Selected quad for the lemma: religion_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
religion_n	false_a	true_a	worship_n	4,780	5	7.8086	4	false

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A81199	An exposition with practicall observations continued upon the twenty-second, twenty-third, twenty-fourth, twenty-fifth, and twenty-sixth chapters of the book of Job being the summe of thirty-seven lectures, delivered at Magnus near London Bridge. By Joseph Caryl, preacher of the Word, and pastour of the congregation there.	Caryl, Joseph, 1602-1673.	1655 (1655)	Wing C769A; ESTC R222627	762,181	881

wicked man when he awakes hee is still with sin And if hee cannot awake naturally soone enough to sin hee will force himselfe to awake And so he may be sayd to awake to sin before he is awake for as some nurse up and feed their sleepe when they are a little awakened like the sluggard yet a little slumber yet a little sleepe so others offers violence to or breake their sleepe that is as the text sayth they rise betimes even before the usuall time of rising that they may get a prey It is no wonder if they who sticke not at breaking the lawes of God breake also the lawes of their owne rest Diligence is good about that which is good it is good to be zealously affected alwayes in a good matter but zeale and diligence misplaced how evill are they it is better to creep in a good way then to run in a wrong way Even idlenes is better then such diligence yet they who misplace their zeale and diligence are commonly more in both then they who place them right and they who are in a false way make more hast then they who are in a true The Scripture notes the extream Intensenes of the builders of Babel upon their worke And that 's the straine of most men in such worke as theirs was the building of a Babel or in doing that which will be but a monument of their owne pride and folly or of their rebellion against and contempt of God Gen. 11.6 This they begin to doe and now nothing will be restrained from them which they have Imagined to doe if they have but a minde to it they will doe it let it cost what it will neyther difficulty nor danger shall restraine them See also how Industrious the ten Tribes were in their Idolatrous worship which Jeroboam had set up 1 Kings 12.30 And this thing became a sin for the people went to worship before the one even unto Dan that is they went a great way to worship for howsoever Jeroboam pretended the ease and accommodation of the people in setting up those Calves ver 28. It is too much for you to goe up to Jerusalem Behold thy Gods O Israel which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt as if he had sayd thy Gods are at hand or in thine eye thou needest not toyle thy selfe in going so farre to serve them yet Jerusalem was neerer unto most of the Israelites then eyther Dan or Bethel were For Bethel one of those places of worship was in the utmost bounds of the South Josh 18.22 Dan the other place of worship was in the utmost bounds of the North Josh 19.47 so that they were willing to take more paines to follow the Idolatrous inventions of man then to keepe to the Institutions of God Jerusalem was neerer to most of the ten Tribes then either Dan or Bethel yet thither they would goe All the way to sin whether in ordinary practice or worship is downe-hill to Nature we have both the winde and tyde of the world with us will we set our faces hel-ward and to be sure Satan will never checke their diligence who are doing his worke nor take them off from their pace who are going or Galloping his way We have a cleare evidence of this in the case of the worshippers of those two Calves in Dan and Bethel and it is further observed by some that the Israelites grew so zealous in a short time in that abomination that they who dwelt neer Bethel did even disdain to worship at Bethel they disdained to serve their God at their owne dores and therefore they that dwelt at or neere Bethel would goe to Dan and worship and they that dwelt at or neer Dan would goe to Bethel to worship The heart of man is so mad upon Idolatry that he is willing to be at any cost or paines for it He scornes to serve a false God at an easie rate nor is he pleased which is the onely thing which pleaseth some who pretend to the true religion with a cheape religion You may lay what tax you will upon him eyther of paynes or purse and he is willing yea even ambitious to pay or performe it Thus the blinde votaryes among the Papists at this day will needes goe a Pilgrimage to remotest places they will travayle to Jerusalem and visit the Sepulchre c. these long Journeyes they glory in it is but a step to them hard penances not onely fastings but whippings they glory in The nature of man will carry him two miles at his owne bidding rather then one at Gods How may it shame Godly men for their sloath in doing the will of God when they heare how industrious evill men are in doing their owne how may it shame them that they should take lesse paines to keepe a righteous law then many doe to satisfie a filthy lust Who like wild Asses goe forth to their worke rising betimes for a prey And whereas it followes The wildernes yeeldeth food for them and for their Children Note Wicked men will have it if it be to be had above ground They that live by