t6 Chap. 3o. An Expofitien upon the Book! of J o a. Verl.3. vite! and Affyrians, to whom the Prophet turnes his fpeecb, thought they had todoe only with the people of Ifrael and 7u- dale, but the Lord law himfelfe concern'd and fo ienagin'd -a- gainft and oppofed in the imaginations or counfels which they cootie, and in the oppofition which they made againll his peo- ple ; and therefore tells them of Inch a deftrudion ready to fall upon them, as might evidence that the handof God was in it ; Re will snake anutter end ; A confuming end he meanes. He will make fuch an end, as that he fhall not need to begin againe. He will dellroy them as it were at one blow. Afrtlion /ball not rife a fecond time. 'Tis a mercy and a favour when God having af- flieted once, will not let of .Lion come againe to detiroy what is left. But it fnewcs fu lines of wrath when God deflroyeth fo fully at once that there's nothing left for an affliaion to deftroy ifit fhould come a fecond time. Sncha deepe deftruëtion, lob intended, when he fayd Is not deftruttion to the wicked ? He doth not fay, is not deftru &ion to him that finneth ? For then deffna Lion muff be to all. But, Is not defiruilion to the wicked ? That is, to Inch as love and live in fin, to fuch as trade and goe on in fin, adding fin to fin,drawing iniquitywith coards ofvanity, and fin as it were wich Cart. ropes; is me defirtalion ( to Inch) to the wicked ? Certainly it is. And though it be not as yet, yet certainly it (hall be, it (hall fo certainly be, that he fpeakes ofit (as the fall ofBabylon is prophecyed, Rev. 14.8. ) in the prefent time, Isnot deftrutlion to the wicked ?It is. Hence note ; Voter ruining def reo lion is the portion ofwicked men,asfurey as if they were already defiroyed. And ifthey are plainly dealt wich, they muff be told fo , and ifthey would deale plainly and faithfully with their ovinefouler, they muff tell thernfelves fo. Wicked menalwayes flatter them - felves, and are often flattered with hopes of peace here and fal vation hereafter. But the truth it felfe hath fayd, Defirutt4'on it, to the wic ed. I (hall not infifl further upon it here, having met with it upon feverall pa Rages ofthis Booke, and fomewhat enlar- ged upon it at the z9th verfe ofthe 20th Chapter. Ind
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