Gospel To be Lord in this manner is to manifest himself in the Excellency of his Wisdom Power and Mercy To know him as such is not any wayes to understand those excellent things testified of him in the Gospel but effectually to believe those Truths as revealed from Heaven and to rely upon him and him alone as our onely Saviour renouncing all Righteousness in our selves and all Confidence in all other things and counting all things loss and dung in comparison of him This is that which we call Faith in Christ whereby we are justified and saved yet this Knowledge and Faith was not without teaching For how should they believe on him of whom they have not heard and how should they hear without a Preacher And again So then Faith is by Hearing and Hearing by the Word of God that is taught and preached Rom. 10. 14 17. And the Apostles had Commission to go and teach or disciple all Nations Mat. 28. 19. and they must teach Repentance Faith in Christ and Remission of sins in his Name And when Christ ascended into Heaven he gave Gifts to men and sent Apostles Prophets Evangelists Pastors and Teachers Ephes. 4. 11. Yet this Teaching of Man was not without the Power of the Spirit teaching inwardly the same which they taught outwardly yet in a more excellent manner and with far greater efficacy The Persons who shall know God were all from the least to the greatest 1. The Jew taught but the Jew or his Proselyte the Apostles both Jew and Gentile of all Nations 2. All to whom the Gospel is preached aright know God or may know him 3. All may be restrained to all those who are taught not onely of Man but of God who writes his Laws in their hearts and gives them one heart and one way that they may fear him for ever and so puts his fear in them that they shall not depart from him Jerem. 22. 39 40. And he had promised to give his People an heart to know him that he was the Lord and they his People and he their God for they shall return unto him with their whole heart Jer. 24. 7. Where it 's observable 1. That God will so give them one heart as that they shall turn with their whole heart to the Lord. 2. So turned they shall not only know God to be the Lord but to be their God and they his People 3. That this place compared with that of the same Prophet Chap. 31. 33 34. alledged in this place doth signify that this Knowledge is such as upon which will follow Remission of Sins and this is justifying Faith § 13. Two things remain to be considered 1. How this Reason infers this Conclusion That they shall not under the Gospel every Man teach his Neighbour and every Man his Brother saying Know the Lord. 2. How these words come in upon the former whether so as to be a distinct and different Promise from the former or not For the first 1. It 's certain that in Heaven the Knowledge of the Lord shall be so perfect as that there shall be no need of any teaching of Man no nor of Prophets or Apostles therefore some of the Ancients understood the place of the perfection of Saints in the state of Glory 2. That unâ—er the Gospel there is need of Man's Teaching not onely for the first Conversion but for their further Edification till the Saints be perfect in Christ. 3. Yet there is a great difference between the teaching under the Law and that under the Gospel and that in three respects 1. Of the matter taught 2. Of the Teachers 3. Of the manner of Teaching 1. For the matter taught For the matter taught under the Law was The Lord bringing them out of Aegypt into the Land of Canaan and giving them Moral Judicial and Ceremonial Laws and blessing them in that good Land whilst in their manner and measure they observed these Laws Christ also was taught in Types and Shadows But the matter taught under the Gospel is God Redeemer by Christ exhibited glorified reigning at God's right hand and officiating in Heaven as being far more clearly and fully revealed 2. The Teachers under the Law whether Priests or Levites or Scribes or Parents or Masters or any private Persons were but Ministers of the Letter not of the Spirit But under the Gospel they were Ministers not onely of the Letter but of the Spirit and their Knowledge was far greater and clearer than that of the Teachers under the Law 3. For the manner of Teaching it was more clear more full more powerful as accompanied by the Spirit of Christ enlightning the Understanding and inclining the heart For in the Law there was no Promise of the Spirit to take away their stony heart and give them an heart of Flesh and to be put in them to cause them to walk in his Statutes As the saying of Austin is Lex jubet non juvat If the Spirit had been thus given to make the Doctrine of their Teachers effectual upon the heart of their Disciples and imprint the Knowledg of the Lord so deeply in their hearts as that they should never depart from him then the Promises of that Covenant had not been so far short of the Promises of the new Covenant But as the Law could expiate no Sin so it could not minister the Spirit It 's true that under the Law they had Faith in Christ to come and were enlightned and sanctified by the Spirit yet this they had not by vertue of the Law but the Promise by Christ to come and not by Moses And they who had it were few in number and their Knowledge of Christ was but implicit and the Power of the Spirit far less But under the Gospel they were many in number not only Jews and Proselytes but Gentiles of all Nations their Faith was far more explicit and the Power of the Spirit far greater So that the force of the Reason is That if the Teaching under the Gospel â—e so far more excellent in respect of the matter taught the Teachers and manner of Teaching which is such as that they all from the least to the greatest shall know the Lord so clearly fully and powerfully then there shall be no such Teaching as under the Law For seeing there is no distinct actual Knowledge without some kind of Disciplination and Instruction therefore where any Knowledg of the Lord is whether under the Law or the Gospel there must be some kind of Disciplination under both And here the Disciplination and Teaching of the Law and the Gospel are compared together And that of the Law was so weak and imperfect in respect of the Knowledg of the Lord which it did produce and that of the Gospel so powerful and also so perfect in respect of the Knowledge of the Lord the Effect thereof that there was great Reason that the former should cease as needless useless and imperfect For as the Apostle saith in another
imprinted there more perfectly Yet the word turned Laws signifies in the Hebrew Doctrines And these are the Doctrines of the Gospel concerning Christ's Person Nature Offices and the Work of Redemption the Doctrines of Repentance Faith Justification Resurrection and eternal Life and these either presuppose or include the Moral Law For they must be such Truths as are necessary and effectual to Man's Salvation without the Knowledge and practice whereof sinful Man cannot attain eternal Life Further they are Doctrines concerning Christ as already exhibited glorified reigning and officiating in Heaven 2. The Book or Tables wherein they must be written are the mind and heart of Man By Mind some conceive is meant the Understanding and by Heart the Will and rational Appetite But by both words are meant the immortal Soul endued with a Power to understand and will or nill that which is understood The word in the Hebrew turned by the Septuagint 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Mind and intellective Faculty signifieth the inward parts because as the heart and reins are the inmost parts of the Body so the mind thoughts and rational Appetite are intima Anime the inmost parts if we may so speak of the Soul They are as it were the Center of that immortal Substance where all the active vigour and powers of the Soul are united There is the Spring and Original of all rational and moral Operations of all thoughts affections and inward Motions There is the directive Counsel and imperial commanding Power There is the prime Mover of all humane Actions as such This is the Subject fit to receive not only natural but supernatural Truths and Doctrines and all Laws There divine Characters may be imprinted and made legible to the Soul it self This