they would be made happy but not holy but this cannot be because this would prove a flat Contradiction to the Design of God in sending of his Son from Heaven Isa 55. 4. Behold I have given him for a Witness to the People a Leader and Commander to the People Acts 5. 31. Him hath God the Father exalted to be Prince and a Saviour Psal 2. 10 11 12. Be wise now therefore O ye Kings be instructed ye Judges of the Earth Serve the Lord with fear rejoyce before him with trembling Kiss the Son lest he be angry and ye perish from the way when his Wrath is kindled but a little Such as these may well be called Balaam's Disciples whose Desire was more for a happy Death than for a holy Life Let me die the Death of the Righteous and let my last end be like his Numb 23. 10. But alas who can sufficiently lament the fearful Disappointment which such Hypocrites will meet with when all their Hope shall become like the Spider's Web to them whose present Confidence for a happy End at last lieth only in a few faint fruitless Desires that it may and in a few vain Hopes that it will be as well with them at last as it will be with those who make a greater Shew for Religion than they do Their Hope is that that merciful God which made them will not destroy them There is one dreadful Text of Scripture written against all such Soul-deluded Sinners Deut. 29. 19 20. And it shall come to pass when he heareth the Words of this Curse that he bless himself in his Heart saying I shall have Peace though I walk in the Imaginations of my Heart to add Drunkenness to Thirst. The Lord will not spare that Man but then the Anger of the Lord and his Jealousie shall smoke against that Man and all the Curseâ— that are written in this Book shall lie upon him and the Lord shall blot out his Name from under Heaven 2d Vse Let this serve in the next place to perswade the cleansed People of God to study all they can to be serviceable to Jesus Christ because you are bought by Christ to that end and purpose 1 Cor. 6. 19 20. You are not your own for you are bought with a Price therefore glorifie God in your Bodies and Spirits which are his Oh remember you carry the Mark of Christ's Servants upon the Tip or Lap of your Ears you are his Cleansed Lepers and the Leper when Cleansed was to have his right Ear marked with the Bloud of his Cleansing in token that now he is no more his own but wholly his and for his Use and Service from whom he had the Cure so this is the Voice which continually hangs at the Ears of the Cleansed Lepers of Christ Thou shalt Worship the Lord thy God and him only shalt thou Serve So Rom. 12. 1. I beseech you Brethren by the Mercies of God that you present your Bodies as living Sacrifices holy and acceptable to God which is your reasonable Service and be not conformable to this World but be ye transformed by the renewing of your Mind And as your Service is Christ's Right so it is your Honour Paul knew that he could not dignifie himself in any thing so much as he did in writing himself the Servant of Jesus Christ Rom. 1. 1. Paul a Servant of Jesus Christ. Object But you may say who are there that are more slighted despised and reproachfully loaded with all manner of Contempt and Scorn than these are whom you count the Servants of Jesus Christ I Answer But who are they and what are they which so evilly treat the Servants of Jesus Christ are they any other than the blind ignorant Rabble of the World such whom the Word of God counts the Dross of the Earth Psal 119. 119 ver What matter is it to hear a Man that was born Blind to speak reproachfully of the Sun or to hear a Man that 's born Deaf to speak contemptibly of Musick or to hear an ignorant Fool speak deridingly of the best of Learning Is the Sun Musick or Learning any thing the worse for this or doth it detract any thing from the Excellency of these things Whose Opinion will you rather cleave unto about this Point either the Opinion of the blind ignorant World which wholly lieth in Wickedness or the Opinion of the Penmen of Scripture The Word saith That the Servants of Christ are the honourablest Men in the World yea that they are to be accounted worthy of double Honour 1 Tim. 5. 17 yea God himself doth Honour them 1 Sam. 2 30. with Psal 91. 15. and because God honours them himself therefore he makes them Honourable in the Eyes of others yea God hath made many of his Servants to be highly honoured in the Eyes of the Heathen and professed Pagans Gen. 23. 4. The Children of Heth how highly were they made to Honour Abraham Hear us my Lord for thou art a mighty Prince amongst us in the choice of our Sepulchers bury thy Dead What a wonderful Honour was there given to Joseph by Pharaoh Gen. 41. 