On the conclusion of the Lord's Prayer
On the conclusion of the Lord's Prayer For thine is the Kingdom, power, and glory, etc.
This is the conclusion of the Lord's Prayer, in which two things are contained; 1. The confirmation of all the foregoing petitions. 2. The obligation of our affection that moves us to offer up these petitions to God, and in some way moves God also to hear the petitions offered.
The confirmation is taken from the causes which concur in God for strengthening our confidence about the hearing of our petitions at his hands. The efficient cause is, 1. The right and authority of God by which he can and may dispense and dispose of all, according to his own pleasure; and here it is called the Kingdom of God, for thine is the Kingdom; that is, the sovereignty, the supreme dominion, and right. 2. The same efficient is also that power of God, or his might, whereby he is able to put into execution all to what he has right; that is, all that he pleases, or whatever he will: Thine is the power. 3. The final cause is his own glory: Thine is the glory. All of which are illustrated by their adjunct of duration, not for a time only, and then either to cease or to pass to another; but for ever and ever — or as the Old English had it, unto ages of ages, or worlds of worlds — or world without end, as it now goes; that is, to all eternity. The obligation or sealing up of our affection is in the word of acclamation, Amen, whereby is shown, 1. The strength of our desire with which we [304] follow after all these things that were proposed in these petitions. 2.
The strength of our faith whereby we rest in and rely on God's mercy for them all. 3. Of our hope, whereby we look for and wish that God would ratify and hold firm all our petitions, in the same manner as he does the promises to which he himself has prefixed this same word of strong asseveration 422 (for it is of both), Amen, Amen; that is, Verily, Verily, a kind of oath — and thus hold our acclamation as firm as his own asseveration; and that is beyond exception.
Doctrine 1. No petition or prayer ought to be made to God without some praise of his name at least implied.
This is hence gathered, that in the very brief pattern of petitions, a solemn praise of the name of God is subjoined, however it may be in the order, to confirm all the foregoing petitions.
Reason 1. Because it is not ourselves that we should only or chiefly look at in the worship of God; but it is the honour of God's name that we should so much regard.
Reason 2. Because this is a most powerful motive to obtain what we seek, if in all things we give God his glory.
Reason 3. Because it is a chief part of worship.
Use. Of Reproof: against our negligence on this behalf, to be so wholly taken up with the things that belong to our own necessities, that we neglect giving God his honour by duly praising his name; when yet it is the sole thing aimed at in this prayer of our Lord's, that the glory of God may have the first and last place, as the Alpha and Omega of all his worship, the beginning and the end of rightly serving him. For the first petition is about [305] the hallowing or glorifying of his name; and the last conclusion is the extolling and praising of him to the same glory.
Doctrine 2. It does very much to strengthen and confirm us in our prayers, if we set before our eyes the infinite sovereignty and right, and the infinite might, and glory of God.
From the words, Thine is the Kingdom, power, and glory.
Reason 1. Because it appears from this that we rightly, and as just order requires, fly to God in our prayers, and seek all good things from him; because only he has the absolute right and might to dispense all these things, as his own honour and glory require.
Reason 2. Because it appears from this that we may have certain and sure confidence that he will hear our prayers, because it is as easy for him to do all this, as to will it; and it belongs also to his glory in some way to will it.
Reason 3. Because from this we are taught both in what manner, and for what end, we ought to look for the accomplishment of our desires; namely, in such a manner as will seem good to God, according to that wisdom and power of his whereby he exercises
sovereignty of kingdom and command, or dominion in all things, and in such a manner as may most glorify his name.
Use. Of Direction: that we use these and like titles of God in our prayers, not for a fashion, but from religious reflection
423 and intention, so that our prayers may be more powerful from the greater feeling and abundance of our hearts.
[306] Doctrine 3. All things that uphold our faith and our prayers, are from the everlasting and eternal God.
From these words, For ever and ever. It makes for the same purpose if we consider that all things that sustain our faith and our prayers, are in the eternal God — unto eternity, or for ever and ever, etc.
Reason 1. Because from this it appears that God is now the same, and he is such to us and to any other that called upon his name
424, as he was from the beginning of the world.
Reason 2. Because from this we are confirmed in this: that God will still remain our God unto eternity, even when he will cease by changeable dispensations to do us any more good as he does here, because then we shall be settled in the possession of our last and highest good.
Use. Of Direction: for the right use of this divine attribute of eternity.
Doctrine 4. While we pray, and especially towards the end of prayer, we ought to put forth our petition with all earnest desire, and lively strength of faith and of affections.
From the word, Amen.
Reason 1. Because this word is at the end of our prayer, as if it had come to its perfection, so there at the end, we ought to exercise the perfection of our faith, affection, conscience, and desire.
Reason 2. Because every natural and kindly motion grows stronger and faster towards its end; otherwise if it is flashy in the beginning, and flags towards the end, it is a token that it was forced or framed upon some wrong ground, and it will not prove durable and kindly to the end.
[307]
Reason 3. Because our affection at the end of prayer, should then act from the re-doubled and re-collected force and power of all the affections going before.
Reason 4. Because by this means in a way we re-double our whole prayer, while first we propose all our petitions one by one in order, with their own measure of desire and affection; and thereafter we press vehemently and earnestly for them all together, so that they may all be granted to us; and so according to our earnestness, we rest confident that they will.
Use. Of Reproof: against the negligence of men on this behalf, which has grown so great that now it has gone out of use among us, to signify our affections, or strong wishes and desires, by saying Amen
— as the Apostle witnesses and says that all Christians of old were taught to say Amen, and used to practice it, 1Cor 14.16.
