A commentary or, exposition upon the divine second epistle general, writtenA commentary or, exposition vpon the diuine second epistle generall, written

If these things be in you and abound. I will not Martyr the Text, but begin as the Apostle begins, with the Heart. Wherein I conceive four particulars; the seed, the ground, the sowing, and the growing. 1. The seed, [Greek or Hebrew], these things. 2. The ground, [Greek or Hebrew], In you. 3. The sowing, which makes them [Greek or Hebrew], to Be in you. 4. The growing, [Greek or Hebrew]: so in you that they abound and thrive. First, for the seed, and herein observe two things.

If these things be in you and abound. I will not Martyr the Text, but begin as the Apostle begins, with the Heart. Wherein I coneeive foure particulars; the seed, the ground, the sowing, and the growing. 1. The seed, 〈non-Latin alphabet〉, these things. 2. The ground, 〈non-Latin alphabet〉, In you. 3. The sowing, which makes them 〈non-Latin alphabet〉, to Be in you. 4. The growing, 〈non-Latin alphabet〉: so in you that they abound and thrive. First, for the seed, and herein observe two things.

First, we make choice of our seed, and allow it good; or else expect no good harvest. He that sows cockle, looks not for wheat: of tares cast into the ground, we think it impossible to find barley.^o Whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap. Who can wonder to see him reap a curse, that hath sown a curse! Thus it often cometh to pass, that the matter of sin is read in the punishment; as the crop is a remonstrance of the seed. Doth Adam sow the seed of ambition, aspiring above a man? he is brought so low as to be beholding to the beasts for apparel; there's the crop. Cain would not offer Abel a resting place on earth, therefore the earth shall allow him none. Rehoboam would make his finger heavier than his fathers loins: therefore his loins shall be made lighter than his fathers finger. Samuel hewing Agag in pieces, showed him the harvest of his own seed: