The words in which the Apostle thus consoled the Hebrews, are taken from the Prophet Habakkuk ; who was himself comforted with this assm'ance, when bewailing and deprecating the calamities which were about to be brought upon the Jewish nation by their Chaldean enemies ^ And they are applicable to the Church of God in all ages ; since that same almighty Saviour, who promised to interpose in behalf of his believing people then, still engages to be their sup- port in the time of trouble, and only requires that they should look to him with humble and assured confidence, that their trust in him shall not be in vain.
To this consolatory declaration the Apostle adds a most solemn caution, that, if any be turned back from God by means of their trials, it will be to their everlasting perdition.
That the warning may come more distinctly before you, I will endeavour to shew, T. The way to eternal life —
This is the same in all ages : we must live by faith alone : whatever our own personal character may have been, we must look to God as " the Author and Giver of all good ;" and on him as reconciled to us in the Son of his love, we must rely for a supply of all that we need either for body or for soul, for time or for eternity.
By faith we are first introduced into the divine life—
[From the manner in which the Apostle quotes this pro- phecy in other places, it is evident that the sense of it is more large and comprehensive than we should of ourselves have imagined. In the Epistles to the Romans and to the Gala- tians, St. Paul enters fully and argumentatively upon the subject of a sinner's justification before God; and shews, in opposition to all the erroneous notions both of Jews and Gen- tiles, that it is not by works of any kind, whether ceremonial or moral, but simply and entirely by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. In both these epistles too he not only adduces this prophecy as confirming his doctrine, but he lays a peculiar
=» Hab. i. 6, 12. and ii. 2—4.