Hebrews THE parts of this Letter written and sent to the Hebrew Christians are The Substance and Body of the same The Conclusion The End whereat the Apostle aims is The confirmation of them in the belief and profession of the Gospel The Means he useth for the attainment of this end is Clearly to demonstrate the excellency of Christ as a Prophet and a Priest far above all former Prophets and Priests and thereupon to perswade them to rely upon Him who alone can effectually and eternally save them and make them fully blessed The Method observed by him is to deliver 1. The Doctrine of his Prophetical Office and to apply the same and this is done in the first four Chapters 2. The Doctrine of his Sacerdotal Office and to apply it this is begun Chap. 5. and continued to the 18 verse of the last Chapter CHAP. 1. VVHerein the Apostle taking for granted that the Doctrine of the Old Testament was revealed from God by Prophets and by Angels and the Doctrine of the Gospel by Christ he begins his Discourse concerning Christ as a Prophet and proves him 1. More excellent then all the Pen-men of the Old Testament For 1. He was the Son of God 2. He was the Heir of all things 3. God by him did make the Worlds 4. He was the Brightness of his Father's Glory and Character of his Person 5. He upholdeth all things by the Word of his Power 6. He expiated and purged Sin by his Blood 7. He is set down at the right hand of the Majesty on High In all these seven particulars he far excells the former Prophets ver 1. 2 3. 2. More excellent then the Angels because he hath inherited a far more excellent Name Power and Dignity ver 4. He hath obtained by inheritance a more excellent Name Because 1. He is his The Son and God his Father ver 5. 2. God commanded all the Angels to Worship him ver 6. 3. They being created are but Messengers and Servants but Christ the Son sits in a glorious Throne and is possessed of a Kingdom which is everlasting and when the Earth and the Heavens created by him shall wax old and be changed it shall abide unchangeable for ever ver 8 9 10 11 12. 4. He is set at the right hand of God and by the Word and Patent of God is made Supreme and Universal King and Prince a Place never granted to any of the Angels who all of them are but Ministring Spirits under Him for the Heirs of Salvation This Jesus Christ so excellent was a Prophet for God spake by him as more excellent and in a more excellent manner then by them so that his Doctrine is more full more powerful and more perfect then the Doctrine of Prophets and Angels CHAP. II. VVHerein 1. The former Doctrine of the excellency of Christ and the Gospel is applied by way of exhortation 2. The excellency of Christ above the Angels though he was lower then them for a time is further proved In the Exhortation we may observe 1. The Duty exhorted unto 2. The Reason or Motive to enforce performance 1. The Duty is diligently to attend unto the Doctrine of the Gospel and to take heed of falling from the belief and profession of the same ver 1. 2. The Reason is taken from the most grievous punishment which they cannot escape if they continue not in their Profession This Reason is delivered by way of comparison in quantity For if they who disobeyed the Law then much more they who disobey the Gospel shall be severely punished and shall not escape The Consequence is good and clear from the excellency of the Gospel above the Law For 1. The Law was delivered by Angels the Gospel by Christ. 2. The Law is a Doctrine of Death and Damnation the Gospel of Salvation 3. The Gospel preached by the Apostles commissioned by Christ was attested from Heaven and confirmed by Signs Wonders Miracles and Gifts of the Holy Ghost but the Law was not And from the excellency of the Gospel in respect of the Authour the Matter and Confirmation the Sin is aggravated and the Punishment made more grievous ver 2 3 4. The Exhortation finished the Apostle doth not only enforce the former Reason but proceeds farther to demonstrate the excellency of Christ above the Angels The Argument is That God hath not subjected the World to come to Angels but to Christ who for a little time was lower then the Angels for so it is to be understood ver 5. This Argument is taken out of Psal. 8. 4 5. Where we may observe 1. The words of the Psalm cited ver 6 7. 2. The Apostle's Discourse upon them wherein he observes 1. That all things were put in subjection to him by the Patent and Edict of his heavenly Father yet not actually subdued and brought into subjection ver 8. 2. The Humiliation of Christ which went before his Exaltation For He was made lower then the Angels for a little time Of this Humiliation he delivers the Causes Efficient Final The efficient Cause was 1. The Grace and free Mercy of God which did decree it for the benefit of sinful man ver 9. 2. The Wisdom of God which contrived it as the fittest way in bringing many Sons to Glory to consecrate their Captain by Sufferings ver 10. The final Cause may best be understood if we consider what this Humiliation whereby he was lower then the Angels is It was 1. To be made a Mortal man 2. In this mortal humane Nature to suffer Death 1. The reason why he must be made Man and mortal was Because he that sanctisieth and they that are sanctified must be one and because the sanctified which were to be made Sons did partake of Flesh and Blood therefore he took part with them that in this respect they might be his Brethren And that they were so he proves ver 11 12 13. 2. The End and final Cause why he was made man and mortal was 1. That he might dye for his Brethren and by his Death destroy the Devil and deliver his People ver 14 15. And for this reason he took not the Nature of Angels to deliver them but the Seed of Abraham ver 16. 2. Another end was That he Suffering and being Tempted in their Nature might be a merciful and faithful High Priest and make atonement for the Sins of the People and succour them who were tempted ver 17 18. CHAP. III. VVHerein Christ is proved to be more excellent and a greater Prophet then Moses For the Jews did think it very unreasonable in any part to recede from that Doctrine which they had received from God by Prophets Angels Moses and to hearken unto Christ except he could be proved to be a Greater Prophet sent from God and his Doctrine more excellent and perfect And this was the cause of the Apostle's Undertaking This part of his Discourse is brought in by way of Exhortation Where 1. The Duty exhorted
