them everlasting life Hee 's that Joshua who leads us and gives us possession of our spiritual and celestial Canaan 2. This Captain Prince and Authour was made perfect of God by Suffering or God made him perfect by Sufferings To be perfected in this place is to be consecrated and made a compleat Priest or at least to be put in an immediate capacity to act as a Priest Aaron and the Levitical Priests had their Consecration and it was not without Blood and the death of Sacrifices and the form was instituted and prescribed by God who alone could give them this Glory Power and Office That Christ was a Priest is expresse Scripture as we shall understand in this Epistle hereafter Yet such he could not be without Consecration neither could he be consecrated without Blood and suffering of Death and offering a bloody Sacrifice And the difference of the Consecration of other Priests and him was this that though both were consecrated by Blood yet they were consecrated by the blood of Beaâ—â—s sacrificed He by his own Blood when he sacrificed and offered himself without spot unto God The reason of this was Because he must be a Meditatour between God and sinful Man to reconcile them but no reconcilion without Blood and no Blood but his own Blood immaculate would be accepted For though God was merciful and willing to be reconciled yet his justice would admit of no reconciliation but upon satisfaction to be made by this Blood God did manifest his Justice and hatred of sin by punishing it in Christ before he would pardon it in Man It was God that did Consecrate him for no Man or Angel could conferr this Office upon him or make him an universal and eternal Priest to officiate and minister in Heaven only God could do this And he as supream Lord and Law-giveâ— could appoint and accept him to be Redeemer prescribe the manner of Consecration and as supream Judge accept of his Consecration once finished and invest him with this sacerdotal Power In these respects God is said to Consecrate him By him thus consecrated many Sons are brought to Glory There are many Sons brought to Glory he that brings them to Glory is God he doth this by Christ consecrated and made their Captain To bring to Glory is in the end to give possession of Glory and that everlasting and most excellent Estate prepared for the Sons of God These are many and are made his Sons by Regeneration and Adoption The one doth make them capable of the other gives them right to Glory which they shall fully enjoy when their heavenly Birth and gracious Adoption are perfected They derive their title from their Captain as consecrated by Suffering and received by Faith For as they are the Sons and Heirs of God so are they joynt-Heirs with Christ and in his right And if he never had been consecrated by Sufferings they never had been either Sons or Heirs or Glorified For he by his Sufferings merited all and laid the foundation of their eternal Happiness And for this Suffering he made him Captain and Head of all his Sons and gave him power to give eternal Life to as many as he had given him It 's God who brings these Sons to Glory by their Head and Captain He loved Man he gave his Son to Death he raised him up again made him King and Priest and gave him power to convert us and by him he adopts us and by him he gives us Glory The sum of all is this The glorification of sinful Man from first to last is from God it 's he and he alone that brings him to Glory yet though the persons glorified be many yet they are all Sons and none but Sons shall enjoy the Inheritance neither are they Sons by Nature or of themselves He makes them such by Christ and Christ was consecrated by Sufferings and made their Captain It became him for whom and by whom are all things in bringing many Sons to Glory thus to do God is here described from his efficiency where-by he is the cause of all things the universal Agent who produceth preserveth ordereth all things to their end especially his Sons unto Glory For though his works be many then some are more excellent then others and one of the chiefest is the Salvation of man Some do think that by these words for whom and by whom are meant that God is the final and efficient cause of all yet in strict sense God cannot in himself be said to be the end of any thing yet the manifestation of his glorious Perfection may be said to be intended by him in all his Works To consecrate the Captain of all his Sons by Sufferings did become him that is it seemed best to his divine Wisdom to use this means as most fit to manifest his justice and mercy in the Redemption and Salvation of man What Ways and means as conducing to this end he knew or his divine Wisdom did dictate unto him is hidden from us but this here mentioned he resolved upon as the best and most agreeable to his excellent perfection For God doth nothing but that which becomes him so glorious in himself and so excellent an Agent Men may do many things unbeseeming and no ways befitting them to do nay Angels have done many things which did not become so noble Spirits to do but God doth nothing but what God may do And this is the reason why Christ must taste of Death for every man Because it seemed good to God by that way and means to save sinful man And this is the relative consideration and connexion implyed in the causal conjunction For. They give a reason why Christ was lower then the Angels and suffered Death And why It became God so to do Ver. 11. For both he that Sanctifieth c. § 14. The Apostle in these and the following words doth manifest how it became God to cast Christ below the Angels and consecrate him by Sufferings and he doth so manifest it as that it may appear to be agreeable to Reason which is a spark or ray of divine Light To understand this the better you must remember 1. That Christ was lower then the Angels in suffering Death 2. That as God or Angel he could not suffer Death 3. If he could have suffered Death as a Spirit yet that Death was not so fit to redeem Man or expiate his sin and sanctify him 4. That seeing he must both dy and dy for man he must be Man and mortal Man to sanctify man These things premised the Apostle proves that it became God to make Christ a mortal Man and the reason is because he that sanctifyeth and they who are sanctifyed ought and must be of one and this is the coherence In the words themselves we have the unity and indentity of the Sanctifier and sanctified By the Sanctifier or the person sanctifying is meant Christ and by the sanctified sinful men by being of one that
People as a third part 1. In making the Covenant in signifying God's Will unto the People and returning the People's Answer unto God Exod. 19. 2. 2. In confirming it by Blood as an indifferent distinct person Exod. 24. To which place the Apostle doth allude as we shall understand hereafter in the illustration This is the meaning of the first Proposition The second may be divided for explication and made two 1. Christ by means of Death expiated Transgressions under the former Covenant 2. By means of this Death the Called receive the promise of eternal Inheritance The first implies 1. That there were Transgressions under the former Covenant 2. That there was a Redemption of these Transgressions 3. This Redemption was by the Death of Christ. The first is clear enough for Moses Aaron David and the Saints of God from the times of Moses till the exhibition of Christ had their sins much more others not sanctified The second cannot be doubted of for if there was no Redemption of those Sins and Transgressions then they could not be saved they must suffer eternal punishments as they did temporal By Redemption here is meant Expiation and Propitiation whereby their sins were made remissible and upon certain terms and conditions performed actually to be remitted The third will be granted in general that the Expiation was by Death and Blood but that they were expiated by the Blood of Christ many of the Jews denied Yet if they had understood the Books of Moses they might have known that the Blood of Bulls and Goats could not expiate the Sin of Man a rational and immortal Creature not free from the eternal Punishment Some Legal frailties and infirmities they might expiate and avert some temporal penalties Therefore there must of necessity be some other Death and Blood that must do it And this was the Blood of Christ which all their Ilastical Sacrifices and Lustrations did typify Yet this is not so to be understood as though their Sins were not remissible and remitted till Christ dyed and offered his Sacrifice for by vertue of this Death fore-seen and fore-accepted they were in their Life-time upon their Repentance Faith in Christ to come and their fervent Prayers pardoned They did not rely upon their Legal Sacrifices nor expected Remission from them but relyed upon this Death of Christ to come according to the Promise That in him all Nations should be blessed This Proposition is not to be understood exclusively as though Christ's Death did expiate no Sin but that which was committed under the