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
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
imprinted there more perfectly Yet the word turned Laws signifies in the Hebrew Doctrines And these are the Doctrines of the Gospel concerning Christ's Person Nature Offices and the Work of Redemption the Doctrines of Repentance Faith Justification Resurrection and eternal Life and these either presuppose or include the Moral Law For they must be such Truths as are necessary and effectual to Man's Salvation without the Knowledge and practice whereof sinful Man cannot attain eternal Life Further they are Doctrines concerning Christ as already exhibited glorified reigning and officiating in Heaven 2. The Book or Tables wherein they must be written are the mind and heart of Man By Mind some conceive is meant the Understanding and by Heart the Will and rational Appetite But by both words are meant the immortal Soul endued with a Power to understand and will or nill that which is understood The word in the Hebrew turned by the Septuagint 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Mind and intellective Faculty signifieth the inward parts because as the heart and reins are the inmost parts of the Body so the mind thoughts and rational Appetite are intima Anime the inmost parts if we may so speak of the Soul They are as it were the Center of that immortal Substance where all the active vigour and powers of the Soul are united There is the Spring and Original of all rational and moral Operations of all thoughts affections and inward Motions There is the directive Counsel and imperial commanding Power There is the prime Mover of all humane Actions as such This is the Subject fit to receive not only natural but supernatural Truths and Doctrines and all Laws There divine Characters may be imprinted and made legible to the Soul it self This is the most noble and excellent Book that any can write in This is an Allusion to the Tables of Stone wherein the Law was written for the Law was not written in the heart but in stone upon Phylacteries Frontlets Posts and Walls of their Houses And now the Scriptures and divine Revelations are written in Books so as that they are legible by the Eye they may be spoken and so uttered by Man as to be perceived by the Ear and from these be conveyed to the common sense and fancy and by degree be transmitted to the Soul which by them receives some imperfect representations not informations This immortal Soul is the Book or Table wherein these Laws and divine Doctrines must be written 3. The Scribe or Pen-man is God for it 's said I will give or put I will write He that said so was the Lord And it must be He because the Work is so curious and excellent that it 's far above the Sphere of created activity He alone can immediately work upon the immortal Soul to inform it move it alter it and mould it anew so as neither Man or Angel can do They may by the outward senses and the fancy come near the Soul but immediately prepare it and make lively Impressions and write clear Characters of divine Truth upon it they cannot They may move it and affect or disaffect it yet to take away the stony heart and make an heart of Flesh is far above their Power Therefore God doth alwayes ascribe this great Work unto himself 4. The Act and Work of this Pen-man is to write and write these Laws and write them in the heart How he doth it we know not That he doth it is clear enough His preparations illuminations impulsions inspirations are strange and wonderful of great and mighty force For in this Work he doth not onely represent divine Objects in a clearer light and propose high Motives to incline and turn the heart but also gives a divine perceptive and appetitive Power whereby the Soul more easily and clearly apprehends and more effectually affects heavenly things The Effect of this Writing is a divine Knowledge of God's Laws and a ready and willing heart to obey them and conform unto them a Power to know and do the Word of God This is that Work of the Spirit which is called Vocation Renovation Regeneration Conversion actively taken without which Man cannot repent believe obey and turn to God It 's said to be a quickning of Man dead in sin a putting God's fear in Man's heart a putting God's Spirit within Man to cause him to obey his Laws a calling out of Darkness into Light a writing upon the fleshy Tables of Man's heart By this writing Man is said to have a new Heart and Spirit not that God creates in Man a new Soul or new Faculties but because he gives new Power new Light new Life new Qualifications so that Man is made partaker of a divine Nature and moulded anew with so much alteration that he is another Man though not for Substance yet for Qualities and Operations All this tends to an imperfect explication of this Promise wherein this new Covenant differs from and is more excellent than the former For that had no Promise of God's writing his Laws and Doctrines in Man's heart or of giving any sanctifying or renewing Power to enable them to observe and keep his Judgments Yet lest we mistake this excellent and most comfortable part of Scripture many things are to be observed 1. Concerning the Laws 2. Concerning the heart 3. Concerning God's writing in the heart 1. The Laws the Laws of God are written in the heart not the inventions fancies of men nor natural nor mathematical nor moral Philosophy much less the Errors and Blasphemies of Seducers and false Prophets It 's true that humane Learning and Languages are excellent means to find out the sense of the Scriptures and are great Blessings ordained of God for that end and being used with Prayer and sanctified may do much Yet we must know that these Doctrines are not only those of the Moral Law but these high Mysteries concerning Christ the Redemption Repentance Faith Justification Resurrection and the eternal Punishments and Rewards in the World to come as they are revealed in the Gospel For the matter and subject of them is God's Kingdom and the Government of God-Redeemer ordering Man to his final and eternal estate as I have manifested in another Treatise 2. The heart of Man is by Nature a very untoward and indisposed Subject and not capable of these heavenly Doctrines It 's blind and perverse and there is an Antipathy between it and these Laws It hath some little parcels of the Law of Nature written in it but not any thing of these heavenly and evangelical Truths it neither knows them nor can relish them And when they are represented unto it yet it hath no intellective Power to understand them nor any Will or Desire to seek them or inclination to obey the Laws of God which direct unto everlasting life It 's not only ignorant but filthily blotted and blurred with Errours both in matters of Religion and humane Conversation And this is the condition not only of Heathens
and Sin reigned from Adam to Moses Rom. 5. 12 14. And the wages of Sin is Death Rom. 6. 23. Besides it 's said That in Adam all dye that is in Adam sinning for he was that one man by whom Sin entred into the World 1 Cor. 15. 22. So that God appointed Man to dye and to dye but once The second Proposition is That after Death followeth Judgment This is the second thing For Death is first Judgment the second and the word after signifies the order of time For Death goes before and Judgment follows after The party Judged is Man the Judge is God whose Judgment is particular or general particular of every particular individual person general or universal of all For there is the Judgment of the great Day when all shall appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ and this Judgment is appointed of God and appointed to follow after Death after which follows the final and eternal estate of man which shall be unalterable and by Judgment may be meant not only the Sentence of the Judge but the estate of the parties judged which followeth thereupon whether it be an estate of misery or of felicity We live here that we may prepare for this Judgment and we ought so to live as that we may be happy for ever hereafter and prevent the suffering of eternal punishments Yet men do not believe that God will Judge us and that Judgment will follow and that unavoidably after Death or if they do not believe this yet they do not seriously consider it This is the reason why they live secure in their Sins and extream danger and this is the cause of their eternal ruine It 's not material to enquire whether the act of the Judge or the estate of the parties judged or whether particular or universal Judgment be here meant or no. It 's certain that this is a Judgment which followeth after Death and the final and universal Doom seems to be here intended when both Soul and Body the whole man and all men that dye shall be judged This is the proposition § 26. The Reddition followeth in these words Ver. 28. So Christ was once offered to bear the Sins of many and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto Salvation THis Text informs us of the appearance of Christ for that 's the subject of it This appearance is two-fold the first and the second and both these differ much not only for the manner but the end The first was in Humility and the end was to suffer and by suffering to expiate Sin The second shall be in Glory and the end of it to give eternal Salvation to such as look for him The first was to suffer and save the second to judge and reward his faithful and obedient Servants The propositions therefore are two 1. Christ was once offered to bear the Sins of many 2. Unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without Sin unto Salvation The first is the same with that in ver 26. But now once in the end of the World hath he appeared to put away Sin by the Sacrifice of himself The words differ the matter is the same For as there so here two things are observable 1. The Sacrifice the single Sacrifice of Christ. 2. The end of it The single Sacrifice for Christ was once offered the end for he was once offered to bear the Sins of many First he offered himself this was an act of him as a Priest and as he was the best Priest that ever lived so he himself was the best Sacrifice that ever was offered The end was also excellent for he bare the sins of many that is the punishment due for the sins of many and he bare this punishment to satisfy divine Justice and procure God's favour to sinful man We deserved the punishment and he suffers it he is punished that we may be spared It was tender compassion in him to offer himself for us and it was exceeding love in God to send and give him for to suffer and so be the propitiation for our Sins He bare the sins of all to make them pardonable and the sins of many even of all sincere Believers that they may be actually pardoned for ever possibility of pardon is the benefit of all actual pardon of many yet not of all For Christ had no absolute intention to procure the Salvation of all but of such as believe in him yet the reason why all are not pardoned is not from Christ's Death which made the Sins of all pardonable but from some other cause And this is the condemnation of all those to whom the Gospel is preached That Light comes unto them and they love Darkness rather then Light God hath given his only begotten Son and his Son hath offered himself and made the way to Heaven passible and remission of Sins and eternal Life are offered unto u upon fair and reasonable terms and conditions and though to corrupt Flesh and Blood they be difficult yet they are made easy by the power of the Spirit yet we love our Sins more then our Saviour and continue in them to our eternal condemnation § 27. The second Proposition is concerning his second appearance For he shall appear the second time where as before we have the manner and the end The manner is Glorious for he shall appear without Sin yet he never had any Sin and in his first appearance he was without Sin For Sin of his own he had not yet he bare Sins the Sins of others the Sins of many Yet these Sins were not his by Commission but by Imputation so far as to be liable to Death For God laid on him the Iniquities of us all So that without Sin is without suffering for the Sins of others He shall not come the second time to dye for our Sins as he did the first this is the genuine sense When he came to Sacrifice for Sin he came in great Humility and took upon him the form of a Servant and was obedient unto Death the Death of the Cross this low condition was suitable to the work he then undertook But now he comes as King and Lord to judge the World and therefore he comes in Glory The end of his coming is to reward and the reward is Salvation and the parties to be rewarded are such as look for him By Salvation is meant eternal Life and full Happiness which he purchased by his precious Blood and it 's so called because man in danger of eternal Death shall then be fully saved and delivered from all Sin and all the sad and woful Consequents of Sin and that for ever for then Death man's last Enemy shall be destroyed Yet this immunity from all evil cannot consist without the enjoyment of those glorious and eternal Blessings which God hath promised this is the great reward which Believers do expect and because they know they shall not
done and yet they remain Christians This is not strictly Apostacy In this number were many of those who antiently were called Lapsi and upon repenance were re-admitted to Christian Communion Therefore the Apostacy here 1. Is not barely to Sin for who lives and sins not Nor 2. To Sin willingly for so every one that Sins especially such as act against their knowledg may be said to do But 3. It 's to sin willingly after the reception of the knowledg of the Truth so as to renounce the Truth whereof they were fully convinced and to reject Christianity which they had received and professed That this was the sin here meant will fully appear hereafter § 26. This is the Sin The Punishment follows and it is unavoidable The reason hereof is first because it 's unpardonable This is signified by these words There remains no more Sacrifices for Sins This implies 1. That the punishment of Sins unpardonable is inavoidable and this is a clear and certain truth if we consider the Rules of God's Judgment and his Practice For whom he never pardons those he alwayes punisheth 2. That no sin is pardonable without a Sacrifice he meaneth the Sacrifice of Christ one immediate effect whereof once was to make Sin pardonable The reason why God required 1. Sacrifice 2. This Sacrifice was 1. To manifest his hatred of Sin and his Justice 2. To let men know that no Sacrifice was so fit for this purpose as that of Christ. These things implyed he affirms there remains no more Sacrifice for Sins In this he denies not this Sacrifice of Christ or the virtue of it to remain for both remain But his meaning is that neither this Sacrifice nor any other can make the Sins of these Apostates pardonable For Sin is pardonable by this Offering upon condition of Repentance and Faith and then actually to be pardoned when we actually do repent and believe sincerely But here we must take notice that the sins of many persons are pardonable and may be pardoned because though for the present they do not yet for the future they may in due time repent but the Sins of these Apostates upon their Apostacy become unpardonable so as that they neither shall not can be pardoned The reason of this is an eternal decree of divine Justice whereby he hath determined that the Sacrifice of Christ shall never benefit any such as fall away after they have received the knowledg of the Truth and if this Sacrifice shall never be accepted for them not any other ever shall have any force to expiate their Sin § 27. Therefore to such there can be no hope of mercy Ver. 27. But a fearful looking for of Judgment and fiery Indignation which shall devour the Adversaries IN the former words it 's implyed That the Apostate is liable to an unavoidable punishment of loss because he hath deprived himself of all hope of pardon or benefit to be received by the Sacrifice of Christ and here that he is obnoxious to a positive eternal penalty as unavoidable as the former In the words we may easily observe 1. The penalty to be inflicted 2. The parties who must suffer it 3. The certain expectation of it 1. The penalty may seem to be described 1. From the Cause the severe Justice of God 2. The Effect which is devouring or consuming The severe Justice of God is signified 1. More properly by the word Judgment 2. Improperly or Metaphorically by fiery Indignation 1. The word Judgment may inform us that this Justice is not legislative but judicial and as judicial not remunerative but vindictive which presupposeth Crime and Guilt in the party to be Judged The Judge is God the party to be judged the Apostare and the word Judgment may signify strictly the Sentence more largely or the Sentence and the Execution or the Punishment to be inferred This Judgment is the decree of Condemnation which determines the penalty and to signify how dreadful it is it 's said 2. Metaphorically to be fiery Indignation The words may be translated the hear or boiling or burning of fire that is fiery hear The Phrase is taken out of the Old Testament as Ezek 38. 19. Zeph. 1. 18 3 8. In which places the Septuagint use both these words of the Text For 1. The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies 1. Wrath. 2. Indignation which is an high degree of Wrath and sometimes Jealously which is an implacable anger and the word fire is added to denote the force and vehemency of it And both words together signify Wrath very intensive and of an high degree yet God is not subject to passion as Man is but by these terms the Spirit informs us of God's high displeasure against and his great hatred and detestation of Apostacy and the severity of his Justice whereby he is resolved most fearfully to punish that Sin which is not barely a disobedience of some particular Law but a plain revolt So that God's severe Justice is the Cause the Effect is this that it will devour or consume which is no partial but a total destruction not that God will take away the beeing but the well-beeing of the Offender and will not only totally bereave him of all Comfort but torment him with extremity of Pain 2. The parties that most suffer are Adversaries Adversaries are Apostates who are not meerly disobedient Subjects but Revolters They violate the fundamentall Law of subjection and raze the foundation of Obedience for subjection unto God-Redeemer by Christ is the first and highest Duty God requires of sinful Man and it 's the ground of all Obedience and this Sin of Apostacy is opposed to this Subjection Yet it differs from that Rebellion which upon God's Call refuseth to submit and acknowledg Christ our Soveraign For this presupposeth that men have received Christ promised their Allegiance and by their Baptism have engaged themselves to God the Father Son and Holy Ghost and yet contrary to this engagment renounce the Supremacy of this universal Lord and so of engaged Subjects become Enemies for such all Rebells and Revolters are and shall be so judged by God Many besides these shall be condemned and fearfully punished but these are the Adversaries intended in this place 3. There remains a certain fearful looking for of this Judgment c. The meaning is they cannot look for any other final retribution This implies 1. That though they never fear it not think of it yet they are obnoxious to it 2. That this will certainly be their Doom and as they are obnoxious by Law and the certain and eternal rules of Judgment for neither Sentence nor Execution will fail they shall certainly suffer that which they have deserved 3. If they ever seriously reflect upon themselves and remember what they have done as Conscience will now and then lash them and mind them of their Crime they must needs expect it and their fear will be very great For as
