Apostates Therefore as they desired God's favour and an happy End and feared his Indignation and their own eternal Destruction let them persevere and use all means to perswade others to continue firm and faithful to the end And here you must observe that the principal Duty exhorted unto is Perseverance and the rest are subservient thereunto § 25. It follows Ver. 26. For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the Knowledg of the Truth there remaineth no more Sacrifice for Sins IN these words 1. We have a Reason given to perswade unto perseverance 2. Yet this Reason is directly and immediately disswasive and dehorrative from Apostacy 3. Secondarily and by Consequence it exhorts and moves to perseverance For whatsoever Reason is against Apostacy the same is for perseverance 4. This Reason doth seem to imply that the forsaking of Christian Assemblies was Apostacy or tended to it and the day approaching to be a day of Judgment and in particular of the Punishment of such as fall away 5. This Reason begins here and is continued to the 32d Verse 6. It 's taken à poena from the Punishment which is avoided by perseverance and is executed upon Apostates 7. In Form it 's this If the Sin of Apostacy be unpardonable and shall be punished with unavoidable and most grievous Punishment then we ought to be very careful copâ—â—severe But the Antecedent is true Therefore we ought to persevere In the words of the Reason we have 1. The Sin 2. The Punishment which is Unavoidable Grievous The Sin is described in the 26. Ver. to be a sinning wilfully after we have received the Knowledg of the Truth Where we must consider 1. What it presupposeth and that is the Acknowledgment of the Truth 2. What it is upon this presupposed It 's a wilful sinning In the presupposition we have 1. Truth 2. The Knowledg of it 3. The receiving of this Knowledg 1. By the Truth is meant the true pure and most certain Doctrine of the Gospel concerning Christ already come Faith and Salvation This is called Truth because it 's true and most eminently and infallibly true which is no wayes in any thing false and erroneous as being at first immediately revealed from God the God of Truth of all Truth who is not only true but Truth it self It 's called also the Truth by way of eminency as the most excellent Truth revealed for Man's eternal Happiness The Reason of this Truth is the Perfection of his full and clear Knowledge and his absolute Integrity and purest Holiness which both are such as that he neither can nor will reveal any thing but Truth 2. Truth may be Truth and yet not known to any Man or Angel and this Truth was first known only unto God Yet it pleased him out of his great Mercy to reveal his mind to Man and in particular this Truth of the Gospel by Christ and his Apostle who made it known unto others who by that means came to know it For many who heard the Gospel preached and attended unto it attained to the Knowledg of the great Mystery of God's Kingdom and of those things which were sufficient and effectual for Information of the Understanding unto everlasting Life This Knowledg was not Mathematical Physical Political or Metaphysical as some use to speak but Theological and Divine and a Light above the Light of Nature The word may signify not only Knowledg but Acknowledgment of this Truth by a full Assent upon Conviction And this might be caused not only by outward Revelation Information and Miracles but also by the Illumination of the Spirit and supernatural Gifts For God goes far with Man and doth much to save him he many times penetrates his inward parts and by his divine Light and Power enters into his very heart and all this to convert him 3. They received this Knowledg God did not only offer it but give it which he might be properly said to do when they received it They had it not by Nature for it 's far above the natural Man They acquired it but not by their own Power and Industry neither did they merit it Yet in this receiving they were not meerly passive yet passive before they could be active God must do something without Man before he can actively receive he must prevent him by Revelation and Information without and by Illumination and Operation within and this done Man may be active For to receive it is certainly an Act not only of the Understanding which assents but of the Will which approves So that he both wittingly and willingly receives and that with some delight and proceeds to Profession and continues for a while to believe approve profess Though this receiving of Knowledg may seem only to be Acknowledgment yet it 's something more Truth is opposed to Erroar Knowledg to Ignorance Acknowledgment to Dissent Approbation to Rejection of this Truth § 26. This receiving and having is presupposed to Apostacy and sinning wilfully For no Man can loose and fall away from that which he never had either in Title or Possession so none can fall away from Grace or any degree of Grace which he never had The Heathens in Scripture were never said to breâ—k the Covenant of God or forsake God as their God by Covenant Therefore the proper Subject of Apostacy is one in the Church a member of the visible Church and in the times of the Gospel a Christian who hath professeth his Faith in Christ yet of these Apostates there is a difference and there are degrees of this Apostacy For some receive and profess Christianity by tradition and an implicit Faith yet never have any distinct knowledg of the Truth to be believed Some believe and understand more explicitely the Doctrine of Christianity and are convinced of the truth of it yet are never affected with the matter so as to forsake their Sins and reform their Lives but continue in their Sin Some know believe are affected with the matter as so they begin by the power of the Spirit to escape the corruption that is in the World through lust and find some spiritual joy and comfort To fall away from any of these is Apostacy but to fall from the last is the greatest And there was something proper to those times which did aggravate this sin very much For the Truth then was confirmed both by Miracles and Gifts of the Holy Ghost this confirmation was clear and extraordinary and to renounce that Truth so confirmed must needs be hainous and of this the Apostle seems to speak Christians may fall away three wayes by denying the Truth 1. In their Profession Or 2. In their practise Or 3. In both And that denial which we call Apostacy is destructive of Christianity and maketh a man of a Christian no Christian. Yet some may deny Christ or fall into some grievous Sin and yet verily believe in their hearts and retain the love of Christ as Peter and others have
