bringeth in when he brings again or a second time the first-begotten into the World thus the Vulgar à Lapide Ribera Mr. Mede The former is very probable the latter cannot be demonstrated to be intended but gives occasion of the second doubt which had been none if they had not fallen upon this Criticism For it gives occasion to doubt what coming of Christ into the World is here to be understood whether his Incarnation or Râ—surrection or last Judgment Some understand the first some the second some the last Two things perswade us to believe it of that second coming 1. Because the first proof out of Psal. 2. speaks of the bringing of Christ into the World as King I have sâ—t my King upon my holy Hill of Zion for upon his Resurrection he was made King by Decree and Patent according to those words I will declare the Decree The second place 2 Sam. 7. speaks of him as King first-born and Lord of all 2. The 97. Psalm doth not speak of his coming to Judgment but 1. Of his Exaltation above all Gods whether Men or Angels For thou Lord art high above all the Earth thou art exalted far above all Gods Ver. 9. 2. Of his Laws and the Promulgation of them These Laws are given to Jews to Heathens to Angels with threatnings of Punishment and promises of Reward There is not a word of the Summons Appearance Sentence Execution and final Retribution of eternal Rewards and Punishments But these things wherein some differ are not so material as that wherein they all agree which is The Command of God to all the Angels to worship Christ. Let all the Angels of God worship him In Psal. 97. 7. Worship him all yo Gods These seem to diâ—â—es much But here you must take notice that the Apostle useth the words of the Septuagint and that which is strange the words of the Septuagint as used in Deut. 32. 43. â—ather than those we read Psal. 97. 7. The words of the Psalm are translated by Hiâ—rom Pratâ—â—sâ—s Juâ—ius Viâ—tublus our Translators Worship him all yo Gods By Pagninâ— the Tigurine the Vulgar and the Septuagint Worship him all his Angels And it 's certain that the Greek Translators either followed an Hebrew Copy different from ours or else they understood the word Malachin Angels and expressed it in their Version For that Translation is not wording but rather a Paraphrase and many times gives the sense and sometimes where they are most blamed as forsaking the Original they are most excellent and give greatest light as the Chaldeâ— Paraphrast many times doth But not to insist upon the Translations nor upon the word Elohinâ— which is said to signify God Angels Princes excellent men Idols The words of the Apostle following the Septuagint are plain and inform us 1. That the 97. Psalm is to be understood of Christ as King and Lord Redeemet reigning in glory 2. That God by this Command and Edict subjected all his Angels to Christ. 3. That he did this upon the Resurrection and Exaltation of Christ when he raised him up from the dead and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places far above all principalities and powers and might and dominion and every name that is named not onely in this World but that which is to come Ephes. 1. 20 21. For Christ is gone inâ—o Heaven and is at the right hand of God Angels and Authorities and Powers being made subject unto him 4. That not onely some but all the Angels of God are subject to him for all the Angels must worship him and acknowledge him to be their Lord. 5. Therefore Christ hath obtained a more excellent Name a Name above every Name Phil 2. 9. And this is not onely a Name of Dignity in respect whereof the Angels must honour him but of Subjection to his Power by which he might command them as his Subjects and Servants to obey him § 15. Ver. 7. And of the Angels he saith Who maketh his Angels Spirits and his Ministers a flame of fire These words may be referred either to the Context Antecedent or Consequent If to the Antecedent they seem to be a new Argument to this purpose If Christ be a Son and Lord of all even of Angels and Angels but his Legates and Servants then Christ is more excellent than Angels If they refer to the Context following then the Apostle argues in this manner If Angels be but Servants and Christ an everlasting King then Christ is more excellent than Angels but they are but Servants and he an everlasting King therefore he is more excellent There can be no doubt of the Major The Minor or Assumption hath two parts 1. That the Angels are Servants 2. Christ an everlasting King he proves both and out of the Psalms out of which are taken all the proofs except one in this Chapter and the most material proofs whereon he principally insists thorough out the first 9. Chapters of this Epistle This first part that Angels are but Servants he confirms out of Psal. 104. 4. 1. There is little or in effect no difference in the Translation nor much in the Exposition of the words for most do understand the place of Angels as spiritual and immortal Substances though some very few interpret it of the Winds and the fire which must needs be untrue except we will make the Apostle's Argument invalid 2. Yet there is some difference about the manner of Allegation in these words And of the Angels he saith for the Original seems to say that these words were spoken of the Angels not to the Angels So Vatablus Jumus Tremelius the Tigurines Zanck Divines and out Translators turn it The Vulgar reads it ad Angelos to the Angels yet a Lapide expounds the words of the Angels and thinks that the Vulgar follows the Hebrew wherein 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is sometime taken for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ad for super to for of And they of Zanck conceive there is an Enallage of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Yet Heinsius understands it in another manner and thinks it may well be translated ad Angelos and the sense is Quod ad Angelos spectat As for the Angels he saith and this is likely to be true Yet howsoever the words of the Psalmist are not spoken to but of the Angels 2. It s added he saith in the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 saith without any expression who saith whether God or the Psalmist or God's Spirit by the Psalmist or it may be understood yet to the same purpose that the Scripture saith The words are the words 1. Of the Scripture 2. Of the Psalmist 3. Of the Spirit who is God But to the words themselves 1. The Subject of them is the Angels 2. The Scope is to prove that they are inferiour to Christ because Servants 3. They teach us 1. The Nature 2. The Place or Office of Angels 3. That God made
ministreth unto you the spirit and worketh Miracles amongst you doth he it by the works of the Law or by the hearing of Faith Chap. 3. 5. Where he doth imply 1. That he did not so many and great Miracles amongst them to confirm the Doctrine of the Law but to confirm the Faith that is the Gospel 2. He did not minister the Spirit and gifts of the Holy Ghost by the preaching nor they receive the Spirit by the hearing of the Law but of the Gospel 3. That God to testify the excellency of the Gospel above the Law did concurr to work Miracles and give the Spirit in confirmation of the one not of the other Therefore if the Gospel in so many respects be more excellent then the Law then to let it slip to recede from it to neglect it is a far greater sin and therefore makes us obnoxious to far more grievous punishment So we are come to the principal Conclusion which is to take heed of departing from or neglecting of this Doctrine of so great Salvation § 8. The application of this is to be made unto all and every one who having the use of reason hath heard the Gospel Let every one of them seriously consider that God speaks in it he speaks not by Angels but his own Son it 's the most clear full and powerful Doctrine that ever was revealed from Heaven a Doctrine of eternal Salvation it 's confirmed by most glorious works and the excellent Gifts of the blessed Spirit It 's a discovery of profoundest wisdom a manifestation of greatest love and the last warning God will give No other knowledg so useful so excellent so absolutely necessary as this Therefore receive it readily lay it up in your hearts never forget ever remember it prize it never neglect it never depart from it If the love of God cannot perswade you let the fear of his eternal displeasure and the love of your own Salvation prevail with you What will you despise his sweetest mercy reject the tender of Salvation bring upon your selves eternal and unavoidable misery It will be the greatest Sin that you can commit and make you obnoxious to the greatest punishment if you shall refuse to hearken to this great Propher Shall the word of Angels transgressed be so severely punished and shall no Offender escape And shall the word of the eternal Son of God be disobeyed and any Offender guilty in this particular escape everlasting penalties Let not any slatter themselves and think to escape For how shall we escape if we neglect c Ver. 5. For unto the Angels hath he not put in subjection the World to come whereof we speak § 9. The words are difficult to be understood and must be explained before the scope of the Apostle in them can be discovered The subject matter of them is the World to come and God's subjection of it The greatest difficulty is to know what 's meant by the World to come which many think referrs to the state of glory and the World which follows the Resurrection Thus à Lapide and some of the Antients Riverae understands the Church-Christian as opposed to the Church of former times especially under the Law This is the more probable sense For the Apostle speaks of these last times wherein God spake unto men by his Son and it 's opposed to the times wherein he spake by his Prophets and Angels Yet we must not understand it of the Church exclusively as though God had not subjected other things even Angels for the good of the Church That World and those times whereof the Apostle speaks are here meant but he speaks of the times of the Gospel The proposition is negative God subjected not the World to come to Angels In former times God had used very much the ministery of Angels in ordering the Church and put much power in their hands to that end Yet now in this last time he made Christ his Son who by reason of his suffering was a little lower then the Angels to be the administratour-General of his Kingdom the Universal Lord and subjected the very Angels unto him The expression seems to be taken from Esay 9. 6. for whereas there amongst others Titles given to Christ one is â—verlasting Father the Sepâ—uagint turn it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Father or Governour of the World to come which seems to be the genuine sense of the Hebrew words The sum is that God did not subject the Church in the times of the Gospel nor the World of those times to Angels but to Christ. The words thus understood may inform us 1. That Christ is more excellent then the Angels 2. If the Law and Word spoken by Angels when neglected and disobeyed was so severely punished much more severely shall they who neglect the Gospel spoken by Christ be punished 3. That if it was the duty of the Fathers and those who lived in former times to hearken to the Word spoken by Angels which are but Servants Then it 's much more the duty of us who live in these last times to hearken unto the Word of so great Salvation spoken by Christ made Lord of All. From hence we may understand the scope of the words to be the same with that of the former and that may be considered either aâ—part of the former reason why we should hearken to Christ and not neglect the Gospel or they may with the latter words following contain another distinct reason and in this manner that seeing God hath not to the Angels subjected the World to come but to Christ who by his Suffering and Death was for a little time made lower then the Angels and for that suffering afterward made Lord of all even of Angels then we ought to give the more earnest heed to his Doctrine Crellius understands by the World to come Heaven but without any reason but rather contrary to reason and to the purpose of the Apostle § 10. The former Text being negative doth not express but imply that the World to come was put in subjection to Christ. But in these words he doth not only express it but prove it And to this purpose he alledgeth the words of Psal. 8 4 5 6. In this testimony we may observe the allegation or the words alledged application of them The manner of the allegation we need not examine the Authour neither names the Book of Psalms as a distinct part of the Scriptures of the Old Testament nor the particular Psalm which is for number the 8th nor the Authour of the Psalm David But saith 1. That one or a certain man testifieth 2. He testifieth in a certain place This he did not through ignorance or defect of memory but out of some other reason He knew that the testimony or thing testified was the principal thing and that these Hebrews were well acquainted with the Scriptures and especially with the Book of Psalms To return to the words alledged out of the holy
Scriptures of the Old Testament received by the Jews as Divine and from God the difficult Question is of whom that Psalm speaketh and whom he meaneth by man the Son of man so minded so visited by God so humbled so advanced Some will have it to be man in the day of his Creation some think it's man fallen some determine it to be man restored in Christ some are resolute that it is Christ himself as man Thus Cramerus Tarnovius and the Lutherans generally who bitterly inveigh against Calvin interpreting otherwise Calvin had his fellows followers Others tell us that it agrees to Man in the literal to Christ in the mystical sense others that there are two literal senses the one whereof agrees to Man the other which is the principal agrees to Christ. Vatablus seems to agree with this Cramerus teckons this amongst the prophetical Psalms The intention of the Psalmist is to praise God for his glorious works wherein he manifested his power wisdom and special mercy The works are not only those of Creation but of his special providence over Man and amongst those works of special providence that of restauration of Man by the humiliation and exaltation of Jesus Christ who is the principal subject of the Psalm according to the parts of it alledged in the New Testament where we find ver 2 6 8. applyed to Christ. Upon this ground Cramerus Tarnovius and others understand it only of Christ It 's true that some things here mentioned do agree to Man in the state of Creation yet the special care of Man in respect of his spiritual and eternal estate appears most of all in Christ to whom set at his right hand he subjected all things for this end That he might convert man and make him converted for ever blessed So that in the words alledged we may observe 1. God's special care of Man and his singular love towards him 2. The same manifested in a most glorious manner in the humiliation and exaltation of Christ. 3. The admiration or rather amazement at such a stupeâ—dious manifestation of such stupendious love All the works of God are in themselves excellent and wonderful but the work of Redemption by Christ is matter of greatest wonder and astonishment even to the Angels § 11. The Application follows where the Authour takes special notice of the last words cited out of the Psalm They are these Thou hast put all things in subjection under his Feet These are not the last words of the Psalm but of the words alledged out the Psalm These understood of Christ proves that which he intended That unto the Angels God hath not put in subjection the World to come but to some other even to Man that special Man whereof the Psalmist speaks Concerning these words he delivers two Propositions The first as a conclusion The second upon the By. The first as a conclusion is this That he left nothing that is not put under him this necessarily follows if God put all things under his Feet Therefore he is the Lord of the World to come and Angels are subjected as included in the word all That these words are understood of Christ and not of any other Man as Heinsius would have them to be is evident from 1 Cor. 15. 27. For he hath put all things under his Feet but when he saith All things are put under him it is manifest that he is excepted who did put all things under him Where two things are observable as clear and evident 1. That it was Christ risen from the Dead and set at the right hand of God under whose Poet as his Foot-stool all things were put 2. That nothing is excepted as not put under but God who subdued all things unto him The second Proposition upon the By is But now we see not all things put under him The meaning whereof is that though God hath given him Dominion over all things and all things are subject to his Power yet he hath not as yet exerclsed his Power to destroy all Enemies and reduce all his People to subjection And this we shall never see till the last Saint be converted and Death the last Enemy destroyed which cannot be before the Resurrection whereby all his Servants and Vassals shall be made immortall and fully and for ever freed from Death Ver. 9. But we see Jesus who was made a little lower then the Angels c. This is the second Application of those words of the Psalmist Thou hast made him a little lower then the Angels thou hast crowned him with Glory and Honour Which we find differently expounded translated read pointed Yet the matter is plain and it 's evident they speak of Christ and concerning Him deliver two things 1. His Humiliation 2. His Exaltation 1. His Humiliation in three things 1. That he was lower then the Angels 2. He suffered 3. He suffered Death for all men And the substance of the whole is That though in the state of his humiliation and mortality in respect of his suffering Death he was a little or a little while lower than the Angels yet he rose again and is now crowned with Glory and Honour at the right hand of God and made Lord of All. And there was a special reason why for a time he should be mortal and suffer Death even because that was the way unto Glory and the means of eternal deliverance determined by God Though all this be clear yet the place is wofully obscured and especially by Henisius whilst he tediously endeavours to make it more plain I will not trouble the Reader either with his pointing the words or his manner of rendring them or his exposition in all which he thinks Tâ—cla's Manuscript doth favour him which it doth not § 12. In these words these things are manifest 1. That the subject of them are the words of Psal. 8. 5. 2. That he applys them unto Christ. 3. That in them he observes the Humiliation and Exaltation of Christ. 4. Gives the reasons why Christ must first be humbled before he can be exalted and to shew this last is the scope of the Apostle in the rest of the Chapter unto the end It 's not to prove that Christ is Man as some do think nor to make a digression to speak of his Priest-hood as others tell us That he mentions some acts of Christ as a Priest and other things agreeing to him as Man and as a Priest or King it 's upon the By. In them we find three Propositions 1. That we see Christ for the suffering of Death Crowned with Glory and Honour 2. This Christ is he that was first made a little lower then the Angels 3. One end why Christ was made lower then the Angels was that by the Grace of God he might â—asto Death for every Man The meaning of the first Proposition is easy For it affirms 1. That Christ was Crowned with Glory and Honour 2. And that for suffering Death 3. They
Throne of the Majesty in the Heavens The Order of things and not of the words is 1. There is such an High-Priest 2. He is ours 1. He is a Priest and he is such an High-Priest so eminent and so excellent tâ—â—t he is set at the right hand of the Throne of the Majesty in the Heavens A Robe a Scepter a Sword a Diadem a Throne are Ensigns and Ornaments of Sovereign Power To sit in the Throne of Majesty is to possess Sovereign Power and Dominion There is an earthly Dominion and Sovereignty and also an heavenly and supercelestial Majesty which is proper to God as the Supream universal and eternal Lord. This is here to be understood Christ this High-Priest sits at the right hand of this Throne As he is the Word by which the World was made he sits in this Throne with the Father and the Spirit as one God and Lord with them yet as Man though assumed by the Word he sits but at the right hand of this Throne And so to do is to possess the highest degree of dignity and power next to that which is infinite and eternal The place of residence of Christ this great High-Priest where he possesseth and exerciseth this power is Heaven whither he ascended after his Resurrection and it was the highest degree of his Exaltation and a Reward of his deep Humiliation This Power and super-excellent Dignity agrees to him as a King who was fully invested with this Regal Power when God said unto him Sit thou on my right hand at which time God sware unto him Thou art a Priest for ever after the Order of Melchizedec For Christ was both King and Priest and from the 110. Psal. we learn that he was first made King and then at the same time by Oath confirmed in his everlasting Priest-hood and these words are an Abridgment of the first four Verses of that Psalm 2. This High-Priest is ours for we have him The Jews had their High-Priest ministring in the Temple at Jerusalem and upon him they relyed for their Justification and Salvation The Christians and amongst others these believing Hebrews had their High-Priest not on Earth but in Heaven and the same far more excellent than the Levitical Pontiff who might stand and not sit before the Mercy-seat on Earth not at the right hand of the heavenly and eternal Throne This was proper to Christ who is the High-Priest of all Christians upon whom they rely for eternal Salvation and all such as are sincere Believers have Interest in him as in their own For he was made and consecrated for them to benefit and save them and none other And if we knew his excellency and being sensible of our sin and misery would rely upon him with our whole hearts we might find unspeakable Comfort in him It 's our honour that we have an High-Priest at the right hand of God and our great happiness that he is able to save us for ever who come to God by him But our Ignorance of his excellency the senslesness of our sins and the want of a true and lively Faith deprive us of those inestimable benefits we might certainly expect from him These things are the Sum of all that excellent Discourse in the former Chapter upon the Text of Psal. 110. 4. For that Christ 1. Is a Priest after the Order of Melchizedec 2. That he is a Priest for ever 3. That he is made such by Oath 4. That he after his one Sacrifice once offered was higher than the Heavens 5. That he being the Son consecrated for evermore needs offer no more Sacrifice but remains at the right hand of God lives for ever to make Intercession and by this exercise of his Regal and Sacerdotal power makes his Sacrifice eternally effectual for his Saints are all comprised in these words § 2. If Christ be an High-Priest he must officiate and that in some place and so be the Minister of some Sanctuary or Temple and so he is For Ver. 2. He is a Minister of the Sanctuary and of the true Tabernacle which the Lord pitched not Man THese words may be so understood as to be the latter part of the transition Yet whether they be so or no they plainly speak of Christ's officiation in some Sanctuary For in them we have 1. A Sanctuary and Tabernacle 2. A true Tabernacle pitched by God not Man 3. A Minister of this Sanctuary this Tabernacle 1. A Sanctuary or an holy place for the most part with men is a place or Building made by Man and dedicated unto God who sanctifies it by his special Presence For the presence of a Deity makes a Temple or a Sanctuary and the special Presence of the true God manifested by some Divine effect makes a Sanctuary of the true God For when God by a bright Cloud entred the Tabernacle and after the Temple then he took possession of those places and made them his House The word in the Original 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is plural yet may be turned Sanctuary not Sanctuaries because we find it so used by the Septuagint The reason why it 's plural is because in the Tabernacle and the Temple there were divers parts and partitions and every one of them were holy yet altogether made but one house Thus it 's used Exod. 29. 30. Ezâ—k 44. 11. Lev. 20. 3. 24. 12. and in many other places One part of this Sanctuary is that within the second Veil which is the principal and most holy and signified the holy place of Heaven which here is chiefly meant That 's a true Sanctuary and Temple and that in a most eminent manner because of God's eminent and more glorious presence in that place So the word signifies Chap. 9. 12. and is so interpreted Ver. 24. ibid. Tabernacle is here the same with Sanctuary and so it might be called because the whole Building was holy yet in the Tabernacle that part within the first and that within the second Veil were the Sanctuary more properly Yet these were called Tabernacles by a Synechdoche and the first was called the Sanctuary or Holy the second the Holiest of all Heb. 9. 2 3. And this is the difference between a Tabernacle and Temple in the Type that the one was removable the other fixt But what is here to be understood by Tabernacle is much controverted Some will have it to be the Church both Militant and Triumphant and especially the Triumphant because of Christ's bodily presence there Some conceive that it 's the Body of Christ wherein the Schekina or the divine Glory and Majesty fixed it's habitatation Thus Junius Beza and others following them expound it and give their reasons for that Interpretation But their Arguments are of little or no force at all as if it were worth the while might be easily made evident Others and the most for number understand the Heavens mentioned in the former Verse And this is the most genuine sense for the Priest did never