they apprehend the peril so will their fear be and they cannot apprehend the Judgment but as very grievous near at hand pressing hard upon them and unavoidable and so it will terrify and torment them before the time of Execution The sum of this Text is that as there is no hope of mercy and pardon so there remains a fearful expectation of grievous punishment and the same unavoidable § 28. And lest the Apostate should slatter himself and promise impunity to his Soul the Apostle proceeds to prove it unavoidable and very grievous according to the hainousness of the Sin and this he doth in these words Ver. 28. He that despised Moses Law died without mercy under two or three Witnesses Ver. 29. Of how much sorer punishment suppose ye shall he be thought worthy who hath trâ—dden under foot the Son of God and hath counted the Blood of the Covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing and hath done despite to the Spirit of Grace THese words are a Comparison and it 's two-fold 1. In quality 2. In quantity The first is presupposed and implyed The second intended and expresly delivered The first in quality informs that as he that transgressed Moses Law was punished without mercy so shall he be that Sins wilfully under the Gospel after he hath received the knowledg of the Truth In the second in quantity we may observe 1. The Proposition ver 28. 2. The Reddition ver 29. In the handling of these we must consider 1. The parts absolutely 2. The whole under the notion of a Comparison 3. The force of the Comparison as it is a reason In the Proposition we may take notice of 1. The party to be punished 2. The manner of judicial proceeding 3. The punishment it self 1. The party to be punished is one that transgressed Moses Law that is the Law of God given to Israel by Moses where we have the Person and the Crime or Cause The Person is one under the Law of Moses while it was in force before the time of the Gospel The Crime is a transgression of that Law and this transgression was not any disobedience but such as for which there was no Expiation appointed no Remission in that Law promised it was such a Crime as God determined to be capital and to be punished with a Capital punishment and loss of Life The word is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is the same with 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which the Septuagint intrepret by the word used in the Text and both signify to revolt and that Revolt from the Law was answerable to Apostacy from the Gospel This was a breach of that fundamental Law Thou shalt have no other Gods but me This was a revolt from the true God their God whom they had acknowledged to be their God unto Idols Yet there might be other Crimes which might so grate upon the Foundation as to amount to this hainous sin of Revolt 2. The manner of proceeding against such a Transgressour was by information and delation of such a Transgressour before a competent Judge who must proceed Secunduns allegata probata and could not justly sentense the party but upon evidence Sometimes the fact might be notorious or confessed and sometimes maintained by the party offending yet the ordinary way was by Witnesses and in case of a man's life he required two witnesses at least in which respect singular is testis nullus testis The end of witnesses was Evidence that so the merit or demerit of the Cause might appear to the Judge and so the Cause be in an immediate capacity for Sentence 3. The demerit of the cause once made evident Judgment passed upon the party and he was sentenced to Death without any mercy and this Judgment must be executed So that if the Judge did make the Law of Moses his rule he could not acquit or absolve the party nor impose any other punishment nor help the Offender by commutation nor abate the least of this penalty for he by his transgression had made himself uncapable of mercy In this Proposition two things are especially to be noted 1. The Crime which was hainous 3. The Punishment which was Death without mercy § 29. The Reddition follows in the next words where we must observe as before 1. The Sin 2. The Penalty 1. The Sin is described or rather aggravated from three particulars It 's 1. A creading of the Son of God under foot 2. A counting the Blood of the Covenant whereby the Transgressor was sanctified an unholy thing 3. A doing of despite unto the Spirit of Grace The Sin is Apostacy and no man can Apostate from Christianity once received but he shall be guilty of the Contempt 1. Of the Son of God 2. Of the Blood of the Covenant 3. Of the Spirit of Grace The first aggravation therefore is from the contempt of the Son of God For 1. The Apostate treads under foot the Son of God the expression is metaphorical and presupposeth that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and affirmeth that he though the Son of God is trodden under foot To tread a thing under foot is 1. To undervalue it if it be of any worth 2. To vilify it 3. To vilify it very much 4. To expresse this contempt by casting it upon the Ground and trampling upon it which is the greatest debasement and is sometimes an expression of utter detestation Thus Jezabel was thrown down upon the Earth and trampled upon by Jehu's Horses To vilify and debase things that are base is no fault and to despise unworthy men is tolerable but the Apostate undervalues vilifieth and in an high degree the Son of God and the greater his dignity the greater the indignity He is not meer man though man yet as man the best of men for he is the Son of God and that not any kind of Son but the only begotten and beloved Son of God the brightness of his Fathers Glory and the express Image of his person and so the Son of God that he is God Though he did descend so low for a little time as to be made man and humbled himself so far as to take upon him the form of a Servant and in that form to be obedient unto Death the Death of the Cross yet in this low estate he was the Son of God But after his humiliation even as man he is advanced to the right hand of God and is made Lord of Men and Angels an everlasting King an everlasting Priest Yet this Son of God the Apostate Christian so far vilifies as that he denies him to be God to be the Son of God to be a just Man nay judgeth him to be an Impostor a false Prophet a Malefactor and justly and worthily Crucified and if he had been living on Earth and in the Apostate's power he would have dealt with him as they did Thus neither the Person and Deity of Christ nor his Natures nor the personal Union of them nor
his transcendent Gifts nor his heavenly Wisdom nor his Glorious Workâ— nor his rare Virtues nor his great work of Expiation nor his Glory and Power which he enjoyes at the right hand of God could any wayes move him but he vilifies him and debaseth him that was higher then the Heavens as low as the dust and dirt under his feet yet this debasement was only an act of his base mind but could not in the least degree diminish or obscure the Glory and Excellency of Christ This is the first aggravation of Apostacy 2. He counteth the Blood of the Covenant whereby he was sanctified an unholy thing Where we have 1. The Blood of the Covenant 2. The sanctifying Power of this Blood 3. The counting of it unholy 1. By the Blood understand the blooddy Sacrifice of Christ so much magnified in the former Chapter for it 's that Blood by which Christ entring the holy place of Heaven obtained eternal Redemption that Blood which purgeth the Conscience from dead Works to serve the living God that Blood which confirmed the everlasting Covenant in which respect it 's called the Blood of the Covenant This Covenant is called the Conant of Grace wherein for and in consideration of the unspotted Blood of Christ once shed God promiseth Remission of Sins and the eternal Inheritance of Glory upon condition of Repentance and Faith in Christ. And it 's called the Blood of this Covenant because upon it the Covenant was grounded and by virtue of it all the Promises thereof are made unalterable firm and effectual 2. This was the Blood by which this Apostate upon his receiving the knowledg of the Truth was sanctified For 1. This Blood as offered and accepted of God made his Sin remissible 2. Upon the profession of his Faith and his Baptism his Sin was at least conditionally pardoned and purged 3. So long as he continued in his profession and so far as he proceeded according to certain degrees in Faith and the profession of it so far he might be said to be in a state of Justification or at least in the way to Justification and not only to Justification but Sanctification as it 's made distinct from Justification though Sanctification be taken in this Epistle for Justification For this Blood of Christ is more beneficial to those which receive the Gospel are baptized believe with some degree of Faith than to others who either never heard the Gospel or if they heard did reject it And all the power against sin that any professing baptized Christian receives all the hope joy comfort which follows upon their profession are from the Blood of Christ. And how far some men may proceed in Christianity and what benefit they may receive by Christ and yet after fall away you have heard something in this sixth Chapter And such is the benefit which such do receive by the Blood of Christ that in a fair sense they may be said to be sanctified and have their sins purged by it Yet the meaning of the Apostle may be not only that they were some wayes sanctified by it but that it was the Blood and the Blood alone which could sanctify them and from which alone they could expect Sanctification 3. Yet this sanctifying Blood the Apostate counts unholy or common To be common Blood may be understood 1. Such as hath no expiating and purging power 2. Such as is no better then the Blood of Bulls and Goats sacrificed 3. Such as differs not from the Blood of other men 4. Such as is the Blood of a Malefactor guilty and vicious person and that is impure and unholy Blood So that the Apostate though he had received some kind and measure of Sanctification from it yet ascribed no more virtue and excellency to it then to common Blood denyed the sanctifying power of it nay did account it unholy and polluted Yet you must note that though it be so vile in his conceit and judgment yet it 's really in it self the onely sanctifying Blood and effectually sanctifying to all such as do sincerely believe This is the second aggravation 3. The Apostate doth despite unto the Spirit of Grace where we must enquire 1. What this Spirit is 2. Why he is called the Spirit of Grace 3. What it is to do despite unto this Spirit 1. This Spirit is not the spirit of Man neither is it any Angel nor any created Person or Substance but it 's an uncreated Spirit the Spirit of God so as that it is God therefore the perfections and operations of God are predicated of it It 's that Spirit which with the Father and the Son is the Supream object of our Faith that Spirit by which God made the World preserves and governs the same that Spirit whereby he regenerates and sanctifies his People and animates the whole Body of the Church 2. This Spirit is said to be the Spirit of Grace Thus he may be called in opposition to the Spirit of bondage and fear which is the Spirit proper to the Law For the Spirit by the Law which had no Expiation for Sin no Blood to purge the Conscience no promise of power to keep it nor of pardon if transgressed could work nothing but fear which was a continued slavery and bondage The Spirit of the Gospel which is the Spirit of Christ promised and given in the Gospel is a Spirit of comfort and confidence a Spirit of Adoption which manifests the special love of God in Christ our Justification Reconciliation and gives us power to keep the Covenant Some understand it to be called the Spirit of Grace because he is given out of Grace and free Mercy Others think that this Name is given to this Spirit because by it God gives us Grace For by Grace they understand those spiritual and supernatural Graces which sanctify the Soul and dispose it for communion with God and all those supernatural comforts which issue from that Communion And it 's very true that as God by this Spirit works all things so especially by him he produceth these heavenly Virtues which tend so much unto eternal life 3. They do despite unto this Spirit In this despight there are Injury Reproach Contempt and the greater the Person to whom the despite is done the more hainous it is This here meant is not done to Man but God because done to that Spirit which is so the Spirit of God that he is God This is committed 1. By resisting the sanctifying Power of God 2. By undoing all that God by his Spirit had done in him for his Salvation 3. By accounting the Gifts Notions Motions of this Spirit the Works Delusions and Impulses of the Devil and that not only in himself but in others sanctified by this Spirit and endued with his Gifts This is the more hainous because done not out of ignorance or infirmity but out of pure malignity of the Will with malice to Christ and deâ—estation of Christian Religion and all this after upon conviction
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
liveless and sonsless This is the deficiency of the Body from which the Metaphor is taken For the deficiency of the Soul in the profession of the Christian Faith is intended and signified by these words therefore is added the word mind that is lest you â—e â—â—ary and faint in your mind This implies that there is a divine spiritual or moral strength and fortitude of the mind whereby it 's enabled to endure Persecutions and Contradictions though many and long continued Yet as the Body so the Mind may be wearied faint yield ly under the burden and entertain thoughts of forsaking the Faith and at length forsake it indeed And this was the Devils design to tire and weary them out that so they might be willing to renounce Christianity the Profession whereof was so toublesom 2. The Remedy here mentioned whereby this sad Event might be prevented was to consider what Contradiction Christ suffered from Sinners and yet endured with Patience to the End This through the Sanctification of God's Spirit would refresh strengthen and revive them And here we must observe that some are of so poor a spirit as that they will yield before their Strength fail them some are lazy and love their Ease some are negligent and make no use of such Helps as God hath put in their power and this is a great Sin in any of us who profess the Faith of Christ and it tends to Apostacy For God requires whilst we have any strength to use it 3. Therefore they are exhorted to use the means and consider Christ's Patience and Constancy and following his Example not sink under a far leighter burden seeing he did not shrink under a far more heavy Temptation § 4. Besides the Example of Christ which they must consider there is another Reason Ver. 4. Ye have not yet resisted unto Blood striving against Sin THough this may seem to be another distinct Reason from the former yet it may be a Branch of the same For Christ had resisted to Blood which they had not done Yet there may be something more in the Text for not only Christ but also other Saints far inferiour to Christ had been faithful unto Death and had sealed their Profession with their Blood This was no more than Duty and God required it at their hands and to faint and fall off before that Period was agrievous Sin This therefore presupposeth that it was their Duty to resist unto Blood and to suffer far more than yet they had endured therefore they must go on In the words we have two Propositions 1. They did strive against Sin or they did suffer striving against Sin 2. In striving against Sin they had not yet resisted unto Blood 1. By Sin is not meant any kind of Sin but some one principal and far above the rest and its Apostacy called so Antonomastik 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 s by way of Eminency It 's true that it 's a general Duty of all Christians to strive against all Sin for we are no sooner regenerate and have renounced the Devil and the World and bid desiance and proclaimed eternal Feud and Hostility but we are fearfully assaulted and after that time our Life is a continued Warfare hence the many fearful Conflicts between Flesh and Spirit within us The Events of this War are many and various but the final Issue is a total final eternal Victory The great Design of Satan in this Battle is to shake our Faith in pieces for then if that be done the Conquest is compleat Therefore said our Saviour to Peter Simon Simon Behold Satan hath desired to have you that he might sift you as Wheat But I have prayed for thee that thy Faith fail not Luk. 22. 31 32. And if Christ should not strengthen and support no Man could stand Therefore we should remember and consider what our condition is it 's a state of War and not of Peace and we are environed continually with potent vigilant and cruel Enemies which seek our temporal and eternal Ruine in this respect we must alwayes sight and strive with all our Power and stand continually upon our Watch pray for help and humbly depend upon our God and of all other things let us keep our Faith If that be safe all is safe and all other Sins pardonable but if that be lost all is lost and our case is desperate 2. Yet in this War they had not resisted to Blood By Blood is meant Death and a violent taking away of Life and though they had resisted stoutly and suffered much yet their lives were safe Reproaches and loss of Goods were grievous yet Life is very precious and the best thing we have in this World it 's far more than Goods and these temporal Estates and Man will do much and give much to save it In this respect Death is said to be so terrible as the greatest of all temporal Evils Upon this he urgeth this Duty of Perseverance in Resistance because their Life was due to Christ and whosoever will not lay it down for Christ's sake cannot be his Disciple For if any man saith Christ come to me and hate not his Father and Mother and Wife and Children and Brethren and Sisters yea and his own Life also he cannot be my Disciple Seeing therefore their Duty was to do and suffer far more than yet they were put unto they should not faint under the loss when they were bound to beaâ— the greater burden And as this was their Duty so it 's ours and if we think it unreasonable to be put unto so hard Service to resist even unto Blood if God require it let us consider that Christ suffered cruel pains and laid down his Life for us that many of God's Saints did cheerfully suffer loss of all earthly Comforts and of life it self that if we lose our life which is but mortal and momentany we find a Life immortal glorious and for ever blessed that we resist and strive not for our temporal Estates Wives Children earthly Country but for our eternal Safety Peace and Happiness that our Sufferings though far greater than they are yet are but leight and for a moment but the Glory which will follow is exceeding and eternal and will make amends for all Lord encrease our Faith and strengthen our hearts in the hour of Temptation § 5. The next Argument is taken from the Nature of their Sufferings as they are Chastisements upon them from God as a Father chastning every Child according to his Wisdom for their Good and Happiness wherein they end for the end of them is Peace This Argument we find proposed first and then excellently polished It begins Ver. 5. And ye have forgotten the Exhortation which speaketh to you as to Children My Son despise not thou the chastening of the Lord nor faint when thou art rebuked ef him IN these words with those that follow unto Ver. 14 we may observe 1. Something presupposed 2. Something expressed 1. The thing presupposed is
progress had lost their Christendom it was impossible for them to be renewed and initiated again For neither the grace of Repentance could be expected from the Spirit nor any benefit from the Sacrifice of Christ which was never intended for to expiate the Sins of Apostates This is amplified and illustrated by a Similitude For as they who continue and increase in Grace shall be like good Ground and receive the blessing of God so Apostates shall be like bad Ground which being well Husbanded proves barren is cursed and the end is Burning For Apostates render themselves liable to God's Curse and everlasting Fire ver 4 5 6 7 8. 2. Though some of them might be very faulty yet he had better hope of the generality of them and this his hope is grounded on 1. God's Righteousness 2. Their Faith in Christ and labour of love manifested in their constant ministration to the Saints ver 9 10. Thus far the Resolution the Exhortation followeth Wherein we may observe 1. The Duty exhorted unto which is Perseverance ver 11. 2. The Motive from example of former Saints not named ver 12. Abraham In the example of Abraham the Apostle takes special notice of a Promise made unto him and confirmed by Oath and acquaints them with the end of this confirmation which was 1. To shew to the Heirs of Promise the immutability of his Counsel in performing his Promise ver 13 14 15 16 17. 2. To minister Comfort to them ver 18 19. This Digression finished he resumes the words of Confirmation Psal. 110. 4. that they may be the subject of the Chapter following ver 20. CHAP. VII THE Subject whereof is the words of Psal. 100. 4. formerly resumed The Scope to demonstrate the excellency of Christ's Priest-hood The Method Begins with Melchizedec ver 1. Goes on with the Priest-hood of Aaron and the Law ver 11. Concludes with the Priest-hood of Christ ver 20. For the Author discourseth 1. Upon the last word in the Text of the Psalm which is Melchizedec 2. Upon the words Thou art a Priest for ever after the Order of Melchizedec 3. Upon the words I have sworn and will not repent 4. Takes notice from the antecedent Context of the Psalm to shew who the person was that was thus confirmed and how excellent and perfect In the first part we may observe 1. A Description of Melchizedec 2. A Demonstration of his excellency He is described from His Offices The acts of his Offices The perpetuity of his Priest-hood 1. For his Offices he was King and Priest ver 1. 2. For the acts of his Priest-hood they were Blessing and Tything Abraham ver 1 2. Regal power they were the righteous Government of his People and procuring their peace These he inferrs from the notation of his own name and the name of the place where he did reside ver 2. 3. For the continuance of his Priest-hood he neither had Predecessor from whom he did derive nor Successor to whom he did transmit his Sacerdotal power in which respect it might be said to be Personal and Perpetual This is the Description of Melchizedec taken from Gen. 14. From which he inferrs his excellency especially as a Priest And this excellency is proved 1. From his tything Abraham so great a Person whereas the Levitical Priests did but Tythe their Brethren which were far inferior to their Father Abraham ver 4. 5. 2. From his blessing of Abraham who had the Promises ver 6 7. 3. From this That the Levitical Priests receiving Tythes dye but Melchizedec who received Tythes of Abraham is witnessed to live ver 8. 4. Levi being then in the Loyns of Abraham when he payed Tythes to Melchizedec may with the Levitical Priests descended from him be laid to pay Tythes unto this great Priest ver 9 10. In the second part which begins ver 11. the Apostle enters upon these words Thou art a Priest for ever after the Order of Melchizedec and inferts from them 1. That there must be another Priest of another Order then that of Aaron ver 11. 2. That if there must be and by God's institution another Priest-hood and another Oder then that Levitical Priest-hood which came in with the Law was imperfect Ibid. 3. That seeing it was imperfect it must be changed and that if the Priest-hood then the Law also which was so inseparably joyned with it must be abolished ver 12. 4. That seeing the legal High Priest must by the first institution be of the Tribe of Levi and Christ this great and new High Priest was not of that Family but of the Tribe of Judah therefore it was evident the Priest-hood was changed already ver 13 14. 5. That this Change must needs be made was evident because the Priest which was of another Tribe must be after another Order the Order of Melchizedec ver 15. and another Power of endless life ver 16 17. 6. That the Reason why the Law annexed to the former Priest-hood must be disanulled was because it could sanctify and perfect no man as the Gospel doth ver 18 19. In the third part of this Discourse grounded upon these words of the Psalmist I have sworn and will not repent and the antecedent Context he speaks more distinctly and directly of Christ's perfect Priest-hood and 1. Proves the excellency thereof in that he was a Priest by an Oath which the Levitical High Priest was not ver 20 21. 2. Hence inferrs That his Priest-hood and the Gospel were unalterable and of perpetual continuance because 1. By this Oath he was made Surety of a better Covenant which could sanctify and save ver 22. 2. The Levitical Priests were mortal Christ upon his Resurrection immortal and able for ever to save by his Intercession which he ever lives to make for them who come to God by him ver 23 24 25. 3. He sums up the excellency of Christ whereby it 's evident that He and he Alone because of his perfections was only fit to be our Priest and save us For 1. He is holy harmless undefiled separate from Sinners ver 26. 2. Higher then the Heavens Ibid. 3. He need not Offer often or for Himself as the Levitical High Priest did He offered but once not for Himself but for his People and that Sacrifice was of eternal Virtue ver 27. 4. The legal High Priest had his infirmities and was not The Son but he that is by the Oath after the Law confirmed Priest hath no infirmities is the Son consecrated for ever ver 28. All these things are implied in the antecedent Context of the Psalm for he that is there confirmed Priest in this manner was the Son of God without sin who having offered himself a Sacrifice unsported was risen again immortal ascended above the Heavens and set at the right hand of God as appears from ver â—â— of the Psalm when God by his Oath did confirm him CHAP. VIII HItherto the Apostle hath demonstrated the excellency of
