unto us, as unto one part of our obedience: Phil. ii. 5, "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus;" and what that mind was he declares in the ensuing verses, laying out his infinite condescension in taking our nature upon him, and submitting to all misery, reproach, and death itself for our sakes. If this mind were in Christ, should not we endeavour after a readiness and willingness to submit ourselves unto any condition for his glory? "Forasmuch," saith Peter," as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves likewise with the same mind," 1 Pet. iv. 1. Many difficulties will lie in our way, many reasonings will rise up against it, if we consult with flesh and blood; but, saith he, "Arm yourselves with the same mind that was in Christ;" get your souls strengthened and fenced by grace against all oppositions, that you may follow him and imitate him. Some that profess his name will suffer nothing for him. If they may enjoy him or his ways in peace and quietness, well and good; but if persecution arise for the gospel, immediately they fall away. These have neither lot nor portion in this matter. Others, the most, the best, have a secret loathness and unwillingness to condescend unto a condition of trouble and distress for the gospel. Well, if we are unwilling hereunto, what doth the Lord Christ lose by it? Will it be any real abatement of his honour or glory? Will he lose his crown or kingdom thereby? So far as suffering in this world is needful for any of his blessed ends and purposes, he will not want them who shall be ready even to die for his name's sake. But what if he had been unwilling to be humbled and to suffer for us? If the same mind had been in Christ as is in us, what had been our state and condition unto eternity? In this grace, love, and willingness of Christ, lies the foundation of all our happiness, of all our deliverance from misery and ruin; and shall we reckon ourselves to have an interest therein, and yet find ourselves altogether unready to a conformity unto him? Besides, the Lord Christ was really rich when he made himself poor for our sakes; he was in the form of God when he took upon him the form of a servant, and became for us of no reputation. Nothing of this was due to him or belonged unto him, but merely on our account. But we are in ourselves really poor, and obnoxious unto infinitely more miseries for our own sins than what he calls us unto for his name. Are we unwilling to suffer a little, light, transitory trouble in this world for him, without whose sufferings for us we must have suffered misery, and that eternal, whether we would or no? And I speak not so much about suffering itself as about the mind and frame of spirit wherewith we undergo it. Some will suffer when they cannot avoid it, but so unwillingly, so uncheerfully, as makes it evident that they aim at nothing, and act from no principle, but merely that they dare not go against their convictions. But "the mind that was in Christ"

will lead us unto it out of love unto him, with freedom and enlargedness of heart; which is required of us.

III. The blessed issue of the abasement of Jesus Christ, in his exaltation unto honour and glory, is an assured pledge of the final glory and blessedness of all that believe in him, whatever difficulties and dangers they may be exercised withal in the

way.

His humiliation and exaltation, as we have seen, proceeded out of God's condescension and love to mankind. His electing love, the eternal gracious purpose of his will to recover lost sinners, and to bring them unto the enjoyment of himself, was the ground of this dispensation; and therefore what he hath done in Christ is a certain pledge of what he will do in and for them also. He is not crowned with honour and glory merely for himself, but that he may be a captain of salvation, and bring others unto a participation of his glory

IV. Jesus Christ, as the mediator of the new covenant, hath absolute and supreme authority given unto him over all the works of God in heaven and earth.

This we have so fully manifested and insisted on upon the foregoing chapter, that we shall not here further pursue it; but only mind by the way, that blessed is the state and condition, great is the spiritual and eternal security of the church, seeing all things are under the very feet of its Head and Saviour.

V. The Lord Jesus Christ is the only lord of the gospel state of the church, called under the old testament "the world to come;" and therefore he only hath power to dispose of all things in it relating unto that worship of God which it is to perform and celebrate.

It is not put into subjection unto any other, angels or men. This privilege was reserved for Christ; this honour is bestowed on the church. He is the only head, king, and lawgiver of it; and nothing is it to be taught to observe or do but what he hath commanded. But this will fall more directly under our consideration in the beginning of the next chapter.

VI. The Lord Jesus Christ in his death did undergo the penal sentence of the law, in the room and stead of them for whom he died.

Death was that which, by the sentence of the law, was due unto sin and sinners. For them did Christ die, and therein tasted of the bitterness of that death which they were to have undergone, or else the fruit of it could not have redounded unto them; for what was it towards their discharge, if that which they had deserved was not suffered, but somewhat else, wherein the least part of their concernment did lie? But this being done, certain deliverance and salvation will be the lot and portion of them, of all them, for whom he died; and that upon the rules of justice and righteousness on the part of Christ, though on theirs, of mere mercy and grace.

VERSE 10.

The apostle in the verses foregoing made mention of that which, of all other things, the Jews generally were most offended at, and which was of the greatest importance to be believed, namely, the sufferings of the Messiah, wherein a great part of the discharge of his sacerdotal office, whereunto he here makes a transition, did consist. This his own disciples were slow in the belief of, Matt. xvi. 21, 22, xvii. 22, 23; Luke xxiv. 25, 26, and the Jews generally stumbled at. They thought it strange that the Messiah, the Son of God, the Saviour of his people, and Captain of their salvation, concerning whom so great and glorious things were promised and foretold, should be brought into a low despised condition, and therein to suffer and die. Hence they cried unto him on the cross, "If thou be the Christ, come down and save thyself;" intimating that by his suffering he was assuredly proved not to be so, for why any one should suffer that could deliver himself they saw no reason.

