_8thly_, We sometimes find ironical expressions, and sarcasms used in scripture, with a design to expose the wickedness and folly of men. Thus, when our first parents sinned by adhering to the suggestions of Satan, who told them, that they _should be as gods, knowing good and evil_, Gen. iii. 5. God says in an ironical way, _Behold the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil, &c._ ver. 22. And the prophet Elijah exposes Baal’s worshippers; and Micaiah, Ahab’s false prophets, by using a sarcastic way of speaking, 1 Kings xviii. 27. and chap. xxii. 15. And Job uses the same figurative way of speaking, when he reproves the bitter invectives, and false reasonings of his friends; _No doubt but ye are the people, and wisdom shall die with you_, Job xii. 2. And Solomon uses the same way of address, when he says, _Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth, and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of youth, and walk in the ways of thy heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: But know thou, that for all these things God bring thee into Judgment_, Eccl. xi. 9. And, the man that trusts in his own righteousness for justification, is also exposed in the same way, ‘Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks; walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled: This shall ye have of mine hand, ye shall lie down in sorrow,’ Isa. l. 11. And when our Saviour says to his disciples, having found them asleep, in Matt. xxvi. 45, 46. ‘Sleep on now, and take your rest; behold the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners,’ it is plain from the following words, that he uses this figurative way of speaking; for he immediately adds, without an irony, _Rise, let us be going_.