A53678:1089
A continuation of the exposition of the Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the…
A continuation of the exposition of the Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Hebrews viz, on the sixth, seventh, eight, ninth, and tenth chapters : wherein together with the explication of the text and context, the priesthood of Christ ... are declared, explained and confirmed : as also, the pleas of the Jews for the continuance and perpetuity of their legal worship, with the doctrine of the principal writers of the Socinians about these things, are examined and disproved / by J. Owen ...
London: printed for Nathaniel Ponder, 1680
Modern spelling is a reading aid: the words are the author’s, only the spelling is modernized. Original shows the page as printed, with the transcription marks.
That which the Apostle proposeth in the first place and in general as the Object of this Enquiry and consideration, is [Greek or Hebrew], Quantus iste erat; the word 1respects Greatness and Excellency in any kind. Nunc quantus Achilles, Quantus erat Julius Caesar, and the like. And this Greatness of Melchizedek respected neither the endowments of his Person, nor the largeness of his Dominion, nor his Riches or Wealth, in which sense some are said to be Great in the Scripture, as Job, Barzillai, and others; but it regards alone his Dignity with respect unto his Office, and his Nearness unto God on that account. That which these Hebrews insisted on as their Chief and Fundamental Privilege in Judaism, and which they were most unwilling to forgo, was the Greatness of their Predecessors, with their nearness unto God in Favour and Office. In the first way as to Divine Love and Favour, they Gloried in Abraham, and opposed the Privilege of being his Children on all Occasions unto the Person and Doctrine of Christ, John 8. 33, 53. And in the latter they thought Aaron and his Successors to be preferred above all the World. And whilst they were under the Power and Influence of these Apprehensions, the Gospel could not but be ungrateful unto them, as depriving them of their Privileges, and rendering their Condition worse than it was before. To undeceive them in this matter, and to demonstrate how unspeakably all those in whom they trusted, came short of the true High Priest of the Church, he calls them to consider the Greatness of him, whose only eminence consisted in being a Type or Representative of him. Wherefore the Greatness of Melchizedek here proposed unto earnest Consideration, is that which he had in Representing Jesus Christ, and his nearness unto God on that Account. And it were well that we were all really ⟨p. 123⟩convinced, that all true Greatness consists in the Favour of God, and our nearness unto him, on the Account of our Relation unto Jesus Christ. We neither deny nor undervalue any Mans Wealth or Power hereby. Let those who are Rich and Wealthy in the World be accounted and called Great, as the Scripture sometimes calls them so. And let those who are High in Power and Authority be so esteemed, we would derogate nothing from them which is their due: