were obedient to God's grace, disposing and fitting them with such a temper that they should be ready and willing to be Christ's disciples, (see note [d] on John vi.) 3dly, By the importance of the prophecy from whence it is cited, Isaiah liv. 13, where, in a prophecy of the Christian church, (the flourishing condition thereof described, ver. 11, 12,) two things are affirmed of the children, that is, members thereof: 1. Their obedience to God, they shall be taught of the Lord, they shall be disciples, followers, servants of God: and, 2dly, their prosperous state, and great shall be their peace; and those joined in one, ver. 14, In righteousness shalt thou be established; where, as establishment (further expressed by security from oppression) is all one with their great peace, so in all reason is their righteousness equipollent with their being taught of God. And so still, according to all the imaginable ways of judging, this which we have given is the importance of that phrase, and not that which is pretended from it. Nay, if the text be again observed, it would be a foul absurdity that would be consequent to that interpretation of it, that God the Father should be said thus immediately to teach them, who upon being so taught are said to come to Christ: for it is certain Christ was set forth by God as the teacher of his will, and that was the end of God's drawing any man to Christ, that he might receive the full knowledge of his will from thence, which it were impertinent and even impossible for him to do, who were first taught by God in this sense. (Of another notion of the word codídaкToι, a little varied from this, see note [c] on I Thess. iv.)

§. 8. A fourth ground is fetched from the purport of the new covenant, set down Heb. viii. 11, out of Jer. xxxi. 34, They shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord; for they shall all know me from the least to the greatest. But these words can no way belong to this matter, as will appear if it be but considered that that which is here promised is somewhat wherein the state of the gospel is opposed to that of the law, which, if the not teaching be literally understood, it cannot be. For as in the law Moses taught God's will unto the people, and after him those that sat in Moses' chair, so Christ also taught it under the gospel, and the apostles after him; which could not be, unless others were taught and instructed by them. And therefore that cannot be the sense of it. The words indeed belong to a matter very distant: they are a description of Christ's plain, easy, and gracious yoke, (Matt. xi. 30,) as that is set out by the opposition to the obscure, imperfect, more burdensome, and less agreeable yoke of the Mosaical performances, ver. 8. To the bare plainness and perspicuousness of the evangelical precepts it is applied by St. Chrysostom, as also is that of being taught of God, (see t. v. p. 244. I. 31,) and to that sure it belongs, but withal to these other excellencies thereof, over

and above the Mosaical economy. There were in that many πTWXà στоixeîa, beggarly elements for beginners, many things improvable and capable of being heightened, and changed to the better by Christ's reformation; it was not aμeμTTOS, faultless, ver. 7; and therefore when God designs to reform it, he doth it μeμpóμevos, ver. 8, complaining of the defects of it, and incompetency toward the end. And then this new covenant, which was to be introduced instead of it, is set off and illustrated by the opposition to it, But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, or in the latter days, that is, at the coming of the Messias, saith the Lord, &c., which, as it is evidently a notation of the second covenant betwixt God and the whole Christian church, and so sufficiently removed from this of new light, so can it not be applied to any peculiar gift of prophecy, of preaching, &c., appropriated to some men, but must have such a notation as will be common to the whole house of Israel in the antitype, that is, to all Christian professors, not only the saints of God; for with all such is the covenant made in this gracious manner, (though many of them do not perform their parts, the condition of it,) for otherwise they could not be said to count the blood of it an unholy thing, Heb. x. 29. The plain meaning of the word is, that it is a most gracious covenant that God now meant to make with Christians; and the graciousness of it was to consist not only in the abundant mercy and pardon for sin, which there would be afforded, ver. 12, above what the Mosaical purgations and other observances could pretend to, but especially in the agreeableness of the precepts to the mind of man, to the human rational soul: there should be no need of taking such pains (as among the Jews was taken) to instruct men in the multitude of observances required of them, which yet under Moses was absolutely necessary, because the things commanded were such as, unless they had been known to be commanded by a divine lawgiver, and to that end frequently inculcated to that people, no man would have discerned himself obliged to perform; but the duties now required by God of inward purity (not of external circumcision and purifications) were of their own nature able to approve themselves to a rational creature, as most excellent and most eligible, written as it were in every man's own heart, if he would be patient to consult them there. And then as this can no way be applied to new light, save as that signifies the light which Christ brought with him when he came into the world to enlighten every man, viz. the constant established duties of Christian life, universally revealed by Christ's preaching and promulgating this second covenant; so it belongs not to any extraordinary way of revealing or expounding this covenant, or any part or branch thereof, (there being no need of that after Christ had so plainly revealed it, and commanded his apostles to preach it over the world,) but only to