them everlasting life Hee 's that Joshua who leads us and gives us possession of our spiritual and celestial Canaan 2. This Captain Prince and Authour was made perfect of God by Suffering or God made him perfect by Sufferings To be perfected in this place is to be consecrated and made a compleat Priest or at least to be put in an immediate capacity to act as a Priest Aaron and the Levitical Priests had their Consecration and it was not without Blood and the death of Sacrifices and the form was instituted and prescribed by God who alone could give them this Glory Power and Office That Christ was a Priest is expresse Scripture as we shall understand in this Epistle hereafter Yet such he could not be without Consecration neither could he be consecrated without Blood and suffering of Death and offering a bloody Sacrifice And the difference of the Consecration of other Priests and him was this that though both were consecrated by Blood yet they were consecrated by the blood of Beaâ—â—s sacrificed He by his own Blood when he sacrificed and offered himself without spot unto God The reason of this was Because he must be a Meditatour between God and sinful Man to reconcile them but no reconcilion without Blood and no Blood but his own Blood immaculate would be accepted For though God was merciful and willing to be reconciled yet his justice would admit of no reconciliation but upon satisfaction to be made by this Blood God did manifest his Justice and hatred of sin by punishing it in Christ before he would pardon it in Man It was God that did Consecrate him for no Man or Angel could conferr this Office upon him or make him an universal and eternal Priest to officiate and minister in Heaven only God could do this And he as supream Lord and Law-giveâ— could appoint and accept him to be Redeemer prescribe the manner of Consecration and as supream Judge accept of his Consecration once finished and invest him with this sacerdotal Power In these respects God is said to Consecrate him By him thus consecrated many Sons are brought to Glory There are many Sons brought to Glory he that brings them to Glory is God he doth this by Christ consecrated and made their Captain To bring to Glory is in the end to give possession of Glory and that everlasting and most excellent Estate prepared for the Sons of God These are many and are made his Sons by Regeneration and Adoption The one doth make them capable of the other gives them right to Glory which they shall fully enjoy when their heavenly Birth and gracious Adoption are perfected They derive their title from their Captain as consecrated by Suffering and received by Faith For as they are the Sons and Heirs of God so are they joynt-Heirs with Christ and in his right And if he never had been consecrated by Sufferings they never had been either Sons or Heirs or Glorified For he by his Sufferings merited all and laid the foundation of their eternal Happiness And for this Suffering he made him Captain and Head of all his Sons and gave him power to give eternal Life to as many as he had given him It 's God who brings these Sons to Glory by their Head and Captain He loved Man he gave his Son to Death he raised him up again made him King and Priest and gave him power to convert us and by him he adopts us and by him he gives us Glory The sum of all is this The glorification of sinful Man from first to last is from God it 's he and he alone that brings him to Glory yet though the persons glorified be many yet they are all Sons and none but Sons shall enjoy the Inheritance neither are they Sons by Nature or of themselves He makes them such by Christ and Christ was consecrated by Sufferings and made their Captain It became him for whom and by whom are all things in bringing many Sons to Glory thus to do God is here described from his efficiency where-by he is the cause of all things the universal Agent who produceth preserveth ordereth all things to their end especially his Sons unto Glory For though his works be many then some are more excellent then others and one of the chiefest is the Salvation of man Some do think that by these words for whom and by whom are meant that God is the final and efficient cause of all yet in strict sense God cannot in himself be said to be the end of any thing yet the manifestation of his glorious Perfection may be said to be intended by him in all his Works To consecrate the Captain of all his Sons by Sufferings did become him that is it seemed best to his divine Wisdom to use this means as most fit to manifest his justice and mercy in the Redemption and Salvation of man What Ways and means as conducing to this end he knew or his divine Wisdom did dictate unto him is hidden from us but this here mentioned he resolved upon as the best and most agreeable to his excellent perfection For God doth nothing but that which becomes him so glorious in himself and so excellent an Agent Men may do many things unbeseeming and no ways befitting them to do nay Angels have done many things which did not become so noble Spirits to do but God doth nothing but what God may do And this is the reason why Christ must taste of Death for every man Because it seemed good to God by that way and means to save sinful man And this is the relative consideration and connexion implyed in the causal conjunction For. They give a reason why Christ was lower then the Angels and suffered Death And why It became God so to do Ver. 11. For both he that Sanctifieth c. § 14. The Apostle in these and the following words doth manifest how it became God to cast Christ below the Angels and consecrate him by Sufferings and he doth so manifest it as that it may appear to be agreeable to Reason which is a spark or ray of divine Light To understand this the better you must remember 1. That Christ was lower then the Angels in suffering Death 2. That as God or Angel he could not suffer Death 3. If he could have suffered Death as a Spirit yet that Death was not so fit to redeem Man or expiate his sin and sanctify him 4. That seeing he must both dy and dy for man he must be Man and mortal Man to sanctify man These things premised the Apostle proves that it became God to make Christ a mortal Man and the reason is because he that sanctifyeth and they who are sanctifyed ought and must be of one and this is the coherence In the words themselves we have the unity and indentity of the Sanctifier and sanctified By the Sanctifier or the person sanctifying is meant Christ and by the sanctified sinful men by being of one that
power cannot be destroyed except Christ dy Christ cannot dy except he be lower then the Angels and made mortal Man This connexion and subordination of these things did become God and was agreeable to his heavenly wisdom whereas the Socinian saith That for Christ to take part with Men and be Flesh and Blood as they are doth not prove that the Incarnation is true if we consider it barely in it self as a participation of humane nature and mortality Yet if we consider the subject of this participation and the person taking part with man to be the Son of God by whom he made the Worlds the brightness of his Fathers Glory and the expresse Image of his Person and look upon him as that word which was in the beginning and was with God and was God then if this Son this Word be made Flesh as here the Apostle doth affirm and else-where then the Incarnation is plain and clear enough it cannot be denyed § 17. This farther end is expressed in these words Ver. 15. And deliver them who through the fear of Death were all their life-time subject to bondage This Text represents unto us two things 1. The sad condition of such as are under the power of Satan 2. A deliverance or freedom from it The sad condition is an estate of perpetual slavery and fear of Death For to be subject to bondage is to be a slave and to be thus subject all the time of his Life is to be a perpetual slave for time of Life And this is a grievous slavery and bondage not only because it 's perpetual but because of the great danger For by fear of Death may by a Metonymy be meant the danger of Death For the proper cause of fear is danger once apprehended for it 's true that men may be in danger and yet without fear because the danger is not seen apprehended known And the bondage of perpetual fear is woful if not intolerable This Death which is so dangerous and ever threatens to terrify and torment us is not only bodily but spiritual not only temporal but eternal and the greatest Evil of all others and if we be Satan's slaves and in his power he is a most cruel Tyrant and Enemy and seeks our extream and everlasting misery and we can expect nothing better from him who delights in our destruction Oh that man did but see his condition and were sensible of it For then he could take no rest Day or Night and he would seek and cast about for deliverance We see how sad it is by the terrours and torments of Judas and Cain and by the fears griefs troubles wounds sigh◠groans of such as were once sensible of their sins and apprehensive of the wrath of God Though this be a sad condition yet there is deliverance from this continual danger this perpetual fear which is the greatest slavery of all other The beginning of comfort is to know that there is a possibility of Freedom and that the Danger is avoidable or removable The first degree of this deliverance is in Christ's Death whereby divine justice was satisfied and freedome merited 2. That the power of the Devil was destroyed for whilst it continued this fear could not be removed 3. This freedome and liberty is more compleat when upon Faith in Christ's Death Sin is pardoned and the cause of this fear is taken away For the justified have peace with God are freed from condemnation and the Law of Sin and Death and they who feared eternal Punishments rejoyce in the hope of Glory Then this slavery is changed into a blessed liberty fear into hope and the sorrow of Death into the joy of Life § 18. It follows Ver. 16. For verily he took not upon him the Nature of Angels but he took on him the Seed of Abraham In these words it 's conceived a reason is given why Man and not Angels are delivered from the slavery of death and danger of eternal punishments and the reason is this because the Word was made Flesh and Man not a Spirit or an Angel And they more clearly explain these words Seeing the Children were partakers of Flesh and Blood he took part with them By Death to deliver them For if he 1. Took part with them 2. To deliver them 3. Deliver them by Death then he took not part with Angels but with the seed of Abraham as a fit means which it became God to use The Conjunction 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is not always causal to inferr a reason of some thing from the cause or some other argument For it is sometimes expletive sometimes hath another signification and so it may be here But to let that pass let 's consider the Text in it self which logically considered is a discretive axiom denying the same thing of one subject and affirming it of a another Christ took upon him something But 1. That was not the Angels or nature of Angels 2. He took upon him or to him the seed of Abraham So that in the words we have two simple axiomes or propositions The first is negative For verily he took not upon him the nature of Angels The second is affirmative He took on him the seed of Abraham The negation in the former proposition is strong for it 's not barely said He took not but he no where or not at all For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 may signify nusquam aut nequaquam no where or in no wise 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies verily To understand the whole Text is difficult because of the Verb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which some turn apprehend it he took hold on and think the expression is taken from such as pursue and follow hard after one that flyes from them to take hold on him and bring him back So Man runs from God and God became Man to follow after Man and take hold on him to save him Thus Chrysostome and from him Bishop Andrews Heinsius à Lapide with others Crellius and the Socinians turn the word another way and understand the place thus Christ succoured not the Angels but succoured the seed of Abraham This and also the former may be true but not pettinent The reason why Crellius likes the latter sense is because he likes not the Doctrine of the Incarnation he cannot digest it The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 translated and that rightly by Vatablus Beza the Turgurines and Tremelius out of the Syriack assumpsit he assumed and by our English took on him doth answer to the Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 turned by the Septuagint several times 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the word here used And not to take the Angels that is nature of Angels is not to be made an Angel or Officer the individual substance of an Angel to redeem the Angels that sinned To assume or take the Seed of Abraham is 1. To be a man as Abraham and his Seed were men and partakers of Flesh and Blood
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
it receiveth Blessing from God For it is God that maketh the Earth fruitfull and flourishing and without his Blessing the best Land though never so well husbanded is barren and of this we have frequent experience The Reddition of this is 1. That the thing signified in general is sinful Man and especially his heart Yet there is a great difference of men's heart for though no man can make his heart spiritually good yet every man may make his heart bad and worse then other mens and may by neglect and other wayes much obscure the light of Nature and dull the edge of conscience and so render himself indisposed for better things If this were not so there would be no inequality but all men would be equally sinful which daily experience contradicts A good heart is like good Ground therefore may be an heart not so bad or morally good according to the light of Nature and the power of Conscience which we find in Heathens and somewhat improved higher by Christian Education For the heart to bring forth fruit meet for the Dresser is to bring forth the fruits of the Spirit answerable to God's Spiritual Husbandry and the Showres of his heavenly Doctrine and the workings of his Spirit It 's to walk worthy of our Calling wherewith we are called This is that good and honest heart which bringeth forth fruit unto perfection The Blessing received is the continuance of the means of Salvation the increasing of heavenly Graces and Comforts and in the end eternal Life which is the greatest Blessing of all The end of this part of the Comparison is not only to perswade and encourage to Duty because of the great Blessing and Reward which will follow but also to let others who incline to Apostacy know how they deprive themselves of God's heavenly Blessings and these glorious Rewards § 8. The second protasis or proposition is concerning bad Ground which 1. Appears to be bad by bearing Thorns and Bryers 2. Is used as bad Ground 1. By being rejected 2. Nigh unto Cursing 3. In the end burned This Ground is a bad heart which is manifested by the fruits which are words and deeds tending to the dishonour of God and the hurt of Man And this Sin is so much the greater because of the means of Grace and workings of the Spirit over and above the light of Nature which God hath graciously afforded them The punishment of this barrenness in all virtue and fruitfulness in Sin followeth and there are three degrees thereof The first is rejecting when God takes away his Ministers his Word or if they continue withdraw the powerful working of the Spirit whereupon man is justly deserted of God as unworthy of any farther spiritual Dressing and useless for that end God in his great Mercy intended him The second he is nigh unto Cursing and the sentence of Excommunication whereby he is delivered up to Satan and a reprobate mind Hence blindness hardness of heart and the spirit of slumber This was the case of the unbelieving Jew and is the greatest Curse that can fall upon man in this life The third their end is Burning For rejection and this Curse will end in eternal punishments compared to torment with unquenchable fire This comparison is not only an illustration for the more clear representation of the condition of Apostates but also a very serious admonition to take heed of that grievous Sin and of all things that tend thereunto because the end will be so woful and the punishment so grievous For if men deal thus with their Ground which is devoid of reason sense and understanding how much more cause hath God to punish and that so severely men who are endued with understanding and enjoy so many helps and means of Conversion and Salvation § 9. The second reason of the Apostates resolution is given Ver. 9. But beloved we are perswaded better things of you and things that accompany Salvation though we thus speak THe brief meaning of the words is 1. That though we did sharply reprove you and by our discourse of Apostacy might seem to imply that you were either Apostates or very near unto it yet I desire to be understood in another manner For I have more charity for you better conceirs of you and hopes of your continuance in Christianity so that you need not be initiated again by laying the foundation and I have good Grounds of this my hope 2. This is the reason why I will not lay the foundation again but go on to perfection and further inform you of higher points of Doctrine and in particular of the excellency of Christ's Priest-hood In this reason we may observe 1. His hope and good perswasion of them 2. The ground of this his hope In these words we have a Rhetorical Anticipation whereby he endeavours to prevent the thoughts which might arise in their hearts upon his former speeches and expressions For they might think that he did by them tacitely condemn them as Apostates or in the way to Apostacy And if he did so he must needs wrong them and discourage them for he did tacitely imply though not positively and expresly affirm that they were of a bad disposition and in a very sad condition and this Opinion of them was against charity and truth To remove such suspicious and jealousies out of their minds he in these words assures them of his Charity and that his words were not inconsistent with his good conceipt of them The first that is his Charity he signifies by the term of Compellation Beloved for he loved them with a dear and tender Love as Christians continuing in Christianity This he could not have done if he had judged them Apostates and Enemies to Christ. By this we are taught that it is our Duty not onely to love our Christian Brethren but upon occasion to express it and further to give the reason and ground of our love as the Apostle here doth For the reason and ground of this love was his perswasion of their continuance in Christianity For he was perswaded better things of them c. In which words 1. He confesseth he spake such things as might seem to charge them with Apostacy and condemn them as cursed 2. He yet denies that those words do imply any such thing and that he was so far from any such thoughts of them that he was perswaded of the contrary He did indeed reprove them for their Ignorance and Negligence whereof some of them were highly guilty and also signify the deplorable and desperate case of Apostates and there was danger lest some might in time be guilty of that Sin yet all this was not to accuse them but warn them that this danger might be prevented To reprove and admonish are Acts of Charity and such as the most loving Father in the World may and sometimes must use if he truly love his Children We may represent the ugly and filthy face of Sin and the horrid pains of
that had the Promises Where 1. Abraham had the Promises 2. Yet Melchizedec blessed him The Promises which Abraham had and whereby God had bound himself unto him were many As 1. That his Seed should be as the Sand of the Sea though in humane Reason according to the course of Nature there was little or no hope of it and this Seed should be both according to the Flesh of the Jews and far more numerous according to the Spirit of the Gentiles For he was made the Father and Head of all Believers in the Generations following both Jews and Gentiles 2. He had a Promise of the Land of Canaan where he then sojourned and where at that time Melchizedec was both King and Priest 3. He had the great Promise of all That in his Seed all Nations should be blessed And this Seed which was Christ to descend of him according to the Flesh who should be the great High-Priest and bless all Nations These words are added to shew how great Abraham was Yet secondly Though he was so great yet Melchizedec blessed him and he was blessed What kind of Benediction this was I have formerly shewed There is one universal Authour of Benediction who blesseth all things and that is God as Creator There is one universal Authour of all spiritual and special Blessings tending to the eternal happiness of sinful Man and that is God Redeemer by Christ There be many others who ministerially under God and by power from God do bless men as the Patriarchs as Moses as the Levitical Priests as Ministers of the Gospel yet one of the greatest was this Melchizedec blessing Abraham And lest any should reply that inferiours may bless superiours and equals may bless equals it follows Ver. 7. And without all Contradiction the less is blessed of the better The Argument in Form is this The less is blessed of the better But Melchizedec blessed Abraham Therefore Melchizedec was better and greater than Abraham In the words two Propositions 1. The less is blessed of the better 2. This is without all Contradiction The former Proposition is concerning the imparity of the party blessing and the party blessed the one is greater and better and the other is less and inferiour Yet this is to be understood of the party blessing as blessing and the party blessed as blessed and the blessing here meant is an authoritative powerful and effectual blessing because otherwise it cannot infer a superiority And the reason is because he that communicates any good unto another who wants it is more excellent in that respect than him that receives it and in this respect is more like unto God whom all lawful Priests and other persons blessing by commission from him do represent and in that particular Act of Benediction 2. And this is so clear and evident a Truth that reason cannot deny and contradict but presently assents unto It 's like a Principle clear in its own light and far above those remote Conclusions which are doubtful and uncertain And this doth evidently prove the Conclusion That Melchizedec in blessing Abraham who had the Promises was far greater than Abraham § 15. Thus far the Authour hath made it manifest that Melchizedec as a Priest was greater and more excellent than Abraham Now not content with this which did imply his greatness above the Levitical Priests he proceeds to prove more explicitly and expresly that he was greater than them and that in respect of Tythes two wayes 1. In respect of his immortal Priest-hood 2. In that Levi and so the Levitical Priest was in a manner tythed in Abraham his Father 1. He was greater in respect of his perpetual and immortal Priest-hood for thus it follows Ver. 8. And here men that dy receive Tythes but there he receiveth them of whom it 's witnessed that he liveth THis by many is made a third Argument to prove the greatnesse and excellency of Melchizedec and if we consider the Reasons in general it is so Yet if we consider them more distinctly the former two Reasons proved him greater than Abraham and greater than the Levitical Priests consequentially But this is the first immediate and direct Argument and Proof of his excellency above the Priests of the Tribe of Levi In Form it 's thus The Priest receiving Tythes of whom it 's witnessed that he liveth is greater than those who receiving Tythes do dy But Melchizedec receiving Tythes is witnessed to live and the Levitical Priests tything their Brethren dy Therefore he is more excellent The former Proofs were taken from Abraham as the party giving Tythes this from the party receiving Tythes that is from the Priest's tything not from the Persons tythed In the Words we have 1. A similitude or agreement 2. A dissimilitude or difference of the Priests They both agree in this that they were Priests and received Tythes They differ in that the one dies the other is witnessed to live The Propositions are two 1. That here men that die receive Tythes 2. There he receiveth them of whom it 's witnessed that he liveth By the Word or Adverb here is meant either the time or place the time was the time of the Mosaical dispensation whilst the Law was in force the place was at Jerusalem and in the Land of Canaan as in the Possession of Jacob's Posterity where the Priest's of the Tribe of Levi Tythed the Jews Yet though they were above their Brethren in receiving Tythes yet they were not better in that they died Of the Death of Aaron and other Aaronical Priests the Scripture makes express mention as likewise of their Successors and doth signify not only that they are mortal but that they died Yet Enoch was mortal and yet died not but was translated The second Proposition is That there he receiveth Tythes of whom it 's witnessed that he liveth 1. This he is Melchisedec as a Priest who as such Tythed Abraham 2. Of him it 's affirmed that he liveth 3. It 's witnessed that he liveth 4. This Proposition is annexed to the former by a discretive Particle But to signify the difference between the Levitical Priests and Melchisedec they die but he liveth 5. It 's said There that is in the time before the Law when Melchisedec met Abraham or it may referr unto the place of Scripture Gen. 14. that there it 's witnessed That he liveth and to Psal. 110. There is no difficulty in this Axiom except in this That it 's witnessed That Melchisedec liveth which some understand of the silence of the places of Scripture which mention Melchisedec especially Gen. 14. For though the holy Writings tell us that Aaron and other Levitical Priests died and that their Order of Priest-hood was only Temporary and to be altered abolished and so to die yet it 's no where said that Melchisedec died and this as was said before is conceived to be done of purpose by the Spirit that he being represented as living and not dying might be in