FINIS
Notes [←1] J.B. Mullinger, University of Cambridge, (Cambridge Univ. Press, London,
1884), Vol 2, p. 510.
[←2] John Platt, Reformed Thought and Scholasticm (Studies in the History of Christian Thought, vol 29, Leiden, The Netherlands, ed. J. Brill, 1982), p. 99
(fn 193 cites K.L. Sprunger, The Learned Doctor William Ames, Chicago, 1972, p. 251).
[←3] That biographical sketch of Maccovius is not included. Johannes Maccovius (1588-1644), also known as Jan Makowski, was a Polish Reformer (Calvinist).
He was a skilled debater and ardent foe of Arminianism. Maccovius entered the University of Franeker in the Netherlands in 1613, attracting students from all over Europe for his Scholastic methodology. However, his extreme love of logic led him into a dispute with his colleague, Sybrandus Lubbertus, concerning supralapsarianism. Lubbertus felt that Maccovius had gone too far in teaching that God decreed the reprobate to sin; and too far in teaching that the reprobate sin out of necessity. That dispute was not settled until the Synod of Dort in 1619. The synod agreed that Maccovius had gone too far.
Earlier, John Calvin likewise cautioned against taking the logic of doublepredestination too far, by attributing our sinfulness to God (Rom 9.19), and thereby denying personal accountability for it. See Calvin's Institutes, Vol. 2, chap. 4, sec. 3, where God operates by deserting the reprobate, or by delivering them to Satan, not by making them sinful.
[←4] Apposite: being of striking appropriateness and pertinence.
[←5] A target.
[←6] A guiding star.
[←7] To convince or convict; or to correct (scold) with kindly intent.
[←8] Look down on with disdain
[←9] Experiencing celestial joy (angelic).
[←10] It shall blossom abundantly and rejoice, Even with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, The excellence of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the LORD, The excellency of our God.
[←11] Citations would be Psa 83.5 and 64.5 in the Douay-Rheims; or Psa 84.4 and 65.4 in the KJV. Psalm 84:4 Blessed are those who dwell in Your house;
They will still be praising You. Selah. Psalm 65:4 Blessed is the man You choose, And cause to approach You, That he may dwell in Your courts. We shall be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, Of Your holy temple.
[←12] Whom having not seen, you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, (1Pe 1:8).
[←13] So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name (Act 5:41); My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, (Jam 1:2)
[←14] For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory (2Co 4:17).
[←15] Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! (Phi 4:4)
[←16] All the days of the afflicted are evil, But he who is of a merry heart has a continual feast. (Pro 15:15)
[←17] e.g. Psa 31.3, 71.3.
[←18] Privitively: in such a way as to deprive of something.
[←19] Isa 5.20.
[←20] The quality of being deceptive, or slanted.
[←21] For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; (Jam 1:23)
[←22] Not speech, but how we deal with others; the way we conduct ourselves; our way of life.
[←23] (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. 15 But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man's offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. 16 And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned.
For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. 17
For if by the one man's offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)
[←24] That is, joining. Because Adam is our fleshly forefather and we are his seed, we join or share in his original sin, and become heirs to his estate of sin and death. By the same token, we are joined to Christ through faith –dying with him and being raised with him to newness of life (Rom 6.4-5); we become heirs with him to his estate of righteousness and eternal life (Rom 8.16-17).
This doctrine is called "federal headship."
[←25] Which is impossible.
[←26] This would normally mean "conversion", but here it means "conveyance."
[←27] In other words, in our natural or animal state, we do not relish spiritual and truly good things.
[←28] An indirect or evasive method or argument; deceptive practice (a "shellgame").
[←29] Romans 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness;
[←30] Obstinate, rebelliousness, and insubordinate; resistant to authority.
[←31] 1 Peter 1:14 as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance;
[←32] It is not that God is unable to save them, but that such men resent the thought that they need saving at all.
[←33] Hebrews 10:27 but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. Rev 6:16-17 and said to the mountains and rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! 17 "For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?"
[←34] The purely external aspect of a thing, as in a superficial wound; the outer surface.
[←35] "to the lowest hell." NKJV; "to the depths of Sheol." CSB, ESV; "to the depths of the grave." NLT
[←36] Nah 1:6 Who can stand before His indignation? And who can endure the fierceness of His anger? His fury is poured out like fire, And the rocks are thrown down by Him.
[←37] Joh 3:36 "He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."
[←38] To set right or straight.
[←39] Mat 3:7-8 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, "Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance;"
[←40] The one who grants freedom to someone; as from slavery or servitude.
[←41] 1Th 1:10 and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.
[←42] Ephesians 1:6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved.
[←43] Ephesians 4:7 But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. Romans 9:23 and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory;
[←44] 1 Peter 1:12 To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven-- things which angels desire to look into.
[←45] 2 Corinthians 3:6 who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
[←46] This is a bit unclear, but the logic is that each sin creates its own independent debt—and so sinning more won't increase the debt of the first sin. Still, a man should sin no more—only pay what he owes for his latest sin—which is death.
And so he could not, by that means, satisfy his first debt, much less clear his remaining sin-debts. All of which points to our inescapable need for Christ, who cleared all our sin-debts in one sacrifice. James 2:10 For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.
[←47] Matthew 16:26 "For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?
[←48] 1 Peter 1:18 knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers.
[←49] Rom 7:8-13 But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead. 9 I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. 10 And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death. 11 For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me. 12 Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good. 13 Has then what is good become death to me? Certainly not! But sin, that it might appear sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful. [originally Luk 10.21-22]
[←50] Heb 12:28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. [originally Heb 11, 'last verse.']
