SELECTIONS 
 
 FROM THE 
 
 UNPUBLISHED WRITINGS 
 
 OF 
 
 JONATHAN EDWARDS, 
 
 OF AMERICA. 
 
EDINBURUH : 
 
 PRINTED BY BALLANTYNE AND COMPAXY, 
 
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SELECTIONS 
 
 FROM TlIK 
 
 UNPUBLISHED WRUriNGS 
 
 OF 
 
 JONATHAN EDWARDS 
 
 u 
 OF AMERICA. 
 
 EDITED FROM THE ORIGINAL MSS., WITH FACSIMILES 
 AND AN INTRODUCTION, 
 
 REV. ALEXANDER B. GROSART, 
 
 " r consider Jonathan Edwards the greatest of the sons of men. He ranks with the 
 brightest luminaries of the Christian Church, not excluding any country, or any age, 
 since the apostolic." Robert Hall. 
 
 "This remarkable man, <Ae metaphysician of America His power of subtile ar- 
 gument, TERH.\PS UNMATCHED, CERTAINLY UNSURPASSED AMONG MEN, Was joined, aS in SOme 
 
 of the ancient Mystics, with a character which raised his piety to fervour." 
 
 Sir James Mackintosh. 
 
 "Edwards comes nearer Bishop Butler as a philosophical divine than any other theo- 
 logian with whom we are acquainted." Robert Morehead. 
 
 : THREE HUNDRED COPIES] 
 
 PRINTED FOR PRIVATE CIRCULATION. 
 
 1865. 
 
 ^ OF T^'r 
 
E^6 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 1. Facsimiles, {^prefixed to title-page.) 
 
 2. Dedication, ....... 9 
 
 3. Intkoduction, . . . . . .11 
 
 4. Treatise on Grace, . . . . . .17 
 
 Chap. I. — [Shewing] that Common and Saving Grace differ, 
 
 not only in Degree, but in Nature and Kind, . .19 
 
 Chap. II. — Shewing wherein all Saving Grace does summarily 
 
 consist, . . . . . .30 
 
 Chap. III. — Shewing how a Principle of Grace is from the 
 
 Spirit of God, . . . . .39 
 
 5. Annotations on Passages of the Bible,* . . ,57 
 
 6. Directions for Judging of Persons' Experiences, . . 181 
 
 7. Sermons — 
 
 I. Matthew vii. 1 4— "Few there be that find it," . 189 
 
 II. 2 Timothy iii. 1 6 — " All Scripture is given by inspira- 
 tion of God," . . . . .191 
 III. and IV. Romans v. 1 — " We have peace with God," . 196 
 V. and VI. Acts xxiv. 25 — " Felix trembling," , . 200 
 VII. and Vlll. 1 Peter iii. 19, 20—" The spirits in prison," 203 
 
 * It has not been deemed necessary to insert here a list of the texts, (upwards of 
 three hundred, besides others incidentally noticed), seeing they are given in tlw 
 regular oider of the Books as arranged in our English Bible. — G. 
 
 181588 
 
CONTENTS, 
 
 FACSIMILES. 
 
 No. I. Page from Sermon. 
 
 *.j;* It will be noticed that this is written on a fragment of an 
 iinsent letter to Edwards's publisher, concerning his life of 
 Brainerd. Nearly all the MSS. are on similar bits of paper. 
 
 No. 2. Page from Treatise on Grace. 
 
JONATHAN EDWARDS 
 
 Buru at Windsor, Coiniecticut ..... otli Oct. 
 
 His fathei- was ttie Rev, Timothy Edwards, pastor of a church in 
 Windsor for sixty years. 
 
 Became a Student of Yale College, Nevvhaven, in 
 
 Graduated B.A 
 
 "Licensed" as a Minister of the Gospel .... 
 
 " Preached" for eight months to a congregation of English Pres- 
 byterians, in the years 
 
 Returned to Windsor and passed M.A. at " Yale" 
 
 i' Tutor" at Yale 
 
 " Accepted" a " call" to be '' Colleague" with his maternal Grand- 
 father, at Northampton, Mass 
 
 Ordained 
 
 Married Miss Sarah Pierpont 
 
 Left Northampton 
 
 Removed to Stockbridge, Mass., where he preached to the Indians 
 and a few white settlers 
 
 His treatise on " The Will " published in . 
 
 Chosen to be President of the College of New Jersey, rriiicelon 
 
 Died 22d March 
 
 1703 
 
 171H 
 
 1719-20 
 
 1722 
 
 1722-23 
 1723-24 
 I724se5'. 
 
 1726 
 1727 
 
 1727 
 1750-51 
 
 1751-52 
 1754 
 1757 
 1758 
 
JOHN VEITCH ESQ., M.A., 
 
 I'RHFESSOR OF LOGIC AND RHETORIC IN THE UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW, 
 
 I gtMtatc 
 
 THESE " REMAINS " OF A CxREAT THINKER, 
 
 IN 
 
 MEMORIAL OF COLLEGE-DAYS, 
 
 WHILE FELLOW-STL'DENTS 
 
 UNDER 
 
 HAMILTON AND WILSON; 
 
 WITH HIGH ADMIRATION AND REGARD, 
 
 ALEXANDER B. GROSART. 
 

 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Ten years ago I crossed the Atlantic in order to consult and arrange 
 with the representatives of Jonathan Edwaeds, about a complete 
 and really worthy edition of the Works, published and unpublished, 
 of that " master in Israel." Commissioned by Publishers of position 
 and character thereto, and the way having been j)repared by corre- 
 spondence, I had immediate access given me to all the Manusceipts 
 of Edwards, . . . these having been committed to the keeping of the 
 Kev. Tryon Edwards, D.D., of New London, Connecticut, "as sole 
 peimanent trustee, by all the then surviving grandchildren of their 
 author." * Very pleasant, if onerous, was the labour of examining 
 the numerous MSS. ; which were found to embrace,— besides papers 
 of rare biographical interest and value, — the originals of some of the 
 works already published, and a mass of his ordinary " sermons," in part 
 fully written out, in larger part half-written out, and in largest part 
 in simple "notes," — these three classes being of very various worth. 
 The treasure of the whole proved to be a Treatise on Grace, carefully 
 iinished and prepared for the press : and second to it, if second, an 
 interleaved Bible, containing numerous annotations. Circumstances, 
 which it is not at all needful to state here, have hitherto prevented 
 the carrying out of the scheme of a complete collective edition of the 
 Works : but a foiloin hope is indulged, that if the deplorable Civil 
 war were ended, it may yet be achieved under the joint-editorship of 
 the above Rev. Dr Tryon Edwards and myself. 
 
 Meantime, in response to very frequent and urgent requests ad- 
 dressed to me, 1 have personally transcribed from the original MSS. 
 now in my possession, the contents of the present volume. 
 
 * lutroduction to Edwards' .s " Charity and its Fruits ; or, Christian Love as mani- 
 fested in the Heart and Life." Edited from the Original MSS. by Tryon Ed\vard.s, 
 DP. (London ; Nisbet & Co. 1S52. 8vo.), page iv. ; an inestimable book. 
 
12 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 With a collective edition of the Works in possible prospect, I did 
 not deem myself at liberty to publish anything ; but there seems no 
 valid objection to the printing of a limited impression for subscribers 
 only, willing and wishful to share the cost with the Editor. 
 
 I may briefly notice the several portions of our Selections. 
 
 I. Treatise on Grace. — This Manuscript was found by itself, 
 carefully placed within folds of thick paper, and tied up with a silk 
 ribbon. It proved to be arranged into chapters and sections, all 
 paged ; and, in short, precisely as now printed. Our facsimile pre- 
 fixed to the title-page, shews the size and appearance of the original. 
 Many of the pages have interlineations and erasures ; but there can 
 be no doubt that the Manuscript was intended for publication. 
 
 It is possible that I may have the usual bias of a discoverer and 
 editor. But I shall be surprised if tiiis Treatise do not at once take 
 rank with its kindred one, on " the Religious Aflections." There is 
 in it, I think, the massive argumentation of his great work, on " The 
 Will ; " but there is, in addition, a fineness of spiritual insight, a holy 
 fervour not untinged with the pathetic "frenzy" of the English 
 Mystics, as of Peter Sterry and Archbishop Leighton, and — especially 
 toward the close — a rapturous exultation in the " excellency and 
 loveliness " of God, a glow in iteration, of the wonder and beauty 
 and blessedness of Divine Love, and a splendour of assertion of the 
 CLAIMS, so to speak, of God the Holy Spirit, which it would be difficult 
 to over-estimate 
 
 II. Annotations on the Bible. — I give an account of the copy 
 of Holy Scripture whence these Annotations are drawn, in the Note 
 prefixed to them. It is perhaps necessary to explain that not one of 
 these has been hitherto printed. In the " Woi'ks" as supplemented 
 by Mr Robert Ogle of Edinburgh,* there is a series of " Notes on the 
 Bible," and in the " Works" as now in circulation in America, -f* a few 
 pages (seven in all) are occupied with " Observations upon Particular 
 
 * This suijplement is titled volume IX. and volume X. of the Works, intending 
 thereby to range with Williams's edition in 8 vols, royal 8vo, and the American below. 
 The former contains, I. Notes on the Bible, (pp. 397 ;) and, II. Types of the Messiah. 
 The latter, I. Miscellaneous Observations ; II. Seventeen Occasional Sermons. Those 
 who have Williams's edition ought to possess themselves of these ; and those also who 
 have the American edition, inasmuch as none of their contents are in the one, and 
 only a comparatively small part in the other. Messrs Ogle & Murray, South Bridge, 
 Edinburgh, are the present pulilishers, and few copies remain. 
 
 + 4 vols. 8vo, vol. iii. pp. 5i~-55o. See footnote at end of this Introduction. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 1 3 
 
 Passages of Scripture," the former omitting the latter, and the latter, 
 strange to say, omitting the former, as well as other equally important 
 portions of Edwards's writings. But the present is a wliolly independ- 
 ent series, — the old Bible having been in the possession of one of 
 the grandchildren until the general committing of all in 184!)-50 to 
 Dr Tryon Edwards, as stated ante. In the " Notes on the Bible " 
 mentioned above, there are various references to " the Blank Bible," 
 which were not understood, but now are, in the light of our recovery 
 of the present Annotations. 
 
 Students of Edwards have always prized "above rubies" the 
 "Notes" and "Observations" already extant; and I run no great 
 hazard in anticipating that those now for the first time printed, will 
 be equally valued. They seem to us to be of a more richly experi- 
 mental character than the others, while there is the same acumen, 
 quickness in discernment of Scriptural harmonies and parallelisms, 
 soundness of interpretation of difficulties, happy accommodation, 
 sweetness and tenderness of enforcement, overshadowed at times with 
 solemn appeal, and rare ingenuity of " improvement," — as the Puritans 
 were wont to call it. 
 
 III. Directions for Judging of Persons' Experiences. — I have 
 come upon this searching and very precious MS. since the issuing of 
 my Proposals. It evidently formed tlie author's guide in his test- 
 conversations with enquirers during the great Awakenings or Ee- 
 vivals. This — as well as eight instead of two sermons — is substi- 
 tuted for specimens of the original MS. of the treatise on " The Will," 
 as explained onwards. 
 
 IV. Sermons. — As stated, the great mass of the Edwards's MSS. 
 consists of his " Sermons." From among these a noble volume might 
 be gathered, that is, of fully written out and magnificent Discourses : 
 and another of equal weight and value, consisting of select passages 
 from those less perfect, and, as a whole, of ordinary type, together with 
 what clerics know as "skeletons" or "sketches,'' — many of them, as 
 No. 2 of our selection will shew, mammoth-boned, I have given eight 
 Sermons : Nos. 3 and 4, 5 and 6, and 7 and 8, consisting of two Ser- 
 mons in each case from one text — in place of tivo Sketch-sermons only, 
 as originally designed and announced — to illustrate the usual style of 
 preparation by Jonathan Edwards for the pulpit. No. 1 is the more 
 frequent example of his preparations ; No 2 is fuller, and is peculiarly 
 interesting, as being one of those delivered to the Indians of Stock- 
 
14 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 bridge ; Nos. 3 and 4 are still fuller ; Nos. 5 and 6 yet more so ; and 
 Nos. 7 and 8 elaborate, but, as will be seen, not filled up, so far as the 
 wording goes. I have selected the last, as being on a difficult pas- 
 sao-e, which is at once assumed to mean that which strikes our com- 
 mon sense as its only meaning, — and because it furnishes us with a 
 well-nigh cmsome specimen of the purged and Dantesque style of 
 Edwards's grandest preaching, as well as, in its final " Applications" 
 and " Directions," of his unexpected, and pungent, and penetrating 
 rebukes of prevalent sin. It should make a fine picture to call up the 
 scene of the great Preacher delivering the sermon on " The Word of 
 God" to the swarthy Indians, in what was then the outskirts of civil- 
 isation, though, as we can testify, a fiuer landscape now is nowhere 
 to be seen ; nor found, a more winsome or kindly Community. 
 
 The common notion is that Edwards was what is called a " Reader" 
 of his Sermons. Never was anything more untrue. Having gone over 
 every page, line, and word that the great Preacher has left behind 
 him, as preserved by Dr Tryon Edwards, I beg to state that the ex- 
 ception is to find a fully written-out Sermon. On great occasions, 
 and during " The Revivals," he evidently prepared with fulness and 
 verbal accuracy : and the tradition is that the most extraordinary of 
 all his sermons, — perhaps the most extraordinary that ever has fallen 
 from uninspired lips, and not less so in its momentous results, — " Sin- 
 ners in the Hands of an Angry God," was read very closely, amid such 
 a hush of awe and silent dropping of tears as we conceive of at the 
 base of Sinai's flaming peaks, and as still thrill in the recollection of 
 descendants of the hearers in New England. But his MSS. shew, beyond 
 all gainsaying, that his rule — in the proportion of 95 to 100 — was to 
 jot down the leading thoughts and illustrations, and trust to the sug- 
 gestions of the moment fur the recall of previous study, and medita- 
 tion, and prayer, and for the language. 
 
 Let not, then, the great name of Jonathan Edwaeds be adduced 
 in support of the practice of invariably " reading" Sermons ; a prac- 
 tice that, except in rare instances, quenches all real eloquence, breaks 
 the spell of influence, unlooses the links of the electric chain that 
 ought to bind a speaker and his audience and pass and repass thrills 
 of feeling, and, above all, leads to frauds of the most damaging and 
 perilous sort. 
 
 Our facsimile will shew the thing better than any words. Such 
 " Notes," be it kept in mind, compose the great mass of Edwards's 
 ordinary and habitual preparations. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 1 ') 
 
 V. Lettees. — I have not juiiited any of Edwards's "Letters," re- 
 serving those obtained, and others expected, for his " Life," one day 
 to be written ; and than wliich few comparable have been lived. I 
 possess already priceless anil hitherto unknown materials for a 
 worthy Biography. 
 
 Finally : I had intended adding specimens, with facsimiles, of the 
 original Manuscripts of the treatise on "The Will ;" but a critical ex- 
 amination of the MSS. has revealed such valuable unpublished mate- 
 lials, such remarkable uncoverings of the processes of that master- 
 book, such suggestive studies, and such jottings-down, at the moment, 
 of profound thinking and speculation, under the heading of " The 
 Mind," as should far exceed our limits. It is possible that I may 
 prepare an edition of the Treatise, embracing these Studies and 
 Preparations. If so, the friends into whose hands I now place this 
 present volume may expect to hear of it. 
 
 It only remains to add, that the several MSS. of our Selections are 
 given with scrupulous accuracy. Sometimes a word has been 
 dropped, and I have inserted it ; but invariably within brackets [ ]. 
 I have adhered to the contractions of the age, — e.g., "'tis" for 
 "it is," "don't" for "do not," "'em" for "them,"&c. ; because we 
 have herein a characteristic wdiich is noticeable in the history of 
 language and literature. Sometimes I would fain have corrected, 
 what is now regarded as an ungrammatical construction, a clumsy 
 phrase ; but that had been to import into the eighteenth, rules of the 
 nineteenth century. Another has said, " Edwards's style, like Butler's, 
 is very much that of a man thinking aloud ; yet, in both these 
 authors, the train of thinking in their own minds is more clearly 
 exhibited to us than, perhaps, by any other author, wdiilst they shew 
 us, with great truth and distinctness, what their notions are, and how 
 they came by them, with very little concern about the form of expres- 
 sion in which they are conveyed. "* 
 
 This Volimie is printed uniform in size with, by far the best 
 edition extant of, the "Works,"— viz., that by Williams, and the 
 supplementary vohmies by Ogle. Its broad margins will also admit 
 of its cutting down to range with the American edition,f which, spite 
 of its singularly careless omissions and now worn stereotypes, has 
 
 * Encyc. Brit., as before. 
 
 t New York, 4 volumes 8vo., with double indices, 8th edition, 1851 : now the 
 property, it is believed, of the Messrs Carter, Broadway, who have done more for the 
 higher theological literature of America, than, perhaps, any other American publishers. 
 As a Scotchman, it may be allowed me to congratulate my " brither Scots," on the 
 honourable position they have honourably won for themselves. 
 
] 6 INTEODUCTION. 
 
 advantages over the others in its full Indices, and is, indeed, the only 
 one, (save the somewhat inconvenient two huge volumes bearing the 
 imprint of Bohn,) in print. " Charity and its Fruits," noticed ante, 
 is unfortunately a small 8vo. 
 
 Alexander B. Grosabt. 
 
 1st Manse, 
 Kinross, December 26th, 18(54. 
 
TREATISE ON GRACE. 
 
NOTE. 
 See lutroduction I., page 12. — G. 
 
TREATISE ON GRACE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 [shewing] that common and saving geace diffee, not only in 
 degeee, but in natuee and kind. 
 
 Such phrases as common grace, and special or saving grace, may 
 be understood as signifying either diverse kinds of influence of God's 
 Spirit on the hearts of men, or diverse fruits and effects of that in- 
 fluence. The Spirit of God is supposed sometimes to have some 
 influence npon the minds of men that are not true Christians, and 
 [it is supposed] that those dispositions, frames, and exercises of their 
 minds that are of a good tendency, but are common to them with 
 the saints, are in some respect owing to some influence or assistance 
 of God's Spirit. But as there are some things in the hearts of true 
 Christians that are peculiar to them, and that are more excellent than 
 any thing that is to be found in others, so it is supposed that there 
 is an operation of the Spkit of God different, and that the value 
 which distinguishes them is owing to a higher influence and assist- 
 ance than the virtues of others. So that sometimes the phrase, C07n- 
 nnon grace, is used to signify that kind of action or influence of the 
 Spirit of God, to which are owing those religious or moral attain- 
 ments that are common to both saints and sinners, and so signifies 
 as much as common assistance ; and sometimes those moral or reli- 
 gious attainments themselves that are the fruits of this assistance, are 
 intended. So likewise the phrase, special or saving grace, is some- 
 times used to signify that peculiar kind or degree of operation or 
 influence of God's Spirit, whence saving actions and attainments do 
 arise in the godly, or, which is the same thing, special and saving as- 
 sistance ; or else to signify that distinguishing saving virtue itself, 
 which is the fruit of this assistance. These phrases are more frequently 
 understood in the latter sense, viz., not for common and special assist- 
 ance, but for common and special, or saving virtue, which is the fruit 
 of that assistance, and so I would be understood by these phrases in 
 this discourse. 
 
 And that special or saving grace in this sense is not only different 
 
20 TREATISE ON GRACE. 
 
 from common grace in degree, but entirely diverse in nature and 
 kind, and that "natural men not only have not a sufficient degree of 
 virtue to be saints, but that they have no degree of that grace that is 
 in godly men, is what I have now to shew. 
 
 1. This is evident hy what Christ says in John iii. 6, where Christ, 
 speaking of Regeneration, says — " That which is born of the flesh is 
 flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.' Now, whatever 
 Christ intends by the terms flesh and spirit in the words, yet this 
 much is manifested and undeniable, that Christ here intends to shew 
 Nicodemus the necessity of a new birth, or another birth than his 
 natural birth, and that, from this argument, that a man that has been 
 the subject only of the first birth, has nothing of that in his heart 
 which he must have in order to enter into the kingdom. He has 
 nothing at all of that whicli Christ calls spirit, whatever that be. 
 All that a man [has] that has been the subject only of a natural birth 
 don't go beyond that which Christ calls flesh, for however it may be 
 refined and exalted, yet it cannot be raised above flesh. 'Tis plain, 
 that by flesh and spirit, Christ here intends two things entirely 
 different in nature, which cannot be one from the other. A man 
 cannot have anything of a nature superior to flesh that is not born 
 again, and therefore we must be " born again." That by flesh and spirit 
 are intended certain moral principles, natures, or qualities, entirely 
 diflferent and opposite in then- nature one to another, is manifest from 
 other texts, as particularly : Gal. v. 17 — " For the flesh lusteth against 
 the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh : and they are contrary the 
 one to the other ; so that ye cannot do the things which ye would ; " 
 Ver. 19, " Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these : 
 Adultery, fornication," &c. Ver. 22 — " But the fruit of the Spirit is 
 love, joy, peace," &c. ; and by Gal. vi. 8 — " For he that soweth to 
 the flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption : but he that soweth to the 
 Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." Rom. viii. 6-9 — 
 " For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is 
 life and peace," &c. 1 Cor. iii. 1 — " And I, brethren, could not speak 
 unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in 
 Christ." So that it is manifest by this, that men that have been the 
 subjects only of the first birth, have no degree of that moral principle 
 or quality that those that are new born have, whereby they have a 
 title to the kingdom of heaven. This principle or quality comes out 
 then no otherwise than by birth, and the birth that it must come by 
 is not, cannot be, the first birth, but it must be a new birth. If men 
 that have no title to the kingdom of heaven, could have something 
 of the Spirit, as well as flesh, then Christ's argument would be false. 
 It is plain, by Christ's reasoning, that those that are not in a state of 
 salvation, cannot have these two opposite principles in their hearts 
 together, some flesh and some spirit, lusting one against the other as 
 the godly have, but that they have flesh only. 
 
 2. That the only 'principle in those that are savingly converted, 
 whence gracious acts flow, which in the language of Scripture is called 
 the Spirit, and set in opposition to the flesh, is that luhich others not 
 
TREATISE ON GRACE. 21 
 
 onlu have not a suljicient degree of, hut have nothinc/ at all of, is fur- 
 ther iiuuiifesfc, because the Scripture assei^ts both negatively, that those 
 that have nut the Spirit are not Christ's. Rom. viii. !) — " But ye are 
 not in the tlesh but in the Sjjirit, if so be that tlie Spirit of God 
 dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is 
 none of His ;" and also [positively] tJiat those tJiat have the Spirit 
 are His. 1 John iii. 24 — " Hereby we know that he aljideth in us by 
 the Spirit whicli he hath given us." And our having the Spirit of 
 God dwelling in our hearts is mentioned as a certain sign that persons 
 are entitled to heaven, and is called the earnest of the future inheri- 
 tance, (2 Cor. i. 22, and v. 5, Eph. 114 ;) which it would not be if 
 others that had no title to the inheritance might have some of it 
 dwelling in them. 
 
 Yea, that those that are not true saints have nothing of the Spirit, 
 no part nor portion of it, is still more evident, because not only a hav- 
 ing any particular motion of the Spirit, but a being of the Spirit is 
 given as a sure sign of being in Christ. 1 John iv. 13 — " Hereby 
 know we that we dwell in Him, and He in us, because He hath given us 
 of Bis Spirit." If those that are not true saints have any degree of 
 that spiritual principle, then though they have not so much, yet tliey 
 Jiave of it, and so that would be no sign that a person is in Christ. 
 If those that have not a saving interest in Christ have nothing of the 
 Spirit, then they have nothing ; no degree of those graces that are 
 the fruits of the Spirit, mentioned in Gal. v. 22 — " But the fruit of 
 the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faitli, 
 meekness, temperance." Those fruits are here mentioned with that 
 very design, that we may know whether we have the Spu'it or no. 
 
 o. Those that are not true saints, and in a state of salvation, not 
 only have not so much of that holy nature and Divine principle that 
 is in the hearts of the saints, but they do not partake of it, because 
 a being "partakers of the Divine nature" is spoken of as the peculiar 
 privilege of true saints, (2 Pet. i. 4.) It is evident that it is the true 
 saints that the Apostle is there speaking of. The words in this verse 
 with the foregoing are these : " According as his Divine power hath 
 -given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the 
 knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and \drtue ; whereby 
 are given to us exceeding great and precious promises ; that by these 
 ye might be partakers of the Divine nature ; having escaped the cor- 
 ruption that is in the world through lust." The " Divine nature" and 
 "lust" are evidently here spoken of as two opposite principles in 
 man. Those that are in the world, and that are the men of the 
 world, have only the latter principle; but to be partakers of the 
 Divine nature is spoken of as peculiar to them that are distinguished 
 and separated from the world, by the free and sovereign grace of 
 God giving them all things that pertain to life and godliness, giving 
 the knowledge of Him and calling them to glory and virtue, and giv- 
 ing tliem the exceeding great and precious promises of the gospel, 
 and that have escaped the corruption of the world of wicked men. 
 And a being partakers of the Divine nature is spoken of, not only 
 
22 TEEATISE ON GRACE. 
 
 as peculiar to the saints, but as one of the highest privileges of the 
 saints. 
 
 4. That those that have not a saving interest in Clirist have no 
 degree of that relish and sense of spiritual things or things of the 
 Spirit, of their Divine truth and excellency, tuhich a true saint has, 
 is evident hy 1 Cor. ii. 14 — " The natural man receive th not the 
 things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him, neither 
 can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." A natu- 
 ral man is here set in opposition to a spiritual one, or one that has 
 the Spirit, as appears by the foregoing and following verses. Such 
 we have shewn already the Scripture declares all true saints to be, 
 and no other. Therefore by natural men are meant those that have 
 not the Spirit of Christ and are none of His, and are the subjects of 
 no other than the natural birth. But here we are plainly taught that 
 a natural man is perfectly destitute of any sense, perception, or dis- 
 cerning of those things of the Spirit. [We are taught that] by the 
 words "he neither does nor can know them, or discern them ;" so far 
 from this they are "foolishness unto him ;" he is a perfect stranger, 
 so that he does not know what the talk of such things means ; they are 
 words without a meaning to him ; he knows nothing of the matter 
 any more than a blind man of colours. 
 
 Hence it will follow, that the sense of things of religion that a 
 natural man has, is not only not to the same degree, but nothing of 
 the same nature with that which a true saint has. And besides, if a 
 natural person has the fruit of the Spirit, which is of the same kind 
 with what a spiritual person has, then he experiences within himself 
 the things of the Spirit of God ; and how then can he be said to be 
 such a stranger to them, and have no perception or discerning of 
 them ? 
 
 The reason why natural men have no knowledge of spiritual things 
 is, because they have nothing of the Spirit of God dwelling in them. 
 This is evident by the context : for there we are told that it is by 
 the Spirit that these things are taught, (verses 10-12;) and godly 
 persons in the next verse are called spiritual, because they have the 
 Spirit dwelling in them. Hereby the sense again is confirmed, for 
 natural men are in no degree spiritual ; they have only nature and 
 no Spirit. If they had anything of the Spirit, though not in so great 
 a degree as the godly, yet they would be taught spiritual things, or 
 things of the Spirit, in proportion to the measure of the Spirit that 
 they had. The Spirit that search eth all things would teach them in 
 some measure. There would not be so great a difference that the 
 one could perceive nothing of them, and that they should be foolish- 
 ness to them, while to the other they appear divinely and remarkably 
 wise and excellent, as they are spoken of in the context, (verses 6-9,) 
 and as such the apostle spoke here of discerning them. 
 
 The reason why natural men have no knowledge or perception of 
 spiritual thing.s is, because they have none of the anointing spoken 
 of, (1 John ii. 27 :) " The anointing which ye have received of Him, 
 abideth in you, and you need not that any man teach you." This 
 
TREATISE ON GEACE. 23 
 
 anointing is evidently spoken of hero, as a thing peculiar to true 
 saints. Ungodly men never had any degree of that holy oil poured 
 upon them, and therefore have no discerning of spiritual things. 
 Therefore none of that sense that natural men have of things of re- 
 ligion, is of the same nature with what the godly have. But to these 
 they are totally blind. Therefore in conversion the eyes of the blind 
 are opened. The world is wholly unacquainted with the Spirit of 
 God, as appears by John xiv. 17, where we read about " the Spirit of 
 truth whom the world cannot receive, because it knoweth Him not." 
 
 5. Those that go for those in religion that are not true saints and 
 in a state of salvation Jtave no charity, as is plainli/ implied in the 
 beginning of the XIII.*^'' chapter of the \st Epistle to the Corinthians. 
 Therefore t'hey have no degree of that kind of grace, disposition, or 
 aflection, that is so called. So Christ elsewhere reproves the Phari- 
 sees, those high pretenders to religion among the Jews, that they had 
 not the love of God in them, (John v. 42.) 
 
 6. That those that are not true saints have no degree of that 
 grace that the saints have is evident, because they have no communion 
 or fellowship ivith Christ. If those that are not true saints partake 
 of any of that Spirit, those holy inclinations and affections, and graci- 
 ous acts of soul that the godly have from the indwelling of the Spirit 
 of Christ, then they would have communion with Christ. The com- 
 munion of saints with Christ does certainly very much consist in that 
 receiving of His fulness and partaking of His grace spoken of, John 
 i. 16 — "Of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace ;" 
 and in partaking of that Spirit which God gives not by measure unto 
 Him. Partaking of Christ's holiness and grace. His nature, inclina- 
 tions, tendencies^ love, and desires, comforts and delights, must be to 
 have communion with Christ. Yea, a believer's communion with 
 the Father and the Son does mainly consist in his partaking of the 
 Holy Ghost, as appears by 2 Cor. xiii. 14—" The gi-ace of the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy 
 Ghost." 
 
 But that unbelievers have no fellowship or communion with Christ 
 appears, (1.) because they are not united to Christ. They are not in 
 Christ. For the Scripture is very plain and evident in this, that those 
 that are in Christ are actually in a state of salvation, and are justified, 
 sanctified, accepted of Christ, and shall be saved. Phil. iii. 8, 9— 
 " Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of 
 the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord : for whom I have sutfered 
 the loss of aU things, and do count them but dung, that I may win 
 Christ, and be found in Him" 2 Cor. v. 17—" If any man be in 
 Christ, he is a new creature : old things are passed away ; behold, all 
 things are become new." 1 John ii. 5—" But whoso keepeth His 
 word, in him verily is the love of God perfected : hereby know we 
 that we are in Him:" and iii. 24—" He that keepeth His command- 
 ments dwelleth in Him, and He in him : and hereby we know that He 
 abideth in us, by the Spirit which He hath given us." But those that 
 arc not in Christ, and are not united to Him, can have no degree of 
 
24 TEEATISE ON GEACE. 
 
 communion with Him. For there is no communion without union. 
 The members can have no communion with the head or participation 
 of its life and health unless they are united to it. The branch must 
 be united with the vine, otherwise there can be no communication 
 from the vine to it, nor any partaking of any degree of its sap, or life, 
 or influence. So without the union of the wife to the husband, she 
 can have no communion in his goods. (2.) The Scripture does more 
 directly teach that it is only true saints that have communion with 
 Christ, as particularly this is most evidently spoken of as what belongs 
 to the saints, and to them only, in 1 John i. 3, together with verses 
 (5, 7 — " That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that 
 ye also may have fellowship with us : and truly our fellowship is with 
 the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ." Ver. 6 — " If Ave say that 
 we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not 
 the truth : but if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have 
 fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son 
 cleanseth us from all sin." Also in 1 Cor. i. 9 — " God is faithful, by 
 whom ye were called unto the fellowship of His Son Christ Jesus our 
 Lord." 
 
 7. The Scripture speaks of the actual being of a truly holy and 
 gi'acious principle in the heart, as inconsistent with a man's being a 
 sinner or a wicked man. 1 John iii. 9 — " Whosoever is born of God 
 doth not commit sin ; for his seed remaineth in him : and he cannot 
 sin, because he is born of God." Here it is needless to dispute what 
 is intended by this seed, whether it be a principle of true virtue and 
 a holy nature in the soul, or whether it be the word of God as the 
 cause of that virtue. For let us understand it in either sense, it conies 
 to much the same thing in the present argument ; for if by the seed 
 is meant the word of God, yet when it is spoken of as abiding in him 
 that is born again, it must be intended, with respect to its effect, as 
 a holy principle in his heart : for the word of God does not abide in 
 one that is born again more than another, any other way than in its 
 eflect. The word of God abides in the heart of a regenerate person 
 as a holy seed, a Divine principle there, though it may be but as a 
 seed, a small thing. The seed is a very small part of the plant, and 
 is its first principle. It may be in the heart as a grain of mustard- 
 seed, may be hid, and seem to be in a great measure buried in the 
 earth. But yet it is inconsistent with wickedness. The smallest de- 
 grees and first principles of a Divine and holy nature and disposition 
 are inconsistent with a state of sin ; whence it is said " he cannot sin." 
 There is no need here of a critical inquiry into the import of that 
 expression ; for doubtless so much at least is implied through this, 
 " his seed being in him," as is inconsistent with his being a sinner or 
 a wicked man. So that this heavenly plant of true holiness cannot 
 be in the heart of a sinner, no, not so much as in its first principle. 
 
 8. lliis is confirmed by the things that conversion is repre- 
 sented by in the Scriptures, partiadarly its being represented as a 
 work of creation. When God creates He does not merely establish 
 and perfect the things which were made before, but makes wholly and 
 
TREATISE ON GKACE. 25 
 
 immediately something; entirely new, either out of notliinof, or out of 
 that which was perfectly void of any such nature, as when lie made 
 man of the dust of the earth. " The thinus that are seen are not made 
 of things that do appear." Saving grace in man is said to be the new 
 man or a new creature, and corrupt nature the old man. If that 
 nature that is in the heart of a godly man be not ditferent in its nature 
 and kind from all that went before, then the man might possibly have 
 had the same things a year before, and from time to time from the 
 beginning of his life, but only not quite to the same degree. And 
 how then is grace in him, the new man or the new creature ? 
 
 Again, conversion is often compared to a resurrection. Wicked 
 men are said to be dead, but when they are converted they are 
 represented as being by God's mighty and effectual power raised 
 from the dead. Now there is no medium between being dead and 
 alive. He that is dead lias no degree of life ; he that has the least 
 degree of life in him is alive. When a man is raised from the dead, 
 life is not only in a greater degree, but it is all new. 
 
 The same is manifest by conversion being represented as a new 
 birth or as regeneration. Generation is not only perfecting what is 
 old, but 'tis a begetting from the new. The nature and life that 
 is then received has then its beginning : it receives its first prin- 
 ciples. 
 
 Again, conversion in Scripture is represented as an opening of the 
 eyes of the blind. In such a work those have light given them that 
 were totally destitute of it before. So in conversion, stones are said 
 to be raised wp children to Abraham : while stones they are alto- 
 gether destitute of all those qualities that afterwards render them 
 the living children of Abraham, and not only had them not in 
 so great a degree. Agreeably to this, conversion is said to be a 
 taking away a heart of stone and a giving a heart of flesh. The 
 man while unconverted has a heart of stone which has no degree of 
 that life and sense that the heart of flesh has, because it yet remains 
 a stone, than which nothing is further from life and sense. 
 
 Inference 1. — From what has been said, I would observe that it 
 must needs he that conversion is tvrought at once. That knowledge, 
 that reformation and conviction that is preparatory to conversion 
 may be gradual, and the work of grace after conversion may be 
 gradually carried on, yet that work of grace upon the soul whereby a 
 person is brought out of a state of total corruption and depravity 
 into a state of grace, to an interest in Christ, and to be actually a 
 child of God, is in a moment. 
 
 It must needs be the consequence ; for if that grace or virtue that 
 a person has when he is brought into a state of grace be entirely 
 different in nature and kind from all that went before, then it will 
 follow that the last instant before a person is actually a child of God 
 and in a state of grace, a person has not the least degree of any real 
 goodness, and of tliat true virtue that is in a cliild of (iod. 
 
 Tiio.se things by wliich conversion is represented in Scripture hold 
 forth the same thinsi;. In creation somethinii is brought out of no- 
 
26 TEEATISE ON GRACE. 
 
 thing in an instant. God speaks and it is done, He commands and 
 it stands fast. When the dead are raised, it is done in a moment. 
 Thus when Christ called Lazarus out of his grave, it was not a 
 gradual work. He said, " Lazarus, come forth," and there went life 
 with the call. He heard His voice and lived. So Christ, John v. 25 — 
 " Verily, verily, I say unto you. The hour is coming, and now is, 
 when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God : and they that 
 hear shall live," — which words must be understood of the work of 
 conversion. In creation, being is called out of nothing and instantly 
 obeys the call, and in the resurrection the dead are called into life : 
 as soon as the call is given the dead obey. 
 
 By reason of this instantaneousness of the work of conversion, one 
 of the names under wdiicli conversion is frequently spoken of in 
 Scripture, is calling: Rom. viii. 28-30 — "And we know that all things 
 work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the 
 called according to His purpose. For whom He did foreknow, He also 
 did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He 
 might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He 
 did predestinate, them He also called : and whom He called, them He 
 also justified : and whom He justified, them He also glorified." Acts 
 ii. 37-39 — " Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their 
 heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles. Men and 
 brethren what shall we do ? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and 
 be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the re- 
 mission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For 
 the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar 
 off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call." Heb. ix. 15, (last 
 clause) — " That they which are called might receive the promise of 
 the eternal inheritance." 1 Thess. v. 23, 24 — " And the very God of 
 peace sanctify you wholly. . . . Faithful is he that calleth you, who 
 also will do it." Nothing else can be meant in those places by call- 
 ing than what Christ does in a sinner's saving conversion. By which it 
 seems evident that it is done at once and not gradually ; whereby 
 Christ, through His great power, does but speak the powerful M'ord 
 and it is done. He does but call and the heart of the sinner immedi- 
 ately comes. It seems to be symbolised by Christ's calling His dis- 
 ciples, and their immediately following Him. So when he called Peter, 
 Andrew, James, and John, they were minding other things; but at 
 His call they immediately left all and followed Him. Matt. iv. 
 \^-2''l — Peter and Andrew were casting a net into the sea, and Christ 
 says to them as He passed by, Follow me ; and it is said, they 
 straightway left their nets and followed Him. So James and John 
 were in the ship with Zebedee their father mending their nets, and 
 He called them, and immediately they left the ship and their father 
 and followed Him. So when Matthew was called : Matt. ix. 9 — " And 
 as Jesus passed forth from thence, He saw a man, named INIatthew, 
 sitting at the receipt of custom : and He saith unto him. Follow me. 
 And he arose and followed Him." Now whether they were then con- 
 verted or not, yet doubtless Christ in thus calling His first disciples to 
 
TREATISE ON GRACE. 27 
 
 a visible following of ITim, represents to us the manner in which He 
 would call men to be truly His disciples and spiritually to follow Him 
 in all arres. There is something immediately and instantaneously put 
 into their hearts at that call that they had nothing of before, that 
 effectually disposes them to follow. 
 
 It is very manifest that almost all the mii'acles of Christ that He 
 wrought when on earth were types of His great work of converting 
 sinners, and the manner of His working those miracles holds forth 
 the instantaneousness of the work of conversion. Thus when He 
 healed the leper, which represented His healing us of our spiritual 
 leprosy, He put forth His hand and touched him, and said, " I will ; be 
 thou clean." And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. Matt. viii. 
 3 ; ]\lark i. 42 ; Luke v. 13. And so, in opening the eyes of the 
 blind, which represents His opening the eyes of our blind souls, (Matt. 
 XX. 30, &c.,) He touched their eyes, and immediately their eyes re- 
 ceived sight, and they followed Him. So Mark x. 52 ; Luke xviii. 
 43. So when He healed the sick, which represents His healing our 
 spiritual diseases, or conversion, it was done at once. Thus when He 
 healed Simon's wife's mother, (JNIark i. 31,) He took her by the hand 
 and lifted her up ; and immediately the fever left her, and she minis- 
 tered unto them. So when the woman which had the issue of blood 
 touched the hem of Christ's garment, immediately the issue of blood 
 stanched, (Luke viii. 4-i.) So the woman that was bowed to- 
 gether with the spirit of infirmity, when Christ laid His hands upon 
 her, immediately she was made straight, and glorified God, (Luke 
 xiii. 12, ]3;) which represents that action on the soul whereby He 
 gives an upright heart, and sets the soul at liberty from its bondage 
 to glorify Him. So the man at the pool of Bethesda, when Christ 
 bade him rise, take up his bed and walk, (he) was immediately made 
 whole, (John v. 8, 9 ) After the same manner Christ cast out devils, 
 which re])resents His dispossessing the devil of our souls in conver- 
 sion ; and so He settled the winds and waves, representing His sub- 
 duing, in conversion, the heart of the wicked, which is like the 
 troubled sea, when it cannot rest ; and so He raised the dead, which 
 represented His raising dead souls. 
 
 The same is confirmed by those things which conversion is com- 
 pared to in Scripture. It is often compared to a resm*rection. Na- 
 tural men (as was said before) are said to be dead, and to be raised 
 when they are converted by God's mighty effectual power from the 
 dead. Now, there is no medium between being dead and alive ; he 
 that is dead has no deo-ree of life in him, he that has the least degree 
 of life in him is alive. When a man is raised from the dead, life is 
 not only in a greater degree in him than it was before, but it is all 
 new. The work of conversion seems to be compared to a raising the 
 dead to life, in this very thing, even its instantaneousness, or its be- 
 ing done, as it were, at a word's speaking. As in John v. 25, (before 
 ([uoted) — " Verily, verily, I say unto you, the hour is coming and now 
 is when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they 
 that hear shall live." He speaks here of a work of conversion, as 
 
28 TREATISE ON GRACE. 
 
 appears by the preceding verse ; and by the words themselves, which 
 speak of the time of this raising the dead, not only as to come here- 
 after, but as what was already come. This shews conversion to be 
 an immediate instantaneous work, like to the change made on La- 
 zarus when Christ called him from the grave : there went life with the 
 call, and Lazarus was immediately alive. Immediately before the 
 call sinners are dead or wholly destitute of life, as appears by the 
 expression, " The dead shall hear the voice," and immediately after the 
 call they are alive ; yea, there goes life with the word, as is evident, 
 not only because it is said they shall live, but also because it is said, 
 they shall hear His voice. The first moment they have any life is 
 the moment when Christ calls, and as soon as they are called, which 
 further appears by what was observed before, even that a being called 
 and converted are spoken of in Scripture as the same thing. 
 
 The same is confirmed (as observed before) from conversion being 
 compared to a work of creation, which is a work wherein something 
 is made either out of nothing, or out of that having no degree of the 
 same kind of qualities and principles, as when God made man of the 
 dust of the earth. Thus it is said, " If any man be in Christ he is 
 a new creature ;" which obviously imphes that he is an exceeding 
 diverse kind of creature from what he was before he was in Christ, 
 that the principle or qualities that he has by which he is a Christian, 
 are entirely new, and what there was nothing of, before he was in 
 Christ. 
 
 Inference 2. Hence we may learn that it is impossible for men to 
 convert themselves by their own strength and industry, with only a 
 concurring assistance helping in the exercise of their natural abilities 
 and principles of the soul, and securing their improvement. For 
 what is gained after this manner is a gradual acquisition, and not 
 something instantaneously begotten, and of an entirely different 
 nature, and wholly of a separate kind, from all that was in the nature 
 of the person the moment before. All that men can do by their 
 own strength and industry is only gradually to increase and improve 
 and new-model and direct qualities, principles, and perfections of 
 nature that they have already. And that is evident, because a 
 man in the exercise and improvement of the strength and principles 
 of his own nature has nothing but the qualities, powers, and perfec- 
 tions that are already in his nature to work with, and nothing but 
 them to work upon ; and therefore 'tis impossible that by this only, 
 anything further should be brought to pass, than only a new modifi- 
 cation of what is already in the nature of the soul. That which is only 
 by an improvement of natural qualities, principles, and perfections — 
 let these things be improved never so much and never so industri- 
 ously, and never so long, they'll still be no more than an improve- 
 ment of those natural qualities, principles, and perfections ; and 
 therefore not anything of an essentially distinct and superior nature 
 and kind. 
 
 'Tis impossible (as Dr Clarke observes) " that any effect should 
 have any perfection that was not in the cause : for if it had, then that 
 
TREATISE ON GRACE. 29 
 
 perfection would be causetl by nothing."* 'Tis therefore utterly im- 
 possible that men's natural jiorfections and qualities in that exercise, 
 and however assisted in that exercise, sliould product; in the soul a 
 principle or perfection of a nature entirely ditfex^ent from all of them, 
 or any manner of improvement or modification of them. 
 
 The qualities and principles of natural bodies, such as figure or 
 motion, can never produce anjrthing beyond themselves. If infinite 
 comprehensions and divisions be eternally made, the things must 
 still be eternally the same, and all their possible effects can never be 
 anything but repetitions of the same. Nothing can be produced by 
 only those qualities of figure and motion, beyond figure and motion : 
 and so nothing can be produced in the soul by only its internal prin- 
 ciples, beyond these principles or qualities, or new improvements and 
 modifications of them. And if we suppose a concurring assistance to 
 enable to a more full and perfect exercise of those natural principles 
 and qualities, unless the assistance or influence actually produces 
 something beyond the exercise of internal principle : still, it is the 
 same thing. Nothing will be produced but only an improvement and 
 new moditication of those principles that are exercised. Therefore it 
 follows that saving grace in the heart, can't be produced in man by 
 mere exercise of what perfections he has in him already, though never 
 so much assisted by moral suasion, and never so much assisted in the 
 exercise of his natural principles, nnless there be something more than 
 all this, viz., an immediate infusion or operation of the Divine Being 
 upon the soul. Grace must be the immediate work of God, and pro- 
 perly a production of His Almighty power on the soul. 
 
 • The well-known a priori argument of this eminent thinker, if somewhat uncer- 
 tain divine, entitled " A Demonstration of the Being and Attributes of God." — G. 
 
30 TREATISE ON GRACE. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 SHEWING WHEREIN ALL SAVING GRACE DOES SUMMARILY CONSIST. 
 
 The next thing that arises for consideration is, What is the nature of 
 this Divine principle in the soul that is so entirely diverse from all 
 that is naturally in the soul ? Here I would observe, — 
 
 1 . That that saving grace that is in the hearts of the saints, that 
 loithin them [which ^s] above nature, and entirely distinguishes 'em 
 from all unconverted inen, is radically hut one — i.e., however various 
 its exercises are, yet it is but one in its root ; 'tis one individual prin- 
 ciple in the heart. 
 
 Tis common for us to speak of various graces of the Spirit of God 
 as though they were so many different principles of holiness, and to 
 call them by distinct names as such, — repentance, humility, resigna- 
 tion, thankfulness, &c. But we err if we imagine that these in their 
 first source and root in the heart are properly distinct principles. They 
 all come from the same fountain, and are, indeed, the various exertions 
 and conditions of the same thing; only different denominations accord- 
 ing to the various occasions, objects, and manners, attendants and 
 circumstances of its exercise. There is some one holy principle in 
 the heart that is the essence and sum of all grace, the root and source 
 of all holy acts of every kind, and the fountain of every good stream, 
 into which all Christian virtues may ultimately be resolved, and in 
 which all duty and [all] holiness is fulfilled. 
 
 Thus the Scripture represents it. Grace in the soul is one foun- 
 tain of water of life, (John iv. 14,) and not various distinct foun- 
 tains. So God, in the work of Regeneration, implants one heavenly 
 seed in the soul, and not various different seeds. 1 John iii. 9 — 
 " Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin ; for His seed re- 
 maineth in him." . . . The Day [that] has arisen on the soul is but 
 one. The oil in the vessel is simple and pure, conferred by one holy 
 anointing. All is " wrought" by one individual work of the Spirit 
 of God. And thus it is there is a consentanation* of graces. Not 
 only is one grace in some way allied to another, and so tends to help 
 and promote one another, but one is really implied in the other. The 
 nature of one involves the nature of another. And the great reason 
 of it is, that all graces have one common essence, the original prin- 
 ciple of all, and is but one. Strip the various parts of the Christian 
 soul of their circumstances, concomitants, appendages, means, and 
 
 * Query, = harmoDy, i.e., from consentaneous ? — G. 
 
TREATISE ON GRACE. 31 
 
 (»ecasioiis, and consider that which is, as it were, their soul and 
 essence, and all appears to be the same. [I observe] 
 
 2. That principle in the soul of the saints, which is the grand 
 Christian virtue, and which is the soul and essence and summary coni- 
 l»rehonsion of all grace, is a principle of Divine Love. This is evident, 
 
 (1.) Because we are ahundanthj taugJit in the Scripture that Divine 
 Love is tlie sum of all duty ; and that ail that God requires of us is ful- 
 filled in it, — i.e., That Love is the sum of all duty of the heart, and 
 its exercises and fruits the sum of all [the] duty of life. But if the 
 duty of the heart, or all due dispositions of hearts, are all summed up 
 in love, then undoubtedly all grace may be summed up in L(jvb. 
 
 The Scripture teaches us that all our duty is summed up in love ; 
 or, which is the same thing, that 'tis the sum of all that is re- 
 quired in the Law ; and that, whether we take the Law* as signifyinp- 
 the Ten Commandments, or the whole written Word of God. So, 
 when by the Law is meant the Ten Commandments : Rom. xiii. 8 — 
 " Owe no man anything, but to love one another : for he that loveth 
 another hath fulfilled the law ;" and, therefore, several of these com- 
 mandments are there rehearsed. And again, in ver. 10, "Love is the 
 fulfilling of the Law." And unless love was the sum of what the Law 
 required, the Law could not be fulfilled in Love. A law is not ful- 
 filled but by obedience to the sum of what it contains. So the same 
 Apostle again : 1 Tim. i. 5 — " Now the end of the commandment is 
 charity" [love.] 
 
 If Ave take the Law in a yet more extensive sense for the whole 
 written Word of God, the Scripture still teaches us that Love is 
 the sum of what is required in it. [Thus] Matt. xxii. 40. There 
 Christ teaches us that on these two precepts of loving God and our 
 neighbour hang all the Law and the Prophets, — that is, all the written 
 Word of God. So that what was called the Law and the Prophets 
 was the whole written Word of God that was then extant. The 
 Scripture teaches this of each table of the Law in particular. 
 
 Thus, the Lawyer that we read of in the X.*"^ chapter of Luke, vv. 
 2.5-28, mentions the love of God and our neighbour as the sum of 
 the two Tables of the Law ; and Christ approves of what he says. 
 When he stood up and tempted Christ with this question, " Master, 
 what shall I do to inherit eternal life ? " Christ asks him what was 
 required of him " in the Law?" He makes answer, " Thou shalt love 
 the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all 
 thy strength, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbour as thyself;" and 
 Christ replies, " Thou hast answered right ; this do, and thou shalt live ;" 
 as much as to say, " Do this, then thou hast fulfilled the whole Law." 
 
 So in ]\latthew xxii., vv. 36-38, that commandment, " Thou shalt 
 love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and 
 with all thy mind," is given by Christ himself as the sum of the first 
 Table of the Law, in answer to the question of the Lawyer, who 
 asked Him, "Which is the great commandment of the Law?" And 
 in the next verse, loving our neighboiu's as ourselves is mentioned as 
 the sum of the second Table, as it is also in Romans xiii. 9, where most 
 
32 TREATISE ON GEACE. 
 
 of the precepts of the second Table are rehearsed over in particular : 
 " For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou 
 shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness. Thou shalt not 
 covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly compre- 
 prehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as 
 thyself." 
 
 The Apostle James seems to teach the same thing. James ii. 8 — 
 " If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture. Thou shalt love 
 thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well." 
 
 Thus frequent, express, and particular is the Scripture in teaching 
 us that all duty is comprehended in Love. The Scripture teaches 
 us, in like manner, of nothing else. This is quite another thing than 
 if Religion in general had only sometimes gone under the name of 
 the Love of God, as it sometimes goes by the name of the fearing 
 of God, and sometimes the knowledge of God, and sometimes feeling 
 of God. 
 
 This argument does fully and irrefragably prove that all grace, and 
 every Christian disposition and habit of mind and heart, especially as 
 to that which is primarily holy and Divine in it, does summarily con- 
 sist in Divine Love, and may be resolved into it : however, with 
 respect to its kinds and manner of exercise and its appendages, it 
 may be diversified. For certainly there is no duty of heart, or due 
 disposition of mind, but what is included in the " Law and the Pro- 
 phets," and is required by some precept of that Law and rule which 
 He has given mankind to walk by. But yet the Scripture affords 
 us other evidences of the truth of this. 
 
 (2.) The Apostle speaks of Divine Love as that which is the 
 essence of all Christianity in the XLII}^ chapter of \the^ \st [Epistle 
 to the] Corinthians. There the AjDostle evidently means a compari- 
 son between the gifts of the Spirit and the grace of the Spirit. In 
 the foregoing chapter the Apostle had been speaking of the gifts of 
 the Spirit throughout, such as the gift of wisdom, the gift of know- 
 ledge, the gift of faith, the gift of healing or working miracles, pro- 
 phecy, discerning spirits, speaking with tongues, &c. ; and in the last 
 verse in the chapter he exhorts the Corinthians to " covet earnestly 
 the best gifts ;" but adds, " and yet I shew you a more excellent 
 way," and so proceeds to discourse of the saving grace of the Spirit 
 under the name of cv^dirr], love, and to compare this saving grace in 
 the heart with those gifts. Now, 'tis manifest that the comparison is 
 between the gifts of the Spirit that were common to both saints and 
 sinners, and that saving grace that distinguishes true saints ; and, 
 therefore, charity or love is here understood by Divines as intending 
 the same thing as sincere grace of heart. 
 
 By love or charity here there is no reason to understand the Apostle 
 [as speaking] only of love to men, but that principle of Divine Love 
 that is in the heart of the saints in the full extent, which primarily 
 has Gbd for its object. For there is no reason to think that the 
 Apostle doesn't mean the same thing by charity here as he does in 
 the VIII."' chapter of the same Epistle, where he is comparing the 
 
TREATISE ON URACE. 33 
 
 same two thino-s tooetlu-r, knowledge and clmiity, as lie does here. 
 But there he explains himself to mean by charity the love of God : 
 [verses 1-3] — " Now, as touching things offered unto idols, we know 
 that we all have knowledge. Knowledge putieth up, but charity edi- 
 fieth. And if any man think that he knoweth anything, he knoweth 
 nothing yet as he ought to know. lUit if any nuin love God, the 
 same is known of Him," &c.* 
 
 'Tis manifest tliat Love or charity is here (chap, xiii.) spoken of as 
 the very essence of all Christianity, and is the very thing wherein a 
 gracious sincerity consists. For the Apostle speaks of it as the most 
 excellent, the most necessary, and essential thing of all, without which 
 all that makes the greatest, and fairest, and most glittering show in 
 Eeligion is nothing — without which, " if we speak with the tonuues 
 of men and angels, we are become as sounding brass and tinkling 
 cymbals" — and without which, though we have " the gift of prophecy, 
 and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and have all faith, so 
 that we could remove mountains, and should bestov/ all our goods to 
 feed the poor, and even give our bodies to be burnetl, we are nothing." 
 Therefore, how can we understand the Apostle any otherwise than that 
 this is the very thing whereof the essence of all consists ; and that 
 he means the same by charity as a gracious charity, as indeed it is 
 generally understood. If a man does aU these things here spoken, 
 makes such glorious prophecies, has such knowledge, such faith, and 
 speaks so excellently, and performs suaii excellent external acts, and 
 does such great things in religion as givmg all his goods to the poor 
 and giving his body to be burned, what is wanting but one thing? 
 The very quintessence of all Eeligion, the very thing wherein lies 
 summaiily the sincerity, spirituality, and divinity of Eeligion. And 
 that, the Apostle teaches us, is Love. 
 
 And further, 'tis manifestly the Apostle's drift to shew how this 
 excellent principle does radically comprehend all that is good. For 
 he goes on to shew how all essences of good and excellent dispositions 
 and exercises, both towards God and towards man, are virtually con- 
 tained and will tloAV from this one principle : " Love suifereth long, 
 and is kind, envieth not, . . . endureth all things," &c. The words 
 of this last verse especially respects duties to God, as the former did 
 duties to men, as I would shew more particularly afterwards.f 
 
 * The paragraph commenciug, " In love or chai'ity," down to this, is an after- 
 insertion. — G. 
 
 t In the MS. on this page there is placed a passage within brackets, which it is 
 deemed better to remove to a footnote, as interrupting the general argument and hne 
 of illustration : — 
 
 ■ " Here it may be noted, by the way, that by charity ' believing all things, hop- 
 ''ing all things,' the Apostle has imdoubtedly respect to the san^.e faith and hope that 
 in other parts of the chapter are mentioned together and compared with charity, 
 [as I think might be sufficiently made manife.st, if it were proper here to spend time 
 upon it] And not believing and hoping, in the ease of our neighbour, which the 
 Apostle had spoken of before, in the last words of verse 5th, and had plainly summed 
 up all parts of charity towards our neighbour in the 6th verse. And then in this 
 verse the Apostle proceeds to mention other exercises or fruits of charity quite of 
 another kind — viz., patience under suffering, faith and hope, and perseverance." The 
 clause placed within [ ] is deleted in the MS. — G. 
 
 C 
 
34 TREATISE ON GRACE. 
 
 Thus the Apostle don't only represent love or charity as the most 
 excellent thing in Christianity, and as the quintessence, life and soul 
 of all Eeligion, but as that which virtually comprehends all holy 
 virtues and exercises. And because Love is the quintessence and 
 soul of all grace, wherein the divinity and holiness of all that belongs 
 to charity does properly and essentially consist ; therefore, when 
 Christians come to be in their most perfect state, and the Divine 
 nature in them shall be in its greatest exaltation and purity, and be 
 free from all mixtures, stripped of these appurtenances and that 
 clothing that it has in the present state ; and [when] it shall lose many 
 other of its denominations, especially from the peculiar manner and 
 exercises accommodated to the imperfect circumstances of the present 
 state, they will be what will remain. All other names will be swal- 
 lowed up in the name of charity or love, as the Apostle, agreeably to 
 his chapter on this, (1 Cor. chap, xiii.,) observes in verses 8-10 — 
 " Charity never faileth. . . . But when that which is jJerfect is come, 
 then that which is in part shall be done away." And, therefore, when 
 the Apostle, in the last verse, speaks of charity as the greatest grace, 
 we may well understand him in the same sense as when Christ sj)eaks 
 of the command to love God, &c., as the greatest commandment — 
 viz., that among the graces, that is the source and sum of all graces, 
 as that commanded is spoken of as the sum of all commands, and 
 requiring that duty which is the ground of all other duties. 
 
 It must be because Charity is the quintessence and soul of all duty 
 and all good in the heart that the Apostle says that it is " the end of 
 the commandment," for doubtless the main end of the commandment 
 is to promote that which is most essential in Religion and consti- 
 tuent of holiness. 
 
 3. Reason hears vntness to the same thing. 
 
 (1 .) Reason testifies that Divine Love is so essential in Religion that 
 all Religion is hut hyj^ocrisy and a " vain show " without it. What 
 is Religion but the exercise and expressions of regard to the Divine 
 Being ? But certainly if there be no love to Him, there is no sincere 
 regard to Him ; and all pretences and show of respect to Him, whether 
 it be in word or deed, must be hypocrisy, and of no value in the eyes 
 of Him who sees the heart. How manifest is it that without love 
 there can be no true honour, no sincere praise ! And how can obedi- 
 ence be hearty, if it be not a testimony of respect to God ? The fear 
 of God without love is no other than the fear of devils ; and all that 
 outward respect and obedience, all that resignation, that repentance 
 and sorrow for sin, that form in religion, that outward devotion that 
 is performed merely from such a fear without love, is all of it a 
 practical lie, as in Psalm Ixvi. 3 — " . . . How terrible art Thou in 
 Thy works ! throiigh the greatness of Thy power shall Thine enemies 
 submit themselves unto Thee." In the original it is " shall Thine 
 enemies lie unto Thee " — i.e., shall yield a feigned or lying obedience 
 and respect to Thee, when still they remain enemies in their hearts. 
 There is never a devil in hell but what would perform all that many 
 a man [has] performed in religion, that had no love to God ; and a 
 
TREATISE ON GRACE. 35 
 
 great deal more if tlioy wore in like circumstances and the like lH>])e 
 of gain by it, and be as much of a devil in his heart as he is now. 
 Tlie Devil once seemed to be religious from fear of torment : Luke 
 viii. 28 — " When he saw Jesus, he cried out, and fell down before 
 Him, and with a loud voice said. What have I to do with Thee, Jesus, 
 Thou Son of God IMost High ? I beseech Tiiee, torment me not." 
 Here is external worship. The Devil is religious ; he prays — he 
 prays in a humble posture ; he falls down before Christ, he lies 
 prostrate ; he prays earnestly, he cries with a loud voice ; he uses 
 humble expressions — " I beseech Thee, torment me not ;" he uses 
 respectful, honourable, adoring expressions — "Jesus, Thou Son of 
 (Jod Most High." Nothing was wanting but Love. 
 
 And with respect to duties towarils men, no good offices would be 
 accepted by men one from another, if they saw the heart, and knew 
 they did not proceed from any respect in the heart. If a child carry 
 it very respectfully to his father, either from a strong fear, or from 
 hope of having the larger inheritance when his father is dead, or from 
 the like consideration, and not at all from any respect to his father 
 in his heart ; if the child's heart were open to the view of his fatiier, 
 and he plainly knew that there was no real regard to him. Would the 
 child's outward honour and obedience be acceptable to the [)arent ? 
 So if a wife should carry it very well to her husband, and not at all 
 from any love to him, but from other considerations plainly seen, and 
 certainly known by the husband, Would he at all delight in her out- 
 ward respect any more than if a wooden image were contrived to 
 make respectful motions in his presence ? 
 
 If duties towards men are [to be] accepted of God as a part of 
 Religion and the service of the Divine Being, they must be performed 
 not only with a hearty love to men, but that love must flow from 
 regard to Him. 
 
 (2.) Reason sliews that all good dispositions and duties are wholly 
 comprehended in, and will fioio from, Divine Love. Love to God 
 and men implies all proper respect or regard to God and men ; and 
 all jiroper acts and expressions of regard to both will flow from 
 it, and therefore all duty to both. To regard God and men in our 
 heart as we ought, and to have that nature of heart towards them 
 that we ought, is the same thing. And, therefore, a proper regard or 
 love comprehends all virtue of heart ; and he that shews all proper 
 regard to God and men in his practice, performs all that in practice 
 towards them which is his duty. The Apostle says, Romans, xiii. 10 — 
 " Love works no ill to his neighbour." 'Tis evident by his reasoning 
 in that place, that he means more than is expressed — that love works 
 no ill but all good, all our duty to our neighbour : which Reason 
 plainly shews. And as the Apostle teaches that love to our neigh- 
 bour works no ill but all good towards our neighbour ; so, by a parity 
 of reason, love to God works no ill, but all our duty towards (Jod. 
 
 A Christian love to God, and Cliristian love to men, are not pro- 
 perly two distinct principles in the heart. These varieties are radically 
 the same ; the same principle flowing forth towards different objects, 
 
36 TREATI&E ON GRACE. 
 
 according to the order of their existence. God is the First Cause of 
 all things, and the Fountain and Source of all good ; and men are 
 derived from Him, having something of His image, and are the objects 
 of His mercy. So the tirst and supreme object of Divine Love is 
 God ; and men are loved eitlier as the children of God or His crea- 
 tures, and those that are in His image, and the objects of His mercy, 
 or in some respects related to God, or partakers of His loveliness, or at 
 least capable of happiness. 
 
 That love to God, and a Christian love to men, are thus but one 
 in their root and foundation-principle in the heart, is confirmed by 
 several passages in the First Epistle of John : chap. iii. verses 16, 17 — 
 " Hereby perceive we the love of God, because He laid down His life 
 for us : and we ougljt to lay down our lives for the brethren. But 
 whoso hath this world's goods, . . . how dwelleth the love 
 of God in him?" Chap. iv. 20, 21 — "If a man say, I love God 
 and hateth his brother, he is a liar : for he that loveth not his 
 brother whom he hath seen, how can he hwe God whom he hath not 
 seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who 
 loveth God love his brother also." Chap. v. 1, 2 — " Whosoever 
 believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born'of God : and every one that 
 loveth Him that • begat, loveth him also that is begotten of Him. 
 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, 
 and keep His commandments." 
 
 Therefore to explain the nature of Divine Love, what is principally 
 requisite is to explain the nature of love to God. For this may 
 especially be called Divine Love ; and herein all Christian love or 
 charity does radically consist, for this is the fountain of all. 
 
 As to a definition of Divine Love, things of this nature are not 
 properly capable of a definition. They are better felt than defined. 
 Love is a term as clear in its signification, and that does as naturally 
 suggest to the mind the thing signified by it, as any otlier term or 
 terms that we can find out or substitute in its room. But yet there 
 may be a great deal of benefit in descriptions that may be given of 
 this heavenly principle though they all are imperfect. They may 
 serve to limit the signification of the term and distinguish this prin- 
 ciple from other things, and to exclude counterfeits, and also more 
 clearly to explain some things that do appertain to its nature. 
 
 Divine Love, as it has God for its object, may be thus described. 
 'Tis the soul's relish of the supreme excellency of the Divine nature, 
 inclining the heart to God as the chief good. 
 
