THE apostle cometh to illustrate the properties of faith by the special experiences of the saints. He begins with Abel.
But you will say, Why doth he pass by Adam, the first man, and the first believer in the world? For four reasons.
1. Because Abel was the first persecuted man for righteousness, by Cain professing the same worship: whereas Adam lived a quiet life, without assault and molestation. And so it suits with the apostle's scope, which is to embolden believers against troubles and persecutions for Christ's sake. Here was the first instance of the distinction of men, Cain and Abel, brothers born of the same womb; nay, which is more, supposed to be twins of the same birth; yet one the seed of the woman, and the other the seed of the serpent. Therefore Abel is fitly propounded as the first pattern of faith; as Cain was the patriarch of unbelievers, as Tertullian calls him. And the apostle says, Jude 11, 'They have gone in the way of Cain.' This was an early instance of the enmity between the seeds, and the first pledge of the spite and malice which carnal men do now manifest against the children of God. because of the old hatred. Adam was the first sinner, but Cain the first murderer. Therefore the apostle doth well begin with Abel, who Was the first-fruits of the faithful; in him the envy and malignity of the world began to taste the blood of martyrs, and ever since it is glutted with it.
2. Because Abel was the first person that was never in a possibility to be saved by any other way than that of faith. Adam had other means propounded to him at first in the covenant of works, and therefore he is passed by, and Abel is fitly represented as the first evangelical believer.
3. After the fall, Moses speaks nothing notable of Adam. Though he was received to grace, yet God did not put that honour upon him which he did upon some of his posterity. And because of his great unthankfulness, he having received so much, therefore he is passed by, and not propounded to the church as one of the glorious witnesses and examples of faith. Observe from hence the scandalous fails of God's children are of dangerous consequence. Though the wound be cured, yet there are some scars remain; and though free grace makes them vessels of mercy, yet it doth not use and employ them as vessels of honour. There are more than probabilities of Adam's faith, yet it is not famous in the church. The apostle beginneth with Abel.
4. Because Abel was a special type of Jesus Christ. He was a type of him in his temporal calling: Gen. iv. 2, 'Abel was a keeper of sheep.' protopoimèn - the first shepherd; so Jesus Christ is ~ the chief shepherd of our souls; Heb. xiii: 10, 'The great shepherd of the sheep.' And so also he was a type of him in his righteousness and innocency. It is notable that Abel is seldom spoken of in scripture, but he is honoured with this appellation, 'righteous Abel.' Moses is spoken of for meekness, Phinehas for zeal, but Abel for righteousness: Mat. xxiii. 35, 'From the blood of righteous Abel,' &c. And this the apostle might intend in part when he saith in the text, 'By which he obtained witness that he was righteous;' that is, he is spoken of in the scriptures and in the church of God as righteous; and herein be was a type of Christ: 1 John ii. 1, 'Jesus Christ the righteous.' Then again, in his death, Abel came to sacrifice, and solemnly to remember Christ, and that provoked Cain's envy. The offering of the lamb did not only signify the shedding of Christ's blood, but Abel himself is made a type of the death of Jesus Christ. Abel is slain by the envy of Cain; so was Jesus Christ by the envy of the priests and his maglignant Jewish brethren: Mat. xxvii. 18, 'He knew that for envy they had delivered him.' Envy slew Abel and betrayed Christ. There was only this difference between the blood of Christ and the blood of Abel: the blood of Abel called to God for vengeance upon the murderer, and the blood of Christ for mercy even upon his persecutors - mercy for unthankful men. Therefore the apostle saith, Heb. xii. 24, the blood of Christ 'speaketh better things than the blood of Abel.' Abel's blood crieth thus to the Lord, Vengeance! vengeance! vengeance upon murderous Cain! Christ's blood cries, Pardon! pardon! Father, be appeased, be merciful to these poor sinners! Thus you see from the very cradle of the world there were presignifications of Christ, not only in things, but in persons. The sacrifice and sacrificer both represented Christ, who was both priest and offering: Abel's lamb signified Christ, the 'Lamb of God, that taketh away the sins of the world.' Now to show that God would not be appeased with any irrational offering, Abel himself was to be sacrificed, as well as his sacrifice: Jesus Christ the priest himself is to be slain. God did teach the old church by persons as well as things, to signify not only the satisfaction of Christ, but the person of Christ, 'Who by the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God,' Heb. ix. 14.
