Philosophy and reason teach us that the vertue and force of the heavenly bodyes the Sunne Moone and Starres doe not onely act upon those parts of the earth which are uppermost but send their influences and powers to the lowest parts or bowels of the earth for as was sayd before according to the ordinance of God dead things are formed there Now I say as the power of the heavenly bodyes reacheth downe into the earth much more doth the power and light of God reach into hell it selfe I will not stay upon any curious enquiries where this hell is wheresoever it is God seeth it Hel is naked before him therefore sayth David Psal 139.8 If I ascend up into heaven thou art there if I make my bed in hell behold thou art there that is there thou art by thy power and inspection thou seest what is in hell and if so how much more doth God behold what is done heere upon the earth if hell be naked before him then the earth is naked before him if destruction have no