9ö Chap. 3%. An Expofition upon the Book of J o a. Verf.i..., wicked man againft God,as.they did t but to ¡hew,. that he car-. vied himfelfe coo highly, or over-c©ndently. towardsGod. And. this ( as is appeares by the itíue) tooke. more upon fob then all" his friends hard fufpitrons, charges, and accufatious. This hum- bled him, this filencedhim ; he had nothing to return, but lare. downeconvinced ; and therefore Elihu dealt with him .in§more. flrength;of reafonand divine authority then theyhaddone. Secondly , When.Elihu faith, J rod .not anfwer hisio withyour fpeeches, he feemes to engage that he would déale mildlywith. him, or without pallion.; he would not ufebitterwords, but de- bate and argue the matter gently andmeekly. For though Elihu gave Job many fevere reproofes, yet alwayes in amore friendly. manner,not to prove that he had done wickedly, but to convince him that hehad fpoken overboldly;or that while he was fo zealous to defend his own innocency, he fometimes ititrencht upon the foveraignry of God, inhis eager and earnefl defire of pleading, his caufe before him. And furely itwas but need thatyob fhould have a manof .a milder temper.fent in to fpeake tohim, elfe his fpirit might have been quite over-whelm'd_and funke..Nor was it-without the fpeciall_hand of,.Gód,that after thispòore ofiieîed. foule had been fo hardly ufed , and fo grievoufly cenfured by thofe rigid difputants, he fhould at lafl meete with aman more . meeke and compaffionate,infome meafure,ro mittigate and allay. his farrow. Fira , In that El hu faith., I will not .esufwer. him with yoásr fpceehes. Obferve. It is not good to imitate others in any thing they doe or fpeake- which is notgeed. We mull noteither as or-fpeake byexample, butby rule; or by example only-fo farce as it anfwers the.. rule. 'Tis dangerous treading in theiefteps who tread awry. When Paul found that Peter did not goe right, he was refolved not only not to follow him, but to reprove him ( Gal. 2. L¢. ) Thus. faith Elihss, here I will not write after, your Coppy, nor take up direóìions from what you havedone, for I feeyou have gone and done amiffe. Again,, When ;Elihu faith, I will not "freer himwith. your 3 eechcs. Note
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=