latter part of the Verse may receive the same Exposition Will he enter with thee into judgment namely for thy feare Will God deale with thee upon the account of thy piety And when he comes to justifie thee will he impute that to thee Or when God enters into judgement with thee will he suffer thee to present thy fear thy piety or goodnesse to him and so thereby answer his plea or take away the action which he brings against thee When God enters with us into judgement we may boldly plead our interest or Faith in the Mediator but we must not plead our fear the Grace or Holinesse either of our persons or of our services Thus we see the Doctrine of the Text according to this Exposition and the Active signification of the word Feare carrieth in it the very life and spirit of the Gospel All the worth and merit of our works as to righteousnesse is nul'd and laid prostrate and we taught to glory in nothing but the free gift and grace of God by our Lord Jesus Christ Secondly As Fear is taken passively Will he reprove thee for feare of thee That is is God afraid of thee doth he pick quarrels with thee for fear of thee Or seek occasions against thee when there is none only lest thou shouldest stand in his way or be a detriment to him This appears plainly to be the sense of our Translators Whence Observe God is above the feare of the Creature As in the former Verse God is above any advantages or hopes that the Creature can give him so he is above the feare of any hurt that the creature can doe him As the goodnesse or righteousnesse of man cannot benefit the Lord so the wickednesse and sinfulnesse of man cannot at all impaire the eternall glory and happinesse of the Lord. Though the wickednesse of man be a darkening to the manifestations of his glory and for that wicked men shall be judged yet as to his essential glory all the wickednesse in the world cannot darken that nor be the least abatement to it Will he reprove thee for feare of thee No man cannot hurt the Lord by all his wickednesse and therefore The punishment which God layeth upon wicked men is not after the manner of men God doth not punish as man punisheth Eliphaz here speaks of that which is often indeed a true ground among men why they reprove or punish other men Some reprove others upon a vaine fear of them and some upon a just fear of them Why did the Jews accuse and reprove Christ Was it not for fear of him at least they pretended a fear why else were they so hasty to have Jesus Christ brought to judgement John 12.47 48. Then gathered the chief Priests and Pharisees a Councel and said what doe we for this man doth many Miracles if we let him thus alone all men will beleeve on him and the Romanes shall come and take away both our place and Nation They Crucified Christ for fear though it was but a vain fear that he would be the ruine of their state the Romanes must needs come and destroy them if they let him alone Feare makes men cruell and they are most ready to hurt others who continually suspect hurt from others It hath been an ancient Observation that Cowards are murtherous and revengefull while a man fears that such a man will be his ruine he ruines him if he can and removes that out of his way which he supposeth standing in the way of his owne safety Why did Pharaoh give Command to slay the Male-Children of the Jews and oppresse that people It was upon a vaine or cowardly fear Come let us deale wisely with them lest they multiply and it come to passe that when there falleth out any warre they joyne also with our enemyes and fight against us and so get them up out of the Land Ex. 1.10 It is sayd at the 7th verse of that Chap. that the children of Israel were fruitfull and God fullfilling herein his promise made to Abraham encreased aboundantly and multiplyed and waxed exceeding mighty and the Land was filled with them When God thus cast a gratious eye upon them Pharoah and his Councellers cast a jelous eye upon them and began to suspect their multiplying might at last diminish him that their rising might prove his ruine Therefore upon reason of state he must find out a way to suppress and keepe them under as slaves and bondmen whom his Ancestors received as welcom guests and had to that day enjoyed as faithful friends Pharoah being captivated with this feare saw no way to free himselfe but by taking away the freedome of that whole People As some through the prevalency of their owne feares dare not doe justice so others through the prevalency of feare doe that which is unjust Take one instance more why did Herod Matth. 2. send out to slay all the Children It was for fear of the King of the Jewes he was afraid of Christ and therefore that he might murther him he gave that horrible sentence to slay all the Infants Again some reprove and judge upon a due fear for as Tirants and wicked men are full of fear because full of cruelty and have suspitious thoughts that others will wrong them because they have a mind to wrong every man so just and righteous Magistrates when they see evil working they must reprove and punish it lest it spread to the endangering of the publick Peace This is a just fear and such as becomes a man even a man of courage and integrity such may feare that if seditious spirits be let alone Verissimum est illud quod inter argumentādum assumit Eliphaz ex timore frequenter nasci aut vehementius accendi solere severitatem in irrogando supplicio Pined they will undermine a whole Nation and destroy thousands A Magistrate reproves and Judges Theeves and Murtherers out of fear that if they encrease no man shall live quietly Such as either openly or secretly contrive evil against a Nation the Magistrate from a just ground of fear deals with them reproves least they should disturb or infect the whole But the Lord doth not reprove any man for fear of him he is of such infinite strength and stability so far out of the reach of all the plots and contrivances of the wicked that he needs not call them to account lest they should hurt his state pull him out of his Throne spoile his Kingdome or get his Dominion from him the Lord is not afraid of any of these things but the true reason why the Lord reproves wicked men is because he hates their iniquities and is a God of truth and judgment Though Magistrates may punish not only out of the love of Righteousnesse and Judgment but because they fear a State may be ruin'd if they do it not yet the Lord hath none of this fear in regard of his State but he doth it meerly out of love to justice
For so some expound that Scripture Isa 41.25 I have raysed up one out of the North and he shall come from the rising of the Sun shall â—e call upon my name c. This prophecy I say some expound of Christ who shall gather his dispersed and despised ones from all quarters of the world The greatest workes of God that ever were done Christ did them and therefore the North may justly be called the place where he worketh seing he raysed Christ from thence Secondly As the words are read thus On the left hand while hee worketh as if Job had sayd I look after God on the left hand or in the North even in the time while he is working or doing great things and yet I cannot behold him Observe That God may be and often is working great things and we not able to apprehend or behold him at his worke The invisible thengs of God even his eternal power and Godhead are seene in the things that are made and that not onely in the things that he made while he created the world but also in the things which he makes while he governes the world and yet himselfe is not seene in making them and that not onely because he is invisible in his nature but because which is the poynt in hand the manner of his working is invisible In some things God workes so evidently that the natural man cannot but say The finger of God is here But in other things he workes so secretly that the spirituall man is not able to see where the finger of God is unlesse upon that general acknowledgement that the finger of God is every where Solomon Prov. 30.18 saith There be three things which are too wonderfull for mee yea foure