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Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
christian_n	call_v	day_n	sabbath_n	4,131	5	10.2944	5	true

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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A67153	A practical commentary or exposition upon the Pentateuch viz. These five books of Moses Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. Wherein the text of every chapter is practically expounded, according to the doctrine of the Catholick Church, in a way not usually trod by commentators; and wholly applyed to the life and salvation of Christians. By Ab. Wright; sometime fellow of St. John's Colledge in Oxford.	Wright, Abraham, 1611-1690.	1662 (1662)	Wing W3688; ESTC R221054	292,675	224

He that liveth by his Faith yet shrinketh and sinneth How vainly shall we hope to beleeve without all fear and to live without infirmities Some little aspertions of unbelief cannot hinder the praise and power of Faith Abraham beleeved and it was imputed to him for righteousness He that through inconsiderateness doubted twice of his own life doubted not of the life of his Seed even from the dead and dry Womb of Sarah yet was it more difficult that his posterity should live in Sarah than that Sarahs Husband should live in Egypt this was above nature yet he beleeves it Sometimes the Beleever sticks at easie tryalls and yet breaks through the greatest tentations without fear Verse 14. Holy Iob's Covenant with his Eyes in the Old Testament should be every Christians in the New to look to his looks to set a guard and sentinel over his Eyes for from looking comes lusting from a lascivious glance proceeds a lascivious act and it is all one in Gods esteem with which part of the body we commit adultery so that if a man lets his Eye or his Thought loose and enjoyes the lust of either he is an Adulterer before God It was therefore our Saviours advice Mat. 5. If thy right Eye offend thee pull it out the meaning is this That when thou doest give check to the loose evibrations and wanton twirles of a lascivious Eye thou dost at that very time pull out that wanton Eye from thy body and the lustful Devil that is in that wanton Eye from thy soul. There is great reason therefore that we should set a strict watch over this Cinque-port of our bodies Beauty is a dangerous bait and Lust is sharp-sighted It is not safe gazing on a fair Woman how many have died of the wound in the Eye No one means hath so enrich'd Hell as beautiful faces Verse 19. It is a sad case when an Egyptian shall reprove an Israelite when a Pharaoh shall rebuke an Abraham and therefore all Professors of Religion should so practice it as the very Infidels seeing their good works answer their good words may glorifie their Father which is in heaven For our Calling as it is most eminent so most eyed and worst censured by all the Infidel part of the World If an Apostle rub but an ear of Corn on the Sabbath 't is breaking of the day a heathens Motes are a Christians Beams and a Turks indifferency is my evil somethings being expedient in respect of the man which are scandalous meerly for his Religion none therefore to keep within so strict lines both for words and deeds as the Christian for behold saith the Apostle We are made a gazing stock to the world to Angels and to men CHAP. XIII Verse 2. ALthough the Scripture tells us That it is hard for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven yet the Scripture saith not that it is absolutely impossible Heaven gate stands open for the Rich as well as for the Poor for rich Abraham here as well as for poor Lazarus in the Gospel and as it is true Blessed are the Poor for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven So it is also as true Blessed are the Rich for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven Thus Adam and Noah flew up to Heaven with the Monarchy of the whole World upon their backs The Patriarchs also as in this Text Abraham with much Wealth many holy Kings with rich Crowns and Scepters It is not Wealth therefore as Wealth but Sin that is the clogg that keeps men from ascending the burthen of covetous desires being more heavie to an empty Soul than much treasure to the full for not the meer Possession and use of riches offends but the affectation Verse 7. When the strife began between Abraham and Lot the Scripture notes it as a special Memorandum here that the Canaanite was then in the Land Doubtless there are at this time also in our Land too many who carry Canaanitish hearts and minds who would no less than the old Canaanites rejoyce and triumph in our discords saying among themselves Aha so would we have it But let those that have the Spirit of Abraham learn also the Speech and Language of Abraham who though he was in Age and Dignity superiour to his Nephew Lot yet came and said unto him I pray thee let there be no strife between me and thee for we are Brethren Verse 9. Before Abraham and Lot grew Rich they dwelt together now their Wealth separates them their Society was a greater good than their Riches many a one is a looser by his Wealth who would account those things good which makes us worse It had been the duty of young Lot to offer rather than to chuse to yield rather than contend Who would not here think Abraham the Nephew and Lot the Uncle It is no disparagement