take pains for his living. This original of our apostle's sorrow is expressly intimated by himself, Rom. x. 1, 2: Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a seal of God, but not according to knowledge. And in the eleventh chapter he tells us Gentiles, (what Moses before had told these Jews,) that whensoever they should turn again to the God of their fathers, they were to have precedency of all other people in the world, in his everlasting and unchangeable love: I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy. Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness? ch. xi. 11, 12. And again, vv. 28, 29: Concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers' sakes. For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. And would it not grieve any zealous soul that loves the memory of his fathers, to see them so far estranged from their God, who is not altogether estranged from them, but always ready, when these prodigals shall return unto him, to embrace them as his dear sons?

These are points whose contemplation in our apostle was deeper than our shallow wits can rightly sound, and did cast him out of such an ecstasy of joy into such a sudden trance of sorrow, that he had no leisure to express the causes of it in the beginning of this ninth chapter, but is fain to reserve it to the beginning of the tenth. The very depth of sorrow had swallowed up the very stream or current of his discourse, and causeth him to begin thus abruptly:

I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh CHRIST came, who is over all, GOD blessed for ever. Amen. Rom. ix. 1-5. He concludes his sorrow as though he had still prayed for them whilst he sorrowed.

If it be further demanded what peculiar occasion he had to be overtaken with these sudden pangs of sorrow rather in this place (the beginning of this ninth chapter) than any other, the special occasion, as I intimated before, was, the present opportunity or necessity of answering an exception, which, from the rejection of these Jews, might have been taken against those confident assertions wherewith he had concluded the former. And being to anatomize their wounds, for others' instruction, unto the quick, the sight of their grievousness could not but make his heart to bleed.

4. Against his former assertions (he saw) the Gentile or Jew late converted would be ready thus to object: "If they of whom Christ according to the flesh came; if they for whose miscarriage Christ in the days of his flesh was more sorrowful than thou canst be; yet they, notwithstanding all these prerogatives and peculiar interests in God's promises, are 214 fallen away, and utterly separated from God; where is the infallibility of our assurance? what is the

effect with that of St. John, chap. i. 12, 13: As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, but of God. Nor doth our apostle, either here or in any other part of his writings, once intimate any other cause of these Jews' rejection, besides that hereditary disease whereof the Baptist foresaw their best teachers dangerously sick, and for whose prevention he prescribes a wary diet, whilst he offers the medicine of baptism unto them. When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: and think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. Matt. iii. 7, 8, 9. Had they steadfastly relied upon God's power, manifested in the miraculous birth of Isaac, and the mighty increase of his posterity, as they did upon this glorious title of being Abraham's and Isaac's seed, they might have been sons, not of Abraham only, but of God. And no place of scripture, in my observation, warrants us to think that they were excluded by any immutable decree or irrevocable act of omnipotency from thus relying on God's power, or from following Abraham's footsteps. Let us not then, I beseech you, in a matter of so great consequence, presume to understand above that which is written, or to make a further resolution of men's reprobation than our apostle hath done. And the first and only cause into which he resolves the rejection of the Jews, as from the conclusion of this discourse, Rom. ix. 32, is apparent, is, That they

sought salvation not by faith, but by works; not by reliance on God's power or promises, but by confidence in these carnal prerogatives.

6. As it is dangerous to assign any cause of reprobation without warrant of scripture, so is it a preposterous presumption to pronounce their persons reprobated or accursed, whom the scripture hath proclaimed for blessed. Yet some in our times (unless my memory fail me) have ranked Ishmael amongst the reprobates, whenas Moses had registered the grant of Abraham's petition for him—As for Ishmael, I have heard thee: Behold, I have blessed him. Now Abraham doubtless did pray in faith, and his faith questionless did as well respect the kingdom of God and his righteousness, as the blessings of this life; yea, his prayer for him was conceived in that very form which (as I have learned from some too rigid in the doctrine of reprobation) is the true character of God's elect and chosen. And for justifying their observation of this use of the phrase in other places of scripture, they allege this petition of Abrahamo, O that Ishmael might live before thee! which is as if he had said, "O that thou wouldest take Ishmael to be thy servant, and admit him into thy favour!" Just Abraham prays for, and the Almighty grants, Ishmael's admission into that presence of God, from which David desires he might not be cast out, ps. li. 11.

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7. But whatsoever became of Ishmael, our apostle foresaw the proud Jew would except against this instance, (as they did against the like of our Saviour's, John viii. 41, We are not born of fornication,)" We are Abraham's sons, not by the bondwoman but by Sarah; and why then twittest thou us with Ishmael ?" His rejoinder followeth in the next words to this

nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord? Rom. viii. 38, 39. Have we any warrant thus to persuade ourselves besides God's word? any better assurance than his promise? and seeing these Jews, thy countrymen, as thou often inculcatest, had both these in as ample manner and form as we can expect; if neither took effect in them, why may not both want their effects in us?" With this objection the apostle (if we duly mark the closure of his protested sorrow for the Jews' fall) directly meets, Rom. ix. 6: Not as though the word of God had taken none effect. It was in his eye when he fell into the former trance, out of which awaked, he falls in hand with it afresh again.

5. The more often and more seriously we read the doctrinal part of this Epistle to the Romans, or of those other to the Galatians and the Hebrews, the juster occasion we shall have always to admire our apostle's skill, as well in right applying the typical prenotions or enigmatical portendments of the Old Testament to the events in the New, as also in making use of whatsoever by the Jews, or any on their behalf, could be objected, for establishing the truth which he maintained against them. For instance, at this time, take only the manner of his retorting the former objection, wherein this whole chapter and the other two following are wholly spent. The manner is thus: "It is true, the Jews, my kinsmen, who had greater interest in God's love and promises than any people besides them hitherto have had-as great as any after them can expect-are become castaways. But spend your thoughts, not so much in wondering at this, as