a sweet smelling savour Eph. 5.2 God was so pleased with Noahs Sacrifice that he promised to destroy the world by Water no more So God is well pleased with Christs Sacrifice he is so pleased with it that he will be gratious unto sinners for the sake thereof so as not to destroy them but save their Souls 5. Noahs Covenant and the Rainbow the sign thereof was a Type of the Covenant of Grace Gen. 9.12 13. It is a question whether there was any Rainbow before it may seem not Because it had been small comfort and assurance to the new World to see that which they had seen before and to have such a sign of the Covenant Therefore some think that the Rainbow was not from the beginning but as the Lord gave a new Promise so he created a new thing for a Sign thereof Confer on Heb. 1.1 2. of Noah 's Dispensation But how may it appear that the Covenant of Grace was here held forth See Isai 54.9 10. This is unto me as the Waters of Noah c. Ezek. 1. ult As the appearance of the Bow thot is in the Cloud in the day of Rain so was the appearance of the Brightness round about Revel 10.1 and 4.3 Vse From all that hath been said of Noah Here is ground of unspeakable Comfort to the Church and People of God in all their troubles Afflictions are often compared to deep Waters Psalm 42.7 but God will provide for the safety of his people Psal 18.16 17. he sent from above he took me and drew me out of deep Waters Isai 43.2 the Waters shall not overflow thee The Rainbow appears when there hath been rainy weather the Rainbow in a Cloud in a day of Rain Ezek. 1. ult So when the Church hath been in Floods of great Waters Christ appears with a Rainbow Revel 10.1 And as he promised there shall be no more a Flood to destroy the Earth so there is a time coming when there shall be no more floods of Persecution to overwhelm his Church I have sworn I will not be angry with thee nor rebuke thee any more Isai 54.9 So for particular Souls that have been overflown with the Wrath of God and the Waters have gone over their Soul there is a time coming when Christ will appear with a Rainbow about his Head To some he gives such an inward Seal and Testimony of their Adoption that they never loose it but carry it in their bosoms to their dying day keep their Assurance all their days And though I know it is otherwise with some of his Children yet at last when they dye and come to Heaven he will never overflow the soul any more with his Anger 4. The fourth personal Type we named was Melchizedek his Story is in Gen. 14. That he was a Type of Christ is clear from Psal 110.4 where speaking of and to the Messiah he saith The Lord hath sworn thou art a Priest for ever after the Order of Melchizedek as also from that which the Apostle saith Heb. 7.3 that he was made like unto the Son of God and abideth a Priest continually Assimilatus or gerens similitudinem Some Controversie there is who this Melchizedek was and different Opinions there are The Papists have very roving conjectures about it He was not Christ himself because he is said to be made like unto the Son of God Heb. 7.3 but no man is said to be like himself For similitude is between two That he was not an Angel or an appearance of God but a true and real Man may be proved by this Argument because every Priest is taken from amongst men Heb. 5.1 but Melchizedek was a Priest And the Scripture speaks of him as a Man For it mentions the place where he dwelt viz. at Salem which must needs be understood historically because there is no reason to constrain us to run a to metaphorical sense And whereas some object there was no man then superior to Abraham in Faith and Holiness But Melchizedek was greater than Abraham Some answer it thus Non sanctitate sed dignitate praefertur Abrahae For that Abraham was but an inferior person whereas Melchizedek was King and Priest in Salem But we may answer further That there might be some more eminent than Abraham some of his godly Ancestors who were aged and experienced Saints as Sem for instance might towards the end of their lives be more eminent than Abraham was in his youth of whom it is certain by the Genealogies Gen. 11. that he was yet living and he was the greatest person then in the world yea greater than Abraham as being one of his Progenitors and Ancestors Therefore many do conjecture that Sem was this Melchizedek and indeed the conjecture is not improbable though for any certain demonstration it is not to be expected because the Lord hath purposely concealed who he was to the end he might be a more illustrious Type of Christ appearing as it were like a Man fallen down from Heaven and destinated to that end Quest Wherein was Melchizedek a Type of Christ Answ In regard of the Eternity and Excellency of his Person and Office both as King and Priest There be four particulars here included He was a Type 1. In regard of his Kingdom He is called Melchizedek which the Apostle interprets King