Covenant had all that is the difference in the Hebr. Tongue between Esau's enough and Jacob's Gen. 33. 9 11. He that hath him that hath all hath all * Qui habet habentem omnia habet omnia said Augustine I am constant and therefore have enough 1 Tim. 6. 8. let us be content x 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gr. let us have enough so we translate it Mat. 25. 9. lest there be not enough c. so we translate it sufficient Job 6. 7. two hundred penny worth of bread is not sufficient for them So here what God allots me is sufficient for me let it therefore suffice me In a word take O my Soul the Apostle's advice Heb. 13. 5. let my Conversation be without Covetousness and be I content with such things as I have or are present for he hath said I will never leave thee nor forsake thee 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the word for Conversation signifies either a custom or manner and our means of getting our livelihood both come to one sense both our manner and our means of getting our livelihood must be free from covetousness and be content with the things present The Hebrews had been plundred of all when the Apostle wrote this Chap. 10. 34. though they had nothing yet be content So was he himself Phil. 4 11 12 13. he binds not heavy burdens on others which himself will not touch Not to be content is to be covetous A little will serve to bear my charges till I come home and then shall I have bread and all things else enough in the mean time let me live on the promise that seems to be taken from Deut. 31. 8. rather than from Josh 1. 5. as the most have thought and it 's observable to be five times recorded in Scripture that it may be prest till the sweetness of it be prest out Put the promise in suit put God's bond in suit as that holy man said and God will accomplish it Mean while mayest thou sit and sing Haec alii cupiant liceat mihi paupere cultu Securo charâ conjuge possefrui Let others Riches seek without annoy Whilst I though mean Relations may enjoy CHAP. XVII Sheep sociable are hence Flocks they live in Saints find communion sweet and best to thrive in Observation SHeep love to be together Birds and Beasts of prey are solitary Creatures walk and feed alone Creatures useful are otherwise love Company Birds fly in Flocks Fishes swim in Shoals Cattle for our use herd together and so do Sheep 'T is animal gregarium non solitarium Riv. They fold best together yea and without the Fold they most quietly lye down together and rest They bâ—st drive together ye find some difficulty to drive one single Sheep which so will be apt to straggle and run this way and that whereas in Company how easily are they commanded They â—eed best together Hence Hos 5. 16. as a Lamb in a large place 'T is a fearful Creature and being brought alone into wast and large places runs hither and thither fears every thing it sees seeks Dam Flock Shepherd fills every place with its bleatings and is exposed to greatest dangers from Wolves and other ravenous Creatures so will God feed i. e. punish Israel see Psal 2. 9. Micah 5. 4 6. and chap. 7. 14. for the sense of the word feed as one single succourless Lamb that goes bleating up and down in the wast Wilderness having none to tend it or take care of it How much better were it to be in Gods Fold where though pin'd and pent up in a narrower room yet God's Lambs are sure to be fed daily and daintily As if the Prophet had said they shall soon have enough of that wild Liberty that they so much affected Lastly Sheep are better lookt after and car'd for in the Flock than when stragling singly and loosely when they are in danger of falling into the ditch of becoming a prey to Foxes Dogs Ravens c. Application And the poor ones of God have found by experience the communion of Saints to be no empty airy thing but of singular use to them in their way heaven-ward Indeed the new Nature whereby they become Saints fits them for and drives them to communion and fellowship Hence was the practice of Gospel Saints not to live or walk alone but to joyn themselves together and joyntly with mutual consent to walk together in Gods waies Thus the Prophecy Jer 5. 4 5 6. the ten Tribes and the two together taught to cease their divisions when in a weeping condition together as Hooper and Ridley could agree in Prison who before had clashed about matters small and of light moment misery bred unity O that it did so with us going and weeping tears of sorrow for their sins the cause and the ruins of Jerusalem and the Temple the effects of their Captivity and tears of joy for their deliverance by Cyrus but especially by Christ Let us joyn c. by mutual consent and agreement as man and wiâ—e are joyned be so joyned to the Lord so glewed unto him as to be one spirit with him and of one Spirit one with another in him in a conjugal perpetual Covenant An Antithesis saith Calvin between that Covenant which they had broken and the new Covenant of which Jer. 31. 