be once prepar'd and disposed to follow Christ unless we also persevere in our Course after him Now then the Bridegroom is Christ himself the time of the Wedding is at his last coming the night is the melancholy state and condition of the Church in the World the Virgins are they that make profession of the purity of the Gospel and the wise Virgins are the true Believers that are constantly provided in their Hearts to receive him at his coming making an holy Life and Practice their daily Business through the assistance of Divine Grace which is the Oil that burneth howsoever it be not always in actual exercise but the foolish ones are they in the Church who have been very negligent to excite and cherish the Gifts and Graces of the Holy Spirit the Lamps are their Hearts which are unprovided the Slumber is their Remissness and Cessation from continual exercise of Piety without expectation of Christ's sudden appearance caused chiefly through the Infirmity of the Flesh that is unactive and tired out through his long delays of coming The Holy Scripture is very full of Allegories of all sorts See Job 20. 12 13. c. 27. v. 20. c. 28. v. 9. Psal 23. v. 1. 69. 1 2 3. 75. 8. 80. v. 8 9 10. Prov. 3. 8. Isai 1. 5 6 7. 30. 30. Matt. 3. 10 12. 5-13 7 3 4 5 6. 9. 14. Luk 9. 62. Rom. 11. 16 17 18. But I should be too tedious should I give you an accurate view of the particular Instances belonging to this Figure METALEPSIS Metalepsis multiplies a Trope in one word when one improper term serves to express another by it till you arrive at the most proper one of all Matt. 21. 20. All the City was moved The word City here signifies Jerusalem the general term comprehending the particular by Synecdoche generis and Jerusalem denotes the Inhabitants of it by a Metonymy of the Subject Lament 4. 4. The tongue of the sucking child cleaveth to the roof of his mouth for very thirst here first by the extreme thirst of the sucking Infant is signified the barren and dry breasts of the Mother and by her Want of Milk extreme Hunger and Famine and by Famine the dismal Poverty and Misery of the People Four kinds of a Trope There are four sorts of a Trope Metonymy Irony Metaphor Synecdoche METONYMY Metonymy of the cause when the name of the very Person serves to express the act or operation proceeding from him thus The Holy Spirit sometimes signifies only regeneration or a new birth which is the peculiar efficacy of the third Person in the Blessed Trinity Psal 51. 10. Renew a Right spirit within me and to the very same purpose see Ezek. 36. 26. Eph. 4. 23. Rom. 12. 2. all which places seem to imply nothing less than a moral change wrought in our Souls by the Influence of divine grace whereby we become regenerate or born again 1 Thess 5. 19. 't is the admonition of St. Paul not to quench the Spirit 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a similitude borrowed from the fire of the ancient Altars which was continually to be preserved alive and so here he must not extinguish the Gifts of the Spirit but keep them in constant exercise such are Grace Charity meekness c. See Matt. 25. 8. 2 Tim. 1. 6. The very same Apostle commands us to stir up the Gift of the Holy Spirit that is Grace or Faith or Godliness or some other divine Quality which is excited in us by the mighty energy power or operation of the Holy Ghost Spirit also sometimes signifies a divine power or energy reigning in the Soul of the regenerate Man See Luke 1. 46 47. My soul doth magnifie the Lord and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour There are not a few other places of Scripture where you will find the word Spirit is often made use of to express the new Man and spiritual strength Rom. 1. 9. Galat. 3. 3. Acts 17. 16. 2 Kings 2. 9. It was the earnest request of Elisha to Elijah let a double portion of thy Spirit be upon me that is give me an extraordinary measure of the gift of Prophecy and power in working Mirecles which are here called the portion of thy Spirit as being the peculiar gifts of the Holy Spirit conferred upon us See Num. 11. 25. 2 Kings 4. 1 and 42. Dan. 5. 12. Daniel had a more excellent spirit that is a more eminent gift of the spirit more knowledge and more understanding Numb 11. 25. The Spirit of the Lord rested upon the seventy Elders that is the Gift of Prophecy and Prediction Acts 19. 2. We have not so much as heard whether there be Any Holy Ghost that is we are very much Strangers to the virtue power or influence of him And you find afterwards they received the Holy Ghost that is the divine Inspirations of him which did eminently appear in the Gift of languages and of power of working Miracles and other kind of Wonders To the same purpose see Acts 1. 5. Jo. 7. 39. Rev. 1. 10. I was in the Spirit that is in a Rapture or Ecstasie in which the Understanding is exalted after a wonderfull manner to the Contemplation of Heavenly things Ezek. 37. 