Wicked Men Compared to Mad Men

    WICKED MEN COMPARED TO MAD MEN

    "Yea also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and Madness is in their hearts whilst they live" &c., Ec 9:3

    "When he came to himself, he said, how many hired servants of my father have bread enough, and to spare" &c., Lu 15:17.

    WICKED Men are set forth in the scripture as Men out of their wits, Men distracted, Mad Men. And truly the choice they make, their actions, and behaviour show, as if they were indeed beside themselves; they are really void of right reason, or Men that have lost their spiritual understanding.

    PARALLELS

    I. A Mad Man is one that is deprived of his natural reason, a beast as it were, in the shape of a Man. So all the ungodly of the earth have lost their spiritual reason, they are Men of no understanding, and more fitly may be said to be beasts in the form or shape of Men, than such as have lost their human reason.

    II. Some Mad Men are desperate, and very mischievous, care not what hurt they do. O how desperate are Wicked Men! How will they swear, curse, and blaspheme the holy name of God, and dare God to damn them; and for mischief, they delight in nothing more, spoiling and utterly destroying their innocent neighbours.

    III. Mad Men are usually bound, lest they should proceed too far in their mischievous ways: so God chains up, or puts, wicked Men into bonds, limits their power, lest they should go too far in their cruel and mischievous designs against his people.

    IV. Mad Men are usually committed to prison: so Wicked Men are under the cursed bondage and slavery of Satan, who takes them captive at his will.

    V. A Mad Man will even spit in the face of his dearest friend, who with much affection seeks his good: so Wicked Men do as it were spit in the very faces of God's faithful ministers, who in bowels of tender love and compassion seek their good; and is this any marvel, when they in a base manner spit in the face of Christ himself?

    VI. Mad Men refuse clothes, and will go naked: so Wicked Men refuse spiritually to be clothed with the robe of Christ's righteousness; they will go naked in God's sight, or have nothing to cover them but the rags of their own righteousness.

    There are many other properties in Mad people, which may aptly be applied to ungodly men; but because divers of them agree likewise with the characters of fools or idiots, we shall refer you to that concerning fools, &c.

    INFERENCES

    No marvel if God's people meet with so much trouble in this world, and are exposed to so many dangers by the Wicked: alas! they are mad: let us take the less notice of what they do to us; they are out of their right minds, distracted, &c. What a Mad world is this! How few are there that come to themselves! Most Men and woman are Mad.