31. c. whence saith he it appears that this prophecy cannot otherwise be interpreted than of the Kingdom of Christ for in the return of the People from Babylon they were but few and they also vexed with their Enemies c. Thus the accomplishment in the History Act. 2. 41 42. being baptized and thereby acknowledging the Mediatourship of Christ they were added to the Disciples c. to the Church so Beza reads by a supplement from verse the last They continued in the Apostles Doctrine attending their Sermons to be further instructed in their duty and fellowship giving up themselves to duties of love and mutual care c. Many others heard them and seemed to be taken with their Doctrine who yet did not dare to give up their names to them to walk together with them Act. 5. 13. That punishment on Ananias and Sapphira was so dreadful that none durst to fellowship with them who were not upright Fear indeed fell on the whole Church vers 11. yet these kept close to their communion they were all with one accord in Solomon ' s porch vers 12. others durst not so It was enough for the common people as more simple and single for the chief-Priests and the Pharisees reproached and reviled to commend them but durst not give up themselves to their fellowship Nor is there any contradiction vers 14. that Believers were the more added c. who must needs therefore be the Apostle's hearers for they might be hearers who were not 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 close joyned to the Apostles Saul also being converted upon his return to Jerusalem whence he had gone forth a
y 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 herba tenera Teste Nachmanno R. D. K. proprié herbam teneriusculam ac recentem adhuc significat 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 verò ubi ad justam succrevit magnitudinem â—am sit seminisera Leigh Crit. Sacr. R. Salon notat 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 primam quasi investituram terrae denotare cúm primùm viror evestiri incipit ex eâ nescio quid tenellum quod adhuc vix agnoscas quid aut quod genus herbae sit prodire Cartw. in Gen. 1. 11. Psal 23. 2. signifies tender grass the first budding and springing grass your dayly observation will confirm to you how much Sheep delight to feed upon fresh budding grass Yet Fifthly somewhat large compass where your Sheep feed ye call it a walk because they feed walking hence nothing equally damnifies them as when they are shut up in two narrow Room where they have not scope to pass on feeding Hence the Hebr. word which properly signifies to feed is sometimes translated to wander Num. 14. 33. z 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pavit aliquando erravit Num. 14. 33. pâ—lantes more pecudum pascentium errantes Mille meae Sicul serrant i. e. pascuntur Drus To this is the allusion Hos 4. 16. The Lord will feed them as a Lamb in a large place Some take it thus Lambs love to feed largely God would disperse Israel through the whole Kingdom of the Assyrians in which they should wander as a Lamb that weak and fearful creature that loves Company and not to live solitarily which being brought into a large place runs up and down fears whatsoever it seeth seeketh Dam Flock Shepherd filleth all places with its vain bleatings and is exposed to greatest dangers and hardships Though others like not this sense because as * K. A. E. sic Bochart Bochartus observeth to be fed in a large place is alwaies taken in a good sense see Isa 30. 23. hence therefore they interpret it had it not been that Israel had declined as a froward Heifer the Lord had fed them in plenty as Lambs in a large Plain where they feed at pleasure Secondly for quantity pasture might be enough for them that they be not stinted and get the starve-rot Many among us having dearly bought their Experience how ill it is to overstock and thereby starve their Sheep This fulness and plenty is hinted in those expressions of feeding and lying down or causing to rest Psal 23. 2. He maketh me to lye down in green pastures Ezek. 34. 14 15 Sheep whilst hungry are not wont to rest but when full then they lie down Sheep would be fed plenteously as well as pleasantly where they shall not need to bite on the bare ground but may go in and out and find pasture Io. 10. 