Part I. M E T A p H 0 R s F R 0 M EARTH. 127 A DESERTwhich is a Part of the Earth little inhabited, and manured, wanting plea. fant Rivers, elecrant Trees, Fruirs, &c. is often put for the Gentiles, who are Strangers to rhe Kingdo;; of God, and are cleftiture of the Means of eternal Life. Hence Fountains of living 'vVarers, and good Trees are promifecl to the Deferr, by which the Callina of rhe Gentiles to the Kingdom of Chrill: is intimated, !fa. xxxv. 1, 2. xli. 18, 19. a;d xliii. 19, 20. And by thole Fountains the fi1ving DoCtrine of Chri!l; but by 'J'rm the Teachers of the Word, and true Believers are to be underftood. The lower PARTS ofthe EARTH, Pfal. cxxxix. 15. fignify the Mother's Womb, and fo the Chaldee rranilates it. By this Phrafe we are iairly informed what our Original is, viz. the Earth. Some fay that the Phrafe, Ephef iv. 9· He alfo defcended into~" x<>.1wuece 1''1" T"' 'Y"' the !owefl Parts of the Earth, is to be taken in this Senfe: Bm this is moft properly to be underftood o{ the State of his deep and moll: profound Humiliation; his aftend– ing on high, is to be under!lood of the Stare of his moft fupe.r:eminent Exaltation. Brentius upon/Jtls 1. Pag. 19. fays-See the M1fenes and Calamltles, wh1ch Man muft of Neceffiry endure for his Sin, and you will find him as it were in the loweft Part of the Earth 1 what is lower than the Pit of Death ? What is deeper than Hell? When David faid, Out of theDepths have I cried to thee, 0 Lord, furely he cries from no other Place, than flom the Senfe of Death and Hell, in which for his Sins, he was compre– hended, &c. '!'he DEEP of the EARTHand the Terms that are analogical to it as a Pit, an /Jbyfs, orJwallowing Deep, metaphorically denote, 1. The Grievoufitefs of Evils, Miferies, and Calamities, Pfal. lv. 23. lxxi. zo. and lxxxviii, 6. Prov. xxii. 14- lfa. xxiv. 17, 22. Lam. iv. 20. and iii. 47, 53· Zech. ix. 1 1. Hence the Phrafe to diga Pit for another, that is to confpire Mifchief, and to fall into the Pit he digged for another, that is, to be overwhelmed with the fame Evil he provided for another. See Pfa!. vii. I 5, 16. and ix. 15, 16. Prov. xxvi. 28. Jer. xviii. 20. Pfal. xciv. 12, I 3· 2 'l'hef i. 5, &c. By Sepulchres which are under the Earth great Calamities are likewife fignified, Pfal. lxxxvi. 13. and lxxxviii. 3, 4, &c. 2. That which is abflm.fe, hid, or infcrutablo, as an Abyfs, or bottomlefs Pit, cannot be feen or known through, Pfal. xxxvi. 6. and cix, 5· Rom. xi. 33· 1Cor. ii. 10. Rev. ii. 24. See !fa. xxix. '5· and xxxi. 6. Hof v. 2. and ix. 9, 6. I 'l'im. vi. 9, &c. From N!UD, DIRT, DUST, and JJUNG, alfo Metaphors are taken which denote, 1. Men in a vile and centemptible Condition, I Sam. ii. 8. Pfal. cxiii. 7· Hither may we refer where the Apoftle calls himfelf "'1'.)-"p.x, t Cor. iv. 13. Made as the Filth of the World, and the o.lf-Jcouring of a/! Things, becaufe of the Ignominy and Contempt which he fuffered. Erafmus in his Paraphrafe, Others are much honoured by you, but we for your fake to th1s Day, are accounted as the Trail1 of this World, than which nothing can be more abjeet, or trampled upon. See Lam. iii. 45· to which Place a great many fay the Apoftle had refpeCt. 2 . Evils and Adverfities, Pfal. Jxix. 2, 14. Jer. xxxviii. 22. Lam. iv. 5· 3· Death, or a moft ignominious cafling away, Pfal. lxxxiii. 10. which is called the Burial of ail /ifs, Jer. xxii. '9· See 2 Kings ix. 37· Jer. xvi. 4, &c. 4· /1 Thing had in great Ejteem among Mm, but is really vile, ford id, and noxious, Hab. ii. 6. '!'hat ladeth himfelf with tbick Clay or Mud, by this is to be underftood a vaft Power of Ricbes, which do not profit, but rather prove grand Snares and hurtful Impediments to the wicked Poffeffors, as if they had been immerged in thick Mud, or would take it along, as their Burthen. As Mud is an Impediment to a Traveller, by how lintle he can go forward: And by how often he endeavors to difpatch, by fo much is he involved in a more dangerous Intricacy: So great Wealth, in the Way of Godli– nefs is a Hindrance to him that fets his Heart upon it, Mark x. 23, 24. Luke viii. 14-. See Ifa. xxiv. 20. Phi!. iii. 8. I count all Things but Lofs, and Dung that I may win Chriji-He fpeaks– of thofe Things, which before his Converfion he magnified, and put his Confidence, of Salvation, in: Bm now being converted to Chri(r, he defpifes them as the molt fordid and viltfl Things, being not only unprofitable for Salvation, but moft perniCIOUS
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