being laid aside is usually solded up Hence it appeares that at last the time shall come that the heavens shall no longer circumvest or enwrap the earth and therefore must needs be destroyed and abolished And they shall be changed What change must here be understood moe have shewed before namely a destruction abolition or perishing a change not for the better but for the worse a change from being to not being as a garment waxen old and thereupon folded up becomes changed for the worse till first it fall into clouts and ragges and at last rots quite away Hitherto of the second Clause of this testimony concerning the destruction of the world referred primarily by the Psalmist to God but secondarily and subordinatly by this Author to Christ by whose power under God this destruction shall be made and thereby is proved to be better then the angels But thou remainest Now follows the third Clause of this testimony referred both to God and Christ as the second Clause was yet we shall speak of it only in reference to Christ because the main purpose of the Author in this Clause is to prove not that Christ herein is better then the angels but to shew upon the by that the Duration of Christs person and Kingdom doth not only exceed the age of the world which shall be destroyed but shall be everlasting and perpetuall remaining for ever The world shall not remaine but shall cease to be But Christ shall remaine and never cease to bee but if the world be Innovated into a better state to remaine ever under that state wherein shall stand the opposition betweene the Duration of the world and Christ certainly in nothing Thou art the same The heavens and earth shall not be the same alwayes but at last shall be changed from being to not being But Christ once seated at the right hand of God continues alwayes the same and shall be the same everlastingly And thy yeares shall not fail The world had a beginning and then her years began but because she shall be destroyed and abolished therefore her yeares shall faile and come to an end Christ also had a beginning of his age and yeares but because hee is now immortall therefore his yeares shall never have an end but shall run forth in to eternity and last everlastingly 13. But to which of the angels said he at any time The fift and last Argument to prove Christ better and greater then the angels taken from a testimony of Scripture Psal 110.1 Shewing that God never vouchsafed them that high dignity and degree of honour as to sit at his right hand Sit on my right hand The meaning of this phrase see before in this chapter verse 3. For so great a dominion and power as to correigne with God over all things in heaven and earth was never granted to any of the angels Vntill I make thine enemies thy footstool Here is declared the expiration and terme of that spirituall Kingdome which Christ now administers upon earth and such a terme as therewithall shewes one of the greatest and most excellent effect of that Kingdome In so much as it is no marvell his Kingdome should determine after the production of that effect All which tends to the highest commendation of that Kingdome For if Christ had obtained that Kingdom for some short time or should relinquish it before he had destroyed and abolished all his enemies much would bee wanting to the dignitie of his Kingdome The terme therefore unto which the Kingdom of Christ must be produced which also is a most glorious effect of his Kingdome is expressed when God saith untill I make thine enemies thy footstoole By enemies here we must understand not onely the adversaries to the person of Christ who once reproached and crucified him or since to this day blaspheme and oppose him but also all things adverse and hurtfull to the people of Christ who are the faithfull Of which enemies the chiefest is death so far forth as it doth hurt or may hurt the faithfull who are the people of Christ as the Apostle teacheth 1. Cor. 15.26 For the death which domineers and remaines upon the ungodly and unbeleevers shall not be abolished because their death is no enemy unto Christ but militant and subservient unto him in doing the worke upon which he employes it And the enemies of Christ are then made his footstoole when they are so fully conquered that all power of doing hurt is taken from them or as St. Paul expounds it 1. Cor. 15.26 when they are destroyed and abolished And God is said to put Christs enemies downe not that Christ shall be no agent in that action but because God gives Christ the power to performe it and Christ shall execute it by vertue of that power that is given him As in the Scripture 1. Kings 5.3 God is said to have put Davids enemies under his feet yet David was not idle in the wars but very active Or as some King when his enemies were conquered should say that God had subdued them unto him because God had given him power and courage to performe it For that Christ also himselfe shall subdue his enemies it plainly appeares from the words of St. Paul 1. Cor. 15.24 and Phil. 3.21 14. Are they not all ministring spirits They i. the Angels In the former verse having shewed the Sublimity and Maiesty of Christ in his seat at Gods right hand and in the victory over his enemies he now on the other part opposeth the condition of the angels that the great dignity of him above them may evidently appeare Christ doth