9. a Greges armenta 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quibus quo pascantur non deest semper autem superest quod pluribus multisque satis est Non liquidi gregibus fontes non gram na desunt Et quantum longis carpunt armenta diebus Exiguâ tantum gelidus ros nocte reponit Heins in Joan. 10. 10. such as will feed Life and Life in more abundance vers 10. hence the good Shepherd provides for them good and full pastures Ezek. 34. 14. Application Christ herein discovers himself to be the one and only the true Shepherd of his Sheep by that sweet and full provision of feeding which he maketh for them David's green pastures in which he was made to lie down were the powerful and flourishing Doctrines of the Scriptures in which he was sweetly fed to much refreshing Both things which we formerly considered the quality and quantity are fully here Consider we the Scriptures in both For quality First they are up-land Sweet Air and Pasturage They are upper waies in which the wise walk and walk on heaven-ward Life-giving and preserving Walks The Church of God where sounds forth the Doctrine of the Scriptures is oftentimes called an hill or Mountain Psal 15. 1. and 24. 1. Isa 2. 2. both for its sublimity coming from above Gal. 4. 26. and also for its firmness Psal 125. 1. Wind and storms move it not no more can all the power and policie of Hell combined prevail against the Church Mat. 16. 18. She is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Kingdom that cannot be shaken and may better than the City of Venice take for her posie Immota manet The Scriptures also although they have been the hate of Enemies of all Ages yet have been a Mountain impregnable all force and fury hath not been able to prevail against them The invincible perennity and continuance of the Scriptures maugre the injury and iniquity of times and Tyrants who have sought to suppress them is a good argument to prove them Divinity Antiochus the vile Dicclesian and Maximinian caused all the Books of the Sacred Scriptures that could be found to be burnt The Papists oft since in France Bohemia c. yet still they remain Secondly the Scriptures afford feeding free from disturbance and annoiance they call men off from the cumbers and encumbrances of the world to refresh themselves with and in the Lord. Worldly cares as Thorns choak the Word and make it unfruitful and unsuccesful Hence those hints in the sacred Oracles of laying aside all hinderances for communion with God in his Ordinances and Appointments Abraham leaves the Servants and Asses at the Foot of the Hill Gen. 22. 5. Iacob sent his Wives Children and all that he had over Iabbok e're he wrestled with the Lord Gen. 32. 23. Moses comes alone to God and leaves the Flocks Exod. 24. 3. The Church gets her into the clefts of the Rock Cant. 2. 14. Isaac into the Field Daniel to the River's side Christ into the Mount Peter up to the Leads or house-top that they might pour their prayers and solace themselves with God in secret Secret Duties especially of Prayer and Meditation is the bread eaten in secret which is sweet and fattening Prov. 9. 17. Thirdly they are pure and dry feeding free from Mire and Water of Mens inventions whereby they are soiled God complains of those that had trod his Sheep's leas Ezek 34. 18. On which Text he was not far out of the way who said here we have a lively Picture of the Popish Clergy who eat up the best and tread down the rest so that the poor missed and muzled People are glad to eat such as they can catch they are fed with traditions legendary Fables indulgences vowed pilgrimages penances c. Had not Luther come in our way say they we could have perswaded the People to have eaten grass What cause have we to bless God that it is better with us We run to the Law and to the Testimony where we have the pure word of God which is clean and cleansing feeding Fourthly 't is sweet so sweet that David knows not how to express it Psal 19. and 119.
oft have I made it my design and business to scatter and disperse those whom Christ leads and brings up So unlike a Shepherd have I been herein that I have more resembled the Wolf Jo. 10. 12. snatch the Sheep that I may scatter the Flock take some to devour and spoil them that I may disperse the rest which I have bragged of as some noble exploit when I have in my measure reacht my design How hath Saul's Spirit possessed and acted me Act. 8. 3. That I may make havock of the Churches i. e. destroy consume and bring them to nought how do I break into Houses with force and violence with * Nimirum ut solent qui jussa Magistratuum exequuntur authority and commission from the High Priests as he expounds himself Chap. 26. 12. halling out Men and Women 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 we translate the word dragging Jo. 21. 