8. 17. where the first prophecie of Isaiah is quoted is very emphatical when Christ had heal'd many of their outward distempers this reason is added That it might be fufilled which is written sc Isa 53. 9. himself took our infirmities and bare our sicknesses Now Christ took our infirmities and bare our sicknesses when he took and bare our sins when he took sin he took that which was the necessary fruit of sin our sicknesses and our sorrows For as in Scripture Christ is said to be made sin for us that is with the sin he bare those affiictions and sorrows which are the consequents of sin so here when it is said He bare our sorrows and our sicknesses it takes in the bearing of those sins which procured and produced those sorrows The Greek words used by the Evangelist are ful with this sense 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 assumpsit sccum atque recepit quasi ad se transtulit He took them to him he received them upon himself he as it were translated them from poor sinful man to his owne body The word also imports his taking our sins and sicknesses upon him as a vesture or a garment and so wrapping himself in them We know our sins by nature cloath us as a garment ours is not only a burden but a cloathing of sin and filthiness Take away his filthy garments saith the Lord concerning Joshua the high-Priest then follows and unto him I said I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee and I will cloath thee with change of raiment Man saw not his own nakedness till he was cloathed with sinne Gen. 2. Christ to answer that cloaths and wraps himself with our sins as we our selves were wrapped about and cloathed with them he cloaths himself with our sorrows as we our selves were cloathed with sorrow In which sence among others Christ may be called a man of sorrows as we may call a man cloathed with raggs a man of raggs and a man cloathed with silke a man of silkes The second word of the Evangelist Mat. 18. 17. signifies to bear 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as a Porter bears a great burthen Christ took up that burthen onder which all the Angels in heaven would have sunk he took it up like a mighty Sampson and carried it out for us The scape-Goate was a type of this Levit. 6. 22. And the Goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities into a land not inhabited or a land cut off and separated from other lands and people figuring hereby the total abolishing of our sins which being carried into a land where no man dwels shall be as lost and gone for ever not to be found when they shall be sought for who can find that which is where no man ever was pardon'd sin is carried and as it were hid out of the sight both of God and man for it is not and that which is not is not according to man to be seen In allusion to all which Christ Jo. 1. 29. is pointed at by the Baptist with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Behold the Lumb of God that takes away the sins of the world he takes sin off from the world upon himself and carries it away no man knows whither That for the first word pardon why doest thou not pardon my sin The second word is rendred by our Translatours Take away 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Est 1. simpliciter praeterire 2. interire perire evanescere mori why doest thou not take away mine iniquity Others thus Why doest thou not cause mine iniquity to pass away Or Why doest thou not put away mine iniquity So we rranslate 2 Sam. 12. 13. where assoon as David confest his sin saying I have sinned Nathan answers and the Lord hath put away thy sin he hath made it to pass away The word signifies first simply to pass away or to pass by Secondly to die perish or vanish away that which passes by us is vanished as to us So the word is taken Psal 37. 36. where David speaking of the flourishing estate of wicked men saith I have seen the wicked in great prosperity flourishing as a greene bay tree yet he past away and loe he was not A man unpardoned sees or should see his sins growing up as a mighty tree sin unpardoned flourishes like a green bay-tree it roots in the soul and guilt nourishes it but when pardon comes sin passes away and it is not because that which gave it sap is not Further this word which is very considerable is applied to Quando dicitur de mandato pacto juramento significat transgredi violare peecare the committing of sin as well as to the pardoning of sin For when it is joyned with those words The Commandements of God the Statutes of God the Word of God or the like it signifies to violate to break the bounds to transgress for in sinning a man passes by the Word and Commandement of God the precepts which God hath given and the charge God hath laid upon him he goeth away from all when man sins he passeth by the Commandment of God and when God pardons he passeth by the sin of man or he causeth his sins to pass away So that this word Take away put away or cause to passe Transire facis e. i. impunitum retir quis condonas notes the removing of sin both in the guilt and punishment When sin is past by all the punishments due to sin are passed by the sinner shall never be toucht or feel the weight of Gods little finger in judgement when God comes with his revenges he passes such by as in that plague of Egypt the slaying of the first born which was therefore called the Lords Passeover in memorial whereof that great ordinance was appointed the Jews of keeping the Passeover and eating the Pascal Lambe Exod. 12. 13 14. In this sense the word is used Amos 7. 8. when God was resolved to punish and charge the sins of that people upon them he saith Behold I will set a plumbe-line in the middest of my people Israel and what follows I will not again pass by them any more God came before once and again armed to destroy them but when he came he past by them he put up his sword he unbent his bow he stopped up the vials of his wrath when a cloud of blood and judgements hung over their heads he sent a breath of mercy and caused it to pass over them but now saith he I will not again pass by them any more that is I will surely punish them so the next words interpret the high places of Isaac shall be dissolate and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid wast Some translate that in Amos I will not any more dissemble Verbum Ebraicum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quoties in scripturis sanctis ex persona Dei ponitur pro poena accipiendum est ut ncquâ—quam apud eos maneat sed pertranseat Hieron in