of Righteousness Heb. 7.2 So Christ is King of his Church and King of Righteousness Psal 45.6 7. King of Salem which signifies Peace It is thought to be the same City which was afterward called Jerusalem so Christ was King of Jerusalem Zach. 9.9 and King of Peace Isai 9.6 My Peace I leave with you Joh. 14.27 Mic. 5.5 This Man shall be our Peace Peace that passeth all understanding and Righteousness first then Peace Isai 32.17 the Fruit of Righteousness shall be Peace Otherwise thou shalt have no Peace from Christ unless he give thee Righteousness first both imputing his own Righteousness for Justification to thee and infusing the inherent Righteousness of Sanctification into thee He will not create Peace for thee 2. In regard of his Priesthood Melchizedek was Priest of the most high God Gen. 14.18 Heb. 7.1 so is Christ both King and Priest This was extraordinary in Melchizedek that he might be the more glorious Type God did not ordinarily allow it the House of Aaron had not the Kingdom the House of David had not the Priesthood they might not intermeddle in the Priests Office King Vzziah was smitten for it but Melchizedek was both 3. In that shadow of Eternity which the Story in Genesis doth cast upon him He is there brought in as a greater person than Abraham the Father of the faithful but neither his Birth nor Death mentioned neither his Father nor Mother without either beginning or end of days Heb. 7.3 It is not meant that he was so really but only in sacred History and in a Type or Shadow For it is impossible for any Creature to be without beginning
Vid. Engl. Annot. in loc 4. Moses was to fill the hand of the Priests with some parts of the Sacrifices ver 23 24 25. This interprets and lets you see the reason of that expression why Consecration is called filling of the hand Lev. 7.37 so Exod. 28.41 and here cap. 29. ver 9. It is because some parts of the Sacrifices were put into his hands at his Consecration as a pledge or symbol of putting such a business and intrusting such a work in his hands No man can or ought to undertake this or any other Trust or Office till the Lord fill his hand with it and commit the work and business to his trust A man can take unto himself nothing except it be given him from Heaven Joh. 3.27 they are the words of John the Baptist and he saith of Christ that the Father loveth the Son and hath given all things into his hand ver 35. of that 3d. of John Now the Use of all these Rites of Consecration lies in such things as these 1. They were an external sign and representation of the Dignity of the Office therefore there were so many solemn and sacred Ceremonies in setting them apart thereunto and yet these Priests were but shadows of Jesus Christ our great and true High Priest whose Office is of incomparably more surpassing excellency and Dignity See 1 Cor. 3.7 8 9 10 11. 2. All these Rites of Consecration had this use to the Priests themselves to be Monitors or Remembrances to the Priests themselves that they might remember how pure and holy to the Lord they ought to be And the like Instruction they hold out to Believers who all are made spiritual Priests unto God that they ought to be holy to the Lord. 3. From the people they bespeak reverence and regard to the Priests and that for their works sake they having such Honour and Dignity put upon them in such a solemn Consecration to their Office Thus the Apostle in the New Testament chargeth the Thessalonians that they should know them that laboured among them that were over them in the Lord and admonished them and to esteem them very highly in love for their works sake 1 Thess 5.12 13. 4. We may learn also this from these sacred Rites of the Consecration of the Priests that under the New Testament there should be no Gospel-Ministers but such as are called and consecrated by God to that work see Heb. 5.4 'T is set as a Brand upon that wicked Jeroboam that he made of the basest of the people Priests even whosever would he consecrated him but this thing became sin to the House of Jeroboam even to cut it off and to destroy it from off the face of the earth as the Holy Ghost expresly tells us 1 Kings 13.33 34. THE GOSPEL of the MINISTRATIONS of the LEGAL MINISTRY Feb. 28. 1668. Morning and Afternoon Numb chap. 18. THere were three sorts of Officers in the old Legal Ministry 1. The Priests 2. The Levites 3. The Nethinims Of the Priests you have heard four things propounded 1. The special Rites and Qualifications of that Order of Priesthood 2. Their Priestly Apparrel 3. Their Consecration 4. Their Priestly Ministrations in the House of God This last remains to be spoken to for which this Chapter may be the Text and foundation of our Discourse The Chapter consists of two parts 1. The Work of the Priests and Levites 2. Their Maintenance 1. Their Work and Office to ver 8. The several Work of the Priests and of the Levites is here exactly distinguished their several Offices bounded and disterminated by the Soveraign Wisdom and Authority of God setting each their limits which they might not on highest penalties transgress and violate The charge of the Sanctuary and the Altar with the things appertaining thereunto was committed to the Priests the charge of the Tabernacle to the Levites ver 7. 