Online Bible 1995 March/ROM-1025.iso/olb/gill/4_000_t.lzh/4_082.TXT

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by the Father, adopted through him, regenerated by
his Spirit and grace, begotten through his Gospel, and
the ministry of it, and born again in his church, and
to whom he stands in the relation of the everlasting
Father, Isa. ix. {5. and lilt. 10. The enduring of these
for ever may denote the final perseverance of particu-
lar believers; which may be Concluded from the rela-
tion of Christ, as an everlasting Father to them, who
therefore must continue as his children; from his af-
fection to them, from which there can be no separa-
tion; fi'om their security in and by him, being in his
hand, and in his heart; from their adoption, which is
never revoked, being sons they are no more servants;
from their regeneration of incorruptible seed; and
from the nature of faith, which can never be lost:
they that trust in the Lord are as Mount Zion, which
endures for ever, Psal. cxxv. 1. or it may be expressive
of the duration of the church of Christ in general,
throughout all periods of time, notwithstanding the
malice and opposition of men and devils against it;
see Matt. xvi. 18. and his throne as the days of bee, yen;
a phrase signifying a great length of time, Dent. xi.
2l. yea, invariable constancy_and duration, Jer. xxxi.
35, 36. Matt. v. 18. and indeed the throne of Christ is
for ever and ever, and will be when the present earth
and heavens are fled away, Psal. xlv. 6. Rev. xx. 11.
Christ is upon a throne now in heaven, the same with
his divineFather's; and here he must sit and reign,
till all enemies are put under him; and he will be on
a throne of glory when he judges the world, and in the
New-Jerusalem state for the space of a thousand years;
and, after that, he'll reign with his saints, and they
with him, for evermore; his throne and kingdom are
everlasting, Isa. ix. 7. Dan. it. 44.
Ver. 30. If his children forsake my law, &c.] The
same with the seed before mentioned, the children of
the Messiah: it is not said if he forsakes, which cannot
be supposed of Christ, because he knew no sin, nor did
any; which yet might be supposed of David, had he
been literally meant; but not he, nor his natural
children, but the spiritual seed of mystical David, are
here designed, who may sin, and do sin, of which there
is too much proof and evidence; and who sin not only
through infirmity, but sometimes very grossly, and
which sins are here expressed by various phrases: they
sometime,forsake the law of God; do not attend to it,
as they should, as the rule of their walk and conversa-
tion; are remiss in their observance of it, and obedi-
ence to it, and transgress its precepts; or his doctrine {h},
even the doctrine of the Gospel; which may be said to
be forsaken when men grow indifferent to it; go off
from it in any measure, drop their profession of it, or
hold it remissly, or become careless in their attendance
on it: forsaking the assembling together to hear it, in
some sense, is a forsaking of it; and this the Lord
takes notice of, and resents, in his people: and walk not
in my judgments; those laws of his house by which he
judges, regulates, and governs his people; by which
they are directed by him, as their Judge and Lawgiver,
how to behave themselves in the church of God; and

m which they are to walk, and continue in the obser-
vance of; and so to do is to walk as becomes the
Gospel, and worthy of their vocation; but to do other-
wise is to walk disorderly; and such are cognizable by
the Lord, and by his people.
Ver. 31. If they break my statutes, &c.] Fixed,
settled, appointed ordinances; such as are baptism and
the Lord's supper, under th, New-Testament dis-
pensation; which are the things that are unshaken,
and will remain until the second coming of Christ:
these are to be kept as they were first delivered; no
change and alteration ought to be made in them; so to
do is to break and violate them, or profane them, as
the word {i} here used signifies; and which may be done
by an unbecoming, irreverent, and indecent attendance
on them; as was by some in the Corinthian church,
of which the apostle complains, and who for it were
taken notice of, and chastened by the Lord, 1 Cot. xi.
2, 20, 2l, 22, 30, 32. and keep not my commandments;
which should be kept imparttally, with great affection
to them, from a principle of love to the Lord, with a
view to his glory, and without trusting to and depend-
ing upon an obedience to them; for they are not
grievous; and, besides, in, though not for, keeping
them, there is great reward; and a contrary behaviour
is displeasing to God: now this particular enumera-
tion ofoffences, that may be committed by the children
of God to Christ, ,hew that all sorts of sins may be
committed by them; sins of omission and commission;
sins against the law, and against the Gospel; all but
the unpardonable one; and that these, though they
are observed in a way hereafter mentioned, yet are all
forgiven.
Vet. 32. Then will I visit their transgression with the
rod, &c.] That is, of men; as in 2 Sam. vii. 14. the
Lord making use of men to chastise his people by, as
he did of the neighbouring nations of the Jews, when
they sinned against him; and so the Targum interprets
it here," I will visit thei-r transgressions by the hands
"of the tribes of the ungodly ;" or with such afflictions
as are common to men, 1 Cor. x. 13. in a kind, humane,
moderate way, in measure, in judgment, and not in
wrath and hot displeasure; or in such-like manner as a
man chastises his children, which is ,in love, Deut. viii.
5. and their iniquity with stripes; such as diseases of
body, loss of relations, crosses and disappointments in
the world; not with the stripes of divine vengeance, of
vindictive justice, such as Christ, the surety of his
people, endured for them; but with the tcourges of a
father, Isa. liii. 8. Heb. xii. 6.
Ver. 33. Nevertheless, my loving-kindness will I not
utterly take from him, &c.] Or make it void {k}, not fi'om
Christ, who always was, and ever will be, the dear Son
of his love, even whilst he was obeying, suffering, and
dying; nor from all those that are in him, loved and
chosen in him., from every one of his spiritual seed,
who are all dear sons, and pleasant children; and the
love of God to his people is in Christ; and therefore
there can he no separation from it; nor will it ever
depart from them, or be utterly or at all taken from

{h} \^ytrwt\^ verbum meaum revelatum, Gejerus; legem & doctrinam
meam, Michaelis.
{i} \^wllxy\^ prophanaverint, V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Tigurine ver-
sion, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, &c.
{k} \^rypa\^ not irritam faciam, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Gejerus.