'Chap, 3. An ExpoJtion.upon the Eookof J O B. Veri. a, 335 To,pe'rifh,tìguifies 5rft,not to be. A thing is laid toperifh,when it is annihilated , .when it returns to nothing : As the pfahhiit fpeaks , Manbeing in honour,anrl underfiandetb not, is compared tra the beaks that perifh. The perithing°of a beak, is the nonentity of a beak ; when a -beak dieth, it perifheth,it is not ; A beak is no more but vanifheth quite,:.and is gone for ever. Then, fuck mens likenefs to a beak is not in perifhing, but in the want of true tin- derftanding : He Both not fay, man perifheth like a beaft,but he is like a beak that perifheth. A wicked man,how honourable focver, is a brutifh man, ver, ro.. For he knows nothing fpiritoally, and .11). hat he knozvs'naturally, in that like a brute beáff hecorrupt.r him- felf,as the A.pokleJude fpeaks,ver.r o. of his Epiftle. But between the perifhingof a foolifh man and a beak, there is a volt diffe- rence; A beaks perifhing is a not -being, a foolifh mans perifni-ng is a miferable being. For fecondly, T.o perifh, fignihes often a mifcrable being, as in. Joh.3. r r. God fo loved theworld, that hegave his only begotten Son, that ivhojeever believeth, fhould notperifh, *cc. Not perifh; the :meaningof it is not that all unbelievers 'hall lofe théir very be- ings,become a nothing,and with.thcir cxiiience part from their of fence. Some wicked beatlly men would be glad of this, that they Might live here wickedly, and afterward dye like beaks, in that fenfè eternally:: If this were the. perifhng that is threatned uirbe lievers,many ofthem. would he ready to fayout of love and liking to their iuiis,as- Ejiber didout of love and zeal to the cáute ofGod, Ifweperifh zveperifh;If this be to perifh,let'us perifh. But that pe- rifhing is ofanother nature ; They that believe not pall périfh, that is,they fhall live and perifh,they fhill bc,and.be inilerable for ever; thewrath ofadiflaleafed God, and thekingof a polluted confci- ence, (hall torment them to all eternity. Thirdly , Toperifh, is to be impaired, or lofe former dignity and refpehlr. So let the dayperifh, maybe taken in this fcrife, let not that day be folemnized,let it not be remembred with wonted joy and gladnefs. Aday which hath ufually been foleinnized,may be raid to perifh, when thatfolemnity is laid down, and utterly difus'd. In ancient times ( and the cutiorn in force places .re- mains to this day Great men and - Princes kept the memory of their birth -dayes with feiking and triumph,. Thus we read, Gen. 40. 20. Andit came topaff the thirdday , which was Pharaoh's birth-day, that be made a fez(f unto aü his Jér'vz;tt.r. And Mat..
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