are reckoned up jointly with others which are not mentioned by Name After the Catalogue of these Worthies is finished the Argument taken from their Example is applied In all this Discourse you must observe 1. That the end of the Apostle is to shew the Excellency of that Faith and Perseverance which was spoken of in the former Chapter 2. That the Argument or Suasive here used for to confirm them in the Faith is taken from Example of many of the most eminent Saints and Servants of God recorded in the Old Testament and of such as lived before the Exhibition of Christ. 3. That the force of the Argument is not only in this that they believed and persevered in the Faith but chiefly from this that all their rarest and most heroick Acts and Sufferings whereby they attained so many and great Blessings did issue from their Faith without which they could have done little or nothing § 2. But to enter upon the Chapter and the Text it self we read Ver. 1. Now Faith is the Substance of things hoped for and the Evidence of things not seen THis is said to be a Description of Divine Faith a perfect Definition it cannot be That Faith is such a vertue as here is described may easily be known from the former ter whence it may be and is deduced And the Apostle thought good to premise these words for the better understanding and application of the following Examples In the words which speak of Faith we have two Propositions 1. Faith is the Substance of things hoped for 2. Faith is the Evidence of things not seen In both these we may note 1. The Object 2. The Act of Faith In the first Proposition things hoped for are in the Object and the Act is signified by the word Hypostasis here turned Substance The whole Verse may be understood either of Faith in general whether Moral or Divine yet here it 's principally meant of that Divine Faith whereby we obtain Salvation To define what Faith in general is belongs to Logick which is the Rule of Man's Understanding whereof Faith is an Act and that Act which we call Assent and so it differs from Dissent and Doubting Yet Assent may be imperfect and mixt with some degrees of Doubt and this is ordinarily called Opinion and it may be perfect and certain and that without Doubt Yet this Assent may be firm and given unto a false Proposition conceived to be true or to a Proposition true in it self either as clear in it's own Light or upon demonstration and evident Proof or at second hand and represented unto us by some extrinsecal Lights as by the Testimony of another of whose certain Knowledg and Integrity we make no doubt This Testimony is humane or divine The ground of this Faith and Assent here intended is the Testimony of God And here two things are required 1. That the thing testified be credible 2. That we have certain Knowledg that the thing to be believed be testified by God The Tradition of the Church being but an humane Testimony cannot fully satisfy us herein but we must have other artificial Arguments to prove that which the Church saith is the word of God indeed And so far only as we know the things to be believed to be testified by God so far only can we believe with a divine and an infallible Faith So that the Testimony of God known certainly to us to be his Testimony is the ground of this Faith here intended One Object of this Faith is things hoped for Things hoped for in this Text are 1. Things and Rewards promised by God as to come and not yet received 2. The principal of these is eternal life and that great and glorious Reward mentioned in the former Chapter and to be received upon final Perseverance in Faith Of these things or of their futurition we can by Nature and the Light of Reason have no intuitive or demonstrative Knowledg The Truths concerning them and their fruition are revealed from Heaven and as so revealed they are fit and proper Objects of our Faith which is here said to be the Hypostasis of these things This word is interpreted several wayes for some will have it to signify the Substance Ground Foundation of things hoped for Others a certain persuasion and expectation of them Others the Subsistance or Existence of this great Reward to come This variety of Opinions concerning the signification of the word in this place makes the Proposition doubtful unto many The Syriack Translator turns the words in this manner Faith is the Certainty or certain Persuasion of these things which are in hope as though they did actually exist or were in effect to them that do believe This Certainty or certain Persuasion is an act of the Soul of Man divinely enlightned whereby it doth as firmly believe that such as persevere in Faith shall as certainly receive the great Reward as though they did actually enjoy it This is that we call a firm Assent grounded upon the Word and Promise of God for this Word and Promise is the Hypostasis Ground Foundation Basis of this Assent in respect of things hoped for upon which the Soul is firmly fixed and this Assent is the Principle of all other heavenly vertues and in particular and more immediately of our Hope So that by this Assent these things hoped for though in themselvs yet to come have a kind of mental ideal intellectual Existence as present by Faith unto him that hath Faith and this is a mighty motive to perseverance And here is to be noted 1. That though things future as hoped for are here only mentioned as the object of Faith yet it 's not the adequate object for Faith extends further and moves in a larger Sphear 2. That this Faith is not only a certain assent perswasion and belief of the Truths and Revelations of God concerning these things but also a certain expectation of the things promised and a firm confidence and reliance upon God promising concerning the performance of the promise Yet neither this expectation nor this confidence can be Faith strictly taken though it 's certain that in respect of things hoped for as such it 's often taken in this large sense The firm assent is indeed alwayes presupposed as the ground of both § 3. The second Proposition which is That Faith is the evidence of things not sin Where 1. The Object is things unseen 2. The Act is evidence of those things 1. The Object is something not seen Things unseen are not only such things as are invisible and such as cannot be received by the eye but also such as are not perceivable by any of our senses Neither are things insensible meant but such as are above the reach of reason Most of our knowledg is acquired by our senses especially of hearing and seeing according to that Maxim Nihil est in intellect is quod non prius fuer at in sensu Though this be true only
