thing that may be objected against us by answering by way of prevention the very objection our selves Rom. 11. 19 21 22. Thou wilt say then The branches were broken off that I might be graffed in Well because of unbelief they were broken off and thou standest by faith Be not high minded but fear For if God spared not the natural branches take heed lest he also spare not thee St. Paul here obviates the objection of the Gentiles who were inserted into the body of the Church and the unbelieving Jews who are here styled the broken branches were rejected this he tells the Gentiles was a mighty favour of God so to incoporate them with his Church but then he also assures them that they must not so far presume upon their present state and vocation For if God spare not the natural branches that is the Jews themselves take heed lest he also spare not the◠For if by your disobedience you now incurr God's displeasure you cannot in reason but expect to suffer the same unhappy fare with the Jewish Nation St. Paul discoursing of the resurrection resolves a difficult question concerning the mode and manner of the resurrection and what sort of body shall be raised up from the grave But some will say How are the dead raised up and with what body do they come 1 Cor. 15. 35 36. Thou soul Our Saviour stifles their objection by offering another so very difficult that they were unwilling to answer it Matth. 21. 24 25. I will also ask you one question which if you tell me I likewise will tell you by what authority I doe these things The baptism of John whence was it from heaven or of men This was such a Dilemma and the resolution of it so highly inconvenient that they pretend ignorance and answer We cannot tell Rom. 9. 19 20. Thou wilt say them unto me Why doth he yet find fault for who hath resisted his will Nay but O man who art thou that repliest against God Thus St. Paul anticipates their false opinion assuring them that the work of grace is of God's mere free-will and if he doth deprive some of it he is not in the least guilty of any injustice to them since he is under no obligations to conferr it upon them and this very subtraction of his grace upon their impenitency and continuance in a vicious course of life is no cause of their sin and wickedness but on the contrary their disobedience and sinfull life is the reason why God withdraws the influence of his holy spirit from them and so our sins chase away the holy spirit and render its operation ineffectual to our conversion and so the heart of Pharaoh is hardned EPITROPE Epitrope from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 concedo By this Figure we often grant a thing not unwillingly to obtain another and show more effectually the inconveniency of such a Practice or Principle Romans 2. 17. Behold thou art called a Jew and restest in the law and makest thy boast of God and art confident that thou thy self art a guide to the blind Thou therefore that teachest another teachest thou not thy self As if he said I grant thou art an Instructer of the foolish and a teacher of babes but then Why is thy conversation so unsuitable to thy doctrine Where is thy example Where is thy practice and Why are they so disagreeable to thy external profession thus How does our Apostle seem to concede all they desire to prove at last upon them that their practice was not consonant to their principles and from that absurdity more severely reprehends them Judges 10. 14. Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen let them deliver you in the time of trouble This seems no small encouragement to their practice of idolatry but in reality 't is the strongest dissuasion from it and virtually implies the disability of other gods to save and deliver them in times of danger 1 Kings 22. 15. The King said to Micaiah Shall we go against Ramoth gilead to battel or shall we forbear and he answered him Go and prosper Where the Prophet seems to encourage them to the battel though he easily foresaw the dangerous consequence of the war 1 Cor. 14 38. But if any man be ignorant let him be ignorant still that is If after such a plain and positive proof of my ministery he will nevertheless resolve to continue ignorant of it let it be at his own peril where the concession is nothing else but a discouragement to his want of understanding and reflection in a matter of so high importance See Amos 4. 4 5. where the Prophet in a way of derision seems to approve of their idolatrous practives Prov. 6. 10. Yet a little sleep a little slumber a little folding of the hands to sleep As if he said You do well to indulge your self in ease and slothfulness but then at last how does the wise Man ruturn upon the Sluggard so shall thy Poverty come as one that travelleth and thy want as an armed Man and so more fully convinceth him of the great inconveniences of an idle way of living James 2. 