The Complete Works of John Bunyan

The General Epistle of James

Chap. I.

Unto the twelve tribes scattered abroad,
James, an apostle of the living God,
And of the Lord Christ Jesus, salutation.
My brethren, when you fall into temptation
Of divers kinds, rejoice, as men that know
From trial of your faith doth patience flow.
But let your patience have its full effect,
That you may be entire, without defect.
If any of you lack wisdom, let him cry
To God, and he will give it lib'rally,
And not upbraid. But let him ask in faith,
Not wavering, for he that wavereth,
Unto a wave o' th' sea I will compare,
Driv'n with the wind and tossed here and there.
For let not such a man himself deceive,
To think that he shall from the Lord receive.
A double-minded man most surely lacketh
Stability in all he undertaketh.
Let ev'ry brother of a low degree
Rejoice in that he is advanc'd, but he
That's rich in being made low, for he shall pass
Away, as doth the flow'r of the grass.
For as the grass, soon as the sun doth rise,
Is scorch'd by reason of the heat, and dies;
Its flow'r fades, and it retains no more
The beauteous comeliness it had before,
So fades the rich man, maugre all his store.
The man is blest that doth endure temptation
For when he's try'd, the crown of God's salvation,
The which the Lord hath promised to give
To them that love him, that man shall receive.
Let no man be possest with a persuasion,
To say, when he falls under a temptation,
That God's the cause; for with no evil can
God be tempted, nor tempts he any man.
But every man is tempted when he's drawn
Away, and by his lusts prevail'd upon;
Then when lust hath conceiv'd, it ushereth
In sin, and sin when finished brings death.
Err not, my brethren, whom I dearly love,
Each good and perfect gift is from above,
Down from th' original of lights descending,
With whom's no change, nor shadow thereto tending,
According to his own good pleasure, he
Begat us with the word of truth, that we
Should as the first fruits of his creatures be.
Wherefore, beloved brethren, I entreat
You to be swift to hear, and slow to speak,
And slow to wrath, for wrath cannot incline
The sons of men to righteousness divine.
Wherefore avoiding ev'ry filthiness,
And superfluity of naughtiness:
Receive with meekness the engrafted word,
Which can salvation to your souls afford.
But be ye doers of the word each one,
And not deceive yourselves to hear alone;
For he that hears the word and doth it not,
Is like unto a man that hath forgot
What kind of man he was, tho' in a glass
He just before beheld his nat'ral face.
But whoso minds the law of liberty
In its perfection, and continually
Abides therein, forgets not what he's heard,
But doth the work and therein hath reward.
If any man among you seem to be
Religious, he deceives himself if he
Doth not his tongue as with a bit restrain;
And all that man's religion is but vain.
Religion, pure and undefil'd, which is
Acceptable before the Lord, is this:
To visit widows and the fatherless,
In time of their affliction or distress;
And so to regulate his conversation,
As to be spotless in his generation.

Chap. II.

Faith of the Lord of glory, Jesus Christ,
Doth with respect of persons not consist;
For if, my brethren, when there shall come in
To your assembly one with a gold ring,
In goodly clothes, and there shall also be
Another man that's meanly cloth'd, and ye
Shall have respect to him in rich attire,
And say unto him, come thou, sit up higher;
And bid the poor man stand or sit below,
Are ye not partial then, and plainly show,
That you do judge amiss in what you do?
Hearken, my brethren, hath not God elected
The poor, who by this world have been rejected;
Yet rich in faith, and of that kingdom heirs,
Which God will give his foll'wers to be theirs?
But you, my brethren, do the poor despise.
Do not the rich men o'er you tyrannise;
And hale ye to their courts; that worthy name
By which you're call'd do not they blaspheme?
Then if ye do the royal law fulfil,
To love thy neighbour as thyself, 'tis well,
According to the scripture; but if ye
Shall have respect to persons, ye shall be
Guilty of sin, and by the law condemn'd,
As such who have its righteousness contemn'd.
For he that shall but in one point offend,
Breaks the whole law, whate'er he may pretend.
For he that doth forbid adultery,
Forbids likewise all acts of cruelty.
Now tho' thou be not an adulterer,
Yet if thou kill, thou shalt thy judgment bear.
So speak and do as those men that shall be
Judg'd by the perfect law of liberty:
For he shall judgment without mercy know;
That to his neighbour doth no mercy show;
And mercy triumphs against judgment too.
Brethren what profit is't if a man saith
That he hath faith, and hath not works; can faith
Save him? If any of the brotherhood
Be destitute of clothes or daily food,
And one of you shall say, Depart in peace,
Be warned or be ye fill'd ne'ertheless.
Ye do not furnish them with what they need,
Wat boots it? Thus faith without works is dead.
Yea may a man say, thou dost faith profess,
And I good works, to me thy faith express
Without thy works, and I will plainly show
My faith unto thee by the works I do.
Thou dost believe there is one God, 'tis true,
The devils do believe and tremble too.
But wilt thou know, vain man, that faith is dead,
Which with good works is not accompany'd.
Was not our father Abraham justify'd
By works, and by the same his faith was try'd;
When he his Isaac to the altar brought;
Seest thou how with his works his faith then wrought?
And with his works he perfected his faith?
And so the scripture was fulfill'd, which saith,
Abraham believed God, and 'twas imputed
For righteousness, and he God's friend reputed.
Thus may you see, that by works ev'ry one
Is justify'd, and not by faith alone.
Thus was the harlot Rahab justify'd
By works, when she the messengers did hide,
And by another way their feet did guide.
For as the body's dead without the spirit,
So aith without works never can inherit.

Chap. III.

Affect not, brethren, superiority,
As knowing that we shall receive thereby
The greater condemnation in the end:
For we in many things do all offend.
Who doth not with his tongue offend, he can
Guide his whole body, he's a perfect man.
Behold, in horses' mouths we bridles put,
To rule and turn their bodies quite about.
Behold likewise the ships, which tho' they be
Of mighty bulk, and thro' the raging sea
Are driv'n by the strength of winds, yet they
By a small helm the pilot's will obey.
Ev'n so the tongue of man, which tho' it be
But a small member, in a high degree
It boasts of things. Behold, we may remark
How great a matter's kindled by a spark.
The tongue's a fire, a world of ill, which plac'd
Among the members, often has disgrac'd
All the whole body, firing the whole frame
Of nature, and is kindl'd by hell flame.
All kind of beasts and birds that can be nam'd,
Serpents and fishes, are and have been tam'd
By mankind; but the tongue can no man tame,
A stubborn evil full of deadly bane.
We therewith God the Father bless, and we
Therewith curse men made like the Deity:
Blessing and cursing from the same mouth flow,
These things, my brethren, ought not to be so.
Is any fountain of so strange a nature,
At once to send forth sweet and bitter water?
Can olives, brethren, on a fig-tree grow,
Or figs on vines? no more can water flow
From the same fountain sweet and bitter too.
He that's endu'd with wisdom and discretion
Amongst you, let that may by the profession
Of meekness, wisely give a demonstration,
Of all his works, from a good conversation.
But if your hearts are full of bitterness
And strife, boast not, nor do the truth profess.
This wisdom is not from above descending,
But earthly, sensual, and to evil tending:
For where there's strife and envying there's confusion
And ev'ry evil work in the conclusion.
But the true wisdom that is from above,
Is, in the first place, pure, then full of love,
Then gentle and entreated easily,
Next merciful, without partiality,
Full of good fruits, without hypocrisy.
And what is more, the fruits of righteousness
Is sown in peace, of them that do make peace.

Chap. IV.

From whence come wars and fights, come they not hence,
Ev'n from th' inordinate concupiscence
That in your members prompts to variance?
You lust and have not, kill and desire to have;
But ne'ertheless obtain not what you crave.
With war and fighting ye contend, yet have not
The things which you desire, because you crave not;
Ye crave but don't receive, the reason's just,
Ye crave amiss to spend it on your lust.
You that live in adultery, know not ye
The friendship of the world is enmity
With God? He is God's enemy therefore
That doth the friendship of the world adore.
Do ye think that th' scripture saith in vain,
The spirit that lusts to hate, doth in you reign?
But he bestows more grace, wherefore he says,
God scorns the proud, but doth the humble raise.
Unto the Lord therefore submissive be,
Resist the devil and he'll from you flee.
Draw nigh to God, and he'll to you draw nigh.
Make clean your hands you sinners, purify
Your hearts you double-minded, weep and mourn,
And be afflicted, let your laughter turn
To sorrow, and your joy to sadness: stoop
Before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
My brethren, speak not evil of each other;
He that doth judge and speak ill of his brother,
Doth judge and speak ill of the law; therefore
If thou dost judge the law, thou art no more
A doer of the same, but dost assume
The judgment-seat, and art thyself become
A judge thereof. There is but one law-giver,
That's able to destroy and to deliver;
Who then art thou that dost condemn thy neighbour?
Go to now, you that say, to such a place
To-morrow will we go, and for the space
Of one whole year, or so, will there remain,
And buy and sell, and get great store of gain:
Whereas ye know not what a day may do.
For what's the life of man? Ev'n like unto
A vapour, which, tho' for a while it may
Appear, it quickly vanisheth away.
So that ye ought to say, If God permit
Us life and health, we will accomplish it.
But now ye glory in your confidence,
Such glorying is of evil consequence.
He therefore that doth know, and doth not act
The thing that's good, doth guilt thereby contract.

Chap. V.[13]

Go to now, O ye rich men, howl and cry,
Because of your approaching misery:
Your riches are corrupted, and the moths
Have ent'red, and have eaten up your clothes.
Your gold and silver's canker'd, and the rust
Thereof, shall be an evidence that's just
Against you, and like fire your flesh devour:
Against the last days ye have heap'd up store.
The hire of them that reaped down your field,
The which by you is wrongfully withheld.
Cries, and the voice thereof hath reach'd the ears
Ev'n of the God of sabbath, and he hears.
Your lives in pleasure ye on earth have led,
And as in days of slaughter nourished
Your wanton hearts, and have condemn'd and slain
The just, and he doth not resist again.
Be patient therefore, brethren, ev'n unto
The coming of the Lord: behold, ev'n so
The husbandman expecteth patiently
The precious increase of the earth to see,
With patience waiting till he doth obtain
The showers of early and of latter rain.
So be ye patient, fixing stedfastly
Your hearts, for the coming of the Lord draws nigh.
Grieve not each other, brethren, lest ye bear
The condemnation;[14] lo! the judge stands near.
The prophets, brethren, who all heretofore
In the name of the Lord their witness bore,
Take for examples in their sufferings
And patience: they that endure such things,
Ye know are counted blest. Have ye not read
Of Job, how patiently he suffered?
Have ye not seen in him what was God's end;
How he doth pity and great love extend?
My brethren, but above all things forbear,
By heav'n or earth, or otherwise to swear;
But let your yea be yea, your nay be nay,
Lest ye become reprovable I say.
Let him sing psalms that's merry; he that's griev'd,
Let him by prayer seek to be reliev'd.
If any of you by sickness be distress'd,
Let him the elders of the church request
That they would come and pray for him a while;
Anointing him in the Lord's name with oil;
So shall the pray'r that is of faith restore
The sick, and God shall raise him as before.
And all th' offences which he hath committed
Shall be forgiv'n, and he shall be acquitted.
Confess your faults each one unto his brother,
And put up supplications for each other,
That so you may be heal'd; the fervency
Of just men's prayers prevails effectually.
Elias was a man as frail as we are,
And he was earnest with the Lord in pray'r,
That there might be no rain, and for the space
Of three years and six months no rain there was:
And afterward, when he again made suit,
The heav'n gave rain, the earth brought forth her fruit.
If any one shall from the truth desert,
And one, my brethren, shall that man convert;
Let him be sure, that he that doth recall
The poor backsliding sinner from his fall,
Shall save a soul from death, and certainly
Shall hide a multitude of sins thereby.

Footnotes:

1. Grace Abounding, No. 3.

2. George Herbert, in that admirable poem called 'The Temple,' introduces his reader tot he church porch thus:—

'Thou, whose sweet youth and early hopes enhance
Thy rate and price, and mark thee for a treasure;
Hearken unto a verser, who may chance
Rhyme thee to good, and make a bait of pleasure.
A verse may find him, who a sermon flies,
And turn delight into a sacrifice.'

3. 'An husband,' c. i. 12.

4. 'Set abroach,' in a posture to run out, or yield the liquor contained.—Ed.

5. 'An ephah,' a measure containing three pecks and three pints.—Calmet.

6. Similar to Christian's exclamation, when calling to Faithful to stop and bear him company. See Pilgrim's Progress, Part 1st.

7. These lines, and those on the next page, 'The eye's the light o' th' body,' remind one of Bunyan's style in his Apology for the Pilgrim's Progress,—

'Dost thou love picking meat? Or would'st thou see A man i' th' clouds, and hear him speak to thee?'—Ed.

8. A cover, a booth, bower, or hut made of the boughs of trees.—Ed.

9. 'He owes,' a contraction for 'he owneth.'—Ed.

10. The word translated 'divine,' means to eye subtly, to search, to try. Verse 5 may be rendered, 'And he will search deeply for it'; and in verse 15, 'Know ye not that a man like me would search deeply,' alluding to the certainty of detection, but not by divination.—Ed.

11. 'So naught,' so corrupt, bad, or worthless.—Ed.

12. The mourning of Egypt.—Ed.

13. By a typographical error, in the original edition, it is misprinted CHAP. XLVI.

14. How admirably does Bunyan enlarge upon this in his 'Peaceable principles yet true.'

***

An Exposition on the FIRST TEN CHAPTERS OF GENESIS, And Part of the Eleventh

An unfinished commentary on the Bible, found among the author's papers after his death, in his own handwriting; and published in 1691, by Charles Doe, in a folio volume of the works of John Bunyan.

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Being in company with an enlightened society of Protestant dissenters of the Baptist denomination, I observed to a doctor of divinity, who was advancing towards his seventieth year, that my time had been delightfully engaged with John Bunyan's commentary on Genesis. "What," said the D.D., with some appearance of incredulity, "Bunyan a commentator—upon Genesis!! Impossible! Well, I never heard of that work of the good Bunyan before. Why, where is it to be found?" Yes, it is true that he has commented on that portion of sacred scripture, containing the cosmogony of creation—the fall of man—the first murder—the deluge—and other facts which have puzzled the most learned men of every age; and he has proved to be more learned than all others in his spiritual perceptions. He graduated at a higher university—a university unshackled by human laws, conventional feelings, and preconceived opinions. His intense study of the Bible, guided by the teaching of the Holy Spirit, enabled him to throw a new and beautiful light upon objects which are otherwise obscure. Oh! that young ministers, while attaining valuable book learning, may see the necessity of taking a high degree in, and of never forgetting this Bible university! Reader, is it not surprizing, that such a treatise should have remained comparatively hidden for more than one hundred and fifty years. It has been reprinted in many editions of Bunyan's works: but in all, except the first, with the omission of the scripture references; and with errors of so serious a character as if it was not intended to be read. Even in printing the text of Genesis 7:7 Noah's three sons do not enter the ark! although in 8:16 they are commanded to go forth out of the ark. It is now presented to the public exactly as the author left it, with the addition of notes, which it is hoped will illustrate and not encumber the text.

This exposition is evidently the result of long and earnest study of the holy scriptures. It is the history of the creation and of the flood explained and spiritualized, and had it been originally published in that form and under a proper title, it would most probably have become a very popular work. The author's qualifications for writing this commentary were exclusively limited to his knowledge of holy writ. To book learning he makes no pretensions. He tells us that in his youth "God put it into my parents hearts to put me to school, to learn to read and write as other poor men's children; though, to my shame, I confess, I did soon lose that little I learnt even almost utterly." In after life, his time was occupied in obtaining a livelihood by labour. When enduring severe mental conflicts, and while he maintained his family by the work of his hands, he was an acceptable pastor, and extensively useful in itinerant labours of love in the villages round Bedford. His humility, when he had used three common Latin words, prompted him to say in the margin, "The Latine I borrow." And this unlettered mechanic, when he might have improved himself in book wisdom, was shut up within the walls of a prison for nearly thirteen years, for obeying God, only solaced with his Bible and Fox's Book of Martyrs. Yet he made discoveries relative to the creation, which have been very recently again published by a learned philosopher, who surprised and puzzled the world with his vestiges of creation. Omitting the fanciful theories of the vestige philosopher, his two great facts, proved by geological discoveries, are—

I. That when the world was created and set in motion, it was upon principles by which it is impelled on to perfection—a state of irresistible progress in improvement. This is the theory of Moses: and Bunyan's exposition is, that all was finished, even to the creation of all the souls which were to animate the human race, and then God rested from his work.

II. The second geological discovery is that the world was far advanced towards perfection producing all that was needful for human life, before man was created. Upon this subject, Bunyan's words are—"God shews his respect to this excellent creature, in that he first provideth for him before he giveth him his being. He bringeth him not to an empty house, but to one well furnished with all kind of necessaries, having beautified the heaven and the earth with glory, and all sorts of nourishment for his pleasure and sustenance." But the most pious penetration is exhibited in the spiritualizing of the creation and of the flood—every step produces some type of that new creation, or regeneration, without which no soul can be fitted for heaven. The dim twilight before the natural sun was made, is typical of the state of those who believed before Christ, the Sun of righteousness, arose and was manifested. The fixed stars are emblems of the church, whose members all shine, but with different degrees of lustre—sometimes eclipsed, and at others mistaken for transient meteors. The whales and lions are figures of great persecutors. But the most singular idea of all is, that the moral degradation of human nature before the flood, was occasioned by hypocrisy and persecution for conscience sake, arising from governors interfering with matters of faith and worship; in fact, that a STATE CHURCH occasioned the deluge—and since that time has been the fruitful source of the miseries and wretchedness that has afflicted mankind. His prediction of the outpouring of the Spirit in the conversion of sinners, when the church shall be no longer enthralled and persecuted by the state, is remarkable. "O thou church of God in England, which art now upon the waves of affliction and temptation, when thou comest out of the furnace, if thou come out at the bidding of God, there shall come out with thee, the fowl, the beast, and abundance of creeping things. O Judah, he hath set an harvest for thee, when I returned the captivity of my people." May this prediction soon be verified, and the temporal government no longer vex and torment the church by interfering with spiritual things.

It is remarkable that of the vast number of pious and enlightened mechanics who adorn this country and feed its prosperity, so few read the extraordinary writings of John Bunyan, a brother mechanic; for with the exception of the Pilgrim's Progress and Holy War, they are comparatively little known. His simple but illustrative commentary—his book of Antichrist—his solemn and striking treatise on the resurrection and final judgment—in fact, all his works, are peculiarly calculated to inform the minds of the millions—to reform bad habits, and, under the divine blessing, to purify the soul with that heavenly wisdom which has in it the promise of the life that now is as well as of that which is to come. It is also a fact which ought to be generally known, that those preachers who have edited Bunyan's works and have drunk into his spirit, have been most eminently blessed in their ministry; Wilson, Whitefield, and Ryland, can never be forgotten. If the thousands of godly preachers who are scattered over our comparatively happy island were to take Bunyan's mode of expounding scripture as their pattern, it would increase their usefulness, and consequently their happiness, in the great work of proclaiming and enforcing the doctrines of the gospel.

Geo Offor.

An Exposition on the First Ten Chapters of Genesis, and Part of the Eleventh

In the first edition of this commentary, a series of numbers from 1 to 294 were placed in the margin, the use of which the editor could not discover; probably the work was written on as many scraps of paper, thus numbered to direct the printer. They are omitted, lest, among divisions and subdivisions, they should puzzle the reader.

Chapter II. Of God.

God is a Spirit (John 4:24), eternal (Deu 33:27), infinite (Rom 1:17-20), incomprehensible (Job 11:7), perfect, and unspeakably glorious in his being, attributes, and works (Gen 17:51; Isa 6:3; Exo 33:20). "The eternal God." "Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord" (Jer 23:24). "Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight" (Heb 4:13; Pro 15:11).

In his attributes of wisdom, power, justice, holiness, mercy, &c., he is also inconceivably perfect and infinite, not to be comprehended by things in earth, or things in heaven; known in the perfection of his being only to himself. The seraphims cannot behold him, but through a veil; no man can see him in his perfection and live.

His attributes, though apart laid down in the word of God, that we, being weak, might the better conceive of his eternal power and godhead; yet in him they are without division; one glorious and eternal being. Again, though sometimes this, as of wisdom, or that, as of justice and mercy, is most manifest in his works and wonders before men; yet every such work is begun and completed by the joint concurrence of all his attributes. No act of justice is without his will, power, and wisdom; no act of mercy is against his justice, holiness and purity. Besides, no man must conceive of God, as if he consisted of these attributes, as our body doth of its members, one standing here, another there, for the completing personal subsistence. For though by the word we may distinguish, yet may we not divide them, or presume to appoint them their places in the Godhead. Wisdom is in his justice, holiness is in his power, justice is in his mercy, holiness is in his love, power is in his goodness (1 John 1:9, Num 14:17,18).

Wherefore, he is in all his attributes almighty, all-wise, holy and powerful. Glory is in his wisdom, glory is in his holiness, glory is in his mercy, justice, and strength; and "God is love" (1 John 4:16).[1]

II. Of the Persons or Subsistances in the Godhead.

The Godhead is but one, yet in the Godhead there are three. "There are three that can bear record in heaven" (1 John 5:7-9). These three are called "the Father, the Son [Word], and the Holy Spirit"; each of which is really, naturally and eternally God: yet there is but one God. But again, because the Father is of himself, the Son by the Father, and the Spirit from them both, therefore to each, the scripture not only applieth, and that truly, the whole nature of the Deity, but again distinguisheth the Father from the Son, and the Spirit from them both; calling the Father HE, by himself; the Son HE, by himself; the Spirit HE, by himself. Yea, the Three of themselves, in their manifesting to the church what she should believe concerning this matter, hath thus expressed the thing: "Let us make man in OUR image, after OUR likeness" (Gen 1:26). Again, "The man is become as one of US" (Gen 3:22). Again, "Let US go down, and there confound their language" (Gen 11:6,7). And again, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for US?" (Isa 6:8). To these general expressions might be added, That Adam heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the midst of the garden: Genesis 3:8. Which voice John will have, to be one of the Three, calling that which Moses here saith is the voice, the word of God: "In the beginning," saith he, "was the word": the voice which Adam heard walking in the midst of the garden. This word, saith John, "was with God," this "word was God. The same was in the beginning with God" (John 1:1,2). Marvellous language! Once asserting the unity of essence, but twice insinuating a distinction of substances therein. "The word was with God, the word was God, the same was in the beginning with God." Then follows, "All things were made by him," the word, the second of the three.

Now the godly in former ages have called these three, thus in the Godhead, Persons or Subsistances; the which, though I condemn not, yet choose rather to abide by scripture phrase, knowing, though the other may be good and sound, yet the adversary must needs more shamelessly spurn and reject, when he doth it against the evident text.

To proceed the, First, There are Three. Second, These three are distinct.

First, By this word Three, is intimated the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and they are said to be three, 1. Because those appellations that are given them in scripture, demonstrate them so to be, to wit, Father, Son and Holy Ghost. 2. Because their acts one towards another discover them so to be.

Secondly, These three are distinct. 1. So distinct as to be more than one, only: There are three. 2. So distinct as to subsist without depending. The Father is true God, the Son is true God, the Spirit is true God. Yet the Father is one, the Son is one, the Spirit is one: The Father is one of himself, the Son is one by the Father, the Spirit is one from them both. Yet the Father is not above the Son, nor the Spirit inferior to either: The Father is God, the Son is God, the Spirit is God.

Among the three then there is not superiority. 1. Not as to time; the Father is from everlasting, so is the Son, so is the Spirit. 2. Not as to nature, the Son being of the substance of the Father, and the Spirit of the substance of them both. 3. The fulness of the Godhead is in the Father, is in the Son, and is in the Holy Ghost.

The Godhead then, though it can admit of a Trinity, yet it admitteth not of inferiority in that Trinity: if otherwise, then less or more must be there, and so either plurality of gods, or something that is not God: so then, Father, Son and Spirit are in the Godhead, yet but one God; each of these is God over all, yet no Trinity of Gods, but one God in the Trinity.

Explication.—The Godhead then is common to the three, but the three themselves abide distinct in that Godhead: Distinct, I say, as Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit. This is manifest further by these several positions.

First, Father and Son are relatives, and must needs therefore have their relation as such: A Father begetteth, a Son is begotten.

Proof.—"Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? Who hath gathered the wind in his fists? Who hath bound the waters in a garment? What is his name, and what is his son's name, if thou canst tell?" (Pro 30:4).

"God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son," &c.
(John 3:16).

"The Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world" (1 John 4:14).

Secondly, The Father then cannot be that Son he begat, nor the Son that Father that begat him, but must be distinct as such.

Proof.—"I am one that bear witness of myself, and the Father that sent me beareth witness of me" (John 8:17,18).

"I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world"; again,
"I leave the world, and go to the Father" (John 16:28).

"The Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father" (John 5:22,23).

Thirdly, The Father must have worship as a Father, and the Son as a Son.

Proof.—They that worship the Father must worship him "in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him" (John 4:23,24).

And of the Son he saith, and "when he bringeth in the first begotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him" (Heb 1:6).

Fourthly, The Father and Son have really these distinct, but heavenly, relative properties, that discover them, as such, to be two as well as one.

Proof.—"The Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things"
(John 5:20).

"Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again" (John 10:17). The Father sent the Son; the Father commanded the Son; the Son prayed to the Father, and did always the things that pleased him.

The absurdities that flow from the denial of this are divers, some of which hereunder follow.

1. Absurdity.—It maketh void all those scriptures that do affirm the doctrine; some of which you have before.

2. Absurdity.—If in the Godhead there be but one, not three, then the Father, Son, or the Spirit, must needs be that one, if any one only: so then the other two are nothing. Again, If the reality of a being be neither in the Father, Son, nor Spirit, as such, but in the eternal deity, without consideration of Father, Son, and Spirit as three; then neither of the three are anything but notions in us, or manifestations of the Godhead; or nominal distinctions; so related by the word; but if so, then when the Father sent the Son, and the Father and Son the Spirit, one notion sent another, one manifestation sent another. This being granted, this unavoidably follows, there was no Father to beget a Son, no Son to be sent to save us, no Holy Ghost to be sent to comfort us, and to guide us into all the truth of the Father and Son, &c. The most amounts but to this, a notion sent a notion, a distinction sent a distinction, or one manifestation sent another. Of this error these are the consequences, we are only to believe in notions and distinctions, when we believe in the Father and the Son; and so shall have no other heaven and glory, than notions and nominal distinctions can furnish us withal.

3. Absurdity.—If Father and Son, &c., be no otherwise three, than as notions, names, or nominal distinctions; then to worship these distinctly, or together, as such, is to commit most gross and horrible idolatry: For albeit we are commanded to fear that great and dreadful name, The Lord our God; yet to worship a Father, a Son, and Holy Spirit in the Godhead, as three, as really three as one, is by this doctrine to imagine falsely of God, and so to break the second commandment: but to worship God under the consideration of Father, and Son, and Holy Ghost, and to believe them as really three as one when I worship, being the sum and substance of the doctrine of the scriptures of God, there is really substantially three in the eternal Godhead.

But to help thee a little in thy study on this deep.

1. Thou must take heed when thou readest, there is in the Godhead, Father, and Son, &c., that thou do not imagine about them according to thine own carnal and foolish fancy; for no man can apprehend this doctrine but in the light of the word and Spirit of God. "No man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son; and he to whom the Son will reveal him" (Matt 11:27). If therefore thou be destitute of the Spirit of God, thou canst not apprehend the truth of this mystery as it is in itself, but will either by thy darkness be driven to a denial thereof; or if thou own it, thou wilt (that thy acknowledgment notwithstanding) falsely imagine about it.

2. If thou feel thy thoughts begin to wrestle about this truth, and to struggle concerning this one against another; take heed of admitting of such a question, How can this thing be? For here is no room for reason to make it out, here is only room to believe it is a truth. You find not one of the prophets propounding an argument to prove it; but asserting it, they let it lie, for faith to take it up and embrace it.

"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen" (2 Cor 13:14).

III. Of the Creation of the World (Gen 1).

The Apostle saith, That "to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him, and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him" (1 Cor 8:6). "God that made the world" (Acts 17:24). "All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made" (John 1:3). This world therefore had a beginning, and was created by the God of heaven. Which work, because it is wonderful, and discovereth much of the greatness, of the wisdom and power of the eternal Godhead, it behoveth such poor mortals as we to behold these works of the mighty God, that thereby we may see how great he is, and be made to cry out, What is man! [2] (Psa 8:3,4)

Now in the creation of the world we may consider several things; as, What was the order of God in this work? And, whether there was a secret or mystery in this work containing the truth of some higher thing? For the first of these:

Of the Order of God in Making the World.

[The Heaven.]

Although God be indeed omnipotent, and not only can, but doth do whatsoever he will; and though to do his works he needeth not length of time; yet it pleased him best, in the creation of the world (though it could, had it pleased him, have done all by one only word) to proceed by degrees from one thing to another, to the completing of six days' work in the making thereof.

And forasmuch as this work went on by degrees, now this thing, and then another, it may not be amiss, if in our discourse on this wonderful work, we begin where God began; and if we can, go wondering after him who hath thus wrought.

1. The first thing that God made was time; I say, it was time: All the plain in which he would build this beautiful world; he made nothing before, but in the beginning: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth" (Gen 1:1). In the beginning of time. "For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is" (Exo 20:11). Therefore the first day must first have a beginning to be. Whatsoever was before time, was eternal; but nothing but God himself is eternal, therefore no creature was before time. Time, therefore, which was indeed the beginning, was the first of the creatures of God.

2. I think, the second of creatures that the Lord created, were the holy angels of God, they being called the morning stars, as created and shining in the morning of the world; and therefore they are said to be by, when the corner-stone of the universe was laid; that is, when he "laid the foundations" of the world: Then "the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy" (Job 5:4-7).

3. I think the third thing that the Lord created, was these large and copious heavens; for they are mentioned with respect to their being before the earth, or any visible creature. "In the beginning God created the heavens" (Gen 1:1), &c. Neither do I think that the heavens were made of that confused chaos that afterwards we read of. It is said, he stretched out the heavens as a curtain, and with his hand he hath spanned the heavens (Psa 104:2; Isa 40:22; 48:13).; intimating, that they were not taken out of that formless heap, but were immediately formed by his power. Besides, the Holy Ghost, treating of the creating of heaven and earth, he only saith, The earth was void, and without form; but no such thing of the heavens.

[The Earth.]

4. The fourth thing that God created, it was (in mine opinion) that chaos, or first matter, with which he in the six days framed this earth, with its appurtenances; for the visible things that are here below, seem to me to be otherwise put into being and order, than time, the angels, and the heavens, they being created in their own simple essence by themselves: But the things that are visibly here below, whatever their essence and nature be, they were formed of that first deformed chaos. "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth, and the earth was without form and void" (Gen 1:1,2). He saith not so of the heavens; they, as I said, were at first stretched forth as a curtain; indeed they were afterwards garnished with the beauty which we now behold; but otherwise they had, at their first instant of being, that form which now they have. This seems clear by the antithesis which the Holy Ghost put between them, God created the heaven and the earth, but "the earth was without form and void" (Gen 1:2). The earth was without form, &c., without order; things were together on a confused heap; the waters were not divided from the earth, neither did those things appear which are now upon the face of the earth; as man, and beast, fish, fowls, trees, and herbs; all these did afterwards shew themselves, as the word of God gave them being, by commanding their appearance, in what form, order, place and time he in himself had before determined; but all, I say, took their matter and substance of that first chaos, which he in the first day of the world had commanded to appear, and had given being to: And therefore 'tis said, God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, herbs, trees, &c., (v 12) and that the waters brought forth the fish, and fowl, yea, even to the mighty whales (vv 21,22). Also the earth brought forth cattle, and creeping things (v 24). And that God made man of the dust of the ground (3:19). All these things therefore were made of, or caused by his word distinctly to appear, and be after its kind, of that first matter which he had before created by his word. Observe therefore, That the matter of all earthly things was made at the same instant, but their forming, &c., was according to the day in which God gave them their being, in their own order and kind. And hence it is said, that after that first matter was created, and found without form and void, that the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters; that is to work, and cause those things to appear in their own essence and form, which, as to matter and substance, was before created: Wherefore it follows, And God said, Let there be light; and God divided the light from the darkness, &c. Now he set to putting in frame that which before lay in disorder and confusion: And this was a great part of the six days' work; I say, a great part, but not all; for (as I said) before that time, the angels, and the heavens were made; yea, after the beginning of the morning of the first day. I am of the belief, that other things also, that were formed after, were not made of that first chaos, as the sun, the moon, the stars, the light, the souls of men, and possibly the air, &c. The sun, and moon, and stars, are said to be made the fourth day, yet not of the body of heaven itself, much less, in my opinion, of any earthly matter: God made them, and set them in the firmament of heaven (vv 16,17). So the light that was made before, it seems to be a thing created after the heavens and the earth were created: Created, I say, as a thing that wanted a being before, any otherwise, than in the decree of God: and God said, Let there be light; Let it have a being (v 3). And so, though the body of man was made of the substance of earth, yet as to his soul, it is said, God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul (2:7).

Whether there was a secret or mystery in this work, containing the truth of some higher thing.

Though God in very deed, by his eternal power, created heaven and earth of things that do not appear, we that are Christians believe: yet in this his wonderful work, neither his will or understanding did here terminate, or make a stop; but being infinite in wisdom, he made them, that both as to matter and manner, they might present unto us, as in a mystery, some higher and more excellent thing; in this wisdom he made them all. And hence it is that other things are also called a creation: As, 1. The essential conversion of a sinner (2 Cor 5:17). 2. The recovery of the church from a degenerate state (Rev 21:5).

And therefore, as Moses begins with the creation of the world, so John begins with the gospel of salvation (Gen 1:1; John 1:1). There is also besides many excellent things in the manner and order of the creation of the world, held forth to those that have understanding: Some of which I may touch upon by way of observation. But to begin with the first:

The first appearance of this earthy part of the world, is recorded to be but a formless and void heap or chaos; and such is man before a new creation: formless, I mean, as to the order of the Testament of Christ, and void of the holy order thereof: And hence Jeremiah, when he would set forth the condition of a wicked people, he doth it under this metaphor: "I beheld [saith he] the earth, and, lo, it was without form and void" (Jer 4:23). Indeed, the world would make this a type of Christ; to wit, a man of no form or comeliness (Isa 53:2). But 'tis only true of themselves; they are without a New Testament impression upon them; they are void of the sovereign grace of God. So then the power of God gave the world a being, but by his word he set it in form and beauty; even as by his power he gives a being to man, but by his word he giveth him New Testament framing and glory (Eph 2:10-13). This is still followed by that which follows:

And darkness was upon the face of the deep (v 2).

The Deep here, might be a type of the heart of man before conversion; and so Solomon seems to intimate. Now as the darkness of this world did cover the face of this first chaos; so spiritual darkness the heart of the sons of men: and hence they are said to be darkened, to be in darkness, yea, to be very darkness itself.

"And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters."

A blessed emblem of the word of God in the matter of regeneration; for as the first chaos remained without form, and void, until the Spirit of God moved to work upon it, and by working, to put this world into frame and order; so man, as he comes into the world, abides a confused lump, an unclean thing; a creature without New Testament order, until by the Spirit of the Lord he is transformed into the image of Jesus Christ (Gal 1:15).

"And the Spirit of God moved upon the face."

Solomon compares the heart to a man's face; because as in the face may be discerned whether there is anger or otherwise; so by the inclinations of the heart are discovered the truth of the condition of the man, as to his state either for heaven or hell. And besides, as the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters; so in the work of our conversion, the Spirit of God beginneth with the heart of the sons of men; because the heart is the main fort (Acts 2:37). Now if the main fort be not taken, the adversary is still capable of making continual resistance. Therefore God first conquers the heart; therefore the Spirit of God moveth upon the face of our heart, when he cometh to convert us from Satan to God.

"And God said, Let there be light."

This is the first thing with which God began the order of the creation; to wit, light, "Let there be light": From which many profitable notes may be gathered, as to the order of God in the salvation of the soul. As,

1. When the Holy Ghost worketh upon us, and in us, in order to a new creation; he first toucheth our understanding, that great peace of the heart, with his spiritual illumination (Matt 4:16). His first word, in order to our conversion, is, Let there be light: light, to see their state by nature; light, to see the fruits and effects of sin; light, to see the truth and worth of the merits of Jesus Christ; light, to see the truth and faithfulness of God, in keeping promise and covenant with them that embrace salvation upon the blessed terms of the gospel of peace (Heb 10:32). Now that this word, Let there be light, was a semblance of the first work of the Holy Ghost upon the heart, compare it with that of Paul to the Corinthians; "For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness," that is, at the beginning of the world, "hath shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Cor 4:6).

2. "And God said, Let there be light." As here, the light of this world; so in conversion, the light of the New Testament of Christ, it comes by the word of God. No word, no light: therefore the apostle saith, He "hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel" (2 Tim 1:10). And therefore Paul saith again, That salvation is manifest through preaching, through the expounding or opening of the word of faith.

3. "And God said, Let there be light; and there was light": He spake the word, and it was done; all that darkness that before did cover the face of the deep, could not now hinder the being of light. So neither can all the blindness and ignorance that is in the heart of man, hinder the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (Rev 3:7). When it pleaseth God to reveal, it is revealed; when he openeth, none can shut: He said, Let there be light, and there was light.

And God saw that the light was good. Truly the light is good (saith Solomon) and a pleasant thing it is for the eye to behold the sun. It was good, because it was God's creature; and so in the work of grace that is wrought in our hearts, that light of the new covenant, it is good, because it is God's work, the work of his good pleasure (2 Thess 1:11); that good work which he hath not only begun, but promised to fulfil until the day of Jesus Christ (Phil 1:6).

God saw that the light was good. The darkness that before did cover the face of the waters, was not a creature of God, but a privation, or that which was caused by reason that light was not as yet in the world: so sin, that darkness that might be felt, is not the workmanship of God in the soul, but that which is the work of the devil; and that taketh occasion to be, by reason that the true light, as yet, doth not shine in the soul.

"And God divided the light from the darkness." As Paul saith, What communion hath light with darkness? they cannot agree to dwell together (2 Cor 6:14). We see the night still flies before the day, and dareth not come upon us again, but as the light diminisheth and conveyeth itself away. So it is in the new creation; before the light of the glorious gospel of Christ appears, there is night, all night, in the soul (Eph 5:8): but when that indeed doth shine in the soul, then for night there is day in the soul: "Ye were darkness [saith Paul] but now are ye light in the Lord" (v 9): And, "The darkness is past [saith John] and the true light now shineth" (1 John 2:8).

"And God divided the light from the darkness."

God took part with the light, and preserved it from the darkness. By these words, it seems that darkness and light began the quarrel, before that bloody bout of Cain and Abel (Gal 5:17). The light and the darkness struggled together, and nothing could divide or part them but God. Darkness is at implacable enmity with light in the creation of the world; and so it is in that rare work of regeneration, the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh; as Peter saith, Fleshly lusts, they war against the soul. This every Christian feels, and also that which I mentioned before, namely, That before he be capable of opposing antichrist, with Abel, in the world, he findeth a struggling in his own soul between the light and the darkness that is there.

"And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night."

God doth not only distinguish by separating, but also by certain characters; that things which are distinguished and separate, may to us be the better known; he did so here in the work of creating the world, and he doth so also in the great concern of man's eternal happiness. The place of felicity is called heaven: The place of torment is called hell: that which leads to hell is called sin, transgression, iniquity, and wickedness; that which leads to heaven, righteousness, holiness, goodness and uprightness: even as in these types God called the light day, of which the godly are the children (1 Thess 5:5); but the darkness he called night, of which all ungodly men are the inhabiters and children also. Thus after the Spirit of God had moved upon the face of the waters; after God had commanded the light to shine, and had divided between the light and the darkness, and had characterized them by their proper names, he concludes the first day's work, "And the evening and the morning were the first day." In which conclusion there is wrapped up a blessed gospel-mystery; for God, by concluding the first day here, doth shew us how we ought to determine that one is made indeed a Christian: Even then when the Spirit of God hath moved upon the face of the heart, when he hath commanded that light should be there, when he divideth between, or setteth the light at variance with the darkness; and when the soul doth receive the characters of both, to observe them, and carry it to each according to the mouth of God.

"And God saith, Let there be a firmament" (v 6).

This firmament he calleth heaven (v 8). Now this firmament, or heaven, was to make a separation, or to divide between the waters and the waters (v 7); To separate, I say, the waters from the waters; the waters which were under the firmament, from the waters which were above the firmament. Now by waters is signified in the scriptures many things, as afflictions, worldly people (Psa 69:1,2), and particularly the saints (Rev 19:6); but in this place is figured forth, all the people in the world, but so as consisting of two parts, the children of God, and the children of the wicked one: They under the heaven, figure out the world, or ungodly: they above the firmament, the elect and chosen of God. And hence in scripture the one is called heaven, and the other is called earth, to signify the separation and difference that there is between the one and the other.

"And God made the firmament, and divided the waters—from the waters."

Indeed the world think that this separation comes, or is made, through the captiousness of the preacher: But in truth it is the handy work of God; And God made the firmament, and God divided, &c. "I," saith he, "will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed" (Gen 3:15). The good seed are the children of the kingdom of God, but the bad are the children of the wicked one (Matt 13:38).

"And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament, from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so" (v 7).

Whatsoever the Lord doth, it abideth for ever (Eccl 3:14). And again, What he hath made crooked, who can make straight? (Eccl 1:15). He said it in the beginning, and behold how it hath continued! Yea, though there hath been endeavours on Satan's part, to mingle his children with the seed of men; yet it hath not been possible they should ever cleave one to another, "even as iron is not mixed with clay" (Dan 2:43). Yea, let me add further, What laws have been made, what blood hath been shed, what cruelty hath been used, and what flatteries and lies invented, and all to make these two waters and people one? And yet all hath failed, and fallen short of producing the desired effect; for the Lord hath made a firmament, even heaven itself hath divided between them.

"And God called the firmament heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day" (v 8).

After the waters were divided from the waters, God called the cause of dividing, heaven; and so concluded the second day's work. And indeed it was a very great work, as in the antitype we feel it to this very day. Dividing work is difficult work, and he that can, according to God, completely end and finish it, he need do no more that day of his life.

"And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so" (v 9).

Although in the second day's work, the waters above the firmament, and those that be under, are the two peoples, or great families of the world (Pro 8:31); yet because God would shew us by things on earth, the flourishing state of those that are his (Hosea 10:12; Joel 2:21-23; Psa 91:1; Heb 6:7), therefore he here doth express his mind by another kind of representation of things (Jer 4:3,4): "And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place; and let the dry land appear." The waters here signifying the world; but the fruitful earth, the thrifty church of God. That the fruitful earth is a figure of the thriving church of God in this world, is evident from many scriptures, (and there was nothing but thriftiness till the curse came). And hence it is said of the church, That she should break the clods of the ground; that she should sow righteousness, and reap it; that she should not sow among thorns; that if this be done, the heart is circumcised, and spiritual fruit shall flow forth, and grow abundantly: And hence again it is that the officers and eminent ones in the church, are called vines, trees, and other fruitful plants. And hence it is said again, When the Lord reigneth, let the earth (that is, the church) rejoice. That earth which bringeth forth fruit meet for him by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God. In all which places, and many more that might be named, the earth is made a figure of the church of God; and so I count it here in this place.

"And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered into one place."

Let them be together: It is not thus of all waters, but of the sea, which is still here a type of the world. Let them be so together, that the earth may appear; that the church may be rid of their rage and tumult, and then she will be fruitful, as it follows in this first book of Genesis. The church is then in a flourishing state, when the world is farthest off from her, and when the roaring of their waves are far away. Now therefore let all the wicked men be far from thence (Ezra 6:6): The Lord gather these waters, which in another place are called the doleful creatures, and birds of prey; Let these, O Lord, be gathered together to their own places, and be settled in the land of Shinar upon their own base (Zech 5:11): Then the wilderness and the solitary places shall be glad for them; that is, for that they are departed thence, the desert shall rejoice and blossom as a rose (Isa 34 and 35).

"And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he seas: and God saw that it was good" (v 10).

God saw, that to separate the waters from the earth was good: And so it is, for then have the churches rest. Then doth this earth bring forth her fruit, as in the 11th and 12th verses may here be seen.

"And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven" (v 14).

The wisdom of God, is there to make use of figures and shadows, even where most fit things, the things under consideration, may be most fitly demonstrated. The dividing the waters from the waters, most fitly doth show the work of God in choosing and refusing; by dividing the waters from the earth, doth show how fruitful God's earth, the church is, when persecutors are made to be far from thence.

Wherefore he speaketh not of garnishing of his church until he comes to this fourth day's work: by his Spirit he hath garnished the heavens, that most fitly showing the glory of the church.

Let there be lights; to wit, the sun, the moon, and the stars.

The sun is in this place a type of Christ, the Sun of Righteousness: The moon is a type of the church, in her uncertain condition in this world: The stars are types of the several saints and officers in this church. And hence it is that the sun is said not only to rule, but it, with the moon and stars, to be set for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and for years, &c. (Rev 1:20). But if we take the heaven for the church, then how is she beautified, when the Son of God is placed in the midst of her! (Rev 1:12,13). And how plainly is her condition made out, even by the changing, increasing, and diminishing of the moon! And how excellent is that congregation of men, that for light and glory are figured by the stars! (Matt 28:20).

From this day's work much might be observed.

First, That forasmuch as the sun was not made before the fourth day, it is evident there was light in the world before the sun was created; for in the first day God said, Let there be light, and there was light. This may also teach us thus much, That before Christ came in person, there was spiritual light in the saints of God. And again, That as the sun was not made before the fourth day of the creation, so Christ should not be born before the fourth mystical day of the world; for it is evident, that Christ, the true light of the world, was not born till about four thousand years after the world was made. Second, As to the moon, there are four things attending her, which fitly may hold forth the state of the church. (1.) In that she changeth from an old to a new, we may conceive, that God by making her so, did it to show he would one day make a change of his church, from a Jewish to a Gentile congregation. (2.) In that she increaseth, she showeth the flourishing state of the church. (3.) In her diminishing, the diminishing state of the church. (4.) The moon is also sometimes made to look as red as blood, to show how dreadful and bloody the suffering of the church is at some certain times.

Third, By the stars, we understand two things. (1.) How innumerable the saints, those spiritual stars shall be (Heb 11:12). (2.) How they shall differ each from other in glory (1 Cor 15:41).

"And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven, to divide the day from the night."

For though before the light was divided from the darkness, yet the day and night was not so kept within their bounds, as now by these lights they were: probably signifying, that nothing should be so clearly distinguished and made appear, as by the sun light of the gospel of Christ: for by that it is that "the shadows flee away" (Song 2:17). The light of the sun gathers the day to its hours, both longer and shorter, and forceth also the night to keep within his bounds.

"And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night" (v 16).

Signifying, That Christ should be the light and governor of his church, which are the children of the day; but the church, a light to the children of the night, that by them they might learn the mysteries of the kingdom. Saith Christ to his own, "Ye are the light of the world": And again, "Let your light so shine,—that men may see," &c., for though they that only walk in the night, cannot see to walk by the sun, yet by the moon they may. Thus the heaven is a type of the church, the moon a type of her uncertain state in this world; the stars are types of her immovable converts; and their glory, of the differing degrees of theirs, both here, and in the other world. Much more might be said, but I pass this.

"And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life" (v 20).

The sea, as I said, is a figure of the world; wherefore the creatures that are in it, of the men of the world (Zech 13:8; Isa 60:5). This sea bringeth forth small and great beasts, even as the world doth yield both small and great persecutors, who like the fishes of prey, eat up and devour what they can of those fish that are of another condition. Now also out of the world that mystical sea, as fishers do out of the natural; both Christ and his servants catch mystical fish, even fish as of the great sea.

In the sea God created great whales, he made them to play therein.

Which whales in the sea are types of the devils in the world: Therefore as the devil is called, the prince of this world; so the whale is called, king over all the children of pride (Job 41:33,34).

"And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind" (v 24).

Of the beginning of this sixth day's work that may be said which is said of the fishes, and the rest of the sea; for as there is variety of fish in the one, so of beasts and cattle in the other, who also make a prey of their fellows, as the fishes do; a most apt representation of the nature and actions of bloody and deceitful men: Hence persecutors are called bulls, bears, lions, wolves, tigers, dragons, dogs, foxes, leopards, and the like.[3]

"And God said, Let us make man" (v 26).

I observe, that in the creation of the world, God goeth gradually on, from things less, to things more abundantly glorious; I mean, as to the creation of this earth; and the things that thereto appertain. First he bringeth forth a confused chaos, then he commands matter to appear distinct, then the earth bringeth forth trees, and herbs, and grass; after that beasts; and the sea, fowls; and last of all, Let us make man. Now passing by the doctrine of the trinity, because spoken to before, I come to make some observation upon this wonderful piece of the workmanship of God.

"Let us make man." Man in whom is also included the woman, was made the last of the creatures. From whence we may gather,

God's respect to this excellent creature, in that he first provideth for him, before he giveth him his being: He bringeth him not to an empty house, but to one well furnished with all kind of necessaries, having beautified the heaven and the earth with glory, and all sorts of nourishment, for his pleasure and sustenance.[4]

"Let us make man in our image, after our likeness."

An image, or the likeness of any thing, is not the thing of which it is a figure; so here, Adam is an image, or made in the likeness of God. Now as Adam is the image of God, it must either respect him, as he consisteth of the soul, as a part; or as he consists of a body and soul together: If as he is made a reasonable soul, then he is an excellent image of the eternal Godhead, the attributes of the one being shadowed out by the qualities and passions of the other; for as there is in the Godhead, power, knowledge, love, and righteousness; so a likeness of these is in the soul of man, especially of man before he had sinned: And as there is passions of pity, compassion, affections, and bowels in man; so there are these in a far more infinite way in God.

Again, If this image respect the whole man, then Adam was a figure of God, as incarnate; or of God, as he was to be made afterwards man. And hence it is, that as Adam is called the image of God (Rom 5:14); so also is Christ himself called and reckoned as the answering antitype of such an image.

But again, Though Adam be here called the image or similitude of God; yet but so as that he was the shadow of a more excellent image. Adam was a type of Christ, who only is "the express image" of his Father's person, and the likeness of his excellent glory (Heb 1:3). For those things that were in Adam, were but of a humane, but of a created substance; but those that were in Christ, of the same divine and eternal excellency with the Father.

Is Christ then the image of the Father, simply, as considered of the same divine and eternal excellency with him? Certainly, No: for an image is doubtless inferior to that of which it is a figure. Understand then, that Christ is the image of the Father's glory, as born of the Virgin Mary, yet so, as being very God also: Not that his Godhead in itself was a shadow or image, but by the acts and doing of that man, every act being infinitely perfect by virtue of his Godhead, the Father's perfections were made manifest to flesh. An image is to be looked upon, and by being looked upon, another thing is seen; so by the person and doings of the Lord Jesus, they that indeed could see him as he was, discovered the perfection and glory of the Father.—"Philip, He that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?" (John 14:9). Neither the Father nor the Son can by us at all be seen, as they are simply and entirely in their own essence. Therefore the person of the Father must be seen by us, through the Son, as consisting of God and man; the Godhead, by working effectually in the manhood, shewing clearly there through the infinite perfection and glory of the Father: "The word was made flesh, and—[then] we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, [He being in his personal excellencies, infinitely and perfectly, what is recorded of his Father,] full of grace and truth" (John 1:14). So again, he "is the image of the invisible God" (Col 1:15). The Godhead is indeed invisible; how then is Christ the image of it? Not by being invisible also; for so is he as much hid as the Father; but being clothed with flesh, that the works of the Son might by us be seen, he thereby presenteth to us, as in a figure, the eternal excellency of the Father. And hence as he is called "an image," he is also called "the first-born" of every creature (Col 1:18). His being a creature, respecting his manhood, and his birth, and his rising again from the dead. Therefore a little after, he is called, "the first-born from the dead" (v 19): And in another place, "the first-begotten of the dead" (Rev 1:5): And "the first-fruits of them that slept" (1 Cor 15:20). So then, though Adam was the image of God, yet God's image but as a mere creature: But Christ though a creature as touching his manhood; yet being also God, as the Father, he shewed forth expressly, in capital characters, by all his works and doings in the world, the beauty and glory of the Father: "The light of the knowledge of the glory of God," is given "in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Cor 4:6). Where by face, we must understand that which is visible, that being open when all else is covered, and that by which most principally we are discovered to others, and known. Now as to the case in hand, this face must signify to us the personal virtues and doings of Christ, by which the glory of the Father is exposed; the glory of his justice, by Christ's exactness of life; the glory of his love, by Christ's compassion to sinners, &c.

Ver. 26. "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth."

As Adam was a type of Christ, as the image and glory of God; so by these words he further showeth, that he was a type of his sovereign power; for to him be dominion and power everlasting (Heb 2:8,9), "to whom be praise and dominion for ever" (1 Peter 4:11; Jude 25). Now by the fish of the sea, the beasts of the earth, the fowls of the air, and every creeping thing, we may understand all creatures, visible and invisible, whether they be men, angels, or devils; in heaven, earth, or under the earth: also all thrones, authorities and powers, whether in heaven, in earth, or hell: Christ is made head over all; He hath also a name above every name, "not only in this world, but in that which is to come" (Eph 1:25).

Ver. 28. "And God blessed them; and God said unto them, [that is, to the man and his wife] Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it," &c.

This in the type doth show, in the antitype, how fruitful Christ and his church shall be; and how he at last shall, all over the earth, have a seed to replenish and subdue it by the power of the immortal seed of the word of God: how his name shall be reverenced from one end of the earth to the other: how the kingdoms of the earth shall ALL at last become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ.

"And subdue it." God did put that majesty and dread upon Adam, at his creation, that all the beasts of the field submitted themselves unto him. As God also said to Noah, "The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered" (Gen 9:2).

"And God said, Behold I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth; and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat" (Gen 1:29).

These herbs and trees are types of the wholesome word of the gospel, on which both Christ, his church, and unconverted sinners, ought to feed and be refreshed; and without which thee is no subsisting either of one or the other: "He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth; and wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengtheneth man's heart" (Psa 104:14,15).

"And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good" (v 31).

All things have their natural goodness by creation. Things are not good, because they have a being only, but because God gave them such a being. Neither did God make them, because he saw they would attract a goodness to themselves; but he made them in such kind, as to bring forth that goodness he before determined they should. "And the evening and the morning were the sixth day."

Chapter II.

Ver. 3. "And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made."

The seventh day did signify two things:

First, Christ Jesus, who is as well the rest of the justice of God, as a rest for sinful man.

Secondly, It was also a type of that glorious rest that saints shall have when the six days of this world are fully ended.

For the first, the apostle makes the sabbath a shadow of Jesus Christ, "a shadow of things to come; but the body [or substance] is of Christ" (Col 2:17). And hence it is that he is so often said to be "a rest" to the Gentiles, a glorious rest, and that he promiseth rest to such as cast their burthen upon him (Matt 11:29).

The second also the apostle asserteth in that fourth chapter to the Hebrews, "There remaineth therefore a rest," or the keeping of a sabbath, "to the people of God" (v 9 read also vv 4-11). Which sabbath, as I conceive, will be the seventh thousand of years, which are to follow immediately after the world hath stood six thousand first: for as God was six days in the works of creation, and rested the seventh; so in six thousand years he will perfect his works and providences that concern this world. As also he will finish the toil and travel of his saints, with the burthen of the beasts, and the curse of the ground; and bring all into rest for a thousand years. A day with the Lord, is as a thousand years: wherefore this blessed and desirable time is also called "a day," "a great day," "that great and notable day of the Lord" (Acts 2:20), which shall end in the eternal judgment of the world. God hath held forth this by several other shadows, as the sabbath of weeks, the sabbath of years, and the great jubilee, which is to be the year after forty-nine years are expired (Lev 25:1-13). Of all which, more in their place, if God permit.

Ver. 4. "These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens."

Moses seems by these words, "In the day," to insist principally upon them in their first and primitive state, before there was sin or curse in the world; for in the day that they were created, there was a far more glorious lustre and beauty than now can be seen; the heaven, for sin, is, as it were, turned into brass; and the rain into powder and dust, in comparison of what it was as it came from the fingers of God. The earth hath also from that time a curse upon it; yea, the whole creation, by sin, is even "made subject to vanity," is in travail, and groans under the burthen that sin hath brought upon it (Rom 8:19-23).

Ver. 5. "And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew."

Thus it was in the first creation; they therefore became neither herbs nor trees, by the course of nature, but by the creation of God. And even so it is in the new creation, men spring not up by nature to be saints: No, not in the church of God, but first they are created in Christ Jesus, and made meet to be partakers of the benefit, and then planted in the church of God; "planted," I say, as plants before prepared. Indeed hypocrites, and formal professors, may spring up in the church, by virtue of her forms, and outward services, as thorns and thistles spring up in the earth, by virtue of her moisture and heartiness. But these are but the fruits of the curse, and are determined to be burned at last in the fire: "Every plant [saith Christ] which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up" (Matt 15:13; Heb 6:8).[5]

"For the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth." This is the reason that they came not up by nature first, but were first created, then planted, then made to grow. So the reason why men by nature grow not in the church, is, because the Lord doth not cause it to rain upon them, they still abiding and doing according to the course of this world; but he plants them in his house by the mighty power of his word and Spirit, by which they are created saints, and then they afterwards grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. "And there was not a man to till the ground." It seems by this there was a kind of necessity why God should make man, yea, a multitude of men; for otherwise he had made what before he made in vain; that is, his end in making so glorious a creature as this world, which was to shew forth his glory by, had been void, and without effect; for although it was glorious, as it came out of the hand of God; yet it was not of power so to preserve itself, but would, without men to look after and dress it, be turned into a wilderness.

Thus it is with the world of men, if there was not the second Adam to plough them and sow them, they could none of them become saints; No, not the elect themselves; because the means are determined, as well as the end.

By this we may likewise see what a woeful condition that people is in, that have no ministers of the word of the gospel: "My people perish, [are destroyed] for lack of knowledge" (Hosea 4:6): And again, "Where there is no vision, the people perish" (Pro 29:18). Pray therefore to the Lord of the harvest, that he would send out his ploughers to plough, and his labourers into his harvest.

Ver. 6. "But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground."

Although as yet there was no ploughman nor rain, yet a mist arose from the earth; so where there is not the word of the gospel, there is yet sufficiency of light, to teach men how to govern themselves in civil and natural society. But this is only "a mist," men cannot gospelly grow by this; therefore, as in the next verse, of necessity man must be formed.

But again, I have sometimes thought by this mist, might be held forth that nourishment men had by the doctrine of faith, before the gospel was divulged by Moses, the prophets, or Christ, &c. for before these, that nourishment the church received, was but slender and short, even as short as the nourishing of the mist is to sober and moderate showers of rain; to which both the law and the gospel is compared.

Again, I have also sometimes thought, that by this mist might be typified those excellent proverbs and holy sayings of the men of old, before there was a written word; for it cannot be but the godly did contain in proverbs, and certain sayings, the doctrine of salvation hereafter, and of good living here [see Romans 2:14]; of which we have a touch in Genesis, but more at large by that blessed book of Job; which book, in my opinion, is a holy collection of those proverbs and sayings of the ancients, occasioned by the temptation of that good man. But whatever this mist did signify (in other men's judgment) certain it is, it was for present necessity, till a man should be made to till the ground, and the fruits thereof watered with "the bottles of heaven": Which, so far as I see yet, most aptly presents us with some of all these.

Ver. 7. "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground," &c. In the creation of man, God began with his outside; but in the work of regeneration, he first begins within, at the heart. He made him; that is, his body, of the dust of the ground; but he abides a lifeless lump, till the Lord puts forth a second act. "And [he] breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." Now he lives, now he acts: so it is in the kingdom of Christ, no man can be a living soul in that kingdom by his first creation, he must have life "breathed" into him, life and spirit from Jesus Christ (John 20:22).

Now therefore is Adam a type, yet but an earthly one, of things more high and heavenly; "And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly" (1 Cor 15:49).

Ver. 8. "And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there he put the man whom he had formed."

"And the Lord God planted a garden." Thus the Holy Ghost speaks clearer and clearer; for now he presents the church to us under the similitude of a garden, which is taken out of the wide and open field, and inclosed; "A garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse"; a garden inclosed, "a spring shut up, a fountain sealed" (Cant 4:12); and there he put the man whom he had formed. An excellent type of the presence of Christ with his church (Rev 1:12,13).

Ver. 9. "And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight," &c.

These trees, and their pleasurableness, do shew us the beauty of the truly godly, whom the Lord hath beautified with salvation. And hence it is said, the glory of Lebanon, of Sharon, and of Carmel, is given to the church: that is, she is more beautified with gifts and graces than can by types and shadows be expressed. "The tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil."

This "tree of life," was another type of Christ, as the bread and healing medicine of the church, that stands "in the midst of the paradise of God" (Rev 2:7; 22:2).

The tree of the knowledge of good and evil, was a type of the law, or covenant of works, as the sequel of the story clearly manifesteth; for had not Adam eaten thereof, he had enjoyed for ever his first blessedness. As Moses saith, "It shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the Lord our God, as he hath commanded us" (Deu 6:25). But both Adam and we have touched, that is, broken the boughs and fruit of this tree, and therefore now for ever, by the law, no man can stand just before God (Gal 2:16).

Ver. 10. "And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads."

This river while it abided in Eden, in the garden, it was the river of God; that is, serviceable to the trees and fruit of the garden, and was herein a type of those watering ministers that water the plants of the Lord. But observe, when it had passed the garden, had gotten without the bound of the garden, from thence it was parted, and became into four heads; from thence it was transformed, or turned into another manner of thing: it now became into four heads; a type of the four great monarchies of the world, of which Babylon, though the first in order of being, yet the last in a gospel or mysterious sense. The fourth is the river Euphrates, that which was the face of the kingdom of Babel of old. Hence note, That how eminent and serviceable soever men are while they abide in the garden of Eden, THE CHURCH; yet when they come out from thence, they evilly seek the great things of the world: one is for compassing the whole land of Havilah, where is gold; another is for compassing this, a third that, and a fourth another thing, according as you see these four heads did. Observe again, That while men abide in the church of God, there is not by them a seeking after the monarchies of this world; but when they depart from thence, then they seek and strive to be heads; as that cursed monster the pope, forsaking the garden of God, became in a manner the prince of all the earth: Of whom Tyrus mentioned by Ezekiel, was a very lively type, "Thou hast been in Eden, the garden of God; every precious-stone, [that is, doctrine,] was thy covering; as the sardius, topaz, diamond," &c., "till iniquity was found in thee" (Eze 28:13-18); till thou leftest thy station, and place appointed of God, and then thou wast cast as profane out of the mountain of God, yea, though a covering cherub. See it again in Cain, who while he continued in the church, he was a busy sacrificer, as busy as Abel his brother; but when he left off to fear the Lord, and had bloodily butchered his holy brother, then he seeks to be a head, or monarch; then he goeth and buildeth a city to preserve his name and posterity for ever (Gen 4:17).

Ver. 15. "And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden, to dress it and to keep it."

In this also Adam was a figure of our Lord Jesus Christ, as pastor and chief bishop of his church. "I the Lord, [saith Christ,] do keep it; I will water it every moment, I will keep it night and day" (Isa 27:3).

"And the Lord God took the man." No man taketh this honour upon him, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron. Blessed is he also that can say as the prophet Amos; "And the Lord took me [said he] as I followed the flock, and the Lord said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel" (Amos 7:15).

"To dress it and to keep it." He that is not dressed, is not kept: That is a sad judgment, That which dieth, let it die; That which is diseased, let it not be dressed, let it die of that disease. By dressing therefore I understand, pruning, manuring and the like, which the dresser of the vineyard was commanded to do, without which all is overrun with briers and nettles, and is fit for nothing but cursing, and to be burned (Luke 13:6-9; Pro 24:30-34; Heb 6:7,8).

"And the Lord commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat" (v 16).

It is God's word that giveth us power to eat, to drink, and do other our works, and without the word we may do nothing. The command gave Adam leave: "Every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by the word of God [by the command of the word, and by receiving of it according to the limits thereof,] and prayer" (1 Tim 4:4,5).

Ver. 17. "But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it." I said before, What God's word prohibits, we must take care to shun.

This "tree of knowledge," as I said before, was a type of the covenant of works, the which had not Adam touched, (for by touching it he broke that covenant,) he then had lived ever, but touching it he dies (Gen 3:3).

Adam going into the garden under these conditions and penalties, was therein a type of the humiliation of Christ; who at his coming into the world, was made under the law, under its command and penalty, even as other men, but without sin (Gal 4:4,5).

"For in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."

"For in the day." Adam lived to God no longer than while he kept himself from eating forbidden fruit; in that very day he died; first a spiritual death in his soul; his body also was then made capable of mortality, and all diseases, which two great impediments in time brought him down to dust again.

Ver. 18. "And the Lord God said, It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him."

By these words, Adam's state, even in innocency, seems to crave for help; wherefore it is manifest that that state is short of that we attain by the resurrection from the dead; yea, for as much as his need required earthly help, it is apparent his condition was not heavenly; "The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven" (1 Cor 15:47). Adam in his first estate was not spiritual: "That was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterwards that which is spiritual" (v 46). Wherefore those that think it enough to attain to the state of Adam in innocency, think it sufficient to be mere naturalists; think themselves well, without being made spiritual: yea, let me add, they think it safe standing by a covenant of works; they think themselves happy, though not concerned in a covenant of grace; they think they know enough, though ignorant of a mediator, and count they have no need of the intercession of Christ.[6]

Adam stood by a covenant of works: Adam's kingdom was an earthly paradise; Adam's excellency was, that he had not need of a Saviour; and Adam's knowledge was ignorance of Jesus Christ: Adam in his greatest glory, wanted earthly comforts; Adam in his innocency, was a mere natural man.

Ver. 19. "And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air."

This proveth further what I said at first, That in the first chaos was contained all that was made upon the earth.

"And brought them unto Adam, to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof."

In this Adam was a lively type of the Lord Christ's sovereign and glorious power over all flesh: "Thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him" (John 17:2).

"And brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them."

So Christ nameth the world; whom he will he calleth saints; and whom he will he calleth the world, "ungodly," "serpents," "vipers," and the like. "I pray for them, I pray not for the world" (John 17:9).

"And whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof." Even as Christ passes sentence, so shall their judgment be.

Ver. 20. "And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field." So Christ judgeth of angels, devils, and men.

"But for Adam, there was not found an help meet for him." All the glory of this world, had not Adam had a wife, could not have completed this man's blessedness; he would yet have been wanting: so all the glory of heaven, considering Christ as mediator, could not, without his church, have made him up complete. The church, I say, "which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all."

Ver. 21, 22. "And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; and the rib which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man."

In these words we find an help provided for Adam; also whence it came. The help was a wife; she came out of his side; she was taken thence while Adam slept. A blessed figure of a further mystery. Adam's wife was a type of the church of Christ; for that she was taken out of his side, it signifies we are flesh of Christ's flesh, and bone of Christ's bone (Eph 5:30). And in that she was taken thence while Adam slept, it signifies, the church is Christ's, by virtue of his death and blood: "Feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with is own blood" (Acts 20:28).

"And he brought her to the man." That is, And God brought her to the man. By which he clearly intimates, That as the church is the workmanship of God, and the purchase of the blood of Christ; so yet she cannot come to Christ, unless brought to him of God: "No man can come to me [saith Christ] except the Father which hath sent me, draw him" (John 6:44).

Ver. 23. "And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man."

In that Adam doth thus acknowledge his wife to be bone and flesh of his substance, it shews us, that Christ will acknowledge those that are his: "He is not ashamed to call them brethren, saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee" (Heb 2:11,12).

And observe it, He said, "She is bone of my bone," &c. before that God, that brought her to him; intimating, that Christ both owns us now at his Father's right hand, and will not be ashamed of us, even in the day of judgment (Matt 10:33; Luke 12:8).

Ver. 24. "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh."

This ought to be truly performed in our married estate in this world. But here endeth not the mystery.

"Therefore shall a man leave his father." Thus did Christ when he came into the world to save sinners: He came forth from the Father; "I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world" (John 16:28).

"Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother." The Jewish church may, in a mystical sense, be called the mother of Christ; for she was indeed God's wife, and of her came his Son Jesus Christ: yet his mother he left and forsook, to be joined to his Gentile spouse, which is now his only wife.

Ver. 25. "And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed."

No sin, no shame: Let men stand where God hath set them, and there is no cause of shame, though they be exposed in outward appearance to never so much contempt.

"And they were both naked." Apparel is the fruits of sin; wherefore let such as pride themselves therein, remember, that they cover one shame with another. But let them that are truly godly have their apparel modest and sober, and with shamefacedness put them on, remembering always the first cause of our covering our nakedness, was the sin and shame of our first parents (1 Peter 3:3).

Chapter III.

Ver. 1. "Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?"

In these words we have an entrance of the first great spiritual conflict that was fought between the devil and flesh; and it is worth the observing, how the enemy attempted, engaged, and overcame the world (2 Cor 11:3).

1. He tempts by means; he appeareth not in his own shape and hue, but assumeth the body of one of the creatures, the body of the serpent, and so begins the combat. And from hence it is, that in after ages he is spoken of under the name of that creature, "the dragon, that old serpent which is the devil, and Satan" (Rev 20:2); because, as the Holy Ghost would have us beware of the devil, so of the means and engines which he useth; for where one is overcome by his own fearful appearance, ten thousand are overcome by the means and engines that he useth.

2. "The serpent was more subtil." The devil, in his attempts after our destruction, maketh use of the most suitable means. The serpent was more subtil, therefore the cunning of the devil was least of all discerned. Had he made use of some of the most foolish of the creatures, Adam had luckily started back, for he knew the nature of all the creatures, and gave them names accordingly; wherefore the serpent, Adam knew, was subtil, therefore Satan useth him, thereby to catch this goodly creature. Hereby the devil least appeared; and least appearing, the temptation soonest took the tinder.[7]

"Now the serpent was more subtil." More subtil. Hence the devil is called, "the serpent with heads," [with great cunning;] "the crooked serpent," [with knotty objections;] "the piercing serpent," [for he often wounds;] and his ways are called "devices," "temptations," "delusions," "wiles," "power," and "the gates of hell"; because of their mighty prevalency. This is he that undertook our first parents.

But how did he undertake them?

He labours to make them question the simplicity of the word of God, bearing Adam's wife in hand, that there must needs be some meaning that palliates the text; Hath God said ye shall not eat of the tree? Which interrogatory suggested them with a strong doubt that this word would not appear a truth, if you compare it with the 4th verse.

Hence learn, that so long as we retain the simplicity of the word, we have Satan at the end of the staff; for unless we give way to a doubt about that, about the truth and simplicity of it, he gets no ground upon us. And hence the apostle says, He feared lest by some means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so our minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ (2 Cor 11:3); that is, lest our minds should be drawn off from the simplicity of the word of the gospel by some devilish and delusive arguments; For mark, Satan doth not first of all deny, but makes a doubt upon the word, whether it is to be taken in this or another sense; and so first corrupting the mind with a doubt about the simplicity of the true sense, he after brings them to a denial thereof; "Hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?"

Ver. 2. "And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden."

"And the woman said." Indeed, the question was put to her, but the command was not so immediately delivered to her: "The Lord God commanded the man" (2:16). This therefore I reckon a great fault in the woman, an usurpation, to undertake so mighty an adversary, when she was not the principal that was concerned therein; nay, when her husband who was more able than she, was at hand, to whom also the law was given as chief. But for this act, I think it is, that they are now commanded silence, and also commanded to learn of their husbands (1 Cor 14:34,35): A command that is necessary enough for that simple and weak sex:[8] Though they see it was by them that sin came into the world, yet how hardly are some of them to this day dissuaded from attempting unwarrantably to meddle with potent enemies, about the great and weighty matters that concern eternity (1 Tim 2:11-15).

Hence note, That often they who are least able, will first adventure to put in their head to defend that, from whence they return with shame.

"And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden."

This was her prologue to her defence, but that also for which she had no warrant. In time of temptation, it is our wisdom and duty to keep close to the word, that prohibits and forbids the sin; and not to reason with Satan, of how far our outward and worldly privileges go, especially of those privileges that border upon the temptation, as she here did: We may eat of all but one. By this she goeth to the outside of her liberty, and sets herself upon the brink of the danger. Christ might have told the tempter, when he assaulted him, That he could have made stones bread; and that he could have descended from the pinnacle of the temple, as afterwards he did (Matt 4:3-7; Luke 4); but that would have admitted of other questions. Wherefore he chooseth to lay aside such needless and unwarrantable reasonings, and resisteth him with a direct word of God, most pertinent to quash the tempter, and also to preserve himself in the way. To go to the outside of privileges, especially when tempted of the devil, is often, if not always very dangerous and hazardous.

By these words therefore, in mine opinion, she spoke at this time too much in favour of the flesh; and made way for what after came upon her, We may eat of all but one.

Ver. 3. "But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die."

Now, too late, she urgeth that which should have been her only stay and weapon; to wit, the express word of God; That she should, if she would have disputed with the tempter, have urged at the first that only, and have thought of nothing else. Thus did the Lord himself: but she looking first into those worthy privileges which God had given her, and dilating delightfully of them before the devil, she lost the dread of the command from off her heart, and retained now but the notion of it: which Satan perceiving, and taking heart therefrom to make his best advantage, he now adds to his former forged doubt, a plain and flat denial, "Ye shall not surely die."

Ver. 4. "And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die."

When people dally with the devil, and sit too near their outward advantages; when they are tempted to break the command of God, it is usual for them, even by setting their hearts upon things that in themselves are honest and lawful, to fall into temptation: To see a piece of ground, to prove a yoke of oxen, to marry a wife, are doubtless lawful things; but upon the borders of these privileges lay the temptation of the devil; therefore by the love of these, which yet were lawful in themselves, the devil hardened the heart, and so at last made way for, and perfectly produced in them, flatly to deny, as then, to embrace the words of God's salvation (Matt 22:5; Luke 14:16-20). The like befel our first mother; wherefore though at last she freely objected the word; yet because before she had so much reasoned to the pleasing of the flesh, she lost the dread and savour of the command, and having nought but notion left, she found not wherewith to rebuke so plain a lie of the devil, but hearkened to his further reasoning.

"Ye shall not surely die." Not surely; in the word there is some slight meaning, of which you need not be so afraid. And besides,

Ver. 5. "God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil."

In these words two privileges are asserted: one, That their eyes should be opened; the other, That they should be as gods, knowing good and evil. The first is very desirable, and was not at all abridged by them; the second, as to their knowing good and evil, was absolutely forbidden; because they could not attain to the knowledge of that which was evil, but by transgressing, or by eating of that forbidden tree.

Hence observe, That it is usual with the devil, in his tempting of poor creatures, to put a good and bad together, that by shew of the good, the tempted might be drawn to do that which in truth is evil. Thus he served Saul; he spared the best of the herd and flock, under pretence of sacrificing to God, and so transgressed the plain command (1 Sam 15:20-22). But this the apostle saw was dangerous, and therefore censureth such, as in a state of condemnation (Rom 3:8). Thus he served Adam; he put the desirableness of sight, and a plain transgression of God's law together, that by the loveliness of the one, they might the easier be brought to do the other. O poor Eve! Do we wonder at thy folly! Doubtless we had done as bad with half the argument of thy temptation.

"Ye shall be as gods." In these words he attempts to beget in them a desire to be greater than God had made them (1 Tim 3:6). He knew this was a likely way, for by this means he fell himself; for being puffed up with pride, they left their own estate, or habitation, and so became devils, and were tumbled down to hell, where they are "reserved in everlasting chains, under darkness, unto the judgment of the great day" (Jude 6).

"Ye shall be as gods." When souls have begun to hearken to the tempter, that hearkening hath made way for, and given way to so much darkness of mind, and hardness of heart, that now they can listen to anything: as to hear God charged with folly, "Ye shall not surely die"; as to hear him made the author of ignorance, and that he delights to have it so, by seeking by a command to prohibit them from knowing what they could; for God doth know, that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened; and therefore he forbids to touch it.

"Ye shall be as gods." Here is also a pretence of holiness, which he knew they were prone unto; "Ye shall be as gods," as knowing and perfect as God. Oh! Thousands are, even to this day, by such temptations overcome! Thus he wraps his temptations up in such kind of words and suggestions as will carry it either way. But mark his holiness, or the way that he prescribes for holiness; it is, if not point blank against, yet without and besides the word, not by doing what God commands, and abhorring what he forbids, but by following the delusion of the devil, and their own roving fancies; as Eve here does.

Ver. 6. "And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof," &c.

This verse presents us with the use that Eve made of the reasonings of the serpent; and that was, to take them into consideration; not by the word of God, but as her flesh and blood did sense them: A way very dangerous and devouring to the soul, from which Paul fled, as from the devil himself: "Immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood" (Gal 1:16). Wherefore, pausing upon them, they entangled her as with a threefold cord. 1. "The lust of the flesh"; she saw it was good for food. 2. "The lust of the eye"; she saw it was pleasant to the eye. 3. "The pride of life"; a tree to be desired, to make one wise (1 John 2:16). Being taken, I say, with these three snares of the adversary, which are not of the Father, but of the world, and the devil the prince thereof, forthwith she falls before him: "And when the woman saw" this, "she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat."

"And when the woman saw." This seeing, as I said, is to be understood of her considering what Satan presented to her, and of her sensing or tasting of his doctrine; not by the word, which ought to be the touch stone of all, but by and according to her own natural reason without it. Now this makes her forget that very command that but now she had urged against the tempter: This makes her also to consent to that very reason, as an inducement to transgress; which, because it was the nature of the tree, was by God suggested as a reason why they should forbear; it was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, therefore they should not touch it; it was the tree, that would by touching it, make them know good and evil; therefore she toucheth, and also eateth thereof. See therefore what specious pretences the devil, and those that are under the power of temptation, will have to transgress the command of God. That which God makes a reason of the prohibition, even that the devil will make a reason of their transgression.

God commands to self-denial, but the world makes that a reason of their standing off from the very grace of God in the gospel. God also commands, That we be sober, chaste, humble, just, and the like; but the devil, and carnal hearts, make these very things the argument that keeps sinners from the word of salvation. Or rather take it thus; God forbids wickedness, because it is delightful to the flesh, and draws the heart from God, but therefore carnal men love wickedness and sin: Therefore they go on in sin, and "therefore they say unto God, Depart from us, for we desire not the knowledge of thy ways" (Job 21:14; 22:15-17).

She "did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat."

The great design of the devil, as he supposed, was now accomplished; for he had both in the snare, both the man and his wife, and in them, the whole world that should be after. And indeed the chief design of Satan was at the head at first, only he made the weakest the conveyance for his mischief. Hence note again, That Satan by tempting one, may chiefly intend the destruction of another. By tempting the wife, he may aim at the destruction of the husband; by tempting the father, he may design the destruction of the children; and by tempting the king, he may design the ruin of the subjects. Even as in the case of David: "Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number the people." He had a mind to destroy seventy thousand, therefore he tempted David to sin (1 Chron 21:1).

She gave also to her husband, and he did eat. Sin seldom or never terminates in one person; but the pernicious example of one, doth animate and embolden another; or thus, the beholding of evil in another, doth often allure a stander-by. Adam was the looker-on, he was not in the action as from the serpent: "Adam was not deceived," that is, by having to do with the devil, "but the woman, the woman being deceived, was in the transgression" (1 Tim 2:14). This should exhort all men that they take heed of so much as beholding evil done by others, lest also they should be allured. When Israel went into Canaan, God did command them not so much as to ask, How those nations served their gods? lest by so doing, Satan should get an advantage of their minds, to incline them to do the like (Deu 12:30). Evil acts, as well as evil words, will eat as doth a canker. This then is the reason of that evil-favouredness that you see attending some men's lives and professions; they have been corrupted, as Adam was, either by evil words or bad examples, even till the very face of their lives and professions are disfigured as with the pox or canker (2 Tim 2:17).

Thus have we led you through that woeful tragedy that was acted between the woman and the serpent; and have also shewed, how it happened that the serpent went away as victor.

1. The woman admitted of a doubt about the truth of the word that forbad her to eat; for unbelief was the first sin that entered the world.

2. She preferred the privileges of the flesh, before the argument to self-denial; by which means her heart became hardened, and grew senseless of the dread and terror of the words of God.

3. She took Satan's arguments into consideration, and sensed,[9] or tasted them; not by the word of God, but her own natural, or rather sore-deluded fancy.

4. She had a mind to gratify the lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eyes, and the pride of life.

Now to speak of the evil consequences that followed this sinful act: That is not in the wisdom of mortal man to do; partly, because we know but in part even the evil and destructive nature of sin; and partly, because much of the evil that will follow this action, is yet to be committed by persons unborn. Yet enough might be said to astonish the heavens, and to make them horribly afraid (Jer 2:12). 1. By this act of these two, the whole world became guilty of condemnation and eternal judgment (Rom 5). 2. By this came all the blindness, atheism, ignorance of God, enmity and malice against him, pride, covetousness, adultery, idolatry, and implacableness, &c., that is found in all the world. By this, I say, came all the wars, blood, treachery, tyranny, persecution, with all manner of rapine and outrage that is found among the sons of men. 3. Besides, all the plagues, judgments, and evils that befal us in this world, with those everlasting burnings that will swallow up millions for ever and ever; all and every whit of these came into the world as the portion of mankind, for that first transgression of our first parents.

Ver. 7. "And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig-leaves together, and made themselves aprons."

That their eyes might be opened, was one branch of the temptation, and one of the reasons that prevailed with the woman to forsake the word of God: But she little thought of seeing after this manner, or such things as now she was made to behold. She expected some sweet and pleasant sight, that might tickle and delight her deluded fancy; but behold, sin and the wrath of God appears, to the shaking of their hearts! And thus, even to this very day, doth the devil delude the world: His temptations are gilded with some sweet and fine pretences; either they shall be wiser, richer, more in favour, live merrier, fare better, or something; and that they shall see it, if they will but obey the devil: Which the fools easily are, by these and such like things, allured to do. But behold, when their eyes are opened, instead of seeing what the devil falsely told them, they see themselves involved in sin, made guilty of the breach of God's command, and subject to the wrath of God.[10]

"And they knew that they were naked." Not only naked of outward clothing, but even destitute of righteousness; they had lost their innocency, their uprightness, and sinless vail, and had made themselves polluted creatures, both in their hearts and in their flesh; this is nakedness indeed; such a kind of nakedness as Aaron made Israel naked with, when he set up his idol calf for them to worship: "For Aaron had made them naked unto their shame" (Exo 32:25). Naked before the justice of the law.

"And they knew that they were naked." And they knew it: Why, did they not know it before? The text says, They were naked, and were not ashamed. O! they stood not naked before God! they stood not without righteousness, or uprightness before him, and therefore were not ashamed, but now they knew they were naked as to that.

"And they sewed fig-leaves together, and made themselves aprons." A fit resemblance of what is the inclination of awakened men, who are yet but natural! They neither think of Christ, or of the mercy of God in him for pardon, but presently they betake themselves to their own fig-leaves, to their own inventions, or to the righteousness of the law, and look for healing from means which God did never provide for cure. "When Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah saw his wound, then went Ephraim to the Assyrian" (Hosea 5:13). Not to God, and sent to King Jarib, not to Christ, yet could they not heal him, nor cure him of his wound.

"And made themselves aprons." Not coats, as God did afterwards. A carnal man thinks himself sufficiently clothed with righteousness, if the nakedness which he sees, can be but covered from his own sight: As if God also did see that and only that which they have a sight of by the light of nature; and as if because fig-leaves would hide their nakedness from their sight, that therefore they would hide it from the sight of God. But alas! No man, without the help of another, can bring all his nakedness to the sight of his own eye; much is undiscovered to him, that may yet lie open and bare to a stander-by: So it is with the men that stand without Christ before God, at best they see but some of their nakedness, to wit, their most gross and worst faults, and therefore they seek to cover them; which when they have hid from their own sight, they think them hid also from the sight of God. Thus did Adam, he saw his own most shameful parts, and therefore them he covered: They made themselves aprons, or things to gird about them, not to cover them all over withal. No man by all his own doings can hide all his own nakedness from the sight of the justice of God, and yet, but in vain, as busy as Adam to do it.

"And they sewed fig-leaves together, and made themselves aprons." Fig-leaves! A poor apron, but it was the best they could get. But was that a sufficient shelter against either thorn or thistle? Or was it possible but that after a while these fig-leaves should have become rotten, and turned to dung? So will it be with all man's own righteousness which is of the law; Paul saw it so, and therefore counted it but loss and dung, that he might win Christ, and be found in him (Phil 3:7,8).

Ver. 8. "And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God, among the trees of the garden."

"And they heard the voice of the Lord God." This voice was not to be understood according, as if it was the effect of a word; as when we speak, the sound remains with a noise for some time after; but by voice here, we are to understand the Lord Christ himself; wherefore this voice is said to walk, not to sound only: "They heard the voice of the Lord God walking." This voice John calls the word, the word that was with the Father before he made the world, and that at this very time was heard to walk in the garden of Adam: Therefore John also saith, this voice was in the beginning; that is, in the garden with Adam, at the beginning of his conversion, as well as of the beginning of the world (John 1:1).

"And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day." The gospel of it is, in the season of grace; for by the cool of the day, he here means, in the patience, gentleness, goodness and mercy of the gospel; and it is opposed to the heat, fire, and severity of the law.

"And Adam and his wife hid themselves." Hence observe, That a man's own righteousness will not fortify his conscience from fear and terror, when God begins to come near to him to judgment. Why did Adam hide himself, but because, as he said, he was naked? But how could he be naked, when before he had made himself an apron? O! the approach of God consumed and burnt off his apron! Though his apron would keep him from the sight of a bird, yet it would not from the eye of the incorruptible God.

Let therefore all self-righteous men beware, for however they at present please themselves with the worthiness of their glorious fig-leaves; yet when God shall come to deal with them for sin, assuredly they will find themselves naked.[11]

"And they hid themselves." A man in a natural state, cannot abide the presence of God; yea, though a righteous man. Adam, though adorned with his fig-leaves, flies.

Observe again, That a self-righteous man, a man of the law, takes grace and mercy for his greatest enemy. This is apparent from the carriage of the Pharisees to Jesus Christ, who because they were wedded to the works of their own righteousness, therefore they hated, persecuted, condemned, and crucified the Saviour of the world. As here in the text, though the voice of the Lord God walked in the garden in the cool of the day, in the time of grace and love, yet how Adam with his fig-leaves flies before him.

"And Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God." These latter words are spoken, not to persuade us that men can hide themselves from God, but that Adam, and those that are his by nature, will seek to do it, because they do not know him aright. These words therefore further shew us what a bitter thing sin is to the soul; it is only for hiding work, sometimes under its fig-leaves, sometimes among the trees of the garden. O what a shaking, starting, timorous evil conscience, is a sinful and guilty conscience! especially when 'tis but a little awakened, it could run its head into every hole, first by one fancy, then by another; for the power and goodness of a man's own righteousness, cannot withstand or answer the demands of the justice of God, and his holy law.

"And Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God, among the trees of the garden." If you take the trees in a mystical sense as sometimes they may be taken (Eze 31:8-11); then take them here to signify, or to be a type of the saints of God, and then the gospel of it is, That carnal men, when they are indeed awakened, and roused out of their foolish fig-leaf righteousness; then they would be glad of some shelter with them that are saved and justified freely by grace, as they in the Gospel of Matthew; "Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out" (Matt 25:8). And again, The man without the wedding garment had crowded himself among the wedding guests: Had hid themselves among the trees of the garden (Matt 22:11).

Ver. 9. "And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him,
Where art thou?"

Adam having eaten of the forbidden tree, doth now fleet his
station, is gone to another than where God left him. Wherefore, if
God will find Adam, he must now look him where he had hid himself.
And indeed so he does with "Adam, where art thou?"

"And the Lord God called," &c. Here begins the conversion of Adam, from his sinful state, to God again. But mark, it begins not at Adam's calling upon God, but at God calling upon him: "And the Lord God called unto Adam." Wherefore, by these words, we are to understand the beginning of Adam's conversion. And indeed, grace hath gone the same way with the elect, from that time to this day. Thus he dealt with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; he called them from their native country, the country of their kindred. And hence it is, that, especially in the New Testament, the saints are said to be the Called; "Called of God," and "Called of Jesus Christ." And hence again it is that Calling is by Paul made the first demonstration of election, and that saints are admonished to prove their election by their calling; for as Adam was in a lost, miserable and perishing condition, until God called him out of those holes into which sin had driven him: so we do lie where sin and the devil hath laid us, until by the word of God we are called to the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ.

By these words therefore we have the beginning of the discovery of effectual calling or conversion; "And the Lord God called": In which call observe three things,

1. God called so that Adam heard him. And so it is in the conversion of the New Testament saints, as Paul says, "If ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus" (Eph 4:21). That therefore is one discovery of effectual calling, the sinner is made to HEAR him, even to hear him distinctly, singling out the very person, calling, "Adam, Where art thou?" "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?" I have called thee by thy name, thou art mine. As he also said to Moses, "I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight" (Exo 33:12).

2. God called so, as to fasten sin upon his conscience, and as to force a confession from him of his naked and shameful state.

3. God called so, as to make him tremble under, and be afraid of the judgment of God.

"And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?" Indeed, Where art thou must of necessity be forcibly urged to every man on whose soul God doth work effectual conversion; for until the person is awakened, as to the state and condition he is in, he will not desire, nay, will not endure to be turned to God; but when in truth they are made to see what condition sin hath brought them to, namely, that it hath laid them under the power of sin, the tyranny of the devil, the strength of death, and the curse of God by his holy law; then is mercy sweet.

"Where art thou?" God knew where he was, but foolish Adam thought otherwise; he thought to hide himself from the presence of the Lord, but the Lord found him out. Indeed, deluded sinners think that they can hide themselves and sins from God. "How doth God know," say they, "Can he judge through the thick cloud?" (Job 22:13). But such shall know he sees them; they shall know it, either to their correction, or to their condemnation. "Though they dig into hell," saith God, "thence shall mine hand take them; though they climb up to heaven, thence will I bring them down: And though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out thence," &c. (Amos 9:2,3).[12] "Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him, saith the Lord? Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the Lord" (Jer 23:24).

Ver. 10. "And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself."

This then was the cause of his flying, he heard the voice of God: A wicked and evil conscience saith, every thing is to it as the messenger of death and destruction; for, as was said before, "the voice of the Lord walked in the garden in the cool of the day," in the time of grace and mercy. But it mattereth not whether he came with grace or vengeance; guilt was in Adam's heart, therefore he could not endure the presence of God: He "that doeth evil hateth the light" (John 3:20). And again, "The wicked flee when no man pursueth" (Pro 28:1). Cain thought all that met him, would seek his blood and life.

"I heard thy voice." Something by the word of God was spoken, that shook the heart of this poor creature; something of justice and holiness, even before they fell into this communication: for observe it, Adam went forthwith from the tree of knowledge of good and evil a convinced man, first to his fig-leaves, but they would not do; therefore he seeks to be hid among the trees. And observe again, That the insufficiency of fig-leaves were discovered by this voice of the Lord God, that at this time walked in the garden: "I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself." So then, there was a first and second voice which Adam heard; the first he ran away from, "I heard thy voice, and hid myself." The second was this, wherein they commune each with other. The first therefore was the word of justice, severity, and of the vengeance of God; like that in the 19th of Exodus, from the pronouncing of which, a trembling, and almost death, did seize six hundred thousand persons.

"I heard thy voice in the garden." It is a word from without that doth it. While Adam listened to his own heart, he thought fig-leaves a sufficient remedy, but the voice that walked in the garden shook him out of all such fancies: "I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself."

Ver. 11. "And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?"

"Who told thee?" This, as I said before, supposeth a third person, a preacher, and that was the Son of God; the voice of the Lord God that walked in the garden.

"Hast thou eaten of the tree?" That is, If thou hast been shewed thy nakedness, thou hast indeed sinned; for the voice of the Lord God will not charge guilt, but where and when a law hath been transgressed. God therefore, by these words, driveth Adam to the point, either to confess or deny the truth of the case. If he confess, then he concludes himself under judgment; if he deny, then he addeth to his sin: Therefore he neither denieth nor confesseth, but so as he may lessen and extenuate his sin.

Ver. 12. "And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat."