 The first thing in Divine Love, and that from which everything 
 that appertains to it arises, is a relish of the excellency of the Divine 
 nature ; which the soul of man by nature has nothing of 
 
 The first effect that is produced in the soul, whereby it is carried 
 above what it has or can have by nature, is to cause it to relish or 
 taste the sweetness of the Divine relation. That is the first and 
 most fundamental thing in Divine Love, and tliat from which every- 
 thing else that belongs to Divine Love naturally and necessarily pro- 
 ceeds. When once the soul is brought to relish the excellency of the 
 
TREATISE ON GRACE. 37 
 
 Divine nature, then it will naturally, ;ui(l of course, incline to God 
 every way. It will incline to be with Him and to enjoy Him. It 
 will have benevolence to God. It will be glad that He is happy. It 
 will incline that He should be glorified, and that His will should be 
 done in all things. So that the first effect of the j)ower of God in the 
 heart in IIe<;enkeation, is to give the heart a Divine taste or sense ; 
 to cause it to have a relish of the loveliness and sweetness of the 
 supreme excellency of the Divine nature ; and indeed this is all the 
 immediate eft'ect of the Divine Power that there is, this is all the 
 Spirit of God needs to do, in order to a production of all good effects 
 in the soul. If God, by an immediate act of His, gives the soul a 
 reh'sh of the excellency of His own nature, other things will follow 
 of themselves without any further act of the Divine power than only 
 what is necessary to uphold the nature of the faculties of the soul. 
 He that is once brought to see, or rather to taste, the superlative love- 
 liness of the Divine Being, will need no more to make him long after 
 the enjoyment of God, to make him rejoice in the happiness of God, 
 and to desire that this supremely excellent Being may be pleased and 
 glorified.* And if this be true, then the main ground of true love to 
 God is the excellency of His own nature, and not any benefit we have 
 received, or hope to receive, by His goodness to us. Not but that 
 there is such a thing as a gracious gratitude to God for mercies be- 
 stowed upon ns ; and the acts and fruits of His goodness to us may 
 [be,] and very often are, occasions and incitements of the exercise of 
 true love to God, as I must shew more particularly hereafter. But 
 love or affection to God, that has no other good than only some benefit 
 received or hoped for from God, is not true love. [If it be] without 
 any sense of a delight in the absolute excellency of the Divine nature, 
 [it] has nothing Divine in it. Such gratitude towards God requires 
 no more to be in the soul than that human nature that all men are 
 born with, or at least that human nature well cultivated and im- 
 proved, or indeed not fiu'ther vitiated and depraved than it naturally 
 is. It is possible that natural men, without the addition of any fur- 
 ther principle than they have by nature, may be affected with grati- 
 tude by some remarkable kindness of God to them, as that they 
 
 * lu the MS. the following is placed within brackets at this place, and so again it 
 uiterrupts the argument and illustration. It is transferred to this footnote : — 
 
 " Love is commonly distinguished into a love of complacence and love of benevo- 
 lence. Of these two a love oi complacence is first, and is the foundation of the other, 
 — i.e., if by a love of complacence be meant a relishing a sweetness in the qualifications 
 of the beloved, and a being pleased and delighted in his excellency. This, in the 
 order of nature, is before benevolence, because it is the foundation and reason of it. A 
 person must first relish that wherein the amiableness of nature consists, before he cau 
 wish well to him on the account of that loveliness, or as being worthy to receive good. 
 Indeed, sometimes love of complacence is explained something differently, even for 
 that joy that the soul has in the presence and possession of the beloved, which is 
 different from the soul's relish of the beauty of the beloved, and is a fruit of it, as 
 benevolence is. The soul may relish the sweetness and the beauty of a beloved ob- 
 ject, whether that object be present or absent, whether in possession or not in posses- 
 sion ; and this relish is the foundation of love of benevolence, or desire of the good of 
 the beloved. And it is the foundation of love of affection to the beloved ol)ject when 
 absent; and it is the foundation of one's rejoicing in the object when present; and 
 so it is the foundation of everything else that belongs to Divine Love."— G. 
 
38 TREATISE ON GRACE. 
 
 should be so affected with some great act of kindness of a neighbour. 
 A principle of self-love is all that is necessary to both. But Divine 
 Love is a principle distinct from self-love, and from all that arises 
 from it. Indeed, after a man is come to relish the sweetness of the 
 supreme good there is in the nature of God, self-love may have a 
 hand in an appetite after the enjoyment of that good. Por self-love 
 will necessarily make a man desire to enjoy that which is sweet to 
 him. But God's perfections must first savour appetite and [be] sweet 
 to men, or they must first have a taste to relish sweetness in the per- 
 fection of God, before self-love can have any influence upon them to 
 cause an appetite after the enjoyment of that sweetness. And there- 
 fore that divine taste or relish of the soul, wherein Divine Love doth 
 most fundamentally consist, is prior to all influence that self-love can 
 have to incline us to God ; and so must be a principle quite distinct 
 from it, and independent of it. 
 
TKEATISK ON (JltACK. 39 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 SUKWlNt! now \ principle of OltACE IS FlIOM THE SPIRIT OF (lOP. 
 
 I. That this holi/ and Divine principle, luhich ive have shewn does 
 radically and suniinarihj consist in Divine Love, conies into existence 
 in the soul bij the 'power of God in the influences of the llolij Spirit, 
 the 'Third Person, in the blessed Trinity, is ahundantly manifest 
 from the Scriptnres. 
 
 Keueneration is by the Spirit: John iii. 5, 6 — " Verily, verily, I say 
 unto thee, Except a man be born of water, and of the Spirit, he can- 
 not enter into the king.lom of God. That which is born of the flesh 
 is flesh ; and that which is born of the Spiiit is spirit." And verse 
 S — " The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound 
 thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometli, and whither it gocth : 
 so is every one that is born of the S[)irit." 
 
 The renewing of the soul is by the Holy Ghost : Titus iii. 5 — 
 '•■ Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according 
 to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and re- 
 newing of the Holy Ghost." A new heart is given by God's putting 
 His Spirit within us : Ezekiel xxxvi. 26, 27 — " A new heart also 
 will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you ; and I will 
 take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an 
 heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to 
 walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments and do them." 
 Quickening of the dead soul is by the Spirit : John vi. 63 — " It is the 
 Spirit that quickencth." Sanctitication is by the Siiirit of God : 2 
 Thess. ii. 13 — " God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation 
 through sanctiflcation of the Spirit, and belief of the truth." Komans 
 XV. 16 — " That the ottering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, 
 being sanctified by the Holy Ghost." 1 Cor. vi. 1 1 — " Such were 
 some of you : but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are 
 justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the S])irit of our 
 God." 1 Peter i. 2 — " Elect according to the foreknowledge of God 
 the Father, through sanctifieation of the Spirit, unto obedience and 
 sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ." All grace in the heart 
 is the fruit of the Spirit : Gal. v. 22, 23—" But the fruit of the 
 Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suft'ering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 
 meekness, temperance." Eph. v !J— " The fruit of the Spirit is in 
 all goodness, and righteousness, and truth." Hence the Spirit of (Jod 
 is called the Spirit of grace, (Hob. x. 29.) 
 
 This doctrine of a gracious nature being l»y the immediate influ- 
 ence of the Spirit of God, is not only taught in the Scrij)tures, but 
 is irrefragable to Ptcason. Indeed tliere seems to be a strong disposi- 
 
40 TREATISE ON GRACE. 
 
 tion in men to disbelieve and oppose the doctrine of true disposition, 
 to disbelieve and oppose the doctrine of immediate influence of the 
 Spirit of God in the hearts of men, or to diminish and make it as 
 small and remote a matter as possible, and put it as far out of sight 
 as may be. Whereas it seems to me, true virtue and holiness would 
 naturally excite a prejudice (if I may so say) in favour of such a 
 doctrine ; and that the soul, when in the most excellent frame, and 
 the most lively exercise of virtue, — love to God and delight in Him, — 
 would naturally and unavoidably think of God as kindly communi- 
 cating Himself to him, and holding communion with him, as though 
 he did as it were see God smiling on him, giving to him and con- 
 versing with him ; and that if he did not so think of God, but, on 
 the contrary, should conceive that there was no immediate communi- 
 cation between God and him, it would tend greatly to quell his holy 
 motions of soul, and be an exceeding damage to his pleasure. 
 
 No good reason can be given why men should have such an in- 
 ward disposition to deny any immediate communication between God 
 and the creature, or to m.ake as little of it as possible. 'Tis a strange 
 disposition that men have to thrust God out of the world, or to put 
 Him as far out of sight as they can, and to have in no respect im- 
 mediately and sensibly to do with Him. Therefore so many schemes 
 have been drawn to exclude, or extenuate, or remove at a great dis- 
 tance, any influence of the Divine Being in the hearts of men, such as 
 the scheme of the Pelagians, the Sncinians, &c. And therefore these 
 doctrines are so much ridiculed that ascribe much to the immediate 
 influence of the Spirit, and called enthusiasm, fanaticism, whimsy, and 
 distraction ; but no mortal can tell for what. 
 
 If we make no difliculty of allowing that God did immediately 
 make the whole Universe at first, and caused it to exist out of no- 
 thing, and that every individual thing owes its being to an immediate, 
 voluntary, arbitrary* act of Almighty power, why should we make a 
 difliculty of supposing that He has still something immediately to do 
 with the things that He has made, and that there is an arbitrary* in- 
 fluence still that God has in the Creation that He has made ? 
 
 And if it be reasonable to suppose it with respect to any part of 
 the Creation, it is especially so with respect to reasonable creatures, 
 who are the highest part of the Creation, next to God, and who are 
 most immediately made for God, and have Him for their next Head, 
 and are created for the business wherein they are mostly concerned. 
 And above all, in that wherein the highest excellency of this highest 
 rank of beings consist, and that wherein he is most conformed to God, 
 is nearest toHim, and has God for his most immediate object. 
 
 It seems to me most rational to suppose that as we ascend in the 
 order of being we shall at last come immediately to God, the First 
 Cause. In whatever respect we ascend, we ascend in the order of 
 time and succession. 
 
 II. The Scripture speaks of this holy and Divine principle in the 
 heart as not only from the Spirit, hat as being spiritual. Thus 
 * ;iiul * Tliat is -self choice, uncontrolled. — G. 
 
TREATISE ON GRACE. 41 
 
 saving knowledge is calUnl spiritual underst;nuling : Col. i. 9 — "We 
 desire tiiat ye niiglit be filled witli the knowledge of His will in 
 all wisdom and spiritual understanding." So the influences, graces, 
 and comforts of God's Spirit are called spiritual blessings : Eph. i. 
 3 — " Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who 
 hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in 
 Christ." So the im])arting of any gracious benefit is called the im- 
 parting of a spiritual gift : Rom. i. ] 1 — "For I long to see you, that 
 I may impart unto you some spiritual gift." And the fruits of the 
 Spirit which are ofiered to God are called spiritual sacrifices : 1 Peter 
 ii. 5 — " A spiritual priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices, accept- 
 able to God by Jesus Christ." And a spiritual person signifies the 
 same in Scripture as a gracious person, and sometimes one that is 
 much under the influence of grace: 1 Cor. ii. 15 — "He that is 
 spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man;" and 
 iii. 1 — " And I, brethren, could not speak vmto you as unto spiritual 
 but as unto carnal." Gal. vi. 1 — "If a man be overtaken in a fault, ye 
 which are spiritual restore such an one in the spirit of meekness." 
 And to be graciously minded is called in Scripture a being spiritually 
 minded : Rom. viii. 6 — "To be spiritually minded is life and peace." 
 
 Concei'ning this, two things are to be noted. 
 
 1. That this Divine 'principle in the heart is not called spiritual, 
 because it has its seat in the soul or spiritual part of man, and not 
 in his body. It is called spiritual, not because of its relation to the 
 spirit of man, in which it is, but because of its relation to the Spirit 
 of God, from which it is. That things are not called spiritual because 
 they appertain not to the body but the spirit of man is evident, be- 
 cause gracious or holy understanding is called spiritual understand- 
 ing in the forementioned passage, (Col. i. 9.) Now, by spiritual 
 understanding cannot be meant that understanding which has its 
 seat in the soul, to distinguish it from other understanding that 
 has its seat in the body, for all understanding has its seat in the 
 soul ; and that things are called spiritual because of their relation 
 to the Spirit of God is most plain, by the latter part of the 2d 
 chapter of 1st Corinthians. There we have both those expressions, one 
 immediately after another, evidently meaning the same thing : verses 
 13, 14 — "Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's 
 wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth ; comparing 
 spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not 
 the things of the Spirit of God." And that by the spiritual man is 
 meant one that has the Spirit is also as plainly evident by the con- 
 text: verses 10-12 — "God hath revealed them unto us by His 
 Spirit : for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of 
 God. For what man knoweth the things of a man," &c. Also ver. 
 15 — " He that is .spiritual judgeth all things," by which is evidently 
 meant the same as he that hath the Spirit that " searclieth all things," 
 as we find in the foregoing verses. So persons are said to be 
 spiritually minded, not because they mind things that relate to the 
 soul or spirit of nuui, but because they mind things that relate to the 
 
42 TREATISE ON (JRACE. 
 
 Spirit of God : Romans viii. 5, 6 — " For they that are after the flesh 
 do mind the thin.irs of the flesh ; but they that are after the Spirit the 
 thini^^s of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death ; but to be 
 spiritually minded is life and peace." 
 
 2. It must he observed that where this holy Divine principle of 
 saving grace wrought in the mind is in Scripture called spiritual, 
 tvhat is intended by the expression is not merely nor chiefly that 
 it is from the Spirit of God, bid that it is of the nature of the Spirit 
 of God. There are many things in the minds of some natural men 
 that are from the influence of the Spirit, but yet are by no means 
 spiritual things in the scriptural sense of the word. The Spirit 
 of God convinces natural men of sin, (John xvi. 8.) Natural men 
 may have common grace, common illuminations, and common affec- 
 tions, that are from "the Spirit of God, as appears by Hebrews vi. 4. 
 Natural men have sometimes the influences of the S]:iirit of God in 
 His common operations and gifts, and therefore God's Spirit is said to 
 be striving with them, and they are said to resist the Spirit, (Acts vii. 
 51 ;) to grieve and vex God's Holy Spirit, (Eph. iv. 30 ; Isaiah Ixiii. 10 ;) 
 and God is said to depart from them even as the Spirit of the Lord 
 departed from Saul : 1 Sam. xvi. 14 — "But the Spirit of the Lord 
 departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him." 
 
 But yet natural men are not in any degree spiritual. The great 
 difl'erence between natural men and godly men seems to be set forth 
 by this, that the one is natural and carnal, and the other spiritual ; 
 and natural men are so totally destitute of that which is Sjpirit, that 
 they know nothing about it, and the reason given for it is be- 
 cause they are not spiritual, (1 Cor. ii. 13-15.) Indeed sometimes 
 those miracidous gifts of the Spirit that were common are called 
 spiritual because they are from the Spirit of God ; but for the most 
 part the term seems to be appropriated to its gracious influences and 
 fruits on the soul, which are no otherwise spiritual than the common 
 influences of the Spirit that natural men have, in any other respect 
 than this, that this saving grace in the soul, is not only from the 
 Spirit, but it also partakes of the nature of that Spirit that it is from, 
 which tlie common grace of the Spirit does not. Thus things in 
 Scriptm-e language are said to be earthly, as they partake of an earthly 
 nature, partake of the nature of the earth ; so things are said to be 
 heavenly, as they in their nature agree with those things that are in 
 heaven ; and so saving grace in the heart is said to be spiritual, and 
 therein distinguished from all other influences of the Spirit, that it is 
 of the nature of the Spirit of God. It partakes of the nature of that 
 Spirit, while no common gift of the Spirit doth so. 
 
 But here an enquiry may be raised, viz. : — 
 
 Enq. How does saving grace partalce of the nature of that Spirit 
 that it is from, so as to be called on that account spiritual, thus es- 
 sentially distinguishing it from all other effects of the Sjnrit ? for 
 every effect has in some respect or another the nature of its cause, 
 and the common convictions and illuminations that natural men have 
 are in some respects [of] the nature of the Spirit of God ; for there 
 
TREATISE ON GRACE. 43 
 
 is li!;lit and nnderstamliiisx and conviction of truth in these common 
 ilhiminations, and so they are of the nature of tlie .Si)irit of God — that 
 is, a discerning spirit and a spirit of truth. But yet saving grace, by 
 its being called spiritual, as though it were thereby distinguished 
 from all other gifts of the Spirit, seems to partake of the nature of 
 the Spirit of God in some very peculiar manner. 
 
 Clearly to satisfy this enquiry, we must do these two things : — 
 1. We must bear in mind what has already been said of the nature of 
 saving grace, and what I have already shewn to be that wherein its 
 nature and essence lies, and wherein all saving grace is radically and 
 summarily comprised — viz., a principle of Divine Love. 2. We must 
 consider what the Scripture reveals to be in a peculiar manner the 
 nature of the Holy Spirit of God, and in an enipiiry of this nature I 
 would go no further than I think the Scripture plainly goes before 
 me. The Word of God certainly should be our rule in matters so 
 much above reason and our own notions. 
 
 And here I woidd say — 
 
 (1.) That I think the Scripture does sufficiently reveal the Holy Spirit 
 (IS a proper Divine Pei'son ; and thus we ought to look upon Him as 
 a distinct personal agent. He is often spoken of as a person, revealed 
 xuider personal characters and in personal acts, and it speaks of His 
 being acted on as a person, and the Scripture plainly ascribes every 
 thing to Him that properly denotes a distinct person ; and though 
 the word person be rarely used in the Scriptures, yet I believe that 
 we have no word in the English language that does so naturally repre- 
 sent what the Scripture reveals of the distinction of the Eternal 
 Three, — Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, — as to say they are one God 
 but three persons. 
 
 (2.) Though all the Divine perfections are to he attributed to each 
 person of the Trinity, yet the Holy Ghost is in a jjeculiar manner 
 called by the name of Love — Hjairt], the same word that is translated 
 charity in the XIH."' chapter of 1st Corinthians. The Godhead or 
 the Divine essence is once and again said to be Love : 1 John iv. 8 — 
 " He that loveth not, knoweth not God ; for God is love." So again, 
 ver. 16 — " God is love ; and he that dwelleth in love, dwelleth in God, 
 and God in him." But the Divine essence is thus called in a peculiar 
 manner as breathed forth and subsisting in the Holy Spirit; as may 
 be seen in the context of these texts, as in the 1 2th and 1 3th verses 
 of the same cha[)ter — " No man hath seen God at any time. If we 
 love one another, God dwelleth in us, and His love is perfected in us. 
 Hereby know we that we dwell in Him, and He in us, because He hath 
 given us of His Spirit." It is the same argument in both these 
 verses: in the 12th verse the apostle argues that if we have love 
 dwelling in us, we have God dwelling in us ; and in the 13th verse he 
 clears the face of the argument by this, that this love which is 
 dwelling in us is God's Spirit. And this shews that the foregoing 
 argument is good, and that if love dwells in u.s, we know God dwells 
 in lis indeed, for the Apostle supposes it as a thing granted and 
 allowed that God's Spirit is God. The Scripture elsewhere does 
 
44 TREATISE ON GEACE. 
 
 abundantly teach us that the way in which God dwells in the saints 
 is by His Spirit, by their being the temples of the Holy Ghost. Here 
 this' Apostle teaches us the same thing. He says, " We know that He 
 dwelleth in us, that He hath given us His Spirit ;" and this is mani- 
 festly to explain what is said in the foregoing verse — viz., that God 
 dwells in us, inasmuch as His love dwells in us ; which love he had 
 told us before — ver. 8 — is God himself. And afterwards, in the 1 6th 
 verse, he expresses it more fully, that this is the way that God dwells 
 in the saint — viz., because this love dwells in them, which is God. 
 
 Again the same is signified in the same manner in the last verses 
 of the foregoing chapter. In the foregoing verses, speaking of love 
 as a true sign of sincerity and our acceptance with God, beginning 
 with the 18th verse, he sums up the argument thus in the last verse : 
 " And hereby we know that He abideth in us, by the Spirit which He 
 hath given us. 
 
 We have also something very much like this in the apostle Paul's 
 writings. 
 
 Gal. V. 13-16 — "Use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, 
 but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one 
 word, even in this. Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. But if 
 ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed 
 one of another. This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not 
 fulfil the lust of the flesh." Here it seems most evident that what the 
 apostle exhorts and urges in the 13th, 14th, and 15th verses, — viz., 
 that they should walk in love, that they might not give occasion to the 
 gratifying of the flesh, — he does expressly explain in the 16th verse by 
 this, that they should walk in the Spirit, that they might not fulfil the 
 lust of the flesh ; which the great Mr Howe takes notice of in his 
 " Sermons on the Prosperous State of the Christian Interest before the 
 End of Time," p. 185, published by Mr Evans. His words are, 
 " Walking in the Spirit is directed with a special eye and reference 
 unto the exercise of this love ; as you may see in Galatians v., the 14th, 
 15th, and 16th verses compared together. All the law is fulfilled in 
 one word, (he means the whole law of the second table,) even in this. 
 Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself But if ye bite and devour 
 one another, (the opposite to this love, or that which follows on the 
 want of it, or from the opposite principle,) take heed that ye be not 
 consumed one of another. This I say then, (observe the inference,) 
 Walk in the Spiiit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. To walk 
 in the Spirit is to walk in the exercise of this love." 
 
 So that as the Son of God is spoken of as the wisdom, understanding, 
 and ylo7o? of God, (Proverbs viii. ; Luke xi. 49 ; John i., at the begin- 
 ning,) and is, as Divines express things, the personal Wisdom of God ; 
 so the Spirit of God is spoken of as the Love of God, and may Avith 
 equal foundation and propriety be called the personal Love of God. 
 We read in the beloved disciple's writings of these two — .^0709 and 
 'Aydirr], both of which are said to be God, (John i. 1 ; 1 Jolm 
 iv. 8-16.) One is the Son of God, and the other the Holy Spirit. 
 There are two things that God is said to be in this First Epistle of 
 
TREATISE ON GRACE. 45 
 
 John — light and love: chap. i. 5 — "God is light." Tlii.s is the 
 8on of God, who is said to be the wisdom and reason of God, and the 
 brightness of His glory ; and in the 4th chapter of the same epistle he 
 says, " God is love," and this he applies to the Holy Spirit. 
 
 Hence the Scripture symbol of the Holy Ghost is a dove, which is 
 the emblem of love, and so was continually accounted (as is well 
 known) in the heathen Avorld, and is so nuule use of by their poets and 
 mythologists, which pi'obably arose partly from the nature and man- 
 ner of the bird, and probably in part from the tradition of the story 
 of Noah's dove, that came with a message of peace and love after such 
 terrible manifestations of God's wrath in the time of the deluge. This 
 bird is also made use of as an emblem of love in the Holy Scriptures ; 
 as it was on that message of peace and love that God sent it to Noah, 
 when it came with an olive-leaf in its mouth, and often in Solomon's 
 Song: Cant. i. 15— "Thou hast doves' eyes:" Cant. v. 12— "His 
 eyes are as the eyes of doves :" Cant. v. 2 — "Open to me, my love, 
 my dove," and in other places in that song. 
 
 This bird, God is pleased to choose as the special symbol of His 
 Holy Spirit in the greatest office or work of the Spirit that ever it has 
 or will exert — viz., in anointing Christ, the great Head of the whole 
 Chm'ch of saints, from which Head this holy oil descends to all the mem- 
 bers, and the skirts of His garments, as the sweet and precious ointment 
 that was poured on Aaron's head, that great type of Christ. As God the 
 Father then poured forth His Holy Spirit of love upon the Son without 
 measure, so that which was then seen with the eye — viz., a dove descend- 
 ing and lighting upon Christ — signified the same thing as w^hat was at 
 the same time proclaimed to the Son — viz., This is my beloved Son, in 
 whom I am well pleased. This is the Son on whom I pour forth all 
 my love, towards whom my essence entirely flows out in love. See 
 Matt. iii. 16, 17 ; Mark i. 10, 11 ; Luke iii. 22 ; John i. 32, 83. 
 
 This was the anointing of the Head of the Chui'ch and our great 
 High Priest, and therefore the holy anointing oil of old with which Aaron 
 and other typical high priests were anointed was the most eminent 
 type of the Holy Spirit of any in the Old Testament. This holy oil, 
 by reason of its soft-flowing and diffusive nature, and its unparalleled 
 sweetness and fragrancy, did most fitly represent Divine Love, or that 
 Spirit that is the Deity, breathed forth or flowing out and softly fall- 
 ing in infinite love and delight. It is mentioned as a fit representa- 
 tion of holy love, which is said to be like the precious ointment on 
 the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard, that went 
 down to the skirts of his garments. It was from the fruit of the olive- 
 tree, which it is known has been made use of as a symbol of love or 
 peace, which was probably taken from the olive-branch brought by the 
 dove to Noah in token of the Divine favour ; so that the olive-branch 
 and the dove that brought it, both signified the same thing — viz., love, 
 which is specially ty})ified by the precious oil from the olive-tree. 
 
 God's love is primarily to Himself, and His infinite delight is in 
 Himself, in the Father and the Son loving and delighting in each 
 other. We often read of the Father loving the Son, and being well 
 
46 TREATISE ON GRACE. 
 
 pleased in the Son, and of the Son loving the Father. In the in- 
 finite love and delitilit that is between these two persons consists the 
 infinite happiness of God : Prov. viii. 30. — " Then I was by him, as 
 one brought up with him : and I was daily his delight, rejoicing 
 always before him ; " and therefore seeing the Scripture signifies that 
 the Spirit of God is the Love of God, therefore it follows that Holy 
 Spirit proceeds from or is breathed forth from, the Father and the 
 Son in some way or other infinitely above all our conceptions, as the 
 Divine essence entirely flows out and is breathed forth in infinitely pure 
 love and sweet delight from the Father and the Son ; and this is that 
 pure river of water of life that proceeds out of the throne of the 
 Father and the Son, as we read at the beginning of the XXII.*^ chapter 
 of the Revelation ; for Christ himself tells us that by the water of 
 life, or living water, is meant the Holy Ghost, (John vii. 38, 39.) This 
 river of water of life in the Eevelation is evidently the same with the 
 living waters of the sanctuary in Ezekiel, (Ezek. xlvii. 1. &c. ;) and 
 this river is doubtless the river of God's pleasure, or of God's own in- 
 finite delight spoken of in Ps. xxxvi. 7-9 — " How excellent is thy lov- 
 ing-kindness, God ! therefore the children of men put their trust 
 under the shadow of thy wings. They shall be abundantly satisfied 
 with the fatness of thy house ; and thou shalt make them drink of the 
 river of thy pleasures. For with thee is the fountain of life." The 
 river of God's pleasures here spoken of is the same with the foun- 
 tain of life sj)oken of in the next words. Here, as was observed be- 
 fore, the water of life by Christ's o^vn interpretation is the Holy 
 Spirit. This river of God's pleasures is also the same with the fat- 
 ness of God's house, the holy oil of the sanctuary spoken of in the next 
 preceding words, and is the same with God's love, or God's excellent 
 loving-kindness, spoken of in the next preceding verse. 
 
 I have before observed that the Scripture abundantly reveals that 
 the way in which Christ dwells in the saint is by His Spirit's dwell- 
 ing in them, and here I would observe that Christ in His prayer, in 
 the XVII.''** chapter of John, seems to speak of the way in which He 
 dwells in them as by the indwelling of the love wherewith the Father 
 has loved Him : John xvii. 26 — " And I have declared unto them thy 
 name, and will declare it ; that the love wherewith thou hast loved 
 me may be in them, and I in them." The beloved disciple that wrote 
 this Gospel having taken [such] particular notice of this, that he after- 
 wards in his first epistle once and again speaks of Love's dwelling in the 
 saints, and the Spirit's dwelling in them being the same thing. 
 
 Again, the Scripture seems in many places to speak of love in 
 Christians as if it were the same with the Spirit of God in them, or at 
 least as the prime and most natural breathing and acting of the Spirit 
 in the souL So Rom. v. 5 — "Because the love of God is shed abroad 
 in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us :" Col. i. 8 — 
 " Who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit :" 2 Cor. vi. 6 — 
 " By kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned :" Phil. ii. 1 — 
 " If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of 
 love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies, fulfil 
 
TltKATISE ON GRACE. 47 
 
 ye my joy, that ye be like-iiiiinleil, liaviiiu' tlic same love, beino- of one 
 aecord, of one miml." 
 
 The Seripture therefore leads us to this conclusion, though it be in- 
 finitely above us to conceive how it should be, that yet as the Son of God 
 i.s the personal word, idea, or wisdom of God, beoottLn l)y God, being an 
 infinitely perfect, substantial image or itlea of Himself, (as might be very 
 plainly proved from the Holy Scripture, if here were proper occasion for 
 it ;) so the Holy Spirit does in some ineffable and inconceivable manner 
 proceed, and is breathed forth both from the Father and the Son, by 
 the Divine essence being wholly poured and flowing out in that in- 
 finitely intense, holy, and |)ure love and delight that continually 
 antl uiu'hangeably breathes forth from the Father and the Son, ])ri- 
 marily towards each other, and secondarily towards the creature, and 
 so flowing forth in a difierent subsistence or person in a manner to 
 us utterly inexplicable and inconceivable, and that this is that person 
 that is poured forth into the hearts of angels and saints. 
 
 Hence 'tis to be accounted for, that though we often read in Scrip- 
 ture of the Father loving the Son, and the Son loving the Father, yet 
 we never once read either of the Father or the Son loving the Holy 
 Spirit, and the Spirit loving either of Them. It is because the Holy 
 Spirit is the Divine love itself, the love of the Father and the Son, 
 Hence also it is to be accounted for, that we very often read of the 
 love both of the Father and the Son to men, and particularly their 
 love to the saints ; but we never read of the Holy Ghost loving them, 
 for the Holy Ghost is that love of God and Christ that is breathed 
 forth primarily towards each other, and flows out secondarily towards 
 the creature. This also will well account for it, that the apostle Paul 
 so often wishes grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father, and 
 from the Lord Jesus Christ, in the beginning of his epistles, without 
 even mentioning the Holy Ghost, because the Holy Ghost is Himself 
 the love and grace of God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. He 
 is the Deity wholly breathed forth in infinite, substantial, intelligent, 
 love : from the Father and Son first towards each other, and second- 
 arily freely flowing out to the creature, and so standing forth a dis- 
 tinct personal subsistence. 
 
 Both the holiness and happiness of the Godhead consists in this 
 love. As we have already proved, all creature holiness consists essen- 
 tially and summarily in love to God and love to other creatures ; so 
 does the holiness of God consist in His love, especially in the perfect 
 and intimate union and love there is between the Father and the Son. 
 But the Spirit that proceeds from the Father and the Son is the bond 
 of this union, as it is of all holy union between the Father and the 
 Son, and between God and the creature, and between the creatures 
 among themselves. All seems to be signified in Christ's prayer in the 
 XVII."* chapter of John, from the 21st verse. Therefore this Spirit 
 of love is the "bond of perfectness" (Col. iii. 14-) throughout the 
 whole blessed society or family in heaven and earth, consisting of the 
 Father, the Head of the family, and the Son, and all His saints that 
 are the disciples, seed, and spouse of the Son. The happiness of God 
 
48 TKEATISE ON GRACE. 
 
 doth also consist in this love ; for doubtless the happiness of God 
 consists in the infinite love He has to, and delight He has in Himself ; 
 or in other words, in the infinite delight there is between the Father 
 and the Son, spoken of in Prov. viii. 80. This delight that the Father 
 and tlie Son have in each other is not to be distinguished from Their 
 love of complacence one in another, wherein love does most essentially 
 consist, as was observed before. The happiness of the Deity, as all 
 other true happiness, consists in love and society. 
 
 Hence it is that the Spirit of God, the third person in the Trinity, 
 is so often called the Holy Spirit, as though " Holy " were an epithet 
 some way or other peculiarly belonging to Him, which can be no other 
 way than that the holiness of God does consist in Him. He is not 
 only infinitely holy as the Father and the Son are, but He is the 
 holiness of God itself in the abstract. The holiness of the Father 
 and the Son does consist in breathing forth tliis Spirit. Therefore 
 He is not only called the Holy Spirit, but the Spirit of holiness : 
 Rom. i. 4 — " According to the Spirit of holiness." 
 
 Hence also the river of " living waters," or waters of life, which 
 Christ explains in the Vn.'** [chapter] of John, of the Holy Spirit, is 
 in the forementioned Psalm [xxxvi. 8] called the " river of God's 
 pleasures ;" and hence also that holy oil with which Christ was 
 anointed, which I have shewn was the Holy Ghost, is called the 
 " oil of gladness : " Heb. i. 9 — " Therefore God, even thy God, hath 
 anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows." Hence we 
 learn that God's fulness does consist in the Holy Spirit. By ful- 
 ness, as the term is used in Scripture, as may easily be seen by 
 looking over the texts that mention it, is intended the good that any 
 one possesses. Now the good that God possesses does most imme- 
 diately consist in His joy and complacence that He has in Himself. 
 It does objectively, indeed, consist in the Father and the Son ; but it 
 doth most immediately consist in the complacence in these elements. 
 Nevertheless the fulness of God consists in the holiness and happiness 
 of the Deity. Hence persons, by being made partakers of the Holy 
 Spirit, or having it dwelling in them, are said to be " partakers of the 
 fulness of God" or Christ. Christ's fulness, as Mediator, consists in 
 His having the Spirit given Him "not by measure," (John iii. 34.) 
 And so it is that He is said to have " the fulness of the Godhead,'^ 
 [which] is said " to dwell in Him bodily," (Col. ii. 9.) And as we, 
 by receiving the Holy Spirit from Christ, and being made partakers 
 of His Spirit, are said " to receive of His fulness, and grace for 
 grace." And because this Spirit, which is the fulness of God, con- 
 sists in the love of God and Christ ; therefore we, by knowing the 
 love of Christ, are said " to be filled with all the fulness of God," 
 (Eph. iii. 19.) For the way that we know the love of Christ, is by 
 having that love dwelling in us, as 1 John iv. 13 ; because the ful- 
 ness of God consists in the Holy Spirit. Hence our communion 
 with God the Father and God the Son consists in our possessing of 
 the Holy Ghost, which is Their Spirit. For to have communion or 
 fellowship with either, is to partake with Them of Their good in 
 
TREATISE ON GRACE. 49 
 
 Their fulness in union and society with Them. Hence it is that we 
 read of the saints having fellowship and comnuinion with the Father 
 and with the Son ; but never of their having fellowship with the 
 Holy Ghost, because the Holy Ghost is that common good or 
 fulness which they partake of, in which their fellowship consists. 
 We read of the communion of the Holy Ghost ; but not of com- 
 munion with Him, wiiich are two very diti'erent things. 
 
 Persons are said to have communion with each other when they 
 partake with each other in some common good ; but any one is said to 
 have communion of anything, with respect to that thing they partake 
 of, in common with others. Hence, in the apostolical benediction, he 
 wishes the "grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God the 
 Father, and the communion or partaking of the Holy Ghost." The 
 blessing wished is but one — viz., the Holy Spirit. To partake of the 
 Holy Ghost is to have that love of the Father and the grace of the 
 Son. 
 
 From what has been said, it follows that the Holy Spirit is the 
 su7n7nu))i of all good. Tis the fulness of God. The holiness and 
 happiness of the Godhead consists in it ; and in communion or par- 
 taking of it consists all the true loveliness and happiness of the 
 creature. All the grace and comfort that persons here have, and all 
 their holiness and happiness hereafter, consists in the love of the 
 Spirit, spoken of Kom. xv. 30 ; and joy in the Holy Ghost, spoken of 
 Rom. xiv. 17; Acts ix. 3], xiii. 52. And, therefore, that which in 
 Matt. vii. 11 — " If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts 
 unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in 
 heaven, give good things to them that ask Him?" — is in Luke xi. 13, 
 expressed thus : — " If ye then, being evil, know how to give good 
 gifts unto your children ; how much more shall your heavenly Father 
 give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him V Doubtless there is an 
 agreement in what is expressed by each Evangelist : and giving the 
 Holy Spirit to them that ask, is the same as giving good things to 
 them that ask ; for the Holy Spirit is the sum of all good. 
 
 Hence we may better understand the economy of the Persons of 
 the Trinity as it appears in the part that each one has in the atfair 
 of Eedemption, and shews the equality of each Person concerned in 
 that affair, and the equality of honour and praise due to each of Them. 
 For that work, glory belongs to the Father and the Son, that They so 
 greatly loved the world. To the Father, that He so loved the world, 
 that He gave His only-begotten Son, who was all His delight, who is 
 His infinite objective Happiness. To the Son, that He so loved the 
 world, that He gave Himself. But there is equal glory due to the 
 Holy Ghost on this account, because He is the Love of the Father 
 and the Son, that flows out primarily towards God, and secondarily 
 towards the elect that Christ came to save. So that, however 
 wonderful the love of the Father and the Son appear to be, so nuich 
 the more glory belongs to the Holy Spirit, in whom subsists that 
 wonderful and excellent love. 
 
 It shews the infinite excellency of the Father thus : — That the Son 
 
 D 
 
50 TREATISE ON GRACE. 
 
 SO deliglitecl in Him, and prized His honour and glory, that when He 
 had a mind to save sinners, He came infinitely low, rather than men's 
 salvation should be the injury of that honour and glory. It shewed 
 the infinite excellency and worth of the Son, that the Father so 
 delighted in Him, that for His sake He was ready to quit His own ; 
 yea., and receive into favour those that had deserved infinitely ill at 
 His hands. Both shews the infinite excellency of the Holy Spirit, 
 because He is that delight of the Father and the Son in each other, 
 which is manifested to be so great and infinite by these things. 
 
 What has been said shews that our dependence is equally on 
 each Person in this affair. The Father approves and provides the 
 Redeemer, and Himself accepts the price of the good purchased, and 
 bestows that good. The Son is the Redeemer, and the price that is 
 offered for the purchased good. And the Holy Ghost is the good 
 purchased ; [for] the Sacred Scriptures seem to intimate that the 
 Holy Spirit is the sum of all that Christ purchased for man, (Gal. 
 iii. 13, 11) 
 
 What Christ purchased for us is, that we might have communion 
 with God in His good, which consists in partaking or having com- 
 munion of the Holy Ghost, as I have shewn. All the blessedness of 
 the redeemed consists in partaking of the fuhiess of Christ, their 
 Head and Redeemer, which, I have observed, consists in partaking 
 of the Spirit that is given Him not by measure. This is the vital 
 sap which the creatures derive from the true vine. This is the holy 
 oil poured on the Head, that goes down to the members. Christ 
 purchased for us that we should enjoy the Love : but the love of God 
 flows out in the proceeding of the Spirit ; and He purchased for 
 them that the love and joy of God should dwell in them, which is by 
 the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. 
 
 The sum of all spiritual good which the saints have in this world, 
 is that spring of living water within them which we read of, (John iv. 
 10 ;) and those rivers of living waters flowing from within them which 
 Ave read of, (John vii. 38, 39,) which we are there told is the Holy 
 Spirit. And the sum of all happiness in the other world, is that 
 river of living water which flows from the throne of God and the 
 Lamb, which is the i-iver of God's pleasures, and is the Holy Spirit ; 
 which is often compared in Sacred Scripture to water, to the rain 
 and dew, and rivers and floods of waters, (Isa. xliv. 3, xxxii. 15, 
 xli. 17, 18, compared with John iv. 14, xxxV. 6, 7, xliii. 19, 20.) 
 
 The Holy Spirit is the purchased possession and inheritance of the 
 saints, as appears, because that little of it which the saints have in 
 this world is said to be the earnest of that purchased inheritance, 
 (Eph. i. 13, U ; 2 Cor. i. 22., v. 5.) 'Tis an earnest of that which 
 we are to have a fulness of hereafter. The Holy Ghost is the great 
 subject of all gospel promises, and therefore is called the Spirit of 
 promise, (Eph. i. 13.) He is called the promise of the Father, (Luke 
 xxiv. 49.) 
 
 The Holy Ghost being a comprehension of all good things pro- 
 misad in the gospsl, we may easily see the force of the Apostle's 
 
TKEATrSK ON GKArR. 51 
 
 inquiry : Gal. iii. 2 — " This only would I know, Received ye the Spirit 
 by the works of the Law, or by the hearins^; of faith ? " So that in the 
 offer of Redemption 'tis of (lod of whom our ,c:ood is purchased, and 
 'tis God tliat purchases it, and 'tis God also tliat is the thing pur- 
 chased. Thus all our good things are of God, and through God, and 
 in God, as Rom. xi. 30 — " For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, 
 and in Him, [as etV is rendered in 1 Cor. viii. 6,] are all things : to whom 
 be glory for ever." All our good is of God the Father, and through 
 God the Son, and all is in the Holy Ghost, as He is Himself all our 
 good. And so God is Himself the portion and purchased inherit- 
 ance of His people. Thus God is the Alpha and Omega in this affair 
 of Redemption. 
 
 If we suppose no more than used to be supposed about the Holy 
 Ghost, the honour of the Holy Ghost in t!ie work of Redemption is 
 not equal in any sense to the Father and the Son's ; nor is there an 
 equal part of the glory of this work belonging to Him. Merely to 
 apply to us, or immediately to give or hand to us blessing purchased, 
 after it is juirchased, is subordinate to the other two Persons, — is 
 but a little thing to the purchaser of it by the paying an infinite 
 price by Christ, by Christ's offering up Himself a sacrifice to procure 
 it ; and 'tis but a little thing to God the Father's giving His in- 
 finitely dear Son to be a sacrifice for us to procure this good. But 
 according to what has now been supposed, there is an equality. To 
 be the wonderful love of God, is as much as for the Father and the 
 Son to exercise wonderful love ; and to be the thing purchased, is as 
 much as to be the price that purchases it. The price, and the thing 
 bought with that price, answer each other in value ; and to be the 
 excellent benefit oftered, is as much as to ofter such an excellent bene- 
 fit. For the glory that belongs to Him that bestows the gospel, arises 
 from the excellency and value of the gift, and therefore the glory is 
 equal to that excellency of the benefit. And so that Person that is 
 that excellent benefit, has equal glory with Him that bestows such 
 an excellent benefit. 
 
 But now to return : from what has been now observed from the 
 Holy Scriptures of the nature of the Holy Spirit, may be clearly 
 understood why grace in the hearts of the saints is called spiritual, 
 in distinction from other things that are the effects of the Spirit in 
 the hearts of men. For by this it appears that the Divine principle 
 in the saints is of the nature of the Spirit ; for as the nature of 
 the Spirit of God is Di\ane Love, so Divine Love is the nature and 
 essence of that holy principle in the hearts of the saints. 
 
 The Spirit of God may operate and ])roduce effects upon the minds 
 of natural men that have no grace, as He does when He assists natu- 
 ral conscience and convictions of sin and danger. The Spirit of God 
 may produce effects upon inanimate things, as of old He moved on 
 the face of the waters. But He communicates holiness in His own 
 proper nature only, in those holy effects in the hearts of the saints. 
 And, therefore, those holy effects only are called spiritual ; and the 
 saints only are called spiritual persons in Sacred Scripture. 
 
52 TEEATISE ON GEACE. 
 
 Men's natural faculties and principles may be assisted by the 
 operation of the Spirit of God on their minds, to enable them to 
 exert tliose acts which, to a greater or lesser degree, they exert 
 naturally. But the Spirit don't at all communicate Himself in 
 it in His own nature, which is Divine Love, any more than when He 
 moved upon the face of the waters. 
 
 Hence al?o we may more easily receive and understand a doctrine 
 that seems to be taught us in the Sacred Scripture concerning grace 
 in tlie heart — viz., that it is no other than the Spirit of God itself 
 dwellino- and acting in the heart of a saint, — which the consideration 
 of these things will make manifest : — 
 
 (1.) That the Sacred Scriptures don't only call grace spiritual, but 
 " spirit." 
 
 (2.) That when the Sacred Scriptures call grace spirit, the Spirit of 
 God is intended ; and that grace is called " Spirit" no otherwise than 
 as the name of the Holy Ghost, the Third Person in the Trinity is 
 ascribed to it. 
 
 1. This holy principle is often called by the name of " spirit " in 
 Sacred Scripture. So in John iii. 6 — " That which is born of the 
 Spirit is spirit." Here by flesh and spirit, we have already shewn, are 
 intended those two opposite principles in the heart, corruption and 
 grace. So by flesh and spirit the same things are manifestly in- 
 tended in Gal. v. 17 — " For the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and 
 the spirit against the flesh : and these are contrary the one to the 
 other; so that ye cannot do the things that ye would." This that 
 is here given as the reason why Christians cannot do the things that 
 they would, is manifestly the same that is given for the same thing 
 in the latter part of the VlPli chapter of the Komans. The reason 
 there given why they cannot do the things that they would is, that 
 the law of the members war with [and] against the law of the mind ; 
 and, therefore, by the law of the members and the law of the mind 
 are meant the same as the flesh and spirit in Galatians. Yea, they 
 are called by the same name of the flesh and spirit there, in that con- 
 text, in the continuation of the same discourse in the beginning of 
 the next chapter : — " Therefore there is no condemnation to them 
 that are in Christ Jesus, that walk not after the flesh, but after the 
 Spirit." Here the Apostle evidently refers to the same two opposite 
 principles warring one against another, that he had been speaking of 
 in the close of the preceding chapter, which he here calls flesh and 
 spirit as he does in his Epistle to the Galatians. 
 
 This is yet more abundantly clear by the next words, which are, 
 " For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free 
 from the law of sin and death." Here these two things that in the 
 preceding verse are called " flesh and spirit," are in this verse called 
 " the law of the spirit of hfe " and " the law of sin and death," 
 evidently speaking still of the same law of our mind and the law of 
 sin spoken of in the last verse of the preceding chapter. The 
 Apostle goes on in the VIII*'i chapter to call aversation* and grace by 
 
 * Sic. Query .... opposition ? or = turning from ? — G. 
 
TREATISE ON GRACE. 53 
 
 the names of flesh and spirit, (verses 4-9, and again verses 12, 18.) 
 These two principles are called by the same names in Matt. xxvi. 41 — 
 " The spirit indeed is willinir, but the liosh is weak." There can be no 
 doubt but that the same thin,!;' is intended here by the flesh and spirit 
 as (compare wliat is said of the flesh and spirit here and in these places) 
 in the VlJtli and VllltJi chapters of Komans, and Gal. v. Again, these 
 two principles are called by the same words in Gal. vi. 8. If this 
 be compared with the 18th verse of the foregoing chapter, and with 
 Komans viii. 6 and 13, none can doubt but the same is meant in 
 each place. 
 
 2. If the Sacred Scriptures be duly observed, where grace is called 
 by the name of *' spirit," it will appear that 'tis so called by an 
 ascription of the Holy Ghost, even the Third Person in the Triiiity, 
 to that Divine principle in the heart of the saints, as though that 
 principle in them were no other than the Spirit of God itself, united 
 to the soul, and living and acting in it, and exerting itself in the iise 
 and improvement of its faculties. 
 
 Thus it is in the VIIF^' chapter of Eomans, as does manifestly ap- 
 pear by verses 9-1 G — "But you are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, 
 if so be the Spirit of God dwell in you," &c. " Now, if any man 
 have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His," &c. 
 
 Here the Apostle does fully explain himself what he means when 
 he so often calls that holy principle that is in the hearts of the saints 
 by the name " spirit." This he means, the Spirit of God itself 
 dwelling and acting in them. In the 9th verse he calls it the Spirit 
 of God, and the Spirit of Christ in the 10th verse. He calls it Christ 
 in them in the 11th verse. He calls it the Spirit of Him that raised 
 up Jesus from the dead dwellhig in them ; and in the 14th verse he 
 calls it the Spirit of God. In the IGtli verse he calls it the Spirit 
 itself. So it is called the Spirit of God in 1 Cor. ii. 11, 12. So that 
 that holy. Divine principle, which we have observed does radically 
 and essentially consist in Divine Love, is no other than a communica- 
 tion and participation of that same infinite Divine Love, which is 
 God, and in which the Godhead is eternally breathed forth ; and 
 subsists in the Third Person in the blessed Trinity. So that true 
 saving grace is no other than that very love of God — that is, God, in 
 One of the Persons of the Trinity, uniting Himself to the soul of a 
 creature, as a vital principle, dwelling there and exerting Himself by 
 the faculties of the soul of man, in His own proper nature, after the 
 manner of a principle of nature. 
 
 And we may look back and more fully understand what the 
 apostle John means when he says once and again, "God is Love," and 
 " He that dwelleth in Love dwelleth in God, and God in him," and 
 " If we love one another, God dwelleth in us," and " His Love is 
 perfected in us," [and] " Hereby we know that we dwell in Him and 
 He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit." 
 
 By this, also, we may understand what the apostle Peter means 
 in his 2d Epistle i. 4, that the saints are made " partakers of the 
 Divine nature." They are not only partakers of a nature that may. 
 
54 TEEATISE ON GRACE. 
 
 in some sense, be called Divine, because 'tis conformed to the nature 
 of God ; but the very Deity does, in some sense, dwell in them. 
 That holy and Divine love dwells in their hearts, and is so united to 
 human faculties, that 'tis itself become a principle of new nature. 
 That love, which is the very native tongue and spirit of God, so 
 dwells in their souls that it exerts itself in its own nature in the 
 exercise of those faculties, after the manner of a natural or vital 
 principle in them. 
 
 This shews us how the saints are said to be the " temples of the 
 Holy Ghost" as they are.* 
 
 By this, also, we may understand how the saints are said to be 
 made " partakers of God's holiness," not only as they partake of holi- 
 ness that God gives, but partake of that holiness by which He him- 
 self is holy. For it has been already observed, the holiness of God 
 consists in that Divine Love in which the essence of God really flows 
 out. 
 
 This also shews us how to understand our Lord when He speaks 
 of His joy being fulfilled in the saints: John xvii. 13 — "And now 
 I come unto thee ; and these things I speak in the world, that they 
 might have My joy fulfilled in themselves." It is by the indwelling 
 of that Divine Spirit, which we have shewn to be God the Father's 
 and the Son's infinite Love and Joy in each other. In the 13th verse 
 He says He has spoken His word to His disciples, " that His joy 
 might be fulfilled ;" and in verse 26th He says, " And I have declared 
 imto them Thy name, and will declare it ; that the love wherewith 
 Thou hast loved Me may be in them, and I in them." 
 
 And herein lies the mystery of the vital union that is between 
 Christ and the soul of a believer, which orthodox Divines speak so 
 much of, Christ's love — that is, His Spirit is actually united to the 
 faculties of their souls. So it properly lives, acts, and exerts its 
 nature in the exercise of their faculties. By this Love being in them, 
 He is in them, (John xvii. 26 ;) and so it is said, 1 Cor. vi. 17 — " But 
 he that is joined to the Lord is one spirit." 
 
 And thus it is that the saints are said to live, " yet not they, but 
 Christ lives in them," (Gal. ii. 20.) The very promise of spiritual life 
 in their souls is no other than the Spirit of Christ himself. So that 
 they live by His life, as much as the members of the body live by the 
 life of the Lord, and as much as the branches live by the life of the 
 root and stock. "Because I live, ye shall live also," (John xiv. 19.) 
 " We are dead : but our life is hid with Christ in God," (Col. iii. 3.) 
 '• When Christ, who is our life, shall appear," (Col. iii. 4.) 
 
 There is a union with Christ, by the indwelling of the Love of 
 Christ, two ways. First, as 'tis from Christ, and is the very Spirit 
 and life and fulness of Christ ; and second, as it acts to Christ. For 
 the very nature of it is love and union of heart to Him. 
 
 Because the Spirit of God dwells as a vital principle or a principle 
 of new life in the soul, therefore 'tis called the " Spirit of life," (Rom. 
 viii. 2 ;) and the Spirit that "quickens." (John vi. 63.) 
 
 * 1 Cor. iii. ]H, 17, vi. 10; 2 Cor. vi. Iti.— G. 
 
TREATISE ON GEACE. 55 
 
 Till' Spirit of CJod is a vital principle in the soul, as the breath of 
 life is in the body : Ezek. xxxvii. 5 — "Thus saith the Lord Cod unto 
 these bones, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live ; " 
 and so verses 9, 10 
 
 That principle of oiace that is in the hearts of the saints is as much 
 a proper communication or ])articipation of the Spirit of Cod, the Third 
 Person in the Trinity, as that breath that entered into these bodies is 
 represented to be a participation of the wind that blew upon them. 
 The prophet says, " Come from the four winds, breath, and breathe 
 upon these slain that they may live," is now the very same wind and 
 the same breath ; but only was wanted to these bodies to be a vital 
 principle in them, which otherwise would be dead. And therefore 
 Christ himself represents the communication of His Spirit to His 
 disciples by His breathing upon them, and communicating to them 
 His breath, (John xx. 22.) 
 
 We often, in our common language about things of this nature, 
 speak of a principle of giace. I suppose there is no other principle 
 of grace in the soul than the very Holy Chost dwelling in the soul 
 and acting there as a vital principle. To speak of a habit of grace as 
 a natural disposition to act grace, as begotten in the soul by the first 
 communication of Divine light, and as the natural and necessary 
 consequence of the first light, it seems in some respects to carry a 
 wrong idea with it. Indeed the first exercise of grace in the first 
 light has a tendency to future acts, as from an abiding principle, by 
 grace and by the covenant of God ; but not by any natural force. 
 The giving one gracious discovery or act of grace, or a thousand, has 
 no proper natural tendency to cause an abiding habit of grace for the 
 future ; nor any otherwise than by Divine constitution and covenant. 
 But all succeeding acts of grace must be as immediately, and, to all 
 intents and purposes, as much from the immediate acting of the 
 Spirit of God on the soul, as the first ; and if God should take away 
 His Spirit out of the soul, all habits and acts of grace would of them- 
 selves cease as immediately as light ceases in a room when a candle 
 is carried out. And no man has a habit of grace dwelling in him 
 any otherwise than as he has the Holy Spirit dwelling in him in his 
 temple, and acting in union with his natural faculties, after the 
 manner of a vital principle. So that when they act grace, 'tis, in the 
 language of the Apostle, " not they, but Christ living in them." 
 Indeed the Spirit of God, united to human faculties, acts very much 
 after the manner of a natural principle or habit. So that one act 
 makes way for another, and so it now settles the soul in a disposition 
 to holy acts ; but that it does, so as by grace and covenant, and not 
 from any natural necessity. 
 
 Hence the Spirit of God seems in Sacred Scripture to be spoken of 
 as a quality of the persons in whom it resided. So that they are 
 called spiritual persons; as when we say a virtuous man, we speak 
 of virtue as the quality of the man. 'Tis tlie Spirit itself that is the 
 only principle of true virtue in the heart. So that to be truly virtuous 
 is the same as to be spiritual. 
 
oQ TKEATISE ON GEACE. 
 
 And tlms it is not only with respect to the virtue that is in the 
 hearts of the saints on earth, but also the perfect virtue and holiness 
 of the saints in heaven. It consists altogether in the indwelling and 
 acting of the Spirit of God in their habits. And so it was with man 
 before the Fall ; and so it is with the elect, sinless angels.- We have 
 shewn that the holiness and happiness of God consist in the Holy 
 Spirit ; and so the holiness and happiness of every holy or truly 
 virtuous creature of God, in heaven or earth, consist in the com- 
 munion of the same vSpirit. 
 
ANNOTATIONS ON PASSAGES OF 
 HOLY SCRIPTURE; 
 
 FROM 
 
 PRESIDENT EDWARDS'S INTERLEAVED BIBLE. 
 
NOTE. 
 
 The following is the title-page of the Bible from whence these " Notes " are drawn : 
 — " Verbum Dei. The Holy Bible, Containing the Old Testament and the New ; 
 Newly translated out of the origiuall Tongue; and with the former translations 
 diligently compared and revised : London : Printed by the Companie of Stationers. 
 1652. Cor mundum circa in me Deus, Psalm 51." 4to. On a flyleaf there is the 
 signature of a former possessor of the Bible, thus : " Benjamin Pierpont, His Book 
 AD: 1728." This was probably a son of the Rev. James Pierpont of New Haven, 
 New England, whose third wife, Mary, grand-daughter of the famous Thomas 
 Hooker, was mother of the wife of Jonathan Edwards. Of " Benjamin " himself 
 nothing seems to be known. Immediately underneath the other is, " Jonathan 
 Edwards his Book 1748." Mr Pierpont records, on the reverse of the title-page, that 
 the interleaving paper consisted of " -432 leaves," and the volume itself of " 396 
 leaves." He has also interspersed a few commonplace observations. Edwards's head- 
 ing for his •■' Notes" is, "Miscellaneous Observations ou the Holy Scriptures." — G. 
 
OLD TESTAMENT. 
 
 GENESIS. 
 
 1. Gen. ii. 3 — "And God blessed the seventh day, and 
 sanctified it," &c.] It is rendered very probable by Bedford in his 
 "Scripture Chronology,"* that this first Sabbath being the first day of 
 Adam's .life, and so the first day from whence he began to reckon 
 time, was the first day of his week ; and so, that the first day of the 
 week was the day that God sanctified to be kept by all nations and 
 ages, excepting the change that was made of the day of the Sabbath 
 for the Israelitish nation after the coming out of Egypt, till the 
 resurrection of Christ; and also that the "deep sleep" that was fallen 
 on Adam in which God took from him one of his ribs and made Eve 
 of it, was on the night before. If so, then as Christ rose from the 
 dead on the first day of the week, so Adam on the same day rose 
 from his first sleep. As Christ on that day rose from that death that 
 He died, by which He purchased and obtained the Church, being by 
 that means created anew ; so Adam rose froju that " deep sleep " that 
 he slept, which made way for her formation, and by which he obtained 
 her. As when Adam arose from his deep sleep, God brought the 
 woman to him, whose being, his deep sleep had made way for, and 
 gave her to him ; so when Christ rose from the dead, God brought 
 the Church to Him : it was gathered and brought home to Christ in 
 an extraordinary manner, soon after His resurrection. As Adam 
 rose and received his wife, "bone of his bone, and flesh of his flesh," 
 and taken out of himself, from near his heart ; so Christ received His 
 Church that is " of his flesh and of his bones," (Eph. v. 'SO,) and as 
 the product of His most dear dying love. As this day w'as a day 
 wherein God was refreshed, and rejoiced in beholding His works, and 
 a day of rejoicing to Adam in that he then received liis wife, and a 
 day of rejoicing to Eve, being then first received into union with her 
 companion ; so the day of Christ's resurrection was a day of rejoicing 
 to God the Father, to Clirist, and also to the Church, which was then 
 begotten again to a living hope by the resurrection. 
 
 '2. Gen. ii. 17 — 'In the day," &c.J It does not seem to mo 
 ' 17 oO folio. — fJ. 
 
GO ANNOTATIONS ON PASSAGES OF SCRIPTUEE. 
 
 necessary that we should understand this, that death should be exe- 
 cuted upon him in that day when he ate. But that it may be 
 understood in the same manner as Solomon's words to Shimei, 
 (1 Kings ii. 37.) Death was executed upon Shimei many days after 
 he had done that thing. The thing that God would signify to Adam 
 by this exj^ression seems to me to be, that if he but once presumed 
 to taste that fruit, he should die. You shall not be waited upon to 
 see whether you will do it again, but as soon as ever you have eaten, 
 that very day shall death be made sure to you, you shall be bound to 
 die, given over to death without any more waiting upon you ; as that 
 was what Solomon would signify to Shimei ; that if he but once 
 went over the brook Kedron, he should die ; (see note on 1 Kings ii. 
 37,) and so these words signify that perfect obedience was the con- 
 dition of God's covenant that was made with Adam, as they signify 
 that for one act of disobedience he should die. See Ezek. xxxiii. 12 
 — [" Thou shalt die."] (See Pool, Synop. in loc.) * 
 
 3. Gen iii. 15 — " 1 will put enmity between thee and the wo- 
 man, and between thy seed and her seed : it shall bruise thy head, 
 and thou shalt bruise his heel/'] Here the pronoun "he," the 
 verb "bruise," and the affix "his" are all of the singular nmnber, as 
 Bedford observes in p. 166 of his "Scripture Chronology," f which 
 shews that by " seed " is meant a particular person, and not her 
 posterity, in general ; which observation is agreeable to that which 
 the apostle Paul makes, (Gal. iii. 16,) referring to what is said in 
 Gen. xxii. 17, 18, where the singular pronoun or affix " his," and 
 the singular verb "possess," is in like manner used when speaking of 
 that "seed of Abraham," who should "possess the gate of his enemies," 
 and "in whom all the families of the earth should be blessed." Bedford 
 in his " Scripture Chronology " says the Jewish Paraphrasts express 
 this text thus : " There shall be a remedy to mankind : but there 
 shall be no remedy to thee the serpent. But there shall be a remedy to 
 them in the latter age of the world, even in the days of King Mes- 
 siah, who shall remember what thou didst in the beginning of the 
 world ; " and says, that Maimonides, a learned Jew, justly admires 
 [:= wonders] that the seed of the woman should be only mentioned, 
 and not of Adam, without whom she could have no seed, and which 
 must therefore be his seed ; and that it should be said of " Jier seed," 
 not of " his," that it bruised the serpent's head. " This," saith he, 
 "is one of the passages in Scripture which is most wonderful, and 
 not to be understood according to the letter, but contains great 
 wisdom in it." In the old Creation, the woman was taken out of the 
 man ; in the new Creation, the man is taken out of the woman. 
 God in the new creation honours the inferior ; as man, the inferior 
 nature, is honoured above the angels. 
 
 4. Gen. iii. 21 — "Coats of skins."] Our first parents, who were 
 l)CCome nalied, were clothed at the expense of life. Beasts were slain, 
 
 * The well-known " Synopsis Criticormn," filling five large folios. Best edition is, 
 Utrecht, 1684.— G. 
 
 t As before under Gen. ii. 3. — G. 
 
OLD TESTAMENT — GENESIS. 61 
 
 and rcsio;iiecl up their lives to afford them clothing to cover their 
 nakedness. The skin signifies the life, as in Job ii. 4 — "Skin for 
 skin" — i.e., life for life. These beasts typified Jesus Christ. Probably 
 they were beasts slain in sacrifice ; but if not, if they were slain by 
 God on purpose to clothe Adam and Eve, the type is no less lively. 
 See Exod. xxxvi. 14-. 
 
 o. Gen. iv. 2*>, '2\ — "And Lamech said unto his wives, Adali and 
 Zilhih, here my voice ; ye wives of Lamech, . . I have slain a man," &c.] 
 The probable desijrn of the Holy Spirit in relating this, is to shew the 
 great increase of the depravity and corruption of the world of Cain's 
 posterity, and those that adhered to them at that day, in the genera- 
 tion next to the Flood. This is shewn in the particular instance of 
 Lamech, the chief man of Cain's posterity in his day. Lamech had 
 been guilty of murder, he had slain some man that he had had a 
 quarrel with, and he justifies himself in it, and endeavours to satisfy 
 his wives that he shall escape with impunity, from the instance of 
 Cain, whose life God had protected, and even took especial care tliat 
 no man should kill him ; and had declared if any man killed him, 
 vengeance sliould be taken on him sevenfold, though the man he 
 slew was his brother and a righteous man, and had done him no 
 injury. But this man he had slain in, or for his wounding, (as the 
 words are interpreted by some learned men, (see Pool, Synop. in 
 loc.) See instance Joshua xxiv. 32, n^'''tt'p rih?Q2 for an hmidred 
 pieces of silver,) — i.e.. the man he had slain had injured and wounded 
 him ; and therefore if Cain should be avenged sevenfold, doubtless 
 he seventy and sevenfold. By this speech to his wives he shews his 
 impenitence, presumption, and great insensibility. When Cain had 
 slain his brother, his conscience greatly troubled him ; but Lamech, 
 with great obduracy, shakes off all remorse, and as it were bids 
 defiance to all fear and trouble about the matter. That he should 
 set the price of his life so high ; that he should imagine that the 
 vengeance due to the man that should take it away ought to be so 
 vastly beyond that which was threatened for the killing of Cain, 
 must be owing to a prodigious pride of heart, esteeming himself a 
 man of such great value, and accounting it so heinous a thing for 
 any to hurt or wound him ; and then it shews a vile abuse of God's 
 goodness, long-suffering, and forbearance, in the instance of Cain, 
 which ought to have led men to repentance. But instead of this, that 
 instance of God's forbearance probably was so abused as to be one 
 great occasion of that violence that the earth was filled with in 
 Lamech's days. The sins for which the old world was destroyed were 
 chiefly sensuality, pride, violence, presumption, a stupid, seared con- 
 science, and abusing God's patience, of each of which Lamech (the 
 head of that wicked world) is here set forth [as] an example, in his 
 polygamy and his murder, (which probably was some way occasioned 
 by his polygamy,) and in this speech to his wives about what he 
 had done. It need not be wondered at that Lamech should express 
 his mind to his wives any more than that Ahab and Haman should 
 express the wicked workings of their hearts to their wives, [1 Kings 
 
62 ANNOTATIONS ON TASSAGES OF SCRIPTUEE. 
 
 xxi. 5, G ; Epli. v. 10-1 4< ;] and it is the less to be wondered at in 
 Lamecli's case, for it is natural to suppose that his wives, knowing 
 what he had done, were full of fear lest the friends of the persons 
 murdered would avenge themselves on him and his family, and that 
 they themselves should lose their lives by the means ; which would 
 be more natural still if the quarrel he had had with the young man 
 that was slain, was about his wives, as is probable. This may well 
 account for the earnestness of Lamech's speech to his wives, as we 
 may well suppose it would require some pains to remove their fears 
 in such a case. 
 
