execution so that this infinite prospect of our thoughts derives no necessary power and influence upon them To use a lower Instance And if you your self could foresee that your friend after many changes of his mind would certainly travel into Italy such a previous knowledge of his affairs and designs by no means gives any byas to them neither is he obliged by any power of yours to prosecute his journey SYNECDOCHE Synecdoche from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to comprehend This Trope is a form of speaking when we make use of words that are more comprehensive for others which are less and so on the contrary when we put the name of a part to signifie the whole or else the name of the whole to express any particular part of it as if you say the Plague is in France when perhaps 't is only in Paris There are four sorts or species belonging to this Figure Synecdoche Generis 1. Synecdoche Generis when a general word comprehends a particular or when the universal denotes the special term Thus Luke 2. 1. It came to pass that all the world was to be taxed meaning the whole Roman Empire a small though very remarkable part of the World Exod. 9. 6. And all the cattel of Egypt died which signifies not universally as if every kind of Beast were destroyed but only or at least chiefly those that then were in the fields for that some were preserved alive is plain enough from vers 19. Thus All flesh Gen. 6. 12. and All Creatures Mark 16. 15. signifie man only And Every Creature implies only some of each sort and not all of every kind Gen. 7. 8. So All manner of four footed beasts signifies a very great number Acts 10. 12. Exod. 20. 10. Thou shalt not doe any manner of work on the Sabbath day that is no toilsome and servile labour which is the business of every other day where the universal term of negation is limited and restrained to a particular Negative So Ye shall not swear at all is a prohibition not excluding all manner of Oaths but such only as are rash and not required in a judicial way by the supreme Magistrate Matt. 27. 44. The thieves also 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which were crucified with him upbraided him where the plural Number denotes the singular for only one of the two Thieves did vilifie our Saviour as appears from Luke 23. 39. Synecdoche Speciei 2. Synecdoche Speciei when a particular word or expression of a more narrow signification does imply one of a general and larger notification Thus James 1. 27. Pure religion is this to visit the fatherless and the widow in their affliction which are but a very narrow compass of Religion but they are taken more generally for any Persons under any sort of Calamity Exod. 3. 8. A Land flowing with milk and honey that is abounding with all things good and desirable Abraham and Israel two proper Names signifie the Patriarchs a word of larger extent Isai 63. 16. Exod. 20. Honour thy father and thy mother is a duty more universal and commands us to pay obedience and reverence to all Superiours especially those in high Authority Synecdoche Totius 3. Synecdoche Totius when the Name of the whole serves to denote a part of it Thus Luke 23. 43. To day thou shalt be with me in Paradise where the word thou seems to comprehend the whole man but it signifies his soul only without his body 2 Pet. 3. 6. The whole world being overflowed with water that is the earth the lowest part of the world Dan. 2. 4. O King live for ever where all duration of time even to Eternity signifies a long part of time for ever that is for a long time Synecdoche Partis 4. Synecdoche Partis when the Name of a Part or Member is made use of to notifie the whole thing or person Acts. 27. 37. And we were all in the Ship two hundred threescore and sixteen souls where the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 comprehends the whole man And the evening and the morning were the first day where the principal parts of the day signifie the entire spaces of day and night Of Figures in the Repetition of the same Sound EPIZEVXIS Epizeuxis from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to join together This Figure repeats the same word in the same Sentence by way of emphasis and so gives more life and passion to our discourses Thus How does Holy David express himself in an infinite Passion upon the death of his Son Absalom 2 Sam. 18. 33. O my son Absalom my son my son Absalom would God I had died for thee O Absalom my son my son How often are the very same words over and over again to signifie if possible the mighty grief and anguish of his Soul for the irreparable loss of his dearly beloved Son Psalm 22. 1. My God my God why hast thou forsaken me See Matth. 27. 46. The words are full of Complainings most earnestly lamenting that God himself was departed from him even when his Divine presence was most needfull to preserve him from the approach of some imminent danger but in respect of Christ figured by David they are the expressions of his Humanity representing the extreme Agony of his Passion and the inexpressible Pains and Torments See Matt. 26. 