Chapter X
Of the general atonement made for all sins once a year, when the high priest went into the holy of holies.
I come to the second branch, which was the main thing proposed and intended under this head at the beginning of it, viz., that there was a general atonement, when the high priest went into the holiest, for all sins, once a year ; which we are to make improvement of, to seek the pardon of all, and any sin whatever throughout our whole lives, from and through our high priest, who is now resident and officiating in the holiest.
The Jews then had indeed, besides those occasional expiations, and this
general atonement once a year, continual sacrifices, as the Old terms them \ offered up
* daily, as the New ; twice a day, morning and evening
428 OF CHRIST THE MEDIATOR. [BOOK VI.
sacrifices, in the first tabernacle, which were offered up also by the high
priest, Heb. vii. 27, as well as the ordinary priests, Heb. x. 11. And these
also were types of Christ, and of his one alone sufficient sacrifice (for he and his one sacrifice were the substance of them all, Heb. viii. 3, 4, 5 ; Heb. x. 1 ; Heb. ix. 11) ; and they were offered up for their own sins, and
* Who needeth not daily, as those high
: Heb. vii. 27,
the sins of the people
priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, then for the people s ; for
this he did once, when he offered up himself. And not occasionally only. But over and besides both these sorts of atonements, God did institute
this solemn expiation once a year, upon a solemn day, which is therefore
by way of singularity called the day of atonement, and appointed not for
this or that particular sin only, as the occasional were, but for all sins what
soever. And likewise that day s atonement excelled those other daily sacrifices. 1. In the style it bore, in that the day was bvopaarr/.us, called the day of atonement throughout Moses. It carried the day from
all other days in that respect. Moreover, the killing and offering of that
goat that day was in like manner singularly styled, the sin-offering of atone
ments, Num. xxix. 11, whilst yet the ordinary daily sacrifices that were atonements also are made mention of; so that as the day, so the sacrifice
proper to the day, is above all other the sacrifice of atonement ; as if none had been such, but only it, which shews the eminency of this atonement. And,
2. All the particular solemnities, rites, and sacrifices performed that
day, declare as much ; for they had all those ordinary sacrifices that were
offered up every day, offered up twice on that day also, as duly as on any other day, Num. xxix. 7-11, Lev. xvi. 24. And there were, moreover, two
extraordinary special sacrifices, of a bullock and a goat, that were proper to that day, killed in the outward sanctuary. And then their blood was
carried into the holy of holies ; and no other blood of sacrifices, not any of them was so employed, or made use of to that purpose ; no, not the blood
of those daily sacrifices, although offered up on that day, as was said, whereon the high priest did go into the holy of holies, was not carried in
by him. But of those only, namely, of the bullock and the goat peculiar to that day. Moreover, it was the bodies of those two which were burnt without the camp on that day, and not the other beasts sacrificed on that
* The bodies
day ; as in Heb. xiii. 11, the apostle expressly limits them :
of the beasts, says he, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the
high priest for sin, are burnt without the camp. All which remarks do denote the super-excellency of that day s performances ; the lines and shadows thereof being drawn nearer to the life, in setting forth
I. Christ s crucifixion, as a sacrifice in the first tabernacle ; which eminent note the apostle puts upon it, ver. 12, Wherefore Jesus also, that he might
sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. As also
of Christ s making atonement in heaven, whither he has gone to appear in the presence of God for us ; and pleading that his blood, and from thence
applying it to our souls, by sprinkling of it upon our hearts and consciences, so as all the substantial parts of his mediation were most conspicuously held forth in that one day s ministry.
II. All this was to signify, as the issue and tendency of all, the extent of that atonement to be universal as to all sins, and the signification thereof
to have been the special design of that day, with difference from both occa
sional and daily sacrifices, and is indeed so expressly notified and incul
cated, as makes it seem an appropriate end of it ; for I find not to my
CHAP. X.] OF CHKIST THE MEDIATOR. 429
observation, that of any other of these daily sacrifices it is in express words
ta note of universality, for all sins, as of this day s sacrifice it is. This honour had this day s work alone, to be the open and public testifica
said, with
tion of this privilege which we have by Christ s sacrifice, that it is for all
sin, it being utterly impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins, as Heb. x. Here was, I say, a condemning remembrance
of all sins past, which came up before God, and in their consciences, every
year, and therefore God applied a catholicon or universal outward plaster every year ; and yet that did but outwardly skin over the sore every year in a carnal Jew s heart, but not healed perfectly and thoroughly, but so
that it would break forth again. Yea, the very renewing of these sacrifices
every year was a real testification that even these yearly sacrifices took not
sins away ; for why else should they be renewed again and again if the
guilt of them did not remain ? Which are the apostle s arguings, Heb. x.
i-4, yet the intention was to publish an universal pardon for sins past at
every year s end, when the atonement was made ; such as that law could
give, but withal in the shadow and type of it, minding them of a perfectly extensive atonement which was to come, which should take away all sins
at once. By one thing* God would take away all sins of the comers to
worship. Now by the same reason that sacrifices every year served to take away sins past for that year, and therefore are called the sacrifice once a
year, by the same reason the sins of the nation, in a like manner coming up in remembrance before God every day, the daily sacrifices served but to
signify the atonement of them for that day, and reached no farther ; and because a remembrance of them was renewed every day, therefore it was that the sacrifices were renewed every day. But in this day s sacrifice there was a remembrance every year, yet not of that year s sinning only, but of
all sins past whatever, to the time of the years then ending ; so as there was atonement then made for all sins past whatever.
And if it be said that murder and blasphemy were excepted, I further
answer, No. They were not left out from the intent of the significancy of that day s atonement, which was to point them unto Christ s atonement, which should be made by him once for all, for all manner of sins ; the intent of his sacrifice not being at all to exempt men from bodily death, which by the judicial laws of supreme governors is due to any crimes. It was not the design of this day s atonement neither to expiate any crime under that consideration, but it was significant of an atonement for the sins of their souls, by a more perfect sacrifice of Christ s to come. There was
left this remark of imperfection on it, that it was reiterated every year, thereby to drive them to eye and expect the most perfect sacrifice signified by these, which should perfect for ever them that are sanctified (as in that 10th chapter of the Hebrews he concludes that his discourse of this type), and he but once for all offered up. If therefore any sins were under the
type excepted for any respect, yet that one sacrifice to come was before hand ordained to take away all at once ; as Acts xiii. 38, 39, Paul told his countrymen, Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins : and by him
all that believe are justified from all things, from which you could not be
justified by the law of Moses ; neither moral, nor ceremonial, nor judicial. And he spoke it to signify this, as far as that present dispensation would
bear, that there was an universal atonement for all sins put into the great charter of that day s pardon. It is not anywhere in express words said, or * Qu. offering ? ED.