 C. Gen. iv. 25 — " Hath appointed me," &c.] Eve does not say, 
 God hath appointed us another seed, but hath appointed me. She 
 speaks of Abel and Seth, the righteous children of Adam and Eve, as 
 her seed ; and so the Church, or generation of the righteous which 
 was to proceed from Seth, she calls her seed, doubtless with respect 
 to the promise, (chap. iii. 15.) 
 
 7. Gen. iv. 26— "And to Seth, to him also," &c.] The right 
 translation probably is, " Then began men to call by the name of the 
 Lord," or " in the name of the Lord," — i.e., then they began to call 
 themselves and their children by or in His name, signifying that then 
 the people of God, — of whom Seth was the principal man, and, as it 
 were, their head leader and chief priest, being with his posterity ap- 
 pointed another seed (seed or generation of God) instead of Abel, — I 
 say, then the people of God, openly to distinguish themselves from 
 the wicked apostate world of the posterity of Cain and those that 
 joined with them, began to appear in a visibly distinct society, 
 being called the children of Gocl, when the others were called the 
 children of men. The children and posterity were looked upon as 
 being in the name of the father and upholding his name. See Numb, 
 xxvii. 4 ; Deut. ix. 14, xxv. 7 ; 1 Sam. xxiv. 21 ; 2 Sam. xiv. 7, 
 xviii. 18 ; Ruth iv. 5; Job xviii. 17; Isa. xiv. 22; Gen. xlviii. 16, 
 compared with Numb. vi. 27. On the birth of Enos, it probably first 
 began to be a custom for parents openly to dedicate their children to 
 God and call them by His name, and, as it were, insert them into His 
 name by bringing them to the place of public worship, the transac- 
 tion being performed by the parents' solemn declaration and covenant, 
 attended with prayer and sacrifice. See Pool, Synop. in he. 
 
 8. Gen. v. 20 — " Shall comfort us."] How Noah would comfort 
 the Church of God, we may be led to understand by the manner in 
 which the like expression is used in Ezek. xiv. 22. 
 
 9. Gen. v. 24— " Enoch walked," &c.] That Enoch and Elias 
 were translated, shews that it is not because the redemption of Christ 
 was not sufficient, that the saints are not wholly freed from death, so 
 as never to taste it. God saw fit that there should be these instances 
 of it, probably partly for this end, to manifest this. If all mankind 
 had died without one exception, it would have been ready to lead us 
 to think it absolutely necessary that the justice or truth of God 
 required, and that these didn't allow of one being redeemed from it ; 
 and that the redemption of Christ in that point failed of sufiiciency. 
 
OLD TESTAMENT — GENESIS. 63 
 
 Wliat is absolutely UDiversnl, we are ready to look upon as absolutely 
 necessary ; and the translation of these saints is the more credible, 
 because at the end of the world all the saints that are found living 
 when Christ comes, shall be translated without dying. If all shall be 
 translated, wliy not one or two before i 
 
 10. Gen. vii. 2, 3 — "Of clean beasts and clean fowls by sevens."] 
 Three couples for breed [ing,] and the seventh for sacrifice, (chap, 
 viii. 20,) as in the distribution of the days of the week. See Henry 
 in loc. 
 
 11. Gen. ix. 12-14.] Such a promise of God that He would no 
 more destroy the earth by a flood of waters, and such a token of this 
 covenant, was very necessary for the comfort of Noah and his sons, 
 after they had been so terrified by such an awful dispensation of God. 
 For probably before the Flood they had never seen any such thick 
 clouds and such showers of rain as are common since. The air and 
 fluids of the earth being then so much purer, as not to be disposed 
 thus to such thick and dark condensing of vapours. God's way of 
 watering the ground seems to be that mentioned in Gen. ii. 6, of 
 causing a mist to go up and descend in gentle dews. The rainbow 
 here seems to be a new thing, which it would not have been if there 
 had been such clouds and showers before the Flood as since. Noah 
 and his sons, therefore, would have been likely to have been put into 
 a terrible consternation from time to time, when they saw the heavens 
 all covered with thick and dark clouds, and the water descending in 
 great showers of rain, for fear the world was going to be drowned 
 again with a flood ; but God having told Noah, as in these verses, 
 their seeing the rainbow, as was common after showers, especially 
 great showers, would be a great comfort to them. That beautiful 
 pleasant appearance, the rainbow, was a token of the covenant. So 
 God's covenant with His people is represented by the staff called 
 beauty in Zech. xi. 10. 
 
 12. Gen. xii. 14 — "Forever."] Such a phrase sometimes signifies 
 no longer than " till the year of jubilee ;" so Exod. xxi. 6. But if this 
 phrase is linuted by the year of jubilee, which came at the end of 
 every fifty years, no wonder that it should be spoken of as what 
 should be continued for ever, which was to last to the end of 
 the ages of that dispensation, till the coming of Christ, and the 
 introduction of the glorious gospel-day, the great thing typified by 
 the jubilee. There were some ordinances which were only for one 
 particular time ; so were several in the XIFii chapter of Exodus, .such 
 as eating the jjaschal lamb with their staff in their hand, &c., and their 
 .sprinkling the blood on the door-posts. Many ordinances were only 
 occasional precepts to be observed on the occasion of God's appearance 
 at Mount Sinai, and the occasion of buildhig the tabernacle, the 
 occasion of setting apart the tribe of Levi and the family of Aaron, 
 consecrating the tabernacle, altar, &c. The occasion of the destruc- 
 tion of Korah and his company ; the occa.sion of their being plagued 
 with fiery serpents ; the occasion of their passing through Jordan ; 
 the occasion of the siege of Jericho, &c. Some ordinances were in 
 
64 ANNOTATIONS ON PASSAGES OF SCRIPTUEE. 
 
 force only during their continuing in the wilderness, as the ordin- 
 ances concerning their encampments and marches, their gathering 
 and disposing of the manna, their bringing all the beasts they killed 
 to eat to the door of the tabernacle, &c. It is in contradistinction 
 to these that the ordinances that were to be continued throughout 
 the ages of their dispensation and of the Jewish state in Canaan, are 
 called perpetual or everlasting statutes ; and in this view, and as com- 
 pared with those transitory and temporary statutes, they might well 
 be so called. 
 
 13. Gen. xiv. 5, 6.] Thus God is pleased to honour His servant 
 Abraham. First, He orders that in Providence, that shews the great 
 strength of the enemy, by giving the victory over so many people and 
 those that were so mighty. They subdue the race of the giants that 
 were in these lands ; and then He gives them an easy prey to 
 Abraham and his family, His little flock, and shews that the weakness 
 of God is stronger than the greatest strength of men, when hand 
 joins in hand and mighty princes are combined together. Abraham 
 takes them in their greatest glory, and just after they had taken their 
 richest prize, that v/hich they took from that wealthy country of the 
 plain of Sodom. In their highest jjride and exaltation and triumph, 
 they are suddenly brought down as Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar 
 were. Thus God often deals with man. There seems to be a special 
 hand of God with them to enable them to conquer those giants from 
 the favour He bore to His servants Abraham and Lot, and to evacuate 
 those countries of them that He designed to give to their posterity 
 for a possession. See Dent. ii. 18, 19, &c. They gave not God the 
 glory of this great victory, but took it to themselves, as Nebuchad- 
 nezzar did the building of Babylon ; therefore God destroyed them. 
 That race of giants that were in and about Canaan, was probably the 
 only race of giants upon earth. God had long war with them, and 
 they were all destroyed ; for the sake of His people, the race was 
 entirely extirpated. They seemed to have been raised up for that 
 end, that they might be types of the devils, and that their being 
 destroyed before His people, might be a type of the victory Christ 
 obtains over the devils for the sake of His people. See Josh. x. 
 
 14. Gen. xv. 1.] In what , God says to Abraham, He has respect 
 to what is related in the foregoing chapter. There, it is related how 
 wonderfully God had protected him from his enemies, and given him 
 the victory over them ; and therefore God on this occasion bids 
 Abraham not to " fear," and tells him that He is his shield. In the 
 preceding chapter it is also related how that Abraham had refused 
 the reward that the King of Sodom had offered him ; and therefore 
 God here tells him that He is his exceeding great reward, which He 
 was sufficient for, being the possessor of heaven and earth, as 
 Abraham on that occasion observed, in verses 19th and 22d of fore- 
 going chapter. 
 
 15. Gen. xvii. 12 — "And he that is eight days old," &c.] One 
 reason why they were not to be circumcised till they were eight days 
 old, was because the child was legally impure till then. It was born 
 
OLD TESTAMENT — GENESIS. 65 
 
 iiupurc, beino; defiled witli blood, and it was seven days before it was 
 clean ; both the mother and child were unclean seven days on that 
 account, they being both defiled with that blood, as Levit. xii. 2, 3. 
 
 IG. Gen. xvii. l4 — "That soul shall be cut off from his people."] 
 This and other parallel texts in the Law of Moses are not necessarily to 
 be understood of death. It is very agreeable to the use of such expres- 
 sions elsewhere, that he that is excomnmiucated, deprived, either by 
 the judgment of ecclesiastical judges or by the immediate judgment 
 of God, of all union or communion with the congregation or Cimrch 
 of God's people, should be said to be cut off from His people and cut 
 off from the congregation of the Lord. Joshua says to the Gibeonites, 
 Joshua ix. 23. . . . In the original it is " There shall not be cut off 
 from you a bondsman." (The word "cut off" in the original being 
 the same as in the other case) — i.e., no one of you shall be separated 
 from the rest of your company, so as not to partake with him or have 
 communion with him in servitude. So God says, Num. iv. 18 — 
 i.e., let them not be separated from them and from a participation in 
 their privileges. Here, again, the word in the original is the same : 
 as it also is Zech. iv. 2, where it is implied that not only those that 
 are dead, but those who are separated from the inhabitants and 
 benefits of the city by captivity, are cut off from the city. So divorce- 
 ment in Scripture is " cutting off," the word being from the same root 
 in the original, (Deut. xxiv. 1, 3 ; Isa. 1. 1.) However, God's de- 
 ]iriving His people of cimrch privileges, or of the privileges of His 
 visible people, is compared to this very thing. 
 
 17. Gen. xviii. 18, 19.] By these verses it is manifest — 
 
 (1.) That absolute promises already made may yet, in a sort, 
 depend on future conditions; for the promise here mentioned had 
 been made already absolutely over and over. But yet Abraham's 
 future commanding his children and his household after him, is 
 mentioned as the condition of it ; and then after that [there] re- 
 mains another condition — viz., that they keep the way of the Lord 
 to do justice and judgment. 
 
 (2.) That the promise is absolutely made before the performance 
 of all the conditions, because the performance of the future conditions 
 is so certainly connected with what was already found in Abraham, 
 that it was certainly consequent, and taken as already fulfilled. This 
 m^y illustrate the dependence of a sinner's salvation on his future 
 universal obedience and perseverance, though it be already absolutely 
 promised. 
 
 (3.) Hereby it is manifest that, ordinarily, a thorough care and 
 endeavour in the education of children will be successful. 
 
 (4.) That when God admits children into covenant with their 
 parents, and so admits them to be the subjects of the visible seal of 
 the Covenant, it is, as it were, on a dependence on the future religion 
 and piety of the children, as so ordinarily consequent on it that it may 
 be looked upon as virtually included in it. 
 
 ] 8. Gen. xix. 1 — " And Lot sat in the gate of Sodom."] Where he 
 probably sat exhorting and reproving the people ; for the gate of 
 
 E 
 
G6 ANNOTATIONS ON PASSAGES OF SCKIPTURE. 
 
 the city seems of old to be the place of resort on all public occasions, 
 not only the place the judges sat to judge the people, but where their 
 teachers sat to instruct and reprove them, (Isa. xxix. 21 ; Amos v. 
 10.) The judges might properly do this, but others might also do it 
 who did not take upon themselves the office of judges. If Lot was 
 now reproving the people, and striving to persuade them to repent 
 and reform, he thus [shewed that he] had " no fellowship with 
 the unfruitful works of darkness," but rather reproved them ; and 
 God rewarded his withstanding and resisting the stream of the 
 general wickedness of that people, by sending angels on a most kind 
 and merciful errand to him, while in the exercise of his fortitude and 
 opposition ; and it is observable that just before the destruction of 
 the people, God used extraordinary means to reclaim them by Lot's 
 reproofs, (who was a preacher of righteousness as well as Noah, 
 2 Pet. ii. 5-9,) and their destruction came upon them just on the 
 manifestation of the highest and most desperate degree of obstinacy 
 in them, in their despising his reproofs, and most horrid wickedness 
 towards Lot and the angels immediately after. Lot having lately 
 been reproving the people in the gate, the place of judgment, made 
 them the more ready to say, as they do in ver. 9 — " this fellow came 
 in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge." 
 
 19. Gen. xxii. 8 — " God will provide Himself a lamb."] Fulfilled in 
 Christ. We may observe here an instance of the harmony between 
 the Old and New Testaments, in that it is according to the Old Testa- 
 ment, as well as in that it is not unreasonable, that God Himself 
 should provide the sacrifice by which sins against Himself should be 
 atoned for, and His own angev eased. Abraham did not only 
 tell his son that God would pr ^^ imself, but He actually did pro- 
 vide a ram for Abraham, t( up as a burnt-offering. Again, we 
 may observe here that wh' lay confirm us, that the prophecies of 
 the prophets often, accorc .^ to the mind of the Holy Ghost, had 
 respect to those things which the prophets themselves had no thought 
 of. For Abraham, when he said " God will provide Himself a lamb," 
 had no thought of any other than that Isaac was to be the lamb 
 that was to be offered and that God had provided for Himself. See 
 John xi. 51. 
 
 20. Gen. xxiv. ] 2.] Abraham's servant obtained a wife for his 
 master's son, not merely by delivering his message, but by prayer 
 joined with it. So the ministers of Christ win souls, not only by 
 preaching, but by earnest prayer to God for their conversion. 
 
 2L Gen. xxvi. 5.] If God had such respect to Abraham's righteous- 
 ness and obedience, and particularly to his offering up his son in 
 obedience to God, as to give the earthly Canaan to his seed, much 
 more will God have such a respect to the righteousness of Christ, and 
 His offering up Himself in obedience to God, as for the sake of this 
 to give His seed the heavenly Canaan. 
 
 22. Gen. xxvii. 4.] It was probably the manner, in those days, for 
 parents, when they grew old and expected to die in a little time, to 
 make a feast and to eat and drink with their children, when they gave 
 
OLD TESTAMENT — GENESIS. 67 
 
 tliem their blessing and their dying charges, and so did, as it were, 
 make their Will. Tlieir dying testament, or blessing, was something 
 like a Covenant ; but it was the manner of tliose, when they made a 
 Covenant witli any, to make a feast and eat and drink togetiier, (chap. 
 xxvi. 30, xxxi. 4(i.) When they gave their children the blessing, they 
 then, as it were, took their leave of them. And when near friends 
 took their leave one of another, they were wont to eat and drink 
 together. So Eebekah's friends took their leave of her, ((^en. xxxiv. 
 o-i.) So did the Levite's father-in-law take leave of him and his 
 daughter, the Levite's wife, in Judges xix. So God, when He makes 
 His testament or covenant ^\ ith us, doth it, as it were, at a feast. Of 
 old, when the people entered into solemn covenant with God, they 
 were wont to make a feast and feasted before the Lord ; and almost 
 all solenmities were attended with feasting. Tlie Patriarchs thus 
 blessing their children before their death, exhibits to us a proof of 
 the covenant of grace, which is, as it were, Christ's Last Will and 
 Testament to His people. 
 
 23. Gen. xxviii. 11, 12.] There seems to be a double representation 
 in tliis story. It seems to be a type that has respect to two things. 
 
 (1.) By Jacob sleeping and having heaven opened to him, and God 
 appearing in heaven as his covenant-God, and the angels of God 
 a.scending and descending on him, seems to be represented Christ, 
 which is confirmed by what Christ says, (John i. 51,) in which 
 Christ plainly alludes to what is said here in ver. 12; and Jacob's 
 sleep here, seems to represent the death of Christ. As Jacob in his 
 sleep has tlie gate of heaven opened and a ladder set on the earth, on 
 the land of Canaan, whose top reached to heaven, and the angels of 
 God ascending and descending on it, and God appearing in heaven 
 revealing Himself as the covenant-God of him and his seed, and pro- 
 mising that his seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and that in him 
 and his seed all the families of the earth should be blessed. So 
 Christ, by His death, procured that the gate of heaven should be opened 
 towards the earth, and that there should be a union between heaven 
 and earth, and that there should be a way from heaven to the earth 
 procured, as it were, a ladder, by which there might be an ascent 
 from this sinful miserable world to heaven. Christ procured this 
 way to heaven for His covenant people, for His spiritual posterity, 
 and therefore the foot of the ladder is set on the land of Canaan, 
 the land of His people, on Jacob's land, or the land of Jacob's 
 posterity ; and Christ, by His death, procured that the angels of God 
 might ascend and descend to and from the land of Canaan, in and 
 through His mediation, or on His ladder, to be ministering spirits to 
 the inhabitants of Canaan, (Heb. i. 14.) So through the deatli of 
 Christ, God appears as the covenant-God of Him and His seed, pro- 
 mising to give heaven to Him and His seed, as in ver. 14 He pro- 
 mises to give Canaan to Jacob and his seed, and also, as bound in 
 Covenant, to multiply His seed as the dust of the earth, as here to 
 Jacob, (Isa. liii. 10 ;) and promising to give Him the Gentiles in all 
 parts of the world, or from the four winds of heaven, to be His 
 
 OF T- 
 
 UNIVE 
 
68 ANNOTATIONS ON PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 seed, (which was accomplished soon after the death of Christ,) as here 
 He promises to Jacob that he should spread abroad to the west, and 
 to the east, and to the north, and to the south, and as promising that 
 " in him all the families of the earth should be blessed." Note that 
 Christ is evidently called by the name of Israel, one of the names 
 of Jacob, in Isa. xlix. 8, which renders it more probable that Jacob 
 is here a type of Christ. 
 
 (2.) Jacol) here represents a believer, or rather believers collec- 
 tively, as the Chnrch is spiritual Israel, of whom Jacob, or Israel, is 
 the father ; and the stone that he slept or rested upon represents 
 Christ, who is from time to time compared to a stone ; and that 
 Christ is represented by this stone seems more evident, because he 
 anointed it, (ver. 18.) Thereby He is represented — that is, Christ, or 
 the anointed, and is called so, not only as He is anointed of God, but 
 also as anointed by His people, (see Dan. ix. 2o ; Mark xiv. 3 ;) 
 and another thing that confirms that this stone is a type of Christ, is 
 what Jacob says of it in ver. 22, for Christ is the house of God, "in 
 Whom dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." It was He 
 that was signified by the Tabernacle and Temple, as is evident by what 
 Christ says of His own body, for, says He, " destroy," &c. ; and the 
 Lamb is said to be the temple of the New Jerusalem, (Rev. xxi. 22.) 
 And it is still further evident by the use that he put it to, for he set it 
 np for a pillar — i.e., for an altar, (see Exod. xxiv. 4.) For the oil that 
 Jacob poured on it was to consecrate it as an altar, and was also 
 as an offering to God on the altar, as the precious ointment that 
 Mary poured on the head of Christ was an offering to Christ and to 
 God through Him. And this will be more evident if we compare what 
 is said here with chap. xxxv. 14, where we have an account that 
 Jacob in the same place set up a pillar of stone (and probably it was 
 the same stone) and poured a drink-offering thereon, and poured oil 
 thereon. What we are told of, chap. xxxv. 7 — " And he built there 
 an altar, and called it El-beth-el : because there God appeared unto 
 him, when he fled from the face of his brother." This altar prob- 
 ably (as I have observed) is the same spoken of in ver. 14, on 
 which he poured a drink-offering and oil — viz., the stone which he 
 set up for a pillar, which was probably the same stone that is spoken 
 of in this place, or that that stone at least was a principal stone in 
 the altar. But this he calls El-beth-el, — i.e., the God of Bethel, — because 
 it represented the God of Bethel, or Jesus Christ, who is that God. 
 Jacob promises, at the end of this chapter, that when God should 
 return him again into his own land in peace, that this stone which he 
 had set up for a pillar should be God's house — i.e., this very place 
 shall be that which I will make the place of worship, (and therefore 
 he set up the stone that he slept on for a pillar or monument 
 whereby to remember the place ;) and this very stone shall be the 
 altar on which I will worship and offer offerings to God : as we 
 are told of David, when he had built an altar in the threshing-floor of 
 Oman the Jebusite, in the place where the angel appeared to him ; 
 (1 Chron. xxii. 1,) which accordingly was the place where the Temple 
 
OLD TESTAMENT — GENESIS. 69 
 
 was built. And therefore, wlien Jacob was returnetl to Canaan and 
 seemed to be neuiigent of his promise, God put him in mind of it, 
 and commanded him to go and dwell there and make that tlie place 
 of his worship, (Gen. xxxv. 1 ;) and therefore, doubtless, the stone 
 that he set up when he came there, that we have account of, (verses 
 14, 15,) was in the very same place, and, we have all reason to think, 
 the same stone. There God talked with him again then, and we have 
 an account (ver. 13) that God went up from him in the place He 
 talked with him, which denoted that . place where God appeared. 
 There was the gate or entrance into heaven, as he says this place is, 
 and so doubtless was the same spot. Besides that, we find Jacob 
 calls it by the same name, ver. 15. . . . Hence we may learn that 
 their altars of old were types of Christ, esi^ecially in His Divine 
 nature. They represented Him who is the "rock" of Israel, (see 
 Judges xiii. 19.) And therefore it was the manner of the heathen to 
 set up pillars or small altars instead of images, as Bedford in his 
 " Scripture Chronology," and other historians have observed : which 
 was strictly forbidden to the children of Israel, (Levit. xxvi. 1 , and so 
 Dent. xvi. 22 ;) and the children of Israel were required to destroy the 
 pillars of the people of the land, (Deut. vii. 5, and xii. 3 ;) and hence 
 the children of Israel were strictly forbidden to have any other altar 
 but one, — no other but the altar of the Lord, because God was one, 
 and Christ was one, and because altars represented Christ. This is not 
 the only place where the name of God is given to an altar. We have 
 the like in Exod. xvii. 15. Jacob's sleeping or resting on this stone, 
 (for this stone, we are told, was his pillow,) typifies God's people 
 believing in or resting on Christ. Christ invites the weary to come 
 to Him, and promises that in Hira they shall have rest. Jacob, while 
 resting on this stone, has heaven's gate opened to him, and a ladder 
 reaching from him to God in heaven ; so it is by faith in Christ that 
 God's people have heaven's gate opened to them, and have a way pre- 
 pared for them to ascend and come to God in heaven. Jacob, while 
 resting on this stone, has God appearing to him as his covenant-God ; 
 so it is through faith in Christ that God becomes their covenant-God, 
 and whereby they become interested in the promises of that covenant 
 of grace, and it is by faith that they become related to heaven and 
 have the privilege of the ministration of angels. Jacob's sleep here 
 represents both death and rest. If we look on Jacob here as a 
 type of Christ, his sleep is a type of death. If as a type of the 
 Church, or of the Israel of God, then it represents spiritual rest. 
 But let us take the type which way we will, we may observe that the 
 great privilege and blessing is obtained, of having heaven's gate 
 opened and a way to heaven from the earth, and the ministration of 
 angels is enjoyed in Bethel, in the house of God, — i.e., in God's Church, 
 — and in the improvement of the ordinances of His house. 
 
 2-i. Gen. xxix. 27 — " Fulfil her week."] By this it is evident that 
 then, in those days, their time was divided out into weeks, or parcels 
 of seven days, as it is now, by which may rationally be argued that the 
 Sabbath was then observed among them, that it was an institution 
 
70 ANNOTATIONS ON PASSAGES OF SCPJPTUEE. 
 
 for the times before Moses, and that the remembrance of the institu- 
 tion was kept up in the world throughout the ages that preceded the 
 Mosaic Dispensation. For the weekly division of time had its rise 
 from the appointment of one day in seven to be observed as a Sab- 
 bath, and it was the observing the Sabbath that upheld this divi- 
 sion. 
 
 25. Gen. xxx. 1.] It is an observation in the fulfilling of Scripture, 
 that when God's people have an immediate desire and pressing after 
 an outward thing, they have their design sometimes answered, but 
 therewith a sharp reproof from God ; and usually find small satisfac- 
 tion in their enjoying that about which they were so unsober in their 
 pursuit. " Give children," &c., said Rachel : she got children, and 
 she died in bringing one of them forth. 
 
 26. Gen. xxxi. 24 — " Good or bad."] i.e., Say nothing at all to 
 him to compel him, to oblige him to return again, or to bring him 
 again under thy service, or to oblige him to resign to thee any of 
 his wives, or cattle, or substance. Say nothing that has such a 
 tendency, or with any such view, whether it seem right and just to 
 you or wrong, good or evil. I leave not you to judge of the right- 
 ness of what you shall say with this view, but charge thee to say 
 nothing at all in the least to infringe on his liberty or his possessions. 
 Laban came out after Jacob with such intentions, and he was now 
 meditating what he would say to this purpose. His head was 
 exceeding full of matter, but God charges him to suppress all, and 
 not say one word tending to the design on which he was pursuing 
 Jacob, however right and reasonable it might appear to him. God 
 knew the heart of Laban, and He speaks to his heart. He knew how 
 ready he would be to plead that the design he was upon was just, 
 and that what he had meditated to say to Jacob was good and just. 
 But God prevents liim, by charging him to say nothing to the pur- 
 pose he was pursuing, let it be good or bad. 
 
 27. Gen xxxii. 31.] Jacob goes away with a blessing, but yet 
 halting on his thigh. God commonly, when He bestows some extra- 
 ordinary spiritual blessing and peculiar favour, also at the same 
 time brings some temporal affliction or difficulty, as Paul when 
 admitted to the third heavens had a thorn in the flesh at the same 
 time, lest he should be exalted above measin-e. Jacob's halting on 
 his thigh represents the saints getting along with difliculty and 
 trouble, disappointment of their temporal aims, and their failing in 
 the steps they take, as M'hat nature aims at and desires. Jacob's 
 lameness after he had the blessing, made him lean more on his staff', 
 so the saints' afflictions they meet with in the world, make them live 
 more by faith, (see ver. 10, and Num. xxi. 18.) Jacob himself when 
 he had the blessing had with it that kind of lameness of which his 
 halting on his thigh was a type, and so he had ever since he first stole 
 the bles.sing from Esau. He presently upon it suffered banishment, 
 went away poor and solitary, with nothing but his staff, to Padan- 
 aram. There he met with crosses and disai)pointments : he was 
 cheated with Leah instead of Rachel, for whom he served seven 
 
OLD TESTA, -SEEN T — GENESIS. 71 
 
 years, ami was forced to serve another seven years. Kacliel, his most 
 beloved wife, was a great while barren, and after he had suffered 
 twenty years' exile from his father's house, and hard service and a 
 great deal of trouble from his father-in-law, he was forced to steal 
 away, and his journey was attended with great difficulty and peril : 
 he was in great danger ffrst from Laban, and then from Esau, and 
 was forced to purchase safety from him with the loss of great part of 
 his substance. He made him a present of five hundred and eighty of 
 his cattle, and was forced greatly to bow and cringe besides ; and 
 then his daughter Dinah was defiled, which doubtless was a very 
 sorrowful thing to him ; and then he had more sorrow by the cruelty 
 and treachery of Simeon and Levi's two sons, which made him to 
 stink in the nostrils of the inhabitants of the country, so that he was 
 in fear of his life from them ; and then Rachel, his most beloved 
 wife, died in bringing forth her second child ; and then Eeuben, his 
 first-born son, was guilty of incest with one of his own concubines, 
 which must needs be a great grief to him ; and then he had most 
 bitter affliction in the loss of his beloved son Joseph ; and then, 
 doubtless, had a great deal of sorrow from the great sins and calamities 
 there were in Judali and his family ; and then there Avas a sore 
 famine, and Jacob and his family were put to a great deal of trouble 
 to get provision to support themselves, and he had much exercise, 
 perplexity, and distress in the affair managed between Joseph and 
 his brethren ; and then he and all his family [had] as it were a second 
 banishment from the land of Canaan, the land promised to him in 
 Egypt, an idolatrous country, and never returned any more alive. 
 That Jacob, who was so often blessed of God, and to whom God so 
 frequently ministered such abundant favours to, should yet meet with 
 so much trouble and sorrow in this life is a great evidence of a future 
 state. The same may be observed concerning David. Halting is 
 put elsewhere for afffiction or adversity : Ps. xxv. 15 — "But in mine 
 adversity they rejoiced ; "in the original, "in my halting," (Micah iv. 
 6, 7; Zeph. iii. lU.) 
 
 28. Gen. xxxvii. 24.] The pit was empty, there was no water in it. 
 Joseph's brethren intended to famish him, or kill him with hunger 
 and thirst, and it was so ordered afterwards that they would have 
 died with famine had not they come and bowed down to Joseph to 
 the earth for relief 
 
 29. Gen. xxxvii. 31-33.] Joseph's brethren deceive Jacob their 
 father by the blood of a kid instead of his son Joseph's, his best be- 
 loved son ; as he, being Esau's brother, had deceived Isaac his father 
 with the flesh and skin of a kid, instead of his son Esau's skin and 
 his venison, who was Isaac's best beloved son. Thus is Jacob 
 punished by God's providence, (see xxix. 2o.) 
 
 30. Gen, xli. 40, &c.] This signifies the Father's investing of 
 Glirist the Mediator with the government of the Church and the 
 A\orld. Joseph was exalted out of the dungeon to be a i)rince and a 
 ruler over all the land. So Christ was exalted from being a prisoner 
 f)fvin<lic[a]tivc justice out of the grave, and as it were out of the pit of 
 
72 A^■^■oTATlONs on passages of sceiptuee. 
 
 bell, to be a prince, and to have all tilings put under Him. Pharaoh 
 set Joseph over his own house. So God exalted Christ, and set Him 
 over His Church, which is the house of God, (Heb. iii. 6,) and made 
 Him King of heaven itself, which is the place of God. According to 
 Joseph's word Pharaoh's people were to be ruled, only on the throne 
 Pharaoh was to be greater than he. So Christ is made the head 
 and ruler of angels and men ; but yet God the Father is greater than 
 Christ as Mediator ; as Christ says, " My Father is greater than I," 
 He is oreater in His economical office than the Son, in that He is the 
 person that sustains the dignity and maintains the right of the Deity. 
 Pharaoh took off his ring from off his hand and put it upon Joseph's 
 hand. So God the Father invested Christ with His own honour and 
 dignity, that ail men should honour the Son as they honour the 
 Father, and they cried before Him, " Bow the knee," as it is said con- 
 cerning Christ, " Let all the angels of God worship Him ; " and 
 
 agreeable to this it is said, Phil. ii. 8-10 Joseph was thus exalted 
 
 as a reward for his being the means of saving the people from famine 
 and death. So Christ is exalted to God's right hand, and all things 
 put under His feet in reAvard for His working out the work of re- 
 demption. Pharaoh exalted Joseph and made him head over Egypt, 
 and put the people and all the land into his hand, that he himself 
 mioht have the immediate disposal and ordering of that office of 
 saving the people from famine that he had laid the foundation for. 
 So Christ is exalted to be a Prince and a Saviour, to dispose of the 
 affairs of the actual applying and accomplishing that redemption that 
 He had purchased ; all tilings were committed to Him of the Father, 
 that He might give eternal life to as many as God had given Him. 
 The food of the land by which the people were to be saved from 
 famine was committed to Joseph's hands, that he might be the im- 
 mediate dispenser of it. So the purchased blessings are committed to 
 Christ. He has received gifts for men. When He ascended on high, 
 He had the purchased blessings given to Him, that He Himself 
 mio-ht bestow them on those that He purchased them for. He re- 
 ceived the promise of the Father, even the Holy Ghost, without 
 measure, to shed down on believers, as Joseph had corn brought into 
 him in immense c^uantities, (ver. 49.) Joseph had a vast flock in his 
 hand. This signifies the sufferings of Christ for the supply of the 
 wants of His peo))le. Joseph was advanced thus to be a saviour to 
 his brethren and kindred. So Christ was exalted to be the Saviour of 
 men, whom He became related to by His incarnation, becoming the 
 brother of believers. The saints are Christ's near relations. He that 
 hears the word of God and keeps it, the same is His mother, and 
 sister, and brother. Joseph, by his exaltation in Egypt, nuule way 
 for his brethren's reception there. He there prei-ared a place for 
 them in Goshen, and made way for their reception there, by taking 
 his brethren and presenting them to the king, and interceding with 
 him for them, (chap, xlvii.) Pharaoh gave them the best of the land 
 by giving it to Joseph for them, (chap, xlvii. 6,) and Joseph nourished 
 his brethren in Egy})t. So Christ, by His exaltation in heaven, made 
 
OLD TESTAMENT — GENESIS. 73 
 
 way for their coining there, prepared, &c. Joseph saved his bretliren, 
 though they hail been enemies, yea, though they had been liis mortal 
 enemies, though they would have put him to death, thougii they 
 "sold" him. He saveil them, by his banislnnent [and] those very 
 sutterings which their sin, their enmity, brought upon him, as it was 
 with Christ ; and he saved them from famine. He hrst humbled them 
 before he made himself known to them ; he exercised them with a 
 variety of dispensations, hopes, fears, disappointments, confusions, 
 perplexities, to humble them before he made himself known to them. 
 They bring their money with them to buy corn, whereas tliat was 
 not their way to obtain it of Joseph ; lie would not accept of their 
 money. So we must come to Clirist for spiritual food, without our 
 own righteousness, " without money and without price." Joseph at 
 first made himself strange unto them, and spoke roughly to them ; 
 charges them with not coming as friends, but as enemies, and there- 
 by he makes them sensible of their guilt in their former treatment of 
 him. So when the elect are under convictions, and are first stirred 
 up to seek to God for salvation, God is wont, as it were, to frown upon 
 them, to express His anger, as though He looked upon them as ene- 
 mies ; thereby to bring their sins to remembrance, and make them 
 sensible of their guilt in their former treatment of Him. Joseph 
 insists on it that he should look upon them as enemies till they 
 delivered up their younger brother, that one brother that they kept 
 back ; that they were tender of as a child ; that they pitied and 
 spared, and looked upon it that it would be too hard for him to be 
 brought out of the family, and rent from the arms of his father and 
 delivered up to another lord. So oftentimes sinners, when they 
 begin to seek salvation, keep back something that is dear and tender 
 in their eyes, and flatter themselves that they are not oblioed to 
 deliver it up ; they think it is too hard and cruel for them so to 
 expose such an enjoyment or possession ; but God will surely look 
 upon them as enemies till all is delivered iip and nothing kept back. 
 Joseph put tliem all together in ward three days. So God for a 
 while holds sinners prisoners under conviction ; they are shut up as 
 condemned creatures ; exposed to the execution of God's wrath. 
 Joseph pities them, and weeps with compassion for them at the same 
 time that he treats them thus roughly. So God oftentimes pities sin- 
 ners under conviction at the same time that He seems terribly to 
 frown on them. AYhile they Avere backward to deliver up Benjamin, 
 Joseph took from them Simeon, and bound him before their eyes. 
 So while persons keep back some dear lust, God takes away some of 
 their enjoyments from them. Before Joseph made known himself 
 unto them, they did not understand his language ; for he spoke to 
 them by an interpreter. So sinners before their conversion don't 
 understand God's language, and they therefore need the help and 
 advice of ministers under their convictions, as interpreters for 
 them. For a while tiiey seem to have obtained their end ; to have 
 obtained food for their money; but this food lasts tliem but a little 
 while before it was spent. So the false comfort that sinners obtain 
 
7-i ANNOTATIONS ON PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 under conviction by their own righteousness lasts them but a little 
 while before it is all spent. For a while they hoped their money was 
 accepted ; but they soon find it rejected, to their great disappointment 
 and confusion. They come back to their father in the land of Canaan, 
 who in this case represents the first Adam, or [the] nature which men 
 have from him by their parents ; the father whose tenderest and dearest 
 child Benjamin was that was kept back; they consult with their father 
 under this dithculty, as men under convictions in their difficulties are 
 wont to consult nature. Their father blames them for yielding to the 
 lord of the land so far as they had done, and greatly objects against 
 delivering up Benjamin. He cries out, " All these things are against 
 me," as persons under convictions often do in a kind of discourage- 
 ment ; but, however, he at length is forced to it by sore famine. ^ So 
 men are, as it were, forced to deliver up their dearest lusts, that it grieves 
 them to part with, by sore famine, by a sense of the extreme neces- 
 sity of their case. He is brought to it by the possessions of Reuben 
 and Judah. Reuben here represents the family of reason, which is 
 the eldest child of man's nature. Jacob in his blessing calls Reuben 
 " excellency of dignity," and the " excellency of power." The stand- 
 ard of the camp of Reuben bore the image of a man. Reuben never 
 consented to the selling of Joseph. Man's reason never consents to 
 his sin. Judah, the progenitor of Christ, the Word of God, the 
 other brother that persuaded Jacob to deliver up Benjamin, signifies 
 the word of God : or Judah represents the ministers of the word who 
 preach the word of Christ ; and therefore he rehearses the words of 
 Joseph, and particularly declares his threatenings and solemn declara- 
 tions, to persuade Jacob to deliver up Benjamin. Jacob, after dis- 
 puting with Judah, delivers up Benjamin, the right-hand son, as the 
 name'' signifies. So nature, after it has long hung back, and much 
 disputing with the word of God, and objecting against it, by the word 
 being earnestly set home, at last yields to cut oil' and deliver up the 
 beloved lust and right-hand sin. Jacob, being at length forced by 
 the extreme necessity of the case, delivers up that one son that he 
 was most fond of, [if it must be so now, says he ;] he is brought, as 
 it were, to yield up the case as to the enjoyment of his children. " If 
 I am bereaved of ray children, I am bereaved." So sinners must be 
 brought, as it were, to yield up the case as to the enjoyment of their 
 sins."^ Nature must be brought to yield up the case as to the enjoy- 
 ment tf natural enjoyments. But noAV although the former price 
 that Jacob sent to Joseph for corn w^as rejected, yet he, having de- 
 livered up Benjamin, is still for purchasing corn with his own price, 
 and therefore sends the best fruits that his land afforded and double 
 money. So sinners under conviction, after they have been seeking 
 salvation by their own righteousness, and have trusted in it for a 
 while, have had comfort in it, and then are disappointed, and find to 
 their surprise that God rejects the price they have offered before 
 their thorough reformation : yet after they have more thoroughly 
 reformed and proceeded further in religion, they make a new attempt, 
 though the price they offered before failed ; yet they hope, by doub- 
 
OLD TESTAMENT— GENESIS. 73 
 
 liuiji; their ])vice and ofterinj^ the best fruits of nature's land, and by 
 delivering up Benjamin, to prevail. Now again Joseph's brethren 
 have new perplexities and discouragements, they are ready to look 
 on their case as desperate; they thought they were taken prisoners, 
 (Gen. xliii. 18.) 80 it often is with sinners under convictions. 
 After this distress they had a great deal of comfort and peace in 
 hope of the acceptance of their present. The steward, who here 
 represents conscience, says to them, "Peace be to you, fear not." 
 They seem to be well accepted and very kindly treated in Joseph's 
 house, and they enjoyed a feast. But this peace and joy of theirs 
 soon vanishes again and comes all to nothing, and, to their great 
 confusion, their double money is found rejected. For now Joseph, 
 that they thought had accepted them, aiul treated them so kindly 
 for their present, appears more angry than ever with them, and 
 sends a dreadful messenger after them, and lays a heavy charge upon 
 them; fastens^the imputation of being enemies more fully than ever 
 upon them, lays their vile treatment of him upon them as deserving 
 death ; yea, and by opening their sacks to their view makes the jus- 
 tice of the charge to appear, after they themselves had acknowledged 
 that, if they were guilty as they were charged, death was a just 
 punishment, (chap. xliv. 9.) So sinners under conviction oftentimes, 
 after going far in religion, and after many perplexities and troubles, 
 have at last great peace and joy in their own righteousness, vainly 
 thinking that God accepts them and loves them for their presents 
 that they offer ; and they have a feast of false joy : but all soon 
 vanishes, and God appears more angry than ever with them, and a 
 messenger of death is as it were sent to seize them, even Conscience. 
 He that before said to them, " Peace be to you, fear not," and that 
 invited them into Joseph's home, and there made a feast for them, 
 now charges them with enmity and treason, and condemns them to 
 death ; and their hearts are laid open by conscience to let them see 
 what is there, even as the steward opened the men's sacks to shew 
 them the stolen cup and money ; and they are made to own that the 
 crime deserves death. Upon this Joseph's brethren are seized and 
 carried before Joseph, the lord they had sinned against, and there 
 their lord sets the heinousness of their crime before them, and they 
 are brought down to his feet, to lie on the ground before him. Their 
 mouths are stopped, and they confess theii' iniquity, (chap. xliv. 16,) 
 and are brought to resign themselves into Joseph's hands, to yield 
 that he should be their sovereign and they his servants, but yet to 
 plead for mercy, and then they were prepared for comfort ; then 
 Joseph reveals himself to them as their brother; then they are received 
 indeed as friends and brethren, with great and lasting comfort. Then 
 Joseph reveals to them the whole mysteiy of their salvation from 
 famine, by their selling him, and his humiliation and exaltation in 
 Egypt. And Jo.seph gives them an inheritance in Goshen, and 
 then they see that it was their brother, and understood his voice, 
 (chap. xlv. 12.) And hereupon they are accepted of Pharaoh, 
 whose deputy Joseph was in the kingdom ; and he, even Pharaoh, the 
 
76 ANNOTATIONS ON PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 original kino- of Egypt, gives them inheritance in the land, and 
 Joseph bids them no^t regard their stuff, their former possessions, for 
 all the land of Egypt (in this case a type of heaven) was before 
 them ; and now they are all clothed with changes of raiment, and 
 they had sufficient provision given them to support them by the way 
 till they came to Egypt, to Goshen, their inheritance, and he charges 
 them not to fall ou^by the way. When the king exalted Joseph, he 
 _o-ave him a new name. So Christ in the Revelation speaks of His 
 "new name," by which is meant that new honour and glory which 
 He received at His exaltation. Joseph's new name, Zaphnath-paaneah, 
 signifies " revealer of secrets." Christ was the greater revealer of 
 se'crets (John i. 18) who came out of the bosom of the Father, and was 
 the great prophet of God to bring to light mysteries that had been kept 
 secret since the world began. Some translate Joseph's new name " the 
 saviour of the world," [see Pool, Syn.] Joseph was in some respect 
 exalted over the whole world ; the whole earth was brought into a 
 dependence on him for life. For it is said, (verses 56, 57,) all came 
 bending to him, as Joseph's brethren did. So Josej^h was in a sense 
 the saviour of the world, and to him every knee bowed, not only 
 in Egypt, but throughout the whole earth. Men were saved by 
 Joseph's word, as we are saved by the word of Christ. It was his 
 predictions, his warnings, his counsels that saved Egypt, and saved 
 the world. 
 
 31. Gen. xliii. 34.] Thus he that is last is first, and the first last ; 
 the last is the greatest. He that is but as a little child, is most exalted ; 
 so he that is spiritually least, and most like a little child, is greatest in 
 the kingdom of heaven, (Matt, xviii. 4.) 
 
 32. Gen. xlvii. 31.] The bowing here spoken of is a bowing of 
 adoration, or a bowing to worsliip God, as is confirmed by what is 
 said of David, parallel to this, 1 Kings i. 47, 48, and also by Heb. 
 xi. 21. 
 
 33. Gen. xlviii. 22 — " Which I took out of the hand of the 
 Amorite."] This he speaks in the language of a prophet, according 
 to which a prophet is often said to do that which he foretells shall be 
 done, (see Jer. i. 1 0.) And they often speak of future events in the past 
 tense ; or he may speak of himself as taking the land by conquest, 
 because his posterity should do it. To call them himself is agree- 
 able to the language of abnost all his own prophecies. This passage 
 is much illustrated by the next chapter, ver. 7, and chap, xxvii. 37. 
 
 34. Gen. xlix. 22 — "Joseph is a fruitful bough, even," &c.] The 
 word which is translated " branches," properly signifies " daughters," 
 and the word which is translated "wall," signifies both a "wall" and 
 an "enemy;" so that the words maybe translated either, "whose 
 branches run over the wall," or, "whose daughters go over to the 
 enemy." But let it be translated either of the ways, the event re- 
 ferred to, doubtless, is the tribe of Benjamin s being supplied with wives. 
 For their wives that they were supplied with from Jabesh-Gilead 
 were of this tribe, for Jabesh-Gilead was in tlie half-tribe of Manasseh ; 
 and the daughters of Shiloh, which they catched when they came out 
 
OLD TESTAMENT — GENESIS. 77 
 
 ill dances, were of the tribe of Ephraim, for Shiloh was in that tribe. 
 Thus their daughters Avent over to the enemy, or tribe of Ben- 
 jamin, who were enemies to the other tribes of Israel, in that war in 
 wliieh tlieir women and most of the men were destroyed. Thus, 
 also, the brandies or daughters of tliis fruitful bough or vine ran over 
 the wall. As the whole i:ieople of Israel are several times in Scrija- 
 ture compared to a vineyard, so here a particular tribe in Israel seems 
 to be compared to a distinct enclosure of fruit-trees or vineyard that 
 was walled in, (as vineyards were wont to be,) and so separated from 
 other vineyards. Joseph is compared here to an exceeding flourishing 
 bough or vine, whose daughters or branches run over the wall and 
 get out of the enclosure and run into another vineyard. In that it is 
 said his branches run over the wall, and the same word that signifies 
 branches, also signifying (and more properly signifying) daughters ; it 
 seems to shew which way his branches shall run over the wall — viz., 
 by his daughters breaking over the enclosure or limits of the tribe 
 and going to another tribe. 
 
 35. Gen. xlix. 24 — "But his bow," &c.] This was remarkably 
 verified in Joshua and Gideon, who were of this tribe, as appears 
 with respect to Joshua by Num. xiii. 8, and with respect to Gideon 
 by Judges vi. 11, with Joshua xvii. 2, and Judges vi. 35. They were 
 wonderful instances of those whose bow abode in strength, and the arms 
 of whose hands were strengthened by the hands of the mighty God 
 of Jacob, who were strengthened, and succeeded by immediate help 
 from God, as appears by their whole story. Jephthah the Gileadite 
 was also of Joseph, being of the tribe of Manasseh : — [" from thence 
 is the Shepherd, the stone of Israel."] These words seem to have a 
 remarkable fulfilment in Joshua, who was, as it were, the " shepherd 
 of Israel," who led them into Canaan to their pasture, and conquered 
 their enemies for them, and was, in a subordinate sense, the " rock " 
 of Israel's salvation, wdio bore the name of Christ. Joshua is Jesus 
 or the Saviour, and was a remarkable type of Christ, and who had 
 Christ with him, and acted by His influence, and fought by His 
 strength, and had His Spirit to guide him. It may also have respect 
 to the ark and tabernacle being kept at Shiloh, as it was till the 
 days of Samuel, for Shiloh was in the tribe of Ephraim, (Ps. Ixxviii. 
 GO, 67.) The ark was the type and symbol of Christ, the Shep- 
 herd and Rock of Israel ; and the Tabernacle and the mercy-seat 
 over the ark was the place of His presence. ["Prom thence," 
 &c.] — i.e., from the mighty God of Jacob, mentioned in tlie im- 
 mediately jDreceding words. It seems, evidently, to be explained by 
 the words immediately following — "Prom the God of thy father, 
 and He will help thee." Por so the words are, literally translated : 
 "The arms of his hands were made strong" (thus He helped thee) 
 " by the hands of tlie mighty (jlod of Jacob," (who was Jo.sepli's 
 father :) " from thence is the Shepherd, the stone of Israel : even 
 from the God of Jacob thy father, and He" (the Shepherd, the 
 stone of Israel) "will help thee, and by Him shall the arras of 
 their hands be made strong." He the Messiah, the liand or the 
 
78 ANNOTATIONS ON PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 arm of the Lord, (as He is sometimes called,) which shall strengthen 
 thine arms. [See Pool, SynojD., on ver. 25.] 
 
 EXODUS. 
 
 30. Exod. iii. 2, 8 — "And the angel of the Lord appeared," &c.] 
 That is, Christ — who is often so called — appeared, &c. This bush 
 represents^ — 
 
 (L) The Imman nature of Christ, whose name is "the branch." 
 This bush well represented the human nature of Christ, because it was 
 the gTOwth of the earth. Though Christ, with regard to His Divine 
 nature, be the Lord from heaven, yet, with respect to His human 
 nature, He was the growth of the earth ; He was of earthly descent, 
 of the race of mortal mankind. And upon the account of its low 
 and humble stature ; it was a bush or bramble, as the word in the 
 original signifies. This well represented Christ's state of humiliation, 
 and also His meekness and lowliness of heart. And also upon the 
 account of its tenderness and liableness to be destroyed. What more 
 easily crushed or consumed than a bramble-bush ? This bush, upon 
 each of these accounts, well represented what is spoken of Christ in 
 Isa. liii. 2. This bush was " a root out of a dry ground," (see Hosea 
 xiii. o ; Deut. viii. lo,) for it was a bush that grew on Mount Horeb, 
 as ver. 1, which was so called from the remarkable dryness of the 
 place, for the word Horeb signifies dryness. The Son of God, the 
 Second Person of the Trinity, His appearing in this bush is a type of 
 His being manifest in the flesh. Christ is said (Deut. xxxiii. 16) to 
 have dwelt in the bush ; hereby was typified His dwelling in flesh. 
 As the bush burned with fire and was not consumed, so Christ, in 
 the human nature, suffered extremely ; He endured the wrath of 
 God, but was not overcome, perished not, wns not consimied. He rose 
 again from the dead, and did not see corruption. Though His human 
 nature was but a bush or tender plant, in itself easily capable of being 
 consumed, and though the fire spent all its force upon it ; yet, because 
 of the Divinity that dwelt in it. it was impossible that it should be 
 consumed. The power of God "was made perfect in Aveakness." 
 Satan could not prevail against Christ ; though he cast Him into the 
 fire, yet he could not destroy Him. 
 
 (2.) This bush represents the Church, the mystical body of Christ ; 
 as it was with Christ, so it was with the Church. It is a tender plant. 
 It is a branch of the earth ; and oftentimes is in the fire. But God 
 will not suffer it to be consumed ; but it always survives the flames ; 
 the gates of hell never prevail against it ; her enemies are not suffered 
 to swallow her up ; God has promised that, when she goes through the 
 fire, she shall not be burnt, neither shall the flames kindle upon her. 
 But, doubtless, a special respect is herein had to the Church, now in 
 her suffering state in Egypt, where her enemies had laboured to 
 destroy her, but were not able ; the more they afflicted them, the more 
 
OLD TKSTAJfENT — EXODUS. 79 
 
 lliey multiplied, (lod alway.s eari'icd tlieiii on eagle's wino-.s out of 
 their enemies' reach, and when they had well-nigh swallowed them up 
 at the Red Sea, (Jod delivered them. 
 
 37. Exod. iii. 3 — "jMoses said, I will now turn aside, and see this 
 great sight, why the bush is not burnt."] The great sight that Moses 
 here said he would turn aside to see, and that he did turn aside to see 
 as he said, as we have an account in next verse, was not that the 
 bush was not burnt, for this Moses had seen already, which was the 
 occasion of his earnestly desiring to know further, and his turning 
 aside to see something further. But what the great siglit he turned 
 aside to see was, why the bush was not burnt, or upon what account, 
 or for what reason, as the word in the original signifies, Moses seems 
 to have spoke these words after he had stood a while with astonishment 
 beholding the bush burn, and when he after a while perceived the 
 busli notwitlistanding was not burnt, he then considered it must be 
 some great and very extraordinary thing that must preserve the bush 
 as in the midst of the flames. By the sight is meant the thing to 
 be seen: it is as much as if he had said, " I will turn aside and see 
 this great thing, on the account of which the bush was not burnt." 
 This great thing was that God dwelt in the bush, (Deut. xxxiii. 16.) 
 It is probable Moses was sensible that there was something divine 
 in the case ; he might probably see some token of Divine glory there 
 present, some extraordinary lustre or effulgence that had an appear- 
 ance of exceeding awful majesty, and also surjjrising sweetness and 
 pleasantness, — like that which Peter describes, (2 Pet. i. ] 6, 17,) 
 speaking of what he saw on the Mount of Transfiguration, — which 
 Moses saw in the time that the bush was burning, and also said to 
 continue there after the flame was out, and concluded that the bush's 
 being preserved was by reason of that divine thing that he there 
 beheld. This Moses seems to have respect to when he says, " I will 
 turn aside and see this great sight." This appearance was so divinely 
 excellent and ravishing, that it seems to have left an everlasting- 
 impression on Moses's mind, and probably made him the more 
 earnestly desirous to see God's glory afterwards, (Exod. xxxiii. 18,) 
 and he remembers it when he blesses Joseph, (Deut. xxxiii. 16.) 
 And Moses had now a mind to come nearer to behold this great and 
 sweet and wonderful sight, the glory of God united to and dwelling 
 in the bush. This great sight that Moses speaks of represents two 
 things, — (1.) The Incarnation of Christ, which was represented by 
 God's dwelling in the bush ; (2.) The death and sufferings of Christ, 
 which were represented by God's appearing and dwelling in the burn- 
 ing bush, and in the bush when all on fire ; which two things were 
 the greatest sight that ever was seen by angels or men. 
 
 38. Exod. iii. 13 — "And they shall say to me, "What is his name? 
 what shall I say unto them?"] They would be the more apt to 
 enquire this, because they had now been so long in Egypt, where 
 they had served other gods, that they had in a great measure for- 
 gotten the God of their fathers. Had it not been for God's mercy 
 to them in thus renewedly making Himself known to them, the 
 
80 ANNOTATIONS ON PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 case would soon have been with them as it was with other nations, 
 who soon after the Flood forgot the true God and degenerated to 
 the worship of idols, (see Ezek. xx. 5.) God chose them, they did 
 not choose Him. He remembered them, and His covenant with 
 their fathers when they had forgot Him. Israel was a people that 
 God formed for Himself ; He took them when they were (the body 
 of them) idolaters and ignorant of Him, and made them His people. 
 He redeemed them from the gods of Egypt, from their idolatry as 
 well as from their taskmasters ; and that was the most glorious redemp- 
 tion. Here is a notable instance of the Church's being hidden and 
 obscured, as it was under antichrist before the Reformation. There 
 were, doubtless, left amongst them some true worshippers of God 
 thinly sown among them, as it was under the tyranny of that city 
 which is spiritually called Sodom in Egypt. The Church was now 
 in the wilderness as it was then, (see Ezek. xx. 7-10 ; 2 Sara. vii. 
 23 ; Levit. xvii. 7 ; Joshua xxiv. T-i ; Ezek. xxiii. 3-8, xix. 21-27.) 
 We have another remarkable instance of the like nature in the time 
 of the Jews' captivity in Babylon, another great type of the Anti- 
 christian Church, (see Jer. xvi. 1 3.) 
 
 39. Exod. vi. 3 — " And I appeared," &c.] God Almighty = 
 all-sufficient, (see Gen. xvii. 1, xxviii. 3,) ["but by my name 
 Jehovah," &c.]. God, when He appeared unto Abraham, and pro- 
 mised that He would do such and such things for his seed. He 
 appeared as God all-sufficient, a God sufficient to accomplish the 
 things that He then promised. Now the time is come for the 
 accomplishment of them, now He appears as Jehovah, as He that 
 is what He was, or " is that He is," not only sufficient to fulfilling, 
 but actually fulfilling ; the same in accomplishing, that He was in 
 promising. 
 
 40. Exod. vii. 5 — "The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, 
 when I stretch forth My hand."] The first time that Moses and 
 Aaron went to Pharaoh, they told him that Jehovah, the God of 
 Israel, commanded that he should let His people go, as in the begin- 
 ning of chap. V. Pharaoh then took it in great disdain to be told of 
 such a command from Jehovah the God of Israel, a poor abject 
 people, a company of slaves ; and, by the character they bear, he 
 concludes that He made no better figure among the gods than His 
 people did among the nations. He makes answer, " Who is Jehovah, 
 that I should obey His voice to let Israel go ? I know not Jehovah." 
 Jehovah was a hard name to him that he never heard of before, but 
 he resolves that it shall be no bugbear to him. Jehovah ! who is 
 that ? says Pharaoh in disdain. Now God tells Moses that He will 
 make him know who He is — " He shall know that I am Jehovah when 
 I stretch forth mine hand upon Egypt, and bring out the children of 
 Israel from among them." 
 
 41. Exod. viii. 1 — " Let My people go, that they may serve Me."] 
 As the children of Israel were redeemed out of Egypt that they 
 might serve God, so are we redeemed by Jesus Christ, not that we 
 might be at liberty to sin, but that we might serve God. They were 
 
OLD TESTAMENT — EXODUS. 81 
 
 (lolivored from servini:; their old masters the Egyptians, that so they 
 might serve God. So we are redeemed from the service of sin, that 
 we might hencefortli serve God ; being made free from sin, we are 
 become the servants of righteousness, as Rom. vi. throughout ; Gal. ii. 
 ] 7-20. " Christ gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from 
 all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of 
 good works," (Tit. ii. 14; Heb. ix. 1 4 ; Luke i. 7-i, 75 ; 2 Cor. v. 
 15.) 
 
 42. Exod. Lx. 10.] The Egyptians had oppressed Israel in the 
 furnaces in which they burnt their bricks, and now the ashes of 
 these furnaces were made as nmch of a terror to them as ever they 
 had been to the Israelites. These furnaces were a type of hell. God 
 sends upon the wicked those plagues that are some participation of 
 the misery and destruction of hell, are as a sprinkling of the ashes 
 of that furnace upon them. Their consciences are scalded with the 
 hot embers of hell-fire. Their boils and blisters were exceedinff 
 grievous, probably attended with extreme smart, like the continual 
 scalding of the hot embers of a furnace. Therefore it is said the 
 magicians could not stand before this plague. This sort of boil is 
 called the botch of Egypt, (Dent, xxviii. 27.) 
 
 4tS. Exod. xi. 2, 3.] With so high a hand did God bring out the 
 children of Israel, that He did not only set them at liberty from their 
 slavery to the Egyptians, but He also took care that they should 
 be well paid by the Egyptians for their first service as they went 
 off. So that, after all the Egyptians' obstinacy in refusing to part 
 with their future service, God at last made them in effect part 
 vfiih the benefit both of their future service and j)ast service too, 
 (chap. xii. 36.) 
 
 44. Exod. xii. 22.] The striking or sprinkling the blood of the 
 lamb with a bunch of hyssop on the two side-posts and lintel of 
 the door signifies the cleansing of our conversation by the blood of 
 Christ, which is, in the language of Sacred Scripture, called " our 
 going out an4 coming in/' (1 Sam. xxix. 6.) Surely, &c. : 2 Sam. iii. 
 25. Thou knowest, &c. : 2 Kings xix. 27. I know, &c. : Isaiah 
 xxxvii. 28 ; Ps. cxxi. 8. The Holy Spirit probably has respect to 
 this very type of the going and coming being cleansed by the 
 blood of the Paschal Lamb in 1 Pet. xviii 19, where the Apostle 
 speaks of our being redeemed from our vain conversation by the 
 precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without 
 spot. The destroying angel passed by none but those who had the 
 blood of the Lamb on their door-posts, signifying that when God comes 
 to proceed with men as a judge He will judge every one according 
 to his works, and will save none but those whose conversation has 
 been cleansed by the blood of Christ, [see ver. 7.] 
 
 45. Exod. xii. 85, 86.] The Hebrew word which our translators 
 have rendered " borrow " is shaal, which does not signify to " bor- 
 row," but to "ask one to give." It is the very word used: Ps. ii. 
 8 — " Ask of me, and I will give Thee the heathen for Thine 
 inheritance," &c. [Shuckford's " Connection," vol. ii. p. 340.] The 
 
 F 
 
82 ANNOTATIONS ON PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 same word is used in chap. iii. 22, xi. 2. That to " ask to give," or 
 to "beg," and not to "borrow," is the proper English of the word 
 according to the sense in which it is commonly used in Scripture, 
 is abundantly evident by Buxtorf, (Lexicon, sith voce.) To lend is 
 to " give " in 1 Sam. v. 28. It is probable that when the Egyp- 
 tians urged the people to be gone, they mentioned to them their 
 poverty, and the difficidty of undertaking such a journey without 
 such and such supj)lies, particularly that they should need many 
 things to offer to God and serve Him with. The Egyptians were 
 not unacquainted with costliness in worship, and therefore would 
 not think it strange that the great God that had wrought such 
 wonders among them required a lasting service. Tlie Egyptians 
 were now made sensible how much it concerned them to reconcile 
 themselves to this God, and so to obtain the favour of this people 
 who were such peculiar favourites of His, and whom they had hereto- 
 fore so greatly injured, and thereby so much provoked their God ; even 
 Pharaoh himself is now brought to desire their prayers. The wills 
 of the king and people were now broke, and their frame now was to 
 be kind to them, as heretofore it bad been to afflict and destroy them. 
 They were now engaged with vehemence of spirit to counteract their 
 former ill-treatment of the peojDle, They were brought to be will- 
 ing, as it were, without hesitation or delay, to yield and resign up 
 anything to save their lives, fearing they should very speedily be all 
 destroyed. They were in a great terror and great conviction of 
 mind, and like the sea, which after a very high and strong flood, 
 when it comes to ebb, returns with the greater impetuosity. Mr 
 Henry observes, "The Egyptians by their gifts probably intended 
 to make atonement that the plagues might be stayed, as the Philis- 
 tmes when they returned to the ark sent a present with it for a 
 trespass-offering, having an eye to this precedent," (1 Sam. vi. 6, 
 taken with the context.) 
 
 46. Exod. xiii. 21 — "And by night in a pillar of fire, to give them 
 light ; to go by day and night."] Here in the camp of Israel was 
 something of a resemblance and image of what is said of new 
 Jerusalem, (Rev. xxi. 23.) The glory of the Lord did lighten, for 
 here the Shekinah, which was commonly called the "glory of the 
 Lord," gave them light ; and in ver. 25 — " There shall be no night 
 there," the like of which was said of Zion, (Isa. Ix. 20,) and of the Church 
 in her glorious state, (Zech. xiv. 6, 7.) Here is some resemblance, 
 for the camp of Israel had always light, both day and night ; nor was 
 it a dim light that they had in the night, but a hght sufficiently clear 
 well to direct that vast multitude in travelling in the wilderness, so 
 that night was, in a great degree, turned into day amongst them, (see 
 Num. ix. 21 ; Deut. i. 83; Neh. ix. 12, 19; Ps. Ixxviii. 14, cv. 39.) 
 The congregation of Israel, in all their travels, were in the form of an 
 army. They went up by their armies, (chap. xii. 51,) and they went 
 up harnessed, (ver. 18.) They were in military order in their camp 
 and in their marches, and the pillar of cloud and fire was their grand 
 " ensign," lifted up in the view of the whole army as the ensign which 
 
OLD TESTAMENT — EXODUS. 83 
 
 tlicy should follow and the standard by which they shonld abide ; and 
 as the pillar of cloud and fire was the symbol of the presence of 
 Christ, so here was represented that which is spoken in Isa. xi. 10. 
 As here this "ensign," the pilhir of cloud and fire, was to lead the 
 people to their rest, so ver. 12 — "And He shall set up an ensign for 
 the nations." . . . 
 
 ■i7. Exod. xiv. 20 — " And it was a cloud," &c.] In like manner as 
 the gospel and the discoveries God makes of Himself in and by Christ 
 are a mere cloud, and darkness and foolishness, " a stone of stuml)ling 
 and rock of ofience," a " snare and gin," " a savour of death unto 
 death" unto some, while it is a most glorious light, the "power of 
 God and the wisdom of God," a "savour of life unto life" imto 
 others. 
 
 48. Exod. xiv. 80 — "Dead upon the sea-shore."] The Egyptians 
 were very nice and curious in embalming and preserving the bodies 
 of their great men, [and erecting stately sepulchres and monuments 
 for them :] but here the utmost contempt is pom-ed upon all the 
 grandees of Egypt. See how they lie heaps upon heaps, as the dung 
 upon the face of the earth. The beasts and birds of prey are called 
 to eat the flesh of captains and mighty men, (Isa. Ixvi. 24.) Prob- 
 ably the Israelites stripped the slain and now got arms from them. 
 
 49. Exod. xvi. 10 — " The glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud."] 
 The Shekinah that now appeared, and that appeared afterwards in the 
 Tabernacle and Temple, was called the " glory of the Lord," not only 
 because of that outward brightness that appeared, but especially 
 because that brightness was the symbol of the Son of God as there 
 manifesting Himself, who is the brightness of God's glory. The Glory 
 of God is spoken of as a Person in Isa. iii. 8. See Eev. xxi. 23. 
 
