Hebrews 1:10-12

In the following verses the apostle, by another illustrious testimony, taken out of Psalms 102, confirms his principal assertion, in the words ensuing.

Hebrews 1:10. Καί· Σὺ κατ᾿ ἀρχὰς, Κύριε, τὴν γῆν ἐθεμελίωσας, καὶ ἔργα τῶν χειρῶν σου εἰσὶν οἱ οὐραςοί. Αὐτοὶ ἀπολοῦνται, σὺ δὲ διαμένεις· καὶ πάντες ὡς ἱμάτιον παλαιωθήσονται, καὶ ὡσεὶ περιβύλαιον ἐλίξεις αὐτοὺς, καὶ ἀλλαγήσονται· σὺ δὲ ὁ αὐτὸς ει῏, καὶ τὰ ἕτη σου σὐκ ἐκλείψουσι.

In the last verse, for ἐλίξεις one copy hath ἀλλάξεις, to answer unto ἀλλαγήσονται· and MS. T., ἐλίξεις αὐτοὺς ὡς ἱμάτιον.

The words are the same in the Greek Bibles as in this place of the apostle, nor is there any footstep of any other old translation of them in the psalm. The Syriac differs little. Καί it renders וְתוּב, “and again,” to show that καί is no part of the testimony cited, but serves only to the introduction of another. Hebrews 1:11, for αὐτοὶ ἀπολοῦνται, “they shall perish,” עָבְרִין הָנוּן, “they shall pass away;” alluding to that of 2 Peter 3:10, Οἱ οὐρανοὶ ῥοιζηδὸν παρελεύσονται, “The heavens shall pass away with a noise.” Σὺ δὲ διαμένεις, “but thou abidest,” “thou continuest;” וָאַנְתְּ קִיָם אַגְתְּ “et tu stans es,” “et tu stas,” “et tu stabilis es,” “and thou standest,” “thou art standing,” answering the Hebrew תעֲמֹד, in the psalm. ῾ελίξεις αὐτούς, “thou shalt roll them up,” תְּעוּ Š אִנוּן; which words interpreters render variously, though to the same purpose. “Involves,” Boderianus, “roll them;” “complicabis,” Tremellius, “fold them;” “duplicabis,” De Dieu, “double them up.” And it is manifest that the translator reads ἑλίξεις, and not ἀλλάξεις. And I doubt not but the same word was inserted into the translation of the psalm from this place of the apostle. Σὺ δὲ ὁ αὐτὸς ει῏, “Thou art the same,” or, “Thou art, I am;” דִּאיתַיְךָ אַנְתְּ וַאנְתְּ אֵאךְ. Boderianus,” Et tu sicut existens es;” “And thou art as thou existest.” Tremellius,” Tu autem sicut es, eris;” “But thou shalt be as thou art.” Properly, “And thou, as thou art, art;” that is, “art the same.” The translation of the apostle in all things material answereth the original in the psalm. Psalm (LXX) 101:25-28, Σὺ Κύριε, “Thou, Lord,” is supplied out of the verse foregoing, “I said, O my God.” לְפָנִים הָאָאיֶ׃ יָסַדְתָּ, “of old,” “before it was;” that is, κατ᾿ ἀρχάς, or בְּיֵשִׁית, “in the beginning.” And our translators needed not to have used any difference of expression in the psalm and this place of the apostle, as they do; there, “of old ;” here, “in the beginning.” “Thou hast founded” (not “laid the foundation of”) “the earth; and the heavens are the works;” מעֲשֵׂה, “the work,” which the Greek renders “works,” because of their variety, “of thy hands.”

“They shall perish, וְאַתָּה תַעֲמֹד,” “but thou shalt stand,” or “dost abide.” The word used in our translation of the psalm (“endure”) doth ill answer the original, but the margin gives relief. Psalm, “Yea all of them shall wax old like a garment;” here, “And they all shall wax old as doth a garment:” a little variety without difference, and that needless, the Greek text exactly expressing the Hebrew. “And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up;” תּחֲלִיפֵם; “shalt thou change them.” The change of a vesture, whereunto the change of the heavens is compared, being by folding up and laying aside, at least from former use, the apostle instead of ἀλλάξεις, “thou shalt change,” renders the word by ἑλίξεις, “thou shalt fold” (or “roll”) “them up.” וְאַתָּה הוּא, “et tu ipse,” καὶ σὺ ὁ αὐτός, “and thou art he.” “And thy years shall have no end,” “shall not fail;” לֹא יִתָּמּוּ, “shall not consume.” [10]

[10] VARIOUS READINGS. Griesbach, Knapp, and Stuart, on the strength of MSS. D. E., and a few others, read διαμενεῖς, instead of διαμένεις, the future instead of the present. Tischendorf retains διαμένεις. The Peschito version has it “Thou art permanent.” EXPOSITION. The manifestations of the Deity were made in the person of HIM who, in the fullness of time, became incarnate as the promised Messiah. In the deliverance from Egypt, and the march through the wilderness, he was known as “the angel of the covenant,” and sometimes appeared in a visible form. The blessing for which the author of the psalm prays, is the improvement and deliverance of the chosen people, by that God who had directed providence for that end. But with regard to the Divine Father, the Scriptures assure us that “no one hath seen him, or can see him.” Can we, then, avoid inferring that the object of the afflicted psalmist's prayers was that same DIVINE PERSON who had allowed himself to be seen in a glorious human form by Abraham, by Jacob, by Moses, etc.? Pye Smith. TRANSLATIONS. Διαμ. Thou shalt remain. Boothroyd, Stewart, Ebrard. Tu permanebis. Vulgate. Du bestehest. De Wette. ED.

There is no question but that these words do sufficiently prove the pre- eminence of him of whom they are spoken, incomparably above all creatures whatever. Two things, therefore, are questioned by the enemies of the truth contained in them:

1. Whether they were originally spoken at all of Christ, which the present Jews deny.

2. Whether they were spoken all of Christ, which is questioned by the Socinians. These inquiries being first satisfied, the words shall be opened, and the force of the apostle's argument from thence declared.

1. That what is spoken in this psalm doth properly respect the Messiah is denied by the present Jews. That it was owned by the ancient Hebrews is sufficiently evident from hence, that the apostle, dealing with them on their own principles, urgeth them with the testimony of it. The psalm also itself gives us light enough into the same instruction. It is partly euctical, partly prophetical; both parts suited unto the condition of the church when the temple was wasted, and Zion lay in the dust during the Babylonish captivity. In the prophetical part there are three things signal:

(1.) The redemption of the people, with the re-edification of the temple, as a type of that spiritual temple and worship which were afterwards to be erected: as Psalms 102:13, “Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion; for the time to favor her, yea, the set time, is come:” and Psalms 102:16, “When the Lord shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory.”

