any one end of his mediation. And he maketh continual in. stances, as he pleases, of his power over them in the visible de. struction of some of his most principal and implacable enemies. And secondly, it will be complete at the last day, when all these enemies shall be utterly destroyed.

Thirdly, The word, is, until,' here hath respect to both these, the gradual and final destruction of all the enemies of Christ.

Fourthly, This Christ is said to expect; henceforth' exdixqueves, 'expecting.' Expectation and waiting are improperly ascribed to Christ, as they are in the Scripture to God himself, so far as they include hope or uncertainty of the event, or a desire of any thing, either as to matter, manner, or time, otherwise than as they are foreknown and determined. But it is the rest and complacency of Christ, in the faithfulness of God's promises, and his infinite wisdom, as to the season of their accomplishment, that is intended. He doth not so expect these things, as though there were any thing wanting to his own blessed glory, power, or authority, until it be actually and completely finished; but, saith the apostle, as to what remains to the Lord Christ in the discharge of his office, he henceforth is no more to offer, to suffer, no more to die, no more to do any thing for the expiation of sin, or by way of sacrifice, all this being absolutely and completely perfected, he is for ever in the enjoy ment of the glory that was set before him; satisfied in the promises, the power, and wisdom of God, for the complete effecting of his mediatory office, in the eternal salvation of the church, and by the conquest and destruction of all his and their enemies in their proper times and seasons for it. And from this interpretation of the words, we may take these observations.

Obs. IV. It was the entrance of sin, which raised up all our enemies against us.-From thence took they their rise and beginning; as, death, the grave, and hell: some that were friendly before, became our enemies thereon; as the law: and some that had a radical enmity, got power thereby to execute it; as the devil. The state in which we were created, was a state of universal peace; all the strife and contention rose from sin.

Obs. V. The Lord Christ, in his ineffable love and grace, put himself between us and all our enemies; and took into his breast, all their swords, wherewith they were armed against us; so they are his enemies.

Obs. VI. The Lord Christ by the offering of himself, making peace with God, ruined all the enmity against the church, and all the enemies of it. For all their power arose from the just displeasure of God, and the curse of his law.

Obs. VII. It is the foundation of all consolation to the church, that the Lord Christ, even now in heaven, takes all our enemies to be his; in whose destruction he is infinitely more concerned than we are.

Obs. VIII. Let us never esteem any thing, or any person, to be our enemy, but only so far, and in what they are the enemies

of Christ.

Obs. IX. It is our duty to conform ourselves to the Lord Christ in a quiet expectancy of the ruin of all our spiritual adversaries.

Obs. X. Envy not the condition of the most proud and cruel adversaries of the church; for they are absolutely in his power, and shall be cast under his footstool at the appointed season.

VER. 14-For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.

In this verse the apostle, 1. Gives the great reason of what he had stated with reference unto the Lord Christ in the discharge of his office; namely, that he did not repeat his offering, as the priests under the law did theirs, every year, and every day; but that he sat down at the right hand of God, expecting his enemies to be made his footstool; wherein they had no share after their oblations: And the reason is, because by one offering he hath for ever perfected them that are sanctified. This being done, there is no need of any daily sacrifice, nothing that should detain the Lord Jesus out of the possesion of his glory. So the particle, yag, 'for,' infers a reason in these words, of all that was assigned before unto him, in opposition unto what was done by the priests of the law; it was by one offering.

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2. What he did so effect, which rendered all future offerings and sacrifices impossible. By one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.' What he did, was μia ñgoroga, by one offering;' as what the priests of old did, was also by offerings and sacrifices. The eminency of this offering the apostle had before declared, which here he refers unto; it was not of bulls, or goats, but of himself, he offered himself to God; of his body, that is, his whole human nature. And this offering, as he had observed before, was only once offered; in the mention whereof, the apostle includes all the opposition he had made before, between the offering of Christ, and those of the priests, as to its worth and dignity.

3. That which is effected hereby, is, τετελειωκεν εις το διηνεκες της yours, that he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified; those on whom his work is effected, are thereby sanctified. They who are dedicated unto God, who are sanctified, or purged, by virtue of this sacrifice; unto them all the other effects are confined. First to sanctify them, then to perfect them, was the design of Christ in offering of himself, which he purposed not for all men universally. So in the foundation of the church of Israel, they were first sanctified and dedicated unto God, in and by the sacrifices wherewith the covenant was con

firmed, Exod. xxiv. and afterwards were perfected, so far as their condition was capable thereof, in the prescription of laws and ordinances for their church-state and worship. The word here, TX, was used before. He hath brought them into the most perfect and consummated church-state, and relation to God, as unto all his worship, that the church is capable of in this world. It is not an absolute, subjective, virtual, internal perfection of grace, that is intended; the word signifies not such a perfection, nor is made perfect' ever used to that purpose; nor is it the perfection of glory, for he treats of the present church-state of the gospel in this world. But it is a state and condition of that grace, and those privileges, which the law, priests, and sacrifices could never bring them unto. He hath by his one offering wrought and procured for them the complete pardon of sin, and peace before God thereon, that they should have no more need of the repetition of sacrifices; he hath freed them from the yoke of carnal ordinances, and the bondage which they were kept in by them, prescribing unto them a holy worship to be performed with boldness in the presence of God, by an entrance into the holy place. He hath brought them into the last and best church-state, the highest and nearest relation unto God that the church is capable of in this world, or which the glory of his wisdom and grace hath assigned unto it. And this he hath done, is to dinvixis,for ever,' so as that there shall never be any alteration in that estate whereunto he hath brought them, nor any addition of privilege or advantage be ever made unto it.