sit and he sits at the right hand of God i. he raignes as a King and the manner of Kings is to sit But all the angels none excepted are ministring spirits i. waiting spirits and the manner of waiters is to stand and appeare and be sent forth at his command upon whom they wait Sent forth to minister The angels are Gods messengers and ministers for they are sent forth and the end of their sending forth is to minister or doe service What ministery or service that is hee will presently shew and withall will intimate how long their ministery shall last namely till the persons for whose sake they minister shall attaine salvation For them who shall be heires of salvation The angels are properly ministers unto God and Christ for properly a man ministers unto him that hath a right to command him though his ministery or service be many times performed for the use and behoofe of another So the angels are ministers not unto the Saints and heires of salvation but for the Saints i. for the benefit and commodity of the Saints they minister unto Christ for the vse of the Saints and then they minister to the Saints when they are sent for the custody and guard of their bodies and soules to provide for their safety in both respects For seeing Satan and the other devils doe not only pursue and
punishment and other evils eminent and Reverence is this fear redoubled or graduated as wee have said The manner therefore how to make our worship and service of God acceptable and pleasing unto him is by seasoning our souls with these two affections of Modesty and Reverence which are the true and firme foundations whereupon are framed those holy gestures of standing up bowing downe and kneeling downe to him which are the proper acts whereof Gods outward worship doth consist as we have formerly specified For if the use of reverend gestures be decent and due to any person upon earth much more is the use of them decent and due to the most high God of heaven Seeing of all other persons in the world we should most fear to displease God by any appearance of indecency in the least circumstance and seeing God above all others hath all power to benefit us and all right to punish us In which consideration the Author immediatly subjoynes 29. For our God is a consuming fire Here he adjoyns the reason why we must worship and serve God in this acceptable manner with modesty and reverence namely because God is a consuming fire God is a fire of anger So God is called by reason of his anger and wrath wherewith he is so provoked by finne that hee growes hot and burnes against it and as often as hee burnes with wrath he consumes and destroyes ungodly men as suddenly and as fiercely as doth a most vehement fire And it seems that Moses from whom the Authour tooke these words tooke occasion to call God by this name Deut. 4.24 because that God descended downe upon Mount Sinai in a great flame of fire the smoke whereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace Exod. 19.18 and because God spake out of the middest of the fire that they who heard his voyce saw no other similitude of him Deut. 4.11 and because a fire proceeding from God burnt up some who in his worship and service carried not themselves toward him with that modesty and reverence that was acceptable unto him So he burnt up the two Priests the sons of Aaron who durst burne incense unto him with strange fire that was not sacred and fallen from heaven Levit. 10.2 So hee burnt up those two hundred and fifty men who being not Priests durst approach to offer and burne incense unto him Numb 16.35,39 Hence also it is that God appeared unto Moses in a flame of fire out of the middest of a bush Exod. 3.2 And in the Psalmes of David God is sometime introduced with a fire going before him and burning up his enemies round about Psal 97.3 And in that vision of Daniel the Ancient of dayes did sit whose throne was like the fiery flame and his wheels like burning fire and a fiery stream issued and came forth from before him Dan. 7.9,10 Yet we must not think that God doth burne with perpetuall flames of anger For God is rather charity as Saint John doth testifie And of love Therefore God is alwayes a fire of love and charity towards men especially Christians unlesse it be when mens sinnes doe quench this fire of love and charity in him and kindle that other fire of anger and wrath Seeing then our God is a fire to consume those who dare presume to worship or serve him immodestly or irreverently or in any manner not acceptable unto him it therefore concernes us to bee carefull that in all our approaches to his worship or service we carry our selves with all modesty and reverence lest our God bee also unto us as a consuming fire The Contents of this 12. Chapter are 1. Duty We must be constant in professing the faith and patient in bearing the the crosses of it ver 1. Motive 1. Because wee have a cloud of witnesses who eye us in our course of faith and piety ver 1. 2. Because we have Christ for an example and paterne who did endure the crosse and the contradiction of sinners and despised the shame of it for the glory set before him v. 2. 3. 3. Because the crosse is but Gods chastisement upon us which argues his fatherly love to us as his children ver 5 6 7. for chastisement is universall whereof all are partakers except bastards ver 8. Wee take it patiently from our carnall fathers v. 9. Jt lasteth but a few dayes ver 10. and it smarts but only for the present v. 11. 