8. it properly signifies a drawing down to and upon the ground or pavement whence the Greeks call those g 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vest is caudatamatronarum nobilium cuius cauda per solum trahetur Pisc in Jo. 21. 8. Garments that sweep the ground by a name from this verb. Thus he shewed the accomplishment in him of that prophecy given of his Tribe Gen. 49. 27. Not content to consent to the death of Stephen though it be all one to hold the Sack and to fill it to do evil and to consent to it he made havock of the Church like a ravening Wolf yea Act. 9. 1. he lies breathing out threatning and slaughter panting and windless as a tyred Wolf and having recovered himself is marching toward Damascus for more prey And hath not this been my case If in the latter part also I might be like him desireable is it For in that his journey being met by the chief Shepherd of a Wolf he is made a Lamb Isa 11. 6. not once opening his mouth unless to crave direction Lord what wilt thou have me to do After which time he never persecuted the Saints so fast as now he pursues and presses hard toward the high-prize herein also verifying the latter part of that foregoing prophecy h A Lap. Bonfrerex Patribus in the morning the first part of his daies ravening as a Wolf but in the Evening the latter part of his daies distributing the food of wholesom Doctrine Thou wilt one day O my Soul say O that my latter end be like his What cause of joy and gladness have I and of making my boast of God Who For the poor Sheep of Christ leads directs and preserves me in all his waies that I may walk pleasantly and safely What need I fear the craggy Rocks the thorny Paths My Shepherd will lead me in a plain and an even way However crooked and troublesome they seem to carnal and worldly hearts yet by good experience can I say all his waies are ways of pleasantness and all his paths peace Yea he will lead me in plain paths because of mine Enemies mine Observers Silly though I am he hath promised to make the path so plain that very I diots shall not err therein Isa 35. 8. and no wonder having so good a guide if they but eye and follow him Only O sweet Jesus draw me and we will run after thee leave me not to lagg behind let me feel the attractives of thy love the drawings and refreshings of thy Spirit Suffer me not above all things to turn aside from thee to go out of thy sight but to abide with thee for there and there only can I be in safeguard as David said to Abiathar 1 Sam. 22. 23. And if O Lord through the violence of Temptation or impetuousness of corruption my heart should at any time depart from thee into any false way deign but to turn about and look upon me as thou once didst to Peter Luk. 22. 61. and this bring me in again thought it be by weeping cross CHAP. VII Sheep sick and weak the Shepherd cures and heals Christ to his fainting ones his love reveals Observation HE restoreth my Soul The Phrase is variously rendred and as variously understood Briefly it seems to hint one i Me languentem refocillat promissionibus Pisc Me errantem a â—ectâ vivendi credendi ratione reduxit Gen. of these two senses here Either when my Soul is even gone out of my body as in a swoon he returns or brings it back by powerful refreshings thus the words are used Lament 1. 11. 16. or he seth me to return viz. into the good right way when I wander and go astray Psal 119. 176. we may make issue both waies and first of the first The Shepherds care is not only for the strong and healthy Sheep to provide food for them but also for the sick and distempered ones that Physick may be prepared for them The variety of diseases to which Sheep are incident will be our consideration hereafter when we discourse to the nature of the Sheep Our present work is to consider the care which every faithful Shepherd hath of the weak and distemper'd Sheep not to let them lye in the ditch and perish but to study the distemper and a suitable remedy and make speedy and careful application of it They that are healthy and strong can better shift than they that are weak and infirm and therefore the greater care is expected of such that they faint not droop not dye not The neglect of this care 't is that God reproves his naughty Shepherds for Ezek. 34. 4. where the omission of their care is noted by their neglect toward those that were not in a good condition for if these be neglected how are the rest cared for He reckons up also five distinct male-affections wherewith he mentions the Sheep to be troubled diseased sick broken driven away lost under which all other like troubles are comprehended It 's not much worth our time to enquire what may be the difference between one and the other of these probably he calls those diseased whose pain or grief lay in one member or limb and those sick whose whole body was distemper'd and diseased that which was broken intends either wounds received from some beast of prey or casual slip c. that which was driven away is that which was pusht or had fallen into some ditch hole c. This speaks how much it is the duty of Shepherds to have regard to and care of such as are thus distressed Ye have somewhat a like complaint of the like falshood Zech. 11. 