Besides, they had inveterate prejudices about the salvation promised by the Messiah, and the way whereby it was to be wrought, arising from their love and over-valuation of temporal or carnal things, with their contempt of things spiritual and eternal. They expected a deliverance outward, glorious, and kingly, in this world, and that to be wrought with arms, power, and a mighty hand. And what should they expect from a Messiah that suffered and died? Wherefore the apostle, having asserted the sufferings of Christ, saw it necessary to proceed unto a full confirmation of it, with a declaration of the reasons, causes, and ends of it; partly to evert that false persuasion which prevailed amongst them about the nature of the salvation to be wrought by Christ; partly to show that nothing would thence ensue derogatory unto what he had before delivered about his pre-eminence above angels; but principally to instruct them in the sacerdotal office of the Messiah, the redemption which he wrought, and the means whereby he accomplished it,-which was the great business that he had designed to treat with them about. [As] for the salvation itself, he declares that it was not to be of the same kind with that which they had of old, when they were brought out of Egypt and settled in the land of Canaan under the conduct of Joshua, but spiritual and heavenly, in a deliverance from sin, Satan, death, and hell, with a manuduction into life and blessedness eternal. He informs them that the way whereby this was to be wrought, was by the sufferings and death of the Messiah, and that no other way it could be accomplished; on which account they were indispensably necessary. And the first reason hereof he expresseth in this tenth verse.

Ver. 10.—Έπρεπε γὰρ αὐτῷ, δι ̓ ὃν τὰ πάντα καὶ δι ̓ οὗ τὰ πάντα, πολ

λοὺς υἱοὺς εἰς δόξαν ἀγαγόντα, τὸν ἀρχηγὸν τῆς σωτηρίας αὐτῶν διὰ παθημάτων τελειῶσαι.

One or two copies read, διὰ παθήματος αὐτὸν τελειοῦσθαι, against the sense and design of the place. Auróv is needlessly repeated, unless put for sautóv, and then it disturbs the whole meaning of the verse, and is inconsistent with the passive verb following in this reading. Iaduaтos, in the singular number, relates only unto death, expressed in the verse foregoing by zánμa daváτov; but here all the sufferings of Christ, as well those antecedent unto death as death itself, are intended. Teλovala, in the passive, is followed by some copies of the Vulgar translation, reading" consummari;" both inconsistent with the sense of the place, as we shall see.

66

Translations differ but little about these words. "Expeπe yàp airy. Most, "decebat enim eum," "for it became him;" Beza, "decebat enim ut iste," "for it was meet that he," to make the following words flow regularly. A ov và máva, “ propter quem omnia;" Syr., 27, "cui omnia," "for whom are all things;" Beza, " propter quem sunt hæc omnia," expressing the article as restrictive to the things spoken of, “ for whom are all these things." One Syriac copy adds, 7, "in his hand;" which somewhat corrupts the sense. Καὶ δι ̓ οὗ тà пávτα, “et per quem omnia,” “by whom are all things;" Beza, "hæc omnia," as before, without cause; for the article is frequently prefixed unto závra, where all things absolutely are intended; as Eph. i. 11. Πολλοὺς υἱοὺς εἰς δόξαν ἀγαγόντα. Vulg., "qui multos filios ad gloriam adduxerat," "who had brought many sons unto glory;" Arias, "multos filios ad gloriam adducentem;" Beza, "adducendo," "bringing many sons unto glory;" Syr., "adduxerat in gloriam suam," "had brought many sons into his glory." Tov άpxnyó. Vulg., "auctorem," "the author;" Beza, "principem;" Syr., 7, "the head" (or "prince") “of their salvation." Aid #adnμáτwy Tελεlwoα¡, “per passionem consummare," consummate" (or "complete")" by suffering;" Beza, "per perpessiones," "by sufferings;" Syr., "perficere," "perfectum reddere," "to perfect," " to make perfect."

66

99866

to

The proper signification of the words in this verse is much to be heeded, as that which will give us much light into the sense of the whole. IIpé is “decet,” "convenit," "dignum est;"" it becometh," it is "meet," "convenient, or "just." IIρémov Oεois, in Plato, is rendered by Cicero, "Deo decorum," "that which becometh God;" and saith he, "IIpémov, appellant hoc Græci, nos dicamus sane decorum;" that which becometh any one in his state and condition, in a moral sense; as, "Holiness becometh the house,”—that is, the people of God. Karà To TρÉTO, "ut decet," "ut par est;" that which is equal and right to be done. Πρέπουσα τιμή, is " honour justly deserved ;” and πρέπουσα ζημία, " just loss or "punishment." The word, then, signifies that decency and becomingness which justice, reason, and equity require, so that the contrary would be unmeet, because unequal and unjust. Thus every one's duty, that which is morally incumbent on him in his place and station, is that which becomes him; and hence in the New Testament, that which is not xarà тò πρéño», thus decent, is condemned as evil, 1 Cor. xi. 13; 1 Tim. ii. 10. And itself is commended as a rule of virtue, Matt. iii. 15; Eph. v. 3.