1. The hand of the Lord carried me out in the Spirit of the Lord that is by a vision occasioned by him where you see in both these places the Spirit the efficient Cause is put for the Effect proceeding from him Luke 16. 29. They have Moses and the Prophets that is the Books of Moses where by a Metonymy of the efficient Cause the Author is put for his Writings See Luke 24. 27. Eph. 4. 20. But ye have not so learned Christ that is the Gospel and Doctrines delivered by him Acts 2. 4. They began to speak with Other tongues that is with different sorts of languages Prov. 25. 15. A Soft Tongue breaketh the Bones that is a mild and courteous way of speaking softens the hardest Heart and most obstinate Resolutions where you see in both these places of Scripture the instrumental Cause signifies the Effect it self produced by it Gen. 11. 1. And the whole earth was of One lip that is of one language and uniform way of speaking Instrumentum pro Effectu ipso Job 31. 6. Let God weigh me in an even Balance the instrument of Equity and Justice for equity it self and so without a Metaphor the Phrase signifies no more but Let God try and examine me impartially Ezek. 7. 15. the Sword is without and the Pestilence and the Famine within that is death and ruin is scattered every where and is signified by those which are the unhappy instruments of it Matt. 10. 34. I came not to send Peace but a Sword that is variance and death and persecution instrumentum pro Re effecta Not that our Saviour's Coming was the proper Cause of such Unhappiness but so it should eventually happen out upon his appearance in our Nature because his
to us we might fansie there was some kind of truth in those impious and pernicious doctrines which tell us God design'd to make man to make him miserable even from all eternity but how unworthy are such notions of God who is infinite in goodness and mercy how contradictory to his loving-kindness to us Not willing that any should perish but that all should come and be saved Eph. 4. 30. Grieve not the holy Spirit of God where the Passion of sorrow is applied to the Holy Ghost as a personal act and cannot with any propriety be ascribed to a mere power or faculty as some fansie the Holy Spirit and not to be a real Person Grieve not then the Holy Ghost the third Person in the Blessed Trinity lest he withdraw his comfort his joy and consolation from your heart lest the blessed influence of his grace departeth from you as from an unpleasant conversation Gen. 6. 6. God is said to repent See also 1 Sam. 15. 11 29. Not that there is the least change or alteration in God but only in the object in the works of his hand which were once good but now are evil for God himself is unchangeable and always the same but 't is his eternal will and pleasure that wicked men should be miserable and good men happy either here in this world or at least in the world to come which always is accomplished in some respect or other though we are sometimes unable to make the discovery of it we cannot look into the hearts of men and there see their joys or their sorrows growing up in their minds and therefore how often do we make a false estimate of the condition of the ungodly man and fansie him to be at ease and quiet in his thoughts and to live with pleasure and satisfaction who upon reflection upon his past actions and upon expectation of death and judgment is often a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief full of trouble and anxiety and thinks himself unhappy and miserable even beyond all expression Thus when God is said to descend which implies a local motion a motion from one place into another yet the phrase by interpretation signifies that God did there reveal and manifest himself Gen. 11. 5. Gen. 18. 21. I will go down and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it which is come to me and if not I will know here God himself discourseth as a man to his neighbour as if he was not a Being of infinite knowledge but did receive his notice and information of worldly affairs by a gradual course of thinking and observation and by farther enquiries into second causes Thus God suffers himself to be discribed like a Judge who repairs to the place where the matter in question was transacted that by his personal appearance he may more fully and easily assure himself of the innocence or the guilt of the accused person and one reason why God makes use of such a form of speaking is to certifie us that there is not always one event to the righteous and to the wicked but that he rewards or punisheth man according to the rules and equity of Justice and not with unadviseable rashness and indeliberation And the Lord called unto Adam and said Where art thou Not that this kind of question in the least signifies that God possibly could be ignorant where Adam was but this way of speaking is rather a formal citation or a summons to Adam who seems unwilling to come and appear before his offended God being