16. where the Prophet hints that the broken and diseased have as much need of cure as those that are strong and well of care for food There are in a Flock the hidden or cut off lost and gone out of the way whom it is a fault not to visit and seek out there are young ones more apt to wander than others whom it is the Shepherds duty in a special way to
others though loaden with a thick and choice Fleece yet is not thereof proud nor struts it The Horse is a proud Creature ye may perceive it in the carriage of his head yea in the very lifting up his Feet Not so the Sheep Observe what difference ye can find in the Gait c. of the poor Irish sheep twice the year shorne and your â—eicester-shire or Northamptonshire Sheep with their deepest coats on their backs if any thing these last seem to give a skip when disburdened of the load of their Eleece Secondly to clamour and noise it is silent and makes no stir doth not lay open its mouth Hence the Scripture useth the instance to set out Christs patient quietness in bearing indignities from his Enemies Isa 53. 7. where mention is both of the Sheeps shearing and slaughter 't is much tossing and tumbling wrying the body c. that the Sheep suffers when in the Shearers hands and yet seldom bleats or complains no nor when led or drawn to be slaughtered whether it be understood of the Bâ—tchers killing for ordinary food or the Priests of old killing for sacrifice Well might Phedrus call a sheep patientem injuriae patient and quiet under injury and wrong suffered Thirdly To offence and injury done to others Nature hath not armed the Sheep with what may be offensive as other Creatures Though in some places sheep have Horns most of them yet are they not wont to wound and gore with their Horns as doth the Bullock nor strike with the Heels as the Horse nor bite with the Teeth as Dogs and Hogs nor sting with the Tail as the Serpent c. the poor sheep hath no such Weapon to offend ut as it bears wrong so it does none Fourthly to Wrath or remembrance of injuries received The Sheep is no wrathful Creature retains not the memory of wrong done when worried by Dogs c. is soon appeased and stilled again so as to be placid not fretting nor fuming afterward Of some Creatures it 's observable how long they will remember wrong done them as an Horse a Dog c. but the meek sheep not so Fifthly To peevishness and frowardness 't is no â—ullen Creature the Shepherd may gently lead or drive it and find it obeying readily complying with his Commands not apt to take pâ—t like a resty Horse or an untamed Bullock Application In all the forementioned particulars Saints the Followers of Jesus are or should be like a Sheep whose meekness is often commended and they prest to it often See it in the severals First not high-minded not haughty spirited not standing on or priding themselves in their disparisons like the proud Pharisee Luk. 18. 11. though they are of higher extraction than the rest of the World Yea because they are being born again of God they contemn not others with a self-elation but rather in humble abasement lay themselves low whilst they admire that Grace which hath made them to differ from the worst of men That they who were Dunghil-born as others should be set amongst Gods Princes is that which many times causes them to say with highest admirations What am I and what is my Fathers-House That they who by nature were the Children of Wrath even as the rest of mankind should have that enmity slain and be made partakers of the Divine nature made the Sons of God by regeneration makes them a wonder to themselves And the higher Grace hath advanced them the more they avile themselves Paul considering what a persecuter he had been not only sayes he 's unworthy to be called an Apostle but speaks also his self-abasing frame in Ephes 3. 