the agreeableness (to the human soul) of that which was already revealed, the matter of this covenant. The same also is the importance of the former words, ver. 10, Διδοὺς νόμους εἰς διάvolav, I will give my laws into their minds, and I will write them on their hearts; that is, the laws which shall now be given the Christian church, as God's covenant with them, shall be laws of spiritual internal obedience, for the regulating and subduing and mortifying of their affections, impressed and inscribed on their hearts, (which must now be kept pure, as the fountain from which all actions spring,) whereas the former Mosaical ordinances reached only to the flesh, or outward members, and by that means did not conduce much either to inward or outward purity of the heart or actions.

§. 9. Another sort of places there are which more immediately belong to the second branch of the pretension, (and that which is more frequently pressed,) the privilege that the saints have, by being such, of understanding much more of the will of God than any other can pretend to do. And a first ground is that of John vii. 17, If any man will do his, that is, God's, will, he shall know, &c. How little this place doth favour the pretenders of new light, will presently appear, 1st, by considering what it is that here it is said that the pious man, or the doer of his Father's will, shall know, viz. whether the doctrine which Christ preached be of God or no. This was not matter of new revelation, but the doctrine which Christ had already revealed and published to the world, and so could want no new light to make it known; nay, for the passing judgment of that doctrine thus revealed by Christ, whether it were agreeable to the will and sent by the appointment of the Father, he had given them sufficient means to proceed and conclude regularly; there was no need of any extraordinary discerning Spirit, the miracles which he did in the presence of all, and the voice from heaven at his baptism, gave full authority to all that he said, were matter of abundant conviction to all pious men that it was the good pleasure of God which he now taught; and there was nothing more wanting to beget belief but hearts duly qualified with piety and humility, which was necessary to render them a subactum solum, a soil, in which good seed being skilfully sown might take root, and bring forth plentifully. And that is the importance of the former part of the verse, Εάν τις θέλῃ τὸ θέλημά μου ποιεῖν, Ι any man will, or take pleasure (see note [g] on Matt. xxvii.) to do his will; the character of the pious man, of that preparation of the heart which was required to fit men to a cheerful entertainment of Christ's doctrine, when it was already convincingly revealed to them. Which indeed is but proportionable to what a Hierocles and the philosophers were wont to say of the neces

a Præf. Com. εἰς χρυσᾶ ἔπη.

sity of curing and purging the eye, before it would be able to behold a bright or illustrious object; meaning the depositing of prejudices, and prepossessions, and passions, and prides, but especially of all habits of sin, which while they are upon the soul are the blinding of it, permit not practical truths (especially those of an higher form, such as those of Christ's requiring the purity of the eye and heart) to have any admission with them according to that of Aristotle, that as those which are of raw and unruly affections, when they are taught moral precepts, Aéyovou, où mσтEÚοvol, say them by road, but beliece not a word of them; so the habit and custom of any vice is deaρтikй ȧpxov, corruptive of principles, makes men begin to question or not to understand those practical dictates which human nature and common notions had furnished them with. This advantage indeed (very considerable) toward the understanding of truths already revealed, humility and piety hath above pride and impiety but as those that take themselves to be the only saints of the earth have but a weak claim to one of these, (and perhaps as weak to the other, which is never seated but in an humble breast,) so if they had the best claim of any men now in the world, it would not raise or entitle them to the gift of revelation, any more than of tongues and miracles; of new light, than of speaking Arabic, removing mountains, or foretelling things to come.