[←51] Reasoning from detailed facts to general principles.
[←52] Isa 9:6 And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Rom 9:5 of whom are the fathers and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. 1Joh 5:20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true
God and eternal life.
[←53] John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Joh 17:5 "And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.
[←54] Joh 3:21 "But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God." Phi 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
[←55] Col 1:16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.
[←56] Hebrews 1:3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding [or sustaining] all things by the word of His power...
[←57] Hebrews 1:8 But to the Son He says: "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your Kingdom.
[←58] Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.
[←59] Hebrews 9:22 And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.
[←60] 1 John 1:1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life-- 2 the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us.
[←61] 2 Peter 1:4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature...
[←62] Substituting a more inclusive term for a less inclusive one or vice versa.
[←63] Penal: subject to punishment by law. Christ's human nature was subject to our weaknesses and to the Law; he was tempted in every way, just as we are, and yet he was without sin (Heb 4.15).
[←64] A worldview that is accepted as true, and used as the basis for our reasoning or conduct.
[←65] Experiencing or bestowing celestial joy.
[←66] 1Co 2:6-7 However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory; 2Co 4:7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.
[←67] 1Co 2:7-10 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, 8 which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 But as it is written: "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him." 10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit.
For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.
[←68] Ephesians 3:8 To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9 and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ;
[←69] 1Co 13:12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.
[←70] 2Co 4:3-4 But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4 whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.
[←71] Eph 1:17-18 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, 18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints;
[←72] Rom 2.24.
[←73] Paul writes, "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive." (1Co 15:22) All mankind is of the seed of Adam—we are all from his bloodline—so that all mankind died in Adam. How then are all not made alive in Christ? The answer is that not all are of Christ (Rom 8.9). The promise was made to Eve, that her seed would crush the head of the serpent
(Gen 3.15). The seed referred to is specifically Christ on the cross; it is not all mankind. And there was a covenant promise made to Abraham, that all the nations of the earth would be blessed "in him" (Gen 18.18). But that was not every seed of his bloodline—only those who "are of the faith of Abraham"
(Rom 4.16). And who is the object of that faith? Paul writes, "Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, 'And to seeds,' as of many, but as of one, 'And to your Seed,' who is Christ." (Gal
3:16) And so, if the promise of salvation, made to Abraham, and received by faith, was not made to all mankind as Adam's seed, or to all who are
Abraham's seed, but only to one Seed who is Christ, then how do we receive the fruit of that promise? How do we gain an interest in his eternal inheritance? Only those who are united to Christ by faith are made one with him—so that the promise made to him, is made to them "in him", by that union. By faith in Christ, we are made children of God—heirs and joint heirs with Christ (Rom 8.16-17).
[←74] That is, calling.
[←75] John 15:2 "Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 "You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
[←76] Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God;
[←77] Galatians 5:5 For we through the Spirit eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.
[←78] Rom 1.17; Gal 3.11.
[←79] Ephesians 6:16 above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.
[←80] That is, faith or fidelity – trusting in a pledge that has been made; a solemn engagement.
[←81] Isaiah 48:2 For they call themselves of the holy city, and stay themselves upon the God of Israel; The LORD of hosts is his name. 50:10 Who is among you that fears the LORD, that obeys the voice of his servant, that walks in darkness, and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the LORD, and stay upon his God. (KJV)
[←82] John 6:44 "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.
[←83] John 1:12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name;
[←84] In other words, they understand the content of the Gospel, but their heart and life remain unchanged. For example, Simon the Magician "believed" (Act
8.13), but he remained in the "gall of bitterness" (Act 8.21-23).
[←85] Romans 1:5 Through Him we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name;
[←86] Ames lays out here what will be Jonathan Edwards' argument in Freedom of the Will, a hundred years later.
[←87] The act of depriving something of its sacred character.
[←88] For example, "Open the gate in the name of the King!" brings with it the authority and office of the king as the basis of the authority of the person calling for the gate to be opened. It also conveys to the hearer a responsibility to comply with that command, or be charged with an offense against the crown, punishable under the law.
[←89] 2Cor 13.14.
[←90] Grammar: syntactically connecting elements of a sentence – "and" is a copulative enunciation.
[←91] Abstract terms refer to ideas or concepts; they have no physical referents (e.g. love, good, moral). Concrete terms refer to objects or events that are available to the senses.
[←92] Grammar: relative clauses give additional information about something without starting another sentence.
[←93] And so, God, who created all things in number, weight, and measure arranged the elements in an admirable order. (Wisdom 11:20)
[←94] The logic is simpler than Ames presents it. The word "infinite" means without beginning or end. Therefore, all previous days have no end, nor does this current day have a beginning. To speak of previous, current, or future days, when all days are infinite, is thus self-contradictory. And cumulating days into years is also contradictory, because adding an infinite day to an infinite day is nonsensical.
[←95] This is the philosophy of pantheism: The doctrine or belief that God is the universe; or that regards the universe as a manifestation of God.
[←96] Psalm 33:6, 9 By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, And all the host of them by the breath of His mouth; ... For He spoke, and it was done;
He commanded, and it stood fast.
[←97] In Deut 32.11 the same word is used of an eagle visibly cherishing its young:
"As an eagle stirs up its nest, Hovers over its young, Spreading out its wings, taking them up, Carrying them on its wings..."