8. Vnto me who am less than the least of all Saints is this Grace given that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable Riches of Christ In the Greek there is a c 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Minimissimo Est comparative made of a superlative our English cannot reach the excellency in a word Great Paul is the least of Saints the last of Apostles the greatest of Sinners Paulus quasi palluulus say some because little in his own eyes The more Grace the less in self-esteem the sight of God is humbling his Majesty and Glory is such that the Soul necessarily falls at his Feet Thus the best Balsoms fall to the bottom the goodliest Buildings have lowest * Opulentissima metalla quorum in alto latent 〈◊〉 Sen. Epist Foundations the heaviest Ears of Corn hang downward so do the Boughs of Trees that are best laden Abraham is but dust and Ashes Gen. 18. 27. Jacob less than all the mercies of God Gen. 32. 10. I am a Worm and no man said David More bruitish than any man saith Agur. A man a Sinner saith Peter Not worthy to be called thy Son saith the Prodigal Ignatius in one of his Epistles saith I salute you who am ultimus the last and least of all others he also useth a rare expression in one of his Epistles Tantillitas nostra our meanness None so humble as they who have nearest communion with God The Angels that stand before him cover their faces with two wings as with a double scarfe Isa 6. 2. Neither gifts nor graces can puff up those that are truly Christs The more they receive from him the lower in their own esteem Now I have seen thee and abhor my self in dust and ashes Job 42. 5 6. 'T is the proud Pharisee that sets forth not his wants but his worth God I thank thee that I am not as other men c. Christ doth plough and sow altogether in low grounds these prove very fertile Mountains be cursed if proud men be drawn out and set high 't is to be hanged by their preferment as Haman Secondly Not clamorours make no great noise of what they do of what they suffer for Christ Some suffer so grumblingly with so much stirr that it were better they bare nothing every load on them makes them crack and complain so much Saints are not so they make not Mountains of Mole-hills Yea account the sufferings of this present Life light and not worthy to be brought into reckoning with the Glory reserved for them Hence it is not strange to them though difficulties do betide yea surround them they expected no less The first lesson they learn in Christianity is Christs Cross take him and his Cross together not accounting it as a strange thing 1 Pet. 4. 12. i. e. be not so afrighted as they that fall upon some new thing and which they never thought of before The Syriack renders it by a word which sometimes signifies to murmur to be displeased and that sense may have place here do not murmur be not offended at God because of troubles that may arise for the Gospel As Christ did so Christians should suffer silently and without noise Isa 53. 7. As a sheep before her shearer is dumb the Heb. word Rachel there used signifieth an Ewe this Ewe hath brought forth
unlike a meek Sheep am I may the proud Professor say Who strut and pride my self in the conceit of mine excellences reached above and beyond other men The Apostles advice is be not high-minded but fear and that is very plain though highly Elegant to cause proud plumes to fall Rom. 12. 3. g 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 not to think more highly than he ought to think c. And that was no unseasonable caution of Isidore he that begins to grow better let him beware leâ—t he grow proud leâ—t vain-glory give him a greater overthrow than his former vices Much cause hast thou O my Soul to beware Swelling sores will break e're long the bulging wall will fall Sad experience in our days hath attested the truth of the Apostle's assertion 1 Cor. 8. 1. Knowledge puffeth up a Metaphor from a pair of bellows blown up and filled with wind and that knowledge that puffeth up will puff down to But O my Soul his Soul which is lifted up which swelleth like a Bubble and breaketh through its own weaknesses is not upright in him Habak 2. 4. i. e. is very corrupt and crooked stark naught and Gods Soul can take no pleasure in him but will surely punish him Alas why should I be lifted up at what I have of free-gift He that considers what he is by Sin and what he shall be in the Grave will find little cause of being lifted up with any thing And how unlike one of Christs For the complaining Christian Sheep am I may the querulous murmuring complaining Christian say who make a great noise at every akeing Finger and a great deal of complaint for every penny-loss As Jehu in a vain glory cryed out See my zeal for the Lord of Hosts do not I say see my sufferings for the Gospels sake This is not in my patience to possess my Soul Luk. 21. 19. When one is comfortable and cheerfull we say he enjoys himself So when one keeps himself quiet in crosses he possesseth himself in patience Could Paul and Silas sing and give Glory unto God in the stocks and do I repine and murmur at every abridgment of Liberty c. Did the Apostles glorifie God that they were so * Martyr etiam in catenâ gaudet Aug. graced as to be disgraced for his sake Act. 5. 