430 OF CHRIST THE MEDIATOR. [BOOK VI.
uttered of any of them, that they were for the forgiveness of all sins ; but
this honour had this day s work, and issue, alone to be the open and public testification of this privilege, which is the point I drive at for your comfort and direction.
I am loath to make a dispute of it, whether the daily sacrifices were re
ipsa instituted to hold out an universal forgiveness of all sins. I rather
rest in this as a rule, that the legal ordinances and sacrifices, as they were
imperfect shadows in themselves, so wherein their imperfection in their
signification should lie is much to be judged of by what we find said, or
declared of them, when they are spoken of as to their proper intent and
extent ; and therefore I think it safest to say, that the difference between
the sacrifices of this day, and those daily, may be, that the daily sacrifices
eminently pointed at a continual forgiveness of sins as they were every day committed ; they were for the errors of that day, as the name imports. But
these sacrifices, and the expiation by them once a year, was ordained for
all sins past of their whole lives, especially that had been committed that
year. They were forgiven by wholesale, by the great and lump, on that
day, though even in these sacrifices this mark of imperfection was left
upon them, that ^there was a legal condemning remembrance of sins
past. Now that this universality of pardon of all sins was the great design of
this one day s atonements, is in most express words, and not in figures, avowedly declared, and so often repeated, as all men must acknowledge that to have been the eminent scope thereof. For, 1. It is commanded
that all the people should afflict their souls for all their sins, Lev. xvi. 29. I say
* for all their sins, for so the very next words warrant me, which are the reason annexed to that commandment, ver. 30, For on that
day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the Lord. And, 2. When the two
extraordinary sacrifices were killed, and their blood taken to be carried into the holy of holies, this is the declared intent of both : Lev. xvi. 15, 16,
* Then shall he kill the goat of the sin-offering that is for the people, and
bring his blood within the veil, and do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it upon the mercy-seat, and before the
mercy-seat. And he shall make an atonement for the holy place, because
of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgres sions in all their sins : and so shall he do for the tabernacle of the congre gation that remaineth among them in the midst of their uncleanness.
Again, 3. When that extraordinary atonement, by those sacrifices, was
perfected, and that the high priest came forth from out of the holy of holies, then Aaron took the live goat ; ver. 20-22, And when he had made an end of reconciling the holy place, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat
: and Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins,
putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness. And the goat shall bear upon him
all their iniquities unto a land not inhabited ; and he shall let go the goat into the wilderness. Here are still, you see, both all and all sorts of sins
in three several words expressed ; to the end that all sins whatever might be sure to be comprehended. Again, you have that all inculcated in the
last verse, as the special design of that day, ver. 34, And this shall be an
everlasting statute unto you, to make an atonement for the children of
CHAP. X.] OF CHRIST THE MEDIATOR. 431
Israel, for all their sins, once a year. And he did as the Lord commanded Moses.
The occasional sacrifices served but for the expiation of particular emer
gent sinnings, and each served but for one turn, for that one sin, and no more. And if they fell into the like again, a new sacrifice was to be offered
for that second, and so a third. And yet in them the believing Jew might spy out another manner of sacrifice, shadowed out for their souls. Again, in the daily sacrifices they might discern the same sacrifice typified, for
daily sins committed every day, whilst yet the ritual sacrifice itself reached but to that day s sins. And still there was a remembrance of all these sins
: Heb. x. 1, For the law could never with those sacrifices which
every year
they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect ; and ver. 2, 8, For then would not they have ceased to be offered? because
that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of
sins. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins
every year. And this shewed the imperfection of that ritual sacrifice ;
yet still so as in the type and shadow it adumbrated a universal pardon, through a perfect sacrifice once offered to come : ver. 12, But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins, for ever sat down on the right hand of God; in which there would be no more remembrance of sins, ver. 17.
And although neither this day s atonement, nor no other of these forementioned legal sacrifices, served not to acquit them from those sins ex-
cepted, as murder, adultery, or blasphemy, so far as God, as king of that
nation, in his judicial law (as was observed) required bodily death for them, that day s expiation freed them not from that extreme punishment, whether
they had been committed afore that solemn day or whether they had been
discovered after that day s expiation had passed upon them. They could not have pleaded that day s atonement to free them from death ; no, they died without mercy, as the apostle tells us.
But still all these did, in their several significances, set forth that one
perfect and all-sufficient sacrifice, which was the substance and centre of them all. And as these on that great day performed excelled all the other
in the significances of it they being offered on purpose on that day the
high priest went into the holy of holies, thereby, firstly, notifying this our
high priest s alone sacrifice immediately afore his entrance into heaven BO especially, and most eminently, they were designed to shadow forth the extent of that of Christ his sacrifice, as reaching to the pardon of all sins, holding out a universal pardon of all sorts of sins, of what kind soever (but only that against the Holy Ghost, which in the 10th chapter the apostle alone excepteth). This was the proper intendment of that day s atonement. And if in those occasional sacrifices for grosser particular sins, the believers then might understand thereby, that there was a sacrifice for the forgive ness of their souls represented thereby, as well as a present freedom from the punishment of God s either immediately cutting them off" from their
people, or by the hand of the magistrate, according to any judicial law,
threatening bodily death ; then for the like reason the sacrifices and atone ments of that day being so expressly and loudly proclaimed to be for all
their sins whatever, they must be understood to have intended a like uni
versal atonement of sins unto all that come unto this great high priest, confessing their sins, afflicting their souls for them, and seeking to be
sprinkled with his blood, and their bodies washed with water, as it hath been explained.
432 OF CHRIST THE MEDIATOR. [BOOK VI.
And therefore let it be observed, that the high priest alone performed the whole of that day s service, which was to be done in either tabernacles, whether of extraordinary or ordinary sacrifice, to shew that there was one, and but one, great high priest that was to come, who should by one offer
ing perfect for ever those that were sanctified, Heb. x. 14 ; in whose sac
rifice all the sacrifices concurred and met, as lines in a centre ; whether
it were those of the high priest once a year, which he had instanced in
this Heb. x. from ver. 1 to ver. 11, or of every priest daily ministering, in
ver. 11. These are all swallowed up as shadows into this great body and substance of them.