first Covenant but emphatically to singnify 1. That there was no Expiation for Transgressions under the Law 2. That if Christ's Death expiate former Transgressions under the Law much more will it expiate such as are committed under the Gospel 3. That there was no reason as some observe why they should be offended with the Death of Christ seeing without his Death and Blood neither they nor their Fathers could be saved but must suffer eternal penalties The second part of this second Proposition informs us that 1. There is an eternal Inheritance 2. There is a Promise of it 3. The called receive this Promise 4. By means of Christ's Death they receive this Promise For in the words we have an Inheritance the Heirs the Conveyance the Purchase or rather the price whereby it 's purchased The Inheritance is eternal Happiness the Heirs are the called the Conveyance is by Promise and Covenant the price of the purchase is Christ's Death and Blood 1. The Inheritance is that blessed and glorious Estate which is to be enjoyed upon the Resurrection for the full possession and enjoyment is reserved for Heaven where it 's said to be laid up and reserved It 's said to be eternal in opposition to the Land of Canaan which was the temporal Inheritance of them and their Fathers and to be enjoyed with the Blessings thereof so long as they kept the Covenant of their God and this was the Inheritance promised in the former Covenant and to this which formerly was called God's Rest the Apostle seems to allude as a Type of this which was far more excellent and glorious of eternal continuance in respect of the Inheritance it self the parties enjoying it and the enjoyment thereof 2. This eternal Inheritance was promised there was a Promise of it It was God's and the disposal of it was at his Will Man for his sin was cast out of Paradise and forfeited Heaven with the eternal Bliss thereof yet it was in his mind to give it sinful Man who deserved it not so great was his mercy and bounty and Man must know this For this end he promised it and by his Promise bound himself to give it and in it did signify his Will The Effect of this Promise was Obligation on God's part and a Right unto it on Man's part an Hope to obtain it and a Comfort upon this Hope And here it 's to be observed that our Title to eternal life depends immediately upon the Promise and is derived from it for as the Israelites had the Land of Canaan and held it by Covenant and Promise so do all the Children of God expect the heavenly Canaan and hope to have it by Promise of the new Covenant Some do ' understand by the Promise of eternal Inheritance this Inheritance promised yet there must be a Promise received before we receive the thing promised 3. After the Inheritance and the Promise and Conveyance follows the Heirs which are here said to be the called Some are not called at all these have no Promise of the Inheritance Such were the Gentiles before the Gospel was preached unto them they were Strangers from the Covenants of Promise having no Hope and without God in the World Ephes. 2. 12. Some are called and have the means of Conversion but reject the terms of the Covenant and refuse to enter into it and engage themselvs such were the unbelieving Jews and many others Some are called enter the Covenant and solemnly bind themselvs to the observation of it yet do not observe it In respect of these two last it is that Christ saith Many are called but few are chosen Matth. 22. 14. None of these are Heirs Some are called and are obedient to the heavenly Call and keep the Covenant these receive the eternal Inheritance promised and first acquire the Title and after that the Possession Some were called before the Exhibition of Christ some after the former are here principally meant though the latter with them receive the Inheritance 4. These called Ones of former times with us receive this Promise by vertue of Christ's Death expiating their sins and of his Blood purging their Conscience To understand this you must consider that none but such whose Sins are expiated and their Consciences purged can be Heirs for they must be regenerated and acted by the Spirit and adopted Sons before they can be Heirs For as the Apostle argues If Sons then Heirs
were yet here they are called Brethren as believing in Christ and holy as sanctified by the Spirit of Christ So that this is a Fraternity in respect of Religion Christian. They became such Brethren and so holy by the heavenly Call they were partakers of the heavenly Calling For as they were not Brethren so neither were they holy by natural Generation but by supernatural and spiritual Regeneration as before To be partakers of this Call is either barely to be called or to be partakers of this Mercy together with others It 's said to be Heavenly as some understand it in respect of the efficient and the final Cause It 's from Heaven that is from God who is the principal Cause of this Work and because they are to be called to Heaven that is eternal Glory which is the end and ultimate Effect thereof In it we may consider 1. The Work of God 2. The Duty of Man 3. The Benefit following upon both The Work of God is by the Word of the Gospel and the Power of the Spirit to enlighten and sanctify man and gave him a Divine Power to believe and turn unto Him The duty of Man is to be obedient to the heavenly Call The benefit is the admission of him as obedient unto his heavenly Kingdom and receiving him as an Heir of Glory Upon this heavenly Call followeth a great change both in the disposition and condition of man called For his disposition he is made of unholy holy and therefore said to be called with an holy Calling and to be called unto Holiness For his condition he is made of miserable happy and therefore said to be called unto eternal Glory And because the distance between holiness and happiness and sinful and miserable Man is so great therefore this work of God is a work of great power and because the change is so happy therefore it 's a work of great mercy wherein God freely prevents man so that if he should not thus prevent him he would be for ever sinful and miserable Wo unto all such as are disobedient to this heavenly Call and neglect this preventing Grace for as their Sin is more hainous so their Punishment shall be more grievous The Apostle seems to put them in mind of this Calling to let them know how deeply they are engaged to God and how unworthy they should be if they should not persevere unto the end § 3. The duty exhorted unto is expressed ver 6. It 's to hold fast the confidence and rejoycing of the hope firm to the end and is repeated ver 14. It 's opposed to unbelief ver 12. Take heed Brethren lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God The duty therefore is persevetance which presupposeth that they had received the Truth of the Gospel and professed their Faith in Christ and is a continâ—ance in this Faith once received and professed to the end This Faith was from God and was wrought in them by the heavenly Call and the continuance of it depends upon God He gave it at the first he continues it to the last yet so that man must be obedient at the first and use all means with diligent care to preserve it to the last Some refuse to obey at the first others who have professed and received the Truth fall off before the end and both these are sins and they only guilty of them § 4. The reasons follow 1. From the excellency of Christ which is set forth by Comparison The parties compared are Christ and Moses both excellent but Christ far more And here it is observable 1. That the duty is the same with that which was pressed Chap. 2. 2. That the ground of that was the excellency of Christ above the Angels of this the excellency of Christ above Moses 3. The reason there was that if the disobedience unto the word of Angels was punished with Death how much more grievously shall they be punished which disobey the Gospel of Christ 4. The reason here is that if their fathers for their unbelief and disobedience to the Doctrine of Moses were eternally shut out of God's rest how much more shall they he shut out of Heaven and Christ's eternal rest if they do not continue in the Faith of Christ but fall off from their profession To understand this first reason we must consider 1. The excellency of Christ and the excellency of Moses absolutely and positively 2. The excellency of both comparatively that so we may understand the excellency of the one fâ—t above the the excellency of the other 1. Therefore they must consider the excellency of Christ Jesus which is this That he is the Apostle and High-Priest of their Profession Their profession was of the Christian Faith and Religion which they did professe The Authour Apostle and Legate sent from Heaven who first published this Faith and Doctrine was Christ the Son of God by whom God spake who was formerly proved to be more excellent then the Prophets then the Angels So that their Religion was from God nor by Prophets or Angels but by Christ the great Prophet For here to be an