1. For the Priests their work was the charge of the Sanctuary and the Altar and the holy Vessels and Services thereof These they must look to and of these God would require and expect an account at their hands And the Lord said unto Aaron thou and thy Sons and thy Fathers House with thee shall bear the iniquity of the Sanctuary and of your Priesthood ver 1. that is the guilt and punishment of whatever is done amiss in these matters The Stranger that cometh nigh shall be put to death ver 7. the Stranger here is not meant of other People and Nations only as in other places but any other Family beside the Family of Aaron the rest of Israel yea the Levites themselves were Strangers in this sense There are many particulars comprised under this general head of the Charge of the Altar and Sanctuary in each of which I shall but briefly shew how they had an eye to Jesus Christ the Priest and Minister of the true Sanctuary 1. First then this includes the holy Vessels and all the hallowed things thereof ver 7. so Numb 4 5-15 and ver 16. In like manner hath God committed the whole Church of God and all the mysteries of our Salvation to the trust and care and charge of Jesus Christ for the Tabernacle is the Church All the concernments of his people all their Graces and Duties and Comforts meet in him and are under his special care and trust therefore they are said to be given to him by the Father Joh. 3.35 2. The offering Sacrifice and ordering that whole matter is here also plainly included as being part of the Charge of the Altar the Priest was to kill and dress the Sacrifices and sprinkle the Blood thereof and to manage and dispose of that whole affair Lev. 1.5 and he that is the Priest shall kill the Bullock before the Lord and the Priests the Sons of Aaron shall sprinkle the Blood c. Heb. 5.1 Every High Priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God that he may offer both Gifts and Sacrifices for Sins and the same Apostle applies it expresly to Jesus Christ Heb. 8.3 For every High Priest is ordained to offer Gifts and Sacrifices wherefore it is of necessity that this man that is Christ have somewhat also to offer that is himself his own blessed Body and Humane nature This is the Sacrifice he offered And so he himself was both the Sacrifice and the Priest the Priest in regard of both his Natures and the Sacrifice in regard of his human nature see Heb. 10.10 11 12. No other can offer any expiatory Sacrifice to make atonement with the Lord but only he He trod the Wine-press alone in this respect and of the people there was none with him as Isai 63.3 3. The Priests were to light the seven sacred Lamps of the golden Candlestick Exod. 27.20 21. Lev. 24.2 3. This shadows forth Christ the true Light Joh. 1.9 shining forth and enlightening his Church by his Spirit in the Ministry of the Word For the Golden
below was about three and thirty years and an half his private life about thirty years his publick Ministry about three years and an half whereas the common account instead of half a year makes but a quarter of a year between the Feast of his Nativity and Easter From all which it appears that the time of his Birth was indeed in the seventh month at the Feast of Tabernacles and for the further confirmation thereof there be sundry passages and circumstances in the sacred History of his Birth by which it is evident that it could not be in the tenth month as is commonly supposed 1. Augustus his taxing all World and ordering them to repair to their own Cities for that end Luk. 2.1 it is not likely that the Emperor would enjoyn all his Subjects to travel in the depth of Winter to their own Cities An observable Providence and the rather for its falling out in this juncture of time The Scepter was gone from Judah when they were compelled by a foreign Power to neglect the Feast of Tabernacles and to travel to other places instead of going up to Jerusalem And therefore now it was full time for Shilo to appear according to that Prophesie of old Jacob Gen. 49.10 2. The Shepherds were abroad watching and keeping their Flocks by night Luke 2.8 but it is not probable they were so in the depth of Winter 3. John was baptizing in Jordan at that time of the year thirty years after Luke 3.23 but it is not likely that he would choose out the coldest part of the year for that work though those Climates were hotter in the Summer then this yet they were also cold in the Winter The Winter even in those Climates was but a hard time to travel in or to watch in Matth. 