is the most noble and excellent Book that any can write in This is an Allusion to the Tables of Stone wherein the Law was written for the Law was not written in the heart but in stone upon Phylacteries Frontlets Posts and Walls of their Houses And now the Scriptures and divine Revelations are written in Books so as that they are legible by the Eye they may be spoken and so uttered by Man as to be perceived by the Ear and from these be conveyed to the common sense and fancy and by degree be transmitted to the Soul which by them receives some imperfect representations not informations This immortal Soul is the Book or Table wherein these Laws and divine Doctrines must be written 3. The Scribe or Pen-man is God for it 's said I will give or put I will write He that said so was the Lord And it must be He because the Work is so curious and excellent that it 's far above the Sphere of created activity He alone can immediately work upon the immortal Soul to inform it move it alter it and mould it anew so as neither Man or Angel can do They may by the outward senses and the fancy come near the Soul but immediately prepare it and make lively Impressions and write clear Characters of divine Truth upon it they cannot They may move it and affect or disaffect it yet to take away the stony heart and make an heart of Flesh is far above their Power Therefore God doth alwayes ascribe this great Work unto himself 4. The Act and Work of this Pen-man is to write and write these Laws and write them in the heart How he doth it we know not That he doth it is clear enough His preparations illuminations impulsions inspirations are strange and wonderful of great and mighty force For in this Work he doth not onely represent divine Objects in a clearer light and propose high Motives to incline and turn the heart but also gives a divine perceptive and appetitive Power whereby the Soul more easily and clearly apprehends and more effectually affects heavenly things The Effect of this Writing is a divine Knowledge of God's Laws and a ready and willing heart to obey them and conform unto them a Power to know and do the Word of God This is that Work of the Spirit which is called Vocation Renovation Regeneration Conversion actively taken without which Man cannot repent believe obey and turn to God It 's said to be a quickning of Man dead in sin a putting God's fear in Man's heart a putting God's Spirit within Man to cause him to obey his Laws a calling out of Darkness into Light a writing upon the fleshy Tables of Man's heart By this writing Man is said to have a new Heart and Spirit not that God creates in Man a new Soul or new Faculties but because he gives new Power new Light new Life new Qualifications so that Man is made partaker of a divine Nature and moulded anew with so much alteration that he is another Man though not for Substance yet for Qualities and Operations All this tends to an imperfect explication of this Promise wherein this new Covenant differs from and is more excellent than the former For that had no Promise of God's writing his Laws and Doctrines in Man's heart or of giving any sanctifying or renewing Power to enable them to observe and keep his Judgments Yet lest we mistake this excellent and most comfortable part of Scripture many things are to be observed 1. Concerning the Laws 2. Concerning the heart 3. Concerning God's writing in the heart 1. The Laws the Laws of God are written in the heart not the inventions fancies of men nor natural nor mathematical nor moral Philosophy much less the Errors and Blasphemies of Seducers and false Prophets It 's true that humane Learning and Languages are excellent means to find out the sense of the Scriptures and are great Blessings ordained of God for that end and being used with Prayer and sanctified may do much Yet we must know that these Doctrines are not only those of the Moral Law but these high Mysteries concerning Christ the Redemption Repentance Faith Justification Resurrection and the eternal Punishments and Rewards in the World to come as they are revealed in the Gospel For the matter and subject of them is God's Kingdom and the Government of God-Redeemer ordering Man to his final and eternal estate as I have manifested in another Treatise 2. The heart of Man is by Nature a very untoward and indisposed Subject and not capable of these heavenly Doctrines It 's blind and perverse and there is an Antipathy between it and these Laws It hath some little parcels of the Law of Nature written in it but not any thing of these heavenly and evangelical Truths it neither knows them nor can relish them And when they are represented unto it yet it hath no intellective Power to understand them nor any Will or Desire to seek them or inclination to obey the Laws of God which direct unto everlasting life It 's not only ignorant but filthily blotted and blurred with Errours both in matters of Religion and humane Conversation And this is the condition not only of Heathens
is there is no more offering for Sin IN all which we may observe 1. The Apostle's manner of Allegation ver 15. 2. The Text alledged ver 16 17. 3. The Aoostle's Application of the Text to the point in hand ver 18. 1. The manner of Allegation we have in these words Whereof the Holy Ghost is a witness to us For after he had said before The principal things here considerable are 1. The thing testified 2. The Witness testifying The thing testified is implyed in the word Whereof and it is the excellency of Christ's Sacrifice in respect of the virtue thereof in taking away Sin for this is the principal Subject of his present Discourse and the demonstration of this Virtue is chiefly intended The witness testifying this is the Holy Ghost a greater a better Witness we cannot have This Testimony we find in the Scriptures which signifie That all Scripture is given by inspiration from God we read it in the Prophet Joremiah therefore he spake and wrote this as moved by the Holy Ghost Jeremy so speaks and writes them as the words of God for saith the Lord is his Style from whence we observe That the Holy Ghost is the eternal Jehovah For that which Jehovah saith there The Spirit is sâ—d to witness or testify here Therefore seeing it 's the Spirit that testifieth and upon Record the thing testified must needs be of infallible and undeniable Truth 2. The matter of the Text alledged is a Promise and it is two-fold 1. Of putting God's Laws in our hearts that we may believe and be converted 2. The Remission of our Sins upon our Faith and Conversion The first is done by illumination and inspiration whereby that word concerning Christ and Salvation which we hear is made effectual and the power of the Spirit is added to work Faith by that word in our hearts to make us capable of Remission The second is done by the Sentence of the Supream Judge absolving us The first is referred to Vocation The second to Justification And here we must observe what the Apostle's intention is which will appear in The third thing which is the Apostle's Application in ver 18. 