He had endeavoured with fig-leaves to hide his transgressions before, but that being found too scanty and short, he now trieth what he can do with arguments. Indeed he acknowledgeth that he did eat of the tree of which he was forbidden; but mark where he layeth the reason: Not in any infection which was centred in him by reason of his listening to the discourse which was between the woman and the serpent; but because God had given him a woman to be with him: "The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree." The woman was given for an help, not an hindrance; but Satan often maketh that to become our snare, which God hath given us as a blessing. Adam therefore here mixeth truth with falsehood. It is true, he was beguiled by the woman; but she was not intended of God, as he would insinuate, to the end she might be a trap unto him. Here therefore Adam sought to lessen and palliate his offence, as man by nature is prone to do; for if God will needs charge them with the guilt of sin for the breach of the law, they will lay the fault upon anything, even upon God's ordinance, as Adam here doth, rather than they will honestly fall under the guilt, and so the judgment of the law for guilt. It is a rare thing, and it argueth great knowledge of God, and also hope in his mercy, when men shall heartily acknowledge their iniquities, as is evident in the case of David: "Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me" (Psa 51:2,3). But his knowledge is not at first in young converts; therefore when God begins to awaken, they begin, as sleepy men, to creep further under their carnal covering; which yet is too short to hide them, and too narrow to cover their shame (Isa 28:20).

"The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree." Although, as I said, this sinner seeks to hide, or at least to lessen his sin, by laying the cause upon the woman, the gift of God; yet it argueth that his heart was now filled with shame and confusion of face, for that he had broken God's command; for indeed it is the nature of guilt, however men may in appearance ruffle under it, and set the best leg before, for their vindication; yet inwardly to make them blush and fail before their accuser. Indeed their inward shame is the cause of their excuse; even as Aaron, when he had made the golden calf, could not for shame of heart confess in plainness of speech the truth of the fact to his brother Moses, but faulteringly: They gave me their gold, saith he, and "I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf" (Exo 32:24). "And there came out this calf"; a pitiful fumbling speech: The Holy Ghost saith, Aaron had made them naked; "had made them naked unto their shame," for he, as also Adam, should, being chief and lord in their place, have stoutly resisted the folly and sin which was to them propounded; and not as persons of a womanish spirit, have listened to wicked proposals.[13]

Ver. 13. "And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done?" &c.,

Forasmuch as Adam did acknowledge his sin, though with much weakness and infirmity, God accepts thereof; and now applieth himself to the woman, whom Satan had used as his engine to undo the world.

Hence observe, That when God sets to search out sin, he will follow it from the seduced to the seducer, even till he comes to the rise and first author thereof, as in the following words may more clearly appear. Not that he excuseth or acquitteth the seduced, because the seducer was the first cause, as some do vainly imagine; but to lay all under guilt who are concerned therein: the woman was concerned as a principal, therefore he taketh her to examination.

"And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done?" What is this? God seems to speak as if he were astonished at the inundation of evil which the woman by her sin had overflowed the world withal: "What is this that thou hast done!" Thou hast undone thyself, thou hast undone thy husband, thou hast undone all the world; yea, thou hast brought a curse upon the whole creation, with an overplus of evils, plagues, and distresses.

"What is this that thou hast done!" Thou hast defiled thy body and soul, thou hast disabled the whole world from serving God; yea, moreover, thou hast let in the devil at the door of thy heart, and hast also made him the prince of the world. "What is this that thou hast done!" Ah! little, little do sinners know what they have done, when they have transgressed the law of the Lord. I say, they little know what death, what plagues, what curse, yea, what hell they, by so doing, have prepared for themselves.

"What is this that thou hast done!" God therefore, by these words, would fasten upon the woman's heart a deep sense of the evil of her doings. And indeed, for the soul to be brought into a deep sense of its sin, to cry out before God, Ah! what have I done! it is with them the first step towards conversion: "Acknowledge thy iniquity [saith God] that thou hast transgressed against me" (Jer 3:13). And again, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). The want of this is the cause of that obdurate and lasting hardness that continueth to possess so many thousands of sinners, they cry not out before God, What have I done? but foolishly they rush into, and continue in sin, "till their iniquity be found to be hateful," yea, their persons, because of their sin.

"What is this that thou hast done?" By this interrogatory the Lord also implieth an admonition to the woman, to plead for herself, as he also did to her husband. He also makes way for the working of his bowels towards her, which (as will be shewn anon) he flatly denies to the serpent, the devil: I say he made way for the woman to plead for, or bemoan herself; an evident token that he was unwilling to cast her away for her sin: "I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself;—I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the Lord" (Jer 31:18-20). Again, by these words, he made way for the working or yearning of his own bowels over her; for when we begin to cry out of our miscarriages, and to bewail and bemoan our condition because of sin, forthwith the bowels of God begin to sound, and to move towards his distressed creature, as by the place before alleged appears. "I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself;—therefore my bowels are troubled for him: I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the Lord." See also the 11th and 14th chapters of Hosea.

"And the woman said, the serpent beguiled me and I did eat." A poor excuse, but an heart affecting one; for many times want of wit and cunning to defend ourselves, doth affect and turn the heart of a stander-by to pity us. And thus, as I think, it was with the woman; she had to do with one that was too cunning for her, with one that snapt her by his subtilty or wiles; which also the woman most simply confesses, even to the provoking of God to take vengeance for her.

Ver. 14. "And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field."

The serpent was the author of the evil; therefore the thunder rolls till it comes over him, the hot burning thunder-bolt falls upon him.

The Lord, you see, doth not with the serpent as with the man and his wife; to wit, minister occasion to commune with him, but directly pronounceth him cursed above all, "above every beast of the field." This sheweth us, that as concerning the angels that fell, with them God is at eternal enmity, reserving them in everlasting chains under darkness. Cursed art thou: By these words, I say, they are prevented of a plea for ever, and also excluded a share in the fruits of the Messiah which should afterwards be born into the world (Heb 2:2).

"Because thou hast done this, cursed art thou." "Because thou hast done this": Not as though he was blessed before; for had he not before been wicked, he had not attempted so wicked a design. The meaning then is, That either by this deed the devil did aggravate his misery, and make himself the faster to hang in the everlasting chains under darkness; or else by this he is manifested to us to be indeed a cursed creature.

Further, "Because thou hast done this," may also signify how great complacency and content God took in Adam and his wife while they continued without transgression; But how much against his mind and workmanship this wicked work was. 1. Against his mind; for sin so sets itself against the nature of God, that, if possible, it would annihilate and turn him into nothing, it being in its nature point blank against him. 2. It is against his workmanship; for had not the power of the Messias stept in, all had again been brought to confusion, and worse than nothing: as Christ himself expresses it: "The earth, and all the inhabitants thereof, are dissolved: I bear up the pillars of it" (Psa 75:3). And again, "He upholdeth all things by the word of his power" (Heb 1:3).

Besides, this being done, man, notwithstanding the grace of God, and the merits of Jesus Christ, doth yet live a miserable life in this world; for albeit that Christ hath most certainly secured the elect and chosen of God from perishing by what Satan hath done; yet the very elect themselves are, by reason of the first transgression, so infested and annoyed with inward filth, and so assaulted still by the devil, and his vassals the proper children of hell, that they groan unutterably under their burthen; yea, all creatures, "the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now" (Rom 8:22). And that most principally upon the very account of this first sin of Adam; it must needs be therefore, this being so high an affront to the divine majesty, and so directly destructive to the work of his hands; and the aim of the devil most principally also at the most excellent of his creation (for man was created in God's own image) that he should hereat be so highly offended, had they not sinned at all before, to bind them over for this very fact to the pains of the eternal judgment of God.

Ver. 15. "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."

The woman may, in this place, be taken either really or figuratively; if really and naturally, then the threatening is also true, as to the very natures of the creatures here under consideration, to wit, the serpent and the woman, and so all that come of human race; for we find that so great an antipathy is between all such deadly beasts, as serpents and human creatures, that they abiding in their own natures, it is not possible they should ever be reconciled: "I will put enmity": I will put it. This enmity then was not infused in creation, but afterwards; and that as a punishment for the abuse of the subtlety of the serpent; for before the fall, and before the serpent was assumed by the fallen angels, they were, being God's creatures, "good," as the rest in their kind; neither was there any jarring or violence put between them; but after the serpent was become the devil's vizor, then was an enmity begot between them.

"I will put enmity between thee and the serpent." If by woman, we here understand the church, (but then we must understand the devil, not the natural serpent simply,) then also the threatening is most true; for between the church of God, and the devil, from the beginning of the world, hath been maintained most mighty wars and conflicts, to which there is not a like in all the blood shed on the earth. Yea, here there cannot be a reconciliation, (the enmity is still maintained by God): The reason is, because their natural dispositions and inclinations, together with their ends and purposes, are most repugnant each to other, even full as much as good and evil, righteousness and sin, God's glory, and an endeavour after his utter extirpation.

Indeed, Satan hath tried many ways to be at amity with the church; not because he loves her holiness, but because he hates her welfare, (wherefore such amity must only be dissembled,) and that he might bring about his enterprise, he sometimes hath allured with the dainty delicates of this world, the lusts of the flesh, of the eyes, and the pride of life: This being fruitless, he hath attempted to entangle and bewitch her with his glorious appearance, as an angel of light; and to that end hath made his ministers as the ministers of righteousness, preaching up righteousness, and contending for a divine and holy worship (2 Cor 11:12-15): but this failing also, he hath taken in hand at length to fright her into friendship with him, by stirring up the hellish rage of tyrants to threaten and molest her; by finding out strange inventions to torment and afflict her children; by making many bloody examples of her own bowels, before her eyes, if by that means he might at last obtain his purpose: But behold! all hath been in vain, there can be no reconciliation. And why, but because God himself maintains the enmity?

And this is the reason why the endeavours of all the princes and potentates of the earth, that have through ignorance or malice managed his design against the church, have fallen to the ground, and been of none effect.

God hath maintained the enmity: doubtless the mighty wonder, that their laws cannot be obeyed;[14] I mean their laws and statutes, which by the suggestion of the prince of this world they have made against the church: But if they understood but this one sentence, they might a little perceive the reason. God hath put enmity between the devil and the woman; between that old serpent called, The Devil and Satan, and the holy, and beloved, and espoused wife of Christ.

"I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed." The seeds here are the children of both, but that of the woman, especially Christ (Gal 3:16). "God sent forth his Son made of a woman" (Gal 4:4). Whether you take it literally or figuratively; for in a mystery the church is the mother of Jesus Christ, though naturally, or according to His flesh, He was born of the virgin Mary, and proceeded from her womb: But take it either way, the enmity hath been maintained, and most mightily did shew itself against the whole kingdom of the devil, and death, and hell; by the undertaking, engaging, and war which the Son of God did maintain against them, from his conception, to his death and exaltation to the right hand of the Father, as is prophesied of, and promised in the text, "It shall bruise thy head."

"It shall bruise thy head." By head, we are to understand the whole power, subtilty, and destroying nature of the devil; for as in the head of the serpent lieth his power, subtilty, and poisonous nature; so in sin, death, hell, and the wisdom of the flesh, lieth the very strength of the devil himself. Take away sin then, and death is not hurtful: "The sting of death is sin": And take away the condemning power of the law, and sin doth cease to be charged, or to have any more hurt in it, so as to destroy the soul: "The strength of sin is the law" (1 Cor 15:56). Wherefore, the seed, Jesus Christ, in his bruising the head of the serpent, must take away sin, abolish death, and conquer the power of the grave. But how must this be done? Why, he must remove the curse, which makes sin intolerable, and death destructive. But how must he take away the curse? Why, by taking upon Him "flesh," as we (John 1:14); by being made "under the law," as we (Gal 4:4); by being made "to be sin for us" (2 Cor 5:21), and by being "made a curse for us" (Gal 3:10-13). He standing therefore in our room, under the law and the justice of God, did both bear, and overcome the curse, and so did bruise the power of the devil.

"It shall bruise thy head." To bruise is more than to break; he shall quash thy head to death; so he also quashed the heel of Christ; which would, had not his eternal power and Godhead sustained, have caused that he had perished for ever.

"And thou shalt bruise his heel." By these words, a necessity was laid upon Jesus Christ to assume our flesh, to engage the devil therein; and also because of the curse that was due to us for sin, that he might indeed deliver us therefore; even for awhile to fall before this curse, and to die that death that the curse inflicteth: "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us." Thus therefore did Satan, that is, by the fruits and effects of sin, bruise, or kill, the flesh of Christ: But he being God, as the Father, it was not possible he should be overcome. Therefore his head remaineth untouched. A man's life lieth not in his heel, but in his head and heart; but the Godhead being the head and heart of the manhood, it was not possible Satan should meddle with that; he only could bruise his heel; which yet by the power of the Godhead of this eternal Son of the Father, was raised up again from the dead: "He was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification" (Rom 4:25).

In these words therefore the Lord God gave Adam a promise, That notwithstanding Satan had so far brought his design to pass, as to cause them by falling from the command, to lay themselves open to the justice and wrath of God; yet his enterprise by grace, should be made of none effect. As if the Lord had said, "Adam, thou seest how the devil hath overcome thee; how he, by thy consenting to his temptation, hath made thee a subject of death and hell: but though he hath by this means made thee a spectacle of misery, even an heir of death and damnation: yet I am God, and thy sins have been against me. Now because I have grace and mercy, I will therefore design thy recovery. But how shall I bring it to pass? Why I will give my Son out of my bosom, who shall in your room, and in your nature encounter this adversary, and overcome him. But how? Why, by fulfilling my law, and by answering the penalties thereof. He shall bring in a righteousness which shall be "everlasting," by which I will justify you from sin, and the curse of God due thereto: But this work will make him smart, he must be made "a man of sorrows," for upon him will I lay your iniquities (Isa 53:6); Satan shall bruise his heel."

Ver. 16. "Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow[15] shalt thou bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee."

"I will greatly multiply thy sorrow," &c. This is true, whether you respect the woman according to the letter of the text, or as she was a figure of the church; for in both senses their sorrows for sin are great, and multiplied upon them: The whole heap of the female sex know the first,[16] the church only knows the second.

"In sorrow shalt thou bring forth children." The more fruitful, the more afflicted is the church in this world; because the rage of hell, and the enmity of the world, are by her righteousness set on fire so much the more.

But again: Forasmuch as the promise is made before this judgment of God for sin is threatened, we must count these afflictions not as coming from the hand of God in a way of vengeance, for want of satisfaction for the breach of the law; but to shew and keep us in mind of his holiness, that henceforth we should not, as at first through ignorance, so now from notions of grace and mercy, presume to continue in sin.

I might add, That by these words it is manifest, that a promise of mercy and forgiveness of sin, and great afflictions and rebukes for the same, may and shall attend the same soul: "I will greatly multiply thy sorrow," comes after the promise of grace.

"And thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee." Doubtless the woman was, in her first creation, made in subordination to her husband, and ought to have been under obedience to him: Wherefore, still that had remained a duty, had they never transgressed the commandment of God; but observe, the duty is here again not only enjoined, and imposed, but that as the fruit of the woman's sin; wherefore, that duty that before she might do as her natural right by creation, she must now do as the fruits of her disobedience to God. Women therefore, whenever they would perk it and lord it over their husbands, ought to remember, that both by creation and transgression they are made to be in subjection to their own husbands. This conclusion makes Paul himself: "Let [saith he] the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence; for Adam was first formed, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, was in the transgression" (1 Tim 2:11-14).

Ver. 17. "And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake, in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life."

God having laid his censure upon the woman, he now proceedeth and cometh to her husband, and also layeth his judgment on him: The judgment is, "Cursed is the ground for thy sake," and in sorrow thou shalt eat thereof. The causes of this judgment are, First, For that "he hearkened to his wife": And also, "For that he had eaten of the tree."

"Because thou hast hearkened to thy wife." Why? Because therein he left his station and headship, the condition which God had appointed him, and gave way to his wife to assume it, contrary to the order of creation, of her relation, and of her sex; for God had made Adam lord and chief, who ought to have taught his wife, and not to have become her scholar.

Hence note, That the man that suffereth his wife to take his place, hath already transgressed the order of God.[17]

"Because thou hast hearkened to the voice," &c. Wicked women, such as Eve was now, if hearkened unto, are "the snares of death" to their husbands; for, because they are weaker built, and because the devil doth easier fasten with them than with men, therefore they are more prone to vanity and all mis-orders in the matters of God, than they; [the men] and so, if hearkened unto, more dangerous upon many accounts: "Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? yet among many nations was there no king like him, who was beloved of his God, nevertheless even him did outlandish [wicked] women cause to sin" (Neh 13:26). "But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the Lord, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up" (1 Kings 21:25).

Hence note further, That if it be thus dangerous for a man to hearken to a wicked wife, how dangerous is it for any to hearken unto wicked whores, who will seldom yield up themselves to the lusts of beastly men, but on condition they will answer their ungodly purposes! What mischief by these things hath come upon souls, countries and kingdoms, will here be too tedious to relate.

"Because thou hast hearkened to the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree." That is, From the hand of thy wife; for it was she that gave him to eat: "Therefore," &c. Although the scripture doth lay a great blot upon women, and cautioneth man to beware of these fantastical and unstable spirits, yet it limiteth man in his censure: She is only then to be rejected and rebuked, when she doth things unworthy her place and calling. Such a thing may happen, as that the woman, not the man, may be in the right, (I mean, when both are godly,) but ordinarily it is otherwise (Gen 21:12). Therefore the conclusion is, Let God's word judge between the man and his wife, as it ought to have done between Adam and his, and neither of both will do amiss; but contrariwise, they will walk in all the commandments of God without fault (Luke 1:6).

"Therefore cursed be the ground for thy sake." Behold what arguments are thrust into every corner, thereby to make man remember his sin; for all the toil of man, all the barrenness of the ground, and all the fruitlessness after all; What is it but the fruits of sin? Let not us then find fault with the weed, with the hotness, coldness, or barrenness of the soil; but by seeing these things, remember our sin, Cursed be the ground "for thy sake"; for this God makes our "heaven as iron," and our "earth as brass" (Exo 26:19). "The Lord shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust; from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed" (Deu 28:20-24).

"In sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life." He then is much deceived, who thinks to fill his body with the delicates of this world, and not therewith to drink the cruel venom of asps: Yea, "He shall suck the poison of asps, the viper's tongue shall slay him" (Job 20:16). The reason is, because he that shall give up himself to the lusts and pleasures of this life, he contracts guilt, because he hath sinned; which guilt will curdle all his pleasures, and make the sweetest of them deadly as poison.

"In sorrow shalt thou eat." Even thou that hast received the promise of forgiveness: How then can they do it with pleasure, who eat, and forget the Lord? (Pro 30:9; 31:5).

Again, Let not the sorrows, crosses, and afflictions, that attend the godly in the things of this life, weaken their faith in the promise of grace, and forgiveness of sins; for such things may befal the dearest Christian.

Ver. 18. "Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field."

This shews us (as I also hinted before), That the thorns and thistles of the ground, are but as the excrements thereof; and the fruits of sin, and the curse for sin. This world, as it dropt from the fingers of God, was far more glorious than it is now: Now it is loaden with a burden of corruption, thorns, thistles, and other annoyances, which Adam knew none of in the days of his innocency. None therefore ever saw this world, as it was in its first creation, but only Adam and his wife; neither shall any ever see it, until the manifestation of the children of God: that is, until the redemption or resurrection of the saints: but then it shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption, into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

"And thou shalt eat the herb of the field." These words are for his comfort, under all the sorrow sin should bring upon him; "Thou shalt eat the herb": The herb was a type of the gosepl-comforts which the destroying angels were forbidden to smite (Rev 7:3). Of these medicinal and healing herbs therefore Adam and his seed are admitted to eat, that their soul may be replenished in the midst of their sorrow.

Ver. 19. "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return."

"In the sweat of thy face." This is true, whether literally or allegorically understood: For as touching the things that pertain to this life, as they become not ours without toil and labour; so the spiritual comforts of the kingdom of heaven are not obtained without travail and sweat: "Labour [saith Christ] for the bread and meat which endureth to everlasting life" (John 6:27).

"In the sweat of thy face." Those that make conscience of walking in the commandments of God, they shall be blessed with the bread of life, when others shall be hunger-bit. That may also be mystically applied, "On all hills that shall be digged with the mattock, there shall not come thither the fear of briars and thorns; but it shall be for the sending forth of oxen, and for the treading of lesser cattle" (Isa 7:25). The meaning is, Where people are diligent according to the word of God, especially in spiritual and heavenly things, they shall be fat and flourishing, though sorrow be mixed therewith: "When men are cast down: then thou shalt say, there is lifting up; and he shall save the humble person" (Job 22:29).

"Till thou return to the ground." A Christian should not leave off sweating labour so long as he is above the ground; even until he returneth thither, he ought to be diligent in the way and worship of God. Jacob, when sick, would worship God, though so weak as not able to do it, without leaning upon the top of his staff: A blessed example for the diligent, and reproof for those that are slothful (Heb 11:21).

"For out of it wast thou taken." That is, out of the ground. Behold how the Lord doth mix his doctrine! Now he tells him of his sin, then he promiseth to give him a Saviour, then again he shews him the fruits of his sin, and immediately after the comforts of the promise; yet again, he would have him remember that he is but a mortal creature, not to live here for ever; neither made of silver nor gold, but even of a clod of dust: "For dust thou art." Observe therefore, that in the midst of all our enjoyments, God would have us consider our frame, that we may know how frail we are.

"For out of it was thou taken." It is hard for us to believe it, though we daily see it is the way even of all the earth, to return thither again: "For dust thou art, and to dust shalt thou return."

Whether this was spoken to Adam, as a judgment, or a mercy, or both, is not hard to determine, (this first premised, that Adam had received the promise;) for as it was the fruit of sin, so a judgment and a token of God's displeasure; "for the wages of sin is death" (Rom 6:23). But as it is made by the wisdom of God, a prevention of further wickedness, and a conveyance through faith in Christ, to a more perfect enjoyment of God in the heavens; so it is a mercy and blessing of God (Isa 57:1,2); For thus "to die is gain." Wherefore thus we may praise the dead, that are already dead, more than the living, which are yet alive (Eccl 4:2). This made Paul desire to depart; for he knew that through death was the way to have more perfect sight of, and more close and higher communion with the Father, and the Son, and the Spirit in the heavens (2 Cor 5:6). I have a desire to depart, and be with Christ, which is far better (Phil 1:21-23). Thus therefore those things that in their own nature are the proper fruits and wages of sin, may yet through the wisdom of God be turned about for our good (Jer 24:5); but let not this embolden to sin, but rather minister occasion to us to magnify the wisdom of God (Rom 8:28).

Ver. 20. "And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living."

By this act Adam returneth to his first station and authority in which God had placed him, from which he fell when he became a scholar to his wife; for to name the creatures, was in Adam a note of sovereignty and power: This he attained to, as an effect of his receiving the promise; for before the promise is received, man cannot serve God in his station, because as he wanteth the power of will, so also a good understanding; but when he hath received the promise, he hath also received the Holy Ghost, which giveth to the godly to know and do his duty in his station: "The spiritual" man discerneth, and so "judgeth all things"; but he is not discerned nor judged of any (1 Cor 2:15).

And he called his wife's name Eve, or Hevah: Because she gave life to, or was the first mother of all mankind. This then admits of two positions. First, That the world was created when Adam was created. And, Secondly, That there were none of the sons of men in the world before Adam, as some have not only vainly, but irreligiously and blasphemously suggested. "Eve is the mother of all living": Not a man therefore that is the son of man, but had his being since the woman was made.

Ver. 21. "Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them."

By this action the Lord God did preach to Adam, and to his wife, the meaning of that promise that you read of in verse 15. Namely, That by the means of Jesus Christ, God himself would provide a sufficient clothing for those that accept of his grace by the gospel: The coats here, being a type of that blessed and durable righteousness.

"The Lord God made the coats." Not Adam now, because now he is received into a covenant of grace with God: Indeed before he entered into this covenant, he made his own clothing, such as it was, but that could not cover his nakedness; but now the Lord will make them: And "unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats": "Their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord" (Isa 54:17). Of me, that is, of my providing, of my performing. And this is the name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS" (Jer 23:6).

"He made them coats, and clothed them." As the righteousness by which a sinner stands just in the sight of God from the curse, is a righteousness of God's providing; so also it is of his putting on. No man can put on the righteousness of Christ, otherwise than by God's imputation: if God reckon it ours then it is ours indeed; but if he refuseth to shew that mercy, who can impute that righteousness to me? Blessed are they to whom the Lord imputeth righteousness (Rom 4). Cursed then must they needs be to whom God hath not imputed the righteousness of his Son. "The Lord clothed them," according to that of Paul, "Christ is made unto us of God wisdom and righteousness," &c. (1 Cor 1:30). And of that God who hath made him thus to us, even of him are we in Christ Jesus.

Did the Lord God make coats of skins. The coats were made of the skins of beasts, of the skins of the slain, which were slain either for food only, or for sacrifice also: This being so, the effects of that promise mentioned before were by this action the more clearly expounded unto Adam; to wit, That Christ, "in the fulness of time," should be born of a woman clothed with flesh; and as so considered, should be made a curse, and so die that cursed death which by sin we had brought upon ourselves; the effects and fruits of which should to us be durable clothing; that is, "Everlasting righteousness" (Dan 9:24). Ver. 22, 23. "And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, [therefore] lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken."

"Behold the man is become as one of us." These words respect the temptation of the devil; the argument that prevailed with Adam; and the fruits of their consenting: And therefore I understand them as spoken ironically, or in derision to Adam. As if God had said, "Now Adam, you see what a god you are become: The serpent told you "you should be as gods," as one that was infinite in wisdom. But behold, your godhead is horrible wickedness, even pollution of body and soul by sin. A thing you little thought of when you pleased yourself with the thought of that high attainment; and now if you be not prevented, you will proceed from evil to evil; for notwithstanding I have made promise of sending a Saviour, you will, through the pollution of your mind, forget and set at nought my promise; and seek life and salvation by that tree of life which was never intended for the justification of sinners; therefore I will turn you out of the garden, "to till the ground whence thou wast taken.""

1. Hence observe, That it often falls out, after the promised blessing is come, that God yet maketh us to possess our former sins, not that the guilt thereof might be charged to condemnation, but that remembering of them, we might blush before God, and be the more effectually driven to a continual embracing of the mercy promised.

2. Observe again, That as God would have us to remember our former sins, so he would not that we should feed upon ought but the very mercy promised. We must not rest in shadowish sacraments, as the typical tree of life, but must remember it is our duty to live by faith in the promised seed.

3. Observe also, That even our outward and temporal employments, if they be lawful and honest, are so ordered of God, as that we may gather some heavenly mystery from them: "To till the ground from whence he was taken": Mysteriously intimating two things to Adam. (1.) That seeing he was of the earth, he stood in as much need to be ordered and dressed by God, in order to his future happiness, as the ground, in order to its thrift and fruitfulness. (2.) Again, Seeing he was taken from the ground, he is neither God, nor angel, but a poor earthen vessel, such as God can easily knock in pieces, and cause to return to the ground again. These things therefore Adam was to learn from his calling, that he might neither think too highly of himself, nor forget to live by faith, and depending on the Lord God, to be blessed of him.

Ver. 24. "So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life."

"So he drove out the man." Adam was loth to forsake this garden of Eden, because there was the tree of life. The promise will hardly satisfy, where faith is weak and low. Had this man with great faith received and retained the gospel preached before, he would not have so hankered after a shadow; but the conscience being awakened, and faith low and weak there, because faith wants the flower or bloom of assurance, the ceremonial or moral law doth with ease engender bondage.

"And he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword." This shows the truth of what I said before; to wit, That Adam was loth to forsake the garden, loth to forsake his doing of something; but God sets a shaking sword against him, a sword to keep that way, or to prevent that Adam should have life by eating of the tree of life.

Observe, This tree of life, though lawful for Adam to feed on before he had transgressed, yet now is wholly forbidden him; intimating, that that which would have nourished him before he brake the law, will now avail him nothing as to life before the justice of God: the tree of life might have maintained his life before he sinned; but having done that, he hath no ways now but to live by faith in the promise; which that he might effectually do, God takes from him the use of all other things, he driveth him out of the garden, and sets to keep him from the tree of life, "Cherubims, and a flaming sword."

"And he placed at the east of the garden Cherubims, and a flaming sword." These cherubims are one sort of the angels of God, at this time made ministers of justice, shaking the flaming sword of God's severity against Adam for sin, threatening to cut him off thereby, if he ever return by the way that he went.

We read also, that the law was delivered to Israel from Sinai, by the hand and disposition of angels (Acts 7); the gospel, only by the Son himself (Heb 1:2).

To keep the way. Hence the apostle implicitly concludes it a way, that is, to death and damnation; by opposing another against it, even the new and living one; a new, not this the old; a living one, not this the dead one (Heb 10). For, for that the cherubims are here placed with a flaming, shaking sword, to keep the tree of life, it is evident that death is threatened to him that shall at any time attempt to come at, or that seeks for life that way.

"A flaming sword, turning every way to keep," &c. This still shews us, that man, though he hath already received the promise, is yet exceeding prone to seek life by another way than free grace by Jesus Christ; to wit, either by the law he hath broken, or by the law and Christ together; and so though not directly, yet "as it were by the works of the law" (Rom 9:32). But all is to no purpose, they are every way prevented. For, forsake the simplicity of the promise in the gospel, and thou shalt meet with the stroke of the justice of God; for that flaming sword of his vengeance, it turneth every way, and therefore will in every way lay wrath upon thee, if thou seek life by ought but Christ.

CHAPTER IV. Ver. 1. "And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord."

Now we are come to the generation of mankind. "Adam knew his wife": A modest expression; and it should teach us, in all such matters where things are discoursed of, that are either the fruits of sin, or the proper effects of man's natural infirmities, there to endeavour the use of such expressions, as neither to provide to lust, nor infect us with evil and uncivil communication. "Adam knew his wife"; Jacob, Samson, David, and others, are said to go in unto them. So as to our natural infirmities of the stool, the scripture expression is, "When thou goest abroad to ease thyself, thou shalt turn again and cover that which cometh from thee": Modest and bashful expressions, and such as become the godly, being those that are furthest off of occasioning evil, and nearest to an intimation, that such infirmities bespeak us infirm and imperfect creatures.

"And she conceived and bare Cain." The first sprout of a disobedient couple, a man in shape, but a devil in conditions. This is he that is called elsewhere, The child "of that wicked one" (1 John 3:12).

"And she said, I have gotten a man from the Lord." If Eve by these words did only ascribe the blessing of children to be the gift of God, then she spake like a godly woman; but if she supposed that this man Cain was indeed the seed promised, then it shows, that she in this was also deceived, and was therein a figure of all such as make false and strange delusions, signs of the mercy of God towards them: The man she thought she had got from the Lord as a mercy, and to be a Saviour, he proved a man of the devil, a curse, and to be a destroyer.

Ver. 2. "And she again bare his brother Abel, And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground."

Observe here, That the good child is not the first-born, but Abel, [a breath] (1 Cor 1:27,28). God often doth as Jacob did, even cross hands, in bestowing blessings, giving that which is best to him that is least esteemed: For Cain was the man in Eve's esteem; she thought, when she had him, she had got an inheritance; but as for Abel, he was little worth; by his name they showed how little they set by him. It is so with the sincere to this day; they bear not the name of glory with the world: Cain with them is the profitable son; Abel is of no credit with them, neither see they form or comeliness in him; he is the melancholy, or lowering child, whose countenance spoileth the mirth of the world: "The heart of the wise is in the house of mournings; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth" (Eccl 7:4).

"And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground." By this it seems yet further, that Cain was the man in favour, even him that should, by his Father's intentions, have been heir, and have enjoyed the inheritance: He was nurtured up in his father's employment, but Abel was set in the lower rank.

It was also thus with Isaac and Jacob, Ishmael and Esau, being the eldest, and those that by intention were to be heirs.

Now in the inheritance lay, of old, a great blessing: so that Esau in losing his father's inheritance, lost also the blessing of grace, and moreover the kingdom of heaven (Heb 12:16,17). Wherefore Cain had by this the better of Abel, even as the Jews by their privileges had the better of the Gentiles (Rom 3:1,2). But mark it, the blessing of grace is not led by outward order, but by electing love: Where the person then is under the blessing of election, be he the first or the second son, the highest or lowest in the family, or whether he be more or less loved of his friends, 'tis he that with Abel hath the everlasting blessing.

Ver. 3. "And, in process of time, it came to pass that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord."

Mark here, That the devil can suffer his children, in outward forms of worship, to be godly and righteous men: Cain, a limb of the devil, and yet the first in order that presents himself and his service to God.

Cain brought of the fruit of the ground, as of wheat, oil, honey, or the like; which things were also clean and good. Hence it is intimated, that his offering was excellent; and I conceive, not at all, as to the matter itself, inferior to that of Abel's; for in that it is said that Abel's was more excellent, it is not with respect to the excellency of the matter or things with which they sacrificed, but with respect to Abel's faith, which gave glory and acceptableness to his offering with God, "By faith he offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain" (Heb 11:4).

"And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof" &c.

Abel, last in appearance, but in truth the first in grace; as it also is at this day: Who do so flutter it out as our ruffling formal worshippers? Alas! the good, the sincere and humble, they seem to be least and last; but the conclusion of the tragedy will make manifest that the first is last, and the last first; for the many are but called, the few are chosen.

"And the Lord had respect unto Abel, and to his offering." Herein are the true footsteps of grace discovered; to wit, the person must be the first in favour with God, the person first, the performance afterwards.

"And the Lord had respect to Abel." But how can God respect a man, before he respect his offering? A man's gift (saith Solomon) makes way for him: It should seem therefore that there lies no such stress in the order of words, but that it might as well be read, "The Lord had respect to Abel, because he respected his offering."

Answ. Not so: For though it be true among men, that the gift makes way for the acceptance of the person, yet in the order of grace it is after another manner; for if the person be not first accepted, the offering must be abominable; for it is not a good work that makes a good man, but a good man makes a good work. The fruit doth not make a good tree, but "a good tree bringeth forth good fruit." Make (saith Christ) the tree good, and his fruit good; or the tree evil, and his fruit evil: Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Had Abel been a thorn, he had not brought forth grapes; had he been a thistle, he had not brought forth figs. So then, Abel's person must be first accepted, and after that his works.

Object. But God accepteth no man while he remains a sinner, but all men are sinners before they do good works, how then could the person of Abel be accepted first?

Answ. Abel was JUST before he did offer sacrifice. Just, I say, in the sight of God. This God witnessed by testifying of his gift: "By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous": That is, God by accepting of the gift of Abel, did testify that Abel was a righteous man; for we know God "heareth not sinners": "The prayers of the wicked are an abomination unto God." But Abel was accepted, therefore he was righteous first.

Hence observe, That a man must be righteous before he can do any good work.

Quest. Righteous! "With what righteousness?"

Answ. With the righteousness of faith. And therefore it is said, that Abel had faith before he offered sacrifice. "By faith he offered" (Heb 11:4). Where faith is made to precede or go before the work which by faith he offered unto God.

Quest. But are not good works the righteousness of faith?

Answ. They are the fruits of faith: As here in the case of Abel; his faith produced an offering; but before he gave his offering, his faith had made him righteous; for faith respects a promise of grace, not a work of mine: Now the promise of grace, being this, that the seed of the woman, which is Christ, should destroy the power of the devil; by this Abel saw that it was Christ that should abolish sin and death by himself, and bring in "everlasting righteousness" for sinners. Thus believing, he had accepted of Christ for righteousness, which because he had done, God in truth proclaims him righteous, by accepting of his person and performances when offered.

Abel then presented his person and offering, as shrouding both, by faith, under the righteousness of Christ, which lay wrapped up in the promise; but Cain stands upon his own legs, and so presents his offering. Abel therefore is accepted, both his person and his offering, while Cain remains accursed.

Ver. 5. "But unto Cain, and to his offering, he [the Lord] had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell."

Mark: As first Abel's person is accepted, and then his offering; so first Cain's person is rejected, and afterwards his offering: For God seeth not sin in his own institutions, unless they be defiled by them that worship him; and that they needs must, when persons by[18] themselves offer sacrifice to God, because then they want the righteousness of faith.

This then made the difference betwixt Abel and his brother; Abel had faith, but Cain had none. Abel's faith covered him with Jesus Christ, therefore he stood righteous in his person before God: This being so, his offering was accepted, because it was the offering of one that was righteous.

"But unto Cain, and to his offering, the Lord had not respect." Hence note, That a Christless man is a wicked man, let him be never so full of actions that be righteous; for righteous actions make not a righteous man, the man himself must first be righteous.[19]

Wherefore, though Cain was the eldest, and first in the worship; yet Abel was the wisest, and the most acceptable therein.

"And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell." From these words it may be gathered, that Cain had some evident token from the observation of God's carriage towards both himself and brother; that his brother was smiled upon, but he rejected: He was wroth: wroth with God, and wroth with his brother. And indeed, before the world hate us, they must needs hate Jesus Christ: "It hated me [saith he] before it hated you" (John 15:18). He was wroth: and why? Wroth because his sacrifice was not accepted of God: And yet the fault was not in the Lord, but Cain: He came not before the Lord, as already made righteous with the righteousness of Christ, which indeed had been doing well, but as a cursed wicked wretch, he thought that by his own good works he must be just before the Lord.

The difference therefore that was between these worshippers, it lay not in that they worshipped divers gods, but in that they worshipped the same God after a diverse manner: The one in faith, the other without; the one as righteous, the other as wicked.

And even thus it is between us and our adversaries: We worship not divers gods, but the same God in a diverse manner: We according to faith; and they according to their OWN INVENTIONS.[20]

"And Cain was wroth." This further shows us the force of the law, and the end of those that would be just by the same; namely, That in conclusion they will quarrel with God; for when the soul in its best performances, and acts of righteousness, shall yet be rejected and cast off by God, it will fret and wrangle, and in its spirit let fly against God. For thus it judgeth, That God is austere and exacting; it hath done what it could to please him, and he is not pleased therewith. This again offendeth God, and makes his justice curse and condemn the soul. Condemn it, I say, for imagining that the righteousness of a poor, sinful, wretched creature, should be sufficient to appease eternal justice for sin. Thus the law worketh wrath, because it always bindeth our transgression to us, and still reckoneth us sinners, and accursed, when we have done our utmost to answer and fulfil it (Rom 4:15).

"And his countenance fell." However, an hypocrite, while God forbeareth to smite him, may triumph and joy in his goodness; yet when God shall pronounce his judgment according as he approve of his act, he needs must lower and fall in his countenance; for his person and gift are rejected, and he still counted a sinner.

Ver. 6. "And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?"

These words are applied to Cain, for a further conviction of his state to be miserable. "Why art thou wroth?" Is it because I have not accepted thy offering? This is without ground, thy person is yet an abomination to me: Must I be made by thy gift, which is polluted, for and by thy person, to justify thee as righteous? Thou hast not yet done well. Wherefore, Cain had no cause to be wroth; For God rejected only that which was sinful, as was both his person, and gift for the sake thereof: Neither had he grounds to lift up his looks on high, when he came to offer his sacrifice; because he came not as a man in a justify'd state. But "there is a generation that are pure in their ow eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness. There is a generation,—O how lofty are their eyes! and their eyelids are lifted up" (Pro 30:12,13). Such an one, or the father of these, was Cain; he counted himself clean, and yet was not washed; he lifted up his looks on high, before he was changed from his iniquity.

Ver. 7. "If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him." "If thou do well." Why, is not worshipping of God, well-doing? It may, and may not, even as the person that worships is found. If he be found righteous at his coming to worship, and if he worship according to rule, then he does well, then he is accepted of God; but if he be not found righteous before, be you sure he cannot do well, let the matter with which he worshippeth be wrong or right. "Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?" (John 14:4). Let Cain be clean, and his offering will be clean, because brought to God in a vessel that is clean; but if Cain be unclean, all the holy things he toucheth, or layeth up in his skirt, it is made unclean by the uncleanness of his person: "And so is this nation before me, saith the Lord; and so is every work of their hands, and that which they offer there is unclean" (Haggai 2:11-14).[21]

Men therefore ought to distinguish between doing and well-doing, even in the worship of God. All that worship do not do well, though the matter of worship be good in itself. Cain's offering you find not blamed, as if it had been of a superstitious complexion; but he came not aright to worship. Why? he came not as one made righteous before. Wherefore, as I have already touched, the difference that lay between the gifts of Abel and Cain, was not in the gifts themselves, but the qualifications of the persons. Abel's faith, and Cain's works, made God approve and reject the offering: "by faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain": For, as I said, Faith in Christ, as promised to come, made him righteous, because thereby he obtained "the righteousness of God"; for so was Christ in himself, and so to be to him that by faith received and accepted of him: This, I say, Abel did; wherefore now he is righteous or just before God. This being so, his offering is found to be an offering of Abel the just, and is here said to obtain witness even of God, that he was righteous, because he accepted his gift.

Wherefore, he that does well must first be good: "He that doeth righteousness is [must first be] righteous" (1 John 3:7). He is righteous first; he is righteous even as Christ is righteous, because Christ himself is the righteousness of such a person. And so on the contrary; the reason why some men's good deeds are accursed of God, it is because in truth, and according to the law, the Lord finds sin in them; which sins he cannot pardon, because he finds them not in Christ. Thus they being evil for want of the righteousness of the Son of God, they worship God as sinners, according to that of the apostle, Because they are not good, therefore they do not good, no, not one of them (Rom 3:10-12).

The way therefore to do well, it is first to receive the mercy of God in Christ; which act of thine will be more pleasing to the Divine Majesty, than all whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices: "I will have mercy [saith God] I will have mercy, and not sacrifice" (Matt 9:13; 12:7). This Cain did not understand, therefore he goes to God in his sins, and without faith in the mercy of God through Christ, he offereth his sacrifice. Wherefore because his sacrifice could not take away his sin, therefore it still abode upon him.

But "if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door." This reasoning therefore was much to Cain's condition; he would be wroth, because God did not accept his offering, and yet he did not well: Now, if he had done well, God, by receiving of his brother's sacrifice, shows, he would have accepted him; for this is evident, they were both alike by nature; their offerings also were in themselves one as holy as the other: How then comes it to pass that both were not accepted, they both offered to God? Why, Abel only sacrificed well, because he first by faith in Christ was righteous: This because Cain wanted, "sin abideth at his door."

"And to thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him." That is if sin abideth at thy door still, to thee shall be his desire; he shall love, pity, pray for thee, and endeavour thy conversions; but thou shalt be lord over him, and shalt put thy yoke upon his neck. This was Jacob's portion also; for after Esau had got head, he broke Jacob's yoke from off his neck, and reigned by nineteen or twenty dukes and princes, before there was any king in Israel (Gen 27:40).

It is the lot of Cain's brood, to be lords and rulers first, while Abel and his generation have their necks under persecution; yet while they lord it, and thus tyrannically afflict and persecute, our very desire is towards them, wishing their salvation: While they curse, we bless; and while they persecute, we pray.

Ver. 8. "And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him."

When Cain saw that by God's judgment Abel was the better worshipper, and that himself must by no means be admitted for well-doing, his heart began to be more obdurate and hard, and to grow into that height of desperateness, as to endeavour the extirpating of all true religion out of the world; which it seems he did, by killing his brother, mightily accomplish, until the days of Enos; for "then began men [again] to call upon the name of the Lord" (v 26).

Hence see the spite of the children of hell against God: They have slain thy prophets, and digged down thine altars (1 Kings 19:10). If they may have their wills, God must be content with their religion, or none; other they will not endure should have show within their reach, but with Cain, will rather kill their brother; or with the Pharisees, kill their Lord; and with the evil kings of old, will rather kill their sons and subjects. That the truth, I say, may fall to the ground, and their own inventions stand for acceptable sacrifices, they will not only envy, but endeavour to invalidate all the true worship and worshippers of God in the world; the which if they cannot without blood accomplish, they will slay and kill till their cruelty hath destroyed many ten thousands, even as Cain, who slew his brother Abel.[22]

And Cain talked with his brother. He had not a law whereby to arraign him, but malice enough, and a tongue to set all on fire, of which no doubt, by the goodly replies of his brother, was easily blown up into choler and madness, the end of which was the blood of his brother.

"And Cain talked with Abel," &c. To wit, about the goodness and truth of his religion. For that the New Testament seems to import, he slew him "because his works were righteous" (1 John 3:12); which Abel, no doubt, had justified before his brother, even then when he most set himself to oppose him. Besides this, the connection of the relation importeth, he talked with him, he slew him; he talked with him and slew him, purely upon a religious account, because his works were righteous.

Hence note, That when wicked men have the head in the world, professors had need be resolved to hazard the worst, before they do enter debate with ungodly men about the things that pertain to the kingdom of God. For behold here, words did not end in words, but from words came blows, and from blows blood. The counsel therefore is, "That you sit down first, and count up the cost," before ye talk with Cain of religion (Luke 14:27-33). "They make a man an offender for a word, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, and turn aside the just for a thing of nought" (Isa 29:21).

"And Cain talked with Abel his brother." With Abel his only brother, who also was a third part of the world. But tyrants matter nothing, neither nearness of kin, nor how much they destroy: "The brother shall betray the brother to death," &c.

"And it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him." When they were in the field, from home, out of the sight, and far from the help of his father: Subtle persecutors love not to bite, till they can make their teeth to meet; for which they observe their time and place. Joseph was also hated of his brethren, but they durst not meddle till they found him in the field (Gen 37:15). Here it is also that the holy virgin falleth: He found her in the field,—and there was none to save her (Deut 22:27).

Hence observe again, That be the danger never so imminent, and the advantage of the adversary never so great, the sincere professor of the truth stands his ground against wind and weather. Bloody Cain daunted not holy Abel; no, though now he have his advantage of him (Dan 3:16-18). He rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. "And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil," &c. (1 John 3:12). It is therefore hence to be observed, That it is a sign of an evil way, be it covered with the name of the worship of God, when it cannot stand without the shedding of innocent blood. "Wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil." Had his works been good, they had been accepted of God: He had also had the joy thereof in his conscience, as doubtless Abel had; which joy and peace would have produced love and pity to his brother, as it was with his brother towards him; but his works being evil, they minister to him no heavenly joy, neither do they beget in him love to his brother; but contrariwise, his heart fill his eye with evil also; which again provoketh (while it beholdeth the godly carriage of Abel) the heart to more desperate resolutions, even to set upon him with all his might, and to cut him off from the earth. Thus the goodness of God's people provoketh to envy the wicked heart of the hypocrite. As it was betwixt Saul and David; for after Saul had seen that God had rejected him for his wickedness, the more he hated the goodness of David: "And Saul saw and knew that the Lord was with David" (1 Sam 18:8-15). "And Saul was yet the more afraid of David; and Saul became David's enemy continually" (v 29).

Ver. 9. "And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother?
And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper?"

Cain thought it had been no more but to kill his brother, and his intentions and desires must needs be accomplished, and that himself should then be the only man. "Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours" (Mark 12:7). But stay, Abel was beloved of his God, who had also justified his offering, and accepted it as a service more excellent than his brother's. So then, because the quarrel arose between them upon this very account, therefore Abel's God doth reckon himself as engaged (seeing he is not) to take up his servant's cause himself.

"And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother?" A question not grounded on uncertainty, but proposed as a beginning of further reasoning; and also to make way to this wicked wretch, to discover the desperate wickedness of his bloody heart the more. For questions that stand at first afar off, do draw out more of the heart of another: and also do minister more occasion for matter, than if they had been placed more near to the matter.

"Where is Abel?" God missed the acceptable sacrifices of Abel; Abel was dead, and his sacrifices ceased, which had wont to be savoury in the nostrils of God; Cain could not supply them; his sacrifices were deficient, they were not of faith. Hence note, that if tyrants should have their will, even to the destroying of all the remnant of God, their sacrifices and worship would be yet before God as abominable as they were before.

"And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel?" O dreadful question! The beginning of Cain's hell, for now God entereth into judgment with him. Wherefore, however this wretch endeavoured at first to stifle and choke his conscience, yet this was to him the arrow of death: Abel crieth, but his brother would not hear him while alive, and now being dead God hears the cry of his blood. "When he maketh inquisition for blood, he remembereth them: he forgetteth not the cry of the humble" (Psa 9:12). Blood that is shed for the sake of God's word, shall not be forgotten or disregarded of God: "Precious in his sight is the death of his saints" (Psa 116:15). "And precious shall their blood be in his sight" (Psa 72:14).

"Where is Abel thy brother?" This word, thy brother, must not be left out, because it doth greatly aggravate his wickedness. He slew "his brother"; which horrid act the very law and bond of nature forbiddeth. But when a man is given up of God, it is neither this nor another relation that will bind his hands, or make him keep within the bound of any law. Judas will seek his master's, and Absalom his father's blood. "Where is Abel thy brother?"

"And he said, I know not." He knew full well what he had done, and that by his hands his brother's blood was fallen to the ground, but now being called into question for the same, he endeavoureth to plead ignorance before God. "I know not." When men have once begun to sin, they know not where they shall end; he slew his brother, and endeavours to cover his fact with a lie. David also little thought his act of adultery would have led him to have spilt the blood of Uriah, and afterwards to have covered all with dissembling lips and a lying tongue (2 Sam 11).

"I know not: am I my brother's keeper?"

This is the way of all ungodly men, they will not abide that guilt should be fastened. Sin they love, and the lusts and delights thereof, but to count for it they cannot abide; they will put it off with excuses, or denials: Even like Saul, who though he had spared the cattle and Agag contrary to the command of God, yet would needs bear Samuel down, that he had kept, yea "performed the commandment of the Lord" (1 Sam 15:13,20). But they are denials to no boot, and excuses that will not profit, that are made to hide the sin of the soul from the sight and judgment of God. Lies and falsehood will here do nothing.

Ver. 10. "And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground."

Poor Cain, thy feeble shifts help thee nothing, thy excuses are drowned by the cries of the blood which thou hast shed.

"What hast thou done?" the blood of thy brother cries. Beware persecutors, you think that when you have slain the godly, you are then rid of them; but you are far wide, their blood which you have shed, cries in the ears of God against you. O the cries of blood are strong cries, they are cries that reach to heaven; yea they are cries that have a continual voice, and that never cease to make a noise, until they have procured vengeance form the hands of the Lord of sabbath (Job 16:18): And therefore this is the word of the Lord against all those that are for the practice of Cain: "As I live, saith the Lord God, I will prepare thee unto blood and blood shall pursue thee: sith thou hast not hated blood, [that is, hated to shed it,] even blood shall pursue thee" (Eze 35:6).

"The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me." The apostle makes this voice of the blood of Abel, a type of the voice of the justice of the law, and so extends it further than merely to the act of murder; intimating that he sheds blood, that breaks any of the commands of God, (and indeed so he doth, "he layeth wait of his own blood, and privily lurketh for his own life" (Prov 1:18)). Wherefore the apostle compareth the blood of Abel and the blood of Christ together; but so as by the rule of contraries, making betwixt them a contrary voice, even as there is between a broken command and a promise of grace, the one calling for vengeance and damnation; the other calling for forgiveness and salvation; "the blood of sprinkling it speaketh better things than the blood of Abel" (Heb 12:24); that is, it calls to God to forgive the sinner; but Abel's blood, of the breach of the law, that cries damn them, damn them. Christ also sets his own blood in opposition to the blood of all that was shed before him; concluding that the proper voice of all the blood of the godly, is to call for vengeance on the persecutors, even from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zecharias, that was slain between the altar and the temple (Matt 23:35). And let me here take leave to propound my private thoughts: namely, that the Zecharias that here is mentioned, might not be he that we find in the book of Chronicles (2 Chron 24:21); but one of that name that lived in the days of Christ, possibly John Baptist's father, or some other holy man. My reasons for this conjecture, are, 1. Because the murderers are convict by Christ himself: Zecharias, whom ye slew between the altar and the temple. 2. Because Christ makes a stop at the blood of Zecharias, not at the blood of John the Baptist: wherefore, if the person here mentioned were not murdered after, but before John the Baptist, then Christ seems to excuse them for killing his servant John; for the judgment stops at the including of the guilt of the blood of Zecharias. 3. I think such a thing, because the voice of all holy blood that hath been shed before the law by the adversary, excepting only the blood of Jesus, must needs be included here; the proper voice of his, only being to plead for mercy to the murderers. However, the voice of blood is a very killing voice, and will one day speak with such thunder and terror in the consciences of all the brood of Cain, that their pain and burthen will be for ever insupportable.

Ver. 11. "And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand."

Here begins the sentence of God against this bloody man; a sentence fearful and terrible, for it containeth a removing of him from all the privileges of grace and mercy, and a binding of him over to the punishment and pains of the damned.

"And now art thou cursed from the earth." Peace on earth, is one branch of those blessed tidings that were brought into the world, at the coming of the Messias (Luke 2:14). Again, before Christ was come in the flesh, it is said, He rejoiced "in the habitable part of his earth" (Pro 8:30). Wherefore, by the earth in this place, I understand the state that the men are in, to whom, by the mind of God, the gospel and grace of God is to be tendered. Now, whether it respect that state of man by nature, or the state of those that are saints, from both these privileges Cain is separate, as are all whom the Lord hath utterly rejected. Not but that yet they may live long in the world, but God hath cut them off from the earth, and all the gospel privileges therein, and set them in the condition of devils; so that as to grace and mercy they are separate therefrom, and stand as men, though alive, bound over to eternal judgment. And as to their lives, it matters not how long they live, there is "no sacrifice for their sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries" (Heb 10:26,27). So that I say, as the devils be bound in hell, so such lie bound in earth; bound I say in the chains of darkness, and their own obstinate heart, over to the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God. Cain therefore by these words is denied the blessing of future means of grace, and stands bound over to answer for his brother's blood, which the ground had received form his cruel hand.

Ver. 12. "When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield to thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth."

This is a branch, or the fruits of this wilful murder. Indeed, sins carry in them not only a curse with respect to eternity, but are also the cause of all the miseries of this life. "God turneth—a fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein" (Psa 107:34).

"When thou tillest the ground." Sin committed doth not always exclude the sinner from an enjoyment of God's mercies, but yet if unrepented of, bringeth a curse upon them. "I will curse, [saith God,] your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart" (Mal 2:2). This also is the reason that the table of some is made their snare, their trap, a stumbling-block and a recompence unto them (Rom 11:9); men ought not therefore to judge of the goodness of their state, by their enjoyment of God's creatures, but rather should tremble while they enjoy them, lest for sin they should become accursed to them, as were the enjoyments of this wicked man.

"A fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth." The meaning is, thou shalt not have rest in the world, but shalt be continually possessed with a guilty conscience, which shall make thy condition restless, and void of comfort. For the man that indeed is linked in the chains of guilt and damnation, as Cain here was; he cannot rest, but (as we say) fudge up and down from place to place, because his burthen is insupportable. As David said, "Let their eyes be darkened that they see not, and make their loins continually to shake" (Psa 69:23). A continual shaking and restlessness doth therefore possess such persons as are given up of God, and swallowed up of guilt.

"A fugitive and vagabond shalt thou be in the earth." Some men certainly know, even while they are in this world, their state to be most miserable, and damnable, as Cain, Saul and Judas did; which knowledge, as I have hinted, puts them besides the very course of other carnal men; who while they behold them at quiet under their enjoyments, these cannot but wonder, fear, and be amazed with the deep cogitations which will abide upon them, of their certain misery and everlasting perdition.

Ver. 13. "And Cain said unto the Lord, My punishment is greater than I can bear." Or as the margin hath it, "Mine iniquity is greater than that it may be forgiven." And both readings are true: for however some men please themselves in lessening sin, and the punishment thereof, yet a burdened conscience judgeth otherwise. And if Cain failed in either, it was in that he counted his sin (if he did so) beyond the reach of God's mercy. But again, when men persecute the worship and people of God, as Cain did his blessed and religious brother, even of spite, and because he envied the goodness of his brother's work; I question whether it be lawful for a minister to urge to such the promise of grace and forgiveness; and also whether it be the mind of God such persons should hope therein. He that sins the sin unto death, is not to be prayed for (1 John 5:16), but contrariwise he is to be taken from God's altar that he may die (Exo 21:14). This was Cain's case, and now he knew it; therefore as one excluded of God from his mercy and all the means thereof, he breaks out with roaring under the intolerable burden of the judgment of God upon him, concluding his punishment at present "greater than he could bear," and that yet his sin should remain unpardonable for ever: As saith our Lord Jesus Christ, He hath neither forgiveness here nor in the world to come (Matt 12:32).

Ver. 14. "Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; And I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth, and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me."

By these words is confirmed what was said before, to wit, to be cursed from the earth, was to be separate from the privileges of the gospel. For Cain was not now to die, neither was he driven into any den or cave; yet driven out from the face of the earth, that is, as I have said, he was excluded from a share in those special mercies that by the gospel were still offered by grace to the others that inhabited the world: The mercies, I say, that are offered by the gospel, as namely, The mercy of eternal life: For as to the blessings of this world, he had yet a notable share thereof. Besides, he groaneth under this judgment, as an insupportable curse: "Thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth." And indeed, if we take it according as I have laid it down, it is a curse that would break the whole world to pieces; for he that is denied a share in the grace that is now offered, must needs be denied a portion in God's kingdom. And this Cain saw; wherefore he adds in the process of his complaint, "And from thy face shall I be hid": "I shall never come into thy kingdom, I shall never see thy face in heaven." This is therefore the highest of all complaints; namely, for a man from a certain conviction that his condition must without fail be damnable, to condole and bemoan his forlorn condition.

"Thou hast driven me out." O! when God shall bind one over for his sin, to eternal judgment, who then can release him? This was Cain's state, God had bound him over. The blood of his brother was to rest upon him and not to be purged with sacrifice for ever.

"Thou hast driven me out THIS DAY." He knew by the sentence that fell from heaven upon him, even from that very day that he was made a companion of, and an associate with devils. This day, or for this day's work, I am made an inhabitant of the pit with the devil and his angels. Hence note, That God doth sometimes smite the reprobate so apparently, that himself from that day may make a certain judgment of the certainty of his damnation. Thus did Balaam: "I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh" (Num 24:17). Where by now, he respects the time of grace; and by nigh, the time or day of judgment: As who should say, "I, for my sorceries, and wicked divinations, am excluded a portion in the day of grace, and therefore shall not see the Saviour NOW: I am also rejected, as to a portion in the blessed world to come: and therefore when he judgeth, I shall not see him NIGH: Nigh, as a friend, as a saviour to my soul." I doubt this is the condition of many now alive, who for their perfidiousness and treachery to Christ, and his church, have already received, even "in themselves, that recompence of their error which was meet" (Rom 1:27).

Ishmael also, in the day he laughed at Isaac (Gen 21:9), and Esau in the day he sold his birthright (Gen 27; 28), might have gathered, the one from God's concurring with the judgment of Sarah, the other, from his father's adhering to his brother; his adhering, I say, in a prophetic spirit (Gal 4:29); that from thenceforth they both were excluded grace and glory, as the apostle by the Holy Ghost afterwards doth (Heb 12:16,17).

"And from thy face shall I be hid." By face here, we are to understand God's favour, and blessed presence, which is enjoyed by the saints both here, and in the world to come (Psa 4:6,7; 16:11). Both which this wicked man, for the murdering of his brother, and his envy to the truth, now knew himself excluded from.

"From thy face shall I be HID." The pit of hell, to which the damned go, besides the torment that they meet with there, is such a region of darkness, and at such a distance from the heavens, and the glorious comfortable presence of God, that those that shall be found the proper subjects of it, shall for ever be estranged from one glimpse of him: besides, sin shall bind all their faces in secret, and so confound them with horror, shame, and guilt that they shall not be able from thenceforth for ever, so much as once to think of God with comfort.

"From thy FACE." As it were all the glory of heaven, it lieth in beholding the face of God: A thing the ungodly little think of; yet the men that have received in themselves already the sentence of eternal damnation, they know it after a wonderful rate; and the thoughts of the loss of his face and presence, doth, do what they can, as much torment them, as the thoughts of all the misery they are like to meet withal besides.

"And a fugitive and a vagabond shall I be on the earth." Even from the present frame of his spirit, Now, having received the sentence, he knew, the judgment past being unrevokable, how it would be with him all his life long; that he should spend his days in trouble and guilt, rolling under the justice of God, being always a terror and burthen to himself, to the day he was to be cut off from the earth, that he might go to the place appointed for him.

"And it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me." Guilt is a strange thing, it makes a man think that every one that sees him, hath knowledge of his iniquity. It also bringeth such a faintness into the heart (Lev 26:36), that the sound of a shaken leaf doth chase such persons: and above all things, the cries of blood are most fearful in the conscience; the cries of the blood of the poor innocents, which the seed of Cain hath shed on the face of the earth (Jer 2:34; 19:4). Thus far of Cain's complaint.

Ver. 15. "And the Lord said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him seven-fold. And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him."

By these words, the judgment is confirmed, which Cain, in the verse before, so mournfully pronounced against his own soul. As if the Lord had said, "Cain, thy judgment is as thou hast said, I have driven thee out this day from a share in my special favour; and when thy life is ended, thou shalt be hid from my face, and a blessed presence for ever; and seeing it is thus, therefore I will not suffer that thou die before thy time: Alas, thy glass will be quickly run! Besides, thy days, while thou art here, will sufficiently be filled with vexation and distress; for thou shalt always carry in thy conscience the cries of innocent blood, and the fear of the wrath of God: I have said it, and will perform it: I am not a man, that I should repent: So that thus shall thy judgment be: Therefore he that killeth Cain, I will take vengeance on him."

Hence note, That none need to add to the sorrows of the persecutors. They above all men are prepared unto wrath. Let them alone (saith Christ) they will quickly fall into the ditch. Besides, God hath taken the revengement of the blood of his servants into his own hand, and will execute his wrath himself. Therefore he saith to his saints (as in this case), "Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord" (Rom 12:19). And the reason is, because the quarrel is in special between the prosecutor and God himself. For we are not hated because we are men, nor because we are men of evil and debauched lives; but because we are religious; because we stand to maintain the truth of God. Therefore no man must here intercept, but must leave the enemy in the hand of that God he hath slighted and condemned. This made Moses that he meddled not with Corah and his company, but left them to that new thing which the Lord himself would do unto them, because they had condemned the ordinance of God (Num 16:25-35). This made David also that he meddled not with Saul, but left him to the vengeance of God, though he had opportunity to have destroyed him (1 Sam 24 and 26:10-12). Let us learn therefore to be quiet and patient under the hand of wicked and blood-thirsty men. Let us fall before them like holy Abel; it is and will be grief enough to them, that when we are dead, our blood will cry from the ground against them.[23]

"Therefore he that killeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken," &c. He now that shall, after this admonition, plead for religious blood with the sword, vengeance shall be taken on him, because he giveth not place to the wrath of God, but intercepts with his own, which "worketh not the righteousness of God" (James 1:19,20). Say therefore with David, when you are vexed with the persecutor, Mine hand shall not be upon him; but "as the Lord liveth, the Lord shall smite him; or, his day shall come to die; or, he shall descend in battle, and perish."

"Vengeance shall be taken on him seven fold." It would not be hard to shew how little they have prevailed, who have taken upon them to take vengeance for the blood of saints, on them that have been the spillers of it. But my business here is brevity, therefore I shall not launch into that deep, only shall say to such as shall attempt it hereafter, "Put up thy sword into his place; for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword"! (Matt 26:52). And "here is the patience and faith of the saints" (Rev 13:10). Let Cain and God alone, and do you mind faith and patience; suffer with Abel, until your righteous blood be spilt: even the work of persecutors, is, for the present, punishment enough; the fruits thereof being the provoking God to jealousy, a denying of them the knowledge of the way of life, and a binding of them over to the pains and punishment of hell.

"And the Lord set a mark upon Cain." What the opinion of others is about this mark, I know not; to me it seems like those in Timothy, who had "their conscience seared with a hot iron" (1 Tim 4:2). Which words are an allusion to the way of the magistrates in their dealing with rogues and felons; who that they may be known to all, are either in the hand, shoulder, or cheek branded with a hot iron. So Cain was marked of God for a reprobate, for one that had murdered a righteous man, even of envy to the goodness of his work: But the mark (as it was on those in Timothy) was not on any outward or visible part of his body, but (as there the apostle expresseth it) even upon his very conscience; his conscience then had received the fire-mark of the wrath and displeasure of God, which, as a burning iron doth to the flesh, had left such deep impression therein, that it abode as a scar or brand upon him, in token that good would for ever after hold him for a fugitive rogue or vagabond.

"And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him." For though the mark was branded with burning upon his conscience, and so inward and invisible; yet the effects of this hot iron might be visible, and seen of all: the effects, I say, which were, or might be, his restlessness in every place, his dejectedness, the sudden and fearful pangs and agonies of his mind, which might break out into dolorous and amazing complaints; besides, his timorous carriage before all he met, lest they should kill him; gave all to understand, that God had with a vengeance branded him. And indeed this was such a mark as was amazing to all that beheld him, and did ten times more make them afraid of spilling blood, than if any visible mark had been set upon him; of for by his trouble and distress of mind, they saw, what was the guilt of blood: and by his continual fear and trembling under the judgment of God, what it was to be in fear of, nay, to have the first fruits of everlasting damnation. Thus therefore God reserved Cain to the judgment which he had appointed for him.

Ver. 16. "And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden."

The right carriage of a reprobate, and the infallible fruits of final desperation. For a man that hath received in his mind the stroke of the judgment of God, and that is denied all means of saving and sanctifying grace, (as the great transgressors are,) the presence of God is to such most dreadful; whether we understand the knowledge of him as he is in himself, or as he discovereth himself in his church; for the thought of his being, and eternal majesty, keeps the wound open, and makes terror and guilt revive. To such it would be the best of news, to hear that the Godhead doth cease to be, or that themselves were high above him. But that they are in the hand of the living God, this is the dreadful and fearful thought.

"And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord." These words may be taken many ways.

1. That he separated himself from the church (the place of God's presence) (2 Cor 6:16) which then consisted of his father and mother, and of those other children they had. And this appears by the text, "He went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod."

2. A man goes out from the presence of God, when he withdraws his thoughts from holy meditations, and employeth the strength of his mind about the things of this life (Job 21:14-18). And thus he also did; he went into the land of Nod, and there fell to building a city, and to recreate himself with the pleasures of the flesh what he might.

3. A man goes out from the presence of God, when he throweth up the worship and way of God; and this he did in departing from the church (2 Chron 19:1-3).

4. Besides, his going out from the presence of the Lord, implieth, that he hardened his heart against him, that he set his spirit against him; that he said to God, Depart from me (Heb 3:12); that he grew an implacable enemy to him, and to every appearance of good in the world (Job 15:12,13).

"And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord." These words may also respect his being thrust out from God, as one anathematized, accursed, or cut off, in effect the same with excommunication. But be it so, the act was extraordinary, being administered by God himself; even as he served Corah and his company, though in kind there was a difference, the one, even Cain, being yet permitted to live for a while in the world; the other being sent down quick into hell; but both, for their villany against the worship and people of God, stand bound over to answer it at the eternal judgment.

Ver. 17. "And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded a city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch."

Cain's wife was his sister, or near kinswoman; for she sprang of the same loins with himself; because his mother was "the mother of all living" (Gen 3:20).

This wife bare him a son; for whose sake, as it seems, he built the city. Hence note, That men who are shut out of heaven, will yet use some means to be honourable on earth. Cain being accursed of God, yet builds him a city; the renown of which act, that it might not be forgotten, he calleth it after the name of his son. Much like this was that carnal act of blasted Absalom; because he had no child, he would erect a pillar, which must forsooth be called Absalom's place, after the name of Absalom, to keep his name in remembrance upon earth (2 Sam 18:18).

"And he builded a city," &c. Note, That it is the design of Satan, and the deceitful heart of man, to labour to quiet a guilty conscience, not by faith in the blood of Christ, but by over much business in the things of this world.

"And called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch." Although Cain had a mind to keep up his name with fame in the world, yet he would not venture to dedicate the city to his own name; that would have been too gross; and perhaps others would have called it, The CITY OF THE MURDERER; but he calleth it after the name of his son, his son Enoch; whom he pretended was a man both taught, and dedicate, as it seems his name imports. Hence note again, That men who themselves are accursed of God, will yet put as fair glosses on their actions, as their hypocritical hearts can invent. Who must this city be dedicated to, but to him whom Cain had dedicated and taught. I will not say that in truth he gave him to God, for that his reprobate heart would not suffer; but being given up of God, yet retaining, with Saul, considerations of honour: therefore, as is the custom of ungodly hypocrites, he would put the best show on his ungodly actions.

Thus Saul, when he had received the sentence of the Lord against him; yet, Turn again with me (saith he to Samuel) "yet honour me now before—the people, and before Israel" (1 Sam 15:30). So the money wherewith the high priests and scribes had bought the life, and obtained the death of Christ; with that they make some shew of godliness, in buying with it a piece of ground to bury strangers in (Matt 27:3-7).

Ver. 18. "And unto Enoch was born Irad: and Irad begat Mehujael: and Mehujael begat Methusael: and Methusael begat Lamech."

These are the offspring of Cain; the English of whose names, if the nature and disposition of the persons were according, they might well be called, with abhorrence, the brood of wicked Cain, even the generation whom the Lord had cursed, notwithstanding Enoch was their father. Enoch begat Irad, a wild ass; Irad begat Mehujael, one presumptuous above measure, his name signifies, one teaching God. But "who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord?" (Isa 40:13). Or "Shall any teach God knowledge?" (Job 21:22). The son of this man was Methusael, asking death, the true fruit of all such presumptuous ones, "his confidence shall be rooted out of his tabernacle, and it shall bring him to the king of terrors" (Job 18:14). His son was Lamech, one poor or smitten: The first, that, as we read, did break the order of God in the matter of marriage.

Ver. 19. "And Lamech took unto him two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other Zillah."

This man was the first that brake the first institution of God concerning marriage. "He took unto him two wives." The New Testament says, Let every man have his own wife. And so said the law in its first institution: therefore plurality of wives first came into practice by the seed of cursed Cain, and for a time was suffered in the world through the hardness of man's heart.

Ver. 20, 21. "And Adah bare Jabal: he was the father of such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle. And his brother's name was Jubal: he was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ."

Jabal signifies bringing, or budding; Jubal, bringing or fading. So then in these two sons might be shewed unto us the world, as it is in its utmost glory: that is, it brings buds, it brings fading: today in the field, tomorrow in the oven: "All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof, is as the flower of the field. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass" (Isa 40:6-8).

And observe in these, the last was the musical one. Indeed, the spirit of the world, after things have budded, is so far off from remembering that they again must fade; that then it begins its Requiem; then it saith to itself, Eat, drink, and be merry; then it is for handling the harp and organ (Luke 12:16-20).

Ver. 22. "And Zillah, she also bare Tubal-Cain, an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron: and the sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah."

Tubal-Cain, a worldly possession; and Naamah, one that by her name should be beautiful. Lamech his fruit then was, a budding, fading, worldly possession, with a little deceitful, vain beauty, for "favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised" (Pro 31:30). Ver. 23. "And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah, hear my voice; ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech: for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt."

He that sticks not to exceed in one point, will not fear to transgress in another. He had hardened his heart, by breaking the modest and orderly bounds of marriage, and so fitted himself to shed blood, or do any other wickedness.

"Hearken to me, ye wives." Lustful men break their minds to their fleshly companions, sometimes, sooner than to wiser counsellors. Even as Ahab, in the business of the vineyard of Naboth, breaks his mind to that ungodly Jezebel his wife.

"I have slain a man to my wounding." Who, or what man this murdered person was, therein the word is silent: yet this Lamech being the son of a bloody murderer, it is possible he was some godly man, one of Adam's other children, or of his grandchildren, the son of Seth: for these sons of Cain, and namely this in special, as it seems, took not heed to the mark wherewith God branded Cain; but like Belshazzar, he hardened his heart, though he knew it, and would turn murderer also (Dan 5:18-22).

"I have slain a man to my wounding." The guilt of blood who can bear? or who can help himself thereby? It is a wounding thing, it is a hurtful thing, he that sheds man's blood wrongfully, cannot establish himself thereby (Matt 22:6,7). The Jews thought to have preserved themselves and country by killing Jesus Christ; but this so provoked the justice of God, that for this thing's sake he sent the Gentiles upon them to burn up their city; who when they were come, if stories be true, slew of them eleven hundred thousand; and those of them that were taken alive, were sold to who would buy them, Thirty a penny. "Ye shed blood [says God] and shall ye possess the land? Ye stand upon your sword, ye work abomination, and ye defile every one his neighbour's wife: and shall ye possess the land?" (Eze 33:25,26).

Ver. 24. "If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold."

Though wicked men may be willingly ignorant of that part of the judgments of God, that are to premonish them, that they do not that wicked thing for which the judgment was executed; yet if there be anything like favour mixed with the judgment, of that they will take notice, to encourage themselves to evil: even as this ungodly person, he would not be stopped from blood by the judgment of God upon Cain; but rather, as it seems, because the judgment was not speedily executed, his heart was fully set in him to do evil (Eccl 8:11). Much like that of the Jews, who because Jehoiakim had slain Uriah the prophet, and yet God spared the land; therefore make that an argument to prevail with Zedekiah to kill Jeremiah also (Jer 26:20-23).

"If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold." Give wicked men leave to judge of themselves, and they will pass a sentence favourable enough. Though Lamech had not pity when he spilt blood; yea, though the judgment of God upon Cain could not hold his murderous hands: yet now he is guilty, let him but make a law in the case, and woe be to him that killeth Lamech: Vengeance shall be taken of him seventyfold and seven. Joab could with pitiless hands spill the blood of men more righteous than himself, not regarding what became of their souls: but when his blood was by vengeance required for the same, then he would take sanctuary at the horns of the altar (1 Kings 2:28). But judgment is not wholly left to me, the Lord is judge himself; before whom both Cain and Lamech, and all their successors, shall be arraigned, and receive just doom, and that never to be reversed.

Ver. 25. "And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: for God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew."

Now we have done, for a while, with Cain, and are come again to the church of God. Cain had slain Abel, and by that means, for a while, had greatly suppressed the flourishing of religion; in which time his own brood began to be mighty upon earth; so increasing, as if religion was put to an end for ever. But behold their disappointment! "Adam knew his wife again," (for Adam's family was then the true church of God;) or take Adam for a type of Christ, and his wife for a type of the church, and then this observation followeth; namely, That so long as Christ and the church hath to do with one another, it is in vain for Cain to think of suppressing religion.

"Adam knew his wife again." If Eve had now been barren, or Adam had died without farther issue, then Cain might have carried the day; but behold another seed! a seed to stand in Abel's place: therefore she called his name Seth; that is, Set or Put, as namely, in the room of Abel, to stand up for, and to defend the truth against all the army and power of Cain. As Paul also saith of himself, "I am set, [or put,] for the defence of the gospel" (Phil 1:17). This man therefore, so far as can be gathered, was the first that put check to the outrage of Cain and his company. But mark some observations about him.

1. He was set in the stead or place of Abel; not an inch behind him, but even at the place where his blood was spilt. So that he that will revive lost religion, must avow it as God's Abels have done before him: every talker cannot do this. The blood that was shed before his face, must not put check to his godly stomach; yea, he must say to religion, as Ruth said once to her mother, "Where thou diest, I will die, and there will I be buried" (Ruth 1:17). This is the way to revive and to maintain the ways of God, in despite of bloody Cain.[24]

2. This Seth that was set to put check to Cain, did not do it of his own brain, but the hand of God was principal in the work. "God," said she, "hath appointed me another seed to be set in the place of Abel." And indeed it is otherwise in vain, when religion is once suppressed, to think it should ever revive again. Alas! where is the man, if he want God's Spirit, that will care for the flourishing state of religion? and that in truth will make the Lord his delight: "This is Zion, whom no man seeketh [for, or seeketh] after" (Jer 30:17). All men here say, "See to thine own house, David" (1 Kings 12:16). But when Seth comes, then the ground is made good again; then a living saint is found to stand and maintain that truth which but now his brother bled for. When James was killed, Peter stands up, &c. (Acts 12:1-3). And therefore Seth is said to be another seed, a man of another spirit: One who was principled with a spirit beyond and above the spirit of the world. "Another seed," one that was spirited for God's word, and God's worship, and that would maintain his brother's cause.

3. Observe, That when Seth maintains his brother's lot, you hear no more of the brood of Cain. And indeed, the way to weary out God's enemies, it is to maintain and make good the front against them: "Resist the devil, and he will fly" (James 4:7). Now if the Captain, their king Apollion, be made to yield, how can his followers stand their ground? "The dragon,—the devil, Satan,—he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him" (Rev 12:9). But how? It was by fighting: "Michael and his angels fought against the dragon;—and overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and by not loving of their lives unto the death" (Rev 12:7,8,12).

4. Let this, in the last place, serve for persecutors, That when you have cast down many ten thousands, and also the truth to the ground; there is yet a Seth, another seed behind, that God hath appointed to stand in the stead of his brethren, by whom you will certainly be put to flight, and made to cease from oppressing the truth.

Ver. 26. "And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: Then began men to call upon the name of the Lord."

The Holy Ghost, in recording the birth of Enos, goeth out of his ordinary style, in that he doubleth the mentioning of his father, with respect to the birth of this son. And indeed it is worth the observing; for it staggereth the faith of some, to think that the man that makes good the ground of a murdered brother, should not leave issue behind him: But "to Seth, to him was born a son." Our faithfulness to the truth, shall be no hindrance to the flourishing state of our offspring, take them either for the fleshly or spiritual seed of God's servants, but sons, (especially in the latter sense, if we truly stand by the word of God) shall surely be born unto us.

"And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos." Enos, a man; not a devil, like Cain, but a man; or, a man that was miserable in this world, for the sake and cause of God;[25] for it seems, as was his father, so was he, even both given up to maintain God's truth; which cannot be done but with great hazard, so long as Cain or his offspring remain. His father therefore, by his very name, did offer him up to bear all hardships for the name and cause of God: "Behold I send you forth [saith Christ] as lambs in the midst of wolves." In effect, he called their name Enos, men to be acquainted with grief and miseries: But mark, "Then began men to call upon the name of the Lord."

"Then," when Seth maintained Abel's ground, and when Enos endured all miseries for the same: For indeed this makes spectators believe that religion is more than a fictitious notion: The hardships, miseries, and blood of the saints, will make men, otherwise heedless, consider and ponder their cause aright.

"Then began." For, as I also before have hinted, the outrage of bloody Cain did put, for a time, a stop to the flourishing state of God's worship; which in all probability was not so little as half a hundred years, even till Seth, and the son of Seth, stood up to maintain the same; but "then, THEN men began [more men than Seth and Enos] to call upon the name of the Lord."

Note again, That all true religion beginneth with fervent prayer: Or thus, That when men begin to be servants to God, they begin it with calling upon him. Thus did Saul, "Behold he prayeth" (Acts 9): And, "Lord have mercy upon me," is the first of the groans of a sanctified heart.

The margin hath it, "They began to call themselves by the name of the Lord." As God saith in another place, "My name is called on them." The disciples were called Christians, (nay, the saints are called the anointed ones, and the church is called Christ) (1 Cor 12:12). But note, That fervent prayer ends in faith and confidence in God. They called themselves by the name; they counted themselves not from a vain and groundless opinion, but through the faith they had in the mercy of God, The saints and holy people of God.

They began to publish themselves, in contradistinction to the offspring of Cain, the holy people of God. Wherefore, a separation from the wicked began betimes; the one going by the name of "the sons of God"; the other, "by the sons and daughters of men" (6:1,2): "Then began men to call upon the name of the Lord."

Chapter V.

Ver. 1. "This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him." The Holy Ghost having thus largely treated of Cain and his offspring, and of the head made against him by Seth and Enos, and of the good success that followed, he now comes to treat of the church in particular, and of the flourishing state of the same.

"This is the book." The Holy Ghost cuts off the genealogy of Cain, accounting him none of the race of the church, although before he was within the pale thereof. John observing this, calls him, "a child of that wicked one" (1 John 3:12), as our Lord also accounted Judas. Wherefore, he here begins his book again, that this wicked race might be quite excluded. "Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous" (Psa 69:28).

"In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him." Although by this new beginning the Holy Ghost excludeth Cain, yet he fetcheth the genealogy of the church from the day that man was created; intimating that God, in the very act of creation, had a special intention to plant him a church in the world; and therefore, even before sin was in the world, the image of God was upon man, as a token of his special respect, and of the great delight that he intended to take in that creature above all that he had made (Pro 8:30,31).

Ver. 2. "Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created."

When Adam was created, the Lord created two in one: So when Christ, the head of the church, was chosen, the church was also chosen in him.

"And blessed them." With the blessing of generation: A type of the blessing of regeneration that was to be by Christ in the church, according to that which is written, "So shall thy seed be" (Eph 1:4).

"And called their name Adam, in the day when they were created." So that in the man the woman is included: "Neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord" (1 Cor 11:11). For the Holy Ghost, in the work of the new creation, of which this creation was a type, counteth not by male and female, but "ye are all one in Christ Jesus" (Gal 3:28). Wherefore, women are not to be excluded out of the means of salvation; nay, they have, if they believe, a special right to all the promises of grace that God hath made to his saints in all ages: Yea, "she shall be saved in childbearing, [though she bear children,] if she continue in faith, and charity, and holiness with sobriety" (1 Tim 2:15).

Ver. 3. "And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth."

Here also by the book of Chronicles, the Holy Ghost carrieth away the genealogy, because Abel had no children, saying Adam, Seth, &c. (1 Chron 1:1).

"An hundred and thirty years." Behold the rage of hell! For until Seth stood in Abel's place, religion was greatly hindered, and that was after the world had stood an hundred and thirty years. Indeed, Abel, while he had his breath, did hold it up in the world; but Cain, who was of that wicked one, smote him and religion both to the ground.

"And begat a son in his own likeness. Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one" (Job 14:4). If the father be polluted with the inward filth of sin, the son must needs be like him: "I was shapen in iniquity; [said David] and in sin did my mother conceive me" (Psa 51:5). Seth then was no better than we by nature, but came into the world in the blood of his mother's filth: "What is man, that he should be clean? and he which is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?" (Job 15:14).

This therefore should teach us not to count of our election, and of our effectual calling but by the word of God. Seth by nature was a sinful man, and yet the chosen servant of God; the first that took up God's quarrel after the death of blessed Abel.

This should also help us to hold up the bucklers against the kingdom of the devil and hell. Seth was subject to like infirmities with us, and yet he got ground of the children of iniquity. I know a sense of our own infirmities is apt to weaken our hand in so mighty an undertaking, but it should not: Although we be like old Adam by nature, yet God is able to make us stand.

Ver. 4. "And the days of Adam, after he had begotten Seth, were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters."

Adam therefore, as a type of Christ, reigned in the church almost a thousand years. The world therefore beginning thus, doth shew us how it will end; namely, by the reign of the second Adam, as it began with the reign of the first.

These long-lived men therefore shew us the glory that the church shall have in the latter day, even in the seventh thousand years of the world, that sabbath when Christ shall set up his kingdom on earth, according to that which is written, "They lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years" (Rev 20:1-4). They:—Who? The church of God, according also as it was with Adam. Therefore they are said by John to be holy, as well as blessed: "Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God, and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years" (v 6). In all which time the wicked in the world shall forbear to persecute, as did also the brood of wicked Cain in the days of Adam, Seth, &c. Hence therefore we find in the first place the dragon chained for these thousand years.

Ver. 5. "And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died."

Adam therefore lived to see the translation of Enoch: In whose translation a conquest was got over all the enemies of his soul and body: So Christ shall reign in and among his saints till all his enemies be destroyed. "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death" (1 Cor 15:26); which shall be swallowed up when the members of that glorious head have put on incorruption, and their "mortal shall have put on immortality." Adam's reigning therefore until Enoch's translation, looks like a prophecy of the perfection of Christ's kingdom: For he shall reign till he hath "delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father" (v 24): As Adam, till his Enoch was translated and took up to God.

Ver. 6. "And Seth lived an hundred and five years, and begat Enos."

Seth therefore stood by the truth of God, a long time, without much help or encouragement from man; which was a great trial to his spirit, and proof of the truth of his faith, and tended much to the perfection of his patience. Somewhat like this was that of Paul, who had no man stood with him when he stood before Nero.

Seth was set in the stead of Abel, to keep the gap against the children of hell; which, by the grace of God, he faithfully did, even till Enos was sent to his aid and assistance.

Seth therefore was the forlorn hope of the church in those days. So set of God to put check to the enemy, until the church was increased, and more able to defend herself from the outrage.

This therefore should teach the saints of God, especially those that are sent before, against the offspring of Cain, to stand their ground, and not to shrink like Saul, till God shall send others to take part with them (1 Sam 10:8; 13:8-14).

Thus David stood, as it were, by himself, against the wicked that was in his day; which made him cry, "Who will rise up for me against the evil doers," or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity? (Psa 94:16).

Ver. 7. "And Seth lived after he begat Enos eight hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters."

Hence also we may gather great encouragement who are set in the front of the army of the Lamb, against the army and regiment of Cain. Seth, saith the Spirit, was set in the stead of Abel, there as forlorn, to defend religion: Must he not now be swallowed up? Will the blood-hounds let him escape? Behold, therefore his life must be accounted a wonder! As was also that of Paul (1 Cor 6:9). But for Seth to stand eight hundred years against such a murderous crew, and yet to have his breath in his nostrils! Our times are in thy hands, and thou, Lord, "holdeth our soul in life" (Psa 66:9).

"And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years, and he died" (v 8).

His life was therefore eighteen years shorter than that of Adam; he lived fifty-five years after Enoch, and died six hundred and fourteen years before the flood.

Ver. 9. "And Enos lived ninety years, and begat Cainan." Cainan signifieth a buyer, or owner. Let it be with respect to religion, and then the sense may be, that he had this privilege in religion by the hazard of his father and grandfather's life; they bought it for him, and made him the owner of it: As Paul saith, He gave not place to the false Apostles, "that the truth of the gospel might continue with the Galatians" (2:5). As Jotham also said to Shechem, "My Father fought for you, and adventured his life far, and delivered you out of the hand of Midian" (Jude 9:17). Namely, that they might still be owners of the inheritance that the Lord had given them. This shews us then, that the fruit of a constant standing to the word of God, is, That the generations yet unborn shall be made the possessors and owners of it.

Ver. 10. "And Enos lived after he begat Cainan eight hundred and fifteen years, and begat sons and daughters."

He lived then to see his son enjoy the fruits of his own constancy to the truth, so long a time as eight hundred years, &c. as we hope God's people now may do. 'Tis true, they now do own the truth with hazard, and do hold it up by enduring much misery, according to the rage of wicked men; but, I say, 'tis hoped others will reap the fruits of our travails, and that some of us shall live to see it, as Enos lived to see his Cainan possess religion eight hundred years.[26]

Ver. 11. "And all the days of Enos were nine hundred and five years: and he died."

He lived then one hundred fifty-three years after Enoch, and died five hundred and sixteen years before the flood.

Ver. 12. "And Cainan lived seventy years, and begat Mahalaleel."

Mahalaleel, signifieth praising God. Wherefore he was born in settled times, wherein religion met with little or no molestation. It began to be as hereditary in the days of blessed Cainan; wherefore it was requisite that the very next that should possess the truth, should spend their days in praising God (Rev 11:15). And thus it will be at the downfall of Antichrist: "After this [saith John] I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying Allelujah; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power unto the Lord our God…And a voice came out of the throne saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants; and ye that fear him, both small and great" (Rev 19:1-6).

"The whole earth [saith the Prophet] is at rest and is quiet, they break forth into singing. Yea, the fir-trees rejoice at thee, [O thou brood of the blood-thirsty Cain,] and the cedars of Lebanon, saying, Since thou art laid down, no feller is come up against us" (Isa 14:7,8).

Ver. 13. "And Cainan lived after he begat Mahalaleel eight hundred and forty years, and begat sons and daughters."

God gave him a long possession and enjoyment of the fruits of his father's labours. They sowed (as Christ said) and he was entered into their labours: They sowed in tears, and he reaped in joy. Mahalaleel, or praise our God, was the language of those times.

Ver. 14. "And all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years: and he died."

He lived then two hundred and forty-eight years after Enoch, and died four hundred twenty-one years before the flood.

Ver. 15. "And Mahalaleel lived sixty and five years, and begat
Jared."

Jared signifies ruling, and sheweth us what is the holy fruits of peace and thanksgiving in the church; to wit, government according to the testament of Christ (Acts 9:31). It is hard to have all things according to rule, in the day of the church's affliction; because of the weakness and fearfulness of some; and because possibly those who have most skill in that matter, may for a time be laid up in chains: but now when the church hath rest and quietness, then as she praiseth God, so she conceiveth and bringeth forth governors, and good government and rule among her members. David, a man of blood, could not build that house to the Lord, which peaceable Solomon, that man of rest, afterwards did (1 Chron 28:3,6). When armies are engaged, and hot in battle, 'tis harder to keep them in rank and file, than when they have rest, and time for discipline. Jared therefore is the fruits of thanksgiving, as thanksgiving is the fruits of peace and possession.

Ver. 16. "And Mahalaleel lived after he begat Jared eight hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters."

He lived not only to give thanks unto God, but to shew to all that he gave thanks in truth, by submitting his neck the rest of the hundred of years that he lived, to the holy law and word of God.

A good rule to prove people by; for all that pretend to give thanks for liberty, put not their neck under the yoke, but rather use their liberty as an occasion for the flesh, than by love to serve and advantage one another in the things of the kingdom of Christ (Gal 5:13; 1 Peter 2:16). But as "the bramble said to the [rest of the] trees," so saith Christ to such feigned thanksgivers, "If in truth ye anoint me king over you, then come and put your trust in my shadow" (Judg 9:15). Submit to my law, and be governed by my testament. Let your thanksgiving bring forth Jared, and walk with God in the days of Jared.

Ver. 17. "And all the days of Mahalaleel were eight hundred ninety and five years: and he died." He lived then three hundred and three years after Enoch, and died three hundred and sixty-six years before the flood.

Ver. 18. "And Jared lived an hundred sixty and two years, and he begat Enoch."

Enoch, is taught, or dedicate: The true effect of rule or government, be it good or bad: in Cain's posterity it was bad; "for an evil tree cannot bring forth good fruit." By Enoch here, we are to understand, one taught in, and dedicated unto, God. This Enoch therefore was a son that would hear the rules, and submit to the government of his father Jared. "As an ear-ring of gold, and an ornament of fine gold, so is a wise reprover upon an obedient ear" (Pro 25:12).

Ver. 19. "And Jared lived after he begat Enoch eight hundred years, and begat sons and daughters."

He lived therefore to see the fruit of his good rule and government in the church, even to see his teachable and dedicated son caught up to God, and to his throne. A good encouragement to all rulers in the house of God, and also to all godly parents to teach and rule in the fear of God; for that is the way to part with church members, and children with comfort; yea, that is the way, if we shall out-live them, to send them to heaven, and to God before us.

Ver. 20. "And all the days of Jared were nine hundred sixty and two years: and he died."

He lived then three hundred thirty-five years after Enoch, and died two hundred thirty-four before the flood.

Ver. 21. "And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah."

Methuselah signifieth, Spoiling his death: this therefore is the true fruits of one that is truly taught in, and dedicate to the service of God, as Enoch was; by this means he spoileth his death: wherefore he adds, "And Enoch walked with God." Walking with God, spoileth death, or overcomes it, or it shall be prevented, he shall not be hurt therewith: As Christ saith, "If a man keep my saying, he shall never taste death" (John 8:52).

Ver. 22. "And Enoch walked with God, after he begat Methuselah three hundred years, and begat sons and daughters."

These words [after he begat Methuselah] may have respect either to his beginning to walk with God, or to the number of the years that he lived after the birth of Methuselah, or both.

If it respect the fist, then it sheweth that the only encouragement that a sinner hath to walk with God, it is to see Methuselah, or his death spoiled: for when a man seeth death, and all evils, conquered and overcome, then his soul is encouraged in holiness (1 Cor 15:55-58). No encouragement to walking with God like this: "Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah." As Paul saith, "Now being made free from sin,—[which indeed is the sting of death] ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life" (Rom 6:22).

If it respect the second, then it shews us the invincible nature of true faith, (for by faith Enoch walked with God:) I say, it sheweth us the invincible nature of true faith, in that it would hold up a man in close communion with God for the space of three hundred years.

"He walked with God three hundred years." How will the conversation of Enoch rise up in judgment with this generation, that walk not with God at all! Or if they do, do it so by fits, as if walking with God was but a work by the by.

"He walked with God and begat sons and daughters." And kept house, and lived with his wife, according to knowledge. This shews then, that it is sin, not our lawful and honest employment, that hindreth one's walking with God.

Ver. 23, 24. "And all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty and five years: And Enoch walked with God: And he was not; for God took him" (vv 23,24).