the highest elevation both in parts gifts and graces shall he be more pure than his Maker Christ as incarnate or made man is called the Mighty God Isa 9. 6. God made a Mighty man or man becomming the Mighty God The Chaldee calls all Giants Gibbaraja and Nimrod the first of the Giants was called by this name a Mighty hunter before the Lord Gen. 10. 8. So then Let man be never so excellent his excellency is basenesse let him be never so strong so wise so holy he is but weake foolish filthy compared with him who made him Leave your Enosh your weakeling your poore sick creatures bring forth your Gibers your best they are as nothing yea lesse than nothing before the Lord. Shall mortall man be more just than God shall man the best of men be more pure than his Maker We are to marke the double opposition of the Text. Here is first mortall weake sick man set in opposition to the strong the mighty the all-powerfull God And then in the second place the opposition is between the strongest the best the holiest the wisest of men and the maker of all men Shall mortall man or shall the best of men be more just more pure than God their Maker There is a three-fold sense which we may give of the words joyntly First They are a deniall of all comparison between God and man No man may compare himselfe with God Shall mortall man that is mortall man ought not to be so bold and daring as to venture upon such a thing as this to stand upon termes of equality with the mighty the great the glorious God the Maker of all as the Apostle resolves in his own case 1 Cor. 4. 4. Though I know nothing by my selfe yet am I not hereby justified at all much lesse though a man know nothing by himselfe will this justifie him in this comparison that he is just as God is just But secondly Shall mortall man be more just than God It is as if he had said God who is infinite in justice would never doe that which a just man will not doe God who is infinite in power would never doe that which a weake man would not doe shall weake man be more just than God And so we may forme the argument thus No man no Judge is more just or incorrupt than God who is the supreame and Lord chiefe Justice of all men But there is no just Judge amongst men who will punish an innocent man therefore God doth not punish any one that is innocent The consequence or inference is plaine and cleare for God himselfe should either be unjust or he should be lesse just than man is if he should doe that which a just man upon true grounds would refuse to doe Therefore in Gen. 18. Abraham pleades with God under that title of a just Judge shall not the Judge of all the world doe right As if he should say faithfull Judges upon the earth will doe right therefore surely he that is the Judge of all the earth will doe right so Eliphaz here to Job Never complaine as if God had done thee wrong for certainly the just God will not doe that which a just man would not doe The word whereby God is exprest Eloha Eloha denotot judicem â—quissimum rerum arbitâ—um doth well comply with and answer this sense it being properly attributed to God as a Judge the great arbitrator and determiner of all the causes and cases of all men in the world Shall mortall man be more just than God Thirdly The sense may be taken thus If any man should come to impleade God or to pleade with God if any should dare to tax the Justice of God or be so hardy to put in a bill of complaint against him shall this man this weake man be found more just in his complaining than God hath been in sentencing shall his bill of complaint be better grounded than the Lords award of Judgement It is an allusion to those who supposing they have wrong complaine against the Judge and say that he hath erred in or perverted Judgement That word Justified here used shall man be justified before God is a Judiciarie word a Court or Law terme 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Veâ—bum forense spectans ad innocentis absolutionem The same word which the Holy Ghost uses in that great work of Free Grace the justification of a sinner before God And that imports the declaring and setting forth of a man to be righteous and his cause good in Jesus Christ whereupon he is cleered and acquitted When Satan accuses or pleads against us laying such and such sinnes to our charge thus and thus this man hath offended then God is said to justifie a man that is to declare him to be just his sinnes being covered and himselfe accepted in Jesus Christ Hence that divine challenge to all accusers Who shall lay any thing to the charge of Gods elect it is God that justifieth Rom. 8. 33. So now if man should accuse and complaine against God he hath done thus and thus in the world afflicted a Job troubled a righteous person shall mortall man be more just than God Shall this man in his complaint be justified shall not God rather be justified against whom he complains Certainly he shall God shall be declared just yea he shall be declared just by man A man un-ingaged and rightly principled Such a man shall say verily there is a God that judgeth the earth In the judgement of man that judgment shall speak a God and all shall be forced to Daniels mourning acknowledgement O Lord righteousnesse belongeth unto thee but unto us confusion of face Dan. 97. 9 We may enlighten it further by that of David Ps 51. 4. where he professes thus I will confesse my sins c. that thou maiest be justified when thou speakest and be cleare when thou judgest as if he should say if hereafter thou shalt afflict me and lay thy rod upon me I know many will be ready to complaine and say why doth God thus why doth he afflict David David a holy man a man after his own heart a man of whom he hath given such large testimony of whom he hath said I have found a man after my own heart Now to the intent all these may be cast in their suits and answered in their complainings I here acknowledge before all the world that I have sinned greatly therefore though thou hast pardoned my sinne and so wilt never charge it upon me to condemnation nor punish me for it in a way of satisfaction yet hereafter thou maiest in thy fatherly wisdome see it needfull to chastise me to prevent and purge out sin or to help me against the weaknesse of my nature and the strength of temptation for the time to come So here in the Text Shall man be justified before God If Job or any of his friends for him should complaine against God why he being
cleanse and wash him Will he not say if it come not speedily why do ye not bring away the water there sin is the defiling and bemiring of the soul and pardon is the cleansing of it If a man be deeply and deadly wounded will hee have onely some few feeble desires or make cold requests for a Chyrurgion Will hee not call and call aloud Call and call again for helpe and healing Sins are the wounds of the soul and pardon is the only cure of it If a man hath broken his bones will he not be very earnest to have them set again Sin is the breaking of the bones and pardon is their setting How doth David cry to the Lord Psal 51. 8. That the bones which he had broken might rejoyce Sin had broken his bones first and the hiding of Gods favour from him was a second breaking If a mans peace or the peace of a Nation be disturbed is there not earnest crying as at this day to have it repaires and re-established Sin troubles our peace the peace of the soul and the peace of Kingdomes Sin is the great make-bate and pardon is the returning of our peace and quieteth all again and therefore no marvel if we cry out Why doest thou not pardon our sinnes He that is greatly in debt and fears every hour to be arrested and cast in prison is trying all friends to get security and protection Sinning is a running in debt with God and it brings us under the danger of his arrest every-moment forgiveness cancels the bond when the sin is pardoned the debt is paid and the soul discharged And therefore no wonder if in this case we hear or make strong cries Why doest thou not pardon our sinnes My son saith Solomon Prov. 6. 