But especially this day s atonement, instituted to signify this general atonement, is for this cause so largely insisted on, and above all others
explained, and exposed to our notice by our apostle in the 9th and 10th
chapters; as also chap. xiii. ver. 11, 12. And those atonements made by the ordinary priests, but in one passage of chap x., ver. 11, although their daily services also imported the daily taking away of all sins for
every day.
Seek then to Christ, to cause his face to shine upon thee, and his Father s through him. This I mention upon two grounds, proper to our
high priest s being in the holy of holies, from the type in Lev. xvi. You read how the high priest took incense, with coals of fire, from off the altar of gold, and then going into the holy of holies, with the censer of gold, with those coals, and casting the incense thereon, he caused a cloud of smoke to ascend : and thereupon God manifested himself in a glory shining on the cloud. For this compare ver. 2d with the 12th and 13th, I will
appear in the cloud (so God promiseth, ver. 2) ; which how it was fulfilled, the 12th and 13th verses tell us, He shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from off the altar before the Lord, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the veil : And he shall put the incense upon the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of incense may cover the mercy-seat that is upon the testimony, that he die not. The cloud of
incense, or the smoke thereof, typified prayer, as in the Psalms. And
answerably, and in allusion unto this, the penner of the 80th Psalm doth
in the name of, and for the people, frame his prayer thus, ver. 1 : Give
ear, thou that dwellest between the cherubims (in which was the holy of
* shine forth; so, ver. 1. Then, in ver. 3, Cause thy face to
holies);
shine, and we shall be saved, which he repeats twice after in that psalm. His faith then penned that psalm for them, had in his eye that promise of God s appearing in the cloud : as in Lev. xvi. Witness the compellation he
gives of God, Thou that dwellest between the cherubims. He understood
full well, that although himself, nor the people, on whose behalf he made
this prayer, did follow God into the holy of holies personally themselves, but the high priest only ; and that yet that appearance of God s in the cloud from the mercy-seat unto the high priest, when he went into the holiest, did signify that unto those that looked by faith unto that mercyseat, and invocated God with fervent prayer for grace to help them in their occa
sional or constant need; that God would shine forth, and appear unto
them, in answer unto their prayer graciously, some way or other, especially when it is the face of God himself which they seek, and that their hearts are carried out in prayer to seek the shine thereof.
We must know that the phrase of seeking God s face is more largely used ; for seeking his face, that is his favour in any particular request we would obtain at his hands. And it is a wonted speech in Scripture used to
CHAP. X.] OF CHRIST THE MEDIATOR. 433
that purpose. But it is taken more strictly for seeking the shine of his favour itself to be manifested to a man s soul. It is the character of saints
in the Psalms, That seek thy face. And when their hearts are pitched upon that request above all things else, Oh then, he that dwelleth between the cherubims will shine forth according to their desire and his promise ; as he often did unto particular persons, amongst them that came to the
temple to worship. God shone forth upon their souls whilst they were
praying there, which caused David to utter his request in this manner, in Ps. Ixiii. 2, 3,
* To see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary ; because thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall
praise thee. Observe how he says, so as I have seen thee in thy sanc
tuary ; calling to remembrance God s gracious treatings with him in former
times, when he used to come there to worship.
There are two things contained in that petition, shine forth, which do
thou, when thou conversest with God and Christ in this sanctuary, seek for
at their hands.
1. That he would cause the light of his countenance, in his electing love, to shine upon thy soul ; that is, to give thee the assurance with a taste of his lovingkindness or special love borne towards thee, in which he at that
present doth graciously accept thee in his beloved, and from everlasting had
pitched and fixed to manifest towards thee in his Son. This is David s meaning there ; for one sight which he desires to behold him with in his
temple, is that of his lovingkindness, which he therefore specifies in the
following verse : Thy lovingkindness is better than life, ver. 3. And this
* drawing near with a
is one and a chief part of what my text intendeth, by
full assurance of faith ; that is, with assurance of our being accepted of him ; the shine of which David desired to have from out of his temple, whilst his faith looked to the holy of holies, unto which my text invites us
to come in heaven.
The 2nd is to manifest himself to a man s soul : to see his glory and his
power, as he had seen it in his sanctuary, ver. 2 ; that is, to have a view of his personal excellencies and glories. And thus I interpret it ; for the wonders of power and glory which God shewed by outward works done for his people were works in the execution of them acted out of doors, as we sav. They were transacted abroad, and in the world. The sights therefore which in the temple he sought to see were those of his personal greatness, power, and glory within himself, which were the cause and workers of those wondrous effects from out of his holy temple, as those abroad in the world are said to be.
And if you apply this to the seeking the face of Christ, the direction then is, that thou wouldest seek a view of him, not simply in his high priesthood glory (which is his office), and so what therein thou needest to have from him, to make use of him for, as thou art a sinner, but a view of the glory of his person abstractly from his office ; when therefore, Ps. Ixxx. 1, he says, Thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth/ and ver. 3, cause thy face to shine, the highest and farthest intendment of those petitions is, that he would shine in his personal excellencies. For indeed the face of God and Christ are put for the person of each : 1. Of God ; Thou shalt have no other gods before my face ; to behold the
glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, that is, myself*. 2. Of Christ ; 2 Cor. iv. 4. And his face imports, as the lifting up the light of his coun- * Qu.
" before my face," that is, myself. 2. Of Christ, 2 Cor. iv. 6,
" to behold
" &c.?-ED.
VOL,. V. EG
434 OF CHRIST THE MEDIATOR. [BOOK VI.
tenance in his love and favour, so the excellency and glory of his person :
as in 2 Cor. iv. 4, the glory of God shines in the face of Jesus Christ. The word Kooguxu is, in the person of Christ. And that which follows shews it is his personal excellency mainly intended, who is the image, says he, of God ; which both in Col. i. and Heb. i. are primarily spoken of him in respect to his personal glory. Now, in that 80th Psalm, where
it was we founded this head, thou that dwellest, &c., shine forth, as
* Cause thy face
ver. 1, so he begins ; but then in the 3d verse it follows,
to shine, which face of his is elsewhere styled his beauty, which denotes the excellency and glory of his person ; and is also still spoken of him as
shining in and from his temple, and as therein and from thence he was to be viewed, Ps. xxvii. 4,
* To behold the beauty of the Lord, and inquire in
his holy temple. And that beauty is eminently termed his holiness, Ps.