 50. Exod. xviii. 2-5.] What is here related, if that clause in 
 2d verse, "after he had sent her back," had not been inserted, 
 would have been much such a difficulty as there is in some other 
 parts of the Scripture history through the brevity of the relation. 
 We have an account that Moses, when he went from Jethro into Egypt, 
 took his wife and his children with him ; and yet here we have an 
 account of Jethro's bringing of them to him in the wilderness frotn 
 his own house, as if Moses had not taken them with him when he 
 went away. We should have been ready to suspect that this was a 
 blunder in the Historian, had it not been here hinted that Moses had 
 at some time sent her back, for we have no account of her being 
 sent back anywhere else. We may here observe the remarkable self- 
 denial Moses subjected himself to, whereby he was fitted for those 
 privileges he afterwards received of God, and which was rewarded by 
 these privileges. First, he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's 
 daughter ; he renounced the wealth and glory and pleasures of the 
 kingdom of Egypt, that he might have had as the heir of Pharaoh's 
 cro^ni, choosing rather to sutler affliction with the people of God. 
 All this he forsook for a share with God's people. And then he met 
 with another great trial ; he was banished away from those whose 
 company he preferred to all the glory of Egypt ; yet he might not 
 
84) ANNOTATIONS ON PASSAGES OF SCEIPTUKE. 
 
 enjoy that, but was driven away alone into the wilderness, wandering 
 in a poor disconsolate, desolate condition, he knew not whither ; and 
 now, after he had dwelt forty years in the land of Midian, in the 
 family of Jethro, into which he had married, and had a family and a 
 place of rest there, he w^as called on God's errand to forsake his wife 
 and children without ever expecting to see them any more, and once 
 more to leave all that he had to follow Christ. 
 
 Corol. Hence we may learn that ministers, in order to fit them 
 for the service of Christ, should be brought to be willing to be cast 
 off even by their own people, by saints, by those to whose good espe- 
 cially they are ministers. Moses was cast off by his brethren the 
 Midianites. 
 
 51. Exod. xix., XX.] As there was a trumpet at the giving of the 
 Law, so a great trumpet will sound when the Law comes to be 
 executed at the day of judgment. As then ]\Iount Sinai was in a 
 conflagration, [so] at the day of judgment the whole earth will be in 
 a conflagration, and the other appearances will be proportionably 
 greater, the trumpet louder, the appearing majesty of God greater, 
 the fire more terrible, the thunder and lightning more dreadful. 
 How miserable will those be that then shall feel the Almighty ven- 
 geance of that Being whose wrath will be proportionable to those 
 appearances of His dreadfulness ! See Ps. Ixviii. 8, 9. 
 
 52. Exod. xix. 10, 11 — "Sanctify them to-day and to-morrow," 
 &c.] The third day here spoken of, or the day on which God came 
 down on Mount Sinai, was the first day of the week, as is evident, 
 because the feast of Pentecost, which was appointed in commemora- 
 tion of this, was appointed to be always on the first day of the week, 
 as appeal's by Lev. xxiii. 15, &c., so that the days wherein the Jews were 
 to sanctify themselves in order to this day were the sixth and seventh 
 days of the week ; but chiefly the seventh, for there was only a part of 
 the sixth remaining when God gave the order ; and probably but a 
 little part, considering the antecedent transactions of the day which 
 we have here account of. So that the Jewish sabbath was to be spent in 
 preparing themselves for the day following — viz., the first day of the 
 week, the day on which God descended and gave the Law on Mount 
 Sinai in honour to this day, being the day on which Christ was to 
 rise from the dead and on which God would descend more gloriously 
 on His Apostles, to reveal the glorious gospel. Thus this day is, by 
 God's own direction, set above the day of their sabbath ; the day of 
 the Christian is honoured above the Jewish sabbath by God's ap- 
 pointing the Jewish sabbath to be a day of preparation for it, as the 
 Jewish Dispensation was a preparation for the Christian. The Law 
 is a handmaid to the Gospel, and is " our schoolmaster to bring us 
 to Christ," (Gal. iii. 24.) 
 
 53. Exod. XX. 3-7.] The three first commandments. The first 
 commandment respects the object of worship ; and especially forbids 
 those things in worship that are against God the Father. The second 
 commandment respects the means of worship ; and especially forbids 
 those things in worship that are against God the Son, that it should 
 
OLD TESTAMENT — EXODUS. 85 
 
 not be by other loiils and mediators instead of Christ, the Lord our 
 God, who is, as it were, the husband of His people, and is a jealous 
 God, a jealous husbaiul, that will not bear spiritual adultery. This 
 commandment forbids our makino; use of other images in our worship- 
 ping God besides Christ, who is " the image of the hivisible God, the 
 brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person," by 
 which inuige alone God makes known Himself and sets forth Himself, 
 and shews His glory as the fit object of our worship ; for we behold 
 " the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." The Heathen had 
 images that they might have something present with them as repre- 
 sentatives of the Deity that was absent ; but Christ only is our 
 Immanuel or " God with us." The third commandment forbids 
 those things in worship that are especially against the Holy Ghost, 
 even the unholy manner of worship. We ought, when we come to 
 God to worship Him, to come by the Son, that we may come by right 
 means ; and Ave ought to come by the Holy Spirit, that we may 
 worship with a right spirit and in a holy manner. These sins against 
 the Holy Spirit are represented as peculiarly exposing persons to 
 Divine vengeance without forgiveness, agreeable to what we are taught 
 in the New Testament. 
 
 54. Exod. XX. 4 — " Any likeness of any thing that is in heaven 
 above"] — i.e., the likeness of sun, moon, or stars, or any bird ; [or 
 " that is in the earth beneath "] — i.e., of any man, woman, beast, or 
 creeping thing ; [or " that is in the water under the earth "] — i.e., any 
 fish. This interpretation is evident from Dent. iv. 16-18. That the 
 second commandment has respect to worshipping the true God by 
 images, see Deut. v. 7, 8.. 
 
 55. Exod. XX. 8 — "Eemember."] This expression "remember" 
 was probably the rather used because this was not the first institution 
 of the Sabbath ; it had been too much forgotten, especially while the 
 children of Israel were in Egypt. The Sabbath had also been re- 
 newedly commanded, (chap, xvi.) God here charges them to take 
 notice of His institution of the Sabbath, and not to forget it as they 
 formerly had done. 
 
 56. Exod. xxiii. 20-23.] God says of this Angel, " My name is in 
 Him." God had a little before, from this same Mount Sinai, declared 
 to Moses with very great solemnity that He might thereby make Him 
 known to the children of Israel (who were become very ignorant of 
 Him) what His name was — viz., " I Am that I Am," and " Jehovah," 
 (Exod. iii. 13, 14, and again chap. vi. 2, 3;) and again, very lately 
 after the children [of Israel] were come to that Mount Sinai where 
 God revealed Himself to Moses and told him His name, to declare it 
 to the children, the people heard God speak from thence Himself in 
 a most solemn and awful manner, with a great voice declaring the 
 same name, chap. xx. 2 — " I am Jehovah," &c., which were the first 
 words of God that they heard from Mount Sinai when He spoke to 
 them from thence, when " the mountain burnt with fire," &c. This 
 was at most but a few days before God said this that He does con- 
 cerning His Angel, and perhaps it was the same day. So that when 
 
86 ANNOTATIONS ON PASSAGES OF SCEIPTUKE. 
 
 He says, " My name is in Him," they would naturally understand no 
 other than that name that He had lately revealed Himself by, which 
 was in an eminent manner His name, even " I Am that I Am," or 
 " Jehovah," which being in an eminent manner God's name, above all 
 other names expressing His nature ; and it having been a common 
 thing in those days from the beginning of the world to give names to 
 express the nature of things, they naturally must understand it that 
 God's nature was in Him, and that as His name Jehovah belonged to 
 Him, they must naturally understand it that the thing expressed by 
 that name was in Him. And that the children of Israel understood 
 it so, is also confirmed by this — that here God commits the care of 
 the congregation to this His angel, that He might go before them 
 as their Captain, and lead them and bring them into the land of 
 Canaan, and fight for them and possess them of the land ; and 
 therefore when the Angel appeared to Joshua with a sword drawn in 
 His hand, (Joshua v. 13,) and told them that as the Captain of the' 
 Lord's host He was come, Joshua seems to understand Him to be this 
 Angel, and therefore immediately falls on his face, and the Angel 
 teaches Joshua to pay Him divine respect by taking off his shoes be- 
 cause the ground was holy, as Moses was commanded when Jehovah 
 appeared to him at the Bush, and he obeyed ; and afterwards in the 
 process of the story this Angel is called Jehovah, as in the next 
 chapter, ver. 2., by the penman of the history. What is said of the 
 Messiah, Micah v. 5, is parallel with this — " And He shall stand," &c. ; 
 Prov. xxi. 24 — " Proud and haughty," &c. — i.e., that is His true 
 nature and character. The saying, " My name is in Him," evidently 
 implies as much as that my Divine essence and character is in Him. 
 By God's name is plainly meant His internal nature and essence, in 
 Prov. XXX. 4. Why should it be there represented that none can tell 
 what God's name is when God had so plainly and expressly declared 
 it to Moses, and told him that His name was Jehovah and I Am 
 that I Am ? Therefore the meaning might be that none could com- 
 prehend that infinitely perfect nature signified by that name. " None 
 by searching can find out God ; " His nature " is high as heaven ; 
 what can we do ? deeper than hell ; what can we know," (Job 
 xi. 8.) 
 
 57. Exod. xxviii. 15 — " Of judgment."] So called because they 
 were wont to make use of it to inquire of God in judgment, or in 
 determining causes and controversies. For when the people had 
 controversies among themselves, or causes to be judged, they were 
 wont to come to inquire of God. See Exod. xviii. 15, 16 ; Lev. xxiv. 
 12 ; Num. xv. 84 ; Dent. xvii. 8, 9, &c. 
 
 58. Exod. xxxii. 1 9 — " And brake them."] Moses's breaking the 
 tables seems to signify the following things : — 
 
 (1.) That sin breaks the Law, and particularly that it breaks it as 
 a covenant of works. The tables were the tables of the Covenant. 
 The ten commandments contained a new revelation of the covenant 
 of works, of which two ways of fulfilment were prof>osed. One was 
 by mere man, the other was by Christ. These tables of the Law 
 
OLD TESTAMENT — EXODUS. 87 
 
 were the workinaiiship of God, without any hewing of Moses's, as the 
 tables of the heart of man in innocency, wherein the Law was 
 written, were already prei)ared by God, and needed not any work of 
 the Law or hewinu; of leoal conviction to prepare it. 
 
 (2.) Another tliino- signilied by Moses's breaking the table was 
 God's breaking His Covenant between Him and the people, and so 
 were threatened to be cast off from being His Covenant people, (for 
 there were the tables of the Covenant between God and the people,) 
 agreeable to God's threatening, (verses 9, 10 ; see chap, xxxiv. 1.) 
 
 •59. Ibid.] God, as it were, brake the tables in pieces, as disannul- 
 ling all hopes of men's ever obtaining life in that way. Now this 
 second time the tables are made by the ministrati(,)n and instrumen- 
 tality of Moses, who herein is a type of the gospel ministry. God 
 commanded that the second tables should be committed to the ark to 
 preserve them, that they might not be broken as the first were, (compare 
 Deut. ix. 16, 17, with x. 1, 2.) Thus the affair of the preservation of 
 the hearts of God's people in holiness is committed to the keeping 
 of Christ. The delivering of the tables of stone this second time is 
 spoken of as the making of a New Covenant, (Exod. xxxiv. 10.) 
 When Moses came down from the Mount with these new tables it 
 was with his face shining, and not with wrath in liis face as before. 
 It was this Covenant that was renewed in Deuteronomy. This was 
 a lively type of what we read of in Jer. xxxi. 31, 32, (see place, antl 
 Heb. viii. 9.) What is said in these places would lead one to think 
 that Moses's breaking these tables signified the breaking or God's 
 setting aside, not only the Covenant of works, but that old federal 
 Dispensation by which God was as a husband to that people Israel, 
 because of its proving insufficient through their sins to make way 
 for a better Covenant ; a federal Dispensation to be introduced by 
 Christ, and in Him to be fulfilled and confinned, and made an ever- 
 lastijig Covenant, as the second tables made instead of these were 
 secured and kept safe in the ark. 
 
 60. Exod. xxxiv. 1.] Moses was commanded to hew two tables 
 of stone like the first that were broken, signifying that after man 
 had broken the Law which God wrote at first on the tables of his 
 heart in innocency, which was God's own workmanship, that in order 
 to the Law's being written on the table of the heart again after the 
 Fall, the heart needs to be first prepared by being hewed by Moses 
 — i.e., hewed by the Law of Moses, or by legal convictions, but that 
 the Law can go no further than this. It can prepare the heart, but it 
 is Christ's work, and His only, to write the Law in the heart : Eom. 
 viii. 3, -i — " What the law could not do," &c. Moses was commanded 
 to prepare these second tables to bring them with him that He might 
 write the Law on them, when He should cause all His goodness to 
 ])ass before him, and proclaim His sovereign mercy in forgiving ini- 
 quities, &c., which should preserve these tables from being broken as 
 the first were, would prevent a final breach of Covenant between 
 God and the people, (compare chap, xxxiii. 19, xxxiv. 1-7, 10 ; Jer. 
 xxxi. 31-33, and 32, 40.) There is this in the nature of the case 
 
88 ANNOTATIONS ON PASSAGES OF SCEIPTUEE. 
 
 that confirms that the breaking of the first table was a type of the 
 breaking of the first Covenant, and the utter impossibility of men's 
 obtaining life by tlie Law. Moses himself in all probability cast away 
 the tables and broke them beneath the Mount when he came to see the 
 golden calf, under a strong apprehension that was impressed on his 
 mind by what he then saw, that it was not worth the while to carry 
 this holy Law to such a people under any notion of the keeping it, 
 and so obtaining God's favour by that means. The ten command- 
 ments at first were given with thunder and lightning and earth- 
 quake ; but now the second time with a gracious proclamation of 
 mercy, long-suffering, abundant goodness and truth, and forgiveness 
 of iniquity, transgression and sin, yet mercy perfectly consistent with 
 infinite holiness and strict justice, " which will by no means clear the 
 guilty." When the children of Israel had broken the Covenant, 
 Moses cast it away and broke the tables in pieces, which represents 
 God's utterly casting away that Covenant made at first with man- 
 kind as now entii-ely useless, the obtaining life in that way being now 
 utterly and everlastingly to be despaired of, (see chap, xxxii. 1 9, and 
 xxxiv. 1.) 
 
 LEVITICUS. 
 
 6L Lev. i. 9.] The inwards and the legs were to be washed to 
 represent purity of heart and "walk." 
 
 62. Lev. X. 1, 2.] This awful destruction of two of the priests, 
 the sons of Aaron, happened on the eighth or last day of the conse- 
 cration of Aaron and his sons, by which the Levitical priesthood was 
 first introduced, or on the first day of Aaron and his sons officiating 
 as priests. That it was on this day appears, because it was on this 
 day they offered the goat (Lev. ix. 3, 15) which was burnt, because on 
 this day such things had befallen Aaron that he was not fit to eat 
 thereof, as in the 1 6-20 verses of this chapter. Thus the service of the 
 Levitical priesthood was begun with the woeful death of two of the 
 priests that were consumed by the Divine wrath, [and] thus it pleased 
 God to shew the insufficiency of the Levitical priesthood at the first 
 setting of it up. He observed that they were so insufficient to make 
 atonement for others that tliey were liable to tlie Divine wrath them- 
 selves for their own sins, [see PoOL, Synop. in loc. ;] and this was 
 also so ordered to impress on the minds of the priests a sense of the 
 sacredness of their work, and the infinite holiness and majesty of 
 that Being with whom they had to do in their office, as ver. 3. . . . 
 There is no temptation visible that Nadab and Abihu should have to 
 offer " strange fire " rather than the " holy fire " that had descended 
 from heaven. But the case with them seems to have bee]i this — that 
 day being the first day that ever they had officiated in the priest's 
 office, and a day of rejoicing and feasting, wherein they fed on their 
 
OLD TESTA IkfENT — LEVITICUS. 89 
 
 peace-oflferings ; and it seems that these two young men had in tliis 
 Feast in a measure intoxicated themselves with strong drink, whereby 
 they either became unable to keep exactly to the points of the Law in 
 the execution of their ottice and to distinguish between holy and pro- 
 fane, or at least made less careful so to do ; so that while they were 
 elevated with drink they did not distinguish between holy fire and 
 common fire, which seems to be the special reason of God's appoint- 
 ing that Law, which he does in verses 8-11 ; for that Law seems to be 
 given on this occasion. It was given on the same day that Nadab 
 and Abihu died, as a])pears on comparing the beginning of the IX*'' 
 chapter with the latter end of this ; and it was immediately upon it, 
 for it was while the atlair of their offering the sacrifices of the day 
 were under consideration, as appears by ver. 12 seq. — Corol. By this it 
 is manifest that persons are responsible before God for those crimes 
 they commit Avhen drunk. 
 
 Another thing observable concerning Nadab and Abihu's death is 
 this. We have an account in the latter verse of a fire coming out 
 from before the Lord and consuming the sacrifices on the altar. 
 Here we have an account of fire in like manner coming out from the 
 Lord and consuming not the sacrifices offered, but the persons that 
 offered, because they had not respect to and did not trust in that fire 
 from the Lord consuming the sacrifice, but oftered strange fire, fire of 
 man's kindling, whereby we seem to be taught that they that come 
 to God and do not trust in the Atonement for sin, made by Christ's 
 being consumed in the fire of God's wrath, shall be consumed by that 
 fire of God's wrath themselves. They that come to God offering 
 strange fire, and dare to appear before Him in their own righteous- 
 ness, He will be a consuming fire to them. They will be exposed to 
 all the fierceness of the flame of God's vindictive justice, having no 
 benefit of the execution of it on Christ the great sacrifice for sin. 
 
 63. Lev. xiv. 12-1 8.] The sacrifice was to be offered to God with 
 oil They were to be waved together before the Lord, and after the 
 Lamb was slain, and his blood shed before the Lord, the Priest was 
 to sprinkle of the oil seven times before the Lord. So the sacrifice 
 of Christ was offered up to God with the Spirit, with Divine love, 
 love to God and love to men, which sanctified the sacrifice and made 
 it effectual. Both the blood and the oil were first offered to God 
 before they were applied to the leper. So not only is Christ's blood 
 first presented to God before it is applied to the sinner, but the spirit 
 of love that He had without measure first flows out to God, before it 
 flows out to the sinner, and be communicated to him in sanctification. 
 In the application, both the blood and oil are applied to the right 
 ear of him that was to be cleansed, to cleanse the ear, by which men 
 hear and listen to the commands and counsels of God, and the ofi'ers 
 and invitations of the gospel ; and the thumb, the chief part of the 
 right hand, to cleanse the hands by which we work; and to the chief 
 part of the right foot, to cleanse the feet by which we walk. The 
 application of the blood is to cleanse from the guilt of sins of the 
 ear or heart, and of tlie hands or works of the hands, and of the feet 
 
90 ANNOTATIONS ON PASSAGES OF SCEIPTUKE. 
 
 as the way to walk. The application of the oil which followed 
 signifies the sanctification of them by the Holy Spirit. The blood 
 and oil were first applied to the ear, hand, and foot, and then after- 
 wards oil was poured on the head of the leper, to signify that per- 
 sons are first justified, then sanctified, and then glorified, as pouring 
 oil on the head was used as a token of initiation to some high and 
 honourable office and great dignity, as that of prophet, priest, or 
 king, as the saints when glorified are made kings and priests unto 
 God ; and as the ear is sanctified to hear God's commands, and the 
 hands to do God's work, and the feet to walk in God's way before 
 the pourmg oil on the head, it shews that a holy conversation is the 
 only way to glory. 
 
 64. Lev. xix. 14.] Though the fear of these deaf and blind will 
 not restrain you, because they cannot hear or see you, yet God hears 
 and sees. . . . 
 
 Q5. Lev. xxiii. 8 — " Convocation."] By this it appears that 
 although the children of Israel were obliged to meet together at the 
 Temple but three times in the year, yet the weekly sabbath among 
 them was from the beginning a day for their meeting together for 
 some sort of religious public worship, which is confirmed from 2 
 Kings iv. 23 ; Isa. Ixvi. 23 ; Ezek. xlvi. 3. Whence it may be argued 
 that the people had something like synagogues among them long- 
 before the captivity in Babylon, which is confirmed by Ps. Ixxiv. 
 8. The word translated " synagogue " signifies a convention, con- 
 gregation, or meeting together. See also Ps. Ixxxiii. 9. 
 
 66. Lev. xxiii. 10.] The sheaf was to be offered to God on the 
 first day of the week after the Passover, on the same day that Christ 
 rose. It was the first-fruits of all the seed sown. So Christ was 
 "the first-fruits of them that slept." The body that dies and is 
 buried is compared to the seed of bread, corn sown in the earth, (1 
 Cor. XV. 36, 37 ;) and Christ's resurrection in particular is compared 
 to this, (John xii. 24,) and the end of the world, the time of the 
 resurrection, is represented by the harvest, (Matt. xiii. 39.) Things 
 rising in the Spring, after all seemed to be dead in winter, is a 
 lively image of the resurrection. This sheaf was the first-fruits of 
 the earth that they had in the Spring ; and it is to be noted that the 
 time when this sheaf of the first-fruits was oftered was not only on 
 the same day of the week, but at same time of year, the first day of 
 the week after the Passover, as that was. 
 
 NUMBERS. 
 
 67. Num. X. 85, 36.] The ascending of the ark out of the 
 wilderness into Canaan, " the land flowing with milk and honey," 
 typified the same thing with the ark afterwards ascending into 
 Mount Zion, even the ascension of Christ into heaven ; and there- 
 
OLD TESTAMENT — DEUTERONOMY. 91 
 
 fore the same worcU wore uttered by David on that occasion that 
 were uttered by Moses on this, (Ps. Ixviii. 1,) and tlierefore, also, 
 David on that occasion speaks of this niarchinL;; of the ark through 
 the wilderness, (I\s. Ixviii. 7.) In these words that IMosos spake on the 
 occasion of taking up tJie ark in order to its ascending into Canaan, — 
 viz., " Ivise uj)," &c., — respect seems to be had to the glorious victory 
 and triumph Christ had over His enemies that He had been conflict- 
 ing with, in His resurrection and ascension spoken of, (Ps. Ixviii. 
 18 ;) and in those words which Moses uttered when the ark rested, — 
 "■■ Return, Lord," &c., — respect is had to Christ's returning again to 
 the earth, after His ascension, l)y His Spirit, (agreeable to His pro- 
 mises, John xiv. 18-23, and xvi. IG,) whereby the number of His 
 people was so vastly increased, agreeable to Ps. ex. 1-3. 
 
 G8. Num. xi. 29.] This wish of Moses was fulfilled in the Chris- 
 tian Church, after Christ's ascension; according to the prophecy of 
 Joel; (chap. ii. 28, &c.,) God put His Spirit in His extraordinary gift 
 upon the saints in general throughout the world. 
 
 ()9. Num. xiii. 30.] According to Caleb's faith so was it done 
 unto him. The people were discouraged with that report of the 
 spies, that there they saw giants, the sons of Anak, and that they 
 were in their own sight as grasshoppers, and so they were in their 
 sight, (verses 28, 33.) Caleb was confident that they were well able 
 to overcome them, and therefore God gave Caleb Hebron for his pos- 
 session, which was the chief seat of these giant.s, as appears by ver. 
 22 ; (Joshua xi. 21, and xiv. 12, 15.) God enabled Caleb himself 
 to drive the giants thence, (Joshua xiv. 12, and xv. 13, 14.) 
 
 70. Num. xxvii. 18, 19, 23.] By what is here said it is manifest 
 that it is proper, in ordaining or appointing a person to an office in 
 the name of God, to give a charge with the laying on of hands. 
 
 D E U T E R N I^I Y. 
 
 71. Deut. iv. 21, 22.] In this Moses was a type of Christ. God 
 was angry with Moses for their sakes. So God was, as it were, 
 angry with Christ for our sakes. He bore the wrath of God for our 
 sakes. Our ini(|uities were laitl upon Christ. Our guilt lay upon 
 Him, and so He in some respect partook of our guilt. So JMoses 
 partook of the guilt of the children of Israel when by their rebellion 
 they provoked his spirit, so that he "spake unadvisedly with his 
 lips." And Moses was, as it were, a sacrifice for them ; he died in 
 the wilderness, and they lived and went out to possess the good 
 land, as in ver. 22. Moses mentions this as an instance of God's 
 mercy to the peojile, as is evident by the foregoing verse, and by 
 ver. 22 — " But ye," &c. God was pleased so greatly to testify His 
 displeasure against Moses's sin, though he but lightly partook of the 
 
92 ANNOTATIONS ON PASSAGES OF SCRIPTUKK 
 
 sin of the congregation, as utterly to refuse to suffer him to go over 
 and possess the good land, and yet to suffer them, the children [of 
 Israel] of that evil generation, who partook more largely of their 
 fathers' sin, to go over. God insisted on having a great outward 
 manifestation of His displeasure against the sin of that congregation. 
 The death of so great a person and so holy a person as Moses, the 
 head of the congregation, (who only was nearly related to them, and 
 lightly partook of the evil of that degenerate time,) was so ; as God, 
 in a time of public judgment, is pleased sometimes to slay the 
 righteous with the wicked, whereby there is so much greater and 
 more awful testimony of His displeasure to the world, (Ezek. xxi. 8, 
 4.) God thus slaying Moses and not suffering him to go in to the 
 good land, God looked on the outward manifestation of wrath by 
 this means to be sufficient without slaying the congregation, and so 
 the younger generation were spared, and suffered to go in to the 
 good land. Thus Moses's death w;is a kind of atonement for the 
 congregation as to temporal judgment and manifestation of God's 
 wrath in this world, and so he was an eminent type of Christ. 
 
 72. Deut. iv. 82-34.] That which is here mentioned is spoken of 
 as the wonder of wonders — that a people should hear God speaking to 
 them out of the midst of the fire, such a devouring fire that was so 
 terrible to behold, that had such peculiar manifestations of God's 
 awful majesty and His consuming justice and vengeance, (see chap, 
 v. 25,) and " yet live." It is not to be supposed that God would 
 speak of this as so exceedingly and beyond all parallel wonderful, but 
 that He had in His eye that which is indeed the wonder of wonders, 
 and which is often spoken of as such by the prophets, which God's 
 people are the subjects of through Jesus Christ. Through Him we 
 hear God speaking to us out of the midst of the fire. God manifests 
 Himself to us in all His dreadful majesty and most terrible and strict 
 justice, and yet we live ; we are safe ; God appears to us as a strict 
 judge and terrible revenger of all sin, and yet as our Saviour and a 
 fountain of life to us. God is just, and yet the justifier of him 
 that believes on Jesus. Although this that the children of Israel 
 were the subjects of at Mount Sinai is here spoken of as so exceed- 
 ing wonderful, yet this which is accomplished by Christ is spoken of 
 as so much more wonderful. These things which God did for the 
 children of Israel, when He brought them out of Egypt, are repre- 
 sented as no more worthy to be mentioned or remembered after God 
 had wrought this, (Jer. xvi. 14, 15, and xxiii. 7, 8 ; and Isa.xliii. 18, 
 19.) Balaam does in effect say that these things that God wrought 
 for Israel, when He brought them out of Egypt, are typical of that 
 wonderful, astonishing thing which He would work for them in the 
 latter days : Num. xxiii. 28 — " According to this time [or agreeable 
 to what God has done at this time] it shall [hereafter] be said of 
 Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought ! ' See also Micah vii. 
 15. The context is a full proof that this was what God had in His 
 eye when God spake to the children of Israel from Moimt Sinai in so 
 terrible a manner, It was in giving the Law ; and thus God's people 
 
OLD TESTAMENT — DEUTERONOMY. 93 
 
 hear God speaking to them from Mount Sinai in all ages ; for they 
 all hear God's voice in His holy, strict Law. God's appearing at that 
 time as a " consuming tire," without doubt was a rei)resentation of 
 the thing spoken of here in ver. 24< — " The Lord thy God is a con- 
 sunung fire, even a jealous God ;" and the words of the text we are 
 upon are brought in as an evidence of what is spoken of in the im- 
 mediately preceding verses — viz., God's forbearirig to execute justice 
 on the people for their wickedness and His forgiving their iniquities, 
 in the exercise of His great mercy, and His faithfulness to the Covenant 
 of grace made with their Fathers. 
 
 73. Deut. V. 7, 8.] That this first commandment has respect to 
 worshipping other gods ; but the second has respect to worshipping 
 the true God by images, is confirmed by chap. iv. 16-18. The people 
 were in danger of representing God by some image of bird or beast, 
 or some other animal, because the Egyptians, that were a neighbour- 
 ing nation, and a people among whom they had dwelt, represented 
 all invisible things by images or hieroglyphics. 
 
 74. Deut. V. 26.] These words, with the context, lead us to suppose 
 that the apprehension that seemed to be so generally fixed in the 
 minds of God's people of old came from a tradition handed down 
 from the ancient patriarchs, that sinful man could not have immediate 
 access to God, and intercourse with Him who is a consuming fire ; 
 and that the presence of God, and to have to do with Him directly 
 without a Mediator, would be the sinful creature's immediate destruc- 
 tion. See Exod. xxxiii. 20 ; Gen. xxxii. 30 ; Exod. xxiv. 1 1 ; Judges xiii. 
 22, 23. See Pool, Synop. on Exod. xxxiii. 20. See ver. 24 of this chap- 
 ter, and Deut. iv. 33 ; Judges vii. 22, 23. From Judges xiii. 22, 23, . . 
 it appears that this notion was not from an apprehension that death 
 would be the natural consequence of so great and terrible a sight, but 
 that sinful men in such a case would be exposed to be slain by the 
 anger of God. 
 
 75. Deut. ix. 21 — " And I cast the du.st thereof into the brook that 
 descended out of the mount."] This brook in all probability was the 
 water out of the rock, for that rock was in Mount Horeb, (Exod. xvii. 
 1-8,) the momit that is here spoken of in ver. 8. If there had been 
 any other brook there before, it would not be said that there was no 
 water to drink, as Exod. xvii, 1. There would have been no such 
 murmuring for want of water, nor would there have been occasion to 
 fetch water out of the rock. From the dryness of the place the moun- 
 tain was called Horeb, which signifies dryness. This brook that came 
 forth out of the rock, and that descended out of the mount of God, 
 was a type of the Holy Spirit ; the same with Ezekiel's waters that 
 came out of the Temple, and the same with the pure river of water of 
 life that proceeded out of the throne of God and the Lamb, and the 
 same with those rivers of " living water" spoken of, John vii. 38, 39, 
 which, we are there told, is meant of the Holy Spirit. The idol of 
 the children of Israel is ground to powder, and the dust of it cast into 
 this brook, to signify that it is by God's Spirit that God consumes 
 idols and destroys the kingdom of Satan, The same seems to be sig- 
 
94? ANNOTATIONS ON PASSAGES OF SCEIPTUEE. 
 
 nified by Hezekiah's casting the idolatrous altars into the brook that 
 watered Jerusalem, God's holy city, (2 Chron. xxx. 14, and also 
 2 Chron. xxix. 16.) We are told (Exod. xxxii. 20) that Moses 
 made the children of Israel drink of the water; but that was no 
 otherwise than as he strewed the dust on that brook which the con- 
 5>-reo;ation wholly depended on for drink, and so were obliged to drink 
 of it. Their drinking that water in which their idol was consumed 
 was a type of repentance, in which men are made partakers of, and 
 have the influences of that Spirit that destroys those sins and con- 
 sumes those idols that they formerly were devoted and addicted to. 
 There is another thing also, that perhaps is more especially intended 
 by that which we have here an account of. There seems to be a spe- 
 cial respect to this (Ps. xcix. 8) speaking of Moses and Aaron — 
 "Thou answeredst them, Lord our God: Thou wast a God that 
 foro-avest them, though Thou tookest vengeance of their inventions," 
 which is agreeable to the history of this affair in chap, xxxii. of Exodus, 
 where we have an account of God's pardoning the people on Moses's 
 intercession ; but vengeance was taken on the calf they had made. 
 The idols of the people are called " their inventions," so Ps. cvi. 28, 
 29, and verses 38, 39. They sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan, and 
 the land was polluted with blood. Thus they were defiled with their 
 own works, and went a-whoring with their own inventions. God's 
 fierce wrath and vengeance was typically executed to the full on the 
 golden calf ; three things were done to it that are made use of to 
 signify the merciless executions of God's wrath in the perfect destruc- 
 tion of him that is under guilt. Moses burnt it with fire, and stamped 
 and ground it to powder, beat it very small, even till it was as small 
 as dust ; and that brook that this dust was mixed with signified the 
 blood of Christ, for it was as it were the bleeding of the Kock that 
 had been wounded by the rod that smote it, and "that rock was Christ." 
 The calf, in thus having vengeance executed upon it, being cast in its 
 utter destruction into this brook, signifying that the sin of those who 
 are pardoned of God has full vengeance taken on it in the blood of 
 Christ. Their calf is here called " their sin." The water of this brook 
 was the drink of the children of Israel, with this destroyed and ruined 
 calf in it ; and thus it is that believers do by faith drink the blood of 
 (jhrist — viz., as an atonement for their sins, or as that in which their sin 
 is fully punished and perfectly destroyed, and justice fully satisfied. 
 
 76. Dent. xi. 24.] The land was not given in this extent, but a 
 small part of it, till David's time. Then first the people had given 
 them the promised land fully, though the people probably expected 
 immediately upon their entry into the land [to "possess" it] This 
 is an instance of the gradual fulfilment of the promises that God 
 makes to His Church. So the promises made to God's people when 
 they should return from Babylon, in the main things contained in 
 them, were not fulfilled till Christ came, and will not have their fidlest 
 accomplishment till the last caUing of the Jews. So the blessings 
 that are so often promised should come by the Messiah are principally 
 deferred till after the destruction of Antichrist. 
 
OLD TESTAMENT— DEUTERONOMY. 95 
 
 77. Dtnit. xii. 5.] God forlxtrc to choose Him a place in Israel for 
 His settled habitation to place His name there till the days of David, 
 which was a manifestation of the displeasure of God against that 
 people for their frequent transgressions and apostasies. He refused 
 to settle His abode among them as long as they remained so nnsteady 
 in His service and so })crversc in tlieir ways ; but walked in a tent and 
 in a tabernacle as ready to dejiart, or at least undetermined whether 
 to stay with them or not, and yet in His great goodness loath to 
 leave tiiem ; but at last He did actually depart from them, when He 
 forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh. But remembering His covenant 
 with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, He returned again, but then stayed 
 in the border of the land, as though it were to see whether tliey would 
 I'eform or no before He would again enter in amongst them. But 
 when on long trial it proved that they never were like to appear 
 worthy that He should be with them, at length David, a great typical 
 Mediator, appeared. God for his sake came into the midst of the 
 land, and chose Him a place in Israel " to put His name there," and 
 took up His settled abode there, and instead of a tent dwelt in a 
 temple. God speaks of it to David as an instance of His peculiar 
 favour to him, that He now at length consented to settle His abode ; 
 that He had never moved any such thing before. David had spoken 
 of having a house built for him, (2 Sam. vii.,) and God there declares 
 that for his sake He would shew favour to Israel, and would plant 
 them that they might dwell in a place of their own, &c. ; and it is 
 often mentioned afterwards as the reason why He did not cast off" Israel. 
 This is another instance of God's deferring the accomplishment of that 
 which, by the manner of prediction, was expected to be accomplished 
 immediately upon their being settled in their own land, (see note on 
 chap. xi. 2-i, supra) for David seemed to expect an immediate accom- 
 l^lishment of the glorious things that were to be brought in by the 
 Messiah on the return of the Jews from Babylon, (see Deut. ix. 23, 
 24.) So the primitive Christians seemed to expect Christ's last com- 
 ing to accompany the destruction of Jerusalem. 
 
 78. Deut. XV. 9 — " Sin unto thee."] Sin here is put for calamity, 
 misery, or ruin, because that is the consequence of sin. Thus the 
 word sin is often used in Scripture. So Deut. xxiv. 15, xxiii. 21, 22 ; 
 1 Kings xii. 30, xiii. 13, 34 ; Ps. cix. 7; Prov, x. 16. So probably it 
 is to be understood, Prov. xxiv. 9; see also Hosea viii. 11. So ini- 
 quity is a wxird often used in like manner in Scripture to signify both 
 sin and its punishment, both moral evil and natural evil, or misery 
 and destruction. 
 
 79. Deut. xviL 14, 1 5.] In what is said here about a king we have 
 a plain instance of God's suffering the people to do that which yet He 
 did not approve of, parallel to the instance Christ mentioned. Matt. 
 xix. 8. For when the people did the very tln'ng iiere spoken of, when 
 they said, "7 luill set''' &c., God manifested His great disapprobation 
 of it, (1 Sam. viii. 6-8, and xii. 16-19.) 
 
 80. Deut. XX. 19—" For the tree of the field is man's life," &c.] It 
 might have been rendered much more agreeable to the original, " For 
 
96 ANNOTATIONS ON PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 man is a tree of the field." It was God's will that a fruitful tree 
 should not be cut down, but only trees that yielded uo meat. Be- 
 cause trees with respect to their bareness or fruitfulness represented 
 man, and therefore he would have men deal with them as He deals 
 with men. This is an argument in the Law of Moses itself, that its 
 commands were given from some typical respect. 
 
 81. Deut. xxi. 23.] The manner of the Israelites in pursuance of 
 this institution used to be to let them hang till the sun was down, and 
 then to take the bodies down and bury them, as is evident by Joshua 
 viii. 29, and x. 26, 27. Grod did not see meet that that which was a 
 curse and execration should remain in open sight for an abomination 
 to the pure eyes of the God that dwelt in that holy land. They were 
 therefore to remove such abominable things out of God's sight, that 
 God might dwell and walk in the land, and not withdraw from it, 
 (see Deut. xxiii. 13, 14.) But it is very probable that one reason why 
 those that were hanged and accursed were to be taken down and 
 buried as soon as the sun was down, was that the sun was a type of 
 Clirist, and in setting was a type of that death of Christ, (Luke xxiii. 44.) 
 The cm-se was to be removed and buried as soon as the sun was set, 
 to signify that the curse is removed by the death of Christ ; for He in 
 dying was made a cm-se for us, and that curse by His death is taken 
 from the earth, or at least from the land of Israel, or the land of the 
 Church, so that that land is not defiled. God's people have not the 
 curse remaining amongst them to render them abominable to God, 
 and to cause Him to depart from them. Their sins and abominations 
 are buried for ever out of His sight by Christ's death. Indeed it was 
 so ordered that the body of Christ, though it was hanged on a tree, was 
 taken down and buried before sunsetting ; the Jews took it down 
 before, that it might not remain in the open air on the sabbath-day, 
 (John viii. 31.) This seems to be so ordered, because Christ, though 
 made a curse, was not such a curse as was removed by what was 
 typified by the setting of the sun, but He was the antitype itself. 
 
 82. Deut. xxxii. 2.] God here speaks to the people quite in a 
 different manner fi-om what He did at Mount Sinai, when He spake 
 to them out of the midst of the fire, with a great and terrible voice 
 that was not suited to their tender frame, and that exceedingly 
 terrified them, and was ready to destroy them. God's word then was 
 like thunder and lightning and devouring fire, overbearing and con- 
 suming so frail and tender a creature as man, who is like the grass 
 and flower of the field. God's voice is now gentle, delivered in a 
 pleasant song ; and instead of being like lightning to destroy and con- 
 sume, is like the gentle showers and refreshing dew to the tender 
 grass, instructing, reproving, warning, revealing not only His will, 
 but His great mercy, in a manner adapted to man's tender frame. 
 There is much of the glorious gospel in this song, and even the 
 warnings and threatenings that are in it are delivered in an evan- 
 gelical manner, much in the same way that they were delivered by 
 the gentle voice of the glorious Messiah. All the songs of Scripture 
 are the voice of the gospel. The glorious things of the gospel are 
 
OLD TESTAMENT — DEUTERONOMY. 97 
 
 their foundation and subject-matter, and therefore in them God's 
 word drops as the rain, &c. 
 
 83. Deut. xxxii. 5 — " Their spot," &c.] In all probability here 
 is a reference had to those spots mentioned in Lev. xiii., where are 
 rules for the trials of spots, whether they were leprous spots or no. 
 There are many spots there mentioned that something resembled the 
 leprosy, notwithstanding which the diseased person was to be pro- 
 nounced clean, and might still be looked upon as of the congregation 
 of Israel, and allowed the privileges of such. But if the spot was 
 upon trial found to be a leprosy, he was to be separated from the 
 congregation, — his spot was not the spot of God's people, and he was 
 not to be looked upon as one of them. 
 
 84. Deut. xxxii. 14.] It is a further evidence that God intended 
 wine, which is the juice of the gi'ape squeezed or pressed out, to be 
 a type of the blood of Christ shed imder His extreme sufferings as a 
 sacrifice, that the word used in Gen. xl. 11 for pressing grapes in 
 order to get thence wine, is the same that is used for killing or sacri- 
 ficing. The chief butler, relating his dream, says he sweated or 
 pressed the grapes into Pharaoh's cup. Thus the word DPIii^ signifies 
 to sacrifice, or to cut the throat, as they did in sacrificing, and is 
 everywhere so used, as appears by the Hebr. Con., and this text is 
 mentioned as the only exception where it is used to squeeze or press 
 grapes, which is a good argument that the pressing of grapes was a 
 type of the sufferings of Christ, [which were] the antitype of the 
 sufferings and deaths of their sacrifices of old. 
 
 85. Deut. xxxiii. 2 — " From His right hand went a fiery Law for 
 them."] The words seem to be something wronged in the translation. 
 The word ' went ' is not in the original, but is supplied, and if the 
 word 'proceeded' or 'come' had been supplied, it might more naturally 
 have led us to what Moses had respect, which seems to be God's 
 writing the Law with His right hand on the two tables of stone, and 
 then delivering them with His right hand thus engraven, to be for 
 the people, as He did the two first tables that were the workmanship 
 of God ; and also the other two that Moses had made were delivered 
 to Moses out of God's hand after He had written the Law on them. 
 But the sense seems to be wronged in the translation more in render- 
 ing the words, a "fiery Law for them :" the words in the original 
 are "a fire of Law for them" — i.e., to be for a light to them, or 
 as a fire to enlighten, as the pillar of fire was for a light to them in 
 the night ; for " the commandment is a lamp, and the Law is alight." 
 The same seems to be meant here as is expressed in Isa. IL 4 — " For 
 a Law shall proceed from me, and I will make my judgment to rest 
 for a light of the people." This last agrees with the foregoing words, 
 wherein it is said that God "shined from Mount Paran ;" and it is 
 more natural to understand it thus, for it is said to be "for them." 
 It was a light to enlighten them ; it is more natural to say it is " for 
 them " than if it were a fire threatening to consume them. And this 
 sense much the best agrees with the following verses, and their evi- 
 dent connexion with these words which speak of God's great love and 
 
98 ANNOTATIONS ON PASSAGES OF SCEIPTUEE. 
 
 grace in giving them this Law, and how it was given as an inheritance 
 to them, and with what pleasure and delight they received it : " Yea, 
 He loved the people ; all His saints are in Thy hand : and they sat 
 down at Thy feet ; every one shall receive of Thy words. Moses com- 
 manded us a Law, even the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob." 
 
 86. Deut. xxxiii. 7.] So David was brought to his people as their 
 prince after being driven out and banished by Saul, and again after 
 he was driven out by Absalom. Solomon was brought to his people 
 after he was excluded by Adonijah. Christ was brought to His people 
 to be their King after the family of David had long been excluded 
 from the throne by the power of the four monarchies and by other 
 enemies. Christ, after He was thrown away by the Jews, was brought 
 to have a place in the building, and to be the head of the corner. 
 He will be brought to His people again, after He has been long as it 
 were driven away by Antichrist, and He will come to His people at 
 the end of the world for their most complete and eternal salvation, 
 after being driven out by Satan operating on Gog and Magog, and 
 after all the instances of His expulsion and exclusion by all His 
 enemies through all ages of the world. 
 
 87. Deut. xxxiii. 8.] Here Christ is evidently called Levi's " holy 
 one." Aaron, the high priest of that tribe, was Levi's holy one in 
 some sense ; but it was not Aaron but Christ that was tempted at Mas- 
 sah and Meribah. (1 Cor. x. 9.) Moses was of that tribe, and might 
 also be called their holy one ; but neither was he the person there 
 tempted, yea, both Moses and Aaron there rather concurred in the 
 temptation, (Num. xx. 10-13 ;) and the great antitype of Moses and 
 Aaron, the true High Priest, that was the substance and end of all the 
 ancient sacrifices and offerings, and of all the peculiar ministrations 
 of the high priest of the tribe of Levi, according to Jer. xxxiii. 17-22, 
 Christ may well be called Levi's " holy one;" for it is there repre- 
 sented as though the great honour and privilege of Levi, in its having 
 the office of the priesthood, should be upheld and completed in Christ. 
 For all the honour and privilege which there ever was in having 
 the priesthood of their tribe, arose from the relation of that priest- 
 hood to Christ, and the glorious things which He should accomplish 
 in His sacrifice and intercession, and the eternal benefits He should 
 procure; and therefore the actually existing and appearing of Christ, 
 the great and true High Priest, and actually accomplishing those 
 glorious things, and procuring those eternal benefit.s, are the sum and 
 substance and perfection of all the honour and privilege which be- 
 longed to their office. And therefore this is properly mentioned in 
 Moses's blessing of this tribe. Por it shews this privilege above all 
 other things, inasmuch as herein it appears that their priesthood was 
 no vain thing. It was unspeakably valuable, and of infinitely good 
 effect, as it stood in relation to the priesthood of Christ, and should 
 be brought to its glorious and infinitely blessed effect in Him. It 
 was by the Thummim and Urim that the high priest was especially 
 furnished with to enter into the holy of holies, to make atonement 
 and intercession for the people there once a year, and was enabled 
 
OLD TESTAMENT — DEUTERONOMY. 99 
 
 to teach the people, and reveal the mind and will of God to them. 
 But this typical Thummim and Urim were nuthinii; but as tliey relate 
 to and were typical of tlie perfections, merits, liglit, and glory that 
 were in Christ. In Christ having this perfection, glory, and merit, 
 and this sufhciency to be the light of the world, Levi's Tlunnmim 
 and Urim were fulfilled, and so honoured and magnified. That 
 spoken of and promised concerning the priests, the Levites, in Jer. 
 xxxiii. 17-22, is manifestly the chief of all blessings of God's Covenant 
 with that tribe; as that which was promised in the first place con- 
 cerning the house of David is the chief thing jDromised in God's 
 Covenant with David, which is a thing that much confirms that this 
 is the great thing here intended in Moses's blessing of this tribe. 
 
 88. Deut. xxxiii. 12.] i.e., Benjamin, being the beloved of the 
 Lord, shall dwell in safety by the Lord. Paul the great Apostle 
 was of tliis tribe, who perhaps was above all mere men the beloved 
 of the Lord. 
 
 89. Ibid.] Which seems to allude to a custom of parents carry- 
 ing their children on their backs or between their shoulders, agree- 
 able to the custom of the Indians here in America. The same thing- 
 seems to be alluded to again in Isa. xlix. 22, and perhaps also in the 
 parable of the lost sheep in Luke xv. o. 
 
 90. Deut. xxxiii. 18, 19.] This seems to have respect to the 
 calling of the Gentiles by the preaching of the Apostles, who were 
 of Galilee, and probably chiefly of the tribe of Zebulon, which was 
 that part of Galilee where Christ was chiefly conversant. It is 
 evident the mountain here meant is the mountain of the House of 
 the Lord, the place of offering sacrifice ; and the event referred to 
 by their calling the people to the mountain seems to be that prophe- 
 sied of, Isa. ii. 2, and xxvii. 13. The great trumpet shall be blown, 
 and the offering sacrifices of righteousness, &c., is the same with that 
 spoken of, Isa. Ix. 7, 20 ; and this seeking the abundance of the sea 
 and treasures hid in the sand, seems to have reference to what is fore- 
 told in Isa. Ix. 5, 9, 16, and Ixvi. 12. The success of the Apostles was 
 chiefly in gathering the people that dwelt in the sea, or beyond the 
 sea, called in prophecy the islands of the sea ; and therefore as they 
 were fishermen before their calling, and gathered the fulness of the 
 sea for their food, so Christ, when He called them, told them He 
 would make them " fishers of men " to gather the multitudes of men, 
 that were, as it were, the inhabitants of the sea. 
 
 91. Deut. xxxiii. 26.] The universe is the chariot in which God 
 rides and makes progress towards the last end of all things on the 
 wheels of His providence ; and the place of the chariot on which 
 God has His seat is the highest heavens, as in Ps. Ixviii. 33, and also 
 ver. 4 ; the pavement of the chariot, above which God's throne is, is 
 the firmament or the sky, as Ezek. i. 25, 26. Therefore this verse 
 signifies as much as that God governs the whole world for the good 
 of His Church ; the wheels of the chariot of the universe move for 
 them, and the progress that God makes therein on His throne above 
 the firmament, the pavement of His chariot, is for them, and every 
 
100 ANNOTATIONS ON PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 event in the universe is in subserviency to their help and benefit. — 
 Corol. Hence it was meet that Christ, when He came to be invested 
 with the government of the universe, as Head over all things to the 
 Church, to govern the motions of this chariot, and make jjrogress 
 on it for their help and salvktion, should ascend into the highest 
 heavens above its pavement, to sit on the throne of this chariot ; and 
 therefore in Ps. Ixviii., which is on the subject of Christ's ascension, 
 mention is made once and again of God's riding on the heavens, as 
 in verses 4 and 33. The underpart of the wheel of a chariot seems 
 to run backward, but it is not so ; the whole machine is constantly 
 moving forward towards the journey's end. So when the Church of 
 God is brought low in the world, it is like that j)art of the wheel 
 that is brought next the ground. The course of things seems to be 
 backward and away from the proposed and promised end ; but it 
 is a mistake, God is still constantly making progress towards the 
 Church's promised glory. 
 
 92. Deut. xxxiii. 29 — "Thine enemies," &c.] — i.e., liars in their 
 boastings and menaces ; [" and thou shalt tread," &c.] — i.e., their 
 fortresses built upon high rocks and steep places — that is, thou 
 shalt conquer and take their strongest places, and take possession of 
 them, God is said to be a high place, (Ps. ix. 9, and xlvi. 7,) — i.e., 
 a fortress or refuge. 
 
 98. Deut. xxxiv. 5.] Moses brought the children of Israel into 
 the wilderness and to the very border of Canaan, but carried them 
 no further ; there he left them, and it was not Moses, but Joshua or 
 Jesus, that carried them over Jordan and brought them into Canaan, 
 to the promised rest, and gave them possession of the land flowing 
 with milk and honey, which seems to signify to us that we can never 
 obtain heaven or saving blessings by the Law. Moses, who gave the 
 Law, seems here to signify the Law ; the Law brings persons into the 
 wilderness, — that is, can bring souls under conviction, — and so leads 
 them on into the wilderness. It carries along in that work — that is, 
 preparatory to saving grace and comfort — even till they are brought 
 to a next preparation for conversion and comfort, but there it leaves 
 them. It can bring them no further ; it cannot bring them over 
 Jordan into a state of salvation, that must be done by Jesus or the 
 spiritual Joshua. All the use of the LaAV is to lead men on in their 
 wilderness travel, and when it has done that, and brought them to the 
 border of Canaan, and to a next preparedness for a state of salvation, 
 there it dies. John says, " The Law was given by ]\Ioses, but grace 
 and truth came by Jesus Christ. " (John i. 17, and Heb. vii. 19.) 
 
 JOSHUA. 
 
 94. Joshua i. 2.] As soon as ever Moses is dead, God commands 
 Joshua or Jesus to lead the people over Jordan. So as soon as ever 
 
OLD TESTAMENT — JOSHUA. 101 
 
 men througli the Law are dead to the Law, they are fitted for the 
 comforts of Canaan. When Moses or the Law, our first husband, is 
 dead, we are at liberty to be married to a risen Saviour, and so to be 
 brought to the possession of Canaan, that is His inheritance. 
 
 95. Joshua ii. 18, 19.] Faith is made the condition of Rahab's 
 kindred, as well as her own. They were to retire to Uahab's house, 
 and not stir out, which they would not have done unless they had 
 believed that God would indeed deliver that city and Land into the 
 hand of the children of Israel as He had said, and would destroy 
 their enemies and save their friends. As in the old world they that 
 believed that God would destroy tlie world as He had said, lied to 
 the ark ; and in Egypt they that believed that God would accom- 
 plish what He had said concerning the hail and fire, retired to their 
 houses beforehand and were saved. And in Jerusalem they that 
 believed what Christ had said about Jerusalem's destruction fled out 
 at the signal that Christ gave them, and were saved. And in Jeru- 
 salem's first destruction they that believed that God would destroy 
 the city, as He had said by the prophet Jeremiah, went and sub- 
 mitted themselves to the king of Babylon, and were saved. Rahab, 
 as she was the [type of the] mother of Christ, so her house in this 
 case was a type of the Church, or of the house, the habitation and 
 fortress of the Church, Christ Jesus, where the righteous dwell in 
 safety, and where they must hide themselves till the indignation be 
 overpast, and from whence they must not depart, but must be found 
 in Him at the hour when judgment comes, in order to their being 
 saved. Ver. 20. It was needful that Rahab should keep counsel in 
 this matter, lest they should be betrayed when they were gone, or 
 lest others should tie scarlet lines in their- windows. 
 
 96. Joshua iv. 1 G.] The Lake of Sodom, into which Jordan emptied 
 itself, was a type of hell on many accounts. The fire by which 
 Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighbouring cities were destroyed 
 is expressly called eternal fire. The river Jordan, (that was a swift 
 river,) whose waters were constantly and swiftly flowing into that 
 Lake, represents the continued flowing of multitudes (that are in 
 Scripture often called ' waters ') into hell. The Lake of Sodom was 
 never full though these waters incessantly flowed into it. So hell is 
 never satisfied. The waters must be supposed to have some subter- 
 raneous passage from that Lake, by which they were, as it were, 
 sucked down into the lower parts of the earth, and, as it were, into 
 hell, which makes the type more lively. These waters shall be in a 
 great measure cut off when our Jesus or Joshua comes to bring His 
 spiritual Israel into Canaan at the latter day, by that work Avhich 
 was an antitype of this work of Joshua that we have an account of 
 in this Book. Then shall the great stream that constantly flowed 
 down to hell fail. This shall be at the time of God's spiritual harvest, 
 spoken of in Rev. xiv. As Joshua's bringing the people through 
 Jordan was at the time of harvest, just before the waters were thus 
 cut off by Joshua, [when they] flowed in more than ordinary plenty, 
 it being a time when Jordan overflowed all its banks. So just before 
 
102 ANNOTATIONS ON PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 Christ shall do this for His Church in the latter day, it will be a time 
 of great wickedness and depravacy. Secondly, These sweet waters of 
 Jordan represent the means of grace, which was one thing repre- 
 sented by Ezekiel's waters of life. So [also] the waters of Jordan re- 
 presented [this] in healing Naaman's leprosy. And the Lake of Sodom 
 in this case represents the same as those ' miry places and marshes ' in 
 Ezekiel's vision that were given to salt, never to be healed by the 
 living waters, however constantly and plentifully flowing by them. 
 Therefore the waters being cut off when Joshua comes, represents 
 the awful judgment of God on reprobates who had long abused 
 means of grace ; when Christ shall come, these means which they 
 have enjoyed shall be taken from them. They shall be miserably 
 destroyed, and all streams of mercy shall be cut off from them. 
 Lastly, This river flowing into the Lake of Sodom represents the 
 supplies of the kingdom of Satan, and especially the Church of 
 Eome, that is spiritually called Sodom, and so represents the same 
 that the river Euphrates did in old Babylon. These shall be dried 
 up when the spiritual Joshua shall come. Thus the sixth vial was 
 poured out on the great river Euphrates, and the waters thereof were 
 dried up, that the way of the kings of the East might be prepared. 
 As there the river Euphrates represents two things that the literal 
 river Euphrates was to old Babylon — viz., its supply and defence — 
 so here Jordan, to Sodom and the Land about, used formerly to be a 
 supply when it was well watered everywhere, as the " garden of the 
 Lord," and now was a supply to the Lake of Sodom ; but to Jericho, 
 another type of the kingdom of Satan, it was a defence. It is evi- 
 dent that the destruction of Jericho was a remarkable type of the 
 destruction of Satan's kingdom by the spiritual coming of Christ 
 in the latter days. The dividing Jordan therefore, to make way for 
 the enemies of Jericho to come from the East and destroy, was 
 eminently a type of the same thing that is accomplished by pouring 
 out the sixth vial. 
 
 97. Ver. 17 — " And the city shall be a thing devoted, even it and 
 all that is therein, to the Lord."] So the words might have been 
 rendered. This was the first city that was taken, the first-fruits of 
 their conquest, and therefore fitly devoted to God. Hereby the 
 whole land was consecrated to God. For " if the first-fruits be holy, 
 the lump is also holy," (Rom. xi. 16.) 
 
 98. Joshua v. 2.] This was the second general circumcision of the 
 congregation. The first was probably before the Passover they kept 
 in Egypt while they had peace in Egypt, (as Mr Henry says, " They 
 doubtless," &c., down to " was interrupted.") But before the Pass- 
 over, the night before they went out of Egypt they were doubtless 
 generally circumcised, because it* was then most strictly commanded 
 that no uncircumcised person should eat the Passover. As now, this 
 general circumcision in Gilgal was at the same time of year, just be- 
 fore they kept the Passover. (See chap. iv. 10, and the 10th verse of 
 this chapter.) 
 
 99. Joshua v. 4, 6, 7 — Concerning their not circumcising the chil- 
 
OLD TESTAMENT — JOSHUA. 103 
 
 Jrcn that were born in the wildovncss.] Considering the plainness of 
 the precept of circumcision and the strictness of the injunction, and 
 tliat no great stress was hiid upon it, and tliat it was so expressly 
 conuuanded that no uucircunicised person should eat of the Passover, 
 which was with great strictness and often commands required most 
 watchfully and diligently and without fail to be kept every year, 
 and considering that the congregation in the wilderness was under 
 Moses's government, — I say, considering these things, it is unaccount- 
 able that all the children that were born for thirty-eight years together 
 should not be circumcised, imless it was omitted by Divine direction. 
 Some think God favourably dispensed with the omission on con- 
 sideration of the unsettledness of their state and their frequent re- 
 moves, and that stirring the children might be dangerous to them 
 while they were sore. This reason is generally acquiesced in, but 
 does not seem to be satisfactory. For sometimes they stayed a year 
 in a place, (Num. ix. 22), if not much longer, and in their removes 
 their little children though sore might be wrapped so warm and carried 
 so easy as to receive no damage, and might certainly be much better 
 accommodated than the mothers in travaQ or lying in. Therefore it 
 rather seems to have been a continued token of God's displeasure 
 against them. Circumcision was originally a seal of the promise of 
 the land of Canaan. But when God had sworn in His wrath con- 
 cerning the men of war that came out of Egypt that they should be 
 consumed in the wilderness and never enter Canaan, as that sentence 
 is here repeated, (ver. 6,) relation being thereunto had, (it seems to 
 be here brought in as giving the reason of the omission.) As a 
 further ratification of that sentence, and to be a constant memorandum 
 of it to them, all that fell under that sentence and were to fall by it 
 were forbidden to circumcise their children ; (or rather, I should 
 think, Moses, as the prophet of God, immediately under the Divine 
 direction, was restrained from putting them upon it, was ordered to 
 let them alone and leave them to their own negligent and disobedient 
 hearts in this afiair.) " This was such a significant indication of 
 God's wrath as the breaking of the tables of the Covenant was, when 
 Israel had broke Covenant by making the golden calf," [Henky.] It 
 is probably they w^ho generally omitted keeping the Passover from 
 the pronouncing of the sentence in Num. xiv. until now ; for they 
 never would have been tolerated in keeping the Passover from year 
 to year in uncircumcision. The keeping of the Passover here seems to 
 be mentioned as being now a new thing among them as well as cir- 
 cumcision. This gives light unto what is said in ver. 9. God suffering 
 them judicially to continue in uncircumcision for so long a time like 
 the Euyptians, where their fathers for a long time had many of them 
 lived in uncircumcision for their hankering after Egypt, and going 
 about to make them a captain to return to Egypt, was a continuing of 
 them under the reproach of Egypt, which reproach was now rolled 
 away. ]\Ioses had told them, while they were in the plains of Moab, 
 (Deut. xii. 8,) that when they came into the land of Canaan they 
 should not do as they did then, every man what was right in his own 
 
104 ANNOTATIONS ON PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 eyes, which confirms that the omission of circumcision, the Passover, 
 and other Divine institutions, was not from a Divine prohibition, but 
 rather from a judicial leaving them to themselves, (Amos v. 25.) 
 
 100. Joshua vii. 12.] God had often made absolute promises of the 
 Land of Canaan, but yet here the fulfilment of these promises is sus- 
 pended upon the condition of obedience. So eternal life is absolutely 
 promised to believers, but yet we often find the fulfilling of that 
 promise suspended on theu' persevering obedience. 
 
 101. Joshua X. 12.] Gibeon was the place that the sun appeared 
 to stand over at that time in the place where Joshua then was ; and 
 the valley of Ajalon the place which the moon, which was also then 
 visible, appeared standing over. Now was a remarkable fulfilment of 
 those words of Job, chap. ix. 7 — " Which commandeth the sun, and 
 it riseth not, and sealeth up the stars ;" which words are a confirma- 
 tion that the sun, moon, and stars all stopped as to their diurnal 
 motion by the staying the revolution of the earth about its axis. In 
 the song of Deborah it is said the " stars in their courses fought 
 against Sisera." The angels are called stars. Christ is often com- 
 pared to the sun. Here we have all the heavenly hosts — the sun, 
 moon, and all the stars — standing still to fight against the enemies of 
 God's people, representing that Christ and all the heavenly host of 
 saints (constituting the heavenly Church represented by the moon) 
 and all the angels are fighting against the enemies of the Church. 
 Hereby is typified that which is represented in prophecy. (Rev. xix.) 
 
 The moon's standing still. This proves the truth of the history, 
 for a circumstance of the sun's standing still being caused by staying 
 the earth's diurnal revolution is mentioned, though the occasion of such 
 a circumstance must be wholly unknown in those days to the Jews, 
 which argues the truth of the fact ; for nothing but the real fact (the 
 means of which was wholly unknown) could have put this into the 
 head of the historian. 
 
 102. Joshua XV. 82.] And yet here are thirty-eight names. The 
 probable reason why in the summing them up they are reckoned but 
 twenty-nine is this : — The other nine were afterwards set off to 
 another tribe — viz., the tribe of Simeon — viz., Beersheba, Maladah, 
 Hazar-shual, Azem, Eltolad, Hormah, Ziklag, Remmon, and Eder or 
 Ether. 
 
 JUDGES. 
 
 103. Judges V. 14.] This shadows forth the great hand that 
 authors shall have in the great and last battle that the Church shall 
 have with her enemies, of which that about which is this song, was a 
 type. 
 
 104. Judges ix. 45.] The end of sowing the place with salt was 
 not to make it barren, for it was a city not a field that is spoken of. 
 
OLD TESTAMENT — I. AND II. SAMUEL. 105 
 
 But this action seems to have been used in those days as symbolical 
 to signify tlie curse of being perpetually desolate. It was an open 
 solemn declaration that they devoted the place thus sowed with salt 
 to everlasting desolation and emptiness. Probably it came to be 
 thus used from what was observed of the providence of God with re- 
 spect to Sodom and the cities and country round about, that were 
 effectually devoted to perpetual desolation by being covered with the 
 Dead Sea. 
 
 105. Judges xi. 24.] The land which the Amorites now possessed 
 was a land that they had taken from others — viz., from the Zamzum- 
 mims. (Dent. ii. 20, 21.) They had been extraordinarily assisted to 
 prevail against and drive out this people, though a very mighty and 
 gigantic people. This they ascribed to Chemosh their god, and they 
 therefore thought they had a good title to the land, seeing their god 
 had given it to them. 
 
 106. Judges xiii. 18 — " Why askest thou thus after my name, 
 seeing it is secret?" (= wonderful.) ] This argues that this is the 
 same person spoken of in chap. ix. of Isa. ver. 6 — " To us a child," 
 &c., " Wonderful," which is the same word in the original that is 
 here rendered ' secret ;' and what is said in ver. 20 further argues 
 it. [See note on Isa. ix. 6.] What is here said about the name of this 
 person, compared with Prov. xxx. 4, argues that it was the Son of 
 God. (See also Eev. xix. 12 ; Gen. xxxii. 29.) 
 
 RUTH. 
 
 107. Kuth iv. 14 — " Kinsman."] The kinsman here meant is the 
 child now born, as appears by this and next verse, especially the 
 last word of the next verse, and by the name they gave the child — 
 Obed, (ver. 17,) signifying serving. 
 
 I. AND II. SAMUEL. 
 
 108. 1 Sam. ii. 8.] It is probable that what was especially called 
 the throne of glory was the throne of God in the Tabernacle and 
 Temple, on which the glory of the Lord abode and where it appeared. 
 Christ who dwelt there was the glory of the Lord, and was called 
 simply 'glory,' (1 Sam. iv. 21, 22; Ps. bcxxv. 9; Haggai ii. 7; Jer. 
 xvii. 12.) In the original it is "a high throne of glory." 
 
 109. 1 Sam. iii. 1.] Henky in he, " There." From this time it 
 began to be otherwise. There was " open vision." " And all Israel, 
 from Dan even to Beersheba, knew that Samuel was established to be 
 a prophet of the Lord," (ver. 20, chap, iv, 1.) 
 
