people that if they are able to give to the Ministers they think themselves as great as the Minister Whereas all those gifts are but as Tributes Prov. 3. 10. Honour the Lord with all thy Substance and with the first Fruits of all thy Increase so shall thy Barns be filled with plenty and thy Press burst forth with new Wine Thus Abraham he had got a great Spoil from the Enemies He honoured God with the substance he had got and he carried it to Melchisedeck and gives it him as Tribute due to God and expected a blessing thereupon Many people complain of their streights and losses when they come to render God his due But here is the promise Honour the Lord with thy Substance so shall thy Barns be filled with plenty and thy Press burst forth with new Wine The more you take from the heap the more you add to the blessing of of what you have I will but read that passage in Mal. 3. 8 9 10. Will a man rob God Yet ye have robbed me but ye say Wherein have we robbed thee In Tythes and Offerings Ye are Cursed with a Curse for ye have robbed me even this whole Nation Bring ye all the Tythes into the Store-house that there may be Meat in mine House and prove me now herewith saith the Lord of Hosts if I will not open to you the Windows of Heaven and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it Commonly blessings fall upon such Families as make Conscience of these things Abraham the Patriarch gave unto Melchisedeck the Tenths of the Spoils This is the First thing to shew Mechisedeck's greatness that he received Gods Tribute In the next place the Apostle goes on and compares this Melchisedeck with the Tribe of Levi Now saith he in the 5. ver they that are of the Sons of Levi Who are they Why Levi was one of the Sons of Jacob and the third Son that he had by his Wife Leah Of this House God raised the Priesthood of Aaron God set that Tribe apart for his holy Service and appointed them their maintainance for though they had as good a right to the Land of Canaan as any of the other Tribes had yet when God comes to share the Land among the Twelve Tribes he would give no part of it to the Tribe of Levi But he would be their portion in the 18. Numb 20. And the Lord spake unto Aaron Thou shalt have no Inheritance in their Land neither shalt thou have any part among them I am thy part and thy Inheritance among the Children of Israel Why would not God give them a part of the Land Because God would have them to attend upon the Service of the Tabernacle and the Commandment was that they should have the Tenths They should not follow secular Callings and Imployments as other people did but they should spend their days in the Service of the Tabernacle The moral equity whereof still abideth though the Ceremonies be abolished But then it is said that this Melchisedeck that received Tythes from Abraham his descent was not to be accounted from them that is from Abraham or from the Tribe of Levi he was without descent We know not certainly what Parentage he was of Only God had a mind to set up another Priesthood than that of Levi which our Lord Jesus Christ shall keep up which shall not be in that Line that was to die but this shall live for ever He whose descent was not from them blessed him that had the promises and without all controversie the lesser is blessed of the greater who had the promises Why the Patriarch Abraham he is the Person here meant He is singled out to be the Father of the Church For Abraham was set up of God above all men then living in the World to be the Head and Father of the visible Church of the Jews that was to come that was a people separated from all the World besides for many Ages and Generations And Abraham was not only made the Father and Head of them the visible Church of the Jews but of the invisible of Believers to the end of the World they are all to be planted in and by the Faith that was in Abraham according to the promise Rom. 4. 11. He received the sign of Circumcision a Seal of the Righteousness of Faith which he had yet being Uncircumcised that he might be the Father of all them that Believe though they be not Circumcised that Righteousness might be imputed to them also Hence you have it that when the Saints die in Scripture they are said to go to Abrahams Bosom Lazarus died and was carried by Angels into Abrahams Bosom And saith our saviour They shall come from the East and from the West and shall sit down with Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven Abraham was the Father of all Believers all Believers take hold of that Covenant and are United with Abraham in that Glory that follows Faith Therefore Melchisedeck was a great man to receive Gods Tribute and to bless him that had the Promise It was a great dignity to Abraham and his Seed to have the promise If a man have not an interest in Gods promises he is nothing though he seems to have all Let Worldly men boast of their Honours Wealth and Dignities yet if they have not a right to Gods promises they are never the better This was Abrahams dignity that he had the blessing for himself and for his Posterity and for all that should Believe in Jesus Christ 'T is a great mercy to have Gods promises For this should teach Three things The First is To take up all our mercies in a way of promise Godliness hath the promise of this Life that now is and of that which is to come saith the Apostle Observe this he that takes up his mercies only in a way of common Providence hath a common Heart in the Use of them but he that takes up his mercies by Faith in the way of Gods promises hath a Spiritual Heart in the Use of them This was Abrahams blessing that what he received was in the way of promise It was this that made the Children of Isaac so blessed when the Son of Ishmael was not because the Son Isaac was the Son of the promise Secondly If Believers have the promise This teacheth them contentment under streights and present wants of Temporal things for the Grave will soon bury all those things but the promises for the Soul live for ever bless God therefore for promises And Thirdly This teacheth us to live upon Gods promises and to plead them as our afflictions and streights are upon us I say to live upon promises and to plead promises for we have no other hold upon the holy God but by his promises Some Christians do wait in their afflictions for the in-comings of a promise I speak not against the in-comings of a promise for there is
