The greatest wonders of creation are unseen God hath packt many rarities mysteries yea miracles together in mans chest All the vitall instruments and wheels whereby the watch of our life is perpetually moved from the first hour to the last are locked up in a curious internall cabinet where God himself prepared the pulleys hung on the weights and wound up the chime by the hand of his infinite power without opening of any part As our own learned Anatomist elegantly teacheth us in the Preface to his sixth book Fourthly The dimensions proportions and poise of mans body are so exact and due that they are made the model of all structures and artificials Castles Houses Ships yea the Ark of Noah was framed after the measure and plot of mans body In him is found a circulate figure and a perfect quadrat yea the true quadrature of a circle whose imaginary lines have so much troubled the Mathematicians of many ages Fifthly In every part usefulnesse and commodiousnesse comelinesse and convenience meet together What beauty is stampt upon the face What majesty in the eye What strength is put into the arms What activity into the hands What musick and melody in the tongue Nothing in this whole fabrique could be well left out or better placed either for ornament or for use Some men make great houses which have many spare rooms or rooms seldom used but as in this house there is not any one room wanting so every room is of continuall use Was ever clay thus honoured thus fashioned Galen gave Epicurus an hundred years to imagine a more commodious scituation configuration or composition of any one part of the body And surely if all the Angels in heaven had studied to this day they could not have cast man into a more curious mould or have given a fairer and more correct edition of him This clay cannot say to him that fashioneth it What makest thou Or this work he hath no hands Isa 45.9 The Lord hath made man so well that man cannot tell which way to be made better This work cannot say He that wrought me had no hands that is I am ill wrought as to say you have no eyes you have no ears are reproofs of negligence and inadvertency both in hearing and seeing So when we say to a man Surely you have no hands our meaning is he hath done his work either slothfully or unskilfully But this work of mans body shall not need to say unto God he hath no hands he hath given proof enough that hands and head too were imploied about this work Let us make it appear that we have hands and tongues and hearts for him that we have skin and flesh bones and sinews for him that we have strength and health and life and all for him seeing all these are also derived from him as appears in the next words Thou hast granted me life and favour Job having thus described the naturall conception and formation of his body descendeth to his quickning and preservation When God had formed man out of the dust of the earth he then breathed into him the breath of life and man became a living soul and thus when God hath formed man in the womb given him skin and flesh bones and sinews then he gives life and breath and all things necessary to the continuation of what he hath wrought up to such excellent perfections Our divine Philosopher teacheth us this doctrine Verse 12. Thou hast granted me life and favour and thy visitation hath preserved my spirit This verse holds out to us the great Charter of God to man consisting of three royall grants First Life Secondly Favour Thirdly Visitation The bounty of God appears much in granting life more in granting favour most of all in his grant of gracious visitations Thou hast granted me life c. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vitas fecisti Mont. Vitam disposuisti mihi Sep. Quasi debito loco ordine The letter of the Hebrew is Thou hast made or fitted for me life and favour The soul is the ornament of the body life the lustre of our clay Thou hast not thrown or hudled my life into my body Thou hast put it in exquisitely and orderly The frame of the body is an exquisite frame but the frame the faculties and powers the actings and motions of the soul are farre more exquisite The inhabitant is more noble then the house and the jewell then the cabinet As the life is better then meat and the body then artificiall raiment Mat. 6.25 So the life is better then the body which is to it a naturall raiment Thou hast granted me life c. Life is here put metonymically for the soul of which it is an effect as the soul is often put for the life whereof it is a cause We translate in the singular number life the Hebrew is plurall Thou hast granted me lives But hath a man more lives then one Some understand Job speaking not only of corporall but spirituall life as our naturall life is the salt of the body to keep that from corrupting so spirituall life or the life of grace is the salt of the soul to keep that from corrupting Secondly Thou hast granted me lives that is say others temporall life and eternall life Thirdly Lives may be taken for the three great powers of life Man hath one life consisting of three distinct lives For whereas there is a life of vegetation and growth such as is in trees and plants and a life of sense and motion such as is in beasts of the earth fowls of the air and fishes of the sea And a life of reason such as is in Angels whereby they understand and discourse these three lives which are divided and shared among all other living creatures are brought together and compacted into the life of man Whole man is the epitome or summe of the whole Creation being enriched and dignified with the powers of the invisible world and of the visible put together under which notion we may expound this Text Thou hast granted me lives a three-fold life or a three-fold acting and exercise of the same life Thou hast granted me lives Observe hence Life is the gift of God With thee is the fountain of lives the well 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vena vitarum or the vein of lives Psal 36.9 The Psalmist alludes either first to waters which flow from a fountain and so doth life from God Or secondly To metals With thee is the vein of lives as all minerall veins the veins of gold and silver of lead and iron c. lie as it were in bank in the bosom and bowels of the earth so doth life in God There is not the lest vein of this quick-silver in all the world but comes from him Or thirdly The Psalmist alludeth to the veins of the body which as so many rivers and rivolets derive their bloud from tha◠red-sea the liver God hath a sea of life in himself
sin or errour How often are the spirits and manners of men infected and poison'd by such a breath Fifthly They may be compared unto strong windes in regard of the lightnesse of them the winde hath little solidity in it and that 's it which Bildad especially reproveth in Job here are a great many words much of the tongue but here 's little matter Words without weight are but winde when you gather them up weigh and consider them fully you can make nothing of them ther 's no tack in them Winde will not feed no more will such words but wholesome and faithfull words are meat and drinke strength and nourishment to the soul Sound discourse yeelds a well tempered understanding many refreshing morsels Lastly They are like strong windes for the swiftnesse of them words passe speedily and fill all quickly Their line is gone out thorow all the earth and their words to the end of the world Psal 19.4 Another Psalm speaks as much of wicked men Their tongue walketh thorow the earth Psal 73.9 as the winde runs from one part of the world to another So doe words when they are sent upon an errand either to doe good or to doe hurt Therefore God chose the Ministery of the Word as an instrument to save his people And it is the fittest instrument running swiftly into the ears and so conducting truth into the hearts of thousands at once Upon the day of Pentecost Act. 2.2 3. when the Disciples met together the text saith Suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty winde and it filled all the house where they were sitting