for greater persons to begin treaties of Peace better doth it beseem every Son of Abraham to win with love than to sway with power Abraham yields over this right of his choice Lot takes it And behold Lot is cross'd in that which he chose Abraham is blessed in that which was left him God never suffers any one to lose by an humble remission of his right in a desire of Peace Verse 10. Wealth hath made Lot not only undutiful but covetous he sees the goodly Plain of Iordan the richness of the Soyl the commodity of the Rivers the scituation of the Cities and now not once enquiring into the Condition of the Inhabitants he is in love with Sodom Outward appearances are deceitful guides to our judgement or affection they are worthy to be deceived that value things as they seem It is not long after that Lot payes dear for his rashness He fled for quietness from his Uncle and finds War with strangers by whom he is carried Prisoner with all his substance That Wealth which was the cause of his former Quarrels is made a prey to merciless Heathen that place which his Eye covetously chose betrayes his life and goods How many Christians whilst they have look'd at gain have lost themselves Verse 14. Gods way of appearing unto Abraham was like our Saviours way of appearing in the flesh to the world until such time as there was a general Peace over the whole Earth our Saviour would not appear amongst men and until such time as the strife was ended betwixt Abraham and Lot and they two parted friendly God did not appear unto Abraham God is love and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God and God in him 1 Joh. 4. 16. Where Charity is there is an habitation a Temple for the Lord and where it is not there is a dwelling-place for the Devil Religion is but rottenness without it our Devotions unsavory our Sacrifice distasteful and all our front of Holiness but dross and rubbish Therefore Christ saith If thou bring thy Gift to the Altar and there remembrest that thy Brother hath ought against thee first be

destruction therefore our only safety standeth in Prayer and begging Gods assistance Fourthly We have daily Temptations Bodily and Ghostly arising from the World the Flesh and the Devil and therefore saith our Saviour Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation Mat. 26. So then this Morning and Evening Sacrifice should direct us how and when to Worship God we must remember him in the Morning and Evening he must be the first and last in our thoughts we must begin the day and end it with him Verse 9. Every day in the Week ought to be the Christians Sabbath wherein he is to perform some duties or other of Religion but every Seventh Day should be a double Sabbath wholly taken up in the Service and Worship of God When our whole work must be to beravish'd in Spirit doing no Work but such as whereby we either bless God or look to receive a Blessing from him none but such as wherein we would the Lord should find us at his coming which Lactantius saith Will be on the Sabbath day And therefore the Jews call'd the Sabbath the Queen of dayes blessing the Lord at its coming in and going out that God might have both the first and the last Fruits of the day Verse 26. Here is handled the Feast of Pentecost or of Weeks to give God thanks after the gathering of the Harvest For in as much as God hath not only set us in this World but supplies and feeds us in it so that we live by his bounty and liberality it was his will that the Jews should keep a yearly Feast to him to give him thanks that hereby they might acknowledg all the year after that they were sustain'd by his hand Secondly These first Fruits figured out Gods Church which is a people separated unto him from the rest of the World For as the first Fruits were separated from the rest of the heap unto God so is the state of the Church call'd and cull'd out of the World unto his service CHAP. XXIX Verse 1. THis Feast of Trumpets was to be a Feast of remembrance of Gods manifold mercies received in the Wilderness that thereby they might stir up themselves to be united to God and may serve to stir us up to return unto God Praise and Thanksgiving with joyfulness of heart for all his benefits according to that of Psalm 81. 1 2. Make a joyful noise unto the God of Iacob Take a Psalm and bring hither the timbrel blow up the Trumpet in the New-Moon so David having experience of Gods goodness towards him in many preservations composed the eighteenth Psalm as a testimony of his thankfulness for his deliverance from his Enemies And although this Feast is pass'd away and abolish'd by the coming of Christ yet this remaineth that we our selves should serve for Trumpets For as the Temple being destroyed we must be spiritual Temples unto God so the Trumpets being taken away every one of us must be spiritual Trumpets i. e. we should rouze up our selves from the World and the vanities thereof Our Ears are so possess'd with the sound of earthly things and our Eyes so dazled with the pleasures of the flesh that we are as deaf and blind men that can neither hear nor see what God saith unto us wherefore we must not look till there be a solemn holy-day to call us unto the Church there to keep a Feast of Trumpets but it must serve us all the dayes of our life as a spur to cause us to return to God Verse 7. The Jews were here to afflict their Souls with