106 ANNOTATIONS ON PASSAGES OF SCEIPTUEE. 
 
 110. 1 Sam. V. 4.] The Bible and other remains of the true relioion 
 that were kept in the Church of Eome, the Antichristian Church, 
 will at length be the occasion of the fall of their Dagon and of the 
 breaking of his head and hands. When Antichrist falls there will be 
 a remainder of him yet ; but he shall be utterly despoiled of strength 
 and glory. He will be like a stump without head or hands. 
 
 111. 1 Sam. xii. 11.] This Bedan seems to be the same with Jair 
 the Gileadite of whom we read, (Judges x, 3, 4,) for this Bedan was 
 a Gileadite, as appears by 1 Chron. vii. 17. But Jair was the only 
 Gileadite that judged Israel, except Jephthah, who judged Lsrael next 
 to him, and is mentioned next to him in this verse. 
 
 112. Ibid., ver. 15.] There is in this and the foregoing verse an 
 opposition between being after the Lord, as in the foregoing, — i.e., 
 having God going before them and leading them as their Captain 
 and Saviour, — and God's being their enemy, or the hand of God, its 
 being against them. 
 
 lis. 1 Sam. XXV. 26.] The sense is, as the Lord liveth, and as thy 
 soul liveth, seeing the Lord Himself hath withholden thee from 
 commg to shed blood, and from avenging thyself with thine own 
 hand, God Himself will certainly avenge thee and will take him away, 
 as I desire that God would take away all thine enemies. It is a 
 strong expression of assurance concerning a future event such as we 
 have in the next chapter ver. 10. 
 
 1 14. 2 Sam. i. 17.] David's behaviour on occasion of the death 
 of Saul his (see verses 11, 12) grand persecutor, who long sought his 
 life, and whose death was so much to his advantage, together with 
 the spirit he shewed on other occasions of love and meekness and 
 forgiveness towards those that injured him, do greatly confirm that 
 the imprecations we have in his Psalms on his persecutors, of whom 
 Saul was the chief, are not the expression of a spirit of private re- 
 venge, but imprecations he put up in the name of Christ as Head of 
 the Church against His and His Church's enemies, and what he spake 
 as a prophet in the name of the Lord. Observe, also, his behaviour 
 with respect to the death of Abner and Amasa. By this also we 
 may see what is the spirit of true religion, how it disposes persons to 
 overlook and hide the worst faults of their worst enemies, and [to] 
 speak the best of them and lament their calamities. See note on 
 Ps. lix. 13, and on Job xxxi. 30. 
 
 115. 2 Sam. vii. 10.] God's ceasing to walk in a tent and taber- 
 nacle, and dwelling in a temple, was a great token of mercy to 
 the children of Israel ; for while God dwelt in a movable tabernacle. 
 He dwelt as a wayfaring man, as one that was not fixed in His abode, 
 was ready to depart, that is, to stay but a little while, or that is un- 
 determined whether to stay or no. But when He came to dwell in a 
 temple, — that is, a fixed habitation, — it was a token for good several 
 ways. It was a token that God would dwell among them, and make 
 His settled abode among them, and that He would not lead them forth 
 out of the Land, but continue them in the possession of it, for they 
 were to go where the tabernacle went before them ; but now dwelt 
 
OLD TESTAMENT — I. AND II. KINGS. 107 
 
 in an immovable temple, it wa.s a token that they should no more be 
 removed. It was a token that God would not cast them off from 
 being His people ; for if He should do so, He would remove them out 
 of that Land, for the Land was His Land, a Land that He had chosen 
 to be a holy Land. 
 
 11(5. 2 8am. vii. 20.] i.e., What can he desire more of Thee, or 
 pray for more to Thee I — that this is the meaning is evident by 1 
 Chron. xvii. 18, where it is thus expressed, "What can David," &c., — 
 [" for Thou, Lord," &c.] — i.e., Thou hast chosen Thy servant. God's 
 knowledge is here put for election, as often elsewhere. God's election 
 is mentioned as the ground of these great and admirable favours. 
 The words that follow in the next verse confirm this verse. 
 
 117. 2 Sam. vii. 21 — "For Thy woed's sake, and according to 
 Thine own heart."] In 1 Chron. xvii. 19 it is, "For Thy servant's 
 sake, and according to Thine own heart," which confirms that by the 
 " word" here is meant Christ, who appeared in the form of a servant, 
 and is often, by way of eminency, called God's ' servant.' [See Pool, 
 Synop. in Zoc] 
 
 118. 2. Sam. x. 10.] Which armament is 7000 men, ten to a chariot, 
 so this place is reconciled with 1 Chron. xix. 18, (see Pool on 1 Chron. 
 xix. 18.) 
 
 I. AND II. KINGS. 
 
 119. J Kings ii. 37.] This may help us to understand God's threat- 
 ening to Adam, when He said, " In the day," &c. When Solomon 
 thus threatc'ied Shimei, we cannot naturally understand any more by 
 it than that death should be certain to him from that day : he should 
 stand guilty of death, obliged to die by a fixed unalterable establish- 
 ment. We cannot suppose that Solomon concluded that, if he did go 
 over the brook Kedron, he should hear of it so as to execute this 
 threatening on that very day. As it proved that he did not, it seems 
 to have been some time after before the threatening was executed. 
 See note on Gen. ii. 17. 
 
 120. 1 Kings viii. 56.] So long was it before God fully gave Israel 
 that rest in Canaan which He had promised them by the hand of 
 Moses, which may make us the less to wonder that many of those 
 great things that were promised by Christ to His Church, and spoken 
 of by His Apostles relating to the kingdom of heaven, and the glory 
 that Church should receive at Christ's coming in that kingdom, as to 
 their more full accomplishment should be so long delayed. 
 
 121. 1 Kings xi. 5-7.] It does not appear that Solomon did him- 
 self worship these strange gods. But what his wives persuaded him 
 to, was to build high places for them to worship their gods in : he 
 probably went after other gods only as he honoured them so far as 
 to build places for their public worship in the land of Israel, Avherein 
 
108 ANNOTATIONS ON PASSAGES OF SCEIPTUEE. 
 
 liis wives and their attendants might worship them. For it is said in 
 ver. 8 he did this " for his wives," &c. He might possibly think it 
 but reasonable that his wives should be allowed the exercise of their 
 own religion and the worship of their own gods, and might think it 
 hard, seeing he had brought them out of their own country, to deny 
 them high places and altars at which they might worship them 
 in his country. 
 
 122. 1 Kings xiii. 31, 32.] The old prophet orders that his corpse 
 might be laid in the sepulchre of the man of God, and his bones by 
 that prophet's bones, that so they might not be disturbed, and burnt 
 on the altar of Bethel by Josiah. This is implied as the reason he 
 gives himself in ver. 32, and so the event was : the bones that were 
 laid in that sepulchre were not disturbed by Josiah, (2 Kings 
 xxiii. 17.) 
 
 123. 1 Kings xiv. 14, 15.] It is God's manner in Scripture, when 
 threatening the wicked for their sins, to pass from those judgments 
 that are soon to be inflicted, and are the more immediate, and which 
 are the occasion of God's sending a messenger to threaten them, to 
 some great remote judgments, of which perhaps the judgments more 
 immediately threatened are images or forerunners. Thus when God 
 first sent Moses to Pharaoh, He sent him with a threatening of the 
 last and greatest plague ; and the other foregoing plagues are all 
 omitted. (Exod. iv. 22, 23.) So in chap. ix. ver. 15, God again 
 threatens the last plague and Pharaoh's own destruction, that was 
 accomplished in the Red Sea; though there was the plague of hail, 
 and locusts and darkness afterwards, before the plague of pestilence. 
 So here, when the wife of Jeroboam comes to the prophet to enquire 
 whether her son shall live, the prophet passes from a threatening of 
 his death and judgment suddenly to be inflicted on his family, to the 
 captivity of the ten tribes, though it was to be long after Jeroboam's 
 death. So also it is the manner of the prophets, when sent on some 
 particular occasions to promise some mercy to God's people, to insist 
 on some greater mercy that is remote, and that is to be bestowed on 
 God's people in after generations. Thus when Isaiah was sent to 
 Ahaz, when Rezin, king of Syria, and Pekah, son of Remaliah, were 
 combined against him, to comfort him by foretelling the disappoint- 
 ment of their enemies and deliverance of Judah, he comes to Ahaz 
 with Shear-jashub, his son, that signifies the " remnant shall return," 
 to foretell the return from the captivity to Babylon, as in Isa. 
 vii. And it is very frequent with the prophets, when foretelling 
 lesser mercies that God has to bestow on His people, to pass to and 
 insist upon that greatest of all mercies, the coming of Christ. So did 
 Isaiah, when He came to Ahaz on the forementioned occasion. (Isa. 
 vii. 14.) So the prophets, when foretelling the return from the Baby- 
 lonish captivity, often insist on the redemption of Christ, of which 
 this is a type. So do the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, when sent 
 to encourage the people to build the Temple, with promises of mercies 
 therein, insist chiefly on the prosperity that God will give the Church 
 in the times of the gospel. 
 
OLD TESTAMENT — I. AND II. KINGS. 1 09 
 
 124). 1 Kinos xviii. 33-35.] Elijah's sacrifice, in the time wherein 
 it was offered, was attended with the greatest obstacles to its bein*; 
 consumed by fire. God, who has more ends than one in what He 
 does, probably did not only intend by this to shew His power beyond 
 that of Baal, but to represent what came to pass with respect to the 
 sacrifice of Christ, the great antitype of all the ancient sacrifices, 
 Whose last Suffering was attended with such circumstances as 
 seemed to tend in the highest degree to hinder His going on to offer 
 Himself, in the heavenly flames of Divine charity, and voluntarily 
 presenting Himself to suffer the flames of Divine wrath. Such was 
 God's hiding of His face from Him, and dealing with Him in some 
 resjDects as if He had been an enemy, which was a gTeat trial of His 
 love to the Father, and tending like floods of water to quench the fire 
 of Divine love in His soul, and to prevent that great degree of it 
 which was necessary to carry Him through the extreme sufferings 
 that were before Him ; and also the extraordinary view which Christ 
 liad then given Him of the unworthiness of mankind for whom He 
 died, the hateful nature of their sin that He was about to expiate 
 by His extreme sufferings, and their great enmity against Him, 
 which was then set before Him and exercised towards Him, in the 
 contempt and cruelty of His enemies. And some of them the very 
 persons that He was about to die for ; and the ingratitude of His 
 own disciples, that had already received the saving benefits of His 
 death, in their coldness towards Him in the times of His agony, — 
 their being unwilling to watch with Him one hour — their all forsak- 
 ing Him when He was apprehended — Peter denying Him with oaths 
 and curses. These were like floods of great waters that were then 
 thrown upon Him to cpiench His love, and to prevent His going on 
 to endure those extreme torments in the fire of God's wrath ; as was 
 also that extraordinary view that was given Him beforehand of the 
 cup He was to drink, which made His soul exceeding sorrowful, even 
 unto death. But " many waters could not quench His love, nor 
 could the floods drowii it." (Song of Solomon viii. 7.) 
 
 125. 1 Kings xix. 20, 21.] "See Matt. xxiv. 17, 18. The truth 
 with respect to what is related in these verses probably was thus : — 
 Elijah was directed by the Spirit of God to cast his mantle on Elisha ; 
 but Elijah had not the design of God in it fully made known to him, 
 supposing it to be intended as a sign that Elisha should be a prophet 
 after him, agreeable to what God had said to him at Llouut Sinai. 
 But God had a further meaning in it, which was intimated by His 
 Spirit, which went with Elijah's mantle to Elisha — viz., that he should 
 immediately forsake all and follow him, and devote himself to the 
 work of the ministry in the business of a prophet. Elisha, supposing 
 Elijah had this design of God made known to him, and had been 
 directed to cast his mantle on him with this view, and finding at 
 first a reluctance and desire of Elisha that he by his prayers would 
 obtain leave of God that he should first kiss his father and mother; 
 Elijah, surprised at this request, as is natural, supposing him thus 
 ignorant, says, " Go back : for what have I done that should hinder 
 
110 ANNOTATIONS ON PASSAGES OF SCEIPTURE. 
 
 it ? " However, Elislia, who understood the mind of God, soon re- 
 covered from his reluctance and went no further back than to his 
 oxen, and took them and the instruments and offered up all to God, 
 signifying by this action his full consent to forsake all and make a 
 sacrifice of all this world's j^ossessions and concerns to the great and 
 infinitely important designs of his ministry. 
 
 126. 1 Kings xxii. 19 — " And all the host of heaven standing by 
 Him.' ] Here we may observe that they under the Old Testament 
 were sensible of a multitude of inhabitants in the heavenly world as 
 well as now, since another worM has been more fully revealed by the 
 gospel. 
 
 127. 2 Kings ii. 9.] Elijah was now about to leave the world, 
 and as parents, when they are leaving the world, are wont to be- 
 queath portions to their children, so Elijah asks Elisha what he shall 
 bequeath to him. Elisha was as it were his child, and calls him 
 father. (Ver. 12.) That portion that he desires to inherit from his 
 father is his spirit, and he desires a double portion of it — i.e., a much 
 larger portion than the rest of his children, as it was ordained that the 
 eldest son should inherit a double portion. (Deut. xxi. 17.) It was his 
 birthright to have the best share of his father's estate. Elijah had 
 many other children besides Elisha. There were many sons of the 
 prophets that were under Elijah's care and instruction, so that he was 
 as it were a father among them as afterwards Elisha was, as is evident 
 by chap. iv. 38, and chap. vi. 42. Now what Elisha desires is that 
 he may be distinguished from all the rest of the children by having a 
 double portion of his spirit bequeathed to him. For Elijah's estate 
 did not consist in silver and gold, but in those gifts of the Spirit 
 which he possessed. So that he was about to give something he 
 miffht say of as Peter. (Acts iii. 6.) He asked a double portion 
 of this, and to be made the main heir of those blessed spiritual gifts 
 which he had, which was accordingly granted him. 
 
 1 28. 2 Kings v. 17 — " Two mules'," &c.] See Bedford, "Scripture 
 Chron.," p. 627. Thus though he would not allow before that the 
 waters of Israel were better than the waters of Damascus, yet, having 
 been convinced by experience of his error in that, he now easily con- 
 ceives that the earth of the land of Israel is better than that of 
 Damascus. 
 
 129. 2 Kings xxi. 10-1.5.] It is evident by this, and many other 
 passages of Scripture, that the first destruction of Jerusalem was 
 principally for the sins of Manasseh and the wickedness that the 
 people were guilty of in his reign, (see chap, xxiii. 26, 27, ami xxiv. 
 3, 4, and Jer. xv. 4 ;) and yet the first captivity in Jehoiakim's time 
 was not till about forty-four years after Manasseh's death, and the total 
 destruction of Jerusalem in Zedekiah's time not till about fifty-five 
 years after his death. Hence I would observe that it is no argument 
 against the dreadful destruction of Jerusalem by the Eomans, its 
 being an evident token of God's wrath against the people for their 
 rejecting and crucifying Christ, that that destruction happened about 
 forty years after Christ's crucifixion. 
 
OLD TESTAMENT — I. AND II. CHRONICLES. 1 1 1 
 
 I. AND II. CHEONICLES. 
 
 130. 1 Chron. xi. 89— " Zelek the Ammonite."] Here one of 
 David's wortliies is said to be an ' Aiumonite,' and another of them 
 (ver. 4(5) a IMoabite, and yet in Deut. xxiii. 3 it is forbidden in the 
 Law of Moses that an Ammonite or Moabite should ever enter into 
 the congregation of the Lord. So Eutli was a Moabitess, but yet 
 was received. By this it appears that evident piety prevailed for per- 
 sons' admission notwithstanding the Law. When the case was so, 
 they were no longer Ammonites or INIoabites in the eye of the Law. 
 By these things and many otiiers, it appears that evangelical qualifi- 
 cations always prevailed over legal ones. So in the case of them 
 that were legally unclean, that yet kept the Passover in Hezekiah's 
 time. (2 Chron. xxx. 17-20.) 
 
 131. 1 Chron. xxiii. 26.] Thus the Ceremonial Law was in part 
 altered before Christ's time. The service of the Levites by the 
 Law of Moses consisted much in carrying the tabernacle, and vessels 
 and instruments of it, (Num. iii. and iv.;) but when the Temple 
 was built this service ceased, and w^as abrogated by David, there 
 then ceasing to be occasion any longer for that work, and therefore 
 David gave them new ordinances, and appointed them new work, 
 which shews that the Ceremonial Law was alterable. If it may 
 be altered in part, it may be altered in the whole ; if David might 
 abrogate some ordinances, Christ, the true David, might abrogate 
 all, (Jer. iii. 16, 17, and Isa. Ivi. 3, 4.) In 2 Chron. xxiii. 18, 
 the ordinances of David are mentioned as of parallel validity with 
 those of Moses, as a rule for their public worship. See note on 
 Isa. li. 4. 
 
 132. 2 Chron. xii. 8.] i.e., That they may know the difference 
 between my service and theirs. So the forbidden tree in Eden was 
 called the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, because the experi- 
 ence of the one illustrated and shewed the value of the other. God 
 wouM hereby let Judah know by their experience how much better 
 His service was that they had forsaken and cast off, than the service 
 of the kingdoms of the countries whose gods they had chosen. 
 
 133. 2 Chron xv. 17 — "But the high places were not taken 
 away."] i.e., Those that were used in the service of the true God, 
 for Asa took away those which were used in idolatrous worship. 
 (Chap. xiv. 3, 4.) 
 
 134. 2 Chron. xxxii. 31 — "That He might know all that was in 
 his heart."] By this, together with verses 25, 26, it appears that 
 Hezekiah had much sin in his heart, though, as he pleads with God 
 in the time of his sickness, he had walked before God in truth and 
 with a perfect heart. See also 2 Kings xviii, 3, 5, C. 
 
1 1 2 ANNOTATIONS ON PASSAGES OF SCPJPTUKE. 
 
 ESTHER. 
 
 135. Esther v. 2 — "Sceptre."] Favour was offered by the king 
 by holding out to her the golden sceptre ; but it was expected that 
 she, in order to a title and interest in the offered ftivour, should 
 draw near and touch the top of the sceptre as an expression of her 
 joyful acceptance of the favour, submission to the royal dominion 
 and power, of which the sceptre was the ensign, and her dependence 
 on the king's free, sovereign but offered favour. The acts and benefits 
 of saving faith in Christ may be compared to this act of Esther 
 towards Ahasuerus, her king, her husband, and in this affair, and in 
 what followed, her saviour. 
 
 JOB. 
 
 136. Job vi. 6.] Job was reduced to such necessity that he was 
 forced to content himself with such insipid unsavoury morsels. This 
 is the meaning, as appears by the next verse. 
 
 137. Job xiv, 22.] It is not unlikely that the Spirit of God in 
 this has some respect to the misery of wicked men in a future state, 
 when both soul and body shall be cast into hell. See Eccles. xi. 10. 
 
 138. Job xix. 25 — " I know that my Redeemer liveth."] Though 
 I shall die, and my flesh shall be destroyed with worms, [and that 
 He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth.] In the original it 
 is, ' He shall stand over the dust,' "'P^'^^ The word ' earth ' is 
 very often used in the Book of Job, and the word is everywhere 
 ' eretz,' and nowhere this word that properly signifies ' dust.' And it 
 is not true that at the day of judgment Christ will properly stand on 
 the earth. The meaning is this : — Christ will stand over the dust of 
 the dead saints. [" My Redeemer."] The word also as it was used 
 among the Hebrews signified 'near kinsman,' as in Ruth iii. 12 — "And 
 now it is true that I am thy near kinsman, [Goel,] howbeit there is a 
 kinsman [goel] nearer than [I] [Goel.]" Ver. 13, "Tarry this night, 
 and it shall be in the morning, that if he will perform unto thee the 
 part of a kinsman, [or if he will redeem thee,] well ; let him do the 
 kinsman's part : but if he will not do the part of a kinsman to thee, 
 then I will do the part of a kinsman to thee." So the word is the 
 same, 1 Kings xvi. 1 1 — " As soon as he began to reign, he slew all 
 the house of Baasha ; he left none of his kinsfolks." There were 
 four things the ' goel ' was to do for his kinsman unable to act for 
 to himself : (1.) He was to marry the widow of the deceased kinsman 
 raise up seed to his brother, as Christ marries the elect Church that 
 was left a widow by the first Adam, the first surety, and by the Law 
 or first covenant, the first husband, having no seed, (Rom. vii. 3, 4.) 
 (2.) He was to redeem the inheritance of his poor kinsman, (Lev. 
 
OLD TESTAMENT — JOr>. 1 1 3 
 
 XXV. 25.) So Christ redeems the inheritance which we sold. (3.) 
 He was to ransom liis poor kinsman in bondage, paying the price of 
 his redemption. (Lev. xxv. 47, 48, 52.) Thus does Christ redeem us 
 from bondage after we have sold ourselves. (4.) He was to avenge 
 the blood of his slain kinsman on the slayer. Thus does Clirist 
 avenge our blood on Satan. 
 
 139. Job XX. 11.] Both these expressions import the same thing, 
 and are as much as to say the sins of his youth remain with him 
 after he is dead : his sin shall lie down with him in his grave, and 
 shall remain in his dead corpse there when his flesh is putrefied and 
 turned to dust. Then his iniquity shall still remain in his bones : 
 his bones shall be full of them ; which signifies that his sins shall for 
 ever remain with him after he is dead : he shall never get rid of 
 them, but they shall to all eternity lie upon him. (See Ezek. xxxii. 
 27. 
 
 140. Job xxiv. 23.] The words more literally translated are, 
 " Though it be given him to be in safety, and he depends upon it, 
 yet his eyes are upon their ways" — i.e., though God gives those wicked 
 men that are so unjust to be in safety, ancl they, because God pro- 
 tects and preserves them for the present, depend on future safety, as 
 though God took no notice of their wickedness and would never 
 punish it, yet God's eyes are upon their ways. 
 
 141. Job xxvi. 13 — "His hands have formed the crooked ser- 
 pent."] It might have been translated, " His hands have wounded 
 or tormented the crooked serpent" — i.e., the devil. The word trans- 
 lated " formed " is the same that is used in ver. 5 — "■ Dead things 
 are ' formed ' from under the waters," [see in loc.'\ That the devil, 
 that old serpent, that great leviathan, shoidd be meant, agrees with 
 the foregoing verse — " He divideth the sea with His power ; by His 
 understanding He smiteth through the proud," which was remark- 
 ably fulfilled in dividing the sea and destroying Pharaoh, compared 
 to leviathan, the water-monsters that are especially to be found in 
 the waters of Egypt : Ps. Ixxiv. 13, 14 — " Thou didst divide the sea 
 by Thy strength : Thou brakest the heads of the dragon in the waters. 
 Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces," where he is spoken of as 
 the image of the devU ; and this leviathan is called the " crooked ser- 
 pent" in Isa.xxvii. 1 — " In that day," &c., "the piercing serpent," [as the 
 serpent lying across like a bar, nahash bariach, the very same name 
 used here,] "even leviathan that crooked serpent; and He shall slay the 
 dragon that is in the sea." This is fitly subjoined to the former part 
 of the verse — " By His Spirit He hath garnished [or beautified] the 
 heavens." For at the same time that God cast Satan down to hell 
 He purged and also beautified heaven, increasing the holiness and 
 happiness of His elect angels ; and at every time of Christ's remark- 
 ably overcoming Satan and bruising his head, is a beautifying heaven 
 and advancing His holiness and happiness, as wlien He rose from the 
 dead and ascended into heaven, and when He shall destroy Anti- 
 christ, and at the end of the world ; and it is not incredible that 
 Job should here speak of such mysteries, for it is evident he now 
 
 H 
 
114 ANNOTATIONS ON PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 speaks under the influence of the Spirit of prophecy, by what he says 
 in the preceding- verse concerning the dividing of the sea, &c,, ful- 
 filled afterwards. This interpretation is confirmed by ver. 5 — " Dead 
 things," &c. Mr Henry observes that some ancient versions render 
 the words thus: "Behold, the giants groan under the waters, and those 
 that dwell with them ; " or the words ought to have been rendered : 
 "ReiDhaim are wounded and pierced through under the waters," 
 agreeable to the original. (See BuXTOEF.) "From under the water" 
 seems to allude to the waters of the Flood, under which the giants 
 were destroyed in God's terrible wrath, which deluge of water was a 
 remarkable type of the deluge of God's wrath which comes on the 
 ungodly in another world. The observing this is to Job's piu'pose, 
 for, as Mr Henry says, " is there anything in which the majesty of 
 God appears more dreadful than in the eternal ruin of the ungodly, 
 and the groans of the inhabitants of the land of wickedness ? " Ver. 
 12 confirms this interpretation, and also ver. 13. 
 
 112. Job xxviii. 5 — " Under it is turned up as it were fire"] — i.e., 
 that which shines like fire, as in Deut. xxxiii. 2. The Law of God, 
 because it, as it were, shines and gives light, is called a " fiery Law." 
 
 113. Job XXX. 24 — "Howbeit He will not stretch out His hand to 
 the grave "] — i.e., to rescue men from death. Every man must die 
 and be retained in the grave, — "the redemption of the life is pre- 
 cious, and it ceaseth for ever ;" — God will recover man from thence to 
 live again in this world, [though they cry in His destruction,] though 
 they dread death never so much when death comes, and would never 
 so earnestly cry to be delivered from the grave. 
 
 144. Job xxxi. 34 — " Did I fear ?" &c.] In these early days great 
 account was made of men's pedigree, and they were kept with care ; 
 and when men's lives were so long, great numbers of the dependents 
 of one living ancestor were alive at once, so that those who were 
 called a family were commonly a great multitude. Job declares that 
 he was not deterred from doing justice in his oflice of a judge through 
 fear of the great multitude that were of the family of him that was to 
 be condemned or displeased in the jiidgment. 
 
 145. Job xxxiv. 20.] Remarkably fulfilled when the first-born were 
 slain : as there are several things in tliis Book in which the Spirit that 
 in the general directed in the forming of the speeches of Job and his 
 friends, — either in them or others, which they answered these sayings 
 from, — had respect to those great things which were accomplished 
 when the children of Israel were brought out of Egypt and led to Canaan, 
 (see chap. xxvi. 12, xxxviii. 22, 23, ix. 7.) [At midnight,] (see ver. 
 25, and chap, xxxvi. 20, xxvii. 20 ; Matt. xxv. 6 ; 1 Thess. v. 2.) . . . 
 
 146. Job xxxvi. 27, to end of the next chapter.] Elihu concludes 
 his discourse with observations and improvements of God's wondrous 
 works in the clouds — rain, lightning, and thunder. It appears to me 
 probable that the occasion of it was the appearance, at a distance, of 
 the clouds and lightning and thunder of the storm that was then 
 approaching, out of which God spake to Job. There was nothing in 
 Elihu's foregoino- discourse that seemed to lead him to it. It is true 
 
OLD TESTAMENT — JOB. 115 
 
 tliat he was, in the foregoing verses, speaking of tlie greatness of GoJ 
 and His works ; bnt there seems nothing that led him thus suddenly 
 to begin about the clouds and rain in this 27th verse. But if tlicre 
 then appeared to them a thunder-storm arising, that will easily 
 account for it, why he, when speaking of God's^ greatness, should 
 insist on this rather than any other of God's works. The 8()th verse 
 of the XXXVItii chapter seems to confirm this— [" Behold," &c.] 
 The manner of expression, his calling on Job to 'behold,' agrees 
 with the supposition that the thing was then appearing that he was 
 speaking of, and the description here given, ' He spreadeth His light 
 upon it, and covereth the roots of the sea,' as it is in the original, 
 agrees exactly witii the appearance of a thunder-storm appearing as 
 arising above the horizon ; for the top of the clouds, in such cases, is 
 commonly all spread over with an exceeding bright light. Thus God 
 spreads His light upon it ; and the lower part of a storm that appears 
 thus rising, seems to cover the utmost confines and extreme parts of 
 the sea that are next the horizon, that are here called the "roots of the 
 sea," which may elegantly be so called according to the notion they 
 then had of the world as being a flat, and that there was first the 
 land and after that the sea, which they supposed was bounded by the 
 horizon, or at the meeting of the firmament with the waters. He 
 certainly here speaks of a thunder-storm as it is [seen] when rising 
 and approaching, whether there was then one approaching or no. 
 By the 30th and also the S2d and 33d verses, having first observed 
 how the cloud appears on the top of it covered with light, and how 
 the bottom covers the roots of the sea, he next observes how it is, as it 
 advances higher and comes nearer, how the cloud interposes between 
 the sun and the earth and hides its light, and how the thunder-storm 
 grows louder, and the notice the cattle seem to shew of it ; and in the 
 beginning of the next chapter, Elihu seems to speak of what then 
 appeared — " At this also my heart trembleth, and is moved out of its 
 jDlace," &c. ; and it was not the only instance of God's speaking out of 
 a storm of thunder, for so He did at Mount Sinai, (Ps. Ixviii. 8.) 
 Pool, Synop. on chap, xxxviii. 1. 
 
 147. Ihid., ver. 29, 30.] Here the clouds are represented as being 
 spread out over the concave of the heavens as the covering of a taber- 
 nacle, which come down as curtains and cover the utmost edge of 
 the sea, which is the uttermost part of the pavement or ground of the 
 tabernacle. Here the clouds are represented as one covering and the 
 light another, spread out upon it, as in the Tabernacle built in the 
 wilderness there were various coverings one without another. Elilni 
 probably has respect to the cloud as it now appeared. The clouds of 
 a thunder-storm, when rising, appear at top spread over with a bright 
 light, and at the bottom covering the utmost ends of the earth or 
 sea. 
 
 148. Job xl. 2-4.] Since Job had undertaken to find fault with 
 God and His dispensations, and to desire an opportunity to dispute 
 with Him, that he might argue the matter of the erroneousness of 
 His dispensations with him, he is now called upon by God to 
 
1 1 6 ANNOTATIONS ON PASSAGES OF SCEIPTUEE. 
 
 ' answer ' to what He had said, and speak in his turn. But now Job 
 declines it and owns he has nothing to answer — " Behold, I am vile," 
 
 &c. 
 
 149. Job xli. 11 — "Who hath prevented Me, that I should repay 
 him?"] These words are a great evidence that leviathan is here 
 spoken of as a type of the devil. For no other leviathan was ever 
 subject to God's moral government, or ever rebelled against Him, 
 that God should repay him. 
 
 PSALMS. 
 
 150. Ps. xi. G — "Snares."] i.e., This destruction shall come sud- 
 denly and unexpectedly upon them, while they are saying peace and 
 safety, while they are eating and drinking, marrying and giving in 
 marriage, and gratifying their lusts — as a buxl that is securely feed- 
 inty on the sweet bait, suspecting no harm nigh, and is suddenly 
 cauoht in the snare. (Luke xxi. 34, 35 ; see also Matt. xxiv. 36-39, 
 and 1 Thess. v. 6, and Eccles. ix. 12.) 
 
 151. Ps. xxiii. 6 — " I will dwell," &c.] Being there not merely as 
 a servant, or as a guest kindly entertained for a little while, but as a 
 child adopted into the family. For, as Christ says, " The Son abideth 
 in the house for ever." 
 
 152. Ps. xxxix. 12.] David asks mercy as a stranger, having re- 
 ference to the Law often repeated in the Pentateuch, of shewing mercy 
 to strangers, (" a sojourner with Thee,") alluding to that which is said 
 in Lev. xxv. 23. 
 
 153. Ps. lix. 13 — " Consume them," &c.] The title of the Psalm 
 shews that the occasion of David's penning this Psalm was Saul's 
 persecuting of him. Here seems, therefore, to be an imprecation of 
 God's wrath on Saul to consume and cut him off from the earth ; and 
 yet, when Saul was cut off from the earth, how did he rend his 
 clothes, and mourn and weep and fast for Saul as well as Jonathan, 
 [2 Sam. i. 11, 12,] and how did David revenge his death on the 
 Amalekite that slew him, and how did he lament Saul's death as the 
 death of one that he greatly loved and [who] was very dear to him, in 
 his eleo'y ; which is a great evidence that David's imprecations of 
 God's vengeance on his enemies, in the Book of Psalms, are not the 
 expressions or breathings of his own spirit, but prophecies uttered ; 
 prophetical curses denounced by the Spirit of God. (See note on 
 David's Elegy, 2 Sam. i. 17.) 
 
 154. Ps. Ixxii. 15.] It might have been rendered — "Prayer also 
 shall be made through Him continually, and daily shall He be 
 blessed." The word rendered 'praised' is that which is commonly 
 rendered ' blessed,' when speaking of an act of worship towards God ; 
 and the word translated ' for ' is sometimes used for ' through,' as 
 
OLD TEST ANIENT — PSALMS. 1 1 7 
 
 Joshua ii. 15— " ' Tlirou.i;h ' the window." If we hold the transhition 
 ' for Him,' then it must be understood of the saints praying for the 
 Father's accomplishment of His promises made to the Son in the 
 covenant of redemption, that His kingdom may come, His name be 
 glorified, and that He may see His seed, and tliat the full reward may 
 be given Him for His sufferings, and so that He may receive the joy 
 that was set before Him. 
 
 loo. Ps. Ixxiv. 25— "Flood."] God, in dividing Jordan, did not 
 only divide the water that ordinarily belonged to the river, or the water 
 which came from its fountains, but also the extraordinary additional 
 waters by the great rains a little before harvest. So God cleaved 
 both the fountain — i.e., tlie fountain water — and the flood. 
 
 15G. Ps. Ixxxiv. 9— "Behold, God, our shield.^'] [For this 
 use of the] word ' behold,' see 2 Chron. vi. 42, and Ps. cxxxii. 10. 
 
 157. Ps. Ixxxix. 15.] There is the dreadful and there is the joy- 
 ful sound. The dreadful soimd was at Mount Sinai. The joyful 
 sound is from Mount Sion. When the people heard the former they 
 were far from beholding the glory of God's face. Moses only was 
 admitted to see His ' back-parts ;' the people were kept at a distance, 
 and the light of God's glory that they saw was so terrible to them, 
 that they could not abide it. But they that know the "joyful 
 sound," they shall be admitted near, nearer than Moses, so as to see 
 the glory of God's face or brightness of His countenance, and that 
 not only transiently, as Moses saw God's back-parts, but continually. 
 The light of God's glory shall not be terrible to them, but easy and 
 sweet, so that they may dwell in it and walk in it; and it shall be to 
 them instead of the light of the sun ; for the sun shall no more be 
 their light by day, nor the moon by night, but God shall be their 
 everlasting light. Compare this with Isa. ii. 5, and Eev. xxi. 23, 24, 
 and xxii. 4, 5. 
 
 158. Ps. cxvi. 10, 11—" Spoken ; was greatly afflicted; I said in 
 
 my haste, All men are liars."] The meaning seems to be this I 
 
 spake as I have declared, (ver. 4,) because I trusted in God. I was 
 greatly afflicted, I was in extreme distress, (as I declared before ;) I was 
 in great astonishment and trembling, (as the word rendered 'haste' 
 signifies trembling as well as haste, as it is rendered in Deut. xx. 3 ;) 
 and in these circumstances I did not trust in man ; I said, all men are 
 liars — i.e., not fit to be trusted in ; those that will fail and deceive 
 the hopes of them who trust in them, agreeably to Psalm Ixii. 8, 0. 
 See Pool, Synop. on ver. 11. 
 
 159. Ps. cxxxvi.] This Psalm confirms me that an ultimate end 
 of the creation of the world, and of all God's works, is His goodness, 
 or the commimication of His good to His creatures. For this Psalm 
 sufficiently teaches that all God's works, from the beginning of the 
 world to the end of it, are works of mercy to His people, yea, even 
 the works of His vindic[a]tive justice and wrath, as appears by verses 
 10, 15, 17-22. 
 
 160. Ps. cxliv. 5 — "Bow thy heavens, Lord, and come down."] 
 This was never so remarkably fulfilled as in the incarnation of Jesus 
 
118 ANNOTATIONS ON PASSAGES OF SCKIPTTJKE. 
 
 Christ, when hecaven and earth were as it were brought together. 
 Heaven itself was as it were made to bow that it might be united to 
 the earth. God did as it were come down and bring heaven with 
 Him. He not only came down to the earth, but He brought heaven 
 down with Him to men and for men. It was a more strange and 
 wonderful thing. But this will be more remarkably fulfilled still by 
 Christ's second coming, when He will indeed bring all heaven dowji 
 with Him — viz., all the inhabitants of heaven. Heaven shall be left 
 empty of its inhabitants to come down to the earth ; and then the 
 mountains shall smoke, and shall indeed flow down at His presence, 
 as in Isa. Ixiv. 1. 
 
 PROVERBS. 
 
 161. Prov. xi. 18 — "The wicked worketh a deceitful work "] — i.e., 
 a work that will deceive him, or that he is greatly deceived in the 
 consequences of. The work that he does, as he views it, seems to 
 promise fair for happiness : his work looks to him as that which 
 yields him a great benefit ; but his work deceives him, and he will 
 find himself miserably deceived in it. Prom the seed that he sows 
 he promises himself a croj? of pleasant fruit ; but it will deceive him, 
 for the fruit that it will yield will be gall and wormwood, and will 
 prove the most deadly poison. That this is the sense is evident by 
 the words that follow in the latter part of the verse. 
 
 1G2. Prov. xvi. 4.] The wise man, in the expression, " hath made 
 all things," has not respect merely to the works of creation, but also to 
 the works of Providence : making and creating is commonly under- 
 stood in this large sense in Scripture for bringing to pass ; yea, bring- 
 ing to pass, though not by an immediate eftecting, but only by 
 permitting, ordering, and disposing, is called ' making ' in Scripture. 
 The making the wicked, here mentioned, is a work of Providence. 
 God makes men wicked in the same sense as He is said, in Rom. ix., 
 " to make them vessels of wrath," to " harden them," and " fit them 
 to destruction " — viz., by so disposing and ordering things in His 
 providence, that they, in consequence of His disposals, especially in 
 His permission, ,or withholding restraints, do continue in wickedness 
 or are hardened in it. They are distinguished from others in being 
 impenitently and obstinately wicked, and are suff"ered to multiply 
 wickedness and heap up wrath ; and God's end in it is to glorify 
 Himself in the day of theii' evil or ruin. God makes wicked men in 
 no other sense than He creates darkness, which is not by any positive 
 efficiency, but only ordering, withholding light ; for darkness is only 
 a neo-ative. (Isa. xlv. 7.) These things that are here said to be 
 formed, made and created, are all works of Providence ; and some of 
 them brought to pass by no positive efficiency, because negative only. 
 
OLD TESTAISIENT — PKOVERBS. 1 1 
 
 Works of Providence are said to be created, (Num. xvi. 30 ; Isa. 
 Ivii. 19, and xli. 20, and xlv. 8, and xlviii. 7, and liv. 16 ; Jer. xxxi. 
 22,) so that it does not appear that this Scripture will justify such 
 an expression as that God made some men to danni them. It is most 
 probable that the wise man, by " making the wicked," has respect to 
 something that (iod dotli respecting the wicked or reprobates, that is 
 distinguishing and peculiar to them, God's distinguishing dealing 
 towards mankind might be expressed thus — that God niaketh botli 
 the righteous and the wicked in the same sense — i.e., whom He will 
 He has mercy on and makes righteous, and whom He will lie hardens 
 and leaves to Avickedness. But if the wise man had respect only to 
 the bringing men into being, having guilt and corruption, this is com- 
 mon to all. All, in this sense, are made wicked alike. It is probable 
 that by making the wicked, here is intended the same as is expressed 
 in Kom. xi. 7-10 ; 2 Thess. ii. 11, 12 ; Ps. Ixxxi. 12 ; Isa. vi. 9, 10, 
 which is a judicial proceeding and a punishment of sin, though it be 
 a mere sovereign proceeding in God that He distinguishes some by 
 not executing this punishment upon them. 
 
 163. Prov. XXV. 25.] Good news from our friends at a distance, 
 who have been gone long from us. Heaven is a far country — a far 
 country especially to sinners, who have gone far off from God to the 
 very borders, and seems to be a far country indeed to an awakened 
 convinced sinner. The gospel is "glad tidings'' from thence. 
 Abraham's servant brought to Kebekah good news from a far country. 
 Joseph's brethren, when they returned to Canaan, to their kindred 
 there, after Joseph had made himself known to them in Egypt, and 
 Joseph sent by them an account of his being alive, and his riches 
 and glory, and plentiful supplies for them, and invited them to come 
 down to him and partake of his wealth and glory, they brought good 
 news from a far country to them who before were sorrowful, and 
 ready to perish with famine. Moses brought to the children of Israel 
 in Egypt, who were in great affliction there, and almost worn out with 
 cruel bondage, good news from Mount Sinai, near the land of Midi an. 
 The spies, when they brought an account of the exceeding fertility of 
 the laud of Canaan, brought good news from a far country to them 
 that were faithful in Israel. Cyrus sent good news from the Persian 
 court to the poor captive Jews in Chaldea, as we have an account 
 in Ezra i. Darius's messengers brought good news from the 
 same court to the Jews in Judea, (Ezra iv.) Ezra came with 
 good news to Jerusalem, when he brought from thence Artaxerxcs's 
 commission and decree, (Ezra vii.) Nehemiah came to Jeru- 
 salem with good news from the same court, (Neh. i.) Esther's 
 messengers brought good news from Shushan to the Jews in Judea 
 and in all the distant provinces of Esther, and Mordecai's advance- 
 ment, and of great salvation for the Jews. Naomi, when in the land 
 of Moab, heard good news from Canaan, when she heard how the 
 Lord had visited His people in giving them bread, (Paith i. 6.) 
 AU these are types of the good news sent us from heaven in the 
 gospel of Jesus Christ, which gospel was good news from a far country; 
 
120 ANNOTATIONS ON PASSAGES OF SCRIPTTJEE. 
 
 also, in another sense — viz., it is preached to the Gentries who were 
 far off — aliens and strangers — far off from the Church of God and sent 
 from Jerusalem and the land of Canaan to the remote parts of the world. 
 
 1G4. Prov. xxvii. 7.] This is to shew that there is not so much 
 difference between the rich and the poor, as to comfort in outward 
 enjoyments, as the world is ready to imagine. (Eccles. v. 12.) 
 
 165. Prov. XXX. 19, 20.] The way of a man with a maid, and the 
 way of an adulterous woman, are here distinct instances. In the 
 criminal intercourse of a man with a maid, the maid was liable to a 
 discovery by some effects that were left in her body, at least it is so 
 generally. But the man might conceal his wickedness — it might be 
 hid as much as the way of a serpent on a rock ; and when a married 
 woman is guilty of adultery, then the woman may conceal her wicked- 
 ness, as well as the adulterer his. vSee Pool, Synop. 
 
 ECCLESIASTES. 
 
 166. Eccles. iii. 11.] Instead of heart, it should have been trans- 
 lated middle. God hath set the world in the middle of things. God 
 has not set us at the beginning, nor at the end of things. We see 
 but the middle of God's works, not the beginning of them ; we should 
 have seen how wisely and beautifully they were contrived in the 
 Divine counsels — how He made everything beautiful in its time. 
 We see not the end and final issue of things. Then we should see 
 the excellent and glorious issue ; that all was order, most fitly and 
 beautifully. The same word is used for middle or midst : Jonah ii. 
 3 — " Midst of the sea." So agam the same word for the midst of the 
 sea in Exod. xv. 8, and the same word is used in 2 Sam. xviii. 14 — 
 " In the midst of the oak." 
 
 167. Eccles. vi. 10 — "That which hath been is named already, and 
 it is known that it is man."] There is a certain sphere in which God 
 hath placed man, certain limits by which his attainments in the world 
 and the degree of his worldly happiness are circumscribed, which 
 limits men have come to in time past, and it is a vain imaginaticn 
 for any to expect to exceed those limits. Whatever men attain to, 
 still they are but men. He that made him gave him his name, 
 ' Adam,' which implies that he is dust ; and let him be never so 
 greedy, aspiring, busy, and restless and grasping in his pursuits, and 
 vast in his expectations, he never will be any more. Man in his first 
 transgression was ambitious of getting above his limits, of being as a 
 god ; and this disposition is common among men : but He that is 
 mightier than man hath set his limits, and it is in vain to contend 
 with Him, as it follows — [" Neither may he contend with Him that is 
 mightier than he."] God will make it to be known that men are 
 but men, (Ps. ix. 20.) 
 
 168. Eccles. viii. 1 — " Who is a wise man? and who knoweth the 
 
OLD TESTAMENT — ISAIAH. I'll 
 
 interpretation of a tiling?''] The word translated 'thing' is dahher, 
 which previously signifies ' word/ The meaning seems to be — Who 
 is a wise man ? A man who has a right understanding of the Word 
 of Cxod. 
 
 169. Eccles. viii. 2-5.] There is a remarkable agreement between 
 what is said in tliesc verses and that which is said by the Apostle in 
 Rom. xiii. 1-5. Here ver. 2 agrees with Rom. xiii. 5 ; verses 3 and 
 4 agree with Rom. xiii. 2 and latter part of ver. 4 ; and here the 
 former part of ver. 5 agrees with Rom. xiii. and the former part of 
 ver. 4. 
 
 170. Eccles. X. 5.] i.e., To Jerusalem, eminently called the City : 
 the city to Avhich all Israel was to go three times a year to worship 
 God, and wait on Him for His blessings in the Temple. The meaning 
 of the Spirit of God probably is this — that although there be in- 
 numerable kinds of sinners that are intending to go to heaven, and 
 endeavouring to find out ways of their own thither, consistent with 
 their wickecbiess and the folly that reigns in them, and innumerable 
 such ways are invented, yet they all labour in vain. " Strait is the 
 gate," &c. " Many there be that seek," &c. 
 
 SONG OF SOLOMON. 
 
 171. Sol. Song V. 2 — " I sleep, but my heart waketh."] It may be 
 well explained by these words of Christ to His disciples : Matt. xxvi. 
 41 — " The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." 
 
 ISAIAH. 
 
 172. Isa. iii. 10, 11.] What is contained in these two verses seems 
 to be an introduction to what follows. Through the former part of 
 this book, Isaiah proceeds in his preaching, to the end of chap, xxxv., 
 agreeably to the direction given him of God in this verse, — inter- 
 changeably threatening terrible judgments to the wicked that were 
 in Israel, and revealing glorious promises to the righteous among 
 them ; as from hence to the end of this chapter the prophet says to 
 the wicked it shall be ill with him ; in the next chapter he says tO 
 the righteous it shall be well with him. In the first twelve verses of 
 the Vl"^ chapter he again says to the wicked it shall be ill with him ; 
 and chap. vi. 13, and vii. 1-1 G, he says to the righteous it shall be 
 well with him ; but ver. 8 is a threatening to the wicked, ver. 17 to 
 end to the wicked; chap. viii. 1-8, to the wicked; verses 9, 10, the 
 righteous ; ver. 14, part to the righteous and part to the wicked ; 
 ver. 15, to the wicked ; verses 16, 17, to the righteous; from thence 
 
122 ANNOTATIONS ON PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 to end, to the wicked ; chap. ix. 1-7, to the righteous ; ver. 8 to 
 end, and chap. x. 1-6, to the wicked ; ver. 6 to end, and chaps, xi., xii., 
 xiii., and xiv., to the righteous; chap. xxii. 1-19, to the wicked; ver. 20 
 to end, to the righteous ; chap. xxiv. 1-12, to the wicked ; ver. 13 to 
 end, and chap. xxv. and xxvi. 1-9, to the righteous; verses 10, 11, 
 to the wicked ; ver. 12 to end, and chap, xxvii., to the righteous ; 
 chap, xxvii i. 1-4, to the wicked ; verses 5, 6, to the righteous ; verses 
 7, 8, to the wicked ; verses 9, 10, to the righteous ; verses 11-15, to 
 the wicked ; ver. 16, to the righteous ; verses 17-22, to the wicked ; 
 ver. 23 to end, to righteous ; chap. xxix. 1-4, to the wicked ; verses 
 5-8, to the righteous ; verses 9-16, to the wicked ; ver. 17 to end, to 
 the righteous ; chap. xxx. 1-7, to the wicked ; ver. 18 to the end, to 
 the righteous ; chap. xxxi. 1-3, to the wicked ; ver. 4 to end, and 
 chap, xxxii. 1-8, to the righteous ; verses 9-14, to the wicked ; ver. 
 15 to end, and chap, xxxiii. 1-6, to the righteous ; verses 7-14, to the 
 wicked ; verses 15-17, to the righteous ; verses 17, 18, to the 
 wicked; ver. 19 to end, and chap, xxxiv. and xxxv. to the righteous. 
 
 173. Isa. ix. 6 — " Counsellor."] Not only because He is man's 
 Counsellor, but God's. See Gen. i. 26. 
 
 174. Isa. ix. 6. — " Wonderful."] Which shews that this child that 
 was to be born is the same person with the Angel that spake to 
 Manoah, that ascended in the flame of the altar ; for He tells Manoah 
 that His name is ' Secret,' (Judges xiii. 18.) The word is the same in 
 the original that here is translated ' Wonderful,' and that person was 
 God, for He is there spoken of as being God, (verses 22, 23 ;) so that 
 here is a prophecy of God's being born, which agrees with the names 
 that follow — 'The mighty God,' 'The everlasting Father,' and to 
 the name that He is called by in the last preceding chapter but one, 
 in the 14th verse — viz., 'Ennnanuel.' And it also confirms that 
 the child here intended is the person that was to be a sacrifice for 
 sin, because this person, whose name was Secret and Wonderful, 
 ascended before Manoah in the flame of the altar ; and so it aro-ues it 
 to be the same person that wrestled with Jacob, for when Jacob en- 
 quired after His name He answers, " Wherefore enquirest thou after 
 my name ?" in like manner as He answered Manoah when he enquired 
 after His name. It argues it also to be that Son of God spoken of 
 in Prov. xxx. 4 ; see also Rev. xix. 12. 
 
 175. Isa. xvi. 2.] The comparison is to be understood of such 
 birds as the children of Israel used to keep, as doves particularly, 
 which, if they were turned and shut out of their dove-houses, would 
 not know what to do nor where to go, no more than Noah's dove 
 when sent out of the Ark. As to wild birds, the difficulty was not 
 such with them which had no particular house or certain fixed home, 
 and if they were turned out of one nest could make another. See 
 Hosea vii. 11, and xi. 11. 
 
 176. Isa. xxx. 8-10.] Such passages as these are a notable evi- 
 dence that these books of the prophet were not forged by the Jews, 
 and were not received with such respect and made so much of by 
 them, but because they were of Divine authority. 
 
OLD TESTAMENT — ISAIAH. 1 2o 
 
 177. Isa. xxxiii. 21.] Jerusalem had no conskleraUc river run- 
 ning by it, as the royal cities in Eoypt and Assyria and Chaldea and 
 most great cities had ; nothing but the brook Kedron, upon which 
 account their enemies despised them : nor did the children of Israel 
 deal much in ships, as Egypt and Assyria and Chaldea did, and 
 carried on their wars in consiilerablc measure by them. (See chap, xliii. 
 14.) But in God there shall be more than an equivalent ; the glori- 
 ous Jehovah will be to Jerusalem a "place of broad rivers and 
 streams." Thus we read of a river running through the New 
 Jerusalem. But if there be "broad rivers" and "streams" in 
 Jerusalem may not these yield an ea.sy access to the fleet of the in- 
 vader ? No ! These are rivers and streams in which shall go no 
 galley with oars or gallant ship. If God Himself be the river, it must 
 needs be Luaccessible to the enemy. God's people need not fear 
 though the earth be removed, for there is a river that makes glad 
 the city of God. (Ps. xlvi.) [See Henry.] 
 
 178. Isa. xxxiv. 5.] Eeference to the terrible destruction of the 
 angels in heaven. 
 
 179. Isa. xxxiv. 10.] The book of the Lord here meant is this 
 Book, or the book of this prophecy wherein the things in the two 
 foregoing verses are mentioned, as appears by comparing these 
 words with the foregoing and following. When it is said here, 
 " Seek ye out of tlie book of the Lord," &c., the meaning is, hereafter, 
 when the event shall prove whether this prophecy be true or no, then 
 read this book and examine this prophecy and compare it with the 
 event and see if anything fails. See if any one of these " doleful 
 creatures " fails of posessing Idumea and Bozrah, and every one with 
 their mate — i.e., see if the prophecy be not most exactly fulfilled. — 
 Corol. Hence the Books of the Prophets should be regarded by the 
 Church of God as part of the Canon of Sacred Scriptures as well as 
 the Books of Moses. They are the "books of the Lord," or 
 Biblia. 
 
 180. Isa. xxxvii. 38.] God pours contempt not only on this great 
 king, but on his god. He had cast great contempt on the God of 
 Israel, and made as though He were unable to defend Jerusalem 
 from his power, as chap, xxxvi. 18-20, and in verses 10-18 of this 
 chapter. This God of Israel that he so despised, as though much 
 inferior to his god, now shews how unable his god is to defend him, by 
 ordering it so that he should be slain in the very temple of his god 
 in whom he trusted, in his sanctuary and in the secret of his jjres- 
 ence, and that while he was there worshipping of him and imploring 
 his help under his present low and distressed circumstances, and 
 slain, too, by his own sons. 
 
 181. Isa. xxxviii. 18, 19 — "For the grave cannot jiraise Thee," 
 &c.] The death that is here spoken of is that which is death indeed, 
 or is properly so called. The state of death is here spoken of as it 
 is originally, and as being still a state of death, and not as it is 
 changed by redemption from a state of death to a state of life, or 
 so as to be made a more glorious rest of life. Hezekiah speaks of 
 
124 ANNOTATIONS ON PASSAGES OF SCEIPTUEE. 
 
 that death wherein men do really die or are truly dead, and not that 
 improperly so called, wherein men are a thousand times more alive 
 than they were before, and are immortal and beyond a possibility of 
 dying. Death as it is originally, and when it is joroperly death, is a 
 state wherein men cannot "praise God" nor "celebrate Him," nor 
 " hope for His truth." It is a state of evil without any good : it is, 
 Job says, " A land of darkness as darkness itself, and the shadow of 
 death without any order, and where the light is as darkness." It is 
 a state wherein there is no good done, no good enjoyed, no good 
 hoped for. It is a state of absolute emptiness of any good or prin- 
 ciple, happiness or hope. They that are in hell are in such a state of 
 death. Such was death originally. Such was death as it was threat- 
 ened to our first parents ; and very commonly when death is spoken 
 of in the Old Testament it is in this notion of it. For the change of 
 a state of death into a state of more glorious life was not fully 
 revealed under the Old Testament. " Life and immortality are 
 brought to light in the gospel." It is under this notion that death 
 seems to be spoken of in Eccles. ix. 4-6, where it is said that "a 
 living dog is better than a dead Hon," and that " the dead have no 
 more a reward," and that " they have no more a portion for ever in 
 any thing done under the sun.^' Hezekiah did not mean that they 
 that are redeemed from the power of the grave, they that get the 
 victory over death and shall never die, (as Christ promises to 
 believers,) " shall not jDraise God, nor hope for His truth." We see 
 in this instance that the better men are the more terrible would it 
 make death if there were no future state. For the better they are 
 the more they love God. Good men have found the fountain of 
 good. Those men who have a high degree of love to God do greatly 
 delight in God. They have experience of a much better happiness 
 in life than others, and therefore it must be more bitter to them to 
 have their being eternally extinct by death. Thus this seemed to be 
 above all other things the sting of Hezekiah 's affliction in his ex- 
 pectation of death, that he should no more have any oj^portunity of 
 communion with God, and of worshipping and praising Him, as 
 appears by these two verses, together with the 11th and 22d verses, 
 there not being at that time a clear and full revelation of a future 
 state. Hence we may strongly argue a future state, for it is not to 
 be supposed that God would make man such a creature as to be 
 capable of looking forward beyond death, and capable of knowing 
 and loving and delighting in Him, as the fountain of all good, and 
 should make it his duty so to do, which will necessarily increase in 
 him a dread of annihilation, and an eager desire of immortality, and 
 yet so order it that that desire should be disappointed, so that his 
 loving his Creator should in some sense make him the more miser- 
 able. 
 
 182. Isa. xli. 8 — "Chosen."] This epithet especially belongs to 
 Jacob rather than to Isaac or Abraham, because God ' chose ' him 
 before Esau his brother, though they were children of the same 
 parents and tAvins in the womb together, and though Jacob was the 
 
OLD TESTAMENT — ISAIAH. 12.") 
 
 youngest ; and chose them before they were born, or either of them 
 liiul clone good or evil. 
 
 183. Isa. xlii. 10-12.] The songs of the Lord of old were very 
 much confined to the Temple at Jerusalem. When the Jews were 
 in a " strange land " they hung their harps on the willows, and could 
 not sing the Lord's song. (Ps. cxxxvii. 2-4.) Now the songs of holy 
 joy and praise shall be sung all the world over. The Gentile nations 
 shall share e(pially with the Jews in their testament blessings, and 
 therefore shall join in the New Testament praises and acts of worship. 
 The conversion of the Gentiles is often foretold under this notion of 
 their singing praises with God's people, as appears by Rom. xv. 9-11. 
 See Isa. xxiv. 16. 
 
 184. Isa. xliii. 21-28.] In this prophecy of the great gospel sal- 
 vation, the freeness of God's grace in it, as not being at all for our 
 righteousness, is largely insisted on here in the 21st verse, and also 
 in the 4th and 7th and 25th verses, and beginning of chap. xliv. 
 The sovereign good pleasure of God and His electing love is repre- 
 sented as the grand original of all those blessings, and in the 22d 
 and following verses is particularly shewn how it is not and cannot 
 be for any sacrifice offered by those that are the subjects of these 
 blessings, or any righteousness, or anything given, offered or done by 
 them, or anything whatsoever of their own, (ver. 26,) and it is par- 
 ticularly shewn that they have nothing of their own but sins either 
 in themselves or in their ancestors. When the children of Israel were 
 redeemed out of Egypt, and had corn given them, which was a great 
 type of the gospel redemption, and care was taken to instruct the 
 peojjle that it was not for their righteousness. So here when the 
 redemption of the children of Israel out of Babylon is spoken of, 
 (ver. 14,) another great type of go.spel redemption, and that redemp- 
 tion is prophesied of under that type ; great care is also taken to in- 
 form the Church that it is not for their righteousness. Thus the 
 doctrine of justification by free grace without the works of the Law, 
 or our own righteousness, is the doctrine both of the Old and New 
 Testament, and this confirms it that when the Apostle so much in- 
 sists on justification without the works of the Law, he means without 
 any moral goodness of ours whatsoever. Justification is the thing 
 here especially spoken of, as appears by verses 25, 26. See chap, 
 xhdii. 9-11, Avith the context. 
 
 185. Isa. xlvi. 1-7.] Bel and Nebo, the gods of Babylon, were 
 first carried by men on their shoulders, (ver. 7,) and then afterwards 
 when Babylon was destroyed they were carried by the beasts. When 
 the Medes and Persians destroyed Babylon they took the cattle of Baby- 
 lon, and made them carry the gods of Babylon away into captivity, 
 and they were a great burden to the poor cattle, for the images were 
 niade of gold and silver, (ver. 6,) and they were very great and heavy, 
 and these gods of Babylon were not able to deliver either the men or 
 so much as the beasts of the city. They were called the protectors 
 of both. [But yet they] must go into captivity; yea, they themselves 
 must go into captivity. They not only could not preserve the cattle 
 
126 ANNOTATIONS ON PASSAGES OF SCRIPTUEE. 
 
 from being led away captive, but they could not deliver tliem from 
 that grievous circumstance of their captivity, of carrying them who 
 were so heavy a burden to them. It was quite otherwise with the 
 God of Israel. He did not need, to be supported and borne by His 
 jjeople, much less by their beasts. But, on the contrary, His people 
 were supported by Him. He carried them from the womb, and even 
 to hoar hairs. (Verses 3, 4.) 
 
 186. Isa. xlix. 23 — " And kings," &c.] — i.e., to nurse thy children, 
 thy sons and daughters, (spoken of in the foregoing verse,) that the 
 Gentiles shall bring in their arms, and upon their shoulders. It 
 is not meant that kings shall stand in the relation of nursing- 
 fathers, and queens be nursing-mothers to thee. For that hardly 
 will agree to what follows — " They shall bow down," &c., which 
 does not so well suit with the relation of fathers and mothers as of 
 servants. It is meant they shall be thy nourishers and nurses, not 
 to thee, but /or thee, to thy children. Tutors and nurses are a sort 
 of servants in great houses ; and that a sort of servants or ministers 
 are meant here is confirmed from chap. Ix. 10, 16. 
 
 187. Isa. lii. lo — "The kings shall shut," &c.] — i.e., they shall be 
 silent, attending to His wonderful doctrine and instructions as it 
 follows, " for that which had not been told them," &c. They shall 
 shut their mouths as learners, in acknowledgment of His superior 
 wisdom, and as a testimony of their desirousness to hear and learn, 
 as Job says, chap. xxix. 21, 22. They shall be silent also in token of 
 their admiration [= wonder.] 
 
 1 88. Isa. liii. 1 1—" By His knowledge."] The word for 'knowledge ' 
 here is very often used for 'righteousness,' ' holiness,' and 'piety.' See 
 Job xxi. 22, and xxxiii. 8, and xxxvi. 12 ; Ps. cxix, 66 ; Prov. i. 4, 7, 
 22, 29, and ii. 5, 6, 10, and v. 2, and viii. 9, 10, and ix. 10, and x. 14, 
 and xi. 9, and xii. 1, and xiii. 15, 16, and xiv. 7, 18, and xv. 7, 14, 
 and xviii. 15, and xix. 25, 27, and xx. 15, and xxi. 11, and xxii. 12, 
 and xxiii. 12, and xxiv. 5, and xxx. 8 ; Eccles. ii. 21, and vii. 12 ; 
 Isa. V. 13, and xi. 2, and xxviii. 9, and xxxiii. 6 ; Jer. iii. 15, and 
 xxii. 16 ; Hosea iv. 1, 6, and vi. 6. Besides, many places where the 
 verb this noun comes from, is used in an agreeable sense, concerning 
 which I have not examined the Concordance ; and other words of 
 like signification. But Isa. xlii. 19-21, is particularly worthy of 
 observation. 
 
 189. Isa. Ii. 4 — "Hearken," &c.] Here seems to be a prophecy 
 of a new revelation to be made of God's mind and will, and a new 
 dispensation or establishment of religion, for any constitution or 
 establishment by Divine revelation is called a Law in the Old Testa- 
 ment. So that gracious Covenant, and these free promises established 
 to Abraham, is called a Law. (Ps. cv. 8, &c.) So tlie whole of the 
 revelation of God's will is called a Law throughout the 119th Psalm. 
 Counsel and advice is sometimes called a Law: Prov. i. 8 — "Porget 
 not the Law of thy mother," and vi. 20, and chap. xiii. 14 — " The 
 Law of the wise is a fountain of life." As the first Law went out of 
 Mount Sinai, so the second went out of Mount Sion ; Isa. ii. 8, and 
 
OLD TESTAMENT — ISAIAH. ] 27 
 
 Micah iv. 2, speaking of gospel times — "For out of Zion," &c. It 
 might as well have been transhited "a Law shall go forth out of 
 Zion," as here it is said, a Law shall proceed from Me ; for the word 
 in both places is without any diversity ; and when it is said, the Law 
 shall proceed or go forth out of Zion, it is meant that a Law shall be 
 given at Mount Zion in the same manner as it is said in Deut. xxxiii. 2. 
 As there it is said, " The Law shined forth from Mount Paran, and 
 that from His right hand went a fire of Law for them," (for so it is 
 in the original) — i.e., to enlighten them. (See note in the place) So 
 here it is said, " A Law shall proceed from Me, and I will make My 
 judgment to rest for a light of the people." We find that Mount 
 Sinai and Mount Sion are opposed one to another by the Apostle in 
 tliis respect, that as the Law went forth out of the one, so the glorious 
 gospel went forth from the other. (Ileb. xii. 18-22 and 25-27.) This 
 new Law went forth out of Mount Sion or Jerusalem in two respects 
 — (1.) As it went forth from the sj)iritual Mount Sion, from heaven 
 and the Church of God, (Heb. xii. 25 ;) and also as it first went forth 
 from Jerusalem when the Spirit was poured out on the Apostles on 
 the day of Pentecost, which was the same day that the Law was given 
 at Sinai, and a day kept in commemoration of that event. See 
 1 Chron. xxiii. 26. 
 
 190. Isa. liii. 2.] This verse has respect to Christ's appearance in 
 mean and low circumstances, without outward pomp and splendour. 
 Great outward glory is in Scriptm'e often compared to a tree growing- 
 high and large, and flourishing in its pride, (Ps. xxxvii. 85 ; Dan. iv. 
 10, &c. ; Isa. X. 33, 34 ; Ezek. xxxL 3, 4, &c. ; Isa. ii. 13 with con- 
 text, and Job xxix. 1 9, 20 ;) and therefore Christ's being destitute of 
 earthly glory, is [represented] by His being " a root out of a dry 
 ground," not like a tree planted on a fat soil or by streams of water, 
 that flourishes and grows large, and makes a great show. Christ is 
 in Scripture often compared to a root, plant, or branch. The Jews 
 expected such a branch as this ; but, on the contrary. He is a root out 
 of a dry ground, that grows low and spreads but little and makes no 
 gay appearance. It was a low bush, and not a mighty tree, that was 
 seen burning on Mount Sinai and was not consumed, which was a 
 type of Jesus Christ. The same thing is signified by His being 
 " without form, or comeliness, or beauty." Earthly pomp and glory 
 of wealth, power, and magnificence is called ' comeliness ' in Scrip- 
 ture, as Ezek. xxvii. 10, and so it is called 'beauty,' (2 Sam. i. 19 ; 
 Isa. xiii. 19, xxviii. 1 ; Ezek. xxvii. 3, 4, 11, xxviii 12, 17.) 
 