We have seen the reasons why the apostle beginneth with Abel; let us hear what is said of him - ' By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain.'
In which words these things are considerable - (1.) Abel's action; (2.) The consequents, or fruits of it.
1. Abel's action - He offered a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain. In that you have three circumstances -
[1.] The principle or root of it - By faith.
[2.] The nature of it - He offered sacrifice.
[3.] The comparative excellency - pleiona thusian para Kain; that is, He offered a better sacrifice than that which Cain offered.
2. You have the consequents of the whole work; they are two -
[1.] There is a testimony.
[2.] A special privilege.
(1.) A testimony, the inward testimony of his person - By it he obtained witness that he was righteous. The outward testimony of this performance - God testifying of his gift.
(2.) The special privilege by it - He, being dead, yet speaketh. I shall begin with the explication of the necessary circumstances of Abel's action, and inquire - (l.) What was the occasion of this sacrifice? (2.) What was the warrant of this sacrifice? (3.) Wherein lies the excellency of it above that of Cain? (4.) What kind of faith this is that the apostle intends, when he saith, 'By faith he offered,' &c.
First. What was the special occasion of this sacrifice? That may be gathered out of the phrase used: Gen. iv. 3, 'And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord.' In process of time, or as it is in the margin, at the end of days; in the original it is, miq'e jamim - at the end of the year, or revolution of days. The Hebrews are wont to reckon their time by days, as being the more natural distinction. Years are more artificial, and depend upon the institution of man; and therefore is the term day so often used for time in scripture. Now God hath taught Adam by revelation, and he his son by instruction, that men should at the year's end, in a solemn manner, sacrifice with thanks to God, when they had gathered in the fruits of the earth. This tradition was afterwards made a written law: Exod. xxii. 29, 'Thou shalt not delay to offer the first of thy ripe fruits, and of thy liquors; the first-born of thy sons shalt thou give unto me.' It was an order then newly inforced, though it had been observed from the beginning of the world; so Exod. xxiii. 16, 'And the feast of harvest, the first-fruits of thy labours, which thou hast sown in the field: and the feast of ingathering, which is in the end of the year, when thou hast gathered in thy labours out of the field.' The very heathens themselves did by tradition derive and propagate this custom one to another, for among other things they retained it, even in their darkest ignorance. I remember, Aristotle in his 'Ethics' (lib. viii., chap~ 8.) hath such a Passage as this, hai gar archaiai thusiai kai sunodai fainontai genesthai meta tas toon karpoon sugkomidas - That all the ancient meetings and sacrifices were wont to be after the gathering in of the first-fruits, that they might distribute the due portion of the increase of their fields to the gods; so that at the end of days, when the year was run round, and the vintage and harvest-time was past, they were to come in token of thankfulness, and present the first-fruits unto the Lord. In short, these solemn sacrifices at the end of days had a double end and use.
1. To be a figure of the expiation promised to Adam in Christ.
2. To be a solemn acknowledgment of their homage and thankfulness to God.
[1.] The general use of these sacrifices was to remember the seed of the woman, or Messiah to come, as the solemn propitiatory sacrifice of the church. And indeed there was a notable resemblance between those offerings and Jesus Christ: Abel offered a lamb; and Christ is 'the Lamb of God, that takes away the sins of the world,' John i. 29. And because of these early sacrifices, therefore is that expression used, Rev. xiii. 8, 'The Lamb of God, slain from the foundation of the world;' that is, slain in types, sacrifices, and presignifications. And he also is the first-fruits: Ps. lxxxix. 27, 'I will make him to be my first-born, higher than the kings of the earth,' saith God, speaking of Christ. Col. i. 15, 'He is the first-born of every creature;' and the first-begotten: Heb. i. 6, 'Again, when he bringeth in the first-begotten into the world.' Christ is called the first-born and the first-begotten, partly in regard of the eternity of his person - it was without beginning, before the world was - and partly because of the excellency of his person, he being more glorious than angels or men. Though God had other children by creation besides Christ, yet he is the first-born. What shall we gather from hence?
Doct. That in all our addresses to God we must solemnly remember and honour Christ.
In the feast of the first-fruits they were to have an eye to the Messiah that was to come, though he were but darkly revealed. God will have men to 'honour the Son as they honour the Father,' John v. 23. We must do duties to God, so as we may honour Christ in them. It may be you will ask, How do we honour Christ in doing of duties?
