Chap. 3 t. An expofition upon the Book of J o a. Verf. 3. 319 enceofir. When they feele fmart,or paine, they, feele thatwhich they never felt before. It is,fayd of Chrift in the Prophecy (Ifa. 53.3. ) Hee isdefßifedand rejetled ofmen, aman offorrowes, and acquainted with griefe : griefe was no ftrange thing;to Chrift, hee had been trained up to it ; But as for men ofjoy, wsratonand voluptuous perlons, they arenot at all acquainted with griefe, and they hopealwayes to efcape acquaintance with it.And there- fore as any punifhment is ftrange to thofe who have conftantly receaved favours and mercies from God , fo isit allo to them who have conftantly accuftomed themfelves to cat*al content. silents and delights. Hence note. Godcan quickly andoften doth make them knowforroa, who ne- ver knew it, nor were u/ed to it before. Richmen know not what povertymeanes ; yet God can make them peore, and melt downe their vaft eftates, their heapes of wealth in a moment, like heapes of fnow before the Sun and bring them to ftarke beggery: is not this to fuch a ftrange punifh- ment ? So when a man that hath lived at his full Table, (as the Glutton is defcribed) faring delicioufly every day, not knowing what hunger meanes ( when I fay) God brings this man to a model( of bread, or as it is layd in the Lamentations ofyereneie, so embracedung. hills, and fcrape there for a mouldy cruft, is not this a ((range punifhment to him ? Againe, When a man that bath been healthful( and ftrong all his dayes, never knowing: uthat an houses fickneffe meaneth ( When I fay) God fends dif- cafes to waft and weaken, or to torment and vexhis body, fiich as the gout, Done, &c. is not this tohim aftrange punifhment ? Many may fay in reference to their of iáions , as the Lord fpake concerning Ephraim, (Jar. 3 t. 18 ) Ihave rarely beardEphraim bemoaning himfelfe thou ; Thou haft chasizedmee, andIwas cha_ f ized as a bullocke unaccufomed to tbeyoke. Ephraim was le ont to be dandled on the knee, or layd in thebofome like a pleafant child, not to beunder the yoke like a flave ora captive. As all carnal) minare like Bullocks unaccuftomed to the yokeof aâive obedience, ( they are the formes of Belial) fo when God layes the yokeofpAlive obedience upon the necke of fome of his E- phraims,they are unaccuftomed to irimuch more are many of the workers
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