Nothing can hinder the vengeance of our juft God the King of all the earth,but that he will take the matter into his own hands, and deliver the oppreffed, and fpoil the spoiler.

Oppreflours muft dye, then will their names ftink and be abhorred of pofterity, and there will be black records made of them in the books of time, when God putteth his hand to the Ipoiling of them, he will spoil them in all that they trufted in. 1. In their Friends, they fhall fall off, and be the first that fhall help to ftrip them.

2. In their Honours, every man shall put an hand to the cafting of duft upon them.

3. In their reputations, their names fhall be hateful upon the face of the earth.

4.In their pofterity;God fhall curfe their feed,and never trust any of them again with his power, or the execution of his judgments. Only let the opprefled wait the leasure of God for this; the Vifion is for an appointed time; but it will come to passe, it will not fail.

Verf. 9.Woe to him that coveteth an evill Covetou(neffe to his house, that he may fet his nest on high, that he may be delivered from the power of evil.

Lo. Thou haft confulted shame to thy house by cutting off many people, and haft finned against thy foul.

11. For the ftone shall cry out of the wall, and the beam out of the timber shall answer it.

12. Woe to him that buildeth a towne with blood, and stablisheth a city by iniquity.

13. Behold, is it not of the Lord of hoafts,that the people shall labour in the very fire, the people fbal weary themselves for very vanity. 14. For the earth fhal be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the fea.

Thefe words do taxe the Chaldeans with another fin, and denounce a punishment against it. Concerning the words,

Woe to him that coveteth an evil covetousneffe to his house;
Here is a good covetoufneffe, which engroffeth the trea-
fure of fpiritual graces, of which the Apostle, Zmars È TÙ

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1C01.12° zagoμara vànzeírova, Covet the beft gifts. Here is defire with in31. tenfion; it must be zeal, and zeal with æmulation, ftriving to be before others, that no man get precedence of us therin,but the things defired be xapiouara, that is, fuch gifts are given of free grace.

Verf.10.

Verf.11.

Verf, 12.

Verf. 13.

But that covetoufneffe is evil to a mans house, that is, to his eftate and family, and pofterity, which is joyned with ambition of height,

That he may fet his neft on high to be above others.

Which is joyned with diftruft in God,and truft in things temporal, that he may be delivered from the power of evil.

Believing that honour and high place will fet him out of the reach of mifery.

Thou haft confulted shame to thy house in cutting off much People.

Here is another fin added to covetoufneffe and ambition,cru. elty and hedding of blood to make their own portion fat; and whereas they have ftudied honour and greatnelle, all turns to fhame abroad in the world, and to the burthen of a guilty con fcience within them. Thou baft finned against thy foul.

For the ftone shall cry out of the wall, the beame out of the tim ber fball answer it.

Woe to him that buildeth a town with blood, and stablishethaci ty by iniquity.

Here God bringeth in inanimate and fenfeleffe things accu fing and upbraiding them; they cannot look upon either the ftone-work of the wals, or the timber-work on the floors, and roofs of their buildings, but they fhall hear the voice of their upbraidings, speaking to their confciences that these are ill got ten: rapine and cruelty put them together, and married them in that frame without a licenfe.

The voyce of their clamour is woe to him that hath done fo. Behold,is it not of the Lord of Hofts,that the People shall labour in the very fire, and the People Shall weary themfelves for very vanity?

I understand him thus, it is Gods own hand against them that they fhall endure hard and extreme labour as it were in the fire, to compaffe their own ends, and when they have crowned them.

felves, they shall reap a crop of vanity; as David, Man difquieteth himself in vain.

For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as Verf. 14. the waters cover the fea.

That is God, who by his long forbearance and remiffenesse is forgotten in the world, fhall now declare himself in the execution of justice, that he shall be known: as David faith, God is known by executing judgement; ut aque, as the waters, i. e. fine menfura, that is,without measure.

The Summe of this fection is the denunciation of that judg ment of God against the Chaldeans, wherein we confider

1. Peccatum, the Sinne.

2. Panam, the Punishment.
3. Effectum, the Effect.

1. Peccatum, here is a Chaine. For.

1. Here is Infidelity; he would be delivered from the power of evil, but he will not truft God with protecting him

from it.

