the Kingly which later remained in Moses after he by the command of God had devolved the Priesthood which was originally in himself upon his Brother Aaron and so according to divine institution the Priesthood was to continue in the Family of Aaron separate from the Regal Power till the coming of our Saviour who reunited those Offices in himself and became a Royal Priest after the ancient Order of Melchisedeck For upon the separation of these Offices none could be a Priest of the Aaronical Order but such as were descended from the Family of Aaron and therefore Christ could not be a Priest of that Order because he descended from the Family of Iudah and being of the Royal Lineage he resumed the Priestly Office from the House of Aaron and joyned it to the Kingly Office again with which it was originally united by which he abrogated the Priesthood of the Aaronical Order and in its room restored the ancient Melchisedecan or Royal Priesthood And hence the Author to the Hebrews observes that Christ pertaineth to another Tribe of which no man gave attendance at the Altar for it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Iudah of which Tribe Moses spake nothing concerning the Priesthood Heb. 7.13 14. and therefore by being a Priest of a different Tribe from that to which the Aaronical Order was confined he disannulled that Order and erected another in the room of it viz. the ancient Order of Melchisedeck which was before the Aaronical Hence S. Ambrose in Loc. quomodo translatum est Sacerdotium Ex tribu ad tribum de Sacerdotali ad Regalem ut eadem ipsa sit Regalis Sacerdotalis intuere mysterium primum fuit Regale Sacerdotium Melchisedâ—ch secundum consequentiam hujus sermonis secundum etiam fuit Sacerdotale in Aaron tertium in Christo fuit iterum Regale i. e. How was the Priesthood translated Why from one Tribe to another viz. from the Sacerdotal to the Regal that so it might be both Regal and Sacerdotal and this is the Mystery the first Priesthood of Melchisedeck was Regal the second was Sacerdotal in Aaron the third was Regal again in Christ. For that which distinguished the Melchisedecan from the Aaronical Priesthood was not as some imagine the difference of their Sacrifice viz. that Melchisedeck sacrificed only inanimate things whereas Aaron sacrificed Animals also for that Melchisedeck sacrificed there is no doubt because he was Priest of the most high God but that he sacrificed inanimate things only such as Bread and Wine there is not the least intimation in Scripture only it is said that when he met Abraham he brought forth Bread and Wine Gen. 14.18 that is to refresh Abraham's Soldiers after their Battel with Chedorlaomer as the manner was in those Countries Vide Deut. 23.4 and Iudg. 8.15 and 6.15 And what is all this to his Sacrificing But that he sacrificed Animate as well as Inanimate things is evident not only because animal Sacrifices were generally used before the institution of the Aaronical Priesthood and it is very improbable that he who was so eminently the Priest of the most High God should never offer the accustomed Sacrifices but also because Christ's Sacrifice was an animate one who was a Priest after Melchisedeck's Order and not of the Order of Aaron Heb. 7.11 so that if the difference between these two Orders consisted in this difference of their Sacrifice Christ must be rather a Priest of the Aaronick than the Melchisedecan Order And how could the Acts of the Priesthood of Aaron be Typical of our Saviour's which is Melchisedecan as the Scripture all along makes them if they were of a different nature from those of Melchisedeck How could Aaron's bloudy Sacrifices be Typical of our Saviour's Priesthood which was after the Order of Melchisedeck if Melchisedeck's Priesthood admitted no bloudy Sacrifice As to the Acts of their Priesthood therefore for any thing that appears to the contrary these two Orders were the same but in this they apparently differed that whereas the Regal Power was united to Melchisedeck's Priesthood it was wholly separated from Aaron's who in all probability was the first High Priest in the World that was not a King as well as a Priest. The Priestly acts therefore of these two different Orders being the same we shall better understand the nature of our Saviour's Priesthood though it be of the Order of Melchisedeck by the account we have of the Aaronical than by that of the Melchisedecan Order because the former is far more distinct and particular than the later For of the Acts and Functions of Melchisedeck's Priesthood there is very little mention in Scripture whereas those of Aaron's are described at large in all their particular Rites and Circumstances The Priestly Office therefore in general consists in officiating for sinful men with God in order to the reconciling of God to them and obtaining for them his Favour and Benediction To which end there are two Offices necessary to be performed First to offer Sacrifice for them and thereby to make some fitting reparation to God for their past sins and provocations Secondly To present that Sacrifice to God and in the Vertue and Merit of it to interceed with God in their behalf in order to the Restoring them to his Grace and Favour And accordingly we read of the Iewish High Priest who of all their other Priests was the most perfect Type and Representative of Christ in his Priestly Office and this more especially in Celebrating the Mysteries of the great day of