2. Duty We must follow peace and holinesse v. 14. Motive Because without them no man shall see the Lord ibid. 3. Duty We must be diligent to keep one another from falling away Motive Because Apostacy is a bitter root that will both trouble and defile many v. 15. 4. Duty We must take heed of profanesse v. 16. Motive 1. Because Esau who first despised his birth-right afterward lost his blessing finally and could not recover it though hee sought it with teares v. 16 17. 2. Because the Church whereto we come is not an earthly mount where a God on earth speakes all in terrour as it was with the Israelites v. 18 19 20 21. But an heavenly mount whereof the assembly is God in heaven and Christ the Mediator thousands of Angels the first-borne of the Church and the spirits of the Righteous v. 22 23 24. 3. Because the Doctrine we are to hear was not spoken on earth as was the law but from heaven v. 25. 4. Because the time shall once come under the Gospel wherein God shall bee more terrible then ever he was at Mount Sinai for hee shall shake both heaven and earth to pieces even to abolsh them v. 26.27 5. Because we receive from God an infinite benefit even a Kingdome that is immutable and inconcussible v. 28. 6. Because God is a fire to consume the profane v. ult CHAPTER XIII 1. LEt brotherly love continue In the former Chapter hee exhorted them to severall duties concerning God as to constancy in the Faith and patience under the Crosse and to Holinesse and also disswading from the maine contrary vices of Apostacy and profanenes Now in this Chapter hee proceeds to humane duties in certaine mutuall good offices of men one toward another beginning with brotherly love which is our first and chiefest degree of Charitie towards men particularly such men as are our brethren They are eminently called our brethren who have one common spirituall father with us and are begotten into Christ from our heavenly Father by that incorruptible seed which is the word of the Gospel For if the faithfull who are sanctified are all brethren unto Christ who doth sanctifie them as was shewed before chap. 2.11 with much more reason are they brethren one to another because their mutuall resemblances between themselves are much more manifold And this brotherly love consisteth in the inward affect of it and in divers outward effects of doing good for faith and love also are both dead if they be ineffectuall This love must continue and remaine
thereupon naturally of her owne accord inclines to the removing and abolishing of it as are all things artificiall that are made by art from which the Author seems here to draw a tacit resemblance So the form and beauty of this whole world was by the power of God induced into that Chaos which is described by Moses in the beginning of Genesis seeing therefore that heaven and earth were made by inducing a forraine forme into a grosse matter that was before rude void and darke beside and above her naturall capacity therefore their forme shall bee shaken off and removed and consequently they shall bee abolished That those things which cannot be shaken may remaine That things immutable only may remaine alone by themselves Now they are not onely things immutable which cannot be shaken but also mutable which shall be shaken But after that all things mutable which are to be shaken shall be shaken and removed then shall remaine onely things immutable which are not to be shaken nor shall be shaken By these words is noted of things mutable not the proper end for which they had being but the event or end of their being whereby their being shall cease And the Author added this to shew that when heaven and earth shall be removed or abolished yet there shall be remaining a most ample and spacious mansion for the righteous as S. Peter also testifieth and calleth it a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousnesse 2 Pet. 3.13 But by these words the Author makes way to a new argument whereby he excites and exhorts the Hebrewes to faith and constancy in the Christian Religion by subjoyning 28. Wherefore we receiving a kingdome which cannot be moved or shaken The kingdome here is both the place it selfe and also the blessed state or happinesse of them that inhabit it And this kingdome cannot be moved or shaken not in respect of Gods power for God who is Almighty hath might and power sufficient to move and shake even that new heaven and new earth as Peter calls it but because God hath no will ever to shake yea it is his will it should never be shaken and because of it owne nature it is no way propense or inclinable to be shaken but is finally immutable and what is so of that it may well be said that it cannot be shaken in which sence the Angels are immortall and so shall wee be one day We receiving i. accepting and embracing it with our soule and bearing a firme faith to the promises of it which are contained in the Christian Religion and so apprehending it as it were with our hand upon Gods offer of it unto us Let us have grace Have is here put for retaine or hold unlesse by grace here some man would understand a thankfull minde which sence notwithstanding doth not so well fit the place especially seeing in the holy Scriptures to have grace doth not signifie to have