1. The difference between the second Allegation of the same Text here and in Chapter 8th is That there he proves the excellency of the Covenant above the former Covenant from the excellency of the promises but here he proves the excellency of Christ's one offering above all the offerings of the Law because by virtue of it Sins are taken away which implies that the mercies promised in the New Covenant were merited by this Sacrifice and that in respect of this Sacrifice offered he was the Mediatour of this Covenant so that without it those promises had been never made or if they had been made they never had beeneffectual and beneficial unto sinful Man For in consideration of this offering God made these promises and for Christ's sake offering himself once he gives the things promised to such as are capable of them according to the Tenour of the Covenant 2. He singles out the latter promise of Remission as most pertinent to the point in hand for though the former promise be excellent and the thing promised necessary for to enable Man to keep the Covenant yet it is but subordinate to this second promise because if the Covenant be not kept there can be no remission neither is there any keeping of the Covenant except God's Laws be written in man's heart as well as in the Scripture outwardly 3. He puts an Emphasis upon the Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 used in the Hebrew Text and the double negative in the Greek which imports That he will in no wise remember out Sins any more he will forgive them for ever 4. From hence he draws this conclusion there is no more offering for Sin 5. And from thence that Christ's Sacrifice was of that excellent virtue that by one offering it took away Sin all Sin and made it eternally Remissible and upon Faith eternally to be remitted So that the substance of the Doctrinal part of this Chapter is to demonstrate the inefficacy of the many Legal Offerings and the Efficacy of Christ's one Offering And all this tends to this end to inform us 1. That Legal Offerings cannot help and save us 2. That Christ's can 3. That Christ's is far more excellent and absolutely necessary And the Comparison therefore is in respect of the expiating power and vertue of both which of the one is little or none of the other is very great and sufficient for our Salvation and eternal happinesse And this Doctrine is full of heavenly Comfort to humble penitent and believing Sinners for by this Offering though our Sins be many and hainous yet they are all eternally pardoneâ— and we for ever consecrated § 15. The Apostle having finished his Doctrine of Christ's Priest-hood begins here to apply the same and that by way of Exhortation to certain Duties which they were bound to perform by vertue of God's Command and that Faith in Christ they did profess The former Doctrine did serve to inform their Understanding more fully and to improve and confirm their Faith the Exhortations following tended to stir up the heart informed by the Understanding and directed by Faith to the performance of other Duties necessary to the attainment of that eternal life which Christ had merited for them This is the second part of this Chapter and almost of the whole Epistle for the Connexion will make it appear to be so if we either consider the matter or manner For the matter we find that these words are joyned with the antecedent Doctrine concerning the Excellency of Christ both as Prophet and Priest and so it 's the second part of the whole which is 1. Doctrinal 2. Practical For the former part is didascalical this latter protreptical and more practical But if we consider the immediate Connexion then it will appear that it 's in a more special manner joyned with the Doctrine of Christ's Priest-hood continued from the fifth Chapter to this place and the first Application following as the last Chap. 13. doth more especially respect Christ's Priest-hood The manner of the Connexion is evident from the Illative Therefore which signifies that the Exhortations are so many Conclusions deduced from the former Doctrine especially that of Christ's Priest-hood The principal Duty exhorted unto and urged by many and powerful Arguments is Perseverance in the Christian Faith which they did profess Yet he exhorts unto many other which should alwayes accompany sincere Faith and are not separable from it These things premised it 's time to enter upon the Text as delivered Ver. 19. Having therefore Brethren boldness to enter into the Holiest by the Blood of Christ Ver. 20. By a new and living way which he hath consecrated for us through the Veil that is to say his Flesh Ver. 21. And having an High-Priest over the House of God THE Method of
drink it and receive it into our bodies yet if we neither eat the one when it 's set before us nor drink the other when put into our hands we may perish for hunger and thirst So it is spiritually with our Souls in respect of the Word preached and heard only our with outward ears and not received and receiued in our hearts by a true and lively Faith So that the cause why the Word of God being so great a Blessing and so excellent a means of Salvation doth us no good is from our selves or in our selves who either refuse it at the first or reject it after we have professed it and promised to live according to it And this refusal and rejection as they are hainous sins not onely against God's just Laws but his merciful tender of eternal life so they will prove in the end the cause of our eternal misery which shall be greater and more intolerable than those to whom the Word of God was never preached 4. Therefore it concerns us all to fear this Sin of Apostacy as we fear loss of heavenly Rest God's eternal displeasure Hell Death and eternal Punishments The Apostle by this word fear implies there is danger of falling away and if we consider there is danger and the same very great For if we look upon our weakness and the remainders of corruption the deceipt and hypocrisy of our own hearts the imperfection of our Understanding in heavenly things the inconstancy of our Wills our little experience in the wayes of God and the violence and power of temptation from the Devil and the World we may easily see that it 's a wonder if not a matter of amazement that we stand one day one hour yet when we look up towards Heaven remember our Saviour Christ reigning and victorious the power of the blessed Spirit the helps God hath given us the Promises of assistance there is great cause of hope yet this hope doth not exclude but require our diligent Care continual Watching and instant Prayers without which we cannot by which we may hope to stand Oh how should we carefully and constantly attend unto God's Word lay it up in our hearts make it the Rule of our whole life so as to obey his Commands rely upon his Promises and fear his threats and every day call to mind the Profession we have made and the Promises whereby we have engaged our selves unto our God And seeing so few do fear it 's no wonder so many fall and come short of this blessed Rest. Most men presume upon the Promise and neglect the Duty The Israellres had a Promise yet did not enter because they did not believe § 3. There follows another distinct Reason from the former and that is the great benefit that follows upon the performance of the Duty Ver. 3. For we who have believed do enter into Rest as he said As I have sworn in my Wrath c. THere is some difficulty to know the coherence of these words with the former as also of those that follow with these and amongst themselves Some say they come in upon the words immediately antecedent and give a reason why the Word not mixed with Faith did not profit nor bring the hearers into God's Rest For onely we that believe do enter that is There is no entrance but by Faith but by Faith there is Others think they propose a reason why we should fear Apostacy and be careful to persevere and that from the happy consequent and the glorious reward which follows upon perseverance in belief and that is entrance and admittance into God's Rest yet they may referr to those words of the former Chapter For some when they had heard did provoke howbeit not all that came out of Aegypt by Moses For Caleb and Joshua heard and believed and persevered for it 's said of Caleb and it 's the Testimony of God That he had another Spirit with him and followed the Lord fully Numb 14. 