first comes a rushing winde what followeth There appeared unto them cloven tongues with fire These represented the manner how the Gospel should be conveyed thorow the world The holy Ghost is sent in tongues to shew that by tongues tipt and inspired acted and moved by the holy Ghost the world should be subdued to the knowledge of Jesus Christ The tongue is the chief Organ of speech And observe with the tongues there comes a wind a rushing wind implying that words spoken by those tongues should be as a mighty rushing winde and like that winde which filled all the house where they sate should fill the world even all Nations with the sound of the Gospel that like a strong winde they should bear down the errours sins and lusts of men before them and like a wholsome winde purge and winnow out all the filthines and uncleannesse the chaff and dust of mens spirits By cloven tongues and a rushing winde wonders have been wrought in the world As those unruly talkers Tit. 1.11 subverted so those who talk by rule have converted whole houses The winde of words blows both good and evil to the world and we may as much encourage holy tongues Let your words he long and long a strong winde as check a vain talker in the language of Bildad How long shall thy words be a strong winde From this generall reproof Bildad descends to a speciall charge against Job 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Injustè aget judicans Sept. Thesis est dicendorum Verse 3. Doth God pervert judgement or doth the Almighty pervert justice As if he had said Job thou hast spoken words which like a strong winde pervert all things and turn them up-side-down But Doth God pervert Doth he turn things up-side-down This blasphemy is the interpretation of many of thy complaints Thou seemest to lay this aspersion upon God But with indignation I speak it doth God pervert judgement The Question is resolvable into a vehement negation God doth not pervert judgement neither doth the Almighty pervert justice He gives it with a question for greater emphasis Doth God pervert judgement Dost thou thinke he will Farre be it from thee to thinke so Injustice lies farre from the heart of God justice lies at his heart He loveth judgement Psal 37.28 To clear the Text I shall briefly touch upon the single terms 1. God 2. Almighty 3. Judgement 4. Justice And then shew what it is to pervert judgement and justice from all it will appear how extremely opposite it is to the very nature of God to pervert either 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Fortis potens Doth God The word is El signifying the strong God the mighty God the powerfull God In the second clause Doth the Almighty pervert justice We have the word Shaddai which name of God was largely opened at the seventeenth verse of the fifth Chapter I shall not stay upon it here but only as it respects the point in hand Shaddai netat robustum sufficientem ad omnia perpetraÌ„da executioni mandaâ—da quae facienda jud caverit aliqui vertunt invictum Alij vertunt ubetrimum abundantem coplosuÌ„ cujus virtus munificentia per omnia permeat cujus uberibus bonitare omnia alantar nutriantur qui nullius indiget qui bonorum nostrorum nulla cupiditate tangitur Pined 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sept. Quod sic explicant qui cunctarum rerum naturas summo ordine equitate constituit is in te affligerdo quod justum est non subvertet and so there are three interpretations of that title observable 1. It notes God all-sufficient to doe what he pleaseth or to effect what he designeth if he gives direction for any judgement to be executed he is Shaddai It shall be done As he is El a powerfull Judge to give sentence so he is Shaddai an Almighty God to execute the sentence There is no resisting his power no getting out of his hands his name is Shaddai Secondly The word signifies one who hath all abundance plenty and fulnesse in himself As also whose power goodnesse and bounty flow out to the supply of others himself having no need to receive from any other He is a fountain of all for all Hence Shaddai cannot but doe justice He that hath abundance in himself needs not take bribes to pervert justice Needy Judges are often covetous Judges they who have not a fulnesse of their own are under a great temptation to wrong others to supply their wants But he that gives to all needs not receive from any This consideration sets God infinitely above one of the strongest temptations to injustice Thirdly The word Shaddai is rendered The maker of all things Will the Almighty the maker of all things who hath set the world in such an exquisite forme and order who hath given so much beauty to the creature will he put things out of order or doe such a deformed act as this pervert justice He that is the maker of all things and hath made them in number weight and measure will he turn the world up-side-down or make confusion in the world it is not possible he should So then the name Shaddai in these three senses is aptly applied to God in opposition to the perverting of justice As Abraham debates the matter with him Gen. 18.25 Shall not the
come to God With the pure thou wilt shew thy self pure and with the upright man thou wâ—lt shew thy self upright and with the froward thou wilt shew thy self froward Psal 18.25 26. But doth the Lord take colour from every one he meets or change his temper as the company changes That 's the weaknesse of sinfull man he cannot doe so with whom there is no variablenesse nor shadow of changing God is pure and upright with the unclean and hypocriticall as well as with the pure and upright and his actions shew him to be so God shews himself froward with the froward when he deals with them as he hath said he will deal with the froward deny them and reject them God shews himself pure with the pure when he deals with them as he hath said he will hear them and accept them Though there be nothing in purity and sincerity which deserveth mercy yet we cannot expect mercy without them Our comforts are not grounded upon our graces but our comforts are the fruits or consequents of our graces Bildad having shewed Job his duty shews him a promise of mercy If thou wert pure and upright surely now he would awake for thee There is a three-fold gradation of mercie in this promise 1. That God would Awake for him 2. That God would Prosper or pacifie his habitation 3. That God would Abundantly encrease and multiply him in his later end The first step of mercy is That God would awake for him Surely now he would awake for thee And there are three things observable about this First The certainty of it in the word Surely without all doubt or peradventure if thou wouldest thus seek to him He would awake Secondly The speedinesse of it Surely now he would awake Now without delay or demurre thou shouldest no sooner seek to God but finde an answer of mercy from him Thirdly The benefit of it to Job He would awake for thee For Job might say 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 I may awaken a sleepie Lion to rise up against me God may be angry with my prayer and in stead of blessing pour out some further judgement upon me No saith Bildad I assure thee if thou thus seek to him He will awake for thee not against thee God sometimes awakes against us Jer. 31.28 It shall come to passe that as I have watched over them to pluck up and to break down and to destroy and to afflict so will I watch over them to build and to plant saith the Lord. As the Lord would watch to doe them a good turn so he had watcht to doe them as we speak a shrewd turn He threatens them with such a watchfulnesse Chap. 44.27 I will watch over them for evil and not for good When we are dull and sleepy in doing the will of God he will be watchfull and active to afflict us And when men cannot sleep till they doe evil God will not sleep till he brings evil So Daniel in the ninth of that Prophecy and the 14. verse having humbled himself before God in prayer and fasting and confessed the sins of the people concludes Therefore hath the Lord watched upon the evil and brought it