ex. 3. And as his favour, grace, and love is the light of his countenance
shining towards us, so his holiness is the personal glory in himself; as
that vision in Isaiah, chap. vi. 1, given of Christ when on his throne. That throne is that seat in the holy of holies, whereon (now he is ascended
into heaven) he sits at the right hand of God, with his angels about him,
worshipping of him as there. And the place or scene of that throne is in
the vision made the holy of holies in the temple ; for it is said that his
* filled the temple, that is, the rest of the temple from the throne. Now, that glory is that of
glory (that is, the train and gleam that came from it)
his person ; for Christ himself refers this of Isaiah unto himself, John
xii. 41. Now, that glory there in Isaiah is said specially to be his holi
ness, as appears by the angels celebrating him and that his glory with
crying out, Holy, holy, holy, therein adorning* him for that, as wherein
his glory specially consisted ; which, when Isaiah saw, you read how he was affected with it. Also heaven is the holy of holies, and it is the personal glory there of him doth there appear (who is the most holy, and the Messiah, and the
anointed one, Dan. ix.), which our Saviour desireth we might behold, John
xvii. 24. And therefore a forehand sight and glimpse by faith of this his
personal glory (and so far as faith is capable of it) is of all sorts of actings, or receptions rather, by faith the most desirable and delighting, and fills the
soul with glory; whom having not seen (that is, as we shall do), yet so
far seeing as faith will capacitate us, and may carry us, this works joy un
speakable and full of glory. And such sights the primitive Christians were much inured to. 1 Pet. i. 8.
It falls out sometimes that when thou thyself comest to him, and afore
him, that himself doth cause some rays of that more mean and little beauty that is in thy soul also (which is the reflection of his shining on thee) to break forth afore him, whilst thou art in his presence. And he, to please himself in thee, draws out thy love to him, and causeth thee to tell him he thereupon enlarging thy soul that way whilst thou art a-doing it how
well thou lovest him ; and to relate to him how holy thou wouldest be, which will in us to be so is our greatest holiness in this life ; and herewith do both God and Christ wonderfully delight themselves, as in Ps. xlv. it is
said both of the Father (for his speech it is) and of Christ the Son, He is
thy Lord, and worship thou him; so shall the King, that is, Christ, greatly
delight in thy beauty. And, Eph. v., Christ doth present the church to
himself. How, and why, to himself? You have heard how he presents us to God ; but here it is said he doth it to himself, as his spouse, for of * Qu. adoring ? ED.
CHAP. X.] OF CHRIST THE MEDIATOR. 435
that he had spoken afore. He takes a view of a soul that comes to him, and is taken with her himself first, and pleaseth himself first in her ; and then covereth her all over with his righteousness, and then gives or takes a kiss of her himself, and so presents her to his Father. Now, therefore, when thou comest afore him, ohtain (if possible) ere thou comest off or out from him, a view of his person and of his holiness and beauty ; and beg hard, be instant for it. And to that end I counsel thee, let thine eye be fastened on him in what he is in himself. See what thou canst spy out to be in him, or from him, over and besides thy redemption by his priesthood, that should make thy heart more to cleave to him, and more to love him, and delight in him. And when but the first glimpses, and thereupon mo tion of such affections, do rise and enkindle, follow them, and blow up those
sparks to a flame ; let thy heart dwell upon such interviews. Likewise
every holy strain or disposition of spirit, which he draws forth out of thy heart, out of pure love to him, whilst thou art in his presence, they are so many gleams and lines of beauty in thee, with which his heart is delighted, whether they be brokenness of heart, and relenting pangs of sorrow for sin, or submission to his will with all cheerfulness, because it is his will, putting thy mouth in the dust, in thy deepest trials and temptations. Or that thou
canst, with all that is within thee, fall ablessing him for what he is in his own blessedness and glory, though thou should not be partaker of it in him, and with him, rejoicing that Christ he is with the Father at his right hand in glory, whatever becomes of thee ; which Christ told his disciples, that if
they loved him they would have done ; because I go to the Father. These are each so many casts of a gracious beauty in thy soul, with which in thy converses with him he is ravished. These interviews and intercourses of love of the soul to Christ, and of Christ to the soul, you may read of Cant. 7th chapter throughout: both on Christ s part, from ver. 1 to 10; and on the church s part, from ver. 10 to the end.
But to wind up this head, and to bring it back again to the language and
signification of the type itself, which we began in, and made the rise of this head.
There were two things in that holy of holies, principally ordained to re
present our Lord Jesus Christ: 1. The ark, whose residence was continu
ally therein ; 2. The person of the high priest, who came in but once a-year, and then whilst he was in it, did but personate our Lord to come to heaven. The ark itself alone I take (and submit it) typed forth his very person, simply considered. A chest it was, made of plain boards of Shittim wood, covered both within and without with pure gold. The wood signified his
humanity, the gold his divine nature, as joined both in one ; the fulness of the G-odhead dwelling in him bodily, and enclosing or encompassing his human nature, with the fulness of itself, Exod. xxv. 11. And this ark is termed the glory and beauty of God, Ps. Ixviii. 71 ; as also of all Israel, 1 Sam. iv. 21. And it was under that style declared of his person, by old men, when but eight days old, Luke ii. 32, the glory of thy people Israel. Crowned also it was with a crown of gold, denoting all excellency and right of the dominion ; having the testimony or covenant of the law in it, as Christ had the law in his heart, Ps. xl. The second representative was the high priest, who came in but to per form the works of a priest, who was the type of Christ s office of priest hood, which is but additional to the glory of his person. By these two we are taught to view, and that distinctly
: 1. His person, and the glories thereof simply considered, and that of his office in performing the work
486 OF CHRIST THE MEDIATOR. [BOOK VI.
thereof, as a mediator for us, and as an atoner for our sins. And as the ark was the most eminent, and first bespoke to be made, Exod. xxv. 10, so is and was the person of Christ first ordained, and is to be esteemed
accordingly, in and for his person, the most precious above all other, being
* the most holy, Dan. ix. And certainly his person is far more excellent than any, or all his offices for us, and accordingly to be sought for by us ; and the privilege hereof Christ hath promised to some special favourites of his : John xiv. 21, He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me ; and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. Mark how he says,
* I will manifest myself, having said, I will manifest my love, in those
words, I will love him, as distinct from and short of this. Now, to love
us, as in his own heart his love is seated in common to all believers, whereas this is uttered as a special favour to them that keep his commands, in a special and intense manner ; and therefore is meant of the manifesta tion of that his love. And then the next words, I will manifest myself to him, is a further additional, beyond that discovery of his love or his Father s ; and so of his person, which is usually called himself. And it was a privilege not vouchsafed the apostles until himself was ascended, and
poured out his Spirit on them. And then their union with his person, as his with his Father s, was manifested to them, as in the verse afore, ver. 20, * At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I
in you, which is expounded by this speech of his in ver. 21. Sure I am (that so I may still express it by the type which hath led me unto this) that the
perfection of that glorious state which the saints on earth shall attain unto,
is typified forth under the shadow of the holy of holies, in a comparative unto the foregoing states of the church less perfect, described by the model of the outward court ; and then the court of the priests, whereof Rev. xi.
