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
thing that may be objected against us by answering by way of prevention the very objection our selves Rom. 11. 19 21 22. Thou wilt say then The branches were broken off that I might be graffed in Well because of unbelief they were broken off and thou standest by faith Be not high minded but fear For if God spared not the natural branches take heed lest he also spare not thee St. Paul here obviates the objection of the Gentiles who were inserted into the body of the Church and the unbelieving Jews who are here styled the broken branches were rejected this he tells the Gentiles was a mighty favour of God so to incoporate them with his Church but then he also assures them that they must not so far presume upon their present state and vocation For if God spare not the natural branches that is the Jews themselves take heed lest he also spare not the◠For if by your disobedience you now incurr God's displeasure you cannot in reason but expect to suffer the same unhappy fare with the Jewish Nation St. Paul discoursing of the resurrection resolves a difficult question concerning the mode and manner of the resurrection and what sort of body shall be raised up from the grave But some will say How are the dead raised up and with what body do they come 1 Cor. 15. 35 36. Thou soul Our Saviour stifles their objection by offering another so very difficult that they were unwilling to answer it Matth. 21. 24 25. I will also ask you one question which if you tell me I likewise will tell you by what authority I doe these things The baptism of John whence was it from heaven or of men This was such a Dilemma and the resolution of it so highly inconvenient that they pretend ignorance and answer We cannot tell Rom. 9. 19 20. Thou wilt say them unto me Why doth he yet find fault for who hath resisted his will Nay but O man who art thou that repliest against God Thus St. Paul anticipates their false opinion assuring them that the work of grace is of God's mere free-will and if he doth deprive some of it he is not in the least guilty of any injustice to them since he is under no obligations to conferr it upon them and this very subtraction of his grace upon their impenitency and continuance in a vicious course of life is no cause of their sin and wickedness but on the contrary their disobedience and sinfull life is the reason why God withdraws the influence of his holy spirit from them and so our sins chase away the holy spirit and render its operation ineffectual to our conversion and so the heart of Pharaoh is hardned EPITROPE Epitrope from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 concedo By this Figure we often grant a thing not unwillingly to obtain another and show more effectually the inconveniency of such a Practice or Principle Romans 2. 17. Behold thou art called a Jew and restest in the law and makest thy boast of God and art confident that thou thy self art a guide to the blind Thou therefore that teachest another teachest thou not thy self As if he said I grant thou art an Instructer of the foolish and a teacher of babes but then Why is thy conversation so unsuitable to thy doctrine Where is thy example Where is thy practice and Why are they so disagreeable to thy external profession thus How does our Apostle seem to concede all they desire to prove at last upon them that their practice was not consonant to their principles and from that absurdity more severely reprehends them Judges 10. 14. Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen let them deliver you in the time of trouble This seems no small encouragement to their practice of idolatry but in reality 't is the strongest dissuasion from it and virtually implies the disability of other gods to save and deliver them in times of danger 1 Kings 22. 15. The King said to Micaiah Shall we go against Ramoth gilead to battel or shall we forbear and he answered him Go and prosper Where the Prophet seems to encourage them to the battel though he easily foresaw the dangerous consequence of the war 1 Cor. 14 38. But if any man be ignorant let him be ignorant still that is If after such a plain and positive proof of my ministery he will nevertheless resolve to continue ignorant of it let it be at his own peril where the concession is nothing else but a discouragement to his want of understanding and reflection in a matter of so high importance See Amos 4. 4 5. where the Prophet in a way of derision seems to approve of their idolatrous practives Prov. 6. 10. Yet a little sleep a little slumber a little folding of the hands to sleep As if he said You do well to indulge your self in ease and slothfulness but then at last how does the wise Man ruturn upon the Sluggard so shall thy Poverty come as one that travelleth and thy want as an armed Man and so more fully convinceth him of the great inconveniences of an idle way of living James 2. 