539 / 808
VER.18.
%phefians,Chap.+.
ther
of
devotion. So the Difciples, what made them
,continue
fo ig-
norant
of
the Article of
Chrifls
refurreElion,
that with
fo many mo-
nitors could
not 'carne
it
Secondly, we mutt
learne to lament and take to heart this miferable
dilate;
if
we lay
in
thine darkefomeprifon, loaden with irons,as many
as
we could beare,
committed to the cullody
of
forrie .Cerheus
-like
keeper,
how would
we
lament
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
of
the devil' himfelfe,
this none bewaileth.
Through
the
hardneffe
of
their
heart.]
Obferve hence,
What
is
the
cauf
whichkeepeth
we
in
blindneffe, even the hardneffe
of
heart.
When
the heart
is
Browne fo fat and brawnie (fo
the
Word
doth
lignifie) a
wilful' imbracing
of
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 they
were
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,
If
y
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
keepe
us
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
we
come to know, yet it maketh
us
we will not yeeld to it,
if
we
doe
affent
unto
it, yet
it
keepeth
us
from hearty
embracing
of
that
we
yeeld
to,
and thus it
excludeth the powerful( knowledge
of
the truth:
thus the
Jewes did
fee
the
light, but they loved
darkeneffe
more, could
nor
yeeld
to
it,
fame
of
them refifledthe
Holy Ghofl;
thus we know ma-
ny
things, which
we know
not
as
we
ought to know,
becaufe
of the
hardneffe
of
our hearts.
It
caufeth ignorance,
in as
much
as it
doth
make
the light we have
to
be taken
away;
w
henwe
like
Giants
rebel'
againft
it
:
thus by kee-
ping
us
from attaining knowledge,
and
by caufing
that
we have to
betaken from
us,it doth become
a
mother
and
fountaine
of
blindneffe.
The
üfe
is
to
us,
if
we
beat
a
loffe, and know not
the
reafon
why
we
cannot come
to knowledge,
we mutt
not
fo much blame things
without
us,
as
this
hardneffe
of
our 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 lively
knowledge
of
every
thing;
this kept
the
people
of
Ifrael, that
they could
never learnt the end
of
the
Law,
though the Law
was
aréhoolema
er
teChrift; yet they could never
beanie
it becaufe
of
the
hardneffe
of
their hearts,for this
was
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
4
car'
Jfat.
Hardnefte
of
heartdoth
came
I:l
mdnes
of
minds.
Dent
29
4.
Which it cau-
feth three
wayes.
tfay
30.so;
2.
Aâ.y.çt:
a.
Y.
z
Cot'.
3.54.