the highest threat I go away and ye shall dye in your sins John 8.21 They that dye in their sins dye a double death at once a temporal and an eternal death together And to those who have got the sting of death pulled out that is the guilt of sin removed and washed off by the blood of Christ I would Fourthly Take this caution If you would have death easie to you dye more and more to sin daily Some who are dead to sin may find much life of sin remaining in them and they who have much of the life of sin in them will never dye easily they will find strong bands in their death which in another sense some wicked men find not Psal 73.4 While either sin or self or the world are lively in us death will be greivous to us Therefore let them who are dead to sin never think themselves dead enough to it while they live they who are most dead to sin and the world have the sweetest and most comfortable passage out of the world So Job dyed Being old It must needs be that Job was an old man when he had lived an hundred and forty years after all his changes before this change came Why then is it added he died being old or being an old man Surely to teach us this lesson Old age and death cannot be far asunder 'T is a truth young men and death are not very far asunder youth and death are at no great distance but when we see an old man we may conclude that death and he are very near neighbours While we see an old man with his staff in his hand we may say he carrieth a rapper in his hand by which at every step he knocks at the door of the grave There is no man not the youngest man that can reckon certainly upon one day beyond what he hath and therefore Solomon admonisheth us Prov. 27.1 Beast not of to-morrow for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth And the Apostle James checks those who would reckon upon a day he tells them upon the matter That they reckon without their hoast James 4.13 Go to now ye that say to day or to-morrow we will go into such a City and continue there a year and buy and sell and get gain And then at the 14th verse Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow for saith he What is your life it is even a vapour that appeareth for a little while and then vanisheth away They that are youngest have not a day nor an hour in their power to reckon upon what then have they that are old We may say of them They are even past their reckoning A woman near her time will sometimes say she hath but a day to reckon and some will say they have never a day to reckon old men may say so they have not a day to reckon Young men may dye old men must dye Then let old men be much in the meditation of death let them be often looking into their graves their gray hairs that do so are found in the way of wisdom Job dyed being old There was no longer staying for him in this world Once more Job dyed being old And full of days There is a twofold fullness First A fullness of satiety Secondly A fullness of satisfaction They are full in a way of satiety who loath that which they are filled with 't is burthensome to thâ—m They are full in a way of satisfaction who having enough are pleased and desire no more Some expound this Text of Job in the former sence he was full of days that is he had a fullness of satiety upon him he had lived so long that his life was a burden to him he had lived till he was weary of living his life was tedious and grievous to him It is said Revel 9.6 In those days shall men seek death and shall not find it and shall desire to dye and death shall flee from them That which most flee from some pursue and it fleeth from them None are so unfit to dye as they who upon the account spoken of in that Text seek death and desire to dye I do not conceive that Job was full of days in the former notion as the stomack may be full of meat and loath it or be burthened with it but as having had enough of it though well liked to the last morsel And I am sure he was not full of days when he dyed in the latter notion as one wearied with the troubles of his life for all his latter days were a blessing to him and he blessed in them all His last days in this world being his best days of worldly enjoyment he could have no reason upon any worldly account to desire a departure out of the world I grant a good man though he hath not lived many days may be full of days even to weariness by reason of his temptations corruptions and sins of which kind of weariness the Apostle speaks 2 Cor. 5.2 In this earthly house of the body we grown earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven And upon this account possibly Job himself might be weary of his life and desire the death of his body that he might be delivered from the body of that death But Jobs worldly life was as sweet as it was long he was as full of blessings as he was of days and therefore doubtless he was only satisfied with living not tired with it He did not loath his natural life nor did he hunger after a longer life in this world he hungred after eternity not time He did not hunger after a longer life as they do who have their portion in this life how long soever they have lived A worldly man is never satisfied with living in the world he never hath his belly full of living here while he sees he may as Job might fill his belly with the good things of this life But as Job had lived very long and very well on earth so he knew there was a better life to be had in heaven and therefore was full of days both as having had many and as having no desire after more on earth As he was not which David deprecated Psal 102.24 taken away in the midst of his days so he was willing to come to the end of his days and for that reason might well be said to dye being old and full of days Secondly These words so Job died being old and full of days may note as his willingness to dye so the easiness of his death he was come to a full ripeness for death Fruit that is fully ripe is soon gathered and sometimes drops off alone from the tree Job was every way ripe for death his body was ripe he was full of days his soul was ripe he was full of grace surely then his was a spontaneous death a very sweet way of dying His natural strength was not much being old
to make resistance against death and his spiritual strength was so much that it caused him to make no resistance against it or rather at once joyfully to embrace and overcome it Thirdly These words so Job dyed being full of days may have this spiritual meaning His days were full He did not live empty days or void blank days but as he was full of days so his days were full full of good works and holy duties That mans days are empty though he be full of days or how many days soever he hath lived who hath lived in vanity and done little good with his life But we have reason to say Job dyed full of days because his days were full of good done as well as of good received he had not a long being only but a long life in the world living to good yea his best in duty both to God and man Thus Job dyed being old and full of days From this latter part of the verse Observe First When a godly man dyeth he is satisfied with the time he hath lived he hath his fill of days he craves no more Though no length of this life can satisfie him yet he is satisfied with the length of his life A godly man in some cases may crave a little more time He may say as Psal 102.24 O take me not away in the midst of my days and as elsewhere O spare me a little that I may recover my strength before I go hence and be no more Psal 39.13 Yet this is a truth specially as to good old men living as Job had done when they dye they have had their fill of living A Heathen said and he spake it after a heathenish manner Si mihi quis Deus largiatur ut ex hac aetate repuerascam in cunis vagiam valdè recusem Cato If any God would give me the priviledg to be young again and to cry in a Craile I would not thank him for it I have had living enough If a vertuous