39 42. And Pharaoh said to Joseph Forasmuch as God hath shewed thee all this there is none so Discreet and Wise as thou art And Pharaoh took off his Ring from his Hand and put it upon Joseph's Hand and arrayed him with Vestures of fine Linnen and put a golden Chain about his Neck So the like we read of Solomon 2 Chron. 9. 23. And all the Kings of the Earth sought the Presence of Solomon to hear his Wisdom that God put into his Heart The like we read of the Honour which Beishazzer a Pagan gave to Daniel Dan. 5. 29. Then commanded Beishazzer and they clothed Daniel with Scarlet and put a Chain of Gold about his Neck and made Proclamation concerning him that he should be the third Ruler in the Kingdom Thus you see though some base-spirited Men may despise the Servants of God yet when God pleaseth he can make the Wicked'st that are to Honour them at the highest rate therefore let the Opinion of the World be what it will about the People of God my Opinion is and I hope ever will be That it 's far better and a thousand times more honourable to be a Servant of Christ in Rags than to be the Devil's Slave in the most glorious Royal Robes and that the meanest Christian if Sincere is far more Est mable with Christ's Cross upon his Back than the highest Monarch if Graceless with his Royal Crown upon his Head Secondly The next thing that the Priest was to do was to dip his Finger in the Oil and to apply it to the same Parts unto which the Bloud was applied before which was first to the Ear binding it to the Duty of hearing Christ's Voice John 10. 27. Then to the Hand binding it to the Duty of working Righteousness Phil. 2. 12. Lastly To the Foot binding of that to the Duty of
he by his blessed Sacrifice in offering up of himself did thereby purchase our Right to all the Promises relating to Life and God liness so by his Intercession he powerfully prevails with his Father that the Good of them might come down upon us 3dly And whereas you read That the living Bird with the Scarlet the Cedar-wood and the Hyssop all which was to be dipt into the Blood of the slain Bird this being done it made the Scarlet the Cedar-wood and the Hyssop so effectual in the Cleansing of the Leper This great Mystery signifies thus much to us when applied to its Anti-type That what Benefit upon a saving account there is in Christ or of Christ which any do receive in order to their effectual Redemption and Soul-cleansing it doth all originate in or originally proceed from the Vertue Worth and Merit of the Sufferings and Blood of Christ as the procuring cause of all Have we any Benefit by any Office of Christ or Righteousness in Christ Grace from Christ or relation to Christ All this flows from the Spring and Fountain of a Christ crucified and flain for Sin for you plainly see that all the Means which was used in the Cleansing of the corporal Leper took its Efficacy from the Bloud of the slain Bird the Scarlet the Cedar-wood and the Hyssop were all dipt in the Bloud of the slain Bird. From whence we may note this Observation Doct. That the Bloud of Christ shed for Sin is the only Procuring-cause of all the Grace Mercy and Favour which the Elect of God are capable to receive both in the Life that now is and that which is to come This is a Truth which doth abundantly evidence itself from the Scriptures Have we Grace and Sanctification in this Life This the Scripture attributes to the Bloud of Christ as the Procuring-cause of it Heb. 9. 14. The Bloud of Christ purgeth our Consciences from dead Works to serve the Living God Have we Peace with God This he hath procured by the Bloud of his Cross Col. 1. 20. Have we Power and Strength to overcome our spiritual Enemies Satan and the Lusts of the Flesh This is done by the Bloud of the Lamb Rev. 12. 11. In a word There is not a good Action done or performed by us but the Grace which enables us thereunto is the Fruit of Christ's Bloud Heb. 13. 20 21. The God that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ the great Bishop of our Souls through the Bloud of the everlasting Covenant make you perfect in every good Work to do his Will working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight through Jesus Christ. Is it Assurance Joy Peace in believing the Bloud of Jesus Christ have procured this also Col. 1. 11 12 13 14 Verses And so for Heaven and Glory to come this is the Fruit of Christ's Purchasing-bloud which hath accomplished all this Ephes 1. 