Expiation that on this day he was appointed to bring the Beast to the door of the Tabernacle which was set apart to die for the Sins of the People and to kill it there with his own hands by which action he did as the Peoples Representative offer a life to God as a reparation for those manifold sins by which they had justly forfeited their own lives to him after which he was to take the Bloud of it and present it before the Lord in the Holy of Holies sprinkling it seven times with his finger upon and before the Mercy-Seat by which action he interceded with God to accept that Bloud in lieu of the forfeited lives of the People and accordingly the whole performance is called making an Atonement for the Children of Israel for all their sins once a year Lev. 16 34. But for the fuller explication of the Priestly Office it is necessary we should briefly explain these two essential Acts of it viz. of sacrificing and presenting the Sacrifice to God by way of Intercession for the People As for the first of these the Apostle tells us that every High Priest is ordained to offer gifts and Sacrifices Heb. 8.3 And that he is ordained for men in things pertaining unto God that he may offer both Gifts and Sacrifices for sins Heb. 5.1 It is true indeed to sacrifice in a strict sence i. e. to kill the Sacrifice seems not to have been
will 118. Fourthly He sealed his Declaration with his own Blood 120. Fifthly He Instituted an Order of Men to Preach what he had declared to the World 121. Sixthly He sent his Holy Spirit when he left the World to recollect and explain his Doctrine to those whom he had ordained to Preach it and to inable them also to prove it by Miracles 123 124. SECT IV. Of Christs Priestly Office. To what persons the Priesthood antiently belonged 130. What the Melchisedecan Priesthood was and in what respects Christs Priesthood is of that Order 132. what the old Priesthood was and in what acts it consisted 136. That it consisted first in Sacrificing and secondly in presenting the Sacrifice to God by way of Intercession for the People 136 c. That this ancient Priesthood was in both these acts of it intended by God for a Type of the Priesthood of our Saviour 142 c. SECT V. Concerning the first Act of our Saviours Priesthood viz. Sacrificing That the death of Christ had in it all the requisite Conditions of a Sacrifice for Sin and what those Conditions are shewed in five Particulars 147 c. these Conditions applyed to our Saviours death as first In his death he was substituted in the room of sinful Men to be punish'd for them in order to their being released from their personal Obligation to punishment 151. Secondly He dyed a pure and spotless Innocent Thirdly His death was of sufficient intrinsick worth and value to be an equivalent commutation for the punishment that was due to the whole World of sinners 155. Fourthly His death was on his part voluntary and unforced 160 161. Fifthly His death was admitted and accepted of God in lieu of the punishment which was due to him from Mankind 164. The wisdom of this method of Gods· admitting Christs sacrifice for sinners in order to the reforming Mankind shewn in five Particulars â— First That the Sacrifice of Christs death was a most sensible and affecting acknowledgement of the infinite guilt and demerit of our sin 167. Secondly It was an ample declaration of Gods severity against sin 169. Thirdly It was a most obliging expression of the love of God and our Saviour to us 171. Fourthly It is a sure and certain ground of our hope of pardon if we repent and amend 174. Fifthly It is a seal and confirmation of the New Covenant 177. SECT VI. Of Christs Intercession or presenting his Sacrifice to God in Heaven by way of Advocation for us The Nature of it defined 183. The definition explained in the several parts of it which are four First It is a Solemn Address of our Blessed Saviour to God the Father in our behalf 184. Secondly This Address is performed by the presenting his Sacrificed Body to the Father in Heaven 186. Thirdly it is continued and perpetuated by the perpetual Oblation of this his sacrificed Body 190. Fourthly In vertue of this perpetual Oblation he doth always successfully move and solicit God 193. And that which he moves him to is First to receive and graciously accept our sincere and hearty Prayers 196. Secondly to impower him to bestow on us all those Graces and Favours which in consideration of his Sacrifice God hath promised to us 199. The admirable tendency of this method of Gods communicating his Favours to us through Christs Intercession to reform Mankind shewn in five Particulars First It naturally tends to excite in us a mighty awe of the Divine Majesty 204. Secondly It also tends to give us the strongest conviction of Gods hatred of Sin 206. Thirdly It secures us from presuming upon Gods mercy while we continue in our sins 208. Fourthly It encourages us to approach God with chearfulness and freedom 212. Fifthly It assures our diffident minds of Gods gracious intentions to perform to us all the good things which he hath promised to us upon our performing the condition of them 216. SECT VII Of Christs Kingly Office. Christs universal Royalty successâ—â—e to his Sacrifice and Intercession pag. 221 c. Christ had a particular Kingdom in this World viz. The â—ewish Church before his Incarnation and during his abode upon Earth 225. and therefore that which he was exalted to upon his ascension was the