the Heathen How is that Why you know how dreadful it was to Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar My name is dreadful among the Heathen and shall my People serve me unworthily and irreverently And so much for Melchisedecks Name and Title King of Salem and Priest of the most high God Here are two Offices met in one Person by which he was a special Type of Christ There was never any Person in the World but this Melchisedeck that did hold these two Offices rightfully Indeed we read of two of the Kings of Judah and Israel that undertook the Priests Office and his Work but they did bear the dreadful mark of Gods Judgment for joyning the Priestly Office with that of the King in the 2 Chron. 26. 17 18 19. We read that Uzziah attempted to burn Incense upon the Altar He went into the Temple of the Lord to burn Incense upon the Altar of Incense but Azariah the Priest went in after him and with him Fourscore Priests of the Lord that were valiant men and they withstood Uzziah the King and said unto him it pertaineth not unto thee Uzziah to burn Incense to the Lord but to the Priests the Sons of Aaron that are Consecrated to burn Incense go out of the Sanctuary for thou hast transgressed neither shall it be for thine honour from the Lord God Then Uzziah was wroth and had a Censer in his hand to burn Incense and while he was wroth with the Priests the Leprosie even rose up in his Forehead before the Priests in the House of the Lord and Uzziah the King was a Leper unto the day of his death thus the Lord smote Uzziah with Leprosie for joyning the Priestly Office with his Kingly Office Another King you read of was Jeroboam 1 Kings 13. and the beginning the Lord sent a Prophet to him to Prophecy ruin to him and upon his Prophecying against the Altar in Bethel The King put forth his hand from the Altar saying Lay hold on him and his hand which he stretched forth against him dryed up so that he could not pull it in again to him God will never bear it to have these two Offices joyned together but in Melchisedeck and Jesus Christ and therein was Melchisedeck a Type of Christ who is all in all to his Church and People for he is our King our Priest and our Prophet This therefore by our Protestant Writers is looked upon to be one mark of Antichrist the Pope who makes himself a Temporal Lord and joyns the same to his Priesthood falsly applying that place to himself in Luke 22. 38. And they said unto him Lord here are two Swords and he said unto them It is enough But Melchisedeck was a type of Christ being both King and Priest Now from hence we may have this comfortable Observation for all Believers That the Lord Jesus Christ is both our King and Priest This is of great use for the comfort of Believers He is a King he is a mighty King to defend his Church and People He is the King that reigns in Righteousness He is a King that governs us by his own Righteous Laws he protects us There is no King on Earth can ever spiritually and eternally destroy Christs Subjects or wholly root out the remembrance of Christs name in the World for he is mighty to save according to that in Psal 72. 11. Kings shall fall down before him and all Nations shall serve him for he shall deliver the needy when he cryeth the poor also and him that hath no helper This is our King our great Melchisedeck King of Salem He is our Priest he offered up himself as a Sacrifice for our sins by him we have an Atonement There may be some good Kings in the World but where is he that can be a Priest for us but our Lord Jesus Christ And therefore look into Heb. 7. 25. He is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him because he ever liveth to make Intercession for us Our Lord Jesus Christ being the true King and Priest oâ— the most high God this makes him an Object of our Faith and Love that we may go to him as our King and our Priest But now we come to the second Branch of the â—ext the action of this Melchisedeck 〈◊〉 and Priest of the most high God He went out and met Abraham when Abraham returned from the slaughter of the Kings of the Countrey and blessed him Now these words relate to what we read in Gen. 14. there you will see how Melchisedeck blessed Abraham at v. 18. and so on And Melchisedeck King of Salem brought forth Bread and Wine And he was the Priest of the most high God and he blessed him and said Blessed be Abraham of the most high God Possessor of Heaven and Earth And blessed be the most high God which hath delivered thine Enemies into thy hand And he gave him tythes of all You see here that Melchisedeck met him and blessed him and carried to him a Royal Entertainment for he carried Bread and Wine to Abraham to refresh him and his Army after he had been fighting with the Kings This Abrahams Warfare was thus Abraham hearing that Lot his Brothers Son was taken captive and the people and goods of Sodom carried away you read that Abraham Armed his trained Servants born in his house three hundred and eighteen and pursued them to Dan And he and his Servants by night and smote them and pursued them to Hobah And he brought all the goods and also brought again his Brother Lot and his goods and the women also and the people Thus did Abraham by a small force overcome four Kings four great Kings This is Abraham that righteous man whom God call'd to fight his Battel And he subdued Kings and made his Enemies as stubble to his Bow It was not Abrahams force that did it He was one that went out in Faith and returns in Faith and Melchisedeck the Priest of the most high God met him and blessed him Here are three things to be observed in Abrahams Warfare 1. Abraham returns from the slaughter of the Kings Hence you may observe That Wars are good and lawful when there is a just cause for it For Abraham he had not done well in going out to fight and make war with those Kings if there had been no just cause for it nor would Melchisedeck the Priest of the most high God come out to bless him I mention this to confute that error and mistake of those who say it is not lawful to fight with carnal weapons But 2. From this action of Abrahams we may learn this special duty That when our Brethren Kindred or Relations are in distress we ought to venture our selves for their relief as far as lawfully we may For the Apostle tells us we ought to lay down our lives for the Brethren So Abraham hearing that Lot his Brothers Son his person and family were taken and carried away captive
