certainly a man, though we know nothing of his pedigree; the Holy Ghost conceals it, and makes good use of that concealment, he being the grand type of the priesthood of Jesus Christ.

2. Our Lord Jesus is a great Priest, for, by the virtue of his priesthood, he makes all whom he undertakes for priests: For he hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father, Rev. i. 6. He hath made us kings and priests unto God, Rev. v. 10. Ye are an holy priesthood, 1 Pet. ii. 5, 9. These things I pass, as not conceiving them to be of so much importance at present.

3. Then and mainly Christ is a great Priest, because of his greatness in his office, or the greatness of the office he was clothed with. A proper priest as under the law, was a sort of mediator betwixt God and men; and this mediation was most eminently and solemnly acted and performed in, the great day of atonement, when the high-priest entered into the holiest of all in the name of all Israel, and with their names upon his breast; never a one of them upon pain of death must follow him; he brought back the answer of peace from God to them. Our Lord is a greater High Priest; Israel's fate depended on his welcome in the holiest of all, upon the account of a far greater office than this. Let us consider, for the shewing of the greatness of the office of Christ as High Priest,

1st, The greatness of the parties he deals betwixt: he deals betwixt God and creatures; that is great, but there is a great deal more; he deals betwixt an angry God and provoking sinners. That is Christ's work, I say, that he is a mediator bewixt God and men, the man Christ Jesus; a work that never any was fit for, and never any called to, but he alone. They were but little inferior shadows that were acted by some of the saints of old. We find indeed in the Old Testament, (and there is no reason to question, but some may be again in the New, in our days), that some have stood, by faith and prayer, betwixt the dead and the living, and stayed the plague; that when God hath been angry, and his anger hath begun to burn, some of his servants have stood in the breach before him to turn his anger away, Psalm ovi. 23. VOL. III.

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That is recorded to the praise of Moses, Therefore he said that he would destroy them, had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach, to turn arvay his wrath, lest he should destroy them. If I may so speak, there was but temporal anger, and a temporal judgment threatened, and a temporal mediator, and a temporal mercy obtained; but the mercy is far otherwise here, Christ undertakes as Priest betwixt these two great parties, an offended God and a sinful people.

2dly, His greatness in his office appears in the great work he doth in it; and that is, to reconcile both, to make up the peace: We are reconciled to God by the death of his Son, Rom. v. 10. Therefore being justified by his blood, we are reconciled to God by the blood of his cross, Col. i. 20. What a marvellous way was this, the taking up this controversy, that this great High Priest's undertaking in this manner should bring about, which otherwise was utterly impossible!

3dly, His greatness in his office appears in the greatness of the sacrifice that he offered; he offered himself; but who knows the value and worth of that self? He gave himself a ransom for all, 1 Tim. ii. 6. Immediately after that he had said, that there is one God, and one mediator betwixt God and men, the man Christ Jesus. Sirs, the people that lived when Christ was in the world, and saw him, and heard him preach, that saw him eat and drink, the greatest part of them thought with themselves they saw no more but a man; they could not see through the vail of his flesh, to see who dwelt in that temple; yet there were a few that did see: The Word was made flesh, and we beheld his glory; the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth, John i. 14. The sacrifice that Christ offered was himself; thereupon the apostle prefers him greatly unto all the priests of old; for it was but the blood of bulls, or calves, or goats, of creatures meaner and lower than themselves, that they offered in sacrifice to God; but our Lord Jesus Christ becomes a greater Priest by a greater offering. Nothing but the human nature of Christ could be the sacrifice; there was more than the man Christ that was the priest: He offered himself up to God through the eternal Spirit without spot, Heb. ix. 14. I would be loath to draw people's imaginations unto the knowing of Christ after the

flesh but whosoever he be that believeth not that Jesus is come in the flesh, is a man not born of God. We must know Christ's flesh, we must know the sacrifice, and what made it to be so great. If Christ had been only a man, his blood had been no more than the blood of another man, only because it was a sinless man, that made it better as we may say of the sacrifices that were offered to the praise and service of God, by the blood and sufferings of many witnesses of Jesus, they are called sacrifices in the word; but there is nothing of priesthood here, they are not sacrifices of atonement nor propitiation, they are but sacrifices of praise and testimony. The great view that we have, and that our faith should feed on about the sacrifice of our Lord, is this, That there was a piece of man's nature, by the extraordinary operation of the Holy Ghost, framed in the womb of the virgin, and which was assumed by the Son of God, and made the temple wherein God dwelt; there dwelled the fulness of the Godhead bodily; it is this temple of his body that was the great sacrifice, to which all the worship, and trust, and adoration of his people was rightly directed. For it is certain, that if our Lord Jesus Christ were in his human nature on earth, he in that nature is to be immediately, and formally, and directly adored and worshipped; they are never reproved that did so. When he was in his low estate, the poor woman fell down and worshipped him, crying, Lord, help me, Matt. xv. 25. Christ never found fault with that; but when any poor believers, in the height of their zeal or respect, either to apostles or angels, did so, they were checked immediately: Stand up, said Peter to the centurion, I myself also am a man, Acts x. 26. See thou do it not, says the angel, I am thy fellow-servant, and of thy brethren, Rev. xix. 10. and xxii. 9.