24.20 pray that your flight be not in the Winter Yea so cold that at the Passover they needed a Fire within doors Joh. 18.18 and surely in the depth of Winter it was much colder Quest But then how arose this mistake to place the Birth of Christ in the very midst of Winter Answ They reasoned from that passage of Zacharias offering Incense Luk. 1 5-11-36 They did reason thus that John Baptist was conceived at the end of September and Christ six months after which falls out about the end of March from whence they reckon his Birth nine months after towards the end of December But in this whole Argumentation there is a Concatenation of manifold mistakes absurdities and incongruities besides many uncertainties For 1. Zacharias was not the High Priest For he was of Abia's Course Luk. 1.5 But the High Priest was of no Course for he was above all the Courses And Zacharias is called a certain Priest of the Course of Abia a Style too low for the High Priest 2. The Incense he offered was not the yearly Incense-offered on the tenth day of the seventh month but the daily Incense 3. The Angel did not appear to him in the Holy of holies but in the Sanctuary for the Altar of Incense stood in the Sanctuary 4. If there were none of these manifest and palpable mistakes in this argumentation yet it is wholly bottomed upon many suppositions and presumptions which are altogether uncertain and without any ground in the Scripture As for instance it supposeth first that as soon as Zacharias came home after the days of his Ministration were ended his Wife Elizabeth conceived And secondly that this was that year on the seven and twentieth of our September And thirdly that there was six months to a day between the Conception of John the Baptist and the Angels speaking to the Virgin Mary When as the Holy Ghost speaks in a greater latitude and As to the first saith thus after those days his Wife Elizabeth conceived Luk. 1.24 but whether it was presently after or a month or two months or three months after he saith not And as to the third the Angel saith only that it was on the sixth month ver 26. and that it was the sixth month of her being with Child v. 36. but whether the beginning or middle or end of it he leaves wholly in the dark Whereas this Opinion makes it to be just at the expiring of the sixth and entrance of the seventh month To which might be added as a fourth groundless and uncertain presumption that if it were certainly known to a day what time Elizabeth conceived yea and what day the Angel spake to Mary yet the same uncertainty still remains how long after the Angel Gabriel's speaking so to the Virgin Mary it was before the power of the most High came upon her and she conceived of the Holy Ghost it might be some days or weeks after for ought that can be proved to the contrary And lastly to add yet a fifth uncertain groundless supposal that is presumed and proceeded upon in this vulgar computation if all these forementioned particulars were precisely declared in the Scripture yet what assurance have we that the Virgin Mary went neither more nor less then two hundred and seventy days or nine solar months of thirty days a month after her Conception before the Birth of Christ For though he was in all things except sin made like unto us yet it is well known that according to the Experience of Women and the Judgment of Physicians there is a considerable variation and latitude in the time of Womens going with Child it being sometimes more sometimes less differing at least in different persons not only sundry days but sometimes some weeks yea months But then the second of the first mentioned uncertain supposals which I cast into this place because I would speak a little more largely to it namely that Zacharias's Ministration ended that year precisely on the seven and twentieth of September is as undemonstrable and uncertain as any of the other For first though there were four and twenty Courses of Priests before the Captivity of Babylon yet how will it be proved that there continued just the same number ever after through all the calamities and concussions and confusions that the Jewish State and Worship underwent how can it be proved that none of these four and twenty was utterly extinct before that day by Death or Apostacy or Exclusion or some other way And secondly if that could be proved yet how will it ever be made out that they continued in an uninterrupted order of Succession as they were distributed and ranged in Davids days 1 Chron. 24. why might not one lot suppose that of Abijah through some occurrence or other fall into the week of the lot of Hakkor or of Jeshua there is no prohibition of it by God but that it might lawfully be done in some cases and though it might not yet we find there was introduced as great and a greater variation and swerving from the first Institution and Ordinance of God concerning the continuance of the High Priesthood For it appears in the Evangelist to be anniversary at