which I know not the way of an Eagle in the ayre the way of a Serpent upon a rock and the way of a Ship in the midst of the Sea even such are the motions of God the wayes and workings of God among the sons of men A ship in the Sea leaves no track no path you cannot see where the Ship hath sailed The ship plowes the Ocean but the furrowes are unseene as soone as made A Serpent upon a rock makes no dint leaves no footsteps behinde him the flying Eagle parts the aire but there 's no discerning where shee hath past And thus Job seemes to speake here Though I goo to the North while God worketh yet I can see no more of him then of the way of an Eagle in the aire or of a Serpent upon a rock or of a Ship in the Sea I cannot behold him while he worketh nor the way of his working And further Hee hideth himselfe on the right hand that I cannot see him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 cooperire involvere seu occultare significat Quasi deus meridionali parte velut operimento sese circumtegat 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 est mare at 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 dextra unde etiam meridies dicitur 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Theman Nomini Jaâ—in praâ—â—sitio Thau Exo. 26.18 unde Theman si appellativè sumatur dextrum Australe sive meridionale significat si autem proprie est noâ—men regionis Australis Hieron The word which we render hideth signifieth to wrap up with a covering implying that God doth cover himselfe from the eye of man in or with the right hand part of the world Some render it thus He hideth his right hand or his working hand that I cannot see him We render it well hee hideth himselfe on the right hand that I cannot see him The right hand is put in opposition to the left mentioned in the former part of the verse There in the South God doth as it were purposely and artificially hide and cast a vaile over himselfe saith Job lest I should see him there hee keeps himselfe yet more out of my view and reach then elsewhere The word which we translate the right hand signifies the Southern parts of the world Cant. 4.16 Awake O Northwinde and come thou South blow upon my Garden Exod. 26.18 On the South or right side Southward The word is also rendred the right side 2 Sam. 24.5 On the right side of the City Further the word signifies as the right hand so also strength because the right hand is strongest in most men and readyest for use And so he hides himselfe on the right hand may import as was toucht before that God hideth himselfe even there where he puts forth his strength and power From all these expositions layd together in that Job here saith hee went forward and backward or East and West on the right hand and on the left or North and South from all I say it appeares that Job was a great traveller that he travel'd all the world over yet where was Job when he spake all this Was he not upon his bed was he not Gods Prisoner shut up in his Chamber when he said I goe forward and backward Northward and Southward and yet I finde him not perceive him not see him not Hence learne First That God is every where Job knew there was a presence of God forward and backward Northward and Southward He knew that God fills heaven and earth with his presence There is a presence of God from which the worst of men cannot goe and there is a presence of God into which many times the best of men cannot get there was a presence of God out of which Job could not get while according to his desires he could not get into the presence of God Secondly From those various negatives here used I cannot perceive him I cannot behold him I cannot see him Observe God is a spirit not visible at all in himselfe and he onely appeares as and to whom himselfe pleaseth to appeare to and among men The appearances of God are not naturall but voluntary when his will is to be seene he gives man the priviledge to see him It is altogether impossible to see him with a bodily eye 1 Tim. 6.16 God onely hath Immortality dwelling in the light that no man can approach unto whom no man hath seen nor can see that is with bodily eyes and as it is impossible to see him at any time with an eye of sence so he will not alwayes be seene by the eye of our understanding no nor alwayes by the eye of faith Faith shall hereafter be perfected in the vision of God but here faith is sometime quite deprived of the vision of God He hideth himselfe from the house of Jacob. Faith is opposed to all bodily sight 2 Cor. 5.7 We walke by faith not by sight and faith hath not alwayes a spirituall sight It is said Heb. 11.27 that Moses saw him that is Invisible he saw him with a spirituall eye the eye of faith wee have reason to beleeve that Job at that time saw God with an eye of faith but he saw him not with an eye of understanding to discerne the way of his working
when the ungodly fall and not fall into sin themselves I answer First The righteous rejoyce at the fall of the wicked as blessing God who hath kept their feete from those wayes in which the wicked have fallen As 't is a great mercy to be kept out of those ill wayes to be kept from fiding with those corrupt interests in the pursuit of which we see many broken so 't is a duty to rejoyce that we have not walked in their way whose end we see to be nothing els but destruction Secondly The righteous have cause to rejoyce blesse God when they see the wicked fall because themselves are saved keepe their standing because themselves have escaped the danger and the Lord hath been a banner of protection over them in the day when the wicked fell Moses after the destruction of Amaleck built an Altar and called the name of it Jehova-Nissi Exod. 17.15 that is to say The Lord is my banner And in like cases the joy of the Saints is not properly in the destruction of the wicked but in their owne deliverance through the mighty power good hand of God with them It is the presence of God with them the appearance of God for them which is the gladnes of their hearts Thirdly The righteous then rejoyce because the Church and people of God are in a fayre way to peace when the Lyons are destroyed the sheepe are in safety when the Wolves and the Beares are cut off the flock rests quietly so in this case when men of devouring cruell spirits wicked and ungodly ones are removed the flocke of God the sheepe of his pasture feed quietly none making them afrayd The fall of the enemies of Sion is the establishment of Sion yea in a great measure of mankinde As the Prophet most elegantly sets it forth Isa 14.6 7 8. He who smote the people in wrath with a continuall stroke he that ruled the Nations in anger is persecuted and none hindereth The whole earth is at rest and is quiet they breake forth into singing yea the firre-trees rejoyce at thee and the Cedars of Lebanon saying since thou art layd downe no feller is come up against us How often have wicked men in power felled not onely the Firre-trees and Cedars of the world but the goodly trees of righteousnesse in the Lords plantations have they not therefore reason to sing when such fall seing the Fellers themselves are then felled and fallen Fourthly Joy ariseth to the righteous because God is honoured in the fall of wicked men And that 's their chiefest joy That God is honoured is more joy to the righteous then that themselves are saved how much more then then that the wicked are destroyed There is a threefold honour arising to God when the wicked fall First God is honoured in his justice such a day is the day of the declaration of the righteous judgement of God as the Apostle speakes of the great day of Judgement Rom. 2.5 Thou after thy hardnesse and impenitent heart treasurest up to thy selfe wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgement of God Some doe even question the justice of God when wicked men prosper but he is vindicated in his justice when wicked men fall It cannot but please righteous men to see the righteous God exalted or God exalted in his righteousnesse They know and beleeve that God is righteous when the wicked prosper Jer. 12.1 But when the wicked