Devils 3. If they had offered them to God their Blood could not have expiated their Sins The Case being so different though the Obedience of Abraham was so pleasing to God yet their sacrificing was plainly unnatural Murther and abominable Idolatry 4. If our Faith be sincere we must Sacrifice our Isaac even what we love most unto our God The Lord increase our Faith that we may do this Service readily In the Text two things are observable 1. Isaac's Blessing and Effect or Work of his Faith 2. His Faith whereby he blessed his Sons In the Blessing we have 1. The Parties blessed 2. The Matter of the Blessing 3. The Blessing it self 1. The Parties blessed were Jacob and Esau these were Twins conceived and born together For as their Birth so their Conception were simultaneous in respect of time They were both his Children both Sons and all the Children which he had for we read of none others born unto him Jacob was the Younger because born thâ— lâ—â—ter yet preferred before the Elder by God's free Election and also in this Blessing for he received the Priviledges of the first-begotten and in him not in Esau he made the Covenant good 2. The Matter of the Blessing were things to come hoped for not seen and therefore fit Objects of Faith as no wayes certainly intelligible by the natural Light of Reason These things were Blessings and the same both temporal and spiritual Esau's Blessings were only temporal and not spiritual Jacob's both temporal and spiritual From which dispensation of these Mercies we may observe 1. That profane Persons as Esau may enjoy temporal Blessings and Prosperity and that in a greater measure than God's Children do and therefore they are no Argument of God's special Love for God causeth his Rain to fall and his Sun to shine as well upon the unjust as upon the just 2. That the godly such as Jacob was have the Blessings of this Life and of that which is to come And because they desire heavenly more than earthly Blessings therefore God though sometimes he denyes them earthly Prosperity yet will be sure to give them heavenly Comforts 3. The Blessing it self was an Act of Isaac though God was the principal Cause Of blessing others I have spoken Chap. 7. 6 7. All Blessings come from God for he is the Fountain and first Cause of them and disposeth of them as he pleaseth He sometimes communicates them by Man to Man as in this particular Example and makes Priests Prophets Parents instrumental and gives them Power to bless in his Name and that either in an ordinary or extraordinary way This Blessing was extraordinary wherein God made his words effectual for what he said came to pass The words of Benediction were Prophetical yet not meerly a Prophecy or Prediction but a Prediction with Power And though he intended to have blessed Esau with the principal Blessing yet Jacob obtained it It was God's Will to order it so yet his Will gave no Warrant to Rebeccah or Jacob to use any unlawfull means neither did their frailties hinder God's Mercy so gracious he was When the Blessing of Jacob intended for Esau was once past it proved irrevocable though profane Esau sought it even with tears yet there was no place found for Repentance But how did Isaac thus bless his Sons The Text informs that he blessed them by Faith and this is evident because the Benediction was concerning things to come This Faith required some divine Revelation and Promise as a necessary Ground and Foundation God had promised before great Blessings to his Father Abraham and to him yet to be fulfilled to their Posterity by this he understood that they should fall upon his Children but whether the principal Mercies should be given to Jacob and his Posterity or to Esau and his Children he knew not that was not revealed unto him and therefore he was so much mistaken Yet besides the former Revelation and Promise he had some more particular Illumination concerning his Sons and their Children for time to come and his Faith did believe both and relyed confidently upon the Promises and out of this Faith he blessed them really which without Faith he could not have done This shews the excellency of Faith and may perswade all Parents to believe and may encourage them to continue in Faith forby it they may derive some Blessings to their Children if they shall prove capable For some Children prove to be profane as Esaâ— and are not capable of spiritual Blessings § 20. Jacob succeeded Isaac and being blessed by his Father he blessed Joseph's Children For Ver. 21. By Faith Jacob when he was a dying blessed both the Sons of Joseph and worshipped leaning on his Rod. IT 's an happiness to be the Children of believing Parents who by their Faith transmit Blessings to Posterity For Jacob the Son of believing Isaac was blessed and he by his Faith transmits God's Blessings to Joseph's Children In the words we may note 1. Jacob's Effects or Works of Faith 2. His Faith The Effects are two 1. His Blessing of Joseph's Children when he was a dying 2. His Adoration leaning upon his Staff 1. To begin with the Blessing which was both predictive and effective as the former was we may observe 1. The Persons blessed 2. Divers Circumstances and Passages of this Act. The Persons were not his own immediate Children but his Grand-Children by Joseph every one of the Sons of Joseph These were Maâ—â—asseh and Ephrains and as we read of no other so it 's likely these two were all the Sons of Joseph at that time The Blessings by him solemnly then declared were to be expected and received by their Posterity 2. The Circumstance of time is expressed to be when he was a dying that is a little before and when he was drawing nigh unto death For then having some thoughts and care of his Posterity and especially of Joseph and his Children whom he dearly loved the Spirit of the Almighty came upon him to inform him of things to come especially concerning his Nephews and moved him to bless them and that being done he leavs the World The Passages are many Joseph presents his two Sons before him and perhaps by some divine Instinct or Impulse that he might bless them before his death and intended the Priviledg of Birth-right to his Elder Son as Isaac did formerly purpose Jacob layes his hands upon them a Rite used in Benediction He guided them so that he laid his right hand upon Ephraim the Younger and this was purposely done by divine direction This being done he adopts them and by Adoption makes them his immediate Children and by his Blessing gives them the Portion of two Tribes with the rest of his Sons and prefers the Younger before the Elder 2. The second Effect is his Adoration leaning upon his Staff where you must observe that the Apostle follows the Septuagint as in most part of this Epistle he doth Whereas others following