by himself Now we may conceive Melchisedeck knew all this and he went forth to meet him and blessed him that had received the Promise for he knew by the Spirit of God that Abraham was the Father of the Faithful and that in his Seed all the Nations of the Earth should be blessed and therefore he went out to bless him Now this is useful to us to all the Faithful for their comfort that are of the Seed of Abraham that they are under the blessing of the Priest of the most high God who was a Type of our Lord Jesus Christ and they shall be blessed Melchisedeck he did but act the part of our Lord Jesus Christ in blessing of a Believer for they are blessed by Christ and blessed with all Spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus therefore in the 24. of Luke you read that when Christ was ready to Ascend to Heaven in the 50. ver He led them as far as Bethany and laid his hands upon them and blessed them Here you have the Lord Jesus Christ who was Typified by this Melchisedeck he is blessing his own Disciples before his Ascention and after his Ascention he sent down his blessing which you read of in the 4. of the Ephesians He gave gifts unto men and all for the perfecting and edifying of the body of Christ Now the blessing of Christ both in the Type and in the Anti-type is of great Use to all Believers against the Curse of prophane men for these whom our great Melchisedeck blesses shall never receive a curse It is the way of the World to Curse the People of God and to imprecate all evil upon them and no doubt but there will be found a sort of men at this day that Curse the people of God But our great high Priest will preserve them the blessing of our Lord Jesus is with them and goes along with them Numb 23. 23. There is no Inchantment against Jacob nor no Divination against Israel therefore Moses tells the Children of God in the 23. Duteronomy and the beginning You shall remember how Balak the King of Moab hired Balaam to Curse you nevertheless the Lord thy God would not hearken to Balaam When you hear of Idolaters and Prophane men Cursing the People of God and Cursing of them that keep close to God you may know this that those people are under the blessing of our great Melchisedeck This you may observe from Melchisedeck's blessing of Abraham Come we now to the Second verse to consider Melchisedecks Place and Office Now saith the Apostle in the 2d verse to whom also Abraham gave a Tenth of all First being by interpretation King of Righteousness and after that also King of Salem which is King of Peace 1. We have here what Abraham did for Melchisedeck And then we have the Mystery brought in i. e. in Melchisedecks Name and Title 1. What Abraham did He gave him a Tenth part of all the spoil of the Four Kings that had Plundred the Country round about and this he gave to him as he was the Priest of the most high God and as one that was in that Sacred Office And here I might take occasion to shew and observe That the Ministers of God ought to have maintainance allowed means For so Abraham did he allowed this great Minister a Tenth part Before the Law of Moses you shall find that Jacob Vowed a Vow to God that he would give the Tenths of all his increase to him Gen. 28. and the last verse How is that He would not give it to God himself no but the meaning is he would give it to those that belonged to God I know it hath been a long dispute whether Tenths or Tythes ought to be continued any longer or any more than Altars and Sacrifices in a Reformed Christian Church I shall not determine that but this we may all be assured of that if Tythes or Tenths be of the Ceremonial Law and so are abolished yet the moral equity is to abide to the end of the World That those that Minister at Gods Altar should have honourable and comfortable maintainance I confess I never delighted to insist upon such Doctrin as this is nor shall I at this time but because it lies in my way let me give you a few hints If you lay aside the Old Testament in this matter there is nothing more frequently urged in the New Testament the Epistle to the Galatians the 6 and the 6. Let him that is taught in the Word communicate to him that teacheth in all good things so did Abraham he gave Tythes of all i. e. of all sorts of things that he took from the Kings after his Conquest And the Apostle in the 1 to the Corinthians the 9. and the 13. ver saith Do you not know that they which Minister about Holy things live of the things of the Temple And they which wait at the Altar are partakers with the Altar And the Apostle gives a special charge to Timothy who was a Minister in the 1st Epistle to Timothy 4. 13. To give attendance to Reading to Exhortation to Doctrin meditate upon these things give thy self wholly to them not to Farming Buying Selling and Trading but give thy self to these things spend thy time in these things But some will say Paul wrought with his hand 'T is true but it was upon a particular occasion And saith he I have power to forbear working And he tells the people of Corinth I have taken Wages of other Churches He calls his Maintainance Wages because it was for Work done And tho' there be a sort of Men that are ready to call these men hirelings that take allowance for their Labour you may see what our Saviour saith to his Disciples in the 10th of Luke and the 7th ver saith he The Labourer is worthy of his Hire and if so they may call the Disciples of Christ Hirelings There is a sort of men that looks upon Ministers maintainance to be a matter of Liberty and Charity and if they be poor they should consider them because of their Poverty sake and not for their Work sake but this is to abase the Doctrin of the Gospel God is my Witness I speak not these things from a greedy covetous disposition to increase my own maintainance but I speak it for your profit But there is one thing to be Observed in Abrahams giving the Tenths to Melchisedeck which is of special Use to us all That is he gave the Tythes of all to Melchisedeck and took nothing for himself for if you read in the 14. of Gen. when the King of Sodom offered him to take of the spoil in the 22. ver said Abraham I will not take from a Thread even to a Shoe-latchet I will not take any thing that is thine lest thou shouldest say I have made Abraham rich Here you may observe Abrahams Piety and Justice he would give unto God his due but would take nothing for himself Why so Is