[←98] This is not a reference to any goodness in the means, but to their effect. For example, "He was able to get the book off the top shelf by virtue of his height." His height resulted in his ability to get the book, but it did not cause the book to be obtained; thus no honor or glory goes to his height, even though it was a means to that end.
[←99] Hebrews 12:2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith..." He is the initiator, sustainer, and perfecter of our faith (also Jude 1.24).
[←100] Acts 17:28 "for in Him we live and move and have our being..." Colossians
1:17 "And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist."
[←101] Act 17:27 "so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;"
[←102] Gen 1.31.
[←103] That is, accident.
[←104] Gen 1.21, 24.
[←105] Psa 21.2.
[←106] 1 Timothy 5:8 But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
[←107] Identifying word or words by which someone or something is called and classified, or distinguished from others.
[←108] Matthew 1:23 "Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel," which is translated, "God with us."
John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 1
Timothy 2:5 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus.
[←109] John 3:36 "He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."
[←110] Joh 15.5.
[←111] Hebrews 7:25 Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.
[←112] Hebrews 1:3 "when He had by Himself purged our sins."
[←113] Indulgences did not end with the Reformation. While reasserting the place of indulgences in the salvific process, the Council of Trent in 1563 condemned
"all base gain for securing indulgences". Pope Pius V abolished the sale of indulgences in 1567. Yet the system and its underlying theology otherwise remained intact. Exactly 400 years later, in 1967, Pope Paul VI modified it by shifting the stress away from the satisfaction of punishment, to the inducement of good works, greatly reducing the number of plenary indulgences and eliminating the numerical system associated for so long with partial indulgences. (Ency. Britannica, "Indulgence")
[←114] John 20:31 but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.
[←115] A storehouse (such as a compartment on a warship) where weapons and ammunition are stored.
[←116] Isa 12:3-4 Therefore with joy you shall draw water out of the wells of salvation. 4 And in that day you shall say, Praise the LORD, call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make mention that his name is exalted.
[←117] Grammar: expressing or preceding an inference.
[←118] Deu 18:18 I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him. Joh 15:15 "No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you; 17:8
"For I have given to them the words which You have given Me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came forth from You; and they have believed that You sent Me.
[←119] John 6:45 "It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.' Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me.
[←120] Oblation: an act of offering; Jesus' oblation is "offering himself up to God for us without spot, to purge our consciences from dead works," Heb. 9:14.
[←121] 1Tim 6.15; Rev 17.14.
[←122] 1Cor 1.24.
[←123] Rom 8.37.
[←124] That is, they receive him only as their Saviour, but not as their Lord; they want salvation without sanctification.
[←125] Heb 5:4-6 And no man takes this honor to himself, but he who is called by God, just as Aaron was. 5 So also Christ did not glorify Himself to become
High Priest, but it was He who said to Him: "You are My Son, Today I have begotten You." 6 As He also says in another place: "You are a priest forever
According to the order of Melchizedek".
[←126] Hebrews 10:7, 9 Then I said, 'Behold, I have come-- In the volume of the book it is written of Me-- To do Your will, O God.'" 9 then He said, "Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God." He takes away the first that He may establish the second.
[←127] Heb 10.38.
[←128] Hebrews 3:14 For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end.
[←129] That is, Act 2.17-18, marked by the effusion of the Holy Spirit, as prophesied by Joel (2.28).
[←130] 1 John 2:27 But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him. John 14:26 "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.
[←131] 1 Corinthians 2:15 But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one.
[←132] Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
[←133] Hebrews 13:15 Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.
[←134] 1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; Revelation 1:6 and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
[←135] Rom 2.24.
[←136] Matthew 16:15 He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"
[←137] Hebrews 1:3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person...
[←138] God's understanding cannot be separated from God himself.
[←139] Mat 26:63-64 But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest answered and said to Him, "I put You under oath by the living God: Tell us if You are the Christ, the Son of God!"Jesus said to him, "It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven."
[←140] Joh 1.3.
[←141] 1Pet 3.21.
[←142] The act of deciding as an arbiter or judge; giving an authoritative judgment.
[←143] That is, he not only has the title of God, as though merely god-like, but he is truly God in and of himself.
[←144] Not speech, but how we deal with others; the way we conduct ourselves; our way of life.
[←145] Aristotelian logic: (1) A material cause is determined by the material of which the moving or changing things are made; here it is the flesh and blood supplied by Mary. (2) A formal cause is the arrangement, shape, or appearance of the thing; here it is human nature. (3) An efficient or moving cause refers to something apart from the thing itself, which interacts with it so as to be an agency of it; here it is Mary giving birth. (4) A final cause is the aim or purpose being served by it; here it is the effect, which is Jesus Christ.
What Ames refers to as the principal or first cause, is the initiating and creative cause; which is the Holy Spirit by whom Jesus is conceived.
[←146] Heb 4:15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.
[←147] Advocates of Luther's doctrine that Christ's body is omnipresent, and therefore exists in the Eucharistic bread.
[←148] Heb 2:17-18 Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. 18 For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.
[←149] Rom 1.3.
[←150] Gal 4.4.
[←151] Mar 6.3.
[←152] e.g. Mat 9.27; 15.22; 20.30; 21.9.
[←153] Mat 1.1.
[←154] Gen 3.15.
[←155] "Virgin" here may simply mean that Mary had not been with a man till after Jesus' birth. "Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name JESUS" (Mat
1:24–25). There is a doctrine of the perpetual virginity of Mary which was widely supported by the early church fathers, and affirmed in a number of ecumenical councils. Early Protestant reformers like Luther held it as well; even Hugh Latimer and Thomas Cranmer of the English Reformation followed the tradition. Later reformation doctrine, however, rejected it as having no Scriptural basis; and so it was kept out of the Reformation Creeds.