of Man but of God who is Truth it self 3. That the thing testified was firm certain and most stable The Apostle alledgeth the Prophet who was divinely inspired and one of the sacred and Canonical Writers and acknowledged by the Jews to be such so that they could not any wayes except against his Testimony as being not only divine but as alledged by him very plain and pertinent and effectual to prove the Point intended And it was the more effectual and undeniable because this Prophet was one of the Levitical Priests and delivered this Prophecy whilst that first Covenant was in power and force Yet another thing is further to be observed That the Apostle follows the Translation of the Septuagâ—nt except in one word and though it seem to differ from the Hebrew yet it doth not For the sense both of the Hebrew Original and Greek Version is the same That wherein they seem to differ most is that passage in the latter end of the ninth Verse and I regarded them not It is strange that our English Translators should here follow the Greek and in Jeremy 31. 32. the Hebrew as they conceived for thus they turn it there although I was an Husband â—nto them But to reconcile both the places we may note 1. That the Septuagint's Alexandrian Version is rather Paraphrastical than wording 2. That they knew the force and signification of the Hebrew words better than we do 3. That though our Lexicons give no such signification to the Verb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as to neglect or not regard yet it may signify so and they knew it and did so translate it to make the sense more perâ—picuous as they do in many other places 4. We find that Baal din signifies an Adversary in judgment and that Baal aph is One that is angry displeased and much offended 5. The words Though I had been a Husband to them may signify by a Meâ—onymy of the Cause for the Effect to neglect reject and cast off Because their breach of Covenant was aggravated very much in that God had been an Husband to them yet they forsook him and that was the Cause why he neglected them and thus some understand the place But to enter upon the words which we find Jer. 31. 31 32 33 34. Behold the dayes come c. The Adverb Behold is often used as in other Authors so in the Scriptures and for the most part is a Note of attention especially when the matter is rare strange or excellent And though every part of God's Word requires our attention yet some deserve an higher degree of consideration For being of special and great concernment and sometimes extraordinary that cannot be so effectual except we in a special and extraordinary manner attend unto them The word is Metaphorical and signifies an Act of our Eye and visive faculty but here by similitude an Act of the Understanding exercising both the apprehensive and judicial Power thereof And this new Covenant was a special Object of both The matter of the Text alledged is a Covenant described from 1. The parties confederating 2. The time 3. The quality 4. The promises 1. The parties confederating were God on one side and the House of Israel and Judah on the other God was the first and principal party who contrived the Covenant and resolved upon it and by the Prophet fore-told it and all these were Acts of his free Grace and abundant Love to sinful Man intending to save him The parties with whom he would make it was the House of Israel and Judah yet because there was Israel according to the Flesh and according to the Spirit and a Jew who was such outwardly and a Jew who was such inwardly therefore it doth not exclude the Gentile and it takes in not only the Proselyte but others too Yet the Houses of Israel and Judah have the preheminence and the Jew must first be called and the Covenant must first be tendred â—nto him And this Prophecy may be understood of them in a more special manner with reference to their Conversion in the latter times 2. The time when God would make it was then to come and when the Apostle wrote to these Hebrâ—ws it was past For God knew his own mind and purpose and signifies the same by the Prophet long before the Execution of the Decree for known to God from the beginning are all his Works yet though he know them he doth not instantly effect them But he knows the best times and fittest seasons and when they once come his almighty executive Power doth issue out and effect them Yet he may signify before hand what he will do in the times to come as here he did And there may be special Reasons moving him so to do as 1. To signify the Perfection of his Knowledge 2. To comfort his People in their great Afflictions by letting them know what good he intends them in future times Yet there might be some special reasons of this particular Prediction as 1. To teach them and their Posterity the weakness and imperfection of the former Covenant lest they should depend upon it for Justification and eternal Life 2. By this Prophecy to convince in future times the unbelieving Jews and confirm these believing Hebrews and also to prove the excellency of Christ's Priest-hood which is the use the Apostle makes of it in this place 3. The quality it was new and different from the former In that it was new it implies c. 1. That there was an Old Covenant 2. That the old was the former this the latter in Order of time 3. Because new things are better than old and sometimes far better in which respect Novum est eximium therefore heâ— here may signify a more excellent Covenant and so this was far more excellent than the former 4. New Covenant is another Covenant and different from the former and it differs not only accidentally but essentially Which difference is expressed Ver. 9. Not according to the Covenant which I made with their Fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the Land of Aegypt because they continued not in my Covenant and I regarded them not saith the Lord. § 9. VVHere many things are observable as 1. That the former Covenant was made with their Fathers 2. It was made when he brought them out of Aegypt 3. They continued not in that Covenant 4. He therefore rejected them 5. This new Covenant is not according to that 6. All this saith the Lord. 1. The first Proposition signifies the parties with whom God made this Covenant they were their Fathers and Ancestors in opposition to their Posterity and Children with whom he would make this Covenant These Fathers in particular were those who sojourned in Aegypt 430 years after the Promise was made to Abraham which informs us that it was different both from the Promise made before and the Gospel and this new Covenant revealed so long after 2.
to blot out all our Sins and never remember them never charge them upon us that Christ should be the Mediator of this Covenant and never cease his Mediation till he hath fully sanctified justified and blessed us for ever What can Man desire which he shall not have What can he want which God hath not provided for him Doth he desire an High-Priest He is ready and he is the best in the World Doth he desire his Ministry in Heaven He shall be sure of it Doth he desire a Covenant Here is a Covenant a new Covenant a Covenant of the best and sweetest Promises that ever were Doth he desire a Mediator of this Covenant A Mediator is at the right hand of God who ever lives there and as an Advocate pleads his Cause and will not rest Day or Night untill he hath made us capable of Pardon and procured Remission of all our Sins for ever The remembrance of these things must needs be sweet and wonderfully revive and refresh a bruised Spirit and a broken heart sensible of Sin hungring and thirsting after Righteousness and Salvation But how great is our Ignorance of these things how weak our Faith how languishing our Hopes Our eternal happiness depends upon this Covenant this Priest this Mediation and Ministry and issues from God the Father and from this High-Priest and from pure Mercy And how happy we if we had but a true and living Faith effectually to believe these things and totally to rely upon God's pure free and abundant Mercy in Jesus Christ for they who believe in him shall not perish but have everlasting life and he that hath the Son hath Life and Life for evermore Many and grievous are our Sins great is our danger and none can help us but this great Mediator of this blessed Covenant yet we are sensless of our Sins and do not seek unto our Saviour We are secure and do not understand that without his help and Ministry we must unavoidably perish God hath done much to save us and hath brought eternal life near unto us but we regard it not We continue in our Sins and will not believe on Christ and therefore are we condemned already because we have not believed in the Name of the onely begotten Son of God And this will be our Condemnation that Light is come unto us and yet we love Darkness rather than the Light therefore Salvation is far from us Christ will not be our Saviour nor make Intercession for us O Lord put thy Laws in our minds and write them in our hearts that we may see our Sins and be sensible of them and seek our Saviour that thou mayest be our God and we thy People and know thee all of us from the least unto the greatest that so thou mayest mercifully pardon our Unrighteousness and remember our Sins and Iniquities no more Amen Amen CHAP. IX Of the Sacrifice of Christ and the excellent vertue thereof § 1. THE Apostle here doth enlarge upon and more particularly and distinctly explain those things which in the former Chapter he had only in general and briefly mentioned For he implyed there that a Priest once made and consecrated must have a Sanctuary must minister in it and be the Mediator of a Covenant and that the more excellent the Sanctuary the Service and the Covenant the more excellent the Priest that is Minister of these And did affirm that Christ in respect of all these was more excellent than the Levitical Priest But in this Chapter he speaks more at large of the earthly and the heavenly Sanctuary of the Service performed in both but especially of the great Sacrifice and Expiation made by both the Priests most of all of Christ's Expiation-Offering of the rare vertue and the excellent Effects thereof and how by it he was the Mediator of the new Covenant and made it effectual unto Remission and the eternal Salvation of Man This is some kind of co-herence whereby this part is joyned to the former But there is another for the Apostle having proved Christ more excellent than the Levitical High-Priest 1. In respect of his Constitution Chap. 5. 6. and especially in the 7th 2. In respect of his Ministration in the 8th In this 9th he proceeds to speak of his Ministration in particular and of his excellent Service in Offering himself a Sacrifice without spot to God § 2. The Subject of this whole Chapter and part of the tenth is the Sacrifice of the Cross. The Scope is to manifest how excellent this piece of Service is The Method upon consideration of the whole is this He informs us 1. Of the Typical Tabernacle and the Service especially the great Expiatory Sacrifice performed therein and this by way of Introduction to the 11th Verse 2. Of the Anti-Typical Sanctuary and Sacrifice and teacheth us 1. The Nature and Quality of both especially of the Sacrifice 2. The Vertue of this Sacrifice manifested in the Effects thereof from Ver. 11. to the end And this he doth 1. Both absolutely and sometimes comparatively in this Chapter 2. More comparatively in the Chapter following This is the general Analysis the particular you may expect both in and after the Explication The Substance of the whole is this He that being a Minister of a better Sanctuary doth offer a far more excellent Sacrifice must needs be a more excellent Priest than the Levitical But Christ being Minister of a better Tabernacle offered a more excellent Sacrifice Therefore he is a more excellent Priest The Proposition he takes for granted The Assumption he proves at large and very effectually and this is his Design and Work in this Chapter and part of the 10th § 3. To begin with the Introduction Ver. 1. Then verily the first Covenant had also Ordinances of Divine Service and a worldly Sanctuary VVHere we may observe 1. The Connexion 2. The Matter The Connexion is signified by these words Then verily or according to the Original Therefore verily and so Vatablus Beza Junius translate By which the words following seem to contain a Conclusion deduced from the former Chapter Ver. 2. 3 4 5. and especially from the 5th where it 's implyed that there must be a Tabernacle and the Priests must serve and officiate in it according to the Example and Shadow of heavenly things and there were certain Rules given to Moses according to which both he must make the Tabernacle and the Priests must serve therein This briefly for the Connexion It follows 2. The former had Ordinances of Divine Service c. Where we have 1. The Subject 2. The Predicate The Subject the first the Original expresseth no more not informing us whether the first Priest-hood or the first Tabernacle or the first Covenant be meant Some Copies expresly read the first Tabernacle and so some understand the place but most reject that and supply the Ellipsis by the word Covenant and so much the rather because in the last Verse of the former
Oblatio the death of the thing Sacrificed and the offering of it to God and the blood must not only be shed but in the Law it must be sprinkled either upon the horns of the Altar without or upon and before the Mercy-seat within the second Vail The blood being shed was the death of the thing Sacrificed and the sprinkling of it upon the Altar or the Mercy-seat was the presenting it to God These both did signify that life must go for life and the blood wherein is the life must be presented to God as Supream Judge and accepted of him before the work of Sacrificing could be finished and made efficacious Therefore Christ's Sacrifice could not be compleated except he be not only slain on Earth but present himself as slain before the Mercy-seat of God in Heaven and both the suffering and offering must be with Incense and Prayer requesting eternal Redemption Whether he did miraculously take some or all his blood shed as some conceit into Heaven is not necessary to be believed except it be evident out of Scripture unto us that he did so Some Socinians affirm and inferr from hence that Christ was not a Priest till he entred Heaven because though his Suffering was on Earth yet his Offering was in Heaven But this is ridiculous and not worth the answering For though this work of Sacrificing was not finished before he entred Heaven yet it doth not follow that he was no Priest before that time because this great Sacrifice was not finished For Aarou must be a Priest before he can minister in the Tabernacle much more before he enter into the inner Sanctuary with the expiatory blood The Socinian doth not assert any entrance of Christ into Heaven but that only one by and upon his Ascension yet Christ was made a compleate Priest instantly upon his Resurrection For from these words This Day which was the day of Resurrection have I begotten thee the Apostle proves Christ to be made a Priest and that by those words This is point-black against his assertion Christ may be and was a Priest by Designation Consecration Constitution Confirmation He was designed from his Birth yet more solemnly upon his Baptism he was consecrated by his great Sacrifice he was fully constituted and made a compleate Priest upon his Resurrection he was confirmed Priest by Oath upon his Ascension and Session at the right hand of God He must needs therefore be very ignorant that shall think that he was no Priest before this confirmation in Heaven But 2. How was this propitiation made and this eternal Redemption obtained for us It 's said he gave himself a Ransome for all 1 Tim. 2. 6. That he gave his life a Ransonâ—â— for many Matth. 20. 28. That he was delivered for our Offences Rom. 4. 25. That he is the propitiation for our sins and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole World 1 Joh. 2. 2. And more fully in the Prophet All we like Sheep have gone astray we have turned every one to his own way and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquities of us all Esay 53. 6. Out of all which places especially the last we may observe 1. That Christ suffered and by his blood entred Heaven for man 2. For man as sinful 3. To make God propitious to us for ever 4. God in this is to be considered as a Judge punishing us in him and by laying the iniquities that is the punishments of the iniquities of us all upon him 5. He did not suffer not offer for his own sins for God made him who knew no sin sin that is a suffering or propitiatory and redemptory Sacrifice for us so that the benefit redounds to us 6. Seeing he suffered for sin though not for his own his Death was a punishment in proper sense 7. The blood of Christ shed and offered to God as Supream Judge was the price of our Redemption and the immediate effect thereof was eternal propitiation 8. In this work Christ by God's appointment and his own voluntary submission became our Surety and Hostage and so liable to Death That God did punish sin in him was justice that he did punish our sins in him was mercy unto us It 's true that God considered as a private person and as the party offended was merciful and pityed Man but as supream Law-giver and Judg of Mankind he must be just and punish Sin that his Justice being satisfied he might have free and full power to pardon Sin and that without any breach of Justice The Intention of the Apostle in this Text is to prove and make it evident That this Service and Sacrifice was far more excellent than the greatest Service the Levitical High-Priest could or did perform This super-excellency is set forth in respect 1. Of the Blood which was not that of Goats or Calvs but his own Blood 2. In respect of the place into which he entred which was not an earthly Sanctuary but the Holy place of Heaven 3. And most of all in respect of the Effect which was not a yearly Expiation but an eternal Redemption In Form he argues thus That Service wherein by his own Blood he enters Heaven but once and obtains eternal Redemption is more excellent than the Service of that Priest who enters often with the Blood only of Calvs and Goats into an earthly Sacrary and obtains but a yearly Remission But Christ's is such and the Levitical High-Priest's Service but such as is formerly described Therefore Christ's Service is more excellent § 12. The Apostle goes on and proves by a second Argument that the Service and Ministry of Christ is far more excellent and that in respect of the Effect which it hath vertue to produce The former Effect was Propitiation or Expiation this latter and second is cleansing or Purification This as the former is delivered by way of Comparison and the Comparison is in Quantity yet presupposing another in Quality The whole may be reduced to Propositions in this manner 1. The Blood of Bulls and Goats and the Ashes of an Heifer sprinkling the unclean sanctify to the purifying of the Flesh. 2. The Blood of Christ who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without Spot to God purgeth the Conscience from deaÌ„d Works to serve the Living God 3. If the Blood of Buls and Goats and the Ashes of an Heifer sprinkling the unclean sanctifieth to the purifying of the Flesh then much more doth the Blood of Christ who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot unto God to purge the Conscience to serve the Living God The Comparison in quality is between the Blood of Buls and Goats the thing wherein they are compared and do agree is purging and sanctifying The Comparison in quantity presupposing also a dissimilitude in this that one doth sanctify the Flesh the other the Conscience is this That if the one hath power to purge and cleanse the Flesh the other hath much more
