An Exposition of Pauls Epistles, Letter 14 · Chapter 1
CHAP. I.
IN this Chapter hee proves by nine Arguments the incomparable Excellency of the Prophetical Office of Christ, especially because of his Deity. The last whereof is confirmed with eight Reasons.
Vers. 1. God who at sundry times, and in divers manners, spake in time past unto the Fathers by the Prophets,
Arg. 1. Christ the Son of God is more excellent than all the Prophets, by whom God spake to the ancient Church, or the Fathers; hee hath made our condition under the Gospel, better than the condition of the Fathers under the Law: For first they were Prophets by inspiration, not when they would, but as they were acted by the Spirit of Christ, and spake as the Ministers of God; but Christ is the Son of God, and chief of the Prophets, who spake by his own Authority no less than in his Fathers Name. Secondly, Those Prophets were many, by whom heretofore at sundry times, and in various wayes of Revelation, by parts and degrees, God manifested to the Church the Doctrine of salvation: But the Son is one, by whom the Father once fully, plainly, and finally, hath declared to us (who live under the Gospel) his whole Will in the last times of the world: Therefore the excellency of his Prophetical Office is incomparable.
Vers. 2. Hath in these last dayes spoken to us by his Son, whom hee hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also hee made the worlds,
Arg. 2. Christ as hee is by nature born Heir, so also by the eternal appointment of God to his Mediatorship, and by special Covenant, hee is appointed Heir, or Lord Proprietor, of all the creatures in heaven and earth: Therefore his Excellency is incomparable.
By whom] Arg. 3. By him having his being from Eternity, the Father made the world, and all things in it, not as by an instrument, but as by his word, and Wisdome: Therefore his Excellency is incomparable.
Vers. 3. Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, & upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high,
Arg. 4. Christ, so far as an imperfect similitude can manifest, is foreign, the brightness of his Fathers glory, or the beaming forth of his glorious nature, shining in light inaccessible: In, and of the Father, begotten of the substance of the Father, who, although the Father never was without him, nor can bee, yet hee is distinct from the Father, and eternally undivided, by whom the Father reveals and communicates his glory, as the Sun by its shining is made conspicuous to us: Therefore his Excellency is incomparable.
Image] Arg. 5. Christ is the express Image or Character of the Person of the Father, i. e. (as much as an imperfect similitude can instruct us) hee is a distinct person from the Father, resembling his Father in all things, of one and the same form or essence, who represents the Father to the life unto us, that we may acknowledge the Father to be such as the Son is: Therefore his Excellency is incomparable.
Upholding] Arg. 6. Christ upholds, supports, preserves all creatures in heaven and earth, by the Divine word of his power, or the vertue of his Deity: Therefore his Excellency is incomparable.
Purged] Arg. 7. Hee hath obtained, purchased the purging of our sins fully, as hee is the High Priest, God and man (receiving no assistance from any one) not by any legal Sacrifice, but by himself once offered upon the Cross: Therefore his Excellency is incomparable.
Sitteth] Arg. 8. After the expiation of our sins, by himself alone once made, hee sate down God-man, as King of the Church, at the right hand of the Majesty on high, reigning in equal honour and power with God the Father, and governing all things: Therefore his Excellency is incomparable.
Ver. 4. Being made so much better than the Angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
Arg. 9. Christ is so much more excellent than the Angels, by how much the name of Son is more excellent than the name of an Angel or Messenger: But the name of the Son of God belongs to Christ, and according to his Divinity by eternal Generation, the whole Divine Essence being communicated to him: And further according to his Humanity, not by Adoption, but this Name is given him by union, so that the same person which was the Son of God to bee incarnate, is now the Son of God incarnate, his humane Nature being taken unto the unity of the second Person.
Vers. 5. For unto which of the Angels said hee at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee: And again, I will bee to him a Father, and he shall bee to mee a Son?
This last Argument the Apostle confirms with eight Reasons, whereof the seven first are taken out of so many places of Scripture.