[←156] Syllogism: deductive reasoning in which a conclusion is derived from two premises or assumptions.
[←157] Dissentaneous – disagreeing; contrary; differing.
[←158] Trope – language used in a figurative or non-literal sense.
[←159] Synecdoche – a figure of speech in which a part is used for the whole (as hand for sailor), the whole for a part (as the law for police officer), the specific for the general (as cutthroat for assassin), the general for the specific
(as thief for pickpocket), or the material for the thing made from it (as steel for sword).
[←160] Having equivalent signification and reach; expressing the same thing, but differently.
[←161] Isaiah 53:10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand.
[←162] Phi 2:8-9 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 9
Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name...
[←163] Luk 22.42.
[←164] 1Cor 1.23.
[←165] Joh 17:24 "Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.
[←166] Joh 10:15-16 "As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. 16 "And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd.
[←167] The modern connotation of complacency is indifference. But here it means God is satisfied with Himself.
[←168] This is taken from a late addition to the Apostles Creed. The phrase was not included in the Marcelli Ancyrani (a Greek version of the creed, A.D. 340), nor the Latin versions of the creed (cf. Romana, from the 3d or 4th century).
It was not until later that this line and others appeared. Philip Schaff writes,
"The translation 'descended into hell' is unfortunate and misleading. We do not know whether Christ was in hell; but we do know from his own lips that he was in paradise between his death and resurrection (Lk 23.43). The term
Hades is much more comprehensive than Hell (Gehenna), which is confined to the state and place of the lost."
[←169] Phi 2:8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
[←170] Arrogantly insolent – stubbornly opposed to God's rule (Parable of the Evil
Tenants, Mat 21.33-41).
[←171] Gal 3:13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree ").
[←172] Romans 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? 3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ
Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, 6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. 7 For he who has died has been freed from sin. 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him.
[←173] Rom 3:24-26 whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed
[←174] Rom 8:34 Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.
[←175] John 12:27-28 "Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father, save
Me from this hour''? But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name." Then a voice came from heaven, saying, "I have both glorified it and will glorify it again." John 17:4 "I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.
[←176] Eph 1:5-9 "having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved. 7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace, 8 which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, 9 having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself...
[←177] That is, God loved Christ before his works were ever performed; God likewise loves His own from eternity. And yet, as Use 3 implies, God loves those who obey him; but they obey him because he first loved them (1Joh 4.19).
[←178] That is, Jesus was alive (superior condition), then dead (inferior), and now alive again (superior).
[←179] Acts 2:24 "whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it."
[←180] Rom 1:4 and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. 1Timothy 3:16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Preached among the Gentiles,
Believed on in the world, Received up in glory.
[←181] Romans 4:25 who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.
[←182] Romans 5:10 For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
[←183] Romans 8:11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. 1Corinthians 15:12 Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. 14 And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty.
[←184] Rom 6:3-4 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? 4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 1Pe
3:21 There is also an antitype which now saves us — baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward
God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ;
[←185] For example, Act 2.24, 32; 3.15, 26; Rom 8.11.
[←186] John 6:39-40 "This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. 40 "And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day."
[←187] Romans 8:11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
[←188] Romans 6:5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection…
[←189] Romans 6.4 …just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
[←190] Acts 1:3 to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.
[←191] John 16:7 "Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart,
I will send Him to you.
[←192] John 17:4 "I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.
[←193] Matthew 24:23 "Then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or'There!' do not believe it.
[←194] Joh 3.34.
[←195] 1Co 3:21-23 …For all things are yours: 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the world or life or death, or things present or things to come – all are yours. 23 And you are Christ's, and Christ is God's.
[←196] Rom 8:17 and if children, then heirs-- heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.
[←197] Joh 5:27 "and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man."
[←198] This is concluded using a Trope, or borrowed manner of speaking, called Synecdoche by the learned, where the special is put for the general.
[←199] Mat 25:46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
[←200] Luk 16:15 And He said to them, "You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God.
[←201] 1Co 15:19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.
[←202] 2Pe 3:3-4 knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, 4 and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation."
[←203] 1Pe 1:17 And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; 2Pe 3:11-12 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?
[←204] Look down on with disdain.
[←205] Ames is not saying that we are saved by our works, but as Doctrine 7 says, our works are the signs or tokens of our salvation, which is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Martin Luther — 'We are saved by faith alone, but the faith that saves is never alone.' "Faith without works is dead,"
James 2.2o.
[←206] 1 Corinthians 6:17 But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.
[←207] 2Tim 3.16.
[←208] Rom 8.10; Eph 5.9; Tit 3.5-6.
[←209] 1Cor 12.8-9; Heb 2.4.
[←210] Substituting the name of an attribute or feature for the name of the thing itself (as in 'they counted heads')
[←211] Luke 11:13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him! (that is, the gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit).
[←212] Romans 8:11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
[←213] Romans 6:12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. 13 And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.
[←214] 1 Corinthians 6:20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.
[←215] Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
[←216] Not modified or restricted by reservations.
[←217] Blasphemous behavior; the act of depriving something of its sacred character.
[←218] Lev 20.25.
[←219] 1 Corinthians 2:12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.
[←220] That is, the act of calling – both the external call of the Gospel, and the internal call of the heart.
[←221] Eph 5.23; also Colossians 1:18 And He is the head of the body, the church…
[←222] Colossians 2:19 …holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God.
[←223] To deserve; to procure by merit.