Form of Holiness and merit death and Punishment or because men are dead and sensless of them and so continue in them Yet the Apostle seems to allude in this to the Pollutions by the dead whereof we read Num. 19. 18. For he that touched a Bone or one slain or one dead or a Grave was legally unclean and polluted In every sin we commit our Soul doth come too near unto or morally and spiritually doth touch something that is base vile and far below it self and so debaseth and defileth it self and makes it self not only guilty but unholy and unfit for having any Communion with God 3. To purge this Conscience is to free this Soul thus conscious of sin from the Guilt and the Impurity and other sad Consequents of Sin so that thereupon the Sinner is neither liable to Punishment or debarred from Communion with God This purging is not only Justification but that which is called Sanctification and inherent Holiness without which no Man shall see God the want whereof if we consider it as following upon a former demerit is the greatest Punishment of all other For if we could imagine a Man pardoned and freed from the Guilt of former sin and left inherently polluted and unsanctified he must needs remain in a sad condition But we cannot truly thus imagine if want of the sanctifying Spirit be a Punishment for former Sin If we be once thus purged there is no more Conscience of Sin once pardoned no fear of God's wrath nor of the eternal penalty for we being once purged have peace with God quiet of Conscience and hope of Glory 4. To serve the true and living God following upon the purging of the Conscience is a special priviledg To understand this more distinctly we must know that under the Law whosoever was polluted by the presence or touch of the dead could not enter into the Congregation with the rest of God's sanctified People for to worship or have any Communion with God If he should dare and presume to enter before he was purged or purified he defiled the Tabernacle and Sanctuary of God and that Soul must be cut off Numb 19. 13 20. That which answers unto this Priviledg is the liberty of free access with boldness and confidence unto the Throne of Grace to offer up our Prayers Thanks-giving and other Services unto God propitiated and reconciled so as to be accepted and receive Mercies and Blessings from him For being justified and sanctified we do not fear God as a severe Judg we do not stand at a distance or fly from him but come near unto him as Children to a loving Father This same Service of the true and living God who is Light most pure and holy doth presuppose us justified sanctified reconciled adopted There are degrees as of this cleansing so of this serving God for we are not cleansed fully from all Sin in this Life but we shall be in the Life to come and then we shall have full Communion with our God and serve him far more perfectly in the glorious Temple and Sacrary of Heaven This is the purging of the Conscience in it self Now we must consider it as an Effect predicated of the Blood of Christ the Cause for it being so noble and excellent an Effect must have some rare and noble Cause The Cause therefore must be Blood yet no Blood but this Blood of Christ with which he entred into the Holy place of Heaven after it was shed will serve the turn or reach this Effect yet this is not an immediate but a mediate Effect of this Blood thus shed and presented to God For one immediate effect antecedent to this is expiation and satisfaction of God's Justice whereby Sin became pardonable And if Christ had not obtained and found eternal Expiation by this blood he could never by it have purged the Conscience Yet this blood hath this power first and then doth exercise it when he finds a Subject rightly disposed which is a Conscience sensible of sin and appealing to the Throne of Grace where it pledges this blood of Christ. So that this purging actually considered presupposeth the blood of Christ shed offered accepted as a sufficient propitiation and the Sinner to be purged penitent and believing This seems to be signified by that Ceremony of purification described and prescribed Numb 19. For he that was once polluted and unclean must be willing desirous and careful to be cleansed with the ashes mixt with water sprinkled upon him The blood of some Sacrifice did expiate the ashes with water sprinkled did cleanse So the blood of Christ shed and offered doth expiate sin so far as to make it remissible and the sprinkling of that by the Spirit upon the penitent and believing doth purge The third Proposition in this verse is that much more doth the blood of Christ purge the conscience that is 1. It purgeth the conscience 2. It purgeth it effectually and fully But joyn this with the former and then we have the substance of the whole in one proposition which you heard before and the Apostle in the words argues to this purpose If the blood of Bulls and Goates c. had power of sanctifying the Flesh then much more the blood of Christ doth purge the Conscience But the blood of Bulls and Goates c. did sanctify the Flesh. Therefore much more the blood of Christ c. doth purge the Conscience c. This place implies that the expiations by Blood and purifications of the Law could neither satisfy God's Justice nor purge the Conscience from spiritual filth and guilt of sin yet the blood of Christ could do both And here we must seriously consider the excellency of the blood of Christ the wonderful purging efficacy thereof and the unspeakable mercy of God in providing this remedy and setting open this fountain to wash and cleanse away our sin O blessed blood O happy man O come to this Fountain wash and bathe thy self here every day Here the wrath of God is quenched the tormenting conscience quieted the filthy Soul washed and prepared for the communion with her God But we are ignorant of the virtue of this blood sensless of our sins careless of our purification and so presume to enter into God's presence and defile his Tabernacle and bring his wrath upon us But before I leave this Text something further must be said concerning the efficacy of the blood of Buls and Goates and the ashes of an Heifer also of the efficacy of the blood of Christ. For it must be enquired whether the efficacy of both depend meerly upon divine Institution oâ— upon the nature of the Causes 1. That neither is Physical will be granted 2. That the purifying efficacy of the blood of Goates and Bulls and the ashes of an Heifer sprinkling the unclean did depend meerly upon the will and positive Institution of God will not be denyed For neither the blood nor ashes nor sprinkling had any moral spiritual intrinsecal virtue
Rom. 8. 17. so may we likewise say If no Sons then no Heirs None can be Sons that are not justified none can be justified which believe not in the Death and Blood of Christ there can be no Belief in this Blood if not shed This Death and Blood of Christ 1. Expiates sin and makes it remissible 2. Merits the eternal Inheritance promised and the Promise too 3. It merits the Spirit to enable Man to keep the Covenant so as to obtain and receive the Inheritance 4. It merits a Power in Christ 1. To reveal the Gospel and give the Spirit to work Repentance and Faith in sinful Man's heart 2. Upon Repentance and Faith and his Intercession a Power to give Remission and the eternal Inheritance Take away this Death this Blood there is no Expiation of Sin no Inheritance no Covenant and suppose a Covenant and a Promise yet it 's ineffectual invalid without this Blood this Death For all the heavenly Promises are made for and in consideration of this Blood satisfying his Justice and meriting his Favour so that without it they are all nothing to purpose neither without it can the called though obedient to the heavenly Call ever have any Right unto or Possession of eternal Life So that the whole strength and efficacy of the Covenant doth depend upon this Blood for by it our Sins are expiated and our Consciences purged so as to be capable of the Inheritance This is a most clear Text to prove that the Saints even under the Law were called and saved and that not by the Ministry and Sacrifice of the Levitical Priests but by the Blood of Christ the vertue whereof extended to former times even the times of Adam Neither did they trust in their Sacrifices and their Priests and the Blood of Bulls and Goats and their Water of separation but in the Blood of Christ yet their Faith was very implicit The third Proposition is Christ is the Mediator of the new Covenant for this Reason and for this End An excellent Covenant must have an excellent Priest and Mediator and seeing this Covenant doth promise eternal Remission and an eternal Inheritance it requires such a Priest as shall be able by his Ministry and Service to obtain this Remission and Inheritance This no Priests by their Sacrifices or any other Service could do but Christ could and therefore not they but He and He alone was made the Mediator of this new Covenant For by his Death he expiates sin and purgeth the Conscience so that the called receive the Promise of eternal Inheritance and the vertue of this Death is universal in respect of time and persons called The Sum of all this is That Christ by reason of his Death and Blood expiating Sin and purging the Conscience is the Mediator of the new Testament or Covenant to confirm and make it effectual to the Heirs of the Promise § 15. This Confirmation of the new Covenant is illustrated from a two-fold Similitude the one is taken a Jure Naturali the other a Jure Ceremoniali The first is taken from the Law of Nature for to it the Civilians refer the Rules of Testaments and Wills and is delivered Ver. 16. For where a Testament is there must also of necessity be the death of the Testator Ver. 17. For a Testament is of force after men are dead otherwise it is of no strength at all whilest the Testator liveth THis is an imperfect and contract Similitude for the parts thereof as of all Comparisons are two 1. The Proposition 2. The Reddition And yet the Proposition is only expressed and the Reddition is only implyed and to be supplied from the antecedent Context In the Proposition we may observe two things 1. The necessity of the Death of the Testator barely asserted Ver. 16. 2. The Reason thereof rendred Ver. 17. The Argument in Form may be this That which is not of force whilest the Testator liveth that necessarily requireth the Death of the Testator to make it of force But a Testament is not of force whilest the Testator liveth Therefore it requireth to make it of force the Death of the Testator The Assumption is expressed 1. Affirmatively A Testament is of force after men who are Testators are dead 2. Negatively It 's of no strength whilest the Testator liveth The Comparison at large is this As the Death of the Testator is necessary to make the Testament of force so the Death of Christ is necessary for to make the new Covenant of force For though Christ might in some respect be a Mediator of the new Covenant yet he could not make it valid firm and effectual without his death neither we under the Gospel nor the Fathers under the Law could without this Death be saved by it And as the death of the Testator gives full force and efficacy to the Testament and this Confirmation is an Effect of his Death so the Death of Christ gives full force to the new Covenant and makes â—â— effectual and this validity and efficacy is an Effect of this Death of Christ and manifests the excellency of this Sacrifice and of Christ the Priest who offered it The things compared as like are the Death of Christ and the Death of a Testator The things wherein they agree are 1. The like Effect of both which is to confirm and make effectual some Instrument 2. The necessity of both for that end to confirm and make effectual § 16. The Propositions in the first part of the Comparison are these 1. There are Testaments of men 2. These are not of force whilest the Testators live 3. They are of force upon the Death of the Testators 4. The Death of the Testators is necessary to make them of force 1. The matter of all Testaments is a temporal estate of these earthly Goods which God hath given Man to preserve this temporal Life The Testator is one that hath a just Title unto these Goods so that he hath power to dispose of them The Testament it self is the manner of disposing these Goods so as to give the same Right which he had in them unto other Persons after his Death and therefore it must signify his Will concerning these Goods and nominate the Persons who must succeed him so as to have them And because it 's an Act of Reason so to do therefore the Testator when he makes his Will must be Compos mentis and have the Use of his Reason and also sui Juris and not under the power of another The end of it is to prevent future suits and dissensions and Injustice about his Estate The Light of Nature doth teach men thus to dispose of their temporal Goods and therefore they are of ancient and universal Use. 2. These are not in force whilest the Testators live and the Reason of this is not only because whilest they are living they have need of or do use their Goods and though they make their Will in their life-time yet they
and heavenly things principally intended are the Consciences and immortal Souls of men which being purged make up the Body of the Church which is Militant first on Earth and after that to be Triumphant in Heaven 2. The better Sacrifice above the former is the Sacrifice of Christ and the pure unsported Blood of him who offered himself by the eternal Spirit to God The purifying vertue of this Sacrifice was in this that Christ the Son of God innocent holy righteous as Surety and Hostage of Man-king appointed to be so by God did deny himself took up the Cross shed his Blood for to expiate the Sin of Man and was obedient unto death the death of the Cross For him so excellent to suffer death so willingly for so glorious an end and that at the Command of God was the highest and purest degree of Obedience that ever was performed unto God and was highly accepted and did fully satisfy divine Justice so far as was required In the offering of this Sacrifice he gave himself wholly to his heavenly Father and became as it were a whole Burnt-Offering being wholly consumed with the Zeal of his Father's Glory and the Love of Man-kind And here it is to be noted upon the By That though in the Text we read Sacrifices in the plural number yet this one Sacrifice of Christ is onely meant Estius thinks it's an Enallage of number the Plural for the Singular for the Sacrifice whereby heavenly things are purified is but only one once offered Yet it may be called Sacrifices because it had more vertue than all other purifying Sacrifices and also because it was one of those expiating Sacrifices which were offered unto God yet more excellent than all the rest It 's like that expression of Jâ—phtah's Butial for it 's said he was buried in the Cities of Gâ—lead that is one of the Cities of that Country which was Mizpeh as some think Judg. 12. 7. 3. For the heavenly things and the Consciences of men to be purified is to be freed from Sin that is from the Guilt and Dominion of Sin which is to be justified and sanctified as these words are usually taken This Purification is vertual or actual for when the Blood of Christ was shed offered and accepted for the Sins of men then they may be said to be purified virtually as upon the death of Christ we are said to be reconciled because made reconcilable And when by Faith this Blood is sprinkled upon our Consciences and pardon obtained by Christ's Intercession for peniâ—ent and believing Sinners then they are said to be actually purified and when they are wholly freed from all the Guilt and Power of Sin then they are perfectly purified 4. This Purification by this Sacrifice was necessary for supposing God's Will and Decree concerning the eternal Happiness of sinful Man in Communion with his God it was necessary Man should be purified for otherwise he could have no fellowship with God so as to derive eternal Happiness from him For as God is Light and just and holy so they must be Light just and holy who shall see and enjoy him And because no Sacrifice but this of Christ could thus qualify him therefore it was necessary both that he should be purified and purified with this Sacrifice § 22. Thus far you have heard of the necessity of the death of Christ for the Confirmation of the Covenant illustrated by Similitudes taken from the Law of Nature and the Ceremonial Law of Moses Therefore the Jews except they were very ignorant could have no cause to be offended with this death upon the Cross seeing it was so necessary to the purchasing of the eternal Inheritance and the purging of mens Consciences that they might be capable of the Possession and have a Title unto it for the ground of the Promise from whence the Title is immediately derived is this Sacrifice without which the Promise was never made neither if it had been made could it without this have been valid But let 's consider what follows for he saith Ver. 24. For Christ is not entred into the Holy places made with hands which are Figures of the true but into Heaven it self now to appear before God for us THese words considered absolutely in themselvs seem to be plain and easily understood but the coherence is doubtful Some and amongst the rest Esâ—ius takes little notice of it as not much material Many others finding the causal Conjunction For do agree that in these words the Apostle gives a Reason of something that went before but they differ much in the particular Explication of the Reason Dr. Gouge conceivs that the Apostle's intention is to prove that the Sacrifice of Christ is more excellent than the Sacrifices of the Law and this is true but yet imperfect Beza thinks that the Author in this Text begins another and a new Collation or Comparison to prove the excellency of this Offering and this cannot be denyed Dr. Lushington who is said to be the Translator of Crellius tells us that here is proved That the Heavenly places are purified by better Sacrifices and that because Christ entred not into the earthly Sanctuary but into Heaven it self This doth presuppose that Heaven it self is purified by the Blood of Christ and that Christ entred thereinto for that end But this is difficult to understand and supposeth that which few will grant him A Lapide differs from all these and saith that the Apostle gives in this Text a Reason why he called the Church heavenly or heavenly things and that is because Christ entred into Heaven to unlock the Gates and open the Doors thereof that the faithful might enter thereinto This is not so clear and satisfactory though it hath something of Truth To find out the Connexion we must observe 1. That the Conjunction for or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is sometimes expletive and redundant 2. Sometimes the same that but or moreover is 3. That though it be called by the Grammarians a Causal yet it doth not alwayes imply a Cause but it 's used to bring in any other Reason or Argument and therefore might be called a rational Conjunction Yet Whittington in his Grammar saith that a Causal Conjunction signifies the Cause or Order of that which goeâ— before where he implies that it doth not alwayes joyn the Cause and the Effect 4. Let it be taken for a Conjunction which joyns these words to the former so as to contain a Reason we must consider what was formerly â—ffiâ—med and how it 's here proved To this end let us remember that the Subject of the former discourse was Purification or Expiation of things by Blood of Sacrifices and these things are earthly and carnal or spiritual and heavenly Of these latter he affirmed that it was necessary they should be purified with better Sacrifices The manner how he proves this is this He presupposing that these heavenly things must be purified proves 1. That they were purified by