(1.) When you look for your acceptance in Christ, as Abel comes with a lamb in faith. Adam hid himself, and durst not come into the presence of God till he had received the first promise and intimation of Christ. And truly guilt cannot approach majesty armed with wrath and power without a mediator. The patriarchs were to profess homage, but by sacrifices typing Christ: Ephes. iii. 12, 'In him we have boldness and access with confidence, by the faith of him.' Oh, you cannot come with confidence unless you come with a mediator in the arms of faith! Thus must all do that would be accepted of God. When shall we honour Christ in our addresses to God, and lift up a confidence proportionable to his merit? at least come not in your own names.
(2.) This is to honour Christ in duties, when you look for your assistance from the Spirit of Christ. The Lord hath promised to shed abroad his Spirit upon his ascension. You honour God in Christ when you worship God through Christ: Phil. iv. 13, 'I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.' You draw nigh to God with more encouragement by expecting the supplies of the Spirit.
(3.) When the aim of the worship is to set up and advance the mediator. This was the solemn drift of the patriarchs, and the general intention of all their sacrifices - to look to the promised seed; and therefore the parts of their worship did exactly resemble the mediatory actions of Christ. In all the worship of the gospel, in your thoughts you must not only advance God, but lift up the mediator. When the apostle compares the worship of the christian with that of the Gentiles, be saith, 1 Cor. viii. 5, 6, 'There are gods many, and lords many, (many mediators) but to us there is but one God, the Father, of. whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ,' &c. This is the right frame of a christian's heart in all his addresses: he looks up to one Lord as the fountain of mercy, and the ultimate object of worship, and one mediator. We must look to him as the conveyance and golden-pipe of mercy, by whom all blessings descend to us, and through him all our prayers ascend to God. This is to honour the mediator; to make Christ the means, and God the object and last end.
[2.] The special use of this worship was to profess their homage and their thankfulness to God. They were to come as God's tenants, and pay him their rent. Therefore God puts words into the Israelites' mouths: Deut. xxvi, 10, 'I have brought the first-fruits of the land, which thou, O Lord, hast given me.' The note from hence is,
Doct. That in the times of our increase and plenty we must solemnly acknowledge God.
The best way to secure the farm, and keep it in our possession, is to acknowledge the great landlord of the whole world - Lord, I have been a poor creature, and thou hast blest me wonderfully. There is a rent of praise and a thank-offering due to God. As Jacob acknowledgeth God thus, Gen. xxxii. 10, 'I am not worthy of the least of all thy mercies, and of all the truth which thou hast showed unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan, and now am I become two bands.' Thus we should come with a rent of praise, and with a thanksgiving to the Lord. But alas! how few think of this? We offer to him our lusts, but do not come with our thanksgiving to God. Qui majores terras possident, minores census solvunt - Those that have received most blessings from God forget the great landlord of the world. We are Canistae, as Luther calls such of Cain's sect, because we do grudge God a little when he hath given us abundance: 1 Cor. xvi. 2, 'Upon the first day of the week let every man lay by him in store as God hath prospered him.' These offer according to their calling; Cain comes as a husbandman, and Abel as a keeper of the sheep. Consider, the first fruits sanctified and blessed the whole lump: Rom. xi. 16, 'For if the first fruits be holy, the lump is also holy.' When you give God his portion, you can the better take comfort in what is left.
Secondly, The second question is, What was the warrant of this Worship? Was it devised according to their own will, or was it commanded by God? The reason of the inquiry is because the papists say that before the law the patriarchs did, without any command, out of their private good intention, offer sacrifice to God; and they prove it, because the gentiles that were not acquainted with the institutions of the church used the same way of worship. But this opinion seemeth little probable, -
1. Because this is above the light of corrupt nature to prescribe an acceptable worship to God. Corrupt nature will tell us indeed that God is to be worshipped; but for the manner, God himself must prescribe it; for the gentiles might take up the way of sacrifice by tradition, or by perverse imitation, through the instigation of the devil, who would be worshipped the same way God was.
2. It was by some appointment; for no worship is acceptable to him but that which is of his appointment. You know the solemn profession of God against will-worship in scripture - 'Who hath required this at your hands?' Isa. i. 12. God will always be his own carver, and not leave his worship to the allotment of corrupt nature. He appointeth what he will accept.