 191. Addition to Isa. liii. 2.] Particularly we find the pomp and 
 magnificence of great earthly princes is compared to the stateliness 
 and beauty of a great, tall, spreading, flourishing tree in a fruitful 
 soil, with a multitude of waters at the root, (Ezek. xxxi. 2-10 ; com- 
 pare Deut. iv. 12 ; Isa. x. 33 ; Ps. xxxvii. 35,) and this stately flourish- 
 ing appearance of such a tree, called its beauty or comeliness, (verses 
 3, 7-9 ;) and therefore here, when the Messiah is spoken of as being 
 not like such a stately flourishing tree, with many waters at the root, 
 but as a low tree or bush, and weak tender plant, and root out of a 
 
128 ANNOTATIONS ON PASSAGES OF SCEIPTUEE. 
 
 dry ground, or having no Avaters at the root, it is natural that Ave 
 should understand that the Messiah should come without this pomp 
 and glory of earthly princes ; yea, in a state and with an appearance 
 that should be the reverse of it. 
 
 192. Isa. Ivi. 3, 4, &c.] Here is plainly a prophecy of the abro- 
 gating of some of the Law of Moses. In gospel times [this shall 
 be,] or particularly those in Deut. xxiii. 1-3. See ] Chron. xxiii. 
 6 • Jer. iii. 16, 17. 
 
 193. Isa. Ixv. 20 — "Child . . . hundred years"] — i.e., though it 
 dies in childhood, shall die with the attainments of one a hundred 
 years old — a great happiness to be old — the child shall be fully happy. 
 "Accursed," — i.e., though he live till he be a hundred years old, 
 though he seems to prosper and be let alone, yet the curse shall over- 
 take him. (See Eccles. viii. 12, and vi. 3-6.) 
 
 194. Isa. Ixvi. 1 — " The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my 
 footstool."] The mercy-seat in the Temple is no longer God's throne ; 
 but heaven and the ark and temple are no longer God's footstool, as 
 they used to be called. (1 Chron. xxviii. 2 ; Ps. xcix. 5, cxxxii. 7, 8 ; 
 Lam. ii. 21 ; Isa. Ix. 1 3.) The glorious times shall come wherein the 
 whole habitable world shall be blessed with as honourable tokens of 
 God's presence, not only as the Land of Canaan, but as the Temple ; 
 yea, as the holy of holies and the ark that had God's glory npon it. 
 See Jer. iii. 16, 17 ; Isa. Ix. 2, ii. 5, 6 ; Rev. xxi. 23, 24 ; also com- 
 pare Haggai ii. 7 ; Isa. vi. 1, 3. 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 195. Jer. xvii. 16, 18.] What we find in these verses is a con- 
 firmation that when the prophet Jeremiah, and other inspired penmen 
 of the Old Testament, imprecated judgments on their enemies, those 
 parts of their writings are not of private interpretation, or that they 
 did therein express their private inclinations and desires ; but sj)ake 
 pro23hetically the mind [of God ;] cursed them in the name of the 
 Lord, or foretold that these judgments should come. For here Jere- 
 miah, in ver. 16, solemnly appeals to God that he had not desired the 
 woeful day. But yet, in ver. 18, he prays that the evil day might be 
 brought on his enemies. 
 
 196. Jer. xxvi. 9.] That which they persecute the prophet Jere- 
 miah for, is the same thing that they charged as a great crime upon 
 Stephen, and for which they put him to death. (See Acts vi. 13, 
 
 197. Jer. XX. 14, &c.] How great an evidence is to be gathered 
 from this, and other like passages of the Old Testament, of a future 
 state of reward to the saints. Jeremiah was a man of affliction in 
 this life. It is evident that as long as he lived he met Avitli opposition, 
 hatred, and continual affl,iction, so that he wrs heartily weary of life 
 
OLD TESTAMENT — EZEKIEL. 129 
 
 and wislied he liad never been born. This affliction was followed 
 with no remarkable alteration from affliction to prosperity, as it was 
 in Job ; but while he lived, he lived to see nothing but those things 
 tiiat were most grievous to his heart, which made his being in this 
 world fiir worse than no being. Now, if there be no future state, 
 how is this consistent with the frequent declarations of God in the 
 Old Testament, that those that fear Him are blessed and happy ; and 
 His promises, that it shall be well with them, that He will be their 
 defence and exceeding great reward, &c., which the Old Testament is 
 full of ; and with what God said and promised to Jeremiah in par- 
 ticular, (chap. i. 8, 18, 19, xv. 11 ;) and also with the promises God 
 makes by Jeremiah to the righteous, which he applies to him in this 
 very context, (verses 11-13)? 
 
 EZEKIEL. 
 
 198. Ezek. vii. 12 — " Let not the buyer rejoice, nor the seller 
 mourn."] Here it may be asked, What occasion would the seller here 
 have to mourn more than the buyer, if there had been no captivity 
 approaching ? When men make bargains, both buyer and seller aim 
 at their own advantage. Answer: The prophet here has respect to 
 buyers and sellers of inheritances. Inheritances were not wont to be 
 sold in Israel, unless a man was become poor and was obliged to sell 
 his inheritance, and it was looked upon as a great calamity to a man 
 when he was thus obliged to sell his inheritance ; and therefore God, 
 in mercy and tenderness to them, required that the land should not 
 be sold for evei', but that a redemption should be granted. (Lev. 
 XXV. 23-25.) But at this time, neither had the seller any occasion 
 to mourn nor the buyer to rejoice, for it made no alteration in 
 the circumstances of one or the other, because the whole Land was 
 about to be broken up and left desolate, and they were all to be 
 carried away out of it into captivity. 
 
 199. Ezek. ix. 5, 6.] It is a great evidence that infants are guilty 
 of sin,* that wdien these destroying angels were sent on that errand to 
 executt3 God's fury upon the people, (ver. 8,) and that reason was 
 given for it, that their iniquity required such terrible vengeance, and 
 that it was a just recompense of their sin, (ver. 10,) — I say that when 
 these angels came on such an errand, and also had express direction 
 to spare some, to avoid them with great care and not come nigh them, 
 yet they are directed to smite and slay utterly without pity all the 
 rest, young and old, and even little children. Tho?e that they are Avith 
 such great care to except and not come near, are excepted expressly 
 because they had approved themselves not partakers in the sins of the 
 city ; and therefore who can imagine that at the same time orders 
 
 • Query : Rather involved in the guilt and penalty of the Fall ?— G. 
 
 I 
 
130 ANNOTATIONS ON PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 should be given to smite and slay utterly, without their eye sparing 
 or having pity, those that were a great deal more evidently free from 
 having any share in the sin of the city, because they are not capable 
 of sinning, whicli is the case of little children if they have no original 
 sin ? This order would never, surely, have been given with such cir- 
 cumstances, merely for the sin of the parents, if they had no sin that 
 was properly their own, as we may be the rather assured, because God 
 Himself did so fully and largely declare to this prophet that children 
 would not die for the iniquity of the father, nor for any iniquity that 
 they were not properly guilty of, in chap, xviii. of Ezekiel. 
 
 200. Ezek. x. 19.] The Shekinah or 'glory' of the God of Israel 
 made four removes : first, to the threshold of the house or Temple, 
 (chap. ix. 3 ;) secondly, to the east gate of the court of the Temple, 
 which is mentioned here ; thirdly, from hence to the top of Mount 
 Olivet, (chap. xi. 23 ;) lastly, from thence into heaven, (ver. 2-i.) 
 
 201. Ezek. xiv. 14.] This shews that it is no new notion, lately 
 first thought of in the world, that one may be favoured of God for the 
 sake of another's righteousness. It was old at Ezekiel's time, and it 
 is not spoken of here as a' false or unreasonable notion, as though 
 there were no such thing as one's being accepted for the sake of 
 another's righteousness ; but only the wickedness of the Land was so 
 great that the righteousness of these eminently holy men would not 
 be sufficient to avail for them, or at most, that the righteousness of 
 men is of so little worthiness that it is not sufficient to recommend 
 any more than themselves. But the righteousness of Christ is suffi- 
 cient. It is so excellent and worthy in God's account, that it is suffi- 
 cient to procure favour for the vilest of sinners. Herein is Christ a 
 more excellent and sufficient Mediator than Noah, Daniel, or Job, or 
 the most holy and eminent of mere men. Noah was in the old world, 
 but saved only himself and his family. Daniel was in Babylon when 
 it was destroyed, and only saved himself. Job saved only liimself by 
 his righteousness, when all his children were destroyed. Each lived 
 in a very degenerate time. Noah in the old world. Job when all 
 nations were falling away to idolatry. Daniel in a most degenerate 
 time in Israel. 
 
 202. Ezek. xvi. 6.] Doubtless it is something very remarkable and 
 wonderful that God would here signify by this eraphatical repetition ; 
 and the emphasis lies partly in these words, "when thou wast in thy 
 blood," the circumstances that she was in when God shewed mercy on 
 her ; and partly in these v/ords, " I said unto thee, Live," shewing the 
 wonderfulness and excellency of the favour God shewed her in these 
 circumstances. The thing that God would have so much remarked, 
 and to have such special notice taken of, is the absolute freeness and 
 sovereignty of His grace in bestowing life upon her. He said to her, 
 " Live,' when she was polluted in her blood, while she was in her sin, 
 and so not for her righteousness, or in anywise moved by her moral 
 purity. God is not moved by this either in converting or justifying 
 the sinner, for He both renews and justifies the ungodh'. (Titus iii. 
 3-7 ; 1 Cor. vi. 11 : Eph. ii. 1-13; Rom, iv. 5.) This also signifies 
 
OLD TESTAMENT — DANIEL. lol 
 
 God's slieTving niercj' to tlic sinner wlien he is helpless, for what is 
 more helpless than an infant cast out in its bloocW ["I said unto 
 thee, Live."] This signities that life in her was wholly the effect of 
 God's power, and whofiy the fruit of His mere good pleasure, which 
 is further signitied by ver. 8 — "Thy time \\as the time of love." 
 
 203. Ezck. xvi. 49 — " Poor and needy."] Hence we learn that the 
 poor, though wicked, are the objects of our charity. For it is not 
 probable tluit the poor and needy in Sodom here spoken of were only 
 godly persons, where there were scarce any who were righteous, and 
 not ten in the whole city, and it may be none but Lot; wiio was not 
 poor but rich. 
 
 204. Ezek. xxiv. 0, 7.] The Law required that they .should not 
 eat iicsh with the blood, but that the blood should be poured on the 
 ground and covered with du.st. (Lev. xvii. 13.) Flesh dressed and 
 eaten with the blood was polluted, abominable flesh. The people of 
 Jerusalem are here compared to such lle-sh in the caldron. Her 
 blood is in the midst of her ; she is like a pot where scum is in the 
 midst of it. When bloody flesh is boiled in a pot, the blood rises in 
 a scum. The sin of the people is compared in these words to two 
 things : (1.) To the blood and scum, which is the pollution and abom- 
 ination of bloody flesh. (2.) To the wickedness of those that shed 
 blood of men, and did not cover it w^ith earth, as they were required 
 to do the blood of beast.s, but were so open and daring in it as to set 
 it on the top of a rock. 
 
 205. Ezek. xlvi. 15.] Here is mention made of a morning sacri- 
 fice, but no evening sacrifice ; because in that glorious time here 
 spoken of there will be a continual and unceasing daj^ but no even- 
 ing : intimated by that in Isaiah — '' Thy sun shall no more go down," 
 &c. ; and that in Zechariah — " It shall be one day ; not day and night : 
 but at evening-time it shall be light ;" and typified by the sun's stand- 
 ins still in Joshua's time. 
 
 DANIEL. 
 
 206. Dan. vii. 5 — "Three ribs in the mouth of it," &c.] These 
 ribs seem to be the bones of his prey. The ribs rather than other 
 bones were represented perhaps, because the ribs are those bones 
 which are next the vitals, and the sight of them did naturally excite 
 the idea of his tearing and devouring the vitals of his prey ; not one 
 rib, but three at once are seen in his mouth, the better to represent 
 his extraordinary voraciousness. 
 
NEW TESTAMENT. 
 
 ST MATTHEW. 
 
 1. ii. 10 — " When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding 
 great joy."] The wise men that sought Christ travelled through a 
 vast howling wilderness, full of pits and drought and serpents, hide- 
 ous rocks and mountains, even the desert of Arabia, before they had 
 this 'joy' of seeing that star; and soon after they enquired of the 
 priests, the star arose — which well represents what commonly is 
 before persons have that joy which arises from the discovery of 
 the Person represented by this star, even Christ, "the bright and 
 morning star." [Kev. xxii. ] 6, compared with ii. 28.] 
 
 2. ii. ] 1 — " And when they were come into the house, they saw 
 the young child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshipped 
 Him : and when they had ojjened their treasures, they 2)resented unto 
 Him gifts ; gold, and frankincense, and myrrhy'\ Gifts proper to 
 be offered to a King and a God : gold, such as was wont to be given 
 to kings ; frankincense and myrrh, the chief ingredients of the incense 
 that was offered to God in the Temple. This was a specimen or 
 earnest of the fulfilment of that prophecy, Isa. Ix. 6 — " The multitude 
 of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Miilian and Ephah ; all 
 they from Sheba shall come : they shall bring gold and incense ; and 
 they shall shew forth the praises of the Lord." [By these ' gifts,' too,] 
 the charge of their journey into Egypt was provided for. [See Matt. 
 ii. 13.] 
 
 3. ii. 16 — "Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise 
 men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children 
 that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years 
 old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired 
 of the wise men."] Herod's slaying all the young children : this was 
 a just punishment of the peoj^le of Bethlehem for their treatment of 
 the blessed Virgin and her young child, by inhumanly refusing to 
 entertain her in their houses when her travail came upon her, thereby 
 exposing the life of her child ; and not only refusing to entertain the 
 Virgin in travail, but suffering her afterwards to remain in the stable 
 with her child. For this treatment of this Divine infant and His 
 
NEW TESTAMENT — ST MATTHEW. 1 33 
 
 mother, God, by a terrible judgment, destroys their infants, and dread- 
 fully afflicts their mothers. They were inhuman and cruel to the 
 blessed Virgin and her young child, and they are justly punished with 
 the eftects of dreadful inhuinanity and cruelty executed on their young 
 children. 
 
 4,. V. 8, 9 — " Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. 
 Blessed are the peacemakers : for they shall be called the children of 
 God."] Christians should be first ' pure,' then ' peaceable : ' James 
 iii. 17 — " The wisdom that is from above i?, first pure, then peaceable ;" 
 [c/.] St Mark ix. 29—" And He said unto them. This kind can 
 come forth by nothing, but hy prayer and fasting."* 
 
 5. V. 9 — " Blessed are the peacemakers : for they shall be called 
 the children of God."] Because they are therein like Christ, ' the 
 child of God,' the Prince of Peace, and the great Peacemaker ; and 
 are of a peaceable spirit, as becomes those that are brethren in God's 
 family. 
 
 6. V. 1-11 — "And seeing the multitudes, He went up into a 
 mountain ; and when He was set, His disciples came unto Him : and 
 He opened His mouth, and taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor 
 in spirit : for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that 
 mourn : for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek : for they 
 shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst 
 after righteousness : for they shall be filled. Blessed are the mer- 
 ciful : for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart : 
 for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers : for they shall 
 be called the children of God. Blessed are they which are persecuted 
 for righteousness' sake : for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed 
 are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall 
 say all manner of evil against you falsely for My sake.'] In 
 these Beatitudes, Christ seems to have a special design to correct 
 those corrupt notions the Jews entertained of the kingdom of heaven, 
 or the kingdom that the Messiah was about to erect. As in ver. 3 
 He has respect to the expectation they had in the Messiah's days of 
 enjoying great outward wealth, and being made much of by the 
 Messiah, as more excellent and honourable and worthy than other 
 nations, and so vaimting themselves in these things that should 
 greatly gratify their pride and covetousness ; in ver. 4 He has re- 
 spect totheir expectations of great worldly mirth and pleasure and 
 festivity ; in ver. 5, He has respect to an imagination that military 
 courage and martial exploits, and fierce revenge on the Piomans, and 
 other "Gentile nations that had injured tiiem, were to introduce their 
 glory under the reign of the Messiah ; in ver. 5, (also,) He has re- 
 spect to their carnal desires of worldly possessions and sensitive 
 appetites, which they hoped would be abundantly gratified in the 
 Messiah's days ; in ver. C, He has respect to their expectation of 
 scenes of slaughter and desolation in the Gentile world, which they 
 expected and hoped to see and have a hand in in the Messiah's day ; 
 in ver. 8, He has respect to those impure and luxurious delights which 
 
 * By a slip the reference is given to ver. 30. — G. 
 
1.34 ^ANNOTATIONS ON PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 usually attend worldly victories, and princes' courts, and great and 
 flourishing earthly kingdoms, which things they supposed the Messiah 
 would introduce ; in ver. 9, He has respect to those desolating wars 
 and bloody battles with which they supposed the Llessiah Avould set 
 up and ])ropagate His kingdom ; in ver. 10, He has still respect to their 
 expectation of nothing but j^omps, pleasures, wealth, and triumphs in 
 the kingdom of heaven, or of the Messiah ; in ver. 11, He has respect 
 to their expectation of being advanced to great honour, as a kind of 
 priests and princes, under the Messiah their King, having the Gentiles 
 their slaves, and even their kings and great men bowing down and 
 licking up the dust of their feet. That Christ has a design in these 
 Beatitudes to give them right notions of the kingdom of heaven is 
 manifest, for He several times in them makes express mention of the 
 kingdom of heaven, as ver. 3 and ver. 10 ; and ver. 5 speaks of inherit- 
 ing the earth, which His hearers doubtless understood of that in- 
 heritance of the earth and reigning over the world that is promised 
 to God's people in the days of the Messiah; and that being comforted 
 which He promises, (ver. 4,) they doubtless understood Him of that 
 ancient prophecy, such as Isa. xl. at beginning, and others, [which] 
 was commonly called among them the consolation of Israel — viz., 
 the comfort that should be introduced by the Messiah; and in the 
 promise (ver. 6) of being filled Christ probably has respect to such 
 promises made in the Old Testament, concerning what God would do 
 for His people in the Messiah's days : that they should be filled as 
 bowls and as the corners of the altars, (Zech. ix. 15;) that they should 
 be abundantly filled or satisfied with the goodness of God's house, and 
 that He v/ould make them drink of the river of His pleasures, (Ps. 
 xxxvi. 8, and Ixv. 4;) that they should get that which is good, and 
 delight themselves in fatness : Isa. Iv. 2 — " Wherefore do ye spend 
 money for that wliicli is not bread? and your labour for that which 
 satisfieth not ? hearken diligently unto Me, and eat ye that which is 
 good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness." That they should 
 eat when others were hungry, and drink when others were thirsty: Isa. 
 Ixv. 18 — " Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, My servants 
 shall eat, but ye shall be hungry : behold. My servants shall drink, 
 but ye shall be thirsty : behold. My servants shall rejoice, but ye 
 shall be ashamed." That they should be satisfied with God's good- 
 ness, and their soul satiated with fatness: Jer. xxxi. 14 — "And I will 
 satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, and My people shall be 
 satisfied with My goodness, saith the Lord ;" and that He would re- 
 plenish every sorrowful soul : Jer. xxxi. 25 — " For I have satiated 
 the weary soul, and I have replenished every .-orrowful soul." That 
 bread should be given them: Isa. xxxiiL 16 — "He shall dwell on 
 high; his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks; bread 
 shall be given him, his waters shall be sure." That their poor should 
 be satisfied with bread: Ps. cxxxii. 15 — "I will abundantly bless her 
 provision: I will satisfy her poor with bread;" and many other 
 j)arallel prophecies : and in the promise of obtaining mercy, (ver. 7,) 
 Christ probably has respect to such promises made to God's people 
 
NEW TESTAMENT — ST JIATTHEW. 135 
 
 in the Messiah's time, as those in Isa. xlix. 10, liv. 10, and Ix. 10, 
 and in other paralk-l pkices ; and in the promise of seeins; God, in 
 ver. 8, Christ probably has respect to such proi)hecies concernini;- the 
 glory of the Messiah's times, as that then (Jod's glory should be 
 revealed. Their eye should see the King in His beauty. They 
 should see eye to eye. That they should walk in the light of the 
 Lord, and walk in the light of God's countenance, and the like ; and 
 God's being their light instead of the sun : and in the promise of 
 being the children of God, (ver. 9,) there is great reason to think 
 Christ has respect to the many prophecies of the Messiah's kingdom, 
 that speak of God's people being then especially owned and treated 
 as His children, His sons and daughters, 
 
 7. V. 18 — " For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, 
 one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be 
 fulfilled."] The manner and style in which Christ taught, as well as 
 the way in which He wrougiit miracles, were different from that of 
 other prophets. Other prophets were wont to say, " Thus saith the 
 Lord;' but Christ used to express Himself thus, "Verily I say unto 
 you," as became the Lord Himself, the Lord that sent and inspired 
 the prophets, and in whose name they spake and whose word they 
 delivered. 
 
 8. vi. 10, 11 — "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, 
 as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread."] The order 
 of these petitions is agreeable to the direction given in ver. 83 — 
 " Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness ; and all 
 these things sliall he added unto you." So here Christ directs, first, 
 to pray for ' the kingdom of God,' and then to pray for other 
 things. 
 
 9. viii. 21 — "And another of His disciples said unto Him, Lord, 
 suffer me first to go and bury my father"]— i.e., let me stay till my 
 aged father is dead. He was not willing to follow Him yet, and 
 pleads this as an excuse, that his father was old and needed his care ; 
 or he was dear to him, and he was loath to leave him while he was 
 alive : but after he should be dead, he would be willing to follow 
 Him. 
 
 10. X. 17 — '^ But beware of men ; for they will deliver you up to 
 the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues."] To 
 understand how this comes in, and how the particle ' but ' connects 
 it with wdiat went before, it must be observed that Christ here 
 explains Himself in what He said in the preceding verse. There He 
 told them that He sent them forth as sheep in the midst of wolves ; 
 but, says He, beware of men : these are the wolves that I mean. It 
 is men, and not wolves, I bid you bew^ire of. 
 
 11. xi. 5 — "The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk ; the 
 lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear ; the dead are raised up, and 
 the poor have the gospel preached unto them." Tv(f)\ol ava^Xiirovo-i, 
 Koi ywXol TrepcTrarovcn, Xeirpol KudapifyvTai., kul K(i){f)ul ukovovcl, 
 veKpoi iyeipovrai, kol 7rTO)xol evcvyyeXl^opTai.] By the poor seems 
 pretty evidently to be meant "the poor in spirit." In the last effect 
 
136 ANNOTATIONS ON PASSAGES OF SCKIPTUKE. 
 
 here mentioned the poor are evangelised; the manner of speaking and 
 connexion of the words lead us to suppose there is the like relation 
 and opposition between the benefit and character of the subject of 
 that benefit, as in the foregoing effects mentioned, such as between 
 receiving light and darkness, a being raised up and death. The word 
 evayyeXL^ovTao, 'evangelised,' implies not only being the subject of the 
 preaching of the gospel, or the telling the good news, but a being 
 encouriiged, refreshed, and revived, and made joyful and happy by it ; 
 and between such a benefit and a being poor in spirit, of a broken 
 heart, or heart mourning, humbled, being wretched, miserable, and 
 undone in his own eyes, and despairing in the world and in himself. 
 I say, a being evangelised in the sense mentioned has a like relation 
 to such a qualification of the subject as sight has to blindness, light 
 to darkness, walking to lameness, life to death. The poor's being 
 evangelised is the last efiect mentioned, it being that which crowns 
 all, representing the main thing wliich Jesus comes into the world 
 for, the blessed effect that He had respect to in all that He said and 
 did, and the great thing of which the other things here mentioned 
 were but types and representations. In these last words Christ 
 has a plain reference to Isa. Ixi. 1. In Luke iv. 18, Christ cites 
 these words thus, " He hath anointed Me to preach the gospel to the 
 poor." 
 
 12. xi. 30 — "For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light."] 
 These words have a relation to the words of the invitation. (Ver. 28.) 
 The invitation is to them that labour and are burdened. A yoke is 
 what is put on the necks of the cattle in order to their labouring, 
 and when Christ says, " My burden is light," the word ' burden ' is 
 the noun of the verb or participle translated ' heavy burden.' 
 
 13. xii. 30 — "He that is not with Me is against Me ; and he that 
 gathereth not with Me scattereth abroad."] The true reason of Christ's 
 observing this in this place, where He is reproving the Pharisees' 
 saying, that " He cast out devils by Beelzebub," is this, that these 
 Pharisees, till now, appeared to exercise that kind of prudence, falsely 
 so-called, which is commonly to be seen among them that count 
 themselves wise and great men, who think it becomes them to let 
 matters of religion much alone, and not to appear forward and zealous, 
 or apt to shew their minds. When Christ appeared working great 
 miracles, with which the multitude appeared much affected, and some 
 appeared zealous to commence His disciples and followers, they 
 thought it their prudence to hold their tongues till Christ proceeded 
 so far in His wonderful works, and the esteem that He gained among 
 the people, that they apprehended themselves in apparent danger 
 of having their glory eclipsed, and of losing the esteem and honour 
 of the people ; and then they could bear it no longer. They openly 
 shewed what was in their hearts before — viz., a bitter enmity against 
 Christ, and that truly they had never been indifferent as they ap- 
 peared 
 
 14. xii. 49, 50 — " And He stretched forth His hand toward His 
 disciples, and said, Behold My mother and My brethren ! Por who- 
 
NEW TESTAMENT — ST MATTHEW. 1 37 
 
 soever sliall do the will of My Father which is in heaven, the same 
 is My brother, and sister, and niotiier."] The figure of speech Christ 
 here uses will appear the more natural and beautiful, if it be con- 
 sidered tliat there were probably then sitting by, not only His male 
 disciples, but also Mary Magdalene and Joanna (the wife of Chuza, 
 Herod's steAvard) and Susanna, and many other women that were 
 His disciples, who at that time attended Him, ministering to Him 
 of their substance, as seems by Luke viii. 1-3, with ver. 21. 
 
 15. xiii. 32 — "Which indeed is the least of all seeds; but when 
 it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so 
 that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof."] 
 The least of the seeds that they used, or that they were wont to sow, 
 in their land. 
 
 16. xiv. 24, 25 — "But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, 
 tossed with waves : for the wind was contrary. And in the fourth 
 watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea."] This 
 which we are told of Christ shews what He was — viz., a Divine person. 
 For it is spoken of in Job ix. 8, as a property or act of God, " that 
 He treadeth on the waves of the sea." Christ here not only walks on 
 the waters of the sea, but that when it is tossed M'ith high waves, 
 He treadeth on its boisterous waves. For it is said here that the 
 ship was tossed with waves, and it is said in John vi. 18, that the sea 
 arose by reason of a great wind that blew. 
 
 17. xiv. 24-27 — "But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, 
 tossed with waves : for the wind was contrary. And in the fourth 
 watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. And 
 when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, 
 saying. It is a spirit ; and they cried out for fear. But straightway 
 Jesus spake unto them, saying. Be of good cheer : it is I ; be not 
 afraid."] "What we have here an account of seems livelily to re- 
 present what very frequently comes to pass to persons in the affair 
 of their conversion. Christ did not appear unto them till they had 
 been long tossed with a great tempest ; the wind arose in the begin- 
 ning of the night, and it was against them, and they had been row- 
 ing all night, and striving to get to the desired haven, and all to no 
 purpose, so that by this time probably they were almost discouraged 
 and just ready to yield the case, and see that it was utterly in vain 
 for them to strive any more to reach their port. Then Christ in the 
 latter post of the night appears to them, and comes to their help, 
 and appears as one above their difficulties, walking in the boisterous 
 waves that distressed and threatened to destroy them, treading them 
 under His feet. So it commonly is with sinners under conviction 
 before Christ appears for their help. They are first made sensible 
 of their danger and brought unto great exercise and distress, and re- 
 duced to the last extremity, and to see that they can never reach the 
 haven they seek of themselves. They are brought to yield their 
 case as to their own strength, and then Christ appears as one that is 
 above their guilt, and above all those evils that threaten to swallow 
 them up, as it w^ere treading under His feet those mighty waves that 
 
138 ANNOTATIONS ON PASSAGES OF SCKIPTUEE. 
 
 encompass them on every side, that they are ready to sink in, and 
 upon those raging waves that toss them and are ready to overwhehn 
 them. These difficulties the disciples met with were in the night, a 
 time of darkness, as Jacob's wrestling was in the night, signifying the 
 darkness that persons meet with while under those convictions that 
 are preparatory to conversion ; and it is remarkable that the time 
 when Christ appeared was near the breaking of the day, for it was 
 in the fourth watch, which was the last post of the nighc. " Though 
 weeping may continue for a night, yet joy comes in the morning/' 
 It seems to be an emblem of the light that arises to the soul after 
 darkness, when Christ appears. This was the time when Christ 
 arose from the dead, and this was the time when Jacob obtained the 
 blessing after long wrestling. It is also worthy of notice that when 
 Christ first appeared they did not know what it was, they were 
 troubled at the sight, and said it is a spirit, and cried out for fear. 
 So very often, at the first spiritual discoveries that jjersons have after 
 great awakenings and distresses of conscience, they do not know what 
 it is, they fear it is only a delusion, and are terribly afraid to receive 
 it, as has been often seen in the time of the late extraordinary pour- 
 ing out of the Spirit here in Northampton, 
 
 18. xvi. 23 — " But He turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind 
 Me, Satan ; thou art an offence imto Me : for thou savourest not the 
 things that be of God, but those that be of men."] We are not to 
 understand it that Christ here calls Peter, Satan. No ; Christ speaks 
 to Satan, that He said, had a hand in the matter, and that influenced 
 Peter thus to think and speak. He speaks to Peter's indwelling sin, 
 Mhich was as it were the Devil in Peter. It was not an instance in 
 Christ's severity towards Peter that He thus speaks, but His love 
 and grace that He would not impute what Peter says to himself, but 
 to Satan. He graciously makes a distinction between His disciple 
 Peter and his indwelling corruption, as Paul says, Eom. vii. 20 — " It 
 is no more I, but sin that dwelleth in me." 
 
 19. xvi. 2G.] Preciousness or value of the soul, or anything above 
 other things, will appear by compai-ing it with other things, consider- 
 ing of it either as to be sold for them or to be bought "svith them. If 
 it be considered as to be sold for them, then the preciousness of it 
 above them appears in the unprofitableness of the bargain ; if it be 
 considered as to be bought with other things, then its superior value 
 appears by their insufficiency to buy it. The preciousness of the soul 
 is set forth in this verse both these ways, as being more precious than 
 the whole world. It is first set forth by the unprofitableness of the 
 bargain, in case that it should be sold tor the whole world ; and next 
 it is set forth by the insufficiency of anything in the world, or of 
 the whole world, to buy it or redeem it ; and in that last expression 
 — " What shall a man give ?" &c. In the former part is set forth the 
 insufficiency of the whole world to be received, in case that the soul be 
 exchanged for other things. In the latter part is set forth the in- 
 sufficiency of the whole world to be given, in case other things are to 
 be exchanued for the soul. 
 
NEW TESTAMENT— ST MATTHEW. 130 
 
 20. xvii. 2 — " Aiul was traiisfioureLl before them : and His f cace 
 did shine as the sun, and His raiment was white as the light."] This 
 denoted who He was — viz., He that was spoken of in Dan. vii. 9, and 
 Ps. civ. 2, lG-18. 
 
 21. xvii. 5 — " While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud over- 
 shadowed them : and behold a voice ont of the cloud, which said, 
 This is ]\Iy beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased ; hear ye Him."] 
 This cloud was not bright merely as clouds are oftentimes very bright 
 by the reflection of the light of the sun. But there was a more 
 excellent and glorious brigiitness in it, which is a suitable symbol of 
 the Divine jn-esence, such as, perhaps, was in the Shekinah or cloud 
 above the mercy-seat in the Tabernacle and Temple. Peter, speaking 
 of the glory of this cloud, calls it " the excellent glory." (2 Pet. i. 17.) 
 Luke says they feared as they entered into tlie cloud ; it was of the 
 appearance of Divine majesty and glory that was in the cloud. 
 
 22. xix. 17 — " And He said unto him, Why callest thou Me good? 
 there is none good but one, that is, God : but if thou wilt enter into 
 life, keep the commandments."] Probably Christ, who knew what 
 Avas in man, saw that this young man, though he had no notion of 
 Christ's being a Divine person, and thought Him but a mere man, 
 yet, thinking Him a prophet, came to Him, trusting in Him for 
 eternal life in a manner that no mere man is to be trusted on, which 
 is the reason why He says that to him, " Why callest thou Me good ? 
 there is none good but one, that is, God" — i.e., there is none else who 
 lias a goodness that is to be depended upon but God. For Christ 
 does not find fault simply with any man's being called ' good,' for 
 He, using the same word, calls some men good. Himself, as Matt. xii. 
 25 ; so Luke xix. 17- 
 
 23. XXV. 12 — " But He answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I 
 know you not."] Kom. viii. 29 — " Por whom He did foreknow, He 
 also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that 
 He might be the first-born among many brethren." To judge of the 
 force of this expression, see Matt. xxv. 12; Deut. xxxiii. 9; Job ix. 
 21; Ps. xxxi. 7. In Exod. ii. 25 — " God had respect unto them," in 
 the original is, "God knew them." Thus the word in the Hebrew, 
 is a kinsman or near friend, and also kindred and affinity, from the 
 verb to know. See Job ix. 21, and Pro v. xii. 10 — ^"'Pegardeth' 
 the life of his bear,t," in the original is, "'Knoweth' the life of his 
 beast." 
 
 2-i. xxv. 34 — "Then sliall the King say unto them on His right 
 hand. Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared 
 for you from the foundation of the world."] That this has a special 
 respect to the decree of election may be argued from Mark x. 40, and 
 Matt. XX. 3. See Exod. xxiii. 20. 
 
 25. xxvi. 64 — "Jesus saith unto him. Thou hast said: neverthe- 
 less, I say unto ycui. Hereafter .shall ye see the Son of man sitting on 
 the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of iieaven."] 
 Christ's answer to the high priest is remarkable. The high priest asks 
 whether He be the Son of God. He replies Yes ; but says He, "Never- 
 
140 ANNOTATIONS ON PASSAGES OF SCEIPTUKE. 
 
 theless, ye shall hereafter see the Son of man sitting," &c. He did not 
 deny Himself to be the Son of man, though He preferred Himself to 
 be the Son of God. He teaches the union of the human and Divine 
 nature. It was wonderful, and what the high priest could not believe, 
 that the Son of God should be arraigned as a criminal before His 
 judgment-seat ; and Christ tells him he should see another thing 
 equally wonderful, and that is the Son of man sitting at the right 
 hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven, sitting the Judo-e 
 of the world, and be brought before His judgment-seat. Nevertheless 
 though " I be the Son of God, yet ye shall see the Son of man, sitting 
 on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven." 
 
 26. xxvi. 65 — " Then the high priest rent his clothes, saying. He 
 hath spoken blasphemy ; what further need have we of witnesses ? 
 behold, now ye have heard His blasphemy/'] Contrary to that law, 
 Lev. xxi. 10. This probably foreboded that the Levitical priest- 
 hood was soon to be abolished, their priestly garments to be rent, and 
 they to be divested of the honours and prerogatives of their office. 
 
 27. xxviii. 9.] It may be pleasant and profitable to consider the 
 various passions that these women felt in their hearts on this occasion. 
 Christ was a person exceeding dear to them ; and they lately had 
 their hearts filled and overwhelmed with sorrow, upon the occasion 
 of the cruel and ignominious death that they with their own eyes 
 had seen Christ put to, (See chap, xxvii. 55, 56.) And they never 
 expected to see Him alive any more ; and they had with great art 
 prepared precious ointment to anoint His body, and doubtless were 
 much vexed that they could not have opportunity to do it, by the 
 reason of the Sabbath coming on, till the third day after His death. 
 And now they come very early, — the first day of the week, — greatly 
 engaged in their minds to do it. But when they come there they 
 find the sepulchre empty ; they could not find the body of Jesus, as 
 John informs us, and had the sorrow of the disappointment in their 
 design of anointing His body, added to the sorrow for His death ; 
 while they stood here disappointed and sorrowful, not knowing what 
 to do, two angels appeared to them and told them that Christ was 
 risen and was alive. This filled them with surprise and joy. For it 
 did not only take away their concern for their disappointment in not 
 finding the body of Jesus in the sepulchre, but brought the unex- 
 pected and unspeakably joyful news that Christ, their dear Lord, was, 
 alive again. How suddenly did this turn them from the deepest sor- 
 row to overflowing joy ! It is said, in ver. 8. . . . How eager were 
 they to impart the joyful news to their fellow- disciples, who were 
 sharers in their sorrow for His death ; and as they ran, Christ Himself 
 met them, and in a friendly manner saluted them; and what a new 
 surprise was this ! Now they see with their own eyes the truth of 
 what the angels had told them. How did it heighten their joy, now 
 to see their dear Lord Himself, whom they had so lately seen put to 
 so cruel a death, and never expected to see more, meet them alive, 
 saluting them in a sweet and cheerful manner! and how do they 
 express their joy and love to their risen Lord ! They come and hold 
 
NEW TESTAMENT — ST LUKE. 141 
 
 Him by the feet and worship Him. They express their joy, and 
 testify their respect to Him, in the most dear, humble, and adoring 
 manner. 
 
 ST MARK 
 
 28. vi. 8 — "And commanded them that they should take nothing 
 for their journey, save a staff only ; no scriji, no bread, no money in 
 their purse.'] See Num. xxi. 18. 
 
 29. vi. 7 — " And He called unto Him the twelve, and began to send 
 them forth two by two ; and gave them power over unclean spirits."] 
 It was best, on many accounts, that two should go together ; but this 
 was probably one end — that their testimony might be valid, for the 
 testimony of two witnesses is true. 
 
 30. X. 24-26 — " And the disciples were astonished at His words. 
 But Jesus ansvvereth again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard 
 is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God ! 
 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for 
 a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. And they were 
 astonished out of measure, saying among themselves. Who then can 
 be saved?"] The reasons why they were astonished seem to be 
 twofold : (1.) This was contrary to the notions they had of the 
 Messiah's kingdom, as a kingdom of great temporal wealth and glory. 
 They wondered, therefore, how it should come to pass that riches 
 should exclude men out of it ; and (2.) It was very contrary to the 
 notion they had been brought up in among the Jews, who had a 
 high esteem of rich men. They were their scribes and others that 
 were their great men, that were rich, were in highest esteem among 
 them, and supposed to be highest in favour with God. As to the 
 poorer, meaner sort of people, they were low in esteem. In com- 
 parison of these they thought none so likely to be advanced as those, 
 and therefore when they hear that those are like to be excluded, 
 they say, "Who then can be saved?" Wherefore Christ greatly 
 contradicted the notions of the Jews in the parable of the rich man 
 and Lazarus, in representing a rich man and child of Abraham as 
 going to hell, and not to Abraham's bosom, but seeing there, afar off, 
 Lazarus, a poor stranger. 
 
 ST LUKE. 
 
 31. vii. 87 — "And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a 
 sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pliarisee's house, 
 brought an alabaster-box of ointment."] This woman seems to iiave 
 been before a common whore, antl that precious ointment was what 
 she kept to anoint herself with, to render herself agreeable to her 
 
142 ANNOTATIONS ON PASSAGES OF SCRIPTUEE. 
 
 gallants, and particularly used to anoint her hair with, which was 
 accounted tlie sj^ecial ornament of women, and that she now makes 
 use of as a towel to wipe Christ's feet ; and having, now [that] she 
 is brought to repentance, no further use for the costly box in that 
 way, nor the precious ointment that is in it, she breaks the box and 
 pours tlie ointment on Christ. 
 
 82. vii. 41, 42 — " There was a certain creditor Avhich had two 
 debtors ; the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. And 
 when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Teil 
 me therefore, which of them will love him most?"] Christ plainly 
 intimates that He is the creditor, or that He is the Being against 
 whom sin is committed ; for He is the person that forgives the 
 debtor : verses 48, 49 — " And He said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven. 
 And they that sat at meat with Him began to say within themselves, 
 Who is this that forgiveth sins also ? " And He is the person the 
 debtor loves for forgiveness of the debt : verses 44-47 — " And He 
 turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman ? 
 I entered into thine house, thou gavest Me no water for My feet : 
 but she hath washed My feet with tears, and wiped them with the 
 hairs of her head. Thou gavest ]\Ie no kiss : but this Avoman, since 
 the time I came in, hath not ceased to kiss My feet. My head with 
 oil thou didst not anoint : but this woman hath anointed My feet 
 with ointment. Wherefore, I say unto thee. Her sins, which are 
 many, are forgiven ; for she loved much : but to whom little is 
 forgiven, the same loveth little." And if Christ be the creditor. He 
 is God. 
 
 83. viii. 1-3 — " And it came to pass afterward, that He went 
 throughout every city and village, preaching and sliewing the glad 
 tidings of the kingdom of God ; and the twelve were with Him, and 
 certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, 
 Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils, and Joanna 
 the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others, 
 which ministered unto Him of their substance."] This company of 
 women that followed Christ from city to city, ministering to Him of 
 their substance, is a little image and resemblance of that blessed 
 company of virgins that follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth, 
 spoken of in Rev. xiv. 4 — "These are they which were not defiled 
 with women ; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the 
 Lamb whithersoever He goeth. These were redeeuied from among 
 men, being the first-fruits unto God and to the Lamb." 
 
 34. xi. 24-26 — "When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, 
 he walketh through dry places, seeking rest ; and finding none, he 
 saith, I will returu unto my house whence I came out. And when 
 he Cometh, he findeth it swept and garnished. Then goeth he, and 
 taketh to him seven other spirits more wicked than himself ; and 
 they enter in, and dwell there : and the last state of that man is 
 worse than the first."] By comparing these verses with what goes 
 before, it is confirmed that apostasy is one great ingredient or con- 
 stituent of the unpardonable sin. For it is manifest Christ says this 
 
NEW TESTAMENT — ST LUKE. 143 
 
 of tliose same Pliarisces spoken of before, tliat said He cast out 
 devils by Beelzebub, the j)riuce of the devils. It is more inauifest still 
 by comiJaring what is said in this place with Matt. xii. 22-25. There, 
 speakino; of the unclean spirit being gone out of a m;in, and returning 
 again, &c., He adds, "Even so shall it be also unto this wicked 
 generation." It seems there was a time when these Pharisees had 
 much of the connnon influences of the Spirit of God, and the unclean 
 spirit for a season seemed to be gone out of them ; and this, ])rob- 
 ably, was a consequence of the awakening they were the subjects of 
 by John the Baptist's preaching ; but, after the illuminations they 
 then had, it seems that their religion greatly degenerated, (though 
 they were still very religious in their way.) They were exceediuLrly 
 lifted up with spiritual jiride, and fell into the condemnation of the 
 devil, and at last into the unpardonable sin. Hence it is manifest 
 that we nowhere in Scripture have any description of the unpardonable 
 sin, but that apostasy is one thing that constitutes it. 
 
 35. xiv. 20 — " If any man 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."] We must ' hate ' these, 
 considered as an exchange for Christ, or as offered to us as induce- 
 ments to forsake Christ. In the same manner as a just judge is said 
 to hate gifts : Prov. xv. 27 — " He that is greedy of gain troubleth his 
 own house : but he that hateth gifts shall live." Are we to ' hate' 
 father, &c. ? It is not meant that the judge should hate gold, or 
 silver, or goods, simply considered, but considered as offered as a 
 purchase and bias of his judgment. And in the same manner as it 
 is said in Cant. viii. 7 — " ]\Iany waters cannot quench love, neither 
 can the floods drown it : if a man would give all the substance of his 
 house for love, it would utterly be contemned," not that it would be 
 contemned simply and absolutely, but as offered as an exchange for 
 those things which love seeks and desires. 
 
 3G. xvi. 8 — " And the Lord commended the unjust steward, be- 
 cause he had done wisely : for the children of this world are in their 
 generation wiser than the children of light."] The meaning i.s, that 
 the children of this world are wiser in their generation than the 
 children of light are in theirs — i.e., the children of this world are 
 wiser in the management of their secular affairs to promote their 
 worldly interest, and in contriving and disposing things that apper- 
 tain to their generation, — that is, to the children of this world, — than 
 the children of light are in the management of special afftiirs for their 
 special interest. That this is the meaning, and not that the children 
 of this world arc wiser in temporal matters than the children of light 
 are in the same matter, is evident by the following, where Christ 
 advises us to be as wise for ourselves in special affairs as the children 
 of this world are in temporal affairs. 
 
 37. xvi. 9 — " And I say unto you. Make to yourselves friends of 
 the mammon of unrighteousness ; that, when ye fail, they may receive 
 you into everlastinghabitations."] i.e., Make to yourselves friends 
 in heaven of your earthly provision and substance ; make Cod the 
 
144 ANNOTATIONS ON PASSAGES OF SCEIPTUEE. 
 
 Father, and Christ, and the other inhabitants of the heavenly world, 
 your friends, by bestowing the earthly goods that ye are stewards of 
 upon them, as the unjust steward made himself friends by bestowing 
 the goods that he was steward of upon them. Bestow your earthly 
 goods upon them, by bestowing them on the poor, who are God's 
 receivers : if it be bestowed on one of the least of Christ's brethren, 
 it is bestowed on Christ. Then we shall make God and Christ and 
 heavenly angels our friends, which friends will receive us when we 
 fail. It is called the mammon of unrighteousness, because it is that 
 which in time past we have, as it were, stolen and embezzled, and 
 not improved them as God's stewards, but used them as if they were 
 our own, as the unjust steward embezzled his lord's goods. It is for 
 the sake of these worldly goods that we have been unjust, as the 
 steward was unjust for the sake of his master's goods, that he might 
 have them for his own and use them for his own private ends. Sin 
 consists radically in the love of this world, and it is because this 
 world is that which sin or the corruption of nature hath for its object, 
 that it is called the mammon of unrighteousness. It is by our thus 
 usino- the world that we come to be turned out of it, and to be separ- 
 ated from those worldly engagements by death, as the steward was 
 turned out of his stewardship and was deprived of his lord's goods for 
 his embezzling them. The sin by which man fell at first, and for 
 which our first parents were turned out of the earthly paradise that 
 God had committed to their care as stewards, to dress it and to keep 
 it, was using it as unjustp stewards, putting the goods committed to 
 their care to a use contrary to the owner's command, and to serve 
 their own private end. This will, therefore, be a wise improvement of 
 the mammon by which we have lost our possession and enjoyment of 
 all things here below, to make ourselves friends of it, "that they may 
 receive us" when we are turned out of our stewardship and taken out 
 of the world. Note, that expression, '' that, when ye fail, they may 
 receive you into everlasting habitations," thus explained, is a clear 
 proof of the separate state of souls. 
 
 88. xvi. 12 — " And if ye have not been faithful in that Avhich is 
 another man's, who shall give you that which is your own?"] By 
 that which is another man's is represented this world's goods. The 
 same with the " unrighteous mammon," as it is called in the foregoing 
 verse ; and by that which is " our own," is represented the blessings 
 and enjoyments of heaven, the same that is called the " true riches " 
 in the preceding verse. This world's goods are not our own ; they 
 are but lent to us for a little while, and are to be taken from us again 
 presently. We are but stewards of them, according to the foregoing 
 parable that gave occasion to these reflections. So the possessions of 
 the children of Israel in the earthly Canaan are represented as not 
 their own, but only what they improve as God's tenants and as 
 sojourners with Him, who is their landlord : Lev. xxv. 23 — " The land 
 shall not be sold for ever : for tlie land is Mine ; for ye are strangers 
 and sojourners with Me." So here what we have in this world is 
 represented as not our own, but God's, and we only as stewards. 
 
KEW TESTAMENT — ST LUKE. 1 io 
 
 But heavenly blessings are given to us as our proper inheritance, and 
 that wherein our happiness consists. They are not lent to us, but 
 given to us, never to be taken from us, but to be ours for ever. We 
 are but sojourners with God on earth ; but heaven is our proper home. 
 Hence we may see the force of the argument. If ye have not been 
 faithful in that which is another man's, who will give you that which 
 is 3'our own ? If you be not fit to have something only committed to 
 your care for a little while, that is quickly to be taken from you again, 
 how nnich less are you fit to be trusted with things for ever ; not 
 only to have them lent to you or committed into your hands for a 
 little while, but to have them given finally into your everlasting pos- 
 session ? If you cannot be trusted with something for only a few 
 days, how much less can you be trusted with the eternal possession 
 of a thing ? 
 
 81). xvi. 16 — "The law and the prophets were until John: since 
 that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth 
 into it."'] Here I would observe, that when universal terms are used 
 about redemption, they do not prove universal redemption, any more 
 than the universal term here used proves that every man, in a strict 
 and proper sense, did press into the kingdom of heaven since the 
 preaching of John the Baptist. (" Every man presseth into it.") Christ 
 is not so much speaking of what had already actually come to pass 
 since John's time, as giving a description of that new dispensation 
 that John began, and shewing wherein it differed from the old dis- 
 pensation under the Law and the Prophets, as to the much greater 
 numbers that are saved, and the multitudes that, under this dispensa- 
 tion that John's preaching was the dawning of, flock and press into 
 the ki)igdom of God. The pouring out of the Spirit in John the 
 Baptist's time, was the beginning of a glorious harvest of souls, that 
 continued from that time to the end of that age, wherein multitudes 
 of all sorts pressed into the kingdom of God. 
 
 40. xvii. 87 — " And they answered and said unto Him, Where, 
 Lord ? And He said unto them. Wheresoever the body is, thither will 
 the eagles be gathered together."] This is an enigmatical answer to 
 their question ; but yet by giving diligent heed to this answer, with 
 due care to understand it, together with a diligent observation of 
 events to be determined by it, when and where, Christ's answer is 
 that these things that He speaks of shall be when and where they shall 
 see the eagles gathered about the dead carcase. Now, the Roman 
 armies bearing an eagle on their ensign, this might naturally lead 
 them to think that the Romans were the eagles Christ spoke of. But 
 what should lead them to think that Jerusalem was meant by the 
 dead body ? I answer, Because, when Jerusalem was besieged by the 
 Roman armies, the city was filled with dead carcases. What in- 
 numerable multitudes were there that died in Jerusalem during the 
 siege, by famine and by killing one another ! When the Roman 
 aimieswere gathered together about Jerusalem, then was it fulfilled 
 that the eagles were gathered together about the dead carcases : or 
 rather, by the carcase He means His own dead body that was killed at 
 
 K 
 
146 AKNOTATIONS ON PASSAGES OF SCEIPTUEE. 
 
 Jerusalem. And after this the Jewish nation were like Christ's dead 
 carcase, and not His living body as the true Church is ; for His 
 Spirit thenceforward left that Church and the Temple and typical 
 ordinances of their worship ; thenceforward it became as Christ's 
 dead body. The Church, with its ordinances of w^orshii^, is the body 
 of Christ. The Church, with the presence and Spirit of Christ, is His 
 living body ; but when deprived of it, His dead body. The Jews, 
 therefore, killing Christ's body, killed then their own Church : by this 
 means became a dead carcase and a fit prey for eagles. From the 
 time the Jews killed Christ the Jewish Church was dead and putrified 
 till they became a stinking carcase, before the time of their destruc- 
 tion, and their stink called the eagles together upon them. 
 
 41. xix. 12 — "He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a 
 far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return."] Such 
 a representation in this parable was the more familiar to the Jews 
 because this had actually been the case with their late princes, Herod, 
 Archelaus, &c. They, in order to receive their kingdom, left Judea 
 for a season, and went into a far country — to Eome — to be invested 
 with the kingdom by the Eoman emperors, and then returned invested 
 and in the exercise of their royal authority. So Christ went into a 
 far country, and a greater city than Rome, to be invested with the 
 kingdom over the Jews and over mankind in this world, His own 
 country, by One infinitely greater than the Roman emperors. 
 
 42. ver, 14 — "But his citizens hated him, and sent a message 
 after him, saying. We will not have this man to reign over us."] 
 They sent this message to that superior Potentate that was to invest 
 Him. 
 
 43. ver. 17 — " And he said unto him. Well, thou good servant ; 
 because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority 
 over ten cities."] For now the nobleman was returned with kingly 
 authority over the whole country, and had power to dispose of the 
 government of cities. 
 
 44. xxi. 31 — '■ And in the day-time He was teaching in the temple ; 
 and at night He went out, and abode in the mount that is called the 
 mount of Olives."] By this it is evident that Christ was commonly 
 wont to lodge in the open field — He had not where to lay His head 
 in Jerusalem : He had no friend there to invite Him in, and He had 
 not money to purchase entertainment at an inn, and therefore it was 
 His constant manner to go and lodge at a certain place in the mount 
 of Olives, which was the place where He and His disciples were found 
 when Judas betrayed Him ; and therefore it is said in next chapter, 
 ver. o9, that that night " He came out, and went, as He was wont, to 
 the mount of Olives ; and His disciples also followed Him." And 
 hence also John xviii. 1, 2. (See also John viii. with vii. 33.) Hence 
 we may learn that what is spoken of Christ figuratively in Cant. v. 2, 
 " I sleep, but my heart waketh : it is the voice of my beloved, 
 saying. Open unto me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled : 
 for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the 
 night," was often literally fulfilled while He dwelt here on earth, and 
 
NEW TESTAMENT — ST JOHN. 147 
 
 that He often suffered greatly in being obliged to lodge abroad in the 
 cold and rain. 
 
 ST JOHN. 
 
 45. i. 9 — " That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that 
 Cometh into the world."] There is not now, ever was, nor will be, 
 any man in the world enlightened but by Jesus Christ. Every man 
 that Cometh into the world, that ever is enlightened, is enlightened 
 by Him ; or hereby is meant that this Light is not only to enlighten 
 the Jews, but that it enlightens indifterently every man, let him be of 
 what nation soevlr. It was fit that the true Light, when He came, 
 should be a general light. Moses enlightened only the nation of the 
 Jews, because he was not the true light. See a very parallel ex- 
 pression. Col. i. 23 — "If ye continue in the faith grounded and 
 settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which 
 ye have heard, and wliich was preached to every creature which is 
 under heaven ; whereof I Paul am made a minister." 
 
 46. i. 18 — "No man hath seen God at any time; the only-be- 
 gotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared 
 him."] God under the Old Testament gave the images of things the 
 substance and reality of which He gave in the New ; and one in- 
 stance of this was, that Christ so often under the Old Testament 
 appears in human shape. This was an image and an earnest of His 
 incarnation ; and it is still God's manner to give the image and 
 earnest of the glorious things that are to be brought to pass for 
 His Church, and in the spiritual world, before He actually ac- 
 complishes them ; and it was pleasing to Him to appear in human 
 shape, whose ' delights were with the sons of men,' who delighted in 
 the human nature, and in the thought of taking the human nature 
 and a human body ; He delighted in a human shape, and in the 
 re.semblance of His future incarnation. 
 
 47. ii. 4 — " Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with 
 thee? Mine hour is not yet come."] This exiDression, as it was used 
 in those times, carried nothing of disrespect by what was then under- 
 stood by the expression and the force that words then bore ; they 
 were not looked upon as unsuitable to be used towards one most 
 superior. This is evident, because the devil, when through the 
 greatness of his fear he feigned himself a humble and earnest sup- 
 plicant to Jesus Christ, used this expression : Luke viii. 28 — " What 
 have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God Mott High? I be- 
 seech thee, torment me not." 
 
 48. iv. 36, 87 — "And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and 
 gathereth fruit unto life eternal : that both he that soweth and he 
 that leapeth may rejoice together. And herein is that saying true, 
 Cne scwetb, and another reaicth.'] He that &oweth is Chiist, the 
 
148 ANNOTATIONS ON PASSAGES OF SCEIPTURE. 
 
 ministers of the gospel they do but reap the fruit of Christ's 
 labours. It is He that has, as it were, ploughed the field and fitted 
 the ground, and sowed the seed, and He waters the seed sown. The 
 Word, Ordinances, and Spirit, are of His purchasing and bestowing, 
 hence ministers are represented as labourers that are sent into the 
 harvest only to gather in the harvest — to gather in souls, the founda- 
 tion of whose salvation is all already laid by Christ. He that sows 
 is the Owner of the field and Lord of the harvest. Ministers are only 
 labourers and servants sent forth to gather in His hai^^est that grows 
 in the field, and springs from seed that He has sowed. He that 
 sows and he that reaps shall rejoice together, as Christ and the 
 seventy did when they returned and told Him of their success : Luke 
 X. 17, 18, 21. (Ver. 37.) This was remarkably verified with respect 
 to Christ and these His disciples, for Christ, when He dwelt on earth, 
 sowed, laid all the foundation of His future Church, but the Apostles 
 and other ministers gathered in the harvest after His ascension. 
 
 49. xiii. 10 — "Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth 
 not, save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit : and ye are clean, 
 but not all."] Probably Christ may have some respect to the legal 
 washings of the priests, who, at their consecration, even washed all 
 over : Exod. xxix. 4 — " And Aaron and his sons thou shalt bring 
 unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and shalt wash 
 them with water ; " but afterwards were required only to wash their 
 hands and their feet at the laver. (Chap. xxx. 19-21.) 
 
 50. xiv. 13 — "And whatsoever ye shall ask in myname, that will 
 I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son."] Christ speaks 
 especially of those works or miracles spoken of in the foregoing verse, 
 and therefore it is said ' that will I do,' and not ' that will I give.' 
 
 51. xvii. 24 — " Also."] — Query — What doth this particle ' also ' 
 refer to ? Ans. Christ had before prayed for His own glory. This 
 He began with in ver. 1. This He repeats in ver. 5. And this He 
 speaks of in the verses immediately preceding, 22, 23, He speaks of 
 the glory which God had given. Here He prays that God would not 
 only glorify Him, but the disciples also with Him and in His glory. 
 He here explains His request that God would glorify Him, signifying 
 that He meant not Himself singly, but with His disciples. 
 
 ACTS. 
 
 52. vii.] Rehearsal of Stephen — to shew how the Jews had of old 
 resisted the Holy Ghost in the revelation and promises made. (1.) 
 Eevealed. (2.) The operation of the Holy Spirit to accomplish them 
 within them. Resisted it by Moses and others raised up. Particu- 
 larly insists on the promises made to Abraham that He would give 
 to his seed Canaan for a possession, and therefore began with account 
 of the promise and the circumstances attending it, — how God called 
 
NEW TESTAMENT — ACTS. U9 
 
 Abraham from liis own country in order to making the covenant with 
 him, and the bestowing of the blessing on him, and the circum- 
 stance that rendered the promise wonderful [and] demanded Abraham's 
 ftiith in resting in it — viz., that for the present God gave him none 
 inheritance in the land, &c., and when he had yet no child — how God 
 confirmed the promise by the seal of circumcision. Next the step 
 God took to the accomplishment of this promise. (1.) Joseph into 
 Egypt to keep them alive in famine, lest Abraham's posterity should 
 be extinct and so the promise fail. (Gen. xxxvii. 4.) Joseph, the first 
 instrument God worked by, whom they resisted. Next their fathers 
 being buried in Canaan, earnest of fulfilment. Next their miserable 
 state. Next Moses — type of Christ. Next brought in by Joshua — ■ 
 finished in David and Solomon. Never fully accomplished till then. 
 Then God trieth them by settled abode. No longer moving about in 
 a tabernacle. (2 Sam. xii.) And then Stephen observes that notwith- 
 standing God don't dwell in temples made with hands, that Solo- 
 mon's temple was not the true temple of God by the account of their 
 own prophets, whereby he justifies himself in what they accused him 
 of in ver. 14 of chap. vi. 
 
 53. vii. 87, 38 — "This is that Moses which said unto the chil- 
 dren of Israel, A Prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you 
 of your brethren like unto me; him shall ye hear. This is he that 
 was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to 
 him in the mount Sinai, and with our fathers : who received the 
 lively oracles to give unto us."] The thmgs which Stephen observes 
 of Moses in these verses serve the more to shew the comparison that 
 he makes of the Jews' treatment of Christ with their fathers' treat- 
 ment of Moses to be apt and pertinent, and to render the application 
 he makes ver. 51 — "Ye stifFnecked and uncircumcised in heart and 
 ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost : as your fathers did, so 
 do ye " — the more convincing ; for here he observes that Moses him- 
 self compares the Mes.siah to him, and says that He shall be a Prophet 
 like to him ; and besides, their fathers in rejecting Moses rejected 
 Christ, for Moses spake and acted in the name of Christ, and as His 
 messenger and instrument, and Christ was with him in what he did 
 and said, as Stephen observes, (ver. 38,) that Moses was with the 
 angel (i. e., Christ) in Mount Sinai, and spake to Him, and with our 
 fathers, who received the lively oracles to give unto us ; so that Moses 
 spake His words, and [so] as that in rejecting Moses they rejected 
 Christ's o\vn words, and their murmurings against him and oppo- 
 sition to him was really opposition to Christ. 
 
 54. viii. 20-22 — " But Peter said unto him. Thy money perish with 
 thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be pur- 
 chased with money. Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter : 
 for thy heart is not right in the sight of God. Repent therefore of 
 this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine 
 heart may be forgiven thee."] By what is here said it is evident that 
 a man may contract fearful guilt, and may undo himself to all eternity 
 by that which he has no great sense of the badness of in the time of 
 
150 ANNOTATIONS ON PASSAGES OF SCEIPTURE. 
 
 it, when he commits it does not seem heinous to him ; for Simon, he 
 never seems to have had any great sense of any hurt in his proposal 
 of buying the gift or power of conferring the Holy Ghost with 
 money. He was very bold in his proposal, and in all likelihood it 
 was very unexpected to him to meet with such a rebuke. 
 
 55. xiii. 39 — " And by Him all that believe are justified from all 
 things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses."] 
 This is true in two senses, (1.) The Law of Moses made no provi- 
 sion for the expiation of presumptuous sins : there were no sacrifices 
 appointed for such sins : Num. xv. 80 — " But the soul that doeth 
 ought iDresumptuously, (whether he be born in the land or a stranger,) 
 the same reproacheth the Lord ; and that soul shall be cut off" from 
 among his people." It was so ordered on purpose that man being 
 kept in doubt, and their consciences not fully satisfied about their 
 presumptuous sins, that when Christ came, and the gospel which de- 
 clared the forgiveness of all sin through Him, ought to be the more 
 joyful tidings. The forgiveness of sin was never fully revealed till 
 Christ came. It is probable that the forgiveness of presumptuous 
 sin had been a matter of great question and controversy amongst 
 their doctors, and therefore Paul tells them that it is by Christ they 
 are justified from those sins. And (2.) the sacrifices of the Law of 
 Moses could not fully take away the guilt of any sin. 
 
 56. xvii. 27, 28 — "That they should seek the Lord, if haply they 
 might feel after Him, and find Him, though He be not far from every 
 one of us : for in Him we live, and move, and have our being ; as 
 certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also His ofi"- 
 spring."] Alluding to the darkness in which the heathen world is 
 represented. 
 
 ROMANS. 
 
 67. i. 32, ii. 1 — "Who, knowing the judgment of God, that they 
 which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, 
 but have pleasure in them that do them. Therefore thou art inex- 
 cusable, man, whosoever thou art that judgest : for wherein thou 
 judgest another, thou condemnest thyself ; for thou that judgest 
 doest the same things."] It seems to be a mistake of many that the 
 Apostle in what he says of men's wickeilness, in chap, i., has respect 
 only to the Gentiles, and that in what he says in chap. ii. he has re- 
 spect only to the Jews. It is true that in the first chapter he evi- 
 dently has his eye chiefly on the wickedness that prevailed in the 
 world, but that is not his professed design in it, only to describe the 
 sin of tlie Pagan world, but the wickedness of the world of mankind. 
 It is all unrighteousness and ungodliness, &c. And in the second 
 chapter he has his eye chiefly on the Jews ; but it is not his pro- 
 fessed design to speak only of them, as appears by his beginning in 
 
NEW TESTAMENT — KOMANS. 151 
 
 ver. 1. — The universal terms that he uses in it — " Therefore thou art 
 inexcusable, man," (not, Jews !) " whosoever thou art" (of man- 
 kind, whether Jew or Gentile) " that judgest : for wherein thou 
 judgest another, thou condemnest thyself ; for thou that judgest doost 
 the same things." In the last verse of the first chapter the Apostle 
 speaks of tlie wickedness of mankind in general, and sliews how they 
 hold the truth in unrighteousness, as he had said before (ver. 18) — 
 "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all un- 
 godliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in un- 
 righteousness :" and the special design of that verse is to set forth 
 how they are all alilce and all agreed in wickedness, and in the same 
 kind of wickedness, though they all have that light that is sufficient 
 to teach them that those that commit such things deserve the con- 
 demnation and wrath of God, and so death and destruction ; which 
 they are very ready to acknowledge and declare in the case of others 
 when they see their wickedness, their unrighteousness, covetousness, 
 maliciousness, envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity, &c. I say, 
 though when they see others guilty of such things they can easily see 
 that they are worthy of death, and are forward to express it ; yet they 
 do the very same things, and not only so, but they shew plainly that 
 they have just such hearts ; they shew a full practical consent to all the 
 wickedness of others that they are forward to condemn and to de- 
 clare worthy of death. Thus inexorable are they and inconsistent 
 with themselves. Thus the beginning of the II. chapter comes in — 
 " Therefore thou art inexcusable, man, whosoever thou art that 
 jxidgest." Thou that art forward to condemn others as worthy of 
 death — "for luhereinthou judgest another thou condemnest thyself" — 
 thou art very unreasonable and exceeding inconsistent with thyself, — 
 "for thou that judgest doest the same things," and shewest that thou 
 hast pleasure in their practice. There is at the same time that you 
 judge them a full practical consent to, and good liking of, the very 
 same practices. So God of old condemned the Jews, for that in this 
 practice they had justified Samaria and Sodom, and were a comfort 
 to them, and yet had judged them. (Ezek. xvi. 51, 52, 54.) 
 