that cannot be But he hath relation to the essence as acting upon it self and producing an Image of himself for Christ is the Word and Image of the Father and his Person This is the same with that we read in another place That he is the Image of the invisible God Coloss. 1. 15. The word invisible seems to be added for to distinguish Christ from these visible Images of visible things For God is not visible to mortal and bodily Eyes neither is his Image visible in that manner For though Christ had a body yet he neither in that body nor in his humane Soul but as the Word was he the express Image of his Father Crellius his glosse upon these words is grosse and nothing to purpose For he tells us 1. That Christ is the lustre â—ay and beam of God's Majesty this is very obscure and in proper sense affirmed of Christ as the Word is false 2. That he was thus a ray and beam only as sent and manifested in the humane Nature unto us This is agreeable to his erroneous Doctrine denying the Deity and Incarnation of the Word contrary to expresse Scripture 3. That Man resembles God in some attributes but Christ is the Image of his Person as Lord and Soveraign This is both obscure illiterate and impertinent For to resemble God in Power and Dominion and to bear his person as his Substitute is political to resemble him in Wisdom Knowledg Holiness is physical and to be his Image as he had said before that Man is These he jumbles and confounds together and contradicts himself Again to be his Image and bear his person in respect of Power and Dominion is the same with that of being Heir of all things And will any man imagine that the Apostle in so few words so full of different matter would tautologize And where do we find political representation for Power and Lordship signified in Scripture by such terms But that he was guilty of a willful Errour he would never have sought to elude the genuine sense by such a â—rosse sophistication § 8. And upholding all things by the Word of his Power As before he made the Worlds and with the Father created all things so here he is affirmed to support and order all things so that he is Creatour and Preserver We may here observe two things 1. The Word by his Power 2. The upholding of all things by this Word of Power his Word of Power is his powerful Word Christ is the Word in respect of the Father the eternal Word of the Father and there is a word of the Word in respect of some thing to be done and effected This word of the Word for effecting something ad extra out of God is here meant This is the Word of Creation whereby God sald ' Let there be Light and there was Light And it is the Word of Providence as in this place we must understand is This word is sometimes an expression sometimes a decree sometimes a command sometimes a deed Here it 's a decree and command expressed whereupon the deed follows and something willed decreed and expressed is effected This is a Word of Power that is very powerful of almighty Power so that what is spoken is done and what the Word signifieth is effected This Word Power is added to signify the efficiency and wonderful efficacy of the Word which is such that we cannot well distinguish betwixt the Word and the executive Power Therefore it 's said God spake and it was done he commanded and is stâ—â—d 〈◊〉 Psal. 33. 9. And the same Nown Verbal both in Hebrew and Greek which signifies a Word signifies a deed And Christ's Word is his deed this Word being a Word of Power is the cause the effect here is the upholding of all things The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 may signify to preserve and as Erasmus à Lapide Heinsius observe to govern And so it may expresse the two acts of Providence Conservation and Government and both universal for it upholds and orders all things This is the same which we find in another Scripture That by him all things subsist Coloss. 1. 17. In which place we may observe that as all things both visible and invisible were created by him so all things consist and be upholden by him This agrees to the Word not incarnate though being incarnate it doth not cease to exercise the same causal power because the Word made Flesh remains the Word and hath its universall causality as before the incarnation The Socinian lest he should grant the Deity and eternal existence of Christ understands this of Christ doing his Miracle by his Word and restrains all things to a few things done by Christ a Man And this is directly contrary to the Apostle affirming all things to consist by Christ even all things created and that from the beginning § 9. When he had by himself purged our Sins This was an act of Christ 1. As the word Incarnate 2. As a Priest 3. As a Priest offering himself a Sacrifice for our sins 4. This Sacrifice as not only offered but accepted of God had this power This purging of our Sin is not only actual pardon or sanctification but something antecedent and an immediate effect of Christ's Death as of a Sacrifice offered and accepted in behalf of sinfull man In the words we have an effect the purging of sin and the cause Christ by himself In the effect the object is our sins the act the purging of them By sins our sins are meant the consequents of sin in particular the guilt of sin yet joyned with the stain These are the sins of Men not of Angels our Sins The act of purging is the making of the consequents of sin especially the guilâ— removable upon certain terms determined by God our supream Judge and Law-giver This was done by satisfaction of divine justice and by merit For upon Christ's Sacrifice offered and the punishment due to us for our sins willingly suffered by him God was so well pleased as that he was willing to pardon that sin which was punished and by himself in his ownSon Sin therefore here by a Metonymie is said to be purged when this Sacrifice by which believed and pleaded sin is actually pardoned was offered and accepted because as offered and accepted it did make sin immediately pardonable and had a causal vertue to procure the actual pardon This causal vertue and vigour is said to be Purging But of this more hereafter especially in Chap. 9. The cause of this expiation is Christ by himself for he alone was the Priest he alone the Sacrifice He and he alone offered he and he alone was the thing offered he was the sole cause and efficient of this purging Neither Men or Angels did co-operate in this Work as co-efficients with him Crellius expounds these words yet so that his expression is neither exact nor clear nor altogether true For 1. By expiation and purging he
Christ hath by Inheritance it 's Hereditary and he is invested with it and actually possessed of it to enjoy it for ever Yet the word in the Greek signifies sometimes only to acquire possesse enjoy and so doth Iarash in Hebrew The Connexion is clear for whosoever hath greater dignity and power then another and that justly must needs be more excellent For excellency is a proper necessary consequence of Power § 13. For to which of the Angels said he at any time Thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee And again I will be to him a Father and he shall be to me a Son By these words he proves that Christ hath or doth inherit a more excellent Name which is the minor 1. This is a proof by an inartificial argument or testimony which depends upon the authority of the Person testifying 2. The party testifying is God therefore the authority is Divine and without exception especially to the Hebrews who acknowledged the Old Testament to be from God and infallible 3. He produceth two places out of the Old Testament 4. He alledgeth both especially the first by way of interogation affirmative which is a more vehement Negation For to which of the Angels said he that is to none and he challengeth the Hebrews or any other to prove that God said so to any Angel The first Testimony we find Psal. 2. 7. which must first be examined The words are used by the Apostle to prove the Resurrection of Christ Act. 13. 33. and his Priestâ—â—ood Chap. 5. 5 1. By the first place Psal. 2. we understand that upon the Resurrection after the time of his Humiliation was past he was made a King and by the second Hebr. 5. 5. he was made and created a Priest 2. That both are to be understood of Christ and of Christ raised up from death 3. That upon this Resurrection Christ was constituted King and Priest universal and supream in Heaven and Earth Therefore he said after his Reâ—â—rrection and before his Ascension All Power is given unto me in Heaven and iâ— Earth Matth. 28. 18. Therefore this day is not Eternity nor are the words to be understood of his eternal Generation as some of the Ancients expounded them but it 's the day of Resurrection when he laid aside the Form of a Servant and that Work which in that Form he must accomplish was finished This place truly understood doth plainly inform us that as none of the Angels did so humble themselves as he did to do so great and glorious a Service as he performed so none of them were rewarded with the honour and power of an universal Kingdom and Priest-hood as he was He had a better Name a higher place and a greater power for the Regal power he gave him was such that the very Angels were subject unto him as to their Lord and Soveraign The second place alledged we find 2 Sam. 7. 14 16. and the words of that former History contracted a Câ—ron 22. 10. in this manner The Lord speaking of a Son who should succeed him faith He shall build an House for my Name and he shall be my Son and I will be his Father and I will establish the Throne of his Kingdom over Israel for ever To understand this passage of Scripture you must consider 1. That the words are to be understood of Solomon for David intending to build a House and Temple to God was certified by Nathaâ— from the Lord that he should not build Him an House but Solomon his Son who should sit in his Throne after him should undertake and finish that Work 2 That Solomon was but a Type of Christ and that in three things 1. In building God's House 2. In being a King And 3. In the perpetuation of his Kingdom 3. You must know that when any words are spoken of a Type as a Type they are to be understood of the Anti-type and that principally to agree more exactly to the Aâ—â—â—-type For here to build God a spiritual House and to succeed David as an everlasting King did agree fully to Christ not to Solomon 4. The words understood both of the Type and the Anti-type make but one literal sense For that I call the literal sense which is intended by the Spirit And this is the excellency of the Scripture that by the same word it signifies not onely one but several things and thaâ— as the words signify things immediately at first hand so these things signify other things-things past or present or things to come For such was the wonderful Wisdom of God that he ordered things of old so that they plainly shadowed out things to come and so did teach Mysteries not onely by words but things and many things by one word 5. Christ and his Apostles do sometimes so quote the words of the Old Testament that they onely Point at the place and refer the hearer to it where he may read more than he hears and the whole when a part onely is spoken 6. This place joyned with the former doth plainly tell us that to be a Son is to be a King universal over the Church for ever and this is the more excellent Name and hereditary Power given to Christ never given to the Angels David himself by these words understood that God therein promised the Messâ—as and his eternal Saviour who was afterwards called the Son of David and his Throne and Kingdom the Throne and Kingdom of David By Son in both places is meant 1. Not a Servant 2. Not any kind of Son but the first-born 3. Not the first-born of any but of a King 4. Not the first-born of any King but of God as universal and Supream King for his Son this Son must be Heir and Lord of all § 14 Ver. 6. And again when he bringeth in the first-begotten c. These words are taken out of Psal. 97. and are found in the Septuagint Deut. 32. 43. They are brought to prove the excellent Name of Christ above the Angels affirmed in the Minor of the Apostle's Argument Expositors differ in the manner of bringing in these words upon the former but agree in the matter The difference is two-fold 1. About the Adverbs 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 2. The bringing of Christ into the World whether it was his Incarnation as some affirm or his coming to Judgment as others For the Adverbe 〈◊〉 turned again some make it onely a word of Connexion of these words with the former as an Addition of a third Proof of the Minor out of a third place His first was from Psal. 2. The second from 2 Sam. 7. which is added to the former in this manner And again The third is this from Psal. 97. So that the word here signifies onely an Addition of a third Proof to the two former Thus Beza Trimellius Vatablus the Tigurines Zurick Erasmus Sasbout and our English Translators understand it Others think this too harsh a Transposition and joyn it with the Verbe
one Person and if that Person be Christ then all not onely one of them agree unto him This Erasmus Johannes did very well observe in his dispute with Socinus concerning some kind of existence which Christ must needs have before the Incarnation Socinus in his Answer doth miserably shift and offers plain violence to the place Volkelius doth the like Crellius Volkelius Socinus make this the Scope of the Apostle in this first Chapter to demonstrate that Christ is more excellent than the Angels onely in such things as he received as Man from God after his Death and Resurrection But as you heard before his intent is to prove 1. That Christ is more excellent than the Prophets 2. Than the Angels And as he was more excellent than the Prophets not onely as sitting at the right hand of God but as creating the World and being the brightness of his Father's Glory and the express Image of his Person so he was more excellent than Angels not onely as sett at the right hand of God but as creating the World It was an hard thing and is still to understand the Mystery of the Incarnation That the eternal Word and Wisdom of God by which he created the World should be made Flesh and possesse dwell in and be united to the Nature of Man is plain Scripture but how he doth possess it dwell in it and is united to it so as he never possessed or dwelt in or was united unto any other Man or Angel is far above our reach and capacity Believe that it is so we must we may we are bound unto it it 's clear certain and the Word of God expresseth it plainly Understand the manner how it is we cannot And how should we seeing we are so ignorant how the Soul and Body are united In this Case as in many other Non vivacitas intelligendi sed simplicitas credendi not our evident Knowledg but our Faith must save us But it 's a wickedness which God will punish to deny that which God doth plainly affirm because we cannot fully comprehend it § 18. Ver. 13. 14. But to which of the Angels said he at any time c. These words may be understood to be a Conclusion of the former premisses or a new Argument If a Conclusion then we must conceive the premisses and the former discourse to amount to this that God set Christ at his right hand and not the Angels and here he briefly sums up the whole and inferrs therefore Christ is above the Angels Yet they rather seem to contain a new another Argument taken from the Psalmist Psal. 110. The Lord said unto my Lord Sit thou on my right hand c. 1. To sit at the right hand of God is not onely to be for ever happy and blessed by enjoying those pleasures which are at God's right hand for evermore nor onely to be advanced to the highest place of honour and dignity next unto God but to be invested with a supream and universal Power above all Men and Angels and by the same actually to reign for with the Apostle to sit at the right hand of God is to reign 1 Cor. 15. 25. This is to be Administrator-general as Law-giver and Judge in that spiritual Kingdom whereby God orders sinful Man unto eternal Glory This agrees to him as the Word made Flesh raised from the dead and ascended into Heaven 2. This Glory Dignity and Power was given to Christ as Man yet united to the Word For the Lord said unto my Lord that is David's Lord who yet according to the Flesh was David's Son who though Flesh was far greater after his Humiliation than his Father David not onely as the Word and the same Supream Lord with the Father but as Flesh and Man The Chaldee turns it to his Word the Lord said to his Word yet to his Word made Flesh. 3. The party who advanced him to his right hand was God for it was God who gave him a Name above all Names none else could give it 4. He gave it him by his Word and Edict For he said In this word we have the Patent or Commission of Christ in which he signifies his Will was that he should be Lord and King and with the word gives him the Power so that his Title is good and valid and stands firm and inviolable 5. The date of this Reign is expressed in those words untill his Enemies be made his Foot-stool that is till the Resurrection and final Glorification of all his Saints This being the meaning of the words the Apostle insists chiefly upon that part of the Text said to my Lord as though he should say 1. You confess that Psalm to be part of the holy Scripture revealed from Heaven 2. That the words are not to be understood of Angels but the Messiah 3. That in the first words of that Psalm God speaks to some certain Person to whom he gives Power to reign 4. He did not by those words give Power unto the Angels but to Christ thence he argues If God gave this Power to Christ and never to any of the Angels did the like then Christ is more excellent than the Angels and the Angels inferiour to Christ But this was said this power was given to Christ and not to the Angels therefore he is more excellent This Argument is stronger and more convictive because it 's negative and exclusive for they might have said that though God did advance and honour Christ and gave him an everlasting Kingdom yet he might do the like to some of the Angels To prevent this he out of the Text proves that God said this to Christ and there is no mention there nor in any part of the Scripture of God's advancing any of them to his right hand And that his Argument might be more forcing he proposeth it interrogatively To which of the Angels said he at any time That is He said not any such thing at any time to any of the Angels If he did he challengeth them to prove or produce the place which they could never do § 19. Ver. 14. Are they not all ministring Spirits c. These words may be considered absolutely in themselvs or relatively as conducing unto the main Conclusion intended by the Apostle The subject of them are Angels of whom something here is affirmed The manner of Expression is Rhetorical by way of Interrogation The Answer implyed is affirmative for they say that negative Interrogations are more vehement Affirmations The Proposition in general is That all the Angels are ministring Spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be Heirs of Salvation The parts infolded in the general or the whole are many 1. They are Spirits 2. Ministring Spirits 3. Sent forth to minister 4. The Minister for the Heirs of Salvation 5. They are all such 1. They are Spirits that is incorporeal incorruptible intellectual active substances the most noble and excellent Creatures God made 2. They are ministring
Spirits To be Ministers is 1. To be Servants in general 2. To be Officers and imployed either in sacred or civil Service therefore the word doth signify Priests or Magistrates Yet these are Ministers or Servants in the Court of Heaven under God the Supream Lord of all 3. They are sent forth for as they have their Office so they have their Imployment they are sent forth to Minister They do not go of their own head but have their work designed by God and receive both Direction and Command from him 4. The parties for whose good the Minister are the converted Believers who are designed Heirs of Salvation and eternal Glory For though they be God's Servants yet they serve for the good of his Children and this is their principal work and their happiness is the end of their Service 5. They are all and every one both Servants and also sent forth for this Service the greatest is not exempted This is the absolute consideration of the words The relative as they referr unto the scope of the Apostle is to prove that Christ is more excellent and they inferior to Christ. The force of the argument lyes chiefly in this 1. That they are Ministers and Servants 2. That all of them none excepted are such For all and every of them be Ministers not Lords and Kings then they are inferior to Christ. Nay they all and every one of them are subject to Christ as the Word from the Creation and after Christ as the word incarnate was set at the right hand of God they all were his Servants commanded and sent by him for the promoting of the Salvation of his redeemed ones believing on him So that they are not only Servants but his Servants this Doctrine informs us 1. Of the excellency of Christ advanced in our Nature above the Angels 2. Of the benefit of Believers they are Heirs of Salvation and the Angels the heavenly Spirits must take a special care of them 3. Of our Duty 1. To believe that we may be Heirs of Salvation and enjoy the guardance guidance and protection 2. To be humble Servants unto God to do good to others especially the Houshold of Faith seeing Angels though excellent are humble Servants to Christ for our good This principal matters in this Chapter are several The first is concerning the excellency of the Scriptures wherein God speaks by Prophets and by his own Son 2. The excellency of Christ in respect of the Prophets and the Angels 3. The Nature and Ministry of Angels The Use of this Doctrine follows in the beginning of the next Chapter CHAP. II. Ver. 1. § 1. THis Chapter is an Exhortation to the constant Profession of the Doctrine of the Gospel These words may be considered 1. In that Connexion with and dependence upon the former 2. In themselves The Connexion and Dependence is signified by the illative therefore which implys that the proposition in the first verse is a conclusion inferred from some premisses in the former Chapter wherein the Apostle had not only affirmed and proved that Christ was a Prophet more excellent then the former Prophets but the Angels And if he was so then it follows he must needs be heard and his Doctrine observed which is the substance of the first verse For seeing God speaks by the Prophets and more excellently by Christ therefore Prophets much more Christ are to be heard § 2. This is a Connexion The words themselves we must consider First As an Exhortation And secondly in the same 1. The duty exhorted unto 2. The reasons whereby the performance is urged An exhortation is reducible to a Rhetorick and proper to a deliberative Theme according to Aristotle and Tully ' whose Rules are not meerly Rhetorical but Political and are miscellaneous It presupposeth the party exhorted to know and remember the thing exhorted unto and a perswasion that it 's good especially honest and just The end of it is to move inslame and stir up the Will and Heart of the Auditor to performance This upon the by To proceed we have 1. The matter of the Exhortation or the Duty exhorted unto For the subject of divine Exhortations is some duty possible by the power of Grace to be performed Duty presupposeth a Command of God upon which follows an obligation to performance and a duty is nothing else and is a duty whether performed or not The duty is affirmative or negative So that in the words we have not only an exhortation but a dehortation too yet to speak properly they are but implyed For the Apostle signifies rather that the matter is a duty then exhorts unto it The affirmative is to give the more earnest heed to the things heard the negative not to let them slip yet the former must be done lest the latter which is a Sin should follow The matter of the duty is the things heard that is the Doctrine of Christ the great Prophet and his Apostles as made known and heard by them The act is attention earnest attention the more earnest attention because spoken by Christ more excellent then the Prophets then the Angels This attention is not only a diligent consideration of the things heard but a belief and constant profession joyned with practise and presupposeth the knowledg of them The negative which upon the neglect of the affirmative will follow is not to let them slip Thus it 's translated in our English but with divers Latine Interpreters it's to leak or flow out or aside And here Expositors compare the Soul unto a broken Cistern or torn-Vessel which will not keep any liquid substance powred into it In this sense to let slip seems to be nothing else then to forget But the Sytiack turns it so lest we fall off or from our profession The Septuagint use the Apostles word Prov. 3. 21. where the Hebrew word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Luz which signifies not only in that Language but in the Chaldee to depart go back decline from a thing Therefore here the sin we must take heed of is not only to forget the Doctrine of Christ but to fall from the Faith and Profession of it And the reason why they must be so careful is because there was great danger and many temptations which would prove the more effectuall against the careless and the negligent In a word the duty is upon most dillgent attention constantly to believe and profess the Doctrine of Christ and never to recede or fall from it Thus to do is our duty there is a necessity of precept God's Command binds us we ought and the reason is because the Doctrine we have heard is the Doctrine of Christ the Doctrine of God made Man And it was God's Command to hear him the great Prophet upon peril of total Destruction This duty is reducible to the first Commandment evangelically understood and not to hear believe profess the Doctrine of God Redeemer by Christ is a grievous sin there forbidden As the duty
2. That whereas he became man in latter times he must needs be of some Nation and People with reference to the Head and first Father of that Nation and for Nation he was according to his humane Nature a Jew the first Father of which Nation was Abraham The reason hereof is this because God had made a special promise to Abraham That in his Seed all Nations should be blessed By which word Seed is meant Christ and Christ as descended from him according to the Flesh He is also called the Son of David because God promised That he should be born of his Family in Bethlehem the native place of David This sense 1. Is most agreeable to the Context antecedent where it 's said That Christ must be lower then the Angels must taste of Death must be consecrated by Suffering must be one with the sanctisied must be partaker of Flesh and Blood and deliver sinful man from the Devil But if he had assumed the nature of Angels none of these could be affirmed of him 2. The former two senses cannot be good because then he should have only apprenended and succoured the Seed of Abraham according to the Letter of this Text. Therefore seeing he took upon him the Seed of Abraham as he did the Seed of David therefore to take on him or assume the Seed of Abraham is to be of the Seed of Abraham as he was of David 2 Tim. 2 8. and to be made of the Seed of Abraham as he was made of the Seed of David according to the Flesh Rom. 1. 3. And it is the same with that of the Divine Evangelist The Word was made Flesh Joh. 1. 14. Crellius here trifles egregiously for he excepts against this sense 1. Because to apprehend or take hold of a thing is not to assume the nature of it 2. The word Angels which is plural should have been singular But 1. Who will grant him that which neither others do nor he can prove that the word must be turned apprehended in this place whereas it hath other senses both in the Septuagint and in the New Testament and is turned oftner and by more Translatours assume as was shewed before 2. If Christ had assumed the individual substance of an Angel he had assumed the Nature of Angels He did but assume one individual Flesh and Blood yet he is said to take part with the Children which were many He again objects that if it be said that he took the nature not of Angels but Men then these words cannot contain and render a reason That Christ was made lower then the Angels because it is the same But 1. How will he prove that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is causal if it should be denied 2. Who told him that it referrs only to those words of the 7th verse as a reason of them whereas it 's plain if the conjunction be causal it referrs to that which went immediately before 3. To be lower then the Angels and assume the nature of Man are not precisely the same For now he is Man and yet above the Angels These words thus explained and cleared inform us 1. Of some special love of God shewed unto Man and to Angels and of some benefit issuing from that love and given unto Man and denied to the Angels He so loved Man that he gave his only begotton Son to be the propitiation for his sin and not for the Angels Christ and the eternal Word must be Man and dy for him but he must not be an Angel to dy for Apostate Angels or redeem them The cause of this was the free will of God who might have neglected both the one as well as the other for both were sinful and deserved Death Yet there might be a reason why he passed by the Angels and not Man even because Angels were not tempred yet sinned but Man was deceived and so was a subject more capable of mercy though he deserved no mercy Yet if Man will be obstinate in his sin and refuse to acknowledg this love and receive Christ God will turn his love into hatred and send him a cursed wretch into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels and he shall lose eternally the benefit of Christ's Redemption which is remission and eternal life 2. They let us know the condescension and deep humiliation of the Son of God who vouchsafed not only to be Man but took upon him the form of a Servant and was obedient unto Death the Death of the Crosse. And this Incarnation is a deep mystery and this humiliation a matter of greatest wonder 3. They acquaint us with the excellent dignity and high advancement of the humane Nature in that it was assumed and inseparably united unto that eternal Word which is God The Angels in many things are above us and more excellent then we are yet in this we are above the Angels and nearer unto God and our nature in Christ is Lord of Angels 4. We learn from them that the Seed of Abraham and the People of the Jews have a priority and priviledg above all People For Christ took upon him their Flesh and Blood and they were his Brethren of whom according to the Flesh Christ came who is over all God blessed for ever Amen Rom. 9. 5. This is the reason why he said when he lived on Earth That he was sent to the lost Sheep of Israel and why he chose out of them the Apostles preached the Gospel unto them first for the tender of eternal life was first made to them and why he began and finished the work of Redemption amongst them 5. From them we understand something of the nature of the Incarnation For herein we have 1. One person the eternal Word and the Son of God 2. Two Natures Divine and Humane 3. The union of these two by assumption for the Word assumed the nature of Man and this Nature was thereby united to the Word in the unity of person 4. The distinction of these two Natures for the Word is God and not Man this humane Nature remains Man and is not God and the difference is very great and perpetual And thus God-Man is Christ our blessed Saviour and Redeemer and happy are they who know him and believe in him Ver. 17 18. Wherefore in all things it behâ—â—ved him to be made like unto his Brethren c. § 19. In these words we have another reason why Christ must be lower then the Angels Man and like his Brethren One end was that he might suffer and dy and this he could not do except he be partaker of Flesh and Blood and therefore he took upon him the Nature of Men and not of Angels The end why he must dy was 1. That he might destroy the Devil who had the power of Death and so deliver them that were in continual danger 2. That he might be a merciful and faithful High-Priest and so make reconciliation for the sins of his People and be
