Christ It is a Priesthood of power and of an endless life Here are three things to be observed First Christs Priesthood is a Priesthood of power able to bring that to pass it was appointed for Pray look into Heb. 7. 18. There you will find that there was a disannulling of the Commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof to work upon the Soul of man But this of our Lord Jesus Christ is a Priesthood of power for what he did for us he did perfectly He cleanses us from our sins and he doth reconcile us to God He doth justifie us and he doth save us Thus Christs Priesthood is a Priesthood of power 2. It is not only a Priesthood of power but of an endless life How is that why it brings all Believers into a state of life Hence our life is said to be hid with Christ in God And when Christ who is our life shall appear then shall we appear with him in glory And then 3. It is a Priesthood of an endless life How is that All men die in this World sooner or later And the Priesthood of Aaron that is dead They could not continue by reason of death But Jesus Christ he ever liveth he is a Priest for ever and abideth our Intercessor and he hath brought everlasting life to us Hence you have those words of his in John 11. 26. Whosoever believeth on me shall never die He shall have an endless life How never die he shall be changed but not die in some sense Tho' there is a separation of Soul and Body yet that is a Believers gain and not his loss There is a change of a mortal life for an immortal life He shall lay down this earthly Tabernacle of the Body for a spiritual for an endless life And this is useful to us to quiet our minds and to make us patient under all afflictions and changes we find or meet with This may be comfort against approaching death to Believers For if there be an endless life we may triumph with the Apostle in 1 Cor. 15. 55. O death where is thy sting O grave where is thy victory Thus you have heard that our Lord Jesus Christ hath a Priesthood of power and of an endless life SERMON VI. Hebrews 7. 17 18 19. For he Testifieth Thou art a Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedeck For there is verily a disannulling of the Commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof For the Law made nothing perfect but the bringing in of a better hope did by the which we draw nigh unto God THE last time I spoke to you from this chapter I concluded with v. 16. where it is said that Jesus Christ is made a Priest after the power of an endless life These were the last words spoken to Now the Apostle to prove this he goes on to demonstrate it in these three verses which I have read unto you and to be opened this morning as God shall assist Christ Jesus was made a Priest after the power of an endless life our Apostle proves it First In v. 17. in these words for he testified Thou art a Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedeck Is made a Priest after the power of an endless life But Jesus Christ is made a Priest after the order of Melchisedeck And to prove this still more evidently he tells us in v. 18. That there is a disannulling of the Commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof God disannulled the Commandment going before He disannulled the old Priesthood to set up the Priest-hood of Jesus Christ for ever And the reason why God disannulled the Commandment going before is given in the latter end of verse 18. Because of the weakness and unprofitableness thereof And this he further amplifies in verse 19. For saith he the Law made nothing perfect but the bringing in of a better hope did These particulars to be opened in the three verses To begin with verse 17. For he testifies thou art a Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedeck he testified why who testified why David testified or the Spirit of God by David testified In Psal 110. 4. there is the testimony The Lord he sware and will not repent Thou art a Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedeck Mind it when David testified this the Levitical Priesthood was then in its greatest glory For David lived in a time when the service of God was performed according to the order of Aaron and the Levitical Priesthood yet David testified of another Priesthood David was in his day a Prophet in the Church of God and a great Prophet and he was inspired by the Holy Ghost to testifie this many hundred years before it came to be fully accomplished To testifie that Jesus Christ was the everlasting High Priest according to the order of Melchisedeck I shall not stand much upon this verse at this time because you have the same thing repeated again in verse 21. of this chapter There 't is brought in as a repetition of the Oath of God The Lord sware and will not repent Thou art a Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedeck Here you have it twice together I shall therefore leave the more full handling of this till I come to the 21th verse In the words of v. 17. you may observe the Apostles scope in them why he mentions it here in v. 17. His scope is this to shew the excellency of the Priesthood of Christ above that of Aaron in two respects First That Jesus Christ is a Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedeck The Apostle would have us to understand that Christ is not made Priest by the Law of a carnal Commandment which I spoke of in the verse before The Levitical Priesthood was made by the Law of a carnal Commandment I opened that the last day There was nothing in the service of that Priesthood but was meerly outward and bodily But Jesus Christ being a Priest after the order of Melchisedeck he is not a Priest after the Law of a carnal Commandment an outward and bodily Worship but the Worship of Christ is a spiritual Worship And this is the first branch of the excellency of Christs Priesthood above that of Levi. 2. The Apostles scope also is to prove that Christ is a Priest for ever after the order of an endless life because he is a Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedeck So that now we do not depend upon a dying Priesthood or upon such Ordinances and Ceremonies that are to be abolished before the time of the consummation of all Worship in this World But we are to worship God under such an High-priest as abideth for ever And we come to one who is able to save to the uttermost all those that come unto God by him He testified Thou art a Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedeck From whence we may learn this Lesson
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
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