14. And so we come the Reason of the Point Reason This must be so because what Good the Elect of God partake from him either in this World or in the World to come let it be to their Sanctification here or their Glorification hereafter all this must flow forth to them from the Love of God as the grand Cause of it Ephes 2. 4 5 6 Verses But God who is rich in Mercy for his great Love wherewith he loved us even when we were dead in Sins hath quickned us together with Christ by Grace are ye saved and hath raised us up together and made us sit together with Christ Jesus in heavenly Places So that you plainly see to be quickned from a Death in Sin and to be graciously Saved that is from the Curse and Condemnation of the Law Gal. 3. 13. with Rom. 8. 1. and from the Dominion of Sin Rom. 6. 14. and from the Captivating-power of the Devil 1 John 3. 8. and from the Wrath of God Thess 1. 10. And after all this to be dignified and exalted to that hight of Honour so as to be made to sit with Christ yea together with him in heavenly Places The Apostle tells you in the fourth Verse That the great Love of God is the Foundation of all this to the Elect Now it cannot be that God should deal with his Elect in such a way of Love until he be-first reconciled to them and becomes their Friend now he cannot become their Friend until a Reconciliation be made for them which was done wrought out and brought about by the Blood of Christ Rom. 5. 8. In that while we were yet Sinners Christ died for us So Verse 10. When we were Enemies we were reconciled to God by the Death of his Son So Col. 1. 20. And having made Peace by the Bloud of his Cross by him to reconcile all things to himself Thus you see how through the Bloud of Christ the innocent Bird and Lamb of God the way is abundantly opened to God the Father's letting forth of his Grace and Love to the Elect whom he had ordained thereunto before the World began Ephes 1. 4. And so we come to make some Application of the whole 1st Vse Is to teach us Thankfulness to the ever-blessed God for this special Benefit which he hath so graciously afforded us in order to our spiritual Cleansing Oh! Brethren this was the highest Act of God's Love and Good-will to the lost Children of Adam that could be manifested from Heaven itself Rom. 5. 8. but God commended his Love towards us in that while we were Sinners Christ died for us The meaning is That there was nothing beyond this that could afford a higher Evidence of the Grace and Good-will of God to the lost World For God to create us Creatures was a wonderful Expression of his Power and Wisdom it being a bringing of something out of nothing a most adorable Act but to save them when lost the Fruit of which is their being made new Creatures 2 Cor. 5. 17. Created in Christ Jesus unto good Works which God before ordained that we should walk in them Ephes 2. 10. This was the highest Expression of God's Wisdom Power Love and Grace that possibly could be manifested in the Face of Men and Angels What could Abraham give to God of all he did possess beyond the Life of his Son Isaac And What could God give more to Sinners than the Life of his Son John 3. 16. God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not Perish buâ— have everlasting Life This was the most costliest Means for a Cure that Heaven and Earth could procure Oh Christians and shall we not be Thankful for this and rejoyce in the Lord for this How unsuitable to a David-like Spirit would this be in us Psal 103. 2 3. O bless the Lord O my Soul and forget not all his Benefits who forgiveth all thine Iniquities and healeth all thy Diseases Oh Brethren this special Bloud calls for special Thankfulness
the old Man into a new Creature 2 Cor. 5. 17. Grace purifieth the Heart Acts 15. 9. And purgeth the Heart from dead Works Heb. 9. 14. Grace works Desires after Christ Psal 42. 1 2. Grace imbitters Sin to the Soul Jen 2. 91. Grace crucifies the World with the Affections and Lusts thereof Gal. 5. 24. Gal. 6. 24. Grace puts the highest Value upon Jesus Christ Phil. 3. 8. Grace makes the Word sweeter than the Honey-comb Psal 19. In a word The gracious Soul can better live without its appointed Food than it can without Prayer Psal 55. 17. Psal 109. 