whose House it is is expresse Scripture that Christ doth build it is so too For thus Christ saith to Peter Upon this Rock will I build my Church Matth. 16. 18. Some restrain the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 all things to the Church but that 's not probable For the better understanding of these words you must observe 1. That one of the most noble Effects and Works of God is the Church a most rare and curious piece 2. That to Frame Build and Constitute this must be a special act of that excellent and universal Builder 3. That as by the Word God created all things and built the World at the first so by this Word Incarnate dying and rising again sending down the Holy Ghost revealing the Gospel he built and founded the Church-Christian which shall stand for ever 4. That because he built this Church not meerly as God by the word not-Incarnate but Incarnate and made Flesh therefore it must necessarily follow that Christ is not part of the House nor the House it self but the Builder of the House For though he doth many things by the word not-Incarnate yet he never built the Church but by it The substance of the words is That presupposing this for a certain truth That every House hath a Builder therefore this House must have so too yet because it cannot be built by Men or Angels it must be built by God and because the materials of it are Men first sinful and guilty God must build it by Christ who is the Word made Flesh. This discourse implyes that Moses was not a Builder but a Member of this House yet an eminent Member and one advanced far above the ordinary ranck of other Members not only because a Prophet but an excellent and eminent Prophet too § 7. Thus far the excellency of Christ above Moses set forth by a Similitude taken from building The second Comparison is between Him and Moses as between Lord and Servant For it follows Ver. 5. And verily Moses was faithful in all his House as a Servant for a Testimony c. These words are part of the Minor Proposition and with the words immediately following inform us of two things The one concerning Moses the other concerning Christ 1. Concerning Moses That for his place he was a Servant 2. Concerning Christ That He was Lord of God's House They both agree in this that they had some certain place in the House of God but differ in this That the one was in a lower the other in a higher place Moses though faithful yet was but a Servant He was God's Servant in an honourable Place and in an Office of great Trust For the word Servant signifies an Officer yet because all Officers are Servants therefore by a Synechdoche they are often called Servants under their Soveraign He was a kind of Steward trusted with a general superintendency and inspection over God's House the Church of Israil In a word he was a Prophet and a Prince Yet here he is considered as a Prophet for he was to testify and declare unto the People the Laws and other things God should reveal unto him And it was an Honour to be such a Servant and a greater Honour to be faithful as he was to declare and testify all things which God revealed unto him and to do this without diminishing the least or adding any thing unto God's Word This is one proper Duty of Christ's Ministers to be witnesses of Christ and declare the whole counsel of God faithfully and how happy might the Church be if her Prophets were such As 1. Who did know what the Will and Word of God is 2. Did teach it faithfully and wisely according to their Commission Though Moses in this respect was counted worthy of Honour and deserved to be heard and obeyed by that People yet Christ was worthy in this respect of far greater Honour For it followeth Ver. 6. But Christ as a Son over his own House Here Son is opposed to Servant and his own House to the House of another which is the Master Christ is the Son Moses but the Servant Christ is in the House as his own built by him Moses was in the Church of the Jews as a Servant in the House of his Master giving directions for all things to be done therein according to the Will of God his Lord and Master Christ is not here called Lord but Son but by Son is meant the Heir which is Lord of all For as you heard before God had made Christ his Son Heir that is Lord of all Chap. 1. 2. The Church is his own House for he redeemed and purchased it by his own Blood he gave himself for it which Moses never did and his Father hath given all things into his hands and made Him Head of that Church and House which he himself hath Built Moses was never advanced to this Honour he never had any such Title This excellency of Christ both absolute and comparative we are exhorted to consider It 's represented unto us fully and clearly in the Gospel yet will be of little use to us if we consider it not so as we may the more clearly and distinctly know it and be effectually moved to honour Christ and prefert Him far above Moses For the end of consideration is a more clear and perfect knowledg of the things considered and in practicals the end of that knowledg is to move and incline out hearts This exhortation is but subordinate unto another as the duty of Consideration is but subordinate to an higher and far greater and that is Perseverance which is here thus expressed Ver. 6. Whose House We are if we hold fast the considence and rejoycing of hope firm to the end § 8. The Duty exhorted unto is final perseverance and is here described by the Apostle to be an holding fast of the considence and rejoycing of hope firm to the end This is opposed to Apostacy or a falling off before the end Perâ—everance is conceived to be no virtue distinct in it self but an adjunct of virtues and especially of Faith The virtues here are considence and rejoycing of hope The nature of it is 1. To hold these fast and firm 2. To hold them fast unto the end The subject immediate of this constancy and perseverance is confidence and hope 1. Confidence in this place presupposeth a firm and certain belief of the Truth of the Gospel concerning Christ as the only sufficient Saviour by whom alone God will give us everlasting Life 2. This confidence is a reliance and resting or reposing of our hearts upon God promising remission and eternal Life for Christ's sake alone For seeing God who is almighty in Power infinite in Wisdom unchangeable in his Purposes hath signified his willingness to save us and hath bound himself by his promise upon certain terms expressed in his promise we may be confident that what he hath promised he will perform and will in no wise fail or be
themselves and the Scriptures § 5. Hitherto the description of a Priest in general and such as did officiate before the times of the Gospel the next thing is concerning their calling and acquisition of their Sacerdotal Power which is delivered in these words Ver. 4. And no man taketh this Honour unto himself but He that is called of God as was Aaron THe sum whereof is this that the Institution of an High-Priest-hood and an High-Priest is from God For the more distinct handling of the Text we must observe three things 1. That no man can make himself Priest 2. That God's Calling makes a Priest 3. Aaron for example was so made a Priest 1. The first Proposition is that no man can make himself a Priest For any man to take or receive to himself or by himself this Honour is to make himself such a Priest as is formerly described The sense is not that no man will usurp this sacerdotal power or that many will not take it upon them or many will not presume to make others Priests which God did never make such For Jeroboam made of the lowest of the People Priests Yet let Princes or People presume to make Priests let others without any consent of God or Man usurp this Power yet if God do not Institute and Call them either mediately or immediately their Priest-hood is no Priest-hood their Offering no Offerings their Service ineffectual and no wayes acceptable to God And here it 's observable that Priest-hood is called an honour because the Office is high and honourable and next to that of Kings though with many it 's contemptible 2. God's Calling makes a Priest for he not only hath power to institute this Office and invest men with this honour For as all Power is of God so is this of Priest as well as that of Prince And though God gives liberty to men for to institute some civil Offices and make Officers yet in matters of Religion it 's otherwise For he hath reserved that Power of making spiritual Officers and to appoint their Service unto himself and the successe of their Service doth meerly depend on him for without him it can have no spiritual effect upon the Souls and Consciences of men Yet God doth not Call all Officers in Religion immediately and by an extraordinary and particular designation but many are called in an ordinary way yet it 's necessary that every standing Office should be instituted either by a General or some special precept of universal Obligation for the time he will have such an Office to continue in the Church This precept determines the qualification of the person and this must be known and approved by the Church â—â— such as the Church shall trust and this approbation must be publickly declared before the party that must publickly officiate can be orderly admitted yet this rule admits of some exception in extraordinary Cases All the power that the Church in constitution of Officers can challenge is to signifie the Will of Christ concerning the particular persons to be constituted that they are rightly qualified and such as Christ requires them to be Christ therefore in this work is the principal and the Church following the rules of Christ is the instrumental cause Of vocation ordination imposition of hands and constituting of Church-Officers I shall speak more at large in my Treatise of Civil and Ecclesiastical Government 3. Aaron did not take this honour to himself but was Called of God this is an instance and a particular example of the divine Vocation of an High-Priest And though it was but a particular example yet it was agreeable to a general Rule That Aaron was an High-Priest and that he did not usurp this honour and that he was Called of God is evident out of Scripture For 1. God singles out the Tribe of Levi for religious Services 2. Out of this Tribe he singles the Family of Aaron for the Priest-hood 3. Out of this Family he separates Aaron and his Sons with their Posterity to be High-Priests 4. He caused him publickly to be set apart with his Sons and to be consecrated 5. Upon his Consecration when he first begins to minister and offer his Priest-hood is confirmed by Fire sent from Heaven to burn the Offering 6. Notwithstanding this particular institution and designation he was unjustly challenged as ingrossing the Sacerdotal Power till God by consuming the Company of Korah and causing Aaron's Rod to Blossom and bring forth ripe Almonds confirmed it again 7. Aaron's Children and Posterity acquired their power by lineal discent according to the first Institution for all his Successours derived their Power from the first Investiture of him and his Sons § 6. After the Description of an High-Priest and his divine Calling follows the Apostles discourse of the High-Priest-hood of Christ. And he 1. Asserts his Calling 2. Proves it His Calling is asserted in these words Ver. 5. So Christ also did not glorify himself but he that said c. THis doth presuppose 1. That Christ is a Priest and all things essential to a Priest we find in him according to the former Description 2. That to be a Priest is a Glory and Honour for it is a place as of Power so of Dignity and Glory Yet it 's said He did not glorify himself and take upon him the Sacerdotal Power and Dignity though he was qualified better then ever any was By this we understand the intolerable pride and presumption of many in these times which take upon them to officiate in matters of Religion though no wayes qualified or fitted for this work If ever any Man or Angel then surely Christ might have taken this Honour to himself yet he did not And this will be the eternal condemnation of all such as usurp Ecclesiastical Power without any Commission from God or Man How unlike unto Christ are all such who presume of their own merit and despise such as Christ hath called But if Christ did not glorify himself and take upon him to be a Priest how did he acquire his Sacerdotal Power It 's said That God did glorify and advance him to this place and honour This is included in these words But he that said unto him For he that said unto him the words following was God and He made him Priest And the truth is the place was so high and required such a measure of Power that none but God could constitute and invest him For it was not in the power of Man or Angel to make so great an High-Priest As before it 's said 1. That he did not make himself an High-Priest 2. That God made him so by those words found in Psal. 2. 7. he proves both that he was a Priest and that God made him such For 1. It 's clear that it is the Lord and everlasting Jehovah who spake these words 2. He spake them to Christ. 3. By them he constituted him a Priest The words of Constitution are these This Day have I
in his prayers and most earnestly deprecare the Wrath of God as his Saviour did The sense of sin will break the stoniest heart and quicken our Prayers cause cryes and tears But we neither consider the grievousnesse of our sins nor the bitternesse of our Saviour's Passion therefore our Prayers are cold and weak and mercy stands afar off and pardon comes not near us 3. These Prayers were made and directed to God as One that was able to save him from Death All Petitions made to any Person either unable or unwilling to do that which is desired are in vain might and mercy power and goodness are necessarily required in him to whom Prayers which shall in the issue prove effectual are to be offered And because none but God is absolutely Powerfull and Good Almighty and Almerciful therefore to him alone as Supream Lord all Prayers are to be made as to the prime Authour and principal efficient of all Blessings and Mercies To addresse our selves in this manner to any other is flat Idolatry and a breach of the first and great Command None can deliver from Death but only He. Therefore Christ offered his Prayers and Supplications to Him as able to save from Death and this ability to save in greatest dangers was the ground of his confidence God was able to save from Death either by prevention and not suffering him to dy or if he suffered Death by raising him up again and restoring life once taken away and lost The latter he did the former he denied to do yet by Death in this place may be meant some other thing then loss of this mortal and temporal Life for in Scripture it signifies all kind of evils Man or Angel is subject unto and in this place something which he feared prayed against and was freed from by God his heavenly Father supporting him so that he did not sink under the heavy burden laid upon him He endured all with patience and willingness of mind and was not overcome or overwhelmed He suffered something far more terrible then all bodily pains and that Death which is only a separation of Soul and Body and this was violent temptation for he was tempted more violently then ever any was yet he never yielded the least but continued firm faithful obedient unto his heavenly Father in the midst of his greatest conflicts That which upheld him was the power of his Father and that which obtained the victory was his support obtained by his fervent Prayers For 4. His Prayers and Supplications were effectual he was heard in that he feared To be heard in the Hebrew is by a Metonymy sometimes to have our prayers granted and the thing requested done And to be heard when we pray for deliverance is to be delivered saved holpen This might be made manifest out of many places of the Old Testament translated by the Septuagint Two of them Heinsius observes as 2 Chron. 18. 31. where it 's written That Jehoshaphat cryed out and the Lord helped him so the Hebrew heard him so the Septuagint And Psal. 56. 16. As for me I will call upon God and the Lord will save me so the Hebrew hath heard me so the Greek So that for Christ to be heard was for Christ to be delivered But what was he delivered from certainly not from Death so as not to suffer it for he dyed but from something he seared For the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which properly signifyeth fear Metonymically in this place signifies the thing feared which was the object and cause of his fear This word is once used by the Septuagint for so they translate the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Josh. 22. 24. But what did Christ fear Death No not bodily Death but such a Death as he suffered wherein he was so fearfully tempted For if God had deserted him wholly as he did in part and not have supported him he as man might have been overcome have sunk under the burden in distrust or dispair or impatience This he feared more then ten thousand Deaths of his Body and so to do was his holiness and though he knew his Father would support him yet he must offer vehement Prayers and be put hard unto it before he did obtain it Thus though he knew he must dy yet he defired vehemently that the Cup of his Passion if it were possible might passe and be omitted God began to hear him when he sent an Angel from Heaven to comfort him but then he heard fully when he had supported him to the end of his Passion so that he commended his Soul unspotted and victorious into his Fathers hand and made haste unto that Paradise into which no unclean thing shall ever enter When all was done and suffered the Devil found nothing in him could not charge him with the least Sin This was the efficacy of his Prayers which he offered for himself as different from all others that ever were made in his extremity whereby he learned to pity others in their temptations and necessities For an High-Priest must offer for himself as well as for others because he is compassed with infirmities So Christ though he had no Sin yet had infirmities and was tempted and had need to pray for himself as well as for his People and Ver. 8. Though he were a Son yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered VVHere we may observe two things and two propositions Two things 1. His eminent Dignity he was a Son 2. His obedience Two propositions 1. He was a Son 2. Though a Son yet he learned obedience by the things â—he Suffered 1. He was a Son the Son of God and in a more excellent manner then any either Man or Angel was or could be He was as the Word the Son of God so as that he was God and as Flesh and Man he was assumed by the Word and conceived by the holy Spirit in the Virgin 's Womb yet so that there were not two Sons but one the Word made Flesh and as such a Son he was nearer God then any other Heir of all things Lord of Men and Angels and the only-begotten Son of God Yet 2. Though a Son yet learned he obedience For though as a Son he was very high yet he humbled himself very low and took upon him the form of a Servant and in that form became obedient unto Death the Death of the Cross which was the Death of a Servant as he was sold for thirty pence the ordinary price of a Servant and Slave His obedience presupposed his subjection as Flesh unto his heavenly Father as his Supream Lord and a Command not only to Do but to Suffer even the Death of the Crosse and this was the highest greatest and hardest command to dye such a Death for the Sin of Man This command above all others he learned to obey He learned this hard Lesson not only to know it but chiefly to do it not meerly by speculation but real
consequence Therefore though they did not absolve them yet they prayed for them and referred them to the Judgment of God § 6. The Apostle not content barely to affirm this Renovation to be impossible gives us a reason hereof and that in a third Proposition which is They Crucify the Lord Jesus a new and put him to open shame This should have been the second but I follow the order of the words For this is the genuine method 1. Christians may fall away 2. Falling away they Crucify Christ and put him to open shame 3. It 's impossible for them doing so to be renewed by Repentance This third which I handled in the second place contains the medium whereby the impossibility of Repentance is inferred But 1. I will explain the words 2. Shew how they come in upon the former 1. To Crucify the Lord Jesus the Son of God afresh and to put him to an open shame are in some respect the same For the Death of the Crosse is a shameful and ignominious Death and Punishment therefore we read of shame and the Crosse joyned together For it 's said of Christ That he endured the Cross and despised the shame Hebr. 12. 2. There be many tormenting and disgracing Punishments inflicted by higher Powers upon Malefactors Amongst these Capital penalties are the greatest Of Capital Crucifying or putting to Death upon the Crosse is most cruel and ignominious This our blessed Saviour the Son of God once Suffered For such was the malice of the Jews that nothing but his Death and no other Death but the Death of the Crosse besides many other indignities would satisfy them The end of just punishments are loss pain and shame Therefore Malefactors were executed publickly and openly that others might see hear and fear to do the like Sinnes lest they should suffer the like Punishments if they should prove guilty of the like Crimes And not onely the Punishments executed by Man but such as are inflicted by God are exemplary Therefore as the Apostle saith The punishments which the Israelites suffered in the Wildernesse are our ensamples 1 Cor. 10. 6 11. Therefore the word turned put him to open shame signifies to make an example of shame and disgrace To return unto the Text Apostates are said to Crucify Christ unto themselves afresh the meaning is not that they put Christ to Death upon the Cross in proper sense For that they cannot do he dyed upon the Crosse once and rose again is immortal in Heaven and shall never dy any more For in that he dyed he dyed unto Sin or for Sin once and but once seeing he being raised from the Dead he dyed no more Death hath no more Dominion over him Rom. 6. 9 10. Therefore the words are to be understood Tropically they are a Metaphor which is a contract Similitude and signify that they are like unto the Jews and deal with Christ in somethings as they did For as the Jews judged Christ not to be the Messias and Son of God but a Seducer an Impostor and Malefactor and desired Judgment against him as such that he might be Crucified and put to open shame so these Apostates denying Christ whom they had formerly professed must needs account of him no better then the Jews did and so justify all their Accusations against him and his Crucifying as just and justly deserved by him But these Revolters especially agree with the malicious Jews who renounce him blaspheme him and persecute him in those who profess him such Julian was This is to tread under foot the Son of God and to count the blood of the Covenant that is whereby the everlasting Covenant was confirmed and they sanctified an unholy or profane thing This is the highest contempt of Christ and his Blood that possibly can be Some observe from these words Crucify him afresh 1. That though they cannot Crucify him because he is far out of their power yet for their part they are ready and have a mind to do it and would do it if it were in their power 2. That though he was Crucified once yet if he were living and in their reach they would Crucify him again § 7. This is the meaning of the Words Now secondly Let 's consider how they come in upon the former and what connexion they have with them They presuppose that Apostates do Crucify the Son of God to themselves afresh and are guilty of this Crime For Apostacy is their Sin and this necessarily follows upon it and is inseparably joyned with it And they seem to give a reason of the impossibility of their Renovation by Repentance For there can be no Renovation or Sanctification but by the Blood of the Son of God and this they deny renounce trample under foot therefore they can neither repent nor by repentance be renewed or receive any benefit For repentance presupposeth necessarily Faith in the Blood of Christ and the force thereof dependeth upon that Blood and the belief thereof without both which no repentance can ever do any good or benefit any man and this is the immutable Will and Decree of God Neither will God give Repentance to any Apostate or accept him though he should and could repent For Christ did never merit nor God promise to any such persons either of these The reason of all this is That God decreed that Christ should dy but once and that Sinners should be initiated but once and that whosoever makes void to himself this one Death and this one Initiation shall never have any benefit by a second Death or a second Initiation These are contrary to the eternal and unchangeable Rules and Laws of his Kingdom and by these Rules their Sin is irremissible and their final destruction unavoidable Therefore let us hear and fear lest by any means we fall away from that Christianity which we have received professed and engaged in By all this it 's evident that it 's in vain to lay the foundation again by Repentance Faith Baptism and the rest This reason to make it more plain is illustrated by a Similitude which as all other Comparisons hath two parts 1. A Proposition 2. A Reddition The Proposition is expressed the Reddition implyed The subject of the first part or proposition is the Earth and as there are two sorts or kinds of Earth good and bad so there be two parts of the proposition The first Concerning good Earth The second Concerning bad and barren Ground 1. Concerning the good we may consider 1. The Proposition and then the Reddition In the first observe 1. The Fruitfulness 2. God's Blessing The fruitfulness presupposeth Rain Dressing For without these two Moisture and Husbandry no Ground can be fruitful The Rain is from Heaven the Husbandry from Man The goodness of it is that it drinketh in the Rain bringeth forth Herbs meat for them by whom it 's dressed and here by Herbs may be meant all kind of Fruit that 's fit for man's food As it 's fruitful so