upon us God not only awakes but watches to doe a people evil who have long abused his goodnesse As men in maliciousnesse of spirit watch for advantages and spie out opportunities to revenge themselves All my familiars watch for my halting saith Jeremy Chap. 20.12 So the Lord in abundant holinesse and exactnesse of justice though with a great deal of wrath and severity watches to revenge himself of a wicked people He takes all opportunities and advantages against them Thou hast watched evil and brought it upon us His love to a returning people is as vigilant as his anger against a blacksliding people Surely now he would awakâ— for thee Awake The word signifies both to awake and to arise There are two interpretations of this awaking Some take the words transitively thus He will awake good for thee Suscitabit super te bonum Transitivè accipitur excitabit super te sc bonum quod nuâ—c in te sopituÌ„ est Not of Job awakening God by prayer but of God awakening prosperity or stirring up blessings for Job As if Bildad had said Joh now blessings are as it were asleep but if thou pray God will awaken them He will stirre up mercies for thee he will cure thy broken condition he will restore that which is fallen repair that which is ruined and fetch thee up out of the grave of thy desolate estate As a mans spirits gifts yea graces are sometime asleep and need awakening so also are and doe our outward comforts It is frequent in Scripture to call the repairing of a mans estate or the bringing of good to him the raising of him up He raiseth the poor out of the dust he awakens them out of that low condition Job was in the dust and his children in the grave God made a resurrection of both for him That 's a good sense But rather understand it as our translation reads of God awakening He will awake for thee He will awake The Psalmist assures us Psal 121.4 He that keepeth Israel doth neither slumber nor sleep God never sleepeth How is it then said that God awakes For the opening of this metaphor First As The Church confesses and professes Cant. 5.2 I sleep but my heart waketh when the Church is asleep yet her heart is awake towards God So much more when in regard of outward providences God seems to be asleep his heart is awake toward his Church his heart scil his affection c. never slumbereth nor sleepeth Secondly God is said to sleep when he doth not answer our prayers and when he hears prayer then he is said to awake Hence the Septuagint render this text 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Deprecationem exaudiet tuam Sept. not as we He will awake but He will hear thy prayer for deliverance Thirdly God sleeps not in regard of the act but the consequents of sleep Naturall sleep is the binding or locking up of the senses The eye and ear of God is never bound But to mans apprehension the affairs of the world passe as if God did neither hear nor see When men are asleep things are done which they can take no notice of much lesse stop and prevent The Parable tels us Mat. 13. While men slept the envious man came and sowed tares While the housholder slept the thief brake the house and the Pharisees direct the watchmen to say of Christ in the sepulchre While we slept his Disciples came and stole him away So now when things are so carried in the world as if the God of heaven did not regard or take notice of them Dormire videtur cum te relinquit in his calamitatibus Drus when he doth not prevent or hinder evil when he doth not stop or restrain the rage and malice of men this retiring of himself in the
rage of the mysticall as of the literall waters yea we finde these two matcht together Psal 65.7 He stilleth the noise of the seas the noise of their waters and the tumult of the people Hence the Apostle Jude vers 13. cals wicked men raging waves of the sea foaming out their own shame The Lord sitteth upon these flouds yea the Lord sitteth King for ever Psal 29.10 There are other mysticall waves even waves within us which will not be trodden upon by any foot but Gods There is a sea of wickednesse in every mans heart by nature Every wicked man is nothing but a sea he is a sea of wickednesse The wicked Isa 57.20 are like the troubled sea when it cannot rest And as the windes blow from all quarters of the heavens and strive upon the seas So there are divers lusts which as windes strive upon the face of mans heart the lust of pride the lust of covetousnes the lusts of ambition of envy of malice these enrage and swell the waters The Lord treads upon the high waves of this sea also he restrains and keeps lust down by his power it would drown all else These raging waves swell too high in his own people it is the work of his Spirit to tread these down and when the windes of severall temptations raise those waves he it is that commands them down Who amongst us is there that one time or other findes not corruption raging as the high waves of the sea How mighty and powerfull is the Lord in that great work of his effectuall grace treading upon the waves of this sea remaining corruption in his servants and children Verse 9. Which maketh Arcturus Orion and Pleiades and the chambers of the South In the verse immediately before we heard of the power of God in stretching out the heavens and in this we have his excellent skill and infinite wisdome displaied in adorning decking and beautifying those heavens which he had stretched forth He hath not only drawn out a vast piece of work In astroruÌ„ pulchritudine situ ordine vi stupendiso in haec infortora operationibus admirabilis prorsus creatoris magnificentia magnitudo plurimuÌ„ clucet Bold like a large Canopy such are the heavens but he hath embroidered this Canopy and set it with rich sparkling stones he hath made severall engravings images figures and representations upon it Or we may make the connexion with the later clause of the former verse Job having said that the Lord treadeth upon the high waves of the sea that when the seas are most stormy and tempestuous they are at his command and that their confusions are under his Empire and order he adds this verse by way of answer to a possible objection For some might say the motion of the seas is from the power and influences of the stars Cum multa sint astra hominibus fluctibus infensa eorum praecipuè memâ—nit quorum vis ad ciendas tempestates hominibus magis est explorata San. from the rising and setting of the moon with other planets and constellations True saith Job yet the Lord is he that treadeth upon the waves of the sea it is the Lord that orders them and not the stars Though the stars and constellations have a dominion over the seas in their ebbings and flowings motions and revolutions yet there is a Lord who hath power not only over the seas but over that which over-powers the seas even over the stars of heaven He maketh Arcturus Orion and Pleiades and the chambers of the South which stars according to the doctrine of Astronomy have a speciall power upon the seas Either of these waies we may make the connexion First That Job would expresse the adorning of the heavens after he had spoken of their making and stretching forth Or secondly He would teach us that though the heavens work upon the seas yet God works upon the heavens He maketh Arcturus Orion and Pleiades and the chambers of the South I shall endeavour to speak of these distinctly The holy Ghost giving us such a Text it is not lightly to be passed by And though here are strange words and uncouth expressions yet we may I hope bring them down to an easie meaning and fit them to the understanding of the simplest I shall touch a little in the generall before I come to every one in particular Iob under these names couches many of the stars of heaven Stella est densior pars orbis ideo lucent astra non coeli quia hi diaphani sunt rari asâ—ra autem densa eoque lucem retinentia reflectentia Migir Phys A Star according to Philosophy is the thicker part of its orb â—r sphear it is thicker then other parts of the heavens for otherwise as it could not hold the light so it could not reflect and send forth the light