4. speaking about suretiship if thou be surety for thy friend if thou hast ingaged thy self for another Give not sleep to thine eyes nor slumber to thine eye-lids deliver-thy self as a Roe from the hand of the hunter and as a bird from the hand of the fowler Not to give rest to the eye nor slumber to the eye-lids notes the hottest pursuit and greatest intention of spirit about a business Thus busie Solomon advises a man to be who becometh surety for another Then what should we do who have contracted huge debts our selves How should we in this sense give our eyes no rest and our eye-lids no slumber till our souls be delivered as a Roe from the hand of the hunter and as a bird from the hand of the fowler that is from all the power and challenge which the Law without us conscience within us Satan pursuing us and the justice of God threatning us can any way make or have against the peace of our souls That 's the first thing from the manner or form in which Job sues for the pardon of sin His spirit doth not fall he grows not flat upon this point but is as high and earnest here for the pardon of sin as in any of his requests for the ease of his pained bodie or the dissolution of it Why doest thou not pardon my sinne and take away mine iniquity I shall first shew what is meant by pardoning and taking away and then what by transgression and iniquity and so put the sence of all together Why dost thou not pardon my transgression The * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 accipiunt 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 tanquam à 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 oblitus fuis Septuagint reads it Why dost thou not forget my transgression Or bury it in the grave of oblivion and the word may signifie to forget as well as to take away But generally it imports the lifting up or taking away of that which lies heavy upon us either in a morall or in a natural notion Hos 11. 4. I was to them as they that take off the yoak And because pardon is the taking away or lifting off of sin therefore it is often put for the act of pardoning Hence also it is applied to that gesture of the Priests when they 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Tollere levare per Metaphoram donare cò quòd munera donaria in altum elevari solerent sicut sacrificia cum Deo offerebantur received gifts and sacrifices because they were wont to elevate and lift them up Hence Christ the substance of all the Sacrifices is said to be lifted up himself saith As Moses lifted up the Serpent in the wilderness so must the Sonne of man be lifted up Joh. 3. 14. we may say as Aaron lifted up the Sacrifices at the altar so the Son of man was lifted up This lifting up noted also the acceptance of those Sacrifices and the favour of God to those who brought them When Pharaoh bestowed a great favour upon his chief Butler Gen. 43. 30. according to his dream he lifted up his head Ioseph expounded so After three daies Pharaoh shal lift thine head that is he shall freely pardon thy offence and bestow some great honour gift or reward upon thee And in this sence it is proper to the text when sin is pardoned a mans head is lifted up himself is advanced indeed The Lord proclaimes his name in this tenor Exod. 34. 7. The Lord the Lord forgiving or lifting up iniquity and Psal 32. 1. Blessed is the man whose transgression is forgiven or lifted up Further this word signifies not only to take or lift off a burthen from another and lay it down but so to lift it off from another as for a man to take it upon himself and bear it in his stead from whose shoulders it was taken And in this strict sence we are especially to understand it in the point of pardon for pardon is not the taking away of sin from a man and laying it none knows where but sin being taken off from man some other shoulders are prepared to bear it even the shoulders of our Lord Christ on him our sin is laid All we like sheep have gone astray we have turned every one to his own way and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all Isa 53. 6. when the burthen of dept was taken off from us it was charged on Christ He did not take or lift the burthen of sin from us and throw it by but he bare it himself nothing but this could compleate the work of pardon therfore it was also prophecied Isa 53. 4. Surely he hath born our griefs and carried our sorrows And 1 Pet. 2. 22. who his own self bare our sins in his body on the tree that is in his humanity or humane nature while he dwelt with us in the body Body is not here opposed to Soul but includes it as sometime the whole work is laid upon the soul of Christ not excluding his body Isa 53. 10. When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin By the whole man this offering was made and the whole man bare our sins on the tree That passage Mat.
shew to be a sin the Gospel can shew a pardon for it whatever the Law can bind us with the Gospel can unloose The Mercy-seat covered the whole Ark The Mercy-seat noted the forgiveness of sin and if you read the description of it Exod. 25. you shall find that it was exactly to a hairs breadth of the same dimensions with the Ark wherein the Law was put intimating that there was mercy and pardon for sin let it come out of any part of the Law laid up in that Ark. As the least sins must of necessity have a pardon so the greatest sins are in a possibility of pardon And the truth is there is no sin as it is an Anomy a transgression of the Law without the compass of pardon It is not the malignity of the sin but the malignity of the sinner that makes it incurable the sin against the holy Ghost is not unpardonable because there wants mercy large enough to pardon it but because it refuseth the mercy which should pardon it and the medicine that should heal it Fifthly Observe who it is that here presseth thus for pardon it is Job and was Job never pardoned till now Or was this think you the first time that ever Job prayed for pardon Had not Job thought of this business before Without question he had he was one of whom God gave this testimony that he was a just and an upright man one that feared God and eschewed evil He that did all this and was all this must first be in favour with God and yet Job cryeth out Why dost thou not pardon my transgression Whence observe They whose sins are pardoned must yet pray for the pardon of sin Yea they who upon good grounds have assurance that their sins are pardoned must yet pray for the pardon of their sins 2 Sam. 12. 13. When Nathan told David God hath put away thy sin he assured him that he was pardoned and doubtless the heart of David opened by Faith to let in that gracious Message he was not faithless but believing Yet David in his penitential Psalm penned afterward prayes O how earnestly for pardon again and again That which a man is assured he hath he may pray to have and enjoy make it so high which some make the grand objection against this point Why should we pray say they for that which we have already I say a man may pray for that which he hath already and is assured he hath Christ himself was assured of the love of his Father and that his Father would stick to him for ever and he knew God was neer unto him yet he cries Mat. 27. 