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
of Ceremonies and Rites is carnal that is outward bodily fleshly For besides Circumcision which was in the Flesh their Sacrifices and Offerings were outward and bodily and they had their effect upon their Bodies and Flesh in freeing the People from legal guilt and impurities 3. There was a Law which did direct how these must be used and binding them to the observation of them and this Law had promises of some legal Blessings and Deliverances and Comminations of some temporal penalties That they were carnal it doth imply that they were not spiritual had no power upon the immortal Soul and could not any waies procure spiritual and eternal Blessings nor free from the eternal penalties due to Sin Neither could that Priest who was by such outward Rites and Ceremonies consecrated by his Ministration according to that Law expiate any sin nor make any spiritual reconciliation The Levitical Priest was made after this Law and to minister according to the same But here it 's said That Christ was not made a Priest after this Law which was a body of carnal precepts in respect of the Priest the Tabernacle the Service and Ministry and the effects thereof For if He had been made after the Law He could have done no more then they did and then both He and his Ministry had been defective frail and of a short continuance therefore it 's denied that he was made a Priest after that Law concerning the consecration ministration succession and operation of the Levitical Priest 2. The affirmative He was made a Priest after the power of an endless or indissoluble life Where we have 1. Life 2. An indissoluble life 3. The power of an endless indissoluble life 1. Life is either the bare continuance and duration of a living Beeing or the happiness and perfection of that Beeing in this latter sense most Expositors take it 2. This life whether it be the continuance of that more perfect Beeing which is living or the happiness thereof may be temporary or perpetual in respect of time to come so that though it may have beginning yet it never shall have end Such a life is here meant 3. The power here may be a Law which is powerful not only in binding but in promising so that the event thereof will be endless happiness as the Gospel is said to be the power of God unto Salvation Christ is said to be made according to this powerful Law and so is 1. Of eternal continuance himself in his person And 2. Hath power by this Law to give eternal life to such as are his People depend upon him and come to God by him For by his death he merited and by his life and intercession he procureth spiritual and eternal Expiation and Blessings Neither of these could the Levitical Priest by that carnal Ceremonial Law and his Ministration according to it effect That Christ must be made such a Priest he proves in the next words Ver. 17. For he testifieth Thou are a Priest for ever after the Order of Melchizedec VVHere two things 1. That Christ is made a Priest for ever after the Order of Melchizedec 2. That this is testified The force and Emphasis is in the words for ever and testified The first Proposition is concerning the Eternity of Christ's Priest-hood the second concerning the declaration of this Eternity or Perpetuity And we must 1. Consider the meaning of the words 2. Declare the end for which they are brought In the first part we have 1. The Order of Melchizedec 2. The perpetuity of the Priest constituted according to that Order 1. Melchizedec was formerly affirmed to have no end of dayes and so in some respect was of endless life and for this particular Reason these words so often taken up are repeated here the sixth time Christ is made a Priest after this Order as one who must continue for ever In the second part it 's said that this was testified where to testify is Solemnly by a formal and powerful Edict to declare and pronounce him not onely to be a Priest but a Priest for ever And it was God himself as Supream Lord who made this Declaration before all the Angels of Heaven and by it constituted and confirmed Christ an everlasting Priest The end why these words are alledged and here repeated is to prove that Christ was not made a temporary Priest according to a carnal and temporary Law but according to a Law and Power of endless life that is that he was made an everlasting Priest of everlasting power to save The words prove this effectually 1. Because the words of the Psalmist signify expresly that he was a Priest for ever 2. Because it was God as the Supream Lord who by his solemn Declaration made him such This is the Apostle's Discourse upon those words of the Psalm I have said Thou art a Priest for ever The Scope of the Apostle in all this is 1. To prove that the Priest-hood was changed 2. It was changed to bring in a better Priest 3. Christ is this Priest and more excellent than the Levitical Priest as being a Priest of perpetual continuance and of everlasting power and therefore was to be honoured far above Aaron or any Priest of that Order § 22. Hitherto the Apostle hath proved that the Priest-hood was changed and given the Reason which was because by it there was no perfection And by the Change of the Priest-hood the Change of the Law is inferred and in the words following he gives the Reason why the Law must be changed This is the coherence of this Text with the former So that this is his Method He proves 1. By the words of the Psalm That there must be another Priest besides and after the Levitical Priest 2. That if the other Priest be brought in the Levitical Priest-hood must be changed 3. That if the Priest-hood be changed the Law is changed 4. He infers the Change of the Priest-hood from the Change of the Tribe and of the Order 5. He infers from the words of the Psalm that this other Priest must be an everlasting Priest and of everlasting power 6. He gives the Reason of this Change and that was because there was no perfection by the former Priesthood as there is by the latter Now because the Priest-hood and the Law are alwayes so inseparably joyned that they live and dy stand and fall begin and end together therefore he take it for granted that having proved the change of the Priest-hood he had proved the Change of the Law For as the Priest-hood could do nothing but was useless without the Law so the Law could do nothing but was useless without the Priest-hood Therefore he thought it needless any farther to prove the Change of the Law for the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that it was changed was evident enough and proceeds to give the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the Change thereof in this manner Ver. 18. For there is verily a disanulling of the
to bring in Christ and the Gospel which were effectual to save § 24. The Apostle hath hitherto proved the excellency of Christ's Priest-hood above that of Aaron 1. Because it 's after the Order of Melchisedec which was above the Order of Aaron from ver 1. to the 11th 2. Because Perfection is by Christ's Priest-hood and not by that of Aaron's and by the Gospel and not the Law 3. Because the Levitical Priest-hood and the Law were changed Christ's Priest-hood and the Gospel having a power of perpetual Sanctification abides for ever Now he draws a fourth Argument from the words of the Psalm I have sworn and will not repent And the form is this That Priest-hood which is confirmed by an Oath is more excellent then that which is not so confirmed But the Priest-hood of Christ was confirmed by Oath and the Levitical Priest-hood was not Therefore Christ's Priest-hood is more excellent This argument we find in these words Ver. 20 21 22. And in as much as not without an Oath he was made Priest For these Priests were made without an Oath but this with an Oath by him that said unto him The Lord sware and will not repent Thou art a Priest for ever after the Order of Melchisedec By so much was Jesus made the Surety of a better Testament VVHere we find the major Proposition ver 20. the Assumption ver 21. the Conclusion ver 22. For a Priest to be constituted by Oath and by the Oath of God was extraordinary Of an Oath in general and of the Oath of Angels and of Men and of God I have formerly spoken in Chap. 9. This was the Oath of God the Proposition we read ver 20. In as much as not without an Oath The words are Ellyptical and therefore supplyed and made out by the Translators from the following verse where it 's said But this with an Oath Not to be made without an Oath and to be made with an Oath are the same for it follows if Christ was made with an Oath then he was not made without an Oath and è coâ—tâ—â— The Negative and the Affirmative expression of the same thing makes it more evident and implies the greater certainty In this Major we have a two-fold Comparison one in quality another in quantity In quality a dissimilitude one Priest is made with an Oath another without In quantity He that is made with an Oath is more excellent then he that 's made without an Oath All this is implyed in ver 20 22. out of both which the Proposition is to be made This presupposeth that Priests may be made several ways and in a different manner For some may be made by divine designation and consecrated and confirmed by outward Rites instituted by God some may be made such by humane Election and Ordination and both without an Oath Some may be made and consecrated in another manner and confirmed by a solemn Oath of the eternal God The Apostle doth take it for granted That the more excellent the constitution and confirmation of any Office and in particular of a Priest shall be the more excellent the Officer and Priest is For this manner of Constitution doth imply that he receives the greater power for some more excellent end The Assumption follows Ver. 21. For those Priests were made without an Oath but this with an Oath c. THis is closed within a Parenthesis where we have not only the Minor but the proof and confirmation The Minor denies the one Priest and affirms the other to be made by Oath And the Priests being that of Levi and Christ are compared as dislike the one as made without the other as made with an Oath this is the dissimilitude The proof of the former part That the Levitical Priest was made without an Oath is not expressed but taken for granted because in his Constitution as related by Moses the only authentical Authour who speaks of it there is no mention made of an Oath which without all doubt had not been concealed if there had been any such thing The proof of the latter is taken out of the words of the Psalmist where we must consider 1. The Oath 2. The thing confirmed by Oath The Oath I have sworn and will not repent and the Apostle informs us That the party swearing was the Lord the eternal Jehovah named in the first verse of that Psalm and implies from thence that the party to whom he sware was the Lord Christ and that the time when he sware to him was when he was ascended into Heaven and set at the right hand of God For then when he was possessed of his everlasting universal Kingdom was his universal and eternal Priest-hood confirmed unto him And this Oath was made use of for the greater solemnity and the stronger confirmation And by the same he signified that he was infinitely pleased with that great Sacrifice wherein he offered himself upon the Cross that in respect he was the fittest of all other or rather only fit to be this Priest that there could never be any cause of repentance or change neither would there be any further need of any other Priest because he would fully and for ever sanctify his People which no other Priest could do This was the highest and most solemn confirmation that possibly could be made and doth fully satisfy and quiet the minds of all such as rely upon Christ. For they need not seek their Priest they know him and are assured that he was made a Priest by God and confirmed in his Priest-hood by God this is the confirmation the thing confirmed is That Christ should be a Priest for ever God might have made the Levitical Priest by Oath and yet he might have been changed but if he had made him by Oath to be a Priest for ever then he could not have repented that is changed but he must of necessity have been a Priest for ever Therefore you must take special notice that God did not only swear that Christ should be a Priest or that he should be a Priest for a long time but a Priest for ever so that there should never be any Priest joyned with him or come after him So that if we consider the Oath and the thing confirmed by this Oath two things will be manifest 1. That Christ's Priest-hood is personal and setled in one single person for ever so that he can have no Fellow or Co-partner nor any Successor in his Priest-hood 2. That by this Oath God did limit his arbitrary supream and absolute power in this particular and took away the use and exercise of it and that for ever For now he hath no power to make Christ no Priest or take away his Priest-hood at will and pleasure And in this God did discover his unspeakable love unto Christ in that he did so much honour him and so highly reward him and his abundant mercy to Man For by this Oath known unto Man he signifies that he
Supream Judge by him prove most effectual In that place it 's observable that he offers only the prayers of Saints and in another place he makes Intercession only for the Apostles and such as by their word should believe in him Joh. 17. 9 20. Saints and Believers are they who come to God by him And this is our Duty 1. To come to God and him alone for remission and eternal Salvation for they are found in him and in him alone and no where else 2. We must come to him by Christ as our only Propitiatour and Intercessour who alone can and will effectually plead our cause and make it good And as this is our Duty so upon the performance of it this will be the comfort of all penitent Sinners who groan under the heavy burden of their Sins and sigh and long and pray for Salvation 1. That Christ will certainly plead for them and by his Intercession obtain their everlasting Salvation And why should poor believing Sinners quake and tremble at the Bar of God seeing Christ doth plead their Cause which is more then if all Saints and Angels and the blessed Virgin the Mother of our Saviour should pray for him And why should be fear the Tryal or upon the Tryal Damnation or eternal Death For who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's Elect It is God that justifirth Who is he that condemneth It is Christ that died yea rather that is risen again who is even at the right hand of God who also maketh Intercession for us Rom. 8. 33 34. It was expedient as he said to his Disciples That Christ should go away and that to his Father's House that as a Priest and Advocate he might be ever ready in that Court of Heaven to plead our Cause His presence and his perpetual Intercession there is far more beneficial to us then his bodily presence here on Earth it 's not only beneficial but necessary For when we have sinned what should we do if we had not him our righteous Advocate and Propitiatour with his Father we were redeemed indeed by his Death but we are saved and justified by his Life because he ever liveth to make Intercession for us and will fully and for ever save us For because he is a perpetual and effectual Intercessour therefore he is so able fully and for ever to save even all that come to God by him and this is a clear proof of his excellency above the Levitical Priest § 27. Now the Apostle seems to have finished his Discourse upon that excellent Text I have sworn and will not repent Thou art a Priest for ever after the Order of Melchizedec Psal. 110. 4. and to conclude in these words following Ver. 26 27. For such an High-Priest became us who is holy harmless undefiled seperate from Sinners and made higher then the Heavens Who needeth not c. VVHich words may be handled 1. Absolutely in themselves 2. Considered in their connexion and reference to the former But I will begin with the coherence and connexion which is difficult to be known as appeareth by the different â—pinion of Expositors upon the place For some think it 's a Conclusion and as it is the last part and close of the Chapter it may be so called for in this sense the word is sometimes taken yet this is no proposition inferred from former premises Others conceive that the Apostle proceeds by other Arguments to prove the superexcellency of Christ and this is true for so he doth Others imagine that these words give a reason why there must be such a Priest as lives for ever to make Intercession for us for such a Priest became us and none other would serve our turn Others judge a reason to be given here why the Intercession of Christ was so powerful and that is from his excellent qualification and his pure unspotted Sacrifice And it 's very certain that his Intercession had not been so effectual without this qualification of the person and the excellency of his Sacrifice Though all these things may be true yet something is to be observed and upon serious condesiration we shall find that the Apostle hath not done with his Text in the Psalmist but hath something more to say upon it and that he doth in these words It was well observed by the Rhemists that the Apostle scanneth every word of Psalm 110. 4. And there was one word more to be further examined For we have heard 1. Of Melchizedec 2. Of another Priest after his Order to arise after the Levitical Priest 3. That he is a Priest for ever 4. That he is made by Oath a Priest immortal and living for ever Yet in all this here is no mention of the person who he is that is thus made not what his qualification was nor of the time when he was thus made and why he was so confirmed But in these words he satisfices us in all these particulars as is implyed and presupposed in that very Psalm 1. The party was David's Lord For the Lord said unto my Lord ver 1. Who was above David not only because of his union with the Word but because he was advanced to far higher dignity and invested with far greater power and was the Son of God who lives for ever 2. His qualification was excellent For he was holy harmless undesiled and separate from Sinners 3. The time when he was thus made High-Priest for ever and that by Oath was after that he had offered one Sacrifice not many for the People not for himself once not often of everlasting virtue not effectual for some petty expiation for a time and after he was risen ascended and set at the right hand of God 4. The reason why he was thus made such a Priest was not only his excellent qualification and his immortality upon his Resurrection but because he had offered up himself without spot unto God That this is the intention of the Apostle will appear by the last words of the Chapter But to enter upon the words Ver. 26. For such an High-Priest became us who is holy harmless undesiled separate from Sinners and made higher then the Heavens IT may be truly said with Junius That in these words with those in the verse following Christ is circumscribed or described 1. From his Person 2. From his Ministry For his Person he had all the perfections of a Priest for his Service he was entred the holy place of Heaven to plead his excellent Sacrifice for all his Saints For his Perfections He was holy harmless undefiled separate from Sinners These are perfections which were required in the Levitical High-Priest so far as humane frailty was capable But they agreed to Christ exactly and in a far higher degree then they did agree unto any even the best of them And though the words may signify several qualities different at lest in respect yet they make but one perfect qualification of this Priest who was holy as Man
offer the Tabernacle but in the Tabernacle did not minister it but in it And the Apostle seems to take his expression from Exod. 29. 30. where it 's said That that Son which is Priest in Aaron 's stead shall put on the holy garments seven dayes when he cometh into the Tabernacle of the Congregation to minister in the holy place or Sanctuary Where we have 1. A Minister that must minister or officiate 2. The Tabernacle of the Congregation into which he must come 3. The Sanctuary where he must officiate The very same words of Minister Sanctuary Tabernacle are used by the Septuagint in that place which the Apostle taketh up in this place And though the Body of Christ may be called a Tabernacle yet that 's nothing except it be so taken here And we find the word here turned Sanctuary signifying Heaven Heb. 9. 12. and also Ver. 24. of that Chapter makes it more plain where it 's written That Christ is not entred into the holy places made with hands which are the figures of the true but into Heaven it self to appear in the presence of God for us Where we may observe 1. That the word which there is turned holy places and Ver. 12. before the holy place is here translated Sanctuary 2. That this Sanctuary or holy places into which Christ entred was not made with hands which is the same with not pitched by Man 3. This place is said to be Heaven it self 4. That Christ doth minister there by his Intercession for us after that he had offered his great Sacrifice and by the Blood thereof entred into the heavenly Sacrary within the Veil To signify this the inner Veil of the Temple rent instantly upon the death of Christ to signify that the great High-Priest was entring Heaven with his Blood 2. The Excellency of this Tabernacle is set forth 1. By the quality 2. The Cause The Quality it 's the true Tabernacle True is not here opposed to that which is feigned or nothing at all but to the Typical Tabernacle which was a real and true sacred Building yet so far inferiour to this that comparatively it might be said to be nothing or but a shadow at the best and this is the Substance For though that was glorious and honoured with God's special presence yet earthly things are poor to heavenly though we who never saw the inward glory of Heaven may admire them The Cause is expressed assirmatively pitched by God negatively and not by Man By both which is signified the excellency of it far above any Work and Building made by the power and skil of Man For the efficient power and skil of Man is nothing to the efficiency of God whose Power is almighty and Wisdom infinite and who hath made Heaven a far more glorious place than any on Earth 3. Christ is the Minister of this Sanctuary and Tabernacle to minister and officiate in it For every High-Priest must have some Temple or sacred place wherein he must minister and serve for Priest-hood Temple and Service must go together When the Temple was destroyed by the Chaldeans the High-Priest might pray but he could not offer Sacrifice burn Incense expiate Sin by entring the Holy of Holies with blood These Services were confined by God's Institution to that House and sacred Building after once it was consecrated Neither could they perform such Services till it was re-built and dedicated again Neither have the unbelieving Jews any High-Priest that can do any such thing since the second Temple was demolished by the Romans 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is a Minister 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is to minister and serve and these two words are often used by the Septuagint For so they turn several Hebrew words and especially 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which both signify to serve in general but many times to serve God the Supream Lord and to worship him And though the performance of this Service be the general Duty of all even of private Persons yet there are certain parts of this Service proper to the Priests and some to the High-Priest who is not a private but a publick Minister as the rest of the Priests be and mediates between God and the People and by whom the People offer their Services to God The same word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is used in the New Testament and doth signify not onely to perform the Levitical but also the Evangelical Service and from this Verbe comes Liturgy a Form or Directory for the Worship of God In this place a Minister is 1. A Priest 2. An High-Priest 3. The great High-Priest of the heavenly Sanctuary Christ Jesus And here it might be observed that a Minister is not a contemptible but an honourable Title as given not onely to the Levitical Pontiff but to the Apostles and to Christ himself The Text thus explained contains an Argument to prove the excellency of Christ above the Legal High-Priest for he indeed was a Minister and did officiate yet he did this onely in an earthly Sanctuary and Tabernacle but Christ officiates as an High-Priest in Heaven And this second Verse may be part of the former Sum and Abridgment and a Conclusion deduced from the former words For if Christ be an High-Priest in the Heavens then he must needs be the Minister of an heavenly Sanctuary yet it 's so deduced from the former that it brings in new matter and gives occasion of a new Discourse concerning Christ's Ministration for if he be a Minister of a Sanctuary he must officiate and amongst other things offer something to God Ver. 3. For every High-Priest is ordained to offer Gifts and Sacrifices wherefore it is of necessity that this Man have somewhat to offer § 3. THis Text must be examined 1. In its relation to that which goes before 2. In it self 3. In reference to what follows First It relates to Chap. 5. 1. where in the Description of an High-Priest we have the very words For 1. He must be taken from amongst men 2. Ordained for men in things pertaining to God 3. Thus he is ordained for to offer both Gifts and Sacrifices For there we have his Election Ordination and Ministration And hitherto the Apostle having spoken of his Election and Ordination now begins to treat of his Ministration in offering Gifts and Sacrifices for Sin The nearer Connexion is with the Text immediately antecedent and 1. With the word Minister for if he be a Minister he must minister and officiate by offering 2. With the word Tabernacle For if that signify the Body of Christ as Beza Junius and Dr. Goug◠with divers others do understand the place He must have his Body to offer But of this I have said something already and shall have occasion to say more hereafter The words in themselves are discursive for the Apostle argues thus Every High-Priest being ordained to offer Gifts and Sacrifices must have somewhat to offer But Christ is ordained