rapine will live any where every mans estate is theirs if they can but get it They finde a harvest in the wildernes and riches in the desert Againe Note Wicked men lay up for theirs as well as for themselves by the spoyle of others The light of nature teacheth parents to lay up for their children and they who get an estate by wronging others yet thinke they are bound to provide for more then themselves Nahum 11.12 Where is the dwelling of the Lyons and the feeding place of the young Lyons where the Lyon even the old Lyon walked and the Lyons whelpe and none made him afraid The Lyon did teare in peices enough for his whelps and strugled for his Lyonesses What did the Lyon the Lyon did teare in peices and how much did he teare in peices not onely enough to fill his owne belly but to feed his whelps and his Lyonesses Hee filled his holes with prey and his dens with ravine Thus the Prophet describeth wicked men providing not onely for themselves but for theirs their young Lyons and Lyonesses The wildernes yeeldeth food for them and for their Children Further Some note the Consent of the whole family in wickednesse from these words The wildernes yeeldeth food for them and for their Children that is they all agree together Master and Servants and Children all agree together to doe mischeife to spoyle and oppresse all they can Where Parents and Masters are evill Children and servants are seldome good It is rare to see hearts united about that which is good but they are often and easily united in that which is evill Thus the Lord speakes to Jeremie Chap. 7.18 Seest thou not what they doe in the Cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem The Children gather wood and the fathers kindle the fire and the woemen knead their dough to

Some translate it to evidence to evince and determine Thus it is said Gen. 20.16 that Abimilech reproved Sarah that is gave evidence that she had a husband And Abrahams Servant said Gen. 24.44 She that saith to me both drink thou and I will also draw for thy Camels let her be the woman whom the Lord hath appointed for my Masters Son That is let this token be an evidence to me that it is she whom thou hast appointed for his wife Some here take it so Will God evidence or determine concerning thee by thy feare or the worship which thou givest him That thou art righteous We expresse it fully enough Will he reprove thee for fear of thee Or will he enter with thee into judgement Both these expressions are of the same sence and these words for fear of thee may be read in the close of the Verse Will he reprove thee or will he enter with thee into judgment for fear of thee Feare may be taken here two wayes Either first Actively or secondly Passively Take it Actively and so it notes the Fear of Job Putasne te plecti ob religionē tuam Will he reprove thee because of thy Feare And then by his Fear we are to understand his Religiousnesse or Holinesse so Mr. Broughton Would he reprove thee for thy Religion Take this Fear Passively An de religione tua argueret te Iun. and then it implyeth a Fear which God himselfe might be thought to have of him as if Eliphaz had said God is not afraid of thee The Prophet saith Isa 51.12 Who art thou that thou shouldest be afraid of a man c. Quis vel hoc desipiens sentiat quod Dominus ex timore nos arguat ex metu judicium suum contra nos proponat Greg. Much more may we say who or what is man that God should be afraid of him One of the Ancients following this Interpretation professeth that no fit or comely sense can be given of these words but concludes that Eliphaz spake very foolishly and grosly or as a man forsaken left of God For saith he can any one imagine such a thing as this that Job should have a thought that God was afraid of him But we may very well accommodate the sense in either of these Considerations of Fear whether Actively or Passively and judicious Interpreters carry it both wayes Let us weigh it a little in both P●tasne quod ille te affligat quia● religi●sus sis Dei timeus ac integer ut d● te ipse predicas minime vero quiu potius quod sis irreligiosus Merc. First Actively as Fear is taken for the Fear which Joh feared that is for his religion and worship or the exercise of it then the meaning is this Dost thou think that God doth punish thee for thy goodnesse or because thou art righteous No it is because thou art irreligious Is not thine iniquity great and thy sin infinite As he speaks out in the n●xt words Doest thou think that God punishes thee for thy holinesse No he can find sins enow to doe it for And Eliphaz might speak to such a sense I conceive because Job pleaded his integrity so much as if he should say Never think that God afflicts thee for thy holinesse or righteousnesse but rather acknowledge thy sins and thy wickednesse to be the cause of thy afflictions Are not thine iniquities manifest There is a tru●h in this God doth correct many who fear him but he doth not correct ●ny one for fearing of him many holy persons are afflicted but no man was ever afflicted for his holinesse God hath made many promises to the godly man that he will reward him and doe him good Say to the righteous it shall be well with him Godlinesse is profitable for all things having ●he promises of this life and of that which is to come Therefore no man needs feare