are punished they proclaime his righteousnes Then they sing the song of Moses the servant of God and the song of the Lambe saying Great and marvailous are thy workes Lord God Almighty just and true are thy wayes thou King of Saints Who shall not feare thee O Lord and glorifie thy Name c. for thy Judgements are made manifest Rev. 15.3 4. The Lord is alwayes alike Just but it doth not alwayes alike appeare how just he it And as that God is just is the faith and stay of the Saints so the appearances of his justice are their joy and triumph Secondly God is honoured much in the attribute of his truth in the truth of his word in the truth of his threatenings when the wicked are punished God hath spoken bloudy words concerning wicked men not onely in reference to their future estate in the next life but to their present estate in this Say to the wicked it shall be ill with him the reward of his hands shall be given him But what is this reward There are two sorts of rewards First rewards of love and favour according to the good which we have done Secondly rewards of wrath and anger poenal rewards according to the evill which we have done Now when the Lord puts these poenal rewards into the hands of the wicked or powres them upon their heads he is honoured in his truth as well as his justice for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it As the promises are yea and Amen 2 Cor. 1.20 so also are the threatnings unto the glory of God by us But as when David saw his life in danger every day he began to question the truth of God in the promise that he should live to reigne and fit upon the throne of Israel for saith he Psal 116.11 when things went thus with him I said in my hast all men are lyars even Samuel among the rest who assured me of the Kingdome by expresse message from God but surely he also is deceived and hath fed me with vaine hopes Now as these words of David according to our translation of them and the truth of the thing in frequent experiences shew that Godly men are apt to question the truth of the promise when themselves are by seemingly contradicting providences much afflicted so they are apt to question the truth of the threatnings when they see outward providences prospering the wicked Therefore when the threatnings have their actuall yea and Amen that is when they are executed upon the ungodly this also is to the glory of God by us that is God is glorified by all his people who heare of it in the truth of what he hath spoken Againe as God is magnified in the truth of his threatnings when any particular wicked man is punished so when common calamities come upon the wicked the truth of God or God in his truth is magnified two wayes First As such calamities are a fullfilling of many Prophecies secondly As they are the answer or returne of many prayers The vengeance which falls upon the Enemies of the Church of God is drawne out by prayer Luke 18.7 8. And there is nothing wherein God is more honoured then when prayer is answered For as therein he fullfills our wants so his owne word Who hath not said to the seed of Jacob seeke ye mee in vaine Thirdly When the wicked fall the Lord is honoured in the attribute of his power How great is his power who puls downe great power It argues the Almightines
Cum nondum abscinditur substantia nostra residuum illorum absumit ignis assuesce quaeso cum illo Jun But here he is supposed entring upon a very serious exhortation to repentance after this manner or to this effect O Job now while our substance is not quite out downe and the fire consumeth the residue or the remnant of the wicked acquaint thy selfe with God or apply thy selfe to God as if he should say before thou art cleane cut downe before thou art utterly ruined as many wicked men have been heretofore and now are humble thy selfe and seeke to God that thy sin may be forgiven and thy wound healed Some paralel this in sense with that of the Preacher Eccle. 12.1 Remember now thy Creator in the dayes of thy youth while the evill dayes come not nor the yeares draw nigh wherein thou shalt say I have no pleasure in them Thus Eliphaz is conceived exhorting Job While our substance is not cut downe while we are not totally undone Quum subsisteÌ„tia nostra non sit excisa reliquias autem istorum ignis assumpserit Tygur Ita bene ut nihil melius Bold 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 extantâ—a vel potius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quo subsistimus duramus vel subsistantia nostra i. e. vita qua subsistimus nam stare valet interdum superstitem esse Drus while the fire of Gods wrath is consuming the remainder of wicked men doe thou acquaint thy selfe with God and repent And though our translation makes not this connection yet it joynes fully in the sense of the Originall Whereas our substance is not cut downe So this verse is an elegant conclusion of the whole matter hitherto insisted upon by Eliphaz and he shuts it up in two parts first shewing the state of the innocent who are brought in speaking thus Our substance is not cut downe strictly That by which we stand or subsist our substance or subsistence which some expound not by goods but by life we may take it both wayes our life and that by which our life is maintained or by which we and our families subsist is not cut downe There is yet a difficulty in regard of the grammaticall sense of these words For Eliphaz having spoken before in the third person plural The righteous are glad and the innocent laugh them to scorne should as it may be thought rather have continued his speech in the same forme and have sayd Whereas Their substance is not downe but he puts it in the first person plural Whereas our substance is not cut downe c. We may answer two wayes First that it is usuall in Scripture to vary the number while the same person or persons is or are spoken of take onely one Instance Hos 12.4 He that is the Angel of the Covenant found him in Bethel that is Jacob. And there he spake with us It should according to Grammar be read thus And there he spake with him Having found Jacob in Bethel he spake with him in Bethel But we see both the person and number are varied the former words running in the third person singular being meant particularly of Jacob the latter in the first person plural There he spake with us The Spirit of God thereby signifying that what God spake at that time to Jacob personally he spake to all the spirituall seed of Jacob whether of the Circumcision or Uncircumcision virtually He so spake to Jacob as that the substance and effect of his speech reacheth downe to and hath an influence upon us beleevers who are his posterity according to the Spirit Besides this other Scriptures hold out the like variation of the number as in the Text which is the first answer Secondly Eliphaz might purposely vary the number that himselfe might put in for a share and be numbred among those who had obtained that sparing mercy not to be cut downe while others were consumed And so this reason of the change is purely spirituall much like that last opened out of Hosea Whence note That the righteous are often preserved in common calamities Psal 20.8 They are brought downe and are fallen but we are risen and stand upright our substance is not cut downe God takes speciall care of his owne people they are under a promise there can be no greater safety no better security then to be under a promise the promise is the best shelter in a storme and the best shield against the dart The Apostle Peter gives us two famous examples of this 2 Pet. 2.5 6. God spared not the old world but saved Noah c. bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly And having turned the Cities of Sodome and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow c. and delivered just Lot c. From both which examples he concludeth v. 9. The Lord knoweth how to deliver the Godly out of temptation and to reserve the unjust unto the day of Judgement to be punished When judgement begins at the house of God what shall the end of them be that obey not the Gospel of God as the same Apostle speaks 1 Pet. 