Apostle is to be a Prophet Yet Moses and so many others may be Prophets yet no High-Priest but Christ Jesus is not only the Prophet but the High-Priest who mediates between God and Man and officiates so as to make his Doctrine effectual and saving and expiate his Peoples Sin that they may be reconciled to their God This two-fold power was necessary as without which he could not have been a perfect Saviour These are his two Offices upon which the Apostle so much enlargeth and insisteth But 〈◊〉 may be an Officer and yet prove unfaithful and not discharge his trust yet Christ was faithful For it follows Ver. 2. Who was faithful to him that appointed him § 5. This is concerning Christ's fidelity expressed both absolutely in these words and comparatively in those which follow 1. Absolutely He was faithful to him who appointed him 2. Comparatively As Moses was faithful in all his House The former words 1. Imply his ordination 2. Expresse his fidelity to him that ordained him Where we have two Propositions 1. That God appointed Him 2. He was faithful to God In that He was appointed or made an Apostle and High-Priest of our Christian profession for so the words are to be understood it 's evident that He did not Usurp this two-fold Power and Office but received it and acquired it legally and none could invest Him with this Power but onely God and the reason is because it is so eminent and transcendent After he was once advanced he was faithful to that God who advanced and trusted him with so great a Power This fidelity was the true and full discharge of his Apostolical and Sacerdotal Office in perfectly doing all things necessary for the eternal Salvation of Man so far as it depended upon this two-fold Office As an Apostle or Prophet
to null and abrogate it The effect of this Gospel upon the Expiation made by Christ is the Perfection that is the Justification and Sanctification of sinful guilty Man whereby he is freed from the sad and woful Consequents of Sin and especially from the condemning vindicative Justice of God and eternal death and so may draw nigh to God Where we must consider 1. What it is to draw nigh to God 2. Why this Clause is added To draw nigh to God is sometimes a Duty somtimes a Reward and Priviledge given for Christ's merit to such as perform the Duty As it is a Duty it 's sometimes a coming to the place where God hath put his Name and where he vouchsafed his special presence as in the Tabernacle and Temple he did for to worship him It 's sometime a worshipping of God or performing any divine Service unto him for then we pretend to leave the World and turn our backs upon all things and to present our selves before his Throne as in Prayer and other Duties Again it is a turning from our sins with a Resolution to forsake them and an engagement of our selvs and that with our whole hearts to be his Servants and obedient Subjects And this we cannot do effectually without Faith in Christ and the further we depart from sin the nearer we draw to him and are more like unto him This is a Duty But to have peace with God to be reconciled to him so as to have free access with boldness and confidence to the Throne of Grace where he sits as propitiated by the Blood of Christ and as a Father looks upon us as his Children is a great and gracious reward and special priviledg and presupposeth the former Duty performed and the party performing it in the state of Justification and Reconciliation For being justified by Faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ By whom also we have acccess by Faith into this Grace wherein we stand c. Rom. 5. 1 2. To understand this more fully we must consider That the words are in some sort Metaphorical wherein the Apostle alludes either to the giving of the Law upon Mount Sinai where he represented himself very terrible as sitting in the Throne of Justice and not of Grace and Mercy so as that to draw nigh unto him was a present Death The People must keep at a distance only Moses might come near and ascend the Mount which was a special and extraordinary favour or he may allude unto the legal dispensation under which no unclean person as a Leper or one defiled by touching a dead body or some other way might come into the Congregation or nigh the Tabernacle or Temple so as to worship with God's People before they were cleansed and purified but upon their purification finished they might draw nigh and come with the rest of God's unpolluted Servants to Worship and to serve their God so as to have communion with him and receive mercies blessings and comforts from him So in this place such as are perfected that is justified and sanctified through Faith by the Blood of Christ have liberty to draw nigh to God as to a Father to seek and receive mercies and increase of Grace and heavenly Comforts and have sweet communion with him Before their justification and reconciliation they stood at a distance from their God and looked upon him as a consuming Fire and to draw near was danger though even then they might have some hope of mercy They are like the Publican standing a far off and beating upon his Brest and saying Lord be merciful to me a Sinner but when their Consciences are purged and their Souls by Faith are cleansed in the Blood of Christ they then have liberty and draw nigh to serve and worship God with confidence that he will accept their persons prayers and other Services This is the drawing nigh to God here meant yet you must know that these approaches are not so nigh in this life but that there is some distance But in the place of Glory the approach shall be so near as that it will take away all distance and we shall have immediate and full communion with our God The reason why this Clause was added which is the second thing is to let us know how far more excellent the Gospel is above the Law For by the Law no Man was brought nigh to God or might approach unto him in this manner It 's true they might draw nigh to the place of God's special presence if legally clean or cleansed and by observation of the Law escape some temporal Judgments obtain some temporal Blessings and enjoy some earthly Comforts yet continue spiritually unclean guilty and liable to eternal penalties be far from God with their hearts remain unjustified unsanctified and so could have no spiritual peace with God nor any heavenly comfort neither could they draw nigh to God with boldness so as to have any near communion with him To draw nigh to God as to a Father in Christ is a far more excellent priviledg and could not be obtained by the Law Some do make these words a reason to prove that Perfection was had by the Priest-hood of Christ because by it we draw nigh to God And it 's true that by Christ as a Priest and the Gospel we obtain this priviledg which the Law could not give us For to draw nigh to God presupposeth the party approaching perfected and sanctified and by what we are sanctified by that we draw nigh and this priviledg doth prove perfection by the Gospel as the effect doth prove and manifest the cause So that the argumentation in form is this By what we draw nigh to God by that we are perfected But by the Priest-hood of Christ and the Gospel we are perfected Therefore by them we draw nigh to God For as we must not seperate the Levitical Priest-hood and the Law so neither must we divide the Priest-hood of Christ and the Gospel In all this discourse two things are observable 1. That God did not take away the Levitical Priest-hood and the Law till he brought in the Priest-hood of Christ and the Gospel 2. That he took away that which was imperfect to bring in that which was perfect and far more excellent And all this was done as to manifest his wisdom so especially his mercy and serious intention to save man For he would leave nothing undone that was necessary for the compleating of man's eternal Salvation For if the Levitical Priest-hood and the Law could have justified Man and so given life He had never sent Christ and made him a Priest and revealed the Gospel For then both Christ and Gospel had been needless and useless to that end For as the Apostle saith If there had been a Law given which could have given life verily Righteousness should have been by that Law Gal. 3. 21. But because both Law and Priest-hood were insufficient therefore he decreed