46. My God my God why hast thou forsaken me Which Question may be resolved into this Petition My God my God do not forsake me When David had received a Message by the Prophet concerning a great temporal Mercy the establishing of his house that God would settle him and his Posterity in the Throne for ever the text saith 2 Sam. 7. 15. he presently went in and sate before the Lord and there makes a most earnest Prayer and what is it about He prayeth that God would settle and establish his Kingdom vers 25 26. And now O Lord God the thing which thou hast spoken concerning thy Servant and concerning his house establish it for ever and do as thou hast said c. and let the house of thy Servant David be established before thee Might not the Lord answer according to this Objection why doest thou trouble me about this Did not I send thee a Message even now that I would establish thy Kingdom Dost thou think I have forgotten my Promise or will be unfaithful to it We find not David thus chidden for praying thus Nay at v. 27. you shall see how David makes this the very ground of his prayer Lord saith he thou hast revealed to thy servant saying I will build thee an house therefore hath thy servant found in his heart to pray this prayer unto thee c. Even because thou hast revealed this unto me that thou wilt build me an house therefore upon this very ground I make this prayer that thou wouldest build it And to shew that he was full of Faith the thing should be done before he prayed it might be done he adds v. 28. Thou art that God and thy words be true and thou hast promised this goodness unto thy servant Now therefore let it please thee to bless the house of thy servant No man could be fuller of Assurance or fuller of Prayer than David was Likewise Christ knew and was assured that his sheepe his elect people should continue for ever and that none should be able to take them out of his hand yet how abundantly doth he pour forth his Spirit in prayer about these things Joh. 17. Again Christ was assured he should be delivered and upheld in death Yet in the daies of his flesh he offered up prayers and supplications with strong cries and tears to him that was able to save him from death and he was heard in what he feared Heb. 5. 7. He was not afraid of the event whether he should hold out and prevail or no whether he should conquer and obtain the victory or no he doubted not the success of this war though it were with principalities and powers His fear was only a natural passion which he took upon him when he took our nature upon him He was certain of the issue and knew he should carry the work through against all the armies of hell he would never have undertaken it else yet he prayeth with strong cries that he might be strengthened So then it is no argument because a Believer knoweth his sin is pardoned that therefore he should not pray for pardon for many things of which there was clear and certain evidence that they were or should be have been prayed about it is our duty for it hath been the practise both of Christ and of his people to pray in such a state Further we may Answer Matters of Faith are of Two sorts First Such as are fully accomplished acted and compleated in all the parts and circumstances of them for and about such things we are not to pray No man is to pray for the Redemption of the World for that is a thing past and yet it is a matter of Faith But the pardon of sin though it be compleat in it self and a matter of Faith to us yet it is compleating and perfecting every day more and more Pardon is given us yet we feel not all which pardon gives It is a setled act on Gods part yet it is in motion on ours that is in a perfective motion Therefore though we are assured that our sins are pardoned and shall stand pardoned for ever yet we may pray about the pardon of them Thirdly Suppose a man know his sins are pardoned yet he may pray to know it more and that his evidences may be made yet clearer to him for
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Impingere quod saepe consequitur ruere cadere stumble or strike the foot against a thing and so it is put for that which is the consequent of stumbling falling he that strikes his foot or stumbles at a thing is in danger of a fall So Isay 40. 30. The young men shall utterly fall it is this word but doubled falling they shall fall that is they shall utterly fall There is a threefold falling mentioned in Scripture 1. There is a falling into sinne Gal. 6. 1. If a man be overtaken 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Praecipuè significat peccata actualia à 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ad verbum praeter cadere cuÌ„ scil ultra rectam justitiae lineam cadimus de erratis etiam levioribus usurpatur 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in compositione minuit sensum in a fault that word like this Hebrew in the Text signifies a fall taken by stumbling or by tripping upon any thing that lies in the way In this sense we understand the fall of Adam the fall of Angels and the fals of the Saints 2. There is a falling into affliction a falling into trouble So Prov 24. 16. The just man falleth seven times a day that is he meets affliction at every turn he fals into trouble almost at every step Seven times a day is very often in the day or often every day 3. There is a falling under trouble And of persons falling so we are chiefly to understand this Text. Many fall into trouble who yet through the strength of Christ stand firmely under trouble Others no sooner fall in but they fall under it The shoulders of some are not able to beare a light affliction and the afflictions of others are so heavie that no shoulders are able to beare them the back breaks the spirit sinkes under the load To such as these Job lent his hand his shoulders his counsell was as a staffe in their hands as ligaments to their loynes and knees Job was well skill'd in setting props and buttresses of holy advice to such tottering soules Thou hast upheld him that was falling We may take the words in all or either of these three interpretations yet most properly of the latter Thou hast strengthned the feeble knees The Hebrew word for a knee signifieth in the root to blesse or to pray because in blessing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Genu quod flecti solet in Benedictionibus et salutationibus and praying for one or in saluting we use to bow the knee And here what we translate the feeble knees is word for word the bowing knees because when knees bow and buckle or double under us it proceeds from weaknesse and feeblenesse hence the bowing knee is called the feeble knee Dan. 6. 5. it is said of Belshazzar his knees smote one against the other he fainted his spirits sanke within him then his knees as a Symptome of his feare beat one against another The hanging down of hands notes a kinde of despaire in regard of present evils and feeble quaking knees seeme to referre to some expected evill Taking the words with that difference Jobs work of love appears more full he not only upheld in present troubles but labour'd to strengthen against such as were to come Thou hast instructed many and instructed them many even all these wayes We may note First That to teach instruct and comfort others is not onely a mans duty but his praise for here Eliphaz speaks it in a way of commendation though with an intent to ground a reproofe upon it Job himselfe speaks of what he had done in that kinde as a defence of his own innocence Chap. 29. vers 21. c. Vnto me men gave eare and waited and kept silence at my counsell after my words they spake not againe and my speech dropped upon them and they waited for me as for the rain and they opened their mouth wide as for the latter rain This was his practise and this was the praise of Job That which the Apostle speaks as a speciall qualification or gift of a Bishop 1 Tim. 3. 