that God will hurt him for his holinesse though a holy man may receive many rods and scourges from God yet holinesse never received the least scourge from God Numquid ex timore tuo judicabit te Deus quando te judicabit non respiciet ad timorem tuum tantum connivebit ad mala quae feceris Hoc fine subijcit nonne malum tuum amplum est ostendit autem nullam pietatem hominis esse perfectam ut mae justus judicari a deo possit Coc. Againe as fear is taken Actively for Religion or for holinesse the sense may be given thus in pursuance of the fourth signification of the word Reprove before ●xplained When God comes to judge thee or when he declares what thou art he will not look to thy fear onely to thy profession of Religion and holinesse and over-look or wink at thy sins and therefore he presently subjoynes Is not thy wickednesse great Hereby arguing that no mans piety is so perfect that thereby he can be accounted just or righteous in the sight of God or that a mans profession yea and practice of Religion is of no value either to escape the punishment of his sin or to deserve a reward at the hands of God Some expound that Psal 50.8 in a paralel sense to this the Original word being the same I will not reprove thee for thy Sacrifices which is the same with Fear in the Text according to this Interpretation being put for all outward worship or religiousnesse or for thy burnt-offrings continually before me For those words to have been which our Translators supply may be left out and the sense remain perfect Or if those words be continued then the negative particle not is as in many Scriptures it is to be reassumed out of the first part of the Verse and the whole read thus I wil not reprove thee for thy sacrifices or for thy Burnt-offrings not to have been continually before me That is I will not charge thee with a neglect of outward duty or worship the inward and spiritual of which he speaks ver 14. Eliphazo propositum est ostendere quod religio hominis non prosit ad demerendum deum vel peccati paenam evadendā Coc. being that which is most pleasing unto me Now as to the paraleling of this place in the Psalms with the sence of Job's Text now under hand we must read them thus I will not judge thee for thy Sacrifices that is when I determine concerning thy righteousnesse I will not doe it by having an eye to or respecting thy Sacrifices thy religious course and exercise of holines though thou hast bin much yea even continually conversant in them I shall only argue and declare thee righteous as thou trustest in me and by Faith takest hold of my Covenant Thus as the Lord is conceived saying in the Psalm I will not judge or declare thee righteous for thy Sacrifices so here Eliphaz will he that is certainly he will not judge or declare thee righteous for thy feare And so the

good It is not enough for a man to say he doth not judge his brother maliciously he ought not to judge him ignorantly Though to speake or judge ill of another because wee wish him ill be the greater sinne yet barely to speake or judge ill of another by whom we know no ill is very sinfull And then 't is most sinfull when wee doe it not onely as not knowing any evill they have done but because we know heare or see the evills which they suffer 'T is dangerous as well as improper to make the hardest and harshest dealings of God with any man the ground of our hard and harsh thoughts of him Thirdly Consider who they were whom Job is supposed to have oppressed they were not the great ones not the mighty men of the earth but the fatherlesse and the widow Whence note That the poore are usually the subject of oppression The greater fish in the sea of this world devoure and live upon the lesser The strong should support the weake and they who are upper-most should uphold those who are under them But because the weake and the underlings may most easily be opprest therefore they are most usually opprest As Covetousnesse is cruell so 't is cowardly and dares not meddle with its match God in reference to Spiritualls filleth the hungry with good things and the rich he sendeth empty away Luk. 1.53 Ungodly men in reference to temporals would send the rich away empty if they could but they are so farre from filling the hungry with good things that they take away all the good things they can from the hungry they care not if they starve the hungry if they make the poore poorer and take all from them who have but little Fourthly Job having been a Magistrate and so by his place a Minister of Justice is strongly pressed with the doing of injustice Whence note First That they who have power may easily though not alwayes justly be suspected for the abuse of it To have a power in our hands whereby we may doe good is a temptation to doe evill 'T is hard to keepe power within its bounds and to rule that by which others are ruled The Prophet Isa 1.10 calls the rulers of Sion rulers of Sodome because they ruled like them or rather worse then they eating up the people under their charge rather then feeding them and vexing those whom they undertooke to governe and to be a Shield unto against the vexations of others Secondly Note That as oppression is a sinne in any man so it is most sinfull in those who have power in their hands to releeve the oppressed Such act not onely contrary to a