and heavenly things principally intended are the Consciences and immortal Souls of men which being purged make up the Body of the Church which is Militant first on Earth and after that to be Triumphant in Heaven 2. The better Sacrifice above the former is the Sacrifice of Christ and the pure unsported Blood of him who offered himself by the eternal Spirit to God The purifying vertue of this Sacrifice was in this that Christ the Son of God innocent holy righteous as Surety and Hostage of Man-king appointed to be so by God did deny himself took up the Cross shed his Blood for to expiate the Sin of Man and was obedient unto death the death of the Cross For him so excellent to suffer death so willingly for so glorious an end and that at the Command of God was the highest and purest degree of Obedience that ever was performed unto God and was highly accepted and did fully satisfy divine Justice so far as was required In the offering of this Sacrifice he gave himself wholly to his heavenly Father and became as it were a whole Burnt-Offering being wholly consumed with the Zeal of his Father's Glory and the Love of Man-kind And here it is to be noted upon the By That though in the Text we read Sacrifices in the plural number yet this one Sacrifice of Christ is onely meant Estius thinks it's an Enallage of number the Plural for the Singular for the Sacrifice whereby heavenly things are purified is but only one once offered Yet it may be called Sacrifices because it had more vertue than all other purifying Sacrifices and also because it was one of those expiating Sacrifices which were offered unto God yet more excellent than all the rest It 's like that expression of Jâ—phtah's Butial for it 's said he was buried in the Cities of Gâ—lead that is one of the Cities of that Country which was Mizpeh as some think Judg. 12. 7. 3. For the heavenly things and the Consciences of men to be purified is to be freed from Sin that is from the Guilt and Dominion of Sin which is to be justified and sanctified as these words are usually taken This Purification is vertual or actual for when the Blood of Christ was shed offered and accepted for the Sins of men then they may be said to be purified virtually as upon the death of Christ we are said to be reconciled because made reconcilable And when by Faith this Blood is sprinkled upon our Consciences and pardon obtained by Christ's Intercession for peniâ—ent and believing Sinners then they are said to be actually purified and when they are wholly freed from all the Guilt and Power of Sin then they are perfectly purified 4. This Purification by this Sacrifice was necessary for supposing God's Will and Decree concerning the eternal Happiness of sinful Man in Communion with his God it was necessary Man should be purified for otherwise he could have no fellowship with God so as to derive eternal Happiness from him For as God is Light and just and holy so they must be Light just and holy who shall see and enjoy him And because no Sacrifice but this of Christ could thus qualify him therefore it was necessary both that he should be purified and purified with this Sacrifice § 22. Thus far you have heard of the necessity of the death of Christ for the Confirmation of the Covenant illustrated by Similitudes taken from the Law of Nature and the Ceremonial Law of Moses Therefore the Jews except they were very ignorant could have no cause to be offended with this death upon the Cross seeing it was so necessary to the purchasing of the eternal Inheritance and the purging of mens Consciences that they might be capable of the Possession and have a Title unto it for the ground of the Promise from whence the Title is immediately derived is this Sacrifice without which the Promise was never made neither if it had been made could it without this have been valid But let 's consider what follows for he saith Ver. 24. For Christ is not entred into the Holy places made with hands which are Figures of the true but into Heaven it self now to appear before God for us THese words considered absolutely in themselvs seem to be plain and easily understood but the coherence is doubtful Some and amongst the rest Esâ—ius takes little notice of it as not much material Many others finding the causal Conjunction For do agree that in these words the Apostle gives a Reason of something that went before but they differ much in the particular Explication of the Reason Dr. Gouge conceivs that the Apostle's intention is to prove that the Sacrifice of Christ is more excellent than the Sacrifices of the Law and this is true but yet imperfect Beza thinks that the Author in this Text begins another and a new Collation or Comparison to prove the excellency of this Offering and this cannot be denyed Dr. Lushington who is said to be the Translator of Crellius tells us that here is proved That the Heavenly places are purified by better Sacrifices and that because Christ entred not into the earthly Sanctuary but into Heaven it self This doth presuppose that Heaven it self is purified by the Blood of Christ and that Christ entred thereinto for that end But this is difficult to understand and supposeth that which few will grant him A Lapide differs from all these and saith that the Apostle gives in this Text a Reason why he called the Church heavenly or heavenly things and that is because Christ entred into Heaven to unlock the Gates and open the Doors thereof that the faithful might enter thereinto This is not so clear and satisfactory though it hath something of Truth To find out the Connexion we must observe 1. That the Conjunction for or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is sometimes expletive and redundant 2. Sometimes the same that but or moreover is 3. That though it be called by the Grammarians a Causal yet it doth not alwayes imply a Cause but it 's used to bring in any other Reason or Argument and therefore might be called a rational Conjunction Yet Whittington in his Grammar saith that a Causal Conjunction signifies the Cause or Order of that which goeâ— before where he implies that it doth not alwayes joyn the Cause and the Effect 4. Let it be taken for a Conjunction which joyns these words to the former so as to contain a Reason we must consider what was formerly â—ffiâ—med and how it 's here proved To this end let us remember that the Subject of the former discourse was Purification or Expiation of things by Blood of Sacrifices and these things are earthly and carnal or spiritual and heavenly Of these latter he affirmed that it was necessary they should be purified with better Sacrifices The manner how he proves this is this He presupposing that these heavenly things must be purified proves 1. That they were purified by
they apprehend the peril so will their fear be and they cannot apprehend the Judgment but as very grievous near at hand pressing hard upon them and unavoidable and so it will terrify and torment them before the time of Execution The sum of this Text is that as there is no hope of mercy and pardon so there remains a fearful expectation of grievous punishment and the same unavoidable § 28. And lest the Apostate should slatter himself and promise impunity to his Soul the Apostle proceeds to prove it unavoidable and very grievous according to the hainousness of the Sin and this he doth in these words Ver. 28. He that despised Moses Law died without mercy under two or three Witnesses Ver. 29. Of how much sorer punishment suppose ye shall he be thought worthy who hath trâ—dden under foot the Son of God and hath counted the Blood of the Covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing and hath done despite to the Spirit of Grace THese words are a Comparison and it 's two-fold 1. In quality 2. In quantity The first is presupposed and implyed The second intended and expresly delivered The first in quality informs that as he that transgressed Moses Law was punished without mercy so shall he be that Sins wilfully under the Gospel after he hath received the knowledg of the Truth In the second in quantity we may observe 1. The Proposition ver 28. 2. The Reddition ver 29. In the handling of these we must consider 1. The parts absolutely 2. The whole under the notion of a Comparison 3. The force of the Comparison as it is a reason In the Proposition we may take notice of 1. The party to be punished 2. The manner of judicial proceeding 3. The punishment it self 1. The party to be punished is one that transgressed Moses Law that is the Law of God given to Israel by Moses where we have the Person and the Crime or Cause The Person is one under the Law of Moses while it was in force before the time of the Gospel The Crime is a transgression of that Law and this transgression was not any disobedience but such as for which there was no Expiation appointed no Remission in that Law promised it was such a Crime as God determined to be capital and to be punished with a Capital punishment and loss of Life The word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is the same with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which the Septuagint intrepret by the word used in the Text and both signify to revolt and that Revolt from the Law was answerable to Apostacy from the Gospel This was a breach of that fundamental Law Thou shalt have no other Gods but me This was a revolt from the true God their God whom they had acknowledged to be their God unto Idols Yet there might be other Crimes which might so grate upon the Foundation as to amount to this hainous sin of Revolt 2. The manner of proceeding against such a Transgressour was by information and delation of such a Transgressour before a competent Judge who must proceed Secunduns allegata probata and could not justly sentense the party but upon evidence