voluntary sorrow for their sins for the whole year and so dispose themselves to obtain pardon and reconciliation For whereas in their private Sacrifices they durst not confess their capital sins for fear of Death due to them by the Law God graciously provided and instituted this yearly Sacrifice of Atonement and afflicting their Souls for the sins of the whole people without particular acknowledgment of any After the same manner the Lords Supper is with us a day of Atonement or afflicting of our Souls for the Passover must be eaten with four hearbs And further we may observe from hence that this day of afflicting their Souls was to be immediately before the Feast of Tabernacles verse 12. they were to be kept in sorrow five dayes before they might keep their Feast of joy which Feast signified the spiritual joy and gladness of the Saints that are redeemed by Christ all their life long We must first look upon him whom we have pierc'd and weep for him before we can receive any comfort by him We must afflict our Souls for his Passion before we shall partake of the joy of his Resurrection Verse 12. This Feast was call'd the Feast of Tabernacles because during the dayes of this Feast they were to live in Tents and Tabernacles it being a memorial of Gods preserving them in the Wilderness where was no house for them to rest in and from hence we may learn that it is a duty belonging to all to remember the dayes of their troubles and afflictions from which God in great mercy hath delivered us We are ready to forget our former condition when God hath given us rest and therefore God would have his own people year by year to depart out of their Houses and dwell in Tents that thereby they should call to mind both where they were and where they had been that although they now were at rest and ease in the Land of Canaan yet they had not alwayes been so for God had carried them upon Eagles wings and preserved them after a miraculous manner in the Wilderness CHAP. XXX Verse 2. VVHen a man vows he vows unto the Lord and therefore if he breaks it he sins against the Lord. Who expects he should have kept touch with him and accordingly will punish such a vow-breaker for he hath not lyed unto men but unto God Acts 5. As God is true saith St. Paul 2 Cor. 1. 18. our word towards you was not yea and nay but yea and Amen For the Son of God c. Why what 's all this to the purpose may some say yes very much For it implies that what a Christian doth promise to men much more to God he is bound by the earnest penny of Gods Spirit to perform he dares no more alter and falsifie his word than the Spirit of God can lye And as he looks that Gods promises should be made good to him so he is careful to pay what he hath vowed to God seeing Gods Covenant is of mercy ours of obedience and if we expect that God should be all sufficient to us we must be altogether faithful to him Verse 8. The power and authority of the Husband over the Wife is very great for all be it the Wife be at liberty to vow in the Lord when her Husband is dead yet while he lives he hath power to disanul her vows The Husband is the head of the

sigh and tremble certainly whatever it was it was a signe of Gods wrath that others seeing this might fear to commit the like and that he might have the greater punishment in prolonging so wicked and miserable a life Verse 16. It appears by this that Cain stood excommunicate For otherwise how could Cain go out from God who was every where so that this presence of the Lord signifies a peculiar place dedicated to God as the Ark the Temple were usually call'd in Scripture The face of the Lord Psalm 43. Exod. 23. So Ionas fled from the presence of the Lord i. e. from the place where the Lord had spoken to him This then should strike a terror into Christians and cause them to live in the fear of God and in an awful respect of his Ministers who have the power delegated to them from God to drive obstinate sinners from his presence and are as that Angel with a flaming Sword to keep them out of Paradice and deprive them of the joyes and blessedness of the life to come Verse 20. If the author the inventor of any thing useful for this life be called the Father of that invention by the Holy Ghost himself as here Iabal was the Father of such as dwelt in Tents and Tabal his Brother the Father of Musick how absolutely is God our Father who invented us made us found us out in the depth and darknesse of nothing at all he is Father and Father of Lights of all kinds of Lights He is Lux lucisica as Saint Augustine expresses it the Light from which all the Lights which we have of Nature or Grace or Glory have their emanation CHAP. V. Verse 1. THe Soul of man as it came from God so it is like God as he so it is one immaterial immortal understanding Spirit distinguish'd into three powers which all make up one spirit So thou the wise Creator of all things wouldest have some things to resemble their Creator the other creatures are all body man is body and spirit the Angels are all spirit not without a spiritual composition thou art alone after thine own manner Simple Glorious Infinite No creature can be like thee in thy proper being because it is a creature How should our finite weak compounded nature give any perfect resemblance of thine yet of all visible creatures thou vouchsafest man the nearest correspondence to thee