3. It appears from hence that as he is our only head, so he is our immediate head. We have our immediate dependence upon him, and our immediate access unto him. He hath, mdeed, ap- pointed means for the communicating of his grace unto us, and for the exercising of his rule and authority over us. Such are all his ordinances, with the offices and officers that he hath appointed in his church; the first whereof he requires us to be constant in the use of, the latter he requires our obedience and submission unto. ‘But these belong only unto the way of our dependence, and hinder not but that our dependence is immediate on himself, he being the immediate object of our faith and love. The soul of a believer rests not in any of these things, but only makes use of them to confirm his faith in subjection unto Christ: for all these things are ours, they are appointed for our use, and we are Christ’s, as he is God’s, 1 Cor. iii, 21-23. And so have we our immediate access unto him,—and
332 AN EXPOSITION OF THE [ CHAP. II.
not, as some foolishly imagine, by saints and angels,—and by him to God, even to the throne of grace.
4, This privilege is greatly augmented, in that the church being made subject unto Christ alone, and cast into a dependence upon him, he will assuredly take care of all its concernments, seeing unto him only doth it betake itself. The church made it of old part of her plea that she was as one fatherless, Hos. xiv. 3; that is, every way helpless, that had none to relieve or succour her. And the Lord Christ giveth this as a reason why he stirreth up himself unto the assistance of:his people, because there was no man that appeared for their help, no intercessor to interpose for them, Isa. lix. 16. Now, God having placed the church in this condition, as to be ofttimes altogether orphans in this world, to have none to give them the least countenance or assistance; and the church itself choosing this condition, to renounce all hopes and expectations from any else beside, betaking itself unto the power, grace, and faithfulness of the Lord Christ alone; it cannot but as it were be a great obligation upon him to take care of it, and to provide for it at all times. They are members of his body, and he alone is their head; they are sub- jects of his kingdom, and he alone is their king; they are children and servants in his family, and he alone is their father, lord, and master; and can he forget them, can he disregard them? Had they been committed to the care of men, it may be some of them would have fought and contended for them, though their faithful- ness is always to be suspected, and their strength is a thing of nought; had they been put into subjection unto angels, they would have watched for their good, though their wisdom and ability be both finite and limited, so that they could never have secured their safety: and shall not the Lord Jesus Christ, now they are made his special care, as his power and faithfulness are infinitely above those of any mere creature, excel them also in care and watchful- ness for our good? And all these things do sufficiently set out the greatness of that privilege of the church which we insist upon. And there are two things that make this liberty and exaltation of the church necessary and reasonable:—
1. That God having exalted owr nature, in the person of his Son, into a condition of honour and glory, so as to be worshipped and adored by all the angels of heaven, it was not meet or convenient that it should in our persons, when united unto Christ as our head, be made subject unto them. God would not allow, that whereas there is the strictest union between the head and the members, there should be such an interposition between them as that the angels should depend on their head, and the members should de- pend on angels; which indeed would utterly destroy the union and
immediate intercourse that is and ought to be between them.
VER. 5-9.] EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS. 333
2. God is pleased by Jesus Christ to take us into a holy com- munion with himself, without any other medium or means of com- munication but only that of our nature, personally and inseparably united unto his own nature in his Son. And this also our subjec- tion unto angels is inconsistent withal. This order of dependence the apostle declares, 1 Cor. iii. 22, 23, “ All things are yours; and ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.” As there is no interposition between God and Christ, no more is there between Christ and us, and in and by him alone do we relate unto God himself. And this should teach us,—
C1.) The equity and necessity of our universal obedience unto God in Christ. He hath freed us from subjection unto men and angels, that we might serve him and live unto him. He hath taken us to be his peculiar ones, his lot and portion, from whom he ex- pects all his revenue of glory out of this world. And he hath left us no pretence, no excuse, for the neglect of any duties of obedience that he requireth of us. We cannot plead that we had other work to do, other lords and masters to serve; he hath set us free from