19. Thou believest that there is one God thou doest well the devils also believe and tremble Where after this sort of commendation of their faith he at last tells them that such a belief without a suitable practice is vain and ineffectual and that even the devils themselves have a speculative faith Matth. 5. 46. If ye love them that love you what reward have you do not even the Publicans the same I will if you please saith the Apostle allow the matter of fact yet what use can you make of it where is the commendation where is the vertue of such a practice if the worst of men doe the very same These following are called secondary Figures of a word PLEONASMUS Pleonasmus you know Sir is a Greek word and 't is uncivil to explain it in your company This Figure makes use of more words than are necessary but they give a much stronger accent and emphasis to our discourses Deuter. 33. 6. O foolish people and unwise Which sort of expression still more eminently denotes their want of wisdom and discretion Prov. 27. 2. Let another man praise thee and not thy own mouth a stranger and not thine own lips And this variety of words is not so unusefull to engage our thoughts to consider with more attention the subject matter of our discourse and the importance of it See Deuter. 13. 4. John 1. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 All things were made by him and without him was not any thing made that was made And the variation of the sence in other words was very convenient to assure us that Christ was before the world and that all things in it were the works of his hand and from the universality of his creative power he must be omnipotent and therefore God for what less than infinite power it self can make and
Kingdom was of another World and so extreamly contrary to all the designs and interest of the present World Metonymy of the Matter Metonymia Materiae when the very name of the matter signifies the very thing made and fashioned out of it thus Psal 115. 4. Their Idols are Silver and Gold Dan. 5. 4. They praised the Gods of Iron and Brass that is made out of those metals Gen. 3. 19. Dust thou art that is thou art formed out of it Psal 105. 18 He was laid in Iron that is in Chains of Iron Metonymy of the Effect Metonymy of the effect when the thing caused is put for the efficient Cause of it Gen. 4. 13. My Punishment says Cain is greater than I can bear that is my iniquity is greater than can be forgiven There punishment signifies the very sin it self as the immediate Consequence of it 2 Kings 4. 40. there is Death in the Pot meaning some most destructive and poisonous thing which causeth Death John 17. 3. And this is life Eternal that they may know Thee the only true God that is the Knowledge of God and his Son Jesus Christ is the principal Cause of everlasting Salvation to all that live suitably to those notices Luke 2. 30. My eyes have seen thy Salvation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is our Saviour himself the Author of it So Gen. 49. 18. I have waited for thy Salvation that is the promised Messiah So Isai 49. 6. All flesh shall See the Salvation of God that is a Saviour Gen. 25. 13. Two Nations are in thy womb that is the Fathers of two Nations Esau and Jacob. Rom. 7. 7. Is the law sin saith our Apostle that is Is the Law it self the proper cause of Sin or Is there any such malignity in the very nature of it as produceth any such Effect 1 Cor. 10. 13. Let every one Please his Neighbour for Good to Edification that is so behave himself in all things of indifferency that such a deportment may be the cause of their good will and pleasure and purchase their favour and kind opinion of us So Rom. 15. 2. Metonymy of the Subject A Metonymy of the Subject when the Subject is made use of to signifie the accident or quality inherent in it Prov. 6. 32. whoso committeth Adultery with a woman wanteth a Heart that is wisdom and understanding so he that trusteth in his own heart i. e. in his own discretion and prudence Psal 7. 9. the heart is put for the thoughts and inclinations of it Psalm 62. 8. 142. 2. Continens pro Re contenta The thing containing for the very thing it self contained Luke 22. 17. He took the Cup and gave thanks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 where the cup is put for the liquor contained in it as is more plain from v. 18 I will not drink of the Fruit of the Vine Thus in the Blessed Sacrament of the Lord's Supper this cup is the N. Test in my blood not the vessel it self but the liquor in it The Place signifies the Thing or Person in that place The place serves to denote any thing in that place Matt. 8. 34. The Whole city went out to meet him Locus pro Incolis So Mark 1. 33. Isai 38. 18. The Grave cannot Praise thee they that are dead and buried are incapable of it Gen. 7. 1. Come thou and All thy house into the ark thou and all thy family Psal 69. 