The New Testament saith, "By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God."

"And all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty and five years." Enoch therefore lived here but a while; he was too good to live long in this world, the world was not worthy of him; neither would he be spared so long out of heaven, "for God took him." The end of walking with God or the path-way thereof, it leads men to heaven, to the enjoyment of the glory of God. Thus also it was with blessed Elijah, he followed God from place to place, till at length he was caught up into heaven (2 Kings 2:1-11).

A word or two more of Enoch. Jude observes, That he was the seventh from Adam: Closely intimating (as I conceive) that by him God prefigured the resurrection and end of the world: And intimated, That in the seventh great day of the world this resurrection should be, each generation from Adam being a type of a thousand years: So that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, was a type of the seventh thousand, in which the Lord will reign with his church a thousand years.

There are two things in Enoch that incline me to this opinion. First, he crieth out, "Behold the Lord comes!" and then is translated that he should not see death. The right posture and end of those that shall live at the day of God Almighty; and that shall, like Enoch, be found "walking with God," when the Lord shall come from heaven (Jude 14,15).

Ver. 25. "And Methuselah lived an hundred eighty and seven years, and begat Lamech."

Lamech signifieth poor, or smitten; wherefore I doubt that the apostacy that you read of in the next chapter, began either in the days of, or by, this man: he being, as it seems, more dry and void of grace than those that went before him; poor, or smitten.

Hence note, That faith and godliness, though often it goeth from the father to the son, as from Seth to Enos, and from him to Cainan, yet it is not tied here, but runs according to electing love, as also do the fruits thereof.

Ver. 26, 27. "And Methuselah lived after he begat Lamech seven hundred eighty and two years, and begat sons and daughters. And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years, and he died."

Methuselah, the spoiling of death, is the longest liver in the world; yet he died in the year that the flood was upon the earth; not by the flood, but by the course of nature, as also did Lamech his son, for the wicked reprobate only was swept away by that, according to the apostle Peter. Ver. 28, 29. "And Lamech lived an hundred eighty and two years, and begat a son: and he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord hath cursed."

"And he called his name Noah." Noah signifieth rest; his name was therefore according to his work, for he was a preacher of righteousness, which giveth rest to all that embraceth it. Besides, it was he that prepared the ark, the place of rest to the church of God.

"This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the Lord hath cursed."

These words seem to carry in them, repentance for the apostacy that before was mentioned. "This same shall comfort us," by restoring the church to her former rest, and by delivering us from the "toil of our hands"; for sin once admitted of in the church, is not without much toil extirpated, and driven forth of the same; yea sometimes it getteth such footing and root, that it cannot again be purged and destroyed, but by breaking the very being of the church where it is. Thus it was as to the case in hand, and is signified also by pulling down the house in which the leprosy was (Lev 14:43-45). Yea Ephesus itself was almost thus far infected, had not a threatening prevented (Rev 2:1-3).

"Because of the ground which the Lord hath cursed." The Lord did curse it for the sin of Adam: He also renewed the curse to Cain, because he was guilty of the blood of his brother. I incline also to think, that the curse here mentioned, is the first, reiterated for the grievous apostacy of this congregation; according to that which is written, "If ye walk contrary unto me," "I will punish you seven times more": "I will bring seven times more plagues upon you, according to your sins" (Lev 26:18-21).

Ver. 30. "And Lamech lived after he begat Noah, five hundred ninety and five years, and begat sons and daughters." Wherefore Lamech heard the preaching of Noah, who was the only minister of God in those days, to recover the church to repentance from their apostacy, which also he did in some good measure effect, while he condemned, the world for their unbelief (Heb 11:7).

Ver. 31. "And all the days of Lamech were seven hundred seventy and seven years: and he died." He died five years before the flood. Methuselah therefore was the longest liver of those godly that fell on the other side the flood, for he died not before the very year the flood came, not by the water, but before. The righteous is taken away from the evil to come; though, as the prophet saith, no man of the wicked laid it to heart.

Ver. 31. "And Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem,
Ham, and Japhet."

Chapter VI.

Ver. 1. "And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them."

Moses now leaveth the genealogy for a while, and searcheth into the state and condition of the church now after so long a time as its standing upwards of, or above, a thousand years: where he presently findeth two things. 1. The church declined. 2. And God provoked. Wherefore he maketh inquiry into the nature of the church's sin; which he relateth in this following chapter.

"And it came to pass, when men began to multiply." The men here I understand to be the children of Cain, the church and synagogue of Satan, because they are mentioned by way of antithesis to the church and sons of God.

"And daughters were born unto them." A snare that was often used in the hand of the devil, to intangle withal the church of God; yea, and doth so usually speed, that it hath often been counted by him as infallible; so that this is the doctrine of his prophet Balaam, and it prevailed, when all the engines of hell beside were prevented. "The people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab" (Num 25:1,2). It may be this child of hell, in this his advice to Balak looked back to the daughters of Cain, and calling to remembrance how of old they intangled the church, advertised him to put the same into practice again (Rev 2:14).

Ver. 2. "That the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose."

This was the way then of the sons of Cain, to let their fair daughters be shewed to the sons of God (Pro 22:14). For it seems all other their wiles and devices were not able to bring the church and the world together, and to make them live as in one communion. These to the church were such, whose hearts were snares and nets, and whose hands were bands to intangle and hold them from observing the laws and judgments of God (Eccl 7:26).

"And they took them wives." First their eye saw them, and then their heart lusted after them. Thus the devil deceived the woman, and by this means perished cursed Achan. "And Achan answered Joshua, and said, Indeed I have sinned against the Lord, and thus and thus have I done: When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment," &c., "then I coveted them" (Josh 7:20,21).

Note therefore, that it is not good to behold with the eye that which God hath forbid us to touch with our hand. "I made a covenant with mine eyes," saith Job (Job 30:1). And again, if at unawares a thing was cast before him, the beholding of which was of an intangling nature, he forthwith would hold back his heart as with a bridle, lest the design of hell should be effected upon him (v 7).

Crush sin then in the conception, lest it bring forth death in thy soul.

Ver. 3. "And the Lord said, My Spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years."

By these words is aggravated the sin of the church, that she would attempt to close with, and hold a sinful communion, against the dissuasions of the Spirit of God.

"My Spirit shall not always strive." To wit, my Spirit in Noah, for he was the only preacher of righteousness to the church in those backsliding times.

By this then, I find, that the doctrine of Noah, was, To declare against a sinful communion, or to command the church, in the name of God, that she still maintain a separation from the cursed children of Cain: As he said to the prophet Jeremiah, If thou separate the precious from the vile, "thou shalt be as my mouth" (15:19).

Noah therefore had a hard task, when he preached this doctrine among them: for this above all is hard to be borne, for by this he condemned the world.

The first great quarrel therefore that God had with his church, it was for their holding unwarrantable communion with others. The church should always "dwell alone, and not be reckoned among the nations" (Num 23:9). The church is "a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people" (1 Peter 2:9). Therefore the work of the church of God, is not to fall in with any sinful fellowship, or receive into their communion the ungodly world, but to shew forth the praises and virtues of him who hath called them out from among such communicants into his marvellous light.

"My Spirit shall not always strive." Hence note, that the people that shall continue to grieve the Spirit of God, and to resist the doctrine of Noah, they are appointed for heavy judgments. "Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues" (Rev 18:4). This because those (finally impenitent) in Noah's time refused to do, therefore the wrath of God overtook them, and swept them off the face of the earth.

"Yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years." Noah therefore began his preaching about the four hundred and fourscore year of his life, which continuing the space of sixscore more, it reached to the day that the flood came.

In which time doubtless his faith was sufficiently tried, both by the hard censures of the hypocrites of the church, and the open profane of the world, against whom he daily pronounced the judgments of God for maintaining their forbidden communion (Gen 3:15).

"Yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years." God also would yet have patience with these people, if peradventure they would repent that his hand might not be upon them.

Ver. 4. "There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men, which were of old, men of renown."

"There were giants in the earth in those days." These words seem to be spoken, to shew us the hazards that Noah ran, while he preached the truth of God: He incurred the displeasure of the giants, which doubtless made all men tremble, and kept the whole world in awe. But Noah must engage the giants, he must not fear the face of a giant. This way God took also with Moses, and with his people of Israel, they must go to possess the land of the giants, a people high and tall as the cedars, a people of whom went that proverb, "Who can stand before the children of Anak?" (Deu 9:2). They must not be afraid of Og the king of Bashan, though his head be as high as the ridge of a house, and his bedstead a bedstead of iron (Deu 3:11).

This should teach us then not to fear the faces of men: no, not the faces of the mighty; not to fear them, I say, in the matters of God, though they should run upon us like a giant.

These giants I suppose were the children of Cain, because mentioned as another sort than those that were the fruit of their forbidden and ungodly communion: For he adds, "And also after that," or besides them, "when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same, [or they also] became mighty men which were of old, men of renown."

Then Noah found giants every where: Giants in the world, and giants in this confused communion. And thus it is at this day; we do not only meet with giants abroad, among the most ungodly and uncircumcised in heart, but even among those that seem to be of the religious, among them we also meet with giants; men mighty to oppose the truth, and very profound to make slaughter: But mark the advice of the Lord, "Fear not their fear, nor be afraid. Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself, [who is stronger than all the giants that are upon the face of the earth] and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread" (Isa 8:12,13).

"And when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men"; much like to the giants. The fruit therefore of ungodly communion is monstrous, and of a very strange complexion. They are like unto them that worshipped the Lord, and served their own gods also (2 Kings 17:24,41); or like to those of the church, of whom Nehemiah speaks, that had mixed themselves with the children of Ashdod, Ammon and Moab, whose children were a monstrous brood, that spake half the language of Ashdod, and could not speak the Jews' language (Neh 13:23,24).

By both these sorts of giants was faithful Noah despised, and his work for God condemned. In David's time also Goliath defied Israel, and so did his brethren also (1 Sam 17:10). Giants, the sons of the giant; but David and his servants must engage them, and fight them, though they were giants (1 Chron 20:4-8).

"Mighty men which were of old." Persecution therefore, or the appearance of the giants against the servants of God, is no new business; not a thing of yesterday, but of old, even when Noah did minister for God in the world. "There were giants in the earth in those days," to oppose him.

"Men of renown." Not for faith and holiness, but for some other high achievements, may be, mighty to fight, and to shed man's blood; or to find out arts, and the nature of things; both which did render them famous, and men to be noted in their place. Such kind of men might be Corah, Dathan, and their company also; yet they opposed Moses and Aaron, yea, God, his way and worship, and perished after an unheard of manner (Num 16:1,2). As also did the opposers of righteous Noah, in the day of the flood.

Ver. 5. "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." The margin saith, "not only the imagination, but also the purposes and desires."

These words are to be understood, as still respecting the apostacy that we read of in the first and second verses, and are (in my thoughts) to be taken as the effect of their degeneracy. For though it be true, that the best of men, in their most holy and godly behaviour, have wicked and sinful hearts; yet so long as they walk sincerely according to the rules prescribed of God, there is no such character upon them; especially as it stands related to the words that immediately follow; to wit, "that it repented the Lord that he made them."

These evil and wicked purposes then were in special the fruit of their apostacy: for indeed, when men are once fallen from God, they then, as the judgment of God upon them, are given up to all unrighteousness. Again, apostatizing persons are counted abhorrers of God (Zech 11:8). Yet persons in this condition will seek their own justification, turning things upside down, traversing their ways like the dromedaries; bearing us still in hand, that they stand not guilty of sin, but that what they do is allowable, or winked at of God. Besides, they say their hearts are still upright with God, and that they have not forsaken the simplicity of his way, of a wicked and ungodly design, with an hundred more the like pretences; all which are condemned of God, and held by him as abominable and vile (Jer 2:31-37).

And God saw, &c. They covered their shame from men, like the adulterous woman in the Proverbs, and would speak with oily mouths, thereby to cozen the world (Pro 30:20); but God knew their hearts, and had revealed their sin to his servant Noah; he therefore in the Spirit of God, as one alone, cried out against their wickedness.

Hence learn to judge of apostates, not by their words, nor pretences, nor ungodly coverings, whereby they may seek to hide themselves from the stroke of a convincing argument, but judge them by the words of God; for however they think of themselves, or would be accounted of others, God sees their wickedness is great.

"And that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart, was only evil continually." If they think they have not sinned; if they think they promote religion; if they think to find out a medium to make peace between the seed of the woman, and the wicked seed of Cain; all is alike ungodly, they have forsaken the right way, they have dissembled the known truth, they have rejected the word of the Lord: And what wisdom or goodness is in them?

Ver. 6. "And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart."

Repentance is in us a change of the mind; but in God, a change of his dispensations; for otherwise he repenteth not, neither can he; because it standeth not with the perfection of his nature: In him "is no variableness, neither shadow of turning" (James 1:17).

Wherefore, it is man, not God, that turns. When men therefore reject the mercy and ways of God, they cast themselves under his wrath and displeasure; which because it is executed according to the nature of his justice, and the severity of his law, they miss of the mercy promised before (Num 23:19). Which that we may know, those shall one day feel that shall continue in final impenitency. Therefore, God speaking to their capacity, he tells them, he hath repented of doing them good. "The Lord repented that he had made Saul king" (1 Sam 15:35). And yet this repentance was only a change of the dispensation, which Saul by his wickedness had put himself under; otherwise the strength, the eternity of Israel, "will not lie nor repent" (v 29).

The sum is therefore, that men had now by their wickedness put themselves under the justice and law of God; which justice by reason of its perfection, could not endure they should abide on the earth any longer; and therefore now, as a just reward of their deed, they must be swept from the face thereof.

"And it grieved him at his heart." This is spoken to show, that he did not feign, but was simple and sincere in his promise of remission and forgiveness of sins, had they kept close to his word, according as he had commanded. Wherefore God's heart went not with them in their backsliding, but left them, and was offended with them.

Ver. 7. "And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created, from the face of the earth, both man, and beast, [or from man to beast,] and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them."

This may be either understood as a threatening, or a determination: if as a threatening then it admitted of time for repentance; but if it was spoken as a determination, then they had stood out the day of grace, and had laid themselves under unavoidable judgment. If it respected the first, then it was in order to the ministry of Noah, or in order to the effecting the ends of its sending; which were either to soften or harden, or bring to repentance, or to leave them utterly and altogether inexcusable. But if it respected the second, as it might, then it was pronounced as an effect of God's displeasure, for their abuse of his patience, his minister, and word. As it also was with Israel of old; "They mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, till there was no remedy" (2 Chron 36:16).

"And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created." This word created, is added, on purpose to show that the world is under the power of his hand; for who can destroy, but he that can create? Or who can save alive, when the maker of the world is set against them? "There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy" (James 4:12). And again, "Fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell" (Matt 10:28). In both which places power to destroy is insinuated from his power and Godhead: As he saith in another place, "All souls are mine;—the soul that sinneth, it shall die" (Eze 18:4).

"Both man and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls," &c. Thus it was at first the sin of a man brought a curse and judgment upon other the creatures whom God had made: As Paul says, "The whole creation groaneth" (Rom 8:22).

But again, This threatening upon the beasts, the fowls, and creeping thing, might arise from a double consideration: First, To show, that when God intends the destruction of man, he will also destroy the means of his preservation (Josh 6:20). Or, secondly, To shew, that when he is determined to execute his judgments, he will cut off all that stands in his way (2 Chron 35:21). He could not destroy the earth without a flood, and preserve the beast, &c., alive; therefore he destroys them also.

"For it repenteth me that I have made them." This seems to fall under the first consideration, to wit, That God repented that he made the beasts and fowls; because now they were used to sustain his implacable enemies.

Ver. 8. "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD."

This word GRACE, must in special be observed; for grace is it which delivereth from all deserved judgments and destruction.

Noah, by nature was no better than other men: therefore the reason why he perished not with others, it was because he "found grace in the eyes of the Lord." Ye are saved by grace (Eph 2:8). And thus was Noah, as is evident, because he was saved by faith (Heb 11:7). For faith respecteth not works, but grace: Ye are saved by grace through faith. As Paul says again, "Therefore it is of faith that it might be by grace," &c. (Rom 4:16). We must therefore, in our deliverance from all the judgments of God, sing grace, grace, unto it.

Ver. 9. "These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man, and perfect in his generations; and Noah walked with God."

The Holy Ghost here makes a short digression from his progress, in his relation of the wickedness of the world; and yet not impertinently; for seeing Noah was the man that escaped the judgment, his escape must be for some reason; which was, because God was gracious to him, and because God had justified him. Besides Noah being now made righteous, faithfully walketh with God.

"He was just and perfect in his generations." But why it is said, Generations? It might be, because he was faithful to God and man, having the armour of righteousness on the right hand, and on the left. It is said in Isaiah, That Christ "made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death" (53:9). To import, That they only have benefit by him to eternal life, that die by his example, as well as live by his blood; for in his death was both merit and example; and they are like to miss in the first, that are not concerned in the second (Phil 8:16).

"Perfect in his generations." In his carriage, doctrines and life, before both God and man. And thus ought every preacher to be; he ought to do in the sight of God, what he commands to men; by this means he saveth both himself, and them that hear him (1 Tim 4:16).

Besides, Noah was a man, as well as a saint, and in either sense had a generation: to both of which grace made him faithful; and he that shall not serve his generation as a man, will hardly serve his generation as a Christian. But Noah was perfect in both, he was "perfect in his generations."

"And Noah walked with God." This shews he was sincere in his work; for a hypocrite may, as to outward shew, do as the saint of God: but he doth it with respect to men, not God, and therefore he is a hypocrite. To walk with God then, is not only to do the duty commanded, but to do it as God requireth it; that is, to do it with faith, and son-like fear, as in God's sight, "with singleness of heart."

Ver. 10. "And Noah begat three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth."

These are the offspring of Noah, and by these was the earth replenished after the flood, as will be further seen hereafter.

Ver. 11. "The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence."

He has now returned to the matter in hand before; to wit, the causes of the flood.

"The earth also was corrupt." By earth, he may here mean, those that are without the church: and if so, then by corrupt here, we must understand, wicked after a most high manner; for albeit the world and generation of Cain be always sinners before God, yet the Lord cutteth not off the world in general, nor a nation in particular, but because of the commission of eminent outrage and wickedness. Thus it was with those of Sodom, a little before the Lord with fire devoured them. "The men of Sodom [saith the text] were wicked, and sinners before the Lord exceedingly" (Gen 13:13).

Again: As by corrupt, we may understand, corrupt by way of eminency; so again, they were corrupt incurably. This is evident, because they were not brought off from sin by the ministry of Noah, the only appointed means of their conversion.

Hence note, That when men are sinners exceedingly, and when the means of grace appointed of God for their recovery, prove ineffectual, then they are near some signal judgment (2 Chron 36). Thus back-sliding Jerusalem, because she was wicked with an high hand (Eze 24:13,14), and could not be cured by the ministry of the prophets, therefore her sons must go forth of her into captivity, and the city burned to the ground with fire (Jer 15:1-3).

"And the earth was filled with violence." First, they had violated the law of God, in making and maintaining ungodly and wicked communion; according to that of the prophet, "Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things." But how? "They have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean" (Eze 22:26).

They also perverted judgment between a man and his neighbour: adhering to their own party, in disaffection to the religious. This is supposed, because of the exceeding latitude of the expression, "The earth was filled with violence"; that is, all manner of violence, outrage and cruelty was committed by this sort of people. This takes in that saying of Solomon, the oppression of the poor, especially God's poor, is included, in a "violent perverting of judgment and justice" (Eccl 5:8).

They also shewed violence to the lives of good men, as may be gathered by the act of Lamech, one of the sons of Cain. In a word, "The earth was filled with violence"; violence of every kind; lust and wickedness was outrageous, there was a world of ungodliness among these ungodly men.

Ver. 12. "And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth."

By these words therefore is confirmed the sense of the former verse, "The earth was corrupt"; for God saw it was so: "The earth was full of violence," for they had corrupted God's way.

"And God looked upon the earth." This shews us, That the Lord doth not with haste, or in a rash inconsiderate way, pour his judgments upon the world; but that with judgment and knowledge, the wickedness first being certain, and of merit deserving the same. This is seen in his way of dealing with Sodom. "And the Lord said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous, I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know" (Gen 18:21).

"And, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth." It proved, as that of Sodom did, according to the cry thereof; for "all flesh had corrupted his way." God's WAY, by violating his law, and perverting of judgment, as was hinted before. All flesh had corrupted it, therefore the evil needed not to be long in searching out: As God saith by the prophet Jeremiah, "I have not found it by diligent search, but upon all these" (2:34). Here upon the whole earth, none exempted but righteous Noah.

Ver. 13. "And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth."

"And God said unto Noah," or told Noah his purpose: The same way he went with Abraham: "Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do?" (Gen 18:17). "Surely the Lord will do nothing, but he revealeth his secrets unto his servants the prophets" (Amos 3:7).

"The end of all flesh is come." The time or expiration of the world is at hand. God speaks before he smites. Thus he did also by the prophet Ezekiel, saying, "An end" is come, "the end is come": And again, "An end is come, the end is come: it watcheth for thee; behold, it is come" (7:1-6).

"The end of all flesh is come before me." Sin and wickedness doth not put an end to the ungodly before their own face, yet it brings their end before the face of God. It is said of these very people, "they knew not" of their destruction, "until" the day "the flood came, and took them all away" (Matt 24:37-39). Indeed, the nature of sin is to blind the mind, that the person concerned may neither see mercy nor judgment; but God sees their end: "The end of all flesh is come before me."

"The end of all flesh." By these words, the souls are left to, and reserved for another judgment: Wherefore, though here we find the flesh consumed; yet Peter saith, their spirits are still in prison, even the souls that Christ once preached to in the days, and by the ministry of Noah: Even the souls "which sometime were disobedient when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing," &c. (1 Peter 3:19,20).

Ver. 14. "Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch."

This is the fruits of the grace of God: He said before, That Noah "found grace in the eyes of the Lord": Which grace appoints to him the means of his preservation.

"Make THEE an ark." He saith not, Make one; or, Make one for me: But, Make one; make one for thee: "Make THEE an ark of gopher wood."

Noah therefore, from this word THEE, did gather, That God did intend to preserve him from the judgment which he had appointed in this his work: Therein lay his own profit and comfort; not a thought which he had, not a blow that he struck, about the preparing the ark, but he preached, as to others their ruin, to himself, his safeguard and deliverance: He "prepared an ark, to the saving of his house" (Heb 11:7).

This therefore must needs administer much peace and content to his mind, while he preached to others their overthrow. As the prophet saith, "The work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever. And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation" (Isa 32:17,18). Thus did Noah when he dwelt in the ark, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting-places.

"Make thee an ark." The ark was a figure of several things. 1. Of Christ, in whom the church is preserved from the wrath of God. 2. It was a figure of the works of the faith of the godly: "By faith he prepared an ark"; by which the followers of Christ are preserved from the rage and tyranny of the world (for the rage of the water was a type of that, as I shall shew you hereafter). So then Noah, by preparing an ark, or by being bid so to do of God, was thereby admonished, First, To live by the faith of Christ, of whom the ark was a type: and hence it is said, that in preparing the ark, he "became heir of the righteousness which is by faith"; because he understood the mind of God therein, and throughout his figure acted faith upon Christ. But, Secondly, His faith was not to be idle, and therefore he was bid to work. This begat in him an obediential fear of doing ought which God had forbidden: "By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark, to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith" (Heb 11:7).

"Rooms [nests] shalt thou make in the ark." To wit, for himself, and the beasts, and birds of the field, &c. Implying, that in the Lord Jesus there is room for Jews and Gentiles. Yea, forasmuch as these rooms were prepared for beasts of every sort, and for fowls of every wing: it informs us, that for all sorts, ranks and qualities of men, there is preservation in Jesus Christ: "Compel them to come in"; drive them (in a gospel sense as Noah did the beasts of old into the ark), that my house may be full, "and yet there is room" [27] (Luke 14:22,23).

"And thou shalt pitch it within and without with pitch." This was to secure all from the flood, or to keep them that were in the ark from perishing in the waters.

Ver. 15. "And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: the length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits."

A vessel fit to swim upon the waters.

"And this is the fashion," &c. God's ordinances must be according to God's order and appointment, not according to our fancies, "This is the fashion," to wit, according to what is after expressed.

By these words therefore Noah was limited and bound up, as to a direction from which he must not vary; according to that of the angel to the prophet, "Son of man [saith he] behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears, and set thine heart upon all that I shall shew thee: for to the intent that I might shew them unto thee, art thou brought hither" (Eze 40:4). As the Lord said also to his servant Moses, "In all things that I have said unto you, be circumspect" (Exo 23:13). And so again, about making the tabernacle in the wilderness, which the apostle also takes special notice of, saying, "See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount" (Heb 8:5).

Hence note, That God's command must be the rule whereby we order all our actions, especially when we pretend to worship that is divine and religious. If our works, orders, and observances, have not this inscription upon them, "This is the fashion," or "This is according to the pattern," such works and orders will profit us nothing: neither have we any promise when all is done, it wanting the order of God, that we should escape those judgments which those shall assuredly escape, that have their eye in their work to the "pattern" revealed in the word.[28]

Ver. 16. "A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof: with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it."

I told you before, That the ark was a type of Christ, and also of the works of the faith of the godly. And now he seems to bring in more, and to make it a type of the church of Christ: as indeed the prophet also does, when he calls the church, one afflicted, and tossed with tempests; and compareth her troublers to the waters of Noah, saying, "This is as the waters of Noah" (Isa 54:9).

Now as the ark was a type of the church, so according to the description of this verse she hath three most excellent things attending her. 1. Light. 2. A door. 3. Stories of a lower and higher rank.

1. She hath a window for light, and that when she was to be tossed upon the waters. Hence note, That the church of Christ wanteth not light, no, not in the worst of times. This light is the Word and Spirit of God which Christ hath given to them that obey him (John 17).

2. She hath a door. This door was a type of Christ; so was also the door of the tabernacle. And hence it is that you read, That Moses, when he went to talk with God, would stand to talk in the door of the tabernacle; also that the cloudy pillar stood at the door (Exo 33:9,10). "I [saith Christ] am the door": Again, "I am the door of the sheep" (John 10). By this door then, entered all that went into the ark, as by Christ all must enter that enter aright into the church.

3. She had stories in her, of first, second, and third degree: To shew that also in the church of Christ there are some higher than some, both as to persons and states: 1. apostles; 2. evangelists; 3. pastors and teachers. And again, there are in the church degrees of states, as also there are in heaven.

Ver. 17. "And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die."

This is the reason of the former commandment, of making an ark: But some time was yet to intervene: the flood was hereafter to overflow the world: wherefore, from this it is that those words are inserted, of things not seen as yet: And that the ark was a work, or the fruit of Noah's faith: "by faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet," &c. (Heb 11).

"And, behold, I, even I," &c. These words excuse Noah of treason or rebellion, forasmuch as his preparation for himself, and his warning and threatening the whole world with death and judgment for their transgression, was solely grounded upon the word of God: God bid him prepare, God said he would punish the world for their iniquity.

Hence note, That a man is not to be counted an offender, how contrary soever he lieth, either in doctrine or practice, to men, &c. if both have the command of God, and are surely grounded upon the words of his mouth. This made Jeremiah, though he preached, That the city of Jerusalem should be burnt with fire, the king and people should go into captivity; yet stand upon his own vindication before his enemies, and plead his innocency against them that persecuted him (Jer 26:10-15). Daniel also, though he did openly break the king's decree, and refused to stoop to his idolatrous and devilish demand; yet purged himself of both treason and sedition, and justifies his act as innocent and harmless, even in the sight of God. "My God [saith he] hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions' mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt" (Dan 6:22).

Further, Paul also, although by his doctrine he did cry down the ceremonies of the Jews, and the idolatry of the heathen emperor, yet he quits himself of blame from either side: "Neither against the law of the Jews, [saith he], neither against the temple, nor yet against Caesar, have I offended anything at all" (Acts 25:8). The reason is, because the words of God, how severely soever they threaten sinners, and how sharply soever (the preacher keeping within the bowels of the word) this doctrine be urged on the world, if it destroy, it destroyeth but sin and impenitent sinners, even as the waters of Noah must do.

This then affords us another note worth remarking, to wit, That what God hath said in his word, how offensive soever it be to ungodly men, THAT we that are Christians ought to observe: whether it direct us to declare against others' enormities, or to provide for ourselves against the judgment to come.

"And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood," &c. Hence note again, Let us preach and practise well, and let God alone the execute his judgments. It is said of Samuel, That not one of his words did fall to the ground (1 Sam 3:19). He preached, and God, according to his blessing or cursing, did either spare and forgive, or execute his judgments.

"And, behold, I, even I." Note again, That when sinners have with the utmost contempt slighted and despised the judgment threatened, yet forasmuch as the execution thereof is in the hand of an omnipotent majesty, it must fall with violence upon the head of the wicked. "I, even I," therefore, were words of a strong encouragement to Noah, and the godly with him; but black, and like claps of thunder to the pestilent unbelieving world: as the prophet says, "He is strong that executes his word": And again, "Not one of his judgments fail."

"And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood." The flood was a type of three things.

1. A type of the enemies of the church (Isa 54:9-14).

2. A type of the water baptism under the new testament (1 Peter 3:20,21).

3. A type of the last and general overthrow of the world by fire and brimstone (2 Peter 3:6,7).

But here, as it simply respecteth the cause, which (as is afore related) was the sin that before you read of; so it precisely was a type of the last of these, and to that end put an end to the world that then was. The world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished, to signify, That the heavens and the earth which are now, are reserved unto fire, against the day of judgment, and perdition of ungodly men.

"I bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life from under heaven: and every thing that is in the earth shall die." By these latter words, as the cause, so the extension of this curse is expressed; and that under a threefold denotation.

1. Every thing that is in the earth.

2. All flesh wherein is the breath of life.

3. Every thing that is under heaven. So then, this deluge was universal, and extended itself not only to those parts of the world where Noah and that generation lived, which we find repeated before, but even over the face of all the earth; and it took hold of the life of every living thing that was either on all the earth, or in the air, excepting only those in the ark, as will the general judgment do: "And Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark" (Gen 7:23).

Ver. 18. "But with thee will I establish my covenant; and thou shalt come into the ark, thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee."

"But with thee," &c. This concerns what was said before concerning the universality of the flood: As he also said above, "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD." This Peter also notes, He "saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly" (1 Peter 2:5).

"With thee will I establish my covenant." My covenant of mercy, or my promise to save thee when I drown the whole world for their iniquity: And therefore he adds, "And thou shalt come into the ark."

"I will establish." Making and establishing of promises are not always the same: He made his promise to Abraham, he seconded it with an oath unto Isaac, and he confirmed, or established it to Jacob; for by him he multiplied the seed of Abraham as the stars of heaven for multitude (Psa 105:8-10).

"With thee will I establish." Or, unto thee will I perform my promise, "Thou shalt come into the ark."

Hence note again, That we ought to look upon signal and great deliverances from sore and imminent dangers, to be confirmations of the promise or covenant of God. Or thus, When God finds means of deliverance, and instateth our souls in a special share of that means, this we should take as a sign, That with us God hath confirmed, or established, his covenant (Luke 1:68-78).

"Thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons' wives with thee." Because in that family did now reside the whole of the visibility of the church upon the earth; all the rest were lost, as Peter also intimates, when he calleth Noah the eighth person, or one, and the chief of the eight that made up the visible church, or that maintained the purity of the worship of God upon the face of the whole earth: As he explains it a little after: "For thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation" (7:1).

Ver. 19. "And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female."

By these words, Noah should seem to be, in this action, a figure or semblance of Christ; who before the Lord shall rain fire and brimstone from heaven, shall gather into his ark, the church, of all kindreds, and tongues, and people, and nations (Luke 13:29; 14:21). Even as Noah was to gather of all, of everything, of all flesh, of every sort, with him into the ark.

"Two of every sort." This two, in special, respecteth the unclean (7:2), which were a type of the Gentiles, and so further confirms the point.

They shall be male and female. He would not make a full end, he would in judgment remember mercy (Acts 10:11,12,17,28).

Ver. 20. "Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind: two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive."

"Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind." This, still respecting the antitype, may shew us also, how that God, for proof of the prophecy of the spreading of the gospel, doth not only tell us, that the Gentiles were gathered into his ark, but as here the beasts and birds, according to their kind, are specified: so the Gentiles are also denominated according to their several countries, Galatians, Corinthians, Ephesians, Colossians, Thessalonians, Bereans, &c., these, after their country and nation, were gathered unto Jesus to be preserved from the flood of wrath that at last shall fall from God who dwells in heaven, to the burning up of the sinner and ungodly.

"Two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive." If the emphasis lieth in Come, as I am apt to think, and as the eighth verse of the next chapter fairly allows me to judge; then we must observe still, That Noah was not only first in the ark, as our Lord and Christ is the first from the dead; but that the cattle, the fowls, and the creeping things, did come to him into the ark, by a special instinct from heaven of the fruits of a divine election.[29] Noah therefore, as a man, did not make choice which of every kind; but he went first into the ark, and then of clean beasts by sevens, and of unclean beasts by twos, went in unto Noah into the ark, as the Lord commanded Noah.

And thus it is in the antitype: "Unto thee shall all flesh come," saith the prophet (Psa 65:2). And again, "To him shall the gathering of the people be" (Gen 49:10). But how? Why, by an instinct from heaven, the fruit of a divine election: "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; but no man can come to me [saith Christ] except the Father which hath sent me draw him" (John 6:37,44). The beasts therefore which came into the ark, were neither chosen by men, neither came they in by any instinct of nature which was common to them all, but as being by a divine hand singled out and guided thither, so they entered in: the rest were left to the fury of the flood. Like to this also is the antitype, sinners come not to Jesus by any work or choice of flesh and blood, nor yet by any instinct of nature that is common to all the world; but they come, as being by a divine hand singled out from others; and as guided of the Father, so they come to Christ into the ark: The rest are left to the fury of the wrath of God, which, in the day of judgment, shall swallow them up for ever.

"They shall come unto thee to keep them alive." Indeed, they lived not for their own sakes, they being not better than them that perished; but "they shall come unto thee to save them": for, for the sake of Noah they were preserved, when many millions were drowned in the waters. Bring this also to the antitype, and you find them look like one another: for the reason why some are saved from the wrath to come, it is not for that they are better in themselves, for both Jews and Gentiles are all under sin: But it is Christ that saveth by his righteousness, as Noah saved the beasts and fowls, &c. Let us therefore, as the beasts did, go to Jesus Christ, that he may keep us alive from perishing in the day of judgment.

Ver. 21. "And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee, and it shall be for food for thee, and for them."

This therefore was for the preservation of the life of those that were in the ark; by which action there is, as in the former, inclosed a gospel-mystery.

"Take thou unto thee of all food." This food was not to be at the will and dispose of unruly beasts; but Noah was, as the lord of all that was in the ark, to take it into his own custody: and therefore he doubleth the command, "Take it unto thee"; Gather it unto thee; to wit, to dispose of after thy discretion and faithfulness. In this therefore he was a type of Christ, whom God hath set as Lord and King in the church, and "to feed his flock as a shepherd"; for the "bread of God" is in the hand of Christ, for him to communicate unto his spouses, saints, and children; as Joseph did to Egypt, according to the power committed to him, and trust reposed in him. And hence it is said, as concerning the bread that endureth to everlasting life, "the Son of man shall give it you; for Him hath God the Father sealed," or appointed thereunto (John 6:27): and therefore, that he giveth, we receive, and no more of the bread of God: That thou givest them, they gather: thou openest thine hand, they are filled with good (Psa 104:28).

"Take unto thee all food." That is, to be eaten by man and beast; the fowl also, and the creeping thing. This still followed, and brought in to the gospel, it shews us, that, even then, when the church is driven up into a hole, and tossed upon the waves of the rage and fury of the world, as the ark was upon the face of the waters, that even then her Noah hath all food for her, or food of all sorts for her support and refreshment: "Bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure" (Isa 33:16).

"Take unto thee." How blessedly was this answered, when the Lion of the tribe of Judah took the book out of the hand of him that sat upon the throne (Rev 5:7); for in the book is contained the words of everlasting life; and the words of God are the food of his church, which this Noah hath received to nourish them withal: Man "liveth not by bread only," but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the Lord, doth man live (Matt 4:4; Deu 8:3).

"And it shall be for food for thee, and for them." That is, each according to their kind. The same is true also under our present consideration; Christ is the shepherd, we are the sheep, yet He feedeth with us in the ark: "I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me" (Rev 3:20). Again, here Christ transcends this action of Noah; for he was to have his food of his own, but Christ feedeth on the same with us, even on the words of God: Yet herein again we differ; he feedeth as a Lord, we as servants; he as a Saviour, we as the saved; but in general, respecting the words of God, we feed all but of one dish, but at one table; the bread therefore that he hath provided, gathered and taken to him, it was food for him, as well as for us.

Ver. 22. "Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he."

These words therefore present us with a description of the sincerity and simplicity of the faith of Noah; who received the word at the mouth of God; not to hear only, but to do and live in the same.

"Thus did Noah." As it is also said of his servant Moses, "As the Lord commanded Moses, so did he": As the Lord commanded Moses, so did he, Yea, to shew us how pleasant a thing the Holy Ghost accounteth this holy obedience of faith, he is not weary with repeating, and repeating again not less than eight times in one chapter, the punctuality of Moses's conformity with the word of God, in this manner, "Thus did Moses"; "according to all that the Lord commanded Moses, so did he" (Exo 40:16,19,21,23,25,27,29,32).

"Thus did Noah," This note therefore is, as it were, a character or mark by which the Lord's people are known from the world: They have special regard to the word. "All his saints are in thy hand: they sat down at thy feet; every one shall receive of thy words" (Deu 33:3). As Christ said, "I have given them thy words and they have received them" (John 17:5,6): Yea, "and they have kept thy word."

"Thus did Noah." Let this then be the discriminating character of the saints from the men of this world. It was so in the days of Noah, when all the world went a whoring from their God, and said, "We desire not the knowledge of thy ways" (Job 21:14). Then Noah kept the words of God. "Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he." CHAPTER VII.

Ver. 1. "And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation."

The ark being now prepared, and the day of God's patience come to an end, he now is resolved to execute his threatening upon the world of ungodly men; but withal, in the first place, to secure his saints, and them that have feared his name. In this therefore we have a semblance of the last judgment, and how God will dispose of his friends and enemies.

"Come thou into the ark." God, I say, will take care of, and safely provide for us that have feared him, when he most eminently entereth into judgment with the world: As he also saith by Isaiah the prophet, "Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be over-past" (26:20). He shall send forth his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to another.

"Come thou and all thy house." Not an hoof must be left behind; God will not lose the very dust of his people: Of all that thou hast given me have I lost nothing, but will raise it up at the last day (John 6:39). God therefore was careful not only of Noah, but of all that were in his house; because they were all of his visible church, they must therefore be preserved from the rage and fury of the deluge. "Gather my saints together unto me; [saith he] those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice" (Psa 50:5).

"For thee have I seen righteous before me." This is not to be understood as the meritorious cause, but as the characteristical note that distinguisheth them that are gods, from others that are subjects of his wrath and displeasure: wherefore, those that at this time perished, bear the badge of ungodliness, as that which made them obnoxious to this overflowing judgment: As also we have it in the book of Job, "Hast thou [saith Eliphaz] marked the old way which wicked men have trodden? Which were cut down out of time, whose foundation was overflown with a flood" (Job 22:15,16).

Righteousness therefore, is the distinguishing character whereby the good are known from the bad. Thus it was in Ezekiel's time: "Set a mark [saith God] upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst of the city" (Eze 9:4). Which mark was to distinguish them from those that were profane, and that for their wickedness were to be destroyed by the ministers of God's justice.

"For thee have I seen righteous before me." These words, before me, are inserted on purpose to shew us, that Noah was no feigned worshipper, but one who did all things in the sight of God. Indeed, there are two things which are of absolute necessity for the obtaining of this approbation of God. 1. All things must be done as to manner according to the word. 2. All things must be done as to the matter of them also according to the word. Both which were found in Noah's performances; and therefore he is said to be perfect in his generations, and that he walked with God. Thus it was also with Zacharias and Elizabeth, "they were both righteous before God"; that is, sincere and unfeigned in their obedience (Luke 1:6).

"Righteous before me in this generation." By this we see, righteousness, or the truth of God's worship in the world, was now come to a low ebb; the devil, and the children of Cain, had bewitched the church of God, and brought the professors thereof so off from the truth of his way, that had they got Noah also, the church had been quite extinct, and gone: wherefore, it now was time for God to work, and to cherish what was left, even by sending a besom of destruction upon all the face of the earth, to sweep away all the workers of iniquity.

Ver. 2, 3. "Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female.—Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and his female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth."

Something hath been said to this already; only this I will add further, That by this commandment of God, both Noah, and all that were with him, were pre-admonished to look to their hearts; that they continued unfeigned before him. For if God would save unclean beasts, and fowls, from the present and terrible destruction; why also might not some of them, though they partook of this temporal deliverance, be still reputed as unclean in his sight? As indeed it came to pass; for a cursed Ham was there. Wherefore, read not lightly the commands of God, there may be both doctrine and exhortation; both item,[30] as well as an obligation to a duty containd therein. Circumcision was a duty incumbent as to the letter of the commandment; but there was also doctrine in it, as to a more high and spiritual teaching than the letter simply imported.

Note then from hence, That when you read that unclean beasts and unclean birds, may be in the ark of Noah: That unclean men, and unclean women, may be in the church of God: "One of you is a devil," was an admonition to all the rest: Let this also of the beasts unclean be an admonition to you.

Ver. 4. "For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made, will I destroy, [or, blot out] from off the face of the earth."

Now the judgment is at the door; it is time to make haste, and pack into the ark. God doth not love to have his people have much vacancy from employment while they are in this world. Idle times are dangerous; David found it so in the business of Uriah's wife. Wherefore Noah having finished the ark, he hath another work to do, even to get himself, with his family and household, fitly settled in the vessel that was to save him from the deluge, and that at his peril in seven days' time.

"For yet seven days, and I will bring a flood." Note again, That it hath been the way of God, even when he doth execute the severest judgments, to tell it in the ears of some of his saints sometime before he doth execute the same: Yea, it seems to me, that it will be so even in the great day of God Almighty; for I read, that before the bridegroom came, thee was a cry made, "Behold the bridegroom cometh!" (Matt 25:6). Which cry doth not seem to me, to be the ordinary cry of the ministers of the gospel, but a cry that was effected by some sudden and marvellous awakening, the product of some new and extraordinary revelation. That also seems to look like some fore-word to the church, "Then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven" (Matt 24:30): Some strange and unusual revelation of that notable day to be near, which in other ages was not made known to the world; upon which sign he presently appears. Now whether this sign will be the appearing of the angels first; or whether the opening of the heavens, or the voice of the arch-angel, and the trump of God, or what, I shall not here presume to determine; but a fore-word there is like to be, yet so immediately followed with the personal presence of Christ, that they who had not grace before, shall not have time nor means to get it then: And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him, and the door was shut (Matt 25).

"And I will cause it to rain forty days and forty nights." This length of time doth fore-pronounce the completing of the judgment: As who should say, I will cause it to rain until I have blotted out all the creatures, both of men, beasts, and fowls: and so the after-words import; "And every living substance that I have made, will I destroy from off the face of the earth."

Ver. 5. "And Noah did according to all that the Lord commanded him."

This note, as already I have said, doth denote him to be a righteous man; one that might with honour to his God, escape the judgment now to be executed: wherefore, the reiterating of this character is much for the vindicating of God's justice, and for the justification of his overthrowing the world of ungodly sinners.

But again, these words seem to respect in special, what Noah did in the last seven days, in order to the commandment laid before him in the three first verses of this chapter; and so they signify his faithfulness to the word, and his observance of the law of his God, even to the day that the rain began to fall upon the earth. And therefore they preach unto us, not only that he began well, but that he continued in godly and unfeigned perseverance; which when perfected, is the most effectual proof, that what before he did, he did with uprightness of heart, and therefore now must escape the judgment. As it is said in the gospel of Matthew, "He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved" (Matt 24:13). Ver. 6. "And Noah was six hundred years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth."

Four hundred and fourscore of which the world had leisure to study the prophecy that God gave of him by the mouth of his father Lamech (Gen 5:29); the other hundred and twenty he spent in a more open testifying, both by word, and his preparing the ark, that God would one day overtake them with judgment; yet to the day that the flood came, the world was ignorant thereof (Matt 24:38,39). (Astonishing is the fruits of sin:) So it came to pass, that in the six hundredth year of Noah's life, which was the one thousand six hundred fifty sixth year of the world's age, the flood of waters were upon the earth, to the utter destruction of all that was found upon the face thereof, Noah only being left alive, and they that were with him in the ark.

Ver. 7. "And Noah went in, and his sons,[31] and his wife, and his sons' wives with him, into the ark, because of the waters of the flood."

They had hardly done their work in the world, by that it began to rain, by that the first drops of the judgment appeared. They went into the ark, says the text, because of the waters of the flood. This should teach Christians diligence, lest they be called for by God's dispensations, either of death or judgment, before they have served completely their generations, by the will of God. Noah had done it, but it seems he had but done it; his work was ended just as the judgment came: "Be ye also ready; for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh" (Matt 24:44).

Ver. 8, 9. "Of clean beasts, and of beasts that are not clean, and of fowls, and of everything that creepeth upon the earth, there went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah."

By these words it seems (as I also touched before) that the beasts, and fowls, both clean and unclean, did come in to Noah into the ark; not by Noah's choice, nor by any instinct that was common to all, but by an instinct from above, which so had determined the life and death of these creatures, even to a very sparrow; for not one of them doth fall to the ground without the providence of our heavenly Father.

"They went in unto Noah." And let no man deride, for that I say, By an instinct from above; for God hath not only wrought wonders in men, but even in the beasts, and fowls of the air; to the making of them act both above and against their own nature. How did Baalam's ass speak! (Num 22:28-30). And the cows that drew the ark, have it right to the place which God had appointed, not regarding their sucking calves! (1 Sam 6:10-14). Yea, how did those ravenous creatures, the ravens, bring the prophet bread and flesh twice a day, but by immediate instinct from heaven? (1 Kings 17:6). Even by the same did these go in to Noah, into the ark.

Ver. 10. "And it came to pass after seven days, that the waters of the flood were upon the earth."

Just as the Lord had denounced before: Look therefore, what God hath said, shall assuredly come to pass, whether it be believed, or counted an idle tale. The confirmation therefore of what God hath spoken, depended not upon the credence of man, because it came not by the will of man: "He hath said it, and shall he not make it good?" It will therefore assuredly come to pass, whatever God hath spoken, be it to save his Noahs, or be it to drown his enemies; and the reason is, Because to do otherwise, is inconsistent with his nature. He is faithful, holy and true, and cannot deny himself, that is, the word which he hath spoken.

Ver. 11. "In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows [or flood-gates] of heaven were opened."

As to the month, and the day of the month I have but little to say: though doubtless, had not there been something worthy of knowing therein, it would not so punctually have been left upon record; for I dare not say this scribe wrote this in vain, or that it was needless thus to punctilio it; a mystery is in it, but my darkness sees it not; I must speak according to the proportion of faith.

"The same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up." By these words, it seems that it did not only rain from heaven, but also the springs and fountains were opened; which together with the great rain of his strength, did overflow the world the sooner.

This great deep, in mine opinion, was also a type of the bottomless pit, that mouth and gulf of hell, which at the day of judgment shall gape upon the world of ungodly men, to swallow them up from the face of the earth, and to carry them away from the face and presence of God.

"And the windows [or flood-gates] of heaven were opened." That is, that the water might descend without measure or order, even in its own natural force, with violence upon the head of the wicked. It came as water out of his buckets upon them, judgment without mercy (Num 24:7).

This opening of the flood-gates of heaven, was a type of the way that shall be made for the justice of God upon ungodly men, when Christ hath laid aside his mediatorship; for he indeed is the sluice that stoppeth this justice of God from its dealing according to its infinite power and severity with men. He stands, like Moses, and, as it were, holdeth the hands of God. Oh! but when he shall be taken away! When he shall have finished his mediatory work: then will the flood-gates of heaven be opened, and then will the justice and holiness of God deal with men without stint or diminution, even till it hath filled the vessels of wrath with vengeance till they run over. "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."

Ver. 12. "And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights."

That is, It rained so long without stop or sting (v 4).

Ver. 13. "In the self same day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the ark."

This therefore more fully approveth of what I said before; to wit, That they had hardly done their work in the world, by that it began to rain; but so soon as they had done, the flood was upon the earth. Much like this is that of Lot; it was not to rain fire and brimstone upon Sodom, till he was got to Zoar: But when Lot was entered, but just entered, "Then the Lord rained upon Sodom, and upon Gomorrah, brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven" (Gen 19:21-24).

Hence note, That the reason why God doth forbear to destroy the world for the wickedness of them that dwell therein, it is for the sake of the elect; because his work upon them is not fully perfected. "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise" (2 Peter 3:9); no, nor as concerning his threatening neither,—but is long-suffering to us-ward who are the elect; not willing that any of us should perish: But when Christ, head and members, are complete in all things, let the world look for patience and forbearance no longer; for in that self same day the trump of God will sound, and the Lord descend with a shout from heaven, to execute his anger with fury, and his rebukes with flames of fire. Behold, he is now "ready to judge the quick and the dead!" (1 Peter 4:5) "ready to be revealed in the last time!" (1 Peter 1:5). The judge also stands at the door (James 5:9); it is but opening therefore, and his hand is upon you, which most assuredly he will do when his body is full and complete.

Observe again, that providence sometimes so ordereth it, that as touching the command of the Lord, necessity is as it were the great wheel that brings men into the performances of them, as here the flood drove them into the ark; as he said above, they went in because of the waters of the flood: So concerning the ordinance of unleavened bread, the first institution of that law, was as it were accompanied with an unavoidable necessity, it was unleavened, saith the text, "because they were thrust out of Egypt, and could not tarry, neither had they prepared for themselves any victual" (Exo 12:39).

It will be thus also at the day of judgment: Israel will be sufficiently wary of this world, they will even as it were unexpressibly groan to be taken up from hence; wherefore the Lord will come, as making use of the weariness and groaning of his people, and will take them up into his chambers of rest, and will wipe away all tears from their eyes, as here Noah and his sons, &c. did enter into the ark.

Ver. 14. "They, and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort" or wing.

Without doubt this careful repetition is not without a cause, and have also in the bowels of it some comfortable doctrine for the church of God; every beast, all cattle, every creeping thing that creepeth; every fowl and bird of every wing.

Fist this sheweth, that God hath respect to the fulfilling of his word in the midst of all his zeal and anger against sin (Gen 19). He doth not as we, being angry, run headlong upon the offenders, but if there be but three in a kingdom, or one in four cities, he will have respect to them (Eze 14:19,20).

Secondly, It sheweth that, how inconsiderable soever the persons are, that are within the compass, and care of the love and mercy of God, that inconsiderableness shall not be a let to their safety and preservation: Yea, though they are but as these creeping things, that creep upon the earth, or as the saying is, but as a flea, a dead dog, or a grasshopper, or one of the least of the grains of wheat, not one of them, nay, not a hair of the head of them shall fall to the ground and perish.

Ver. 15, 16. "And they went in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of life. And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the Lord shut him in."

The Holy Ghost in this relation is wonderfully punctual and exact: every beast, all cattle, every creeping thing, every fowl, and every bird, after their kind went in; and saith he again, they that went in, went in two and two; as if there had been an intelligence among these irrational creatures, that the flood was shortly to be upon the earth. Indeed, many among the sensitives have strange instincts, as appendixes to their nature, by which they do, and leave to do, to the astonishment of them that have reason: But that any instinct in nature should put them upon afore providing of shelter from the flood, by going into the ark, (a place to secure them, rather than to save them, had not the occasion and command of God been otherwise) it cannot be once with reason imagined. Wherefore, as their going into the ark, so their going in two by two, and that too male and female, plainly declares that their motion was ordered and governed by heaven, themselves being utterly ignorant thereof.

"And they that went in went in male and female of all flesh, [both man and beast] and the Lord shut him in," that is Noah; and those that were with him.

These latter words are of great importance, and do shew us the distinguishing grace of God, for by his thus shutting the door of the ark, he not only confirmed his mercy to Noah, but also discovered the bounds and limits thereof. As who should say, Now Noah you have your full tale, just thus many I will save from the flood: and with that he shut the door leaving all other, both man and beast, &c. to the fury of the waters. God therefore by this act hath shewed how it will go in the day of judgment with men. Those that (like those beasts, and birds, and creeping things) shall come to Christ, into his ark, before it rain fire and brimstone from heaven, those will God shut up in the ark, and they shall live in that day; but those that shall then be found in the world strangers to Jesus Christ, those will God shut out: "They that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut" (Matt 25:10).

And observe, it is not said, that Noah shut the door, but the Lord shut him in: If God shuts in or out, who can alter it? I shut, and no man openeth (Rev 3:7). Doubtless before the flood had carried off the ark, others besides would with gladness have had there a lodging room, though no better than a dog-kennel; but now it was too late, the Lord had shut the door. Besides, had there been now in the heart of Noah, bowels or compassion to those without the ark, or had he had desire to have received them to him, all had been worth nothing, the Lord had shut him in. This signifying, that at the day of judgment, neither the bowels of Jesus Christ, neither the misery that damned men shall be in, will anything at all avail with God to save one sinner more, "the door is shut."

Where you read therefore both in Matthew and Luke of the shutting of the door, understand that by such expressions Christ alludeth to the door in Noah's ark, which door was open while Noah and his attendants were entering into the ark, but they being got in, the Lord shut the door. Then they that stood without and knocked, did weep, and knock, and ask too late. As Christ saith, "When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are: Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets, [as Noah did of old]. But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out" (Luke 13:25-28).

Ver. 17. "And the flood was forty days upon the earth, and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth."

While the ark rested, and abode in his place, no doubt but the ears of Noah were filled with doleful cries from the wretched and miserable people, whom God had shut without the ark, one while crying, another while knocking, according to what but now was related; which for ought I know might be many of the forty days, but when the waters much increased, and lift up the ark above the earth, this miserable company were soon shaken off.[32]

It will be thus also in the day of judgment; at the beginning of that day the ears of the godly will sufficiently be filled with the cries and tears of the damned and miserable world; but when the ark shall be taken up, that is, when the godly shall ascend into the clouds, and so go hence with Jesus, they will soon lose this company, and be out of the hearing of their lamentable dolours.

"And the waters increased." God's judgments have no ears to receive the cries, nor heart to pity the miseries of the damned. They cry, it rains; they increase their cries, and the Lord does increase his judgment. "And it came to pass, that as he cried, and they would not hear; so they cried, and I would not hear, saith the Lord of hosts" (Zech 7:13).

Again, As the waters were a type of the wrath of God that in the day of judgment shall fall upon ungodly men: So they were also a type of those afflictions and persecutions that attend the church; for that very water that did drown the ungodly, that did also toss and tumble the ark about; wherefore by the increase of the waters, we may also understand, how mighty and numerous sometimes the afflictions and afflictors of the godly be: As David said, "Lord, how are they increased that trouble me? many are they that rise up against me" (Psa 3:1).

"And the waters increased, and bare up the ark." The higher the rage and tyranny of this world goeth against the church of God, the higher is the ark lifted up towards heaven, the most proud wave lifts it highest: The church is also by persecution more purged and purified from earthly and carnal delights; therefore it is added, "the waters bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth."

Ver. 18. "And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters."[33]

These words are still to be considered under the former double consideration, to wit, both, as they present us with God's wrath at the last judgment, and as they present us with a sign of the rage and malice of ungodly men.

"And the waters prevailed"; that is, over all ungodly sinners; though they were mighty, and stout, and cared for none, yet the waters prevailed against them, as the fire and brimstone will do over all the world at the day and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Wherefore, well may it be said to all impenitent sinners, "Can thy heart endure, or can thy hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with thee" (Eze 22:14), saith the Lord God? Oh they cannot, the waters of the wrath of God will prevail against, and increase upon them, until they have utterly swallowed them up.

"And the waters prevailed." Take it now as a type of the nature of persecution, and then it sheweth, that as the waters here did swallow up all but the ark, so when persecution is mighty in the world, it prevaileth to swallow up all but the church; for none else can aright withstand or oppose their wickedness. It is said, when the beast had power to work, "the whole world wondered after the beast" (Rev 13:3), and all men who were not sealed, and that had not the mark of God in their foreheads, fell in with the worship of the beast; as it is said, "And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb" &c. (v 8), So then it might well be said, "The waters prevailed and increased."

"And the ark went upon the face of the waters." It is said that in the beginning the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters, and here that the ark went upon the face of them. Indeed the Spirit of God moveth, and the church, as God, walketh in strange and unthought of stations. It is said, that God hath "a way in the whirlwind, and in the storm" (Nahum 1:3). So he hath upon the very face of the persecution of the day, but none but the church can follow him here; it is the ark that can follow him upon the face of the waters. Deep things are seen by them that are upon the waters: "They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; They see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep" (Psa 107:23,24). Indeed it oft falls out, that the church seeth more of God in affliction, than when she is at rest and ease; when she is tumbled to and fro in the waters, then she sees the works of God, and his wonders in the deep.

And this makes persecution so pleasant a thing, this makes the ark go upon the face of the waters, she seeth more in this her state, than in all the treasures of Egypt (Heb 11:24,25).

Ver. 19. "And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered."

This second repetition of the prevailing of the waters, doth also call for a second consideration.

1. It shews us, that all hope that any ungodly man might have at the beginning of the flood to escape the rage thereof, was now swallowed up in death. Indeed it is natural to the creatures, when floods and inundations are upon the earth, to repair to the high places, as they only that are left for preservation of life; where life may be also continued if the waters do not overflow them: but when it comes to pass as here we read, that all the hills under the heavens are covered: then life takes its farewell, and is gone from the world, as was the effect of the waters of Noah.

The hills therefore were types of the hope of the hypocrite, upon which they clamber till their heads do touch the clouds, thinking thereby to escape the judgment of God; but "though they hide themselves in the top of Carmel, I will search and take them out thence," saith God (Amos 9:2,3). The flood of his wrath will come thither, even over the tops of all the hills. So that safety is only in the ark with Noah, in the church with Christ, all other places must be drowned with the flood.

2. We may also understand by this verse, how God in a time of persecution will cut off the carnal confidence of his people. We are apt to place our hope somewhere else than in God, when persecution ariseth because of the word. We hope that such a man, or that such outward means may prevent our being swept away with this flood. But because this confidence is not after God, but tendeth to weaken our stedfast dependence on him; therefore this flood shall cover all our hills, not one shall be found for us under the whole heaven (Jer 2:36,37). When the king of Babylon came up against Jerusalem to war, then Israel, instead of trusting in God, put their confidence in the king of Egypt, but he also was swallowed up by this flood, that Israel might be ashamed of such confidence; and this at last they confessed. "As for us, [said they,] our eyes as yet failed for our vain help: in our watching, we have watched for a nation that could not save us" (Lam 4:17).

It was requisite therefore that the hills should be covered, that Noah might not have confidence in them; but surely this dispensation of God was an heart-shaking providence to Noah, and they that were with him; for here indeed was his faith tried, there was no hill left in all the world; now were his carnal helpers gone, there was none shut up or left: Now therefore, if they could rejoice, it must be only in the power of God. As David said, "Shall I lift up mine yes to the hills? whence should my help come?" So the margin: "My help cometh from the Lord that made heaven and earth" (Psa 121:1,2).

Ver. 20. "Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered." The height of Goliath was but six cubits and a span (1 Sam 17:4), neither was Og's bedstead any more than nine (Deu 3:11). Wherefore this flood prevailed far the highest of those mighty ones: even fifteen cubits above the highest mountains.

Ver. 21, 22, 23. "And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man: All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died. And every living substance was destroyed, which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowls of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth, and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark."

In these words you have the effects of the flood, which was punctually according to the judgment threatened. But observe, I pray you, how the Holy Ghost, by repeating, doth amplify the matter. "All flesh," "All in whose nostrils was the breath of life"; "All that was in the dry land," "every living substance," "every man"; and they were destroyed from off the earth: By which manner of language doubtless there is insinuated a threatening to them who should afterward live ungodly. And indeed the Holy Ghost affirmeth, that these judgments, with that of Sodom, are but examples set forth before our eyes, to shew us that such sins, such punishment. "Making them an ensample, saith Peter, unto those that after should live ungodly" (2 Peter 2:6). Nay, Jude saith, they are "set forth" in their overthrow, for that very purpose (v 7). Wherefore this careful repeating of this judgment of God, doth carry threatening in it, assuredly foreshewing the doom and downfall of those that shall continue to tread their steps.

Yea, mind how Peter hath it: For if God "spared not the old world," &c. (2 Peter 2:5). Secretly intimating, that those that then lived, being the first of his workmanship, and far surpassing in magnificence, if he would have spared, he would have spared them; but seeing he so dreadfully swept them away, let no man be so bold to presume that wickedness shall now deliver him that is given to it.

"And Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark." Noah was that man of God that had set himself against a world of ungodly men. The man that had hazarded life and limb for the word of God committed to him; he "only remained alive," &c. Hence note, That he was the man that outlived the world, that would for God venture life against all the world. Wherefore the saying in the gospel is true, He that will lose his life for my sake, shall save it unto life eternal. Thus did Noah, and passed the end, and went over the bounds, that God had appointed for every living thing. Behold! he was a man in both worlds, yea, the world then to come was given him for a possession.

"And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days." About the same time the scorpions mentioned of John, had power to hurt the earth (Rev 9:10). Wherefore, the thus prevailing of the water, might be a type of our persecution now in the New Testament days. All which time doubtless Noah was sufficiently tried, while the waves of the water had no pity for him.

Chapter VIII.

Ver. 1. "And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark; and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters asswaged."

Moses having thus related the judgment of the waters, as they respected the drowning of the world, and so typed forth the last judgment: he now returneth to speak of them more largely, as they were a type of the persecution and afflictions of the church, and so sheweth how God delivered Noah from the merciless violence of the waves thereof.

"And God remembered Noah." This word remembered is usual in scripture; both when God is about to deliver his people out of affliction, and to grant them the petition which they ask of him. It is said, "God remembered Abraham; and sent Lot out of Sodom" (Gen 19:29); that he remembered Rachel, and hearkened to her (30:22); that he also remembered his covenant with Abraham, when he went to bring Israel out of their bondage (Exo 2:24).

Hence note, that Noah was not both in an afflicted and a praying condition; afflicted with the dread of the waters, and prayed for their asswaging. It is a question accompanied with astonishment, How the ark being of no bigger an hull or bulk should contain so many creatures, with sustenance for them? And verily, I think that Noah himself was put to it, to believe and wait for so long a time. But God remembered him, and also the beasts, and every living thing that was with him, and began to put an end to these mighty afflictions, by causing the waters to asswage.

"And God made a wind to pass over the earth." The waters being here a type of persecutors and persecution: this wind was a type of the breath of the Lord's mouth, by which he is said to slay the wicked. "He shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked" (Isa 11:4). It was a wind also that blew away the locusts of Egypt (Exo 10:19), which locusts were a type of our graceless clergy, that have covered the ground of our land.[34] Again the kingdom of Babel was to be destroyed by a destroying wind, which the Lord would send against her (Jer 51:1,2), which Paul expounds to be by the breath of the Lord's mouth, and by the brightness of his coming. This wind therefore, as I said, was a type of the breathing of the Spirit of the Lord, by which means these tumultuous waves shall be laid over, and God's ark in a while made to rest upon the top of his mountain (2 Sam 22:19). For by the breath of the Lord the earth is lightened, and by this lightning coals are kindled; "yea, he sent out his arrows and scattered them, and he shot out lightnings, and discomfited them. Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at thy rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils" (Psa 18:14,15). "And God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters asswaged." That is, in New Testament language, the afflictors and afflictions of the church did cease and decay, and came to nought.

"And the waters asswaged": To wit, by the blowing of this wind, wherefore, as this wind did assault the waters, so it did refresh the spirit of this servant of God, because by it the affliction was driven away. Thus then by the wind of the Lord were these dry bones refreshed, and made to stand upon their feet (Eze 37:9,10).

"And God made a wind to pass over." And God made it; when God blows, the enemies of his truth shall pass away like waters that fail.

Ver. 2. "The fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained."

By these words we see, that when the church of God is afflicted, both heaven and hell have their hand therein, but so as from a differing consideration, and to a diverse end. From heaven it comes, that we may remember we have sinned, and that we may be made white, and tried (Dan 11:35); but from hell, from the great deep, that we might sin the more, and that we might despair, and be damned (Job 1:11; 2:5).

"And the fountains of the great deep." When God begins to slack and abate the afflictions of his church, he rebukes, as it were first, the powers of hell; for should he take off his own hand, while they have leave to do what they list, the church for this would be worse not better: But first he rebuketh them: "The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan," that's the first; and then he clothes them "with change of raiment" (Zech 3:1-5): The fountains of the great deep were stopped, and then the bottles of heaven (Gen 15:14).

"And the rain from heaven was restrained," or held back, or made to cease. Afflictions are governed by God, both as to time, number, nature and measure. "In measure when it shooteth forth, thou wilt debate with it: he stayeth his rough wind in the day of his east wind" (Isa 27:8). Our times therefore, and our conditions in those times, are in the hand of God; yea, and so are our souls and bodies, to be kept and preserved from the evil, while the rod of God is upon us (Jer 15:1-3).

Ver. 3. "And the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated."

The verse before doth treat of the original, the fountains of the deep, and the windows of heaven, that they were shut, or stopped; which being done, the effect beginneth to cease. Hence note, that case and release from persecution and affliction cometh not by chance, or by the good moods, or gentle dispositions of men, but the Lord doth hold them back from sin, the Lord restraineth them. It is said "the Lord stirred up the adversaries of Solomon" (1 Kings 11:14,23). Again, when the Syrians fought against Jehoshaphat, "the Lord helped him, and God moved them to depart from him" (2 Chron 18:31). The Lord sent the flood, and the Lord took it away.

"And the waters returned from off the earth continually." When God ceaseth to be angry, the hearts and dispositions of the adversaries shall be palliated, and made more flexible. It is said, when the afflictions of Israel were ended in Egypt, the hearts of the people were turned to pity them; yea, he caused them "to be pitied of all those that carried them captives" (Psa 106:46).

When you see therefore, that the hearts of kings and governors begin to be moderated toward the church of God, then acknowledge that this is the hand of God. "I," saith he, "will cause the enemy to entreat thee well in the time of evil, and in the time of affliction" (Jer 15:11). For by waters here are typed out the great and mighty of the world, by the flowing of them, their rage; and by their ebbing and returning their stillness and moderation. "And the waters returned." That is, to the sea (Gen 1:9,10). "He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap: he layeth up the depth in store houses" (Psa 33:7).

By "gathering up," the persecutors may be understood, his gathering them to their graves, as he did Herod, who stood in the way of Christ (Matt 2:19,20). And as he did those in Ezekiel, who hindered the promotion of truth, and the exaltation of the gospel (31:14).

"And after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated." These words then imply, that for so long time, Noah, and the church with him, were to exercise patience. They also show us, That when the waters are up, they do not suddenly fall: They were up four hundred years, from Abraham to Moses (Gen 15:13). They were up threescore and ten years in the days of the captivity of Babylon (Jer 25:12; Zech 1:12). They were up ten mystical days in the persecution that was in the days of Antipas (Rev 2:10). And are to be up forty and two months, in the reign, and under the tyranny of antichrist (13:5). But they will abate; the house of Saul will grow weaker; yea, they shall be gathered to their sea, and shall be laid in the pit; yea, they shall not be on the earth, when God shall set glory in the land of the living (Eze 26:19-21).

Ver. 4. "And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of Ararat."

These instances therefore were a type of Christ, the munition of rocks (Isa 33:16), who is elsewhere called, the mountain of the Lord's house (Micah 4:1); the rock upon which he will build his church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it (Matt 16:18). For after the ark had felt the ground, or had got settlement upon the tops of these mountains; however, the waters that came from the great deep, did notwithstanding, for some time, shake, and make it stir, yet off from these mountains they could not get it with all their rage and fury. It rested there; these gates of hell could not prevail. But mark, it did rest on these mountains almost a quarter of a year, before any ground appeared to Noah. A right figure of saving faith; for that maketh not outward observation a ground and foundation for faith, but Christ the rock, who as to sense and feeling is at first quite out of sight. Hence the hope of the godly is compared to the anchor of a ship, which resteth on, or taketh hold of the rock that is now invisible under the water, at the bottom of the sea (Heb 6:19).

This then should learn us to stay on the Lord Jesus, and there to rest when the waters have drowned all the world, and when all the mountains and hills for help are as if they were cast into the midst of the sea.

That is an excellent saying of the prophet, "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, [as now it seemed] and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled; though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah" (Psa 46:1-3).

Ver. 5. "And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month: in the tenth month, on the first day of the month, were the tops of the mountains seen."

In the third verse we read, that after an hundred and fifty days" flood, the waters returned; that is, began to return, from off the earth: Which beginning of their return, was, because that God had mercifully remembered the prayer and affliction of Noah. Again, in this verse we read, that from the day that the ark did rest upon the mountains of Ararat, the waters decreased continually. Now the resting of the ark on the mountain, was a figure of our trusting on Christ. Hence it follows, that the tumults and raging of the mystical waters, are made to decrease by the power of faith: "This is the victory, even our faith" (1 John 5:4). As it is also said of Moses, "By faith they passed through the Red sea" (Heb 11:29). But above all take that as most pertinent, "Through faith they subdued kingdoms,—stopped the mouths of lions,—and turned to flight the armies of aliens" (Heb 11:33,34). Here you see faith made the waters decrease; it took away the heat and rage of the adversary.

"And the waters decreased continually until the tenth month, [another period of time,] and in the first day of the tenth month were the tops of the mountains seen." These mountains were before the flood, a type of the hope of the hypocrites, and therefore then were swallowed up, fifteen cubits under the waters. But now, methinks, they should be a figure to the church of some visible ground of deliverance from the flood; for almost three months the ark did rest on the invisible mountains of Ararat. But now are the tops of the mountains seen: A further sign that the waters were abated; and a ground, that at length they would be quite dried up. Let these mountains then be types of the high and mighty, which God is used to stir up to deliver his church from the heat and rage of tyranny and persecution, as they are often termed and called in scripture, the mountains of Israel, for this very end. So then, from our thus considering the mountains, Two things we are taught thereby.

1. That when the great ones of this world begin to discover themselves to the church, by way of encouragement, it is a sign that the waters are now decreasing. Or thus: When God lets us see the tops of the mountains, then we may certainly conclude, that the rage of the waters abate.

Doubtless when God made promise of raising up Josias to Israel, in Canaan (1 Kings 13:1-3); and of raising up for them Cyrus, in Babylon (Isa 45; Eze 1:1-3). The thus appearing of the tops of these mountains, was comfort to the church in her day of affliction.

2. This should teach us while we are in affliction, to look this way and that, if it may be that the tops of the mountains may be seen by us (1 Sam 11:1-3). For though it be too much below a Christian to place his confidence in men, yet when God shall raise up Josias or a Cyrus, we may take encouragement at this working of God. Therefore is that in the Psalms read both ways, shall I look to the mountains? "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. Yet so, as that he would also conclude his help did come from the Lord" (Psa 121:1,2). So then, we must take heed that we look not to the mountains [alone]. Again, it is our wisdom "to look to the mountains": only look not to them but when God discovers them. Look unto them if God discovereth them; yet then but so as means of God's appointing. But again, God doth not let us see the hills for our help, before we have first of all seen them drowned. Look not to them therefore while the water is at the rising; but if they begin to cease their raging, if they begin to fall, and with that the tops of the mountains be seen, you may look upon them with comfort, they are tokens of God's deliverance.

Ver. 6. "And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made."

These forty days seem to commence from the discovery of the tops of the mountains. Wherefore he did not presently go out of the ark, but stayed there above fourteen days still, signifying unto us, that we must not be therefore delivered so soon as the tops of the mountains are seen, but may yet be assaulted with the waters of the flood, days, and weeks, and months, &c.

When Moses was sent to deliver Israel, they came not presently out of Egypt; neither seemed their burthens ever the light to sense or feeling, though faith indeed did see the end (Exo 5:15-23). Again, When he had brought them forth of Egypt, they came not in a day, or a month, to Canaan; but, saith the Holy Ghost, He brought them out, (or, forth of affliction) after that he had showed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red sea, and in the wilderness forty years.

Let us therefore take heed of a feverish spirit, while we behold "the tops of the mountains"; possibly, for all they are visible tokens to us of deliverance, themselves may be yet much under water. We see what work Moses, Gideon, Jephthah and Samson had to deliver Israel, even after more than their tops were seen. Be content to stay yet forty days. David stayed, after he was anointed, till years and times went over him, before he could deliver Israel from the tyranny of its opposers.

"At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark." This opening of the window also, was a type, that now he was preparing to take possession of the world. It also might be a type of the opening the law and testimony, that light might by that come into the church; for we find not that this window had any other use, but to be a conveyance of light into the ark, and as a passage for the raven and the dove, as may be further showed after. Now much like this, is that of John: "The temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament" (Rev 11:19). And again, "I looked, and, behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened." And then, as the raven, and the dove came out of the window of the ark; so "the angels," that is, the Lord's executioners, "came out of the temple" that was opened in heaven (Rev 15:5,6).

Hence note, That though men may be borne with, if they lie in their holes in the height of the tempest; but to do it when the tops of the mountains were seen, if they then shall forbear to open their window, they are worthy of blame indeed. When the lepers saw the Assyrians were fled, and that liberty from heaven was granted to Samaria, then they feared to conceal the thing any further; They feared, I say, that if they went not to the city to declare it, some judgment of God would befall them (2 Kings 7:9).

Ver. 7, 8. "And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro, until the waters were dried up from off the earth. Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground."

Behold, the raven and dove are now sent out at the window of the ark, as the angels are said to come out of the temple, when it was opened in heaven. This raven therefore, and the dove, were figures and types of those angels (Rev 15:5,6).

But to speak to them both apart. The raven went forth, but returned not again to the ark. This is intimated by these words, "She went to and fro, until the waters were abated, and dried up." This is further evident by that antithesis that the word doth put between the practice of the raven and the dove. The raven went forth, and went to and fro till the waters were dried up. But mark it, "But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark" (v 9). The raven then did find rest elsewhere, the raven then returned not to him into the ark.

But what did the raven then do? Why, certainly she made a banquet of the carcasses of the giants that were drowned by the flood; it fed upon the flesh of the men that had sinned against the Lord.

The raven therefore was a type of those messengers that God sends out of his temple against Antichrist; that is, for "eating the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses." He was, I say, a type of those professors that God saith he hath a great sacrifice to sacrifice unto, a sort of professors in his church; as the raven was one that had his being in the ark: These are they which Ezekiel mentions, that were to eat flesh, and drink blood; to eat the fat till they be filled, and to drink blood till they be drunken (39:17-20). These also are the guests that Zephaniah mentions, and saith, God hath bidden to the same feast also (1:7-14).

And let no man be offended that I say these birds are in the church: For one effect of the sixth vial, was that battle of the great day of God Almighty (Rev 16:16). Further, The angel that proclaims this feast, calls to those that are God's guests, by the name of, "the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven": That they should "come and gather together to the supper of the great God: That they may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men," &c. (Rev 19:17,18). Besides, this supper is the effect of the going forth of the King of kings against the Antichristian whore, whose going forth was at the opening of heaven, as the going forth of the raven was at the opening of the window of the ark (v 11-16).

Note therefore, That God, in the overthrow of the kingdom of Antichrist, and at the asswaging of the rage of her tumultuous waves, will send forth his birds amongst her fat ones, to partake of the banquet that he hath appointed; who when they shall be tolerated by that angel that standeth in the sun, will come down to their feast with such greediness, that neither king nor captain shall keep them from their prey: They will eat flesh, and fat, till they be full, and drink the blood till they be drunk.

"Also he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated." This dove was a type of another sort of professors in the church, that are of a more gentle nature (Matt 10:16); for all the saints are not for such work as the raven; they are not all for feeding upon the carcasses, the kingdoms and estates of the Antichristian party, but are for spending their time, and for bending their spirits to a more spiritual and retired work; even as the dove is said to be harmless, and to mourn for communion with her companion (Isa 38:14), and that is content if she hath her nest in the sides of the rock, Christ (Jer 48:28). Wherefore he adds,

Ver. 9. "But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth," &c.

The dove could not live as the raven; the raven being content, so long as she found the carcasses; but the dove found no rest till she returned again to Noah.

The raven therefore, though he was in the ark, was not a type of the most spiritual Christian; nay rather, I think, of the worldly professor, who gets into the church in the time of her affliction, as Ziba did into the army of David, in the day of his trouble; not for love to the grace of David, but that, if time should serve, he might be made the Lord of his master's inheritance (2 Sam 16:1-4). But David was content to let him go with him, and that too as under such a consideration: as Christ also lets these ravens to herd with his innocent doves; because he hath flesh to give them, which the doves care not for eating.[35]

"But the dove found no rest." It seems the raven did, as it is also with some professors, who when they by their profession have advanced themselves to some worldly honour, they have ease and rest, though, like the raven, they have it by going out of the church.

"But the dove found no rest." Though all the enemies of God lay tumbling in the sea, this could not satisfy a gracious soul: divide her from the ark, and she finds no rest, she is not at ease till she be with Noah. "And she returned unto him into the ark;—and he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark" (v 9).

Noah here was a type of Christ, who took the dove unto him: And it shows us, That Christ hath a bosom open for the cries and complaints of his people; for the dove returned a-weary with the tidings of this, that the waters still raged. A fit figure of those of the saints that are groaning and weary under the oppression and cruelty of the enemy.

Hence note, That though thou hast no other tidings to Christ but sighs and groans, and weariness, because of the rage of the waters; yet he will not despise thee; yea, he invites thee, as weary, to come (Matt 11:28-30).

Ver. 10. "And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark."

This staying shows us, That he exercised patience, waiting God's leisure till the flood should be taken away. This grace therefore had yet seven day's work to do, before he obtained any further testimony that the waters were decreasing. O this staying work is hard work! Alas! sometimes patience is accompanied with so much heat and feverishness, that every hour seems seven until the end of the trial, and the blessing promised be possessed by the waiting soul. It may be Noah might not be altogether herein a stranger: I am sure the Psalmist was not, in that he often under affliction, cries, But how long, O Lord! for ever! (Psa 6:3; 79:5; 13:1; 74:1; 89:46). Make haste! O Lord, how long! (90:13; 94:3).

"And again he sent forth the dove." The first time he sent her, she brought no good news, but came panting and weary home; yet he sends her a second time.

This should teach us, not to make conclusions too suddenly about God's dispensation, saying it must be now or never; for it may be the seven days are not out. The men of David said, This is the day that the Lord will give thee the kingdom of Israel: But David perceived otherwise, and therefore adds yet to his temperance, patience (1 Sam 24:1-4; 26:8-10). Not sullenly saying like that wicked king, Why should I wait on the Lord any longer? (2 Kings 6:32). But comforts himself with the truth of the promise, saying, His time shall come to die, &c. He that believeth, maketh not haste, but waiteth patiently, for the perfecting God's work in God's time. That is excellent in the song: "I charge you [saith the church] that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, until he please" (Cant 8:4). Noah was much for this, wherefore he stayed yet other seven days.

"And again he sent forth the dove." Elias did much like this, when his servant, at the first sending, brought him no tidings of rain, he gave him his errand again, saying, Go again: go seven times (1 Kings 18:43-45). As Noah here did with the dove, and again he sent her. Seeming delays are no hindrance to faith; they ought to try it, and put it into exercise: As here it was with this good man about the waters of the flood; he fainted not, but believed to see the goodness of the Lord. That in the prophet is notable as to this, "The vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: thought it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry" (Hab 2:3).

Ver. 11. "And the dove came in to him in the evening; and lo! in her mouth was an olive-leaf plucked off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth."

"And the dove came in to him in the evening." Wherefore his patience was tried this day also. All the day he heard nothing of his dove. Surely she could not keep the wing all the day. Is she drowned I tro? Is she lost? O, no! She comes at last, though she stayed long. Samuel also stayed long before he came to Saul; but Saul could not wait as Noah did, therefore he had not the benefit of the mercy promised.

"The dove came in to him in the evening, and lo, in her mouth was an olive-leaf," &c. Now he is recompensed for the exercise of patience: As also was Abraham when God gave him Isaac; for after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.

"And lo, an olive-leaf." A sign that God was going through with his work of diminishing the waters: A sign, I say, and a good experience of the continued love of God to his servant; according to that of Paul, "patience worketh experience"; that is, it at last obtaineth the blessing promised, and so settleth the soul in a fresh experience of the love and faithfulness of God.

And lo! This word Lo, it is, as it were an appeal to all readers to judge, whether God to Noah was faithful or no. So then, this was not written for his sake only, but for us also that believe in God, that we might now exercise patience, as Noah; and obtain the tokens of God's goodness, as he; for lo the dove, at last, though 'twas night first, came to Noah into the ark, "and lo in her mouth was an olive-leaf plucked off: so Noah knew that the waters were abated."

"An olive-leaf plucked off." These words, an olive-leaf plucked off, do intimate, that Noah was now inquisitive and searching how the dove obtained the leaf; that is, whether she found it as dead, and upon the waters; or whether she plucked it off some tree: But he found by the greenness and freshness of the slip, that she plucked it off from the olive. Wherefore, he had good ground now to be comforted; for if this leaf was plucked off from a tree, then the waters could not be deep; especially, because as the story tells us, the olive used also to stand in the bottoms, or valleys.

This should teach us, That not over highly we conclude messages or tokens, to be signs of God's mercy. There are lying visions, and they are causes of banishment; they we should beware of, or else we are not only at present deceived, but our faith is in danger of the rocks; for not a few have cast up all, because the truth of some seeming vision hath failed. Mark how David handleth the messenger that brought him tidings of the death of Saul: says he, How dost thou know that Saul is dead? What proof canst thou make of the truth of this story? (1 Sam 1:1-10). So should we say of all those visions or messengers that come to persuade us, that either inward or outward deliverance is for us at the door. Prove these stories; look if they be not dead and lifeless fancies; see if you can find that they were plucked off from the tree that is green.

Ver. 12. "And he stayed yet other seven days; and sent forth the dove; which returned not again unto him any more."

We read before of forty days' patience, and after that of seven days' patience; and that after the waters began to return from off the earth, and here again of seven days more. Whence not, That the best of God's people, in the times of trials, find their patience too short-winded to hold out the whole length of a trial, unless the time be, as it were, cut in pieces. The prophet when he was to lay siege against Jerusalem, he must rest the one side, by turning him upon the other (Eze 4:2-6). It was with holy Job exceeding hard, when he might not have time to swallow his spittle, when he might not a little sit down and rest him. And if you observe him, he doth not desire an absolute deliverance as yet, but only time to take wind and breathe awhile; and then, if God will, to engage in the combat again:[36] "How long [saith he] wilt thou not depart from me." Depart: what quite? O! No, saith he, I beg not that absolutely, but only so long as till a man might "swallow down his spittle" (Job 7:19). This the church in Ezra's time took as an exceeding favour. "And now [say they] for a little space, grace hath been shewed from the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail in his holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage" (Ezra 9:8).

"And he stayed yet other seven days." Note again, That it is not God's way with his people to shew them all their troubles at once; but first he shews them a part; first forty days, after that seven other days, and yet again seven days more; that, they coming upon them by piecemeal, they may the better be able to travel through them. While Israel was in affliction in Egypt, they knew not the trial that would meet them at the Red Sea. Again, When they had gone through that, they little thought that yet "for forty years they must be tempted and proved in the wilderness."

And thus it was with this blessed Noah; he thought that by the first seven days his trials might be ended. But behold, there is yet seven days more behind: "and he stayed yet other seven days."

Further: There may also be by these words thus much insinuated, That these periods of time might be also of Noah's prefixing: and if so, then note, That the people of God in these days are not the first that have been under mistake, as to the timing of their afflictions. Noah counted it would end many days before it ended indeed, even seven days, and seven days, and seven days to that; for he sent forth his dove about the beginning of the first month, in which month also were his two seven days' trials. Again, after that he had stayed two seven days more, to wit, to the end of that first month. Again, he stayed almost four sevens more; for he came not out of the ark till the twenty-seventh day of the second month.

Hence therefore let Christians beware that they set not times for God, lest all men see their folly. "It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power" (Acts 1:7). Yea, I say again, take heed lest that for thy setting of God a seven days' time, he set not thee so many as seven times seven.

"And he sent forth the dove, which returned not again unto him any more." This is the third time that the dove was sent to see how the waters were abated on the face of the earth. The first time she, by her restlessness, bespake the waters to be high and mighty. The second time, by her olive-leaf, she notifieth that the waters were low and ebbing. But this third time, she seems to be weary or her service, she returned not again to him any more; yet in her so absenting herself, she gives confirmation to Noah, that the waters were even in a manner quite gone. If he will take this for a proof let him, if not, let him hang in suspense with himself. Hence note, that God will not be always testifying, by renewing of his tokens, to that about which we have had sufficient conviction before; for in so doing he should gratify and humour our unbelief. Noah had received already two sufficient testimonies that the waters were decreasing. First by his seeing the tops of the mountains, and then by the olive-leaf; but notwithstanding these two testimonies, his unbelief in part remains; but God will not humour such a groundless mistrust, by giving him any further token, than the very absenting of the dove. Much like this was that of Samson's father; the angel once had told his wife, that she should have a son that should deliver Israel; well, Manoah heard of this, he also desired that he might see that man that had told his wife this happy news. Now God thus far condescends, as to send the angel a second time; but then, this being now a sufficient antidote against their unbelief, the angel after the next departing, was not seen again of them at all. But saith the word, The angel of the Lord did no more appear to Manoah, and to his wife: So that now they must live by faith, or not at all (Judg 13:3,9,21).

God's dealing with his people with respect to their spiritual condition, is much like this. The Holy Ghost doth not use to confirm us by new revelations of grace and justification, so often as by our fond doubts or mistrust we call for and desire the same. But having confirmed in us the testimony of Christ, it may be twice or thrice, (for the testimony of two men are true) he then expects we should live by faith. And observe it, if we have after such testimony joyful communion with God, it is either by retreating to former experience, or by arguing according to faith; that because God hath done thus before, he therefore hath given me interest in such and such promises and mercies besides.

I speak now of the first seals of the love of God to the soul, after we have been sufficiently tossed upon the waves of unbelief, as Noah was by the waters of the flood: such seals are few, the Lord gave them to Solomon twice (1 Kings 11:9). And also twice to his servant Paul (Acts 22:6,18). 'Tis enough that they have seen "the tops of the mountains," and have had brought to them the olive-leaf. Let them now believe this confirmation of mercy is sufficient, and if they will not believe now, they shall not be established.

Ver. 13. "And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the first month, the fist day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and behold, the face of the ground was dry."

"And it came to pass." That is, by the working of God, that the waters were dried up. This came to pass in God's time, to wit, in "the six hundredth and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month"; not in the times of Noah's prefixing. God's time is THE time, the best time, because it is the time appointed by him for the proof and trial of our graces, and that in which so much, and so much of the rage of the enemy, and of the power of God's mercy, may the better be discovered unto us; "I the Lord will hasten it in HIS time" (Isa 60:22), not before, though we were the signet upon his right hand (Jer 22:24).

Noah the only man with God in that generation, could not be restored before the time; no more could Israel from the thraldom of Egypt (Exo 13:4). Yea, the Son of God himself must here give place and be content. And when Satan had ended all the temptation, when he "had ended all,—then he departed from him for a season" (Luke 4:13).

"And Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked." The failing again of his expected comforter, caused him to be up and doing; probably he had not as yet uncovered the ark, that is, to look round about him had the dove by returning pleased his humour; but she failing him, he stirs up himself, Thus it should also be with the Christian now: doth he dove forbear to come to thee with a leaf in her bill as before, let not this make thee sullen and mistrustful, but uncover the ark, and look, and by looking thou shalt see a further testimony of what thou receivedst by the first manifestations: "He looked, and behold the earth was dry." Paul tells us, that by looking we have a testimony like, or as that, which at first was given us by the Spirit of the Lord (2 Cor 3:18). "And behold the face of the earth was dry."

Ver. 14. "And in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth dried."

This prospect was like the rain that we read of in another place, that confirmed God's inheritance when it was weary: It was a comfortable sight to Noah to see that the face of the earth was dry; and now he could wait upon God with less trial and strain to his patience the remaining days, which were fifty and four, to wit, from the first of the first, to the twenty-seventh of the second month, than he could one of the sevens that he met with before. Indeed the path is narrowest just at entrance as also our nature is then the most untoward; but after we are in, the walk seems to be wider and easy; the flesh is also then more mortified and conformable. The walk is but a cubit wide at the door, but inward ten times as broad (Eze 42:4,11).

"And in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day of the month, was the earth dried." So that from the first day it began to rain, which was the seventeenth day of the second month in the year before, unto this day, was Noah in the ark; it was just a year and ten days. That was the time then that God had appointed to try his servant Noah, by the waters of the flood: in which time he was so effectually crucified to the things of the world, that he was as if he was never more to enjoy the same. Wherefore Peter making mention of this estate of his, he tells us, it was even like unto our baptism; wherein we profess ourselves dead to the world, and alive to God by Jesus Christ (1 Peter 3:21).

In the first verse of this chapter, we read that God remembered Noah; but till now we read not, that the face of the earth was dried. Hence note that our being under the rage of the enemy, doth not argue that we are therefore forgotten of God, "he remembereth us in our low estate," even when tossed to and fro by the waters of a flood of temptations.

Ver. 15, 16. "And God spake unto Noah, saying, Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons' wives with thee."

Now we are come to the end of the trial, and so to the time of Noah's deliverance, and behold as he went in, so he came out: He went into the ark at the commandment of the Lord. "And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark" (Gen 7:1). And here again, "And God spake unto Noah, saying, Go forth of the ark." Hence note, that notwithstanding the earth was dry about fifty-four days before, yet Noah waited for the word of God for his commission to bring him forth of the ark. Providence seemed to smile before, in that the earth was dry, to which had but Noah added reason, he must have concluded, the time is come for me to go forth of the ark. But Noah knew, that as well the providences of God, as the waters of the flood might be to try his dependence on the word of the Lord: wherefore, though he saw this, yet because he had no answer of God, he will not take the opportunity.

It is dangerous, or at least very difficult, to make the most smiling providence of God our rule to act by: Had David done it, he had killed Saul before the time, But David respected the word of God (2 Sam 24:17-20). Elisha also would not suffer the king to make that improvement of the providence of God, which reason should be put in execution, when he rebuked the king's desire that he had to have killed the Syrians, and commanded that bread should be set before them, that they might eat, and go home again to their master (2 Kings 6:19-23). Hear the word of the Lord, ye that tremble at his word. "At the commandment of the Lord the children of Israel journeyed, and at the commandment of the Lord they pitched.—At the commandment of the Lord they rested in their tents, and at the commandment of the Lord they journeyed; they kept the charge of the Lord, at the commandment of the Lord, by the hand of Moses" (Num 9:18-23).

"Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons' wives with thee."

When God delivereth, he delivereth completely. Thus Israel also went out of Egypt, they, their wives, their children, with their flocks and herds, not an hoof was left behind (Exo 10:24-26). When David's time was come to possess the kingdom, he brought along with him those six hundred men that had been his companions in his suffering state, every man with his household. But I say, he went up to possess it, not simply by the voice of providence, though Saul was dead, but "David inquired of the Lord, saying, Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah?" Nay, a general answer, even from God, would not satisfy this holy man. "The Lord said,—Go, but David replied, Whither shall I go? and he said unto Hebron" (1 Sam 2:1). Oh! it is safe to regard the word of the Lord; this makes us all come safe to land. When men wrest themselves from under the hand of God, taking such opportunities for their deliverance, which are laid before them only for trial of obedience to the word: they may, it is probable, have a seeming success; the end will be as with Zedekiah king of Judah, affliction with addition. The Jews that were left in the land of Israel, from the hand of the king of Babylon, would flee to the land of Egypt (Jer 41:17), that they might have quietness there, but they went without the word of God, and therefore their rest brought them to their ruin (42; 43).

Noah therefore chose the safest way, even to stay in the ark, till
God's word came. As it is also said of Joseph, "The word of the
Lord tried him"; till the word of the Lord came to deliver him,
and then he had deliverance indeed (Psa 105:19), as Noah also and
David had safe deliverance for himself and relations.

Ver. 17. "Bring forth with thee every living thing that is with thee, of all flesh, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth; that they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth."