common rule but contrary to their speciall duty by how much we have the more obligation not to doe a thing by so much we sin the more if we doe it Thirdly Note That as it is very sinfull in Magistrates to wrong any man so it is most sinfull to wrong them or to deny them right who have most need of it the widow and the fatherlesse Magistrates are called Gods And God who hath honoured them by putting his name upon them expects that they should honour him by imitating or acting like unto him What a Magistrate doth he should doe like God he should doe it so that every one may be convinced that God is in him and with him of a truth As God takes care of the widow and of the fatherlesse so should he God is knowne by this Title A father of the fatherlesse and a Judge of the widow is God in his holy habitation Psal 68.5 That is in Heaven for that 's the habitation of his holines and of his glory there he dwells Judging for the widow and the fatherlesse And as that is the speciall businesse as it were of God in Heaven so they who are Gods on earth ought to make it their speciall businesse to judge for the widow and the fatherlesse Hence wee finde the widow and the fatherlesse commended by name to the care of the Magistrate The fatherlesse have no naturall parents living or none neere of kinne remaining to maintaine and defend them therefore the Magistrate who is pater patriae the common father of his Country should be their Foster-Father They who want power are the charge should be the speciall care of those in power Thus they are commanded Psa 82.3 4. Defend the poore fatherless doe justice to the afflicted needy deliver the poore and needy rid them out of the hand of the wicked Here 's their worke and the neglect of this worke how busie so ever Magistrates are about other worke is often complained of aloud in Scripture as a crying sinne as a sinne that ruines Nations and drawes downe publicke Judgements upon a people Isaiah 1.17 Cease to doe evill learne to doe well seeke Judgement relieve the oppressed Judge the fatherlesse plead for the widow And at the 23 verse They judge not the fatherlesse neither doth the Cause of the widow come unto them Againe Jer. 5.28 They judge not the Cause of the fatherlesse It is a sin not to judge any mans Cause not to judge the Cause of the richest of the greatest yet it is more sinfull not to judge the Cause of the widow and the fatherlesse And when he saith They judge not the Cause c. the meaning is they judge not the Cause of the fatherlesse impartially and righteously And indeed he that doth not judge righteously doth not judge at all and when the Prophet saith They judge not the Cause of the fatherlesse it is as if he had said Among all the Causes that lye unjudged this is the Cause that God takes most notice of and is most displeased with the neglect of it even when the Cause of the fatherlesse is not pleaded or judged All are forward enough to plead the Cause of the rich but when the Client is poore and appeares in forma pauperis his cause seld me finds any but a poore and formal pleading We read Acts 6.1 That there was a great murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrew●s because their widdowes were neglected in the daily Administration Church-Officers in their capacity as well as State-Officers in theirs ought to have a carefull eye upon widows that are in want And the Apostle James Cha. 1.27 summes up as it were all Religion into this one duty Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this to visit the fatherlesse and the widow Not as if this were indeed all religion or the all of religion but as when the Spirit in Scripture hath to doe with prophane persons or meere moral honest men who place all religion in civill righteousnesse and workes of charity then he calls them to first Table duties or to the sincere worship of God so when the Spirit is speaking to those who place all their religion in worship or in first Table duties neglecting the duties of charity and righteousnes then we finde

all religion placed in second Table worke in giving every man his due in compassion to the poore in helping the helplesse in feeding the hungry in cloathing the naked in comforting the sorrowfull and by name the fatherlesse and the widow This is pure religion to visit the fatherlesse and the widow That is this is the practicall part or the true practice of religion without which all religion is vaine Therefore when the Apostle had sayd v 21. Receive with meeknes the engraffed word Lest any man should stay there and think he had done enough when he had been a bearer he adds Be doers of the word That is looke to the practicall part of religion be diligent in the duties of love to men as wel as in those of the worship of God Take these two inferences from the whole verse First Seeing God taketh so much care of the widow and the fatherlesse Let the widow let the fatherlesse trust in God They who receive peculiar promises from God should put forth suitable acts of faith towards God Faith cannot worke without a word and where it hath a word it ought to worke Wee have both put together in the present case Jer. 49.11 Leave thy fatherlesse children I will preserve them alive and let the widows trust in mee As if God had sayd if none will take care of them I will I will take care