4. Grace is a living Principle which never will lie still but will be working stirring acting and moving in the Soul Grace cannot be idle it will still be bringing forth things new and old here you have a Looking-glass before you present your Hearts before this Glass and see what you can espy of these Signs of Grace within your Souls in order to the finding out of your Justification by the Bloud of Christ the Lamb slain for the Cleansing of your spiritual Leprosie 2. Thus after the Priest had poured out the Oil into the Palm of his Hand we next come to take notice of the Parts of the Leper's Body which the Priest was to apply the Oil unto and that was to the Tip or Lap of the right Ear the Thumb of the right Hand and the great Toe of the right Foot which Parts viz. The Ear Thumb or Hand and Foot are the three principal Members of Service to the whole Body and you find that the Bloud of Christ which was typed out by the Bloud of the Lamb and the Bird the Apostle calls it the Price which Bought us Now the Purchase which Christ made for us is twofold 1st From the Curse and Condemnation of the Law Rom. 8. 1. with Gal. 3. 13. 2dly He by the same Price bought us for his Use and Service 1 Cor. 6. 20. For ye are Bought with a Price therefore glorifie God in your Bodies and Souls which are the Lord 's So that the Priest's putting of the Bloud and Oil upon the right Ear Hand and Foot of the Leper that was to be Cleansed shadowed out these Mysteries to us First of all as to Priest's applying of the Bloud of the slain Lamb to the right Ear Hand and Foot which are the three principal Members of Service to the whole Body it notes to us this Truth for our Observation That the same Bloud of Christ which redeemed us from Wrath to come did also purchase us for that Work and Service which he commands us to do for him for so much as this I gather from the Priest's tipping of the right Ear Thumb and Toe of the right Foot of the Leper with the Bloud of the slain Lamb which Lamb was a Type of Christ which Action held a Congruity to the levitical Manner of making Men perpetual Servants to the Jewish Masters Exod. 21. 5 6. If the Servant shall plainly say I love my Master my Wife and my Children I will not go out free then his Master shall bring him unto the. Judges he shall also bring him unto the Door or to the Door-post and his Master shall bore his Ear through with an Awl and he shall serve him for ever So in like manner the Leper that was to be Cleansed was to have the Bloud of the Lamb tipt upon his Ear to be a professed Servant of the levitical Administration by which he was Cleansed for ever Now inasmuch as the Bloud of the Lamb by which the corporal Leper was Cleansed was a Type of the Bloud of Christ and the corporal Leper a Figure of a spiritual Leper and his corporal Cleansing binding him to perpetual Service typocal of that perpetual Obligation which every spiritual-cleansed Leper lies under to Christ altogether affords us this Note Doct. That he which intends to be redeemed from Sin the Curse and Condemnation of the Law and Wrath to come must become willing to give up himself to the Service of Christ for ever For the proof of this Truth read 1 Cor. 6. 19 20. You are not your own you are bought with a Price therefore glorifie God in your Bodies and Spirits which are God's As if the Apostle had said O ye Corinthians remember that the Bloud of your Redemption hath been put upon the tip of your right Ears your Hands and Feet in token of your perpetual Service to Christ as the Levitical-servant had his Ear bored through with an Awl to be his Master's Servant for ever Oh so hath the Bloud of Christ been upon your Ears also to make you his perpetual Servants for ever you are bought with a Price you are not your own therefore glorifie him in your Bodies and Spirits which are his Have a care that you rob him not of his Right in you in giving that Service to the Devil World and the Flesh which is only due to him And so we come to the Reason of the Point Reason Why that Soul who would have Redemption by Christ must be willing to become a perpetual Servant to Christ is because Christ redeems none but upon that Condition Isa 1. 19. If ye be willing and obedient ye shall eat the good things of the Land Heb. 5. 9. He is the Author of eternal Salvation to as many as obey him Rom. 8. 13. If ye live after the Flesh ye shall die but if through the Spirit ye mortifie the Deeds of the Body ye shall live So Ver. 6. For to be carnally minded is Death but to be spiritually minded is Life and Peace Thus you see how Conditional the Promises are which speak out a Soul's Benefit by the Redeeming-bloud of Christ which do all call upon us for a willing chearful and sincerc Obedience to Christ though we grant That it is not an old but a New Covenant-condition even such a Condition that the Grace and gracious Aid which only can enable us to perform the Condition is graciously given into the Soul by Jesus Christ and who will as graciously accept our Endeavours though clothed with many Weaknesses and Infirmities so that our Obedience to him be but sincere 2 Cor. 8. 