sinners to come to him, to be made partakers of the good things contained therein. And herein it differeth sufficiently from the law in the giving of it. For that was so far from being proposed with an encouraging invitation to come to God thereby, as that it was only a terrible denunciation of duties and penalties, which they that heard could not endure, and removed as far as they could from it.

2. There is in this turning away a dislike of the terms of the gospel proposed to them. And therein they despise the wisdom, grace, and faithfulness of God to the utmost. This is emphatically unbelief.

3. There is in this turning away, a rejection of the authority of Christ; for besides the matter which he declared and preached, his personal authority had its peculiar power and efficacy to require obedience; this the apostle here had an especial respect to. It was he who was "from heaven," and who spake in the name of him that sent him, even in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God; so that all authority in heaven and earth was in him, and present with him. It is evident on these considerations, that human nature cannot more highly despise and provoke God, than by this sin of unbelief. But,

4. An obstinacy in the refusal of him is also included herein; it is a turning away that is final and incurable.

§7. (II.) From what has been said observe;

1. Unbelief under the preaching of the gospel is the great, and, in some respect, the only damning sin, as being accompanied with, yea, greatly consisting in, the la st and utmost contempt of the authority of God.

2. There is in all sin and disobedience a rejection of the authority of God, in the giving of the law.

3. No sinner can escape divine vengeance, if he be tried and judged according to the law, see Psal. cxxx. 3. 4. It is the duty of gospel ministers diligently and effectually to declare the nature of unbelief, with the heinousness of its guilt, above all other sins whatever; sins against the light of nature, or express commands of the law, most men are sensible of; but as to unbelief, and all the consequents of it, they regard it not; but it is not more their duty to declare the nature of faith, and to invite men to Christ in the gospel, than it is to make known the nature of unbelief, and to evidence the woful aggravations of it, Mark xvi, 16.

5. This is the issue whereinto things are brought between God and sinners wherever the gospel is preached, namely, whether they wili hear the Lord Christ, or turn away from him. On this one point alone depends their eternal safety or misery; if they hear him, God puts an end to the whole claim of the law against them on the account of all other sins; if they refuse him, they are left under the guilt of all their sins against the law, with the unspeakable aggravation of the contempt of Christ speaking to them from heaven for their relief.

6. The grace, goodness, and mercy of God will not be more illustrious and glorious to all eternity, in the salvation of believers by Jesus Christ, than his justice, holiness, and severity in the condemnation of unbelievers.

VERSES 26, 27.

Whose voice then shook the earth, but now he hath promised, saying, yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven; and this, yet once more, signifieth the removing of the things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things that cannot be shaken may remain.

$1. Explanation of the words. The voice of Christ shook the earth. §2. And the heavens also. $s. The apostle's inferences. The removal of things that are shaken. §4. And the establishment of the gospel kingdom, $5. Observations:

$1. THESE verses contain an illustration of the exhortation in the foregoing verse.

(On Qwvn) whose voice; that is, the voice of him who is from heaven; Jesus Christ the Son of God, the author of the gospel, who is last spoken of; nor is there any other in the context to whom the relative (8) whose should refer. The voice of Christ absolutely is his great power in exercise; so all the mighty effects of Providence are ascribed to the "voice" of God, Psal. xxix, 3-9. In particular, the declaration and exerting of his power in the giving of the law is here intended; (TOTE) then; at the time when the law was given, as opposed to what he would do now. (Εσάλευσε την y) shook the earth; referring to the great commotion that was at mount Sinai before described, ver. 18—21; and the shaking is said to be of the earth, because it was all on the earth, and this is put for a part of the earth by a synecdoche; and we have here an illustrious evidence given to the divine nature of Christ; for it is unavoidable, that he whose voice this was, is no other but he that spake from heaven in the promulgation of the gospel; which to deny, is not only far from truth, but all pretence of modesty. It is evidently one and the same person, who both spake from heaven in the promulgation of the gospel, and whose voice shook the earth in the giving of the law, and who promised in the prophet to shake heaven also; unless this be granted there is no sense, no co-herence in the apostle's discourse.

§2. The apostle adds another demonstration of the great power of Christ in what he hath promised to do; "But now he hath promised, saying, yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven." The words are taken from Hag. ii, 6, 7; a part only of which text

is quoted; the prophet affirming that he would shake "the heaven and the earth;" the apostle in an accom. modation to his present purpose expresseth it, "not only the earth," as of old, "but the heaven also;" wherefore in this new speaking, a shaking of the earth also is comprised.

The principal inquiry is, what is the shaking of the heavens and earth intended, and at what season it was to be done? and for the clearing hereof we must observe, that the same thing and time is intended by the prophet and the apostle; for unless this be granted, there can be no force in this testimony to his purpose; and indeed these things are spoken by the prophet evidently and expressly with respect to the first coming of Christ, and the promulgation of the gospel thereupon. Again, there is no reason why we should take this shaking "not only of the earth, but of heaven,” or as the prophet expresses it, of "the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land," in a literal or natural sense; the prophet expounds it all in the next words, "And I will shake all nations;" and moreover they are spiritual things whereof the apostle discourseth, such as end in that unshakened kingdom which believers receive in this world; whereas therefore it is evident, that the apostle treats about the dealing of Christ with his church, both in the giving of the law, and the promulgation of the gospel; the signification of these expressions must be the great alteration he would make in the church state, with the mighty works and commotions with which it was to be accompanied; besides, it is self-evident that the dealing of God with the church, and the alterations which he would make in the state thereof, is that concerning which the apostle treats; therefore it is the "heavens" of Mosaical worship, and the Judaical church state; with the

"earth" of their political state belonging thereunto, that are intended; this was far more great and glorious than the shaking of the earth at the giving of the law.

§3. "And this word yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things which are shaken, as of things which are made." This is the conclusion of the whole argumentative part of this epistle, that which was aimed at from the beginning; for, having fully proved the excellency of the gospel state above that under the law, and confirmed it by an examination of all the concernments of the one and the other, as we have seen; he now declares from the scripture, according to his usual mode of dealing with those Hebrews, that all the ancient institutions of worship, and the whole church state of the old covenant, was now to be removed, and taken away, to make way for that better state, a state more glorious, that should never be ob noxious to change or alteration.

This expression, "yet once more," plainly intimates-that there had been a similar work wrought before; which, as to the general nature of it, was the erection of a new ecclesiastical state, which God then wrought, and the like he would now do again; and thereforeit signifies the removal of that which was before; the things intended were shaken, even by God himself; and the things that were to be effected by this new work were to be introduced into their place; and therefore of necessity they were to be removed; so the apostle deduces the sole necessity of their removal from the establishment of "the things that cannot be shaken;" which therefore must be of the same general nature and use with them; namely, a new church state, and new divine worship; in short, THE GOSPEL, WITH ITS

PRIVILEGES.