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is able to satisfy, is able to shew mercy to me, my faith stirs a little, at the sight of Christ's ability; if I know that Christ be willing to shew mercy to me, my faith rises higher: but if I know that Christ cannot refuse me, if I do come unto him, then my faith rises up to a great height indeed. When a poor sinner amongst the Jews, had sinned, and brought his sacrifice to the high priest, the priest might not refuse it: our Lord Jesus Christ is our great High Priest; I say, as God he may refuse, but now, he being our great High Priest, therefore when a poor sinner comes to Jesus Christ, as a High Priest he cannot refuse: oh what a great strengthening is this to faith! Strengthen faith, and you strengthen all: the right understanding of this truth, doth wonderfully strengthen faith.

Further, the more a man is engaged to Jesus Christ, and takes himself to be engaged to him, the more holy he is: the more a man sees himself freed from sin by Christ, the more he takes himself to he engaged to Christ, for freeing of him from his sin. Now this truth tells us how Christ hath satisfied for our sins, freed us from sin; and so we shall be the more engaged to Christ. If a man were going to prison, even at the compter door, for a great sum of money; and the door were unlocking: if a man should come and speak to the sergeant, Hold your hands, here is money for you, I will pay this man's debt, and lays the money down; would not this poor debtor take himself for ever engaged to that man, that should thus come, and lay down the money, and free him so seasonably from the compter, and prison? Thus it was with the Lord Christ; Ah, we were all going to prison, everlasting prison, chains of darkness, and he comes and lays down the money, makes full satisfaction to God the Father as our great High Priest: Oh! what an engagement is this to every soul unto the Lord Christ, to become the Lord Christ's for ever.

Lastly, the more a man does deny his own righteousness, the more holy he is with gospel holiness. It is said of the Jews, That they going about to establish their own righteousness, submitted not unto the righteousness of Christ. So on the contrary; when a man does go about to establish the righteousness of Christ, then he submits unto it, and then he denies his own righteousness. The more we see a

fness of sucsaction made by Jesus Christ, der 12 zur sins, mco God the Fiber, the more we aimeriedge Christ's mgiteousness, and the more we establish in, and the more we shall be brought of from all our own righteousness.

Oh therefore now, as ever you do desire, to bare more grace, more bočness, more comfort; study, and study much this priestly office of Jesus Christ. There are many that complain, that they cannot prodt under the means of grace: that they have hard bearts: that the ways and ordinances of God are not sweet to them: prayer they do perfòrm, but with no sweetness, they do not relish the blood and Spirit of Christ upon their spirits in their duties, &c. Many complain that their sins, and temptations Like the sons of Zeruiah) are to mighty for them, and that one day they shall be slain by the hand of Saul, such a lust, such a corruption. No wonder that we have these complaints, when we do not go unto the storehouse of comfort and grace that the Lord hath set open for us. The priestly office of Christ, it is the great magazine, and storehouse, of all that grace and comfort which we have on this side heaven: if ye do not go unto it, is it any wonder that ye want comfort, or that ye want grace? 1 appeal to you now; are there not some, nay, many that never went to Jesus Christ as their High Priest to this day? Ah, are there not some even professors, that do not know what the priestly office of Jesus Christ means? Oh! no wonder (poor soul) so uncomfortable, no more strength against thy temptations. If the State should appoint a man for to relieve poor, maimed soldiers, that go a begging: if they meet with the same man that is appointed by the State, and they beg of him in the streets as an ordinary man, he relieves them not: but now, if they come unto him, as a man appointed by the State for relief of such, then he relieves them according to the duty of his place. So it is with men, they go to Christ in an ordinary way, they do not go to Christ as the great Lord Treasurer of all our graces, as our great High Priest, they do not go unto him as in office; set up in office by God the Father for such relief: they do not address themselves to him as their High Priest to make satisfaction for them, and therefore they go away and have no relief. But would we have more strength against corruption? would we walk more comfortably in our course? would we find the ways of