4.17 It is a sure argument to the wicked that they shall be judged when they see God bringing judgements upon his owne house and people but the wicked are many times judged while the house and people of God are preserved and untoucht and when both good and bad both the innocent and the wicked are wrapt up in the same calamity when they are as it were thrust together into the same furnace the Lord makes a difference they are not cut downe as the wicked are cut downe nor consumed as they are consumed When the righteous are cast into the fire they are purged but not consumed but as it follows in the second part of this conclusion shewing the state of the wicked The remnant of them the fire consumeth Fire in this place is not taken strictly as opposed to water God indeed hath often made fire in kinde his scourge And the Apostle Jude saith of Sodome That it suffered the vengeance of eternall fire But all the judgements of God are in Scripture compared to fire Mala. 4.1 Behold the day cometh that shall burne like an Oven and all the proud yea all that doe wickedly shall be stubble and the day that cometh shall burne them up saith the Lord of hosts that it shall leave them neither fruit nor branch There is a burning and not by fire There is so great a judgement and terror in fire let loose and breaking its bounds that it may well signifie all judgements or any thing that is terrible Isa 52.4 As the fire devoureth the stubble and the flame consumeth the chaffe so their roote shall be rottennesse and their blossome shall goe up as dust Thus here the remnant of them the fire consumeth that is the wrath of God appearing in some visible judgement consumeth the remnant But what is this remnant which the fire consumeth I answer
my complaint bitter The Original word hath a twofold derivation Aliqui deducunt a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 quod signifi at amaritudinem alij a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 denotane rebellionem seu contumaciam most render it as we bitter Bitternesse in Scripture is often used by a metaphor to denote any thing which is grievous troublesome afflictive or distastfull to us because bitter things are so to the pallate or tast of man Bitter things are troublesome to sence and troubles are bitter to the Spirit Affliction is a bitter pill thou writest bitter things against me sayd Job to God before Chap. 13.26 so that when he saith my complaint is bitter it sounds thus much my complaint is as great as great can be and I have the greatest reason to complaine For by complaint we are to understand not onely the act of complaining but the matter upon which he did complaine or the cause of his complaint As if he had sayd My afflictions about which I complaine are exceeding bitter no marvaile then if my complaint be so too Secondly The word comes from a roote signifying to rebell to disobey to be exasperated or as some learned in the Hebrew give it to vary or alter the frame of a mans spirit and the disposition of his minde 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 exasperatio propriè variatio altenitas ut sic diâ—am quod qui rebellet variet infringat verbum mandatum alterius aut foedus cum eo initum because they who disobey and rebell doe certainly vary and change their minds from what they ingaged to be or professed they were before they turne aside eyther from the lawfull command given them or from the promise and faith which they had given So the word is used 1 Kings 13.26 Where the sacred History tells us of a Prophet who was sent out upon a Message by the Lord unto Jeroboam and though he faithfully performed the Message yet hearkening to the counsell of another Prophet he was slaine by a Lion Thus saith the Lord for as much as thou hast disobeyed or rebelled against the mouth of the Lord that is the words that proceeded out of the mouth of the Lord and hast not kept the commandement which the Lord thy God commanded thee c. Thy carkasse shall not come into the sepulcher of thy fathers Thus the word is translated by some in this Text of Jobs disobedience or rebellion And they render the whole sentence with an interrogation Etiam hoc die contumacia habetur querimonia mea Contuman est questus meus perstat q. d. non paret non cedet solatijs vestris Rab. Sol What is my complaint this day accounted rebellion as if I did contumaciously set my selfe against God while I am powring out my sorrows before him whereas indeed my complaint is rather rebellious or stout against your consolations it yeelds not to them nor is at all abated by them The way or course which you take to comfort me is too weake to graple with much more is it too weake to conquer and subdue my sorrows Yet further This sence and translation of the word may be applyed to that speech of Eliphaz in the former Chapter ver 21. exhorting Job to acquaint himselfe with God and to be at peace As if he had sayd Leave off thy distances lay downe the weapons of that most unholy warre which thou hast taken up against God To which close rebuke Job answers here what Is my complaint to God looked upon by you as a combate with God or do ye thinke that while I beg pity and favour of God I have bid him defiance or declared my selfe his enemy What else can be the meaning of it that you exhort me so seriously to reconcile my selfe to God He that is called to make peace with another is supposed to be at warre with him or at least to beare him ill will So then according to this rendering and interpretation of the Text the drift of his speech is to shew how little ground there was yea how unjust it was that he should be accused of rebellion and contumacy against God while he was onely bemoaning his owne sad condition and putting up his complaint to God We may forme up his sence into this argumentation He cannot be justly accused of rebellion against God who complains much or greatly when his griefe is more or greater But my griefe is more and greater then my complaint Therefore I cannot be justly accused of rebellion against God because I complaine Againe The text is thus rendred Etiam hodiè est vel suo loco manet exasperatio querelae meae Merc. Quasi ex noxio medicamine vulnus crevit Etiam post tot tanta verba vestra quibus sperabam fore ut me sola remini augetur mea querela quia nihil est in vestris verbis consolationis Merc. Even to day the sharpnes or bitternesse of my complaint remaineth or my sorrow is as it was I am no way eased but rather more afflicted by what you have sayd for the easing of my affliction An improper plaister doth but enflame not at all heale the wound So that as according to the former interpretation he tooke off their charge of impatience contumacy and rebellion against God according to the minde of this he shews the weaknesse and insufficiency of what they had spoken as to the allay of his sorrow and the curing or satisfying of his distemperd spirit So that here he seemes to renew and confirme that opinion which he had given of his friends in their procedure with him Chap. 13.4 Ye are forgers of lyes ye are all Physitians of no value O that ye would altogether hold your peace and it should be your wisdome And againe Ch. 16.2 Miserable Comforters are ye all Shall vaine words have an end or what emboldeneth thee that thou answerest So here ye have done nothing yet effectually to remove my complaint I am like a poore patient who having been long under the Physitians hand and suffered many painefull applications is yet as farre from a cure as the first houre of his undertaking Even to day the bitternes the sharpenes of my diseased minde remaineth I have been in paine as the Church speakes Isa 26.18 I have as it were brought forth winde Ye have not wrought any deliverance neyther hath this inhabitant my sorrow fallen by your hand Lastly Some referre these words to the promise made by Eliphaz Chap. 22.21 exhorting Job to acquaint himselfe with God c. and so good should come to him But saith Job here Though I am cleare from what you accuse me and also have communion with God in wayes of holines yet I experience no such good as you promise I am not brought into wayes of comfort but rather my sorrows encrease and my complaint is as bitter this day as ever it was And as it follows in the Text My stroake is heavier then