Heathen hath said so by the light of reason and morality then doubtless a godly Christian may much more say so through the power of faith and grace It cannot be said of all men who dye as Job did being old that they in this notion dyed as Job did full of days For as some godly young men have been fully satisfied with a few days and have said they have lived as long as they desired and could say with Paul We desire to be desolved and to be with Christ which is far better Phil. 1.23 Yet some old men are very much unsatisfied with their many days some old men would be young again This argues they have made but little improvement of their days or that they have got little if any thing of that all their days which should be the study of every day an interest in the death of Christ and so a readiness for a better life For an old man to wish himself young again is like one who with great labour hath clamber'd up a steep hill and wisheth he were at the foot or bottome of it again 't is as if a man who having been long tost in a storm between rocks and sands is got near a safe harbour should wish himself out at sea again They have not a true tast much less a lively hope of that life which is to come who would return to this upon such hazardous and uneasie terms Secondly As these words note a readiness or a willingness to dye Observe A good man is willing to leave this world He is not thrust nor forced out of it but departs he is not pluck't off but falls off like ripe fruit from the tree His soul is not required of him as 't is said of the rich man Luke 12.20 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 but given up and resigned by him he is not taken but goes out of the world It is said indeed Psal 57.1 Merciful men are taken away by Gods commission given to death from the evil to come but they are not taken away from as being unwilling to part with and leave any present good A gracious man hath usually a readiness to dye in a twofold notion First As readiness signifies preparedness Secondly As readiness signifies a willingness to dye And always the first readiness promotes the second The more prepared any one is to dye the more willing he is to dye That man can say Lord now let thy servant depart in peace whose eye of faith hath seen his salvation We saith the Apostle speaking of believers 2 Cor. 5.8 are willing to be absent from the body that is to dye And the word there used signifies not only the freest choice but if I may so speak the good will or good pleasure of mans will as it often signifies God's As a godly man hath a peculiar way of living so of dying and the reason of both is because he sees blessed eternity beyond time and himself by a well-grounded that is a Scriptural hope a partaker of the blessedness of it Thirdly Note They dye full of days who fill their days or whose days are full That is who fill their days with or whose days are full of the fruits of righteousness of faith and repentance of love and charitableness Stephen Acts 6.8 was full of faith and power They dye full of days in old age who as it is said Psal 92.14 bring forth such fruit in their old age Nulla dies sinelinea Apelles Diem perdidi Vespatian who dye as Dorcas Acts 9.36 full of good works and almes-deeds which they have done It was said of a famous Painter No day past him without drawing a line A Romane Emperour said I have lost a day when he did no good that day We may well reckon those days lost in which we do no good in which we draw not some white line some golden line of grace and holiness Then what account will their days come to who pass not a day but they draw black lines filthy lines of sin and wickedness or whose days are all blotted with the worst abominations of the day they live in If those days are empty and lost wherein we do no good and are not made better what then becomes of their days and where will they be found but in the Devils Almanack who do nothing but evil and daily become worse and worse So then they only dye full of days who live doing the will of God and denying their own who live mortifying corruptions and resisting temptations who live exercising their graces and answering their duties to God and man This this is to live our days and to dye full of days Again as their days are full who are full of grace in themselves and of good works towards men so are theirs who are full of the mercies and blessings of God especially theirs whose days are full of soul mercies and blessings whose hearts are full of peace with God full of joy
they were created at the first by his command so they shine forth every day by the same command Matth. 5.45 He maketh his Sun to rise on the evil and on the good He that hath power usually saith to a person that is unwilling to do a thing I will make you to do it that is you shall do it whether you will or no. And 't is said by the Evangelist He maketh his Sun to rise c. which may seem to import a kind of unwillingness in the Sun to bestow its light promiscuously upon the evil as well as good evil men are indeed unworthy that the Sun should shine or the rain fall upon them but God who is infinite in goodness and to shew that our good deeds should not be shut up or narrowed to those onely who are good layeth an irresistible and an indispensible charge upon the Sun to rise and shine with that indifferency to the good and to the bad The Sun would be ashamed to shine upon wicked men the Sun would even with-hold its beams and rays and deny them light or any comfort it would not make the earth fruitful for them had it not a command from the Lord But having a command from him it cannot with-hold nor divert its light no not from those who are children of darkness and have constant fellowship with the unfruitful works of darknesse 'T is no small matter of consolation to remember that our God is a commanding God that he can command the morning which as it is a truth with respect to the natural morning of every day so to the mystical or metaphorical morning After a dark black and stormy night of sorrow and trouble upon his Church or People then the Lord can command the morning of joy and prosperity to arise upon them and comfort them 'T is comfortable living under and obeying his commands who can command away our sorrows and by a word speaking turn midnight into morning and the shadows of death into the shining light of life and therefore saith peremptorily without ifs or ands Psal 30.5 Weeping or sorrow may endure for a night but joy or singing cometh in the morning that 's a morning in a morning We may have a morning of Sun light and no morning of joy-light as the Lord threatned his people in case of disobedience Deut. 28.6 7. In the morning thou shalt say would God it were even and at even thou shalt say would God it were morning for the fear of thy heart wherewith thou shalt fear c. Onely God can make a morning of joy or inward light to rise with the mo ning light of the natuâ—al day else we may have day without us and darkness within us Sun-light but no soul-light And such was the intendment of that dreadful threatning against the wicked last mentioned out of Moses Whereas the godly in their darkest ouâ—ward condition are under the sweet influences of that gracious promise Psal 97.11 Light is sown for the righteâ—us and gladness for the upright in heart And God can command that light to spring even in the hour and power of darkness as Christ expressed his saddest day in this world Luke 22.53 The light of every morning is called the day-spring at the latter end of this verse and the Lord can make light and gladness or the light of gladness to spring up in our hearts when and where he pleaseth Secondly Observe The course of Nature in all its turns and changes is moved by and obedient to the command of God As God commands the morning so the morning fails not to come at his command When did you ever know the morning stop or stay a moment beyond the time that God