fpiritual and heavenly, therefore needed fuch a King as was also a minifter of holy things. And the apoftle tells us, Heb. vii. 24. that this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood.

5. The priests under the law offered many facrifices, and of various kinds, as lambs and rams, calves and bullocks, and the blood of many beafts: but Christ offered but once, and that but one facrifice, even the facrifice of himself. So it is faid, Heb. ix. 25. 26. Nor yet that he fhould offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place, every year with blood of others; (for then must be often have suffered fince the foundation ef the world): but now once in the end of the world, hath he appeared to put away fin by the facrifice of himself. And herein he excelled and far tranfcended all other priefts, in this, that he had fomething of his own to offer. He had a body given him to be at his own difpofal for this very end and purpofe. It is faid, Heb. x. 5. 7. 10. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, be faith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not, but a body haft thou prepared me. Then faid I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me) to do thy will, O God. By the which will we are fanctified, through the offering of the body of Jefus Chrift once for all. He offered up his body, and not only his body, but his foul alfo was made an offering for fin, If. liii. 10. We had made a forfeiture both of our fouls and bodies by fin. It was therefore neceffary that the facrifice of Chrift fhould be anfwerable to the debt which we owed to God. And when Chrift came to offer up his facrifice, he ftood not only in the capacity of a Priest, but alfo in that of a Surety; and fo his foul ftcod in the stead of ours, and his body in the flead of our bodies.

6. All thofe facrifices that the priests offered under the law were types of the facrifice of Chrift, which he was to offer in the fulness of time, they not being fufficient in themselves to purge away fin, nor accepta, ble to God any further than Chrift was eyed in them. But Chrift's facrifice was the thing typified by all thefe

oblations, and is efficacious in itself for the fatisfaction of justice, and the expiation of fin, Heb. x, 1. 4. 14. For the law having a fhadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with thofe facrifices which they offered year by year continually, make the comers thereunto perfect. For it is not poffible that the blood of bulls and of goats fhould take away fins. For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are fanctified. His facrifice was invaluably precious, and of infinite efficacy and virtue. And fuch it behoved to be: for it being offered as an expiatory facrifice, it ought to be proportioned and equivalent, in its own intrinfic value, to all the fouls and bodies that were to be redeemed by it, So that as one rich diamond is more in worth than ten thousand pebbles, or one piece of gold than many counters, fo the facrifice of Chrift's foul and body is far more valuable than all the fouls and bodies in the world.

7. The priests under the law appeared before God in behalf of the people, in the temple made with hands; but Christ appeareth in heaven itfelf. The Le-` vitical priefs offered facrifices and made prayers for the people in the temple; and the high prieft, who was an eminent type of Chrift, entered into the holy of holies, the figure of heaven, once a-year, and that not without blood. This was typical of Chrift's entering into heaven itfelf in his people's name, to appear for them before the throne of God. Hence it is faid, Heb. ix. 24. For Chrift is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the prefence of God for us. 1 John ii. 1. If any man fin, we have an Advo-. cate with the Father, Jefus Chrift the righteous.

8. The priests under the law had only the office of priesthood; bur Chrift is Prophet, Priest, and King.

II. Let us take a view of the nature of Chrift's priesthood. The office of the priests was to offer farifices, and to pray for the people. Hence there are

two parts of Chrift's prieftly office, namely, oblation of the facrifice, and interceflion.

Of CHRIST'S OBLATION.

One part of Chrift's prieftly office was the oblation of a facrifice. Where we may confider,

1. The import of offering.

2. What was the facrifice..

3. How often he did offer himself.
4. For whom he did fo.

5. For what ends he did offer himself.
6. The efficacy of his one offering.

First, I am to fhew what the import of offering is. It fignifies the voluntarinefs of Chrifts fufferings: Eph. v. 2. Chrift hath given himself for us, an offering, and a facrifice to God for a sweet smelling favour. He laid down his life of himfelf, that he might take it again. He was led as a lamb to the flaughter, and as a sheep before her fhearers is dumb, fo he opened not his mouth. For,

1. Though he well knew his fufferings beforehand, and that dreadful ftorm of the divine wrath and indignation that was to fall upon him, and all the abufe, indignities, and torments he was to meet with from wicked men and on the crofs, yet he did not withdraw from that dreadful apparatus of a violent death when his time was come; he would not fuffer his difciples, could they have done it, to rescue him from the impending danger: nay, his delivering himfelf up to his bloody-thirfty purfuers, after he had exhibited a remarkable inftance of his divine power, in making them fall to the ground with a word, John xviii. 28. was an evidence, that he was nowife constrained, but a hearty volunteer in his then intended offering. The cup of his fufferings was continually before his eyes; he never declined to drink of it; nay, he was pained and straitened till he drank it to the bottom.