3. There could have been else no faith nor obedience in it, if the institution had been wholly humane; there is no faith without some promise of divine grace, no obedience without some command. And Cain would not have been culpable for any defect in the worship, if it had been left to his own will; for where there is no law there is no transgression.
4. The wonderful agreement that is between this first act of solemn worship and the solemn constitutions of the Jewish church, doth wonderfully evince it (as we shall prove by and by), that there was some rule and divine institution according to which this worship was to be regulated, which, probably, God revealed to Adam, and he taught it, as he did other parts of religion, to his children: therefore it was done by virtue of an institution. Abel looked to the command of God, and promise of God, that so he might do it in faith and obedience.
The note from this -
Doct. That whatever is done in worship must be done out of conscience, and with respect to the institution.
Quest. But you will say, What is it to do a thing by virtue of an institution? For answer -
[1.] I shall show you what an institution is. Every word of institution consists of two parts - the word of command, and the word of promise. To instance in any duty of worship: in hearing the word, Isa. lv. 3, 'Hear, and your souls shall live;' in the sacrament - 'Do this;' there is the word of command; then 'This is my body and blood;' there is the word of promise. In baptism: Acts ii. 38, 'Be baptized, every one of you;' there is the word of command; 'For the remission of sins;' there is the word of promise. God doth not require duty merely out of sovereignty, but in mercy. In the law it is sometimes a motive - Do thus and thus, for I am the Lord; God's sovereignty is pleaded. In other places - Do thus, and this shall be your life; there is the promise; and this will do you good. It is the condescension of God to require no duty but for your profit - 'You shall not seek my face in vain.' Duty is not a task, but a means; he encourageth, when he might transact all things by way of charge and imperial command. God that requireth worship, doth also reward it; precepts and promises go hand in hand. Christianity is famous for pure precepts and excellent rewards. God's services will not be uncomfortable; for all his institutions are made up of a word of command and a word of promise.
[2.] What is it to do a duty in respect to the institution? I answer, it is to do it in faith and obedience: faith respects the word of promise, obedience the word of command. Customary approaches bring God no honour and glory; therefore first the command must be the reason of the duty. Then the promise must be the encouragement, the ratio formalis - the formal reason of all duty and obedience, is God's command; and the ratio motiva, the moving and persuasive reason, is our own profit and God's promise. Obedience to the command is my homage, and faith one of the purest respects I can yield to God.
Ques. But now how shall I know when I do duty in faith and obedience? I answer -
(1.) You come in obedience when the command is the main motive and reason upon your spirit to put you upon the duty. It is enough to a christian to say, 'This is the will of God,' 1 Thes. v. 18. The bare sight of God's will is enough. It is custom to do as others do, but religion to do what God commands, because God hath commanded: Exod. xii. 26, 27, 'It shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean you by this service? that ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the Lord's passover.' Ask your heart, Why do I pray and hear? The Lord our God hath commanded it. Now this will be evident to you by your continuing in duties, though the success be not presently visible. The soul is of Peter's temper: Luke v. 4, 5, saith Christ, 'Let down your net for a draught.' Alas! 'Master (saith Peter) we have toiled all night, and have taken nothing; howbeit at thy word I will let down the net.' So the soul encourageth itself, I have had no sensible communion with God, yet I must perform my duty; I will do what God hath commanded, let God do what he will; success is God's act, duty mine. Then you come in obedience to the performance of any holy service.
(2.) Would you know when you come in faith? when you look to the word of promise? You may know that by the earnest expectation and considerateness of the soul. Those that come customarily do not look to the end of the service, nor why God hath appointed it. It is said, Ps. xxxii. 9, 'Be ye not as the horse and mule, which have no understanding;' that is, to go on without consideration. Man is to work for an end, to design somewhat, especially in duties of worship, which are the most serious and important affairs of our whole lives. Therefore what do you look for in your worship? Many look to the work wrought, but not to the end. God's institutions are under a blessing; and there must be an actual waiting, or you do not come in faith. And you will know this by the importunateness of your souls in pressing God with his word. Ah, Lord! thou hast made a promise to those that wait upon thee that thou wilt bless them; now 'remember thy word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope,' Ps. cxix. 49. By this you may try your hearts.