12. If there be first a willing Mind it is accepted according to what a Man hath and not according to that he hath not And so we come to make some Application of this Matter 1st Vse This informs us then why the Number is so small which comes under the Yoke of Jesus Christ the Reason is because there are so few that are willing to come up to the Terms he propounds which is a willing Subjection to the Government of his Word and Spirit which is the Condition he propounds to all that would have an Interest in his Salvation They would willingly accept of his Bloud to wash away the Guilt of Sin from their Souls but they like not to have it tipt or applied to their Ears to engage them to his Work and Service
from Father to Son a Disease which hath spread itself over the face of the Earth leaving neither Man Woman or Child untouch'd with the Venom of it saith 1 John 5. 19. The whole World lieth in Wickedness This spiritual Leprosie is a Disease that no Man in the World can possibly escape this taketh hold of the highest King upon the Throne as well as the Beggar upon the Dunghil I do not say That every Man is a Leper in a corporal Sense no but yet the Anti-type of that corporal Leprosie which the Jews were so subject unto which shadowed forth this spiritual Leprosie which I am speaking of which is a thousand times more distructive than the former This is a Leprosie which cleaves to every Man in the World and as it cleaves to every Man so it cleaves to every Part in Man it is a Corruption and Disorder so universal that the whole Soul is bound under it without any supply of its own to rescue itself because the whole Faculties of the Soul are corrupted with this unclean leprous Pollution therefore it is called The Dominion of Sin Rom. 6. 12. A Body of Death Rom. 7. 24. and a Law of Sin bringing the Soul into Captivity Rom. 7. 23. For first of all this Leprosie darkens the Understanding Ephes 4. 18. Having the Vnderstanding darkned being alienated from the Life of God through the Ignorance which is in them because of the Blindness of their Heart And from hence the Imaginations of the Heart become Vain Rom. 1. 21. and not only Vain but continually Evil Gen. 6. 5. pursuing unprofitable Curiosities Acts 19. 19. and impertinent Questions Titus 3. 9. vain Deceir Col. 2. 8. it wants a Capacity to discern things of the greatest Concernment 1 Cor. 2. 14. so that the best Habits of the Understanding are corrupted by this leprous Disease the Wisdom of the World is not only Foolishness 1 Cor. 3. 19. but Enmity against God yea earthly sensual and devilish James 3. 15. These and the like doth this spiritual Leprosie produce in the Understanding the Light being either quite out or dim the Actings of the Understanding become irregular and it is one of the great Works of Christ in our Regeneration to give us the Spirit of Power and a sound Mind 2 Tim. 1. 7. 1st So for the Will this Leprosie hath as much perverted that as it hath darkened the Understanding and that upon a double account First By reason of that Corruption which is in the Understanding for the Prosecution or Aversation of the Will is much qualified and ruled according to the Light that is in the Understanding and if that Light be Darkness then there must necessarily follow a great miscarriage in the Will 2dly By reason of that Captivity that the Will lieth under to the Law of Sin and the Flesh God gave to Man a righteous Law which was to be a Law and Rule to his Mind planted in him to direct and guide him in all things answerable to the revealed Will of God but by reason of this Leprosie's corrupting the Will it is now not subject to the Law of God neither indeed can it be Rom. 8. 7. nay the Will is so much mastered and pressed down by being possessed of this Leprosie through this powerfull Law of Sin which it wher 's into the Soul insomuch when it meets with the Law of God coming into the Heart it takes an occasion thereby to work in the Soul all manner of Concupiscence Rom. 7. 6. and all this meerly out of Malice and Policy to make the Law of God which should restrain the Soul from Sin and rescue the Soul more odious to the Soul and the Soul to it as Conquerers use to do who introduce Laws Customs and Languages of their own the more to estrange the Conquered from any Memory of their former Duty and Freedoms but now when Christ comes into the Soul he rescues the Soul from the Dominion though not from the being of Sin Rom. 6. 