the mercies obtained by Faith the second to the sufferings which are to be reduced to the Catalogue of Sufferings which follow In the first we may observe 1. What the mercy received was 2. Who received it 3. By what they received it 1. The mercy received was great and such as could not have been given but by God and also by his extraordinary power For it presupposeth the parties raised to be dead which is the last and greatest of all evils in this Life and puts an end to all our earthly Hopes and Comforts which it wholly taketh away And though men may strengthen the Weak heal the Sick relieve the oppressed and deliver out of many Troubles and Dangers yet Death they cannot prevent when the fatal hour approacheth nor restore life after it 's once lost Death is an invincible Enemy and neither can Man or Angel rescue any out of Death's power yet the parties dead which were Children were raised life restored to them and Soul and Body separated were re-united yet to be separated again for the life restored was not immortal 2. The parties who received this extraordinary Mercy were both Women and Mothers as the parties dead were their Children The one was the Widow of Zarepta 1 King 17. 19. and he that raised her son was Elijah The other was the Shunamite whose son being dead was restored to life by Elisha 2 King 4. 21. There was a third person raised from the dead when he was cast into the Grave of the Prophet We do not read of any other dead persons restored to life in the Old Testament by these or any other Prophets 3. By Faith they are said to have received their dead It 's not written that they raised them but that they received them being raised The Prophets did raise them restore them and deliver them to their Mothers Yet neither could these Prophets by their own power do any such thing for it was an effect of the almighty power of God who made them his Instruments and by them upon their instant prayers did this great Work yet their prayers without Faith could not have been so effectual The Women also did much desire this mercy and did believe that God by the Prophets could restore their Children which were raised by the Faith of Prophets and received alive by the Faith of the Mothers The second Effect here mentioned is Patience in such as suffered cruel Torments in their Bodies Here begins the Catalogue of the suffering of the Saints which did evidence their Faith without which we can neither do good nor suffer evil so as God requireth This example is not found in Canonical Scripture therefore the Apostle knew it either by Tradition or some historical Writing yet so that he some wayes knew infallibly the truth of the matter Some think the Apostle understood Eliazar mentioned 2 Mach. 6. 18 19 20 c. and the Woman and her seven Sons so cruelly tortured as we read in 2 Maccab. 7. Chapter following who are related to have suffered constantly in hope of the Resurrection In the words we may observe 1. Their Suffering 2. Their non-Acceptance of Deliverance 3. Their Faith 1. Their Suffering they were Tortured The Sufferings of God's People may be truly said to be either Trials or Chastifements or Punishments or some or all of these and if we consider the Evils which both good and bad are subject unto in this Life we must distinguish between the matter and the manner For the matter of Sufferings passively considered may be the same in all but the manner as also the Causes are very different For the Sufferings of God's Saints are so qualified by Faith that in them many divine vertues are manifested and they tend though not to the meriting yet to the attaining of eternal Glory For if we suffer with Christ we shall be glorified with him Rom. 8. 17. And our leight Affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory 2 Cor. 4. 17. These Persons here intended are said to be Tympanized which is to be tormented several wayes as by beating and fustigation by racking and extension by tearing and excoriation for the word it self doth not determine the manner of Torment Therefore it 's well turned by this general word Tortured that is they were put to bodily pain The Torturers were Anâ—â—ochus and his cursed Agents the Sufferers and Subjects of these Tortures were the Jews which refused to obey the Commands of that cruel Tyrant contrary to the Laws of God 2. The Non-Acceptance of Deliverance doth imply that they might upon certain Conditions have been freed from these cruel Pains and so have prevented Death and that they rather chose to suffer more and dy than accept of the Conditions If we consult the History we shall understand 1. That they were commanded to do some things contrary to the Laws of God 2. That though they were in the Power of a cursed cruel Prince and perswaded both by Promise and threatning to obey yet they refused 3. That upon the Refusal they were tortured 4. In some Intermission of the torture they were advised again to yield for their Persecutors thought the bitterness of the pain might prevail much with them 5. Yet it did not for they remained constant and were ready to suffer the worst and to dy rather than disobey their God This was the Cause of their Suffering and made it glorious For they suffered not as Malefactors for their Crimes but for Righteousness sake and did manifest that they loved God and Righteousness more than their lives 3. They did thus suffer thus refuse Deliverance to obtain a better Resurrection this was the End of both and did manifest both their Faith and Hope 1. Their Faith in that they did believe there was a Resurrection unto eternal Life and that God not only could but also would raise them up again restore an immortal glorious blessed Life for a miserable short and mortal Breath and abundantly recompence their cruel Pains suffered in Obedience to him with eternal Pleasures They were assured that God was a Rewarder of those who diligently seek him by doing Good and suffering Evil for his sake 2. Their Hope grounded upon this Faith was their constant expectation of this Resurrection according to God's Promise For he had promised it to all such as really love him and their Suffering was a great Evidence of their Title and did assure them of Possession in due time Here two things are to be noted 1. That Resurrection to Immortality is general and common to all both good and bad for all must rise again to Judgment Yet some shall rise to Condemnation and the Suffering of eternal Shame and Punishment and others unto everlasting Life and Glory This latter Resurrection is here meant which is said to be better because by it they should receive a better Life than could be enjoyed on Earth 2. That it 's better for