2. is an excellent a noble qualification 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in any person of what rank or degree soever to be apt to teach Secondly Consider who Job was he was a holy man one that had much acquaintance and communion with God Now though his friends mistook what was in his heart yet they hit right upon his practise and we knowing both what his heart was by the testimony of God and what his practise was from the testimony of men may ground a second point upon it That such as know God in truth and holinesse are very ready to communicate the knowledge Quae autem est ceâ—â—â—or eleemosyna quod majus opus miserecordiae quam docere rudes segnes ad bene agendum extimulare labentem erigere maestos consâ—lari of God unto others They who know God themselves are desirous that others should know God too David Psal 51. 13. promiseth and professeth that he would communicate his experiences of Gods love in pardoning his sinne when he had tasted the sweetnesse of a pardon Then will I teach transgressors thy wayes and sinners shall be converted unto thee when my heart hath learned more of God others shall learne more of God from my mouth This is spirituall charity and it is the most excellent and noblest charity of all Charity to the soule is the soule of charity charity to the better part is the best charity In this sence also Job was eyes to the blinde and feet to the lame by guiding them to see Job 29. 15. and by directing their feet to walk in the wayes of God To give knowledge is better then to give Gold Instruction is the highest almes Thirdly if we consider Job of whom all this is affirmed as he was a great rich man we may note thus much That honourable and great men loose nothing of their honour and greatnesse by descending to the instruction of others though their inferiours Some think it belongs onely unto Ministers to instruct What we instruct They resent it as a disparagement they trust out that work wholly into the hands of others Where shall we finde an Abraham a great Prince in his time of whom God gave this Testimony I know him that he will command his children c. and they shall keep the way of the Lord and because he was willing to teach others God condescends to teach him Shall I hide from Gen 18. 17 18 19. Abraham that thing which I doe They receive most knowledge who are most ready to impart it And we finde before this Abraham so successefull in teaching that he had an Army of scholers in his house The Text saith when he prepar'd for that expedition to rescue his Nephew Lot that he armed three hundred and eighteen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gen. 14. 14. Prov. 22. 6. of his trained
not that some of the Saints have been tempted and tryed they who are under tryals and temptations would find none on earth to succour them As God doth comfort some in all their tribulations that they may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble with the same comforts wherewith they themselves are comforted of God 2 Cor. 1. 4. So he afflicts them that they might pity and helpe others as being under the same troubles with which themselves have been afflicted A man that hath only traveld in Geographicall books and Maps is not able to give you such lively descriptions of or directions about forreigne Countries as he that hath traveld to and been upon the places so they who have read and studied much about afflictions can never give such enlivening strengthening heartning counsell as they who have been afflicted and have dwelt sometime upon the Land of sorrowes To passe on For now it would be heavier than the sand of the Sea That is it would be most heavy Who can tell how heavy that is which is heavier then the heaviest If my calamity saith Job were weighed it would have been found heavier than the sand of the Sea that account would be given of it though you my friend Eliphaz seeme to account it as light as a feather The sand of the Sea is applied three wayes in Scripture First to set forth an exceeding great number Gen. 22. 17. I will multiply thy seed as the Starres of the Heaven and as the sand which is upon the Sea shore That is I will exceedingly multiply thy seed thy children shall be not only numerous but numberlesse Though a book of Numbers be written concerning Abrahams posterity yet their totall number is not written So Psal 78. 27. He rained flesh upon them as dust and feathered fowles like as the sand of the Sea that is he rained aboundance of feathered fowles Secondly The sand of the Sea is used to expresse the largnesse the mighty extent or capacity of a thing The sand of the Sea is of a vaster extent then the Sea it self as being the outward line or bound of it therefore Jer. 33. 22. it is spoken of as a thing impossible for the sand of the sea to be measured As the host of Heaven sc the Starres cannot be numbred neither the sand of the Sea measured so will I multiply the seed of my servant David Measure is taken both of the content and extent of things The sand of the Sea is immeasurable both wayes it cannot as we speak of humane impossibles be measured by the pole or by the vessell And in 1 King 4. 29. it is said God gave Salomon wisdome and understanding exceeding much and largenesse of heart as the sand of the Sea that is as the sand incompasses and takes the Sea in its armes so Salomon had a heart comprehending all the depths and oceans of knowledge he had the compasse of all learning in his understanding Hence when a man attempts a thing impossible we say to him proverbially Thou measurest the sand Areâ—am metiris Thirdly The sand of the Sea is applied in Scripture to note the exceeding weight and heavinesse of a thing that instance is pregnant for it Prov. 23. 7. A stone is heavy and the sand is weighty but a fooles wrath is heavier than both when Salomon would Stulti mores â—ntolerabiles shew us how intollerably burthensome the manners of a wicked man are he compares them to a stone and to the sand The wrath of a wicked man is very weighty but by the way the wrath of God is incomparably more weighty Wrath proceeding from extreame folly is weighty but wrath proceeding from infinite wisdome is infinitely weighty The wrath of a foole upon his brother is heavier then a stone or then the sand How heavy then will the wrath of the most wise God be upon that foole It is further considerable that he saith not barely heavier than Triplex est aâ—enae genus fossâ—â—ia flavialis Marina Plin. lib. 3 naâ— hist cap. 23. the sand any sand is very heavy but heavier than the sand of the Sea Rivers have sand and dry pits have sand but sea-sand is the vastest and the heaviest sand Againe He speakes not in the singular number Heavier then the sand of the Sea but the Hebrew is plurall heavier than the sand of the Seas as if Job had said if thou shouldest shovell up all the sand that is upon the shores of all the seas together on a heap it would not be so heavy as my calamity In such Hyperbolies or high strains of eloquence Job rhetoricates about his sad condition as if he resolved to put more weight into his expressions as he found more weight put into his afflictions Hence observe Afflictions are heavy burthens The judgements of God upon wicked men are frequently in Scripture called burthens and they are heavy burthens Isa 15. 