(2.) The calling of the Gentiles to the church and worship of God: Psalms 102:15, “The heathen shall fear the name of the LORD, and all the kings of the earth thy glory.” Psalms 102:21-22, “To declare the name of the LORD in Zion, and his praise in Jerusalem; when the people are gathered together, and the kingdoms, to serve the LORD.”

(3.) Hereby the creation of a new people, a new world, is brought in: 2 Peter 3:18, “This shall be written for the generation to come” (the world to come): “and the people that shall be created” (the new creation of Jews and Gentiles) “shall praise the LORD.” These are the heads of the prophetical part of the psalm, and they all respect things everywhere peculiarly assigned unto the Son, who was to be incarnate, or the days of the Messiah, which is all one; for,

[1.] The redemption and deliverance of the church out of trouble is his proper work. Wherever it is mentioned, it is he who is intended, Psalms 98. So signally, Zechariah 2:8-13, and other places innumerable.

[2.] The bringing in of the Gentiles is acknowledged by all the Jews to respect the time of the Messiah; it being he who was to be a light unto the Gentiles, and the salvation of God unto the ends of the earth.

[3.] Also, “the generation to come,” and “people to be created,” the Jews themselves interpret of the עולם הבא, “world to come,” or the new state of the church under the Messiah. These two last put together, the gathering of the people, and the world to come, created for the praise of God, make it evident that it is the Son whom the psalmist hath respect unto.

Grotius in this place affirms that the apostle accommodates unto the Messiah what was spoken of God. And he thinks it a sufficient argument to prove the words were not spoken of the Messiah, because they were spoken of God; whereas they are produced by the apostle to prove his excellency from the properties and works of his divine nature. And he adds, as the sense of the words, as accommodated unto Christ, “‘Thou hast laid the foundation of the earth;'that is, ‘the world was made for thy sake.'” But this interpretation or violent detortion of the words destroys itself; for if they were spoken of God absolutely, and not of the Messiah, to whom they are accommodated, how can it be said that the world was made for his sake, and not by him? Both senses of the words cannot be true. But this is indeed plainly to deny the authority of the apostle.

It appeareth, then, that many things in this psalm are spoken directly and immediately of the Son; though it be probable, also, that sundry things in it are affirmed distinctly of the person of the Father. And hence, it may be, are those frequent variations of speech from the second to the third person that occur in this psalm.

2. As to the second inquiry, the Socinians, who grant the divine authority of this epistle, and therefore cannot deny but that these words some way or other belong unto the Lord Christ, yet plainly perceiving that if they are wholly understood of him, there is an end of all their religion (the creation, not of a new world, but of that which was made of old, and which shall perish at the last day, being here ascribed unto him), fix here upon a new and peculiar evasion. “Some words,” they say, “of this testimony belong unto Christ” (so much they will yield to the authority of the apostle), “but not all of them;” whereby they hope to secure their own error. Now, because if this pretense hold not, this testimony is fatal to their persuasion, I hope it will not be unacceptable if in our passage we do consider the distribution they make of the words according to their supposition, and the arguments they produce for the confirmation of their exposition, as they are managed by Crellius and Schlichtingius in their comment on this place.

(1.) He says that “this testimony doth so far belong unto Christ, as it pertaineth unto the scope of the writer of the epistle. This scripture,” saith he, “as appears from Zechariah 2:4, is to prove that after Christ sat down at the right hand of God, he was made more excellent than the angels; whereto the affirming that he made heaven and earth doth no way conduce.”

Ans. (1.) Suppose that to be the scope of the apostle which is intimated, how doth this author know that it suits not his purpose to show that the Lord Christ is God, by whom heaven and earth were made, seeing it is manifest that himself thought otherwise, or he had not produced this testimony thereof?

(2.) The testimony is not unsuited unto the scope pretended; for whereas, in the administration of his office, the Son was apparently for a while made lower than the angels, he may in these words discover the equity of his after exaltation above them, in that in his divine nature and works he was so much more excellent than they.

(3.) The true and proper design of the apostle we have before evinced; which is to prove the excellency of the person by whom the gospel was revealed, and his pre-eminence above men and angels; which nothing doth more unquestionably demonstrate than this, that by him the world was created, whence the assignation of a divine nature unto him doth undeniably ensue.

(2.) To promote this observation, he adds a large discourse about the use and application of testimonies out of the Old Testament in the New; and says that “they are made use of by the writers of it, either because of some agreement and likeness between the things intended in the one and the other, or because of some subordination. In the former way, that which is spoken of the type is applied unto the antitype: and sometimes, for likeness'sake, that which was spoken of one thing is applied unto another; as, Matthew 15:7-8, our Savior applies those words of Isaiah to the present Jews which were spoken of their forefathers.”

Ans. (1.) That which is spoken in the first place of an instituted type is also spoken of the antitype, or thing prefigured by it, so far as it is represented by the type, so that one thing teaches another; and thereon the words have a double application, first to the type, ultimately to the antitype. But herein such testimonies as this have no concernment.

(2.) The Scripture sometimes makes use of allegories, illustrating one thing by another, as Galatians 4:21-25. Neither hath this any place here.

(3.) That what is spoken of one person should, because of some similitude, be affirmed to be spoken of another, and in nothing agree 244 properly unto him, is untrue, and not to be exemplified with any seeming instance.

(4.) The words of Isaiah, Isaiah 29:13, which our Savior makes use of, Matthew 15:7-9, were a prophecy of the Jews who then lived, as both our Savior expressly affirms and the context in the prophet doth plainly declare.

“Some things,” he adds, “are applied unto others than they are spoken of, because of their subordination to him or them of whom they are spoken. Thus things that are spoken of God are applied unto Christ, because of his subordination to him; and of this,” saith he, “we have an instance in Acts 13:47, where the words spoken of the Lord Christ, Isaiah 49:6, ‘I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth,'are applied unto the apostles because of their subordination unto Christ. And in this case the words have but one sense, and belong primarily unto him of whom they are first spoken, and are secondarily applied unto the other.”