14. Sin shall not have Dominion over you for ye are not under the Law but under Grace 3dly This Leprosie hath not only darkned our Understandings and corrupted our Wills but it hath poisoned our Affections also The great and Master-piece of our Affections is Love and the prime Object of it is God and in our original Creation our Love was rightly placed upon God the only Discerner of our Love and when our Love was rightly qualified it was most intense Love according to the Law and Command of God Deut. 6. 5. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy Heart with all thy Soul and withal thy Might But now this Leprosie though we have lost the proper Object of this Affection yet not the Affection itself but in as much as our Love hath lost its Guide hence it is that it wanders after something else like Noah's Dove seeking rest amongst the Creatures and Pleasures of the Flesh but findeth none and at last takes up in ourselves making them the sole Objects of our Love and Affection so that as our Love is misplaced with respect to its Object so it mistakes in the pursuit of that Object for no Man doth truly love himself who doth not truly love God because the true Effect of Love is to do all the good we can to the Thing we Love Now the chiefest Good to ourselves lieth in our Conformity unto the Will of God wherein indeed lieth the beauty happiness and blessedness of the Soul Thus when a Man hath lost the true Object of his Love no wonder he wanders up and down in a Wilderness of Mistakes and so at last makes himself the sole Object of his Affection Rom. 1. 25. Who hath changed the Truth of God into a Lie and worshipped and served the Creature more than the Creator who is blessed for ever Amen So that that Man who terminates his Love upon himself Serves and Worships himself Thus the Order and Beauty which God at first planted in Man it being corrupted and turned into so much Disorder in the Soul by this Leprosie this makes that Confusion in all the other Affections and Passions of the Mind But this is not all But 4thly As Paul speaks to Titus Tit. 1. 15. This Leprosie hath defiled the Consciences of Men it hath first darkned the divine Light of God in the Soul in a great measure which hath much weakned the Evidence that Conscience should give in for God and made it so much the more uncertain in its Testimony so also hath it weakned it in its Power that it stirs not as otherwise it would do like a Man over-powered and benumbed with much heaviness to Sleep Hence in some Men 't is said to be feared as with a hot Iron as seared Flesh is dead Flesh so are the Consciences of some Men in their Breasts dead powerless unable to act or speak Therefore this spiritual Leprosie is very lively shadowed out by the Jewish corporal Leprosie
which this Truth is bottomed The Reason is this That as one scabbed Sheep may spoil a whole Flock so may one spiritual Leper spoil a whole Church The Apostle told the Corinthians that one incestuous Person amongst them might leaven all the rest of the Society if not with the same spiritual Pollution yet with so much Guilt for their allowing of him amongst them which might procure some heavy Judgment upon them 1 Cor. 5. 6. It 's true while we are in the World we cannot avoid a common Commerce with them upon a civil account but we ought to avoid a spiritual Communion with them in the highest Christian Ordinance upon any account because they are Lepers Vse This then may serve for Instruction to the Churches of Christ First Who they should keep out Secondly Who they should keep out Secondly Who they should thrust out of their Fellowships and Communion First of all this Truth may reach them who should keep out of their Fellowships and Communion namely The leprous Person None can deny but that the House of Isael were the visible Church of God and few but will grant That a spiritual Leprosie is far more dangerous therefore more to be avoided than that which is corporal so then if the Church of God under the Law were to drive out from their Communion those which had the less dangerous Leprosie then surely the Churches of Christ in Gospel-times ought to keep out those from their Communion which have the more dangerous Leprosie upon them therefore the same which the Apostle saith of him that is a Brother may very well be applied to one that with respect to particular Church-communion would be a Brother If he be a Fornicator or Covetous or a Drunkard or a Railer or an Idolater or an Extortioner with such a one no not to Eat 1 Cor. 5. 11. 