1. we read of the burthen of Moab that is the judgement and calamity that should fall upon Moab And Isa 17. 1. The burden of Damascus And Isa 19. 1. The burden of Egypt And Isa 21. 1. The burden of the desert of the Sea And afterwards The burden of the valley of vision that is of Jerusalem And 2 King 9. 25. when Jehu had killed Jehoram he said to Bidkar his Captaine Take up and cast him in the portion of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite for remember how that when I and thou rode together after Ahab his father the Lord laid this burden upon him That is that he should be slaine and throwne out in this manner As afflictions upon wicked men are burdens So afflictions upon the godly are burdens too they are also heavy burdens Their sinnes are burdens upon them My sinnes saith David are gone over my head they are a burthen too heavy for me to beare Psal 38. 4. Their sins are burdens and their sorrowes are burdens Sin doth not only burden man but it burthens God I am pressed under your sinnes as a cart is pressed that is full of sheaves saith God Amos 2. 13. As man by sin burthens God so God by affliction burthens man But of all afflictions inward afflictions are the greatest burthens As the spirit of a man is stronger then his flesh so the afflictions which are upon his spirit are weightier then those that are upon his flesh The spirit hath wonderfull strength all spirits are strong Angells are mighty in strength One good Angel is an over-match for all men And the devils who are spirits are called not not only Principalities but powers because of their strength Proportionably the spirit of man hath a mighty strength in it and so the afflictions which are upon the spirit may have a greater weight in them The affliction which Job complains of as heavier then the sand was not so much the calamity that pressed his flesh or the paine that tormented his body as is plaine in the next
it is our duty to confesse sinne aboundantly that grace may abound Lastly Though we need not confesse sin at all to informe God he knowes our sins though we will not make them known and hath an eye to see though we should not have a tongue to confes Though I say we confesse not to informe God what we are or what we have done yet we must confesse to glorifie God While we shame our selves we honour him My sonne saith Joshua to Achan c. 7. v. 19 give I pray thee glory to the Lord God of Israel and make confession unto him Every attribute of God receives this gift of glory by mans confession Justice is glorified and mercy is glorified patience is glorified and holinesse is glorified Holinesse is glorified in opposing sin and patience in sparing the sinner mercy is glorified in pardoning sin and justice in receiving satisfaction at the hand of Christ for the pardon of it Fourthly observe Holy confession of sin leades the way to gratious pardoning of sin Job begins the next verse with a vehement prayer for pardon And why doest thou not pardon my transgression and take away mine iniquity Sin concealed and kept close growes upon us And it growes three wayes First in the strength of it Secondly in the guilt of it Thirdly in the terrour and vexation of it Psal 32. 3 4. When I kept silence my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long Confession is a meanes to obtaine the abatement of sin in all three The strength of it is weakened the guilt removed and the terrour overcome Then heare the counsell of the Prophet Isa 43. 26. declare that thou mayest be justified Thus farre of the words as they are a confession of sin I shall now handle them as they are a concession or a grant that he had sinned and so the sence may be given thus I have sinned what shall I doe unto thee As if he had said Let it be granted or subpose that I have sinned and sinned as deepely as my friends have charged me supâ—â—â—e I have been as wicked as they imagin what thâ—n if this were my case what shall I doe unto thee O thou preserver of men The later words plainly import a question What shall I doe unto thee But the sence of the question is not so plaine The question may be taken two wayes Either affirmatively or negatively Take it affirmatively and so the sence is what shall I doe that is Lord direct me councell me order me teach me what becomes me to doe in such a case in such a sinfull condition as I either confesse my selfe to be in or am supposed to be in That 's the affirmative sence What shall I doe The word which we translate do signifies 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a radice pagnal respondet Graeco 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 est agere cum energia effectu Piscat working or doing under a two fold qualification 1. Working with great willingnesse and readinesse of mind and hence it is applied to the workings of sin in naturall men who work with the greatest freedome that can be Man sins naturally and therefore freely he is carried on with a full swing with tide and wind he sins nothing in himself contradicting or giving a contrary vote He is a true worker of iniquity Psal 5. 5. 2. Working with energie and successe and the doing of a thing not only effectually but willingly Numb 23. 23. What hath God wrought When God works he works thoroughly he doth not his busines to halves So Isa 26. 12. Thou hast wrought all our works in us that is thou hast brought them to passe they have succeeded through thy help and the influences of thy blessing The word being taken in this height of sence the question for an affirmation What shall I doe that is shew me direct me what to do we may observe from it First That What to do in case of sin is a point of the highest consideration I have sinned what shall I do If ever we have need to go and aske counsell to sit down and debate the mater with our sevles or others it is when we have sinned Such is the nature of sin and such the consequences that it calls us to highest consideration what to do about it Matters of great consequence are matters of great consultation Sin hath an influence upon an eternity If any thing be more worthy your thoughts then that let it have them Secondly Look upon the question as following Jobs confession Observe thence That sincere confession of sin makes the soule very active and inquisitive about the remedies of sin I have sinned the very next word is What shall I doe Many make confession of sin who are never troubled about the cure and redresse of sin Lord what shall I doe is not the next question to Lord I have sinned Nay it may be the next action is to sin over the same sin they have confest As soon as those Jewes heard of the foulenesse of their sin in crucifying Christ and of the sadnesse of their condition their question is like this of Job what shall we doe what shall we doe that we may be saved As Christ speakes to the woman of Samaria Job 4. 