first words of the Text for some read them negatively as our Translation doth For then should they not have ceased Some read them Interrogatively For then should they not have ceased Thus Vatablus and some others Some omit the negative particle and read them thus For then they should have ceased Thus the Vulgar Beza Tramelius Vetesius Stephaâ—â—s in his fifth Copy and the Complâ—teâ—sis and this seems to be the true Reading though the Interrogative hath the same sense The Apostle seems to argue thus If the Sacrifices of the Law had perfected the Commers or â—urged the Worshippers then they should have ceased to be offered This Consequence is proved because if they had been once purged they should have had no more Conscience of Sin and so the Offerings had been needless and useless It was said before that they were offered year by year continually and here from that continuance of them he infers their Imperfection For as the Sytiack paraphraseth if they had perfected and sanctified the Worshippers they should have ceased This presupposeth That when an Agent hath produced his Effect finished his Work and attained his end he ceaseth to work for that end any more and takes his Rest Thus God when he had finished the World and made all things then he rested from the Work of Creation Now the End of Sacrifices was to purge and expiate the Sins of those who offer them and if once they can do that fully and perfectly Reason it self would dictate they may cease But to proceed unto the Reason why they should have ceased if they had pâ—â—ged the Worshippers which is this For then the Worshippers being purged should have no more Conscience of Sin Where we have three things observable 1. The vertue of purging proper to a Sacrifice 2. The Subject purged by them which is the Worshippers 3. The Effect of this sanctifying Power in this Subject which is to take away the Conscience of Sins To begin with the last By Sins are meant 1. Sins past 2. Guilt which necessarily and unavoidably follows upon Sin once committed By Conscience of this Sin is understood 1. The Knowledg of this Guilt as we use to say of a Delinquent that he is conscious to himself that he hath offended 2. Some Effects consequent which either are apt to follow or do follow thereupon as Sorrow Fear Accusation therefore Tremelius turns it Sin wounding the Conscience though it is the Knowledg of Sin as our Sin as rendring us guilty and liable to Punishment that doth torment and wound For by Conscience is meant the Soul conscious and privy to it 's own Sin and the Acts of this the Soul thus conscious and knowing are to accuse threaten and condemn it self and from hence it is that the guilty Soul is such a Tormentor of it self By having no Conscience of Sin is meant 1. To be freed from the Guilt of Sin 2. A Knowledg thereof grounded upon certain Rules The Subject of this benefit are Worshippers for these are not only guilty but know it and are sensible of it and therefore come to God and use some means to propitiate him that being propitiated he may pardon them For it 's pardon that actually frees from Guilt and the Conscience of Sin Those who are guilty and yet sensless and so no Worshippers continue guilty still Yet these Worshippers as purged only are free from Guilt and this purging is two-fold 1. By Sacrifice as propitiating and making Sin pardonable 2. By God's Sentence upon Repentance and Faith pleading the Sacrifice as offered and accepted And without both Guilt is not actually taken away Thus far these words have been explained as considered absolutely in themselvs yet we must further examine them as referring to the Antecedent part of the Text and containing a Reason why the Legal Sacrifices should have ceased if they had perfected the Worshippers And for the clearing of this I must resume the former distinction of purging as it is an immediate Effect of a Sacrifice or an Effect of the Sacrifice upon God's Sentence of Absolution The former purging is here principally meant yet so as not to exclude the latter Yet this purging by Sacrifice offered may be an Expiation of some-Sins for a time as making liable to some certain Punishment or as an Expiation of all sins expiable and making the Sinner liable to all Punishments not only temporal but spiritual and eternal Now if there had been any such expiatory Sacrifice under the Law that could have made God propitious for ever and all sin remissible for ever and so have made not only temporal but spiritual and eternal penalties eternally removable then if that had been once offered and accepted there had been no need of offering that Sacrifice again or any other For this would have purged the Worshipper so as to free him from the Guilt and Conscience of Sin without any other or without any Re-iteration of it at all But there was no such Sacrifice therefore the Worshippers upon new sins had recourse to a new and to another Sacrifice and these Sacrifices did not cease but continue and hence the Author proves their Imperfection Under the Gospel we commit new Sins contract new Guilt and have Conscience of Sin and so do often re-iterate the Offering of a broken Spirit renew our Repentance and our Faith yet we plead no new Sacrifice Expiatory but rely only upon one Sacrifice once offered till such time as by vertue of it we be so purged as never to be guilty again or have Conscience of Sin any more and when upon our finall Repentance and Faith in this Sacrifice we receive a full and final Absolution then by vertue of this Sacrifice we have no Conscience of Sin for ever § 4. The Apostle goes on and further informs thus Ver. 3. But in those Sacrifices there is a Remembrance again made of Sins every Year THESE words seem to produce a third Argument to prove the insufficiency of the Legal Sacrifices as to perfecting and purging the Worshippers In Form he argues thus If in those Sacrifices there was a Remembrance of Sins every Year then they did not purge and perfect the Worshippers But in them there was a Remembrance again of Sins every Year Therefore they did not perfect and purge the Worshippers In the Text we have 1. A yearly offering of Sacrifices 2. In these Sacrifices a Remembrance of Sin every Year 1. There was a yearly Offering and this seems to be that great and solemn Sacrifice of Explation offered the tenth day of the seventh Month every Year It 's true that there were many other propitiatory and Ilastical Sacrifices besides this offered every Year yet this was the general and publick Sacrifice offered for the Universality and whole Body of the People and therefore vas the principal This doth prove that they ceased not because they took not away the Gâ—ilt and Conscience of sin Therefore some think these words to be an
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
Apostates Therefore as they desired God's favour and an happy End and feared his Indignation and their own eternal Destruction let them persevere and use all means to perswade others to continue firm and faithful to the end And here you must observe that the principal Duty exhorted unto is Perseverance and the rest are subservient thereunto § 25. It follows Ver. 26. For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the Knowledg of the Truth there remaineth no more Sacrifice for Sins IN these words 1. We have a Reason given to perswade unto perseverance 2. Yet this Reason is directly and immediately disswasive and dehorrative from Apostacy 3. Secondarily and by Consequence it exhorts and moves to perseverance For whatsoever Reason is against Apostacy the same is for perseverance 4. This Reason doth seem to imply that the forsaking of Christian Assemblies was Apostacy or tended to it and the day approaching to be a day of Judgment and in particular of the Punishment of such as fall away 5. This Reason begins here and is continued to the 32d Verse 6. It 's taken à poena from the Punishment which is avoided by perseverance and is executed upon Apostates 7. In Form it 's this If the Sin of Apostacy be unpardonable and shall be punished with unavoidable and most grievous Punishment then we ought to be very careful copâ—â—severe But the Antecedent is true Therefore we ought to persevere In the words of the Reason we have 1. The Sin 2. The Punishment which is Unavoidable Grievous The Sin is described in the 26. Ver. to be a sinning wilfully after we have received the Knowledg of the Truth Where we must consider 1. What it presupposeth and that is the Acknowledgment of the Truth 2. What it is upon this presupposed It 's a wilful sinning In the presupposition we have 1. Truth 2. The Knowledg of it 3. The receiving of this Knowledg 1. By the Truth is meant the true pure and most certain Doctrine of the Gospel concerning Christ already come Faith and Salvation This is called Truth because it 's true and most eminently and infallibly true which is no wayes in any thing false and erroneous as being at first immediately revealed from God the God of Truth of all Truth who is not only true but Truth it self It 's called also the Truth by way of eminency as the most excellent Truth revealed for Man's eternal Happiness The Reason of this Truth is the Perfection of his full and clear Knowledge and his absolute Integrity and purest Holiness which both are such as that he neither can nor will reveal any thing but Truth 2. Truth may be Truth and yet not known to any Man or Angel and this Truth was first known only unto God Yet it pleased him out of his great Mercy to reveal his mind to Man and in particular this Truth of the Gospel by Christ and his Apostle who made it known unto others who by that means came to know it For many who heard the Gospel preached and attended unto it attained to the Knowledg of the great Mystery of God's Kingdom and of those things which were sufficient and effectual for Information of the Understanding unto everlasting Life This Knowledg was not Mathematical Physical Political or Metaphysical as some use to speak but Theological and Divine and a Light above the Light of Nature The word may signify not only Knowledg but Acknowledgment of this Truth by a full Assent upon Conviction And this might be caused not only by outward Revelation Information and Miracles but also by the Illumination of the Spirit and supernatural Gifts For God goes far with Man and doth much to save him he many times penetrates his inward parts and by his divine Light and Power enters into his very heart and all this to convert him 3. They received this Knowledg God did not only offer it but give it which he might be properly said to do when they received it They had it not by Nature for it 's far above the natural Man They acquired it but not by their own Power and Industry neither did they merit it Yet in this receiving they were not meerly passive yet passive before they could be active God must do something without Man before he can actively receive he must prevent him by Revelation and Information without and by Illumination and Operation within and this done Man may be active For to receive it is certainly an Act not only of the Understanding which assents but of the Will which approves So that he both wittingly and willingly receives and that with some delight and proceeds to Profession and continues for a while to believe approve profess Though this receiving of Knowledg may seem only to be Acknowledgment yet it 's something more Truth is opposed to Erroar Knowledg to Ignorance Acknowledgment to Dissent Approbation to Rejection of this Truth § 26. This receiving and having is presupposed to Apostacy and sinning wilfully For no Man can loose and fall away from that which he never had either in Title or Possession so none can fall away from Grace or any degree of Grace which he never had The Heathens in Scripture were never said to breâ—k the Covenant of God or forsake God as their God by Covenant Therefore the proper Subject of Apostacy is one in the Church a member of the visible Church and in the times of the Gospel a Christian who hath professeth his Faith in Christ yet of these Apostates there is a difference and there are degrees of this Apostacy For some receive and profess Christianity by tradition and an implicit Faith yet never have any distinct knowledg of the Truth to be believed Some believe and understand more explicitely the Doctrine of Christianity and are convinced of the truth of it yet are never affected with the matter so as to forsake their Sins and reform their Lives but continue in their Sin Some know believe are affected with the matter as so they begin by the power of the Spirit to escape the corruption that is in the World through lust and find some spiritual joy and comfort To fall away from any of these is Apostacy but to fall from the last is the greatest And there was something proper to those times which did aggravate this sin very much For the Truth then was confirmed both by Miracles and Gifts of the Holy Ghost this confirmation was clear and extraordinary and to renounce that Truth so confirmed must needs be hainous and of this the Apostle seems to speak Christians may fall away three wayes by denying the Truth 1. In their Profession Or 2. In their practise Or 3. In both And that denial which we call Apostacy is destructive of Christianity and maketh a man of a Christian no Christian. Yet some may deny Christ or fall into some grievous Sin and yet verily believe in their hearts and retain the love of Christ as Peter and others have
the Hebrew Copies we have now translate the place thus And Israel bowed himself upon the Beds-head To reconcile these some tell us of the difference of Mittah and Matteh the one signifying a Bed the other a Staff and say that the word being at first unpointed might be taken to signify the one or the other or both so that he might be at the head of his Bed leaning upon a Staff It 's true that the Chaldee and Samaritan read it Mittah a Bed The Syriack turns the word Sceptrum Yet this is clear enough that the Apostle followed the Greek Translation and we may safely follow him being divinely inspired Upon this Staff he leaned and by it supported himself after that Joseph had sworn to him that he would bury him in the Land of Canaan in the burying place of his Fathers He leaned thus upon his Staff that he might bow and worship But the Question is To whom he bowed Some think he bowed to Joseph not looking upon him now as his Son but as a Prince and Administrator General of the Kingdom of Egypt and this might give occasion to the Syriack Interpreter to think this Staff was Joseph's Scepter as though by this Posture he gave not only Honour but Thanks unto his Son that he would not only promise but confirm his Promise by Oath Others conceive that he had far higher thoughts and that with all humility he adored the divine Majesty and dd praise his glorious Name that he had provided for his Burial in the Land of Promise where his Posterity should settle where his Saviour should be born and where he should rise again to eternal Glory and this outward bowing was a Sign of his most humble Submission and Adoration of the supream and eternal Lord. This doth teach us 1. That the Object of religious Adoration is God as Supream Lord of infinite and eternal Excellency 2. That Humility is essential to this Act of Adoration 3. That by outward Carriage in the Worship of God we should signify our inward Humility 4. That near our End we should think not only of Death but of the Resurrection and with the thoughts thereof support and comfort our hearts Thus Jacob blessed thus he bowed and both by Faith For they were Effects of Faith without which it was impossible to do either of them as he did them This is the principal thing intended in all the Examples to shew the necessity and excellency of Faith and by both to perswade Perseverance therein And surely Jacob had some divine Revelation concerning the future Fates of his Grand-children and upon Joseph's Oath of his Burial in the Land of Canaan and he did most certainly believe it and rely upon it and this Belief and Reliance was the inward Principle of his Benediction and Adoration otherwise they had neither been effectual nor acceptable § 21. Thus both Joseph's Sons were blessed by the Faith of his Father Jacob and Joseph also had his Faith which was effectual too For Ver. 22. By Faith Joseph when he dyed made mention of the departing of the Children of Israel and gave Commandment concerning his Bones HEre likewise we have 1. The Effects of Joseph's Faith 2. His Faith the ground of these Effects The Effects are two 1. Mention of Israel 's Departure 2. A Charge or Command concerning his Bones 1. Joseph made mention of Israel's Departure Israel was the divine Name of Jacob for it was given him from Heaven because by his earnest and fervent Prayers he prevailed with God This Name was after given to his Posterity according to the Flesh and in the New Testament to his Children according to the Spirit In this place it signifies those Children and that Posterity of his who were living when God sent Moses to Pharaoh This Departure here meant is their departure out of Aegypt and Freedom from that miserable Bondage they suffered there This Deliverance Joseph being ready to dy and knowing his End to be near remembred as a matter of very great moment and out of this remembrance puts the Israelites his Brethren and probably his own Children and Nephews in mind of it and this perhaps also he did with a special Charge they should make it known to their Childrens Children that it might not be forgotten Of this we thus read And Joseph said unto his Brethren I dy and God will surely visit you and bring you out of this Land unto the Land which he sware to Abraham to Isaac to Jacob Gen. 50. 24. These words do fully explain this part of the Text. This was the first Effect 2. The second was That he gave Commandment concerning his Bones This is explained by the words following Gen. 50. 25. And Joseph took an Oath of the Children of Israel saying God will surely visit you and ye shall carry up my Bones from hence These words imply that he had a great desire that his very Bones and that part which at the time of their Deliverance remained might be buried in Canaan and so take Possession of that Land where his Saviour should be born redeem sinful Man and rise again to Glory Out of this desire he gives a strict Charge unto his surviving Brethren and their Posterity to carry his Bones with them out of Aegypt into that Holy Land and if their Love to him could not perswade them as his Father took an Oath of him so he took an Oath of them to do this last Service and Office of Love that so not only Affection and Respect to him but the fear of the eternal God by whom they had sworn might make them and their Posterity mindful of their Promise And according to his Command their Promise and Oath the thing was done For Moses took the Bones of Joseph with him for he had straitly sworn the Children of Israel saying God will surely visit you and ye shall carry up my Bones hence with you Exod. 13. 19. And they were buried many years after in Shechem the Portion of Joseph Josh. 24. 32. All this was done by Faith which was grounded upon that Promise which was confirmed by an Oath unto Abraham Isaac and Jacob that he would give them the Land of Canaan and bring their Children out of Aegypt for to settle them in that Country which was a Type of Heaven and in which by Christ they should rise again to everlasting Life This Revelation from Heaven he did assuredly believe and rested upon the Promise This Example should teach us to remember and never to forget the Promises of God to mind others of them perswade them to rest upon them and deeply to engage them to their God and the Performance of their Duty This doth also inform us of the Excellency of the Bodies of the Saints which have been Temples of the Holy Ghost and one day shall be made immortal § 22. And now we are come to the great Prophet Moses whose Preservation was wonderful and his Works glorious The Apostle instanceth 1. In
could merit the Reward but only qualify him for the Enjoyment and give a Title to it by vertue of God's Promise made upon the Merit of Christ who by the Cross did merit this Reward for all such as by Faith should bear the Cross and follow him This Faith moved him to this Obedience of Self-Denial and bearing the Cross and gave him Power to overcome the World and that Faith which is not thus victorious is not justifying and saving The Philosopher's 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of Temperance and Fortitude seem to have some Affinity with this Doctrine but comes far short And here it 's observable That the Honour to be Pharoah's Daughter's Son the temporary Pleasures of Sin and the Treasures of Aegypt go together so do Afflictions of God's People and the Reproach of Christ. The Reproach of Christ is opposed to Honor the Afflictions of God's People to the Pleasures of Sin the Riches of Reproach for Christ to the Treasures of Aegypt The Reproaches of Christ and Afflictions are better to Man as his Case now stands not only in this that they tend to the Reward but also through Sanctification of the Spirit they exercise and improve our heavenly vertues and prevent many grievous Sins If we will be happy with Moses we must make Moses Choice and pray for the Power of the Spirit to enable us not only to resolve but also perform as he did and also often to eye the great Reward which will be a mighty Motive to Obedience Neither must we think it mercenary to look at the Reward for God's Glory and our Happiness are linked together so that the Belief and Expectation of the Reward do no wayes abate of our Love to God in Christ. § 26. The second Work of Moses his Faith wherein the Apostle instanceth was his forfaking of Aegypt For Ver. 27. By Faith he for sook Aegypt not fearing the Wrath of the King for he endured as seeing him who was invisible FOR the better understanding both of this and the former part of the Example of Moses we must observe 1. That Moses had some divine Information of God's Intention by him to deliver Israel as is implyed by this that he visited his Brethren when he was forty years of Age for then it came into his heart to do so and in this Visitation he slew an Aegyptian who wronged and oppressed one of his Brethren By this Visitation and Act he supposed his Brethren would have understood how that God by his hand would deliver them but they understood not Acts 7. 23 24 25. 2. That if he would have laid aside all Affection and Care of his Brethren and all thoughts of delivering them he might have still continued to have been called the Son of Pharoah's Daughter and to have enjoyed the Pleasures and Treasures of Aegypt 3. That he was resolved though with the loss of all to attempt and undertake this Work and began it with this Visitation and Deliverance of one particular Person yet this way proved ineffectual for the time was not yet come 4. That in this Visitation it so fell out through the Folly and Iniquity of one of his own Brethren that Pharoah was incensed against him and sought to kill him and now he begins to suffer Affliction with God's People and to bear the Reproach of Christ. And now his Case was this that he must either fly and forsake Aegypt or be slain He cared not so much for the King's Wrath nor did he fear Death so much as he was grieved for the sad condition of his Brethren and troubled that the design of their Deliverance did for the present fail But to return unto the words wherein we may observe these Propositions 1. Moses for sook Aegypt not fearing the Wrath of the King 2. In this he endured as seeing him who is invisible In the former we have 1. His leaving Aegypt 2. The manner how he left it 1. He forsook Aegypt Two several times 1. When he fled into the Land of Midian where he was a Stranger and a Shepherd for many years 2. When he brought Israel out of Aegypt The great doubt is Whether of these is here intended Some think the former some the latter some both Yet whether it be one or both it 's certain both that he did leave Aegypt and that he did leave it in this manner In the former Departure he fled to avoid danger in the latter he marched out like a Prince and General with a mighty Host. The former was the loss of all his Honour high and happy Estate which he formerly enjoyed in Pharoah's Court and the beginning of his suffering Affliction and Reproach with the People of God This was from himself who out of Pity and ardent Affection to his Brethren brought himself into this Condition This seemed to be a great Fall for a great Prince became a poor Fugitive yet he was well content nay judged the Estate of the latter to be far better than that of the former For it was far more free from Temptation and more calm so that he might freely give himself to contemplation and converse with his God Therefore if we well consider this the former forsaking Aegypt is rather to be referred and ascribed to that Faith whereby he denyed himself and took up the Cross looking at the great Reward 2. In the latter though the Wrath of the King was great yet he feared it not The last time he was in the King's presence he did fearfully menace him saying Get thâ—t from me take â—eed to thy self see my face no more for in that day thou seest my face thou shalt dy Exod. 10. 28. This signifies that he was enraged against Moses and though upon the last and greatest Execution upon the Egyptians in the death of the first born he did for the present remit his fury and sending to Moses and Aaron did dismiss them and all Israel yet he suddenly changed his mind and armed all Aegypt to pursue them This Moses knew full well yet he marched with all the Armies of Israel out of that wicked Country with invincible Boldness and certain Confidence that God would make his March good and their Deliverance full and effectual against all the fury and force of that wicked King The Reason of this Boldness was his Faith whereby he endured as seeing him who is invisible which is the second Proposition Where 1. The Object of his Faith was the Invisible 2. The Act was he saw him or looked upon him 3. The Effect immediate was he endured 1. He that was invisible was God who is said to be the eternal immortal invisible God 1 Tim. 1. 17. whom no man hath seen nor can see Cap. 6. 16. and the invisible God Colos. 1. 15. To be invisible as here is meant must needs be proper unto God It 's true that many things especially spiritual Substances as immortal Souls and Angels are not visible or perceivable by bodily Eyes and in that
