102 Sermon 5. That frequent and famous inffance of bigamy and poly- gamy, or marrying of two or of mo wives, in the Old 'reftament amongft the fathers and faints. We are far from aggredging their failing in this, and from making it in them fo very odious;yea,we think it may be in force re- fpe& juffly extenuated,and far removed from that degree of finfulnefs that it would be among us, and might pof- libly in force cafes had a difpenfation in them : Yet con - fdering, i. The nature of the thing, and the in{fitution of marriage, and that of Mal. z. 15. that he made but one man, and one woman for the man, that he might have godly feed; neither can the multiplication of mankind have fuflicient weight to make it limply to be no fin. s. Confidering the frequency of it, or its being in fo many, that it became almoff ordinary ; And, 3. Confi- dering the effe&s that followed on it, viz. The many dif- consents and heart -burnings amongft the wives and chil- dren in the families of Abraham and Jacob It cannot abfolutely be excufed in all cafes and circumftances, elfe it ffiould make an extraordinary difpenfation (if indeed. it was) to be very ordinary, which we have no warrant for. A 2d inffance is in _job's friends, who were (no queffion) gracious men (as the Lord's accepting of them, and Yob for them, yob 42. S.fheweth) yet that they erred, and were wrong$in a truth in their judgments,is clear from v. 7. of that chapter, where the Lord telleth them, That they had not fpoken right as his fervant Job had done ; And that they did very untenderly handle `fob, is alto clear. The 3d inflame is in the apoftles and difciples of our Lord ; they were believers, no doubt, according to IChrift's own teiîimony given them, john 17.8. and yet we will find them in feveral things thinking themfelves to be right, and that with force fort of perfwafion, when yet they were wrong ; as in that one tenet concerning the na- ture of Chrift's kingdom, which they fancied was to be with forme earthly grandeur and pomp,and wherein they iexpe &edd force worldly credit and greatnefs ; and in that Of Peter, Mat, 16. 22. Be it far from thee, Lord, this 'ball rot be unto thee. And, if all the anofiles had been put to 2 confra'tationa it is like they would have diz`fwaded him , 2s
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