a thankfull minde but rather to give thanks See 1 Tim. 1.12 and 2 Tim. 1.3 which sence doth not so well agree with the words following Whereby wee may serve God Grace Grace therefore in this place as also elsewhere doth rather signifie either the doctrine of Christ full of Gods grace as when John saith that grace came by Iesus Christ John 1.17 where he opposeth grace to the Law and S. Peter writes that he testifies that this is the true grace of God wherein ye stand 1 Pet. 5.12 where he meanes that the doctrine which they had received touching the grace of God was true Or it signifies the favour of God whereto God admitted us under the new Covenant promising us eternall life and his heavenly kingdome which divine favour is termed by Paul the grace of God that bringeth salvation to all men T it 2.11 which in the following Chapter ver 4. he calls the kindenesse and love of God So that to have grace is to retaine the doctrine of the Gospel which containes the grace and favour of God toward us Whereby wee may serve God acceptably That is according to his prescript if by grace we understand the doctrine of Christ or by his instinct if wee will have it signifie the favour of God May serve In the Originall it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 may worship which word sometime in holy Scripture is taken largely and generally for all that honour which by holy offices we performe publiquely unto God whether by way of worship with holy reverences or by way of service with prayers praises or thanksgivings and such like yea sometime this word is further amplified and extended to all works of piety because under the new Covenant all pious works are accounted spirituall sacrifices But how the word worship is sometime taken more strictly and so opposed to service and what are the differences betweene them two we have formerly explicated chap. 9. ver 1. and see chap. 9.14 Acceptably Our worship and service of God and our workes of piety must not be done loosely after any manner but in such a manner onely as is acceptable and pleasing to God because all service must be pleasing to the person to whom it is done for otherwise it is disservice Therefore our worship and service of God must not now be legall by carnall sacrifices which while the Law was of force were not very pleasing unto him as hath beene shewed but spirituall and evangelicall by holy reverences prayers praises and thanksgivings neither must it be perfunctory lame or may med but entire serious and ardent With reverence and godly feare He shews the manner and way how to make our worship and service acceptable and pleasing unto God namely if we worship and serve him with modesty and reverence In the Greeke it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which properly signifie with modesty and reverence Modesty or bashfulnesse is an affection whereby we feare to displease a man and thereby to diminish his good esteeme of us and it extends it selfe to the least circumstances that seeme to containe any appearance of indecency even to those things which deserve neither punishment nor blame For modesty requires us to avoid all indecencies or if they cannot be avoyded but either are or have beene done to cover them that they may not appeare to others least thereby wee lessen our esteeme with them to whom they appeare But be case modesty though it be a very tender affection yet for the most part doth not incite and move us so vehemently therefore to modesty the Author adjoynes reverence which is a more potent affection for reverence is an intense or graduated feare when feare is in some degree augmented beyond his ordinary state as Charity is an intense love more then ordinary And this reverence doth properly respect a person that is superiour unto us and either hath power to benefit us or at least a right to punish us For feare as it respects a person is properly that affection whereby we beware of
saying your conversation is without covetousnesse but imperative Let your conversation be so Lastly because the contents of this Chapter seeme not to be matter of Doctrine but of Exhortation whose Mood is imperative moving us as we have said to severall duties and good offices If then wee understand these words Indicatively by supplying them with the verbe is Then the sence will be That mariage is in all or among men of all sorts and ranks a thing honest and by it onely the bed is undefiled so that a man may live in mariage with the safety of piety and honesty contrary to what is done in fornication and adultery But if we understand them imperatively or preceptively by supplying them with the verbe let be Let mariage be honourable Then the sence will be Let mariage bee preserved in it due honour and let the meanes to preserve it so be by keeping the bed undefiled from adulteries for nothing is more dishonourable to a maried person then to have his bed stained and defiled by the uncleannesse of another which is done in every adultery for the nature of adultery is here modestly defined to be the defiling of anothers bed The words in all may be referred either to things or persons If wee referre them to things the sence will be that mariage be in every thing observed honestly and chastly and that the bed be not polluted with any uncleane or strange lust But if wee referre in all to persons the sence will be