Ans. According to this rule there is nothing that ever was spoken of God but it may be spoken of and applied unto any of his creatures, all things being in subordination unto him; at least, it may be so in that wherein they act under him and are in a peculiar subordination to him. And yet neither can such a subordination, according to this man's opinion, be applied unto Christ, who in the creation of heaven and earth was in no other subordination to God than any other things not yet made or existing. So that this rule, that what is spoken of God is applied unto them who are in subordination unto him, as it is false in itself, so it is no way suited to the present business, Christ being, in this man's judgment, in no subordination to God when the world was made, being absolutely in all respects in the condition of things that were not. Nor doth the instance given at all prove or illustrate what is pretended. The apostle, in the citing of those words to the Jews, doth not in the least apply them to himself, but only declares the ground of his going to preach the gospel unto the Gentiles; which was, that God had promised to make Him whom he preached to be a light, and to bring salvation unto them also.

Wherefore he adds,

(3.) what is direct to his pretension, “That all the words, or things signified by them, in any testimony, which are firstly spoken of one, and then are, for some of the causes mentioned” (that is, conveniency, similitude, or subordination), “applied unto another, are not to be looked on as proper to him to whom they are so applied; but so much of them is to be admitted as agrees to the scope of him by whom the testimony is used: as in the testimony produced, Isaiah 49:5, ‘I will be unto him a father, and he shall be to me a son,'the words immediately following are, ‘If he shall offend against me, I will chastise him with the rod of men;' which words, being spoken of Solomon, can no way be applied unto Christ.”

Ans. What is spoken of any type and of Christ jointly is not so spoken for any natural conveniency, similitude, or subordination, but because of God's institution, appointing the type so to represent and shadow out the Lord Christ, that what he would teach concerning him should be spoken of the type whereby he was represented. Now, no person that was appointed to be a type of him being in all things a type, it is not necessary that whatever was spoken of him was also spoken of Christ, but only what was spoken of him under that formal consideration of an instituted type. This we showed the case to have been with Solomon, of whom the words mentioned were spoken as he bare the person of Christ. Other things are added in the same place, that belonged unto him in his own personally moral capacity; and therefore those things (as that, “If he offend against me”) are not at all mentioned by the apostle, as not being spoken of him as a type. And this plainly overthrows the pretension of our commentator; for if the apostle would not produce the very next words to the testimony by him brought, because they did not belong unto him of whom he spake, it proves undeniably that all those which he doth so urge and produce were properly spoken of him. And I cannot reach the strength of this inference, ‘Because in a place where all that was spoken was not spoken of Christ, the apostle makes use of what was so spoken of him, and omits that which was not; therefore of that which he doth produce in the next place, somewhat does belong to him, and somewhat does not.'If any thing be offered to this purpose, it must be in an instance of a testimony produced, in the words whereof which are produced, and not in what may follow in the same chapter and psalm there is that affirmed which doth now no more belong unto Christ than the making of heaven or earth belongeth to this writer; which is the case in hand.

Having premised these general considerations, he makes application of them in particular to his interpretation of this testimony used by the apostle.

“These words,” saith he, “being first expressly spoken of God, and here by this writer referred unto Christ, we must consider what in them makes to his scope and purpose, what is agreeable to the nature and condition of Christ, who certainly was a man; and such, certainly, is not he which the psalm speaks of about the creation of heaven and earth. And this was well known to them with whom the apostle had to do.”

But any one may perceive that these things are spoken gratis, and upon the supposition that Christ was a mere man, and not God by nature, when the words themselves, ascribing a pre-existence to the world and omnipotency unto him, do prove the contrary. What is the scope of the apostle in the whole discourse under consideration hath been showed, as also how directly this whole testimony tends to the proof of what he had proposed. It is true that the words are spoken of him who is God; but no less true, the apostle being judge, that it is the Son of God who is that God. It, is true that he also was man, and nothing is ascribed unto him but what belongs unto him who was man, but not as he was man; and such was the creation of heaven and earth.

The opinion of these men is, that whereas two things are mentioned in the words, the creation of the world, which was past, and the dissolution or destruction of it, which was to come, that the latter is assigned unto Christ, but not the former; and for this division of the words, which confessedly is not in the least intimated by the apostle, he gives these reasons:

1. “All the words of the psalm being manifestly spoken of the high God, and no word in the psalm declaring Christ to be that God, yet of necessity, if these words be applied unto Christ, he must be supposed to be the high God there spoken of. But if this divine writer had taken this for granted, he had been eminently foolish to go about to prove by arguments and testimonies that the Creator does excel all creatures. He should use, in a matter no way doubtful, witnesses no way necessary.”

This is the first reason whereby he would prove that the apostle did not apply the words to Christ, though himself says plainly that he does; for his preface to them is, “But to the Son he saith:” or, that if he doth so, he doth it wondrous foolishly; for such liberty do poor worms take to themselves. That the psalm so speaketh of the high God, that it directly and peculiarly intends Christ the Son of God, hath been in part declared, and shall further afterwards be evinced. And the eulogium in these words given unto him proves him to be so. And though he affirms that it was a foolish thing in the apostle to prove from the works of him that is God that he is above the angels, the most glorious of made creatures, yet God himself most frequently from these his works, his omniscience, omnipresence, and other attributes declared in them, proves his excellency in comparison of idols, which have no existence but in the imagination of men. See Isaiah 41:21, etc.

By this testimony, then, the Holy Ghost with infinite wisdom proves that he who was made less for a little while than the angels, in one respect, was absolutely and in his own person infinitely above them, as being the creator of heaven and earth.

2. He adds, “Those Hebrews to whom he wrote were either persuaded that Christ was God, the creator of heaven and earth, or they were not. If they were, what need of all these arguments and testimonies? One word might have despatched this whole controversy, by affirming that Christ was the creator, angels creatures, between whom there could be no comparison, nor any reason to fear that the law given by the administration of angels should be preferred to the gospel, whereof he was the author. If we shall say the latter, that they did not yet believe it, now do we suppose that he takes a great deal of pains to little purpose; for he assumes and takes for granted that that was true which was alone in question. What need he, then, to prove by so many arguments that Christ was more excellent than the angels, and to take that for granted which would have put it out of question, namely, that he was God, who made heaven and earth?”