them everlasting life Hee 's that Joshua who leads us and gives us possession of our spiritual and celestial Canaan 2. This Captain Prince and Authour was made perfect of God by Suffering or God made him perfect by Sufferings To be perfected in this place is to be consecrated and made a compleat Priest or at least to be put in an immediate capacity to act as a Priest Aaron and the Levitical Priests had their Consecration and it was not without Blood and the death of Sacrifices and the form was instituted and prescribed by God who alone could give them this Glory Power and Office That Christ was a Priest is expresse Scripture as we shall understand in this Epistle hereafter Yet such he could not be without Consecration neither could he be consecrated without Blood and suffering of Death and offering a bloody Sacrifice And the difference of the Consecration of other Priests and him was this that though both were consecrated by Blood yet they were consecrated by the blood of Beaâ—â—s sacrificed He by his own Blood when he sacrificed and offered himself without spot unto God The reason of this was Because he must be a Meditatour between God and sinful Man to reconcile them but no reconcilion without Blood and no Blood but his own Blood immaculate would be accepted For though God was merciful and willing to be reconciled yet his justice would admit of no reconciliation but upon satisfaction to be made by this Blood God did manifest his Justice and hatred of sin by punishing it in Christ before he would pardon it in Man It was God that did Consecrate him for no Man or Angel could conferr this Office upon him or make him an universal and eternal Priest to officiate and minister in Heaven only God could do this And he as supream Lord and Law-giveâ— could appoint and accept him to be Redeemer prescribe the manner of Consecration and as supream Judge accept of his Consecration once finished and invest him with this sacerdotal Power In these respects God is said to Consecrate him By him thus consecrated many Sons are brought to Glory There are many Sons brought to Glory he that brings them to Glory is God he doth this by Christ consecrated and made their Captain To bring to Glory is in the end to give possession of Glory and that everlasting and most excellent Estate prepared for the Sons of God These are many and are made his Sons by Regeneration and Adoption The one doth make them capable of the other gives them right to Glory which they shall fully enjoy when their heavenly Birth and gracious Adoption are perfected They derive their title from their Captain as consecrated by Suffering and received by Faith For as they are the Sons and Heirs of God so are they joynt-Heirs with Christ and in his right And if he never had been consecrated by Sufferings they never had been either Sons or Heirs or Glorified For he by his Sufferings merited all and laid the foundation of their eternal Happiness And for this Suffering he made him Captain and Head of all his Sons and gave him power to give eternal Life to as many as he had given him It 's God who brings these Sons to Glory by their Head and Captain He loved Man he gave his Son to Death he raised him up again made him King and Priest and gave him power to convert us and by him he adopts us and by him he gives us Glory The sum of all is this The glorification of sinful Man from first to last is from God it 's he and he alone that brings him to Glory yet though the persons glorified be many yet they are all Sons and none but Sons shall enjoy the Inheritance neither are they Sons by Nature or of themselves He makes them such by Christ and Christ was consecrated by Sufferings and made their Captain It became him for whom and by whom are all things in bringing many Sons to Glory thus to do God is here described from his efficiency where-by he is the cause of all things the universal Agent who produceth preserveth ordereth all things to their end especially his Sons unto Glory For though his works be many then some are more excellent then others and one of the chiefest is the Salvation of man Some do think that by these words for whom and by whom are meant that God is the final and efficient cause of all yet in strict sense God cannot in himself be said to be the end of any thing yet the manifestation of his glorious Perfection may be said to be intended by him in all his Works To consecrate the Captain of all his Sons by Sufferings did become him that is it seemed best to his divine Wisdom to use this means as most fit to manifest his justice and mercy in the Redemption and Salvation of man What Ways and means as conducing to this end he knew or his divine Wisdom did dictate unto him is hidden from us but this here mentioned he resolved upon as the best and most agreeable to his excellent perfection For God doth nothing but that which becomes him so glorious in himself and so excellent an Agent Men may do many things unbeseeming and no ways befitting them to do nay Angels have done many things which did not become so noble Spirits to do but God doth nothing but what God may do And this is the reason why Christ must taste of Death for every man Because it seemed good to God by that way and means to save sinful man And this is the relative consideration and connexion implyed in the causal conjunction For. They give a reason why Christ was lower then the Angels and suffered Death And why It became God so to do Ver. 11. For both he that Sanctifieth c. § 14. The Apostle in these and the following words doth manifest how it became God to cast Christ below the Angels and consecrate him by Sufferings and he doth so manifest it as that it may appear to be agreeable to Reason which is a spark or ray of divine Light To understand this the better you must remember 1. That Christ was lower then the Angels in suffering Death 2. That as God or Angel he could not suffer Death 3. If he could have suffered Death as a Spirit yet that Death was not so fit to redeem Man or expiate his sin and sanctify him 4. That seeing he must both dy and dy for man he must be Man and mortal Man to sanctify man These things premised the Apostle proves that it became God to make Christ a mortal Man and the reason is because he that sanctifyeth and they who are sanctifyed ought and must be of one and this is the coherence In the words themselves we have the unity and indentity of the Sanctifier and sanctified By the Sanctifier or the person sanctifying is meant Christ and by the sanctified sinful men by being of one that
they are some ways one The reason why Christ is said to sanctify is because he hath an active power to sanctify and free from Sin such as are polluted with Sin and men thus polluted are said to be sanctified when they are freed from Sin Christ doth sanctify them by his merit and the application of his merit by his Sacrifice and his Spirit making use of Word and Sacraments And man is first sanctifiable by the Death of Christ and actually sanctified upon his Faith in this Death That this is the sense is plain by these words of his By which Will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Christ once for all Chap. 10. 10. The meaning whereof is that by the Death and Sacrifice of Christ remission of Sin and freedom from the pollution was merited so that this doing of his Fathers Will in suffering Death for the sin of man was so accepted of God that it hath an eternal virtue of purging the conscience from sin and in consideration of the same God is always ready upon man's Faith actually to remit and to take away his sin These two are said to be of one Crelliâ—s is here mistaken as in the former verse For he tells us that God brings many Sons to Glory by perfecting their Captain Christ through Sufferings because by his example God doth teach us that by Suffering and by Death though grievous we may attain eternal Glory and suffering is the way unto it This he spake to delude his Reader and seduce him because he would not confess the satisfying and meriting power of Christ's Sacrifice That Christ in his Suffering Death did give us a rare example of many heavenly vertues and an encouragement by his Resurrection and Glorification is true but not intended in this place So neither may we approve of his exposition of these