482 Chap. io. flit Expofition upon theBook of J O B. affliácd till he is weary of himfelf, yet he knows God is not wea- ry of him.Whomfoever he hathonce made good, he cannot but for ever ef}eem good; and, all filch a mans afüiFions, are either to thew how good God hath made him=, orto make him better. Lightly, job was under as bad thoughts of man, as (almoft) any man ever was, when he fpake thus to God, Thou knoweft that Iam not wicked.. Hence obferve,. That all the bard cenfures and mifconfirutflons ofmen, cannot beat an upright heart out of this held, tbat God lovethhim, andbath .,a good opinion of him.. Lee men think what they will of him,and judge him as- feverely . as they pleafe;, this moves him not at all to think,that God judg- es him fo too. He can fee the love of God thorow all the anger ofcreatures. He likesnot his condition the better, becaufe Tome men tell him it is good, nor the worfe,becaufe any man tells him it is i;l, while he finds himfelf bottomed upon the free graceof God, and cheared with the clearnefs of his own integrity. The gates of hell,fhatl not(much lefs shall the uncharitablenefs ofmen) prevail again/Jr fisch a man.. Happy is he, who can fay unto God, Thou knoweft that Iam not wicked, while men are laying., thou aft wicked. And how miferable is he, whole heart tells him he is wicked, though men fay, furely, thou art good. If our heart_ condem, us, God is greater thenour heart, and knoweth all things, (t job. 3.2a) Doth confcience tell you that you are wicked,God can tell you fo much more ? It is a woful thing for any man to be under the jail condemnation of his own heart, though it is more woful to be under the flatteries of his own heart. It is bad enough to be daubed by others wi,{b untempered morter, it is far erfe to be afelfdauber ; No man bathcaul to rejoyce in what 'imfelf, or be troubled at what others fay ofhim, unkfs God fay fo toó: Two things are further- obfervable from there words; Era, There, io no medium between a Godlyanda wickedman. Everyman is one of thefe two. Some are called civil honeil men many conceit that thefe are good men indeed, and not a few, that there are in a middle ¡late betweengood and evil :. But the truth- is, there is nothing between good and.evil, lightand darknefs there is no mediumofparticipationbetween thefe extreams. Solo- mon (Ecclef. 9. 2.) let all men in twoorders, AJl things come a- dilZ untoall,tbtre its one event to tht righteous and to the wicl{e4to tbs good,
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=