19. Thou believest that there is one God thou doest well the devils also believe and tremble Where after this sort of commendation of their faith he at last tells them that such a belief without a suitable practice is vain and ineffectual and that even the devils themselves have a speculative faith Matth. 5. 46. If ye love them that love you what reward have you do not even the Publicans the same I will if you please saith the Apostle allow the matter of fact yet what use can you make of it where is the commendation where is the vertue of such a practice if the worst of men doe the very same These following are called secondary Figures of a word PLEONASMUS Pleonasmus you know Sir is a Greek word and 't is uncivil to explain it in your company This Figure makes use of more words than are necessary but they give a much stronger accent and emphasis to our discourses Deuter. 33. 6. O foolish people and unwise Which sort of expression still more eminently denotes their want of wisdom and discretion Prov. 27. 2. Let another man praise thee and not thy own mouth a stranger and not thine own lips And this variety of words is not so unusefull to engage our thoughts to consider with more attention the subject matter of our discourse and the importance of it See Deuter. 13. 4. John 1. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 All things were made by him and without him was not any thing made that was made And the variation of the sence in other words was very convenient to assure us that Christ was before the world and that all things in it were the works of his hand and from the universality of his creative power he must be omnipotent and therefore God for what less than infinite power it self can make 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
and infirmities cannot be denied without the highest Blasphemy yet the hypocritical Pharisee said this in a way of scorn and derision of him and not as if it was in the least conformable to their opinion of our Saviour Christ but all this solemn Preface was only made use of as a more artificial expedient to betray Christ to deliver his opinion with more freedom concerning the lawfulness of giving tribute to Caesar for the question was very treacherous and to determine either for or against Caesar was almost equally dangerous if he declares in favour of Caesar then he is no longer a friend to the common People and if Christ answered that the payment of tribute was unlawfull he had been presently found guilty of Sedition this was their Motive to this insidious Question and that pompous Introduction to it was only look'd upon by them as a more effectual and plausible way to betray him But Jesus perceived their wickedness their dissimulation their vile hypocrisie and says Why do ye endeavour under this specious pretence of respect and reverence to ensnare me Why tempt ye me ye Hypocrites Matt. 2. 8. Go says Herod to the Wise Men and search diligently for the young child and when you have found him bring me word again that I may come and worship him Thus the Tyrant disguiseth his most villainous design under the colour of an honourable respect when his intention was to destroy and murther him as appears from Verse 16. A METAPHOR A Metaphor is an artificial Translation of a word from the proper signification of it to another because there is some proportion between the similitude and the very thing signified This kind of Trope is extreamly pleasant and not without excellent use for it inriches our mind with two Idea's at the very same time with the truth and the similitude Deut. 32. 42. I will make my arrows drunk with bloud and my sword shall devour flesh The first Metaphor is borrowed from excessive and intemperate drinking intimating to us the mighty effusion of blood and the exceeding greatness of their ruin and destruction The second is taken from the most eager and hungry appetites of a beast which makes the images of death come much more lively to the understanding and how impossible it is for us to escape the edge of the Sword when God himself is concerned in our ruine and execution Zech. 9. 14 His Arrows shall go forth as lightning A very proper simile to express their swift death and execution Hos 5. 12. I will be unto Ephraim as a Moth which expression represents to us insensible decay and ruin as a Moth secretly fretting a Garment so Ephraim shall silently consume away by the most secret and unaccountable ways Matt. 5. 13. Ye are the Salt of the Earth for as 't is the property of Salt to preserve any thing from its Putrefaction so the doctrines of the Apostles were to season our minds and preserve and purifie us from all immoral Corruptions or Impurities Psal 91. 5 6. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night nor for the arrow that flieth by day nor for the Pestilence that walketh in darkness and the Expression still gives us a more lively and sensible notion of the secret Malignity of the Plague and how it ruins and destroys us after invisible ways and degrees so that the Invasion of it becomes irresistible Job 6. 