words as any ways genuine and agreeing with the scope of the place For he makes Christ and Believers one as Brethsen because they have God as one Father But this is wide and far from the Apostles intention That of Junius and others is the best that they are 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of one masse and humane Nature alluding to the offering of the first Fruits at the Passover or the two Loaves waved at Pentecost by the which all the rest of their Fruits and Bread were sanctified That he means so he expresseth plainly afterwards ver 14. which informs that to be of one is to be partaker of Flesh and Blood as they are Flesh and Blood Therefore the Socinian must be either blind or impudent yet to understand his unity the better you must know 1. That as man had sinned so he was resolved to redeem and deliver him 2. That his wisdom did not think good to redeem him immediately himself nor mediately by Angels but Man must be redeemed by Man 3. That seeing man by sin deserved and was liable to Death he determined to deliver him by the Death which another must suffer for him 4. God as God could not dy therefore God must some way become Man and by his Word assume Flesh and Blood that he might in and by that humane nature suffer Death 5. He that must be Man and suffer Death and so sanctify all the rest must be one with them and not only as having Flesh and Blood as all men are but must be the Head Captain representative of all mankind and this Christ was both by divine Institution and his own voluntary susception And this is the difference between this unity of him with all mankind and the unity of all other men amongst themselves that he is so one with them as to be their Head and general representative for Redemption and Salvation And the difference between all other men considered as men and him considered as man is not only in this that he was holy and they sinful but that he was personally united to the Word they were not for they were distinct persons in themselves § 15. That they were of one is proved in the words following and that two wayes 1. In the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that it is so by testimony of Scripture 2. In the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the reason why it 's so and that taken from the end to manifest how it became God thus to do The first is proved out of the Old Testament and first from Psal. 22. 22. That the Psalm is understood of Christ is clear not only because the first words thereof were used and taken up by Christ even when he was Suffering upon the Crosse but also many things in that Psalm were clearly fulfilled in Christ to the very casting Lots upon his Seamless Coat In the words Christ calls his Apostles and Disciples and all such as should believe in his Word declared unto them his Brethren not Strangers or Aliens not Servants or Slaves And by this acknowledgment and owning them he doth signify that he sanctifying and they being sanctifyed were one For he was man and they were men he was the Son of God they the Sons of God he was amongst these as a Brother of the same Society but as the Head of the Society and the first begotten amongst many Brethren The argument is this Brethren are one and of one but Christ and those who are sanctifyed by Christ are Brethren therefore they are one and of one That they are Christ's Brethren is evident because Christ calls them so and is brought in by the infallible Scriptures giving them that Title And how great a condescension was this that the Son of God Lord of Angels should vouchsafe us this honour as to acknowledg us sinful Wretches raised out of the dust his Bretheren And though he cites other words besides these as that He in the midst of the great Congregation would sing praise unto God yet the principal words for which the 40 Psalm is quoted is the word Brethren a term given by Christ unto his Disciples The second proof is found in many places of Scripture but yet they must be taken out of some place which speaks of Christ so as these words may be evidently the words of Christ. Some yea many think they are taken out of 2 Saâ— 22. 3. or out of Psal. 18. 2. where in the Septuagint we find words to the same purpose But seeing the Apostle doth follow the words of the Septuagint when he alledgeth any place out of the Old Testament and these words are not found in either of the former places neither is that Psalm so properly understood of Christ therefore it 's not likely that the Apostle intended to cite any thing out of them Therefore feeing we find the words following concerning trusting in God and concerning him and the Children which God had given him in the Prophet Esay and in the same Chapter of that Prophet and close together too therefore we may conclude with à Lapide and Heinfiâ—s that the place here cited is Esay
power cannot be destroyed except Christ dy Christ cannot dy except he be lower then the Angels and made mortal Man This connexion and subordination of these things did become God and was agreeable to his heavenly wisdom whereas the Socinian saith That for Christ to take part with Men and be Flesh and Blood as they are doth not prove that the Incarnation is true if we consider it barely in it self as a participation of humane nature and mortality Yet if we consider the subject of this participation and the person taking part with man to be the Son of God by whom he made the Worlds the brightness of his Fathers Glory and the expresse Image of his Person and look upon him as that word which was in the beginning and was with God and was God then if this Son this Word be made Flesh as here the Apostle doth affirm and else-where then the Incarnation is plain and clear enough it cannot be denyed § 17. This farther end is expressed in these words Ver. 15. And deliver them who through the fear of Death were all their life-time subject to bondage This Text represents unto us two things 1. The sad condition of such as are under the power of Satan 2. A deliverance or freedom from it The sad condition is an estate of perpetual slavery and fear of Death For to be subject to bondage is to be a slave and to be thus subject all the time of his Life is to be a perpetual slave for time of Life And this is a grievous slavery and bondage not only because it 's perpetual but because of the great danger For by fear of Death may by a Metonymy be meant the danger of Death For the proper cause of fear is danger once apprehended for it 's true that men may be in danger and yet without fear because the danger is not seen apprehended known And the bondage of perpetual fear is woful if not intolerable This Death which is so dangerous and ever threatens to terrify and torment us is not only bodily but spiritual not only temporal but eternal and the greatest Evil of all others and if we be Satan's slaves and in his power he is a most cruel Tyrant and Enemy and seeks our extream and everlasting misery and we can expect nothing better from him who delights in our destruction Oh that man did but see his condition and were sensible of it For then he could take no rest Day or Night and he would seek and cast about for deliverance We see how sad it is by the terrours and torments of Judas and Cain and by the fears griefs troubles wounds sigh◠groans of such as were once sensible of their sins and apprehensive of the wrath of