Ans. This dilemma hath as much force against the other testimonies produced in this chapter or elsewhere by the apostle as it hath against this; so that the using of it doth scarce argue that reverence to the holy word of God which is required of us. But the truth is, grant whether of the suppositions you please, nothing of inconveniency as unto the apostle's argumentation will ensue. Let it be granted that they did believe, and that expressly, Christ to be God, have believers no need to have their faith confirmed by testimonies out of the word that may not so readily occur to themselves? Have they no need to be strengthened in the faith, especially in such points as were in those days greatly opposed, as was this of the eternal glory of the Messiah, concerning which the believing Hebrews had to do with learned and stubborn adversaries continually? And if the apostle might have ended the whole controversy by plainly affirming that he was the creator of all things and the angels creatures, might he not as well have ended the dispute about his pre-eminence above angels with one word, without citing so many testimonies to prove it? But had he then unfolded the mysteries of the Old Testament to the Hebrews, which was his design? Had he manifested that he taught nothing but what was before revealed (though obscurely) to Moses and the prophets; which he aimed to do, thereby to strengthen and confirm in the faith those that did believe, and convince gainsayers? Again, suppose some of them to whom he wrote did not yet expressly believe the deity of Christ, as the apostles themselves did not for a while believe his resurrection, could any more convincing way be fixed on to persuade them thereunto, than by minding them of those testimonies of the Old Testament wherein the attributes and works of God are ascribed unto him? Nor was it now in question whether Christ were God or no, but whether he were more excellent than the angels that gave the law; and what more effectual course could be taken to put an end to that inquiry than by proving that he made the heaven and earth, that is, producing a testimony wherein the creation of all things is assigned unto him, is beyond the wisdom of man to invent.

3. He adds, “That Christ might be spoken of in this place either in respect of his human nature or of his divine. If of the former, to what end should he make mention of the creation of heaven and earth? Christ as man, and as made above the angels, made not heaven and earth. If as God, how could he be said to be made above the angels ?”

But the answer is easy. Christ is said to be made above and more excellent than the angels, neither absolutely as God, nor absolutely as man, but as he was God-man, the mediator between God and man; in which respect, as mediator, for the discharge of one part of his office, he was a little while made lower than they; and so the creation of heaven and earth does demonstrate the dignity of his person, and the equity of his being made more excellent than the angels in his office. And this fully removes his following exception, that the remembering of his deity could be no argument to prove that the humanity was exalted above the angels; for it is not an argument of the exaltation of his humanity, but the demonstration of the excellency of his person, that the apostle hath in hand.

4. He allegeth, “That it is contrary to the perpetual use of the Scripture, to affirm absolutely of Christ that he created any thing. When any creation is ascribed unto him, it is still applied to him as the immediate cause, and is said to be made by him or in him; he is nowhere said absolutely to create. And if he created the world, why did not Moses as plainly attribute that unto him as the writers of the New Testament do the new creation ?”Ans. Were it affirmed in this place only that Christ made all things, yet the words being plain and evident, and the thing itself agreeable to the Scripture in other places, and not repugnant to any testimony therein contained, there is no pretense, for them who truly reverence the wisdom and authority of the Holy Ghost in the word, to deny the words to be spoken properly and directly; nor, if we may take that course, will there be any thing left sacred and ὐκίνητον in the Scripture. Besides, we have showed already the vanity of that distinction, of God's making things by Christ, as though it denoted any subordination in causality; nor will the Socinians themselves admit of any such thing, but confute that notion in the Arians. But this is not the only place wherein it is affirmed that Christ made all things that are in the heaven and the earth. John 1:1-3; Colossians 1:16; Colossians 1:3 of this chapter, with sundry other places, affirm the same. For what they exact of Moses, did we not believe that God knew what revelation of himself became that dark dispensation better than they, we might consider it. But yet there are even in Moses himself, and his expositors the prophets, many more testimonies of the creation of the world by the Word, that is the Son of God; which have elsewhere been opened and vindicated.

5. He concludes, “That the order and method of the apostle's procedure doth evince that this creation of heaven and earth is not attributed unto him. For we see that he proves the excellency of Christ above angels from his name, that he is by the way of eminency called the Son of God; and then he proceeds to his adoration by angels; and in the third place he goes on to the kingly honor and throne of Christ; after which he produceth the testimony we insist upon; and then adds the end of that kingdom which Christ now administereth in the earth. To what end in this discourse should he mention the creation of heaven and earth, when, if that be omitted, all the series of the discourse agrees and hangs well together? For having declared the kingdom of Christ, with the continuance of his throne for ever, he asserts an eminent effect of the kingdom in the abolition of heaven and earth, and then the end of that kingdom itself.”

But this analysis of the apostle's discourse agreeth not to the mind of the apostle or his design in the place, nor to the principles of the men that formed it, nor is indeed any thing but vain words, to persuade us that the apostle did not say that which he did say, and which is written for our instruction. It is not, first, agreeable to their own principles; for it placeth the naming of Christ the Son of God, and his adoration by the angels, as antecedent to his being raised to his kingly throne; both which, especially the latter, they constantly make consequent unto it and effects of it. Nor is it at all agreeable to the apostle's design, which is not to prove by these testimonies directly that Christ was exalted above angels, but to show the dignity and excellency of his person who was so exalted, and how reasonable it is that it should be so; which is eminently proved by the testimony under consideration. For the proof of this excellency, the apostle produceth those testimonies that are given unto him in the Old Testament, and that as to his name, his honor and glory, and his works in this place. Neither is there any reason of ascribing the destruction of heaven and earth unto the kingly power of Christ, excluding his divine power in their creation: for the abolition of the world (if such it is to be), or the change of it, is no less an effect of infinite power than the creation of it; nor doth it directly appertain to the kingdom of Christ, but by accident, as do other works of the providence of God.

These exceptions, then, being removed, before we proceed to the interpretation of the words, we shall see what evidence may be added unto what we have already offered, from the psalm, to evince and prove that this whole testimony doth belong unto him; which, were there no other (as there are very many) testimonies to this purpose, were abundantly sufficient to determine this controversy.

1. We have the authority of the apostle for it, ascribing it unto him. The word “and,” in the beginning of Colossians 1:10, relates confessedly unto, “But unto the Son he saith,” Colossians 1:8: as if he had said, “But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever; and to the Son he said, Thou, O God, in the beginning hast founded the earth.”

2. Again, the whole testimony speaks of the same person, there being no color of thrusting another person into the text not intended in the beginning; so that if any part of what is spoken do belong to Christ, the whole of necessity must do so. To suppose that in this sentence, “Thou hast laid the foundation of the earth,..... and as a vesture shalt thou fold them up,” one person is understood in the former place, another in the latter, no such thing being intimated by the psalmist or the apostle, is to suppose what we please, that we may attain what we have a mind unto. One person is here certainly and only spoken unto. If this be the Father, the words concern not Christ at all, and the apostle was deceived in his allegation of them; if the Son, the whole is spoken of him, as the apostle affirms.