universal Kingdom of the World ibid. Six Heads proposed to be treated of concerning our Saviours Kingdom 226. SECT VIII Of the Rise and Progress of Christs Kingdom from the Fall to his Incarnation Of which an account is given at large in eight Propositions pag. 227. First That the Kingdom of Christ is founded in the new Covenant 228. Secondly That the new Covenant commenced immediatly after the Fall and was afterwards in a particular manner renewed to Abraham and his Posterity ibid. c. Thirdly That from its first Commencement Christ was Mediator of it and so he continued to be all along under that particular renewal of it to the People of Israel 233 c. Fourthly Christs being always Mediator of this Covenant necessarily implies his having been always King over all that were admitted into it and particularly over the People of Israel 235 c. and that he was the Divine King that reigned over Israel and who in the Old Testament is promiscuously called Jehovah and the Angel of Jehovah is proved in five Propositions 238 239 c. Fifthly That after his coming into the World he still retained this his right and title of King of Israel in particular 255 c. Sixthly That the main Body of the Jews rejected Christ from being their King and were thereupon rejected by him yet was there a remnant of them that received and acknowledged him 258. Seventhly That this remnant still continued the same individual Church or Kingdom of Christ with what it was before its main Body revolted they very much reformed and improved 259 c. Eighthly That to this individual Church or Kingdom of Christ thus reformed and improved was superadded all those Gentiles that were afterwards converted to Christianity 272 c. SECT IX Of the Nature and Constitution of Christs Kingdom The Kingdom and Church of Christ the same 275. The universal Church or Kingdom of Christ defined 277. This definition explained in the several parts of it which are eight 272 278. First It is one Vniversal Society consisting of all Christian People 278 c. Secondly It consists of all Christian People incorporated by the New Covenant 280 c. Thirdly These Christian People are incorporated by the New Covenant in Baptism 283 c. Fourthly They are incorporated under Iesus Christ their supreme Head 291. Fifthly This one Vniversal Society thus incorporated is distributed into particular Churches 292 c. Sixthly These particular Churches are distributed under Lawful Governors and Pastors 295 c. Seventhly These particular Churches thus distributed hold Communion with each other 298 c. Eighthly The Communion which these particular Churches hold is first in all the Essentials of Christian Faith 303 c. Secondly in all the
Christianity which are not so clearly revealed but that the most honest minds may be mistaken about them but then these are such as are far remote from the necessary and fundamental Articles upon which our Salvation depends all which are so clearly and distinctly revealed that there is nothing but a perverse Will that is either prejudiced against them by some sinful affection or through a profane disregard of God and Religion utterly unconcerned about them can hinder men from apprehending them and if when the divine Light shines so clearly round about them men will be so obstinate as to shut their eyes against it it is at their own eternal peril and they are as justly accountable for their ignorance as if they had sinned against the clearest knowledge For this saith our Saviour is the condemnation of the World that light is come into the World and men love darkness more than light If therefore through any wicked prejudice against the truth or through a profane neglect to enquire after it we continue ignorant of it this will be no excuse at all for our sinning against it but we shall be as certainly condemned for our affecting Ignorance and loving darkness more than light as if we had sinned against the clearest light and conviction For what a monstrous instance is it of stupidity and impiety together to shut our eyes against that light which is of such infinite moment to us and which the Son of God thought worth his while to come down from Heaven to reveal to us what is this but to tell him to his face that if he had pleased he might have spared his pains and not have come so far on such an impertinent Errand as is not worth a man's while to listen to O prodigious supineness and stupidity that men who are so inquisitive about the little affairs of this life as that when they receive but a Letter in which they imagine any of their worldly interests are concerned they cannot forbear one moment breaking it open and perusing the Contents of it should yet receive a Message from the God of Heaven by his own Son in which their everlasting happiness or misery is concerned and take no notice of it but let it lie by them day after day without ever enquiring into the Contents of it or taking the least care and pains to inform themselves about it Good God! what reverence have these wretched Creatures for thee or what regard for themselves that can thus receive thy Messages and with them their own Eternal Fate with the same unconcern and indifferency as they would the most impertinent Tales of Bedlam Wherefore as we regard either God or our own Souls let us from henceforth be perswaded seriously to attend to this great and momentous Revelation of our Saviour and throughly to inform our minds with its Doctrines and Precepts for