Name of that City was Zedec afterwards it was called Salem and then Jerusalem 2. That Melchizedec and Adonizedec was the common Name of the Kings of that place as Pharaoh was of the Kings of Egypt and Caesar of the Romane Emperours Whether this King was by descent a Canaanite or some other is not material to know yet Moses informs us that he was not onely a King but a Priest and such he might be and yet an Idolater But to take away that doubt it 's added that he was the Priest of the most High God This word Priest doth signify his Superiority and Authority in matters of Religion and he was a prime Minister and did officiate in things pertaining to God As a King he governed men as a Priest he worshipped God The word Cohen which signifies a Prince or a Priest is here determined to the signification of a Priest or publick Officer in sacred things Whereas it 's said that he was the Priest of the most High God it may be understood 1. That he was constituted and consecrated a Priest by God and so received his Power immediately from Heaven as he must needs do because he derived not his Power from any Predecessor and his Order vvas very high and so high that he was said for to be a lively Type of Jesus Christ the Son of God and the supream and eternal Priest of Heaven 2. That he did worship no Idols or petty Gods but the Supream Lord and Living God that made Heaven and Earth and taught his People so to do From these words Ver. 1. For this Melchizedec King of Salem and Priest of the Most High God VVEE may observe 1. That Religion was not so generally corrupted in those times but that there were some as well as Abraham and even in cursed Canaan as well as in other places who did worship the true God 2. That the Offices of King and Priest are not so inconsistent but that they may lawfully be assumed and exercised by one Person For Melchizedec though one single Person was invested both with Civil and Ecclesiastical Power And if one person be so qualified that he is able to discharge both places so far as he is bound there is no doubt to be made of the Union of both in one man and the Duties of both might be the more easily performed by one when the Power extended but to a Family or a little Territory as this of Salem was especially when onely the greater Services were to be done by him that was King and Priest who had the Superintendency and Command over the rest who both in matters of State and Religion were subservient unto him Yet when Israel was multiplied to a great Nation it pleased God to separate these two Powers and gave the one to one Tribe and the other to another And if this separation had not been made by God himself the opposition made by Corah Dathan and Abiram could not have bin so hainous a Sin And Christ himself though a King and Priest would not take upon him any Civil Jurisdiction neither did he give his Apostles any Power Civil for their Commission was to teach and baptize to build the Church and not the State neither would he have his Souldiers entangled with the Affairs of this life The Work of the Ministry was so great that there rather wanted more Labourers to be sent into that Harvest And for any man to take upon him more Power than he can well manage or a greater charge than he is able to discharge must needs be unlawful § 6. These were the Offices The Acts of his Priest-hood come next to be considered the first whereof was that he blessed Abraham For Ver. 1. Melchizedec met Abraham returning from the Slaughter of the Kings and blessed him In these words with those that follow we have the exercise of his Sacerdotal Power And in this Exercise three things 1. The Person upon whom he did exercise it 2. The Time when 3. The distinct Acts thereof 1. The Person was Abraham one of the most eminent and excellent men of the World the friend of God the Father of Israel of all Believers of Christ according to the Flesh who had received the great Promise and was a Priest and Prince himself and all this did argue the greatness and excellency of Melchizedec 2. The time was when he met him returning from the Slaughter of the Kings For 1. Abraham as we read in Gen. 14. had conquered and slain the Kings recovered the Captives and their Goods and taken a great Spoil 2. After this great and glorious Victory he was returning towards Mamre 3. In his return near to Salem Melchizedec met him with Provision of Bread and Wine to refresh him and his Army Then it was that he exercised his Sacerdotal Power 3. The first Act was he blessed him The words and form of this Benediction are these Blessed be Abraham of the most High God Possessour of Heaven and Earth This Blessing was not a meer expression of his desire for so any Inferiour may bless a Superiour but it was a sacerdotal powerful and authoritative Benediction yet in the Name of God as it was by Commission from God and therefore real and effectual upon the Subject Whether it was particular or general is not expressed Some as Mercerus think the words to be Indicative and so to be understood as though he had said Blessed is Abraham c. Others Let Abraham be blessed or The Lord bless Abraham as the Blessing of the Levitical Priests is delivered The Lord bless thee and keep thee c. Numb 6. 24. This Blessing is neither a Wish and desire nor properly a Prayer nor yet a meer Prediction A Prayer is directed unto God a Blessing unto Man the one seeks it from God by Petition the other pronounceth and declareth it by Warrant and Commission from God In the one the Priest doth represent Man in this other he represents God Here by the way we may observe That a Priest hath Power by vertue of his Office and God's Institution to bless So this Priest and the Levitical also and the Minister of the Gospel may and ought to do § 7. The second Act was the Tything of Abraham for so the next words twll us Ver. 2. To whom Abraham gave the tenth of all This is the first place of the Scriptures which speaks of Tythes or the Tenth of mens Goods paid unto God and received by his Priests and such as represent him in matters of Religion And here we may observe 1. Who paid them 2. To whom they were paid 3. Of what they were paid 1. Abraham the party blessed payes them and so they who receive spiritual Blessings and are made fit Subjects of God's Mercy in Christ must give and pay them 2. The party receiving them was Melchizedec who as a Priest blessing Abraham and not as King receivs them and to him they are paid So Christ appointed the