1, 2, and the last verse gives us the scheme. But after these two courts are passed in ver. 1, 2, it is said, ver. 19, that the temple of God was
opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple (the seat of which was that part of the temple called the holy of holies) the ark of the testament. Oh how will men then more continually rejoice in the contemplation of his
person, and above all, love him, value him for what he is in himself, and
for himself ; -whereas now it is a rare privilege vouchsafed to some, and yet attainable, but will not in the height of it be communicated, until these more imperfect and dead-hearted churches, the court of priests which fore
goes it, be purged and more refined ; and that by the laying dead the two
witnesses, which are both the churches themselves, the golden candlesticks, and the persons of the most eminent professors, both of ministers and
people. After which, though we with the rest of the New Testament saints are said all to enter into the holiest, when we worship, as in the text ; yet God hath provided last for them of those times, after their resurrection and ascension into heaven, that is, a more conspicuous glory of intercourse with Christ ; such as is an enjoyment of his person, as the ark in the holy of
holies, in comparison unto what is now but as in the court of priests. And
yet let every one now seek it, by growing up unto perfect holiness, and
keeping his commandments ; for unto such lhat promise is in all times made, and is to be attained by some that seek it, as a fore-running glimpse and pledge of the like, as then more common glory of the saints in those
times.
END OP TREATISE.
A DISCOURSE OF THE SUPEREMINENCE OF
CHRIST ABOVE MOSES :
OE OF THE MORE EXCELLENT GLORY AND POWER WHICH ACCOMPANIES HIS
PROMULGATION OF THE GOSPEL, THAN DID ACCOMPANY THE GIVING OF
THE LAW ON MOUNT SINAI.
SUPEREMINEflCE OF CHRIST ABOVE MOSES.
See that yc refuse not him that speaketh : for if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth., IttUck more shall not we escape, if ire turn away from him (lint s/>eaketh from hearen : whose voice then shook the earth : but now he hath promised, sayiny, Yet once more I shake not the earth, only, Imt also hearen. And this word, Yet once more, siyni/ieth tinremoriny of
those thinys that are x/iakcn, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken mat/ remain. Wherefore, we rcceiriny a kinydom which cannot he niored, let ns hare (/race, whereby ire mat/ serre (rod aeeept-
: for our God is a consumin// fire. HEB. XII. 25-29.
ahly irith rererence and godly fear
According to the n ord that I coeenanted witli yon when ye came out o
so my Spirit remaineth amony you
: fear ye not. lor ihus saith the Lord
of hosts, Yet once, it is a little while, and / will shake the lieaeens, and the
earth, and the sea, and the dry land : and I will shake all nation*, and the
J Desire of all nation* shall come: ami I will /ill this house with alory, saith
the Lord. The silrt r is mine, and tin- /fold is mine, saith the Lord of hosts.
J hr ylory of this latter house shall he yreater than of the former, saith the Lord of hosts ; ami in this place will I give peace, saith the Lord of hosts. HAGGAI II. 5-9.
The apostle is upon a comparison (or rather, that there is no comparison) between Christ, as giving forth the word on Mount Sion, and Moses upon Mount Sinai. This Moses, in delivering his law, he rcckonoth of but as a man on earth ; and so infers from thence (to greaten Christ), If they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not wo
escape, if we turn away from him that speaks from heaven. The vast dis
proportion between these two teachers, he argues from that infinite distance
that is between the situation of their seats and places they spake from; Moses s chair (as Christ terms it) was place;! on earth, so low, at the foot
stool ; but Christ (( hristns eathedram in eirlis hahet ) hath his chair in
heaven, as was said of old of him, so high above the others as are the
highest heavens. Neither let this so great lowering Mos.s ami his law, unto Christ and his gospel, offend you, ye Jews, as too bold or contemptuous. For Paul had your own John Baptist to bear him out, who when in like manner he would compare himself with Christ, and his doctrine with his
440 SUPEREMINENCE OP [HEB. XII. 25-29.
own (to the end to exalt both it and him), he casts himself, and the highest
point he could reach to, as low as earth : John iii. 31, 32, He that is of the
earth is earthly, and he speaks of the earth. And such a teacher I acknowledge myself to be, says he, when set with him that cometh from heaven ; and such also my doctrine is in comparison of his, who
* speaketh what he hath heard and seen, namely, in heaven, from whence he comes. What John thus speaks of himself, Paul applies to Moses. And John in his ministry was greater than Moses and all the prophets, put all into the same scale
together with him, Mat. xi. 11 and 13.
The apostle Paul doth urge us farther to consider those infinitely surpass
ing and more glorious effects of power and majesty, which do issue from the
voice of him that speaks from heaven in the gospel, and accompanies the
delivery of it, as a testimony of the glory of the matter uttered in it ; which, the more lively to represent, he compareth them with those former effects which accompanied the delivery of the law when it was given by Moses : Whose voice then shook the earth, says he, but his voice now shall shake both earth and heavens.
From which advance he thirdly raiseth another mount yet higher, namely, a consideration of that super-excelling glory of his kingdom, which his gospel uttered, by him brought to light, and gave believers the right and assurance
of ; all these effects accompanying both law and gospel, being but slighter works and effects of an inferior sort, and lower make and production
: things but made, in comparison of the things of his kingdom, which Christ should
bring in.
Now by these shakings, &c., the apostle meaneth and intendeth those new,
strange, and (in comparison to those under the times of the law), un
paralleled changes, alterations, and abolitions of things which were already begun in his time and view, to be made in this world, and are to go on till
they are to be consummated at the latter day. And these are the effects and concomitants of this word, the gospel, and of his voice that dictates it.