It could not be a vessel for light or a conveiance for light Light was created the first day Gen. 1.3 but the lights were created the fourth day Gen. 1.14 that is certain vessels were created to hold the light And God said Let there be lights in the firmament of heaven that is let the light which is now scattered thorow all be gathered in certain receptacles fit to keep and yet fitted to transmit and disperse it into all parts of the world Let them be for lights in the firmament of heaven to give light vers 15. Of these lights or stars some are called moving and others fixed That 's the doctrine of Astronomers and it is the doctrine of the Scripture The Apostle Iude ver 13. calling some wandering stars seems to admit of that distinction of the stars into wandering and fixed The unfixt or wandering stars are seven known by their names and motions These in the Text are none of them these are placed above them The seat of these Asterismes is in the eighth sphear to take that doctrin for granted though many dispute it or story of the heavens so the Prophet Amos speaks Chap. 9.2 He buildeth his stories in the heavens we put in the margent sphears He buildâ—th his sphears in the heavens which being one above another are elegantly called the stories of heaven And in the eight sphear innumerable stars are fixed Some of which fall under speciall observation and numeration Astronomers give us a Catalogue of a thousand three and twenty stars which they exactly distinguish which is the ancient account And since that we have had many more discoveries by those noble Navigatours who have made thorow-lights to the world that the East might look into the West and the South into the North The travell study and experiments of these Masters in navigation have brought us in an additionall number of three hundred stars more And so we reckon a thousand three hundred and twenty three fixed stars known by name of which these in the text are a part Thâ— other stars are both innumerable and unnameable beyond number and
thus in the excesses of spirituall joy and consolation so sometâ—mes in the excesses of anguish and sorrow a man scarce knows vvhether he be alive or dead vvhat his state is vvhether in the body or out of the body he regards neither hot nor cold friend or foe wife or children he forgets to eat his bread A third expounds the words as an admiration I am perfect and doe ye thinke I know not my own soul Do ye think I am not acquainted with my self Am I a stranger at home Have I so despised my life think ye that I take no notice of it and am either carelesse or insensible how things go with me As if he had said I am perfect and this is the work of a man whose waies are perfect before the Lord he knows and considers his own soul and grows assured how matters are with him Ye my friends charge me with these and these failings and will force them upon me whether I will or no though I deny your charge yet ye re-joyn and re-affirm it upon me as though I knew not my own soul or as if ye knew me better then me self But I am perfect in heart and I know my own soul I doe not so despise my lifâ— as if it were not worth the looking after or as if I were not worth the ground I goe upon Lastly Integer sum rec s cio animam meam i. e. quicquam perversi in anima mea Others understand it thus which appears the fairest and most sutable interpretation of these later ones I am perfect neither do I know my own soul that is I am not conscious of any evil in my soul I know of no secret guilt or corruption hidden there and so science is put for conscience I know not is I am not privy to any evil that my soul delights in and keeps close either against God or man yet such evils are upon me that I despise my life The spirit of a man saith Solomon will bear his infirmity Then what a load of infirmity presses that man whose life is a burthen to him though no sin burthen his spirit Troubles of conscience doe often make the most peaceable outward estate of this life troublesome And troubles in the outward estate may make those who have great peace of conscience weary of their lives What it is to despise life and that afflictions make this life burdensome hath been shewed in the third and sixth Chapters and will come more fully to be considered at the first verse of the tenth Chapter whither I referre the Reader and forbear to insist upon it here I shall only adde that Job makes these words as a transition to the second part of his answer to the charge of Bildad Ingreditur in alteram suae respoâ—sionis parteÌ„ qua justitiam suam defendit à gravi libera integritatis suae animi beâ—e conscij assertione Merl. For having before given glory to God by acknowledging his justice wisdome power and soveraignty in all his actings he passes to an apology for himself or a defence of his own integrity against the insultations suspitions and accusations of his friends As if he had said I have desired to save the honour of God from the least touch of an uncomely thought much more then doe I abhorre proud and rude contendings with him But as for you my friends ye must give me leave to be plain with you I am not the man ye take me for I have none of that basenesse of spirit with which ye charge me I am no hypocrite I am perfect in heart with God and upright in my dealings with men And yet I cannot but complain of my sad afflictions and renew my desires that the Lord would give me ease by death and acquit me from the bands of these calamities by cutting the threed of my life I know ye judge these outward evils as the brand of a wicked man of a man hated by God But I 'll maintain a proposition contradictory to that your opinion ye shall never prove me wicked because afflicted for thus I hold and I will hold it against you all as long as I am able to speak that the Lord destroieth the perfect and the wicked The argument may be formed up thus That cannot be made a clear proof of mans impiety which falleth alike upon the good and bad But great and destroying outward afflictions fall equally upon good and bad Therefore great and destroying afflictions cannot be made a clear proof of mans impiety The proof of the minor proposition or assumption is contained in the three verses immediately following The discussion and opening of which will give both light and strength to this argument JOB Chap. 9. Vers 22 23 24. This is one thing therefore I said it he destroieth the perfect and the wicked If the scourge slay suddenly he will laugh at the triall of the innocent The earth is given into the hand of the wicked he covereth the faces of the Iudges thereof if not where and who is he Videtur hic locâ— impictatem inâ—ludere quasi apud Iob unum idem sit piorum improboruâ— judiciuÌ„ quoâ—que Deus haec inferiora non curet Isid Claâ— THis speech of Iob caused a learned interpreter to tremble when he read it conceiving that it savoured strongly of impiety and blasphemy as if Iob had mingled the state of the wicked and of the righteous in one or as if his minde were that the Lord did not distinctively order the affairs of the world by the dictates of his wife providence but left them to be hudled together by inexorable fate or blinde fortune therefore he concludes that Iob rather personates a man void of the true knowledge and fear of God than speaks his own opinion Thus he censures but let Job be well weighed and his discourse will appear full of truth and holinesse This is one thing therefore I said it This is one thing As if he had said You have spoken many things to me about the power greatnesse justice and wisdome of God in all which I agree with you ye and I have no difference about those points I have alwaies thought highly of God and I desire to think humbly of my self but here is one thing wherein I must for ever disagree from you here we must part So that this verse is as the limit-stone between Iobs opinion Hoc unaÌ„ est meae assertionis caput and that of his friends Here he speaks out the speciall tenet which he holds in opposition to them As if he had said I yeeld and subscribe to your judgement in all but this one and in this one thing I must be your adversary though I will not be your enemy I say it and say it again He destroieth both the righteous and the wicked This is one thing This is uniform So Mr Broughton reads it and in this thing I am uniform or of