signified by God's Promise to Abraham I will be thy shield and thy exceeding great Reward Gen. 15. 1. and that Acknowledgment of the Psalmist The Lord God is a Sun and a Shield Psal. 84. 11. To be a Shield is to save and protect either by prevention or removal of all dangers and evils not only temporal but spiritual and eternal And to be a Reward a great Reward and an exceeding great Reward cannot come short of Heavens Glory and that eternal Bliss which is an aggregation of all Blessings which shall ever issue from that Sun which shall in his Meridian fully and for ever shine upon his Saints And to be a People to this God is to be a subject of all Mercies Man can possibly desire He begins to be our God in this manner upon our first Connversion when his Laws are first written in our hearts and goes on to bless and save us more and more till we be fully happy for the more his Laws are imprinted in our heart the more he will manifest himself to be our God and when he is once engaged he will go on and finish our felicity till he be all in all Some make this writing of his Laws to depend much upon our Free-will and that by it we may lose our God But it 's certain that though by our Free-will we may neglect the means and so be guilty of not receiving the Impressions of these heavenly Doctrines yet by this natural Freedom we can do nothing to purpose in this business we can by it neither prepare our hearts nor apprehend nor relish these heavenly Doctrines which are above out Sphere And the beginning and continuance of God being our God depends upon an higher more efficacious and more excellent Cause This Promise is most excellent and a Fountain of unspeakable Comfort for happy is that People who have God to be their God and miserable are they who are without the Covenant of Promises without hope without Christ without God How vast is the distance between them and eternal happiness As they come not near their God so God will not come near them § 12. After this second Promise it followeth Ver. 11. And they shall not teach every Man his Neighbour and every Man his Brother saying Know the Lord for all shall know me from the least unto the tâ—â—â—reatâ—st THese words are not so easily understood as appears by the many and different Interpretations of several Expositors which here I will not recount The Subject of them is the Knowledge of the Lord which shall be far more excellent clear full and effectual and generally diffused then in the times of the former Covenant Whether it be a distinct Promise from the former or the same and these words added for the fuller Explanation of the former shall be examined hereafter In themselvs they seem to be an Enthymeme which may be supplied and reduced into this Form If in the new Covenant all shall know the Lord from the least to the greatest then they shall not teach every man his Neighbour and every man his Brother But all shall know the Lord from the least to the greatest Therefore they shall not teach every man his Neighbour c. In the Text there are two Propositions 1. They shall not teach every man his Neighbour and every man his Brother 2. They shall all know the Lord from the least to the greatest The former is inferred from the latter and the Connexion of both as Conclusion and Premisses is expressed by the causal Conjunction For The Conclusion is negative and signifies that there shall not be any such teaching under the new Covenant as was under the old In the words we have 1. The Master 2. The Schollar 3. The Lesson taught by the Master to the Schollar 4. The teaching of this Lesson The Master is every Man not absolutely but every man that hath the Knowledge of God and is able to teach another For every one that hath any Knowledge of God should teach others that are ignorant and this is a general Duty of all knowing men but most of all of such as having a more eminent degree of Wisdom do take upon them the Charge of others The Schollar is every man's Neighbour and Brother that is Such as are near unto them by Co-habitation or Relation or both and are ignorant of God so as they need Instruction and Teaching yet are capable The Lesson is to know God this is the chief and best Lesson any Man can learn The Object to be known is the most excellent there is none better not any so good the Act is answerable to the Object For of all Knowledg the Knowledg of God as it is most necessary to Man's Salvation so it is far above any other Knowledg But this Knowledge is not a bare Knowledge but to know the Lord is to fear him serve him and obey him Therefore the Chaldee Paraphâ—ast doth usually interpret the Knowledg of the Lord to be the Fear of the Lord. And this is agreeable to that of the Apostle 1. Hereby we know that we know him if we keep his Commandments He that saith I know him and keeps not his Commandments is a Liar and the truth is not in him 1 Joh. 2. 3 4. Not they who have some high Notions of God and can discourse of his eternal Power and glorious Perfections and yet are Workers of Iniquity but they who keep his Commandments may be said truly and really to know him To teach in this place is not barely by Instruction to inform the Understanding but by exhortation to move the heart and stir up Man to Obedience and Practice To teach this Lesson and to perswade and exhort men to know and fear God is a good Work and a Moral Duty and as such of perpetual and universal Obligation and therefore must continue in the Church Christian as it did in the Jewish Yet it 's said that they shall not so teach under this new Covenant which implies there was some defect and imperfection both in the teaching and also the Knowledge which did depend upon it which shall not be found in the Teaching and Knowledge of the new Covenant But of this anon The second Proposition is That All shall know the Lord from the least to the greatest Where we have 1. The party to be known 2. The Knowledge of him 3. The parties that shall know him and that is All from the least to the greatest The party to be known as in the former so in this part of the Text is the Lord For they shall know Me saith the Lord so it 's in the Hebrew Jereâ— 31. 34. And this is the fourth time that Expression is taken up in that Prediction of this Covenant Yet God is Lord by Creation by Preservation by Redemption and Regeneration In this place is meant God not onely Creator and Preserver but Redeemer by Jesus Christ exhibited glorified manifested and represented to us in the