Covenant of the Gospel enters in the Law and that which is here called the first Covenant For this it 's implyed that a place was sought By place is meant the existence and actual Being of it as a Covenant in force and the Order of existing which was in respect of time long after the first Covenant which it did so exceed that it abolished and abrogated the former as surrogated into the place of it When it 's said that this place was sought for it to exist it 's not so to be understood as though any great search was made for it as though the surrogation was difficult or the time uncertain and not easily known For God both certainly knew the fittest time upon which he had determined and could easily bring it in as he did The time and order of the entrance and succession of the Gospel were so fit as if diligent search had been made by the wisest they could not have been more fit To seek is sometimes to require and demand sometimes to will and determine sometimes to consult all which do signify that if we stand upon the word sought it signifies in this place that God's most excellent Wisdom and Counsel determined to bring in the second Covenant and the place for it might be said to be sought because it was to come § 7. Secondly After the Explication of the words follows the Apostle's Argumentation grounded upon the former absolute Propositions In Form he argues thus If the first Covenant had been faultless then should no place have been sought for the second But there was place sought for the second Therefore the first was not faultless Where the Apostle from the Introduction of a second proves the imperfection of the first Covenant for if the first had been sufficient the second had been needless This agrees with that of the Apostle for if there had been a Law given that could have given life then Righteousness should have been by the Law Gal. 3. 21. And it 's like to that other of the same Author And if they which are after the Lâ—â—â— be Heirs Faith is made vâ—id and the Promise of vone effect Rom. 4. 14. The Text is the Proposition which is hypothetical and connexe The Connexion of the parts is firm for no wise Law givers will abrogate Laws and change their Leagues and Covenants if they be good sufficient and effectually subservient to their main end neither will they do that which is superfluâ—â—â— and needless As this is true in general so in particular the Connexion is far stronger when we consider that it was God who made the alteration by seeking place for a second Covenant The Assumption is the consequent part of the Proposition which is affirmed to infer the Antecedent 3. The thing which the Apostle intends by this to prove is implyed in the words not faultless and that is not onely the Imperfection of the former Covenant but the excellency of the latter For though the â—onner was good so far as God intended it the latter was far better and far more effectually conducing to Man's Righteousnesse and eternal happiness And if it was better then the Ministry of the Mediator was better § 8. That place was sought for the second which is the Assumption is proved out of the Scriptures in these words Ver. 8. For finding fault with them he saith Behold the dayes come saith the Lord when I will make a new Covenant with the House of Israel and the House of Judah THese words are but part of the Proof and place of Scripture and as taken from the Scripture which is the Word of God it 's a Testimony and an inartificial Argument which is as good as any Demonstration because it 's the Word of God who is truth it self And here I will 1. Explain the whole Text with the several parts thereof 2. Declare what it proves 1. In the Explication we must consider 1. How this part of Scripture is brought in 2. The Text it self 1. It 's brought in by these words For finding fault with them he saith Finding fault with something is the principal thing but the difficulty is to know certainly who the person finding fault is and who or what is that which is blamed as faulty The Person blaming may be God himself or the Prophet yet both may be intended and the meaning then is that God by the Prophet found fault But with whom did he thus find fault or with what for either Persons or things must be faulty If with persons they are Jews and Israelites if with things some think they are the Promises Others say in finding fault with the Persons he finds fault with the Covenant Yet the words may be turned thus Finding fault he saith unto them and this Translation makes the sense clear and removes all scruples For without all doubt it was the first Covenant that was faulty and defective and the words of the Prophet were directed unto the Jews and to them he spake and to them he wrote These words are prefixed before the Text to bring it in for by them is signified 1. That the Covenant was faulty 2. That God found fault with it 3. It 's apparent by the words of the Lord following Thus the Text is brought in and fitly joyned to the former words 2. The Text it self comes in to be considered Where we must observe 1. That the words are the Lords 2. That the matter of them is concerning the Covenants 1. The words are the Lords for so the Text informs Behold the dayes come saith the Lord It was the Lord that said these things For though the Prophet himself spake and wrote yet it was the Lord that enlightned moved and inspired him by his Spirit for the Prophecy came not in old time by the Will of Man but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost 2. Peâ— 1. 21. Yet God did not speak these words immediately to any but the Prophet and did dictate them unto him by his Spirit immediately and in an ineffable manner so that he could not mistake what was dictated Yet he did not speak them immediately to any other but mediately by him so as to direct him infallibly both in his words and writings as in his understanding which did by divine illumination so apprehend and know the things of God as that he could not err and mistake This is to be observed further that the Prophet useth this Phrase saith the Lord three times in this short Description of the new Covenant and here the Verb which signifie to speak or say is almost alwayes as in this place given unto God as though only God could speak so as it importeth that is certainly most truly and infallibly so that the thing spoken is firm and most worthy of all acceptation By this the Prophet did declare 1. That he spake not of himself 2. That the Testimony was of divine Authority he related not the words
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
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
in Christ which performed Remission which the Law did neither promise nor could give will certainly follow And before I conclude this part I will inform you 1. That Remission of Sins and Justification are the same 2. That there is no Justification but by the Blood of Christ. 3. That no man is justifiable by the Blood of Christ but upon his Faith 4. That this Remission and Justification takes away from the party justified all the sad and woful Consequents of Sin 5. That God never justifies any but in justifying he sanctifies him and doth not onely free him from the Guilt of Sin past but from the Power and Dominion of Sin so as to preserve Man from Sin for time to come The Imperfection and Corruption of Man which followed upon the first Sin is one of the greatest Punishments that Man can suffer and be liable to and to remove this Punishment is one part of our Justification 6. In this Remission is included Reconciliation Adoption and all those Blessings which tend to everlasting Salvation 7. Though upon our first Conversion and our first true and lively Faith we enter into the state of Justification which frees us from the eternal penalty yet we are not perfect in this state till all Sins even the last be pardoned and all Punishments fully and for ever prevented and removed which will not be before the Resurrection Thus you have heard the words of the Prophet alledged by the Apostle explained Now we must consider what they prove and being the words of God they must needs prove strongly and the thing proved is That the Covenant whereof Christ is Mediator is established upon far better Promises than the former Covenant with the Fathers was § 15. The Apostle by the words of the Prophet hath proved that the Covenant whereof Christ was Mediator was a better Covenant because established upon better Promises Yet though this was sufficient he proceeds further out of the same Text to prove the abrogation of the former Covenant whereof the Levitical Priest was Mediator and that in this manner Ver. 13. In that he saith a new Covenant he hath made the first old Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away THE Subject of these words is the Old Covenant made with the Fathers and they inform us of two things 1. The Abrogation 2. The total Abolition of it 1. The Abrogation It 's made old 2. The total Abolition It being made old is near vanishing and Abolition The Abrogation he proves from these words of the Lord by the Prophet I will make a new Covenant If God make a new Covenant then he abrogates the old But he makes a new Covenant Therefore he abrogates the old To understand the force of this Argument let 's enquire into the meaning of the words 1. To make old in this place must be to abrogate for as old things lose their Power Strength and Vigour so the Covenant being made old loseth it's binding force which is the very Essence of a Law from which the vigour and the vertue of it as a Law doth issue Hence that Phrase to antiquate a Law which is the same with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to take away the Authority of a Law And this is the genuine sense of the word in this place 2. It may be doubted whether the making a new Covenant or Law doth antiquate the former Law and Covenant for the making of a new doth not alwayes take away the old but sometimes confirm it Therefore you must know That for God to make a new Covenant is to make such a Covenant as is different from and inconsistent with the former â—ay to make it so as by it to take away the former as useless needless and imperfect Such and so made is this new Covenant and the former doth lose all force two wayes 1. By Expiration for it was intended to continue untill the latter was made and upon the making thereof it became out of Date 2. By another Law and Covenant which could not stand with it but must needs destroy it These words thus understood do necessarily infer the Antiquation of the former Covenant and the inference is evident in the light of Nature and needs no further Confirmation The Argument That God will make a new Covenant we find in the express words of the Prophet's Text. This is the Abrogation The total Abolition which follows upon this Abrogation is expressed in this Proposition That which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish Where to decay and wax old are but Synonymal and signify the utter Abrogation of a Law and Covenant in general of this Covenant with the Fathers in particular That which is thus antiquated is said to be nigh or ready to vanish or disappear and as it were to lose its Being The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 turned Vanishing is used oft by the Septâ—â—gint as a Verbal to signify destruction and desolation and the Verb whence it 's derived signifies to ruine destroy Persons Cities Countries so as to take away their Being and Existence And this Expression may intimate thus much that as things after they become old and have lost their strength and vigot may retain some kind of imperfect Being for a time and moulder away by little and little till they vanish and totally perish so the Law once abrogated may continue though in no force for a while and by little and little decay till it totally cease § 16. This is the Explication of the Text which may be further cleared and made more evident if we examine the time of the Abrogation and Abâ—lition It was not abrogated in the dayes of the Prophet Jâ—remiah by whom God revealed the making of the new Covenant and the tenour and substance of it for it continued in force for many years after even untill the exhibition of Christ. Neither was it abrogated upon his Birth or Baptism but upon his Death which unhinged the Law and so virtually nul'd this Covenant Yet it was not actually abrogated but upon the Promulgation of the Gospel for then the force of it was taken away and no baptized Christian was bound to observe it yet there were many attempts made that by some who professed Christianity to continue iâ— in power Hence that great Controversy raised in the famous Church of Antiocâ— in Syria which occasioned the great Synod at Jerusalem mentioned Act. 15. where it was unanimously determined that it was abrogated therefore they would not impose it upon the Gentiles And though after that they suffered some believing Jews to observe it in some particulars as a thing indifferent yet the Apostle in his Epistle to the Galatians doth clearly demonstrate that whosoever should observe it as necessary and so binding as that Christ could not save them without ' it they were fallen from Grace and went about to make void the Gospel By all which it 's evident that the new Covenant of the Gospel was
so made as that it abrogated the Law of Moses and the Legal Covenant Yet because the Law was given and that Covenant made by God and not by Man and had continued in force about 1500 years many could not be satisfied in the matter of Abrogation and made scruple of rejecting and neglecting of it For that which is confirmed by Law and long Custom can hardly be made void The unbelieving Jew did reject the new Covenant and adhere to the old as instituted from Heaven and sufficient to justify and save those who observed it Some believing Jews feared to neglect it and judged Christ insufficient without it and thought Moses and Christ joyntly must bring them to Heaven and some of the Gentiles seduced by them were entangled with the same Errour So that it was observed by some as necessary by some as indifferent till the ruine of Jerusalem the destruction of the Temple and the dispersion of the miserable and captive Jews into all Nations And then when there was no face either of a Civil or Ecclesiasticall Polity in that Nation then it vanished and did not appear It was abrogated therefore by the Promulgation of the Gospel decayed by little and little after that time and in the end was totally abolished The Apostle had in the former Chapter proved the Change of the Law and the Abrogation thereof from the Change and Abolition of the Priest-hood and gives the reason why it was to be abrogated to be this because it could justify and sanctify no Man And this he made good out of Psal. 110. 4. And here he implies that it must be abrogated because it was not faultless but defective and confirms the repeal of it from the words of the Lord by Jeremiah saying I will make a new Covenant and his chief Scope is to prove that Christ hath obtained a better Ministry because he was the Mediator of a better Covenant And that Covenant was better not onely because it was established upon better Promises but in that it was new and so made that it abrogated the former and it self was to continue for ever For God never promised to make another after this new one was once confirmed by the Blood of Christ. § 17. In all this Discourse he takes it for granted and presupposeth it as certain that Christ was the Mediator of this Covenant and in this he may seem to beg and not to make good the assirmative of the Question For the Jew might reply That suppose it were granted that there must be a new Covenant so made as to take away the old as God by the Prophet doth positively affirm it yet How doth it appear that Christ and not some Levitical High-Priest shall be the Mediator of it To remove this and the like Scruples it 's to be observed 1. That no Levitical Priest could be a Mediator of any Covenant but the former made with the Fathers as is evident from the Institution of that Priest-hood and the Rules of Legal Ministration Therefore he was clearly excluded from this Mediation of this new Covenant 2. That if Jesus of Nazareth was the Messias whom God promised the Fathers expected the Prophets fore-told then it will necessarily follow that he was the great Prophet above all former Prophets above Moses above Angels and he must be the great and eternal High-Priest according to the Order of Melchizedee a Minister of the heavenly Sanctuary and a Mediator of this far better Covenant But the reason why he takes it for granted and goes not about to prove that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messias was because that was done unto his hands and made evident many wayes For the fulfilling of so many Prophecies of the Old Testament and that so fully even to particular Circumstances in him who was called Jesus of Nazareth the Angel's Testimony who certified his Mother of his Conception the Testimony of an Angel with a Multitude of the heavenly hoast at his Birth did signify this So did the words of his Father at his Baptism and Transfiguration his glorious Works his heavenly Wisdom Knowledg and Doctrine besides the Testimony of John the Baptist his prodigious and stupendious Death and Resurrection Ascension the coming down of the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles the Revelation of the Gospel the rare and excellent gifts of this heavenly Spirit received by such as believed on him and the wonderful works done in his Name did sufficiently and superabundantly prove him to be the Messias § 18. From all this the intelligent Reader may easily understand the Subject Scope and Method of the Apostle in this Chapter The Subject is the Ministry of Christ constituted a Priest for ever after the Order of Melchizedec The Scope is to manifest that Christ is a far more excellent Priest than that of Aaron's Order in respect of his Ministry The Method is to set forth his superexcellent Ministry in respect of the Tabernacle the Service and the Covenant whereof he was Minister for the more excellent the Sanctuary the Service the Covenant the more excellent the Priest The Sanctuary whereof Christ is Minister is heavenly his Service and Offering not â—arnal but supernatural and divine the Blessings promised in the Covenant whereof he is Minister and which by his Ministry he procures are spiritual and eternal and such as once obtained make sinful Man fully and for ever happy And because the Covenant is so excellent and so effectual by his Ministration it 's of eternal continuance The Application of all this to our selves is of Information Exhortation Consolation for by this Doctrine we 1. Understand how excellent and effectual Christ's Priest-hood is in respect of his Ministration in the best Sanctuary by his best Service making effectual the best Covenant that ever was made 2. It stirs us up to admire the wonderful Wisdom of God which contrived such an excellent Priest-hood and Ministry and his infinite Mercy in ordering both for our eternal Salvation For Who are we that the Son of God should be our eternal Priest offer up himself a Sacrifice to confirm his Covenant which he hath made with us and that God should appoint him to minister in the heavenly Sanctaary and by his Ministry there obtain for us the excellent Blessings which he hath merited and God hath promised That he should deal thus with us and do thus for us may be matter of amazement to the very Angels of Heaven How often should we think and seriously meditate on these things and magnify his Wisdom and be eternally thankful for his unspeakable Mercy and engage our selves to his Service for evermore 3. It 's matter of sweetest Comfort that there is so excellent an High-Priest that he is our High-Priest that after he had sacrificed himself on Earth he should minister for us in Heaven that God should make so excellent a Covenant with us promise Power to keep it and bind himself upon the keeping of it to be our God for ever and eternally
Chapter we have the same word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 first and Covenant understood Few or none make any mention of Priest-hood The Predicate and that which is affirmed of this Covenant is That it had Ordinances of Divine Service and a worldly Sanctuary The meaning is that in the time of the Law the Levitical Priest-hood and the Tabernacle there were such Ordinances and a Sanctuary belonging to the Covenant In the words we have the Sum and Abridgment of the nine following Verses which describe unto us both the Ordinances of Service and the Sanctuary In the words therefore we have two things 1. The Ordinances 2. A Sanctuary The Ordinances of Divine Service imply That there was under the Law the Work of Service and the Ordinances of this Service And because there is Service due to Man and Service due to God and Latreia signifies both therefore the Translators for difference sake and to signify what Service is here meant do add the word Divine For Divine and Religious Service is due only unto God and is to be performed to him as Supream Lord and it cannot without injury be given to any other And when it is so given to any but the true and living God it 's called Idolatry and is against the first Commandment Some distinguish between Service and Worship and it 's true they differ much if Worship be taken for Adoration which is terminated upon the divine Excellency and Dignity and not upon his Power yet the words are used indifferently But whereas the Socinian Expositor saith that Latreia properly signifies Worship he is much deceived as will be evident if we examine the places of the Old Testament where the Septuagint turn 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to serve 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and that so often This Service of God is two-fold 1. Positive 2. Moral The Moral is the principal as being spiritual and performed by a Spirit unto a spiritual and eternal Substance which is God Positive and Ceremonial is far inferiour and is here meant This Ceremonial Service which never should be performed without the Moral had Ordinances as a Rule to direct both Priest and People in the performance of it and these Ordinances were given by God and were part of the Ceremonial Law determing what religious Rites and Ceremonies must be used especially by the Priests For the Service here meant is chiefly that which was proper to the Priests for as we now serve God by the Ministers in publick so they then by their Priests The word turned Ordinances is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 used above 60 times by the Septuagint to interpret the words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and though it often signifies Ceremonials yet not alwayes Men ever depending upon God as upon their Supream Lord are ever bound to serve him that they may receive Protection and Happiness from him He that will not serve a God is a profane Atheist he that servs any but the true God is an Idolater he that servs the true God after his own fancies and the inventions of Man is a superstitious fool he that inventeth Rites and Ceremonies and Modes of serving God and imposeth them on others is a presumptuous Wretch For as God alone doth know what kind of Worship and Service is fittest to be performed unto him so he onely hath Power to impose it The highest degree of Service is due unto him alone and he alone hath Power to make Ordinances for it This is the Service and the Ordinances of God which must be performed in some place of his special presence Therefore there was then a worldly Sanctuary A Sanctuary is an holy place consecrated to God and sanctified by his presence There is a bodily and earthly and also a spiritual Sanctuary This was a bodily earthly Sanctuary a Type of a far better and to difference it from a fat better it 's called a worldly Sanctuary though the word may signify a beautiful decent and glorious place And in respect of outward earthly decency beauty and glory it did excel It was made not according to the fancy of Man but according to a pattern given from Heaven and every thing in it was Mystical and the greatest Glory of it was God's special presence This Sanctuary was said to be the Throne and Palace of God residing as a glorious Being in the midst of his People It may be considered mystically as shadowing a far more excellent Throne and Palace which may be Heaven the Humanity of Christ and the Souls and Bodies of sanctified Persons or it may be considered as a convenient place for God's People to assemble there for publick Worship In the former consideration it 's abolished in the latter it may continue for if all things in the Worship of God must be done decently and orderly then surely it 's decent and orderly according to the Law of Nature and the Law of God to have convenient places for Religious Assemblies and Publick and Divine Worship To think there is any holiness in these places as places is the superstitious conceipt of some to think they may not be called Churches is the superstitious fancy of others For a Church or Kirk is but a convenient place where Christians ordinarily assemble to perform Divine Service and God's presence is not tyed to the place but to God's People observing God's Ordinances in this place neither is he tyed to any special presence in such place but by vertue of his gracious Promise neither is there in these places any divine special effectual and spiritual presence there but to such as there worship him in Spirit We are not so bound to these places as though God would not accept our Service else-where or more in such a place than in another but onely in respect of conveniency and the testification of our Union with God's People in the Christian Religion § 4. After that the Subject and Heads of his following discourse were determined and named he proceeds to discourse of them more particularly 1. Of the Sanctuary 2. Of the Service and Ordinances So that we may in the following nine Verses observe a Description 1. Of the Sanctuary or Tabernacle Ver. 2 3 4 5. 2. Of the Service from Ver. 6. to the 10. 1. This Sanctuary leaving out the Court where they sacrificed is divided into two parts The first is the Holy place The second the Holiest of all The holy place divided from the Court by the first Veil or Hanging is described from the sacted things and Utensils therein which are here said to be the Candlestick the Table the Shew-Bread and this was called the Sanctuary Both the place and Utensils of the place had their mystical Representations though not so well known to us The second part divided from the Sanctuary by the second Veil and called the Holy of Holies that is the Holiest of all is set forth from the things therein As 1. The Golden Censer 2. The Ark