2. Here is Ambition, defire of high place to build his neft on high, for more iecurity.

3. Here is Covetoufneffe, to get the means of this high rifing.

4. Here is cruelty, to break through all impediments that ftand in the way.

2. Pœna.

3. Effectus.

The earth fhall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, &c.

1. De peccato,

One obfervation I gather from this whole point concerning the fin of the Chaldeans;it is St. Augustines Peccatum nunquam eft folitarium, fins grow in clusters; it is a ftream that runneth in the channel of nature, and the further it runnes, the more cor

ruptions

ruptions send in their currents into it; and as rivers the further they runne the wider they grow,fo doch fin, viresque acquirit eundo.

When luft hath conceived,it bringeth forth fin; and luft may fay of that birth as Leah did when Zilpah alio bare facob a fon, Gen 30.11 A troop cometh, and she called his name Gad. For finne is fociable.

2 Reg. 5.

20.

2. He

In the temptation which corrupted Evah, 1. Satan suggested infidelity, fhaking her faith in the truth of Gods word, gave a touch upon the Iuftice of God, that it was scarce equal, that God fhould except any tree, and not give Adam unlimited power,

3. He fuggefted a titillation of pride, making her believe that they might be like God.

4. Wherewith is joyned a suggestion of discontent with their present state,

5. There went with this a tang of gluttonous defire.

So in Gehezies finne, who was Elisha's lervant;

1. He grudged that Naaman the Syrian fhould go away with fuch a favour done him, and carry away the whole present that he rendred to his Mafter.

2. He had a covetous defire to have fome of it.

3. He went after, and told Naaman a lye, my Master hath fent me.

4. Another lye followed. There be two young men of the Sons of the Prophets.

5. He was fent to demand a talent of filver, and two changes of raiment for them.

6. He diffembled. He must be urged to take two talents.

7. He made a cunning conveyance. He bestowed them in the boufe, and let the young men go fecretly.

8. He fhut up all with another lie. Thy fervant went no Whether.

Davids fin had many fins in it.

1. A fin against God in the difobedience of his law.
2. Sin against his own body in defiling it.

3. A fin against the body of his neighbours wife.
4. A fin against the Religion which was fo fcandalized.

5. A fin against his neighbours life, Inebriavit eum.

2. fuffit occidi.

6. Which followed all thefe, a neglect of Gods service for ten moneths together, in which he continued impenitent.

St. James faith, whosoever shall keep the whole law,and yet offend Jam. 2.10. in one point, is guilty of all.

How can a man keep the whole, and yet break the whole Law of Sol. God?

He is called here a keeper of the whole Law, either

1. By fuppofition, and fo it is but a cafe put thus. Put the cafe Queft. a man could keep the whole law, fave only in fome one thing. 2. Or by his own opinion of himself.

3. Or by his indeavour to keep all.

Yet this man offending in one, breaketh the whole law.

Because thereis fuch a concatenation of the Duties of Religion and Justice,that he which offendeth in one breaketh the

chaine.

2. Because any one finne unrepented, violateth love and obedience, which if it be not full, it is no love, no obedience at all. For the breach of one Commandment doth diftaste all the rest of our obedience, as a little leaven fowreth the whole lump; therefore though we cannot say that he which breaketh the Sabbath committeth adultery, or that he that stealeth is a mur therer; yet we may fay that he that doth break the leaft Commandment of the law, is guilty of the breach of the whole law in omiffion, though not in Commiffion, feeing the obedience that the law requireth, failing in one duty corrupteth all that we do,say or think.

Let us now behold the concurrence of fins in the Chaldæan, and begin

1. At his incredulity, for he would be delivered from evil, but he trufteth not God with it, but goeth his own way to it.

This is the mother finne of all evil ways and means unlaw fully used to accomplish mens ends here on earth; diftrust in God.

For when we use fraud, and lying, and diffembling and concealing of the truth, and bind untruths with oaths, to gain credit to what we say untruly; when we make no confcience of in

jury