which I have commanded."

Verse 12. "Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they were accursed:" it is then added, "neither will I BE WITH YOU ANY MORE, except ye destroy the accursed from among you."

From all that hath been said, ob serve, first, that although God hath said, "There shall not a man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life;" yet when they disobeyed him, there were men, even the men of Ai, who not only stood before them, but destroyed some of them, and chased the rest quite away. Observe, secondly, that although God had said, "I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee;" yet we find that when they had sinned, he NOT ONLY FORSOOK THEM; but also declared,"Neither WILL I BE WITH YOU ANY MORE except ye destroy the accursed from amongst you. It is therefore certain that this promise, as originally

made, was only a CONDITIONAL promise of success in conquering and possessing the land of Canaan.

As it is applied to the converted Hebrews, it is a promise of outward provisions. This is evident from the "Let your conversation be

context. without covetousness, and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee."-For a better understanding of these words, let it be observed that the converted Hebrews had formerly been spoiled and plundered in their worldly goods, on account of their attachment to the Gospel. This, for a while, they took joyfully. But when they looked forward, and saw nothing in this world but prospects of greater poverty and distress, many of them were in danger of too great solicitude about these worldly things and it is not improbable that some of them were in danger of leaving Christ, because his religion exposed them to great poverty, as well as to other worldly inconvenien`cies.

To prevent this, the apostle very seasonably said, let your roos, your disposition, your manner, your turnings and windings for a livelihood, be without covetousness; that is, with out anxious mistrustful care; and be content with such things as ye have, or as it is often rendered, with the present things: for he hath said, "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." It is therefore certain, that neither the text nor context do, in the smallest degree, authorise us to expound this promise otherwise than as speaking of temporal things. And, that even in this sense, it must be understood conditionally, appears from hence, that when GoD made it to Joshua, it was certainly conditional; for though the condition was not mentioned in the promise, the event fully shews it to be conditional, as I have shewn above. And as we have no authority to understand the same promise conditionally in the days of Joshua, and unconditionally in the days of Paul, I conclude that it must

be understood conditionally in this epistle to the Hebrews: and that, upon the whole, the meaning is, I will not, I will not leave thee to want the necessaries of life, while thou trustest in me; I will never, never, never forsake thee, while thou art obedient to my word. Estius, after observing that the original promise was made to Joshua, says "Extenditur ad omnes justos, et ad omnem temporatem necessitatem"-it extends to all the righ eous, and to every TEMPORAL necessity.* Junius confines it yet more when he says, "Pertinet ad pios omnes vocátioni suæ hærentes :" it belongs to all the righteous, WHO ADHERE TO THEIR VOCATION.† This passage, therefore, does in no wise militate against the general conclusion-maintained in this discourse.

Having demonstrated from nineteen texts in this epistle, that the evil which the apostle apprehended these Hebrews to be in danger of, was total

*Estius in loc. † Junius in loc

and final apostasy; and having considered the three texts (which are all that can be found in the epistle) which have the appearance of an objection to the general conclusion: I shall sum up all that hath been said on this head, by giving a brief account of the oCCASION and DESIGN of the epistle, and of the apostle's manner of reasoning therein.

The Christian religion being so contrary to the corrupt principles and practice of the world, those who embraced and propagated it were, on those accounts, rendered very odious wherever they came. The consequence of this was, that heavy persecutions were raised against them in most places. The converted Hebrews, because they had turned their back on the law of Moses, and embraced the religion of that JESU's whom their rulers had crucified, were exceedingly persecuted by their countrymen. Sometimes the unconverted Hebrews persecuted their converted brethren themselves; at other times