Effect of Chastisements In the first the Apostle makes this his Principle that chastening is proper to every Child of God and so proper that it agrees to none else From hence he argues to this purpose If God chastiseth all Sons and only Sons then if you endure Chastening he dealeth with you as with Children But he chasteneth all Sons and only Sons Therefore if you endure Chastening he dealeth with you as with Sons The Assumption that he chasteneth all Sons and every Son we find in the latter end of Ver. 7. That he chasteneth only Sons is implied Ver. 8. For Explination I will 1. Reduce the whole into Propositions 2. Inform you of the principal Conclusion inferred from the whole The Propositions are these 1. With those who endure Chastening God dealeth as with Sons 2. There is no Son whom the Father chasteneth not 3. They who are without Chastening whereof all are Partakers are Bastards and â—as Sons These Propositions are made in Thesi though we find them here in Hypothesi as applyed to these Hebrews In the first Proposition we have 1. The Antecedent 2. The Consequent 1. The Antecedent supposeth them chastened or enduring Chastening for these may be the same because enduring may be suffering so as that in and under Afflictions they may be considered as only passive Yet sometimes to endure may be a vertuous Act of the Soul receiving and bearing Affliction as a Chastening from God for Affliction may be sent from God as a Chastisement and for Correction and yet not so received by Man Thus God complains of his People They received not Correction they turned not to him that smote them God dealt with them as a Father but they proved undutiful Children When God doth accompany his Chastisements with the sanctifying power of his Spirit so that Reformation followeth then the Party chastened may be said to endure Affliction not only passively but actively too 2. This presupposed and granted the Consequent of this first Proposition is that God dealeth with them as with Children that is out of Love he chasteneth them for their spiritual Good which he intends because he will not suffer Sin to ly upon them lest it prove their Ruine The Chastening issues from Love and the End is their Benefit and Good for such is the Chastening of a wise and good Father This is necessarily consequent upon the former granted For if he chastise any so that they are corrected then he doth the part of a loving Father and thereby manifests that he accounteth them as Children The second Proposition There is no Son which the Father chasteneth not Here it 's expressed Interrogatively For what Son is there whom the Father chasteneth not Where the Rule That a negative Interrogation is a vehement Affirmation holds good This may be understood of an earthly or an heavenly Father if of an earthly then it 's to be understood of wise and good Fathers not of such as are careless or ignorant or foolishly indulgent as too many such there be And of such if they have many Children they deal thus with every one and all such Fathers deal thus with their Children And as this is true of all wise earthly Parents so much more is it true of our heavenly Father For there is not any Son of his who needs Correction but he correcteth him otherwise he did not love him The rational or causal Conjunction for doth intimate unto us that when it 's said He dealeth with you or useth you as Children that by Children he means all and every Child of his The third Proposition They which are without Chastisement whereof all are Partakers are Bastards and not Sons Here it 's put Hypothetically and the Proposition is Connex yet so that it may be extended to an universal Categorical This takes for granted according to the former Proposition that all are Partakers of Chastisement for all the Sons of God are corrected This presupposed the Antecedent is that some are without Correction or Chastisement that is God suffers them to go on in their Sins and in his just Judgment permits them to go on to their own eternal undoing The Consequent of this is that all such are Bastards and not Children and so accounted of God who denies his Mercy unto them No 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a Bastard may be either a Son illegitimate or if Legitimate yet degenerate or one that is no Son or if a Son yet not so accounted not so acknowledged Many such there be who profess themselvs the Children of God and bear that glorious Name yet are not truly and really such and God doth deny them therefore it 's said that they are Bastards and not Sons where it 's implyed that by Bastards are meant such as are not Sons of God either in his account or indeed The Consequence is clear enough for if all Sons are Partakers of Chastisement and some or many are without then such as God chasteneth not are not his Sons they are Bastards and to be such is the saddest condition of all others for no man in this Life can be in a worse or more miserable It 's a sad and woful thing for a Child to be left unto himself and suffered to go on in untoward courses but far more sad it is for a Man to be suffered to go on in Sin without any Chastisement or Correction There is no Hope of such God seems to cast them off desert them leave them to their own Lusts deliver them unto Satan and then they must needs perish It 's evident God loves not such nor intends their everlasting Salvation but leavs them with the World to be condemned with the World Blessed be that God who takes a more special care of us and when we need corrects us and so deals with us as with Children 2. The Conclusion which he intends to infer from this is That if God out of a Love as a Father chasteneth us as he doth every Son and only his Sons then it 's our Duty not to despise the Chastening of the Lord nor to faint under his Rebuke § 7. The second thing observed by the Apostle is that God is a Father as is implyed in the Text where we are called his Sons and if we be his Sons then he is our Father in chastizing us and far above our earthly Fathers and that in chastizing For thus he argues Ver. 9. Furthermore we have had Fathers of our Flesh which corrected us and we gave them reverence Shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of Spirits and live Ver. 10. For they verily for a few dayes chastened us after their own pleasure but he for our profit that we might be partakers of his Holiness THese words are virtually an Exhortation for by the clear manifestation of the Duty he exhorts us to performance The Duty is subjection to God our spiritual Father Chastising us The reason of this Duty is delivered by way of comparison
taken from our subjection to our earthly Fathers and that from 1. The excellency of our heavenly Father as far above the Fathers of the Flesh ver 9. 2. The manner of Chastening us for our greater good ver 10. The reasoning in form is to this purpose If we have been subject to the Fathers of our Flesh how much more ought we to be subject to the Father of Spirits that we may live But we have been subject to the one Chastening us Therefore much more ought we to be subject to the other This is the substance of ver 9. The Consequence he proves thus 1. If our earthly Fathers Chastened us only for a few dayes and after their own pleasure and yet we were subject to them much more ought we to be subject to God our heavenly Father chastening us for our profit that we might be partakers of his Holiness But we were subject to them so chastening us for a few dayes after their pleasure Therefore much more ought we to be subject to him Chastening us for our profit that we may be partakers of his holiness This being the form of the Apostle's Argument I will proceed to consider the words 1. Absolutely 2. Comparatively I need not stand upon the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 turned furthermore whereby the Connexion with the former words is signified to this purpose that besides what I have observed out of the former Text it 's further observable that God is compared to a Father who both as a Father and as Chastening is far more excellent then any earthly Father and from thence an argument and that of great force is drawn to prove that they should take his Chastening patiently This premised the words considered 1. Absolutely declare some things of Man as chastising Fathers God as chastising his Children Of men three things 1. We have had the Fathers of our Flesh. 2. These corrected us 3. We gave reverence to them correcting us 1. We have had Fathers of our Flesh. All Children have their Fathers for in that respect they are called Fathers because they have Children There are Fathers Moral Political Physical and all regenerate persons have a Father spiritual and the same subordinate or supreme By Fathers here are meant they who are Physical or Natural who under God by regeneration are causes of our natural Being and these are said to be the Fathers of our Flesh that is as most do understand it of our Bodies thereby implying that our Souls are not by Genetation or Ex traduce but in a more excellent and immediate manner from God creating and infusing them as many do express it Whether these be proper or fitting expressions I do not here debate but only say that the immortall Soul is concreated with and in the Body as a fit Receiptacle by an higher way and in a more excellent manner then we do or can know This doth not exclude though it doth not intend Fathers by Adoption and seems to be added to difference Men from God and earthly Fathers from our heavenly who makes the Body yet frames the Soul in a more special manner 2. These Fathers of the Flesh did correct us And this is the Duty of all Parents if they wisely and truly love their Children desire their happiness hope for comfort from them And there are very few Children which do not sometimes need Correction as well as Instruction Yet many Parents are very negligent in this particular Some are imprudent some are too indulgent and remiss some are careless and do not consider what the Consequents of this neglect will be The ignorance imperfection corruption of Children conceived and born in Sin require in their Parents a more then ordinary care Yet many Children are duly corrected and this Correction is a kind of punishment and yet a mercy and may prevent many sins and much misery for time to come for the end of it is reformation and though the party correcting may in respect of correction be thought to be and in some sort is a severe Judg yet in respect of the good intended he is a loving Father Happy are those Children which are duly corrected in time 3. Being corrected we gave them reverence The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 seems in signification to agree with the Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is with humility to submit For Children being ashamed of what they have done amisse do with humility submit not only to their Fathers instruction but correction And though they would take it ill at the hands of others yet they endure it patiently from them to be beaten and scourged for their faults And all Children should know that their Fathers have power not only to instruct and direct but to punish them when they see just Cause and they should the more willingly subject themselves because their Parents are under God the Cause of their Beeing maintain them love them and even in punishing them seek their good § 10. These absolutely declare some things concerning Men as earthly Fathers the words following inform us of some things concerning God as a Father and our Duty to him as such and they are three 1. God is the Father of Spirits 2. We must be subject to him 3. We must be subject that we may live 1. God is the Father of Spirits By Spirits some understand spiritual intellectual substances as Angels and immortal Souls yet here it seems to be restrained to humane Souls as contradistinct to the Flesh and Body mentioned before And the Soul is a Spirit that is an invisible spiritual intellectual Substance of a far more curious and excellent constitution then the Body Yet here it may be taken not only Physically as a Soul and Spirit but Morally as capable of a spiritual Felicity God is here said to be the Father of this Soul this Spirit in the Creation whereof the earthly Father hath no efficiency as by Generation not able to reach so noble and divine a Substance God only is the Efficient and Maker of it as you have heard before and that in some special manner And he is the Father not only because he hath made it but also because he alone hath power over it so that it 's exempted from all jurisdiction both of Men and Angels who as they cannot make it so they cannot command or judge it For the Conscience and immortal Soul is only subject unto his Imperial Dictates especially as it is ordinable unto an eternal estate 2. Therefore as he alone hath power over it so our Spirits and Souls are bound to be subject to him and him alone For where there is Soveraignity there subjection is due and as it 's due to him alone so we must submit freely and willingly to him alone as our Supreme Lord both commanding and as a Father correcting and sanctifyng his correction unto our good 3. For we must be subject unto him that we may live To live is not only to enjoy a physical Life
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
that is The peaceable fruit of Righteousness for surely there is nothing which God doth unto his Children but therein he intends their good The Subject Matter of this Passage as of the former is the Lord 's chastening of his Children and it 's considered 1. In respect of it self for the present 2. In respect of the Fruit which follows afterward According to these two Considerations we have two Propositions 1. That Chastening for the present seeineth not to be joyous but grievous 2. That nevertheless afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of Righteousness to them that are exercised therewith 1. The Nature of all Chastening in general and of the Lord 's Chastening his Children in particular is here assumed to be grievous and evil For it 's not matter of Joy but Sorrow to the Party suffering it for as Good present is the cause of Joy so Evil is the cause of Sorrow Yet this Evil is not the evil of Sin but of Punishment yet it 's for Sin as deserving it and to take away Sin and prevent the Punishment and when Sin is taken away and the Party chastened is reformed then God's chastizing hand is taken off us and in Heaven where shall be no Sin shall be no Chastening Yet because it issues from Love and tends unto the good of the Party chastened therefore the Evil is so little that it may be a Question whether it should have the Denomination of Evil For this Reason the Apostle useth terms of Abatement as 1. It 's so only for the present 2. It seemeth to be so not that it is so absolutely or in any high degree or in it self but rather in the sense and conceit of the Sufferer 3. It 's not of Joy that is it seemeth not to be Joyous for many times God's Saints rejoyce in Tribulation and these very Hebrews suffered joyfully the spoiling of their Goods In the second Proposition we may observe 1. The Benefit and Profit of Chastisement 2. The Parties that reap this Benefit by it 3. The time of receiving this Benefit 1. This Benefit is the peaceable fruit of Righteousness where fruit of Righteousness is nothing but Righteousness which is here compared to Fruit as every Effect may be said to be a fruit of it's Cause Man is the Soil God's Chastening is the Culture or good Husbandry and this Man thus cultivated by Chastening accompanied with the Word and Spirit yields and brings forth this Fruit. But it 's much doubted what this peaceable Righteousness is Some think that Righteousness signifies heavenly Vertues or the Works of these Vertues for Justitia in sâ—fâ— virtutes coâ—tinâ—â— omnes and righteous Works are vertuous Works Others conceive that by Righteousness is meant that particular Vertue of Patience which seems to be a proper Fruit of Chastizing Tribulations and Afflictions For Tribulation worketh Patience Rom. 5. 3. and the trying of our Faith by Temptations and Afflictions worketh Patience saith another Apostle Jam. 1. 3. And Patience may be said to be peaceable because it is the quiet the peace the calm of the Soul in the midst of the Storms of Affliction But to understand the words more fully we must consider 1. That the End of God's Chastening is Correction Reformation and the reducing of the Party chastened into the right way For saith David Before I was afflicted I went astray but now I have kept thy Word Psal. 119. 67. and again It 's good for me that I have been afflicted that I might learn thy Statutes Ver. 71. Where we may observe 1. That Afflictions which are God's Chastisements are for Sin for he had gone astray 2. The End and Effect is Obedience keeping of God's Word and learning to do his Statutes To obey and do God's Laws is Righteousness 2. Upon this Reformation follows Peace for God's Anger and Chastisements the Effects thereof do cease the Conscience is quiet and the Comfort of the Party corrected is great 3. This Chastening may be used as a means of our first Conversion and so of unrighteous may make us righteous or it may be made subservient to the Reformation of one converted by making him sensible of Sin and causing him to renew his Repentance and exercise and improve his heavenly Vertues which lay dormant in him through his neglect The Sum of all this is 1. God by his Chastisements joyned with his Word and Spirit makes his Children more holy and righteous and also more happy By this that is Smiting and Affliction or Chastisement shall the Iniquity of Jacob be purged and this is all the fruit to take away Sin Isa. 27. 9. And the End of all our Chastisements which we suffer here on Earth is that when this Life is ended we may be perfectly righteous and attain eternal Peace For they exercise our Graces of Repentance and Faith whereby we obtain Remission of Sin a greater measure of Sanctification and Reconciliation with our God 2. The Parties that are Partakers of this benefit are such as are exercised therewith There is an Exercise of the Body whereby men are made stronger more active more skilful in the thing wherein they are exercised and by continued Practice are enabled to endure and hold out far more and far longer than others can do There is also an Exercise of the Soul in the School of Affliction for this is the manner of God's training of his Children and the stirring up and improving of their heavenly vertues The principal Vertue he intends to teach them is Patience which once had and brought unto some Perfection is a rare vertue This is an hard Lesson and not easily learned and without Exercise cannot be attained yet this vertue once made habitual raiseth Man to an high degree of Christianity so that nothing will be difficult unto him Therefore this was the Exhortation of the Apostle Let Patience have her perfect Work that ye may be perfect and entire wanting of nothing James 1. 4. They therefore who are exercised by Afflictions so as to be habitually patient are they who receive this benefit and reap the peaceable fruit of Righteousness 3. Yet there must be some time before an habit be acquired therefore the Apostle saith That not at first but afterward when we have been well â—vâ—rcised then it yieldeth this peaceable fruit and not before God could so sanctify us at first and in an instant so deeply implant all heavenly vertues in us that this Exercise might be needless Yet it was not his Will and Pleasure so to do he will humble us try us refine us before he admits into his Kingdom of Glory He knew this was good for us for it is good for a Man that he bear the Yoke in his Youth He sitteth alone and keepeth silence because he hath born it upon him Lament 3. 27. 28. The Sum of this Discourse is That seeing from the Text of Solomon it appears that God out of Love chasteneth all his Children so that none are exempted and