unto is To consider Christ the Apostle and High Priest of our Profession and to presevere in his Doctrine ver 1. 2. The Reasons by which he presseth the performance of this Duty are 1. Christ was not only faithful in his Trust as Moses was but also far greater then Moses in two respects For 1. Moses was but part in the House builded Christ was the Builder of all things and especially of the Church ver 3 4. 2. Moses was but a Servant in that House Christ was the Lord and Owner ver 5 6. 2. If they persevere in his Doctrine and the Faith they shall be his House of Glory wherein God shall for ever dwell and make them fully blessed ver 7. 3. If they that disobeyed and hardned their hearts against Mose's Doctrine fell in the Wilderness and by a peremprory Oath were shut out of God's Rest much more shall they disobeying the Gospel and falling from the Faith be shut out of God's eternal Rest in Heaven In this Reason we must consider 1. That it 's taken out of Psal. 95. the words whereof are recired ver 7 8 9 10 11. 2. That from these words applied unto them he dehorts them from Unbelief and Apostacy and exhorts them to use all means of perseverance that so he might be partakers of that eternal Rest which Christ had merited for them ver 12 13 14 15. 3. He wisheth them to take special notice of such as did and such as did not enter into God's Rest and what was the cause of the exclusion of those whom God destroyed in the Wilderness and would not suffer to enter into Canaan and that was Unbelief ver 16 17 18 19. CHAP. IV. VVHerein the Discourse upon the words of the Psalm is continued and application made by way of Exhortation And 1. The Duty exhorted unto is To be obedient and mix the word with Faith ver 1. 2. The Reasons are 1. They are partakers of the heavenly Call and the Gospel was preached unto Them as well as to their Fathers 2. They not mixing the Word with Faith but being disobedient to the heavenly Call did not enter but came short ver 2. 3. They which do believe do enter into God's Rest ver 3. And here lest they should be ignorant what Rest of God is meant and to be expected he informs them of a three-fold Rest of God 1. His Rest of Creation 2. His Rest which he promised in the Land of Canaan to their Fathers 3. His spiritual and eternal Rest promised in the Gospel It was not the first ver 3 4. For after this he speaketh of another Rest ver 5. It was not the second into which many of their Fathers because of unbelief did not enter and after this he limitteth another Time and Rest which had never been mentioned if Joshua who brought their Fathers into the Land of Canaan had brought them into This ver 6 7 8. It 's a spiritual and eternal Rest in Heaven which remaineth for the People of God and is to be enjoyed when they cease from all their works of Obedience and Sufferings as God did from his when he had finished the work of Creation ver 9 10. 4. If they do not persevere they may fall after the example of their unbelieving Ancestors and lest they should presume or be secure he lets them know that Christ by the piercing Word of the Gospel will discover their inward and most secret sins and will be a severe and impartial Judg ver 11 12 13. 5. The same great Prophet who hath called us by the Word of the Gospel is our High Priest very sensible of our infirmities and entred into Heaven the eternal Rest of God in our behalf and if we wanting strength do come boldly by him before the Throne of Grace we shall obtain help in due season when we have greatest need ver 14 15 16. CHAP. V. VVHerein after the discourse of the excellency of Christ's prophetical Office he begins to speak of his Priest-hood And 1. Delivers the Doctrine thereof from this Chapter to ver 19 of the 10th 2. Applies the same and continues the Application from the 19th verse of the 10th Chapter unto the latter end of the last The scope of the Apostle in the Doctrine is To demonstrate the excellency of Christ's Priest-hood in respect of 1. The Constitution from the beginning of this Chapter to the 8th 2. The Ministration from the beginning of the 8th to the middle of the 10th In this Chapter we have 1. A Discourse of Priest-hood 2. A Digression begun in the latter end of this Chapter and continued in the 6th 1. The Discourse is 1. Concerning a Priest in general 2. Concerning Aaron 3. Concerning Christ. 1. An High Priest in general is described 1. From his Vocation He is taken from amongst men and ordained ver 1. 2. From his Ministration He must offer Gifts and Sacrifices for sins Ibid. 3. From his Qualification He must be merciful and compassionate ver 2 3. 2. Vocation which consists in Election and Ordination is not from Man but God for no Priest-hood can be efficiently conducing to Man's spiritual good except it be instituted from Heaven as Aaron's was ver 4. 3. Therefore Christ did not usurp his Sacerdotall Power but he had his Vocation Confirmation Consecration from God 1. His Vocation he finds Psal. 2. in these words Thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee by which upon his Resurrection he was made and constituted King and Priest ver 5. 2. His Confirmation he reads Psal. 110. 4. I have sworn and will not repent Thou art a Priest for ever after the Order of Melchizedec ver 6. 3. His Consecration which tended to his fuller Constitution was finished in his Agony and Death upon the Cross by which he became the Author of eternal Life to as many as obey him ver 7 8 9. Thus far the Author's Discourse of Priest-hood which is closed up with the Repetition of the words of Confirmation 1. Because the Confirmation followed the Consecration 2. From the same the Apostle takes occasion to make the Digression which followeth And therein he reproves them of their Ignorance contracted by their negligence which was such that whereas for the time they might have been more and apt to able teach others yet were Babes had need to be taught again the first Principles and were uncaple of the Doctrine which he intended to deliver concerning the Priest-hood of Christ ver 11 12 13 14. CHAP. VI. VVHerein 1. The Digression is continued 2. The principal Subject resumed ver 20. In the Digression we have 1. His Resolution 2. An Exhortation In the Resolution 1. The Thing Resolved upon 2. The Reasons of his Resolution The thing resolved upon is expressed 1. Negatively Not to go back and lay the Foundation 2. Affirmatively To go on with his intended Discourse ver 1 2 3. The Reasons are 1. If any of them after a clear conviction and considerable
