`i E R. ',q., Epi/Ile to the H a BREWS. Firft, He is mademore exeellent than the Angels, preferred above them ; that is, fey fome, declared fo tobe. Turn resdicitur fieri, cum incipit patefieri. Frequently in the Scripture, a thing is then faid tobe made, or to be, when it is manife(led fo to be. And in this fenfe the word yfeiaae is fometimes ufed. Rom. 3.4. Pevfsa ó Seas áxn9,ìs, =s dd ávapaores 4evd'ñs; Let God be true, and every man a liar ;. that is, manife(fed and ac- knowledged fo to be. So, James 1.1 2. d'dsruos yrrstrer&, he that is approved in trial, and thereby tnanifejiedto be fincere and found. In this fenfe theApoff!e yells us, Rom. s. 3. that the Lord Chrilt was declared to be the Son ofGod by the refurreeiion from the . déad. The refurreâion from the dead did not makehim to be the Son of God, but evidentlymanifefted anddeclared him foto be. According to this interpretation of the words, that which the holy Ghoft intimateth is, That whereas the Lord Chrilt mi- niftredin anoutwardly low condition in this world, whiff' hepurged our fins, yet by his fitting down at the right hand of God, he was revealed, manifejted,declared tobe more excellent than allthe Angels in heaven, But I fee no reafon why we fhould defertthe proper and molt ufual fignification of theword, nothing in theContextperfwadingus fo,to-do. Betides, this faits not the Apoffks defign, who doth not prove from the Scripture that the Lord Chrift was ma= nifeJted to be more excellent thank the.Angels, but that really he was preferredand ex- alted above them. So then, xeetr1m yrvóiovos is as much as preferred, exalted, a&ually placed, in more Ktslr1e'v yip Power, Glory, Dignity, than the Angels. This joimBaptilfaffirms ofhim, éua'>sév rdµsvos 5e yéyarer, io, tmrds ¡a' h', He was preferredbefore me, becaufe he was before me. Pre- ferred above him, called to another manner of Office than that which John miniftred in ; made before or above him in Dignity, becaufe he was before him in Nature and Exiltence. And this is theproper fenfe of the words ; The Lord Jefus Chrilt, theRe= vealer of the Will of God in the Gofpel, is exalted above, preferredbefore made more excellent and glorious than the Angelsthemfelves, all or any ofthem, who miniftred unto the Lord in the givingofthe Law on mount Sinai. ' Some objedunto this Interpretation, That he who is Paid tobe madeorfee above the Angels, is fuppofed tohave been lower than the,ybefore : TowhichI anfwer, And fohe was, not in refped of Efnce, Subfiffence,and real Dignity, but in refpe6t Of the infirmities and fufrings that hewas expofed unto, in thedifcharge of his work here on the earth ; as the Apolile exprefly declares, chap. 2.9. 2. And this gives us light into our frondenquiry on thefe words ; namely, When it was, that Chriltwas thusexalted above the Angels. a. Somefay, thatit was in the time ofhis Incarnation; for then the Humane Nature being taken into Perfonalfubfiflence with the Son ofGod, it became more excellent than that ofthe Angels. This fenfe is fixed on by fome of theAntients, who are followed by fundry ModernExpofitors. But we haveproved before, that it is not of either Na- ture of Chrifl abfolutely or abltradedly, that the Apolile herefpeaketh ; nor ofhis Perfon, but as veiled with his Office; and difchargingof it. And moreover theIncar- nation of Chrilt was part of his Humiliationand Exinanition, and is not therefore cfpecially intended, where his Exaltationand Glory is exprefly fpoken of. 2. Some fay, that it was at the time ofhis Baptifm, when he was anointed with theSpirit, for the difcharge ofhis PropheticalOffice, Ifa. 60. I, 2. But yet neither can this Defignation of the time beallowed. And that becaufe the main things wherein he was made lower than the Angels, as his temptations, and fufferings, and death it felf, did follow his Baptifm and Unétion. 3. It mutt therefore be thetime ofhis Refurreíiion, Afcenfion, and Exaltationatthe Right hand ofGod, which enfued thereon, that is defignedas thefeafon wherein he was made more excellent than the Angels, as evidently appears from the Text and Context. For, e. That was the Time, as we have (hewed before, when he was glorioufly veiledwith that All Power in heaven and earth, which was of old defigned unto him, and prepared for him. z, The Order allo ofthe Apoftles difcourfe leads us to fixon thisfeafon. After he bad by him(elfpurgedour fins, hefar down, &c. Being, made fo much more excellent; that is, therein, and then he wasfomade.. 3. The 7ejfimouy in the firft place produced by the Apoftlein theconfirmation ofhisAffertion,' is elfewhere, as we (hall fee, applied by himfelfunto his Refurrellion and the Glory that enfued, and con- fequently they are alto in thisplace intended. 4. This Preferenceof the Lord Christ .above theAngels, is plainly included in that Grant of All Power made unto him, Matth. 73
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