extreamly conscious of his sin and guiltiness and of his fall from the happy state of innocence and now beholding a mighty train of miseries which were to follow him as a just retribution for his disobedience One of the Fathers is of opinion this expression Where art thou is rather a severe kind of reprehension to Adam as if God said to terrifie him more exceedingly From what grace and innocence art thou fallen Come then and appear before me Where art thou and behold Adam was afraid And God blessed them saying Be fruitfull and multiply and fill the waters in the seas and let the fowl multiply in the earth which kind of phrases denote nothing else but his divine appointment of the encrease of his Creatures in their kind for certainly you can never be so unkind to your own sence and reason as to fansie God speaks to his irrational Creatures as if they were capable to hear and obey his pleasure but God rather dictates to their proper natures and by natural instinct and inclinations he has given them power and virtue and efficacy to propagate and preserve their kind Isai 5. 6. I will command the clouds that they rain no more upon it and now who supposes that God himself presently sent strict orders to the Clouds to keep back their fall of waters for the expressian imports no more but this that God by the course of natural causes so disposeth things in heaven and earth that at such a time the Clouds of heaven should be void of water so that he orders second causes and the operations of them not according to the present exigency but by his infinite prospect into futurity he does antecedently so manage every thing that nothing falls out unexpectedly but according to his will and pleasure Psalm 18. 10. He rode upon a Cherub and did fly yea God did fly upon the wings of the wind which expression conveys to our mind a more sensible notion of speed God did not ride but fly even upon the very wings of the wind which is the highest degree of speedy motion that possibly can be describ'd to frame in us an Idea of his incredible swiftness And now because God is so indulgent to submit himself to our Capacities must we presently pretend to describe him according to the narrow proportions of man How does God baffle us how does he put us to silence when he is pleas'd to ask us questions beyond the compass of our knowledge Hath the rain a Father or who hath begotten the drops of dew Job 38. 28. that is Am not I the Lord and the Author of these and is there any one besides Job 38. 19. Where is the way where the light dwelleth and as for darkness where is the place thereof that is No man knows the particular points of the Sun 's rising or setting and now that God may make us still more sensible of our ignorance Hast thou says God entered into the springs of the seas or hast thou walked in the search of the depth that is Thou art perfectly a stranger to the whole course of nature Vers 22 23. Hast thou entred into the treasures of snow or hast thou seen the treasures of hail which I reserved against the time of trouble against the day of war and battle All which assure us that we are unacquainted with the secret cause and origin use and production of these things and
were with a whisper and yet even those that are in the most distant places in the remotest corners of the earth shall obey the powerfull summons of his voice and presently come and make their appearances Here you have a description with no less elegancy of the most unsearchable ways and councils of the great God he made darkness his secret place his Pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the sky and the methods of his providence are very unaccountable and past our understanding his ways are extreamly private in the dark and in the deep waters and his footsteps are not known But because some have the most severe and rigid notions of God shall I give you a tast of the sweetness of his love and kindness Isai 49. 15. Can a woman says God forget her sucking child And the question is proposed to assure us 't is at least extreamly difficult though not impossible for a mother to break through the strongest ties and impressions of natural affection yet even then God himself assures us though a woman may be so very barbarous and so inhumane to the child of her womb yet that he himself had more Bowels more affection more tender compassions and could never be unmindfull of his children nay so great is his care his sollicitous concernment for them that in all their sufferings God cannot but have the same sence of Pain and misery and sympathize with them in all their afflictions says the Prophet He was afflicted Isai 47. 7. Nay to the very last degree of kindness and commiseration that no relation how near soever can have more for like as a father hath compassion on his children so the Lord hath pity on them that fear him And Psal 103. v. 13. if 't is yet possible to give a suller sense of his infinite love and affection to us he assures us that if his Church is under the least kind of suffering that he himself is extreamly sensible of it even as the most tender part resents the smallest injury They that touch you touch the apple of my eye Psalm 7. 