that mariage must be had in honour and esteeme among all persons of all sexes that no person should so despise it as to presume or dare to invade anothers bed whether he be a single person or maried For all persons ought to have such an opinion of mariage as to esteeme it a thing sacred and not to be polluted for he that doth otherwise and transgresseth the Laws of mariage by defiling his bed and body with a stranger incurres a heavy penalty which God himselfe will one day execute upon him But whoremongers and adulterers God will judge Here he brings a Motive or Reason whereby hee would perswade us to the former dutie of honouring mariage by our honesty and chastity namely because God will shew a judgement upon whoremongers and adulteres who are the maine transgressours against mariage to violate and dishonour it for to the honesty of mariage and the chastitie of the bed he opposeth whoredome and adulterie as a bed polluted and defiled For mariage is dishonoured and disgraced two wayes chiefly first by whoremongers who despise it and will not marry and secondly by adulterers who violate and affront mariage And the judgement which God hath already denounced and will certainly execute upon whormongers and adulterers is that they shall not inherit the kingdome of heaven See Gal. 5. verse 19.20.21 and Ephes 5.5 And the Author makes God the Judge to condemne and punish these whoremongers and adulterers to the end they might thinke and consider that though they commit their wickednesses secretly and many times escape the eyes and judgements of men yet they shall not evade the avenging hand of God and in vaine they deale warily if they live not chastly For God doth severely persecute uncleannes especially in them whom he hath seasoned with the knowledge of Christ sequestred from profane and worldly men and accepted as persons sacred to himselfe If therefore men would avoide this judgement of God in the losse of eternall life let them avoid the defiling sins of whoredome and adulterie Of single life Concerning celibate or single life here is nothing ordained because although a chaste celibate be purer and holier then mariage yet the necessitie of it is not commanded or imposed upon any man by the sacred Scripture But Christ doth only perswade it yet onely to them who can containe themselves Mat. 19.11,12 and Paul more amply and openly 1. Cor. 7. ver 8 26. and thence to the end of the chapter Here therefore we must walke in a middle way And as mariage must not be detruded into the number of fornications and uncleannesses as some anciently did who esteemed mariage nothing else but a kind of licenced whoredom so again on the other side it must not be equalled to a chaste celibate which the Scripture clearly prefers before mariage as containing more puritie and holinesse in it But as wee said it must be exacted from no man lest while we affect extream puritie either we our selves fall into mischiefes and uncleannesses or precipitate others into them who aspire either to the glory of celibate or to other vertues and offices inclosed with the necessitie of celibate Whatsoever is honourable honest and undefiled as the Authour here testifies of maririage that must bee granted free to any man especially if there arise a weightie cause as in this case there may to cut off all occasions of whoredomes adulteries and other defilements And they who debarre from mariage those which burne as the Apostle speakes doe all one as if a man who cannot hinder the disease doth yet forbid to use the remedy for what else can follow upon this but a soarer sicknesse For mariage is the remedie for burning and lust which when it is denyed to them that burne the issue will be that at length they fall into a farre worse disease and runne into uncleane and unlawfull pleasures Besides it detracts much from the dignity of celibate if it cease to be voluntary and be forced by law and arise not from free-will But to returne to the words of the Authour Whoredome is betweene those parties that are both free from the bond of mariage but adulterie is between parties whereof either both or one of them at least is married Anciently under the old Testament when husbands might have more wives then one it was not adultery for a married man to lie with a single woman unmarried but onely whoredome But under the new Testament where this licenciousnes of husbands is limited by the law of Christ and restrained to the company of one wife onely adultery is committed as well on the husbands part as on the wives as may easily appeare by the words of Christ Matth. 19.9 where he saith Whosoever shall put away his wife except it be for fornication and shall marry another committeth adultery Which certainely is not because of the mariage-bond for that of it selfe is rather to avoid uncleanesse then increase it but absolutely and simply because having a wife before hee presumes to lie with another woman when by Law the former woman ceaseth not to bee his wife because his divorce was illegall and a nullitie 5. Let your conversation be without covetousnesse The fifth dutie whereto he exhorts is Contentednesse by avoiding the vice of covetousnesse which here the Author disswades next after uncleannesse in the former verse For these two vices of uncleannes and covetousnes love to goe together or one to follow close upon another for