For unnecessary private Conventicles with the neglect of the publick Assemblies are usually the Seminaries of Errours and Schisms and very prejudicial to the publick good of the Church So that the Duty exhorted unto is to frequent constantly these Assemblies and make right use of them to edify confirm and encourage one another to perseverance in the Christian Faith and to Love and good Works I might here take occasion to enlarge and reckon up all the particular Duties to be performed in these religious Meetings and shew how subservient they are every one severally and all joyntly to that end whereat the Apostle chiefly aims but I proceed to the Reason § 24. For it might be said What Reason Suasive Motive may be given why we should be so careful to perform this Duty Yes there is a great and powerful Reason and that is Because the day approacheth Where 1. We must understand the words of the Reason considered in it self 2. The force of the Reason in respect of the performance of the Duty In the words of the Reason we have 1. A Day 2. The Approach of that Day 3. The nearer Approach 1. A Day is a part and the principal part of time as opposed to the Night and in this place it signifies some special and more than ordinary time as the day of death of the destruction of Jerusalem of the End of the World The day of death every Man must look for Nothing more certain than death though nothing more uncertain than the Hour of death Every man must dy and then be brought unto his last Account and as that shall be made so shall be the condition of every Man for ever for where the Tree falleth there it lyeth and as Death leavs us Judgment finds us There was a day of Jerusalem's destruction and of the ruine of that Nation appointed and made known by Christ and his Apostles and these Hebrews could not be altogether ignorant of it There is another greater day of the final and universal Judgment and this was part of their Creed All these and every one of these are special and great dayes And one or two or all these three may here be meant Some think the day of Jerusalem's râ—ine was most of all intended by the Apostle though that cannot be evidently evinced to be pointed at so as to exclude the other two 2. This day did approach and was near for first the day of every Man's death could not be far off the day of Jerusalem's destruction was near and so near as many then living might survive not only the Peace and Happiness of that Nation but the very Being and Existence of that City and of the Temple they might see the ruine and destruction of both and for ought they knew the end of the World 3. This day drew nearer and nearer For 1. We no sooner begin to live but we begin to dy for we are born mortal and ready we are to return to that dust from whence we were taken and raised at the first and the more of our Life is past the less is yet to come and every Day Hour Minute of our Life we approach nearer unto death and death unto us 2. As for Jerusalem's destruction there were many Signs of that approaching fore-told and then known to be past It was fatal and unavoidable even then when Christ wept over it lamenting her Sin and Punishment which he certainly did fore-know and when this Letter was written to these Hebrews that day of her Calamity was far nearer 3. For the day of Judgment the particular Year Month Day was hid yet the times of the Gospel were the last times and upon us the ends of the World are come And that which is alwayes unknown may alwayes be looked for seeing it will certainly come and that suddenly And though that day in those times was far off yet it 's nearer now and though now it may be many years before the Son of God shall come from Heaven and the time to Man may seem long yet a thousand years with God is but as one day Besides that day of final Judgment if we consider that the unchangeable condition of every Man begins immediately upon his death then the great day of Judgment may in some sense be said to be as near as death to every particular Person This is the meaning of the words considered in themselvs and now the force of them as containing a Reason remains to be considered For this end we must take notice of the thing here urged and it 's 1. The performance of a Duty 2. The performance of it the rather and the more for the more the day approacheth the more we should prepare for it Not to forsake the assembling of our selvs together and to exhort one another and to be careful very careful diligent and frequent in this Work of Association and Exhortation is a Duty commanded by God and pressed upon us by the Apostle to neglect this Duty is our Sin and Disobedience to do it constantly is our performance And this is that which is intended by this Reason The force thereof is great For seeing 1. The day of our great Account God's final Sentence to be passed upon us and the Execution thereof is so near it concerns us much not only to know our Duty but to bestir our selves and to perform it constantly with all our Power Our progress towards Heaven should be like a natural Motion which is slow or not so swift at the beginning and is swifter and swifter towards the end Upon this performance depends our final and eternal estate For if we neglect fail and fall away then we are undone for ever if we perform and be prepared we are eternally happy Seeing therefore that day is a day of eternal Rewards or Punishments and approacheth so near What should not we do to provide for our everlasting safety Yet men think little of these things If we under stand the Text of the day of Jerusalem's Calamities and desolation which was near at hand and was a day of death to many thousands yea to hundreds of thousands and a lively resemblance of the final Judgment this also might effectually work upon them and move them to performance and perseverance For then they should see and clearly behold the woful End of that unbelieving Nation and most of all of all Apostates from Christianity Then their seducing Brethren and their persecuting Enemies should be destroyed the Temple burnt and demolished all their Judaism and Legal Service wherein they trusted for ever abolished and those which out of fear complyed with them or of Christians turned Jews should suffer in the highest degree Therefore there was no Reason in the World they should forsake or deny Christ and turn from him to Moses from the Gospel to the Law for the day was approaching when they should see God's Judgment executed upon the unbelieving seducing persecuting Jew and the eternal Confusion of