Thirdly, The third question is, Wherein lies the difference between the two sacrifices? Some place it only in the acceptation of God as if the sense were, Abel offered gratiorem, a more acceptable sacrificd', better in God's esteem; but in the original it is pleiona, more sacrifice; uberiorem, saith Erasmus, a larger, a more plenteous, majoris pretii, a more excellent and a more beseeming sacrifice. It was better, not only in God's esteem, but in its own worth and value.
Briefly, there is a threefold difference between Abel's and Cain's sacrifice.
1. In the faith of Abel. Abel's principle was faith, Cain's distrust. The one came in faith, looking to the promised seed, and so the duty was effectual for his comfort and encouragement, he was accepted with God; the other came to it as to a dead ceremony and task against his will, a superficial rite of no use and comfort. That which is done in faith pleaseth God, otherwise it is but an idle rite and naked ceremony. God looks for habitual faith; but in all that proceed to a justified state he looks for actual faith, without which our sacrifices are but an abomination to him; Prov. xxi. 27. 'The sacrifice of the wicked is abomination,' how much more when he bringeth it with a wicked mind. Though a wicked man bring it with the most advantage, with good intentions, yet it is an abomination; much more if he bring it with a carnal aim and a grudging spirit and evil mind, as Cain did. But of this hereafter.
2. The second difference lay in the willing mind of Abel. Abel came with all his heart, and in a free manner, to perform worship to God; and he brought the best, the fattest, and costliest sacrifice he could, as far as the bounds of God's institution would give him leave. But Cain came with a sullen, covetous, unthankful, and fleshly spirit; he thought whatever he brought was good enough for God. Cain was envious to God before he was envious to his brother; he offered with a grudging mind whatever came first to hand, but kept the first-fruits to himself. Cain looked upon his sacrifice as a task rather than a duty; his fruits were brought to God as a mulct and fine rather than an offering, as if an act of worship had been an act of penance, and religion was his punishment. Note from hence - the worth of duties lies much in the willing mind of those that perform them.
[1.] There must be the mind. God doth not require ours, but us. Abel brought his lamb, and himself too; but Cain offered not himself, he brought only his offering. God would have us, when we come to him, to bring ourselves; though he need us not, yet we have need of him. The Lord complains that they did not bring themselves: Jer. xxix. 13, 'Ye shall seek me, and find me, when you shall search for me with all your heart.' This is right Cain's trick, to bring God our gift, and not ourselves.
[2.] The mind must be willing and free. Probably that which did put Cain upon duty was the awe of his parents, or the rack of his own conscience; therefore he would do something to satisfy the custom. He would bring of the fruits, and there was all, but was unmindful of what God had done for him, and distrustful how God would reward him. Many are of Cain's spirit; we think all is loss that is laid out upon God, and therefore do not come readily: Ps. cxix, 108, 'Accept, I beseech thee, the free-will offering of my mouth, O Lord.' All your duties should be free-will offerings. A christian should have no other constraint upon him but love: 2 Cor. v. 14, 'The love of Christ constraineth us.' The devil rules the world by enforcement and a servile awe, and so captivates the blind nations; but God will rule by the sceptre of love. God would have his people a willing people. Their heart shall be their own law. In all our addresses to God we should come to him upon the wings of joy and holy delight.
3. The third difference is in the matter offered. It is said of Cain's offering, Gen. iv. 3, 'That he brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord.' The Holy Ghost purposely omits the description of the offering. Being hastily taken, and unthankfully brought, it is mentioned without any additional expression to set off the worth of them; it should have been the first and the fairest. But for Abel, see how distinct the Spirit of God is in setting forth his offering: ver. 4, 'And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock, and of the fat thereof;' not only the firstlings, that the rest might be sanctified, but he brought the best, the chiefest, the fattest. All these were afterwards appropriated to God: Lev. iii. 16, 17, 'All the fat is the Lord's.' Now observe from hence -
Doct. That when we serve God, we must serve him faithfully, with our best.
It is a high dishonour and contempt to God when we bring him a contemptible offering, and think anything is good enough for God: Mal. i. 14, 'Cursed is the deceiver, that hath a male in his flock, and voweth and sacrificeth to the Lord a corrupt thing; for I am a great king,' &c. When we do not offer God the flower and spirit of our souls, we reflect a dishonour upon God. Our duties are so to be ordered that they may argue a proportionable reverence and dread of God. Alexander would be painted by none but Apelles, and carved by none but Lysippus. Domitian would not have his statue made but in gold or silver. God, the great king, will be served with the best of our affections. When we care not what we offer to God, how will he accept us? how shall he esteem that which we do not esteem ourselves? Cain's offering was not so much an oblation as a refusal, a casting off; a rejection of that which was not fit to be reserved for himself, he gives it to God. It must needs displease God, since it could not please himself: in short, God must have the best of our time, and the best of our parts.
