A53678:467
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.
Four things are required to make the Dispensation of the Word proper and profitable. A good Spring, a safe Rule, a distinct Design, and enlivening Affections. The first is the Dispensers own Light and Experience. He is to see in his work with his own Eyes, and not those of other men. And when he is by own Light as a Scribe unto the Kingdom of God, it is out of the good treasure of his own Heart, that he is to bring forth good things, new, and old. (2) His safe Rule is the infallible word of Truth. This must be the Touchstone of his Light and Experience. And it is suited unto his whole work, unto all the Duties of it, 2 Tim. 3. 16, 17. In nothing but what is regulated hereby are any to be attended unto, Isa. 8. 20. (3) His distinct Design lies in the due consideration of the Spiritual state and condition of them unto whom the Word is to be dispensed. And herein consists the greatest part of the Ministerial skill. This is that which secretly differenceth the constant Ministerial Dispensation of the Word, from the occasional exercise of the gifts of any. And this doth God make use of, to convey unexpected relief or repose unto the Souls of men wherewith they are surprised and affected. If we have not this scope continually before us, we may run apace, but never know whether we are in or out of the way. (4) The enlivening Affections that ought to accompany the Dispensation of the Word, are Zeal for the Glory of God, and Compassion for the Souls of men. But these things must not here be insisted on. And for private Christians among themselves, their mutual Duties are referred unto Love, and the Fruits of it. That special Love which ought to be among the Disciples of Christ, as such, takes up in the Description, Injunctions and Directions of it, a great part of the Writings of the New Testament. Nothing doth the Lord Christ himself, nor his Apostles so urge upon them as this of mutual love. Upon the right discharge of this Duty he frequently declares that his honour in them and by them in this world doth principally depend. And whatever we have besides this, our Apostle declares that it is nothing, or of no use in the Church of God, 1 Cor. 13. And the greatest Evidence of the Degeneracy of Christianity in the world, consists in the open loss of this Love amongst those who make profession thereof.