24. This he applyes to himself and the Hebrews to this purpose That though some did not enter because of Unbelief yet some did believe and did not provoke and so entred so likewise shall we believing do As the former might cause fear so this latter might cause hope and prove a strong motive why we should fear to fall and be very careful to persevere So that if we will sum up that which went before it 's this in brief To day if we will hear God's voice we must not harden our hearts 1. Because if we do harden them we shall be shut out of God's Rest as our rebellious and Apostate Fathers were 2. If we do not harden our hearts but believe we shall enter into God's Rest as Caleb and Joshua did It follows As he said I have sworn in my wrath if they shall enter into my Rest c. These words serve to inform us of three things 1. That the Word not believed could not profit because by Unbelief they provoked God to wrath and in his Wrath he sware they should not enter into his Rest so likewise we should fear to be guilty of Unbelief because if we prove such God in his Wrath by the like Oath will exclude us 2. That as God by this Oath did exclude none but Unbelievers and brought the Believers into Canaan so he will exclude none out of the Rest promised in the Gospel but Unbelievers and will without all fail bring us believing into our spirituall Canaan 3. That as the Oath so the Exhortation used by the Prophet David implied that as there was a Rest in the dayes of Joshua so there is another Rest besides that of the promised Land Therefore because it might be doubted what Rest either David meant or the Gospel doth promise the Apostle proceeds to prove that there is yet a Rest prepared for God's People under the Gospel and determines what Rest that is This is done by distinction for he informs us of a three-fold Rest 1. Of the Sabbath 2. Of the Land of Canaan 3. Of the eternal Rest in Heaven That it was the intention of the Apostle to manifest that there was a Rest for the People of God under the Gospel and yet that Rest was neither the first of the Sabbath nor the second of the Land of Canaan is evident by that which follows especially Ver 19 10. That it was expedient if not necessary for him to do thus is as clear because he had alledged the words of the Psalm To day if ye will hear his Voice and also said in Ver. 1. That a Promise was left us of entring into his Rest. The first is the Rest of the Sabbath in these words Although the Works were finished from the Foundation of the World And Ver. 4. For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day in this wise And God did rest the seventh day from all his Works THE particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is turned here although yet it may signify and
The time expressed in the second Axiom was the time when God brought them out of Aegypt in the third Month after their departure out of the Land of Bondage They were in a sad condition when God as a Father took them by the hand and it was a great Mercy to deliver them to have such a special care of them to do so many wonders for them and then bind himself in Covenant to them For though that Covenant was far inferiour to this new one yet it was a great Mercy unto them and tended to their great good The place where it was made is here implyed which was the Wilderness of Sinai Of the making of it we read Exod. 19. of the confirming of it by Sacrifice Blood and a Sacrificial Feast Exod. 24. 3. They continued not in that Covenant for they did prove unfaithful to their God and disobedient to his Laws They forsook him and revolted from their Lord and Sovereign went a whoring after other gods the golden Calves and Idols of the Heathen â—nd polluted themselve with their Abominations And though God had been a Husband to them yet they did all this according to their leud and whorish hearts and this did much aggravate their sin For the Covenant made between God and them was like the Covenant of Marriage a Covenant of nearest Union dearest Love and strictest Obligation and God had carried himself towards them like a loving and most faithful Husband and yet they did Apostate from him and made the Covenant void 4. Therefore God neglected them and regarded them not For he rejected and cast off the Kingdom of Israel and sent Judah into Captivity And why should he regard a leud impious whorish People who had forsaken their God and refused to turn unto him this was a just Punishment for their grievous sin And so it was to their Posterity who adhering to the old rejected the new Covenant 5. This new Covenant was not according unto but different from this old one It differed in the foundation and ground in the terms and conditions in the Promises in the force and efficacy and we might add in the Mediator The foundation of this Covenant whereon as upon its Basis it stood so firm as never to be shaken and altered was the Blood and Sacrifice of Christ without which God would not covenant upon any terms with sinful guilty man The terms were Repentance and Faith not Do this and live The Promises were not of legal Remission and temporal Prosperity but of eternal pardon of all Sins repented of and of eternal happiness The efficacy and power was great for this Covenant gave power to keep the conditions and could purge the Conscience neither of which the former was able to do Lastly the Mediator was the Son of God a far more excellent Priest 6. The Lord said this And this is the second time wherein the Lord is brought in as Witness and that to signify the certainty of the whole and every part of what was spoken And it had been to little purpose if any but God had said so for he alone had power to alter and make void the former and establish this new latter Covenant He only fore-knew what should come to pass and could fore-tell it infallibly He only could make the Prediction good His Testimony only was of undeniable Authority § 10. After that you have heard of the parties confederating the time of confederation and the quality of the Covenant as being new and far different from the old you must more especially consider the Promises which are essential parts of this Covenant by which is manifested the real difference of it from the former and the excellency and perfection thereof For the former was so defective that it could sanctify and justify no man nay by reason of the unfaithfulness and untowardliness of the People under the same it did not reach the end which by it was intended The parts thereof seem to be only Promises yet the Covenant had Precepts and Terms as conditions with threatnings of penalty if not performed and though these are not expressed yet they are not excluded but implyed The reason why the Promises are only mentioned is because they are the principal part upon which the attaining of the ultimate end did most depend And these are solemnly ushered in by these words Ver. 10. For this is the Covenant that I will make with the House of Israel after those dayes c. FOR God not content to say I will make a new Covenant adds That this is the Covenant By the former words he signified his Will to make a new Covenant and by these he informs us what this Covenant is and what be the Promises By the former we understand that it was different from the former by this latter we learn wherein the the difference consists and that is chiefly though not only in the Promises which are so excellent that the Promises of the former Covenant were not worthy to be named with them yet this is not all but he again informs of the time after those dayes For as the former Covenant was made after the deliverance out of Aegypt so this latter must be made after the return of Babylon's Captivity And it 's remarkable that he deeply humbles by great and bitter Afflictions both the Fathers and the Children before he makes any Covenant with them For he knew this to be the way to prepare them and make them more ready to obey more capable of his Mercies and more desirous of his Blessings So much Corruption is in Man that God hath much a-do with us for to reduce us and make us a Subject fit to receive his Covenant and his Promises And here again God is brought in a Witness the third time by that Clause saith the Lord to signify how excellent and important and also how certain the matter is The Promises which are the principal part of this Covenant are Ver. 10. I will put my Laws in their mind and write them in their hearts This is the first Promise wherein we may observe 1. Some things to be written 2. The Book wherein they must be written 3. The Scribe or Pen-man who must write them 4. The Writing it self The things to be written are the Laws of God the Table Mens hearts the Scribe and Pen-man is God the writing is a wonderful Work of God whereby the Soul is enlightned sanctified and made capable of nearer Union with God 1. The things to be written are the Laws of God but what Laws these are may be doubted For some will have them to be the several Commandments of the Decalogue Yet these are said to be written in the heart of the very Heathens Rom. 2. 15. Yet suppose they be already in their hearts yet the writing of them there is very imperfect for both the Knowledge of them and power to keep them are very imperfect so that the Love of God and our Neighbour may be
Case When that which is perfect is come then that which is in part shall be done away 1 Cor. 13 10. Both Law and Gospel have their Teachers Teaching and the matter taught which is the Knowledg of the Lord and both agree thus far Yet they differ in the Quality Power and Manner in which respects the former shall cease and the latter continue There shall be no such Teaching under the Gospel as under the Law because there shall be a far better The second Enquiry is Whether these words are added to the former only for Explication or for to inform us of another distinct Promise Upon due consideration they may be found so to explicate the former as to add another Promise For they signify 1. That the end and issue of God's putting his Laws in their mind and writing them in their hearts is to know God the only true God and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent 2. To know God and Jesus Christ far more perfectly than ever they could do under the Law 3. To know him so as never to depart from him as their Fathers did 4. To know him so as that God should be their God for ever and bind himself in an everlasting Covenant unto them And this effect it should have not in a few but in very many of all sorts of all Nations And all and every one in whom he would thus write his Doctrines should thus know him fear him love him and obey him constantly and cheerfully so as they should not need either so much teaching admonishing threatning correcting punishing as they did under the Law nor be in such danger of departing and revolting from their God as their Fathers were For our God doth so deeply imprint his heavenly saving Truth in our hearts as that we shall be enamoured with Christ and so firmly adhere unto him as never to be separated from him This Effect it is not onely able to produce but hath actually produced it in thousands and millions This may be a new Promise whereby God doth engage himself not onely to be our God and take us for his People for a time but for ever For after once he becomes our God as here is meant he not onely rewards us but amongst other things doth continually minister unto us the sanctifying Power of his Spirit to enable us more and more to keep his Covenant that so in the end we may obtain the final and eternal Reward for he first writes his Laws in our hearts that upon our first Faith and Conversion he may first become our God and after he once is our God he writes them more and more that he may continue to be our God for evermore He will not only begin but finish the great Work of Salvation § 14. There is another Promise of unspeakable comfort expressed Ver. 12. For I will be merciful to their Unrighteousness and their Sins and their Iniquities will I remember no more THis is a Mercy of that concernment and necessity to sinful Man that all the rest without it are nothing The thing promised is eternal Remission of all sins Where we have 1. Sins 2. Remission of Sins 3. Remission for ever 4. The Person remitting 5. The Persons to whom they are remitted 1. For Sin we have three words 1. Unrighteousness 2. Sins 3. Iniquities Two of these are only named in the Prophet and the Apostle adds the third according to that of Exod. 34. 7. where we find three Hebrew words as we do Psal. 32. 12. And the Septuagint translate the three Original words by these three Greek words which are here used by the Apostle And here it 's implied That the People with whom God makes this Covenant have their Unrighteousness Sins and Iniquities and some of them not onely many but very hainous What Sin is I need not here define because I have done it more at large in my Theopolitica where I explain the meaning of the Apostle's definition 1 Joh. 3. 4. Sin presupposeth a Law-giver one Subject and under his Power a Law and the Obligation of the party subject And it 's a disobedience to the Law Here God's the Law-giver Man 's the Subject Commandments the Laws and when Man acts moves or is inclined contrary unto these Laws then he sins The Commands of God are his Rule and he ought to follow it and his heart ought to be conformable unto it and that freely and upon Knowledg For Man is bound to know the Law and to observe it And when Man sâ—vervs from this Rule he forsakes the Wisdom and Righteousness of God and follows his own Imagination and the Suggestion of the Devil and is carried away from his God by his base and ill-disposed Will and Lusts. And though all Sin is base yet some sins are more hainous than others Amongst other Consequents of Sin Guilt and Punishment are most remarkable and there can be no Sin which makes not Man guilty and liable to Punishment though the Punishment may be removed or the Suffering of it prevented And because God in his Law promiseth not only temporal but eternal Rewards and threatneth not only temporal but eternal Punishments therefore the condition of the guilty is very miserable and the more guilty the more miserable And if once we see our condition and be sensible of it our Souls are troubled and fearfully tormented and the thoughts and remembrance of Judgment are very terrible not onely because we are in danger to lose the eternal Rewards but to suffer eternal Punishments 2. Though there be Sins and the Guilt after the Sin is past remains yet there is Remission This Remission is a kind of loosing and dissolving an Obligation This Obligation here to be loosed is Guilt which is not Obligation to Obedience which is the Act of a Law but unto Punishment which follows upon the transgression of the Law by vertue of the Law and the Commination Pardon therefore and Remission is a freedom from the Guilt and so from the Punishment by necessary Consequence This Remission in this place is expressed by two words the first is I will be merciful the second I will not remember their Sins and Iniquities The first implies that Remission is an Act of Mercy pure and free Mercy for he that is guilty is in the hands of the Judge to punish or spare him and if he spare it 's a favour and an undeserved kindness Yet the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 mercifull doth sometime imply such a Mercy as presupposeth some satisfaction and propitiation made without which Mercy and Pardon will not be granted and so it 's taken in this place For though God be merciful and inclined to pardon yet he will be just and Justice requires some expiation to be made by Blood or some other way and this to manifest his purest holiness and hatred of Sin and that he will not suffer his just Laws to be violated and yet let the party violating go free without any
satisfaction made Neither is it cruelty but Justice to require explation to be made and to accept it for a guilty Person and so upon the same to remit him is a great Mercy The second word is Not to remember To remember Sin in this place is an Act of a Judge taking notice of Sin so as to punish the Sinner Not to remember is not to charge the Sin upon the Sinner and so punish him but to free him from the Punishment and the Guilt too so that he shall neither be punished nor be liable to Punishment And it 's observable 1. That he will not only be mercifull but he will not remember 2. That though in the Hebrew there be but one Negative 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yet in the Septuagint and the Apostle we find 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a double Negative where by the Multitude of words is signified that God's Mercy will be very great and by the Negatives that it will be very certain and the Sinner shall have no cause to doubt And both the words and the Negatives imply that God will certainly and abundantly pardon and he will in no wise punish 3. This Remission is eternal and takes away the Guilt of Sin for ever and puts the sinful guilty wretch once pardoned in a condition of eternal safety In the Law notwithstanding their Sacrifices for Sin and Burnt-Offerings and Expiations there was a yearly remembrance of Sin upon the day of Expiation and their many Sacrifices offered by many Priests often could not take away Sin But Christ by one Offering consecrated the sanctified for ever and by his Blood entring into the Holy place obtained eternal Remission and made Sin eternally pardonable And upon Repentance and Faith follows actual and eternal Remission and freedom from all Guilt and Punishment for evermore So that the pardon here promised is plenary for it 's total of all sins and perpetuall and an Act of eternal Amnesty or Oblivion will be passed in the supream Court of Heaven No sin not any shall in any wise be remembred any more 4. The party pardoning is God who makes the Covenant and in the Covenant this Promise For it 's said I will be mercifull I will not remember He is the supream Law-giver and the supream Judg and if he once justify none can condemn His Sentence cannot be revoked and null'd there lyes no Appeal from his Tribunal his Decrees once passed stand firm for ever Yet God pardons as propiâ—â—ated by the Blood of Christ and â—s there upon freely and abundantly merciful For to pardon one whom he may justly punish is Mercy to pardon many grievous sins is abundant Mercy to pardon for ever is eternal Mercy It is the Lord the Lord God merciful and gracious â—â—ng-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth Keeping Mercy for thousands forgiving Iniquity and Transgression and Sin Exod. 34. 6. 7. Where we may observe that Mercy goes before Remission He loved and piâ—yed us when we were sinful and Enemies and gave his only begotten Son for us that by his Blood he might make way for his Mercy make our Sins paâ—â—â—onable and when the Sinner once repetus and believs and the Blood of Christ is once pleaded then he actually freely abundantly eternally pardons How are God's justified Ones bound to praise him with all their heart for evermore 5. The Persons pardoned are not all Sinners and every Transgressout For though God's Mercy â—e as he himself is infinite yet it 's by his Wisdom and Justice limited to certain Persons For though Christ hath merited pardon by his death yet no Sinner as a Sinner is capable of it his Death makes Sin and Faith makes the Sinner pardonable God must write his Laws in Man's heart and Man must know his God and Saviour and believe in him and Christ must make Intercession before Man can be actually justified Therefore this Promise follows all the rest Except Man receive God for his God and God become his God no pardon can be expected God received as our God and engaging himself to be our God in Christ doth justify And this is great Mercy of God that seeing Man is by Nature uncapable of Remission because sensless of his Sin and ignorant of his Saviour he writes his Laws in his heart to take away the stony and sensless quality thereof and makes it tender and sensible and so Man sees his Sin hates it is humbled and grieved for it willing to turn unto his God He enlightens him and lest he should despaire he manifests unto him his Saviour and his infinite Mercy in him promiseth pardon invites and calls him and lets him know there is plentiful Redemption Upon all this Man is willing to submit himself and take God to be his God in Christ and now he is in a capacity of pardon and justifiable Thus Man by God's Grace and performance of his Duty by the power of that Grace is prepared for this great Mercy of Remission and Justification And they who through neglect of hearing God's Word and Prayer continue in their Sin and harden their hearts can have no hope of this great benefit which God is so willing to give and sinful Man unwilling upon God's terms to receive These words thus explained contain this Promise That God will forgive Man his Sin and justify him and the words are brought in upon the former by the Particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Hebrew and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the Greek turned by our Translators For. And as I have observed before it 's sometimes expletive sometimes illative for therefore sometimes causal and accordingly is rendred Sometimes the Hebrew Particle signifies When. If it be expletive it 's used onely to bring in this last Promise and joyn it with the rest But if it be not such but used here as a rational Conjunction the Connexion of these words with the former is very doubtful Some make Remission to be the ground of all the other Priviledges which God doth promise because he will forgive their Sins Thus Dr. Gouge seems to understand it Yes this seems to give a Reason why God will write his Laws in their hearts be their God and so teach them as that they shall know him and it 's this That he may make them capable of Remission and being made such he may remit them This is certain that this is a distinct Promise of the Covenant different from the rest and it 's such a Promise and of so great a Blessing that the Law had none such neither by the Observation of it could any Man obtain Pardon and Justification And it 's certain and clear enough that one end why God made this Covenant and in the same promised to write his Laws in our hearts was that by them so written we might repent and believe and by them obtain Remission For the chief Laws and Commandments of this new Covenant are those of Repentance and Belief
to blot out all our Sins and never remember them never charge them upon us that Christ should be the Mediator of this Covenant and never cease his Mediation till he hath fully sanctified justified and blessed us for ever What can Man desire which he shall not have What can he want which God hath not provided for him Doth he desire an High-Priest He is ready and he is the best in the World Doth he desire his Ministry in Heaven He shall be sure of it Doth he desire a Covenant Here is a Covenant a new Covenant a Covenant of the best and sweetest Promises that ever were Doth he desire a Mediator of this Covenant A Mediator is at the right hand of God who ever lives there and as an Advocate pleads his Cause and will not rest Day or Night untill he hath made us capable of Pardon and procured Remission of all our Sins for ever The remembrance of these things must needs be sweet and wonderfully revive and refresh a bruised Spirit and a broken heart sensible of Sin hungring and thirsting after Righteousness and Salvation But how great is our Ignorance of these things how weak our Faith how languishing our Hopes Our eternal happiness depends upon this Covenant this Priest this Mediation and Ministry and issues from God the Father and from this High-Priest and from pure Mercy And how happy we if we had but a true and living Faith effectually to believe these things and totally to rely upon God's pure free and abundant Mercy in Jesus Christ for they who believe in him shall not perish but have everlasting life and he that hath the Son hath Life and Life for evermore Many and grievous are our Sins great is our danger and none can help us but this great Mediator of this blessed Covenant yet we are sensless of our Sins and do not seek unto our Saviour We are secure and do not understand that without his help and Ministry we must unavoidably perish God hath done much to save us and hath brought eternal life near unto us but we regard it not We continue in our Sins and will not believe on Christ and therefore are we condemned already because we have not believed in the Name of the onely begotten Son of God And this will be our Condemnation that Light is come unto us and yet we love Darkness rather than the Light therefore Salvation is far from us Christ will not be our Saviour nor make Intercession for us O Lord put thy Laws in our minds and write them in our hearts that we may see our Sins and be sensible of them and seek our Saviour that thou mayest be our God and we thy People and know thee all of us from the least unto the greatest that so thou mayest mercifully pardon our Unrighteousness and remember our Sins and Iniquities no more Amen Amen CHAP. IX Of the Sacrifice of Christ and the excellent vertue thereof § 1. THE Apostle here doth enlarge upon and more particularly and distinctly explain those things which in the former Chapter he had only in general and briefly mentioned For he implyed there that a Priest once made and consecrated must have a Sanctuary must minister in it and be the Mediator of a Covenant and that the more excellent the Sanctuary the Service and the Covenant the more excellent the Priest that is Minister of these And did affirm that Christ in respect of all these was more excellent than the Levitical Priest But in this Chapter he speaks more at large of the earthly and the heavenly Sanctuary of the Service performed in both but especially of the great Sacrifice and Expiation made by both the Priests most of all of Christ's Expiation-Offering of the rare vertue and the excellent Effects thereof and how by it he was the Mediator of the new Covenant and made it effectual unto Remission and the eternal Salvation of Man This is some kind of co-herence whereby this part is joyned to the former But there is another for the Apostle having proved Christ more excellent than the Levitical High-Priest 1. In respect of his Constitution Chap. 5. 