commanded it to come forth We could never say to the Chariot of the Sun as the Mother of Sisera said of his Why is his Chariot so long a coming why stay the wheels of his Charioâ— There was somewhat stopt Sisera's Chariot that it could not come and God took off the Chariot wheels of the Egyptians in the Red Sea and they drew heavily yea the Lord can take off the Chariot-wheels of any though they drive as furiously as Jehu so that they shall not come at their time but who ever knew the morning stopt a minute or a moment beyond the exact time at which it should come or was expected And as the Sun so all natural things keep their course and slack not at the command of God No creature disobeys the command of God but man who of all creatures hath most reason and is most obliged to obey it God never said of the Sun O that it had hearkned to my voice but the sons of men put him often to say so as he once did to Israel his ancient people Psal 81.13 How seldome do we keep time with God! How seldome do we come or go just at his call I have called saith Wisdome Prov. 1.24 25. and ye refused I have stretched out my hand and none regarded God never looked one day of the year for the morning and it came not but he hath come three years as the Parable of the Fig-tree shews Luke 13. to man looking for fruit and hath found none Will it not shame us that the morning is obedient to the command of God if we are not And theâ—efore as the former note was matter of comfort to us so this may be matter of conviction to us that the morning that the Sun in the firmament a liveless creature receiving a command should constantly appear at the time which the Lord appoints and that we who are living creatures that we who are reasonable creatures yea that we who have not only reason but grace all believers have should not be obedient to and observant of the Lords command to come at his time to appear at his call how may it cause us to blush for shame The Prophet saith The Stork in the heavens the Crane the Tuâ—tle and the Swallow these know the time of their coming they come in their season I may say also the Sun Moon and Stars those lights in the heavens know their season and the time of their coming they obey the command of the Lord and shall not we know the judgement of the Lord and observe the appointed times of our duty which to observe is as much our interest or benefit as it is our duty As often as we see the morning coming according to the command of God let it provoke us to make hast and not delay to keep his commandements Thirdly Hast thou commanded the morning that is the morning light to come forth No it 's I that have done it Hence Note We are to acknowledge God as the Commander yea as the Former Maker and Author of the light This command of God hath respect not onely to his bringing forth the light every morning or to his bringing forth the morning light every day into the world but to his giving the light its being
Stars Gen. 19.23 Neh. 4.21 Thus here canst thou cause Mazzaroth to rise and go forth Or canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth What 's that Some Interpreters conceive Sunt collectionis syderum quae usus obtinuit ut vocentur 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quasi parva animalia alii vero dicunt signifiâ—are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sydereum canem Chrysost apud Orus Colligunt quidam hic Mazzaroth esse quod ibi dicebatur penetralia Austri Merc. Remotiora siâ— na Heb. separationes i. e. sidera à nobis qui sub polo arctico degimus ut Jobus separata sic autem vooantur sidera meridionalia quae oriuntur in principio aestatis Pisc that by Mazzaroth we are to understand those Constellations which Astronomers call the twelve Signes of the Zodiack which are expressed for learning sake by the fancied names of living creatures so that according to this interpretation the Suns appearance in or passage through those monthly signs is the bringing forth of Mazzaroth in his season But most generally they are taken for the Southern Stars and thought to be the same with those Chap. 9.9 Called the Chambers of the South and seeing the other three are named there it is not improbable that under this word the fourth is intended Master Broughton calls them far Stars in the South The letter of the Hebrew imports that and the Seventy derive it from a root â—hat signifies to separate or disperse because those Stars are far separated or are at a great distance from us who lye under the Northern Pole Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season that is canst thou make that Constellation appear in its proper time thou canst not Hence take these brief Notes The Stars of heaven are brought forth by special order and appointment As men are brought forth at such a time in such a place so are they by an order from God The Stars of heaven are not under any law of man on earth no nor of the Angels in heaven Psal 19.4 5. In them speaking of the heavens hath he that is the Lord set a Tabernacle for the Sun which is as a Bride groom coming out of his Chamber every morning to visit his Spouse the earth and rejoyceth as a strong man to run a race what is there spoken of the Sun is true of Mazzaroth and of all the Stars whether planted in the Northern or Southern in the Eastern or Western parts of heaven 'T is the Lord who brings them all forth and that in their season Note secondly The Stars of heaven have their seasons and keep their seasons They keep them punctually to a minute to a moment they know their times and they keep time they have their seasons of rising and their seasons of setting Psal 65.8 Thou makest the out-goings of Morning and Evening to rejoyce Some Stars go out in the Morning others go out in the Evening their times are various but they all keep their time Psal 104.19 The Sun knoweth its going down that is the time of its going down the place of its going down In this we may see what we should do or our own duty Let us come forth in our season The Stars are brought forth in theirs and shall not we happy are they that come forth and bring forth in their season To hit time is a mercy as well as a duty Paul indeed said of himself 1 Cor. 15.8 that he was an abortive or born out of due time An abortive in nature is one that comes into the world before the due time Paul as to his spiritual birth or new birth through grace was not nor can any one be new-born before the due time We may rather say that we are new-born too late than too soon or before our time Paul might say he had been too long a proud Pharisie a formal professor and at last a persecutor of those who professed the truth of the Gospel in truth and therefore in that sence Paul was not an abortive or born out of due time namely before his time But Paul might say so of himself that he was so First Because he was the last of the Apostles that was called The other Apostles were called by Christ while he lived here on earth Paul was called by Christ from heaven after his death and departure from the earth Secondly He was born like an abortive or those that come out of due time because of the violence and grievous pangs which accompanied his new-birth He was smitten from his horse to the ground and lay as one dead in his passage to his new-life Such was the suddenness and violence of his conversion that it was most like an abortion Thirdly The Apostle himself seems to give the reason in the next Verse we know abortives are usually very weak and imperfect children and less in body than those born in due time Now such was Saint Pauls humility so low was he in his own thoughts that he calls himself vers 9. the least of the Apostles not meet to be called an Apostle In all these or in any of these notions the Apostle Paul might say he was born out of due time yet both as to the truth and seasonableness of his conversion he was born in due time and in his full time Now as there is a due time a