not so much in the natural Faculties as in those divine Graces wherewith thou beautifiest his soul how then should our Souls rise up to thee and fix themselves in their thoughts upon thee how should they long to return back to the Fountain of their Being and author of their being glorious that so we may redeem what we have lost recover in thee what we have lost in our selves Verse 3. Adam begetting a Son in his own likeness is not to be understood in the shape and image of his body but hereby is signified that original corruption which is descended unto Adams posterity by natural propagation which is express'd in the birth of Seth because it might appear that even the Righteous Seed by nature are subject to this depravation Verse 22. In that Enoch first walk'd with God on earth before he walk'd with him in Heaven is shewed that we must first seek Gods glory on earth before we can be admitted into his Everlasting glory Verse 24. If you will sit at the right hand of God hereafter you must walk with God here so Abraham so Enoch walked with God and God took him God knows God takes not every man that dies God saies to the rich secure man This night they shall fetch away thy soul but he does not tell him who that therefore you may be no strangers to God then see him now and remember that his last Judgement is express'd in that word Nescio vos I know you not not to be known by God is damnation and God knows no man hereafter with whom he was not acquainted here Verse 29. Forasmuch as Lamech said of his Son Noah This same shall comfort us concerning our work c. it appeareth that the faithful then look'd for a Comforter that should de●iver them from the Curse for of this Comforter Noah was a figure Heb. 11. 7. and the Ark was a type of Baptism 1 Pet. 3. 21. Verse 32. Sem is here first named though Iaphet was first born as being first in dignity though not in birth because from him and not from Iaphet our blessed Saviour descended in a direct line Now any relation to Christ enableth either place or person For let the person be never so mean if God please to claim an interest in him a poor Fisherman upon his Embassie is more honourable then the Embassador of the greatest Monarch in the world and so likewise for any place in the world be it never so mean and contemptible yet if God please to send his Ministers to preach the Gospel and the power thereof in such places they become glorious to the whole world Thus it was not the great circumference and populousness of Nineveh but the preaching of Ionah there that made it known to after-ages nor was it the City but the Temple of Ierusalem and the presence of Christ in that Temple that made it the glory of the whole earth It is the Christian Religion only whose Fame shall last for ever that is able to make both Men and Towns as famous and as eternal as it self CHAP. VI. Verse 2. THe world was grown so foul with sin that God saw it was time to wash it with a floud if there had not been so deep a deluge of sin there had been none of the waters from whence then was this superfluity of iniquity whence but from the unequal yoak with Infidels these marriages did not beget men so much as wickedness from hence religious Husbands both lost their piety and gained a rebellious and godlesse generation Thus that which was the first occasion of sin was the occasion of the increase of sin a Woman seduced Adam Women betray the Sons of God the beauty of the Apple betrayed the Woman the beauty of these Women betrayed this holy Seed Eve saw and lusted so did they this also was a forbidden Fruit they lusted tasted sinned dyed the most sins begin at the eyes by them commonly Satan creeps into the heart that Soul can never be at safety that hath not covenanted with his eyes Verse 3. It is meant that God would no longer strive with them in reproving and admonishing them which they regarded not but if they amended not in short time within the set space he would certainly destroy them and therefore it was supposed that the Ark was a building 120 years to the end they might repent enough to justifie Gods mercy in forbearing and his Justice in executing his Judgements upon sinners Verse 12. Man is every Creature as 't is said here all flesh hath corrupted his ways upon the earth though this

sometimes on the Land Monsters bred of unlawful conjunctions which should not see the Sun Now if the Image of this vice be so horrid odious in Nature what shal we judge of the vice its self in Religion I am sure that God can away with any sort of sinners better than these for these he threatneth to spew out of his mouth Rev. 3. 