which end let us avoid as much as in us lies busying and entertaining our thoughts with nice and curious Speculations or remote and disputable Opinions and betake our selves to the study of things upon which our Eternal life and happiness depends viz. of the Duties which the Gospel exacts and requires of us and of the Motives by which it presses and inforces them which when once we have digested into a clear and distinct Scheme of practical knowledge that will be a standing light to our Wills and Affections by which we shall always see our way before us and be secured from wandering into dangerous errors and at length safely conducted to eternal light and happiness SECT III. Of Christ's Priestly Office. IN treating of which great and momentous Argument I shall endeavour first to shew what the ancient Priesthood was and in what Acts it consisted Secondly To prove that the ancient Priesthood in its proper Acts was a Type and Figure of the Priesthood of our Saviour Thirdly To explain the Priesthood and Priestly Acts of our Saviour corresponding to that ancient Priesthood in which they were prefigured First What the ancient Priesthood was and in what Acts it consisted In the first Ages of the World it is evident that in matters which concerned himself alone every man was his own Priest. For thus in sacrificing to God upon their own particular accounts both Cain and Abel officiated for themselves but in Family-Sacrifices the Father of the Family was the Priest as is evident by Noah and Iob Gen. 8.22 Iob. 1.5 And when Families were multiplied into Tribes and greater Societies the Prince of each Society was also the Supreme Priest of it and hence before Aaron was consecrated Moses who was the Prince of Israel officiated also as the Priest in that solemn Sacrifice by which the Covenant with Israel was confirmed Exod. 24.6 And long before Moses Melchisedeck King of Salem was also Priest of the most High God Gen. 14.18 And it is evident that originally Kings were the High-Priests of their Countries For so Aristotle observes that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to Rule and Sacrifice were Offices conjoyned in the same Person Polit. l. 3. So also Virgil Aen. 3. Rex Anius Rex idem hominum Phoebique Sacerdos i. e. Anius in the same Person was King of Men and Priest of Phoebus upon which Servius hath this Note Sane majorum haec erat consuetudo ut Rex esset etiam Sacerdos vel Pontifex it was a Custom among the Ancients that the King should be also Priest or High-Priest Which Custom was continued for a long while in Aegypt and from thence was derived to the Greeks and from them to the Romans for so Plut. Quaest. Rom. p. 279. tells us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. Of old Kings performed the most and greatest parts of the Sacred Rites and together with the Priests sacrificed the Victims but upon their exceeding their due bounds and taking upon them to domineer proudly and unjustly many of the Greeks took from them all their Civil Power and only left them their Authority to sacrifice to the Gods but the Romans as he goes on utterly rejecting their Kings appointed anothâ—r to succeed them in the High Priesthood whom they wholly debarred from intermedling with secular Affairs Dionysius Halicarn speaking of the power of Kings expresly tells us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. That they had the Government of all Sacrifices and Sacred Rites and whatsoever was to be done to the holy Gods was done by them And therefore the reason why Melchisedeck here is more particularly taken notice of under the Character of a King and Priest was not because there were no other Kings so but he but perhaps because all other Kings that were Cotemporary with him were revolted to Idolatry so that he only remained a Priest of the most High God. And in being a King and Priest together he was a Type of our Saviour who was a Priest not after the Order of Aaron but after the Order of Melchisedeck Heb. 5.10 For in Aaron the Priestly Office was separated from
which he shed 1600. years ago he still intercedes for us with the same effect and success as when he first presented it to his Father in Heaven Upon which account there was no need that he should offer himself often as the High Priest entered into the holy place every year with bloud of others for then must he have often suffered since the foundation of the World but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to take away sin by the sacrifice of himself Heb. 9.25 26. So that Christ's one Sacrifice being of perpetual vertue and efficacy and being as such perpetually presented to the Father in heaven he therewithal makes a continued and uninterrupted Intercession for us and will continue to do so to the end of the World. Hence we are said to be sanctified through the offering of the body of Iesus once for all Heb. 10.10 And whereas every Priest standeth daily ministring and offering oftentimes the same Sacrifices which can never take away sin this man after he had offered one Sacrifice for sins for ever sate down on the right hand of God vers 11 12. and this offering his one Sacrifice for sins in heaven being for ever it is a perpetually continued act of Intercession for us For so it is said that he ever lives to make intercession for us Heb. 7.25 i. e. he ever lives in Heaven so as by his perpetual presence there to make perpetual Intercession for us And upon the account of the