season for our spiritual birth so for our fruit-bearing in spirituals It is said of every godly man Psal 1.3 He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bringeth forth his fruit in his season that is seasonable fruit The Stars appear in their season and so should the fruits of every Gospel-professor If we should see Winter-stars in Summer and Summer-stars in Winter if the Sun should rise at Mid-night or go down at Mid-day how prodigious would that appearance and disappearance be if the Sun should not rise and set just at the time we look for him it would breed horror and put all men into an amazement But now the Lord brings forth Mazzaroth and all the Stars in their season O therefore let us look to our seasons we shall be reproved else by the Stars of heaven Mazzaroth will be a witness against us Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season Or canst thou guid Arcturus with his Sons A radice 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 duxit placidè sensim sicut pastoroves Arcturus est stella insignis quae oritur in principio Autumni Hebraei putant esse septem stellas quae semper apparent in nostro hemisphaerio à congregatione sic dictas nam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 est congregatio Merc. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sive Cynosura supra alias stellas in apice caeli tanquam mater in alto supra filios suos sedens cum iis certissima ratione circumducitur Coc. Here 's a fourth question Canst thou guid The word signifies to guid or conduct gently softly canst thou guid them as a Shepheard guids his flock
man The sin of man loosed the creatures from that bond of service to man in which and to which they were created Will the Vnicorn be willing to serve thee Observe Sixthly Those Creatures which will not do service unto man but live meerly to themselves are wild or fierce These clearly resemble the condition of those men who live only to themselves or who serve none but themselves Whatever some men do they serve themselves only they respect no mans good either spiritual or temporal besides their own were it not that they had a chief respect to their private ends and interests in serving they would never serve A gracious spirit is willing to serve his neighbour to serve his brother as well as or with himself Christ tells us his Disciples should be so far from serving themselves only that they should not serve themselves at all he that will be my Disciple saith our Lord Jesus Christ Mat. 16.24 Let him deny himself that is not serve nor seek himself either contrary to the good of others or with a neglect of their good Therefore they who in all they do do all for themselves live upon no better terms nor to any nobler ends than the Unicorn or wild Ass who are not willing to serve any man Let others sink or swim say such they care not they will look to their own Seventhly and Lastly Though God hath made a sort of creatures that as the case stands will not serve man nor contribute any help to him yet these creatures live not in vain to God nor are they altogether unserviceable to man though they have no will to serve him For First They declare the power and wisdome of God both in making and governing them and in that they declare his praise God would not give any creature a being that did not one way or other set forth his praise in the world there 's much of God shining in those creatures which man hath no service by Psal 148. Praise him ye Dragons and all Deeps Dragons praise God they raise up a revenue of glory to God though man get no service from them Secondly Such creatures adorn the universe the world is beautified with their variety Thirdly Even such creatures serve man when they are dead though they will not while they live some parts of them are Medicinal and many useful to man The Unicorn who will serve no man living while he lives yet his horn is accounted a great Antidote against Poyson and so is a means to prevent the death or prolong the life of many men So then there is no creature but is serviceable to God and man some way or other And though it may be truly said of some men as of the Unicorn with respect to man they will not serve God yet God hath service by them Will the Vnicorn be willing to serve thee Or abide by thy Crib A Crib is that in which an Oxe or an Ass feeds Isa 1.3 The Oxe knoweth his Owner and the Ass his Masters Crib that is the vessel in which he useth to be fed Solomon saith Prov. 14.4 Where no Oxen are the Crib is clean that is the Crib is not used and so remains clean If none come into a Room the Room is clean In one sense where Oxen are the Crib is clean that is they eat up all the fodder put into it But in Solomons sense where no Oxen are the Crib is clean because no fodder is put into it The Lord having said the Unicorn will do no work adds also he will not abide by thy Crib As he will do thee no service so he will put thee to no charge that 's a piece of ingenuity in the Unicorn as he does no work for man so he looks for no wages nor reward from man which may be a reproof to those men who are very unwilling to serve others yet are very willing to abide by their Crib they like it well to eat and drink upon you as long as you will and possibly whether you will or no but will not do a stroke of work Such a one we call proverbially a Lurdane from the lazy Danes who long since Lording it in this Kingdom would eat and drink in a good well-stored house but refused all labour The Unicorn is to be commended above such idle drones who use their teeth more than their hands as if they were born only to feed their bellies or to live upon the sweat of other mens brows for he hath a kind of honesty in him as he doth you no work so he will not trouble your Crib Hence note Some creatures will rather run the adventure of starving than work for their living They will rather indure hunger and thirst than be put upon labour There is much of this also in some mens spirits 't is so with all those whom Solomon calls sluggards they prefer hunger and ease which some calls a dogs life before plenty with industry and a thred-bare back before a sweating brow Secondly From the connexion in that the Text saith will he serve thee will be abide by thy Crib Note Whomsoever we call to our service we should provide a Crib for him We ought to feed those that do our work If the Unicorn would labour he should not want a Crib nor should any labouring man want a Table It were a most unrighteous thing in the sight of God and Man if he should As the Apostle gives the rule 2 Thess 3.10 He that will not work let him not eat so on the contrary he that doth work all the reason in the world he should eat therefore the Apostle James Chap. 5.4 denounceth a wo against rich men for detaining or keeping back either in whole or in part the hire of the labourers who had cut down their harvest Hire kept back crieth for what for wrath and vengeance upon them that detain or keep it back The law of God given by Moses Deut. 24.15 commanded that the labourers hire should be paid him presently his hire was not to be kept from him no not for a night As if the Lord had said he hath been willing to serve thee all the day therefore let him carry his wages home at night to comfort his Wife and Children The Lord is very jealous in this thing if a beast serve he must have a Crib Moratur ad praesepe Dâ—mini qui verbo Dei audiendo indesinenter dâ—t operam August and shall not man One of the Ancients applies this in a spiritual sense to hearing the Word of God The wicked will not serve God nor will they abide by his Crib they will not come where their souls may be fed to eternal life where they may have clean Provender as the Prophet speaks Isa 30.24 that is sound and wholesome doctrine directing them both what to believe and how to live that they may be saved and live for ever The Lord having in this 9th verse set forth the lawless