God Though this be a sad condition yet there is deliverance from this continual danger this perpetual fear which is the greatest slavery of all other The beginning of comfort is to know that there is a possibility of Freedom and that the Danger is avoidable or removable The first degree of this deliverance is in Christ's Death whereby divine justice was satisfied and freedome merited 2. That the power of the Devil was destroyed for whilst it continued this fear could not be removed 3. This freedome and liberty is more compleat when upon Faith in Christ's Death Sin is pardoned and the cause of this fear is taken away For the justified have peace with God are freed from condemnation and the Law of Sin and Death and they who feared eternal Punishments rejoyce in the hope of Glory Then this slavery is changed into a blessed liberty fear into hope and the sorrow of Death into the joy of Life § 18. It follows Ver. 16. For verily he took not upon him the Nature of Angels but he took on him the Seed of Abraham In these words it 's conceived a reason is given why Man and not Angels are delivered from the slavery of death and danger of eternal punishments and the reason is this because the Word was made Flesh and Man not a Spirit or an Angel And they more clearly explain these words Seeing the Children were partakers of Flesh and Blood he took part with them By Death to deliver them For if he 1. Took part with them 2. To deliver them 3. Deliver them by Death then he took not part with Angels but with the seed of Abraham as a fit means which it became God to use The Conjunction 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is not always causal to inferr a reason of some thing from the cause or some other argument For it is sometimes expletive sometimes hath another signification and so it may be here But to let that pass let 's consider the Text in it self which logically considered is a discretive axiom denying the same thing of one subject and affirming it of a another Christ took upon him something But 1. That was not the Angels or nature of Angels 2. He took upon him or to him the seed of Abraham So that in the words we have two simple axiomes or propositions The first is negative For verily he took not upon him the nature of Angels The second is affirmative He took on him the seed of Abraham The negation in the former proposition is strong for it 's not barely said He took not but he no where or not at all For 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 may signify nusquam aut nequaquam no where or in no wise 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies verily To understand the whole Text is difficult because of the Verb 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which some turn apprehend it he took hold on and think the expression is taken from such as pursue and follow hard after one that flyes from them to take hold on him and bring him back So Man runs from God and God became Man to follow after Man and take hold on him to save him Thus Chrysostome and from him Bishop Andrews Heinsius à Lapide with others Crellius and the Socinians turn the word another way and understand the place thus Christ succoured not the Angels but succoured the seed of Abraham This and also the former may be true but not pettinent The reason why Crellius likes the latter sense is because he likes not the Doctrine of the Incarnation he cannot digest it The word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 translated and that rightly by Vatablus Beza the Turgurines and Tremelius out of the Syriack assumpsit he assumed and by our English took on him doth answer to the Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 turned by the Septuagint several times 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the word here used And not to take the Angels that is nature of Angels is not to be made an Angel or Officer the individual substance of an Angel to redeem the Angels that sinned To assume or take the Seed of Abraham is 1. To be a man as Abraham and his Seed were men and partakers of Flesh and Blood
2. That whereas he became man in latter times he must needs be of some Nation and People with reference to the Head and first Father of that Nation and for Nation he was according to his humane Nature a Jew the first Father of which Nation was Abraham The reason hereof is this because God had made a special promise to Abraham That in his Seed all Nations should be blessed By which word Seed is meant Christ and Christ as descended from him according to the Flesh He is also called the Son of David because God promised That he should be born of his Family in Bethlehem the native place of David This sense 1. Is most agreeable to the Context antecedent where it 's said That Christ must be lower then the Angels must taste of Death must be consecrated by Suffering must be one with the sanctisied must be partaker of Flesh and Blood and deliver sinful man from the Devil But if he had assumed the nature of Angels none of these could be affirmed of him 2. The former two senses cannot be good because then he should have only apprenended and succoured the Seed of Abraham according to the Letter of this Text. Therefore seeing he took upon him the Seed of Abraham as he did the Seed of David therefore to take on him or assume the Seed of Abraham is to be of the Seed of Abraham as he was of David 2 Tim. 2 8. and to be made of the Seed of Abraham as he was made of the Seed of David according to the Flesh Rom. 1. 3. And it is the same with that of the Divine Evangelist The Word was made Flesh Joh. 1. 14. Crellius here trifles egregiously for he excepts against this sense 1. Because to apprehend or take hold of a thing is not to assume the nature of it 2. The word Angels which is plural should have been singular But 1. Who will grant him that which neither others do nor he can prove that the word must be turned apprehended in this place whereas it hath other senses both in the Septuagint and in the New Testament and is turned oftner and by more Translatours assume as was shewed before 2. If Christ had assumed the individual substance of an Angel he had assumed the Nature of Angels He did but assume one individual Flesh and Blood yet he is said to take part with the Children which were many He again objects that if it be said that he took the nature not of Angels but Men then these words cannot contain and render a reason That Christ was made lower then the Angels because it is the same But 1. How will he prove that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is causal if it should be denied 2. Who told him that it referrs only to those words of the 7th verse as a reason of them whereas it 's plain if the conjunction be causal it referrs to that which went immediately before 3. To be lower then the Angels and assume the nature of Man are not precisely the same For now he is Man and yet above the Angels These words thus explained and cleared inform us 1. Of some special love of God shewed unto Man and to Angels and of some benefit issuing from that love and given unto Man and denied to the Angels He so loved Man that he gave his only begotton Son to be the propitiation for his sin and not for the Angels Christ and the eternal Word must be Man and dy for him but he must not be an Angel to dy for Apostate Angels or redeem them The cause of