Noah was not only to have in this deliverance, respect to himself and family, but to the good of all the world. Men's spirits are too narrow for the mind of God, when their chief end, or their only design in their enjoying this or the other mercy, is for the sake of their ownselves only. It cannot be according to God, that such desires should be encouraged: "none of us liveth unto himself," why then should we desire life only for ourselves.

The church cries thus, "God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us." Why? "That thy way may be known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations" (Psa 67:1,2).

So David, "Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee" (Psa 51:12,13). So then, we must not desire to come out of trials and afflictions alone, or by ourselves, but that in our deliverance the salvation of many may be concerned. It is said, when Israel went up out of Egypt, there went up with them "a mixed multitude," to wit, of Egyptians, and other nations: This going out of captivity was right, they carried out with them the fowls, the beasts, and the creeping things; to wit, the heathens of other lands, and so added increase to the church of God (Exo 12:37,38). In Esther's time also, when the Jews came from under the snare of Haman, they brought with them to God many of the people of the provinces. "Many of the people of the land became Jews" (Esth 8:17).

These words therefore, "bring forth with thee every living thing," &c. are not lightly to be passed over; for they shew us, that we ought in our deliverance to have special respect to the deliverance of others. And if our deliverance be with the word and liking of God, it must needs have this effect. "When I shall bring again their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria, and her daughters, then will I bring again the captivity of thy captives in the midst of them" (Eze 17:53).

And indeed there is reason for this, for in every affliction and persecution, the devil's design is to impair Christ's kingdom: wherefore no marvel, that God designeth in our deliverance, the impairing and lessening the kingdom of sin and Satan. Wherefore, O thou church of God in England, which art now upon the waves of affliction, and temptation, when thou comest out of the furnace, if thou come out at the bidding of God, there shall come out with thee the fowl, the beast, and abundance of creeping things. "O Judah, he hath set an harvest for thee, when I returned the captivity of my people" (Hosea 6:11).

"That they may breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth."

This was God's end in preserving the creatures from the flood, that again the earth might be replenished therewith. The same end he hath in his suffering of the persecutors, and all manner of adversity to take away but "a part," some (Amos 7:4). Some of them they shall kill and crucify, leaving a remnant alive in the world, namely, that they might breed abundantly in the earth, and be fruitful, and multiply upon the earth. As he saith by the prophet Isaiah, "He shall cause them that come of Jacob to take root: Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit" (Isa 27:6). And this after their deliverance from persecution: According as he saith again, "The remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah, shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward: For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant" that is yet to replenish the earth with converts (37:32). As Luke observes, that when the churches in Judea, Galilee, and Samaria had rest, they "walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied" (Acts 9:31).

Ver. 18. "And Noah went forth, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him." Obedience is better than sacrifice. Noah is at the beck of God, what he bid him do, that does he; and indeed this is in truth to worship God, yea, this is to know and worship God. It is said of Abraham, when he went at God's command to offer up Isaac, that he counted it going to worship the Lord (Gen 22:5). And God saith of Hezekiah, that he did "judgment and justice," judging the cause of the poor and needy; and then adds, Is not this "to know me, saith the Lord?" (Jer 22:15,16). I bring these to shew, that obedience to the word of God, is the true character of God's people in all ages; and this very text, as also such others before, is on purpose recorded by the Holy Ghost, to shew you, that Noah was obedient in all things; yea, I may add, these commands were to discover the proof of him, whether he would be obedient in all things; and this was also his way with New Testament churches (2 Cor 2:9). The sincerity of love, and of the uprightness of the heart, is greatly discovered by the commandments of God. "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them," saith Christ, "he it is that loveth me" &c. (John 14:21).

Ver. 19. "Every beast, every creeping thing, and every fowl, and whatsoever creepeth upon the earth after their kinds, went forth out of the ark."

These words are yet a further expression of the sincerity of Noah's obedience, for that he at the command of God, did carefully search and seek out every little creeping thing that God had brought to him into the ark. Obedience in little things do ofttimes prove us most; for we through the pride of our hearts are apt to look over little things, because though commanded, they are but little (Jer 23:38). O, but Noah was of another spirit, he carefully looked after little things, even after every thing, "whatsoever creepeth upon the earth"; and not only so, but sought diligently that they might go out in order, to wit, male and female, according to their kind. Sometimes God would have men exact to a word, sometimes exact to a tache, or pin, or loop (Exo 36:12,13); sometimes to a step (Eze 40:3,4,37). Be careful then in little things, but yet leave not the other undone (Matt 23:23).

Indeed the command of God is great; if HE therefore commands us to worship him, though but with a bird, we must not count such ordinances insignificant, or below a human creature (Lev 14:52).

Ver. 20. "And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD, and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt-offerings on the altar."

This is the fist work that we read Noah did, when he came forth of the ark; and it shews us, that at this time he had a deep sense of the distinguishing mercy of God. And indeed he had sufficient cause to wonder, for the whole world was drowned, save only himself, and they that were with him in the ark.

But I say, this was the first work, to wit, "to worship God." Hence note, That a sense of mercy, of distinguishing mercy, naturally engageth the heart to worship. It is said of Moses, when the name of the Lord was proclaimed before him, as "merciful and gracious, —and abundant in goodness and truth,—and that he pardoned iniquity, transgression and sin"; that he "made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped" (Exo 34:8).

"And Noah builded an altar." Although this altar be the first that we read of, yet forasmuch as there was before a blessed church, and also an open profession of godliness, together with offering sacrifice, in all probability this was not the first altar that was builded unto the Lord. Besides, we read not of any immediate revelation, from which Noah had light and instruction to build it. The text only saith, he built an altar unto the Lord; which may be aptly expounded, according as he was wont in the other world.

This altar was a type of Christ, as capacitated to bear the sin of the world (for the altar was it, upon which the sacrifices were burnt;) wherefore it, in mine opinion, in special respected his Godhead, by the power of which he offered himself, that is, his flesh. Again it is said, "The altar sanctifieth the gift" (Matt 23:19). So did the Godhead the humanity of Christ, through which "eternal Spirit, he offered himself without spot to God" (Heb 9:14). By this altar then this blessed man preached to his family the Godhead and eternity of Christ.

"And took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl." These beasts and fowls were types of the flesh of the Son of God, as Paul in the ninth and tenth chapters to the Hebrews affirms; wherefore by this act he also preached to his family the incarnation of the Lord Christ, how that "in the fulness of time" he should in our flesh offer himself a sacrifice for us; for as all the ordinances of the New Testament ministration preach to us, That Christ is come; so all the ordinances of worship under the Old Testament preached to them that were under it, Christ, as yet TO come.

"Of every clean beast and of every clean fowl." This was to shew, That when Christ did come, he should not take hold of the Jew, and exclude the Gentile; but that in his flesh he should present unto God EVERY clean beast, and EVERY clean fowl; that is, all the elect, both of Jew and Gentile (Acts 10:11-16).

And it was requisite that this by Noah should be preached, because the whole world was yet in his family; from whence, at the multiplication of men, if through their rebellion and idolatry they lost not this doctrine, they might to all their offspring preach the Lord Jesus.

Wherefore, the doctrine of the gospel, had the world been faithful, might have been to this day retained amongst them that now are the most barbarous people.[37]

Ver. 21. "And the Lord smelled a sweet savour; [a savour of rest;] and the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every living thing, as I have done."

These words more fully shew, that this sacrifice of Noah was a type of the offering up of the body of Jesus Christ, he being said to be that blessed sacrifice that is as perfume in the nostrils of God: "He gave himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour" (Eph 5:2). Besides, this offering of Noah was a burnt-offering to God; which burning signified, the curse of God, which Christ was made in his death for us. Wherefore, the burnt offerings were all along a type of him; as by reading the epistle to the Hebrews you may see: "It is the burnt-offering, [saith God,] because of the burning upon the altar all night unto the morning, and the fire of the altar shall be burning in it" (Lev 6:9). Which was a type of the fire of the law, and the guilt of sin, that Christ, when he offered himself, should undergo for the sins of man.

"And the Lord smelled a sweet savour." This signifies the content and satisfaction that for the sin of the world, God should have by the offering upon of his Son for us upon the cross: Wherefore, he is said to be now "in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them" (2 Cor 5:19).

Now it is observable, That Noah was a man of faith long before this. Hence note two things.

1. That men, even of eminent faith have yet need of a continual remembrance of the death and sufferings of Christ; yea, and that in the most plain and easiest manner to understand.

2. They have need also, notwithstanding they have faith before, to present themselves before God, through Jesus Christ our Lord: For as our persons are not accepted, but in and through him, no more are our performances; yea, though they be spiritual services or sacrifices; it is the blood that maketh the atonement, as well for work as persons (Lev 17:11; Heb 9:21). As he saith in another place, I will accept you with your sweet savour, but not without it (1 Peter 2:5; Eze 20:41). As he also said to his church in Egypt, "When I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt" (Exo 12:13).

"And the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse," &c. By heart here, we may understand two things.

1. That God was altogether unfeigned in this promise. He spake it from his very heart: which we use to count the most sincere expressing of our mind: According to that of the prophet, "Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly—[in truth, in stability,] with my whole heart, and with my whole soul" (Jer 32:41). Mark, I will rejoice to do it, I will do it assuredly, I will do it in truth, even "with my whole heart, and with my whole soul."

2. By his saying, "In his heart," we may understand the secrecy of his purpose; for this doctrine, Of not cursing again, it is hid from all but those to whom it is revealed by the Spirit of God. For this purpose, in the heart of God, is one of the depths, or of the deep things of God, which the spirit of a man cannot understand. "Who hath known the mind of the Lord?" None of all the sons of men, but those that have the Holy Ghost: Therefore Paul applieth that to himself and fellows, as that which is peculiar to them to know, "We have the mind of Christ" (1 Cor 2:16). It is said, that after Christ had by his parables preached his gospel to the world, he in private "expounded all things to his disciples" (Mark 4:34).

Hence note, That they that will hear God speak this, they must be near his very heart. They that are in his heart, may hear it: but to them that are without, in parables. This secret, in revelation of the gospel, is also expressed in other terms: as, That the Lord spake "in mine ears" (Isa 5:9), and "it was revealed in mine ears" (Isa 22:14). And again, "Hear now this word that I speak in thine ears" (Jer 28:7).

"I will not again curse the ground any more." These words are also under Moses' veil; for in them is contained the sin of the world, and damnation thereof. He said, when he was to bring the flood, that the "earth was corrupt," and that he would "destroy the earth" (6:11,13); but his great meaning, was, of the sinners that dwelt therein; as the effect of that flood declared. So he saith again, he will not bring any more a flood to destroy the earth; and that the bow in the cloud should be a sign of peace between him and the earth: By all which is meant in special, the men that dwell on the earth (Psa 114:7; Deu 32:1; Jer 6:19; 22:29); and they are called, the Ground, and the Earth, because they came from thence. So then, there is, as it were, the foundation of all spiritual blessedness couched under these words, "I will not curse the ground, I will not destroy man." And that this must needs be the meaning thereof, consider, that this promise ariseth from the sweet savour that he smelt before in the burnt-offering; which was a figure of Christ, who was "made a curse for us" (Gal 3:13), to deliver us from the curse of the law; that we might through him obtain the blessing of forgiveness of sins; to which the curse stands directly opposite.

"I will not again curse the ground for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth." The imagination of man's heart was the ground of this dreadful curse; and the effect of this curse, was, to lay them up in chains in hell: Wherefore Peter saith, These men are "now in prison." The curse therefore, in its most eminent extension, reached the souls of those ungodly ones that were swept away with the flood. But it seems a strange argument, or reason rendered of God, why again he would not curse the ground, if it was because of the evil imagination of man's heart, this being the only argument that prevailed with him to send the flood. The meaning therefore is rather this, That because of the satisfaction that Christ hath given to God for sin, therefore he said in his heart, he would "not again curse the ground," for the evil imagination of man; that is, he would not do it, for want of a sacrifice that had in it a sufficient propitiation (John 3:18,19).

Hence note, That the great cause now of man's condemnation, is not because of his inherent pollution, but because he accepteth not, with Noah, of the satisfaction made by Christ; for to all them that have so accepted thereof, there is now no curse nor condemnation (Rom 8:1), though still the imagination of their heart be evil. "If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous" (1 John 2:1).

"For the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth." These words seem to insinuate the cause of these evil imaginations; and that is, from the corruption of their youth. Now how soon their youth was corrupted, David shows by these words, "I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me" (Psa 51:5). Ezekiel also shows, we were polluted in the day that we were born (Eze 16:1-8). Further, God to Moses strongly affirms it, in that he commands, That for the firstborn, in whom the rest were included, an offering should be offered, by that they were a month old (Exo 13:13; 34:20). God seems therefore, by this word, to look back to the transgression of our first parents, by whom sin came into our natures; and by so doing he not only intimateth, yea, promiseth a pardon to personal miscarriages; but assureth us, That neither them, nor yet our inward pollutions, shall destroy us, because of the rest that he found before in Christ (Rom 5).

"Neither will I again smite any more every living thing, as I have done." The creatures therefore also have some kind of benefit by the death and blood of Christ; that is, so as to live, and have a being; for infinite justice is so perfectly just, as that without a sacrifice it could not have suffered the world to stand, after sin was in the world, but must have destroyed, for the sake of sin, the world which he had made.

For although it be foully absurd to say that beasts and fowls are defiled with sin, as man; yet doubtless they received detriment thereby. "The creature was made subject to vanity, by reason of him who hath subjected the same," &c. That is, by Adam's sin. Which vanity they also show by divers of their practise; as both in their enmity to man, and one to another, with which they were not created; this came by the sin of man. Now that man lives, yea, that beasts live, it is because of the offering up of Christ: Wherefore it is said in that of the Colossians, The gospel is "preached to every creature"; in every creature under heaven; to wit, in that they live and have a being (1:23).

"Neither will I again smite any more every living thing, as I have done." These words, as I have done, doth not exempt the creature from every judgment of God, but from this, or such as this; for we know, that other judgments do befall ungodly men now; and if they continue in final impenitence, they shall partake of far greater judgments than to be drowned by the waters of a flood. "The wicked is reserved unto judgment" (Job 21:30). Yea, the heavens and the earth that now are, are "reserved unto fire,—and perdition of ungodly men" (2 Peter 3:7).

Ver. 22. "While the earth remaineth, seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night, shall not cease." "While the earth remaineth." These words may have respect both to the words before, and to them that follow after. If they respect the words before, then they are as limits to that large promise, of not destroying the world again: not but that the day will come, as I said, in which another general judgment, and that too far more dreadful than this of water, will overflow the world, and every living thing shall again be cut off from the face of all the earth: as now by rain of water, then by rain of fire and brimstone: Which day and sore judgment, God showed unto men, when he burned Sodom and Gomorrah with "fire and brimstone from heaven." But,

"While the earth remaineth," this shall not be. But in the end, then indeed both it and "the works that are therein, shall [as Peter saith] be burned up" (2 Peter 3:10). But so long as it remaineth, that is, until it be overtaken with this second, and that too the beginning of eternal judgment, no universal judgment shall overrun the earth: For albeit that since that flood, the earth hath been smitten with many a curse; yet it hath been but here and there, not in every place at once. Famines, and earthquakes, and pestilences, have been in divers places, but yet at the same time hath there been seed time and harvest also (Mark 13:8; Luke 21:11).

"Seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night, shall not cease." These words were some of the first, with that of "the bow in the cloud," that prevailed with me to believe that the scriptures were the word of God.

For my reason tells me, they are, and have continued a true prophecy, from the day that they were related; otherwise the world could not have subsisted; for take away seed time and harvest, cold and heat, &c., and an end is put to the[38] beginning of the universe.

Besides, if these words be taken in a spiritual sense, they have also stood true from that very day; otherwise the church had ceased to have a being long before this: For take away seed time and harvest from the church, with cold and heat, and day and night, and those ordinances of heaven are taken from her, which were ordained for her begetting and continuation. This head might with much largeness be insisted on; but to pass it, and to come to the next chapter.

Chapter IX.

Ver. 1. "And God blessed Noah, and his sons, and said unto them,
Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth."

Noah having thus waded through these great temptations, and being made also to partake of the mercy of God, in preserving and saving him from the evil thereof, and being brought to partake of the beginning of a new world, while the ungodly that were before the flood were perished for their iniquity: he receiveth now from the mouth of the Lord, before whom he walked before the flood, laws and ordinances, as rules by which he should still govern his life before him. But mark, Before he receiveth these rules and commandments, he receiveth blessing from God; blessing, I say, as that which should yet fore-fit him to do his will.

"And God blessed Noah." Blessed him with spiritual and special grace; for without that, no man can walk, with God's acceptance before him. He blessed him with grace suitable to the work he was now to begin; to wit, for the replenishing and governing the new world God had brought him to: so that Noah did not without precedent qualifications take this work upon him. God also gave Caleb and Joshua another spirit, and then they followed him fully. That of David is for this remarkable, "Who am I, [said he] and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee." "O Lord our God, saith he, all this store that we have prepared to build thee an house for thine holy name, cometh of thine hand, and is all thine own" (1 Chron 29:10-16). So is faith, love, strength, wisdom, sincerity, and all other good things wherewith and by which we walk with God, worship him, and do his will: all which is comprised in these words, "I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the LORD: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God; for they shall return unto me with their whole heart" (Jer 24:7). "A new heart also will I give them" (Eze 36:25-29). And again, "I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me" (Jer 32:37-40).

"And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth." After he had blessed him, then he tells him what they should do; namely, "Be fruitful, and multiply." This he spake with respect to the seed that he and his sons should beget, therewith to people the world; which was now the remaining part of his work, and he had three arguments to encourage him thereto. First, He was delivered from the wicked and sinners of the old world: 2. He was made the heir of a new world; and 3. Was to leave it as an heritage to his children.

This therefore should teach us, who are brought into the kingdom of Christ, that new world that hath taken its beginning in the word of the gospel, not to be idle, but to be fruitful, and to labour to fill the world with a spiritual seed to God: for as Noah, so are we made heirs of this blessed kingdom; and shall also, as that good man, leaven, when we sleep in Jesus, this spiritual seed to possess the kingdom after us.

Ver. 2. "And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered." These words seem to be a promise of what shall be a consequence of their putting into practice what was commanded in the verse before; namely, of their being fruitful, and of their "multiplying in the earth." Hence note, That the faithful observation of God's word, puts majesty, and dread, and terror upon them that do it: Therefore it is said, that when the church is "fair as the moon, and clear as the sun, she is terrible as an army with banners" (Cant 6:4,10). The presence of godly Samuel made the elders of Bethlehem tremble; yea, when Elisha was sought for by the king of Syria, he durst not engage him, but with chariots and horses, and an heavy host (2 Kings 6:13,14). Godliness is a wonderful thing, it commandeth reverence, and the stooping of the spirits, even of the world of ungodly ones (Acts 5:13).

"And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast." This is true in the letter; for because there is upon man, as man, more of the image and similitude of God, than there is upon other creatures; therefore the beasts, and all the creatures, are made to stoop and fall before them; yea, though in themselves they are mighty and fierce. Every kind [or, nature] of birds, and of serpents, and things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed by mankind (James 3:7).

But to allegorize the word, for by the word, ungodly men are beasts; then, as I said before, godliness puts such a majesty and dread upon the professors of it, that their enemies are afraid of them; yea, even then when they rage against them, and lay heavy afflictions upon them. It is marvellous to see in what fear the ungodly are, even of godly men, and godliness; in that they stir up the mighty, make edicts against them; yea, and raise up armies, and what else can be imagined, to suppress them; while the persons thus opposed, if you consider them as to their state and capacity in this world; they are most inconsiderable; but as a dead dog, or a flea (1 Sam 24:14). O but they are clothed with godliness! The image and presence of God is upon them! This makes the beasts of this world afraid. One of you shall chase a thousand.

"Into your hands are they delivered." That is, the beasts, birds, and fish of the sea (as David saith) to be for the service of man. But again, This is also true in a higher nature; for taking these beasts, &c. for men, even they are delivered into the hand of the church, by whose doctrine, power and faith, they are smitten with severest judgments (2 Cor 2:15,16). Laying all that reject them even in the depth of death, and smiting them "with all plagues as often as they will" (Rev 11:6). The world is therefore in our hand, and disposed of by our doctrine, by our faith and prayers, although they think far otherwise, and shall one day feel their judgments are according.

Ver. 3. "Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things."

From these words some would insinuate, that before the flood men lived only upon herbs, not eating flesh; as here they have authority granted to do: but, in mine opinion, such should be mistaken, for this reason, if there were no other: because they offered sacrifice before; sacrifices, I say, as types and representatives to the church, of the death and sufferings of Christ. Now, of such sacrifices the offerers used to eat, as is clear by the lamb of the passover, and many other offerings: so that these words seem to be but a renewing of their former privileges, not a granting new liberty to the world.

"Every moving thing." This must be taken with this restriction, That is wholesome and good for food: for by the law of nature, nothing of that is forbidden to man, though for some significations many such creatures were forbidden us to use for a time (Deu 14).

"Even as the green herb." For which they expressly had liberty granted them, in the first chapter of this book (v 29). And this liberty might afresh be here repeated, from some scruple that might arise in Noah, &c. He remembering that the world before might, for the abuse of the creatures of God, as well as for the abuse of his worship, be drowned with the flood; for sometimes the abuse of that which is lawful to one, may be a snare, abuse and stumbling to another (1 Cor 7:1; 8).

Ver. 4. "But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof shall ye not eat."

This law seems to be ceremonial, although given long before Moses was; as also some sacrifices and circumcision were (John 7:22). Wherefore we must seek for the reason of this prohibition. "Whatsoever man [saith God] there be of the house of Israel,—that eateth any manner of blood, I will even set my face against that soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from among his people." Why? "For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. Therefore I said unto the children of Israel, No soul of you shall eat blood" (Lev 17:10-12). Again, As here the prohibition is only concerning blood; so in another place, the word is as well against our eating the fat; "It shall be a perpetual statute for your generations, throughout all your dwellings, that ye neither eat fat nor blood." And the reason rendered, is, For "all the fat is the LORD'S" (Lev 3:16,17).

So then the meaning, the spiritual meaning, seems to be this, That forasmuch as the blood is the life, and that which maketh the atonement; and the fat, the glory, and the Lord's; therefore they both were to be offered to the Lord. That is, we ought always to offer the merit of our salvation to God, by a continual acknowledgment, that it was through the blood of Christ; and we ought always to give him the glory thereof, and this is the fat of all our performances (Isa 25:6). Now this is so blessed a thing, and calleth for that grace, that every professor hath not, every one cannot ascribe to the blood of the Lamb, the whole of his reconciliation to God; nor offer up the fat, the glory, which is God's, to the Lord for so great a benefit: this is the benefit of a peculiar people, even of "the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok, [or they that are justified, or just thereby; (For so Zadok signifies)] that kept the charge of my sanctuary, when the children of Israel went astray from me; they shall come near to me, to minister unto me, and they shall stand before me to offer unto me the fat and the blood, saith the Lord God" (Eze 44:15).

Wherefore, for men to ascribe to their own works the merit of their salvation, or to take the glory thereof to themselves; it is as eating the blood and the fat themselves, and they shall be cut off from the people of God.

Ver. 5. "And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man's brother, will I require the life of man."

These words are spoken to the church, which then resided in this family: Not but that God will avenge the blood that is wrongfully shed, though the person murdered be most carnal and irreligious. "A man that doeth violence to the blood of any person, shall flee to the pit; let no man stay him" (Pro 28:17).

But I say, these words respect the church in a more special and eminent way. "Surely [saith God] your blood of your lives will I require." Thus also David insinuates the thing: "when he maketh the inquisition for blood, he remembereth them: [the saints and godly in special,] he forgetteth not the cry of the humble," the afflicted (Psa 9:12).

"At the hand of every beast will I require it." The beasts are here also to be taken for men, to whom they are frequently likened in scripture; and that because they have cast off human affections; and, like savage creatures, make a prey of those that are better than themselves. Ignorance therefore or brutishness, O thou wicked man! will not excuse thee in the day of judgment; all the injuries that thou doest to the people of God, shall for certain be required of thee.

"At the hand of man will I require it." By man here, we may understand, such as have greater placed and shew of reason wherewith they manage their cruelty, than those that are as the natural beast: for all persecutors are not brutish alike; some are in words as smooth as oil; others can shew a semblance of reason of state, why they should see "the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes" (Amos 2:6). These act, to carnal reason, like men, as Saul against David, for the safety of his kingdom; but these must give an account of their cruelty, for blood is in their hands.

"At the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man." This word brother may reach to all the apostatized hypocrites that forsake or betray the godly, for brother shall betray the brother to death (Matt 10:21). Such are spoken of in Isaiah, "Your brethren that hated you, [saith God,] and that cast you out for my name's sake, said, Let the LORD be glorified: but he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed" (Isa 65:5). So that let them be as vile as the brute, or as reasonable in appearance as men, or as near in relation as a brother; neither their ignorance, nor their reason, nor their relation to the saints, shall secure them from the stroke of the judgment of God. Ver. 6. "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man."

In these words we have both a threatening and a command; and the same words carry both: "By man shall his blood be shed," there is the threatening; "By man shall his blood be shed," there is the command. For as they threaten, so they instruct us, that he is worthy of the loss of his own blood, that doth wickedly shed the blood of another (Matt 26:52; Rev 13:10). Blood for blood, equal measure: As he also saith elsewhere, An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth (Exo 21:24), wound for wound, burning for burning (Lev 24:20; Deu 19:21).

"For in the image of God made he man." This seems as the reason of this equal law; because no man can slay his neighbour, but he striketh at the image of God. It is counted a heinous crime for a man to run his sword at the picture of a king, how much more to shed the blood of the image of God? "He that mocketh, or oppresseth, the poor reproacheth his Maker; but he that honoureth him, hath mercy on the poor" (Pro 14:31; 17:5). And if so, how much more do they reproach, yea, despise and abhor their Maker, that slay and murder his image! But most of all those do prove themselves the enemies of God, that make the holiness, the goodness, the religion and sobriety that is found in the people of God, the object of their wrath and hellish cruelty. Hence murder is, in the New Testament, imputed to that man that hated holy and godly man: "He that hateth his brother, is a murderer; and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him" (1 John 3:15).

Ver. 7l. "And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein." Thus he doubleth the blessing and command, of multiplying and increasing the church in the earth, for that is the delight of God, and of Christ.

Ver. 8, 9. "And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying, And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you."

God having thus blessed them, and given them laws and judgments to walk by, for the further confirmation of their hope in God, he propoundeth to them the immutability of his mind, by the establishing of his covenant with them; for a covenant is that, which not only concludeth the matter concerned between the persons themselves; but it provideth remedy against after temptations, and fears, and mistrusts, as to the faithful performance of that which is spoken of. As Laban said to Jacob, "Now therefore [said he] come thou, let us make a covenant, I and thou; and let it be for a witness between me and thee" (Gen 31:44). Thus also the apostle insinuates; where making mention of the promise and oath of God, he saith, this promise and oath are both immutable, that "we might have a strong consolation, [or always ground for great rejoicing] who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us" (Heb 6:18).

This covenant therefore, it was for the encouragement of Noah and his sons, that they might walk before God without fear. Yea, it was to maintain their hope in his promise of forgiveness, though they should find their after-performances mixed with infirmities; for so he had told them before, namely, "That he would not again destroy the earth for man's sake, albeit the imagination of man's heart be evil from his youth. I will establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you."

Ver. 10. "And with every living creature that is with you: of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you; from all that go out of the ark, to every beast of the earth." These words respect the whole creation (see chapter 8); for all the things in the world, devils only excepted, have a benefit by this covenant of God. And hence it is, that not man only, but "every thing that hath breath," is commanded to "praise the Lord" (Psa 150:6): But observe it; as for the sin of man, they before were destroyed by the flood; so now by reason of the mercy of God to man, they are spared, and partake of mercy also. This is intimated by these words: "Every creature that is with you; every beast of the earth with you."

Ver. 11. "And I will establish my covenant with you, neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth."

This is the sum of the covenant, as it respecteth the letter, and the type, and the whole creation in general. But yet as to the spirit and gospel of it, the Holy Ghost must needs have a further reach, an intention of more glorious things, as may further be shewed anon.

"And I will establish my covenant with you." For you that are men, and especially the members of the church, have the most peculiar share therein.

"Neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood." For because of my covenant which I establish with you, I will spare them also, and give them the taste of my mercy and goodness.

"Neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth." This covenant therefore, is not of that nature as the covenant was which was made with Adam, to wit, a covenant of works, as the only conditions of life; for by that was the ground, for man's sin, accursed, accursed, and accursed again. But now the Lord goeth another way, the way of grace, and forgiveness of sins: Wherefore now, not the curse, but the mercy of God, comes in on the back and neck of sin, still sparing and forgiving man, the great transgressor, and the beast, &c. and the earth, for the sake of him.

Ver. 12, 13. "And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations. I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and all the earth."

So then, the way to find out the covenant, what that is, it is to see if we can find out this token of it; to wit, the BOW, of which the rainbow is but a type. I find then by the scriptures, where this BOW is mystically spoken of, that the Lord Jesus Christ himself is encompassed with the bow. The first is this:

"And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness, as the appearance of a man above upon it. And I saw, as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about. As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD" (Eze 1:26-28), the man, the Lord's Christ, &c.

The second scripture is this. "I was in the Spirit: and, behold a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald" (Rev 4:2,3). In these two texts there is mention of the rainbow, that was, not to be the covenant, but the token or sign thereof. Now then the covenant itself must needs be the man that was set in the midst of the bow upon the throne; for so he saith by the prophet, "I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people" (Isa 42:6). The covenant therefore is Jesus Christ the Saviour, whom the bow in the clouds was a sign or a token of. So then the sum of the text is this, That God, for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ, will not again all the days of the earth, bring an universal judgment upon the creature, as in the days of Noah, and of the old world he did; for Christ by the worth of his blood and righteousness hath pacified the justice of the law for sin. So then the whole universe standeth not upon a bottom of its own, but by the word and power of Christ (Heb 1:2,3). "The earth [said he] and all the inhabitants thereof are dissolved: I bear up the pillars of it" (Psa 75:3).

Quest. But how must Christ be reckoned of God, when he maketh him the poize against all the sin of the world.

The prophet tells us thus: He shall be the covenant of the people, or he shall be accounted the conditions and worth of the world; He shall be the covenant, or works, or righteousness of the people; for, He as the high-priest under the law, is set for the people to Godward; that is, he standeth always in the presence of God, as the complete obedience of the people. So then, so long as the Lord Christ bears up his mediatorship, God in justice will neither destroy the world, nor the things that are therein.

In this covenant therefore, the justice as well as the mercy of God is displayed in its perfection, inasmuch as without the perfection of the mediator Christ, the world could not be saved from judgment.

Ver. 14. "And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud."

By these words the Lord looks back to the flood that before had drowned the earth; for in these clouds there was no bow, no token of Christ, or of the mercy of God. But now, saith God, I will do far otherwise; from henceforth when I bring a cloud, and there be showers of rain on the earth, these clouds shall not be as the other. But "my bow shall be therein."

The cloud then that here is spoken of, must be understood of the judgment of God for sin, like those before, and at the overthrow of the world; only with this difference, they were clouds, judgments without mercy, but these judgments mixed therewith; and often the clouds are thus to be understood. Job when he curseth his day, saith, "Let a cloud dwell upon it" (3:5). So the judgments of God upon Zion, are called the covering of a cloud (Lam 2:1). So in Joel also, to the darkness of clouds, are the judgments of the church compared (2:2); yea, that pillar that went before the children of Israel, it being a judgment to the people of Egypt, goes under this epithet, as a term most fit to express this judgment by, "it was a cloud and darkness to them" (Exo 14:20).

And now to the cloud in hand, the cloud in which is the bow, the cloud of rain, although by the mercy and grace of God it is so great a blessing as it is, yet it sometimes becomes a judgment, it comes for correction, as a rod to afflict the inhabitants of the world withal (Job 37:13). Thus it was in the days of Ezra, and very often both before and since (10:12-14).

"The bow shall be seen in the cloud." This is the mercy of God to the world, and that by which it hath been hitherto preserved; "The bow shall be seen in the cloud." You know I told you of the bow before, that it was a sign or token of the covenant of God with the world, and that the covenant itself was Christ, as given of God unto us, with all his good conditions, merit, and worth. So then, in that, God "set this bow in the cloud," and especially in the clouds that he sends for judgment, he would have the world remember, that there comes no judgment as yet on the world, but it is mixed with, or poized by the mercy of God in Christ.

"The bow shall be seen in the cloud." This may respect God, or the world, that is, the seeing of the bow in the cloud; if it respect God, then it tells us he in judgment will remember mercy; if it respect the world, then it admonisheth us not to despond, or sink in despair under the greatest judgment of God, for the bow, the token of his covenant, is seen in the judgments that he executeth.

When the vision of the ruin of Jerusalem was revealed to the prophet
Ezekiel, he saw that yet Christ sat under the bow (1:28).

When antichrist was to come against the saints of God, the commission came from Christ, as he sat "under the bow" (Rev 4:3). This John did see and relate, of which we should take special notice: for by this token God would have us to know that these clouds, though they come for correction, yet not to destroy the church. My bow shall be seen in the cloud.

Ver. 15. "And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you, and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh."

"And I will remember my covenant." Much like this is that of the Lord to Israel, when they are under all, or any of those forty judgments mentioned (Lev 26). If they shall confess their iniquity, [saith he,] and the iniquity of their fathers, &c., "Then will I remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land" (Lev 26:40-42). His usual way in other sayings is, to begin with Abraham, but here he ends with him; and the reason is, because there, as it were, the great promise of the Messiah to that people began, "Saying, in thy seed shall all nations be blessed."

"And I will remember my covenant which is between me and you." We read not here of any compact or agreement between Noah and God Almighty; wherefore such conditions and compacts could not be the terms between him and us. What then? why that covenant that he calls his, which is his gift to us, "I will give thee for a covenant," this is the covenant which is between God and us: "There is one God, and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus." This then is the reason why all the waters, why all the judgments of God, and why all the sins that have provoked those judgments, cannot become a flood to destroy all flesh.

Ver. 16. "And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth."

"And the bow shall be in the cloud." this is a kind of a repetition; for this he had told us before, saying, "I do set my bow in the cloud," and "the bow shall be seen in the cloud": which repetition is very needful, for it is hard for us to believe that Christ and grace are wrapped up in the judgments of God (1 Peter 1:12). Wherefore it had need be attested twice and thrice. "To write the same things to you," saith Paul, "to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe"(Phil 3:1).

"And I will look upon." A familiar expression, and suited to our capacity, and spoken to prevent a further ground of mistrust; much like to that of God, when he was to send the plague upon Egypt:

"The blood, saith God, [of the Lamb,] shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you, to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt" (Exo 12:13).

"And I will look upon it that I may remember." Not that God is forgetful, "He is ever mindful of his covenant." But such expressions are used to shew and persuade us that the whole heart and delight of God is in it. "That I may remember the everlasting covenant." This word covenant is also the sixth repetition thereof; my covenant, the covenant, a covenant, and the everlasting covenant. O how fain would God beat it into the heads of the world, that he hath for men a covenant of grace.

"The everlasting covenant." Because the parties on both sides are faithful, perfect, and true; the Father being the one, and the Son of his love the other; for this covenant, as I said before, is not a compact and agreement betwixt God and the world, but his Son, as his gift to men, is set for them to Godward (Zech 9:11). So that what conditions there are, they are perfectly found in Christ, by whose blood the covenant is sealed and established, and indeed becomes everlasting, hence it is called "the blood of the everlasting covenant" (Heb 13:20). And again, the New Testament is said to be in this blood. Besides, the promises are all in Christ, I mean the promises of this covenant; in him they are yea, and in him amen, to the glory of God the Father: now they being all in him, and yea and amen no where else, the covenant itself must needs be of pure grace and mercy, and the bow in the cloud, not qualifications in us, [but] the proper token of this covenant.

Ver. 17. "And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth."

Behold a repetition of all things that were essential either to the covenant itself, or to our faith therein, the making of the covenant, the looking on the covenant, and the token of the covenant; how often are they mentioned, that we might be more fully convinced of the unchangeable nature of it. As Joseph said unto Pharaoh, "For that the dream was doubled unto Pharaoh twice, it is because the thing is established by God" (Gen 41:32).

"And God said unto Noah." Where God loveth, he delighteth to apply himself to such, in a more than general way; he singleth out the person, Noah, Abraham, and the like. "I know thee by name," saith he to Moses, and "thou hast found grace in my sight."

"This is the token of the covenant." It still wants beating into people's heads, where they should look for the covenant itself, to wit, the throne which the rainbow compasseth round about; for that is the token of the presence of the Messias, and thither we are to look for salvation from all plagues, and from all the judgments that are due to sin: The Lord for Christ's sake forgave you, this is the token of the covenant.

"Of the covenant which I have established."

This word "I," as also hinted before, doth intimate that this covenant is the covenant of grace and mercy, for a covenant of works cannot be established; that is, settled between God and men, before both parties have either by sureties, or performance ratified and confirmed the same. Indeed it may be so established, as that God will appoint no other; but to be so established, as to give us the fruits thereof, that must be the effects of his being well pleased with the conditions of those concerned in the making thereof. But that is not the world, but the Son of God, and therefore it is called his covenant, and he "as given to us of God," is so reckoned our condition and worth (Zech 9:11).

"Which I have established." To wit, upon better promises than duties purely commanded, or than the obedience of all the angels in heaven. I have established it in the truth and faithfulness, in the merit and worth of the blood of my Son, of whom the rainbow that you see in the cloud is a token.

Ver. 18. "And the sons of Noah, that went forth of the ark, were
Shem, and Ham, and Japheth: and Ham is the father of Canaan."

By these words Moses is returned again to the history of Noah. "And the sons of Noah that went forth of the ark." If these words, "that went forth of the ark," bear the emphasis of this part of the verse, then it may seem that Noah had more children than these; but they were not accounted of; for they being ungodly, as the rest of the world, they perished with them in their ungodliness. These only went in, and came out of the ark with him;[39] to wit,

"Shem, and Ham, and Japheth." The names thus placed are not according to their birth; for Japheth was the elder, Ham the younger, and Shem the middlemost of the two.

Shem therefore takes the place, because of his eminency in godliness (9:24); also, because from him went the line up to Christ (10:2). For which cause also the family of the sons of Judah, though he was but the fourth son of Israel, was reckoned before the family of Reuben, Jacob's first born; or before the rest of the sons of his brethren (1 Chron 2:3). Sometimes persons take their place in genealogy, from the fore-sight of the mightiness of their offspring. Thus was Ephraim placed before Manasseh; for "truly [said Jacob] his younger brother shall be greater than he" (Gen 43:17-20). And he set Ephraim before Manasseh.

Ham is the next in order; not for the sake of his birthright, or because he was much, if anything, now for godliness; but for that he was the next to be eminent in his offspring, for opposing and fighting against the same.

Shem and Ham therefore the two heads, or chief, from whence sprang good and evil men, by way of eminency. "Ham is the father of Canaan," or of the Canaanites, the people of God's curse, whom the sons of Shem who afterwards sprang from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, were to cut off from the earth, for their most high abominations.

Japheth comes in, in the first place, as one that at present was least concerned either in the mercy or displeasure of God; being neither, in his offspring, to be devoutly religious, nor yet incorrigibly wicked, though afterwards he was to be persuaded to dwell in the tents of Shem.

Ver. 19. "These are the three sons of Noah; and of them was the whole earth overspread."

Thus though Noah's beginning was small, his latter end did greatly increase.

Ver. 20, 21. "And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard:—And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent."

This is the blot in this good man's scutcheon; and a strange blot it is, that such an one as Noah should be thus overtaken with evil! One would have thought that Moses should now have began with a relation of some eminent virtues, and honourable actions of Noah, since now he was saved from the death that overtook the whole world, and was delivered, both he and his children, to possess the whole earth himself. Indeed, he stepped from the earth to the altar; as Israel of old did sing on the shore of the red Sea: But, as they, he soon forgat; he rendered evil to God for good.[40]

Neither is Noah alone in this matter: Lot also being delivered from that fire from heaven that burnt up Sodom and Gomorrah, falls soon after into lewdness with the children of his body, and begetteth his own two daughters with child (Gen 19:30-36).

Gideon also, after he was delivered out of the hands of his enemies, took that very gold which God had given him, as the spoil of them that hated him, and made himself idols therewith (Judg 8:24-27). What shall I say of David? and of Solomon also, who after he had been twenty years at work for the service of the true God, both in building and preparing for his worship, and in writing of Proverbs by divine inspiration; did, after this, make temples for idols; yea, almost for the gods of all countries? Yea, he did it when he was old, when he should have been preparing for his grave, and for eternity. "It came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods:—For Solomon went after Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Zidonians; and after Milcom, the abomination of the Ammonites.—He did also build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem; and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon. And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods" (1 Kings 11:4-8).

All these sins were sins against mercies; yea, and doubtless against covenants, and the most solemn resolutions to the contrary. For who can imagine, but that when Noah was tossed with the flood, and Lot within the scent and smell of the fire and brimstone that burnt down Sodom, with his sons, and his daughters; and Gideon, when so fiercely engaged with so great an enemy, and delivered by so strange a hand; should in the most solemn manner both promise and vow to God. But behold! now they in truth are delivered and saved, they recompense all with sin. Lord, what is man! "How—abominable and filthy is man, which drinketh iniquity like water" (Job 15:16). Let these things learn us to cease from man, "whose breath is in his nostrils: for wherein is he to be accounted of?" (Isa 2:22). Indeed, it is a vain thing to build our faith upon the most godly man in the world, because he is subject to err; yea, far better than He, was so.

If Noah, and Lot, and Gideon, and David, and Solomon, who wanted not matter from arguments, and that of the strongest kind; as arguments that are drawn from mercy and goodness be, to engage to holiness, and the fear of God; yet after all, did so foully fall, as we see: let us admire grace, that any stand; let the strongest fear, lest he fearfully fall; and let no man but Jesus Christ himself be the absolute platform and pattern of faith and holiness. As the prophet saith, "Let us cease from man." But to return:

"And Noah began to be an husbandman." This trade he took up for want of better employment; or rather, in mine opinion, from some liberty he took to himself, to be remiss in his care and work, as a preacher. For seeing the church was now at rest, and having the world before them, they still retaining outward sobriety, poor Noah, good man, now might think with himself, "I need not now be so diligent, watchful and painful in my ministry as formerly; the church is but small, without opposition, and also well settled in the truth; I may now take to myself a little time to tamper with worldly things." So he makes an essay upon husbandry. "He began to be an husbandman." Ha, Noah! it was better with thee when thou wast better employed! Yea, it was better with thee, when a world of ungodly men set themselves against thee! Yea, when every day thy life was in danger to be destroyed by the giants, against whom thou wast a preacher above a hundred years! For then thou didst walk with God; Then thou wast better than all the world; but now thou art in the relapse!

Hence note, That though the days of affliction, of temptation and distress, are harsh to flesh and blood; yet they are not half so dangerous as are the days of peace and liberty. Wherefore Moses pre-admonished Israel, That when they had received the land of Canaan, and had herds, and silver and gold in abundance, that then their heart be not lifted up to forget the Lord their God. Jesurun kicked when he was fat. O! When provender pricks[41] us, we are apt to be as the horse or mule, that is without understanding (Deu 8:10-15).

"He planted a vineyard: and he drank of the wine, and was drunken." Although in the course of godliness, many men have but a speculative knowledge of things; yet it is not so in the ways of this world and sin, the practical part of these things are lived in by all the world. They are sinners indeed, "He drank of the wine."

"He drank of the wine, and was drunken." The Holy Ghost, when it hath to do with sin, it loveth to give it its own name: drunkenness must be drunkenness, murder must be murder, and adultery must bear its own name. Nay, it is neither the goodness of the man, nor his being in favour with God, that will cause him to lessen or mince his sin. Noah was drunken; Lot lay with his daughters; David killed Uriah; Peter cursed and swore in the garden, and also dissembled at Antioch. But this is not recorded, to the intent that the name of these godly should rot or stink: but to shew, that the best men are nothing without grace; and, "that he that standeth, should not be high minded, but fear." Yea, they are also recorded, for the support of the tempted, who when they are fallen, are oft raised up by considering the infirmities of others. "Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience, and comfort of the scriptures might have hope" (Rom 15:4).

"And he was uncovered within his tent." That is, he lay like a drunken man, that regarded not who saw his shame. Hence note, how beastly a sin drunkenness is; it bereaveth a man of consideration, and civil behaviour; it makes him as brutish and shameless as a beast; yea, it discovereth his nakedness to all that behold.

"And he was uncovered." That is, lay naked, Behold ye now, that a little of the fruit of the vine, lays gravity, grey hairs, and a man that for hundreds of years was a lover of faith, holiness, goodness, sobriety, and all righteousness; shamelessly, as the object to the eye of the wicked, with his nakedness in his tent.

"He was uncovered within his tent." The best place of retirement he had, but it could not hide him from the eye of the ungodly; it is not therefore thy secret chamber, nor thy lurking in holes, that will hide thee from the eye of the reproacher: nothing can do this but righteousness, goodness, sobriety and faithfulness to God; this will hide thee; these are the garments, which, if they be on thee, will keep thee, that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear (Rev 16:15).

Ver. 22. "And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brethren without."

Ham was the unsanctified one, the father of the children of the curse of God. He saw the nakedness of his father, and he blazed abroad the matter. Hence note, That the wicked and ungodly man, is he that doth watch for the infirmities of the godly: as David says, They watched for my halting. Indeed, they know not else how to justify their own ungodliness; but this, instead of excusing them of their wickedness, doth but justify the word against them; for by this they prove themselves graceless, and men that watch for iniquity. "Let them not say in their hears [said David] Ah! so would we have it" (Psa 35:25). Ammon said, "Aha! against the sanctuary when it was profaned; and against the land of Israel when it was desolate, and against the house of Judah when it went into captivity" (Eze 25:3). The enmity that is in the hearts of ungodly men, will not suffer them to do otherwise; when they see evil befall the saint, they rejoice and skip for joy (Eze 26:2; 36:2).

"He saw the nakedness of his father." Hence note, That saints can rarely slip, but the eyes of the Canaanites will see them. This should make us walk in the world with jealous eyes, with eyes that look round about, not only to what we are and do, but also, how what we do is[42] resented in the world (Gen 13:7). Abraham was good at this, and so was Isaac and Jacob (34:30); for they tendered more the honour and glory of God, than they minded their own concerns.

"He saw the nakedness of his father." Who was the nearest and dearest relation he had in the world; yet neither relation nor kin, nor all the good that his father had done him, could keep his polluted lips from declaring his father's follies, but out they must go; the sin of his own defiled heart must take place of the fifth commandment, and must rather solace itself in rejoicing in his father's iniquity, than in covering his father's nakedness. Wicked men regard not kindred; and no marvel, for they love not godliness. He that loveth not God, loveth not his brother, or father: nay, he "wrongeth his own soul" (Pro 8:36).

"And told his two brethren without." He told them, that is, mockingly, reflecting not only upon Noah but also upon his brethren; to all of whom himself was far inferior, both as to grace and humanity.

Ver. 23. "And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father's nakedness."

Shem and Japheth did it: This is recorded for the renown of these, as the action of Ham is for his perpetual infamy.

They "took a garment, and went backward, and covered their father, and saw not his nakedness." Love will attempt to do that with difficulty, that it cannot accomplish otherwise. I think it might be from this action, that the wise man gathereth his proverb from. "Hatred stirreth up strifes; but love covereth all sins" (Pro 10:12). Indeed, Ham would fain have made variance between his father and his brethren, by presenting the folly of the one, to the shame and provocation of the other. But Shem, and his brother Japheth, they took the course to prevent it; they covered their father's nakedness.

Ver. 24. "And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him."

By these words more is implied than expressed; for this awaking of Noah, not only informeth us of natural awaking from sleep, but of his spiritual awaking from his sin. He awoke from his wine. As "Ely said to Hannah, How long wilt thou be drunken? Put away thy wine from thee" (1 Sam 1:14). By which words he exhorteth to repentance. It is said of Nabal, That his wine went from him, as many men's sins forsake them, because they are decayed, and want strength and opportunity to perform them. Now this may be done, where the heart remaineth yet unsanctified: but Noah awoke from his wine, put it away, or, repented him of the evil of his doing. "A just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief" (Pro 24:16). Wherefore they have cause to say to all the Hams in the world, "Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise" (Micah 7:8); but your fall, is a fall into mischief.

"He knew what his younger son had done unto him." Whether this was by revelation from heaven, or through the information of Japheth and Shem, I determine not; but so it was, that the good man had understanding thereof: which might be requisite upon a double account; not only that he might now be ashamed thereof; but take notice, that he had caused the enemies of God to reproach; for this sinks deep into a good man's heart, and afflicteth him so much the more.

Ver. 25. "And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren."

By these words one would think that Canaan, the grand-child of Noah, was the first that discovered his nakedness; but of this I am uncertain: I rather think that Noah, in a spirit of prophecy, determined the destruction of Ham's posterity, from the prodigiousness of his wicked action, and of his name, which signifieth indignation, or heat; for names of old were ofttimes given according to the nature and destiny of the persons concerned. "Is not he rightly called Jacob?" (Gen 27:36). And again, "As his name is, so is he" (1 Sam 25:25). Besides, by this act did Ham declare himself void of the grace of God; for he that rejoiceth in iniquity, or that maketh a mock, as being secretly pleased with or at the infirmities of the godly, he is declared already, by the Spirit of God, to be nothing (1 Cor 13).

"A servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren." This was accomplished when Israel took the land of Canaan, and made the offspring of this same Ham, even so many as escaped the edge of the sword, to be captives and bondsmen, and tributers unto them.

Hence note, that the censures of good men are dreadful, and not lightly to be passed over, whether they prophesy of evil or good; because they speak in judgment, and according to the tenor of the word of God.

Ver. 26. "And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant."

Shem seems by this to be the first in that action of love to his father: and that Japheth did help through his persuasion; for Shem is blessed in a special manner, and Canaan is made his servant.

Hence note, That forwardness in things that are good, is a blessed sign that the Lord is our God: Blessed be the Lord God of Shem. It is said of Hananiah, That "he was a faithful man, and feared God above many" (Neh 7:2). Now such men are provocations to good, as I doubt not but Shem's was to Japheth: As Paul saith of some, "Your zeal hath provoked very many" (2 Cor 9:2).

Ver. 27. "God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem."

In the margin, it is "God shall persuade": And it looks like a confirmation of what I said before, and is a prophecy of that requital of love that God should one day give his posterity, for his kindness to Noah his father. As if Noah had said, "Well, Japheth, thou wast soon persuaded by Shem to shew kindness to me thy father, and the Lord shall hereafter persuade thy posterity to trust in the God of Shem."

"God shall enlarge." This may respect liberty of soul, or how great the church of the Gentiles should be; for Japheth was the father of the Gentiles (Gen 10:5).

If it respect the fist, then it shows that sin is as fetters and chains that holds souls in captivity and thraldom. And hence, when Christ doth come in the gospel, it is "to preach deliverance to the captives,—and to set at liberty them that are bruised" (Luke 4:18).

"God shall persuade." That is, God shall enlarge him by persuasion; for the gospel knows no other compulsion, but to force by argumentation. Them therefore that God brings into the tents, or churches of Christ, they by the gospel are enlarged form the bondage and thraldom of the devil, and persuaded also to embrace his grace to salvation.

Ver. 28. "And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years."

He lived therefore to see Abraham fifty and eight years old: He lived also to see the foundation of Babel laid; nay, the top stone thereof: and also the confusion of tongues. He lived to see of the fruit of his loins, mighty kings and princes. But in all this time he lived not to do one work that the Holy Ghost thought worthy to record for the savour of his name, or the edification and benefit of his church, save only, That he died at nine hundred and fifty years; so great a breach did this drunkenness make upon his spirit.

Ver. 29. "So all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years: and he died."

Chapter X.

Ver. 1. "Now these are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem,
Ham, and Japheth: and unto them were sons born after the flood."

Having thus passed over the flood, with what Noah and his sons did after; we now come to the second plantation of the world, to wit, by the three sons of Noah; for by these three was the world replenished after the flood. Shem was the father of the Jews; Ham the father of the Canaanites; and Japheth, the father of the Gentiles. So then, of Shem came the then present visible church; of Ham the opposers and enemies of it; but of Japheth came those that should be received into the church afterwards; as also abundance of the haters of the Lord.

Ver. 2. "The sons of Japheth; Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and
Javan, and Tubal, and Meshech, and Tiras."

Gomer, a consumer; Magog, covering, or melting; Madai, measuring, or judging; Javan, making sad; Tubal, born, brought, or worldly; Meshech, prolonging; Tiras, a destroyer; these are the English of their names.

Gomer, and Magog, and Meshech, and Tubal, are the great persecutors of the church in the latter days (Eze 38:2). They shall be persecuted then by consumers, melters, and men of this world (Rev 20:8). Madai, and Javan, (as some say,) were the fathers of the Medes and Greeks. These therefore did sometimes help, and not always hinder the church.

Ver. 3, 4. "And the sons of Gomer; Askenaz, and Riphath, and Togarmah.
And the sons of Javan; Elishah, and Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim."

Riphath, medicine, or release; Elishah, the Lamb of God; Dodanim, beloved. Either these names were given them by way of prophecy; implying, that of their seed should arise many Gentile churches; or to show us, that when men, as their fathers, have left or lost the power of godliness, yet something of the notion they may yet retain (Isa 60:9).

Ver. 5. "By these were the isles of the Gentiles divided in their lands, every one after his tongue, after their families, in their nations."

But this must be understood to be after the building of, and confusion at Babel; for before they had all but one tongue; and besides, they kept all together (11:1,2).

Ver. 6. "And the sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and
Canaan."

Cush, black. Of Ham and Mizraim came the Ethiopians, or blackamoor
(Psa 105:23): The land of Ham was the country about Egypt; wherefore
Israel was first afflicted by them.

Ver. 7. "And the sons of Cush; Seba and Havilah, and Sabtah, and
Raamah, and Sabtechah: and the sons of Raamah; Sheba and Dedan."

Seba and Sheba, sometimes look well upon the church; but when they did not, God gave them for her ransom (Psa 72:10; Isa 43:3).

Ver. 8. "And Cush begat Nimrod: [or the rebellious one;] he began to be a mighty one in the earth."

The begetting of Nimrod, is accounted a thing that is over and above, and is laid by the Holy Ghost as a blot upon Cush for ever; for when men would vilify, they used to say, Thou art the son of the rebellious, the son of a murderer. So again, He that begetteth Solomon's fool, (or, wicked one) he begetteth him to his own shame (Prov 17:21).

"Cush begat Nimrod." So then, the curse came betimes upon the sons of Ham; for he was the father of Cush. For the curse, as it were, begins in rebellion, and a rebellious one was Nimrod, both by name and nature.

"He began to be a mighty one in the earth." I am apt to think he was the first that in this new world sought after absolute monarchy.

"He began to be a mighty one in the earth," (or, among the children of men). I suppose him to be a giant; not only in person, but in disposition; and so, through the pride of his countenance, did scorn that others, or any, should be his equal; nay, could not be content, till all made obeisance to him. He therefore would needs be the author and master of what religion he pleased; and would also subject the rest of his brethren thereto, by what ways his lusts thought best. Wherefore here began a fresh persecution. THAT sin therefore which the other world was drowned for was again revived by this cursed man, even to lord it over the sons of God, and to enforce idolatry and superstition upon them; and hence he is called "the mighty hunter."

Ver. 9. "He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD."

He was a mighty hunter. That is, a persecutor: Wherefore Saul's persecuting of David is compared to hunting (1 Sam 26:20): and so is the persecution of others (Lam 4:18). They hunt every man his brother with a net (Micah 7:2): and it may well be compared thereto; of the dog or lion that hunteth, is void of bowels and pity; and if they can but satisfy their doggish and lionish nature, they care neither for innocence, nor goodness, nor life of that they pursue (1 Sam 24:11). The life, the blood, the extirpation of the contrary party, is the end of their course of hunting (Eze 13:18,22).[43]

"He was a mighty hunter." As it is said of Jabin, "He mightily oppressed Israel twenty years"; that is, he did it exceedingly; he went beyond others; he was more cruel and barbarous; he was a mighty hunter. Wherefore the children of blessed Shem, by this monster, had sore affliction (Judg 4:2,3). Noah therefore lived to see Nimrod, the mighty one, make havock of the children of his bowels, to his no little grief and compunction of spirit.

"He was a mighty hunter before the LORD"; or, in the presence of the Lord; or, in defiance to him. This shows, That the hand of God was stretched forth against his work; as also it was against Jeroboam's, by that man of God that from Judah went down to prophesy against him; but he abode obdurate and hard; he regarded not the Lord, nor the operation of his hands (1 Kings 13:1-3). As he also saith in another place of the cursed brood of Antichrist, "When they fall upon the sword, they shall not be wounded" (Joel 2:8). Let them do things never so much against the plain text, they feel not the wounds of conscience; but this is a sore judgment, and that under which this hunter was; and therefore the presence and hand of God would not break him off, nor hinder his hunting of souls. But even before the face of the keeper of the godly, would Nimrod, the rebel, hunt for their precious life to destroy it.

Wherefore it is said, even as Nimrod, the mighty hunter, before the Lord. These words, as it seems, was the proverb that went of him among the godly in after generations; for he had so left his marks in the sides of the church, that she could not quickly forget him. Wherefore, when at any time there arose another that showed cruelty to the ways of God, he was presently compared to Nimrod, that "hunted before the Lord." Nimrod therefore was rebellious to a proverb: And as it is said of Ahab, so might it be said of him, "There was none like" Nimrod, "which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of, [or, before] the LORD" (1 Kings 21:25).[44]

Ver. 10. "And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar."

By these words, as I suppose, are those in the chapter that followeth expounded: Where it says, "Let us build us a city, and a tower"; for this work was chiefly the invention of Nimrod, who, with his wicked council, contrived this work; and as one that had made himself head of the people, he enjoined them to set to the work.

"And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel." Babel therefore was the first great seat of oppressors after the flood; whose situation was in the land of Shinar, in that land which is now called Babylon. By this we may also gather, by whom our mystical Babel was builded; to wit, by those that rebelled (as Nimrod) from the simplicity of the gospel of Christ; for the builders, especially the chief, have a semblance one of another. It was even such as came of the seed of the godly, as these did of blessed Noah; who, in time, apostatizing from the word, and desiring mastership over their brethren; they, as lords, fomented their own conceptions, and then enjoined the people to build. As Rehoboam forsook the counsel of the ancients, that stood before his father Solomon; so these have forsaken the counsel of the old men, the apostles that stood before Jesus Christ; and hearkening to the counsel of a younger sort of wanters of their grace and wisdom, they imagine and build a Babel.[45]

Ver. 11, 12. "Out of that land went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh, and the city Rehoboth, and Calah, and Resen, between Nineveh, and Calah: The same is a great city."

Nimrod having began to exalt himself; others, that were big with desires of ostentation, did soon follow his example, making themselves captains and heads of the people, and built them strong holds for the supportation of their glory. But they did it, as I said, by Nimrod's example; wherefore it is said they went "out of that land." Just thus it was at the beginning of mystical Babel: First the tyranny began at Babel itself, where the usurper was seen to sit in his glory, before whose face the world did tremble. Now other inferior persons, inferior, I say, in power, but not in pride, having desire to be lords, as Nimrod himself, they will also go build them cities; by which means Nimrod's invention could not be kept at Rome, but hath spread itself in many and mighty kingdoms.[46]

"Out of that land went forth Asshur, and builded Nineveh," &c. Asshur seems to be the second son of Shem (v 22). A fit resemblance of those persons that have come from mystical Babel, to build their Ninevehs, and Rehoboths, and Calnehs, in all lands. Still they have pretended religion. That they had their orders from the apostolical see. That they were the true sons of Shem, or disciples of Christ. But the seeing Christian should remember, that some of the children of Shem were in Babel with rebellious Nimrod. That instead of learning humility of their father, through the pride and rebellion of their own vain-glorious fancies, they learned wickedness and rebellion of cursed and prodigious Nimrod.

Hence note, that what cities, that is, churches soever have been builded by persons that have come from Romish Babel, those builders and cities are to be suspected for such as had their founder and foundation from Babel itself. Wherefore let Israel say, "Asshur shall not save us" (Hosea 14:3), for he shall not save himself (Num 24:24); but as the star of Jacob ariseth, he shall fade and perish for ever. So perish all the builders and building that hath had its pattern from mystical Babel, unless a miracle of grace prevents.

It was Asshur that carried away the ten tribes (Ezra 4:2); it is Asshur that joineth with the enemies of the church (Psa 83:8); it is Asshur that with others upholds the great mart of the nations (Eze 27:23). Wherefore Asshur and all his company, must at last go down into their pit (Eze 32:22).

So then, let Augustine the monk, come from Rome into England, and let him build his Nineveh here; let others go also into other countries, and build their Resens and Calahs there; these are all but brats of Babel, and their end shall be, That they perish for ever. John saw it, and the cities, that is, the churches of the nations, or the national churches, fell; and great Babylon, their inventor and founder, "came into remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath" (Rev 16:19).

Ver. 13, 14. "And Mizraim begat Ludim, and Anamim, and Lehabim, and Naphtuhim, and Pathrusim, and Casluhim, [out of whom came Philistim,] and Caphtorim."

Ludim, as I suppose, may be the same with Lubim that came up with the Egyptians and Ethiopians against Israel (2 Chron 12:3; 16:8), of whose cruelty Nahum complains; where he saith, They also helped Nineveh against the children of God (3:9). The rest of them were of the same disposition, especially the Philistine that came of Casluhim; for they, both in Saul and David's days, were implacable against the church and people of God; they were a giantish people, and trusted in their strength, and seldom overcome but when Israel went against them in the name of the Lord their God.

Ver. 15-18. "And Canaan begat Sidon his first born, and Heth, and the Jebusite, and the Amorite, and the Girgasite, and the Hivite, and the Arkite, and the Sinite, and the Arvadite, and the Zemarite, and the Hamathite: And afterward were the families of the Canaanites spread abroad."

These are the children of Canaan, the son of Ham, the accursed of the Lord. These did chiefly possess the land of Canaan before Israel went out of Egypt: they were a mighty giantish people, yet Israel must fight with them, notwithstanding they were, in comparison to these, but as the grasshopper.

Ver. 19. "And the border of the Canaanites was from Sidon, as thou comest to Gerar, unto Gaza; as thou goest, unto Sodom, and Gomorrah, and Admah, and Zeboim, even unto Lasha."

They bordered therefore upon the Philistines on the one side (Gen 26:15,18,19); for Gerar and Gaza belonged to them, and they touched upon Sodom and Gomorrah, &c. on the other (Judg 16:1,21). They were placed therefore, by the judgment of God, between these two wicked and sinful people, that they might, as a punishment for their former sins, be infected with the sight and infection of their ungodly and monstrous abominations. They that "turn aside unto their crooked ways, the LORD shall lead them forth with the workers of iniquity" (Psa 125:5).

Ver. 20. "These are the sons of Ham, after their families, after their tongues, in their countries, and in their nations."

Ham had a mighty offspring; but the judgment of God was, That they should be wicked men, idolaters, persecutors, sinners with a high hand; such as God was resolved to number to the sword, both in this world, and that to come; I mean, for the generality of them.

Ver. 21. "Unto Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder, even to him were children born."

The manner of style which the Holy Ghost here useth in his preamble to the genealogy of Shem, is worthy to be taken notice of; as that he is called, "the father of all the children of Eber," and "the brother of Japheth."

By his being called, "the father of all the children of Eber," we may suppose, that from Eber to Abraham, (by whom the reckoning of the genealogy was cut off from Eber, and entailed to the name of Abraham,) all the children of Eber were, as it were, the disciples of Shem, for he lived awhile after Abraham. His doctrine therefore they might profess, though possibly with some mixture of those inventions that came in among men afterwards; which I think were at the greatest about Abraham's time. Besides, he shews by this, that the other children of Shem, as Elam, Asshur, Lud and Aram, with Uz, Hul, Gether and Mash, went away with Nimrod, and the rest of that company, into idolatry, tyranny and other profaneness; so that only the line from Shem to Eber, and from thence to Abraham, &c. were the visible church in those days.

"The brother of Japheth." So he was of Ham, but because Ham was cut off for his wickedness to his father, therefore both Shem and Japheth did hold him in abomination, and would not own that relation that before was between them, especially in things pertaining to the kingdom of God, and of Christ: Wherefore the Holy Ghost also, in reckoning up the kindred of Shem, excludeth Ham the younger brother, and stops after he had mentioned Japheth: "The brother of Japheth the elder."

"Unto him were children born," unto Shem also. Unto him were children born: The Holy Ghost doth secretly here, as he did before in the generation of Seth, insinuate a wonder. For considering the godliness of Shem, and the ungodliness of Ham, and the multitude of his tyrannical brood, it is a wonder that there should such a thing as the offspring of Shem be found upon the face of the earth. For I am apt to think that Shem, with his posterity, did testify against the actions of Nimrod; as also against the children of Ham, in their wickedness and rebellion against the way of God; as may be hinted after. Wherefore he, with his seed, were in jeopardy, among that tumultuous generation. Yet God preserved him and his seed upon the face of the earth. For let the number and wickedness of men be never so great in the world, there must be also a church, by whose actions the ways of the wicked must be condemned.

Ver. 22. "The children of Shem; Elam, and Asshur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram."

These children were born unto Shem: The book of Chronicles mentions four more, as Uz, and Hul, and Gether, Meshech, or Mash; but these were the natural sons of Aram, Shem being only their father's father.

Elam and Asshur, as also Lud and Aram, notwithstanding they were the sons of Shem, struck off, as I think, with Nimrod, and left their father, for the glory of Babel; yea, they had a province there in the days of Daniel (8:2). Wherefore great judgments are threatened against Elam; as, That Elam shall drink the cup of God's fury: That their bow shall be broken: That God would bring upon him the four winds (Jer 49:36). And, That there should be no nation whither the captives of Elam should not come: Yet God would save them in the latter days (v 39).

As for Lud although through the wickedness of his heart he forsook his father Shem, and so the true religion; yet a promise is made of his conversion, when God calls home the children of Japheth, and persuadeth them to dwell in the tents of Shem. "I will set a sign among them [saith God,] and I will send those that escape of them, unto the nations to Tarshish, Pul and Lud,—to Tubal and Javan, to the isles afar off, that have not heard my fame" (Isa 66:19). Yea, thus it shall be, although they were once the soldiers of the adversaries of the church, and bare the shield and helmet against her (Eze 27:10). Of Asshur I have spoken before. Aram became also an heathen, and dwelt among the mountains of the east: Out of him came Balaam the soothsayer that Balak sent for, to curse the children of Israel (Num 23:7).

In Arphaxad, though he was not the eldest, remained the line that went from Abraham to David; and from him to Jesus Christ (Luke 3:36).

Ver. 23. "And the children of Aram; Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and
Mash."

Uz went also off from Shem, but yet good men came from his loins; for Job himself was of that land (Job 1:1). Yet the wrath of God was threatened to go forth against them, because they had a hand in the persecution of the children of Israel, &c. (Jer 25:20; Lam 4:21).

Ver. 24, 25. "And Arphaxad begat Salah; and Salah begat Eber. And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg; for in his days was the earth divided; and his brother's name was Joktan."

This Eber was a very godly man, the next after Shem that vigorously stood up to maintain religion. Two things are entailed upon him to his everlasting honour: First, The children of God, even Abraham himself, was not ashamed to own himself one of this man's disciples, or followers; and hence he is called Abraham the Hebrew, or Ebrew (Gen 14:13). Joseph also will have it go there: I was stolen (said he) out of the land of the Hebrews (Gen 40:15). Nay, the Lord God himself, to show how he honoured this man's faith and life, doth style himself the God of his fathers, to wit, the God of the Hebrews, the Lord God of the Hebrews (Exo 3:18; 7:16; 9:1,13). Secondly, This was the man that kept that language with which Adam was created, and that in which God spake to the fathers of old, from being corrupted and confounded by the confusion of Babel; and therefore it is for ever called his, the Hebrew tongue (John 5:2; 19:13,20), the tongue in which Christ spake from heaven to and by Saul (Acts 21:40; 22:2; 26:14). This man therefore, was a stiff opposer of Nimrod; neither had he a hand in the building of Babel; for all that had, had their language confounded by that strange judgment of God.

"And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was Peleg, [or Division,] for in his days was the earth divided; and his brother's name was Joktan." This division, in mine opinion, was not only that division that was made by the confusion of tongues, but a division also that was made among men by the blessed doctrine of God, which most eminently rested in the bosom of Shem and Eber, neither of which had their hands in the monstrous work.[47] Wherefore, as Eber by abstaining kept entire the holy language; so Shem, to shew that he was clear from this sin also, is by the Holy Ghost called, "The father of all the children of Eber." Implying, that Eber and Shem did mightily labour to preserve a seed from the tyranny and pollution of Nimrod and Babel; and by that means made a division in the earth; unto whom because the rebels would not adhere, therefore did God the Lord smite them with confusion of tongues, and scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.

Ver. 26. "And Joktan begat Almodad, and Sheleph, and Hazarmaveth, and Jerah."

Here again he hath left the holy line, which is from Eber to Abraham, and makes a stop upon Joktan's genealogy, and so comes down to the building of Babel.

Ver. 27-30. "These therefore begat Joktan": He also begat "Hadoram, and Uzal, and Diklah, and Obal, and Abimael, and Sheba; and Ophir, and Havilah, and Johab: All these were the sons of Joktan.—And their dwelling was from Mesha, as thou goes, unto Sephar a mount of the east."

Ver. 31. "These are the sons of Shem, after their families, after their tongues, in their lands, after their nations."

Moses, as I said, by this relation, respecteth, and handleth chiefly those, or them persons, who were at first the planters of the world after the flood; leaving the church, or a relation of that, and its seed, to be discoursed after the building of Babel, unto the tenth verse of the next chapter. Hence methinks one might gather, that these above mentioned, whose genealogies are handled at large, as the families of Japheth, of Ham, and Joktan are, were both, in their persons and offsprings engaged (some few only excepted, who might adhere to Noah, Shem, and Eber) in that foul work, the building of Babel. Now that which inclineth me thus to think, it is because immediately after their thus being reckoned by Moses, even before he taketh up the genealogy of Shem, he bringeth in the building thereof; the which he not only mentioneth, but also enlargeth upon; yea, and also telleth of the cause of the stopping of that work, before he returneth to the church, and the line that went from Shem to Abraham.

Ver. 32. "These are the families of the sons of Noah after their generations, in their nations: and by these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood."

Chapter XI.

Ver. 1. "And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech."

Moses having thus briefly passed through the genealogies of Japheth, Ham, and Joktan; in the next place he cometh to shew us their works which they had by this time engaged to do; and that was, to build a Babel, whose tower might reach to heaven. Now, in order to this their work, or rather to his relation thereof, he maketh a short fore-speech, which consisteth of two branches. The first is, That now they had all one language or lip.[48] The other was, That they yet had kept themselves together, either resting or walking, as an army compact. An excellent resemblance of the state of the church, before she imagined to build her a Babel. For till then, however one might outstrip another in knowledge and love; yet so far as they obtained, their language or lip was but one. Having but one heart, and one soul, they with one mouth did glorify God, even the Father.

"And the whole earth was of one language." By these words therefore, we may conceive the reason why so great a judgment as that great wickedness, Babel, should be contrived, and endeavoured to be accomplished. The multitude was one. Not but that it is a blessed thing for the church to be one: as Christ saith, "My beloved is but one" (John 17:11). But here was an oneness, not only in the church, but in her mixing with the world. The whole earth, among which, as I suppose, is included Noah, Shem, and others; who being overtopt by Nimrod, the mighty hunter, might company with him until he began to build Babel. Therefore it is said in the next verse, that they companied together from the east, to the land of Shinar.

Hence note, That the first and primitive churches were safe and secure, so long as they kept entire by themselves; but when once they admitted of a mixture, great Babel, as a judgment of God, was admitted to come into their mind.

Ver. 2. "And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there."

By these words, we gather, that the first rest of Noah, and so the inhabiting of his posterity, was still eastward from Babylon, towards the sun rising.

But to gospelise: They journeyed from the east: and so consequently they turned their backs upon the rising of the sun. So did also the primitive church, in the day when she began to decline from her first and purest state. Indeed, so long as she kept close to the doctrine and discipline of the gospel, according to the word and commandment of the Lord Jesus, then she kept her face still towards the sun rising: According to the type in Ezekiel, who saith of the second and mystical temple, Her fore front, or face, did stand towards the east (47:1). Also he saith, when he saw the glory of God, how it came unto this temple, it came from the way of the east (43:2). Their journeying therefore from the east, was, their turning their backs upon the sun. And to us, in gospel times, it holdeth forth such a mystery as this: That their journey was thus recorded, to show they were now apostatized; for assuredly they had turned their back upon the glorious Sun of Righteousness, as upon that which shineth in the firmament of heaven.

"They found a plain in the land of Shinar." Shinar is the land of Babylon (Dan 1:2; Zech 5:11), as those scriptures in the margin declare.

"They found a plain." Or, place of fatness and plenty, as usually the plains are; and are, upon that account, great content to our flesh: This made Lot separate from Abraham, and choose to dwell with the sinners of Sodom; why, the country was a plain, and therefore fat and plentiful, even like the garden of the Lord, and the land of Egypt. Here therefore they made a stop; here they dwelt and continued together. A right resemblance of the degenerators' course in the days of general apostacy from the true apostolical doctrine, to the church of our Romish Babel. So long as the church endured hardship, and affliction, she was greatly preserved from revolts and backslidings; but after she had turned her face from the sun, and had found the plain of Shinar; that is, the fleshly contents that the pleasures, and profits, and honours of this world afford; she forgetting the word and order of God, was content, with Lot, to pitch towards Sodom; or, with the travellers in the text, to dwell in the land of Babel.

Ver. 3. "And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly [and burn them to a burning]. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar."

Now they being filled with ease and plenty, they begin to lift up the horn, and to consult one with another what they were best to do: Whereupon, after some time of debate, they came to this conclusion, That they would go build a Babel.

"And they said one to another, Go to." This manner of phrase is often used in scripture; and is some times, as also here, used to show, That the thing intended, must come to pass, what opinion or contradiction to the contrary soever there be. It argueth that a judgment is made in the case, and proceedings shall be accordingly. Thus it is also to be taken in Judges 7:3; Ecclesiastes 2:1; Isaiah 5:5; James 5:1, &c. Wherefore it shows, that these men had cast off the fear of God, and, like Israel in the days of the prophet Jeremiah, they resolved to follow their own imagination, let God or his judgments speak never so loud to the contrary. And so indeed he says of them at verse the sixth: "And this they begin to do: [saith God] and now nothing will be restrained from them."

This is all Mr. Bunyan hath writ of this EXPOSITION, as we perceive by the blank paper following the manuscript.[49]

Footnotes:

[1]Although no mortal mind can by searching find out the Almighty to perfection, yet Bunyan's views of the Divine Being is an approach to perfection. It is worthy the pen of the most profound Christian philosopher.—Ed.

[2]The more extensive our inquiries are into the wonders of creation, the more deeply will our souls be humbled. The answer to the inquiry, "What is man?" can then, and only then, be made in the language of Isaiah, "Nothing—vanity—a drop of a bucket—the small dust of the balance," 40:15.—Ed.

[3]How sad, but true, is this type of many governments, especially of the olden times; the strong devour the weak—strong in person or by subtilty, or by combination. Should this earth ever be blessed with a Christian government, the governors will exclusively seek the welfare and happiness of the governed.—Ed.

[4]This is one of those beautiful discoveries which modern geology fully confirms. The earth is created, matured, prepared and fitted for him, before man is created. That modern popular work, "The Vestiges of Creation," elucidates the same fact from the phenomena of nature: but the philosopher who wrote that curious book little thought that these sublime truths were published more than a century and a half ago, by an unlettered mechanic, whose sole source of knowledge was his being deeply learned in the holy oracles. They discover in a few words that which defies centuries of philosophic researches of the most learned men. A wondrous book is God's Book!—Ed.

[5]In what pointed language are these solemn warnings put. Reader, in the sight of god, let the heart-searching inquiry of the apostle's be yours; Lord, is it I?

[6]Bunyan beautifully illustrates this view of divine truth in his controversy with Edward Fowler, Bishop of Gloucester. See "The Defence of the Doctrine of Justification by Faith in Jesus Christ."—Ed.

[7]Christian, you are specially cautioned to "beware of the flatterer." The Pilgrim's Christian and Hopeful forgot the caution, and "a man black of flesh but covered with a very light robe, caught them in his net, and they were chastised sore."—Ed.

[8]Much allowance must be made for the state of female education in Bunyan's days. Every effort was made to keep women in subordination—a mere drudging, stocking mending help meet for man. Now we feel that the more highly she is cultivated, the more valuable help she becomes, and that in intellect she is on a perfect equality with man.—Ed.

[9] "And sensed." Not now used as a verb. The meaning is, that Eve, instead of instantly rejecting the temptation, because contrary to God's command, she reasoned upon it, and sought counsel of her carnal senses.—Ed.

[10]This passage would have done honour to Bishop Taylor, or any one of our best English writers. How blessed are we, if our eyes have been thus painfully opened to see and feel the awful state into which sin plunges us.—Ed.

[11]How solemn are these awful facts, and how impressively does Bunyan fix them on our hears. As Adam and Eve attempted to hide their guilt and themselves by fig-leaves and bushes, so does man now endeavour to screen his guilt from the omniscient eye of God by refuges of lies, which, like the miserable fig-leaf apron, will be burnt up by the presence of God. Oh, sinner! seek shelter in the robe of the Redeemer's righteousness; the presence of your God will add to its lustre, and make it shine brighter and brighter.—Ed.

[12]The remaining words of this alarming verse are very striking, "Though they be hid from my sight in the bottom of the sea, thence will I command the serpent, and he shall bite them." Oh, sinner! whither can you flee from the punishment of sin, but to the Saviour's bosom? Leave your sins and fly to him; that almighty eternal refuge is open night and day.—Ed.

[13]How art thou fallen, oh Adam! thus to lay the blame of thy sin upon God,—"the woman whom thou gavest me," she tempted me. Well does Bunyan term these defences—pitiful fumbling speeches, faulteringly made. How would the glorified spirits of Adam and Aaron embrace him, when he entered heaven, for such honest dealing.—Ed.

[14]A decided Christian cannot obey human laws affecting divine worship. All such are of Antichrist; "Ye cannot obey God and mammon." God requires an undivided allegiance.—Ed.

[15]Genevan or Puritan version.

[16]Many are the anxieties, sorrows, and pains, that females undergo, from which man is comparatively exempt. How tenderly then ought they to be cherished.—Ed.

[17]Most married men find this to be an exceedingly difficult duty. There are few Eves but whose dominant passion is to rule a husband. Perhaps the only way to govern a wife is to lead her to think that she rules, while in fact she is ruled. One of the late Abraham Booth's maxims to young ministers, was, If you would rule in your church, so act as to allow them to think that they rule you.—Ed.

[18] "By themselves." This does not mean without human company, but "without divine aid," without the sanction and presence of God.—Ed.

[19]There is no error more universal, nor more fatal, than that which Bunyan here, as well as in other of his treatises, so admirably elucidates and explodes. No sooner does a poor sinner feel the necessity of flying from the wrath to come, than Satan suggests that some good works must be pleaded, instead of casting the soul, burthened with sin, upon the compassion of the Lord, and pleading for unconditional mercy. Good works must flow from, but cannot be any cause of grace.—Ed.

[20]Adversaries to Christ and his church, although professing to be Christians; worshipping according to "the traditions of men," and putting the saints into wretched prisons, and to a frightful death. An awful state of self-delusion; how Cain-like!—Ed.

[21]If it be asked, Why take your unregenerate children, and invite the ungodly, to the place of worship? Our answer is, THERE the Lord is pleased to meet with sinners—convince, convert, and purify them—giving them a good hope that their persons and services are accepted.—Ed.

[22]How awfully is this illustrated by acts of uniformity. If it be lawful to pass such acts, it must be requisite and a duty to enforce them. It was this that filled Europe with tears, and the saints with anguish, especially in Piedmont, France, and England. Mercifully, the tyrant Antichrist's power is curtailed.—Ed.

[23]How solemn are these injunctions, and how opposed to the violent conduct of mankind. A most appalling murder has been committed;—a virtuous and pious young man is brutally murdered by his only brother:—what is the divine judgment? If any man kill him, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold: set a mark upon him—drive him from the abodes of man—shut him up in a cage like a wild beast—but shed not his blood.—Ed.

[24]When Bunyan was in prison, under sentence to be hung, all his thoughts were, not how to escape, but, how so to suffer as to glorify God; "I thought with myself if I should make a scrabbling shift to clamber up the ladder, yet I should either with quaking or other symptoms of faintings, give occasion to the enemy to reproach the way of God and his people for their timorousness. This, therefore, lay with great trouble upon me, for, methought, I was ashamed to die with a pale face and tottering knees for such a cause as this."—Grace Abounding, No. 334.—Ed.

[25]Bunyan has taken the meaning of all these Scripture names from the first table to the Genevan or Puritan version, vulgarly called "The Breeches Bible," as invaluable translation.—Ed.

[26]Bunyan, after suffering much, and witnessing the cruel havoc made with the church of God in his time, fell asleep in peace on the eve of the glorious revolution;—while many of his cotemporaries did, he did not "live to see it." He died August 31, 1688—as James the Second fled and lost his crown on the 11th of December following.—Ed.

[27] "And yet there is room." As in Christ, the ark of his church, so it was in Noah's ark. The best calculations, allowing eighteen inches to a cubit, show that the ark was capable of receiving many more than this selection from all the animals now known, together with their requisite provender. Dr. Hunter estimated the tonnage at 42,413 tons measurement.—Ed.

[28]How astonishing is the fact, that man dares to introduce his miserable inventions to deform the scriptural simplicity of divine worship; as if HE who make all things perfect, had, in this important institution, forgotten to direct the use of liturgies—organs—vestments—pomps and ceremonies. When will man, with child-like simplicity, follow gospel rules?—Ed.

[29]How mysterious are God's ways: some animals of every kind are saved, and all the rest destroyed. So throughout every age some animals have been treated with kindness, and others of the same species cruelly maltreated. Can those who stumble at the doctrine of election, account for this difference. Reason must submit with reverence to the voice of Christ; "What I do, thou knowest not NOW; but thou shalt know hereafter."—Ed.

[30] "Item," a new article added; a caution or warning.—Ed.

[31]Every edition, but the first, has left out Noah's sons!! from the ark, while they all put in his sons' wives.—Ed.

[32]They perish in sight of a place of security which they cannot reach; they perish with the bitter remorse of having despised and rejected the means of escape, like the rich man in hell, whose torment was grievously augmented by the sight of Lazarus, afar off, in the bosom of Abraham.—Ed.

[33]Calmet says, "Apres que l'Arche eut fait le tour du monde pendant l'espace de six mois."—Supplement to Dictionary. He gives no authority for this improbable notion.—Ed.

[34] "A graceless clergy"!! So numerous as to cover the ground of our land!! How awful a fact—taking the name of God on polluted lips, and professing to teach what they do not comprehend. Men in a state of rebellion against heaven, calling upon others to submit to God's gospel. Solemn hypocrites, fearful will be your end.—Ed.

[35]This should prompt every professing Christian to self-examination—Am I of the raven class, or that of the dove? May my heart, while trembling at the thought that there are ravens in the church, appeal to the heart-searching God, "Lord, is it I?"—Ed.

[36]This may have suggested an idea to Bunyan in writing the second part of his Pilgrim. In the battle between Great Heart and Giant Maul the sophist, after an hour's hard fighting, "they sat down to rest them, but Mr. Great Heart betook him to prayer. When they had rested them, and taken breath, they both fell to it again."—Ed.

[37]Instead of progressing to the meridian sunshine of Christianity, they have retrograded to a darker gloom than the twilight of Judaism. Still, some vestiges of knowledge remain—some idea of a future state, and of sacrifice for sin. Christian, how blessed art thou! How ought your light to shine among men, to the glory of your heavenly Father!—Ed.

[38] "The beginning," the foundation; that which is essential to the existence, as, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." Take away the fear of the Lord, and this heavenly wisdom ceaseth to exist.—Ed.

[39]That absurd jumble, called "The Koran," mentions a fourth son of Noah, named Kinan, who refused to enter the ark with his family, preferring to trust them on the top of a mountain, where they all perished. See the chapter entitled "Hod."—Ed.

[40]Faithful is the record of Holy Writ. No excuse is offered for the sin of this great patriarch. Grapes eaten from the vine, or after having been dried, are nutritious, like grain from the ear of corn; pressed out and fermented, they lose that nutriment—acquire a fiery force—mount to the brain—lead reason captive—and triumphs over decency: the most enlightened man becomes the savage.—Ed.

[41]To prick—to incite—to spur—to dress oneself for show; thus it was commonly used in Bunyan's time, but in this sense has become obsolete.—Ed.

[42]To resent—to consider as an injury or affront—to take ill.—Ed.

[43]How dreadfully was this exemplified in the cruelties perpetrated on the dissenters in the valleys of Piedmont, and on the English dissenters in the reign of Mary, of Elizabeth, and of the Stuarts.—Ed.

[44] "The hunting tribes of air and earth, Respect the brethren of their birth; The eagle pounces on the lamb; The wolf devours the fleecy dam; Even tiger fell, and sullen bear, Their likeness and their lineage spare. Man only mars this household plan, And turns the fierce pursuit on man; Since Nimrod, Cush's mighty son, At first the bloody game begun." Scott's Rokeby

[45]Great allowances might be made for Bunyan's severe language with respect to state interference in matters of faith and worship, because he so cruelly suffered by it in his own person. But had he escaped persecution, the same awful reflections are just and true. If a Christian monarchy robs, imprisons, and murders dissenters, surely a Mohammedan state may do the same to all those who refuse to curse Christ and bless Mahomet. Bunyan appears to consider that the great wickedness of man which caused the flood arose from the state interfering with faith and worship. This is certainly a fruitful source of those dreadful crimes, hypocrisy and persecution, but whether it was the cause of that awful event, the flood, or of that splendid absurdity, the tower of Babel, the reader must judge for himself.—Ed.

[46]First Rome, then the Greek and Russian church; then Henry the VIII and the church over which that lascivious monster was the supreme head; then the Lutheran church of Germany and Holland; and then…How admirably true is the genealogy of Antichrist as drawn out by Bunyan.—Ed.

[47] "That monstrous work," the attempting to build the tower of Babel.—Ed.

[48] "Language or lip." A lip, is also used for speech. In the figurative language, "of one lip," means that they all spoke one language; so in Job 11:2, literally, "a man of lips," is translated "a man full of talk."—Ed.

[49]That Bunyan intended to have continued this commentary there can be no doubt, not only from the abrupt termination of his labours, and the blank paper following the manuscript, but from an observation he makes on the sabbath—the sabbath of years, the jubilee, &c., "of all which, more in their place, IF GOD PERMIT." See Genesis 2:3.—Ed.

***

A HOLY LIFE THE BEAUTY OF CHRISTIANITY: or, AN EXHORTATION TO
CHRISTIANS TO BE HOLY. BY JOHN BUNYAN.

Holiness becometh thine house, O Lord, for ever.'—[Psalm 93:5]

London, by B. W., for Benj. Alsop, at the Angel and Bible, in the
Poultrey. 1684.

The Editor's Advertisement.

This is the most searching treatise that has ever fallen under our notice. It is an invaluable guide to those sincere Christians, who, under a sense of the infinite importance of the salvation of an immortal soul, and of the deceitfulness of their hearts, sigh and cry, "O Lord of hosts, that judgest righteously, that triest the reins (most secret thoughts) and the heart.' "Try MY reins and my heart.' for it is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.' He, in whose heart the Holy Spirit has raised the solemn inquiry, What must I do to be saved?' flies from his own estimate of himself, with distrust and fear, and appeals to an infallible and unerring scrutiny. Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.' Reader, are you desirous of having your hopes of pardon, and of heaven, weighed in the unerring balances of the sanctuary; while you are yet in a state of probation? Meditate and ponder over this faithful little work. If accompanied by the Divine blessing, it will test your faith and practice in the crucible and by the fire of God's word. It is intended to turn your spirit inside out—to lay bare every insidious enemy that may have crept in and lie lurking in the walls of Mansoul. It exhibits sin in all its hideous deformity, stript of its masquerade and disguises; so that it appears, what it really is, the great enemy to human happiness. It is calculated to stir up our pure minds to incessant vigilance, lest we should wander upon tempting, but forbidden paths; and be caught by Giant Despair, to become the object of his cruelty in Doubting Castle.

This work was first published in 1684, in a pocket volume, comprising nine sheets duodecimo; but became so rare, as to have escaped the researches of Wilson, Whitefield, and other editors of the collected works of Mr. Bunyan,—until about the year 1780, when it was first re-published in an edition of his works, with notes, by Mason and Ryland. The evident object of this treatise was to aid Christian efforts, under the Divine blessing, in stemming the torrent of iniquity, which, like an awful flood, was overspreading this country. The moral and religious restraints, which the government under the Commonwealth had imposed, were dissolved by the accession of a debauched prince to the throne of England; a prince who was bribed, to injure or destroy the best interests of the country, by the voluptuous court of France. He had taken refuge there from the storm; and had been defiled and corrupted beyond ordinary conception. The king and his court were surrounded by pimps, panders, courtesans, and flatterers. The example of the court spread throughout the country—religion became a jest and laughing-stock; and those who were not to be cajoled out of their soul's eternal happiness—whose vital godliness preserved them in the midst of such evil examples and allurements, were persecuted with unrelenting rigour. The virtuous Lord William Russel, and the illustrious Sydney, fell by the hands of the executioner: John Hampden was fined forty thousand pounds. The hand of God was stretched out. An awful pestilence carried off nearly seventy thousand of the inhabitants of London. In the following year, that rich and glorious city, with the cathedral—the churches—public buildings-and warehouses, replenished with merchandise—were reduced to ashes. The Dutch fleet sailed up the Thames and threatened destruction to our navy, and even to the government,—filling the court and country with terror. Still profligacy reigned in the court and country—a fearful persecution raged against all who refused to attend the church service. Thousands perished in prison, and multitudes were condemned to expatriate themselves. The timid and irresolute abandoned the faith,—desolation spread over the church of God. At this time, at imminent risk, John Bunyan not only fearlessly preached, but published his faithful Advice to Sufferers;' which was immediately followed by this important work, calling upon every one who named the name of Christ, 'at all hazards, to depart from iniquity.' They were words in season,' and were good,' like apples of gold in pictures of silver.' (Prov. 25:11)

The contrast in public manners must have been painfully felt by one, who had seen and enjoyed the general appearances, and doubtless many real proofs of piety, which prevailed under the protectorate of Cromwell. He was now called to witness the effects of open and avowed wickedness among governors and nobles, by which the fountains of iniquity were opened up, and a flood of immorality let loose upon all classes; demoralizing the nation, and distressing the church. It must have been difficult to form any thing like an accurate estimate of the number of those who abandoned their Christian profession. The immoral conduct of one bad man is more conspicuous than the unobtrusive holiness of ninety-nine good men; more especially, when a professor becomes profane. Thus Bunyan argues, 'One black sheep is quickly espied among five hundred white ones, and one mangey one will soon infect many. One also, among the saints, that is not clean, is a blemish to the rest, and as Solomon says, 'One sinner destroyeth much good.' p. 527. It is more congenial to our fallen nature to notice, and be grieved with, evil conduct, than it is to rejoice over that excellence which may cast the observer into the shade; besides the jaundiced fear that good works may arise from improper motives. These principles equally applied to the state of society under the Presbyterian government: but when the restoration to the old system took place, so vast a change passed over society, like a pestilence, 'that sin, through custom, became no sin. The superfluity of naughtiness,' says Bunyan, 'is at this day become no sin with many.' p. 509. 'There are a good many professors now in England that have nothing to distinguish them from the worst of men,' but their praying, reading, hearing of sermons, baptism, church fellowship, and breaking of bread. Separate them but from these, and every where else they are as black as others, even in their whole life and conversation.' p. 508. 'It is marvellous to me to see sin so high amidst the swarms of professors that are found in every corner of this land.' If the conduct of many professors were so vile, as there can be no doubt but that it was, how gross must have been that of the openly profane? It accounts for the wicked wit and raillery of Hudibras, when so many professors threw off the mask and gloried in their hypocrisy—Butler shut his eyes to the cruel sufferings of thousands who perished in jails, the martyrs to the sincerity of their faith and conduct. The falling away was indeed great; and Bunyan, with all earnestness, warns his readers that, 'To depart from iniquity is to shun those examples, those beastly examples to drunkenness—to whoredom—to swearing—to lying—to stealing—to sabbath-breaking—to pride—to covetousness—to deceit—to hypocrisy, that in every corner of the country present themselves to men.' p. 517. 'O the fruits of repentance thick sown by preachers, come up but thinly! Where are they found? Confession of sin, shame for sin, amendment of life, restitution for cozening, cheating, defrauding, beguiling thy neighbour,—where shall these fruits of repentance be found? Repentance is the bitter pill, without the sound working of which, base and sinful humour rest unstirred, unpurged, undriven out of the soul.' p. 519.