as he lives King Benhadad being taken in war sent to King Ahab and submitted to him as a servant that he might have his life 1 Kings 20.32 Qui jure belli occidi potuit non duram subit conditionem si paratam mortem cum longa servitute commutat Sanct. Thy servant Benhadad saith I pray thee let me live But this Leviathan is so stout that he will not ask his life of any man nor will he serve any for an hour much less for ever Will he make a covenant with thee wilt thou take him for thy servant for ever That is will he become thy servant by covenant or thy covenant-servant Covenants bind servants to duty There are two things in a servants covenant First it obligeth him to work Secondly it assureth him of a reward Gods covenant with us assures us of mercy I will be to you a God I will pardon your sins I will do you good and then it requires duty You shall be to me a people you shall walk humbly and uprightly before me you shall serve me for ever Wilt thou take Leviathan to serve thee For ever But are any servants or shall any except God himself be served for ever why then saith the Lord Wilt thou take him for thy servant for ever Some are taken servants only for a year some for seven years others for life They who are servants for life are and may be called our servants for ever so that when the Lord saith Wilt thou take him for thy servant for ever the meaning is will he be thy servant as long as he liveth And indeed the life of a beast may well be called his for ever forasmuch as he hath no life after this life nor being after death The word rendred for ever comes from a root in the Hebrew which signifieth to hide or to be hidden because Eternity which is for ever in strict sense is altogether hidden and without end and if for ever be taken only for a long time indefinitely that 's a hidden thing too who knows when a long time will end if no end be assigned to it The life of man is his for ever in this world for how short soever it is no man knows the end of it and so to him it is a hidden thing In this sense also the life of a beast is a hidden thing as to the natural end of it and so his for ever Wilt thou take him to be thy servant for ever or Will he be thy everlasting servant Hence note All the creatures were made for mans service and were once his servants And therefore when creatures will not serve us especially when they rise against us we should remember as our fall in Adam so our own failings in the service of God The unserviceableness of the creature to us is a fruit and an effect of our unserviceableness and disobedience to God That word of God Gen. 1.28 which I may call the charter of mans Lordship over the creature reached Leviathan himself And God blessed them and God said be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the Sea c. that includes dominion over the Leviathan The Apostle James also Chap. 3.7 speaks of mans dominion over the fish of the Sea Every kind of beasts and of birds and of serpents and of things in the Sea is tamed and hath been tamed of mankind Man was originally invested with a power to tame not only things on earth but things in the Sea even the mighty Leviathan And when the Lord after the flood restored the world and renewed mans charter he put in this among the rest of his grants the subjection of the fish of the Sea Gen. 9.1 2. And God blessed Noah and his sons and said be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth and the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth and upon every fowl of the air and upon all that moveth upon the earth and upon all the fishes of the Sea into your hand they are delivered The very fish of the Sea shall fear and reverence you But as we quite forfeited the priviledge of the first charter by the first general fall so our after personal falls have doubtless much abated the priviledges of this renewed charter When we break commandements we weaken our interest in and lose the benefit of promises and priviledges Man by falling from the commands of God lost his command of the creatures 1. Imperium sui 2. Imperium suum or man by sin lost First the command of himself and then his command over the creatures Sin hinders our present enjoyments and will unless repented of by us and pardoned by God cut us off from our future hopes We should behold and bewail it as a part of that great curse fallen upon us by the sin of Adam and our own personal sins that many creatures refuse to serve us Will Leviathan saith God to Job make a covenant with thee will he be thy servant for ever That 's the fourth particular mentioned in the third and fourth verses wherein the unsubmissiveness and stiffness of this Leviathan is set forth he will not make supplications he will not speak soft words neither will he be thy covenant-servant for ever And as he is not for mans work so not for his sport Vers 5. Wilt thou play with him as with a bird wilt thou bind him for thy maidens Or as Mr. Broughton renders this latter clause Wilt thou tye him for thy young girles This verse holds out a further evidence of the stoutness of Leviathan Some creatures though they will not work yet they will play and make you sport but Leviathan is so stout that he will neither do you any work nor make you any sport Wilt thou play with him as with a bird The word signifies any small bird especially a Sparrow with which children use to play Leviathan will not play with man nor is he to be made a play or to be sported with When the Philistines had put out Sampsons eyes who was once as terrible to them as a Leviathan they called for him to make them sport and the Text saith Judg. 16.25 He made them sport though they quickly found he was not a man to be sported with We say proverbially 'T is ill jesting with edge-tools I may say 'T is ill sporting with Leviathan The vulgar Latine translation saith Numquid illudes ei ficut avi Vulg. Wilt thou cozen or ensnare him as a bird Canst thou entangle him as a little bird with lime-twigs or entice him into thy net and then make sport with him Leviathan is a great player and very game-some but he will not play at any game with us nor can we play at any game with him but Hazzard That he is very gamesom when and where he pleaseth the Psalmist tells us speaking of the great and wide
tryals and troubles which would have sunk him a thousand times had not he stood by him and assisted him The Lord is a master in Covenant with his servants and that a Covenant of grace in which every command hath a promise annexed to it and that not only a promise of reward when we have done it but of strength to do it and if so then we may conclude it easie as well as hohonourable and profitable to serve the Lord. Therefore Let us labour to approve our selves the Lords servants And if any ask who is the Lords servant I answer Fiâ—st He is the Lords servant that doth the Lords work His servants we are whom we obey he is our master whose work we do It is good for us to consider whose work we are about Jesus Christ was the fathers servant in that great undertaking the redemption of lost man Now all his work on earth was his fathers work John 9.4 I said he must work the work of him that sent me Unless we are in the Lords work and doing the Lords will we cannot be reckoned among his servants Secondly If you are the Lords servants then as you do the Lords work so you are ready to do all his work He is not a servant that doth what he pleaseth Some say they will do the Lords work but they pick and chuse they do this and leave the other undone He is the Lords servant that goeth through all the Lords work If we do easie work and refuse hard work if we refuse that work which displeaseth the world and chuse only that which is pleasing to the world we serve not the Lord but the world and our selves Here is the tryal when we do what God willeth whether the world will it and like it yea or no. The Lord said of David He is my servant and what will he do he will do all my will that