God, ordinances, and duties more sweet and comfortable to our souls? then read, and consider that place in the Canticles ii. 3," As the apple-tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons: I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet unto my taste." The spouse speaks it concerning Christ. What is this fruit of Christ? Your justification, adoption, vocation, sanctification, consolation, it is all the fruit of Christ: all your own duties, your prayers, reading, meditation, they are all the fruit of Christ: the enjoyment of all his ordinances, and all your spiritual privileges under the gospel, they are the fruit of Christ. Now says she, "I sat down under the shadow, and his fruit it was sweet unto my taste." As it is unto a man that does love fruit; be it pears, apples, cherries, or the like: I love this fruit (says he) but yet notwithstanding, I must needs go where this fruit grows, and gather it off the tree; and when he hath gone to the tree, and taken the fruit off the tree, (says he) I sat down under the tree. I had not the fruit, the apples, or cherries, brought unto my house, but I went unto the tree, and gathered it off the tree, and I sat down under the shadow of the tree, and Oh! how sweet was the fruit unto me! So says the soul, so says the spouse of Jesus Christ: I sat down under the shadow of Jesus Christ, and then his fruit was sweet unto my taste. It may be we have had other shadows: we have sat down under the shadow of our estate, our outward estate hath been sweet unto our taste. We have sat down, it may be under the shadow of friendship, and the fruit of friendship hath been sweet unto our taste; but behold here a tree, the tree of life, whose shadow reaches to the end of the earth: Ah, come, come and sit down under the shadow of Jesus Christ. If there be ever a poor soul, that never yet knew what comfort meant; Ah, come, come under the shadow of the Lord Jesus; the priestly office of Jesus Christ, it hath a very sweet shadow; come therefore, you that say you cannot profit under the means, and you that complain of such and such temptations, and such and such sins; and that you were never yet comforted, your consciences never pacified: come now, and sit down under the shadow of the Lord Jesus Christ. I tell thee, from the Lord, this fruit of his, it shall be sweet unto thy taste: thou shalt go to prayer, and prayer shall be sweet

unto thy soul, though heretofore thou couldst find no sweetness in it; so the word and other ordinances shall be sweeter unto thee than the honey or the honeycomb,

Thus it is evident how comfortable the priestly office of Jesus Christ is, and how much conducing unto our comfort, and holiness: Oh! therefore let us study, now study the priestly office of Jesus Christ, and come and sit down under his shadow, and the Lord make his fruit sweet unto all our souls. And thus I have opened, and applied the first particular of Christ's priestly office. The second follows, &c.

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SERMON II.

Wherefore in all things it behoved him, to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful High Priest, in things pertaining to godliness, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered, being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.”—HEB. II. 17, 18.

I HAVE begun to discover from these words, that the priestly office of Jesus Christ, is the great magazine, and storehouse of all that grace and comfort which we have in this world: that whereby we are succoured, and relieved against all temptations. This hath been made good in the general; and in one particular work of the high priest.

If we now inquire further, what the work of the high priest was, and is, that accordingly we may address ourselves unto Jesus Christ for succour. We shall find, that it is also, to pray, and intercede for the people. "To make reconciliation for the sins of the people," says the text, “To make atonement for the sins of the people," says the Old Testament. Which reconciliation, or atonement, was made in the times of the Old Testament, not only by offering of a sacrifice, but by taking the blood thereof, and presenting that with prayers, and intercessions, unto God, to accept of it for the sins of the people. As we shall find in that same xvith of Leviticus: after the sacrifice was killed, the priest was to take the blood of it, and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy-seat; as we read in the 14th verse. And at the 12th and 13th," He shall take a censer full of burning coals of

fire from off the altar before the Lord, and his hands full of sweet incense beaten small, and bring it within the vail; and he shall put the incense upon the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy-seat." He was to cause a cloud of incense to arise upon the mercy-seat. All which was a great type of the prayers, and intercessions of Jesus Christ who having once offered up himself a sacrifice for our sins, hath carried the blood, and the virtue of it into heaven, there sprinkled the mercy-seat, and there still by his intercessions does appear for us; as it is proved at large, in the ixth chapter of this epistle to the Hebrews, 11th and 12th verses, "But Christ being come an High Priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building: neither by the blood of goats and calves: but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us." And at the 24th verse: "For Christ 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 presence of God for us." And if you duly consider this book of the Hebrews, you will find, that this work of Christ's intercession, is the essential work of his priestly office: it seems rather to go beyond the former, than to fall short of it. Hebrews, the viiith chapter, and the 4th verse, "For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest." That is, look as it was in the times of the Old Testament: if the priest had only offered a sacrifice, and had not gone into the holy of holiest with the blood thereof, sprinkling the mercy-seat, praying, and interceding that it might be accepted for the sins of the people, the priest had not done the work of the priest, and so he had not been a complete priest: so now, (says the apostle) if Jesus Christ had only offered up himself here a sacrifice, and had not gone into heaven, the holy of holiest, and carried the power and the virtue of his death thither, to pray and intercede for us, he had not done the work of the great high priest. Every priest might sacrifice, but every priest might not go into the holy of holiest, that belonged only to the high priest to do. Now therefore, Jesus Christ going into heaven, the holy of holiest, there to make intercession for us, is the great, and the special work of this High Priest.

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