OF

CHAPTER LXXV.

WORDS AND ACTIONS WHICH ARE NEITHER TRUE NOR GOOD,

SPOKEN OR UNDERTAKEN WITH THE

POLITICAL VIEWS OF COMPASSING

OUR DESIGNS, OR AVOIDING DANGERS. ABRAHAM said of his wife, (when he was in fear,) She is my sister.-Gen. xx. 2. 11, 12.

Isaac (in the like fear) said of his wife, She is my sister.-Gen. xxvi. 7.9.

Rebekah caused her son Jacob to go to Isaac for the blessing, clothed him with his brother's garments, and put skins upon his neck and hands, to make him feel rough to Isaac, that Isaac might think him to be Esau, and bless him and Jacob said to his father, (being asked who he was,) I am Esau, thy first-born, &c. Isaac said, Art thou my very son Esau? and he said, I am, &c.-Gen. xxvii. 6.9-29.

Rachel having hid her father's images under the camel's furniture, and sat upon them, when Laban searched for them, said unto her father, Let it not displease my lord, that I cannot rise up before thee; for the custom of women is upon me, &c.-Gen. xxxi. 34, 35.

And the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father deceitfully, &c. They said unto them, We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one that is uncircumcised, &c. If every male of you will be circumcised, then will we give our daughters, &c. which when they had done, Jacob's sons fell on them, and slew them.-Gen. xxxiv. 12, &c.

When Joseph's brethren saw that their father was dead, they said, Joseph will peradventure hate us, and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him. And they sent messengers unto Joseph, saying, Thy father did command before he died, saying, So shall ye say unto Joseph: forgive, I pray thee now, the

trespass of thy brethren, and their sin for they did unto thee evil, &c. And Joseph wept when he heard it, &c.-Gen. 1. 15—17.

When Pharaoh had charged the midwives with breaking his commands, and saving the men-children alive, they said unto him, Because the Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women: for they are lively, and are delivered ere the midwives come in unto them. Therefore God dealt well with the midwives, &c.— Exod. i. 16-21.

When Rahab had hid the spies, and the king had sent for them, she said, There came men unto me, but I wist not whence they were, &c. when it was dark, the men went out: whither the men went, I wot not; pursue after them quickly, for ye shall overtake them. But she had brought them up to the roof of the house, and hid them, &c.—Josh. ii. 1-6.

When the inhabitants of Gibeon came to Joshua, they took old sacks, and said to Joshua, We be come from a far country: now therefore make ye a league with us, &c. from a very far country thy servants are come, because of the name of the Lord thy God; for we have heard the fame of him, and all that he did in Egypt, &c. Wherefore our elders, and all the inhabitants of our country, spake to us, saying, Take victuals, &c. This our bread we took hot on the day we came forth to go unto you; but now, behold, it is dry, and it is mouldy, &c. by reason of the very long journey, &c. And Joshua made peace with them, &c. and smote them not, because the princes of the congregation had sworn unto them, &c.—Josh. ix. 3, &c.

When the Moabites oppressed Israel, the Lord raised them up a deliverer; Ehud, &c. who going to Eglon, the king of Moab, with a present from Israel; after he had presented it, he said, I have a secret errand unto thee, O king: who said, Keep

silence. And all that stood by him | went out. And Ehud came unto him, and he was sitting in a summer parlour, &c. and said unto him, I have a message from God unto thee: and he arose out of his seat. And Ehud took the dagger, and thrust it into his belly, &c.-Judges iii. 14--22.

Samson said several times, That if they did bind him, &c. he should be weak, and be as another man: but it was not so.-Judges xvi. 6, &c.

When God said to Samuel, that he would send him to anoint David, Samuel said, How can I go? if Saul hear it, he will kill me. And the Lord said, Take a heifer with thee, and say, Ι am come to sacrifice to the Lord and call Jesse to the sacrifice, &c. Which Samuel did; and said, I am come to sacrifice unto the Lord. 1 Sam. xvi. 1-7.