3. Nor can any reason be assigned why the latter words should be attributed to Christ, and not the former. They say it is because God by him shall destroy the world, which is the thing in the last words spoken of. But where is it written that God shall destroy the world by Christ? If they say in this place, I say then Christ is spoken to and of in this place; and if so, he is spoken of in the first words, “And thou, Lord,” or not at all. Besides, to whom do these closing words belong, “But thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail?” If these words are spoken of Christ, it is evident that all the foregoing must be so also; for his enduring the same, and the not failing of his years, that is, his eternity, is opposed to the creation and temporary duration of the world. If they say that they belong unto the Father primarily, but are attributed unto Christ, as that of changing or abolishing the world, because the Father doth it by him, I desire to know what is the meaning of these words, ‘Thou art the same by Christ, and thy years fail not by Christ ?'Is not the Father eternal but in the man Christ Jesus? If they say that they belong not at all to Christ, then this is the sum of what they say: ‘The beginning of the words, and the close of them, if spoken of Christ, would prove his infinite power, eternity, and divine nature. One passage there is in the words which we suppose will not do so, therefore we will grant that that passage concerneth him, but not the beginning nor end of the testimony, though spoken undeniably of the same person;' which whether it becomes men professing a reverence for the word of God is left to themselves to judge. Besides, should we grant all these suggestions to be true, the apostle by his citing of this testimony would prove nothing at all to his purpose, no, not any thing toward that which they affirm him to aim at, namely, that he was made more excellent than the angels; for how out of these words shall any such matter be made to appear? They say, in that by him God will fold up the heavens as a vesture. But, first, no such thing is mentioned or intimated. He who made them is said to fold them. And if they say that from other places it may be made to appear that it shall be done by Christ, then as this place must be laid aside as of no use to the apostle, so indeed there is nothing ascribed to Christ but what the angels shall have a share in, and that probably the most principal, namely, in folding up the creation as a garment; which is a work that servants are employed in, and not the King or Lord himself. Indeed, he that shall without prejudice consider the apostle's discourse will find little need of arguments to manifest whom he applies this testimony unto. He calls him Κύριος in the beginning, using that word which perpetually in the New Testament denotes the Lord Christ, as plainly expounding the text so far as to declare of whom it speaks. Nor doth this testimony ascribe any thing to him but what in general he had before affirmed of him, namely, that by him the worlds were made. Nor was it ever heard of, that any man in his right wits should cite a testimony to confirm his purpose, containing words that were never spoken of him to whom he applies them; nor is there scarce any thing in them that can tolerably be applied unto him, and the most of it would declare him to be that which he is not at all: so that the words as used to his purpose must needs be both false and ambiguous. Who, then, can but believe, on this testimony of the apostle, that Christ the Lord made heaven and earth? And if the apostle intended not to assert it, what is there in the text or near it as a buoy to warn men from running on a shelf, there where so fair a harbor appears unto them? From all that hath been said, it is evident that this whole testimony belongs to Christ, and is by the apostle asserted so to do.

Proceed we now to the interpretation of the words. The person spoken of and spoken unto in them is the Lord: Σὺ Κύριε, “Thou, Lord.” The words are not in the psalm in this verse, but what is spoken is referred unto אֵלִי, “my God:” “I said, O my God, take me not away in the midst of my days;” comforting himself, under the consideration of the frailty and misery of his life, with the thought and faith of the eternity and power of Christ. For be our lives never so frail, yet as to life eternal, because he liveth we shall live also, and he is of power to raise us up at the last day, Joh 14:19; 1 Corinthians 15:20; and that is the ground of all our consolation against the brevity and misery of our lives, Whereby it also further appears that it is the Lord Christ whom the psalmist addresses himself unto; for from the absolute consideration of the omnipotency and eternity of God no consolation can be drawn. And, indeed, the people of the Jews having openly affirmed that they could not deal immediately with God but by a mediator, which God eminently approved in them, wishing that such an heart would always abide in them, Deuteronomy 5:25-29, so as he suffered them not to approach his typical presence between the cherubim but by a typical mediator, their high priest, so also were they instructed in their real approach unto God, that it was not to be made immediately to the Father but by the Son, whom in particular the apostle declares the psalmist in this place to intend. Concerning this person, or the “Lord,” he affirms two things, or attributes two things unto him.

1. The creation of heaven and earth;

2. The abolition or change of them.

From that attribution he proceeds to a comparison between him and the most glorious of his creatures, and that as to duration or eternity; frailty and change in and of himself, one of the creatures, being that which in particular he addresseth himself to the Lord about.

The time or season of the creation is first intimated: Κατ᾿ ἀρχάς, for ἐν ἀρχῇ, that is, בְּרֵשִׁית, “in the beginning,” or as the word is here, לְפָנִים, “of old,” before they were or existed: ‘They had their being and beginning from thee: of old they were not; but in thy season thou gavest existence or being unto them. “Thou hast laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of thy hands,”' Hebrews 1:10.

Two things are observable in this expression of the creation of all things:

1. The distribution made of them into heaven and earth being distinctly mentioned. In the consideration of the works of God, to admire his greatness, power, and wisdom in them, or to set forth his praise for them, it is usual in the Scripture to distribute them into parts, the more to fix the contemplation of the mind upon them, and to excite it unto faith, admiration, and praise. So dealeth the psalmist with the works of God's providence in bringing the children of Israel out of Egypt, Psalms 136. He takes, as it were, that whole curious work into its several pieces, and subjoins that inference of praise to every one of them, “For his mercy endureth for ever.” And so he dealeth with the works of creation, Psalms 19, and in sundry other places.

2. What is peculiar in the expressions with respect unto each of them.

(1.) Of the earth it is said he founded it, because of its stability and unmovableness; which is the language of the Scripture, he set it fast, he established it, that it should not be moved for ever. It may be, also, the whole fabric of heaven and earth is compared to an edifice or building, whereof the earth, as the lowest and most depressed part, is looked on as the foundation of the whole; but the stability, unmovableness, and firmness of it, is that which the word expresseth, and which is most properly intended.

(2.) Of the heavens, that they are the works of his hands; alluding to the curious frame and garnishing of them with all their host of glorious lights wherewith they are adorned. The שִׁפְרָה, Job 26:13, the beautifulness, adorning, or garnishing of the heavens, in the curious, glorious forming and fashioning of them, is that which, in a way of distinction, the psalmist aims to express in these words, “The heavens are the work of thy hands,”

that which thy hands, thy power, with infinite wisdom, hath framed, so as to set off and give lustre and beauty to the whole fabric, as a master workman doth the upper and more noble parts of his building. This is the first thing assigned to the Lord in this testimony of his glory.