golden pipes which did empty the golden oyle or according to the letter of the Hebrew the Gold out of themselves That spirituall oyle was called golden or gold because like gold shineing pure and precious The gifts and graces of the Spirit are golden oyle indeed So Jer. 51.7 Babylon hath been a golden Cup in the hand of the Lord Which some expound tropically taking the Continent for the thing contained The cup for the wine Called golden wine because of the splendidnes and beauty of it as Solomon speakes Pro. 23.31 When it giveth his colour in the cup. Or Babylon is called a Golden cup first because of the great glory wealth and illustrious pomp of that Empire described in Daniel Chap. 2.32.38 by a head of Gold and marked out in Isaiah by the name of the Golden City Isa 14.4 and secondly because God had caused other Nations to drinke deep of his wrath by the power of the Babylonian Empire Upon which account Mysticall Babylon is sayd to have a Golden cup in her hand Rev. 17.4 Gold is the King the chiefe of metals gold is among metals as the Sunne is among the Starres and Planets of Heaven the glory and Prince of them all So that when Job saith I shall come forth as gold his meaning is I shall come forth pure and in much perfection Gold is first the most precious metal secondly the most honourable metal thirdly the most weighty metal fourthly the most durable metal fifthly the most desirerable metal Every one is for gold Aurum per ignem probatum symbolum est jâ—storum nam illâ— minime laedit examen â—gnis per ista igitur verba vir sanctus candorem suae innocentiae conscientiae puritatem maximam cirâ—umloquitur Bold So that when Job saith I shall come forth gold his meaning is as if he had sayd my tryall will not diminish but rather adde unto me I shall be precious honourable weighty durable desireable after I have been in the furnace or fineing pot of my sorest and severest Tryalls And he speakes thus in opposition to his friends who had an opinion of him as if he were but drosse or the off-scoureing of all things as the Apostles were reckoned in their time I shall come forth not drosse and trash but gold as if he had sayd Were I once tryed I should be for ever quit of those Charges brought in against mee and of those scandals cast upon mee I should shine in reputation and honour like pure gold coming out of the fire I should recover my good name and be found a man loyall to God and righteous towards men Hence note Grace renders man excellent and precious Every godly man is gold yea he is more precious then fine gold The finest gold is but drosse to Grace the wicked of the world are reprobate silver or refuse silver Jer. 6.30 the Saints are finer then Gold refined in the fire for they are precious they are honourable they are usefull they are dureable and lasting they shall endure everlastingly they are weighty in their worth and their portion is an eternall weight of glory Secondly Whereas Job saith when I am tryed I shall come forth as gold Observe A godly man is no looser by being tryed yea he gaines by it He who before was reputed but as drosse and had much drosse in him comes out of the tryal as gold and loseth nothing of his weight worth or beauty by being tryed he onely loseth a good losse his drosse and the rubbish of his corruptions Grace is not onely grace still but more gracious even glorious after tryall Some speake of grace as if it were but drosse consumeable in the fire as if every temptation and tryal endanger'd it to an utter consumption or as if like lead it would quite evaporate and spend to nothing in the fire They sticke not to affirme that a true beleever may lose all his graces and how much soever enricht before by the Spirit yet prove a bankrupt in spiritualls Job was Confideâ—t that his gold would hold the tryal both of the hottest afflictions and of the strictest examinations He had been tryed long in the furnace of affliction heated seaven times more then ordinary and yet held his integrity and though he should come to tryal at the Judgement-seate of God which is more then seventy-times seven times stricter then the Judgement-seate of man according to truth can be yet he nothing doubted that nothing as to the general bent of his heart and frame of life should be found or appeare but integrity still That is but drossie grace natural grace if not hypocritical grace or a counterfeit onely of grace which aâ—ides not in the day of tryall They who loose the grace which they have shewed had onely a shew of grace Hypocrites shall â—oâ—e all at their tryal their paint their varnish will not endure the fire eyther of a lasting affliction or of that last examination when once a hypocrite is tryed then he is sham'd He may goe currant for pure gold a great while but at last he appeares but as a gilded sepulcher or drosse of gold Psal 119.119 Thou puttest away all the wicked of the earth like drosse And the Lord speaking of the degenerate house of Israel Ezek. 22.18 saith The house of Israel is to me become drosse all they are brasse and tin and iron and lead in the midst of the furnace they are even the drosse or drosses of silver That is though they are a professing people and hold out my name yet I having tryed and examined them throughly finde them to have nothing but a name of profession They being tryed are come forth like drosse The Apostle 1 Cor. 3.13 Allegorically shadowing out all sorts of superstructive doctrine by Gold silver precious stones wood hay stubble saith If any man build upon this foundation that is Christ Gold silver precious stones wood hay stubble every mans worke shall be made manifest for the day shall declare it because it shall be revealed by fire Dum pâ—obantur toti in fumum abeunt and the fire shall try every mans worke of what sort it is If any mans worke abide which he hath built thereupon hee shall receive a reward if any mans worke shall be burnt he shall suffer loss c. The wood hay stubble shall be burnt but the gold silver precious stones will abide the tryall of fire Whether it be the fire of persecution tribulation and temptation nothing but holy truth can abide these fires or the fire of the holy Spirit who in Scripture is often compared to fire and who together with the light of the Word revealeth the soundnes or falsenes of all doctrines delivered by men and like fire consumes what is false but gives a further brightnes and lustre to the truth Even truth untryed may be counted drosse but being tryed it comes forth like gold Now as the truth of doctrines so the truth of persons in
to the dictates of his owne will and wisdome He is one And who can turne him Or Who can turne him away Or as another renders Who can make him returne backwards that is who can make him goe back from what he hath determined and once resolved upon True repentance or conversion is the change of the minde in man Every man that is converted from his sinfull state course by the power of God becomes another man as to his morals and spiritualls then he was before but man cannot turne God and make him any other then he is God can cause man to change his minde but man cannot make God change his minde nor turn him backward The Prophet saith of God Isa 44.25 That he turneth wise men backward and maketh their knowledge foolish The turning of the wise backward is the altering of their councells When they will not alter them God can He saith Their councells shall not stand nor shall they reach the end to which they were appoynted And it is so Sed quid ego similis cum sit sibi semper idem Quis rationem ab eo facti dictivè reposcat But can the wisest of men or all wise men plotting and laying their heads together turne the most wise God backward They cannot So that these words hold forth the efficacie and stabilitie of the purposes counsells and decrees of God Who can turne him And what his soule desireth even that he doth God is not like man consisting of a soule and body Man is the result of soule and body united together A soule is not a man nor is a body a man man is a third thing rising out of both But God is a spirit Animam alicujus sumi pro eo cujus est anima res est nota quare anima dei deus est Sanct And when Job sayth What his soule desireth The meaning is what himselfe desireth The soule of a man is indeed the man because the choycest part of man though man hath another part namely a body yet the soule is he The soule of man being his best part is often put for the whole man But the soule of God is not put here for God because it is the best part of Him His soule is himselfe Further This phrase or manner of speaking what his soule desireth notes onely the intensnes and strength of his desires or what he desiereth strongly The Lord sometimes makes offers to doe that which is not in his heart or desire to doe But what ever his soule goes out upon indeed or would have done that shall be done Thus the word is used frequently to set forth the full purpose of God to doe a thing Levit. 