Chap .14.. tfnElpepiors upon the Bool¿,ofJos. Vert 5. 5S7 may be long in the landwhich theLord thy God giveth thee ( xod 20. 12. ) which carries this threat in it ; if thou difhonour thy father and mother , they daies (hall be fhortned Whence it may beargued., that, the fhortning or lengthning of mans daies depends upon hisown a&ings, upon his obedience or difobedi. ence, not upon the fentence and decree of God : for if a mans lifecannotbe lengthned beyond itsfet time, where lieth the moo tiveor ftrengthof this argument? Ianfwer, This explicit promife of lengthening, and implicit threat of ïhortning our dayes, doth not enforce a mutability in the ap- pointment of God about the date of our dayes ; but only holds forth a token or an evidence who they are towhom God bath appointed;,many dayes. Such as are obedient to parents, may with warrant lookupon themfelves as defigned by God to long life.: and, they who are rebellious againft their parents, have a witneffe againft themfelves, that God bath allotted them but a' fhort life, or will cut them off ¡hortly by death. For (as Sole- monfpeaks) The Ravens ofthe vallies Jhallpinckout the eyes offilch andeatthem, that is, they ¡halldie ignominioufly and their car- kafíesfhall become meat for the fouls of the air. Our obedi- ence or difobedienne to the revealed will of God, doth not make any changeof, but fulfils and draws out the fecret will of God. Fourthly, Saith not DavW"(Pfal. 55. 23.) that, The blond- thirfty and deceitful manfhall not live out half hìs days : And again, (Pfal. 89, q.,5.) The dayes of our youth haft thou Jhortned : Ifour ayes maybe halved and fhortned, then our dayes are not un- alterablybounded and determined. I anfwer, There is a, twofold limit of mans daies ; there is a general limit, and there is a fpecial or perfonal limit , The general li- mit, is threefcore and ten or fourfcore years (Pfal. go.[io.) (Thofe few exceptions which tome have made by exceeding this limit, do notweaken this general rule) But betides this ge- neral, there is a particular limit upon every perfon. The limit of one maybe threefcore years, when another is limited to fourty, a third to twenty, a fourth to five, anda fifeto found-r. <i Thefe are fpecial limits upon fpecial men now when the Pfal S ;Mifffaith, that a deceitfulman ¡hall not live out hal f hás dales, the .i': Ffff meaning
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