When Saul had sent for David, Michal his wife laid an image in the bed, &c. covered it with a cloth after she had sent him away : and she said, He is sick, &c. When Saul had said unto her, Why hast thou deceived me so? &c. she said, He said unto me, Let me go: why should I kill thee?1 Sam. xix. 11-19.

When Saul had a design to have killed David, and had inquired for him, Jonathan answered, (as David had directed him to do,) and said, David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Bethlehem: and he said, Let me go, I pray thee; for our family hath a sacrifice in the city; and my brother hath commanded me to be there; and now, if I have found favour in thine eyes, let me get away, I pray thee, and brethren therefore he cometh not unto the king's table. -1 Sam. xx. 6. 27-29.

see my

David, when he filed from Saul, and came to Ahimelech the priest, he asked him, Why art thou alone? David said unto Ahimelech, The king commanded me a business, and hath said unto me, Let no man know any thing

a place, &c. Is there not here under thine hand spear or sword? for I have neither brought my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king's business required haste, &c.-1 Sam. xxi. 1—3. 8. 15.

When David and his men had invaded the country near him, and slain all, Achish said to him, Whither have ye made a road to-day? and David said, Against the south of Judah, &c. And Achish believed David; saying, He hath made his people Israel utterly to abhor him, &c.-1 Sam. xxvii. 8-12.

When Absalom designed to rebel, he said unto the king, I pray thee, let me go and pay my vow, which I have vowed unto the Lord in Hebron: for thy servant vowed a vow while I abode at Geshur in Syria; saying, If the Lord shall bring me again indeed to Jerusalem, then I will serve the Lord.-2 Sam. xv. 6, &c.

Jehu gathered all the people together, and said unto them, Ahab served Baal a little; but Jehu shall serve him much: now therefore call unto me all the prophets of Baal, all his servants, and all his priests; let none be wanting: for I have a great sacrifice to do to Baal, &c. But Jehu did it in subtilty, to the intent that he might destroy the worshippers of Baal, &c. which afterward he did.2 Kings x. 18-26.

When Zedekiah had ordered Jeremiah to conceal the discourse that had passed between the king and him, from the princes, when they should come and ask him concerning it: he also told him what answer to make, in the very words the king gave him, by which he concluded the true matter.-Jer, xxxviii. 2427.

CHAPTER LXXVI.

OF WORDS OR SAYINGS EXPRESSING CHOICE, BUT NOT BINDING US TO THEIR OBSERVANCE.

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal, &c. for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also, &c. I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body what ye shall put on, &c. Behold the fowls of the air; for they sow not, neither do they reap, yet your heavenly Father feedeth them: are ye not much better than they? Which of you, by taking thought, can add one cubit unto his stature ?Matt. vi. 19. 25-27.

Judas's covetousness led him to offer to the chief priests to betray Christ, and to covenant with them for thirty pieces of silver to perform it.-Matt. xxvi. 14-16.

Take heed, and beware of covetousness for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.-Luke xii. 15.

Being filled with all unrighteousness, &c. covetousness, &c. God gave them over to a reprobate mind, &c.Rom. i. 28, 29.

I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous. -1 Cor. v. 11.

The unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God, &c. nor covetous.-1 Cor. vi. 9, 10; Eph. v. 5.

Covetousness, let it not be once named amongst you, as becometh saints, &c. for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.-Eph. v. 3. 6.

Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth, &c. Covetousness, which is idolatry.-Col. iii. 5.

We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out; and having food and raiment, let us be therewith content. But they that will be rich, fall into

many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition: for the love of money is the root of all evil; which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But thou, O man of God, flee these things. -1 Tim. vi. 7—10.

Let your conversation be without covetousness, and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.-Heb. xiii. 5.

Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.-1 John ii. 15, 16.

CHAPTER LXIV.

OF THEFT.

LABAN charged Jacob, his daughter's husband, with stealing his gods.— Gen. xxxi. 30.

Thou shalt not steal.-Exod. xx. 15. The many laws about stealing.Exod. xxii. 1—4.

Ye shall not steal, &c. Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbour, neither rob him. The wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning.-Levit. xix. 11. 13.

When thou sawest a thief, then thou consentedst with him.-Ps. 1. 18.