an Acknowledgment of the Power and the receiving of the Command and it is a willing and free Observation of the Command The Superiour here is God who is the supream Lord Abraham is the Subject to come out of his Country is the Law and Command Abraham's coming out of his Country and that willingly as bound by God's Command is his Obedience And here it 's to be observed that except Man first submit unfeignedly unto God as his Supream Lord renouncing his own Will he can never sincerely obey For this voluntary total Submission is the ground of all Obedience and may be said to be the Observation of the fundamental Law of Allegiance which is required in the first Commandment upon which all the rest do depend Obedience in general is no particular Duty to be restrained to any particular Command exclusively for it extends to all 2. He went out not knowing whither he went In that he knew not whither he went it doth inform us of the total absolute Resignation of his Will and heart to God This high degree of Resignation and Submission is due only unto God as absolutely wise and just and infinitely merciful There be two parts of this Obedience 1. He went out 2. He knew not whither he went 1. He went out This was a difficult part of Obedience To forsake his Countrey Kindred Friends Inheritance which his heart did so much affect and dearly love and to renounce that Religion which he had learned and observed seems to be above natural Power To part the heart and that which it most loveth is a Work that cannot be performed without some mighty conflict and torment of the Soul to overcome our strongest Affections and so forsake our darling-sins is an Heroick and Divine Victory Yet this was done by him and must be done by us all if we will be saved To deny our selvs take up the Cross forsake Father Mother Wife Children Brother Sister and Life it self was first of all required by Christ as without which no Man could be his Disciple The Promise of eternal Life and Treasure in Heaven could not part the young man and his great estate and therefore he continued uncapable of eternal Bliss 2. As he came out so he went he knew not whither for the Command was that he should go unto a Land which God should shew him a Land he never knew for he neither knew it not the way unto it This made the business more difficult for he must depend wholly upon God for his Protection Assistance and Direction And when we leave our Sin we must come unto our God and when we forsake the World we must come unto our Saviour and though the way may be very rough and troublesom we must pass through it We must not take up our Rest untill we come unto our Canaan whither out God will bring us 3. This he did by Faith which without Faith was impossible to be be done For except he had certainly known that it was God who called him and believed God's Command and Promises he could not have obeyed so as to come out and go towards Canaan So that this Belief was the very principle of his Obedience without this Faith this Obedience had been not only irrational but impossible But God who was his absolute supream Lord did command him and as almighty and most faithful did promise him a great and glorious Reward which would abundantly recompense his Damages which he should suffer in obeying him and these did effectually move him and powerfully incline his heart to Obedience For God doth know what will work most strongly upon Man's heart and therefore by a divine Light and Inspiration penetrateth the heart and lets him assuredly know that he calls him to eternal Glory so that by this divine Vocation Faith is produced in the Heart of Man and by it he most willingly and joyfully comes unto his God and continues to obey him From all this it 's evident that Man's Conversion is a supernatural Work of God's great Mercy and Power for that which is impossible with Man is possible with God The natural freedom of the Will is a poor impotent thing let us therefore pray earnestly to our God to give us with his Word his blessed Spirit § 12. This was the first and fundamental Effect of Faith in Abraham the second is that whereby he was content to be a Pilgrim and Stranger on Earth that he might attain an abiding City in Heaven which God had promised and prepared for him For so it followeth Ver. 9. By Faith he sojourned in the Land of Promise as in a strange Country dwelling in Tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob the Heirs with him of the same Promise Ver. 10. For he looked for a City which hath Foundations whose Buâ—lder and Maker is God THese words inform us that after that Abraham was once by Faith converted and became obedient to the heavenly Call he presently changed his Condition and was a Stranger in this World and a Citizen or Denison of Heaven Such are all the Saints of God upon their Regeneration In them we may observe two things 1. The sojourning of Abraham with Isaac and Jacob in the Land of Canaan Ver. 9. 2. His Expectation of a better Country Ver. 10. In the first we have three Propositions 1. That Abraham Isaac and Jacob were Heirs of the same Promise 2. That they sojourned as Strangers in a strange Land dwelling in Tabernacles 3. They thus sojourned by Faith In the first observe 1. A Promise 2. Heirs of this Promise 3. The parties who were Heirs 1. By Promise understand the thing promised which was the Land of Canaan This was the Inheritance yet they had it not by natural Descent nor by Purchase nor by Exchange but by free Promise For it was promised and that by God who is the Proprietary of all Land and Counâ—reys and could not only convey it but give Possession This Inheritance was but a Type of a far better and this Promise was added to another far greater and more excellent 2. There were Heirs of this Promise or Land promised and to be an Heir in this place is to have a Right unto that Land and the Title and Ground of this Right was God's Promise which was the best and surest Instrument of conveyance in the World Before this Promise they could challenge no Right unto it after the Promise their Right was firm good clear without any flaw at all This is the great Mercy of God that when upon his Command we part with any thing he will give us something better that will more than countervail our damage 3. Abraham Isaac and Jacob were the Heirs For the Indenture and first Promise was made to Abraham sealed and confirmed Gen. 15. and in him it was made to them in which respect they were Joynt-Heifs but the same Promise was made severally to Isaac and then after that to Jacob. The parties who then possessed this Land