of them I will be a father of the fatherlesse a husband to the widow leave that care to me Therefore let the widow and fatherlesse trust in God A word from God is a better a bigger portion then all the wealth of this world Secondly Seeing the Lord is so jealous over them and so ready to take their part against all their adversaries this should provoke them to be full of zeale for God God stands up for their protection therfore they should stand up for God their protector and patron How carefull should they be to please him who is so watchfull to preserve them Speciall promises call for speciall obedience as well as for speciall faith The more God engageth himselfe to doe for us the more should we engage our selves in his strength to doe for him None have more reason to be rich in faith and love to God then the poore and fatherlesse Thus farre wee have examined the Inditement or Charge which Eliphaz brought against Job now see what he inferres upon it here is thy sinne and there 's thy punishment JOB CHAP. 22. Vers 10 11. Therefore snares are round about thee and sudden feare troubleth thee Or darknesse that thou canst not see and abundance of waters cover thee THese two verses have variety of expressions but the intendment of all is one and the same Snares and feares and darknesse and abundance of waters signifie all manner of evills All these are upon thee because thou hast sent widows away empty and hast suffered the Armes of the fatherlesse to be broken because thou hast done these things therefore Snares are round about thee Some render the Originall Text to another sence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 non significat illationem aut convenientiam consoquentis ad antecedens sed convenientiam aptitudinemque antecedentis ad consequens Coc not as bearing an effect of the former words not as if hee had been punished with these evills for those sinnes but as if these evills had caused him to sinne and so the words are expounded as a kinde of scorne as if Eliphaz had sayd When thou didst those things no doubt snares or feares or darknes or waters came upon thee thou was forc't by suffering these evills to doe all this evill wast thou not was it not because thou wast prest with snares and feares and darknes and waters that thou didst oppresse the widow and the fatherlesse All which Questions are reducible to these plaine Negations Thou wast not pressed with any of these perplexities upon thy selfe to oppresse the poore there was no snare no nor any feare neere thee darknesse did not hinder thy sight nor did the waters of affliction cover thee Thou hast not been thrust upon sinne by these temptations nor constrained by the moral violence of any incumbent necessity but hast done it freely to sin even in this manner and at this hight hath not been thy refuge but thy choyce Thou hast not acted these iniquities by any instigation eyther from persons or providences but upon thine owne election This is a fayre sence and a mighty reproofe seeing as was lately noted every evill we doe is by so much the worse by how much wee have had the lesse provocation or solicitation to doe it But I rather take the words as wee render them to expresse the sad effects and fruits of his sinne As if Eliphaz had said Because thou hast taken a Pledge of thy brother for nought c. because thou hast sent widows away empty and the armes of the fatherlesse have been broken therefore snares are round about thee c. The words may have a threefold Allusion First To the besiedging of a City snares are round about thee Hostile aliquid obsidionale significat thou art now hemde in on every side with-troubles as Christ threatens Jerusalem Thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee c. A trench is but a great snare to catch men as men catch birds and vermine in snares Or Secondly The Allusion may be to Imprisonment thou art compassed with strong walles and shut in with gates thou art shackel'd with iron snares Thirdly The words may allude to hunting and fowling in such disports nets and snares are set to take the intended game Snares are often spoken of in Scripture to intimate or set forth the afflictions and sorrowes that entrap and hold the sons of men So that to say Snares are round about thee is no more but thus troubles are round about thee and these snares are sometimes set by the hand of man sometimes by the immediate hand of God Good things are often made a snare to the undoing of evill men and evill things are often made a snare to the troubling though not to the undoing of good men But I shall not prosecute this allusion having spoken of it at the 18th Chap v. 6 7 8. where Job complaines that God had taken him in his snare as also in the 19th Chapter at the 5th verse And sudden feare troubleth thee Wee may understand this feare first for the passion of feare or for feare within Secondly for the occasion of feare which is feare without Sudden feare troubleth thee that is the appearance or apprehension of some terrible thing causeth thee to feare Passio pro objecto materia suni in omni idiomate familiare Sanct. Feare is often put in Scripture for the thing feared for the object of feare or for that which causeth feare Thus also hope is put for the thing hoped for and vision for the thing seene or the object of the