notwithstanding they were priests, and did perform sacrifice: and all these sacrifices were shadows of the grand one that was to be offered by our Lord Jesus.

The second is the priesthood of Aaron. There is a great deal written of it in the word; the book of Leviticus is in a manner all of this priesthood: they were distinguished into many sorts; there was a high-priest over all, that had some of the holy things to manage, which none else should meddle with; there was the common priest, that ordinary sacrifices were to be slain by, and offered up according to the law. This was a shadow of Christ's coming, of his being a sacrifice, as the apostle at length in this epistle proves.

The third sort of priests is that of Melchisedec, that this apostle in chap. vii. is very exact in the examining of. There are but two places in the Old Testament that speak of him, yet what great matter does the apostle draw from these two scriptures! He leaves nothing that concerns the man without a mystery. He is Melchisedec, he gathers a mystery out of his name; he is king of righteousness, he gathers a mystery out of the kingdom, that he was king of; he was king of Salem, that is, king of peace, says he; so Christ was: he gathers a grand mystery out of the scripture-silence concerning him; the scripture neither tells when he was born, nor who were his parents, nor when he died; in this, saith he, he was made like unto the Son of God, without father, without mother, having neither beginning of days nor end of life: he gathers a grand mystery out of his blessing Abraham, and out of his receiving the tithes of the spoils of Abraham; and from thence proves, that he was a great priest indeed, when he was greater than Abraham himself, when he received the tithes of Levi, that was then in Abraham's loins; and here he shews that Melchisedec was high beyond that of Aaron. Yet all this was but a type of Jesus Christ; and there is no doubt to be made but this Melchisedec was a man, and was born, and did die, and was buried like other men; but because the scripture speaks of him no otherwise, than by way of silence in these things, therefore the apostle gathers wisely from the scripture-silence, those things that were typi cal of our Lord Jesus.

3. We are to consider the parts of the priestly office, wherein it did consist. These we shall bring to our pure pose, and to our Lord's priesthood. The parts of the priestly office were especially two; oblation and intercession, offering a sacrifice, and the making intercession in and by the virtue of that sacrifice. Every high-priest taken from among men, says the apostle, that he may offer gifts and sacrifices, is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins, chap. v. 1. Every high-priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices; wherefore it is of necessity, that this man have somewhat also to offer. See how the apostle argues. Is Christ called a High Priest? Then he must have something to offer; the offering that the priests of Aaron offered, he could not offer, for he was sprung of the tribe of Judah, of which the Holy Ghost speaks nothing of priesthood; nay, if he were on earth, he must not be a priest, not a priest of the order of Aaron.

1st, Then of Christ's oblation, the sacrifice he offered was himself; the sacrifice of his own body, of his own soul; He made his soul an offering for sin; he poured out his soul unto death, are the Old Testament expressions of that sacrifice, Isa. liii. 11, 12. Here now is the most common word in all Christianity; Christ died for us, and the very soul of Christianity lies in the believing improvement of it. The meaning of the word is, Christ died for us, Christ Jesus was offered in sacrifice to God for us; he did not die only in love for us, and he did not die only to give an example for us, and he did not die only for our good; but he died in our stead, he died as a sacrifice dies, The way in which the beast that was to be sacrificed died, was this; there was a transferring of the guilt of the master of him upon his head; that guilt deserved death by the law, and this death was inflicted upon the poor innocent creature; this was a shadow of that great sacrifice that the Son of God was to offer.-Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his ora blood, he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us, chap. ix. 11, 12. Here we would consider, in order to the fixing and feeding our faith on this,

(1.) The vast dignity and preciousness of this sacrifice, the person who did assume this nature, that it was which raised its value and dignity infinitely; the comparison is very mean betwixt à man and a beast. The poor idolaters that fell into that dreadful blindness and wickedness, as to offer unto God the fruit of their bodies, for the sin of their souls; they did fall into that abominable wickedness upon this same principle; they thought always the more excellent the sacrifice was, the more pleasing it would be to God; if the Lord required the blood of a beast for man's sin, would he not much more be pleased with the blood of a child? Shall I give my first-born for my transgressions? Will not he accept of the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? It is marvel. lous to think, how strong the spirit of idolatry has been in the world. What a strong desire hath there been of peace with God! What a strong sense of sin hath been in these blinded idolaters, that run into these ways of atonement! The Lord condemns them utterly, because they were all invented, he never commanded them. Now, the sacrifice is always, if commanded, the more excellent because of its native dignity. If God commanded the life of man for a sacrifice, it had been much more than that of a beast; but here the life of one that is more than a man is commanded, it is given, therefore it is of infinite dignity. You do not imagine, it may be, some of you, what you may feel before you die, even of the great difficulty of having faith firmly fixed, that the death of our Lord upon the cross, without the gates of Jerusalem, should be a sufficient atonement to God, for all the provocations that he hath received: yet in truth ye believe nothing, unless you believe that, ye believe nothing that will stand you in stead in a great storm. The man that was sacrificed was in human nature; but the divine person that assumed it, made it of infinite dignity; therefore it is called, the blood of God; the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and quithout spot.