〈◊〉 right Sojourner on Earth who doth not look for a City eternally stable in Heaven For that which most effectually draws the heart of Man off from this World is the expectation of a far better Estate in the World to come 2. That Believers and Expectants of Heaven who are Candidates of Eternity are of a most noble and divine Spirit Amongst men of this World the Ambitious who aspire to Crowns and Kingdoms and aim at perpetual fame by their heroick Vertues and rare Exploits are judged persons of far greater Gallantry than covetous Muck-worms or brutish Epicures yet in their thoughts and highest designs they are very base in Comparison of these Pilgrims in whose breast the Sparks of heavenly fire do ever burn and move and carry them upward far above the World 3. That neither Abraham nor any other without Faith could look for this glorious City For by it they did not only understand how glorious it was but also were verily perswaded of God's Promise and fidelity and without this Faith they could not possibly hope or look for it And as by Faith they did sojoum so by the same Faith they did look for this City § 14. The third Work of Abraham's Faith was the obtaining of Isaac For Ver. 11. Through Faith Sarah her self received strength to conceive Seed and was delivered of a Child when she was past Age because she judged him faithfull that had promised THis is attributed to Sarah's Faith yet it was a Blessing obtained also and that principally by the Faith of Abraham of whom it 's thus written That against hope he believed in hope that he might become the Father of many Nations according to that which was promised So shall thy Seed be And being not weak in Faith he considered not his own Body now dead when he was an hundred years old nor yet the deadness of Sarah's Womb. He staggered not at the Promise of God through Unbelief but was strong in Faith giving Glory to God Rom. 4. 18 19 20. So that in this particular we must consider the Faith of both and though Sarah only be expressed yet Abraham as the chief Believer is to be understood Upon this Faith it followeth that not only Isaac Sarah's immediate Issue by Abraham but a numerous Posterity was given upon this Faith For Ver. 12. Therefore sprang there even of one and him as good as dead so many as the Start of the Skie in multitude and as the Sands of the Sea-shore innumerable IN these Verses taken joyntly we may consider 1. A Promise made by God 2. The receiving of this Promise by Faith 3. God's sidelity in performing this Promise to the parties believing 1. The Promise is only implyed in these words who promised where you must know that the party promising was God and the thing promised was that Abraham should have a Son by Sarah and by that Son his Posterity in after times should be multiplyed as the Stars of Heaven and the Sand upon the Sea-shore This Promise was made to both though not expressed at several times 1. Gen. 15. 4 5. 2. It was renewed to both of them and that more expresly Gen. 17. 15 16 c. In both these places mention is made not only of one Son but a of very numerous Posterity 3. This Promise was repeated the third and last time Gen. 18. 10. The parties to whom this Promise was made were Abraham and Sarah The Mercy promised was considerable not only in this that they should have a Son of their own Bodies to continue their Name and inherit their temporal Estate but chiefly because of his Seed Christ should be brought into the World and his Posterity should enjoy the means of Salvation and be included in the special Covenant of Grace 2. This Promise was received by Faith for Sarah counted him faithful that had promised She seemed indeed to doubt till she was reproved and heard that nothing was impossible with God and the Promise was again repeated unto her Gen. 18. 14. So Abraham upon the first Promise of Isaac and a numerous Posterity is said to have believed in the Lord Gen. 15. 6. And the Apostle to signify the firmness of his Faith informs us as you heard before 1. That against hope he believed in 〈◊〉 2. He was not weak in Faith 3. He staggered not at the Promise 4. He was strong in Faith 5. He was fully perswaded Rom. 4. 18 19 20 21. This Faith was grounded upon divine Revelation and was a firm and practical Assent unto the Word and Promise of God which did settle his mind For he looked not upon secondary Causes nor upon the Barrenness of Sarah nor their Age nor the deadness of their Bodies and Impotency of Generation by reason of Age But he considered that it was God who had promised that he was Almighty that he was faithful This Faith was required in both as necessary for to attain this great Blessing not that it had any Physical force to enable them for Generation but that it was a Moral Qualification required in them This their Faith is made known unto us for imitation that as they did so we should do rest upon God's Promise in greatest extremities perplexities and seeming impossibilities We must look higher and above all created Power and not measure God's Almighty strength according to and within the bounds of created activity 3. This Promise was fulfilled according to this Faith For Sarah received strength to conceive and in her Old-Age above the Course of Nature became the Mother of Isaac which was part of the Promise And from this one so good as dead sprang a posterity numerous and in some sort innumerable amongst whom Christ was born in whom all Nation were blessed by whom Abraham became the Father of a far more numerous spiritual Posterity which were Believers of all Nations So excellent a thing is Faith and upon Faith so wonderful the Works of the glorious and almighty God who begins with small things though unlikely at the first and multiplies a few to a vast number and magnifies small things to a stupendious greatness § 15. After this third Effect the Apostle returns unto the second concerning the Pilgrimage of Abraham Sarah Isaac Jacob and their expectation of that better and more glorious City which God had promised to them and their Heirs upon the condition of their Faith For thus we read in the words following Ver. 13. These all dyed in Faith not having received the Promises but having seen them afar off and were perswaded of them and embraced them and confessed that they were Strangers and Pilgrims on Earth Ver. 14. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a Country THese words with the two Verses following are an Amplification of that which was briefly delivered in the 9 and 10. Verses They are sitly brought in upon the former as presupposing the Birth not only of Isaac but Jacob and the Apostle doth not only