it not Lawful for a man to enrich himself by War as well as by Trade Why did not Abraham take a Reward for his great Adventure The reason is plain for it shall not be said that Abraham is made rich by the spoils of the King of Sodoms Country The King of Sodom was a Heathen and an Enemy to Abrahams Religion and Abraham would not bring a scandal upon his Religion by his gettings in the World A Godly Gracious Man is very tender in his ways and dealings that he may not raise a scandal to Religion in his Worldly gettings Indeed men of the World they care not how they get Riches because the World is their God but Men professing Godliness as Abraham did they ought to be careful that they do not bring a scandal to Religion in their Worldly gettings For thus it was with Abraham he was very tender of the name of God he would not inrich himself in these ways Here we may learn both Justice Piety and Self-denial Here was Piety towards God he gave to God his due And here was Self-denial also he took nothing for himself nor for his Servants who were born in his House and such as he was bound to provide for And this should teach us that in all our actions of a publick nature we must take heed that we do not make private Interest our aim and end And so much for these words of Abrahams giving the Tenth of the spoil to Melchisedeck Now the Apostle comes to bring in the Mystery of these things in the following words being by interpretation King of Righteousness and afterwards King of Salem the Apostle found out the Mystery of the Son of God in Melchisedecks Name and Place by way of Interpretation How Why Melchisedeck is a Hebrew name which signifies a King of Righteousness Some Writers say it was given him upon his Righteous Government King of Righteousness And then the providence of God so ordered it that he was King of a Place that was called Salem which signifies Peace and so the Apostle saith by Interpretation this Melchisedeck was King of Righteousness and afterwards King of Salem Why doth the Apostle bring it in by way of Interpretation Because Melchisedeck and Salem were Hebrew words and the Apostle Writing to the people in Greek which Language they understood better than Hebrew therefore he Interprets the Hebrew words to them And here by the way we may briefly take notice That Learning Study and Reading is a necessary quality in a Minister of the Gospel For though Learning without Grace or the Spirit of God is an empty and insignificant thing yet if men are sanctified it is of great use to the Church of God But where is the Mystery contained in Melchisedecks name and place It lies in this that our Lord Jesus the Son of God is the King of Righteousness and Peace He is our King He is our Melchisedeck He is our King of Righteousness and our Peace The Scripture doth so assert Christ to be See Isa 3. 2. 1 2. 'T is a Prophecy of Christ Behold a King shall Reign in Righteousness and Princes shall Rule in Judgment A man shall be an hiding-place from the Wind and a covert from the Tempest As Rivers of Water in a dry place as the shadow of a great Rock in a weary Land Here is a glorious Promise of Jesus Christ A King shall Reign in Righteousness he shall be a hiding-place from the Wind and a covert from the Tempest when he sets up his Kingdom You commonly say in the Prayer of our Lord Thy Kingdom come but how few do understand it The Prophet tells us that a King shall Reign in Righteousness He shall be a hiding-place from the Wind and from the Tempest When storms and winds shall come upon his Church and People he will be as a hiding-place and will be a comfort and refreshment to them He will be as the shadow of a great Rock in a weary Land If you look into Psal 45. penned to set forth the Government of Christ of whom Solomon was a type saith he v. 7. Thou lovest Righteousness and hatest wickedness therefore God thy God hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows Why because thy Scepter is a Scepter of Righteousness for thou hatest wickedness therefore God thy God hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows But then Melchisedeck as a further type of Christ as he was King of Righteousness so also he was King of Salem King of Peace So if you look into Isa 9 6. For to us a Child is born unto us a Son is given and the Government shall be upon his shoulders his name shall be called Wonderful Counsellor the mighty God the everlasting Father the Prince of Peace To us that is to the Church a Child is born and what shall his name be called His name shall be called Wonderful Counsellor For Christ is the greatest wonder of any thing in the World For the Son of God to be made flesh Now you see little of Christ he is little set up in the Nation But in time the Zeal of the Lord of Hosts will lift up his Son Jesus Christ as the King of Righteousness and as the King of Peace As soon as Christ came into the World the heavenly Host came down and sang praise to the most High Luk. 2. 14. Glory to God on the highest and on earth peace good will towards men But how is Christ called the Prince of Peace why in two respects 1. As he hath made Peace between God and Man And 2. As he makes Peace among men 1. As he makes Peace between God and Man For upon mans sin there was a dreadful enmity and hatred between the holy God and sinful man man hated God God hated sinful man till Christ this Prince of Peace came Yea the holy Angels that stand close to God they hated man and men hate one another upon that account For there is such a variance in the corrupt Nature of man that men are commonly Tigers Wolves Lions yea Devils one to another But Christ he hath satisfied Divine Justice by the death of the Cross and slain the Enmity between God and Man and so we are at peace with him For Christ hath reconciled us to God Hence you have that in Col. 3. He hath made peace between Jew and Gentile and Eph. 2. 14. saith the Apostle there For he is our peace who hath made both one and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us There was abundance of strife and variance between the Jew and Gentile Before Christ the Gentiles scorned the Jews for their Circumcision and the Jews scorned the Gentiles and called them Dogs But Christ hath taken away all this variance and enmity This Prince of Peace will remove all offences that stand in his way so that upon this account he is called the Prince of Peace Object But some may