 58. ii. 21, 22 — "Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest 
 thou not thyself ? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost 
 thou steal? thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, 
 dost thou commit adultery ? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou com- 
 mit sacrilege ?"] The Apostle, in these verses, seems to allude to these 
 words, in Ps. 1. 16-] 8 — "But unto the wicked God saith. What hast 
 thou to do to declare my statutes, or that thou shouldest take my 
 covenant in thy mouth ? Seeing tliou hatest instruction, and casteth 
 my words behind thee. When thou sawest a thief, then thou con- 
 sentedest with him, and hast been partaker with adulterers." 
 
 59. iii. 10-18 — "As it is written. There is none righteous, no, not 
 one : there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketb 
 after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become 
 unprofitable ; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their 
 throat is an open sepulchre : with their tongues they have used 
 
152 ANNOTATIONS ON PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 deceit ; the poison of asps is under their lips : whose mouth is full 
 of cursing and bitterness : their feet are swift to shed blood : de- 
 struction and misery are in their ways : and the way of peace have 
 they not known : there is no fear of God before their eyes."] The 
 passages here quoted out of the Old Testament are to prove these 
 things — (1.) That mankind are universally sinful — that every one is 
 corrupt ; that is what is aimed at in verses 10-12. (2.) That every one 
 is not only corrupt, but every one totally corrupt in every part ; that 
 is aimed at in verses 18-15, where the several parts of the body are 
 mentioned. (3.) That every one is not only in every part, but cor- 
 rupt throughout in an exceeding degree, in verses 16-18. 
 
 ()0. iii. 23 — " For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of 
 God."] I.e., The glory of the reward, as the phrase signifies, (chap. 
 V. 2) — " By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein 
 we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God." 
 
 61. iii. 25, 26 — "Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation 
 through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the re- 
 mission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God ; to 
 declare, I say, at this time His righteousness ; that He might be just, 
 and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus."] Sins that are past, 
 i.e., that were committed in past ages, before Christ died, as Heb. ix. 
 15 — "For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have 
 mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion." 
 And therefore it follows in ver. 26 — " To declare, I say, at this time 
 His righteousness; that He might be just, and the justifier of him 
 which believeth in Jesus." Before, the Apostle was speaking of past 
 ages ; the righteousness of God in pardoning their sins then com- 
 mitted was not fully declared, then, in the time, but now it is at 
 " this time." 
 
 62. V. 13, 14 — " For until the Law sin was in the world : but sin is 
 not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from 
 Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the simi- 
 litude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of Him that was to 
 come."] There are two things the Apostle would prove in these 
 words, one of which establishes the other. First, he would prove 
 that all mankind v/ere under the law God gave to Adam, that stated 
 " death to be the wages of sin." This is evident, because that sin, as 
 bringing death, was in the world before there was any other legisla- 
 tion or scheme, giving of law to mankind, besides what was to Adam, 
 viz., in that space of time that was from Adam to Moses. There 
 being sin, therefore, in the world, as bringing death in that space of 
 time, before the giving of the Law by Moses, shews that there was a 
 Law given of God before that time, threatening death that they were 
 under ; but this could be no other than the Law God gave to Adam. 
 This proves that Adam was the legal head of mankind ; that mankind 
 were under the Law given to him, wherein God threatened death for 
 transgression ; and thus God, in this Law given to Adam, saying, 
 " When thou sinnest thou shalt die," did not only speak to him, though 
 He spoke in the singular number; but in him spoke to posterity also. 
 
NEW TESTAMENT— ROMANS. 153 
 
 Hereby the Apostle projiares the way for the second thing he would 
 prove in these words which he had asserted before, ver. 12 — " Where- 
 fore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin ; 
 and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned;" which 
 he mainly aims at the proof, viz., that all mankind sinned and fell 
 in Adam. Tliis is evident by Adam's being the legal head of man- 
 kind, which is the first thing insinuated. For if God, when He spoke 
 to Adam in the singular number, giving him a precept, spoke to him 
 as representing posterity, so it will follow that He spoke to him as 
 representing his posterity in the threatening; and this is further evi- 
 dent by this, that death did not only reign from Adam to Moses, but 
 also reigned over them that had not violated Adam's law themselves 
 by their actual personal transgression, as Adam had done. 
 
 63. vii. 13 — "Was then that which is good made death unto me? 
 God forbid. But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me 
 by that which is good ; that sin by the commandment might become 
 exceeding sinful."] This is to be connected with v. 11, with these 
 words, and by it, (i.e., by the Law,) slew me, and so with v. 10, / 
 found the Law to be unto death, and that with v. 9, when the com- 
 mandment came, sin revived, and I died, and that with the fifth verse, 
 " For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by 
 the Law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death." 
 
 6i. vii. 1-i — " For we know that the Law is spiritual ; but I am 
 carnal, sold under sin.'"] Ahab sold himself to work evil, (1 Kings 
 xxi. 20) — " And Ahab said to Elijah, Hast thou found me, mine 
 enemy? And he answered, I have found thee: because thou hast 
 sold thyself to work evil in the sight of the Lord." He did it of 
 choice, he was a wilHng slave to sin, voluntarily submitted and gave 
 up himself to the dominion of this master. JBut the Apostle Paul 
 was sold imder sin as a poor captive against his will, as the context 
 obliges us to understand. 
 
 65. vii. 15 — " For that which I do I allow not : for what I would, 
 that do I not ; but what I hate, that do I."] In the original it is 
 6v ytvcba/coi, " I know not," which confirms that the Apostle here 
 speaks in the name of a true saint, and not in the name of a wicked 
 man. For surely a wicked man knows his sins in the common use 
 of such an expression in Scripture for approve, own, as what is near 
 to him and belongs to him ; but the Apostle here speaks of his not 
 knowing sin in that sense, he disowns and renounces it ; he does not 
 approve of it as that which he has any relation to, and accordingly it 
 is not in the sight of God appjroved as what belongs to him. That 
 this is the sense is confirmed by v. 17 — " Now, then, it is no more I 
 that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me," and v. 20 — " Now if I do 
 that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth 
 in me." 
 
 66. viii. 23 — " And not only they, but ourselves also, which have 
 the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, 
 waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body."] The 
 Apostle, in calling the redemption of saints the redemption of the 
 
154 ANNOTATIONS ON PASSAGES OF SCEIPTURE. 
 
 body, probably has in his eye that passage in Hos. xiii. 14 — "1 will 
 ransom them from the power of the grave ; I will redeem them from 
 death : death, I will be thy plagues ; grave, I will be thy destruc- 
 tion : repentance shall be hid from mine eyes." 
 
 67. viii. 29 — " For whom He did foreknow,- He also did predestinate 
 to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first- 
 born among many brethren."] This is the sum of what the elect are 
 predestinated to — viz., to be conformed to the image of His Sou, to 
 be made like His Son, and to have communion with Him in His 
 holiness and in His happiness. They are predestinated to be con- 
 formed to His Son in His death ; in dying to sin and the world, and 
 in His resurrection by being quickened from being dead in trespasses 
 and sins : also in their bodies being raised. " Christ the first-fruits, 
 and afterwards those that are Christ's at his coming." They are con- 
 formed to Christ in His justification. When Christ rose, He was 
 justified, and believers in this justification do but j^arti^ke with Him 
 in His justification, in v. 84 — " Who is he that condemneth ? It is 
 Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the 
 right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us." They are 
 conformed to Christ in His relation to the Father in His Sonshij), and 
 are made also the children of God, so that they are His children, only 
 He is the first-born among them, as the Apostle here observes. They 
 are conformed to Christ in the Father's love to Him, and are made 
 partakers with Him in it as members. They are conformed to Christ 
 in His being heir of the world, and they are joint-heirs. They are 
 conformed to Christ in His exaltation and glorification, for He and 
 they shall be glorified together. They are conformed to Him in 
 ascension into heaven ; they shall also ascend. They are conformed 
 to Him in the glorification of His body, for their bodies shall be 
 made like unto His glorious body. They are conformed to Him in 
 His enjoyment of the Father in heaven : they by being members of 
 Him partake with Him in His enjoyment of the Father's infinite love, 
 and in His joy in the Father, His joy is fulfilled in them, and the 
 glory which the Father has given Him, He has given them. They 
 are conformed to Him in His reigning over the world. They sit 
 with Him on His throne, and they have power over the nations, and 
 they shall rule them with a rod of iron, and as the vessels of a potter 
 shall they be broken to shivers, even as He received of His Father. 
 They shall be conformed unto Him in His judging the world, for the 
 saints shall judge the world, yea, they shall sit with Christ in judging 
 angels. This glory, this excellency and happiness that consists in 
 the saints being conformed to Christ, is the sum of the good that they 
 are predestinated to, and the whole of their conformity to Christ is 
 what the Apostle has respect to, and not only their being made like 
 Him in conversion and sanctification. 
 
 68. ix. 3 — " For I could wish that myself were accursed from 
 Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh." In the 
 original it is " that myself were ' anathema ' from Christ."] The 
 Apostle's meaning probably is, that he was willmg that Christ 
 
NEW TESTAMENT — ROMANS. 155 
 
 should SO order it that he should in the world be cut off from the 
 society and privileges of His visible people, as an excommunicated 
 person, and also be cut oti' from the earth by an accursed death 
 at last, dyin.o- under the hidings of God's face and dreadful fruits 
 of His displeasure for a time, as Christ did ; and thus to suffer from 
 Christ for the Jews, as Christ, who was made a curse for us, suffered 
 from God the Father, who was despised and rejected of men, cast 
 out of the synagogue as an accursed person while He lived, and at 
 last died an accursed death for us. As Christ loved us so the 
 Apostle loved his brethren. 
 
 69. ix. 4 — " Who are Israelites ; to whom pertaineth the adoption, 
 and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the Law, and the 
 service of God, and the promises."] The same glory is doubtless here 
 meant, whose departure was lamented when the ark was taken, when 
 it was said by the true friends of Israel, The glory is departed from 
 Israel, meaning the ark and the cloud of glory in which God appeared 
 above upon it, or rather Jesus Christ, with respect to these tokens of 
 His friendly presence. 
 
 70. ix. 22, 23 — " What if God, willing to shew His wrath, and to 
 make His power known, endured with much long-suffering the vessels 
 of wrath fitted to destruction ; and that He might make known the 
 riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had afore 
 prepared unto glory."] He does not say to shew His justice or 
 righteousness, for that is as much observed in God's glorifying and 
 making happy the saints, and much more in some respects. God's 
 justice is more gloriously manifested in the sufferings of Christ for 
 the elect, than the damnation of the wicked. 
 
 71. X. 3 — " For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and 
 going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted 
 themselves unto the righteousness of God."] The reason why the 
 righteousness of Christ, from time to time, is called by the name of 
 God's righteousness, may probably be this, that the grand difference 
 between the righteousness of the two covenants is this, that one is a 
 mere human righteousness, the other is a Di^ine righteousness, or the 
 righteousness of a Divine Person ; and not that one is our own per- 
 sonal righteousness, and the other the righteousness of Another that is 
 our surety. For if Adam had stood, and we had been justified as in 
 the way of the first covenant, we that are the posterity of Adam 
 should not have been justified by our own personal righteousness, but 
 should have been justified as much by the righteousness of another 
 as now under the second covenant. God, in infinite wisdom, hath so 
 ordered things to bring mankind to a greater dependence on God, 
 that mankind should not be justified by their own righteousness, that 
 is, by the righteousness of mankind, but by the righteousness of God, 
 that they should have their happiness, their strength, their wisdom, 
 and their righteousness, and their all in God, that God might not 
 only be the sura of their objective good or good of enjoyment, (but) 
 so (that) He should be the sum of their glory or good of excellency, 
 recommending them to that objective good, and so that God should 
 
156 ANNOTATIONS ON PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 be all in all : as there is a great disposition in man to seek his good 
 in the creature, and to keep at a distance from God, and in oppo- 
 sition to that universal union and dependence on God which is 
 the aim of the gospel, so there is a strong inclination in men to 
 acquit themselves of guilt, and trust in a mere human righteousness 
 and reject the righteousness of God. That this is the reason why 
 Christ's righteousness is called God's righteousness — viz., to set it in 
 a more clear opposition to the righteousness of men — is confirmed 
 from the antithesis in Rom. i. 17, 18 — " For therein is the righteous- 
 ness of God revealed from faith to faith : as it is written. The just 
 shall live by faith. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven 
 against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the 
 truth in unrighteousness." Here the righteousness of God is set in 
 opposition to the unrighteousness of men, and that is implied why 
 the righteousness of One that is above men, the righteousness of God 
 is necessary, because the righteousness of men or a mere human 
 righteousness is insufiicient, or because men have no righteousness or 
 there is no human righteousness. This confirms that the righteousness 
 we are justified by is called the righteousness of God — viz., to set it 
 in the clearer opposition to the righteousness of the first covenant, 
 which is the righteousness of mankind. The righteousness that Christ 
 provided is properly called the righteousness of God, in opposition 
 to the human righteousness of the first covenant, on the following 
 accounts — (1.) That whereas the righteousness of the first covenant 
 was a mere human righteousness, this is a righteousness of a Person 
 infinitely above a mere human person, it is the righteousness of a 
 Divine Person ; (2.) It is from His divinity that it derives its value 
 whereby it is sufficient to justify us, and so is fit to succeed in the 
 room of that human righteousness which we have failed of ; it is as 
 it is the righteousness of God, that it is of any avail to our justifica- 
 tion ; (3.) As the righteousness of the first covenant was in man 
 wrought out by man, we have this righteousness not by our works, 
 but wholly and immediately of God, by His gift and imputation, when 
 we have none wrought by us or inherent in us. 
 
 The Apostle by God's righteousness means the righteousness that 
 a Divine Person hath or is the subject of, and is given to believers ; 
 and, by God's rest, the same Apostle means the rest which God or 
 Christ hath, and is also given to believers. (Heb. iv. 5.) 
 
 72. xiv. 15 — "But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, now 
 walkcst thou not charitably. Destroy not him v/ith thy meat for 
 whom Christ died."] That is as much as to say, will [you not in] 
 your meat put yourself as much out of the way as to restrain your 
 appetite, though you thereby expose your brother to be destroyed, for 
 whom Christ put Himself so much out of the way as to die to save 
 him from being destroyed ? 
 
NEW TESTAIMENT — I. COKINTHIANS. 157 
 
 I. CORINTHIANS. 
 
 73. i. 27 — " But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world 
 to confound the wise ; and God hath chosen the weak things to con- 
 found the things which are mighty."] God, by this method, shews 
 Satan that His understanding and wisdom is of iniinitely further 
 reach than his. All Satan's strife and contrivances is to get the 
 powers and honours and riches and wisdom of the world on his side, 
 and to improve them in his interest. God shews that His wisdom 
 stands in no need of such helps ; but He knows how to order the 
 meanest and most despicable means, so and so to contrive things with 
 them as to balHe all the policy of Satan and confound all the strength 
 that he has on his side ; as a king would shew his superior policy if 
 he should so contrive things as without the trouble of raising armies 
 and fleets, and providing arms and ammunition, or taxing his country 
 and the like, should successfully carry on a war against a powerfid 
 enemy with mighty forces, and should baffle and confound them from 
 time to time, though they lay out themselves to the utmost, by some 
 very inconsiderable means and with very little ado. 
 
 74,_ iv. 6 — " And these things, brethren, I have in a figure trans- 
 ferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes ; that ye might learn 
 in us not to think of men above that which is written, that no one of 
 you be pufted up for one against another."] That is, above what I 
 have just now written in the directions I have given in this Epistle, 
 how ye should esteem ministers that plant and water, &c. 
 
 75. xii. 28 — " And God hath set some in the church, first, apostles ; 
 secondarily, prophets ; thirdly, teachers ; after that miracles ; then 
 gifts of healing, helps, governments, diversities of tongues."] It being 
 so that Christians, in tliose days, were so generally endued with extra- 
 ordinary gifts of the Holy Ghost, it made the case of the Church then 
 very different from what it is now. For, then, those that had these 
 extraordinary gifts became pastors, in the exercise of those gifts, and 
 so far as they were thereby qualified. Thus, any male member of the 
 Church that had the gift of prophecy might do the part of a pastor, 
 so far as the exercise of that gift extended, or in prophesying. So any 
 one that had the word of wisdom or knowledge, or a spirit of revela- 
 tion, or doctrine, or exhortation, or gift of tongue, might do the part 
 of pastors in the exercise of these gifts. All that had these extra- 
 ordinary gifts thereby became a kind of extraordinary officers in the 
 exercise of those gifts, and so far as that extended ; and, accordingly, 
 used to officiate in the Church. This is evident by this and chap, 
 xiv., and also chap. xii. to Romans. So far as any person had a 
 miraculous gift by the immediate and extraordinary influence of the 
 Spirit of Christ on their minds, so far were they (as Christ, who is 
 the head and fountain of all Church-office power, and therefore when 
 they were in the exercise of that gift) to be submitted to by the 
 Church as if Jesus Christ himself spake and acted. For it was not 
 they, iudeed, that spake and acted, but Christ in them. Christ, by 
 
158 ANNOTATIONS ON PASSAGES OF SCEIPTUEE. 
 
 giving to them such a miraculous gift, marked out the person for 
 such work in the Church. But it cannot be argued from hence that 
 there are so many distinct standing offices in the Church as there 
 were extraordinary gifts. A spirit of government, or an extraordinary 
 and miraculous qualification for the exercise of that part of tlie pastor's 
 office which consists in judging, reproving, rebuking, admonishing, 
 &c. : he that had this gift was authorised to do this part of a pastor s 
 work, and the Church submitted to him herein that they had discerned 
 had this gift. For they had a discerning of spirits — among other gifts 
 of the Spirit — among them. But this no more argues that govern- 
 ment was a distinct standing office than that exhorting was ; for 
 some that liad a gift of exhorting were in the exercise of that gift 
 to do the part of a pastor and no otherwise : Rom. xii. 8 — " Or he 
 that exhorteth, on exhortation : he that giveth, let him do it with 
 simplicity ; he that ruleth, with diligence ; he that sheweth mercy, 
 with cheerfulness." 
 
 One had an extraordinary gift of the Spirit in doctrine, another in 
 counselling and exhorting, another in reproving, admonishing, and 
 judging of offenders, but these are only so many parts of a pastor's 
 office, and may indeed all be referred to preaching and declaring the 
 word of God. All this is confirmed from Rom. xii. 6-8 — " Having 
 then gifts, differing according to the grace that is given to us, Avhether 
 prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith ; or 
 ministry, let us wait on our ministering ; or he that teacheth, on 
 teaching ; or he that exhorteth, on exhortation : he that giveth, let 
 him do it with simplicity ; he that ruleth, with diligence ; he that 
 sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness." The Spirit in Christians, which 
 they had in an extraordinary manner dwelling in them, sometimes 
 directed in judging of offenders. Thus the Apostle, chap. v. 4 — " In 
 the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, 
 in my Spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ," directs the 
 Corinthians to excommunicate the incestuous in the name of His 
 Spirit. 
 
 76. XV. 21-23 — " For since by man came death, by man came also 
 the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in 
 Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order : 
 Christ the first-fruits ; afterward they that ai-e Christ's at his coming."] 
 That is, all that are in Christ. The words import no more. For the 
 Apostle speaks of no more being made alive in Christ than are in Him. 
 The Apostle in these words has respect only to the resurrection of the 
 saints, as is evident by the words that follow in the next verse — 
 " But every man in his own order : Christ the first-fruits ; afterward 
 they that are Christ's at His coming." Indeed this resurrection only 
 can well be called a being made alive, for this only is in Scripture 
 called a resurrection to life. (John v. 29 ; Dan. xii. 2.) This resur- 
 rection to life is alone meant by the word resurrection elsewhere, as 
 Luke XX. 85 ; Phil. iii. 11. And it is this resurrection to life the 
 Apostle evidently has a special respect to in the foregoing verses ; 
 
NEW TESTAMENT — I. COKINTHIANS. 159 
 
 and, iiiileed, throiio;hoiit this whole chapter, as appears by verses 1 4t, 
 17-20, 23, 29-32,' 35, and all the following part of the chapter, 
 especially ver. 45, taken Avith the foregoing and following, and com- 
 pared with those words we are now treating of. Therefore those that 
 would argue from hence that Christ, as the second Adam or as man's 
 suret}^ procures the resurrection of the wicked as well as of the just, 
 argue without foundation. 
 
 77. XV. 29 — " Else what shall they do which are baptized for the 
 dead, if the dead rise not at all ? why are they then baptized for the 
 dead ?"'] The Apostle uses the third person plural — " What shall they 
 do that are baptized for the dead ?" and "why are they then baptized 
 for the dead V because he has a special respect to those heretics them- 
 selves that infested the Church of Corinth, and taught that there was 
 "no resurrection of the dead." They themselves had baptized for Christ, 
 and if Christ be yet dead, what will they do ? and if this be what they 
 believe, that Christ is still dead, why should they go to be baptized 
 for the dead ? How inconsistently did they act with themselves in 
 it ! for if this be the case, their baptism did them no good, " their 
 faith is vain, and they are yet unwashed from their sins." [Compare] 
 Matt. xxi. 7 — " And brought the ass, and the colt, and put on them 
 their clothes, and they set Him thereon." The plural number is 
 twice used for the singular. See the original, and compare it with 
 the other evangelists. There are instances also in the Old Tes- 
 tament of the plural number being put for the singular : " Dried 
 up mighty rivers," whereas it was but one river — viz., Jordan. 
 So Hab. iii. 8 — " Was the Lord displeased against the rivers ? was 
 thine anger against the rivers? was thy wrath against the sea, that 
 thou didst ride upon thine horses, and thy chariots of salvation?" 
 And another instance in the New Testament not mentioned before. 
 Matt. xxvi. 8 — " But when His disciples saw it, they had indigna- 
 tion, saying. To what purpose is this waste?" When but one dis- 
 ciple is meant — viz., Judas. Mark i. 21 — " On the sabbath-day," 
 in the Greek Tot<i (jdj3j3aaiv, in the plural number, is in like man- 
 ner put for the singular in Matt. xii. 1, xxviii. 1 ; Acts xiii. 14. 
 See also Matt, xxvii. 44 ; Gen. xix. 29 ; Judges xii. 7 ; Ps. cxxxvii. 1 ; 
 
 1 Sam. xxviii. 13 ; Gen. xxi. 7 ; Exod. xxxii. 31 ; 1 Sam. x. 12 ; Gen. 
 xxvii. 29. See 1 Sara. xvii. 43 — "That thou comest to rae with 
 staves;" 1 Sam. xxviii. 13 ; 2 Chron. xxiv. 25 — "And for the blood 
 of the sons of Jehoiada the priest," when only one son is meant — 
 viz., Zecharias, whom we read of, verses 20, 21. (See Pool, Synop. 
 
 2 Chron. xxiv. 25, where are quoted several instances from heathen 
 writers.) Gen. xxi. 7 — "Who would have said this that Sarah 
 should have children suck?" Gen. xlvi. 15 — " All the souls of his 
 sons, and his daughters," when he had but one daughter — viz., Dinah. 
 (See also ver. 7.) Gen. xxxvi. 25 — " The children of Anak were 
 Dishon." Gen. xlvi. 23 — "And the sons of Dan ; Hushim." 
 
 I add here from Edwards's "Miscellaneous Notes" MSS. No. 20, 
 a further note on this difficult text : — 
 
160 ANNOTATIONS ON PASSAGES OF SCEIPTUEE. 
 
 78. 1 Cor. XV. 29. — " ' Else what shall they do which are baptized 
 for the dead, if the dead rise not at all ? why are they then 
 baptized for the dead ? ' What folly is it to baptize for persons 
 that are dead, and are not risen again, nor are (ever) to rise ! 
 What folly is it to baptize in the name of such ! but this is 
 our case if there is no resurrection of the dead. We are bap- 
 tized in the name of a dead man : but why are we, if He is 
 not risen, not to rise ? (The Apostle) in the foregoing verses 
 is speaking of the resurrection of Christ, as from the 16th 
 verse — ' For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised.' 
 And if so, surely our baptism is also vain, as in this verse 
 — ' And why stand we in jeopardy every hour,' if Christ is 
 yet dead and so to continue." 
 " It is no objection against supposing that by the dead here, the 
 Apostle has respect to Christ, who, those that he wrote against sup- 
 posed to be a dead man, that the word is in the plural number, as is 
 evident by Matt. ii. 20, saying, ' Arise, and take the young child and 
 his mother, and go into the land of Israel : for they are dead which 
 sought the young child's life.' Matt. ix. 8 — ' But when the multi- 
 tude saw it, they marvelled, and glorified God, which had given such 
 power unto men ;' also John iv. 38 — 'I sent you to reap that where- 
 on ye bestowed no labour : other men laboured, and ye are entered 
 into their labours.' Where, by other men, Christ means Himself, as 
 seems plain by the context. John iii. 1 2 — ' If I have told you earthly 
 things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of 
 heavenly things?' Here is 'things,' when only one thing is in- 
 tended. It is used in such a sense as here in John xi. 4 ; Rom. i. 
 5 ; Phil. i. 29 ; Acts v. 41 ; 2 Thess. i. 5." 
 
 II. CORINTHIANS. 
 
 79. iii. 16 — " Nevertheless, when it shall turn to the Lord, the veil 
 shall be taken away.' ] That is, their heart, (shall turn to the Lord — 
 the veil shall be taken away,) in allusion to Moses taking off the veil 
 when he turned away from the people to the Lord. (Exod. xxxiv. 
 3.3-35.) And till Moses had done speaking with them, he put a veil 
 on his face. But when Moses Avent in before the Lord to speak with 
 Him, he took the veil off until he came out. And he came 
 out, and spake unto the children of Israel that which he was com- 
 manded. And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the 
 skin of Moses's face shone ; and Moses put the veil upon his face 
 again, until he went in to speak with Him. Moses, while absent 
 from the Lord, was blinded, and his head veiled, but when he turned 
 to the Lord, the veil was taken away. So it is with the hearts of men. 
 
KEW TESTAMENT — GALATIANS. 161 
 
 GALATIANS. 
 
 80. iii. 16 — "Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises 
 made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many ; but as of one, And to 
 thy seed, which is Christ."] The passage in Genesis here referred 
 to, is doubtless that Gen. xxii. 17, 18 — " That in blessing I will bless 
 thee, and in multiplying I Avill multiply thy seed as the stars of 
 the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore ; and thy 
 seed shall possess the gate of his enemies : and in thy seed shall all 
 the nations of the earth be blessed ; because thou hast obeyed my 
 voice." For the promise made to Abraham that the Apostle is here 
 speaking of,' is, that all the families of the earth should be blessed, 
 and this is expressly predicted of his seed, in anything that God says 
 to Abraham, nowhere else but there ; and the seed that is there 
 spoken of, is spoken of in such a manner that it is most naturally 
 understood not as a noun of multitude, or as containing a plurality, 
 but only an individual, because the singular word possess, and the 
 singular pronoun his, are used — " Thy seed shall possess the gate 
 of his enemies," where the same seed is doubtless to be under- 
 stood, as in the words immediately following — " And in thy seed 
 shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." It is not usual in 
 Scripture that a singular pronoun is thus annexed to the word " seed," 
 when it is a noun of multitude. Christ, the seed of Abraham, in 
 whom all the families of the earth should be blessed, is spoken of 
 elsewhere in the Old Testament as a single pronoun, as in Ps. Lxxii. 
 17 — " His name shall endure for ever : His name shall be continued 
 as long as the sun ; and men shall be blessed in Him : all nations 
 shall call Him blessed ;" and the word seed, as used in the Old Testa- 
 ment, is sometimes understood of a particular person. Thus Eve 
 says, on the occasion of the birth of Seth, (Gen. iv. 25,) "And Adam 
 knew his wife again, and she bare a son, and called his name Seth : 
 for God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, 
 whom Cain slew." So Hannah says, (1 Sam. i. 11,) "And she vowed 
 a vow, and said, Lord of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the 
 affliction of thnie handmaid, and' remember me, and not forget thine 
 handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I 
 will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life, and there shall 
 no razor come upon his head." " If thou wilt give thine handmaid 
 seed of men," as it is in the original, meaning a man child. 
 
 81. iii. 14 — " That the blessing of Abraham might come on the 
 Gentiles through Jesiis Christ ; that we might receive the promise of 
 the Spirit thnrugh ftiith."] The Spirit from time to time was pro- 
 mised of old by the prophets, as the great privilege of the happy 
 gospel days which they foretold ; but the promise was made to the 
 seed or children of Israel and Abraham. See Isa. xliv. 2, 3 — " Thus 
 saith the Lord that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, 
 which will help thee ; Fear not, Jacob, my servant ; and thou, 
 Jesurun, whom I have chosen. For I will pour water upon him 
 
 L 
 
1G2 ANNOTATIONS ON PASSAGES OF SCKIPTUEE. 
 
 that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground : I will pour my 
 Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring." Now 
 the prophet puts the Spirit and the blessing together, as the Apostle 
 does, in this verse. Again, in that great promise of the Spirit, Joel 
 ii. 28- Isa. lix. 20, 21. So, from time to time, the great promises of 
 the"'Spirit, in other places in the prophets, are to God's people Israel 
 or Israel's and Abraham's posterity. Hence, a being endowed by the 
 Spirit is, by the Apostle, spoken of as evidently being of the sons of 
 God. Eom. viii. 14 — " For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, 
 they are the sons of God ;" and of Abiaham, in this chapter. 
 
 82. iv. 21-23 "Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do 
 
 ye not hear the law ? For it is written, that Abraham had two sons ; 
 the one by a bond maid, the other by a free woman. But he who 
 was of the bond woman was born after the flesh ; but he of the free 
 woman was by promise."] These verses might be paraphrased thus, 
 by which the Apostle's reasoning in them will be understood — " Is 
 God's giving of the Law to the children, therefore, any way contrary 
 to or inconsistent with the constitution He had before established 
 with Abraham, that was by a free promise t No ; by no means. 
 Indeed if the Law that had been given at Mount Sinai could have 
 given life, so that justifying the children of Israel could have been 
 the real design of it, the children of Abraham would have been jus- 
 tified that way, and it would have been inconsistent wdth the pre- 
 ceding constitution of Abraham. But this is not the case, for the 
 design of the Law was not to justify the children of Israel, but, on 
 the contrary, to conclude them under, to prepare them by faith to 
 receive, the promise made to Abraham, &c., and it was not a consti- 
 tution inconsistent with the preceding gracious constitution with 
 Abraham, but subordinate to it." 
 
 83_ V. 17 — " For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit 
 against the flesh : and these are contrary the one to the other ; so 
 that ye cannot do the things that ye would."] By this, with the con- 
 text, it seems that grace in the heart is no other than the Spirit of 
 God dwelling in the heart, and becoming a principle of life and action 
 there, acting and exalting its nature in the exercise of men's faculties. 
 (1.) By the" Spirit here spoken of, that lusteth again.st the flesh, seems 
 plainly to be meant grace in the heart, or the gracious nature in man 
 or man's regenerated and renewed part, which is opposite to the 
 flesh or to the corrupt part. For that by the flesh is meant the cor- 
 rupt nature, is most evident by verses 19-21, and Romans vii. 5-18. 
 By the Spirit, therefore, is doubtless meant the spiritual or gracious 
 nature that is begun in man in his regeneration. Doubtless by the 
 flesh and Spirit, that the Apostle says lust one against another, he 
 means the same as by the " law of the members and law of the 
 mind," that he says war one against another, in the VII*'' of his Epistle 
 to the Romans, at the 23d verse — " But I see another law in my 
 members warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into 
 captivity to the law of sin which is in my members ;" which is further 
 evident in that the Apostle there, in the continuation of the discourse 
 
NEW TESTAMENT — GALATIANS. 163 
 
 of tlic same things, lie uses the very terms of "flesh and Spirit" so 
 much after the same manner as in this context, as may be seen by 
 comparison, that it is most evident that lie means the very same 
 thing. (2.) That the Spirit si)oken of here, and in other parallel texts, 
 as signifying the gracious or holy nature in the regenerate, is the 
 Spirit of God, seems plain by the context. For no doubt but the 
 same is meant by the Spirit here, as in verses 16, 18-25 ; but is more 
 clearly evident by the VIII"' chapter of Eomans, where the Apostle 
 is speaking of " flesh and Spirit " in like manner as here, and as we 
 have shewn already by " flesh and Spirit " he there intends the cor- 
 rupt and the gracious nature. And it is evident that the Spirit there 
 spoken of is the Spirit of God or Christ, by the 9th, lOth, 11th verses, 
 and by the 13th and 14th verses. Those extraordinary principles of 
 operation that Christians in those days were endued with, were called 
 the spirit of the persons that had them, because they were nothing but 
 the Spirit of God dwelling in them, and becoming a principle in them 
 of such a sort of operation. (Sue Note on 1 Cor. xiv. 32.) So the 
 principle of grace or gracious nature that all Christians have, is 
 called the Spirit, because it is nothing but the Spirit of God dwelling 
 in them, and becoming in them a principle of gracious and holy exer- 
 cises. For the better understanding why the corrupt nature and the 
 gracious or regenerate nature are called " flesh and Spirit," it is to be 
 considered that man, as he was first created, was endued with two 
 kinds of principles, natural and spiritual. By natural principles, I 
 mean the principles of human nature, as human nature is in this 
 world — that is, in its animal state, or that belonging to the nature of 
 man as man, or that belonging to his humanity,or that naturally and 
 necessarily flow from the inner human nature. Such is a man's love to 
 his own honour, love of his own pleasure, the natural appetites that he 
 has by means of the body, &c. His spiritual principles were his 
 love to God, and his relish of Divine beauties and enjoyments, &c. 
 These may be called supernatural, because they are no part of human 
 nature. They do not belong to the nature of man as man, nor do 
 they naturally and necessarily flow from the faculties and properties 
 of that nature. Man can be man without them ; they did not flow 
 from anything in the human nature, but from the Spirit of God 
 dw^elling in man, and exerting itself by man's faculties as a principle 
 of action. So that man's entire nature, in his primitive state, was 
 constituted of " flesh and spirit," that part of his entire nature that 
 consists in the principles of the mere human nature, or that is the 
 human nature in its perfect animal state, simply and absolutely con- 
 sidered, is flesh. The human nature or humanity, in that animal 
 state in which it is in this world, is often called flesh in Scripture — 
 Gen. vi. 12; Ps. Ixv. 2; Isa. xl. 5, 6, and xlix. 26, and Ixvi. 16; 
 Matt. xxiv. 22; John i. 14. The human nature, as it is after the 
 resurrection, is not called flesh, being then no longer in its animal 
 state : 1 Cor. xv. 50 — " Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood 
 cannot inherit the kingdom of God ; neither doth corruption inherit 
 incorruption." That spiritual nature which he had, consisting in 
 
le* ANNOTATIONS ON PASSAGES OF SCRIPTUKE. 
 
 those holy principles that he had, was quite a distinct thing, and it 
 was only the Spirit of God dwelling in man, and exerting itsnature 
 by man's faculties. Man's natural principles, or those principles of 
 humanity that man had, were in his primitive state very good ; be- 
 cause that man's spiritual principles that he had were to that degree 
 as the Spirit dwelt and acted in him to that degree, that the natural 
 principles were entirely subordinate to them. Then the flesh did 
 not lust against the Spirit. Tiiese two natures, or two sorts of prin- 
 ciples, were, by an entire, an absolute subordination of one to the 
 other,' united, so as to be, as it were, one nature. The spiritual 
 principles bare absolute rule, and therefore man was then wholly 
 spiritual, because he lived in the Spirit, and walked wholly in the 
 Spirit, and the flesh was only a servant to the Spirit. But when 
 man fell, then the Spirit of God left him, and so all his spiritual 
 nature or spiritual principles ; and then only the flesh was left, or 
 merely the principle of human nature in its animal state. They 
 were now left alone, without spiritual principles to govern and direct 
 them, so that man became wholly carnal, and so wholly corrupt. 
 For the principles of human nature, when alone and left to them- 
 selves, are principles of corruption, and there are no other principles 
 of corruption in man but these. Corrupt nature is nothing else but 
 the principle of human nature in its animal state, or the flesh (as it 
 is called in Scripture) left to itself, or not siibordinated to spiritual 
 principles; and so far as it is unsubordinate, so far is it corrupt. 
 When a man is regenerate, then again the Spirit is restored to him, 
 and spiritual principles in a degree ; so then again there is " flesh 
 and spirit." But so little of the Spirit is given, that the flesh, or 
 principles of human nature, are not absolutely and perfectly subject 
 and subordinate, so that the flesh, or the principles of human nature, 
 lust against the Spirit. And this is the reason that these two natures 
 in the saints, the corrupt nature, and the gracious or regenerate 
 nature, are called " flesh and Spirit," — viz., because the corrupt nature 
 is only the principles of the human nature, (which is often in Scrip- 
 ture called flesh,) yet in great measure not subordinated to spiritual 
 principles. And the regenerate, or gracious nature, is only the Spirit 
 of God dwelling in the heart, and acting and exerting His own natuie 
 by man's faculties. There are two things that do confirm that, by 
 the " flesh " in this text and parallel places, is meant human nature 
 left in a measure to itself. The first is, that the natural man and the 
 carnal man are evidently synonymous in Scripture. (1 Cor. ii. 14, 15.) 
 There we find natural and spiritual opposed one to another. " The 
 iiaimal msai receiveth ?to^ the things of the Spirit of God." "But 
 he that is spiritual judgeth all things;" and then in the next verse 
 but one — viz., in the first verse of the third chapter — we find carnal and 
 spiritual in like manner opposed, and as signifying the same — " And 
 I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto 
 carnal, even as unto babes in Christ ; " where it is most evident that, 
 by carnal and spiritual, he means the same as he did before by 
 natural and spiritual. 1 would argue thus from it, that if natural 
 
NKW TESTAMENT — GALATIAN3. 1G.3 
 
 and carnal are synonymous, then nature and flesh are synonymous. 
 A natural man is one that has only the principles of human nature ; 
 the word y^vy^LKo^; in the original seems to hold forth thus much, and 
 this is the carnal man. And then, secondly, which strengthens this, 
 and is strenotliened by it, is that the Apostle in the same context 
 explains what he means by carnal — viz., walking as men, or, as it is 
 in the original, according to man. (Chap. iii. 3,) " Are ye not carnal, 
 and walk according to man ? " or according to the humanity, or the 
 principles of the human nature in its animal state as the governing 
 principles. To the same purpose is that in 1 Pet. iv. 2 — " That he 
 no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lusts of 
 men, but to the will of God." (See note in the place.) Corruption of 
 heart is called "flesh" in Scripture, not chiefly because the corruption 
 of man's nature in great part consists in the inordinancy of bodily 
 appetites, as appears, because the Apostle in Col. ii. 18 does call the 
 mind fleshly, particularly on account of its being corrupted with the 
 other sort of lusts — viz., the lusts of the mind intruding into those 
 things that he hath not seen, vainly pufte;l up by his fleshly mind. 
 It is therefore not so much on this account that corruption is called 
 flesh, as because it is from human nature left to itself. The Scrip- 
 ture does expressly explain itself as to the meaning of the word 
 natural — that it is being destitute of the Spirit of God, and so 
 having nothing above human nature, (Jude 19) — "sensual, having not 
 the Spirit." The word in the original is the same that is translated 
 natural in other places. That, by flesh or fleshly, as the words are 
 used in the New Testament, as opposite to Spirit and spiritual, 
 respect is not only had to those lusts or appetites that are aj^petites 
 of the body or desires of the objects of the external senses, is evi- 
 dent, because these terms are applied to pride, the most special of 
 all lusts. Col. ii. 18 — "Vainly puflfed up by his fleshly mind." So 
 1 Cor. iii. 3, 4 — "For ye are yet carnal : for whereas there is among 
 you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as 
 men ? For while one saith, I am of Paul ; and another, I am of 
 Apollos ; are ye not carnal?" — Coroll. 1. Hence we may learn 
 CiJrist's meaning in what He says to Nicodemus, John iii. 6 — " That 
 which is born of the flesh is flesh ; and that which is born of the 
 Spirit is spirit." There are then two natures in man — the flesh, or 
 the mere human nature, and the spiritual nature. The aim of Christ 
 is to inform which nature is of the first generation, and which of the 
 second. By " flesh " Christ does not mean only the body, for there 
 is more born by the first generation than that. — Coroll. 2. Hence 
 we may learn what is the meaning of the word spiritual as it is often 
 used in the New Testament. It is not intended in contradistinction 
 from corporeal ; but things are said to be spiritual as relating to the 
 Spirit of God, especially as dwelling in the hearts of the saints. 
 Thus the godly man is called spiritual because he has the Spirit of 
 God dwelling in him, and acting by his faculties, as is evident by 
 1 Cor. XV. compai-ed with the context, beginning with the tenth 
 verse. (See "Mastricht Theologia de Regeneratione," p. 661, a.) — 
 
166 ANNOTATIONS ON PASSAGES OF SCRIPTUKE. 
 
 Coroll. 3. Hence we may learn in what sense the body at the resur- 
 rection is said to be a spiritual body. 1 Cor. xv. 44< — " It is sown a 
 natural body ; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, 
 and there is a spiritual body ;" not s;)iritual in opposition to material 
 or corporeal — for a spiritual body in that sense would be a contra- 
 diction — but spiritual in this sense that has been mentioned in 
 coroll. 2 — not in opposition to corporeal, but to natural or animal. 
 " It is sown a natural body ; it is raised a spiritual body." It is sown 
 with animal faculties and appetites suited to the needs and purposes 
 of the animal, frail, corruptible nature. But when it shall be raised 
 again, it shall be raised without these faculties and appetites ; but all 
 the faculties and properties that it shall be endowed with shall be 
 directly suited and subservient to the purposes of the Spirit, of His 
 gracious principle, or of that Divine and holy nature which God hath 
 impacted to His saints. It is evident that the body in its present 
 state is called a natural body, and in its future a spiritual body, with 
 relation to that animal nature that we derive from the first Adam, 
 and that quickening Spirit, or holy and spiritual nature, that we 
 derive from the second Adam, by the following verse: — "But if ye 
 be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law." 
 
 EPHESIANS. 
 
 84. ii. 6 — "And hath raised us up together, and made us sit 
 together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus."] The meaning is not, 
 hath made us sit together with one another, but together with Christ ; 
 as it is said in the foregoing verse, " He hath quickened us together 
 luith Christ," as the Apostle goes on in this verse, " He hath raised us 
 up together with Him, and hath made us sit together luith Him in 
 heavenly places." This is more jDlain by looking at these two verses 
 as in the original, avve^oiOTrolrjae tw ')(^piaru) — kul . , . ^Irjcrov. 
 It is here evident that the aw with which each verb is compounded 
 has respect to the same thing, and that each one denotes the com- 
 munion the saints have with Christ, in being quickened and also 
 raised up and set in heavenly places. The import of the original 
 would perhaps have been more naturally suggested to us if the trans- 
 lation had been thus, " He hath jointly quickened with Christ, and 
 jointly raised us up, and jointly set us in heavenly places in Christ ; " 
 and when, as in the last cause, there is added " in Christ Jesus," it is 
 to denote that the saints ascend into heaven, and reign in glory there 
 with Him, and in Him, which more fully expresses the manner in 
 which the saints have communion with Christ in His ascension to 
 heaven, and that dignity and glory that He possesses there, as sitting 
 with Him on His throne. 
 
 85. ii. 12 — " That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens 
 from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants 
 
NF.W TESTAMENT — COLOSSIANS. 1G7 
 
 of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world."] Tiie 
 first of these things here mentioned is the foundation of all the rest 
 that follow. A being without Christ is the foundation of being aliens 
 from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenant 
 of promise, having no hope. And the last thing here mentioned is 
 the sum of all the rest. A being without God iu the world is the 
 sum of all evil. A being without Christ, and aliens from the com- 
 monwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenant of promise, and 
 without hope, are all summed up in being without God in the world. 
 
 8G. V. 18 — "And be not drunk with wine, whei'ein is excess; but 
 be tilled with the Spirit."] The Apostle here seems to have reference 
 to that in Cant. v. 1 — " I am come into my garden, my sister, my 
 spouse : I have gathered ray myrrh with my spice ; I have eaten my 
 honeycomb with my honey ; I have drunk my wine with my milk ; 
 eat, friends ; drink, yea, drink abundantly, beloved." He was 
 afraid that they would misunderstand that as a liberty to Christ's 
 beloved ones to be drunk with wine ; but he explains the meaning 
 of it to them. — Coroll. Hence we may learn the authority of that book 
 of Canticles. 
 
 PHILIPPIANS. 
 
 87. iv. 8 — " Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, what- 
 soever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever 
 things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are 
 of good report ; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, 
 think on these things."] The Apostle in the immediately preceding 
 verses had told them what they should not exercise their thoughts 
 about — viz., outward things, things pertaining to their worldly 
 interests : ver. 6 — " Be careful for nothing ; but in every thing 
 by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests 
 be made known unto God." Now he tells them what they should 
 think about — what should be the objects of the greatest exercise of 
 their thouohtfulness and care. 
 
 COLOSSIANS. 
 
 88. ii. 16 — "Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in 
 drink, or in respect of an hulyday, or of the new moon, or of the 
 sabbath days."] This does not preclude the Sabbath. The word 
 is koprrj " a feast." 
 
 8'J. ii. 20 — " Wherefore, if ye be dead with Christ from the rudi- 
 ments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject 
 to ordinances?"] This world is not the contrary of the Church. 
 
1G8 ANNOTATIONS ON PASSAGES OF SCEIPTURE. 
 
 Christ, after He rose from the dead, was no longer a proper inhabit- 
 ant of this world, and therefore was no longer subject to the cere- 
 monial Law. So is the Church which is mystical and dead, and 
 risen with Christ. Christ is the representative of the Church, and 
 therefore the Church has communion with Him in this alteration of 
 His state. 
 
 90. iii. 9 — " Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off 
 the old man with his deeds."] The stops seem here to be wrong 
 made, which make it more difficult to understand the sense. The 
 stop that is made at end of the preceding verse ought rather to have 
 been at the end of these words, " lie not one to another." For this 
 is one of those disuniting sins mentioned, of which the words in this 
 and the two next verses are mentioned as a common reason why we 
 should avoid them — viz., because in the new man the disuniting 
 distinctions by which the carnal world is divided are abolished, and 
 Christ is all in all. 
 
 91. iii. 17 — "And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in 
 the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father 
 by Him." Question, Why must we do whatsoever we do in the 
 name of Christ ? Answer, Because nothing can be acceptable to 
 God as from us, but in and through Christ, as Heb. xiii. 21, and 1 
 Peter ii. 5. Therefore when we come to God to do anything God- 
 ward we must always bring Christ with us, that what we do may be 
 accepted — that is, we must have a sense of our unworthiness of 
 acceptance in ourselves, and must hope for acceptance on His ac- 
 count. Question, But why can't what we do be accepted but by 
 Christ ? Answer, (1.) We are infinitely ill-deserving creatures, and 
 all our good is nothing when put in the scales with our unworthiness ; 
 and then (2.) we are condemned creatures, and it is against the Law 
 that anything should be accepted from us as we are in ourselves. 
 (3.) The third reason why nothing that we do can be accepted but by 
 Christ is, because there is nothing that we do but what is in a sense 
 corrupt, even the holy actions and gracious exercises of the godly are 
 so. They are not merely attended with the exercises of corruption 
 that precede and follow them and are nursed with them, but they 
 are themselves corrupt. Take them as they are in their dimensions 
 and manner of exerting theui, even the exercises of grace in a godly 
 man are manifestations and expressions of corruption ; the act most 
 simply and absolutely considered is good, but consider it in its 
 measure and the manner of exertion, and it is an expression of cor- 
 ruption. All the godly man's acts of love are defectively corrupt or 
 sinfully defective. There is that defect in them that may be called 
 the corruption of them. That defect is properly sin, an expression 
 of corruption, and what tends to provoke the just anger of God ; not 
 because the exercise of love is not proportionable or equal to God's 
 loveliness or to His kindness, but because it is so very disproportion- 
 ate to the occasion that is given for the exercise of love, considering 
 God's loveliness and the manifestation that is made of it, or the mani- 
 festation and exercise of His kindness and man's capacity, and the 
 
NEW TESTAMENT — I. THE5SAL0NIANS. 169 
 
 advantages to be sensible of it, and the like, together. A negative 
 expression of corruption may be as truly sin, and as truly odious, 
 and as just cause of provocation, as a positive. Thus, if a man, a 
 worthy and excellent person, should, from mere generosity and good- 
 ness, exceedingly lay out himself, and should with great expense and 
 suffering save another's life or redeem him from some extreme 
 calamity, and when he had done all, that other persons should never 
 thank him for it or express tlie least gratitude any way, this would 
 be a negative expression of his ingratitude and baseness ; but it is 
 equivalent to an act of ingratitude or a base unworthy spirit, and is 
 as truly an expression of it, and brings as much blame, as if he by 
 some positive act had much injured another person, and as it would 
 have been in a lesser degree if gratitude was but very small, bearing 
 no proportion to the benefit and obligation, or if for so great and 
 extraordinary a kindness he had expressed no more gratitude than 
 would have been becoming towards a person that had only given him 
 a sixpence, or had done him some such small kindness. If he had 
 come to his benefactors to express his gratitude, and had done after 
 this manner, he might truly be said to have acted basely, unworthily, 
 and odiously ; he would have shewn a most ungrateful spirit, and his 
 doing after such a manner would be justly abhorred by all ; and yet 
 the gratitude in that little that there was of it, and, so far as it went, 
 was good, and so it is with respect to our exercises of love and 
 gratitude to God. They are defectively corrupt and sinful, and 
 might justly be odious and provoking to Him, taken as they are, 
 upon the like account, and would be so, were it not that the sin and 
 corruption of them is hid by Christ. God, as it were, don't see the 
 odiousness and iniquity of them, and so accepts them for Clirist's 
 sake, which out of Him would be worthy of His detestation. — Coroll. 
 Hence the saints may be sai(i to be rewarded for their good works 
 for Christ's sake, and not for the excellency of their works in them- 
 selves considered. For, as we have shewn, as they are in themselves, 
 they are odious, and might be just cause of provocation. They 
 are not rewardable, therefore, as they are in themselves ; they are 
 accepted through Christ, and it is therefore for Christ's sake that 
 they are rewarded. For God's rewarding them is a testimony of 
 His acceptance. They are rewarded for Christ's sake in this sense 
 — viz., that it is for His sake that God looks upon them as fit to be 
 accepted and rewarded. 
 
 I. THESSALONIANS. 
 
 92. iii. 13—" To the end he may stablish your hearts unblame- 
 able in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our 
 
] 70 ANNOTATIONS ON PASSAGES OF SCKIPTUEE. 
 
 Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints."] This and these other paral- 
 lel texts — ver. 14 of chap, iv., and Jude 14 — do plainly shew that 
 the saints are in heaven with Christ before the resurrection. 
 
 I. TIMOTHY. 
 
 93. i. 9 — " Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous 
 man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for 
 sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers 
 of mothers, for manslayers."] This may be given as a reason why the 
 precepts of the moral Law were not expressed by God to our [first] 
 parents as well as that positive precept of not eating the forbidden 
 fruit. There is not that need of God expressly and particularly for- 
 bidding these and other immoralities to one that is perfectly righteous 
 in his nature, either for the making known his obligation, or for the 
 enforcing it, as to one that is of corrupt nature. 
 
 God, in His infinite wisdom, never would have seen cause expressly 
 to reveal the moral Law had it not been for transgressions, or man's 
 disposition to sin. 
 
 94. i. 19 — "Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some 
 having put away, concerning faith have made shipwreck."] It seems 
 that it should rather have been rendered the Faith — that is, concern- 
 ing the doctrine of the Gospel ; for in the original it is Trepl rrjv 
 iriaTLv, and this last agrees with the metaphor of making shipwreck. 
 For herein the gospel, or doctrine of faith, is represented as a trea- 
 sure committed to their care as a treasure is committed into a ship, 
 and so to the care of the master, to be carried safe to such a port. 
 But they, through their unskilfulness and carelessness, have made 
 shipwreck of it and lost it : or if by faith is meant an inward 
 qualification, doubtless they made shipwreck of it, as Simon Magus 
 did, of whom we are told that he believed when others believed, but 
 never had a true faith ; for it is plain by what the Apostle Peter says, 
 he then remained in the gall of bitterness and bond of iniquity ; and it 
 must be such a faith as the stony-ground hearers had, who, at the same 
 time that they believed, had no root in themselves, and so were not 
 true saints ; and such a faith as those had of whom we are told that 
 they believed on Christ, but Christ did not commit Himself to them, 
 for He knew what was in man ; He knew that what was in them 
 was not true, was not to be depended upon. 
 
 95. V. 1 1 — " But the younger widows refuse : for when they 
 have begun to wax wanton against Christ, they will marry."] It ap- 
 pears probable from ver. ] 5, " For some are already turned aside after 
 Satan," that the Apostle here has in his eye some particular instance 
 of a strange behaviour of some young widows that had been taken 
 into the number ; a regard to which instances very much governs his 
 language, as much as to say, If you take in young widows, no wonder 
 
NEW TESTAMENT — I. TIMOTHY. 171 
 
 if they, through a wanton disposition, behave themselves as those 
 which you have received of the sort. No wonder if they gad about 
 from house to house, grow idle, trifling busybodies, and are wanton 
 in their behaviour, and marry in a dishonourable manner such as 
 they have first been wanton with. It is probable that in the in- 
 stances which the Apostle had respect to, or one of them at least, a 
 young widow that had been taken into the number, through her 
 wantonness, had yielded to the enticements of a heathen man, and 
 finally married him, which occasions such a manner of expression as 
 " waxing M'anton against Christ," and cast off their first faith. 
 "When the Apostle says, "For when they have begun," &c., the ex- 
 pression imparts no more than this : — There will be danger of such 
 things happening in young widows. 
 
 96. V. 17 — " Let the elders that rule well, be counted worthy of 
 double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doc- 
 trine."] What the Apostle probably had in view when he used the 
 expression of "double honour" to the elder, was the law that gave 
 a double portion to the elder brother. 
 
 97. vi. 19 — " Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation 
 against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life."] 
 A most beautiful expression for the purpose that the Apostle intended 
 it, naturally intimating that they that were rich had much to beat 
 them back and to oppose and hinder their coming at so glorious a 
 prize. The Apostle therefore would have them use those means he 
 here directs to, as an earnest to obtain it, notwithstanding the pe- 
 culiar difKculties that were in the way of rich men's obtaining it, if 
 by any means they might violently press through the opposition and 
 reach forward and lay hold of it. The Apostle probably had in his 
 eye what Christ said concerning the difficulty of rich men's obtaining 
 eternal life, and might possibly have some reference to what he him- 
 self had said just before. (Verses 9, 10,) " But they that will be rich 
 fall into temptation, and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful 
 lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love 
 of money is the root of all evil ; which while some coveted after, 
 they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with 
 many sorrows." The original word seems to have very much the 
 same force as our English word " lay hold," naturally intimating op- 
 position to the obtaining a thing, or danger of missing it. So in 
 Matt. xiv. 30, 31, where we read that when Peter was sinking in the 
 tempestuous sea, Jesus stretched forth His hand and caught him. 
 The word in the original is the same. See also how he uses the same 
 word, (ver. 12,) where the Apostle speaks of fighting the way through 
 to reach this prize, and seems to allude to those that strove for the 
 prize in the Olympic Games. 
 
172 ANNOTATIONS ON PASSAGES OF SCEIPTURE. 
 
 HEBKEWS. 
 
 98. i. 6 — " And again, when he bringeth in the first-begotten into 
 the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him."] 
 The Apostle has probably here some reference to the XCVIl"' Psalm, 
 where we have a prophecy of the Messiah's coming into the world, 
 on which occasion it is said, ver. 7, " Worship Him all ye gods." 
 But the fact, the event (in which that prophecy was f dfilled) was 
 what was at Christ's birth, that we have some intimation of in the 
 11^ chap, of Luke, where we are told that on that occasion there 
 appeared a multitude of the heavenly hosts singing — " Glory to God in 
 the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men." At that time 
 when the Son of God appeared a poor little infant in a stable and 
 manger, when God said, " Let all the angels of God worship Him," 
 and then the angels had a great trial of their obedience, greater than 
 ever they had before. 
 
 99. ii. 5 — " For unto the angels hath He not put in subjection the 
 world to come, whereof we speak."] The renewed state of things 
 brought to pass by Christ, called the new heavens and the new earth, 
 is here called the world to come, although already come in its begin- 
 nings. Even as the blessings of Christ's kingdom and of this new 
 creation are called good " things to come," a'yada [MeXkovra, (Heb. 
 ix. 11, and chap. x. 1.) Though they were already come in their be- 
 ginnings, note that the time when Christ came, and offered up Himself, 
 and ascended into heaven, is called the end of the world, (Heb. ix. 26,) 
 avvreXeta tmv alcovwv, the end of ages, the perishing as it were of 
 the old world. So the kingdom of heaven, the new state of things 
 that followed, is called the world to come, the new world, the future 
 or succeeding ages. 
 
 100. iii. 1 — " Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly 
 calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ 
 Jesus."] Not only the Apostle's brethren, but Christ's brethren, as 
 in verses 11, 17, of chap. ii. — "Partakers of the heavenly calling." 
 Not only partakers with the Apostle and partakers one with another, 
 but partakers with Christ in His heavenly calling as an High Priest. 
 " For no man taketh this honour to himself but he that is called of 
 God as was Aaron." Christians are spoken of in chap. ii. 17 as the 
 brethren of Him who is a merciful and faithful High Priest ; and 
 they are not only so, but they are also partakers of His heavenly 
 calling as High Priest. For they also are priests unto God through 
 Him, and as united with Him. (1 Pet. ii. 4, 5, and v. 9 ; so Eev. i. 6, 
 and V. 10; and Exod. xix. 5, 6 ; Isa. Ixi. 6.) They are priests with 
 Christ as they are partakers of His heavenly calling and His holy 
 vocation, 1 John ii. 20 — " But ye have an unction from the Holy One, 
 and ye know all things." Believers are followers with Christ in His 
 anointing, as in chap. i. of this epistle, ver. 9 — " Thou hast loved right- 
 eousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath 
 
NEAV TESTAMKNT — HEBREWS. 173 
 
 anointed tliee witli the oil of gladness above thy fellows." They are 
 l^artakers with Him in His unction, as the precious ointment that 
 was poured on Aaron's head ran down to the skirts of his garment. 
 (Ps. cxxxiii. 2.) 
 
 101. iv. 4-6 — " For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day 
 on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his w^orks. 
 And in this place again, If they shall enter into my rest. Seeing 
 therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein, and they to 
 whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief."] 
 That when the Apostle speaks of them who have tasted of the hea- 
 venly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, he has a 
 special respect to them that bad received the extraordinary gifts of 
 the Holy Ghost, is evident from this, that the Apostle here has respect 
 to the same persons that he speaks of in ver. 2 ; but there he is speak- 
 ing of them that had been the subjects of the laying on of hands, 
 which was a rite used in conferring the Holy Ghost in His extra- 
 ordinary gifts. 
 
 102. vi, 8 — " But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, 
 and is nigh unto cursing ; whose end is to be burned."] The malice 
 of those apostates and persecutors who committed the unpardonable 
 sin, is with special fitness compared to briers and thorns. (See Cant. 
 ii. 2; Ezek. xxviii. 24; Mic. viii. 4; Ez. ii. 6; Isa. x. 17; 2 Sam. 
 xxiii. 6, 7.) 
 
 104. vi. 11 — "And we desire that every one of you do shew the 
 same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end."] Here 
 the words "to the end" are not to be joined with the immediately 
 preceding words, " the full assurance of hope," but with those going 
 before, "°shew the same diligence." The Apostle, in the preceding 
 verse, had observed the labour and diligence which had appeared in 
 them. He here exhorts that this be continued unto the end, in order 
 to the full assurance of hope. The Apostle is still pursuing the advice 
 he beaan the chapter with, to avoid apostasy and to go on to perfection. 
 
 105. Lx. 14 — " How much more shall the blood of Christ, who 
 through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, pm^ge 
 your conscience from dead works, to serve the living God."] The 
 Apostle is probably led, when speaking of sins in this place, to make 
 use of the application "dead" works, from allusion to pollutions by 
 dead bodies, to the cleansing from which the ashes of the heifer spoken 
 of in the preceding verse were appropriated. (See Num. xiv.) 
 
 106. ix. 26 — "For then must He often have suffered since the 
 foundation of the world : but now once, in the end of the world, hath 
 He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself."] At the 
 end of the world — at the conclusion of the ages. So avvTeXeia rwv 
 di(ov(i)v is most exactly rendered, meaning the last of the dispensations 
 God ever intended to give mankind. 
 
 107. X. 1-3 — " For the law having a shadow of good things to 
 come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those 
 sacrifices, which they offered year by year continually, make the comers 
 thereunto perfect ; for then would they not have ceased to be 
 
17-t ANNOTATIONS ON PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 offered ? because that the worshippei's once purged should have had 
 no more conscience of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a remem- 
 brance again made of sins every year."] Concerning the argument 
 for the insufficiency of the ancient sacrifices from their being often 
 offered. The wise man argues the vanity of all earthly enjoyments, 
 and that temporal food is not man's true good from that, that the 
 occasions for eating still return. If a man eats, yet the need of eat- 
 ing returns, satisfaction is not obtained ; his need and his appetite 
 remains, the demands of nature are not answered so but that still it 
 continues demanding, so that after a man has repeated his eating 
 from day to day many years, yet he needs and his nature craves as 
 much as when he tir.st came into the world, (Eccles. vi. 7, and also 
 i. 3-9) — " All the labour of man is for his mouth, yet the appetite or 
 (as it is in the original) the soul is not filled," with the context. The 
 argument is of the same sort with that which the Apostle here makes 
 use of, to shew the vanity of the ancient sacrifices, and their insuf- 
 ficiency to answer tlae end of a true atonement, that they did not 
 satisfy, because the demand of justice still remained, and its appetite 
 returned, as in the other case the demands of nature. They were 
 never able to make the comers thereto perfect : the occasion of offer- 
 ing them returned autumnally ; and therefore if Solomon's argument 
 be good, the Apostle's is certainly good also. 
 
 108. xi. 37 — " They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were 
 tempted, were slain with the sword : they wandered about in sheep- 
 skins and goatskins ; being destitute, afflicted, tormented."] " They 
 were tempted," that is, in the midst of their torments their cruel 
 persecutors added earnest solicitations, persuasions, fair-tempting 
 promises, and the like, if they would desert the cause they suffered 
 for, which was verified in Autiochus Epiphanes. 
 
 ST JAMES. 
 
 101). ii. 8 — " If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scrip- 
 ture. Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well."] 
 Probably so called because the law of love was by way of specialty 
 the law of Christ the King of the Church. (See Gal. vi. 2 ; John 
 xiii. 34, and xv. 12 ; 1 John iv. 21.) 
 
 110. iv. 14 — " Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow : 
 for what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a 
 little time, and then vanisheth away."] Here seems to be an allusion 
 to that vapour in the breath, (that is as it were man's life,) sometimes 
 while the breath is warm ; but as soon as it is cool, vanishes away as 
 it were in a moment. (See Job vii. 7, and Ps. Ixxviii. 39.) 
 
NEW TESTAMENT — I. JOHN. 175 
 
 I. PETER. 
 
 111. i. 4 — "To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and 
 that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you."] This is pro- 
 bably here mentioned because those that the Apostle wrote this 
 epistle to were strangers scattered abroad, ver. 1, out of their own 
 land — the land of Canaan, not possessing that earthly inheritance of 
 old promised to Israel, and cast out by their brethren according to 
 the flesh for being Christians. (See Dr Goodwin's Works, vol. i., p. 44.) 
 
 II. PETER 
 
 112. i. 28 — " Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scrip- 
 ture is of any private interpretation."] That is, it is not men's 
 speaking their own sense of things or interpreting their own minds, 
 but the mind of God. That which is their sense is not always the 
 sense or interpretaion of Scripture. But that which was the sense 
 of the Holy Ghost, the prophets did not always perceive the meaning 
 of in their prophecies. 
 