26.30 And I will destroy your high places and cut downe your images and cast your carkases upon the carkases of your idols and my soule shall abhorre you That is extreamly abhorre you I will abhorre you with the utmost abhorrence And againe Isai 1.14 Your new moones and your appointed feasts my soule hateth That is I hate them with a perfect hatred to shew how deepe his hatred was of those things as done by them he saith my soule hateth them As if he had sayd I hate your formality in my worship from the bottome of my heart We have the same sence Jer. 6.8 Be thou instructed O Jerusalem lest my soule depart from thee That is lest I totally depart I will depart not onely by withdrawing some of your outward comforts but even those which are the more intimate and immediate discoveries of my love my soule shall depart from thee or be loosed and dis-joynted from thee as we put in the Mergin that is I will be of no more use to thee or a helpe to thee then a member of the body is to the body when it is dislocated or removed from its proper joynt Once more Jer. 32.41 I will rejoyce over them to doe them good and will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soule That is I will doe it for them entirely and affectionatly or with entirest affection What his soule desireth That is What he desireth or whatsoever pleaseth him Velle est hoc loco aliquid peculiarius expetere concupiscere solet ad rem quam piam delectabilem referri We desire onely those things which are very pleasing And those things which are most pleasing to us are to us very desirable The desire of man is love in motion as his joy is love at rest But in God desire and joy are not distinguishable in him there is no motion all is rest What his soule desireth Even that he doth The Hebrew is very concise His soule desireth and doth That is he no sooner desireth a thing but he doth it Optat tantam protinus fectum est Merc or when he desireth it is done The will of God is execution though he willeth many things which as to man are not presently no nor till a long time after executed yet as to himselfe whatsoever God willeth is executed and whensoever he pleaseth his will is actually executed among men He desireth and it is done From the words thus opened we may observe according to the first reading of the former part of the verse That God is one There is one God and but one Thus the Lord speaks of himselfe by the Prophet Isa 44.8 Is there a God besides me Yea there is no God I know not any Isai 45.5 I am the Lord and there is none else there is no God besides me He is one himselfe and he hath not a second The Heathens having many gods when they were oppressed by any one god Saepe premente deo dat deus alter opem they sought reliefe from another As Sorcerers and Witches goe to a stronger spirit for help against what a weaker spirit hath done Heathen gods were devill-gods and they are many The Jewes degenerating into Idolatry multiplyed their Gods according to the number of their Cities Jer. 2.28 But Jehovah The living God The Lord is one God We affirme from Scripture that there are three Hees or subsistences in the God-head commonly called persons Father Sonne and Spirit but these three are one not onely by consent but by nature and essence Heare O Israel sayd Moses Deut. 6.4 The Lord our God is one Lord. Secondly From our reading He is in one or as we supply He is In one minde Observe that great truth God is unchangable I the Lord change not Mal. 3.6 The unchangeablenes of God may be considered in divers things First In his essence or nature God knoweth no decay He is a spirit an eternall spirit He hath nothing mingled or mixed in him which should worke or tend to alteration God is simple He is most simple even simplicity it selfe There is no composition in him no diversitie of qualities in him Man changeth in his natural constitution because compounded and made up of
upon sin before so now the worme shall have a sweete morsell of him Which some interpret also as a circumlocution of an ignominious or at least a vulgar buryall as if he had sayd he shall not have the buryall of the noble and honourable who usually are secured from wormes by spices and imbalmings spice and perfume fence the dead body against the worme But though he lived honourably death shall overtake him and he shall be buryed ignominiously or he shall be buryed among common men he shall not have that priviledge which appertaines to his state preservation from the wormes And which is a greater misery then both the former Thirdly He shall be no more remembred that is he shall be no more spoken of with honour but his name shall rot as a man that is not worth the remembring His name shall not be registerd with honour nor kept upon the file with men of credit and renowne So that as the first part of the verse shewes how his neerest relations and lovers shall forget him so this latter part shewes that he shall be remembred no more of any others The Original word which we translate to remember Meshciim secretarij zichronoth memoriae historiae monumenta zacha◠Masculus taken in other formes signifyes a history or a monument of record as also a recorder or register who writes and sets downe things for memory And hence also a man-childe in the Hebrew is called Zachar because the family is reckoned by the males they only being named in genallogyes and registred in the monuments of antiquity so that these words He shall be no more remembred sound thus much he shall be a man whose name is quite blotted or rased out of all memorialls And This curse of being no more remembred may be taken as was intimated before eyther first absolutely he shall not be thought of named or remembred at all or secondly relatively he shall no more be remembred with honour his name will smell worse then his rotten carkasse when he is dead and whensoever he is mentioned it will be like rakeing in a dunghill which raiseth up a filthy stench and vapour Possibly while he lived he was spoken of with honour he had many flatterers who crept to him bowed to him adored him and called him a gracious Lord but when he dyeth his reputation dyeth too he shall be no more remembred with honour when any man ceaseth to be remembred as he once was he may be said not to be remembred at all The worst and wickedest men that ever were in the world may be still remembred but when they are remembred it is with some marke of infamie or with a blacke brand upon their name Hence note Not to be remembred at all when we are dead or to be remembred with dishonour is the portion of the wicked Many pretious Saints have both lived in obscurity and being dead 't is scarse remembred that they ever lived but none of the knowne Saints did ever live in disgrace unlesse in their opinion who had no grace and being dead they are remembred by all who have grace with honour But They who have been most famous for wickednesse while they lived in this world the most famous oppressours adulterers and robbers have dyed undesiered and their name◠hath rotted being dead Prov. 10.7 David Psal 69.28 