| OCR Text |
Show briars and thorns, di~ God fay.: I wiUput an enmity a!fo betw;,lt thy feed and her feed, t. e. benvtxt the feed of the Serpent, and rhc fled of the. Wuman.; The Devtl and hts Children, and rhe Lord Jefus C~11£\ and hts Seed. A;nd what may be faid of wicked men upon thts account, may be ~atd alfo of inward Luf\s and Corruptions, and of Satans temptations; they are all pricking Briars and grievous Thorns to the houfe of Jfrael. ' 5. Look as Thoms ea(ily folclaud combine togttber ; So do wicked and ungodly men. Hrrod and P;late agree again£\ the Lo d J fits C~rifi, Gebal a11d AmmOH and Amaleck.., the Philif/ines ,:;,h ,~; znbabttants ofTyre, takt ·~•fty cou1t{el together, aHd confolt againfl the Lordi htdden Ones; faymg, come let Ul cut them offfro>n being a Nat ton, that the name oflfrae\ may be 110 more in remembraltce. 'Jhe Tabernacles of Edom, and tbe llhmaclites •'" "'oab and th = h .r. . " "'' , e nagarent t ey coni ult tog;ther Wtth 01te co~font,and are confederate againft lfra-cl; 4fhur alfo Joyned with them; There .re as many feveral forts of wtcke~ men as there are of Thorns, and they as eafily and natu-rally fall m together, and confederate~gainfi them th t f G d · as the Thorns fa!l in and fold o~e with. another for uf:. ~ahe h~l' . Ghof\ takes not tee of the Metaphor thus, Neb. I. Io. while 0~ befoldeH togrtb,•r <t1 Thorn1, and drunken M drunkard1 you fhaD be ilevoured .n ftt~bble fit/!y dry. . ' fi ~· '{!'orn1 where-ever they are are bindranctl fo other thing I.' The e: t at grew up amo"t.lf 1hornJ was choaked M. 1 . Th wtfe-man faith Prov. J 5 • 9· The way of the flathfol ~ • a'i • bed of Thorns, bHt tb~ r~ghtm/6 mans way if made plain. Polfibl amo; ft oth~{ ~~~s ~hiS I.s one •. As the wife-man fays elfewhere y the flu~- ~~~.wa~1~f~i7~:t;, t~:~~; t~e ~:/o' he finds many hi~drancesin platn: fo Godfa'th 1 'Uh d g bus man, .he counts every way Inward Lufts and C;rru ~;0 e ~ ttp 1 ry "'~Y. Wltb TbornJ, Hof. 2, 6. tationi the nei hb P !fs, In the C~nlhans heart,forreign temp· all of h g ?urhood cf ttHgodly m,en, falfe brethren, they are the g:o:~hg~['Htohl~nd;ances, to the fhootings forth of Grace, and lnClS, yet , forJen~i;~sf~~he :~·~r;'1~~~dJrr~dent t"' ma~e good ttfo of them ufeth them for a defi b. 0 rna e of the worll of men, he you, that wicked me~ ';he unto 16 people. It may feem llrange to yet thus it is not~ ohld be Thorns of offrnce and defence t~ wifdom of hJm ·tha~om d e nhaturh·e of the Thorn, but from tilt or eret t em, and their motions. our BrigbtmaH Btigbtman thinks that this fimilitudc doth not on ely fet oot the Churches excellency, but alfo the Churches fecurity and fafety, This j; oneofSamp[olls riddles, how out of the eater~ there f110uld <:orne meat, and out of the {lrong tberejhould ,come f wcetnefs;But fo it i5, I. Ordinarily, one party oftb' Churcbu memitJ wiU defend it a,:ainff another: rhus it was all along with f[rad. Pbaraob defends the lfraelitts againH Nebu ·IJJdnezz•r, and N b!lch•dllefl.Z1r WlS a Thorn-hedg to them again£\ PbJraof>: God often fo works it. 2 . Oft-times alfo the Tlnrns of E11emir1, Ap"'<[li01u, Temptations -from rr>itlm<t, make up as it were an hedg to ddend the Soul of the Saint a1;ainf\ the injury of lltjh and corrHptims withilt. P•uls TlmH in tbt f/e{h kept him from being puffed '!•P, and exalted absve meaJim. Davids Thqrns of Afi1ifrions, kept him jn within the compafs of Gods preceprs;' before he was affli{lcd ht wmt ajlrJy, T he child of God many a time feerh caufe to thank God for Af!hfrions; for malicious Enemies, &c. Even as the husbandman is fometimes very glad of a.crop ofThorns. 8. Laf\\y, Thorn1 ore at/aft to be burned: while they are green, and h1ve any thing of Vigour in them, they are made uCe of; but when they are withered, they arc good for nought but to be burned. It is thus with thefe thorn~, 2 Sam.2 3.6. But tht Sons of Belial {haU aU of them M Thorns bt thruft arr>ay,and they !hall ber<lttr!JI burnt .. itb firt in the fame place, Ifa. 33· 12 . As THorns cut up j1aU tbry be burnt in the fire. We have now found out the Thorns af the Text, and theaprnefsofthe comparifon. The third ~ellion is, Who are the D•ttghttrs,here mentioned ? Sou my belavtd ai>Wngft the Daughters • . Daughter/ is a term of Relation: and we mull find out a Mother that refates to them. r. It muf\ be a common M"ther for we are fpeaking of perkns offeveral names and natures. 2 . 'tr mull be a frr<itfol Mathtr,for lhe hath many Daughtm, There are two more common Mothers. I, It was faid of Eve, :hat(!" was tbe mother of •U livillf!,: It is faid of the Church. 2. 1h31 jhe is the mother of aU profijfors, tbe mother of 111 aU: both thefe Mothers are like Rebeccah, they have Trr>ins /lruggling iH their rr>omb, two differing nations. Eve brought Jorth a Cain and an Abel. The· Church hath in it Tarn and Wheat, All men and women are the Daughters of Mank.fnd: All [om of profi{fors are the Dattghters of the Church ; but as dbrah~m had a D feed |
