Chap .27. An Expofston _upon the Book of Jo B. Vert ,B 77 Then ¡hall I yet have comfort : that is, that .would be, the moft comfortable newel to me, that I might but dye. Thi's is my pro- feilion, and this is my perfwaûon, I bave hope indeatb,and there- fore I am no hypocrite, as you take me tobe; for what is thehope ofthehypocrite, though he bath gained,when God taketh away bis foule ? what is the hope of the hypocrite? The meaning is the hypocrite bath no hopeat all ; he neither, bath, nor can have any hope when God taketh away his foule. Hope is taken in Scripture divers wayes Firff, For thehabit or grace of hope, implanted in the foule as there is a habit of faith, and a habit of love, fo there is ahabit of hope, that is, anabiding principle of ir. Secondly , Hope is put for the putting forth, or for the a&ing of this grace in our dependance upon God in greateft firaits. Thirdly , Hope is often putfor the obje& ofhope, and that twowayes. First, For the perfon in whomwe hope. ThusGod in Scrip- ture isoften called hope ( Jer. 14. 8. )O the hope of Ifrael,&c. That is, O thou, in whom thy peoplehope. Secondly , Hope is put not onely for the perfon in whom we hope,but for the thing pr matter which we hope to atraine ; the good, the bleffedneffe which we look or hope for, is in Scrip- ture called hope, ( Tit. 2. i ç. ) Looking for the 6leffed hope, and the glorious appearing of the Great God , and our Saviour Jeff. Chrìft. That bleffed hope is, that ¡gate of bleffednefs which be- leevers hope and waite for, at the appearing of our Lord Jefus, Chrif+. Here in this place we may take in all, or any of there fences ;Hypocrites pretend to the habit of hope, they feeme to set hope, and to a& it both uponGod himfelfe, and that bleffed- neffe which floweth out from him. Butwhat is the hopeof the hy- pocrite ?it is nothing ; He bath no hope in him,' nor is any aet of hope pur out by him, either upon God, or upon the good things which God bath promifed in the world to come, howmuch foe- ver he hatb gained in this world. What is the hope of the hypocrite , Thoughhe barb gained. There is a difference about the reading of this claufe. Some thus;
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