as white as snow You know the Prophet cured Naaman of a Leprosie and it was transferred to the Prophets Servant and to his Seed for ever so that Gehazi's Children were all Lepers and his Grand-children all Lepers so that these poor Children and Grand-children they might rise up and curse the base Spirit of Covetousness of their Father and Grand-father that brought this curse upon them So you have many a poor wretched Father and Mother given to Drunkenness and the poor Children they follow the same You know how it is with the Law of Nations If a man be a Traitor to the same his Blood is tainted his Children are tainted You know how it was with poor Covetous Achan that he and all his Family suffered for it so Corah Dathan and Abiram for envying Moses and Aaron they and their whole Posterity perished and suffered for their Fathers sin Levi paid Tythes in the Loins of Abraham and it was his mercy that he paid homage to God in the Loins of his Fore-father Now to proceed to open the following words Levi that received Tythes paid Tythes in Abraham If therefore perfection were in the Levitical Priest-hood c. Now here we come to the particular scope of the Apostle that Levi paid Tythes in the Loins of Abraham And tho the Priest-hood of Levi was holy yet it was not so holy as Melchisedecks So that here are three Points to be considered The First is That the Church and People of God of old received the Law under a Priest-hood Secondly The Law that they received under the Levitical Priest-hood was not perfect Thirdly There is a necessity of the change of the Law and the Priest-hood To the First of these That the Church and People of God of old that had the Laws and Ordinances of God they received them under a Priest-hood For the holy God never dealt with man immediately in a way of grace since the fall but by some middle person that stood between God and Man Therefore before God gave a Law Melchisedeck was set up a Priest and Head to be a Typical Mediator between God and Man between God and his People of which Jesus Christ was afterwards to come in the Flesh and shew himself the real Melchisedeck Heb. 5. 1. For every high Priest taken from among men was ordained for men in things pertaining to God Men may in things pertaining to man go without a Priest but in things pertaining to God they must have a Priest-hood for God is a holy God There is a vast disproportion between a holy God and sinful Man and considering his Greatness his Holiness and Righteousness the people receive the things of the Law under a Priest-hood Quest But you will say There was no Levitical Priest-hood for many hundred years after Mans fall for this Levitical Priest-hood was not till the Children of Israel came out of Aegypt I Answ Not so for then before the Levitical Priest-hood was every First-born of the Family the Priest of the Family as you may see in Numb 3. 12. And I behold I have taken the Levites from among the Children of Israel instead of all the First-born I have taken the Levites instead of the First-born that was the Priest of the Family This was the Law before the Levitical Priesthood that the first-born of the Family was the Priest of the Family to offer Gifts and Sacrifices And in allusion to this Jesus Christ our great High Priest is called the first-born of many Brethren Rom. 8. 29. And therefore this should teach us this duty That as God gives his Law and Ordinances first typical and then real That we should never go to God but by our great High Priest We ought always to have such a holy Reverence of the great God that we should never draw near to God without our great High-priest the Lord Jesus Christ 2. Though God did give the Levitical Law of old to his Church yet this Law did not make any thing perfect They were blessed Means and Ordinances of God and were of great use themselves but they did not make the comers thereto perfect All the Priesthood of the Law could not effectually cleanse sin away No and if he did come with his Sacrifice yet it could not justifie him neither could it truly sanctifie him But you will say If this Sacrifice did not take away sin to what end then served the Law I answer First to keep the Church in obedience till the fulness of time came that Christ should come in the flesh For if the Lord had not given them his Laws and Ordinances there would have been no distinction between the Church of God and the Heathen World Yea they would have run into all kind of Will-worship with the Heathen-world if they had not had his Laws and Ordinances 2. Though they could not make the comers to them perfect yet they were led by them to Jesus Christ where their perfection was Their Sacrifices led them to Jesus Christ This was the great end of all the Jewish Laws and Ceremonies to lead them to Jesus Christ For Gods Elect in those days did feed upon Jesus Christ as you may see in the Apostles words 1 Cor. 10. They did all eat of the same spiritual meat and they did all drink of the same spiritual drink The same that we eat and the same that we drink Those that had Faith in Christ did live under a dark dispensation yet they did eat the same spiritual bread that we do So that the Law you see was of use though it did not make the comers to it perfect This is the second thing 3. The Law being imperfect not making any person or things perfect therefore saith the Apostle there was a necessity of the change of the Law of the Priesthood This he proves thus If this Levitical Law and Priesthood could have made the Church and People of God happy God would never have spoken of another Priesthood after Melchisedeck and God would never have set up another Priest made by his Oath And therefore there was a necessity of another Law and another Priesthood a necessity of a change And here you may take special notice of a change of the Priesthood But what is to be understood by the change of the Law I answer By changing of the Law we are to understand an Abolition or Abrogation of the Levitical Law and all setled in a more clear manner on the Priesthood of Jesus Christ so that we now receive the Law by Christ in the room of the Ceremonial Law And it is a blessed change for us and it should abundantly raise our hearts in that now we have another Priesthood and another Law Why because the old Priesthood and the old Law could not make the comers to them perfect And it was a burdensom Priesthood and a burdensom Law See I pray you Acts 15. 10. you will find there that the old Law the Ceremonial Law is called a Yoke And