16. as we therefore tender the Salvation of Body and Soul let us take heed of this plowing with an Ox and an Ass in the Text of this Laodicean temper in Religion if we ever look to be saved by our Religion we must save and preserve it entire and unmixt for God is a jealous God and will not give any part of his glory to another Verse 12. Upon these Fringes was some parcel of the Law written that so looking upon them they might be put in mind of Gods Commandements which should teach us that all sorts both young and old of what condition soever are enjoyn'd to know the Doctrine of the Scriptures and the will of God reveal'd in them and this because ignorance is the ground of error The natural man perceiveth not the things that be of God so then being of our selves blind and wanting the light of the Word we must needs go astray hence it is that Christ saith to the Sadduces Ye err not knowing the Scriptures Mat. 22. and then again the want of Knowledg is the cause of sundry fearful judgements Spiritual and Temporal inward and outward for as Ignorance is the cause of sin so it is the cause of judgement the reward of sin If we care not to know God but neglect the meanes of Knowledge no marvel if we be punish'd Verse 19. God will not suffer his Children to be evill-spoken of unjustly but will both clear them from the scandal and punish it God will so Oyl their good Name that infamy shall not stick on it Dirt will stick upon a Mud-wall but not upon Marble and therefore say thou be aspers'd and denigrated by the Calumnies and contumelies of black Tongues and thou lye under them for a time as the Earth doth under the darkness of the Night yet as the morning suddenly arrising driveth away that darkness so God shall clear up thy wronged innocency and as the Moon wadeth out of a cloud so shalt thou get out of all thy troubles in this kind or any other It shall be with thee as it was once with Cato whom Seneca calls the lively Picture of Vertue who was two and thirty times openly accused in Court and as many times cleared and absolved CHAP. XXIII Verse 7. THe relation of Flesh and Blood should be a strong tye among Christians and all Men indeed but we find the quite contrary For the difference of Brethren are of all others most irreconcileable whether they be Brethren by Race or Grace And for the first of these see it exemplified in Cain and Abel Esau and Jacob for thus it is written in nature that those that loved most dearly if once the Devil cast his Club between them they hate most deadly and as for Brethren by Profession and that of the true Religion too you shall meet with many divisions and those prosecuted with a great deal of bitterness No War breaks out sooner or lasts longer than that among Divines or about the Sacrament a Sacrament of Love a Communion and yet the occasion by accident of much dissention Great care therefore must be taken that Brethren break not Friendship or if they do that they unite and peece again as soon as possible for remember saith the Text he is thy Brother and therefore to be born with though unkind and injurious Verse 9. Seeing War is a lawful Ordinance of God it teacheth us to use it lawfully and to behave our selves uprightly when we go unto it So soon as War is proclaimed and the Trumpet sounded all Laws for the most part keep silence and equity is buried there is no mean or measure observed every Man thinks he may do what he list Hence it is that the Lord giveth these Precepts to his People When thou goest out with an host against thine Enemies c. Where Moses teacheth that we must not bear our selves in War as if all things were lawful nor give our selves a lawless liberty to be carried head-long into all Wickedness when we are come into the Field and there stand against the Enemy we must not think we have a pardon purchased to fall into all outrage and villany For whose are the Battels that we fight who is it that giveth the Victory If we look for any blessing from God we must have the more care to serve him faithfully and depend upon him religiously Prophane and ungodly men must not be listed in his Army The Lord will be the greatest Enemy unto such and they have more cause to stand in fear of him than of all their Enemies besides Verse 14. Seeing God is ever in his Church it is our duty to behave our selves in all our actions as in his presence It behooveth us to set him alwayes before us and to know how that he continually walks among us If the Child were alwayes in the sight of his Father the servant of his Master the Subject of his Prince they would not have an unseemly gesture a disordered action how much more doth it stand us upon to look to all our wayes that we offend not before the Majesty of God in whose presence we stand When the Minister Prayes and Preacheth when the people attend and hearken we must know that God looks upon us This is that use which Moses sets down here in giving directions to the people that they should have a place without the hoast c. the truth of which Ceremony leads us as it did them to a further matter and teacheth us that we must be an holy people to God in soul and body and to take heed of defiling our selves with sin we must all of us learn to purge our selves from such foul and filthy Corruptions if we will have God to rule and be resident among us Verse 18. Some understand this Text literally and Grammatically according to that expression of the Prophet Isa. 66. 3. He that sacrificeth a Lamb as if he cut off a Doggs neck Others take it metaphorically of impudently shameless sinners that blush not to commit Uncleanness in the sight of the Sun these shall never enter into Gods House the Kingdom of Heaven The Irish ayr will sooner brook a Toad or Snake to live there than Heaven will brook a sinner It was not permitted to a Dogg to enter into the Acropolis which was the chief Tower or Temple at Athens for his heat in Venery and ill savour saith Plutarch Goats likewise saith Varro come not there unless for Sacrifice once a year upon the same account no filthy Doggs or nasty Goats shall ever enter into Heavens Tower The Panther smells well among Beasts