Chap. i 5. AnExpefition4lon sthe à Book ofJ,0$: tVetf ág. y5g away ; The wicked manwould attain to filch ,perfcdion, but he cannot; his own heart forbids the firft, for how much fjever he hath, he would have more added to it; he fa th not it is enough, though it be too much : God ` v "' . his portion fhall beabated, or (in the words of .the Text) He (hall not prolong the perfection thereof. Theutmoft perfedtpn he can attain unto, is but the fbadow ofperfection, and though fhadows towards the lettingof the Sun grow longer and longer, yet no fhadow can be they quickly pals and fly away. Solomon tells us (Prov. 12.3.) A manJhali not be ejtabliJhed in wickedness, but the Nec mlttetitt root of the righteous/hall continuo : A wicked man may be 'let terra radicam in the ground, but he hath no root in the ground ; Their flock ;jut. Vulg.- (hall not take root in the earth, and be (that is, God) fho upon them, and they /hall wither(Ifa. 40. 24.)A tree not root- ed, fails by a puff of wind, or withers while it hands. The tree' of a wicked man may have a great body, but he hath no good root, he is not rooted in Chrift, he hath no hold of the Covenant; therefore his perfection cannot continue. Hence obferve, Th t asthere is no worldly perfection ofany long continuance, fa theperfeliivn ofwicked men isofihortejt centinuance. Athanafius faid of Julian the Apoítate, when he was in the height, in the very Zenith and Perfection of earthly felicity, having af- cended the Imperial Throne, and giving the Law to a great part of the thenknown world, .1-le is but a little cloud, hewill NuBecaYa ejl, foon vanifh. And indeed his glory, and the perfection ofit, did tiro rvnflit, notcontinue ; for when he was but thirtyyears old, in that primeof hisnatural courte and conflitution he was cut off; his power could not proted'his perfon, nor prolong his per- fedion on the earth. David profeffeth , as from his own experience (Pfalm 119. 96.) I havefeen anend of all perfection: The term of univerfality , All, doth not compafs in every kind of per- fedion, but all the perfef,}ions of one kind. The endof Di- vine perfections cannot be Peen ; whenwe have feen the moll, of them, there is more of them unfeen : but the end ofall hu- mane perfections may be feen. There is a twofold fight : Firft of the eye. Secondly, Of theundettlanding, Davids
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