Lastly, Christ's greatness in his office appears in the great glory that accrues to him in it, and by it.

(1.) He in and by this office is made the head of the new creation; Christ is made the head of the new world. As God equal with the Father, and as the eternal Word of God, he made all things, and without him was nothing made that was made; by him were created all things, both angels, and rincipalities, and powers, all things were created by him and

for him, Col. i. 15, 16. But now, if I may so speak, there hath entered one thing into the world, that hath marred all the creation,; that is sin: Our Lord came to repair this with advantage. For be persuaded of it, that unles the Lord had contrived to have brought more glory to his name by sin's entrance into the world, than its entrance could bring dishonour tó him, it had never entered: for he does all things for himself; and the very permitting of sin was an act of infinite wisdom in God, willing his own glory; and by Jesus Christ, as the great High Priest, is this end reached; he is made the head of the whole creation; all things are reconciled, all things are set to rights in him, all things are to be gathered together unto an head in him as the head.

(2.) There is this glory to our Lord as Priest, that makes him a great one, that the everlasting salvation of all the elect and redeemed is purchased by him. What an unspeakable honour is this? He is the proper cause of the salvation of all that are saved; he becomes the captain, head, and author of our salvation: He is the author of eternal salvation, Heb. v. 9. He hath obtained eternal redemption for us, Heb. ix. 12. This I would consider a little more particularly, namely, the glory that comes to our great High Priest, by his being the author

of eternal salvation.

[1.] We find that all faith in approaches to God is to be made through him; all acts of trust Godward are to be made through him: No man cometh to the Father but by him. He saves them that come unto God by him, Heb. vii. 25. By him we believe in God, that raised him from the dead, and gave him glory, 1 Peter i. 21. This is proper divine honour to be a mean of peace with God; and that person that is the mean of approaching to God, and that is the object of our faith, is always divine. We can approach to God by no creature, it is an honour too big for them: but we may approach to God by Christ Jesus, for the Father hath consecrated him in this station: He suffered the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, 1 Peter iii. 18.

[2.] All the gracious communications that are betwixt God and men, is all through this great High Priest. This is his glory, this makes him a great one. All the gracious commu

nications and fellowship, either of God's giving to us, or our returning again to him, are all through this great High Priest; the communications, and blessings, and privileges to us, and the return of praise to God again, are all through Christ.

1.] The communications that are from God to us, do all come from Christ. If you receive them, you know which way they come, for they taste of the channel.

[1. Our justification. This is by the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, Rom. iii. 24. Whenever a sinner stands accepted before God, that state of acceptance is owing to this great High Priest; if God look graciously upon him, if we may stand with confidence in his presence, it is all through Jesus Christ.

[2. Our sanctification is by the Spirit of Jesus. Whenever sanctification is begun, Christ is formed within; whenever sanctification goes on, conformity to Christ is advanced, and we are going on towards perfection. What is perfect holiness, but only conformity to the image of his Son? And to this the Lord hath predestinated all his chosen, Rom. viii. 29. [3. Our adoption is through this great Priest also: He hath redeemed them that were under the law, that they might receive the adoption of sons, Gal. iv. 5.

[4. Our perseverance is only owing to Christ's grace and power. He is able to make us stand, and he will make us stand. See what the apostle says concerning the poor weak tottering Christian, that is weak in the faith, Rom. xiv. 4. Our supports and encouragements under all our temptations and difficulties are owing to Christ; and eternal glory at last is owing to him also; he purchased it for us, he hath possessed it in our room, and receives us to himself at last; that where he is, there we may be also, as his own words are. So,

2.] Is it as to all returns of service unto God again. These are all to the honour of our great High Priest; that as God dispenses all his good-will and favour through Christ, we are to return all service and worship to God in him. This I would explain to you in these things:

[1. That all the adoration, and worship, and obedience, and service, call them by what name you will, that is now given'