will lay aside my heavinesse I will comfort my self It is a hard thing to comfort others Luther said It is as easie a work to raise the dead as to comfort the conscience but it is harder for a man to comfort himself Eliphaz gave testimony to Job in the fourth Chapter vers 3 4. that he had upholden him that was falling and had strengthned the feeble knees But now it is come upon thee and thou faintest it toucheth thee and thou art troubled Thou who hast holpen others canst not help thy self Yet here Job was upon a resolve to comfort himself I answer Though it be a truth that no man is able to comfort himself no more then he can convert himself and that a man is no more able to change his heart from sorrow to joy then he is able to change his heart from sin to grace yet a man may attempt or assay he may use means to comfort himself When Job saith I will comfort my self the meaning is I will doe the utmost I can I will not be behinde in my endeavours I will take the best course and improve all opportunities to get out of these dumps whosoever will prescribe me a way or direct me to a remedy of these sorrows I will submit to it I will comfort my self From whence note That What a man really endeavoureth to doe that he may be said to doe I will comfort my self Why Because though he were not able to attain such an end Joy and comfort lieth beyond the line of the creature yet he reached at it he attempted and assaied all means to comfort himself Thus the salvation of a man is ascribed to himself A man is said to save himself though salvation belongeth to the Lord even temporall salvation but especially eternall salvation yet a man may be said to save himself As the Apostle 1 Epist 4.16 exhorts Timothy to walk by a holy rule to settle himself in his studies to read the Scriptures and to meditate in them to be faithfull in dispensing of the Gospel assuring him If thou dost these things thou shalt both save thy self and them that hear thee Save thy self No man can be his own Saviour he may be as well his own Creatour Timothy was thus encouraged because in so doing he did all that a man ought who expects salvation That was the way to though not the cause of salvation Salvation is all Christs yet he who doth his best to save himself may be said to save himself Thus also a man comforts himself converts himself instructs himself when he putteth himself out to the utmost of gifts graces and opportunities to doe or attain duties and blessings No man saith the Prophet doth stir himself up to take hold of the Lord. The word in the Prophet signifies to awake or to watch no man wakes or watches his opportunity to take hold of the Lord. It notes also that action of old birds who flutter with their wings and beat up their young ones to urge and provoke them to use their wings and flie abroad Thus he complained because the lazy dull-hearted Jews did not raise up and waken their hearts to doe what they could though to doe it was more then they could Secondly Observe That a man in affliction may help on his comforts or his sorrows I will comfort my self I will leave off my heavinesse Some adde to their afflictions and are active to aggravate and encrease them they make their night darker and obscure the light of counsell that is brought unto them they joyn with Satan their enemy and by the black melancholy vapours of their own hearts stifle the consolations that are administred them by faithfull friends Like Rachel Jer. 31. they refuse to be comforted when reviving Cordials are offered they spill them upon the ground and will not take in a drop they are so farre from comforting themselves that they will not receive comfort from others The Prophet seems to be resolved upon the point he would go on in sorrows Look away from me I will weep bitterly labour not to comfort me Isa 22.4 As sometimes a man under great affliction bespeaks comfort from others O I am in a sad case come comfort me shew me how I may get ease from these sorrows Many beg praiers and send bils of their afflictions desiring to have them spread before the Lord in the Congregation that some comfort may be dropt from heaven into their diseased bodies or wounded spirits Others sleight praiers and care not to be comforted as if it were an ease to them to mourn and a refreshing to be in heavinesse There is a two-fold ground upon which comforts are thus put off 1. Some put off their comforts upon fullennesse of spirit black and dark spirits love to bathe themselves in sorrow Sorrow is the bath of drooping spirits and it is Satans bath too Melancholly is commonly called The devils bath he takes delight to wash in the streams of our unnecessary tears Sorrow for sinne puts the devil to the greatest sorrow Godly grief is a grief to Satan but he delighteth in our worldly sorrows as the devil may be delighted if he have delight in any thing this is one thing he delights in our forbidden sorrows Some sorrows are as much forbidden as any pleasures The devil is as much pleased with our unlawfull sorrows as he is with our unlawfull pleasures And he labours as much to make us pleased with them 2. Others help on their own sorrows and lessen their comforts through forgetfulnesse or ignorance they as the Apostle chides the Hebrews Chap. 12.5 have forgotten the exhortation which speaks unto them as unto children Now as wicked men rejoyce because they forget or know not their ill condition So godly men are sad when they forget or know not how good their condition is Yet Job supposes the review of his good estate would neither check his sorrows nor establish his peace If I say I will forget my complaint I will comfort my self I am afraid of all my sorrows Thirdly Observe Man is not able to comfort himself we can make our selves crosses but we cannot make our selves comforts A man may say as Job did Chap. 7.13 to his bed comfort me or to his riches comfort me or to his wine and good chear comfort me or to his friends comfort me He may say to all outward acts of pleasure to merry company and musick eomfort me Yea a Saint may say to his graces and holinesse comfort me and yet none of these can comfort him 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or they comfort him in vain Timuit expavit prae metu se abstrahere timorem denâ—tat imminentis calamitatis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Significat dolore affiâ—ere interdum figurare Qui materiam aliquam ut lucum vel ceram figurat manibus digitis is illam premendo quasi dolore afficit Bold Est elegans metaphora verba alicujus figurare nam
iniquity who thinke they can put all their iniquity out of his sight And such shall be made so vile that not only God but their own clothes shall abhorre them as Job expresses himself in the next words Mine own clothes will abhorre me We have the word at the eighth Chapter verse 14. Whose hope shall loath him which we render Whose hope shall be cut off Clothes may be taken either properly or figuratively Taken properly the words may import first his degradation from all former dignities I shall be deprived of all honour and estimation and so the clothes which I wore in the daies of my prosperity will so much unbecome me that they will abhorre me Or secondly Taken properly they are conceived to be a circumlocution of death Thou wilt plunge me in the pit that is I shall die and mine own clothes will abhor me The dead are stript garments doe not become a dead carcase M. Broughtons paraphrase upon his own translation intimates this Mine own clothes shall loath me namely saith he When I go naked to the grave as though my clothes did loath me Others understand it figuratively Mine own clothes shall abhor me that is First Those that are my dearest friends shall abhor me Thou wilt make them flee from me who are as near to me as the clothes on my back Or secondly In a figure