'I would not be austere,' said Bunyan, 'but were wearing of gold, putting on of apparel, dressing up houses, decking of children, learning of compliments, boldness in women, lechery in men, wanton behaviour, lascivious words, and tempting carriages, signs of repentance; then I must say, the fruits of repentance swarm in our land.' 'The tables of God's book are turned upside down. Love, to their doctrine, is gone out of the country.' 'Love is gone, and now coveting, pinching, griping, and such things, are in fashion; now iniquity abounds instead of grace, in many that name the name of Christ.' p. 529, 520. 'Alas! alas! there is a company of half priests in the world; they dare not teach the people the whole counsel of God, because they would condemn themselves, and their manner of living in the world: where is that minister now to be found, that dare say to his people, walk as you have me for an example, or that dare say, what you see and hear to be in me, do, and the God of peace shall be with you.' p. 520. Such was the general character of the parish priests, after the black Bartholomew Act had driven the pious and godly ministers from the parish churches. It is almost a miracle that Bunyan escaped persecution for his plain dealing. We cannot wonder, that under such teachers, 'Christians learned to be proud one of another, to be covetous, to be treacherous, and false, to be cowardly in God's matters, to be remiss and negligent in christian duties, one of another.' p. 525. A scandal was thus brought upon religion. 'Upon this I write with a sigh; for never more than now. There is no place where the professors of religion are, that is free from offence and scandal. Iniquity is so entailed to religion, and baseness of life to the naming the name of Christ, that 'All places are full of vomit and filthiness.' 'Ah! Lord God, this is a lamentation, that a sore disease is got into the church of God.' p. 529. It was a period when a more awful plague raged as to morals and religion, than that which, about the same time, had ravaged London with temporal death—the plague of hypocrisy—of naming the name of Christ, and still living in sin. 'Hypocrisies are of that nature, that they spread themselves over the mind as the leprosy does over the body. It gets in the pulpit, in conference, in closets, in communion of saints, in faith, in love, in repentance, in zeal, in humility, in alms, in the prison, and in all duties, and makes the whole a loathsome stink in the nostrils of God.' p. 538 These licentious times, in which we live, are full of iniquity.' p. 539. 'They change one bad way for another, hopping, as the squirrel, from bough to bough, but not willing to forsake the tree,—from drunkards to be covetous, and from that to pride and lasciviousness—this is a grand deceit, common, and almost a disease epidemical among professors.' p. 532. 'The sins of our day are conspicuous and open as Sodom's were; pride and covetousness, loathing of the gospel, and contemning holiness, have covered the face of the nation.' p. 534. The infection had spread into the households of professors. 'Bless me, saith a servant, are those the religious people! Are these the servants of God, where iniquity is made so much of, and is so highly entertained! And now is his heart filled with prejudice against all religion, or else he turns hypocrite like his master and his mistress, wearing, as they, a cloak of religion to cover all abroad, while all naked and shameful at home.' p. 536. 'He looked for a house full of virtue, and behold nothing but spider-webs; fair and plausible abroad, but like the sow in the mire at home.' The immoral taint infected the young. '0! it is horrible to behold how irreverently, how easily, and malapertly, children, yea, professing children, at this day, carry it to their parents; snapping and checking, curbing and rebuking of them, as if they had received a dispensation from God to dishonour and disobey parents.' p. 535. 'This day, a sea and deluge of iniquity has drowned those that have a form of godliness. Now immorality shall, with professors, be in fashion, be pleaded for, be loved and more esteemed than holiness; even those that have a form of godliness, hate the life and power thereof, yea, they despise them that are good.' p. 543.

This melancholy picture of vice and profligacy was drawn by one whose love of truth rendered him incapable of deceit or of exaggeration. It was published at the time, and was unanswered, because unanswerable. It was not painted from imagination by an ascetic; but from life by an enlightened observer—not by the poor preaching mechanic when incarcerated in a jail for his godliness; but when his painful sufferings were past—when his Pilgrim, produced by the folly of persecutors, had rendered him famous through Europe—when his extraordinary pulpit talents were matured and extensively known, so that thousands crowded to hear him preach—when his labours were sought in London and in the country—when his opportunities of observation had become extended far beyond most of his fellow-ministers. The tale is as true as it is full of painful interest. The causes of all this vice are perfectly apparent. Whenever a government abuses its powers by interfering with divine worship—by preferring one sect above all others; whether it be Presbyterian, Independent, or Episcopalian—such a requiring the things that are God's to be rendered unto Caesar, must be the prolific source of persecution, hypocrisy, and consequent immorality and profaneness. The impure process of immorality as checked by the rival labours of all the sects to promote vital godliness. Can we wonder that such a state of society was not long permitted to exist? In three troublous years from the publication of this book, the licentious monarch was swept away by death, not without suspicion of violence, and his besotted popish successor fled to die in exile. An enlightened monarch was placed upon the vacant throne, and persecution was deprived of its tiger claws and teeth by the act of toleration.

However interesting to the christian historian, and humbling to human pride, the facts may be which are here disclosed; it was not the author's intention thus to entertain his readers. No; this invaluable tract has an object in view of far greater importance. It is an earnest, affectionate, but pungent appeal to all professors of every age, and nation, and sect, to the end of time. The admonition of the text is to you, my reader, and to me; whether we be rich or poor, ministers or ministered unto, it comes home equally to every heart, from the mightiest potentate through every grade of society to the poorest peasant. May the sound ever reverberate in our ears and be engraven upon our hearts, 'Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.'

The analysis of this book exhibits—How solemn a thing it is to name the name of Christ, as the author and finisher of our faith—God manifest in the flesh, to bear the curse for us, and to work out our everlasting salvation. The hosts of heaven rejoice over the penitent sinner ransomed from the pit of wrath. Is it possible for the soul that has escaped eternal burnings—that has experienced the bitterness and exceeding sinfulness of sin—that has felt the misery of transgression—that has been brought up out of that deep and horrible pit—to backslide and plunge again into misery, with his eyes open to see the smoke of their torments ascending up before him? Is it possible that he should heedlessly enter the vortex, and be again drawn into wretchedness? Yes; it is alas too true. Well may the Lord, by his prophet, use these striking words, 'Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the Lord. For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out broken cisterns, that can hold no water.' (Jer. 2:12,13)

The extreme folly of such conduct would render the fact almost incredible, did we not too frequently witness it in others, and feel it in our own hearts. This volume places these facts plainly before us, and affectionately exhorts us to be watchful, and diligently to inquire into the causes of such evil, and the remedies which ought to be applied. It shews us the great varieties that are found in the tempers and qualities of God's children, in words calculated to make an indelible impression.

'But in this great house of God there will not only be golden and silver Christians, but wooden and earthly ones. And if any man purge himself from these [earthly ones], from their companies and vices, he shall be a vessel to honour, sanctified, and meet for the masters use, and prepared for every good work.' p. 518 Bunyan earnestly cautions his readers to constant watchfulness, 'for sin is one of the most quick and brisk things that are.' p. 515. And jealousy over ourselves, lest our hearts should deceive us. 'The young man in the gospel that cried to Christ to shew him the way to life, had some love to his salvation; but it was not a love that was strong as death, cruel as the grave, and hotter than coals of juniper.' (Song 8:6) It cost nothing—no self denial, no sacrifice. 'Such will love as long as mouth and tongue can wag' will pray and hear sermons, but will not cut off a darling lust; such deceive their own souls. Some are allured but not changed: 'There is some kind of musicalness in the word; when well handled and fingered by a skilful preacher,' it has a momentary influence; 'they hear thy words, but do them not.' (Eze. 33:30) Above all things, beware of hypocrisy, for when it once enters, it spreads over the soul, as the leprosy does over the body. p. 521. 'He is the same man, though he has got a new mouth. p. 532. 'Many that shew like saints abroad, yet act the part of devils when they are at home. Wicked professors are practical atheists. 'The dirty life of a professor lays stumbling blocks in the way of the blind.' p. 545. 'A professor that hath not forsaken his iniquity, is like one that comes out of the pest-house, among the whole, with his plaguey sores running upon him. This is the man that hath the breath of a dragon; he poisons the air round about him. This is the man that slays his children, his kinsmen, his friend, and himself. They are the devil's most stinking tail, with which he casts many a professor into carnal delights, with their filthy conversations.' p. 530. 'Oh! the millstone that God will shortly hang about your necks, when the time is come that you must be drowned in the sea and deluge of God's wrath.' p. 530. Rather than thus rush upon Jehovah's fiercest anger, 'Tell the world, if you will not depart from iniquity, that Christ and you are parted, and that you have left him to be embraced by them to whom iniquity is an abomination.' p. 530. Thus faithfully and affectionately did Bunyan deal with his hearers and readers. And he takes an occasion, now in his maturer years, to confirm the sentiments which he had formerly published in his 'Differences in Judgment about Water Baptism no Bar to Communion.' 'It is strange to see at this day how, notwithstanding, all the threatenings of God, men are wedded to their own opinions, beyond what the law of grace and love will admit. Here is a Presbyterian, here an Independent, here a Baptist, so joined each man to his own opinion, that they cannot have that communion one with another, as by the testament of the Lord Jesus they are commanded and enjoined.' 'To help thee in this, keep thine eye much upon thine own base self, be clothed with humility, and prefer thy brother before thyself; and know that Christianity lieth not in small matters, neither before God nor understanding men.' I have often said in my heart, what is the reason that some of the brethren should be so shy of holding communion with those, every whit as good, if not better than themselves? Is it because they think themselves unworthy of their holy fellowship? No, verily; it is because they exalt themselves.' p.538. He goes on to declare that the difficulties which sin and Satan place in the way of the Christian pilgrim ought never to be concealed. Salvation is to be worked out with fear and trembling. It is only by divine aid, by dependence upon our heavenly Father, that it can be accomplished. 'To depart from iniquity to the utmost degree of requirement, is a copy too fair for mortal flesh exactly to imitate, while we are in this world. But with good paper, good ink, and a good pen, a skilful and willing man may go far.' p. 546, 547. Mr. Ryland's note on the Christian's trials is, 'when the love of sin is subdued in the conscience, then peace will flow in like a river, God will be glorified, Christ exalted; and the happy soul, under the teachings and influence of the all-wise, omnipotent Spirit, will experience sweet peace and joy in believing.' Millions of pilgrims have entered the celestial city, having fought their way to glory; and then, while singing the conqueror's song, all their troubles by the way must have appeared as sufferings but for a moment, which worked out for them an eternal and exceeding weight of glory, And then how blessed the song to him that hath loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and made us kings and priests unto our God. To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.—Geo. Offor.

An Introduction to the Following Discourse

When I write of justification before God from the dreadful curse of the law; then I must speak of nothing but grace, Christ, the promise, and faith. But when I speak of our justification before men then I must join to these good works. For grace, Christ, and faith, are things invisible, and so not to be seen by another, otherwise than through a life that becomes so blessed a gospel as has declared unto us the remission of our sins for the sake of Jesus Christ. He then that would have forgiveness of sins, and so be delivered from the curse of God, must believe in the righteousness and blood of Christ: but he that would shew to his neighbours that he hath truly received this mercy of God, must do it by good works; for all things else to them is but talk: as for example, a tree is known to be what it is, to wit, whether of this or that kind, by its fruit. A tree it is, without fruit, but as long as it so abideth, there is ministered occasion to doubt what manner of tree it is.

A professor is a professor, though he hath no good works; but that, as such, he is truly godly, he is foolish that so concludeth. (Matt. 7:17,18; James 2:18) Not that works makes a man good; for the fruit maketh not a good tree, it is the principle, to wit, Faith, that makes a man good, and his works that shew him to be so. (Matt. 7:16; Luke 6:44)

What then? why all professors that have not good works flowing from their faith are naught; are bramble bushes; are 'nigh unto cursing, whose end is to be burned.' (Heb. 6:8) For professors by their fruitlessness declare that they are not of the planting of God, nor the wheat, 'but tares and children of the wicked one.' (Matt. 13:37, 38)

Not that faith needeth good works as an help to justification before God. For in this matter faith will be ignorant of all good works, except those done by the person of Christ. Here, then, the good man 'worketh not, but believeth.' (Rom. 4:5). For he is not now to carry to God, but to receive at his hand the matter of his justification by faith; nor is the matter of his justification before God ought else but the good deeds of another man, to wit, Christ Jesus.

But is there, therefore, no need at all of good works, because a man is justified before God without them? or can that be called a justifying faith, that has not for its fruit good works? (Job 22:3; James 2:20, 26) Verily good works are necessary, though God need them not; nor is that faith, as to justification with God, worth a rush, that abideth alone, or without them.

There is, therefore, a twofold faith of Christ in the world, and as to the notion of justifying righteousness, they both concur and agree, but as to the manner of application, there they vastly differ. The one, to wit, the non-saving faith, standeth in speculation and naked knowledge of Christ, and so abideth idle: but the other truly seeth and receives him, and so becometh fruitful. (John 1:12; Heb. 11:13; Rom. 10:16) And hence the true justifying faith is said to receive, to embrace, to obey the Son of God, as tendered in the gospel: by which expression is shewed both the nature of justifying faith, in its actings in point of justification, and also the cause of its being full of good works in the world. A gift is not made mine by my seeing of it, or because I know the nature of the thing so given; but then it is mine if I receive and embrace it, yea, and as to the point in hand, if I yield myself up to stand and fall by it. Now, he that shall not only see, but receive, not only know, but embrace the Son of God, to be justified by him, cannot but bring forth good works, because Christ who is now received and embraced by faith, leavens and seasons the spirit of this sinner, through his faith, to the making of him capable so to be [justified].(Acts 15:9; Gen. 18:19; Heb. 11:11) Faith made Sarah receive strength to conceive seed, and we are sanctified through faith, which is in Christ. For faith hath joined Christ and the soul together, and being so joined, the soul is one spirit with him; not essentially, but in agreement and oneness of design. Besides, when Christ is truly received and embraced to the justifying of the sinner, in that man's heart he dwells by his word and Spirit, through the same faith also. Now Christ by his Spirit and word must needs season the soul he thus dwells in: so then the soul being seasoned, it seasoneth the body; and body and soul, the life and conversation.

We know it is not the seeing, but taking of a potion, that maketh it work as it should, nor is the blood of Christ a purge to this or that conscience, except received by faith. (Heb. 9:14)

Shall that then be counted right believing in Christ unto justification, that amounts to no more than to an idle speculation, or naked knowledge of him? shall that knowledge of him, I say, be counted such, as only causes the soul to behold, but moveth it not to good works? No, verily. For the true beholding of Jesus to justification and life, changes from glory to glory. (2 Cor. 3:18)

Nor can that man that hath so believed, as that by his faith he hath received and embraced Christ for life before God, be destitute of good works: for, as I said, the word and Spirit comes also by this faith, and dwells in the heart and conscience. Now, shall a soul where the word and Spirit of Christ dwells, be a soul without good works? Yea, shall a soul that has received the love, the mercy, the kindness, grace and salvation of God through the sorrows, tears, groans, cross, and cruel death of Christ, be yet a fruitless tree! God forbid. This faith is as the salt which the prophet cast into the spring of bitter water, it makes the soul good and serviceable for ever. (2 Kings 2:19-22) If the receiving of a temporal gift naturally tends to the making of us to move our cap and knee, and binds us to be the servant of the giver, shall we think that faith will leave him who by it has received Christ, to be as unconcerned as a stock or stone, or that its utmost excellency is to provoke the soul to a lip-labour, and to give Christ a few fair words for his pains and grace, and so wrap up the business? No, no; 'the love of Christ constraineth us' thus to judge that it is but reasonable, since he gave his all for us, that we should give our some for him. (2 Cor. 5:14,15)

Let no man, then, deceive himself, as he may and will if he takes not heed with true notions, but examine himself concerning his faith, to wit; Whether he hath any? and if some, Whether of that kind that will turn to account in the day when God shall judge the world.

I told you before that there is a twofold faith, and now I will tell you that there are two sorts of good works; and a man may be shrewdly guessed at with reference to his faith, even by the works that he chooseth to be conversant in.

There are works that cost nothing, and works that are chargeable. And observe it, the unsound faith will choose to itself the most easy works it can find. For example, there is reading, praying, hearing of sermons, baptism, breaking of bread, church fellowship, preaching, and the like; and there is mortification of lusts, charity, simplicity, open-heartedness, with a liberal hand to the poor, and their like also. Now the unsound faith picks and chooses, and takes and leaves, but the true faith does not so.

There are a great many professors now in England that have nothing to distinguish them from the worst of men, but their praying, reading, hearing of sermons, baptism, church-fellowship, and breaking of bread. Separate them but from these, and everywhere else they are as black as others, even in their whole life and conversation. Thus they have chosen to them the most easy things to do them, but love not to be conscionably found in the practice of the other; a certain sign their faith is nought, and that these things, even the things they are conversant in, are things attended to of them, not for the ends for which God has appointed them, but to beguile and undo themselves withal.

Praying, hearing, reading; for what are these things ordained, but that we might by the godly use of them attain to more of the knowledge of God, and be strengthened by his grace to serve him better according to his moral law? Baptism, fellowship, and the Lord's supper, are ordained for these ends also. But there is a vast difference between using of these things, and a using of them for these ends. A man may pray, yea pray for such things, had he them, as would make him better in morals, without desire to be better in morals, or love to the things he prays for. A man may read and hear, not to learn to do, though to know; yea he may be dead to doing moral goodness, and yet be great for reading and hearing all his days. The people then among all professors that are zealous of good works are the peculiar ones to Christ. (Titus 2:14) What has a man done that is baptized, if he pursues not the ends for which that appointment was ordained. The like I say of fellowship, of breaking of bread, etc.. For all these things we should use to support our faith, to mortify the flesh, and strengthen us to walk in newness of life by the rule of the moral law. Nor can that man be esteemed holy whose life is tainted with immoralities, let him be what he can in all things else. I am of that man's mind as to practical righteousness, who said to Christ upon this very question, 'Well, master, thou hast said the truth;—for to love the Lord our God with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt-offerings and sacrifices.' (Mark 12:28-33) To love my neighbour as myself, to do as I would be done unto, this is the law and the prophets. And he that is altogether a stranger to these things, how dwelleth the love of God in him; or how will he manifest to another that his faith will save him?

Satan is afraid that men should hear of justification by Christ, lest they should embrace it. But yet, if he can prevail with them to keep fingers off, though they do hear and look on, and practise lesser things, he can the better bear it; yea, he will labour to make such professors bold to conclude they shall by that kind of faith enjoy him, though by that they cannot embrace him, nor lay hold of him. For he knows that how far soever a man engages in a profession of Christ with a faith that looks on, but cannot receive nor embrace him, that faith will leave him to nothing but mistaken and disappointments at last.

The gospel comes to some in word only, and the faith of such stands but in a verbal sound; but the apostle was resolved not to know or take notice of such a faith. (1 Thess. 1:4, 5) 'For the kingdom of God, saith he, 'is not in word, but in power.' (1 Cor. 1:18-20)' He whose faith stands only in a saying, I believe, has his works in bare words also, and as virtual is the one as the other, and both insignificant enough. 'If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not works is dead, being alone.' (James 2:15-17) This faith, therefore, Satan can allow, because it is somewhat of kin to his own. (vs. 10)

Besides, what greater contempt can be cast upon Christ than by such wordy professors is cast upon him? These are the men that by practice say, the gospel is but an empty sound. Yet, the more they profess, the louder they proclaim it thus to be, to his disgrace, while they, not withstanding their profession of faith, hold and maintain their league with the devil and sin. The Son of God was manifest that he might destroy the works of the devil, but these men profess his faith and keep these works alive in the world. (1 John 3) Shall these pass for such as believe to the saving of the soul? For a man to be content with this kind of faith, and to look to go to salvation by it, what to God is a greater provocation?

The devil laugheth here, for he knows he has not lost his vassal by such a faith as this, but that rather he hath made use of the gospel, that glorious word of life, to secure his captive, through, his presumption of the right faith, the faster in his shackles.

It is marvellous to me to see sin so high amidst the swarms of professors that are found in every corner of this land. Nor can any other reason be given for it, but because the gospel has lost its wonted virtue, or because professors want faith therein. But do you think it is because of the first? no, the word of our God shall stand in its strength for ever; the faith of such therefore is not right; they have for shields of gold, made themselves shields of brass; or instead of the primitive faith, which was of the operation of God, they have got to themselves a faith that stands by the power, and in the wisdom of man. (2 Chron. 12:9, 10; Col. 2:12; 1 Cor. 2:4, 5) And, to say no more to this, for what is God so angry with this land, but for the sin of the professors that dwell therein, while they have polluted his name with their gifts, and with their idols? God, I say, has been provoked most bitterly by us, while we have profaned his name, making use of his name, his word, and ordinances, to serve ourselves, '0 Lord, what wilt thou do to this land.' We are every one looking for something; even for something that carrieth terror and dread in the sound of its wings as it comes, though we know not the form nor visage thereof.[1] One cries out, another has his hands upon his loins, and a third is made mad with the sight of his eyes, and with what his ears do hear. And as their faith hath served them about justification, so it now serves them about repentance and reformation: it can do nothing here neither; for though, as was said, men cry out, and are with their hands upon their loins for fear; yet, where is the church, the house, the man that stands in the gap for the land, to turn away this wrath by repentance, and amendment of life? Behold the Lord cometh forth out of his place, and will come down and tread upon the places of the earth, and the mountains shall be molten under him, and the valleys shall be cleft, as wax before the fire, and as the waters that are poured down a steep place. But what is the cause of all this?—For the transgression of Jacob is all this, and for the sins of the house of Israel. (Micah 1:5)

It is that that is observed by them that can make observation, that all that God has done to us already has been ineffectual as to cause that humility and reformation, by which his judgments must be turned away. Repentance is rare this day, and yet without doubt, that without which, things will grow worse and worse. As for them that hope that God will save his people, though but from temporal judgments, whether they repent and reform, or do otherwise, I must leave them and their opinions together: this I have found, that sometimes the repentance, even of the godly, has come too late to divert such judgments. And, how some of the godly should be so indulged as to be saved from punishment without repentance, when the true and unfeigned repentance of others will not deliver them, leaves me, I confess, in a wilderness! But that which is most of all to be lamented is, that sin, through custom, is become no sin. The superfluity of naughtiness is at this day become no sin with many. Surely this was the case with Israel, else how could they say when the prophets so bitterly denounced God's judgments against them, 'Because we are innocent, surely his anger shall turn from us.' (Jer. 2:35) When custom or bad example has taken away the conscience of sin, it is a sign that [that] soul is in a dangerous lethargy; and yet this is the condition of the most that profess amongst us this day. But to leave this and to proceed.

As there is a twofold faith, two sorts of good works, and the like, so there is also a twofold love to Christ; the one standing, or stopping, in some passions of the mind and affections; the other is that which breaks through all difficulties to the holy commandment to do it. Of both these there is mention made in the scripture; and though all true love begins at the heart, yet that love is but little set by that breaks not through to practice. How many are there in the world that seem to have the first, but how few shew the second. The young man in the gospel, (Mark 10:17) did by his running, kneeling, crying, inquiring, and entreating of Christ, to shew him the way to life, shew that he had inward love to Christ and his own salvation; but yet it was not a love that was 'strong as death,' 'cruel as the grave,' and hotter than the coals of juniper. (Song 8:6) It was a love that stopped in mind and affection, but could not break out into practice. This kind of love, if it be let alone, and not pressed to proceed till it comes into a labouring practising of the commandment, will love as long as you will, to wit, as long as mouth and tongue can wag; but yet you shall not, by all your skill drive this love farther than the mouth; 'for with their mouth they shew much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness.' (Ezek. 33:31)

Nor may this love be counted for that of the right kind, because it is in the heart, for the heart knows how to dissemble about love, as much as about other matters. This is feigned love, or love that pretends to dear affections for Christ, but can bestow no cost upon him. Of this kind of love the world is full at this day, especially the professors of this age; but as I said, of this the Lord Jesus makes little or no account, for that it hath in it an essential defectiveness. Thus, therefore, Christ and his servants describe the love that is true and of the right kind, and that with reference to himself and church.

First, with reference to himself. 'If a man love me,' saith he, 'he will keep my words.' (John 14:23) And again, 'He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me.' And, 'He that loveth me not, keepeth not my sayings.' 'And the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.' Behold you now where Christ placeth a sign of love, it is not in word nor in tongue, not in great and seemingly affectionate gestures, but in a practical walking in the law of the Lord. Hence such, and such only, are called the undefiled in the way. You know who says, 'I am the way.' 'Blessed,' saith David, 'are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord.' (Ps. 119:1)

But here again the hypocrite will give us the slip by betaking himself to exterior matters, as to his 'mint and anise and cummin.' (Matt. 23:23) Still neglecting the more weighty matters of the law, to wit, judgment, mercy, faith; or else to the significative ordinances, still neglecting to do to all men as he would they should do to him. But let such know that God never ordained significative ordinances, such as baptism, the Lord's supper, or the like, for the sake of water, or of bread and wine; nor yet because he takes any delight that we are dipped in water, or eat that bread; but they were ordained to minister to us by the aptness of the elements, through our sincere partaking of them, further knowledge of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, and of our death and resurrection by him to newness of life. Wherefore, he that eateth and believeth not, and he that is baptized, and is not dead to sin, and walketh not in newness of life, neither keepeth these ordinances nor pleaseth God. Now to be dead to sin, is to be dead to those things forbidden in the moral law. For sin is the transgression of that, and it availeth not to vaunt that I am a saint and under this or that significative ordinance, if I live in' the transgression of the law.'(1 John 3:4) For I am convicted of the law as a transgressor, and so concluded to be one that loveth not Christ, though I make a noise of my obedience to Christ, and of my partaking of his significative ordinances. The Jews of old made a great noise with their significative ordinances, while they lived in the breach of the moral law, but their practice of significative ordinances could not save them from the judgment and displeasure of their God. They could frequent the temple, keep their feasts, slay their sacrifices, and be mighty apt about all their significative things. But they loved idols, and lived in the breach of the second table of the law: wherefore God cast them out of his presence: hark what the prophet saith of them, (Amos 4:4) 'Come to Bethel, and transgress; at Gilgal multiply transgression; and bring your sacrifices every morning, and your tithes after three years: and offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven, and proclaim and publish the free-will offerings: for this liketh you, 0 ye children of Israel, saith the Lord God.' Thus, as I said, the hypocrite gives us the slip; for when he heareth that love is in the keeping of the commandments of God, then he betakes him to the more external parts of worship, and neglecteth the more weighty matters to the provoking of the God of Israel.

Second, As love to God is shewed by keeping of his commandments; so love to my neighbour, is the keeping of the commandments of God likewise. 'By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God,'—in us, both to God and man, 'that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.' (1 John 5:2, 3) He that keepeth not God's commandments, loves neither God nor men.

Thus then we must learn to love one another. He that keepeth God's commandment, doth to his brother what is right, for that is God's commandment. He that keeps God's commandment, doth to his brother even as he would be done unto himself, for that is God's commandment. He that keeps God's commandment, shutteth not up his bowels of compassion from him, for the contrary is his commandment. Further, he that keepeth God's commandment sheweth his brother what he must do to honour the Christ that he professeth, aright: therefore, he that keeps the commandment, loves his brother. Yea, the keeping of the commandment is loving the brethren.

But if all love, which we pretend to have one to another, were tried by this one text, how much of that that we call so, would be found to be nothing less? Preposterous are our spirits in all things, nor can they be guided right, but by the word and Spirit of God; the which, the good Lord grant unto us plentifully, that we may do that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Yea, and that there may, by them, be wrought sound repentance in us for all that hath been done by us amiss, lest he give 'Jacob to the spoil, and Israel to the robbers;' for that they have sinned against him by not walking in his ways, and by not being obedient to his law. (Isa. 42:24)

Let me add, lest God doth not only punish us in the sight, and by the hand of the wicked; but embolden them to say, it was God that set them on; yea, lest they make those sins of ours, which we have not repented of, not only their bye-word against us to after generations, but the argument, one to another, of their justification for all the evil that they shall be suffered to do unto us: saying, when men shall ask them, 'Wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this land? what meaneth the heat of this great anger?' (Deut. 29:24; 1 Kings 9:8; Jer. 22:8) 'Even because they have forsaken the covenant of the Lord God of their fathers, and walked not in his ways.'

John Bunyan

A Holy Life the Beauty of Christianity

'And, Let Every One That Nameth the Name of Christ Depart from Iniquity,—2 Tim. 2:19

TIMOTHY, unto whom this epistle was writ, was an evangelist, that is, inferior to apostles and extra-ordinary prophets, and above ordinary pastors and teachers. (2 Tim. 4:5; Eph. 4:11) And he with the rest of those under his circumstances was to go with the apostles hither and thither, to be disposed of by them as they saw need, for the further edification of those who by the apostolical ministry were converted to the faith: and hence it is, that Titus was left at Crete, and that this Timothy was left at Ephesus. (1 Tim. 1:3) For they were to do a work for Christ in the world, which the apostles were to begin, and leave upon their hands to finish. Now when the apostles departed from places, and had left these evangelists in their stead, usually there did arise some bad spirits among those people, where these were left for the furtherance of the faith. This is manifest by both the epistles to Timothy, and also by that to Titus: wherefore Paul, upon whom these two evangelists waited for the fulfilling of their ministry, writeth unto them while they abode where he left them, concerning those turbulent spirits which they met with, and to teach them how yet further they ought to behave themselves in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of truth. And to this purpose he gives them, severally, divers instructions, as the judicious reader may easily understand, by which he encourageth them to the prosecution of that service which for Christ they had to do for those people where he had left them, and also instructeth them how to carry it towards their disturbers, which last he doth, not only doctrinally, but also by shewing them, by his example and practice, what he would have them do.

This done, he laboureth to comfort Timothy with the remembrance of the steadfastness of God's eternal decree of election, because grounded on his foreknowledge; saying, though Hymeneus and Philetus have erred from the faith, and, by their fall, have overthrown the faith of some, 'Yet the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his.' Now lest this last hint should still encourage some to be remiss and carnally secure, and foolish, as I suppose this doctrine abused, had encouraged them to be before; therefore the apostle immediately conjoineth to it this exhortation; 'And, let every one that nameth; the name of Christ depart from iniquity.' Two truths strangely, but necessarily joined together, because so apt to be severed by the children of men; for many, under the pretence of their being elected, neglect to pursue holiness; and many of them again that pretend to be for holiness, quite exclude the doctrine and motives that election gives thereto. Wherefore the apostle, that he might set men's notions as to these things right, he joins these two together, signifying thereby, that as electing love doth instate a man in the blessing of eternal life; so holiness is the path thereto; and, that he that refuseth to depart from iniquity shall be dammed; notwithstanding he may think himself secured from hell by the act of God's electing love. For election designeth men not only to eternal glory, but to holiness of life, a means, thereto. (Eph. 1:4, 5) And the manner of this connection of truth is the more to be noted by us, because the apostle seems to conjoin[2] them, in an holy heat of spirit, saying, 'The foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his.' And, 'let every one that shall but so much as name the name of Christ, depart from iniquity;' or, as who should say, God will be revenged upon them for all, or, notwithstanding, they appropriate unto themselves the benefits of election.

In the text we have, FIRST, An exhortation. SECOND, The extension of that exhortation. The exhortation is, That men depart from iniquity. The extension of it is, to them, all of them, every one of them that name the name of Christ. 'And let every one that nameth the name of Christ, depart from iniquity.'

[First, the Exhortation—That Men Depart from Iniquity]

In the exhortation there are several things to be taken notice of, because insinuated by the apostle. The first is, that iniquity is a very dangerous and hurtful thing, as to the souls of sinners in general; so to them that name the name of Christ.

First, Iniquity is a very dangerous and hurtful thing to men in general; for it is that which did captivate the world at the beginning, and that made it a bond-slave to the devil. It has also done great hurt to mankind ever since. To instance a few things:

1. It is that which hath stupefied and besotted the powers of men's souls, and made them even next to a beast and brute in all matters supernatural heavenly. (2 Peter 2:12) For as the beast minds nothing but his lusts and his belly, by nature, so man minds nothing but things earthly, sensual, and devilish, by reason of iniquity.

2. It has blinded and darkened the powers of the soul, so that it can neither see where it is, nor which is the way out of this besotted condition. (Eph. 4:18)

3. It has hardened the heart against God, and against all admonition and counsel in the things of the gospel of Christ. (Rom. 2:5)

4. It has alienated the will, the mind, and affections, from the choice of the things that should save it, and wrought them over to an hearty delight in those things that naturally tend to drown it in perdition and destruction. (Col. 1:21)

5. It has made man odious in God's eyes, it has provoked the justice of God against him, and made him obnoxious to hell-fire. (Ezek. 16:5)

6. Yea, it so holds him, so binds him, so reserves him to this, that not he himself, nor yet all the angels of heaven, can deliver him from this deplorable condition. (Prov. 5:22)

7. To say nothing of their pleasure and delight that it makes him take in that way to hell in which he walketh. (Isa. 66:3; Prov. 7:22, 23) Never went fat ox so gamesomely to the shambles, nor fool so merrily to the correction of the stocks, nor silly bird so wantonly to the hidden net, as iniquity makes men go down her steps to the pit of hell and damnation. O it is amazing, it is astonishing to consider what hurt sin hath done to man, and into how many dangers it has brought him; but let these few hints at this time suffice as to this. I will now speak a word to the other particular, namely,

Second, That as iniquity is dangerous and hurtful to the souls of men in general, so it is to them that name the name of Christ. As to the so and so naming of him, to that I shall speak by and by, but at this time take it thus: That religiously name his name. And I say iniquity is hurtful to them.

1. It plucks many a one of them from Christ and the religious profession of him. I have even seen, that men who have devoutly and religiously professed Jesus Christ, have been prevailed withal, by iniquity, to cast him and the profession of his name quite off, and to turn their backs upon him. 'Israel,' saith the prophet, 'hath cast off the thing that is good.' (Hosea 8:3) But why? 'Of their silver and their gold have they made them idols.' The sin of idolatry threw their hearts from God; their love to that iniquity made them turn their backs upon him. Wherefore God complains, that of forwardness to their iniquity, and through the prevalence thereof, they had cast him behind their back. (Ezek. 23:35)

2. As it plucks many a professor from Christ, so it keeps many a one from an effectual closing with him. How many are there that religiously profess and make mention of the name of Christ, that yet of love to, and by the interest that iniquity hath in their affections, never close with him unto salvation, but are like to them, of whom you read in Paul to Timothy, that they are ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. (2 Tim. 3:1-7)

3. And concerning those that have indeed come to him, and that have effectually closed with him, and that name his name to good purpose; yet how hath iniquity hurt and abused many of them. (1.) It has prevailed with God to hide his face from them, a thing more bitter than death. (2.) It has prevailed with God to chastise, and to afflict them sorely, a thing in which he taketh no pleasure. (Lam 3:33) (3.) It has provoked God to give them over to the hand of the enemy, and to deliver them to the tormentors. (Jer. 12:7; Matt. 18:34) (4.) It hath brought them to question their interest in Christ, and whether they ever had grace in their souls. (Psa. 31:22) (5.) And for those that have yet believed they were in his favour, this iniquity hath driven them to fear that God would cast them away, and take all his good things from them. (Psa. 51)

Yea, he that would know the hurt that iniquity hath done to them that name the name of Christ, let him consider the cries, the sighs, the tears, the bemoanings, the bewailings, the lamentations, the sorrows, the confessions, the repentings and griefs wherewith they have been attended, while they have complained that they have been put in the stocks, laid in the dungeon, had their bones broken, suffered the terrors of God, been distressed almost to distraction, and have been fed with gravel, gall, wormwood, and with the water of astonishment, for days, yea, years together. (Job 13:27; Psa. 6:6; Psa. 31:9, 10; Psa. 38:8; Psa. 60:3; Psa. 88; Psa. 116:3; Jer. 8:14; Jer. 23:15; Jer. 31:18; Lam. 3:4, 16; Ezek. 4:16; 2 Cor. 12:21) By all which, and many more which might be mentioned, it appears that iniquity is a dangerous and hurtful thing.

[Second, the Extension of the Exhortation—To Every One That Nameth the Name of Christ.]

But I proceed, and come in the next place to the extension of the exhortation, namely, that it reacheth to all those that name the name of Christ. 'And let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.'

To handle this a little, and to shew you what the apostle here means by naming of the name of Christ: he meaneth not an irreligious naming of that worthy name, nor those that name it irreligiously. This is evident, because he passeth by their manner of naming of it without the least reproof, the which he would not have done had the fault been in their manner of naming of the name of Christ. Now I say, if he intendeth not those that name the name of Christ irreligiously, then, though the exhortation, 'let every one,' seems to extend itself to all, and all manner of persons, that any ways name the name of Christ, yet it is limited by this, to wit, that rightly, religiously, or according to the way of the professors of Christ, name his worthy name. And it must needs be so taken, and that for these reasons:

First, For that, as I said before, the apostle taketh no notice of their manner of naming of his name, so as to reprove any indecency or unseemliness in their naming of him; wherefore he alloweth of the manner of their naming of him.

Secondly, because the apostle's design in this exhortation was, and is, that the naming of the name of Christ might be accompanied with such a life of holiness as might put an additional lustre upon that name whenever named in a religious way; but this cannot be applied to every manner of naming the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. For if a man shall name the name of Christ unduly, or irreligiously, though he shall never so much therewithal depart from iniquity, and be circumspect to the utmost in all civility and morality, yet he answers not the apostle's end, which he seeks by this his exhortation. For,

1. Suppose a man should name the name of Christ vainly, idly, in vain mirth, wantonness, false or vain swearing, or the like, and shall back this, his manner of naming the name of Christ, with all manner of justness and uprightness of life, would this answer the apostle's end in this his exhortation? Verily no; for this manner of naming the name is worthy reprehension; 'Thou shalt not take my name in vain,' or vainly make use thereof: and moral goodness attending the so-naming of the name of Christ will do more hurt than good. (Ex. 20)

2. There is a reproachful and scandalous naming of the name of Christ, such as the Jews and Pharisees did accustom themselves unto, as to call him Jesus, the deceiver; and Christ, in a way of scorn and contempt. Nor were these men quite destitute of that which put a lustre upon their opinions; for, said the Lord Christ himself unto them, 'Ye indeed appear beautiful outward.' (Matt. 23:27)

3. There is such a naming of the name of Christ as to make it a cloak for false and dangerous errors: that men, by the use of that name, and the putting of it upon such errors and delusions, may put off their errors to others the better. 'Many shall come in my name, to wit, with their delusions, presenting them, in my name, to the world, and shall put them off, in my name, to the destruction of the soul. (Matt. 24:5) Now, can any imagine that the apostle should extend his exhortation to such, that they, thus continuing to name the name of Christ, should depart from iniquity. To what end should such be comprehended in this of exhortation of his? to no purpose at all: for the more an erroneous person, or a deceiver of souls, shall back his errors with a life that is morally good, the more mischievous, dangerous, and damnable is that man and his delusions; wherefore such a one is not concerned in this exhortation.

4. There is a naming of the name of Christ magically, and after the manner of exorcism, or, conjuration; as we read in the Acts of the apostles. vagabond Jews, the exorcists, there say, 'We adjure you by Jesus, whom Paul preacheth.' (Acts 19:13-15) Thus they called over them that had evil spirits, the name of the Lord Jesus. But what if these should clothe this, their devilish art, and devilish way, of using or naming of the name of the Lord Jesus, with departing from iniquity, so as to commend their whole life to by-standers, for such: as is morally good: what advantage would Christ, or Paul, or the gospel, get thereby? verily none at all; but rather damage and reproach, as will soon appear to any man's reason, if it be considered that goodness of life, joined to badness of principles is like the devil clothed in white, or Satan transformed into an angel of light. And Paul was grieved in his spirit, when the wench that had a spirit of divination did acknowledge him to be the servant of the most high God, for he knew it would nothing further, or help forward, the Lord's design, but be rather an hinderance thereto. For when witches and devils come once to commend, or make use of the name of Christ, Christ and Paul like it not; therefore Paul's exhortation, which here are presented with by the text, is not extended to any of the four sorts aforenamed, but,

Third, To those upon whom his name is called, they should depart from iniquity. I say those whom God has so far dignified, as to put the name of Christ upon them. (Acts 15:17) And I will add, that apply that name to themselves. And the reason is, because God is now concerned. (ch. 11:26) God has changed thy name from Pagan to Christian, and thou choosest to call thyself by that name, saying, 'I belong to Christ.' Now thou must depart from iniquity, for that notice is taken of thee, both by heaven and earth, that thou art become a disciple, and 'let every one that' so 'nameth the name of Christ,' or that nameth it, being himself by God and himself put under such circumstances as these, 'depart from iniquity.' (1 Peter 4:16)

Fourthly, It is spoken to those that name the name of Christ either in the public or private worship of God, being themselves professed worshippers of him; and the reason is, for that the ordinances, as well as the name of God, is holy, and 'he will be sanctified in them that come nigh him.' (Lev. 10:3) He therefore that approacheth the presence of Christ in prayer, or any other divine appointment, must take heed of regarding 'iniquity in his heart.' (Psa. 66:18) Else the Lord will stop his ears to his prayers, and will shut his eyes, and not take notice of such kind of worship or worshippers.

Fifthly, Those that the apostle in this place exhorts to depart from iniquity are such as have taken unto themselves the boldness to say, that they are in him, abide in him, and consequently are made partakers of the benefits that are in him. 'He that saith he abideth in him, ought himself also to walk, even as he walked.' (1 John 2:6) And the reason is, because Christ is a fruitful root, and a free conveyer of sap into the branches; hence it is written, that 'the trees of the Lord are full of sap.' (Psa. 104:16) So then, he that nameth the name of Christ by way of applying to himself his benefits, and as counting that he is found of God in him, and so abideth, ought himself to walk even as he walked, that he may give proof of what he saith to be true, by bearing forth before men that similitude of righteousness that is in his root and stem: for such as the stock or tree is, such let the branches be, but that cannot be known but by the fruit: 'ye shall know them by their fruit.' (Matt. 7:16) So then, he that thus shall name the name of Christ, let him depart from iniquity: yea, let every such man do so.

Sixthly, This exhortation is spoken to them that name Christ as their Sovereign Lord and King: let them 'depart from iniquity.' 'The Lord is our judge, the Lord is our Lawgiver, the Lord is our King; he will save us.' (Isa. 33:22) [These] are great words; and as they cannot be spoken by every one, so they ought not to be spoken lightly by them that can. Nor may he that claims so high a privilege be but obedient, submissive, apt to learn, conscientiously to put in practice what he hath learnt of his Judge, his Lawgiver, and his King. Lest when some shall hear him say that Christ, by name, is his Lawgiver and his King, and shall yet observe him to do things evil, and to walk in ways that are not good, they shall think evil, and speak so of his King; saying, Learnt you this of Christ your King? or doth your King countenance you in ways that are so bad? or, do you by thus and thus doing submit to the laws of your king? yea, your King, his name and gospel shall bear the burden of the evil, together with the shame thereof, if thou that namest the name of Christ shalt not depart from iniquity.

Lastly, Whatever man he be that by his naming of the name of Christ shall intimate that he hath any reverence of love to, or delight in that Christ, whose name he nameth, that man should depart from iniquity, not only for the reasons that are above mentioned, but for those that may be named afterwards.

But having thus far opened the word, and shewed who and what manner of man the apostle had in his eye, in this his exhortation, I shall come, in the next place, to make some observations upon the text. As,

[Observation First.]

That it is incident to men to name the name of Christ religiously, that is, rightly as to words and nations, and not to 'depart from iniquity.' This was the occasion of this exhortation, for Paul saw that there were some that did so; to wit, that named the name of Christ well, as to words, but did not depart from iniquity. Some such he also I found among them at Corinth, which made him say, 'Awake to righteousness, and sin not.' (1 Cor. 15:34) He found such at Ephesus, and cries out to them most earnestly, saying, 'Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead.' (Eph. 5:14) For albeit they were professors of Christ, yet they lived too much like those that were dead in trespasses and sins, This he also found among the Hebrews, wherefore he saith to them, 'Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.' (Heb. 12:1) These professors are easily beset with sin, yea, it did hang upon them as weights to hinder them from making of that profession of Christ, whose name they named, as beautiful as did become both him and them.

In my discourse upon this subject, I must endeavour to shew you two things. FIRST, What Paul means when he saith, 'depart from iniquity.' SECONDLY, Why some, that as to words, rightly name the name of Christ, do not 'depart from iniquity.'

The first of those doth need some explanation, because in some sense even the best of saints cannot depart from sin, or iniquity.

1. Because as to the being of it, it is seated and rooted in their flesh, and hath its dwelling there. Yea, it hath, and so will have an abiding there, so long as man is on this side that state of perfection, which is not to be enjoyed while we are in the flesh: 'for in me, that is, in my flesh,' sin dwells, (Rom. 7:18) nor doth any thing else but sin dwell there: 'for in me, that is, in my flesh, said Paul, 'dwelleth no good thing:' therefore the apostle must not be understood as if he intended to insinuate that there was a possibility that the nature and being of sin could be plucked up by the roots, and so cast clean away from us, as to the very nature thereof. No, that will abide with us, for it hath its dwelling in us.

2. And as they cannot depart from the nature, of it as such, that is, as they cannot be rid of the being of sin, so neither can they depart from the motions and stirrings of sin, no more than they can stir from the motions or stirrings of their natural senses, or of their natural reason: the motions of sin, which Paul also calls the lusts thereof, will be where the nature and being of sin is, because it is not dead; for that which liveth, what manner of life soever it hath, will have motion according to the manner of life which it hath; and sin being one of the most quick and brisk things that are, it will also have its motions and lusts accordingly. Hence Paul says, it lusts, and will lust, where it is and dwells; though the very Spirit of God and the utmost diligence of a Christian be also there to oppose it. (Rom. 6:12; Gal. 5:17)

3. Again, as the being and motions of sin will be with us, so also will it in its endeavours. It will endeavour to overcome us, and to make us captives to itself and to Satan; and these endeavours will be with us. (Eph. 6:11, 12; 2 Cor. 10:5; Heb. 12:4) Nor can we so depart from iniquity, as to be utterly rid of all sense and feeling of what endeavours there are in sin and iniquity to be master and lord, and reign. Sin will endeavour to defile the mind, to defile the conscience, to defile the life and conversation; and this endeavour, as endeavour, we cannot depart from; that is, cause that it should not be in our flesh; for there it will be, since sin in its being is there.

4. As the being, motions, and endeavours of sin will still abide in our flesh, so consequently will its polluting fumes be upon us; nor doth the apostle mean, when he bids us depart from iniquity, that we should think that we can so be, or so do, in this life, as that our being or doing should not smell of the strong scent of sin. 'Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one.'( Job 14:4) 'We are all as an unclean thing, and' therefore 'all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.' (Isa. 64:6) The scent, the smell, the rank and odious stink of sins abide upon, yea, and will abide upon us, when most spiritual here, and upon our most spiritual actions too, until they be taken away by Christ. Thus far, therefore, we cannot be concerned in the exhortation. For should Paul exhort us to depart from the being, motion, endeavour, and polluting fumes and scent of sin—I mean so to depart from them, as that there shall no such thing have place, or motion, or striving, or scent in, or upon us—he would exhort us to that which is altogether impossible for us to perform, yea, to perform through that working of the Spirit of God, which is to be with us and in us here. Yea, he must exhort us to that which be could not perform himself. But such exhortations did not stand with the wisdom of an apostle. Wherefore there is a certain meaning in this exhortation, from the which if we swerve, we shall both wrong the apostle and ourselves.

FIRST—Let us inquire then what Paul should mean, where he bids them 'that name the name of Christ depart from iniquity.' And for our better understanding of him, we must consider that there is an iniquity that is inherent in us, and an iniquity that is apart, and at a distance from us. Now if he means, as certainly he doth, that they that name the name of Christ should depart from that sin and iniquity that is in themselves; then, though he cannot mean that we should separate that from our persons, for that is impossible, yet he would have us,

First, Take off and withdraw our MINDS and AFFECTIONS therefrom. And he tells us that they that are Christ's do so. 'And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.' (Gal. 5:24) Sinful lusts and sinful motions our minds and affections should depart from them. There are the affections and lusts of sin; and there are the affections and lusts, or desires of the soul; and again, there are the affections and lusts of the new man in saints. Now this is that that the apostle would have, to wit, that the affections and passions of our souls should not choose but depart from the affections and lusts of our old man, and should be renewed and made willing to be led by the Holy Ghost from them. 'This I say,' says he, 'Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.' (ver. 16)

Wherefore, when he saith, depart from iniquity, if he means from our own inherent iniquity, then he must mean thus, take your mind and your affections off, carry your minds away from them, set your minds and affections upon other objects, and let your minds and affections be yielded up to the conduct of the word and Spirit of God, 'Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.' (Rom. 6:12) Now a man, in mind and affections, may depart from that which yet will not depart from him; yea, a man in mind may depart from that which yet will dwell in him as long as he lives.

For instance, there are many diseases that cleave to men, from which, in their minds, they willingly depart. Yea, their greatest disquietment is, that so bad a distemper will abide by them, and might they but have their desire accomplished, they would be as far therefrom as the ends of the earth are asunder, and while they are found to continue together, the mind departs therefrom, and is gone either to God or to physicians for help and deliverance from it.

And thus it is with the saint, and should be with every one that by way of profession nameth the name of Christ, he should depart from his indwelling sin, with his mind. 'With his mind he should serve the law of God.' (Rom. 7:25) And this is an excellent thing to do, and can be done by none but such as are possessed with an excellent spirit. Ah! to find a man that really departs from himself, and that draweth the affections of the soul, from the affections and lusts of his flesh is rare thing. (Ezek. 11:19-21) The heart of the most of professors goeth after their detestable lusts, and after their inward abominations. But such shall of the flesh reap corruption,' notwithstanding they name the name of Christ. (Gal. 6:8)

Sin is sweet to him that is nothing but flesh, or that can savour nothing but what is of the flesh. (Job 20:12) Nor can it be that be that is such should depart from himself, his sweet self. (Rom. 8:5-8) No, they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; wherefore they that are in the flesh, though they profess religion and name the name of Christ, cannot please God; for such, instead of walking in and after the Spirit, have put the stumbling-block of their iniquity before their faces, to hinder their departing therefrom. (Ezek. 14:7, 8) nor will all their inquiring of God, nor their seeking and praying to him, keep them from stumbling and falling, and splitting themselves in sunder upon the rocks and ruins that are provided for them, as a reward of the evil of their doings. (Job 14:16) Yea, they shall suck the poison of asps, and the viper's tongue shall slay them, notwithstanding all their profession.

Question. But some may say, how shall I know that I do depart from the iniquity of my flesh, from the iniquity that is in me.

Answer. I shall answer this question briefly thus:

(1.) How is iniquity in thine eye, when severed from the guilt and punishment that attends it? Is it as separate from these, beauteous, or ill-favoured? I ask thee how it looks, and how thou likest it, suppose there were no guilt or punishment to attend thy love to, or commission of it? For if in its own nature it be desirable to thy mind, and only therefore shunned for fear of the punishment that attends the commission of it, without doubt thou art none of them that do depart from it; all that thou dost is, thou shunnest the sin, not of abhorrence of the sin, but for fear of the punishment that attends it. Like the thief that yet refuseth to take away his neighbour's horse, not of hatred of theft, but for fear of the gallows.

(2.) How dost thou like thyself, as considered possessed with a body of sin, and as feeling and finding that sin worketh in thy members? doth this yield thee inward pleasedness of mind, and a kind of secret sweetness, or bow? for to be sure, where a sanctified mind is, there is nothing more; odious in itself, nor that makes a man so in his own eyes, as doth this sight, the sight of sin in him, of the working of lust in him. (Job 42:6; Ezek. 16:63; Rom. 6:12) It is this that makes the good man ashamed, that makes him blush, and that makes him abhor himself.

(3.) How look thy duties in thine eyes, I mean thy duties which thou doest in the service of God? I say, how look the best of these, the most warm and spiritual of these, since not one of them can be performed, but they do catch the stain of sin, as coming from thee? or art thou through the ignorance that is in thee as [one] unacquainted with these things?

(4.) Why wouldst thou go to heaven? Is it because thou wouldst be saved from hell, or because thou wouldst be freed from sin? I say, wouldst thou go to heaven, because it is a place that is holy, or because it is a place remote from the pains of hell? I ask again, wherein dost thou think the blessedness of heaven consists? is it in the holiness that is there, or in the freedom that is there from hell? There is not a man alive but would go to heaven, that he may be saved from hell: but how many would go thither that they might be saved from the pleasures of sin, from the inward pleasure of sin; of that I will be silent, though surely they are those that are out of love with sin, and that do depart from iniquity.

Verily, my brethren, it is a great thing to depart from iniquity; it is a great thing to have my will, my mind, and my affections departing from it. But,

Second, As they that depart from iniquity withdraw their minds and affections from the lusts and motions of it, so they depart also from the OCCASIONS of it; there are occasions by which sin worketh to bring forth the fruits thereof, and some seek those occasions. (Rom. 14:13; 1 Tim. 5:4; Ex. 23:7; Prov. 5:8; 2 Tim. 2:16) But he that hath set himself to depart from sin in himself, will not seek occasions from abroad to do it. Such a man as will keep far from an evil matter will not company with a person that pollutes and defiles, nor will he come near the door of the adulteress's house; he will shun profane and vain babbling, for fear of the ungodliness that attends it; he will walk with wise men that he may be wise, knowing that 'a companion of fools shall be destroyed.' (Prov. 13:20)

Now there are occasions given and occasions taken to sin against the Lord Jesus; but he that departeth from iniquity departeth from them both. He is not for giving any occasion to others to sin; he had rather wrong himself and put up with injuries done, than give occasion to others to do iniquity; and as he is for giving none, so neither is he for taking any: he is for partaking of no man's sins, but for keeping of himself pure. (1 Tim. 5:22)

Third, To depart from iniquity, is to depart from it in those EXAMPLES that are set before us thereto: occasions and examples are sometimes the same, but there may be occasions to sin where there are no examples thereto, and therefore in that they differ. And to depart from iniquity is to shun and depart from those examples, those beastly examples, that in every corner of the country present themselves to men.

Examples to drunkenness; examples to whoredom; examples to swearing, to lying, to stealing, to sabbath-breaking, to pride, to covetousness, to deceit, to hypocrisy, and to what not, are now-a-days common among men, and he that is to seek in this matter, and that know not how to be expertly base, may have patterns and examples thereto in every hole. But to depart from iniquity is to depart from sinful examples, to shut the eyes at them, to turn the back upon them, and to cry out to heaven for grace to be kept in the path of life. And, 'Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.'

Fourth, To depart from iniquity is to depart from the ENTICINGS of iniquity. There is that in iniquity that is of an enticing nature. Its pleasures, profits, honours, delights, and sweetnesses are enticing, and he that hankers after these is not departed nor departing from iniquity. A man must be weaned from these things, and must find some things somewhere else that are better than these, else he cannot depart from iniquity.

Question. But some may say, I go from it and it follows me; I reject it and it returns upon me; I have said it nay, a thousand times, and yet it offereth itself and its deceits to me again, what would you have me do?

Answer. I would answer thus; Departing from iniquity is not a work of an hour, or a day, or a week, or a month, or a year; but it is a work that will last thee thy lifetime, and there is the greatness and difficulty of it: were it to be done presently, or were the work to be quickly over, how many are there that would be found to have departed from iniquity; but for that it is a work of continuance, and not worth anything, unless men hold out to the end, therefore it is that so few are found actors or overcomers therein. Departing from iniquity, with many, is but like the falling out of two neighbours, they hate one another for a while, and then renew their old friendship again.

But again, since to depart from iniquity is a work of time—of all thy time, no wonder if it dogs thee, and offereth to return upon thee again and again; for THAT is mischievous, and seeks nothing less than thy ruin: wherefore thou must, in the first place, take it for granted that thus it will be and so cry the harder to God for the continuing of his presence and grace upon thee in this blessed work, that as thou hast begun to call upon the name of the Lord Jesus, and begun to depart from iniquity, so thou mayest have strength to do it to the last gasp of thy life.

And further, for that departing from iniquity is a kind of a warfare with it, for iniquity will hang in thy flesh what it can, and will not be easily kept under; therefore no marvel if thou find it wearisome work, and that the thing that thou wouldest be rid of, is so unwilling to let thee depart from it.

And since the work is so weighty, and that it makes thee to go groaning on, I will for thy help give thee here a few things to consider of: and [remember],

1. Remember that God sees thee, and has his eyes open upon thee, even then when sin and temptation is lying at thee to give it some entertainment. This was that that made Joseph depart from it, when solicited to embrace it by a very powerful argument. (Gen. 34:6-7)

2. Remember that God's wrath burns against it, and that he will surely be revenged on it, and on all that give it entertainment. This made Job afraid to countenance it, and put him upon departing from it; 'For destruction from God was a terror to me, and by reason of his highness I could not endure.' (Job 31:23)

3. Remember the mischiefs that it has done to those that have embraced it, and what distress it has brought upon others. This made the whole congregation of Israel tremble to think that any of their brethren should give countenance to it. (Josh. 22:16-18)

4. Remember what Christ hath suffered by it, that he might deliver us from the power of it. This made Paul so heartily to depart from it, and wish all Christians to do so as well as he. (2 Cor. 5:14)

5. Remember that those that are now in hell-fire went thither for that they loved iniquity, and would not depart from it. (Psa. 9:17; 11:6)

6. Remember that a profession is not worth a pin, if they that make it do not depart from iniquity. (James 2:16, 17)

7. Remember that thy death-bed will be very uneasy to thee, if thy conscience at that day shall be clogged with the guilt of thy iniquity. (Hosea 7:13, 14)

8. Remember that at the judgment-day Christ will say to those, Depart from me, that have not here departed from their sin and iniquity. (Luke 13:27; Matt. 25:41)

Lastly, Remember well, and think much upon what a blessed reward the Son of God will give unto them at that day that have joined to their profession of faith in him a holy and blessed conversation.

Having thus briefly showed you these things, I shall come in the next place,

SECOND, To show you, why some, that as to words rightly name the name of Christ, do not depart from iniquity. That it is incident to men to name the name of Christ religiously, and not to depart from iniquity, I have proved already, and now I must show you why it is so, and the reasons are of three sorts:

First, Some profess him, yet have not saving faith in him, nor yet received grace from him. That some profess him that have not faith in him, nor received grace from him, I will make appear first; and then that they do not depart from iniquity, shall be shown afterwards.

That the first is true consider, Christ says to his disciples, 'There are some of you that believe not.' And again, 'For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him.' (John 4:64) Now if they believe not, they have none of his grace in them; for faith is the first and head grace, the beginning and leading grace; he, therefore, that is destitute of that is empty of all the rest. Besides, other scriptures also confirm this truth. James calls I some of the professors of Christ that were in his day vain or empty men. (James 2:20) That is, men void of grace. And the apostle suggesteth in the very words below the text, that as in God's house there are golden and silver saints, so there are also earthy and wooden ones. For 'in a great house' as God's is, 'are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and of earth, and some to honour, and some to dishonour.' (2 Tim 2:20) That is, some for heaven and some for hell. (Rom 9: 20-23)

Now they are these wooden and earthy professors that he aimeth at in the text; to wit, that they should depart from iniquity, or else their profession would do them no good, and these also that he despaireth of in the next words, saying, But in this great house of God there will not only be golden and silver Christians, but wooden and earthly ones: And if any man purge himself from these, from these men's companies, and from these men's vices, he shall be a vessel to honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared to every good work. From all which it is gathered that there are some that name the name of Christ in a way of profession, that have neither faith nor grace in them, and so, consequently, that do not depart from iniquity. For,

These want that principle, that holy and blessed principle, that should induce them thereunto; to wit, the great and principal graces of the Spirit, and they are four.

1. As I have said, they want FAITH, that heart-purifying grace, for the heart is purified by faith. (Acts 15:9) I have showed you already that departing from iniquity must be with the mind and affections, or with the heart. But how can that be, where the heart is not sanctified and made holy? For, an unsanctified mind cannot depart from iniquity, no more than the Ethiopian can change his skin. (Jer. 13:3) But nothing can purify the heart but faith. Therefore nothing can make a professor depart from iniquity where faith is wanting. So then, when men professedly name the name of Christ without having holy faith in him, they still abide by their iniquity; they depart not from their iniquity, but rather make of their profession a cloak for their iniquity, for their malice, and for their covetousness, and the like. (1 Thess 2:15; 1 Peter 2:16) It is not profession, but faith, that bringeth God and the soul together; and as long as God and the soul are at a distance, whatever profession is made, there is not a departing, not an heart-departing from iniquity. Wherefore to these professors James writeth thus, 'Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners: and purify your hearts, ye double-minded.' (James 4:8) Men, far from God, cannot think reverently of him, nor so speak and profess him, as standeth with the nature of gospel religion; wherefore God saith, draw near hither, that is by faith; and again, 'let them come near, then let them speak,' then let them profess. (Isa 41:1) Without faith a man cannot please God, because he cannot without it stand before him in the spotless righteousness of Christ, nor yet depart from iniquity, and live a holy life. (Heb 11:6)

There are three things in faith, that directly tend to make a man depart from iniquity. (l.) It apprehendeth the truth of the being and greatness of God, and so it aweth the spirit of a man. (2.) It apprehendeth the love of this God in Christ, and so it conquereth and overcometh the spirit of a man. (3.) It apprehendeth the sweetness and blessedness of the nature of the Godhead, and thence persuadeth the soul to desire here, communion with him, that it may be holy, and the enjoyment of him, when this world is ended, that it may be happy in, and by him, for ever.

But without faith these things cannot be apprehended, and therefore those that want it, whatever; their profession is, they will not depart from iniquity.

2. [They want REPENTANCE.] Repentance is another of the great and principal graces which the Holy Ghost worketh in the heart. Wherefore, without this also there can be no departing from iniquity. It is in vain to expect it of any man, let his profession be never so stately and great, if he is a stranger to sound repentance. How many are there in our day, since the gospel is grown so common, that catch up a notion of good things and from that notion make a profession of the name of Christ, get into churches, and obtain the title of a brother, a saint, a member of a gospel congregation, that have clean escaped repentance. I say, they have catched up a notion of good things, and have through that adventured to name the name of Christ, quite forgetting to take repentance with them. Repentance should be, and is one of the first steps into the true gospel profession. (Mark 1:15; Prov 3:7; 16:6) But some know nothing of it, until they come to the end of all, and their repentance will do them no good. Repentance is not but where the true fear of God is; yea, the fear of God is one ground of repentance. Repentance is the scouring grace, it is that which purges. Repentance is, as I may call it, that bitter pill without the taking, and sound working of which, base and sinful humours will rest unstirred, unpurged, undriven out of the soul. Can repentance be where godly sorrow is not? or can repentance be where the fruits of repentance are not? O the fruits of repentance, thick sown by preachers, but it comes up but thinly! (Mark 1:4,5; Rom 6:21; Jer 7:3,5) Where shall the fruits of repentance be found? Confession of sin is one fruit of repentance; shame for sin is another fruit of repentance; amendment of life is another fruit of repentance; restitution for couzening, cheating, defrauding, beguiling thy neighbour, is another fruit of repentance. (Luke 19:5-8) Yea, if you would see the fruits of repentance as described by the Holy Ghost, and put together for the further conviction and shame of the impenitent professor, look into the second epistle to the Corinthians, 12:9-11.

But this is a day that was never read of, a day wherein conversion is frequent without repentance; such a conversion as it is, and therefore doth the church of God now swarm with them that religiously name the name of Christ, and yet depart not from iniquity. Alas! all houses, all tables, all shops, have hanging up in them the sign of the want of repentance. (Eccl 7:27,28) To say nothing of the talk, of the beds and the backs of most that profess, by which of these is it that one of a thousand for men; and for women, one of ten thousand, do show that they have repentance? No marvel then that the name of Christ is so frequently mentioned there, where iniquity dwells, yea, reigns, and that with the consent of the mind.

I would not be austere, but were wearing of gold, putting on of apparel, dressing up houses, decking of children, learning of compliments, boldness in women, lechery in men, wanton behaviour, lascivious words, and tempting carriages, signs of repentance; then I must say, the fruits of repentance swarm in our land; but if these be none of the fruits of repentance then, O, the multitude of professors, that religiously name the name of Christ, and do not depart from iniquity.[3] But,

3. [They want LOVE.] Love is another of those great and principal graces which the Holy Ghost worketh in the heart; wherefore let profession be never so high, yet if love be wanting there, to be sure such professors 'depart not from iniquity,' (1 Cor 13) Hence all profession, and subjecting to profession, are counted nothing, where love is not. Love is counted a most infallible sign that a man is in a state of salvation. 'He that loveth dwells in God, is born of God, and knoweth him.' (1 John 4:7,16,21) Love divideth itself, to God, and to my neighbour. Love to God is, that we keep his sayings, his commandments, his laws. 'If a man love me,' saith Christ, 'he will keep my words;—and he that loveth me not, keepeth not my sayings.' (John 14:23,24) For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.' (1 John 5:3) So then, that professor that hath not love, cannot depart from iniquity. (l.) Where no love is, men cannot be tender of the name of God, they are not afflicted because men keep not God's law. (Psa 119:136; 1 Col 13:5) (2.) Where no love is, men cannot deny themselves of that which otherwise they might lawfully do, lest the weak should fall, and the world be destroyed. (Rom 14:15) (3.) Where love to God is, there is hatred against iniquity; 'ye that love the Lord, hate evil.' (Psa. 97:10)

A man cannot love God that loves not holiness; he loves not holiness that loves not God's word; he loves not God's word that doth not do it. It is a common thing to find men partial in God's law, setting much by small things, and neglecting the weightier matters, paying tithe of mint, and anise, and cummin, and neglecting the weightier matters. These turn the tables of God's book upside down; making little laws of great ones; and great ones of little ones; counting half an hour's bodily service better than a moral life. Love! love is gone out of the country; love to the doctrine of the first table, love to the doctrine of the second table. O how many professors, in God's eyes, are accounted of no more than sounding brass, for want of this ornament, love! (1 Cor 13)

To speak nothing of the first table, where is he that hath his love manifested by the second? where are they that feed the hungry and clothe the naked, and send portions to them, for whom nothing is prepared? Where is Paul that would not eat meat while the world standeth, lest he made his brother offend? (1 Cor 8:13) Where is Dorcas, with her garments she used to make for the widow, and for the fatherless? (Acts 9:36-39) Yea, where is that rich man that, to his power, durst say as Job does? as recorded in Job 30:25; 31:13,32. Love! love is gone, and now coveting, pinching, griping, and such things are in fashion: now iniquity abounds, instead of grace, in many that name the name, of Christ. They want love, and therefore cannot depart from iniquity.[4]

4. [They want HOPE.] Hope is another of those great and principal graces, which the Holy Ghost worketh in the heart, and without which, let a man be never so high in profession, and so open in naming the name of Christ, he cannot depart from iniquity. As was said before of faith, so we say now of hope. 'And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.' (1 John 3:3) Here is that excellent office, or rather effect of hope made manifest, it purifieth, it cleanseth a man; it makes him make the Lord Jesus his example, as well as his Saviour. He purifieth himself even as he is pure; to wit, in soul, in body, in spirit, in life and conversation. Hope of life, eternal by Christ, makes a man purify himself in obeying the truth through the Spirit. Hope to be with Christ hereafter, will make me strive to believe him here. Hope of being with angels then, will make a man strive to live like an angel here. Alas! alas! there is a company of half-priests in the world, and they cannot, they dare not teach the people the whole counsel of God, because in so doing they will condemn themselves and their manner of living in the world; where is that minister now to be found that dare say to his people, Look on me, and walk as you have me for an example? or that dare say, What you see and hear to be in me, do, 'and the God of peace shall be with you?' (Phil 3:17; 4:9) These men had hope and hope purified them to an example, till they became patterns to others. Is not this now far off from some professors in the world? Are they purified, are they clean that name the name of Christ? are they weaned from that milk, and drawn from the breasts? No, nor their profession is not attended with grace; they name the name of Christ; well, but they do not depart from iniquity. Let a man believe a lie, and according to the reality of his belief, such will his obedience be; let a man hope for that for which he hath no ground to hope, yet his hope will work with him according to the power thereof; and yet we have a generation of men that profess the blessed gospel, which yieldeth the most substantial ground for faith and hope; yea, we have a company of men that will be naming the name of Christ, which is the sweetest, the most taking, and desirable name that is named among the sons of men, and for all that, this gospel, this worthy name, nor yet their naming of it, doth make them depart from iniquity. But what's the reason? why, they have taken up a profession, but want the grace of Christ; the faith, the repentance, the love and hope of the gospel. No marvel then, if they abide among the wooden sort of professors: no marvel then, though the iniquity of their heels still follows them, and that it droppeth from them wherever they go. But so much for the first reason, why men do name the name of Christ and yet do not depart from iniquity.

Second, The second reason, why some that name the name of Christ, depart not from iniquity, is, for that, though they rest not in bare notions, as those forementioned, yet they take up as they, short of the saving grace of God. There are bare notions, there are common workings, and there is a work that is saving, and that will do the soul good to eternity.

1. There are bare notions, and they that have them are such unto whom the gospel comes IN WORD ONLY. (1 Thess 1:5; 1 Cor 4:19,20) Such whose religion stands in word only, and is not attended with a power suitable; that is, there goeth not along with the word, a power sufficient to subdue, and work over the heart to a cordial and gracious close with that word that comes to them. Yet such is the noise and sound of the word, that they are willing to become professors thereof; there is some kind of musicalness in it, especially when well handled and fingered by a skilful preacher. And lo, saith God unto such preachers, when their auditory is made up of such kind of hearers, 'And lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song,' or as one that sings a song of loves, 'of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear thy words but they do them not.' (Eze. 33:30-32)

2. But then, besides these, there is another sort, and they go further than these. For to them the word came, not in word only, but also in POWER: though not in that or in such a power as is sufficient absolutely against all attempts whatsoever to bring the soul to glory. Of these we read in several places; to wit, that they have tasted of the powers of the world to come; but not so as to bring them safe to glory. Yet thus far they go. (1.) They attain light or illumination, to see much of their state by nature with. (Heb 6:4) (2.) This light standeth not in bare speculation, but lets fall upon the conscience convincing arguments to the bowing and humbling of the spirit. (1 Kings 21:27-29) (3.) They submit to these convictions, and reform, and may for a time not only come out from them that live in error, but escape the pollutions of the world, by the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. (2 Peter 2:18-20; Gal 3:4; 4:20) (4.) Yea, so powerful will this dispensation be, that it will prevail with them to do and suffer many things for the vindication of the truth of that gospel which they profess. For the word will be sweet unto them. Christ, the gift of God, will be relished by them. (Heb 6:4,5) The powers of the world to come will be in them. Some workings of the Holy Ghost will be in them. And joy, which is as oil to the wheels, will be with their souls. (Luke 8:13)

Thus, I say, it is with some professors, who yet cannot be said to depart from iniquity, that is, for all ado, because the things that now are upon them, abide with them but awhile. 'For awhile they believe: they rejoice in the light for a season.' (Luke 8:13, John 5:35, 2 Peter 2:21) So they clean escape from them, who live in error for a little, or awhile; and after that return to their old course, and are again entangled with their iniquities and overcome. This is called, 'A turning with the dog to his own vomit again, and with the sow that was washed, to her wallowing in the mire.' And some of these are set forth by this and such like sayings, 'When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and finding none. Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first.' (Matt 12:44,45)

Now the causes of this declension, returning, or falling away again into iniquity, are many.

First [Cause of falling away.] One is for that this work, this work of power that they have been made partakers of, has not been thorough enough upon all the powers of their souls. Their understandings, their judgments and consciences have been dealt with, but the power of God has not been upon their wills and minds, and affections, rightly to subdue them to the grace of the gospel. (Psa. 110:3) Indeed there seems to be subjection of the will, and an overruling of the mind, and affections also, else they could not for a time lay aside their iniquity, come off from the pollutions of the world, and for a season rejoice in the world and be pleased with the light thereof. But we may consider, that this may be, not for that a sound work of God hath passed upon these powers of the soul, but that rather this was by reason of those reflex acts, that the understanding now enlightened, the judgment now informed, and the conscience now convinced, had upon these other powers of the soul. And I the rather think it so, because willingness, mindfulness of, and affection for, this gospel, lasted no longer than the light shined in their understandings, or than the things were relished by their judgment and conscience. So that when the light of their candle went out, and when the taste of this sugar-plum was out of their mouth, their wills and affections, not being possessed with the fear of God, they returned again to their course, and went away as before with iniquity.

Nor do I by anything here discoursed, lay blame or fault at the door of God. For,

1. He is a free agent to do what he pleaseth, and may, if he please, refuse to give anything, or if he gives something, why may he not give what he pleases also? He may give special grace to one, and that which is not so to another: he may open Balaam's eyes, (Num. 24:3) and open Lydia'a heart; (Acts 16:14) he may give some but a taste, and cause some to eat abundantly. (Heb. 6; Songs 5:1) He may suffer some to fall away, and keep others, by his power, through faith unto salvation.

2. Besides, God's withdrawing, to wit, of those common workings, if they were withdrawn without, a cause given—which yet I question—yet why may they not be withdrawn from these, as well as from his own peculiar ones. He knows but little, that doth not know that God ofttimes hides his face from his own, and also withdraws from them the light and great influences of the Holy Ghost: and turns them over, at least in their own apprehensions, to the ungodly, and to fallen angels for their chastisement, or trial; or instruction, &c.

3. And why may not God, since these rebels had such working with them, as that their minds, by their understanding, their will and affections; by their judgment and consciences were somewhat taken and allured, cause a withdrawing of these for trial, and to see if they would cry after him to return.

But we will let these things pass, and call you again to remembrance of what is in hand: we are now shewing that there be them that name the name of Christ, 'that yet depart not from iniquity,' and in shewing the cause of their not so doing, one was for that the gospel came to them in word only; and the other was, for that though it came to others in power, yet not in power, or in that power, that effectually keepeth some to salvation. Upon this second reason I now am, and am shewing how it comes to pass that they that are under the power of the things that we have afore discoursed, should notwithstanding that, return to their vomit again. One cause of this declension, or going back to iniquity, I have just now touched upon, and we have some more behind.

Second [Cause of falling away.] Therefore such persons upon the withdrawing of those influences that at present are mighty upon them, do forthwith; forget, both what they had, and what work it made upon them. Straightway they forget what manner of men they were. It is said of Israel, they sang his praises, they soon forgot his word. So these they forget.

1. They forget what light and what conviction they had.

2. They forget what sorrow for sin they had.

3. They forget what tastes of Christ and his word they had.

4. They forget what joy and comfort they had.

5. They forget how fair for heaven they were.

6. And they forget how cleansed once they were.

'They have forgotten that they were purged from their old sins.' (2 Peter 1:9) Now forgetfulness makes things that are past as nothing; and if so, then it can lay no obligations upon the mind, to engage it to the delight of them, and to the enjoying of them, no not in the thoughts of them, as if they were remembered by us. Forgetfulness is a very dangerous thing: it makes preaching vain, profession vain, faith vain, and all to no purpose. (1 Cor. 15:1, 2) Such profession is but a dream, and the professors but as dreamers: all vanishes in the morning. This made Paul so caution the Corinthians, that they forgot not the preaching; and the author to the Hebrews, so earnestly calls them, in their back-sliding, back to the remembrance of former days, and to the recollecting of what it was that then had made them so willingly endure their great fight of affliction. (Heb. 10:32, 33)

Forgetfulness, I say, makes things nothing; it makes us as if things had never been; and so takes away from the soul one great means of stay, support, and encouragement; when choice David was dejected, the remembrance of the hill Hermon was his stay; when he was to go out against Goliah, the remembrance of the lion and the bear was his support: so when those that have had the power of the things of God upon them, can think of this; when they are withdrawn, it will, even the thinking of it, have some kind of operation upon the soul. And therefore you shall find, that the recovering of a backslider usually begins at the remembrance of former things. 'Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works.' (Rev. 2:5)

It is marvellous to see how some men are captivated with this forgetfulness. Those that sometimes have prayed, cried, groaned, and sighed, for eternal life; those that sometimes thought no pains too much, no way too far, no hazards too great to run, for eternal life; those who sometimes were captivated with the word, and with the comforts and joy thereof, and that, had it been possible, could have pulled out their eyes, and have given them to a gospel minister, so dear and sweet were the good tidings which they brought to such. (Gen. 4:14, 15) I say it is marvellous to see how such men are captivated with the forgetfulness of this. They are as if they never had been those men; they are as if they had never had such things; or, as if they never had thought about them. Yea, they are strange, and carry it strangely to all those that still are under the power of that word, and of that mighty band by which sometimes themselves were guided.

Should one say to some, Art not thou the man that I once saw crying under a sermon, that I once, heard cry out, What must I do to be saved? and, that some time ago I heard speak well of the holy word of God? how askew will they look upon one; or if they will acknowledge that such things were with them once, they do it more like images and rejected ghosts, than men. They look as if they were blasted, withered, cast out, and dried to powder, and now fit for nothing but to be cast into the fire, and burned. (John 15:6) The godliness from which they are departed, and the iniquity unto which again they have joined themselves, has so altered, so metamorphosed and changed their heart, and mind, and ways. This therefore as the second thing which shews why some that have been under something of the power of things,[5] are again with iniquity entangled and overcome.

Third [Cause of falling away.] Another thing that makes these enlightened ones, that they continue not to depart from iniquity, is the persecution that always attends the word: for persecution always attends the word, that of the tongue, or that of the sword. Now these men that were once enlightened, though they cannot remember what they were themselves, yet Satan helps them to think that their neighbours remember what they were: and having now lost the savour, the sense of what they once had, and sinned away that Spirit that brought it to them, they grow weak; yea are above all men the most unable to stand up, to abide the shock and trial, that for their profession is coming upon them. Wherefore, by and by they are offended; to wit, with their own profession, and call themselves an hundred fools, for being so heedless, so witless, and unwary, to mind God's holy things in such a time and day. (Matt. 4:16, 17; Luke 8:13) Then they bethink with themselves, how to make an honourable retreat, which they suppose they usually do, by finding fault, first with their own unadvisedness, and of the over-persuasiveness of others; they also now begin to say farewell conscience, yea, God and heaven and all, and join in confederacy with the world again. Thus are they in fear, where no fear is; and the sound of a shaken leaf doth chase them. And there are four things that are the cause of this.

1. For that not withstanding the former power that attended the word to their hearts, their hearts did still abide as hard as a rock, there was no true and sound breaking, nor softening in that; wherefore there the word wanted depth of earth, as our Lord is pleased to call it; and anon when the sun was up, that which remained was presently scorched, and so withered away.

2. Notwithstanding what they had sometimes enjoyed, yet the grace of the fear of God was wanting in them. (Eccl. 7:16-18) So wanting that, what should hinder but that they should return to go as they came, and leave Christ, the gospel, and the people of God to shift as well as they can for themselves.

3. All that they enjoyed did not estrange their hearts from their lusts, though when they were in the power of things, they were deader to them than formerly; I say than formerly. (Psa. 78:30, 36, 37) And it is even with such, as with them, who are for a time taken off from what yet they love, by some new employ in which they are engaged. Saul went out to look for David to kill him, but when he came at Naioth, in Ramah, the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied. (1 Sam. 19:18, 24) But this lasted but for a while. Saul soon returned to his old envy against the holy man again.

4. It comes upon them even of judgment and wrath, for since they so soon give way to sin, and forget, God suffereth them to fall into the fear of men, and to force their hearts to comply with bad things,—even as Judas and Demas did,—till they are swallowed up of that gulph, into which the ungodly descend. 'As for such as turn aside unto their crooked ways, the Lord shall lead them forth with the workers of iniquity.' (Psa. 125:5)

When once God is angry with a people, he can deal with them, he can give them up to those lusts in judgment, that they will not be separated from by mercy. Yea, he can make a way for his anger to overtake them that have made a way, by the deceits of their hearts, to go a-whoring from under him.

And these are the causes why those that were once enlightened, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, return with the dog to his own vomit again; and so, though they have or do name the name of Christ, yet depart not from iniquity.

Third, A third reason, why they that name the name of Christ do not depart from iniquity, may be, because GRACE IS WEAK and CORRUPTION STRONG. I speak now of them that are truly gracious; for as those that never had nothing but notion, did never at all depart from iniquity: and as those that never had saving grace, though common workings were with them, do but a little depart from iniquity; so those that yet have the grace of God in them, in truth, do not, as they should, depart from iniquity; wherefore the exhortation is as much to them as it is to any body else; 'and let them that name the name of Christ,' with gracious lips, 'depart from iniquity.' For though there is a great difference betwixt these and the two sorts that I mentioned before,—these having the true principles of holiness in them, but the other nothing thereof,—yet they, even they, also have need of this exhortation; for they do not, as they should, 'depart from iniquity.' Their graces, as I said, are weak, and that is the reason thereof.

That these do not depart from iniquity, as they should, is clear.

1. For that their highest acts of holiness are tainted therewith, and made imperfect thereby. (Isa. 64:6; Psa. 143:2; Heb. 12:15; Matt. 6:23) This is manifest, because they still are afraid to shew themselves before God in their own works, and because they betake them for acceptation with God, to the priestly office of Christ, and pray by him, 'forgive us our trespasses.'

2. This is clear also, because we are, while in this world, nowhere by the word said to have attained to the mark and point of absolute perfection; but are bid to grow, to follow on, to press forward, and to perfect holiness in the fear of God. (2 Peter 3:18; Heb. 6:12; Phil. 3:12-14; 2 Cor. 7:1) Yea, the best of us all, even the apostles and prophets, have not only made it manifest by their imperfections, that as yet they have not departed from iniquity as they should; but they have confessed, and denied not, that they were yet in the pursuit of righteousness, and had not already attained.

3. This is clear also, for that the righteousness, by the which the best of saints are justified in the sight of God, is a righteousness of another, not their own; the righteousness of another man, for that there is not any upon earth that doth good and sins not. And what need we pray, 'forgive us our trespasses,' approach God in the perfections of another, and be bid 'to perfect holiness,' if we had already attained, or were already perfect, or were so departed from iniquity as we should.

4. Alas, the complaints of God concerning this matter, doth sufficiently testify the truth of what I say. When God came to his people in Egypt, and bid them forsake the idols of Egypt, they did not. But they rebelled against me, says he, and would not hearken unto me; they did not, every man, cast away the abominations of his eyes, neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt. Well, he saved them out of Egypt, and brought them into the wilderness, and said to them there, Obey my laws, and my commandments; but the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness, they walked not in my statutes, they despised my judgments. Well, then he had them from the wilderness to Canaan, and then said to them, Keep my laws. (Eze. 20) But when he had brought them into the land, then they also polluted themselves, and sinned, against him as before. Again, when God brought them out of captivity, both they, and every thing that they did, was unclean. (Hag. 2:14)

To be short, what says Paul in the seventh to the Romans? what says James in the third chapter of his epistle? (ch. 3:2) And what says John in his first epistle, and first chapter? (1 John 1:9) Do they not all confess, though themselves were apostles, and so for grace and gifts beyond any that breathe in this world, that sin and iniquity was yet with them; and so consequently, that there was not as yet that departing by them therefrom, as there should. And the reason, as I have said, is, because grace is weak, weak in the beat and most strong of the saints of God. Hence the greatest saints use to complain, when much assaulted with corruptions, or attended with very hard service for God, of their weakness and insufficiency, as to a completeness of doing the will of God.

(1.) Moses, when God did but bid him nourish and succour Israel in the wilderness, and carry them in his bosom, as the nursing-father beareth the sucking child, was stricken with such fear of miscarrying, through the weakness of his graces and the power of his corruptions, that he cried to God, saying, 'I am not able to bear all this people alone, because it too heavy for me. And if thou deal thus with me, kill me, I pray thee, out of hand,—and let me not see my wretchedness.' (Num. 11:14, 15)

(2.) Job, when he was, for a proof of his integrity, to be exercised a while with some of the judgments of God, cries out, in a sense of his weakness to bear them, and to go through as he should, 'Is my strength the strength of stones? or is my flesh of brass?' And again, 'Am I a sea, or a whale, that thou settest a watch over me? Wilt thou break a leaf driven to and fro? And wilt thou pursue the dry stubble?' (Job 6:12; 8:12; 13:25)

(3.) So Daniel, when he was but to stand and talk with the angel, how weak did he find himself; 'There remained,' saith he, 'no strength in me;' and, '0 my Lord, by the vision my sorrows are turned upon me, and I have retained no strength. For how can the servant of this my Lord talk with this my Lord? for as for me, straightway there remained no strength in me, neither is there breath left in me.' (Dan. 10) Some may say, but this is natural weakness. But I ask, how came nature to be so weak, but through sin? the remains whereof abiding still upon the best of saints, make them, not withstanding their graces, incapable to do any thing as they should.

(4.) Paul, a man of men, who had so much grace, revelation of grace and communion with Christ, that sometimes he knew not whether he was in or out of the body, and yet you find him making bitter complaint of the weakness of his grace, and of the power of his corruptions. 'I am carnal,' saith he, and what I hate that do I. 'How to perform that which is good I find not;' 'when I would do good evil is present with me.' 'But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members.' '0 wretched man that I am,' &c. What complaints, what confessions, what bewailing of weakness is here? And what need was there of any of this, if Paul could, as he would, have departed from iniquity? (Rom. 8)

I have instanced in these four men, because as to failings and miscarriages they are as free—by what the holy record saith—as any four of whose lives you shall read in all the Bible; but you see that they were too weak to do good and depart from iniquity as they would.

Grace may be said to be weak, either when a lower or less degree thereof is compared with a higher and greater degree of the same; or it may be said to be weak when, in what degree of it you will, it shall be engaged by, or engage itself against sin, &c.

There are degrees of grace in the world, some have less, and some bigger measures thereof, and according to the measure of grace received, so is a Christian capable of action. He that has little, acts but weakly; he that has much, acts more strongly; and he of the saints that has most, acteth best of all: but yet none of these three can act so as they should and would, and, consequently, so depart from iniquity as is their duty. Witness those four that I mentioned but now, for they are among the first-rate of saints, yet you see what they did, and hear what they said.

Sin is a mighty tyrant; it is also installed in our flesh, and has moreover that in it which suiteth with whatever is sensual in us. The flesh relisheth it well, though the spirit of the Christian is against it.

Sin is an active beast, and will not admit that the soul should attempt to put forth itself in any good thing, without opposition and contradiction. 'When I should do good evil is present with me.'[6]

Sin is of a polluting and defiling nature, and what grace soever it toucheth it staineth, and in staining makes it weaker, than were it not so defiled it would be. Besides, not a grace, nor an act of grace in the soul can escape untouched.

Unbelief stands ready to annoy faith in the grace, as well as in the act of faith.

Hardness of heart will not let love so affectionately and sympathisingly act as it should.

Sense and reason being polluted will not let hope be so steadfastly fixed upon unseen things as it should.

Pride will not let us be so humble as we ought, nor self so self denying. Passion often interrupts our patience, and angry motions our meekness. By these, and more that might be named, it appears that sin is in us, opposeth our graces, and letteth[7] them from acting as they should; and because this sin has part of ourself in its possession, therefore though our more noble part be utterly against it, yet we depart not from it as we should.

God chargeth Moses with rash and unadvised words, and so he doth
Job also: Daniel did wear the name of an idol god, and Paul freely
confesseth himself unfirm. (Num. 20:12; Psa. 106:32; Job 38:2;
Job 42:6; Dan. 4:8; Rom. 7:24)

Nor may what hath now been said be applied to those that are weak in faith, and so in every other grace; for the strongest grace when acted as well as we can, cannot cause that we depart from iniquity as we should. (l.) Because the strongest grace cannot act without opposition. (2.) Because we that are the actors are lame, infirm, and made weak by sin that dwells in us. (3.) Because grace and a state of grace is not that wherein the perfection designed for us doth lie, for that is in another world. (a.) This is a place to act faith in. (b.) This is a place to labour and travel in. (c.) This is a place to fight and wrestle in. (d.) This is a place to be tried in.

And therefore this is no place of perfection, and consequently no place where God's people can depart from iniquity as they should. Now there is a twofold way of departing from iniquity. I. One is when the mind is set against it, and withdrawn from the love and liking of it. II. The other is when the practice of it is shunned by the whole man.

I. The first of these ways, the saints, though they truly do depart from iniquity, yet depart not from it as they should. (1.) Their understanding sees not the utmost baseness that is in it. (2.) Their judgment is not informed about the vileness of it to perfection. (3.) The conscience has not yet been convinced of all the evil that is in it. Then, (a.) How should the soul abhor it as it should? (b.) How should the desires depart from it with that fervency as they should? (c.) And the will and affections so turn away from it as they should?

II. Second, As to the shunning of the acts of sin, there we also come wonderful short.

We shun not the sins of others as we should. This is made appear, (1.) For that we shun not the company of base men as we should. (2.) Nor shun or refuse to imitate them in their evil, as we should. How easily are good men persuaded to comply with bad men's ways. Yea, Jehoshaphat himself said to Ahab, that base one: Behold, 'I am as thou art, my people as thy people, my horses as thy horses.' (1 Kings 22:4) Joseph could learn in Pharaoh's court, to 'swear by Pharaoh's life.' (Gen. 42:15, 16) Peter also, when dissembling, was in fashion among the people, could learn to dissemble likewise. (Gal. 2:11-14)

We shun not our own sins or the sine of our own company as we should. Christians learn to be proud one of another, to be covetous one of another, to be treacherous and false one of another, to be cowardly in God's matters one of another, to be remiss and negligent in christian duties one of another.

Besides, if I should go about to shew here, how Christians will hide iniquity, as David. (2 Sam. 12:12) How they will excuse it, as did Aaron. (Ex. 32:22-24) How they will plead for it, as did the men of the city of Joash for Baal. (Jud. 6:29-31) and the like, I might soon make it abundantly appear, that Christians do not depart from iniquity as they should; and therefore the exhortation stands; good, and of use to the best of saints on earth, that they and every of them 'should depart from iniquity.' Yea, the observation also that they do not do it as they should, doth still stand good against us.

Wherefore, as it is true in those that have nothing but notion, and that it is true in those that are wrought upon, but not effectually, so it is true upon those that are truly gracious; observation proves it, fears of damnation prove it, the outcry of the world proves it, and the confession of the best men proves it.

[Observation Second.]

I come now to another observation with which I will present you, and that is this, namely, that every one that in way of profession and religion names the name of Christ, 'SHOULD DEPART from iniquity.' I say, that every one that in a way of profession and religion, 'nameth the name of Christ, should depart from iniquity.' This truth needs more practice than proof. For I think there are none that have either scripture or reason by them, but will freely consent to this.

Nor is there any thing ambiguous in the observation, that we need now to stand upon the explaining of. For,

What iniquity is, who knows not?

That it cleaves to the best, who knows not?

That it is disgraceful to profession, who knows not? and therefore that it ought to be departed from, who knows not?

But because the motives in particular may not be so much considered as they ought, and because it is Satan's design to tempt us to be unholy, and to keep iniquity and the professing man together; therefore I will in this place spend some arguments upon you that profess, and in a way of profession do name the name of Christ, that you depart from iniquity; to wit, both in the inward thought and in the outward practice of it. And those arguments shall be of four sorts, some respecting Christ, some his Father, some ourselves, and some the world.

First, [Arguments that respect CHRIST.]

First, The Christ, whom you profess, whose name you name, and whose disciples you pretend to be, is holy. 'Be ye holy, for I am holy,' (1 Peter 1:16) This is natural to our discourse; for if Christ be holy, and if we profess him, and in professing of him, declare that we are his disciples, we ought therefore to depart from iniquity, that we may shew the truth of our profession to the world.