38 39. My soul saith Christ is exceeding sorrowfull even unto death See also Luke 22. 44. Luke 23. 21. But they cryed saying Crucifie him Crucifie him representing to us their most violent Importunities and loud Clamours of the People against his Life Acts 9. 4. Saul Saul why persecutest thou me A very earnest and passionate Expostulation from heaven to move and persuade Saul that he should no longer breath out threatnings and slaughters against the Church of Christ Matt. 23. 37. Oh Jerusalem Jerusalem How is the same word repeated over again very emphatically to give us the highest conception of God's trouble and mighty concernment for their impenitency and wilfull disobedience See Psalm 145. 18. Joel 1. 15. Exod. 34. 6. ANADIPLOSIS Anadiplosis derived from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 duplico This Figure pronounceth the same word in different Sentences when the last word of the preceding Proposition is repeated in the beginning of the following thus Rom. 14. 8. For whether we live we live unto the Lord or whether we die we die unto the Lord and therefore in either state 't is our business to preserve in our minds a lively sense of God's providence and refer our selves to his care and protection of our souls and bodies since whether we live or die we are the Lord 's See Rom. 8. 17. Phil. 2. 8. He became obedient to death even the death of the Cross and was it not still an higher instance of his great Humility and Condescension because such a sort of death was by all reputed the most infamous and shamefull way of dying Knowing that tribulation worketh patience and patience experience
were with a whisper and yet even those that are in the most distant places in the remotest corners of the earth shall obey the powerfull summons of his voice and presently come and make their appearances Here you have a description with no less elegancy of the most unsearchable ways and councils of the great God he made darkness his secret place his Pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the sky and the methods of his providence are very unaccountable and past our understanding his ways are extreamly private in the dark and in the deep waters and his footsteps are not known But because some have the most severe and rigid notions of God shall I give you a tast of the sweetness of his love and kindness Isai 49. 15. Can a woman says God forget her sucking child And the question is proposed to assure us 't is at least extreamly difficult though not impossible for a mother to break through the strongest ties and impressions of natural affection yet even then God himself assures us though a woman may be so very barbarous and so inhumane to the child of her womb yet that he himself had more Bowels more affection more tender compassions and could never be unmindfull of his children nay so great is his care his sollicitous concernment for them that in all their sufferings God cannot but have the same sence of Pain and misery and sympathize with them in all their afflictions says the Prophet He was afflicted Isai 47. 7. Nay to the very last degree of kindness and commiseration that no relation how near soever can have more for like as a father hath compassion on his children so the Lord hath pity on them that fear him And Psal 103. v. 13. if 't is yet possible to give a suller sense of his infinite love and affection to us he assures us that if his Church is under the least kind of suffering that he himself is extreamly sensible of it even as the most tender part resents the smallest injury They that touch you touch the apple of my eye Psalm 7. 11 12 13. God is there represented as a mighty man of war preparing to engage his enemy but yet he is so indulgent and merciful that he seems very unwilling to execute the fury of his wrath but is still in expectation of our conversion that we will at last sue for a peace and repent and obey him but if he will not turn says David He will whet his sword he hath bent his bow and made it ready he hath prepared for him the instruments of death And is there not a greatness of spirit and majesty in this short definition God gives of himself I am that I am hath sent me unto thee that is I am God unchangeable the same yesterday to day and for ever 't is I that send Moses And now perhaps these Texts of Scripture without any more are susficient to discover that the Scripture is not written in so very low and plain a strain as some ignorantly imagine and perhaps 't is not the least recommendation of the inspired Writings that no other book in all the world can furnish our minds with more distinct and clearer Revelations of his Being or his divine Attributes no other book can so excellently describe the power the majesty the infinte justice the mercy and goodness of Almighty God And now if you are desirous to take a view of his wonders in