some men chuse rather to dye then live in disgrace and lose their Honour And as we desire respect in the World and abhorr Ignominy and Contempt so we love our liberty ease and peace and are very unwilling to lose them But to be reproached and afflicted publickly and to be made a gazing stock unto the World is so harsh and contrary to Flesh and Blood that he must have some divine power above nature that can endure them And though we be endued with some competency of supernatural strength yet without some conflict and contest with our natural inclination and cormpt appetite we cannot endure we cannot stand and yet this was but part of the Fight and Battel The second Proposition is That partly they endured a great Fight whilst they became Companions of such as were so used This informs us 1. Some of their Brethren were so used 2. They became Companions of them 3. This was part of their Fight 1. Some part of the Church doth Suffer sometimes and not another It 's true the Devil is an Enemy to the whole Body and if God Suffer him he would not only vex trouble and destroy some but all The storm which fell upon them was past yet another falls upon their Brethren and they are reproached and afflicted and made a gazing stock as they had been 2. They became Companions of these for they owned them were grieved inwardly for their Sufferings and did relieve and comfort them By doing thus they were exposed to the derision of others Their former Sufferings might be called Passion this Compassion So near is the Union and so dear and tender the Affection of Christian Brethren amongst themselvs that one Member cannot suffer but another suffers with it There is a divine Sympathy and Fellow-feeling of one another's misery and in this respect they may suffer in the Sufferings of others and participate of their Afflictions though this may be an ease and comfort to the Sufferers themselves yet Society is no Joy to the compassionate Brethren who have more Grief than their own 3. This also was made a part of the great Fight For Satan's Design in this was to strike a terrour into them and to let them know what a dangerous and restless condition they were in if they should continue to be Christians And if he could not daunt and discourage them yet he would at least grieve and vex them for he knew the Passion of their Brethren would be their Compassion and that in them suffering they would suffer § 34. Yet this was not all their suffering either in their Brethren or themselvs for he further saith Ver. 34. For ye had Compassion on me in my Bonds and took joyfully the spoiling of your Goods knowing in your selvs that ye have in Heaven a better and an enduring Substance IN these words we may observe 1. Their Compassion 2. Their Passion and another part of their suffering 1. Their Compassion For they had Compassion of the Apostle in his Bonds This 1. Implieth that the Apostle suffered and was in Bonds 2. Signifieth that they suffered with him 1. He was in Bonds that is a Prisoner and restrained of his Liberty The Cause was the Gospel of Christ therefore he stiles himself a Prisoner of Christ that is for Christ's sake For whilest he obeys his Saviour's Command in preaching the Gospel for the Conversion and Salvation of the Gentiles and maintains the Cause of Christ against the unbelieving Jews he was many times in danger sometimes was scourged sometimes stoned sometimes imprisoned and set free again At length he was taken at Jerusalem made a Prisoner sent bound first unto Cesarea and thence to Rome 2. When he was in Bonds whether at Cesarea or Rome or both they knew it and were very sensible of it And they signified their Love and inward Compassion unto him several wayes seeking to release him or relieve him they could do neither of theseopenly but with danger yet they were true and faithful to him did not like false friends forsake him Thus we should honour and esteem God's Children and Ministers in their Afflictions and own them most in their lowest condition This is an Evidence of their sincere Faith and Christian Charity and the Apostle doth not forget it He had said before that they became Companions of such as were reproached and he seems to prove it by this particular Instance brought in with the Causal for For ye had Compassion on me This is a rare and excellent Example and worthy of our Imitation After Compassion follows Passion They suffered loss of their Goods Where we may observe 1. The spoiling of their Goods 2. The enduring of this joyfully 3. The Reason and Ground of this joyful Suffering 1. They were spoiled of their Goods A Man may suffer in his Name his Place his Limbs his Liberty his Life his Estate This was a suffering in their Estate for their Goods which are called Livelihood were taken from them and that under pretence of Law by Fine or Confiscation This made so many poor Saints at Jerusalem for whose relief so many Collections were made in other Churches The end of this was to make them poor and miserable and willing to deny their Christianity 2. Yet they were so far from being discouraged that they endured this spoiling joyfully This did argue a lively Faith in and a sincere Love unto Christ for to be deprived of these necessary and convenient earthly Comforts was matter of sorrow and it goes near unto the hearts of Worldlings to part with them But these valued Christ as infinitely more precious than all the wealth of the World for they knew if they could keep Christ if Christ were not taken from them if Christ remained with them they should certainly be happy It were Wisdom in any Man seriously to consider what that is which he loves most for by that he will easily understand whether his heart be upright or no For he will suffer much and do any thing he can before he part with the Darling of his Soul 1. There was a better and an enduring Substance 2. This Substance was in Heaven 3. They had it 4. They knew they had it 1. By Substance many times and in several Languages is meant Wealth and an Estate of Goods acquired possessed and gathered together And though sometimes it 's strictly taken for Goods movable as Cattel Gold Silver Houshold-stuff yet the signification is often extended to any kind of Goods or Possessions This Substance is temporal or spiritual and here it 's spiritual differing from temporal in two respects 1. As better 2. As enduring It 's better in respect of Quality as far more excellent in it self and more beneficial to Man It 's enduring and will last long it will not corrupt or waste and decay for it is an Estate suitable to the immortal Soul which never dies The Substance it self the Possessour and the Possession of the Substance continue for