Second, They that thus name the name of Christ should depart from iniquity, because this Christ, whose name we name, is loving. Those that have a loving master, a master that is continually extending his love unto his servants, should be forward in doing of his will, that thereby they may shew their sense, and acceptation of the love of their master. Why, this is his will, 'that we depart from iniquity, that we throw sin away; that we fly every appearance of evil.' (1 Thess. 5:22; Heb. 7:26)

Third, They that thus name the name of Christ should depart from iniquity, because of the honour and reputation of their Lord. It is a disparagement to Christ, that any of his servants, and that any that name his name, should yet abide by, and continue with, iniquity. 'A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a Father, where is mine honour? and if I be a Master, where is my fear? saith the Lord of hosts, unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name?' (Mal. 1:6)

Fourth, They that name the name of Christ should depart from iniquity, because of his name, that his name may not be evil spoken of by men; for our holiness puts a lustre and a beauty upon the name of Christ, and our not departing from iniquity draws a cloud upon it. Wherefore we ought to depart from iniquity, that the name of the Lord Jesus may be glorified, and not reproached through us.

Fifth, They that name the name of Christ should depart from iniquity, because of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. That the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, which they profess, may not be evil spoken of by our neighbours. The gospel is called holy, therefore let them be holy that profess it. (2 Peter 2:21) The which they can by no means be, if they depart not from iniquity. Men cannot serve the designs of the gospel, and their own worldly and fleshly designs. But they that profess the name of Christ, they should be tender of his gospel, that they keep that in good esteem and reputation in the world. The which they can by no means do, unless they depart from iniquity.

Sixth, They that name the name of Christ should depart from iniquity, because the very profession of that name is holy. The profession is an holy profession. Be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord; the vessels, that is, the profession, for by that is as it were carried about the name and gospel of Jesus Christ. We must therefore lay aside all iniquity, and superfluity of naughtiness, and do as persons professing godliness, as professing a profession, that Christ is the priest of, yea the high-priest of 1 Thess. 2:30; Heb. 3:3. It is a reproach to any man to be but a bungler at his profession, to be but a sloven in his profession. And it is the honour of a man to be excellent in the managing of his profession. Christians should be excellent in the management of their profession, and should make that which is good in itself, good to the church and to the world, by a sweet and cleanly managing of it.

Seventh, They that profess the name of Christ, or that name it religiously, should to their utmost depart from iniquity, because of the church of Christ which is holy. He that religiously professeth the name of Christ, has put himself into the church of Christ, though not into a particular one, yet into the universal one. Now that is holy. What agreement then hath the temple of God with idols? Ay, or any pillar, or post, or pin, or member of that temple. (2 Cor. 6:16) One black sheep is quickly espied among five hundred white ones, and one mangey one will soon affect many. One also among the saints, that is not clean, is a blemish to the rest, and, as Solomon says, 'one sinner destroyeth much good.' (Eccl. 9:18)

Eighth, They that profess the name of Christ, or that name that name religiously, should depart from iniquity, because of the ordinances of Christ, for they are holy. (Ex. 30:17-31) Men of old before they went in to meddle with holy things, were to wash their hands and their feet in a vessel prepared for that purpose. Now since they that name that name religiously do also meddle with Christ's appointments, they must also wash and be clean; cleanse your hands ye sinners, if you mean to meddle with Christ in his appointment; wash lest God cut you off for your not departing from iniquity.

Ninth, They that name the name of Christ religiously should depart from iniquity, because of Christ's observers. There are many that keep their eye upon Christ, and that watch for an opportunity to speak against him, even through the sides of those that profess him. 'Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign that shall be spoken against.' (Luke 2:34) Some take occasion to speak against him, because of the meanness of his person; here some again speak against him, because of the plainness of his doctrine; also some speak against him, because of the meanness of his followers; and some speak against him, because of the evil deeds of some that profess him. But if he that gives just occasion of offence to the least of the saints had better be drowned in the sea with a mill-stone about his neck; what think you shall his judgment be, who, through his mingling of his profession of Christ's name with a wicked life shall tempt or provoke men to speak against Christ?

SECOND, I come now to those arguments that respect GOD THE FATHER.

First, Then, they that profess the name of Christ should depart from iniquity; because of God the Father, because God the Father has made Christ to be to us what he is; to wit, the Apostle and high-priest of our profession. 'He that honoureth not the Son, honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.' (1 Cor. 1:30; John 5:23; 15:8) Nor can the Father be honoured by us, but by our departing from iniquity. All our talk and profession of Christ, adds no glory to his Father, who has made him our King, and Priest, and Prophet, if it be not joined to an holy conversation. Wherefore, if you profess the name of Christ, and would hold the word in hand, that you have believed in him, depart from iniquity, for the Father's sake that hath sent him.

Second, As it is the Father which hath made Christ to us what he is; so it is the Father who hath called us to partake of Christ and all his benefits. 'Wherefore we must depart from iniquity that profess the name of Christ, that we may glorify him for his call.' (1 Cor. 1:9; Heb. 3:1) He has called us to the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ; that is, to partake of all that good that is in him, as Mediator, and to be done by him for those that trust in him. Nor had we ever come out of a cursed and condemned condition, to Christ, for life and blessedness, but by the call of the Father; 'For it is not of works, but of him that calleth.' (Rom. 9:11) Now since he has called us to this privilege—even us whom he has called—and left others in their sins to perish by his judgments, it is meet we should depart from iniquity. (Heb. 3:1; 2 Peter 1:2, 3) Especially since the call by which he called us is heavenly, and holy, and because he has not only called us to glory, but to virtue.

Third, We that religiously name the name of Christ, should depart from iniquity, because God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has commanded us to do. Wherefore gird up the loins of your minds, be sober, and hope to the ene for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to your former lusts in your ignorance; but as he that has called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation: because it is written, 'Be ye holy, as I am holy.'

Fourth, They that religiously name the name of Christ should depart from iniquity, that they may answer the end for which they are called to profess his name. The Father has, therefore, called them to profess his name, that they might be trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified. Dost thou then profess the name of Christ: bring forth those fruits that become that holy profession, that you may be called 'trees of righteousness,' and that God may be glorified for and by your professed subjection to the gospel of his Son. (Isa. 61:3)

Fifth, They that name—as afore—the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, should depart from iniquity, that they may shew to the world the nature and power of those graces, which God the Father has bestowed upon them that do religiously name the name of Christ. And the rather, because he that religiously nameth that name, declareth even by his so naming of him, that he has received grace of the Father, to enable him so to do. Now he cannot declare this by deeds, unless he depart from iniquity; and his declaring of it by words alone, signifies little to God or man. (Titus 1:16)

Sixth, We therefore that religiously name the name of Christ, should also depart from iniquity, because the Spirit of the Father will else be grieved. (Eph. 4:30) The countenancing of iniquity, the not departing therefrom, will grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by which you 'are sealed to the day of redemption;' and that is a sin of a higher nature that men commonly are aware of. He that grieveth the Spirit of God shall smart for it here, or in hell, or both. And that Spirit that sometimes did illuminate, teach, and instruct them, can keep silence, can cause darkness, can withdraw itself, and suffer the soul to sin more and more; and this last is the very judgment of judgments. He that grieves the Spirit, quenches it; and he that quenches it, vexes it; add he that vexes it, sets it against himself, and tempts it to hasten destruction upon himself. (1 Thess. 5:19) Wherefore take heed, professors, I say take heed, you that religiously name the name of Christ, that you meddle not with iniquity, that you tempt not the Spirit of the Lord to do such things against you, whose beginnings are dreadful, and whose end in working of judgments is unsearchable. (Isa. 63:10; Acts 5:9) A man knows not whither he is going, nor where he shall stop, that is but entering into temptation; nor whether he shall ever turn back, or go out at the gap that is right before him. He that has begun to grieve the Holy Ghost, may be suffered to go on until he has sinned that sin which is called the sin against the Holy Ghost. And if God shall once give thee up to that, then thou art in the iron cage, out of which there is neither deliverance nor redemption. Let every one, therefore, that nameth the name of Christ, depart from iniquity, upon this second consideration.

THIRD, In the next place, I come now to those arguments that do respect THYSELF.

First, Those that religiously name the name of Christ should, must, depart from iniquity, because else our profession of him is but a lie. 'If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie.' (I John 1:6) 'And walk in darkness;' that is, and walk in iniquity, and depart not from a life that is according to the course of this world. 'He that saith, I know him, and heepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.' (ch. 2:4) The truth that he professes to know, and that he saith he hath experience of, is not in him. Every man that nameth the name of Christ is not therefore a man of God, nor is the word in every man's mouth, truth, though he makes profession of that worthy name. (1 Kings 17:24) It is then truth in him, and to others with reference to him, when his mouth and his life shall agree. (Rev. 2:2, 9; 3:9) Men may say they are apostles, and be liars: they may say they are Jews, that is, Christians, and lie, and be liars, and lie in so saying. Now this is the highest kind of lying, and certainly must therefore work the saddest sort of effects. Thus man's best things are lies. His very saying, I know him, I have fellowship with him, I am a Jew, a Christian, is a lie. His life giveth his mouth the lie: and all knowing men are sure he lies. 1. He lies unto God: he speaks lies in the presence, and to the very face of God. Now this is a daring thing: I know their lies, saith he; and shall he not recompense for this? See Acts 5:4; Rev. 21:8, 27; 22:15. and take heed. I speak to you that religiously name the name of Christ, and yet do not depart from iniquity. 2. He lies unto men; every knowing man; every man that is able to judge of the tree by the fruit, knows that that man is a liar, and that his whole profession as to himself is a lie, if he doth not depart from iniquity. Thus Paul called the slow bellies,[8] the unsound professors among the Cretians, liars. They were so in his eyes, for that their profession of the name of Christ was not seconded with such a life as became a people professing godliness. (Titus 1:12-16) They did not depart from iniquity. But again, 3. Such a man is a liar to his own soul. Whatever such an one promiseth to himself, his soul will find it a lie. There be many in the world that profess the name of Christ, and consequently promise their soul the enjoyment of that good, that indeed is wrapt up in him, but they will certainly be mistaken hereabout, and with the greatest terror will find it so, when they shall hear that direful sentence, 'Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.' (Luke 8:27) Christ is resolved that the loose-lived professor shall not stand in the judgment, nor any such sinners in the congregation of the righteous. They have lied to God, to men, and to themselves; but Jesus then will not lie unto them: he will plainly tell them that he hath not known them, and that they shall not abide in his presence. But,

Second, Those that religiously name the name of Christ should depart from iniquity, else, as they are liars in their profession, so they are self deceivers. I told you but now such lie to themselves, and so consequently they deceive themselves. 'But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your ownselves.' (John 1:22) It is a sad thing for a man, in and about eternal things, to prove a deceiver of others; but for a man to deceive himself, his ownself of eternal life, this is saddest of all; yet there is in man a propenseness so to do. Hence the apostle says, be not deceived, and let no man deceive himself. And again, verse 26, 'If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain.' These words, 'but deceiveth his own heart,' I have much mused about: for they seem to me to be spoken to show how bold and prodigiously desperate some men are, who yet religiously name the name of Christ: desperate, I say, at self deceiving. He deceiveth his own heart; he otherwise persuadeth it, than of its ownself it would go: ordinarily men are said to be deceived by their hearts, but here is a man that is said to deceive his own heart, flattering it off from the scent and dread of those convictions, that by the Word, sometimes it hath been under: persuading of it that there needs no such strictness of life be added to a profession of faith in Christ, as by the gospel is called for: or that since Christ has died for us, and rose again, and since salvation is alone in him, we need not be so concerned, or be so strict to matter how we live. This man is a self deceiver; he deceives his own heart. Self deceiving, and that about spiritual and eternal things, especially when men do it willingly, is one of the most unnatural, unreasonable, and unaccountable actions in the world. 1. It is one of the most unnatural actions; for here a man seeks his own ruin, and privily lurks for his own life. (Prov. 1:18) We all cry out against him that murders his children, his wife, or his own body, and condemn him to be one of those that has forgot the rules and love of nature. But behold the man under consideration is engaged in such designs as will terminate in his own destruction: he deceiveth his own soul. 2. This is also the most unreasonable act; there can no cause, nor crumb of cause that has the least spark or dram of reason, or of anything that looks like reason, be shown why a man should deceive himself, and bereave his soul of eternal life. Therefore, 3. Such men are usually passed over with astonishment and silence. 'Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this! and be horribly afraid, for my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.' (Jer. 2:11-13)

But, above all this, as to this head, is the most amazing place, where it is said, that the self deceiver makes his self deceiving his sport: 'Sporting themselves with their own deceivings.' (2 Peter 2:13) These are a people far gone, to be sure, that are arrived to such a height of negligence, carelessness, wantonness, and desperateness of spirit, as to take pleasure in, and make a sport of, that which will assuredly deceive them for ever. But this is the fruit of professing of Christ, and of not departing from iniquity. The wisdom and judgment of God is such, as to give such over to the sporting of themselves in their own deceivings.

FOURTH. [Those arguments that respect THE WORLD.]

First, Those that religiously name the name of Christ should depart from iniquity, because of the scandal that will else assuredly come upon religion, and the things of religion, through them. Upon this head I may begin to write with a sigh, for never more of this kind than now! There is no place, where the professors of religion are, that is clean and free from offence and scandal. Iniquity is so entailed to religion, and baseness of life to the naming of the name of Christ, that one may say of the professors of this age, as it was said of them of old, 'All tables are full of vomit and filthiness, so that there is no place clean.' (Isa. 28:8) Where are they even amongst those that strive for the rule, that mind it at all, when it pinches upon their lusts, their pride, avarice, and wantonness? Are not, now-a-days, the bulk of professors like those that 'strain at a gnat and swallow a camel?' (Matt. 23:24) Yea, do not professors teach the wicked ones to be wicked? (Jer. 2:33) Ah! Lord God, this is a lamentation, and will be for a lamentation. What a sore disease is now got into the church of God, that the generality of professors should walk with scandal!

No fashion, no vanity, no profuseness, and yet no niggardliness, but is found among professors. They pinch the poor, and nip from them their due, to maintain their own pride and vanity. I shall not need to instance particulars; for from the rich to the poor, from the pastor to the people, from the master to his man, and from the mistress to her maiden, all are guilty of scandal, and of reproaching, by their lives, the name of the Lord; for they profess, and name that worthy name of Christ, but are not as they should be, departed from iniquity.

1. Hence the name of God is polluted and reproached, even till God is weary and cries out, 'Pollute ye my name no more with your gifts and with your idols.' (Eze. 20:39) O do not pollute my name, says God; rather leave off profession, and go every one to his wickedness. Tell the world, if you will not depart from iniquity, that Christ and you are parted, and that you have left him, to be embraced by them to whom iniquity is an abomination. It would far better secure the name of God from scandal and reproach, than for you to name the name of Christ, and yet not to depart from iniquity. Then, though you sin, as now you do, the poor world would not cry out, Ay, this is your religion! Then they would not have occasion to vilify religion because of you, since you tell them that Christ and you are parted. But,

2. If you will not leave off to name the name of Christ, nor yet depart from iniquity, you also scandal the sincere professors of religion, and that is a grievous thing. There are a people in the world that have made it their business, ever since they knew Christ, to cleanse themselves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, and that desire to perfect holiness in the fear of God; and you scandalous professors mixing yourselves with them, 'make their gold look dim.' (Lam. 4:1) You are spots and blemishes to them; Jude 12, you are an evil mixing itself with their good, and a scandal to their holy profession. (2 Peter 2:13) You are they that make the heart of the righteous sad, whom God would not have, sad; you are they that offend his little ones. Oh! the millstone that God will shortly hang about your necks, when the time is come that you must be drowned in the sea and deluge of God's wrath.

3. If you will not leave off to name the name of Christ, nor yet depart from iniquity, you continue to extend your scandal also to the word and doctrine of God. They that name the name of Jesus religiously, should so carry it in the world, that they might adorn the doctrine of God their Saviour; but thou that professest and yet departest not from iniquity, thou causest the name and doctrine which thou professest to be blasphemed and reproached by the men of this world; and that is a sad thing, a thing that will bring so heavy a load upon thee, when God shall open thine eyes, and he will open them either here or in hell-fire, that thou wilt repent it with great bitterness of soul. (1 Tim. 6:1) The Lord smite thee to the making of thee sensible to thy shame and conversion, if it be his blessed will. Amen! But,

4. If thou wilt not leave off to name the name of Christ, nor yet depart from iniquity, thou wilt bring reproach, scorn, and contempt upon thyself. For 'sin is a reproach to any people.' (Prov. 14:34). (1.) These are they that God will hold in great contempt and scorn. (Isa. 1) (2.) These are they that his people shall have in great contempt. 'Therefore,' saith he, 'have I also made you contemptible and base before all the people, according as ye have not kept my ways,' but have lifted up the face against my law.[9] (Mal. 2:9; Jer. 25:9, 18) 3. Such shall also be contemned and had in derision of the men of this world. They shall be a hissing, a bye-word, a taunt, and a reproach among all people. 'For them that honour me,' saith God, 'I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed. (1 Sam. 2:30) I remember that Philpot used to tell the Papists that they danced with their buttocks uncovered, in a net,[10] because of the evil of their ways; (Isa. 20:4) and the Lord bids professors have a care, 'that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear,' or lest they walk naked, and their shame be discovered. For those professors that depart not from iniquity, however they think of themselves, their nakedness is seen of others: and if it be a shame to the modest to have their nakedness seen of others, what bold and brazen brows have they who are not ashamed to show their nakedness, yea, the very shame of it, to all that dwell about them? And yet thus doth every one that religiously names the name of Christ, and yet doth not depart from iniquity.

Second, Those that religiously name the name of Christ, and do not depart from iniquity, they are the cause of the perishing of many. 'Woe,' saith Christ, 'unto the world because of offences,' (Matt. 18:7). And again, 'Woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!' These are they that cause many to stumble at sin, and fall into hell. Hark, you that are such, what God says to you: 'Ye have caused many to stumble at the law,' and at religion. (Mal. 2:8) Men that are for taking of occasion you give it them; men that would enter into the kingdom, you puzzle and confound them with your iniquity, while you name the name of Christ, and do not depart therefrom. One sinner destroyeth much good; these are the men that encourage the vile to be yet more vile; these be the men that quench weak desires in others; and these be the men that tempt the ignorant to harden themselves against their own salvation. A professor that hath not forsaken his iniquity, is like one that comes out of the pest-house, among the whole, with his plague sores running upon him. This is the man that hath the breath of a dragon, he poisons the air round about him. This is the man that lays his children, his kinsmen, his friend, and himself. What shall I say? A man that nameth the name of Christ, and that departeth not from iniquity, to whom may he be compared? The Pharisees, for that they professed religion, but walked not answerable thereto, unto what doth Christ compare them but to serpents and vipers? What does he call them but hypocrites, whited walls, painted sepulchres, fools, and blind? and tells them that they made men more the children of hell than they were before. (Matt. 23) Wherefore such an one cannot go out of the world by himself: for as he gave occasion of scandal when he was in the world, so is he the cause of the damnation of many. 'The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life.' (Prov. 11:30) But what is the fruit of the wicked, of the professors that are wicked? why, not to perish alone in their iniquity. (Job 22:20) These, as the dragon, draw many of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth with their most stinking tail. (Rev. 12:4) Cast many a professor into earthly and carnal delights, with their most filthy conversations.

The apostle did use to weep when he spake of these professors, such offence he knew they were and would be in the world. (Acts 20:30; Phil 3:18, 19) These are the chief of the engines of Satan, with these he worketh wonders. One Baalam, one Jeroboam, one Ahab; O how many fish bring such to Satan's net! These are the tares that he strives to sow among the wheat, for he knows they are mischief to it. 'Wherefore, let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.'

Fifth, Those that religiously name the name of Christ, and do not depart from iniquity, how will they die; and how will they look that man in the face, unto the profession of whose name they have entailed an unrighteous conversation? Or do they think that he doth not know what they have done, or that they may take him off with a few cries and wringing of hands, when he is on the throne to do judgment against transgressors? Oh! it had been better they had not known, had not professed; yea, better they had never been born; for as Christ said of Judas, so may it be said of these, it had been good for that man if he had never been born; and as Christ says it had been good, so Peter says it had been better. (Mark 14:21; 2 Peter 2:20, 21) Good they had not been born, and better they had not known and made profession of the name of Christ.

But perhaps some may ask me,

What Iniquity They Must Depart from That Religiously Name the Name of Christ?

First, I answer first, in general, those that religiously profess the name of Christ, must depart from ALL iniquity. They should lay aside every weight; they should fly 'all appearance of evil.' (Heb 12:2; 1 Thess. 5:22) Many there be that are willing to part with some sins, some pleasures, some unjust profits, if they may be saved; but this selling of all, parting with all, forsaking of all, is a very hard chapter.

And yet the Lord Jesus lays it there, saying so likewise, 'whosoever he be of you,' of any of you that professeth my name, 'that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.' (Luke 14:33) Christ by this text requireth more of them that are his than to forsake all iniquity. Wherefore, to be sure, every sin is included. No less than universal obedience will prove a man sincere. A divided heart is a faulty one. (Hosea 10:2) He that forsaketh not every sin is partial in the law, nor can he have respect to all God's commandments. (Job 20:13; John 14:21-24) There can be no true love to Christ where there are reserves; he that will hide any one sin in his bosom, or that will keep it, as the phrase is, under his tongue, is a secret enemy to Jesus Christ. He loveth not Christ that keepeth not his sayings. To halt between two is nought, and no man can serve two masters. Christ is a master, and sin is a master; yea, and masters are they so opposite, that he that at all shall cleave to the one shall by the other be counted his enemy. If sin at all be countenanced, Christ counts himself despised. What man would count himself beloved of his wife that knows she hath a bosom for another? 'Thou shalt not be for another man' saith he, 'so will I be for thee.' (Hosea 3:3) Would the king count him a loyal subject who would hide in his house, nourish in his bed, and feed at his table, one that implacably hateth and seeketh to murder his majesty? Why, sin is such an enemy to the Lord Jesus Christ; therefore, as kings command that traitors be delivered up to justice, so Christ commands that we depart from iniquity. 'Take away all iniquity,' is a good prayer, and to 'resist unto blood, striving against sin,' is a good warfare, and he that brings 'every thought to the obedience of Christ' gets a brave victory. (Hosea 14:2; Heb. 12:4; 2 Cor. 10:5) Grace leaveneth the whole soul, and so consequently all the parts thereof. Now where the whole is leavened, the taste must needs be the same throughout. Grace leaves no power, faculty, or passion of the soul unsanctified, wherefore there is no corner in a sanctified soul where sin may hide his head, to find rest and abode without control. Consequently, he that has a harbour for this or that sin, and that can find a hiding-place and an abode for it in his heart, is no Christian man. Let them then that christianly name the name of Christ, make it manifest that they do not do it feignedly, by departing from iniquity. But,

Second, And more particularly, they that name the name of Christ, as above, let them depart from their CONSTITUTION-SIN, or, if you will, the sin that their temper most inclines them to. Every man is not alike inclined to the same sin, but some to one and some to another. Now let the man that professes the name of Christ religiously, consider with himself, unto what sin or vanity am I most inclined; Is it pride? Is it covetousness? Is it fleshly lusts? And let him labour, by all means, to leave off and depart from that. This is that which David called his own iniquity, and saith, 'I was also upright before him, and I kept myself from mine iniquity.' (Psa. 18:23) Rightly are these two put together, for it is not possible that he should be an upright man that indulgeth or countenanceth his constitution-sin; but on the contrary, he that keeps himself from that will be upright as to all the rest; and the reason is, because if a man has that grace, as to trample upon and mortify his darling, his bosom, his only sin, he will more easily and more heartily abhor and fly the rest.

And, indeed, if a man will depart from iniquity, he must depart from his darling sin first; for as long as that is entertained, the others, at least those that are most suiting with that darling, will always be haunting of him. There is a man that, has such and such haunt his house, and spend his substance, and would be rid of them, but cannot; but now, let him rid himself of that, for the sake of which they haunt his house, and then he shall with case be rid of them. Thus it is with sin. There is a man that is plagued with many sins, perhaps because he embraceth one: well, let him turn that one out of doors, and that is the way to be rid of the rest. Keep thee from thy darling, thy bosom, thy constitution-sin.

Motives to prevail with thee to fall in with this exhortation, are several.

1. There can no great change appear in thee, make what profession of Christ thou wilt, unless thou cast away thy bosom sin. A man's constitution-sin is, as I may call it, his visible sin; it is that by which his neighbours know him and describe him, whether it be pride, covetousness, lightness, or the like. Now if these abide with thee, though thou shouldest be much reformed in thy notions, and in other parts of thy life, yet say thy neighbours, he is the same man still; his faith has not saved him from his darling; he was proud afore, and is proud still; was covetous afore, and is covetous still; was light and wanton afore, and is so still. He is the same man, though he has got a new mouth. But now, if thy constitution-sin be parted with, if thy darling be cast away, thy conversion is apparent, it is seen of all, for the casting away of that is death to the rest, and ordinarily makes a change throughout.

2. So long as thy constitution-sin remains, as winked at by thee, so long thou art an hypocrite before God, let thy profession be what it will; also, when conscience shall awake and be commanded to speak to thee plainly what thou art, it will tell thee so, to thy no little vexation and perplexity.

3. Besides, do what thou canst, so long as thou remainest thus thou wilt be of a scandalous life. No honour is brought to religion by such. But,

Again, As they that name the name of Christ 'should depart from their constitution-sin, so they should depart from the sins of other men's tempers also. Much harm among professors is done by each others' sins. There is a man that has clean escaped from those who live in error, has shaken off the carnal world and the men thereof, and is come among professors; but, behold, there also he meeteth with wicked men, with men that have not departed from iniquity; and there he is entangled. This is a sad thing, and yet so it is. I doubt there are some in the world, I mean professors, that will curse the day that ever they were acquainted with some professors. There are professors that are defilers, professors that are 'wicked men,' professors of whom a wicked man may learn to sin. (Jer. 5:26; 2:33) Take heed of these, lest, having fled from thine own sins, thou shouldest be taken with the sins of others. 'Be not partakers of other men's sins,' is the counsel and caution that Paul giveth to Timothy, if he would keep himself pure. (1 Tim. 5:22)

4. Dost thou profess the name of Christ, and dost thou pretend to be a man departing from iniquity? Then take heed thou dost not deceive thyself, by changing one bad way of sinning for another bad way of sinning. This was a trick that Israel played of old; for when God's prophets followed them hard with demands of repentance and reformation, then they would 'gad about to change their ways.' (Jer. 2:36) But, behold, they would not change a bad way for a good, but one bad way for another, hopping, as the squirrel, from bough to bough, but not willing to forsake the tree. Hence they were said to return, but not to the Most High. Take heed, I say, of this. Many leave off to be drunkards, and fall in with covetousness. Many fall off from covetousness to pride and lasciviousness: take heed of this. (Hosea 7:16) This is a grand deceit, and a common one too, a deceit of a long standing, and almost a disease epidemical among professors.

Many times men change their darling sins, as some change their wives and servants: that which would serve for such an one this year may not serve to be so for the year ensuing. Hypocrisy would do awhile ago, but now debauchery. Profaneness would do when profaneness was in fashion, but now a deceitful profession. Take heed, professor, that thou dost not throw away thy old darling sin for a new one. Men's tempers alter. Youth is for pride and wantonness; middle age for cunning and craft; old age for the world and covetousness. Take heed, therefore, of deceit in this thing.

5. Dost thou profess the name of Christ, and dost thou pretend to be a man departing from iniquity? take heed, lest thy departing from iniquity should be but for a time. Some do depart from iniquity, as persons in wrangling fits depart from one another; to wit, for a time, but when the quarrel is over, by means of some intercessor, they are reconciled again. O! Satan is the intercessor between the soul and sin, and though the breach between these two may seem to be irreconcilable; yea, though the soul hath sworn it will never give countenance to so vile a thing as sin is more; yet he can tell how to make up this difference, and to fetch them back to their vomit again, who, one would have thought, had quite escaped his sins, and been gone. (2 Peter 2:18-22) Take heed, therefore, O professor. For there is danger of this, and the height of danger lies in it; and I think that Satan, to do this thing, makes use of those sins again, to begin this rejoinder, which he findeth most suitable to the temper and constitution of the sinner. These are, as I may call them, the master sins; they suit, they jump with the temper of the soul. These, as the little end of the wedge, enter with ease, and so make way for those that come after, with which Satan knows he can rend the soul in pieces. Wherefore,

6. To help this, take heed of parleying with thy sins again, when once thou hast departed from them: sin has a smooth tongue; if thou hearken to its enchanting language, ten thousand to one but thou art entangled. See the saying of the wise man, 'with her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him. He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks.' (Prov. 7:21, 22) He heard her charm, and by hearing is noosed, and led away to her house, which is the way to hell, 'going down to the chambers of death.'(ver. 27) Take heed, therefore, of listening to the charms wherewith sin enchanteth the soul. In this, be like the deaf adder, stop thine ear, plug it up to sin, and let it only be open to hear the words of God.

Third, Let them that name the name of Christ depart from the iniquity of THE TIMES. There are sins that may be called the iniquity of the day. It was thus in Noah's day, it was thus in Lot's day, and it was thus in Christ's day—I mean, in the days of his flesh: and it is a famous thing for professors to keep themselves from the iniquities of the times. Here lay Noah's excellency, here lay Lot's excellency, and here will lie thy excellency, if thou keep thyself from the iniquity of this day. Keep or 'save yourselves from this untoward generation,' is seasonable counsel, (Acts 2:40) but taken of but few; the sin of the time, or day, being as a strong current or stream that drives all before it. Hence Noah and Lot were found, as it were, alone, in the practice of this excellent piece of righteousness in their generation. Hence it is said of Noah, that he 'was a just man, and perfect in his generations.' (Gen. 6:9) And again, the Lord said unto Noah, 'Come thou and all thy house into the ark, for thee have I seen righteous before me, in this generation.' The meaning is, he kept himself clear of the sin of his day, or of the generation among which he lived. (Gen. 7:1)

The same I say of Lot, he kept himself from the sin of Sodom; and hence Peter cries him up for such a righteous man. 'Just Lot,' saith he, 'that righteous man,' whose righteous soul was vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked. Mark, 'a just man,' 'a righteous man,' 'his righteous soul,' &c. But how obtained he this character? Why, he abhorred the sin of his time, he fell not in with the sin of the people, but was afflicted and vexed thereabout; yea, it was to him a daily burden. 'For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day, with their unlawful deeds. So David, 'I beheld,' saith he, 'the transgressors, and was grieved, because they kept not thy word.' (Psa. 119:158) The sin of the times is to God the worst of sins; and to fall in with the sin of the times is counted as the highest of transgressions. Consequently, to keep from them, though a man should, through infirmity, be guilty of others, yet he is accounted upright. And hence it is, I think, that David was called a man after God's own heart; to wit, because he served his own generation by the will of God; or, as the margent reads, after he had, in his own age, served the will of God. (Acts 13) By the sin of the times, Satan, as it were, set up his standard in defiance to God; seeking then to cause his name, in a signal way, to be dishonoured, and that by the professors of that age. And hence it is that the Lord doth manifest such wrath against his people that are guilty of the common sin of their day, and that he shews such special favour to them that abstain therefrom. Was there no more, think you, but Noah, in his generation, that feared God? Yes, several, no doubt; but he was the man that kept clear of the sin of his day, therefore he and his family must be partakers of God's deliverance; the other must die before, and not be permitted to the mercy of the ark, nor to see the new world with Noah. Unbelief was the sin of the day when Israel was going from Egypt to Canaan; therefore all that were guilty of that transgression must be denied to go in to see that good land, yea, though it were Moses himself. 'And the Lord spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.' (Num. 20:12)

The sin of the day is an high transgression; from the which, because Caleb and Joshua, kept then selves, God kept them from all the blasting plagues that overtook all the rest, and gave them the land which he had promised to their fathers. 'But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it.' (Num. 14:24) Idolatry was the sin of the day just before Israel were carried captive into Babylon. Now those of the priests that went astray then, even they say, God shall bear their iniquity. 'But the priests, the Levites, the sons of Zadok, that kept the charge of my sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from me, they shall come near unto me, to minister unto me; and they shall stand before me, to offer unto me the fat and the blood, saith the Lord God. They shall enter into my sanctuary, and they shall come near to my table, to minister unto me, and they shall keep my charge.' (Ezek. 44:15, 16)

Great complaints have we now among professors, of deadness in duties, barrenness of the ministry, and of the withdrawing of God from his people; but I can tell you a cause of all this, namely, the sin of the day is got into the church of God, and has defiled that holy place. This is the ground and cause of all these things; nor is it like to be otherwise, till the cause shall be removed. If any should ask me what are the sins of our day, I would say they are conspicuous, they are open, they are declared as Sodom's were. (Isa. 3:9) They that have embraced them, are not ashamed of them; yea, they have got the boldness to plead for them, and to count them their enemies that seek to reform them. All tables are full of vomit and filthiness. And for pride and covetousness, for loathing of the gospel, and contemning holiness, as these have covered the face of the nation, as they have infected most of them that now name the name of Christ.

And I say again, when you find out a professor that is not horribly tainted with some of these things, I exclude not the ministers nor their families, let him be as a beacon upon a hill, or as an ensign in our land. But says one, Would you have us singular? and says another, Would you have us make ourselves ridiculous? and says a third, Such and such, more godly-wise than we, do so. But I answer, if God has made you singular, and called you to grace, that is singular; and bid you walk in ways that are singular, and diverse from the ways of all others. Yea, if to depart from iniquity will make you ridiculous, if to be holy in all manner of conversation will make you ridiculous, then be contented to be counted so. As for the godly-wise you speak of, let them manifest themselves to be such by departing from iniquity. I am sure that their being tainted with sins of the day, will not prove them godly-wise. 'Behold, I have taught you,' said Moses, 'statute and judgments, even as the Lord my God commanded me; that ye should do so in the land whither you go to possess it. Keep therefore, and do them, for this is your wisdom, and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear of all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.' Here then is wisdom, and this is that that manifesteth a people to be, understanding, and godly-wise, even the keeping of the commandments of God. And why follow the apish fashions of the world? Hath the God of wisdom set them on foot among us? or is it because the devil and wicked men, the inventors of these vain toys, have outwitted the law of God? 'what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them' as his people have, and as he 'is in all things that we call upon him for? And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous, as all this law,' said Moses, which I set before you this day?' (Deut. 4:5-8) This then is that which declareth us to be godly-wise, when we keep our soul diligently to the holy words of God; and fit not only our tongues and lips, but also our lives thereto.

Fourth, But again, let them that name the name of Christ depart from the iniquity, that is, as I may call it, from FAMILY INIQUITY. There is a house iniquity; an iniquity that loves not to walk abroad, but to harbour within doors. This the holy man David was aware of, therefore he said that he would behave himself 'wisely, in a perfect way;' yea, saith he, 'I will walk within my house with a perfect heart.' (Psa. 101:2)

Now this house iniquity standeth in these things. (l.) In domestic broils and quarrels. (2.) In domestic chamberings and wantonness. (3.) In domestic misorders of children and servants.

1. For house broils and quarrels, it is an iniquity to be departed from, whether it be betwixt husband and wife, or otherwise. This, as I said, is an iniquity that loves not to walk abroad, but yet it is an horrible plague within doors. And, many that shew like saints abroad, yet act the part of devils when they are at home, by giving way to this house iniquity; by cherishing of this house iniquity. This iniquity meeteth the man and his wife at the very threshold of the door, and will not suffer them to enter, no not with one foot into the house in peace, but how far this is from walking together as heirs of the grace of life, is easy to be determined. Men should carry it in love to their wives, as Christ doth to his church; and wives should carry it to their husbands, as the church ought to carry it to her Saviour. (Eph. 5:21-28; 1 Peter 3:7) And until each relation be managed with respect to these things, this house iniquity will be cherished there. O! God sees within doors as well as without, and will judge too for the iniquity of the house as well as for that more open.

2. As house iniquity standeth in domestic broils and contentions; so it also standeth in chamberings and wantonness. (Rom. 13:13) Wherefore the apostle putteth them both together, saying, 'not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.' This chambering and wantonness is of a more general extent, being entertained by all, insomuch, that sometimes from the head to the foot all are horribly guilty. But, 'it is a shame to speak of those things that are done of some in secret;' for 'through the lusts of their own hearts, they dishonour their own bodies between themselves,' 'working that which is unseemly,' (Eph. 5:12; Rom. 1:24, 27) to their ignominy and contempt, if not with their fellows et with God, who sees them, for the darkness hideth not from him.' (Psa. 139:12) It was for this kind of iniquity with other, that God told Eli that he would 'judge his house for ever.' (1 Sam. 3:13) also the words that follow are to be trembled at, that say, 'The iniquity of Eli's house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering for ever.' (ver. 14) Such an evil thing is house iniquity in the eyes of the God that is above.

3. As domestic iniquity standeth in these, so also in the disorders of children and servants. Children's unlawful carriages to their parents is a great house iniquity; yea, and a common one too. (2 Tim. 3:2, 3) Disobedience to parents is one of the sins of the last days. O! it is horrible to behold how irreverently, how irrespectively, how saucily and malapertly, children, yea, professing children, at this day, carry it to their parents; snapping, and checking, curbing and rebuking of them, as if they had never received their beings by them, or had never been beholden to them for bringing of them up; yea, as if the relation was lost, or as if they had received a dispensation from God to dishonour and disobey parents.

I will add, that this sin reigns in little and great, for not only the small and young, but men, are disobedient to their parent; and indeed, this is the sin with a shame, that men shall be disobedient to parents; the sin of the last times, that men shall be 'disobedient to parents,' and 'without natural affection.' Where now-a-days shall we see children that are come to men and women's estate, carry it as by the word they are bound, to their aged and worn-out parents? I say, where is the honour they should put upon them? who speaks to their aged parents with that due regard to that relation, to their age, to their worn-out condition, as becomes them? Is it not common now-a-days, for parents to be brought into bondage and servitude by their children? For parents to be under, and children above; for parents to be debased, and children to lord it over them. Nor doth this sin go alone in the families where it is; no, those men are lovers of their ownselves; covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemous, that are disobedient to their parents. This is that the prophet means, when he saith, 'The child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient, and the base against the honourable.' (Isa. 3:5) This is a common sin, and a crying sin, and to their shame be it spoken that are guilty; a sin that makes men vile to a high degree, and yet it is the sin of professors. But behold how the apostle brands them; he saith, such have but 'a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof,' and bids the godly shut them out of their fellowship. (1 Tim. 3:5) This sin also is, I fear, grown to such a height in some, as to make them weary of their parents, and of doing their duty to them. Yea, I wish that some are not 'murderers of fathers and mothers,' by their thoughts, while they secretly long after, and desire their death, that the inheritance may be theirs, and that they may be delivered from obedience to their parents.(1 Tim. 1:9) This is a sin in the house, in the family, a sin that is kept in hugger-mugger, close; but God sees it, and hath declared his dislike against it, by an implicit threatening, to cut them off that are guilty of it. (Eph. 5:1-5) Let them then that name the name of Christ, depart from this iniquity.

Disorders of servants is also an house iniquity, and to be departed from by the godly. 'He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my, house;' said David; and 'he that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight.' (Psa. 101:7) One of the rarities in Solomon's house, and which the queen of Sheba was so taken with, was the goodly order of his servants. (2 Chron. 9:4)

Some of the disorders of servants are to be imputed to the governors of families, and some to the servants themselves. Those that are to be imputed to the governors of families, are such as these: (1.) When the servant learns his vileness of his master, or of her mistress. (2.) When servants are countenanced by the master against the mistress; or by the mistress against the master; or when in opposition to either, they shall be made equals in things. (3.) When the extravagancies of servants are not discountenanced and rebuked by their superiors, and the contrary taught them by word and life.

Those to be imputed to the servants themselves are: (1.) Their want of reverence to their superiors. (2.) Their backbiting and slandering of them. (3.) Their unfaithfulness in serving of them. (4.) Their murmuring at their lawful commands, &c.

From all these domestic iniquities, let every one depart that religiously nameth the name of Christ. And before I leave this head, let me, to enforce my exhortation, urge upon you a few considerations to work with you yet further to depart from these house iniquities.

Consider 1. A man's house, and his carriage there, doth more bespeak the nature and temper of his mind, than all public profession. If I were to judge of a man for my life, I would not judge of him by his open profession, but by his domestic behaviours. Open profession is like a man's best cloak, the which is worn by him when he walketh abroad, and with many is made but little use of at home. But now what a man is at home, that he is indeed. There is abroad, my behaviour to my friends, and customers, my outward honesty in dealing and avoiding gross sins. There is at home, my house, my closet, my heart; and my house, my closet, shew most what I am: though not to the world, yet to my family, and to angels. And a good report from those most near, and most capable of advantage to judge, is like to be truer than to have it only from that which is gotten by my observers abroad. The outside of the platter and cup may look well, when within they may be full of excess. (Matt. 23:25-28) The outward shew and profession may be tolerable, when within doors may be bad enough. I and my house 'will serve the Lord,' is the character of a godly man. (Josh. 24:15)

Consider 2. As the best judgment is made upon a man from his house, so that man is like to have the approbation of God for good, that is faithful in all his house. 'I know Abraham,' says God, 'that he will command his children, and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord.' (Gen. 18:15) To make religion and the power of godliness the chief of my designs at home, among those among whom God by a special hand has placed me, is that which is pleasing to God, and that obtaineth a good report of him. But to pass these, and to come to other things.

Consider 3. A master of a family, and mistress of the same, are those that are entrusted of God with those under their tuition and care, to be brought up for him, be they children or servants. This is plain from the text last mentioned; wherefore here is a charge committed to thee of God. Look to it, and consider with thyself, whether thou hast done such duty and service for God in this matter, as, setting common frailties aside, thou canst with good conscience lift up thy face unto God; the which to be sure thou canst by no means do, if iniquity, to the utmost, be not banished out of thy house.

Consider 4. And will it not be a sad complaint that thy servant shall take up against thee, before the Judge at the last day, that he learnt the way to destruction in thy house, who art a professor. Servants, though themselves be carnal, expect, when they come into the house of professors, that there they shall see religion in its spangling colours; but behold, when he enters thy door, he finds sin and wickedness there. There is pride instead of humility, and height and raillery[11] instead of meekness and holiness of mind. He looked for a house full of virtue, and behold nothing but spider-webs; fair and plausible abroad, but like the sow in the mire at home. Bless me, saith such a servant, are these the religious people! Are these the servants of God, where iniquity is made so much of, and is so highly entertained! And now is his heart filled with prejudice against all religion, or else he turns hypocrite like his master and his mistress, wearing, as they, a cloak of religion to cover all abroad, while all naked and shameful at home. But perhaps thy heart is so hard, and thy mind so united to the pleasing of thy vile affections, that thou wilt say, 'What care I for my servant? I took him to do my work, not to train him up in religion. Well, suppose the soul of thy servant be thus little worth in thine eyes; yet what wilt thou say for thy children, who behold all thy ways, and are as capable of drinking up the poison of thy footsteps, as the swine is of drinking up swill: I say, what wilt thou do for them? Children will learn to be naught of parents, of professing parents soonest of all. They will be tempted to think all that they do is right. I say, what wilt thou say to this? Or art thou like the ostrich whom God hath deprived of wisdom, and has hardened her heart against her young? (Job 39:13-17) Will it please thee when thou shalt see that thou hast brought forth children to the murderer? or when thou shalt hear them cry, I learnt to go on in the paths of sin by the carriages of professing parents.[12] (Heb. 9:13) If it was counted of old a sad thing for a man to bring forth children to the sword, as Ephraim did, what will it be for a man to bring up children for hell and damnation? But,

Fifth, Let those that name the name of Christ depart from the iniquity of THEIR CLOSET. This may be called part of the iniquity of the house; but because it is not public, but as a retired part, therefore I put it here by itself. There are many closets sins that professors may be guilty of, and from which they have need to depart. As,

1. There is the pride of a library, that is, the study or closet, and I doubt this sin and iniquity to this day is with many great professors, and in my judgment it is thus manifested. (l.) When men secretly please themselves to think it is known what a stock of books they have, or when they take more pleasure in the number of, than the matter contained in, their books. (2.) When they buy books rather to make up a number than to learn to be good and godly men thereby. (3.) When, though they own their books to be good and godly, yet they will not conform thereto.

This is an iniquity now on foot in this land, and ought to be departed from. It is better to have no books, and depart from iniquity, than to have a thousand, and not to be bettered in my soul thereby.

2. There is an iniquity that attends the closet, which I may call by the name of vacancy. When men have a closet to talk of, not to pray in; a closet to look upon, not to bow before God in: a closet to lay up gold in, but not to mourn in for the sins of my life; a closet that could it speak, would say, My owner is seldom here upon his knees before the God of heaven; seldom here humbling himself for the iniquity of his heart, or to thank God for the mercies of his life.

3. Then also a man is guilty of closet-iniquity, when though he doth not utterly live in the neglect of duty, he formally, carnally, and without reverence, and godly fear, performs it. Also, when he asketh God for that which he cannot abide should be given him, or when he prayeth for that in his closet, that he cannot abide in his house, nor in his life.

4. Then also a man is guilty of closet-iniquity, when he desireth that the sound of the devotion he doth there, may be heard by them without in the house, the street, or of those that dwell by; for a closet is only for the man and God to do things in secretly. (Matt. 6:6)

These things let the professor beware of, lest he add to his iniquity, sin, until he and it comes to be loathsome. The closet is by God appointed for men to wait upon him in, and to do it without hypocrisy; to wait there for his mind and his will, and also for grace to perform it. And how can a man that went last time out of his closet to be naught, have the face to come thither again? If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear my prayer; and if so, then he will not meet me in my closet; and if so, then I shall quickly be weary thereof, being left to myself, and the vanity of my mind.

It is a great thing to be a closet Christian, and to hold it; he must be a close Christian, that will be a closet Christian. When I say a closet Christian, I mean one that is so in the hidden part, and that also walks with God. Many there be that profess Christ who do oftener, in London[13] frequent the coffee-house than their closet; and that sooner in a morning run to make bargains than to pray unto God, and begin the day with him. But for thee, who professest the name of Christ, do thou depart from all these things; do thou make conscience of reading and practising; do thou follow after righteousness; do thou make conscience of beginning the day with God; for he that begins it not with him will hardly end it with him; he that runs from God in the morning will hardly find him at the close of the day; nor will he that begins with the world and the vanities thereof, in the first place, be very capable of walking with God all the day after. It is he that finds God in his closet that will carry the savour of him into his house, his shop, and his more open conversation. When Moses had been with God in the mount his face shone, he brought of that glory into the camp. (Exo. 34)

Sixth, I add again, let those that name the name of Christ depart from the iniquity THAT CLEAVETH TO OPINIONS. This is a sad age for that; let opinions in themselves be never so good, never so necessary, never so innocent, yet there are spirits in the world that will entail iniquity to them, and will make the vanity so inseparable with the opinion, that it is almost impossible with some to take in the opinion and leave out the iniquity, that by the craft and subtility of Satan is joined thereto. Nor is this a thing new, and of yesterday; it has been thus almost in all ages of the church of God, and that not only in things small and indifferent, but in things fundamental and most substantial. I need instance in none other for proof thereof, but the doctrine of faith and holiness. If faith be preached as that which is absolutely necessary to justification, then faith fantastical, and looseness and remissness in life, with some, are joined therewith. If holiness of life be preached as necessary to salvation, then (they say that) faith is undervalued, and set below its place, and works as to justification, with God set up and made co-partners with Christ's merits in the remission of sins. Thus iniquity joineth itself with the great and most substantial truths of the gospel, and it is hard to receive any good opinion whatever, but iniquity will join itself thereto. (Eph. 5:12, 13) Wicked spirits do not only tempt men to transgress the moral law, but do present themselves in heavenly things, working there, and labouring in them, to wrest the judgment, and turn the understanding and conscience awry in those high and most important things. Wherefore, I say, we must be the more watchful and careful lest we be abused in our notions and best principles, by the iniquities that join themselves thereto.

It is strange to see at this day how, not withstanding all the threatenings of God, men are wedded to their own opinions, beyond what the law of grace and love will admit. Here is a Presbyter, here is an Independent, and a Baptist, so joined each man to his own opinion, that they cannot have that communion one with another, as by the testament of the Lord Jesus they are commanded and enjoined. What is the cause? Is the truth? No? God is the author of no confusion in the church of God. (1 Cor. 14:33) It is, then, because every man, makes too much of his own opinion, abounds too much in his own sense, and takes not care to separate his opinion from the iniquity that cleaveth thereto. That this confusion is in the church of Christ, I am of Paul, I of Apollos, I of Cephas, and I of Christ, is too manifest. But what unbecoming language is this for the children of the same father, members of the same body, and heirs of the same glory, to be accustomed to? Whether is it pride, or hypocrisy, or ignorance, or self, or the devil, or the jesuit, or all these jointly working with the church, that makes and maintains these names of distinction? This distinction and want of love, this contempt of one another, those base and undervaluing thoughts of brethren, will be better seen, to the shame and confusion of some, in the judgment.

In the meantime, I advise thee with whom I am at this time concerned, to take heed of this mixture, this sinful mixture of truth and iniquity together; and to help thee in this thing, keep thine eye much upon thine own base self, labour also to be sensible of the imperfections that cleave to thy best performances, be clothed with humility, and prefer thy brother before thyself; and know that Christianity lieth not in small matters, neither before God, nor understanding men. And it would be well if those that so stickle by their private and unscriptural notions, which only is iniquity cleaving to truth,—I say, it would be well if such were more sound in faith and morals, and if by their lives they gave better conviction to the world that the truth and grace of Christ is in them.

Sometimes so much iniquity is mixed with good opinions, that it prevails, not only to hurt men in this world, but to drown them in misery everlasting. It was good that the Jews did own and allow the ceremonies of the law, but since the iniquity that joined itself thereto did prevail with them to make those ceremonies copartners with Christ in those matters that pertained to Christ alone, therefore they perished in them. The Galatians also, with many of the Corinthians, had like to have been overthrown by these things. Take heed, therefore, of that iniquity that seeketh to steal with the truth into thy heart, thy judgment, and understanding.

Nor doth one iniquity come without another; they are linked together, and come by companies, and therefore usually they that are superstitious in one thing, are corrupted in several other. The more a man stands upon his points[14] to justify himself and to condemn his holy brethren, the more danger he is in of being overcome of diverse evils. And it is the wisdom of God to let it be so, that flesh might not glory in his presence. 'His soul, which is lifted up,' (Hab. 2:4) to wit, with his good doings, with his order and methods in religion, 'his soul is not upright in him.' I have often said in my heart, What is the reason that some of the brethren should be so shy of holding communion with those every whit us good, if not better than themselves? Is it because they think themselves unworthy of their holy fellowship? No, verily; it is because they exalt themselves, they are leavened with some iniquity that hath mixed itself with some good opinions that they hold, and therefore it is that they say to others, 'Stand by thyself, come not near to me, for I am holier than thou.' (Isa. 65:5) But what is the sentence of God concerning those? Why, these are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burneth all the day. Wherefore, as I said before, so I say now again, take heed of the iniquity that cleaveth to good opinions; the which thou wilt in nowise be able to shun unless thou be clothed with humility.[15] But,

Seventh, Let them that name the name of Christ depart from HYPOCRISIES. This exhortation is as the first, general; for hypocrisies are of that nature, that they spread themselves as the leprosy of the body, all over; not the faculties of the soul only, but all the duties of a man. So that here is a great iniquity to be parted from, an over-spreading iniquity. This sin will get into all thy profession, into every whit of it, and will make the whole of it a loathsome stink in the nostrils of God. Hypocrisy will be in the pulpit, in conference, in closets, in communion of saints, in faith, in love, in repentance, in zeal, in humility, in alms, in the prison, and in all duties. (Ezek. 8:12; Mal. 2:2; Matt. 6:2; 8:20, 21; 23:15; Luke 12:1, 2; 20:19, 20; 1 Cor. 13:3; 2 Cor. 6:6; Col. 2:23; 2 Tim. 1:5) So that here is, for the keeping of thy soul upright and sincere, more than ordinary diligence to be used. Hypocrisy is one of the most abominable of iniquities. It is a sin that dares it with God. It is a sin that saith God is ignorant, or that he delighteth in iniquity. It is a sin that flattereth, that dissembleth, that offereth to hold God, as it were, fair in hand, about that which is neither purposed nor intended. It is also a sin that puts a man upon studying and contriving to beguile and deceive his neighbour as to the bent and intent of the heart, and also as to the cause and end of actions. It is a sin that persuadeth a man to make a show of civility, morality, or Christian religion, as a cloak, a pretence, a guise to deceive withal. It will make a man preach for a place and praise, rather than to glorify God and save souls; it will put a man upon talking, that he may be commended; it will make a man, when he is at prayer in his closet, strive to be heard without doors; it will make a man ask for that he desireth not, and show zeal in duties, when his heart is as cold, as senseless, and as much without savour as a clod; it will make a man pray to be seen and heard of men, rather than to be heard of God; it will make a man strive to weep when he repenteth not, and to pretend much friendship when he doth not love; it will make a man pretend to experience and sanctification when he has none, and to faith and sincerity when he knows not what they are. There is opposed to this sin simplicity, innocency, and godly sincerity, without which three graces thou wilt be a hypocrite, let thy notions, thy knowledge, thy profession, and commendations from others, be what they will.

Helps against this sin there are many, some of which I shall now present thee with. (Psa. 16:2; 21:2; Luke 16:15). 1. Believe that God's eye is always upon thy heart, to observe all the ways, all the turnings and windings of it. 2. Believe that he observeth all thy ways and marks thy actions. 'The ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and he pondereth all his goings.' (Prov. 5:21) 3. Believe that there is a day of judgment a-coming, and that then all things shall be revealed and discovered as they are. 'For there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed; neither hid that shall not be known. Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light, and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the house-tops.' (Luke 22:2,3) 4. Believe that a hypocrite, with the cunning and shrouds for his hypocrisy, can go unseen no further than the grave, nor can he longer flatter himself with thoughts of life. For 'the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment. Though his excellency mount up to the heavens, and his head reach unto the clouds; yet he shall perish for ever, like his own dung: they which have seen him shall say, Where is he? He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found; yea, he shall be chased away as a vision of the night.' (Job 20:5-8) 5. Believe that God will not spare a hypocrite in the judgment, no, nor punish him neither with ordinary damnation; but as they have here sinned in a way by themselves, so there they shall receive greater damnation. (Luke 20:47)

Of all sins, the sin of hypocrisy bespeaks a man most in love with some lust, because he dissembleth both with God and man to keep it.

For a conclusion upon this sevenfold answer to the question above propounded, let me advise those that are tender of the name of Christ, to have regard to these things.

Advice First, as well acquainted with the Word, and with the general rules of holiness; to wit, with the moral law; the want of this is a cause of much unholiness of conversation. These licentious and evil times wherein we live are full of iniquity; nor can we, though we never so much love God, do our duty, as we are enjoined, if we do not know it. The law is cast behind the back of many, when it should be carried in the hand and heart, that we might do it, to the end [that] the gospel which we profess might be glorified in the world. Let then the law be with thee to love it, and do it in the spirit of the gospel, that thou be not unfruitful in thy life. Let the law, I say, be with thee, not as it comes from Moses, but from Christ; for though thou art set free from the law as a covenant of life, yet thou still art under the law to Christ; and it is to be received by thee as out of his hand, to be a rule for thy conversation in the world. (1 Cor. 9:18) What then thou art about to do, do it or leave it undone, as thou shalt find it approved or forbidden by the law. And when ought shall come into thy mind to be done, and thou art at a stand, and at a loss about the lawfulness or unlawfulness thereof, then betake thyself to the law of thy God, which is in thy hand, and ask if this thing be good or to be avoided. If this were practised by professors, there would not be so much iniquity found in their beds, their houses, their shops, and their conversations, as there is.

Advice Second, As thou must be careful to find out the lawfulness or unlawfulness of a thing before thou puttest forth thy hand thereto, so thou must also consider again whether that which is lawful is expedient. A thing may be lawful in itself, and may yet be unlawful to thee; to wit, if there be an inconveniency, or an inexpediency attending the doing of it. 'All things are lawful unto me,' says the apostle, 'but all things are not expedient; all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.' (1 Cor. 6:12; 10:23) This then thou must consider, and this also thou must practise.

But this is a hard lesson, and impossible to be done, except thou art addicted to self-denial; for this text, and so the practice of what is contained therein, has respect chiefly to another, to wit, to thy neighbour, and his advantage and edification; and it supposeth, yea, enjoineth thee, if thou wilt depart from iniquity, to forbear also some things that are lawful, and consequently profitable to thee, for the sake of, and of love to, thy neighbour. But how little of this is found among men? Where is the man that will forbear some lawful things, for fear of hurting the weak thereby? Alas! how many are there that this day profess, that will not forbear palpable wickedness; no, though the salvation of their own souls are endangered thereby; and how then should these forbear things that are lawful, even of godly tenderness to the weakness of their neighbour?

Thus much have I thought good to speak in answer to this question, What iniquity should we depart from that religiously name the name of Christ? And now we will make some use of what hath been spoken.

USE FIRST. And the first shall be a use of examination. Art thou a professor? Dost thou religiously name the name of Christ? If so, I ask, dost thou, according to the exhortation here, 'Depart from iniqnity?' I say, examine thyself about this matter, and be thou faithful in this work, for the deceit in this will fall upon thine own pate. Deceive thyself thou mayest, but beguile God thou shalt not. 'Be not deceived, God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.' (Gal. 6:7) Wherefore let no man deceive himself, either in professing while he lives viciously, or in examining whether his profession of this name, and his life, and conversation, do answer one another. What departing from iniquity is, I have already showed in the former part of this book; wherefore I shall not here handle that point farther, only press upon thee the necessity of this exhortation, and the danger of the not doing of it faithfully. The necessity of it is urged,

First, From the deceitfulness of man's heart which will flatter him with promises of peace and life, both now and hereafter, though he live in iniquity while he professeth the name of Christ. For there are that say in their hearts, or that have their hearts say unto them, 'I shall have peace though I walk in the imagination of mine heart, to add drunkenness to thirst.' (Deut. 29:19) And what will become of them that so do, you may see by that which followeth in the text. The heart therefore is not to be trusted, for it will promise a man peace in the way of death and damnation. I doubt not but many are under this fearful judgment to this day. What means else their quietness of mind, their peace and boasts of heaven and glory, though every step they take, as to life and conversation, is an apparent step to hell and damnation, 'The heart is deceitful.' (Jer. 17:9) and, 'He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool.' (Prov. 28:26) These sayings were not written without a cause. Let as many, therefore, as would examine themselves about this matter, have a jealous eye over their own heart, and take heed of being beguiled thereby; let them mix hearty prayer with this matter unto God, that he will help them to be faithful to themselves in this so great a matter; yea, let them compare their lives with the holy commandment, and judge by that rather than by the fleshly fondness that men naturally are apt to have for, and of, their own actions; for by the verdict of the Word thou must stand and fall, both now, at death, and in the day of judgment. Take heed, therefore, of thy heart, thy carnal heart, when thou goest into thy life, to make a search for iniquity. Take the Word with thee, and by the Word do thou examine thyself. (John 12:48)

Second, It is urged from the cunning of Satan. Wouldest thou examine thyself faithfully as to this thing, then take heed of the flatteries of the devil: can he help it, thou shalt never find out the iniquity of thy heels. He will labour to blind thy mind, to harden thy heart, to put such virtuous names upon thy foulest vices, that thou shalt never, unless thou stoppest thine ear to him, after a godly sort, truly examine and try thy ways, according as thou art commanded. (Lam. 3:40; 2 Cor. 13:5) Wherefore take heed of him, for he will be ready at thy side when thou goest about this work. Now for thy help in this matter, set God, the holy God, the all-seeing God, the sin—revenging God, before thine eyes; 'for our God is a consuming fire.' (Heb. 12:29) And believe that he hath pitched his eyes upon thy heart; also that 'he pondereth all thy goings,' and that thy judgment, as to thy faithfulness, or unfaithfulness, in this work, must proceed out of the mouth of God. (Prov. 5:21; 21:2) This will be thy help in this thing, that is, if thou usest it faithfully; also this will be thy hindrance, if thou shalt neglect it, and suffer thyself to be abused by the devil.

Third, It is urged from the dangerousness of the latter days. Wouldst thou examine thyself, then make not the lives of others any rule to thee in this matter. It is prophesied long ago, by Christ and by Paul, concerning the latter times, 'that iniquity shall abound, and be very high among professors.' (Matt. 24:12; 2 Tim. 3:1-8) Therefore it will be a rare thing to find an exemplary life among professors. Wherefore cease from man, and learn of the Word, try thyself by the Word, receive conviction from the Word; and to take off thyself from taking of encouragement from others, set the judgment before thine eyes, and that account that God will demand of thee then; and know that it will be but a poor excuse of thee to say, Lord, such a one doth so, did so, would do so: and they professed, &c. Whether thou wilt hear me or not, I know not, yet this I know, 'If thou be wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself: but if thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear it.' (Prov. 9:12)

Let me then, to press this use further upon thee, show thee in a few particulars the danger of not doing of it, that is, of not departing from iniquity, since thou professest.

Danger 1. The iniquity that cleaveth to men that profess, if they cast it not away, but countenance it, will a11 prove nettles and briars to them; and I will assure thee, yea, thou knowest, that nettles and thorns will sting and scratch but ill-favouredly. 'I went,' saith Solomon, 'by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding. And lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down.' (Prov. 24:30, 31)

Suppose a man were, after work all day, to be turned into a bed of nettles at night: or after a man had been about such a business, should be rewarded with chastisements of briars and thorns: this would for work be but little help, relief, or comfort to him; why this is the reward of a wicked man, of a wicked professor from God; nettles and thorns are to cover over the face of his vineyard, his field, his profession, and that at the last of all; for this covering over the face of his vineyard, with nettles and thorns, is to show what fruit the slovenly, slothful, careless professor, will reap out; of his profession, when reaping time shall come.

Nor can he whose vineyard, whose profession is covered over with these nettles and thorns of iniquity, escape being afflicted with them in his conscience: for look as they cover the face of his vineyard through his sloth now, so will they cover the face of his conscience, in the day of judgment. For profession and conscience cannot be separated long; if a man then shall make profession without conscience of God's honour in his conversation, his profession and conscience will meet in the day of his visitation. Nor will he, whose condition this shall be, be able to ward off the guilt and sting of a slothful and bad conversation, from covering the face of his conscience, by retaining in his profession the name of Jesus Christ: for naming and professing of the name of Christ will, instead of salving such a conscience, put venom, sting, and keenness into those nettles and thorns, that then shall be spread over the face of such consciences. This will be worse than was that cold wet cloth that Hazael took and spread over the face of Benhadad, that he died. (2 Kings 8:15) This will sting worse, tear worse, torment worse, kill worse. Therefore look to it!

Danger 2. Nor may men shift this danger by their own neglect of inquiring into the truth of their separation from iniquity, for that God himself will search them. I search the reins and the heart, saith he, 'to give unto every one of you according to your works.' (Rev. 2:23)

There are many that wear the name of Christ for a cloak, and so make their advantages by their iniquity; but Christ, at death and judgment, will rend this cloak from off such shoulders, then shall they walk naked, yea, the shame of their nakedness shall then appear. Now since no man can escape the search of God, and so, not his judgment; it will be thy wisdom to search thine own ways, and to prevent judgment by judging of thyself.

Danger 3. Christ will deny those to be his that do not depart from iniquity, though they shall name his name among the rest of his people. 'Depart from me,' saith he, 'all you that departed not from iniquity.' (Luke 13:25-27) Yea, they that shall name his name religiously, and not depart from iniquity, are denied by him all along. 1. He alloweth them not now to call him Lord. 'And why call ye me Lord, Lord,' saith he, 'and do not, the things which I say?' (Luke 6:46) He cannot abide to be reputed the Lord of those that presume to profess his name, and do not depart from iniquity. (Ezek. 20:39) The reason is, for that such do but profane his name, and stave others off from falling in love with him and his ways. Hence he says again 'Behold, I have sworn by my great name, saith the Lord, that my name shall no more be named in the mouth of any man of Judah.' (Jer. 44:26; Rom. 2:24) 2. He regardeth not their prayers. 'If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear' my prayer. (Psa. 66:18) And if so, then whatever thou hast at the hand of God, thou hast it, not in mercy, but in judgment, and to work out farther thine everlasting misery. 3. He will not regard their soul, but at the last day will cast it from him, as a thing abhorred by him. As is evidently seen by that thirteenth of Luke, but now noted above.

Wherefore, from these few hints, thou, whoever thou art, mayest well perceive what a horrible thing it is to make a profession of the name of Christ, and not to depart from iniquity. Therefore let me exhort thee again to examine thyself, if thou hast, and dost—since thou professest that name—depart from iniquity.

And here I would distinguish, for there is two parts in iniquity, to wit, the guilt and filth. As for the guilt that is contracted by iniquity, I persuade myself, no man who knows it, needs to be bid to desire to depart from that; nay, I do believe that the worst devil in hell would depart from his guilt, if he could, and might: but this is it, to wit, to depart from the sweet, the pleasure, and profit of iniquity. There are that call evil good, iniquity good, and that of professors too: this is that to be departed from, and these are they that are exhorted to forsake it upon the pains and penalties before threatened. Therefore, as I said, let such look to it, that they examine themselves if they depart from iniquity.

And come, now thou art going about this work, let me help thee in this matter. I. Ask thy heart, What evil dost thou see in sin? II. How sick art thou of sin? III. What means dust thou use to mortify thy sins? IV. How much hast thou been grieved to see others break God's law, and to find temptations in thyself to do it?

I. For the first, There is a soul-polluting evil in iniquity.
There is a God-provoking evil in iniquity.

There is a soul-damning evil in iniquity. And until thou comest experimentally to know these things, thou wilt have neither list, nor will, to depart from iniquity.

II. For the second. I mean not sick with guilt, for so the damned in hell are sick, but I mean sick of the filth, and polluting nature of it. Thus was Moses sick of sin, thus Jabez was sick of sin, and thus was Paul sick of sin. (Num. 11:14, 15; 1 Chron. 4:9, 10; Rom. 7:14; 2 Cor. 5:1-3; Phil. 3:10-14)

III. For the third. You know that those that are sensible of a sickness, will look out after the means to be recovered; there is a means also for this disease, and dost thou know what that means is, and hast thou indeed a desire to it? yea, couldest thou be willing even now to partake of the means that would help thee to that means, that can cure thee of this disease? there are no means can cure a man that is sick of sin, but glory; and the means to come by that is Christ, and to go out of this world by the faith of him. There is no grace can cure this disease; yes, grace doth rather increase it; for the more grace any man has, the more is he sick of sin; the greater an offence is iniquity to him. So then, there is nothing can cure this disease, but glory: but immortal glory. And dost thou desire this medicine? and doth God testify that thy desire is true, not feigned? (2 Cor. 5:4) I know that there are many things that do make some even wish to die: but the question is not whether thou dost wish to die: for death can cure many diseases: but is this that that moveth thee to desire to depart: to wit, that thou mightest be rid, quite rid, and stripped of a body of death, because nothing on this side the grave can rid thee and strip thee of it. And is hope, that this day is approaching, a reviving cordial to thee? and doth the hope of this strike arrows into the heart of thy lusts, and draw off thy mind and affections yet farther from iniquity.

IV. To the fourth. How much hast thou been grieved to see others break God's law, and to find temptations in thyself to do it? 'I beheld the transgressors, and was grieved,' said David, 'because men kept not thy word.' (Psa. 119:158) The same also had Paul, because of that body of sin and death which was in him. Professor, I beseech thee be thou serious about this thing because it will be found, when God comes to judge, that those that profess Christ, and yet abide with their iniquity, are but wooden, earthy professors, and none of the silver or golden ones: and so, consequently, such as shall be vessels, not to honour, but to dishonour; not to glory, but to shame.

USE SECOND. My next shall be a use of terror. Has God commanded by the mouth of his holy apostles and prophets, that those that name the name of Christ should depart from iniquity: then what will become of those that rebel against his Word. Where the word of a king is, there is power; and if the wrath of a king be as the roaring of a lion, what is, and what will be the wrath of God, when with violence it falls upon the head of the wicked?

Sirs, I beseech you consider this, namely, that the man that professeth the name of Christ, and yet liveth a wicked life, is the greatest enemy that God has in the world, and, consequently, one that God, in a way most eminent, will set his face against. Hence he threateneth such so hotly, saying, 'And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinner shall be together,' and that 'they that forsake the Lord shall be consumed.' (Isa. 1:28; 33:14) But what sinners are these? why, the sinners in Zion, the hypocrites in the church. So again the Lord shall 'purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against him.' (Ezek. 20:38) 'All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us.' (Amos 9:10) For though such do think that by professing of the name of Christ, they shall prevent their going down to hell, yet they shall go down thither, with those that have lived openly wicked and profane: Egypt, and Judah, the circumcised with them that are not, for it is not a profession of faith that can save them. (Jer. 9:26) 'Whom dost thou pass in beauty,' saith God? wherein art thou bettered by the profession, than the wicked? 'go down, and be thou laid with the uncircumcised.' (Ezek. 32:19)

This in general; but more particularly, the wrath of God manifesteth itself against such kind of professors. In that the gospel and means of salvation shall not be effectual for their salvation, but that it shall work rather quite contrary effects. It shall bring forth, as I said, quite contrary effects. (2 Cor. 2:15, 16) As,

First, The preaching of the Word shall be to such the savour of death unto death, and that is a fearful thing.

Second, Yea Christ Jesus himself shall be so far off from being a savour unto them, that he shall be a snare, a trap and a gin to catch them by the heel withal; that they may go and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.' (Isa. 8:14, 15; 28:13)

Third, The Lord also will choose out such delusions, or such as will best suit with the workings of their flesh, as will effectually bring them down, with the bullocks and with the bulls to the slaughter: yea, he will lead such forth with the workers of iniquity. (Isa. 66:3, 4; Psa. 125:5)

Fourth, Such, above all, lie open to the sin against the Holy Ghost, that unpardonable sin, that must never be forgiven. For alas, it is not the poor ignorant world, but the enlightened professor that committeth the sin that shall never be forgiven.

I say, it is one enlightened, one that has tasted the good word of God, and something of the powers of the world to come. (Heb. 6:4; 1 John 5:16) It is one that was counted a brother, that was with us in our profession: it is such an one that is in danger of committing of that most black and bloody sin. But yet all and every one of those that are such are not in danger of this; but those among these that take pleasure in unrighteousness, and that rather than they will lose that pleasure, will commit it presumptuously. Presumptuously, that is, against light, against convictions, against warnings, against mercies. Or thus, a presumptuous sin is such an one as is committed in the face of the command, in a desperate venturing to run the hazard, or in a presuming upon the mercy of God, through Christ, to be saved not withstanding: this is a leading sin to that which is unpardonable, and will be found with such professors; that do hanker after iniquity. I say, it is designed by the devil, and suffered by the just judgment of God, to catch and overthrow the loose and carnal gospellers. And hence it is that David cries unto God, that he would hold him back from these sort of sins. 'Cleanse thou me from secret faults,' says he. And then adds, 'Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.' (Psa. 19:12, 13)

If there were any dread of God, or of his word, in the hearts of the men of this generation, the consideration of this one test is enough to shake them in pieces: I speak of those that name the name of Christ, but do not depart from iniquity. But the word of God must be fulfilled; in the last days iniquity must abound; wherefore these days will be perilous and dangerous to professors. 'In the last days perilous times shall come, for men shall be lovers of their ownselves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy.' (2 Tim. 3:1, 2; Matt. 24:12) I do the oftener harp upon this test at this time, because it is a prediction of what shall be in the latter days, to wit, what a sea and deluge of iniquity shall in the latter days overspread and drown those that then shall have a form of godliness, and of religion. So that this day is more dangerous than were the days that have been before us. Now iniquity, even immorality, shall with professors be in fashion, be pleaded for, be loved and more esteemed than holiness itself. Now godliness and self denial shall be little set by; even those very men that have a form of godliness hate the life and power thereof; yea, they shall despise them that are good. Now therefore ministers must not think that what they say of the doctrine of self denial among professors, will be much, if at all regarded. I say, regarded, so as to be loved and put in practice by them that name the name of Christ. For the strong hold that iniquity shall have of their affections will cause that but little effectualness to this end will be found to attend the preaching of the Word unto them.

But what will these kind of men do, when God that is just, God that is holy, and God that is strong to execute his word, shall call them to an account for these things?

Now some may say, But what shall we do to depart from iniquity?
I answer,

1. Labour to see the odiousness and unprofitableness thereof, which thou mayest do by the true knowledge of the excellent nature of the holiness of God. For until thou seest a beauty in holiness, thou canst not see odiousness in sin and iniquity. Danger thou mayest see in sin before, but odiousness thou canst not.

2. Be much in the consideration of the power, justice, and faithfulness of God to revenge himself on the workers of iniquity.

3. Be much in the consideration of the greatness and worth of thy soul.

4. Be often asking of thyself what true profit did I ever get by the commission of any sin.

5. Bring thy last day often to thy bedside.

6. Be often thinking of the cries and roarings of the damned in hell.

7. Be often considering the lastingness of the torments of hell.

8. Be often thinking what would those that are now in hell give that they might live their lives over again.

9. Consider often of the frailty of thy life, and that there is no repentance to be found in the grave, whither thou goest.

10. Consider that hell is a doleful place, and that the devils are but uncomfortable companions.

11. Again, consider together with those how the patience of God has been abused by thee; yea, how all his attributes have been despised by thee, who art a professor, that does not depart from iniquity.

13. Moreover, I would ask with what face thou canst look the Lord Jesus in the face, whose name thou hast profaned by thine iniquity?

13. Also, how thou wilt look on those that are truly godly, whose hearts thou has grieved, while they have beheld the dirt and dung that hath cloven to thee and to thy profession.

14. But especially consider with thyself how thou wilt bear, together with thine own, the guilt, of the damnation of others. For as I have often said, a professor, if he perishes, seldom perishes alone, but casteth others down to hell with himself. The reason is, because others, both weak professors and carnal men, are spectators and observers of his ways; yea, and will presume also to follow him especially in evil courses, concluding that he is right. We read that the tail of the dragon, or that the dragon by his tail, did draw and cast down abundance of the stars of heaven to the earth. (Rev. 12:4; Isa. 9:14, 15) The tail! 'The prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.' The prophet that speaketh lies, either by opinion or practice, he is the tail, the dragons's tail, the serpentine tail of the devil. (Isa. 9:14, 15) And so in his order, every professor that by his iniquity draweth both himself and others to hell, he is the tail. The tail, says the Holy Ghost, draws them down; draws down even the stars of heaven; but whither doth he draw them? The answer is, from heaven, the throne of God, to earth, the seat of the dragon; for he is the god of this world. The professor then that is dishonourable in his profession, he is the tail. 'The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.' Nor can Satan work such exploits by any, as he can by unrighteous professors. These he useth in his hand, as the giant useth his club; he, as it were, drives all before him with it. It is said of Behemoth, that 'he moveth his tail like a cedar.' (Job 40:7) Behemoth is a type of the devil, but behold how he handleth his tail, even as if a man should swing about a cedar. (Rev. 9:10, 19) This is spoken to shew the hurtfulness of the tail, as it is also said in another place. Better no professor than a wicked professor. Better open profane than a hypocritical namer of the name of Christ; and less hurt shall such an one do to his own soul, to the poor ignorant world, to the name of Christ, and to the church of God.

Let professors, therefore, take heed to themselves, that they join to their naming of the name of Christ an holy and godly conversation; for away they must go else with the workers of iniquity to the pit, with more guilt, and bigger load, and more torment by far than others, But,

USE THIRD. My next word shall be to those that desire to be true, sincere professors of the name of Christ.

First, Do you bless God, for that he has put not only his name into your lips, but grace into your hearts, that thereby that profession which thou makest of him may be seasoned with that salt. 'Every sacrifice shall be seasoned with salt.' (Mark 9:49) Now naming of the name of Christ is a sacrifice, and a sacrifice acceptable, when the salt of the covenant of thy God is not lacking, but mixed therewith. (Heb. 13:15; Lev. 2:13) Therefore I say, since God has put his name into thy mouth to profess the same, and grace into thy heart to season that profession with such carriage, such behaviour, such life, and such conversation as doth become the same, thou hast great cause to thank God. A man into whose mouth God has put the name of Christ to profess it, is as a man that is to act his part upon a stage in the market place; if he doth it well, he brings praise both to his master and himself; but if he doth it ill, both are brought into contempt. No greater praise can by man be brought to God, than by joining to the profession of the name of Christ a fruitful life and conversation. 'Herein,' saith Christ, 'is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.' (John 15:8) Fruitful lives God expecteth of all that profess the name of Christ. And let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. Bless God, therefore, if he hath kept thee from blotting and blemishing of thy profession; if thy conversation has not been stained with the blots and evils of the times. What thou feelest, fightest with, and groanest under, by reason of the working of thine inward corruptions, with that I meddle not; nor is thy conversation the worse for that, if thou keepest them from breaking out. Thou also shalt be counted holy unto God, through Christ, if thou be of an upright conversation; though plagued every day with the working of thine own corruption.

Ad God's grace is the salt of saints, so saints are the salt of God. The one is the salt of God in the heart, and the other is the salt of God in the world. 'Ye are the salt of the earth:' (Matt. 5:13) that is the salt of God in the earth. For the earth would be wholly corrupt, and would altogether stink, if professors were not in it. But now if the professor, which is the salt, shall indeed lose his savour, and hath nothing in his conversation to season that part of the earth, in which God has placed him, wherewith shall it be seasoned? The place where he dwells, as well as his profession, will both stink odiously in the nostrils of the Lord, and so both come to ruin and desolation.

Indeed, as I have shewed, the professor will come to the worst of it; for that God doth deny further to give him salt. 'If the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned?' (Luke 14:34) Wherewith shall the salt be salted? with nothing. Therefore it is thenceforth good for nothing. No, not for the dunghill, but to be cast out, and trodden under foot of men. 'He that hath ears to hear let him hear.'

How much, therefore, is the tender-hearted, and he that laboureth to beautify his profession with a gospel conversation, bound to bless God for the salt of his grace, by the which his heart is seasoned, and from his heart, his conversation.

Second, As such Christians should bless God, so let them watch, let them still watch, let them still watch and pray, watch against Satan, and pray yet for more grace, that they may yet more and more beautify their profession of the worthy name of Christ with a suitable conversation. Blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his garment; that is, his conversation clean, nor is there anything, save the overthrowing of our faith, that Satan seeketh more to destroy. He knows holiness in them that rightly, as to doctrine, name the name of Christ, is a maul and destruction to his kingdom, an allurement to the ignorant, and a cutting off those occasions to stumble, that by the dirty life of a professor is laid in the way of the blind. (Lev. 19:14) He knows that holiness of lives, when they shine in those that profess the name of Christ, doth cut off his lies that he seeketh to make the world believe, and slanders that he seeketh to fasten upon the professors of the gospel. Wherefore, as you have begun to glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's; so I beseech you do it more and more.

Third, To this end, shun those professors that are loose of life and conversation: 'From such withdraw thyself,' saith Paul, and follow 'righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.' (1 Tim. 6:5; 2 Tim. 2:22) If a man, if a good man takes not good heed to himself, he shall soon bring his soul into a snare. Loose professors are defilers and corrupters; a man shall get nothing but a blot by having company with them. (Isa. 1:4) Besides, as a man shall get a blot by having much to do with such; so let him beware that his heart learn none of their ways. Let thy company be the excellent in the earth even those that are excellent for knowledge and conversation. 'He that walketh with wise men shall be wise; but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.'

Be content to be counted singular, for so thou shalt, if thou shalt follow after righteousness, &., in good earnest; for holiness is a rare thing now in the world. I told thee before that it is foretold by the Word, that in the last days perilous times shall come, and that men shall walk after their own lusts; yea, professors, to their destruction. Nor will it be easy to keep thyself therefrom. But even as when the pestilence is come into a place, it infecteth and casteth down the healthful; so the iniquity of the last times will infest and pollute the godly. I mean the generality of them. Were but our times duly compared with those that went before, we should see that which now we are ignorant of. Did we but look back to the Puritans, but especially to those that, but a little before them, suffered for the word of God, in the Marian days, we should see another life than is now among men, another manner of conversation than now is among professors. But, I say, predictions and prophecies must be fulfilled; and since the Word says plainly, that 'in the last days there shall come scoffers, walking after their own lusts,' (2 Peter 3:17) and since the Christians shall be endangered thereby, let us look to it, that we acquit ourselves like men, seeing we know these things before; 'lest we, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from our own steadfastness.'

Singularity in godliness, if it be in godliness, no man should be ashamed of. For that is no more than to be more godly, than to walk more humbly with God than others; and, for my part, I had rather be a pattern and example of piety. I had rather that my life should be instructing to the saints, and condemning to the world, with Noah and Lot, than to hazard myself among the multitude of the drossy.

I know that many professors will fall short of eternal life, and my judgment tells me, that they will be of the slovenly sort of professors that so do. And for my part, I had rather run with the foremost and win the prize, than come behind, and lose that, and my labour, and all. 'If a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully.' And when men have said all they can, they are the truly redeemed 'that are zealous of good works.' (1 Cor. 9:24; 2 Tim. 2:4, 5; Titus 2:14)

Not that works do save us, but faith, which layeth hold on Christ's righteousness for justification, sanctifies the heart, and makes men desirous to live in this world, to the glory of that Christ who died in this world to save us from death.

For my part I doubt of the faith of many, and fear that it will prove no better at the day of God than will the faith of devils. For that it standeth in bare speculation, and is without life and soul to that which is good. Where is the man that walketh with his cross upon his shoulder? Where is the man that is zealous of moral holiness? Indeed, for those things that have nothing of the cross of the purse, or of the cross of the belly, or of the cross of the back, or of the cross of the vanity of household affairs; for those things, I find we have many, and those, very busy sticklers; but otherwise, the cross, self denial, charity, purity in life and conversation, is almost quite out of doors among professors. But, man of God, do thou be singular as to these and as to their conversation. 'Be not ye therefore partakers with them,' (Eph. 5:7), in any of their ways, but keep thy soul diligently; for if damage happeneth to thee, thou alone must bear it.

But he that will depart from iniquity must be well fortified with faith, and patience, and the love of God; for iniquity has its beauty spots and its advantages attending on it; hence it is compared to a woman, for it allureth greatly. (Zech. 5:7) Wherefore, I say, he that will depart therefrom had need have faith, that being it which will help him to see beyond it, and that will shew him more in things that are invisible, that can be found in sin, were it ten thousand times more entangling than it is. (2 Cor. 4:18) He has need of patience also to hold out in this work of departing from iniquity. For, indeed, to depart from that, is to draw my mind off from that, which will follow me with continual solicitations. Samson withstood his Delilah for a while, but she got the mastery of him at the last; why so? Because he wanted patience, he grew angry and was vexed, and could withstand her solicitation no longer. (Judges 16:15-17) Many there be also, that can well enough be contented to shut sin out of doors for a while; but because sin has much fair speech, therefore it overcomes at last. (Prov. 7:21) For sin and iniquity will not be easily said nay; it is like her of whom you read—she has a whore's forehead, and refuses to be ashamed. (Jer. 3:3) Wherefore, departing from iniquity is a work for length, as long as life shall last. A work did I say? It is a war; a continual combat; wherefore he that will adventure to set upon this work must needs be armed with faith and patience, a daily exercise he will find himself put upon by the continual attempts of iniquity to be putting forth itself. (Matt. 24:13; Rev. 3:10) This is called an enduring to the end, a continuing in the word of Christ and also a keeping of the word of his patience. But what man in the world can do this whose heart is not seasoned with the love of God and the love of Christ? Therefore, he that will exercise himself in this work must be often considering of the love of God to him in Christ; for the more sense, or apprehension, a man shall have of that, the more easy and pleasant will this work be to him: yea, though the doing thereof should cost him his heart's blood. 'Thy loving-kindness is before mine eyes,' says David, 'and I have walked in thy truth.' (Psa. 26:3) Nothing like the sense, sight, or belief of that, to the man of God, to make him depart from iniquity.

But what shall I do, I cannot depart therefrom as I should?

Keep thine eye upon all thy shortnesses, or upon all thy failures, for that that is profitable for thee. 1. The sight of this will make thee base in thine own eyes. 2. It will give thee occasion to see the need and excellency of repentance. 3. It will put thee upon prayer to God for help and pardon. 4. It will make thee weary of this world. 5. It will make grace to persevere the more desirable in thine eyes.

Also, it will help thee in the things which follow:—l. It will make thee see the need of Christ's righteousness. 2. It will make thee see the need of Christ's intercession. 3. It will make thee see thy need of Christ's advocateship. 4. It will make thee see the riches of God's patience. 5. And it will make heaven and eternal life the sweeter to thee when thou comest there.

But to the question. Get more grace, for the more grace thou hast the further is thine heart set off of iniquity, the more, also, set against it, and the better able to depart from it when it cometh to thee, tempteth thee, and entreats thee for entertainment. Now the way to have more grace is to have more knowledge of Christ, and to pray more fervently in his name; also, to subject thy soul and thy lusts, with all thy power, to the authority of that grace thou hast, and to judge and condemn thyself most heartily before God, for every secret inclination that thou findest in thy flesh to sinward.

The improvement of what thou hast is that, as I may say, by which God judges how thou wouldest use, if thou had it, more; and according to that so shalt thou have, or not have, a farther measure. He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful, and will be so, also in much; and he that is unjust in the least, is, and will be, unjust also in much. I know Christ speaks here about the unrighteous mammon, but the same may be applied also unto the thing in hand. (Luke 16:10-12)

And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another man's, who will commit unto you that which is your own? That is a remarkable place to this purpose in the Revelation—'Behold,' saith he, 'I have set before thee an open door,' that thou mayest have what thou wilt, as was also said to the improving woman of Canaan, 'and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.' (Rev. 3:8; Matt. 15:28)

A good improvement of what we have of the grace of God at present pleases God, and engages him to give us more; but an ill improvement of what we at present have will not do so. 'To him that hath,' that hath an heart to improve what he hath, to him shall be given; but to him that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath.' (Matt. 25:24-30) Well, weigh the place and you shall find it so.

I know that to depart from iniquity so as is required, that is, to the utmost degree of the requirement, no man can, for it is a copy too fair for mortal flesh exactly to imitate while we are in this world. But with good paper, good ink, and a good pen, a skilful and willing man may go far. And it is well for thee if thy complaint be sincere, to wit, that thou art troubled that thou canst not forsake iniquity as thou shouldest; for God accepteth of thy design and desire, and it is counted by him as thy kindness. (Prov. 19:22) But if thy complaint in this matter be true, thou wilt not rest nor content thyself in thy complaints, but wilt, as he that is truly hungry or greatly burdened useth all lawful means to satisfy his hunger and to ease himself of his burden, use all thy skill and power to mortify and keep them under, by the word of God. Nor can it otherwise be but that such a man must be a growing man. 'Every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit' (John 15:2) Such a man shall not be a stumbling in religion, nor a scandal to it, in his calling; but shall, according to God's ordinary way with his people, be a fruitful and flourishing bough.

And I would to God this were the sickness of all them that profess in this nation; for then should we soon have a new leaf turned over in most corners of this nation; then would graciousness of heart, and life, and conversation be more prized, more sought after, and better improved and practised than it is; yea, then would the throats of ungodly men be better stopt, and their mouths faster shut up, as to their reproaching of religion, than they are. A Christian man must be the object of the envy of the world; but it is better, if the will of God be so, that we be reproached for well-doing than for evil. (1 Peter 2:3) If we be reproached for evil-doing, it is our shame; but if for well-doing, it is our glory. If we be reproached for our sins, God cannot vindicate us; but if we be reproached for a virtuous life, God himself is concerned, will espouse our quarrel, and, in his good time, will shew our foes our righteousness, and put them to shame and silence. Briefly, a godly life annexed to faith in Christ is so necessary, that a man that professes the name of Christ is worse than a beast without it.

But thou wilt say unto me, Why do men profess the name of Christ that love not to depart from iniquity? I answer, there are many reasons for it. 1. The preaching of the gospel, and so the publication of the name of Christ, is musical and very taking to the children of men. A Saviour! a Redeemer! a loving, sin-pardoning Jesus! what better words can come from man? what better melody can be heard? 'Son of man,' said God to the prophet, 'Lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song'; or, as a song of loves, 'of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument.' (Ezek. 33:32) The gospel is a most melodious note and sweet tune to any that are not prepossessed with slander, reproach, and enmity against the professors of it. Now, its melodious notes being so sweet, no marvel if it entangle some even of them that yet will not depart from iniquity to take up and profess so lovely a profession. But,

2. There are a generation of men that are and have been frightened with the law, and terrified with fears of perishing for their sins, but yet have not grace to leave them. Now, when the sound of the gospel shall reach such men's ears, because there is by that made public the willingness of Christ to die for sin, and of God to forgive them for his sake; therefore they presently receive and profess those notions as the only ones that can rid them from their frights and terrors, falsely resting themselves content with that faith thereof which standeth in naked knowledge; yea, liking of that faith best that will stand with their pride, covetousness, and lechery, never desiring to hear of practical holiness, because it will disturb them; wherefore they usually cast dirt at such, calling them legal preachers.

3. Here also is a design of Satan set on foot; for these carnal gospellers are his tares, the children of the wicked one; those that he hath sowed among the wheat of purpose, if possible, that that might be rooted up by beholding and learning to be vile and filthy of them. (Matt. 13:36-43)

4. Another cause hereof is this, the hypocrites that begin to profess find as bad as themselves already in a profession of this worthy name; and, think they, these do so and so, and, therefore, so will I.

5. This comes to pass, also, through the righteous judgment of God, who, through the anger that he has conceived against some men for their sins, will lift them up to heaven before he casts them down to hell, that their fall may be the greater and their punishment the more intolerable. (Matt. 11:20-24) I have now done when I have read to you my text over again—'And, let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.'

Footnotes.

1. How clearly is here portrayed the wretched state of this country towards the close of the reign of Charles II. It is the natural eloquence of one whose very thoughts were governed by scriptural expressions. The martyrdoms of Essex, of Russel, and of Sydney—the uncertainty of the life of a debauched monarch, with the gloomy prospect of a popish successor, filled the country with dismal forebodings.—ED.

2. This is a solemn truth, which ought ever to be recollected when studying the mysteries of electing love. Election is as much to a holy life as it is to eternal glory.-ED.

3. How much is it to be feared that some towering professors, upon impartial self-examination, will find upon themselves some of these black spots; all of which are utterly inconsistent with that humility which is the proper and only becoming garb of a Christian.—Ryland—ED.

4. Selfishness is the great enemy to happiness. A heart steeled against all, naturally brings upon itself the hostility of all. Love to the Redeemer, for emancipation from that great curse, is the only antidote to selfishness.—ED.

5. 'Power of things;' the influence of convictions and hopes named in the six divisions on the preceding page.—ED.

6. Plato says that some men are impotent by reason of sin; but Christianity alone develops the awful fact, that sin has poisoned our nature, and that its effects are felt in the holiest of saints. The reference to the experience of Paul in Romans 8 is conclusive of the fact.—ED.

7. 'Letteth;' hindereth or obstructeth: now obsolete.—ED.

8. 'Slow bellies;' gluttons, drunkards, slothful, idle, eating the bread of others without working.—ED.

9. Margin.

10. Fox 1st edit., p. 1432.

11. 'Raillery;' jesting, merriment.

12. A Christian parent has peculiar and solemn duties to perform, in addition to those of every other class of Christians. This ought to lead him perpetually to seek wisdom from his heavenly Father; and in such close communion he becomes as peculiarly blessed as he is burthened.—ED.

13. Bunyan was in the habit of visiting London, the seat of government, and doubtless saw a sad change in the conduct of many professors, under a profligate monarch, to what it had been under the pious protector.—ED

14. 'His points;' an heraldic term, expressive of the exact position of the various bearing on the shield—a scrupulous or superstitious niceness as to points of doctrine.—ED.

15. These are faithful words, giving offence to bigots of every sect. The church of England excluded all from her communion except conformists—Independents held no fellowship with Baptists, nor Baptists with Independents. Happily, Christians are coming to their senses. The Test Act is repealed—nor dare we now call that unclean which God has cleansed.—ED.

***

Christian Behavior

Being the fruits of true Christianity:

Teaching husbands, wives, parents, children, masters, servants, etc., how to walk so as to please God.

With a word of direction to all backsliders.

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This valuable practical treatise, was first published as a pocket volume about the year 1674, soon after the author's final release from his long and dangerous imprisonment. It is evident from the concluding paragraph that he considered his liberty and even his life to be still in a very uncertain state; not from the infirmities of age, for he was then in the prime of life; but from the tyranny of the government, and probably from the effects of his long incarceration in a damp, unhealthy jail. It is the best and most scriptural guide that has ever appeared to aid us in the performance of relative duties: written with originality of thought and that peculiar and pious earnestness which so distinguishes all his works.

