very licentious, they greedily griped the possessions of the churcli, and ^vould not lack their part of Christ's coat. And Mr Blair, a great cuunsL'llor of Scotland, being under great horrors of conscience, pro- fessed that he pretended to religion only to get wealth. I have read of a prince that was of no religion but that which was for his own advantage, and that would advance his own interest. Truly there is no hypocrite that breathes, that doth any good, but he hath some carnal design in it.
[5.] Fifthly, A hypocrite will not acknouiedge God in his own righteous judgments : Job xxxvi. 13, ' The hypocrite crieth not when God bindeth him.' The Hebrew word, annegun, that is here rendered ' cry,' conies from a Hebrew root, which signifies to make no noise. A hypocrite will not acknowledge the justice and the righteousness of God against him ; he will not cry, he will make no noise. Although God's hand be sore upon him and against him, he will not say, This is the justice and the righteousness of God ; though God s hand be lifted up against him. yet he makes no noi.se ; though God binds him and deals with him as i)risoners are bound and dealt with — fur so the Hebrew signifies — yet they will make no noise. In Isa. xxvi. 11, ' When thy hand is lifted up, they will not see, but they shall see and be ashamed.' The word, HTn, signifies to ' see' with the greatest exactness and curiosity that can be, to see with the eye and contemplate with the mind : he will not see. Ay, but, saitli God, be- fore I have done with him, I will make him see with his eye, and con- template on my judgments with his mind. He shall see : Jer. v. 10-12, ' Go ye up ui)on the walls, and destroy ; but make not a fuU end : and take away her battlements ; for they are not the Lord's.' The Hebrew word, l^DJ, natash, that is rendered ' battlements,' signifies the young suckers that grow up about a plant ; and by a similitude here may be understood the counter-scarf towers and leaning places. The battlements were to compass the house round about, to keep men from falling off" ; for among the Jews their houses had flat roofs, on which men Avalked, and from thence they called and spake to the people: to which Christ alludes in Mat. x. 27. The height of the battlement was not to be less than ten hands'-breadths, and it was to be strong, that men might lean thereon, and not fall to maim any. Take away her Ijattlements, take away her succours, her towers, her leaning-places, for they are not the Lord's. But wliy will God strip them of their strength, and succours, and leaning or resting-places? Yer. 11, 'For the house of Israel and the house of Judali have dealt wry treacherously against me, saith the Lord.' ' Tliey have deceived me, they have de- ceived me;' so it is in the Hebrew, to shew that they have most notoriously and frequently dealt guiltfully, deceitfully, and fraudulently with God. But how does this appear, thai they have dealt thus with God ? It is answered in ver. 12, ' They have ])elied the Lord, and saitl. It is not he ; neither shall evil come upon us ; neither shall we see sword nor famine.' The Hebrew word that is rendered here ' belied,' ' they have belied tha Lord,' [tiTTD,] signifies ' to deny.' So it is used in Gen. xviii. 15, ' Then Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not.' It is the same word that is here rendered Ijelied. ' They have denied the TiOrd, and said, It is not he ;' tiiey have denied the justice and right-
ISA. X. 6.] DETECTED, ANATOMIZED, ETC. 377
eousness and severity of God in his judgments against them ; and this is evident in the third verse of this chapter, ' 0 Lord, are not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast stricken them.' The Hebrew word signifies ' to smite,' [HDJ, nacha,] ' to wound,' ' to kill.' Lord, thou hast smitten them, thou hast wounded them, thou hast killed some of them, but they have not grieved. The Hebrew word signifies [halu a hoi] ' to pain,' ' to make sick.' Though I have dealt thus severely wdth them, yet they are not pained, they are not sick, but bear up hard against all the blows and wounds I have given them. ' Thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction.' The Hebrew word that is here rendered ' refused,' signifies to refuse with the greatest pride, disdain, and scorn that may be, Ezek. xvii. 14. Oh ! says God, though I have consumed them, yet they proudly, disdain- fully, and scornfully refuse to receive correction. The word that is here rendered ' correction' signifies both chastening and teaching, the one being the end of the other. Though my rod has been heavy upon them, yet they have proudly and scornfully refused to be taught by my rod ; they have made their faces harder than a rock ; they have re- fused to return.
[6.] Sixthly, Hypocrites despise those that, in their apprehension, are in outwm'dforin below them, and envy those that, in the spirit and power of holiness and cjodllness, do excel them: Luke xviii. 11, 12, ' God, I bless thee that I am not as this publican : I fast twice in the week.' He pleads his negative righteousness, and he stands on his comparative goodness, ' I am not as this publican : I fast twice in the week,' — on Thursdays, because on that day Moses went up to mount Sinai ; and on Mondays, because on that day he came down, saitli Drusius. Hypocrites are better at shewing their worth than their wants ; they are as notable at discommending others, as they are at commending themselves ; at abasing others, as at exalting themselves ; at lessening others, as at greatening themselves. They envy every sun that outshines their own. Let a man excel them in his enjoyments of God, in his communion with God, in acting for God, &c., he shall be envied and hated to the death, John xi. 47, 48. Androgens, son of Minos, king of Crete, was slain by the Athenians, and ]\Iegarenes, for envy, because he overcame all in exercises of arms. So Socrates, that in the judgment of Apollo was the wisest man on earth, and in many moral excellencies did outshine all others, which the eye of envy could not endure, which occasioned him to say, ' My accusers nor my crime cannot kill me, but envy only, which hath and will destroy the worthiest ever.' The emperor Adrian oppressed some, and slew others, that excelled in any art or faculty, that he might be held the only skilful artist. Aristotle is said to have burnt and abolished the books of many philosophers, that he might be the more admired : even so do hypocrites envy all that do excel them in any spiritual or moral excellencies.
There are divers other characters that I might give of those hypo- crites that God is so severe in his judgments against : as (1) that they are most zealous about the external part of duties, and regard not the spiritual part of duties, Isa. i. 11-18 ; Mat. xxiii. 25-27 ; John xviii. 28. And (2) that they are seemingly for one thing and really for an-
378 THE IIYPOCUITE [ISA. X. 6.