22. Let their Table be made a Snare to them that is Let their meats and drink prove dangerous to their health and happiness Wo unto thee Corazim wo unto thee Bethsaida So Matt. 10. 15. 3. 5. where the places signifie the inhabitants of them and those heavy judgments denounced against their impenitency and disobedience Luke 15. 18. I have sinned against Heaven that is God himself for altho' he is Omnipresent and so in all places of the World at the very same time yet if we can say God dwells any where we may more properly say he is in heaven The name of the things represented is sometimes used to express the sign of it thus Ezek. 7. 27. The Prince shall be Cloathed with Sadness and desolation that is with such garments as are the proper expressions or signs of mourning and lamentation Mark 14. 22. Jesus took Bread and blessed it and Brake it and gave it to his disciples saying Take eat This is my body where the Verb substantive is must not be taken in the strictest sence but there it must be expounded thus this Bread is representative of or signifies my Body broken being to you all a sensible sign or resemblance of it Wine is sometimes called Christ's Blood Matt. 26. 27 28. Our Saviour took the Cup and gave it to them saying Drink ye all of it for this is my Blood which is a figurative expression Nomenrei signatae pro Signo and how very absurd is the Consequence if you suppose there is no Figure and that the words must be taken in their literal strictest sence For then the Article this referrs to the cup and so this cup is my blood which is such an Absurdity that to avoid such a plain Contradiction we must confess that nothing else can with any tolerable sence be there signified by those words but that the wine contained in the Cup represents or is a manifest sign of my blood And that this is a true and proper explication of the words is still more plain from the next Verse v. 29. where our Saviour assures his Disciples that although he commands them all to drink of it but says he I will drink no more of the Fruit of the vine where he himself plainly calls it wine immediately after he gave it to his Disciples although in vers 28. he calls it his blood But I referr you to a Treatise upon this Subject written by his Grace the Arch Bishop of Cant. where this absurd Doctrine of Transubstantion is sufficiently exposed Gen. 17. 10. This is my Covenant Every Male-child shall be circumcised where Circumcision the Sign or Condition of it is yet called the Covenant it self 1 Sam. 18. 7. Saul hath slain his Thousands and David his Ten thousands Metonymia Subjecti Dux pro Exercitu the Armies of these two Generals had done so Metonymy of the Adjunct Metonymy of the Adjunct when that which belongs to any thing serves to represent the thing it self thus They shall bring down my Gray-hairs with sorrow to the Grave that is me that now am Gray and old in years Gen. 31. 53. Jacob sware by the Fear of his father Isaac that is by the God whom Isaac feared 2 Kings 20. 1. Set thine house in order meaning his houshold affairs The time is put for things that are done or are in time My Times are in thy Hands that is my life and continuation of it is in thy Power John 12. 27. Save me from this hour that is from that Agony and Passion I must undergo
will your heart be also 2 Cor. 10. 18. St. Paul endeavouring to discourage the vanity of self-commendation leaves this sensible impression upon them as the best dissuasive from the practice of it for not he that commendeth himself is approved but whom the Lord commendeth Prov. 9. 17 18. Stolen waters are sweet and bread eaten in secret is pleasant This is the insinuation of the adulterous woman concerning the high relish of her unlawfull pleasures but then see the conclusion of such unhappy satisfactions but he knoweth not that the dead are there and that her guests are in the depths of hell Eccles 7. 31. Lo only this have I found that God hath made man upright but they have sought out many inventions The only thing I fully apprehend after all my enquiries is this That God at first endowed man with a principle of right reason for his certain guide and direction to happiness but he lost this noble talent through sin which is the cause of all his vain thoughts and imaginations When our Blessed Saviour had performed many wonderfull Cures how do the People with one voice conspire in this Acclamation He hath done all things well he maketh both the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak Mark 7. 37. EPANORTHOSIS Epanorthosis from a Greek word signifying to correct or amend When we are in a passion we are seldom satisfied with what we say or doe insomuch that we are apt to fansie our expressions are no ways equal to our thoughts and so we still add fresh and more words to correct as we think the insufficiency of the former Acts 26. 