No one can read this book, without finding in it his own portrait truly and correctly drawn to the life. Many have been the hearers of the word in its public ministration, who have been astonished that a faithful minister has not only opened their outward conduct, but the inward recesses of their heartsand have inquired with wonder, 'Where could he get such a knowledge of my heart?' The usages and feelings of every part of the human family the rich and poor outward professors or openly profane God fearers or God defiersare displayed in the following pages as accurately as if the author had been present in every family upon earth, and had not only witnessed the conduct of the happy and of the miserable in every grade; but he goes within and unvails that mystery of iniquity the human heart, its secret springs, feelings, and machinations. What mysterious power could this uneducated man have possessed, thus to dive into the most subtle of all secret repositories, the human heart! Could he have left his body at times and his invisible spirit have entered all chambers, as was said of an ancient philosopher, 1 still time would have been too short even to have transiently surveyed outward conduct; and then he could not have entered into the thoughts of others. Reader, the fountain of all hidden things was open to him. Shut up for many years in prison, with the key in his possession which unlocks all the mysteries of earth, and heaven, and hellhe diligently used his time and all was revealed to him. He makes the source of his knowledge no secret, but invites you to search, as he did, this storehouse of things new and old. It was the Bible which unfolded to him all the great events of time and of eternity all the secret springs of states, and families, and individuals wonderous book! It made an uneducated artizan wiser than all the philosophers who have been contented with Plato, Aristotle, Pliny, Plutarch, and the most renowned of human writers. Not only is the real state of human nature revealed with unerring truth, as suffering under a cruel malady, strangely diverse in its operations, but all tending to the downward, dark, dreary road to misery temporal and eternal: but it also displays the antidote; an infallible remedy against all the subtilties of this tortuous disease. Reader, this treasure is in our hands. How great is the responsibility. How blessed are those who with earnest prayer for divine illumination read ponder and relying upon the aid of the Holy Spirit, understand and instantly obey the sacred precepts which its pages unfold. Weigh well their nature and tendency, as Bunyan opens them in this invaluable treatise. They lead step by step from darkness to light. It may be a tempestuous passage in the dim twilight, as it was with him but it is safe and leads to the fountain of happiness the source of blessedness the presence and smiles of God and the being conformed to his image. In proportion as we are thus transformed in our minds, we shall be able to fulfil all our duties and behavior as becometh Christians. We dare not seek to avoid these duties because they are full of anxieties. Blessed are those who know and feel the ties of church fellowship or the nearer union of husband and wife, that type of the mystical union of Christ and his church. Happy are those who piously discharge parental and filial duties, that figure of the relationship which the Almighty, in infinite condescension, owns between him and his fallen but renewed creatures. Vows of celibacy disturb all the order and harmonies of creation, and are fleshly, sensual, devilish. The unmarried are strangers to those delightful or painful sensibilities which drive the soul to continual converse with God, either in heart-felt praises or for divine assistance to glorify him in the discharge of domestic duties. They who vow celibacy, fly in the face of the infinitely wise eternal, who said, 'It is not good for man to be alone.' He sets up his puny antagonism to omnipotence. It is true, that in the prospect of the desolations which were foretold by the Saviour and were about to be poured out upon Jerusalem, 'for the present distress,' 'the short time' Paul advised, not commanded, a temporary deviation from the order of naturelike an eclipse of the sun or moonfor a 'short time' which no one could wish to be prolonged. We are bound, in the expectation of the divine approbation, not to shrink from duties, but to seek wisdom to fulfil them; and in this little work we have a scriptural guide to which we shall do well to take heed. It is a peculiarly solemn legacythe author's ardent desire is thus expressed; 'Before I die [as the greatest of all the duties he had to perform] let me provoke you to faith and holiness.' Be it our duty and privilege to examine our conduct faithfully by those portions of holy writ, with which this treatise is beautifully adorned. It was written in the prospect of sufferings and death, and yet how serene was his soul. No cloud, no doubts or fears are seen; his legacy to us as well as to those who survived him is, 'Love one another when I am deceased.' My labours of love to you are limited to this world. 'Though there I shall rest from my labours, and be in paradise, as through grace, I comfortably believe; yet it is not there but here I must do you good.' Consider what he has advanced, and the scriptures by which every sentence is confirmed, and may his concluding and fervent prayer be answered to our souls: 'The Lord give us understanding in all things. Farewell.'

Geo. Offor.

The Epistle to the Reader

Courteous Reader,

Having formerly writ some small matter touching the doctrine of faith, as justification by grace through the faith of Christ's blood, &c., I do here, as the second to that doctrine, present thee with a few lines touching good works, that I might, as at first I showed thee the good and glory of the one, so now show thee the beauty and excellency of the other: for though we are justified freely by grace through Christ before God (Rom 3:24, &c.); yet we are justified before men by our works (James 2:18): nay, a life of holiness flowing from faith in us that are saved by grace, it doth justify that grace before the world, that justifies us before God (2 Cor 6:1,3; 9:12,13; 1 Peter 2:11,12).

I have not here only in general treated of this doctrine of good works, but particularly, after some discourse about works flowing from faith, and what makes it truly and gospelly good, I discourse of them as we stand under our several relations in this world among men.

As, The duty of the master of a family: Of the husband to his wife; and of hers to him: Of the duty of parents to their children; and of children to their parents: Of masters also to their servants; and of the servant again to his master: with a brief touch upon good neighbourhood; and a discovery of covetousness, pride, and uncleanness, which are great obstructions to a truly gospel conversation.

I know there are many that have treated of good works in large and learned discourses; but I doubt all have not so gospelized their discourses as becomes them, and as the doctrine of the grace of God calleth for. However, I thought it my duty to add this discourse to all that are past; and that for these reasons.

1. To take away those aspersions that the adversaries cast upon our doctrineas also in the days of Paulthat because we preach justification without works of the law; therefore they pretend we plead for looseness of life: 'whose damnation is just' (Rom 3:8).

2. Because, though there be much discourse about works in general, yet a particular discourse of them, as before is touched, is too much neglected; and by this means every one too much left at uncertainties (as from them) of their several works under their particular relations; which I think is one reason of that disorder in families and places where God's people live; to their shame, and the dishonour of God.

3. Because these few books that do particularly treat thus of good works, are, I think, now so scarce, or so big, that but few have them, and few buy them, if they may be had, especially our new converts, for whose sakes principally this short discourse is intended; and indeed, this is one reason of my brevity, that the price might neither be burdensome, nor the reading long and tedious. Multitude of words drown the memory; and an exhortation in few words may yet be so full, that the reader may find that in one side of a sheet, which some are forced to hunt for in a whole book. The Lord teach us this wisdom.

4. I have written this book, to show that I bear a fellow-testimony and witness, with all that know God, of the operation that grace hath, and will have, in the heart that hath savingly received it.

Lastly, I have thus written, because it is amiable and pleasant to God, when Christians keep their rank, relation, and station, doing all as becometh their quality and calling. When Christians stand every one in their places, and do the work of their relations, 2 then they are like the flowers in the garden, that stand and grow where the gardener hath planted them, and then they shall both honour the garden in which they are planted, and the gardener that hath so disposed of them. From the hyssop in the wall, to the cedar in Lebanon, their fruit is their glory. 3 And seeing the stock into which we are planted, is the fruitfullest stock, the sap conveyed thereout the fruitfullest sap, and the dresser of our souls the wisest husbandman, (John 15:1) how contrary to nature, to example, and expectation, should we be, if we should not be rich in good works!

Wherefore take heed of being painted fire, wherein is no warmth; and painted flowers, which retain no smell; and of being painted trees, whereon is no fruit. 'Whoso boasteth himself of a false gift, is like clouds and wind without rain' (Prov 25:14). Farewell.

The Lord be with thy spirit, that thou mayest profit for time to come.

J. BUNYAN.
Christian Behavior

'THAT BEING JUSTIFIED BY HIS GRACE, WE SHOULD BE MADE HEIRS ACCORDING TO THE HOPE OF ETERNAL LIFE. THIS IS A FAITHFUL SAYING, AND THESE THINGS I WILL THAT THOU AFFIRM CONSTANTLY, THAT THEY WHICH HAVE BELIEVED IN GOD MIGHT BE CAREFUL TO MAINTAIN GOOD WORKS. THESE THINGS ARE GOOD AND PROFITABLE UNTO MEN.'TITUS 3:7,8.

I shall not at this time discourse of every particular at large included in these words; but shall briefly fall upon those things that I judge most necessary for the people of God. Neither shall I need to make any great preamble to the words for their explication; they themselves being plain, and without that ambiguity that calleth for such a thing; the general scope being this, THAT THEY WHICH HAVE BELIEVED IN GOD SHOULD BE CAREFUL TO MAINTAIN GOOD WORKS.

But yet, to prosecute what I intend, with what clearness I may, I shall in a word or two make way for what is to be the main of this book. 'This is a faithful saying.' This; Which? Why, that which goeth before, namely, 'That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly.'

Why so?

Why, 'That they which have believed in God, might be careful to maintain good works.' The meaning is, that the way to provoke others to good works, is constantlyin the evidence and demonstration of the spiritto show them the certainty of their [these believers] being by grace made heirs of eternal life.

From this scripture, therefore, I do gather these things observable.

FIRST, That good works do flow from faith. Yea,

SECOND, That every one that believeth should be careful that their works be good.

THIRD, That every believer should not only be careful that their works be good, and for the present do them, but should also be careful to maintain them; that is, they should carefully study to keep in a constant course of good works.

FOURTH, and lastly, That the best way to provoke both ourselves and others to this work, it is to be often affirming to others the doctrine of justification by grace, and to believe it ourselves: 'This is a faithful saying, and these things I will,' saith Paul, 'that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works.'

FIRST. I begin with the first. That good works do flow from faith.
This is evident divers ways.

First, From the impossibility of their flowing from any other thing; they must either flow from faith, or not at all: 'For whatsoever is not of faith, is sin' (Rom 14:23). And again, 'Without faith it is impossible to please him' (Heb 11:6). Every man by nature, before faith, is an evil and a corrupt tree; and a corrupt tree cannot bring forth good fruit: 'Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?' (Matt 7:16,17). Now a man is made good by faith, and by that bringeth forth the fruits that are acceptable to God (Heb 11:4; Col 1:4-6).

Wherefore sinners, before faith, are compared to the wilderness, whose fruits are briars and thorns; and whose hearts are the habitation of dragons; that is, of devils 4 (Isa 35:6,7; Heb 6:7,8).

And hence again it is, that they are said to be Godless, Christless, Spiritless, faithless, hopeless; without the covenant of grace, without strength; enemies in their minds by wicked works, and possessed by the spirit of wickedness, as a castle by a conqueror (Eph 2:12; Jude 19; 2 Thess 3:2; Col 1:21; Luke 11:21).

Now, these things being thus, it is impossible that all the men under heaven, that are unconverted, should be able to bring forth one work rightly good; even as impossible, as for all the briars and thorns under heaven to bring forth one cluster of grapes, or one bunch of figs; for indeed they want the qualification. A thorn bringeth not forth figs, because it wanteth the nature of the fig-tree; and so doth the bramble the nature of the vine. Good works must come from a good heart. Now, this the unbeliever wanteth, because he wanteth faith; for it is that which purifieth the heart (Luke 6:45; Acts 15:9). Good works must come from love to the Lord Jesus; but this the unbeliever wanteth also, because he wanteth faith: For faith 'worketh by love,' and by that means doth good (Gal 5:6).

And hence again it is, that though the carnal man doth never so much which he calleth good, yet it is rejected, slighted, and turned as dirt in his face again; his prayers are abominable (Prov 15:8), his ploughing is sin (Prov 21:4), and all his righteousness as menstruous rags (Isa 64:6).

Thus you see that without faith there are no good works.

Now then, to show you that they flow from faith: and that, For that FAITH is a principle of life, by which a Christian lives (Gal 2:19,20), a principle of motion, by which it walks towards heaven in the way of holiness (Rom 4:12; 2 Cor 5:7). It is also a principle of strength, by which the soul opposeth its lust, the devil, and this world, and overcomes them. 'This is the victory, even our faith' (1 John 5:4,5) Faith, in the heart of a Christian, is like the salt that was thrown into the corrupt fountain, that made the naughty waters good, and the barren land fruitful (2 Kings 2:19-22). Faith, when it is wrought in the heart, is like leaven hid in the meal, (Matt 13:33) or like perfume that lighteth upon stinking leather, turning the smell of the leather into the savour of the perfume; faith being then planted in the heart, and having its natural inclination to holiness. Hence it is that there followeth an alteration of the life and conversation, and so bringeth forth fruit accordingly. 'A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good' (Luke 6:45). Which treasure, I say, is this faith (James 2:5; 1 Peter 1:7). And therefore it is that faith is called 'the faith according to godliness,' (Titus 1:1) and the 'most holy faith' (Jude 20).

Second, Good works must needs flow from faith, or no way; because that alone carrieth in it an argument sufficiently prevalent to win upon our natures, to make them comply with holiness.

Faith showeth us that God loveth us, that he forgiveth us our sins, that he accounteth us for his children, having freely justified us through the blood of his Son (Rom 3:24,25; 4; Heb 11:13; 1 Peter 1:8).

Faith receiveth the promise, embraceth it, and comforteth the soul unspeakably with it. Faith is so great an artist in arguing and reasoning with the soul, that it will bring over the hardest heart that it hath to deal with. It will bring to my remembrance at once, both my vileness against God, and his goodness towards me; it will show me, that though I deserve not to breathe in the air, yet that God will have me an heir of glory.

Now, there is no argument greater than this. This will make a man run through ten thousand difficulties, to answer God, though he never can, for the grace he hath bestowed on him.

Further, FAITH will show me how distinguishingly this love of God hath set itself upon me; it will show me, that though Esau was Jacob's brother, yet he loved Jacob (Mal 1:2). That though there were thousands more besides me that were as good as me, yet I must be the man that must be chosen.

Now this, I say, is a marvellous argument, and unspeakably prevaileth with the sinner, as saith the apostle: 'For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all; that they which live,' that is, by faith, 'should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again' (2 Cor 5:14,15). 'Love,' saith the wise man, 'is strong as death; Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it: if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned' (Song 8:6,7). Oh! when the broken, dying, condemned soul, can but see, by faith, the love of a tender-hearted Saviour, and also see what he underwent to deliver it from under that death, guilt, and hell, that now it feels and fears; which also it knoweth it hath most justly and highly deserved; 'Then bless the Lord, O my soul' (Psa 103:1,2,3); and 'What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits?' (Psa 116:1-14).

Thus is faith a prevailing argument to the sinner, whereby he is fetched off from what he was, and constrained to bend and yield to what before he neither would nor could (1 Cor 2:14; Rom 8:7).

And hence it is, that gospel obedience is called 'the obedience of faith,' as well as obedience to the faith (Rom 16:26). For it must be by the faith of Christ in my heart, that I submit to the word of faith in the Bible, otherwise all is to no profit: as saith the apostle, 'The word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it' (Heb 4:2). For faith alone can see the reality of what the gospel saith; and so I say, argue over the heart to the embracing of it.

Third, Faith is such a grace, as will represent to the soul all things in their proper colours. It doth not, as doth unbelief and ignorance, show us all things out of order; putting darkness for light, and bitter for sweet; but will set every thing in its proper place before our eyes; God and Christ shall be with it, the chiefest good, the most lovely and amiable; a heavenly life shall be of greater esteem, and more desirable, than all the treasures of Egypt! Righteousness and sanctification will be the thing after which it will most vehemently press; because it seeth not only death and damnation as the fruits of sin, but sin also in itself, distinct from the punishment belonging to it, a detestable, horrible, and odious thing (Heb 11:25-27; Phil 3:7-12; Rom 12:9).

By faith we see that this world hath no abiding in it for us, nor no satisfaction if it were otherwise (Prov 3:35; Heb 11:15,16; 13:14; 1 Cor 7:9-31). And hence it is, that the people of God have groaned to be gone from hence, into a state that is both sinless and temptationless. And hence it is again that they have run through so many trials, afflictions, and adversities, even because of that love to holiness of life that faith being in their hearts did prompt them to, by showing them the worth and durableness of that which was good, and the irksomeness and evil of all things else (2 Cor 5:1-8; Heb 11:33-39).

Fourth, Faith layeth hold of that which is able to help the soul to bring forth good works: it layeth hold of, and engageth the strength of Christ, and by that overcometh that which oppresseth; 'I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me' (Phil 4:13).

In a word, a life of holiness and godliness in this world, doth so inseparably follow a principle of faith, that it is both monstrous and ridiculous to suppose the contrary. What, shall not he that hath life have motion! (Gal 2:20). He that hath by faith received the spirit of holiness, shall not he be holy? (Gal 3:2). and he that is called to glory and virtue, shall not he add to his faith virtue? (2 Peter 1:4,5). We are by faith made good trees, and shall not we bring forth good fruit? (Luke 6:43). They that believe are created in Christ Jesus unto good works; and God hath, before the world was, ordained that we should walk in them; and shall both our second creation, and God's foreordination be made frustrate? (Eph 1:4; 2:10). Besides, the children of faith are the children of light, and of the day (1 Thess 5:5). Lights upon a hill, and candles on a candlestick, and shall not they shine? They are the salt of the earth, shall not they be seasoning? (Matt 5:13-16).

The believer is the alone man, by whom God showeth to the world the power of his grace, the operation of his people's faith, &c. The unbelievers read indeed of the power of grace; of the faith, hope, love, joy, peace, and sanctification of the heart of the Christian; but they feel nothing of that sin-killing operation that is in these things; these are to them as a story of Rome or Spain. Wherefore to show them in others, what they find not in themselves, God worketh faith, hope, love, &c., in a generation that shall serve him; and by them they shall see what they cannot find in themselves; and by this means they shall be convinced, that though sin, and the pleasures of this life, be sweet to them, yet there is a people otherwise minded; even such a people, that do indeed see the glory of that which others read of, and from that sight take pleasure in those things which they are most averse unto. To this, I say, are Christians called; herein is God glorified; hereby are sinners convinced; and by this the world condemned (1 Thess 4:7; 1 Peter 2:12; 3:1; Heb 11:7).

Object. But if faith doth so naturally cause good works, what then is the reason that God's people find it so hard a matter to be fruitful in good works?

Answer

1. God's people are fruitful in good works according to the proportion of their faith; if they be slender in good works, it is because they are weak in faith. Little faith is like small candles, or weak fire, which though they shine and have heat; yet but dim shining and small heat, when compared with bigger candles and greater fire. The reason why Sardis had some in it whose works were not perfect before God, it was, because they did not hold fast by faith the word that they had formerly heard and received (Rev 3:1-3).

2. There may be a great mistake in our judging of our own fruitfulness. The soul that indeed is candid and right at heart, is taught by grace to judge itself, though fruitful, yet barren upon two accounts. (1.) When it compareth its life to the mercy bestowed upon it: for when a soul doth indeed consider the greatness and riches of the mercy bestowed upon it, then it must needs cry out, 'O wretched man that I am,' (Rom 7:24) for it seeth itself wonderfully to fall short of a conversation becoming one who hath received so great a benefit. (2.) It may also judge itself barren, because it falleth so far short of that it would attain unto, 'it cannot do the thing that it would' (Gal 5:17).

3. The heart of a Christian is naturally very barren; upon which, though the seed of grace, that is the fruitfullest of all seeds, be sown, yet the heart is naturally subject to bring forth weeds (Mat 15:19). Now, to have a good crop from such ground, doth argue the fruitfulness of the seed. Wherefore I conclude upon these three things, (1.) That the seed of faith is a very fruitful seed, in that it will be fruitful in so barren a soil. (2.) That faith is not beholden to the heart, but the heart to it, for all its fruitfulness. (3.) That therefore the way to be a more fruitful Christian, it is to be stronger in believing.

Second

Now for the second thing, to wit, That every one that believeth should be careful that their works be good. This followeth from what went just before; to wit, That the heart of a Christian is a heart subject to bring forth weeds.

There is flesh as well as spirit in the best of saints: and as the spirit of grace will be always putting forth something that is good, so the flesh will be putting forth continually that which is evil. 'For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh' (Gal 5:17).

Now this considered, is the cause why you find so often in the Scriptures so many items and cautions to the Christians to look to their lives and conversations. As, 'Keep thy heart with all diligence' (Prov 4:23). 'Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong' (1 Cor 16:13). 'Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting' (Gal 6:7,8).

All works are not good that seem to be so. It is one thing for a man's ways to be right in his own eye, and another for them to be right in God's. Often 'that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God' (Prov 30:12; Luke 16:15).

Seeing corruption is not yet out of our natures, there is a proneness in us to build [even] upon the right foundation, wood, hay, and stubble, instead of gold and silver, and precious stones (1 Cor 3:11-15). How was both David the king, Nathan the prophet, and Uzza the priest, deceived, touching good works! (1 Chron 17:1-4; 13:9-11). Peter also, in both his defending his Master in the garden, and in dissuading of him from his sufferings, though both out of love and affection to his Master, was deceived touching good works. (Matt 16:22,23; John 18:10,11). Many have miscarried both as to doctrine, worship, and the prosecution of each.

First, For doctrine. Christ tells the Jews, that they taught for the doctrines of God the doctrines and traditions of men (Matt 15:9; Mark 7:7). As also, saith the apostle, They teach 'things they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake' (Titus 1:11).

Second, Also touching worsphip, we find how frequently men have mistaken, both for time, place, and matter, with which they worshipped.

1. For time. It hath been that which man hath devised, not which God hath commanded (1 Kings 12:32). They 'change the ordinance,' saith Isaiah, 24:5. They change God's 'judgments into wickedness,' saith Ezekiel 5:6.

2. For place. When they should have worshipped at Jerusalem, they worshipped at Bethel, at Gilgal and Dan, in gardens, under poplars and elms. (1 Kings 12:26-30; Hosea 4:13-15; Isa 65:2-5).

3. For the matter with which they worshipped. Instead of bringing according to the commandment, they brought the lame, the torn, and the sick; they would sanctify themselves in gardens, with swine's flesh and mice, when they should have done it at Jerusalem, with bullocks and lambs (Isa 66:17).

Third, Again, touching men's prosecuting their zeal for their worship, &c., that they do think right; how hot hath it been, though with no reason at all? Nebuchadnezzar will have his fiery furnace, and Darius his lions' den for Nonconformists (Dan 3:6; 6:7, &c.) Again, they have persecuted men even to strange cities; have laid traps and snares in every corner, to entrap and to entangle their words; and if they could at any time but kill the persons that dissented from them, they would think they did God good service (Acts 26:11; Luke 11:53,54; John 19:1,2). But what need we look so far from home, were it not that I would seal my sayings with truth. We need look no farther to affirm this position, than to the Papists and their companions. How many have they in all ages hanged, burned, starved, drowned, racked, dismembered, and murdered, both openly and in secret? and all under a pretence of God, his worship, and good works. 5 Thus you see how wise men and fools, saints and sinners, Christians and heathens, have erred in the business of good works; wherefore every one should be careful to see that their works BE good.

Now, then, to prevent, if God will, miscarriage in this matter, I shall propound unto you what it is for a work to be rightly good. First, A good work must have the word for its authority. Second, It must, as afore was said, flow from faith. Third, It must be both rightly timed and rightly placed. Fourth, It must be done willingly, cheerfully, &c.

First, It must have the word for its authority. Zeal without knowledge is like a mettled horse without eyes, or like a sword in a madman's hand; and there is no knowledge where there is not the word: for if they reject the word of the Lord, and act not by that, 'what wisdom is in them?' saith the prophet (Jer 8:9; Isa 8:20). Wherefore see thou have the word for what thou dost.

Second, As there must be the word for the authorising of what thou dost, so there must be faith, from which it must flow, as I showed you before: 'for whatsoever is not of faith is sin;' and 'without faith it is impossible to please God.' Now, I say, without the word there is no faith, (Rom 10:17), as without faith there is no good, let men's pretences be what they will.

Third, As it must have these two aforenamed, so also it must have, 1. Right time; and, 2. Right place.

1. It must be rightly timed. Every work is not to be done at the same time; every time not being convenient for such a work; There is a time for all things, and every thing is beautiful in its time (Eccl 3:11). There is a time to pray, a time to hear, a time to read, a time to confer, a time to meditate, a time to do, and a time to suffer. Now, to be hearing when we should be preaching and doing, that is, yielding active obedience to that under which we ought to suffer, is not good. Christ was very wary, that both his doings and sufferings were rightly timed (John 2:3,4; 13:1,2). And herein we ought to follow his steps. To be at plough in the field, when I should be hearing the word, is not good; and to be talking abroad, when I should be instructing my family at home, is as bad: 'Whoso keepeth the commandment, shall feel no evil thing: 'and a wise man's heart discerneth both time and judgment' (Eccl 8:5). Good things mistimed, are fruitless, unprofitable, and vain.

2. As things must have their right time, so they must be rightly placed; for the misplacing of any work is as bad as the mistiming of it. When I say, things, if good, must be rightly placed, I mean, we should not give to any work more than the word of God alloweth it, neither should we give it less. Mint, anise, and cummin, are not so weighty matters as faith and the love of God; as in (Matt 23:23). For a pastor to be exercising the office of a deacon, instead of the office of a pastor, it is misplacing of works (Acts 6:2). For Martha to be making outward provision for Christ, when she should have sat at his feet to hear his word, was the misplacing a work; and for her sister to have done it at her requestthough the thing in itself was goodhad been her sin also (Luke 10:39-42). Now, to prevent the misplacing of good works,

(1.) They misplace them that set them in the room of Christ (Rom 10: 1-3).

(2.) They also misplace them that make them copartners with him (Rom 9:31,32; Acts 15:1). This is setting up our post by God's posts, and man's righteousness by the righteousness of Christ (Eze 43:7,8). These are said to be teachers of the law, not knowing what they say, nor whereof they affirm (1 Tim 1:7).

(3.) They also misplace works, who ascribe to a work of less moment that honour that belongeth to a work more noble. And such are (a) Those who count the ceremonial part of an ordinance as good as the doctrine and signification of it. 6 (b) Such who account the dictates and impulses of a mere natural conscience, as good, as high, and divine, as the leadings and movings of the Spirit of Christ. (c) Those also who count it enough to do something of what God hath commanded, and that something, possibly the least, instead of all, and the things more necessary and weighty. (d) They also much misplace them, who count things indifferent as high as those that are absolutely necessary in the worship of God. (e) But the grosser, who place men's traditions above them. (f) And they greatest of all, who put bitter for sweet, and darkness for light. All these things we must shun and avoid, as things absolutely obstructive to good works.

Wherefore touching good works; obedience is better than sacrifice; that is, to do things according to the word of God, is better than to do them according to my fancy and conceit (1 Sam 15:22). 'Wherefore, let all things be done decently and in order' (1 Cor 14:40).

Fourth, Again, as good works should be ordered and qualified, as before is touched, so they should be done from the heart, willingly, cheerfully, with simplicity and charity, according to what a man hath (1 John 5:3; 2 Cor 9:7; Rom 12:8; Col 3:12; 1 Cor 10:24; 2 Cor 8:12).

Farther, there are three things that a man should have in his eye in every work he doth. 1. The honour of God (1 Cor 6:20). 2. The edification of his neighbour (1 Cor 14:26). 3. The expediency or inexpediency of what I am to do (1 Cor 6:12). And always observe it, that the honour of God is wrapped up in the edification of thy neighbour; and the edification of thy neighbour in the expediency of what thou dost.

Again, if thou wouldst walk to the edification of thy neighbour, and so to God's honour, in the midst of thy observers, beware,

1st. That thou in thy words and carriages dost so demean thyself, that Christ in his precious benefits may be with clearness spoken forth by thee; and take heed, that thou dost not enter into doubtful points with them that are weak (Rom 15:1). But deal chiefly, lovingly, and wisely, with their consciences about those matters that tend to their establishment in the faith of their justification, and deliverance from death and hell. 'Comfort the feeble-minded,' confirm the weak (1 Thess 5:14).

2ndly. If thou be stronger than thy brother, take heed that thou do not that before him, that may offend his weak conscience; I mean, things that in themselves may be lawful. All that is lawful is not expedient; all that is lawful edifieth not (1 Cor 6:12). Wherefore here is thy wisdom and love, that thou in some things deny thyself for thy brother's sake. 'I will eat no flesh while the world standeth,' saith Paul, 'lest I make my brother to offend' (1 Cor 8:13). Wherefore have this faith to thyself before God (Rom 14:22). But if thou walk otherwise, know, thou walkest not charitably, and so not to edification, and so not to Christ's honour, but dost sin against Christ, and wound thy weak brother, for whom Christ died (Rom 14:15; 1 Cor 8:12). But I say, all this while keep thy eye upon the word; take heed of going contrary to that under any pretence whatever; for without the word, there is nothing to God's glory, nor thy brother's edification. Wherefore, walk 'wisely in a perfect way' (Psa 101:2, 3).

Having thus, in few words, showed you what are works rightly good, I beseech you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, that you put yourselves into a conscientious performance of them, that you may, while you live here, be vessels of honour, and fit for the master's use, and prepared to every good work (1 Tim 6:18). Study to approve things that are excellent, 'that you may be sincere, and without offence, until the day of Christ' (Phil 1:10). Covet communion with God: 'covet earnestly the best gifts' (1 Cor 12:31). Ah! we that are redeemed from among men (Rev 14:4), and that rejoice in the hope of the glory of God (Rom 5:2), we that look, I say, for the blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ (Titus 2:13), 'what manner of persons ought we to be in all holy conversation and godliness' (2 Peter 3:11).

To conclude, for your farther edification, take a plain rehearsal of your several general duties and works, to which God engageth you in his word, according to your places, callings, and relations in this world;

Duties of the Master of a Family.

If thou have under thee a family, then thou art to consider the several relations thou standest under; and art to know, that thou in each of them hast a work to do for God, and that he expecteth thy faithful deportment under every one of them. As, in general;

Duty to the Family in General.

He that is the master of a family, he hath, as under that relation, a work to do for God; to wit, the right governing of his own family. And his work is twofold. First, Touching the spiritual state thereof. Second, Touching the outward state thereof.

First, As touching the spiritual state of his family; he ought to be very diligent and circumspect, doing his utmost endeavour both to increase faith where it is begun, and to begin it where it is not. Wherefore, to this end, he ought diligently and frequently to lay before his household such things of God, out of his word, as are suitable for each particular. And let no man question his rule in the word of God for such a practice; for if the thing itself were but of good report, and a thing tending to civil honesty, it is within the compass and bounds even of nature itself, and ought to be done; much more things of a higher nature; besides, the apostle exhorts us to 'Whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, pure, lovely, and of good report, to think of them,' that is, to be mindful to do them (Phil 4:8). But to be conversant in this godly exercise in our family, is very worthy of praise, and doth much become all Christians. This is one of the things for which God so highly commended his servant Abraham, and that with which his heart was so much affected. I know Abraham, saith God, 'I know him' to be a good man in very deed, for 'he will command his children, and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord' (Gen 18:19). This was a thing also which good Joshua designed should be his practice as long as he had a breathing time in this world. 'As for me,' saith he, I 'and my household, we will serve the Lord' (Josh 24:15).

Further, we find also in the New Testament, that they are looked upon as Christians of an inferior rank that have not a due regard to this duty; yea, so inferior as not fit to be chosen to any office in the church of God. A [bishop or] pastor must be one that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity; For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God? 'The deacon' also, saith he, must 'be the husband of one wife, ruling their children, and their own house well' (1 Tim 3). Mark a little, the apostle seems to lay down thus much, that a man that governs his family well, hath one qualification belonging to a pastor or deacon in the house of God, for he that knoweth not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God? which thing considered, it giveth us light into the work of the master of a family, touching the governing of his house.

1. A pastor must be sound and uncorrupt in his doctrine; and indeed so must the master of a family (Titus 1:9; Eph 6:4).

2. A pastor should be apt to teach, to reprove, and to exhort; and so should the master of a family (1 Tim 3:2; Deut 6:7).

3. A pastor must himself be exemplary in faith and holiness; and so also should the master of a family (1 Tim 3:2-4; 4:12). 'I,' saith David, 'will behave myself in a perfect way; I will walk in,' or before, 'my house with a perfect heart' (Psa 101:2).

4. The pastor is for getting the church together; and when they are so come together, then to pray among them, and to preach unto them. This is also commendable in Christian masters of families.

Object.

But my family is ungodly and unruly, touching all that is good.
What shall I do?

Answer.

1. Though this be true, yet thou must rule them, and not they thee! Thou are set over them of God, and thou art to use the authority which God hath given thee, both to rebuke their vice, and to show them the evil of their rebelling against the Lord. This did Eli, though not enough; and thus did David (1 Sam 2:24, 25; 1 Chron 28:9). Also, thou must tell them how sad thy state was when thou wast in their condition, and so labour to recover them out of the snare of the devil (Mark 5:19).

2. Thou oughtest also to labour to draw them forth to God's public worship, if peradventure God may convert their souls. Saith Jacob to his household, and to all that were about him, 'Let us arise and go up to Bethel; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress' (Gen 35:3). Hannah would carry Samuel to Shiloh, that he might abide with God for ever (1 Sam 1:22). Indeed a soul rightly touched, will labour to draw, not only their families, but a whole city after Jesus Christ (John 4:28-30).

3. If they are obstinate, and will not go forth with thee, then do thou get godly and sound men to thy house, and there let the word of God be preached, when thou hast, as Cornelius, gathered thy family and friends together (Acts 10). You know that the jailor, Lydia, Crispus, Gaius, Stephanus, and others, had not only themselves, but their families, made gracious by the word preached, and that some of them, if not all, by the word preached in their houses (Acts 16:14-34; 18:7, 8; 1 Cor 1:16). And this, for ought I know, might be one reason among many, why the apostles taught in their day, not only publicly, but from house to house; I say, that they might, if possible, bring in those in some family, which yet remained unconverted, and in their sins (Acts 10:24; 20:20, 21). For some, you know how usual it was in the day of Christ, to invite him to their houses, if they had any afflicted, that either would not or could not come unto him (Luke 7:2, 3; 8:41). If this be the way with those that have outward diseases in their families, how much more then, where there are souls that have need of Christ, to save them from death and eternal damnation!

4. Take heed that thou do not neglect family duties among them thyself; as, reading the word and prayer; if thou hast one in thy family that is gracious, take encouragement; nay, if thou art alone, yet know that thou hast both liberty to go to God through Christ, and also art at that time in a capacity of having the universal church join with thee for the whole number of those that shall be saved.

5. Take heed that thou suffer not any ungodly, profane, or heretical books, or discourse in thy house. 'Evil communications corrupt good manners' (1 Cor 15:33). I mean such profane or heretical books, &c., as either tend to provoke to looseness of life, or such as do oppose the fundamentals of the gospel. I know that Christians must be allowed their liberty as to things indifferent; but for those things that strike either at faith or holiness, they ought to be abandoned by all Christians, and especially by the pastors of churches, and masters of families; which practice was figured out by Jacob's commanding his house, and all that was with him, to put away the strange gods from among them, and to change their garments (Gen 35:2). All those in the Acts set a good example for this, who took their curious books and burned them before all men, though they were worth fifty thousand pieces of silver (Acts 19:18, 19). The neglect of this fourth particular hath occasioned ruin in many families, both among children and servants. It is easier for vain talkers, and their deceivable works, to subvert whole households, than many are aware of (Titus 1:10, 11). Thus much touching the spiritual state of thy household. And now to its outward.

Second, Touching the outward state of thy family, thou art to consider these three things.

1. That it lieth upon thee to care for them that they have a convenient livelihood. 'If any man provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel' (1 Tim 5:8). But mark, when the Word saith, thou art to provide for thy house, it giveth thee no license to distracting carefulness; neither doth it allow thee to strive to grasp the world in thy heart, or coffers, nor to take care for years or days to come, but so to provide for them, that they may have food and raiment; and if either they or thou be not content with that, you launch out beyond the rule of God (1 Tim 6:8; Matt 6:34). This is to labour, that you may have wherewith 'to maintain good works for necessary uses' (Titus 3:14). And never object, that unless you reach farther, it will never do; for that is but unbelief. The word saith, 'That God feedeth ravens, careth for sparrows, and clotheth the grass;' in which three, to feed, clothe, and care for, is as much as heart can wish (Luke 12:6-28).

2. Therefore though thou shouldest provide for thy family; yet let all thy labour be mixed with moderation; 'Let your moderation be known unto all men' (Phil 4:5). Take heed of driving so hard after this world, as to hinder thyself and family from those duties towards God, which thou art by grace obliged to; as private prayer, reading the scriptures, and Christian conference. It is a base thing for men so to spend themselves and families after this world, as that they disengage their heart to God's worship. Christians, 'The time is short: it remaineth that both they that have wives be as though they had none; and they that weep, as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and they that use this world, as not abusing it; for the fashion of this world passeth away' (1 Cor 7:29-31). Many Christians live and do in this world, as if religion were but a by-business, and this world the one thing necessary; when indeed all the things of this world are but things by the by; and religion only the one thing needful (Luke 10:40-42).

3. If thou wouldst be such a master of a family as becomes thee, thou must see that there be that Christian harmony among those under thee, as becomes that house where one ruleth that feareth God.

(1.) Thou must look that thy children and servants be under subjection to the word of God; for though it is of God only to rule the heart, yet he expecteth that thou shouldest rule their outward man; which if thou dost not, he may in a short time cut off all they stock, [even every male] (1 Sam 3:11-14). See therefore that thou keep them temperate in all things, in apparel, in language, that they be not gluttons, nor drunkards; not suffering either thy children vainly to domineer over thy servants, nor they again to carry themselves foolishly towards each other.

(2.) Learn to distinguish between that injury that in thy family is done to thee, and that which is done to God; and though thou oughtest to be very zealous for the Lord, and to bear nothing that is open transgression to him; yet here will be thy wisdom, to pass by personal injuries, and to bury them in oblivion: 'Love covereth a multitude of sins.' Be not then like those that will rage and stare like madmen, when they are injured; and yet either laugh, or at least not soberly rebuke, and warn, when God is dishonoured. 'Rule thy own house well, having thy childrenwith others in thy familyin subjection, with all gravity' (1 Tim 3:4). Solomon was so excellent sometimes this way, that he made the eyes of his beholders to dazzle (2 Chron 9:3, 4). 7 But to break off from this general, and to come to particulars.

[Duty in Relation to the Wife.]

Hast thou a wife? Thou must consider how thou oughtest to behave thyself under that relation: and to do this aright, thou must consider the condition of thy wife, whether she be one that indeed believeth or not. First, If she believeth, then,

1. Thou art engaged to bless God for her: 'For her price is far above rubies, and she is the gift of God unto thee, and is for thy adorning and glory' (Prov 12:4; 31:10; 1 Cor 11:7). 'Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised' (Prov 31:30).

2. Thou oughtest to love her, under a double consideration: (1.) As she is thy flesh and thy bone: 'For no man ever yet hated his own flesh' (Eph 5:29). (2.) As she is together with thee an heir of the grace of life (1 Peter 3:7). This, I say, should engage thee to love her with Christian love; to love her, as believing you both are dearly beloved of God and the Lord Jesus Christ, and as those that must be together with him in eternal happiness. 3. Thou oughtest so to carry thyself to and before her, as doth Christ to and before his church; as saith the apostle: So ought men to love their wives, 'even as Christ loved the church, and gave himself for it' (Eph 5:25). When husbands behave themselves like husbands indeed, then will they be not only husbands, but such an ordinance of God to the wife, as will preach to her the carriage of Christ to his spouse. There is a sweet scent wrapped up in the relations of husbands and wives, that believe (Eph 4:32); the wife, I say, signifying the church, and the husband the head and saviour thereof, 'For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church' (Eph 5:23). and he is the Saviour of the body.

This is one of God's chief ends in instituting marriage, that Christ and his church, under a figure, might be wherever there is a couple that believe through grace. Wherefore that husband that carrieth it undiscreetly towards his wife, he doth not only behave himself contrary to the rule, but also maketh his wife lose the benefit of such an ordinance, and crosseth the mystery of his relation.

Therefore, I say, 'So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife, loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:' (Eph 5: 8, 29). Christ laid out his life for his church, covereth her infirmities, communicates to her his wisdom, protecteth her, and helpeth her in her employments in this world; and so ought men to do for their wives. Solomon and Pharaoh's daughter had the art of thus doing, as you may see in the book of Canticles. Wherefore bear with their weaknesses, help their infirmities, and honour them as the weaker vessels, and as being of a frailer constitution (1 Peter 3:7).

In a word, be such a husband to thy believing wife, that she may say, God hath not only given me a husband, but such a husband as preacheth to me every day the carriage of Christ to his church.

Second, If thy wife be unbelieving or carnal, then thou hast also a duty lying before thee, which thou art engaged to perform under a double engagement: 1. For that she lieth liable every moment to eternal damnation. 2. That she is thy wife that is in this evil case.

Oh! how little sense of the worth of souls is there in the heart of some husbands; as is manifest by their unchristian carriage to and before their wives! Now, to qualify thee for a carriage suitable,

1. Labour seriously after a sense of her miserable state, that thy bowels may yearn towards her soul.

2. Beware that she take no occasion from any unseemly carriage of thine, to proceed in evil. And here thou hast need to double thy diligence, for she lieth in thy bosom, and therefore is capable of espying the least miscarriage in thee.

3. If she behave herself unseemly and unruly, as she is subject to do, being Christless and graceless, then labour thou to overcome her evil with thy goodness, her forwardness with thy patience and meekness. It is a shame for thee, who hast another principle, to do as she.

4. Take fit opportunities to convince her. Observe her disposition, and when she is most likely to bear, then speak to her very heart.

5. When thou speakest, speak to purpose. It is no matter for many words, provided they be pertinent. Job in a few words answers his wife, and takes her off from her foolish talking: 'Thou speakest,' saith he, 'as one of the foolish women. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?' (Job 2:10).

6. Let all be done without rancour, or the least appearance of anger: 'In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves, ifperadventure they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will' (2 Tim 2:25, 26). 'And how knowest thou, O man, whether thou shalt save thy wife' (1 Cor 7:16).

DUTY OF PARENTS TO CHILDREN If thou are a parent, a father, or a mother, then thou art to consider thy calling under this relation.

Thy children have souls, and they must be begotten of God as well as of thee, or they perish. And know also, that unless thou be very circumspect in thy behavior to and before them, they may perish through thee: the thoughts of which should provoke thee, both to instruct, and also to correct them.

First, To instruct them as the scripture saith, and to 'bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord'; and to do this diligently, 'when thou sittest in thine housewhen thou liest down, and when thou risest up' (Eph 6:4; Deu 6:7).

Now to do this to purpose:

1. Do it in terms and words easy to be understood: affect not high expressions, they will drown your children. Thus God spake to his children (Hosea 12:10), and Paul to his (1 Cor 3:2).

2. Take heed of filling their heads with whimsies, and unprofitable notions, for this will sooner learn them to be malapert and proud, than sober and humble. Open therefore to them the state of man by nature; discourse with them of sin, of death, and hell; of a crucified Saviour, and the promise of life through faith: 'Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it' (Prov 22:6).

3. There must be much gentleness and patience in all thy instructions, 'lest they be discouraged' (Col. 3:21). And,

4. Labour to convince them by a conversation answerable, that the things of which thou instructest them are not fables, but realities; yea, and realities so far above what can be here enjoyed, that all things, were they a thousand times better than they are, are not worthy to be compared with the glory and worthiness of these things.8

Isaac was so holy before his children, that when Jacob remembered God, he remembered that he was 'the Fear of his father Isaac' (Gen 31:53). Ah! when children can think of their parents, and bless God for that instruction and good they have received from them, this is not only profitable for children, but honourable, and comfortable to parents: 'The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him' (Prov 23:24, 25). Second, The duty of correction.

1. See if fair words will win them from evil. This is God's way with his children (Jer 25:4, 5).

2. Let those words you speak to them in your reproof, be both sober, few, and pertinent, adding always some suitable sentence of the scripture therewith; as, if they lie, then such as (Rev 21:8, 27). If they refuse to hear the word, such as (2 Chron 25:14-16).

3. Look to them, that they be not companions with those that are rude and ungodly; showing with soberness a continual dislike of their naughtiness; often crying out to them, as God did of old unto his, 'Oh, do not this abominable thing that I hate' (Jer 44:4).

4. Let all this be mixed with such love, pity, and compunction of spirit, that if possible they may be convinced you dislike not their persons, but their sins. This is God's way (Psa 99:8).

5. Be often endeavouring to fasten on their consciences the day of their death, and judgment to come. Thus also God deals with his (Deu 32:29).

6. If thou art driven to the rod, then strike advisedly in cool blood, and soberly show them, (1.) their fault; (2.) how much it is against thy heart thus to deal with them; (3.) and that what thou dost, thou dost in conscience to God, and love to their souls; (4.) and tell them, that if fair means would have done, none of this severity should have been. This, I have proved it, will be a means to afflict their hearts as well as their bodies; and it being the way that God deals with his, it is the most likely to accomplish its end.

7. Follow all this with prayer to God for them, and leave the issue to him: 'Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him' (Prov 22:15).

Lastly, Observe these cautions,

1. Take heed that the misdeeds for which thou correctest thy children be not learned them by thee. Many children learn that wickedness of their parents for which they beat and chastise them.

2. Take heed thou smile not upon them, to encourage them in small faults, lest that thy carriage to them be an encouragement to them to commit greater.

3. Take heed thou use not unsavoury and unseemly words in thy chastising of them, as railing, miscalling, and the like: this is devilish.

4. Take heed thou do not use them to many chiding words and threatenings, mixed with lightness and laughter; this will harden. Speak not much, nor often, but pertinent to them with all gravity. 9

DUTIES OF MASTERS TO SERVANTS. Masters also have a work to do as they stand related to their servants. And,

First, If possibly they can, to get them that fear God: 'He that worketh deceit,' saith David, 'shall not dwell within my house; he that telleth lies, shall not tarry in my sight' (Psa 101:7).

Second, But if none at the present but unbelievers can be got to do thy labour, then,

1. Know that it is thy duty so to behave thyself to thy servant, that thy service may not only be for thy good, but for the good of thy servant, and that both in body and soul. Wherefore deal with him, as to admonition, as with thy children; given him the same bread of God thou givest to them; and who knows, but that if thou with spiritual delicates bringest up thy servant, but he may become thy spiritual son in the end (Prov 29:21).

2. Take heed thou do not turn thy servants into slaves, by overcharging them in thy work, through thy greediness. To make men serve with rigour, is more like to Israel's enemies than Christian masters (Exo 1:14). 10

3. Take heed thou carry not thyself to thy servant as he of whom it is said, 'He is such a man of Belial, that his servants could not speak to him.' (1 Sam 25:14-17).

And the apostle bids you forbear to threaten them, because you also have a Master in heaven (Eph 6:9). As who should say, Your servants cannot be guilty of so many miscarriages against you, as you are guilty of against Christ. Wherefore do with, and to your servants, as you would have your master do with you.

4. Take heed that thou neither circumvent him at his coming in to thy service, nor at his going out. Servants, at their going into service, may be beguiled two ways.

(1.) By their masters lying unto them, saying, their work is so small and so easy, when it is indeed, if not too burdensome, yet far beyond what at first was said of it. This is beguiling of them.

(2.) The other way is, when masters greedily seek to wire-draw their servants to such wages as indeed is too little and inconsiderable for such work and labour. Both these the apostle opposeth, where he saith, 'Masters give unto your servants that which is just,' just labour, and just wages, 'knowing that ye also have a master in heaven' (Col 4:1).

As servants may be circumvented at their coming into their labour, so also they may be at their going out: which is done by masters that either change their wages, like heathenish Laban, (Gen 31:7). or by keeping it back, like those against whom God will be a swift witness (Mal 3:5).

5. Take heed that thou make not a gain of thy place, because thou art gracious, or livest conveniently for the means of grace. 11

Servants that are truly godly they care not how cheap they serve their masters, provided they may get into godly families, or where they may be convenient for the word. But now, if a master or mistress should take this opportunity to make a prey of their servants, this is abominable, this is making a gain of godliness, and merchandise of the things of God, and of the soul of thy brother (1 Tim 6:5).

I have heard some poor servants say, That in some carnal families they have had more liberty to God's things, and more fairness of dealing, than among professors. But this stinketh. And as Jacob said concerning the cruelty of his two sons, so may I say of such masters, they make religion stink before the inhabitants of the land (Gen 34:30).

In a word, learn of the Lord Jesus to carry yourselves well to your servants, that your servants also may learn something of the kindness of Christ by your deportment to them. Servants are goers as well as comers; take heed that thou give them no occasion to scandal the gospel when they are gone, for what they observed thee unrighteously to do when they were with thee. Then masters carry it rightly toward their servants, when they labour both in word and life to convince them that the things of God are the one thing necessary. That which servants are commanded to do, touching their fear, their singleness of heart, their doing what they do as to the Lord, and not to men; the master is commanded to do the same things unto them. (Eph 6:6-9).

THE DUTY OF WIVES. But passing the master of the family, I shall speak a word or two to those that are under him.

And, first, to the wife: The wife is bound by the law to her husband, so long as her husband liveth (Rom 7:2). Wherefore she also hath her work and place in the family, as well as the rest.

Now there are these things considerable in the carriage of a wife toward her husband, which she ought conscientiously to observe.

First, That she look upon him as her head and lord. 'The head of the woman is the man' (1 Cor 11:3). And so Sarah called Abraham lord (1 Peter 3:6).

Second, She should therefore be subject to him, as is fit in the Lord. The apostle saith, 'That the wife should submit herself to her husband, as to the Lord' 12 (1 Peter 3:1; Col 3:18; Eph 5:22). I told you before, that if the husband doth walk towards his wife as becomes him, he will therein be such an ordinance of God to her, besides the relation of a husband, that shall preach to her the carriage of Christ to his church. And now I say also, that the wife, if she walk with her husband as becomes her, she shall preach the obedience of the church to her husband. 'Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything' (Eph 5:24). Now for thy performing of this work, thou must first shun these evils.

1. The evil of a wandering and a gossiping spirit; this is evil in the church, and is evil also in a wife, who is the figure of a church. Christ loveth to have his spouse keep at home; that is, to be with him in the faith and practice of his things, not ranging and meddling with the things of Satan; no more should wives be given to wander and gossip abroad. You know that Proverbs 7:11 saith, 'She is loud and stubborn; her feet abide not in her house.' Wives should be about their own husbands' business at home; as the apostle saith, Let them 'be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands.' And why? Because otherwise 'the word of God will be blasphemed' (Titus 2:5).

2. Take heed of an idle, talking, or brangling tongue. This also is odious, either in maids or wives, to be like parrots, not bridling their tongue; whereas the wife should know, as I said before, that her husband is her lord, and is over her, as Christ is over the church. Do you think it is seemly for the church to parrot it against her husband? Is she not to be silent before him, and to look to his laws, rather than her own fictions? Why so, saith the apostle, ought the wife to carry it towards her husband? 'Let the woman,' saith Paul, 'learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence' (1 Tim 2:11, 12). It is an unseemly thing to see a woman so much as once in all her lifetime to offer to overtop her husband; she ought in everything to be in subjection to him, and to do all she doth, as having her warrant, licence, and authority from him. And indeed here is her glory, even to be under him, as the church is under Christ: Now 'she openeth her mouth with wisdom, and in her tongue is the law of kindness' (Prov 31:26).

3. Take heed of affecting immodest apparel, or a wanton gait; this will be evil both abroad and at home; abroad, it will not only give ill example, but also tend to tempt to lust and lasciviousness; and at home it will give an offence to a godly husband, and be cankering to ungodly children, &c. Wherefore, as saith the apostle, Let women's apparel be modest, as becometh women professing godliness, with good works, 'not with broidered hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array' (1 Tim 2:9, 10). And as it is said again, 'Whose adorning, let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel: But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands' (1 Peter 3:3-5).

But yet, do not think that by the subjection I have here mentioned, that I do intend women should be their husbands' slaves. Women are their husbands' yokefellows, their flesh and their bones; and he is not a man that hateth his own flesh, or that is bitter against it (Eph 5:29). Wherefore, let every man 'love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband' (Eph 5:33). The wife is master next her husband, and is to rule all in his absence; 13 yea, in his presence she is to guide the house, to bring up the children, provided she so do it, as the adversary have no occasion to speak reproachfully (1 Tim 5:10, 13). 'Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies. A gracious woman retaineth honour:' and guideth her affairs with discretion (Prov 31:10; 11:16; 12:4).

Object.

But my husband is an unbeliever; what shall I do?

Answer.

If so, then what I have said before lieth upon thee with an engagement so much the stronger. For, 1. Thy husband being in this condition, he will be watchful to take thy slips and infirmities, to throw them as dirt in the face of God and thy Saviour. 2. He will be apt to make the worst of every one of thy words, carriages, and gestures. 3. And all this doth tend to the possessing his heart with more hardness, prejudice, and opposition to his own salvation; wherefore, as Peter saith, 'ye wives, be in subjection to your husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they may also without the word be won by the conversation of the wives; while they behold your chaste conversation, coupled with fear' (1 Peter 3:1, 2). Thy husband's salvation or damnation lieth much in thy deportment and behaviour before him; wherefore, if there be in thee any fear of God, or love to thy husband, seek, by a carriage full of meekness, modesty, and holiness, and a humble behaviour before him, to win him to the love of his own salvation; and by thus doing, how 'knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save thy husband?' (1 Cor 7:16).

Object.

But my husband is not only an unbeliever, but one very froward, peevish, and testy, yea, so froward, &c., that I know not how to speak to him, or behave myself before him.

Answer.

Indeed there are some wives in great slavery by reason of their ungodly husbands; and as such should be pitied, and prayed for; so they should be so much the more watchful and circumspect in all their ways.

1. Therefore be thou very faithful to him in all the things of this life.

2. Bear with patience his unruly and unconverted behaviour; thou art alive, he is dead; thou art principled with grace, he with sin. Now, then, seeing grace is stronger than sin, and virtue than vice; be not overcome with his vileness, but overcome that with thy virtues (Rom 12:21). It is a shame for those that are gracious to be as lavishing in their words, &c., as those that are graceless: They that are 'slow to wrath are of great understanding; but they that are hasty of spirit, exalteth folly' (Prov 14:29).

3. Thy wisdom, therefore, if at any time thou hast a desire to speak to thy husband for his conviction, concerning anything, either good or evil, it is to observe convenient times and seasons: There is 'a time to keep silence, and a time to speak' (Eccl 3:7). Now for the right timing thy intentions,

(1.) Consider his disposition; and take him when he is farthest off of those filthy passions that are thy afflictions. Abigail would not speak a word to her churlish husband till his wine was gone from him, and he in a sober temper (1 Sam 25:36, 37). The want of this observation is the cause why so much is spoken, and so little effected. 14

(2.) Take him at those times when he hath his heart taken with thee, and when he showeth tokens of love and delight in thee. Thus did Esther with the king her husband, and prevailed (Ester 5:3, 6; 7:1, 2).

(3.) Observe when convictions seize his conscience, and then follow them with sound and grave sayings of the Scriptures. Somewhat like to this dealt Manoah's wife with her husband (Judg 13:22, 23). Yet then,

(a) Let thy words be few.

(b) And none of them savouring of a lording it over him; but speak thou still as to thy head and lord, by way of entreaty and beseeching.

(c) And that in such a spirit of sympathy, and bowels of affection after his good, that the manner of thy speech and behaviour in speaking may be to him an argument that thou speakest in love, as being sensible of his misery, and inflamed in thy soul with desire after his conversion.

(d) And follow thy words and behaviour with prayers to God for his soul.

(e) Still keeping thyself in a holy, chaste, and modest behaviour before him.

Object.

But my husband is a sot, a fool, and one that hath not wit enough to follow his outward employment in the world.

Answer.

1. Though all this be true, yet thou must know he is thy head, thy lord, and thy husband.

2. Therefore thou must take heed of desiring to usurp authority over him. He was not made for thee; that is, for thee to have dominion over him, but to be thy husband, and to rule over thee (1 Tim 2:12; 1 Cor 11:3, 8).

3. Wherefore, though in truth thou mayest have more discretion than he, yet thou oughtest to know that thou, with all that is thine, is to be used as under thy husband; even 'every thing' (Eph 5:24). Take heed therefore, that what thou dost goes not in thy name, but his; not to thy exaltation, but his; carrying all things so, by thy dexterity and prudence, that not one of thy husband's weaknesses be discovered to others by thee: 'A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband: but she that maketh ashamed, is as rottenness in his bones.' For then, as the wise man sayeth, 'she will do him good and not evil, all the days of her life' (Prov 12:4; 31:12).

4. Therefore act, and do still, as being under the power and authority of thy husband.

Now touching thy carriage to thy children and servants. Thou art a parent, and a mistress, and so thou oughtest to demean thyself. And besides, seeing the believing woman is a figure of the church, she ought, as the church, to nourish and instruct her children, and servants, as the church, that she may answer in that particular also; and truly, the wife being always at home, she hath great advantage that way; wherefore do it, and the Lord prosper your proceeding.

Duties of Children to Parents.

There lieth also a duty upon children to their parents, which they are bound both by the law of God and nature conscientiously to observe: 'Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right.' And again, 'Children, obey your parents in all things; for this is well pleasing unto the Lord' (Eph 6:1; Col 3:20).

There are these general things in which children should show forth that honour that is due to their parents from them.

First, They should always count them better than themselves. I observe a vile spirit among some children, and that is, they are apt to look over their parents, and to have slighting and scornful thoughts of them. This is worse than heathenish; such an one hath got just the heart of a dog or a beast, that will bite those that begot them, and her that brought them forth.

Object.

But my father, &c., is now poor, and I am rich, and it will be a disparagement, or at least a hinderance to me, to show that respect to him as otherwise I might.

Answer.

I tell thee thou arguest like an atheist and a beast, and standest in this full flat against the Son of God (Mark 7:9-13). Must a gift, and a little of the glory of the butterfly, make thee that thou shalt not do for, and honour to, thy father and mother? 'A wise son maketh a glad father: but a foolish man despiseth his mother' (Prov 15:20). Though thy parents be never so low, and thou thyself never so high, yet he is thy father, and she thy mother, and they must be in thy eye in great esteem: 'The eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it' (Prov 30:17).

Second, Thou oughtest to show thy honour to thy parents, by a willingness to help them with such necessaries and accommodations which they need. 'If anyhave children or nephews, let them learn to show piety 15 at home, and to requite their parents:' saith Paul, 'for that is good and acceptable before God' (1 Tim 5:4). And this rule Joseph observed to his poor father, though he himself was next the king in Egypt (Gen 47:12; 41:39-44).

But mark, let them 'requite their parents.' There are three things for which, as long as thou livest, thou wilt be a debtor to thy parents.

1. For thy being in this world. They are they from whom, immediately under God, thou didst receive it.

2. For their care to preserve thee when thou wast helpless, and couldst neither care for, nor regard thyself.

3. For the pains they have taken with thee to bring thee up. Until thou hast children of thy own, thou wilt not be sensible of the pains, watchings, fears, sorrow, and affliction, that they have gone under to bring thee up; and when thou knowest it, thou wilt not easily yield that thou has recompensed them for thy favour to thee. How often have they sustained [thee in] thy hunger, clothed thy nakedness? What care have they taken that thou mightest have wherewith to live and do well when they were dead and gone? They possibly have spared it from their own belly and back for thee, and have also impoverished themselves, that thou mightest live like a man. 16 All these things ought duly, and like a man, to be considered by thee; and care ought to be taken on thy part to requite them. The Scripture saith so, reason saith so, and there be none but dogs and beasts that deny it. It is the duty of parents to lay up for their children; and the duty of children to requite their parents.

Third, Therefore show, by all humble and son-like carriage, that thou dost to this day, with thy heart, remember the love of thy parents. Thus much for obedience to parents in general.

Again, if thy parents be godly, and thou wicked, as thou art, if thou hast not a second work or birth from God upon thee, then thou art to consider, that thou art more strongly engaged to respect and honour thy parents, not now only as a father in the flesh, but as godly parents; thy father and mother are now made of God thy teachers and instructors in the way of righteousness. Wherefore, to allude to that of Solomon, 'My son, keep thy father's commandment, and forsake not the law of thy mother; bind them continually upon thine heart, and tie them about thy neck' (Prov 6:20, 21).

Now, to provoke thee hereto, consider,

1. That this hath been the practice always of those that are and have been obedient children; yea, of Christ himself to Joseph and Mary, though he himself was God blessed for ever (Luke 2:51).

2. Thou hast also the severe judgments of God upon those that have been disobedient, to awe thee. As, (1.) Ishmael, for but mocking at one good carriage of his father and mother, was both thrust out of his father's inheritance and the kingdom of heaven, and that with God's approbation (Gen 21:9-14; Gal 4:30). (2.) Hophni and Phinehas, for refusing the good counsel of their father, provoked the great God to be their enemy: 'They hearkened not unto the voice of their father, because the Lord would slay them' (1 Sam 2:23-25). (3.) Absalom was hanged, as I may say, by God himself, for rebelling against his father (2 Sam 18:9).

Besides, little dost thou know how heart-aching a consideration it is to thy parents, when they do but suppose thou mayest be damned! How many prayers, sighs, and tears, are there wrung from their hearts upon this account? Every miscarriage of thine goeth to their heart, for fear God should take an occasion thereat to shut thee up in hardness for ever. How did Abraham groan for Ishmael? 'O,' saith he, to God, 'that Ishmael might live before thee!' (Gen 17:18). How was Isaac and Rebecca grieved for the miscarriage of Esau? (Gen 26:34, 35). And how bitterly did David mourn for his son, who died in his wickedness? (2 Sam 18:32, 33).

Lastly, And can any imagine, but that all these carriages of thy godly parents, will be to thee the increase of thy torments in hell, if thou die in thy sins notwithstanding?

Again, if thy parents, and thou also, be godly, how happy a thing is this? How shouldest thou rejoice, that the same faith should dwell both in thy parents and thee? Thy conversion, possibly, is the fruits of thy parents' groans and prayers for thy soul; and they cannot choose but rejoice; do thou rejoice with them. It is true, in the salvation of a natural son, which is mentioned in the parable: 'This my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry' (Luke 15:24). Let therefore the consideration of this, that thy parents have grace, as well as thee, engage thy heart so much the more to honour, reverence, and obey them.

Thou art better able now to consider the pains and care that thy friends have been at, both for thy body and soul; wherefore strive to requite them. Thou hast strength to answer in some measure the command: wherefore do not neglect it. It is a double sin in a gracious son not to remember the commandment, yea, the first commandment with promise (Eph 6:1, 2). Take heed of giving thy sweet parents one snappish word, or one unseemly carriage. Love them because they are thy parents, because they are godly, and because thou must be in glory with them.

Again, if thou be godly, and thy parents wicked, as often it sadly falls out; then,

1. Let thy bowels yearn towards them; it is thy parents that are going to hell!

2. As I said before to the wife, touching her unbelieving husband, so now I say to thee, Take heed of a parroting tongue: speak to them wisely, meekly, and humbly; do for them faithfully without repining; and bear, with all child-like modesty, their reproaches, their railing, and evil speaking. Watch fit opportunities to lay their condition before them. O! how happy a thing would it be, if God should use a child to beget his father to the faith! Then indeed might the father say, With the fruit of my own bowels hath God converted my soul. The Lord, if it be his will, convert our poor parents, that they, with us, may be the children of God. 17

Concerning Servants.

Servants also, they have a work to do for God, in their place and station among men.

The apostles assert masters under a threefold consideration. First, The believing master. Second, The unbelieving master. Third, The froward master.

For all which, servants are furnished with counsel and advice in the word, for the demeaning of themselves, under each of them.

But before I speak in particular to any of these, I will in general show you the duty of servants.

1. Thou art to look upon thyself as thou art; that is, as a servant, not a child, nor a wife; thou art inferior to these; wherefore count thyself under them, and be content with that station. 'For three things the earth is disquieted, and for four which it cannot bear.' One is 'a servant when he reigneth' (Prov 30:21, 22). It is out of thy place, either to talk or do, as one that reigneth.

2. Consider, that thou being a servant, what is under thy hand is not thy own but thy master's. Now, because it is not thy own thou oughtest not to dispose of it; but because it is thy master's, thou oughtest to be faithful. Thus it was with Joseph (Gen 39:8, 9). But if thou do otherwise, know that thou shalt receive of God for the wrong that thou dost; and there is with God 'no respect of persons' (Col 3:25). Wherefore,

3. Touching thy work and employment, thou art to do it as unto the Lord, and not for man; and, indeed, then servants do their business as becomes them, when they do all in obedience to the Lord, as knowing that the place in which they now are, it is the place where Christ hath put them, and in which he expecteth they should be faithful. 'Servants,' saith Paul, 'be obedient to them that are your master's,—with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart as unto Christ; not with eye-service, as men-pleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart' (Eph 6:5, 6).

Observe a little the word of God to servants. 1. Servants must be obedient; yet, 2. Not with that obedience that will serve man only. Servants must have their eye on the Lord, in the work they do for their masters. 3. That their work in this service is the will and ordinance of God. From which I conclude, that thy work in thy place and station, as thou art a servant, is as really God's ordinance, and as acceptable to him, in its kind, as is preaching, or any other work, for God; and that thou art as sure to receive a reward for thy labour, as he that hangs or is burnt for the gospel.

Wherefore, saith the apostle to servants, 'Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men, knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance; for ye serve the Lord Christ' (Col 3:23, 24). And now touching the three sorts of masters mentioned before.

First, For the believing master; saith Paul, 'They that have believing masters, let them not despise them, because they are brethren; but rather do them service, because they are faithful and beloved, and partakers, with the servants, 'of the' heavenly 'benefit' (1 Tim 6:2). Servants, if they have not a care of their hearts, will be so much in the consideration of the relation that is betwixt their masters and they, as brethren, that they will forget the relation that is between them as masters and servants. Now, though they ought to remember the one, yet let them take heed of forgetting the other. Know thy place, as a servant, while thou considerest that thy master and thee are brethren, and do thy work for him faithfully, humbly, and with meekness, because he is a master faithful and beloved, and partaker of the heavenly benefit. 'If any man teach otherwise,' saith the apostle Paul, 'and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness; he is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions, and strifes of words; whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself' (1 Tim 6:3-5).

Second, For the unbelieving masters, for of them Paul speaks in the first verse of the 6th of Timothy, 'Let as many servants,' saith he, 'as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honour, that the name of God and his doctrine be not blasphemed.' Servants living with unbelieving masters, are greatly engaged to be both watchful, faithful, and trusty. Engaged, I say, 1. From the consideration of the condition of their master; for he being unbelieving, will have an evil eye upon thee, and upon thy doings, and so much the more because thou professest. As in the case of Saul and David (1 Sam 18:8, 9 &c). 2. Thou art engaged because of the profession thou makest of the word of God; for by thy profession thou dost lay both God and his word before thy master, and he hath no other wit but to blaspheme them, if thou behave thyself unworthily. Wherefore Paul bids Titus 'exhort servants to be obedient to their own masters, and to please them well in all things, not answering again;' not giving parroting answers, or such as are cross or provoking, not purloining, but showing all good fidelity, that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things' (Titus 2:9, 10). That servant, who in an unbeliever's family doth his work before God, as God's ordinance, he shall adorn the doctrine of God, if not save his master by so doing; but if he doth otherwise, he shall both stumble the unbeliever, dishonour God, offend the faithful, and bring guilt upon his own soul.

Third, For the froward master, though I distinguish him from the unbeliever, yet it is not because he may not be such, but because every unbeliever doth not properly go under that name. Now with this froward and peevish fellow, thou art to serve as faithfully for the time thou standest bound, as with the most pleasant and rational master in the world: 'Servants,' saith Peter, 'be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward' (1 Peter 2:18). And if thy peevish master will still be froward, either out of spite to thy religion, or because he is without reason concerning thy labour thou to the utmost of thy power labouring faithfully God then reckoneth thee a sufferer for well-doing, as truly as if thou wert called upon the stage of this world before men, for the matters of thy faith. Wherefore Peter adds this encouragement to servants, to the exhortation he gave them before: 'This is thank worthy,' saith he, 'if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. For what glory is it, if when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? But if when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God' (1 Peter 2:19, 20). Wherefore be comforted concerning thy condition, with considering that God looks upon thee, as on Jacob in the family of Laban; and will right all thy wrongs, and recompense thee for thy faithful, wise, and godly behaviour, before, and in the service of thy froward master. Wherefore, be patient, I say, and abound in faithfulness in thy place and calling, till God make a way for thy escape from this place; and when thou mayest be made free, use it rather (1 Cor 7:21).

Duties of Neighbours Each to Other.

Having thus in few words showed you what is duty under your several relations, I shall now at last speak, in a word or two, touching good neighbourhood, and then draw towards a conclusion. Touching neighbourhood, there are these things to be considered and practised, if thou wilt be found in the practical part of good neighbourhood.

First, Thou must be of a good and sound conversation in thy own family, place, and station, showing to all, the power that the gospel and the things of another world hath in thy heart, 'That ye may be blameless, and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world' (Phil 2:15, 16).

Second, As persons must be of good behavior at home, that will be good neighbours, so they must be full of courtesy and charity to them that have need about them (Luke 10:36, 37). Right good neighbourhood is for men readily to communicate, as of their spirituals, so of their temporalities, as food, raiment, and help to those that have need; to be giving to the poor as thou seest them go by thee, or to inquire after their condition, and according to thy capacity to send unto them (Job 31:15-17, &c).

Third, Thou must be always humble and meek among them, as also grave and gracious; not light and frothy, but by thy words and carriage ministering 'grace to the hearers' (Eph 4:29). Thus also Job honoured God among his neighbours (Job 29:6-12).

Fourth, Thy wisdom will be, rightly to discountenance sin, and to reprove thy neighbour for the same (Lev 19:17), denying thyself in some things, for the preventing an injury to thy neighbour, that thou mayest please him for his edification (Rom 15:2).

Fifth, If thou wouldest be a good neighbour, take heed of thy tongue upon two accounts.

1. That thou with it give no offensive language to thy neighbour, to the provoking of him to anger. Bear much, put up wrongs, and say little: 'It is an honour for a man to cease from strife: but every fool will be meddling' (Prov 20: 3). And again, 'He loveth transgression that loveth strife' (Prov 17:19).

2. And as thou shouldest take heed that thou be not the original of contention and anger, so also take heed that thou be not an instrument to beget it between parties, by tale-bearing and a gossiping spirit: 'He that passeth by, and meddleth with strife belonging not to him, is like one that taketh a dog by the ears. As coals are to burning coals, and wood to fire; so is a contentious man to kindle strife' (Prov 26:17-21). I do observe two things very odious in many professors; the one is a head-strong and stiff-necked spirit, that will have its own way; and the other is, a great deal of tattling and talk about religion, and but a very little, if anything, of those Christian deeds that carry in them the cross of a Christian in the doing thereof, and profit to my neighbour.

(1.) When I say a head-strong and stiff-necked spirit, I mean, they are for pleasing themselves and their own fancies, in things of no weight, though their so doing be as the very slaughter-knife to the weak conscience of a brother or neighbour. Now this is base. A Christian, in all such things as intrench not the matters of faith and worship, should be full of self-denial, and seek to please others rather than themselves; 'Give none offence—to the Jews, nor to the 18 Greeks, nor to the church of God:—not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved' (1 Cor 10:32, 33).

(2.) And the second is as bad, to wit, when professors are great prattlers and talkers, and disputers, but do little of anything that bespeaketh love to the poor, or self-denial in outward things. Some people think religion is made up of words; a very wide mistake! Words without deeds is but a half-faced religion: 'Pure religion, and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world' (James 1:27). Again, 'If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,' which are very fine words, yet if you 'give them not those things that are needful to the body, what doth it profit?' (James 2:15, 16).

[Sins which interfere with the duties of Christian Brotherhood and
Civil Neighbourhood.]

Now then, before I go any farther, I will here take an occasion to touch a little upon those sins that are so rife in many professors in this day: and they are, covetousness, pride, and uncleanness. I would speak a word to them in this place, the rather because they are they which spoil both Christian brotherhood, and civil neighbourhood, in too great a measure.

Of Covetousness.

First, For Covetousness.

1. Covetousness; it is all one with desire; he that desires, covets, whether the thing he desires be evil or good. Wherefore that which is called coveting, in Exodus 20:17, is called desire, in Deuteronomy 5:21. As the apostle also saith, 'I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet' (Rom 7:7). That is, I had not known lust to be a sin, unless the law had forbid it. Wherefore, though lawful desires are good (1 Cor 12:31), and to be commended, yet covetousness, as commonly understood, is to be fled from, and abhorred, as of the devil.

2. Covetousness, or evil desire, it is the first mover, and giveth to every sin its call, as I may say, both to move and act; as was said before, the apostle had not known sin, except the law had said, Thou shalt not desire or covet; for where there is no desire to sin, there appears no sin.

3. Therefore covetousness carrieth in it every sinwe speak of sins against the second tableeven as a serpent carrieth her young ones in her belly. This the scripture affirms, where it saith, 'Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbour's' (Exo 20:17). Covetousness will meddle with anything.

Now, there are in my mind at present these eight notes of covetousness, which hinder good works, and a Christian coversation among men, wherever they are harboured.

(1.) When men, to whom God hath given a comfortable livelihood, are yet not content therewith. This is against the apostle, where he saith, 'Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee' (Heb 13:5).

(2.) It is covetousness in the seller, that puts him to say of his traffic, it is better than it is, that he may heighten the price of it; and covetousness in the buyer, that prompts him to say worse of a thing than he thinks in his conscience it is, and that for an abatement of a reasonable price. This is that which the apostle forbids under the name of defraud, 1 Corinthians 6:8, and that which Solomon condemns (Prov 20:14).

(3.) It is through covetousness that men think much of that which goeth beside their own mouth, though possibly it goeth to those that have more need than themselves, and also that better deserve it than they.

(4.) It argueth covetousness, when men will deprive themselves, and those under them, of the privileges of the gospel, for more of this world; and is condemned by Christ (Luke 14:18-20).

(5.) It argueth covetousness, when men that have it, can go by, or hear of the poor, and shut up their bowels and compassions from them (1 John 3:17).

(6.) Also when men are convinced it is their duty to communicate to such and such that have need, yet they defer it, and if not quite forget it, yet linger away the time, as being loth to distribute to the necessities of those in want. This is forbidden by the Holy Ghost: 'Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it.' Now, it is due from thee to the poor, by the commandment of God, if they want, and thou hast it; 'Say not unto thy neighbour, Go, and come again, and tomorrow I will give; when thou hast it by thee' (Prov 3:27, 28).

(7.) It argueth a greedy mind also, when, after men have cast in their minds what to give, they then from that will be pinching and clipping, and taking away; whereas the Holy Ghost saith, 'Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give, not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver' (2 Cor 9:7).

(8.) And lastly, It argueth a filthy greedy heart also, when a man, after he hath done any good, then in his heart to repent, and secretly wish that he had not so done, or at least, that he had not done so much: this is to be weary of well-doing; (I speak now of communicating,) and carrieth in it two evils, First, It spoileth the work done. And, secondly, It, if entertained, spoileth the heart for doing any more so. 'The vile person shall be no more called liberal, nor the churl said to be bountiful,' for 'the liberal deviseth liberal things; and by liberal things shall he stand' (Isa 32:5, 8). Now then, to dissuade all from this poisonous sin, observe, that above all sins in the New Testament, this is called idolatry (Eph 5:5; Col 3:5). And therefore God's people should be so far from being taken with it, that they should be much afraid of the naming of it one among another, lest it should, as adulterous thoughts, infect the heart, by the talking of it (Eph 5:3).

Quest.

But why is covetousness called idolatry?

Answer.

1. Because it engageth the very heart of man in it, to mind earthly things; it gets our love, which should be set on God; and sets it upon poor empty creatures; it puts our affections out of heaven, where they should be, and sets them on earth, where they should not be (Eze 33:31; Phil 3:18, 19; Col 3:1-3). Thus it changeth the object on which the heart should be set, and setteth it on that on which it should not. It makes a man forsake God, 'the fountain of living waters,' and causeth him to hew to himself 'cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water' (Jer 2:11-13). For,

2. It rejecteth the care, government, and providence of God towards us, and causeth us to make of our care and industry a god, to whom, instead of God, we fly continually, both for the keeping what we have and for getting more. This was Israel's idolatry of old, and the original of all her idolatrous practices. 'For their mother hath played the harlot,' that is, committed idolatry: 'she that conceived them hath done shamefully: for she said, I will go after my lovers, that gave me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink' (Hosea 2:5).

3. It disalloweth of God's way of disposing his creatures, and would have them ordered and disposed of otherwise than his heavenly wisdom seemeth meet; and hence ariseth all discontents about God's dealing with us. Covetousness never yet said, It is the Lord, let him do what he pleaseth; but is ever objecting, like a god, against everything that goeth against it; and it is that which, like a god, draweth away the heart and soul from the true God, and his Son Jesus Christ: 'And he went away sorrowful; for he had great possessions' (Matt 19:16-22). Now then, that which engageth the heart, that rejecteth the providence of God, and that is for ordering and disposing of things contrary to God, and for breaking with God upon these terms, is idolatry; and all these do covetousness. 'The wicked boasteth of his heart's desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the Lord abhorreth' (Psa 10:3). Now the way to remedy this disease is, to learn the lesson which Paul had got by heart; to wit, 'In whatsoever state you are, therewith to be content' (Phil 4:11).

Of Pride.

Second, I come, in the second place, to speak a word of pride, and loftiness of heart and life.

1. Pride, in general, it is that which causeth a man to think of man and his things, above what is written (1 Cor 4:6).

2. It hath its seat in the heart among these enormities, fornications, adulteries, lasciviousness, murders, deceit, &c. (Mark 7:21-23) and showeth itself in these following particulars.

(1.) When you slight this or that person, though gracious; that is, look over them, and shun them for their poverty in this world, and choose rather to have converse with others, that possibly are less gracious, because of their greatness in this world. This the apostle James writes against, James 2:1-3, under the name of partiality; 'for indeed the fruits of a puffed-up heart is to deal in this manner with Christians' (1 Cor 4:6, 7). Now this branch of pride floweth from ignorance of the vanity of the creature, and of the worth of a gracious heart; wherefore get more of the knowledge of these two, and this sprig will be nipped in the head, and you will learn to condescend to men of low degree (Rom 12:16).

(2.) It argues pride of heart, when men will not deny themselves in things that they may, for the good and profit of their neighbours. And it argueth now, that pride has got so much up into self-love and self-pleasing, that they little care who they grieve or offend, so they may have their way (Oba 12-15).

(3.) It argueth pride of heart, when sober reproofs for sin, and unbeseeming carriages, will not down with thee, but that rather thou snuffest, and givest way to thy spirit to be peevish, and to retain prejudice against those that thus reprove thee. Saith the prophet, 'Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud: for the Lord hath spoken.' That is, hear the reproofs of God for your sins, and break them off by repentance; 'but if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret for your pride,' &c. (Jer 13:15-17). So also in Hosea, 'They will not frame their doings to turn unto their God: for the spirit of whoredoms is in the midst of them, and they have not know the Lord. And the pride of Israel doth testify to his face' &c. (Hosea 5:4, 5). This argueth great senselessness of God, and a heart greatly out of frame.

(4.) It argueth pride also, when a reproof or admonition will not down as well from the poorest saint, as from the greatest doctor; and it argueth a glory in men, 1 Corinthians 3:21, and that they would, that their faith should stand in their wisdom, and not 'in the power of God;' that is, of naked truth 1 Corinthians 2:5.

(5.) It argueth pride of heart, when a man that hath this or that in his heart to do, in reference to God, but yet will slight a sober asking counsel and direction of God in this matter: 'The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God,' saith David (Psa 10:4).

(6.) It argueth pride of heart, when persons are tickled with thoughts of their own praise, that secretly lust after it; that think of themselves and others above what is written; which those do who do not acknowledge that man in his best estate is altogether vanity: but such kind of people have forgot the exhortation, 'Be not high-minded, but fear:' (Rom 11:20). And also, That there is a knowledge that puffeth up, and edifieth neither themselves nor others (1 Cor 8:1, 2). Wherefore, to such the apostle saith, Be 'not desirous of vain-glory,' but in lowliness of mind 'let each esteem others better than themselves' (Phil 2:3; Gal 5:26).

Pride also there is in outward carriage, behaviour, and gesture, which is odious for Christians to be tainted with; and this pride is discovered by mincing words, a made carriage, and an affecting the toys and baubles that Satan, and every lightheaded fool bringeth into the world. As God speaketh of the daughters of Zion, 'they walk with stretched forth necks, and wanton eyes, mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet' (Isa 3:16). A very unhandsome carriage for a people that profess godliness, and that use to come before God to confess their sins, and to bemoan themselves for what they have done. How can a sense of thy own baseness, of the vileness of thy heart, and of the holiness of God, stand with such a carriage? Dost thou see the vileness of thy heart, the fruit of sin? And art thou afflicted with that disagreement that is between God and thy heart, that layest the reins on the neck of thy lusts, and lettest them run whither they will? Be not deceived, pride ariseth from ignorance of these things (1 Tim 6:3, 4). A sense of my vileness, of what I have deserved, and of what continually in my heart opposeth God, cannot stand with a foolish, light, and wanton carriage: thou wilt then see there is other things to mind than to imitate the butterfly. Alas, all these kind of things are but a painting the devil, and a setting a carnal gloss upon a castle of his; thou art but making gay the spider: is thy heart ever the sounder for thy fine gait, they mincing words, and thy lofty looks? Nay, doth not this argue, that thy heart is a rotten, cankered, and besotted heart? Oh! that God would but let thee see a little of thy own inside, as thou hast others to behold thy outside: thou painted sepulchre, thou whited wall, will these things be found virtues in the day of God? Or, is this the way that thou takest to mortify sin? 'An high look, and a proud heart, the plowing of the wicked, is sin' (Prov 21:4). Pride is the ringleader of the seven abominations that the wise man nameth, Proverbs 6:16, 17, and is that above all that causeth to fall into the condemnation of the devil (1 Tim 3:6).

Of Adultery or Uncleanness.

Now I come in the last place to touch a word or two of adultery, and then to draw towards a conclusion. Adultery, it hath its place in the heart, among the rest of those filthinesses I mentioned before (Mark 7:21, 22) of which sin I observe two things.

1. That almost in every place where the apostle layeth down a catalogue of wickednesses, he layeth down adultery, fornication, and uncleanness in the front; as that in Mark 7:21, Romans 1:29, 1 Corinthians 6: 9, Galatians 5:19, Ephesians 5:3, 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5, Hebrews 12:16, James 2:11, 1 Peter 2:11, and 2 Peter 2:10. From this I gather that the sin of uncleanness is a very predominant and master sin, easy to overtake the sinner, as being one of the first that is ready to offer itself on all occasions to break the law of God.

2. I observe that this sin is committed unawares to many, even so soon as a man hath but looked upon a woman: 'I say unto you,' saith Christ, 'that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust,' or desire, 'after her, he hath committed adultery with her already in his heart' (Matt 5:28). This sin of uncleanness, I say, is a very taking sin; it is natural above all sins to mankind; as it is most natural, so it wants not tempting occasions, having objects for to look on in every corner: wherefore there is need of a double and treble watchfulness in the soul against it. It is better here to make a covenant with our eyes, like Job (Job 31:1) than to let them wander to God's dishonour, and our own discomfort.

There are these three things which discover a man or woman too much inclining to the uncleanness of their own hearts.

(1.) The first is a wanton eye, or an eye that doth secretly affect itself with such objects as are tickling of the heart with the thoughts of immodesty and uncleanness. Isaiah calls this a wanton eye: and Peter an eye full of adultery, that cannot cease from sin (2 Peter 2:14; Isa 3:16). This is that also which Christ calleth an evil eye, and John the lust of the flesh, and of the eyes, and doth defile those who are not very watchful over their own hearts (Mark 7:22; 1 John 2:16). This wanton eye is that which the most holy saints should take heed of, because it is apt to seize upon them also. When Paul bids Timothy beseech the young women to walk as becomes the gospel, he bids him do it with all purity (1 Tim 5:1, 2). As, who should say, Take heed that while thou instructest them to holiness, thou thyself be not corrupted with the lust of thy eye. O how many souls, in the day of God, will curse the day that ever they gave way to a wanton eye!

(2.) The second thing that discovereth one much inclining to the lusts of uncleanness, it is wanton and immodest talk; such as that brazen-faced whore in the 7th of the Proverbs had, or such as they in Peter, who allured 'through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error' (2 Peter 2:18). 'Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh,' wherefore if we be saints, let us take heed, as of our eye, so of our tongue, and let not the lust of uncleanness, or of adultery, be once named among us, 'named among us as becometh saints' (Eph 5:3). Mark, 'Let it not be once named.' This implies, that the lusts of uncleanness are devilishly taking, they will both take the heart with eyes and tongue: 'Let it not be once named among you,' &c.

(3.) Another thing that bespeaks a man or woman inclining to wantonness and uncleanness, it is an adorning themselves in light and wanton apparel. The attire of an harlot is too frequently in our day the attire of professors; a vile thing, and argueth much wantonness and vileness of affections. If those that give way to a wanton eye, wanton words, and immodest apparel, be not whores, &c., in their hearts, I know not what to say. Doth a wanton eye argue shamefacedness? Doth wanton talk argue chastity? And doth immodest apparel, with stretched-out necks, naked breasts, a made speech, and mincing gaits, &c., argue mortification of lusts? If any say, that these things may argue pride as well as carnal lusts; well, but why are they proud? Is it not to trick up the body? And why do they with pride trick up the body, if it be not to provoke both themselves and others to lusts? God knoweth their hearts without their outsides: and we know their hearts by their outsides.

My friends, I am here treating of good works, and persuading you to fly those things that are hindrances to them: wherefore bear with my plainness when I speak against sin. I would strike it through with every word, because else it will strike us through with many sorrows (1 Tim 6:9, 10). I do not treat of good works as if the doing of them would save us, for we are justified by his grace, according to the hope of eternal life; yet our sins and evil works will lay us obnoxious to the judgments both of God and man. He that walketh not uprightly, according to the truth of the gospel, is like to have his peace assaulted often, both by the devil, the law, death, and hell; yea, and is like to have God hide his face from him also, for the iniquity of his covetousness (Isa 57:17).

How can he that carrieth himself basely in the sight of men, think he yet well behaveth himself in the sight of God? And if so dim a light as is in man can justly count thee as a transgressor, how shall thy sins be hid from him whose 'eye-lids try the children of men?' (Psa 11:4).

It is true, faith without works justifies us before God (Rom 3:28; 4:5): yet that faith that is alone, will be found to leave us sinners in the sight both of God and man (James 2:18). And though thou addest nothing to that which saveth thee by what thou canst do, yet thy righteousness may profit the son of man; as also saith the text: but if thou shalt be so careless as to say, What care I for being righteous to profit others? I tell thee, that the love of God is not in thee (Job 35:8; 1 John 3:17; 1 Cor 13:1-3). Walk therefore in God's ways, and do them, for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear of all these statutes, and say, 'This great nation is a wise and understanding people' (Deu 4:6).

THIRD. Observe. Every believer should not only take heed that his works be good, and so for the present do them, but should carefully study to maintain them; that is, to keep in a continual exercise of them.

It is an easier matter to begin to do good, than it is to continue therein; and the reason is, there is not so much of a Christian's cross in the beginning of a work, as there is in a continual, hearty, conscientious practice thereof. Therefore Christians have need, as to be pressed to do good, so to continue the work. Man, by nature, is rather a hearer than a doer, Athenian like, continually listening after some new thing; seeing many things, but observing nothing (Acts 17:20; Isa 42:20). It is observable, that after Christ had divided his hearers into four parts, he condemned three of them for fruitless hearers (Luke 8:5-8). O it is hard continuing believing, continuing loving, continuing resisting all that opposeth; we are subject to be weary of well-doing (Gal 6:9). To pluck out right eyes, to cut off right hands and feet, is no pleasant thing to flesh and blood; and yet none but these shall have the promise of life; because none but these will be found to have the effectual work of God's grace in their souls (Matt 18:8, 9): 'If ye continue in my word, then are you my disciples' INDEED (Matt 24:13; John 8:31). And hence it is, that you find so many IFS in the Scripture about men's happiness; as, 'if children, then heirs;' and 'if ye continue in the faith;' and 'if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end' (Rom 8:17; Col 1:23; Heb 3:14). Not that their continuing in the way of God is the cause of the work being right; but the work being right causeth the continuance therein. As John saith in another place, 'They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, [saith he] they would, no doubt, have continued with us' (1 John 2:19). But I say, where the work of God indeed is savingly begun, even there is flesh, corruption, and the body of death to oppose it. Therefore should Christians take heed, and look that against these opposites they maintain a continual course of good works among men.

Besides, as there is that in our own bowels that opposeth goodness, so there is the tempter, the wicked one, both to animate these lusts, and to join with them in every assault against every appearance of God in our souls. And hence it is, that he is called the devil, the enemy, the destroyer, and him that seeks continually to devour us (1 Peter 5:8), I need say no more but this. He that will walk like a Christian indeed, as he shall find it is requisite that he continue in good works, so his continuing therein will be opposed; if therefore he will continue therein, he must make it his business to study how to oppose those that oppose such a life, that he may continue therein.

FOURTH. Now then to help in this, here fitly comes in the last observation, to wit, That the best way both to provoke ourselves and others to good works, it is to be often affirming to others the doctrine of justification by grace, and to believe it ourselves. 'This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God, might be careful to maintain good works' (Titus 3:8).

I told you before, that good works must flow from faith: and now I tell you, that the best way to be fruitful in them, is to be much in the exercise of the doctrine of justification by grace; and they both agree; for as faith animates to good works, so the doctrine of grace animates faith. Wherefore, the way to be rich in good works, it is to be rich in faith; and the way to be rich in faith is to be conscientiously affirming the doctrine of grace to others, and believing it ourselves.

First, To be constantly affirming it to others. Thus Paul tells Timothy, that if he put the brethren in mind of the truths of the gospel, he himself should not only be a good minister of Christ, but should be nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine (1 Tim 4:6). It is the ordinance of God, that Christians should be often asserting the things of God each to others; and that by their so doing they should edify one another (Heb 10:24, 25;1 Thess 5:11).

The doctrine of the gospel is like the dew and the small rain that distilleth upon the tender grass, wherewith it doth flourish, and is kept green (Deu 32:2). Christians are like the several flowers in a garden, that have upon each of them the dew of heaven, which being shaken with the wind, they let fall their dew at each other's roots, whereby they are jointly nourished, and become nourishers of one another. For Christians to commune savourly of God's matters one with another, it is as if they opened to each other's nostrils boxes of perfume.19 Saith Paul to the church at Rome, 'I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established; that is, that I may be comforted together with you, by the mutual faith both of you and me' (Rom 1:11, 12). Christians should be often affirming the doctrine of grace, and justification by it, one to another.

Second, As they should be thus doing, so they should live in the power of it themselves; they should by faith suck and drink in this doctrine, as the good ground receiveth the rain; which being done, forthwith there is proclaimed good works. Paul to the Colossians saith thus, 'We give thanks to God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus, and love to all the saints; for the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, which is come unto you, as it is in all the world, and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you.' But how long ago? Why, 'since the day ye heard it, [saith he,] and knew the grace of God in truth' (Col 1:3-6).

Apples and flowers are not made by the gardener; but are an effect of the planting and watering. Plant in the sinner good doctrine, and let it be watered with the word of grace; and as the effect of that, there is the fruits of holiness, and the end everlasting life (Rom 6:22).

Good doctrine is the doctrine of the gospel, which showeth to men, that God clotheth them with the righteousness of his Son freely, and maketh him with all his benefits over to them; by which free gift the sinner is made righteous before God; and because he is so, therefore there is infused a principle of grace into the heart, whereby it is both quickened, and bringing forth fruit (Rom 3:21-26; 1 Cor 1:30; 2 Cor 5:21; John 1:16).

Now then, seeing good works do flow from faith, and seeing faith is nourished by an affirming of the doctrine of the gospel, &c., take here these few considerations from the doctrine of the gospel, for the support of thy faith, that thou mayest be indeed fruitful and rich in good works.

Consider 1. The whole Bible was given for this very end, that thou shouldest both believe this doctrine, and live in the comfort and sweetness of it: 'For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope' (Rom 15:4; John 20:31).

Consider 2. That therefore every promise in the Bible is thine, to strengthen, quicken, and encourage thy heart in believing.

Consider 3. That there is nothing that thou dost, can so please God as believing; 'The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy' (Psa 147:11). They please him, because they embrace his righteousness, &c.