Sometimes the fact might be notorious or confessed and sometimes maintained by the party offending yet the ordinary way was by Witnesses and in case of a man's life he required two witnesses at least in which respect singular is testis nullus testis The end of witnesses was Evidence that so the merit or demerit of the Cause might appear to the Judge and so the Cause be in an immediate capacity for Sentence 3. The demerit of the cause once made evident Judgment passed upon the party and he was sentenced to Death without any mercy and this Judgment must be executed So that if the Judge did make the Law of Moses his rule he could not acquit or absolve the party nor impose any other punishment nor help the Offender by commutation nor abate the least of this penalty for he by his transgression had made himself uncapable of mercy In this Proposition two things are especially to be noted 1. The Crime which was hainous 3. The Punishment which was Death without mercy § 29. The Reddition follows in the next words where we must observe as before 1. The Sin 2. The Penalty 1. The Sin is described or rather aggravated from three particulars It 's 1. A creading of the Son of God under foot 2. A counting the Blood of the Covenant whereby the Transgressor was sanctified an unholy thing 3. A doing of despite unto the Spirit of Grace The Sin is Apostacy and no man can Apostate from Christianity once received but he shall be guilty of the Contempt 1. Of the Son of God 2. Of the Blood of the Covenant 3. Of the Spirit of Grace The first aggravation therefore is from the contempt of the Son of God For 1. The Apostate treads under foot the Son of God the expression is metaphorical and presupposeth that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and affirmeth that he though the Son of God is trodden under foot To tread a thing under foot is 1. To undervalue it if it be of any worth 2. To vilify it 3. To vilify it very much 4. To expresse this contempt by casting it upon the Ground and trampling upon it which is the greatest debasement and is sometimes an expression of utter detestation Thus Jezabel was thrown down upon the Earth and trampled upon by Jehu's Horses To vilify and debase things that are base is no fault and to despise unworthy men is tolerable but the Apostate undervalues vilifieth and in an high degree the Son of God and the greater his dignity the greater the indignity He is not meer man though man yet as man the best of men for he is the Son of God and that not any kind of Son but the only begotten and beloved Son of God the brightness of his Fathers Glory and the express Image of his person and so the Son of God that he is God Though he did descend so low for a little time as to be made man and humbled himself so far as to take upon him the form of a Servant and in that form to be obedient unto Death the Death of the Cross yet in this low estate he was the Son of God But after his humiliation even as man he is advanced to the right hand of God and is made Lord of Men and Angels an everlasting King an everlasting Priest Yet this Son of God the Apostate Christian so far vilifies as that he denies him to be God to be the Son of God to be a just Man nay judgeth him to be an Impostor a false Prophet a Malefactor and justly and worthily Crucified and if he had been living on Earth and in the Apostate's power he would have dealt with him as they did Thus neither the Person and Deity of Christ nor his Natures nor the personal Union of them nor
Scripture The major That he that pleaseth God must have Faith is thus made clear and confirmed If it be impossible for any to please God who doth not believe that God is and a Rewarder of them who diligently seek him then he that pleaseth God must believe But without believing thus no man can please God Therefore he that pleaseth God must thus believe Where it 's to be noted That he infers Enoch's Faith from his pleasing God and the inseparable and necessary connexion of Faith and pleasing God For where there is an Effect there must necessarily be a Cause and no Effect can be without its proper Cause For Method's sake I will begin 1. With his Translation 2. Proceed to the demonstration of his Faith 1. This Translation was a Reward and therefore signifies the change was to the better 1. He was translated not to see Death so the Apostle understood the Text of Moses not to see Death is not to dye or suffer Death There was no separation of Soul and Body they remained united the Soul was not unclothed or divested of the Body yet it was changed and made immortal Of all the other Patriarchs before the Flood it 's said They even Methuselah dyed To this their Death this Translation is opposed for it 's not said that Enoch the great and most eminently pious Prophet dyed This was a dispensation with that general Law and Judgment past in Adam upon all mankind Dust thou art and to dust shalt thou return and it was an act of that power which God reserved to himself as above his Law In the Chaldee it 's said That God did not slay him that is he did not take away his Life this was a singular exception from the general rule of his Judgments 2. In the Hebrew it 's said He was not In the Chaldee He appeared not In the Greek He was not found These two latter expresse the meaning of the Hebrew Phrase For this followed upon his Translation that he did not appear nor was found upon Earth amongst mortal men for he ceased to be in that place with living mortal men he changed the place and company 3. Lest we should be ignorant either of the Place to which he removed or of the Person who removed him it 's said God took him so the Hebrew God took him to himself so the Arabick Because God had translated him so the Text. The place to which he was removed Physically considered is not expressed yet he after his Translation must be in some place this place was not this Earth for there he was not found It was some better place and seeing there is no place fit for man's Habitation better then the Earth but only Heaven the Habitation of Angels a glorious place of eternal peace holiness and security therefore most do positively affirm that as Elijah so he was taken into Heaven The Person translating him was God for none but he could make him immortal and invest him with Glory This signifies that he was brought nearer unto God and had more full and perfect Communion with him then he enjoyed on Earth So that this Translation was a change of place of company of condition for he was removed from Earth to Heaven from Men to God from the estate of Mortality and Misery to an estate of Immortality and Bliss This was an anticipation of the great Reward and it was like the change of all God's Saints who shall be found living when Christ shall come to Judge the World This God did to signify his great respect unto eminent Piety and to let men know his high and special reserved Power and that there is a Reward of Glory after this Life and such a Reward as shall make men fully happy in Soul and Body too and that for ever This doth further inform us that God can make the Body Immortal without any separation of it from the Soul and also that he can raise and re-unite the Body turned unto Dust and make it Immortal and eternally inseparable The second Proposition was that he obtained this Translation and glorious Reward by Faith For by Faith Enoch was translated But because it was not expressed in the Text of Moses that he was translated by Faith for there is no mention of his Faith he proves his Faith the Cause from the Effect He pleased God and his pleasing of God from the testimony of God For before he was translated he had this testimony that he pleased God And here we may observe 3. Propositions 1. That he pleased God 2. That he had this testimony 3. He had this testimony before he was translated 1. He pleased God He walked with God so the Hebrew He walked in the fear of God so the Chaldee He walked in the Obedience of God so the Arabick He pleased God so the Septuagint whom the Apostle followeth The meaning therefore is that he served God observed his Commands and was obedient unto them The word walked used by the Hebrew Chaldee Arabick Translatours signifies that this was the constant tenour of life it was a life of Righteousness and Holiness and the repetition of this walking in the Text of Moses may imply an eminent degree of Holiness in him more then in other men for his Conversation was so ordered that it was very pleasing and acceptable to God who delights in sincere and constant Obedience whereby men do resemble him as holy and righteous We must not think that he could have walked thus with God by the power of Nature the sanctifying Spirit of Grace was the principle of this Obedience 2. It was testified of him or he had this testimony That he pleased God This was a good Report and so much the more certain because God gave it by his Spirit in the Prophet Moses who hath recorded it to all Generations And this is reported of him not only once but twice Therefore there can be no doubt of it 3. This was testified of him before he was translated the sense is not that Moses testified this of him before he was translated but the thing testified was this that he had pleased God before he was translated For the Text doth testify that he was translated yet it testifies that he pleased God before this Translation This is brought to prove that by Faith he was translated § 9. It might be said that though Enoch pleased God yet it doth not appear how this pleasing of God will prove and infer his Faith neither is the Connexion of Faith and walking with God so evident Therefore to prevent all doubts in this Point he adds Ver. 6. But without Faith it is impossible to be please God for he that cometh unto God must believe that God is and that he is a Rewarder of them that diligently seek him IN these words he proves the impossibility of separation and the absolute necessity of the Connexion of Faith and pleasing God and they must be considered 1. In themselvs 2. As
