Book IV. W I C K E D ME N co~lPARED ro EAGLES. So'1 2 • When that Word or Sermon which wrought powerfully t!pon .another Perfon, works not at all up0n thee. 3 . When the div_ine Rain of-the Word _glides off of thy 1-Iean, and will not remain or abide wtth thee, tt ts a Stgn thy Heart ts hard. 4 . When thou art neither tcoubled for thy own Sins, nor troubled for the Sins of others. 5 • When thine own Miferies, the Miferies of the Saints, and the Difhelles of Sio11, do not melt thee, nor work Compaffio"n in thy Soul: Though God is difhonored, his Right and Sovereignty invaded, and Ruin feems to be at the Door, _yet thou art not troubled .at any of theii: Things. w I c K E D M E N COMPARED TO R A G L E s. He jba/1 come as an Eagle againft the Houfe -of the Lord, Hof viii. t. Some -underlland this Eagle fignified Nebuchadnezzar; others, the AJ!jrian, &c. Our Perfecutors are Jwifter than the Eagles of Heaven, &c. Lam. iv. J 9· Tyrants and cruel Perfecutors are compared to Eagles. P A R A L L E L S. l. EAGLES are very fwift in their Flight, and that efpocially w·hen rhey purfuetheir prey : So cruel Perfecurors are fwift tO fhed Blood : '!'hey hafte like Eagles to the Prey, !fa. v. 26. 11. Eagles are quarrelfome Creatures, preying, devouring, envious, proud, lofty, the Plague and Tormentors of all other Birds or Fowls of Heaven, as Naturalills ob– lerve. Gefner reports, that in a certain Eagle's Ne!l: were found three hundred Ducks, one hundred and fixty Geefe, forty Hares, and many Fifhes, &c. In thefe refpects wicked Men, or bloody Perfecutors, may fitly be compared to them : They .are ver_y– <jUarrelfome, always feeking Occafion again!l: the Innocent; envious, proud, and lofty, "' appeared in Pharaoh, and others. They are the very Plague and Torment of all their Neighbors. How many hath the Roman Eagle dellroyed! How many Thou– fands, nay, hundred Thoufands of the Sheep and Lambs of Jefus Chri!l: h<vc heert found in her NeH! as I may fo fay. In her was found the Blood of Prophets, and of Saints, and of all that were jlain upon the Earth, Rev. xviii. 24. Ill. The Eagle is a fubtil and crafty Creature : She will fill her Wing; with Dull, and get upon a Stag's Horns, and by beating the Dull and Sand into his Eyes fhe blinds him, and then foon conquers him. She nlfo carries Sheil-fin1es on high, let– ting them fall upon a Rock to break them, which fers forth her great Subtilty, &c. How crafty have many Perfecutors been to de!lroy the Godly ! Come, faith Phm·aoh, let us deal wifely with them. Their common PraCI:ice is, to put the Saints into Wolves Skins, and then fer the Dogs upon them, to worry them. Chri!l: was accufed for being an Enemy to C.efar; and the Apo!l:les, as Movers of Seditio11, Afls xxiv. 5· Thus the cruel Papifts dealt with the good L ord Cobham, and many other Chriftians, viz. accufed them with Treafon and Rebellion, that fo they mighuvith the better colour take away their Lives. ' • IV. An Eagle is an unclean Creature, and therefore God would not have it to be .offered up in Sacrifice; though n,e he accounted the King of Birds, yet God rather chofe the Dove upon this Account, and refufed the Eagle; fo wicked Men are un– clean, and their Prayers and Sacrifices, yea, their bell Performances, are an Abomi– nation in the Sio-ht of the Lord, P1·ov. xv. 8, 9· V. An Eagle 0 is no comely Bird, fhe hath no fweet Voice, nor is lhe good for Food : So wicked Men are not comely, but contrary-wife, very fulfome and ill-favored in God's Sight, neither is their Voice fweet in his Ears. Chritt takes great Delight to fee his People, and in hearing their Voice. Let me fee thy Countmance, let me hear thy Voice; for fweet is thy Yoice, and thy Countenance iJ come!;·, Cant. ii. I 4· But thus he fpeaks not of the Ungodly: Their Perfons and Prayers are no ways delightful ro the Almighty. God had rejpefl to A bel, and biJ Ojj<rii(_~; but rmt~ Cain, and hiJ Ojjm"ng, '"bad 1101 refpefl, Gen. iv. 4, 5· D IS P :\-
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