2dly This serves to instruct the People of God who they are which they should thrust out of their Fellowships and Communion viz Every spiritual unclean Leper that will not be cleansed you have seen that as soon as the Leprosie was broken out upon the Body of the Jewish Leper he was immediately put out of the Camp of Israel which Camp was the Church of God Lev. 13. 46. As long as his Disease shall be upon him he shall be defiled he is unclean he shall dwell alone without the Camp shall be his Habitation So also you may read how agreeable to this Levitical Rule is the Order which Christ hath established in his Gospel-churches Matt. 18. 15 16 17. with 1 Cor. 5. 1 2 3 4 5 Verses This special Care which ought to be taken by the Churches in keeping close to this Rule is not only enjoyned upon the Ministers of the Gospel but it was the great Duty of the Priests and Prophets under the Levitical Administration Jer. 15. 19. If thou take forth the Precious from the Vile thou shalt be as my Mouth let them return to thee but return not thou unto them Ezek. 44. 6 7. with Ver. 9. And thou shalt say to the Rebellious even to the House of Israel thus saith the Lord O ye House of Israel let it suffice you for all your Abominations in that you have brought into my Sanctuary Strangers uncircumcised in Heart and uncircumcised in Flesh to be in my Sanctuary to pollute it even my House when ye offer my Bread the Fat and the Blood and they have broken my Covenant because of all your Abominations Only this Rule is to be observed before the Leper is to be separated Matt. 18. 15 16. Go and tell him his Fault between thee and him alone if he shall hear thee thou hast gained thy Brother but if he hear thee not then tell it to the Church It is not simply the Offence committed which proves a Ground of casting out the spiritual Leper but it 's his persifting in his Offence his refusing to return and his unwillingness to be cleansed Thus far touching the Action of the Leper in order to his Cleansing First He was to be brought to the Priest Secondly If his Disease were found to be a Leprosie then was he to be separated from all Communion and Fellowship with his Brethren 2dly We next come to the Action of the Priest by whom the Cure was to be wrought and here we shall handle the Action of the Priest together with the Means he was to use in order to the Cleansing of the Leper Lev. 14. 4 5 6 7. Then shall the Priest command to take for him that is to be cleansed two Birds alive and clean and Cedar-wood and Scarlet and Hyssop And the Priest shall command that one of the Birds be killed in an earthen Vessel over running Water As for the living Bird he shall take and the Cedar-wood and the Scarlet and the Hyssop and shall dip them and the living Bird in the Blood of the Bird that was killed over the running Water And he shall sprinkle upon him that is to be cleansed from the Leprosie seven times and shall pronounce him Clean and shall let the living Bird loose into the open Field Now for the opening of this Mystery we shall begin with the two Birds which some think were two Sparrows and they are called Clean with respect to that Statute Lev. 11. which made the difference betwixt Things allowed and disallowed to be Eaten those Creatures which were allowed to be Eaten were called Clean of which kind were these Birds that are here used in the cleansing of the Leper Now these two Birds are very significant of the twofold Work of Christ in our spiritual Cleansing from our leprous and polluted Natures For first of all you read that the first Bird was killed which shadowed out the Death of Christ for as the Leper could not be healed of his corporal Leprosie without the shedding of the Blood of the innocent Sparrow no more could we be healed of our spiritual Leprosie of Sin without the shedding of the Blood of an innocent Saviour 1 John 1. 7. And the Bloud of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all Sin Rev. 5. 9. For thou wast Slain and hast redeemed us to God by thy Blood Heb. 9. 22. And without shedding of Blood is no Remission 2dly The living Bird was to be let loose or to be let to fly away into the open Field which signified the Action of Christ in order to his Work of Intercession who was likewise to be let go from the Grave thaâ— from thence he might take his flight for Heaven there to fit at the right-hand of God to make Intercession for us according to Heb. 7. 25. For as by his Death upon the Cross he made a full and compleat Satisfaction for all our Sins so by his Ascention to Heaven he there is making continual Intercession for Sinners and as by his Death upon the Cross he made Peace with God for us so by his Intercession he maintains that Peace with God for us And again as