Chap. 20. An Expo[ition upon the Boolt;,of J o B. Vert, 13L, us cry they ali, we are your kindred, flefh ofyour flefh) and boneof your bone. Thus Bane cryth for fparing, and theHy- pocrite is very willing to heare this cry, and (pare his finne, though he thereby wound and be cruel to his own foul. There- fore what Solomon faith concerning the chaftning ofa childe, I fay, concerning the deftroying of thy fin,fpare notfor itscry- ing. Foolifh pity deftroyeth that which is more worth then a City, yea then a world, thepreciousfoul ; We may fay (as it was to Ahab in that cafe when be fparedBenadab and let him goe (t King,zo.40.) Becaufe thouhaft let abaft goe which God loath appointed to deftrutlian, therefore thy life fhallgoefor its life; take heedof (paring, andpitying your fins, as you beare anypity to your own foules, or defire that God fhould fpare and pity them ; ifwe fpare our fins, God will not fpare us,Deut. 29.20. Remember God bath appointed every luft todeath, if it hath not a death of mortification here, you fhall have a death of anifery hereafter; if you fpare what God bath appointed to Crudelitat par- death, your lives (hall goe for its life. There is a!paring cruelty cens,m -I ericor- as well as apunilhingmercy ; it is mercy topunifh tome perfons, pia ptniens. and cruelty to fpare others ; but it is a mercy to punifh all fins, and cruelty to fpare fo much as anyone; we maycall every fin as Chrift dot h ?udas the traytour, A fnneofperdition, eyther adively or paffively; ifit benot deffroyed, it will deftroy. Sin .quamvie non is actively a deftroyer, therefore let it bedeftroyed;If you deale parcel ei. Sep. not with it as a fon ofperdition, it will beyour perdition. i. e. non parce Further, the Septuagint reade it with a negation, Though he & moderate a fpare it not ; their negative bath the fame fenfe with ouraffir- get cum inig4i- mative. Thdu h he are it not that is, (in allufion to meats ) tale, fed srden- g fp ; ter d7 infatia- though he cates freely ofit; we ordinarily fay when friends are biliter. at Table with us, Pray doe not fpare : fo when a wicked mangets ,finse under his tongue, heeats ,like a glutton, greedily, fo the Apoflle defcribes fuch, Beixgpast feeding they commit iniquity withgreedinefje : Theycate and fparenot, they doe not fin with moderation or temperately, but are like Epicures in finning, they fin infatiably. But becaufe the negative is not in theHe- brew reading I (hall not flay upon it; yet (I fay ) the general! fcope and intendment ofboth readingsis the fame. For if he fpareth it, it is becaufehe loves ir, and if he fpare it not, it isbe- ,eaufe he liketh it. Though he[pare it e/Ind
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