is he will not stick at any of my work Thirdly If ye are the Lords servants as ye will do all his work so no woâ—k but his you will not do the work of the flesh you will not do any work for man in opposition to the work of God In subordination to the will of God we should readily do the work of man In serving men thus we are also the servants of God But he that is the Lords servant will not do any work for man which contradicteth or crosseth the service of God Christ saith expresly No man serveth two Masters ye cannot serve God and Mammon Mat. 6.24 We may serve many Masters if they command the same thing or things subordinate but we cannot serve two Masters if their commands interfere and clash one with the other as the work of God and Mammon doth And thus the Apostles caution is to be understood 1 Cor. 7.23 Ye are bought with a price be not ye the servants of men Fourthly If ye are the Lords servants as ye do the Lords work and all his work and only his work so ye will do his work willingly All the Lords servants are free men his servants are sons they do not serve as slaves but as children and God dealeth with them as a Father more than as a Master Consider have ye a free spirit for the service of God His servants find themselves indeed constrained to serve him but they do not serve him by constraint they are constrained by love not by base fear to serve him Fifthly If ye are the Lords servants ye do his work for his sake the will of the Lord is as much the reason why ye do his work as the rule by which ye do it Should we do never so much of that which is materially the Lords work unless we do it because it is his work we are not his servants in doing it He that doth the Lords work for self-ends only or chiefly is not the Lords servant but his own Sixthly If ye are the Lords servants ye have resolved to be his servants for ever your ears are bored at his post and ye have have said as the servant under the Law that loved his Master Exod. 21.5 6. Ye will not go out free It was so with Job he was the Lords servant before his rrouble and he was so at the end of his troubles The Lord doth not take servants for months and for years we must be his everlasting servants alwayes his servants if his servants at all And this should rejoyce our souls that we are and shall be for ever in the Lords work To serve the Lord is better than to rule the world God is so good a Master that we shall never have any the least occasion to desire a change and he is so sure a Master that we need not fear it Lastly Though the Lord said his wrath was kindled against Eliphaz and his two friends yet in the very next words he is directing them how to make their peace and return or be received again into his favour Hence note God often manifests more displeasure than ever he intends to act Yea when ever he manifests displeasure against his children it is that he might not act it Nineveh was threatned with destruction that repenting it might not be destroyed Sinners of all sorts are threatned with death and damnation that believing they may be saved and live What could Eliphaz and his two friends expect when the Lord said My wrath is kindled but that his wrath should have swallowed them up and consumed them in a moment Solomon saith Prov. 16.14 The wrath of a King is as messengers of death and like the roaring of a Lion Prov. 19.12 much more is the wrath of God like the roaring of a Lion and as the messengers of death But though the Lord told Jobs friends of wrath and of kindled wrath yet he only First reproved them mildly and Secondly instead of blowing up that fire sheweth or directeth them how to quench it and get into the Sun-shine of his favour as will appear further in the verse Vers 8. Therefore take unto you now seven Bullocks and seven Rams and go to my servant Job and offer up for your selves a burnt-offering and my servant Job shall pray for you for him will I accept lest I deal with you after your folly in that ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right like my servant Job This verse holds out the counsel or direction which the Lord gave Eliphaz and his two friends for the making of their peace and the reconciling of themselves to his Majesty whose wrath was kindled against them And here the Lord directs them to a twofold means of their reconciliation First The offering up of a sacrifice in which we may consider two things First The matter of the sacrifice or what was to be sacrificed Bullocks and Rams Secondly The quantity or number of the sacrifice seven and seven seven Bullocks and seven Rams such was the matter such the quantity of the sacrifice which they were
an hundred and ten years Gen 50. ult Job if we take in that common account of the antecedent part of his life lived longer than any of these even two hundred and ten years The fifth Commandement hath this promise Exod. 20.12 Honour thy Father and thy Mother that thy dayes may be long in the Land which the Lord thy God giveth thee And the Apostle calls that the first Commandement with promise Eph. 6.2 that is the first Commandement with an explicite promise all the Commandements have promises implyed to those that obey them Eliphaz assured Job of this blessing in case of his repentance Chap. 5.26 Thou shalt come to thy grave in a full age like as a shock of Corn cometh in his season And in this he was a true Prophet Now that long life is a blessing I would shew briefly under these six considerations First It is a blessing to have a long opportunity of doing good of being useful and serviceable to our generation long life gives an advantage for that Secondly It is a blessing to have opportunity to gain experiences First of the various providences of God towards men whether in wayes of judgement or of mercy Secondly to get experiences of the manners of men of the vanity unfaithfulness and inconstancy of some men and of the goodness faithfulness and constancy of others Though we sometimes smart in getting our experiences yet it may be a great blessing to have them Thirdly It is a blessing to have an opportunity to hold forth the grace of God to us and the graces of God in us by a holy example The longer we live a natural life the more we may manifest the power of a spiritual life to those among whom we live Fourthly It is a blessing to have opportunity for improvement and growth in grace to attain the highest stature in and pitch of holiness This benefit we may make of long life even encrease in grace as our years encrease and grow better as we grow older Fifthly It is a blessing to have opportunity to bring up our children in the nurture and fear of God long life gives liberty for this Lastly it is a blessing to behold the blessing of God upon our posterity long life gives us opportunity for this blessing and this was Jobs blessing eminently In all these respects and many more might be added long life is a blessing Yet let me give this corrective Long life is but a common blessing it is no distinguishing blessing it is not a certain love-token from God to man Bad men have lived long as appears both in sacred and common Histories Old age is then a blessing and good indeed when we are old in goodness or grow old doing good Solomons conclusion reacheth this fully Prov. 16.31 The hoary head is a crown of glory if it be found in the way of righteousness And Solomon tells us in Ecclesiastes Better is a child that will be ruled than an old and foolish King that will receive no counsel When we may say of any as the Lord said of some Ezek. 23.43 O ye that are old in adulteries when any are old in sin woe to such an old age Better to die young than live to old age and then die in sin To live to be old men the old man not dying in us O how sad To see sin young when the man is old how odious a sight is that Then only old age is good when we are good in old age They only die in a good old age as it is said of Abraham Gen. 25.8 who are good dying old