I o$ Chap. i. AnExpofition upon the Bock ofJ O.B. Verfg. God unto man, Gen. 3. when God had forbidden him to eat of the Tree ofknowledge ofgood and evil,and told him that in the day he did eat thereofhe thould furely dye ; You fhall not furely dye, faith Satan ; for God knoweth that inthe day you eat'therepf, thenyour eyes(hall be opened, andyejhall be as gods, knowinggood and evil : As if he fliould fay, God hath not forbidden this tree, becaufe it will do you any hurt , but becaufe he would be God alone, he wouldhave all the knowledge to himfelf, he hath an ill intent; he knows that if you eat of it, you will be-(like him, as Gods, knowing good and evil. So here he accufeth man to God ; job ferveth you indced,and offereth you facrifice, and obeyeth you, but it is that he may get by you, that he may re- ceive more and more from you; he likes the pay, the reward, not the work ; he caresnot for God, but for the good that cotneth from him. This is the accufation which hère the llanderer cafteth upon all the holy fervices and duties ofjob. Thus in brief you fee the fence, I (hall give you fume Obfer- vations from it. The firft is this, It Wan argument of a moll malignant fpirit, zvhena, mans aelions arefair, then to aecufe his intentions. The Devil bath nothing to fay again1l the aetions ofjob, but he goes down into his hcart,and accufeth his intentions. Malice mil-in- terprets the faireft aófions, but loveputs the faireft interpretati- on it can upon foul aions. Malice will fay when a man doth well, It is true,he doth it; but itis for vain glory,it is to be feen of men, it is for his own ends, it is for gain ; but when a man, doth ill, love will fay, This he hath done through ignorance, or inad- vertency, or violent temptations; love covers armultitude of finis, as fairly as poffibly it may.with wifdome and with juftice How fair a cover did Chrift himfelfput upon the foulefá ad that ever was in the world, upon his own crucifying, Father, forgive auk, 23. za. them theyknow not what they do ; they do it indeed, but they do it ignorantly So Peter afterward, Iwot (faithhe) that through ignoranceyoudidit, as didalfoyour Rulers. Love excufeth what is ill done in another, and Malice accufeth what others do well. Let fuck men learn from hence, that in fo doing they are the mouth and tongue of Satan. Secondly, we may obferve from hence,That it h an argument of a bate and an unworthyfpirit toferve Godfor ends. Had this been true ofjab in Satans fence, it had indeed fpoyled and b:lemilhed all
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