2dly, This sacrifice that Christ made an oblation of, was commanded, and required; and covenanted, upon the terms of our salvation; the conditions of it were adjusted from eternity; the decree of election adjusted it, the covenant of

redemption adjusted it, that when Christ should make his soul an offering for sin, he should see his seed, he should prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord should prosper in his hand. Thereupon we find, that the apostle brings Christ, as coming into the world with this, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not, a body hast thou prepared me: as if the apostle would direct us to this, that Christ's thoughts were according to that appointment: "Father, I know, I am not coming into the "world to be a priest after the order of Aaron, to offer bul"locks and goats on the altar at Jerusalem; but I am to of "fer that body which thou hast prepared me upon the altar "of my Godhead, for the satisfying thy justice, and saving "thy elect." These thoughts were in his heart.

3dly, The power that our Lord had to do it. Never had any man, no mere man, power over his own life. We have neither physical nor moral power; we can neither lay it down lawfully, when we will, nor can we keep it as long as we will; but in the keeping, and having, and losing it, we are under the law, under his appointment, and under the conduct of his word. Our Lord Jesus was the only man that had power over his own life; I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again, John

x. 18.

Lastly, The last virtue and grand effect of this sacrifice is, that that should be in our eyes when we think of our Lord's priesthood, he offered a sacrifice, he gave himself a sacrifice to God of a sweet-smelling savour; the greatest things that ever were done in this world, were done by our Lord upon the cross: The law fulfilled, justice satisfied, heaven appeas, ed, God reconciled, the world of the elect redeemed, eternal redemption brought in, salvation in God's covenant for us ratified and made unalterable by this blood. This was a great sacrifice, and great effects it had.

The second part of the priestly office is intercession. Intercession is nothing else but the application of the virtue of that sacrifice, according to the appointment of God. The intercession of the high-priest under the law was explained and expressed to us, by his entering with the blood of the sinoffering into the holiest of all, and anointing the corners of

the mercy-seat therewith, for an atonement for all the children of Israel, that they might be cleansed from all their transgressions. Now, this was a shadow, I say, of the intercession of our great High-priest, Christ Jesus. I shall speak a little of this intercession, and consider it in three

seasons.

1. Before he came into the world. 2. While in the world. 3. After he went out of it; for, in all these seasons, our Lord was a priest, and managed intercession.

1. Before he came into the world. Pray observe, we touched a litte upon Christ's being installed in the office of high-priest. There could be no exercise of this office, till there were sinners; what use could a priest be of, till there were sinners, and some elect sinners in the world? We hope in God, the first pair that lived in it were of that number, I mean our first parents. Pray observe this, all the salvation, and pardon of sin, and entrance to heaven, that was given to the fathers before Christ came, was all given in the view, and in the virtue of the death of our Lord, who was to die once for sin. Abel, Enoch, Noah, and all the saints of old, had their peace with God, those large measures of the love and favour of God and salvation in the end dispensed to them, through the virtue of the sacrifice of Christ not yet offered. The Father trusted his Son firmly, that in the fulness of time he would pay the debt. The discharge is given before the payment, the discharge is given to the criminal before the payment is made by the surety. The believers before Christ came, looked to him as come; and according to that small light that they had in that time, so was their faith. Now, if salvation and all spiritual blessing were given to believers before Christ's coming, before he was in the flesh, we may well conceive, that the intercession, which was a part of his office, and which he was to discharge in heaven, was not un minded by him.

2. When he was in the world, when he was in the flesh, we find he was greatly given to prayer. We find him spending several nights alone in prayer to God. Were it lawful to wish, and may be it is not; but surely, if it had been lawful to wish it, and if it had been attained, and if grace had been