Consider 4. That all the withdrawings of God from thee, are not for the weakening, but for the trial of thy faith; and also, that whatever he suffers Satan, or thy own heart to do, it is not to weaken faith (Job 23:8-10; 1 Peter 1:7).

Consider 5. That believing is that which will keep in thy view the things of heaven and glory; and that at which the devil will be discouraged, sin weakened, and thy heart quickened and sweetened (Heb 11:27; James 4:7; 1 Peter 5:9; Eph 6:16; Rom 15:13).

Consider lastly, By believing, the lover of God is kept with warmth upon the heart, and that this will provoke thee continually to bless God for Christ, for grace, for faith, hope, and all these things, either in God, or thee, that doth accompany salvation (2 Cor 2:14; Psa 103:1-3).

Third, The doctrine of the forgiveness of sins received by faith, will make notable work in the heart of a sinner, to bring forth good works. But, Forasmuch as there is a body of death and sin in every one that hath the grace of God in this world; and because this body of death will be ever opposing that which is good, as the apostle saith (Rom 7:21), therefore take these few particulars further, for the suppressing that which will hinder a fruitful life.

1. Keep a continual watch over the wretchedness of thy own heart, not to be discouraged at the sight of thy vileness, but to prevent its wickedness; for that will labour either to hinder thee from doing good works, or else will hinder thee in the doing thereof; for evil is present with thee for both these purposes. Take heed then, that thou do not listen to that at any time, but deny, though with much struggling, the workings of sin to the contrary.

2. Let this be continually before thy heart, that God's eye is upon thee, and seeth every secret turning of thy heart, either to or from him: 'All things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do' (Heb 4:13).

3. If thou deny to do that good which thou oughtest, with what thy God hath given thee; then consider, that though he love thy soul, yet he can chastise; First, Thy inward man with such troubles, that thy life shall be restless and comfortless. Secondly, And can also so blow upon thy outward man, that all thou gettest shall be put in a bag with holes (Psa 89:31-33; Hag 1:6). And set the case he should licence but one thief among thy substance, or one spark of fire among thy barns, how quickly might that be spent ill, and against thy will, which thou shouldest have spent to God's glory, and with thy will; and I tell thee further, that if thou want a heart to do good when thou hast about thee, thou mayest want comfort in such things thyself from others, when thine is taken from thee. See Jude 1:6, 7.

4. Consider, that a life full of good works is the only way, on thy part, to answer the mercy of God extended to thee; God hath had mercy on thee, and hath saved thee from all thy distresses; God hath not stuck to give thee his Son, his Spirit, and the kingdom of heaven. Saith Paul, 'I beseech you therefore by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service' (Rom 12:1; Matt 18:32, 33).

5. Consider, that this is the way to convince all men, that the power of God's things hath taken hold of thy heart I speak to them that hold the head 20and say what thou wilt, if thy faith be not accompanied with a holy life, thou shalt be judged a withered branch, a wording professor, salt without savour, and as lifeless as a sounding brass, and a tinkling cymbal (John 15; Matt 13:1 Cor 13:1, 2). For, say they, show us your faith by your works, for we cannot see your hearts (James 2:18). But I say on the contrary, if thou walk as becomes thee who art saved by grace, then thou wilt witness in every man's conscience, that thou art a good tree; now thou leavest guilt on the heart of the wicked (1 Sam 24:16, 17). Now thou takest off occasion from them that desire occasion; and now thou art clear from the blood of all men (2 Cor 11:12; Acts 20:26, 31-35). This is the man also that provoketh others to good works. The ear that heareth such a man shall bless him; and the eye that seeth him shall bear witness to him. 'Surely,' saith David, 'he shall not be moved for ever: The righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance' (Heb 10:24; Job 29:11; Psa 112: 6).

6. Again, The heart that is fullest of good works, hath in it at least room for Satan's temptations. And this is the meaning of Peter, where he saith, 'Be sober, be vigilant;' that is, be busying thyself in faith and holiness, 'because, your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour' (1 Peter 5:8). 'He that walketh uprightly, walketh safely; and they that add to faith, virtue; to virtue, knowledge; to knowledge, temperance; to temperance, brotherly kindness; and to these charity; and that abounds therein, he shall neither be barren nor unfruitful; he shall never fall; but so an entrance shall be ministered to him abundantly, into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ' (2 Peter 1:5-10; Prov 10:9).

7. The man who is fullest of good works, he is fittest to live and fittest to die: 'I am now,' at any time, 'ready to be offered,' saith fruitful Paul (2 Tim 4:6). Whereas he that is barren, he is neither fit to live, nor fit to die: to die, he himself is convinced he is not fit, and to live God himself saith he is not fit; 'cut him down, why doth he cumber the ground?' (Luke 8:7).

Lastly, Consider, to provoke thee to good works, thou shalt have of God when thou comest to glory, a reward for everything thou dost for him on earth. Little do the people of God consider, how richly God will reward, what from a right principle and to a right end, is done for him here; not a bit of bread to the poor, not a draught of water to the meanest of them that belong to Christ, or the loss of a hair of your head, shall in that day go without its reward (Luke 14:13, 14; Matt 10:42).

'For our light affliction,' and so all other pieces of self-denial, 'which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory' (2 Cor 4:17). I tell thee, Christian, be but rich in good works, and thou shalt have more than salvation; thy salvation thou hast freely by grace through Christ, without works (Eph 2:8-10), but now being justified and saved, and as the fruits hereof, renewed by the Holy Ghost; after this, I say, thou shalt be rewarded for every work that proved good; 'For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have showed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister' (Heb 6:10; 1 Cor 3:14). Moses counted the reward that he was to have, for a short suffering with the people of God, of greater worth than the treasures of Egypt, the smiles of the king, or the honour of his kingdom (Heb 11:25-27). In a word, let the disappointments that do, and shall most surely befall the fruitless professors, provoke thee to look with all diligence to thy standing. For,

1. Such a one is but deceived and disappointed touching the work of grace he supposeth to be in his heart; he thinks he is a Christian, and hath grace, as faith, hope, and the like, in his soul, yet no fruits of these things manifest themselves in him; indeed his tongue is tipt with a talk and tattle of religion. Poor man, poor empty man! Faith without works is dead; thy hope shall be as the giving up of the ghost; thy gifts with which thy soul is possessed, are but such as are common to reprobates; thou art therefore disappointed; God reputes thee still but wicked, though thou comest and goest to the place of the Holy (James 2:19, 20; Job 11:20; 1 Cor 13:1-3).

2. Therefore all thy joy and comfort must needs fall short of saving comfort, and so leave thee in the suds notwithstanding; thy joy is the joy of the Pharisees (John 5:35), and thy gladness as that of Herod (Mark 6:20), and the longest time it can last, it is but a Scripture-moment (Job 20:5). Alas! in all thy gladness and content with thy religion, thou art but like the boy that plays with brass instead of gold; and with counters instead of that which will go for current coin. Thus, 'if a man think himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceiveth [or disappoints] himself' (Gal 6:3).

3. This is not all, but look thou certainly for an eternal disappointment in the day of God; for it must be; thy lamp will out at the first sound the trump of God shall make in thine ears; thou canst not hold up at the appearance of the Son of God in his glory; his very looks will be to thy profession as a strong wind is to a blinking candle, and thou shalt be left only to smoke.

Oh the alteration that will befal a foolish virgin! She thought she was happy, and that she should have received happiness with those that were right at the heart; but behold the contrary, her lamp is going out, she is now to seek for saving grace, when the time of grace is over? Her heaven she thought of, is proved a hell, and her god is proved a devil. God hath cast her out of his presence, and claps the door upon her. She pleads her profession, and the like, and she hath for her answer repulses from heaven. 'So are the paths of all that forget God; and the hypocrite's hope shall perish; whose hope shall be cut off, and whose trust shall be a spider's web. He shall lean upon his house but it shall not stand; he shall hold it fast, but it shall not endure' (Matt 25:1-10; Luke 8:25, 26; Job 8:13-15).

Take heed therefore; thy soul, heaven, and eternity, lies at stake; yea, they turn either to thee or from thee upon the hinge of thy faith; if it be right, all is thine: if wrong, then all is lost, however thy hopes and expectations are to the contrary: 'For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love. Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of unbelief. 21 For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God: but that which beareth thorns and briars is REJECTED, and is nigh unto cursing, whose end is to be burned' (Gal 5:6; Eph 5:3-6; Heb 6:7, 8).

Object. But what shall I do, who am so cold, slothful, and heartless, that I cannot find any heart to do any work for God in this world? Indeed time was when his dew rested all night upon my branches, and when I could with desire, with earnest desire, be doing and working for God; but, alas! now it is otherwise.

Answer.

If this be true, thy case is sad, thou art to be pitied; the Lord pity thee. And for thy recovery out of this condition, I would give thee no other counsel than was given to Ephesus when she had lost her first love.

1. 'Remember,' saith Christ, 'from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works,' &c. (Rev 2:5).

Mark: Thy first work is to enter into a serious considering, and remembrance from whence thou art fallen. Remember that thou hast left thy God, the stay of thy soul, and him without whom there is no stay, comfort, or strength, for thee either to do or suffer anything in this world: 'Without me,' saith he, 'ye can do nothing' (John 15:5). A sad condition; the remembrance of this, for certain, is the first step to the recovering a backsliding heart; for the right remembrance of this doth bring to mind what loss that soul hath sustained that is in this condition, how it hath lost its former visits, smiles, and consolations of God. When thy conscience was suppled with the blood of thy Saviour; when every step thou tookest was, as it were, in honey and butter; and when thy heart could meditate terror with comfort (Job 29:2-6; Isa 33:14-19). Instead of which, thou feelest darkness, hardness of heart, and the thoughts of God are terrible to thee (Psa 77:3). Now God never visits thee; or if he doth, it is but as a wayfaring man, that tarrieth but for a night (Jer 14:8, 9).

This also brings to mind how the case is altered with thee, touching thy confidence in God for thy future happiness, how uncertain thou now art of thy hopes for heaven, how much this life doth hang in doubt before thee (Deu 28:65, 66).

2. 'Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent.' These are words well put together; for a solid considering of what I have lost in my declining, will provoke in my heart a sorrow, and godly heaviness, whereby I shall be forced to bemoan my condition, and say, 'I will go and return to my first husband, for then was it better with me than now' (Hos 2:7). And believe it, the reason of God's standing off from giving the comfortable communion with himself, it is that thou mightest first see the difference between sticking close to God, and forsaking of him; and next, that thou mightest indeed acknowledge thy offence, and seek his face (Hos 5:15). He taketh no pleasure in thy forlorn condition; he had rather thou shouldest have him in thy bosom, only he will have it in his own way. 'He looketh upon men, and if any say, I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it profited me not; [then] he will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light' (Job 33:27, 28).

3. 'Remember from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works.'

As there should be a remembering and a repenting so there should be a hearty doing our first works; a believing as before, a laying hold of the things of heaven and glory, as at the first; for now is God returned to thee, as before (Zech 1:16). And though thou mayest, through the loss of thy locks, with Samson, be weak at the first, yet, in short time, thy hair will grow again; that is, thy former experience will in short space be as long, large, and strong, as in the former times. Indeed at the first thou wilt find all the wheels of thy soul rusty, and all the strings of thine heart out of tune; as also when thou first beginnest to stir, the dust and filth of thy heart will, like smoke, trouble thee from that clear beholding the grace of thy God, and his love to thy soul; but yet wait, and go on, and though thou findest thyself as unable to do anything as thou formerly couldest; yet I say, up, and be doing, and the Lord will be with thee; for he hath not despised the day of thy small things (1 Chron 22:16; Zech 4:10).

I know thou wilt be afflicted with a thousand temptations to drive thee to despair, that thy faith may be faint, &c. But against all them set thou the word of God, the promise of grace, the blood of Christ, and the examples of God's goodness to the great backsliders that are for thy encouragement recorded in the scriptures of truth; and remember, that turning to God after backsliding, is the greatest piece of service thou canst do for him, and the greatest honour thou canst bring to the blood of Christ; and know farther, that God, to show his willing reception of so unworthy a creature, saith, there shall be joy in heaven at thy conversion to him again (Luke 15:7, 10).

To Conclude.

If thou yet, notwithstanding what hath been said, dost remain a backslider:

1. Then remember that thou must die; and remember also, that when the terrors of God, of death, and a backslidden heart, meet together, there will be sad work in that soul; this is the man that hangeth tilting over the mouth of hell, while death is cutting the thread of his life.

2. Remember, that though God doth sometimes, yea, often, receive backsliders, yet it is not always so. Some draw back into perdition; for, because they have flung up God, and would none of him, he in justice flings up them and their souls for ever (Prov 1:24-28).

I have observed, that sometimes God, as it were in revenge for injury done him, doth snatch away souls in the very nick of their backsliding, as he served Lot's wife, when he turned her into a pillar of salt, even while she was looking over her shoulder to Sodom (Gen 19:26). An example that every backslider should remember with astonishment (Luke 17:32).

Thus have I, in few words, written to you, before I die, a word to provoke you to faith and holiness, because I desire that you may have the life that is laid up for all them that believe in the Lord Jesus, and love one another, when I am deceased. Though there I shall rest from my labours, and be in paradise, as through grace I comfortably believe, yet it is not there, but here, I must do you good. Wherefore, I not knowing the shortness of my life, nor the hindrance that hereafter I may have of serving my God and you, I have taken this opportunity to present these few lines unto you for your edification.

Consider what hath been said; and the Lord give you understanding in all things. Farewell.

Footnotes

1 Hermotimus of Lucian. During one of these wanderings his wife thought him dead, and his body was burnt. Whether the poor soul, thus suddenly ejected, obtained another habitation is not narrated.

2 'Of their relations,' related or belonging to themselves. Ed.

3 Also where the gardener hath set them, there they stand, and quarrel not one with another. Pilgrim, part 2. Interpreter's House, vol. 3. 186; see also vol. 2. 570. Ed.

4 'Where the great red dragon Satan had his seat.'Dr. Gill's Commentary. See also Revelation 12 Ed.

5 This manly, bold, and upright statement of truth, was published in 1674, only two years afer the author's deliverance from twelve years and a half's incarceration in a damp, miserable jail, for nonconformity! None but those whose close communion with God inspires them with the confessor's courage, can understand the spirit which dictated such language. Had all dissenters used such faithful words, the church would long ago have been emancipated from persecution in this country. Ed.

6 This is a very extensive and awful delusion. To mistake the 'outward and visible sign' for the 'inward and spiritual grace' is a very general and fatal error. Of it's sad effects all religious parties have warned their members. It has done infinite mischief to the souls of men. Ed.

7 The queen of Sheba was as much or more delighted with the order, harmony, and happiness of Solomon's household than she was with all his splendour and magnificence. It is to this Bunyan refers in this quotation. Ed.

8 'Though the words of the wise—are as nails fastened by the master of assemblies (Eccl. 12:11) yet sure their examples are the hammer to drive them in to take the deeper hold. A father that whipt his son for swearing, and swore himself while he whipt him, did more harm by his example than good by his correction.'Fuller's Holy State, p. 11. Ed.

9 How exceedingly admirable are all these scriptural directions, warnings, and cautions. Happy are those parents and their children where such wisdom is manifested in that painful duty of administering counsel and correction. Ed. 10 One of the Saxon laws was, that if a serf or villain work on Sunday by his lord's command, he shall be a free man. Spelman's Concilia, An. 692. Ed.

11 The rust of money in the rich man's purse, unjustly detained from the labourer, will poison and infect his whole estate. Fuller's Holy State, p. 16. Ed.

12 The apostle Peter, in his solemn injunctions to married persons, commences with the wife. Fuller observes upon this, 'And sure it was fitting that women should first have their lesson given them, because it is harder to be learned, and therefore they need have the more time to con it.' Holy State, p. 1. Ed.

13 'In her husband's absence she is wife and deputy husband, which makes her double the files of her diligence. At his return he finds all things so well, that he wonders to see himself at home when he was abroad.'Fuller's Holy State, p. 2. Ed.

14 'She never crosseth her husband in the spring-tide of his anger, but stays till it be ebbing water.'Fuller's Maxims. Ed.

15 Bunyan's words are 'to show pity,' probably taken from the word 'goodness' in the margin of the Bible; but lest it might be a typographical error, the usual rendering is given in this quotation. Ed.

16 'What is the child but a piece of the parents wrapped up in another skin.'Flavel.
On seeing a Mother with her Infant asleep in her Arms.
'Thine is the morn of life,
All laughing, unconscious of the evening with her anxious cares,
Thy mother filled with the purest happiness and bliss
Which an indulgent Heaven bestows upon a lower world,
Watches and protects her dearest life, now sleeping in her arms.'
German Poem. Ed.

17 Bunyan's silence, in all his writings, concerning the state of his parents as to godliness, may lead us to fear that this fervent ejaculation had often been poured forth by his own soul on behalf of his father and mother. All that we know of them is, that they were poor, but gave their children the best education their means afforded; as to their piety he is silent. Ed.

18 'To the Greeks.' Bunyan in this follows the Puritan translation. The word 'Greeks' is in the margin of the authorized Bible. Ed.

19 This is a most beautiful passage, unequalled by any ancient or modern author. Such a view of church fellowship does honour to the head and heart of the prince of allegorists. It is worthy to be printed in letters of gold, and presented to every candidate for church fellowship among all Christian societies of every denomination. See p. 550, and note. Ed.

20 To 'hold the head' is to make a very prominent profession of religion. Ed.

21 'Of unbelief' see margin of the Bible. Ed.

***

A Caution to Stir Up to Watch Against Sin

By J. Bunyan

Advertisement by the Editor.

This faithful and affectionate appeal to conscience, was originally published on a half-sheet of copy paper, and being only printed on one side of the leaf was called a broadside; probably intended to hang up in the house, or to be pasted inside the cover of the family bible.

Charles Doe gives the date 1685; but a copy of this rare sheet, clean and perfect as when first printed, was lately discovered in the Stowe Library, among a great number of single-sheet poems, songs, and proclamations; a memorandum on it, in the writing of Narcissus Luttrel, shews that he bought it for one penny, on the 8th of April, 1684. By the liberal permission of Mr. Pickering, of Piccadilly, the present owner of that extraordinary collection, I have been able accurately to correct the very numerous alterations and errors which abound in all the later editions.

Reader, whoever thou art, but especially the young, this unassuming poem is most worthy of being committed to memory. It is a striking detection of the devil's sophistry. Strive, as you value your peace and happiness, to escape the depths of moral degradation and misery, by avoiding the FIRST overtures of sin.—GEO. OFFOR.

Caution to Stir Up to Watch Against Sin

The first eight lines one did commend to me,
The rest I thought good to commend to thee:
Reader, in reading be thou rul'd by me,
With rhimes nor lines, but truths, affected be.[1]
8 April 1684

I.
Sin will at first, just like a beggar, crave
One penny or one half-penny to have;
And if you grant its first suit, 'twill aspire,
From pence to pounds, and so will still mount higher
To the whole soul: but if it makes its moan,
Then say, here is not for you, get you gone.
For if you give it entrance at the door,
It will come in, and may go out no more.

II.
Sin, rather than 'twill out of action be,
Will pray to stay, though but a while with thee;
One night, one hour, one moment, will it cry,
Embrace me in thy bosom, else I die:
Time to repent [saith it] I will allow,
And help, if to repent thou know'st not how.
But if you give it entrance at the door,
It will come in, and may go out no more.

III.
If begging doth not do, sin promise will
Rewards to those that shall its lusts fulfill:
Penny in hand, yea pounds 'twill offer thee,
If at its beck and motion thou wilt be.
'Twill seem heaven to out-bid, and all to gain
Thy love, and win thee it to entertain.
But give it not admittance at thy door,
Lest it comes in, and so goes out no more.

IV.
If begging and promising will not do,
'Twill by its wiles attempt to flatter you.
I'm harmless, mean no ill, be not so shy
Will ev'ry soul-destroying motion cry.
'Twill hide its sting, 'twill change its native hue,
Vile 'twill not, but a beauty seem to you.
But if you give it entrance at the door,
Its sting will in, and may come out no more.

V.
Rather than fail, sin will itself divide,
Bid thee do this, and lay the rest aside.
Take little ones ('twill say) throw great ones by,
(As if for little sins men should not die.)
Yea SIN with SIN a quarrel will maintain,
On purpose that thou by it might'st be slain.
Beware the cheat then, keep it out of door,
It would come in, and would go out no more.

VI.
Sin, if you will believe it, will accuse,
What is not hurtful and itself excuse:
'Twill make a vice of virtue, and 'twill say
Good is destructive, doth men's souls betray;
'Twill make a law, where God has made man free,
And break those laws by which men bounded be.
Look to thyself then, keep it out of door,
Thee 'twould entangle, and enlarge thy score.

VII.
SIN is that beastly thing that will defile
Soul, body, name, and fame in little while;
'Twill make him, who some time God's image was,
Look like the devil, love, and plead his cause;
Like to the plague, poison, or leprosy
Defile 'twill, and infect contagiously.
Wherefore beware, against it shut the door;
If not, it will defile thee more and more.

VIII.
SIN, once possessed of the heart, will play
The tyrant, force its vassal to obey:
'Twill make thee thine own happiness oppose
And offer open violence to those
That love thee best; yea make thee to defy
The law and counsel of the deity.
Beware then, keep this tyrant out of door,
Lest thou be his, and so thy own no more.

IX.
SIN harden can the heart against its God,
Make it abuse his grace, despise his rod,
'Twill make one run upon the very pikes,
Judgments foreseen bring such to no dislikes
Of sinful hazards; no, they venture shall
For one base lust, their soul, and heav'n and all.
Take heed then, hold it, crush it at the door,
It comes to rob thee, and to make thee poor.

X.
SIN is a prison, hath its bolts and chains,
Brings into bondage who it entertains;
Hangs shackles on them, bends them to its will,
Holds them, as Samson grinded at the mill,
'Twill blind them, make them deaf; yea, 'twill them gag,
And ride them as the devil rides his hag.
Wherefore look to it, keep it out of door,
If once its slave, thou may'st be free no more.

XI.
Though SIN at first its rage dissemble may,
'Twill soon upon thee as a lion prey;
'Twill roar, 'twill rend, 'twill tear, 'twill kill out-
right,
Its living death will gnaw thee day and night:
Thy pleasures now to paws and teeth it turns,
In thee its tickling lusts, like brimstone burns.
Wherefore beware, and keep it out of door,
Lest it should on thee as a lion roar.

XII.
SIN will accuse, will stare thee in the face,
Will for its witnesses quote time and place
Where thou committedst it; and so appeal
To conscience, who thy facts will not conceal;
But on thee as a judge such sentence pass,
As will to thy sweet bits prove bitter sauce.
Wherefore beware, against it shut thy door,
Repent what's past, believe and sin no more.

XIII.
SIN is the worm of hell, the lasting fire,
Hell would soon lose its heat, could SIN expire;
Better sinless, in hell, than to be where
Heav'n is, and to be found a sinner there.
One sinless, with infernals might do well,
But SIN would make a very heav'n a hell.
Look to thyself then, to keep it out of door,
Lest it gets in, and never leaves thee more.

XIV.
No match hast sin save God in all the world,
Men, angels it has from their stations hurl'd:
Holds them in chains, as captives, in despite
Of all that here below is called Might.
Release, help, freedom from it none can give,
But he by whom we also breathe and live.
Watch therefore, keep this giant out of door
Lest if once in, thou get him out no more.

XV.
Fools make a mock at SIN, will not believe,
It carries such a dagger in its sleeve;
How can it be (say they) that such a thing,
So full of sweet, should ever wear a sting:
They know not that it is the very SPELL
Of SIN, to make men laugh themselves to hell.
Look to thyself then, deal with SIN no more,
Lest he that saves, against thee shuts the door.

XVI.
Now let the God that is above,
That hath for sinners so much love;
These lines so help thee to improve,
That towards him thy heart may move.
Keep thee from enemies external,
Help thee to fight with those internal:
Deliver thee from them infernal,
And bring thee safe to life eternal.—AMEN.

London: Printed for N. Ponder at the Peacock in the
Poultrey.

Footnote:

1. This same sentiment is well expressed in Bunyan's verses at the conclusion of the Pilgrim, part First.

'Nor let my figure or similitude
Put thee into a laughter or a feud;
Leave this to boys and fools, but as for thee,
Do thou the substance of my matter see.'

***

A DISCOURSE OF THE BUILDING, NATURE, EXCELLENCY, AND GOVERNMENT OF THE HOUSE OF GOD; WITH COUNSELS AND DIRECTIONS TO THE INHABITANTS THEREOF.

By John Bunyan, of Bedford.

'Lord, I have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where thine honour dwelleth.'—Psalm 26:8

Advertisement by the Editor.

Beautiful in its simplicity is this treatise on the Church of Christ, by John Bunyan. He opens, with profound knowledge and eminent skill, all those portions of sacred writ which illustrate the nature, excellency, and government of the house of God, with the personal and relative duties of its inhabitants. It was originally published in a pocket volume of sixty-three pages, by G. Larkin, 1688, and is now for the first time reprinted. We are deeply indebted to the unknown owner of this rare volume, and to Mr. Creasy, bookseller, Sleaford, through whom the copy was borrowed to enrich this edition.

What is the church? is a question upon which all the subtilty of jesuitic schoolmen and casuists has been exhausted, to mystify and mislead the honest inquirer in every age. The Jews, Papists, Greeks, English, have each claimed the divine favour as being exclusively limited to their respective sects. Apostolic descent has been considered to depend upon human ceremonies, instead of its consisting in a similarity of mind and conduct to that of the apostles, through the powerful influences of the Holy Spirit upon the heart. Judging from this latter mode, we conclude that Bunyan the brazier was very nearly related to, and descended from, Paul the tentmaker, and the other apostles. But we form a very different judgment as to the descent of Bonner and other persecuting bishops.

A visible church of Christ is a congregation of the faithful, who having personally and individually given themselves to the Saviour, unite together to promote each other's spiritual happiness. Such were the churches to whom the epistles in the New Testament were addressed. The instructions given to this spiritual community, in the following treatise, are drawn solely from the sacred volume, and are full of peace and righteousness—tending purely to its happiness and prosperity. If these directions were strictly and constantly followed, our churches, notwithstanding the liability of the members to err, would each present 'a little heaven below.'

The officers in these communities are—I. Bishops, or preaching elders, to dispense the word and ordinances; a plurality in every church, to supply the services of such as suffered under affliction of body, or were imprisoned for conscience-sake. II. Ruling elders, to assist the preachers—to admit the serious inquirer, or shut out the profane backslider, and to re-admit the penitent—to watch over the members, that they be diligent in their worldly callings, that there be no drones or idlers—to heal offences—to feed the church with admonitions, and to visit and comfort the sick. III. Deacons, to manage the temporal affairs—provide for the Lord's table and for that of the bishops and elders—and to distribute the alms to the infirm and needy. IV. Female deacons, to nurse the sick, and direct their attention to that home where there shall be no more sorrow; and generally to aid the deacons and elders.

The duty of the private members is to walk humbly with God, and to be devoted to each other's happiness. In all these particulars Dr. John Cotton of New England, in his 'True Constitution of a Visible Church,'[1] fully concurs with Bunyan, as does also Dr. John Owen, in his 'Nature of a Gospel Church,' excepting that he is silent as to female deacons. Let every church be thus affectionately and scripturally governed, and in their works of faith and labours of love they will become terrible to the enemy 'as an army with banners' (Cant 6:4).

At the present day, great laxity of discipline has crept in. Some offices have been discontinued, others altered, and it becomes us most solemnly to judge ourselves by the unerring word of the living God, whether we have deviated from the order recorded by the Holy Ghost, and if so, to repent and return to the scriptural model.—GEO. OFFOR

A DISCOURSE OF THE BUILDING, &c., OF THE HOUSE OF GOD.

I.

By Whom This House Is Built.

The builder's God, materials his Elect;
His Son's the rock on which it is erect;
The Scripture is his rule, plummet, or line,
Which gives proportion to this house divine,
His working-tools his ordinances are,
By them he doth his stones and timber square,
Affections knit in love, the couplings are;
Good doctrine like to mortar doth cement
The whole together, schism to prevent:
His compass, his decree; his hand's the Spirit
By which he frames, what he means to inherit,
A holy temple, which shall far excel
That very place, where now the angels dwell.

Call this a temple or a house of prayer,
A palace, oracle, or spouse most fair;
Or what you will: God's love is here displayed,
And here his treasure safely up is laid;
For his own darling none can find a place,
Where he, as here, is wont to show his face.

What though some slight it, it a cottage call,
Give't the reproachful name of beggar's hall;
Yea, what though to some it an eyesore is,
What though they count it base, and at it hiss,
Call it an alms-house, builded for the poor;
Yet kings of old have begged at the door.

II.

Of the Beauty of the Church.

Lo her foundations laid with sapphires are;
Her goodly windows made of agates fair,
Her gates are carbuncles, or pearls; nor one
Of all her borders but's a precious stone;
None common, nor o' th' baser sort are here,
Nor rough, but squar'd and polish'd everywhere;
Her beams are cedars, fir her rafters be,
Her terraces are of the algum-tree;
The thorn or crab-tree here are not of us;
Who thinks them here utensils, puts abuse
Upon the place, yea, on the builder too;
Would they be thus controll'd in what they do?
With carved-work of lily, and palm-tree,
With cherubims and chains adorned be
The doors, the walls, and pillars of this place;
Forbidden beasts here must not show their face.
With grace like gold, as with fine painting, he
Will have this house within enriched be;
Fig-leaves nor rags, must here keep out no cold,
This builder covers all with cloth of gold,
Of needle-work prick'd more than once or twice
(The oft'ner prick'd, still of the higher price)
Wrought by his SON, put on her by his merit,
Applied by faith, revealed by the Spirit.

III.

Of the Conveniences of This House.

Within these walls the builder did devise
That there the householders might sacrifice;
Here is an altar, and a laver too,
And priests abundance, temple work to do;
Nor want they living offerings, nor yet fire,
Nor holy garments; what divine desire
Commands, it has bestowed on this place;
Here be the censors, here's the throne of grace;
None of the householders need go elsewhere,
To offer incense, or good news to hear.

A throne for judgment he did here erect,
Virtue to cherish, folly to detect;
Statutes and laws, unto this house he gave,
To teach who to condemn, and who to save:
By things thus wholesome taught is every brother
To fear his God, and to love one another.

And now for pleasure, solace, recreation,
Here's such as helpeth forward man's salvation.
Equal to these none can be found elsewhere,
All else turn to profuseness, sin, and care.
So situate it is, so roomy, fair,
So warm, so blessed, with such wholesome air,
That 'tis enticing: whoso wishes well
To his soul's health, should covet here to dwell.
Here's necessaries, and what will delight
The godly ear, the palate, with the sight
Of each degree and sex; here's everything
To please a beggar, and delight a king.
Chambers and galleries, he did invent,
Both for a prospect and a retirement.
For such as unto music do incline,
Here are both harps and psalteries divine:
Her cellars and banqueting-house have been,
In former days, a palace for a queen.
O house! what title to thee can be given,
So fit as that which men do give to heaven!

IV.

Of the Strength and Defence of This House.

This house, you may be sure, will always stand;
She's builded on a rock, not on the sand;
Storms, rain, yea floods have oft upon her beat,
Yet stands she, here's a proof she is no cheat;
Fear not therefore in her for to abide,
She keeps her ground, come weather, wind or tide.
Her corner-stone has many times been try'd,
But never could the scorn, or rage, or pride,
Of all her foes, by what force they could make,
Destroy her battlements, or ground-work shake.
Here's God the Lord encamping round about
His dwelling place; nor ought we once to doubt
But that he as a watchman succour will
Those that do dwell upon his holy hill.
A wall of fire about her I will be,
And glory in the midst of her, and she
Shall be the place where I my name record;
Here I will come and bless you, saith the Lord.

The holy watchers at her gates do stand,
With their destroying weapons in their hand,
Those to defend, that in this house do dwell,
From all her enemies in earth and hell;
Safety! where is it, if it is not here?
God dwelleth in her, doth for her appear,
To help her early, and her foes confound,
And unto her will make his grace abound;
Safety is here, and also that advance,[2]
Will make a beggar sing, a cripple dance.

V.

The Delicateness of the Situation of This House.

As her foundation and her beauty's much;
Conveniences, and her defences such
As none can parallel, so doth the field
About her richest, rarest dainties yield.
Moriah, where Isaac was offered,
Where David from his sin was ransomed;
Where Solomon the temple did erect,
Compar'd with this is worthy no respect.
Under the very threshold of this place
Arise those goodly springs of lasting grace,
Whose crystal streams minister like to those
That here of love to her, make their repose.
Sweet is her aid, (as one may well infer)
'Cause 'tis the breathings of the comforter.
The pomegranates at all her gates do grow,
Mandrakes and vines, with other dainties mo;[3]
Her gardens yield the chief, the richest spice,
Surpassing them of Adam's paradise:
Here be sweet ointments, and the best of gums;
Here runs the milk, here drops the honey-combs.
Here are perfumes most pleasant to the sense,
Here grows the goodly trees of frankincense;
Her arbours, walks, fountains, and pleasant springs,
Delightful formerly have been to kings.

Such mountains round about this house do stand
As one from thence may see the holy land.
Her fields are fertile, do abound with corn;
The lilies fair, her vallies do adorn.
The birds that do come hither every spring,
For birds, they are the very best that sing.
Her friends, her neighbours too, do call her blest;
Angels do here go by, turn in and rest.
The road to paradise lies by her gate,
Here pilgrims do themselves accommodate
With bed and board, and do such stories tell
As do for truth and profit all excel.
Nor doth the porter here say any nay,
That hither would turn in, that there would stay.
This house is rent-free; here the man may dwell
That loves his landlord, rules his passions well.

VI.

The Way of Receiving Those That Would Here Inhabit.

And wouldst thou know the customs of this place,
How men are here admitted to this grace;
And consequently whether thou mayst be
Made one of this most blest fraternity?
Come hither then, unto me lend an ear;
And what is doubtful to thee, I will clear.

1. This place, as mercy's arms, stands ope to those
That their own happiness us'd to oppose;
Those under hedges, high-way men, or they
That would not God, nor yet good men obey;
Those that among the bushes us'd to browse,
Or under hedges us'd themselves to louze.
The vilest men, of sinners who are chief,
A fornicator, liar, or a thief,
May turn in hither, here take up and dwell
With those who ransom'd are from death and hell.

2. This place, as hospitals, will entertain,
Those which the lofty of this world disdain:
The poor, the lame, the maimed, halt and blind,
The leprous, and possessed too, may find
Free welcome here, as also such relief
As ease them will of trouble, pain and grief.

3. This place, as David's heart, with free consent
Opens to th' distressed, and the discontent;
Who is in debt, that has not wherewithal
To quit his scores, may here be free from thrall:
That man that fears the bailiff, or the jail,
May find one here that will become his bail.

4. Art thou bound over to the great assize,
For heark'ning to the devil and his lies;
Art thou afraid thereat to shew thy head,
For fear thou then be sent unto the dead?
Thou may'st come hither, here is room and place,
For such as willingly would live by grace.

5. This place, as father's house in former days,
Is a receptacle for runaways;[4]
He that, like to the ox,[5] backslidden is,
Forfeited hath for sin his share of bliss;
May yet come hither, here is room and rest;
Of old such have come hither and been blest.
Had this been false, O woe had been to David!
Nor Peter had, nor Magdalen, been saved.
Nor Jonah, nor Manasseh, nor the rest;
No runaway from God could been blest
With kind reception at his hands; return
Would here come too late, if nought but burn
Had been the lot of the backsliding man:
But we are told there's no rebellion can
Prevent, or hinder him from being saved,
That mercy heartily of God hath crav'd.
She that went from her God to play the whore,
Returning may be as she was before:
He that refuses to his God to turn,
That is resolved in hell fire to burn;
If he bethinks himself, and turns again,
May find them here that will him entertain.

6. But bring thou with thee a certificate,
To show thou seest thyself most desolate;
Writ by the master, with repentance seal'd,
To shew also that here thou would'st be heal'd,
By those fair leaves of that most blessed tree,
By which alone poor sinners healed be;
And that thou dost abhor thee for thy ways.
And wouldst in holiness spend all thy days;
And here be entertained; or thou wilt find
To entertain thee here are none inclin'd.[6]

VII.

Of the Governors of This House.

The governors that here in office are,
Such be as service do with love and care;
Not swerving from the rule, nor yet intrude
Upon each other's work, nor are they rude
In managing their own: but to their trust
They labour to be honest, faithful, just.
1. The chief is he who is the Lord of all,
The Saviour; some him physician call.
He's cloth'd in shining raiment to the ground,
A golden girdle doth begirt him round;
His head and hairs are white as any snow,
His eyes are like a flame of fire also;
His feet are like fine brass, as if they burn'd
Within a furnace, or to fire were turn'd;
His voice doth like to many waters sound;
In his right hand, seven glittering stars are found.
Out of his mouth goes a two-edged sword,
Sharper than any ('tis his holy word)

And for his countenance, 'tis as the sun
Which shineth in its strength, till day is done.
His name is call'd holy, The WORD OF GOD;
The wine-press of his father's wrath he trod;
At all the power of sin he doth deride,
The keys of hell and death hang at his side.
This is our governor, this is the chief,
From this physician comes our soul's relief.
He is the tree of life and hidden manna;
'Tis he to whom the children sing hosanna.
The white stone he doth give with a new name;
In heaven and earth he is of worthy fame.
This man hath death destroy'd and slain the devil,
And doth secure all his from damning evil.
He is the prince of life, the prince of peace;
He doth us from the bonds of death release.
His work is properly his own; nor may,
In what he doth, another say him nay.

'Tis he who pays our hospitalian scores,
He's here to search, supple, and bind up sores;
He is our plaster-maker, he applies
Them to our wounds, he wipes our wetted eyes.
'Tis he that gives us cups of consolation,
'Tis he renews the hopes of our salvation.
He'll take our parts, oft times to us unknown,
And make as if our failings were his own;
He'll plead with God his name and doings too,
And save us will, from those would us undo.

His name is as an ointment poured forth;
'Tis sweet from east to west, from south to north.
He's white and ruddy; yea of all the chief;
His golden head is rich beyond belief.
His eyes are like the doves which waters wet,
Well wash'd with milk, and also fitly set,
His cheeks as beds of spices, and sweet flowers.
He us'd to water with those crystal showers,
Which often flowed from his cloudy eyes;
Better by far than what comes from the skies.
His lips like lilies, drop sweet-smelling myrrh,
Scenting as do those of the comforter.
His hands are as gold rings set with the beryls;
By them we are delivered out of perils;
His legs like marble, stand in boots of gold,
His countenance is ex'lent to behold.
His mouth, it is of all a mouth most sweet,
O kiss me then, Lord, every time we meet!
Thy sugar'd lips, Lord, let them sweeten mine,
With the most blessed scent of things divine.

2. This is one Governor; and next in place,
One call'd the Ghost, in Honour and in Grace
No whit inferior to him; and HE
Will also in this house our helper be,
He 'twas who did at first brood the creation;
And he's the cause of man's regeneration.
'Tis he by whom the heavens were garnished,
With all their host they then abroad did spread
(Like spangles, pearls, diamonds or richest gems)
Far richer than the fairest diadems.
'Twas he who with his cloven tongues of fire
Made all those wise ones of the world admire,
Who heard his breathing in unlearned men.
O blessed ruler! now the same as then!
His work our mind is to illuminate
With things divine, and to accommodate
Us with those graces, which will us adorn,
And make us look like men indeed new-born.
For our inheritance he makes us meet;
He makes us also in this world discreet.
Prudent and wise in what we take in hand,
To do and suffer at our Lord's command.
'Tis he that leads us to the tomb and cross,
Where Jesus crucified and buried was;
He shews us also, that he did revive,
And doth assure us that he is alive;
And doth improve the merit of his blood,
At grace's throne for our eternal good.
Dark riddles he doth here to us unfold,
Yea, makes us things invisible behold.
He sheds abroad God's love in every heart,
Where he doth dwell, yea to them doth impart,
Such tokens of a future happiness,
That's past the tongue of angels to express.
'Tis he which helpeth us, that to perform,
Whether becalm'd, or whether in a storm,
Which God commands: without him we do nought
That's good, either in deed, or word, or thought.

'Tis he that doth with jewels us bedeck,
'Tis he puts chains of gold about our neck;
'Tis he that doth us with fine linen gird,
That maketh us ofttimes live as a bird.
That cureth us of all our doubts and fears,
Puts bracelets on our hands, rings on our ears;
He sanctifies our persons, he perfumes
Our spirits also; he our lust consumes;
Our stinking breath he sweetens, so that we
To God and all good men sweet-scented be;
He sets God's mark upon us, and doth seal
Us unto life, and life to us reveal.

VIII.

Under Officers.

3. Another sort of officers here are,
But such as must not with these first compare;
They're under-officers, but serviceable,
Not only here to rule, but wait at table.
Those clothed are with linen, fine and white,
They glitter as the stars of darksome night.
They have Saint Peter's keys, and Aaron's rod;
They ope and shut, they bind and loose for God.
The chief of these are watchmen, they have power
To mount on high and to ascend the tower
Of this brave fabric, and from thence to see
Who keeps their ground, and who the stragglers be.
These have their trumpet, when they do it sound
The mountains echo, yea it shakes the ground.
With it they also sound out an alarm,
When they perceive the least mischief or harm
Is coming, so they do this house secure
There from, or else prepare it to endure
Most manfully the cross, and so attain
The crown which for the victor doth remain.

This officer is call'd a steward too,
'Cause with his master's cash he has to do,
And has authority it to disburse
To those that want, or for that treasure thirst.
The distributor of the word of grace
He is, and at his mouth, when he's in place,
They seek the law, he also bids them do it;
He shews them sin, and learns them to eschew it.
By this example too he shews them how
To keep their garments clean, their knees to bow
Before the king, when he comes into place;
And when they do him supplicate for grace.

Another bade this officer doth wear,
Is that of overseer; because the care
Of the whole house is with him, he's to see
They nothing want, nor yet abused be
By false intruders, doctrines, or (perchance)
By the misplacing of an ordinance.[7]
These also are to see they wander not
From place or duty, lest they get a blot
To their profession, or bring some disease
Upon the whole, or get a trick to lease,
Or lie unto their God, by doing what
By sacred statutes he commanded not.
Call them your cooks, they're skill'd in dressing food
To nourish weak, and strong, and cleanse the blood:
They've milk for babes, strong meat for men of age;
Food fit for who are simple, who are sage,
When the great pot goes on, as oft it doth,
They put not coloquintida[8] in broth,
As do those younglings, fondlings of their skill,
Who make not what's so apt to cure as kill.

They are your sub-physicians, and know
What sickness you are incident unto;
Let them but feel your pulse, and they will tell
You quickly whether you are sick or well.
Have you the staggers? They can help you there;
Or if the falling-sickness, or do fear
A lethargy, a fever, or the gout,
God blessing of their skill, you need not doubt
A cure, for long experience has made
These officers the masters of their trade.[9]
Their physic works by purge and vomit too,
Fear not, nor full nor fasting but 'twill do,
Have but a care, and see you catch no cold,
And with their physic then you may be bold.

You may them Prophets call, for they can tell
Of things to come, yea, here they do excel.
They prophesy of man's future event,
Whether to weal or woe his mind is bent,
Yea, so expert are they in their predictions,
Their arguments so full are of convictions,
That none who hear them, but are forced to say,
Woe unto them who wander from the way.
Art bound for hell against all wind and weather?
Or art thou one a going backward thither?
Or dost thou wink, because thou would'st not see?
Or dost thou sideling go, and would'st not be
Suspected? Yet these prophets can thee tell,
Which way thou art a going down to hell.
For him that would eternal life attain,
Yet will not part with all, that life to gain,
But keepeth some thing close, he should forsake,
Or slips the time, in which he should awake;
Or saith he lets go all, yet keepeth some
Of what will make him lose the world to come.
These prophets can tell such a man his state,
And what at last will surely be his fate.
If thou art one who tradeth in both ways,
God's now, the devil's then; or if delays
Thou mak'st of coming to thy God for life;
Or if thy light, and lusts are at a strife
About who should be master of thy soul,
And lovest one, the other dost control;
These prophets tell thee can, which way thou bendest,
On which thou frown'st, to which a hand thou lendest.
Art one of those whose fears do go beyond
Their faith? when thou should'st hope, dost thou despond?
Dost keep thine eye upon what thou hast done,
And yet hast licence to look on the sun?
Dost thou so covet more, as not to be
Affected with the grace bestowed on thee?
Art like to him, that needs must step a mile
At every stride, or think it not worth while
To follow Christ? These prophets they can tell
To cure this thy disease, and make thee well.

This officer is also call'd a guide,
Nor should the people but keep by his side;
Or tread his steps in all the paths they walk,
By his example they should do and talk.
He is to be to them instead of eyes,
He must before them go in any wise;
And he must lead them by the water side,
This is the work of this our Faithful Guide.
Since snares, and traps, and gins are for us set,
Since here's a hole, and there is spread a net,
O let no body at my muse deride,
No man can travel here without a guide.
Here's tempting apples, here are baited hooks,
With turning, twisting, cramping, tangling crooks
Close by the way; woe then to them betide,
That dare to venture here without a guide.
Here haunt the fairies with their chanting voice;
Fiends like to angels, to bewitch our choices;
Baits for the flesh lie here on every side:
Who dares set here one foot without a guide
Master delusion dwelleth by our walks,
Who with confusion, sings and prays and talks;
He says the straight path's his, and ours the wide:
What then can we do here without a guide
Let God then give our leaders always eyes;
Yea, let him make them holy, bold, and wise;
And help us fast by them for to abide,
And suffer not the blind to be our guide.[10]

4. Here are of rulers, yet another sort,
Such as direct our manners to comport
With our professed faith, that we to view,
May let beholders know that we are new.
These are our conversations to inspect,
And us in our employments to direct,
That we in faith and love do every thing,
That reacheth from the peasant to the king.
That there may be no scandal in our ways,
Nor yet in our profession all our days.
These should after our busy-bodies look,
Tale-bearers also, they have undertook
To keep in order, also they must see
None that can work among us idle be;
Jars, discords, frauds, with grievances and wrongs,
These they're to regulate; to them belongs
The judgment of all matters of this kind,
And happy is the house thus disciplined.

5. Another sort of officers we have,
Deacons we call them 'cause their work's to save
And distribute those crumbs of charity
Unto the poor, for their subsistency,
That contributed is for their relief,
Which of their bus'ness is indeed the chief.
These must be grave, not of a double tongue,
Not given to wine, not apt to do a wrong
Unto the poor, through love to lucre. (Just
In this their office, faithful to their trust)
The wife must answer here as face doth face;
The husband's fitness to his work and place,
That ground of scandal or of jealousy
Obstructs not proof that he most zealously
Performs his office well, for then shall he
Be bold in faith, and get a good degree
Of credit with the church; yea what is more,
He shall possess the blessings of the poor.
His wisdom teach him will, to find out who
Is poor of idleness, and who comes to
A low estate by sickness, age, or 'cause
The want of limbs, or sight, or work it was
That brought them to it; or such destiny
As sometimes maketh low, who once were high.
They must remember too, that some there are
Who halt before they're lame, while others care
Not to make known their want, they'll rather die,
Than charge the churches with their poverty.
This done, they must bestow as they see cause;
Making the word the rule, and want the laws
By which they act, and then they need not pause.
The table of the Lord, he also must
Provide for, 'tis his duty and his trust.
The teacher too should have his table spread
By him; thus should his house be clad and fed;
Thus he serves tables with the church's stock,
And so becomes a blessing to the flock.[11]

I read of widows also that should be
Employed here for further decency;
I dare not say they are in office, though
A service here they are appointed to:
They must be very aged, trusty, meek,
Such who have done much good, that do not seek
Themselves; they must be humble, pitiful,
Or they will make their service void and null.
These are to teach the younger women what
Is proper to their sex and state, what not:
To be discreet, keepers at home, and chaste;
To love their husbands, to be good; shamefac'd:
Children to bear, to love them, and to fly
What to the gospel would be infamy.
I think those to the sick should look also,
A work unfit for younger ones to do.
Wherefore he saith, The younger ones refuse;
Perhaps because their weakness would abuse
Them, and subject them unto great disgrace,
When such a one as Amnon is in place.
And since the good old woman this must do
'Tis fit she should be fed and clothed too,
Out of the deacon's purse, let it so be;
And let this be her service constantly.[12]

IX.

The Order and Manner of the Government Here.

As I have shew'd you who in office are,
So I will tell you how, and with what care
Those here intrusted with the government,
Keep to the statutes made to that intent.
By rules divine this house is governed;
Not sanguinary ones, nor taught nor fed
By human precepts: for the scripture saith,
The word's our ghostly food; food for our faith.
Nor are all forced to the same degree
In things divine, tho' all exhorted be
To the most absolute proficiency
That law or duty can to them descry.

Alas! here's children, here are great with young;
Here are the sick and weak, as well as strong.
Here are the cedar, shrub, and bruised reed;
Yea, here are such who wounded are, and bleed.
As here are some who in their grammar be,
So here are others in their A, B, C.
Some apt to teach, and others hard to learn;
Some see far off, others can scarce discern
That which is set before them in the glass;
Others forgetful are, and so let pass,
Or slip out of their mind what they did hear
But now; so great our differences appear
Wherefore our Jacob's must have special care
They drive their flocks, but as their flocks can bear;
For if they be o'erdriven, presently
They will be sick, or cast their young, or die.
The laws therefore are more and less of force,
According as they bring us to the source,
Or head, or fountain, or are more remote
To what at first we should ourselves devote.
Be we then wise in handling of the laws,
Not making a confused noise like daws
In chambers, yea let us seek to excel,
To each man's profit; this is ruling well.
With fundamentals then let us begin,
For they strike at the very root of sin.
So the foundation being strongly laid,
Let us go on, as the wise builder said,
For I don't mean, we should at all disdain
Those that are less, we always should maintain
That due respect to either which is meet;
This is the way to sit at Jesus' feet.

Repent I must, or I am cast away;
Believe I must, or nothing I obey:
Love God I must, or nothing I can do,
That's worth so much as loosing of my shoe.
If I do not, bear after Christ, my cross;
If love to holiness is at a loss;
If I my lusts seek not to mortify;
If to myself, my flesh, I do not die;
What law, should I observe't, can do me good?
In little duties life hath never stood.

One reads, he prays, he catechises too;
But doth he nothing else, what doth he do?
I read to know my duty, I do pray
To God to help me do it day by day;
If this be not my end in what I do,
I am a sot, an hypocrite also.
I am baptiz'd, what then? unless I die
To sin, I cover folly with a lie.
At the Lord's table, I do eat; what though?
There some have eat their own damnation too.

I will suppose, I hear, I sing, I pray,
And that I am baptiz'd without delay,
I will suppose I do much knowledge get,
And will also suppose that I am fit
To be a preacher, yet nought profits me
If to the first, poor I a stranger be:
They are more weighty therefore; in compare
These unto them, but mint and anise are.

Not that I would the least of duty slight,
Because the least command, of divine right,
Requires that I myself subject thereto;
Willful resisters do themselves undo.
But let's keep order, let the first be first;
Repent, believe, and love; and then I trust
I have that right, which is divine, to all
That is enjoined; be they great or small.
Only I must as cautionary speak,
In one word more, a little to the weak;
Thou must not suffer men so to enclose
Thee in their judgments, as to discompose
Thee in that faith and peace thou hast with him;
This would be like the losing of a limb;
Or like to him who thinks he doth not well,
Unless he lose the kernel for the shell.
Thou art no captive, but a child and free;
Thou wast not made for laws, but laws for thee;
And thou must use them as thy light will bear it;
They that say otherwise, do rend and tear it,
More like to wicked tyrants, who are cruel,
And add unto a little fire, more fuel.
But those who are true shepherds of the sheep,
To quench such burnings would most gladly weep.
But I am yet but upon generals;
Particulars our legislator calls
For at our hands, and that in order to
Consummate what we have begun to do.

1. My brother I must love, in very deed.
I'm taught of God to do it: let me heed
This divine duty, and perform it well,
Who loves his brother, God in him doth dwell;
The argument which on me this imposes,
Smells like to ointment, or the sweetest roses.
Shall God love, shall he keep his faith to me?
And shall not I? shall I unfaithful be?
Shall God love me a sinner? and shall I
Not love a saint? Yea, shall my Jesus die
To reconcile me to my God? and shall
I hate his child, nor hear his wants that call
For my little assisting of him? fie
On such a spirit, on such cruelty;
Fie on the thought that would me alienate,
Or tempt me my worst enemy to hate.[13]

2. He that dwells here, must also be a sharer
In others' griefs; must be a burden-bearer
Among his brethren, or he cannot do
That which the blessed gospel calls him to.
In order hereunto, humility
Must be put on, it is our livery,
We must be clothed with it, if we will
The law obey, our master's mind fulfil.
If this be so, then what should they do here,
Who in their antic pranks of pride appear?
Let lofty men among you bear no sway,
The Lord beholds the proud man far away.
It is not fit that he inhabit there
Where humbleness of mind should have the chair.
Can pride be where a soul for mercy craves?
Shall pride be found among redeemed slaves?
Shall he who mercy from the gallows brought,
Look high, or strut, or entertain a thought
That tends to tempt him to forget that fate,
To which for sin he destin'd was of late,
And could not then at all delivered be,
But by another's death and misery?
Pride is the unbecoming'st thing of all:
Besides, 'tis the forerunner of a fall.
He that is proud, soon in the dirt will lie,
But honour followeth humility.
Let each then count his brother as his better,
Let each esteem himself another's debtor.
Christ bids us learn of him, humble to be,
Profession's beauty is humility.

3. Forgive, is here another statute law;
To be revenged is not worth a straw,
He that forgives shall also be forgiven,
Who doth not so, must lose his part in heaven;
Nor must thou weary of this duty be
'Cause God's not weary of forgiving thee.

Thou livest by forgiveness; should a stop
Be put thereto one moment, thou wouldst drop
Into the mouth of hell. Then let this move
Thee thy dear brother to forgive in love.

And we are bid in our forgivenesses
To do as God doth in forgiving his.
If any have a quarrel against any,
(As quarrels we have oft against a many)
Why then, as God, for Christ's sake, pardons you,
For Christ's sake, pardon thou thy brother too.
We say, What freely comes, doth freely go;
Then let all our forgivenesses be so.
I'm sure God heartily forgiveth thee,
My loving brother, prithee forgive me;
But then in thy forgiveness be upright;
Do't with thine heart, or thou'rt an hypocrite.

4. As we forgive, so we must watch and pray;
For enemies we have, that night and day,
Should we not watch, would soon our graces spoil,
Should we not pray, would our poor souls defile.
Without a watch, resist a foe who can?
Who prays not, is not like to play the man?
Complaint that he is overcome, he may;
But who would win the field, must watch and pray.
Who watches, should know who and who's together:
Know we not friends from foes, how know we whether
Of them to fight, or which to entertain?
Some have instead of foes, familiars slain.
Sometimes a lust will get into the place,
Or work, or office, of some worthy grace;
Till it has brought our souls to great decay.
Unless we diligently watch and pray,
Our pride will our humility precede:
By th' nose, our unbelief our faith will lead.
Self-love will be where self-denial should;
And passion heat, what patience sometime cool'd.
And thus it will be with us night and day,
Unless we diligently watch and pray.

Besides what these domestics do, there are
Abroad such foes as wait us to ensnare;
Yea, they against us stand in battle-'ray,
And will us spoil, unless we watch and pray.
There is the world with all its vanities,
There is the devil with a thousand lies;
There are false brethren with their fair collusions,
Also false doctrines with their strong delusions;
These will us take, yea carry us away
From what is good, unless we watch and pray.
Long life to many, is a fearful snare;
Of sudden death we also need beware;
The smiles and frowns of men, temptations be;
And there's a bait in all we hear and see.
Let them who can, to any shew a way,
How they should live, that cannot watch and pray.

Nor is't enough to keep all well within,
Nor yet to keep all out that would be sin,
If entertained; I must myself concern
With my dear brother, as I do discern
Him tempted, or a wand'ring from the way;
Else as I should, I do not watch and pray.
Pray then, and watch, be thou no drowsy sleeper,
Grudge, nor refuse, to be thy brother's keeper,
Seest thou thy brother's graces at an ebb?
Is his heel taken in the spider's web?
Pray for thy brother; if that will not do,
To him, and warn him of the present woe
That is upon him; if he shall thee hear
Thou wilt a saviour unto him appear.[14]

5. Sincerity, to that we are enjoined,
For I do in our blessed law-book find,
That duties, how well done soe'er they seem,
With our great God, are but of small esteem
If not sincerely done; then have a care
For hypocrites are hateful everywhere.
Things we may do, yea, and may let men see
Us do them too, design but honestly;
Vain-gloriously let us not seek for praise,
Vain-glory's nothing worth in gospel days.
Sincerity seeks not an open place,
To do, tho' it does all with open face;
It loves no guises, nor disfigurations.
'Tis plain, 'tis simple, hates equivocations.
Sincerity's that grace by which we poise,
And keep our duties even: nor but toys
Are all we do, if no sincerity
Attend our works, lift it up ne'er so high.
Sincerity makes heav'n upon us smile,
Lo, here's a man in whom there is no guile!
Nathaniel, an Israelite indeed!'
With duties he sincerely doth proceed;
Under the fig-tree heav'n saw him at prayer,
There is but few do their devotions there.
Sincerity! Grace is thereto entailed,
The man that was sincere, God never fail'd.
One tear that falleth from sincerity,
Is worth ten thousand from hypocrisy.

6. Meekness is also here imposed by law,
A froward spirit is not worth a straw.
A froward spirit is a bane to rest,
They find it so, who lodge it in their breast.
A froward spirit suits with self-denial,
With taking up the cross, and ev'ry trial,
As cats and dogs, together by the ears;
As scornful men do suit with frumps[15] and jeers.
Meek as a lamb, mute as a fish, is brave,
When anger boils, and passions vent do crave.
The meek, God will in paths of judgment guide;
Good shall the meek eat, and be satisfied;
The Lord will lift the meek to highest station;
Will beautify the meek with his salvation.
The meek are blest, the earth they shall inherit:
The meek is better than the proud in spirit.
Meekness will make you quiet, hardy, strong,
To bear a burden, and to put up wrong.
Meekness, though divers troubles you are in,
Will bridle passion, be a curb to sin.
Thus God sets forth the meek before our eyes;
A meek and quiet spirit God doth prize.

7. Temp'rance also, is on this house imposed,
And whoso has it not, is greatly nosed[16]
By standers by, for greedy, lustful men:
Nor can all we can say, excuse us, when
Intemp'rance any where to them shall be
Apparent; though we other vices flee.
Temperance, the mother is of moderation,
The beauty also of our conversation.
Temperance will our affections moderate,
And keep us from being inordinate
In our embraces, or in our salutes
Of what we have, also in our pursuits
Of more, and in a sedate settlement
Of mind, will make's in all states be content.
Nor want we here an argument to prove
That who, inordinate is, in his love
Of worldly things, doth better things defy,
And slight salvation for the butterfly.

What argument can any man produce,
Why we should be intemperate in the use
Of any worldly good? Do we not see
That all these things from us a fleeting be?
What can we hold? What can we keep from flying
From us? Is not each thing we have a dying?
My house, my wife, my child, they all grow old,
Nor am I e'er the younger for my gold;
Here's none abiding, all things fade away,
Poor I at best am but a clod of clay.

If that be true, man doth not live by bread,
He that has nothing else, must needs be dead;
Take bread for what can in this world be found,
Yet all that therein is, is but a sound,
An empty sound, there is no life at all,
It cannot save a sparrow from her fall.
Let us then use this world as we are bid,
And as in olden times, the godly did.
Who buy, should be as if they did possess
None of their purchase, or themselves did bless
In what they have; and he that doth rejoice
In what he hath, should rather out of choice,
Withdraw his mind from what he hath below,
And set his heart on whither he must go.
For those that weep under their heavy crosses,
Or that are broken with the sense of losses,
Let them remember, all things here are fading,
And as to nature, of a self-degrading
And wasting temper; yea, both we and they
Shall waste, and waste, until we waste away.
Let temperance then, with moderation be
As bounds to our affections, when we see,
Or feel, or taste, or any ways enjoy
Things pleasing to the flesh, lest we destroy
Ourselves therewith, or bring ourselves thereby
To surfeits, guilt, or Satan's slavery.

8. Patience, another duty, as we find
In holy writ, is on this house enjoined;
Her state, while here, is such, that she must have
This grace abounding in her, or a slave
She'll quickly be unto their lusts and will,
That seek the mind of Satan to fulfil.
He who must bear all wrongs without resistance,
And that with gladness too, must have assistance
Continually from patience, thereunto,
Or he will find such work too hard to do.
Who meets with taunts, with mocks, with flouts and squibs,
With raileries, reproaches, checks, and snibs;
Yea, he who for well-doing is abused,
Robb'd, spoiled, and goal'd, and ev'ry way misused;
Has he not patience soon will be offended,
Yea his profession too will soon be ended.
A Christian for religion must not fight,
But put up wrongs, though he be in the right;
He must be merciful, loving, and meek,
When they smite one, must turn the other cheek.
He must not render railing for reviling
Nor murmur when he sees himself a spoiling,
When they shall curse, he must be sure to bless,
And thus with patience must his soul possess.
I doubt our frampered[17] Christians will not down
With what I say, yet I dare pawn my gown,
Do but compare my notes with sacred story,
And you will find patience the way to glory.
Patience under the cross, a duty is,
Whoso possess it, belongs to bliss;
If it is present work accomplisheth;
If it holds out, and still abideth with
The Truth; then may we look for that reward,
Promised at the coming of the Lord.

9. To entertain good men let's not forget
Some by so doing have had benefit;
Yea for to recompense this act of theirs,
Angels have lodged with them unawares.
Yea to encourage such a work as this,
The Lord himself makes it a note of his,
When hungry or when thirsty I have been,
Or when a stranger, you did take me in.
Strangers should not to strangers but be kind
Specially if conferring notes, they find
Themselves, though strangers here, one brotherhood,
And heirs, joint heirs, of everlasting good;
These should as mother's sons, when they do meet
In a strange country, one another greet
With welcome; come in, brother, how dost do?
Whither art wand'ring? Prithee let me know
Thy state? Dost want or meat, or drink, or cloth?
Art weary? Let me wash thy feet, I'm loth
Thou shouldst depart, abide with me all night;
Pursue thy journey with the morning light.

X.

The Way of Reducing What's Amiss, into Order Here.

Although this house thus honourable is,
Yet 'tis not sinless, many things amiss
Do happen here, wherefore them to redress,
We must keep to our rules of righteousness;
Nor must we think it strange, if sin shall be
Where virtue is; don't all men plainly see
That in the holy temple there was dust,
That to our very gold, there cleaveth rust?
In Abraham's family was a derider
I' th' palace of a king will be the spider.
Who saith, we have no sin, doth also say
We have no need at all to watch and pray;
To live by faith, the flesh to mortify,
Or of more of the spirit to sanctify
Our nature. All this wholly needless is
With him, who as to this, has nought amiss.
But we confess, 'cause we would not be liars,
That we still feel the motions and desires
Of sin within us, and should fall away,
Did not Christ intercede and for us pray.
We therefore do conclude that sin is here,
But that it may not to our shame appear,
We have our rules, thereby with it to deal,
And plaisters too, our deadly wounds to heal.
And seeing idleness gives great occasions
To th' flesh, to make its rude and bold invasions
Upon good orders, 'tis ordained we see,
That none dwell here, but such as workers be:
So plain's the law for this, and so complete,
It bids who will not work, forbear to eat;
Let then each one be diligent to do
What grace or nature doth oblige them to.
Who have no need to work for meat or clothes,
Should work for those that want. Not that the sloth
Of idleness should be encouraged,
But that those, poor indeed, be clad and fed.
Dorcas did thus, and 'tis to sacred story
Committed for her praise and lasting glory.

This house then is no nurse to idleness;
Fig-trees are here to keep, and vines to dress;
Here's work for all; yea, work that must be done;
Yet work, like that, to playing in the sun;
The toil's a pleasure, and the labour sweet,
Like that of David's dancing in the street;
The work is short, the wages are for ever,
The work like me, the wages like the giver

No drone must hide himself under those eaves;
Who sows not, will in harvest reap no sheaves.
The slothful man himself, may plainly see,
That honey's gotten by the working bee.
But here's no work for life, that's freely given;
Meat, drink, and cloths, and life, we have from heav'n;
Work's here enjoined, 'cause it is a pleasure,
Vice to suppress, and augment heavenly treasure
Moreover, 'tis to shew, if men profess
The faith, and yet abide in idleness,
Their faith is vain, no man can ever prove
He's right, but by the faith that works by love.
If this good counsel is by thee rejected;
If work and labour is by thee neglected;
If thou, like David, lollest on thy bed;
Or art like to a horse, pamper'd and fed
With what will fire thy lusts, and so lay snares
For thine own soul, when thou shalt be i' th' wars:
Then take what follows, sin must be detected,
And thou without repentance quite rejected.

This is the house of God, his dwelling-place,
'Tis here that we behold his lovely face;
But if it should polluted be with sin,
And so abide, he quickly will begin
To leave it desolate, and then woe to it,
Sin and his absence quickly will undo it.

And since sin is, of things the worst of all,
And watcheth like a serpent on a wall,
Or flyeth like an eagle in the air,
Or runs as desperate ships, void of all care,
Or, (as great Solomon hath wisely said)
Is as the way of wantons with a maid,
Who tick, and toy, and with a tempting giggle
Provoke to lust, and by degrees, so wriggle
Them into their affections, that they go
The way to death, so do themselves undo:
As it is said, this mischief to prevent,
Let all men watch, yea, and be diligent
Observers of its motions, and then fly,
This is the way to live, and not to die.
He that would never fall, must never slip,
Who would obey the call, must fear the whip.
God would also that every stander by
That in the grass doth see the adder lie,
Should cry as he did, death is in the pot,
That many by its poison perish not.
But if that beastly thing shall hold its hold,
And make the man possessed basely bold
In pleading for it, or shall it deny,
Or it shall seek to cover with a lie;
Then take more aid, and make a fresh assault
At it again, diminish not the fault,
But charge it home. If yet he will not fear,
But still unto his wickedness adhere,
Then tell the house thereof. But if he still
Persist in his abomination will,
Then fly him, 'cause he is a leprous man,
Count him with heathens and the publican.
But if he falls before thee at the first,
Then be thou to him faithful, loving, just.
Forgive his sin, tell it not to a brother,
Lest thou thyself be served so by another.

If he falls not, but in the second charge,
Spread not his wickedness abroad at large.
But, if thou think his sorrow to be sound,
Forgive his sin, and hide it under ground.
If he shall stand the first and second shot;
If he before the church, repenteth not,
Deal with him as the matter shall require,
Let not the house for him be set on fire.
If after all, he shall repent and turn
To God, and you, you must not let him burn
For ever under sense of sin and shame,
You must his sin forgive in Christ his name.

Confirm your love to him in Christ, you must,
By all such ways as honest are, and just.
Shy be not of him, carry't not aloof,
But rather give him of your love such proof,
That he may gather thence, ye do believe
To mercy Christ again doth him receive.

Two things, monish you, as to this, I would;
The first, to shew the church wherein she should
In all her actions so herself behave,
As to convince the fault, she would save
His soul; and that 'tis for this very thing,
She doth him unto open judgment bring.
Then would I shew the person they reject,
What will, without repentance, be th' effect
Of this tremendous censure, so conclude;
Leaving my judgment to the multitude
Of those who sober and judicious be,
Begging of each of them a prayer for me.

1. This house, in order to this work, must be
Affected with the sin and misery,
Of this poor creature, yea, must mourn and weep,
To think such tares, in your neglect, or sleep,
Should spring up here, nor must they once invent
To think, till he's cast out, you're innocent.

2. Thus leaven, the whole lump has leavened;
Israel was guilty of what Achan did;
And so must stand, until they purged are,
Till Achan doth, for sin, his burden bear.
The reason is, Achan a member was
Of that great body, and by nature's laws,
The hand, foot, eye, tongue, ear, or one of these,
May taint the whole with Achan's foul disease.
The church must too be sensible of this,
Some lep'rous stones make all the house amiss:
And as the stones must thence removed be,
In order to the house's sanctity,
So it must purged be (in any wise)
Before 'tis counted clean (by sacrifice).

3. Next have a care, lest sin, which you should purge
Becomes not unto you a farther scourge,
The which it will, if such shall judges be,
Which from its spots and freckles are not free;
Pluck thou the beam first out of thine own eye,
Else the condemned will thee vilify
And say, let not the pot the kettle judge;
If otherwise, it will beget a grudge,
A great one 'twixt the church and him that sinned,
Nor by such means, can ever such be winned
To a renew'd embrace of holiness;
More like be tempted further to transgress.

4. Again, let those that loud against it cry,
See they don't entertain it inwardly;
Sin, like to pitch, will to the fingers cleave,
Look to it then, let none himself deceive;
'Tis catching; make resistances afresh,
Abhor the garment spotted by the flesh.
Some at the dimness of the candle puff,
Who yet can daub their fingers with the snuff.

5. Beware, likewise, lest rancour should appear
Against the person, do in all things fear:
Bewail the man, while you abhor his sin;
Pity his soul; the flesh you still are in;
Thyself consider thou may'st tempted be,
Hast thou no pity, who will pity thee?

6. See that the ground be good on which you go:
Sin, but not virtue show dislike unto.
Take heed of hypocritical intentions,
And quarrel not at various apprehensions
About some smaller matter, lest it breed
Needless debates, and lest that filthy seed
Contention, should o'errun your holy ground,
And lest not love, but nettles there are found.

7. You must likewise allow each man his grains,
For that none perfect are, sin yet remains,
And human frailties do attend the best;
To bear and forbear here, will tend to rest.
Vain jangling, jars, and strifes will there abound,
Where moles are mountains made, or fault is found,
With every little, trivial, petty thing;
This spirit snib, or 'twill much mischief bring
Into this house, and 'tis for want of love,
'Tis entertain'd: it is not of the dove.

8. For those that have private opinions too
We must make room, or shall the church undo:
Provided they be such as don't impair
Faith, holiness, nor with good conscience jar:
Provided also those that hold them shall
Such faith hold to themselves, and not let fall
Their fruitless notions in their brother's way,
Do this, and faith and love will not decay.

9. We must also in these our dealings shew
We put a difference 'twixt those sins that do
Clash with the light of nature, and what we
Perceive against the faith of Christ to be.
Those against nature, nature will detect;
Those against faith, faith from them must direct
The judgment, conscience, understanding too,
Or there will be no cure, whate'er you do.
When men are caught in immoralities,
Nature will start, the conscience will arise
To judgment; and if impudence doth recoil,
Yet guilt, and self-condemnings will embroil
The wretch concerned, in such unquietness
Or shame, as will induce him to confess
His fault, and pardon crave of God and man,
Such men with ease therefore we conquer can.

But 'tis not thus with such as swerve in faith
With them, who, as our wise Apostle saith,
Entangled are at unawares, with those
Cunning to trap, to snare, and to impose
By falsifyings, their prevarications:
No, these are slyly taken from their stations,
Unknown to nature; yea, in judgment they
Think they have well done to forsake the way.
Their understanding, and their judgment too
Doth like, or well approve of what they do.
These are, poor souls, beyond their art and skill,
Ta'en captive by the devil, at his will,
Here therefore you must patience exercise,
And suffer long, ye must not tyrannize
It over such, but must all meekness shew;
Still dropping of good doctrine as the dew,
Against their error; so its churlishness
You conquer will, and may their fault redress.

The reason why we must not exercise
That roughness here, as where conviction lies
In nature, is because those thus ensnared
Want nature's light and help to be repair'd.
A spirit hath them taken, they are gone,
Delusions supernat'ral they're on
The wing of; They are out o' th' reach of man
Nothing but God, and gospel reach them can.
Now since we cannot give these people eyes,
Nor regulate their judgment, wherein lies,
Our work with them, if not, as has been said,
In exercising patience. While display'd
The holy word before their faces is,
By which alone they must see what's amiss
With their poor souls, and so convert again,
To him with whom salvation doth remain.

Obj. But they are turbulent, they would confound
The truth, and all in their perdition drown'd.

Ans. If turbulent and mischievous they are,
Imposing their opinions without care
Who they offend, or do destroy thereby.
Then must the church deal with them presently,
Lest tainted be the whole with their delusion,
And brought into disorder and confusion.

XI.

The Present Condition of Those Thus Dealt With.

The man that worthily rejected is,
And cast out of this house, his part in bliss
Is lost for ever, turns he not again,
True faith and holiness to entertain.
Nor is it boot, for who are thus cast out,
Themselves to flatter, or to go about
To shift the censure; nothing here will do,
Except a new conversion thou come to.
He that is bound on earth, is bound in heaven,
Nor is his loosing, but the sin forgiven;
Repentance too, forgiveness must precede,
Or thou must still abide among the dead.

XII.

An Expostulation with Such to Return.

O shame! Is't not a shame for men to be
For sin, spu'd out from good society!
For man enlightened to be so base!
To turn his back upon the God of grace!
For one who for his sins has mourn'd and cry'd,
To slight him, who for sin hath bled and died!
What fool would sell his part in paradise,
That has a soul, and that of such a price?
What parallel can suit with such so well,
As those, for sin cast down from heaven to hell!
But let me tell thee, here is aggravation;
The angels, though they did fall from their station
Had not the caution thou hast had; they fell;
This thou hast seen, and seeing, didst rebel.
One would a thought, the noise of this their fall,
A warning; yea, a warning, and a call,
Should unto thee have been, to have a care
Of falling too: O how then didst thou dare,
Since God did not spare them, thus to presume
To tempt him in his wrath, thee to consume.
Nor did the angels from a Jesus fall,
Redeemed they were not, from a state of thrall;
But thou! as one redeem'd, and that by blood,
Redemption hast despised; and the mud
Or mire of thine own filth again embracest:
A dying bleeding Jesus thou disgracest!
What wilt thou do? see's not how thou hast trod
Under thy foot, the very Son of God?
O fearful hand of God! And fearful will
Thy doom be, when his wrath thy soul shall kill.

Yea, with a signal these must hear their sin,
This dirty sow from mire has washed been,
Yet there did wallow, after wash'd she was;
So to procure a lust, obtain'd this loss.
O shame! is't not a shame for man to be,
So much averse to his felicity,
That none can make him leave to play the fool,
Till to the devil he be put to school,
To learn his own salvation to prize?
O fool! must now the devil make thee wise?
O sot! that will in wickedness remain,
Unless the devil drives thee back again.

Hast quite forgot how thou wast wont to pray,
And cry out for forgiveness night and day?
Or dost thou count they were but painted fears
Which from thine eyes did squeeze so many tears?
Remember man, thy prayers and tears will cry
Thee down to hell, for thine apostacy.
Who will not have what he has prayed for,
Must die the death, his prayer shall him abhor.
Hast thou forgotten that most solemn vow
Thou mad'st to God, when thou didst crave he bow
His ear unto thee would, and give thee grace,
And would thee also in his arms embrace?
That vow, I say, whereby thou then didst bind
Thyself to him, that now thy roving mind
Recoil against him should, and fling away
From him, and his commandments disobey.
What has he done? wherein has he offended?
Thou actest now, as if thou wast intended
To prove him guilty of unrighteousness,
Of breach of promise, or that from distress
He could, or would not save thee, or that thou
Hast found a better good than he; but how
Thou wilt come off, or how thou wilt excuse
Thyself, 'cause thou art gone, and did refuse
To wait upon him that consider well;
Thou art as yet alive, on this side hell.
Is't not a shame, a stinking shame to be
Cast forth God's vineyard as a barren tree?
To be thrown o'er the pales, and there to lie,
Or be pick'd up by th' next that passeth by?

Well, thou hast turn'd away, return again;
Bethink thyself, thy foot from sin refrain;
Hark! thou art call'd upon, stop not thine ear:
Return, backsliding children, come, draw near
Unto your God; repent, and he will heal
Your base backslidings, to you will reveal
That grace and peace which with him doth remain,
For them that turn away, and turn again.

Take with thee words, come to the throne of grace
There supplicate thy God, and seek his face;
Like to the prodigal, confess thy sin,
Tell him where, and how vicious thou hast been.
Suppose he shall against thee shut the door,
Knock thou the louder, and cry out the more;
What if he makes thee there to stand a while?
Or makes as if he would not reconcile
To thee again? Yet take thee no denial,
Count all such carriages but as a trial
Whether thou art in earnest in thy suit,
As one truly forlorn and destitute;
But hide thou nought of all that thou hast done,
Open thy bosom, make confession
Of all thy wickedness, tell every whit;
Hast thou a secret sin? don't cover it;
Confess, thyself judge, if thou wouldst not die;
Who doth himself judge, God doth justify.

To sin, and stand in't, is the highest evil;
This makes a man most like unto the devil;
This bids defiance unto God and grace;
This man resists him spitteth in his face,
Scorns at his justice, mocketh at his power,
Tempts him, provokes him, grieves him every hour:
When he ariseth, he will recompense
This sturdy rebel for his impenitence:
Be not incorrigible then, come back again,
There's hope, beg mercy while life doth remain.

Obj. But I fear I am lost and cast away,
Sentence is past, and who reverse it may?

Ans. The sentence past, admitteth or reprieve;
Yea, of a pardon, canst thou but believe.
TURN AGAIN SINNER, NEVER MAKE A DOUBT,
COME, THE LORD JESUS WILL NOT CAST THEE OUT.

Footnotes:

1. 4to, London, 1642. In the editor's library.

2. 'That advance,' preferment, or progress towards perfection.—Ed.

3. 'Mo,' a usual contraction for more in former times, now obsolete.—Ed.

4. Probably referring to the parable of the prodigal son, Luke 15.—Ed.

5. This may refer to the Levitical law, Exodus 21:28-36. The ox that had gored any one to death, 'shall be surely stoned' without possibility of escape, but the backslider or manslayer, although he lie equally under the sentence of death, yet may escape to the city of refuge.—Ed.

6. These stanzas afford an excellent illustration to the meaning of Bunyan in his Pilgrim's Progress, where Christian, before the cross, receives the roll or certificate—loses it for a season in the arbour on the hill Difficulty, when loitering and sleeping on his way to the Interpreter's house, but regains it by repentance and prayers, and eventually, having crossed the river, gives it in at the gate of the Celestial City, and is admitted.—Ed.

7. Bunyan considered that baptism is to follow belief, and that christening a child was a misplacing the ordinance. So also with he Lord's Supper—that it was to be a public showing forth the death of the Saviour, and if administered in private, or with any other view, it was misplaced.—Ed.

8. It is a rare thing for Bunyan to use a foreign word; but all pious persons in his time were familiar with, and generally used, the Puritan or Genevan Bible, vulgarly called the Breeches Bible, an extremely valuable book; in the marginal notes of which, on this passage is the following explanation, '"wilde gourdes," which the apoticaries call coloquintida, and is most vehement and dangerous in purging.'—Ed.

9. The university or college in which Bunyan so highly graduated, is the only one where ministers can be instructed in this spiritual physic. It is Christ's college or school, neither at Oxford or Cambridge, but in the Bible. There, and there only, under the teaching of the Holy Spirit, can the Christian bishop or under shepherd receive instruction in the precious remedies against Satan's devices, or in specifics to cure spiritual maladies.—Ed.

10. 'He had in his pocket A MAP of all ways leading to or from the celestial city; wherefore he struck a light, for he never went without his tinder box, and took a view of his book or map; which bid him be careful, in that place, to turn to the right hand way. And had he not here been careful to look in his map, they had, in all probability, been smothered in the mud; for just before them, and that in the cleanest way, was a pit, and none knows how deep, full of nothing but mud, there made on purpose to destroy pilgrims in. Then thought I with myself, who that goeth on pilgrimage, but would have one of these maps about him, that he may look when he is at a stand which is the way he must take.'—Pilgrim's Progress, Part Second.

11. These hints to deacons are invaluable. They must have been the result of long intimacy and enlightened watchfulness over the conduct of the poor. To distinguish between the noisy beggar and the unobtrusive sufferer—to administer relief in just proportions, 'the word the rule, and want the law,' in spite of all that influence which is constantly brought to bear upon those who distribute any common charity fund. It requires much of the fear of God in the heart, and a solemn sense of responsibility at the great day. The terms, 'crumbs of charity,' are beautifully expressive of the general poverty of Christian churches.—Ed.

12. Bunyan's idea of this scriptural order of female deacons is very striking, and worthy the solemn consideration of all Christian churches. They are to be chosen from such as are 'widows indeed, who trust in God, and continue in supplications and prayers night and day,' 1 Timothy 5:5. They are to devote themselves to the sick—to be patterns of good works—and, if needful, to be fed and clothed at the expense of the church, verse 16. If to this were added to examine and educate the children, they might be most eminently useful.—Ed.

13. These instructions are like 'apples of gold in pictures of silver.' Thrice happy are those churches whose members act in conformity with these scriptural rules. But is there a member who dares to violate them? Poor wretched creature, the Lord have mercy on thee.—Ed.

14. Happy is that Christian, who, in obedience to his Lord's command, is so humble as to seek out the brother who has offended him; 'Go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone,' is the divine command. Is it not at the peril of our souls wilfully to violate this self-humiliating but imperative law?—Ed.

15. To 'frump,' to mock or browbeat.—Ed.

16. 'Greatly nosed,' taken by the nose, ridiculed.—Ed.

17. 'Frampered' or frampold, peevish, crossgrained, rugged; now obsolete.—Ed.

***

John Bunyan on the Terms of Communion and Fellowship of Christians at the Table of the Lord;

Comprising

I. HIS CONFESSION OF FAITH, AND REASON OF HIS PRACTICE; II. DIFFERENCES ABOUT WATER BAPTISM NO BAR TO COMMUNION; AND III. PEACEABLE PRINCIPLES AND TRUE[1]

Advertisement by the Editor.

Reader, these are extraordinary productions that will well repay an attentive perusal. It is the confession of faith of a Christian who had suffered nearly twelve years' imprisonment, under persecution for conscience sake. Shut up with his Bible, you have here the result of a prayerful study of those holy oracles. It produced a difference in practice from his fellow Christians of ALL denominations, the reasons for which are added to this confession; with a defence of his principles and practice, proving them to be peaceable and true. In all this an unlettered man displays the acumen of a thoroughly educated polemical theologian. The author was driven to these publications to defend himself from the slanders which were showered down upon him, by all parties, for nearly eighteen years, and by the attempts which were made to take away his members, injure the peace of his congregation, and alienate him from the church to which he was tenderly attached. His first inquiry is, Who are to be admitted to the Lord's table; and his reply is, Those whom God has received: they have become his children, and are entitled to sit at their Father's table: such only as have examined themselves, and by their conduct lead the church to hope that they have passed from death unto life. The practice of those who admit ungodly persons because they have submitted to some outward ceremonies, he severely condemns. The mixture of the church and the world he deems to be spiritual adultery, the prolific source of sin, and one of the causes of the deluge. The Lord's table is scripturally fenced around: 'Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers'; 'what communion hath light with darkness; Christ with Belial; the temple of God with idols? be ye separate, touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you.' 'Receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God, not to doubtful disputations.' 'Withdraw from them that walk disorderly, working not; but busy bodies; unless with quietness they work and eat their own bread. If any are proud, doting about questions and strifes of words, evil surmisings, perverse disputings, supposing that gain is godliness; from such withdraw.' Bunyan rests all upon the word,—the characters are described who are to be excluded from the Lord's table; but in no instance is it upon record that any one was excluded because he had not been baptized in water. And who will dare to make any addition to holy writ?

The practice of making the mode in which water baptism was administered a term of communion, existed among the Independents long before Bunyan's time. Crosby, in his History of the Baptists, makes some long extracts from a book entitled, 'The sin and danger of admitting Anabaptists to continue in the congregational churches, and the inconsistency of such a practice with the principles of both.' In America, Cotton and the Independents severely persecuted their Baptist brethren, even to deportation. As the Baptists increased in numbers, they refused to admit any to the Lord's table, even to occasional communion, who had not been baptized in water upon a profession of faith: in fact, the difference between those who consider baptism to be a relative duty to be performed by parents in having their infants sprinkled, and those who deem it a personal duty to be immersed in water, as a public putting on of Christ, is so great, as to require the utmost powers of charity to preserve peace. Thus it was in the primitive churches, where great differences prevailed even as to the duty of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles; the keeping of days probably extending to the Jewish sabbath, and to the abstaining from certain meats, with other ordinances of the Jewish law.

Bunyan saw all the difficulties of this question: he was satisfied that baptism is a personal duty, in respect to which every individual must be satisfied in his own mind, and over which no church had any control; and that the only inquiry as to the fitness of a candidate for church fellowship should be, whether the regenerating powers of the Holy Ghost had baptized the spirit of the proposed member into newness of life. This is the only livery by which a Christian can be known. Bunyan very justly condemns the idea of water baptism being either the Christian's livery or his marriage to the Saviour.

We do well, in our examinations into this subject, to note carefully the various applications of the word baptize, and not always attach the use of water to the term. There is a being baptized in a cloud, and in the sea, to protect God's Israel from their deadly foes; a baptism in sufferings; a baptism in water unto repentance; a baptism in fire, or the Holy Ghost; a baptism into the doctrine of the Trinity (Matt 28:19). Bunyan had no doubt upon this subject; he deemed water baptism an important personal duty; and that a death to sin, and resurrection to newness of life—a different tint, or dye, given to the character—was best figured by immersion in water: still he left it to every individual to be satisfied in his own mind as to this outward sign of the invisible grace. 'Strange,' he says, 'take two Christians equal on all points but this; nay, let one go far beyond the other for grace and holiness; yet this circumstance of water shall drown and sweep away all his excellencies; not counting him worthy of that reception that with hand and heart shall be given to a novice in religion, because he consents to water.'

For these catholic principles he was most roughly handled. Deune, in a pamphlet in the Editor's possession, called him a devil; and likened him to Timri, who slew his master. The most learned of the Baptist ministers entered upon the controversy. They invited him to a grand religious tournament, where he would have stood one against a legion. A great meeting was appointed, in London, for a public disputation—as was common among the puritans—and in which the poor country mechanic was to be overwhelmed with scholastic learning and violence; but Bunyan wisely avoided a collision which could have answered no valuable purpose, and which bid fair to excite angry feelings. He had appealed to the press as the calmest and best mode of controversy; and to that mode of appeal he adhered. Three learned men undertook the cause against Bunyan: these were, D'Anvers, W. Kiffin, and T. Paul. When these lettered, able, and distinguished disputants published their joint answer, it contained much scurrilous abuse. Their brother, Bunyan, was in prison, and they visited him with gall and wormwood. He closes his reply with these remarkable words, 'Thine to serve thee, Christians, so long as I can look out at those eyes that have had so much dirt thrown at them by many.'

The late Mr. Robert Hall, in his controversy upon this subject with Mr. Kinghorn, in which—having demolished Kinghorn's castle in a few pages—he, in order to make a book, amused the public by kicking the ruins about, thus adverts to these treatises: 'The most virulent reproaches were cast upon the admirable Bunyan, during his own time, for presuming to break the yoke; and whoever impartially examines the spirit of Mr. Booth's Apology, will perceive that its venerable author regards him, together with his successors, much in the light of rebels and insurgents, or, to use the mildest terms, as contumacious despisers of legitimate authority.'[2]

We cannot have a more decided proof of Bunyan's great powers, and of his being much in advance of his times, than by the opinions of which he was the Christian pioneer having spread so extensively through the Baptist denomination. In this his predictions were fully verified. It is surprising that pious dissenters should ever have made uniformity in outward ceremonies of more importance than inward holiness, as a term of communion. Such sentiments naturally attach to state churches; and ought to be found only with those bodies which exist merely for political purposes, and for it are rewarded with earthly power, pomp, and wealth. I close these observations by quoting the words of Bunyan's learned antagonists, published within a few years of this controversy, and during his lifetime. his sentiments appear to have had a hallowed effect even upon their minds, and produced an apology for their conduct. It is in the appendix to the Baptist confession of faith, republished in 1677: 'We would not be misconstrued, as if the discharge of our consciences did any way disoblige or alienate our affections or conversations from any others that fear the Lord: earnestly desiring to approve ourselves to be such as follow after peace with holiness. We continue our practice, not out of obstinacy, but we do therein according to the best of our understandings, in that method which we take to be most agreeable to the scriptures. The christening of infants, we find by church history, to have been a very ancient practice; still we leave every one to give an account of himself to God. And if in any case debates between Christians are not plainly determinable by the scriptures, we leave it to the second coming of Christ.' In 1689, the year after Bunyan's death, this appendix was omitted from the Baptist confession of faith.

May the time soon arrive when water shall not quench love, but when all the churches militant shall form one army, with one object,—that of extending the Redeemer's kingdom.—GEO. OFFOR.

A CONFESSION OF MY FAITH, AND A REASON OF MY PRACTICE; OR, WITH WHO, AND WHO NOT, I CAN HOLD CHURCH FELLOWSHIP, OR THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS.

SHEWING, BY DIVERSE ARGUMENTS, THAT THOUGH I DARE NOT COMMUNICATE WITH THE OPENLY PROFANE, YET I CAN WITH THOSE VISIBLE SAINTS THAT DIFFER ABOUT WATER-BAPTISM. WHEREIN IS ALSO DISCOURSED, WHETHER THAT BE THE ENTERING ORDINANCE INTO FELLOWSHIP, OR NO.

'I believed, therefore have I spoken.'—Psalm 116:10

To the Reader.

Sir,

I marvel not that both you and others do think my long imprisonment strange, (or rather strangely of me for the sake of that) for verily I should also have done it myself, had not the Holy Ghost long since forbidden me (1 Peter 4:12; 1 John 3:13). Nay, verily, that notwithstanding, had the adversary but fastened the supposition of guilt upon me, my long trials might by this time have put it beyond dispute; for I have not hitherto been so sordid, as to stand to a doctrine right or wrong; much less when so weighty an argument as above eleven years' imprisonment, is continually dogging of me to weigh and pause, and pause again, the grounds and foundation of those principles, for which I thus have suffered;[3] but having not only at my trial asserted them, but also since, even all this tedious tract of time, in cool blood, a thousand times, by the word of God, examined them, and found them good; I cannot, I dare not now revolt or deny the same, on pain of eternal damnation.

And that my principles and practice may be open to the view and judgment of all men, though they stand and fall to none but the word of God alone, I have in this small treatise presented to this generation, 'A Confession of my Faith, and a Reason of my Practice in the Worship of God'; by which, although it be brief, candid Christians may, I hope, without a violation to faith or love, judge [that] I may have the root of the matter found in me.

Neither have I in this relation abusively presented my reader, with other doctrines or practices, than what I held, professed, and preached when apprehended, and cast in prison. Nor did I then or now retain a doctrine besides, or which is not thereon grounded. The subject I should have preached upon, even then when the constable came, was, 'Dost thou believe on the Son of God?' From whence I intended to shew, the absolute need of faith in Jesus Christ; and that it was also a thing of the highest concern for men to inquire into, and to ask their own hearts whether they had it or no.

Faith and holiness are my professed principles, with an endeavour, so far as in me lieth, to be at peace with all men. What shall I say, let mine enemies themselves be judges, if anything in these following doctrines, or if ought that any man hath heard me preach, doth [savour], or hath according to the true intent of my words, savoured either of heresy or rebellion. I say again, let they themselves be judges, if ought they find in my writing or preaching, doth render me worthy of almost twelve years' imprisonment, or one that deserveth to be hanged, or banished for ever, according to their tremendous sentence. Indeed my principles are such, as lead me to a denial to communicate in the things of the kingdom of Christ, with the ungodly and openly profane; neither can I in or by the superstitious inventions of this world, consent that my soul should be governed in any of my approaches to God, because commanded to the contrary, and commended for so refusing. Wherefore excepting this one thing, for which I ought not to be rebuked; I shall, I trust, in despite of slander and falsehood, discover myself at all times a peaceable and an obedient subject. But if nothing will do, unless I make of my conscience a continual butchery, and slaughter-shop, unless putting out my own eyes, I commit me to the blind to lead me, as I doubt is desired by some, I have determined, the Almighty God being my help and shield, yet to suffer, if frail life might continue so long, even till the moss shall grow on mine eyebrows, rather than thus to violate my faith and principles. 'Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon, which cometh from the rock of the field? or shall the cold flowing waters that come from another place be forsaken?' (Jer 18:14). 'Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods?' (Jer 2:11). 'For all people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the LORD our God for ever and ever' (Micah 4:5).

Touching my practice as to communion with visible saints, although not baptized with water; I say it is my present judgment so to do, and am willing to render a farther reason thereof, shall I see the leading hand of God thereto.

Thine in bonds for the gospel,

John Bunyan.