782 W.ICKED MEN coMPARED TO THORNS. Book lV. WICKED MEN COMPAR ED TO CHAFF. "'he Ungodly are not fo, but are like the Chaff which the Wind driveth away, Pfa!. i. + But he wilt burn up the Chaff with unquenchab/e Fire, Matt. iii. 12 . • Wicked Men are compared to Chaff. SI M I LE. I. CHAFF, before it is feparated from the Wheat, cleaves clofe to it; and the Wheat muft be trod or threOJetl, before the one can be feparated from the other. I!. Chaff is of little Worth or 'Value to the \Vheat : What is tbe Chaff to the Wheat? Jer. xxiii. 2~. It is a low, mean, and contemptible :rhing; one Bufbd of Wheat is worth many Bufbels of Chaff. I!I. Chaff is light and airy ; it is no ponderous Thing, and there– fore the Wind carries it away with a Blaft. PARALLEL. I. so fame wicked Men, I mean Hypocrites, ftem ro cl::ave clofe to the Saints, and to he in perfect Union or Onends with them: An: the Godly muft be trod upon, or threfbed with the F lail of Perfecution, betore they, as facred Wheat, can be feparated from the Chaff; viz. counterfeit Chrillians. Il. So wicked Men ami Hypocrites are of little W orth and Value in the Si~ht of God; he eiteems one true Chriftian worth Thouf.1nds and ten Thou– fands of Hypocrites: I,~ive Egypt for tLy Ran– Jam, Ethiopia and Seba for thee. Since tbou wert precious in my Sight, thou haft been honorable, &c. !fa. xliii. 3· IlL So the Wicked, whatever fbew they make of Heligion and Piety, they are light as Chaff; they are not weighcy, nor ponderous; their Lighc– nefs and .Levity is dif<:overed by their Words and Behavior ; and when the Blalt and Tempeft of Perfecution comes, it drives them away from the feeming Zeal and Religion they pre– tend to; and at Iaft, the \Vintl of God's Vvratb will drive them into the loweft Hell, there to be burned with unquenchable Fire. 'I N F E R E N C E THIS fbews what a great Difference there is between th-" Godly and the Ungodly ; · alfo what the woful Condition of Hypocrites is, and what will be in the E.nd. W IC KED MEN . COMPARED TO T H 0 RN 8. 'I' hey Jha?l be Pricks in your Eyes, and 'I'horilS in your Sides, &c. Numb. xxxiii. 55· But they Jhall be ·as Snares and '!'raps unto you, and Scourges in your Sides, and 1ho;-ns in your Eyes, &c. Jofh . .xxiii. q. /is a Lily among '!'horns, Cant. ii. 2. For whi!ft they are folden together as '!'horns, &c. Nab. i. to. THORNS, as Gla./Jius and others obferve, in thefe Places of holy Scripture,. fignify · wicked, mifchievous Men, Numb. xxxiii. 55· 1 S I M I LE. .I. THORNS came in with · the Curfe, Curfed is the Ground for thy Sake, '!'horns a!Jo and 'l'hiji/es Jhall-it bring forth unto thee, &c. .Gen. iii. I 1. Had not ddam fin– ed, we fbould not have been trou– bled with Thorns. I!. A Thorn is no tender·Tree, ·but contrariwife fturdy, hard, .knotty, .and full of Knobs, and .PARALLEL. I. so wicked Men came in with the Fall, and as the Fruit of the Curfe. Had not /!dam finned, the World had ne,·er been troubled with thefe Briars and Thorns; .but ever fince the Curfe, for Adam's Sin, the World has .been fu ll of thefe .Thorns. II. ' So the wicked, thefe Sons of Belial, Be– ' legnol, without Yoke, that is, fuch as will not ' come under the Yoke of Obedience.; or Beli 'Gna/ah.,
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