VER.18. %phefians,Chap.+. ther ofdevotion. So the Difciples, what made them ,continue fo ig- norantof the Article of Chrifls refurreElion, that with fo many mo- nitors couldnot 'carne it Secondly, we mutt learne to lament and take to heart this miferable dilate; ifwe lay in thine darkefomeprifon, loaden with irons,as many aswe could beare, committed to the cullody of forrie .Cerheus-like keeper, how would welament our hard fortune but toIyc in fuch a condition wherein is no light of knowledge of God, loaden with chaines of darkenef(e, hellifh lulls of wrath, covetoufneffe, pride, fil- thineffe, in the cuttodie ofthe devil' himfelfe, this none bewaileth. Through the hardneffe of their heart.] Obferve hence, What is the cauf whichkeepeth we in blindneffe, even the hardneffe ofheart. When the heart is Browne fo fat and brawnie (fo the Word doth lignifie) a wilful' imbracingof errour and the lulls of it, then we thall be farre from underflanding, what ever meanes be vouchfafed : the Ifraelites notwithftanding all the wonders that God did thew, all the teaching they had, yet theywere without underflanding, becaufe their hearts were hardened : fo the people of the Jewes,notwithflanding the tea- ching and miracles of Chrift, were ail' full of darkeneffe, becaufe their hearts were hardened, Ify 6. to. loh. 1z. 4o. val. 28. 27. To fpeake to the point more particularly, hardneffe of heart doth caufc ignorance three wayes. It doth keepeus from knowing in the letter, making us paffe over with negleEt the meanes which God granteth;the hard -hearted Jewes would not heare their Seers, but Jaid to the Seers,See not,and to the Pro- phets, Prophecy not unto us right things. If wecome to know, yet it maketh us we will not yeeld to it, ifwe doeaffent unto it, yet it keepethus from hearty embracing of that we yeeld to, and thus it excludeth the powerful( knowledge of the truth: thus theJewes did fee the light, but they loved darkeneffe more, could nor yeeld to it,fameof them refifledthe Holy Ghofl; thus we know ma- ny things, whichwe knownot as we ought to know, becaufe of the hardneffeofour hearts. It caufeth ignorance, in as muchas it doth make the light we have tobe takenaway; whenwe like Giants rebel' againft it : thus by kee- pingus from attaining knowledge, and by caufing that we have to betaken fromus,it doth become a mother and fountaine ofblindneffe. The üfe is to us, ifwe beat a loffe, and know not the reafon why we cannot come to knowledge, we mutt not fo much blame things withoutus, as thishardneffe ofour hearts within us; this will make us negle t all meant;of comming by knowledge, make us learne flow- ly, keepe us from the powerful' and livelyknowledge of every thing; this kept thepeople ofIfrael, that they could never learnt the end ofthe Law, though the Lawwas aréhoolema er teChrift; yet they could never beanie it becaufe of the hardneffeof their hearts,for thiswas the vayle that hindered. Here further it is to be marked; What a chain of miferie is. linked with 519 Marke sa, si. vr. ignorant cflate is tobe lamented. Doll. teotgr.ors 4car' Jfat. Hardnefteof heartdoth came I:l mdnes ofminds. Dent 29 4. Which it cau- feth three wayes. tfay 30.so; 2. Aâ.y.çt: a. Y. z Cot'. 3.54.
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