of our eternal Mansions and Rest where our glorious Inheritance is to be fully and for ever enjoyed And Heaven is sit for those who were born from Heaven Therefore our Hope is said to be laid up in Heaven our Inheritance to be reserved in Heaven and our many Mansions to be prepared in Heaven This heavenly Country they desire out of their Belief of the Excellency thereof and desired so much as they counted all earthly Countries base and contemptible in Comparison of the same and whosoever doth not desire it in this manner and measure as they did shall never enter into that glorious place of eternall Bliss Some think the Patriarchs and the Saints after them under the Law neither had any better Promise not higher thoughts than of temporal Felicity but the contrary is evident from this place According to the Covenant made at Sinai with Israel as a Civil Society and a Church under Ceremonies they could expect no more but according to the Promise of Christ in whom all Nations should be blessed they looked higher and as they did believe in Christ so in him they looked for the Resurrection unto everlasting Glory Thus far we have heard of the Duty which they performed now follows the Reward or Consequent of this Performance and the manner how God was affected toward them And this Affection appears in two things 1. He was not ashamed to be called their God 2. He prepared for them a City In the first we may note 1. That God was their God 2. That he was not ashamed to be called their God 1. God was their God God may be said to be a God 1. To all men as he is their Creator Preserver and Governor 2. To be such by Covenant so far as he promiseth to protect them and bless them upon condition that they take him to be their God 3. To be such in a special peculiar and eminent manner as he hath bound himself to be the Author of eternal Salvation by Christ to all such as sincerely repent believe and upon their Belief seek an heavenly Country Thus to be a God to any is to justify sanctify adopt raise up at the last day and make them for ever happy He was called their God that is He was their God for in the Hebrew sometimes to be called is to be yet that is not all for to call himself their God was not only to be their God but to signify that he was so and that not only by Words but really by Actions It was God himself who first promised to be their God and when they were dead said unto Moses I am the God of Abraham the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob And again The Lord God of your Fathers the God of Abraham the God of Isaac the God of Jacob this is my Name for ever this is my Memorial to all Generations Exod. 3. 6 15. So that the Apostle might truly say that He was not ashamed to be called their God neither did he think it any Derogation from his eternal Excellency to own them To own base and unworthy Persons is a Disgrace to any man of Reputation and to own impenitent Sinners would be a Dishonour to God Therefore to Workers of Iniquity Christ will say at the last Day Depart from me I know you not Therefore we must take special notice of the Persons whom God did own and of their Qualification They were Persons of a sincere Faith and an heavenly Conversation and such we must be or else there will be no Hope that God will own us God will not be ashamed of any man because he is poor mean miserable blind deformed or of no account in the World but he will be ashamed of any Person though never so great that is not ashamed of Sin If we seek not an heavenly Country and manifest our selvs to be Pilgrims and Strangers in this World though we be never so rich wise potent famous he will not own us because his Justice and Holiness will not suffer him to own our Sins Let us therefore seriously consider what a Comfort it is to have God to be our God and what an Honour it will be for Christ to confess and acknowledg us before his Father and all his Holy Angels All this you may learn from the Illative Particle Wherefore For because they desired a better that is an heavenly Country and that by Faith therefore God was not ashamed to be their God Not that their Faith and Desire of an heavenly Country was any meritorious Cause of this Honour Priviledg and near Relation to God but that they qualified the Persons so that without any violation of his Justice or any diminution of his Majesty he might according to his gracious Promise thus acknowledg them 2. For he had prepared for them a City These words may seem to give a Reason why they sought a heavenly Country And why Because God had prepared it for them Or they may prove that God was their God in that eminent manner from this Preparation of a City for them Or they may manifest That God was not ashamed to be called their God and he did manifest this in that he had prepared a City for them Here we have 1. A City 2. The Preparation of it 3. The Preparation of it for them 1. This City is that which hath Foundations that better and heavenly Country spoken of before and it signifies not only a Place but an Estate The Place is excellent and the Estate glorious and both everlasting 2. God prepared For he loved them so much as he decreed to give Christ for them that by his precious Blood he might purchase and acquire a Title unto it He promised to send him into the World for that end and sent him He makes a Covenant with them and binds himself upon condition of Faith in his only begotten to give them this City He works Faith in their hearts gives them a Title and by sanctifying them prepares them for the possession and enjoyment As for the estate it was ready in his Power from everlasting and as for the place it was finished and furnished from the Creation It was God who inwardly moved by his own goodness and most free Love hath done all this for God hath prepared and made it ready before they be ready for the Possesssion 3. He prepared this City for them not as deserving it but as through the Power of his Grace desiring seeking looking for it for it was never prepared for Unbelievers and such as loving the World do not prize it or long for it For though this Preparation be a Work of his free and abundant Mercy yet it 's tempered and limited by his Justice which will not suffer him to give such holy things to Dogs nor cast such Pearls before Swine and by this Preparation of this City for them and not for others not rightly qualified he signifies his Love to heavenly vertues and his
