The Wicked are not only Captives of the Devil, stripped of all their first Righteousness, in Prison, in Iron Chains, almost starved to Death spiritually; but also they are wounded from the Sole of the Foot to the Head, there is no soundness in it, 1but Wounds, and Bruises, and putrefying Sores. Some conclude, that the Prophet speaks of the Body Politic, or National Church of the Jews, which was under great Affliction, and so was that way sorely wounded. But doubtless the Wounds and Sickness spoken of here, were those Sins and abominable Evils that People were guilty of; which appears from what is said by the Lord in the first Verse, Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: And as a Proof of it, he saith, The whole Head is sick, and the whole Heart faint. Sin was the Sickness, and the Wounds; and those Afflictions that God had brought upon them, was the Cure. But why (saith God) should I afflict or chastise you any more, or use Means for your Help and Healing, when under the Use or Exercise of that Sovereign Means I have used, you grow worse and worse? 'Tis said of the Man that went from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among Thieves,2 that he was not only stripped of his Raiment, but wounded also. My Wounds stink, and are corrupt, saith David; and in another place he cries out, Lord, 3have mercy upon me, and heal my Soul; for I have sinned against thee. From whence it appears,4 that a godly Man may be wounded by his Sin, and that sorely too. Every Sin makes a Wound in the Soul; what a fearful Case are unconverted Souls then in? O that Sinners would but consider this. See Sin a Wound and Sickness.
⟨p. 204⟩X. Some Persons that have been taken captive, and brought into Prison and Bondage, besides other sad Circumstances they have been under, they have been brought under the Sentence of Death, nay, and for their horrid Rebellions, Treasons, &c. under a fearful and painful Death, as to be torn in pieces, or burned alive. | X. The Ungodly, who remain Captives to Satan, being under the power of their Lusts, or abiding in the State of Unregeneracy, are not only under all the sad Circumstances you have heard; but to render them every way miserable, (as in truth their present State is) they are under the Sentence of Death. Perhaps some would conclude, that Death to such Persons I have given the Character of, is better than Life;
The Wicked are not only Captives of the Devil, stript of all their first Righteousness, in Prison, in Iron Chains, almost starved to Death spiritually; but also they are wounded from the Sole of the Foot to the Head, there is no soundness in it, 1but Wounds, and Bruises, and putrifying Sores. Some conclude, that the Prophet speaks of the Body Politick, or National Church of the Jews, which was under great Affliction, and so was that way sorely wounded. But doubtless the Wounds and Sickness spoken of here, were those Sins and abominable Evils that People were guilty of; which appears from what is said by the Lord in the first Verse, Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: And as a Proof of it, he saith, The whole Head is sick, and the whole Heart faint. Sin was the Sickness, and the Wounds; and those Afflictions that God had brought upon them, was the Cure. But why (saith God) should I afflict or chastise you any more, or use Means for your Help and Healing, when under the Use or Exercise of that Sovereign Means I have used, you grow worse and worse? 'Tis said of the Man that went from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among Thieves,2 that he was not only stript of his Raiment, but wounded also. My Wounds stink, and are corrupt, saith David; and in another place he cries out, Lord, 3have mercy upon me, and heal my Soul; for I have sinned against thee. From whence it appears,4 that a godly Man may be wounded by his Sin, and that sorely too. Every Sin makes a Wound in the Soul; what a fearful Case are unconverted Souls then in? O that Sinners would but consider this. See Sin a Wound and Sickness.
⟨p. 204⟩X. Some Persons that have been taken captive, and brought into Prison and Bondage, besides other sad Circumstances they have been under, they have been brought under the Sentence of Death, nay, and for their horrid Rebellions, Treasons, &c. under a fearful and painful Death, as to be torn in pieces, or burned alive. | X. The Ungodly, who remain Captives to Satan, being under the power of their Lusts, or abiding in the State of Unregeneracy, are not only under all the sad Circumstances you have heard; but to render them every way miserable, (as in truth their present State is) they are under the Sentence of Death. Perhaps some would conclude, that Death to such Persons I have given the Character of, is better than Life;
- 1Isa 1.6.
- 2Luk. 10.30
- 3Psal. 88.51
- 4Psal 41.4.
