75 lines
4.4 KiB
XML
75 lines
4.4 KiB
XML
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<div2 id="Heb.i" n="i" next="Heb.ii" prev="Heb" progress="74.93%" title="Introduction">
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<div class="Center" id="Heb.i-p0.1"><h2 id="Heb.i-p0.2">Hebrews</h2>
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<p id="Heb.i-p1">Completed by <span class="smallcaps" id="Heb.i-p1.1">William Tong</span>.</p>
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</div>
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<hr/>
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<pb id="Heb.i-Page_887" n="887"/>
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<div class="Center" id="Heb.i-p1.3">
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<p id="Heb.i-p2"><b>AN</b></p>
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<h3 id="Heb.i-p2.1">EXPOSITION,</h3>
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<h4 id="Heb.i-p2.2">W I T H P R A C T I C A L O B S E
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R V A T I O N S,</h4>
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<h5 id="Heb.i-p2.3">OF THE EPISTLE TO</h5>
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<h2 id="Heb.i-p2.4">T H E H E B R E W S.</h2>
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<hr style="width:2in"/>
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</div>
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<p class="indent" id="Heb.i-p3"><span class="smallcaps" id="Heb.i-p3.1">Concerning</span>
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this epistle we must enquire, I. Into the divine authority of it;
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for this has been questioned by some, whose distempered eyes could
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not bear the light of it, or whose errors have been confuted by it;
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such as the Arians, who deny the Godhead and self-existence of
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Christ; and the Socinians, who deny his satisfaction; but, after
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all the attempts of such men to disparage this epistle, the divine
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original of it shines forth with such strong and unclouded rays
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that he who runs may read it is an eminent part of the canon of
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scripture. The divinity of the matter, the sublimity of the style,
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the excellency of the design, the harmony of this with other parts
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of scripture, and its general reception in the church of God in all
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ages—these are the evidences of its divine authority. II. As to
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the divine amanuensis or penman of this epistle, we are not so
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certain; it does not bear the name of any in the front of it, as
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the rest of the epistles do, and there has been some dispute among
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the learned to whom they should ascribe it. Some have assigned it
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to Clemens of Rome; other to Luke; and many to Barnabas, thinking
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that the style and manner of expression is very agreeable to the
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zealous, authoritative, affectionate temper that Barnabas appears
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to be of, in the account we have of him in the acts of the
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Apostles; and one ancient father quotes an expression out of this
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epistle as the words of Barnabas. But it is generally assigned to
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the apostle Paul; and some later copies and translations have put
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Paul's name in the title. In the primitive times it was generally
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ascribed to him, and the style and scope of it very well agree with
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his spirit, who was a person of a clear head and a warm heart,
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whose main end and endeavour it was to exalt Christ. Some think
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that the apostle Peter refers to this epistle, and proves Paul to
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be the penman of it, by telling the Hebrews, to whom he wrote, of
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Paul's having written to them, <scripRef id="Heb.i-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:2Pet.3.15" parsed="|2Pet|3|15|0|0" passage="2Pe 3:15">2 Pet.
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iii. 15</scripRef>. We read of no other epistle that he ever wrote
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to them but this. And though it has been objected that, since Paul
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put his name to all his other epistles, he would not have omitted
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it here; yet others have well answered that he, being the apostle
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of the Gentiles, who were odious to the Jews, might think fit to
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conceal his name, lest their prejudices against him might hinder
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them from reading and weighing it as they ought to do. III. As to
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the scope and design of this epistle, it is very evident that it
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was clearly to inform the minds, and strongly to confirm the
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judgment, of the Hebrews in the transcendent excellency of the
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gospel above the law, and so to take them off from the ceremonies
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of the law, to which they were so wedded, of which they were so
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fond, that they even doted on them, and those of them who were
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Christians retained too much of the old leaven, and needed to be
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purged from it. The design of this epistle was to persuade and
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press the believing Hebrews to a constant adherence to the
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Christian faith, and perseverance in it, notwithstanding all the
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sufferings they might meet with in so doing. In order to this, the
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apostle speaks much of the excellency of the author of the gospel,
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the glorious Jesus, whose honour he advances, and whom he justly
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prefers before all others, showing him to be all in all, and this
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in lofty strains of holy rhetoric. It must be acknowledged that
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there are many things in this epistle hard to be understood, but
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the sweetness we shall find therein will make us abundant amends
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for all the pains we take to understand it. And indeed, if we
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compare all the epistles of the New Testament, we shall not find
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any of them more replenished with divine, heavenly matter than this
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to the Hebrews.</p>
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</div2>
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