10. when he offered her the water of life If thou didst know the gift of God and who it is that speakes unto thee thou wouldest have asked c. That is if thou wert sensible of the excellency and vertue of this water and thy need of it thou wouldest be very inquisitive how to get it how to have a tast of it As in regard of Christ and the benefits we have by him so of sin and the evils which come by it When a man hath confest and acknowledged his sin we may say to him if thou didst but know what thou hast confest if thou didst but know what thou hast acknowleged thou wouldest presently be asking how shall I get free how shall I get clear of these sins which are so deadly poisonous destroying condemning He that is but sensible what the wound of sin is wil never be at rest never give over enquiring til he hath found a plaister or a medicine for it He that knowes what he saith when he saith I have sinned will resolve as David in another case that his eyes shall not have a winke of sleep till he sees where to have helpe against it Thirdly In that he saith what shall I doe Observe That a soule truly sensible of sin is ready to submit to any termes which God shall put upon him What shall I doe unto thee O thou preserver of men Put what termes thou wilt upon me I am ready to accept them That was the sence of their question Acts 2. 32. what shall we do shew us the way let it be what it will we will not stand making of conditions we will not pick and choose this we will doe and that we will not doe
Amos 5. Non ultra dissimulabo ei scelera tua Pang Merc. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 your wickedness or your sin and that carries a fair sense for when a man pardons or will not punish an offence he seemes to take no notice of it for that properly is to dissemble a thing as simulation is to pretend that which is not so dissimulation is to take no notice or not to hold forth that which is God passeth by and dissembles the sins of men in a gracious way when he will not observe or look upon them to question or punish them The Greek word Matth. 26. 39. answereth this Hebrew where our Lord Christ ptayeth earnestly about the removal of the cup Father saith he if it be possible let this cup pass away from me In the same sense that sin is said to pass away the cup of Gods displeasure and wrath passes also away when sin is pardoned therefore Christ prayed thrice that the cup might pass away from him that he might not be dealt with as a sinner but that there might be a course found out to spare him and save the glory of his fathers justice Yet he submits not my will but thy will be done if it must not passe away I am contented it should not passe Thus far we have seen what is meant by pardoning and taking away A word upon those two terms transgression and iniquity which are the objects on which pardoning mercy workes Why doest thou not pardon my transgression and put away mine iniquity Trangression and iniquity are words of great significancy for in them all manner of sins especially sins of a greater stature are comprehended The former transgression notes a violation of the Commands 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Propriè rebellio peccatum ex superbia Non simplex qualiscunque sed malitiosa temeraria transgressio of God with a high hand or a rebellion of the mind when pride of spirit shews it self very much There is a spice of pride in every sin Because of pride saith Solomon cometh contention all the contentions we maintain against the word and will of God rise from the pride of our own hearts because we cannot submit to the will of God but in some sins pride holds up her head more proudly Such sins this word notes it is not simply any sin but sin very proudly and rebelliously committed The latter word Iniquity imports the crookedness and inequality 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Incurvationem declinationem à recta via ad animum translata significat per versitatem melitiam Curvi mores of a thing when it turns this way or that way and extends not in a straite and right line Hence it is applyed to the vitiosity and perverseness to the crookedness and inequality of mans nature Our nature is a crooked peece and that makes all the crookedness in our lives The Latines speak so in a moral sence they call ill manners and ill manner'd men crooked men and crooked manners David Psal 51. 5. bewaileth his birth sin under this notion I was born in iniquity And he that was first borne in the world applied this word to himself saying my iniquity the Peccata denotat quae fiunt ex 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 destinata malitia seu proposito cum sc mens videt quod aequū est tamen indulgens cupiditatibus sequitur deteriora Moller in Psal 106 6. perverseness the crookedness of my waies is greater than can be forgiven or made straight Gen. 4. 13. So that this word also take it strictly implies more than a bare act of sin arising from infirmity weakness or inanimad vertency it rather notes those sins which are committed from a crooked purpose from an ill or false bent of the heart when the mind sees that which is right and good just and straite and yet turns to crooked paths and follows that which is perverse and worse Take one thing further This word in Scripture signifies not only the act of such sins but secondly the punishment of them Psal 31. 10. Gen. 19. 15. And thirdly it is put for the means of expiation or pardon Hos 4. 8. They eat up the sin of my people and they set their heart on their iniquity But how did the Priests eat up the sin and set their hearts on the iniquity of the people Sin can make us but a hungry banquet The text bears variety of interpretations But to the point in hand sin is here put for the sacrifices offered up for sin out of divers of which the Priests had a portion for themselves to eat so that the Prophet here describes the horrible prophaneness of those degenerate Priests who set their hearts upon the sacrifices because themselves were fed by them not because the people came to seek the favour of God and make their peace by them when they had sinned As Physitians may be said to eat the diseases of the people and set their hearts upon their sicknesses when they because their own gain is in it are pleased to hear of spreading sicknesses c. Or as Lawyers eat the contentions and quarrels of the people when they are glad to hear of Suits c. because they grow rich by it So those base-spirited Priests were said to eat the sins of the People and set their hearts on their iniquities because they were glad to have of a multitude of sacrifices their provisions being inlarg'd by them So that then iniquity is the sacrifice for iniquity in which sense also Christ is said to be made sin for us namely a sacrifice for sin 1 Cor. 5. 21. From the words thus opened we may observe First to whom Job addresseth himself for pardon is it not unto God And why doest not thou pardon my transgression God onely can pardon sin Pardon is his act his proper and peculiar act he can do it and none can but he We read it among his royal Titles Exod. 34. 7. the Name of God is proclaimed in this stile The Lord the Lord God mercifull and gratious long suffering and abundant in goodness and in truth keeping mercy for thousands forgiving iniquity transgression an sin Pardoning sin is put the last of those seven attributes in which the Lord manifested himself to Moses as being that wherein all the former are summ'd up and into which they conveigh their several blessings to make man compleatly blessed or to shew that none can be a pardoner of sin but he who is vested with all those foregoing glorious titles and therefore none but God alone Hence the Prophet Micah chap. 7. ver 18. puts the question and challenges all the world Who is a God like unto thee pardoning iniquity Shew me one if you can there is no sin-pardoning God besides thee Who is a God like unto thee pardoning As if the Prophet had said some will be or have been offering at this work but they all have been or will be found