not respect The words give occasion of noting several things As 1. That the Word turned by our English to respect in the Hebrew signifies to behold or look upon with delight as well pleased with it The Chaldee Paraphrast useth a word which signifies to be well pleased with or graciously to accept Symmachus turns The Lord was delighted The Syriack translates to the same purpose But Theodotion saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 inflammavit He fired or consumed with fire For by fire sent from Heaven God did signify his acceptation of Aaron's Sacrifice Levit. 9. 24. Of Solomon's 2 Chron. 7. 1. and of Elijah's 1 King 18. 38. 2. God had respect first unto the Person then unto his Offering for if the Person be not rightly qualified the Sacrifice cannot be pleasing unto God 3. The thing which rendered both him and his Offering so acceptable was Faith 4. That he did not thus accept Cain's because he was not righteous had no Faith Some and amongst other Cornelius Bertram think that by this acceptation of Abel's Sacrifice God designed him to the Priest-hood and rejected Cain and this was the cause first of Envy then of Murder But whether God did testify of his Gifts by Fire and by that testimony design him to be Priest we need not trouble our selves This is certain he accepted Abel and his Offering and that acceptation was some wayes signified and by that signification he testified of him that he was righteous All persons who worship God are Cains or Abels offer with or without Faith how careful therefore should we be in the Service of our God to come with prepared and disposed hearts For it 's a blessed thing and a matter of sweetest comfort to be accepted of our God and a sad and woful Curse with Cain to be rejected The Reward after his Death is expressed in the third Proposition And by it being dead yet speaketh Where it 's said 1. He yet speaketh or is spoken of 2. Being dead he speaketh 3. By it he speaketh The Copies and Books differ for some read he speaketh some he is spoken of yet both these may signify his fame and good report continuing in the Church to this Day He may be said to be spoken of because his Name and his Faith are upon Record in Scripture where he though dead is remembred and commended and shall be remembred and commended to the World's end and no length of time which consumeth many things shall ever raze his memory he shall never be forgotten Yet most do read he speaketh and the Translators most do follow that reading Now the Question is what he speaketh and to whom and what this speaking is 1. He speaketh Faith and Righteousness and Virtue and the Reward of Virtue and calls aloud for imitation of his Faith and Righteousness that we may be accepted of God and rewarded as he was This is the Voice of all good Examples made known unto us There is another thing which he is said to speak of which hereafter 2. He speaketh first to Men for to whom God in the Scriptures speaks to them the Saints and Martyrs by their good Example may be said to speak Now the Scriptures were written for men living and God in them doth speak unto us whilst we living read or hear them 3. This speaking is not like the speaking of Abel when he was living nor as one man speaketh to another but this Speech is Metaphorical For as by Speech we declare and signify something unto others so Vertues Rewards Crimes Punishments made known unto Mortals by word or writing declare and signify that Vertue shall be rewarded and that Sin shall be punished and by the punishments warn us to take heed of Sin and by the rewards encourage us to Virtue This is not a speaking immediate of the person by words but a speaking by things In this respect it may be said that the dead whose Voice shall never be heard on Earth do speak But seeing Abel speaketh it 's further inquirable by what he speaketh It 's said by it he speaketh and by it may be his Faith and Sacrifice or Blood By the former he speaks as you heard before and the voice of Deeds and good Examples is far more effectual then the voice of Words and continues to sound far longer For the Voice is but heard whilst those who live can speak but the voice of Deeds is heard after Death yet some understand that he spake by his Blood and that he might do two wayes 1. As living he spake by his Faith and Offering but being dead by his patience and suffering and by this he exhorteth us not only to live well but with patience to suffer Death for Righteousness sake This is an Alarum to Martyrdom the highest pitch of Virtue and of Obedience 2. As dead he speaketh by his Blood not only as famous for his Martyrdom but as crying for Vengeance For so God said to Cain The Voice of thy Brothers Blood cryeth unto me from the Ground Gen. 4. 10. And in the following Chapter Christ's Blood is mentioned as speaking better things then the Blood of Abel Chap. 12. 24. Abel's Blood cryed aloud for Vengeance but Christ's for Mercy and Pardon Abel's Blood joyntly with the Blood of all Martyrs may call for justice unto the Supream Judg and when the Sufferings of all are finished then full Vengance shall be executed upon all bloody Persecutors Something to this purpose we may read Rev. 6. 10 11. In this sense it may be said they being dead do yet speak and will speak as dead and being slain by their cruel Enemies And by Faith they speak thus for without Faith they might have suffered justly for their Crimes and then they could not solicite the Supream Judg to revenge their innocent Blood not expect any Reward and Crown of Martyrdom § 8. After Abel follows Enoch the seventh from Adam yet the second from Abel of eminent note in the History of Moses Of him it 's said Ver. 5. By Faith Enoch was translated not to see Death and was not found because God had translated him for before his translation he had this Testimony that he pleased God IN this Text we may observe 1. The Reward which was Translation 2. The Virtue he was translated by Faith 3. The Testimony and good Report of him he pleased God Yet these may be reduced to two 1. The Reward he was translated 2. His Virtue by Faith he pleased God If we take the two Verses together we may reduce them to two Propositions thus 1. Enoch was translated 2. By Faith Enoch was translated And because the latter Proposition is not evident as not expressed in the Text the Apostle first presupposing this Translation to be a great Reward and obtained by Faith he proves it thus He that pleaseth God must have Faith But Enoch pleased God Therefore he had Faith That he pleased God he proves it by Testimony for that he did so is express