men For as we must love all men even Strangers Enemies and Persecutors so we must have peace with all yet so far as this concord agrees with the Laws of God For we must agree with no person in that which is evill and we must have a special care to agree with the best If we differ from any man in that which is lawful we offend This peace presupposeth society and is the bond that knits together multitudes 3. We must follow peace as one that followeth and pursueth some thing running from him for to take it it 's the same with that Exhortation Seek peace and pursue it Psal. 34. 14. The phrase implies that it is a very difficult thing to have peace with a few much more with all For we find that true That when we are for Peace and speak for it most men are for War Psal. 120. 7. The means whereby we may lay hold of it according to the advice of the Psalmist is to eschew Evil and do Good to keep our Tongues from Evil and our Lips from speaking Guil. For we must not comply with any person in his Errours or his Sin nor neglect to reprove him or oppose him in his iniquity for our own quiet Yet to be just and merciful and kind is a good and lawful means and very effectual to obtain peace And in this way we must do what we can and use all diligence and if the issues answer not our defires and endeavours we have done our Duty and discharged our Conscience God doth not bind us to impossibilities For the Command is not absolute but given with this Proviso If it be possible as much as in you lieth live peaceably with all men Rom. 12. 18. The sum of all is this We must give no just occasion or cause of difference to any person but use all lawful wayes and just means to procure peace Secondly We must follow holiness c. where we have 1. The Duty which is holiness 2. The Reason why we should perform it and that is because without it no man shall see the Lord. Some think these words are added to limit and direct our pursuance of peace wherein we must be so innocent as not to offend our God Some think holiness to be sincerity in the religious Service and Worship of our God For all Worship even of the true God is unholy if not performed with a sincere heart which being washed in the Blood of Christ and sanctified with the Spirit out of love to God hates Sin and endeavours to avoid it The principal subject of Holiness is the will and heart of man and it is a qualification whereby it 's conformed and made like to God It is the supernatural light beauty and purity of the Soul and purifies all acts and operations both inward and outward It 's that whereby we devote and consecrate our selves to God and have union and communion with him It 's opposed not only to profaness but hypocrisy and iniquity This holiness we must follow and pursue for it 's a difficult thing as to follow peace with all men so to be holy and the greater the difficulty the greater must be our care not only to be but to continue holy 2. The Reason hereof is because without it no man shall see God This implies 1. That God may be seen 2. That without holiness he cannot be seen 3. That by holiness this happiness may be obtained 4. That because without holiness it cannot and by holiness it may be obtained therefore we must follow holiness with God as we do peace with Man The three first are absolute 1. To see God as many understand it is immediately and clearly to behold God's Glory which is a priviledg reserved for Heaven Thus to see him is that which they call intuitive Knowledg and beatifical Vision from which unspeakable joyes and eternal delights do ever issue Yet it 's an Hebrew expression and signifies to enjoy therefore to see God is to enjoy him and have some special union and communion with him and derive some happiness from him either by Grace in this Life and Glory in the Life to come 2. This communion cannot be obtained without holiness For all Communion presupposeth union all union agreement and without holiness there can be no agreement no union no communion with God For he is holy and requires holiness in all them that draw near unto him for to worship him He is Light and in him is no Darkness that is He is pure and perfectly holy and as there is no fellowship of Light and Darkness so they who walk in Darkness and are polluted with Sin can have no fellowship with him So that without holiness we are not capable of fellowship with him 3. By holiness we may see him and enjoy him and according to the measure of our holiness is the measure of our enjoyment The more holy we are the nearer fellowship we have with him and derive more joy and comfort from him That by this holiness this sight and enjoyment may be obtained is evident from Christ's words Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God 4. Seeing there can be no vision or fruition of God without holiness therefore our Duty is to be holy as God is holy for that 's the Duty urged upon this ground The reason why it 's not said by holiness we may see God but without holâ—ness we cannot see God is to signify the necessity of this purity as a means without which this blessed fruition cannot be attained Every one that knows how blessed a thing it is to be near unto our God and converse with him doth purify himself as he is pure 1 Joh. 3 3. And it highly concerns us all to keep our hearts right with God and this should be our chiefest work in this Life as we desire to have Communion with God here or see his Face in the Light of eternal Glory by Repentance and Faith in Christ's Blood and constant prayer for sanctification to cleanse our hearts from all impurity For the more pure we are the more capable we shall be of this great benefit and when we are once fully purified we shall be admitted into his glorious presence and enjoy him for evermore And this must be a certain principle That he that will be happy as God is must be holy as he is § 14. That they might continue holy the Apostles Exhortation is Ver. 15. Looking diligently lost any man fail of the Grace of God lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you and thereby many be defiled THese words may be understood either of private care and vigilancy of one over another or of publick Discipline and the end of both especially of the latter is to prevent Apostacy and Scandal And here are observable 1. Some Danger or Evil to be prevented 2. The prevention of the same The Evil seems in this Text to be Apostacy in the next Scandal If we
uncloathed and divested of their Bodies Yet there were Millions upon Millions of separated Souls before their times and many of these the Souls of men dying in their Sins but these were the Souls and Spirits of just men who in their mortal Life upon Earth were upright walked with their God and endeavoured an universal Obedience yet they were not perfectly righteous in themselvs but were justified sanctified and cleansed from all Sin by their Faith in Christ before they departed this World For they were the Spirits of Patriarchs Prophets Martyrs and the Saints of God who lived in former times which were made perfect To be made perfect is to be washed in the Blood of Christ and consecrated as many in this Life are yet these had finished their time of Consecration and were made capable of a nearer Communion with God than we Mortals are Though these were removed out of the Church Militant yet they had not attained an Estate of full Perfection for they had not received their full Reward though they were secure of it as of the Resurrection of their Bodies and were nearer unto God and eternal Bliss than we on Earth can be These were the Spirits of just men made perfect and to these the believing Hebrews were come For wheresoever or howsoever God had disposed of them yet they were within the Verges of his Kingdom and not only in but of this society and fellow-Members of the same Body They were come unto them though not in the same place with them and must expect to be by Death removed and more nearly associated with them when the time of their Consecration should be finished and then they should be freed from all Sin and Temptation and their condition would be comfortable and most certain Our Converse with Saints departed is very little or none though some Communion there is between them and us living upon Earth We and they have the same God and Sovereign the same Head Jesus Christ the same Charity the same desire and hope of Resurrection § 22. They were also come Ver. 24. To Jesus the Mediator of the new Covenant and to the Blood of Sprinkling that speaketh better things than that of Abel THis Text informs us 1. That Jesus is the Mediatour of the New Covenant by his Blood 2. This Blood of Sprinkling speaks better things than that of Abel 3. They were come to this Mediatour and this Blood of Sprinkling 1. Christ is the Mediatour of the New Covenant by his Blood Of this Covenant and of Christ the Mediatour of it you have formerly heard Chap. 8. 6. Cap. 9. 15. It 's written that the Law was ordained by Angels in the hand of a Mediator Gal. 3. 19. This Mediatour was Moses who 1. Signifies the mind of God to Israel in his stipulation of Subjection and Obedience and his Promise to be their God and make them his peculiar People and return the Promise and Restipulation of that People unto God Exod. 19. 5. 6 7 8. 2. He confirms this Covenant by sprinkling of the Blood of the Sacrifice Exod. 24. 34 5 6 7 8. In this he was a Type of Christ who is the Mediatour of the new and better Covenant to procure it confirm it make it effectual Some inform us that he procure it by his Blood and Sacrifice satisfying God's Justice and meriting his Mercy for sinful Man He makes it effectual 1. By proposing it unto Man and pressing the keeping of it upon powerful Motives and this is done by the Word of the Gospel 2. He enables Man by the Spirit to keep it 3. Upon his keeping of it by his Repentance and Faith he makes Intercession for Man repenting and believing and obtains Pardon of his Sins and Defects and Acceptation of his endeavours and in the End he as a Judg gives Possession of eternal Life So that after once the Covenant is procured by his Blood as a Prophet he proposeth and declareth it as a Priest he makes Intercession as a King and Judg he gives Possession Yet according to the Scripture Christ is a Mediatour in proper and more strict sense as a Priest and his Blood and Death is the Foundation of this Covenant for all the Promises thereof are made for and in consideration of this Blood and Death without which there is no Expiation of Sin or hope of Pardon And though the Promises were made from the beginning and that upon condition of Faith in his Blood yet they had been vain and unprofitable to Man if Christ in fulness of time had not shed his Blood and by his Death made this Covenant firm and unalterable for ever And as this Blood satisfying divine Justice and meriting his favour and all Mercies necessary for our happiness is the Foundation of this Covenant so this Blood by Christ's Intercession sprinkled upon our Souls makes this Covenant effectual So that as this Blood being shed procures and confirms this Covenant in it self so this Blood pleades before the Throne of Grace in our behalf confirms this Covenant to us and makes it effectual to our Salvation Therefore though Christ as a Prophet and a King may do something about this Covenant yet it mainly depends upon Christ as a Priest and as a Priest he is a Mediatour Take away this Blood shed and there is no Covenant take away the pleading of this Blood before the Judgment-Seat of God and there is no efficacy of this Covenant to us in particular And here as we must distinguish of this Blood as shed as pleaded and as sprinkled so we must of this Covenant as procured as made as confirmed as likewise of it as kept and as made effectual unto us In all these respects it depends upon Christ as a Priest and upon his Blood and by and in respect of this Blood he is a Mediatour And it is further to be observed that a Mediatour is one that deals and acts between two Parties and is distinct from both at least so to be considered The Parties here are God and sinful Man Christ as a Priest is different from both for though he agrees with both yet in this business he is neither The End of this Mediation is Reconciliation of God and Man of the Sovereign offended and the Subject offending God offended will not hear of Reconciliation but upon certain terms as the satisfaction of his Justice by Blood the Repentance of Man offending casting himself wholly upon his Mercy and the Intercession of a just Party which had shed his Blood for Sins Christ therefore being the Word made Flesh offers his pure and unspotted Blood in behalf of Man to satisfy Justice and this Blood is accepted he makes Intercession for Man repenting and relying upon this Blood and God's Mercy and so the Reconciliation is made and the Covenant proves effectuall on both sides and that by vertue of a Mediatour coming between God angry and Man guilty and interposing between Man repenting and God sollicited by this
High-Priest ascended into Heaven 2. This Blood of Sprinkling speaketh better things thau the Blood of Abel This Blood is the Blood of Christ and the End and so the principal Effect is to cleanse away Sin yet this it cannot do except it be first shed and then sprinkled Once shed it hath a cleansing Power and Vertue yet actually cleanseth and purifieth no man till it be sprinkled upon him The Blood of sprinkling is Blood to be sprinkled and it is to be sprinkled upon the unclean to make clean and therefore the Blood of Sprinkling is by a Metonymy cleansing and purifying Blood Yet there was a sprinkling of Blood in the Sanction and Confirmation of the Old Covenant and so Blood of Sprinkling here may be the Blood of Confirmation for as you heard Chap. 9. 16 17. a Testament is of force after men are dead so upon and by the death of Christ the new Covenant was made firm valid and in full force and power for that end God intended it If Christ had not dyed God might have abrogated or altered his Covenant but upon his death he was bound to stand to it for ever and the Title to the heavenly Inhâ—râ—tance is good to all such as observe the terms and conditions yet in this Expression it is very probable the Apostle alludes to the Legal Purifications by Water Ashes Blood which being sprinkled upon such as were Legally unclean or upon the Lepers did purify them The like Effect Christ's Blood hath upon all such as are capable of it therefore do we read that the Blood of Christ doth cleanse us from all Sin 1 Joh. 1. 7. and to cleanse is to forgive to be cleansed is to be pardoned as is implyed in that Text If we confess our Sins he is faithfull and just to forgive us our Sins and to cleanse us from all Unrighteousness Ver. 9. This Blood is sprinkled upon such as confess repent believe pray receive the Sacraments The means of sprinkling is the Word Sacraments and principally the Spirit or whatsoever worketh or increaseth and strengthneth Faith and then it 's sprinkled when it 's so applyed as that the Person receiveth the benefit of Christ's Passion one Effect and the principal is Remission of Sin and Sanctification whereby we are freed from Sin and the woful Consequents thereof for this Blood speaketh better things than that of Abel Abel's Blood was shed so was Christ's Abel's Blood shed speaketh so Christ's Blood shed speaketh Abel's Blood speaketh to God so Christ's speaketh to him likewise they both speak loud and cry so that God hears Abel's Blood was precious Christ's far more precious and the Cry of both is heard in Heaven Thus far they agree yet differ much for the one cryes for Mercy the other for Judgment the one cryes against Man that did shed it the other for Man though his Sins did cause it to be shed The meaning is that Cain's Murther of his Brother Abel did so much offend God that it moved him to revenge it Christ's death as caused by the cursed cruel impenitent Jews did so far provoke God that he fearfully punished them and their Children according to their own words Let his Blood be upon us and our Children yet as suffered for the Sin of Man and offered unto God it was so pleasing so precious and so highly accepted that for and in condsieration of it God was effectually moved both to reward him and pardon all penitent and believing Sinners and that for evermore This Blood spake when it was shed and speaks effectually when pleaded before the eternal Judg. 3. They were come to this Mediator to this Blood They were not come to the Mount of Fire Smoak Darkness Terrour Death where there was no Mediator to make their peace with God no blood to cry for Metcy and cleanse them from their Sin and free them from eternal Death But they were come into that Society where Christ was their Mediator and Priest where they were freed from the Law of Sin and Death and under the Covenant of Free Mercy Grace and Life where the Blood of Christ sprinkled upon their Souls did cry aloud to Heaven for Mercy and did cleanse them from all Sin for ever And now since they were received into an heavenly Society where Angels and the best of men both living and dead were their fellow-Subjects God Redeemer sitting in the Throne of Grace their Soveraign Christ the Son of God their Priest who shed his Blood to wash away their Sins and though they had many Offences yet upon their Repentance would make Reconciliation for them and though they had many failings yet he was a righteous Advocate with their Father and would plead their Cause with his own Blood procure their pardon according to the Covenant of Grace so that they should be justified and live for ever there was no Reason in the World to return to Sinai and the Law again and forsake the best and happiest Kingdom that ever was a Kingdom of eternal Righteousness and Peace If they did Heaven might be astonished and Earth amazed at their Folly In this with that which follows the Apostle seems to sum up briefly in a few words all the former Arguments taken from the excellency of the Prophetical Office of the Covenant of the Priest-hood of Christ and he doth this in that manner that he clearly takes away all colour of excuse from such as should incline to Apostacy § 23. Therefore he further argues thus Ver. 25. See that ye refuse not him that speaketh for if they escaped not who refused him that spake on Earth much more shall not we escape if we turn away from him that speaketh from Heaven THE words are a Dehortation wherein we have 1. The Sin dehorted from 2. The Reason why we should take heed of it 1. The Sin is to refuse him that speaketh 2. The Reason is taken from the greater Punishment to be suffered if they do refuse 1. To refuse him that speaketh implyes 1. That Christ doth speak and God by him To speak is not only to reveal the Doctrine of the Gospel which is the thing spoken but also to command Repentance and Faith in Christ with a Promise of Righteousness and eternal Life and a Commination of eternal Death unavoidable To refuse him that thus speaketh is either to reject this Doctrine and not receive it or if they have once received it to renounce it so that this Refusal includes both Unbelief and also Apostacy from the Christian Profession But they who had made Profession of this Doctrine must not refuse to continue in it nor renounce it to the dishonour and Contempt of God who out of greatest Mercy had tendred Salvation upon fairest terms 2. The Reason is taken from the hainousness of the Sin and the grievousness of the Punishment both which are set forth by a Comparison in Quantity And this Comparison presupposeth many things as 1. That God did speak in former times
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
round about the Throne of God are ten thousand times ten thousand even thousands of thousands Revel 5. 11. To come to these is to be of their Society and every true Believer upon his Regeneration begins to have Communion with these blessed Spirits for regenerate Men and Angels are fellow-Citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem and fellow-Subjects of the same Kingdom They are above us and we are a great Distance from them in respect of our present Estate yet some of them are very near us though we do not see them nor speak unto them nor familiarly converse with them and they love us have a special care of us and all of them are ministring Spirits for us who shall be Heirs of Salvation § 21. Yet there are other Subjects of this Kingdom of a lower and inferiour Ranck and a Supream Lord and Judg of all For we come Ver. 23 To the general Assembly and Church of the first-born who are written in Heaven and to God the Judge of all and to the spirits of just men made perfect VVHere we have God the Soveraign both of Angels and Men the Men who are Subjects in this Kingdom are the Living or Dead both in his Dominion and under his Power Some Copies and Translations joyn the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to the word Angels in the former verse You are come to Myriads the general assembly of Angels But others read as we do in our English The sense is not much altered by this difference for there is a general Assembly of Angels and a general Assembly of Men and these are different yet both make but one Body and Community of Subjects in this heavenly and spiritual Polity The Propositions are these 1. There is a general Assembly and Church of the first-born who are written in Heaven 2. There is God the Judge of all 3. There are Spirits of just men made perfect 4. They were come to these 1. In the first we have the first-born these are written in Heaven these are a great Assembly and Church 1. The first-born in this place are 1. Such as are regenerated and adopted for here to be born is to be born again and made the Sons of God by Word and Spirit They are God's first-born because they have the spiritual priviledges of primogeniture they are Heirs and also Kings and Priests to God for ever This signifies their excellent dignity above other men and their near relation to God and Christ. 2. These first-born are written or enroll'd in Heaven which is the same with having their Names written in Heaven and in the Book of Life Luke 10. 20. Rev. 20. 12. and in the Book of the Lamb. The meaning of the Phrase is that upon their serious Faith in Christ God doth account them as his Children and Heirs of Glory therefore it imports two things 1. Their title unto everlasting Glory 2. The certainty of the possession in due time so that there shall be no alteration of their Condition They are destined to an eternal Inheritance by an immutable decree and therefore their Names are said to be written in this Book from the beginning of the World and so they shall never be blotted or rased out again This enrolment is but virtual which upon their new Birth becomes actual This is a great priviledg to have our Names enrolled in the Register of Heaven which never shall be changed and an unspeakable comfort by our sincere Faith and Obedience to know it 3. There is the Church of these first-born that is though they be many yet they are called chosen congregated and united into one spiritual Body politick and made one Society therefore the Church is so often compared to a Body which hath many members yet all these united make but one Systeme called the Church the members and parts whereof are not natural but naturalized and by free Grace ingrafted 4. They are a general Assembly made up of many different persons gathered together out of several Countries into one Body though not into one place Some think the Apostle alludes unto the Olympian and other Assemblies of the Greeks wherein many from many places met together Some were Schollars as Philosophers Poets Orators who did exercise their wit some did manifest their activity in running wrastling and other bodily Exercises they had also their Delights and Recreations But the Analogy is not in these things but in this that they were one general Assembly and so did represent the Church as Catholick and Universal For these are a number gathered and redeemed by the Blood of Christ out of every Kindred and Tongue and People and Nation and a great multitude not only of Jews but Gentiles which no man can number of all Nations and Kindreds and People and Tongues Rev. 5. 9 7 9. They were come to these and were incorporated into this Society and made Subjects of this Kingdom and the first-born of God had a title to the same heavenly Inheritance and their Names were enrolled in the Book of Life and they were destin'd to eternal Glory 2. They were come to God the Judge of all What is the Body without an Head a Kingdom or multitude of Subjects without a King who is the Basis of the People and the Center of them all wherein they are united and the Corner-stone that doth support them Therefore in this most excellent Society there must be a King and Soveraign and this is God who is here styled the Judg of all In Hebrew to judg is to rule and govern and a Judg is a Ruler and Governour and so it may be taken here Yet there are inferiour and subordinate Rulers and also supream and universal Such God is for all things are subject to his Power yet he hath a special Kingdom as he is Lord and Redeemer by Christ and so he is in a special manner the Supream Governour of this general Assembly and Church of the first-born who are not only his Servants and Subjects but his Sons and Heirs of Glory He is their Lord and Father their Law-giver and their Judg he takes a special care of them and by his Laws doth order them to eternal Happiness and in the End rewards them with Glory He is Almighty in Power exactly just wonderfully wise and infinitely merciful and exerciseth his Perfections in promoting their eternal Bliss And they were come to him and admitted into his Kingdom received into his Protection and as he is able so he is resolved to destroy all their Enemies and give everlasting Peace His Angels must guard them all Creatures serve them and all things must work together for their good He continually sits in the Throne of Grace not in the midst of Smoak and Fire as upon Mount Siâ—ai he is compassed with Light and ever shines upon them with his favour 3. They were come unto the Spirits of just men made perfect Those Spirits were not Angels but the Souls of Men yet not in their Bodies but