could merit the Reward but only qualify him for the Enjoyment and give a Title to it by vertue of God's Promise made upon the Merit of Christ who by the Cross did merit this Reward for all such as by Faith should bear the Cross and follow him This Faith moved him to this Obedience of Self-Denial and bearing the Cross and gave him Power to overcome the World and that Faith which is not thus victorious is not justifying and saving The Philosopher's 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of Temperance and Fortitude seem to have some Affinity with this Doctrine but comes far short And here it 's observable That the Honour to be Pharoah's Daughter's Son the temporary Pleasures of Sin and the Treasures of Aegypt go together so do Afflictions of God's People and the Reproach of Christ. The Reproach of Christ is opposed to Honor the Afflictions of God's People to the Pleasures of Sin the Riches of Reproach for Christ to the Treasures of Aegypt The Reproaches of Christ and Afflictions are better to Man as his Case now stands not only in this that they tend to the Reward but also through Sanctification of the Spirit they exercise and improve our heavenly vertues and prevent many grievous Sins If we will be happy with Moses we must make Moses Choice and pray for the Power of the Spirit to enable us not only to resolve but also perform as he did and also often to eye the great Reward which will be a mighty Motive to Obedience Neither must we think it mercenary to look at the Reward for God's Glory and our Happiness are linked together so that the Belief and Expectation of the Reward do no wayes abate of our Love to God in Christ. § 26. The second Work of Moses his Faith wherein the Apostle instanceth was his forfaking of Aegypt For Ver. 27. By Faith he for sook Aegypt not fearing the Wrath of the King for he endured as seeing him who was invisible FOR the better understanding both of this and the former part of the Example of Moses we must observe 1. That Moses had some divine Information of God's Intention by him to deliver Israel as is implyed by this that he visited his Brethren when he was forty years of Age for then it came into his heart to do so and in this Visitation he slew an Aegyptian who wronged and oppressed one of his Brethren By this Visitation and Act he supposed his Brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them but they understood not Acts 7. 23 24 25. 2. That if he would have laid aside all Affection and Care of his Brethren and all thoughts of delivering them he might have still continued to have been called the Son of Pharoah's Daughter and to have enjoyed the Pleasures and Treasures of Aegypt 3. That he was resolved though with the loss of all to attempt and undertake this Work and began it with this Visitation and Deliverance of one particular Person yet this way proved ineffectual for the time was not yet come 4. That in this Visitation it so fell out through the Folly and Iniquity of one of his own Brethren that Pharoah was incensed against him and sought to kill him and now he begins to suffer Affliction with God's People and to bear the Reproach of Christ. And now his Case was this that he must either fly and forsake Aegypt or be slain He cared not so much for the King's Wrath nor did he fear Death so much as he was grieved for the sad condition of his Brethren and troubled that the design of their Deliverance did for the present fail But to return unto the words wherein we may observe these Propositions 1. Moses for sook Aegypt not fearing the Wrath of the King 2. In this he endured as seeing him who is invisible In the former we have 1. His leaving Aegypt 2. The manner how he left it 1. He forsook Aegypt Two several times 1. When he fled into the Land of Midian where he was a Stranger and a Shepherd for many years 2. When he brought Israel out of Aegypt The great doubt is Whether of these is here intended Some think the former some the latter some both Yet whether it be one or both it 's certain both that he did leave Aegypt and that he did leave it in this manner In the former Departure he fled to avoid danger in the latter he marched out like a Prince and General with a mighty Host. The former was the loss of all his Honour high and happy Estate which he formerly enjoyed in Pharoah's Court and the beginning of his suffering Affliction and Reproach with the People of God This was from himself who out of Pity and ardent Affection to his Brethren brought himself into this Condition This seemed to be a great Fall for a great Prince became a poor Fugitive yet he was well content nay judged the Estate of the latter to be far better than that of the former For it was far more free from Temptation and more calm so that he might freely give himself to contemplation and converse with his God Therefore if we well consider this the former forsaking Aegypt is rather to be referred and ascribed to that Faith whereby he denyed himself and took up the Cross looking at the great Reward 2. In the latter though the Wrath of the King was great yet he feared it not The last time he was in the King's presence he did fearfully menace him saying Get thâ—t from me take â—eed to thy self see my face no more for in that day thou seest my face thou shalt dy Exod. 10. 28. This signifies that he was enraged against Moses and though upon the last and greatest Execution upon the Egyptians in the death of the first born he did for the present remit his fury and sending to Moses and Aaron did dismiss them and all Israel yet he suddenly changed his mind and armed all Aegypt to pursue them This Moses knew full well yet he marched with all the Armies of Israel out of that wicked Country with invincible Boldness and certain Confidence that God would make his March good and their Deliverance full and effectual against all the fury and force of that wicked King The Reason of this Boldness was his Faith whereby he endured as seeing him who is invisible which is the second Proposition Where 1. The Object of his Faith was the Invisible 2. The Act was he saw him or looked upon him 3. The Effect immediate was he endured 1. He that was invisible was God who is said to be the eternal immortal invisible God 1 Tim. 1. 17. whom no man hath seen nor can see Cap. 6. 16. and the invisible God Colos. 1. 15. To be invisible as here is meant must needs be proper unto God It 's true that many things especially spiritual Substances as immortal Souls and Angels are not visible or perceivable by bodily Eyes and in that
boldness to come before the Throne of Grace made accessible by his Blood This was a Law or Covenant rather of Justice than of Mercy of Fear than of Hope of Servitude and Bondage rather than of Liberty It was made to discover Sin to make it exceeding sinful to be a School-master to Christ. 