 I. JOHN. 
 
 113. iii. 8 — " And every man that hath this hope in Him purifieth 
 himself, even as He is pure."] That is, in God or in Christ, the 
 Person spoken of in the foregoing words eiravTw. The preposition 
 eTTt expresses, not the relation of hope to the subject of it, but to its 
 object, as in many places of the New Testament. It signifies the 
 relation of faith, trust, and hope to this object, as Matt, xxvii. 48 — 
 "He trusted in God;" Luke xi. 22 — "Wherein he trusted;" xviii. 
 9 — " Trusted in themselves ;" Luke xxiv. 25 — " To believe all the 
 prophets," &c. ; Acts ix. 42 — " Many believed in the Lord;" xi. 17 
 — " Who believed in the Lord ;" Acts xvi. 31 — " Believe in the Lord 
 Jesus ;" Rom. iv. 24 — "Believe in Him ;" Rom. ix. 33 — "BeJieveth 
 in Him;" x. 11— "Believeth in Him;" 18— "In Him shall the 
 Gentiles hope ; " 2 Cor. i. 9 — " Should not trust in ourselves, but in 
 God;" ii. 3 — "Confidence in you all;" 1 Tim. i, 16 — "Believe on 
 Him;" iv. 16 — "Hoped in the living God;" v. 5 — " Hoj^ed in 
 God ;" vi. 17 — " Hope in uncertain riches ;" Heb. ii. 13 — " Trusting 
 in Him;" vi. 1 — "Of faith in God;" 1 Peter ii. 6 — "He that be- 
 lievoth in Him ;" iii. 5 — "Hoped in God." 
 
 114. iii. 6 — "Whosoever abideth in Him sinneth not: whosoever 
 sinneth hath not seen Him neither known Him."] See 2 Sam. xii. 
 
176 ANNOTATIONS ON PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE. 
 
 13 — "For thou didst it secretly : but I will do this tiling before all 
 Israel, and before the sun." By this it appears that though David 
 was so holy a man, a man after God's own heart, yet his deed was 
 properly called sin ; yea, it was mortal sin — sin that deserved death, 
 as is implied. See also the terms used Ps. li. 1-5, 10, 16. So Job 
 was a man that God gloried in, — that was a perfect and an upright 
 man, one that feared God and eschewed evil ; or which is the same 
 thing, one that sinned not. He held fast his integrity to the end and 
 eschewed evil, and made good God's boast of (his) eschewing evil 
 under his temptations. And yet Elihu, who spoke by inspiration, 
 was in God's stead, and the forerunner of God, and did not answer as 
 his three friends did, but spoke that which was right, and was not 
 reproved by God, charges him with sinning, Job xxxiv. 87 — " For he 
 addeth rebellion unto his sin ; he clappeth Ids hands among us, and 
 multiplieth his words against God," See also note on 2 Chron. xxxii. 
 31. It won't do to go about to solve the argument from these in- 
 stances with the doctrine of falling from grace. This verse that we 
 are now upon will not allow of that, (see note on latter part of the 
 verse,) and if any should imagine that the kind of operation on the 
 hearts of the saints in the New Testament which the Apostle John 
 calls a "being born again," is something peculiar to them, and what 
 God's people, under the Old Testament, were not the subjects of, and 
 that regeneration is a thing peculiar to New Testament times, 
 (though that may easily be disproved — (for) the Old Testament 
 saints were circumcised in heart, and had right spirits renewed in 
 them, &c., and therefore were born again,) yet we have a remark- 
 able instance in one that was said to have followed Christ in the 
 regeneration. — (See Matt. xix. 27, 28) — viz., Peter, who denied 
 his Lord with oaths and curses. He was one that had been born 
 again, and therefore was one of them that Christ called little children, 
 and one that He spoke of : Matt, xviii. 6 — "But whoso shall offend 
 one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him 
 that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were 
 drowned in the depth of the sea;" whom He called so on the account 
 of their new birth, as it is manifest by the foregoing words, particu- 
 larly the third verse of the chapter : — " Verily I say unto you. Except 
 ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into 
 the kingdom of heaven," which is parallel with what Christ says to 
 Nicodemus : "Verily, I say unto you. Except a man be born of water 
 and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." The 
 Apostle John says, in the latter part of this verse, " Whosoever hath 
 not seen Him, nor known Him," but Peter had seen and known his 
 Lord, and therefore Christ says to him, " Blessed art thou, Simon 
 Barjona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my 
 Father which is in heaven ;" and Christ in His prayer in the XVIP*^ 
 of John speaks of him with others of His disciples expressly as hav- 
 ing seen and known Him : ver. 3 — " And this is life eternal, that they 
 might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast 
 sent," and then says in the 6th to 8th verses, "I have manifested Thy 
 
NEW TESTAMENT — I. JoH.V. 177 
 
 name unto tlie men which Tliou cavest Me out of the world : Thine 
 they were, and Thou iiavest them Me ; and they have kept Thy word. 
 Now they liave known that all things, whatsoever Thou hast given 
 Me are of Thee : for I have given unto them the words which Tliou 
 gavest Me ; and they have received them, and have known surely 
 that I came out from Thee, and they have believed that Thou didst 
 send Me/' These last words then, by what the Apostle John himself 
 says in this epistle, [shew] that Peter was born of God : chap. v. 1 — 
 " Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God : and 
 every one that loveth Him that begat, loveth him also that is begotten 
 of him." So Eccles. vii. 28 ; 1 Kings viii. 46. So 2 Chron. vi. 36 ; 
 Prov. XX. 9 ; John ix. 80, 31, and ver. 20, and ver. 2, 3 ; Ps. xix. 12, 
 and cxxx. 3. There is sin in the New Testament saints as well as 
 the Old. The wise virgins slumbered and slept ; Rom. vii. — "The 
 thing that I hate that I do ; " Heb. xii. — " Let us lay aside every 
 weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us." James iii. 2. And 
 this' Apostle John himself in this very epistle several times speaks 
 of those that are born again as liable to sin. It is by the new birth 
 that they become as little children ; the Apostle says, chap. ii. 1 — 
 " My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. 
 And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus 
 Christ the righteous/' And this is a confirmation that the Apostle 
 has not only respect to sins that were committed before regeneration. 
 In the words immediately foregoing, " If we say that we have not 
 sinned, we make Him a liar, and his word is not in us." Again, it 
 is by the new birth by which Christians are born of God, this 
 epistle speaks of the brethren as liable to sin : 1 John v. 16 — "If 
 any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall 
 ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death." 
 And yet in the next verse but one, respects that saying that we are 
 upon : " We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not : but 
 he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one 
 toucheth him not/' which confirms that the Apostle means, when he 
 says, " He sinneth not," is not that he never is guilty of any sinful 
 act. Such exp'ressions in Scripture as this in the text, "sinneth" and 
 "sinneth not," are not always to be taken for committing a particular 
 act of sin, as that in Job, the draught and heat, &c. By them that have 
 sinned, is not intended them that are guilty of a particular act of sin. 
 That in Eph. ii. 3— "Fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind," 
 in the original Trotout-Te?, doing the desires of the flesh — that is, mak- 
 ing a tracfe of this. 1 Peter iii. 10—" If thou wouldst see good days, 
 refrain thy tongue from evil, and thy lips that they speak no guile/' 
 It is not meant that to do one good action is the way to be happy, 
 but a man's setting himself in such a course, making a practice and 
 business of doing good. How often is the wickedness of the king 
 of Israel and Judah expressed by that, " That they did evil in the 
 sight of the Lord." 
 
 115. iii. 6 — "Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever 
 sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him."] The words of the 
 
 M 
 
178 ANNOTATIONS ON PASSAGES OF SCEIPTUEE. 
 
 next verse are a full confutation of them tbat from hence would 
 argue sinless perfection. " He that doeth righteousness is righteous, 
 even as He is righteous." There is no more reason to understand the 
 Apostle of committing only one act of sin by the expression "sin- 
 neth," or " committeth," or " doeth sin/' than to understand of one 
 single act of righteousness, when by the expression, " doth righteous- 
 ness," and so to understand the next verse thus : — " He that doeth 
 any righteousness at any time is righteous even as God is righteous," 
 whereas by doing righteousness the Apostle plainly means practising 
 righteousness, or making that his practice in the course of his life. 
 So there is equal reason when he speaks here of committing sin to 
 understand him of practising sin, or making wickedness his trade or 
 practice. See "doing righteousness," &c. 
 
 116. iv. 17 — " Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have 
 boldness in the day of judgment : because as He is, so are we in this 
 world.'] The sense seems to be this — our love is made perfect to give 
 us boldness before Him (that is, before Christ) in another world, even 
 by our being in this world as He is. Like Him in love, then is our 
 love made perfect, when we love one another as He hath loved us. 
 For it is that love that the apostle is speaking of in the preceding 
 verse — " We have known and believed the love that God hath to us," 
 and what that love is that God hath to us. The Apostle said in the 
 preceding verses (9, 10) — :viz., God's sending His Son into the world 
 to die for us — and then says, ver. 11 — " Beloved, if God so loved us, 
 we ought also to love one another ;" that is, we ought to love one 
 another as God hath loved us, and as Christ hath loved us, and so we 
 shall be as He was, and hereby we shall have assurance, as it follows, 
 ver. 13 — " Hereby know we that we dwell in Him, and He in us, 
 because He hath given us of His Spirit " — made us to be of the same 
 temper with Himself; and then the Apostle, inverses 14 and 16, 
 further insists on the love of God to us in giving His Son ; and in 
 the 17th verse, repeatedly mentions our conformity to Him in this 
 love as what will give assurance, and observes particularly by this 
 it will give boldness at the day of judgment, when we appear before 
 Christ, that in this world we have been like Him, and behaved our- 
 selves as He behaved Himself in the world. 
 
 ST JUDE. 
 
 117. l-i, 1 5 — " And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied 
 of these, saying. Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his 
 saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are 
 uno-odly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have 
 imgodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly 
 sinners have spoken against Him."] Inspired writers of the Old 
 
NEW TESTAMENT — ST JUDE. 179 
 
 Testament, sometimes, wlicn speaking [of things] recorded in Scrip- 
 ture history many ages after their histories were written, do mention 
 particulars not recorded in these histories ; as particularly, Asaph 
 mentions thunder and lightning that there was in the time when Israel 
 passed through the Red Sea, as Ps. Ixxvii. 15, and following verses. So 
 David mentions a great shower of rain that there was when God ap- 
 peared on INIount Sinai. Ps. Lxviii. 8 — " The earth shook, the heavens 
 also dropped at the presence of God : even Sinai itself was moved at 
 the presence of God, the God of Israel" So the prophet Habakkuk 
 mentions thunder that arose at the conclusion of the twelve hours that 
 the sun and moon stood still. See notes on Hab. iii. 11, and we must 
 allow the same to the inspired writers of the New Testament. This 
 prophecy of Enoch is probably the rather mentioned as applicable to 
 those heretics and apostates he speaks of, because they strenuously 
 derided and contemptuously ridiculed [Christ's servants]. 
 
 lis. ] 9 — " These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having 
 not the Spirit."] The Apostle uses this form of expression because 
 he has reference to some spoken of in the Old Testament, that are 
 spoken of as separating themselves. Either Ezek. xiv. 7 or Hosea iv. 
 14, or is. 10. 
 
DIRECTIONS 
 
 JUDGING OF PERSONS' EXPERIENCES. 
 
NOTE. 
 See Introduction iii., p. 13, ante. — G, 
 
DIRECTIONS FOR JUDGING OF PERSONS'. EXPERIENCES. 
 
 ^ee to it 
 
 That the operation be luiich upon the Will or Heart, not on the 
 ImaginatioD, nor on the speculative understanding or motions of the 
 mind, though they draw great affections after 'em as the consequence. 
 
 That the trouble of mind be reasonable, that the mind be troubled 
 about those things that it has reason to be troubled about ; and that 
 the trouble seems mainly to operate in such a manner, with such a 
 kind of trouble and exercise as is reasonable : founded on reasonable, 
 solid consideration ; a solid sense and conviction of truth, as of things 
 as they are indeed. 
 
 That it be because their state appears terrible on the account of 
 those things, wherein its dreadfulness indeed consists ; and that their 
 concern be solid, not operating very much by pangs and sudden 
 passions, freaks and frights, and a capriciousness of mind. 
 
 That under their seeming convictions it be sin indeed ; that they 
 are convinced of their guilt, in offending and affronting so great a 
 God : One that so hates sin, and is so set against it, to punish 
 it, &c. 
 
 That they be convinced both of sins of heart and life : that their 
 pretences of sense of sin of heart ben't without reflection on their 
 wicked practice ; and also that they are not only convinced of sin of 
 practice, but sin of heart. And in both, that what troubles 'em be 
 those things wherein their wretchedness has really chiefly consisted. 
 
 That they are convinced of their spiritual sins, consisting in their 
 sinful defects, living without love to God, without accepting Christ, 
 gratitude to Him, &c. 
 
 That the convictions they have of the insufficiency and vanity of 
 their own doings, ben't only from some sense of wanderings of mind, 
 and other sinful behaviour mixed ; but from a conviction of the sinful 
 defects of their duties, their not being done from a right principle ; 
 and so as having no goodness at all mixed with the bad, but altogether 
 corrupt. 
 
 That it is truly conviction of sin that convinces them of the 
 
IS* DIKECTIONS FOR JUDGINO OF PERSONS* EXPERIENCES. 
 
 Justice of God in their damnation, in rejecting their prayers, disre- 
 garding their sorrowful case, and all desires and endeavours after 
 deliverance, &c., and not merely any imagination or pang, and melting 
 of affection through some real or supposed instance of Divine Goodness. 
 
 That they be so convinced of sin as not in the inward thought 
 and habit of their minds to excuse themselves, and impliedly 
 quarrel with God, because of their impotency : for instance, that 
 they don't excuse their slight of Christ, and want of love to Him, 
 because they can't esteem and love Him. 
 
 That they don't evidently themselves look on their convictions [as] 
 great, and ben't taken with their own humiliation. 
 
 That which should be chiefly looked at should be evangelical. If 
 this be sound, we have no warrant to insist upon it, that there be 
 manifest a remarkable work, purely legal, wherein was nothing of 
 grace. So with regard to Convictions and Humiliation ; only seeing 
 to it that the mind is indeed convinced of these things, and sees 'em 
 [sees] that [which] many Divines insisted should be seen, under a 
 purely legal work. And also seeing to it that the convictions there 
 are, seem to be deep and fixed, and to have a powerful governing 
 influence on the temper of the mind, and a very direct respect to 
 practice. 
 
 ^ee to it 
 
 That they have not only pretended convictions of sin ; but a pro- 
 per mourning for sin. And also, that sin is burdensome to them, 
 and that their hearts are tender and sensible with respect to it . . . 
 the object of their care and dread. 
 
 That God and Divine things are admirable on account of the 
 beauty of their moral pei'fection. 
 
 That there is to be discerned in their sense of the sufficiency of 
 Christ, a sense of that Divine, supreme, and spiritual excellency of 
 Christ, wherein this sufficiency fundamentally consists ; and that the 
 sight of this excellency is really the foundation of their satisfaction 
 as to His sufficiency. 
 
 That their conviction of the truth of Divine things be discerned to 
 be truly some way or other primarily built on a sense of their Divine 
 excellency. 
 
 That their discoveries and illuminations and experiences in general, 
 are not superficial pangs, flashes, imagination, freaks, but solid, sub- 
 stantial, deep, inwrought into the frame and temper of their minds, 
 and discovered to have respect to practice. 
 
 That they long after Holiness, and that all their experiences 
 increase their longing. 
 
 Let 'em be inquired of concerning their disposition and willingness 
 
DIRECTIONS FOR JUDGING OF PERSONS' EXPERIENCES. 1 8.") 
 
 to bear the Cross, sell all for Christ, choosing their portion in 
 heaven, &c. 
 
 Whether their experience have a respect to Practice in these 
 ways. That their behaviour at present seems to be agreeable to such 
 experiences. 
 
 Whether it inclines 'em much to think of Practice, and more and 
 more for past ill practice. 
 
 ]\Iakes a disposition to ill practices dreadful. 
 
 Makes 'em long after perfect freedom from sin, and after those 
 things wherein Holiness consists ; and by fixed and strong resolutions, 
 attended with fear and jealousy of their own hearts. 
 
 Wliether, when they tell of their experiences, it is not with such an 
 air tliat you as it were feel that they expect to be admired and 
 applauded, and [whether they] won't be disappointed if they fail of 
 discerning in you something of that nature ; and shocked and dis- 
 pleased if they discover the contrary. 
 
 Enquire whether their joy be truly and properly joy in God and in 
 Christ ; joy in Divine Good ; or whether it ben't wholly joy in them- 
 selves, joy in their own excellencies or privileges, in their experiences ; 
 what God has done for them, or what He has promised He will do 
 for them ; and wliether they ben't affected with their own discoveries 
 and afFections, 
 
SERMONS. 
 
NOTE. 
 See Introduction iv., pages 13, 14. — G. 
 
SERMONS. 
 
 Matt. vii. 14 — " Few there be that find it." 
 Doc[trine.] 'Tis a hard thing to find the right way to Heaven. 
 
 I. There is a way to Heaven. 
 God has opened a door. 
 
 II. There is but one right way. 
 
 III. 'Tis a hard thing to find this one right way. 
 Appears : In that there are so few that find the way. 
 
 Tho[ugh] all have so much need to find. 
 
 Tho[ugh] so many desire to find and seek after it. 
 
 Tho[ugh] so many think they have found. 
 
 so many are mistaken. 
 
 That many of those that do find it, first take a great deal of pains. 
 Some for a long time. 
 ]\Iany prayers. 
 Many difficulties. 
 Reason : Negatively, not that [God] han't [has not] called us. 
 
 „ „ very plain in itself. 
 Reasons : 
 
 ]\Iany wrong ways. 
 
 Like travelling through a great wilderness. 
 
 Full of difficulties . . . dangers .... 
 
 But one right way. 
 
 [A] narrow way. 
 
 Many wrong ways. 
 
 Mention some of the wrong ways. 
 
 Do right in some things only. 
 
 Outward Religion only. 
 
 Affections that go away. 
 
 Religious out of regard to men. 
 
1 90 SEEMONS. 
 
 Eeligious only out of fear of hell. 
 
 from self-love. 
 
 Don't love God for Himself. 
 
 Trust in their own righteousness. 
 
 Depend on the good opinion of others. 
 
 Apt to think themselves convicted when they are not. 
 
 High pride : apt to think well of themselves. 
 
 A little good looks great. 
 
 Don't see what is bad. 
 
 How many things men often think are Conveesion, 
 
 2. Men's own lust blind[s] 'em. 
 The way is good and plain. 
 Right way is what men don't like. 
 Up-hill. 
 
 Contrary to all their lusts. 
 
 to their pride. 
 
 to their worldliness. 
 
 sensuality. 
 
 slothfulness. 
 
 Enmity against God. 
 Wrong ways are 
 Easy, 
 Broad. 
 Down-hilL 
 
 3. Devils. 
 
 Blind them and deceive them. 
 ' 4. Things of this world blind 'em. 
 5. Wicked men implead (?) 'em. 
 
 Applica[tion.] 
 
 What a great mercy to have the Word of God. 
 
 Mercy that God has appointed ministers. 
 
 Great need of Prayer — '■ — 
 
 Never without God's help. 
 
 Don't trust . . . v. 22 . . . 
 
 Wliat need of God's power and striving, 
 
 DiEECTlONS. 
 
 Pray earnestly. 
 
 Not trust [As above, v. 22.] 
 
 Take advice. 
 
 Begin soon. 
 
 Hold on and hold out. 
 
 Don't take hope too soon. 
 
 In every thing follow the Word of God. 
 
 You need to be much concerned.* 
 
 * It will be observed from the facsimile that the above Sketch of a Sermon is 
 written on the leaf of a letter. Very many of Edwards's MSS. are thus written on 
 all manner of kinds and scraps of paper. — G. 
 
SERMONS. 191 
 
 II. 
 
 2 Tim. iii. 16 — "All scripture is given by inspiration of God."* 
 Doctrine : The Scripture is the Word of God. 
 
 I. There must be some ^Yo^d of God. 
 
 'Tis unreasonable to think that God would always keep silence and 
 never say anythino; to mankhid. 
 
 God has made mankind and given him Reason and Understanding, 
 
 Has made him the chief of all the creatures. 
 
 Given him reason that he might know God and serve Him. 
 
 Did not give the other creatures reason : He did make 'em to 
 serve Him. 
 
 Other creatures are made for man. 
 
 ]\Ian was made for God : to serve God, or else he was made for 
 nothing. 
 
 But we may be sure He did not make such a creature as man for 
 nothing. 
 
 But how unreasonable is it to think that God would make us for 
 Himself and never say anything to us. 
 
 God is the King that rules over all nations. 
 
 But how unreasonable is it to suppose that He should be a King 
 and never say anything to His subjects. ... be a King and never 
 tell them what His will or what His commands are, that His subjects 
 may obey Him. 
 
 Is as a Father : all His Family. 
 
 But will a father be always dumb and silent, &c.? 
 
 God has given mankind speech : so that they are able to speak and 
 make known their minds to one another. 
 
 And therefore 'tis unreasonable to think that God never would 
 speak to men and make known His mind to them. 
 
 We need to have God teach us as much as a child needs to be 
 taught by his father. 
 
 And since God has given mankind understanding He doubtless 
 will teach him and instruct him. 
 
 How can we know Him to worship God if we have no Word of 
 God to tell us ? 
 
 AVe should not know what way of worship would please Him .... 
 whether to pray to Him or to sing or to keep the Sabbath, or be 
 baptized, or come to sacrament, or what else we shall do. 
 
 'Tis certain (iod has made us for another world. . . . Men but a 
 little while here. 
 
 And how shall we know how God will do with us in another 
 world ? 
 
 How shall we know how He will punish such as do wickedly in 
 another [world] 1 
 
 * In the left-hand corner is written, " St :, Intl. Xovem. '53." See Introduction 
 iv., p. 11-G. 
 
192 SERMONS. 
 
 What He will do for good men in another [world] 1 
 
 Whether He will forgive us after we have sinned ? 
 
 How shall we know what He expects we should do that we may 
 be forgiven ? 
 
 In what He will save .... Whether He will forgive great sins. 
 
 What will men do when they come to die if there be no Word of 
 God to tell 'em ? 
 
 How should we ever know how the world was made ? 
 
 How should we know how God made man at first ? 
 
 We see men in this world are very wicked : the world is full of 
 wickedness everywhere. 
 
 Certainly God did not make man so. 
 
 How shall we know how mankind came to be so wicked ? 
 
 We see how the world is full of death : full of war and all manner 
 of misery. 
 
 How shall we know how misery and death came, &c.? 
 
 And how shall we know what way of salvation there is ? 
 
 Where shall we find one to be our Saviour that will stand for us 
 ... if the Word of God don't tell us ? 
 
 How shall we know what God will do with the world at last ? how 
 the world will come to an end ? 
 
 We see that God is kind to mankind : takes care of 'em. 
 
 Therefore He can't leave 'em in darkness and take no care to teach 
 
 'em. 
 
 We see what necessity mankind stand in, of a Word of God to 
 teach 'em when we consider how it is in those countries where they 
 have no Word of God. 
 
 They are all in darkness and blindness about God and Divine 
 things. 
 
 They think there is a God. 
 
 Yet don't know what He is. 
 
 Many think there is [are] a great many gods. 
 
 Worship "graven images" and stones. 
 
 Worship the devil. 
 
 Don't know how to serve God. 
 
 Know nothing how the world was made .... how man was 
 
 made. 
 
 Know nothing what God will do with men in another world. 
 
 Don't know how men shall obtain forgiveness of their sin. 
 
 Some think [by] offering their own children. . . . ^ 
 
 Thus we see there must certainly be some Word of God. 
 
 But where is any Word of God if it ben't [be not] in the Bible ? 
 
 The Heathen han't [have not] no Word of God amongst them. 
 
 The Bible therefore is the Word of God, must be. 
 
 The Bible gives right notions concerning God. 
 
 Tells how God made the world .... made men .... how men 
 became wicked .... 
 
 What God will do with men in another world. 
 
 What way we may have the forgiveness of sin. 
 
SERMONS. 193 
 
 What is the way of salvation ? 
 What God's mind, and [what His] will, is. 
 All the Rules and Conimandnients in the Bible are holy. 
 Here told what man's duty is in many things. 
 All sin is forbidden. 
 How God will be served. 
 
 The great things God has done for His people through all ages. 
 What the Saviour did and suffered : how He ascended into Heaven. 
 How the world will come to an end. 
 How God will judge the world. 
 
 Another thing that shews that the Scriptures are the Word of God 
 is this : — 
 
 That when God told the wise and holy men to write the Bible He 
 gave 'em power to work great miracles, to convince men that it 
 was His work. 
 
 Moses was a man that wrote all the first part of the Bible. 
 And God, to shew that the Word he wrote was His word .... 
 And so the other Prophets that wrote other parts. 
 Jesus Christ gave us the Scriptures of the New Testament. He 
 spoke the Word of God. 
 
 He, to shew that His Word was the Word of God, wrought great 
 miracles. 
 
 He told His Disciples to write down what He said .... enabled 
 them to do great miracles. 
 The Apostle Paul. 
 
 That there was such a man as Christ .... that great miracles 
 [were wrought] even His enemies own : none deny it. 
 
 Another thing that shews the Scriptures to be the Word of God 
 is that the Scripture foretells a great many things. 
 
 The Old Testaiment that was given to the Jews a great while 
 before Christ was born foretold Christ's coming. 
 
 And a great many things concerning Him. All which are ful- 
 filled. 
 
 The Scriptures of the New Testament foretell a great many things 
 .... all came to pass. 
 
 The Jews should become a distinct nation .... that the Pope 
 shall arise .... many turn Papists .... just as it is. 
 
 The Scriptures we here read is the same Word that was given 
 of old. 
 
 The same Word has been kept all along : it has not been changed. 
 Here it still is the same language in which it was written at first. 
 It must be the same that the Jews had, and that God's People had 
 in Christ's and the Apostle's time. 
 
 It could not be altered since, because it was scattered about a great 
 many nations all over the world .... which have had it ever since. 
 Therefore the world could not be cheated. 
 
 The Jews, to whom tlie Old Testament was given : they remani a 
 distinct People still, and have had tlie Old Testament amongst 'em, 
 
 written in their own language. 
 
 N 
 
194) SERMOKS. 
 
 They are all over the world and can't alter it. 
 
 The Scripture has all along been among people that have been 
 against one another in their opinions .... could not agree to alter 
 it^ .... if one altered the other would find it out. 
 
 Another thing that shews that the Scripture is the Word of God 
 
 is this : — ■, , . 
 
 That the Scripture has been the means of enlightening so many 
 
 nations. 
 
 Many nations formerly in great darkness : but now ... 
 
 All the greatest nations of the world . . . 
 
 No people in the world can come to have right notions of God and 
 of another world any other way than by this Word. 
 
 Another thing that shews [it, is] 
 
 Great opposition : the Devil and wicked men make against it. 
 
 Another thing that shews [that it is] the Word of God is this : it 
 has PREVAILED against such great opposition. 
 
 When it first came abroad in the world all the wicked set them- 
 selves against it . . . kings . . . armies . . . [Christians] put to 
 cruel deaths ... yet it prevailed . . . overcame all the greatest 
 and strongest nations. 
 
 Then there is this thing : those [who] first preached were poor men. 
 
 So many nations never could have been made to believe it if men 
 had made it. 
 
 Not only foolish men, little men, but great men and wise men. 
 
 Another thing : no other Word ever was used as the means of 
 bringing men to know the true God but the Scriptures. 
 
 Where the Scriptures have come there has been light : all the rest 
 of the world has remained in darkness. So 'tis now all over the world. 
 
 Another thing that shews [it] is this : no man could make such a 
 Book as the Bible. ... 
 
 It must be made by wicked men or good men, . . . Wicked men 
 would not make it. Good men could not. 
 
 Another thing : no Book reaches the hearts of men so much. No 
 word so AWAKENS the conscience. No word is so powerful to change 
 the heart. Great many have been made ' new men : ' very wicked men. 
 
 No word so powerful to comfort the hearts of men ... in death 
 . . . cruel deaths . . . 
 
 Another : good men all love the Bible. Better they are the more 
 they love it . . . the more they are convinced that it is the Word of 
 God. The more wicked men [are] the more they are against it. 
 
 Application : 
 
 1. How thankful we should be to God. . . . 
 
 2. Hence we may learn that all the Scripture says to us is cer- 
 tainly true. 
 
 God knows . . . God cannot lie . . . God is very angry for sin. 
 About another world. There is another world. Good men die. 
 About Hell. The Scripture says there is a furnace of fire. 
 God will not hear. No rest. 
 
SERMONS. 1 95 
 
 Many are ready to think that it may be there is none. 
 
 About Heaven. About the Day of Judgment : rise again. 
 
 About the sorrowful, miserable condition man is in. 
 
 About the way of salvation. 
 
 Christ is the Son of God. No other Saviour. He will save all 
 
 THAT COME TO HiM. 
 
 About the mystery of being ' born again.' 
 
 Some are ready to say in their hearts there is no such thing. 
 
 What we must be in order to go to Heaven — 
 
 Therefore let all men that are not ' born again' consider these 
 things. 
 
 All these are not seeking their salvation. 
 
 3. Hence 'tis worth the while to take a great deal of pains to learu 
 to read and understand the Scriptures. 
 
 I would have you all of you think of this. 
 
 When there is such a book that you may have, how can you be 
 contented without being able to read it ? 
 
 How does it make you feel when you think there is a Book that is 
 God's own Word ? That tells ... 
 
 And you think with yourself that you are not able to read it. . . . 
 See and think about it. All that you know is only what others tell 
 you ... see nothing with your own eyes. 
 
 Especially I would have you that are young people take notice of 
 these things. 
 
 Parents should take care that their children learn . . . 
 
 This will be the way to be kept from the Devil . . . Devil op n't 
 bear [the Bible.] Kept from Hell. To be happy for ever. 
 
 But if you let the Word of God alone, and never use, and you can't 
 expect the benefits of it. . . . 
 
 You must not only hear and read, &c., but you must have it sunk 
 down into your heart. Believe. Be affected. Love the Word of 
 God. Written in your heart. 
 
 Must not only read and hear, but DO the things. Otherwise no 
 good ; but will be the worse for it. 
 
 And you should endeavour to understand. To that end to learn 
 the English tongue. 
 
 If you had the Bible in your own language, I should not say so 
 much. 
 
 Endeavour to promote your children's learning English. 
 
 You that can read should often read . . . meditate . . . pray that 
 God would enlighten you. 
 
 Consider how much it is worth the while to go often to your Bible 
 to hear the great God Himself .speak to you. 
 
 There you may hear Christ speak. 
 
 How much better must we think this is than the word of men. 
 Better than the word of the wisest man of the world. 
 
 How much wiser is God than man. 
 
 Here all is true ; nothing false. 
 Here all is wise ; nothing foolish. 
 
196 SEEMONS. 
 
 This is the great light God has given to the world. To make 
 use of this is the way to walk in the Light ... to have our souls filled 
 with Light. If we neglect this we shall walk in darkness. 
 
 We should value this more than the light of the sun. We see the 
 light of the Sim does a great deal of good . . . gives light . . . plea- 
 sant to see . . . 'tis comfortable ... it gives life. 
 
 So Scripture gives light . . . gives life. 
 
 Should hear the Word : come to meeting. 'Tis the way to have 
 God's mercy, to seek God in His Word. There we may expect to 
 meet with God. God will respect His own Word for the good of men : 
 what great good has been done. 
 
 God has often made it a means of great good. Conversion of many 
 souls. Great joy of many. Many have been comforted in affliction 
 ... in death. 
 
 This will be the way to be wise with the most excellent wisdom. 
 
 in. and IV. 
 
 Rom. V. 1 — . . . "we have peace with God." * 
 
 Subject : Peace with God. 
 
 1. The nature of it. 
 
 2. How it is brought to pass. 
 
 3. The distinguishing marks of it. 
 
 4. The benefits of it. 
 
 5. The course that should be taken in order to it. 
 
 I. The nature of it. 
 
 Here I would observe that we ought to distinguish between that 
 peace which is real and [which is] sensible. 
 
 The one consists in the state of the soul : the other in the sense of 
 the soul. The one is the foundation of the other. That peace of 
 God which is real or that consists in the state of the soul is the 
 ground of that which consists in its sensation or apprehension. Both 
 are called in Scripture by the name of Peace ; and are represented 
 as the peculiar privileges of God's saints. And therefore I will 
 something very briefly consider the nature of each. 
 
 1. That peace with God that is real is that state of a believer 
 whereby he is in reconciliation and favour with his Creator. It con- 
 sists in two things : — 
 
 1. Something negative — viz., the removal of God's anger and 
 displeasure . . . forgiveness of sin . . . total, (Isa. i. 18) — 
 ' White as snow,' . . . compared to the unrolling of a cloud, 
 (Isa. xliv. 22, 23 ;) . . . as though they never had been, (Jer. 
 1. 20;) ' sought for and shall not be found,' . . . 'depths of 
 * See division V. for commencement of the second sermon from this text. — G. 
 
SERMONS. ] 97 
 
 the sea/ (Micah vii. 18;) . . . everlasting, (Jer. xxxi. 34;) 
 " make an end of sin." (Dan. ix. 24.) 
 2. Something positive — viz., as being received and treated as 
 the objects of God's favour. 
 As the expression is used in Scripture [it is] something more than 
 merely negative. . . . Title. ]\Ianifestation. Treatment. 
 
 Difference between love and favour, though sometimes called by 
 the same names — Acceptance. Compliance ... as entitled to a 
 reward. 
 
 2. [That peace with God that is] sensible is that inward, holy 
 calm and quietness of soul arising from a sense and apprehension of 
 the soul's union with God. 
 
 A sense of this gives an inexpressibly sweet calm. This is usually 
 intended by Christ. (John xiv. 27.) 
 This is twofold : — 
 
 1. Peace of conscience or a sweet calm from a sense of the pardon 
 of sin and acceptance with God as righteous. 
 
 Two things — ■ 
 
 A sense of sufficiency. 
 
 An apprehension of the faithfulness of the promise. 
 These things give a sweet rest. 
 
 2. That rest of soul that arises from the sense or feeling of a 
 real conformity to and union with [Christ]. 
 
 Peace of confidence consists in a sense of a relative union. 
 That is the rest that arises from hope : this from love. 
 
 II. How the children of God come to be made partakers of this 
 benefit. 
 
 1. The first and highest source and spring of all is from God's 
 eternal foreknowledge. . . . Choosing 'em, the particular persons by 
 the Father. 
 
 Jer. xxxi. 3 — " Everlasting love." 
 
 The love of the Father. Giving them to the Son. 
 
 The Son owing them . . . predestinating of them. (Ephes. i. 4.) 
 
 Titus i. 2. 
 
 This is the first foundation. 
 
 2. The purchase of this blessing was made by the offering that 
 Christ made to the Father. 
 
 Prince of Peace. (Isa. iv. 6.) Peace on earth. . . . Nigh by the 
 Blood. (Ephes. ii. 14.) He is our Peace. In the text, peace with 
 God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 The Way. Great High Priest. Offering is but one ; but it is to 
 be variously considered. 
 
 3. The way in which we come to have an interest in this. 
 Purchase : and so to be actually brought into peace with God is by 
 
 being united to Christ. 
 
 Threefold union. . 
 
 Most immediately by a legal union. . . . Real union foundation 
 
 of lescal. 
 
] 98 SERMONS. 
 
 Being in Christ, the believer, as it were, necessarily is a partaker. 
 
 4. The immediate efficient of this imion is the Holy Spirit. 
 So Christ is in them, and they in Christ. (Rom. viii. 9, 10.) 
 
 The union is first by a communication from Christ ; and this is 
 what is communicated. 
 
 The vine is united by deriving sap : the womb by deriving life. 
 
 Thus the Holy Spirit makes application. In this respect the peace 
 with God is from the Holy Spirit. 
 
 5. The work by which the Spirit effects this union. 
 
 The qualification that the Holy Spirit works in the elect by which 
 this union is effected is faith. 
 
 This is the uniting act. Therefore God looks on the sinner as one 
 with Christ, because He has accepted of him ; and his soul has united 
 [itself to Christ]. 
 
 6. The end of this union, by which the soul has sensible peace 
 Avith God, is sanctification of heart and life . . . including faith and 
 all other graces. 
 
 And thus it is that the Spirit of God gives sensible peace. 
 This is the seal of the Spirit, (Ephes. i. 13 ;) earnest of the Spirit. 
 (2 Cor, i. 22.) By this 'tis a spirit of adoption, 
 
 in. Distinguishing marks of it, whereby it may be distinguished 
 from the false appearances of it. 
 
 1, In those that have a true peace with God their sensible peace 
 has its foundation laid in conviction. 
 
 There is a false peace. 
 Preparation . . , legal conviction. 
 
 Immediate foundation : . . . spiritual conviction has its foundation 
 in light, and not in darkness . . . encreased by conviction. 
 
 2. In those [that have peace] that quietness and rest of soul they 
 have is not only their comfort but their virtue or nature. (?) 
 
 8. Christ is the foundation of all. 
 
 4. In those [that have peace there is] a sense of glory and suffer- 
 ing precedes a sense of propriety [= property, possession]. 
 
 A more principal foundation. 
 
 5. ... a rest of choice and love precedes a rest of hope. 
 
 The rest of the faculties of the soul in God is the Church's God 
 , . . goes before a rest in Him as our God. ... As a rest in His 
 favour. 
 
 6. In those [that have peace] there is a union of heart with God 
 and Christ, attended with a relinquishing all other things. 
 
 7. Attended with an irreconcilable war with God's enemies.* 
 
 * In a smaller character there is added here — 
 
 1. Conviction, . . . legal, . . . spiritual. ... 2. Divided from that in which it 
 sought peace. 3. Christ is the foundation. 4. Union of heart with God and Christ, 
 attended with relinquishing [of all else.] 5. An irreconcilable war with sin, ... an 
 holy peace and rest. 6. A sight of excellency and sufifering procures a sight of rest. 
 7. A rest of choice and love precedes a rest of hope. 8. A sweet, humble, peaceable 
 frame of life. These are ' Notes ' of a recapitulation of the Discourse thus far, pre- 
 liminary to a second, which consisted of the remaining head V., amplified from the 
 ' Notes.'— G. 
 
SERMONS. l-QO 
 
 IV. Benefits. ' 
 
 1. A bein.;:? infinitely above the reach of everything that might 
 make them men. . . . 
 
 I say infinitely above. . . . Infinitely strong defence ... as im- 
 possible as to destroy God Himself . . . infinite wisdom . . . infinite 
 strength engaged . . . infinite price . . . infinite truth. . . . 
 
 Dwell " on high "... infinitely high. 
 
 Foundation in that which is eternal : from eternity to eternity. . , 
 
 Oath of God. (Heb. vi. 17, 18.) . . . 
 
 2. A being at peace with all God's creatures. In different senses. 
 Angels. . . . Saints. . . . Sun, moon, stars. Beasts. Stones, (Job 
 
 v. 23.) 
 
 Water and fire, (Isa. xliii. 2.) . . . Whole creation ' groans.' 
 Poisonous things, (Mark xvi. 18 ; Luke x. 19.) . . . Wicked men 
 
 and devils — All things for them, (1 Cor. iii. 21, 22.) 
 
 3. Communion with God. 
 
 4. An holy and sweet walking and friendly conversing with God. 
 Amos iii. 8 — " Two walk together." ... " Called you friends." 
 
 5. INIore and more conformity and assimilation to God. 
 
 6. Communion with saints, (1 John i. 3-7.) 
 
 7. An irrefragable title to eternal glory. 
 
 8. Steadfastness under the changes of life. Anchor to the soul. 
 A steadfast calm in the midst of storms. A steadfast meekness in 
 
 the midst of oppositions. 
 
 9. A strong and conquering support and comfort under the 
 troubles of life. , . . Waiting our death. 
 
 ] 0. Joy unspeakable. 
 
 V. Course to be taken in order to the obtaining this peace with 
 God and enjoying the benefit of it. 
 
 1. A sense of the great breach. , . . 
 
 2. A sense of their misery by reason of the breach, and the abso- 
 lute necessity of reconciliation. All false rest must be destroyed. 
 The world. Own righteousness. 
 
 3. A conviction that God may justly refuse ever to be at peace 
 with us.* 
 
 4. An eternal divorce of the heart from that which made and which 
 maintains the breach, 
 
 5. The Prince of Peace must be resorted to and embraced, 
 
 6. An high war must be maintained with God's enemies. 
 
 7. A spirit of peace and love must rule in our hearts and lives. 
 This is the end of union between God and the soul. And this is 
 
 the end of union between Christians, one with another. If we are 
 much under the influences of a spirit contrary to this, we can't expect 
 to have the sensible peace of God. But if you live in the lively 
 exercise [of this] it will be the way to love. 
 
 The feeling of this gives sensible peace, as I observed before. 
 
 * Interlined liere — " It i-s the foundation for spiritual light and knowledge." — Q. 
 
200 SEEMONS. 
 
 And it tends to give the other sort of sensible peace, that which 
 consists in hope. " For perfect peace casts out fear." 
 
 V. and VI. 
 
 Acts xxiv. 25 — "And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, 
 and judgment to come, Felix trembled, and answered. Go thy way for 
 this time ; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee."* 
 
 I. The subject of the Apostle's preaching. 
 II. How Felix was affected by it. 
 III. How he conducted himself in these circumstances. 
 
 Subject : Sinners delaying in putting off the great concern of 
 their souls till a supposed more convenient season. 
 
 1. How sinners oftentimes do delay. 
 
 2. The reasons or causes why sinners do thus. 
 8. The end of it. 
 
 I. I would briefly observe how sinners do frequently delay and put 
 off the great concern of their souls till a supposed more convenient 
 season. 
 
 (1.) They sometimes put off to certain times they set, when they 
 intend. . . . Children sometimes. . . . Shall know more — 
 Know better how to pray and perform other duties of Religion that 
 grown-up persons perform. 
 
 'Tis a common thing for young people. Till settled in the world. 
 "More convenient season:" a better inclination .... not so much 
 inclined to mirth and youthful vanities .... fewer temptations .... 
 out of the way of young company .... more in the way of those 
 who are solid and serious jDcrsons. 
 
 They esteem the present season very inconvenient for religion .... 
 being so very convenient for other purposes. . . . Now a very con- 
 venient time to take liberty in mirth and youthful delights. 
 
 Many that are past their youth put off to a supposed more con- 
 venient season .... when got through such and such particular 
 affairs wherein they are now involved .... when they hope they 
 shall be more at liberty .... or till in this and the other respect 
 they are got into more convenient circumstances. 
 
 (2.) There are many that delay and put off without fixing any time 
 in their mind .... hoping for a more convenient future time. . . . 
 
 The present time appears peculiarly inconvenient .... feel a 
 great opposition .... have many temptations .... hope it will be 
 
 * In the left-hand corner is marked, " Novemb. 1749," and a little beyond, "St 
 Ind. = Stockbridge Indians, Aug. 1752," See Application for the second sermon. 
 — G. 
 
SERMONS. 201 
 
 better with them .... not feel such an aversion .... fewer temp- 
 tations. . . . 
 
 Wait to have the Spirit of God strive with them. 
 
 Now a time of general deadness, and very inconvenient on that 
 account .... all the talk is of other things .... put off till a 
 time of the outpouring of the Spirit of God. . . . 
 
 Or, perhaps, they are ho])ing for some greater advantage in other 
 respects, some better means than now they enjoy, or a better concur- 
 rence of circumstances to favour a design of seeking God and their 
 salvation. 
 
 II. The cause of persons thus delaying. 
 
 1. Stupidity .... senselessness of their danger and necessity. 
 Insensible of the reality .... insensible of the greatness .... 
 
 senseless of the heinousness of their sin .... a brutish stupidity. . . . 
 
 2. The importunity of lust. . . . Job xx. 12 — "Wickedness is 
 sweet in his mouth ; he hides it under his tongue ; he spares it, and 
 forsakes it not, he keeps it still in his mouth.'" 
 
 3. Aversion to their duty. 
 
 4. Ignorance of themselves and self-confidence. 
 
 Trust in wisdom .... strength .... steadfastness. . . . 
 
 5. A spirit of self-blinding. . . . The blinding influence of a sin- 
 ful self-love .... promise themselves future opportunity .... 
 better opportunity .... that God will hear. . . . 
 
 6. The subtile temptations of the Devil. . . . 
 
 III. The evil of it. 
 
 1. 'Tis exceeding wicked. 
 
 Direct disobedience .... wilful, resolved, wickedness .... deter- 
 mine to continue in sin, and an allowance of it. . . . 
 
 'Tis not only designedly committing one act of wickedness, but 
 deliberately determining on a course of it .... a course of manifested 
 wickedness .... neglect of many commands .... gratification of 
 many lusts .... horrible ingratitude, abusing the past " long suffer- 
 ing" .... horrible presumption on future mercy .... contempt 
 of offered mercy. . . . 
 
 2. Tis exceeding foolish. . . . Hereby they reject and miss a 
 good deal of present good .... wilfully continue in a miserable 
 state .... bring a great deal of certain future misery upon 
 them. . . . 
 
 They run a dreadful risk .... depend on innumerable uncer- 
 tainties .... life continued .... means of grace continued .... 
 use of reason .... disposed .... "more convenient season" .... 
 given one .... if disposed whether succeed .... whether God 
 won't give over to delusion and to hard-heartedness. . . . 
 
 Depend on many things that are not only uncertain, but very im- 
 probable .... disposition .... convenient season .... thought 
 when they were children .... make their case more and more dan- 
 gerous .... depending on greater conveniences they make incon- 
 
202 SERMONS. 
 
 veniences for themselves .... and by this means many thousands are 
 actually undone. . . . 
 
 Application :* — 
 
 This may be of warning to sinners not to delay and put off. . . . 
 
 You have heard how common this is. , . . Men are exceeding 
 prone to it. . . . Does your own experience confirm what has been 
 said in this matter ? And are there not some here who are now doing 
 as has been represented ? Have we not reason to think that there are 
 many here present that say as Felix, " When , . . ." &c. ? 
 
 Undoubted, by what is everywhere to be seen at such a time of 
 general deadness and regardlessness of religion as this is : a good 
 evidence of the exceeding proneness to put off. . . , 
 
 Let all take warning. . . . 
 
 You have heard something in general of wickedness and folly ; 
 but here consider more particularly — 
 
 1 . What guilt yon contract : what a horrible thing it is to live in 
 known and wilful disobedience to God ; . . . . what great light ye will 
 sin against if you .... 
 
 2. What would you think of your delays if God should say to you, 
 " Thou fool, this night ....?" 
 
 3. If the future time you are putting off to should never come, how 
 far it will probably be from being a " more convenient season." , . . 
 
 In many respects, far more inconvenient .... God's anger increased 
 .... your heart harder, more stupid .... every evil habit esta- 
 blished .... sloth .... a carnal, worldly disposition .... an 
 habitual making light of things affecting such awakenings. . . . 
 Satan's great opportunity to establish his interest .... commonly 
 an increase of inconvenience of outward circumstances .... increase 
 of temptations .... commonly many inconveniences arise that 
 never would be thought of ... . less likely ever to set about the 
 work .... Satan hath greater advantages if they do ... . more 
 likely to be unsteady .... more likely soon to be discouraged .... 
 the work is greater and harder that they have to do ... . less time 
 to do it. . . . 
 
 4. Others have lamented their folly in delaying .... many when 
 under concern .... I who have long been in the work of the 
 ministry .... many on a death-bed. 
 
 5. How much otherwise you deal with God, and desire that God 
 should deal with you. 
 
 6. If you continue still to delay after the warning you have this 
 day, how aggravated your wickedness will be ! 
 
 How have you been warned hereof before .... and how have you 
 gone from the meeting-house and still .... 
 
 How can you excuse yourself to go home to-night and do nothing? 
 or to do a little this evening, and then to-morrow, or in a few 
 days? . . . 
 
 * The text is again placed above " Application," shewing that it formed a second 
 sermon. — G. 
 
SERMONS. 20.S 
 
 Consider liow unreasonable this is. . . . 
 
 And if now ao-ain, .... and there be a God, .... how may 
 you reasonably suppose He will resent it ? 
 
 7. If you still .... what danger that you will be utterly given 
 up before the time comes. . . . Giving up a common thing. . . . 
 
 8. Enquire whether you yourself don't believe [that] there are 
 many now in Hell through this very means ? 
 
 Here some, perhaps, may say, to excuse themselves, and quiet their 
 own consciences with respect to this, " I don't delay and put off the 
 concern of my soul. I am in a way of seeking my salvation." 
 
 Here I would put two or three questions to such persons. 
 
 1. Whether you are in a way of minding this affair more than all 
 others ? " Seeking fiest the kingdom of God," — " one thing." . . . 
 
 2. Is your reformation universal ? Sins of omission .... com- 
 mission. . . . 
 
 3. [Do you feel] as much pains as ever you take will be needful ? 
 Forsaken all practices you think you would need to forsake ? Com- 
 plied with all duties? As earnestly? .... Do you intend to 
 continue? How has secret, closet religion been with you? How 
 have you kept the Sabbath ? Attended the sermons ? If not, . . . 
 you are guilty of the forementioned wickedness, . . . wilful disobe- 
 dience—guilty of folly. Therefore, if you have any regard to ... . 
 think on your mercies, and "turn your feet," .... and whatever 
 " your hands find to do." . . . 
 
 VII. and YIII. 
 
 1 Pet. iii. 19, 20 — "By which also he went and preached to the 
 spirits in prison," &c. . . .* 
 
 Two things it is my present purpose to observe concerning the 
 spirits or souls of those wicked men that Noah preached to. . . . 
 
 1. How long ago they lived. 
 
 2. How those souls are here spoken [of] as to their present state, 
 "spirits in prison." 
 
 DOCTEINE. — Those wicked men who lived before the flood, and 
 went to Hell in Noah's time, are there still. 
 
 1. I would give some reasons why they have remained in Hell so 
 
 long. 
 
 2. Observe in some respects in what circumstances they remani 
 
 there all this while. 
 I. Give some reasons. 
 Negatively. 
 
 1. 'Tis not because Hell has been tolerable to 'cm. 
 
 2. 'Tis not because they ben't convinced of their former folly, . . . 
 
 * lu left-band comer, marked " June 1749." See ' Directions ' for second sermon.— G. 
 
204 SERMONS. 
 
 that they have not yet been brought to their right mind or to their 
 judgment of things. 
 
 3. 'Tis not because they are careless about theii' own welfare and 
 ease, and not willing to be at any possible labours or cost in order 
 to escape, if there w^ere any hope of deliverance. Not because they 
 don't wish and long .... not thoroughly overwhehiied .... not 
 because they ben't in earnest .... that they ben't thoroughly en- 
 gaged in their spirits .... not yet disposed to own that the courses 
 that they went on going weren't good .... not disposed to attend 
 to any offer of mercy .... because they begrudge .... would be 
 unwilling to lay out themselves .... not because they are covetous 
 .... not willing to be shewn. . . . 
 
 4. Tis not because they were weaker than the generality of men. 
 Many of them were giants. 
 
 5. Not because there is not a great number of those who are dis- 
 posed to unite their strength to burst prison. 
 
 Afirmatively. 
 
 1. Their souls are immortal .... made for eternity .... of a 
 nature agreeable to this design. . . . 
 
 Though they desire it, they can't return to nothing. " Seek death 
 and cannot find it." Extreme torment, but no tendency to an- 
 nihilate the soul .... tendency to sink it, but not to reduce it to 
 nothing. 'Tis not with the soul as 'tis with the body in its present 
 mortal state .... extreme oppression tends to destroy it. 
 
 2. They are not in a state of probation. 
 
 3. Their debt is what they can't pay. . . . Great debt to Divine 
 justice. Have not wherewith. . . . Nothing to pay. . . . Cast into 
 prison till they should pay the last mite. . . . 
 
 4. There is no gospel preached in Hell. Christ did not die 
 for the damned. , . . Had no respect to that world .... to those 
 in this state .... any more than to the devil. No means of grace. 
 Means of grace not accommodated to that state. No manner of pro- 
 vision made in any respect for their relief. No aid. Preaching of 
 the Word don't reach them. The prayers of saints, of godly friends, 
 don't reach them. 
 
 5. The place and state they are in was never designed for the 
 exercise of mercy. 
 
 God is infinitely merciful ; but the exercises of mercy are not for 
 ever. . . , Limited by Wisdom in various respects : has declared 
 what the purposes of His wisdom are with respect to the exercises of 
 His mercy. As to the kind of beings ; fallen men and not angels. 
 . . . His declarations are according to truth. . , . His purposes are 
 not altered. . . . 
 
 Hence no mercy in Hell. . . . Though their pain is extreme . . . 
 God don't pity 'em. Though their wishes for deliverance are great 
 .... though their cries are loud .... though long continued .... 
 though it be exceedinoj intolerable. 
 
 0. By being longer in Hell, they have not become any more fit for 
 any other state .... don't make 'em better .... although indeed 
 
SEIflUONS. 205 
 
 their judgments are convincccl, yet their hearts are the same. No 
 change in their dispositions. There are no conversions in Hell. The 
 wrath makes a great change indeed ; but no saving change. The 
 wicked in Noah's days were most of them very wicked on earth, yet, 
 in some respects, they became worse when they went to Hell. Not 
 fit for Heaven. Not fit to come and live in this world. Fit for no 
 other place. That is the place provided and fitted for such. 
 
 7. The prison is strong that holds them. Delivered up into the 
 hands of Satan .... against whom they have no strength. And his 
 cruelty is as strong as liis power. And what is much more than 
 devils, God confines them .... irreversible sentence binds them. 
 Omniscience opposes them. No escape by subtlety unobserved. 
 Often here, in this world, persons break prison by stealth .... get 
 away by night, when no one observes them. . . . And God's Almighty 
 power holds 'em down. And God ever lives. He is unchangeable. 
 He never will alter His purpose .... never will forget His own 
 Son .... never will forget His righteous sentence. . . . 
 
 II. Observe, in several things, in what circumstances they have 
 been in, all this so long a time. 
 
 1. They have not been in a state of insensibility. "The Rich 
 man." Not less their sensibility by long-continued torment and 
 misery .... hence not been deprived of the use of reason. 
 
 2. Have had no time of x'espite all this while. No rest. Rev. xiv. 
 11 — " No rest day nor night." Both day and night are mentioned, 
 because the night in this world is a time of rest. Have never been 
 asleep .... never find any resting-place. Never find out any 
 assuaging medicines .... any cool shadows .... cooling green 
 .... never found a drop of water .... never found any expedient 
 for mitigating their torment. 
 
 They have had much to goad 'em, in exercising their invention. 
 Necessity is the mother of invention. But their inventions have not 
 saved them .... have had nothing to divert them .... no amuse- 
 ment to take off their attention. . . . 
 
 3. Have not forgotten things that were so long ago, or when they 
 were on earth. " Son, remember." . . . Will remember over all at 
 the Day of Judgment. Have not forgotten pleasant circumstances 
 they lived in ... . swam in delights .... their lives were long 
 .... the wickedness they committed .... the opportunities they 
 had .... the warnings .... Noah's preaching .... their folly 
 .... the thoughts they had concerning God and His testimony. 
 
 4. Their misery is not grown more tolerable by their being so long 
 used to it. 
 
 5. The great additions that have been made to the numbers from 
 their time has been no comfort to 'em. 
 
 6. They have had no hope all this while .... have none now 
 .... though their torments have been so long continued. 
 
 This is verified concerning all that go down to the pit of Hell. (Isa. 
 xxxviii. 19) — "They that go down to the pit cannot hope for Thy 
 truth/' 
 
206 SEEMONS. 
 
 Use: 
 
 May be of warning : Let sinners in these days take warning. 
 Those that now live in unbelief and impenitence are in danger of the 
 same. 
 
 1. Let me call upon [you] seriously to consider how long a time 
 those who have been spoken of have already worn out [themselves] 
 in Hell : they have been there 4000 years. How many ages ? How 
 many and great changes, and successions, and transactions ? How 
 many generations have passed ? How many successions of those who 
 had come into being, gradually grown up, and grown old, and then 
 died ? 
 
 Not only have many generations gradually come upon the stage 
 and have died ; but many great and populous nations have come into 
 being, and have flourished, and made a great figure in the world for 
 many ages, and then by degrees have dwindled and wasted, swallowed 
 up by other nations and come to nothing, and nothing of them now 
 known but by history. And some of them very ancient and power- 
 ful, so that even the very history of them is almost come to notliing 
 and vanished ; and all since they have been suffering the flames of 
 Hell, without any cessation or rest. The world has been peopled 
 .... subdued .... many mighty princes have appeared and made 
 a good bustle, and none .... whose memory is now almost for- 
 gotten Very great and magnificent cities .... and now 'tis 
 
 hardly to be known where they stood. Many kingdoms, yea, many 
 
 great monarchies Those four monarchies of the world. How 
 
 many things have worn out ! The strongest fortunes .... strongest 
 empires .... most durable monuments .... pillars of brass .... 
 
 monuments of marble stone Languages used as the common 
 
 speech of large countries. Such things have gradually perished, and 
 length of time worn 'em out ; but yet the torments of the " spirits 
 in prison" yet remains .... not come to nothing .... are as 
 fresh and lively and in as great vigour as the first moment. 
 
 The souls who are the subjects of these miseries were sinners, and 
 their miseries immortal. Since they have been in Hell there has been 
 a long series of wonderful dispensations of God towards His Church 
 and the whole world. After the flood, the nations degenerated .... 
 fell off to idolatry .... Abraham was ' called ' . . . . children of 
 Jacob became a great nation .... Christ was foretold of old, from 
 time to time .... anciently prefigured .... and in the fulness of 
 time Christ actually came into the world .... all these ancient pro- 
 phecies and ancient types were fulfilled .... the Jews, God's ancient 
 people, rejected .... Gentiles called .... prophecies were given 
 .... a mighty change made in the Roman kingdom .... Anti- 
 christ arose .... reigned for long time .... but at length the 
 
 Reformation came During all those mighty changes on earth 
 
 those souls spoken of in the doctrine, continued without ease day or 
 night or one minute's respite, wrestling with the mighty torments of 
 Hell ; and so they continue still .... torment not abated. These 
 great and mighty changes on earth have not affected them to cause 
 
SERMONS. 207 
 
 any change there. There have been many good times on earth : days 
 of great good ; but .... 
 
 2. How we may suppose the things which they remember of their 
 past lives now aftects them .... their worldly enjoyments .... 
 the length of the time of their past ease and pleasures .... they 
 lived long lives .... their past opportunities .... their long 
 warnings .... the preaching they had .... their folly and stu- 
 pidity .... obstinacy .... 
 
 3. How many since have followed their steps and have gone to 
 Hell in like manner, 'Tis not the manner of men to take warning by 
 
 those that perish before them Those that are gone before can 
 
 see the folly of those that come after, whom it will do no good. The 
 rich man in Hell. Those that went to Hell in Noah's day, see the 
 folly of those that come to 'em from generation to generation. But 
 those that follow after don't see the folly of those who went before, 
 and so they follow them 
 
 4. They that have worn out so many ages in Hell, are never the 
 nearer any end of their misery. The time is very long that they have 
 suttered .... many tedious days .... tedious years .... and 
 
 tedious ages one after another They must wear out another 
 
 space of time as long as this in Hell flames, and another after that. 
 .... Soon the time will come when they will actually have worn 
 
 out a million such as ... . yea, a million and millions God 
 
 foresees the time .... knows the particular passage of the day. 
 Yea, as many such ages as there are particles of dust on the globe of 
 
 the earth And even then NO meecy. It will be without end. 
 
 For ever, yea, for ever. Therefore take warning. If you neglect 
 to take warning you will go to Hell .... and the time will come 
 when you will have been as long as they now have been .... and 
 you must also be there millions of millions .... and you will be 
 no nearer .... yea, will be in absolute despair as they are ... . 
 your wishes, and cries, and strength, and entreaties will be in vain. 
 You in like manner will reflect on and curse your folly. 
 
 5. The torment that those spoken of in the doctrine have endured 
 for so long a time, is but an imprisonment in order to execution. 
 " Spirits in prison." " Chains of darkness." There is another day. 
 Their misery is great now. We learn by the parable of Dives and 
 
 Lazarus I know nothing by which it can be determined that 
 
 the misery will not be a thousand times as great They 
 
 ' tremble.' The chains are strong. There is no hope .... no relief 
 
 to them. 
 
 6. The means and opportunities they enjoyed were nothing to yours. 
 Little revelation of a future state. 
 
 7. God has an appointed time to wait on you. ' The Spirit \\ill 
 not always strive.' 
 
 8. Consider the sudden, imexpected manner in which they were 
 destroyed (Luke xvii. 26, 27.) .... You will probably be surprised 
 as they were. They had as much reason to flatter themselves as you, 
 (Job xxvii. 20)—" A tempest stealeth him away in the night." 
 
208 SEEMONS. 
 
 DlltECTIONS : * 
 
 1. Avoid those things by which the men that went to Hell in 
 Noah's time undid themselves .... particularly sensuality, (Gen. 
 vi. ; Luke xvii. 27.) .... So it was with Sodom. Violence. 
 " Evil imaginations." They would not hearken. They grew hard- 
 ened to long-continued calls and warnings .... habitually made 
 light. Is there not reason to apprehend that this is the case with 
 many here? You must reform your life .... thorough reforma- 
 tion 
 
 2. You must in this respect be as Noah was in the generation of 
 those souls that are " castaways ;" particularly 
 
 1. You must avoid those liberties of young people that are cus- 
 tomary. 
 
 2. Another thing that is apparently become customary, and doubt- 
 less is very provoking to God, is pride and extravagance in apparel. 
 Not that I condeuni all adorning the body. 'Tis evident by Scripture 
 that some moderate degree of this is lawful. Oil that makes his 
 face to shine, (Eccles. ix. 8 ; Matt. vi. 17 ; Prov. xxxi. 21, 22 ; Exod. 
 iii. 22.) But yet 'tis apparent that there is a most sinful extravagance 
 in this kind, (1 Tim. ii. 9 ; 1 Pet. iii. 8, 4 ; Isa. iii. 16, 18, &c.) 
 Appears to be very provoking to God .... when persons go beyond 
 their rank. One end of apparel seems to be to distinguish. (Prov. 
 xxxi. 22, 23.) Common people to shew an affectation to be like 
 those of high rank ; country towns to affect to be like the metropolis. 
 When they go beyond their estate, disable themselves from paying 
 tlieir debts ; deprive themselves of other things more necessary and 
 more profitable ; disable themselves much from deeds of charity. An 
 affectation to distinguish themselves in imitating the fashions of the 
 more gay part of the world. Complying with the general customs of 
 a country in clothing is not vulgar. On the contrary, 'tis not decent 
 to be singular. But some fashions in themselves are ill ... . extra- 
 vagance .... very costly .... immodest 
 
 AH this care, and pains, and cost to adorn themselves shews per- 
 sons to much affect outward ornament .... seem to shew that they 
 make much of themselves .... all that which tends to encourage a 
 general excess. Such things as these have been condemned by wise 
 men of all nations. 
 
 'lis a time when the nations here have got to a vast excess. The 
 land is become exceeding extravagant. More so than in England in 
 proportion to our ability and ranks. Prevents great good that might 
 be done .... is continually running in debt. The main thing that 
 brings our greatest national calamities .... particularly the present 
 state the country is in with regard to a medium.f And is the main 
 source of that general injustice that has been so long complained of 
 .... keeps the country in constant distress .... maintains con- 
 stant injustice .... threatens us with ruin We in this 
 
 * Text and Doctrine placed here, shewing a second sermon commenced at this 
 point. — G. 
 
 t That is, " the currency," coinage. — G. 
 
SERMONS. 209 
 
 town * are evidently got to a great excess. Boston is extravagant 
 beyond Loudon. And we, considering all things, I think beyoml 
 them .... how far below w'c fall short in rank .... state .... 
 education and our situation in the world .... far beyond them. 
 
 I had occasion to observe the people at Portsmouth, in both the 
 congregations in that place. That is a place very much famed for 
 politeness, and is a city mucli like Boston in many respects. I judged 
 the apparel of our congregation was fully as costly. INIany things 
 that might make it proper for them to go beyond us. 
 
 Such excess in gaiety and costliness of apparel is a manifestation 
 of great vanity of mind. It seems to shew a great senselessness of 
 our own vileness .... becomes us to go, modestly .... modest 
 apparel would better become such sinful creatures. Do not con- 
 sider the end for which clothing was given .... to hide our 
 shame .... that deformity that is the first of sin ... . senseless- 
 ness of what our bodies are coming to ... . shews vanity of mind, 
 as it shews the heart to be set on that which is exceeding vain and 
 empty .... great want of a sense of the worth of those spiritual 
 ornaments that are infinitely more valuable. 
 
 If persons had a proper concern for their soul, there surely would 
 not appear very much affectation to ... . 
 
 If religion should greatly revive it would undoubtedly make a great 
 alteration. 
 
 This is one thing, among others, that tends to prevent its reviving. 
 
 God has of late awfully testified His displeasure for the extravagance 
 of the country's manner of living. 
 
 3. You must not only seek, but strive. You must make it a busi- 
 ness .... main business .... thorough .... How plain the 
 necessity of it ! How often in the "Word of God ! How plain by ex- 
 perience ! On many accounts necessary .... How much you have 
 had to convince you of the necessity ! And are you, after all, in any 
 sense awake ? And how can you excuse this folly ? 
 
 4. Be seasonable. 
 
 The sinners of the old world perished by the Flood because they 
 were not seasonable. They doubtless, many of them, used means 
 
 afterwards. Had need to make haste So we are directed 
 
 from time to time. " Haste "...." escape for thy Life." On 
 many accounts necessary. How many have we reason to think per- 
 ish through delay ! 
 
 5. Not only engage in but go through tliat great work that is 
 necessary in order to your escaping eternal damnation. 
 
 Do in this respect as Noah diid for the saving himself and his 
 house from the Flood. 
 
 6. Don't waste time in halting between two opinions. 
 
 How there seem to be some things that give special encouragement. 
 Isa. Iv. 6, 7. 
 
 * Viz., Northampton, New England. — G. 
 
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