Online Bible 1995 March/ROM-1025.iso/olb/gill/5_100_p.lzh/5_143.TXT

Text File | 1994-08-09 | 7KB | 129 lines

lake. fortifications; what they are locities, that is sal-
vation to the church and people of God; it is their
safety and seeurity: as God,the Father is concerned in
it, it flows from his love, Which is unchangeable; it is
by an appointment of his, which is unalterable; is se-
cured by election-grace, which stands not upon the
works of men, but the will of God; and by the cove-
nant of grace, ordered in all things, and sure; and by
his power the saints are kept unto it: as Christ is con-
cerned in it, it is as walls and bulwarks; he is the
author of it, has completely finished it, and has over-
come and destroyed all enemies; his righteousness is
a security from all charges and condemnation; his sa-
tisfaction a bulwark against the damning power of sin,
the curses of the law, and the wrath of God; his me-
diation and intercession are .a protection of saints; and
his almighty power a. guard about them. As the Spi-
rit is concerned in. it, who is the applier of it, and evi-
dences interest in it; it is a bulwark against. sin,
against Satan's temptations, against a spirit of bondage
to fear, against error, and a ,final and total failing
away; payticularly the church's walls will be salva
lion, and her gates praise, of which in the next verse,
in the latter-day glory.; to which this song refers;
see Isa. lx. 18,.
Ver. 2. Open ye the gates, &c.] Not of Jerusalem,
literally understood, nor of heaven;  rather of the New
JerUsalem, whose gates. are described, Rev. xxi. l2,
13, 21. at least of the church in the latter day; the
gates or door into which now should be, and then
will be, open; Christ the door, and faith in him, and
a profession of it, without which none ought to be
admitted, and whoever climbs up another way is a
thief ands robber, John x. 1, 9. these words are the
wordsOf the prophet, or of God, or of Christ by him,'
directed not to the keepers of the gates. of Jerusalem,
or of the doors of the temple,. though, they may be al-
luded to; nor to any supposed doorkeeper of heaven,
angels, or men, there-being none such; rather to the
twelve angels, at the twelve gates of the new Jerusa-
lem, Rev.. xxi. 12.. or to the ministers of the Gospel,
who have the key of knowledge to open the door of
faith, and let persons into the knowledge of divine
things; to admit them to ordinances, and receive them
into the church by the joint suffrage of the members
of it. The phrase denotes a large increase of mem-
bers, and a free, open, and public reception of them,
who are after described; see Isa. Ix. 11, 18: that the
righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in;
not all the world, for there is none righteous, not one
of them naturally, or of themselves; nor the Jewish
nation, for though they sought after righteousness, did
not attain it, unless when they will be converted in
the latter day, and then they, and all the Lord's peo-
ple, will be righteous, and appear to be a holy nation,
and a peculiar people, Isa. Ix. 21. I Pet. ii. 9. and be-
ing made righteous by the righteousness of Christ im-
puted t.o them, and sanctified by the Spirit, will be
fit persons to be admitted through the gates into the
city; see Psal. cxviii. 19, 20. Rev. xxii. 14. and be-
cause there will be great numbers of such, especially
when a nation shall be born at once, hence they are
so cai!ed: and these will be a set of men that will lceep
te .:ruth; not, as the Targum renders it, "who keep
"the law with a perfect heart, · " for 110 mall can do
that; but.rather the ordinances of the Gospel, as they
were first delivered by Christ. and his apostles, and
especially the truths of it; and the word here used is
in the plural number, ar, d may be rendered truths;
the several truths. of the Gospel, which will be kept..
by the righteous, not in memory only, but in their
hearts and affections, and in their purity, and With a
pure conscience; and they won't part with them at
any rate, but hold them fast, that no man take their
crown, Rev. fii. 11.
Ver. & Thou ,wilt keep him in perfect peace, &c.]
Peace with God in Christ through his blood, in a way
of believing, and as the fruit and effect of Iris righte-
ousness being received by faith; this is not always
felt, received, and enjoyed in the soul; yet the foun-
dation of italways is, and is perfect; and besides, this .
peace is true, real, andsolid; in which sense the word
perfect is used, in opposition to a false and imaginary
one; and it will end in perfect peacein heaven: more-
over, the wordperfect is not in the Hebrew text, it is
there peace, peace; which is doubled to denote the
certainty of it, the enjoyment of it, and' the constancy
and continuance of it; and as expressive of all sorts
of peace, which God grants unto his people, and keeps
for them, and them in; as peace with God and peace
with men, peace outward and peace inward, peace
here and peace hereafter; and particularly it denotes
the abundance of peace that believers will have in the
kingdom of Christ in the latter day; see Psai. lxxii. 7,
Isa. ix. 7: whose mind is stay.ed on thee; orfixed on
the love of God, rooted and grounded in that, and
firmly persuaded of interest in it, and that nothing can
separate from it; on the covenant and promises of
God, which are firm and sure; and on the faithfulness
and power of God to make them good, and perform
them; and on Christ the Son of God, and Saviour of
men; upon him as a Saviour, laying the whole stress
of their salvation on him; upon his righteousness, for
their justification; upon his blood and sacrifice, for
atonement, pardon, and cleansing; on his fulness, for
the supply of their wants; on his person, for their ac-
ceptance with God; and on his power, for their pro-
tection and preservation; see ch. x. 20. and 1. 10. and
Psal. cxii. 7, 8: because he trusted in thee; not in the
creature, nor in any creature-enjoyment, nor in their
riches, nor in their righteousness, nor in their own
hearts, nor in any carnal privileges: only in the Lord,
as exhorted to in the next verse; m the Word of the
Lord, as the Targum, that is, in Christ.
Vet. 4. Trust ye in the Lord for ever, &c.] In the
Word of the Lord for ever and ever, as the Targum
again; that is, at all times, in every state and condi-
tion, in times of affiction, temptation, and darkness;
for he'll support under, and in his own time deliver
out of every trouble, and cause all things to work to
gether for good; and trust in him always, for every
thing, for all temp6ral blessings, and for all spiritual
ones, and for eternal life and happiness; for he has
them, has promised them, and will give them: for in
the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength.; Christ is the
Lord Jehovah, which is, and was, and is to come, self-
existent, eternal, and immutable; and in him is
strength, as well as righteousness for his people; and