[←224] Literally, "energy", Greek energeia; or as Ames renders it below, "mighty power"."
[←225] Ames is referring to the context of the preceding verses, 17-19: "Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern. 18 For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: 19 whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame – who set their mind on earthly things."
[←226] Citizens of an English borough.
[←227] Rom 8:29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
[←228] Mat 22.29.
[←229] Gen 2.7.
[←230] Luk 24.39-43.
[←231] Ephesians 1:19-20 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places…
[←232] John 5:26 "For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself; John 6:40 "And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day."
[←233] John 5:27 "and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man.
[←234] Ephesians 1:17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,
18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power 20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places…
[←235] Eph 3.20
[←236] 1 John 3:3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. 2 Corinthians 3:18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.
[←237] Romans 3:20 Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
[←238] "whom God has set forth".
[←239] "to declare his righteousness."
[←240] Romans 8:33 Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Also, Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus,
[←241] Rom 8.32.
[←242] 2Cor 5.18-19.
[←243] Rom 8:3 For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh,
God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: 4 that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
[←244] That is, we are always careful and diligent.
[←245] "through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus."
[←246] Informatively, the original spelling of abundant was "aboundant."
[←247] Jam 2:14 What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? … 17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead… 20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? … 22 Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? … 24 You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.
[←248] That is, it demonstrates or presents evidence that faith is operating.
[←249] Jam 2:15-18 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, "Depart in peace, be warmed and filled," but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? 17
Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 18 But someone will say, "You have faith, and I have works." Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.
[←250] Jam 2:19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe-- and tremble!
[←251] Jam 2:21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the altar?
[←252] That is, faith produces or yields good works.
[←253] That is, faith provides or supplies its own strength and force to the business of producing good works.
[←254] Here "the perfection of faith" refers to the fulfillment, completion, expression, or outworking of faith.
[←255] Galatians 2:16 "knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified. Romans 3:20 Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
[←256] Rom 3:19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Gal 3:10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them."
[←257] Rom 4:4 Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt.
[←258] Colossians 1:29 To this end I also labor, striving according to His working which works in me mightily.
[←259] Isaiah 64:6 But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags;
[←260] Luke 15:19 "and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants."'
[←261] Luk 17.10.
[←262] Mat 5.16.
[←263] Ephesians 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
[←264] Hebrews 12:14 Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord:
[←265] Rom 6.2, 11; 14.8; 2Cor 5.15; Gal 2.19.
[←266] The process of using your mind to consider something carefully. Informally,
Ames is saying that if you racked your brain, you might conceive of a faithful man who has no good works, but it is not the norm.
[←267] A test or proof by examination.
[←268] It is significant that Ames combines "will, faith, and affiance" as though reflecting a single determination in us.
[←269] Rom 4:9 Does this blessedness then come upon the circumcised only, or upon the uncircumcised also? For we say that faith was accounted [or imputed] to Abraham for righteousness.
[←270] As in Rev 5.2.
[←271] An ethical or moral principle that inhibits action.
[←272] Gen 17.10-14.
[←273] Tit 3.5.
[←274] 1 Corinthians 12:13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body-whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free-- and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.
[←275] Romans 6:3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Galatians 3:27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
[←276] The original wording used salvation instead of sanctification; but in context, it seems an obvious error.
[←277] Rom 4:3 For what does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." Rom 4:11 And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while still uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also; Rom 4:20-22 He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, 21 and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. 22 And therefore "it was accounted to him for righteousness."
[←278] . Psa 104:15 And wine that makes glad the heart of man, Oil to make his face shine, And bread which strengthens man's heart.
[←279] That is, delivered, applied, or brought to us by him; or we derive these from him.
[←280] Joh 6:54-58, 63 "Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 "For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. 56 "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. 57 "As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. 58 "This is the bread which came down from heaven-- not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever." …63 "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.
[←281] Obsignation: the action or process of certifying by means of (or as if with) a seal, or a mark of ratification.
[←282] Blasphemous behavior; the act of depriving something of its sacred character.
[←283] Mat 3.8.
[←284] 2Cor 2.16.
[←285] Revelation 1:18 "I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.
[←286] Isaiah 22:22 Speaking of Eliakim, master of Hezekiah's household: "The key of the house of David I will lay on his shoulder; So he shall open, and no one shall shut; And he shall shut, and no one shall open."
[←287] Matthew 18:19 "Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven. 20 "For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them."
[←288] For example, Rom 15.16; 1Cor 3.5; Eph 6.21; Col 1.7; 1Th 3.2.
[←289] Capable of being impetrated, obtained, or influenced by prayer or petition.
[←290] Joh 20:22-23 And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 "If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."
[←291] That is, your former conduct.
[←292] Eph 4:17-19 This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, 18 having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; 19 who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
[←293] That is, inclinations of the heart; motivations.
[←294] An explanation or representation; here it is given by comparison.
[←295] Quality of being active, spirited or alive and vigorous.
[←296] Rom 8.1, 14.
[←297] 2Pet 2.10.
[←298] Ephesians 5:11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. 12 For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. 13 But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatever makes manifest is light. (KJV)
[←299] 1Jo 3:8 He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.
[←300] That is, all ten commandments. "Words" can mean sayings, teachings, or statements, as in the Greek logos.
[←301] LORD in capital letters indicates the original Hebrew tetragrammaton:
Yahweh, or Jehovah.
[←302] The two stone tablets (or "tables") that Moses brought down off the Mount with the Ten Commandments on them. The commandments are traditionally divided into two groups: commandments 1-4 on the first tablet governing our relationship with God, and 5-10 on the second tablet, governing our relationship with others.
