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have no more to do on earth, than he hath in heaven, and according as sin abounds, or is subdued, so his power is enlarged or straitened. And hence all sinners out of Christ are under the power of Satan. They belong to that kingdom of death whereof he is the prince and ruler. The whole world lies (εv Ty Topy) "in the power of this wicked one." If the guilt of death be not removed from any, the power of the devil extends to them. A power indeed restrained, both as to times and degrees, else he would continually devour; yet it is great and answerable to his titles, "the prince, the God of this world." And however men may flatter themselves, as the Jews did of old, that they are free, if they are not freed by an interest in the death of Christ, they are in bondage to this hateful tyrant; and as he works effectually in them here, he will with malicious rage inflict vengeance on them hereafter.

§13. Obs. 8. The death of Christ, through the wise and righteous disposal of God, is victorious, all-conquering, and prevalent. The aim of Satan was so also; who thereby supposed he should have secured his own kingdom. And what could worldly or satanical wisdom have imagined otherwise? He that is slain is conquered. His own followers were ready to think so; "we trusted, say they, that it had been he who should have redeemed Israel," Luke xxiv, 21, but he is dead; and their hopes are with him in the grave. What can be expected from him who was taken, slain, and crucified? Can he save others, who it seems, could not save himself? Is it not a foolish thing to look for life by the death of another? This was what the Pagans of old reproached the Christians with, that they believed in one who was crucified and put to death; and what could they expect from him? And our apostle

tells us, that this death, this cross, was a stumbling block unto the Jews, and folly to the Greeks, 1 Cor. i, 18, 23. And so it would have been in itself, Acts ii, 13; chap. iv, 28, had not the will, and wise counsel, and matchless grace of God been in it. But, through consummate wisdom, he ordered things so, that the death of Christ should pull out that pin, which kept` together the whole fabric of sin and Satan; that, like Samson, he should in his death, glorious achievement! pull down the palace of Satan about his ears, and that in dying he should conquer and subdue all things to himself. All the angels of heaven stood looking on, to see what would be the end of this great trial. Men and devils were ignorant of the great work that God had in his hand; and whilst his enemies thought they were destroying Jesus, God was destroying them and their power. Whilst his heel was bruised, he brake their head. And this should teach us to leave all God's works to himself. He can bring light out of darkness, and meat out of the eater. He can disappoint his adversaries of their greatest hopes and fairest prospects, and raise up the hopes of his desponding children out of the grave. He can make suffering to be saving, death victorious, and heal us by the stripes of his Son. And should not this stir us up to meditate on this mysterious work of his love and wisdom? We can never search into it enough whilst our inquiry is guided by his word. New mysteries, all fountains of refreshment and joy, will continually open themselves to the inquiries of faith, until we come to be satisfied with its inexhaustible fulness to eternity,

VERSE 16.

For verily he took not on him the nature of angels, but he took on him the seed of Abraham.

$1. Connexion of the words. $2, 3. The principal terms explained. §4. Observations, 1. The Redeemer is God and man in one person. $5. 2. The redemption of mankind by the assumption of our nature, is of mere sovereign grace.

$1. HAVING

AVING asserted the incarnation of our Lord, and shewn its necessity from the ends which were to be accomplished by it; and therein given the reason why he was for a season made less than the angels; the apostle proceeds in this verse to confirm what he had taught before, and adds an especial amplification of the grace of God in this whole dispensation, from the consideration that the angels were not made takers of similar love and mercy. For, verily, not any where doth he take angels, but he takes the seed of Abraham.'

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§2. (Ov yap duty) "For, verily, not any where;" that is, what he denieth in the following words, is no where taught in the scripture. And thus also the affirmative clause of his proposition, "but he taketh the seed of Abraham," is to be referred to the scripture. There it is promised, there it is spoken, and therein is it done by him. And our being thus referred to the scripture in proof of this point, gives full light into the meaning of the words. For how doth Christ in the scripture "take the seed of Abraham," in such a sense as that therein nothing is spoken of him in reference to angels? Because he was of the posterity of Abraham, according to the flesh; he was promised to Abraham that he should be "of his seed," yea, that he should be his seed," Gal. iii, 6; and this was the great principle, the great expectation of the Hebrews, that the Messiah should be "the seed of Abraham;" which

promise accordingly was accomplished. And he is here said to "take the seed of Abraham," because in the scripture it is so plainly, so often affirmed he should do so; when not one word is any where spoken that he should be an angel, or take their nature upon him. And this, I say, gives us the true meaning of the words.

$3. (Ov-exiλaußavela.) "He took not on him;" that is, say some, by his participation of flesh and blood brought help and relief, not to angels, but to men, "the seed of Abraham." And they suppose, to support this purpose, that the word here used (εihaμßavela) is (επιλαμβανεται) put for another, (avaλaußavelai) that signifies to help, to succor, to relieve, &c. The Socinians endeavor to confirm this exposition, for a manifest reason; for if the words express that the Lord Christ assumed human nature, which necessarily infers his pre-existence in another nature, their persuasion about the person of Christ is quite overthrown. It is acknowledged that the other word (avaλaμßavela) doth frequently signify, as here alleged, to help and assist, as it were, by putting forth the hand. But if that were intended by the apostle in this place, what reason can be assigned why he should wave the use of a word proper to his purpose, and frequently so applied by himself in other places, and make use of another, which, signifying no such thing, nor being any where used by him in that sense, must needs obscure his meaning, and render it unnecessarily ambiguous? Whereas, therefore, the last mentioned word (avaλaußavela) signifies to help and relieve, and is constantly used by our apostle in that sense; but he employs another (ETλaußavelai) which signifies no such thing, nor is ever used by him to that purpose, the sense contended for, of help and relief, is plainly excluded. Therefore the word in question is

properly (assumo, accipio) to take unto, or to take upon; and the apostle teacheth us by it, that our Lord took unto him, or took on him, our nature of the seed of Abraham.

$4. Obs. 1. The Lord Jesus Christ is God and man in one person. For there is supposed in these words, (1.) His pre-existence in another nature, than that which he is said here to assume. He subsisted before, else he could not have taken on him what he had not before, Gal. iv, 4; John i, 14; 1 Tim. iii, 16; Phil. ii, 8, 9. That is, the Son, the word of God, eternally pre-existing, became incarnate. (2.) He took to himself, another nature, "of the seed of Abraham," according to the promise; so, continuing what he was, he became what he was not; for (3.) He took this to be his own nature; so took it, as to become truly "the seed of Abraham." And this could no otherwise be done, but (4.) By taking that nature into personal subsistence with himself, in the hypostatis of the Son of God; seeing the nature he assumed could no otherwise become his. For if he had by any ways or means taken the person of a man in the strictest union that two persons are capable of, in that case the nature had still been the nature of that other person and not his own. he took it to be his own nature, which, therefore, must be by a personal union causing it to subsist in his own person: and, therefore, (5.) He is a true and perfect man; for no more is required to make a complete and perfect man, but the entire nature of man subsisting, which Christ hath; the human nature having a subsistence communicated to it by the Son of God. And, therefore, (6.) This is done without a multiplication of persons in him; for the human nature can have no personality of its own, because it was taken to be the nature of another person who was pre

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