All which removals should be but the preludiums and fore-running prepara tions unto that kingdom of his, which cannot be shaken ; which all those
shall issue and determine in, as infinitely more glorious than all things else we now see or know, by how much all these are but made to be pulled down, and then removed, as the rubbish that lies in the way to that his
kingdom to be erected : But we have a kingdom, the gospel speaks of,
* which cannot be shaken ; which therefore let us firmly expect, and adhere
unto, and serve God acceptably, in the expectation of it, in the midst of
all these shakings. This for the coherence, and as an outside show of the
meaning of the words, hung forth at the entrance, inviting you to the sight within. Let us now enter and view each particular more thoroughly and
exactly.
The words of my text, in ver. 26 and 27 (though I have read the rest
afore and after), do fix upon this latter point, namely, the vast different
effects and demonstration of power, by all sorts of alterations in heaven and
earth, that shall accompany the coming and kingdom of Christ, all along the times of the gospel, in comparison of those that attended upon the
giving of the law of Moses. And this I have also fixed on to be my present
subject.
The particulars to explain that difference are two.
I. The difference of those effects themselves when compared. II. The allegation of the prophecy in Haggai, for the proof of that com
parison, and likewise the pertinency of that allegation.
HAG. II. 5-9.] CHRIST ABOVE MOSES. 441
Which two, being by way of general premise despatched, I shall more
closely grasp those which are the greatest difficulties in the text, in their own place.
I. The difference of those effects themselves compared. 1. The first part of the comparison are the prodigies that fell out at the
* Whose
birth and bringing forth of the law, the shaking of the earth, &c.
voice then shook the earth, says the text out of the 19th Exod. 18. The mountain quaked greatly, and the sights in the air upon the mount were
so terrible, and the voice then heard so dreadful, that they could not endure
it (ver. 19, 21). But yet, so as the force and efficacy of all these reached no higher or further than the earth and air, which signified the lowness and
earthliness of the frame and form of worship given, and also to be of that
port, which one day, as the earth was then, should be in the like manner
itself shaken, as the apostle here unfolds the mystery of it.
And withal (to that end to greaten Christ, and heighten the comparison of his gospel effects with these the more) he hints us to consider that it was even our Christ which then gave the law, and that it was his voice, though hiddenly and concealedly, the power whereof shook the earth ; Whose
* then shook the earth ; for though angels are said
voice, saith my text,
* The word spoken by
to have given the law, it being termed, Heb. ii. 1,
angels, yet the Lord God (which was Christ) stood hid under those angels ; so expressly, Exod. xx. 21, You have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. And though Moses, as a mediator, is said to have given it
visibly forth, Gal. iii. 19, compared with Deut. v. 5, yet you may see what a poor slight mediator he was by his carriage in it, and to have been but a
cypher, or shadow of our Christ, whose voice then and now speaks, and made him to tremble. You may read how Moses stood by quaking and
trembling, whilst the law was uttering, like a frail sorry man of earth (as he
was), for no sooner did he begin to feel all things shaking under him, but he cries out, as ver. 21, I exceedingly fear and quake. He shewed what a man he was, and how constituted, but of the same matter the mountain
itself (that was the first shaker) was of, earth and dust ; which our apostle
allegeth to shew his law, in comparison of this gospel, to be like unto him,
earthy, and ordained to be shaken.
Corollary. And this, as it is the clearest scripture in the New Testa
ment, that it was Christ that gave the law, so it is as evident a proof that he is God, whose voice it was that spake those words, and said, I am the Lord thy God : thou shalt have no other gods but me ; which voice then shook the earth, in testimony thereof at the uttering of them. This is the
first part of this comparison.
2. The second part is a comparative inference, how far greater and more
surpassing outward effects, and signs and tokens of power and glory, must needs be ordained to accompany the coming of Christ himself, and the dis
pensation of the gospel from him, inferred from this, that his voice then shook the earth, &c. ; wherein two things are to be considered,
(1.) The surpassing excellency of the effects themselves.
(2.) The ground and rationality of the apostle s inference, when from a
comparison made with the other, he argues and infers the excellency of those effects themselves under the gospel.
(1.) For the super-exceeding of the effects themselves under the gospel.
[1.] If he shook the earth then, he will shake heaven now; that is, as
Christ in his own case speaks, if you wonder at this, you shall see greater wonders than these.
* The Father loveth the Son, and to shew us that he
442 SUPEREMINENCE OF [HEB. XII. 25-29.
is the Son himself, He will shew him greater works, that you may yet marvel. Thus here, if he then shook earth, he will now shake both earth and heavens too.
Which phrase, to open it first in general, is a proverbial speech, to
express how far higher and greater things he will do, even by so much
higher as the heavens are above the earth ; that look, as it would in all men s apprehensions be a demonstration of greater power for one to shake the pillars of heaven, and make the stars quiver, the sun to tremble, in com
parison of shaking houses and glass windows on earth, which, we see, great noises, as of thunder-claps, and great ordnances are wont to do ; so in this.
[2.] As in the object shaken this riseth higher, even to the shaking heavens, so in the issue of the shaking either the one or the other. For whereas then he did but shake, he will now not only shake but remove: and then he did but shake the earth, and in the earth that mountain the law was given upon, which yet stands where it did ; under the gospel he will not only shake but remove, not the earth only, which he shook but in part afore, but even the heavens, which he then left untouched. But now he
shakes, yea, and he means to remove, ver. 27. Thus this word once more
signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as things made, on
purpose to give demonstration of his power in their removal, and withal of that super-excellmg "glory of that kingdom, to which these things are but made to give way unto ; and observe it (for it must be our guide, and serve
to bring us to the full of Paul and Haggai s meaning, that the apostle puts the emphasis upon even this), that he shakes so as to remove. And this he allegeth as Haggai s scope.