6. and especially in the 7th 2. In respect of his Ministration in the 8th In this 9th he proceeds to speak of his Ministration in particular and of his excellent Service in Offering himself a Sacrifice without spot to God § 2. The Subject of this whole Chapter and part of the tenth is the Sacrifice of the Cross. The Scope is to manifest how excellent this piece of Service is The Method upon consideration of the whole is this He informs us 1. Of the Typical Tabernacle and the Service especially the great Expiatory Sacrifice performed therein and this by way of Introduction to the 11th Verse 2. Of the Anti-Typical Sanctuary and Sacrifice and teacheth us 1. The Nature and Quality of both especially of the Sacrifice 2. The Vertue of this Sacrifice manifested in the Effects thereof from Ver. 11. to the end And this he doth 1. Both absolutely and sometimes comparatively in this Chapter 2. More comparatively in the Chapter following This is the general Analysis the particular you may expect both in and after the Explication The Substance of the whole is this He that being a Minister of a better Sanctuary doth offer a far more excellent Sacrifice must needs be a more excellent Priest than the Levitical But Christ being Minister of a better Tabernacle offered a more excellent Sacrifice Therefore he is a more excellent Priest The Proposition he takes for granted The Assumption he proves at large and very effectually and this is his Design and Work in this Chapter and part of the 10th § 3. To begin with the Introduction Ver. 1. Then verily the first Covenant had also Ordinances of Divine Service and a worldly Sanctuary VVHere we may observe 1. The Connexion 2. The Matter The Connexion is signified by these words Then verily or according to the Original Therefore verily and so Vatablus Beza Junius translate By which the words following seem to contain a Conclusion deduced from the former Chapter Ver. 2. 3 4 5. and especially from the 5th where it 's implyed that there must be a Tabernacle and the Priests must serve and officiate in it according to the Example and Shadow of heavenly things and there were certain Rules given to Moses according to which both he must make the Tabernacle and the Priests must serve therein This briefly for the Connexion It follows 2. The former had Ordinances of Divine Service c. Where we have 1. The Subject 2. The Predicate The Subject the first the Original expresseth no more not informing us whether the first Priest-hood or the first Tabernacle or the first Covenant be meant Some Copies expresly read the first Tabernacle and so some understand the place but most reject that and supply the Ellipsis by the word Covenant and so much the rather because in the last Verse of the former
so far as was necessary for their deliverance and became liable to the penalty which was due to Man for his Sin That which moved God to send and give his Son was his meer mercy and free love to miserable Sinners That which moved God to punish him once substituted was his vindicative Justice looking upon our Sins It is not proper to say That our Sins were a cause either intrinsecally or extrinsecally impelling God to put Christ to Death and to lay upon him the iniquities of us all Though Sin is the formal object of punitive justice and doth deserve punishment yet God as Supream Lord and Judge and above his own Law had power to pardon Sin or punish it and punish it either in the party offending or in Christman's voluntary Hostage and in what measure he pleased and to accept this punishment willingly suffered for what ends and in what degree he pleased For to inflict the penalty upon the party delinquent or upon another or in this or that degree or for this or that end which shall be agreeable to Justice and pleasing to Mercy is accidental and not essential to it And because this Death of Christ was suffered for Sin and so intended by the Supream Judge it was not only an affliction but properly a punishment That which moved Christ to offer himself was his love unto his heavenly Father a resolution to obey his Command and a desire to be beneficial to mankind and the offering was an act of Charity Obedience and properly a Sacrifice which did so please God that he in consideration of the same was willing to grant unto Man many glorious and incomparable Blessings And to substitute Christ to Command him to offer himself to make him Sin for us to accept his Sacrifice for 〈◊〉 and in consideration of the same to promise Remission of Sins and eternal life to sinful man believing was not meerly or properly a dispensation but an abrogation of the Law of Works In this offering God did manifest his Wisdom his Power his Holiness and hatred of Sin his love of Righteousness his vindicative Justice his supream Dominion and his infinite Mercy In it Christ was a patern and lively mirrour of Humility Patience Fortitude Faith Hope Charity Self-denial and Obedience unto Death the Death of the Cross. The effects of this one offering are here said to be Sanctification and Consecration yet it was not an absolute and immediate cause of these Therefore we must observe That the effects of this cause may be said to be immediate or mediate though this is no formal distinction of a cause as a Cause The immediate effects which are antecedent to application are of three sorts 1. Such as respect God to whom the Sacrifice was offered or Christ who offered it or Man for whom it was offered Such as respect God respect him either as Lord or Law-giver or Judge As Lord by this Sacrifice redeeming man he acquired a new power over Man as he was Law-giver the Law of Works was made relâ—xible or repealable as he was Judge his vindicative power in respect of the sin of man was suspended or inhibited upon a satisfaction or compensation made so that his mercy might freely issue out to save man without any breach or violation of Justice or derogation from the Authority of his Law All these may be reduced to propitiation and reconciliation In respect of Christ the person offering by this he acquired power over all Flesh and all that happiness and glory which his Father promised to conferr upon him upon the performance of this Service In respect of man for whom Christ offered he by this became savable upon a new Covenant and new terms for the performance of which Covenant and attaining of which Salvation all means and power necessary were merited These effects followed immediately in respect of the offering the mediate effects are such as followed upon this offering applyed yet are the immediate effects of it as applyed For upon the same received by Faith followed Justification Reconciliation Adoption Resurrection and eternal Salvation and all these are reduced by the Apostle to Sanctification and Consecration So that the Salvation of Man from first to last is wholly from this offering yet this offering was not the first Spring and Fountain of our Happiness for that was the love of God giving Christ to offer himself It 's a vain and loose assertion of the Socinian to sâ—y or argue That because God loved Man so as to give Christ for him therefore there was no need of any Propitiation or Reconciliation or Aversion of his Wrath by Blood For he might easily distinguish between a general indefinite and a particular love and between a love of good will and of friendship The love of God is best known by the acts and effects thereof For we find three degrees and effects of his love to sinful man The first is the giving of Christ to offer himself for him and thus he loved him when he was an Enemy and ungodly for we may love Enemies though not as Friends The second is the giving the means of Conversion that he may believe and when God loves him thus and first calls him he finds him still an Enemy The third degree and effect of his love is to justify and glorify him and when God loves him thus he finds him converted and looks upon him as a Friend From these degrees of love the Apostle argues That if when we were Enemies we were reconciled to God by the Death of his Son how much more being reconciled shall we be saved by his life Rom. 5. 