though sin cannot be more pardoned in respect of God at one time than at another yet in regard of man it may He apprehends the pardon of his sin more now than before and may hereafter apprehend it more than now And it is worth the while to bestow pains in prayer for pardon to have the pardon a little more inlightned The degrees of any grace or favour as well as the matter and substance of them are worthy all our seekings and most serious enquiries at the throne of Grace Fourthly He that hath assurance of the pardon of sin is to pray for the pardon of sin because he continueth still to sin And though it be a truth that sin uncommitted is pardoned in the decree and purpose of God yet we must not walk by the decrees of God but by his commandements and rules His decree pardons sin from all eternity but his rule is that we should pray for pardon every day as we pray for the bread we eat every day Matth. 6. 11 12. We must not say God hath pardoned all sin at once therefore no matter to ask it again or I have once had the sight of pardon and therefore the sight of sin shall never trouble me seeing we are directed to search our hearts for sin and to seek to God for pardon continually So long as we sin it becomes us to be suitors for the pardon of sin He that hath ceased to sin may cease to ask the forgiveness of sin till then I know neither rule nor promise that gives a dispensation for this duty To close this point there are two Cases wherein believers are especially to renew their suits about the pardon of sin First which though it be lamentable yet it is possible in the case of falling into scandalous and gross sins These not only weaken assurance and be-night the soul but exceedingly dishonour God and grieve the holy Ghost This caused David to pray and cry for the pardon and purging of his sin as freshly and as strongly as if he had never received a pardon or any evidence of Gods love of which yet he had great store before that day Ps 51. Secondly In times of great troubles and trials whether personal or National the Saints re-inforce prayer about pardon This was Jobs case his personal afflictions occasion'd him to begg the remission of sins and not only remission for sins then committed but for all the sins he had committed either before or after Conversion Even our formerly pardon'd sins need pardon when we loose the sight of pardon and when the soul hath no visions but visions of terrour it must seek visions of peace in the free-grace of God renewing and sealing pardon in the bloud of Jesus Christ Job having thus breathed his spirit in arguings complaints and prayers moves the Lord for a speedy end and gracious answer otherwise he sees no way but he must breath back his spirit into the hands of the Lord who gave it and lay his body in the dust from whence it was taken For now shall I sleep in the dust and thou shalt seek me in the morning but I shall not be Now shall I sleep in the dust What he means by this sleep hath been handled Chap. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Propriè est cubare hinc mortui 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vocantur ut etiam 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 13. where it was shewed that death is called a sleep why and in what manner death is a sleep The word here translated to sleep signifies properly to lie down but the sence is the same because men lie down when they compose and fit themselves to sleep And the dead are called down-lyers as well as sleepers in the Hebrew The Septuagint reads it now shall I go to the earth David speaks near this language Psal 22. 15. Thou hast brought me to the dust of death Observe hence whether we are travelling and where we must take up a lodging for our bodies ere long They whose heads are highest they who lie in beds of Ivory must lie down in a bed of earth and rest their heads upon a pillow of dust Most sleep in the dust while they live but all must sleep in the dust when they die Earthly men have earthly minds and they cannot rest but in earth for it is their Center Onely he who hath laid up his heart in Heaven can comfortably think of laying down his head in the dust Further it is remarkable in how pleasing a notion Job speaks of death when his life was most unpleasant to him He complained of restless nights in the third fourth thirteenth and fourteenth verses of this Chapter yet he could think of a time when he should lie quietly in his bed and not have so much as a waking moment or a distracting dream And when he was once gone to this bed the curtains of darkness being close drawn about him he should open his eyes no more till the eye-lids of that eternity-morning opened therefore he concludes Thou shalt seek me in the morning sc of time but I shall not be In the Hebrew Thou shalt seek me in the morning is but one 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Si dilucula veris me ficto verbo word And some cut out a latine word fit to serve it We may English it strictly to the letter If thou morning me that is if thou commest to seek me as the force of this word hath been formerly given with never so much diligence and care I shall not be found thou wilt not have Job alive upon the earth to bestow thy mercies upon For I shall not be The Hebrew is And not I that is I shall not be alive I shall 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Non ego subaudi sum vel ero Cum jam in isto not be to be had he means a non-existence not a non-essence a being he should have but he should not appear to be It is as if he had said Lord I shall not be a Subject capable of outward deliverances and bodily comforts unless they come speedily Lord if thou wilt give me any help give it for death hastens upon me as if it hoped to be too nimble for or to out-run thy succours Mr. Broughtons translation seems to intend another sence pulvere decumbam aut quid non tempesti ivè requisivisti me ut non essem Jun. which others of the learned Hebricians favour too He renders the latter part of the verse thus Whereas I lie now in the dust referring it to his present condition I am now lying in the dust to be pitied of the keeper of men so he himself expounds Lord I lie in the dust a pitiful object then Why doest thou not quickly seek me out that I should no more be which he interprets I would by a quick death be rid from these pains As if in these words Job had again renewed his former desire of death concerning which many