[1.] God must have the best of our time. Consider, we can afford many sacrilegious hours to our lusts, and can scarce afford God a little time without grudging. Is not there too much of Cain's spirit in this? We adjourn and put off the work of religion to the aches of old age: when we have scarce any vigour, any strength of affections left, oh then we will worship God. We devote to Satan the flower of our lively youth, and fresh age, and adjourn to God the rottenness and dregs of our old age: Eccles. xii. 1, 'Remember thy Creator in the days of thy youth.' Why? - because the prints of God's creating power are then more fresh in our natures, and we have a fairer experience of God's creating goodness than in age. Then is the fittest season to estimate the benefits of our creation. Old age are the days in which we have no pleasure; these are our fresh, choicest days, full of contentment.
[2.] With your best parts. You come to worship God not only with your bodies, but your souls, with the refined strength of your reason and thoughts: Ps cviii. 1, 'I will sing and give praise even with my glory.' If David had anything he called his glory, God should have it.
Application to the sacrament. You have heard of Cain and Abel, in what they agreed, and in what they differed. They agreed in the general action - both drew near to God, and worshipped; in the general nature of that action - they both brought an offering; in the general kind of that offering, which was of that which belonged to each of them; Cain, a tiller of the ground, brought of the fruit of the ground; Abel, a keeper of sheep, brought of his flock, Gen. iv. 3, 4. They differed thus - one offered in faith, the other not: they differed in the matter of sacrifice - Abel brought the first and fattest; of Cain it is only said he brought an offering: they differed in acceptance. Now this showeth you -
1. What you are to do in the Lord's supper.
2. What to expect.
1. What you are to do. Offer to God in the most beseeming manner what will become the majesty of God, the love of Christ, your faith in him and love to him. If you have anything better than another, let God have it. But you will say, What is this to the Lord's supper, where we do not come to offer, but to receive; not to offer sacrifice but to receive a sacrament; not to feast God, but to be feasted by him?
Ans. [1.] There is a difference between sacraments and sacrifice, but they have a mutual relation one to the other. A sacrament implieth a sacrifice. The only sacrifice to please God was that of Christ, who offered up himself through the eternal Spirit to God. Christ offered the sacrifice to please God; and being appeased by Christ, he offereth his gifts to us; as Esau, when reconciled to Jacob, offered him gifts, Gen. xxxiii. 15.
[2.] Though we do not offer a sacrifice, yet we remember a sacrifice offered for us; and therefore it teacheth us how to be rightly conversant about such a duty. The use of the sacrifices was - (1.) To exercise brokenness of heart: Ps. li. 17, 'The sacrifices of God are a broken heart.' I deserved to die, tormented by the wrath of God. (2.) To testify faith in the satisfaction and sacrifice of the messiah that was to come, and to seek reconciliation with God by him, Lev. i. 3. (3.) To express their hearty thankfulness to God, and desire to please him and walk with him in a course of true obedience: Ps. 1. 5, 'Gather my saints together unto me; those which have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.' Now, if we would come as Abel, and not as Cain, thus must we do: broken-hearted sinners must remember Christ, and apply him to the comfort of their souls, and make use of this duty to that end.
[3.] Though it be no sin-offering, yet it is a thank-offering. This in the text was in part so. There are eucharistical as well as ilastical sacrifices, as most of the sacrifices under the law: Heb. xiii. 15, 'By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, even the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name.' Hereby you bind yourselves to obedience and thankfulness: Rom. xii. 1, 'I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.'
2. What we are to expect - a testimony that we are righteous - some witness from God of the acceptance of our persons and gifts, not extraordinary by fire from heaven, but by the Holy Ghost: Mat, iii. 11, 'He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire.' When the Holy Ghost came down on the apostles, 'there appeared unto them cloven tongues, like as of fire, and it sat upon each on them,' Acts ii. 3. This spirit we expect: Rom. viii. 16, 'The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God.' And in token that he is pleased with us in Christ, he feedeth us from his own table.
Hebrews
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