The second is in the change or abolition of them. Most suppose that the heavens and the earth at the last day shall only be changed, altered, or renewed, as to their quality and beauty; some, that they shall be utterly destroyed, consumed, and abolished. The discussing of that doubt belongs not directly to the interpretation or exposition of this place, neither sense of the words conducing particularly to the apostle's purpose and design in reciting this testimony. It is enough to his argument that the work which was of old in the creation of the world, and that which shall be in the mutation or abolition of it, which is no less an effect of infinite power than the former, are ascribed unto the Lord Christ. Whatever the work be, he compares it to a garment no more to be used, or at least not to be used in the same kind wherein it was before; and the work itself to the folding up or rolling up of such a garment, intimating the greatness of him by whom this work shall be performed, and the facility of the work unto him. The whole creation is as a garment, wherein he shows his power clothed unto men; whence in particular he is said to clothe himself with light as with a garment. And in it is the hiding of his power. Hid it is, as a man is hid with a garment; not that he should not be seen at all, but that he should not be seen perfectly and as he is. It shows the man, and he is known by it; but also it hides him, that he is not perfectly or fully seen. So are the works of creation unto God. He so far makes them his garment or clothing as in them to give out some instances of his power and wisdom; but he is also hid in them, in that by them no creature can come to the full and perfect knowledge of him. Now, when this work shall cease, and God shall unclothe or unveil all his glory to his saints, and they shall know him perfectly, see him as he is, so far as a created nature is capable of that comprehension, then will he lay them aside and fold them up, at least as to that use, as easily as a man lays aside a garment that he will wear or use no more. This lies in the metaphor.

On this assertion he insinuates a comparison between this glorious fabric of heaven and earth and him that made them, as to durableness and stability, which is the thing he treats about; complaining of his own misery or mortality. For the heavens and the earth, he declares that they are in themselves of a flux and perishing nature; חֵמָּה, αὐτοί, “isti,” “they shall perish.” The word immediately relates to the heavens, but by the figure zeugma comprehends and takes in the earth also: “The earth and the heavens shall perish.” This fading nature of the fabric of heaven and earth, with all things contained in them, he sets forth, first, by their future end, “They shall perish;” secondly, their tendency unto that end, “They wax old as a garment.” By their perishing the most understand their perishing as to their present condition and use, in that alteration or change that shall be made on them; others, their utter abolition. And to say the truth, it were very hard to suppose that an alteration only, and that to the better, a change into a more glorious condition, should be thus expressed, יֹאבֵדוּ; that word, as the Greek also, being always used in the worst sense, for a perishing by a total destruction. Their tendency unto this condition is their “waxing old as a garment.” Two things may be denoted in this expression:

1. The gradual decay of the heavens and earth, waxing old, worse, and decaying in their worth and use;

2. A near approximation or drawing nigh to their end and period. In this sense, the apostle in this epistle affirms that the dispensation of the covenant which established the Judaical worship and ceremonies did wax old and decay, Hebrews 8:13. Not that it had lost any thing of its first vigor, power, and efficacy, before its abolition. The strict observation of all the institutions of it by our Savior himself manifests its power and obligation to have continued in its full force: and this was typified by the continuance of Moses in his full strength and vigor until the very day of his death. But he says it was old and decayed, when it was ἐγγὺς ἀφανισμοῦ, “near to a disappearance,” to its end, period, and to an utter uselessness, as then it was, even as all things that naturally tend to an end do it by age and decays And in this, not the former sense, are the heavens and earth said to wax old, because of their tendency to that period which, either in themselves or as to their use, they shall receive; which is sufficient to manifest them to be of a changeable, perishing nature. And it may be that it shall be with these heavens and earth at the last day as it was with the heavens and earth of Judaical institutions (for so are they frequently called, especially when their dissolution or abolition is spoken of) in the day of God's creating the new heavens and earth in the gospel, according to his promise; for though the use of them and their power of obliging to their observation were taken away and abolished, yet are they kept in the world as abiding monuments of the goodness and wisdom of God in teaching his church of old. So may it be with the heavens and earth of the old creation. Though they shall be laid aside at the last day from their use as a garment to clothe and teach the power and wisdom of God to men, yet may they be preserved as eternal monuments of them.

In opposition hereunto it is said of Christ that “he abideth,” “he is the same,” and “his years fail not.” One and the same thing is intended in all these expressions, even his eternal and absolutely immutable existence. Eternity is not amiss called a “nunc stans,” a present existence, wherein or whereunto nothing is past or future, it being always wholly present in and to itself. This is expressed in that אתָּה תַעֲמד, “Thou standest, abidest, endurest, alterest not, changest not,” The same is also expressed in the next words, הוּא אַתָּה, ὁ αὐτὸς ει῏, “thou art he,” or “art the same;” or, as the Syriac hath it, “the same that thou art.” There is an allusion in these words unto, if not an expression of, that name of God, “I am;” that is, who is of himself, in himself, always absolutely and unchangeably the same. And this אתָּה הוּא, “tu ipse,” the Hebrews reckon as a distinct name of God. Indeed, אתָּה הוּא יְהָֹוה, ὁ ὤν, αὐτὸς ει῏, all the same name of God, expressing his eternal and immutable self-subsistence.

The last expression also, though metaphorical, is of the same importance: “Thy years fail not.” He who is the same eternally properly hath no years, which are a measure of transient time, denoting its duration, beginning, and ending. This is the measure of the world and all things contained therein. Their continuance is reckoned by years. To show the eternal subsistence of God in opposition to the frailty of the world, and all things created therein, it is said, his years fail not; that is, theirs do, and come to an end, of his being and existence there is none.

How the apostle proves his intendment by this testimony hath been declared in the opening of the words, and the force of it unto his purpose lies open to all. We may now divert unto those doctrinal observations which the words offer unto us; as,

I. All the properties of God, considered in the person of the Son, the head of the church, are suited to give relief, consolation, and supportment unto believers in all their distresses.

This truth presents itself unto us from the use of the words in the psalm, and their connection in the design of the psalmist. Under the consideration of his own mortality and frailty, he relieves himself with thoughts of the omnipotency and eternity of Christ, and takes arguments from thence to plead for relief.

And this may a little further be unfolded for our use in the ensuing observations :

1. The properties of God are those whereby God makes known himself to us, and declares both what he is and what we shall find him to be in all that we have to deal with him: he is infinitely holy, just, wise, good, powerful, etc. And by our apprehension of these things are we led to that acquaintance with the nature of God which in this life we may attain, Exodus 34:5-7.