41. Did Mr. Glover Martyr weep for joy of his imprisonment and shall I weep and fret for grief 'T is not being in tribulation but continuing patient in tribulation that answers the Apostles exhortations Rom. 12. 12. Was Christs suffering as a Sheep before the Shearer or Slayer And is it seemly for me to be like a wild Bull in a Net chaâ—ing and raging How little of a Sheep-like frame do I shew when I design and pursue For the injurious Christian evil with evil When I kick against every one that kicks at me and not only snarle at the stone but also fly at the hand that flings it Christians * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 are advised to give none offence to be without offence to all 1 Cor. 10. 32. 2 Cor. 6. 3. to be * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 without complaint Phil. 2. 15. both such as do not complain of others and on whom others do not complain To be harmless too though some render the * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ex 〈◊〉 privat 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 misâ—â—o veâ— ex 〈◊〉 privat 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 corâ—u Greek word sincere without mixture yet others rather understand it without Hornes i. e. having no power to harm Christ would not have his pushers with the Horn and so doing hurt and shall I smite with the Tongue smite with the First and yet call my self a Christian as if one of Christs Sheep To do good for good hath something of humanity in it to do evil for evil is but meer bestial to do evil for good is devillish but to do good for evil is Christ-like and this alone is Christian The wrathful and revengeful Christian also may here see how far short For the revengeful Christian he comes of the duty and glory of a Christian whose heart is full of rancour and malice most diametrically opposite to a Christian Spirit Our passions are short madnesses how unadvisedly do they make us speak with the Tongue and how unrulily to act How ill a Counsellor What a worse Commander have I often found my Wrath Do I pretend to be a Follower of Christ and yet have got no more power over those unruly passions How am I outdone by Heathens Socrates when one gave him a box on the ear said only What an ill thing is it that men cannot foresee when they should put on an Helmet before they go abroad Another time being kickt by another If an Ass should kick me said he should I spurn him again The sense of Isa 42. 2. is by some made to be that Christ should be a pleasant Judge offering violence to none but by meek carriage and mild words seeking to draw all to him Christians also must put away all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamour and be kind c. Ephes 4. 31 32. how unlike which am I whilst I prejudice others against the truths and waies of God by my wrathful carriage The morose Christian also may hence learn to check the peevishness and unsociableness For the morose Christian of his temper which makes him so unlike Christ's Sheep farr from that Gentleness which the Scripture so often presseth to which useth two words which both we translate Gentle the h 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ab 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cedo one signifying an yielding of our right rather than pressing utmost extremity the i H' 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ab 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 delecto vel ab 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 verâ—um other such a placidness as to please and perswade all with his word his good Language Lastly Let all see how far Christ and the World differ the World looks on a Sheepish Spirit as a great disgrace which Christ calls for and delights in Believe it Christ likes better that his be Sheep than shrews though the Worlds proverb be contrary The World also calls revenge manhood which Christ esteems dog-hood rather much contrary to the temper which he requires and accepts CHAP. XI The harmless Sheep 's expos'd to dangers many Saints open lie to troubles more than any Observation SO inoffensive and harmless as the poor Sheep is yet few Creatures are so watcht against and prey'd upon as it is from above and below from the Heavens and the Earth dangers await it Beasts and Birds of prey glut themselves on these silly creatures Waving Lions and Bears unto which our Countries are strangers and of which we find what Enemies they are to Flocks as may be seen in that one story from David to multiply no other quotations 1