Mine own clothes that is mine own works shall abhorre me Hypocrites are said to come in sheeps-clothing Mat. 7. that is doing the works of those who are sincere appearing like them in practice And when we are warned to keep our garments Revel 16.15 the meaning is that we must keep faith and a good conscience in every act of our lives Thirdly It may have respect to lepers whose clothes did abhor them because they wore some mark of difference upon their garments shewing that they were to be shunned and their company avoided But rather in generall Mine own clothes shall abhor me notes extreme pollution If I justifie my self before God Tam squalidus ero ut ea quibus nullus est seâ—suâ— tantum squalorem sentiri abominari videantur I shall be so unclean that my clothes will be loth to touch me We say of one that is very filthy A man would not touch him with a pair of tongs And it is usuall in Scripture to give you that rule for the understanding of this and other the like forms of speaking when a matter is spoken of in a way of excesse that things insensible have sense yea reason and understanding ascribed to them abhorring Vbi aliquarum rerum exâ—essus est dicuntur aliquando in Scripturis sentire insensibilia Sanct. is an act beyond sense it hath a mixture of reason and understanding now to note his exceeding lothsomenesse to God and man who attempts to justifie himself before God the text saith His clothes which have neither life nor sense shall abhor him When the Pharisees envying the acclamations which the multitude of Christs Disciples gave him at his entrance into Jerusalem desired that he would rebuke and silence them Christ answered I tell you if these should hold their peace the stones would immediately cry out importing how just an occasion there was why his Name and glory should be lifted up Do ye think much that reasonable men speak If these should hold their peace the stones that have neither life nor sense would speak Thus Gen. 4.10 to note the foulnesse of Cains sinne and his cruelty toward his brother God saith The earth hath opened her mouth to receive thy brothers bloud from thy hand as if the earth had been sensibly affected with the cruelty of Cain towards his brother thou wouldst not let his bloud stay in his body therefore the earth in kindnesse opened her mouth and took in his bloud from thy hand and that cries up unto me So here I shall be so foul that if my clothes had sense life and reason and could dispose of their own actings and set themselves upon what body and limbs they pleased Iob summam foeditatem animae per summaÌ„ foeditatem corporis indigitat Tam foedus à judicio tuo discederem ut is corpore est sordidus quem vestes suae horrent Coc. Quamvis ego mundus sum à culpa tamen paenis atque dolorum aegritudinum sordibus squalore obsolescam surely they would put themselves off from my body and never come on again they would abhor me I should be as filthy before God in soul as he is in body who must be washed before he is fit to have his clothes put on him As to be clothed with shame so to have our clothes ashamed of us notes the greatest dishonour Lastly This casting into the ditch and the abhorring of his clothes may referre to the continuance of his afflictions though I should make my self never so pure yet the Lord would cast me again into the ditch of affliction he will put me into the pit of trouble till like a man drawn out of the mire Mine own clothes abhorre me or make me an abhorring to all that see me I know the Lord will make further triall of me Hence note God casts his servants again and again into the miery ditch as refiners cast gold again and again into the fiery furnace to make them more pure That which defiles the outward man may be cleansing to the inward And the abominable clothing of the body may be a means to put the soul into the most handsome dresse Secondly Observe That After purgings and cleansings the Lord often goes on with further chastenings Though I wash my self c. yet thou wilt cast me in the ditch and mine own clothes will abhor me Yea our purgings and cleansings are sometimes so far from causing God to take off our afflictions that they doe but fit us for more affliction For the Lord will not trust an impure spirit or an heart defiled under many corruptions under great afflictions He therefore cleanses many and makes them more holy that they may be more fit to bear afflictions No certain argument can be grounded upon this that a man shall come out of affliction because he is cleansed for God chuses in some cases to afflict such most ☞ who are most cleansed The Lord hath as much service from us while we suffer as while we doe his will passive obedience is higher and harder service then active and an unclean heart is of the two though it be fit for neither more unfit for suffering then for doing Therefore Jobs friends could not groundedly affirm that he should be delivered if he were cleansed Indeed if Gods thoughts were like mans thoughts or if he were tied by such rules as we we might make such conclusions but Job concludes He is not a man as we are JOB Chap. 9. Vers 32 33 c. For he is not a man as I am that I should answer him and we should come
right only in the free grace of God and in the righteousnes of my redeemer According to this exposition he returneth to his first proposition laid down in the second verse of this Chapter How should man be just or righteous with God I am not right in my self as I said in the beginning of my answer Man is not righteous so I now conclude in my own particular case I am not righteous in my self and being righteous in another if God would but give me a little respit from these sorrows I would speak and not be afraid This teaches us First That the confidence and holy boldnesse which the Saints have in comming unto God is grounded upon the righteousnesse of Christ not upon any worthinesse in themselves Secondly Observe He that is most upright in heart is most forward to acknowledge and most constant in acknowledging his own unrighteousnesse They who are most proud are most empty And they who have least usually speak with the most Sincerity rates it self low I am not right that is righteous saith upright Iob. Thirdly Say others I am not right in my self that is I am at present uncomposed and unsetled in my own spirit As if Iob had said I desire that the Lord would remove his fear and mitigate my afflictions that I might speak with him and not fear for as yet I am not right in my self my spirit is so overwhelmed and my thoughts are so troubled within me Quia non sic sum apud me ut nunc sum sc in hac affl ctione uti me nunc rractat exagitae Deus sum velut extra me animi impos Merc. Neque enim metuens possum respondere Vul. that I have not the free use of my own understanding nor can my reason doe its office much lesse my grace I am scarce in my right minde but rather as a man distracted so was Heman with the terrours of the Lord I know not how to manage faith under such fears the majesty and dreadfulnesse of God oppresse my spirit as I am I am not myself The Vulgar gives this interpretation instead of a translation For I cannot answer while I am afraid Hence note A godly man in sore temptaions may for a while appear lesse then a man Fears hinder him from shewing the best of his naturall self much more any thing of his spirituall self Further note two things experienced by many of the Saints in the day of their distresse First A godly man under greatest afflictions keeps to the opinion of his own integrity yet builds his comfort upon the free grace of God He can according to the first interpretation of these words challenge all with this Question Am I not right in my self Is there not integrity in my spirit And according to the second he is ready to make this negative confession I am not right in my self I stand not upon my own integrity Secondly The Saints in great afflictions are often so overwhelmed with the majesty of God that they are not able to expresse their interest in God much lesse make out the comforts of that interest The former of