27. King Agrippa believest thou the Prophets I know that thou believest Does not our Apostle seem as it were to question the faith of King Agrippa as if he were not yet sufficiently convinced concerning the divine authority of the holy Scriptures but then St. Paul as if he was afraid of the incivility of the question does not scruple to say that there was the least reason to suspect the belief of King Agrippa and the insinuation of Saint Paul was very powerfull even almost to his very conversion Verse 28. then Agrippa said Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian And St. Paul said I would to God that not only thou but all that hear me this day were both almost and altogether such as I am except these bonds And what expression can be more Courtly more Genteel what more effectual to prevail upon their affections than thus to wish them in all respects like himself but not so miserable not so unhappy as to be under any confinement of Chains or imprisonment as he himself was at that time 1. Cor. 15. 10. I laboured more abundantly than they all yet not I but the grace of God which was with me Observe here with what care and caution St. Paul distrusts his own natural strength and abilities as very unsufficient to his conversion and so presently corrects himself and ascribes it more especially to the influence and the conduct of divine Grace As if he had said Though I was not wanting to the best of my power to become a true Disciple of Christ yet must I freely say that my conversion is principally to be ascribed to another Cause for the Incitations of the will and the power and the occasions and the means to make use of it is derived from the inspirations of the holy Spirit which animates and gives life and vigour to all our thoughts and so disposeth us to repentance and amendment of life See 2 Cor. 3. 5. and Phil. 2. 13. Mark 9. 24 Lord I believe help thou my unbelief How does he reprehend himself as if it was almost a presumption in him to speak with so much confidence of his strength of faith even to our Saviour himself and therefore as if he were now diffident again and that his belief was imperfect and had some degree of weakness and infirmity he at last humbly implores the divine assistance to encrease and fill up the measure of his faith Lord help thou my unbelief 1 Cor. 7. 10. And unto the married I command yet not I but the Lord. He presently recolleâ—ts himself and assures his Corinthians that he gave them not these directions as a mere man but as an Apostle and a person of divine Inspiration and so not I but the Lord commandeth and this he said to give the more force and efficacy to their obedience of the Precept Luke 11. 27 28. A certain woman said unto him Blessed is the womb that bare thee and the paps that gave thee suck But he said Yea rather blessed are all they that hear the word of God and keep it As if our Saviour was sensible some might through a mistaken principle ascribe too much honour and respect to the blessed Virgin being the mother of our dear Lord and Saviour and therefore how does Christ himself most industriously give the preference to those who live and obey the precepts of the Gospel Yea rather blessed are they so that the moral birth of Jesus Christ in the soul is a greater blessedness than the natural birth of him was to the Virgin Mary to believe and obey him than to be the natural Mother of our Saviour So that Christ himself lays no great matter of stress or privilege upon such a relation but assures them in another place to anticipate all mistake upon such an opinion That he that lives in obedience to his Commands is equally dear and related to him without any distinction the same is my sister and father and mother Matt. 12. 49 50. APOSIOPESIS Aposiopesis a Greek word and I have more manners than to pretend to give you the derivation of it This Figure through some violent passion either of sorrow fear shame or anger obligeth us to break off our discourse and though we seem to conceal some part of it yet through the excess of passion we do but the more sensibly discover our resentments 1 Kings 217. And Jezebel his wife said unto him Dost thou now govern the Kingdom of Israel The words are spoken with a mighty emphasis and signify much more than is there expressed dost thou or art thou worthy of the name of a King thou that art so mean spirited as to grieve thy self upon this refusal of Naboth's Vineyard and where is thy princely power and authority Dost thou now govern the Kingdom of Israel is this any mark of thy regal Office is this a sign of thy indispensible power thus tamely to sit down thus to submit to such a denial Dost thou now govern Gen. 3. 22. And now lest be put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat and live for ever These words are spoken in a way of commination and punishment to Adam for his high disobedience to God's command and they imply thus much since thou hast been so rebellious against me I will now presently drive thee out of my