powreth out this curse upon his enemies Let them be blotted out of the booke of the living and not remembred among the righteous The Jewes were wont to number their familyes and to take their names so they did when they came out of Egypt In which sence the booke of numbers may be called The booke of the living and we may take the booke of the living in a double notion eyther first for the booke of those who lived naturally or secondly of those who lived spiritually and so were such as should live eternally Phil. 4.3 Rev. 3.5 David seemes to intend this booke of the living because he addeth let them not be remembred among the righteous As if he had sayd These men made an outward profession and seemed once to be in the list and catalogue of the righteous they had once an esteeme and a name among the people of God as all hypocrites have till they are unmasked but they have discovered themselves to be of another alliance therefore let them be no more named nor remembred as having any relation to that society Thus we may interpret that imprecation of Moses Exod. 32.32 when the Lords wrath waxed hott against the people of Israel and would have destroyed them Moses prayed Yet now if thou wilt forgive their sin and if not blot me I pray thee out of the booke which thou hast written that is out of the booke which thou hast commanded to be written as a record of the people of Israel As if he had sayd Voluit Moyses de libro legis deleri nomen suum ne unquā ulla in ea plus mentio fieret nec legislator haberetur vel dux populi Rab Sol Ex pungi se voluit ex catalogo quasi scriptorum patrum i. e. principum virorum populi Hebraei sc patriarcharum c. qui vocabatur liber Justorum Bold Ab ipso populi dei catalogo radi poscebat ut nulla deinceps inter fidelium nominis sui mētio fieret quamvis fidissimus dei servus esse perseveret Haec deletio nominis a libro viventium populi dei opprobriosa nimis erat infamis sceleratorum poena Id let me be reckoned no more for an Israelite especially let me not have a glorious honourable name in Israel such a one Moses had being the leader of that people Blot me out of the booke which thou hast written let not my name stand upon that record The Lord had sayd ver 20. Let me alone that my wrath may wax hot against them that I may consume them and I will make of thee a great nation And Moses besought the Lord c. As if he had said I stand not upon my own name I am so farre from being ambitiously desirous to be the head of a greater nation then these that rather then thy name should suffer I care not to be taken notice of as the head of this nation no nor as the meanest member of them no nor to be accounted so much as a common Israelite Blot me out of the booke which thou hast written This also is a fayre interpretation of Pauls meaning Rom. 9.3 when he wished himselfe accursed from Christ for his brethren his kinsmen according to the flesh We may suppose that Moses and Paul were moved with the same Spirit of zeale for the Glory of God in both their wishes And that when Moses wished upon that account to be blotted out of the Booke which God had written he wished the same thing which Paul did when he wished to be accursed or an anathema from Christ That is to be as a person separated
the breath whose spirit or whose breath came from thee The sense is the same And. First Some interpret Job thus Whose spirit or whose breath came from thee That is Consider O Bildad whose spirit moved thee or who breathed these things into thee whose breath or whose spirit came from thee when thou didst utter these words so 't is a rebuke of Bildads presumption as if he had conceaved himselfe wrought or acted by some extraordinary spirit while he was speaking or that the things which he uttered had been dropt into him by an immediate Revelation from heaven whose spirit came from thee what breath what gale hath filled thy sayles thou hast high conceits of thy selfe as if God had spoken to thee by his Spirit or as if thou hadst spoken these things to me from his mouth But is it not rather thy owne spirit thy owne heart which hath dictated these words unto thee Some thinke the same spirit comes from them when they speak which came from the holy Prophets and Apostles who yet are deceaved The Disciples of Christ thought the same spirit came from them which came from Eliah when they said Luk. 9.54 Lord wilt thou that we command fiâ—e to come downe from heaven and consume them as Elias did But he turned and rebuked them and sayd ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of As if he had sayd in the language of Job ye know not whose spirit comes from you ye would speake the words of Elias but ye have not the spirit of Elias you have a zeale but not according to knowledge yours is but a humane affection not a divine inspiration as Elias his was his was a pure spirit of zeale but yours is a rash spirit of revenge And therefore your motion suites not with your calling for as I am come so I send you to save not to destroy We may speake the same words and doe the same things which others have done and spoken and yet not with the same but with quite another spirit Therefore examine whose spirit comes from you This is a good and profitable sence Yet Cujus anima prodijt ex te i. e. quem consolatus es tam efficaciter sermone tuo ut anima ejus ex maerore quasi in corpore sepulta jacebat rursum è latebris prodierit seseq per corpus exserue rit Pisc Cujus animam verbis tuis vivificasti Hebraei Apud Merc Secondly Rather thus Whose spirit came from thee that is whose soule or whose minde hath been recovered out of trouble and feare out of sadnesse and sorrow by the words which thou hast spoken Thus the spirit is taken for his to whom he spake not for his spirit who spake or not for the spirit with which he spake This is a Great truth gratious and right words rightly applyed doe as it were releive the spirit and bring back the fainting yea dead soule from the grave of griefe and sorrow wherein it lay as buried Now sayth Job whose spirit came from thee Hast thou recovered or raysed any languishing soule by what thou hast sayd who hath felt life and power coming from thee I am sure I have not though I have heard thee out and heard thee attentively What the Moralist sayd of Idlenes the same may we say of sorrow or heavynes It is the buriall of a man while he liveth And therefore he that hath comforted a man and recovered him out of his sorrows may be sayd to give him a new life and that the spâ—rit of such a man is come forth from him yea he that instructeth the ignorant and bringeth them to the saving knowledge of God may be sayd to breath or put a soule into them In which sence some of the Jewish writers expound that place Gen. 12.5 where it is sayd That Abraham tooke Sarah his wife and Lot his Brothers son and all their substance that they had gathered and the soules that they had gotten in Charan c. that is all those whom by good instruction and example they had gained to God or as the Apostle speakes 1 Thes 1.9 had by their meanes turned to God from Idolls to serve the living and true God These soules they got in Charan though Abraham and Sarah were barren of naturall issue yet they had much spirituall issue many soules or the soules of many came from them And therefore when Job would put a disparagement upon what Bildad had spoken he puts him this Question Whose spirit or whose soule came forth from thee or whom hast thou resouled as the Greeke word which the Apostle useth for refreshing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 doth elegantly signifie Acts 3.19 Repent ye therefore and be converted that your sins may be blotted out when the time of refreshing or resouling shall come from the presence of the Lord. When a man faints or is very weary we say he hath lost his spirits and he is even as a man without a soule But when in the use of any meanes he is refreshed then we say his spirit or soule is come to him againe The spirit of man comes onely from God in its natural constitution he is the father of Spirits Eccl 12.7 Heb. 12.9 But the spirit of man may come