The sinner of a hundred years old shall die accursed Isa 65.20 So then it is knowing not ignorant old age it is prudent not foolish old age it is gracious not vicious old age which is indeed the blessing and therefore though it be a blessing look upon it as a common blessing As riches are good to us our selves being good so is old age such is a life of many years in this world good only to those who are good and do good Secondly When it is said Job lived an hundred and forty years we are not to take his living for a bare continuance or indurance in life for so many years but we are to understand his life or living so long Vivere est valere with the cloathing of it with the good of it he lived that is he lived comfortably honourably peaceably this hundred and forty years We commonly say To live is to be well to live is to flourish Some live whose life is a kind of death As they who live in sinful pleasure are dead while they live so also are they who live in great worldly sorrow Job lived comfortably and contentedly all that long time of his latter life even an hundred and forty years Hence note Secondly Long life in health peace and prosperity is a blessing indeed To live long in the enjoyment of good is very good What man is he saith David Psal 34.12 that desireth life and loveth many dayes that he may see good Keep thy tongue from evil c. To live long and see good that is enjoy good is the utmost that can be desired in this life That 's the blessing or the good promised in the renewed state of Jerusalem Isa 65. where after the Lord had spoken of new heavens and new earth he adds at the 22d verse They shall not build and another inhabit they shall not plant and another eat for as the dayes of a tree are the dayes of my people and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands He doth not say they shall live long but they shall enjoy long that which they have built and planted none shall invade nor take away from them Some conceive this hath reference to the thousand years prophesied of Rev. 20. wherein the Church shall enjoy perfect felicity in this world To live long in the sweet enjoyments of health honour peace and plenty for soul and body is a full blessing I grant some good men live long who yet do not alwayes enjoy good their old age especially is accompanied and encumbered with many bodily distempers and grievous pains Though grace sets us above the decayes of nature and the troubles of this life yet grace doth not exempt nor give us priviledge from either so that greediness after many years is commonly a greediness only after many infirmities Isaac was a good old man yet 't is said of him that when he was old his eyes waxed dim so that he could not see Gen. 27.1 Old age and dim eyes and deaf ears shaking hands and palsied trembling joynts with manifold diseases are seldom found asunder Therefore Job had an extraordinary blessing to live long and free from all these evils and so have any who do so Barzillay was a good old man yet 2 Sam. 19.25 he was so benummed and his natural senses so enfeebled that he did not enjoy his life
of Heth. If Jacob take a wife of the daughters of Heth such as these which are of the daughters of the Land what good shall my life do me Better be out of the world than see my sons miscarry These two sights to see children suffering or to see them sinning are a pain not only to the eyes but to the hearts of parents But to see them First Prosperous in their way Secondly Pious keeping the way of the Lord to have and see such children and childrens Children to the third and fourth generation how delightful is this The Apostle John professed 3 Epist ver 4. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in the truth He means his spiritual children those whom he had converted to the faith and begotten to Christ in the ministery of the Word O what a joy was it to that holy Apostles heart to see them walk answerably to the profession of the Gospel and his expectation Now as that was so great a joy to him that he had no greater so 't is an unspeakable joy when godly parents see their natural children spiritual and walking in the truth To see children new born to see them gracious and to see them prosperous also what a blessed sight is this And this was the sight doubtless which Job had he saw his children His sons and his sons sons to the fourth generation His blessedness as to all without him in this life was at the highest when he saw the prosperity of his children both in soul and body Thus Job was blessed every way he was blessed with riches blessed with long life blessed in the multiplication of his family he was blessed also in his death as appeareth in the next and last words of this Chapter and Book Vers 17. So Job died being old and full of days As Solomon said Eccles 12.13 Hear the conclusion of the whole matter Fear God and keep his commandements So I may say now Hear the conclusion of all men To fear God and keep his commandements is the consumating end of our lives but to dye is the consuming end of all our lives and to a good man 't is an entrance into eternal life Such and so Job died The Lord having spoken of his life is not silent about his death The story the holy story brings Job to his grave and that could not but be a blessed death which was the close of a gracious life So Job died Death is the separation of the soul from the body 't is the sleep of the body in the grave and thâ— rest of their souls in heaven who dye in the Lord. There is no difficulty in these words take a note or two from them First Death takes all sooner or latter Job lived a long time but he did not out-live death Mors ultima clausula vitae Mors ultima linea rerum he enjoyed an hundred and forty years prosperity in this world yet he left the world He lived long yet a day came when he could not live a day longer 'T is said of all the long livers Gen. 5. They died Adam lived nine hundred and thirty years and he died Seth lived nine hundred and twelve years and he died Methuselah the longest liver in this world lived nine hundred sixty and nine years and he died Here Job lived an hundred and forty and so he dyed David put the question of all men Psal 89.48 What man is he that liveth and shall not see death How great or how good how rich or how wise how strong or how valiant soever any man living is he must dye How long soever any man hath lived in this world he must dye for the world must dye there must be a dissolution of all things and therefore a dissolution of all men Psal 82.6 7. I said ye are gods but ye shall dye like men Kings and Princes who have the priviledge to be called gods have not the priviledge of God not to dye like men This is a common theam I intend not to stay upon it only let me tell you death will overtake us all sooner or later upon a double account First Because it is appointed Secondly Because it is deserved It is appointed unto men once to dye Heb. 9.27 and all men have deserved to dye to dye eternally and therefore much more to dye naturally Rom. 5.12 As by one man sin entred into the world and death by sin and so death past upon all men for that all have sinned Now seing the condition of all men is a dying condition receive these four cautions First Prepare for death There is no avoiding it at the long run therefore be ready to entertain it at last and because we may dye at any time be preparing for death at all times How miserable are they who are so old that they cannot live and yet so unprepared that they are afraid to dye Job died and we must If so Is it not our wisdome to prepare for death Secondly Submit quietly to the arrest of death There is no striving with the decrees of God Our death is under a divine appointment Eccles 8.8 There is no discharge in that war no priviledge to be pleaded no exemption no prescription Your strength cannot stand against the assaults of death your prudence and policy cannot find any way of escape from