Caryl - Houston-Packer Collection BS1415 .C37 v9

rq Chap. 3°O. An Expefttion upon the 'Soot, of Jo a. Verf. i red; Some out ofa true nobleneffe, others out of a fullenneffe or cynicallneffeoffpirit, flight the refpefts and applaufe of the world; it is a fmall matterco fuch, thong) all defpife them, but for thofe, who either have, orwould have repel with men, for chore whohave a delire, and an appetite after honour, or a care of, and refpeft to their honour, (fo a good man may have : am- bitiaully to &firehonour, and aime at it, is nor good,but to take care ofour honour and credit is good, and a duty) now for ft ch a man to be difhonoured or fleighted by men, is a great tryall ; And this aggravated that contempt and reproachwhich was pou- red upon Chrift,becaufehe was a perfon fó infinitely honourable, he was honoured oftheFather, he was honoured and adored by the Angels, he thought it not robbery, to beequall with god, and yet when he came down into the world, he was reputed a Devil', and calledThisfellow. Ohow heavy is the burdenorreproach to them, whohave been loaded withhonour ! Indeed our Lord Je- fus Chrift was above the reproaches of men. He (as'cis laid Hob. 12.2. ) de/pifed the )dame ; that is, hefleighted it as that which could not reach him ; but in it felfe, reproach is a snorfell ofvery hard digeftion,only grace, and a fence ofacceptance with God, canget it off the 1tomacke of man. Heonly that truly ho- nours God, cancomfortably entertaine difhonour among men ; And when men refufe togive us the honour due to us, it is good for us toconfider, whether we havenot fayled in giving honour to God, towhom all honour is due. Sixtly, lob argues his affliftion,not only becaufe having been in honour, he was now derided, but becaufe he was derided by youngmen. Hence note, When aged andgrave men, arede/piledby there that areyoung, thiekightens the affliflion. lob puts that in,as a fpecial ingredient,young men did it: There are three confiderationsabout perfons reproachingus, which en- creafe the fenceofour reproach ; Firft, when we are reproached by friends, there ten times have ye reproachedme , faid fob to his friends ( Chap. 19.3 . ) to be reproached by thole that are in- timates, familiars, and companion friends, is mock unfriendly and cuts

RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=