these arises from that seed of holinesse and stock of grace abiding in them The other ariseth from the naturall weaknesse of flesh and bloud in which they abide and from the morall corruption of nature abiding in them Thus we see how the sense of the text rises as the word Chen is understood nominally for right or just We translate it adverbially But it is not so with me or For it is not so with me This reading bears a three-fold interpretation First In construction with the former words thus Let him take away his rod c. then will I speak and not fear him for it is not so with me that is I am not so fearfull or of so low a spirit I am not such a stranger or of so little acquaintance with God that I should not know how to speak unto him or that I should be afraid to speak unto him If the Lord would but hide that brightnesse of his own glory which dazles me and ease me of my own pains which distract me I should sure enough speak unto him 〈…〉 But secondly We may rather refer it to the false and unkinde opinion of his friends who judged him a wicked man or an hypocrite which here he denies It is not so with me as if he had said If the Lord would be pleased to grant what I have petitioned I would speak unto him without fear or doubt of being heard for it is not so with me namely as you have suspected and imagined all this while or as you think it is I am not the man you take or rather mistake me to be if I were then though the Lord should take all his afflictions from me and all with-draw his terrours yet I should be afraid to speak unto him yea I should be afraid to pray unto him every prayer were I wicked would be a praying down judgement upon my self But seeing I can boldly affirm my conscience also bearing me witnesse that though I sinne yet I love not to sinne that though I am weak yet I am not wicked as ye have charged me Non sic impius ego apud me Pagn Non sum talis qualem me putatis Vatabl. Merc. my heart being thus clear before God I cannot fear to open my mouth and report my cause before God Hence observe which hath been offered from other passages in this book and therefore I shall only observe it That A godly man standeth to and knoweth his own integrity in the midst of all the clamours and slanders the misapprehensions or aspersions of friends or enemies Whosoever loads and charges him with studied or approved hypocrisie he will and he ought to unload and discharge himself at least with Jobs plain deniall you suspect me thus but I am sure it is not so with me Thirdly The words may bear this meaning I have sought and earnestly entreated the Lord to abate my afflictions and to remove his terrours But it is not so with me Alas I doe not finde that the Lord hath done any of these things for me His rod is still upon my back and his terrours stand as thick about my soul as ever was ever poor man in such a plight as I T is not alasse with me as I have praied or as I would have it The rod smarts and terrours amaze me still Hence note That a godly man may pray in affliction and not presently be relieved in or from his affliction Many a soul can say It is so with me as I have praied I have the wishes and desires of my soul yet many and I believe many more then can cannot say so The Lord lets precious praiers lie unanswered to our sense We may pray long before we finde it so with us as we have praied and yet those praiers are not lost but laid up not buried but sown And it
as thou pleasest to doe thy work in Why then doest thou deal thus severely with me as if thou were afraid thou shouldest over-slip thy day or want a season to deal with me in Again When he saith Are thy daies as mans daies it may referre to the changes which happen in the daies of man Deo nihil affert novi crastina dies the daies of man are sometimes fair and sometimes cloudy sometimes he hath good daies and sometimes he hath ill daies therefore he must take his time and lay hold upon his opportunity He must make his hay while the Sunshines who cannot command the Sun to shine But the daies of the Lord are like himself alwaies the same alwaies alike There are no changes of time to him who is himself unchangeable Lastly Are thy daies as the daies of man Aâ—iam suarum miseriarum causam excludit à Deo q.d. si non esset firma Dei voluntas atque benevolentia erga suos sed innata illi esset inconstantia nihil mirum esset si me queÌ„ quondam ingentibus beneficiis cumula vit odio prosequatur Bold 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 may have reference to man himself man is as mutable a creature as his time is and man is mutable not only in his condition but in his affection now he loveth anon he hateth now he rejoyceth anon he sorroweth now he esteemeth anon he rejecteth now he imbraceth anon he contemneth Lord saith Job I know thou art not in thy daies as man is in his Where thou art once a friend thou art alwaies a friend whom thou lovest thou lovest for ever Thy affections are as unchangeable as thy nature There is a difference in the later clause of the verse for whereas he saith in the first Are thy daies as the daies of man In the second he saith Are thy years as mans daies The daies of God in the first part are the same with the years of God in the second But man hath not years ascribed to him in the second The time of man is so short that it is reckoned by the shortest compleat time a day And when David computes the longest date of mans life he doth not say The years of man are threescore years and ten but the daies of our years are threescore years and ten Psa 90.10 There is yet another difference in the originall about the word man In the first clause the Hebrew word for man was Enosh here it is Geber which signifies a strong man a mighty man a man of the most masculine spirit and strongest body of the most vigorous abilities and greatest probabilities to live long A man of brasse and heart of oake rather then of clay and dust of the earth Lord Thy daies are not only not as the daies of Enosh a weak sickly man but Thy years are not as the daies of Geber as the daies of the mightiest and healthiest of the strongest and stoutest among the sons of men Observe hence more distinctly the difference between the daies of God and the daies of man First Gods day is the day of eternity Mans daies are but daies of time God is said To inhabit eternity Isa 57.15 that is he is fixed in eternity he is without beginning and without end yea his daies are without succession of daies All the daies of God are but a day Not only are a thousand years to him as one day but eternity is to him as one day All that God doth is said to be done to day Thou art my sonne to day have I begotten thee Psal 2.7 yet he speaks say some of the eternall generation of the Son or as it referreth to the resurrection of Christ so the Apostle expounds it Act. 13.33 God cals that time To day though it came a long time after all is present with God Past and to come in relation to God is neither past nor to come all is now or to day That was not past to God which never had beginning the eternall generation of his Son nor was that to come to God which was alwaies before him The temporall resurrection of his Son To day have I begotten thee is the most proper stile for God Tempus est mensura hominum habens principium finem aeviternitas est Angelorum principium habeus sed non finem aeternitas est propria Deo nec principiuÌ„ habens nec finem Some distinguish thus between these three Eternity Eviternity and Time Eternity is that which is peculiar unto God his are the daies of eternity Eviternity is proper to Angels and spirits which have a beginning but shall have no end Time is the portion and lot of man who hath had a beginning and shall have an end Time is the measure of those things which actually corrupt and change Eviternity is the measure of things incorruptible and unchangeable not in themselves but by the appointment of God Eternity is peculiar to God in whom it is absolutely impossible any change should be Time hath continuall successions eternity a constant permanency eviternity partakes of both