Chap. j. An Expofition upon the Book l J O B. Verf. 5.. 69 cion, that either your felves .cor your friends have taken ,boyfbn, though yube not certain of it, will it not be ground enough for you to take'qr to give an Antidote prefently ? Sin is as a 1ague, it is a poyfon while you have.but a fufpition, either ofyour felves.or ofothers, that you have finnedor failed thus or thus ; here is ground enough for you to take an Antidote,to take. a Prefervative, to leek all the means you canto heal your fouls and to make your peace with God. And if7ob prayed thus, when he only fufpeEted his Ions had finned ; what shall we fay ofthofe Parents, who are little trou- bled, when they fee and know their foes have finned ? It is fafefl to repent even ofthole fins fwe only fear we have committed : for thenwe !hall lúe Pure to repent of thofe we have committed. A fcrupulous Confcience grieves for what it fulpets, a feared Confcience is not grieved for what it is certain either it felf or others havedoneamifs. Laftly, Where had fobs fops been that he is thus ftrfpitious ? Had they been inany fufpeded place ? No, it was only in their ownhoufes. Had they been about any unlawful thing ? No, it was only a friendly meeting, feafliug of Brothers and Sifters together.Yet job is afraid left his Ions had finned. Hence observe that We mayquickly offend and break the Lazy while we are about things in their own nature lawfuh, efpecially infeafii g.. It is an eafie matter to fin, while the thingyou are about is not frnful, nay, while the thingyou areaboutis holy. We may fur- peel our !elves that we have finned when we havebeen praying, muchmore then whenwe have been feafting : We may frrfpett our Elves that wehave finned when we hate been hearing lithe Word, fpeaking the Word ; juft caufe then much more we have to fufpett our felves when We have been trading,buying or fell- ing, andworking abroad in the world. Lawful things are often; times the occafion ofurilayifuI. All the fins of the.old world. are Luk. x z8. defcribed thus, They eat, they drank, they bought, theyfgld, they planted, &c. There is üot one of theft: an aft. evil in it felf, yet they finned away theirpeace, and finned away their fouls, in dealing about thefe things. Therefore as youmull be afraid,of all things in their own, nature unlawful, fo be jealous of your Rives in things that are lawful. . It followsy And
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