power to purge the Conscience To proceed unto particulars the parts of the Comparison are two 1. The Proposition 2. The Reddition The first Ver. 13 the second Ver. 14. In the first we have the Cause the Blood of Bulls and Goats and the Ashes of an Heifer then the Effect sanctifying to the purifying of the Flesh. Of the Blood of Bulls and Goats which is the same with the Blood of Goats and Calvs Ver. 12. you have heard before for that was the Expiatory Blood wherewith the Priest entring the most Holy place did sprinkle the Mercy-Seat and the Effect of this was the Expiation of the Sins of the Priest and the People whereby they were freed from such penalties as the Law imposed upon persons for some Legal and Ceremonial Offences The second purifying was by the Ashes of a red Heifer mixed with running Water and sprinkled upon Persons or things polluted by touching or being near the dead Of this you may read at large Numb 19. The Effect of both was sanctifying by cleansing from some Legal pollution and Guilt but neither of these could free any person from the Obligation to eternal penalties nor spiritually purify and make holy the Spirit and Soul of Man Some think that the Blood did signify the Death and bloody Sacrifice of Christ the Water the sanctifying Spirit Yet both are here compared with the Blood of Christ as Shadows of it This is the Proposition § 13. The Reddition followeth Ver. 14. Where we have two absolute Propositions and part of the Comparison 1. That Christ offered himself through the eternal Spirit without Spot unto God 2. That the Blood of Christ who thus offered himself doth purge the Conscience from dead Works to serve the Living God 3. The Comparative part is that it hath much more Power or doth much more purge the Conscience The first Proposition is Christ through the eternal Spirit offered himself without Spot unto God Where we may consider 1. The Priest 2. The thing offered 3. The manner how 4. The thing by which 5. The Person to whom the Offering was made 1. The Priest was Christ the Word made Flesh and the Son of God designed a Priest by God 2. The thing offered by this Priest was Himself that is his own Life his own Body and some add his own Soul This was spoken in opposition to such things as the Levitical High-Priests offered as Buls and Goats for none of them offered either other men or themselvs 3. The manner how this was offered is this that it was offered without Spot The thing offered and the Offering and the manner of offering were all pure 4. That by or through which he made this Offering was the eternal Spirit By Spirit some understand the Soul which is said to be eternal because it 's immortal And certainly in respect of his Body he may rather be said to be the thing offered and in respect of his Soul the Priest offering For this offering is said to be the doing of God's Will and an Act of Obedience unto death the death of the Cross and this is a proper Act of his immortal Soul and Spirit Yet this Soul and Body too were united to the Word which as God was an eternal Spirit in which respect some understand by eternal Spirit the Word and Divine Nature of Christ And both Soul and Body were in the highest degree sanctified and supported especially in suffering death by the Holy Ghost which some think is here meant It 's certain he did offer himself by his immortal Spirit sanctified and supported by the Holy Spirit and united to the Word which with the Father and the Holy Ghost are one God and eternal spiritual Substance 5. The party to whom he offered himself was God as supream Lord of Life and Death Law-giver and Judg of Man-kind For he alone had power to appoint him to be Priest to be Offering and to offer and also to accept this Offering in behalf of sinful Man and thereupon to justify him believing and reward him with eternal Life All these are expressed and joyned together to set forth the Excellency and the immanent and internal Vertue of Christ's Blood For How excellent and of what rare vertue and causality must that Blood Death Sacrifice be which was the Blood of Christ who was by God's own immediate Commission and Designment made the highest and the greatest Priest and offered Himself the best Sacrifice that ever was and that through the eternal Spirit purely spiritual and most holy and impolluted and that unto God the supream Lord and Judg and in that manner that the very Act of offering from first to last was most exactly conformable to his Will It had all the perfections of a Sacrifice and in the highest degree The Levitical High-Priest was a Priest but far inferiour to Christ he offered Goats and Calvs but not himself and if he had offered himself yet the thing offered had been nothing to this he offered indeed to God yet he had not that near Relation unto Agreement with and Interest in God as this Priest had He offered by or through his own Spirit which was very imperfect and the imperfections of his very Act of Offering were very many and great Therefore it was no wonder that it should not have the like rare efficiency with this The second Proposition in this Verse is That Christ's Blood doth purge the Conscience c. This is the outward Efficacy and Working of this Blood upon a certain Subject rightly disposed In the words we may observe 1. The Conscience which is the Subject 2. The pollution of the Conscience 3. The purging and cleansing of it 4. The â—ind and Consequent of this cleansing 1. The Conscience is the Spirit and immortal Soul of Man which is Intimum Hominis the in most and most excellent part yet this is not here considered meerly as a spiritual immortal intellective and free Substance created and preserved by God but as subject unto his Power bound by his Laws conscious to it 's own Disobedience and sensible of it For the Blood of Christ doth actually purge no other Soul nor any Soul but thus qualified neither without this Qualification is the Soul immediately capable of this Purgation 2. The Pollution of the Soul is from dead Works where by dead Works it 's generally granted are meant Sins and that not only of Commission but Omission All the Works of Man should be living Works and issue from a Soul endued with a spiritual and supernatural Life have a spiritual and supernatural Form which is Conformity to Divine Law and should tend unto a supernatural and spiritual end When they either issue from a Soul destitute of this heavenly Life or want this Conformity they are dead Works base and such as becomes not so excellent a Creature The ordinary Reasons given by Authors why Sins are called dead Works are because they are the Works of men dead in sin want the Life and
respect of the prohibition and commination of the Law is guilt and rendring of the Sinner obnoxiâ—us unto vindicative Justice of the Law-giver and Judge This guilt can no waye he taken away but either by suffering or pardon or both as here it 's put away by Christ's suffering and God's pardon for Christ suffers for Sin God pardons it so Christ's sake and in consideration of his suffering and offering The effect of Sin is to render the party sinning obnoxious and liable to punishment and God's vindicative Justice and by this virtue of the commination of the Law God to make way for pardon by a transâ—endent extraordinary power makes Christ man's Surety and Christ voluntarily submits himself out of love to his Brethren to God's will so far as to suffer Death for man's Sin and offers himself as being â—lain to the Supream Judge Upon his submission he becomes one person with sinful man as a Surety with the principal and so is liable to that punishment which sinful man should have suffered as a Surety becomes liable to pay the debt of the principal From all this it 's evident that Sin is an efficient moral cause of Christ's suffering and Christ's suffering is a punishment in proper sense though both these be denied without any reason by the Socinian By this Legal substitution of Christ and the offering of himself Sin is made remissible and the way is made open to pardon and upon the penitency and faith of the Sinner actual pardon follows That Sin is pardonable and pardoned is the end and effect of Christ's Suffering To put away Sin is first to make Sin pardonable and the consequents of Sin removable For this is the work and immediate effect of Christ's Sacrifice of himself and the same not often but once offered in the end of the World In all this we may observe the difference between Christ and the Levitical High-Priest Christ suffers and offers himself and enters Heaven with his own Blood but the Levitical High-Priest offers often and enters with the blood of Bulls and Goats The virtue of the High-Priest's offering was but for a little time but the virtue of Christ's extends to all time In these respects Christ's Sacrifice is far more excellent and more purifying § 25. This discourse of Christ's once offering and once suffering is continued and enlarged for the Apostle informs us that the reason why Christ suffered but once in the end of the World was the Decree of God which had determined of Christ as he had done of other men and this decree was regulated by Divine Wisdom which alwayes dictates that which shall be best and fittest This Decree is two-fold 1. Concerning other men 2. Concerning Christ. And because there is some agreement between the lot of Christ and other Men in respect of Death and that which followeth Death therefore the singularity of Christ's Death is set forth comparatively And of the comparison we have 1. The Proposition Verse 27. And as it was appointed unto Men once to dye but after that the Judgment IN which words we have 1. Something 's ordained 2. The ordination The things ordained are two 1. That men once dy 2. Come to Judgment The words absolutely considered may be reduced to two Propositions 1. That it 's appointed unto men once to dye 2. But after Death follows Judgment The first tells us 1. That men dye and this we certainly know 2. That they dye but once 3. That this is appointed yet though men must dye and it 's so certain and so evident and easily known yet men little consider it but their hearts are strangely taken up with the things of this life and they admire the vanities of this World and promise unto themselves long life and certain enjoyment of these earthly things They do not remember that they are mortal and that there is no assurance that they shall live one hour before Death arrest them and seise upon their estates and all earthly comforts in that day their thoughts perish and their pride and glory are laid in the dust Oh inconsiderate Wretches are ye able to conquer Death turn Mortality into Eternity and Earth into Heaven Be wise and never forget that you must dye 2. Men dye but once there is no return into this World again neither any recovery of what man once dead hath lost As no man can keep alive his Soul so no man can raise his Body and re-unite the Soul unto it This is a work proper to God who made us and far above the power of any Creature When it 's said That men must dye it 's to be understood of the generality of mankind that all must dye because all are obnoxious to Death and Mortal even Enoch and Elias and all those who shall be found alive when Christ shall come to Judge the World And though the two Prophets did not and they who remain till Christ's coming shall not dye as others do yet the former suffered and the latter shall suffer a change equivalent to Death though in both there seems to be some exception from the general rule So to dye but once is the general rule and the ordinary fate yet Lazarus and others may dye twice because God reserved an arbitrary power to himself to raise some unto a mortal life so that they became obnoxious to a double Death and he did exercise this power to manifest his Glory in some particular persons Yet this was an extraordinary case and this reservation did not take away the general and ordinary rule according to which the Apostle is to be understood 3. This is appointed for so the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is understood and translated and it 's capable of that signification by a Trope The party who appointed decreed and ordained both that all men shall dye and dye once and but once is not expressed but it 's easily understood For the Supream Lord of Life and Death who hath an Universal Power over all Men is God and none else and therefore this must be a Decree of God as Supream Lord and a Sentence of him as Judge and the same irrevocable yet dispensable in some particular and extraordinary Cases as should seem good unto him Death is a punishment and therefore men being obnoxious unto it must be guilty of some Crime and condemned thereunto for some Offence against some Law threatening Death And that was the positive Law which God gave to Adam saying But of the Tree of Knowledg of Good and Evil thou shalt not eat of it for in the Day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely dye Gen. 2. 17. This Law was transgressed and the Sentence followed in these words Dust thou art and to dust thou shalt return Gen. 3. 19. Whereas the Socinian saith That Death is natural and not from any Decree of God his Opinion is not reconcileable with that of the Apostle As by one man Sin entred into the World and by Sin Death
Assumption to sone former Proposition 2. There was in these yearly Scrifices a Remembrance of Sin for when this great Sacrifice was to be offered God dâ— command That Aaron the High-Priest should lay both his hands upon the Head of the Scape-Goat and confess over him all the Iniquities of the Children of Israel and all thir Transgressions in all their Sins Levit. 16. 21. Where we learn what Remembrance of Sin is it 's the Confession of Sins Now Confession presupposeth Remembrance and is â—n outward Expression and Declaration of the sins remembred To confess sins is to aknowledg the Confessors guilty notwithstanding Sacrifices had been offered and Expiaâ—on made and from hence it follows that those Sacrifices had no vertue to take away sin Some vertue they had and some Legal Expiation was made yet the Offering was â— sooner made but the expiating vertue vanished and their new sins must have a new Câ—nfession and a new Sacrifice which had been needless if the former Sacrifices had been sufficient And whereas it may be said that although many Sacrifices severally could 〈◊〉 yet all joyntly might purge the Worshippers The Answer is they could not â—o not any nor all had Power to purge the Conscience that must be purged by some bette Sacrifice whereof they were but Types and Shadows This is the third Argument § 5. The fourth we find Ver. 4. For it is not pssible that he Blood of Bulls and Goats should take awâ—y Sins THE force of the Reasons in this That seeing the Effect is to take away sin it must have a Cause sufficent to produce it but the Blood of Bulls and Goats which was the princiâ—l thing in the Legal Annual Sacrifices was no such Cause it had no such vertue the Effet was so far above it that there was no possibility that such a Cause should reach it For â—ery Cause doth work according to it's Power as it is greater or less but if there 〈◊〉 power at all in respect of any particular Effect in respect of that it can do nothingâ— all The Blood of Buls and Goats might be a sign of that Blood that could take away sin but take it away or any wayes actively concur to the taking away thereof it could â—o In the words we have 1. An Effect 2. The Impotency of Legal Sacrifices in respect of this Effect 1. The Effect is taking away of sin Where by Sins we must understand sins as past yet remaining in their Guilt For though the sins be past and not in being yet the Effect abides for the party that hath sinned is liable to Punishment and must suffer it if it be not prevented Therefore to take away Sin is to make it remissible and that by some Sacrifice and Satisfaction This is to make the Guilt removable which yet is not actually removed but by the Sentence of the Judg passed upon the Sinner rightly disposed and qualified by Faith in a right Sacrifice And here you must observe that the Guilt is an Obligation not only to some temporal but also to spiritual Punishment because sin is from the Soul an immortal substance and against a Law of God which binds the Conscience and immortal Soul and promiseth Rewards and threatneth Punishments not only temporal but spiritual and eternal And the taking away sins in this place is a freeing of the party from this Obligation 2. Such an Effect so great and glorious and so beneficial to sinful Man must have some excellent and powerful Cause such the Blood of Buls and Goats cannot be Where we must know that the things sacrificed on the great day of Expiation were Buls or Bullocks and Goats and with the Blood of these shed and taken and sprinkled in the Holy place within the second Veil the Legal Expiation was made As the Beasts so the Blood was morally neither bad nor good but indifferent And though offering and sprinkling of this Blood was a rational Act in the High-Priest yet it could give no moral spiritual or supernatural Power to the Blood Neither could the Priest have had any warrant to have made this use of this Blood if God hadnot commanded him and that to signify some better and far more excellent Blood Therefore if we look upon the Blood and consider what it was we cannot rationally inagine any Power in it either placare or piacere either to satisfy divine Justice or to merit any Acceptation for that end from the supream Judg Therefore well might the Apstle say That it was not possible for the Blood of Buls and Goats to take away Sins and thence conclude that the Legal Sacrifices could not perfect or purge the Worshippers § 6. Hitherto the Apostle hath proved the insuiclency and impotency of the chiefest Legal Sacrifices for to take away sins and this heâ—ath done by Artificial Arguments taken from the Nature of the Sacrifices themselvs ad the Reiteration of them and now he goes further to manifest that they could not perect any and that by an inartificial Argument and a Testimony The Testimony is â—ivine and of infallible Authority and such in the Judgment of these Hebrews so that thâ— could not deny it The End of it is to prove that they could not purge or perfect th Worshippers because God never intended to do any such thing by them He argueso this purpose That if God intended to expiate Sin and perfect sinful Man by anothe and a more excellent Sacrifice even the Sacrifice of Christ and by that alone then they ould not expiate and take away Sin and so purge the Worshippers But he intended to â— this great Work by another more excellent which was the Sacrifice of Christ and thaalone Therefore they could not do that great Work of Expiation This was so strong a Proof that it did evince that though the Legal Sacrifices might have had some expiatig Power yet they could never expiate Sin because that Effect was and that by God's ntention reserved for another and a better Cause And this may be said to be a fifth argument â—istinct from all the former Seeing this is an inartificial Argument we must consider the Nature of the Testimony it self and the matter or thing testified The Testmony as yo heard before is divine for it 's taken out of the Old Testament and out of that part whih is called The Book of Psalms and out of one of those Psalms which by the Title is said o be David's The Pen-men of the whole were Prophets and inspired from Heaven ad amongst the rest David of whom it 's said The Spirit of the Lord spake by me and his Vord was in my Tongue 2 Sam. 23. 2. And not only he but all the men of God spake assey were moved by the Holy Ghost 2 Pet. 1. 21. As they spake so they wrote thefore their Writings are called The Scriptures by way of Eminency and The Holy Scripres and the words written therein are all the words of God who spake in them
may observe 1. An Effect To perfect the sanctified for ever 2. A Cause of that Effect Christ's one Offering I will begin for Explication's sake with the Effect though it be after the Cause in the Order of Nature In it we may consider 1. An Act. 2. A Subject 3. The Perpetuity of the force of this Act in the Subject 1. The Act is to perfect which may be to consummate or make a thing perfect and seeing the end of Christ's Sacrifice is Man's full Happiness therefore to perfect is to make us perfectly and fully happy and this certainly is intended in this place Yet we must further examine the force of the Greek Verb as it is used in this Epistle and other places of the Holy Scriptures and we find it signifies To consecrate and make one a perfect complete Priest so as that he may minister before God And though some understand the perfecting of the sanctified to be nothing else but to sanctify perfectly yet we find in several places of this Epistle that it signifies to make a Priest and is applyed by the Septuagint to the Consecration of Aaron and his Sons For though they were chosen and designed formerly to be Priests yet they could not act as Priests minister in the Tabernacle offer Sacrifice and officiate before they were consecrated and upon their Consecration finished they were actually constituted Priests and might perform any Acts of Service essential and proper to a Priest so as to please God and be accepted This Work of Consecration was finished in seven dayes and one Sacrifice used in this Consecsation was that of a Ram which was called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Ram of Consecration And as they so we must be consecrated and made Priests to God and that by the Blood of Christ and this life is the time of our Consecration which goes on by degrees and will be made complete for Body and Soul upon the Resurrection when we shall be fit to approach the Throne of Glory and serve our God in a perfect manner in the eternal Temple of Heaven That Christ doth consecrate and make us Kings and Priests is express Scripture He hath made us Kings and Priests unto God and his Father Rev. 1. 6. And this is the acknowledgment of all his redeemed Saints Thou hast made us to our God Kings and Priests Rev. 5. 10. In this respect we are said to be a Royal Priest-hood an Holy Nation 1 Pet. 2. 9. There in this life though our Consecration be not finished we are styled An holy Priest-hood to offer up spiritual Sacrifices acceptable unto God by Jesus Christ ibid. 5. This perfection and Consecration we find attributed to his Blood and Offering 2. The Subject of this Consecration are the Sanctified for Sanctification must go before Consecration and the more sanctified the more consecrated and when our Sanctification is finished then our Consecration is consummate By Sanctification some understand Baptism as it 's a solemn Rite of our Initiation Others say it is Election whereby we are separated and set apart to this Perfection Yet it is that whereby we are freed not only from Infirmities Defects Depravations Inclinations to evil and so made inherently holy and righteous but also from the guilt of Sin The former is an act of the Spirit regenerating us and renuing the Image of God in us the other is the work of the same Spirit sprinkling our Consciences with the Blood of Christ and by the same frees us from God's vindicative Justice and the punishments due unto us for our Sins The former is usually called Sanctification the latter Justification That only the sanctified can be thus consecrated and come so near to God it 's plain out of the former places as Revel 1. 5 6. we are said first to be washed from our Sins in Christ's Blood which is Sanctification before we are be made Kings and Priests And Chap. 5. 9 10. to be redeemed with his Blood before we are Crowned and Consecrated And the persecuted Saints who came out of great Tribulation had their Garments first washed in the Blood of the Lamb before they were admitted to be as Priests before the Throne of God to serve him Day and Night in his Temple Chap. 7. 14 15. Where we learn that upon this Sanctification and Consecration we have near access to the Throne of Glory full communion with our God a clear vision of his eternal beauty and as great a fiuition of his God-head as we shall be capable thereof And upon all this follows our eternal bliss joy and full content when we shall be freed from all evil and enjoy the fountain of eternal life This Sanctification and Consecration is said in the third place to be for ever because they are perpetually continued of endless date and of everlasting continuance § 13. This effect is glorious and most excellent and includes Regeneration Justification Reconciliation Adoption with the inferiour degrees of them all and also the Resurrection and eternal Glorification And surely so rare an effect must have some excellent cause and so it hath and that is that one offering of Christ For Christ is the cause and he isthe cause as offering himself not often but only once For by one Offering he consecrated the sanctified for ever Meer Man or Angel though most excellent was insufficient had no power to undertake and finish this glorious Work For man's Salvation and his eternal blisse must needs be ascribed to the highest first and universal cause and issuing from the fountain of eternal Love was contrived by infinite Wisdom and effected by Almighty Power and no way was thought so fit to accomplish it as this one Offering of this one Priest For this end the eternal Word of God which was God must be made Flesh But neither God as God nor the Word nor Flesh severally were the cause but God by the Word made Flesh yet this is not all this Word made Flesh must be a Priest and as a Priest he must suffer dye and offer himself for the Sin of Man He must be the Priest and Sacrifice too and offer himself without spot unto God the Supream and Universal Lord and Judge that so his Justice being satisfied his mercy might freely and aboundantly issue out upon sinful Man as it did when once this Sacrifice was offered and accepted and being offered once it was so accepted that a second offering was needless For this was of eternal virtue in respect of all Sins and Sinners and was the most noble and highest piece of Service that ever was performed by Men or Angels in Heaven or Earth and was an Ilastical and propitiatory Sacrifice The Priest offering it was the the Head and Representative of Mankind and the second Adam and was made such by God and his own voluntary submission as willing to suffer Death for those whom he did represent By this representation and substitution he became the Surety and Hostage of Mankind
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
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
1 Sam. 15. 29. And these are his words I am the Lord I change not therefore the Sons of Jacob are not consumed Malach. 3. 6. So that all is sure on God's part and Man hath no cause to waver except he neglect his Duty and if he perish his destruction must be of himself O therefore let us give all diligence to make our Calling and Election sure and persevere unto the end And shall we who have so great advantage so many helps so blessed an Opportunity and the Promise of a faithful God neglect and injure our selves so much as to lose this glorious and incomparable prize Shall we come out of Aegypt and come so near the borders of the heavenly Canaan and turn back or refuse to go forward Let us detest and eternally abhor to waver let us go on whatsoever it may cost us § 22. The third Duty is to further and set forward one another in this blessed Work This is the Exhortation of the Apostle Ver. 24. Let us consider one another to provoke unto Love and good Works THE first Duty exhorted unto seems to be principally Faith in the full assurance whereof we must draw nigh to God The second Hope in the Profession whereof we must persevere The third Charity to which we must provoke one another The words have little difficulty in them and so need not much Explication In them we are exhorted 1. To consider one another 2. To provocation upon consideration 3. To provocation unto Love and good Works 1. This consideration is a Work and Duty of every Christian as he is a Member of the Church and it is universal all are bound unto it The Object is every Christian and Fellow-Member The thing to be considered is not their temporal but their spiritual Carriage and Conversation so far as it shall be manifested and made intelligible unto us The immediate End thereof to know their Life Carriage and Conversation which cannot be so well done as by a serious view and animadversion The Duty is to be performed mutually so as that every Christian may be the person considering another and the person considered by another In this Act though we may make use of our Eyes and outward senses yet we most of all must exercise the apprehensive and judicative faculty of our Understanding 2. We must consider to Provocation This word is but used twice in the New Testament and the Verb no oftner yet we find the Verb frequently taken up by the Septuagint under several Hebrew words It may be taken here either actively to provoke others or passively to be provoked our selves We provoke or stir up others when we see them ignorant forgetful negligent cold backward and that by Information minding them of their Duty perswading moving quickning them unto performance Or if we see our Brethren persecuted we stir up such as are able to pity them and by Works of Mercy to relieve them We are passively provoked our selvs by considering the good Example of others to do the like and follow them 3. The thing which we must provoke others or be provoked our selves unto is Charity for we must be provoked and provoke 1. To Love 2. To good Works which are the fruits of Love and amongst these good Works the principal are Works of Mercy whereby God's poor and persecuted Saints are relieved and comforted And that is no true real Love which is without good Works as that is no true Faith which can be separated either from the Love of Christ or from the Love of Christian Brethren From the words considered in the Context and explained in this Latitude many practical Conclusions are deducible 1. From the Context we are informed that Confession without Practice Love and good Works is defective imperfect and to little purpose Confession of the Mouth Love in the Heart and Works issuing from Love must go together and must never be separated in true and sincere Christians 2. From the word provoking taken passively we may learn this lesson to give good Example unto our Brethren and so let that heavenly Light which is in us shine forth that others may see our good Works and glorify our Father which is in Heaven For we should be the Light of the World and our Lives should be a Mirrour of all divine vertues 3. We must consides and take special notice of such as are eminent in Piety Righteousness and true Holness and follow closely their good Example they give us and tread in their paths which lead to the eternal Rest of Heaven 4. Take provoking actively and the Text informs of another Duty and that is to have care not only of our own Souls but the Souls of others and to use all means to promote their Salvation as well as our own Love teacheth us this Lession for we must Love our Neighbour as our self and the greatest Love we can shew unto him is to endeavour his spiritual and eternal good And we must remember that Love especially Christian Love is diffusive and communicative and in imitation of God doth good unto many Non solum nobis nati aâ—t â—eâ—iati sumus We are neither born nor born again for our selvs The End both of our natural and spiritual Birth is to benefit others as well as our selvs we should sharpen quicken and mightily stir up others to the best things especially to Love and good Works And this is the Duty not only of Ministers in relation to their People or of Parents in relation to their Children or of Masters in relation to their Servants but it 's general and so extensive that no Christian is exempted from the performance And the neglect of this Duty hath been the Cause why there is so little Piety so much Iniquity amongst us and why most men are profane or bare Professor and so few are zealous in the best things 5. From hence we may infer the Excellency of Christian Society Civil Society tends much to the temporal good of person civilly associated but spiritual Society in Religion and Christianity is far more excellent and beneficial Yet this presupposeth the Persons associated with whom we live and must converse to be good for otherwise ill Company is most pestiferous Therefore the Apostle commanded the Corinthians to purge out the old Leaven and scandalous Persons which like a contagion infect others And this doth imply that Christian Assemblies should be kept pure and consist of Orthodox and pious Members and to live amongst such must needs be a great advantage unto poor Souls seeking Salvation § 23. There was a fourth Duty exhorted unto For Ver. 25. They mustnot not for sake the assembling of themselves together as the manner of some was but they must exhort one another and so much the more as they saw the day approaching IN which we have 1. A Duty 2. A Reason to enforce the performance The Duty is expressed 1. Negatively They must not for sake the assembling of themselves