4. For the arrows of the Almighty are within we the poison thereof drinketh up my spirit the terrors of the Lord set themselves in array against me the term is military when an Army of Men put themselves in a posture to attack and encompass their Enemies 1 Tim. 6. 16. God is said to dwell in Light which no man can approach unto Which Metaphor conveys to our Mind a stronger notion of his incomprehensible Nature and forbids our reason to make curious enquiries after God who is inaccessible as the Sun is to our Eye when it shines out in its brightest glory Why then dost thou dive into abstruse and mysterious Truths concerning the Blessed Trinity for with Job the Question is Chap. 11. v. 7. resolved that all such Enquiries are unprofitable Canst thou find out God unto Perfection that is 't is all in vain for 't is impossible so to doe Numb 6. 25. The Lord make his face to shine upon thee that is the Lord be gracious and favourable to thee as the Sun looks most kindly upon us when it appears in its brightest lustre and glory But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with Healing in his wings This is a very lively Comparison between Christ and the Sun which by his refreshing influence warms every thing into life So our Saviour also by the comfortable heat and efficacy of his perfect Righteousness brings life and salvation and quickens and revives all who were spiritually dead and who before his appearance sate in darkness and in the shadow of death Christ is sometimes called a Star Num. 24. 17. because his appearance brought more light of Knowledge into the world He is sometimes called a Sceptre to signifie his royal Office and sometimes a Father to express his love and affection sometimes a Shepherd which kind appellation declares his care and watchfulness over us He is termed the spiritual Rock of which the Israelites did drink in the Wilderness Exod. 17. 6. 1 Cor. 10. 4. for they drank of that spiritual rock that followed them and that rock was Christ that is did sacramentally represent Christ who being smitten by his Father did by the precious effusion of his blood deliver us from death Judges 5. 20. They fought from heaven the stars from heaven fought against Sisera which is a military Expression but here it may signifie no more than that the very stars by their secret influences did some way or other contribute to their overthrow perhaps by causing great Falls of Rain or Snow Colos 2. 17. Which are but a shadow of things to come 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 transitory signs or representations but the body or substance or the reality of these Mysteries are opposite to ancient Ceremonies as much as body is to shadow for what are ceremonies but as it were the first drawings or shadows of a Picture which strokes and delineations all vanish and disappear as the life and perfection of it is coming on Psalm 139. 2. Thou understandest my thoughts afar off A Metaphor taken from a prospect of any thing at a great distance from us but in a proper sence the phrase assures us that God by the infinite power of his prescience knows our thoughts before they spring up in the soul and yet this infinite view of them gives no determinations to them for by his infinite understanding how does God foresee all the various turns and reflections of the mind and how the soul after many ways of thinking will at last resolve to put this or that design in
will your heart be also 2 Cor. 10. 18. St. Paul endeavouring to discourage the vanity of self-commendation leaves this sensible impression upon them as the best dissuasive from the practice of it for not he that commendeth himself is approved but whom the Lord commendeth Prov. 9. 17 18. Stolen waters are sweet and bread eaten in secret is pleasant This is the insinuation of the adulterous woman concerning the high relish of her unlawfull pleasures but then see the conclusion of such unhappy satisfactions but he knoweth not that the dead are there and that her guests are in the depths of hell Eccles 7. 31. Lo only this have I found that God hath made man upright but they have sought out many inventions The only thing I fully apprehend after all my enquiries is this That God at first endowed man with a principle of right reason for his certain guide and direction to happiness but he lost this noble talent through sin which is the cause of all his vain thoughts and imaginations When our Blessed Saviour had performed many wonderfull Cures how do the People with one voice conspire in this Acclamation He hath done all things well he maketh both the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak Mark 7. 37. EPANORTHOSIS Epanorthosis from a Greek word signifying to correct or amend When we are in a passion we are seldom satisfied with what we say or doe insomuch that we are apt to fansie our expressions are no ways equal to our thoughts and so we still add fresh and more words to correct as we think the insufficiency of the former Acts 26. 