2. This was the terrible manner of Promulgation the Effect whereof was fear and terror and the same very great and exceeding and that 1. In the People as we heard before who could not endure either the Voice or the strict Commands and Comminations They endured it a little but could endure no longer for fear of present death 2. And that which was more in Moses for so terrible was the sight that Moses feared did quake did fear and quake exceedingly and he said so and expressed his great fear And how terrible must that sight be which did strike such a terrour into a man so holy of such a constant Spirit so familiarly acquainted with God and who alone at that time should comfort and encourage the People That Moses said thus we do not read yet that which is affirmed by a man inspired as inspired must needs be true 3. They were not come to this Mount to receive so terrible a Law but they were freed from all these Terrours and from the Curses threatned and had received the Spirit of Adoption and therefore there was no reason why they should fall off to Judaism and return to that dreadful Mount and consuming Fire any more § 20. Thus far of the terrour of the Law the condition of such as were under it and the freedom of these Hebrews from it Now follows the condition of them as freed from the Law and living under the Gospel Before their Conversion they were in Minority Servitude and continual Fear but since they are in a more happy condition as being translated into the Kingdom of God's dear Son wherein they enjoyed incomparable Priviledges spiritual Liberty and many sweet Comforts To understand all this the Apostle saith Ver. 22. But ye are come unto Mount Zion the City of the living God the heavenly Jerusalem and an innumerable Company of Angels IN these words and those which follow unto the five and twentieth Verse we may observe 1. A Description of a spiritual and eternal Kingdom 2. The Enjoyment of or rather the Admission into the same In the Description some observe 1. The Place 2. The Persons of this Kingdom The Place is Zion the City of the Living God the new Jerusalem The Persons are Subjects Soveraign The Subjects are Angels Men. Living Departed The Soveraign is God the King and Judg. Christ the Priest and Mediator There was a certain Place and certain Persons and they were come unto this Place these Persons Here we have a Zion a City a Jerusalem this Zion is a Mount this City is the City of the living God this Jerusalem is the heavenly Jerusalem Zion the Mount the City of the Living God the heavenly Jerusalem here are the same and they may signify the Place or the Persons or the Association of Persons in such a Place and they may signify grammatically and properly or Rhetorically and Tropically Grammatically Zion opposed to Sinai is a Mount in Jerusalem where was first a Fort of the Jebusites then the Royal Palace of King David who adorned it with other Buildings and thence it was called The City of David On the North of this Mount some say the Temple was built and because that was the Palace and Throne of God therefore according to some Writers it was styled The City of the great King and because God did choose that place for his special presence it had the Name of The City of the Living God Shindler observs that the whole City was called Jerusalem in the Dual Number because it had two parts the one was the City of David on Mount Zion the other the City of Vision on Moriah which afterwards was inclosed But not to stand upon these things Zion and Jerusalem are taken for one City which God in former times did honour above all Cities in the World Therefore sung the Psalmist Why leap ye ye high Hills This is the Hill which God desireth to dwell in yea the Lord will dwell in it for ever Psal. 68. 16. For by God's special Residence in this place it was advanced above all other Cities of the Earth though never so magnificent But this was her greatest Glory That Christ the Son of God was presented there preached there and there did glorious Works there the Holy Ghost came down from Heaven upon the Apostles there the Gospel began first to be preached and thence it came out into all the World According to the Prophecy of old it came to pass for so the Evangelical Prophet wrote And in the last dayes it shall come to pass that the Mountain of the Lord's House shall be established in the top of the Mountains and exalted above the Hills and all Nations shall flow unto it And a little after for out of Zion shall go forth the Law and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem Isa. 2. 2 3. Where by Law and the Word of God understand the Doctrine of the Gospel This is the Grammatical sense Rhetorically Zion and the City of Jerusalem often signify the Church Militant and Triumphant by reason of God's spiritual and supernatural presence and habitation in the same If we consider this Church locally the place of our Pilgrimage is the Earth the place of our Rest and perpetual Abode is Heaven from whence we receive our spiritual Being where we must converse and whither we tend in these respects Heaven may be said to be the place whither upon our first Conversion we come The Persons which make up this Body and the spiritual Inhabitants are more intended by this Zion and this City yet they cannot make up this Politick Body Society and Common-weal but as associated under their Soveraign God-Redeemer And to distinguish this Zion and City of Jerusalem from that which was on Earth situate and lying in the Land of Canaan in the Tribe of Judah and Benjamin this is said to be The heavenly Jerusalem which is above and the Mother of us all which one day shall come down from Heaven as a Bride prepared for her Husband and God who dwells in her by Grace shall then dwell in her by Glory and bless her fully and for ever To come to this City and Kingdom is to be admitted and incorporated into the same upon our sincere Faith in Christ. In this City we find many Persons amongst whom the most eminent are the Angels those holy immortal and blessed Spirits of Heaven who ever see the face of God and environ his glorious Throne These are not few but many for they are an innumerable Company or Multitude for the Chariots of God are twenty thousand even thousands or many thousands of Angels Psal. 68. 17. The number of the Angels
respect of the prohibition and commination of the Law is guilt and rendring of the Sinner obnoxiâ—us unto vindicative Justice of the Law-giver and Judge This guilt can no waye he taken away but either by suffering or pardon or both as here it 's put away by Christ's suffering and God's pardon for Christ suffers for Sin God pardons it so Christ's sake and in consideration of his suffering and offering The effect of Sin is to render the party sinning obnoxious and liable to punishment and God's vindicative Justice and by this virtue of the commination of the Law God to make way for pardon by a transâ—endent extraordinary power makes Christ man's Surety and Christ voluntarily submits himself out of love to his Brethren to God's will so far as to suffer Death for man's Sin and offers himself as being â—lain to the Supream Judge Upon his submission he becomes one person with sinful man as a Surety with the principal and so is liable to that punishment which sinful man should have suffered as a Surety becomes liable to pay the debt of the principal From all this it 's evident that Sin is an efficient moral cause of Christ's suffering and Christ's suffering is a punishment in proper sense though both these be denied without any reason by the Socinian By this Legal substitution of Christ and the offering of himself Sin is made remissible and the way is made open to pardon and upon the penitency and faith of the Sinner actual pardon follows That Sin is pardonable and pardoned is the end and effect of Christ's Suffering To put away Sin is first to make Sin pardonable and the consequents of Sin removable For this is the work and immediate effect of Christ's Sacrifice of himself and the same not often but once offered in the end of the World In all this we may observe the difference between Christ and the Levitical High-Priest Christ suffers and offers himself and enters Heaven with his own Blood but the Levitical High-Priest offers often and enters with the blood of Bulls and Goats The virtue of the High-Priest's offering was but for a little time but the virtue of Christ's extends to all time In these respects Christ's Sacrifice is far more excellent and more purifying § 25. This discourse of Christ's once offering and once suffering is continued and enlarged for the Apostle informs us that the reason why Christ suffered but once in the end of the World was the Decree of God which had determined of Christ as he had done of other men and this decree was regulated by Divine Wisdom which alwayes dictates that which shall be best and fittest This Decree is two-fold 1. Concerning other men 2. Concerning Christ. And because there is some agreement between the lot of Christ and other Men in respect of Death and that which followeth Death therefore the singularity of Christ's Death is set forth comparatively And of the comparison we have 1. The Proposition Verse 27. And as it was appointed unto Men once to dye but after that the Judgment IN which words we have 1. Something 's ordained 2. The ordination The things ordained are two 1. That men once dy 2. Come to Judgment The words absolutely considered may be reduced to two Propositions 1. That it 's appointed unto men once to dye 2. But after Death follows Judgment The first tells us 1. That men dye and this we certainly know 2. That they dye but once 3. That this is appointed yet though men must dye and it 's so certain and so evident and easily known yet men little consider it but their hearts are strangely taken up with the things of this life and they admire the vanities of this World and promise unto themselves long life and certain enjoyment of these earthly things They do not remember that they are mortal and that there is no assurance that they shall live one hour before Death arrest them and seise upon their estates and all earthly comforts in that day their thoughts perish and their pride and glory are laid in the dust Oh inconsiderate Wretches are ye able to conquer Death turn Mortality into