YeR 4.] SERMONS UPON HEBREWS XI. 475
he liad a contention with Aaron ahont tlie snccession and line of the priesthood: Num. xvi. 6, 7. "This do: Take you censers, Ko-ah, and all his company ; and put fire therein, and put incense in them before the Lord to-morrow : and it shall be, that the man whom the Lord doth choose, he shall be holy' — whom God will decide by special testimony and designation from heaven, he shall be holy and set apart. Up(m such an occasion as this is were the two hrothei's before God at this time, as appeareth partly from God's answer to Cain, when Cain took it ill that his younger brother should be preferred before him : vei-. 7, 'If thou doest well shalt thou not be accepted? And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him ; ' meaning thus, if he had rightly ofieied, he should have been accepted with God, and have had pre-eminence, and been head of the blessed line and race. As also it appears by what is said, Gen. iv. '25. when Eve had her third son horn, and she calls his name Seth, ' For God/ saith she, ' hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel whom Cain slew ;' not otdy another son, but another seed ; Cain being, to their knowledge, rejected by God, she had greater joy from the birth of this son, because now there was one rai.<ed up to continue the holy seed. And it is not of small considera- tion that carnal hypocrites are said by the apostle, Jiide 11, 'to walk in the way of Cain ; ' for he is the patriarch of unbelievers, as Abel was to be the head of the believing state. This was the occasion of this solemn sacrifice, whom God would accept as holy and righteous, and as head of the blessed line. Now this was the type and sign of the general acceptance of all believers in Jesus Christ ; so that upon the whole we may pronounce that by failli he was righteous and accepted with God. and that by faith acting in his sacrifice he received witness that he was righteous, accepted, and chosen by God. By faith he was righteous, that is, by faith in the promised seed. He was not righteous by his own worth and merit; partly because it is the apostle's scope to show that the righteousness of all ages did reside in Christ, which was apprehended by the faith of the patriarchs which made them famous in the churches; and partly because his own personal merit and righteousness is actually disclaimed by his sacrifice ; for it was a sacrifice of propitiation, disclaiming of his own righteousness, and a solemn protestation of his hopes of acceptance in the promised seed. 'God testifying of his gifts.' How so? The apostle points to Avhat was said : Gen. iv. 4, 5, ' The Lord had respect to AbeL and to his offering ; but unto Cain, and to his offering, he had not respect.' How was this known ? It nmst be known by some visible token, for there- upon Cain was angry with Abel, and in his envy and wrath slew his brother ; theretbre there nnist be some token of the different acceptance of God. Now what was this visible token ? Divers conceit divers things. One saith that the smoke of Cain's sacrifice was beaten downwards towards the earth, which was a testimony of God's detestation, and the smoke of Abel's sacrifice went up to heaven, as it were into the nostrils of God ; but this is a groundless conceit, that cannot be established by the least probability of conjecture. Others think that it was by some ap)parition of an angel, or some different appearance of God to them ; but this also is asserted without warrant or probable reason. Therefore it is most probable that this visible
476 SERMOKS UPON HEBREWS XI. [SeR. XVL
sign that God gave as a token of the accepting of his offering was this — viz., the consuming of Abel's sacrifice to ashes by fire coming down from heaven. What is inthe Hebrew yiV'^'\ God respected Abel, is rendered by others iveTrvpicrev, God regarded Abel, and set his sacrifice on fire. And indeed there is much ground for this opinion, for this is the usual sign in the word of God of favourable acceptance. Let me name a few places to you : there is a prayer, Ps. xx. 3, ' The Lord accept thy burnt-sacrifice.' In the margin it is, The Lord turn thy burnt-offering to ashes, because the devouring of the sacrifice was a sign from heaven of God's acceptance. So when God accepted Aaron's sacrifice, Lev. ix. 24, it is said, ' There came a fire out from the Lord, and consumed upon the altar the burnt-offering and the fat ; which when all the people saw, they shouted, and fell on their faces.' When Solomon was accepted, 2 Chron. vii. 1, it is said, that ' fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt-offering and the sacrifice ;' this was a solemn token. When Elijah and Baal's ]iriests would put it to trial who was the true God, ] Kings xviii. 38, ' The fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt-sacrifice.' This was a token God would give to Gideon, Judges vi. 21, ' There arose fire out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes.' Manaoh, when Samson was to be born as the deliverer of the church, Judges xiii. 20, * The flame went up towards heaven from off the altar ; and the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame of the altar.' And 1 Chron. xxi. 26, when David offered solemn sacrifice to God, it is said, ' God answered him from heaven by fire upon the altar of burnt-oftering.' This was the usual sign of acceptance. Fire upon the sacrifice was a token of God's favour ; but fire upon the sacrificers was a token of God's curse and wrath. When Aaron's two sons had displeased the Lord ' fire came down from the Lord, and devoured them,' Lev. x, 2. So that out of subsequent experiences we may gather what kind of testimony it was. And indeed herein also, as in the sacrifice, there was some type of Christ ; for he who is our sacrifice of propitiation was to be offered upon the altar of the cross ; as he was to be roasted in the flames of his own love, so in the fire of divine wrath. Out of the whole you see the privileges were then more sensible. Tlie head of the elect family God would decide ; and the testimony is sensible, for fire came and devoured the sacrifice, which is now supplied us by the suggestion of the Holy Ghost.