the deep how should man without an express revelation from heaven have been able in the least to discover the incomprehensible Mystery of the Trinity or how should he upon the fall of Adam have been ever capable to dive into the mysterious contrivance of our Redemption or acquaint himself with the reasons of Christ's Incarnation his Death and Passion Resurrection and Ascension And if you please to take into your serious consideration the Divinity of its Doctrines what a noble Scheme is the Christian Religion of all moral vertues such as a Seneca or a Plutarch never dreamt of and what are all their Systems of Morality in comparison of the Christian Institution what Charity what Forgiveness of Enemies what Provocations to mutual Love what tender Compassions to one another in distresses and miseries are we obliged to put in practice upon every occasion yea what Purity in all our thoughts what Innocence what Sincerity in all our Intentions these are all such mighty Perfections of moral Vertues as we can only learn from Scripture Perhaps others may recommend the practice of Vertue from common decency and convenience or from a temporal satisfaction attending the exercise of it but we derive our Obligations much higher for if we had only hopes of being happy in this life we were of all men the most miserable for how does the Christian Religion extend our Prospect beyond the grave and give us those comfortable hopes of a Resurrection and of eternal happiness hereafter which the heathens did but guess at But perhaps the spirit and the inimitable style of the Scripture may still more effectually recommend it to your perusal and has it not think you a mighty force power and efficacy when our Saviour began his Institution to the Christian Philosophy only with this very plain and naked Benediction Blessed are the poor in spirit and Blessed are they that are persecuted for righteousness sake Who can believe such kind of Blessings such Invitations to embrace the terms of the Gospel should be so very prevalent and bring in such a numerous company of Proselytes Jews and Gentiles Who can believe that Christianity should advance and make its way into the world against the opposition of so much wit and power from such sort of encouragements Thus the very difficulty of its moral Duties and the discouragement of the Proposals and the mighty plainness of its Principles are so far from being in the least disadvantageous to the Christian Religion that they are no small argument of its Divinity it being impossible it should ever make such a progress in the world unless it had been assisted by the power and the wisedom of God himself and thus the divine Authority of its Original commands our respect and reverence And after all the Simplicity of the Scriptural Style is not without Majesty How plain yet how magnificent is this expression I am that I am hath sent me Exod. 3. 14. And now as to the Translation of the Bible it self I will not deny but as very many places are not without a gracefull and elegant ornament of expression so there are some other parts less artificial neither is this so very strange since the original Languages sometimes carry in them a native Grace and Emphasis hardly expressible in a Translation at least with the very same beautify and significancy of speech And if our Translators here and there fall below the spirit and the dignity of the Original they are very excusable because they were
the dead bury their dead the first words signifie a moral death those that are dead in trespasses and sins but the last imply a natural death such as are dead and departed this life 2 Cor. 10. 3. Though we walk in the flesh yet we do not war after the flesh though we are men and made in the same fashion like other men yet in this respect we differ from them for we place no confidence in the arm of flesh no assistance from the world but all our sufficiency is from God 2 Cor. 6. 9. As unknown and yet well known as dying and behold we live tho' some may look upon us as if they were not so desirous to know us in our afflictions yet others esteem and value us the more and are willing to know us in the greatest of our Calamities PLOCE Ploce derived from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to bind together This Figure pronounceth a word so emphatically that it denotes not only the thing signified but also the very quality of it thus 't is no unusual thing to repeat the proper name of a man to express some remarkable vertue belonging to him as we may say In that action Alexander was Alexander that is a mighty Conquerour Gen. 27. 36. Is he not rightly called Jacob saith Esau for he hath supplanted me these two times POLYPTOTON Polyptoton from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 variatio casuum This Figure employs words of the same derivation but alters the termination or the Mood Case or Gender Rom. 2. 21. Thou that preachest a man should not steal dost thou steal Rom. 11. 