§. 10. Two other places there are in the next chapter, John viii, which sound as much for the interest of the pretenders, and signify as little, vv. 31, 32: If ye continue in my word, &c., ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. But that must be expounded by another idiom of the sacred dialect, (taken notice of and exemplified note [d] on Matt. ix,) when one thing only being designed to be said, another is premised preparative to it. And so here to them that continue in Christ's word, that is, in constant obedience to it, the promise is, that the truth shall make them free, that is, that the doctrine of Christ being thus continued in shall procure them a most valuable freedom. To which continuing in Christ's word, the receiving the knowledge of the truth, yvéσcole dλýletav, being preparative, it is accordingly set down before it, but not as part of the promise, being necessarily presupposed in the condition; Christ's word, ver. 31, and the truth, being all one, and the knowing it prerequired to continuing in it. However nothing of new light can possibly be intimated by this knowing the truth, but only that which by Christ's preaching was made known unto them.

§. 11. The second place in that chapter is ver. 43, Why do you not understand my speech ? λαλιὰν ἐμὴν οὐ γινώσκετε; Even because you cannot hear my word. But that hath no more aspect on this matter than the former had. It is only the rendering an account of the reason why Christ's expressions seemed strange HAMMOND, VOL. I.

b

unto them, why they did not acquiesce in and believe all he said unto them, but still disputed against it, viz. the disagreeableness of his doctrine to their carnal humours and fancies, their impatience of such severe precepts as he came to propose to them.

§. 12. Another ground is fetched from 1 Cor. ii, in many verses thereof, (which are sufficiently cleared and vindicated to their proper sense by the several paraphrases upon them,) but especially ver. 15, He that is spiritual judgeth all things, &c. But how little that belongs to the justifying this claim will soon be discerned by inquiring who is the d пveνμatiкòs, or spiritual, there; without question such an one as is said to have received the Spirit which is of God, ver. 12. Such were the apostles and others of that time, which by the descent of the Holy Ghost were taught and instructed in all things which belonged to their office to reveal to the world, to whom they had commission to preach. And of such an one there is no question but that he ávaкpível mávтα, discerneth all things, comes to the knowledge of all those parts of God's will which have before been kept close with God, as mysteries which the angels knew nothing of, but are now by Christ and his Spirit (which, saith he, should teach them all things) convincingly made known to have been the subject of the ancient prophecies. And the arguments that such an one useth to convince others being not fetched from human reason, or the artist's topics of probation, but only from proofs afforded by this Spirit of God, miracles, gifts of tongues, voices from heaven, old prophecies, &c., it therefore follows, that as he by these means comes to know these mysteries, so no worldly wise man, philosopher, or the like, called the vɣikòs, animal man, before, is qualified to argue or dispute against him. And so this hath no propriety or peculiarity of aspect on these future times, wherein as that which was revealed to those apostles is sufficiently communicated to us by ordinary means, in the writings of the scripture, so there can be no necessity or use of extraordinary.

§. 13. Others are pleased to argue from 1 John iii. 24, Hereby know we that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us, Пveûμa d edwкe. But that will soon vanish, if we observe the notion of Пveûμa, Spirit, (enlarged on in note [e] on Luke ix,) in many places of the New Testament, for the temper absolutely, or more strictly a gracious, pious temper or disposition of mind; and so the Spirit which he hath given us may there very commodiously signify that gracious charitable disposition, which being so eminently in Christ, is by his example and his precepts recommended, and, by our continuing in his discipleship, communicated to us, and wrought in us. The understanding it so in that place is very agreeable to the former part of the verse, He that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him ; that is, every obedient servant of his continueth in Christ, that is,