A00665:778
A commentary or, exposition upon the divine second epistle general, writtenA commentary or, exposition vpon the diuine second epistle generall, written
A commentary or, exposition upon the divine second epistle general, written by the blessed apostle St. Peter. By Thomas AdamsA commentary or, exposition vpon the diuine second epistle generall, written by the blessed apostle St. Peter. By Thomas Adams
London: printed by Richard Badger and Felix Kyngston for Jacob Bloome, 1633London: printed by Richard Badger and Felix Kyngston for Iacob Bloome, 1633
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
O the vain assurance of these fugitive things! Vel sequendo labimur, vel assequendo laedimur. No, I will hold me fast by the LORD, for that is sure. They that trust in the LORD,1 shall be as mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever. The Dove makes moan to her fellow-birds, of the tyranny of the Hawk. One counsels her to fly aloft, but the Hawk can mount as high as she. Another adviseth her to keep below, but the Hawk can stoop for his prey. Another, to shroud her self in the woods, there she shall be sure: but alas, that was the Hawk's manor, the place where he kept his court. Another bids her keep the Town, there she was sure from the Hawk: but so she became a prey to man, and had her eyes put out to make the Hawk sport. At last one bids her nest her self in the hole of a Rock, there she should be safe, violence it self could not surprise her. The Dove is mans Soul, she would gladly be secured from Satan: come to me, saith Riches, here thou shalt be sure? No, wealth is the Devils stirrup whereby he gets up, and rides the covetous. Come to me, saith Pleasure, here thou shalt be sure; as if she were not as very whore as Delilah, to betray thee to that Philistine. Honour says, Come to me, here thou art sure; as if the Devil durst not come near the Court-gates; or Greatness were a Supersedeas to sin, or a protection against the arrest of judgements. No, there is no Sureness in thy lands, none in thy moneys, none in thy honours, none in thy pleasures: neither Court, nor City, nor Country; neither Castles nor Forts can save thee; yet there is a Rock for this Dove,2 O my dove that art in the clefts of the Rock. The clefts of this Rock are the wounds of Jesus Christ; fly thither, O my soul, and be safe! Psal. 55.6. O that I had wings like a Dove, then would I fly away and be at rest. Thy wings are faith and prayer; high thee to this Rock, there only thou art sure; all the devils in hell shall not pluck thee from the merciful arms of Christ, Joh. 10.28. They shall never be plucked out of my hand. How are we sure that we are in his hand? if his Spirit be in our ⟨p. 219⟩heart. It was a good argument of Manoahs wife,