16. For of him and through him and to him are all things that is God is supream and disposeth every thing to serve the wise ends of his providence 2 Tim. 3. 13. But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse deceiving and being deceived See the various termination of the same words Heb. 6. 14. Figures in reference to a sentence are such as affect the whole sentence not without some emotion of the Soul ECPHONESIS Ecphonesis Exclamation This is a most pathetical sort of Figure whereby the Orator discovers the excessive passion of his own mind and so makes a suitable impression upon the affections of his Audience This Figure is varied many ways First In a way of wonder and admiration of God's infinite Perfections Rom 11. 33. Oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgements and his ways past finding out Secondly In a way of sorrow and mourning for God's absence or of his disregard to the voice of our Petitions Psal 22. 1 2. My God my God Why hast thou forsaken me O my God I cry in the day time but thou hearest not Isai 6. 5. Wo is me for I am undone Thus in a way of desperation how is the Prophet extreamly sensible of his own unworthiness as if he thought the forgiveness of his sin was now impossible this was the dreadfull apprehension of men in former times when God did more signally manifest himself Deut. 5. 25. Judg. 6. 22. and 13. 22. Thirdly In a way of expostulation with God himself for his Mercy and Compassion Ob remember that my life is wind Thus he makes the short continuance of his being a very great inducement that God should be more indulgent to him and preserve him from sudden ruin and destruction Rom. 7. 24. O wretched man that I am Who shall deliver me from the body of this death Job 6. 11 12. What is my strength that I should hope and What is my end that I should prolong my life How does holy Job here complain of his insufferable miseries and longs most passionately to be at rest in his grave as if he despaired of any cessation from his pains and afflictions so long as he was alive On that I might have my request and that God would grant me the thing that I long for Rom. 9. 20. Nay but O man who art thou that repliest egainst God A severe reprehension to our peevish murmurings and complaints as if God had not an absolute power over us to punish us unless we our selves gave our consent to the inflictions of it Fourthly In a way of censure and reprehension Acts 12. 10. O full of subtilty thou child of the devil thou enemy of all righteousness And Can there possibly be a worse Character than this Fifthly In a way of most earnest wishing Psalm 55. 6. O that I had the wings of a Dove that I might flee away and be at rest Sixthly In a way of infinite commiseration and pity of our unhappy condition Oh Jerusalem Jerusalem which killest the Prophets and stonest them which are sent unto thee how often would I have gathered thy children together as a hen doth gather her thickens under her wings and ye would not How does God himself mourn for the misery of his People that they so neglected all the means to their salvation when he himself infinitely desired to preserve them even with the very same degrees of tenderness as the most affectionate creature desires to save and hover over her Young Lament 1. 1 2. How is the golden city spoiled how doth the city sit solitary that was full of people how is she become a widow And so the Prophet goes on in a most elegant manner to describe the misery of her ruin and fall from her prosperity Seventhly In a way of triumph and exultation 1 Cor. 15 55. Oh death where is thy sting oh grave where is thy victory Eighthly In a transport of love and admiration Psal 84. 1. Oh how amiable are thy tabernacles thou Lord of hosts As if the Royal Psalmist was in such a rapture that he could give no adequate notion of his love and delight in God's house by a cold affirmation of the pleasure of it but was forced to run himself into an Ecstasie and so leaves the question undetermined as if it was unexpressible EPIPHONEMA Epiphonema is an Acclamation containing some very remarkable sentence at the close of our discourse it is as it were the last finishing stroke which we desire to leave upon the affections of our Audience Thus St. Paul after he had confuted several false opinions concerning the manner of the resurrection at last he recommends the doctrine of it advising them upon the certain hopes and expectations of another life to be constant in all manner of holiness Therefore my beloved brethren be ye stedfast unmoveable always abounding in the work of the Lord for asmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord 1 Cor. 15. 58. Matt. 6. 21. Our Saviour here endeavours to call off their affections from an excessive pursuit of the world for if they did engage their thoughts so exceedingly they would leave no room for Heaven and then at last to leave his discourse still more warm upon their spirits thus he concludes For where your treasure is there