this was the free will of God who might have neglected both the one as well as the other for both were sinful and deserved Death Yet there might be a reason why he passed by the Angels and not Man even because Angels were not tempred yet sinned but Man was deceived and so was a subject more capable of mercy though he deserved no mercy Yet if Man will be obstinate in his sin and refuse to acknowledg this love and receive Christ God will turn his love into hatred and send him a cursed wretch into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his Angels and he shall lose eternally the benefit of Christ's Redemption which is remission and eternal life 2. They let us know the condescension and deep humiliation of the Son of God who vouchsafed not only to be Man but took upon him the form of a Servant and was obedient unto Death the Death of the Crosse. And this Incarnation is a deep mystery and this humiliation a matter of greatest wonder 3. They acquaint us with the excellent dignity and high advancement of the humane Nature in that it was assumed and inseparably united unto that eternal Word which is God The Angels in many things are above us and more excellent then we are yet in this we are above the Angels and nearer unto God and our nature in Christ is Lord of Angels 4. We learn from them that the Seed of Abraham and the People of the Jews have a priority and priviledg above all People For Christ took upon him their Flesh and Blood and they were his Brethren of whom according to the Flesh Christ came who is over all God blessed for ever Amen Rom. 9. 5. This is the reason why he said when he lived on Earth That he was sent to the lost Sheep of Israel and why he chose out of them the Apostles preached the Gospel unto them first for the tender of eternal life was first made to them and why he began and finished the work of Redemption amongst them 5. From them we understand something of the nature of the Incarnation For herein we have 1. One person the eternal Word and the Son of God 2. Two Natures Divine and Humane 3. The union of these two by assumption for the Word assumed the nature of Man and this Nature was thereby united to the Word in the unity of person 4. The distinction of these two Natures for the Word is God and not Man this humane Nature remains Man and is not God and the difference is very great and perpetual And thus God-Man is Christ our blessed Saviour and Redeemer and happy are they who know him and believe in him Ver. 17 18. Wherefore in all things it behâ—â—ved him to be made like unto his Brethren c. § 19. In these words we have another reason why Christ must be lower then the Angels Man and like his Brethren One end was that he might suffer and dy and this he could not do except he be partaker of Flesh and Blood and therefore he took upon him the Nature of Men and not of Angels The end why he must dy was 1. That he might destroy the Devil who had the power of Death and so deliver them that were in continual danger 2. That he might be a merciful and faithful High-Priest and so make reconciliation for the sins of his People and be
obeyed it how could it have sanctified us But Christ came to do this Will and did it And he did it by offering of his Body once for all Where we may take notice of 1. The Body of Christ. 2. The Offering of it 3. The Offering of it once 1. The Body of Christ was the thing to be slain and sacrificed For he had said before A Body hast thou prepared me and here we understand why God did prepare him a Body and that is that it might be Sacrificed So that the matter of this Sacrifice was a Body yet not any Body but the Body of Christ which was the Body of the Son of God and so of God in a singular manner 2. This Body of Jesus Christ must be offered this was the form of the Sacrifice And here we might enquire and search out a reason why it 's said That the Body of Christ was offered And to discover this we must know That the God-head could not be offered For who can offer himself or any other thing to himself Neither could the Soul of Christ be offered because it was immortal For when it 's said That God made his Soul an offering for Sin Esay 53. 10. yet there by Soul is meant the Life of Christ. For the thing to be sacrificed must be slain the Blood shed and it must be offered to God But Christ's Soul though obedient unto Death was not slain had no Blood to be shed could not be sacrified to God Yet his Body might be slain the Blood thereof shed and both tendered unto God In this respect it 's said by Christ himself The Bread that I will give is my Flesh which I give for the Life of the World And when he instituted the Eucharist in memory of this great Sacrifice he mentions his Body broken and given and his Blood shed This Body must be offered and resigned up to God and willingly yielded unto Death out of obedience to God's Command and love to sinful Man with an intention to propitiate God offended and to expiate the Sin of Man For otherwise if it had been crucified and separated from the Body and not out of this obedience and love and for this end it could never have sanctified us For it must be offered yet though offered if not accepted of God as a Ransome for Man's Sin it could not have had this effect For as it was God's free love to give his only begotten Son so it was his free love to accept this Offering in the behalf of sinful Man the rare and excellent effects thereof depended upon his Will It 's true that this Offering in it self was very acceptable yet that thereupon so incomparable a benefit should redound unto Man was from his Will and good Pleasure For though in it self it was far above all Offerings of the Law and the dignity of the person was great yet to sanctify Man and free him from eternal penalty did depend upon God's acceptation 3. This Body was but offered once for that once was sufficient and so much accepted of God that a second Offering of the same Body or any other thing was needless And that cause which by one efficiency can reach the effect must not act again for a new production of it Neither did it seem good to the infinite Wisdom of God to require any offering of this Sacrifice but this one § 10. Thus far the excellency of this Offering considered absolutely in it self hath been declared the comparative excellency is set forth in the words following to ver 15. Where we have 1. The Proposition concering the Legal Offering ver 11. 