(2.) For the ground or rational part of this inference, namely, why, upon giving the gospel, these effects should rise so much higher, the account stands thus,
[1.] If God (whom here the apostle affirms Christ to be) will anew come down into the world a second time, he will surely make his discovery therein exceed the former ; it is his manner so to do, especially if the first be but a shadow or type of the same person in lesser discoveries (as Moses was in
this of Christ s), and in that respect but as the earth ; then the second or next succeeding, whatever it be, will rise as high as heaven in comparison of the former. Now Moses, as a man on earth, gave forth his dispensation, but Christ as the Lord from heaven ; therefore his must accordingly in its
proportion exceed. And his argument runs thus, It was Christ s own voice which then did shake the earth when he gave the law. Now if he
being then hid (himself concealed under the administration of angels, there
fore, Acts vii. 30-32, in his speaking to Moses, he is sometimes termed an
angel, sometimes the Lord), and also stood disguised under Moses receiving the law, as his type, did yet own and second that dispensation, so far as to shake the earth, &c., in testimony of that underhand and remote presence of his ; what effects will his voice have, when he comes personally to ap
pear, and professedly as Son of God to dwell in man s nature personally united to himself, and therein to deliver a new doctrine (namely, the gos
pel) ; especially now, that is, after his having been on earth, and there first had himself conversed with men, but now is ascended again to heaven, and from thence speaks and rules, who, in his person, was the Lord from
heaven, 1 Cor. xv., and in heaven whilst on earth, and so Lord of both earth and heaven, and hath received all power both in earth and heaven. To give full proof of all these things, he will therefore surely shake both earth and heaven, and shew he is able to shake and remove both. So
HAG. II. 5-9.] CHRIST ABOVE MOSES. 443
mnch for the inference and ground of the apostle s arguing, as elsewhere he doth the like from Adam to Christ, 1 Cor. xv. 45, 46, by way of a super-
excelling comparison, which is his way of arguing here.
II. For the allegation out of Haggai, and the pertinency of it, to this his
scope, which is the next and great thing to be insisted on, I observe that
the apostle s custom in this epistle (he writing to Jews) is to assert nothing but what he brings proof for out of the Old Testament (as all along ap
* gave heed to that sure word of prophecy of old ; and thus he here quotes Haggai ii. 6, 7. For thus saith the Lord of hosts, Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and\ the dry land ; and I will shake all nations, and the Desire of all nations shall come : and I will fill
pears), he writing to such, who (as Peter speaks)
this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts."
1. The prophecy is evidently of Christ, his person and coming, whom he
entitleth the Desire of all nations, according to other scriptures, as also what in himself he is, and should be unto all believers. Jacob had before, by the like circumlocution, described him to be that person, to whom
* the
gathering of the people should be. The Septuagint translates it the
Expectation of the people, he being the centre of all their desires, and
dearest affection, whom kings and prophets desire
t to see, Luke x. 24, or as Isa. xi. 10, To him shall the Gentiles seek; or as Christ out of Isaiah of himself, In his name shall the Gentiles trust ; it is the peri phrasis of the Messiah. Thus multitudes of places, the land of desire,
speaking of Canaan, Zech. vii. 14, is put for a land most pleasant, and
every one* the object of desire. Thus things or persons lovely are termed
desirable, or things of desire, every where in the prophets ; and a person most dear, as a wife, is called by Cicero, desiderium meum, my desire, even
as we now say, My love, and as Christ is thus by Haggai enstyled the Desire of all nations, and to come as such ; in like manner Malachi (in a
correspondency to this prophecy) terms him the Lord, and messenger of the covenant, whom ye (speaking to the Jews) seek and delight in, Mai.
iii. 1. That which is our happiness or chiefest good is the object of desire when waited for, of delight when enjoyed ; and such is Christ both to Jew and Gentile, coming to be Lord of both. And the harmony between the
prophecy of Malachi and Haggai is the more full, because both prophesy, whilst they speak these things of his coming, and both prophesy of his
filling that temple, then built, with glory.
Now, 2. The pertinency of the apostle s singling out this scripture thus,
evidently meant of Christ, is very observable ; for it not only serves to
prove in terminis the thing itself he would assert, namely, the shaking of both earth and heaven, when this Messiah should come ; but further, it ratines also the foundation of his very comparison here made, namely, that
if God did so great wonders at the giving the law by Moses, that he will do
greater when the Messiah promised should come. To this purpose observe how, in the words just before, the prophet pointeth them to what God had done in Moses his time for the people, as the ground and foundation of in
ference, that he would now again, upon the approaching times of the Messiah, do greater. Read ver. 5, 6, 7, According to the word that I covenanted with you when ye came out of Egypt, so my Spirit remaineth among you
: fear ye not. For thus saith the Lord of hosts, Yet once, it
is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land ; and I will shake all nations, and the Desire of all nations
*" Qu. to every one ? ED.
444 SUPEREMINENCE OF [HfiB. XII. 25-29.
shall come, and I will fill this house with glory, saith the Lord of hosts. As if he should have said, you know how greatly then for you I shook the
earth. I shook Egypt afore I gave the law, I shook the earth at the giving the law, and I shook all, and all the nations round about you in casting them forth for you, after I had given it. Now, once more, I will a second time begin, and go on to do greater things, and shake heavens also, and the sea, and dry land, and all nations ; and shaking, remove all in them that is made. Now the difficulties that are met with in this text, by them that have
travelled through it, are eminently two.
1. Concerning the time which this prophecy and promise should con
* Now he hath promised ; or when it is this promise either was, or
cern,
is to be performed, and in what centre of time we may find Haggai his in
tention, and Paul s application hereof in this epistle to this time, Now, to meet and agree.
2. The second is the explication of these heavens and earth, and the
shaking and removing of them ; what these import.
1. Now for the first. There is no controversy as to the designment of this time in the general, viz., that it being opposed to the time of giving the
law, therefore it should note out some time under the gospel ; for then is
clearly opposed to now, Whose voice then shook the earth ; but now he hath promised, &c. So that some part or piece of gospel time, in opposi tion to the time of the law, should be designed, is acknowledged by all hands. But the difficulty is, whether this now of the performance of this
promise was only the time of the first giving forth the gospel (as the then he shook the earth was at or upon the first giving the law) ; and so to
design that time only, when Christ was on earth, and his apostles had be
gun to preach the gospel. And this so as with that time all this should end and determine, and with it the commission of Haggai s prophecy as ex
tending to no further time.
This some assert, observing, 1st, Haggai to speak evidently of Christ s
first coming, and of the signs and prodigies which were found to accompany his being on earth, in shaking heaven and earth, &c., of which hereafter.