boldness to come before the Throne of Grace made accessible by his Blood This was a Law or Covenant rather of Justice than of Mercy of Fear than of Hope of Servitude and Bondage rather than of Liberty It was made to discover Sin to make it exceeding sinful to be a School-master to Christ. 2. This was the terrible manner of Promulgation the Effect whereof was fear and terror and the same very great and exceeding and that 1. In the People as we heard before who could not endure either the Voice or the strict Commands and Comminations They endured it a little but could endure no longer for fear of present death 2. And that which was more in Moses for so terrible was the sight that Moses feared did quake did fear and quake exceedingly and he said so and expressed his great fear And how terrible must that sight be which did strike such a terrour into a man so holy of such a constant Spirit so familiarly acquainted with God and who alone at that time should comfort and encourage the People That Moses said thus we do not read yet that which is affirmed by a man inspired as inspired must needs be true 3. They were not come to this Mount to receive so terrible a Law but they were freed from all these Terrours and from the Curses threatned and had received the Spirit of Adoption and therefore there was no reason why they should fall off to Judaism and return to that dreadful Mount and consuming Fire any more § 20. Thus far of the terrour of the Law the condition of such as were under it and the freedom of these Hebrews from it Now follows the condition of them as freed from the Law and living under the Gospel Before their Conversion they were in Minority Servitude and continual Fear but since they are in a more happy condition as being translated into the Kingdom of God's dear Son wherein they enjoyed incomparable Priviledges spiritual Liberty and many sweet Comforts To understand all this the Apostle saith Ver. 22. But ye are come unto Mount Zion the City of the living God the heavenly Jerusalem and an innumerable Company of Angels IN these words and those which follow unto the five and twentieth Verse we may observe 1. A Description of a spiritual and eternal Kingdom 2. The Enjoyment of or rather the Admission into the same In the Description some observe 1. The Place 2. The Persons of this Kingdom The Place is Zion the City of the Living God the new Jerusalem The Persons are Subjects Soveraign The Subjects are Angels Men. Living Departed The Soveraign is God the King and Judg. Christ the Priest and Mediator There was a certain Place and certain Persons and they were come unto this Place these Persons Here we have a Zion a City a Jerusalem this Zion is a Mount this City is the City of the living God this Jerusalem is the heavenly Jerusalem Zion the Mount the City of the Living God the heavenly Jerusalem here are the same and they may signify the Place or the Persons or the Association of Persons in such a Place and they may signify grammatically and properly or Rhetorically and Tropically Grammatically Zion opposed to Sinai is a Mount in Jerusalem where was first a Fort of the Jebusites then the Royal Palace of King David who adorned it with other Buildings and thence it was called The City of David On the North of this Mount some say the Temple was built and because that was the Palace and Throne of God therefore according to some Writers it was styled The City of the great King and because God did choose that place for his special presence it had the Name of The City of the Living God Shindler observs that the whole City was called Jerusalem in the Dual Number because it had two parts the one was the City of David on Mount Zion the other the City of Vision on Moriah which afterwards was inclosed But not to stand upon these things Zion and Jerusalem are taken for one City which God in former times did honour above all Cities in the World Therefore sung the Psalmist Why leap ye ye high Hills This is the Hill which God desireth to dwell in yea the Lord will dwell in it for ever Psal. 68. 16. For by God's special Residence in this place it was advanced above all other Cities of the Earth though never so magnificent But this was her greatest Glory That Christ the Son of God was presented there preached there and there did glorious Works there the Holy Ghost came down from Heaven upon the Apostles there the Gospel began first to be preached and thence it came out into all the World According to the Prophecy of old it came to pass for so the Evangelical Prophet wrote And in the last dayes it shall come to pass that the Mountain of the Lord's House shall be established in the top of the Mountains and exalted above the Hills and all Nations shall flow unto it And a little after for out of Zion shall go forth the Law and the Word of the Lord from Jerusalem Isa. 2. 2 3. Where by Law and the Word of God understand the Doctrine of the Gospel This is the Grammatical sense Rhetorically Zion and the City of Jerusalem often signify the Church Militant and Triumphant by reason of God's spiritual and supernatural presence and habitation in the same If we consider this Church locally the place of our Pilgrimage is the Earth the place of our Rest and perpetual Abode is Heaven from whence we receive our spiritual Being where we must converse and whither we tend in these respects Heaven may be said to be the place whither upon our first Conversion we come The Persons which make up this Body and the spiritual Inhabitants are more intended by this Zion and this City yet they cannot make up this Politick Body Society and Common-weal but as associated under their Soveraign God-Redeemer And to distinguish this Zion and City of Jerusalem from that which was on Earth situate and lying in the Land of Canaan in the Tribe of Judah and Benjamin this is said to be The heavenly Jerusalem which is above and the Mother of us all which one day shall come down from Heaven as a Bride prepared for her Husband and God who dwells in her by Grace shall then dwell in her by Glory and bless her fully and for ever To come to this City and Kingdom is to be admitted and incorporated into the same upon our sincere Faith in Christ. In this City we find many Persons amongst whom the most eminent are the Angels those holy immortal and blessed Spirits of Heaven who ever see the face of God and environ his glorious Throne These are not few but many for they are an innumerable Company or Multitude for the Chariots of God are twenty thousand even thousands or many thousands of Angels Psal. 68. 17. The number of the Angels