he doth this not like our earthly Fathers in an arbitrary way but after a certain Rule of perfect Wisdom and that for our good that we may be more holy and reap the peaceable fruit of Righteousness let us endure it with Patience and patiently continue to the End § 12. After this Discourse the Exhortation to the main Duty is expressed and repeated in these words Ver. 12. Wherefore lift up the Hands which hang down and the feeble Knees Ver. 13. And make strait Paths for your feet lest that which is lame be turned out of the way but let it rather be heaeled THis Text might be considered as a Conclusion drawn from the former Discourse or inferred from the last words of Ver. 13. If from the former then take it in this manner If Suffering be God's Chastening issuing from Love ordered in Wisdom ending in our greater good then we must lift up the hands which hang down c. If from the latter then the Argument is drawn from the ill Consequence of our fainting Remissness we shall like that which is lame be turned out â—f the way In the words themselvs we have 1. A Duty 2. The Reason why it should be performed 1. The Duty is set forth in Metaphorical terms and the Similitudes seem to be taken 1. From Wrastlers 2. From such as run in a Race The former when once they begin to faint hang down their hands and cannot lift them up the latter when they are wearied become feeble in their knees cannot run strait on but turn or are turned out of the way These things are translated unto the Soul It implies that these Hebrews through neglect of their heavenly vertues and other means of Perseverance and Prayer unto God began to faint and lag in their heavenly Course They were wearied much and vexed with the Opposition of their unbelieving Brethren reproaching persecuting threatning them and spoiling them of their Goods and began to waver in their Profession They perhaps entertained thoughts of falling away and debated within themselvs whether they should continue or no and to doubt and be unresolved was a degree of Apostacy This was in them a Sin and though the words are an Exhortation yet they imply a Reproof The Duty exhorted unto was a Reformation of this deficiency by a more serious consideration of so many and rare Examples the nature of Sufferings they were Chastisements the glorious Reward of Perseverance the fearful Punishment of Apostacy And by this consideration with Prayer for strength they ought to encourage themselvs rouze up their drowzy Spirits gird up the Loyns of their minds and resolve to go on and finish their Race They must not through sloth love of Ease of their Estates of Liberty of their Lives now begin to turn back and so lose the benefit of their former Labours and Sufferings By this we understand our frailty and how ready we are to give back in the way to eternal Glory if God do desert us yet this is our Comfort that he will not deny to support us except we give him Cause by our negligence and grievous Sins 2. The Reason why we should often renew and raise up those Graces which are left in us is lest we prove lame and so be turned out of the way To be lame is to lose our spiritual strength and vigour of heavenly motion and this is our Sin because we diminish it by not using that Power which God hath given us And the Punishment of this Sin is to turn us out of the way and reject us for God may in this Case justly withdraw his sanctifying Power and condemn us as unworthy of that eternal glorious Reward to which he called us Yet this turning out may be considered either as a Punishment and Judgment from God or as a Sin of Man who willingly turns out of the way and makes himself guilty of Apostacy This Lameness may be cured for some times it is not a mortal and desperate Disease but such as by Discipline of the Church and Penitency of the Party may be healed Therefore it 's added But let it rather be healed This seems to point at Ecclesiastical Censures whereby Persons that begin to fall away are excommunicated and delivered up to Satan and so left in a desperate Case yet the Apostle doth advise that where there is any hope of Recovery the Church should endeavour to make them penitent and so to absolve and restore them upon Repentance and not leave them to perish Thus the ancient Church dealt with those who were called Lapsi And according to this sense to turn out of the way is to censure and excommunicate and to heal is to restore them made penitent § 13. Though Perseverance both in Faith and the Profession thereof be the principal Dâ—ty yet Faith cannot be without other vertues as Peace and Holiness therefore he adds Ver. 14. Follow peace with all men and holiness without which no man shall see God THe reason of this Exhortation to these two Duties of Peace and Holiness may be this 1. Because without these our Profession is but Hypocrisy 2. These beautify and grace Christian Religion much and demonstrate our sincerity 3. By these we so demean our selves that our very Adversaries can have no just occasion to persecute us 4. If we follow peace with all men we shall avoid many Troubles which unadvised Zelots busy-Bodies turbulent and quarrelsom Persons bring upon themselves other good Christians If we follow holiness we shall give no scandal unto others please God and prepare our selves for Heaven the vision and fruition beautifical which will be our full hapiness So that there was special reason for to add these Exhortations But to consider the words in themselves we find in them a two-fold Duty 1. Of peace with Men. 2. Of holiness towards God 1. We must follow peace with all men where we must consider 1. What peace is 2. The parties with whom we must have peace 3. The following of this peace 1. Peace in this place is not agreement with every one in opinion affection practise for many have false opinions corruptions in affections and their practise is ungodly But peace is a virtue whereby we live quietly It issues from the loving of our Neighbour as our selves It 's opposed to a turbulent disposition of the Soul and all those qualities motions passions which cause dissension It cannot be without humility meekness patience forbearance kindness It so orders all words and actions that they tend to preserve concord and it gives no just cause of offence to any It labours to make up Breaches and reconcile Differences It 's an excellent virtue and is hardly separable from any Duty of the second Table therefore some have thought that by Peace in this place is signified the observation of all the Duties of that part of the moral Law which prescribes the duty of man to man 2. The parties with whom we must have peace are all