2. The ftrong cry he uttered immediately before his yielding up his foul on the crofs, was an evidence there was more than a natural power attending him

in that important crifis. He was no criminal in the eye of God and fcripture, and could not have been put to death unless he had pleased, being the moft high God, and Sovereign of men and angels, and therefore having the whole creation at his command. The ftrong cry he then uttered was not the effect of weakness or reluctance to part with his life, fuch as a criminal may be fuppofed to give, but rather a fhout of triumph, proceeding from one who had fpontaneously offered himself to fuch a dreadful death, teftifying before God, angels, and men, his joy and exultation in having performed the arduous work he had of his own proper motion engaged to achieve.

Secondly, Let us confider what was the facrifice he offered up. On this head it may not be improper to obferve, that facrifices were of two forts.

1. Some were euchariftical or thank-offerings, in teftimony of homage, fubjection, duty, and fervice; as the dedication of the first fruits, the meat and drink offerings. By these the facrificer acknowledged the bounty and goodnefs of God, and his own unworthiness to receive the leaft of his favours, rendered praise for mercies received, and defired the divine. blefling. But Chrift's facrifice was not of this kind.

2. Some facrifices were expiatory, for the fatisfaction of juftice, and the purging away of fin. The inftitution of this kind of facrifices was upon a double account. (1.) That man is a finner, and therefore obnoxious to the just indignation and extreme difpleafure of the holy and righteous God, and laid fairly open to all the fiercenefs of wrath and vengeance. (2.) That God was to be propitiated, that fo he might pardon man. These truths are rooted and deeply engraven in the natural confciences of men, as appears by the pretended expiations of fin among the Heathens. But they are more clearly revealed in facred writ. Under the law, without the effufion of blood there was no remiffion, to intimate unto us, that God would not forgive fin without the atonement of justice, which

required the death of the offender; but it being tempered with mercy, accepted of a facrifice in his ftead.

Of this laft kind was the facrifice of Chrift, which he offered for us, even a facrifice of expiation. All that was requifite to a real and proper facrifice, concurred in his facrifice. As,

1. The perfon offering was to be a priest. It was the peculiar office of a priest under the law to offer facrifices. So fays the apoftle, Heb. v. i. Every high priest taken from among men, is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and facrifices for fins. In like manner Chrift, that he might offer this facrifice, was called to that office, and made an High Prieft in the houfe of God; as appears from Heb. v. 4. 5. 6. & 10. He is called the Apostle and High Prieft of our profeffion; and it is faid, Such an High Prieft became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, and feparate from finners.

2. There was fomething to be offered, and that was himself. He was the facrifice that he offered up unto God. Our great High Prieft behoved to have a facrifice anfwerable to the debt that we owed to God; and the debt was the forfeiture of both foul and body to the wrath of God, and the curfe of the law and therefore our High Prieft was to have a foul and body to fuffer in as our Surety. He made his foul an offering for fin, If. liii. 10. My foul, fays he, is exceeding forrows ful even unto death. A body haft thou prepared me, Heb. x. 5. And it is faid, Heb. x. 1o. We are fanctified thro the offering of the body of Jefus Christ once. He himself bare our fins in his own body on the tree, 1 Pet. ii. 24. He took upon him our nature, that he might have a proper facrifice to offer. Chrift was a facrifice in his human nature. He fuffered in his foul and body. It is to be observed, that doing or fuffering belongs to the whole perfon. Hence the church is faid to be redeemed with the blood of God, Acts xx. 28. Yet the notion of a facrifice importing fuffering, and the divine nature not being capable of it, he himfelf was the VOL. II. B