Hence The second difference Mans daies are moveable the daies of God move not Aeternitas est quae nihil habet mutabile ibi nihil est praeteritum quasi jam non fit nihil futaruÌ„ quasi nondum fit quia â—oÌ„ est ibi nisi est Aug. in Ps 101. Erat erit nostri temporis fluxaeque naturae segmenta sunt Aeternitas est semper immutabile esse Thirdly Mans daies being past cannot be recalled Gods day is ever within his call for that which is past is as much present to him as that which is present and that which is to come is as much present to him as that which is Mans day was is and shall be Gods day alwaies is his name is I am It was and it will be are divisions and fragments morsels and bits of time eternity is an It is This teaches us First That God hath time enough to do his work in His daies are not as mans daies He needs not hasten his work lest he should loose his opportunity who is possessed of eternity And Secondly This by the way sheweth us the infinite happinesse and unconceivable blessednesse of God His daies are not as mans daies one of mans daies carrieth away one comfort and the next a second This day brings one comfort and the next a second and so he looseth or receiveth his comforts by daies and by daies by the fluxes and refluxes of time God hath all his happines in eternity that is he hath all at once Time neither bringeth nor carrieth away from God He enjoyeth as much at this present what he ever had as what he hath at this present and he enjoys as much what shall be as he doth what is present he enjoyeth all at once because he seeth all at once God hath not one thing after another but all together Eternity is the longest and the shortest it is
Is there any beauty in darknes in thick darknes where there is no order in darknes where the very light is darknes One of the greatest plagues upon Egypt Nostri theologizantes ad infernum referuÌ„t sed Iob ad sepulchrum respexit Merc. was three daies darknes what then is there in death naturally considered but a plague seeing it is perpetuall darknes If death be such in it self and such to those who die in sin how should our hearts be raised up in thankfulnes to Christ who hath put other terms upon death and the grave by dying for our sins Christ hath made the grave look like a heaven to his Christ hath abolished death not death it self for even believers die but all the trouble and terrour of death the darknes and the disorder of it are taken away Christ hath mortified death kill'd death so that now death is not so much an opening of the door of the grave as it is an opening of the door of heaven Christ who is the Sun of righteousnes lay in the grave and hath left perpetuall beams of light there for his purchased people The way to the grave is very dark but Christ hath set up lights for us or caused light to shine into the way Christ hath put death into a method yea Christ hath put death into a kinde of life or he hath put life into the death of believers All the gastlinesse horrour yea the darknes and death of death is removed The Saints may look upon the grave as a land of light like light it self yea as a land of life like life it self where there is nothing but order and where the darknes is as light Jobs reply to Bildad and complaints to God have carried his discourse as far as death and the grave he gives over in a dark disordered place God still leaving him under much darknes and many disorders of spirit As his great afflictions are yet continued so his weaknesses continue too His graces break forth many times and sometimes his corruption Both are coming to a further discovery while his third friend Zophar takes up the bucklers and renews the battel upon what terms he engages with Job how Job acquits himself and comes off from that engagement is the summe of the four succeeding Chapters FINIS Errata PAg. 18. for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 p. 63. l. 5. for 29. r. 19. p. 69 l. 39. for 7. r. 29. p. 152. l. 21. for need r needs p. 201. in marg fòr Apollo r. Achilles in some copies p. 311 l 17. dele the. p. 331. l. 2. dele in p 430. l 22. for affliction r. afflictions p 361. l. 37. for Apologues r. Apologies ib. l. 38. put in to after arguments p. 366. in mâ—rg for polluerunt r. polluerent p. 401. l. 27. for an idol u r. idols are p 413. l. 22. for wearied r. weary p. 418. l. 27. dele not A TABLE Directing to some speciall Points noted in the precedent EXPOSITIONS A ABib the Jewish moneth why so called p. 73 Adamant why so called 160. Affliction A good heart give â— testimony to the righteousnesse of God in the midst of greatest afflictions p. 14 God laies very sore afflictions upon them that are very dear to him p. 279. Afflictions continued cause â—s to suspect that our praier is not answered p. 280. A godly man may be much opprest with the fears of affliction p. â—54 There was not such a spirit of rejoycing in affliction among the Saints of the old Testament as is under the New p. 358. After purgings God goes on sometimes with afflictions p. 372. It is lawfull to pray against affliction p. 399. Affliction removed three waies p. 400. Great afflictions carry a charge of wickednesse upon the afflicted p. 432. An afflicted person is very solicitous about the reason of his afflictions p. 436. Afflictions are searchers p. 469. Afflictions affect with shame p. 573. Vnder great afflictions our requests are modest p. 579. Age what meant by it taken three waies p. 55. Ancient of daies why God is so called p. 460. Angels falling why their sinne greater then mans and God so irreconcilable to them p. 506. Anger in man what it is p. 180 How God is angry p. 181. The troubles that fall upon the creature are the effects of Gods anger p. 181. It is not in the power of man to turn away the anger of God p. 247. How praier is said to do it 10. The anger of God is more grievous to the Saints then all their other afflictions p. 433. Answering of two kindes p. 250. Antiquity True antiquity gives testimony to the truth p. 58. What true antiquity is p. 59. Appearance we must not judge by it p. 360. Arcturus described p. 209. Assurance that we are in a state of grace possible and how wrought p. 479. Awake In what sense God awakes p. 37 38. His awaking and sleeping note only the changes of providence p. 39. Two things awaken God the praier of his people and the rage of his enemies p. 40. B BItternesse put for sorest affliction p. 285. The Lord sometime mixes a very bitter cup for his own people p. 286. Body of man the excellent frame of it p. 516. Five things shew this p. 517. Body of man an excellent frame p. 494. How called a viâ— body ib. Bones and sinews their use in the body of man p. 516. C CAbits a sect of babling Poets p. 7. Cause Second causes can doe nothing without the first p. 493. Chambers of the South what and why so called p. 210. Chistu the tenth moneth among the Jews why so called p. 209. Christ is the medium by which we see God p. 231 Clay that man was made of clay intimates three things p. 504. Commands God can make every word he speaks a command p. 192. Every creature must submit to his command ib. God hath a negative voice of command to stay the motion of any creature p. 193. Comfort comes only from God p. 348. Yet a man in affliction may help on his own comforts or sorrows p. 351. Comforts put off upon two ground ib. Commendation To commend our selvâ—s very unseemly p. 296 297. Conâ—emnation hath three thing in it which make it very gâ—evous p. 432. It is the adjudging a man to be wicked p. 434. Conscience A good conscience to be kept rather then our lives p. 303. God and conscience keep a record of our lives p. 540. Consent to sinne how proper to the wicked p. 478. Contention Man naturally loves it p. 150. Man is apt to contend with God p. 152. Especially about three things p. 153. Man is unable to contend with God in any thing p. 154. Counsels of wicked men not shined on by God p. 447. Custom in sin what p. 476. D DAies-man who p. 385. why so called p. 386. Five things belonging to a daies-man p. 387. A three-fold posture of the daies-man in laying on his