he received Christianity and had felt the sanctifying and comforting power and divine effects of this Spirit in his own soul. For God by his Spirit had entred into him and done much towards his Salvation This is therefore a Sin against God the Father who loved us and sent Christ to redeem us against God the Son who had shed his precious Blood for the Expiation of our sins against God the Holy Ghost who had begun the Work of Sanctification and Consolation in us The penalty of this Sin is signified absolutely to be this that he is counted worthy of sore Punishment Sore Punishment is grievous heavy bitter Punishment To be worthy of it is to deserve it by some hainous Sin and not only so but to be liable to it for one may be worthy of Punishment yet not liable to it when he is under no Law yet whosoever is under the Obligation of a Law and yet transgresseth it he is not only worthy to suffer and deserving of Punishment but liable and bound to suffer For the nature of Law is to bind either to Obedience or Punishment But where there is no Law there is no Wrath that is no Punishment due yet one may be liable to Punishment which he hath deserved and yet no Man takes notice to censure or judg him But the Apostate from Christianity shall be accounted worthy and that not only by Man but by God who will not only take notice of the Sin but sentence him to the Punishment the sore Punishment deserved that is he will judg him without Mercy § 29. Thus far the parts have been considered and explicated absolutely the next thing to be done is to examine the whole under the Notion of a Comparison in quantity and it 's signified by these words Of how much sorer Punishment The things principally compared are the Punishments 1. To be inflicted upon such as transgress Moses Law 2. Upon Apostates under the Gospel Both are sore and great but the latter far more grievous than the former For a just Judg will judg according to the Law and a just Law will determine and proportion the Punishment according to the Offence To transgress Moses Law was a grievous Offence to sin willfully against the Gospel after we have received the knowledg thereof is far more hainous The Punishment of the former was death without Mercy the Punishment of the latter far more grievous This presupposeth the Gospel to be far above the Law as being a Covenant of Grace and greatest Mercy for in and by it God comes far nearer unto Man The Son of God is the Mediator one far more excellent than any Levitical High-Priest The Blood of this Son of God expiating Man's Sin which is far more precious than the Blood of Buls Goats doth confirm it The Spirit of God which the Law did not minister is the Spirit of Grace enlightning inspiring sanctifying Man and enabling him to keep the Conditions and comforming him To revolt from and rebell against God loving sinful Man against the Son of God redeeming him against the Spirit-sanctifying him is like the Sin of Devils and one of the highest Man can commit and far more hainous than the Violation of the Covenant made with Israel For by this a man wilfully refuseth to be saved and puts himself in a most desperate Condition after God had brought him out of the Spiritual Aegypt and the Kingdom of Darkness and brought him to the Borders of the heavenly Canaan Now as the Sin is more hainous far more hainous so the Punishment must be grievous far more grievous God hath no Mercy for such a Wretch for the Sin agrees directly with that Blasphemy against the Holy Ghost which shall never be forgiven It remains we consider the whole as a Reason that so we may understand the force of it The Scope of the Apostle is to perswade and exhort to perseverance the Reason is because that if they persevere not but fall away there remains no more Sacrifice for Sin but a fearful looking for of Judgment c. that is the Punishment that they must suffer is grievous and unavoidable That it is both grievous and unavoidable he proves 1. By a Comparison from the Transgressors of the Law For if Apostates under the Law were grievously and certainly punished then much more should the Apostates under the Gospel who have received the Knowledg of the Truth be so punished for as their Sin is more grievous and provoking so their Punishment must be answerable This is the force of the Reason This Argument hath some Affinity with that of Chap. 2 Ver. 1 2 3 4 c. yet that refers more to the Prophetical this more to the Sacerdotal Office of Christ. § 30. Yet though the Apostate may be worthy of Punishment yet it may be be questioned and demanded 1. Who the Judge is And 2. Whether he will proceed to Judgment and execute it But both these the Apostle puts out of doubt in the words following Ver. 30. For we know him that he hath said Vengeance belongeth unto me I will recompence saith the Lord And again The Lord shall judg his People IN which words he doth inform us 1. Who the Judg is 2. That he will certainly punish And here he cites a place out of the Old Testament which affirmeth both that God is Judg and also will execute Judgment This is more than if he had barely affirmed these things for he produceth God as Witness and so by Scripture confirms them The place is Deut. 32. 35 36. and he seems to divide it into two for Ver. 35. he saith Vengeance and Recompence belong to me Ver. 36. For the Lord will judg his People In the Text we have these Propositions 1. Vengeance belongeth to the Lord. 2. He will recompence 3. He will judg his People 4. The Lord himself saith so 5. They knew it was the Lord who said so 1. Vengeance belongeth to the Lord. Where by the way observe that the Apostle doth not follow as usually he doth the Septuagint according to our Copies but the Hebrew Text which is this Vengeance is mine and Retribution The Septuagint translates thus In the day of Vengeance I will recompence They seem to follow the Samaritan Hebrew Text in the former and the Targum in the â—â—tter part of the Clause yet neither the Vulgar nor the Syriack nor the Chaldee Paraphrast nor the Arabick follow them in their Translation of the first words In this Proposition we have 1. Vengeance 2. The party to whom it belongs By Vengeance is meant vindicative Justice punishing Offenders the acts whereof are Condemnation and Execution and it 's proper to a Judg as a Judg as it is Power of punishing as here it may be taken either for the Power or the Act and Exercise of the Power The party to whom it belongs is the Lord as he is the supream and universal Judg for he that is the supream Law-giver must needs be
not respect The words give occasion of noting several things As 1. That the Word turned by our English to respect in the Hebrew signifies to behold or look upon with delight as well pleased with it The Chaldee Paraphrast useth a word which signifies to be well pleased with or graciously to accept Symmachus turns The Lord was delighted The Syriack translates to the same purpose But Theodotion saith 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 inflammavit He fired or consumed with fire For by fire sent from Heaven God did signify his acceptation of Aaron's Sacrifice Levit. 9. 24. Of Solomon's 2 Chron. 7. 1. and of Elijah's 1 King 18. 38. 2. God had respect first unto the Person then unto his Offering for if the Person be not rightly qualified the Sacrifice cannot be pleasing unto God 3. The thing which rendered both him and his Offering so acceptable was Faith 4. That he did not thus accept Cain's because he was not righteous had no Faith Some and amongst other Cornelius Bertram think that by this acceptation of Abel's Sacrifice God designed him to the Priest-hood and rejected Cain and this was the cause first of Envy then of Murder But whether God did testify of his Gifts by Fire and by that testimony design him to be Priest we need not trouble our selves This is certain he accepted Abel and his Offering and that acceptation was some wayes signified and by that signification he testified of him that he was righteous All persons who worship God are Cains or Abels offer with or without Faith how careful therefore should we be in the Service of our God to come with prepared and disposed hearts For it 's a blessed thing and a matter of sweetest comfort to be accepted of our God and a sad and woful Curse with Cain to be rejected The Reward after his Death is expressed in the third Proposition And by it being dead yet speaketh Where it 's said 1. He yet speaketh or is spoken of 2. Being dead he speaketh 3. By it he speaketh The Copies and Books differ for some read he speaketh some he is spoken of yet both these may signify his fame and good report continuing in the Church to this Day He may be said to be spoken of because his Name and his Faith are upon Record in Scripture where he though dead is remembred and commended and shall be remembred and commended to the World's end and no length of time which consumeth many things shall ever raze his memory he shall never be forgotten Yet most do read he speaketh and the Translators most do follow that reading Now the Question is what he speaketh and to whom and what this speaking is 1. He speaketh Faith and Righteousness and Virtue and the Reward of Virtue and calls aloud for imitation of his Faith and Righteousness that we may be accepted of God and rewarded as he was This is the Voice of all good Examples made known unto us There is another thing which he is said to speak of which hereafter 2. He speaketh first to Men for to whom God in the Scriptures speaks to them the Saints and Martyrs by their good Example may be said to speak Now the Scriptures were written for men living and God in them doth speak unto us whilst we living read or hear them 3. This speaking is not like the speaking of Abel when he was living nor as one man speaketh to another but this Speech is Metaphorical For as by Speech we declare and signify something unto others so Vertues Rewards Crimes Punishments made known unto Mortals by word or writing declare and signify that Vertue shall be rewarded and that Sin shall be punished and by the punishments warn us to take heed of Sin and by the rewards encourage us to Virtue This is not a speaking immediate of the person by words but a speaking by things In this respect it may be said that the dead whose Voice shall never be heard on Earth do speak But seeing Abel speaketh it 's further inquirable by what he speaketh It 's said by it he speaketh and by it may be his Faith and Sacrifice or Blood By the former he speaks as you heard before and the voice of Deeds and good Examples is far more effectual then the voice of Words and continues to sound far longer For the Voice is but heard whilst those who live can speak but the voice of Deeds is heard after Death yet some understand that he spake by his Blood and that he might do two wayes 1. As living he spake by his Faith and Offering but being dead by his patience and suffering and by this he exhorteth us not only to live well but with patience to suffer Death for Righteousness sake This is an Alarum to Martyrdom the highest pitch of Virtue and of Obedience 2. As dead he speaketh by his Blood not only as famous for his Martyrdom but as crying for Vengeance For so God said to Cain The Voice of thy Brothers Blood cryeth unto me from the Ground Gen. 4. 10. And in the following Chapter Christ's Blood is mentioned as speaking better things then the Blood of Abel Chap. 12. 24. Abel's Blood cryed aloud for Vengeance but Christ's for Mercy and Pardon Abel's Blood joyntly with the Blood of all Martyrs may call for justice unto the Supream Judg and when the Sufferings of all are finished then full Vengance shall be executed upon all bloody Persecutors Something to this purpose we may read Rev. 6. 10 11. In this sense it may be said they being dead do yet speak and will speak as dead and being slain by their cruel Enemies And by Faith they speak thus for without Faith they might have suffered justly for their Crimes and then they could not solicite the Supream Judg to revenge their innocent Blood not expect any Reward and Crown of Martyrdom § 8. After Abel follows Enoch the seventh from Adam yet the second from Abel of eminent note in the History of Moses Of him it 's said Ver. 5. By Faith Enoch was translated not to see Death and was not found because God had translated him for before his translation he had this Testimony that he pleased God IN this Text we may observe 1. The Reward which was Translation 2. The Virtue he was translated by Faith 3. The Testimony and good Report of him he pleased God Yet these may be reduced to two 1. The Reward he was translated 2. His Virtue by Faith he pleased God If we take the two Verses together we may reduce them to two Propositions thus 1. Enoch was translated 2. By Faith Enoch was translated And because the latter Proposition is not evident as not expressed in the Text the Apostle first presupposing this Translation to be a great Reward and obtained by Faith he proves it thus He that pleaseth God must have Faith But Enoch pleased God Therefore he had Faith That he pleased God he proves it by Testimony for that he did so is express
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
a Text found in the Old Testament and here alledged and applyed to these Hebrews 2. In that which is expressed or expresly delivered we find three things 1. The manner how this Text is brought in and applied 2. The Text it self 3. The Apostle's Discourse upon the same 1. It 's brought in by way of Reprehension for they are charged with forgetfulness of an Exhortation of a Father to them as Children This informs us 1. That the words are an Exhortation 2. This Exhortation is directed unto them 3. It 's directed to them as Children 4. They had forgotten it 1. The words are an Exhortation To understand this we must consider both what an Exhortation is and also how these are an Exhortation An Exhortation in Scripture hath alwayes for Object some Duty commanded by God and is a stirring up of Man to the Performance of the Duty and that the Will may be more effectually moved the Performance is urged upon powerful Motives That they are an Exhortation may easily appear if we understand the general nature of all Exhortations and consider the Portion of Scripture whence these words are taken wherein we find the wise man pressing many and weighty Duties The word it self here used in the Greek doth sometimes signify a Consolation and such the Text is sometimes an Exhortation and such it may also be Yet in strict sense it is a Dehortation for it 's Negative despise not faint not and to despise the chastening of the Lord and faint under his Rebuke is an Evil a Sin which is forbidden in God's Law and here dehorted f om But yet as every Negative implies an Affirmative so doth every Dehortation an Exhortation to some Duty and the Duty here exhorted to is to take our Sufferings as Chastisements from God and to bear his Rebukes patiently 2. This Exhortation is directed to them for so it 's said The Exhortatien which speaketh unto you It 's true that the words are the words of God written by Solomm and seem to be directed more immediately to the People of God in his time yet this is a certain Rule that when a Duty is ordinary and general and of general Concernment and commanded in the Scriptures by God the universal Law-giver then it concerns all men so that no man can be exempted nay further if it be not only universal but also perpetual it binds all men of all timos And in this respect it may be said that what God speaks to one he speaks to all like that of our Saviour What I say to you I say to all Watch. Therefore we must understand this as spoken even to us as well as to others of former times This therefore would be our wisdom that when we read or hear of exhortations to duties of universal and perpetual Obligation to apply them to our selves and to make full account that God in them doth speak to us 3. It 's directed to them as Children This he infers from the word my Son where word Son though singular must be taken collectively so as to include the whole body and community of Sons both all joyntly and every one severally without exception This implies a special Relation such as is between Father and Children and also the love and authority of a Father and the Duty and Obligation of a Child Yet there are many kinds of Sons as natural adopted amongst men and also spiritual who are related unto God and such are here meant Such all should be but many are nor some are These are made by spiritual Regeneration and gracious Adoption and so soon as any shall sincerely believe in Christ they are justly Sons and so in this special manner related to God The matter of the Exhortation is such that it must be directed unto them and them alone 4. This they had forgotten It was their duty to have remembred it yet they did not For 1. It was forgotten this was a sin 2. They had forgotten it this was their sin and therefore so charged upon them by the Apostle actually to remember this expresly at all times was impossible neither was it required yet in time of Affliction when God's chastising and rebuking hand was upon them they should have thought upon it But it was not necessary to remember these very words but the thing contained in the words neither is the remembrance here required meerly speculative and an act only of the Understanding but it 's also practical For they must so remember the Duty as to do it memory without this is to no purpose This seems to imply that we are bound to understand the word of God in Scriptures necessary to Salvation and often to call to mind that which we do understand § 6. Thus the Text which we find Prov. 3. 11. is brought in and now the matter is to be considered wherein we have 1. The compellation 2. The exhortation it self 1. The compellation is sweet and comfortable for the person speaking and calling unto us is God as a Father the parties called unto are sinful men as children This implies a great condescension and a special love on God's part and a near relation and happy condition on mans part How low did the glorious and eternal Lord of Heaven and Earth descend to look upon respect and love poor mortal man dust and ashes who had defaced his Image imprinted upon him and was become his Enemy To redeem him with the precious Blood of his only begotten Son to call him regenerate him adopt him and make him Heir of an eternal Crown was matter of astonishment to Angels And how much is this silly and unworthy Creature honoured and how much is his estate advanced by this Relation How deeply is he engaged and obliged to eternal gratitude and obedience David might well admite and say Lord What is man that thou takest knowledg of him or the Son of man that thou makest account of him Psal. 144. 3. This compellation my Son is full of comfort and should be a mighty motive and incentive unto perseverance in the midst of greatest Sufferings 2. In the exhortation it self we may consider 1. The Duty exhorted unto 2. The Motive unto performance 1. The Duty is 1. Not to despise the Lord's chastening 2. Not to faint under his Rebuke In the first we may take notice 1. Of Chastisement and Rebuke 2. Of not despising not fainting 1. Chastisement and Rebuke are here taken for the same and signify their Sufferings from their unbelieving Brethren yet so that in the Book of the Proverbs they signify any Afflictions suffered by God People The Hebrew word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies to restrain or correct by instruction admonition chiding threatning punishing So the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies to blame or reprove Both these are either verbal or real by words of the Mouth or violence of the Hand and here both may be meant and especially the latter The former word used in the Greek seems
and Beeing but to be happy For as bitter Pills and Portions and also correcting Plaisters may effectually cure our Bodies motrally wounded or diseased so the Lord's Chastisements may heal our sick Spirits and so prevent spiritual Death and Punishments And as the Patient must be willing to receive bitter Pills and Potions for recovery so must we chearfully submit unto our heavenly Fathers Correction for our eternal safety and felicity § 11. Thus far the absolute consideration of these words Now follows the Comparison which presupposing some agreement in quality as in quanity of imparity For if we be bound to obey and reverence our earthly Fathers correcting us then we are bound to obey and be in subjection to our heavenly Father chastening us The reason is because as they so he hath power over us But this is not all for if we are bound if to them much then to him much more They are only Fathers of our Flesh and Bodies and have only a correcting power over them but he is the Father not only of our Bodies but also of our Spirits and hath an absolute Dominion over both not only to instruct counsel command but also to correct and his Correction tends not only to our temporal but our spiritual Health Safety and Happiness This the Apostle makes evident in the 10th Verse Where again we may consider some things 1. Absolute concerning our Earthly Heavenly Father 2. Comparative The words absolutely considered inform us 1. That our earthly Fathers for a few dayes chastened us after their own pleasure 2. That God our heavenly Father chasteneth us for our profit that we may be Partakers of his Holiness 1. In the former Chastisement we may observe 1. It 's short and for a few dayes 2. It 's arbitrary after their own pleasure 1. It 's short because it continues only for the time f our Child-hood and Minority when we are most apt to go astray and least able to direct out selves In these tender years Children may receive any Impression and that more easily than afterwards then the Foundation of Vertue or Vice is laid and if Children have their Liberty be neglected and left unto themselvs they are most subject to be corrupted Therefore theâ— they have most need of Correction and may be more easily kept under yet many times it falls out that Fathers devoid of Wisdom and not considering what is best and most truly good for their Children out of Passion and rashly not aiming at the choise End do correct them And the more Power they have and the less Resistance there is the more arbitrary and irregular their Chastisements prove so that as the time of their Chastening is short so it 's not regulated by the Dictates of Reason but follows Fancy and false Imaginations of the mind which many times represents as just and good that which indeed is evil and unjust The Intention of the Apostle in these words is to manifest the imperfection and deficiency of humane Castigation whereby it differs from that which is divine For 2. God chasteneth â—â— for our Profit that we may partake of his Holiness This is the Perfection of God's Correction which is not for a few dayes but continues for term of Life till he hath made us perfect and done his whole Work upon us It 's always regulated by his perfect Wisdom issues from purest Love tends unto and ends in our Happiness It 's no wayes arbitrary for he never chasteneth but when he sets cause and knows certainly that it will be good for us All this is implyed in these words for our profit where by profit we must not understand the good things of this World and the great Mammon which so many worship but some better thing some spiritual and divine benefit which in a word is a Participation of God's Holiness which Clause seems to be exegetical that we might know what he meant by Profit For whatsoever tends to make us spiritually better more like to God and more capable of Communion with him that 's true Profit God's Holiness may either be that whereby she is holy in himself oâ— that whereby weare holy He in himself is essentially infinitely and eternally holy most glorious excellent and pure in himself For the Holiness of God is sometimes taken for his Excellency and Glory sometimes for his Purity and perfect Righteousness in which respect it 's said That he is Light and in him is no Darkness so that he cannot sin be impure or unjust and therefore may be said to be Holiness it self As he is holy in himself so he is the Efficients and Fountain of Holiness to us for he makes us holy yet our Holiness is from him by participation and participated by us is more his than ours To be Partakers of his Holiness is either to be made holy as he is and so purified from Sin or being made holy to have Communion with him in some degree here or fully and for ever hereafter This Holiness is communicated to us by Chastisement accompanied with the Sanctisication of the Spirit for that 's the end whereaâ— God aims and the Effect which he produceth in his Children His Love doth set him on work his Wisdom directs and his Almghty Power effecteth that which his Love desireth This is the Absolute Consideration the Comparative followeth and that in quantity inequal for he argues from the less unto the greater For if they had with Patience endured their earthly Fathers chastizing them for a few dayes after their pleasure how much more should they with Patience and all humble Subjection endure their heavenly Father chastizing them in Wisdom for their everlasting Good This is a place which teacheth all Children their Duty towards their Parents chastening them and they must acknowledg their Power humbly submit unto it and be thankful unto them and their God for this good Work without which they might have been more wicked and more miserable And all Fathers should know that their Children are trusted in their hands by God not only to be instructed but corrected and in this part of Education they must imitate God and chasten them wisely in Love for their good The principal thing to be remembred is that seeing it is God that doth chastile them and in this manner and for their greatest good therefore they should not faint in their Sufferings for their Profession § 11. The Apostle proceeds further to discourse on the Text in Proverbs which speaks of Chastisement Of which it might be said that it 's a matter not of Joy but Grief and how then can it proceed from Love and be any wayes beneficial By way of prevention he resolvs this doubt in the words following Ver. 11. Now no Chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous but grievous Nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of Righteousness unto them that are exercised thereby BY these words we learn what the End and Effect of the Lord 's Chastening is