it nor can your piety or godliness deliver you out of the hands of natural death As there is no work nor devise nor knowledge in the grave whither we are going Eccles 9.10 so there is no knowledg no device no wisdom can keep us from going into the grave no not our graces Grace is as salt to the soul preserving it from moral corruption for ever But it cannot keep the body from natural corruption in this world Mors est nobis nimis domestica utpote quam in viscaribus nostris circumserimâ— Plutarch in Consol ad Apoll. because our graces in this world are mingled with corruption Death is domestical to us that is we have the seed of it within our selves we carry it daily in our bowels and in our bosomes therefore submit quietly to it for there is no avoiding it Thirdly Seing all must dye get that removed which is the troubler of a death-bed and the sting of death get that removed which makes death bitter get that removed which makes death the King of terrours so terrible that is sin This should be our study all the days of our life to get rid of sin to be dying to sin daily because we must dye at last and may dye for all that we know or can assure our selves any day we live 1 Cor. 13.56 The sting of death is sin Whensoever or in what way soever we dye it will be well with us if the sting of death be first pulled out and whensoever we dye after never so long a life it will be miserable if we dye in our sins as Christ told the Jews in
in God full of assurance of the glory of God They whose days are filled with these divine enjoyments dye full of days how few days soever they have lived in this world They who live thus live many days in one day they who live thus have the tast and first fruits of eternity every day and therefore cannot but be satisfied with their days be they many or be they few He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most high Psal 91.1 that is who trusteth fully in God for safety by Christ in this world and for salvation in the next stands under the shadow and sweet influences of many promises mentioned in that Psalm for the preservation and prolongation of his life in the midst of a thousand deaths and dangers all which are summed up in that promise given at the 16th or last verse of the Psalm With long life will I satisfie him and shew him my salvation The Hebrew is with length of days will I satisfie him Which as it is true and firstly intended in that Psalm of a long life here and hath in that sense been often fulfilled â—o those who trust in God fully God gives to such not only a present escape from death in a time of Pestilence but gives them long life or their fill of living afterwards even in this world yet that which doth chiefly satisfie them is that long life of which the longest life in this world is but a shadow and to which it is a very nothing What is this long life Surely not a life of an hundred and forty years long as Job's was Job was so satisfied with the length of his life that he was willing to the as hath been shewed but Job was not so satisfied with it as to take that for his long life Every man would be satisfied but what doth satisfie a godly man what doth he hunger after for satisfaction Is it after honours No Is it after riches No Is it after pleasures No Is it after many dayes here No What is it then Nothing can satisfie the hunger of a gracious soul but life after this life the long and blesed life of eternity and that is chiefly intended him in that promise With long life will I satisfie him and shew him my salvation No length of life can satisfie us but as in it we have the fore-sights and fore-tasts of everlasting life or of that long life which is eternal salvation With this Job was satisfied with this the old Patriarchs were satisfied It is said of Abraham Gen. 25.8 He died in a good old age an old man and full of years Oâ— Isaac also it is said Gen. 35.28 29. He died being old and full of dayes both had their fill of time but that which filled them both and that which only can fill any whose lives are yet measured by time is the hope of a blessed eternity I shall close the Point with an answer to this question why no more is said of Job but That he died being old and full of dayes whereas in both those places last named concerning Abraham and Isaac it is not only said that they died being old and full of days but this is added And were gathered to their people Abraham died and was gathered to his people Isaac dyed and was gathered to his people Why is it not also said of Job so good a man dying full of dayes and fuller of graces that he was gathered to his people I answer Abraham and Isaac lived and died among a people who were as themselves were in Covenant with God whereas Job lived among the Idumeans some affirming him to be of the posterity of Esau others of Abraham by his second wife Keturah Now all the sons which Abraham had by her he sent away from Isaac his son while he yet lived Eastward into the East Country Gen. 25.6 So that it being doubtful at least whether the people among whom Job lived were a godly people or no and that they were not being more probable as was shewed if not concluded in opening the first verse of the first Chapter for this reason I say we may suppose for the Scripture determines nothing in this matter that when the death of Job was spoken of nothing was spoken of his being gathered to his people So Job died being old and full of dayes This is that Job who was First A sorrowful man yea even a man of sorrows for a time among men as some expound his name Secondly A man hated by Satan at all times as others expound his name Thirdly A man highly approved and loved of God as appears by the testimony which he gave of him both first and last This is that Job who was First Famous for the afflictions with which God exercised and tryed him to the utmost Secondly More famous for his patience and constancy under those afflictions and tryals Thirdly Most famous for his wonderful deliverance out of those afflictions and tryals This is that Job who was First Famous for his riches and prosperity Secondly More famous for his vertues and integrity Thirdly Most famous for his victory over Satan in his deepest adversity This is that Job who was First Reviled by his Wife Secondly Reproached by his Friends Thirdly Deserted by his nearest Relations in the day of his greatest need This is that Job who was First Unjustly accused of charged with censured for the worst of iniquities Secondly Who stoutly maintained his own innocency against all those censures and charges Thirdly Who was clearly acquitted from them all by the testimony of his own conscience alwayes and by the testimony of God himself in the end This is that Job who was First Greatly distressed by the malice of the devil through the permission of God Secondly Mightily supported against the malice of the devil by the power of God in all his distresses Thirdly Fully resolved to trust in God with all his heart though he died under his hand in never so great distress This is that Job who First In the greatness of his pain expostulated sometimes with God over-boldly yet Secondly At the last submitted and humbled himself at the foot of God meekly Thirdly Was honoured as a Mediator for his mistaken friends and accepted in it by God graciously Once more This is that Job who First After his restoring was filled with the blessings of this life Secondly Lived long even to fulness of dayes in the full enjoyment of those blessings Thirdly Died peaceably and passed sweetly into the enjoyment of a better of a longer even an eternal life Thus I am come to the end of Job and to the end of the Book of Job yet before I end let me leave these five words as so many Uses of the whole Book of Job First While you live in this world live in the expectation of and preparation for changes Job met with them and who may not Secondly Be patient under all the troublesom changes which you meet