when God is said to revoke a Threatning or disannul a Law he is then said after the manner of men to repent But concerning the Priesthood of our Lord Jesus Christ that is so settled not only by Promise but by Oath to take us off from all doubting and hesitation about this matter the Lord hath Sworn and will not Repent concerning his Son Jesus Christ but he has solemnly Justified him to be a Priest for ever after the Order of Melchisedeck which Law cannot be Abrogated Now here the Question is Vpon what account is it that the Priesthood of Jesus Christ by which we draw nigh to God hath such a solemn Justification above the Levitical Presthood Why Jesus Christ is made a Priest with an Oath when other Priests are made without an Oath There are many Grounds and Reasons of that which may be a great help to our Faith First of all God hath a greater honour for his Son that for all the Children of Men. He is nearer to the Father and dearer to the Father and therefore whatever he bestows upon his Son shall never be taken away from him God set up the posterity of the Tribe of Levi for the Priesthood but he only set them up as Servants for a time for saith our Lord a Servant abideth not in the House for ever but a Son abideth for ever Levi and his posterity they were but Servants and God turns them out but he setteth up his Son for ever The Father Loveth the Son and giveth all things to him he honoureth his Son he will have all his holy Angels to bow down to his Son in Heb. 1. 3 5. the Apostle speaking of Christs purging us from sin saith he in the 5 ver To which of the Angels said he at any time Thou art my Son this day have I begotten thee and again Let all the Angels Worship him The Angels of God are much better than Men in respect of the excellency of their being One Angel hath more strength than thousands of Men but they must all Worship the Son and he that is set down at the right hand of God the Father the Father hath given his Oath he shall never be removed but abide for ever Secondly The Priesthood of Jesus Christ hath this solemn Institution to be confirmed by a Divine Oath Because he is alsufficient to go through that great work God raised up the Priesthood of Old to do Service but not such Service as our great High Priest He never said unto the People believe in the High Priest but he said believe in my Son Jesus believe in him because he is able to save The other High Priests were not able to Save the High Priests of old could never give their lives for a Sacrifice for the Peoples lives they were only to offer up Bulls and Goats and Heifers and such kind of Offerings but our great High Priest he is appointed of the Father to give himself a Sacrifice for his people and therefore has a higher Priesthood than the Levitical Priest-hood John 10. 17 18. Therefore doth my Father love me because I lay down my life that I might take it again no man taketh it from me but I lay it down of my self I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it again This Commandment have I received of my Father God never put so hard a service upon those High Priests of old but he put this upon his own Son and his Son was willing to bear his Command I am willing to receive this Command from my Father God hath sworn and he will not repent that his Son should be a Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedeck because that none were ever able to carry on that work but he Thirdly Jesus Christ is thus solemnly justified and made a Priest by Oath in the Church of God because the Church is his own Body and his own People The Priesthood of old God set them up for his Service and he will reward them for it for they had the Tenths of the People which was then great but still the Church was not their People nor their Body but Jesus Christ he is as a Son over his own House Heb. 3. 6. Christ is as a Son over his own House It is a great blessing to have such a High Priest as hath an interest in the whole People to whom he is a Saviour for he is the head of that People and a Saviour of the Body If the Lord Jesus Christ his Priesthood were disannulled the Church would be lost they could not be brought to Salvation Thine they were and thou gavest them me The Church is given to Christ to be his Mystical Body and he is their Priest for ever to sanctifie and cleanse it that he may present it to himself a Glorious Church without spot or wrinkle But then Fourthly Jesus Christ is made a Priest by Oath for ever because unto him shall be the gathering in of all Gods Elect of all nations in the World and they are all to come to his Priesthood it is of a large extent When the Levitical Priesthood was confined to the Jews only they could not offer a Sacrifice for the Heathens or another People but Jesus Christ he is an Offering for all People in all Nations of those that Believe in his Name And this is according to Jacobs Prophesie in Gen. 49. 10. That when Shilo shall come unto him shall be the gathering of the People compare this with Isa 49. and there you will see the thing further illustrated in the 6 ver And he said It is a light thing that thou shouldst be my Servant to raise up the Tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved of Israel I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles that thou mayst be my Salvation unto the ends of the Earth Observe it the Father said unto the Son It is but a light thing for thee to be a Priest only for Jacob and Israel I will give thee for a light to the Gentiles It was but a light thing for Christ to be a Saviour to Israel in the Land of Judea But Jesus Christ shall be a Saviour to all the Earth I will give thee for a light to the Gentiles Fifthly He is made a Priest for ever and confirmed therein by an Oath Because of his transcendent Wisdom Mercifulness Faithfulness and Holiness above all the Priests of old He is a High Priest to appear for Man in things appertaining to God and had need of Wisdom And saith the Apostle in him are hid all the treasures of Wisdom and Knowledge And for mercy it was a necessary qualification in the High Priests of old that he might be a Man of compassion and pity to succour the poor and tempted and afflicted in the Church And our Lord Jesus Christ he is transcendently Merciful He will not break the bruised Reed nor quench the smoking Flax he will have compassion