[←303] That is, a blueprint.
[←304] It denotes the kidneys or loins; but as used here, it refers to the seat of the affections and passions.
[←305] Joh 2.25; 1Cor 2.11.
[←306] Figurative substitutions in which a concept is described by a word that is distanced from that concept by multiple, usually metonymical, links (e.g. "I spent the evening with Shakespeare" actually means his works). Most figures of speech involve a single link between word and concept, e.g. a single link can be followed from the metonym 'crown' to the concept to which it refers,
'king'. But a metalepsis involves multiple such links, each of which must be mentally followed until the intended concept is reached.
[←307] Metaphorical transference.
[←308] Mat 22:37-38 Jesus said to him, " 'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' 38 "This is the first and great commandment.
[←309] Joh 4:12 "Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?"; Rom 10:14
How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?
[←310] Philippians 3:19 whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame-- who set their mind on earthly things.
[←311] Exo 23:24 "You shall not bow down to their gods, nor serve them, nor do according to their works; but you shall utterly overthrow them and completely break down their sacred pillars. Deu 12:32 "Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it.
[←312] An outward or token appearance or form that is deliberately misleading.
[←313] Deu 4:12 "And the LORD spoke to you out of the midst of the fire. You heard the sound of the words, but saw no form; you only heard a voice.
[←314] Exo 32:4-6 And he received the gold from their hand, and he fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a molded calf. Then they said, "This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!" 5 So when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said,
"Tomorrow is a feast to the LORD [Jehovah]." 6 Then they rose early on the next day, offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.
[←315] In other words, although strictly speaking worshipping an image of Jehovah is not idolatry, it still violates the second commandment. Making a distinction between an image and an idol is a false dichotomy; both are forbidden.
[←316] 1Jo 5:21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols.
[←317] That is, strict.
[←318] Hab 2:18 "What profit is the image, that its maker should carve it, The molded image, a teacher of lies, That the maker of its mold should trust in it,
To make mute idols? Jer 10:8 A wooden idol is a worthless doctrine.
[←319] That is, perversion (to change the inherent purpose or use of something).
[←320] All those things on which God puts his name: Num 6.27; 1Kgs 9.3; 11.36; 2Kngs 21.4, 7; 2Chr 33.7.
[←321] Romans 4:6-7 just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works: 7 "Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, And whose sins are covered;"
[←322] In other words, consider the point of these sacred things, the why of their form, rather than what they are in themselves (their matter), or how they are used or handled externally (their object).
[←323] Easily excused or forgiven.
[←324] That is, for shock value, or as a rhetorical device to move (shift) the listeners.
[←325] As for example, Luk 4.16; 6.1; 13.14; 14.1; etc.
[←326] Act 2.1 – Pentecost was on the first day of the week, 50 days after the Passover Sabbath.
[←327] Act 20.7.
[←328] 1Co 16:2 On the first day of the week let each one of you lay something aside, storing up as he may prosper, that there be no collections when I come.
[←329] Rev 1.10.
[←330] That is, because the Christians made Sunday — as named by the heathens — their primary day of worship and because heathens worshipped the sun, they assumed Christians worshipped the sun as well.
[←331] Things done to make money.
[←332] Acts of service.
[←333] The sort of feasting that will trouble the conscience, because it is tainted with sinful indulgences.
[←334] An act of purifying by means of a ritual; purging.
[←335] The sort of feasting that troubles the conscience. The works of Robert Leighton, Archbishop of Glasgow (London, 1859), p. 277. "That is the troublefeast that disquiets the conscience, which, while it continues good, is a continual feast. So much sin as gets in, so much peace will go out …"
[←336] Assigns a name or title to something.
[←337] Referring perhaps to the puppet shows and Morris dancers that had been popular since Elizabethan days. It essentially means "going through the motions" or "play-acting" – i.e., to appear to be what you are not.
[←338] 1Pe 3:7 Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered.
[←339] Adultery and stealing.
[←340] To honor your Father and your Mother.
[←341] Gen 9:6 "Whoever sheds man's blood, By man his blood shall be shed; For in the image of God He made man.
[←342] To assert one's right or title to something; to claim for oneself.
[←343] The act of depriving someone of something.
[←344] Express discontent; whine.
[←345] 1 Corinthians 12:7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: - the Greek sumphero means to bring together for what is profitable. The NIV, ESV, and NAS use "common good."
[←346] To indulge one's appetite to satiety or excess; over-indulgence in anything.
[←347] 1 Corinthians 6:16-18 Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For "the two," He says, "shall become one flesh." 17 But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him. 18 Flee sexual immorality.
Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.
[←348] 1 Thess 4:4-5 that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God;
[←349] That is, we are modest if we do not do what is immodest, and if we blush if someone else does.
[←350] A proprietary or property right; ownership;.
[←351] Luke 16:9 "And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that when you fail, they may receive you into an everlasting home.
[←352] Galatians 6:10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.
[←353] That is, a paying occupation; a job or career. Ephesians 4:28 Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need.
[←354] Disorderly: undisciplined and unruly, where sin and sloth have not been substantially mastered (Gen 4.7), nor are they being actively brought into submission to the Spirit (1Cor 9.27; Rom 8.4-5; 8.13-14).
[←355] Luke 12.19.
[←356] That is, from what he knows in his mind to be true.
[←357] Jas 2.10.
[←358] A lie said in fun, just to see what might happen.
[←359] That is, "as in boasting and deceiving".
