VER.ii,tt,I; Epillle to the HEBREws. might not beafhamed ofthem, but be fenfible of their wants, their [fate and 'condition in all things, and fo be always ready and meet to relieve them. Let theWorld now take its courfe, and themen thereofdo their worft ; let Saban rage, and the powers ofhell be flirred up againft them ; let them load them with reproaches and fcorn, and cover them all over with the filth anddirt oftheir false imputations ; let them bring them into rags, into dungeons, unto death ; Chrift comes in the midft of all this con- fusion and fays, Surely thefearemyBrethren, the childrenof ny Father, and he becomes their Saviour. And this is a (fable foundationofcomfort and füpportment in every condition. And are we not taught our duty alfo herein, namely not to be afhamed of him, or his Gofpel, or ofany one that bears his image. The Lord Chrift is nowhimmelf in that condition, that even the worff ofmen e(teem itan honour to own him, when in- deed they are no leß afhamed of him, than they wouldhave been when he was carry- ing hisCrofs upon his[boulders, or hangingupon the tree. For ofevery thing that he bath in this world they are afhamed; his Got-pet, hisWays, his Worfhip, his Spirit, hisSaints, they are allof them the objedts of their fcorn ; and in the(e things it is, that the Lord Chrift may be truly honoured or bedefpifed. For thofe thoughtswhich men haveofhis prehent glory, ab(lraching from theft things, he is not concerned in them ; they are all exercifed about an imaginary ChriJf, that is inconcerned in the Word and Spirit ofthe Lord Jefus. Theft are the things whenwe are not to be afhamed ofhim. Sec Rom. t. 16. 2 Tim. t. 16. chap. ¢.16. Thatwhich remainethof theft VerJis conflieth in the teffimonies which the Apoftle producethout ofthe Old Testament in the confirmation ofwhat he had taught and afferted. And two things are to be confidered concerning them ; the end for which they are produced, and the efpecialimportance ofthewords contained inthem. The firft he mentions is from Pfal. 22. 22. Iwill declare thy name untomy brethren, in the midffofthe congregation will Ifingpraifi unto thee. The endwhy the Apoftle produceth this teffimony, is to confirm what hehad laid immediately before, namely that with refpedt unto hisbeing onewith the children, Chrill owns them for his brethren ; for this hedoth expreily in this place. And we are to take notice that the Apoftle in the ufeofthere teffimonies,doth not obferve anyorder, fo that one ofthem fhould confirm onepart, and another another part ofhis affection, in the order wherein he had laid themdown ; it fufficeth him, that his whole intendment in allthe partsof it, is con- firmed in and by them all, one having a more efpecial refpedt unto one part than another. In this firft it is clear, that heproves what he had immediately before af- firmed, namely that the Lord Chrift owns the childrenfor his brethren, becaafe of their common interefi in the fame nature. And thereneeds nothing to evince theperti- nencyof this teltimony, but only to thew that it is the MIah which fpeaketh in that Pfalm, and whofe words theft are, which we have done fully already in our Prolegomena. For the Explicationofthe words themfelves, wemay confider the two-fold All or Duty that the Lord Chrift takes upon himfelf in them ; firft, that he will declare the Name ofGod unto his brethren', and, fecondly, that he would celebrate himwith praifes in the congregation. In the former we mull enquire what is meant by the Name of God, and then how it is or was declared byJefus Chrift. This exprefiion, theName ofGodis varioufly ufed. Sometimes it denotes the Being ofGod, God himfelf; fometimes his Attributes, his Excellencies or Divine Perfe- ¿kions, tome one or moreof them. As it is propofedunto finners as an obje& for their Faith,Truft, and Love, it denotes in an efpecial manner his Love, Grace, andGoodnef(, that in himfelf he is good, gracious and merciful, Ifa. 5o. to. And withall it in-, timates what God requires of them towards whom he is fo good andgracious. This Nameof God is unknown tomen by nature ; -fo is the way and means whereby he will communicate his Goodnefs and Grace unto them. And this is theName of God here intended, which the Lord jefuemanifefted unto the men given him out of the world, Soh. 17.5. which is thefame with his declaring the Fath.r, whom no man hob fan at any time, .7oh. 1. 18. This is that Name ofGod which the Lord JefusChrift had experienceof in his fufferings,and the manifeftationwhereofunto his Brethren hehad procured thereby. i-ereofhe fays in the Pjalm, i11etni, I willdeclare it, recount it in order, number the. particulars that belong unto it, and fo diftindtly and evidently mall it known: A.sayyeo.., Iwill malt it known as a metnger, Cent from thee andby thee And there are two ways whereby the Lord Chrift declared this Name gfGod. a. In his own Perin, z53
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=