2. The Reddition ver 12 13 14. The Proposition we find Ver. 11. And every Priest standeth daily Ministring and Offering oftentimes the same Sacrifices which can never take away Sins IN which Text we may take notice of 1. The Minstration of the Legal Priests 2. The inefficacy or weakness of their Ministration The Priests are of the Order of Aaron and are here implied to be many in opposition to Christ which was but one for it 's said Every Priest These Priests were ordained of God to minister before him and especially the High-Priests which are here principally intended whose principal Work it was by the yearly Sacrifice offered on the tenth day of the seventh Month to expiate the Sins of Israel 1. In the Ministration of those Priests which was principally to offer we may consider 1. The Sacrifices offered 2. The frequency of their Offering 3. Their continual attendance at the Altar for that purpose 1. That which they offered was Sacrifice yet the Sacrifices were many individually yet the same in kind for the same kind of Sacrifice was offered several times And hence 2. The frequency of offering and the manifold Re-iteration of the Act for they offered the same Sacrifices often and many several times 3. Lest this Work and Service should at any time be neglected every Priest stands daily ready to offer such Sacrifices as God had instituted and commanded to be offered at set and determinate times The Sum is that 1. Many Priests 2. Offered many Sacrifices individual of the same kind 3. Offered the same Sacrifice oftentimes 2. Though these many were many times offered by many Priests and often by the same individual Priest yet they could never take away Sin This was their impotency and ineffectual Causality in respect of Expiation spiritual and eternal Where it 's to be noted 1. That to perfect to sanctify to take away Sin is the same 2. That there is a Legal carnal Expiation and a spiritual and eternal and this latter is here to be understood as denyed of the Legal Sacrifices which could not expiate Sin in this manner 3. Whereas it sometimes falls out that that which one Cause cannot many may effect and that Cause which may be deficient at one time may be efficacious at another yet here it is said that not all these nor any of these could take away Sin at any time They could never take it away 4. Whereas Sin may be expiated and made remissible for ever in respect of the Sacrifice yet not actually taken away or remitted by reason of the indisposition of the Subject and impenitency of the Sinner in this place you must know that these Sacrifices were deficient not only in respect of the indisposition of the Subject but also in respect of the active expiating power of the Cause For they never made any Sin spiritually remissible or the spiritual and eternal Punishment removable For otherwise that Blood of Christ which obtained eternal Remission hath no Effect of Justification upon impenitent Unbelievers for before Sin can be actually taken away from any Person there must be 1. A propitiatory Sacrifice and such as God will accept as a full satisfaction for Sin 2. The party sinful must repent believe pray 3. Christ the great High-Priest since his Ascension must make Intercession and plead 4. God the Supream Judg must
Title of God's People may be given to the Church of all times which began to suffer in Abel and continued suffering to our dayes and shall do unto the end For as Affliction is the common Lot of all Christ's Members so it is the way of God's training them for an eternal Crown of Glory 2. He was willing to suffer with them for they were his own Brethren and the best Society in the World and had the highest Promises with the greatest Priviledges and the best Hopes Yet though these were in a suffering condition he had rather partake with them in their Miseries than forfeit their Hopes and Priviledges Though Suffering as Suffering was grievous and no way desirable or eligible as such yet as it was the Lot of God's People and tended to a most excellent End it put on the notion of Good and might be willingly accepted and as the Case then stood not to be refused 3. When there is no better Condition to be expected a wise man will make a vertue of necessity and make the best use of that which in it self was bad and no wayes avoidable But there were pleasures which he either did enjoy or might have enjoyed Yet these were pleasures of Sin and but for a time and these abated much and it was better to suffer a little Misery for an eternal Reward than to enjoy a little momentary pleasure and after that endure eternal Punishment As eternal Pleasures do far excel temporal so Justice is infinitely better than Sin Hoâ—ustum is far above Jucundum and infinitely more desirable To suffer with God's People willingly and patiently was a rare vertue but the Delights of Pharoah's Court though they should have been lawful were no such thing But they were not lawful they were Pleasures of Sin that is sinful Pleasures they could not be enjoyed without Sin The matter of them might be base and no wayes allowable and besides the Use and Enjoyment of them might be immoderate and inordinate and with all unsanctified Persons addicted to them they prove sinful in both respects These being carnal blind the hearts of men and cause them to forget their God and neglect their Souls and eternal Estate Besides they were but for a time a little season and vanish suddenly away a little pleasure leavs a cruel Sting behind it which will torment for ever The just and vermous Suffering with God's People upon which followed a glorious Estate of Bliss was far more eligible than momentary sruful Pleasures Therefore he did prefer and choose the one before the other He saw two wayes before him the one was rough the other smooth yet at the end of one he saw a Paradise and at the end of the other a Lake of Fire he refuseth the smooth to avoid the Lake of Fire and takes the rough that he might enter into the Paradise to which it led him This was Moses Choice which few in the World take Most men look at present Pleasures not at future Joyes § 25. The next thing to be enquired is the Ground of this Choice and that was the ultimate Dictate of illuminated and elevated Reasons whereby he did believe For by Faith he made both this Refusal and this Choice resolved to deny himself and to take up the Cross and actually and constantly did both for they were the principal parts of his Obedience The Objects of this Reason were three 1. The Reproach of Christ. 2. The Treasures of Aegypt 3. The Recompence of Reward The divine inspired Truth gave a true Representation of every one of these and did so direct him that he judged aright both of the Reproach of Christ and the Treasures of Aegypt and that not onely absolutely but comparatively tooâ— and did furnish him with a strong Reason taken from the Reward to determine his Election The first Object was the Reproach of Christ that is such a Reproach as that of the Cross which Christ was to suffer or which he resolved to suffer for Christ's sake and by the Dictate of Faith in Christ For Moses his Faith was conformable unto that of his Fathers whereby they believed in that Seed of theirs in whom all Nations should be blessed which was Christ. Some Apprehensions they had of Christ's Sufferings and his Glory which should follow after but whether they had any distinct Notion of the Cross which was the Sum of all Afflictions and Sufferings may be doubted of us because we know not what special Revelations they might have This Cross was not only a suffering of Pain but of Reproach for that kind of death was both cruel and very ignominious and therefore much abhorted by Flesh and Blood which sometimes fears Reproach more than Pain This Reproach if suffered for our own Crimes and not for Christ and Righteousness sake can minister no Comfort or be in any wise gainful Yet it was counted Riches and a rare Revenue an incomparable Treasure not in respect of it self but of that which followed by vertue of God's Promise Thus it was considered if suffered patiently for Christ out of Faith in Christ and Love to Christ. The second Object was the Treasures of Aegypt These he considered and knew to be great yet of a finite value for though men dote upon these earthly Treasures idolize them take them for a God yet the price