Reas. 1. From Psal. 2.7. Concerning Christ, saith God the Father, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. From which place the Deity of Christ is proved, that hee after another and higher manner is a Son, than any of the Angel…: A Son, to wit, by eternal Generation, which is confirmed out of Act. 3.33. and Rom. 1.4. where this place is applied to the manifestation of the Deity of Christ, which hee had from Eternity, before hee was manifested in his Resurrection from the dead: For had not Christ been in himself a Son, hee could not bee declared a Son to the world: And although in Scripture, some things are said to bee done when they are manifested: And so, This day have I begotten thee, will bee, This day have I declared thee to the world to bee my onelyonly begotten Son: Yet [This day] ought not to signifie onelyonly the time of Christs declaration, as a Son, but also his eternal and immutable Generation: For Eternity is very well expressed by This day, whereby the present day is signified, because Eternity is as one day, and alwayes wholly present, wherein there is nothing successive, or one after another, as in our time, but one constant permanency. And here also hee uses a word of the Pretertense, that although thou hearest of him as present, yet thou mayest understand his Generation perfectly past, or eternal, as the shining of the Sun is perfect, and yet it continually beams forth from the Sun: Therefore Christ is so much the more excellent above Angels, by how much a Son is more excellent than a Messenger.
And I will bee] Reas. 2. From 2 Sam. 7.19. Where in Solomon the type, God promises the sending of Messias, whom hee would openly acknowledge for his Son, and declare him so to the world.
Vers. 6. And again, when hee bringeth in the first-begotten into the world, hee saith, And let all the Angels of God worship him.
Reas. 3. From Psal. 97.7. When God was, as it were bringing his Son into the world, by his incarnation (as his first-born, or the heir of all things, because of his native right over all things) hee communicates to him, as his Essence, so the glory which is proper to God alone, commanding that even all the Angels should worship him: Therefore Christ is more excellent than the Angels.
Vers. 7. And of the Angels hee saith, who maketh his Angels spirits, and his Ministers a flame of fire.
Reas. 4. From Psal. 104.5. God hath secluded the Angels from divine glory or worship, and hath appointed them his Ministers, who (as the winds or flames) might serve him at his beck: Therefore Christ is more excellent than the Angels.
Vers. 8. But unto the Son hee saith, Thy Throne, O God, is for ever and ever, a Scepter of Righteousness is the Scepter of thy Kingdome.
9. Thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity, therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oyl of gladness above thy fellows.
Reas. 5. From Psal. 45.7, 8. God by the mouth of the Prophet witnesses concerning his Son: 1. That hee is God. 2. That hee hath an eternal Throne or Dominion over the Elect. 3. That by the Omnipotent grace of his Spirit, he perfects his subjects in righteousness, directing them justified by faith, in the right way to eternal life. 4. That Christ the Son of God, as hee is God, so hee was to become man, when these things were fore-told. 5. That one part of that Covenant of grace, which hee entred into with his Father, was, that as man, and the chief head of the Covenanters, his Father should bee his God. 6. That hee was to bee anointed with the unction of the Holy Ghost (by whom all joy and happiness is communicated to his subjects) witho…t measure, that of his fulness, all his fellows, the Elect of God, might partake as much as is sufficient: Therefore Christ is more excellent than the Angels.
Vers. 10. And thou Lord in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of thine hands.
11. They shall perish, but thou remainest, and they all shall waxe old as doth a garment.
12. And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall bee changed; but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.
Reas. 6. From Psal. 102.25, 26. (1) The Son is Iehovah, by Essence God, one with the Father and the Holy Ghost. (2) And the Creator of all things in heaven and earth. (3) And eternally immutable in himself, alwayes the same: Therefore more excellent than the Angels.
Vers. 13. But to which of the Angels said hee at any time, Sit on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool?
Reas. 7. From Psal. 110. Never to any of the Angels hath the Father communicated that equality of power and honour, and victory over all the common enemies of the Father, and of the Son, which hee hath to Christ the Messias, his Son, Mediator, and head of the Church: Therefore Christ is more excellent than the Angels.
Vers. 14. Are they not all ministring spirits, sent forth to minister for them, who shall bee heires of salvation?
Reas. 8. All the Angels are ministring spirits, who are not onelyonly bound to serve Christ, but also all the Elect, or faithful, who are designed of God, Heirs of eternal life: Therefore Christ is so much the more excellent, by how much the Name of the Son of God is more excellent than the name of ministring spirits.