66

Av. Ará with an accusative case constantly denotes the final cause, "propter quem," "for whom :" Rev. iv. 11, 2ù ëxtions tÀ HÁYTA, "Thou hast created all things" (all things universally, with the article prefixed, as in this place), zai dià Tò Jéλnμá σov sisi, xai ixríobnoav, "and for thy will" ("thy pleasure," "thy glory") "they are, and were created." Rom. xi. 36, Eis öv тà závra, “To whom" (to him, or for him, or his glory) "are all things." Prov. xvi. 4, umayyab minn byg b5,-"The LORD hath made all things for himself;" his glory is the final cause of them all.

T

Καὶ δι ̓ οὗ τὰ πάντα, “ and by whom are all things.” Διά with a genitive denotes the efficient cause. Some from this expression would have the Son to be the person here spoken of, because concerning him it is frequently said that all things are di' abro, John i. 3, 1 Cor. viii. 6, Heb. i. 3; but it is used also with reference unto the Father, Rom. xi. 36, Gal. i. 1. Schlichtingius here gives it for a rule, that when did relates unto the Father, it denotes the principal efficient cause; when unto the Son, the instrumental. But it is a rule of his own coining, a groundless efflux of his parov edos, that the Son is not God; on which kind of presumptions men may found what rules they please. The principal efficiency or supreme production of all things by God is intended in this expression.

Ayayóra, "bringing," a word of common use and known signification, but in this place attended with a double difficulty, from a double enallage in the use of it: First, in the case; for whereas it seems to relate unto air, "it became him in bringing,” it should then regularly be αγαγόντι, not ἀγαγόντα. Hence some, by supposing a σúyxvo in the words, refer it unto dρxnyó, "the author;" as if the apostle had said, Τὸν ἀρχηγὸν τῆς σωτηρίας αὐτῶν πολλοὺς υἱοὺς ἀγαγόντα, "To make perfect the captain of their salvation, who brought many sons unto glory." But this transposition of the words, neither the context nor the addition of aurav, "their," unto carnpías, "their salvation," relating unto the sons before mentioned, will by any means allow. Wherefore an enallage of the case is necessarily to be allowed, ἀγαγόντα for ἀγαγόντι, unless we suppose a repetition of ρETE, which frequently admits of the accusative case; but the principal author is unquestionably intended. Again, dyayóvra is a participle of the second aoristus, which usually denotes the time past, and thence is it translated by many, "adduxit," "adduxerat," and "filiis adductis;"-" after he had brought many sons to glory." And this some refer to the saints who died under the old testament, unto whom the Lord Christ was no less a captain of salvation than to us. And so the apostle shows that after they were saved on his account, it was meet that he should answer for them, according to his undertaking. But neither doth this restraining of the word answer the apostle's intention: for it is evident that he principally minded them unto whom the Lord Jesus became eminently a captain of salvation after he was perfected by sufferings, though not exclusively unto them that went before. 'Ayayóra, then, is put for yora, unless we shall suppose that the act of God here intended was on purpose thus expressed to comprehend all the sons, both those that lived before and those that lived after the sufferings of Christ,—“ bringing," "leading," "bearing unto glory." It concerns the whole execution of the design of God for the salvation and glorification of believers. Iloλλous vious, “many sons," Jews and Gentiles, all that were by faith to become his sons.

Tov apxnyov, "the author." Wherever this word is used in the New Testament it is applied unto Christ. Acts iii. 15, he is called άpxnyos tñs (wñs, “the prince of life;" and chap. v. 31, God is said to make him άpxnyòv xai ouτňpa, "a prince and a saviour;" that is, apxnyòv tñs owτnρías, as here, "the prince of our salvation." Heb. xii. 2, the apostle calls him, Toy TS TÍσTEWS ȧрxnyov xai TEXT, as we render it, "the author and finisher of faith;" as here God is said τελειῶσαι τὸν ἀρχηγόν, to finish or perfect this author of our salvation. Nowhere else is this word used in the New Testament. It answers justly the Hebrew, which the LXX. render apwy and youμevos, the signification of both which words is included in anyós, "princeps," “dux,” 66 præses," "auctor,"-" a prince," "captain," "ruler," "author." And it is used in writers with respect to works good and bad. ̓Αρχηγὸς καὶ διδάσκαλος τῶν ἔργων τοιούτων, Isocrat. ;"The author and teacher of such works.” And apxayos toũ xaxovp μaros, "artifex maleficii,"-" the principal contriver of mischief." It is also used for the author of a stock, race, or kindred of men. In this place it is