and worth of them was not very much they were like the Pleasures that is sinful and only for a little season Thus he considered them absolutely but not content with that he weighs them in a true Ballance and compares them and finds the Reproach of Christ greater the Treasures of Aegypt less the latter base in respect of the former which was far more excellent And if we would compare the Treasures of the Earth which men so much affect with the Treasures of Heaven which few seek after they would appear no better than Trash or Dung The third Object was The Recompence of the Reward Reward here must be understood of the great and final Reward of eternal Glory this Reward though excellent in it self is little worth except it be rendred that is given by God and received and enjoyed by us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifies both that is the Reward and the rendring of it yet it 's given only to such as are willing to bear the Reproach of Christ in compensation of our Sufferings for Christ. At this Reward promised by God merited by Christ and to be rendred unto Man he looked he eyed it very much and understood and that most certainly that it put a very high price upon suffering the Reproach of Christ and made it of far greater value than the Treasures of Aegypt because it was the way and means for to attain eternal Glory a Reward which neither the Treasures of Aegypt nor of all the World could purchase or parallel So that the Reproach of Christ was not so excellent in it self but as leading to the Estate of Heaven's Glory not that it
in his prayers and most earnestly deprecare the Wrath of God as his Saviour did The sense of sin will break the stoniest heart and quicken our Prayers cause cryes and tears But we neither consider the grievousnesse of our sins nor the bitternesse of our Saviour's Passion therefore our Prayers are cold and weak and mercy stands afar off and pardon comes not near us 3. These Prayers were made and directed to God as One that was able to save him from Death All Petitions made to any Person either unable or unwilling to do that which is desired are in vain might and mercy power and goodness are necessarily required in him to whom Prayers which shall in the issue prove effectual are to be offered And because none but God is absolutely Powerfull and Good Almighty and Almerciful therefore to him alone as Supream Lord all Prayers are to be made as to the prime Authour and principal efficient of all Blessings and Mercies To addresse our selves in this manner to any other is flat Idolatry and a breach of the first and great Command None can deliver from Death but only He. Therefore Christ offered his Prayers and Supplications to Him as able to save from Death and this ability to save in greatest dangers was the ground of his confidence God was able to save from Death either by prevention and not suffering him to dy or if he suffered Death by raising him up again and restoring life once taken away and lost The latter he did the former he denied to do yet by Death in this place may be meant some other thing then loss of this mortal and temporal Life for in Scripture it signifies all kind of evils Man or Angel is subject unto and in this place something which he feared prayed against and was freed from by God his heavenly Father supporting him so that he did not sink under the heavy burden laid upon him He endured all with patience and willingness of mind and was not overcome or overwhelmed He suffered something far more terrible then all bodily pains and that Death which is only a separation of Soul and Body and this was violent temptation for he was tempted more violently then ever any was yet he never yielded the least but continued firm faithful obedient unto his heavenly Father in the midst of his greatest conflicts That which upheld him was the power of his Father and that which obtained the victory was his support obtained by his fervent Prayers For 4. His Prayers and Supplications were effectual he was heard in that he feared To be heard in the Hebrew is by a Metonymy sometimes to have our prayers granted and the thing requested done And to be heard when we pray for deliverance is to be delivered saved holpen This might be made manifest out of many places of the Old Testament translated by the Septuagint Two of them Heinsius observes as 2 Chron. 18. 31. where it 's written That Jehoshaphat cryed out and the Lord helped him so the Hebrew heard him so the Septuagint And Psal. 56. 16. As for me I will call upon God and the Lord will save me so the Hebrew hath heard me so the Greek So that for Christ to be heard was for Christ to be delivered But what was he delivered from certainly not from Death so as not to suffer it for he dyed but from something he seared For the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which properly signifyeth fear Metonymically in this place signifies the thing feared which was the object and cause of his fear This word is once used by the Septuagint for so they translate the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Josh. 22. 24. But what did Christ fear Death No not bodily Death but such a Death as he suffered wherein he was so fearfully tempted For if God had deserted him wholly as he did in part and not have supported him he as man might have been overcome have sunk under the burden in distrust or dispair or impatience This he feared more then ten thousand Deaths of his Body and so to do was his holiness and though he knew his Father would support him yet he must offer vehement Prayers and be put hard unto it before he did obtain it Thus though he knew he must dy yet he defired vehemently that the Cup of his Passion if it were possible might passe and be omitted God began to hear him when he sent an Angel from Heaven to comfort him but then he heard fully when he had supported him to the end of his Passion so that he commended his Soul unspotted and victorious into his Fathers hand and made haste unto that Paradise into which no unclean thing shall ever enter When all was done and suffered the Devil found nothing in him could not charge him with the least Sin This was the efficacy of his Prayers which he offered for himself as different from all others that ever were made in his extremity whereby he learned to pity others in their temptations and necessities For an High-Priest must offer for himself as well as for others because he is compassed with infirmities So Christ though he had no Sin yet had infirmities and was tempted and had need to pray for himself as well as for his People and Ver. 8. Though he were a Son yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered VVHere we may observe two things and two propositions Two things 1. His eminent Dignity he was a Son 2. His obedience Two propositions 1. He was a Son 2. Though a Son yet he learned obedience by the things â—he Suffered 1. He was a Son the Son of God and in a more excellent manner then any either Man or Angel was or could be He was as the Word the Son of God so as that he was God and as Flesh and Man he was assumed by the Word and conceived by the holy Spirit in the Virgin 's Womb yet so that there were not two Sons but one the Word made Flesh and as such a Son he was nearer God then any other Heir of all things Lord of Men and Angels and the only-begotten Son of God Yet 2. Though a Son yet learned he obedience For though as a Son he was very high yet he humbled himself very low and took upon him the form of a Servant and in that form became obedient unto Death the Death of the Cross which was the Death of a Servant as he was sold for thirty pence the ordinary price of a Servant and Slave His obedience presupposed his subjection as Flesh unto his heavenly Father as his Supream Lord and a Command not only to Do but to Suffer even the Death of the Crosse and this was the highest greatest and hardest command to dye such a Death for the Sin of Man This command above all others he learned to obey He learned this hard Lesson not only to know it but chiefly to do it not meerly by speculation but real
