Whereas the angels are ministring spirits. foundation of the 13 thee in glory or in joy. Yea, as Divine, thou SECT. art fixed in thine eternal throne, that the whole i. created world may unite in its prostrate hom- Heb. 10 And, thou, age before thee. And it is to him who presid-9 Lord, in the begin- ed, as is well known, over the Jewish nation, 10 ning, hast laid the and received the tribute of praise which they earth; and the heav. paid to Jehovah their God, that those words ens are the works of are addressed, (Psal. cii. 26,) Thou, Lord, from the beginning hast founded the earth, and the 11 They shall per- heavens are the works of thy hands. They, per- 11 ish, but thou re- manent, as they seem, shall at length perish mainest and they and wear out; but thou endurest in undecaying doth a garment. glory; yea all of them shall grow old like a gar thine hands. : all shall wax old as 12 And as a ves- ment, And as a mantle thou shalt fold them up,a 12 ture shalt thou fold and they shall be changed: thou shalt remove them up, and they them out of their place, and introduce a new shall be changed: but thou art the scene of things, with as much ease as a prince same, and thy years lays aside one robe and puts on another; but shall not fail. 13 But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine ene mies thy footstool? thou art ever the same, and thy years shall not But not to insist on the manner in which men 13 have addressed their homage and their praises to him, even under the inspiration of an unerring spirit; let me refer you to another passage, in which the Father himself speaks to him under the character of his Son, exalted to his mediatorial kingdom; that you may take an idea of his grandeur from thence. For to which of the angels hath he ever said, Sit thou enthroned in glory at my right hand, till I make thine enemies the footstool of thy feet, and give thee to trample upon the last and the proudest 14 Are they not of them all? The spirits of heaven expect no 14 all ministring spirits, such honour as this; the noblest of them all for them who shall esteems himself happy in an opportunity of worshipping this triumphant Lord, and ministring even to the least of his servants. Is it not a known and delightful truth? are they not indeed all ministring spirits, who officiate before the throne of God, and are sent out to attend on those who shall inherit salvation? and always sent forth to minister Fold them up.] For us Mr. Peirce would read annus, change them, agreeable to the Hebrews; and imagines that heaven and earth here signifies, governments, as indeed the phrase sometimes may; but I think not in this place. 14 Reflections on the glory of Christ as superior to angels. SECT. Willing to undertake the offices he shall assign be heirs of salvai them, for the safety and good of his people? tion? Heb. And therefore far from thinking of them in i. 14 any view of comparison with him, let us humbly adore him, for the benefits which by his authority and favour we daily receive from these benevolent creatures. verse 3 IMPROVEMENT. LET us learn from this wonderful and delightful portion of scripture, how we are to conceive of our blessed Reedeemer. Admirable contrast of characters which might appear to our feeble reason, inconsistent, if faith did not teach us to reconcile them. Strange, that the brightness of his Father's glory, and the express image of his person by whom he made the worlds, should 5 condescend by himself to purge our sins! That he, to whom God saith, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee; that he, 6 whom the angels are commanded to worship; that he, whose 8 Divine throne is for ever and ever; that he, whom the church 10 hath for successive ages adored as having founded the earth and 9 formed the heavens, as in his original perfections and glories far 11 more immutable than they, changing them as a vesture at his sovereign pleasure; that this great, this illustrious, this Divine Person, should have laid aside these robes of celestial light to array himself in mortal flesh; not only that he might reveal his Father's will, and speak to us in his name, but that he might redeem us to God by his blood? What shall we say? We will receive the message he brings us with all humble thankfulness; we will seek his favour with most earnest solicitude; we will congratulate his exultation with loyal joy. O triumphant, transporting thought, that Jesus is enthroned above all heavens, that he is anointed with an unequalled effusion of the oil of gladness: 3 with angels we will fall down and worship him as our Lord and our God. Our Hosannahs shall proclaim it, that he is set down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, and that God hath en13 gaged to make his enemies his footstool. Angels minister before him with unwearied vigour, with inconceivable speed do they fly like flames of lightning from one end of the heaven to the other, from world to world, to execute his sacred