Obs. XI. There was a glorious efficacy in the one offering of Christ.

Obs. XII. The end of it must be effectually accomplished towards all for whom it was offered; or else it is inferior unto the legal sacrifices, for they attained their proper end.

Obs. XIII. The sanctification and perfection of the church, being that end designed in the death and sacrifice of Christ, all things necessary unto that end must be included therein, that it be not frustrate.

VER. 15-18. Μαρτυρεί δε ήμιν και το Πνεύμα το άγιον Μετα γας το προειρηκεναι· αὕτη ἡ διαθήκη ἦν διαθήσομαι προς αυτους μετα τας άμερας εκείνας, λέγει Κύριος, δίδους νομους μου επι καρδίας αυτών, και

των διανοιων αυτών επιγραψω αυτους· Και των ἁμαρτιών αυτών και των ανομίων αυτών ου μη μνησθω επι Όπου δε αφεσις τούτων, ουκ επι προσφορά περι ἁμαρτιας.

VER. 15-18-Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before, This is the covenant that I will make with them, After those days, saith the Lord: I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them. And their sins and iniquities will I remember

no more.

Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.

The foundation of the whole preceding discourse of the apostle, concerning the glory of the priesthood of Christ, and the efficacy of his sacrifice, was laid in the description of the new covenant, whereof he was the mediator, which was confirmed and ratified by his sacrifice, as the old covenant was by the blood of bulls and goats, chap. viii. 10-13. Having now abundantly proved and demonstrated what he designed concerning them both, his priesthood and his sacrifice, he gives us a confirmation of the whole, from the testimony of the Holy Ghost, in the description of that covenant which he had given before. And because the crisis to which he had brought his argument and disputation, was, that the Lord Christ, by reason of the dignity of his person and office, with the everlasting efficacy of his sacrifice, was to offer himself but once, which virtually includes all that he had before taught and declared, including in it an immediate demonstration of the insufficiency of all those sacrifices which were often repeated, and consequently their removal out of the church; he returns unto those words of the Holy Ghost, for the proof of this particular also. And he doth it from the order of the words used by the Holy Ghost, as he had argued before from the order of the words in the psalmist, ver. 8, 9.

Wherefore, there is an ellipsis in the words, which musthave a supplement to render the sense perfect. For unto that proposition, after he had said before,' ver. 11. with what follows, ver. 16.; there must be added in the beginning of the 17th verse, ' he said;' after he had said or spoken of the internal grace of the covenant, he said this also, that their sins For from these and iniquities he would remember no more. words doth he make his conclusive inference, ver. 18. which is the sum of all that he designed to prove.

First, There is in the words, the introduction of the testi'the Holy Ghost also is a witness unto us.' mony insisted on, The Hebrews might object unto him, as they were ready enough to do it, that all those things were but his own conclusions and arguings, which they would not acquiesce in, unless they were confirmed by testimonies of the Scripture. And therefore, I did observe in my first discourses on this epistle, that the apostle dealt not with these Hebrews as with the churches. of the Gentiles, namely, by his apostolical authority; for which cause he prefixed not his name and title unto it; but upon their own acknowledged principles and testimonies of the Old Testament; so manifesting, that there was nothing now proposed unto them in the gospel, but that which was foretold, promised and represented in the Old Testament, and was there

fore the object of the faith of their forefathers. The same way doth he here proceed in, and call in the testimony of the Holy Ghost, bearing witness unto the things that he had taught and delivered. And there is in these words,

1. The author' of this testimony, that is, to Пvivμ to aɣier, the Holy Ghost; and it is ascribed unto him, as all that is written in the Scripture is so, not only because holy men of old wrote as they were acted by him, and so he was the author of the whole Scripture; but because also of his presence and authority in it, and with it continually. Hence, whatever is spoken in the Scripture is, and ought to be unto us, as the immediate word of the Holy Ghost: he continues therein to speak unto us; and this gives the reason of,

2. The manner of his speaking in this testimony; μgrugs, 'he bears witness to us,' he doth it actually and constantly in the Scriptures by his authority therein. And he doth so unto us, that is, not unto us only who preach and teach those things, not unto the apostles and other Christian teachers of the gospel; but unto all of us of the church of Israel, who acknowledge the truth of the Scriptures, and own them as the rule of our faith and obedience. So doth he often join himself unto them to whom he wrote and spake of, by reason of the common alliance between them as Hebrews. See chap. ii. 3. and the exposition of that place. As if he had said, this is that which the Holy Ghost in the Scripture testifies unto us all; which should put an end unto all controversies about those things. Nothing else is taught you, but what is testified beforehand by God himself.

Obs. I. It is the authority of the Holy Ghost alone, speaking unto us in the Scripture, whereinto all our faith is to be resolved.

Obs. II. We are to propose nothing in the preaching and worship of the gospel, but what is testified unto by the Holy Ghost:-not traditions, not our own reasons and inventions.

Obs. III. When an important truth consonant unto the Scripture is declared, it is useful and expedient to confirm it with some express testimony of Scripture.

3. The manner of the expression is emphatical, xa to Пrsuμa Toy, even also the Holy Spirit himself.' For herein we are directed unto his holy divine person, and not an external operation of divine power, as the Socinians dream. It is that Holy Spirit himself, that continueth to speak to us in the Scripture. This is the first thing, the introduction' of the testimony.

Secondly, There are two things in this testimony of the Holy Ghost. The 1. is the matter or substance of it. 2. The order of the things contained in it, or spoken by him. The introduction of the former, is in the words we have spoken