27. King Agrippa believest thou the Prophets I know that thou believest Does not our Apostle seem as it were to question the faith of King Agrippa as if he were not yet sufficiently convinced concerning the divine authority of the holy Scriptures but then St. Paul as if he was afraid of the incivility of the question does not scruple to say that there was the least reason to suspect the belief of King Agrippa and the insinuation of Saint Paul was very powerfull even almost to his very conversion Verse 28. then Agrippa said Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian And St. Paul said I would to God that not only thou but all that hear me this day were both almost and altogether such as I am except these bonds And what expression can be more Courtly more Genteel what more effectual to prevail upon their affections than thus to wish them in all respects like himself but not so miserable not so unhappy as to be under any confinement of Chains or imprisonment as he himself was at that time 1. Cor. 15. 10. I laboured more abundantly than they all yet not I but the grace of God which was with me Observe here with what care and caution St. Paul distrusts his own natural strength and abilities as very unsufficient to his conversion and so presently corrects himself and ascribes it more especially to the influence and the conduct of divine Grace As if he had said Though I was not wanting to the best of my power to become a true Disciple of Christ yet must I freely say that my conversion is principally to be ascribed to another Cause for the Incitations of the will and the power and the occasions and the means to make use of it is derived from the inspirations of the holy Spirit which animates and gives life and vigour to all our thoughts and so disposeth us to repentance and amendment of life See 2 Cor. 3. 5. and Phil. 2. 13. Mark 9. 24 Lord I believe help thou my unbelief How does he reprehend himself as if it was almost a presumption in him to speak with so much confidence of his strength of faith even to our Saviour himself and therefore as if he were now diffident again and that his belief was imperfect and had some degree of weakness and infirmity he at last humbly implores the divine assistance to encrease and fill up the measure of his faith Lord help thou my unbelief 1 Cor. 7. 10. And unto the married I command yet not I but the Lord. He presently recolleâ—ts himself and assures his Corinthians that he gave them not these directions as a mere man but as an Apostle and a person of divine Inspiration and so not I but the Lord commandeth and this he said to give the more force and efficacy to their obedience of the Precept Luke 11. 27 28. A certain woman said unto him Blessed is the womb that bare thee and the paps that gave thee suck But he said Yea rather blessed are all they that hear the word of God and keep it As if our Saviour was sensible some might through a mistaken principle ascribe too much honour and respect to the blessed Virgin being the mother of our dear Lord and Saviour and therefore how does Christ himself most industriously give the preference to those who live and obey the precepts of the Gospel Yea rather blessed are they so that the moral birth of Jesus Christ in the soul is a greater blessedness than the natural birth of him was to the Virgin Mary to believe and obey him than to be the natural Mother of our Saviour So that Christ himself lays no great matter of stress or privilege upon such a relation but assures them in another place to anticipate all mistake upon such an opinion That he that lives in obedience to his Commands is equally dear and related to him without any distinction the same is my sister and father and mother Matt. 12. 49 50. APOSIOPESIS Aposiopesis a Greek word and I have more manners than to pretend to give you the derivation of it This Figure through some violent passion either of sorrow fear shame or anger obligeth us to break off our discourse and though we seem to conceal some part of it yet through the excess of passion we do but the more sensibly discover our resentments 1 Kings 217. And Jezebel his wife said unto him Dost thou now govern the Kingdom of Israel The words are spoken with a mighty emphasis and signify much more than is there expressed dost thou or art thou worthy of the name of a King thou that art so mean spirited as to grieve thy self upon this refusal of Naboth's Vineyard and where is thy princely power and authority Dost thou now govern the Kingdom of Israel is this any mark of thy regal Office is this a sign of thy indispensible power thus tamely to sit down thus to submit to such a denial Dost thou now govern Gen. 3. 22. And now lest be put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat and live for ever These words are spoken in a way of commination and punishment to Adam for his high disobedience to God's command and they imply thus much since thou hast been so rebellious against me I will now presently drive thee out of my