2. God oftentimes declares and proposeth these properties of his nature unto us for our supportment, consolation, and relief, in our troubles, distresses, and endeavors after peace and rest to our souls, Isaiah 40:27-31.

3. That since the entrance of sin, these properties of God, absolutely considered, will not yield that relief and satisfaction unto the souls of men which they would have done, and did, whilst man continued obedient unto God according to the law of his creation. Hence Adam upon his sin knew nothing that should encourage him to expect any help, pity, or relief from him; and therefore fled from his presence, and hid himself. The righteousness, holiness, purity, and power of God, all infinite, eternal, unchangeable, considered absolutely, are no way suited to the advantage of sinners in any condition, Romans 1:32; Habakkuk 1:12-13.

4. These properties of the divine nature are in every person of the Trinity entirely; so that each person is so infinitely holy, just, wise, good, and powerful, because each person is equally partaker of the whole divine nature and being.

5. The person of the Word, or the eternal Son of God, may be considered either absolutely as such, or as designed in the counsel, wisdom, and will of the Father, by and with his own will and consent, unto the work of mediation between God and man, Proverbs 8:22-31. And in him as such it is that the properties of the nature of God are suited to yield relief unto believers in every condition; for,

(1.) It was the design of God, in the appointment of his Son to be mediator, to retrieve the communion between himself and his creature that was lost by sin. Now, man was so created at first as that every thing in God was suited to be a reward unto him, and in all things to give him satisfaction. This being wholly lost by sin, and the whole representation of God to man becoming full of dread and terror, all gracious intercourse, in a way of special love on the part of God, and spiritual, willing obedience on the part of man, was intercepted and cut off. God designing again to take sinners into a communion of love and obedience with himself, it must be by representing unto them his blessed properties as suited to their encouragement, satisfaction, and reward. And this he doth in the person of his Son, as designed to be our mediator, Hebrews 1:2-3; for,

(2.) The Son is designed to be our mediator and the head of his church in a way of covenant, wherein there is an engagement for the exerting of all the divine properties of the nature of God for the good and advantage of them for whom he hath undertaken, and whom he designed to bring again into favor and communion with God. Hence believers do no more consider the properties of God in the person of the Son absolutely, but as engaged in a way of covenant for their good, and as proposed unto them for an everlasting, satisfactory reward. This is the ground of his calling upon them so often to behold, see, and consider him, and thereby to be refreshed. They consider his power, as he is mighty to save; his eternity, as he is an everlasting reward; his righteousness, as faithful to justify them; all his properties, as engaged in covenant for their good and advantage. Whatever he is in himself, that he will be to them in a way of mercy. Thus do the holy properties of the divine nature become a means of supportment unto us, as considered in the person of the Son of God. And this is,

[1.] A great encouragement unto believing. The Lord Christ, as the Wisdom of God inviting sinners to come unto him, and to be made partakers of him, lays down all his divine excellencies as a motive thereunto, Proverbs 8:14-15, etc.; for on the account of them he assures us that we may find rest, satisfaction, and an abundant reward in him. And the like invitation doth he give to poor sinners: Isaiah 45:22, “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.” They may justly expect salvation in him who is God, and in whom all divine attributes are proposed to their benefit, as they find who come unto him, Isaiah 45:24-25. The consideration hereof prevents all the fears and answers all the doubts of them that look up unto him.

[2.] An instruction how to consider the properties of God by faith for our advantage; that is, as engaged in the person of the Son of God for our good. Absolutely considered they may fill us with dread and terror, as they did them of old who concluded, when they thought they had seen God or heard his voice, that they should die. Considered as his properties who is our Redeemer, they are always relieving and comforting, Isaiah 54:4-5.

II. The whole old creation, even the most glorious parts of it, hastening unto its period, at least of our present interest in it and use of it, calls upon us not to fix our hearts on the small perishing shares which we have therein, especially since we have Him who is omnipotent and eternal for our inheritance. The figure or fashion of this world, the apostle tells us, is passing away, that lovely appearance which it hath at present unto us; it is hastening unto its period; it is a fading, dying thing, that can yield us no true satisfaction.

III. The Lord Christ, the mediator, the head and spouse of the church, is infinitely exalted above all creatures whatever, in that he is God over all, omnipotent and eternal.

IV. The whole world, the heavens and earth, being made by the Lord Christ, and being to be dissolved by him, is wholly at his disposal; to be ordered for the good of them that do believe. And therefore,

V. There is no just cause of fear unto believers from any thing in heaven or earth, seeing they are all of the making and at the disposal of Jesus Christ.

VI. Whatever our changes may be, inward or outward, yet Christ changing not, our eternal condition is secured, and relief provided against all present troubles and miseries. The immutability and eternity of Christ are the spring of our consolation and security in every condition. The sum of all is, that,

VII. Such is the frailty of the nature of man, and such the perishing condition of all created things, that none can ever obtain the least stable consolation but what ariseth from an interest in the omnipotency, sovereignty, and eternity of the Lord Christ.

This, I say, is that which the words insisted on, as they are used in the psalm, do instruct us in; and this therefore we may a little further improve.

This is that which we are instructed in by the ministry of John Baptist:

Isaiah 40:6-8, the voice cried,

“All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: the grass withereth, the flower fadeth; because the Spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.”

All is grass, fading grass. Though it bloom and appear goodly for a little season, yet there is no continuance, no consistency in it. Every wind that passeth over it causeth it to wither. This is the best of flesh, of all that in and by ourselves we are, we do, we enjoy, or hope for. The “crown of the pride of man” and his “glorious beauty” is but “a fading flower,” Isaiah 28:1. What joy, what peace, what rest, can be taken in things that are dying away in our hands, that perish before every breath of wind that passeth over them? Where, then, shall this poor creature, so frail in itself, in its actings, in its enjoyments, seek for rest, consolation, and satisfaction? In this alone, that the Word of the Lord abides for ever, in the eternally abiding Word of God; that is, the Lord Christ as preached in the gospel. So Peter applies these words, 1 Peter 1:25. By an interest in him alone, his eternity and unchangeableness, may relief be obtained against the consideration of this perishing, dying state and condition of all things. Thus the psalmist tells us that “verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity,” Psalms 39:5; and thence takes the conclusion now insisted on, Psalms 39:7, “And now, Lord,” ‘seeing it is thus, seeing this is the condition of mankind, what is thence to be looked after? what is to be expected? Nothing at all, not the least of use or comfort.' “What wait I for? my hope is in thee;” ‘from thee alone, as a God eternal, pardoning and saving, do I look for relief.' Man, indeed, in this condition seeks oftentimes for satisfaction from himself, from what he is, and doth, and enjoys, and what he shall leave after him; comforting himself against his own frailty with an eternity that he fancieth to himself in his posterity, and their enjoyment of his goods and inheritance. So the psalmist tells us, Psalms 49:11,

“Their inward thought is, that their houses shall continue for ever, and their dwelling-places to all generations: they call their lands after their own names.”