Method of the Apostle is this 1. He compares the Law and the Gospel 2. By this Comparison manifests the excellency of the Gospel above the Law 3. From this manifested he inferrs the Duty They must not reject the Gospel and fall away 4. He urgeth the Performance of the Duty from the severe and terrible Punishment which must be suffered by such as perform it not So that from the 18th Verse to the 25th we have the Doctrine and in the 25th the Use. This Argument hath great Affinity with that we find used Chap. 2. 2 3. § 19. This being the Coherence whereby the Scope of the Apostle may be understood Let us consider the words themselvs wherein we may observe the Doctrine concerning 1. The Law 2. The Gospel 3. Their passing from the one to the other 4. The Use to be made of it In the first we have 1. The Manner of Promulgation 2. The fear it caused in Israel and Moses 3. Their freedom from it According to these three things we have three Propositions 1. The Promulgation of the Law was terrible 2. Being terrible it caused both Israel and Moses to fear exceedingly 3. These Hebrews were freed from this Law 1. For to understand the manner of Promulgation we must know the place and that in general was a Mountain in particular Sinai a Mountain in Arabia the Desert This Mountain is said to be palpabilis tactilis touchable or which may be touched that is it was visible and sensible a Mountain bodily accessible though not at that time and on Earth This is added to put a difference between this Hill and the spiritual Zion which is sometimes called Heaven from whence the Gospel was revealed therefore when Christ revealed the Gospel it 's said he spake from Heaven whereas when God gave the Law on the Mountain he is said to speak on Earth Ver. 25. This place was not terrible in it self but at this time because of the Fire wherewith it burned at that time For some Mountains where there are Vulcans as upon Vesuvius Aetna Hecla the Pike of Tenariff and many in America and other places of the Earth to burn with Fire is usual But this Burning was extraordinary at this time for the Mountain then did burn with fire Deut. 5. 23. yea it did burn with fire up to the midst of Heaven Deut. 4. 11. as though Heaven and Earth had been on a flame And this was some resemblance of that dreadful Fire which shall consume the combustible World at the latter day The flaming Fire gave Light but there was Blackness and Darkness which might be caused by thick Clouds and Smoak which covered the Mountain for â—as before it burnt with Fire unto the midst of Heaven with Darkness Clouds and thick Darkness Deut. 4. 11. For Mount Sinai was altogether on a Smoak because the Lord descended upon it in Fire and the smoak thereof ascended as the Smoak of a Furnace and the whole Mount quaked greatly Exod. 19. 18. There were also Thundrings and Lightnings and the Noise of the Trumpet and the Mountain smoaking Chap. 20. 18. This was a Type of that utter Darkness of Hell Besides there were Tempests and terrible Storms a Sign of God's fearful Indignation which shall fall upon the Wicked The Sound of the Trumpet and the Voice of words did encrease the terrour for the Voice of the Trumpet was exceeding loud Exod. 19. 16. And all the People saw the Thundrings and the Lightnings and the Sound of the Trumpet Chap. 20. 18. This Trumpet did summon the People to appear before the Lord and did prepare them for to receive the Law and to hear their doom if they should transgress it As this was a Legislative so there shall be a Judicial Trumpet to convent the whole World to appear before the Judgment-seat of Christ An Arch-Angel shall sound the Trumpet and the Noise shall be loud and miraculous When the People were prepared on the third day the Trumpet sounded and then followed the Voice of words for God condescending to the Capacity of Man gave the Law out of the midst of the Fire and spake in an audible Voice in the Language of that People that they might understand it As the Sound of the Trumpet so the Voice of God was loud majestick terrible like Thunder so that the Words or Commands of the Law were dreadful not only in respect of the Sound but the Matter This dread and terrour did appear in two things 1. In this that they that heard entreated that the word should not be spoken to them any more for they said to Moses Speak thou with us and we will hear but let not God speak with us lest we dy Exod. 20. 19. And again they said Now therefore why should we dy for this great Fire will consume us If we hear the Voice of the Lord our God any more we shall dy Deut. 5. 25. Let me not hear again the Voice of the Lord my God neither let me see this great Fire any more that I dy not Chap. 18. 16. 2. They could not endure it and this is evident from their fear of Death And if Israel could not endure this Voice of the Law-giver and the sight of the Lord how will Wicked men endure to see Christ come from Heaven in flaming Fire and to hear his Sentence Go ye cursed into everlasting Fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels the most dreadful words that ever God spake or Man did hear or shall hear The terrour was yet greater for there was a Line drawn and a Range sixed to keep both Man and Beast at a Distance from the Mount and Moses was commanded to set these bounds before-hand to the People and if either Man or Beast came within the Range they were stricken dead instantly by Lightning or Thunderbolts The Reasons why this Law was given in this manner are many as 1. To signify the Majesty of the Supream Lawgiver and that they inight know that the Laws given were not the Laws of men but of the great Lord of Heaven and Earth And the more clearly he did manifest himself the greater Authority the Law must needs have 2. Great and weighty things are done with greatest solemnity and the more the solemnity is the greater Impression is made upon mens hearts 3. Seeing the very Promulgation and giving of the Law was so dreadful how dreadful must the Transgression be this was a mighty Motive to incline them to Obedience Therefore Moses said that God was come to prove them and that his fear might be before their faces that they sin not Exod 20. 20. 4. This did let them know that little Comfort was to be expected from that Law which did so strictly command and ministred no Power to obey had no Promise of Pardon therefore they should more earnestly desire and look for that great Prophet by whom God would speak unto them more comfortably and by whom they might have free access and
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
and now again in these last dayes then by Moses and the Prophets now by Christ his Son 2. That when he gave the Law and made the former Covenant he spake on Earth upon Mount Sinai but when he spake by Christ he spake from Heaven for he came from Heaven returned to Heaven again and from Heaven sent down the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles and by that Spirit in them revealed the Gospel 3. That some Sins are more hainous than others and the more hainous the Sin is the more heavy the Punishment will be 4. That to refuse God speaking on Earth was a grievous Sin and deserved a grievous Punishment and so to refuse him speaking from Heaven is a great Sin and renders the Refuser liable to fearful Punishment 5. That the latter is a more grievous Sin than the former and deservs a greater Punishment These things presupposed the Reason is clear and we must in any wise take heed of rejecting or renouncing the Gospel because if they who transgressed the Law given on Earth were severely punished then they if guilty of a far greater Sin as all such are who refuse the Gospel revealed from Heaven then they must suffer a far greater Penalty and no wayes could they escape it This differs something from the Argument used Chap. 2. 2 3 c. for that compares the Law delivered by Angels with the Gospel spoken and confirmed by Christ and the excellency of Christ above the Angels is the ground of his Argument But here God's speaking on Earth by Angels is compared with God's speaking from Heaven by Christ and here the Excellency of Heaven from whence the Gospel was revealed above the Earth where the Law was given is made the Foundation of the Reason And God by giving the Law on Earth and the Gospel from Heaven did intimate that there was some Excellency in the Gospel which was not in the Law in the new Covenant which was not in the old otherwise God could have revealed them both on Earth or both from Heaven Let us apply this unto our selvs and consider 1. Who speaks unto us 2. What he speaks 3. From whence he speaks 1. It 's not Man but God not Moses but Christ The Law indeed was by Moses but Grace and Truth by Jesus Christ. The Majesty and Power of him who speaks is such as Angels are bound to attend and obey with all humble Submission and shall we Worms nay Dust and Ashes refuse to hear this glorious Lord 2. The Matter that he speaks and we hear is the best the most sweet the most comfortable and the most excellent never better things seen or heard or understood by the Heart of Man The Gospel is a Doctrine of profoundest Wisdom of greatest Love and Mercy and of highest Concernment and most conducing to our everlasting good And shall we reject it Shall we sin against so great a Majesty so great a Mercy Sins against the Mercies of God so freely tendred to us in Jesus Christ are the most hainous of all others Let us tremble to think of these Sins and those Punishments which they must suffer that are guilty of them 3. He speaks from Heaven for the Gospel is a Mystery hid from the beginning of the World and was brought unto us from the Bosom of the Father by his only begotten Son and by the Holy Ghost it 's the clearest manifestation of God's deepest Counsels concerring Man's eternal Estate and of his greatest Love to sinful Wretches the brightest Light that ever shined from Heaven yet we hear it and most men regard it not but reject it to their everlasting Woe § 24. The Apostle draws to a Conclusion and urgeth Perseverance by another Argument in the words following Ver. 26. Whose Voice then shook the Earth but now he hath promised saying Yet once more I shake not the Earth only but Heaven also Ver. 27. And this Word Yet once more signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken as of things that are made that those things which cannot be shaken may remain GOD shook the Earth when he gave the Law and from this shaking the Authour takes occasion from the words of Haggai to prove the Immutability of the Gospel and the Administration of Christ's Kingdom In the Text the Proposition concerning this Immutability is 1. Cleared 2. Applyed in the two last Verses of the Chapter In the first he doth 1. Affirm the shaking of the Earth in giving of the Law 2. Alledgeth God's Promise of another shaking not only of Earth but Heaven 3. From that Promise he infers the Immutability of the Evangelical Administration The Propositions of the first part of the Text are two 1. That God then shook the Earth 2. That he that then shook the Earth promised to shake once more not only the Earth but Heaven also 1. God then shook the Earth The Adverb then points at the time of giving the Law on Mount Sinai for in the former Verse it 's said that he spake on Earth in the Hearing of all Israel That then he shook the Earth is the express words of the History Mount Sinai was all on a Sâ—â—ak and the whole Mount quaked greatly Exod. 19. 18. With this agrees that of the Psalmist When thou O God wentest before thy People when thou didst march through the Wilderness The Earth shook the Heavens also dropped at the presence of God even Sinai it self was moved at the presence of God the God of Israel Psal. 68. 7 8. The principal things then signified by this shaking the Mount and the Earth were two 1. The Alteration of the former Administration of the Church and 2. The Constitution of that Order which continued untill the times of the Gospel For 1. Then God made a great Alteration in the Kingdom of Aegypt divided the Red Sea and shook the hearts of men in several Nations 2. He reduced the People of Israel into a Polity both Civil and Ecclesiastical made a Covenant with them gave them Laws Moral Ceremonial Judicial ordained a Priest-hood instituted a Form of Worship to continue till the coming of the Messias Thus then he shook the Earth 2. He promised once more to shake not only the Earth but Heaven Where the Subject is Shaking and presupposeth one Shaking past and informs us of another and the same far greater The former was only of the Earth the latter of Heaven too This Shaking is the thing promised the Promise was made first the Performance followeth several hundred years afterwards The Promise we find in Haggai the Prophet the words are these For thus saith the Lord of Hosts Yet once it is a little while and I will shake the Heavens and the Earth and the Sea and the dry Land And I will shake all Nations and the Desire of all Nations shall come and I will fill this House with Glory saith the Lord Hag. 2. 6 7. Where we may observe 1. That the Occasion of these words was this the
particularly confined to that part of providence whereby God supplies their wants in Necessaries yet so as that it doth rather include then exclude his protection against Dangers and Enemies This is the meaning of the words the force of the reason contained in them is very strong both to dehort from Coveâ—ousness and exhort to Contentedness For there is no reason in the World why we should either cover these earthly Goods inordinately or immoderately so as to distract and vex our minds or that we should not be contented with that we have though little seeing God hath so deeply and strongly engaged himself to be present with us and to provide for us If we had Faith to believe this and were so qualified as that we could truly apply it to our selves it would effectually quiet our minds in God in all our Necessities Sâ—raits and Perplexities For the words being the words of God fully and perfectly expressing his mind and purpose delivered by way of Promise whereby he so strongly obligeth himself extending to all persons in Covenant with him keeping the Conditions thereof including all times and all conditions and all kind of helps and assistance are abundantly sufficient to cut off all covetous thoughts and cares and to content the mind with any estate For whilst we have our God we have Perfection Safety Food Raiment and all things that are necessary in this our time of Pilgrimage untill we come to our abiding City § 6. After the Promise of God follows the Confidence of Man grounded upon this Promise For we may boldly say The Lord is my Helper and I will not fear what Man shall do unto me Where we must enquire 1. Whence the words are taken 2. What the Substance of them is and what they do import 1. We find words to the same purpose Psal. 56. 4 11. Yet the very same without any variance we reaâ— Psal. 118. 6. if we follow the Septuaginr The words in the Hebrew are Elleiptical and are made up and expounded from the Verse following for the first words are turned by Hierom Thou art my Lord by Pagâ—ine The Lord is with me by Prâ—tensis The Lord is for me The Septuagint give the sense That the Lord was my Lord with me for me to help me For it follows Ver. 7. Thou are amongst or with them that help me For the Lord to be with us for us and as Vatablus hath it to on stand our side is for God to be our Help 2. The Matter of the words are God's Help Man's Safety and Security The Psalm is understood of Christ and his Church and People Here the Apostle applies it to God's People 1. These have their Enemies signified by the word Man What Man may do against me 2. These men being Enemies do much against them or at least attempt to do much for wicked men together with the Devil are great Enemies to Christ's Kingdom and his Subjects The Devil designs their spiritual the wicked their temporal Ruine and the Design of the one is subservient to the other The Devil makes Use of temporal Persecutions to shake their Faith both have the Church and thrust sore at it and consult and combine their forces to destroy it They fine God's Servants imprison them banish them torture them murther some of them spoil others make them poor and bring them very low and sometimes to a Morsel of Bread 3. Yet God is with them stands for them helps them strengthens and protects them and will not see them perish or want Bread and gives them Safety in the midst of Danger Joy in the midst of Sorrow Bread in the midst of Famine If they kill the Body he will save the Soul and raise up the Body again at the last day and all their Sufferings shall conduce to their eternal Happiness 4. If God be with them for them and their Help they need not fear any thing no not the worst that Man can do unto them but may be confident of Safety and Deliverance they need not much desire the best things of the World nor fear the worst 5. They may think believe say and be assured That God is their Help And so much the rather because God hath promised that he will not leave them or forsake them at any time and why should they be covetous or fearful there is no cause of either Thus the Apostle disswades from Covetousnesse and perswades to Contentedness and that upon most powerful Reasons taken out of the Book of God wherewith they were well acquainted And though both the places are restrained to this particular Duty yet they are of far greater latitude and minister effectual Comfort § 7. The next Duty exhorted unto is the Imitation of their Teachers in Ver. 7. Remember them who have the Rule over you who have spoken unto you the Word of God whose Faith follow considering the end of their Conversation Ver. 8. Jesus Christ the same yesterday to day and for ever THese words may be considered in their general Coherence with the former as they are an Exhortation to another distinct Duty or in their particular Connexion with the Text immediately antecedent for their Guides and Teachers have given them an Example in that not being covetous but contented alwayes with their present Estate though poor they continued constant in the Profession and Preaching of the Gospel of Christ in the midst of all necessities and persecutions and did not doubt of God's Presence and Providence nor fear what Man could do unto them The former Connexion is certain the latter probable In the Duty exhorted unto we may observe 1. Three Acts. 2. Their three Objects 3. The subordination of these Acts upon these Objects one unto another 1. The Acts are Remembrance Consideration Imitation 2. The Object of their Remembrance was their Guides which had spoken to them the Word of God the Object of their Consideration was the end of their Conversation the Object of their Imitation was their Faith 3. The Subordination was that they must remember that they may consider consider that they may imitate They must remember their Guides who had taught them the Word of God they must remember them that they may consider the end of their Conversation they must consider the End of their Conversation that they may follow their Faith In the first Act upon the first Object we may observe three Propositions 1. They had their Guides 2. These had spoken unto them the Word of God 3. These they must remember 1. They had their Guides These were the Apostles especially and principally and also others both extraordinary and ordinary Dispensets of the Gospel These were Guides because they did direct them unto Christ by Christ to God and in God to eternal Life for without a Guide sinful blind and ignorant Wretches know nothing of Christ God eternal Life and the way leading thereunto and therefore they wander in the wide way which leadeth unto Destruction These Guides are said
is a Sacrifice of Praise and Thanks-giving 2. This Praise is the fruit of our Lips and so is Thanks-giving 3. This Sacrifice of Praise must be offered unto God with Thanks-giving to his Name 4. This Sacrifice must be offered by Christ. 5. It must be offered continually 1. There is a Sacrifice of Praise for there is Praise and this Praise is a Sacrifice Praise as it 's a Duty to be performed to God 1. Hath for Object some divine Vertues and Perfections and the same manifested unto us by his Word or Works or both and also apprehended by us 2. It is an Acknowledgment of these Perfections as proper unto God as most glorious and excellent in respect of them 3. Some outward Expression of this Acknowledgment as by word of Mouth or some other way 2. This Praise is a Sacrifice because to be offered to God of which hereafter 2. This Praise is the fruit of our Lips because by our words which issue from the heart we express our inward thoughts and high Apprehensions of the same Therefore our Tongue in Hebrew is said to be our Glory and the Reason given by some is not only this that by our Speech and Language we excel irrational Creatures but because it was given us to praise and glorify God And as our Understanding is given us to think of God and to know him so our Speech was given us to speak of God and declare his wondrous Works and his excellent Perfections manifested therein In this respect Praise is said to be a speaking well of the person or thing to be praised This Expression is made either in private or publick and the publick is the principal It is made either in our Prayers in our singing of Psalms Hymns and spiritual Songs wherein the Voice is louder sweeter and melodious which is called Vocal Musick sometimes joyned with that which is called Instrumental The Reason why in Assemblies we use this Vocal Praise is to inform others and stirr them up to praise God joyntly with us Thanks-giving also is the Fruit of our Lips wherein we use our Voice as in Praise and sometimes Praise and Thanks-giving are the same therefore the word here used signifies Confession which presupposing our inward Acknowledgment is an outward Declaration of the same Yet Thanks-giving strictly taken is different from Praise for the object of it is the works of God as beneficial to us and manifesting his mercy love and kindness and the act of it is an acknowledgment of his love mercy and kindness and an expression of the same And this is also a Fruit of our Lips as well as Praise and is signified outwardly for the same Reasons for which the inward Acknowledgment of Praise is expressed This Phrase Fruit of our Lips is taken out of the Prophets as Isa. 57. 19. but especially Hosea 14. 2. where the word Calves is turned by the Septuagint Fruit. 3. This Sacrifice of Praise and Thanks-giving must be offered to God and to his Name A Sacrifice is sometimes taken largely for an Oblation or Offering and in this sense a Sacrifice is an Offering of something to God as Supream Lord. Praise therefore and so Thanksgiving being something offered to God as Supream may be said to be a Sacrifice which is proper to a Deity Praise is due to Him as Supream in some Perfections Thanks as to the Supream Benefactor and Fountain of all Goodness Blessings Mercies These are due to him as he is Supream and we are bound to offer these by vertue of the first Commandment which requireth Love Fear Praise Thanks-giving Honour and other Duties to be performed to Him alone as Supream in the highest degree The Reason why the Authour mentions Sacrifice may be this Because all Religions require Sacrifices to be offered to a God whether true or imaginary and God required in the Law several kinds of Sacrifices both Ilastical and Eucharistical to be offered unto him and these Hebrews might say What is the Law of Moses so abrogated that all Sacrifices and Offerings to God are taken away Hath Christian Religion no such thing Is it singular in this particular To this the Apostle answers that indeed all Sacrifices of Bullocks Goats Lambs Rams which were carnal are taken away yet there are more excellent Sacrifices which are moral and spiritual of which praise and thanksgiving are not the least to be offered unto God as Supreme Lord. For you are an holy Priest-hood to offer up spiritual Sacrifices c. 1 Pet. 2. 5. Where it 's expresly signified 1. That there must be Sacrifices in the Christian Religion and Worship Yet 2. These Sacrifices must not be carnal but spiritual And under the Law God required the Sacrifice of Thanksgiving more then the Blood of Bulls and Goats Psal. 50. 14. and the Knowledg of God and mercy more then those Legal Sacrifices of Beasts Hos. 6. 6. and the Sacrifices of a broken Spirit of a broken and contrite heart Psal. 51. 17. This Sacrifice of praise was and is most solemnly to be offered in the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ for that inestimable blessing of Redemption by that great Sacrifice offered upon the Cross. Therefore that Sacrament was called the Eucharist or Thanksgiving and a Commemoration of Christ's Death And this might be the reason why the Antients so often called it a Sacrifice to signify that neither the Heathens nor Jews had any reason to upbraid them with the want or neglect of Sacrifice It must be offered unto God and God alone as Supreme and to his Name where by Name may be signified either his Majesty and Supremacy and it is the same with offering unto God or it may signify his Glory and then the meaning is that it must be offered to him to manifest his Glory and to ascribe all Glory Honour excellency and Perfection unto him 4. This Sacrifice must be offered by Christ. By Christ that is by Faith in Christ 1. As having propitiated God by his Blood and made his Throne accessible For by him we have access by Faith into this Grace wherein we stand Rom. 5. 2. Through him we have access by one Spirit to the Father Eph. 2. 18. And in him we have boldness and access with confidence by Faith of him Col. 3. 12. For how should sinful guilty man dare to approach into his presence of an holy and just Lord if satisfaction be not made first unto Divine Justice offended by Sin 2. By Faith in him as having merited God's favour and acceptance of our Services for without this Merit we are unworthy to enter into his presence and our best Services considered in themselves without his merit are not acceptable 3. By him as our Mediatour and Intercessour for he is our Advocate with the Father 1 Joh. 2. 1. As no man under the Law could offer his Sacrifice unto God but by the Priest so under the Gospel no man can offer his Prayers Praises Alms or any other