A testament éx/ vexpo7s BzCa/a,— is of force,” say we; that is, firm, stable, not to bedisannulled. For “if it be but a man’s testament, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth,
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Bebala.
or addeth thereunto,” Gal. iii. 15. It is ratified, made unalterable,
so as that it must be executed according unto the mind of the testator. And it is so éa/ vexpots, “among them that are dead,” “after men are dead;” that is, those who make the testament: for it is opposed unto bre (4 6 diabewevos,
“whilst the testator liveth;” for testaments are the , wills of dead men. Living men have no heirs. And
this sense is declared in these words, éve? wqrore ioytber, “ quandoqui- dem,” “quoniam,” “ seeing that;” “ otherwise,” say we, —without this accession unto the making of a testa- ment, as yet it prevaileth not, it is not of force for the actual distribution of the inheritance or the goods of the testator.
Two things must yet further be declared: 1. What are the grounds or general reasons of this assertion. 2 Where lies the force of the argument from it:—
1. The force of a testament depends on the death of the testator, or the death of the testator is required to make it effectual, for these two reasons :—
(1.) Because a testament is no act or deed of a man whereby he presently, and in the making of it, conveys, gives, or grants, any
Ea} VEX 01S
“Ore fa 6 ; abewsvos.
"Earl wae more logue.
340 AN EXPOSITION OF THE [CHAP. IX.
part of his possession unto another, or others, so as that it should immediately thereon cease to be his own, and become the property of those others: all such instruments of contract, bargain, sale, or deeds of gift, are of another nature, they are not testaments. A testament is only the signification of the will of a man as unto what he will have done with his goods after his death. Wherefore unto the force and execution of it his death is necessary.
(2.) A testament, that is only so, is alterable at the pleasure of him that makes it whilst he is alive. Wherefore it can be of no force whilst he is so; for he may change it or disannul it when he pleaseth. The foundation, therefore, of the apostle’s argument — from this usage amongst men is firm and stable.
2. Whereas the apostle argueth from the proportion and simili- tude that is between this new testament or covenant and the testa- ments of men, we may consider what are the things wherein that similitude doth consist, and show also wherein there is a dissimili- tude, whereunto his reasonings are not to be extended. Yor so it is in all comparisons; the comparates are not alike in all things, espe- cially where things spiritual and temporal are compared together. So was it also in all the types of old. Every person or every thing that was a type of Christ, was not so in all things, in all that they were. And therefore it requires both wisdom and diligence to dis- tinguish in what they were so, and in what they were not, that no false inferences or conclusions be made from them. So is it in all comparisons; and therefore, in the present instance, we must con- sider wherein the things compared do agree, and wherein they differ.
(1.) They agree principally in the death of the testator. This alone makes a testament among men effectual and irrevocable. So is it in this new testament. It was confirmed and ratified by the death of the testator, Jesus Christ; and otherwise could not have been of force. This is the fundamental agreement between them, which therefore alone the apostle expressly insisteth on, although there are other things which necessarily accompany it, as essential unto every testament; as,—
(2.) In every testament amongst men there are goods disposed and bequeathed unto heirs or legatees, which were the property of the testator. Where a man hath nothing to give or bequeath, he can make no testament; for that is nothing but his will concerning the disposal of his own goods after his decease. So is it in this new testament. All the goods of grace and glory were the property, the inheritance of Christ, firmly instated in him alone; for he was “ ap- pointed heir of all things.’ But in his death, as a testator, he made a bequeathment of them all unto the elect, appointing them to be heirs of God, co-heirs with himself. And this also is required unto the nature and essence of a testament. |
VER. 16, 17.] EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 341
(3.) In a testament there is always an absolute grant made of the goods bequeathed, without condition or limitation. So is it here also; the goods and inheritance of the kingdom of heaven are be- queathed absolutely unto all the elect, so as that no intervenience can defeat them of it. And what there is in the gospel, which is the instrument of this testament, that prescribes conditions unto them, that exacts terms of obedience from them, it belongs unto it as it is a covenant, and not asa testament. Yet,—
(4.) It is in the will and power of the testator, in and by his tes- tament, to assign and determine both the time, season, and way, whereby those to whom he hath bequeathed his goods shall be admitted unto the actual possession of them. So it is in this case also. The Lord Christ, the great testator, hath determined the way whereby the elect shall come to be actually possessed of their legacies, namely, “ by faith that is in him,” Acts xxvi. 18. So also he hath reserved the time and season of their conversion in this world, and entrance into future glory, in his own hand and power.