anoy them and so he wrote by them From hence it follows that the Authority of this Tstimony is divine and infallibly true and acknowledged so to be by them and it 's of◠much the more force because it was written in the time of the Law whilst it was in force Yet before I enter upon the matter we must consider of their connexion and bringing the words in Where three things are observable 1. The connexion with the former by the particle illative therefore 2. A Prosopopaeia whereby he brings in Christ speaking and makes the words his 3. The time when he speaks them 1. The illative particle signifies thus much That because the former Sacrifices were so unfit and so insufficient therefore for that cause God did even then by the Prophet David signify That he would reject them and pitch upon a better and that he had no intention to make use of them for to perfect and purge but from the beginning designed Christ's Sacrifice to that end and for that purpose 2. They are brought in Rhetorically as the words of Christ directing his Speech to God his heavenly Father The praediction that Christ would use these words is David's but the words must be Christs 3. The time when Christ should use these words was the time of his coming into the World which was then to come and now is past But the controversy is What should be meant by his coming into the World which most understand of his Incarnation and more particularly his inauguration and entrance upon his publick Ministry It 's certain they must be the words of Christ Incarnate after that God had signified his Will and Pleasure that he should sacrifice himself unto him for the Sin of Man The Socinian will have it to be his coming into the future World and entrance into Heaven and the reason of this opinion is his false conceit of Christ's Offering which is contrary to express Scripture as hath been formerly shewed But to come unto the matter contained in the words first as we find them in the Psalm secondly as they are understood and explained and so applyed by him to the point in hand § 7. The words of the Psalmist may be considered Grammatically or Theologically In them Grammatically considered we find a difference between the Hebrew and the Translation of the Septuagint which the Apostle follows and it is in one Clause For the Hebrew words translated as they seem properly to signify Mine ears hast thou opened the Septuagaint turn A body hast thou fitted me or prepared for me Here the Hebrew Text and the Greek Translation seem so much to differ as though they were not reconcileable A Greek Scholiast tells us that Paul understood and knew the Hebrew well enough yet he makes use of the word body used in the Septuagint as most subservient to his purpose And here I will not mention either what Nobitius observes upon the words of the Psalm or how several Authours translate the words or how à Lapide and many others seek to reconcile the Hebrew and the Septuagint Genebrard upon the Psalm by a tropical Explication endeavours the reconciliation The Tropes are 1. A metaphor in the Hebrew Verb and a Synechdoche in the Nown For as by Digging Hewing Cutting Lapidaries shape and fashion stones into the form of a Body so God created and framed Christ a Body this is Metaphorical And as many times a part is taken for the whole so Ear which is a part is taken for the whole Body this is Synechdochical Yet this will not satisfie therefore it 's to be observed That the Septuagint's Translation being not wording as formerly hath been noted but many times paraphrastical doth often leave the words and give the sense which here they seem to do For 1. To bore or digg the Ear is to addict one that is willing to perpetual Service This was the Ceremony prescribed by God Exod. 21. 6. This was in the Servant a denying himself a renouncing of his Liberty and a free voluntary total submission of his own will unto the will of his Master In the Master it was a Solemn engagement of the person willing to his perpetual Service According to this Christ the Lord of all made himself of no Reputation took upon him the form of a Servant and addicted himself wholly to his heavenly Father's Will 2. Yet Christ as the Word whereby the World was made could not be a Servant therefore the Word was made Flesh and God prepared him a Body a Flesh that in that Flesh he might be his Servant 3. Because the chiefest piece of Service was in offering up his Body and his Life for the Sin of Man which to perform was the Will and Command of his Father therefore the Interpretation of the Septuagint was most excellent Further it 's observable That 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sometimes signifies a Servant and then the sense is That God made him his Servant and fitted him for the hardest Service that ever was even the Service of Sacrificing himself and of being obedient unto Death the Death of the Cross. Thus far the words have been Grammatically examined If we consider them Theologically we may observe in them two things 1. The Will of God concerning Christ. 2. The Coming of Christ to do the Will of God For God had determined that the Sin of Man should be expiated by some offering and this Will and Determination is expressed in the Text 1. Negatively 2. Affirmatively For thus it 's written Ver. 5. Wherefore when he cometh into the World he saith Sacrifice and Offering thou wouldest not but a body thou hast prepared me Ver. 6. In Burnt-Offering and Sacrifices for Sin thou hast had no pleasure VVHere we have 1. Sacrifices Offerings Burnt-Offerings Offerings for Sin by all which is signified all the Levitical Offerings for Expiation prescribed by God 2. The rejection of these for God would not have them he desired them not he took no pleasure in them This is the Negative Will of God in respect of these Offerings For he never intended them for to perfect and sanctify Worshippers because he knew them unfit for any such purpose Therefore all these were but shadows of a far better Offering 3. The Body of Christ different from and opposed to all the Legal Offerings as far more excellent 4. God's acceptance of this Body which God prepared for him that he might offer it for it was designed for that purpose and was far more fit for to expiate the Sin of Man This is God's Will Christ's will and readiness to perform God's Will follows For 1. Christ doth the Will of God 2. He came to do it 3. This was written in the Volume of God's Book 1. Christ's doing of God's Will is not that which we call his active Obedience unto the moral Law but his suffering Death willingly upon the Cross and offering his Body and Flesh for the life of the World For this was the