are put upon his work of Salvation and therefore we should live to his Glory Our dear Lord may say to us I live for ever I know all things Why then do you slight my Work and slight my Ordinances and slight my People Why do you not live more to my Glory And then Lastly This should be a strong motive for Men to come to Christ Ye trust in dying Friends dying comforts dying Relations and fix your hope upon things that crumble away to dust When Peter made his confession of Christ Joh. 6. 68. To whom should we go thou hast the words of Eternal Life Go from Christ and you go to death and Damnation Go to him and you come to Life and to Everlasting Salvation For he ever liveth an High-priest to make Intercession for us Now the Inference follows in the next words SERMON IX Hebrews 7. 25. Wherefore he is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him seeing he ever liveth to make Intercession for them THese words of the Apostle contain the Inference which he makes of all that he had said before of the Priesthood of Jesus Christ He comes to this conclusion Wherefore Christ is able to save to the uttermost all those that come unto God by him This Illative or word wherefore hath a reference to what was spoken before And also to what follows after For the Apostle having said before that Jesus Christ the Son of God is made a Priest after the order of Melchisedeck that he was not made a Priest by the Law of a Carnal Command but by the power of an endless Life That Christ was made a Priest by a solemn Oath The Lord hath Sworn and will not Repent thou art a Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedeck That Jesus Christ is made a surety of a better Testament That he endures and hath an unchangeable Priesthood Wherefore saith he he is able to save to the uttermost The Argument may be thus framed He that is the Eternal Son of God He that is a Priest for ever and made a Priest by the Oath of God He that hath an unchangeable Priesthood He that is the surety of a better Covenant He is able to save to the uttermost But all this is Jesus Christ Wherefore he is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto him But then The words have also a reference to what follows in the last clause of this Verse Seeing he ever liveth to maketh Intercession for them Wherefore he is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him seeing he ever liveth to make Intercession for them And the Argument may also be framed He that ever liveth to make Intercession for them He is able to save all that come unto God by him So that both these conclusions are proved That Jesus Christ is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him We begin with the first branch of this Text He is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him These are the words I shall open and apply this Morning if God permit To save a Soul is a great work a great and glorious work All the powers of Heaven and Earth short of God cannot save a Soul The Devil can destroy Souls by the Righteous and Just Judgment of God And therefore hath that name given him which is opposite to Christ He is called Abaddon and Apollyon which signifies to destroy in Rev. 9. 11. The Devil I say can destroy Souls but he cannot save any he cannot save himself 'T is a great and glorious work to save a poor Soul This is only Christ's work And therefore he is called the Author of Eternal Salvation Heb. 5. 9. And being made perfect he became the Author of Eternal Salvation to all them that obey him the Author of Eternal Salvation There have been Temporal Saviours Men that God hath raised up in several Ages and Generations to deliver his People from the power of their Enemies when his People were in distress God did raise them up Saviours And it was accounted a very great Mercy to have a Temporal Saviour To have a Man of Faith and Courage as Sampson and Gideon and Barack and others that would appear for the Church in times of streights There is a Prophecy in Mic. 5. 5. speaking of Christ And this Man shall be the Peace when the Assyrian shall come into the Land and when he shall tread in our Palaces then shall we raise against him seven Shepherds and eight Principal Men that are worthy Instruments that shall rise up to oppose the Assyrians power The Assyrians power is made a Type of the Antichristian power God hath his principal Men and his principal Instruments to save his People These are under Christ But he only is the Author of Eternal Salvation And this Salvation this Eternal Salvation that Jesus Christ brings is an unspeakable mercy The very thoughts of it gives abundance of comfort If we do but consider what he saves us from and what he saves us to First What he saves us from He saves a poor sinner from his sin and from all the misery that comes along with it His name shall be called Jesus for he shall save his people from their sins saith the Angel in Matth. 1. 24. He shall save his people from their sins i. e. from all those miseries that their sins bring upon them or would bring upon them For sin is the cause of all misery And to be saved from sin is to be saved from all misery What would the Devils in Hell give to be saved from their misery that their sin hath brought upon them What would the Rich Glutton in the Gospel give to be saved from his misery We are not aware what he saves us from Then if we consider what he saves us to or brings us to by this Salvation Christ brings us into his favour and grace brings us into that blessed state in Heaven where there is all safety and security and blessing where the Devil nor his Instruments can never break in upon us to intercept our peace Rev. 21. 9. God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes and there shall be no more death neither sorrow nor crying neither shall there be any more pain To be brought into Communion with God with the holy Angels and with the glorified Saints and with Jesus Christ the Head of the Church An Everlasting Communion Oh the Salvation that our Lord Jesus Christ brings us to There is no solitude in Heaven Here we complain of a solitude and a solitary life We want company we want converse in the World But there will be an everlasting converse with the great God so far as our Natures are capable of coming near to him An everlasting converse with our Redeemer with the holy Angels and with the glorified Saints Who is able to express the Salvation our Lord Jesus Christ
