Caryl - Houston-Packer Collection BS1415 .C37 v9

372 Chap. 3 t. An Expefttion upon the Bookse of Jos. Verf,7. and abominable in theeyes ofGod and all good men. What fo digracefull as co be a Deceaver ? What fo difhonorable as to be a corrupter ofJuf§ice ? Let all l'uch remember the !:pof}les feri- ous exhortation ( ?awes 4.g. ) Cleanfe your bands ye flouters, andpurrfieyour heartsye d, able-minded. Un'uff gaine is opprefii- on, andoppreflion is blood;God will not endure that Bich hands as have opprtffed others, and fo defiled thernfelves, fhould be lifted up to him; I will,faith the Apoflle,rhat is, God by me de. clareth his will that men pray every where lifting up holy hands ( t Tim. 2. 8'.) And therefore, the Lord Paid to Ifrae! (Ifa. a. 15, ) When ye fpreadforth your hands, Iwill bide mine eyes front, you ; yea whenye make manyprayers, I will not heare : your bands arefull ofblood; That is,theguilt ofblood cleaves to your hands. And fo is Both, not onlyWhen we murder a man and take away his life, but when by oppreflìon or extortion we take away a mans goods, which are his livelihood. Thus blots of blood cleave to the hands ofmany,who thinke not of it,and focarry it filently ( though it cryeth aloud for vengeance) to their grave. Thirdly, Whereas ?al, faith, Ifany blot kath cleaved to my bands. Gbferve. That which is nnfufilygotten and taken away,isnot eafily park red with, it cleaves to thehand. The Prophet faith ofthe obffinate Jewes (ver. 8.5.) They holdfall deceit, which as it may be understood of their deceitful! wages ofgetting, fo ids as true of what is deceitfully gotten. O how fafë doe men hold that, which they ought not to touch, Fuser picarao The unrighteous Mammon, that is,the Manímonwhich they have maim, pi us gained by unrighteoufneffe ( That'sa true though not the only facile at quid fence in which the Scripture calls worldly wealth,The unrighteous dnr¡et;f'abere Mammon) Wee fay of theeves, that they have pitchybands, be- caul what they can lay hands on is their owne,it cleaves to them as if their hands were pitch[. And as the graffe, fo the dote theefe bath pitchy hands too, both as to having andholding. He is as backward to let goe his finfull gettings, as he was forward to take them up; He is loth to reflore. There are few inffances of refhrution. Who faith likeZaeheus (Luke 19 8.) IfI have taken any; bingfrom any manby falf pccufatian,l refiore himfoure-fold. 'Tis,

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