Eternity and Earth into Heaven Be wise and never forget that you must dye 2. Men dye but once there is no return into this World again neither any recovery of what man once dead hath lost As no man can keep alive his Soul so no man can raise his Body and re-unite the Soul unto it This is a work proper to God who made us and far above the power of any Creature When it 's said That men must dye it 's to be understood of the generality of mankind that all must dye because all are obnoxious to Death and Mortal even Enoch and Elias and all those who shall be found alive when Christ shall come to Judge the World And though the two Prophets did not and they who remain till Christ's coming shall not dye as others do yet the former suffered and the latter shall suffer a change equivalent to Death though in both there seems to be some exception from the general rule So to dye but once is the general rule and the ordinary fate yet Lazarus and others may dye twice because God reserved an arbitrary power to himself to raise some unto a mortal life so that they became obnoxious to a double Death and he did exercise this power to manifest his Glory in some particular persons Yet this was an extraordinary case and this reservation did not take away the general and ordinary rule according to which the Apostle is to be understood 3. This is appointed for so the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is understood and translated and it 's capable of that signification by a Trope The party who appointed decreed and ordained both that all men shall dye and dye once and but once is not expressed but it 's easily understood For the Supream Lord of Life and Death who hath an Universal Power over all Men is God and none else and therefore this must be a Decree of God as Supream Lord and a Sentence of him as Judge and the same irrevocable yet dispensable in some particular and extraordinary Cases as should seem good unto him Death is a punishment and therefore men being obnoxious unto it must be guilty of some Crime and condemned thereunto for some Offence against some Law threatening Death And that was the positive Law which God gave to Adam saying But of the Tree of Knowledg of Good and Evil thou shalt not eat of it for in the Day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely dye Gen. 2. 17. This Law was transgressed and the Sentence followed in these words Dust thou art and to dust thou shalt return Gen. 3. 19. Whereas the Socinian saith That Death is natural and not from any Decree of God his Opinion is not reconcileable with that of the Apostle As by one man Sin entred into the World and by Sin Death
and Sin reigned from Adam to Moses Rom. 5. 12 14. And the wages of Sin is Death Rom. 6. 23. Besides it 's said That in Adam all dye that is in Adam sinning for he was that one man by whom Sin entred into the World 1 Cor. 15. 22. So that God appointed Man to dye and to dye but once The second Proposition is That after Death followeth Judgment This is the second thing For Death is first Judgment the second and the word after signifies the order of time For Death goes before and Judgment follows after The party Judged is Man the Judge is God whose Judgment is particular or general particular of every particular individual person general or universal of all For there is the Judgment of the great Day when all shall appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ and this Judgment is appointed of God and appointed to follow after Death after which follows the final and eternal estate of man which shall be unalterable and by Judgment may be meant not only the Sentence of the Judge but the estate of the parties judged which followeth thereupon whether it be an estate of misery or of felicity We live here that we may prepare for this Judgment and we ought so to live as that we may be happy for ever hereafter and prevent the suffering of eternal punishments Yet men do not believe that God will Judge us and that Judgment will follow and that unavoidably after Death or if they do not believe this yet they do not seriously consider it This is the reason why they live secure in their Sins and extream danger and this is the cause of their eternal ruine It 's not material to enquire whether the act of the Judge or the estate of the parties judged or whether particular or universal Judgment be here meant or no. It 's certain that this is a Judgment which followeth after Death and the final and universal Doom seems to be here intended when both Soul and Body the whole man and all men that dye shall be judged This is the proposition § 26. The Reddition followeth in these words Ver. 28. So Christ was once offered to bear the Sins of many and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto Salvation THis Text informs us of the appearance of Christ for that 's the subject of it This appearance is two-fold the first and the second and both these differ much not only for the manner but the end The first was in Humility and the end was to suffer and by suffering to expiate Sin The second shall be in Glory and the end of it to give eternal Salvation to such as look for him The first was to suffer and save the second to judge and reward his faithful and obedient Servants The propositions therefore are two 1. Christ was once offered to bear the Sins of many 2. Unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without Sin unto Salvation The first is the same with that in ver 26. But now once in the end of the World hath he appeared to put away Sin by the Sacrifice of himself The words differ the matter is the same For as there so here two things are observable 1. The Sacrifice the single Sacrifice of Christ. 2. The end of it The single Sacrifice for Christ was once offered the end for he was once offered to bear the Sins of many First he offered himself this was an act of him as a Priest and as he was the best Priest that ever lived so he himself was the best Sacrifice that ever was offered The end was also excellent for he bare the sins of many that is the punishment due for the sins of many and he bare this punishment to satisfy divine Justice and procure God's favour to sinful man We deserved the punishment and he suffers it he is punished that we may be spared It was tender compassion in him to offer himself for us and it was exceeding love in God to send and give him for to suffer and so be the propitiation for our Sins He bare the sins of all to make them pardonable and the sins of many even of all sincere Believers that they may be actually pardoned for ever possibility of pardon is the benefit of all actual pardon of many yet not of all For Christ had no absolute intention to procure the Salvation of all but of such as believe in him yet the reason why all are not pardoned is not from Christ's Death which made the Sins of all pardonable but from some other cause And this is the condemnation of all those to whom the Gospel is preached That Light comes unto them and they love Darkness rather then Light God hath given his only begotten Son and his Son hath offered himself and made the way to Heaven passible and remission of Sins and eternal Life are offered unto u upon fair and reasonable terms and conditions and though to corrupt Flesh and Blood they be difficult yet they are made easy by the power of the Spirit yet we love our Sins more then our Saviour and continue in them to our eternal condemnation § 27. The second Proposition is concerning his second appearance For he shall appear the second time where as before we have the manner and the end The manner is Glorious for he shall appear without Sin yet he never had any Sin and in his first appearance he was without Sin For Sin of his own he had not yet he bare Sins the Sins of others the Sins of many Yet these Sins were not his by Commission but by Imputation so far as to be liable to Death For God laid on him the Iniquities of us all So that without Sin is without suffering for the Sins of others He shall not come the second time to dye for our Sins as he did the first this is the genuine sense When he came to Sacrifice for Sin he came in great Humility and took upon him the form of a Servant and was obedient unto Death the Death of the Cross this low condition was suitable to the work he then undertook But now he comes as King and Lord to judge the World and therefore he comes in Glory The end of his coming is to reward and the reward is Salvation and the parties to be rewarded are such as look for him By Salvation is meant eternal Life and full Happiness which he purchased by his precious Blood and it 's so called because man in danger of eternal Death shall then be fully saved and delivered from all Sin and all the sad and woful Consequents of Sin and that for ever for then Death man's last Enemy shall be destroyed Yet this immunity from all evil cannot consist without the enjoyment of those glorious and eternal Blessings which God hath promised this is the great reward which Believers do expect and because they know they shall not