commands. With delight do they minister to those whom he hath appointed heirs of salvation, nor do they neglect the youngest or meanest. Let us thankfully acknowledge the great Redeemer's goodness and care, in every kind office we receive from them. And as our obligations to him are infinitely superior to theirs, let us emulate their fidelity, vigour and zeal, in the steadiness and cheerfulness of our obedience; till we join them 7 We should attend to the gospel of Christ: 15 in services like their own, in that world where they dwell, and SECT. to which, if we approve ourselves his faithful servants, he will i. ere long give them a charge safely and joyfully to convey us. SECT. II. From what has been before said, the apostle infers the danger of despising Christ on account of his humiliation; which in perfect consistence with his dominion over the world to come, was voluntarily submitted to by him, for wise and important reasons; particularly to deliver us from the fear of death, and encourage the freedom of our access to God. Heb. II. 1, to the end. HEBREWS II. 1. TH HEBREWS II. 1. OMETHING we have said in the former SECT. we ought to S section give the more earn section concerning the supreme dignity of ii. est heed to the our blessed Redeemer. And now give me Heb. things which we leave, before I proceed to other arguments .1 have heard, least at which will naturally occur, to draw this obviany time we should let them slip. ous consequence from what I have already said: If he be so far superior to angels, we ought therefore to yield extraordinary attention to the things which we have heard by his authority; lest by any means we let [them] flow out of our minds, and lose the impression they 2 For if the word once made upon us. For if the Mosaic law, 2 spoken by angels which was the word spoken by angels, prowas steadfast, and claiming it in the name and presence of Jeho every transgression and disobedience re- vah from mount Sinai, was steadfast, and conceived a just recom- firmed by such awful sanctions, that every inpense of reward; stance of wilful transgression and disobedience received, as its reward, a correspondent and se3 How shall we vere vengeance; How shall we have any room 3 escape if we neg. lect so great salva- to hope that we shall escape, neglecting so great tion, which at the and glorious a salvation as that which the gos. first began to be pel sets before us? A salvation, which having spoken by the Lord at its beginning been spoken by the Lord of anunto us by them gels himself, was confirmed to us by the certain that heard him; report of them that heard [him] preach it with and was confirmed *We have heard.] Nothing can be more evidently weak than the argument drawn from hence, to prove that St. Paul was not the author of this epistle, because it was not by hearing only that he received the gospel. It is to be considered, that he speaks in the name of all to whom he was writing, as well as his own, to render the instruction the more unexceptionable and the more forcible. Besides, that to hear any thing, signifies in general to be instructed in it. b Angels.] See Dr. Whitby's admirable note on this text. 16 Heb. Which was proclaimed not by angels, but by the Lord: SECT. his own lips; The blessed God himself joining 4 God also bearing ii. his own divine and sacred testimony with theirs, them witness, both both by enabling them to perform the most ders, and with divers with signs and wonamazing signs and wonders, and various incon- miracles, and gifts of testible miracles, and endowing them in a rich the Holy Ghost, acabundance, with distributions of the Holy Spir- cording to his own will? it in its extraordinary operations, imparted in different degrees to different persons, according to his own sovereign will and pleasure. 5 world to come, And by these wonderful operations the supe- 5 For unto the anriority of Christ to angels is farther illustrat- gels hath he not put ed; for to angels, even the most exalted of in subjection the them, he, that is, God, hath not subjected the whereof we speak. world to come, nor ever intended that they should preside in the latest and best dispensation, the kingdom of the Messiah, which extends not only to earth, but to heaven, concerning which we now speak, as it is the great business of the Author's life to pro6 mote its interests. But a certain [writer,] 6 But one in a cer Signs and wonders.] I think it is very needless to inquire curiously into the difference of each of these words, when it is usual by a Hebraism to express a great degree and variety of things of any kind, by heaping together a great many synonymous words. To angels he hath not subjected, &c.] Archbishop Tillotson thinks the meaning of this scripture is, that God did not empower the Angels who delivered the law, to enforce it with clear and express promises of a future state, as Christ had enforced the gospel. See his Works, Vol. III. p. 136. Dr. Barrow explains it of the Messiah making so great