Will ye steal, &c. and come and stand before me in this house?-Jer. vii. 7. 9, 10.

By killing and stealing, &c. therefore shall the land mourn. — Hosea iv. 2, 3.

Every one that stealeth, shall be cut off, &c. and the curse shall enter into the house of the thief.-Zech. v. 3, 4.

Those things which proceed out of the mouth, come forth from the heart, &c. as thefts.-Matt. xv. 18, 19.

Judas saith, Why was not this ointment sold? &c. This he said,

his sons come to honour, and he knoweth it not: and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them. —Job xiv. 19–21.

My goodness extendeth not to thee; but to the saints that are in the earth. -Ps. xvi. 2, 3.

But the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten. Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun. Eccles. ix. 5, 6.

Doubtless thou art our father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not.-Isa. lxiii. 16.

CHAPTER LXXIX.

OF OUR LORD'S KINDRED ACCORDING TO THE FLESH.

I AM become a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother's children, &c.-Ps. lxix. 8.

Then Joseph, &c. took unto him his wife, and knew her not till she had brought forth her first-born son. -Matt. i. 24, 25.

While he yet talked to the people, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him. Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand with

out, desiring to speak with thee. Matt. xii. 46, 47; Mark iii. 31–35.

Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas? and his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things? Matt. xiii. 55, 56.

She brought forth her first-born son, &c. When Jesus was twelve years old, Joseph and his mother went up to Jerusalem; and returning back, missed him, &c. They sought him amongst their kinsfolk and acquaintance, &c.-Luke ii. 7. 42-44; Matt. i. 25.

After this he went down to Capernaum; he, and his mother, and his brethren, and his disciples; and they continued there not many days.— John ii. 12.

His brethren therefore said unto him, Depart hence, and go into Judea, &c. For neither did his brethren believe in him, &c. But when his brethren were gone up, then went he also up unto the feast, &c.-John vii. 3— 5. 8-10.

These all continued with one ac- cord, &c. with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.-Acts i. 14.

I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, &c. But other apostles saw I none, save James, the Lord's brother.-Gal. i. 18, 19.

Ananias and Sapphira are said to tempt the Lord by their lying about the sale of their possessions.-Acts v.

1-10.

Now, therefore, why tempt ye God to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?-Acts xv. 10.

Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents.-1 Cor. x. 9. God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man.-. -James i. 13.

CHAPTER LXVII.

OF WITCHCRAFT: OR DEALING WITH

FAMILIAR SPIRITS.

do these things, are an abomination unto the Lord; and because of these abominations, the Lord thy God doth drive them out from before thee.— Deut. xviii. 10-12. 14. 20.

Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft. -1 Sam. xv. 23.

Saul said unto his servants, Seek me a woman that hath a familiar spirit, that I may go to her, and inquire of her. And his servants said to him, Behold, there is a woman that hath a familiar spirit at Endor. And Saul went to her, and said, I pray thee, divine unto me by the familiar spirit, and bring me him up whom I shall name, &c. which she did (though she hazarded her life by it.)-1 Sam. xxviii. 7, &c.

What peace, so long as the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel, and her witcherafts are so many?-2 Kings ix. 22.

The soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off, &c. A man also, or a woman, that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death.-Levit. xx. 6. 27.

Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God.-Levit. xix. 31.

When Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless Israel, he went not, as at other times, to seek for (or to the meeting of) enchantments. Numb. xxiv. 1; xxiii. 23; Josh. xxiii. 7.

There shall not be found among you any, &c. that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch, or a charmer, or

The workers with familiar spirits, and the wizards, &c. did Josiah put away.-2 Kings xxiii. 24.

So Saul died for his transgression, &c. and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to inquire of it.-1 Chron. x. 13.

Therefore thou hast forsaken thy people, the house of Jacob, because they be replenished from the east, and are soothsayers, like the Philistines. Isa. ii. 6.

When they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead?-Isa. viii. 19.

Stand thou with thy enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein thou hast laboured from thy youth; if so be thou shalt be able to profit, if so be thou mayest prevail, &c. Let now the astrologers,