from man in its refreshings and consolations And therefore sayth Job to Bildad Whose spirit came from thee or whom hast thou comforted Thou hast undertaken to comfort me but I am not comforted Hence note Holy truths or words rightly applyed have a releiving yea a reviving power in them Such words give a man his soule againe when he hath lost it and when he is as it were gone from himselfe he is brought backe to himselfe againe For as it is sayd of the repenting Prodigall he came to himselfe he was gone he was lost from himselfe his soule was departed from him his understanding was none of his he was no more Master of any spiritually rationall faculty then a dead man is of any meere rationall faculty and so his father reported him whilst in that condition this our sonne was dead but is alive he was lost but he is found Luk. 15.32 Now I say as it is in extreame sinnings so in extreame sorrowings and dejections of spirit a man is lost from himselfe he is as a dead man and so when comfort comes in againe life may be sayd to come in againe he who before was lost is found and he who was dead revives The word revives from a twofold death It revives a natural man from the death of sin and it revives a Godly man from a death in sorrow How many spirits have come forth at the voyce of the Word out of the grave of sin Christ foretold this resurrection of the soule by the preaching and publication of the Gospel Joh. 5.25 The houre is coming and now is when the dead shall heare the voyce of the son of God in the ministery of the word and they shall live And lest any
and 't is usuall in Scripture to speake that in negative words which was before spoken in affirmative As to be naked and to have no covering are the same so hell and destruction are the same and these two are often put together Pro. 15.11 Hell and destruction are before the Lord how much more the hearts of the children of men Though we know not where hel is nor what is done there though wee know not what is become of those that are destroyed nor what they suffer yet God doth and if the secrets of hel and devills are knowne to him then much more the secrets of the hearts of the children of men And as that proverb teacheth us that nothing is hid from God because hell and destruction are not so another proverb delivered in the same forme teacheth us that nothing in the creature can satisfie the desires and lustings of man even as hell and destruction can never be satisfied Prov. 27.20 Hell and destruction are never full so the eyes of men are never satisfyed The Devill who is the great executioner of the wrath of God is exprest by this word as hell is called destruction in the abstract so the Devill is called a destroyer in the concrete Revel 9.11 And they had a King over them which is the Angel of the bottomlesse pit or hell whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon but in the Greeke tongue hath his name Apollyon both the one and the other the Hebrew and the Greeke signifie the same thing a destroyer The Devill who is the Jaylour of hell is called a destroyer as hell it selfe is called destruction from the Co-incidency of these two termes Note Hell is destruction They that are once there are lost and lost for ever The reason why hell is called destruction is because they that are cast to hell are undone to eternity We read of a City Isa 19.18 which was called the City of destruction because it was to be utterly destroyed Hell may be called a City of destruction not because it shall ever be destroyed but because it shall ever be full of destruction and nothing but destruction shall be there There is no estate on earth so miserable but a man may be delivered out of it but out of hell there is no deliverance Heman saith Psal 88.11 Shall thy loving kindnesse be declared in the grave or thy faithfullnesse in destruction There grave and destruction are put together much more may hell and destruction be put together or for each other What ever comes into the grave is destroyed it rots and perisheth much more doth hell destroy all that comes thither And looke as the grave is to the body now a destroyer consuming so hell is to the soule now and will be to soule and body after the resurrection a destroyer tormenting The loving kindnesse of God shall not be declared in Hell nor any faithfullnesse of his in destruction unlesse it be his faithfullnesse according to what is threatned in the Word to destroy The Apostle Peter sayth 1 Ep 3.19 20. that Christ by the Spirit went and preached to the Spirits in prison which sometime were disobedient when once the long-suffering of God waited in the dayes of Noah c. It is true that Christ by the Spirit in the ministery of Noah did preach to those Spirits who were disobedient in the time when Noah preached and were in prison or in hel in the time when Peter wrote But Christ did not preach by his Spirit in the ministery of Noah or any other way to Spirits who were in prison or in hel while he preached to them There are no Sermons in hel nor any salvation there The loving kindnesse of God is aboundantly declared on earth but it shall not be declared in hel As there is nothing felt in hel but destruction so there is no salvation offered to those who are in hel There 's teares enow and mourning enough in hel but there is not the least Godly sorrow in hel which onely worketh repentance to salvation August lib. 21. de Civ dei cap 17. not to be repented of 2 Cor. 7.10 One of the ancients hath reported the opinion of some in his time who thought that though there be destruction in hel yet not eternal destruction but that sinners should be punished some a lesse others a longer time and that at last all shall be freed and yet saith he Origen was more mercifull in this poynt then these men for he held that the Devill himselfe should be saved at last Of this opinion I shall say no more in this place then this one thing which he there sayd These men will be found to erre by so much the more foulely against the right words of God so much the more perversely by how much they seeme to themselves to judge more mercifully for indeed the justice of God in punishing sinners is as much above the scale of mans thoughts as his mercyes in pardoning them are let not sinners flatter themselves in a hope of salvation when they are in hel who have neglected salvation while they were on the earth For as the Apostle saith Heb. 2.3 How shall we escape that is how shall we escape falling into hel if we neglect so great salvation so I may say how shall any escape by getting out of hell who neglect so great salvation Hel is destruction and as because heaven is a place of happinesse and salvation therefore heaven and happinesse heaven and salvation mutually or reciprocally signifie one another to obtaine heaven is to obtaine salvation to obtaine heaven is to obtaine happines So because hel is a place of misery and destruction therefore hel and misery hel and destruction signifie the same thing nor can they be separated Againe when he sayth Hell is naked before him and destruction hath no covering we learne There is nothing hid from the eye or knowledge of God Philosophy and reason teach us that the vertue and force of the heavenly bodyes the Sunne Moone and Starres doe not onely act upon those parts of the earth which are uppermost but send their influences and powers to the lowest parts or bowels of the earth for as was sayd before according to the ordinance of God dead things are formed there Now I say as the power of the heavenly bodyes reacheth downe into the earth much more doth the power and light of God reach into hell it selfe I will not stay upon any curious enquiries where this hell is wheresoever it is God seeth it Hel is naked before him therefore sayth David Psal 139.8 If I ascend up into heaven thou art there if I make my bed in hell behold thou art there that is there thou art by thy power and inspection thou seest what is in hell and if so how much more doth God behold what is done heere upon the earth if hell be naked before him then the earth is naked before him if destruction have no