an alteration in the constitution of things, that it is represented by a new heaven and a new earth, (Isa. lxv. 17, & sim.) on which account it was called by the Jews, the world to come; a phrase, which it is observable St. Paul only uses in this epistle to the Hebrews, as being familiar to them. Barrow's Works, Vol. II. p. 202. Others have argued from this text, that angels were possessed of certain authority and power in the world before Christ came, of which they were divested upon his appearance; and of those who have agreed in this general explication, some, (as Mr. Peirce,) have referred to the presidence of angels to their having the guardianship of particular countries, and others, to some particular influences of their counsels in projecting the schemes which preceded the display of the gospel. But it seems to me, that the simplest, plainest, and most unexceptionable sense is this, "That God had appointed his Son to preside in the last great dispensation; which he else where expresses, by saying, He has united all things under him, as their common Head, Eph. i. 10," and this certainly is an honour to which no angel can pretend. Dr. Burnet's explication of this as referring to the new heavens and earth, which he supposes shall succeed the conflagration in which Christ is to reign, (which he also thinks referred to Isa. ix 6,) is so very precarious and improbable an interpretation, that I think it is hardly worth mentioning Burnet's Theory of the Earth, Vol. II. p. 392 • A certain [writer] bears his testimony.] It has been matter of much debate among critics, whether these words are to be considered as in their original intent, a proph ecy of the Messiah, or a description of the dignity and glory of human nature, to which the apostle alludes; making use of David's language to clothe his own ideas, though by an application very different from his design. It seems evident to me, that there is nothing in the viiith psalm by which, independent upon the apostle's authority, it could be known to belong to the Messiah. On the whole therefore I prefer the latter opinion, though I readily confess, that if the former could be proved, And to him all things are put in subjection. that thou art mind. ful of him? or the visitest him? him a little lower 17 Heb. tain place testified, well known I am persuaded to you Hebrews, SECT. saying, What is man, somewhere bears his testimony, saying, (Psal. ii. viii. 4,) O Lord, what is man that thou rememson of man that thou berest him, or the son of man that thou regardest him! After which he goes on in words that 7 7 Thou madest have a most remarkable correspondence to the than the angels; character and circumstances of the Lord Jesus thou crownedst him Christ, both in his humbled and in his exalted with glory and hon- state; for he adds, speaking of the Son of man, our, and didst set him over the works Thou hast made him but a little lower than the of thy hands. angels; with glory and honour hast thou crowned him, and hast constituted him [lord] over all tion under his feet. 8 Thou hast put the visible works of thine hands. Thou hast 8 all things in subjec- put all things under his feet. This may be inFor in that he put terpreted in the widest extent; for in putting all in subjection un- all things under him, nothing was left out, [which der him, he left no- was] not represented as reduced to subjection to thing that is not put him. But now we do not as yet see, that all under him. But him. a little lower than now we see not yet things are put under him, to whom we refer all things put under these words; but on the contrary, a great part of the world is as yet unacquainted with him 9 But we see Je- and his authority. Nevertheless, we see what 9 sus, who was made we may well look upon as an earnest and secuthe angels, for the rity of it; for we see Jesus, who, for the few suffering of death, years he dwelt upon earth, was made in human crowned with glory form and state a little lower than the angels of by the grace of God God, over whom he had an original right, as should taste death their Maker, to preside, exalted to the most for every man. and honour; that he conspicuous dignity in the celestial world: we it would establish a direct argument in words, which must otherwise be only understood as an allusion; but the grand truth to which they refer, the exaltation of Christ to supreme dignity, was so expressly asserted by himself, Mat. xxviii. 18, and was so fundamental a doctrine, and so universally received in the Christian church, that it did not seem to stand in need of such an additional proof. These For the suffering of death.] words may seem ambiguous, and capable of being referred either to the preceding or following clause. It is indeed true, that Christ was crowned as a reward for suffering death, as the apostle expressly teaches, Phil. ii. 8, 9. But the concluding words of the verse, which have plainly a connection with these, determine them to the former sense. |