10. And though Christ hath offered himself for Sinners and this was an act of exceeding love yet he that believeth not on the Son offering himself hath no life in him but the Wrath of God abideth on him Joh. 3. 36. And no man can have peace with God by Jesus Christ before he be justified by Faith in Christ. For being justified by Faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ Rom. 5. 16. Where to have peace with God and be the determinate object of God's special love doth presuppose and necessarily prerequire both Faith and Justification § 14. The Apostle having proved formerly out of Psalm 40. the excellency of Christ's Sacrifice and the virtue of it in the next words adds another proof out of Jeremy 31. 33 34. The same Text of the Prophet was alledged Chap. 8. and there handled and therefore here I need not enlarge but contract my Explication But let us hear the words of the Allegation Ver. 15. Whereof the Holy Ghost is a witness to us For after he had said before Ver. 16. This is the Covenant that I will make with them After those dayes saith the Lord I will put mâ— Laws in their hearts and in their minds will I write them Ver. 17. And their Sins and Iniquities will I remember no more Ver. 18. Now where Remission of these
Christ and God who sent him But then on the contrary if the People be disobedient though the Ministers conscience will acquit him and Christ will richly reward his fidelity and pains yet it will trouble him much to see his Labours lost the People's Souls whose Salvation he so much desired and laboured for to perish And as this will be a grief to him so it will be an unspeakable dammage unto them for they shall lose the fairest opportunity of Salvation and shall be condemned to eternal punishments and the same more grievous because their sin was greater then the sin of other men who never heard the Gospel For the greatest punishments in Hell shall ly upon such as continued impenitent and unbelieving under the Gospel and a powerful Ministry For it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Zidon in the day of Judgment then for Bethsaida and Corazin and for Sodom and Gomorrha than for Capemaum These are mighty and powerful reasons and if People would lay them to heart they would tremble to think of disobedience to their Guides Where it 's to be noted that the same word which ver 7. is turned Guides is here translated Rulers for they are not meerly Guides to direct but Rulers instructed with power to command and forbid to bind and loose in the Name of Christ and in the former place the Authour seems to speak of such as were Dead and here of such as are Living And some observe that this is the last Exhortation because the Apostle for other Duties not here mentioned referred them to their present Pastors § 17. Thus far the Epistle hath been continued in the main Matter and Substance and it 's an excellent and profound Discourse concerning Christ's Prophetical and Sacerdotal Office joyned with an Exhortation unto Perseverance in their Christian Profession and Practice That little which remains may be said to be the Conclusion and of the same in a few words we have many parts or particulars as 1. A Request 2. An Intercession 3. An Exhortation 4. An Information 5. A Salutation 6. A Benediction 1. The Request we have Ver. 18. Pray for us for we trust we have a good Conscience in all things willing to live honestly Ver. 19. But I beseech you the rather do to this that I may be restored to you the sooner IN this we may observe 1. The thing requested by Paul and that was their Prayers 2. The Reason of this Request And It was two-fold 1. He was capable of their Prayers and a fit Object of the same 2. Upon their Prayers he might the sooner be restored unto them 1. From this that he desires their Prayers for him we may observe 1. That we must pray for others as well as for our selvs and most of all should pray for the Church and in the Church for the Guides thereof upon whom the Good Edification Peace and Welfare of it doth so much depend 2. That there is no Man living but needs the Prayers of others no not the best and most eminent not Ministers not Apostles not Paul nay Christ himself in the day of his Agony desired the Prayers of the Apostles 3. That though the Apostle doth not mention or express what in particular they must seek of God by Prayer for him yet this was easily understood and we may learn from other places what the matter of their Prayers for him must be they must pray for Utterance Boldness Success in Preaching the Gospel Deliverance from wicked and absurd men and in particular for his Liberty and Enlargement as is implied in the next Verse And he implies that all these may be obtained by their Prayers 2. The Reason which might perswade them to perform this Office of Love was 1. Because he was not altogether unworthy of their Prayers nor any wayes uncapable of the benefit of their Petitions For there are some whom no Prayers and Intercession can help or profit though Moses Joh Daniel pray for them God will not hear But he was none of these for he was perswaded he had a good Conscience and the Reason of this perswasion was because he was willing in all things to live honestly Here some observe his Modesty in that he doth not say I have but I trust I have a good Conscience not that in all things he lived honestly but that he was willing to do so A good Conscience in this place is 1. A Conscience rightly informed by the Word of God and of his own Life as agreeable thereunto 2. A Conscience that could restify of the sincere Intention of his Heart and the Righteousnes of his Actions without Errour 3. It may be a Conscience also which did rightly dictate the Truth and put him on to do good Such a Conscience his was and he was perswaded of it for by due Examination a Man may know his own Conscience or his own Conscience may know it self The Reason of this Testimony of himself might be because some did accuse him that he was an Apostate from Judaism and turned Christian out of hatred to Moses and the Law and out of Design not of Sincerity but he being conscious to his Intentions and the Grounds of Conversion knew this Accusation to be false The Reason of this Trust was this he was willing in all things to live honestly To live honestly is to direct our Lives according to the Will of God and that in all things for true Honesty is a divine Vertue and a Life regulated constantly and universally by the Word of God And though no man attains to this Perfection of Honesty in this Life because every one hath his failings and none lives and sins not yet we may be willing to live so as to be perfectly honest The Will is the Imperiall Power in the Soul the first Mover and Principle of Moral Actions and as it stands disposed and constantly bent so the Life is good or bad Paul's heart was rightly disposed and predominantly bent unto Righteousness and he knew it to be so and especially in his proper Work of his Apostle-ship which was the Preaching of the Gospel which he first undertook and afterward continued upon right Grounds strong Convictions and out of the Sincerity and Integrity of his heart 2. There was another Reason which might make their Prayers in his behalf more frequent and ardent and stir them up unto this Work and that was Hope of his more timely Liberty and Restitution unto them This implies he was in Bonds and that he had some Hope of Liberty which their Prayers might obtain or at least hasten Some think he was then promised his Liberty but not yet fully discharged but whether it was so or no yet the force of the Reason is from the comfort and benefit which might redound to them upon his Release When James was slain and Peter imprisoned earnest and continual Prayer was made by the Church for his Release and this Prayer was so successfull and effectual