[←360] A false accusation of an offense or a malicious misrepresentation of someone's words or actions. Also, an abusive attack on a person's character or good name.
[←361] For example, telling a lie to make someone feel better or to avoid giving offense.
[←362] Careful prior consideration; willful intent.
[←363] To talk in a digressive or long-winded way; idle talk; ill-considered speech.
[←364] For example 2Tim 2.15; Jas 1.18.
[←365] Psa 119.160; Joh 17.17.
[←366] No reference is given.
[←367] Mat 5:28 "But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
[←368] Fuel for a fire.
[←369] That is, inclinations of the heart; motivations.
[←370] Avoid and deliberately stay away from; stay clear of.
[←371] Proverbs 4:20-23 20 My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings. 21 Do not let them depart from your eyes; Keep them in the midst of your heart; 22 For they are life to those who find them, And health to all their flesh. Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life. Luke 21:34 "But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly.
[←372] Heb 13:5 Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." Phi 4:11-12 Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: 12 I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.
[←373] Philippians 2:4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.
[←374] Matthew 22:39 "And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'
[←375] Jam 4:7-8 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.
[←376] Mat 26:41 "Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."
[←377] Exo 33:13 "Now therefore, I pray, if I have found grace in Your sight, show me now Your way, that I may know You and that I may find grace in Your sight.
[←378] The quality of being facile in speech and writing.
[←379] Malachi 1:8 And when you offer the blind as a sacrifice, Is it not evil? And when you offer the lame and sick, Is it not evil? Offer it then to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you favorably?"
Says the LORD of hosts.
[←380] As in Psa 141.2; Rev 5.8; or prayer is linked to sacrifice, as in Isaiah 56:7
Even them I will bring to My holy mountain, And make them joyful in My house of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices Will be accepted on My altar; For My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations."
[←381] Romans 10:14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard?
And how shall they hear without a preacher?
[←382] Jeremiah 17:5 Thus says the LORD: "Cursed is the man who trusts in man And makes flesh his strength, Whose heart departs from the LORD.
[←383] Romans 8:15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father."
[←384] Mat 6.14, the verse immediately following the Lord's Prayer.
[←385] Awe-full, or awe-filled.
[←386] Various and many.
[←387] Mat 12.34.
[←388] Mat 6.7.
[←389] 2Tim 3.5.
[←390] Rev 1.8.
[←391] Original wording, "will we, nill we;"
[←392] To restore, make amends, or set right.
[←393] Matthew 6:33 "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you."
[←394] Have a negative effect on, esp. by somehow restricting it; to infringe upon.
[←395] Mat 6.33.
[←396] Psalm 127:1 Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the LORD guards the city, The watchman stays awake in vain.
[←397] "For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe; his craft and power are great, and armed with cruel hate, on earth is not his equal." – Martin
Luther, A Mighty Fortress is Our God, 1529.
[←398] 1 Corinthians 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
[←399] Deuteronomy 16:15 "Seven days you shall keep a sacred feast to the LORD your God in the place which the LORD chooses, because the LORD your God will bless you in all your produce and in all the work of your hands, so that you surely rejoice. Revelation 14:13 Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, "Write:`Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.'" "Yes," says the Spirit, "that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them."
[←400] Acts 18:12-15 When Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews with one accord rose up against Paul and brought him to the judgment seat, 13 saying,
"This fellow persuades men to worship God contrary to the law." 14 And when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, "If it were a matter of wrongdoing or wicked crimes, O Jews, there would be reason why I should bear with you. 15 "But if it is a question of words and names and your own law, look to it yourselves; for I do not want to be a judge of such matters."
[←401] That is, consider or treat.
[←402] Acts 25:14 When they had been there many days, Festus laid Paul's case before the king, saying: "There is a certain man left a prisoner by Felix..." The point is that we often know the will of God only after the fact.
[←403] Hallowed be thy name – to glorify God's name.
[←404] Thy Kingdom come.
[←405] This is also understood by another Synecdoche.
[←406] Hallowed be thy name.
[←407] Thy will be done.
[←408] Thy kingdom come.
[←409] An allowance or portion; although the word generally implies that it is inadequate, that is not the case here.
[←410] That is, with whatever he chooses to give us.
[←411] Either briefly or without due regard.
[←412] Extreme stinginess – akin to Charles Dickens' character Scrooge in his novella, "A Christmas Carol."
[←413] Simile – A figure of speech that expresses a resemblance between things of different kinds.
[←414] Luke 11:4 And forgive us our sins, For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one."
[←415] Evil is used in Scripture to denote "bad things." This is saying that the worst of bad things is sin.
[←416] State of well-being characterized by emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy.
[←417] A Pander is a pimp, someone who solicits sexual favours for another; a Bawd is a harlot or prostitute.
[←418] "Evil of punishment" does not refer to God's justice being evil, but that the punishment is painful.
[←419] That is, we pray against being led into temptation (which occurs by God's permission), and we pray for God's grace in delivering us from it.
[←420] The fifth petition, forgive us our debts, etc.
[←421] That is, the fifth petition, forgive us our debts; and this sixth, lead us not into temptation.
[←422] A declaration that is made emphatically (as if no supporting evidence were necessary).
[←423] Originally "resentment" – the state of holding something in the mind as a subject of contemplation, or of being inclined to reflect upon it; feeling; impression.
[←424] The citations in the original text read either "Isa or Psa 59.1 & 51.17." These verses do not appear to be relevant.
[←425] 1Co 14:16 Otherwise, if you bless with the spirit, how will he who occupies the place of the uninformed say "Amen " at your giving of thanks, since he does not understand what you say?