And, 2ndly, they observe the great change and shaking that fell out there
upon in the world, in giving forth the gospel first by Christ, then succeeded
by the apostles, whereby the Gentile nations were then converted, and
Christ, the Desire of all nations, even the utmost blessing their hearts to the utmost enlarged could desire, revealed to them, and so come amongst them. And, 3dly, they observe that among the Jews, to whom Haggai directed his prophecy, there was a shaking and removal of that former frame of worship, &c. (or, as Paul to the Colossians expresseth it,
* a blotting out the handwriting and nailing it to his cross, and so taking it out of the way ), set up by the law of Moses ; and instead thereof, that eternal king dom, the kingdom of heaven (as the gospel, and the doctrine, worship, promises of it are called) set up once for all. After which God will bring in no new nor further doctrine or worship. Hence therefore, it is judged by many, that the time of Haggai s prophecy doth end and determine with
this, in a full and complete accomplishment ; as also Paul s scope here, his
intent being (as they judge) in his application hereof (he writing to the Jews about the change of the Jewish worship, &c., which he had inculcated all
along in this epistle) to put a conclusion to this his argument, which had been the subject of his epistle, and to that end allegeth, last of all, this
prophecy of Haggai s, as foretelling this change which they had seen upon
HAG. II. 5-9.] CHRIST ABOVE MOSES. 445
Christ s coming, as no other than what was foretold by him should come to
pass upon Christ s coming (who now spake to them from heaven, as this
alteration clearly evidenced), viz., a new doctrine; unto whom therefore, and
his doctrine, he most vehemently now at last exhorts them to attend.
Others observing (as they judge) Paul to step over the mention of Christ s
coming, and to carry the minds of those he wrote to unto other shakings and removals of heaven and earth yet to come ; they on the opposite side have
restrained Paul s scope and intention to the change which is yet to be made
upon the second coming of Christ, the reasons for which I shall give anon. But then how to reconcile Paul and Haggai together is still the difficulty. For if Paul carries it to the second coming, and yet Haggai s prophecy doth
expressly intend the first coming ; or if Haggai intends the first, how can Paul (who cited scriptures pertinently, and so as might convince the Jews he wrote to) apply it to the second especially, as a promise made in Haggai
yet to be fulfilled ?
I shall endeavour, as I am able, to search and give forth the full intent and scope both of Paul and Haggai in their utmost latitude, and try if all these may not justly be reconciled by an amplitude of interpretation of either.
I shall begin with Paul s scope first, and then with Haggai s, and so pro ceed to a reconciliation of them.
1. For Paul s mind herein, I shall proceed by degrees :
As, 1. That his now here takes not in the time of Christ s being in the
flesh only, but the age of the apostles, the present time he spake this in, which is clear. For his now refers to that now of Christ s speaking from
heaven, roi/ XaXouvra, ver. 25, and therefore speaks of him as being ascended to heaven, and from thence now speaking to us on earth ; and it was now some years from his ascension when he wrote this epistle. He was not only come (as Haggai speaks), but gone again into heaven; and he
* Refuse not him that hath spoken from heaven, in respect that he being a man from heaven when on earth, first gave the gospel ; but as one that now continues to speak from thence.
says not,
Then, 2nd, the just reason of this will carry Paul s scope, not only to be
fixed to that present now or age, but all along to the end of the world.
For, 1st, by and for the same reason alleged, that he did shake the earth and the heavens then in Paul s time, by and for the same reason he must be acknowledged to continue to do it in all ages after. Now the reason he
attributes it unto then was that he was then speaking from heaven ; and so his voice then had this effect of shaking heaven and earth. Therefore by the same reason, whilst from heaven he shall thus speak to men, he will continue to shake both earth and heaven during all that time. His voice, while he speaks from heaven, will shake earth and heaven, as even that
parallel of his shaking the earth when he gave the law, serves also to
persuade. For look, as whilst the law was a-speaking by the ministry of
angels, he is said to speak from heaven, Exod. xx. 22, and all that while
his voice continued to shake the earth ; so here, whilst the gospel is dis
pensed by the ministry of apostles and ministers to succeed them, he is all that while said to speak from heaven as well as at first, and during that time he, for a sign and token of the power of it, continues more or less to shake earth and heaven. And therefore, as he hath not ceased to speak, nor doth to this day, so, nor hath he ceased this shaking. And therefore, secondly, the apostle speaks in the language of the present time, <rl;w, I shake. That whereas of his shaking the earth at his giving the law he
* whose voice then shook the earth ; and whereas
speaks in the time past,
446 SUPEKEMINENCE OF [HJEB. XII. 25-29.
< I will shake,
also the prophet Haggai, as prophesying of it, hath said,
OBiffu (so the Septuagint), which interpreters have observed, but not con
sidered enough for the purport of it ; yet of this he speaks in the time being,
ffsiu, I shake, I am a-doing it now, when this was writing, and in that age, and I still shake whilst I speak. As therefore he then was, and still is,
a-speaking from heaven ; and it is the Messiah s voice we hear ; so as he
did then, he also doth still shake, and will do to the end of the world, when he will come himself again, and by his own immediate voice, elevated louder than ever, as a man transact that great affair of judging and convincing all men face to face, and together therewith shake and remove heaven and
earth, once for all, even for everlasting. As therefore the exhortation the
apostle useth, Eefuse not him that speaks from heaven (which is founded
upon this motive, For now he hath promised, saying, I shake heaven and
earth ), must needs be acknowledged to take hold of us; so likewise this motive or foundation itself, which that exhortation is made upon, must be
granted in like manner, to hold and continue in force together therewith ; and therefore the performance of it (which keeps it in force) continues so
to this day as well as then. Yea, and as some observe from those words,
1 He hath promised, saying, I shake, that word saying had reference to that
* him that speaks, or to him speaking, as particularising what among other things he is asaying and speaking now from heaven to
of the 25th verse,
us, to move us to attend to him ; even this of the prophet, I shake, though said by way of prophecy afore, yet is now said by himself from heaven over again, by way of renewed promise and performance. From heaven he still says, I am he that shakes heavens, &c., therefore hear him ;
or, as Paul, and therefore refuse him not.
3. From those words of St Paul, Now he hath promised ; that is, from
that particular of it ; that he calleth it a promise as yet to be performed, this assertion is yet more and more argued ; for he says not, which accord
ing to his promise he hath performed, as he would have spoken, and was meet to have been said if it had been fully accomplished ; but, as being a matter still under a promise, which is always of things yet to come, as
faith and hope are, and so yet to be performed. Paul says, he now hath
promised the constellation of that promise of Haggai (though in part per formed) yet still reigning, and in its influences not having the whole of those events it portended as yet come to pass. And for this Paul giveth an unanswerable argument, that still much of it must remain under promise ; for the main import of that word yet once more, which Paul puts upon it,
is to note out that the thing to be effected was the removal of the things shaken, as well as shaking them ; and this to the end to settle and establish
things which cannot be shaken. Thus Paul expoundeth it, ver. 27, And