perpetuity of this his Priestly Act of Intercession he is said to have an unchangeable Priesthood not barely because he continues for ever for so he might have done and yet â—eased to have been a Priest but because he continues for ever exercising his Priesthood or presenting his Sacrifice Heb. 7.24 And hence also he is said to be a Priest for ever after the Order of Melchisedeck that is not only to be a Royal Priest as Melchisedeck was which as I shewed before was the proper Character of Melchisedeck's Priesthood but to be a Royal Priest for ever Heb. 7.17 For Melchisedeck was not only a Royal Priest but also a Type or Shadow of an eternal Royal Priest and that as he was without Father and without Mother without descent or Genealogy having neither beginning of days nor end of life but made like unto the Son of God abideth a Priest continually Heb. 7.3 where the Phrase 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 without descent or Genealogy explains what is meant by without Father and without Mother i. e. without any Father or Mother mentioned in the Genealogies of Moses so the Syriac version whose Father and Mother are neither of them recorded in the Genealogies in which he very much differed from the Aaronical Priests whose Fathers and Mothers names were constantly recorded in the Jewish Genealogies as appears from Esdr. 11.62 and so also Philo on the Decalogue tells us 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. the descent and Progeny of the Priests is kept with all manner of exactness So that there being no Genealogy at all of Melchisedeck in Scripture he is introduced into the History like a man dropt down from Heaven for so the Text goes on having neither beginning of days nor end of life i. e. in the History of Moses which contrary to its common usage when it makes mention of great men takes no notice at all of the time either of Melchisedeck's birth or death and herein he is made like unto the Son of God i. e. by the History of Moses which mentions him appearing and acting upon the Stage without either entrance or exit as if like the Son of God he had abode a Priest continually So that as Moses's History treats of Melchisedeck without taking any notice of his beginning or end as if he were a Royal Priest for ever so Christ in truth and reality is a Royal Priest for ever because by the perpetual Oblation and presenting his Sacrifice to the Father he perpetually exercises his Priesthood and makes a continued intercession for Mankind IV. This address being made by the continued Oblation or presenting of his sacrificed body to the Father is in the vertue thereof always effectual and successful For his Sacrifice as hath been shewn at large was the price of his purchace of those blessings he intercedes for the price which God by a solemn agreement with our Saviour had obliged himself to admit and accept For the only blessings he intercedes for are those which are specified in the New Covenant which New Covenant God granted to Mankind in consideration of the meritorious Death and Sacrifice of our Saviour and accordingly when he went to offer up himself a Sacrifice for us he tells us that it was 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 according to what was determined or agreed on between his Father and himself Luke 22.22 And hence our Saviour tells us that his Father in consideration of what he was to suffer did 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Covenant to him a Kingdom Luke 22.29 which Kingdom includes a Kingly power to bestow upon his faithful Subjects the Rewards of his Religion which are the blessings of the New Covenant and of this Covenant by which God obliged himself in consideration of Christ's Death to bestow this Kingly power upon him that of Heb. 10.7 seems to be intended then said I Lo I come in the Volume of the Book it is written of me to do thy will O God where 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which we render the Volume of the Book may perhaps be more truly translated the Instrument Indenture or Covenant that is between thee and me For so the Hebrew 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to which the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 answers signifieth any sort of writing and particularly a Bill Deut. 24.1 according to which sence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 must here signifie the volume or folding of a Bill or which is all one an Indenture or Covenant When therefore he sâ—ith Lo I come in the Indenture or Covâ—nant which is between thee and me by which thou hasâ— bequeathed or covenanted to me a Kingdom or power to bestow such and such blessings on my faithful Subjects in this Covenant I say it is exprest or written that I should come to do thy will i. e. to offer up that body which thou hast prepared for me a Sacrifice for the sins of the World ver 5. And indeed how could it have been foretold of him as it is Isa. 53. that he should justifie many by bearing their iniquities and that he should see the travail of his soul i. e. for our Salvation and be satisfied had not the Father obliged himself by Contract and Covenant to justifie and save us in consideration of his Sacrifice And indeed this whole Prediction carries with it a Promise from the Father to Christ that upon the consideration of his Death and Sacrifice he should be effectually impowered to save and justifie us Since therefore the Sacrifice