coming to God by Christ It may be you come to hear the Word of God and you do well Sometimes you come to pray to pray for mercy in affliction you do well But there is another coming to Christ which is by Faith and therefore never rest in any thing of hearing and praying until you have brought up your hearts to come to Christ by Faith rest upon him And saith Christ No man cometh to me except my Father draw him I know that a Natural Conscience will put a man upon coming to God in Prayer But no Natural Conscience will put a man to come unto God by Christ A second Use is to those that act Faith and come to God by Christ Remember that he is able to save to the uttermost Rest upon the power of our Lord Jesus Christ I remember when God did set up Saul to be King over Israel it is said in 1 Sam. 10. There you may read that many of the people despised him and said How can this man save us They looked upon him as a weakling But the Lord Jesus Christ he is able to save to the uttermost by his Almighty Power You may believe he is our great High-Priest You find there in the first Book of Sam. chap. 17. that the Philistines trusted in their Champion Goliath who was but a man But our Lord Jesus Christ he is the great Goliath he encountred with Devils with Hell and with the World and overcame all of them He hath satisfied the Law and Justice and ever liveth to make Intercession to God for all those that come unto God by him But of that afterward SERMON X. Hebrews 7. 25. Wherefore he is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him seeing he ever liveth to make Intercession for them THE last day I handled the first Branch of this Text It tells us that Christ is able to save to the uttermost them that come unto God by him To save a Soul from Death and Misery is a work that none can accomplish but he that is Mighty to Save The work of Salvation is so great as we cannot possibly comprehend it in this Life But as our Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God who was made Flesh hath undertaken this great work so he is able to carry it on Able to save all that come unto God by him These words have been opened and applyed and I shall not look back but come to a second Branch of this Text where a reason is given Why our Lord Christ is able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him seeing he ever liveth to make Intercession for them Now these words carry a great deal of comfort for them that believe the Word But they require some care and diligence in the opening of them and giving the right sense of them lest we should be led away with gross and dull apprehensions of this Spiritual Mystery First therefore for the right understanding of this phrase here in the Text Whereas it is said that Christ ever liveth to make Intercession for us this is not to be understood as if the Intercession of Christ should never have an end For the Intercession of Christ is a work that belongs to his Mediatory-Kingdom and that shall have an end When all Gods Elect shall be gathered to him and the whole mystery of our Redemption finished then shall all be given up to God for he shall be All in All In 1 Cor. 15. 24. speaking of Christ then cometh the end when he shall have delivered up the Kingdom to God even the Father When he shall have put down all Rule and all Authority and Power For he must Reign till he hath put all Enemies under his Feet The last Enemy that shall be destroyed is Death For he hath put all things under his Feet And when all things shall be subdued unto him then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him that God may be all in all Here the Apostle is treating of Christs Mediatory-Kingdom And when all the Elect shall be gathered together When the World shall come to an end Then the last Enemy that is to be destroyed is Death And there shall be no more die in the Church All shall be swallowed up in the Eternal God-head And God shall be all in all Then there will be no need of his Intercession or of a Mediator But still remember the blessed effects of Christs Death and Resurrection and Intercession are to Eternity Therefore when the Apostle here in the Text saith Christ ever liveth to make Intercession for us This is to be considered two ways First In opposition to the Levitical Priesthood who are dead and gone and the Church of God hath no present help from them but all their help is from Jesus Christ They were not suffered to continue by reason of Death but Christ ever liveth our great High-Priest when all others are dead and gone But Secondly and specially When it is said that he ever liveth to make Intercession for us this Ever is to be taken for every Age and Generation to the end of the World for at the end of the World there shall be an end of those things as you have heard he ever liveth to all Ages and Generations For this must be observed that the Church of Christ which is his Mystical Body are not all born in one Age of the World But one Generation passeth away and another cometh But Christ he ever liveth in all Ages a Priest of God for all those that come to God by him he ever liveth we have not a new Priest to rise up with a new Generation but we have the same Jesus who was yesterday to day and for ever the same He liveth in all Ages and Generations to the end of the World I say a new Age doth not bring forth a new Saviour nor a new Priest but he is the same He ever liveth and we of this Age and Generation have the same benefit by Jesus Christ's Priesthood and Intercession that the old and primitive Saints had thousands of years ago For he abideth for ever till the whole work of Mans Redemption is fulfilled And this is the true and proper meaning of this Phrase He ever liveth to make Intercession that is he ever liveth in all Ages and Generations He is the same yesterday to day and for ever He is to be our High Priest to the end of the World In the Second place we are to consider what is meant by Christ's making Intercession for us in Heaven Now for that you must first consider the Speech as Metaphorical and borrowed from Advocates that plead in Kings Courts Or from Counsellors that stand up for a Client to procure the Sentence on their side Hence the Apostle John hath that expression in 1 Joh. 2. 1. If any Man sin we have an Advocate with the Father Jesus Christ the Righteous