They see, indeed, that all men die, wise men and fools, Psalms 49:10, and cannot but from thence observe their own frailty. Wherefore they are resolved to make provision against it; they will perpetuate their posterity and their inheritance. This they make use of to relieve them in their inmost imaginations. But what censure doth the Holy Ghost pass upon this contrivance, Psalms 49:12? “Nevertheless,” saith he, notwithstanding all these imaginations, “man being in honor abideth not: he is like the beasts that perish:” which he further proves, Psalms 49:17-20, showing fully that he himself is no way concerned in the imaginary perpetuity of his possessions; which, as they are all of them perishing things, so himself dies and fades away whilst he is in the contemplation of their endurance. And the truth proposed may be further evidenced by the ensuing considerations:

1. Man was made for eternity. He was not called out of nothing to return unto it again. When he once is, he is for ever; not as to his present state, that is frail and changeable, but as to his existence in one condition or other. God made him for his eternal glory, and gave him therefore a subsistence without end. Had he been created to continue a day, a month, a year, a thousand years, things commensurate unto that space of time might have afforded him satisfaction; but he is made for ever.

2. He is sensible of his condition. Many, indeed, endeavor to cast off the thoughts of it. They would fain hope that they shall be no longer than they are here. In that case they could find enough, as they suppose, to satisfy them in the things that are like themselves. But this will not be.

They find a witness in themselves to the contrary; somewhat that assures them of an after reckoning, and that the things which now they do will be called over in another world. Besides, the conviction of the word, with them that enjoy it, puts the matter out of question. They cannot evade the testimony it gives unto their eternal subsistence.

3. Hence men are exposed to double trouble and perplexity: First, That whereas their eternal subsistence, as to the enjoyment of good or bad, depends upon their present life, that is frail, fading, perishing. They are here now; but when a few days are come and gone, they must go to the place from whence they shall not return. They find their subsistence divided into two very unequal parts, a few days and eternity, and the latter to be regulated by the former. This fills them with anxiety, and makes them sometimes weary of life, sometimes hate it, almost always solicitous about it, and to bewail the frailty of it. Secondly, That no perishing thing will afford them relief or supportment in this condition, how should it? They and these are parting every moment, and that for eternity. There is no comfort in a perpetual taking leave of things that are beloved. Such is the life of man as unto all earthly enjoyments. It is but a parting with what a man hath; and the longer a man is about it, the more trouble he hath with it. The things of this creation will not continue our lives here, because of our frailty; they will not accompany us unto eternity, because of their own frailty. We change, and they change; we are vanity, and they are no better.

4. An interest in the omnipotency, sovereignty, and eternity of the Lord Christ will yield a soul relief and satisfaction in this condition. There is that in them which is suited to relieve us under our present frailty, and to give satisfaction unto our future eternity; for,

(1.) What we have not in ourselves, by an interest in Christ we have in another. In him we have stability and unchangeableness; for what he is in himself, he is unto us and for us. All our concernments are wrapped up and secured in him. He is ours: and though we in our own persons change, yet he changeth not, nor our interest in him, which is our life, our all. Though we die, yet he dieth not; and because he liveth, we shall live also. Though all other things perish and pass away that we here make use of, yet he abideth a blessed and satisfying portion unto a believing soul: for as we are his, so all his is ours; only laid up in him and kept for us in him. So that under all disconsolations that may befall us from our own frailty and misery, and the perishing condition of outward things, we have sweet relief tendered us in this, that we have all good things treasured up for us in him. And faith knows how to make use of all that is in Christ, to the comfort and supportment of the soul.

(2.) When our frailty and changeableness have had their utmost effect upon us, when they have done their worst upon us, they only bring us to the full enjoyment of what the Lord Christ is unto us, that is, an exceeding great reward, and a full satisfaction unto eternity. Then shall we live for ever in that which we now live upon, being present with him, beholding his glory, and made partakers of it. So that both here and hereafter there is relief, comfort, and satisfaction for believers, laid up in the excellencies of the person of Jesus Christ. And this should teach us,

[1.] The misery of those who have no interest in him, and have therefore nothing to relieve themselves against the evils of any condition. All their hopes are in this life, and from the enjoyments of it. When these are once past, they will be eternally and in all things miserable, miserable beyond our expression or their apprehension. And what is this life? “A vapor, that appeareth for a little while.” What are the enjoyments of this life? Dying, perishing things; and unto them, fuel to lust, and so to hell. Suppose they live twenty, thirty, forty, sixty years, yet every day they fear, or ought to fear, that it will be their last. Some die oft every day from the first to the last of the utmost extent of the life of man: so that every day may be the last to any one; and whose then will be all their treasures of earthly things? And the relief which men have against the tormenting fears that the frailty of their condition doth expose them unto is no whit better than their troubles. It is sinful security, which gives the fullness of their misery an advantage to surprise them, and themselves an advantage to aggravate that misery by the increase of their sin. In the meantime, “spes sibi quisque,” “every one's hope is in himself alone;” which makes it perpetually like the giving up of the ghost. Surely the contentment that dying man can take in dying things is very contemptible. We must not stay to discover the miseries of the life of man, and the weakness of the comforts and joys of it; but whatever they be, what becomes of them when they have serious thoughts of their present frailty and future eternity? This following eternity is like :Pharaoh's lean kine, which immediately devours all the fat pleasures of this present life, and yet continues as lean and miserable as ever. The eternal misery of men will not be in the least eased, yea, it will be greatened, by the enjoyments of this life, when once it hath devoured them. And this is the portion of them that have no interest in the eternity and immutability of the Son of God. Their present frailty makes them continually fear eternity, and their fear of eternity imbitters all thing's that they should use for the relief of their frailty; and that security which they provide against both increaseth their misery, by sin here and suffering hereafter. [2.] This also will teach us how to use these earthly things, how dying persons should use dying creatures; that is, to use them for our present service and necessity, but not as those that look after rest or satisfaction in them, which they will not afford us. Use the world, but live on Christ.

[3.] Not to despond under a sense of our present frailty. We see what blessed relief is provided against our fainting on that account.