11 12 13. God is there represented as a mighty man of war preparing to engage his enemy but yet he is so indulgent and merciful that he seems very unwilling to execute the fury of his wrath but is still in expectation of our conversion that we will at last sue for a peace and repent and obey him but if he will not turn says David He will whet his sword he hath bent his bow and made it ready he hath prepared for him the instruments of death And is there not a greatness of spirit and majesty in this short definition God gives of himself I am that I am hath sent me unto thee that is I am God unchangeable the same yesterday to day and for ever 't is I that send Moses And now perhaps these Texts of Scripture without any more are susficient to discover that the Scripture is not written in so very low and plain a strain as some ignorantly imagine and perhaps 't is not the least recommendation of the inspired Writings that no other book in all the world can furnish our minds with more distinct and clearer Revelations of his Being or his divine Attributes no other book can so excellently describe the power the majesty the infinte justice the mercy and goodness of Almighty God And now if you are desirous to take a view of his wonders in the deep how should man without an express revelation from heaven have been able in the least to discover the incomprehensible Mystery of the Trinity or how should he upon the fall of Adam have been ever capable to dive into the mysterious contrivance of our Redemption or acquaint himself with the reasons of Christ's Incarnation his Death and Passion Resurrection and Ascension And if you please to take into your serious consideration the Divinity of its Doctrines what a noble Scheme is the Christian Religion of all moral vertues such as a Seneca or a Plutarch never dreamt of and what are all their Systems of Morality in comparison of the Christian Institution what Charity what Forgiveness of Enemies what Provocations to mutual Love what tender Compassions to one another in distresses and miseries are we obliged to put in practice upon every occasion yea what Purity in all our thoughts what Innocence what Sincerity in all our Intentions these are all such mighty Perfections of moral Vertues as we can only learn from Scripture Perhaps others may recommend the practice of Vertue from common decency and convenience or from a temporal satisfaction attending the exercise of it but we derive our Obligations much higher for if we had only hopes of being happy in this life we were of all men the most miserable for how does the Christian Religion extend our Prospect beyond the grave and give us those comfortable hopes of a Resurrection and of eternal happiness hereafter which the heathens did but guess at But perhaps the spirit and the inimitable style of the Scripture may still more effectually recommend it to your perusal and has it not think you a mighty force power and efficacy when our Saviour began his Institution to the Christian Philosophy only with this very plain and naked Benediction Blessed are the poor in spirit and Blessed are they that are persecuted for righteousness sake Who can believe such kind of Blessings such Invitations to embrace the terms of the Gospel should be so very prevalent and bring in such a numerous company of Proselytes Jews and Gentiles Who can believe that Christianity should advance and make its way into the world against the opposition of so much wit and power from such sort of encouragements Thus the very difficulty of its moral Duties and the discouragement of the Proposals and the mighty plainness of its Principles are so far from being in the least disadvantageous to the Christian Religion that they are no small argument of its Divinity it being impossible it should ever make such a progress in the world unless it had been assisted by the power and the wisedom of God himself and thus the divine Authority of its Original commands our respect and reverence And after all the Simplicity of the Scriptural Style is not without Majesty How plain yet how magnificent is this expression I am that I am hath sent me Exod. 3. 14. And now as to the Translation of the Bible it self I will not deny but as very many places are not without a gracefull and elegant ornament of expression so there are some other parts less artificial neither is this so very strange since the original Languages sometimes carry in them a native Grace and Emphasis hardly expressible in a Translation at least with the very same beautify and significancy of speech And if our Translators here and there fall below the spirit and the dignity of the Original they are very excusable because they were