Slaughter of the Person to be sacrificed and he trust be offered as a burnt Offering upon the Altar This Offering once consummate would be the total Destruction of Isaac as to this mortal Life and that before he had any Issue Abraham is said to have offered him though he did not consummate and compleat the Oblation For 1. In his heart he had parted with him and given him wholly unto his God and was resolved to slay him and burn his Body upon the Altar So that this Oblation was finished in his heart 2. He proceeded further began really to do what he had resolved came to the place of Offering had prepared the Wood bound Isaac laid him upon the Altar and had lift up his hand to give the fatal blow and had done all the rest of his Work if God by the Voice of his Angel had not instantly staid his hand This was a difficult piece of Service and the more difficult the more excellent his Obedience for it was Isaac his only begotten of Sarah whom he was commanded to offer § 18. The next thing to be considered is his Faith for by Faith he offered Isaac This Faith was high and excellent because having so many difficultie to encounter yet conquered all and became finally victorious so that nothing could stand before it The difficulties may be reduced to two sorts 1. Such as seemed to be contrary to Reason 2. Such as were contrary to dear and tender Affection 1. Reason might doubt whether the Revelation was from God or a delusion of Satan and this was the first debate Yet upon serious consideration he knew assuredly that it was from God and as from him he by Faith receives it 2. But suppose it were from God and as from him he by Faith receivs it 2. But suppose it were from God yet he might scruple whether it was a Command and of absolute Obligation 3. Let it be so He might question the matter of the Command as contrary to an express Law against the Light of Nature and against all Justice and Equity to slay an innocent Person seemed so to be 4. Reason would most of all plead the Promise of God which was to be fulfilled in Isaac and would alledg that if Isaac be slain offered burnt then the Performance would be impossible and God would not prove faithful But Abraham in all these particulars wholly resigned up and sacrificed his reason to the Wisdom of God and by Faith was perswaded that the Commandment was from God was just did absolutely bind him and rested upon God's Almighty Power as able to raise him again out of the Ashes as he created the first man out of the Dust. And he had an Experiment of this Power which in his very Generation and Conception and Birth did above the Power of Nature as it were raise him from the dead according to those words From whence he received him in a Figure whereby is signified that his Generation was a kind of Resurrection from the dead and was very like unto it For his Body when he begot him and Sarah's Womb when she conceived him were in respect of generative Power both dead So that the Knowledg and Experience of God's Almighty Power and his full Assurance of God's fidelity in fulfilling his Promise did wholly silence and refuse the debates of Reason natural and not enlightned 2. As his Reason so his dear and tender Affection not only natural but moral was hardly and sorely put unto it For 1. God did not command him to offer his Bullocks Goats Rams or Lambs but his Son not his Son Ismael but Isaac the Son of his Joy the Son of his Love whom he loved as his own Son as his only Son by Sarah as a dutiful and pious Son as a Son given him extraordinarily from Heaven as the Son of Promise and which is more than all a Son from whom he expected Christ and in whom all the Promises were to be fulfilled To part with a Son with such a Son to have him slain to slay him himself and embrue his hands in the innocent Blood of so dearly beloved a Child whom he prized above any thing in the World for whose life he would have given his greatest Estate in whose Person so many of his Comforts were treasured up was grievous to Flesh and Blood and a Service and Work above the Power of Nature yet Faith was strong and overcame his Affection By this Act of Obedience we learn that Faith is a rare vertue and a great gift from Heaven that when God requires hard and difficult things from us as to forsake Father Mother all our dearest Relations Life it self and to bear the Cross we must deny our Reason and our Affections and resign our selvs wholly up to God's Wisdom and Will and the more we love our God the more we love our selvs in God This Isaac in this particular was a lively Type of Christ whom God gave for us For Christ was the only begotten and the dearly beloved Son of God better than all the World yet God to manifest his Love unto us sent him into the World and made Him a Burnt-Offering for us And he suffered most cruel pains was slain indeed and suffered a cruel and ignominious death In this Example which we are all bound to follow we may observe God's great Mercy unto Abraham in that he put him not to this hard Trial till his Faith was highly improved and was taught to love nothing above his God § 19. The Apostle observing the Order of time descends from Abraham to Isaac of whom it 's written thus Ver. 20. By Faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come BEfore I enter upon the Example I will put you in mind of some things only hinted and darkly implyed or not mentioned formerly As 1. Though God commanded Isaac to be sacrificed upon which Sacrifice and burnt-Offering once consummate the Performance of God's Promise seemed impossible yet God did fulfil in Isaac what he promised in that manner that the Command was no wayes contrary nor prejudicial to the Performance of the Promise 2. That though Abraham thought that the raising of Isaac from the dead might he a way for God to shew his faithfulness yet that was not God's way but another for when Abraham was ready to give the fatal and mortal blow God stayed his hand prevented his death and saved his Life Yet this was till that very moment concealed from Abraham that he might fully try him and manifest his total Resignation of himself to God 3. That though Abraham was willing yea resolved and ready to sacrifice his Son and for this was highly accepted of God yet this doth no wayes warrant or justify such as sacrificed their Children or were ready to offer the fruit of their Body for the Sin of their Soul For 1. They had no Commandment or Warrant from God as Abraham had 2. They offered their Children to Idols and