:;oz M A N COMPARU T0 A w 0 R M . Book IV. METAPHOR. Ill. A Worm is a Crearure of little Worth, and hath no Beauty 'in it; what is more contemptible than a Worm! PARALLEL. Ill. So Man in his fallen State is of no Worth, - -he huh made himfelf as light and empty as Vanity. He was once of great Worth in God's Efteem, whilft he retained his Uprightnefs; h ut now na– wrally there is no Excellency in him, his Beauty is gone, he is but a Lump of Sin and Poll<Jtion, contemptible as a Worm. IV. A Worm is a Creature tbat IV. So Mafl is open to manifold Dangers £rom lies obnoxious to great Danger; Sin, Satan, and the World; maoy ways he is exe"ery Foot is ready to cru01 it. pofcd {O Ruin, a'nd to be undone f<Jr ever. V. A fmall Thing may lpoil, V. So a fmall Thing may delhuy and ruin MaQ, kill, and dtlhoy a Worm. Firft, a little Thing may take aw~y his naroral Life; a Bit of llread hath choaked fome M~n; -a Tile frotn a Houfc may beat out his Brains; a Spider, and other fmall Creatures, may pretent!y deflr«y him. What is Man's Lifi:! How fmall a Thing will ftop his -Breath! 1\nd then, Secondly, a fmall Thin-g, as it may feem in his Sight, may de– ftroy hiS Soul: A Iofcivious Luft, a wanton Look upon a Woman, Jdhng, and idle Words, nay, the leaft Sin, without Repentance, "ill damn him forever, Matt. V. eS. But remember this, no Sin is fmn~I or litt-le in it!elf, though there be · more Venom in fome Sins, than in fome others. Tbe lcaft Sin is a Breach of the holv La'v of God, and the leaft Breach thereofbyeth a Soul under the Curfe of it. Alf<JChrift's Blood was 01cd to litve us from ldfcr Sins, as well .as from the greater. VI. A \Norm is a Creature that VI. So wl'"t refiflance is a Man able to make, is not able to make Rdiftance, that in himfell~ againft Satan? ls ~'e not as a Worm way to deliver itfelf from its E£1ein the Sig~u of that crotl Enemy, if God let him my. bur once out againH him? Befi<les, God is a,n Ad- :verfary to him, whil(t he remains in .an unron.ven– ed State; and what -refifbnce can he make againll: t-he Almighty? There is a far greater Difproportion between God .and m, ~han there js i;>etween us and a Worm, Pfal. vii. I 1. Matt. v. 25. VII. A Worm is a Creature that is a Prey to the Fowls of Heaven; they, you know, commonly feed -upon them, ;1nd catch them up at every turn. VIII. Worms, when they find the Ground to fhake by Mens treading upon ir, many Times make hafte into their Holes, and ·thereby fave themidves. 1X. There are many Sorts -of 'Worms. V'Il. So Men are a Prey to Satan, and evil Spirits, who are called Fowls of Hea·ven, lvfatt. xi1i. 4, 19. How often dotR the Devil feizc upon .Sinners, and carry them captive at his Will? VHI. So fame poor Sinners, when they find their earthly Tabernacles begin to 0Jake, by Sick– nefs, or fome a_ppr.oachmg J udgnwnt, make hafte, (their Confciences being thereby awakened by the Lord) to. get into that Place of Security God bath provided for them, viz. the Rock ChrifJ,,--who is called an Hiding-Place, Ifa. xxxii. 2. · lX. So there are many Sorts ofMen, [Wonm.] r. Some great, and fame fma!l _r. So there are fome great Men, mighty .one• -Ones_; and yet all are but Worms. of the Earth, as Kings, &c. and fome .fmall or poor Men; but yet all are but Worms, weak and contemptible Creatures in God's Sight. David called himfe!f.a Worm: I am a Worm, and 110 Mall, &c. Pfal. xxii. 6. 2. There .are feme Dunghil– Worms., who love to abide or live in Dung -and Muck of the Earth. -z. So there are fome Men, (whom we com– monly call Jo!Iuck-?Vorms) who delight in nothing more than in the Dung or Filth of the Earth or Muck of this :Vvorld; their Hearts and Hands are always in the Earth. Take them-out of this Filth, and they are"' dead Me,r.; and let them alerre, .;and you 0Ja!l prefentLy fee them crawl to their old Delights. Nothing but rhe World "*' in 1their Mouths; 'the;y wallow in their filthy Lofts, and .Earchly– 'rnind'ednefs, as the Swine tumhfe in their Mire. ·3. There are fonre Worms 3- SL1ch a Worm is a wicked Man, a Vermi,_ very loathfome, fuch as breed in a Worm, that breeds in Corruption, as it weta rotten putdfied Flelh, which a;e a loathfome 'Creature in God's Sight. See the Heail c;;tlled -Carrion-Worms. -of the Metaplxn-. 4· There
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